Special thanks to naiya-isis for being my sole reviewer on this site!!
A/N: Many apologies all around, because it took like ten years to post. Sorry, but... shit happened. I'm trying my best to catch up, hence the page update. Hope you enjoy and are still reading, and hopefully reviewing.
"Abomination"
Spike couldn't shake the uneasy feeling cast over him by the crazy man's words. Try as he might to listen to Giles and the others, he could not concentrate. While he wasn't paying attention, the gang decided that he, Buffy, Faith, Xander, Willow and Giles would go on a search for the demon known as Toth.
"The city dump. Where smells go to relax and be themselves." Buffy said as she wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Times like this is when I miss having the option of breathing or not the most." Spike said glumly.
"Welcome to the humanity club, blondie." Faith said to him.
"I found this spell where you don't smell anything, but it does it by taking your nose off, so…" Willow trailed off.
"Been nearly a year. Think I'd be used to it by now. But then, situations where we end up in places like this happen." Xander sidled up to Spike, draping his arm across his shoulders in a camaraderie fashion.
"Think of it this way: no matter how smelly it gets, it'll still be an adventure."
"Hey, I kinda missed the part of the meeting where Giles told everyone what this demon looks like. Anyone gonna fill me in?" Faith asked as she looked around.
"Tall, robed, skin sort of hanging off. Deep voice." Giles explained.
"You mean a great, tall robey thing like that one?" Spike said, pointing to Toth. Toth raised a stick like mechanism towards the group, shooting out a blast of light. Spike moved Buffy out of harm's way as the others ducked for cover.
"Faith, watch out!" Xander yelled, leaping in front of her. The dark haired slayer, worried about Xander's lack of super healing, reacted instantaneously, spinning them around and taking the magical blast in the back. The force of the blast pitched the two forward on top of a huge pile of crap.
"Buffy, he's gone." Willow said.
"Boy, Faith. Never thought you'd end up on top of me again." Xander joked. "Next time, let me do the gentlemanly thing and protect you, okay?"
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. Ow." Faith moaned as she rolled off of him. Buffy walked over and extended both hands to the two brunettes.
"You okay?" She asked Faith when she rose to her feet. She wobbled a bit before righting herself.
"No need to worry, B. I've been hit by much worse. Not sayin' that that didn't hurt like a bitch, though."
"Sophisticated weapons. Hmph. All he did was give her a back ache. I don't think we should worry too much." Willow commented to the gang as they started to leave. But of course, no one saw the other, unconscious Faith left behind.
The next morning…
When the Slayer awoke, she only had one thing in mind- the hunt; the kill. Nothing mattered but her mission. Never mind that she was at the city dump in smelly clothes. She had to kill the demons, starting with him.
"Can't let him destroy the line. All demons must die."
Later that day…
While she was out on her hunt, she picked up a familiar scent. When it grew stronger, she heard a voice calling… her. It was her name.
"Hey, Faith! What… Faith what happened to you? Your face- why is their mud all over your face?"
"Hunt. Kill. Slayer." Faith approached him slowly, smelling him all the while.
"Clean. No demon." She muttered to herself as she began to walk away.
"Faith, wait!" Jonathan started, grasping her shoulder. She grabbed his arm and flipped him over her onto his back on the hard pavement.
"Don't touch. Have to hunt. Chosen one…" She continued talking to herself as she walked away. Jonathan remained stunned on the ground.
Later that day at the Magic Box…
"You guys, something's wrong. I- I've lost my powers. I can't… what's wrong with me?" Faith had just rushed into the store, looking distraught as ever. Everyone looked at her in concern.
"Are you sure?" Giles asked, walking from around the counter and coming towards her.
"Of course I'm sure! I was training this morning, and I, I hit like-"
"A girl?" Buffy filled in.
"It's not funny, B."
"Not trying to be funny. It's just, I know what it's like. Council and all that, remember?"
"I too know what it is like to wake up one day and be powerless. I completely understand the feeling of suckiness you're experiencing right now." Anya said matter of factly.
"Well no one broke my 'power center' and no one drugged me. So, I mean…"
"Everyone! There's something wrong with Faith, and- Faith?" Jonathan asked, now totally confused.
"What are you talking about Jonathan?" Buffy asked.
"Well it's just… I just saw Faith, and she was all dirty with mud on her face. Said she had to go hunt. I tried asking her, um, Faith another question, and she did this wrestling move on me before leaving and talking about how she was the Chosen one."
"Well, it surely wasn't me."
"Maybe it was a demon robot." Xander suggested.
"Or maybe it was Toth." Willow corrected.
"Or that. He did hit Faith with that blast. We just didn't think there would be any side effects. Well, obvious ones, anyway." Xander said from his place at the round table.
"Toth. The demon with the creepy stick thing. It's gotta be what stole Faith's powers. It hit her with that blast and took her form too. Couldn't that be what the creepy stick thing did?" Buffy said.
"I suppose, yes. That makes sense. A shape shifting device?" Giles said before going to consult his books.
"Yeah, makes tons of sense. Gotta find that son of a bitch and get my strength back." Faith said, crossing her arms and balling her hands into fists.
