Chapter Three

Sunnyhell

"So where are we headed?" Faith enquired. She, the old man, and Oz were sat in the back of the van. It was cluttered with weapons and books that Oz had said they'd been collecting when they ran into the demons that Faith was fighting. The old man had been silent since being taken to the van; he looked like he was taking a nap, no doubt something that had escaped him since his capture and imprisonment. Larry was driving, and Faith decided that this was going to be the last time she got into a vehicle with him. To her, it felt like he was aiming for every single pothole in the road, and every time the van dipped, the people within got tossed around.

"It's pretty much a rule that I can't tell you until it's been decided that we can trust you," Oz told her nonchalantly. "You know, it's not often that we run into someone that can handle themselves like you can. Who taught you how to fight?"

Faith shrugged. "It's pretty much a rule that I can't tell you," she parroted. Sure, Oz was cool back in Sunnydale, but here? She wasn't going to trust anyone just yet.

"Then I guess we've come to a standstill; I won't answer your questions, and you won't answer mine." He nodded complacently. Many people would probably be pissed at the lack of forthcoming information, but he just took it in stride. The way he saw it, she could probably kick his butt ten times over without breaking a sweat; he wasn't going to tell her anything important when she could just use it against him. That was why they were going straight to Giles; maybe he could give them both some answers. "I don't think it would be a big deal if we said who we were. I'm Oz," he introduced himself.

Faith hesitated before answering. It couldn't do any harm to give a name. "Faith."

"Okay…just one question, though?" He waited for her to indicate that that would be okay, and she nodded eventually. "Just why did you call me Wolf boy, exactly?"

Call it intuition, call it whatever you like, but she just knew that one was going to come back and bite her in the ass.

The vampires, those that weren't dust, had fled, but Kendra still remained alert, and this time her crossbow was trained on Buffy. "So are you going to tell me who you are, or do I have to guess?" Something about the other slayer's posture told Buffy that she would find answers, one way or another.

She had no reason to distrust her; she was overjoyed, though she didn't show it, to see a familiar – if not completely friendly at the moment -- face…apart from vampire Cordelia. "You don't know me, obviously, but you might have heard of me… I was here before you, I'm Buffy," the first Sunnydale slayer explained.

"I don't believe you," Kendra answered straightforwardly. "Buffy died. She can't come back from the dead."

If only she knew…Buffy didn't feel like going through how exactly that was possible, so she pressed on. "I know it sounds crazy but, come on, in this place, anything is possible. I'm not the Buffy from here…" She wasn't even sure what was going on herself, so explaining it was a little difficult. "You've heard of alternate realities, right? 'Cause I think that's what this is. I came from a different Sunnydale…"

Kendra looked extremely dubious. The Master had sent his minions to trick her before; she would not put it past him to try a scheme as ludicrous as this. "Say that I do believe you. Why are you here?" Still the crossbow had not lowered.

"I have no idea," Buffy shook her head. "I just ended up here a little while ago… Wait -- is Giles here? Is he your watcher? He'll be able to explain this, and he'll tell you I am who I say I am."

"Alright. But if you're lying --."

"I'm not, I swear," Now she was getting somewhere. Buffy smiled in relief before realising that she was still freezing cold. "By the way, do you have any clothes I can borrow?"

They were driving in the opposite direction to the library, so Faith wasn't completely sure they were even going to see Giles. It made sense though that they had taken up shop somewhere else, somewhere secret and secluded where they couldn't be found. For the last ten minutes, Larry still driving, there had been silence in the back. The old guy snored loudly, but didn't wake despite being tossed around like a sack of potatoes. She had dodged answering Oz's question and could tell that did not satisfy him. Until she found out what exactly was going on, however she was keeping a tight lid on things. Faith had an idea, but she wanted verification from someone who knew what they were talking about. "So what happened? Demons are running around like they own the place."

Oz didn't see anything wrong with this subject; if Faith was a spy sent to infiltrate the Whitehats ranks, she could not garner any important information by being told things she should already know. "When the Master rose, there was nothing anyone could do. The Slayer was killed, and in the weeks it took for the current Slayer to get here, the vamps and demons took control. There was panic…some people left before it got too bad, but most got killed or turned. Happy hour is at the Bronze every night, but it's called the Blood Bank now. We tried to burn the place down a couple of months ago, but it didn't work out…"

"What happened to Sunnydale High?" What had happened to all the students? From what Oz had told her, tiny brief facts, she had learnt that little bit more to substantiate her theory. Kendra must be the current Slayer, unlike in her reality; in this one, Buffy had failed in killing the Master. That meant she wasn't a Slayer in this world. Faith wondered if her other self had a life that different from hers, before she came to Sunnydale.

Oz interrupted her thoughts. "There are still classes, but there's a curfew now -- a lot of the students are either trapped at the Blood Bank or vampires. They're creating an army."

