1 Chapter 13
(I'm not good at writing about Buffy back from the dead. Ie. Not good at writing the awkward bits, so just bear with me these next few chapters!)
Buffy felt cold while laying on her bed, eyes closed, looking up at the ceiling. She was so cold, she was shivering, and had the blankets over her. In her mind, she involuntary replayed her memory of waking up in the coffin and having no idea about what was going on. She recalled the pure sense of panic that she felt. Trying to remember before that hurt her mind, but she was confident that she would be able to after time. She couldn't believe that her friends had brought her back from the dead. Thinking about it, she couldn't recognise that this was the real world after five months away. Things had changed so much since her death. Before, she could remember that the world was a good, nice place, for the most part. Buffy could remember having a good time in the world with her friends up until Glory appeared. In a second, Buffy was taken back to a time long forgotten by her. She was out the front of her High School in LA, talking to her friends. Buffy saw that this was no memory, but a vision in which she knew all that was to happen, but could do nothing to stop it. Buffy was shocked when she discovered that she could feel emotions in the vision as well, almost as if she were really there. She sat on the steps, thinking that the man before her, talking to her about vampires was crazy.
Next, Buffy was at the cemetery closest to her house in LA with the weird man who called himself Merrick. She watched herself through her own eyes in awe as she saw and killed her first vampire. Buffy felt disbelief go through her, and shock, and a great sense of fear when the vampire turned to dust. She was more scared than she had ever been before in her life at the age of sixteen. Buffy could not stop the vision, and she had no control over it. She watched as she saw Merrick die in front of her eyes, and as her parents split up and moved to Sunnydale. Buffy saw herself looking at a large book with the title of 'Vampyr' on it as Giles, her new watcher slammed it down on the Sunnydale High School's Library counter. She watched as she met Willow, and later Xander and Jesse. Buffy watched as she fought with Darla in the crypt that her and her vampire friend had taken Jesse and Willow to. Buffy could only watch as she fought the various beasts of Sunnydale. She knew what was coming, and she didn't want to go there, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. She felt pure fear go through her as she remembered Giles talking to Angel about the prophecy of Buffy's death. She watched as she went through the day in denial. Buffy watched as she froze when she looked into the Master's eyes, and she felt fear again as the Master grabbed hold of her neck and bit into it.
Buffy's next memory was of Xander and Angel filling her vision. She was in the cave where the Master had effectively killed her for a couple of minutes, and if it wasn't for Xander, she would have died right there in that spot. Buffy watched as she fought with the Master again, and won.
After that, the visions left her, and Buffy 'woke'. She sat bolt upright, and squinted against the light that was coming in her window. She felt a deep sense of fear threaded through her every being. The same fear that she had just felt in the visions that she had just had. Buffy got up, headed into the bathroom, had a shower, and got changed into some clean clothes. She looked at herself in the mirror, and realised how far she had come, both as a Slayer and as a person, from those early high school days when she had just first moved to Sunnydale. The two people she saw were almost totally different. One was full of wit and energy. The other was worn out, tired and seemed to be off somewhere else. Buffy knew that she was only tired, and maybe a bit worn out, but her mind was as focused as it could be.
She went downstairs, and couldn't find anyone, so Buffy guessed that they had gone to the Magic Box. She turned and headed out the front door and walked towards the Magic Shop.
Faith had slept all morning, and when she did wake, it was around one o'clock. She decided to get some lunch, but after looking around the mansion, she realised that she didn't have any money on her. Instead, she decided to go to Michael's apartment to continue her training. She was beginning to wonder if Michael had gone to Watchers School for Kids, as she had no idea how Michael expected to train her. She headed out the front of the mansion and cursed it for being so far out of town.
Walking down the main street of Sunnydale was almost as interesting as walking down a dirt path in the middle of no where. Sure, there were shops and cafès, but they were all the same and could be found almost anywhere in any small town in America. Faith didn't look around much at anything in Sunnydale, except when she was out on patrol, or out at night, when all the big bad things come out from under your bed and into the darkness. The past few weeks had made her more alert, because she had to see Assassins out to get her, before they saw her. She was surprised that none of them had used magick yet, as from what Giles had told her, many of them were very skilled in those areas. She saw a similar figure up ahead, and her vision made it out to be Buffy walking towards her almost a hundred metres away. In front of her were two good looking guys that Faith decided to check out. As she walked up to them, she saw their eyes look over her, and a smile cross one of the men's lips. Faith bit her lower lip in a flirtive manner. She looked into the eyes of one of the men as he looked at her. She was almost level with them now, and as she looked into one of the men's eyes, the other propelled a fist towards her head. It hit the side of her head, right behind the cheek and under the ear, making her fall back towards the ground. When she hit the ground, she saw the other man grabbing at her arm.
"Great, the only good looking guys within eyesight and they're Assassins," Faith muttered. She tried to struggle out of his grasp, but he had now gotten a hold of both of her hands, and the other her feet. They pulled her up until she was standing, and put a pair of handcuffs around her hands. Each of them grabbed her by the shoulder and started to guide her in the direction she had just come. The two men were holding her shoulders harder than anyone had held her before, and Faith wondered what they were on. They rounded a corner into another street, and before she knew what was happening, the man beside her fell to his knees, not letting go of Faith's shoulder. The weight of him hanging of her shoulder forced her onto the ground, landing beside the man and knocking her head. Faith heard sounds of a fight and could see that the other man had gotten up. She rolled over and looked up only to see Buffy fighting both of the men with ease. One of them drew a knife and Buffy knocked it out of his hand almost as fast as he drew it. The knife landed right beside Faith, and she tried to reach it with her handcuffed hands. She watched in awe as Buffy fought the men. Faith saw that Buffy was stronger than before, quicker, and more coordinated. Faith couldn't reach the knife, and concussion was starting to make her head hurt. She watched as Buffy kicked one of the men towards her. Faith, still lying down, kicked the man in the shin as hard as she could, and saw him fall down next to her. In an instant he was up, and had the knife in hand. Faith gasped as she was lifted onto her feet by the hair. She looked over and saw the man holding the knife at her throat.
