A New Breed of Slayer
A/N: Alright thanks to those who reviewed. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've got a slight idea of how this is going to end, but that might change as I go along. The title will come into play later in the story. Enjoy and please review!
Ch 2 Questions and Answers
Dawn wrung her hands nervously waiting for Faith to appear on the other side of the plexy glass that separated the prisoners from their visitors. It had taken a lot of convincing to get the guards to let her talk to Faith. After all it was after visiting hours and apparently a lot of strange things had been happening in this area lately, Dawn was hardly surprised. When Faith appeared clad in her in orange jumpsuit Dawn was taken aback by the surprised look on the Slayer's face. Never in the short time that Dawn had known Faith did she ever see her not prepared for a situation. Faith took a seat on in front of her and picked up the phone on her side, Dawn did the same. "Never though I'd see you here," Faith said lightly.
"Never thought I'd be here either," Dawn expressed, "But here I am."
"How've you been?" Faith wondered.
"Depends on the day," both girls smiled slightly.
"An' B?" Faith inquired.
"It's been going pretty downhill lately," Dawn confided, "Part of the reason I'm here."
"Is that so?" Faith raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Dawn nodded, "To check up on you. Make sure you're still alive."
"Huh," the slayer grunted, "Well depends in which way you mean. Yeah, I'm alive but I'm not living."
"Figured as much," Dawn shrugged, "Seeing as we've been gathering up the potential slayers and none of them have been called."
"Why's that?" Faith looked curiously at Dawn through the glass.
"Apocalypse and all," Dawn said nonchalantly. Faith also seemed undisturbed by the news.
"So, they sent you all the way down here just to see me?" Faith knew. Dawn could tell Faith knew there was another reason behind her visit, two actually.
"No," Dawn fidgeted in her seat, "There are actually two reasons I'm here. The First evil is back or here for that matter. It's trying to abolish the line of slayers starting with the potentials, and then the slayers. Without the slayer to get in the way they can end the world as we know it. We need you Faith. Buffy might not want to admit it, but we do."
"Okay," Faith nodded slowly, "The other reason?"
"Buffy sent Xander, Willow, Spike and I here as re-enforcements," Dawn announced, "Angelus is back."
"Shit," Faith muttered. Dawn noticed how she seemed to care more about this than The First.
"Yeah, Willow is going to try and restore his soul," Dawn explained. Faith nodded knowingly. "We need you Faith, really."
"B really got herself in tight huh?" Faith wondered, "Damn."
"Look, I know you don't really like us," Dawn said sternly holding back emotion, "But this is the actual end of the world we're talking about. The First we can't touch it, and it can't touch us but it's got these ancient vamps called the Tuork-Ahn or the Uber Vamp as we call it. You and Buffy are the only ones truly strong enough to take them on."
"Dawn," Faith's voice softened from its usual roughness, "I'll come." Dawn brightened up at news.
"Alright," Dawn nodded, "Now or on the way back."
"Now," Faith decided, "I want to be there for the whole Angel bit."
"We'll meet you out back in a half hour," Dawn ordered. Faith nodded in agreement and Dawn stood up ready to hang up the phone.
"Dawn," Faith said into the phone causing Dawn to hold it against her ear once more, "I might not really like the rest of B's gang much, but I do like you. Always have." Dawn smiled sadly at the slayer and placed the phone back on its hook before heading out to tell Xander the news.
~*~*~*~*~*~
(Back outside the Prison.)
Xander and Willow leaned against the car watching the door and waiting for Dawn to return from speaking to Faith. Spike was sitting in the back seat sipping on a package of blood that they had packed. The sun had gone down not long ago and Xander, rather unwillingly, let Spike out of the trunk. Frankly they were worried about Dawn. Faith wasn't the best person to be asking for help and in order to get her help she had to break out of jail. They had enough trouble with The First and Angelus. They didn't need the police thrown into the mix. By now Spike had exited the car and paced in front of the other two.
