Graduation Day Part 2

by asdfghjklasdfghjklasdfghjkl

re-write. First Buffy FanFiction. What if Faith had won Buffy and Faith's fight before Graduation? This is how i think the third season finale could have happened. R&R. B/A

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season 3 episode 22
An alternative ending to 'Graduation Day part 2'
What if Faith had won Buffy and Faith's fight to the death before Graduation?

"Well look at you, all dressed up in big sisters clothes" Faith said to Buffy as she took her usual fighting stance, "give us a kiss."

It was in fact Buffy who threw the first attack upon the girl she had once trusted and befriended not a few months ago. But faith was skilled, arguably more so than Buffy, for as any manoeuvre Buffy tried against Faith, Faith could easily use it against her. They launched each other at walls and threw glass, windows were smashed, the walls cracked and the ceiling was soon to crumble. Buffy planned to get faith onto the balcony outside the window so as to even the playing field so she skilfully evaded a back hand punch and ducked out of range towards the direction of the window and began to take the leap out, all the while knowing Faith would not be able to resist going after her. Buffy landed upon an old mattress which broke her fall and hid behind some debris that had fallen out of the window with her from two stories up. Faith watched Buffy as she took the leap out of the window. "Chump" she said as she rolled her eyes and headed to jump out also.
She hit the ground with and elegant yet animalistic thud. Faith looked around but was unable to neither see nor even hear Buffy.

"Marco? You're supposed to say Polo B c'mon move with the times girl. Hey B, What do you get when you cross two blondes at a bar?" Faith said sarcastically. "What? No witty one-liner? Disappointing. You know I've been dying to get something of my chest since the moment you walked through my door, well if you can call it a door after I broke your arm on it, so let's just call it, hell I don't care what'cha call it but I'm getting off point. What I wanted to say was..." But before Faith could finish her latest insult Buffy reached for the dagger she had stolen from Faith that night in the cafeteria and stepped out from behind the broken rocks. Faith turned and the reflection from the street light hitting the metallic rim of the knife caught her eye.

The ice was almost visible as Faith uttered the words "That's mine." out of her bloodied up mouth.

"Well you're about to get it back" said Buffy. Buffy started at Faith but before she could take her second step she realised Faith hadn't taken her eyes of the knife since Buffy revealed that she had it. Faith was frozen. Buffy looked at Faith, and laughed. "What's the matter F?" She said with as much strength as possible. "Kitty got'cha tongue? It just kills you doesn't it, that I have this, that you don't-

"Shut up!" Faith hissed.

"Owch, there's that nasty temper of yours again." Buffy replied mockingly. She began "Y'know while I was waiting behind that pile of junk over there, waiting for you, I actually thought to myself for a second, what if I can't win? What if Faith Wins? Will I get outa here to see Angels face again? What will happen to my friends? But that look on your face right now, that sheer expression on your usually smug little mouth shows just how pathetic, immature and homicidally insane you are. This is it, no more hiding, no more being afraid, just you and me.
Faith took her gaze off of the knife and back up into Buffy's eyes. She almost looked twistedly innocent.

"Jeez B, glad you finally managed to grow a pair. Now this is what's gunna go down so get that bleach blonde head out of your own ass long enough to listen to what I have to say okay peaches? To answer all your previous questions:
1. No, you can't win, I mean look at me.
2. Yes, I will win but that's pretty much a given.
3. When I'm done with your ass I'm gunna feed you to Angel and then watch him kill himself out of guilt and
4. Your friends are dead weather you win or lose. I mean, you can't stop the ascension, the mayors got it wired B. He built this time for demons to feed on and come graduation day? He's getting paid. Now that we've exchanged pleasantries lets get to the hurtin'. Deal?"

Buffy simply muttered four words in response. "Come and get me."

Faith started at Buffy and took her aggressively to the floor, she threw countless punches at Buffy's face and she endured them all until she kick flipped Faith head first onto the debris across the balcony. The metal wire tore into the leather jacket Faith was wearing. "That was a $200 dollar jacket you bitch!" exclaimed Faith.

"Oh come on, any excuse for you to take off your clothes, I was half expecting a thank you." replied Buffy. Buffy reached for the dagger and started at Faith once more. She managed several shallow cuts into Faiths upper right arm and one not so shallow gash in her left cheek. Buffy leaned forth again with the knife but Faith evaded the attack, ducked under Buffy and kicked her to the ground. The impact of Buffy's head to the pavement caused her to lose grip of the knife. The dagger landed just on the edge of the balcony. A few inches more and it would have plummeted to the street below. "No!" Buffy cried. Faith gave Buffy one swift kick to the stomach and leapt in the direction of the dagger. In that moment all those questions she had came rushing back, she turned her gaze to look for an exit but there was none to be found. "We're only three stories up, I could land that" she thought. She slowly struggled to her feet and started towards the opposite end of the balcony. But Faith, now in possession of the dagger, gripped Buffy by the shoulders and thrust her back to the ground. Buffy was badly beaten, her head was cut and bleeding, arm almost broken, leg twisted out of place and almost every square inch of her torso was badly bruised.

"This is it huh B? I won and you lost. Love to see that in the history books" Faith said with a smirk.

Buffy gurgled.

"What's that B? Spit out. Come on I don't got all day." In that moment, laying there on the cold concrete Buffy was reminded of something. She flashed back to a day in the library when Giles had said "We have a rogue slayer on our hands I can't think of anything more dangerous." the significance of remembering that memory in that moment was unknown to Buffy, for now.

"I gotta gi, giv, give you your pro, props Faith" Buffy responded through the blood sliding out of her mouth gracefully. "But I have one thing you'll never have, friends who care about me, a mother that will miss me, but what have you got going for you? A broken condo, if you would still call it that. No friends. No family. Just an old guy wearing a dirty suit who's just dying to get into your pa-" But she never finished. She couldn't finish. Faith became enraged and plunged the dagger into Buffy's centre and twisted it out. Buffy cried out.
Faith looked down into the palms of her hands. She thought briefly about the amount of blood that she must have washed off of them, the amount of bruises she must have caused with them and now there they were, now stained with the blood of a girl whom she had once trusted and befriended. She dropped the dagger to the ground. She stumbled to the floor unable to maintain her balance. Shaking as Buffy continued to wriggle with pain upon the dirty bloodstained concrete. "Who am I?" She thought. "What have I done?"

"Faith." whispered Buffy. She hadn't even noticed that Buffy had stopped yelling. "Faith," muttered Buffy again. Faith took her gaze off her palms and back again to Buffy's eyes. Buffy saw the true essence of sorrow that day. Faiths big brown eyes began tear up as she looked into Buffy's but she was unable to utter the quietest of sounds. Buffy took Faiths hand into hers and said "Faith, the hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. For me, do what you must to protect my friends and keep them safe, do what you know is right and kn-kno-kno-know tha-that I forgive you." Buffy's hand began to lose grip upon Faith's. Buffy's eyes began to lose any trace of expression and the blood coming from her mouth had begun to slow.

"BUFFY!" cried Faith as she began shaking her by the shoulders "wake up. C'mon Buffy wake up. Your better than this better than me! Get up! Buffy! No, no, no, no, no please God no. Buffy!"

[-]

"Hey you guys shouldn't Buffy be back by now? I mean she left for Faiths over two hours ago. D'you think she's okay?" asked Willow worryingly.

"Buffy should be fine Willow she can handle herself if she ran into trouble along the way" replied Giles.

"Well yea Buff can take out your average three vamps without a scrape but we're talkin' about Faith here man" added Xander.

Wesley began, "Xander has a valid point Mr. Giles, and we've all witnessed Faith's insanity. We must consider the possibility-"

"I adore how you say valid, it's so classy. Don't you think that he's so classy?" said Cordelia whilst wiping a spot of drewl out of the corner of her mouth with one hand and using the other to hold up her head to stare trance-like at Wesley.

"There was a fair amount of class in that sentence sure," added Oz with the usual lack of expression on his face.

"Ahh, well, I, Umm, yes, you see, I" said Wesley as he struggled to conclude his previous statement.

"Oh for the love of God she's a student you twit!" thought Giles.

"I think what Wesley was trying to say was that there is a possible chance that Faith, um well you know. I suppose you could say won?" said Xander in the nicest way he thought possible.

"But c'mon its Buffy right, I'm sure she's fine. I'll bet she'll come through those doors right now holding that tramp over her shoulder," Willow said unconvincingly. They all looked at the library doors for around 30 seconds or so hoping that Willow might be right but finally Giles broke the silence.

