Chapter 1: "Aftermath"
Trunks stared in shock at the portal, where Pan had just disappeared in. He called out her name and flew as fast as he could to the white vortex, but it disappeared directly in front of him. "Shit!" 'What can I do now? If Gohan finds out, then… No Trunks… don't think of it.' He turned around and flew back to the park.
"Trunks hon, what's up? Where's Pan?" Marron asked worried, when she how pale her boyfriend's face was and the look of shock in his eyes.
"A vortex swallowed her. I explain everything later. We have to go to CC now!" Marron nodded confused and Trunks picked her up and together they flew to Capsule Corporation.
When they got there, Trunks stormed inside, followed by Marron, but stopped in the living room, when they saw that everyone was already there. They all had felt Pan's ki disappear and were now worried about her. They were just having a discussion about what could have happened to Pan, as Trunks entered the room.
"I think I can explain," he said almost in a whisper, but much to his surprise everyone had heard it.
"Trunks? What did you say? Do you know what has happened to Pan?" Videl asked him.
"She was swallowed by a big, white vortex. I tried to go after her, but it closed before I got there."
"But why should she fly into a vortex?" Goten asked.
"I guess she didn't see it in time and she flew way to fast, so that she couldn't stop when she finally saw it."
"Trunks, now sit down and explain everything," Bulma said and led her son to the sofa.
Trunks explained them everything what had happened in the park and how Pan crashed into the vortex.
"You told her what?" Bra asked, making sure that she had heard right.
"I told her that she could talk to me, since we always were best friends. And she then told me that I'm right," he said to his sister.
"Trunks, how did she tell you that? In a thankful way, or how?"
"It sounded… I don't know… not that cheerful, more bitter. But what does that have to do with her being swallowed by a vortex?"
"Trunks, Trunks, Trunks… Sometimes I ask myself how someone like you could be my brother…"
"Huh?"
"How can someone be that blind?! That's the reason for her running off and crashing into the vortex!"
"Sorry… But I still don't understand…"
"You idiot! She was in love with you ever since she knew you! And you hadn't even noticed? But to make it even worse, she called this morning to tell me that she had enough of hiding this from you and finally wanted to show you her true feelings – that she loves you.
"Is that true, Bra?" Gohan asked her in a deathly calm voice.
"Yes it is."
Trunks' face became even paler, when he heard what his sister was telling him.
"Trunks, if something happens to my little girl, I swear I'll kill you!"
"But Gohan! I swear! I didn't know! If she just had talked to me earlier, then she wouldn't have found out about me and Marron the way she did."
"Whining doesn't bring anything brat. We just have to find a way to bring her back," Vegeta said, just a tiny hint of worry audible in his voice.
"But that will be hard, really hard. We don't know with what kind of vortex we're dealing with. It could have been a portal to another planet, another time or maybe even another universe," Bulma told them thoughtful.
"I don't care how hard it is! I want my little girl back," Gohan told her, completely devastated.
~*~
Not even half an hour later in LA two men in dark suits were walking down a dark hallway. They first stopped, when they arrived in a room, which was parted with a wall of bulletproofed glass. At the wall were several cabins and they walked to the last one on the right side, where a girl with long dark hair and dark eyes was sitting. One of the men sat down in front of the girl and picked up the orange phone, which was lying on the table in front of him, motioning for the girl to do the same. She looked at him suspiciously, but eventually obeyed and picked up the phone on her side of the glass-wall.
"Who are you?" she asked with a hint of fear.
"Faith, we are from the Watcher's Council and we need to talk with you."
"What about? Do you want to make an appointment for killing me?" she asked sarcastically, trying to hide how comfortable she felt talking to him.
"Please, listen. This is very important." Faith leaned back in her chair and waited for him to tell her what was so important. The man took a deep breath. "Buffy Summers is dead."
Faith was shocked. She had expected everything, but not that. 'How could she die? Why?' "And what do you want from me now?" she asked, when she regained her composure.
