1 Chapter 7
The whole Scooby Gang was sitting around the large research table that was inside the Magic Box. It was two hours since Faith had come running through the shop. As soon as Faith, Tara and Dawn thought it was safe, they called Giles and told him in rough detail what had happened. He came straight down. Xander and Anya were on the way anyway, and Tara and Willow didn't need to call them.
"So Giles, whaddaya think?" Willow asked. There was a slight pause.
"I don't know who they could have been, the only organisation that uses guns and old weapons like that would be…" Giles said while studying the discarded crossbow. It was unique, and automatically reloaded, and could carry ten arrows at once. "Oh dear."
"Oh dear what?" Anya said. Everyone looked at Giles as he was cleaning his glasses. He put them back on and said.
"The only organisation that I know of that uses guns and old weapons is the Watchers' Council… Faith is being hunted by Watchers' Council Assassins."
"Oh, that's not too bad," Dawn said. Everyone looked at her "What did I say?"
"On the contrary Dawn, that is very bad… The Watchers' Council infiltrates almost every organisation in the world. Their Assassins are among the best in the world. Most of them would have had Special Forces training, as well as magickal training…" Giles started
"So it's like G.I. Joe combined with Willow," Xander stated. There was a silence as everyone contemplated what he had just said.
"Yes, you're quite right Xander," Giles replied.
"I am, I am. Yes, the sweet taste of success," Xander replied.
"Why would the Council be hunting their own Slayer?" Tara asked.
"Well, Faith is a rouge," Giles started. He thought for a while. "Oh no. The only reason the Council would be hunting Faith is if there was only one Slayer… Another Slayer mustn't have been called when Buffy died."
"Oh yeah, I get it. Buffy already passed her power on once, but she can't do it again," Willow said.
"Yes," Giles said. "They would be hunting Faith because they know she is a rouge, and she is not falling under the command of the Council any more. Sure, she's doing her job. Well at least she was until a week ago, but she wasn't falling under Council orders. If they kill Faith, the next Slayer will be called, and she will probably be… What do you say, a miss goody two shoes," Giles said.
"But Buffy wasn't following the orders from the Council for a whole two years. Why didn't they hunt her?" Dawn asked.
"Because she was doing her job, and she was doing her job better than any Slayer in the past fifty years," Giles replied. There was a long silence as they all were lost in their thoughts.
"So, do we help Faith or not?" Anya asked. Everyone was silent as they all thought about the situation. It was ten minutes or so before Willow spoke up.
"I think we should. Earlier when she was in here before, it looked like she wanted to be helped. I think we should," Willow said.
"I concur," Giles said.
"How can we help her?" Xander asked. "It's not like I'm saying we're hopeless or anything, but how can we help her? We can't kill a person can we?" Xander asked.
"And this from a man that wanted to kill Ben to stop Glory," Willow said.
"Well, that was extreme circumstances. I was talking about killing a man to save the world, not just to save one person," Xander said. He looked over at Giles, who appeared quite uncomfortable with the subject. Looking around at everyone, he could see that they were all uncomfortable with the subject, but he noticed that Giles was really uncomfortable. "Okay, forget I ever said anything."
"I think that whenever we see Faith, we help her, but we don't go out looking for her. Or I think we would become targets ourselves," Tara said.
"Yes, now that's an idea," Xander said.
"Hey Giles, how did you know that the Watchers' Council would hunt Faith down and kill her because she's a rouge?" Willow asked.
"This is not the first time this has happened. It happens quite regularly actually," Giles responded.
"Oh," Willow answered.
"So. See Faith getting chased by people, we help her. But only if we see her?" Dawn said.
"Yes," Anya answered.
"Okay then. I say I go home and get some sleep. Didn't get too much last night," Xander said. Everyone just looked at him. There were only three people that knew what he meant, Xander, Anya and Willow. She figured it out.
"Oh, I have to stay here and work," Anya said. "I was hoping we could sleep together." Everyone just looked at her as she started dusting the shelves of the shop.
"Well, never mind what she said. I'm going to go and get some sleep," Xander said. With that he turned and walked out of the shop.
Faith had run out the back of the Magic Box, only to be stuck in a dead end alley. She heard the assassins coming towards her. She spotted a stack of wooden crates next to the building. She hopped up them and climbed onto the roof of the Magic Box, where she waited for the Assassins to leave. She lay down on the roof, and had a look over. There were three people coming into the alley, all in army issue combat uniforms. She watched as the leader was holding a small device out the front of him.
"It says she's near. She should be in this very alley," he said. The other two people started looking in the Dumpster, to see if Faith had hidden in there. Faith watched as they did a thorough search of the alley.
