Faith

Faith hadn't told them all that Riley had told her, not during that quick phone conversation and not a few days later when he stopped by to thank her again and say goodbye, offering to come back and help if they ever needed it.

After his visit, Faith snuck back into the Initiative, to take care of the mess they left behind. They had abandoned it, leaving all the captured demons and possible other creations behind.

Faith was confused by the outrage she felt about that. They were demons. She was going to kill them. What difference did it make if they starved to death or die at the end of my sword? The logic of it didn't matter. She knew it was the right thing to do.

She ran into Tara in the tunnels. She was just standing there, clearly waiting for something. "Tara? What are you doing down here?"

"I'm not sure. It just seemed like… what are you doing down here?" Tara looked out of sorts.

Faith growled, "those bastards just left all their caged demons in there. Was going to clean it up." She had expected some response from Tara, but there was none. Only a slight nod to indicate that they should continue.

She considered telling Tara to leave, but it was comforting having her there. She wouldn't lie if Buffy asked her about this, but she had no intention of telling her. It wasn't because she felt guilty about it, she just didn't want Buffy to ever think about this place again.

They walked in silence as Faith led them into the compound and made their way up to the second level. The place was eerie in the dark, and Faith was grateful that Tara was there. A simple spell illuminated the darkened hallway holding the containment cells. Their presence had alerted the demons, and they began shouting and hammering on the glass of their cells. Faith motioned for Tara to stay back before approaching the first glass enclosure.

She didn't bother to identify the demon on the other side of the barrier, she called forth a large hammer and shattered the glass. Relieved when it shattered without her having to draw on any extra power from Buffy.

The demon launched itself at her, and she quickly switched to a sword and cut it down. Eight more cells were cleared this way. Neither she nor Tara saying a word as she methodically cleaned up the Initiative's mess. When she got to the ninth cell, she paused.

"Wait." Tara was next to her, and they peered into the cell. A man with bleached blonde hair was huddled in the corner. He had torn most of the skin off his arms and face. Faith's senses were a little haywire with all the demon activity, though there were only a handful of containment cells left, at least that's what she hoped. She was sure this man was a vampire, but he wasn't acting like one she'd ever seen before.

Faith moved to smash the glass like she had all the others, but Tara's hand was on her arm. "Save this one for last."

Faith shrugged and moved away, leaving Tara to stare at the creature.

When she had cleared the rest of the cells, and the man was the only demonic signature she could feel, she returned to Tara's side. He had moved closer to the glass and was looking confusedly at them. Faith wasn't sure if he could see them or not, but he appeared to be following them with his eye

"He's a vamp, gotta take care of him." Faith commented when Tara didn't seem to be getting out of her way.

"He's got a soul."

"What? Like, Angel?"

"I don't know about Angel. But that vampire has a soul." Tara hadn't taken her eyes off the creature in the cell.

"So what the hell do we do now? He looks crazy."

Tara put her hand on the glass, and the man placed his hand against hers. "We should help him," Tara commented quietly, stepping back from the glass.

Faith didn't understand, but she wasn't about to argue about it. Angel had tried to help her, even if she had a lot of complicated feelings about him - she knew that having a soul meant something. She wouldn't kill a creature that had a soul if she didn't have a good reason.

"Can you hear me?"

The vampire looked up to meet her eyes but didn't respond. She brought forth her hammer and motioned for him to move to the back of the cell.

Fear registered on his face as he scrambled away from the glass. Faith smashed it in once he had gotten far enough away. She stood outside the glass with Tara, unsure of what to do. He was still cowering away from her.

"We're not going to hurt you." She stepped towards the opening, but Faith held her back. "How did you get your soul?

"Soul?" The vampire choked out and then began to laugh incredulously. "Like Angel? Those bastards made me like that ponce?"

"You know Angel?" Faith asked, trying to figure out who this vampire might be.

The vampire rose and cracked his neck. "Yeah, I know captain forehead. We traveled together for a bit, a long time ago." He began to pace the cell, not getting any closer to the opening. "Knew I shouldnt've come back to this awful town. Thought I could finally get the slayer for what she did to me."

