She's Gone 5 - Misfired Arrows
"Yeah Janice it's all planned. I've told Giles and Tara that I'm coming to yours and you've told your mom you're coming here. If I get caught I'll be in real trouble, these guys better be worth it," Dawn giggled at her friend's reply, "real hunks uh? I sure hope so. See you tomorrow." A smile on her face she hung up the phone.
* * *
"Hi Tar, you said you had those books for me?"
"Sure Faith," Tara smiled at them, stepping aside to allow them entry but explicitly didn't invite them in. "They're in the front room."
"Hi Tara," Xander smiled at his friend as he followed Faith into the house. He was relieved that the Wicca wasn't taking Willow's disappearance as bad as he thought she would. That was perhaps thanks in part to Faith, to his surprise the Slayer and the Wicca had become good friends. They somehow complemented one another, Tara's calm rubbing off on Faith making her less hyper, more thoughtful of others, while Faith had encouraged Tara to become more out-going.
"These the books? Wic-," Xander thought it sensible to hide a grin as the Slayer's tone changed from excitement to studied nonchalance. Her time inside had obviously awakened an unguessed thirst for knowledge. Maybe like him she'd been told he was stupid and perhaps, unlike him, she'd believed it. "Five by five Tar, these are fine. I figure doing some pre- class reading will keep the school marm happy."
"Yes," Giles appeared in the lounge's doorway, "once again your attempts at humour fall on stony ground."
The Slayer raised an eyebrow before turning to him. "Eh?"
"Queen Victoria is not amused," he translated with a grin.
"Ha, ha, ha. Bloody hilarious, Morecombe and Wise you most certainly are -," whatever the Watcher had been about to say was interrupted by the phone ringing. "Just a minute." Seconds later Giles returned, his face grim. "Dawn isn't at Janice's on a sleepover. Apparently Janice had told her mother she was sleeping over here."
"Ah," Xander nodded sagely, "the classics."
"Shit G, what's the red alert? Girl's just chasing some tai -," Faith's words trailed off at Giles' look. "Fuck G, don't look at me like that. I'm not Pip," Xander heard the brunette mutter.
"That's as maybe," Giles replied, his tone stiff, "but the situation is urgent. Need I remind you it is night time on the Hellmouth and we have no idea where she is. Buffy bloody died for her I'm not going to allow her to endanger herself through her stupidity!"
"Calm down Giles," he ordered before standing, "so what's the plan?"
The Watcher took a breath. "Quite right Xander. Faith, I apologise for my outburst, most unnecessary. Now," the Englishman stood for a second gathering his thoughts. "I'll take Tara in the Citroen and trail the streets. Xander, you and Faith scout the teen hang-outs." The Watcher glanced around. "Where's Anya?"
Xander reddened. This was embarrassing. "She was invited to join The Circle Of The Young Businesswomen Of Sunnydale," he ignored Faith's snigger. "Do you want me to ring her?" he asked, the last thing he needed was for Anya to get even more militant about money.
Giles didn't appear to register his hopefulness. "No it's hardly an apocalypse situation is it? We can manage it ourselves."
"Besides you really don't want to interrupt her," Faith piped up, "she might be counting money."
Xander groaned. "Shut up Faith."
* * *
"What do you think?"
Justin glanced over his shoulder at the two whispering girls a few steps behind and grinned. "Dawn's mine right?"
"Yeah," Zack nodded.
"She's really pretty," Justin turned back to the front, "nice too. I can't decide if I should just kill her or," his eyes turned yellow, "turn her."
* * *
Xander glanced with concern at the brunette waling beside him. Since leaving the house some twenty minutes ago she hadn't spoken and barely lifted her gaze from her feet. "Faith," he asked softly, "what's wrong?"
The Slayer shrugged. "Nothing."
So convincing. This time Xander put a note of firmness in his tone. "Faith, last time you were in Sunnydale we let you cut yourself off from us. It's not going to happen again. Talk."
Faith snorted. "Still got that big mouth Xand?" the brunette raised her head, her face unusually serious. "It's just when G was talking about B sacrificing her life for Pip it hit me how much you all miss her." The Slayer looked down again. "She's this great hero who's saved the world a ton of times. Me? I'm just a fucking former jailbird, who the hell's going to miss me when I buy the farm?"
"Hey," grabbing the woman's chin he lifted her face until he was looking into her eyes, "Faith you've got a second chance to make a different rep for yourself, you've got already started running off those bikers last week. As for who'd miss you, I would."