"Can't find anything here sir," one of them said to the leader. "She must have dislodged the tracking beacon from herself and ran." Faith's eyes went wide at hearing that she had a tracking beacon on her.
"Okay, we'll go back to her apartment and wait for her there," the leader said. "Keep two people posted here undercover in case she comes back." Faith stayed perfectly still on top of the roof. Before the men left the alley, she had a look at the weapons they were carrying. Two of them were carrying rifles, and the other was carrying a crossbow. She could also see very large knives on all three people.
When they had left, she climbed back down into the alley. She considered her choices. She could go out the front of the alley and get spotted by the two assassins, or she could go through the Magic Shop, and come out the front there, and still get spotted by the two assassins. She went through each piece of her clothing, looking for the tracking beacon. She found it on the inside of her top that she was wearing. She took it off and put it inside the Dumpster.
"Shit Faith. What have you gotten yourself into now," she said to herself. She sat down with her back leaning on the Magic Box's wall. She decided that she would have to wait until nightfall, so she would even have a chance of escaping. She realised that the day had only just began, and it would be a long wait until nightfall. She was suddenly tired, for no apparent reason. She had slept well, and she had only woken up two hours ago. It was then Faith realised why she was tired. She had woken up at seven o'clock, when usually her waking up time was somewhere around eleven. She lay down and went to sleep.
After Michael woke, he didn't seem to remember much about the previous night. He only remembered that there were a couple of men, and that they fought him, and they won and knocked him into unconsciousness. He could only remember waking up after he was knocked unconscious, but he knew that something happened to him, he could feel it. He got up and went straight over to Faith's apartment, but he encountered the Watchers there. He guessed that they had chased her, but failed, and now they were waiting at her at her apartment. He walked around town looking for her, but couldn't find her. He was walking past the Magic Box when images of the previous night flooded his head. He remembered the whole thing. He remembered the questions Sir Charles Edmond Smith, or in Michael's case, Charlie, asked him. He also remembered the offer that Charles had made him, if Michael could get a couple of answers to some questions that he wanted from Faith. It would be easy enough for Michael to get most of the answers, but he had to gain Faith's trust first. He also still had to be her mentor, and ready her for the up coming fight. The people that had kidnapped Michael knew far more about it than he did, and they instructed him to train Faith. He would be fed basic training routines by a letter dropped at his home every day, informing him of what he could teach Faith, and make her better by it.
He kept on walking, and he sensed two sets of eyes looking at him. One set was looking at him from the front, while another the side. He kept walking as if he didn't notice anything. He looked to his side, and saw a ragged old man sitting on a bench reading a newspaper. Up ahead, he caught the slightest movement on the rooftops, and saw a figure disappearing over the peak, so he or she couldn't be seen. He realised that they must be people that were supposed to keep an eye on him. He wanted to find out more about the people that had made him the offer, and he knew exactly where to start.
He walked into the Magic Box, looking for Willow. He asked around, and found out that she was in the basement, used for storage. He went down there, and found it creepy with all the occult paraphernalia that was there. He saw Willow looking through supplies.
"Hi Willow," he said. She spun around and was holding up a small baton. John just chuckled. "I don't think I was that much of a threat for you to use a baton on me," he said.
"Oh, Dr. Ramerez. Hi, what brings you down here?" Willow asked nervously. She was obviously shocked to see him.
"Oh, I just had a question or two," he answered.
"Oh, okay. What did you come down into this creepy basement to ask me?" Willow said.
"Good. I'm not the only one that thinks it's creepy," he said.
"Well I don't think it's creepy. But I thought that you thought it was creepy though," Willow said.
"Makes me feel a lot better then… Now, the questions, that girl, Faith. What was her deal? There's been reports of her getting into bloody fights all over town, and from what I've heard she's suffered some serious injuries. But whenever I see her around on the streets, she looks fine. I would have thought that someone that gets into fights regularly would have lots of bruises and such?" he explained and asked.
"Oh, you don't know. Faith is a Slayer, like Buffy was," Willow replied. John thought about asking who Buffy was, but then he realised that she was Willow's deceased friend.
"And that somehow makes her not able to get hurt?" he asked.
"No, she gets hurt, but she recovers more quickly than normal people do. All she needs is a day plus a good nights sleep to recover from a fractured bone," Willow explained.
"Amazing," Dr. Ramerez replied. They stood there in silence as Willow allowed the idea to sink into his brain. "Someone told me that this Faith girl is running away from the police, and that the police have sent SWAT or something to get her. Is that correct?"
