Redeemed

Chapter 3

This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.

Thanks for reviewing. I try to work on the next chapters at least once a day.

Faith walked out of Angel's office and started off down the hall towards the elevator. She pushed the button to go down, and when the elevator arrived she got in and rode down to the lobby. When she walked out of the elevator, she was surprised at who she saw standing in front of her.

"You're Gunn, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, and you're Faith." He replied. "What kind of big bad did Angel get himself into this time? Did he spring you from jail this time?"

"Nope, I'm out. My release date was today."

"That's cool. So, you're living on the sane side of life now, right."

"As sane as anyone on this Earth can be considered." She said, grinning.

"Where are you heading?" He asked, "Did you just drop in for a visit with Angel?"

"No, I'm here for good. I'm working with Angel now." Faith explained. "You showed up just in time too. I don't know how much Angel told you about the First back when Buffy was facing him in Sunnydale, but he's the first evil."

"Yeah, Angel told me."

"Well, he's back and he has a physical form. Not only that, but he has three slayers working for him too."

"You're kidding. Things just keep getting better and better all the time." He said with sarcasm in his voice.

"Go talk to Angel. He can give you the rest of the details. I've got to go and patrol."

"That's cool." Gunn said, "I'll catch you later."

Faith nodded and then headed out the door of Wolfram and Hart. She didn't really know where to start, and she had about a half hour before the sun went completely down anyway. She decided that she would patrol the park first, and then she would make her way in a big circle around the block and end up back at the law firm.

She had brought along angel's wrist stake projectors. If she encountered some vampires she would be well equipped, but if the First was already in Los Angeles with his slayers, she would be unprepared for them.

She walked down the alley that ran alongside the law firm and came out in the back. She knew that if she was going to find vampires, the darkest places would be the most likely place to do so. As she walked, she kept her senses aware of her surroundings. She looked around her frequently, because she also knew that vampires had a tendency to be very sneaky.

It was about an hour later, and she had almost given up hope of finding anything out, when she heard a shrill scream off in the distance. She immediately ran in the direction of the scream. She quickly came up on the source of the scream. It was the same girl that she had encountered the other night. This time, however, she was on the attacking side of the situation.

Faith quickly jumped into the battle, defending the woman that was being beaten by her previous charge. She spun the girl around and looked her in the eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?" She yelled at the girl. "Is this anyway to show appreciation for having your life saved? You just think you can go out and victimize someone else?"

The girl grinned. She looked deep into Faith's eyes, and then she threw her fist out at the slayer. Faith ducked under the first quickly and brought her own up to meet the girl's face. It didn't seem to faze her much, as Faith quickly realized when the girl shrugged it off and planted a roundhouse kick to the side of her head that caused her to stumble and fall to the ground.

Faith quickly got up to meet the girl's advance on her. She activated the wrist stake projector in her right hand, aiming it at the girl's heart. It shot out at the girl, but was quickly snatched out of the air by her.

"This won't stop me, Faith." She sneered. "I'm not a vampire."

"Then, what the hell are you?" Faith demanded. "How do you know my name?"

Faith remained in her fighting stance, even as she interrogated the girl. She couldn't take any chances that the girl might try and attack her again. She was strong, and if she wasn't a vampire, she didn't know what she was.

"Faith, haven't you figured it out yet?" The girl asked. "I'm a Slayer. I'm just like you. My name is Tanya. Not that it matters. You're not going to live long enough for that to mean anything to you."

Damn it, Faith thought to herself, how could I have been so stupid? Of course this girl was a Slayer.

Faith got her game face back on, hoping that Tanya hadn't realized the surprised look in her face. She needed to remain calm and play this through. She had a lot more experience with being the Slayer than this girl, and she needed to play on that weakness.

"You think you can take me? You don't know anything about me." Faith warned.

"I know plenty about you, Faith." Tanya countered. "I know that your watcher was killed by Kiquistos. I know that you accidentally killed a man while patrolling. You felt betrayed, and so you turned evil for a while. You went on a rampage, and got yourself the nickname of 'Rogue Slayer.'"

Faith understood now. This was one of the First's puppet Slayers. She was working for him. There was no other way she could know this much about her past.

"That doesn't mean anything anymore." Faith said. "That's my past. I'm not like that anymore."

"Really?" Tanya questioned. She pulled out a knife from her coat pocket and showed it off to Faith. "Perhaps this can spark some of those old flames."

Faith recognized the knife immediately. It was the knife that Mayor Wilkins had given her as a gift to kill Buffy with five years ago.

"I see you recognize it." Tanya taunted.

Faith ran at Tanya with rage in her eyes. She quickly caught the Slayer off guard with a punch to the face, and followed it up with a kick to the girl's ribcage. Tanya dropped the knife, and swept at Faith's feet with her legs. Faith avoided the attack by quickly jumping over her legs.

She rammed her fist down at Tanya with all her strength, but Tanya avoided the attack by rolling quickly to the side of it. She got up off the ground and backhanded Faith with her fist, which Faith returned almost immediately.

They continued to fight heatedly for a few more minutes, before Faith got her in a deadlock.

"This ends now." Faith said to her. She picked the knife up off the ground, while still holding Tanya in her grasps.

"What are you going to do, Faith?" Tanya asked. "Are you going to kill me?"

Faith knew that she was trying to play with her mind, and she was doing her best to not let it get to her. It was difficult, however, and she could feel the want to kill her rising his her mind.

"Are you going to slide that knife into my stomach just like Buffy slid it into you five years ago?"

Faith had a flashback of the fight with Buffy on the night before Buffy's graduation. She had shot Angel with an arrow that was tipped with poison that could kill vampires slowly and painfully. Buffy had come to her penthouse seeking revenge on her. She remembered how Buffy had told her about the cure being a slayer's blood, and that she had come for hers.

Faith knew that she deserved to be killed that day, and she knew that Buffy had come to do it. She also knew that she wasn't going to let herself get slaughtered to feed a vampire life.

Buffy had fought her in the apartment, and they had both gone through the window onto the roof below her apartment. The fight continued until finally, Buffy caught her off guard and slid her own knife into her. She had fallen from the roof of the apartment building that night, having thought herself to be dead.

Faith came back to her senses and pushed Tanya away from her. She stood there, thinking about that night.

"I knew you didn't have it in you, Faith. You've gone and turned yourself weak. The First is going to have an easy time with you, and I'm going to be there when he finally finishes you off."

Having said that, Tanya ran off into the night, leaving Faith standing there in the middle of the street, with the knife that had nearly killed her five years ago.