The Quickening

Previously:

"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."

Chapter Fifty-One:

"So we believe this Balthazar guy is dead?" Buffy asked, propping her feet up on the library table, much to both Giles and Wesley's dismay. Faith, upon noticing the distressed looks on their faces, discreetly elbowed her sister slayer in the side. Buffy, however, did not understand Faith's intention, and, while rubbing her now sore ribs, glared pointedly over at Faith.

"Your feet, B," Faith said, exasperated. "They aren't gonna hear a word you say so long as your shoes are scuffing up the table."

"Oh," Buffy said, realizing why Faith had so strategically elbowed her in the side. Looking down at the table sheepishly, she quickly removed her feet.

"Thank you," Giles said with a sigh of relief.

"Back to the business at hand," Wesley continued. "Yes, we believe that Balthazar is dead."

"Last night it sounded like you thought he might still be kickin' around," Faith said.

"I was wrong," Wes replied, much to the astonishment of Buffy and Giles, who still thought of Wesley as a pompous, arrogant fool. "In rereading my materials this morning, I discovered the Balthazar was believed to have been killed quite some time ago."

"So why are they here, then?" Buffy asked.

"Balthazar possessed a very powerful amulet. Purportedly, it was recovered by a wealthy landowner named Gleaves, who had it buried with him upon his death," Wesley explained.

"So why are they looking for it now?" Faith pondered. "It's not like it would do them any good."

"Perhaps they wish to reacquire it for sentimental value," Wesley suggested.

"Or perhaps our demon Balthazar is not as dead as we'd like to think," Giles pointed out. "The amulet would have little use to El Eliminati without him. However, their search for it could be an indication that Balthazar is back and wants what was his."

"I'm thinking more with Giles on this one," Buffy stated. "I've never known demons, or demon worshippers for that matter, to be overly sentimental about things."

"So what's the plan then?" Faith asked, itching for action rather than research and debate.

"The Gleaves family crypt is located somewhere in Sunnydale. Hopefully, the amulet will be buried with it," Wes stated.

"So you want us to go find some dusty, old artifact? We should be going after the big guy himself," Faith said enthusiastically, leaning forward in her chair.

"I don't feel that would be the best course of action at this point in time," Wesley said carefully. Faith sighed and leaned back in her chair again, supposedly defeated.

"Fine, whatever you say, Wes. You're the boss," Faith replied.

"Very well," Wes said with a smile. "Report back tonight with what you've found."

Buffy and Faith both stood, gathered their belongings, and exited the library. "So when do you want to do this?" Buffy asked, looking over at Faith.

"Sorry to bail on ya, girlfriend, but I'm not really into the recon," Faith replied. "I'm more of an action girl, if you know what I mean."

"What about our assignment though, Faith? You heard what Wesley said," Buffy retorted.

"Yeah, I did. But you know what, you do the homework, and I'll copy yours," Faith said, winking at Buffy before pushing open the exit doors of Sunnydale High. Buffy stood for several long moments, watching Faith depart, before shaking her head and sighing.

"Alright then, I guess I'm in this alone."

…………………………….

Buffy, armed with a rather large flashlight and clad in the most clandestine clothes that she could find in her closet, carefully opened the door of the Gleaves family crypt. Shining the flashlight through the small room, she sighed in relief upon noting that its only occupants were laying in the grave, where they had been resting for centuries. Three large crypts were situated in the center of the room. Moving over to the closest, she lifted off the lid with a grunt and slid it aside. Peering into the coffin, she sighed.

"Strike one," she muttered to herself as she slid the lid back onto the stone box. Moving over to the second, she repeated her actions. However, this time when she peered inside, she saw the amulet peering back out at her. "Bingo," she said triumphantly. Suddenly, her slayer senses began to tingle rapidly, chills running up and down her spine, indicating that very soon she would not be alone. Grabbing the amulet, she slid it inside of her jacket pocket, and carefully slid the coffin lid back in place. Then she turned, preparing to make a hasty exit. However, when she turned, she saw that she was surrounded by nearly a half dozen vampires holding torches.