Larry shouted back at them from the driver's seat. "We're here!" He slammed the door shut and came around the back to let them out. The first shoots of light were coming through as the sun rose so Faith could see quite clearly now. They were at Sunnydale University; Larry had parked in front of one of the frat houses. It was a little too visible; as the Whitehats were known by the van they drove she would have thought the vehicle would be more hidden. Maybe it would be moved later. Faith recognised the building from her time when she was in Buffy's body; this was where Riley lived – or at least, he had done. Giles' new meeting place was at a frat house?

Oz gently woke the old man and helped him to his feet and out of the back of the van. The old guy rubbed his eyes tiredly; he wasn't quite ready to wake up yet. The four of them walked up the path and into the house, where they finally stopped in front of a mirror. It slid open to reveal an elevator… Faith was starting to get a sneaking feeling that this wasn't the simple meeting spot that the library had been. A mechanical female voice sounded in the elevator and told them to verify their presence, and Larry leaned forward to talk into the speaker. After that it took only seconds for the elevator to hit the sublevel that Oz and Larry wanted.

"When I told you about the Whitehats…" Oz started as the doors slid open. "I didn't exactly tell you everything."

Books littered huge bookcases along the walls, and in the centre were countless rows of desks, all piled with phones and computers. People hurried on past the four of them without so much as a sidelong glance in their direction; everyone, it seemed, had a job to do. There were scientists that compared notes nearby, and others in combat gear that sauntered past with grim, stern faces. "We couldn't exactly do everything on our own, so we joined up with the Initiative," Larry told her with a grin.

A cage had been set up for Oz, much like the one at the library, but with fewer books and more space. In a smaller case next to it were the weapons. Faith felt like a kid let loose in the candy store. A man hobbled forward on crutches to meet them, balancing a thick leather book under one arm. Faith barely recognised Giles; he looked haggard, but with the bad state of things on the outside, she didn't blame him. He looked to Oz for an explanation for her presence.

"Giles, this is Faith --."

"Oh my…you couldn't have come at a better time!" Giles looked very glad to see her, which confused Faith because he wasn't supposed to know her. "Oh! Of course you don't know me. I am Rupert Giles; I've been talking to your Watcher for the last few months. I was hoping she would send you to us," He was smiling broadly as he ushered her further into the great room. "I must say I'm surprised she didn't mention you coming on such short notice."

Faith stopped abruptly. It was kind of nice to be welcomed, but she wasn't who he thought she was…well, not exactly anyway. She started to set him straight. "Look, I'm not Faith – well, I am, just not the Faith that you think…" She saw that Giles was starting to get a worried look, the kind where he thought she was off her rocker.

"This is part of what you didn't tell me earlier, isn't it?" Oz enquired with a mildly amused expression on his face.

"I'm not from this world…I just got here an hour ago. In my world, I'm a Slayer, here I'm not…I'm guessing I'm still in training here, right?" At Giles' nod,) she continued. "So that means she's still alive, and Kakistos never killed her yet…"

A man who had been standing behind her, listening the whole while, decided it was time to ask some questions of his own. "So why exactly are you wearing that?" Doyle asked her in a thick Irish accent as he eyed her clothing.

"A portal busted me out of jail, and I didn't really have time to pack an overnight bag," Faith answered sarcastically.

Doyle chuckled at the attitude, and the answer, though he didn't believe her for a second. "Very funny. So tell me, if you're telling the truth, and you really aren't from this reality, what's your world like?"

Looking around at each of them in turn, she saw that they all wanted to know the same thing. She just wasn't sure how much to tell them. Hearing how much better some other place is than their own home could get pretty depressing. "It's better…it has its moments where everything goes to crap, but most of the time things are under control. Oz said that here the Master is in control; back in my world, B killed him and didn't die."

"B?" Doyle asked with a puzzled look.

"Buffy…well, technically she did die, for about a second, and then Xander saved her life. Because of that, there were two Slayers. Kendra was killed a few years ago, and here I am." Faith figured that would be a good time to stop.

"Buffy is alive in your world?" Giles questioned. He looked a little white, like he needed to sit down. He had felt so guilty after her death, the thought that his bad decisions may have killed her, had stuck in his mind.

"Yeah, she goes to you…the other you, all the time." H needed to hear that, or something along those lines. She stopped talking again. All that she had said already seemed to be enough for one day.

"Well, hey, maybe we can all compare notes sometime," Doyle suggested. "We need all the help we can get, though I don't think the tough guys will like you muscling in on their turf," he added with a laugh. The Initiative, though tolerant of them, hated it when the Whitehats brought in new people. They were going to hate another Slayer being round; they could only just stand that Kendra could knock them flat.

"Yes well, Doyle, if you could find Faith a place to stay?" Giles finally spoke up again. "We will have to talk again," he added with some enthusiasm. "I have a lot of questions for you. I'll try and find out why you may have been sent here." He was getting into research mode. "Oz, Larry, come with me."

