Closure

Buffy the Vampire Slayer post S7 "Chosen"

A.N. So this is the prologue for a new story about Faith. We probably won't see the Scooby Gang for a long, long while after this chapter...if at all. This'll mainly be about Faith and the new life she has to find. New characters, maybe a few flashbacks from Faith's life before Sunnydale, maybe we'll see Faith in a way we've never seen her before. After all the future is never what people think . . .

Prologue: Getting Away

It had been exactly four days, twelve hours, and thirty-six minutes since she'd been on the bus with Robin talking about surprises. Four days, twelve hours, and thirty five minutes since she'd actually thought that Robin might be okay and maybe they'd have a go at an actual relationship—something she wasn't really familiar with.

None of that mattered though because Robin didn't have a future. Not even twenty-four hours after they'd rushed him to the nearest hospital in the nearest town the doctor came out and told them he didn't make it.

Faith had never been that close with a guy before so she didn't really know how she was supposed to react when the one she was kinda dating dies. The hours afterward Buffy, Giles and the rest watched her like she was a timebomb or something. She didn't know how she was supposed to be feeling . . . but she knew that she felt really angry. Those hours were kinda a blur with the going to the bar and getting drunk as hell . . . but she did remember waking up the next morning in an alley with a killer headach, bloody knuckles, and the wall of a building all torn up—kinda like when she was in Los Angeles helping Wes capture Angel and she trashed her former Watcher's shower.

Luckily though it hadn't been some guy she'd waled on . . . or even demon considering she was piss drunk and not in control of her actions. Three days, six hours, and four minutes after waking up in that alley . . . she was in a cemetery. She was pretty sure that she really hated cemeteries despite being the Slayer. Or a Slayer. She'd never really been the Slayer. That was Buffy's gig . . . a gig Faith didn't really want in the first place. Now there were Slayers all over the place and no one would be the Slayer. Or maybe Buffy still was. Like a queen or something.

She turned her head, her eyes falling on a mausoleum a few yards away. She remembered when she was a kid and the only pet she'd ever had died. It was this dog she'd found one day wandering the streets while her lame excuse for a mother was sleeping off the night before. The dog was small, probably only a couple of weeks old. Little pit bull that musta got seperated from its mother. Either that or the mom didn't want it. Kinda like Faith.

So she'd taken the dog home, hid it in her room, and saved scraps of her food and fed it to the little mut while her mother was out for the night. Obviously only being like six at the time she hadn't known that the dog was too young for solid food and naturally it died just days after she found it. She hadn't cried or anything when it stopped breathing. Just took it to the cemetery and buried it next to a mausoleum.

Ever since the sight of mausoleums made her twinge a little. She never let anyone see or realize what she was doing . . . but yeah. Big bad rogue Slayer who did almost four years in a federal prison and mausoleums still made her twinge.

"Faith."

The dark-haired Slayer turned her head. Buffy had her hand on her fellow Slayer's shoulder. Faith nodded, taking a couple of steps forward. She bent down, snatched a handful of dirt and stood back up. The priest was saying something but Faith wasn't really paying attention. There wasn't anything the priest said that Faith wanted to hear. Finally the priest stopped talking and Faith took another step forward, making sure not to fall in to the empty grave.

She'd done that once in a dream and really didn't wanna do it again.

The dirt felt gritty in her hand and she clenched her fist a little. Without a second thought she threw the dirt in the rectangular hole. She felt Xander's hand on her shoulder and she shrugged it away. After all these years he still didn't understand that he didn't really mean anything to her. With her new outlook on life she didn't wanna bust his chops . . . but there wasn't anything he could do for her. The last time she'd let someone in—Robin, the Mayor—they just ended up leaving. The thought was grimmer than she liked but it was true.

People die, that's just the way it is.

She decided she didn't want to be here anymore. She brushed the last of the dirt off and started to walk away. It didn't take long for her to realize that Buffy was following her. "Faith, wait!"

Faith sighed, turning around. "What do you want, B?"

"Where are you going?" Buffy said. "It's not over yet."

"I came, I saw . . . I'm done," Faith let her old sarcastic side slip out. It was easier to get away this way.

"It's okay," Buffy said, "We all know how much he meant to you."

Faith shook her head, "No. You don't. Simple as that. I'm not you. I don't cry myself to sleep over a boy and I don't get caught up in the past. He's dead. It's done. And I'm moving on." She walked away.

Apparently Buffy didn't hear her because not even five seconds later the blonde Slayer was in front of her and stopped her. "This isn't right. You should talk to someone, maybe-"

"Buffy, just let it go," Faith said. They were quiet for a minute. "I'm leaving."

"The funeral?" Buffy said.

Faith shook her head, "I can't stay here. I've never been one for groups, B. You know that. And I don't stay in one place for too long."

"You don't have to run anymore, Faith," Buffy said. "You can stay with us, help us with the Slayers."

"No," Faith said, "That's your gig. I need to find my own."

"I'm not going to change your mind, am I?" Buffy took a deep breath. "Didn't think so. Well . . . just remember that you can always come back, okay? Anytime you need help or whatever. Sister Slayers?"

Faith nodded, "Sister Slayers." Without another word Faith took off. She felt Buffy watch her as she left. She wondered if she'd ever see them again, the 'Scooby Gang'. She kinda figured not . . . but the future is never what people think. If she did, if she didn't . . . it didn't really matter. She just needed to find who she was first. Maybe one day she'd come back. Maybe not.

Right now she just needed to get away.

To Be Continued.

Thoughts? Questions? Suggestions? Oh, and inspiration for this fic happened while I was watching an episode of Tru Calling, the episode called "Closure" (which is where the title came from). Just thought I'd mention that. Never seen it before? Check it out, if you want. After all . . . it may give some insight into what future chapters bring.