"We want you to go to Sunnydale."
Faith was in her cell, packing her few clothes and belongings into a bag, as the conversation she just had a few minutes ago replayed in her head.
'Hello! If you haven't noticed yet, I'm in jail. So how can I go to Sunnydale?'
'The Council has connections to the government and they agreed on giving you a second chance.'
'A second chance?'
'Yes, that means you're free.'
'Free?'
A guard led Faith through the hallways to the exit, where the two men from the Council were already waiting.
'Yes, free. But remember, this is the last chance. If you mess things up, you'll go back to jail, or…'
'Or you'll kill me. I understand. But I don't think that I'm that welcome in Sunnydale. I'm sure they won't believe me, when I tell them I got out of jail.'
'Don't worry about that. Quentin Travers will call Mr. Giles, who will be your new watcher.'
The two men from the Council took Faith to the bus station and gave her a ticket for a bus to Sunnydale. She entered the bus and sat down on a seat, resting her head against a window.
'But why don't you just call a new Slayer?'
'That's simple. We thought that it is easier to deal with one Slayer instead with two and since you already have some experience in slaying, we decided to give you a second chance. I'm sure that the strength of the new Slayer has already been activated, but to be honest, we don't know who she is and we won't look for her. Just if we somehow find her through coincident, we will call her.'
~*~
Trunks rummaged through the ruins of his time machine, searching for something that could help him to find out how he got here and how he could get back. But he didn't find anything, so he just hoped that he could still turn the rests of the machine into a capsule, so that no one would find them. He again looked through the pieces of the time machine and soon found the piece he had been looking for. A plate with the button, which would encapsulize the machine. 'Please. Let it work.' He pushed the button and much to his relief all the shattered pieces of metal were in not even a second in a capsule. "Good. What shall I do now? I think the best is to find out were I am. But not before…" He looked at his wristwatch and saw that it was intact and then he programmed the coordinates of the place where he "landed" and took off into the sky, careful to not to be seen by someone.
~*~
When Dawn slowly climbed down the tower, she saw Buffy's lifeless body lying on the ground and noticed that everyone was slowly walking towards it. Willow and Tara were holding each other tightly, Xander held Anya. Giles walks alone, starting to cry. Behind them Spike also tried to walk forward, but fell, when sunlight hit him. He sat down on the ground and started sobbing, burying his head in his hands. While Dawn was also walking to them, she heard again the voice of her sister in her head, causing tears to run down her cheeks.
'Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles... tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me.'
When she arrived at her friends she suddenly started to feel dizzy. Removing his hands from his face, Spike was the first one to notice that something wasn't right with Dawn and, avoiding the sunlight, he just got to her in time before she hit the ground.
"Dawn!" he shouted and gained the attention of the others, "Dawn! Hey! Call an ambulance! Now! She's lost too much blood."
Willow was the first one who reacted. "I'll be right back!" She let go of Tara, turned around and ran to a nearby phone box, calling an ambulance and not even three minutes later she was back. "It will be here in a few minutes. How is she?"
"Still unconscious and her pulse is getting weaker. Come on Nibblet. Don't die on me. I don't want to loose both of you."
A few minutes later, what seemed like an eternity to the remaining Scoobies, the ambulance arrived and one paramedic took care of Dawn, while the other was looking after Buffy, but he could just certify her death.
"One of you can come with us. We will call the coroner's office," one paramedic told them and looked around.
"I will go with her," Spike said. "Giles, take care of what happens to Buffy when the coroner's here. You others take care of your wounds. I'll meet you at the hospital." He tried to remain as calm as possible, for Dawn, but he felt like he would collapse again soon.
Luckily for the vampire there weren't any windows in the back of the ambulance and the entrance of the hospital was lying in a shadow, so he didn't dust, when they brought Dawn to the hospital.
