Faith
A New Beginning
A/N: I'm really glad that the first chapter was well received. I'm looking forward to this next chapter because there's a whole lot that I'm going to get to do. I added a list of Credits, actors I imagined portraying some of the roles I've made up. I hope that I'm doing a good job with this so far and that I've made all the right moves with this story. Thanks to those who reviewed. Please review and tell me what you think so far...
Chapters 2.
Adrenaline coursed through Faith's veins and she quickly searched for something to use as a weapon as a gang of Vampires pushed their way into the club. With a quick headcount Faith estimated that there were at least thirty Vampires. She found a make shift stake by the stage and looked over the clubbers who were quickly scattering. They all seemed to be heading towards stage exits, because it seemed that a smaller group of at least ten Vampires were entering through the main entrance. Faith caught sight of some familiar faces standing tall and poised for battle a little while away. Dawn, Xander and Aly all stood together preparing to fight. She saw that Xander and Dawn were already armed with their own stakes and Faith managed a smile, at least they had learnt something after all those years in Sunnydale.
The Vampires glared at Faith, baring their fangs, but ignored her, instead, heading in the direction of Xander, Dawn and Aly. Faith broke her weapon in half and shouted out to Aly, "Hey kid!" Aly glanced quickly towards Faith and the Slayer tossed half of the piece of wood to the younger slayer, "Lesson one. This is wood, if shoved into a Vampire's heart it turns to dust. Got it?"
"Got it," Aly nodded as she examined the wood carefully before gripping it tightly in her hand and returning to battle position.
"Now let's see what you got," Faith smirked. She gripped the wood tightly in her hands and called out to the Vamps, "Hey boys! How 'bout a little fun." A few of the Vampires stopped and looked Faith over a little better. They grinned and nodded to each other, falling out of line with the rest and heading towards Faith.
"We're not here for the Slayer," another of the Vamps back in line growled at the five heading towards Faith.
"Ah, we're just going to have a little fun killing her," one of them whined.
"Really?" Faith raised an eyebrow, "Who said anything about killing?" And with ease Faith lurched forward in a jump kick hitting the whiney Vampire directly in the chest sending him stumbling back a few feet.
"Keep her busy," a loud voice boomed from the front of the large group all heading towards Faith's new houseguests, "While I get what the boss wants." Five other Vampires obliged to the head Vampire's request and turned to join the attack on Faith.
"This should be fun," Faith smiled, "Been a while since I got this much action."
"It'll be the last time too," a burly vamp chuckled as he took out a long shining silver knife from one of his pockets.
"We'll see," Faith shrugged, her eyes watching the silver blade with cautiousness. The Vampire Faith had kicked took that moment to fight back and Faith quickly feigned to the right and staked the Vampire as he lost balance. A cloud of dust appeared where the Vamp had once been and Faith turned back to the group ready for more. This was what she loved about slaying.
The burly knife bearing Vamp was next, he came at Faith knife first and Faith tried to quickly side-step the attack but the Vampire was just as quick as she was and the knife came in contact with Faith's right arm, slicing off a chunk of Faith's skin. Not even taking time to feel the pain Faith retaliated, kicking the large Vamp with all her strength on the side of his head. The Vamp was knocked off guard for a second, but that second was long enough for Faith to stick her stake into the Vamp's chest and watch him explode into dust. She scooped the knife up off the ground and kicked off another attacker as she did.
Faith noticed that the Vamps seemed to be trying to strategically take her down, each attack one at a time trying to slowly wear Faith down. But there weren't enough Vampires in the whole of Boston to wear Faith down. As Faith elbowed a Vamp in the gut she managed to glance over her shoulder and steal a look at Dawn, Xander and Aly. The three seemed to be holding their own, but Faith didn't know how long they would last. There were at least forty Vampires and only four of them.
In the moment that Faith was checking out the others two Vamps attacked form either side of her. Faith came back to the fight in time to block of one attack but another knife yielding Vamp dug his shiny silver blade into Faith's gut. The Slayer cursed as she was reminded again why she had left Cleveland and the other Slayers. Not letting this take her down Faith staked the Vamp before he had a chance to remove the knife from Faith's new wound. Faith removed the weapon herself and placed it in her belt alongside the other weapon she had retrieved.
