Part Two-
The drive to Sunnydale was long and Buffy fell into an exhausted sleep. You could tell she was having a nightmare. Her eyes twitched under closed lids and her body shuddered every so often.
"You two have never broken out before." Giles mused.
Faith shook her head, "Nope. Guilt's a bitch. Among other things."
"I understand she refuses to see Angel." Wesley said.
"Yeah. He visits once a month. She won't see him. It eats her up, what we did. She's ashamed." Faith said quietly.
"It was an accident." Wesley said.
"Right. And, that's what makes it so damn difficult. We should have stopped it. We could have stopped it. What if, this. If only, that. It's been a long four years, you know?" Faith finished quietly, the sound of her voice calmed. "What's the what in the 'S'?" She asked after a moment.
"It's nighttime, all of the time, in Sunnydale. The sun hasn't risen in one week. We can't figure out how or why. It's a free-for-all for the demons. It's utter chaos." Wesley said, his face hard.
"Do you remember the First?" Giles asked Faith.
Faith was quiet for a moment. "Vaguely."
"Well, it's back. We'll fill you in on the rest when you get home." Giles sighed.
In the very back of the SUV, Buffy lay down, feigning sleep. Her eyes were wide open and no one could see otherwise. She stared at a certain part of the ceiling without emotion. Inside of her head, her thoughts raced. She would once again be reaching her old home. Memories would flood her and she would feel joy at being home again. Joy, she didn't deserve.
And, she would see Angel. For the first time in years. And, her heart would beat faster, her breath would hitch, and old feelings of love would arise. She couldn't let that happen. She needed to protect herself from him, from his love. She remembered what had happened the last time the had seen each other.
*
Buffy and Angel had been patrolling Weatherly Park. He had held her hand and she felt like running away. Not from him, never from him. But, from everything. Stress and anxious fear had weighted her down for months.
"Buffy?" Angel asked, pulling her from her thoughts. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She answered in a fast, quick voice. "I'm fine."
She was always fine and everything was never wrong. She had to be.
Angel pulled his hand away from her and exhaled irately. "Why can't you trust me enough to tell me the truth?" He asked.
Buffy scoffed and faced him. "There's nothing to tell!" She yelled, throwing her arms up. "If there's nothing, then we are you getting so upset?" Angel asked, half serious and half mocking.
"It's none of your damn business., Angel. Just leave me the hell alone!" Buffy cried, the secret so close to spilling out.
He couldn't know!
She started to walks way, but Angel rushed after her and grabbed her arms. She twisted away from him with no avail.
"Let go of me." She ordered.
"No. Buffy, no. Not until you tell me what's going on." Angel said firmly.
"Um, newsflash, sweetheart. I don't have to tell you jack shit. My life and what I do with it is none of your business." Buffy snarled.
Angel pulled her up against him and kissed her, passionately, desperately. Buffy wanted to give in to the comfort he offered. She couldn't, Her mind went blank and her body stiffened as she pushed him away.
"Don't touch me." She hissed out through tears.
Angel paused and looked deep into her eyes, searchingly. "Is there someone else?"
"What?" She blurted out, wanting to laugh, or cry..
"You pull away when I touch you. You don't let me kiss you. I feel like you're pulling away from me, shutting me out, and shutting yourself down. You seem preoccupied. Your mind always a million miles away." He paused, his eyes breaking. "Is there?"
Buffy wanted to burst out laughing. Yes! Another man was always on her mind. Yes! There was another mans eyes that haunted her when she closed her when she slept. In some way, there was another man.
Buffy steeled herself and let her expression frost over.
"Give the man a prize, you finally got it." She answered loudly, mockingly. "It took you long enough, didn't it? Yes. There is another man." She paused and allowed a cold smile on her lips. "Thanks, Angel. You just saved me the trouble of figuring out how to tell you."
Angel just stared at her, his expression dark.
"What? You think I'd wait around forever? I'm a girl, Angel. Not a doll you can pull off the shelf whenever you want too. I've got needs and desires you just can't fulfill. It's been fun, but I think it's time to call it quits." Buffy said harshly, though she was crying on the inside.
