AN: Thank you for your reviews. BTVS doesn't belong to me.
"So, what the fuck happened down there? That wasn't training. That was fighting and one of you could have been killed." Tara snapped at her older sister overwhelmed with the worry she felt earlier.
"Faith, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I didn't mean to lose control." Shane apologized looking down in shame.
You said you were going to explain, so explain." Faith tried to return the conversation back to what was really important, not knowing how to feel.
"I… I'm not sure where to start. I feel like all this shit that's going down is my punishment for what I've done in the past." She shook her head trying to clear her head, "When I was 20, I was on a mission that went horribly wrong. I separated from Danny and, when I returned, the owner of the house was there pointing a gun at my best friend… I… I didn't think and snapped his neck to protect him." Shane paused looking away from everyone not wanting to see their faces. "We were all just freaked out by what happened so when Dan stopped and started yelling at me… I… I just started arguing back but then I was on my back and… and… Danny was bleeding from a gunshot. I should have died that night not him. He should have never saved me."
"Shane, he was your best friend no matter what was going on." Tara tried to comfort her sister, still uneasy about what had happened between her and Faith.
"It doesn't end there; I started drinking heavy and fighting just for the hell of it. A couple weeks later, I was torturing the guy who killed Danny and he starting screaming about his 4 year old daughter, whose name was Tara. I felt like I couldn't even breath and I finally caught up to what I was doing. That is what Danny died for, so I could live to be a drunken murderer." The dark blonde spat the last words with anger.
Buffy had been quiet the entire time her girlfriend was talking. She kept fighting the urge to run away from this whole situation. One thought kept entering her mind, why did she always end up with people who have such hard pasts. The blonde remembered back to when she first thought that Shane wasn't as stable as she seemed and decided to ask: "Who's Tiffany?" and watched as the demi-god froze.
"What did she do?" Shane snarled feeling enraged that the other blonde would dare approach the love of her life.
"Nothing really, she told me to tell you hi and handed me the news clipping of the first man you killed. So, answer my question: who is she?" The slayer demanded.
"She and her brother were part of our team. They're kids of Hermes so they're expert thieves and they are the ones that grabbed the man that killed Danny and then killed him when I hesitated. Tiffany is defiantly psychotic while Alec doesn't care what happens to anybody outside of his sister and they are behind what's going on now. I don't know why but I know they are here in Sunnydale and they are very dangerous." The dark blonde answered seriously.
"What makes them so dangerous and were you even going to tell us about them?" Faith asked feeling betrayed by having her friend keep these big secrets from her.
"I said I'd explain and I was going to tell you. The fact they are twins is what makes them so dangerous. Like Artemis and Apollo, they could feel what the other feels, know when they are in danger, and fight like they have one mind. They are unstoppable when together no one person could beat them maybe not even the three of us." Shane explained trying to hide the hurt she felt at having the closest people to her not trust her not that she blamed them.
"So, some ex-lover with a grudge against you and you don't think to tell us that she might come after you. What were you thinking? We are a family here and you want to play it like you don't think that we should know anything about it or what you've done." Buffy snapped and stood up. "I'm leaving. I can't take any more of this."
As the blonde left, Shane couldn't help but stare helplessly as the love of her life walked away. She felt like an asshole for what she must be putting her girl through. Her first instinct was to follow the slayer but the looks on Tara's and Faith's faces were enough to keep her seated for now.
"There is only one thing that has been bothering me since our fight and that's what the hell happened to me?" The brunette hybrid growled her question.
"The god part of you came to the surface. Athena is the god of battle-strategy and you as her child have that inside you. I'm not sure exactly how it progresses but don't let it control you all the time. Use it only in an emergency." Shane warned.
"Why should I listen to you? It seems to me like this could give me an advantage in a fight. I mean, I could have killed you I saw the move to do it but I pulled back and knocked you out instead." Faith asked defiantly, cutting her mentor with her question.
"It will kill you. Our bodies aren't made to handle it forever and, with you being part slayer, I don't know how it will affect you. The only symptoms I know are my own. Children of Ares' start with losing feeling in their bodies then higher thought processes past the fight finally our hearts stops. We get the tattoos on our necks' solely for distinguishing between friend and foe but since the mind drain from Glory mine hasn't worked right." The demi-god explained as best she could.
