Chapter Eight

This isn't real…this isn't right…no…this can't be happening. Must be dreaming…yup…this is me dreaming. No wait…my dreams are more fucked up than this, Faith thought as her eyes darted from Giles to Wesley.

They had forgiven her, Faith the psychotic murdering bitch from hell. How was that possible? How did Wesley ever find it in himself to forgive her after what Faith had done? Yet here they were, sitting with her across the table poring themselves over books like everything was natural. It simply just wasn't right. It just couldn't be real.

"Hey, you gonna stare at them all day or are you actually gonna help out," Cordelia finally asked with a slightly amused tone.

Faith's gaze slowly met Cordelia's. She cocked her head to one side, still confused as to why Cordelia actually somewhat cared for her even if it was a small thread of sympathy and compassion. She didn't understand why and she hated being utterly confused like this. She thought one wrong move, one toe stepped out of line would cause a nuclear meltdown and everything would be as it was, everyone hating her worse than before. She felt she could burst with all the tension she could feel inside of her, not sure what she was supposed to be doing.

"Yeah, Queen C, I was just…ya know…" Faith smiled crookedly, almost shyly. "I don't know exactly what I'm looking for." She looked around the room, her gaze falling on Dawn's forgotten history book and Willow's laptop. "Where's Miss Muffet and Red?"

"Who," Cordelia asked confused and irritated and somewhat on edge from the whole panther-Faith ordeal. "Oh, Dawn and Willow. Dawn kinda got pissed when Buffy came downstairs and you didn't follow. She thought Buffy killed you or something so Willow took her to another room to calm her down."

"Oh…" Faith said distantly.

Her brown eyes were fixed on Angel's old office. She somehow knew that Dawn and Willow were there. She could feel power thrumming off in waves. She figured Willow must have been getting real heavy on the Wicca stuff. She wanted so badly to run in there and tell Dawn that everything was okay. Dawn was the closest she ever had to a little sister and it pained her to see she was hurting because of her.

"What's taking them so long," Faith asked a little anxiously. Her Slayer senses were definitely tingling.

"I don't know. You know how Dawnie is," Cordelia replied nonchalantly as she flipped to another page of the really thick musty book.

Faith merely nodded, dragging her eyes away from the office and tried to focus on what she was trying to look for. However, she really couldn't focus because of all that has been happening; getting out of jail, Cordelia forgiving her, seeing Buffy after months in jail, Dawn forgiving her, giving Buffy a mental breakdown, Giles and Wesley forgiving her. It was all happening way too fast. She didn't know if it was real or if she could adjust as quickly as the events were coming.

What am I doing here, I shouldn't be here, should be in jail, locked up forever with the other scum, but I'm worse then them. I had power and I misused it, took advantage of what I was given. Faith glanced at the two Englishmen who seemed so readily to forgive her. It just wasn't right. Why would they? How could they? I can't even forgive myself.

"Hey, you done brooding yet?" Cordelia flashed her a crooked grin. "Geez, I thought Angel was in charge of the brooding department."

"Speaking of the dead, where is our Dark Avenger," Faith wondered, quickly noticing Cordelia and Wesley exchange a glance. "What's up?"

"Nothing really. He just decided to fire us all and disappear without a trace," Wesley replied casually, his eyes never leaving his books.

"Only to stop by for a brief visit just to drop a psychopathic Slayer in my lap," Cordelia finished. She immediately regretted saying it as she saw Faith look away. "Oh…I didn't mean it like that…"

"Sure you did. You're the queen of tact remember? It's okay, I understand," Faith replied in her old, sarcastic tone. She stood up, the old fire almost blazing in her eyes. "I don't see why you guys can stand being around me after what I did to all of you." She cocked her head to one side, defense back online, acting very much like the old Faith. "And here I thought you guys were actually gonna give me a second chance. Haven't made a move to kill you yet, or maybe I'm just waiting for the perfect moment to stab you in the back…again!"

Her voice grew bitter with every word, but it was cutting her deeper than she could ever imagine. Pain and bad memories flooded her mind as she spoke, remembering all her mistakes, all her screwed up attempts, remembering the darkness. The darkness inside her swelled and she subconsciously wanted to use it to protect herself, shield herself from the pain they could cause her.

"Gotta watch out now, Faith's free. Who cares what she's been through, what she had to go through alone," Faith continued. They stepped back as a swirling black mass formed behind Faith, who remained unaware of its presence. "Well, you know what? Screw you!"

With that, the black mass enveloped her and a second later an enormous beautiful black panther stood in her place. It growled and hissed like a caged animal.

"Good lord," Wesley gasped.

Giles slowly removed his glasses in disbelief. "What the bloody hell…"

Before he could finish, the panther made a defensive roar and bounded up the staircase. Cordelia sighed exasperatingly and made a move to follow, but Wesley grabbed her arm fearfully.

"What are you doing," Wesley asked incredulously. "We don't know what that thing was that possessed her…"

"Possessed! That thing didn't possess her, you ass, it is her, a part of her."

With that, she jerked her arm away from Wesley and quickly ran up to follow after the distraught Dark Slayer.

Giles cleared his throat, placing his glasses back on. "Well…that was interesting."

"What's going on?"

Giles and Wesley nearly doubled over in surprise, but was relieved to see that it was just Dawn coming out of Angel's office. She looked around cautiously and moved closer to them instinctively.

"I heard an animal out here, is everything alright," Dawn wondered.

"Yes, everything's quite alright," Wesley answered. "Faith just became a…"

"…a little upset," Giles finished, giving Wesley a stern look. He glanced over Dawn's shoulder to where Angel's office is. "What happened to Willow?"

Dawn smiled almost impishly and glanced over her shoulder towards the office. "Oh Willow? Let's just say handling me made her a little…drained. She just needs a little rest." She looked around again. "So Buffy and Tara aren't back yet?"

"Afraid not," Giles answered.

"And Cordy and Faith are upstairs," Dawn concluded curiously.

"Yes," Giles confirmed almost suspiciously, then smiled as Dawn smiled sweetly up at him.

"That's good," Dawn replied.

"Well…back to work then." Giles sighed and turned towards the table to resume his research.

As soon as his back was turned, he heard a loud crash and a muffled scream. He quickly turned back around and nearly choked at the scene before him. Wesley was sprawled on the ground with blood trickling from two puncture wounds on his neck. Hovering above Wesley was Dawn, only something was entirely wrong with her. Her skin was far paler than it had been just moments before. She turned to face Giles and he was startled to meet her fiery golden eyes. She smiled at him, a small trickle of blood on the corner of her mouth, as she proudly bared her two very long, very sharp white fangs.

Giles backed up quickly, nearly tripping on a chair. His mouth opened as if to speak, but he seemed to have lost his voice. As he stared at the creature before him, a torrent of thoughts flooded through his highly educated mind. How could she be the very thing he fought against everyday for the past five years? The very thing her sister, the Slayer, stood against and was destined to kill for a living? It was inconceivable. How did it happen? She was fine last night and was even out in the morning sun with Faith this morning. There was no chance, no way that a vampire could have…

Before he could finish his thoughts, he was suddenly falling flat on his back, his head throbbing with the impact as his head smashed against the cold hard floor. Too fast, for a vampire, even a newborn vampire, if that was what she was. Then Giles' vision swam in darkness, he fought to stay conscious, but it was a losing battle. Just before he slipped into unconsciousness, he saw Dawn, or the thing that was now occupying Dawn's body, hover above him, her yellow eyes flashing maliciously. His last thoughts sent a chill down his spine as he studied her seemingly angelic face. Angelic face?

No ridges…not a vampire…