A.N: Sorry for the bit of a wait. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
Blood And Dust
Salt Lake City
A solitary vehicle drove slowly along the deserted street that led to the compound's main gates. Since patrols were carried out in pairs it was never a good sign to see a patrol car missing its companion. The lone vehicle – a standard hummer rigged to be efficient at killing things of the paranormal persuasion – rolled past the checkpoint as the gates creaked back into place. Its UV headlights burnt brilliantly through the stifling, darkness that had fallen on the city and its few brave inhabitants. The glaring light cut across the entrance to the tallest building within the base to reveal a reclining figure leaning beside it. The figure approached the vehicle as it crawled to a stop on the dusty asphalt. The driver's side window rolled down and Faith leant on the frame as she peered into the jeep with a smirk.
She grabbed Wood by the back of the neck and forced him forward into a searing kiss that left the marine next to him staring in envious awe. Faith surreptitiously watched the reaction on the soldier's face with relish; eventually pulling away and tugging Robin's bottom lip between her teeth for good measure.
"Man's risking his life, stud." Faith purred in a husky tone. "Gotta give him something to look forward to at the end of the day." She winked. The soldier coughed and made a hasty exit towards the barracks. Wood chuckled deeply and stroked one of Faith's hands affectionately, receiving the usual patronising head rub from the Slayer in return as she leaned in further.
An ominous dark stain caught Faith's eye. She stiffened. Wood said nothing as he got out of the jeep, forcing her to step away. Faith's eyes flickered to Robin with accusatory concern. The back seat of the jeep had been caked in blood. The smell of it was now overpowering to her keen senses. She realised this was in part due to the worryingly large blood stain also adorning Robin's shirt.
"That's alotta the red stuff." Faith muttered out loud to herself. The strange, far-off cries of countless creatures echoed in the still night air. The melody had started up a few minutes ago, as it did every night, and was a helpful pre-emptive warning of the dangers approaching.
"Don't worry – none of it's mine." Wood smiled briefly before giving a more sombre look, "Jacob wasn't so lucky."
"Shit." Faith breathed quietly, her hands resting on her hips, "The other crew too?" She asked looking back up at Wood hopefully even though the second patrol car was nowhere in sight.
Wood nodded solemnly.
"Something big hit us on the outskirts of town. We didn't see it till..." Wood paused for a moment, reliving some memory he'd rather forget, "It didn't end well." Faith placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. This whole relationship deal was new territory and the actions and words that came along with it were gradually wearing off on Faith. A gurgling roar of unknown origin pierced the poignant silence between them. Faith could feel that they were both itching to get inside.
"'least you're okay, cue ball." She joked affectionately. Robin smiled back and slung the strap of his rifle over his shoulder.
"Appreciate the gratitude for my ongoing survival." He deadpanned, "Anything new on your end?"
Faith's expression was unreadable for a long, tense moment. She shifted her weight agitatedly.
"I wouldn't say new." Faith breathed, "A familiar pain in the ass, but not new."
"It's for practice!" Faith exclaimed for the umpteenth time, struggling to keep her voice low. Wood had been berating her for the past hour on her new rocket-propelling companion. He seemed to think she'd do more damage to herself than anything else and she wasn't impressed by his lack of faith. Her name really was an enormous irony she thought, blowing a circle of smoke out the window.
"At least put out the damn cigarette, Faith." Robin begged. Faith cocked an eyebrow and scoffed.
"What, you Xander's parrot now?" She bit off. After a moment she snorted and added, "Though you'd be better as his peg leg."
Robin stared in befuddled silence. He opened his mouth then closed it, deciding he was better off not knowing.
"Well don't say I didn't warn ya. If you accidently blow off that pretty face don't come cryin' to me." He teased, moved to the other corner bordering the same wall Faith was situated beside.
"Cus you'd just hate to see this baby go, right?" Faith wriggled her eyebrows excessively towards him in the darkened space.
They had ascended the LDS office building to a particular spot the Bostonian was fond of – an office on the south side of the 8th floor. Its window panes had long been obliterated in previous stand offs – most involving Faith herself. She claimed it was a sniper's paradise. Wood wasn't sure when Faith had decided to declare herself a born again crack-shot, but arguing about her delusions of grandeur wouldn't end well. She'd obviously been releasing her mounting inner tension through this newfound medium; better through bullets in demon's skulls than fists through irritating co-workers, Robin thought.
The demonic cacophony outside had grown in volume. The shrieks and howls of unseen things reverberated through the night unpleasantly. Spotlights on the roof – aimed to the outer limits of the wall – scanned for any trace of movement. Faith flicked her dying cigarette out the window, shouldered her bazooka and fired. A loud hissing roar sent a plume of smoke out one end and a rocket out the other. It found its target easily. Pieces of Noborak demon rained to the area of flooded light thirty feet away.
