TITLE: Power Of The Slayer (Chapter 2) – The Beginning Of The End
AUTHOR: Dark Spectre
DISCLAIMER: This is the Buffy Verse solely onwed by the ol' might Joss Whedon, I do not claim to own any of these characters yada yada yada
RATING: PG-13
SPOILERS: Pretty Much Everything
'Angel Investigations we help the hopeless' Cordelia held the ear pieces up close to her as face as the droned voice of yet another unpaying customer boomed down the line. 'I'm sure…' Cordelias patience grew thin as the caller shouted down the line, only agitating Cordy further she sighed relaxing her body she closed her eyes and waited for the caller to be silent. 'Thank you but..' Not standing for it any longer she pulled the cord sharply out of it's socket, hearing the faint crackle on the line she dropped the phone back down in it's place. She ran her hands along her face wearily, resting her elbows on the counter she gently brushed the hair from her eyes. Cordelia stood up sliding her books into her bag she pulled it up over her shoulder, she stopped resting her hand firmly on the side of the desk her eyes slidded shut. Taking a deep breath she concentrated her strength and made her way, the lack of sleep was finally catching up with her. She didn't like to show it but the constant visions were taking a lot out of her, Cordelia walked steadily across the main Hall of the Hyperion taking a passing glance at the stairs she called out. 'Bye Angel I'm going home, back tomorrow!' not expecting a reply she continued her heels clicking on the hard ground she listened to each step, her mind an empty blank. She hadn't had time for much of anything lately, how she longed for the days back at Sunnydale where Buffy killed the bad guys and she casually watched from the sidelines. Pushing through the doors to the Hyperion the cool night air rushed at her pale skin, after a moment she continued taking in the bustling LA nightlife as she passed wishing she was a part of it. 'Pff Hollywood, full of lost dreams and' Cordelia dropped to the floor as a wave of pain breached her mind, still in shock she collapsed to her side. Not hearing the cries of an approaching friend, she concentrated on the images now appearing to her. Now expecting to be it oh so familiar, the pain didn't seem to end as she clutched her head in both hands. She suddenly felt her body leant up against warmth as someone gently touched her head, the violent images finally stopped resting her head. She could hear a faint rumbling all around her, afraid it was the vision about to return she held her palm closely to her forehead, 'Ok this is new' Her hands now falling by her side she clutched for something to hold onto as the ground began to shake violently. Angel wrapping his arms tightly around her body as to keep her safe looked around as Car alarms started to cry in the night air, the scream of pedestrians could be heard in all directions as debris fell everywhere. A high beeping could be heard as two nearby cars had collided when the ground begun to shake, Angel watched as LA plunged into Chaos.
'Ok now she has to be renamed Super Slut!' Xander chuckled as his own comment, he looked around at the group congregated around the table in the Magic Box. His eyes fixing on Anya who was beginning to doze off he prodded her once lightly only to be whacked in the face. He laughed slightly at first then raised a hand to his face. 'Ow'
Buffy waited silent, watching the others closely she didn't really want to drop this on them in the middle of the night after everything they'd been through lately. She smiled at Willow as she clicked away on her laptop, eyes fixed on the task always she looked to anything referring to Faiths escape.
The bell above the Magic Box door called out as Giles slowly entered, 'Sorry I'm late' sounding a little out of breath he approached the others and sat down. 'So…' trying to catch his breath between words he patted his hair down. 'What's happening?' looking at Buffy with an open glare he began to fix his collar with his free hand making himself look presentable.
'Faith, she's out simple as that.' The Giles looked at her a little stunned at the simple way she had said it. Nothing concerning Faith was simple and she was aware of that more then anyone, Giles himself had hoped himself they had had their final confrontation in LA never expecting an escape. 'The only thing is on the news they said the entire back wall of her cell had been destroyed, practically disintegrated. Faith doesn't have that power……I, don't have that power.'
Buffy's mind began to wander as she heard the voices of the others only in low whispers. She looked across at her sister now asleep on the chair beside her, she gently ran her hand through her hair. Buffy's head turned quickly, her slayer instincts becoming active. A single arrow soared through the air in the direction of her sister, jumping to her feet she caught it with her left hand. Diving over the table she rolled forward then throwing the arrow in the direction from which it came. Looking up to see its point of origin she saw the arrow firmly embedded in the wall above faith's shoulder. 'Hey B, miss me?'
'BUFFY!' Giles voice rang in her head as she jerked forward taking a moment to realise she was still sat by Dawn who was also awoken by Giles. 'Are you ok, your looking a little tired, are you sure you want to do this now?' She nodded firmly then stood up and walked over to the counter, keeping her back to the others she took in a deep breath, grabbing the bottle of water she brought it up to her lips the cool flow of the water calming her down.
'She totally freaked when she heard about Faith' Buffy caught the end of Dawns sentence. 'I mean we don't even know if she's coming back here, last time Buffy kicked her arse all the way back to slutty hell it'd be a waste of time.' Buffy slammed the bottle of water down onto the counter as the others jerked their heads to face her.
'She'll come here, she always comes here. I know her in a way none of you will be able to comprehend. We swapped bodies for Gods sake, I like to think I know her pretty well.' Buffy slumped back into the chair arching her back with the shape of the wood as she got the awkward looks from her friends. 'Trust me, she'll be here'
'We trust you Buffy, it's just we understand you've been through a lot lately and we don't want you to act hastily if Faith does return. This situation has to be handled carefully.' Giles rose to his feet deciding it to be best to inform the council he will take care of this personally so they don't send in one of their own units.
'I have a few references here' Willow read from the screen. 'Nothing to solid, all about wall totally destroyed, not been able to approach, strong, fast, that sorta thing.' She continued to scroll down the page taking the words in briefly. 'I guess I could call Tara in the morning we might be able to locate her with a spell, I found this really neat one about a slayers power…' She looked at Buffy's frown as a sign that she was exhausted, she smiled cheerfully and went back to the computer.
Dawn who couldn't seem to keep still in her chair began to fidget. 'Don't worry, I know my sis will send Faith packing' Dawn gave a reassuring smile.
The sound of cracking glass belted into the shop as the entire front window of the Magic Box smashed, glass flying in all directions. Buffy immediately jumped in front of Dawn to protect her, shards of glass flew at her face tearing at her flesh. Hearing the shrieks of her friends she looked up to spot Faith hovering several inches from the ground just outside of the window.
