...And woke up in her bed back at her dorm room. From her bed across the room, Willow mumbled and rolled over in her sleep. Buffy glanced at her clock. 4:22 a.m. She was wide-awake now, so she decided to do a little bit of patrolling before the sun came up. As she dressed in her standard slayage gear, she went over her dream in her mind.
"That was way ooky," she muttered to herself, making a mental note to tell Giles about it. Maybe he'd heard of the dream 'Slayer Training Ground', though she'd gotten the impression that it wasn't common Watcher knowledge. It was like a secret handshake or something in a moose lodge. But, she reasoned Giles isn't exactly a Watcher anymore, so it's okay. She tied her running shoes as she made a mental note to run over to Giles's apartment before class.
* * * * * * *
Buffy made a quick sweep of the campus before deciding that the vamps had already gone beddy-bye. She made her way to the school cafeteria, which opened at 5:00a.m., as the sun rose in the pink sky.
She needed her OJ fix. After purchasing it she looked around to find a seat.
"Buffy..." came a voice from behind her.
She spun around. There, sitting at a table by his lonesome (for once), was Parker. He looked as much like hell as Parker could. He had a definite five o'clock shadow. His clothes had that lived in look, and his hair was sticking up in numerous directions. He looked pale, which contrasted greatly with the huge purple knot that existed on his forehead. He didn't look as if he was sleeping well.
Buffy took his state of being in as she felt her face warm slightly. It was because of her that he had that huge knot. Or at least, it was CaveBuffy's fault, but it was still indirectly her fault. "Parker?" she asked, sitting down in front of him.
He gave her a wary look. "Are you going to hit me again?"
She wanted to crawl under the table. "No, I'm..." she gave him a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry. I wasn't exactly myself."
"No, it's okay. I deserved it." He rubbed the knot, wincing at the pain he obviously felt.
"Oh, God, Parker, I'm so sorry." She winced in embarrassment. Even though, she thought to herself, he *did* deserve it. Then she mentally chastened herself. Buffy bad.
"No...Really." Parker gave her his sincere look. "Buffy, I've been thinking." He paused then, just looking at her. Buffy felt another wave of heat reach her face.
Oh no, she panicked, now that I've stopped the Parker-reunitement fantasies, they're coming true.
"I realize now," he continued, "that I was leading you on. I didn't make my full intentions clear. I guess I knew that you wanted something more, but I ignored it." He had the nerve to look embarrassed. "I didn't even try to make it up to you when I saw how I was hurting you." He took her hand in his. "I didn't know how much I hurt you."
"It's okay, really," Buffy stared hard at the tabletop, trying to send ESP messages to Will, Xand, Giles, anyone. Help! Slayer emergency!
"I mean, even after what I did, you...you saved my life! I could've died." He lifted her chin up with his other hand to make her look in his eyes. "It's really made me think."
"Th-that's great! You know, there's nothing like a little scare to get those little brain cells working," Buffy quipped nervously.
"Do you know what I've thought about?"
Buffy opened and closed her mouth a few times before shaking her head no.
"About life. About my philosophy." He leaned towards her confidently. Buffy pulled back a little. "I realized that I'm not really following it. I'm doing what I said I hated the most: using it as an excuse not to study for finals."
"W-what?" Buffy was incredulous. The demon gets his soul back, a voice whispered in her mind. "I don't think I'm following you."
"I go out, and meet girls, and I sleep with them. And I like that, I really do." Parker confided. "It's good to get to be with someone and not to have to worry about all the access baggage."
"Really." Buffy stated dryly. Maybe the boy got hit in the head a little too hard. Is this supposed to make me feel good about myself, because I'm suffering from Cordy humiliation flashbacks.
"But, I wondered, finally, 'what about tomorrow?'"
"'What about tomorrow?'" Buffy echoed, raising her eyebrow skeptically.
"Yeah," he continued with enthusiasm. Then he looked down shyly and began to rub the side of Buffy's hand. "What about feeling?"
It took Buffy a moment to get her voice to work. "Feeling."
"What about the girl, who, even after I hurt her, saved my life? What about the girl who understood my philosophy better than I ever could?" He looked up at her again, giving her his sincere puppy dog-eyed look. "Live for the moment doesn't mean to love and run. It means to love... and stay." He waited for her reply.
