Title: Maybe, Just Maybe
Disclaimer: Please don't sue. The characters I created are mine. So steal my idea, or 'borrow' without my permission, and I will be the one to sue. Other characters remain...not mine. Otherwise, all the characters remain Joss Whedon's and 20th Century Fox
Pairings:Buffy/Faith
Feedback: Yes please
Rating: R


Chapter 18

We took my mom's Jeep and drove to the edge of town, where this Crypt was supposedly located. It seemed clear enough to spot from miles away, although it stuck to the old, "Located in the centre of a Cemetery" tradition.

Willow walked ahead with Faith, as I held back with Angel, just to make sure it was safe to be lurking around; as not to get sliced to pieces by these red demon things.

I tried as hard as I could not to blurt out his words from before and spur on an argument that might end in something I honestly couldn't be bothered to execute, but before I had a chance to think about this I had already muttered it beneath my breath, a scoff following shortly after.

I felt him glance towards me, and I cleared my throat, to try and cover it up. Me? Speak? During patrol? Never…

'What else did you want me to say, "I do too?"' I was a little pissed off that he sounded pissed off at the comment I had made.

I looked at him a moment, contemplating whether or not to continue this conversation. 'Something a little less impetuous. Who says that?'

'I do.'

'Well, don't. Words like that arouse feelings that-'

'You guys, I found something,' Willow called and we both hurried to meet her.

'It's right beneath us, I can feel it. Only problem is, do you think we should go into this Crypt I mean…these things could be hiding anywhere, all we have to do is be spotted and we're diced. I mean literally. Multiple chunks of six sided pieces of meat.'

'Ha. Told you,' I said bluntly to Angel as I hit him, and he smiled.

'They don't eat humans, that defeats the entire exercise of the apocalypse.'

'What?' I asked, stressing my 't' enough to let him know I was surprised at his knowledge of this topic.

'Consuming the very flesh that they're sacrificing suggests greed and gluttony. That's drawing unequally upon two of the sins weakening the balance…'

'Ok, slow down, big guy, details not needed,' Faith began, and I inwardly thanked her for shutting him up.

'So what do we do now?' I asked Willow, who shook her head immediately after me having finished my sentence.

'I say check out the rest of the area. Make sure we know entrances and exits, points that might be guarded. Take pictures and tell everyone back at the house. Pinpoint exact places we're gonna be watching, standing at.'

'Only problem is, how do we GET in or out without these things knowing we're here? Chances are the place is heavily guarded and if it is we're gonna have to think of a way to get in undetected,' Faith pointed out, lowering her voice a little in fears that something might hear her, other than us.

I nodded. 'Good thinking. I think maybe we should split up, look around, take pictures, get some info on lurkers and whatever else we can. Do it fast.'

Angel raised a hand to signal us to his dissenting thoughts. 'Not to oppose, but don't you think splitting up is a bad idea? You heard what Giles said, we're basically the "X" on the "marks the spot" for danger and those things are looking for both of you. Splitting up might alert them to our presence which we don't want happening one day before the ritual.'

I clenched my jaw momentarily. Why did he have to be right right now? 'Fine, let's go together. But we should do it fast before these things pick up on anything, IF there's anything here.'

'I agree, the four of us together we're stronger. Let's do it,' Faith decided and Will and Angel nodded and we all continued walking.

I stole a glance in Angel's direction and he looked back at me. 'Oh, there'll be talking later. Be sure of it,' I told him, alerting Faith to our situation. She furrowed her eyebrows a little, then smiled, looking at me first, then Angel.

I don't think her head had ever shot around that fast, and as she looked in the direction of the Crypt's entrance, we all stopped walking. 'I heard something,' she said, he voice immediately employing that serious "I'm so focussed" work-tone.

We were all silent, I assume trying to listen out for the same sound, but nothing. Nothing at all. Not even an owl cooing. I think the air got less tense as she let it go and we continued working. But it shot back almost as fast as it left as she spun on her heel again, looking sure that she'd heard something. None of us had the chance to stop her before she shot off in the direction of the Crypt. 'Faith!' I called out, and we all hurried in the same direction after her.

Goddamn her speedy running, even I couldn't keep up with it. My eyes started darting around, trying to rebel against the insane darkness so that I could see her. Any sign of her. But she'd disappeared. We slowed as we reached the Crypt entrance and in a puffed out tone I uttered, 'Where the hell did she go?' I frowned, looking around, still trying to find her, but having no luck as my eyes failed to see further than a few yards away. 'Did you see where she went, Angel?'

He shook his head. 'No.'

'Will?'

