The Quickening

Previously:

"Looks like we're taking a field trip then, Wes," Faith replied. "I'll be back here tonight. You should be prepared for a long night. There's no way in hell I'm ever going to work with you if you don't know what it's really like out there. But, if you survive it," Faith said, looking over at Giles, and winking, "maybe we'll talk."

Chapter Fifty:

"So Buffy found some swords and this is important because?" Faith asked, bored out of her mind. She and Wesley had been patrolling for the better part of an hour without incident. Thus far, Faith's field trip to break Wes in had been a bust.

"The swords are important because they belonged to a group called El Eliminati," Wesley explained, in Faith's opinion, rather condescendingly.

"Okay, let's get one thing straight," Faith said, stopping suddenly and turning to face him. "Don't ever talk down to me. I get that you're a lot smarter than me. But you don't have to rub it in my face, okay?"

Wesley nodded and looked down at the ground, his face turning a bright shade of red. "I apologize," he said sincerely. "I didn't mean to talk down to you."

"It's five by five," Faith said, continuing walking. "Just don't do it again."

"I won't," Wes promised. "So is it always this dead?"

"It is a cemetery," Faith joked. Wesley shot her a disapproving glare. "What?" Faith replied, shrugging her shoulders. "You Watchers really need to get a sense of humor."

"I'll work on that," Wes said, smiling at little.

"There's usually more activity than this," Faith said, picking up on Wes' unanswered question.

"Perhaps they're all elsewhere," Wes suggested.

"Like?" Faith asked.

"The Eliminati are in town. They're the servants of a demon called Balthazar. New demon comes to town, perhaps the rest are laying low," Wes explained.

"That would make sense," Faith replied. Suddenly, a scream pierced through the night. Faith broke out into a run in the direction of the sound. "Com on!" She shouted over her shoulder at Wesley. Despite his best effort, he could not keep up with her. Eventually, he found her viciously fighting a vampire. Her stake was lying a few feet away from him. Rushing over to it, he picked it up.

"Faith!" He called. Faith looked over her shoulder and Wes tossed her the stake.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly as she plunged the stake into the vampire's heart. "Kinda needed that."

"I assumed as much," Wes answered. His blood was pumping through his veins. He had not seen a slayer fight a vampire until that moment. The grace and beauty of Faith's moves he astounded him. Likewise, the feral, animalistic nature of the vampire's attack had frightened him beyond compare. "The victim?" Wes asked, looking around.

"I don't think I got here in time," Faith said, kneeling down next to a crumpled body, huddled up against a gravestone. "Come here," she instructed.

Wesley cautiously moved forward, desperately trying to regain control over his breathing. "Is she dead?" He asked, although he feared that he already knew the answer to the question.

"Yeah," Faith replied. "I want you to look really hard at her," she said. "Remember her face whenever you try to give me or B a lecture about responsibility, or what it means to be a slayer. Believe me, we know," Faith said sadly, looking back at the girl.

"Will she rise?" Wes asked.

"I don't think so," Faith replied. "He was just looking for a midnight snack."

"Should we alert the police?" Wes asked, unsure of how to handle the situation.

"No," Faith said, rising to her feet and slipping the stake into the waistband of her pants. "Someone will find her."

"So we just leave her here?" Wes asked incredulously.

"We could find a payphone, try to explain to the police how we found a body in the cemetery, but do you have any idea how much time that would take? By the time they showed up, someone else would be dead. We have to keep moving, Wes. We have to keep hunting," Faith explained.

"I imagine you're right," Wes said, thinking about Faith's explanation. "It still feels wrong."

"I know," Faith said, walking away with Wesley trailing behind her. "That's just the way it is."

………………………

Faith gratefully slid underneath the covers of her bed. It had been a long night, but by the end of it, she and Wesley had come to an understanding. He was not coming into a situation with two brand new slayers. He realized now that Buffy and Faith were seasoned veterans. They did not need someone to come in and turn everything upside down; instead, they simply needed someone to help them when things were more than they could handle on their own. She could see a whole new respect in Wesley's eyes when he looked at her by the end of the night. He had seen her fight and he knew the power that lie within her. Conversely, Faith had come to respect Wesley as well. He seemed to know a great deal about demons. Though Giles did as well, it did not hurt to have two experts on her team.