The wound was bleeding viciously but there were still too many Vamps for Faith to even think of retreating from the club just yet. Faith managed to stake two more Vamps quick and easy but unless there was some sort of miracle Faith found herself doubting whether or not she would be able to hold these Vamps back. The last time Faith had been stabbed by a knife she had ended up in a coma, she highly doubted that she would be able to fight off forty Vamps with this wound.
Faith heard Dawn yell Xander's name then and she knew that something was wrong. Buffy was going to kill her if she made it out of here alive. But along with Dawn's cry there came the sound of Vampire's busting into dust from the other side of the room and Faith wondered if it was possible it was Xander doing it. But her mind wasn't on that long; she had to focus on the battle that she seemed to be quickly losing. She moved in to stake a Vamp in front of her, but surprisingly it exploded into dust on its own and revealed a man with blonde hair and mischievous blue eyes.
"Let's get out of here!" the voice from earlier demanded, "There are two Slayers and a Hunter now, there's no reason to stay. We'll get the other one later." The remaining Vamps began to scatter then and Faith glanced away from the blonde and looked towards the other three.
Only two were standing there, Aly and Dawn staring wide-eyed at the group of Vampires that were retreating. Dawn dropped her stake in a clatter onto the floor and then seemed to follow it, falling onto her knees and tears rolled down her cheeks. "No! No!" she shouted after the Vamps, "Bring him back! You can't take him!"
"Shit," Faith cursed, racing over to them, "What the hell happened?"
"We were fighting them off as best we could," Aly shrugged, "Two attacked Xander and got him to drop his stake and this real big Vamp grabbed him."
"They took someone?" the blonde guy asked, joining them.
"My friend," Dawn nodded, "Xander."
"Who're you?" Aly wondered, examining the stranger closely.
"I'm Seth," he introduced.
"They called you a Hunter," Aly stated, "What's that."
"It's what I am," Seth shrugged, he turned to Faith, "You alright?"
"Five by Five," Faith muttered clutching her wound, "Damn, B's gonna kill me."
"Hey! You!" A heavy man with dark hair was speed walking towards them; Seth winked at the girls and then took off leaving Faith, Dawn and Aly to handle whatever came next.
"What?" Faith asked.
"Those things killed my bouncer!" the man exclaimed.
"Well, they tend to do those things," Aly shrugged, remembering her sister rising from the grave the night before.
"Yeah, well I'm going need a new bouncer now," the man grumbled.
"What's that got to do with us?" Faith wondered. She just wanted to get out of there and back to her apartment to bandage this wound before it bled her to death.
"You seemed able to handle those things," The man exclaimed, "I'm Barry Winters by the way. Just wondering if you'd like to take over the job."
"What's it pay?" Faith wondered. She knew she was going to take the job, she just didn't want to give in easily.
"Depends on the night," Winters shrugged, "And the customers."
"When do I start?" Faith asked.
"Monday night sound alright?" Winters wondered, "Got to get this place cleaned up."
"It's fine," Faith nodded as Aly helped Dawn up off the floor.
~*~*~*~*~*~
They were back in Faith's apartment in less than fifteen minutes and Faith had already treated her gut and arm wounds. Dawn was still a wreck and Faith could understand. She had seen how close Xander and Dawn had become since she had returned to Sunnydale, they were a unit. Aly was pulling out books, already in tune to what the next job of the evening was. Faith wondered if maybe the kid was keeping something from Faith. She knew a whole lot about being a Slayer for only being a Slayer for a day.
"I've never seen so many Vamps in one place," Dawn mused, seeming to calm down and catch their breath, "They were there to take Xander... and me."
"What?" Faith asked.
"They were there to take me too," Dawn repeated, "They tried to grab me too, after they got Xander. They wanted us."
"Shit," Faith cursed, "This happen before?"
"No," Dawn shook her head, "I mean, not that someone has wanted the both of us. Before it was just me, Glory and others trying to get me because I was the key."
"The key?" Aly spoke up from a corner of the room, sounding amused, "You're a key?"
"Former Key," Dawn corrected, and then droned an explanation, "A mystical ball of energy that could destroy the universe that a bunch of monks decided to turn into a human and send to the Slayer to be protected from the Hell God Glorificus."
"That's got to suck," Aly muttered.
"Tell me about it," Dawn nodded gloomily. Faith remembered the dreams she had had in prison. She had seen a lot of what went on in Sunnydale that year. Dawn being the Key, Glory kidnapping Dawn, Buffy saving the world by sacrificing her life. She had slept in her prison cell having to watch all of this unfold in Sunnydale and not be able to help out.