"Not quite. There is an organisation after her, but it's a top-secret organisation called the Watchers Council. They are basically in charge of the Slayers," Willow explained again.
"Do you know why they are after Faith?" Ramerez asked.
"When she was slaying a vampire, she got caught up in the heat of the moment and accidentally stabbed the deputy Mayor who surprised her and Buffy," Willow answered.
"Oh, that's how he got killed… But it wouldn't warrant a special organisation to go after her for that," Ramerez said.
"Oh, I forgot, she helped the Mayor try to destroy the town," Willow replied.
"Oh." Willow and Ramerez exchanged small talk for ten minutes and then agreed to go upstairs to get some fresh air. Everyone was doing something, which included work and sitting around. He was about to go and talk to the girl Dawn, but was distracted by Anya.
"I just heard the back door close," Anya said. They all looked towards the door leading into the back room, and within a second it opened, revealing Faith. "Oh my god!"
"Relax, I'm not here to hurt you," Faith said calmly and reasonably. Everyone just looked at her and didn't say anything. Eventually it was Giles that broke the silence.
"What do you want Faith?" He asked.
"Okay, I guess you all know that I'm being chased by some people… I came through here this morning, and I hid on the roof. I learned that this shop is being watched by people to see if I come back here cause they thought I got away. I couldn't leave from the roof, so I went down into that little cosy alley you guys have got there and had a sleep…" she started to explain.
"That still doesn't explain why you're here," Anya said nervously.
"I was getting to that. Just hold on… Well anyway, I was having a sleep, and I woke up and it was so hot and I really needed a drink. So seeing that I couldn't go out the front and all…" she said. "I just want a nice drink of anything you've got, and then I'll go back out into the alley." Dawn got up and went over and got her a drink of water, only because she didn't know much about Faith's past. Dawn was around when Faith came to town, but she was kept away from most of the action, and Buffy refused to talk about anything. "Thanks for earlier red," Faith said while looking at Willow. She put the glass down and headed into the back room.
"Faith, wait," Willow said, but too late. She had already left the shop and was in the alley.
Willow walked out the back door to the Magic Box to find Faith sitting against the wall resting her arms on her knees. She just looked up at Willow.
"If you want me to leave, I'll do so. All you have to do is ask. Don't go using that magick stuff on me okay," she said while getting up.
"Actually, I came out here to invite you back inside," Willow commented.
"Did I just hear you right? You said invite me back inside?"
"Yes, I did," Willow replied.
"Are you certain you're friends are alright with this?" Faith asked. "I don't want to get any of them mad," she said uncertainly.
"Yes I'm sure. Now will you get inside already," Willow said, trying to have a bit of a joke with Faith. They went back inside, and Faith sat down at the research table. There was an awkward silence as everyone stared at Faith, and Faith stared at everyone. After a while, Dr. Ramerez decided that he was going to go. After he left, the awkward silence continued. It was Faith who broke the silence.
"This may seem awkward to all of you, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but this has been at me since I woke up. I saw how Buffy died from my hospital window. I saw her jump into that energy, and I saw it close. I want to know why she did that, and the conditions. It's just eating away at my insides." Everyone looked at Faith, and then at each other, deciding whom it would be that told Faith what had happened.
"I'll just tell it in the order we found out about the information… While on a patrol, Buffy found out about something called a key. We didn't know what it is, and we didn't know what it does. We did some research, and found out that someone called Glory was chasing the key, and that if she got her hands on it, she would open the gates between the dimensions, effectively creating a hell on earth. Later, we found out that monks who had the key in their possession had turned it into human form, constructed memories, and sent the key to the Slayer for protection… In the form of a sister…" Giles started.
"Little B? The key was Dawn?" Faith said.
"Not was, is," Willow said.
"So, what you're telling me is that Dawn isn't real? No offence or anything Dawn, but I need to know," Faith said.
"No, but she is as good as real. The memories that the monks made make her real. In our minds she's a sixteen year old girl, but in reality she is only a year or so old," Anya said.
"Man Dawn, doesn't this freak you out talking about all this?" Faith asked her.
"No, not really. I'm used to it now," she replied. Faith felt the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle coming together, and she realised now why when she tried to get into Dawn's mind, why she felt pure power.
"So, anyway, we didn't let Glory know about Dawn. Then, out of the blue, the Watchers Council notifies us that they will be putting Buffy through some serious tests, and that if she and her friends passed the tests, they would tell us key information about Glory… I remember the conversation between Buffy and the council members…" Giles said.
"Ooh, ooh, can I tell this bit. I love this bit," Anya said.
"Okay…" Giles started to reply.