"Stop it or this one dies," the man said. Buffy spun around and punched the man she was fighting in the head and turned to face the man that was holding Faith. She looked at him with pure disgust in her eyes. She eased up on her combat stance and looked into Faith's eyes. From what Faith could gather, Buffy was going to try something. Then, within an instant, Buffy took two steps forward and kicked towards Faith's throat. Faith's eyes went wide as she saw Buffy's foot coming towards her. She then realised that Buffy's foot was going towards the attacker's hand. Faith heard Buffy's foot connect with his hand, and heard a crunch of his fingers breaking. In the next instant, Buffy had kicked him in the shins, sending him towards the ground. The other attacker came towards Buffy, and she used the momentum of the first kick to propel herself around and roundhouse the man in the side of the face. All of this happened so fast that Faith's mind didn't have time to process what had happened until both attackers were lying on the ground.
"Wow B. You've really been working out since the last time I saw you," Faith said.
"Had to. Save the world needs training," she replied.
"Could you do me a favour and get me out of these things?" Faith asked while turning around so Buffy could see the handcuffs. Faith watched as Buffy bent down and searched the nearest, unconscious, attacker. She found what she was looking for and unlocked Faith's handcuffs. "Thanks. Where you headed?" Faith asked.
"Magic shop. Find Giles, Willow and Xander. Need to talk to them," Buffy replied in short answers. "You?"
"Just around. Looking around town and all y'know," Faith replied.
"Yeah," Buffy replied. There was a short silence.
"Well I'd better get going," Faith said while starting to walk away. "They're going to be conscious any minute, best if we be out of here."
"Yeah. See ya around sometime," Buffy said. Faith nodded and turned around and started to walk away. "Faith wait!" Buffy called out. Faith turned around and looked at Buffy, who came up to her. "I think we're having this big dinner thing at my house tonight. Celebrate me coming back and all. Well that's what I think it is. Heard Giles talking it over with Dawn and Tara… I was wondering, if you want to come, you can you know." Faith nodded in response
"Yeah, I'll try to show. Around seven?" Faith asked.
"Yeah, that should be a good enough time," Buffy replied. They said their goodbyes again and walked in their own direction. What none of them did notice was one of the attackers on the ground, barely conscious, repeat Buffy's name.
Three hours after they had the encounter with the two slayers, Ben and Henry were at the closest Watchers' Council Headquarters. They knew that Quentin Travers was at this particular one today, and they limped around the warehouse trying to find him. They found him in the main section that had been set up as a communications room.
"Sir, we have something to report," Henry said.
"You didn't capture the Slayer?" Travers asked.
"No. Yes. No…" Henry started.
"Which is it, yes or no?" Travers asked, becoming impatient.
"We had her, but the other one showed up. She is too good. If the two slayers work together, we will never capture the one called Faith," Ben replied.
"The other one? You mean Buffy Summers?" Travers asked.
"Yes, that's the one," again Ben replied. Travers slammed his fist into the table closest to him, again.
"Damn! This is not my day!" he yelled. He looked at his hand, which was already bruised from the previous time he had slammed his hand into something. "You're dismissed. Get some rest and have a good time for a couple of days. You'll need it," Travers told Ben and Henry. They walked out of the communications room.
He watched as Travers spoke to the person next to him, one of the lead communications officers in the Assassin Unit. The man looked at Travers in shock after he had heard what Travers had to say. He saw Quentin write something down on a piece of paper and give it to the communications officer. He watched as Quentin Travers strolled out of the section of the communications division of the warehouse.
"Interesting. Very interesting," the man said to himself.
Giles, Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya and Dawn had just finished telling Buffy everything that had happened while she was dead. They told her about Angel coming back, the encounters with Faith, and the vampire hunting. They also told her about how Faith had just come into the group only a couple of days before Buffy was risen. Buffy asked them all over for dinner that night, and told them that Faith would be coming because she invited her on the way to the shop. Everyone in the group didn't want to be the one to tell Buffy the news that they had. It was hard for her just coming back from the dead. She didn't need the added stress of money troubles.
They had just finished talking through the money problem with Buffy. The fact that she was broke, and that her life insurance had been spent on keeping Dawn, Willow and Tara alive, plus paying the bills for electricity and water didn't impress Buffy too much. The phone rang, and Giles went over and picked it up.
"Hello?" he asked. A computer mutated voice responded.
"Leave Faith alone. Do not interfere. If you do, you and your group will be the next to die," it said. Giles just heard a dial tone, signalling that the person on the other end had stopped the connection. Giles put the phone down, took off his glasses and cleaned them while walking back over to everyone. He put his glasses back on and sat down.
"Giles? What's wrong?" Buffy asked.
"That was the council, I presume, on the phone. They said to leave Faith alone, or they will kill us too," he replied. Everyone gasped.
"They can't be serious! Why would they kill us too?" Tara said.
"I don't know… I guess they want Faith, and will kill anyone that stands in their way," Giles replied.
"And to think that I used to work for them," Buffy added in a sarcastic voice. Everyone turned and looked at her. "What? I can't supply any humour any more? Things really have changed," Buffy said innocently.
"No, no, no, it's just that we weren't expecting you to be, sarcastic… With the recent return from hell and all," Willow said.
"So, what are we going to do with Faith?" Xander asked. Everyone thought for a minute, then it was Willow who spoke up.
"I reckon we help her out in subtle ways." Everyone looked at her with a questioning look on their faces.
"Like?" Anya said.
"Umm, uhh, I don't know," Willow said. "How about we just hide her, or help her skip town?"
"Skipping town sounds like a very good idea, especially for Faith. If I'm not mistaken, she's getting attacked at least two times a day," Giles said.
"Yeah, if I were her, I'd be out of here by now," Buffy said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"So, are we going to help Faith skip town?" Willow asked.
"Guess so. When do we get rid of her?" Anya said.
After Buffy had left the Magic Box, she mindlessly walked around the town. There wasn't much on her mind, as she was still overwhelmed with coming back from the dead and hadn't adjusted to life yet. As far as her friends could tell, she was perfectly fine, but Buffy had instantly put up a shield and started to act as 'normal' as she could. None of them knew of the troubles going on inside her. Buffy' s body hurt with every movement, and Buffy couldn't fully outstretch her arms and legs without it hurting yet as her muscles were still contracted and not used to being moved around. She decided that she would need to see Giles about that before she tore a muscle. What plagued Buffy's mind were the memories of what it was like when she was dead, where she was, even though Buffy herself wasn't sure where that was yet. Also, in the back of her mind, eating away at it was the memories of the visions she had had just before of herself fighting the Master, and dying for a few minutes. Buffy knew that there was something that the vision meant to her now, but she couldn't figure it out.