"Don't know why they'd want Xander though," Dawn sighed. The two Slayers looked at Dawn and couldn't help but hope that Xander was still alive and that they would get him back. For Dawn's sake and for his own.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Xander Harris groaned in pain. His whole body felt numb and his head was pounding. He tried to remember where he was, how he had gotten there, and where Dawn was. He remembered the club, the fight, and Dawn calling out his name. Had they gotten her too?
Please let Dawn be alright. Don't let anything have happened to her.
He found himself praying for her safety. Dawn was the one good thing left in his life; he couldn't risk losing her. Ever since the whole thing with the first had started, even before that, he and Dawn had begun to form a bond, each taking care of the other. They were the weaker ones of the group, neither capable of fighting on their own. That's why they had each other, so that they wouldn't have to be alone.
Slowly Xander opened his eyes to examine his surroundings. It was black everywhere and he couldn't see anything for a few moments. Eventually his eyes began to adjust to the darkness and he could see outlines of furniture, figures standing in the background but now much else, not anything helpful. He moved his arms and felt the cold chains attached to his wrist as chains fell against his bear chest. He was naked from the hips up.
He wondered if this was another of those ritual things, if they were going to try to take his blood like that demon woman had when they were back in Sunnydale. It would be just his luck, being offered as a sacrifice once again.
Xander heard voices then, low whispers that were barely audible. Xander strained to hear what was being said, stayed as still as possible to make as little noise as he could.
"Where's the other one?" one of the voices hissed, it was female and spoke slowly and seductively.
"She's still with the Slayer," another replied, this one male and it sounded frightened "We'll get her soon. I promise you master."
"You better!" A third voice snapped this one male as well, "I will not take failure from anyone."
"I-I understand master," the first male voice faltered.
"What do we do with the boy for now?" the woman asked, "Can I play with him?" Xander could tell that she was pouting just by the way she spoke the second part. He feared what she meant by 'play'.
"Do what you wish Desiree," the master said, "But I do not want one ounce of blood split. Understand?"
"Yes," Desiree replied, disappointed, "Whatever you wish."
"And you! Go get the girl before I stake you myself!" the master shouted.
"Y-yes sir! R-right away!" the servant replied and Xander could hear him scuttle off.
The girl, they were looking for someone else now, someone who was with the Slayer. Dawn. Xander had to get out of there, had to save Dawn. He had promised he would protect her and so far he had messed up. He yanked on the chains that kept him captive; he used all the strength he could sum up. It was no good though. He wasn't a Vampire, didn't have the strength to free himself from these chains. Xander settled against the cold stone wall in defeat.
They needed him and Dawn for something and by the sound of it, it was something big. Xander needed to warn Dawn and Faith but he had no way of doing so. All he could do was wait and hope that they would somehow figure out what was going on.
"I promise I'll keep you safe Dawnie," Xander whispered to himself, "I promise."
The clicking of shoes distracted Xander then and he looked up to see a beautiful woman with long brown hair and a red dress clinging to her in all the right places. "Hello boy," she greeted, Xander knew instantly who she was, Desiree.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Seth stepped into the large mansion and wandered in the dark to the kitchen and let the keys fall on the counter before flicking on the lights. Immediately everything before him was visible. The large, spacious, kitchen table, the counters that encircled half the room and the entrance way into the dining room. He had inherited this place a year ago when he father had died.
He heard someone come up behind him. He didn't turn around though he just sighed and said, "Rough night."
"Where'd you go?" the newcomer wondered, the voice belonged to a man.
"The Occult," Seth replied, "Mass attack, about thirty vamps."
"The bands playing there next month, right?" the other wondered.
"Yeah," Seth nodded, "They took some guy. Friend of the Slayer's."
"Slayer?" the man stepped into view, he hair was dyed jet black and his eyebrow was raised, "Which one?"
"Faith," Seth answered, "There were two other girls with her. One of them was a slayer, the other wasn't. They took some guy named Xander."
"Harris?" this was a question, not a statement.
"Someone from back in Sunnydale?" Seth wanted to know.
"Could be," he shrugged, "Who were the girls?"
"One was blonde, about fifteen," Seth described, "The other around eighteen would be my guess, long brown hair and blue eyes, was screaming out for that Xander guy. Both were really hot."
"Don't know about the blonde, but the other one could be Dawn," Seth's friend sighed, "Although it's hard to believe that Dawn and Xander would be out here in Boston, away from Buffy."
