Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters written about here. I am not making any money from them either. I am just borrowing them for my own entertainment.
Warning: This story lightly alludes to a female/female romantic relationship. If this offends you, please go no further.
Note: This is just a short one-shot story that dribbled out of my brain one night. I haven't bothered to redraft it, so its not brilliant.
(Thanks must go to OktoberLibra for beta reading this piece)
The blackness of the night was all consuming and as she ran faster and faster down the dank and narrow alley, it felt like the world itself could swallow her up at any moment. Her muscles screamed in pain as she forced herself onward. She had to escape. She just had to. She had to keep running. On and on, never stopping. Her lungs were burning and every gasping breathe was an effort, but her pace never slowed, not even for a second. Because behind her in the darkness was the thing she feared most in this world. And to stop running would be to surrender herself to a fate so much worse than death.
So far, all she had been able to hear was the sound of her own heartbeat as she pounded onwards, but soon another sound joined it, one that made her blood run cold. It was the screaming of her watcher, the pain and terror in that noise couldn't be mistaken. And as Faith carried on her endless run, the sounds of her watcher's slow and agonising death resounded in her head making her feel sick. God, if only she could get out of this place! She didn't even notice when the first of her tears began to well in her eyes, nor did she feel them tracking down her face as she moved relentlessly on. All that existed was cold, hard terror. She was in hell.
"You look like hell"
"Thanks, way to sweet talk a girl", Faith replied, looking over at the petite blonde walking next to her. She had to hand it to her, the girl never minced her words.
Buffy rolled her eyes slightly as she stole another look at her dark counterpart. The cemetery they were patrolling was frustratingly quiet tonight and even the leaves in the trees seemed still and silent, with not the slightest of breezes wafting through.
There was however, a very bright moon that, in its almost full state, managed to light up the ground they were treading on. It also meant that, though dark, Buffy could see Faith all too well. The soft glow of the moon made her dark hair shine but also highlighted the grey circles beneath the girl's eyes and betrayed the paleness of her skin.
"I'm just saying what I see," she shrugged.
As they entered a clearing and took up positions either side of a headstone Buffy felt a sudden flash of irritation at Faith's continued silence. She watched now as the younger slayer carefully avoided any kind of eye contact and tried to force an air of indifference.
"I'm fine" the eventual reply was delivered in a short and clipped tone that suggested quite the opposite.
Buffy raised her eyebrows in a disbelieving look. She could never understand how Faith be so loud and out there most of the time, and then clam up completely at the first sign of genuine feelings and emotions. She seemed totally set on fighting off any attempt at friendship and kindness that was sent her way. It was sad really...
Buffy never managed to voice her doubts about her friend's 'fineness' though, because at that moment a vampire leapt into the clearing intent on making them his next meal.
Faith saw the slender looking vampire lunge towards them at a fair speed but failed to respond as quickly as her counterpart. She stood and watched Buffy engage the vampire and wondered for a moment if she could just let B deal with this one. She was so tired, and while normally always ready for a good slay, tonight all she wanted to do was go home and curl up in bed. She hadn't slept in so long and it was starting to make her feel ill and weak.
"Faith! A little help?" Faith turned to where Buffy had shouted at her and saw that the vamp was indeed a speedy one. Buffy managed to land only one punch before the creature was out of reach once more. He dodged most of the blonde's attempts at hitting him and what was worse, he had a very smug look permanently plastered on his face.
Faith forced herself to focus and went to Buffy's aid. Normally they worked perfectly together but tonight she couldn't seem to stay in sync with her blonde counterpart. It almost felt like she was making things worse as her reflexes continually failed her. She tried hard to land some punches but she was always one step behind. If Buffy had noticed she didn't show it, for which Faith was grateful.
The fight drew on, neither side gaining the advantage, until all at once everything changed. Faith lunged forward to stake the vampire but in her weaken state was too slow. In lightening speed, the creature had whisked the stake out of her hands and turned it on her. As the stake plunged into her stomach, Faith's mind went oddly blank. She heard the wet squelch of the sharpened wood piecing soft flesh. Saw the blood begin to seep out and soak her white t-shirt. But everything was strangely numb and far away. She turned vaguely to Buffy and watched her as she shouted something and ran over to finish the vampire off. Then in no time at all the vamp was history and Buffy was standing in front of her, eyes wide with fear and shock, her mouth moving, obviously forming some kind of words but Faith couldn't register what they were.