While the doctors took care of Dawn, Spike should wait in the hallway, but he couldn't sit still, so he walked the hallway up and down. Suddenly he heard someone screaming and ran to where the noise came from, being afraid that it was Dawn. But it wasn't her, much to his relief, but another girl, who was struggling against the nurses and doctors around, though she seemed to be unconscious.
"Give her a sedative! Now!" one doctor shouted as he tried to get a hold of this girl.
"But she's way too strong! We can't hold her!" a nurse answered.
"But we have to do something or she will hurt her head more than it already is!" another nurse said.
That alarmed Spike and he ran into the room, holding the girl down with all his strength left and together with his help, they were able to inject a sedative, which calmed the girl immediately down.
The others arrived shortly after Spike helped with the girl and now they were all waiting outside the room, where Dawn was in. Just a few minutes later a nurse came out of the room. "She's awake and she asked for someone called Spike. Is he here?"
"Yes, that's me. Can I go to her?" The nurse nodded at his question and he followed her inside the room, where Dawn was lying, fully awake. "Hey lil'Bit!" he greeted her, forcing a smile.
"Hey Spike! Tell me! How are the others and how's Buffy? Will she be alright?"
Hearing this question Spike couldn't hold back his tears anymore. "I'm sorry, but she…"
Dawn shook her head, as if trying to deny that her sister wasn't among them anymore. "No! I thought it was just a dream! She can't be dead! She isn't supposed to die! I should have been the one, not her! No!" Spike hugged her and both let their tears flow freely.
"I'm so sorry, Dawn, I'm so sorry."
One hour later, everyone except of Dawn - the doctors wanted to keep her at the hospital over night - and Spike, who didn't want to leave her side, was gathered at Giles apartment, mostly sitting in silence, when the telephone rang.
"Hello?" Giles answered the phone. "Yes, it's me. Who's there? … How do you…? Oh, yeah, right… You what? … I don't think that was a good idea… Oh, she's already on her way… I am what?… Okay, good. I'll tell the others and prepare everything… Bye."
"Giles? Who was that?" Willow wanted to know.
"Quentin Travers, from the Council. He told me that… how should I say it… Faith is on her way here. She'll arrive here tonight." He put his glasses, which he had started cleaning directly after the phone call, back on his nose, somehow knowing how the others would react on that news.
"WHAT?!" they all shouted in unison.
~*~
The same day after sunset Trunks returned to the place, where he had crashed with his time machine. After his world-tour he was now sure that he was in a complete different dimension and he still didn't how he could get back. So he decided that it would be the best to look for a place for the night to stay and so he started walking through the streets of Sunnydale.
~*~
Faith wasn't sure where to go when she arrived with the bus in Sunnydale. She was still afraid of going to Giles, because she didn't know if they would ever forgive her, for what she had done – she couldn't really blame them. But she knew that what she had done was wrong, even before jail, when she had first arrived in LA and broke down in Angel's arms after she had tortured Wesley for ours. She wanted to seek for redemption, just like Angel did. That was the reason why she turned herself in. She really tried to become a better person and with the help of Angel – and hopefully the Scoobies in the future – she hoped that she would become this person she wanted to be. But it was still hard to go to them and face their accusing glares. So she decided that before she would go to Giles, she would take a small walk, to get her head clear. She didn't even notice where she was walking until she suddenly heard some fighting noises. She dropped her bag, took a stake out of her denim jacket and ran into the small side way, but when she arrived there, she just gasped. There was a young man fighting a vampire, and he was really good. But he didn't seem to know how to kill it. He just threw the vampire to the ground, when Faith saw another one attacking him from behind.
"Duck!" she shouted and threw her stake over the head of the now ducking Trunks at the other vampire, dusting him.
"Wow! What was that?" he asked as he was walking towards Faith.
At that moment Faith noticed the first vampire getting up again and lunging at Trunks. "Watch out!"
Trunks turned around and kicked him in the stomach. "Hey! Do you have any of those stakes left or are there other ways to kill this thing?"