The group had decided to meet at Buffy's for dinner earlier than the agreed time to discuss wether or not they were going to tell Faith of the situation or not.
"So, I vote that we tell Faith everything that's happened. What have we got to loose by telling her?" Tara said.
"Her sanity?" Xander quickly answered.
"How can she go insane again? All we're telling her is the truth?" Dawn asked.
"If we told her that we aren't going to help her because our lives are in danger, she could think that we are abandoning her. That's what happened last time, we drove her away," Giles explained.
"I say that we tell her everything," Willow said.
"Buffy? What do you think?" Giles asked her. She was just staring into space, not paying any attention what so ever. "Buffy?"
"Huh. What?" she replied.
"We were wondering on your opinion," Giles said.
"On what?"
"Wether we should tell Faith the whole deal or not?" Anya said.
"Yes, we should," Buffy replied, still distant. "I-I'm just going to check on dinner." She walked from the front room back into the kitchen. Giles called for everyone to move in closer.
"Do you think that Buffy'll get through the night? She seemed distant, and upset," Xander said.
"Yes, she did didn't she," Anya stated.
"Do you think that having Faith over will help?" Tara asked.
"I don't know, she's the one that asked her over here tonight," Willow said.
"I think that Buffy needs someone to relate to. Faith is the only person that can relate to Buffy. She hasn't been into hell, but she's a slayer, and that's what I think Buffy needs," Giles said.
"I agree with him," Xander said while nodding towards Giles.
"Me too," Dawn said. "I'm going to go and help Buffy with dinner." After Dawn left, the rest of the group talked amongst themselves just about things in general, and how the future was looking for them. They seriously debated the issue of helping Faith out of town. There was even a suggestion that some of them go with her, as for most of them, there was nothing keeping them in Sunnydale.
It was a cold and dark night. It reminded Buffy of the nights in all the horror movies, but she reminded herself that she was living out a horror movie; that her life was a horror movie. She looked up at the sky and saw just a thin strip of light that was commonly called the moon. As she sat there, she realised that it must be the night after the new moon for the crescent to get as thin as it was. Buffy had just realised that in the whole time she'd been back, there wasn't any signs of vampires or demons around Sunnydale. Usually, on the way to the Magic Box Buffy would see a couple of boarded up apartment blocks or warehouses that were obviously vampire nests. She could sense them inside, but didn't bother with them as before she died she had bigger things on her mind. Buffy noticed today, on the way to the Magic Box, that there weren't any signs of vampires in the boarded up buildings.
"Must be scared cause my bosses are in town," Buffy whispered to herself. She was just about to get up and go inside when she saw Faith walking down the street. She just sat there and watched Faith walk up to the front patio.
"Hey B. What are you doing?" Faith asked her.
"Just thinking," Buffy replied.
"Care to share?" Faith said while she sat next to Buffy.
"Just about things. The moon, vampires, the usual," Buffy said. Faith nodded.
"You holding up alright. It's got to be a drag going through hell and all," Faith said to Buffy casually. "What was it like. Do you want to talk about it?" Buffy just sat there in silence for a couple of minutes. "Guess not." Faith got up and offered her hand to Buffy. "Come on, it's cold out here."
"I wasn't in hell," Buffy said softly, so softly that Faith couldn't understand her the first time.
"Say again?" Faith asked.
"I wasn't in hell," Buffy said again, this time louder. Faith heard the seriousness in Buffy's voice and sat back down and listened. "I don't think it was hell. I was happy. I felt complete. I wasn't me, yet I was. I knew that everything was going to be alright, and most important of all, I was loved. By what, I don't know, but I was loved. I think I was in heaven," Buffy began, softly. Faith started to say something, but stopped as Buffy kept talking. "This world here is hell, everything is cold, hard, bright, solid. There's so much violence here. I was dragged out of heaven, kicking and screaming, by my friends." The front door to the house opened and Willow was standing there.
"Dinner's ready… Oh, Faith, hi, glad you could make it," Willow said.
"Could you give us a minute," Faith said as nicely as she could. "Please." Willow nodded and went back inside. Faith looked at Buffy, who was trembling.
"Do they know?" Faith asked.
"No. They can never know. It would hurt them too much. Willow thinks that she's rescued me from eternal torment, and she's happy about that. I want it to stay that way. You understand?" Buffy asked. Faith just nodded in response. Faith sat there in silence as she digested what Buffy had told her. When she thought about it, why would Buffy go to hell. Faith wondered why any Slayer would go to hell, except her. She had done some pretty bad things while working for the Mayor, and even when she woke up from her coma she had done some bad things. Faith couldn't understand why a normal slayer would go to hell. They spent most of their short lives fighting demons from hell. Faith thought that her kind should at least get rewarded for that. Faith thought that the slayers should get rewarded for whatever they do as the average life of a slayer is only eighteen years, and they do what they do not out of choice, but because the universe chose them as a slayer. Faith looked over to Buffy, who looked like she had composed herself.
"You ready to go back inside?" Faith asked.
"Yeah, sure," Buffy replied, acting more like her normal self. Faith now noticed that Buffy was detached from everything, and was only putting on an act.
"Come on, let's go," Faith said. She got up again and offered her hand to Buffy who gladly accepted.
Buffy, Dawn and Faith served dinner to everyone at the table. It was only steak and vegetables, but it was good enough for everyone and no one disapproved of it. It was awkward at the beginning because no one knew what to say to one another. No one knew what to say to Faith, and no one knew what to say to Buffy. Faith knew what to say to Buffy, but she couldn't in front of everyone else, as they weren't meant to know about it. Faith felt touched that Buffy had told her before she told her friends.
"So, what you all been doing lately?" Faith asked while shovelling mashed potato into her mouth. She had never been taught table manners in her whole life.