"Okay Willow, Oz and Xander, you all go to the science lab and see if you can cast a locater spell to find Buffy. Wesley and Cordelia go to the mansion and check on Angel and call me when you get there and let me know about his condition with the poison. I'll go to the magic box and get some supplies," The school library was empty within no more than 15 seconds as everybody set off to do their assigned task. Willows locater spell revealed that Buffy was still at Faiths' condo, alone.

"Why would she be alone? Maybe we did it wrong, maybe I was looking for Faith's energy instead" said Willow as she tried to ignore what she knew was the truth. Xander was already out the door before Willow had completed her sentence. Quickly Willow and Oz followed him to the parking lot to Oz's van to go after Buffy. As they arrived they noticed the door had been catapulted across the room and torn off of its hinges. The cracks along the walls spread from corner to corner of the room, the furniture was broken and the balcony window was smashed.

"There," said Oz pointing at the smashed window. The three drooped their heads over the edge and noticed Buffy's body lying motionless and alone. Willow stumbled to the floor, her hand over her mouth and began to cry. Oz comforted her whilst Xander looked for a way down.

"Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god" repeated Xander over and over again as he searched the apartment for something he could use to get down to the balcony below.

"Xander," said Oz. But Xander just kept searching and repeating himself. "Xander!" he said louder, but Xander remained oblivious. "Xander!"

"What Oz!" Xander replied loudly.

"There's rope in the trunk of the van. Hurry." Xander left to get the rope and Oz remained comforting Willow. "She could just be unconscious Will; you never know okay, I'm here baby. Shhh." Xander returned with the rope and began tying it to one of the night stands in the bedroom. He then asked Willow and Oz to hold down the night stand while he propelled down to Buffy. His second hand sneakers squeaked upon impact with the balcony floor.

"Oh God! There's blood" he said under his voice. "Oz! Call an ambulance there's a lot of blood. Oh God." He noticed the bloodied up dagger two feet away from where he was kneeling and stashed it in his shirt pocket. "C'mon Buff, wake up, this can't be it. Not again. I love you Buff. We all do and we're not finished with you yet. C'mon. Whose gunna tease me about my outfit. And laugh with me when Mr. Beech falls asleep in 5th period. You're my best friend. Don't leave me. Not now. Not like this. Please."

[-]

Meanwhile Wesley and Cordelia had reached Angels Mansion. The main door was broken and his bedroom door was wide open. "Did Mr. Giles leave it in this mess? I knew he was becoming such an American" Said Wesley.

"Shhhhh." warned Cordelia. "Can you hear that?"

"No Miss Chase I can't hear any-" He was interrupted by the sound of a vampire growl coming from inside Angels bedroom. Wesley looked at Cordelia in the exact way that a child would look at a terrifying clown.

"Wesley! You're the watcher here, go 'watch' in there." she said under her breath.

"But, I, Err..." he mumbled.

"Oh for the love of God, tell me you have a weapon?" she asked him.

"Ahh, yes I do um..." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of holy water.

"Holy Water! Are you kidding me Wesley? No wonder they shipped you off from the mother country first chance they got" she said as she snatched the bottle of holy water, slapped him across the back of the head, and took off her heels and proceeded through the entrance of the mansion with Wesley trailing behind her.

"Angel?" she said as she got into the entrance hall. There was no reply. "Angel!" she said a little louder. Still nothing. "Ang-

-Growl!-

"I think it's coming from the bedroom." suggested Wesley.

"Really? Ya Think!" replied Cordie. They began to creep towards the bedroom. Cordelia put her head around the side of the bedroom door. Angel's bed was unmade and wet with sweat. The fire lamps had been reduced to small stumps and the water basin had been emptied. But no vampire and no Angel.

"Well perhaps I was wrong the vampire must be in another roo- Argh!" Wesley was not able to complete his sentence as from the opposite end of the bed Angel had reared his head. Fangs and all. Cordie began walking over to him.

"Angel, your okay! That's gre- Oh my god."

"Cordelia what is it? Dear Lord" said Wesley shocked. Angel was lying naked, sweating and dripping with fresh blood. And next to him, bloodied and beaten was Faith.

"Angel, how is this? When did you? Is she okay? That's Faith Angel!" said Wesley wearing an alarmed expression on his face. Angel looked back down at Faith and up again at Wesley and Cordelia. His vamp face was gone and the wound wear Faith had shot him with an arrow hosting a poison that would kill Angel was barely visible. "Of course!" exclaimed Wesley, "Buffy must be here, she must have bested Faith at her apartment and dragged her mangled body back here to cure Angel"

"Buffy isn't here Wes." interrupted Angel. Wesley and Cordelia stood there confused and waited for an explanation. "Faith busted through the door of the mansion, screaming my name. She found me in the bedroom. She was dirty, bloodied up and crying like Hell. I assumed she'd gotten away from Buffy and ran here to finish the job, but when I saw this look in her eye, I panicked and got out of bed to try and get out the back door. She grappled me and tossed me to the floor. I guess you could say that's when I got my game face on. That's when she looked me straight in the eye and said 'Angel I need you to do something for me, this might be my only chance to make up for what I've done.' She put my head to her neck and said 'Drink.' The hunger and I could already smell the blood from a wound she has on her face. I gave in and she, she cured me. Her pulse began to fade and that's when you guys showed up. I didn't take it all; we need to get her to the hospital now." Angel quickly grabbed his usual pair of pants and black T-Shirt from the foot of the bed and dressed quickly. At that point Cordelia ran out to start Giles' car while Wesley and Angel helped Faith into the backseat. They headed for Sunnydale memorial hospital as far as Giles' car could take them.

[-]

At that moment across town an ambulance was also heading for Sunnydale memorial. Only this vehicle contained three paramedics, a terrified uber-witch, a worried werewolf and a quirky boy with a D+ in calculus. "Ma'am I need you to apply pressure on her wound, it'll stem the blood flow and buy us some time before we reach the hospital" ordered one of the paramedics assertively to Willow. "Son," this time she spoke to Oz, "I need you to make sure she doesn't loose pressure on the wound and keep her steady!"

"Sure," replied Oz.

She gestured her arm towards Xander. "Kid, do you know CPR?" asked the paramedic.

"Y-y-y-ye-ye-yes, yes I do." Xander stuttered.

"Good get around here and do that while I get some fluids flowing in her," she said. Two paramedics sat in the front seat. The female paramedic helping Buffy in the back asked the paramedic who wasn't driving to get her some fluids from a compartment in the front seat. Buffy remained unconscious the entire journey from Faiths to the hospital and upon arrival at the hospital several doctors greeted the paramedics and took Buffy through two plain sliver, parallel doors and murmured some medical gibberish to one another. The reception lady told Oz to take a seat in the waiting room along with his friends and that the doctors would inform them of any new information.

"Will, Buffy's a fighter and the strongest person I know. She'll get through this; we'll all get through this." Xander struggled to get his words out with beginning to cry again.

"How can you possibly know that? We all saw it Xand. Faith won and Buffy lost. Even if she pulls through this she'll be in no position to fight the Mayor and Faith. Just face it Xander. This is it. We're finally beaten and there's not a damn thing either of us can do to stop it." She began to cry even harder and got up out of her chair and headed for the girls bathroom at a fast pace leaving Oz and Xander astounded at the inconvenient truth that Willow had just revealed to them. Before Willow could close the door of the bathroom Xander had gotten out of his chair also and stood up facing her. He began to speak.

"How dare you." he said to Willow with one single tear rolling down his cheek and his fists clenched as hard as he could in anger. Willow stopped and turned to look at him. She'd never seen him this angry before. He continued, "For three years we've survived at least two different apocalypses. We've always beaten them back, whatever the hellmoth threw at us we took it and hit it out of the park. And do you want to know why? Because of that girl in there. She's saved my ass on countless occasions, and not just mine, no no, yours too Willow. How dare you think you know what's going to happen tomorrow at graduation. What gives you that right to play God? And how dare you doubt that girl in there just because we've gotten a few strikes along the way. And sure nobody can doubt that we've lost loved soldiers along the road. But we've always won the war. And if you want to take the coward's way out of this one then that's your decision. Hell why don't you give Anya a call and you can ride shotgun in her car to God knows where!"

"Xander st-st-sto-stop it. Pl-plea-please" stuttered Willow as she covered her mouth with her jacket sleeve.

"Xander, easy man, you're not helping anybody here." said Oz in his usual mellow tone.

"My God Oz, would it kill you to show a little emotion once in a while!" replied Xander loudly and immediately. "I'm gunna get a coffee and cool down, come get me if there's anything new." As Xander turned to leave the waiting room, the single wooden door swung open with loud whoosh and a bang as it collided with the plaster behind it. Angel entered the room.

"Where's Buffy?" he asked seriously.