"S-stay." she echoed again, feeling slightly dizzy. I feel like a Furby, repeating every word he says. Or a Yak Back. Get a grip, Summers.
"Stay." He covered the hand he held with his other one, trapping her hand between his. "What I mean is, I don't want to blow off finals anymore, Buffy."
"I'm not a very good student." Buffy babbled nervously. "I-if you need a tutor, or something, you should probably talk to Willow---"
"Not that kind of final." Parker interrupted, shaking his head. "I mean, Buffy Summers, from Stevenson, will you give me another chance?"
Buffy's mind went blank. She opened and closed her mouth, no sound coming out.
"First test." came a voice from behind her. Buffy looked. It was Faith. Now she wore an olive green sundress with a matching cardigan sweater over it. With her hair pulled back in a headband, she looked like a typical college girl.
"First test?" Buffy asked her. Parker didn't even react to Faith's presence. He just waited expectantly, with his soulful eyes trained on her. Buffy pulled her hand from his and stood to face the other girl.
"Yeah. Didja think that all you were going to be tested on was brawn, B?" Faith closed the distance between them. "You, of all people, know there's more to being the Slayer than demon-bashing. There's that little thing about living in the daylight, too."
"So, now what do I do?" Buffy looked back to where Parker sat.
"Whatever you want, B. You can... cut his head off..." she held out the dagger she had tossed to Buffy earlier. " Or..." she grinned mischievously. "You can do what you guys did at his dorm that night, right on the table."
"That's a little, I don't know, *extreme*, isn't it?" Buffy gave Faith a look.
"I wasn't finished."
"Sorry."
"Those are metaphors, B." Faith walked past her to look at Parker, still sitting there, obvlious. "If you do take him back, it could be like the first thing. Think about it, B." The fog wind picked up around them.
"Remember Angel? Tall, pale and undeadly handsome?" She glanced back at Buffy. "He was part of that life, and you still sent him to hell. Not even in a handbasket either." She indicated Parker with a tilt of her chin. "Do you think pretty boy here could handle your nightlife?"
"But..." Buffy began to protest.
"Besides," Faith continued softly, "you know as well as I do, they don't change. They just find new and interesting ways to rip your still-beating heart from your chest. Isn't that right, Angelus?"
Buffy whirled around, and she was no longer in the cafeteria. She was back at Sunnydale High, at the aftermath of graduation, looking across the parking lot where Angel stood. He turned to leave.
"Angel!" She cried, starting towards him. Maybe if she could stop him...
"Why do you want him back, Buff?" Faith asked. "He's a demon. A devil. He'd drain you dry the next time you to do the nasty. You know that."
"It's none of your business!" Buffy snapped, watching him disappear in the fog.
"Oh, but it is," Faith answered. "Test two. What would you do, if you had the chance to get Angel back?" She looked over Buffy's shoulder.
"What are you looking for, Buffy?" Kendra asked, now standing next to Faith.
"I don't know." Buffy answered.
"Buffy."
Buffy turned. Angel was standing there, in the shadows. "I don't want to leave you. Just say the word, and I'll stay." He waited expectantly.
"Angel..." she looked at Kendra and Faith. "W-wha-, I don't know what I should do."
"You have to make a choice, Buffy." Kendra answered.
"Buffy, I love you." Angel told her.
"I love you, too, Angel." She answered.
"What about me?" Came a voice behind Angel. He turned, but it was too late. He turned to ash right before Buffy's eyes. Angelus beat at the dust that now covered his duster. "All that googly-eyed stuff was killing me," he told her. "Now, gimme a kiss."
Buffy wrestled the stake from his hands, but before she could drive it home, Angelus melted into Willow. "Buffy!" She cried. "Wait!"
"Will?" Buffy asked hesitantly, letting the stake go slack in her hand. Willow's face morphed into a vampiric visage. "Not quite." She tried to bite Buffy, but the Slayer broke out of her grasp. She started to stake her, but she couldn't. It was *Willow*.
Xander came up behind her and began sniffing the back of her neck. "Xander, what are you doing?" She asked, trying to fight him off. But when she looked, the doppleganger Willow was gone.
"Xander, the hyena boy," supplied Faith helpfully from the sidelines.
"What are you going to do, Buffy?" Asked Kendra.
She started to punch him, but Wesley replaced him. "Buffy, think about what you are doing." He told her. "If you defy the council, that cuts off all council support. They will not assist you if you need help."
