Song is: All Is Not Lost by Coldplay
~*~
Part 12
If you ever think all is lost,
I'll be counting up my demons, yeah,
Hoping everything's not lost,
Everything's not lost,
When I'm counting up my demons.
There's always one for everyday,
With the good ones on my shoulder,
I drove the other ones away.
Faith feels someone shaking her, very gently. Her eyes open slowly, her vision blurry. She blinks, feeling pain in her head behind her eyes as she tries hard to shake off the heavy sleep.
"Faith? You OK?"
Buffy's voice is echoing, and Faith forces herself to clear her head, and the blonde's face comes into sharp focus.
"Yeah...I'm good." She replies groggily, "What time is it?"
"About 11...Look, there's something going on. Willow found a spell to force The First to take corporeal form." Buffy's words are rushed and she's getting undressed hurriedly, changing into clothes she can fight in.
Faith's brain isn't processing as quickly as it usually does, and it takes her a moment to say anything, "What? So you can fight it?"
"Yeah. And whatever form it takes...if I kill it, I kill The First with it. We hope." She looks over at Faith, who has sat up and is running a hand over her eyes, "What's wrong."
"Headache. Must be residual from the visions and all. It's pretty bad."
"You should stay here."
"No. Don't sweat it, B." Faith protests, standing quickly. But her head pounds in reminder and she is suddenly nauseous. She sits back down quickly, clothing her head, "Ow."
"Faith, I mean it. I have everyone to back me up, and you're no good to me if you're in this much pain."
Faith sighs heavily, "I don't want you to go alone."
Buffy sits next to her and takes her hand, "I won't be alone. I want you to stay here and sleep the headache off."
"I don't--"
"Please, Faith. You could get hurt if you're distracted."
There is a long pause, but Faith nods slowly, "OK. I'll...I'll stay."
~*~
Buffy looks around the caves, "Clear. Willow, are you sure this is going to work?"
"I'm about 90 percent." Willow replies, already knelt down to set up. "Make a circle."
The potentials, Xander, Giles, Anya, Buffy, and Dawn all drop to their knees in a circle with Willow at the northmost side of the caves. As she lights eleven candles and hands them to each person, Buffy feels her muscles tensing, adrenaline buzzing through her. Her head only echoes, *This is it...this is it...*
And as Willow begins to chant, and the walls begin to rumble, she smiles.
~*~
"It's started."
"It has."
"She won't do it."
"She *will*."
Cordelia sighs, "LOOK, I know Buffy Summers and love always clouds her judgment."
"Be patient, and watch."
"Hey, when do I get to go home, anyway? I mean, what the Hell was up with giving my body to some evil thingy?"
"That is irrelevant tonight."
Cordelia sighs again and watches, her heart tightening for the tiny blond Slayer she knew so long ago.
~*~
Buffy looks around in alarm as the walls still and Willow falls forward, grabbed by Xander and Giles, and steadied against a rock. There is no change save for the disappearance of any flames on the candles. The First has not appeared. Then, she hears fast footsteps jogging into the caves.
"Hey, B. I miss it?"
Buffy stands quickly, "Faith, I thought--"
"I took an aspirin." Faith shrugs, "I'm good. So where is it?"
"It hasn't showed."
Buffy is about to say something when Dawn interrupts, "Buffy."
"Not now. Faith, I really don't think--"
"BUFFY."
"Dawn, wait. I mean, you're head--"
"Buffy it's not Faith. I can feel her---she's not natural."
Buffy turns to her sister, a skeptical expression on her face, but before she can say a word, Faith--or whatever it is that has become Faith, has hit her, hard. She hits a wall and the air is knocked out of her. Faith's eyes glow black and she advances forward.
"Yeah." She says, "Lil sis is right. I'm not Faith. Technically. So, um, when are we gonna commence with the festivities."
Buffy stares at *it*, anger flaring up more and more intense as she thinks of this thing taking Faith's face. *You touched what is mine*
"But it only takes the form of dead things." Anya says somewhere to the back.
"Faith's alive." One of the potentials states, "What's happening?"
But Buffy doesn't hear. She launches herself at what-is-not-Faith with a war cry, landing a hard kick to it's jaw. It stumbles back, still smiling.
"Ouch, B. And to think just last night you were on me like white on rice. I seem to remember something along the lines of:" and it's voice becomes Buffy's "Oh...Faith...OhGod..."
Now everyone is looking at Buffy, slightly stunned, except for Kennedy.
"Shut up." Buffy grinds out, launching a rain of punches and kicks at it. The First in corporeal form has the strengths and weaknesses of the form it takes--which explains choosing a Slayer. It responds as Faith would, with Faith's style and Faith's strength. And Buffy doesn't want to hit Faith, she doesn't want to kill this thing that looks like Faith. But the knife in the waistband of her jeans is cold on her skin. And after the longest fight of her life, or what feels like it, she has the knife in her hand. Faith's knife, which is ironic now that she thinks of it.
Faith's face, the face that *isn't her*, is bruised and bloody. And she is staggering. "Go on." She spits, "Do it. Kill me. Can you handle that, *Buffy*? Kill the person you luuuurve?" The First pulls that last word out and adds a look of disgust, "I mean, you did it to poor old Angelboy. Can you do it to me too?"
"Yes."
And she throws it with perfect accuracy at It's throat. Blood spills like waterfalls and Faith's body begins to glow, and fade, then disintegrate. And they all fall as the force of it knocks them over. When it ends, the knife falls to the floor, clean of any blood.
~*~
"She did it. I can't believe..."
"Believe. Now...about your return to the lower plane--"
"FINALLY!"
~*~
"That was so cool!" Kennedy gushes as they enter the house, three hours after they left it, "I mean, you kicked it's ass even though it looked like Faith! That was so...I dunno--"
"Yeah, so what's this Oh God Faith stuff?" Xander asks with a quirked eyebrow. Buffy rolls her eyes.
"They're orgasm friends now. Duh." Anya rolls her eyes as well.
Buffy laughs, "I'm gonna go tell her...Maybe her head feels better now that the First is gone."
Buffy runs up the stairs as everyone else moves further into the house, variably collapsing on furniture and making a beeline for the kitchen.
"I thought we'd be more important in this whole thing." Kennedy commented, "I mean...it *was* after us."
"Yeah, Buffy is such a spotlight hog."
"Hey, that's my sis--"
But an anguished scream cuts Dawn off before she can defend Buffy's credibility.
~*~
Buffy knocks lightly on the door to her room before entering. She finds Faith lying down, curled under the covers.
"Hey. Faith. Sweetie, wake up." She calls softly, coming closer to the bed, "Hey." But as she sees more of her lover's face, something isn't right. She reaches out and touches a bare arm that has extended over the pillows. The skin is cool, too cool. "Faith." she whispers, "Come on. Wake up." She shakes her lightly, but the limbs just move like a doll's. "Faith, wake. up." she repeats, tears already on her cheeks and her throat tightening.
But Faith doesn't wake up. She is so cold, and still, and she's....not there anymore. And Buffy falls to the side of the bed, hard on her knees, and she screams.
