Authors note: Hello everyone happy new year! Hope you all had a good Christmas and that the hangovers weren't too bad, I know mine was lol. Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you like this chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns everything.
Chapter 10
Early Morning - Sunnydale
Riley cautiously entered the building before him. He had no idea where he was, the car that Professor Walsh had sent to collect him had dropped him off here and the driver had given him a slip of paper with what he assumed was a room number. Looking round the lobby of what appeared to be an office building he saw nothing but a set of elevator doors before him.
The sound of his footsteps echoed through the lobby as he made his way towards the elevator. He was about to reach out and press the button when the doors opened before him, he glanced at them warily before stepping inside. The doors quickly closed behind him and the elevator began to move upwards, he realised that he had no idea what floor he had to stop at, however when he looked round the elevator he saw that there was no control panel, realising that he had no control over the situation he resigned himself to waiting to see where the elevator dropped him.
Needless to say when the elevator doors finally opened he wasn't surprised to see that he was on the correct floor. The corridor before him looked like something from a science fiction movie, with stark white walls and what he assumed where reinforced steel doors. Feeling adequately out of place in his baggy tracksuit, he looked at the room number on the slip of paper and began to search the corridor, inwardly cursing at himself for not bringing any weapons for protection.
Buffy's house - Morning
When Willow came downstairs she was greeted by the smell of coffee. Walking through to the kitchen she was surprised to see Buffy sitting at the breakfast bar, cradling a mug in her hands. "Morning." Willow greeted, causing Buffy to leap out of her skin.
"Oh hey, morning. There's plenty of coffee if you want some." Buffy said, gesturing to the pot on the work top.
"Where's Giles?" Willow asked, finally noticing the watchers absence.
"He's upstairs decorating the house with mistletoe." Buffy said offhandedly.
Willow nodded to herself as she poured a cup of coffee, before sitting down opposite her best friend. "How's Faith?" she asked in concern.
Buffy sighed, "She had a pretty restless night, I finally managed to calm her down about three, hopefully she's still sleeping." she said quietly.
"What about you?" Willow asked, looking at her friend in concern.
"I'm okay." Buffy said smiling sadly, before looking down at the mug in her hands. A few minutes of silence passed as Willow patiently waited for her friend to open up to her. "Actually I'm not okay." she said quietly, "Everything's wrong." she whispered. "I'm sitting down here doing nothing while that thing is messing with my girlfriends head. I mean I'm the slayer, it's my duty to protect people but what good is that when I can't protect the people I love."
Willow clasped Buffy's hand in hers and squeezed gently. "From where I'm standing you've done a good job protecting me and Xander the past four years. And you stopped those commandos from taking Faith." she said firmly. "We all know the risks of fighting at your side but we do it anyway because we love you and we want to protect you. I know it seems like you have to be super gal all the time but remember that you're not alone. You've go us to help ease the burden." Willow said. "And we're pretty hard to forget, what with the screaming and panicking whenever we're in danger, which is nearly a regular occurrence."
Buffy smiled. "You guys are the best, I don't know what I'd do without you." she said seriously.
"I know for a fact that we would be dead without you, as harsh and morbid as it sounds it's the truth." Willow said.
"It was a bit harsh." Buffy said in agreement.
"But at the same time true." Willow said, she glanced up at the clock and drained the rest of her coffee. "I think I'll go and see how Tara's doing, she took what happened to Faith pretty bad and I wanna make sure she's okay." Willow said anxiously.
Buffy smiled gently "Tell her hey from me." she said pulling Willow into a hug, "Thanks for being here for me, it means a lot."
"Hey that's what best friends are for, it comes with the territory." Willow said, pulling back from the hug she looked at Buffy seriously. "Remember to look after yourself as well Buffy, Faith wouldn't want you running yourself into the ground and putting your life on hold because of what's happened."
Buffy nodded and looked down at the ground, "I know."
"Which is why I'm coming back later to help you pick your classes for college." Willow said, resolve face firmly in place as Buffy looked at her in shock.
