Chapter 6: Monsters amongst us

Finley was trying her best not to let her anxiety get the best of her. She was pacing in circles, tugging on the ends of her hair, as a sinking feeling kept growing in the pit of her stomach.

Five days ago, her life had been completely different. She enjoyed being a Slayer. It had changed everything for her. In a small way, it had bought her peace about her father's choice to leave her in Maggie's care. Merrick had lost five Slayers before Buffy and Finley didn't truly appreciate the weight of that until she was a Slayer herself. And now Maggie had met the same fate, trying to protect her. It hurt like losing a mother instead of a Watcher.

Finley knew she was a good Slayer. Now, she was questioning even that. It felt like the real Slayers were down in the basement. The Council, she now knew, had forced her calling. Deep inside, she felt hurt that she hadn't really been chosen. She wasn't like the girls she had read about in the Watcher's journals. Those books had been her bible—the closest connection she had with her father.

The Council had told her it was best that she stay away from Sunnydale. Faith, by all of Giles and Wesley Wyndam-Price's accounts, was dangerous. Violent. Yet, somehow she was the only one willing to try to understand what Finley was feeling right now.

As far as she knew, Buffy was dead. Turns out, Buffy was not only alive, but something else entirely. Finley knew she was a mess right now but she was disappointed she couldn't shake this feeling that everything was out of place. Her eyes were firmly planted on the door Buffy and Faith had disappeared behind, but her feet were frozen.

She was afraid. Not just afraid, but absolutely petrified. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see that monster's face or see Maggie's face when the First dropped its act of pretending to be her.

A hand clamped around her shoulder and, with a kneejerk reaction, Finley had the intruder pinned against the lockers behind her. In her mind, it was the monster she had seen that night. Instead she had Robin Wood in front of her struggling to breathe on account of her forearm pressing on his throat. She released him, apologizing immediately.

He caught his breath but still gave her a warm smile. "I see you're back in action."

Finley scowled. "What are you doing here? I could have killed you!"

Robin rubbed his neck. "Mr. Giles told me last night we would be meeting up this morning to do some recon. When I got there, he said that you guys had already come to the school. I didn't want to miss all the fun. They went down there without you? What if that thing you saw is still around?"

"I think you missed the part where Buffy is a super Slayer and Faith is well…Faith. I'm the team mascot—great for inspiration, not so much for actually doing anything that matters."

"At least they remembered to bring you," Robin pouted.

Her curiosity getting better of her, Finley regarded the school principal wearily. "I never asked you how you found me."

"I thought…..I thought someone was down there," he said darkly. "Instead I found you."

"I thought someone was down there too," Finley said softly. "Who did you see?"

"My mother," he admitted, almost embarrassed. "I knew it wasn't her. But it smelled like her and I had forgotten her voice until—"

"The First can be any dead person. Just to mess with us," Finley said, sympathy in her voice. "You didn't see her again, did you?"

"No."

Finley wrung her hands, hoping that she would never see "Maggie" again. "You said your mom was a Slayer. Which one?"

"Nikki Wood. Her watcher, Crowley, raised me after…you know. He taught me to fight. I came to Sunnydale to find the vampire that killed her. The Hellmouth seems like a good start to search for a master vampire."

"My dad was a Watcher. Buffy's Watcher actually…before Giles. I think he wanted me to be as far away from this life as possible. Now, here I am, right in the middle of something bigger than I could imagine."

Robin scowled. "Seems like we are more on the sideline, actually."

"I'm sorry, but I can't take this anymore. The two of you are just too pathetic." Standing in front the basement door was the First, in the guise of Buffy. "Bonding over your dead parents? I'm not usually known for my softer side, but I'd love to help you join them. Take you out of your misery and all."

"Go away," Finley ground out, almost shaking with rage.

The First 'tsk'ed at the Slayer in a scolding manner. "Don't be rude, little girl. I've come to help."

Robin slightly stepped in front of Finley protectively. "We wouldn't believe a word you said," he bit out.

"Smart man," The First agreed. "Finley is even smarter though. You see, she's read all the books about this Slayer bullshit. And she has a photographic memory. She's kind of a like scared little encyclopedia. Tell me, baby Slayer, who killed Nikki Woods?"

Finley's gaze met Robin's, unsure if she should answer. The First stepped closer to them and a sadistic smile spread on Buffy's lips. "Answer quickly or you'll fail the pop quiz."

Robin gave Finley a small nod. "William the Bloody," she whispered.

The First clapped. "Good girl. One more question—"

"Leave her alone," Robin spat.

The First gave him a sharp glare. "I'm not done yet. Dearest Finley, where was the last recorded sighting of William the Bloody?"

"By Giles, here in Sunnydale—when he was fighting Buffy."

Robin let out an almost inaudible gasp and Finley knew this information was new to him. Robin, to his credit, kept his steely demeanor as he regarded the apparition in front of them. "You've done well. Now, Robin, you've been hunting him for years—hoping it fills that empty void left by your dead mommy. I can tell you right now where he is."

"I don't want your help," Robin said, but his voice was lacking the conviction. "If he's here, Buffy can help me find him."

The First let out a roaring laugh. "You feel close to Buffy, don't you? Is it because she's a Slayer? Or becausyou've been following her for the last two months? Does she know the way you look at her?"

"What is it talking about?" Finley demanded.

Robin could feel Finley's eyes on him when he didn't deny it.

"She's not going to help you because she's sleeping with him," the First revealed nonchalantly.

The physical reaction was immediate as Robin's mind began to race. Finley put a comforting hand on his arm. "It's lying."

