I do not own any of the characters EXCEPT for Celeste. She is mine so please do not take her. Thank you for all of the reviews because I really enjoy and appreciate them. Catch ya on the flipside!
Back to Sunnydale
Faith stepped out of the car, adjusting her backpack nervously. Even though she had not been to this place in five years, it was still the same. It looked the same. It even felt the same. Memories floated back to her but she pushed past them, not wanting to think about what she had done here.
She stared at the house in front of her, taking in the quiet charm of the old house. It was small, only one story, and made of red brick. A white picket fence surrounded the green yard, and flowers decorated the edges of the house. It was a house right out of a story.
This isn't where I belong, she thought as she stood in the driveway long after the car that had dropped her off left. It's too wholesome, too clean. My life is too fucked up to live in a place like this.
She started backing away to run away from this place, this safety, when the front door opened. A woman, barely taller than her, walked out. Her black hair cascaded halfway down her back and Faith was shocked to notice that reddish streaks tinted it. Who the hell is this lady? If anything, I thought that my watcher would be there but that's obviously not true. What kind of watcher has streaked hair anyway?
"You must be Faith," the woman stated, her voice slightly rough. She stepped forward, her eyes a surprising shade of green as she walked towards Faith.
Memories hit Faith suddenly, leaving her slightly overwhelmed.
"Ahh, and this must be Faith," said the suited man. Faith gave him the one over, her brow raised as she took in everything from his slicked back hair, his neatly pressed suit, and his smug expression. She glanced over at Buffy and Giles, who were both looking at the man in distain.
"New watcher?"
"New watcher." They replied in unison, voices exasperation.
Faith rolled her eyes. "Screw that."
With that she turned and walked out, smirking as she saw the smile leave the watcher's face. She almost started laughing as she heard Buffy say, "Now why didn't I just do that?"
Faith blinked, suddenly brought back to the present as the woman approached her. Realizing she never answered the woman she said,
"Yeah, I'm Faith. What's it to you?"
Faith stared at the woman, almost daring her say something. She had to show this front – she had to show that she was the Slayer and nothing could intimidate her.
But the woman, to her credit, did not even flinch at the glare she was getting from Faith. She'd heard all about her – her dabble with evil, her destructive past, her eventual breakdown – and she was not about to let some act best her. "I am Celeste Clarkson, your new watcher."
Celeste noted with amusement that Faith's eyes widened in shock as she glanced the watcher up and down.
"No way," Faith said, hands on hips. "You're not even stuffy enough to be a watcher. All the watchers are into tweed and tea and shit like that."
Celeste arched en eyebrow at Faith. "For someone who has only met two watchers in her entire lifetime, you seem to be pretty sure about that. Why don't you come in so we can talk for a little bit, maybe have some tea?"
Celeste turned around, not even giving Faith the chance to answer. Faith stared at her, trying, unsuccessfully, to keep her surprise hidden. What crap is this? I know B said that my watcher was different but no one can this be her. She's too…too…too not stuffy and boring!
She stood there in indecision, watching the woman walk to the front door. Celeste turned around, smiling wryly as Faith stood in the driveway. "Coming Faith? Or do you want to spend the entire day out on my driveway?"
Aww, hell with it, Faith thought as she started towards the door. Might as well. Worst that can happen is that she can turn out to be some psycho-watcher that wants the power of a damn glove so she can take over the world. I think that I can handle that.
As Faith got to the door, a rush of pain suddenly overtook her. She gasped as she faltered, not even noticing Celeste jump out to stop her from falling. Suddenly, she was falling into the darkness. It was rushing around. Stars blocked her vision as her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out.
Faith blinked, trying to clear her vision as she looked around. Silence filled the room as she recognized where she was. Buffy's house. The cute little family room with the tv and the coach by the window. The stairs across from the door with the pictures lining the staircase. The dining room, with its long wooden table. It looked exactly as she remembered it.
But it was different. There were no voices here, no laughter. Dust covered every surface. She idly ran her fingers over the dining room table, leaving a streak of finger marks. *What is going on here?*
A burst of distant laughter caused her to spin around, her boots clanking the ground harshly. The sound of her boots echoed through the house, but the laughter continued. Faith started up the steps, craning her neck to see the top. The laughter grew louder the closer she got, but she could not recognize it.
As she got to the top of the stairs, she slowly turned into a familiar room. Buffy's room. The scent of vanilla almost overpowered her as she walked in. The laughter stopped abruptly as the two girls in the room turned to face her.
"Who are you?" Faith asked, staring at them. A tall, lanky girl with brown hair pushed her ornate hat back to get a better look at her.
"Don't you remember?" she said. "Look at the time."
Faith glanced over at the clock, frowning as the numbers flashed 0:00. *Is it suppose to do that?*
"That's not right," she said, turning back to the girl. "That time is wrong."
The other girl, the blonde, shook her head. "That time is right. But if you want you can change it. Maybe you'll like it better than."
Faith nodded, slowly walking over to the clock. The laughter started once again and she paused, turning back to the girls. They were oblivious to her as they continued with their tea party.
"I don't think she understands, Tara," the brown haired girl said as she picked up a stuffed animal lizard and stared at it. She turned to Tara, handing her the lizard. "I don't think she'll ever understand."
Tara smiled, accepting the lizard. "Don't worry, Dawnie. She will. She's just like this lizard, this chameleon. Hiding behind her skin. But she can't hide forever ya know. They'll come, whether she's ready or not."