Xander began, "Angel, man. You're okay? How are-"

"Faith cured me" interrupted Angel. "Where is Buffy?"

"She's in the emergency room. We found her at Faith's." said Willow in a croaky voice as she stopped crying and dried her eyes. Willow and Xander took a seat on opposite sides of the chairs while Oz filled Angel in on what had happened since they left the library and arrived at the Hospital.

"She's gunna be okay though right?" asked Angel worryingly.

"We don't know she's still in the ER, the Doctors will inform us of any news." replied Oz.

"But when we got to Faiths she wasn't there, only us and Buffy. And last time we saw you, you where lying in bed as crazy as Drusilla with the poison. How did Faith cure you?" Willow asked Angel concerned. Angel then occupied the space in-between Willow and Xander and told them about what had happened with Faith, Wesley and Cordelia.
"I don't believe it man, not for a second. Faith? Leaving team Mayor and converting back to team Buff again? Not a chance. That bitch has got something up her sleeve." argued Xander.

"Well yeah I thought so too at first but after 200 hundred years, give or take, you learn to read a person and she was pretty convincing. But I'll leave it for Buffy to decide if she-when she recovers that is." replied Angel.

"Where are Wes and Cordie now?" asked Oz.

"I left them at the payphone down the hall, they said they would call Giles and let him know." replied Angel.

"I'll go check on them and fill them in on what happened at Faiths so they can tell Giles," said Willow and Xander together. They exchanged a look before Xander said, "You go, I'll stay here".

"No, its fine, you go. I don't mind." She replied into her lap.

"How about we both go?" He asked with a smile. She returned that smile and they both exited the room to where Angel had said he left Wes and Cordie.

"Hey man I'm gunna go get some coffee from down the hall, I'll be right back." said Oz. Angel nodded and began playing with his fingers in his lap again.

The doors to the waiting room swung open once again, this time with less force than the previous time. A balding doctor wearing a face make, gloves and a white jacket entered. His glasses slid down his nose as he looked down at his clipboard.

"Um, I'm looking for the three companions that came in with the blonde girl, stab wound, name is uh", he checked his clip board again, "Buffy Summers?"
Angel's head rose from his lap and he met the gaze of the Doctor.

"Yes that's me, is she okay? Is she awake?" he asked frantically.

"She's...stable. She lost a lot of blood due to the stab wound which demanded a transfusion. Although I'm afraid the impact that Miss Summers took to the back of the head my cause her to never wake up. I'm sorry. The police will want to speak to you also about the incident and you will have to speak to the main desk concerning insurance details..." The Doc said a lot more after that but Angel didn't pay any attention. He was lost in the possibility that his beloved Buffy may never wake up from this. He wondered what he would tell Buffy's friends and Mr. Giles. He simply nodded whenever the Doctor paused and said thank you when the Doctor turned to leave.
"Is it possible for me to please see her?" he pleaded before the Doctor closed the door.

"Well, um, if it's just you then sure. But don't stay to long." Angel left the waiting room and followed the doctor to the room Buffy was in. It seemed to be the longest hall way ever. The walls had been painted the same pasty white as every other surface, sniffling from distraught families echoed out of certain rooms and the typing coming out of some offices seemed about the same volume as the waiting room clock. Eventually everything he passed seemed to blur together until he got to a smooth wooden door. The Doctor gestured his arm towards it, gave a sympathetic smile and continued back down the hallway. Just above the door handle was a window. It seemed about the same length and width of Angels arm, two diagonal lines over lapped to form a pattern on the window, the frame was worn and chipped in areas but it was what was in the window that had significance to Angel. Through the window Angel could see Buffy lying motionless on a hospital bed. She was wearing the thinnest piece of cloth that reached to the bottom of her neck. The bed sheets were a bright white colour and reached up to her breast.

"I wonder if she's cold" was his first thought. Her blonde hair, usually life like and beautiful, seemed flat, empty and lifeless. Her face was swollen, he wondered if her beautiful green eyes were still the same. She was connected from her fingers, bruised and swollen as they were, to a machine on the right side of her bed.

He grasped the door handle, turned and pushed. He firstly heard the 'bleep, bleep' of the machine and her breathing was unusually heavy. He took a seat in the red arm chair next to the bed and took hold of her hand ever so gently.

"Buffy if you can hear me could you... actually never mind, just listen. I want you to know that even though I'm leaving, if we make it through graduation, I will always love you. I will cherish our memories until the end of time and I will never forget you. You where my first true love and possibly my last; I can't bear to lose you like this, not without saying goodbye. So I need you to wake up. For me. For your friends. For your Mom." he stroked a vine of stray hair out of her face and continued, "Please Buffy, I'm begging you." He dropped his forehead onto Buffy's bed whilst keeping a tight grip on her hands. Suddenly he felt a flinch in her fingers, he raised his head and looked at her face, and she twitched her eyes and then her fingers once more. She opened her eyes and met his gaze. He was glad to see that her beautiful green eyes were exactly the same as he'd seen them the night at the movie theatre. "Hey" he said softly.

"I love you too" Buffy replied as she gripped his hand as hard as he was gripping hers. Buffy sat up right in the bed and looked lovingly at him for the next two minutes before Cordelia entered the room. She walked into the room without looking at neither Angel nor Buffy; instead she pondered the tiles underneath her shoes and was completely oblivious that Buffy had woken up.

"Hey, Angel..." she began "It's almost sunrise and the Doctor told me you where in-" she finally looked up. Her eyes widened at the sight of Buffy's injuries and she covered her mouth with her hand. "Buffy, your okay! I'm so glad. You look awful, true. But still, I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks Cordie, I...think?" she said with a smile. Willow, Xander, Oz, Wesley and Giles stood at the doorway and gazed at Buffy also. "Oh, c'mon guys it can't be that bad... can it? She said worryingly. Willow ran onto Buffy's bed and placed herself on top of her and hugged her round the neck.

"Buffy! I'm so glad your okay, I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you" she began crying again.

"Will, you're my best friend and I love you, but your elbow is in my stitches" she said with a laugh.

"Oh sorry, my bad. Lost my cool there for a second. I'm fine." Willow climbed off and sat down on the arm of the armchair Angel was sitting on.

"Welcome back Buff. You had me worried for second there" said Xander as he greeted Buffy with a warm hug.

"Indeed. Welcome back and what not." said Wesley awkwardly.

"Thanks Wes" she muttered. One by one the greeted and hugged her until it was just Giles left at the doorway. He looked at her with such guilt and sorrow. He blamed himself for what had happened for the girl he had come to love as a daughter. "Giles this isn't your fault" Buffy began "Faith was just simply the better player, and that's on me not you, o-ok-ok-okay?" she'd begun to tear up and struggled to properly form her words. Giles entered and embraced her so lovingly that he too began to get upset. They remained welded to each other longer than anybody else until Giles finally released her and took a seat on the end of the bed. "So does somebody wanna fill me in on why my vampire lover isn't still poisoned?" Buffy asked looking at Angel and everybody else in turn. Xander retold the story Angel had told him in the waiting area. Buffy struggled to process the concept of it all. "Why would Faith do that? Is she feeling guilty now? Is she playing some twisted game? Where is Faith now? How is she?" Buffy asked urgently.

"She too is stable, I checked on her briefly after I got off the phone with Mr. Giles. If you have regained consciousness then I see no reason to believe that Faith hasn't. I'd imagine she's lying scared and alone in a white, nauseating hospital room pumped full of drugs. I'd be surprised if she hasn't yet been arrested by the police." Wesley informed.

"No we can't let that happen, we've gotta get her out of here" said Buffy as she reached for her clothes that draped over the back of the arm chair that Angel and Willow were sitting on.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" said Angel as he nudged her back down onto the bed. "Why exactly are we saving Faith? I mean I know she cured me but that doesn't suddenly just let her off the hook for her actions lately, does it?"

"No I guess it doesn't. But it's a start. And I'd rather the odds of two slayers fighting the mayor rather than one wouldn't you? And even if her saving you was just a dirty trick, if we let her be arrested and taken to prison, we'll never know for sure. Now either somebody helps me out of this gown, back into my clothes and to Faiths room or God help me I will do it myself" said Buffy sternly. The gang looked at each other for a moment.

"Buffy's right you guys, if there's even a chance Faith has changed and is gunna help us then we gotta take It." stated Willow. Giles nodded.

"But Buffy what is to stop Faith from finishing the job when you get in to speak to her? We've been in this room for under twenty minutes and already your swelling has gone down and the number of bruses has decreased. And if Wesley's assumption is correct then Faith will be almost back to health too. We need a plan" added Giles.