"Something else you forgot to tell us." The brunette stated with a frown.
"I can keep it at bay if I'm not in a fight but with my father's sword so close its getting harder to resist. Buffy made it easier since she calms me like no one could before." The dark blonde turned away from her family. "I'm sure they have the sword but I don't know what for. I can tell Ares and he can deal with them. Right now, all I want to do is go to Buffy and beg her to forgive me." Shane said standing and heading for the door before either woman could stop her.
Faith sighed before wrapping her arms around the upset witch, "Let's get out of SunnyD for a bit, ok?"
"Yeah, that sounds good." Tara said as she held the brunette closer towards her.
Buffy sat in her backyard clearly upset by what she had learned that day. 'I can't believe that I fell for another person with some dark secret that refused to tell me. Am I cursed or something? Why does everyone I fall for want to keep part of themselves from me?' the blonde lost the rest of what she was thinking when a throat cleared behind her. There stood her girlfriend with her head down in shame.
"What do want?" Buffy spat turning away from the demi-god.
"Buffy, I'm sorry that I kept this from you. I was afraid… I was afraid that you would leave me 'cause you would think I was no better than Angel or Riley. I was afraid I was going to lose you." Shane rushed to say before she lost her nerve.
"You knew how I felt about them lying to me and you still did it. How can I trust you after this? All you had to do was be honest with me and tell me about this stupid ex of yours." The blonde could feel the tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Ok, first, I've never slept or dated the bitch and, second, look at what they did to you. They left you 'cause you pulled away when you learned the truth. So, call me selfish 'cause I wanted you close to me. You have been the only thing keeping me from going over the edge into a rage. I love you, Buffy, and that will never change or go away." The dark blonde fell to her knees in front of her love. "I am so sorry and, if you can give me even one more chance, I swear I will never hold anything back from you again."
"Stand up, please." Shane followed the plea. "I've not forgiven you, yet, but I don't want to give up on you 'cause I love you too."
Buffy saw movement coming from the gate into the backyard. For the second time in her life, Shane was on the ground as a gunshot rung out. She looked over by where she heard the shot come from and saw Tiffany run out the backyard laughing as she did. She looked over towards her blonde and saw the blood covering her shirt. The dark blonde scrambled to put pressure on the wound and pull the blonde closer to her.
"Help! Damn it, I need help." Shane screamed as Joyce ran out of the house.
After receiving a call from Joyce, Faith and Tara were driving back into the city. They were a block from the hospital when they were hit by another car causing them to be flipped off the road. The truck landed on its driver side, where Faith was pinned. The brunette was struggling to get out of her seat to see if her unconscious girlfriend was okay when a blonde haired man was at the top of the truck. Grabbing a knife, he cut the seat belt holding the blonde and pulled her out before appearing again.
"Tell Shane, she can find us here." Alec said as he tossed a paper at the enraged demi-god.
Faith hobbled into the hospital and saw an anxious and pacing demi-god. When Shane spotted her injured friend, she rushed over to see if she was okay and from the look on the brunette's face didn't help the worry in her soul. Faith looked like she had been beaten and defeated then the dark blonde noticed the absence of her sister.
"Where's Tara, Faith?" The brunette turned her head down, "Where's my sister?"
"We got hit by a car or something and I… and I was pinned to the ground. He took her. He took her and I couldn't even stop him." Faith ran her hands through her hair panicking and feeling herself start to lose herself.
"Argh!" Shane yelled as she slammed her fist through the wall. "I'll kill them."
"He gave me a note saying that's where they were." The brunette handed the note over to her angry partner, "This is obviously tr…"
The rest of the sentence was cut off by Shane's fist hitting her face, knocking her out cold.
"I'm sorry, Faith, but I can't let you get caught in the cross fire." The demi-god said in a concerned voice as she ran from the building.
In a cave across town, Alec was leaning patently against the wall of the cave as he watched his sister pace restlessly. He looked over and saw the chained up witch next to the sword of Ares.
"Why have we not just killed the witch?" He sighed tiredly.
"I want to see when she finally snaps and grabs that sword if she will feel anything when she kills her sister." Tiffany exclaimed with excitement before turning to Tara, "If only I had known about you years ago. I could've had so much fun tormenting Shane."
