What Could've Been

Notes/Summary: A long, long time ago, during seasons one and four, there was a day that never happened. A day that was reversed. And since Buffy and Angel aren't the center of everyone's universe, let's look at someone else in that day that never happened. Maybe…Faith? Written for the IWRY ficathon. Requirements posted at the end. Divided into two parts. This is the second half, for your viewing pleasure.

Part Two: It Wasn't Permanent

When he entered his flat at ten that night, after having spent the rest of his day trying to do anything but stay at his flat (he did it an awful lot since being jobless), she was coming out of his kitchen. How she got in the house was anyone's guess, but with Spike managing it all the time, he wasn't really too surprised at the intrusion. She raised her eyebrow upon seeing him. "Giles. Have a good few months?"

"Faith." She idly wondered if he thought she couldn't see him angling for the stake in his waistband. She amused herself with the thought that he could be faster than her, and then that he must have believed she was a vampire. Had she said anything threatening yet, y'know, not that she planned on it or anything. She was just making a point.

"That's me. All awake and everything." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Now is it wrong of me to wonder why you're trying to get the stake when I haven't even threatened to kill you yet?"

"So that's why you've returned, Faith? For revenge?"

"No. But it's what you're thinking, isn't it? Big Bad Faith, awake from her coma and looking for a little bloodshed now that Good Angel Buffy is out of town with her newly human soul mate, Angel Wangel."

"You know about Angel?"

"She told me. In my coma. I talked to Wes too. And…I heard you. Not…not everything, but enough?"

Giles let his hand drop. "You hear-"

"Yeah. Um, thanks. For what you said." She looked at a spot just over his shoulder. "I…I-it means a lot to me."

"You're welcome, Faith." He removed his glasses. ""You'll have to forgive me if I'm not entirely convinced yet."

"I didn't expect you to, Giles. You and Wes said there's a slayer neede-" Faith didn't finish the rest of her sentence as something crashed through Giles' front window.

Something indeed. It was tall, with green slightly scaly skin, and dressed in the weirdest armor with a jewel in the center of its forehead. Faith got the feeling that she should know about theme, what they did. They were important, like really important.

Faith grinned. A demon. "Just what I need."

She jumped over Giles' coffee table to engage it as Giles skirted around the action to find the book he recognized the monster from. He flipped through it quickly, an "aha!" escaping his lips upon finding the entry.

Faith caught its foot and tossed the demon over the couch. She hopped over it and was knocked onto her back. The demon hovered over her and aimed its sword at her chest.

"Faith! The jewel in its forehead! It's a Mohra demon. They attack champions of the Power That Be."

"Like Slayers?" she asked, catching the blade with her feet and shoving them upwards to hit the demon in the face. She rolled over and flipped to her feet, yanking the sword away from the demon. She twirled it in the air before jabbing it through the jewel. It keeled over, dead.

Tired, exhausted and drained, she looked at Giles. "So?"

"Yes. Like you."

Faith didn't reply to that. "Do you think B and Angel had to deal with them?"

"It is possible." Giles returned to the book, his eyes lingering on the regenerative properties of Mohra demons. He'd found the source of angel's new humanity. He closed the book, thoughtful.

They stood in the room, surrounded by nothing but their thoughts. Faith broke it. "Giles?"

"Yes, Faith?"

"Would you mind taking me on a…a test drive?" she asked.

"Not at all. Tomorrow, I will have to call the others."

Faith didn't bother to tell him her opinions otherwise.

-

"There's something I should've told you." Faith started as they entered the cemetery.

Giles looked at her suspiciously. "What would that be?"

"I'm not going to be guarding the hell mouth for you after tomorrow."

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"No problem. After the Scoob meeting-you all really need a name-tomorrow, I'm giving Sunnydale P.D. a little visit." Faith answered.

"You'll be turning yourself in." He looked away from her. "Arrested."

"Yeah. That's the whole point. Arrest kind of comes with admitting to being a wanted criminal."

"There will be no slayer to protect the hell mouth."

"The Council can kill me and get a new one."