At the mention of the slayer, Faith was in the cell holding the vampire up by his throat. "What do you know about the slayer?"

"I helped her! Angel was going to destroy the world, I helped her stop him, and she let me, and Dru split. That didn't quite work out. I figure it's blondie's fault. Thought maybe it'd make me feel better if I took her out."

Faith slammed him against the wall. A stake in her hand, pressed into his heart, just barely beginning to pierce the skin. Now she was sure who this vampire was and wasn't sure how much she cared if he had a soul. "Spike." She hissed, his eyes widened at the mention of his name.

"Faith!" Tara called out, trying to pull her away from the vampire.

"He wants to kill Buffy, and you want me to let him go? Don't care if he has a soul, if he's after her, he's dust."

"Hey, easy! That's just why I came here, but now that they shoved a soul down my throat... maybe I'll see if she wants to be friends like she was with Angel." He gave an evil sneer, and Faith couldn't restrain herself any longer. She struck out with the stake only diverting her blow enough to miss his heart. Instead, impaling him in the shoulder.

"Ow! Bloody hell!" Spike howled and clutched at the new hole in his shoulder.

"You stay the fuck away from her." Faith growled and backed away from Spike.

"You must be the new slayer, then." Spike grinned, biting his lip and leering at her. His attempt at trying to look sexy failed on all fronts.

Faith rolled her eyes, "what are we going to do with him? Are we just supposed to let him go and trust that he's not going to eat anyone?"

When Faith had released Spike, he collapsed to the ground and held his head.

"He needs our help." Tara insisted, leaning down to comfort the vampire.

Faith watched him in confusion. He seemed to be suffering. She knew that Angel had been tortured by the memories of what he had done as a vampire. She knelt down in front of Spike. "You get one chance. If I ever even suspect you're up to something, you're dust. Got it?"

Spike tilted his head at her and nodded. "Got it."

Faith stood up. "Good, let's get you the hell out of here."

It had taken Faith longer than she would have liked to get Spike safely to Giles' apartment. She now stood in front of the door, afraid to knock. She was late for her meeting with him, and she was sure he was going to yell at her.

The door opened before she could find the courage to knock. Terrified of the disappointment she was going to see on his face.

"Faith? Are you OK?"

She had been bracing herself for yelling and didn't immediately hear the question.

"Faith?" Giles called to her softly, and she finally heard him.

"Sorry, I know I'm late." She had been working with Giles in secret for the past month, studying for her GED. She had been completely overwhelmed by how much she had to learn but was finding that she was managing to make some progress. It had been part of their arrangement that she never be late, and now she had broken their agreement. She really looked up to him and hated to disappoint him.

"I'm sure you have a good reason, please come in."

She furrowed her brow at how reasonable he was being.

"Did you expect me to yell at you?"

"A little bit, yeah."

"I know we got off to a fairly rocky start, but you have never let me down once since we starting working together," Giles replied, and Faith felt relief wash over her. Even with as much as she had changed, she still struggled with accepting that people believed in her. "So, do you want to come in and explain?"

"Actually, you need to come outside." Giles followed her around the side of his building to the shady spot where she had left the vampire.

"Is that Spike?"

Faith nodded, "he was in the Initiative... Tara says he has a soul."

"Bloody hell," Giles took his glasses off and rubbed his brow. "Do you have any idea how this happened?"

"Tara said she'd research it, but she didn't know. He didn't even know what they had done to him." Faith motioned to Spike who had dropped to the ground, holding his knees and rocking. "He seems to go in and out of... whatever that is. Sometimes he's totally fine."

"What are we going to do with him?"

"I was kinda hoping you'd have some ideas." Faith shrugged.

"Maybe, we should contact Angel."

At the mention of Angel, Spike stood up. "No way. I don't need his help. I'll be fine in no time."

Faith frowned, not at all sure what to say about that. She sighed, "Tara said she'd be by later. She was looking for some spell to try and figure out what happened to him."

"So, you're leaving him here, then?"

"Well... I can't exactly take him home and leave him with Mrs. S. I gotta talk to B about all this too."

Giles grimaced, "very well. Let's get him chained up."