Alec snapped into action to stop a knife from hitting his sister. Shane charged at the duo with little thought to anything other than killing them. Tiffany grabbed her and threw her into the wall while Alec kicked her in the ribs. He followed by hitting her in the face twice before she blocked the next hit. Before she could retaliate, the other blonde kicked the back of her head knocking her back on the ground and right in front of her father's sword.
"Come on, pick it up. You know you'd be much more powerful if you do." Tiffany taunted as she kicked at the downed demi-god's ribs.
"I won't do it." She grunted her painful reply.
"Maybe you just need a bit more reason." The blonde woman nodded at her brother, who stomped on the hand closest to him twisting his foot cracking her hand.
Shane face screwed into pain but refused to scream, although the pain from the hits she was taking was fading. She looked and saw the absolute terror in her sister's eyes then looked at the sword resting within reach of her other hand. Shane grabbed the sword and felt the power surge through her as she threw her tormentor off her. In her struggle to gain control, the dark blonde could feel another presence taking over in her rage.
When the demi-god opened her eyes, they were no longer red but pure gold with the same colored lines running down from her eyes. She turned to examine herself with a wicked grin on her face and swung the sword a couple of times as if trying to get used to it.
"My lord, is that you?" Tiffany asked hesitantly.
"Of course it is, although I can almost feel the child still inside fighting feebly to get out." Although the voice sounded mostly like Shane's there was an underlying deeper voice.
"Shane?" Tara looked fearfully up at her older sister's body.
"No, useless mortal, I'm Kronos and your death will stop all her stupid struggling." The possessed demi-god stated to swing down the sword when a voice rang out, "No!"
The sword only cut through the chains and Tara starred at the red right eye of her sister. She growled run at her sister and Tara followed without hesitation. Alec moved to grab the running witch when an arrow interrupted his path. Faith glared at the man with all the hatred she had in her.
"Get her out of here, Faith. I can handle this just run." Shane ground out still trying to fight what was happening inside her.
"I'm not leaving you." The brunette growled firing another arrow at the blonde man.
Alec dodged the arrow and rushed Faith before she could reload her bow. She blocked the jab with the bow before using it to swing at his head but he blocked it with his arm. While the other two were busy, Tiffany grabbed the struggling Shane in a head lock. The dark blonde demi-god could no longer control her arms as she focused everything to keep the Titan lord from taking her over again.
"Give up, Shane. You can't fight him forever. Hades, you're losing already." The blonde mocked and Shane kept starring at the sword in her hand.
"You're right, Tiffany." Shane said out load before thinking, 'I'm sorry, Buffy.'
Faith saw the sword exit the blonde's back and Alec paused as if struck by lightning. He glanced behind him in horror then Faith took advantage and snapped his neck. She saw the other blonde fall on top of something before realizing that Shane wasn't moving from underneath her foe. Faith ran over and pulled the blonde off her friend before falling to the ground in shock as she saw the sword coming through Shane's chest. Tara fell to the ground next to her sister in tears as she pulled the body into her arms begging the gods for it not to be true.
There was another presence beside them as Ares starred at his deceased daughter with sadness. Faith snapped out of her shock and jumped up, proceeding to slam her fists against his chest with tears streaming down her.
"Where were you? This should have been your problem." The distraught brunette screamed as she pounded the god of war's chest.
"I couldn't come until it was over! Zeus banned all Gods from this area." Ares yelled at the demi-god in front of him. "I would have stopped this if I could have but let me deal with this now. You should get to Buffy."
Back at the hospital, Joyce sat by Buffy's bedside who looked like she was in shock. The couple rushed to her side fearing something was wrong.
"B, what's wrong?" Faith worried checking the blonde over and the slayer looked at them with the most confused and heartbreaking stare.
"The doctor just came in here to tell me that… that I'm pregnant. It can't be possible. They must have gotten confused or something." Buffy informed them still freaking out but noticing the lack of a certain dark blonde she asked, "Where's Shane?"
AN: There you go. Sorry it took so long to put this up. So please review and tell me what you think. Also, decide if you would like to see a sequel to this story or not and thank you for reading.