"Actually, we've been…" Giles started. He didn't continue his sentence as the front door opened and Spike walked inside
"Hey. Lil bit. Ya want to hang out tonight?" Spike shouted as he walked in the door. He walked around to the back of the house and noticed everyone sitting around the table, including Faith. "What? You're all havin a get-to-gether and you didn't invite me? After all I've done for you? What a bunch of fags!" Spike said as he turned around to leave.
"Spike! Wait!" Buffy said. Spike stopped and turned around, not caring any more. "What is it bot? Am I too sexy for your eyes or something?" Buffy got up and walked over to spike. "What, you still want me? Hasn't Willow fixed you yet? You're wrong, you do know that don't you. You're wrong Bot. You can never be a person, never be…" Spike started. He was obviously sick of the Buffy bot stuffing up and acting like a robot. He didn't know that he was talking to Buffy herself. Spike never got to finish the sentence as a fist was hurled into his stomach, and then his head. Buffy then punched him in his stomach again, bringing his head down. She grabbed his head and thrust her knee up into it as hard as she knew how to, sending Spike flying off the ground and into the front hallway.
"I am not wrong!" Buffy screamed as she walked towards spike, who was laying on the ground. She watched as his brow protruded, fangs appeared in his mouth, and as his eyes turned yellow.
"Buffy? Is that…" he never got to finish his sentence as Buffy picked him up and started beating into him again.
"I am not wrong! I am not wrong!" She repeated with every punch. She finally gave up, and spike was lying on the floor and looked like a bloody pulp. Everyone had come from the dining room to watch, and even try to stop Buffy, but they were ignored. They all watched as Buffy picked Spike up by the collar and threw him through the open doorway. "I don't ever want to see you again!" she screamed. "Next time, I'll have Mr. Pointy at your heart," she said. Mr. Pointy was the name of the steak that Kendra, the slayer before Faith, and after Buffy, had given Buffy. It was her lucky stake, and at first, Buffy found it awkward that a stake had a name. Buffy turned back around and went into her room. Everyone else stood around, dumbfounded. After a while, Giles suggested that they leave Buffy alone for a while and that there were obviously things going on inside her that no one could have come close to imagining.
He could see the man standing up on the stage, pacing back and forward. It was Quentin Travers, the leader of the whole of the Watchers' Council. He knew what Travers was going to say to them, and he was surprised that it hadn't come sooner. The last of the assassins arrived and Travers stepped up to the microphone.
"What has happened over the past few weeks? Have we caught Faith? No! We have been slack. I've seen you all handle things bigger than this all over the world in all conditions imaginable, but still, we can't catch this one Slayer. Of course she is powerful. She has abilities unlike any slayer has had before. But that shouldn't stop you! As of tomorrow, all operations will be treated in a 'life or death' seriousness. If ANYONE interferes, kill them!" Travers shouted into the microphone.
There was a girl crying on her bed. She didn't care about anything around her any more, and her only ambition was to stop crying. Her name was Buffy Summers and she was the slayer, but at that moment, she was just an ordinary girl. She had never liked Spike, and when he said that she was wrong, that she'll never be a person. It had sparked something inside of her. She had been thinking that she might have come back wrong. Usually people feel emotions, but all Buffy felt was anger and fear and nothing else. She wasn't happy to see her friends again. She wasn't even happy to be living again. To her, nothing mattered except this. She didn't care that she was the Slayer, and she didn't care that people were trying to kill the only person she could relate to; another slayer. Upset, Buffy got up and walked over to her wardrobe. There, she pulled out a box with weapons in it. She grabbed two knives and a short sword. Nothing was going to hurt Faith because Buffy had just told her what, she thought, had happened to her, and Buffy needed to talk about this to someone.
Willow, Giles, Anya and Xander had just finished telling Faith about the phone call that Giles received from the Watchers' Council, and their plans about it. Faith nodded as she could understand their choice of actions. The door slammed and everyone got up and headed towards it. Faith got there first and opened it only to see Buffy's charging down the street. Faith ran out to the footpath and looked at Buffy's back. There were a group of men walking the other way, towards Buffy and Faith. Faith started to go after Buffy, not knowing wether to approach her, or just keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't do anything foolish. Faith's heightened hearing kicked.
"Hey there little lady. Wanna come back to my plac…" the man started, obviously drunk. Faith watched in horror as Buffy slid the knife into his gut and spun around and broke another man's nose. The third man only had enough time to bring his fist back to hit Buffy before his throat was slit with Buffy' second knife. Faith could only watch as the men fell to the ground around Buffy. Faith ran up to Buffy and grabbed her by the wrist.
"Buffy? What's wrong with you?" Faith asked urgently.
"I'm going to kill them all," Buffy coldly replied.
"Huh?" Was all that Faith could do. Buffy tried to keep walking forward, but Faith held her back.
"Let me go," Buffy said. Faith didn't and Buffy hit her with her other hand.
"I don't want to have to drag you back unconscious," Faith warned Buffy, but Buffy just hit her again. "Doesn't mean that I won't," Faith said under her breath. She kicked Buffy's legs out from under her, and leant down to pick her up, but before she could, Buffy's own legs kicked the back of Faith's knee, sending her to the ground. Faith and Buffy got up and faced each other. Buffy hit towards Faith's face, but she caught Buffy's wrist and hit her back. Without even thinking, Buffy brought her foot up into Faith's side. Faith let go of Buffy's wrist and spun around, and extended her fist striking Buffy's cheek bone, which she heard a dull thud come from. Faith followed it up with a snap-kick to Buffy's mid section, sending her sprawling towards the ground. Buffy used the momentum of the kick to spring herself back up, turn around and start running the other way. By this time, Willow and Xander had caught up to them and had just witnessed the fight. Faith raised her hand and looked towards Buffy.
"Faith! No!" Willow screamed. But already it was too late. The light going through the air between Buffy and Faith's bodies, bent as the air compressed itself in a way that only magick could do. The air travelled along an invisible line like a spring and knocked Buffy down onto the ground hard.
"Neat. Never knew I could do it that way," Faith commented. Xander and Willow ran towards Buffy, but before they could do anything, Buffy was up again and running. There was nothing that any of them could do to catch her as she was faster than everyone else. They all watched in a group as Buffy ran down the street into the night.
