Unknown Hours Later

The pain that once burned like fire had faded away to an icy numbness. Black filled the edges of Faith's vision and the only thing she could hear was Buffy's soft lispy voice whispering into her ear.

Faith's breath came in ragged, shallow gasps. Seconds passed as Faith limply hung in the chains, too weak to hold herself up.

Now that Faith's best friends and chosen-family was dead and chained to the wall, there was wasn't a soul to break into the mansion to save the day.

Opening her dark swollen eyes, Faith stared at the pool of her own blood around her feet. She spat the blood that formed in her mouth and gasped in pain.

Lifting her head, Faith's gaze landed on her friends. Her bleeding bottom lip quivered in sorrow for her loss.

The rattle of the chains shifted Faith's attention back to her friends.

Her unswollen eye widened at the sight of Willow shifting in the chains.

"Red? You're alive!" Faith croaked. Her throat felt dry and dehydrated. "Red! Willow!"

Willow lifted her head from its slump position. Her face morphed into her new demonic features. She growled, snapping her golden yellow eyes at Faith.

Hungry, Willow tried to break from her tight restraints. She roared, agitated.

Faith stared at her once best friend, horrified. Her dark eye moistened with a mourning wetness. The once sweet redheaded witch was now a hallow shell—a soulless demon.

"The Watcher should be waking up any minute now," said Angelus sitting in a chair at the center of the cellar. "They were quite easy to kill. Willow… didn't put up much of a fight." He pointed at the redhead. "Her blood tasted sweet. Its magnificent, she actually tasted like strawberries." Angelus smiled, standing from the chair. He walked towards her with his hands behind his back. "You'd be surprised how many rules and traditions are in Hell. There's a certain power structure between us demons. We honour this. Like the English, we demons find it hard to break tradition."

Faith watched as Angelus walked over to the newly risen vampire.

"Fledgling," he pointed at Willow. "Sire." Angelus held a hand against his chest. "I am the master and she is my lamb."

He unchained the binds around Willow's wrists.

Willow snarled at Angelus.

Angelus remained calm and steadily eyed the redhead. A minute passed and Willow calmed, her face morphing to her human guise, recognising the demonic hierarchy.

Faith gritted her teeth, breathing heavily although it hurt like hell.

Turning to the Vampire Slayer, Angelus smirked. "Buffy has always been in her own category. My mate has been breaking the rules since the day she was turned. I know it seems that she's not methodical, like she makes it up as she goes along and she does. But I assure you, there is always a method to her madness. You just won't understand it until after the fact, but that's what makes her extraordinary." Angelus folded his arms across his chest. "I'd never admit this in front of her but Buffy is a hero amongst us." He frowned. "Probably not for you but for us demons she is."

"You act like she can walk on water or something." Faith looked at Angelus.

Angelus thoughtfully smiled. "She is Christ-like isn't she?"

"Flattery will get you everywhere, my love," said Buffy, appearing from the darkness.

She walked over to her mate and circled her arms around his neck, lowering his head to kiss him.

Taking Buffy's hand, Angelus took a step back and ran his eyes over his mate dressed in a long black haltered gown. Buffy's long blonde locks fell in full bouncy curls down her shoulders and back.

"Beautiful." Angelus said, admiring his mate's beauty.

"Thank you." She sweetly smiled and turned her head to Faith. Exhaling a deep breath, Buffy unravelled herself from Angelus' arms and walked over to the Slayer, chained to the wall. "What to do with you." Tilting her head to the side, Buffy thought of what she should do now that Faith was near death. "I'm on a time crunch so whatever it'll be will have to be quick."

Angelus walked over to the dead Watcher and unchained his wrists from the cuffs knowing that any minute now the Watcher would rise.

"Look at you," said Buffy eying the Vampire Slayer. "Now that's everything. You're filthy and weak. No weapons… No friends… No hope."

Angelus stepped around Buffy and uncuffed Faith's wrists from the binds of the chains and watched as she fell helplessly to the ground in the puddle of her own blood.

Faith groaned in pain and lifted her chin, opening her unswollen eye to look up at the vampiress.

"Take all that away… and what's left?" asked Buffy releasing a heavy sigh. "A girl."

Squeezing her eye closed, not watching Buffy to see her fear, Faith knew that her life was drawing to a close. She was all alone. Her friends dead. Her seemed to be replaced by weakness and the gonzing pain from the hours of beatings.

"Of all of the Slayer's I've fought and killed, you were by far my biggest disappointment," said Buffy, shaking her head.

Faith exhaled a sharp breath.

Buffy took a step back from Faith as Angelus crossed over to stand before Darla, still chained up beside Faith; starving and manic.

"I did pardon you. I will not go back on my word. I won't kill you."

Darla dropped to the ground. She turned her head, laying on her cheek as she opened her yellow eyes and focused on Faith. Like a wild animal, Darla snarled and sniffed the air, breathing in the scent of Faith's powerful blood.

The tortured vampire began to growl and dig her bloody and broken nails into the ground desperate for blood to drink.

"But Darla…" began Buffy, petting the maimed vampire's blood matted and dirty hair, "... she hasn't eaten in a very long time." She turned the mutilated vampire's chin to look at her. "I'd be a bad and neglectful pet owner if I didn't feed her."

Frightened, Faith stared at the deformed vampiress.

The starved demon wagged her tongue in Faith's direction and growled.

"I am nothing if not fair." said Buffy holding out a hand towards Angelus, he passed her a stake. "Goodbye, Faith." She tossed the stake to Faith's feet.

Angelus smiled and kicked the stake away from the Vampire Slayer. He held out his elbow for Buffy to take.

Willow dragged Giles' body out of the wine cellar as Angelus led them out.

Her hand hovering over the light switch, Buffy looked back at the Vampire Slayer staring at Darla. Her chest heaved with panic.

Buffy smiled to herself quite pleased with how everything has ended. The Scoobies were dead and two of them turned. The Slayer too will soon be dead unless she can miraculously defeat a deranged and starving vampire. And now, she and Angelus were off to a party in San Francisco and after that, it was unknown what they their next adventure would be.

Turning off the light switch the wine cellar was in pitch darkness.

Closing the wooden door behind her, Buffy twisted the key in the lock and hung the key back on the hook beside the door.

The sounds of scrambling feet, grunts, and a demonic growl on the other side of the door made Buffy gleeful. She was half tempted to open the door and watch the battle.

"We better get a move on, mo ghrá (my love)."

Turning away from the door, Buffy tossed him a small smile and followed him to the stairs to leave Sunnydale.