DISCLAIMER: We both know I don't own Buffy, Faith, or any of the other characters that are making Joss Whedon and his corporate sponsors/affiliates rich. If I did, this whole college tuition thing would be much less of an issue.
Also, this is my first Buffy fanfic, so be nice.
ANTI-DISCLAIMER (would that be just a "claimer?"): Some of these characters ARE my own creation, as well as many elements of the setting. Use your head. If it never appeared in anywhere in the Kenshin series, then it's probably mine. Not that anyone cares but me.
SPOILERS/BACKGROUND: Everything from Season 1 to Season 5 and Angel Season 1 to Season 2; this picks up after S5/S2.
Onward!!
* * * * *
CHAPTER 2:
NO ANSWERS HERE
Buffy stretched and rubbed her eyes. Her back ached, and she was lying on something hard. There was a muffled rumble of machinery from somewhere nearby. Suddenly, she sat up with a start.
*Where is he?* she wondered. *And ... where am I?*
That didn't take a whole lot of effort to answer, but it did take a bit more to believe. She was lying in a construction yard of some kind, and there didn't appear to be anything particularly ... Hellmouthy ... about it. A lone crane some distance away stretched its spidery arm ponderously above her head. Looking around, all she could see were piles of dirt, gravel, concrete, and pipes, as well as a few trailers of corrguated metal. The sun was just rising over the eastern rim of the yard, and it sounded like there weren't many people at the yard yet. Nevertheless, while it didn't seem like the most dangerous place to be--her most recent memory was certainly of being in a much worse place than this--it was not where she expected to be.
Had she dreamed it all? Cautiously, she put her hand to her throat. Sure enough, her hand came to rest on two large gash marks, red and tender and raw, and she winced. No dream involved there.
She realized that she was just spinning her wheels lying where she was, and lying on a pile of cinder blocks wasn't exactly her idea of a day's rest, either. The sun was coming up, so the vampires would have all gone to their havens again; had she been out all night? Or even longer? She needed answers, and there was only one person she ever turned to for answers to questions about the weird and creepy. Hesitantly, as though fearing that the construction yard might somehow be an illusion and might melt away if she stepped in the wrong spot, Buffy stole out of the lot and out towards the high school in search of a certain librarian.
* * * * *
"All right, now I've been a good girl long enough, you want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Faith asked as Juniper held the door of her house open for Faith to enter.
"I told you before, I wish I knew," Juniper replied. Juniper was a slender girl very little larger or more defined than Faith's cellmate back at the penitentiary had been--a penitentiary that was still much too close for comfort, Faith reminded herself, though they were a little further away from it now. She lived in a surprisingly well-to-do place in one of those new rabbit-warren housing developments that seemed to have sprung up like weeds during the 90's, decorated on the interior with a lot of floral arrangements and other outdoor-themed decor.
"Not good enough. You've got to know something, or why the hell did you bring me here?"
"Aren't you glad to get away? I'm harboring and aiding an escaped felon here, in case you didn't notice."
"I did, actually. I asked why."
Juniper shrugged. "Sycamore is a friend of mine, and she told me that she had a friend that needed help. Now you're telling me that you've never met her before. So I really have no idea why, even if you were one of my better students."
"Well, that's just great, then," Faith responded. "But at least there's something I can ask you. Who's Sycamore?"
Juniper hesitated again. "I'm not sure, but I trust her."
"You trust awfully easily."
"People have told me that before."
"You ought to listen to them more."
"If I did, you probably wouldn't be standing here, you know. I mean, most people wouldn't invite someone into their house less than a day after finding out she was an escaped con with a nickname 'Slayer.'"
"It's not a nickname, it's ... well, sort of a title ... I mean ... look, never mind that, all right?"
"I'm not trying to, honestly."
"All right, all right."
"OK, my mom and dad get back tomorrow morning ..."
"Your mom and dad? You still live at home?"
"Does you really think teaching yoga pays well enough for this place? Come on. Anyway, they'll be back tomorrow morning or afternoon and they probably wouldn't be as understanding as me about the fact that you're staying here," she continued.
"No problem, I wasn't planning on staying here."
"Really? Well, that's ... I mean, of course. Where are you planning on going?"
Faith looked out the window. The sun was just beginning to set in the west. She turned around and faced Juniper. "I think it's better that I don't tell you actually," she said. "Just get me to the closest truck stop. I'll hitch a ride from there." There was only one place she could go, of course, if she didn't want to be hunted for the rest of her life until one of the assassins finally got her; there was no way they were going to give up on her that easily. She had long ago fallen from grace with the Watcher's Council and there was no way she was heading back to Wolfram & Hart--for all she knew, they had sent the assassin, they obviously weren't above such things--which meant that there was only one place she knew that she could turn for answers. Exhaling a long breath, she prepared herself for another trip to the City of Angels.
* * * * *
COMING SOON: Chapter 3, "The Search for Answers." Buffy's back, but seems to have lost a few years somewhere.