"Nicely done." Robin praised as he cocked an automatic machine gun and fired a loud series of rounds into a Sloth beast. The hulking thing collapsed to the ground with a dying grunt. "And outdone." He smirked coolly.
"Oh you wish, Shaft." Faith dismissed him, rolling her eyes.
At some point in their competitive shooting gallery, Willow had appeared in the doorway and wandered quietly over to watch them. Faith had practically jumped out of her skin when she finally noticed her. She thought she'd seen a ghost.
Willow gave no signal that she'd been acknowledged.
"You cool, Will?" Faith asked with growing concern as she got to her feet. Willow's pale, poignant expression was just visible in the unlit room. "Willow?" She pressed, beginning to feel distressed by her friend's silence.
"Mm?" She murmured. Her eyes flitted to Faith without focusing.
"You don't look so hot. Something wrong?" Faith tried again. She put the back of her hand to Willow's forehead. It felt normal as far as her medical expertise stretched.
"She asked if I missed her. Then she asked if...I missed...Kennedy more." Willow said, her voice tripping over the last few words. Faith's brow furrowed in confusion until realization finally dawned on her.
"Buffy. Great. I bet she was subtle as a brick, huh?"
Willow simply nodded while Faith stroked her thumb across her shoulder. This was an act of kindness the Slayer once wouldn't have understood let alone attempted. But times change; Faith had figured a while back that her trust and people issues were insignificantly petty in the shadow cast by the end of the world.
"So she's really back." Robin noted the dark circles under Willow's eyes and looked out the window, unsure of how to act in her presence. Kennedy's death was no more tragic than the deaths of anyone else lost on that day, but the effect it had had on Willow served as a reminder for all of them. Usually she would remain stoic and calm in front of her friends to keep them sane in these difficult times. But it was no secret that, alone, Willow was a wreck and one bad day away from going veiny and evil.
Looking at the fragile girl now, Faith saw someone closer to suicide than mass, magical genocide. She sniffed pathetically and the Slayer was irked enough to decide she had to do something to console the girl.
"Hey Babe, can you cover for me? Gonna see if I can turn Red's frown upside down." Robin nodded in wordless understanding and she flashed him a thankful smile.
After a stroll around the corridors, consisting mostly of listening to Willow explain what had happened, Faith sat Willow down in one of the better furnished rooms of the complex. It had two adequate couches, a book shelf with only half the shelves filled and a water cooler that had been neglected and appeared empty. Willow dabbed at her eyes with an already damp tissue as she sat on the couch; Faith perched herself on the armrest pensively musing over what the witch had told her.
At some point this evening, Buffy – generous gift giver that she was – had decided it the optimum time to seek out her best friend and harass her over a subject everyone else knew to leave well enough alone. Faith had to wonder if Buffy was intentionally trying to piss off her closest and dearest or if she couldn't help it. Maybe her sister slayer had gone so far down the rabbit hole she'd never climb back out. Deep down, behind her anger and pride, she felt a stab of sadness at this likelihood.
Her gloomy thoughts were brushed aside as she spotted Xander moving quickly past their room along the hallway. She called his name and beckoned him in. Faith began to explain the circumstances with Willow only to be interrupted.
"I know, I know." Xander said exasperated. He appeared even more tetchy than usual. He hesitated then moved to sit beside Willow and held her in a one armed hug. It was good to see he was still the goofy, kind-hearted friend beneath the soldier machismo, Faith thought. She sat quietly as Xander tried his best to cheer up his shell-shocked best friend.
"Don't worry, Wills." Xander said gently, coming to the end of his pep talk, "I'll talk to her. I'm sure she didn't mean what she said. As soon as she comes back I'll-"
"What do you mean 'as soon as she comes back'?" Faith asked sharply, her head suddenly snapping round to look at Xander. He slouched slightly, propping his head up with one palm.
"She jumped the fence." He mumbled with a tired shrug. Faith's eyes darkened as her brow fell into a frown of disbelief.
"Of course she did." Faith let out a sigh tantamount to months of frustration and repressed anger. She made a fist with her free hand and her knuckles cracked loudly. After a mixture of exchanged looks in awkward silence between the three of them, Faith added, "I'll go."
"Faith..." Xander started but she put a hand up to stop him, moving so swiftly down the hallway towards the elevator that he had to jog to catch up. "She can handle herself. She managed without us for this long; I doubt one night's going to kill her!"
"You saw what little Miss Crazy drew." Faith reminded him, piercing his resistance with a hard look. "We don't know what's out there. I'm thinking the odds are stacked high and nowhere near in our favour."
"What's makes you say that?"
