The Quickening

Previously:

A bright smile lit up Alan's face when it suddenly dawned on him that though Sunnydale was home to numerous evil and filthy creatures, it was also home to two vampire slayers – mystical warriors chosen by fate, or god, or some higher power, to restore balance in the world by fighting the forces of darkness.

Chapter Thirty-Nine:

"Damn splinter," Faith muttered, pulling her hand back from one of the wooden crates piled up next to the boarding house where the Cruciamenthum was set to take place. The sun had set several minutes ago and, per her agreement with Giles, she was getting in place to help Buffy if her assistance became necessary. Though she was eager to help her sister slayer, Faith could also list several places she would have rather been than sitting on a wooden crate, trying to climb into a broken second story window of an abandoned boarding house where a caged up, starving vampire was waiting.

"And what the hell made me think this was a good idea?" Faith pondered aloud. She carefully crawled through the window, avoiding the broken glass, and hoping not to alert the vampire or any Council members still lurking around the boarding house to her presence. She could hear voices downstairs, broken snippets of conversation in English accents, but she could not hear what they were saying. Though her slayer senses had the normal tingle that walking around at night usually garnered, they were not flying off the charts as she had expected. She imagined that with a vampire locked up only a floor below, her senses would have been screaming at her to go and fight. However, she felt almost calm and a little more than slightly bored.

She had no idea when the Cruciamenthum was supposed to begin and she was eager to get back to Xander's apartment. Rising to her feet, she brushed some dust off her clothes, and moved over to the nearest door. She opened it a little, listening through the crack. "We've just set him loose, sir," one of the voices said. She heard a pointed silence and thought for a moment that the people had left.

"Very good," she heard Quentin Travers say. She could practically see him nod in approval. "And have we got our insurance?"

"Insurance?" Faith muttered to herself, wondering exactly what that meant.

"Yes, sir," the other voice replied. "She's being brought in immediately."

"Who?" Faith asked, moving closer to the door. She could hear the front door of the boarding house opening, followed by a heavy scuffling sound. Faith imagined that they were dragging a body in, probably not a dead body, but simply just an unconscious body. "Can't have dead insurance," Faith said to herself.

"She'll regain consciousness soon enough," the voice said.

"Good, put her upstairs," Quentin replied. "Can't have Kralik deciding to take a bite, now can we?"

"Absolutely not," the voice responded. Faith could hear two men dragging the unconscious woman up the stairs.

"Shit," she muttered to herself, somehow sensing that they were coming into the room she was currently occupying. Moving quickly away from the door, she scrambled into a nearby closet and closed the crumbling down door behind her. She had to hold it in place to keep it from falling off. The two men dragged the body into the room and sat it down on the floor. She heard them leave and walk down the hall. Then one of them dragged a chair back into the room. Faith watched through a crack in the door as the man put the unconscious woman on the chair and tied her down. Faith could not see her face, but the woman looked oddly familiar.

"She's not getting out," one of the man said. "Let's go. This whole thing creeps me out. I don't want to be here when Kralik comes back."

"Yeah, man," the other said. "Neither do I." Faith waited until their feet clomped back down the stairs and she could hear all four men leaving the house entirely before she carefully slid open the closet door.

"This is not good," Faith muttered as she saw the face of the unconscious woman tied down to the chair in front of her. Moving over to her, she quickly untied her. "Joyce? Can you hear me?" She asked, kneeling in front of Buffy's mother. "Joyce?"

Joyce's eyes slowly began to flutter open and she looked at Faith. "Faith?" Joyce asked, her voice slightly slurred. "Where am I?"

"Abandoned boarding house," Faith replied. "It's this whole thing. But we've got to get you out of here. It's really not safe."

"Why? What's going on?" Joyce asked, starting to become aware of her surroundings.

"Very soon, there will be an incredibly hungry vampire downstairs. And you can't be here when he gets back," Faith answered, helping Joyce to her feet.

"What about you?" Joyce asked, looking over at Faith with concern shining in her eyes.

"I'm supposed to be here," Faith replied.

"You're going to kill it?" Joyce asked as Faith helped her move across the room.

"No, Buffy's gonna kill it. I'm just here to help her out," Faith said.

"Oh, okay," Joyce replied.