"Then here's what we'll do. Cordie, Oz, Giles and Wes, go back to Faiths condo down town. See if the Mayor's heard about what happened. If not then take Faiths knife and put it back on the balcony wherever Xander found it. If it turns out he has been to the condo then he might be on his way here which means we don't have a lot of time. Willow, Xander and I will stay here and talk to Faith. If Faith tries anything ill have Xander to back me up and Will to work some magic mojo just in case. After you've been to the condo go back to the Library and we'll meet you all there. Angel, Go home, its sunrise in a half hour. No arguing" ordered Buffy.

Oz began "But why do we need to put the knife back Buf-"

"We don't have a lot of time Oz, just do it and do it fast" interrupted Buffy.

As Willow helped Buffy out of her hospital gown and into her clothes Xander stood watch outside the room for any signs of police or the Mayor. "Just my curiosity Buffy but why did Oz have to put back Faiths knife?" asked Willow timidly.

"The Mayor knows Faith and he knows how much she loves and cherishes that dagger he gave her. If he gets to the condo, see's it lying there near dried blood and there's no Faith, he'll panic and then the lie I want Faith to tell him, depending on whether she tries to kill me in a couple of minutes, will seem all the more convincing because the Mayor will be all the more relieved that his little princess is okay" explained Buffy.

"What lie?"

"Will, time really is of the essence, I'll explain later. Let's go." They exited Buffy's room and began walking down the hall with Xander.

"Does anybody know what room Faith's in?" asked Willow

"Yeah Wes said she's in room 142 on the 3rd floor. Can you make it Buff?" asked Xander.

"Yeah I think so. When I get in there I'm betting on Faith being awake so I need you guys outside of the door and out of sight." said Buffy as she tried to hide the fact that she was walking with a limp.

"How will Willow and I know if there's trouble?" asked Xander worried.
"I'm guessing my screaming will be a pretty big give away Xand." Buffy said mockingly.

"And what if Sunnydale's finest are already in there guarding Faith?" Xander asked concerned.

"Then I guess ill defiantly need that assistance from you guys" replied Buffy. They'd made their way on to the 3rd floor without any sign of Police or the Mayors lackeys and Faiths room was right at the end of the hall. Buffy, Willow and Xander stopped two doors away from room 142 to go over the plan. Willow and Xander remained were they were and Buffy proceeded up the hallway. She didn't even bother to look through the window to check if Faith was awake or not. It's doubtful that Buffy even noticed it. She pressed her hand on to the door handle but before she could put energy into opening the door she had the same flash back that she had when Faith won the fight at the condo. She was back in the Library and looking up at Giles.

"We have a rogue slayer on our hands, I can't think of anything more dangerous" he said.

She came back to reality and took a deep breath. She entered the room. It was as though she'd walked back into her own room. The walls were the same, as where the beds and even the colour of the armchair. The only difference was that it wasn't a blonde in the bed this time but a brunette.

"Hello Faith" she said with the straightest, plainest face she could.

"What's Shakin' B?" Faith replied as a grin spread across her face. She had a few stitches where Buffy had cut her on the cheek with the dagger. The wounds Buffy made on Faiths arm were hidden by the hospital gown she was wearing. Faith was also bruised but Faith had a wound that Buffy had not acquired. A white bandage with a bloodstained centre was taped to the left side of Faiths neck where Angel must have fed off of her. Seeing the wound made Buffy cringe.

"You okay?" asked Buffy with the same emotionless tone and facial expression as before. She closed the door behind her and leaned on it, almost like she was clinging to it.

"I'm five by five, how 'bout Chu?" she asked with exactly the same smirk as before. They exchanged a defensive look as they met each other's gaze.

"I've been better" replied Buffy.

"Yeah I know the feelin'. Man, your boy really did a number on me huh? I'm guessing your here for an explanation B but I don't really know wha-"

"Actually what I'm looking for you could more class as a definition."

"I'm sorry, a definition of what?"

"What are you doing Faith? Is this all some sick game to you? For the last couple of months you have made my life a living hell just for a thirty second thrill and just to make your precious boss happy. And then you go and poison the love of my life and the only cure is the blood of a slayer-"

"Don't you dare do that B, we both know if it was me who lost you would have stuck that knife right in my gut as soon as you got the chance and fed my ass to Angel anyway!"

"Yeah I would have but that's not what happened was it. You see Faith I knew that as soon as you saw that knife slide in me you knew what you were doing was wrong and without purpose. You knew you were in over your head and you knew the quickest way out was to feed yourself to Angel.

"Buffy Shut-up!"

"But guess what Faith. Fate landed us here and you're at a cross roads and you can take one of two options. You can get your ass out of that bed and we can go for round two until one of us finishes the other off permanently, or you could make up for past mistakes and help me stop the ascension."

"You can't stop the ascension B!" Faith had raised her arms from her sides and was holding her head as he shook it from side to side as though to try and stop Buffy getting through to her.

"No, you're probably right. I can't stop the ascension. But we could Faith. This is your last shot. What's it gunna be?" Buffy seemed to be getting through to her, Faith had let her arms drop and stopped shaking her head but nothing was certain yet.

While Buffy retained constant eye contact Faith pondered the hospital blankets before uttering the words "yes."

"Yes what?" asked Buffy in a louder tone.

"Yes I will help you! Jeez B."

Suddenly Willow and Xander burst through the door of room 142. "Buffy we got a problem" said Xander in a worrying tone.

"What's wrong Xand?"

"It's the Mayor Buff. He's on his way up to the third floor. Will and I heard a nurse get a call in her office from the front desk we gotta hide."

"Go out the window!" suggested Faith.

"Are you high super bitch? We're three stories up!" scoffed Willow.

"Can it Red! There's an alcove that you'll land on. It's about a 2ft. drop. Hurry up get outa here." Faith snapped. Willow was first out of the window followed by Xander.

"Remember Faith, Stick to the story. Angel and I attacked you at your condo, he fed off you and we left you for dead okay?" Buffy whispered. Faith nodded and lay back down on her pillow. "Meet us at the library or call Giles whenever you get the chance." Buffy added as she left the room. As Buffy landed onto the alcove with Willow and Xander they noticed a drainpipe, it seemed sturdy enough so Xander went down first, followed by Buffy and finally Willow. The gang made their way to the Library. Meanwhile, the Mayor had entered room 142.

Mayor Richard Wilkins entered room 142 alone. There were no doubt supernatural guards outside but he was alone for the time being. He was aghast with the sight of his princess lying in the Hospital. He wore a brownish green plaid suit with an ugly green tie. It must've been raining outside as he was holding a soaking wet black umbrella which he leaned against the door. He sat on the end of the Hospital bed and took Faiths hand in his. "Hey there fire cracker" he greeted with a devilish grin. Faith had pretended to be sleeping so she opened her eyes and replied
"Hey boss."

"What happened sweet pee? When you left the office everything seemed fine. I knew I should have had my Chauffeur take you home last night" said The Mayor as he lost eye contact with Faith and looked down into his lap.

"Naa no sweat boss, this is on me. That poison you gave me really did a number on our pal Angel. They caught me by surprise is all and besides I'm healing fa-" Faith stopped and noticed the anger in The Mayors eyes. He was looking at the bandage that was covering Faiths neck wound and he let go of her hand. He stood up and paced back and forth across the room. "Boss what is it?" she asked nervously. He seemed so angry.
"He fed off of you?" he asked angrily.

"Well yea but nothing to serious look at me I'm fine."

"It's the principal of the thing Faith! How dare that blood sucking fiend steel from you. And we both know how I hate thieves Faith. I can't wait to sink my teeth into him after the ascension."

"Well I'm bettin' that won't be a pretty sight and I'll be there to back you up but I don't want you to do anything rash on my behalf this close to graduation boss."

"Rash!" he laughed. "Rash is an understatement to the things I'm going to do to that bitch Buffy and her vampire dog. But my Faith knows what's best for her, and often me too. No your right Faith, nothing rash this close to Ascension Day. And what a glorious day it'll be" he exclaimed.

"Not that I don't love your speeches boss but I could really use my sleep. You know so I'm at my best when I'm needed. So if you don't mind?" she gestured her arm towards the door, she pointed and smiled at him.

"Of course I'll get out of your hair" he turned to leave but stopped before he could fully reach 360 degrees. He turned back to face Faith and whispered "Oh, I almost forgot. I found this at your apartment. I spotted it whilst overlooking your window and saw it on the balcony below. I know how much you love it so I thought it right to reunite it with you" he handed her the dagger. It had been thoroughly cleaned and polished to perfection. It shined brightly below one of the rooms' lights. "And don't you worry about a thing. I'll pull some strings here at the hospital and if you're well enough I'll send my chauffeur Ronald to pick you up later this evening. It's already just before 7 am so get some rest and be expecting him about 8 pm. He'll pick you up outside. I brought you a change of clothes too. Get well soon my little fire cracker." Faith nodded and grinned as the Mayor left the room with a laugh she used to love to hear. Exhausted, Faith decided she would actually rest for a while. Buffy had left the curtains open when she left so she knew that the sun light that would be coming through the window would wake her before too long. She exhaled heavily, laid her head on her pillow and drifted to sleep.

