"To be born again," sang Gibreel Farishta tumbling from the heavens, "first you have to die." Salman Rushdie – The Satanic Verses

Flashback: Three months earlier…

"I don't understand," the teen girl whined emphatically. "Why can't you just heal her, Willow? You brought her back to life once before and you healed her when….when Warren shot her."

The redheaded witch looked up from the Slayer's broken body with pain in her eyes. "She's died too many times," Willow stated simply before returning her gaze to the hospitalized blonde woman.

"Wha-what?" the younger Summers girl sputtered in confusion.

Willow rung her hands and twisted them in front of her body. "Even Magic has its limits, Dawnie," she sighed. "It's kind of like…three strikes and you're out." The woman frowned and closed her eyes. "We've got to find another way."

"It can't seriously end like this," Xander stated, his voice naively hopeful. "Buffy couldn't be bested by just some ordinary, run-of-the mill demons."

Tubes ran up the slight Californian's nose and down her throat; an oxygen machine was the only thing aiding the slayer's breathing, as she was unable to take complete breaths herself. Her lungs had been virtually crushed and the Sunnydale surgeons had been unable to completely repair the damage that had been done.

"Spike," the English Watcher spat angrily at the undead creature who currently shared the hospital room with the Scoobies and an unconscious Buffy, "tell us again exactly what happened."

The ancient vampire scowled sourly at the tweed-suited man. "Like I told you 'heros' all before," he began slowly. "I just happened upon the great Blonde One in the cemetery. Wasn't followin' her, if that's what you're thinking," he quickly defended himself. "She was fightin' a nasty bunch of demons all on her own. There were too many though, even for her." His jaw twitched as he clenched his teeth together. "I was too late," he rasped, his voice rough and full of emotion. "I'm always too late."

Present Day….

Faith stared in amazement at the undead figure in front of her. "You look just like her," she breathed.

Buffy stood with her hands on her small hips, her former dance partner now just a forgotten snack, crumpled on the solid pavement.

"That's because I am her, Faithy," the demon cooed. "I have all her memories, all that annoyingly snarky banter." The blonde creature shook her head with disgust. "I even add inappropriate "y's" to the end of words. Was she always so vapid?"

The brunette continued to stand perfectly still like a mouse about to be swallowed whole by a boa constrictor. Her large brown eyes never left the small blonde form a few yards away. "You're a vampire," the Boston girl stated flatly, but the amazement and horror were apparent in her dark chocolate eyes.

Buffy shrugged nonchalantly. "No one's perfect."

She flashed the dark slayer a cheeky grin. "In fact, you might like me even more now knowing that. Your tight-assed Buffy certainly couldn't be have been half as fun as I am now," she grinned.

The sound of low growls emanated from the darkest of shadows in the dimly lit alley. Faith could feel the vampires all around her. Nearly half a dozen vamped-out demons stalked out of the darkness, their yellow eyes trained on the Boston slayer's disciplined body.

"Mmmm…speaking of fun…" the vampire-slayer purred. "Faithy, have you met my new Scooby crew? Had to get myself an upgrade." Her voice oozed with sexuality as though just the anticipation of violence was an aphrodisiac.

Faith looked around anxiously, quickly adding up her disadvantage as more and more menacing vampires poured into the confined alley. "Had to recruit an Army to kill me, huh, B?" she snarled, morphing her body into a defensive pose. She clenched her hands into small fists, ready to lash out at the first attacker. "Always knew you couldn't take me on by yourself."

"Oh, Faithy," the undead vampire sing-songed, smiling broadly at the Boston-born girl. "I'm not here to kill you, baby," she purred. "I'm here to turn you."

Flashback

"You can't be serious, Witch," growled the bleach-blonde vampire. "Have you lost your bloody marbles? Buffy would never want that."

The redheaded woman frowned and crossed her arms defiantly across her chest. After vigilantly staying by the small slayer's bedside for numerous consecutive hours, Giles, Dawn, and Xander had reluctantly wandered off to find nourishment. Only Willow and Spike remained behind.