(I'm not good at writing about Buffy back from the dead. Ie. Not good at writing the awkward bits, so just bear with me these next few chapters!)
Buffy felt cold while laying on her bed, eyes closed, looking up at the ceiling. She was so cold, she was shivering, and had the blankets over her. In her mind, she involuntary replayed her memory of waking up in the coffin and having no idea about what was going on. She recalled the pure sense of panic that she felt. Trying to remember before that hurt her mind, but she was confident that she would be able to after time. She couldn't believe that her friends had brought her back from the dead. Thinking about it, she couldn't recognise that this was the real world after five months away. Things had changed so much since her death. Before, she could remember that the world was a good, nice place, for the most part. Buffy could remember having a good time in the world with her friends up until Glory appeared. In a second, Buffy was taken back to a time long forgotten by her. She was out the front of her High School in LA, talking to her friends. Buffy saw that this was no memory, but a vision in which she knew all that was to happen, but could do nothing to stop it. Buffy was shocked when she discovered that she could feel emotions in the vision as well, almost as if she were really there. She sat on the steps, thinking that the man before her, talking to her about vampires was crazy.
Next, Buffy was at the cemetery closest to her house in LA with the weird man who called himself Merrick. She watched herself through her own eyes in awe as she saw and killed her first vampire. Buffy felt disbelief go through her, and shock, and a great sense of fear when the vampire turned to dust. She was more scared than she had ever been before in her life at the age of sixteen. Buffy could not stop the vision, and she had no control over it. She watched as she saw Merrick die in front of her eyes, and as her parents split up and moved to Sunnydale. Buffy saw herself looking at a large book with the title of 'Vampyr' on it as Giles, her new watcher slammed it down on the Sunnydale High School's Library counter. She watched as she met Willow, and later Xander and Jesse. Buffy watched as she fought with Darla in the crypt that her and her vampire friend had taken Jesse and Willow to. Buffy could only watch as she fought the various beasts of Sunnydale. She knew what was coming, and she didn't want to go there, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. She felt pure fear go through her as she remembered Giles talking to Angel about the prophecy of Buffy's death. She watched as she went through the day in denial. Buffy watched as she froze when she looked into the Master's eyes, and she felt fear again as the Master grabbed hold of her neck and bit into it.
Buffy's next memory was of Xander and Angel filling her vision. She was in the cave where the Master had effectively killed her for a couple of minutes, and if it wasn't for Xander, she would have died right there in that spot. Buffy watched as she fought with the Master again, and won.
After that, the visions left her, and Buffy 'woke'. She sat bolt upright, and squinted against the light that was coming in her window. She felt a deep sense of fear threaded through her every being. The same fear that she had just felt in the visions that she had just had. Buffy got up, headed into the bathroom, had a shower, and got changed into some clean clothes. She looked at herself in the mirror, and realised how far she had come, both as a Slayer and as a person, from those early high school days when she had just first moved to Sunnydale. The two people she saw were almost totally different. One was full of wit and energy. The other was worn out, tired and seemed to be off somewhere else. Buffy knew that she was only tired, and maybe a bit worn out, but her mind was as focused as it could be.
She went downstairs, and couldn't find anyone, so Buffy guessed that they had gone to the Magic Box. She turned and headed out the front door and walked towards the Magic Shop.
Faith had slept all morning, and when she did wake, it was around one o'clock. She decided to get some lunch, but after looking around the mansion, she realised that she didn't have any money on her. Instead, she decided to go to Michael's apartment to continue her training. She was beginning to wonder if Michael had gone to Watchers School for Kids, as she had no idea how Michael expected to train her. She headed out the front of the mansion and cursed it for being so far out of town.
Walking down the main street of Sunnydale was almost as interesting as walking down a dirt path in the middle of no where. Sure, there were shops and cafès, but they were all the same and could be found almost anywhere in any small town in America. Faith didn't look around much at anything in Sunnydale, except when she was out on patrol, or out at night, when all the big bad things come out from under your bed and into the darkness. The past few weeks had made her more alert, because she had to see Assassins out to get her, before they saw her. She was surprised that none of them had used magick yet, as from what Giles had told her, many of them were very skilled in those areas. She saw a similar figure up ahead, and her vision made it out to be Buffy walking towards her almost a hundred metres away. In front of her were two good looking guys that Faith decided to check out. As she walked up to them, she saw their eyes look over her, and a smile cross one of the men's lips. Faith bit her lower lip in a flirtive manner. She looked into the eyes of one of the men as he looked at her. She was almost level with them now, and as she looked into one of the men's eyes, the other propelled a fist towards her head. It hit the side of her head, right behind the cheek and under the ear, making her fall back towards the ground. When she hit the ground, she saw the other man grabbing at her arm.
"Great, the only good looking guys within eyesight and they're Assassins," Faith muttered. She tried to struggle out of his grasp, but he had now gotten a hold of both of her hands, and the other her feet. They pulled her up until she was standing, and put a pair of handcuffs around her hands. Each of them grabbed her by the shoulder and started to guide her in the direction she had just come. The two men were holding her shoulders harder than anyone had held her before, and Faith wondered what they were on. They rounded a corner into another street, and before she knew what was happening, the man beside her fell to his knees, not letting go of Faith's shoulder. The weight of him hanging of her shoulder forced her onto the ground, landing beside the man and knocking her head. Faith heard sounds of a fight and could see that the other man had gotten up. She rolled over and looked up only to see Buffy fighting both of the men with ease. One of them drew a knife and Buffy knocked it out of his hand almost as fast as he drew it. The knife landed right beside Faith, and she tried to reach it with her handcuffed hands. She watched in awe as Buffy fought the men. Faith saw that Buffy was stronger than before, quicker, and more coordinated. Faith couldn't reach the knife, and concussion was starting to make her head hurt. She watched as Buffy kicked one of the men towards her. Faith, still lying down, kicked the man in the shin as hard as she could, and saw him fall down next to her. In an instant he was up, and had the knife in hand. Faith gasped as she was lifted onto her feet by the hair. She looked over and saw the man holding the knife at her throat.
