AN: As this takes place a few months after Chosen, the events of Angel The Series ends in the episode before "Damage" and diverges from there to the details in this fic. "Damage" and the all the episodes that followed it did not happen in this story.

AN: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. Please keep them coming!

CHAPTER 6: THE MORNING AFTER

Sunshine filtered through the open blinds in her room and towards her eyes, irritating her. Joan lazily got up from her bed and walked to the blinds. One of these days, she'll remember to close them before going off to bed. Almost lifeless, she dragged her feet to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes repeatedly. She began scrounging the pantry for breakfast. A simple cereal served as breakfast for today.

She slip out of her sleep wear and into a casual blue jeans and a white blouse with a regular black jacket on top. Leather was like a magnet for unwanted eyes hence the no-leather ensemble. The less people taking interest in her, the less chance of those people she left behind knowing about her. After all, word of mouth travels fast. Having magick done on you to prevent being "traced" and changing your identity can only take you a certain distance. Yes, she knew that they would just have Willow perform a spell to find her. It wasn't much fun waking up at night because of yellow, smelly, tracking mist. They tried the spell several times which ended in her ditching the place where she was before they get there. Finally, once she arrived in Rome, she luckily stumbled upon a warlock that would solve her tracking problems. It took some "persuasion" but eventually, the warlock abided to her wishes.

Dressed casually, she was now ready to face the day. A new client, whom much to her dismay decided to call late at night, in need of her service is waiting for her. Grabbing her favorite sword, she headed out.

"Of all the things there are, you want a book?" Joan looked at him. Fragile was the first thing that came to her mind when she set her eyes on him. He was so frail, thin and bony. She wondered if he acquired some kind of disease. Osteoporosis? Aside from those, he "feels" human. She welcomed this change from the last one. Her last client couldn't be human. Though he look like one, the air around him seemed to be void of anything. The lack of presence sent low waves to her senses. The man before her is nothing special.

"Yes. I don't need artifacts of any kind. The value of knowledge far exceeds those of anything that glimmers."

"Knowledge is power, got it," Joan shrugged.

"I'm pleased that you understand it," he smiled. Joan returned the smile but briefly.

"So what's the name of this book and where is it?"

"It's the Book of Realms and I believe it's in Cleveland. It's in the library of the Center of Council."

Center of Council. The man couldn't have said anything worse to her. The potentials-that-was in Sunnydale resided there. More importantly, some of her friends might be there. Willow, Xander, or worse, Dawn. Words of refusal started forming in her throat but she did not utter them out.

"Are you crazy? There's Slayers in there. A LOT of them. You know what a Slayer is right?"

"Yes, that is true. It's also true that you are one of the best for-hire. With your skills, I know that you can get around it,"

Joan let out a sigh. "Oh goody, you believe in me."

"Will you do it?"

Truth be told, it wasn't getting past the Slayers that posed a problem for her. She was better than the average Slayer. A lot consider her the best. It is being discovered. She had worked so hard to stay away from THEM. It will be all at risk if she decides to accept the job. Maybe she should just refuse him...

Or maybe she should accept for the promise of closure. Numerous times, she dreamed of telling Giles and the others to stick it. She was right and they were wrong. Had she heard any apologies for that? No. Telling them that she's better without them is one of the things she longed for. Hateful emotions is now surging inside of her like furious tides. She so badly wanted to hurt their feelings; make the feel the hurt she had felt.

...I need you to leave.

I'm trying to see the point here but maybe it's a little to my left.

Joan closed her eyes, afraid that they may start shedding tears. The clueless client thought that she closed them in pondering.

This is too much to ask...

Then we vote.

Unbeknownst to the client and for-hire, Joan's sword glowed violet briefly but since it was in it's sheath, no one noticed.

Joan had never thought that she was capable of feeling an emotion of this magnitude. Strong hatred stirred into a full-blown storm inside her. She'll show them; let them feel her hatred.

"Well?"

Joan opened her eyes. There were no tears.