Dawn exited the prison and walked slowly towards them. Spike stopped pacing and Willow and Xander stood up straight waiting for Dawn's news. The three searched her face for any signs of what might be coming but her expression remained emotionless. The sixteen year old looked at her three companions before climbing into the back seat of the car. Confused Willow, Xander and Spike also got back into the car. Xander started the vehicle and turned to look at Dawn in the back seat. Willow mimicked his action. "So?" Willow inquired.
"We have a half hour," Dawn stated shortly, "Xander find me a mall and then find a way to the back of the prison." Still confused Xander obeyed Dawn's orders and backtracked to a tiny mall he had seen a while before arriving at the prison.
Once he dropped Dawn and Willow off he and Spike headed back to the prison. It was only a five minute drive. It was decided that the girls had to work quickly to find clothes for Faith and be ready in at the most fifteen minutes. Xander didn't quite anticipate the reunion with the other slayer as he was sure Willow wasn't either. Spike on the other hand had never actually met Faith before, or at least not Faith as herself. So, he was actually quite curious about what this one was like. Xander hoped to god he wasn't having ideas about her like had had about Buffy. It wasn't that he liked cared about it, but he knew it would crush Buffy and he was slightly disturbed about Vampires having any kind of sexual relation with living people.
It was quite easy to find the back route to the prison and Spike and Xander were back at the mall in less than nine minutes. They found Willow and Dawn already standing outside waiting, each had two shopping bags in their hands. They placed all the bags in the back seat and shut their doors. Xander and Spike looked sceptically at the two of them. "What?" Dawn asked looking between the two men.
"How in the world did you do all that and be out before us?" Xander quizzed.
"We're girls," Willow pointed out, "And we're shopping for Faith so it was easy." Xander shut up about the shopping subject and drove on towards the prison.
They arrived at they arrived at the prison and Xander parked far enough in the empty desert that the car would be invisible from anyone looking out from any window of the prison. They all knew that Faith would be able to find them after all they had a vampire with them and her slayer senses would kick in with that. Unlike the others Dawn preferred not to wait in the car. She sat outside on the truck of the car and stared towards the direction of the prison. Not long later Spike joined her. He didn't sit like she did instead he stood leaning against the car. Dawn knew he could see what was happening by the prison. He would know when Faith was out of there and coming towards them. That was an advantage to vamps and a disadvantage to their prey.
~*~*~*~*~*~
(Inside the Prison, In Faith's cell.)
Faith sat on her bunk waiting for the right time to break lose from this hell hole that had been her home for quite some time. She was finally going to get out and do something rather than sit in her prison cell all day and night letting Buffy save the world over and over again. Lucky for her, the woman she shared he cell with had gotten out of parole earlier that afternoon and they still hadn't stuck her with anyone new. As she got up from her bunk and headed towards the window her slayer senses went wild. She looked around the cell. There was no one in or outside of it. She shrugged it off and slowly and as quietly ripped off the window of her cell. Making sure no guard was around she slid through and placed the bars so it looked nothing had been tampered with. As soon as she was out of the cell her she felt more at ease and she slunk off in the direction of the fence where she knew somewhere Dawn and the others were waiting for her.
Just as she her feet touched the ground after skilfully scaling the prison fence not only did Faith feel freedom she also felt the ground beneath her rumble followed by a huge explosion. Faith turned to see half of the prison already in flames. Another rumble and explosion followed and this time the whole prison blew up. Faith's instincts kicked in quickly as she flung herself on the floor. Debris from the explosion flew over her head. Her heart pounded hard against her chest as she sighed in relief. She would've been in there when the explosion occurred if Dawn hadn't visited and convinced her to help them. Once again she had dodged death.