"Oh dear lord." Giles said while looking down at the book.
"Don't worry, Faith. Spike and I will find your evil twin and pummel it up good. Wouldn't be the first time." Buffy looked at Willow.
"Yeah. Well, my evil twin was from an alternate dimension."
"I said, oh dear lord." Giles reiterated.
"Yeah, but you always say that." Xander pointed out.
"Well, it's always important. They're both Faith. The other, stronger one isn't a demon. The rod device, it's called Ferula Gemines. It splits one person into half, distilling personality traits into two separate bodies." Giles said.
"What, to say he killed the two Slayers or something? It's a good idea, but still sort of cheating." Anya commented.
"No. Toth split Faith into two entities. One inheriting all of the qualities of Faith, the other with all of the qualities of the Slayer alone. The strength, the speed, the heritage."
"But isn't that kind of stupid? I mean, that would be like having a super slayer or something. Completely devoted to the kill and what have you." Xander interjected.
"I'd explain if you all let me finish." Giles said with an exasperated sigh. "The two can't exist without the other. If he kills the weaker Faith, the Slayer half dies as well."
"We won't let that happen. Don't worry, Faith. While Spike and Buffy go look for our other half, Willow Giles and I will search for a reversal spell." Jonathan said, attempting to reassure her as much as possible. Spike merely shrugged his shoulders as he got up from his seat.
"Right. Find Faith's other half so she can get back together with herself."
"We'll make it quick, promise." Buffy said, grabbing Spikes hand. He gave her smile as they headed out.
"So, if you were one hundred percent Slayer, where would you be?" Spike asked her as they walked down the streets of Sunnydale, not too far off from one of its many cemeteries.
"Wherever there's a lot of demonic activity, I guess. Which could be anywhere, here. What?" She asked when Spike stopped. He looked as if he was in deep concentration.
"I can smell her. She's close by." He said as he headed left.
"Really? Does… she smell any different?"
"More or less the same, actually. But the scent is uh, more poignant, I suppose. She's really close-" Spike was cut off from being attacked from behind. Faith charged at him, knocking him hard to the ground.
"Faith no!" Buffy yelled, running towards them. Faith growled in a nearly inhuman sort of way as she quickly stuck her left leg out towards the other slayer. She caught Buffy harshly in the chest. Buffy fell backwards to the ground. With the momentum of her running and the force of the blow, she had the wind knocked out of her. Faith held Spike's head firmly as she looked into his eyes. He couldn't move her. It was like she was clamped onto him.
"Empty. Nothing there. Demon. Head and heart. Don't stop till there's dust." She mumbled. Grabbing him by his hair, she commenced to slam his head repeatedly into the ground. When he stopped struggling, he watched in horror as she pulled a stake from the waist band of her jeans.. She rose it high above her head. The look in her eyes was deadly and firm on its intent. She wanted to terminate him.
"Abomination. Must be destroyed."
"No." Spike croaked out. Just as she began to bring the stake down into his beating chest, he vaguely heard a thump sound before she fell limply on top of him. He looked up and saw Buffy with a look of fear etched on her face, holding a large stick.
"Are you alright? I almost didn't get up in time, and…" She whispered, her eyes tearing up. Spike rolled Faith off of him with a groan. Buffy helped him slowly get to his feet.
"Boy. Pure slayer is hell on wheels. And quite deadly, too." He tried to joke, but it fell flat. Buffy pulled him to her, holding him tightly (especially so considering her super strength).
"I'm glad you're alright."
"Thanks to you. You clocked her good and proper. It was like I couldn't move. She had a vice grip on me."
"We should get her back, ya know, with her other self. Before she wakes up."
"Yeah."
"You sure you're okay?" For a moment, he thought she was talking about what Faith had said to him. Then he realized that she meant physically.
"Fine luv. Now let's get her back." The entire time on the way there, he couldn't help but wonder why Faith had chosen to hunt him.
Soon after they put Faith back together again, Toth arrived- again. Before he was able to use his creepy stick again, Buffy expertly kicked it out of his hands. The demon was no more soon after. Spike thought of Toth's attack as a nice distraction. Unfortunately for him, it was short lived.
"Spike, I uh, wanted to apologize for trying to kill you." Faith said, pulling him to the side.
"Yeah, well, wouldn't be the first time a slayer's tried to kill me."
"But I don't get it, I mean-"
"There's still a demon in me. Your basic sense was solely looking for demons. Beating heart aside, I still am one."
"No, Spike. I was solely looking for you. But I don't know why." Spike did not know either.
TBC
Author's note: Okay, once again, sorry for the delay. But I think I've got a better sense of where this story is going. Sorry for not going into extreme detail about the destruction of Toth, but we've all seen "The Replacement" enough times to know what went down. Except this took place at the Magic Box and so forth.
Um, no, Spike is not the key. This fic is going to go halfway off cannon from season 5. Well, duh, I'm sure you knew that. But what I mean is that, sense I've already used the bot, and Dawn is a baby, I've decided to make Glory not much of an issue. How, you ask? Well, you have to read on to find out!! Hope ya do, cause I've got a shit load of surprises in store for you all (who are still reading).
Thanks!
Jill