'I didn't even realise she'd ran off. Where could she have gone?' Willow seemed as astounded as I felt. Where the hell DID she go? Why didn't she wait for us?

What the hell was she attracted to?

'I have no idea,' I said, STILL trying to scan the area for any sign.

'Think she went in?' Angel suggested, and I looked towards the door. It was a large stone archway with what seemed like Latin inscriptions on the marble outskirts of the arch. I stepped up towards it and squinted at the words.

'Why didn't she wait for us?' I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Willow made a noise as she stepped up next to me and peered inside the Crypt. 'Bleurgh. I dunno…something about this whole part of town gives me the heebie-jeebies.'

Angel walked into the Crypt, taking the few stairs that led into it. 'Atmosphere's teeming.'

I turned my focus away from the inscriptions to him. 'The atmosphere's what-ing?'

'So much energy. I can feel it. Everything. Will, I think the heebie-jeebies are definitely a feeling worth noting. Can you feel anything other than that, though, like…an unusual amount of negative energy or something?'

She shrugged. 'Yeah, that's how I could tell where the tool was. Why, you think it's stronger right here, than over there?'

He looked into the Crypt. 'I dunno…I think we should check it out.'

'What about the "not getting chopped into diceable pieces" plan?' I reminded him, stepping towards him.

'Well we have to find Faith. My bet is that she was jonesin' to find out what was inside here. We got no option but to follow her-'

'We don't know that she came in here, though,' Willow pointed out and I nodded.

'It doesn't make sense for her to just sprint off like that,' I muttered and I noticed Willow looking at me.

'Well we've gotta find her. And it looks like this is the first option,' he said, gesturing towards the inside of the Crypt.

I hesitated, seriously wondering whether or not we should go in. But finally I headed inside, Willow following closely behind, Angel by my side. I heard Willow let out a sigh, her voice shuddering. I glanced over my shoulder at her and she shrugged. 'Way heebie-jeebie-ish right now.'

'Me too,' I told her, and took her hand as we carried on into the Crypt. 'This is really creeping me out. Faith would never-' I was cut off by the most ear-piercing, threatening scream I'd ever heard in my entire life.

And all I could think about was saving her. I broke into a sprint, my suspicions telling me every single second gone that she was hurt, or stuck, or lost. Or worse.

'Buffy, wait!' I heard Willow calling to me but I couldn't stop. I had to find her. The extreme lack of light didn't help but I soon realised I had a torch in my pocket, and when I took it out and turned it on, it made very little difference. I slowed to a halt and the others reached me seconds later. 'Do you think that was her?' she asked me and I nodded. 'Okay I'm edging on scared here, and that doesn't happen often, Buffy. What's going on?'

Angel shook his head, looking around. 'Dunno but it's definitely something strange. Why would she run off like that?'

'Shit,' I muttered under my breath, realising we were at the bottom of a three-split junction. 'Which way?'

'I dunno, I think maybe we should go back,' Willow suggested.

'No chance, I have to find her,' I decided. 'You guys can go back but I've gotta find where she is.'

'Buffy, no, you can't go alone, we have no idea about this place-' Angel began, but I couldn't resist cutting him off.

'Fine, then we'll all go.'

'I dunno Buffy, this could be really dangerous, and we may have weapons, but we don't know what we might be up against,' Willow tried. I hesitated in replying and she continued. 'This is strange.'

'I know. That's why we've gotta figure out where she is fast, and get out of here. Fast,' I finally said.

'Yeah, but in the mean time we have no idea where we're headed. We could end up anywhere.'

'We won't know if we don't try-'

'Guys,' Angel muttered, alerting us both immediately to his discovery. Something there.

I approached him, realising he was focussing on something ahead of him. He held out a hand to me as I headed for it, stopping me from moving, and he took the torch from me.

The scariest, freakiest and I wished I'd never seen THING standing RIGHT in Angel's face. Stripped of skin, hooded. Eyes so goddamned scary – white – mouth agape, as if permanently screaming.

We all charged for the opposite direction milliseconds after having seen this thing. I don't think even Angel had ever been that out of breath at any given moment in his after-life, let alone lifetime.

Once out, we slowed to a halt. 'What…the FUCK…was that?!' I yelled, pointing towards the inside of the Crypt which I inwardly prayed I wouldn't have to enter again.

'That…' Angel begun, actually, surprisingly out of breath. 'Was Erachnii.'

I shuddered. 'Seriously??? And those things…'

'Are deadlier than you can imagine. If one of those gets a hold of Faith she's toast. I never realised…' He trailed off and I begged for him to continue.

'What? Never realised what?'