"What do you mean chained up!?" Spike backs away from the pair, "I'm not going to hurt anyone."

"It's all good and well for you to say that, and I trust that Tara is right about your soul. But until we find out more of what happened, you will not be allowed to roam free."

"People with souls do all kinds of horrible things," Faith added in.

Spike scowled, "this isn't right. I was just caged up by those soldier boys, and now you expect me to just cooperate with this?"

Faith grinned and took a step towards the vampire, "no one said you had to cooperate."

xxxx

It had been almost a year since they'd dealt with the Initiative. Buffy was not super excited about Spike being back in their lives, but she reluctantly accepted that helping him was the right thing to do. Rehabilitating the vampire was slow work, but he had begun to be part of their group. Tara and Willow had run several tests on him, but they couldn't identify how he was given his soul. Even return visits to the Initiative hadn't revealed anything.

Faith knew that Buffy still didn't entirely trust him, but Faith had grown to enjoy his company. He made a decent slaying partner when Buffy couldn't slay with her. He would tell her stories from his past. She had found him quite entertaining.

Things with Buffy were fantastic. She knew Buffy still occasionally felt like she had to do everything herself. She still took the blame for things that were in no way her fault and refused credit for the amazing things she had accomplished. Faith did her best to keep Buffy distracted, a simple touch, or even a smile. Anything to let Buffy know that she wasn't alone. Of all the things she'd accomplished since getting her second chance, making sure that Buffy knew she wasn't alone was the thing she was most proud of.

When she first met Buffy, she didn't understand the girl at all. Faith couldn't comprehend how much being a slayer weighed on her, once she was able to feel Buffy it started to make more sense. Buffy felt immense guilt for every person she couldn't save, every injury she couldn't prevent. She weighed every decision against the potential harm in others.

Faith had always focused on the fun parts of slaying, and she still did. She reveled in kicking demon ass, but she was more cautious now. She thought things through. She didn't just rush into every situation. She could see how they balanced each other out, sharing the weight of their slayer duty while at the same time finding ways to enjoy as much of life as they could.

Faith smiled as Buffy started to wake up. She loved the first few moments before Buffy started to feel the weight of the world crashing down on her. Buffy opened her eyes and smiled back at Faith, moving closer and pulling them tight together. Their blissful moment was disrupted by a knock on the door.

"Faith! Are you taking me to school?"

Buffy rolled away from Faith and groaned. "Be out in a few minutes, squirt." Faith commented, before leaning over to kiss Buffy. She stood up and was almost to the door before she froze. She very rarely thought of anything that happened during her original time in Sunnydale anymore, but she was sure Buffy didn't have a sister the first time around.

"Um...B? Since when do you have a sister?"

Buffy sat up, confused, "what do you mean, Dawn… wait…"

The knocking on the door pulled Faith back into the moment, "I'll be right there!"

"I'll come with you. Then we can meet with Giles, maybe he has some idea of what is going on." Buffy hopped up from the bed and quickly threw on some clothes.

Dawn rolled her eyes as soon as she saw Buffy was coming with them. The drive to school was quiet. Normally Dawn would gab endlessly to Faith, but never when Buffy was around. Faith had no idea why the sisters were always at each other's throats or why Dawn looked up to her so much. It was all very confusing having these memories that she knew weren't real.

"What do you think she is?" Buffy asked once they were alone.

"I have no idea. She doesn't feel evil or anything."

Buffy huffed a little, "you just think that because she worships you."

Faith chuckled, "maybe that's part of it. I… I feel like we're supposed to protect her."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Buffy sighed and looked out the window. Faith could feel the worry and fear building up within Buffy.

"Hey, we'll figure it out. We always do. Right?" Faith parked in front of Giles' apartment and gave Buffy a light kiss, using their connection to try to comfort her.

"Right." Buffy agreed before climbing out of the car.

"Hello, girls. Is there something wrong?" Giles asked as they entered his apartment and sat down.

"Dawn."

"Is she in trouble?" Giles asked with a raised eyebrow.

Buffy didn't look like she wanted to explain, so Faith tried. "No… she's just new."

"What do you mean?"

Faith looked at Buffy before she continued. "She didn't exist before today."

