Sorry this took a little longer than I've expected, I've been swamped with a lot of work these days

Sorry this took a little longer than I've expected, I've been swamped with a lot of work these days. I hope you enjoy it! And thanks for the review :-)

Author's note: If you wanna know what Max Quaylen looks like, just imagine Hugh Jackman with more muscles and wilder hair than in the movie "X-Men"

P.S: some mild bad language

Chapter 4: "IF I Ever Lose My Faith….." (a song by Sting)/ a small interlude b4 the big kahuna

Rupert Giles was blasted out of bed and out of his dreams by the shrill call of a banshee.

It took him a second to realize it was the phone ringing off the hook.

Picking it up and glancing at the clock on the wall, he let out a very unwelcome groan and answered: "This had better be important for it's bloody well three thirty in the morning!!"

"Mornin' Ripper ol' chum." The voice on the other end replied, familiar enough to send the last vestiges of sleep from Rupert's mind out through the vacuum.

"Quaylen?" Giles asked, "Where are you?"

"Funny you should ask. I just got back into Sunnydale this afternoon and rented a hotel suite a few blocks from the park when my heightened senses told me to head for there tonight. Glad, I did. About over sixty or seventy vamps nearly made chicken chow mien of your wayward Slayer here with me. I got to her in time, but she's a little bruised and battered, but not worse for the wear."

"Slayer…. Buffy?" Giles frowned, and it took him a full minute to remember and realize who it was. "Good Lord!! Faith! I didn't know she was back, what happened? And how were they able to ambush her in that large a group?"

"I don't know, Giles." Quaylen sighed, "Seems like the vampires have upped the ante since Summers died and probably decided that only a good Slayer is a dead Slayer. Besides, this wasn't the reason why I came all the way back from Sudan for. My sources have given me half of a tablet found in a dig going on in the Red Sea. They were able to translate some of it, but I need your help with the rest of the ……"

Max was probably going to continue until he felt the smooth twin barrels of his shotgun planted at the base of his skull at the back of his head.

Giles heard the telltale click of a gun's hammer being cocked and heard another familiar voice coming through the phone.

"I want to know who the hell you are and what the hell is going on? And are you human or what?!"

………….

Faith awoke and saw that she was inside a luxurious hotel suite. Checking herself, she saw that some of her more serious wounds have now healed and remembered the fight that happened a while ago. She also remembered the man who rescued her and how he fought with considerable skill.

She padded across the room to the bath and took in the extravagance of the suite. Hearing a voice softly in the next room, she tiptoed over and peeked in. She nearly gasped aloud when she saw some of the nastiest weapons she ever saw laid out in a neat pile behind a man talking into the phone. Faith's eyes widened as she got the tail end of the conversation and having heard the man say Giles's name. Deciding to further investigate things her way, she picked up the familiar shotgun she saw him carry and level it at the back of his head. She needed answers pronto.

"I want to know who the hell you are and what the hell is going on? And are you human or what?!"

Quaylen stiffened and told Giles he'd come over to the Magic Box later once he'd calm her down. Giles answered knowingly and chuckled, hoping that the fiery brunette wouldn't rip the Eternal Champion's balls off before he could see the tablet Quaylen told him about. Max put the phone down and turned, a smile of bemusement across his face.

"If this is how you are when you wake up every morning, then you really need to cut back on your caffeine."

"Fuck You." Faith retorted.

"Okay," Max began, "Is this how you thank a guy who saved your butt? Please put the shotgun down, we have much to talk about."

"Cool." She replied, unloading and twirling the shotgun at the same instant so it ended up butt-forward towards Max as she handed it to him. "So what the hell is going on?"

"Do you remember what happened to you tonight?" Max asked, amazed at her skill in disarming and handling the weapon back to him. This woman has ATTITUDE, he noticed – enough to save and endear her, but also enough to shorten her lifespan if she decided to go south and become a true psycho – and he thought Norman Bates was crazy.

"Yeah," She nodded. "Thanks for saving my worthless butt, Q. So what are ya? My wandering Knight in Tarnished Armor?" Then blushed furiously as her belly suddenly growled. Embarrassed, she looked away.

"Maybe. So, are you hungry? I've put a spell on you to slightly increase your healing ability twofold. The downside is that it burns up your calories more than usual. And by the sound of it, your growling stomach can be heard a mile away. So let's go down and eat an early breakfast. Besides, we have a lot to do and very little time to do it since I have to get to your watcher's store and bring him the tablet you overheard us talking about."

"You knew I was there?" She was surprised; this guy was good. This was the second person – other than B, who could feel her coming – even without her making a sound. "And that means you also knew I picked up the shotgun. Why didn't you defend yourself."

"I trusted you not to do something too stupid." Max replied, to which Faith had no comeback for. Shocked as she was by that comment, Faith couldn't think of a snappy rejoinder for that one. And she dared not blush any further than she did now.

"C'mon," Urged Quaylen. "I'll tell you all about my life story over a breakfast platter, grubs on me."

. . . . . . .

That morning; the Scooby Gang hanging in the Magic Box were greeted by the sight of Faith, and the Eternal Champion laughing as they came through the door. Apparently, Giles called everyone to meet them here.

Xander had other ideas. "Well, I can die now that I've seen everything. A former psycho and a former Archangel are trading laughs. What's the world coming to next?"

Max suddenly got solemn and replied. "Wait till you see what I've got and maybe you'll think about getting every laugh out before you start crying." With that, he brought out the tablet from a bag he carried and showed it to Giles.

The Watcher got out some books and laid it beside the tablet and started translating. An hour went by and they suddenly saw him go as white a coronation robe. He shook and looked back at the Eternal Champion, eyes wide and trembling.

"…. Once more in despair … from the darkest day comes forth that which has passed on not once, but twice – to fulfill a destiny which cannot be denied ….. aided by one who is forever unique …. Alone …. To above all put rest all to that one dreaded immortal soul that feeds on life … the very tapestry …." Max Quaylen said, in an inflectionless voice.

"….. and that tapestry … which burns bright every cycle and fades as the one chosen for all time … lest they lose all hope .... will forevermore shine …" Giles finished for him. "You've already translated it, so what did you need me for?"

"As you can see," Max replied, "That tablet seems to be part of a larger piece. Whatever that it is, prophecy or no, is incomplete. Sources say that a certain 'whatever' brought the other part here to Sunnydale for a ritual. So expect the body count to rise higher than normal."

Giles almost laughed.

Almost.

"But this is so vague," Rupert Giles removed his glasses and wiped them. "From what it looks like, this is the bottom part of the whole prophecy. We don't even know what the rest of it means."

Spike chose that moment to barge in from the back door facing the alley. His dropped his tarp behind the door, which still smoking from the morning sun. "Watcher," He began. "We've got trouble ….. oh, I see we've got company." He nodded towards Faith and Quaylen.

"What is it now Spike?" Giles asked in mild irritation.

"Have any of you ever heard of a demon who goes by the name of Xaranon?"

Now it was the former Archangel's turn to go pasty white.

. . . . . . . .

TBC ;-)