Chapter 11: The Return of AngelPOV Faith

I couldn't stick around the meeting any longer. So I ran. I'd been doing pretty good with the whole not splittin' when things get a little hairy – fearless leader and all – but I just couldn't stand there and watch her get all gooey cause Angel pulled a Pinocchio and is somehow a real boy.

Don't get me wrong; I'm psyched for him. I don't begrudge him that kinda thing, having to go around with the tortured soul crap. Hell, I've had enough of it and I'm not even thirty. And he's been doing that gig longer than America's been a country.

I owe Angel big time. Back in the day, he was the only one who cared; he was the only one who thought I could be saved, even when I didn't think I was worth it. When no one came to visit me in prison, he was the one who kept me tethered to the outside world. But as much as I appreciate all he's done for me in the past, that doesn't mean I'm just gonna stand to the side and watch him steal my girl. That's right, I said it. My Girl.

Yeah, they had the epic, tortured love story – a Californian version of Romeo and Juliet or some crap. But now that I've experienced Buffy Summers, I'm never letting go. The old Faith might've turned tail and run off, thinking she didn't deserve Buffy – thinking that Buffy and Angel were meant to be. But that was the old Faith. Now I'm the Chosen One. And I choose her.

So now I'm in the training room, pounding out my sorrows on this poor Everlast bag. Beats the alternative – slamming a fifth of Jack and fucking the closest warm body. Lookit me all learnin' and growin'. There were a few girls in here sparring and lifting weights when I showed up; but after they saw me lay into the punching bag, they quickly packed it in and left. Bein' the boss has some perks.

I'm sure my leaving the meeting so quickly after Wes made his big announcement is sure to raise more than a few eyebrows. I didn't even stay long enough to find out when Fangboy's showing up in Scotland. Dang…now I've gotta come up with a new nickname for him. How inconsiderate.

I can hardly imagine what they must be thinking at this point. They all know what a big role Angel played in my redemption, so I bet more than a few of 'em think I'm up in my room, sobbin' for joy. But one thing I can guarantee – not one of them is thinking I left the meeting cause I'm in love with Buffy Summers.

"You know, you do have a bathroom attached to your bedroom. Or are you just trying to convert even more of the newbies to see the Sapphic side of life?"

The blonde slayer hovered in the entranceway to the large shower room connected to the training facility. Faith showered alone with her back to the door, but Buffy knew she didn't need to announce her entrance. They could always feel each other when one of them walked into a room, no matter how crowded, or in the case of the large industrial bathroom, how empty.

After Faith had run out of the room when the news about Angel's recent mortality dropped, Buffy found herself swarmed by her old friends, Willow and Xander, both grinning ear to ear and babbling like they were back in high school. Despite his initial misgivings and jealousy toward the soul-ed vampire during their high school years, Xander wanted happiness for the blonde slayer even if it came in the shape of her former boyfriend. Willow pined for happy-endings and although Buffy had recently shown intimate interest in women, the redheaded witch falsely believed it had been merely a one-time curiosity.

But Buffy didn't know how she should feel about Angel's return. For so many years, she had believed it would make her happy. But she had found happiness recently in an unexpected place – in the soft embrace of the Boston slayer.

Faith's stoical retort jolted the elder slayer back from her rambling thoughts: "What can I say? Old habits are hard to break," the former convict deadpanned. "Guess I got used to all those group showers when I was in the pokey. Speaking of bad habits…" Faith turned around in the shower to face the blonde girl, unembarrassed by her lack of clothing. "When's Angel getting here?"

Buffy frowned, but chose to ignore the other woman's biting and accusatory comment. "Yeah, I noticed you didn't stick around for that part of the meeting," the blonde observed, crossing her arms across her chest.

The Boston woman shrugged at the smaller slayer's words and arched her back, letting the spray run down her face to wash the shampoo from her dark tresses. She squirted an ample amount of body wash into her cupped hand, not bothering with the loofa hanging from the showerhead. She rubbed her hands together before soaping up her chest, spreading the soapsuds on her soft, fleshy globes.

