For notes, warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1

Chapter 9: Fighting the Good Fight
(Buffy's POV)

Okay, I'm pretty sure something isn't right here. Last night when we were patrolling it was all too apparent that Faith enjoys the slaying a bit too much for comfort and the fact is that if she keeps going like this she'll wind up dead. I'm trying to tell Giles about it but he's so not listening... different temperaments my ass. I may not be a genius who can name every demon on this side of creation without even looking at a book but even I can tell the difference between a 'dedicated fighter' and someone who is running on fear and rage and what I saw last night had nothing to do with giving it all in the line of duty. I know he's pissed about not getting invited to that damn retreat but I'm pretty sure we have a major problem here... a problem that begins with "F" and ends with "aith" and he's just not listening.

It takes some doing but eventually I manage to get my watcher to focus on the slaying once again and then he's asking me about the vamps we took down yesterday. It's still not much of an improvement but at least he's not talking about kayaking. I tell him about what they said, that they serve some guy with a really weird name --kissing toast, taquitos, whatever-- and that definitely gets Giles's attention. All of a sudden he is back to his business-like self and it finally looks like this is going somewhere.

Yups, my spider sense sure is tingling now and I can't help but wonder whether or not the fact that this new big bad wanna-be just happened to show up at the same time as my shiny new little sister slayer is a coincidence... somehow I don't think so. There has been something off with Faith's whole story from the beginning and I'm willing to bet that this Taquitos guy has something to do with it. I leave Giles to try and track down Faith's missing watcher as I head for class.

I almost groan when I run once again into Scott... can't this guy take a hint? I am getting ready to ditch him when I see Giles out of the corner of my eye and I can tell by the look on his face that something isn't right... which is what I've been trying to tell him for a while now.

I'm not particularly surprised when he tells me that Faith's watcher is dead.

I go looking for my 'little sister' and I find her arguing with a bulky guy who is in charge of the roach motel... he's giving her some grief about the rent and I see Faith trying to come to 'an agreement', but he turns her down. I can barely keep myself from taking him out but eventually he leaves. I look around Faith's room --which turns out to be pretty much what I had been expecting, having seen her eat a couple of times-- but at least now I know her watcher is dead, if she had been alive and at a retreat I probably would have killed her. I focus on what I came here for and I see her freeze right on schedule as soon as I mention Kakistos's name.

This is not going to be easy... whatever it is, I know it's bad. She tells me it's not what he did to her but what she did to him, somehow I'm not buying it. She came here looking for help and I intend to help her... whether she wants me to or not. I failed Kendra and I'm not going to fail Faith too. I'm not losing another slayer just a few days after coming home. It really is that simple.

'Great!' I tell myself as I see her pack her few belongings. She wants to run away... been there, done that and I have the t-shirt to prove it. I'd tell her that taking off is not going to help any but I suspect she already knows. Now she's shifting from fear to bravado and for a moment I wonder who she's trying to fool, me or herself.

I'd love to stay here and chat but we really can't afford it so I let it out bluntly. I tell her that I know her watcher is dead and I ask her whether or not it was Kakistos even though I already know the answer. I remember back when Merrick died, I was a mess too, pretty much like Faith is now.

I am about to insist on my attempts to get her to talk to me when I hear someone knocking on the door. Faith goes to open it and we see the manager 'standing' there for a second before being dropped... what Faith just said about a head start coming in handy... well, I kind of realize that that plan is no longer an option when I see a cloven hand reaching for her neck.

I manage to force him to let go of Faith and I even succeed in closing the door but I know I've bought us only a couple of minutes at best. We are still in trouble but at least we are together and I know that gives us a fighting chance... or it would give us a fighting chance if only I could get Faith to snap out of it.

I see Kakistos's fist break through the door almost as if it weren't there and I barely manage to bite back a curse when my fears are confirmed... this is a motel and as such it is more than enough of a public building for him not to need an invitation in order to come in.

Faith is screaming and I slap her... hard. There's nothing else I can do. I need her with me now. I'm not leaving her behind. I manage to drag her with me as I make it out the window and we run for it.

We lose them after a couple of blocks --at least for a while-- as we find shelter in an abandoned building and I ask Faith to tell me what happened, even though I have a pretty good idea... I mean, I know what Lothos did to Merrick so I can pretty much imagine what Kakistos did to her watcher. No one ever accused vamps of being highly original thinkers, that's for sure. I try to get Faith to focus on the here and now --anything to get us out of this mess alive-- but she is just staring blankly into a corner. I turn to see what's caught her attention and I see a pile of decomposing bodies. Shit! This is a trap and we've been led straight to their lair.

I barely have time to register that fact before they burst into the firehouse and once again we are surrounded... and Faith is in no shape to fight them. I tell her not to die and I charge but Kakistos manages to fight me off... easily, and then he goes for Faith. I can see that she's trying but sometimes trying is not enough and I'm afraid I'm going to have to watch her die here. I want to help her but unfortunately Kakistos is not the only vamp we are fighting and I see another one coming after me. He would probably qualify as a master under different circumstances but here he is little more than a fledge. I dust him and I'm about to go help Faith but another vamp stops me... I suspect it's Kakistos's right hand man --or was that demon-- and he's good. I thought I had him for a moment but he just doesn't seem to want to go down.

I feel another vamp grabbing me from behind and I know I have a choice to make. I can keep fighting these guys or I can use the vamp behind me to create a diversion and I can try and help Faith. I decide to go with plan B so I kick in the face of the vamp that's in front of me and I use my momentum to flip so that I land behind the one that was attempting to hold me. I stake him and I turn around just in time to see Faith take a major blow.

I finally succeed in diverting Kakistos's attention and start fighting him with all I've got. Eventually I see an opening and I stake him... or I try to. The stake is not doing much good. He's too big and the stake can't reach his heart. I hear him taunting me, telling me that I'm going to need a bigger stake. I know I'm in trouble but then I see that Faith is finally getting up and she has a support beam in her hands... well I took Lothos out with a flag pole so I know it can work.

In a matter of seconds Kakistos is dust and I look around expecting to be confronted by his followers but they seem to have deserted him.

I turn to Faith and ask her if she's hungry, leaving out the bit about being horny. She winks at me and says she's starving... why am I not surprised to hear that?