'Those things kill. Fast. Forget weapons, thank god we were all scared enough to run. Don't let them touch you. Come near you. Anything. Forget weapons, forget spells. Those things are the things that monsters fear. They are worse than death itself,' he explained.

I could feel my entire body pulsating as he told me this. All the while he spoke I could only think of one thing. And that was Faith. If one of those things got her…'I know what you're thinking, Buffy. But we can't go back in there.'

'She has no idea what these things look like, what if she tries to fight one?' I told him, my voice breaking, tears welling in my eyes. I was beginning to become a blubbering mess. 'I can't leave her, we have no idea where she's gone. She could've gone down a different path, she could be anywhere in there.'

'She won't live,' Angel told me and my eyes widened.

I stood, my mouth now agape that he'd even thought of telling me this. 'Don't you even FUCKING dare speak to me like that,' I sneered, my words long and slow. I couldn't believe he'd just said that to me. His words we all dreaded more than anything these past few days.

With that, I headed back inside, but Will grabbed my arm, holding me back. 'Buffy, don't.' I looked at her, surprised she was going to stop me. 'You can't go back in there. Those things…'

'Those things could be eating her alive right now! I gotta go-'

'Gotta go where?'

We all spun round. I charged towards her and embraced her, then stepped back and slapped her. 'You scared me.' I think maybe Angel and Willow were slightly astounded at my attitude towards her having changed twice in the past five seconds. She grabbed her face and frowned.

'Hey, hey, ease up. I didn't really go anywhere. I mean, I thought you guys were following me. I saw this hooded thing and I thought-'

'Shit, did it see you?' I asked quickly, not letting her finish her sentence.

'I lost it before I had a chance to do anything. But when I turned around and you guys weren't there I realised I had lost you. So I started walking around and eventually I ended up here and…' I grabbed her and held her tightly once again. '…And…waited until you guys showed up. And here we are.' She moved her arms slightly to embrace me, furrowing her eyebrows as she did, a little astounded at my behaviour. She chuckled nervously and glanced at Will, then Angel, who had the same expression.

- - -

We all sat around the table, once again as solemn and sombre as the situation caused us to be. I made it priority to sit next to Faith, as close as possible. I grasped her hand as tight as I could, and when she tapped my arm lightly with her free hand and frowned gently I realised perhaps I was crushing her bones. 'You're scared,' she whispered into my ear, as if having just identified the problem, and now trying to nurse it away.

I could still feel myself shaking inside. 'I'm petrified.' I loosened my hold on her hand and she used her other hand to straddle my waist, sandwiching her arm between the chair and me.

As we waited for Giles to bring whatever material to the table it was he was bringing, we sat, stewing in the most nervous (and I mean nervous) atmosphere there ever was. Like worse than having "that chat" with your parents. Like waiting for a pregnancy test to tell you the right answer. Like…waiting for Giles to bring a goddamned book to a table.

I think the atmosphere loosened up as he entered, as usual, flipping through pages, searching for the appropriate material needed for the discussion.

'I saw it somewhere,' he began, us knowing straight off what he was talking about.

He set the book down onto the table and continued to flip the pages. Oz, who was seated next to him, caught the page and I swear fell BACKWARDS off his chair having seen the picture. He stood, straightened himself out, and re-positioned himself on the other side of Willow's seat. AWAY from the book.

We had all seen this, and as comical as it was, none of us laughed. In fact, I was probably right in thinking we all saw it as strange behaviour.

Giles watched Oz's motions, and hadn't seen the picture. But he shrieked in the baritone way that he not-so-very-often did as he flipped shut the page as fast as he had opened it, and jumped back from the book, seeming startled in the way that only he could make laughable.

'I don't get it. What's the ha-ha on this thing? Does it have boogly eyes and an open chest? Or is it plain comical with a sticker on it's forehead saying "the Scariest Yoo-Hoo in Demon History?"' Xander asked, and Giles pushed the book in his direction, keeping his eyes away from it as he did. Xander laughed at Gile's motions as he grabbed the book and looked at the six or so pairs of eyes focussed upon him. As he flipped the page he continued to look to us, and I can say his motions were a mixture of Gile's and Oz's. He screamed, fell of his chair, pushed the book away, and moved to a different position in the room. Again, away from the book.

We all watched as he straightened himself out and pretended none of that had happened. He'd just moved to a different place because he became uncomfortable.

I stood up, reached for the book across the table, and repositioned it in the centre of the table. I could feel the butterflies mustering in my stomach, but I tried to swallow the feeling as I clenched the page and scanned the room for the various pairs of eyes that might be waiting to see what this thing looked like.

And I can honestly say I'd never been more scared in my life. As I turned the page I jumped back, the wall the only implement strong enough to keep me from reaching the other end of the house.