As Faith stood up she came face-to-face with the white-blonde haired vamp. Her slayer senses tingled but she didn't attack. She remember him from when she took over Buffy's body that time and also remembered Dawn saying something about him being along with them. Still confused as to why they were traveling around with a vamp Faith let it go. The vamp, Spike she recalled, turned and walked off into the darkness. Groaning Faith followed him. They reached a car where she found Dawn pacing back and forth outside, the flames from the explosion glinted across her face showing her worry, Xander and Willow were at the car each on opposite sides their doors open looking out towards her and Spike. As Dawn saw Faith she ran towards her and flung her arms around the slayer. It took Faith a second or so to react as she awkwardly put her arms around Dawn as well returning the hug. "Well, that was close," Faith sighed.
"Seems like the First is more resourceful than we thought," Xander had joined them.
"Guess we don't have to worry about the police," Willow mentioned, "I mean they'll think you're dead and all." Faith nodded slowly at the red-head. She examined Willow and Xander carefully. They hadn't seemed to change all that much since she had last seen them.
"Oh, that reminds me," Dawn pulled out of the hug, "We got you a change of clothes."
"Thank god," Faith heaved. Dawn lead Faith back to the car and pointed to the bags before returning to where the others stood. Faith took that as a hint to change and climbed into the back of the vehicle. Changing quickly into the clothes they had purchased Faith grinned. Sleek leather pants and a halter top. Perfect. There were also another change of clothes for when things got messy in LA.
Faith opened the back door to indicate she was ready and the others re-entered the car. Faith sat in between the vamp and Dawn. She breathed in the scent of the car and people who had not been in a prison cell rotting away. This was freedom and Faith knew that it was bound to last. After all everyone would think she was dead. The motor of the car rumbled on and Faith glanced over at Spike who had remained awfully silent since they entered the car. "So, why you here and not off creating mass murders?"
"Bloody soul is why," Spike informed her, "'for that it was a chip in me head."
"Chip?" Faith raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"The Initiative put a chip in his head," Dawn explained for Spike, "So he wouldn't kill anyone. Buffy found him when she found out her boyfriend Riley was a part of them. Recently she got it taken out because it was malfunctioning."
"B really knows how to pick 'em," Faith shook her head, "So, how'd Angel lose his soul now? I've been wondering why he hasn't been to visit."
"Angel visits you?" Willow asked quietly from up front.
"Normally," Faith replied, "He's my "lawyer". He's been my only link to the outside world and its dangers."
"We don't know how he lost it," Xander put in, "Just got a call this morning telling us about it. Buffy decided to send us to patch things up."
"Too busy with 'em potentials," Spike added, "'Bit you should call her."
~*~*~*~*~*~
(At the Summers' home in Sunnydale.)
Buffy stared at the group of potentials in front of her. They had gone from six to sixteen in less than two hours. Ten new potentials had appeared at their front door in different intervals. Three had flow down from different areas in Canada, four had been traveling for days from across seas to reach them, and another three had arrived from somewhere in the USA and according to Giles that this was most likely all that remained of the Slayer line, maybe a few more. The girls were now sprawled out across the living room either tired from training or from traveling. The TV was flickering in front of their eyes as they watched some action TV show or movie. Kennedy was the only one not paying attention to the TV or the new potentials instead she was staring out the window watching as if Willow was about to appear there. Buffy felt for the girl but there was no time to waste. She marched through the living room towards the TV ready to turn it off and give another one of her speeches when whatever had been playing flashed off on its own the girls groaned as a new caster appeared on TV and the words Breaking News flashed on the screen. Behind the reporter you could see flames taking over the night and Buffy paused to listen to what happened, "Just twenty minutes ago a shocking event took place here at the women's prison," the reporter announced, "A loud explosion erupted into the night and the women's prison exploded leaving nothing but rubble and fire. All prisoners and guards who were inside the building are said to be perished. There is going to be a big investigation as to what exactly caused this horrific event."
Buffy stared in horror at the screen she had dropped to her knees not long after the news had been reported. The reporter went on to talk more about what was happening but Buffy tuned out. That was Faith's prison, Faith her been in there. Faith was dead. Although Buffy didn't care much for Faith she knew that it meant a new slayer had been called. One of the girls in this room was about to have their life changed. Buffy almost wished Faith hadn't died. None of these girls were ready to take on the responsibility of being the slayer. "Buffy?" Kennedy was now sitting next to her, "What's wrong?"
