And now, the story continues.
An Eternal War
Chapter Five
By IceWing (icewing@one.net)
Chapter 5
It felt as if he was being torn apart. Or maybe torn together. Didn't make
much sense, but he
could feel something inside of him being pulled on with massive force.
He dropped to his knees on the slippery slope, but did not move. His mouth
was open, his lungs
screaming for air as his voice just screamed. The pain, it felt like it was
killing him. A
small part of his brain reminded him that that could not be the case as he was
already dead.
Staked by the woman that he loved. As he lay writhing on the ground, he began
to feel himself
being dragged up the slope by some unseen force. For what seemed an eternity,
he felt the
pull. 'Well,' he thought. 'At least I'm not falling anymore....'
Buffy stared in horror as the sound of the flat lined heart monitor echoed
through her soul.
Anger in her eyes, she leapt towards the doorway, intent on dismantling the
man standing over
Xander. And stopped. Or more accurately, was stopped. Barring her entry into
the room was
some kind of barrier, nothing she could see, but as she reached forwards, she
could feel it,
blocking her way. Her eyes seemed to flare as she watched the flames washing
across Xander's
body, watching them burn away the bandages on his chest. "No!" she
whispered, as if her plea
would make this horrible tableau in front of her wink from existence. She began
hammering on
the barrier which blocked her way. Rage fueled her strength as punch after punch
was rained
upon the mystical barrier. She could feel it weakening. And it served to focus
her rage even
more. Behind her, Giles had sunk to the floor, assuming a lotus position and
was rapidly
drawing on the floor with a felt tip pen from his pocket. He hoped, no, prayed,
that he
remembered the spell properly as he finished the circle and began to chant softly.
His head was
going to kill him in the morning.
Buffy continued hammering. The barrier was dented, but she needed to breach it.
Giles put the emphasis on the last word of the chant and slammed his fists
together. A small
bolt of energy arced from his to Buffy as his eyes rolled back in his head and
he slumped
against the wall.
Buffy's arm, for a split second, glowed with a blue aura, just as she slammed
it into, then
through the barrier. A tear appeared in the middle of the doorway. It reminded
her of
something from a Star Trek episode, energy kind of spilling off of it into the
surrounding
space. With both hands, she grabbed at the sides of the tear and pulled with
all her strength.
For a moment it seemed as if nothing would occur, then she felt it give way
and the tear
stretched the entire height of the door.
"I'm going to enjoy this!" Buffy snarled as she dropped into a combat stance.
The doctor with the fiery hand turned his head and looked at her. "Do
you mind? I'm kinda busy
right now. I need to concentrate, else all is for naught."
Buffy's answer was to spring forward into a flying kick. Her opponent sighed
and the flame
which started on his hand and continued across Xander, flickered and weakened,
then began to die
out.
Xander felt himself stop. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
When he began to slide
again, he knew.
Buffy smiled a feral grin as she flew towards her opponent, who was waving
a hand at her. Hurt
Xander would he. Oh, big mistake. The smile was abruptly wiped from her face
as her direction
seemed to change in midair. The wall broke her fall though. Flipping up from
the ground where
she landed, she once more advanced on this unknown adversary in front of her.
"I'm going to ask you once more to back off."
"And I'm telling you I'm going to kick your ass for what you did!"
She lunged forward, just in
time to be hurled across the room again by an unseen force. The wall was once
again there to
stop her before she went to far. It was with less grace this time that she regained
her feet.
Xander was sliding down the slope faster and faster now. At least that's what
it felt like.
There were really no landmarks to gauge his speed against, but it felt pretty
damn fast. Far
below he saw something take shape in the darkness. He peered at it as he sped
towards it. Then
immediately knew somehow that if he reached whatever it was, that the whole
roller coaster ride
would be over. For good. "Help!!!" he screamed.
And immediately was jerked to a stop by the scruff or his neck. He closed his
eyes to breath a
sigh of relief. When he opened them, the slope, not to mention whatever was
at the bottom of
it, was gone too. In fact, he was in a pretty cozy living room. Lots of leather
and what
looked to be a big screen TV.