"I thought you would jump at the idea, Spike," Willow pouted bitterly, offended the soulless vampire had rejected her idea. "You could have her forever. That's what you really want, isn't it?"

The vampire narrowed his eyes at the girl. "You don't get it, do you? It won't be her," he growled."I'd wager to say I've had a little more experience with this kinda thing than you and your white hats. This is dangerous business, what you're suggesting."

The soulless vampire puffed his chest out and continued. "And as little as you think of me," he snarled. "I'm not in love with her body. I'm in love with Buffy." He paused purposefully. "And so are you, Witch. You've always loved her. And if you do this, you'll lose her forever."

"That's why I would find her soul!" the girl exclaimed desperately. "I'll restore it just like I've done for Angel time and again."

The ancient vampire scowled at the redhead's persistence. Ever since the others had left Buffy's hospital room, she had been carefully reiterating her plan to him as though he was her most-trusted confident and ally. "There's got to be another way," he insisted.

"We've gone through all the other options, Spike. Buffy's on her 9th life here," the Wicca ruefully countered.

Spike paused to think. "Even if I did agree to it," he considered slowly, rolling the words around on his tongue. "How do you know it'll even work? It's not exactly the traditional way we vampires… do that."

Willow shook her head. "I've put a lot of thought into this. She just has to be close to death; she doesn't have to be nearly drained. And she doesn't need to be conscious so she can drink. She wouldn't have to really ingest vampire blood. I could put it in her saline drip or I could inject her with a syringe."

Spike looked at the bruised and swollen face of the Chosen One. The vampire watched her labored breathing as the tiny accordion-looking machine rose and fell with each uneven breath. He resisted the urge to reach out and touch her battered skin with his stone cold hands.

Spike looked up at the witch when he felt her expectant gaze as she awaited his decision. "She's going to die anyway?" he asked softly.

Willow chewed on her bottom lip. "I-I haven't told Dawn, yet. But it looks that way," she said, her voice a rough whisper. "And if she does make it through the next twenty-four hours, the doctors say she'll at least never have the same quality of life as before."

The bleach-blonde vampire continued to stare at the nearly lifeless slayer's defenseless body. Although he knew she was still a Slayer, her blinding vulnerability as she lay in the hospital bed tore his non-beating heart in two. Buffy would have never wanted to be this weak.

Spike opened his mouth, surprised by the words that tumbled out: "What do you need me to do?"

Present day

Faith thrust her clenched fist into the lumbering vampire's ridged face, feeling the bones of the creature's nose crunching beneath her sledgehammer-like punch. The giant foe stumbled backwards, its eyes screwed shut, blinded by the assault.

A smaller, faster, young vampire rushed at the Boston slayer, only to be rewarded with a thick, chunky boot square in the stomach. The undead creature doubled over the dark slayer's heavy shoe, groaning out loudly from the impact.

"Out of my way, boys." Buffy grabbed one of her lackeys by the scruff of the neck to clear a path for herself. She effortlessly tossed him backwards, causing the vampire to crash into a solid brick wall. "I'll show you how it's done."

"What's wrong, B?" Faith quipped cockily. She pulled her weapon from the inside lining of her leather jacket and rotated the wooden stake in her right hand. "Your Army of vamps ain't even touched me yet."

Buffy laughed cruelly, and ran the tip of her pink tongue along her elongated canines. "You don't understand, Faithy," she snickered. "I don't need these lackeys. I'm a Slayer and a Vampire. I'm more powerful than you could ever imagine."

Faith curled her fingers, silently challenging the undead slayer to attack. "Then let's dance, Blondie."

Buffy grabbed onto the Boston girl's wrist, moving faster than the young slayer anticipated. She smashed the dark-haired woman's clenched hand against a brick wall, causing her hold on her wooden weapon to loosen and the stake to fall to the ground. The vamped out slayer quickly kicked the offending stick out of the way.

"Sorry 'bout that, baby," she smiled wickedly. "But I get itchy around pointy things now-a-days."