"This is so not good," Buffy muttered to herself. The vampires moved closer, forming a tight circle around her.

"Give us the amulet," one of them hissed at her.

"I don't think so," Buffy replied. "But if you ask nicely, maybe I'll reconsider."

"You want to play rough? We can handle that," the vampire sneered. They set their torches aside and prepared to attack.

"Hey!" A voice called from the door of the crypt. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Faith said, moving into the room.

"Faith?" Buffy asked, immensely relieved to see the younger girl. "I thought you weren't coming."

"Wasn't planning on it," Faith replied. "But I had a change of heart."

"I'm glad you did," Buffy responded. "Now let's kick some ass."

Faith smiled sweetly before she grabbed the nearest vampire and easily tossed him against the crypt wall. It landed against the wall with a smack that reverberated throughout the room. Pulling a stake from the waistband of her pants, she quickly plunged the weapon through its heart, watching as it burst into dust. Meanwhile, Buffy was taking on two vampires at one time, handling herself quite nicely. Keeping them both at arm's length, she pummeled one with a swift fury of kicks, knocking it off its feet before turning to the other and punching it fiercely in the face.

Faith turned and watched as the remaining four vampires surrounded her. She could see that Buffy was handling herself extremely well and relaxed, unconcerned about the safety of her sister slayer. "What's up boys?" Faith asked. "Want a piece of this?" The vampires charged and Faith leapt into the air, flipping over their heads, and landing behind them. She plunged her stake into the back of the nearest. The others turned, the closest grabbed Faith from behind, and held her as the other two advanced. Buffy looked over and saw Faith's predicament. Staking the vampire she had kicked into submission, she punched the other in the head, temporarily knocking him out, before rushing to Faith's aid.

Grabbing one of the vampires, she tossed him aside. Faith lashed out with her feet, catching the advancing vampire off guard and knocking him back. Throwing her head back, she smiled as she heard the sound of the nose of the vampire, who had been holding her, breaking. The vampire stumbled backwards and Faith wriggled out of its grasp. Staking the one in front of her, she turned and kicked the other in the side of the head. He fell to the floor and she leapt on top of him, straddling his chest. Her eyes shone with an animalistic power as she plunged the stake into his heart and he crumpled to dust. Looking up, she saw Buffy dispatching the last vampire.

"Well, that went well," Faith said.

"Yeah, we got the amulet," Buffy replied, pulling it out of her jacket and holding it up for Faith to see.

"Score," Faith responded. "So, do we trust Wes with it, or do we find an alternate means of storage?"

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"Wes doesn't exactly seem equipped to defend that thing with his life. Any vampire that wanted it would just have to walk up to him and ask nicely. I think we should give it to someone a little more capable," Faith explained.

"You mean Angel," Buffy replied, finally catching on to Faith's train of thought.

"Exactly," Faith answered.

"I'll call him, tell him to meet us at the Bronze," Buffy said. "I think we deserve a little break."

……………………..

Angel entered the Bronze, his eyes searching out Buffy and Faith. He had received her telephone call and left instantly, knowing the value and importance of the amulet that the two slayers possessed. He spotted Buffy and Faith lounging in the back and moved quickly over to them. "You called?" He asked, sitting down across from them.

"Yeah, we need you to hold on to this for a little while," Buffy replied, producing the amulet from inside of her jacket. She handed it to Angel and he quickly slid it into his own jacket pocket, hiding it from view.

"Not a problem," Angel replied.

"Do us a favor though," Faith said, "and tell G-man that you have it. He'll want to know."

"Be careful," Angel said, rising to his feet. "If Balthazar is alive, he's not going to be too happy. They'll be looking for you."

"We're not staying long," Buffy replied. "But we'll watch our backs."

"Good," Angel said. "See you later."

"How does he do that?" Faith wondered aloud, as Angel practically disappeared from view.

"Must be a vampire thing," Buffy answered. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Faith replied.

"Let's take the side streets. No need to call attention to ourselves," Buffy said.

"Good plan," Faith responded. "The alleys are safer anyways."