Redeemed

Chapter 8

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.

Sorry for the really short chapter, but there's a reason for it.

Faith circled around to the back of Tanya, partly to hide the worry that she knew was now shown on her face. She knew that The First was the first ever evil to be brought into the world. It was said that there had always been evil, and it had started with him. The First, being evil, started consuming people and beings to be just as evil as he was. Eventually, vampires and other demons started forming from the people and beings that were being consumed by the thrall of The First.

A group of ancient elders knew that something had to be done to stop The First. So, together they found the most powerful demon and they took the demon's power away from him and placed it into a girl. That girl became the first slayer. This slayer would leave behind a legacy when she was killed. She would pass on her power to another girl, another slayer.

Faith remembered the story of their creation. She knew that the power within her had once been the power that had been created by The First and used by those ancient elders so long ago. Three years ago they had fought The First, but they had overcome his apprentice, Caleb. Now, they were fighting him in a physical body, and Faith wasn't so sure that what Tanya said wasn't true.

"Faith," Angel said, "are you ok?"

Faith snapped out of her daze. She looked over to see Angel and the others, Tanya included, looking at her. She knew that she had been thinking about the possibility that they might not be able to stop The First.

"Yeah," she replied, "I'm fine."

She looked around the room once more before walking over to the door. She needed to get away for a while. She needed to be somewhere that wasn't here.

"I'm going to go patrol." Faith said to the others in the room.

"Faith," Kennedy replied, "I don't think that's such a good idea right now. We have no idea where The First is. If you encounter him while you're out there, you'll be killed."

"Well, I can't just stand around here and wait for him to make a move."

"Then I'm going with you." Angel said.

"No, I'll be fine."

Faith knew that she didn't seem very confident, but she wanted to be alone. She needed them to realize that she wasn't going to break. She was stronger than that. She had to do this, alone.

"Faith, this is no time to be acting like you're unstoppable," Buffy said, determination in her eyes, "because for all we know right now, The First is unstoppable."

Faith considered her words for a moment, and then she walked out of the door. She calmly walked down the hall to the elevator and pressed the down button. The elevator door opened and she stepped inside.

Walking out the door of Wolfram & Hart, Faith started off down the street. Eventually, he walk became faster paced, and then she ran. She ran, because she was afraid. Faith was afraid of losing her friends to an unstoppable evil. Faith had never been so afraid of anything in her life, and now she just wanted to hide away in a hole and make the world and all its problems go away.

She ran as far as she could, until she eventually reached the beach that Angel had once fought at for the Ring of Amara. She walked out onto the dock and stood, looking out at the ocean and all its beauty.

While she stood there, thinking about everything that she had gone through to get to where she was today; all the battles, all the haunting dreams, the betrayals, and the heartaches that had come to be because of her, she finally realized what it was that she must do. She knew how to defeat The First, and so once again, she ran.