"Stop it or this one dies," the man said. Buffy spun around and punched the man she was fighting in the head and turned to face the man that was holding Faith. She looked at him with pure disgust in her eyes. She eased up on her combat stance and looked into Faith's eyes. From what Faith could gather, Buffy was going to try something. Then, within an instant, Buffy took two steps forward and kicked towards Faith's throat. Faith's eyes went wide as she saw Buffy's foot coming towards her. She then realised that Buffy's foot was going towards the attacker's hand. Faith heard Buffy's foot connect with his hand, and heard a crunch of his fingers breaking. In the next instant, Buffy had kicked him in the shins, sending him towards the ground. The other attacker came towards Buffy, and she used the momentum of the first kick to propel herself around and roundhouse the man in the side of the face. All of this happened so fast that Faith's mind didn't have time to process what had happened until both attackers were lying on the ground.
"Wow B. You've really been working out since the last time I saw you," Faith said.
"Had to. Save the world needs training," she replied.
"Could you do me a favour and get me out of these things?" Faith asked while turning around so Buffy could see the handcuffs. Faith watched as Buffy bent down and searched the nearest, unconscious, attacker. She found what she was looking for and unlocked Faith's handcuffs. "Thanks. Where you headed?" Faith asked.
"Magic shop. Find Giles, Willow and Xander. Need to talk to them," Buffy replied in short answers. "You?"
"Just around. Looking around town and all y'know," Faith replied.
"Yeah," Buffy replied. There was a short silence.
"Well I'd better get going," Faith said while starting to walk away. "They're going to be conscious any minute, best if we be out of here."
"Yeah. See ya around sometime," Buffy said. Faith nodded and turned around and started to walk away. "Faith wait!" Buffy called out. Faith turned around and looked at Buffy, who came up to her. "I think we're having this big dinner thing at my house tonight. Celebrate me coming back and all. Well that's what I think it is. Heard Giles talking it over with Dawn and Tara… I was wondering, if you want to come, you can you know." Faith nodded in response
"Yeah, I'll try to show. Around seven?" Faith asked.
"Yeah, that should be a good enough time," Buffy replied. They said their goodbyes again and walked in their own direction. What none of them did notice was one of the attackers on the ground, barely conscious, repeat Buffy's name.
Three hours after they had the encounter with the two slayers, Ben and Henry were at the closest Watchers' Council Headquarters. They knew that Quentin Travers was at this particular one today, and they limped around the warehouse trying to find him. They found him in the main section that had been set up as a communications room.
"Sir, we have something to report," Henry said.
"You didn't capture the Slayer?" Travers asked.
"No. Yes. No…" Henry started.
"Which is it, yes or no?" Travers asked, becoming impatient.
"We had her, but the other one showed up. She is too good. If the two slayers work together, we will never capture the one called Faith," Ben replied.
"The other one? You mean Buffy Summers?" Travers asked.
"Yes, that's the one," again Ben replied. Travers slammed his fist into the table closest to him, again.
"Damn! This is not my day!" he yelled. He looked at his hand, which was already bruised from the previous time he had slammed his hand into something. "You're dismissed. Get some rest and have a good time for a couple of days. You'll need it," Travers told Ben and Henry. They walked out of the communications room.
He watched as Travers spoke to the person next to him, one of the lead communications officers in the Assassin Unit. The man looked at Travers in shock after he had heard what Travers had to say. He saw Quentin write something down on a piece of paper and give it to the communications officer. He watched as Quentin Travers strolled out of the section of the communications division of the warehouse.
"Interesting. Very interesting," the man said to himself.
Giles, Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya and Dawn had just finished telling Buffy everything that had happened while she was dead. They told her about Angel coming back, the encounters with Faith, and the vampire hunting. They also told her about how Faith had just come into the group only a couple of days before Buffy was risen. Buffy asked them all over for dinner that night, and told them that Faith would be coming because she invited her on the way to the shop. Everyone in the group didn't want to be the one to tell Buffy the news that they had. It was hard for her just coming back from the dead. She didn't need the added stress of money troubles.
They had just finished talking through the money problem with Buffy. The fact that she was broke, and that her life insurance had been spent on keeping Dawn, Willow and Tara alive, plus paying the bills for electricity and water didn't impress Buffy too much. The phone rang, and Giles went over and picked it up.
"Hello?" he asked. A computer mutated voice responded.
"Leave Faith alone. Do not interfere. If you do, you and your group will be the next to die," it said. Giles just heard a dial tone, signalling that the person on the other end had stopped the connection. Giles put the phone down, took off his glasses and cleaned them while walking back over to everyone. He put his glasses back on and sat down.
"Giles? What's wrong?" Buffy asked.
"That was the council, I presume, on the phone. They said to leave Faith alone, or they will kill us too," he replied. Everyone gasped.
"They can't be serious! Why would they kill us too?" Tara said.
"I don't know… I guess they want Faith, and will kill anyone that stands in their way," Giles replied.
"And to think that I used to work for them," Buffy added in a sarcastic voice. Everyone turned and looked at her. "What? I can't supply any humour any more? Things really have changed," Buffy said innocently.
"No, no, no, it's just that we weren't expecting you to be, sarcastic… With the recent return from hell and all," Willow said.
"So, what are we going to do with Faith?" Xander asked. Everyone thought for a minute, then it was Willow who spoke up.
"I reckon we help her out in subtle ways." Everyone looked at her with a questioning look on their faces.
"Like?" Anya said.
"Umm, uhh, I don't know," Willow said. "How about we just hide her, or help her skip town?"
"Skipping town sounds like a very good idea, especially for Faith. If I'm not mistaken, she's getting attacked at least two times a day," Giles said.
"Yeah, if I were her, I'd be out of here by now," Buffy said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"So, are we going to help Faith skip town?" Willow asked.
"Guess so. When do we get rid of her?" Anya said.
After Buffy had left the Magic Box, she mindlessly walked around the town. There wasn't much on her mind, as she was still overwhelmed with coming back from the dead and hadn't adjusted to life yet. As far as her friends could tell, she was perfectly fine, but Buffy had instantly put up a shield and started to act as 'normal' as she could. None of them knew of the troubles going on inside her. Buffy' s body hurt with every movement, and Buffy couldn't fully outstretch her arms and legs without it hurting yet as her muscles were still contracted and not used to being moved around. She decided that she would need to see Giles about that before she tore a muscle. What plagued Buffy's mind were the memories of what it was like when she was dead, where she was, even though Buffy herself wasn't sure where that was yet. Also, in the back of her mind, eating away at it was the memories of the visions she had had just before of herself fighting the Master, and dying for a few minutes. Buffy knew that there was something that the vision meant to her now, but she couldn't figure it out.