Soon after Buffy, Willow and Xander left the hospital they made their way back to Sunnydale High Library to regroup with the others. They opened the double doors which separated their familiar safe haven from the noisy and cluttered halls of Sunnydale High. Giles and Wes where behind the service counter with their nose in a musty old book. Oz was behind a computer at the centre table and Cordie was in the book cage. Angel must've followed Buffy's advice for once and gone home. Everybody was still dressed in the same clothes; none of them had been home. "Buffy" called out Giles. Wesley looked up from his book, Cordelia stepped out of the book cage and Oz got out of his chair and offered it to Buffy, she took it and sat down. Xander occupied the chair behind her and Oz and Willow occupied the two opposite chairs. Cordelia sat on the arm of Xander's chair whilst Wesley and Giles stood at the head of the table. Oz and Willow took each other's hands and he pecked her on the cheek. "Is everybody alright?" asked Giles breaking the silence.

"Yeah we're good. I talked to Faith. It took me a while to get through to her but I'm pretty sure that she's back on our side now. I told her to go along with The Mayor as though everything is normal and told her to either meet us here or call Giles if she gets into a jam" replied Buffy. "How went things at the condo?"

"We successfully deployed Faiths' dagger back onto the balcony without a hitch" added Wesley proudly.

"Okay good job guys"

"Anything else happen in our absence?" asked Xander.

"Actually yes" began Giles. "Before Anya left she provided us with some pretty helpful information if you remember correctly. When we returned from Faiths' Oz did some research on that blasted machine and found an article detailing the discovery of an unknown dinosaur in South America that we believe to be the bones of the ascended demon from eons ago."

"You did research?" Willow asked Oz in a high pitch voice, "You where research guy?"

"It would appear so, yes" said Oz humorously.

"Well that's good right?" asked Buffy excitedly.

"Well yes but there is some bad news also. The excavation found the bones buried under 37ft of molten rock. I'm afraid it would seem that it will take a volcanic eruption to stop The Mayor if he ascends" added Giles as he casually sipped his tea from his mug and cleaned his glasses. Wesley pondered his shoes for a moment, hiding his face. Buffy looked around the room. The room was dead with silence and nobody dared look each other in the eye.

"C'mon guys don't get cold feet on me. So the Mayors unstoppable, hasn't every other demon we've faced seemed that way too? We'll get through this. I mean we're the scoobies remember? We just need to find his weakness and preferably before he ascends" said Buffy in an uplifting tone which did in fact make the group a little less uneasy.

"I've got it! His weakness right? Germs, the Mayor hates germs. I say just before suit guy gets all demon-y we get ourselves a box of the Ebola virus and you know, chase him." cried Cordelia in excitement.

"At least keep that in mind guys I mean we're desperate here, although maybe not that desperate just yet Cordie" said Buffy.
The sound of the Library double doors whoosh open and the sounds of heavily heeled boots collide with the floor caused the gang to turn their gaze towards the entrance.

"As much as I love Cordelia's germ theory, I may just have a better one" said Faith as she entered the library and perched herself atop the main desk. Faith had completely recovered, her bruises where just like a faded sun burn, her hair was clean and wavy. She wore a black tank top, a leather jacket (different from the one Buffy had ruined but it seemed easily just as expensive) and black jeans and boots.

"Faith" said Wesley in his deep British accent.

"Hey Wes, what's new?" grinned Faith in reply. Cordelia backed away to behind the table and Buffy got out of her seat quickly.

"You okay?" Buffy asked cautiously.

"Five by Five"

"And the Mayor?"

"I'm pretty sure he bought it. He's sending somebody to pick me up from the Hospital later tonight."

"Good, that's-that's good. You said you had a plan?"

"Not so much a plan, but you wanna know the boss' weak link? Prey on his human weakness."

"Which is?"

"Me."

"Pfffftt! Self centred much." scoffed Willow.

"Easy Will" Buffy said warningly. "Go on."

Faith continued, "When the boss got into my room and found out your boy fed on me he got so angry. He was about to blow his top man like for real. For a long time we were like family and although the feeling isn't mutual on my side any more it still is on his. If at graduation the boss makes his move and he sees me fighting against him, I'm betting he'll lose it. Then he'll be distracted long enough for you to make your move. He's got this line in his speech which is a queue for his vamps and demon buddies to trap the students on the school courtyard long enough for the boss to feed and make the transition. When he finishes's a specific part that's when we're supposed to start fighting. I'll be on stage with him so I'll take out his main fighters while you do the rest."

"This is good Faith, Thank you. Anya said that ascension means an eclipse so that puts Angel back in play. Giles call Angel and tell him to call up all his demon contacts. When the vamps attempted to trap the students he can intervene and hopefully get some of the students out of danger" said Buffy excitedly.

"Well yeah Buffy but what about the students? We can't just leave them defenceless." said Cordelia condemningly.

"Oooh!" cried Xander. "I can take care of that. Will, Cordie, Oz and I will talk to the most popular kids in school and tell them about what's going down. Maybe they can
influence the rest of the class of 1999 to sort of suit up so to speak, if we can supply them with weapons."

"I have sufficient supplies in a warehouse down town in case a time like this ever demanded them" contributed Giles.

"Okay, you guys take care of that. But there's still the possibility that we won't be quick enough and the ascension will begin. How are we going to recreate an explosion with as much fire power as a volcano?" Buffy asked.

"I could make a bomb out of some of the chemicals we have in the science lab, but we don't have nearly as much time or the privacy required I mean graduation is tomorrow and school starts in an hour" claimed Willow.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Red can make bombs?" said Faith baffled.

"What you thought you were the only chick in this room capable of mass destruction? Please" laughed Willow. Giles laughed into his mug too.

"I have some watchers council contacts down at Sunnydale docks. I could persuade them to help me with the C4 but if not I'll require quite a lot of money and man power to help get it all back here" responded Wesley.

"Then take Faith and Oz's van to help you" suggested Buffy.

"What do we do in the meantime, you know after we've done what we need to do?" asked Oz.

"Enjoy your last days of High school. Go to lunch. Sign year books. Try not to think about tomorrow. Except you Faith, after you've helped Wesley down at the docks you need to go straight back to the hospital" urged Buffy.

"B, when the boss is about to make his move I'll give you the signal from the stage" explained Faith as she nudged Wesley towards the door. Oz threw Wesley his keys.

"Faith wait you haven't told me what the signal is!" cried Buffy.

"I'm thinkin' me beating up some bad ass body guards on stage is a pretty big give away B" replied Faith mockingly.

Giles went into his office to call Angel like Buffy instructed and the rest of the gang left the library to take care of their assigned tasks too until Buffy was the only person left. She pondered the idea that even with Faith's assistance she might not be able to stop the ascension. She was doubtful of herself and of her friends. She could hide what she was truly feeling from them, but not from herself. She knew that there was a battle coming like none she had ever faced before. She knew they were not all going to make it and she feared the possibility that eight loved ones and Faith might enter that graduation ceremony, but maybe only two might come out of it alive. The school bell rang just as Giles got off of the phone. All her school periods seemed to blur together, she was the only one out of her friends there until fourth period and even then her friends were not in class. When she offered to help but they just simply told her that they could handle it and that she should get some rest. But rest was just wishful thinking. Rest would require going home to an empty house or locking one's self in a janitor's closet and using the wet end of the mop as a pillow. She'd done so much; accomplished so much during the time she had spent in the walls of Sunnydale High; from show puppets coming to life to invisible girls who were picked last in gym, from Spike attacking the school on Parent Teacher night to fish demons on the swim team. From selling magical immaturity candy bars for the band geeks to demon dogs set loose on Prom night. And not to mention her B+ average in most subjects. She sat in the lounge for quite some time while Willow talked to Percy her student and Sunnydale's lead basketball star and Xander talked to Harmony the second head cheerleader whom hated him.

"Well the words out there, we've just gotta hope that people don't think where crazy and don't come and get their ration of crossbows, stakes and other various kitchen utensils" announced Xander breaking the silence around Buffy.

"Huh? What? oh right, the students um... good, yeah" stammered Buffy.

"Everything okay Buffster?" Xander questioned.

"Yeah I'm fine Xand just feeling a little out of it today" she replied.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"No-no no, its fine...I'll be okay" stuttered Buffy. Willow finished her conversation with Percy and sat next to Xander on the opposite sofa.