"Stand here a minute," Faith responded, moving over to the window. Elbowing the window, she stuffed her hand up in her sleeve and knocked away the remaining glass. "Take my hand," Faith said, offering Joyce her hand. Joyce took it and Faith led her out of the window, onto the crates just below it. "So what happened anyway?"

"I heard this knock outside the kitchen door," Joyce replied. "I went to go see what it was…I thought it was Buffy…but it turned out to be some men with English accents and suits. Who were they?"

"Watcher's Council," Faith replied bitterly.

"But I thought the Council was on your side? Why would they kidnap me?" Joyce asked in confusion.

"Things aren't always what they seem," Faith answered. She helped Joyce climb down the crates and waited until Buffy's mom hit the sold ground below before she started walking.

"Where are we going?" Joyce asked, following after her.

"Back to your house," Faith replied. "I'm going to leave you there. I have to come back. But we'll call Giles first. Something tells me that you shouldn't be alone tonight."

"That's good," Joyce answered. "It would be nice to have someone there in case they try anything again."

"Agreed," Faith said. It did not take long for Faith and Joyce to arrive back at the Summers residence.

"I didn't leave the front door open," Joyce commented as they walked up the front sidewalk. Faith motioned for her to remain on the porch while she investigated. Moving cautiously into the house, she walked into the kitchen.

"Buffy? You here?" Faith called out. Silence greeted her ears. Turning she noticed a Polaroid picture taped onto the kitchen door. It was a picture of Joyce, unconscious on the kitchen floor. Grabbing the phone, Faith escorted Joyce into the house and dialed Giles's number.

"Giles, it's me," Faith said into the phone. "Get over to Buffy's house, now. There's been a problem."

"What's going on?" Joyce asked.

"I've gotta go. Giles should be here any moment. Just sit tight," Faith replied, rushing out of the door. She ran as fast as she could back to the boarding house. Scrambling back up the wooden crates, she crept in through the second floor window she had snuck out of with Joyce. She could hear a fight downstairs. Moving over to the door, she crept around the staircase and peered down. Kralik, the vampire the Council members had referred to, had Buffy pinned to the floor. He was about to bite her neck.

"Hey," Faith called from the top of the stairs. "I really wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Who're you?" Kralik asked, turning around to face her. Faith could tell that he was not playing with a full deck. A crazy light was shining in his eyes and it reminded her of something intimately familiar.

"I'm the other slayer," Faith replied.

"Other slayer?" Kralik asked, confused. "There's only one per generation."

"Not this time, pal," Faith answered. "You cool, B?" Faith asked, sauntering down the stairs as Buffy scrambled away from the vampire and waited in a corner.

"I'm good," she replied shakily. Faith smiled over at her reassuringly. Buffy watched her in awe she as fought Kralik, easily dusting him within a few moments. Buffy had always thought of herself as some kind of grand hero. Faith just did not seem to compare. Possibly, it was because Buffy had been a slayer longer, and Faith had just shown up out of the blue one day, but Buffy had always thought of Faith as more of a burden than a help. But as she watched Faith kneel down in front of her and brush a strand of her hair away from her face, she saw that Faith truly was a hero deep down inside, even though the younger girl never realized it.

"Let's get you outta here, yeah?" Faith said, smiling as she took Buffy's hand and helped her to her feet.

"Where are we going?" Buffy asked as they walked out of the front door.

"Back to your house. Giles is with your mom," Faith answered.

"You left Giles with my mom?" Buffy asked angrily.

"I take it you found out about what he did?" Faith asked.

"Yeah," Buffy replied. "How could you leave him with her?"

"Look, I know that you're angry with him. I would be too. But you have to look at this whole thing from his perspective," Faith answered. "The Council is much bigger than the two of us, B. They can do all sorts of things that we can't control."

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, looking over at her.

"They threatened to have him deported if he didn't comply with their wishes, B. They probably could have done worse. The fact of the matter is, we're no better off than him. Giles isn't the bad guy here. They are. And we're gonna have to keep an eye on them. I don't think they're just gonna go away," Faith said.

"I can't make any promises," Buffy said, taking what Faith had told her into consideration. "But I'll think about it. I'm still pissed though."

"I get it," Faith replied. "Just don't write him off yet. I have a pretty good sense about people. Giles is one of the few people in this world that you can actually trust."