"I'll do it."

Joan had spent the rest of the day, wandering around the town. The sights and sceneries of Rome could keep a woman occupied for the whole day. Thankfully she received none too many stares from strangers. Seeing someone carrying a sword is not something you see everyday. She tried her best to cover it with her jacket but the sword is a little too long. It wasn't a bad day at all.

As she closed the door behind her, she heard a sound. It sounded like footwear sliding against the carpet. Perhaps, she spoke too soon about her day. Her eyes wondered to each and every place that she can see. The lack of lights failed to hinder her sight, another perk from being a slayer. Sight in darkness is a must when it comes to hunting vampires. Whoever this person that is in her house, it better be a person or...

"What the hell? B?" a familiar voice from above called out.

No...It couldn't be.

A figure swoop down, landing on her feet. With the absence of lights, the figure looked pitched black. Unfortunately, that didn't prevent Joan from seeing her features. The surprised and shocked emotions painted on the figures face.

There's no way...

Her arm reached out behind her, feeling for a light switch. She turned them on and to her dismay, the features didn't change. They were still that of Faith's. Why is this happening now? She had already decided to meet them. Was it not soon enough for the world?

She steeled herself for the upcoming confrontation. Emotionally and most likely physically. "Hello, Faith."

Faith took a few steps forward. "It is you," she whispered.

"Yeah so?"

"What do you mean 'yeah so'?" Faith asked, suddenly irritated. "You got the hell out of dodge without telling anyone! You did it without telling a soul. What? You think that we wouldn't notice or something?"

"I wished it..."

"What the fuck is wrong with you B? Do you even know what you did? You had Giles and the others worried sick and ESPECIALLY Dawn! The bite-size cried herself to sleep every fucking night because of you! Heck, even I was worried. I guess we worried for nothing since you obviously are having the grand o'le..."

Just a few sentences of rambling, and she's already sick of it.

"You all wanted to see me? That's very funny cause' the last time I was with you guys, you ALL so BADLY WANTED to get rid of me that you kicked me out of my own house. MY OWN HOUSE! And now that I'm gone, you want me to come back? Well guess what? You can all go screw your..."

"Look Buffy, this isn't about you! This is about Dawn..." Faith interrupted her. Apparently, Joan also had the same idea.

"Oh Just this ONCE it's going to be about me. With everything I did and sacrificed for this world, I think it's only right. You all kicked me out of my own house. Why? Because you all were scared out of your mind to go into battle..."

"That isn't it Buffy and you know it."

"Call me Joan," she felt a tingle of satisfaction as she saw Faith's wide eyes. Her hand unconsciously went around the sword's handle. "So why did you kick me out of my house?"

Faith took a deep breath. She'll have to process the Joan thing later. "You weren't thinking straight B. You wanted to take on that priest guy without even thinking."

"Oh and you're the epitome of thinking F," Joan retorted.

"Look, I'm not saying that..."

She couldn't actually believe that she was hearing this. Are they actually this dense or is it just Faith?

"Look you little bitch, how did you beat the First? Isn't it because of the slice-and-dice thing that Caleb was hiding. The weapon that was located in the vineyard to you all were trying to stay away from? Willow couldn't have done her little spell without it."

"Yes but that's not it. Even before that, girls died because..." Faith started once again but only to be interrupted once more.

"OH BOO FUCKING HOO! Last time I checked, when you're in a war people die. That isn't even my fault. Those girls that died before, I couldn't do anything about that ok?"

Joan's grip tightened around the sword. The voices were whispering to her again...

After a moment, her grip around the sword relaxed. She eyed Faith, awaiting more words of wisdom from her. There was none. She wasn't the same Buffy as before. No, she was a girl, a mercenary that has no loyalty of her own. Just loyalty to those who would hire her. Good or evil. She was a girl with little morals. She wasn't the Buffy that stood tall on plateaus of morals and dignity. No, she is Joan. She knew that is exactly what Faith saw as she looked at her.