Turning off the light, Faith sighed and closed her eyes, rolling over onto her side. She had wanted to stop by Xander's place after patrol, but Wesley insisted on walking her home, though she probably should have done him the favor instead. She could feel her eyelids become heavy as sleep began to take her. Instantly, she fell into a dream. The dream was unlike the others she had been experiencing as of late. Instead of being an active participant in the dream, she was looking in from the outside. She recognized her surroundings instantly. She was in her room at Giles's apartment.

The morning sun was streaming in through the opened window. She could hear birds chirping outside, but for some reason, they felt out of place. Looking around the room, she noticed that it was much cleaner than she usually kept it. Her clothes were neatly placed in her closet and all of her things seemed to be in order. The room felt empty, almost as if she had not been there in quite some time. Suddenly, she felt the presence of someone walking into the room. Buffy entered through the door. Giles was behind her, but he lingered in the doorway for a moment, a sad expression on his face. Buffy's face was like stone. Faith could not read what was on her sister slayer's mind.

"I'm sorry, Giles," Buffy said, her voice cold and hard. "But it had to be done."

"I know," Giles replied. His voice was strained, as if he were trying to keep his emotions in check. Faith looked closer and saw that his eyes were red, like he had been crying. Looking back at Buffy, Faith noticed for the first time that blood stained the front of her shirt.

"What the hell is going on?" Faith muttered aloud, although she knew that neither of the people in the room could hear her.

"Do you think she'll wake up?" Buffy asked, her voice suddenly small and weak. Giles shook his head and, in a defeated tone, replied, "I don't know."

Faith closed her eyes, suddenly wanting to be anywhere but in that room. When she opened them again, she was standing on the balcony of an apartment that she recognized from a previous dream. Suddenly, she felt something cold slide through her body. Then hot, stinging pain shot through her senses. Looking down, she saw the blade of a knife sticking out of her stomach. She could feel her knees starting to crumple beneath her and she mustered all of her strength to remain standing. She had never felt a pain like the one that was spreading through her body. It was so intense that it brought tears to her eyes, but it also brought relief and comfort.

"I'm dying," she said, looking down at the blade again, and the thought did not scare her as she thought it should. She could see her face looking back at her in a distorted reflection. It did not look anything like her. The girl staring back at her was a monster. Her eyes were empty, soulless, and a cold sneer lingered on her face. Faith looked up, to see her attacker, and held back a gasp of surprise. "Buffy?" Faith asked, but the other girl did not answer her.

Then she was falling. She could feel the air parting beneath her. It blew up through her hair, rushing passed her with a force that caused the air to shoot from her lungs. She connected with solid ground and stars exploded in front of her eyes. She felt as if she were going to pass out. The ground was hard against her back. It felt like a road. Turning her head to the side, Faith determined that she was lying in an alley. There was a chain-linked fence several yards away. Some boxes were stacked in front of it. Pulling herself to her feet, she noticed that the pain in her stomach was gone. Looking down, she saw that the wound had disappeared.

Looking around the alley, Faith noticed a man standing in the shadows. She could feel fear pouring off of him in waves. Moving over to him, she saw his face clearly in a street lamp. He looked familiar somehow, like she had seen him on the news. However, she could not put a name to his face. "What's going on?" Faith asked again, louder this time.

"Remember my face," the man suddenly said and Faith knew that it was the First Evil talking.

"Why?" Faith asked.

"Everyday for the rest of your life, my face will haunt your nightmares. You'll see it every time you close your eyes, burned onto your eyelids. You'll never forget me," the man answered.

"But I don't even know who you are," Faith replied anxiously.

"Oh, you will," he responded, his thin lips curling up into a smile. "You will."