Giles sat down across from them and rubbed his forehead. "Are you quite certain?"

"Positive. We've got all these memories of her, but Dawn wasn't there the first time."

Giles had no theories. Even meeting with the witches gained them no new information. They seemed to feel there was nothing evil about her energy. Tara even gave her the same potion she had given Willow just to be sure she wasn't an agent of the first. She kept that bit of information from Buffy, not wanting to bring up anything that might remind her of the First.

It had been almost two months, and they hadn't made any progress in figuring out where Dawn had come from or why she might have been inserted into their lives.

"Are you sure this is where you found it?" Faith asks, getting a little annoyed at not finding anything. They had been wandering around an industrial area for over an hour and hadn't come across anything to fight. Buffy had found a strange glowing orb the previous night, and they were trying to see if there was anything else of interest while the rest of the Scoobies researched the item.

"Pretty sure. Why are you so grouchy tonight?" Buffy asks and bumps Faith with her hip.

"I just wish we knew what she was. Why she was here." Faith replied. That actually wasn't true at all. Faith was agitated because Buffy was. She knew as soon as she said it that it was going to start a conversation she wasn't sure she was ready to have.

Buffy frowned at her and stopped walking, leaning against the wall of the alley. Faith stood next to her and waited for Buffy to say something. She could feel the turmoil Buffy was feeling and desperately wished there was something she could do to fix it.

"What's going to happen when my mom dies?" Buffy asks sadly.

"Don't you mean if?"

Buffy just shrugs, it had become an impossible situation for Faith. Joyce had been complaining of headaches recently, and the doctors couldn't explain why. They didn't know if it had anything to do with how she was going to die, but Buffy was becoming increasingly despondent about it. Faith had even taken a custodial job at the hospital, getting close to doctors and interns. So far, she hadn't learned anything useful, but she hoped the connections would eventually pay off.

"It's just not fair." Buffy pouted and kicked at the wall behind her.

Faith knew exactly what was running through Buffy's mind. They discussed it countless times. Faith had learned that Buffy just needed to vent. It drove Faith crazy that she couldn't actually fix this problem for Buffy, all she could do was listen and be supportive.

Buffy sighed, "I don't know why they can't at least tell us when or how. I know they said we can't use magic to save her because there's no magic or demons involved... but they must know something that could help us. Something we could tell the doctors."

Faith reaches for Buffy. She had no argument for Buffy's lament, she felt the same frustrations. "We don't even know for sure if it's going to happen, we just have to make the most of the time we have with her." Faith pulls her close and pushes a stray lock of hair behind Buffy's ear. Leaving her hand on her cheek and pushing her love and support over their connection. "You know that is what she would want."

Buffy closes her eyes and leans into the touch. "I know.. It's just… I barely know how to take care of myself...how am I going to take care of Dawn too?"

Faith frowns and drops her hand. "You want to send her away?"

Buffy's eyes shoot open, and she reaches for Faith, "No!" She shakes her head, "no. I'm just scared. I don't even know if our dad knows who she is. I don't know if someone will try to take her away from us."

Faith relaxes a little at Buffy, finally suggesting that they both might take care of Dawn. She had an interesting relationship with Dawn. The girl seemed to worship her, and Faith couldn't deny that she liked that feeling. She also felt an incredible need to protect the girl, to make sure that she didn't have to feel the horrors of the world. That included the human kind of horrors as well as the demon kind.

Her memories were filled with spending time with the girl, trying to teach her about life. Trying to show her the line between having fun and making serious mistakes. Dawn was rebellious and didn't always understand how dangerous her reckless decisions could be.

"We'll figure it out. No one is going to take the brat away from us." She grinned at Buffy, and they continued walking.

There's the sound of a man yelling in the building they were approaching, along with the sound of a woman ranting. She was demanding to know where her key is. The slayers split up, and each found an entrance to the building.

Faith appraises the scene, a woman with a cheap perm in a fancy red dress wailing on a man in robes who is tied to a chair. She has no idea what's going on, but she's sure she doesn't like this woman. She can't tell exactly what the woman is, her senses tell her she's not human, but she's not exactly a demon either. The man she's wailing on though is definitely a human.