Everyone else's actions were similar. Everyone except for Faith's.

And as we all stood on the outskirts of the dining room, she stood, right next to the book, looking around the room at everyone's behaviour.

'That thing is-is-is just…plain WRONG,' Xander said, his voice serious, but with that dash of sarcasm implied to top. 'With whipped wrongage on top!'

I nodded. 'God it creeps me out.'

Silence graced the room as everyone either nodded or acted uncomfortable. 'C-can we…close the book now, I'm starting to feel uncomfortable,' Oz asked quietly, above all the nervous the silence that filled the room.

The moment he mentioned that we all agreed, and Faith, who had looked down at the picture, grabbed the front cover and flipped the book shut. It seemed everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the picture disappeared, and we collected again around the table, soon re-seating and calming down. Faith sat, her eyebrows furrowed, silence the key to her scepticism.

'Okay I think it's safe to say that that thing is scary,' Xander said and we all nodded, all except for Faith. Still she frowned.

'Why, is the question. I've seen monsters, demons and various other evil forces far more bloodcurdling…well…no I gotta say that one tops it. Actually.' Angel straightened out his jacket, I think the thought of seeing it again making him feel uneasy.

'If you were to finish that sentence, were you going to say why would any of us be scared of this being? That it's shape and form are of no threat to us and that us being petrified of it is something we would never be?' Giles asked him. 'Because that's insane.' He ended it there, and I raised my eyebrows.

I started. 'Well we came face to face with this thing, can you imagine how terrifying-'

'Actually you saw it. I came face to face with it. Literally. I think there's a difference, i.e. I'm allowed to be more scared,' Angel told me.

'I'm pretty sure I was face to face with it,' Willow began and I turned my attention to her. She'd taken Oz's hand in the same fashion I had done with Faith's, only now I had let go, and she was leaning both hands upon the book.

'No you weren't, Will, I was,' he argued.

'Okay, you guys that isn't the point,' Faith interrupted. We all quietened down and she looked around at each and every one of us. 'You guys aren't seeing the bigger picture here. Every single one of your initial reactions was to flee from this thing. And that was just the picture of it. You took a split-second glance at it and tried to get as far away from it as possible, without leaving the room.' She drew in a breath and continued. 'Aren't we fighters here?' Silence.

'You're running scared. And that's exactly what these things want you to do. Their power is the power to scare. They are no real threat to us. But for some reason you think they are invincible because you're too scared to try to fight them. They're harmless creatures. Given the correct attitude and enough space they might be able to live with humans on this planet. But the only reason why they can't and won't is because of their form. It's a natural repellent, in the "adrenaline" sense. Fight or flee? "Flee. Automatically, when the human being sees Erachnii they choose to flee. In fear of Erachnii killing them." That was what was written beneath the picture, but I guess you all got away from it before examining it properly. Their form is their speciality. They scare the crap outta people. Making them think people's like us don't have a chance in fighting them. But the reality is, we don't need to fight them. They're not a danger to us.'

'Rubbish, you don't know what you're talking about,' Giles snapped, hugging his arms, and his eyes shiftier than a fly, I might add. He seemed just about as uncomfortable as the rest of us and frowned as he proceeded to talk. 'They're invincible, you heard Angel. Even those spirits. They said so, and the book-'

'The book was written by a prophet who knew just about as much as any other human being in terms of initial reaction. He thought the same way we do, and thought that these things are impossible to kill. It's the effect they have on us. They make us think we can't kill them to protect themselves. And when they do manage to frighten us to death – which I'm pretty sure they're well on their way to doing to you guys – they make the rest of the human race believe they're the most dangerous creatures on the planet.' Faith moved to open the book again but I reached out my hand and closed it shut. TIGHT, I might add. My hand still upon it.

'What are you saying? This demon has the power to kill us by just scaring us to death? And that's its power? Like…all of it?' I asked her, challenging her to say otherwise by staring her directly in the eye, my best work voice put on (on top of all the nervousness my voice portrayed).

She nodded. 'We have nothing to fear. You guys are affected by its power because well…I think it's something to do with being a Slayer. Except, B…you seemed pretty spooked.'

'So you weren't afraid of it?' Giles questioned.

She shrugged. 'It's a drawing of a person in a cape with white eyes and no skin, it's hardly pants-shitting.' She opened the book again, on that freaking page and this time we all closed our eyes shut. As tight as humanly possible.

