Two Slayers (6/?)

Previously On Two Slayers:-

"LEVIOSA!" the shy-looking girl let out a sudden scream. To Josef's amazement the Gem of Amara flew off his finger and fell to the ground.

"Verdammte schlampe!" Eyes gleaming, he started towards the girl only to hear the sound of a crossbow being fired behind him. Spinning round he snatched the bolt out of mid-air before letting out a frustrated bellow, rushing past the youth, shoving him to the floor, and leaping out of the second-floor window. "Scheisse!" But he'd be back and they'd all pay.

"Which president was responsible for Reconstruction?"

"Oh!" Faith jumped up and down on the spot. "I know this one!" Kendra beamed. "It was JFK!"

Her sister's shoulders slumped. "Faith, the test's on Thursday, two days away, and you haven't -."

"Relax sis," Faith winked. "I'm just messing with ya. It was Honest Abe, JFK was too busy boning MM and messing with the Havanas to do anything much."

"Faith! You should treat these tests more seriously, they could determine our whole future. Remember what-."

Faith rolled her eyes as her sister's scolding washed over her. She loved her big sis with a fierceness that sometimes frightened her, only G meant more to her than Ken, but she took things way too seriously. Besides, it wasn't like either of them had much of a future, they were Slayers for fuck's sake not meter maids. She was down with dying and leaving a hot looking corpse behind. If that was the price she had to pay for getting out of the hell that had been her pre-Slayer life and meeting G and the others then so be it. "Say," she interrupted Kendra's rant. "Christmas Ball soon, how cool will we be, turning up with two college guys." She tilted her head to one side. "Course I don't need the extra coolness, but you..."

"Me?" the look on Kendra's face was best described as dangerous.

Faith sighed theatrically. "Face it sis, you're a teacher's pet."

"Am not!" Her fellow Slayer bristled. "I merely respect their authority."

"Yes Mr. Jones, no Mrs Applegate," Faith mimicked her best bud's accent even as she kept an eye on her fuming companion. "You want me to run an errand for you sir? Why it would be my pleasure!" Faith sighed again. "My big sis a nerd. If I wasn't such a smoking babe I'd be a geek by asso-."

"That's it!"

Faith laughed as the senior Slayer launched herself before skipping out of the way and racing away. "Last one home as to the other's laundry!"

"You're on!"

"They are the Slayers?" the vampire scoffed. "They're nothing but a pair of excitable little girls. Beautiful I'll grant you and tasty morsels no doubt, but a threat to us? Maybe you're not all I was led to-."

The vampire exploded into dust as Die Faust thrust a stake into his heart. He looked around the other five vampires in the back of the van with him, the leaders of the army he'd built since his defeat of over a month ago. "Any other questions?" the other demons hastily shook their heads. He nodded. "Good," he shifted into his demonic face. "Then this is the plan."

"Over the past week there have been ten separate attacks in two distinct areas," Giles pointed at the map. "here and here. I plan on splitting our forces -."

"Surely we'd be better staying together?" Kendra interrupted, her eyes shining with the eagerness of a promised fight. "We don't know how many there are after all." "Actually," Giles corrected with a smile. "We do. At one attack the police arrived when the three 'gang members'," the group chuckled at his wry smile, "were hurrying off when they arrived at the scene. Also on two other occasions, there were survivors of attacks who said they were assaulted by a trio of mask-wearing thugs but managed to get inside their houses before they were killed." "So two separate gangs of three then?" Faith commented.

"It would appear so," Giles nodded. "I suggest splitting our force Xander, Kendra, and Tara in one group to hunt the group situated in the industrial district, and myself, Faith, Jonathan, and Cordelia around the zoo." Seeing Faith's curvy lips parting in a protest he fixed his younger daughter with a firm stare. The Bostonian pouted and looked away. Faith and Cordelia would work together whether they liked it or not.

"Three vampires? Well at least this is gonna be a walk in the park," he heard Faith mutter.

"A walk in the park, me and my big mouth!" Faith groaned as she stood back to back with her Watcher, eyeing the dozen or so vamps surrounding them. They were so screwed. At least Jonno was safe, having stayed to protect Cordy while the cheerleader found somewhere to park.

"Yes," Giles replied his tone strained and even. "I'm often telling you about that."

Faith raised an eyebrow. "Remind to kick your ass for that later," she commented.

"And yet," the Englishman replied. "I'm strangely unfrightened. Probably because there's not going to be a later."

"Yeah," Faith scowled. There was that.

"Where are they all coming from?" Xander ducked a kick but winced as another vamp caught him with a left to his shoulder, that was going to bruise tomorrow. If there was a tomorrow.

"I don't know!" Kendra bellowed to him as she beheaded another demon, he thought it was her fifth of the night, he'd got three, and Tara one before she was knocked out, even now he stood over her body. But still they came, perhaps five times as many as the three they'd expected. "This was a trap!" "You think?" Xander shouted back. And if they were in an ambush, he just bet G-Man and the others were under-going something very similar. Divide and conquer. "Gotta love the classics," he muttered.

"W..what are we going to do?"

"AHHHH!"

"Calm down!" Cordy snapped as she eyed the alleyway, it might scratch, but it was just wide enough.... Gunning the engine she sent her car flying forward, straight at the mass of vampires surrounding her friend and Faith.

The car entered the alley with a roar, the impact of the car hitting the first vampires with shuddering force, sending screaming demons flying into the air to land in ungraceful heaps. And immediately started to get up. "Get in!" she screamed as the car screeched to a halt just in front of a stunned looking Giles and Faith.

"Rescued by Queen C," Faith scowled. "I'm so fucking humiliated."

"You could stay here!" Cordelia pointed out as she pushed a vamp off the side of her car.

