The Quickening

Previously:

Cordelia wanted to look away, but found herself transfixed as she saw something that she could not quite believe. She watched as the wound on the Mayor's hand suddenly began to knit itself back together. The cut slowly faded until his hand looked as if it had never been injured at all. "Oh my God," Cordelia muttered to herself, pushing away from the door, and continuing down the hallway as quickly as she could. "He can't be injured."

Chapter Sixty-three:

Faith paused, resting her hands on her shovel. They had driven twenty miles outside of town before turning off of the main road and continuing on for another five miles into the desert. The night was cool and clear, the moon shining brightly above them as they dug the grave of Alan Finch. Faith watched Wesley, Angel, and Xander as they dug. Surprisingly, Xander was the quickest with a shovel. As if reading her mind, he looked up at her and smiled. "I guess I'm looking at a lucrative career in construction after high school, huh?" He joked.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Faith could not help but laugh. "You've got skills; can't be denied," Faith agreed. "I think we're good here, guys."

Wesley stopped for a moment and surveyed the hole. "Yes, I imagine that it's deep enough."

Laying down his shovel, Angel moved over to the body bag. "Wait," Faith said, laying a hand on his arm. "If you don't mind, I'd rather do this part alone."

Angel smiled slightly and nodded. "We'll just be in the car." Motioning for the others to follow, he picked up his shovel, and moved away. Faith watched them walk into the distance. Blinking away tears, she turned from them to gaze down into the dark hole before her. Though she had known that Xander would stand by her side, she had not expected to win the trust and loyalty of Angel and Wesley. She had gained two good friends out of an otherwise horrible situation, though she may have lost more than that in the process. Willow would not meet her eye in the library and from what Faith had heard, she knew that the young witch did not trust her. Faith was still unsure how Buffy felt about everything, though that she seemed willing to assist in getting rid of the body signaled to Faith hope that her sister slayer could forgive and forget.

Faith dropped her shovel and moved over to the body bag. Carefully lifting it over her shoulder, she walked back to the hole and knelt down beside it. Then, she lowered the body as far as her arms would allow before dropping it down into the darkness. Angel, Wesley, and Xander watched from the car as Faith knelt by the side of the hole. Sobs wracked her body as tears of anger, frustration, sadness, and fear finally burst forth and slid down her cheeks. "Should one of us…," Wes trailed off, uncertain how to proceed.

"I think she just needs some time," Angel said. "It's all starting to catch up with her."

Faith had to laugh at the irony of the situation. Her mother had always told her how useless she was, how she would never be anything but a bitter disappointment. As it turned out, her mother had been right. She had one job, one task that she was chosen to do. She was the slayer and all that she had to do was protect innocent people from the evil things that went bump in the night. But she could not even do that. She had failed herself, Alan, and everyone else. Most of all, she had failed Giles. She could see it in his eyes when he looked at her. He was disappointed. Though she had never cared about what her mother thought of her, she found herself desperately seeking a way to redeem herself for Giles. He had become the father she never had and the idea that he somehow thought less of her was killing her inside.

Shakily rising to her feet, Faith picked up her shovel and began to cover Alan's body with dirt. As if coming out of the shadows, Xander, Wesley, and Angel appeared at her side, helping her, and giving her strength. When the body was finally covered and all of the dirt replaced, Faith felt the refreshing cool of relief wash over her. It was finally over. Alan Finch was buried where no one would find him again. The police had nothing to lead them to her or to Buffy. "Ready to go home?" Xander asked, moving over to her, and draping his arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah," Faith replied, leaning against him. "Before we go, I just wanted to say…thanks. You guys didn't have to do all of this for me. But it means a lot that you did." Angel and Wesley simply nodded their acknowledgments and continued walking to the car.

"You've got lots of friends here, Faith," Xander said, leaning down and kissing the top of her head. "Don't forget that."

"I don't think I will," Faith replied thoughtfully as she and Xander walked arm in arm back to the car.

"So, still going to the Council, even after all of this?" Angel asked Wesley lowly, so that Faith and Xander would not hear his question.

"I'm starting to realize a lot of things," Wesley answered. "When I came to Sunnydale, the world was very black and white. Vampires were evil, slayers had to fight them. There was nothing in between. Then I met you and all of the sudden vampires weren't all evil. Some were good. Some had souls. I'm starting to realize that things aren't so black and white as I might have thought. Faith, she's a good person. She may not always see it, the others may not always see it, but I can see it. This thing with Alan Finch, it's finished. There's no need to drag it through the mud anymore."

"That's what I had hoped you would say," Angel responded, smiling a little. "You're going to make a good Watcher, Wesley."

"I appreciate the thought," Wesley said. "But I don't think I'll ever be as good of a Watcher as Giles."

"You don't have to be," Faith said, quickly catching up with the duo. "We already have one Giles. We don't need two of them."

"Yeah, believe me, one Giles is enough," Xander agreed. "It's already a challenge getting to the jelly doughnuts before he does. Imagine if there were two of him. No one would ever know the bliss of jelly crammed into a ring of dough and topped with glorious powdered sugar."