Buffy felt her eyes train on the strong, feminine hands as they traveled from her breasts, down her torso, and just above the small landing strip above her sex. She felt her body moving of its own accord as she stepped into the shower room and closer to the brunette's naked form. Her movements did not go unnoticed by the dark slayer, or the trajectory of her stare.

"B… you're gonna get wet," Faith warned as she watched the blonde girl stepping closer and closer toward her shower.

"I'm always wet when I'm around you, F," Buffy breathed. She grabbed the hands that currently soaped up the naked form before her. Buffy brought the hands to her lips and placed light, gentle kisses on Faith's raw knuckles. The dark woman had boxed without gloves again, tearing up the skin. "Why did you do that to yourself?" Buffy softly asked, the spray of the shower beginning to lightly mist against her blonde locks.

Faith stared down at the soft hand grasping her own rough touch. "Dunno, B," she shrugged. "Guess I just wanted to feel a different kind of pain to dull the aching in my heart."

Buffy looked up from the woman's raw and angry knuckles to lock eyes with the Boston girl. The sincerity and honesty of the brunette's answer shocked her. She tenderly cupped the other woman's chin between her thumb and forefinger, allowing herself to be swallowed whole by the sorrow apparent in her lover's eyes. She lightly brushed a dark, wet lock behind the brunette slayer's right ear with her free hand. Ignoring the pelting hot water that continued to soak her clothes, Buffy stepped closer to the brunette's naked form.

Faith bit her bottom lip, her jaw quivering with emotion. "Don't, B," she rasped. "I can't let you hurt me again." She tried to pull away from the blonde's penetrating stare, but found the strength of her sister-Slayer too much to overcome.

Buffy continued her eye lock and swabbed her tongue across her bottom lip. She leaned forward, slowly narrowing the distance between her mouth and the dark slayer's bee-stung lips. Tilting her head to the side, Buffy brushed her soft lips against the pliable skin of the Boston girl's mouth.

Faith closed her chocolate-colored eyes and sighed against her lover's embrace. As much as she wanted to keep her distance and remain stoical for fear of being abandoned as soon as the former vampire returned, she couldn't deny the heat the small slayer produced in her body. The water poured down on the two women from above, causing Buffy's clothes to cling to her svelte form. Faith ran her hands along the rough contours of the elder slayer's body, reveling in the touch of damp denim and cotton pressed tightly against her nakedness.

"When's Angel getting here?" Faith repeated, placing feather-light kisses along the blonde's jaw line. The raven-haired beauty continued to kiss down Buffy's neck, pausing only when she felt the scar tissue against her lips. It seemed as though no matter how much time had passed, Buffy would always have his mark. The Boston girl didn't know which vampire it belonged to anymore – the Master, Angel, or Dracula. It didn't really matter to her though. Only one scar mattered, because Buffy had gotten it when she gave Faith her stomach wound trying to save Angel's life.

"Not-not for a few hours at least," Buffy panted, her blood racing hot through her body from the other woman's touch.

"Then I'd better get some before lover boy gets back. Who knows if I'll ever get a piece of this again," the younger slayer spit bitterly. Faith ran her tongue across her canines, feeling the subtle points against the tip of her tongue. She roughly bit down on the blonde woman's exposed neck, hard enough so she knew it would leave an angry bruise. Buffy moaned loudly, the sound of her mixing pain and pleasure echoing off the large shower room walls.

The dark girl abruptly reached up and turned off the showerhead. She stood tall, the snake-like tendrils of her brunette hair dripping beads down her naked, olive-toned skin. Her eyes flashed with a new emotion – anger.

"You gotta make a decision, B," she declared bitterly. "Whose mark do you want? Because you can't have us both."