"Not even a thanks. Typical." spoke an all to familiar voice behind
him. Xander spun around,
ready to lash out at the source of that voice.
"Faith!" he spat.
"Xander!" she said half mockingly. "Glad to see somebody remembers
me." She stepped back from
him, walking over to the black leather couch and collapsed on it.
"What are you doing here?" Xander questioned, his tone harsh.
Faith looked at him. "I could ask you the same question. Look, you might
as well relax.
You're going to be here for a while." When he made no movement to sit down
she spoke again.
"Look, I kept your ass from going down all the bottom of the slope here.
At least hear me
out."
Xander debated this for a couple of seconds then sat down on the armchair and
motioned for her
to continue.
"Saying I don't exactly have the best track record with ya is an understatement.
One thing I
have had since last we met was a shitload of time on my hands. So, I've been
doing some
thinking. Alot of thinking. About what I did, how I did things." She looked
up at him, "How I
treated some people. I know I can't change it. Hell, around here, not much you
can do. But I
am sorry for some of what I did. I won't lie to you and say I regret it all,
but some of it, I
do. I'm sorry."
Xander nodded, not so much in acceptance, but in acknowledgment. "And
speaking of here.
Where exactly are we. I mean," he gestured with a broad sweeping motion.
"This ain't exactly
SunnyDale Memorial. Which is where we are. Or were. Or should be. Or, well,
or something."
The fallen Slayer nodded. "Gonna sound kinda weird. But SunnyDale Memorial
is somewhere above
us I think. We kinda slid out the bottom. Or at least our souls did, which is
what I think we
are."
"And you figured this out how?"
"Well, we're not dead. At least not all the way. Sometimes when I look
out the window," she
glanced at a drape covered wall. "Sometimes I see people falling. The angle
seems to vary, but
some who came down the same way you did, well, lets just say their clothes are
a bit drafty."
With that Faith pointed at Xander's own attire. He looked down and immediately
pulled the short
hemline down to the couch.
"Umm, got anything I could change into?"
Faith laughed. It was the first time Xander could remember actually hearing
her laugh like
that. Had a nice sound to it. "Just close your eyes and imagine what you
want to be wearing."
Xander looked a bit skeptical but closed his eyes and gave it a shot. When he opened his eyes. he was no longer clad in a hospital gown, but instead a black t-shirt, blue jeans and hiking boots. "Well, this makes deciding what to wear in the morning a bit more interesting." Faith smiled.
"So," he said as he tugged on his shirt. "How did you end up here?"
"Well. Not really sure of that. I remember the fight between me and B. And falling on the truck. Then being in the hospital. Then, I was floating, sliding. Then I stopped. Right about where we are now." She paused.
After a second, he looked up to see what was keeping Faith from continuing. He saw that she was staring into space. "Faith? You ok?"
She shook her head slightly, as if to knock her thoughts back into order. "Yeah, sorry bout that, was remembering. Like I was saying, I stopped right about here. Didn't know what was going on. Couldn't tell you how long I just stood there. Eventually, I realized that I wasn't going to be going anywhere. Started to think about what was going on. What had bought me to this point. I got tired of standing there, said that I wished I had someplace to sit down, thought about this chair I used to have back in Boston. And poof, there is was. Kinda shocked me, till I realized that I was able to form things like that. Made this room as a place to relax. Got a whole suite now. Watched TV for a while, but I'm limited to either shows I have seen or imagining new ones. The only creativity here is me, well, now, us. But that got old after a while. Ya can only handle so much TV. So I started thinking." She paused and looked at Xander, then looked down. "Since I got here, I know that I have messed up where you guys are concerned. You especially. I've had alot of time to think about things here. I can't say I'm proud of everything that I did. Made some pretty rank choices. I can't say I regret it all. But some of it I do."
Xander looked at her intently. "Faith, not that I don't appreciate you talking to me. Or saving my butt, believe me I am very appreciative for that. But why're you telling me this. Its not like we're exactly tight."
"I know that. And see, that's one of the things that I fouled up on. Time and time again, you guys offered me friendship, and I spurned it every time."
"Right, and this is why you tried to kill me? Pardon me while I scoff!"