"Well anyway, the Council was here in this shop. They were asking about us in a rather rude way. They called Willow and Tara amateur witches and other mean things like that. Buffy told them off by saying all the good things about each and every one of us. When it came to Xander, they said "And this young man here, what's his special use?" And Buffy replied straight to the Watchers' face "That young man over there happens to have clocked more field time than all three of you put together". And anyway, they said something's and then Buffy says "Just tell us what kind of demon Glory is and then get out of here" and then the leader of the Watchers that's here says "Glory is not a demon. She's a god." And phew," Anya said, while taking a break from talking.
"She can really talk can't she," Faith said towards Dawn, Giles, Tara and Willow.
"Yeah, sure she can. Especially when it comes to Xander," Tara said.
"What, are they like going out?" Faith asked.
"Yes, we're… Oh never mind. Yes, we're going out," Anya replied, remembering her promise to Xander not to tell everyone about their engagement.
"So, is she for real? Was Glory a god?" Faith asked.
"Yes, she was," Giles replied.
"So, what happened?" Faith asked.
"Well, we tried our hardest to keep Glory from discovering who the Key was. We found out that when she was weak she had to morph into a normal human being. We found out about the ritual that needed to be preformed for Glory to use the key. If she made Dawn bleed at a certain place, at a certain time, the gates would be opened, and the only way to close them would to be to kill Dawn… Glory came across Tara one day, and literally sucked her brains out, leaving her brain damaged. Willow was there, and got Tara away to safety…" Giles explained again.
"Could I tell this bit?" Willow asked.
"Sure Willow, go ahead. Give me a rest from speaking," Giles replied.
"I got really mad and went after Glory. I did everything to her, but she was strong. I sent lightning at her, and sent knives flying at her and everything, but she was strong. Apparently I hurt her more than Buffy ever had cause of Glory's superpowers…" Willow began.
"She had superpowers?" Faith said.
"Yes, she could run really fast and it was really hard to hurt her. Plus she was strong," Anya said.
"Well, anyway I weakened her a bit, and drove her out onto the street, where she got hit by a truck, but that didn't stop her. She came after us. She was talking to us, when Tara, when she was sick, called Dawn a pretty green light. At that instant, Glory knew that Dawn was the key. Buffy was able to stop Glory getting Dawn, but there was a big huge fight. We got in Giles' van and drove out of town, where we were hunted down by an army committed to destroying the key. They stabbed Giles, and we pulled over into a gas station. I put up a protection spell, and they couldn't get in. We rang up Ben, the doctor we all knew, and he came out to the gas station. The army agreed to let him inside, and we let him in. He fixed Giles right up, but he morphed into Glory. Remember when we told you that Glory had to morph into a human when she was weak, well Ben was Glory's human form. She stole Dawn and flattened the army that was outside in about five seconds. Buffy went into a coma like state, and I had to go into her mind and get her back again. We decided to go and try to rescue Dawn just before the ritual was going to start… I'm tired of talking, Giles can you take over?" Willow said.
"We found out that Glory had once been a lord of one of the Hell dimensions, and she was only doing this so she could go back home. Buffy went to meet her Spirit Guides, and it was the First Slayer that appeared to her in a dream. The first slayer told Buffy that Death was her gift, and Buffy thought that it meant that the Slayer was only a killer, and nothing else. We decided to go and try to rescue Dawn just as the ritual was going to begin, to try and disrupt Glory from doing the ritual. We got there, and the Buffy Bot fought Glory, but got its head smashed off. Willow somehow reversed what Glory had done to Tara, making Tara well again. Buffy fought Glory… and she killed her using a weapon a god made to fight other gods. But someone already had cut Dawn, and the ritual began. The portal opened, and Buffy realised that Dawn was made out of her, and that Dawn was Buffy, and Buffy was Dawn. She decided to end her life, instead of ending Dawn's, and she jumped," Giles said, not going into too much detail as it hurt so much. Faith just sat there, staring off into space.
"I'm sorry, but I've got to go," she said while getting up. She headed towards the door, and began to turn the handle when she remembered that the spies were outside. Cursing, she came back to the table and sat down, reminding everyone that the Watchers were outside. Everyone was silent, as they all relived that night. Faith was thinking about what she had just been told, not believing the incredible story at first, but she eventually grasped the idea. She felt sorry for Buffy having to go through all those things. She had never heard of a Slayer facing a God before. "Look, I'm sorry that I ever brought up the subject," Faith began
"No, it's alright. This is the first time any of us have really talked about it in length," Giles said. After a while, everyone went back to doing their own things. Faith just sat at the table and stared. She sat there for the rest of the morning, not saying much, just coming to terms with Buffy's death.