"Well Percy thinks I've finally cracked but I think I convinced him" she said as she adjusted her hair band and rolled down the sleeves on her yellow sweater."Hey" she began, "any news on Wesley and Faith?" she asked.

"No none so far, but if they ran into trouble Faith can take care of herself and Wesley makes an excellent Marco-Polo player" Xander retorted. "Plus Cordie went home for the day to get her graduation stuff ready and Oz is stranded in the library helping Giles because his van is somewhat unavailable."

"So I guess the only thing left to do now is...wait" assumed Buffy.

"I guess so" agreed Xander, "I'm gunna go spare Oz some mental torture and help out in the library. I guess I'll see you guys at tomorrow's ceremony." Buffy and Willow raised their hands as a sign as goodbye as he got up from his seat and headed down the hall.

"You wanna stay over tonight Buff; I don't want you home alone the night before the big day" offered Willow.

"Thanks Will but I'm thinking about cutting out early. Angel and I made plans to do something the night before graduation, but now that we know graduation equals The Mayors all you can eat buffet and plus Angel and I aren't a couple anymore I'd rather just be alone tonight. Besides you should be with Oz. Get him to take you to a movie or something" said Buffy arguably. "I'll see you in the morning. I love you Will."

"You too Buff, bye" responded Willow as Buffy hugged her and headed off in the direction of the main gate. Faith and Wesley did eventually return to the Library just before the clock struck 7:30 pm. Willow asked Oz if she could spend the night at his place and he agreed without question. Oz offered Faith a ride back to the hospital where the Mayor will be sending somebody to pick her up. Willow disagreed but knew that arguing would get her nowhere. They arrived at Oz's shortly after.

Oz's room was painted a dark red colour and his walls were cluttered with various band posters including his own band, Dingo's ate my baby, posters. He had a double bed that was neatly made and a dark wooden desk in the corner with a laptop perched upon it. His wardrobe was scattered with different camera photos of him, Willow, several members of the Scooby gang and his fellow band members. As Willow entered she got her laptop out of her back pack and lay on the bed with it. Oz sat at his desk and opened his laptop also except he didn't do anything on it. He opened a few internet pages as to look busy but he spent most of the evening glaring at Willow. He had numerous thought pass through his mind like; "How did I find this girl?", "I wonder if she loves me as much as I do her", "God I hope we both make it through tomorrow." They would exchange small take at certain intervals and switch positions around the room every so often. Oz eventually shut down his laptop, got into his bed and picked up a book. He gave Willow the occasional subtle hint to go to sleep but she would just say "be right there" or "I'll just be a minute."
"Will, come to bed? It's almost two thirty. What can you possibly be searching for?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm going over the article about the ascended Demon to see if we missed anything." she replied in a yawn.

"Willow you need to get some rest. We have to be up again in a couple hours and you're exhausted."

"Yeah I know but I-"

"No Will I'm serious, don't you think that we've all at one point or another looked over that article more than twice already? If there was anything we missed we would have found it by now. Just come to be-"

"No Oz, now I'm Serious. If I go to sleep then that means that tomorrow is coming all the more quickly. Tomorrow could be my final day possibly on this planet. Tomorrow could be the day that all my friends die. Tomorrow could be the day that I lose you, Oz. And there are so many things I wanna' do. I never climbed a rock wall, I never told Mrs Tuttle about her odour problem, I never told Xander that in 1st grade it was me who broke the yellow crayon and if tomorrow comes then my chances of doing those things drops to and all time low" Willow exclaimed through her tears. "I could die tomorrow Oz, I could die a virgin and never having technically finished high school and-"
Before she could finish Oz had already taken her head within his hands and kissed her ever so tenderly. He lowered one hand and caressed her neck with it. She pulled away and asked "what are you doing?"

"I'm taking something off of that crazy list of yours" he replied as he beamed at her and she did the same back. Willows laptop was knocked off of the bad during the duration of last night's events and the sun shining through Oz's bedroom window soon awoke the happy couple in the morning. Oz had been awake for about an hour before Willow woke too; he lay there with her stroking her hair softly and watching her sleep. "Morning" he greeted.

"Morning" she beamed. "So that was what they call-"

"Yep."

"I was okay right? I wasn't too much of a slump?"

"No no, don't be ridiculous, you where a perfect amount of slump."

She laughed, "Good, I almost feel a bit guilty."

"Guilty?"

"Well yeah. I mean I could die today, we both could. But in some ways this is the best day of my life."

"Yeah I know the feeling" he said as he softly kissed her forehead.

"Oh my god, what time is it?" she exclaimed as she wriggled out of his embrace and reached over to grasp Oz's bedside alarm clock. It read 9:30 am.

"What, what is it Will?" he mumbled.

"We're late for graduation, we gotta get going! Damn it wear did you throw my

bra?" They gathered what they could find and quickly got dressed into their graduation gowns and hats.

Upon arrival at Sunnydale High School class of 1999 graduation ceremony, Willow took her seat next to Buffy and explained why she was late. Principal Snyder had just finished his speech and welcomed the Mayor onto the stage. "Now without further ado please welcome the Mayor or Sunnydale himself, Mayor Richard Wilkins the III." The Mayor took his place at centre stage in front of the podium with Faith to the right hand side of him. She wore the same attire as she did when she left with Wesley the previous day which meant Faith, much like Buffy, hadn't slept a wink either. Behind the Mayor and Faith stood four muscular, tall and bald men. Two of which were African American, one White and there other had an odd yellow tint to his skin colour. They each wore a black suit, tie and shoes with a white shirt underneath. Each had a pair of tinted sunglasses covering their eyes and they stood facing the audience with their hands together behind their backs. Faiths also wear a pair of these glasses. The mayor took a look out onto the audience. They each wore a maroon and yellow graduation gown and hat. Some chattered away to each other and others looked up at him contently and with respect. He glared at Buffy with such scorn and disgust that she cradled her hands into fist and dented the legs of the chair that she was sitting on. Giles and Wesley scurried out of the entrance to one of hallways to the left of the ceremony and Giles placed something in his jacket pocket. Wesley took a seat at the back with the parents and Giles placed himself up front with the faculty members.

The Mayor began, "Well, what a day this is! Special day. Today is our centennial, the one-hundredth anniversary of the founding of Sunnydale, and I know what that mean to all you kids: not a darn thing. Because today something much more important happens. Today you all graduate from high school. Today all the pain, all the work, all the excitement is finally over. And what's a hundred years of history compared to that? You know what, kids?"

"Oh my God. He's going to do the entire speech" whispered Buffy to Willow in shock.

"Man just ascend already" replied Willow in a whisper.

"Evil!" whispered Buffy humorously. At that moment the eclipse the gang and the Mayor had been counting on had arrived. It was almost ascension time. Faith let her glasses drop down her nose which revealed her eyes to the audience. She nodded at Buffy and Buffy nodded back. "Wait for it..." warned Buffy quietly to Willow.

The Mayor continued "...for all of you it may be that there is a place in Sunnydale's history, whether you like it or not. It's been a long road getting here. For you, For Sunnydale. There was been achievement, joy, good times. And there has been grief. There's been loss. Some people who should be here today... aren't. But we are. Journeys end. And what is a journey? Is it just... Distance travelled? Time spent? No. It's what happens on the way, it's the things that shape you. At the end of the journey you're not the same. Today is about change. Graduation doesn't just mean your circumstances change, it means you do. You ascend... to a higher level. Nothing will ever be the same. Nothing- ARGH!" cried out the Mayor in pain. The students and faculty members mumbled amongst each other as the Mayor continued to cry out in pain. Buffy looked up at Faith.

"Boss!" cried Faith "what's happening?"

"It's starting fire cracker, my organs are shifting making way for ascension. Give the signal Faith, Now!"

"The signal right, I...um...its" Faith was forced to make her decision now. She'd promised her loyalty to the girl in the audience who was counting on her to help her win this fight. She looked back to the Mayor, the man she once considered a Father and a best friend. She froze up again. The students continued to mumble and the men on the stage waited for Faiths signal to begin. She leaned forward to the Mayor. Buffy then feared that Faith had gone back on her word but became deeply confused when Faith kissed him on the cheek and whispered something in his ear as he crouched holding his stomach. "I'm so sorry boss, guess destiny got the upper hand on this one" she'd said. She kicked him in the shoulder causing him to collapse to the floor. The men behind Faith began attacking her. She took the white guard out first and knocked the yellow tinted skinned guards' glasses off revealing that he had only one eye and was a demon. She took him out with her dagger too. She was cornered by the two African American guards and began fighting for her life.

"NOW!" cried Buffy and the Mayor simultaneously.