Faith pulled her arm free from the vampire's tight grasp and opened and closed her hand, testing the bones to make sure nothing was broken.

"A little sore? I thought you liked it rough," Buffy taunted, punching the girl in the stomach. Faith felt her ribs creak inside her body, bending, but not breaking. She grabbed onto the blonde slayer's wrist before the new vampire could retract her punch. Faith attempted to flip the girl onto her back, but anticipating her move, Buffy performed an effortless front-flip and landed on her feet.

"Getting tired so soon, Faithy? You're breathing a little heavy." The vampire inhaled deeply, the unmistakable scent of the Boston girl's arousal in the air. "Never mind," she grinned. "Now I know why you're outta breath." Buffy clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Been a while since you got some, baby? All wound up and ready to pop?"

Buffy swung her leg out, just barely missing the dark slayer's head in the process. Faith ducked low and rolled out of the way of the strong thigh and calf.

"I can smell how turned on you are, Fai. I always knew you wanted me," Buffy jeered as she connected her fist with the side of the Boston girl's face. "And I might have given you a chance if you hadn't killed poor Allan Finch and then everything went to shit. But now you're the one with the soul, baby. And I intend to free you of it."

Faith punched wildly at the vampire, trying hard not to be intimidated or affected by the other girl's words, as true as they were.

"Guess you didn't get the memo, Twinkie," Faith retorted as she ducked her head out of the way of a deadly roundhouse. "Shouldn't blame you for bein' outta the loop though – you being dead and all – but I've made my peace about Finch," she revealed with a cocky grin. "Plus I've done my time. I'm not running from anything now."

"But just imagine it, Faithy," Buffy prodded as the two slayers slowly circled each other, looking for signs of weakness. "You and me – together again. The Chosen Two. All you gotta do is give it up – give up this sorry excuse for a life."

Buffy dove forward and pulled her body into a tight ball, rolling forward and jumping up to land solidly on her feet. Before Faith could pause to admire the Californian's newly acquired agility and strength, Buffy grabbed onto the brunette's loose locks in a tight fist and pulled her face dangerously close to her own.

"You'll see. I'm going to make you want it, Fai," she taunted. She pulled the Boston girl's hair harder, making her head wretch to the side, exposing her flawless neck. The undead slayer licked up the smooth skin with the flat of her tongue, causing Faith to shudder under the unexpected touch. "I'm going to make you want it as much as you always wanted me," Buffy promised.

The vampire pulled the dark-haired woman in for a devastatingly crushing and violent kiss. Her sharp teeth crashed into the raven slayer's thick lips, easily cutting the tender flesh. Faith moaned in surprise and pain into Buffy's open mouth. The undead slayer eagerly lapped up the small amount of blood that had seeped out of the shallow wound.

The vamped- out slayer pulled her head back suddenly, her face contorted in pain and pleasure. Wordlessly, Buffy shoved the younger girl away from her. The Boston-born slayer stumbled hard onto the wet pavement, catching herself with the palms of both hands. She immediately felt the biting sting of small stones cutting into her sensitive flesh. From her location on her hands and knees, Faith stared up in surprise at the Californian.

"But it's not time yet for that," Buffy whispered. Even in the dim lighting, Faith could see that the other slayer's body was shaking. Just that tiny amount of the dark slayer's blood had the soulless creature craving for more. "But don't worry, baby," Buffy sighed. "I have all the time in the world."

Flashback

"We need to do this quickly before the others come back from the cafeteria."

The needle pierced the blonde girl's skin and Willow pressed down on the stopper, flooding Buffy's bloodstream with Vampire venom. The Wicca pulled the needle out, and quickly placed a cotton swab at the point of entry.

"You sure you know what you're doing, Red?" Spike asked, hovering near the redhead's elbow.

Willow didn't look over at the vampire, but continued staring at the broken blonde, unconscious in her hospital bed. The Wicca's face looked determined and resolved. "We'll find your soul, Buffy," she whispered. "I promise."

The witch and the vampire stared in silence at the heart monitor. The faint jumps progressively slowed until the blonde slayer flat lined.

TBC