Pike listened quietly as Sam vented. He was glad the other man was getting all this out. At the same time, he was amazed at how alike the two of them really were. Sure, some of the details were different, but at the end of the day they were two men that, by rights, should be hostile towards these two women. Yet somehow, they both saw something in them, something that stayed their hands and drew them in. This certainly wasn't what Pike had thought he'd find tonight, but he was actually thrilled he had.
Pike wasn't sure what to say. Sam seemed to have pretty much said it all. At first, he just grinned a little and lifted his bottle in the same salute. "I'll drink to that." And he promptly did, letting out a satisfied little sigh as he pulled it away from his lips. He considered the bottle a second, then smiled over at Sam. "Y'know, man, we are both in over our heads, here. Hell, technically I didn't even graduate from high school." He shrugged and sat back, bringing the bottle with him, the neck clutched between his index and middle fingers. "And there are times where I worry that she'll catch me with something at the wrong time and I'll react badly, and then that'll be it. I worry that in the end I won't be able to help her, that I'll get tired and slip."
He smiled again, this one very warm, and more than a little because of the image of Faith he'd just called up in his mind. "And then I'll look at her. She'll be doing...whatever, maybe even just sleeping, but even if she's not she doesn't notice because when I look at her like this, I don't want her to see me. In those instances she's without all that hard shell of badass, she'll be just Faith, and every last doubt and fear just melts away." He nodded towards Sam. "It's like you said. I can just see it, in those moments. She's not Faith, the stone cold killer. She's not Faith, the badass chick that you never want to cross. She's not even Faith, the," he lowered his voice here, "Slayer. She's just Faith. And underneath all the defenses, underneath all the issues, underneath all the crap that's been piled on top of her, both normal and...otherwise, Faith is a lost, lonely little girl that wants so desperately for someone to be there. To not be alone. For a chance."
He had a feeling, based both on what Sam said and how he said it, that he understood. "She shows one thing on the outside, but it's not the real her. Not what she could be, if she let herself. But she's trying. She's fighting her way back. Slowly, and not without issue, but there it is. All she needs is a hand, and no matter what she's done, no matter how many people are ready to write her off, I can't ignore that. I just can't."
His eyes had glazed over slightly as he talked, that warm smile plastered on his face, but now he focused again, giving Sam a knowing look. "I know Ruby a little bit, Sam. She helped me when I needed it. She helped Faith, too. I consider her a friend, hell, a good friend. Don't get me wrong, I don't know her like you do. But you and me, we're in the same line of work. Sure, things are different where I come from, but at the end of the day the things that matter aren't that different." He took a breath. "I think she's going to be okay, Sam. I don't know if anybody else here has said that to you, but I want you to know that you're not the only one that thinks she'll be okay." Pike was trying to tell Sam that he wasn't wrong. That this thing he had going with Ruby wasn't a mistake. Because as far as Pike could see, it really wasn't.
(OOC: Sorry about how long this took! I totally forgot it was my tag.)