"Uh," the Bostonian shook her head before side-kicking a vampire into some near-by garbage cans. "Screw that. Not that proud." The east coast transplant waited until Giles was climbing into the car before herself hurdling into the back seat.

"Cordelia," Giles sounded breathless. Mind you at his age he was practically prehistoric. "Kendra and the others-."

"Yeah," she snapped as she shoved the pedal to the floor and the car flew towards the exit, squashing two vampires underneath as it went. "Worked that out for myself. Was in the top ten of my class."

"What class?" Giles asked. "Advanced bosoms?" The Englishman wilted at her glare. "Sorry, I thought I'd lighten the mood."

"Don't," she pulled the car round a corner, narrowly avoiding a black van coming towards them.

"Fuck C!" Cordelia smirked at Faith's fearful cry. Oh she was having fun tonight.

"No!" Kendra leapt into the air, pirouetting into a spin kick that collided with three vamps' faces, before landing beside Xander as he crumpled to the ground, a glazed look in his eyes. Between the three of them they'd taken down ten vamps, Tara one, Xander four, and her five, but now. She looked around the five vampires circling her, trying to ignore the weariness in her body and the tears burning in her eyes. She'd failed. Xander was going to -.

"Hey sis! Heads up!" Suddenly Faith was flying through the sky to land beside her, Cordelia's car screeching to a halt beside them, blocking the vamps' path to Xander and Tara. Faith winked at her. "We gonna finish this?"

She beamed at her sister, her exhaustion vanishing. "Lets!" Jumping forward, she thrust her stake through the heart of the nearest vampire, enjoying his brief look of shock before he burst into ash. Sensing a demonic presence behind her, she leapt into the air, doing the splits so that her would-be attacker ran under her legs. Cursing, the vampire spun to face her, his taloned hand slashing at her. Kendra swayed away from the attack, grabbed his wrist and pulled him onto her stake. Through the vampire's dust she saw the final vampire turn to run, she hefted her stake to throw at him.

"No! We need him alive to tell us who he works for!"

"Geez G!" Faith cursed as she sprinted after their quarry. "Make things easy for a Slayer why don't ya?"

"First one to catch him," Kendra gasped between heaving breaths. "Gets the other's allowance for this week!"

"Deal!" Faith went to hurdle a trash can only for her foot to catch on its edge, throwing her into the air. "Ah crap!"

Kendra cast her sister a worried glance. She burst out laughing to see Faith face first in a trash can, uttering garbled curses as Jonathan, who'd obviously chased after them, pulled her out by her jeans.

Still laughing, she turned a corner.

And walked into a right to the head. Head ringing, she stumbled backwards, just out of range of the southpaw demon's follow-up left hook. Regaining her composure, she pulled her right leg back. The moment the demon's eyes shifted to her foot, she shifted her weight and launched into a left-footed crescent kick.

Her attack smashed into the demon's jaw with perfect accuracy, shattering bone and knocking the vampire onto its back. Before it had a chance to rise, she was on it, kneeling across its throat, her stake thrust into its distended stomach. "My Watcher would be wanting to know who," she began to drag her stake up through the portly vampire's belly, spilling blood as she did so, "sent you."

"Die Faust!" the vampire screamed.

Kendra raised an eyebrow. "I'll be thanking," she thrust her stake into the demon's heart. "You." She turned around to see Faith hurrying up behind you. "You'll be owing me thirty dollars," she crowed.

"No I won't," the Bostonian stuck her tongue out. "G found out about me cutting class and I'm only getting ten bucks this week."

Kendra's eyes widened. "And would you have told me that if you'd won?"

Faith snorted. "Do I look stupid?"

"Well," Xander's voice trailed off at her sister's look. "Are we all alright?" After their nods Giles beamed. "Splendid. Now let's get in Cordelia's car and head back to my house -."

"I'm walking," Faith shook her head. "No way am I getting in a car with that crazy bitch any time soon."

"Faith!" Kendra was shocked at her sister's ungratefulness. "Cordelia saved all our lives!"

"Nearly fucking ended it too. Bitch is fucking loco!"

"Yes well," Giles sniffed. "Now you know how I feel when I give you driving lessons."

"To quote Smokey Robinson 'I Second That Emotion'," Xander grinned.

"Hey!" Faith pouted. "No fair, Slayer reflexes!"

"Yes," Giles commented. "But unfortunately not all of us have Slayer bladders." Their Watcher reddened when they all turned to him. "Oh dear, that sounded much better in my head."

Die Faust scowled as he watched the Slayers and their friends joke from the shadows. All his planning, recruiting vampires from across the state gone to waste. He'd be back though, and those two girls would beg to die.

"Then we're agreed, given Kendra's killing of Sunnydale's deputy mayor and Rupert Giles' refusal to allow her to be tested in the time-honoured tradition she has to die?" Travers hid a smirk as each of the Ruling Board's seven members nodded their agreement. "Now, as to the thornier matter of the Slayer Faith. While she has not been involved in any wrong-doing, it is unlikely that Mr. Giles would allow her to be tested when her time comes in a few months time. How do we vote in her matter?" This time the vote was five to two in favour of Faith's execution, Travers mentally noted the dissenters, there could be no weakness in HIS Council, before nodding. Excellent, killing Faith would return the control of the Slayer line to where it should have always lain. In the hands of the Council and not some bloody renegade.

"Sir," it was Joesph Stevenson, a good man, the man who should have been the Field Watcher to start with. If only he'd taken control earlier. "Our own extraction team proved inadequate the last time, how do you intend to deal with them?"

Travers hesitated before replying. Here was the controversial part of his plan. "I intend to call in the Order," seeing the horror on the others' faces he continued. "Gentlemen, sometimes dark times call for good men to work with evil. This isn't our fault, it's Rupert Giles."