"That was my last one, but you could cut his head off or burn him."
Trunks raised an eyebrow. "Burn him? Like this?" He stretched his arm out and sent a small ki blast at the vampire. The vampire screamed, when the fire was engulfing him until he was finally nothing more than a tiny pile of dust. "Was that the last one?" he asked, when he turned back to the girl, who had just saved him twice.
"I think so," Faith said confused by his last attack. 'What was that?'
"Oh, before I forget. My name is Trunks." He extended his hand.
"Faith." She shook his hand. 'Trunks, strange name. And is this just the light, or is his hair really purple?'
"Uhm, Faith… Were those two things just vampires or did I just imagine that?" Trunks interrupted her in her thoughts.
"To be honest, they were vampires."
"Okay… Then I think you can help me, when you know about that supernatural stuff."
"Maybe… We'll see."
"Good. Do you know about any dimensional portals which were opened this morning?" he asked, scratching his head.
Faith shook her head. "Sorry, but I have no idea. But I know people who might help you. I can bring you there."
"Really?" Trunks said relieved. "That's great. Thank you…"
When they were standing in front of Giles' apartment, Faith took a deep breath and knocked at the door and not even five seconds later Giles opened it.
"Hello Giles," Faith greeted him shyly.
"Hello Faith, come in," Giles invited her in. He still had no idea how to act around her, but her appearance seemed to be so different from the last time he had seen her, so he decided that he should be as friendly as possible towards her. One important thing in a Watcher/Slayer relationship was the trust between them. Faith obeyed hesitatingly and walked through the door. "Oh, and who's that?" he asked, when he spotted the young man standing behind her still in front of the door.
"This is Trunks. I just met him. He needs your help. Something about a dimensional portal." When she turned around, she saw all the others sitting around the table. "Oh, I see. Everyone's here," she said nervously.
"O-okay. Trunks, you can come in as well."
"Thank you, Mr. Giles," Trunks answered politely.
"Giles!" Xander shouted. "How could you invite him in? He could be a vampire, or a demon! Look at his hair!"
"Xander, calm down," Willow said, her eyes still red and puffy. "He has a good aura. He won't harm us. The same goes for Faith. I can feel that she has changed a lot – for the good."
"Faith, Trunks, why don't you sit down. You can tell us everything then," Giles told them, motioning to some chairs.
"Okay guys… First of all I want to say sorry for everything what I have done to you. I know this isn't enough and I hope I'll earn your trust. And I'm really sorry about Buffy. If I had been there, I would have done everything to prevent it. I swear. But, where's Dawn?" was the first thing she said, after she sat down.
"She's in the hospital. She lost a lot of blood during our fight with Glory," Giles informed her.
"Okay, then I think I'll see her tomorrow."
"Yes, you will. So, Trunks… Faith told us you need our help."
"I do. Do you know something about a dimensional portal, which was opened this morning?"
Giles looked at him, a shocked expression on his face. "W-why do you ask?"
"Because I came through it. So, do you know something about it?"
"Y-yes, I do. Glory's target was to open a portal, so that she could go back to her home dimension, but that also caused that all the walls between different dimensions and timelines collapsed. But how can we be sure that you really came through one of those portals?"
"He killed a vampire with a strange blast, coming out of the palm of his hand," Faith told her new Watcher. "And look at his hair-color. Who in this dimension does have purple hair?"
"Okay, that's true. Trunks, I would be glad if you tell me more about you and your dimension tomorrow. But right now I think it is the best for everyone to go and get some sleep. The last days were really exhausting and then Buffy…"
"Okay, Giles. You're right," Willow told him and the Scooby Gang left his apartment.
"Well, now to you two. One of you can sleep in my guest room and the other one has to sleep on the couch. I'll give you a blanket and a pillow."
"Okay, Faith, you can have the guest room. I'll sleep on the couch," Trunks told her, glad that he didn't have to sleep outside.