Angel kept staring, for a long time. Buffy met the stare head on, keeping a tight hold on her emotions. He stood straight up, his eyes cold as ice.
"You're lying. I know you are." He said, shaking his head. "But, I don't care anymore. I wasn't asking for much. Trust. Honesty. Love. How stupid was I to think I could get it from you, a swoony little schoolgirl." He paused. "Go to hell, Buffy. It's about time you experience it." With that, he walked away.
Buffy stood where she was and watched him walk away. When she couldn't see him anymore, she started to walk. Her steps were slow and stiff. She could feel her heart breaking in her chest. She forced the pain down and walked into the dark alley way where it had all happened.
The original blood-stained trashcan was gone.
Another replaced it, but she could still see it in her mind.
"I hate you." She whispered to her mind's image of the dead man. "What did you want from us? Why were you coming for us? WHY?!" She screamed in a shaking voice. "My life is falling apart, because of you!" She whispered and slid down the wall, the jagged brick scraping her.
She broke down, quiet sobs wracking her body.
She just cried. For the dead man, who did nothing but be in the wrong place at the wrong time. For herself, whose life was falling apart around her in jagged pieces. For her mother, who knew nothing. For her friends and Giles who would be so disappointed. For Angel, who had loved her despite it all.
For…everything.
*
The sun that streamed into the windows slowly faded away until there was no light except what was in the car. Buffy slept in the back of the car. Faith slept with her head rested on the cool window. Wesley was driving and Giles was thinking.
How had it all gone so terribly wrong?
Rupert Giles had been assigned a task. To watch over these girls. To guide them. To protect them. He had done nothing. Absolutely nothing. He hadn't saved them from the agony of going weeks –months—of inner turmoil of keeping the secret. He hadn't protected them from probing and degrading lawyers. He hadn't been able to do a thing once the judge had made his ruling. Murder two. For each girls. Twenty-five years to life, with the chance of parole after twenty years. They were still children for heavens sake! They were Slayers.
It had been an accident.
The Council wouldn't lift a finger to save them. Instead, the had tried futile attempts to kill them.
The girls were only 21 years old. Children. His children. Whom he had failed.
*
Faith wasn't really asleep. Her eyes were closed, but she wouldn't give into sleep. She couldn't. Her mind kept going back to that night.
God, that night.
*
They kept popping out of nowhere!
One after the other. Vampire after vampire.
It was blow after blow, stake after stake, with B right beside her.
It was a rush.
Then they started to get stronger and harder to kill. One threw B into the wall with bone crushing force.
"Hey fucker!" Faith screamed at him, beckoning him away from the unmoving girl.
He turned and snarled at her. She jumped up and spun a high kick into his face. His head cracked to the side and she staked him. She moved onto the next one before the other was even dust.
"B!" Faith yelled a she attacked another. "Y'alright?"
"5 by 5." Buffy smirked as she climbed to her feet.
"Haha." Faith smiled.
Faith and Buffy attacked vamp by vamp.
They thought they had finally got them all when one more jumped in the middle of the two girls.
Both Faith and Buffy rushed at him, both staking him. Buffy through the back. Faith through the front. Simultaneously, they pulled their takes from the man and watched him fall to the ground.
He did not turn to dust.
He bled.
"What the fu-" Faith started to ask before freezing.
"Oh my god." Buffy gasped as she dropped to her knees and gently propped the man up against the trashcan, to keep him elevated. "H-hold on! We'll get you help!" She cried to the dying man.
He struggled to say something and his eyes fluttered.
Buffy placed her hand against the gaping hole in his chest, knowing it would do no good because there was on in his back, too.
Faith dropped her bloodied stake in disbelief. No…
The man stilled and exhaled slowly. His eyes stayed open.
He was dead.
Buffy pulled her hand away from him. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. Faith insanely thought she looked like a goldfish.
"H-h-he's dead." Buffy murmured, leaning against the wall and looking like she was about to faint. "He's dead." She repeated, staring at his blood on her hand.
"It was an accident." Faith said, her voice shaky.
