The Quickening

Chapter One:

Within a matter of moments, Faith had unpacked her life into the small, but sturdy dresser that stood across from the bed. Her belongings only partially filled one drawer. Faith looked down at the items neatly stacked inside and swallowed a moment of pity. In the back of her mind, she always remembered that everyone else had much more than she did – money, possessions, family. Even so, Faith knew that she had all that the she needed. She was her own rock, her own saving grace, and she didn't need anything else.

"Some food would be nice though," she mumbled to the empty room as her stomach growled. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten, but she imagined it was quite some time ago. Despite her ferocious appetite, she could stifle hunger for as long as she needed to. But, with a couple extra dollars burning a hole in her pocket, she thought that she didn't need to stifle it for the time being.

Grabbing her room key off the dresser, she tucked a stake in her waistband, and turned off the lights. Then she headed out for her own personal tour of Sunnydale. As eager as she was to slay, she also wanted to get to know the lay of the land before engaging anything of the demonic variety. Her watcher had always taught her to know every possible escape before rushing into a situation. Of course, she had taught Faith that to ensure that Faith knew exactly where the vampires would be running when they realized that they couldn't defeat a slayer. However, the tip had come in handy on some occasions when the fight got to be too much.

Faith walked along a broken, chipped sidewalk that ran parallel to the main road leading into Sunnydale. Several yards ahead of her, she could see the looming golden arches of McDonalds. The food wasn't anything to brag about particularly, but it was cheap and quick. Her slayer senses had been on high alert ever since she entered Sunnydale; Faith imagined it was because of the Hellmouth. Though she was learning to ignore it for the most part, she took a careful look around before entering the restaurant, peering intently into the dark alley next to it. When she couldn't see a pair of eyes staring back, she went inside to make the most of her dinner.

…………………………

Xander sighed as he stood in front of his mirror. He absently ran a hand through his hair, hoping in vain that it would work with him instead of against him for once in his life. "Maybe I should just shave it all off," he muttered to himself. He was meeting the rest of the Scooby Gang at the Bronze that night. Though he would never admit it to any of them, he wasn't in a joking, fun loving sort of mood.

"Xander!" A harsh male voice called up the stairs.

"Yeah?" Xander yelled back, his voice even and controlled.

"Where the hell are my cigarettes?"

Closing his eyes, Xander took a deep breath before answering. "On the table by the couch," he yelled down. He could hear his father moving about in the living room. By the silence that followed their exchange, Xander assumed he was correct. Shifting his gaze back to the mirror in front of him, he smiled slightly. He hated his family, his house, and sometimes the awkward face staring back at him in the mirror. But he knew he had it good in comparison to some people. After all, he had great friends, a purpose in life, and a beautiful girlfriend, even if he did sometimes believe that Cordelia really was mortally embarrassed of him.

"I can do this," he said, nodding to himself. "I can be fun loving, happy Xander…if only for a little while." Grabbing his jacket and keys, he slipped out of his bedroom. Pausing at the top of the stairs, he could hear his father flipping through the channels of the television. He carefully walked down the stairs, avoiding the spots that he knew creaked and slipped out of the front door without his father ever having known he left. It wasn't that Xander couldn't go out at night, but if his father knew he was leaving, it would take him twenty minutes to get out of the house amidst a barrage of questions and insults as to the way he was dressed or the state of his life.

The cool, night air hit his face and Xander smiled. His feet naturally guided him to the Bronze, wandering passed the alleys he knew to be trouble and through the streets that were better lit than others were. He had a stake in his pocket, but he wasn't going to take any chances. He knew he wasn't Buffy. On good days, he could knock a vampire down, maybe stake it. But those good days were few and far between. Xander had resigned himself to being the backup guy, not the superhero. He was there when the moment called, though he didn't always come through physically, he believed in what he did with all of his heart.

"Hey," Xander said, smiling widely when he saw Buffy and Willow waiting outside of the Bronze for him. "Ready to get down?" He asked, breaking into an impromptu dance. Buffy and Willow both tried to stifle their laughter, though they failed miserably.

"Might wanna work on the whole 'gettin down' thing there, Xander," Buffy said, smiling and taking his arm as he led both she and Willow into the club.

"Not workin' for ya?" He asked.

"No," both Buffy and Willow responded emphatically.

"Oh, well," he said, shrugging. "It was worth a try."

………………………………

Faith paused outside of a massive warehouse style building called the Bronze. Though she knew she had better things to do than hang out at a club all night, she couldn't resist the temptation to take a spin through the place and see what the best and brightest of Sunnydale had to offer. She managed to slip by the bouncer without paying and disappeared into the crowd of teenagers packed inside. Worming her way through the mob, she knocked into a guy just inside of the doorway, nearly knocking him over. "In the way much?" She said, blowing him off. He was sort of cute, in a geeky, boy next-door kind of way.

She forgot about him the instant her feet hit the dance floor. The music seemed to fill her mind and her feet took over, the rest of her operating on autopilot. She vaguely registered someone moving up behind her and smiled when that someone's hands latched onto her hips. Her smile faded though when her slayer senses started bouncing off the charts. Spinning, she faced the vampire that she was dancing with. He was dressed much like he had just walked out of disco in the '70s. There was no way she would have even considered the guy, but as a vampire, she needed to get him outside.

"Let's go somewhere a little more private," Faith drawled into his ear. The guy smiled and she took his hand, leading him out of the club. Across the room, the Scooby Gang watched her and her vampire date departing.

"Check out Slut-O-Rama and her Disco Dave. What was the last thing that guy danced to, K.C. and the Sunshine Band?" Cordelia said, absently taking a sip from her drink. Buffy watched the couple intently.

"I don't think that guy thrives on sunshine," she said, rising to her feet.

Faith and the vampire wormed their way through the crowd and out into the fresh, night air. "So, where do you wanna go?" Faith asked, batting her eyelashes at him and smiling sweetly.

"Come on, I know this place," the guy said, taking her by the hand and heading down the nearest alley. Faith smirked, but let herself be dragged along. They reached the end of the alley and the guy turned, his face shifting into its true form.

"I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to scream and try to run away, huh?" Faith asked, much to the vampire's surprise. "Sorry, ain't gonna happen," she said, whipping out her stake. The vampire charged and knocked her backwards into a chain link fence. The stake flew out of her grasp into a pile of garbage. "Shit," Faith muttered.

It was then that Buffy and the rest of the gang appeared, armed and ready to fight. Faith saw them over the vampire's shoulder and instantly knew who Buffy was. She saw Buffy move forward and smirked. "It's okay, I got it," she said, punching the vampire in the face. He stumbled back and Faith wiggled free of his grasp. "You're, uh, Buffy, right? I'm Faith."

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there's a new slayer in town," Oz said dryly. Faith maneuvered her way over to Buffy and snatched the stake out of her hand.

"Mind if I borrow that?" She asked. Turning, she plunged the stake deep into the vampire's heart. A couple of seconds later, he vanished into dust. "Thanks, B," Faith said, handing the stake back and throwing her a wink. "I couldn't have done it without ya."