Slaying inner demons (thanks for title Lupo  )

Chapter 2

Author notes: This takes place post Revelations (as in immediately post) third season. Sort of a non-magical, more sober version of Want beer.

She was out in the alley within twenty seconds, only a short while after the four guys and Faith…and immediately Buffy saw that she had been right to follow them. They were standing against the alley wall diagonal from her; two of the men were holding onto Faith, pinning her against the wall by her wrists and shoulders in a way that, from their leering expressions and quick breaths, and Faith's still glazed, half open eyes and limpness of limbs, seemed hardly a consensual arrangement to Buffy. she wasn't sure that the brunette was even fully conscious, fully aware of what was going on…

While the two men were holding her against the wall, a third one hung back a few feet away, watching and grinning… and a fourth one was half crouched before her, his hands roaming roughly over her breasts and stomach. He was talking to her, sneering as if she were an animal, or worse.

"That's right, chick, just close your eyes…you might be a little whore, but you feel so good I don't really give a shit…and don't worry, I'm a generous guy. I'll let the others have a turn…"

His hands moved down to Faiths' crotch, fumbling for her zipper as she continued to slump against the wall, not replying or moving to either encourage or slap him in any manner. He had only pulled it down about three fourths of an inch, however, before Buffy was upon him.

Coming up behind him and seizing him by the shoulders, Buffy ripped him away from Faith, throwing him across the alley so that his back hit the wall hard, and he gasped, his knees buckling so that he just barely managed to keep from collapsing to the ground. Buffy strode over to him rapidly, slamming his back against the wall once more, and pinning him there by his shoulders in much the same way that the two friends were holding Faith. Shoving her face close to his, she glared at him fiercely the rage and adrenaline she was feeling strongly coloring her features.

In more normal circumstances, or even at a different time, when she could step back and think about the situation, she would have been astonished at herself to realize just how infuriated she was. Her blood was pulsing heavily in her veins, making her entire body seem to be nearly aching, tingling with her desire to hurt the guys before her, to make them feel the pain and humiliation they seemed to get off on trying to inflict on females… particularly ones who seemed defenseless.

Particularly FAITH…

An even more intense flash of anger rolled through her at that thought, and Buffy tightened her grip on the young man's arms to the point where he screamed in both pain and shock at the strength of the hold of the small girl before him. A little thrill of satisfaction ran through her at this, and she gave him a rough shake, barely conscious of the gaping of the three men behind her.

This man had wanted to hurt Faith, to possibly rape her, most likely when she was so out of it that she'd forget the entire thing the next day, or else convince herself that it was she who was the initiator. He was going to hurt her, to use her, and then the other three would have as well…

Pain stabbed through Buffy's chest in sharp jabbing, almost as strongly as her anger, as another thought came to her mind. How many times had this happened before with Faith… how much of her bragged, cocky tales of her sexual conquests were in reality much more similar to what was happening here?

"You're a generous guy? Well, I'm a generous girl," Buffy spat as she continued to glare into the guy's wide, frightened, and incredulous eyes, tightening her hold on him even further. "That's why I'm only going to beat on you a while instead of castrating you…"

With that announcement made, she punched him in the nose, sending blood nearly immediately squirting out from it. As the guy made a high-pitched noise in pain, Buffy hit him a few more times in the torso, holding back from giving him internal injuries, but she was still fairly certain she heard a few ribs crack. As the guy tried to slump out of her reach to the ground, Buffy yanked him back up, tossing him over to the guy who had been standing slightly apart from the other three. He almost dropped him, still gawking at her with a clear showing of disbelief. The two men holding Faith against the wall were staring too, their mouths open, with astonishment and near panic in their eyes. They seemed almost to have forgotten Faith; their focus was entirely on Buffy.

Faith, however, Buffy saw, had come slightly more alert; she had raised her head, blinking her eyes as if trying to clear their blurriness, and she frowned, still seeming too out of it to be functioning very well.

"B?" she said raspily, slowly, and Buffy wondered if she was just now realizing that she was there with her.

"Yes," she told her in a gentler tone. Then, looking at the other two men still holding her against the wall, she hardened her tone considerably.

"If you don't want what happened to him to happen to you, I suggest you let go of her. NOW."