Really?"
Xander's heart ached at the desperate hope in his friend's voice. "Of course I'd miss my patrol buddy and roomie. Now are we going to find Dawn?"
* * *
"Wow!" Dawn's eyes sparkled as Justin's car pulled up by the sidewalk. "This is so cool! You have a car!"
"It's my dad's," Justin lied smoothly about the vehicle he'd just stolen after murdering its owner, "you jumping in? We'll head up to Inspiration Point."
"Sure," Dawn dazzled him with a smile. Oh yeah, he was definitely turning her.
* * *
Dawn laughed as Janice ran off into the woods, a shouting Zack in hot pursuit. "Alone at last."
Still smiling she turned back to Justin. "Yeah at last," she replied, cursing herself for the slight tremble in her voice.
"You nervous?"
"A little," she admitted with a slight grin. Her smile faded as she noticed out of the corner of her eye that her companion cast no reflection in the rear view mirror. "Just great," she muttered as she moved her right hand up to her neck. Her first date and she picked a vamp, it must be genetic. She blamed her mom; she just bet she'd dated some vamps back in the seventies. "Can we kiss now?"
Justin smiled. "Thought you'd never ask." She waited until the vampire was just inches from her before whipping out her cross and pressing it against his face.
"BITCH!" the vampire screamed as he recoiled, his face morphing into its demonic visage. Taking her chance, Dawn leapt out of the car and ran away. She'd barely taken a dozen steps when a weight hit in the back knocking her face-first to the hard ground. As she struggled to get the air back into her lungs she was flipped onto her back to look up into Justin's vampiric face. "Dawn," the vampire soothed, "there's nothing to be scared of here. I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to turn you. We'll be together forever. Never age, be beautiful forever. Okay?"
The offer was so tempting. After a second she nodded. "Okay," her voice that only moments ago was so joyful was now hoarse with fear.
"Good girl," after smiling the demon lowered his fangs to her neck only for her to butt him in his mouth. "Bitch!" the vampire backhanded her across the face, snapping her head sideways and bloodying her mouth. "You're going to pay for that!"
"I don't think so." Dawn's heart leapt at the familiar voice. A split- second later Justin exploded into dust. She looked up into Faith's cold eyes. "Thanks for-."
"Save it Dawn," Faith's tone was disapproving, "you're in a world of trouble." Dawn winced, it seemed her problems were just beginning.
* * *
"Inspiration Point eh Xan, you ever being Anya up here?"
"No. Brought Cordy up here a few times though," Xander's voice trailed off as he realised what he'd said.
"Oh yeah?" he didn't have to glance at the brunette beside him to know she was smirking. "I'm a little short this week and there's a wicked new Pumpkins CD out."
"You're blackmailing me?"
"Xan, Xan, Xan," Faith tutted, "blackmail's such an ugly word, and remember I'm reformed now. I prefer to think of it as an incentive to silence." Suddenly the Slayer's mirthful tone turned serious. "What's the plan?"
"I'll check the forest, I've got the better woodcraft. You check the cars."
"Fuck Xand," now the Slayer sounded disgusted. "A few weeks of hanging with you and I've gone from being the one perved on to being the peeping tom. You really know how to bring a girl down."
"I try Faith, I try."
* * *
Justine knew she should beg or scream for help but she couldn't even speak or struggle against the vampire pinning her against the tree. "Don't fight it," Zack whispered, "it won't-." A puzzled look crossed the vampire's face. "What's that-."
Suddenly the vampire exploded into ash. After a second Dawn's big brother Xander stepped through the dust cloud. Janice gasped, gone was the affable clown she crushed on, in his place was a cold-eyed killer. "Where's Dawn?"
"Over there," she pointed in the direction of the car.
Xander's face relaxed slightly. "Good. Faith can handle any trouble."
"That was a vampire," she looked down at the dust pile at her feet and began to shake violently.
"Yeah," the man grabbed her by the crook of her arm and started to drag her in the direction of the car, " I hunt 'em, sort of a hobby. Now move it."
* * *
"Damn it Pip!" Faith was running on a high, both from the kill and the relief of finding Dawn relatively unharmed, as she pulled the younger woman to her feet. "Making out with a vampire! What would your sister say?"
"Helloooo! You remember Buffy Summers don't you? The girl who dated the Scourge of Europe for two years?"
Uh, the kid had a point. "Well I'm seriously pissed with you! How stupid could you be? Even if he was just a boy do you realise the trouble you could have got in?"