My apologies for the brevity of this chapter; most of mine will be longer.
Also, this is my first Buffy fanfic, so be nice.
ANTI-DISCLAIMER (would that be just a "claimer?"): Some of these characters ARE my own creation, as well as many elements of the setting. Use your head. If it never appeared in anywhere in the Kenshin series, then it's probably mine. Not that anyone cares but me.
SPOILERS/BACKGROUND: Everything from Season 1 to Season 5 and Angel Season 1 to Season 2; this picks up after S5/S2.
Onward!!
* * * * *
CHAPTER 2:
NO ANSWERS HERE
Buffy stretched and rubbed her eyes. Her back ached, and she was lying on something hard. There was a muffled rumble of machinery from somewhere nearby. Suddenly, she sat up with a start.
*Where is he?* she wondered. *And ... where am I?*
That didn't take a whole lot of effort to answer, but it did take a bit more to believe. She was lying in a construction yard of some kind, and there didn't appear to be anything particularly ... Hellmouthy ... about it. A lone crane some distance away stretched its spidery arm ponderously above her head. Looking around, all she could see were piles of dirt, gravel, concrete, and pipes, as well as a few trailers of corrguated metal. The sun was just rising over the eastern rim of the yard, and it sounded like there weren't many people at the yard yet. Nevertheless, while it didn't seem like the most dangerous place to be--her most recent memory was certainly of being in a much worse place than this--it was not where she expected to be.
Had she dreamed it all? Cautiously, she put her hand to her throat. Sure enough, her hand came to rest on two large gash marks, red and tender and raw, and she winced. No dream involved there.
She realized that she was just spinning her wheels lying where she was, and lying on a pile of cinder blocks wasn't exactly her idea of a day's rest, either. The sun was coming up, so the vampires would have all gone to their havens again; had she been out all night? Or even longer? She needed answers, and there was only one person she ever turned to for answers to questions about the weird and creepy. Hesitantly, as though fearing that the construction yard might somehow be an illusion and might melt away if she stepped in the wrong spot, Buffy stole out of the lot and out towards the high school in search of a certain librarian.
* * * * *
"All right, now I've been a good girl long enough, you want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Faith asked as Juniper held the door of her house open for Faith to enter.
"I told you before, I wish I knew," Juniper replied. Juniper was a slender girl very little larger or more defined than Faith's cellmate back at the penitentiary had been--a penitentiary that was still much too close for comfort, Faith reminded herself, though they were a little further away from it now. She lived in a surprisingly well-to-do place in one of those new rabbit-warren housing developments that seemed to have sprung up like weeds during the 90's, decorated on the interior with a lot of floral arrangements and other outdoor-themed decor.
"Not good enough. You've got to know something, or why the hell did you bring me here?"
"Aren't you glad to get away? I'm harboring and aiding an escaped felon here, in case you didn't notice."
"I did, actually. I asked why."
Juniper shrugged. "Sycamore is a friend of mine, and she told me that she had a friend that needed help. Now you're telling me that you've never met her before. So I really have no idea why, even if you were one of my better students."
"Well, that's just great, then," Faith responded. "But at least there's something I can ask you. Who's Sycamore?"
Juniper hesitated again. "I'm not sure, but I trust her."
"You trust awfully easily."
"People have told me that before."
"You ought to listen to them more."
"If I did, you probably wouldn't be standing here, you know. I mean, most people wouldn't invite someone into their house less than a day after finding out she was an escaped con with a nickname 'Slayer.'"
"It's not a nickname, it's ... well, sort of a title ... I mean ... look, never mind that, all right?"
"I'm not trying to, honestly."
"All right, all right."
"OK, my mom and dad get back tomorrow morning ..."
"Your mom and dad? You still live at home?"
"Does you really think teaching yoga pays well enough for this place? Come on. Anyway, they'll be back tomorrow morning or afternoon and they probably wouldn't be as understanding as me about the fact that you're staying here," she continued.
"No problem, I wasn't planning on staying here."
"Really? Well, that's ... I mean, of course. Where are you planning on going?"
Faith looked out the window. The sun was just beginning to set in the west. She turned around and faced Juniper. "I think it's better that I don't tell you actually," she said. "Just get me to the closest truck stop. I'll hitch a ride from there." There was only one place she could go, of course, if she didn't want to be hunted for the rest of her life until one of the assassins finally got her; there was no way they were going to give up on her that easily. She had long ago fallen from grace with the Watcher's Council and there was no way she was heading back to Wolfram & Hart--for all she knew, they had sent the assassin, they obviously weren't above such things--which meant that there was only one place she knew that she could turn for answers. Exhaling a long breath, she prepared herself for another trip to the City of Angels.
* * * * *
COMING SOON: Chapter 3, "The Search for Answers." Buffy's back, but seems to have lost a few years somewhere.
My apologies for the brevity of this chapter; most of mine will be longer.