"Even if I die, right?" Buffy said scornfully, considering punching him anyway.
"One Slayer dies, the next is called." Kendra answered.
"That's how it goes, B." Faith added, she was now wearing what she had worn during she and Buffy's last battle.
"Faith..."
"Come on B, you know this game," Faith told her, grimly. Buffy glanced around her, they were on the roof of Faith's old apartment building. "Whatcha gonna do, B?"
"I-I don't know." "Can't you just let someone else do it?" Joyce asked from behind Buffy.
"Mom, I can't. It's my duty." Buffy protested.
"Let it be someone elses duty! I don't want my little girl hurt!" Joyce pleaded. "I have to do this Mom." "Why?" Joyce asked.
"I-I don't know!"
"Unacceptable!" Wesley cried, flinging up his hands. He disappeared. So did Joyce. Then Faith attacked.
The two slayers fought there way to the ledge. But, at the moment before Buffy plunged the dagger into Faith's stomach, Faith paused. "So, what're you gonna do?"
Buffy took a deep, shuddering breath. She looked sorrowfully into Faith's eyes. "What I have to," she answered softly, then brought the dagger foreward.
There was a flash of light. They were back at the clearing. Faith was now wearing a long white robe. "Congrats, B. You passed the test."
"Wh-wha-?" Buffy was confused. "But..."
"You must never hesitate to do what you must, Buffy. That is the way of the Slayer. To stop the madness, without hesitation. To fight off the darkness." Kendra came out of the shadows to stand with Faith. She wore an identical robe.
"Now you can begin training." Faith told her.
Buffy hesitated. "Faith..."
"We begin tomorrow night." Kendra said, then she and the other Slayers vanished, leaving Faith and Buffy alone.
"Faith?"
"Yeah, B?"
"Why are you here? You're not dead." Buffy wanted to know.
"I'm no longer of the day. Like your man, Angel." Faith said.
"What do you mean?"
"I can't be of your world, so I'm here." Faith answered. "I may not have been a good Slayer, but I was a Slayer."
"You were a good Slayer." Buffy told her.
"You... hate me, don't you, B?" Faith said, trying to sound matter of fact, but her voice broke.
"No, I don't hate you," Buffy answered, her own throat tightening.
"Who do you forgive, and who do you forget?" Faith asked, turning away. A tear spilled from the corner of her eye.
"I forgive you, Faith," Buffy told her.
"Will you forget me?" Faith asked fearfully, tears streaming down her face.
"Never." Buffy told her.
"Five-by-five." Faith whispered, kissing Buffy on the mouth. Then she stepped back and disappeared.
**********
Buffy awoke to light streaming in her window.
"Good morning, Buffy." Willow said, giving her friend the trademark Willow smile. "Did you sleep good?"
Buffy sat up and looked around. "Yeah," she answered, smiling. "I had a good dream."
**********
Buffy was waiting at the bus stop when someone sat down next to her. "Buffy?"
She turned, then gave a hesitant smile. "Parker," she said,"Hi."
"Hi." He gave her a wary look. "How are you?"
"I'm... five-by-five." She smiled a little when she said that. "How's your head?"
"Better," he answered. He touched the fading knot on his forehead. "illow told me how my hair was on fire, thanks for putting it out."
"Uh, yeah," Buffy answered, looking away.
"Isn't it weird how I didn't even feel it?" he went on obliously. "But anyway, Buffy..." He turned in his seat to face her. "I wanted to talk to you."
"It's okay. Don't thank me anymore." She said quickly. "Really." She added firmly.
He took her hand in his. "No, I do. Thank you." He took a deep breath. "I've been thinking..."
The bus pulled up then. Buffy jumped up hastily "Look, Parker, I'm sorry, but I've really got to go... visit someone. Can we do this later?"
"Sure, okay." He didn't look the least bit put off.
"Call me, or something." She retreated.
At the Sunnydale Memorial Hospital, Buffy entered a very quiet room. She put the dozen yellow roses she had on the table next to the hospital bed, then sat in the chair next to it.
"Hi, Faith." she said,"It's me, Buffy..." As she took the comatose girl's hand, she could have sworn she saw her smile.
End. ********************************************************
Comments? Critique? I know all the Faith-haters are going to have something to say, but I can't help it. Faith kicks.