Buffy's hand went to her neck, the skin throbbing under her fingertips. Her hazel-eyes narrowed with an anger of her own. "What is it that you want, Faith? How many times do I have to ask that question?"

Faith scowled and grabbed her towel from the wall hook. "I don't need this shit," she growled. "Be with whomever you wanna be, cause I don't care anymore." The dark slayer began to stalk away, barely taking the time to wrap a towel around her lithe body in her hasty exit.

Faith felt the air rapidly escape her lungs as the blonde slammed her against the cold tiled wall. "Don't you get it?" the elder slayer asked shrilly.

The Boston girl grunted. "Apparently not, but something tells me you're gonna set me straight." Faith grabbed at her right arm gingerly and winced. She thought it might be dislocated, but upon rotating it once, found it still in the socket.

Buffy grabbed the taller girl's toned upper arms and sneered. "Is pain the only thing you understand? Do I have to beat it into you?"

Faith unexpectedly switched their positions, pinning Buffy against the bathroom tiling instead. She held the woman tightly by her wrists, her eyes filled with emotions.

"No, Buffy. You just have to love me."

A solid knock on her bedroom door drew the robed blonde slayer out of her bathroom. She toweled at her damp hair as she walked toward the sound, humming a wordless tune. After leaving Faith at the training facility, she had returned to her room for a hot shower of her own. Buffy swung the door open and gasped when she saw the person standing on the other side.

"Angel," she breathed. The small slayer dropped her towel on the ground and threw herself against the smiling man standing in her doorway, enveloping him in a Buffy-sized hug. She felt the warmth of his skin. She felt the beating of his heart within his chest.

Buffy looked up at Angel from beneath her thick eyelashes. "You're really alive," she murmured, the amazement obvious in her voice.

Angel smiled down at the small woman. He instinctively bent down and pressed his warm lips against Buffy's mouth. The blonde jumped back from his touch. "Angel. I can't."

The former vampire furrowed his handsome brow. "What's wrong? You're not cookies yet?"

"Uh, no. I'm cookies. All baked and ready to be eaten…" The slayer grimaced at the unfortunate metaphor she had coined years ago. It seemed more like a lifetime ago, really. "Come…come in. We should talk," she stated nervously, motioning for the man to enter her room.

The brooding man frowned and followed the blonde as he raked his fingers through his well-gelled hair. "Yeah, I heard Riley was back in the fold."

"Oh, God. You think I'm with Riley?" Buffy couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up her throat. "No. Not Riley."

Angel gave her a confused and hurt look. "Then who?" he questioned. "Robin Wood? Someone new?"

The small slayer shook her head and bit her lip. "It's…not Robin...and not someone new either."

Angel looked expectantly at his former lover, awaiting her explanation.

Buffy cast her eyes to the floor and reached up to touch the tender bruise on her neck. "I'm with Faith," she finally admitted, not daring to look at the man who stood before.

"I told him."

Buffy had searched the castle to find the dark woman, feeling out with her slayer-senses to find her location. She found Faith standing outside on the castle balcony, smoking a cigarette.

"You want a parade or something, Blondie?" the brunette drawled, blowing another smoke ring in the air.

Buffy frowned and pushed back the tears she felt beginning to sting her eyes. "It's a big step for me, okay?" She clenched her fists into balls, feeling her short manicured nails bite the palms of her hands.

Faith sighed deeply and flicked her dying cigarette off the balcony, watching as it fluttered to the ground. She raked her hand through her hair and turned finally to face the woman she loved.

"I'm sorry, B," she apologized, holding her hands at her sides, palms facing up. "I don't mean to act so cavalier; I know it's a huge deal. I get that." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm just an idiot sometimes. I get so jealous and anxious and lacking in the self-esteem." She crossed the distance between the blonde and herself and engulfed the woman in a tight embrace.

Buffy sighed and buried her face in the crook of Faith's neck. "You'd think that little performance in the shower would have given you all the self-esteem you'd need," she joked lightly. Faith tilted Buffy's face up and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"What did he say when you told him?" Faith asked quietly. Buffy sighed again and nuzzled her nose into her lover's skin.

