Disclaimer - Buffy the Vampire Slayer does not belong to me, nor does Angel.
Authors Note: I would like to thank my new beta Aithril, you've done wonders sorting out the errors in the chapter, and making it sound better!
A Different Kind of Hellmouth
Los Angeles
The lights in the cellblock flickered out, plunging the row into complete darkness. Almost immediately surprised voices called out, asking what was going on. Some sounded annoyed while others cheered, glad at the apparently early lights out. It was still early, and that wasn't supposed to happen for another three hours.
Peering through the bars of the window, some of the inmates saw the cells on the block opposite to them were unaffected. A guard came down, telling them that the problem would be sorted out soon. Faith sat at the foot of the bed with her back against the wall. The bulbs had flickered on and off periodically for the last hour or so, and she figured it was something to do with the electricity. There was nothing to worry about whatsoever.
It could not have been more than five minutes later when the block was engulfed in a hazy blue light that slowly grew brighter and bigger. It moved along the row, and woman of various ages pressed their faces close to the bar to try and see where it was going; they were struck between curiosity, fear, and awe. This certainly beat staring at the wall or rereading a book until they could get another.
The light was oval in shape, and it moved in a straight line, stopping every few seconds as if searching for something. It almost seemed like an intelligent entity. Needless to say, Faith was just as interested as the rest of the women. Only she however had a sneaking feeling that this wasn't your everyday freaky unexplainable occurrence. Somewhere down the hall, one of the inmates mimicked the X-Files theme tune. The guards approached the light cautiously; it either didn't notice or did not deem them to be a threat because it continued forward in its steady pace.
Faith stood, walked a few steps, and came to a stop at the bars and eyed the light; it halted too, a few feet from her. Abruptly, it disappeared. And then something else came back in its place. This was an unmistakable portal, for it swirled round and round like a whirlpool, it was actually rather hypnotizing.
Faith moved back step by step but knew that if this thing was here for her, it wasn't likely to leave without her. She was correct in that assumption, and the portal grew larger as it got closer. The bars creaked and groaned and bent outward as the powerful force drew it inward. The bars were sucked inside the portal, and seconds later Faith pulled in the same direction. She and it disappeared, leaving no trace of the portal's presence other than the missing bars of the cell. There was a long moment of silence, and then panic ensued.
Sunnydale
It had been another uneventful night for Buffy; she strolled along the damp grass of the park with Willow alongside her. They were getting to the stage where they wanted to call it a night. Streetlamps guided their way as they left the park to walk toward the houses nearby; everything was perfectly quiet, so much so that if a demon even breathed, the two friends would hear it. The complete lack of activity had been around for the last four days; either evil was taking a holiday, or they were cooking up some huge plan. Buffy kind of hoped it was the former; it would be nice to have a few nights off.
But it appeared even that was too much to ask for.
The Slayer and Witch heard rather than saw the thing that came towards them. A streetlamp crunched as though some force was dragging it from its place in the cement and dragging it along the path. Buffy and Willow spun around, the noise was deafeningly loud in the area that had been so silent a few seconds earlier. A new stake was clutched firmly in her hand; her hand slackened when she saw the portal.
"Uh, Buffy…I don't think a stake is gonna help here," Willow pointed out in a voice that was a cross between amazed and afraid.
They both began to move backward wanting to leave but fascinated enough to want to stay and see what would happen next. The portal stopped and began to swell in size. Buffy took Willow's arm and moved her backward before ordering "run!" She didn't need to be asked twice. Buffy decided to take her own advice seconds later but was, unfortunately for her, too late. She felt herself being sucked into the portal inch by inch and grabbed a streetlamp that had escaped its earlier devastation. Her grip was shaken, however, and as she slipped, she realised it didn't matter anyway; the pole had come loose from the pavement.
Willow spun around, but before she could even shout out for her friend, Buffy was gone. So too was the portal. Across the road a dog started barking as its owner shuffled to the door, furious with the extra loud disturbance. Willow was not in an explaining mood; she took off at a run through the park before the homeowner could step outside.
Sunnyhell
A group of garbage cans was not the best landing spot. Nevertheless, that was precisely the place where the portal decided to spit Faith out. She pushed a can away from her in annoyance, and it clattered to the floor before rolling across the alley to stop against the opposite wall. Not only was she wearing a less than appealing orange prison issued clothes, she also stunk of whatever was in the cans too. This was definitely not how she had envisioned her first day of freedom. Actually, it was her first night; grey clouds covered the moon, and there were no other lights to help her see. She was assuming she was still in Sunnydale; but when a portal pops out of nowhere, picks you up and throws you out, nothing was a certainty.
Faith brushed herself off and immediately set about assessing her current situation. It was night now, and the immediate area was void of any other life, but come dawn, people would begin filtering out of their homes to start the new day. People would easily spot her, and she was not planning on skulking through the shadows now that she had her unexpected, but welcomed, freedom. Finding new clothes was first on her agenda. Second…she would make it up as she went along.
As she stepped out of the alley and onto the main street, she had no difficulty in recognizing where she was. It was Sunnydale all right. She recognised the street, the shops…or at least she thought she did. The place looked the same, but she didn't remember the walls of the Espresso Pump being covered in graffiti, nor shop windows being broken. Faith walked towards one of the shops and peered inside. She definitely didn't recall demons sitting around civilian establishments smoking and laughing at the caged owner either.
If Faith's landing was bad, then Buffy's was downright awful and cold. The blonde pulled herself onto the safety of the docks. Being chucked from a dizzying portal into icy waters was not a good way to spend the night. The air was already cool, and now she shivered as she wrung water out of her clothes and hair. She shook her head and droplets went flying. Thinking was a good way to block out the cold, but so was walking and that would get her places. Buffy was at Sunnydale docks, or at least she knew that much. But it seemed pointless to get sucked into the portal only to be brought a couple of miles from her last location. Maybe it was some kind of trickster demon. She rather hoped it was; pounding him for messing her around would be funny.
She set off in the direction of her home, intent on phoning Willow and easing her probable panic at the little disappearing act. But true top Sunnydale form; a scream broke her attention before she could take more than a couple of steps. Buffy raced toward the ongoing cry for help and wasted no time in identifying and dusting a vampire. The screamer was a kid of around thirteen; she held a full to the brim rucksack in her grasp. It looked like someone was skipping town. Instead of the gratitude that Buffy expected, the girl gaped at her in horror before shouting, "Are you stupid or something? You don't go around killing vampires! Now the whole pack will come here!" Before the slayer could get a word in, the girl had fled across the docks.
"She's right, you know," a familiar voice spoke out from the darkness in a smug voice. "The whole pack will come here, luckily for me I got here first so that means I get first taste." Cordelia sauntered out with a grin on her face.
"You've got to be kidding me," Buffy answered in disbelief. She wasn't sure whether to laugh that a newly vamped Cordelia was planning on taking her on, or be sad that she had been turned. Buffy moved smoothly into a fighting stance and eyed Cordelia carefully. The once popular - now creature of the night circled her with a hungry look. It registered in Buffy's mind that Cordelia did not look like your average new vampire. In fact she looked very much at home being a member of the undead. For the first time since arriving Buffy suddenly realised this might not be the Sunnydale she knew.