Kill the Pain! (Part 8)

#

Spike wanted me to meet him in a dark alley close to the Bronze. Typical, they always have to go for the drama. Final battle with the Vampire in a dark alley, my life reads like a TV show sometimes. I don't want to do this. There is so much I have to deal with without being distracted by Spike.

A few months ago this would have been exactly what I wanted. Some big fight to take my mind off things. Kill the pain by killing someone else. But that hasn't worked too well, has it? The pain never stopped, it only went away for short minutes at a time and came back tenfold.

Faith! You told me I could rid myself of the pain this way, but it's not working. Why isn't it working?

"Took your time, luv!"

Spike walks into the alley, lighting a cigarette, his black duster flapping dramatically. His face is all smiles and I don't like it. He seems too confident.

"Where are Willow and Xander, Spike?"

He winks at me. Why does he wink at me?

"None of that, luv! Were here to fight, or have you forgotten?"

"I haven't forgotten that I vowed to kill you if you ever came back to Sunnydale. Unlike some people I know I don't break my vows."

He applauds, taking another drag from the cigarette.

"I enjoy a good heroic speech as much as the next guy. Can we get to the fighting now?"

Without waiting for an answer he charges, his fists swinging for my face. I have fought Spike several times before, I know his moves. Evade that first charge, do with the kicks to beat his longer reach, us his hair-trigger temper to get him angry and mistake-prone.

His fist connects with my face and I'm thrown backwards. When did he get so fast? I saw that one coming a mile away and couldn't evade. I flip back to my feet and he is there, hitting me with a kick. I manage to roll with the blow and spin around the deliver a kick of my own, but he isn't there.

Suddenly he is behind me and shoves me forward, sending me tumbling into a heap of trash. How did he get behind me, damn it?

"Come on, Slayer!" Spike taunts. "At least put up a decent fight, okay? I've got a reputation to think of."

"You won't have to worry about your reputation much longer, Spike!"

I'm back on my feet and try to tag him, but he's not there. I throw punches and kicks, but they go wild, not even getting close. Spike is never where I expect him to be and his next blow sends me halfway across the alley and onto my back.

"Got a boo boo, B?"

I look up and see you sitting on a window ledge, looking down.

"Faith? Damn it, don't just sit there! Come down here and help me!"

Spike is coming closer again, not the slightest bit winded, grinning. I don't know whether he got stronger or I'm off for some reason, but I need help. Why are you just sitting there?

"Look out, B! Here he comes again!"

Spike is there and next thing I know I'm flung against the wall. I never even saw him move. Damn it, what is going on here?

"Faith," I yell.

"You see, I have been thinking," you tell me, never having moved from your perch. "Since everything is all right between Angel and your friends again, maybe you don't need me anymore."

I can't answer you, Spike is throwing punches my way and it takes everything I have just to block the worst of it. Damn it, Faith! What are you doing? And why is Spike ignoring you?

"I mean, sure, you always talk things over with me, but you can do that just as well with Willow. You have Angel to fight at your side, even though cuddling is all the two of you can do in the intimate department. So I wonder, do you still need me? Maybe I should just leave."

My face is driven into the wall and I can feel blood sipping from my nose, which I think is broken. I swing and try to mount some kind of offense, but it feels like I'm moving in slow motion.

"This is getting to be too easy," Spike comments as he kicks me in the side, sending me tumbling into the junk again. Everything hurts. I'm not sure I can even rise to my feet.

"Do you still need me?" you ask me from your perch, grinning down at me.

"Faith, why ... why are you doing this? I thought ... thought we were friends."

"Are we friends, B? Friends should need each other. Friends should depend on one another. Do you need me, B? Do you need me to fight your battles for you?"

Spike is standing over me, grinning, baring his fangs. Is this it? Faith, why aren't you helping me? I don't understand this. I don't want to die! Not now when everything is starting to get a little better for once.

"Faith ...," I begin.

"Tell me that you need me," you whisper.

"I ... I need ..."


"Get away from her," someone roars.

A dark figure tackles Spike to the ground and the two shapes trade blows too fast for me to see. I manage to rise just enough to keep track of them, everything around me is spinning. Spike is thrown into the wall with an audible crack and I can finally make out his attacker.

Angel!

Spike rises to his feet, looking at Angel and me. Then he shrugs and takes off, not before blowing me a kiss. Damn it, what did just happen here? Faith? I look up and you are gone, no trace of you. Why did you do that? Did you want me to die? Why?

Angel is there, gently helping me up into a sitting position.

"Are you badly hurt, Buffy?"

"Angel? Where are Willow and Xander, are they ...?"

"They're okay. I was about to go find them when Oz called and said they'd found them at the old factory building. I came here immediately. Can you stand?"

He helps me to my feet, but my knees buckle and he swoops me up in his arms. I lean against his chest, but I don't feel safe. Not after what happened here.

"She ... she didn't help me," I tell him, still not believing you did that. "She just watched."

"She? Who, Buffy? Who watched?"

#

"She's not a Slayer," Giles says as he puts down the phone.

"Not a Slayer?" I ask him from my position on the couch. "What are you ... how can she be anything but? Giles, I saw her strength, I fought beside her. She has to be a Slayer. When Kendra died..."

"When Kendra died," Giles interrupts me, "a new Slayer was chosen. Her name is Ashley and she lives in Australia, where her Watcher is training with her as we speak. There neither is nor ever was a Slayer called Faith."

Not a Slayer? What does that mean? Faith, who are you? Why did you lie to me? Why did you become my friend only to betray me? I don't understand this.

"Whoever she is," Angel says, sitting close to me, "she is obviously dangerous. We need to find her and do something. Fast."

#

Well, this didn't exactly go as planned. Stupid Spike, hiding Willow and Xander in the factory, the first place anyone would look. I planned on Angel being occupied for much longer. He shouldn't have come to save you. That should have been my job. After you pleaded with me to save you, to fight your battles for you.

No sense in crying over spilled milk. I need a new plan. Without a stupid Vampire partner this time. Spike better make sure he's out of town before I get the chance to go after him or he's dust.

Well, B, the game has changed. Now the Scoobies know about me. Now you know I've been leading you on. I guess you were bound to find out sooner or later, but being as dense as you are, I really expected it to be later.

So I'm not a Slayer, huh? Shows what you know, Giles! I may have suffered a setback, but I'm far from finished.

This isn't over.


TO BE CONTINUED