"Yeah well you'd know." She winced at Dawn's retort. "Oh no, Faith I'm sorry -."
Faith shook her head, mustn't let the hurt show, show weakness. "Whatever. It's none of my business anyway. G will deal with you."
"Faith, I'm sorr-."
"Save it," she snapped, "where did your friend go?"
"Into the woods."
Where Xander was. "Let's go get her," she brusquely ordered before setting off. She'd barely covered a quarter of the distance when Xander appeared pushing Dawn's friend in front of him. "You five by five Xman?"
"Just peachy," Xander sounded seriously pissed, and the daggers he was sending Dawn's way had the teen squirming, "let's get these two home."
"Three babes. You're not going anywhere."
"Crap," Faith groaned as she counted the vampires stepping out of the shadows to surround them. Ten of them, if she was on her own she'd cut and run but she couldn't leave Xander and the girls behind. "See this is one of those situations were having two Slayers and an ensoulled vampire would come in real handy."
Xander chuckled. "Would a Citroen CV do you?"
Faith opened her mouth to ask what the hell Xander was babbling about when she saw a car's headlights in the distance, illuminating the vampires. She chuckled as G's car slammed into three of the leeches, crushing them under its wheels and scattering the other, the Watcher had serious balls. "How did you know?"
"Phoned him, told him where we were! Let's get the heck out of Dodge!"
* * *
"Faith." Dawn's heart tightened as the figure sat on the porch tensed at her voice. The tongue-lashing she'd received from Giles had left her reeling, she'd never had his volcanic anger directed at her, but even worse had been the hurt look on Faith's face when she'd struck out.
What a mess she'd made of things. Faith had risked her life for her and she'd re-paid her by throwing her past back in her face. "Faith I'm-," she decided to change tact. "I really miss Buffy," Dawn felt a lump form in her throat. She moved over and sat beside the Slayer. "But having you back is really cool." She smiled as the brunette snaked an arm around her shoulders. "Still friends?"
"You betcha kiddo."
* * *
Willow smiled as she rummaged through her purchases. The last few weeks she'd been travelling the U.S. looking for a magical solution to her problems, one that could bring Tara and the others to their senses. She grinned as she found the book she'd been looking for. "Memory spells."
"Yeah Janice it's all planned. I've told Giles and Tara that I'm coming to yours and you've told your mom you're coming here. If I get caught I'll be in real trouble, these guys better be worth it," Dawn giggled at her friend's reply, "real hunks uh? I sure hope so. See you tomorrow." A smile on her face she hung up the phone.
* * *
"Hi Tar, you said you had those books for me?"
"Sure Faith," Tara smiled at them, stepping aside to allow them entry but explicitly didn't invite them in. "They're in the front room."
"Hi Tara," Xander smiled at his friend as he followed Faith into the house. He was relieved that the Wicca wasn't taking Willow's disappearance as bad as he thought she would. That was perhaps thanks in part to Faith, to his surprise the Slayer and the Wicca had become good friends. They somehow complemented one another, Tara's calm rubbing off on Faith making her less hyper, more thoughtful of others, while Faith had encouraged Tara to become more out-going.
"These the books? Wic-," Xander thought it sensible to hide a grin as the Slayer's tone changed from excitement to studied nonchalance. Her time inside had obviously awakened an unguessed thirst for knowledge. Maybe like him she'd been told he was stupid and perhaps, unlike him, she'd believed it. "Five by five Tar, these are fine. I figure doing some pre- class reading will keep the school marm happy."
"Yes," Giles appeared in the lounge's doorway, "once again your attempts at humour fall on stony ground."
The Slayer raised an eyebrow before turning to him. "Eh?"
"Queen Victoria is not amused," he translated with a grin.
"Ha, ha, ha. Bloody hilarious, Morecombe and Wise you most certainly are -," whatever the Watcher had been about to say was interrupted by the phone ringing. "Just a minute." Seconds later Giles returned, his face grim. "Dawn isn't at Janice's on a sleepover. Apparently Janice had told her mother she was sleeping over here."
"Ah," Xander nodded sagely, "the classics."
"Shit G, what's the red alert? Girl's just chasing some tai -," Faith's words trailed off at Giles' look. "Fuck G, don't look at me like that. I'm not Pip," Xander heard the brunette mutter.
"That's as maybe," Giles replied, his tone stiff, "but the situation is urgent. Need I remind you it is night time on the Hellmouth and we have no idea where she is. Buffy bloody died for her I'm not going to allow her to endanger herself through her stupidity!"