Faith watched in fascination as the animal changed from a stuffed lizard to cute little cat. She reached out to touch it when suddenly, Dawn grabbed it back.
"They'll come," Dawn hissed, clenching the animal. "And they'll kill you."
Claws protruded from her fingers, digging into the stomach of the cat. She laughed, a cold harsh laugh, as Faith gasped, grabbing her suddenly bleeding stomach in pain. She looked down, fear filling her she saw the knife digging into her stomach. She fell to the ground, gasping for air. Before she passed out, she turned to stare at the clock watching in amazement as the numbers spun backwards. Blackness overtook her when suddenly…
There was music. Slowly, Faith opened her eyes. Confusion filled her as she slowly sat up from the coach she was laying on. She looked around as people walked all around, talking and laughing.
"What am I doing here?" she whispered as she stood up. "How long as this been here? I thought they closed this eons ago."
She started to walk around, not watching at all where she was going. She watched the band playing, the dancing couples, the people drinking at the bar. It all seemed so familiar and yet it seemed –
Wrong.
It was wrong. Something wasn't right here. There was –
*Faith*
Faith spun around, stake in hand as she heard the whisper, almost as if someone was caressing her voice. She squinted her eyes as she stared at the crowd in front of her, searching for the voice.
A familiar blonde head passed her by and she followed it, trying to keep up with the petite blonde. "B! Wait up!"
Buffy turned around, head tilted as she looked at her. "Slayer. Surprised to see you here?"
"I come around, sometimes. Like to check out the scenery." Faith shrugged.
As Buffy nodded, arms encircled her waist. Buffy smiled as she turned to the person holding her, running a hand down his smooth face. She turned back to Faith but the person did not let go of her. "I know what you mean. I come here, really to watch them."
"You have to watch them, Faith. Ya never know when they might be coming."
Faith nodded, looking at the man holding Buffy. She took in everything, his tall and lanky form, his wild bush of brown hair, his blue eyes. "You should be careful of him. Ya don't know when he's going to bite."
"Him?" Buffy said, laughing. "He's not like that. He just wants to play."
The man started kissing her neck, slow, light kisses that made Buffy start to laugh. His hands slowly started up her shirt. Suddenly, Buffy stopped laughing. She turned to Faith, not even noticing the man.
"Who are you?"
Faith stared at her. "I'm Faith."
"No. Who are you?"
"B, it's me. Faith."
Buffy stamped her foot, her eyes filling with anger. "Dammit all! Who the hell are you?"
"I'm FAITH!" she yelled at, her own anger rising as she glared at the blonde. Suddenly, in a movement that Faith could not even see, Buffy was standing inches away from her, her eyes bright red.
"That's not who you are, Slayer," Buffy sneered. "You don't even know who you are. You don't even know what you are. You aren't Faith. You are the Slayer. The Slayer, goddammit. Get that through your head. You're the Slayer – nothing more. That's all you are."
Faith stood there in shock, watching as Buffy sashayed back to the man. She kissed him, running her hand through his hair. As she watched them, she could hear Buffy's voice though her lips were otherwise occupied.
"You don't know who you are. Ya gotta know who you are if you want to stop them – it's the only way. C'mon, sis, tell me – WHO ARE YOU?"
Faith woke up, gasping for breathe, her body trembling. She started to calm herself down when a swishing sound broke her from her thoughts. She turned around, almost falling of off of the coach as she did.
"How are you feeling?" Celeste asked quietly as she placed a glass of water and two Tylenols in front of Faith. Concern was evident in the woman's eyes as she sat down in the chair across from Faith.
"I d-don't know." Faith said, suddenly stuttering. "I don't know what happened. And I had this dream…"
Her words died as she thought about her dream, trying to piece it together. The two women sat there in silence, Celeste wanting to give her Slayer time to work things out.
"Faith, when was the last time you had a prophetic dream?"
Faith stared up at her, her brow scrunched as she thought about the question. "I don't remember. When I first became a slayer, I think. Scared the shit out of me. And then, after I started working for the mayor, and I rarely got them after that. And when I did, I didn't listen to them and tried to forget. But I could never forget."
"But this wasn't a prophetic dream," Faith stated. "They never hit me like that. It was always fall asleep at night, have a dream, wake up and damn I'm nervous. This wasn't right."
Celeste shook her head, thinking of what to say to her. "It was a prophetic dream. See, many of your slayers powers, such as the prophetic dream, lay dormant while you went against the cause. They never really had a chance to fully blossom. So now that you're back in Sunnydale, back in the town where you lost the cause, they dreams will come back."
Celeste stood up and walked to the window. She stared out of it, blankly watching the street. "They may hit you now at any time. The Hellmouth is opening again and it is stronger than before. Your dreams may come as frequently as every day or they may come every three weeks. But they may hit you at any time."
"Your dreams are very important now, so you must pay attention to everything. Think about it, analyze it, remember it. We are in dangerous times, Faith, and you must be ready for it."
Faith nodded dumbly, trying to digest everything at once. Not once did she think to question her Watcher – My Watcher. That's gonna take getting used to – There was a rightness about her, a goodness. Something she had never felt with Gwen Post. And, to a point, a connection that she never felt with Wesley or Giles. She was meant to have this watcher.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Faith jumped a foot into the air. Celeste turned towards her, trying in vain to suppress the grin fighting its way onto her face. "That should be Oz."