She eyed Faith warily as the raven slayer snuck her right hand in her pocket. Her grip once again tightened around the sword. Joan knows that Faith knows that she has a sword. She wouldn't pull a stunt that would get her hurt but just in case... Faith fished out what looked like a red bracelet. She casually put it on around her left wrist.

Joan's grip relaxed once more. A split second later, she realized what a mistake that was as Faith charged her onto the nearest wall. The impact left the blonde Slayer shaken. With her free hand, she spun around and lashed out with a backhand. Her fist hit Faith squarely on the face. She attempted to follow-up by using her sword handle as a weapon but Faith knocked the wind out of her with a blow to her stomach, causing her to double over in pain. The former rouge slayer launched a kick to her stomach, intending to double the pain in that region. Joan saw the oncoming kick and caught it with her two hands. Still gripping the other Slayer's foot, she hurled both arms upward as hard as she could sending Faith into the air. Little good it did as Faith somersaulted in the air and landed on her feet firmly.

The fight raged on. The world's best two slayers against each other. They were evenly matched, a fact that Joan loathed deeply. In the past, she was the better slayer. She had always been better than her by some mark. Of course, back then it didn't matter to her. But now that small gap had closed. Joan didn't know if her skills had declined or Faith's had improved.

Opportunity presented itself as Joan ducked a wide swing, leaving her rival open to a shot. Or so she thought. As she was about to retaliate with a right, her hand was met halfway by Faith's. Her palm slapped against the other girl's left. Faith exerted pressure to keep their palms joined.

Bright blobs of lights flared up around them then began swirling around them. First slowly then it speed up to a dizzying speed. Joan was closed her eyes, the bright lights straining her eyes. She felt a gust of whirlwind then it was all gone. She noticed that Faith's hand was no longer against hers. Instead it was against a cold hard floor along with her knees.

Her eyes opened and to her shock, she was no longer in her comfy home. She was in another facility. There were girls in their teens staring at her.

Something told her that they weren't just normal girls but Slayers. She was in a room full of Slayers! That bitch somehow transported her to one of the Council's facilities!

Her eyes widened as she recognized two familiar faces (aside from Faith's). Long red hair standing next to a slightly wavy brunette. Willow and Kennedy. This is turning out to be a nightmare!

Joan got up from all fours and looked up at them. This wasn't how she pictured how they would meet once again. It was supposed to be her stealing the stupid book and telling them off!

Combination of hurt, shock, confusion was sent in waves thorough their stares. She noticed anger coming from the red head and sickening amused feeling from her girlfriend. It was all too much for Joan. She didn't want to face this. She closed her eyes once more.

"This...isn't happening," she took a step back. Tears now bordered around her eyes.

Joan opened her eyes. Willow and the others were no longer staring in confusion at her but at her hand. Her eyes followed their stare and saw her hand gripping the sword. The sword is resonating fierce violet. A few seconds later, it no longer resonated but glowed brightly. Joan somehow knew that the sword is not unveiling another of it's nifty tricks this time but doing something else. Her other hand quickly laid upon her forehead as the whispering voice has returned. It was the same sweet voice but it was more frantic this time. She couldn't understand what it was saying.

"Buffy, what's going on?" asked Willow.

"I do... aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Joan screamed in pain. The sword's fierce violet glow had begun to transfer and settle inside Joan. The blonde slayer felt great pain. The sword was still glowing violet but now, it was a very weak glow. It was a very weak glow compared to her body. Her whole body was now glowing violet. The energy was sifting inside through Joan in a quick pace.

Her painful screams was threatening to make her lung collapse. After a few moments, the energy finished sifting inside through her. All the violet had completely settled inside her. She was no longer glowing and so has the sword.

Joan fell to all fours again. Her mouth was open widely, sucking in as much air as possible. Her chest was heaving heavily.

She heard a footstep towards her.

"B, you all right?"

Her mouth closed. After a few silent seconds, her lips stretch to a cold grin. She made no effort to look at Faith.

"I'm just fine," she said softly.