'It's not gonna hurt you to look at it,' she said, her voice seeming to plead with us. I opened my eyes to find I was the only other one and she nodded towards me, her eyes reinforcing her spoken words. I looked at the picture, my insides knotting horribly as my eyes laid upon it, but as I looked at it for a while longer the fear slowly melted away. I took her hand, looking at it for a while, and just as I thought the fear was disappearing, I felt it knotting up in my stomach again, and I cuddled her, using her shoulder as a place to hide my face so I wouldn't have to look at it. I made a whimpering noise, and trembled, my whole body affected by this thing. 'No, I can't, I can't look at it, it's really, it's gonna eat me, urgh, put it away, get it out of here, Faith, quickly, it's gonna eat us!' I babbled, as if a spider the size of the room was crawling the wall.

She shut the book and everyone opened their eyes and sighed. Strangely, almost simultaneously. She stood up and I tried to grab her shirt but she moved away and began circling the room. 'The truth, you guys? That thing scares the shit out of me. But I see past it. It's a trick. You guys are only scared of this thing because it wants you to be.' She licked over her lips before continuing and I slid the book across the table, just to get it away from me. Will glared at me, having shoved it in her direction, and I made a face as if to say "oops?"

'How often do you guys fight something that you're afraid of?' Silence. Each and everyone of us hesitated.

'You guys don't GET afraid. Sure I was spooked at Kaskistos and his smelly breath, but he chased me all the way into this town and constantly managed to find a way to be within the vicinity of me, taunting me. Promising me a terrible, nasty death. Like most demons do. But how often are we scared to fight? When do we ever flee? Do we? Ever?'

I thought about her words and stood up. 'She's right. We have to see past this. We wanted to know what we were up against, and this is it. If we can't see past this, then we're no better than them. And if we don't go back to that Crypt tomorrow and disable that tool, this entire world is toast. So we have to put our fear below us, get this over and done with and cry our fucking hardest after because I swear their eyes pierced right through me and tried to eat me,' I whimpered, after having delivered all of that.

Willow smiled. 'If we're strong enough maybe our energy can dispel these things, and if not we're all gonna die anyway cos they will eat us…with…Erachnii knives and forks and those evil dessert forks that are smaller but pointier…and…'

'Willow…' Faith called, and Willow looked at her. 'Shut up. They won't eat us, they won't even hurt us and I'm beginning to think they're not gonna stop us from stopping that thing because if we see past that "fear" they're powerless against us. So stop, being, scared. And focus.' She exhaled loud and placed her hands on her hips, her eyebrows furrowed deep in her head and looking at us all around the room.

After a few moments silence Angel piped up. 'I think the technical term for dessert fork is "stake."'

Faith sighed loudly and headed out of the room, and directly up the stairs. I gave everyone a worried glance and followed her out. 'Faith…wait,' I called as I followed her upstairs and into our room. 'You're right.'

She turned to me once I'd closed the door. 'I know I'm right, Buffy, what worries me is that we've suddenly lost the balls to do this, because you're all scared of a demon you saw doing recon tonight. What the hell is wrong with all of you? For god's sakes, we're slayers, fighters, warriors. We don't run from fear. We chase it. Isn't fear supposed to drive us? If anything, you were the one who told me to channel my fear into wasting these things. Why all of a sudden are you all running scared?'

'We're not running-'

'Yeah, that's because the dining room walls don't extend further than a few feet. If we were on a football pitch, you see the drawing and I don't see you again, because you're all sprinting like you're tryin' to score a few. Didn't you tell me, before, that Angel told you that we should run? As far away as possible?' she continued as she stood across the room, space being the ultimate thing between us right now.

'Well, yeah, but…'

'It's like…the First. Its power is to get you to believe what it says. To have you under it's control through the use of dead people's. But you can see beyond that. Why is it any different now?'

'It's not,' I told her. Simply. I can do this. Just…any sign of cutlery and I'm lost.

She sighed a sigh of vanquished relief and ran her fingers back through her hair, rolling her eyes simultaneously to the motion.

'Then we can do this?' she enquired, her expression knocking on one-hundred and ten per cent "I need to make sure she's not bluffing."

I approached her, straightforwardly, suddenly fearlessly, and grasped her hand, tight. 'This isn't because I'm scared,' I said, raising our hands clenched together, and looked at them, then into her brown eyes that seemed almost defeated now. Again, she was tired.

'This is because I'm not letting go. You've already shown me so much. And if tomorrow tests our strength…then I'll know that this is the touch that brought me to life.' I inhaled and gazed into her eyes. 'I'm not scared anymore. Because I have you.' I moved in to kiss her, and as my lips met hers, I cried inside. What if that was the last time I got to kiss her? To touch her the way I could? Why was I lying to her? Why didn't I just tell her this fear was too much?

Tomorrow would decide. Tomorrow.