"He's dead." Buffy said again.
Faith looked around. They had to get out of here.
"Buffy, we gotta go." She said firmly.
"We can't leave him." Buffy murmured.
"There's nothing we can do!" Faith hissed.
"Someone will find him." Buffy said slowly. "Someone will know."
Buffy was right.
They had to dump the body.
*
The car slowed to a stop in front of an unfamiliar building. The two Watcher's gently jostled the two Slayer's out of their restless sleep. Buffy sat up, disoriented and confused. Her head was pounding and she panicked slightly when her eyes wouldn't adjust to the blackness surrounding her.
Faith jerked awake, a gasp escaping her lips. She blinked a few times and clenched her fists until she remembered where she was.
The two Watchers' sat on edge, waiting for their unstable Slayers' to settle down.
Buffy rubbed her temples and sighed. "We're here?"
"Where's here?" Faith asked in turn, looking out the window into the black night.
"'Here' is The Magic Shoppe. You might remember it. I bought it last winter. Quite an investment." Giles said proudly.
Buffy smiled slowly.
Faith just shook her head.
"So…" Faith said slowly. "Who's all gonna be in there? Any new Scoobs?"
"Actually, yes." Giles answered and Buffy cringed at the thought of meeting anyone.
Especially like this.
"I'm afraid there won't be much time for pleasantries." Wesley said as he climbed out of the car.
Buffy looked at Faith and the two met eyes. Both were anxious and nervous. It was a strange feeling to be free with no one breathing down your neck.
"Are you girls ready?" Giles asked gently.
Buffy flashed a quick, fake smile. "As ever."
Faith nodded. "5 by 5, Geeves."
The four walked up the silent walkway to the store. The night was dark and quiet. Buffy looked around, searching every bush, every shadow. Nothing jumped out at her.
That was strange.
"Ya feel that?" Faith whispered, her voice light with awe. "There's magic in the air, man."
"Yes." Buffy whispered back. "It's intense. It's powerful."
Giles and Wesley shared a look. They came to the door.
"Ready?" Wesley asked.
The girls nodded and Giles took out a key. He was about to slide it into the lock when loud snarling filled the air.
Buffy was thrown to the ground by something unseen. She cried out in pain when her side hit the cement. Faith took a defensive stance and looked around.
"Where'd the fuck they go?" She hissed.
"Up." Buffy grunted as she stood up. "They went up." She swayed slightly on her feet. "Man. They were strong."
Something ran past the car. Both Faith and Buffy saw it. Faith took off after it, her boots echoing into the night. Buffy lunged after one that swished past the bushes. She jumped on it and it struggled in vain.
She got a good look at it and blown to the past. She remembered this.
The Harbringers.
The First.
In her minds' eyes, she could see The First, many years ago, one Christmas, wearing the late Jenny Calandar as its sheepskin.
"You son of a bitch." Buffy hissed and straddled the flailing…thing.
Faith was chasing the damn thing down the street.
"Don't you run from me!" She screamed at it.
It dodged behind a tree and Faith jumped after it. She hit the ground and it still ran. Faith got up and circled it, finding herself back at the Shoppe. And, it, whatever it was, was gone.
"Goddamn it!" She yelled in frustration.
She saw Buffy struggling with one, but knew better than to interfere.
"Die, you son of a-" Buffy chocked on her words as it flung her back into a tree.
The thing scampered away.
Buffy stood up, favoring her side.
Faith laughed, her breathing harsh. "Well, that was a hell of a 'welcome home'."
Buffy cracked a smile and shook her head.
They were back at the door.
"Let's try this again." Wesley murmured and slid the key into the lock. Everyone stopped, as if they expected another attack. When nothing happened, Wesley opened the door.
Bright lights poured outside.
The four walked into the Shoppe and everybody inside stopped what they were doing.
Everyone stared at the newly home Slayers.
And, the Slayers stared back at the mass of people, familiar and not.
"Um." Buffy murmured, her eyebrows raised, with a small embarrassed wave. "Hi."
"Yeah." Faith muttered, giving one nod. "What up?"
No one else said a word.
At all.
TBC