"Oh, just a trend I've noticed lately." Faith shrugged sarcastically. She checked her shotgun was loaded and slipped it back in its holster. Her favourite dagger was drawn in her left hand and Xander could see she was determined to go through with this. "Warn up top that I'm going out. There's enough ways to die out there without a cap in my ass slowing me down."
"Fine," Xander sighed in defeat, "Just watch your back, okay?"
"Who wouldn't?" Faith teased huskily with a wink thrown his way. Xander broke into a wide grin despite himself. Leave it to Faith to disperse the dread and nerves associated with stepping beyond the compound's walls via sexual innuendo.
"I don't get it." He said, raising his eyebrow incredulously and causing Faith to stop the doors to listen, "You've had not one good word to say about Buffy since ground zero. Why do you suddenly care if she lives or dies?"
"I don't." She shrugged calmly.
"Then why try to save her?" He asked, confused.
"Cus if I didn't I'd be a hypocrite." Faith's lopsided grin disappeared behind the closing elevator doors.
It felt exhilarating to be free from the cage she'd lived in for almost three months. After spending over two gruelling years in prison Faith discovered that a high-security, military organised compound brings back all kinds of unwanted nostalgia. To be beyond the fences, responsibilities and anxious faces that had dogged her for weeks. Maybe Buffy's reappearance had been the last shove over the edge; maybe it was just a good excuse. Nevertheless, guided by the vague glow from the red sky and her supernatural intuition, Faith ran head on through the streets; willing something to attack her. Her silent prayers were answered immediately.
A Turok-Han charged at her from the left, snarling and smiling sickly in the red night. Faith span with full force as a stake sailed perfectly from her open hand to the chest of the ancient vampire. The Turok-Han paused in its advances, examining the wood protruding from its chest with mild surprise. It leered back up in time to find Faith's foot connecting with the end of her stake with such force that it erupted out the demon's back. Faith waved away the dust as she walked through her belated foe, tugging her stake from the wall it had become stuck in. She definitely wasn't rusty.
She spun the stake effortlessly in her flat palm and caught it sharp end down. Faith grinned smugly – shortly before being tackled off her feet and unceremoniously smacking her face on the ground. Gritting her teeth in fury Faith twisted her body 180 degrees and delivered a vicious kick to her attacker's abdomen. They were sent sprawling to the ground as Faith leapt to her feet, landing purposefully a few feet away onto the second Turok-Han's chest. It grunted and then let out an open-mouthed snarl. Faith responded by shoving the business end of her sawn-off shotgun into its mouth and firing both barrels.
Faith rode the corpse to the ground as it turned to dust. Two more Turok-Han appeared from the shadows growling lowly.
"A three way's fine with me." Faith drawled, enjoying the adrenaline and satisfaction left over from her first two encounters. Several more Turok-Han hovered hesitantly in the dense shadows around her.
"Oh don't be shy, boys! More the merrier!" Faith jeered, smiling wildly. She reloaded her shotgun, pumping it loudly. "Who's first?"
After about ten minutes Faith received a reprieve from the undead onslaught. It was long enough for her to catch her breath and wipe the layer of sweat, dust and blood that now coated any expanse of bare skin. Faith pulled at the slashed remains of her black top and sighed angrily. Faith suddenly realised how far she'd strayed from the military headquarters. The comforting sounds from which friends and reinforcement existed were now distant and less uplifting. She was alone in the dark, abandoned city.
A sharp sensation suddenly cut through Faith's entire body and she struggled to stay standing. Doubling over slightly, she winced, recognising the feeling immediately.
"Buffy?" She hissed just above a whisper. She wasn't about to shout her whereabouts to the entire inhabitants of a demon-infested city. "Buffy!"
Unfortunately Faith's slayer connection led her into the path of something else.
Faith heard him before she saw him. A horribly familiar laugh. A laugh like the hiss of a thousand serpents carried on the cold wind that rattled her bones. Faith let herself believe it was the stiff breeze that sent a shiver down her spine. Before she could locate her least favourite assassin the sharp whistle of a throwing knife cutting through the still night air forced Faith to flip sideways out of its path. She growled impatiently, brushing dirt and dust off herself as she stood defiant.
"Show yourself you cowardly prick!" Her voice echoed eerily into the dark. "I owe you a face lift of the fatal variety."
She got no reply and was left with the various unsettling cries and calls of what lurked in the remote darkness – broken by the occasional burst of gunfire or whisper of a rocket followed by its muffled impact. Beneath the background noise Faith could just make out the deft, dashing footsteps echoing faintly around her.
She inhaled deeply and shut her eyes, arms dropping to her sides but both weapons at the ready. She listened. She waited.