She spies Buffy across the way. The slayers are to either side of the woman. She motions for Buffy to stay still while she maneuvers behind the ranting woman.

"Just tell me where my key is, little man!" The woman delivers another blow to the man's face. He only smiles up at her. Blood and teeth falling from his face. His eyes are swollen shut. Faith knows he can't see her approaching.

"I think I have your key." Faith suggests, leaning casually against a beam.

The woman whips around and narrows her eyes. "Is that right?"

"Yep, got it right here." Faith holds out her hand and calls forth what has become her favorite weapon. It is a scimitar coated in magical fire. It's perfect for killing vampires and demons, plus it looks really cool. "What do you think? Is this what you're looking for?"

The woman puts her hands on her hips, drumming her fingers in irritation. "Who the hell do you think you are? You don't have my key!"

"Oh? Are you sure?" Faith looks down at her hand in mock confusion. "Someone told me this was the key. They said some crazy lady was looking for it." Faith was sure not to follow Buffy's movements with her eyes. Hoping to keep whoever this was distracted long enough for her to save the guy tied to the chair.

"You're starting to annoy me."

Faith shrugged and took a step towards the woman. "Then you're probably really not going to like what happens next." She moved faster than anyone possibly could. Since Buffy had managed to retrieve the man and pull him to safety, she began filling Faith with her power. She struck out at the woman, slicing her several times before the woman could even move.

The woman shrieked, not in agony but in annoyance. "What is this? A vampire slayer? Are you kidding me? I am a GOD!" The woman yelled again, and all her wounds vanished, then she struck out at Faith's chest with a closed fist. Faith went flying, taking out one of the support beams. Faith had a moment to wonder if she could have absorbed that blow if she hadn't been drawing on their shared slayer power.

Buffy called out to her, but Faith quickly rose and was thrusting her weapon once again. She was more cautious and avoided the God's strikes, all while slicing and stabbing the woman dozens of times. She was growing frustrated that they would heal almost instantly. The woman got the better of her, and she went flying once again. This time she landed near Buffy.

"I do love watching you fight… but maybe it's time to stop messing around?" She suggested, helping Faith back to standing.

Faith grinned at her, wiping the blood off of her chin. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

The God had moved closer, intent on retrieving her victim. Faith stood and managed to stop her progress.

"Don't you ever give up? You can't hurt me!"

Faith begrudgingly willed her favorite weapon away and imagined she was holding whatever it was that was needed to end this being before her. "Are you sure about that?" Faith held up her new weapon. It was not particularly intimidating, a short sword with a large green jewel in the hilt, but it did get the woman's attention.

"No! You can't!"

Faith absolutely loved everything about being a slayer. Cutting down demons or other beings who thought they were better than her, was probably her favorite part. Striking fear into the heart of a God made her giggle. She could feel Buffy's eyes on her, as she stalked towards the God, brandishing her new weapon. "Does this make you nervous?"

"You can't have that! Who are you?!" The woman screamed and stomped her foot, making the building shake.

"Hurry up, Faith. This guy needs help." Faith nodded at Buffy's encouragement.

Faith was considering her options, fighting a God was a pretty exciting proposition, but she wasn't stupid. She didn't want to risk losing anything by dragging the fight out any longer than she already had.

She felt the surge of power from Buffy and used it to move while the God was distracted with her tantrum. She was barely fast enough to get a slice across the woman's stomach, but the effect was immediate. The God screamed, and a powerful stream of bright purple energy was pulled out of her and into the gem on the hilt of the sword Faith carried.

Faith marveled as the woman before her, transformed into a man with long wavy hair. The man's eyes were wide in confusion as Faith held up her hand to strike out at him. Since her accidental killing of the Deputy Mayor, Faith had put a lot of effort into training herself to make sure the same type of accident could never happen again. She sensed nothing magical about the man before her and quickly dropped her arm.

"Pretty sure I was just fighting a chick." She commented, tilting her head. The man was squeezed into the same red dress the woman had been wearing, but there was no injury across his midsection.

The man began to laugh, "you did it! I have no idea how, but you got rid of her!" He launched himself at Faith, hugging her tightly. She stood frozen as the man continued to laugh with unbridled glee.