They did so almost immediately, which caused Faith's knees to buckle slightly as they both moved aside hurriedly. As she stumbled, almost falling, Buffy moved forward quickly to hold her up. She wrapped a strong arm around the younger girl's shoulders; as Faith half slumped against her heavily, Buffy could strongly smell the alcohol on her breath, seeming to be emanating from her pores directly. Mixed with her strong perfume and an added scent of cigarettes, it was not a very pleasant odor…but because it was Faith's, somehow it didn't seem so bad. Depressing, yes… but it didn't' make Buffy want to wrinkle her nose in disgust, as she might with another, for some reason.

Holding Faith upright, she gave the others a death stare that made all four of them, regardless of nearness to her or physical state at the moment, go slightly pale and twitchy, unable to meet her eyes. The tone she used to speak to them in was so icy they practically felt the frost coming from her mouth.

"If I ever see any you around here again, and especially near another girl, then I will gladly give you some makeshift plastic surgery I guarantee you will never forget. Do you understand me?"

All four of them nodded hurriedly, like the anxious cowardly bastards they were, Buffy thought bitterly. She could see that blood was streaming steadily down the beaten man's face where she had hit him. The man holding him up was doing so with ginger unease, clearly not liking the task. He kept glancing nervously from his beaten, moaning friend to Buffy, as though fearing he were next in line of her fists.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Buffy asked them as they stood there, not speaking, not daring to look even at each other, let alone too closely at her or Faith. "Get the hell out of here!"

At that the men wasted no further time in scampering away, seeming grateful to have been let off the hook so easily- too damn easily, now that Buffy thought about it. She should have knocked around all four of them, not just the one… who was escaping much more slowly than the others, having been dropped by his supporting 'friend' like a hot potato once given command to go. But they were gone now, and she doubted they'd have the nerve to come back any time soon- or the pride.

And besides, Faith clearly needed her help right now whether or not she wanted or would ever ask for it. She was drunk, she had almost been molested or raped or whatever it was they had been so close to carrying out…and on top of all that, or maybe behind all that, was all the other drama of the day as well. There was no way Buffy was going to leave her alone right now, eve if it was to chase down and beat on her would-be rapists.

Adjusting her arm around Faith's waist more securely, Buffy turned her head to examine her with a frown. She didn't look hurt, but her eyes were still slightly unfocused, if getting more clear than before, and they were bloodshot, her lips slightly parted. Her body against Buffy's was limp, heavy, her limbs clumsy, and as Faith turned her head to look at her, Buffy felt her warm breath hit her face, still smelling strongly of alcohol.

"Uh-oh…B's maaaaad," Faith said, her words slightly drawn out, and something about her tone simultaneously made Buffy want to hug her and to slap her.

"Damn straight I'm mad, Faith," Buffy said tightly, giving her a little shake. "Why would you drink that much? How old are you anyway- how did you get all that beer?"

"I'm old enough…to know when to…get the stick outta my…ass…" Faith muttered, her words running together slightly, and her eyes half closed for a moment as she took hold of Buffy's arm, tightening her fingers around it. "Old enough to know..how to find…fun…"

"Faith, that didn't look like you were having fun," Buffy said forcefully, trying to look into her murky dark eyes and finding it almost impossible to do so. Not only because Faith was turning her face away, but because she didn't really want to see what might be reflecting back at her from their depths…

"Faith, they were going to have sex with you," Buffy continued, having to force the words from herself and having a hard time not flinching or letting her voice crack as she did. "They were going to have sex with you, all four of them, and I kind of got the feeling that it wasn't your idea. They were going to RAPE you, Faith, don't you understand that?!"

Faith's head whipped back towards her sharply then, and even as uncoordinated as the alcohol made her limbs, Buffy felt her muscles tensing considerably under her arms. The look on her face made her suck in her breath quietly, for its defensive, angry overtones nonetheless cld not entirely hide the flash of shock and fear Buffy had seen.