"Oh God I totally forgot!" She exclaimed. "My mom will kill me."
"No she won't not with me on the case." Willow said happily. "I'll bring everything round for you Buffy, don't worry."
"You're a life saver Wills." Buffy said in relief, following Willow through to the front door.
"So I've been told." Willow said, smirking gently. "Well I'd better go, I'll see you guys later." she said, letting herself out. Buffy watched her go and waved goodbye before closing the door behind her.
She was halfway up the stairs when she met Giles coming down them. "Where are you going?" He asked softly.
"I need to check on Faith." Buffy said attempting to walk past him. He stopped her in her tracks with a hand on her shoulder.
"She's still sleeping." he said gently. "She'll be fine for the moment, meanwhile you need to rest. You've been running yourself ragged, it's not healthy Buffy. Come downstairs and I'll make you something to eat."
Buffy sighed and grudgingly turned round, heading back down the stairs. She walked through to the living room and sat on the sofa, while Giles headed through to the kitchen. She absentmindedly listened to him clattering about, her thoughts preoccupied with Faith and what the future held for the both of them. She knew without a doubt that if Faith couldn't be cured she would willingly give up everything to care for her. There was no way on earth she would abandon Faith, and she wouldn't trust anyone else to care for her. She was trying to remain positive, but the longer they went on without a cure, the more she felt her hope beginning to fade.
She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Giles standing next to her, he smiled gently, and handed her a plate of pancakes. She looked at him thankfully and began to pick at the food, her appetite had left her however she forced herself to eat, as she needed to stay strong for Faith.
Building - Business District Sunnydale
The door to room 214 stared at him ominously, almost daring him to knock. Clearing is throat he crammed the piece of paper in his pocket before reaching his hand out to rap on the steel door before him. He fidgeted nervously as he heard someone unlocking the door from the other side.
"Ah, Agent Finn glad to see you've arrived in one piece come in." Wesley greeted, opening the door he stepped back to let Riley enter. When Riley stepped into the room he was surprised to see that it was a large open plan apartment, warmly decorated in complete contrast to the almost clinical feel of the lobby and corridor outside. Wesley gestured for him to sit down on the sofa. "Would you like anything to drink?" he asked.
"Uh, no, no thank you." Riley replied, still trying to decide if he was dreaming or not.
Wesley poured himself a large scotch before sitting opposite him on the sofa. "Now I suppose you're wondering why we've called you here at this late hour." he asked sipping from the glass in his hand. "Professor Walsh and myself have a proposition for you." he said.
Riley looked at him in confusion. "A proposition?" he asked.
"How would you like to become something that most people can only dream of?" Professor Walsh asked, appearing from behind Riley. "Despite the fact that the mission was almost a complete failure it was your quick thinking which managed to salvage it. We believe that you have what it takes to progress to the next level."
"I don't understand." Riley said, looking between Wesley and Professor Walsh in confusion.
"We want to initiate you into the OMEGA project and make you into a super being, strong enough to match the slayer." Wesley said simply.
"Why? Why me?" Riley asked curiously.
"You've already proved yourself with your loyalty and initiative. I have a group of super soldiers standing by, they merely await a leader. I want that leader to be you."
Riley looked thoughtful, he realised that he was being offered everything that he had ever dreamed of. He looked back up at professor Walsh and smiled. "Okay, what do I have to do?"
Meanwhile - Buffy's house
Buffy picked up the phone and dialled the contact number that Drake had given them when he left. Walking over to the sofa she sat down opposite Giles and waited for the person on the other end to answer. // Hello, Lehane investigations, how can we help you?// A voice answered cheerfully.
"Cordelia?" Buffy asked hesitantly, knocked off by the cheerful greeting.
//Buffy is that you? How've you been?"// Cordelia asked.
"Not so good." Buffy said quietly, "I-Is Drake there?" she asked.
//Uh sure, hold on I'll just get him.// Cordelia said the concern evident in her voice. Buffy could hear rustling in the background before she heard Cordelia talking to Drake. There was a fumbling sound as the phone was handed over, and she was greeted by Drake.
