Unbidden

The Lore of a Demonic Pretension

Notes: See Chapter One if you want to read Disclaimer/Summary and all that Jazz.

Current Beta: Danielle (love to you! Here's to an annoying busride complete with screaming brats!)

Chapter Two: Faces Without Meaning

USA- Cleveland, OH. 5/4/04 23:44:00

Faith stood on the ledge of a building looking downward and breathing heavily. Well if it was not dead, than where was it? Her inner-question was soon answered, however, when a fist drove between her shoulders and sent her doubling to her knees. "You like it rough, I get it," she mumbled, shaking her head to rid herself of the apparent pain shocking through her system. "I'm just not in the mood tonight," Faith returned, hopping to her feet and landing a blow to the vampire's jaw. "I've been to the Hellmouth. This place's Grandma's picnic compared to Sunny-D. Gee, I even was there to see it explode and all... but you vamps just keep comin' back, keep rising, and keep giving me a reason not to move back out to Boston." She grumbled as she smacked a roundhouse to his ribs and caused the vamp to howl with rage. "You just don't know when to quit, do ya? Sure, my name's not as crazy as 'Buffy' the vampire slayer, but B's pretty washed up right now. Be happy you get a little spar time with good ole Faith. Gotta love the pun to my name..."

The teaching... leading and all that stuff- it was not Faith's forte. Truthfully, she never actually trusted her own leadership after the run-on with Caleb's set up near the vineyard. It was that and the fact that the Hellmouth had also chosen to claim the life of Robin Wood along with its own memories that drove her to a madness which allowed her to remain behind from the Scooby excursion (well, more like migration) across the globe. She was rather quick to volunteer herself to the services of Cleveland, ready and willing to beat the 'living daylights' (or what remained of them) out of the walking undead with sheer revenge on her mind. Now, however, Faith was simply drawn into a dull state of boredom. The amateur Hellmouth had been quiet for weeks, nothing interesting seemed to be stirring up and, on top of it all... the closest people she had grown to remotely consider friends were on the other side of the globe. It was not long before she came to the conclusion that yes, she was alone yet again. This brief period reminiscing, however, would cost her dearly. It was now two against one.

Faith closed her eyes and winced in hopes that the fist sailing her way would not manage to clock her across the face. She was being held back by one vampire that she just could not seem to break free from, needless to say- she was struggling. Faith, of course, would not admit this little factoid to anyone. Not even -SMACK- The opposing vampire managed his feat. She nailed Faith in the nose, and the blood gushing from said nose now only fueled her anger. The slayer narrowed her eyes, ignoring her bleeding nose and bending herself forward carefully in an attempt to lob the vampire behind her forward. She would get out of this, definitely... she just wanted to spend a little time with the foreplay. Always the foreplay.

The vampire on her back emitted an angered howl as he was hoisted off the ground and onto her back, though he refused to let up on the grip around her neck. All of a sudden, however, the weight from her back disappeared and she became a rather unwilling ashtray. Within seconds, the other vampire's dust was also whirling away in the wind. The one responsible for dusting those two in record timing was a man Faith had never met before. He was wearing signature generic blue jeans and a black polo-shirt and although the collar was neatly folded, the top three buttons were all undone. A silvery chain hung around his neck, but whatever was on the chain was hidden behind his shirt. His hair was black, but his eyes were a mysteriously enchanting shade of green. He looked to be in his late teens or possibly early twenties, and the crooked smirk that crossed his face after he was clapping his hands together as if 'wiping off' the dust, reminded her vaguely of Angelus. Perhaps it was this very reason that caused something inside her to snap. Faith whipped around and threw her fist towards his stomach.

The man snapped his hand around her wrist before she was able to land a punch. "Well well well... Seems to me that somebody's forgotten their manners." He kept a firm hold on her arm, but continued to stare her in the eyes. There was a darkness inside of his that could not quite be understood, almost as if he was the one child at school that never had a puppy. His fangs, however justified, were not like vampire fangs. The rest of his dentition was fairly straight and, well, white. His fangs were only visibly elongated canines and nothing more. "Hold your punches, damn... I'm not a vampire."

"Y-You've got the fangs," Faith suggested with a heavy breath, narrowing her eyes and winding up for the punch. "Fair enough," she suggested choppily as she sent her fist sailing towards his face.

The man sighed heavily, keeping her arm in place and allowing his tongue to roll across his fangs as if he were observing this for the first time in his life. After this was accomplished, he frowned, "Hmm, yeah, guess I do. You still wanna stake me?" He cocked his head daringly, releasing her hand and stepping back, crossing his arms as he allowed a heavy sigh to escape his lips. "Well? You got me, you gonna stake me? You know damn well I'm not a vampire. I don't have the shiny yellow eyes," he pointed upward. "And I can't really say I've got much as far as the taste 'n blood's concerned. Actually, blood's pretty nasty. Look, you're busy, I know... I can just... leave if I'm intruding?"

