Part 4:

#

Faith had always thought that she was pretty good at lying. For years she had lied to her drunk of a mother, always telling her that, no, she had not taken any of that money that was solely reserved for household expenses (meaning booze). No, she had not gone out at night rather than stay home and listen to yet another tired tirade. No, she had not seen her mother bang the latest of her male friends. She had always been able to maintain the facade that everyone wanted to see. The tough little girl, always in the mood for a party, not a care in the world. That was Faith.

Only all of that seemed to have changed as of late. There were people here that did not want the facade. They wanted to see the real Faith, something she still had trouble understanding. How was real Faith more fun than fake Faith? Everyone had always preferred fake Faith. Still, it was nice in a way she could not yet explain.

As a result, though, her lying skills seemed to have atrophied. Or maybe it was just that this crazy Watcher lady. Telling the entire story of her weeks here in Sunnydale without mentioning even once the existence of Buffy and Angel could not be that hard, could it? Sure, a few events had to be remade a little, some things omitted, others added, but ...

"Concentrate, Faith," Post reprimanded her.

"Sorry for having independent thought," she mumbled, but returned her attention to the Watcher.

"While Mr. Giles is researching the glove," Post continued, ignoring her words, "we should go through some more of the events you have partaken in here in Sunnydale."


"Such as?" Faith had never even begun pretending to be interested in any of this. If she could not beat up this bitch the least she could do was frustrate the hell out of her.

"About three weeks ago a spell was cast over the town. Mr. Giles described it as an unveiling of the supernatural."

"Pretty much that, yeah."

Post waited for a moment, then prodded, "details?"

"I'm sure G-man put it all in there, fancily phrased and accurate."

The problem was that Faith was not really sure in what way Giles had written down things for his reports to the Council. He, too, had left out everything connected to Buffy and Angel, of course. They really should have agreed upon some kind of cover story beforehand.

Well, truth be told Giles had attempted just that by regularly filling her in on the things he wrote to the Council. Was it her fault that pretty much everything he said sounded like a boring lecture and caused her to tune him out?

"Well," Post sighed, finally beginning to sound a little frustrated, "Mr. Giles wrote that you were fighting in a church, trying to stop some people from killing a few teenagers that exhibited signs of the supernatural."

"True."

"Why weren't you out in the streets fighting the demons that were running loose?"

Faith jumped out of her chair. "Excuse me?"

"It's not a difficult question, Faith. Why did you decide to rescue these people instead of continuing to fight the demons?"

"This is a joke, right?" Faith asked, not believing she was hearing this. "Was I supposed to let them die?"

"I am just trying to ascertain your priorities, Faith. You spent your time fighting humans while demons were running loose."

"Humans that were about to kill a bunch of kids just because they had some fun casting stink spells or whatever."

"And while you did that seven people were killed in the streets, is that not correct?"

Faith sank back into her chair. "So what? I should have let three people die to save seven? Is that it? I didn't even know where all the demons where that night. I ... I couldn't have saved all of these people."

Post knelt down beside her, a trace of compassion on her face.

"I know that, Faith. I just want you to understand your purpose in the scheme of things. You are the Slayer. Your duty is to fight demons. Instead you let your emotions lead you. Understandable, but not good for a warrior such as yourself. Some of those teenagers that would have been killed were your friends, weren't they?"

"Friend of a friend," Faith mumbled.

"So you wanted to save them. Again, understandable. What you also have to understand, though, is the fact that emotional attachments are not furthering our cause. They can even become obstacles. A Slayer must not allow herself to be distracted by anything. Think about that, Faith!"

Post rose, going back to the files she had spread over the library table, leaving Faith somber and deep in thought.

#

Giles was going through the stacks, looking for some more reference materials concerning either the Glove of Mhynegon or, despite Mrs. Post's opinion about the priority of things, the vampire called Sebastian Khan. So far he had not found much on either.

"Something is really wrong with that woman," Buffy suddenly said, startling him.

"What do you mean?"