//Hi Buffy what can I do for ya?// Drake asked in concern.
Buffy sighed. "It's Faith she's, she's been taken over by the same thing that possessed your dad." she said, summing up everything that had happened in one brief sentence, knowing that Drake would understand and hoping that he would have the answers.
// Oh God// Drake whispered// How did it happen// He listened quietly as Buffy explained about the dreams and Faith's bloodlust, and how the Entity had followed them back from the dreamscape. // When I last saw her she'd told me about the dreams, she'd been worried that she was going to turn out like dad but I thought it was just guilt. // He said quietly. // Man I should've known what was happening!//
"You didn't know, none of us did." Buffy said calmly.
//How bad is she?// He asked anxiously.
Buffy sighed sadly "Bad."
// I don't want this thing to destroy what's left of my family, it did a good enough job of that the first time round.// he said firmly.
"Neither do I." Buffy said softly.
// Listen if me and Cordy leave soon we should be down there for tonight, I'll see if I can find anything that might help, Marcus gave me some scrolls to restore, they might have something about this bastard in them.// He said.
"Anything you can find would be great cause we've got no leads at all." she said.
// I'll see what I can do.// He said. //You take care Buffy and I'll see you soon.//
"Okay and Drake, thank you." She said sincerely.
//No problem, Buffy.//
They said their goodbyes and Buffy hung up, sitting the phone on the coffee table before turning to face Giles who was waiting expectantly. "Drake and Cordelia are on their way. He's going to see if he can find anything that'll help." she said.
"Thank God." Giles exclaimed. "Any information they have is better than nothing. Even the smallest lead could be enough to get the ball rolling."
Buffy looked at him thoughtfully. "I hope you're right." she said.
A sudden crash from above them startled them both, causing Buffy to jump up from the sofa and run for the stairs, with Giles following closely behind.
Buffy got to the top of the stairs in time to see Mr Gordo fly across the landing and bounce off the wall. Hearing banging noises she quickly hurried towards her room, and saw Faith sitting in the doorway to her room, seemingly banging her hands on thin air. For a split second Buffy thought she was seeing things until she remembered the mistletoe above her doorway.
"I can't get out, it won't let me leave." Faith cried franticly banging her hands on the invisible barrier between the doorway.
"Hey, ssh it's okay." Buffy said, walking into the room and gathering Faith into her arms. "It's okay." Buffy looked up and saw Giles standing awkwardly in the doorway, she smiled at him reassuringly and gestured for him to leave them, before turning her attention to her girlfriend.
"I-It doesn't like me, won't let me out." Faith whispered, pointing at the door. "I made it mad."
Buffy smiled sadly, "Baby the door isn't mad at you, it's protecting you from anything bad that wants to hurt you." she said soothingly.
"Hurt me?"
"Nothing bad can get you in here." Buffy said.
"B-but the bad man, he's in here." Faith whispered, tapping her head with her hand. "He won't get out, says your bad, h-he says you want to hurt me. That's why I can't leave." she said fearfully.
Buffy forced herself to remain calm, and gently cupped Faith's cheek in her palm. "Baby you know I would never hurt you." she said solemnly.
"Because you love me?" Faith asked seriously.
Buffy nodded, "Because I love you and I would do anything to make sure that nobody hurt you." she said caressing Faith's cheek.
Faith stared at Buffy intently and gently ran her hand through Buffy's hair, "Mine." she said softly.
"Yours." Buffy whispered sadly, her voice thick with tears.
"I won't let the bad man hurt my Buffy." Faith said seriously. "Cause I love you." Buffy put her hand over her mouth but she was too late to stop the sob from escaping. She tried to hold it together in front of Faith, however when she felt Faith's arms wrap round her she lost what little control she had on her emotions. Burying her head in Faith's shoulder she finally let out all the pain and guilt that had been building inside her, and allowed herself to break down in her lovers arms.
TBC.