The students in the audience ripped off their gowns and revealed weapons attached to their clothes underneath. "Good luck! Exclaimed Willow to Buffy over the roar of screaming parents.

"You too!" Buffy bellowed in reply. Willow made her way to the far right corner of the audience. This section of the audience where supplied with crossbows, stakes and battle axes. Giles joined Willow here and ordered the students to hold their fire. Xander made his way also to the top left section of the audience whom were supplied with flame launchers, stakes, knifes and swords. Xander signalled them to hold fire. Growls and roars erupted from within the school as Angel burst through the double doors, the ones Wesley and Giles had entered through, with about a dozen demons. Some of the demons began evacuating the parents out through the school and some of the students with them but before long several dozen vampire forces entered the courtyard. The Mayors vampires waited in a line across the quad. Buffy ran up onto the stage to help out Faith. She brought Kendra's Mr. Pointy and shoved it into through the leg of one of the Mayors lackeys while Faith back hand punched the other into unconsciousness.

"You didn't have to do this Faith; I know what a hard decision it must have been for you and I thank you for making the right choice" declared Buffy. Buffy leant in to hug Faith but Faith took her by the shoulders instead and said

"Yo B I know that where cools now but you should know by now that I don't hug, the occasional dry hump or high five, but no hugs" grinned Faith. Buffy smiled.

"You two make me sick to my stomach!" Neither slayer had noticed the mayor had gotten up from his position on the floor. Buffy tried to attack him but was aghast at the sight of him. He'd lost any indication that he was once partly human. His skin had grown scales and his head became like that of a head of a snake. His suit was ripped all over and his hands wear so dry. He blocked Faith's attack and took her boy the neck. "YOU HAD PROMISE! YOU WERE MINE! I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU COULD HAVE ASKED FOR AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME! YOU WHORE!" spat the Mayor in vexation. Buffy clambered to Faith's aid but was too grasped by the neck. He was so strong.

"Buffy!" cried Willow. Willow gripped her crossbow tightly and began to aim.

"No Willow!" Buffy exclaimed.

"And you! You poisoned the mind of my Faith didn't you? DIDN'T YOU!" roared the Mayor. "How I so look forward to eating you." He hurled Buffy and Faith back into the centre of the audience where they crash landed onto a pile of wooden stools that the students were sitting on not so long ago. Buffy and Faith scrambled to their feet and looked back up at the stage. Faith went to leap back up there but was held back by Buffy. The mayor had begun screaming again. They watched as the Mayor's clothes became piles of cloth upon the stage's rug. His arms shrivelled into little stumps upon his torso until they disappeared fully into it. His legs bound themselves together and grew a layer of dark green scaled skin around them. Then he began to grow. Taller than the two school buildings combined. His eyes stretched back and diagonally up and became black holes of pure anguish.

"Now!" yelled Giles loudly.

"Fire!" yelled Xander as hard as he could too. The students began hurling crossbow arrows at the Mayor but most of them just bounced right off. The fire, while must have hurt, left no trace upon his skin. But the Mayor was cornered. Well calling it the Mayor now seemed a bit of an understatement but Giant Green Snake thing didn't have the ring to it. The Vampires at the back of the quad began to make their move into the courtyard. Angel ordered the students to aim their crossbows. Cordelia adjusted some of the crossbows as they'd been damaged in the clutter.

"Aim for the heart and only the heart people! Ready... Fire!" shrieked Angel.
-Thwang- went the crossbows. Although 80% missed the heart they still made a dent in the vampire horde. The students reached for their battle axes. Some however were to shocked by the men that had just crumbled to dust in front of them. So Oz nudged a lot of them back into reality. "Charge" yelled Angel. The demons went first and took out as many as they could. Then Angel, Oz, Cordelia, Wesley and then the remaining students. Angel and Oz fought side by side for a long time whilst Cordelia fought with Jonathon Livingston whom she had never had a civilised convocation with.

"Xander!" exclaimed Buffy. Xander turned to face her dodging several of the Mayors fire breath attacks.

"Buffy help Angel now, go!" he replied powerfully. She ran down the aisle to the back were the vampires were fighting Angel. She stopped. Frozen. Numerous demon, student and parents corpses lay scattered along the floor of the quad. She noticed a vamp feeding off of Harmony behind one of the hedges and Wesley seemed hurt but breathing among the bodies. She turned backwards and Faith, she was holding a crossbow and firing at the Mayor but was standing over the body of Larry, Xander's high school gay bully. He was lying with his neck snapped and blood dripping from his mouth. Snyder's body was also draping over the stage. She ran to Larry and picked up his Flame thrower. She got into the middle of the aisle and continuously fired at the mayors eyes so that he couldn't see what was happening below.

"FALL BACK!" cried Buffy.

"Fall back" repeated Giles Xander and Willow simultaneously. The students dropped the heavy weaponry and followed Xander, Willow and Giles down towards the raging fight that was happing around Angel. Giles stopped and gazed at Buffy, he nodded at her and she did the same. The allied forces of the rear and front classmates outnumbered the remaining vampires and so no more casualties of students were lost.

"What now B?" grinned Faith.
"Now I draw the Mayors attention with your dagger. He'll follow me through the school and I'll lead him into the library. It's just like you said Faith, to prey on his human emotion. Take this" Buffy handed Faith Mr. Pointy.

"What? Why?" asked Faith confused.

"Because I'm trusting it to you to give to the next slayer called"

"B what do you mean?"
"I mean once I enter the school I need you to run around back and tell Giles that the Mayors trapped and that I made it out. If we depend on me getting out then there's still too much of a possibility that the Mayor will make it out too. And then the town is screwed and possibly the northern hemisphere. Here" she held Mr. Pointy in her hand and waited for Faith to take it.

"B, I don't think I ca-"

"You have to Faith. Please. Look after my friends and my Mom. Do what you must to protect them" Buffy's eyes began to flood with tears as Faith took the stake and hugged her. "It's n-no-now or nev-never" Buffy stammered through her tears.

"Go!"She cried. Buffy staggered quickly back up the aisle to were the Mayor had finished feeding off of Snyder's body. She pulled out the dagger Faith had given her and stood in front of him.

"Oh I couldn't I already ate, but thanks. It was a nice gesture" Buffy grinned as the Mayor dropped Snyder's body out of its mouth and looked down at her. "You see this?" just like the night of battle between Buffy and Faith, the dagger reflected light off of the nearest spotlight and it caught the Mayor's gaze. "I took it from Faith when she told me to kill you with it." The Mayor growled loudly and it echoed around the courtyard. Buffy took a quick glance back. Faith was still positioned at the end of the aisle waiting for Buffy and the Mayor to enter the halls of Sunnydale high. The quad was completely empty and a sudden feeling of relief took over Buffy as none of the bodies seemed to resemble any of her friends. She turned back to face the Mayor. "Don't look so sad, I'll give you it back sure. But only if you can catch me." And with that Buffy took off at an alarming speed towards the main site entrance. She got half way there but realized that the mayor hadn't even flinched. Instead the beast stood there and laughed. Faith ran to Buffy as fast as her legs would carry her. She gripped her by the shoulders.

"Buffy look at me, Look at me" began Faith.

"It won't go after me Faith! Why won't it follo-"

"Because you're not the one he wants B. You said it yourself that I'm the things weak link. It wants me and not 'chu."

"But how?"

"It's just the way it goes B. Guess you could even call it Karma. Here..." Faith snatched her dagger out of Buffy's grasp and replaced it with Buffy's Mr. Pointy.

"...It doesn't suit you anyway" Faith said with a grin. "You said it yourself B. As soon as you see me enter that building you run straight to Giles and tell him to push that big red button okay?
"But I-I-I don't-"

"No B, no buts." Buffy stared at her for a moment and suddenly had that familiar black out sensation again. She was once again back in the library and Giles said

"She's unstable Buffy. We have a rogue slayer on our hands I can't think of anything more dangerous."

In that moment Buffy new the significance of her recent flash backs. She knew that she had to let Faith do this and even though Buffy disagreed with it and she believed Faith was finally back to the Faith she knew before the Mayor, there was always the possibility of a relapse and she knew she had to protect her friends and family from that. Faith had to die. She returned back to existence and made eye contact with Faith. "B, look at me. A smart girl once told me that the hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Well I need you to do that for me Buffy."

Faith kissed her on the fore head and as she did so Buffy mumbled the words "thank you."