"He knows I'm not," the First said confidently. "In fact, I know you had a rough night last night, but I'm disappointed you didn't catch it. It's a great nickname. People think it's from how he tortured people with railroad spikes but actually—"

"Spike," Robin all but growled.

"Now what do you say, Robin? I know your mother taught you manners."

"Thank you," he muttered darkly.

Then it was gone. Finley wasn't sure what to say to Robin, but his eyes were wild and his body was tense from where her hand was still on his body. She gave it a small squeeze. "You can't trust the First. We should talk to Buffy."

He shrugged her off of him. "No, don't say anything to her. I just need to….I have some contacts. I'll see if it's true. She needs to trust us and accusing her boyfriend of murder isn't going to help."

"Wait-that's her boyfriend? She didn't even tell me he was a vampire. Fine, I won't say anything but you have to tell her the First is toying with us."

"I promise, I will. Just let me have all the facts first."

"We can get the facts from Buffy," Finley said sternly. She didn't like having to keep this secret and she wasn't sure why Robin would be following Buffy in the way the First had implied. "Look, I get that you want revenge for what happened."

"Then you understand what it feels like to have someone taken away from you like that," he retorted pointedly. "After what the First did to you? To your Watcher? You're telling me that you would just let it go?"

Finley sighed and conceded to his logic. "I will try to get some information out of Buffy without mentioning what the First said. She's leaving today for England so I can meet with you later tonight. Either we have the facts or we tell her when she gets back. Deal?"

Robin reluctantly nodded. "Giles has my address. Meet me there tonight."

He began to walk down the hallway. "Where are you going?" Finley shouted after him.

"I'll see you tonight," he said curtly. Finley watched him turn the corner and leave her line of sight. She was about to go after him to make sure he didn't do something rash when the basement door flew open.

Faith was catching her breath, with her hands on her knees, grimacing in pain. She had a good share of bruises, but her left eye was almost swollen shut. Buffy was approaching behind her witha particularly large blood stain around her temple. Finley could see that whatever the wound was had already healed itself. Finley watched as Buffy wiped the blood from her face with her index finger and offered it to Faith.

Faith wrinkled her nose in disgust and shook her head. She stood up and gave Buffy a wide smile. "It's been hard to get a good fight around here lately. That was fun."

"You're injured," Buffy stated simply.

"I'm five by five, don't worry."

"What happened?" Finley asked. She couldn't look away from the open door behind them. Her skin was crawling, worried about whatever was down there could get out as long as it was open. "Did you find that thing?"

Faith and Buffy shared a look. Finley quickly realized they were trying to figure out what to tell her and she grew frustrated. "I let it out. I deserve to know," she demanded. "Is it dead?"

"Yes," Buffy confirmed. "But the seal isn't closed. How far did you and your Maggie get in your research?"

"Not far, just that it needs blood to open. We never saw anything about closing it. What. was it?"

"It's called a Turok-Han. I'm afraid the one I smelled on you last night wasn't the same one that was down there. We don't know how many have been released."

"Why are you talking differently? And you knew the whole time what that monster was? Why didn't you say anything?" Finley nearly shouted. Buffy just seemed to stare back at her, but didn't reply. Finley felt her anger growing. "What else aren't you telling me?"

Faith stepped between the two Slayers. "It's a little complicated, Finley. What is important is that I'm not sure if I could have beaten that thing on my own. With Buffy leaving, we have to figure out how to close the seal. I don't think it would be a bad idea for us to train too."

The younger girl bristled. "I know how to fight."

"The Turok-Han would have killed you," Buffy said calmly. "I cannot fight all of these battles. You two must be prepared for what is coming. To stand on your own if you have to."

"I can't do that if you are keeping things from me," Finley argued. "Like something is going on right now that you are hiding. I'm a part of this too."

Faith took a deep breath. "You're right but…it's hard to explain. Buffy isn't really Buffy right now."

"I don't understand."

Faith glanced at Buffy for a moment. "I'm not sure if I do either. But you can trust us," she said softly. "We are all on the same side and I can explain it more to you later. But right now, Buffy has to leave to get Willow. Can we talk later?"

"Fine," Finley muttered. "But I want to know everything."

"I promise you that I can do that," Faith vowed genuinely. "Let's get out of here. We need to find Spike too. We might need some added muscle at the house without Buffy."

"Find Spike?"

Buffy narrowed her eyes at Finley. "Find him, yes."

Finley knew not to push the subject. There was an edge in her voice and expression clearly triggered by bringing him up. "Let's just leave. I really hate this place," she mumbled and she began to walk away from them as Robin had done to her.

Once she was out of earshot, Faith gave Buffy a disapproving look. "You were being weird."

"I was tired of pretending."

"Buffy told me she can have really strong reactions to things because of your energy. You don't seem overly emotional."

"I have a temper, if that is what you mean."

Faith started to feel uncomfortable with the way Buffy was looking at her, almost like she was analyzing something Faith couldn't even see. "I want Buffy back."

"Soon."

"Now."

"Because I offended the girl?" Buffy asked curiously.

"If I'm pack, then she's pack too. She's a Slayer, just like me and Buffy," Faith tried to reason.

Buffy seemed to consider this. "You fought well today," she whispered.

"Thank you," Faith accepted sincerely. "But I want Buffy now."

Faith watched as there seemed to be an internal communication between the Sultana and her friend. "OK. You should know that she's in pain. She objects to me telling you this. But you care about her, so I think you should know."

Tears shimmered in Faith's eyes and the Sultana confirmed something she already suspected. "Take care of her."

"I enjoyed our battle today."

Before Faith could reply, she could see the Sultana had left.