It had seemed like such a good idea at the time-or so Faith
remembered anyway. The First was coming with its deadly armies, and it
seemed as if the apocalypse might really happen this time. So B and Red
came up with the idea that maybe there should be more than just two
Slayers. After all, it was just some men who decided millennia ago that it
should just be one, right? And to defeat The First, they needed help and
they needed it fast. After all, just a single ubervamp had nearly put B in
the hospital before she killed it. Take that one ubervamp and multiply it
by a few hundred or even thousand, and there was no way two Slayers could
win. So instead of two Slayers and a bunch of potentials, why not unlock
the power each of the potentials had to save the world?
Yeah, Faith thought as she felt her legs finally starting to give out after hours of running. Brilliant idea, B.
Actually, Faith had reservations about Red's spell from the beginning. She knew from personal experience that the power of the Slayer was overwhelming. Nowhere was it written that a Slayer had to be a white hat. Hadn't Faith herself partnered with Mayor Wilkins, nearly strangled Xander Harris, and stolen B's body, among other things? So the idea of suddenly slamming a whole bunch of strange girls all over the world with this power with no warning or explanation and not nearly enough Watchers left to guide them hadn't seemed to her to be the brightest. But they were desperate. They thought most of the potentials were either killed by the Bringers or already staying at Buffy's place. After Faith had led the potentials right into a detonating bomb, she really wasn't up to arguing.
So, Red cast the spell and the potentials got their power. Turns out Spike and his amulet probably killed more of the First's army than all the potentials, Buffy, and Faith herself combined, but hey-they won. Who cared about the details?
No one had expected Willow's spell to go so horribly wrong.
The Slayer's name was Abigail. No one knew her last name. All Faith knew was that the girl had come from an abusive family in some small town Midwest. Apparently, Daddy had been in the middle of beating on Abigail when the power hit. The girl had reacted to a lifetime of mistreatment by pummeling her father so badly they had to use his dental records to identify him. Faith could appreciate and understand that. She would even have sympathized with the girl if Abbey hadn't gone off and pounded nearly half her town into the dirt. Abbey had power now and was never going to be a victim again.
The Bringers hadn't done nearly the job of eliminating the Slayer line that B and the Scoobies had thought. There were girls popping up with power all over the place-the kind of power that terrified the normals, and the news was obsessed with the horror stories. Some toddler in London, not knowing her own strength, accidentally snapped another kid's spine during a hug. A teenage girl in Philly had gotten into a fistfight at school and broken the other kid's neck. The press was full of horror stories like that, though they never seemed to notice the good any of these new super- powered-girls did. It was a well-known fact of human history that people feared what they didn't understand, so a good number of the girls were persecuted and even killed. There were even some preachers saying these girls got their power from the devil himself, and at least one girl had been burned alive by her family when they found out. Abbey had made a mission of finding the other girls like her, giving them a place to call home and to feel like they belonged. She had several witches working with her, helping her find them all. Problem was, the world had dealt Abbey a cruel hand from the time she was born to the day she finally killed her father-and nothing she had seen in the treatment of other Slayers since convinced her that the world was a friendly place for her kind. Between the child abuse, a lifetime of teasing, and the panicked reaction of the normals, she was convinced that the world sucked and pretty damned corrupted by the power. Add a small army of Slayer-powered girls to the mix, plus some pretty powerful witches and even some half demons who were tired of hiding and had found a place where they'd be accepted, and Abbey was becoming almost as much of a danger as The First ever was.
And I just had to become a white hat. Faith thought bitterly. If I had stayed like I was, I woulda been fine with Abbey's army. Fucking Angel. I should kick his ass next time I see him for making me want to leave the dark side.
She had been running for far too long. It seemed that Abbey had eyes everywhere. Word was, once Abbey found out where her power came from, she had become obsessed. After all, if Willow had given her the power, presumably she could take it away too. Of course, Red was a broken shell of what she used to be before a mob had torn Kennedy to pieces. Losing two loves in such a short time was too much for Willow, and Faith couldn't really blame her for sinking into a depression. But, Abbey didn't know that, and despite the fact that she had surrounded herself with witches, Slayers, and powerful demons, she was determined to find Willow and make sure she could never reverse the spell. That meant she was also after Willow's friends.