"Um... B? What the hell?"

"I have no idea. Let me call Willow to heal this guy."

Willow appeared a few moments later. Willow had made incredible progress with her teleporting. It was a large drain on her resources, so she used it sparingly, but it was definitely handy when someone was in dire need of healing. It only took her a few more moments before she was collected enough to realize there was a man who was near death who needed healing.

The man gasped as his injuries were healed, "how did you… what?" Looking over at the man, who was just a few moments ago a woman, "you killed the beast."

He looked at Faith in complete reverence.

"Looks like. What was that all about?" Faith moved closer to the man, kneeling in front of him.

"She… was a God. She needed the key to return to her home dimension. We sent the key to you to keep it safe… but now I guess that no longer matters." The man sat up and rubbed his hand over his face.

"What key did you send us?" Faith asked.

"Dawn, he must be talking about Dawn," Buffy whispered.

"Yes," the man nodded. "We poured the magic of the key into her."

"So what happens now?" Buffy asked.

The man frowned, "I don't know. We didn't expect you to be able to defeat her." Faith wasn't super excited by the news that whoever these people were, expected them to fail.

"Is Dawn in any danger?" Faith asked.

"No, now that the beast is gone her magic is neutralized."

Buffy and Faith exchanged a look, "so that's it? I just have a little sister now?"

The man nodded, "yes. She is human and innocent."

Faith didn't know what to think about all this. Nothing changed about how she felt about Dawn, now knowing what she is. She still felt like she wanted to protect her and make sure she had a happy life. Buffy seemed to be feeling just as confused, and she was sure they would have a lot to talk about.

"Hey, don't I know you?" The man who was no longer a God approached them. He had found some painters overalls and looked a bit more comfortable no longer stuffed into a dress.

Faith looked closer at him and realized she did know him, "Ben. You're an intern at the hospital." She hadn't spoken to him before, but she had seen him around the hospital.

Ben smiled at Faith, "and you're the janitor that's been asking all those questions. If you want, I could take you out sometime. Maybe I could answer some of your questions."

Faith grinned at the low growl she heard from Buffy and was not at all surprised at the warm body suddenly pressed to her side. "Be nice. Maybe he can help us." Faith whispered low enough so only Buffy could hear, at the same time pulsing their connection with her love.

Ben didn't seem phased by Buffy's actions, "I really owe you for taking out Glory, you have no idea what you've done for me. What are you, anyway? How did you get rid of her?"

Faith shrugged, "not exactly sure how I got rid of her. But I'm a vampire slayer."

"A slayer. Interesting."

"Glorificious!" Several short-statured creatures entered the space. They wore long robes, and their faces were horrifically deformed.

"Where is she?" One of the creatures grabbed Ben and began to shake him.

"Sorry, she's gone. You'll have to find some other hell-god to worship." Ben sneered at the creature and pushed it away.

The creatures wailed and fell to the ground.

"What the hell are these things? Should we kill them?" Faith asked, wanting to blow off a little more steam. The fight with the God ended up being a little anticlimactic.

"They're fairly harmless," Ben commented while kicking one that had rolled near him away. For the first time, he noticed Buffy. "Buffy? Your mother has been in for headaches, right? Is that why you've been asking so many questions?"

Buffy and Faith shared a glance, "yeah. We have some knowledge of the future and…" Buffy couldn't continue.

"We're pretty sure Joyce is going to die from an aneurysm." Faith completed Buffy's thought.

"Do you know what kind or where? Sometimes they can deal with those before they become a problem."

"No, we don't know any details. We were only told that it was painless." Faith frowned, wishing she had somehow thought to get more details from Willow before she was sent back in time.

Ben's face dropped a little.

Faith was relieved that Buffy didn't seem to notice his change in expression. "We've asked them to run extra tests for her headaches… but they say they won't, without a reason."

"I might be able to help." Ben smiled at them, before noticing one of the wailing creatures on the floor had gotten too close. He kicked it away and sighed. "Let me know when she'll be in, and I'll make sure she gets all the tests possible."

Buffy smiled at him, "thank you."