Then all at once she was falling. And strong arms came to hold her and ease her gently to the ground. Things were getting dimmer now but she was acutely aware of the fact that the blonde was holding her, the comfort of her arms warming her suddenly chilled body. And though she couldn't make out the words, the sound of Buffy's voice was comforting. "Strange", she thought; she was about to die, and the only thing she could focus on was the feel of B holding her...
Buffy sat on the edge of her bed and watched Faith toss and turn in a feverish sleep. Her dark hair sprawled across the pillow and a sheen of sweat upon her furrowed brow.
Seeing the other slayer like this was incredibly disconcerting to Buffy who only knew Faith as strong and fearless. Never did the girl show any kind of weakness.
In fact, the last time she had seen Faith this helpless had been when that kissing-toast guy had tried to kill her. Buffy closed her eyes as she remembered the terrified screams of the younger girl, Faith had really been scared. And to this day she had never told Buffy exactly what had been done to her watcher. Though judging by the brunette's panic, she figured she probably didn't want to know anyway.
Faith had always looked and acted older than Buffy; but here, as she slept, she looked much more her own age and Buffy couldn't help but feel a wave of affection for the girl.
The moment Faith got staked replayed over and over in Buffy's mind. It had all happened so fast. She shuddered as the vision of Faith lying blood soaked and motionless on the ground invaded her mind. She had never been more scared than at that moment.
Thankfully Giles and the others had made a good job of patching her up and thanks to some magical help from Willow, the wound was well on it's way to healing. But it had been suggested that until then Faith should stay at the Summers' house. Buffy had tried hard to ignore the mix of emotions she had felt at that suggestion, but now as she watched the younger slayer sleeping, she couldn't deny she felt - something.
"No...no…don't..", Faith's feverish murmurs became agitated and her head began to thrash from side to side. Immediately recognising it for a nightmare, Buffy reached out a hand to gently tried shake her awake. Faith's eyes flew open in terror, at the same time that a sudden realization dawned on Buffy. Her younger counterpart had never properly talked about the kakistos incident, she had simply pretended to be over it. But what if she had been suffering these nightmares all along? After all, she had been off her game ever since the night they had killed the cloven vampire. No wonder Faith hadn't been at her best tonight; she was exhausted.
"B..." Faith's voice was husky from sleep and came out as part questioning, part pleading. Her dark eyes were still clouded and glazed, indicating that she was only semi-aware.
"It's okay, you're okay", Buffy replied softly, her protective instincts suddenly kicking in to overdrive at the sight of her weakened and frightened friend.
And suddenly, before she even thought about it, she had slipped into the bed beside her counterpart. She carefully wrapped her arms around Faith and whispered softly in her ear, "You could have told me, asked for help..."
Normally she wouldn't have risked doing such a thing, intimacy and friendship was something that Faith tended to avoid at all cost, but it seemed that Faith was only semi-aware now and the urge to protect her and make her feel safe was overwhelming. The staking incident had shaken Buffy to her core, she had suddenly been forced to realise just how much she cared for the other slayer, and just how empty life would be without her. Tonight had proved just how quickly life could be snuffed out. So Buffy lay as close as possible to Faith now, arms gently holding her, and she let the steady heartbeat reassure her.
Faith closed her eyes and instantly snuggled into Buffy. The warmth and softness of the blonde's body close to her own was comforting. She felt herself beginning to slip back into unconsciousness as the sound of Buffy's breathing soothed her to sleep. But before succumbing to what she knew would be a much more contented sleep, she murmured, "Thanks B."
All Buffy could do was smile and softly reply, "What are friends for?"
She too then found herself drifting off into a deep slumber, basking in the wonderful feeling that she was just where she was supposed to be.
And there they lay, the chosen two, asleep in each others arms. What the new day would hold, neither knew...