"Faith," Buffy managed.
"Faith?" the other potentials all wondered confusedly. Before Buffy could respond Anya wandered in and handed Buffy the phone. The slayer stared down at it realizing she never heard it ring.
"It's Dawn," Anya put in urgently, "Talk already!" Buffy shook her head at Anya and placed the phone to her ear.
"Dawn?" she said in to the phone, "What's wrong?"
"Well the prison blew up for one," Dawn offered, "And we've got a vampire and an escaped convict in the car with us. OH, and I left out the part where we're supposed to re-soul one of the worst vampires in the world. Yeah, that's pretty much all that's wrong."
"Escaped convict?" Buffy questioned feeling her hopes rise.
"Yeah, Faith," Dawn said obviously, "When I visited we agreed she was coming with us."
"Oh, thank god," Buffy sighed, "You almost at Angel Investigations?"
"Not far," Dawn revealed, "I'll talk to you later. Just wanted to let you know everything's fine. Bye!"
"Bye," Buffy hung up the phone placed it on the ground next to her. Faith was alive, there was no new slayer and Faith was going to be coming home with Dawn and the others. Buffy was actually quite glad that Dawn had gone behind her back and gotten Faith to break out of jail. They needed more slayer strength and it was better from someone who was trained and ready to battle.
"Who's Faith?" one of the newest potentials asked Buffy.
"Faith is the slayer, the other slayer," Buffy explained.
"I though you told us there was only one?" another put in.
"There's only supposed to be one," Giles entered the room, "Buffy died momentarily a while back and Kendra was called while she was gone. After Kendra died Faith was called."
"Oh, then why was she in prison?" Rona piped in, "I mean she's the slayer. She's supposed to be fighting for a greater good."
"Faith killed a man," Buffy sighed, "She was good for a time and then, just went bad."
"Can we trust her?" Kennedy asked. Buffy shrugged.
"I hope," she murmured, "I hope."
"So, you've died?" Chloe took a chance to get in a question.
"Twice," Buffy nodded, "When I died the second time a new slayer wasn't called because technically I wasn't the active slayer. If Faith were to have died in that prison explosion tonight its most likely that one of you would've been called." Buffy noticed all the girls seemed relieved that Faith was alive.
"Wait," Giles turned to Buffy, "There was an explosion at the prison?"
"Yeah," Buffy nodded, "It's on the news now, Faith's prison exploded. Luckily when Dawn had visited Faith agreed to break out. Apparently everything's fine. They're almost at the hotel."
"Hotel?" the news potentials all looked curiously at Buffy, "How come?"
"That's another long story," Buffy sighed, "I sent my sister Dawn, Xander, Willow and Spike over to LA. Apparently there's a problem with Angel. See, Angel is a vampire cursed with a soul. If Angel ever experiences true happiness he loses his soul and becomes Angelus again, one of the biggest badest vampires of them all."
"Willow's a witch," Kennedy piped in proudly, "She's going to restore Angelus' soul."
"Try," Buffy corrected her, "We're not sure if Willow can still do that. Xander's also there for a reason we don't want Wills to turn all evil again and join forces with the First."
"Is it true that Spike is Angelus' grandsire?" Chloe wondered from her corner
of the room. Buffy sighed and prepared herself for a never ending round of
question and answers from the potentials.
~*~*~*~*~*~
(Meanwhile in Los Angeles at the Hyperion home of AI.)
Fred stared hopefully at the door urging it to knock. They needed to get this over with soon and she was pretty sure that their reinforcements were supposed to have arrived some time ago. Lorne was out on the streets checking for news on Angelus and the other men were cleaning up and getting ready for pre-occupying Angelus and 'Cordy' while they prepared for the spell Willow was supposed to perform. Fred heard footsteps behind her and turned to find Gunn standing there slipping on his clean shirt. Fred frowned wishing things were okay with them again. She wasn't quite sure whether she had feelings for Wesley or not but she knew she didn't want to lose Gunn. "They here yet?" Gunn inquired.
