The Quickening

Notes: Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming.

Previously:

"Faith," he said, touching the side of her face, "I love you."

Faith looked up at him, fear paralyzing her for a moment, before she heatedly pressed her lips against his. When she pulled away, she buried her face against his neck. He could feel her lips move and heard her whisper the words he longed to hear, "I love you too."

Chapter Forty-Seven:

Faith awoke with a stream of sunlight dancing upon her face. Opening her eyes, she blinked several times to clear the sleep from her vision. Instantly, she knew that she was in Xander's apartment. The events of the preceding night flooded back into her memory. They had fought to close the Hellmouth and succeeded, thus preventing yet another apocalypse from occurring in Sunnydale. Then she and Xander had returned to his apartment. Smiling, Faith thought of the events that followed their return. She had never made love to anyone, though she had been intimate with many other people. Even then, she would not have called her relationship with those people 'intimate.' Instead, she had barely known those people. Some had been friends of hers, who crossed the boundaries of friendship, with or without her consent.

Her relationship with Xander, however, was quite different. Somehow, Xander had infiltrated her heart, when no other person had been able to do so. She felt him stir beside her. Turning, he pressed his body against hers, resting his head against the nape of her neck. Unconsciously, he wrapped his arm around her stomach. Faith could tell that he was still asleep. His breath was even and deep. Based on the position of the sun, Faith imagined that it was only a little after dawn. The sun had risen again, thanks to her and the other Scoobies. Faith had not known many moments of pride in her life, mostly humiliation and defeat. However, as she allowed the warm sunlight to caress her face, she closed her eyes, and indulged in a quiet moment of satisfaction.

The world would never know how many times it had come into peril, only to be rescued, sometimes by the most unlikely of people. Faith thought back to the fight. A group of teenagers had saved the world. She, a runaway from Boston with no family, and Buffy, an ex-cheerleader from Los Angeles, who had been branded a bad seed because she cared enough to put her duty above her desires, were charged with the sacred mission of protecting the world. By all rights, they should have been like the rest of the world, ignorant of the things that went bump in the night. However, they were not able to have normal lives, like other people their age. Though Buffy fought against her calling, Faith knew that she took it incredibly seriously.

Faith, however, lived for her calling. Her life before becoming a slayer had been a series of bad memories, of times she wished that she could forget. However, once she became a slayer, she discovered a control, a power, that she had never known. No longer could her mother, or her mother's dealers, push her around, or have their way with her. She learned that she could fight back. Instead of taking what life gave her and accepting it with defeat, she could mold life into whatever she wanted. However, she did not know what she wanted from life. She spent a long time squandering the newfound power she possessed, until Kate arrived in Boston and taught her how to harness her skills. She became bent on one thing – destroying everything evil that stood in her way.

However, she did not take to her calling so fiercely out of a noble or ethical disposition. Instead, she fought against the powers of darkness to fight against her very soul. She knew that she had both light and dark inside of herself. She could feel each power vying for control every day. She imagined that the darkness was something that she had inherited from her parents. They both turned to vices and committed evil deeds to satisfy some desire in their hearts. Faith could feel that same desire in her own heart. It was the desire to lose herself, to numb the pain she felt by letting everything fall away until only the blackness of her being remained.

Faith could feel that darkness less and less. When she first arrived in Sunnydale, she thought that it might consume her. Now, however, things were quite different. She had a home now and someone to look after her. Giles loved her very much; she could see it in his eyes. He viewed her as the daughter that he never had and he treated her very much like his own. For that, Faith was eternally grateful. She had learned to let other people in as well. Sunnydale provided a great opportunity for friendship. Though in the past, she had not capitalized on such opportunities, now, she very must desired to do so. Cordelia, for one, was turning out to be quite a loyal and devoted friend – one that Faith was proud to have on her side.

However, a home, a guardian, and friends were not all that lessened the hold of darkness on her heart. She had found something that she did not expect that she would ever find – love. Xander had given her his love, and despite herself, she found herself doing the same. She did not think that she could ever love anyone, not after the way she had been used and abused in Boston. However, she wanted to love Xander. After fighting the feeling for several months, she finally gave into it and accepted it. When she had confessed her feelings to him the night before, she felt as if she had finally crossed over the threshold into light. The darkness was now only a veiled memory, dispelled by dawn.

"Morning," Faith heard Xander mumbled against her neck as he awoke. Faith smiled and lifted his hand to her lips, kissing his knuckles gently.

"Morning," she replied. "What time is it?"

Xander turned and looked back at the clock. "Around seven. I don't have to be at school for another hour or so," he said, snuggling back down into the warmth of her neck. "I say we just stay here all day anyway."

"Yeah?" Faith responded, liking that plan as well. "It's not like we don't deserve a break or anything. After all, we did save the world last night."

"Exactly," Xander agreed. "I say we sleep in. I think the Powers that Be will understand."

"And hopefully your principal will too," Faith replied, laughing when Xander groaned.

"I don't think that man understands anything," he said, propping himself up on his elbow. Faith turned so that she was facing him. The sunlight hit her back and, instantly, she felt warmth spreading through her body. Xander ran his hand up her arm and tingles shot through her skin.

"I don't think I ever want to leave," Faith whispered suddenly, looking deep into his eyes. Xander smiled and pressed his lips against her forehead, willing her to feel all of the love he had to give her.

"Neither do I."

…………………………….

Alan Finch shut his office door behind him and leaned against it wearily. He had spent the past several weeks gathering information on the Mayor, in order to present it to the slayers. His task was almost complete. Every day that he grew closer to betraying his boss, his anxiety increased. Each visit his made to the Mayor's office, he felt as if Wilkins could see through him, to his intentions. He knew that the Mayor would have him killed if he ever became aware of Alan's plan to reveal him to the slayers. He could only imagine the horrible pain and death that the Mayor would inflict upon him.

However, he did not wish to think about such things. Instead, he consoled himself with the knowledge that he was taking a stand for once in his life. Instead of letting everyone trample over him, as he had always done, he was making a move. He had never been an incredibly moral man. He simply did what society told him was right and never questioned anything. Nothing seemed to shock him too greatly. However, he knew that what the Mayor had planned was morally corrupt. The Mayor would cause the deaths of a great many people before the end, deaths that Alan believed that he could prevent. He would do everything in his power to see that every possible person could be spared.

According to the Mayor's plans, the dedication was rapidly approaching. Alan was not entirely sure what that meant, but he knew, in the end, that the Mayor was going to ascend into the demon he truly was under the guise of humanity. Alan needed to give the information he had to the slayers soon. Moving over to his desk, he grabbed a manila folder out of the top, left hand, locked drawer. Inside of that folder was everything he knew, laid out in perfect detail. It was not safe to leave the folder in his office anymore. He had to take it with him. Putting the folder in his brief case, he closed it tight and locked it. Then he exited his office. He had spent the entire night there, researching what the Mayor had planned. The sun had just risen a few minutes ago. It was time for him to leave. If everything went according to plan, he would never come back.