The Quickening

Previously:

"I know I'll be waiting eagerly to see which road you take, Faith. Light or dark. Death or life. It's all up to you now. Fate lies in your hands," the First said as it slowly began to fade into a formless darkness that spread though the night. As the last of its essence crept from Faith's mind, her eyes shot open.

Chapter Sixty-Nine:

"Unfortunately, we just heard that our comatose slayer awoke," a vampire said, standing awkwardly in the Mayor's office. It was the same vampire who had been charged with poisoning Angel.

The Mayor sighed deeply, his eyes lingering on the wooden box sitting on his desk. "Well, it was going to happen sooner or later," he said slowly. "Besides, we don't have much time now before the Ascension. We have other things to focus on."

"Might I ask, sir," the vampire said, glancing at the box curiously, "what's in it?"

"Spiders," the Mayor replied with a white, flashy smile. "Lots and lots of spiders."

"What're you going to do with them?" The vampire asked, a lingering fear of eight legged insects rising up his in chest and causing him to stand rigidly to mask his consternation.

"Ingest them, actually," the Mayor replied, rising to his feet and running a hand over the rough wood of the box. "It's a disgusting practice, very unsanitary. But it must be done. How are things going with Angel?"

"I've procured the poison. I just have to find the appropriate time to administer it to him," the vampire replied. The Mayor nodded, pleased with his underling's progress.

"You know, I might have been wrong about you," the Mayor said suddenly. "You seem much more capable than Mr. Trick. I do hope you don't disappoint me."

"I'll do everything in my power to see that I don't," the vampire replied honestly. He knew what the Mayor did to people who disappointed him. He had not seen a sunrise in very many years and he did not relish the thought of witnessing one now.

"Good," the Mayor said as he glanced at his office door. "Now, if you don't mind, I have some spiders to eat. Something tells me that you don't want to be in here for this." The vampire nodded and moved quickly to the office door. He paused as he opened it and threw a glance over his shoulder at the Mayor, who had moved around to the side of the box. Just as the man was opening the lid, the vampire stepped out into the hallway and closed the door.

Shuddering, the vampire straightened his black suit and shook his head, "Gross."

………………………..

The sun rose slowly over Sunnydale, lingering on the horizon as if it dreaded the thought of another day. Giles had arranged for Faith's discharge from the hospital nearly as soon as she had awoken, for fear that the Mayor would double his efforts to eliminate her. Though the process had been long and complicated, Faith and Giles had departed from the hospital just moments before the sun began to rise. After a short car ride, they arrived at the high school. Sitting in the library, Faith leaned back in her wooden chair and closed her eyes. She had a pounding headache. The doctors had given her painkillers to help manage the pain, but she had not taken any. She clearly remembered the effect drugs had on her mother and did not want to fall victim to their powerful sway.

Giles had been on the phone since their arrival, calling all of the various members of the Scooby Gang to inform them that Faith had awoken and to ask them to meet in the library before their first period class that day. Graduation was swiftly approaching. Though the school was still in session, Faith doubted if anything of importance was happening in the classroom. Giles seemed to doubt it as well. Faith smiled as she heard Giles's voice. He was using the phone in his office, but she could hear snippets of conversation. Finally, Giles hung up the phone and moved out into the library, taking a seat across from her.

"How're you feeling?" Giles asked, noticing the pained look on her face. Faith opened her eyes and smiled uneasily.

"Five by five," she replied. Upon seeing Giles's look, she elaborated, "My head hurts a little. But it's not that bad."

"Perhaps you should get some rest?" Giles asked.

"No," Faith said, shaking her head. "I've been resting enough." Giles nodded and leaned back in his chair, watching the young slayer out of the corner of his eye. Something else was bothering her, he could tell from the way her shoulders sank under the weight of an invisible burden.

"Is there anything else?" Giles asked. Faith looked over at him for several long moments before speaking, slowly, but deliberately.

"How do you know what's right?" Faith asked.

"Right – as in morally correct?" Giles asked.

"No," Faith said, thinking over her words. "When you're given a choice, how do you know what's the right choice to make?"

"If one choice would lead to evil or danger, than the most reasonable choice to make would be to make the choice that leads to good or safety," Giles replied.

"What if neither choice would lead to good?" Faith asked.

"Something tells me that we're not talking about a hypothetical situation, are we?" Giles asked. Faith shook her head. "What happened?"

"I saw things," Faith said, eluding Giles's inquiring eyes by staring past his shoulder at the wall. "Dark things."

"When?" Giles asked, his blood running cold in his veins. He could see fear in Faith's eyes, as well as a great pain.

"When I was in the coma," Faith replied. "Something came to me and told me things."

"What kind of things?" Giles asked.

"I don't want to tell you," Faith answered, looking at him for the first time. "You don't want to know what it told me. I have a choice to make."

"Faith…" Giles began, but she cut him off.

"The others will be here soon. I'll talk to you later," Faith said, rising to her feet. "I'm going to take a walk." Moving to the library doors, she pushed them open, and disappeared into the hallway. Giles watched her leave with dread and anxiety marring his features. He had never seen her so troubled. Giles could not imagine what being would be powerful enough to invade a slayer's consciousness, but he knew that it was more than Faith could fight.