Friends. Yeah, right.
There was no love lost between Willow and Faith, although Faith had to admit Red had good reason not to trust her. Given all that Willow was going through, Faith wasn't going to push the issue. She wouldn't want to be in Red's shoes for all the money in the world.
It seemed like the demons that were chasing her would never tire out. Faith knew she couldn't take much more of this. She needed to lose them and get someplace safe.
The demons were very close to her now. Funny how many demons worked with Abigail. When she had first become a Slayer, Faith had assumed all demons were bad. Turns out that wasn't a fair assumption-and lucky for Clem and Lorne they'd figured that out. These demons probably weren't evil either-which sucked because that made Faith and her new conscience that much less comfortable with killing them even to save herself.
Angel, you fucking asshole! Time was, I'd have killed them easily, no sweat. But nooooo.
She didn't really blame Angel of course, nor did she wish she were still on the wrong side. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't vent when her legs were jelly and her lungs felt like they were about to burst.
Come on! Just give up on me already!
Faith was starting to seriously consider the possibility that she'd have to fight them. Yeah, she was outnumbered by 20 to one, and maybe they weren't totally evil, but she'd already been running for hours. Besides, when it came down to it, she was still Faith and she still valued her own life over the lives of demons who wanted her dead, evil or not. If they wanted a fight, she would rather do it while she was still capable of standing.
Faith stopped running and turned around. They were in the middle of nowhere, nothing but grass and a few trees all around. That meant her pursuers had no place to hide and she could at least see them coming.
Damn, they are fucking ugly. And I bet they bleed that green blood that gets in your clothes and never comes out. Yeah. Good. It's easier to kill an ugly not-evil demon than a cute one. Are there any cute demons?
Faith had just managed to get her legs to stop shaking enough to put on a good fighting stance when a familiar ugly brown car that had tape on the door came swerving into view. Andrew was inside, shouting at her to get in fast.
Don't need to ask me twice.
Faith yanked the door open and dove inside. She had barely closed the door behind her when Andrew floored the pedal and they went speeding off. "Thanks," she panted, gazing at the rapidly fading demons in the rear- view mirror. "That was wicked good timing."
"Don't mention it," Andrew said softly. He sounded tired.
"Long night?" Faith asked. God, her legs ached worse now than they did when she had been running.
Andrew nodded silently. Faith took this as a sign that he didn't feel like talking, so she just let him drive in peace. Frankly, she didn't feel like talking just now either.
Yeah, Faith thought as she felt her legs finally starting to give out after hours of running. Brilliant idea, B.
Actually, Faith had reservations about Red's spell from the beginning. She knew from personal experience that the power of the Slayer was overwhelming. Nowhere was it written that a Slayer had to be a white hat. Hadn't Faith herself partnered with Mayor Wilkins, nearly strangled Xander Harris, and stolen B's body, among other things? So the idea of suddenly slamming a whole bunch of strange girls all over the world with this power with no warning or explanation and not nearly enough Watchers left to guide them hadn't seemed to her to be the brightest. But they were desperate. They thought most of the potentials were either killed by the Bringers or already staying at Buffy's place. After Faith had led the potentials right into a detonating bomb, she really wasn't up to arguing.
So, Red cast the spell and the potentials got their power. Turns out Spike and his amulet probably killed more of the First's army than all the potentials, Buffy, and Faith herself combined, but hey-they won. Who cared about the details?
No one had expected Willow's spell to go so horribly wrong.
The Slayer's name was Abigail. No one knew her last name. All Faith knew was that the girl had come from an abusive family in some small town Midwest. Apparently, Daddy had been in the middle of beating on Abigail when the power hit. The girl had reacted to a lifetime of mistreatment by pummeling her father so badly they had to use his dental records to identify him. Faith could appreciate and understand that. She would even have sympathized with the girl if Abbey hadn't gone off and pounded nearly half her town into the dirt. Abbey had power now and was never going to be a victim again.