The whole Scooby Gang was sitting around the large research table that was inside the Magic Box. It was two hours since Faith had come running through the shop. As soon as Faith, Tara and Dawn thought it was safe, they called Giles and told him in rough detail what had happened. He came straight down. Xander and Anya were on the way anyway, and Tara and Willow didn't need to call them.
"So Giles, whaddaya think?" Willow asked. There was a slight pause.
"I don't know who they could have been, the only organisation that uses guns and old weapons like that would be…" Giles said while studying the discarded crossbow. It was unique, and automatically reloaded, and could carry ten arrows at once. "Oh dear."
"Oh dear what?" Anya said. Everyone looked at Giles as he was cleaning his glasses. He put them back on and said.
"The only organisation that I know of that uses guns and old weapons is the Watchers' Council… Faith is being hunted by Watchers' Council Assassins."
"Oh, that's not too bad," Dawn said. Everyone looked at her "What did I say?"
"On the contrary Dawn, that is very bad… The Watchers' Council infiltrates almost every organisation in the world. Their Assassins are among the best in the world. Most of them would have had Special Forces training, as well as magickal training…" Giles started
"So it's like G.I. Joe combined with Willow," Xander stated. There was a silence as everyone contemplated what he had just said.
"Yes, you're quite right Xander," Giles replied.
"I am, I am. Yes, the sweet taste of success," Xander replied.
"Why would the Council be hunting their own Slayer?" Tara asked.
"Well, Faith is a rouge," Giles started. He thought for a while. "Oh no. The only reason the Council would be hunting Faith is if there was only one Slayer… Another Slayer mustn't have been called when Buffy died."
"Oh yeah, I get it. Buffy already passed her power on once, but she can't do it again," Willow said.
"Yes," Giles said. "They would be hunting Faith because they know she is a rouge, and she is not falling under the command of the Council any more. Sure, she's doing her job. Well at least she was until a week ago, but she wasn't falling under Council orders. If they kill Faith, the next Slayer will be called, and she will probably be… What do you say, a miss goody two shoes," Giles said.
"But Buffy wasn't following the orders from the Council for a whole two years. Why didn't they hunt her?" Dawn asked.
"Because she was doing her job, and she was doing her job better than any Slayer in the past fifty years," Giles replied. There was a long silence as they all were lost in their thoughts.
"So, do we help Faith or not?" Anya asked. Everyone was silent as they all thought about the situation. It was ten minutes or so before Willow spoke up.
"I think we should. Earlier when she was in here before, it looked like she wanted to be helped. I think we should," Willow said.
"I concur," Giles said.
"How can we help her?" Xander asked. "It's not like I'm saying we're hopeless or anything, but how can we help her? We can't kill a person can we?" Xander asked.
"And this from a man that wanted to kill Ben to stop Glory," Willow said.
"Well, that was extreme circumstances. I was talking about killing a man to save the world, not just to save one person," Xander said. He looked over at Giles, who appeared quite uncomfortable with the subject. Looking around at everyone, he could see that they were all uncomfortable with the subject, but he noticed that Giles was really uncomfortable. "Okay, forget I ever said anything."
"I think that whenever we see Faith, we help her, but we don't go out looking for her. Or I think we would become targets ourselves," Tara said.
"Yes, now that's an idea," Xander said.
"Hey Giles, how did you know that the Watchers' Council would hunt Faith down and kill her because she's a rouge?" Willow asked.
"This is not the first time this has happened. It happens quite regularly actually," Giles responded.
"Oh," Willow answered.
"So. See Faith getting chased by people, we help her. But only if we see her?" Dawn said.
"Yes," Anya answered.
"Okay then. I say I go home and get some sleep. Didn't get too much last night," Xander said. Everyone just looked at him. There were only three people that knew what he meant, Xander, Anya and Willow. She figured it out.
"Oh, I have to stay here and work," Anya said. "I was hoping we could sleep together." Everyone just looked at her as she started dusting the shelves of the shop.
"Well, never mind what she said. I'm going to go and get some sleep," Xander said. With that he turned and walked out of the shop.
Faith had run out the back of the Magic Box, only to be stuck in a dead end alley. She heard the assassins coming towards her. She spotted a stack of wooden crates next to the building. She hopped up them and climbed onto the roof of the Magic Box, where she waited for the Assassins to leave. She lay down on the roof, and had a look over. There were three people coming into the alley, all in army issue combat uniforms. She watched as the leader was holding a small device out the front of him.
"It says she's near. She should be in this very alley," he said. The other two people started looking in the Dumpster, to see if Faith had hidden in there. Faith watched as they did a thorough search of the alley.