Faith sighed. "Don't suppose a sorry would really convince you? Look, I know I fucked up, ok? Does that make you happy? I admit it, I screwed things up so badly, and I really don't expect you will believe me. But I need to say it. I think that's part of why I stopped instead of going on to the bottom of the well here. Cuz I need to put some things right with some people."
The Zeppo looked at the fallen Slayer. He knew that he shouldn't believe her. That something was amiss here. But as he looked at her looking away from him, he realized that for the first time he had ever seen, Faith's armor, the sarcastic and caustic shell she keep up around her to keep anyone from getting close, was gone. And what he saw reminded him of what he often felt himself. A scared teen, who didn't know how to handle everything life was throwing up as obstacles. He stood up and crossed the distance to the couch and sat down next to her. "Faith?" he questioned. She looked up, expecting him to tear into her. God knew he had the right after all she had done to him and his friends. "From what you told me, we're probably going to be here for a while." She nodded. "In that case, tell ya what. If you don't mind being around a quasi-dead guy, I'm here for you." He smiled and for the first time in years, Faith didn't feel quite as alone.
Buffy dropped back into her stance once back on her feet. 'Ok,' she thought as she felt the pain in her back where she had hit the wall. Twice. 'New plan.'
"So let me get this straight?" said Xander around a mouthful of twinkie. "The whole working for the Mayor thing was the result of 'seemed like a good idea at the time'?"
Faith looked down at her chocolate sundae and nodded. "When I was in Boston as a kid. The part of town I was living in, if you want to call it that, was run by a gang called the Trogs. As gangs went, they were a cut above. Protection money only. No drugs, no drivebys. You paid your dues and nobody hassled you. And I mean nobody." Xander looked at her as if to say, is the point coming soon... Faith chuckled. "Lemme give you an example. About two years before I bailed, there was a string of break-ins around the block. Including my pad. Some shit got stolen. All of us had been forking over the cash and thought it was some kind of scheme to jack the rates, so to speak. My bud, Jackie, got up in the face of one of the leaders. Bitched him out. That evening, all of our stuff was back, along with a video taped confession from the cat who snagged everything. Cops got him left on the doorstep along with a copy of the tape. Everything's cool right? They kept their word and protected us. Well, a week later, another gang blows in. Takes out a couple of the locals with a firebomb, then leans on a couple of others for the location of the Trog's lair. Didn't matter that the Trogs did more to keep crime down that the cops, for less money to boot. They rolled on em and within a day, all the Trog's were in rolling drawers in the morgue. Including Jackie. She wasn't even a member, was just dropping off some grub for her beau who was. The cops said it took her hours to die. Had a pretty big impact on me. Coulda been me on that slab. Almost was. I'd dated him a couple weeks earlier. So right then I decided to always back the winner, otherwise, didn't matter how good you were or what you did. Somebody'd turn on you and that'd be all she wrote."
Xander looked at her. "Faith, we'd never have rolled on you. That's part of really being friends. We've put our lives on the line for each other dozens of times. Its part of the Scooby Credo. Right after the part about me always getting the donuts." He tried to bring a smile to her face, but she was torn inside.
"I want to believe you Xander. I want, wanted, to be able to be part of it. I just have a hard time trusting anybody but myself."
"You have to Faith, otherwise, you'll end up all alone in the end. Nobody there to watch your back, to lean on or help you when you fall. You've been alone for so long, both here and up top. Its not what you want, is it? Having friends means they'll never hurt you no matter what."
Faith smiled and thanked him. She was glad he'd been here for these past couple of weeks. It felt good to have somebody to talk to. Today was the first time they had really discussed her switchoff. Somehow he had known she wasn't ready and hadn't pushed it. Kinda hard to believe it had only been a day up top since she had slid into the coma. Guess the brain works faster without the body to slow it down. After all their talks, and alone time when she needed it, they had managed to forge a pretty solid bond of friendship. Sometimes she wondered what things could have been like if she hadn't used him that night at the hotel. B was a fool for choosing Angel over him. But she needed a friend right now, and that was what things were working towards, not another roll in the hay. What might of been , but oh well. She took another bite of her sundae as she pondered what he said. Friends won't hurt you, no matter what. She wanted to believe, but part of her mind kept insisting if it was true, then why was he here, while his meat body was upstairs, shards of wood driven through his heart.