"No... go on, I'm game," Faith said breathlessly, reaching both hands up in a defensive stance. "We can do this however you want. First, I get to ask you what the hell you are."

"My mommy told me never to speak with strangers... sooo... I don't think we'll be talkin' much more. Sorry, babe," the creature began to back away slowly, but Faith clued in faster than he had expected her to. She dropped to the ground immediately and slid her leg out and, with one fell-swoop, she caused the creature to fall smack to the pavement on his back.

"Well then maybe I should talk with your mommy," Faith quipped angrily. She stood above him and placed a foot on his chest, as if that were actually enough pressure to hold him still. "Don't squirm, it hurts less," she added. "What am I supposed to call you, hmm? Hey you? Idiot with fangs?"

"It's Zaren," he said slowly- angrily, letting out a distraught groan. "...'s everything you ever need to know about me. Got that?" His hands clapped around her lower thigh and he pulled her to the ground as well with a quick jolt of his hands. Then, with inhuman speed, he was towering over the fallen slayer as well. "Didn't your Watcher ever teach you not to let down your guard?" He shook his head, letting out a snort and beginning to walk off. His last comment, however, grabbed Faith's attention. This thing knew she was a Slayer? Granted she was pretty well-known around these parts... it still irked her. To Faith, it seemed this creature was a bit too well-informed.

"Right-O, Z-man," Faith called after him. "So what are you then? Some emo-band freak looking for his place in the world?"

Zaren froze, obviously angered by this comment for some unspoken reason. He turned his head slowly so that in the shadows, his deep green eyes reflected in a very menacing manner towards hers. "You're not ready for me yet," he said deviously. "I just made a mistake."

It was safe to say... this demon happened to have Faith's curiosity sparked.

---

Flight 333. Rome, Italy to Lhasa, Tibet. 5/4/04 06:00:09

"I never stopped keeping track of them," Willow spoke to the piece of paper in her hands while she nervously ran her fingers across the faces of the people in the photo. "I-I mean, there was a while I was so angry with you..." she inhaled sharply, closing her eyes for a few moments to regather her thoughts. "...and a bit with the time that Tara- but I never stopped completely," the redhead argued, brushing her finger across one face in particular. "I was so convinced that we were meant to meet at a different place and a different time- but now we have to... aaa-and I'm just so scared," she whispered.

It was funny, really. Willow was more than the average self-proclaimed wiccan now. She was an accomplished witch with powers comparable thus far to no other. It was hard to believe she had come such a long way from the high school bookworm (and slight self-proclaimed loser) she had once been. Yet in all her light and glory, stirring up a nervous conversation with an aging photograph was the best her will would allow for her to do at this moment. Her nerves were not settled by the food provided on the aircraft, either. "I wish the circumstances were different," she added as her throat tightened a bit and caused her to choke slightly on her words. "I wish we didn't need you. We shouldn't be dragging you into this. I wish I needed you... but I don't." This is what she kept telling herself, at least. Since when was it legal to be this nervous?

--

"Mister Oz?" A young voice announced its presence before the meditating young man. Known to many around there, he was also a werewolf. He was dressed in all white which was quite the new look for him, but he had to admit it felt rather refreshing. "There's a woman here to see you," she giggled. "She says it's important."

Oz kept his eyes closed. He had picked up her scent miles away, but he did not want to believe that she had finally seeked him out. How long had it taken? Why was she here? Why now? There had to be a reason- a purpose... a problem. "Okay," Oz replied simply to the young girl who raced off to retrieve the visiting witch.

When Willow stepped into the room, Oz turned slowly around to face her, his eyes moving up to meet hers. There was an awkward silence for the longest time, and Willow actually felt herself turning red in both embarrassment and fear.

For a while, Oz doubted what he saw before him. He knew it was her, though, every single one of his senses confirmed that. In the beginning, he simply believed his nose was playing tricks on him. All of this was brought into the light, however, when he felt her form standing behind him, nervous and petrified as ever. He had not sensed such fear from the redhead in quite some time, and it nearly tore him to pieces. Since when did he become an object of pain? A beacon of sorrow? The man slowly turned his head to meet her cowering green eyes. The silence lasted too long, and whistling of the wind seemed to fill the emptiness as it pounded the door unforgivingly. Neither of the two figures had words to say, and this proved to be a problem. At long last, the man clad in white robes straightened up and cleared his throat. He never was one to speak more than necessary, but now... now was necessary. "Willow. You look good."

---

Rome Three Months and some hours earlier...