"Can't find anything here sir," one of them said to the leader. "She must have dislodged the tracking beacon from herself and ran." Faith's eyes went wide at hearing that she had a tracking beacon on her.
"Okay, we'll go back to her apartment and wait for her there," the leader said. "Keep two people posted here undercover in case she comes back." Faith stayed perfectly still on top of the roof. Before the men left the alley, she had a look at the weapons they were carrying. Two of them were carrying rifles, and the other was carrying a crossbow. She could also see very large knives on all three people.
When they had left, she climbed back down into the alley. She considered her choices. She could go out the front of the alley and get spotted by the two assassins, or she could go through the Magic Shop, and come out the front there, and still get spotted by the two assassins. She went through each piece of her clothing, looking for the tracking beacon. She found it on the inside of her top that she was wearing. She took it off and put it inside the Dumpster.
"Shit Faith. What have you gotten yourself into now," she said to herself. She sat down with her back leaning on the Magic Box's wall. She decided that she would have to wait until nightfall, so she would even have a chance of escaping. She realised that the day had only just began, and it would be a long wait until nightfall. She was suddenly tired, for no apparent reason. She had slept well, and she had only woken up two hours ago. It was then Faith realised why she was tired. She had woken up at seven o'clock, when usually her waking up time was somewhere around eleven. She lay down and went to sleep.
After Michael woke, he didn't seem to remember much about the previous night. He only remembered that there were a couple of men, and that they fought him, and they won and knocked him into unconsciousness. He could only remember waking up after he was knocked unconscious, but he knew that something happened to him, he could feel it. He got up and went straight over to Faith's apartment, but he encountered the Watchers there. He guessed that they had chased her, but failed, and now they were waiting at her at her apartment. He walked around town looking for her, but couldn't find her. He was walking past the Magic Box when images of the previous night flooded his head. He remembered the whole thing. He remembered the questions Sir Charles Edmond Smith, or in Michael's case, Charlie, asked him. He also remembered the offer that Charles had made him, if Michael could get a couple of answers to some questions that he wanted from Faith. It would be easy enough for Michael to get most of the answers, but he had to gain Faith's trust first. He also still had to be her mentor, and ready her for the up coming fight. The people that had kidnapped Michael knew far more about it than he did, and they instructed him to train Faith. He would be fed basic training routines by a letter dropped at his home every day, informing him of what he could teach Faith, and make her better by it.
He kept on walking, and he sensed two sets of eyes looking at him. One set was looking at him from the front, while another the side. He kept walking as if he didn't notice anything. He looked to his side, and saw a ragged old man sitting on a bench reading a newspaper. Up ahead, he caught the slightest movement on the rooftops, and saw a figure disappearing over the peak, so he or she couldn't be seen. He realised that they must be people that were supposed to keep an eye on him. He wanted to find out more about the people that had made him the offer, and he knew exactly where to start.
He walked into the Magic Box, looking for Willow. He asked around, and found out that she was in the basement, used for storage. He went down there, and found it creepy with all the occult paraphernalia that was there. He saw Willow looking through supplies.
"Hi Willow," he said. She spun around and was holding up a small baton. John just chuckled. "I don't think I was that much of a threat for you to use a baton on me," he said.
"Oh, Dr. Ramerez. Hi, what brings you down here?" Willow asked nervously. She was obviously shocked to see him.
"Oh, I just had a question or two," he answered.
"Oh, okay. What did you come down into this creepy basement to ask me?" Willow said.
"Good. I'm not the only one that thinks it's creepy," he said.
"Well I don't think it's creepy. But I thought that you thought it was creepy though," Willow said.
"Makes me feel a lot better then… Now, the questions, that girl, Faith. What was her deal? There's been reports of her getting into bloody fights all over town, and from what I've heard she's suffered some serious injuries. But whenever I see her around on the streets, she looks fine. I would have thought that someone that gets into fights regularly would have lots of bruises and such?" he explained and asked.
"Oh, you don't know. Faith is a Slayer, like Buffy was," Willow replied. John thought about asking who Buffy was, but then he realised that she was Willow's deceased friend.
"And that somehow makes her not able to get hurt?" he asked.
"No, she gets hurt, but she recovers more quickly than normal people do. All she needs is a day plus a good nights sleep to recover from a fractured bone," Willow explained.
"Amazing," Dr. Ramerez replied. They stood there in silence as Willow allowed the idea to sink into his brain. "Someone told me that this Faith girl is running away from the police, and that the police have sent SWAT or something to get her. Is that correct?"