The group had decided to meet at Buffy's for dinner earlier than the agreed time to discuss wether or not they were going to tell Faith of the situation or not.
"So, I vote that we tell Faith everything that's happened. What have we got to loose by telling her?" Tara said.
"Her sanity?" Xander quickly answered.
"How can she go insane again? All we're telling her is the truth?" Dawn asked.
"If we told her that we aren't going to help her because our lives are in danger, she could think that we are abandoning her. That's what happened last time, we drove her away," Giles explained.
"I say that we tell her everything," Willow said.
"Buffy? What do you think?" Giles asked her. She was just staring into space, not paying any attention what so ever. "Buffy?"
"Huh. What?" she replied.
"We were wondering on your opinion," Giles said.
"On what?"
"Wether we should tell Faith the whole deal or not?" Anya said.
"Yes, we should," Buffy replied, still distant. "I-I'm just going to check on dinner." She walked from the front room back into the kitchen. Giles called for everyone to move in closer.
"Do you think that Buffy'll get through the night? She seemed distant, and upset," Xander said.
"Yes, she did didn't she," Anya stated.
"Do you think that having Faith over will help?" Tara asked.
"I don't know, she's the one that asked her over here tonight," Willow said.
"I think that Buffy needs someone to relate to. Faith is the only person that can relate to Buffy. She hasn't been into hell, but she's a slayer, and that's what I think Buffy needs," Giles said.
"I agree with him," Xander said while nodding towards Giles.
"Me too," Dawn said. "I'm going to go and help Buffy with dinner." After Dawn left, the rest of the group talked amongst themselves just about things in general, and how the future was looking for them. They seriously debated the issue of helping Faith out of town. There was even a suggestion that some of them go with her, as for most of them, there was nothing keeping them in Sunnydale.
It was a cold and dark night. It reminded Buffy of the nights in all the horror movies, but she reminded herself that she was living out a horror movie; that her life was a horror movie. She looked up at the sky and saw just a thin strip of light that was commonly called the moon. As she sat there, she realised that it must be the night after the new moon for the crescent to get as thin as it was. Buffy had just realised that in the whole time she'd been back, there wasn't any signs of vampires or demons around Sunnydale. Usually, on the way to the Magic Box Buffy would see a couple of boarded up apartment blocks or warehouses that were obviously vampire nests. She could sense them inside, but didn't bother with them as before she died she had bigger things on her mind. Buffy noticed today, on the way to the Magic Box, that there weren't any signs of vampires in the boarded up buildings.
"Must be scared cause my bosses are in town," Buffy whispered to herself. She was just about to get up and go inside when she saw Faith walking down the street. She just sat there and watched Faith walk up to the front patio.
"Hey B. What are you doing?" Faith asked her.
"Just thinking," Buffy replied.
"Care to share?" Faith said while she sat next to Buffy.
"Just about things. The moon, vampires, the usual," Buffy said. Faith nodded.
"You holding up alright. It's got to be a drag going through hell and all," Faith said to Buffy casually. "What was it like. Do you want to talk about it?" Buffy just sat there in silence for a couple of minutes. "Guess not." Faith got up and offered her hand to Buffy. "Come on, it's cold out here."
"I wasn't in hell," Buffy said softly, so softly that Faith couldn't understand her the first time.
"Say again?" Faith asked.
"I wasn't in hell," Buffy said again, this time louder. Faith heard the seriousness in Buffy's voice and sat back down and listened. "I don't think it was hell. I was happy. I felt complete. I wasn't me, yet I was. I knew that everything was going to be alright, and most important of all, I was loved. By what, I don't know, but I was loved. I think I was in heaven," Buffy began, softly. Faith started to say something, but stopped as Buffy kept talking. "This world here is hell, everything is cold, hard, bright, solid. There's so much violence here. I was dragged out of heaven, kicking and screaming, by my friends." The front door to the house opened and Willow was standing there.
"Dinner's ready… Oh, Faith, hi, glad you could make it," Willow said.
"Could you give us a minute," Faith said as nicely as she could. "Please." Willow nodded and went back inside. Faith looked at Buffy, who was trembling.
"Do they know?" Faith asked.
"No. They can never know. It would hurt them too much. Willow thinks that she's rescued me from eternal torment, and she's happy about that. I want it to stay that way. You understand?" Buffy asked. Faith just nodded in response. Faith sat there in silence as she digested what Buffy had told her. When she thought about it, why would Buffy go to hell. Faith wondered why any Slayer would go to hell, except her. She had done some pretty bad things while working for the Mayor, and even when she woke up from her coma she had done some bad things. Faith couldn't understand why a normal slayer would go to hell. They spent most of their short lives fighting demons from hell. Faith thought that her kind should at least get rewarded for that. Faith thought that the slayers should get rewarded for whatever they do as the average life of a slayer is only eighteen years, and they do what they do not out of choice, but because the universe chose them as a slayer. Faith looked over to Buffy, who looked like she had composed herself.
"You ready to go back inside?" Faith asked.
"Yeah, sure," Buffy replied, acting more like her normal self. Faith now noticed that Buffy was detached from everything, and was only putting on an act.
"Come on, let's go," Faith said. She got up again and offered her hand to Buffy who gladly accepted.
Buffy, Dawn and Faith served dinner to everyone at the table. It was only steak and vegetables, but it was good enough for everyone and no one disapproved of it. It was awkward at the beginning because no one knew what to say to one another. No one knew what to say to Faith, and no one knew what to say to Buffy. Faith knew what to say to Buffy, but she couldn't in front of everyone else, as they weren't meant to know about it. Faith felt touched that Buffy had told her before she told her friends.
"So, what you all been doing lately?" Faith asked while shovelling mashed potato into her mouth. She had never been taught table manners in her whole life.