"Buffy, why don't you understand? I've stood by your side in times that even the strongest people would run away- I've done more for you than you give me credit for, and dammit- I was there, still, on your side when your boyfriend turned evil and started to terrorize and torture-"

"Angel." Buffy shook her head, a rolling of her eyes accompanying said action as well. She let out a finalizing huff of disbelief, "It's always gotta be about Angel, doesn't it? I-I mean... that is what it all boils down to, isn't it? After all these years, Angel can still make your skin crawl just like the jealousy of a stupid high school boy. You just can't accept the fact that I'm-"

"Blind?" Xander cut in coldly. The man stared at Buffy for a good long time, ensuring that he had straightened up to look down with the best of the ability as his one eye could muster into hers. "You just think that everything is going to be alright now? You can start having affairs with another vampire, that it? A normal human being doesn't have enough 'umph' for you? For your information, Buffy, this was never about Angel."

"H-Hey guys, I don't think anyone's really using the I-statements here... I think maybe we should-"

"Willow, shut up," Xander and Buffy snapped at the redhead in unison. Both were fuming now, acting quite similar to children.

"Ooooh-kay... I can take a hint. I'll just be over in the corner if anyone needs me, ya know? I'll just work on t-the not holding a grudge thing."

"You jealous now? That it, Xander? After all this time and you still can't drop the stupid hatred for Angel?"

"I'm long over that. You know, I kind of accept the fact that he's in charge of some worldwide-evil hootinanny. Serves him just fine! What I don't get is why you keep falling back on the comfort of corpses to keep you company? Angel ended peachy-" He rolled his eye. Did she still cry in her sleep? "And Spike, well... can't say he ended too well neither- great job you did with him. So, are we... I dunno, catching on to some sorta pattern here?" Xander inquired with a raised brow, using hand gestures to assist in his explanation, "Cause, you know, you can stop me at any time if you get confused."

Buffy shook her head, "Are you ever gonna stop bashing me about the choices I make?"

"Bashing you? When have I ever bashed you? I've been with you-"

"Oh don't even start with the noble-man act. Ever since I turned you down you've always been a complete jerk when it comes to the choices I make."

"Excuse me?" Xander stared at her in disbelief, "Buffy, for once get off of your high horse and listen to yourself. This has nothing to do with you and me!"

"Doesn't it?"

"We're not getting into this again. I've already ran this by you time and time over. When you're sitting here," he pointed to the couch, "Curled up in the dimming candlelight, cold and alone once again... I don't wanna hear it. I don't wanna be the first to know about your problems or how you have no idea what to do with your life and how you'll never solve them. I'm sick of sitting around and watching you wallow in your self pity," he snapped, pointing at her in accusation, "I did a pretty good job of that already. I'm sick of hearing it! I should be allowed special pension for the work I do!"

"Work you do? Remind me, Xander, exactly what kind of 'work' you actually do," Buffy glared up at him in challenge, hoping that perhaps the man would falter- but he held his ground, showing no signs of weakness or surrender.

"More work than some. For being 'THE Chosen One'... you really don't care too much about the future of this planet, do you, Buffy? You fought the big battle and now you think it's all over? No more pain? No more suffering or monsters? WRONG! You can sit here and elope with the demons of the Vatican," Xander quipped, "Enjoy it. After all, you really did earn it, didn't you? No big deal, really. Just make sure Faith stays in Cleveland, Giles, Dawn, Vi, Rona, Molly, Chole and Chao-Ahn keep the slayer sanctuary and the Council going and Willow keeps the Coven steady, and you've just got it all made, don't you? You don't even have to lift a finger, because if you did it would be a strain on the 'Oh so powerful' Slayer." Xander shook his head, "Do you even know the names of all those potentials? All the ones you so readily threw into hopeless battles? If I had them standing in front of me... could you now actually identify them individually? Or are they still just pawns to you?"

"I did the best I could with what I was given..." Buffy tried hard to keep her composure as Xander slipped the names off his tongue with absolutely no difficulty. Even now, Buffy was not even so sure that she would be able to get all of the Potentials' names correct just like that. Some leader she was, just sending those 'pawns' out to the front lines. They were not pawns, they were human beings, and it crushed her to have had to make the choices... the choices that led them to their bitter end or changed who they were completely. It was not fair. Then again, life had never been fair to her, so that was of no consequence. "Xander..." Buffy said quietly after long last, "What are we arguing about?"

"The choices you make," Xander's firm voice held no remorse for her pitiful state at the time. "Where you sit back and screw vampires when the rest of us are out there trying to ensure a future for this planet. When we're left behind to pick up the pieces. I was a fool to think you still cared. So, unlike you, I'm going to go out there now. I'm going to make a difference and people are finally gonna realize what I've done for this world. I'm done tailing you and being your watchdog. You don't need me anymore." With that, Xander headed for the door.

He was stopped, however, by Buffy's weakened voice, "Where will you go?" This was not happening! She did need him! She always needed him!

Xander placed his hand on the knob and refrained from turning it for a few moments. Then he finally said dryly, "Giles will know where I am."

---

If you question Wood- you'll see. And yes, I do hope the last part here makes some people want to slap certain character(s).