"Come on Osbourne," Seth groaned, "You speaking in code or something?"
"Sorry, talking to myself," he shrugged, "Do you know what they wanted with Xander?"
"Oz, if I knew I would've told you," Seth pointed out.
"We better pay a visit to Faith tomorrow," Oz suggested, "Still got that address we followed her to last month?"
"Right here," Seth smirked patting his jacket pocket, "Never leave home without it." Oz shook his head and disappeared out of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawn groaned as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and tried to remember where she was. Then, the events of the previous day came flooding back. From the bus ride in Cleveland to the Vampire attack and Xander's kidnapping. She bolted upright on the couch; Xander had been taken by a group of Vampires! A sharp pain hit Dawn and she felt tears rising again. What was she supposed to do without Xander? They were a team.
"Tough night, huh?" She heard Aly's voice from behind her.
"What do they want with us?" Dawn asked.
"You're asking me?" Aly almost laughed, "Until yesterday I was as normal as normal can be and now I'm a freaking Slayer!"
"Sorry," Dawn shrugged, "Wasn't really expecting an answer though."
"You'll get one though," Aly put, "Eventually I mean. We'll find out what those Vamps want with you two and we'll stake 'em."
"Wish it were that easy," Dawn leaned back in the couch.
"Sorry kid but it ain't," Faith joined them in the living room with a box of books.
"Where'd you get those?" Dawn wondered.
"Wes sent them to me last week," Faith replied, "Said I needed more references, never opened it."
"Good old Wes," Dawn murmured, "Always thinking of the benefit of others. I've seen enough books in the past year to know I hate them."
"Guess we better get cracking," Aly groaned, "I'm willing to bet that Faith has another box of these things hidden away."
"Watch what you wish for," Dawn warned her, "You'll be surprised what could happen."
"I don't think anything could surprise me anymore," Aly said, ripping open the box. There was a knock on the door and Faith moved away from the teens to answer it. The door swung open and both teens turned to see who was there. There stood Seth and another man. "I stand corrected."
"Oz?" Both Faith and Dawn said simultaneously.
"The one and only," Seth laughed and shoved Oz into the apartment disregarding the fact that Faith hadn't invited them in, "Nice place you got."
"How do you know where I live?" Faith wanted to know.
"Some things are better left unknown," Seth winked.
"Dawn…" Oz looked at the teen, "Xander?"
"They took him last night," Dawn replied, "They tried to take me too but they didn't get a chance to."
"They'll probably try again," Oz mentioned, "If it's important."
"I know," Dawn nodded, "How've you been."
"Better," Oz shrugged, "You?"
"Been through hell," Dawn replied.
"Willow?" Dawn saw a flicker of something in Oz's eyes.
"Tara got shot and Willow went evil," Dawn informed her old friend, "Xander saved the world and brought Willow back. She's a goddess, activated all the Slayers in the world. She has a new girlfriend now a Slayer named Kennedy. She's good."
"Good," Oz nodded.
"I missed you," Dawn told him, "After you left things were different and I didn't get to see you when you came back."
"I know," Oz nodded.
"Although technically I wasn't there at the time, but still…" Dawn trailed off realizing she was babbling.
"I heard about that," Oz told her, "Talked to Angel a while after it happened and he told me the whole story."
"OK I think I'm missing out on something!" Aly blurted, "Who're you."
"Oz," Oz answered, "I'm an old friend from Sunnydale."
"He's also a werewolf," Dawn interjected, "But that doesn't matter."
"A werewolf?" Aly raised and eyebrow, "Cool."
"No too cool when it's the full moon," Oz told her.
"He's got his wolf under control, mostly," Seth mentioned.
"How do you two know each other?" Aly questioned.
"Started a band together," Seth replied.
"What d'ya want?" Faith cut Aly off before she could as any more questions.
"To help," Oz replied.
"Alright," Faith nodded, "Than where do we start."
"By researching two Vampires Korl and Desiree," Seth told them, "They're the big bads here in Boston and chances are they have your friend. Which means he's involved in something very important because Korl and Desiree don't waist their time with humans. They kill and move on, never taking anyone with them if they're of no value."
"How come you haven't taken them down?" Faith wondered.
"They're deep underground and only come up for food," Seth explained, "When they come up they come up together and they are two of the strongest Vampires left in the world. If I took them on alone I'd die."
"You won't be alone this time," Faith mentioned, "Grab a book and start researching."