The Bringers hadn't done nearly the job of eliminating the Slayer line that B and the Scoobies had thought. There were girls popping up with power all over the place-the kind of power that terrified the normals, and the news was obsessed with the horror stories. Some toddler in London, not knowing her own strength, accidentally snapped another kid's spine during a hug. A teenage girl in Philly had gotten into a fistfight at school and broken the other kid's neck. The press was full of horror stories like that, though they never seemed to notice the good any of these new super- powered-girls did. It was a well-known fact of human history that people feared what they didn't understand, so a good number of the girls were persecuted and even killed. There were even some preachers saying these girls got their power from the devil himself, and at least one girl had been burned alive by her family when they found out. Abbey had made a mission of finding the other girls like her, giving them a place to call home and to feel like they belonged. She had several witches working with her, helping her find them all. Problem was, the world had dealt Abbey a cruel hand from the time she was born to the day she finally killed her father-and nothing she had seen in the treatment of other Slayers since convinced her that the world was a friendly place for her kind. Between the child abuse, a lifetime of teasing, and the panicked reaction of the normals, she was convinced that the world sucked and pretty damned corrupted by the power. Add a small army of Slayer-powered girls to the mix, plus some pretty powerful witches and even some half demons who were tired of hiding and had found a place where they'd be accepted, and Abbey was becoming almost as much of a danger as The First ever was.
And I just had to become a white hat. Faith thought bitterly. If I had stayed like I was, I woulda been fine with Abbey's army. Fucking Angel. I should kick his ass next time I see him for making me want to leave the dark side.
She had been running for far too long. It seemed that Abbey had eyes everywhere. Word was, once Abbey found out where her power came from, she had become obsessed. After all, if Willow had given her the power, presumably she could take it away too. Of course, Red was a broken shell of what she used to be before a mob had torn Kennedy to pieces. Losing two loves in such a short time was too much for Willow, and Faith couldn't really blame her for sinking into a depression. But, Abbey didn't know that, and despite the fact that she had surrounded herself with witches, Slayers, and powerful demons, she was determined to find Willow and make sure she could never reverse the spell. That meant she was also after Willow's friends.
Friends. Yeah, right.
There was no love lost between Willow and Faith, although Faith had to admit Red had good reason not to trust her. Given all that Willow was going through, Faith wasn't going to push the issue. She wouldn't want to be in Red's shoes for all the money in the world.
It seemed like the demons that were chasing her would never tire out. Faith knew she couldn't take much more of this. She needed to lose them and get someplace safe.
The demons were very close to her now. Funny how many demons worked with Abigail. When she had first become a Slayer, Faith had assumed all demons were bad. Turns out that wasn't a fair assumption-and lucky for Clem and Lorne they'd figured that out. These demons probably weren't evil either-which sucked because that made Faith and her new conscience that much less comfortable with killing them even to save herself.
Angel, you fucking asshole! Time was, I'd have killed them easily, no sweat. But nooooo.
She didn't really blame Angel of course, nor did she wish she were still on the wrong side. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't vent when her legs were jelly and her lungs felt like they were about to burst.
Come on! Just give up on me already!
Faith was starting to seriously consider the possibility that she'd have to fight them. Yeah, she was outnumbered by 20 to one, and maybe they weren't totally evil, but she'd already been running for hours. Besides, when it came down to it, she was still Faith and she still valued her own life over the lives of demons who wanted her dead, evil or not. If they wanted a fight, she would rather do it while she was still capable of standing.
Faith stopped running and turned around. They were in the middle of nowhere, nothing but grass and a few trees all around. That meant her pursuers had no place to hide and she could at least see them coming.
Damn, they are fucking ugly. And I bet they bleed that green blood that gets in your clothes and never comes out. Yeah. Good. It's easier to kill an ugly not-evil demon than a cute one. Are there any cute demons?
Faith had just managed to get her legs to stop shaking enough to put on a good fighting stance when a familiar ugly brown car that had tape on the door came swerving into view. Andrew was inside, shouting at her to get in fast.
Don't need to ask me twice.
Faith yanked the door open and dove inside. She had barely closed the door behind her when Andrew floored the pedal and they went speeding off. "Thanks," she panted, gazing at the rapidly fading demons in the rear- view mirror. "That was wicked good timing."
"Don't mention it," Andrew said softly. He sounded tired.
"Long night?" Faith asked. God, her legs ached worse now than they did when she had been running.
Andrew nodded silently. Faith took this as a sign that he didn't feel like talking, so she just let him drive in peace. Frankly, she didn't feel like talking just now either.