……………………….

The Scooby Gang arrived at the library shortly before the school day began. Faith had never been hugged so much in her life. She smiled, realizing that she had everything she had ever wanted in that room. She had friends, family, and a lover that she could always count on. Xander sat next to her, his hand in hers. He almost started crying when he saw her, sitting in the library as if nothing had happened at all. Faith could see how hard it had been for him to pull himself together. Cordelia, on the other hand, had not even tried. She hugged her best friend with tears streaming down her face before she pulled away and casually punched Faith on the shoulder, threatening to kill her if she ever got hurt again.

Faith knew exactly what choice she had to make now. Looking around the room, she knew that she could never sacrifice any of the people sitting there, even if it meant that more evil would come. There would always be evil in the world, but together, they could handle whatever lay ahead. Faith looked up at Giles, focusing on what he was saying. "Angel will be arriving later on tonight. Obviously, he can't join us at the moment," Giles said, motioning to the light streaming in through the windows.

"What are we here for, Giles? Other than another one of your inspirational lectures?" Buffy asked jokingly. Giles shot her a look as a chorus of giggles erupted. Even Wesley had a smile on his face, which he quickly hid by turning his face to the floor.

"We're here to discuss the Mayor," Giles said. "As we know, the Ascension is rapidly approaching as we're still short of the information we need."

"What have we found out?" Willow asked.

"Well, essentially, all demons that walk the earth are hybrids. An ascension is when a human becomes a pure demon – untainted," Wesley explained.

"Therefore," Giles interjected, "the Mayor will become a demon unlike anything that we've encountered." Faith leaned forward in her chair, listening intently to the conversation as the First Evil's words rang clear in her mind.

"How much damage could a pure demon like that do?" Faith asked.

"A demon like that could decimate the entire town in a matter of hours. If unchecked, it would go on to destroy anything that stood in its way," Wesley answered.

"So it could potentially destroy the world?" Buffy asked.

"Perhaps not the world," Giles replied thoughtfully.

"Why not?" Faith asked.

"I don't think it could get over the ocean," Giles replied. The room fell silent as each person considered his words.

"This sucks," Oz said, breaking the silence. Giles smiled.

"Yes, it most certainly does," he replied.

"So we have to stop him then," Faith said, more to herself than anyone else. Giles watched her closely.

"Well, well, this must be the inner sanctum, huh?" A pleasant voice said from the entrance to the library. The group collectively turned and tensed as they saw Mayor Wilkins entering the library with a jovial smile on his face. Faith felt her muscles tensing, ready to spring into action should she call on them. "Glad to see you're doing better," the Mayor said, looking at her with a friendly expression on his face.

"He doesn't look so bad to me," Faith said, rising to her feet and moving over to him. "Just like any other pathetic politician."

"Faith," Giles said anxiously. Faith looked back at him.

"I'm not afraid of him," she said before she turned and looked back at the Mayor. His eyes were studying her face, trying to determine what to make of the slayer. He could see no fear in her eyes and a certain confidence in her step made him uneasy. It was as if she possessed some secret knowledge that no one else in the world had the privilege of possessing.

"It's nice to see that kids are still interested in reading nowadays," the Mayor said, stepping around Faith, while keeping an eye on her, as he moved to the library table where the group was gathered. "Cordelia," he said, nodding to the teen. Cordelia sank in her chair, willing herself to disappear from his probing eyes. "What are you kids reading nowadays?" Picking up a book that was lying open on the table, he lifted it and read. "The beast will walk upon the earth and darkness will follow. The several races of man will be as one in their terror and destruction," the Mayor paused and smiled. "That's rather sweet. All of the races coming together. Very 'we are the world,' don't you think?" He asked, turning to Buffy.

"Get out," Buffy growled.

"Now, now," the Mayor said. "There's no reason to get snippy. After all, you must always respect your elders," the Mayor said gravely, as if imparting some great wisdom. Faith smirked. The Mayor turned and looked back at her. "I take it you don't agree?" He asked, facing her.

"Not really," Faith replied.

"You seem to have quite an attitude problem," the Mayor said, walking up to her. "What're you going to do about it?" Faith replied lowly, so that only the Mayor could hear her.

"I smell fear in this room," the Mayor said, addressing the rest of them while keeping his eyes on the young slayer. "You're right to be afraid. Some of your deaths will be quick, though, I can assure you that. However," he said, speaking directly to Faith. "Yours won't be." Walking past her, he paused at the door of the library, smiling widely. "See you all at graduation."

The library doors swung open and he disappeared from view. "That's one creepy man," Cordelia muttered.

"What're we going to do, Giles? We can't stop him," Buffy said, all hope of defeating the Mayor lost.

"Yes, we can," Faith said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Buffy was the only one who heard her. The others began to discuss various plans while Buffy rose to her feet and walked over to Faith. Standing directly in front of the other slayer, she looked deep into Faith's eyes, and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "What do you know that we don't?"