"Calm down Giles," he ordered before standing, "so what's the plan?"
The Watcher took a breath. "Quite right Xander. Faith, I apologise for my outburst, most unnecessary. Now," the Englishman stood for a second gathering his thoughts. "I'll take Tara in the Citroen and trail the streets. Xander, you and Faith scout the teen hang-outs." The Watcher glanced around. "Where's Anya?"
Xander reddened. This was embarrassing. "She was invited to join The Circle Of The Young Businesswomen Of Sunnydale," he ignored Faith's snigger. "Do you want me to ring her?" he asked, the last thing he needed was for Anya to get even more militant about money.
Giles didn't appear to register his hopefulness. "No it's hardly an apocalypse situation is it? We can manage it ourselves."
"Besides you really don't want to interrupt her," Faith piped up, "she might be counting money."
Xander groaned. "Shut up Faith."
* * *
"What do you think?"
Justin glanced over his shoulder at the two whispering girls a few steps behind and grinned. "Dawn's mine right?"
"Yeah," Zack nodded.
"She's really pretty," Justin turned back to the front, "nice too. I can't decide if I should just kill her or," his eyes turned yellow, "turn her."
* * *
Xander glanced with concern at the brunette waling beside him. Since leaving the house some twenty minutes ago she hadn't spoken and barely lifted her gaze from her feet. "Faith," he asked softly, "what's wrong?"
The Slayer shrugged. "Nothing."
So convincing. This time Xander put a note of firmness in his tone. "Faith, last time you were in Sunnydale we let you cut yourself off from us. It's not going to happen again. Talk."
Faith snorted. "Still got that big mouth Xand?" the brunette raised her head, her face unusually serious. "It's just when G was talking about B sacrificing her life for Pip it hit me how much you all miss her." The Slayer looked down again. "She's this great hero who's saved the world a ton of times. Me? I'm just a fucking former jailbird, who the hell's going to miss me when I buy the farm?"
"Hey," grabbing the woman's chin he lifted her face until he was looking into her eyes, "Faith you've got a second chance to make a different rep for yourself, you've got already started running off those bikers last week. As for who'd miss you, I would."
Really?"
Xander's heart ached at the desperate hope in his friend's voice. "Of course I'd miss my patrol buddy and roomie. Now are we going to find Dawn?"
* * *
"Wow!" Dawn's eyes sparkled as Justin's car pulled up by the sidewalk. "This is so cool! You have a car!"
"It's my dad's," Justin lied smoothly about the vehicle he'd just stolen after murdering its owner, "you jumping in? We'll head up to Inspiration Point."
"Sure," Dawn dazzled him with a smile. Oh yeah, he was definitely turning her.
* * *
Dawn laughed as Janice ran off into the woods, a shouting Zack in hot pursuit. "Alone at last."
Still smiling she turned back to Justin. "Yeah at last," she replied, cursing herself for the slight tremble in her voice.
"You nervous?"
"A little," she admitted with a slight grin. Her smile faded as she noticed out of the corner of her eye that her companion cast no reflection in the rear view mirror. "Just great," she muttered as she moved her right hand up to her neck. Her first date and she picked a vamp, it must be genetic. She blamed her mom; she just bet she'd dated some vamps back in the seventies. "Can we kiss now?"
Justin smiled. "Thought you'd never ask." She waited until the vampire was just inches from her before whipping out her cross and pressing it against his face.
"BITCH!" the vampire screamed as he recoiled, his face morphing into its demonic visage. Taking her chance, Dawn leapt out of the car and ran away. She'd barely taken a dozen steps when a weight hit in the back knocking her face-first to the hard ground. As she struggled to get the air back into her lungs she was flipped onto her back to look up into Justin's vampiric face. "Dawn," the vampire soothed, "there's nothing to be scared of here. I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to turn you. We'll be together forever. Never age, be beautiful forever. Okay?"
The offer was so tempting. After a second she nodded. "Okay," her voice that only moments ago was so joyful was now hoarse with fear.
"Good girl," after smiling the demon lowered his fangs to her neck only for her to butt him in his mouth. "Bitch!" the vampire backhanded her across the face, snapping her head sideways and bloodying her mouth. "You're going to pay for that!"
"I don't think so." Dawn's heart leapt at the familiar voice. A split- second later Justin exploded into dust. She looked up into Faith's cold eyes. "Thanks for-."