"I think what they're both trying to say in some strange, backwards way," Angel cut in, "is that you don't have to try to be anything that you're not because what you are now is that all we need."

"Thanks," Wesley replied, overwhelmed. His whole life, his father had constantly reminded him of how who he was simply was not enough for the Council or for his family. Wesley had struggled to become everything that his father wanted, but he was beginning to see that he would be miserable all of his life if he continued to try to meet someone else's exaggerated expectations.

"You know, you and me are a lot alike," Faith said suddenly.

"How's that?" Wesley asked.

"No one's ever expected anything of me and it seems like everyone's always expected the world of you. It's kinda hard to figure out how to be yourself in all of that, huh?" Faith pondered.

"Yes, it is indeed," Wesley agreed. "But I hope that, if we work together, perhaps we can figure out how."

Faith smiled widely over at him. "I'm up for it if you are."

"Anytime," Wesley answered. Slowing his pace, he smiled and watched as Angel, Faith, and Xander walked a head of him. The first rays of the sun were starting to climb over the horizon, but he knew they would make it back to town before Angel was in any real danger. Wesley knew that if someone had told him a year ago that he would be in Sunnydale, California, helping to bury the body of a man accidentally killed by a slayer with a souled vampire and a teenage boy, he would have simply laughed. But now, he knew that Sunnydale was exactly where he was supposed to be.

…………………..

Cordelia raised her fist and quickly knocked on Giles's door. The sun had just risen over the horizon in a splendid display of red and orange. Cordelia could already feel its warmth upon her face and, despite the terror threatening to take her heart, it relaxed her. She had not been able to sleep and, though she knew that Giles would not be pleased that she woke him at dawn, she had to tell someone of her discovery. She was able to knock again when she felt the presence of someone behind her. Turning quickly, she was relieved to see Faith standing there was a causal smirk on her face.

"What're you doing here, Cordy?" Faith asked, walking up to the door as she fished her key out of her pocket.

"I needed to talk to Giles. Hey, I heard about the police finding Alan's body. What're we gonna do?" Cordelia asked, remembering that things had gone from bad to worse that night in all respects.

"It's taken care of," Faith replied, slipping the key into the lock. "Angel, Wesley, and I stole the body from the morgue and buried it out in the desert with Xander."

"Wesley?" Cordelia asked in surprise.

"Yeah, he's not really all that bad actually," Faith answered.

"Sorry I wasn't there," Cordelia said, lying a comforting hand on Faith's arm.

"It's okay, Cor. You've got your own stuff to be doing. Speaking of which, I take it you found someone out last night?"

"Did I ever," Cordelia replied, shaking her head. "Let's go inside to talk about it though. I'm still kinda freaked out."

"Sure," Faith said, pushing open the door for Cordelia. The cheerleader walked inside and practically threw herself down on the couch.

"What on earth is going on out here?" Giles asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "Do you girls have any idea what time it is?"

"Yeah, sorry for the intrusion," Cordelia said, rising to her feet. "But I found out something rather important last night and it can't wait any longer."

Giles instantly fell into Watcher mode. Faith could see his expression change from the tired exasperation of a worried father to the keen curiosity of a Watcher. "What did you find out?" He asked, moving over to the easy chair and sitting. Faith joined Cordelia on the couch.

"It happened when I was leaving for the night. The Mayor's door was partially open, so I thought I would take a peak at what he was doing," Cordy said.

"What was he doing?" Giles asked, eager to get to the point.

"I don't know. He was looking at some papers. Not really the point of the story," Cordy replied. "Anyway, he reached across his desk for a pen and accidentally cut his hand on a pair of scissors. I'm not just talking about some little paper cut type of thing either. I mean there was serious blood flow happening there. But then the strangest thing happened. The cut healed itself."

"What do you mean?" Giles asked, startled.

"It knitted itself back together. In seconds, his hand looked as if it hadn't been injured at all," Cordelia clarified.

"Hold up, let me get this straight," Faith said, the gravity of Cordelia's statement starting to wear down upon her. "The Mayor can heal himself?"

"Exactly," Cordy answered.

"Which means that no amount of damage will inflict upon him will do any good," Giles concluded. "We can't kill him."

"How are we supposed to defeat him then?" Faith asked worriedly.

Giles shook his head. "I have no idea."

……………………

"The body's gone, sir," Trick reported to the Mayor. Wilkins slammed his fist down on his desk.

"What do we think happened to Alan?" He asked once he had calmed himself.

"We don't know for sure. But the police initially stated that he had a wound to his heart. A stab wound," Trick said.

"Ah, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" The Mayor asked with a wide smile.

"Slayer," Trick simply stated.

"Yes, I think a slayer killed the good Deputy Mayor," Wilkins elaborated.

"Would you like me to contact the police?" Trick offered.

"No," The Mayor immediately replied. "I want you to handle this. Pick one, find out everything that you can. Make her suffer."

"It will be my pleasure," Trick replied, his mouth curling up to reveal his fangs.

"Good," Wilkins said as Trick stalked out of his office. "I can't have anything – or anyone – standing in my way."