"Not quite. There is an organisation after her, but it's a top-secret organisation called the Watchers Council. They are basically in charge of the Slayers," Willow explained again.
"Do you know why they are after Faith?" Ramerez asked.
"When she was slaying a vampire, she got caught up in the heat of the moment and accidentally stabbed the deputy Mayor who surprised her and Buffy," Willow answered.
"Oh, that's how he got killed… But it wouldn't warrant a special organisation to go after her for that," Ramerez said.
"Oh, I forgot, she helped the Mayor try to destroy the town," Willow replied.
"Oh." Willow and Ramerez exchanged small talk for ten minutes and then agreed to go upstairs to get some fresh air. Everyone was doing something, which included work and sitting around. He was about to go and talk to the girl Dawn, but was distracted by Anya.
"I just heard the back door close," Anya said. They all looked towards the door leading into the back room, and within a second it opened, revealing Faith. "Oh my god!"
"Relax, I'm not here to hurt you," Faith said calmly and reasonably. Everyone just looked at her and didn't say anything. Eventually it was Giles that broke the silence.
"What do you want Faith?" He asked.
"Okay, I guess you all know that I'm being chased by some people… I came through here this morning, and I hid on the roof. I learned that this shop is being watched by people to see if I come back here cause they thought I got away. I couldn't leave from the roof, so I went down into that little cosy alley you guys have got there and had a sleep…" she started to explain.
"That still doesn't explain why you're here," Anya said nervously.
"I was getting to that. Just hold on… Well anyway, I was having a sleep, and I woke up and it was so hot and I really needed a drink. So seeing that I couldn't go out the front and all…" she said. "I just want a nice drink of anything you've got, and then I'll go back out into the alley." Dawn got up and went over and got her a drink of water, only because she didn't know much about Faith's past. Dawn was around when Faith came to town, but she was kept away from most of the action, and Buffy refused to talk about anything. "Thanks for earlier red," Faith said while looking at Willow. She put the glass down and headed into the back room.
"Faith, wait," Willow said, but too late. She had already left the shop and was in the alley.
Willow walked out the back door to the Magic Box to find Faith sitting against the wall resting her arms on her knees. She just looked up at Willow.
"If you want me to leave, I'll do so. All you have to do is ask. Don't go using that magick stuff on me okay," she said while getting up.
"Actually, I came out here to invite you back inside," Willow commented.
"Did I just hear you right? You said invite me back inside?"
"Yes, I did," Willow replied.
"Are you certain you're friends are alright with this?" Faith asked. "I don't want to get any of them mad," she said uncertainly.
"Yes I'm sure. Now will you get inside already," Willow said, trying to have a bit of a joke with Faith. They went back inside, and Faith sat down at the research table. There was an awkward silence as everyone stared at Faith, and Faith stared at everyone. After a while, Dr. Ramerez decided that he was going to go. After he left, the awkward silence continued. It was Faith who broke the silence.
"This may seem awkward to all of you, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but this has been at me since I woke up. I saw how Buffy died from my hospital window. I saw her jump into that energy, and I saw it close. I want to know why she did that, and the conditions. It's just eating away at my insides." Everyone looked at Faith, and then at each other, deciding whom it would be that told Faith what had happened.
"I'll just tell it in the order we found out about the information… While on a patrol, Buffy found out about something called a key. We didn't know what it is, and we didn't know what it does. We did some research, and found out that someone called Glory was chasing the key, and that if she got her hands on it, she would open the gates between the dimensions, effectively creating a hell on earth. Later, we found out that monks who had the key in their possession had turned it into human form, constructed memories, and sent the key to the Slayer for protection… In the form of a sister…" Giles started.
"Little B? The key was Dawn?" Faith said.
"Not was, is," Willow said.
"So, what you're telling me is that Dawn isn't real? No offence or anything Dawn, but I need to know," Faith said.
"No, but she is as good as real. The memories that the monks made make her real. In our minds she's a sixteen year old girl, but in reality she is only a year or so old," Anya said.
"Man Dawn, doesn't this freak you out talking about all this?" Faith asked her.
"No, not really. I'm used to it now," she replied. Faith felt the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle coming together, and she realised now why when she tried to get into Dawn's mind, why she felt pure power.
"So, anyway, we didn't let Glory know about Dawn. Then, out of the blue, the Watchers Council notifies us that they will be putting Buffy through some serious tests, and that if she and her friends passed the tests, they would tell us key information about Glory… I remember the conversation between Buffy and the council members…" Giles said.
"Ooh, ooh, can I tell this bit. I love this bit," Anya said.
"Okay…" Giles started to reply.