"Save it Dawn," Faith's tone was disapproving, "you're in a world of trouble." Dawn winced, it seemed her problems were just beginning.
* * *
"Inspiration Point eh Xan, you ever being Anya up here?"
"No. Brought Cordy up here a few times though," Xander's voice trailed off as he realised what he'd said.
"Oh yeah?" he didn't have to glance at the brunette beside him to know she was smirking. "I'm a little short this week and there's a wicked new Pumpkins CD out."
"You're blackmailing me?"
"Xan, Xan, Xan," Faith tutted, "blackmail's such an ugly word, and remember I'm reformed now. I prefer to think of it as an incentive to silence." Suddenly the Slayer's mirthful tone turned serious. "What's the plan?"
"I'll check the forest, I've got the better woodcraft. You check the cars."
"Fuck Xand," now the Slayer sounded disgusted. "A few weeks of hanging with you and I've gone from being the one perved on to being the peeping tom. You really know how to bring a girl down."
"I try Faith, I try."
* * *
Justine knew she should beg or scream for help but she couldn't even speak or struggle against the vampire pinning her against the tree. "Don't fight it," Zack whispered, "it won't-." A puzzled look crossed the vampire's face. "What's that-."
Suddenly the vampire exploded into ash. After a second Dawn's big brother Xander stepped through the dust cloud. Janice gasped, gone was the affable clown she crushed on, in his place was a cold-eyed killer. "Where's Dawn?"
"Over there," she pointed in the direction of the car.
Xander's face relaxed slightly. "Good. Faith can handle any trouble."
"That was a vampire," she looked down at the dust pile at her feet and began to shake violently.
"Yeah," the man grabbed her by the crook of her arm and started to drag her in the direction of the car, " I hunt 'em, sort of a hobby. Now move it."
* * *
"Damn it Pip!" Faith was running on a high, both from the kill and the relief of finding Dawn relatively unharmed, as she pulled the younger woman to her feet. "Making out with a vampire! What would your sister say?"
"Helloooo! You remember Buffy Summers don't you? The girl who dated the Scourge of Europe for two years?"
Uh, the kid had a point. "Well I'm seriously pissed with you! How stupid could you be? Even if he was just a boy do you realise the trouble you could have got in?"
"Yeah well you'd know." She winced at Dawn's retort. "Oh no, Faith I'm sorry -."
Faith shook her head, mustn't let the hurt show, show weakness. "Whatever. It's none of my business anyway. G will deal with you."
"Faith, I'm sorr-."
"Save it," she snapped, "where did your friend go?"
"Into the woods."
Where Xander was. "Let's go get her," she brusquely ordered before setting off. She'd barely covered a quarter of the distance when Xander appeared pushing Dawn's friend in front of him. "You five by five Xman?"
"Just peachy," Xander sounded seriously pissed, and the daggers he was sending Dawn's way had the teen squirming, "let's get these two home."
"Three babes. You're not going anywhere."
"Crap," Faith groaned as she counted the vampires stepping out of the shadows to surround them. Ten of them, if she was on her own she'd cut and run but she couldn't leave Xander and the girls behind. "See this is one of those situations were having two Slayers and an ensoulled vampire would come in real handy."
Xander chuckled. "Would a Citroen CV do you?"
Faith opened her mouth to ask what the hell Xander was babbling about when she saw a car's headlights in the distance, illuminating the vampires. She chuckled as G's car slammed into three of the leeches, crushing them under its wheels and scattering the other, the Watcher had serious balls. "How did you know?"
"Phoned him, told him where we were! Let's get the heck out of Dodge!"
* * *
"Faith." Dawn's heart tightened as the figure sat on the porch tensed at her voice. The tongue-lashing she'd received from Giles had left her reeling, she'd never had his volcanic anger directed at her, but even worse had been the hurt look on Faith's face when she'd struck out.
What a mess she'd made of things. Faith had risked her life for her and she'd re-paid her by throwing her past back in her face. "Faith I'm-," she decided to change tact. "I really miss Buffy," Dawn felt a lump form in her throat. She moved over and sat beside the Slayer. "But having you back is really cool." She smiled as the brunette snaked an arm around her shoulders. "Still friends?"
"You betcha kiddo."
* * *
Willow smiled as she rummaged through her purchases. The last few weeks she'd been travelling the U.S. looking for a magical solution to her problems, one that could bring Tara and the others to their senses. She grinned as she found the book she'd been looking for. "Memory spells."