Faith set off and ran back towards the Mayor. What she said to him to this day is still unknown but within 15 seconds of her talking to him he was already chasing her towards the entrance. Faith subtlety looked back at Buffy as she ran and as her hair clambered all over her face, Buffy could make out that Faith was winking at her. As soon as she entered the hallway entrance and the Mayor made a gaping hole in the wall next to it as he chased after her, Buffy took off back to the quad, past the main gate to behind the fire exit doors just outside of the library where Giles was waiting with the bomb detonator in hand.
"Giles! Now!" she wailed loudly as she ran towards him at an astonishing pace. He forced the lever of the detonator closed and within five seconds all the windows of Sunnydale high were blasted outwards. The sign above the main entrance was blown off and part of the ceiling collapsed. The doors and entrances flung open revealing the explosion inside and the smoke erupted. The cries of the Mayor echoed throughout all of Sunnydale and Giles and Buffy stayed crouched where they were as they watched their High School that they'd fought tooth and nail to protect was blown to smithereens.

"Buffy, what happened?" asked Giles puzzled.

"That rogue slayer of ours just saved us all" she replied. She looked deeply into his eyes before she got out of her crouched position and joined her fellow survivors across the street. The ambulance's, the police, the fire trucks and the counsellors each came in turn to all students in their own time. The siren of the fire trucks as they came ringed into Buffy's ears longed after they were turned off. She paced up and down the street checking on her each of friends in turn. Oz was being interviewed by a large police man. He escaped the battle with a few battle scars and bruises. Wesley was being loaded into an ambulance upon a gurney and was muttering something under his breath that was to British for Buffy to comprehend. Willow was sitting on one of the schools memorial benches that seemed to survive the explosion and was wrapped tightly in a back blanket and talking to a paramedic. She had several wounds from the crossbow wire and a milled concussion and head trauma. Xander was busy helping some of the fireman clear rubble to form a path to get to whoever was still alive or recover the bodies of those who weren't. Giles was stood at the end of the street and had just finished a conversation with a tall man in a black bullet proof vest and pants. She trudged towards him. He greeted her with a friendly smile and held out his hand towards her. He was holding a partly burnt piece of paper wrapped in a dark red ribbon. It was Buffy's diploma.

"I thought that you might want this. Xander recovered several others from the wreckage and has been helping me to pass them out to surviving students whilst helping to clear the rubble. He's a truly remarkable fellow" declared Giles.

"That he is Giles, that he is. And thank you...for this, I appreciate it" she agreed, "So how're you? Any nasty wounds, cuts or bruises?"

"Just this but compared to other's I was rather lucky." He pulled back his sleeve to reveal a white cast stretching from around his thumb up to his upper arm. "I'll be fine Buffy. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go and talk to our friends about what happened here tonight. God help me." Giles walked steadily to another police officer waiting to ask him a few questions. She stood in that spot for several minutes, she wondered whether she should call her Mom and let her know that she was okay but suddenly froze up at the sight of Angel about 30 yards from where she was standing. They contemplated each other for quite some time, both wanted to move a little closer but both knew that doing so would make it that much harder to move back again. He raised his hand in a sign of goodbye and turned left behind an ambulance. She pressed her hand tightly around her mouth as she began to cry.

"Screw it!" she said aloud, "screw the consequences." She dashed in the direction Angel was standing in and past Giles who turned around wearing an alarmed expression at the sound of somebody running.

"Buffy!" he cried confused. But she didn't hear him; she didn't want to hear him either. Nothing was going to get in her way; not even the devil himself. She reached the spot were Angel had stood and looked in every direction possible. Her eyes washed over several emergency vehicles and news vans, houses and of course the blow up school but no sign of Angel anywhere. She was devastated. It took all her strength not to just break down and cry right there on the pavement. It was Oz's hand in fact that kept Buffy on her feet.

"You made your last chance at love huh Buff" he said sympathetically.

"Yea I guess I did, Oz." She replied solemnly.

"He gave me this to give to you just before the vampires flanked the students." He'd handed her a letter concealed in an envelope addressed to Buffy. She looked down upon it and stroked her fingers over the area of the envelope where Angel had written her name. He smiled and departed into the direction of where Willow was sitting and Buffy was left alone. She perched herself on top of one of the street curbs and tore open the envelope. She placed the envelope, ripped as it was, in her pocket and began to read.

Dearest Buffy,
in my two hundred and fifty eight years of existence I've never been one for goodbyes. And if you're reading this now then that means at least you survived graduation and know that I have never been more proud of you. Somewhere deep down we both knew that this day would come eventually and unfortunately that day is today. I've gone and have no intentions of returning. I want you to know that also during my two hundred and fifty eight years of existence I have never known nor been so irrevocably in love with anybody like you. In our time apart I will cherish the memories you have given to me and I hope you will do the same. You were my first and only true love and want you to never forget even in the darkest of times. Belief in yourself, live, for me.
I love you.

Angel.

She read that letter over and over again. The words seemed to give her closure and the sense that he wasn't really gone but knew that she was only fooling herself. She dried her tears and put on her brave face. She placed the letter back in the envelope and best she could and trudgingly walked back down the street. The gang was gathered around Willow. Cordelia was resting her head on Xander's shoulder and willow was doing the same on Oz's. Giles leant upon the back of the bench while Buffy sat on the grass in front of it facing the school. She crossed her legs and leaned her head back into Willow's lap. "Well this should cause some stir back in England" said Giles.

"Why?" Willow asked puzzled. "All we did was blow up some uber-demon and our high school to boot." She said sarcastically.

"No not that, the death of a Slayer is pretty big news in the council. They've already magically teleported their three finest men here to confirm Faith's death" revealed Giles.

"Already, how D'you know?" Cordie asked.

"Well I've spoken with them" said Giles as he pointed towards three men dressed as police officers. One man wore dark glasses that made it hard for you to see his eyes, another had long hair tied back into a pony tail and the other was completely bald.

"Guys. Take a moment to deal with this. We survived" wailed Oz.

"It was a-hell-ova battle" emphasised Buffy.

"Not the battle" continued Oz, "High school." With that the team left the bench and made their way to Giles's house for what he called 'Post Apocalyptic Tea'. All except Cordelia though, she insisted on checking on Wesley in the hospital. He was fine, just a fractured wrist and head trauma. Nothing major.

[-]

"We got a live one!" exclaimed one of the Firemen as he cleared the rubble and spotted a brunette buried in the dirt. He gripped her by the arms and pulled her to safety. She was badly wounded. Large gashes were scattered all up her legs and arms. She was bruised and bloody all over and had severe burns all up her neck and left side of her face. He lay her down on an ambulance gurney while the paramedics checked her breathing and pulse.

"She's stable but we need to get her to the hospital and fast" asserted the paramedic.

"Isn't that the-" started the pony tailed watcher.

"Certainly matches Mr. Giles' description" interrupted the bald watcher.

"We'll take her to the hospital. Our car is faster and more accessible" persuaded the watcher in glasses.

"No no officer's its fine, we'll take her." stated the paramedic.

"What now?" asked the Watcher with the pony tail in a whisper.

"We follow them you numbskull!" exclaimed the Watcher in the glasses. "C'mon!"

The Watchers watched the ambulance set off towards the hospital and they quickly changed into their civilian disguises while in the cop car. They arrived at Sunnydale Memorial shortly after the ambulance and asked the front desk lady about the brunette girl found at Sunnydale High. They told her that they were family and needed to be notified immediately. They took their seat in the waiting area just as the Scooby's had done just days earlier. The doctor entered shortly and asked for three men waiting for news about a brunette explosion victim.
"Yes, that's us! We're her uncle's. Her mother is out of town and is worried sick" said the bald watcher first.

"Well first I'm going to have to ask for the young girls' name. It seems she wasn't a student at Sunnydale High. Any idea on how she managed to get caught up in the explosion?"

"Her name is Ethel doctor, Ethel Fitzpatrick. And no I'm sorry I'm just as baffled as you are as to why she was at the school. Please is she okay?"

"If you'll follow me please" said the Doctor. The doctor exited first and then the three Watchers shortly after.

"Nice performance" complimented the Watcher with the glasses to his bald colleague.

"Thank you" he replied. They followed the good doctor up to room 142 on the third floor just as Buffy, Xander and Willow did days before only minus the doctor.

"She's in here" said the Doc gesturing his clipboard through the threshold. "I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but you're niece has entered what you call a comatose state. She suffered massive head trauma during the explosion and broke many ribs which caused her severe internal bleeding. During surgery the surgeons where able to stop the bleed out but the damage suffered to your nieces skull is well...um I'm afraid that there is almost no chance that she will ever wake up from this. I'll give you gentlemen a moment and there is a payphone just down the hall if you should need to call somebody."

"Okay doctor, and thank you," said the Watcher with the pony tail as he left the room and shut the door tight behind him. "Great the slayer's batteries have just gone and ran out! Anybody else have any bright ideas?"

...