"It was unbelievably awkward," the blonde admitted. "At one point I thought he might need me to draw him a diagram."

"Diagrams, eh?" Faith grinned slyly. "Complete with pie charts and everything? That's getting me all kindsa hot, baby."

Buffy stuck her tongue out at the brunette whose mood seemed to lift immediately upon hearing that she had told Angel. Even though the Californian still had not revealed their relationship to anyone else, telling Angel spoke mountains for their coupling.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Faith asked, holding Buffy close.

She felt the woman in her arms tense slightly. "No…I'm not ready yet," the blonde answered honestly.

Faith nodded and kissed the top of the blonde's head. "Who do you think our Champion should be?" she posed, changing the subject. Although Angel being back had certainly bothered her, she couldn't help but worry about the impending battle with Twilight.

"Normally I would say Angel," Buffy mumbled into the other woman's neck, thankful that Faith hadn't wanted to probe too deeply about her conversation with her former boyfriend. She breathed in the scent of the other woman. "The Powers always said he would be a Champion. But in his present human state, he couldn't beat up Andrew."

Faith couldn't help the smirk that crossed her lips despite her somber mood. She leaned back and smiled down on her lover. "I wouldn't say that too loudly around him. Might give him a new reason to start brooding."

A mischievous smile curled onto Buffy's lips. "Don't tell Angel I said this either, but he and Andrew kind of have matching hair-cuts."

Faith snorted through her nose. The two were quiet for a moment, the distant sound of crickets chirping filling the night sky.

"Maybe I should be the Champion," Buffy whispered, her voice barely audible.

"No way, Princess," Faith shook her head solidly. "I'm The Slayer. I'm the Chosen One. This should be my fight, not yours."

"I'm not trying to steal your thunder or be the leader again. I promise," Buffy insisted. "But if they do create a hybrid like the Initiative did with Adam, I have experience fighting with the combination of everyone's essences. I've beat that kind of creature before."

"Yeah, cause I was in prison," Faith scowled bitterly, turning away from her lover.

Buffy frowned guiltily and wrapped her arms around the brunette's waist. She rested her chin on Faith's strong shoulder. "But if you hadn't turned yourself in," she wistfully began, "then you and I wouldn't be…"

Faith walked out of Buffy's embrace. She didn't want to hear the blonde's justification for her being in prison. She had done it for herself – for her redemption. Not for the chance to be Buffy's lapdog.

"Don't forget you're also supposed to destroy the world, according to our crystal ball," the Boston girl stated coolly, not facing her lover. "What if you lose, Buffy? Seems like that could put a damper on at least Christmas this year."

Buffy looked away, distracted by something in the sky. Her eyes narrowed as she stared above. "Is it just me," she started, "or are the stars…are they…are they moving?"

"Huh," Faith mused, tilting her head to look into the dark sky. "Just when you think you've seen it all."

The stars clustered around each other, their message abrupt like a telegram: "Talk to your witch. It's time we settle this."

"So go over this again, Red," Faith stated calmly, trying to wrap her head around the details of the meet-up. "Where exactly is this little powwow taking place?"

"It's a neutral room," Willow repeated. "No magics can be used inside it without the field exploding. It's like that house we visited before, Buffy."

The blonde nodded, a strange smile on her beautiful face. "Oh right. I remember that one – we used magic in and then it got all explode-y."

The witch smiled fleetingly and nodded. "Exactly."

"Ah, the Good Guys. Right on time. I do love punctuality."

After stepping through the blue-greenish portal, the group found themselves in a room that looked straight out of Medieval Times. A number of animal heads adorned the wooden-paneled walls and a large fire crackled in the stone fireplace at the opposite end of the room. A long, distressed wooden table was placed in the center of the ornate room, an odd fruit basket in its center. Xander reached for a pear, only to be swatted at by Willow who gave him a warning glare.