"You should have heard the lines she just fed Faith. I was about to jump down her throat. Something about how she hasn't got her priorities in order and should be out killing demons instead of forming emotional attachments and the sort."

Giles nodded, having feared something like that. Watcher policy on how Slayers should interact with the rest of humanity, or rather NOT interact, was rather strict.

"You should probably talk with Faith first opportunity," Giles told Buffy. "Just to make sure that ... you know."

"Post's lessons about the greater value of being a cold bitch don't stick?"

"Yes, something like that."

Buffy sighed, plopping down beside him. "I will. I just hope we'll be rid of this bitch sooner rather than later. Anything on our various big bads?"

"Not much on the Glove, I fear." Buffy had managed to signal him earlier, letting him know that Angel knew the glove's location and was getting it as they spoke, so he had concentrated mostly on ways to neutralize or destroy it. So far he had not come up with much, though.

"What about Khan guy? Anything on him?"

"There was a reference to a Sebastian Khan in an old Watcher diary from 1895. The Slayer of that time lived rather close here, actually, in what is today Los Angeles. She and her Watcher were here investigating rumors about weird phenomena in the Sunnydale area. The town was little more than a train station and a Spanish mission at that time, barely a hundred citizens or so."

"What did they find?"

"Following some anonymous hints they came upon a battle already in progress, apparently between two rival vampire factions. One of them was apparently led by a mage called Sebastian Khan. A human, though, not a vampire."

"What happened?"

"Well, they decided to wait out the battle and then take care of the winners. Unfortunately that did not work out quite as planned and a few vampires, as well as Khan, escaped. Seeing some of the magics Khan performed during that battle led the Watchers to classify him as a major threat, but he never made another appearance that the Council was aware of."

"Maybe because he took up the undead style of life?" Buffy asked.

"Quite possible. Since he was still human in 1895, though, that would make him a rather young vampire, not even as old as Spike. Then again we have the rumors Angel heard about him, of course. Despite his youth it looks like he has become quite a powerful player in the vampire hierarchy."

Buffy nodded. "If he knows the magic stuff as well as the vampire stuff we could be in big trouble. I should tell Angel."

"Do that," Giles agreed. "I am still looking for a way to destroy the Glove of Mhynegon once Angel returns with it."

Buffy threw a suspicious look towards the main room of the library. "I don't think bringing it here is a good idea, Giles."

Giles followed her look. For a moment he was about to reprimand her. No matter how unlikable Mrs. Post might be, she was still a member of the Watchers Council. He said nothing, though. Just nodded.

#

Xander was taking his time going home. There were several reasons for this, not least among them that he liked to spend as little time as possible in his parents' house. Today, though, he was not really thinking about that. Walking gave him time to think and he knew that, once home, he would only plop down on his bed and listen to country music until he fell asleep.

Things were getting better. Slowly, very slowly. Buffy was back to tolerating his presence and after the events of last week with the cursed candy they were even back on something resembling speaking terms. She had not forgiven him, no, but there was a silver lining on the horizon at least. That alone should be enough, should it not?

Then there was Cordelia, of course.

Her remark today had only been the latest in a string of words, looks, and deeds that clearly demonstrated she had not forgiven him, was not even close. If there was one thing Cordelia could not accept it was playing second fiddle to anyone and, Xander had to admit, he had sure done everything possible to convince her that she was. His obsession with Buffy and Angel had ruined their relationship and only then had he realized that he did not want it to be ruined.

These past few weeks he had acquired the talent of being honest to himself. It was a painful process, very much so, but it was the only way of putting his life back on track. That honesty compelled him to admit that, yes, he had treated Cordy as second-best, had taken her for granted. Not consciously, though, but that hardly made it better, did it?

The problem was that he liked Cordelia. Very much so. He was not quite prepared to say the l-word, even to himself, but ...

"Hello, Xander!"

He stopped in his tracks, unable to believe that he had really just heard this voice behind him. Slowly he turned around, his eyes finding the girl standing behind him.

A girl he had found dead in her house three weeks ago.

"A-Amy?"

TO BE CONTINUED