"They were NOT gonna fuckin' rape me!" she snapped, and though Buffy could still hear a slightly inebriated undertone to her voice, she was passionate enough now to sound almost entirely sober, even if she was still far from it. "They were NOT…gonna…rape me! NO ONE rapes me! I rape THEM…nobody rapes ME…you don't know what the hell you're talkin' about…no one can fuckin' rape me…"

Buffy stared at her, stunned by the fierce heatedness in her tone, even in spite of Faith's intoxication. And yet in spite of her overt anger, she had also seen the near panic in her eyes…a flicker of darkness that Faith had forced away almost as quickly as it appeared. Buffy could hear her breathing growing louder and faster, felt her heartbeat quicken dimly through their Slayer bond, and she knew suddenly that Faith was afraid. Why she was now, of all times, Buffy didn't know or understand… but she was almost certain now that she was.

Maybe Faith had been more aware of what had been going on then Buffy had thought while those men had her… maybe she had somehow froze up, sort of like she had with Kakistos when she'd first come to Sunnydale. Maybe she was just now starting to come out of that mindset… and in either case, she had been drunk enough to not exactly be coherent in her thinking and actions.

Adjusting her arm around Faith once more, attempting now to transmit emotional as well as physical support, Buffy looked at her softly, gentling her tone as she addressed her again.

"Faith…it looked to me like you could barely stand up…you still can barely stand up. It wasn't right for them to try to do that to you…you don't have to-"

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Faith interrupted, and the slur had returned to her voice, even as the defensive tone remained. "Can too stand up…get off of me…no one did nothing, I wanted… get offa me…"

She tried to push Buffy's arms away, but Buffy tightened them, keeping her upright and close to her.

"No. You're drunk, Faith, and you can barely walk- I'm not letting you go off alone when you're like this."

"Not drunk," Faith snapped, her voice rising, and she shoved at Buffy's arm, though with considerably less coordination and strength than usual. "Five by…five. Let me go…"

"Faith, you ARE drunk!"Buffy shot back, her patience flickering badly as she kept hold of her, trying to keep her upright without hurting her or letting her break away. "You're talking like you're drunk, you smell like you're drunk, and I would say that you're walking like you're drunk, except that even standing is an issue for you now!"

"I am NOT!" Faith said hotly, even as she half closed her eyes, seemingly dizzy a she leaned back against Buffy…or maybe nauseous. Ohhhh she BETTER not puke, Buffy thought anxiously, if she pukes, then I'm gonna puke. She just better not puke…

"Just 'cause you're a lightweight… don't' mean I can't drink…" Faith was muttering, not trying now to move away from her. "I can handle it…know what I'm doing…"

"Oh, it looks like it, all right," Buffy retorted, irritated, even as sympathy, even anxiety for Faith, twinged in her chest…and extreme anger at the man who had tried to take advantage of her. Faith was acting like it was no big deal…but it WAS a big deal, it was a very big deal! They were going to hurt her, they were going to use her, and she was acting like she didn't care, like it never happened, or didn't' happen like it actually had. And now all she seemed to care about was arguing with Buffy that she wasn't drunk, when she soooo clearly was!

"Faith, why the hell would you get yourself into a situation like that?!" Buffy blurted before she could think to alter her words, make them gentler. "How could you drink that much, where you wouldn't even know what was going on and be able to defend yourself well? God, how could- they were going to hurt you! You let yourself get to the point where humans, not even demons, could get to you! How could you put yourself in a situation like that?!"

"Didn't put myself…in anything," Faith muttered back, and a sly tone crept to her voice. "Guess he wanted to put…something in me…instead…"

"That is NOT funny, Faith!" Buffy exclaimed, staring at her in shock. How could she talk like that?! How could she act like that, knowing what Buffy had seen- knowing what had been about to happen to her? How could she just shrug it off, make JOKES about it?!

"Is too," Faith said, giving Buffy a lesser version of her usual cocky smirk as she stumbled, trying to walk without breaking away from Buffy. "Just 'cause you're so uptight…still funny. Still…"

"Come on," Buffy interrupted her tightly, her jaw clinching, and she began to propel her forward from the alley, still keeping a supportive arm around her and tightening it when Faith shuffled, knocking her feet together clumsily. "Let's get you back to your room. And I'm staying with you tonight, since you obviously can't be trusted to look after yourself…"

"Can too," Faith muttered, and she sounded like such a petulant child that Buffy would have been amused, were she not so worried and upset…and angry.

How could Faith act like this?! How could she drink that much, how could she let that happen o her- and how could she not even be upset now, or angry, or- how could she be JOKING about it?!

To be continued