In motion again, Buffy advanced. No flips, no cartwheels, just moving forward throwing punches and kicks, trying to get past her opponent's blocks. She put everything she had into it. 'Aha!! He messed up. I'm actually going to get him!'
And then in a heartbeat, it shifted. Her arm was being raised almost to her shoulder, behind her back. The room was spinning, no wait, she was being spun around. Not good. The sound of a blade being drawn and the cold prick of steel at her throat. Buffy could feel her neck indented by the blade. One move and her throat would be laid bare. Definitely not a good situation.
"Now," began the doctor. "If you are quite finished, I would like to try to finish saving your friend's life, if its still possible after your little interruption...."
"Why should I believe you?" whispered Buffy.
"Because if I wanted you dead, your blood would be all over the walls and another Slayer would be getting the news that her life was about to go to hell. Now, do you mind? Or does Mr. Harris here lose whatever chance he has of recovery."
They were sitting on the couch, munching from a bowl of popcorn. It was Xander's night to arrange for entertainment. Star Wars, Episode 1 was playing and the surround sound was truly remarkable. Both of them found it amazing how they could share what they wanted with the other here. Faith found herself looking at him more than the TV. Which was definitely a trick considering it was a 94 inch HD TV. 'Yet another thing I lost out on up top because of my own stupidity. At least we've had some time to make up for not getting to know each other up top.'
Xander turned his head and caught her gazing at him. "I know its the third time this month we've seen it, but I still think the movie is more interesting that me," he said with a grin.
Faith looked down, then back up. "Do you ever wonder if we could have..."
Xander thought for a split second. "Ships in the night Faith. I'll admit that I've thought about it, but I'm not exactly known for my luck in love. Buffy, the praying mantis lady, the infamous exchange student episode, Cordelia."
'Me,' finished Faith silently. Taking a breath, Faith leaned over and kissed him ever so softly on the lips. After a moment, Xander returned it.
"Are you sure that you want to...." Xander began, before falling to the ground.
"Xander, are you ok?" Faith dropped to her knees beside him. His screams began to echo forth in the room. In the background, the movie came to an abrupt halt. Faith was getting scared now. "Xander, come on."
Gasping for breath, he tried to speak. "Pain. Pulling. Up." Xander looked up at the only friend he had right now, tears of agony in his eyes. "Faith. Help. Me."
Not knowing what else to do, Faith wrapped her arms around him and held him close. The pain she couldn't do anything about, but she'd be damned if she would let him be alone right now. Maybe a little bit of a friend's touch would help him quell the fear which was so evident in his voice.
Buffy watched over her shoulder as the stranger brought his fiery hand down on Xander's chest once again. The blade still was pressed against her throat. "Please Xander. Come back to me." she whispered.
Xander felt himself leaving the ground. Faith tried to pull him back down, not knowing what else to do. Something in his brain clicked and he knew what was happening. Through the pain, he focused and swept Faith up in his arms, locking them around her. Together, they were both lifted from the floor by an unseen force. The room fell away beneath them.
"What are you doing?" asked Faith as she wrapped herself around him and held on as tight as she could.
As they began moving upwards at every increasing speed, Xander smiled through the pain. "Giving you another chance." And then he leaned down and he kissed her.
The fire on Xander's body was burning itself out. Buffy still wasn't sure how, but after being on fire for what seemed to have been at least a couple of minutes, he actually looked better than before.
"Come on lad. I put enough energy in you back twiceover."
"If he's dead..." Buffy began...
"A blade to your throat and still you have bravado. I believe I like you, young Slayer..." Before he could continue, Xander began to cough. Both smiled, but for different reasons as they watched this first sign of life. After a moment, Xander's eyes blinked opened and took the scene in before him. Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but Xander cut her off before she could begin.
"Harlequinn, please get her out of my room. Then we need to talk."
A stunned Buffy Summers stood there for a moment, hearing the anger in the voice of her best friend. "Now," repeated Xander.
Tears rolled down her face as the Slayer fled.
End Chapter 5