"Not yet," Fred drawled tiredly. All this business with the Beast and Angelus had really worn her out. Not to mention all the drama that seemed to follow her around now that Wesley and Gunn were both competing for her heart.
"They should've been," he grunted looking at the weapons wall deciding which would best suit him now. Wesley and Conner came down next one after the other each also ready for their next meeting with Angelus. Fred could tell that Conner was ready to stake Angelus if he slipped up. All this wasn't right at all. Angel shouldn't have given up his soul to try and get the information out of Angelus. Now, Angel's soul was missing, Cordelia was evil and not actually Cordy, and Angelus was out running lose in LA. Things could be worse though right? Probably not.
As the men picked their weapons and waited impatiently around for the Sunnydale recruits to join them Lorne returned with no news at all on Angelus. Apparently his contacts weren't talking and as if the universe was trying to jinx them Gunn flicked on their little TV to find that the women's prison that had been holding the other slayer Faith had burnt down. Alright, things had seemingly gotten worse.
A glimpse of hope appeared for the gang of Angel Investigations as a knock on the door sounded through the lobby of the hotel. The five of them all glanced at the door, thinking the same thing. Their last chance at getting Angel back was most likely behind that door right now. The three men then looked to Fred who was standing closest to the door. She jumped a little at their looks and hurried to the door. The door opened revealing five people instead of the three they had been expecting. Wesley, Conner and Gunn immediately went into fighter stance as a white-blonde haired man entered the hotel. "Oh, sod of," he waved them off.
"It's okay," the red head told them cheerfully, "It's just Spike."
"I know," Wesley clenched his teeth, "That's reason enough not to trust him."
"Plus he's a vampire," Conner added sourly.
"With a bloody soul," Spike informed them taking a seat on an empty chair. The five all looked at the newcomers in awe.
"I though Angel was the only one with a soul," Fred finally said.
"The poof is supposed to be," Spike frowned, "But got me one last summer." Conner was seemed still unsure about this. Wesley on the other hand was eyeing the tough looking brunette in leather.
"You're supposed to be dead," he enunciated rather uncomfortable, "The prison blew up."
"What can I say?" the brunette shrugged, "Got lucky. Dawn stopped by and told me about all troubles going on here and in Sunnydale. Thought I'd break out and help." The others then realized that the girl Wesley had addressed was none other than one of the slayers.
"I'm Dawn," the other brunette stepped up to Fred and held out her hand, "Seeing as you're the only girl here I'm guessing you're Fred?"
"Yeah," Fred nodded, "That's me."
"Cool," Dawn grinned at the girl, "OH! That's your saviour Willow over there and our handy-man Xander. You already know the other two."
"I'm Gunn," Gunn nodded from where he stood, "Green demon over there is Lorne, and that's Conner."
"Well, now that we're all introduced let's get this over with huh?" Xander stepped up rubbing his hands together.
"Uh sure," Willow responded, "I'll need some stuff first before I can do the spell."
"I'll help," Fred offered and the two girls went off in search of items for the spell.
"So, what's up with the major chaos out on the streets?" Faith questioned once they were gone, "There was fires, accident, and vamps everywhere. I almost jumped out to start slaying them."
"A demon called The Beast blocked the sun," Wesley explained, "It's been chaos with vampire and raining fire since. That's why we had to bring Angelus back. We though he had some sort of knowledge of the Beast since the Beast seemed to know him."
"Wait, you purposely got Angel to lose his soul?" Xander's voice was filled with surprise.
"Well, Angel couldn't remember anything about the Beast," Wesley offered.
"Gee, can't these Big Bads come up with original names?" Dawn mumbled, "I mean The Master, The Beast, The First..."