"Well anyway, the Council was here in this shop. They were asking about us in a rather rude way. They called Willow and Tara amateur witches and other mean things like that. Buffy told them off by saying all the good things about each and every one of us. When it came to Xander, they said "And this young man here, what's his special use?" And Buffy replied straight to the Watchers' face "That young man over there happens to have clocked more field time than all three of you put together". And anyway, they said something's and then Buffy says "Just tell us what kind of demon Glory is and then get out of here" and then the leader of the Watchers that's here says "Glory is not a demon. She's a god." And phew," Anya said, while taking a break from talking.
"She can really talk can't she," Faith said towards Dawn, Giles, Tara and Willow.
"Yeah, sure she can. Especially when it comes to Xander," Tara said.
"What, are they like going out?" Faith asked.
"Yes, we're… Oh never mind. Yes, we're going out," Anya replied, remembering her promise to Xander not to tell everyone about their engagement.
"So, is she for real? Was Glory a god?" Faith asked.
"Yes, she was," Giles replied.
"So, what happened?" Faith asked.
"Well, we tried our hardest to keep Glory from discovering who the Key was. We found out that when she was weak she had to morph into a normal human being. We found out about the ritual that needed to be preformed for Glory to use the key. If she made Dawn bleed at a certain place, at a certain time, the gates would be opened, and the only way to close them would to be to kill Dawn… Glory came across Tara one day, and literally sucked her brains out, leaving her brain damaged. Willow was there, and got Tara away to safety…" Giles explained again.
"Could I tell this bit?" Willow asked.
"Sure Willow, go ahead. Give me a rest from speaking," Giles replied.
"I got really mad and went after Glory. I did everything to her, but she was strong. I sent lightning at her, and sent knives flying at her and everything, but she was strong. Apparently I hurt her more than Buffy ever had cause of Glory's superpowers…" Willow began.
"She had superpowers?" Faith said.
"Yes, she could run really fast and it was really hard to hurt her. Plus she was strong," Anya said.
"Well, anyway I weakened her a bit, and drove her out onto the street, where she got hit by a truck, but that didn't stop her. She came after us. She was talking to us, when Tara, when she was sick, called Dawn a pretty green light. At that instant, Glory knew that Dawn was the key. Buffy was able to stop Glory getting Dawn, but there was a big huge fight. We got in Giles' van and drove out of town, where we were hunted down by an army committed to destroying the key. They stabbed Giles, and we pulled over into a gas station. I put up a protection spell, and they couldn't get in. We rang up Ben, the doctor we all knew, and he came out to the gas station. The army agreed to let him inside, and we let him in. He fixed Giles right up, but he morphed into Glory. Remember when we told you that Glory had to morph into a human when she was weak, well Ben was Glory's human form. She stole Dawn and flattened the army that was outside in about five seconds. Buffy went into a coma like state, and I had to go into her mind and get her back again. We decided to go and try to rescue Dawn just before the ritual was going to start… I'm tired of talking, Giles can you take over?" Willow said.
"We found out that Glory had once been a lord of one of the Hell dimensions, and she was only doing this so she could go back home. Buffy went to meet her Spirit Guides, and it was the First Slayer that appeared to her in a dream. The first slayer told Buffy that Death was her gift, and Buffy thought that it meant that the Slayer was only a killer, and nothing else. We decided to go and try to rescue Dawn just as the ritual was going to begin, to try and disrupt Glory from doing the ritual. We got there, and the Buffy Bot fought Glory, but got its head smashed off. Willow somehow reversed what Glory had done to Tara, making Tara well again. Buffy fought Glory… and she killed her using a weapon a god made to fight other gods. But someone already had cut Dawn, and the ritual began. The portal opened, and Buffy realised that Dawn was made out of her, and that Dawn was Buffy, and Buffy was Dawn. She decided to end her life, instead of ending Dawn's, and she jumped," Giles said, not going into too much detail as it hurt so much. Faith just sat there, staring off into space.
"I'm sorry, but I've got to go," she said while getting up. She headed towards the door, and began to turn the handle when she remembered that the spies were outside. Cursing, she came back to the table and sat down, reminding everyone that the Watchers were outside. Everyone was silent, as they all relived that night. Faith was thinking about what she had just been told, not believing the incredible story at first, but she eventually grasped the idea. She felt sorry for Buffy having to go through all those things. She had never heard of a Slayer facing a God before. "Look, I'm sorry that I ever brought up the subject," Faith began
"No, it's alright. This is the first time any of us have really talked about it in length," Giles said. After a while, everyone went back to doing their own things. Faith just sat at the table and stared. She sat there for the rest of the morning, not saying much, just coming to terms with Buffy's death.