"Actually, we've been…" Giles started. He didn't continue his sentence as the front door opened and Spike walked inside
"Hey. Lil bit. Ya want to hang out tonight?" Spike shouted as he walked in the door. He walked around to the back of the house and noticed everyone sitting around the table, including Faith. "What? You're all havin a get-to-gether and you didn't invite me? After all I've done for you? What a bunch of fags!" Spike said as he turned around to leave.
"Spike! Wait!" Buffy said. Spike stopped and turned around, not caring any more. "What is it bot? Am I too sexy for your eyes or something?" Buffy got up and walked over to spike. "What, you still want me? Hasn't Willow fixed you yet? You're wrong, you do know that don't you. You're wrong Bot. You can never be a person, never be…" Spike started. He was obviously sick of the Buffy bot stuffing up and acting like a robot. He didn't know that he was talking to Buffy herself. Spike never got to finish the sentence as a fist was hurled into his stomach, and then his head. Buffy then punched him in his stomach again, bringing his head down. She grabbed his head and thrust her knee up into it as hard as she knew how to, sending Spike flying off the ground and into the front hallway.
"I am not wrong!" Buffy screamed as she walked towards spike, who was laying on the ground. She watched as his brow protruded, fangs appeared in his mouth, and as his eyes turned yellow.
"Buffy? Is that…" he never got to finish his sentence as Buffy picked him up and started beating into him again.
"I am not wrong! I am not wrong!" She repeated with every punch. She finally gave up, and spike was lying on the floor and looked like a bloody pulp. Everyone had come from the dining room to watch, and even try to stop Buffy, but they were ignored. They all watched as Buffy picked Spike up by the collar and threw him through the open doorway. "I don't ever want to see you again!" she screamed. "Next time, I'll have Mr. Pointy at your heart," she said. Mr. Pointy was the name of the steak that Kendra, the slayer before Faith, and after Buffy, had given Buffy. It was her lucky stake, and at first, Buffy found it awkward that a stake had a name. Buffy turned back around and went into her room. Everyone else stood around, dumbfounded. After a while, Giles suggested that they leave Buffy alone for a while and that there were obviously things going on inside her that no one could have come close to imagining.
He could see the man standing up on the stage, pacing back and forward. It was Quentin Travers, the leader of the whole of the Watchers' Council. He knew what Travers was going to say to them, and he was surprised that it hadn't come sooner. The last of the assassins arrived and Travers stepped up to the microphone.
"What has happened over the past few weeks? Have we caught Faith? No! We have been slack. I've seen you all handle things bigger than this all over the world in all conditions imaginable, but still, we can't catch this one Slayer. Of course she is powerful. She has abilities unlike any slayer has had before. But that shouldn't stop you! As of tomorrow, all operations will be treated in a 'life or death' seriousness. If ANYONE interferes, kill them!" Travers shouted into the microphone.
There was a girl crying on her bed. She didn't care about anything around her any more, and her only ambition was to stop crying. Her name was Buffy Summers and she was the slayer, but at that moment, she was just an ordinary girl. She had never liked Spike, and when he said that she was wrong, that she'll never be a person. It had sparked something inside of her. She had been thinking that she might have come back wrong. Usually people feel emotions, but all Buffy felt was anger and fear and nothing else. She wasn't happy to see her friends again. She wasn't even happy to be living again. To her, nothing mattered except this. She didn't care that she was the Slayer, and she didn't care that people were trying to kill the only person she could relate to; another slayer. Upset, Buffy got up and walked over to her wardrobe. There, she pulled out a box with weapons in it. She grabbed two knives and a short sword. Nothing was going to hurt Faith because Buffy had just told her what, she thought, had happened to her, and Buffy needed to talk about this to someone.
Willow, Giles, Anya and Xander had just finished telling Faith about the phone call that Giles received from the Watchers' Council, and their plans about it. Faith nodded as she could understand their choice of actions. The door slammed and everyone got up and headed towards it. Faith got there first and opened it only to see Buffy's charging down the street. Faith ran out to the footpath and looked at Buffy's back. There were a group of men walking the other way, towards Buffy and Faith. Faith started to go after Buffy, not knowing wether to approach her, or just keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't do anything foolish. Faith's heightened hearing kicked.
"Hey there little lady. Wanna come back to my plac…" the man started, obviously drunk. Faith watched in horror as Buffy slid the knife into his gut and spun around and broke another man's nose. The third man only had enough time to bring his fist back to hit Buffy before his throat was slit with Buffy' second knife. Faith could only watch as the men fell to the ground around Buffy. Faith ran up to Buffy and grabbed her by the wrist.
"Buffy? What's wrong with you?" Faith asked urgently.
"I'm going to kill them all," Buffy coldly replied.
"Huh?" Was all that Faith could do. Buffy tried to keep walking forward, but Faith held her back.
"Let me go," Buffy said. Faith didn't and Buffy hit her with her other hand.
"I don't want to have to drag you back unconscious," Faith warned Buffy, but Buffy just hit her again. "Doesn't mean that I won't," Faith said under her breath. She kicked Buffy's legs out from under her, and leant down to pick her up, but before she could, Buffy's own legs kicked the back of Faith's knee, sending her to the ground. Faith and Buffy got up and faced each other. Buffy hit towards Faith's face, but she caught Buffy's wrist and hit her back. Without even thinking, Buffy brought her foot up into Faith's side. Faith let go of Buffy's wrist and spun around, and extended her fist striking Buffy's cheek bone, which she heard a dull thud come from. Faith followed it up with a snap-kick to Buffy's mid section, sending her sprawling towards the ground. Buffy used the momentum of the kick to spring herself back up, turn around and start running the other way. By this time, Willow and Xander had caught up to them and had just witnessed the fight. Faith raised her hand and looked towards Buffy.
"Faith! No!" Willow screamed. But already it was too late. The light going through the air between Buffy and Faith's bodies, bent as the air compressed itself in a way that only magick could do. The air travelled along an invisible line like a spring and knocked Buffy down onto the ground hard.
"Neat. Never knew I could do it that way," Faith commented. Xander and Willow ran towards Buffy, but before they could do anything, Buffy was up again and running. There was nothing that any of them could do to catch her as she was faster than everyone else. They all watched in a group as Buffy ran down the street into the night.