Her instincts led her arm up steadily to point at the remains of an apartment block at her two o'clock. Faith didn't hesitate. The shot rang out loudly into the empty street and an angry something cursed colourfully down at her. She opened her eyes in time to see the assassin drop to the ground, crouching to cushion the fall, before leaping towards her with murderous intent. She dodged his dagger and the kick aimed at her stomach that followed, blocking the fist destined for her face, twisting the arm behind the owner's back before backhanding the assassin across the face. She'd had her dagger drawn and managed to leave a deep gash across the left cheek of the demon. The assassin touched the cut and stared at the bloody imprint left on his fingers.
"N'aww. Now we match!" Faith goaded in mock-joy. The assassin hissed and lunged at her with incredible new ferocity. Faith had to duck, dodge and roll her way out of a barrage of lightning fast attacks and barely missed a second throwing knife to the chest.
Gasping slightly for breath she regained her fighting posture only to take an uppercut to the chin and be sent hurtling into a wall. Blinking away the tears brought on by the pain in her jaw, Faith pushed herself off the wall only to have to dive to the side a second later as the assassin pinned her to the wall, his dagger only grazing her shoulder when its target had been her heart.
Faith struck the dagger hand with an open palm causing the demon to reel back and let go of the weapon. She tugged it roughly out of the wall behind her and threw it effortlessly into what she assumed was the assassin's heart. It dropped to its knees, clutching at the dagger's handle.
Faith sighed, bracing herself on the wall as she tried to regain her strength. The window of vulnerability was enough and before she could even kick herself, the dagger that had previously been in the assassin's chest was now taut against her throat.
"You misssssed!" hissed an unnatural voice in her ear as she was restrained across the chest by a rigid, bony arm. The stench of smoke and sulphur filled her lungs and Faith almost gagged.
"Sorry, I don't take it from behind." Faith jibed humourlessly, snapping her head back into the assassin's face. The impact was accompanied by a satisfying crunch and howl of pain. Faith turned quickly to see the demon stumble back, clutching its face as bright, blue blood trickled through its elongated fingers. The assassin slowly removed them, revealing its busted nose – which Faith considered an improvement to its overall appearance – and pointed one long index finger in her direction.
"Losssst little sssslayer all by herssself." It hissed with that unnervingly wide smile. Up close he was skeletal in appearance, his skin and sinew wrapped tightly to the bone, eyes glaring out from deep, sunken sockets.
"Don't worry Skeletor – I eat my carrots. I'll find my way back after I'm finished guttin' you like a fish." Faith replied coolly as she took a menacing step forward. The assassin countered, moving back and keeping the distance between them. He waggled the accusing index finger from side to side.
"Two of you and yet you're all alone." The assassin continued with unrestrained glee. He slunk into the shadows with incredible speed and Faith heard him dashing off across the rooftops. His laugh echoed in her ears as Faith stood forlornly in the street; with only her bitter thoughts for company.
Faith spent close to another hour searching for Buffy through the streets, guided only by the morbid glow of the red sky and the occasional fire that still flickered within architectural skeletons. Turning a corner, Faith headed stealthily down a new juncture only to be stopped abruptly when she collided with an unseen wall.
Disoriented, lost and aching from her previous fight she attempted to pass around it.
Then it moved.
Faith gulped. Her eyes slowly scaled the height of the vertical surface in front of her. It seemed to disappear up into the darkness like the rest of the buildings around her. But it was moving, it was definitely moving – and in her direction. Backing up Faith slowly placed two fresh shells into her shotgun, flinching at the loud click as she pumped the weapon. Aiming as high as her sanity was willing to permit she fired at what she assumed was head height.
In the flash of discharged buck, Faith recoiled from what was thrown momentarily into light before it plunged back into darkness. A haunting, melodic roar shook the foundations of every structure nearby. Apparently the monstrosity making its slow but steady way towards Faith didn't like buckshot.
A long, tree-sized tendril of leathery muscle whipped out violently from the darkness, batting Faith easily across the street into an adjacent store front. She cried out in pain as her body met solid brick with incredible force. She crumpled to the ground trying to get her breath back only to be smashed by another similar, powerful appendage; this time from the right. Faith yelped in pain and fear, struggling to get to her feet furiously. An immobile mass of muscle thrashed out again, this time pinning her to the cracked tarmac.
Faith put all her effort into pushing the mass off her so as not to suffocate. It took all her remaining strength to keep it inches from the rise and fall of her chest. Her shotgun lay harmlessly some distance from her pinned form. Faith's heart thundered loudly in her ears with the rush of blood.
And then it skipped a beat completely. She recoiled again, whimpering in a way she'd never admit to if she lived through this, watching the impossibly elongated head of her monster slowly descend on a long, broad neck. Infinite teeth. Numerous coal-black eyes glinted in a light that didn't exist. Its jaws widened until the red sky above was replaced by a maw of unfathomable size.
"Well..." Faith choked out through strained breaths, "...what are you waiting for you ugly, motherless fu-?"
The thing lunged downward before she could finish.