"Wait, did you say the First?" Wesley stopped Dawn before she continued, "How do you know about the First?"
"Well, he's kind of in Sunnydale," Dawn shrugged, "You know killing the Potentials we've gathered and trying to destroy the world and the line of slayers."
"I thought it was only legend," Wesley seemed dazed, "There are no actual written documents about the First."
"Tell me about it," Xander and Dawn groaned.
"Hey, can we get back to Angelus and the vamps?" Faith interjected, "I kind of want to get some slaying done."
"Right then," Wesley nodded, "We had Angelus locked up in a cage and were questioning him. When we were going to re-soul him we found the jar that held his soul had been stolen. Later, Cordelia had a vision on how we could re-soul Angelus. We thought we did and then Cordy let him out. It turns out Angel was not back and Cordelia was not the real Cordy."
"Wait, Cordy?" Xander jumped in, "As in Cordelia Chase?"
"Yeah," Conner nodded defensively, "What's it to you?"
"Well, Cordy never really liked the slaying biz," Xander shrugged, "I mean she helped out but she never liked Buffy. That's kind of why she moved to LA."
"Well Cordelia has grown quite attached to this group," Wesley informed them, "She became part demon so she could continue to have visions and help Angel out. A while back she went missing. When she came back from where the Powers That Be sent her she had no memory of us. We returned her memory shortly after. Apparently the Cordelia we know wasn't the one who returned."
"Did she touch anything?" Dawn wondered.
"What's that got to do with anything?" Gunn wondered.
"Well, the First impersonates people who are dead," Dawn explained, "It manipulates you in that way. It tortured Spike, Andrew, and our Potentials. If Cordelia didn't touch anything there's a good chance the First was trying to get Angelus back to help him out."
"Cordy touched things," Gunn reassured them glancing at Conner, "After all she was the one who let Angelus out."
"Just a theory," Dawn motioned. Her gaze now fell upon Conner. He looked young, around her age but seemed a lot tougher and haunted by something. "How old are you?" she wondered.
"Eighteen," Conner grunted.
"Actually he's more like a year or so," Lorne corrected, "He was kidnapped and raised in a hell dimension."
"Kidnapped?" Dawn raised an eyebrow, "Why?"
"The man who raised me didn't really like my father much," Conner explained darkly, "He told me how he would try to kill me because he was a vampire and how he would try to kill him."
"Who's your father?" Spike requested.
"Angel." Xander, Faith, Spike and Dawn all stared at the boy.
"But how?" the all sputtered.
"My mother, Darla, got pregnant somehow," Conner seemed bitter about having to explain, "Found a loophole. In order to give birth to me she had to slay herself."
"Darla huh?" Spike scoffed, "That girl'd do anything for Angelus."
"Alright, now that everyone knows everything about everyone," Faith sighed impatiently, "Can we please go and do some serious slaying. Do I have to remind you that I haven't slayed a vamp in a really, really long time?"
"Sure you remember how?" Xander joked. Faith glared at him and Xander shut up.
"Fine," Wesley nodded, "Let's go then."
"Wait, your going Jeeves?" Faith seemed to stifle a laugh, "Wow, you sure have changed from that shy watcher I once tortured. Sorry about that by the way." Wesley stiffened as he brushed past Faith out the door. Faith seemed to regret sticking her foot in her mouth like that. It seemed that her torturing him was still a sour subject for Wesley. Then again Faith should probably get used to people not forgiving her yet. After all she was headed back to good old Sunnydale where she had done a lot of bad things to a lot of people. Conner and Gunn were not far behind Wesley. Faith slowly turned to Dawn who showed no signs of following, "Come on kid," Faith nudged her, "B's not around. Show me what you've got." Dawn smiled at her and followed Faith out the door leaving Xander to find Willow and Fred. After all it was his job to watch the witch. As Faith and Dawn left the hotel together Faith couldn't help but perk up a little. At least there was going to be one person in Sunnydale who didn't hate her.