Twilight stood on one side of the room flanked by Amy, Warren, and three uniformed military personnel.

"Where's your seventh?" Giles demanded of the masked man as he noted the other side's lack of numbers. Faith and Twilight had agreed that each side would bring seven individuals to the meeting to assure balance. The former rogue slayer had entrusted Buffy, Giles, Robin, Xander, Willow, and Angel to accompany her into this mystical safe room.

Twilight waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, that vampire's always late for these things. If he didn't have such an active role to play in things to come, I'd stake him myself." He paused, his body language thoughtful. "He's an old friend of some of you, if I'm not mistaken."

The Chosen Two glanced at each other nervously, each wondering which vampire Twilight spoke of. Surely Dracula wouldn't double-cross them after all that he and Xander had been through together, and Spike was still too lovesick over Buffy to ever be a threat.

"Looks like the party started without me," came a voice from the entranceway. Lilah Morgan walked into the room confidently, with an embarrassed-looking Wesley following behind.

Faith narrowed her eyes at the Wolfram and Hart employee as she set a briefcase on the wooden table. "What is this? You're supposed to be dead."

"Mmm," Lilah hummed and nodded. "I get that a lot. I can see why you're always so edgy, Buffy. Having to explain yourself must get old after awhile."

"What's going on?" Giles interjected, motioning towards Lilah and Wesley. "We agreed to only seven a side."

"I have contracts to make sure that your battle is legally, as well as magically, binding," Lilah informed, going into lawyer-mode. "You win, and you defeat evil. You end magic. And Twilight and all of those with whom he's associated stop their quest to destroy the Slayer line and destroy the world as you know it."

"And if you win?" Faith glared, clenching and unclenching her jaw.

Twilight finished for his undead lawyer. "Then the scythe is surrendered to me and I destroy the Slayer line. And you'll be dead."

Faith didn't flinch. But Buffy did.

"Have you chosen a Champion, Slayer?" the masked villain demanded.

"Yes," Faith nodded and straightened her shoulders. "Me."

A few grumblings came from those assembled. Twilight looked a little disappointed and glanced at Buffy to gauge her reaction, but the blonde only stood coldly, her arms folded across her chest.

"And your side's Champion?" the dark brunette challenged, her voice strong and unwavering. "I assume you'll be fighting?"

"Me? Oh, no," Twilight said casually. "I'm just here to set-up the chess board. I was never meant to play."

"So then who's your Champion?" Buffy repeated. "It's only fair we know beforehand, since you know that Faith is ours."

"You brought our Champion with you."

For a moment, Faith froze and looked at her sister-Slayer whose eyes had also grown large in shock. They certainly couldn't mean her could they?

"Oh, don't look so alarmed, Slayers," Twilight laughed. "Although a fight between the Good and Dark Slayer would be highly entertaining, I certainly couldn't ask Buffy Summers to be the Champion for Evil."

Willow suddenly spoke up from the wings of the room. "I don't care if magic is destroyed. I won't fight on your side."

Twilight chuckled, his dark eyes gleaming behind his mask. "That is another charming scenario, Miss Rosenberg. But again, despite your brief foray to the Dark Side, there's still too much Good in you. Oh, no. Our Champion is the most twisted, inhumane creature this world has ever seen."

"Martha Stewart?" Xander offered unhelpfully.

"He is our Champion." Twilight pointed at a very shocked-looking Angel. "Or should I say…Angelus is."

The former vampire looked aghast. "No! I'm human now. You can't—."

Lilah looked as though she had swallowed something bitter. "You can't seriously be surprised, Angel," she interrupted. "Why do you think we kept you alive…or undead all those years? Did you really think you had successfully evaded Wolfram and Hart for such a long time?"

"But the prophesies –," he started to protest.

"The prophecies said you'd be a Champion, yes," Lilah continued, a smug smile on her face. "Our Champion."

TBC