Heroes & Monsters
Summary: Angel realises that Buffy and Faith come as a package deal – and Faith is more than willing to share. All of them know that their situation would be easier if they embraced the darkness, rather than fight it, but they're afraid of what that will lead to. A(us)/B/F
Author's Note: Obviously, I don't own anything you recognise. This story contains character (un)deaths.
Chapter 1: Secrets & Sacrifice
Even dressed up in her most badass of outfits, Buffy still managed to look every inch the virgin sacrifice. Pale, flawless skin, perfect hair, big green eyes you could drown in… despite her hard expression there was still something so innocent about her.
That was, of course, until you looked down and saw the knife she was holding. Now that was a sacrificial blade. And even if Buffy looked the part, it wasn't her throat about to be slashed, her blood spilled to appease some dark god.
It was Faith's, and as Faith surveyed the girl in front of her, her not-quite-sister, she reflected on the irony of the fact that the other girl's intention was, quite clearly, to tear out her heart. Fair enough really – Buffy had taken Faith's metaphorical heart long before this moment, when they stood side by side in battle.
Faith was now no longer standing, and the girl who had once been her ally and friend was looking down with her – holding out that wicked-sharp blade.
"You gonna kill me, B? With my own knife?" She fully expected her query to be answered sharply and quickly, but had no such luck.
"That wouldn't be fair." Buffy's voice was cold, and her beautiful eyes were narrowed to match. Faith stood shakily up, wiping blood that could have been from either one of them from the side of her face. She was an inch away from the other girl now.
"So what, we stand here? One on each side of the battlefield? There's no space between us, B. We're the same, you and me. We're Slayers. Angel isn't. I understand you more than he ever will." The blonde's eyes widened.
"Is that why you did it then? Is that why you shot him?" The coldness had left her voice now, and that pure sweet innocence shone through again.
It might have been panic, but in that moment something gripped Faith, something that told her that this was her last chance. Maybe it wouldn't spare her life, but at least she could let Buffy know how she felt, try to explain in some way why she had done such terrible things. But words had, for once, failed her completely, so after what felt like a life time of staring into Buffy's eyes, Faith leaned forwards, and pressed her lips against the other girl's.
Faith's face was wet when she pulled away, unable to look back at Buffy. She wasn't aware of the tears that had started to glisten in the blonde's eyes, that were hastily blinked away.
"I love you," Faith whispered, so quietly she didn't even know if Buffy could hear her. "I'm sorry." She wasn't sure what kind of response to expect – if any.
"Why do you have to make everything difficult?" Buffy hissed through clenched teeth. "Why do you have to make it harder for me to save him? I love him, do you hear me? Him." Her words hurt more than any blow Faith had ever felt, deeper than any wound. She felt herself slacken. Nothing mattered now, and she barely felt Buffy clip the handcuffs round her wrists, the pause following was unbearable. When Buffy finally slammed her head against the wall – viciously, as though intending one final humiliation, Faith not only expected it, but welcomed it.
*
Buffy didn't feel like she'd won. Faith's knife held limply in one hand, and her unconscious body dragging helplessly in the other, she felt terrible. How am I meant to feel? Guilty? She poisoned the man I love. Buffy needed Faith – or at least, her blood, to save Angel. But Faith had committed her crime out of love too, and some part of Buffy had known that all along. She'd seen it in Faith's eyes whenever the two of them looked at each other. And somehow, in some strange way, she had felt it too. The jolt of electricity when they'd brushed against each other, the excitement she'd felt when Faith had said her name, and the yearning when the other girl wasn't around. She'd been too scared to say anything, and that was because of how she felt about Angel as well as her feelings for Faith. So she'd said nothing, kept it a secret, even when Faith went to the other side. The guilt had almost consumed her. Even then though, she had felt angry with the other Slayer. She was angry with her for complicating things, for jeopardising her relationship with Angel by making her have these feelings. Angry that she had made Buffy feel guilty for crimes she had not committed.
She was almost at the mansion now, her arm tired from dragging Faith along the ground. She paused for a moment to unashamedly examine the other girl's face. She looked harmless now, younger and softer, without her usual smirk or pout. Time was running out though, and Buffy lifted Faith into her arms for the final few steps up to the mansion, feeling like an ancient priest, offering up a sacrificial lamb. As she stepped through the doors, she was blinking constantly, trying to keep away tears. She wished so hard that everything could be simpler. That Faith could just have been evil.
*
The pain was almost unbearable. It would have killed a human, but for a vampire – and one who had been to Hell at that – it was just enough to cause unrelentless agony, increasing all the time. But then, miraculously, just when he thought he couldn't hold on any longer, she stepped through the door.
She looked like an angel – his beloved saviour. But she wasn't an angel, and she was about to make herself less than human. She held a knife in one hand – a razor-sharp, evil-looking thing – and in the other she held the girl who had wounded him, who had once been the closest thing she could have to a sister. Who loved her. She was going to save him, but it would condemn her.
"You don't… have to… do this." He could barely get the words out.
"Sssh, yes, yes I do." She was beside him now, whispering softly and stroking his cheek. "It's ok, don't worry, it'll all be ok." She lifted Faith, still unconscious, and tilted her head to the side. Taking the knife, her hand now shaking slightly, she drew a long, thin cut along the dark Slayer's throat. Beads of blood blossomed along the line, and Angel turned away sharply, despite all his senses screaming at him to lean in and sink his teeth into her soft, white flesh.
"It's ok," repeated Buffy. "You have to do this – you can save the world. She won't. It's too late for her." That wasn't true – it wasn't too late for Faith. She had a soul, and therefore she had a chance. But everything he knew, the wrongness of what he wanted so badly to do, was pushed aside by the all-consuming bloodlust bubbling up inside him.
He turned back, feeling his face change. Blood was now running in a thin stream down Faith neck, and across Buffy's hand. He looked down at Faith, this sacrifice, and at Buffy, once so utterly pure and innocent, now stained with blood. He had done this to her. He had made her a monster. His last shred of willpower collapsing, he seized Faith's shoulders.
*
In a last, horrible trick from Fate, Faith's eyes fluttered blearily open. Buffy let go and stood up, turning away in shock and self-disgust.
Angel never saw her wake up. Before Faith had even realised what was happening, he had buried his teeth in her throat.
***
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