The two remaining people watched the three others go. "Looks like it's just you and me, kid."

"And the old guy," Faith added. On that note, she turned around to speak with him and ask some questions of her own.

"What old guy?" Doyle followed her gaze. There was no one else there; the man had gone.

As soon as Kendra led Buffy to the university campus, she knew where they were going. She wasn't sure how she felt about going to the Initiative. Sure, they had about a dozen ways they could help her. Of course, she had to remember that they had been rather slippery in her world. Here, perhaps it was different; things were bad in Sunnyhell, so maybe the Initiative really were truly good. Buffy would make up her mind once she had snuck around a little bit. She and the other Slayer had not spoken much on their way to the university, though Buffy was bursting with questions. Kendra had told her at least that she would see Giles; she also found out that he led the Whitehats and had made first contact with the Initiative after finding out that they were in town.

Kendra was tight lipped about anything else. Buffy was fine with that, if a bit impatient, but she guessed Giles could tell her more anyway. She was somewhat reassured that Kendra seemed to trust her enough to lead her to their hideout – or maybe the other Slayer had something else up her sleeve.

When the elevator hit the sublevel and Buffy took her first steps into the secret underground base, she saw that things weren't really that different from her reality. There were many more books here, however, and she figured that they most likely belonged to Giles. Buffy stifled a giggle when she thought how much he must detest being around 'those dreaded machines'. Then again, maybe this Giles loved computers. After taking another look at the towering shelves of books, Buffy changed her mind.

"He'll be in his office," Kendra said, speaking her first words in the last half hour or so. "You said he would recognize you…"she continued as she pushed open the door to what Buffy assumed was the office. "You should know what to expect if I find out you are be lying. Once again, the crossbow took up its place in Kendra's hands.

Buffy sighed; Kendra was mostly the same as she had been in her world, if a little bit more hostile. Giles looked up as he heard the door swing open to reveal the two visitors. The thick tome that he had been holding open with one hand fluttered to a close as he let it go and stood, his mouth open and eyes wide, his skin paled and the Watcher looked as though he had just set eyes on a ghost. "Oh my God…it can't be," 'He came around the paper-cluttered desk to get a closer look at her, taking off his glasses to set them shakily on the table. "Buffy?"

She shifted a little uncomfortably from foot to foot; unsure of how to receive the man that was Giles, but not Giles. "Kind of," Buffy shrugged.

"You're crazy!" Doyle called across the empty road in a hushed whisper that sounded altogether too loud in the otherwise quite area. He watched Faith as she hurried to the other side where she then crouched in overgrown bushes by the roadside.

He didn't even know why he was following her. Wait… yes he did; if he didn't and something happened, it would be on his head. He and Faith had quickly asked around to find out if anyone had seen the old man wandering around the underground base, but they had no such luck. Then 'Faith had come to the reasonable conclusion that he must have left the building. Being right in front of the elevator they would have heard him leave that way so they had gone to the stairs, took a quick look around the upper level before walking out into daylight after finding nothing. They thought they caught sight of him hurrying off in the direction they were traveling now.

"Just because the sun is up doesn't mean the bad guys aren't running around. When the vamps disappear underground, the demons tend to come out to play. It's like an unspoken agreement…" He sprinted across the road to crouch down beside Faith.

He carried on talking, but wasn't even sure that she was listening to him; she was concentrating on the running figure a measurable distance away from them. She had discarded the bright orange prison garb for a pair of black jeans and a grey tee that Doyle had said the previous owner wouldn't mind her having, the previous owner being dead. The girl had been a Whitehat and had been killed during the attempted destruction of the Blood Bank.

"You see, the vamps occupy the night and do what they will while the demons come out during the day. They work for the same side, but they started to hate each other after the Master rose. The demons decided the vamps were getting a bit too big for their fangs so they had a little mini war going on. And then some tough guy came along wanting to be the new big bad. He started messing with the magic, and the Master tried to stop him…" Faith rose, only partially listening to Doyle; so far she had seen no one and thought her new companion was just a little bit too paranoid.

"So what happened?" Faith asked, humoring him a little bit.

"Oh, he carried on with the magic, but the Master and what's-his-name formed a shaky alliance. Word has it that the big bad is growing more powerful than the Master and pretty soon he's going to kill the big vamp all by himself."

Faith stopped suddenly, and the Irish half demon almost ran into her. "Why would a little old guy like him be going to a club?" The Slayer started off in the direction of the big building that loomed ahead of them but Doyle grabbed her arm to pull her back.

She was getting sick of people doing that.

"That isn't a club anymore. It's the Blood Bank -- the place is flooded with vampires," he warned.

Faith shook off his arm. "So what are we waiting for?" She started off towards the old Bronze. It might not be a club anymore, but that wasn't going to stop her from getting a party started.