"I don't find your humor contagious."

"Yeah, well, there aren't a lot of options. I'm turning myself in, Giles. Buffy and angel's game of House isn't permanent. She'll be back within the next week. And I'll be where someone like me belongs-jail."

Giles had nothing to say to that and therefore decided not to, keeping his opposing opinion to himself.

-

The clock on his desk read four minutes to nine when he finally entered his apartment. Buffy was waiting for him, pacing his apartment as if he'd greatly worried her. She looked up at him and relief flooded her face to see him.

"I'm guessing that expression isn't because they were all out of fresh OJ at the deli-" she paused when she saw that she wasn't cheering him up, as she expected. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened. - I just…"

Buffy decided on a different tactic. "Where have you been?"

"I went to see the Oracles. I asked them to turn me back." Angel answered.

She looked at him in disbelief. "What? Why?"

"Because more than ever, I know how much I love you."

She froze, her brain working overtime for her until she understood. But he couldn't have…they'd been fine before, why would he…? She backed away from him. "No. No, you didn't."

Angel followed her (because he had to make her understand). "And if I stayed mortal one of us would wind up dead, maybe both of us. You heard what Mohra said."

"Mohra is dead. We killed him."

"He said others would come."

"They always come. And they always will. But that's my problem now, not yours, remember?"

Angel shook his head. "No, I won't just stand by and let you fight, maybe die, alone."

"Then we fight together." She wanted this to work, Buffy. She wanted Angel to be human, and she wanted them to work. God, she'd give anything just for them to work.

"You saw what happened last night." Angel replied, though he wanted it to be as possible, if not more, for them to be. "If anything, I'm a liability to you. You take chances to protect me, and that's not just bad for you, it's bad for the people we were meant to help."

"So what?" Buffy asked, though what she really wanted to ask was if the day had really meant nothing to him. "You just took a whole twenty four hours to weigh the ups and downs of being a regular Joe and decided it was more fun being a superhero?"

-

"Faith, it's…it's nice that you wish to atone." Giles said. "I'm prepared to…discus your situation with Quentin Travers-"

"Make my record disappear?" Faith asked, giving Giles a slight smile. "I appreciate it, Giles, I really do. But, you know, killing demons won't make up for killing humans."

The demons came out of the bushes for them. Two large Mohra demons. "But for now?" she continued. "I'll enjoy it while it lasts."

She raced forward, ducking a sword and jabbing it in the gut. She saw the other attack Giles and felt a pang of worry for her ex-watcher.

She was brought back to reality by a punch to the face. "Ow. Bastard." She back handed the demon and then spun to kick it in the chest. The demon retaliated with three punches to her face that stunned her greatly. She tumbled back and then fell from the blow of an elbow to the face.

"Faith!"

Through bleary eyes, she saw a Mohra demon towering over Giles, sword directed at his chest. Oh, God, no.

"Giles!" She screamed in horror, pulling a dagger out the waist of her jeans. It flew through the air, embedding in the Mohra's jewel, but it was too late.

She knocked the second's feet from under it. "If it's the last thing I do."

-

Angel stared her; it was his turn to be disbelieving of her words. "You know that's not it. How can we be together if the cost is your life, or the lives of others?" Buffy didn't say anything, and only stared at him. Maybe, he could hope, maybe she was coming around.

"I know. I couldn't tell you. I wasn't sure - if I could do it if I woke up with you one more morning."

"I understand." Another pause. There were a lot of those going around. "So, what happens now?"

"The Oracles are giving us back the day, turning back time, so I can kill Mohra before his blood makes me mortal."

Buffy nodded. She could handle that. Easy-peasy. "When?"

Angel looked over at the clock. It read to be exactly nine o'clock. He new the exact time when Buffy had walked in. How could he not? "Another minute."

"A minute? No. No, it's not enough time!"

"We don't have a choice. It's done."

"How am I supposed to go on with my life knowing what we had? What we could have had?"
And this, was the hard part for Angel. "You won't. No one will know but me."

Buffy's mind seemed to slow to a near-stop. "Everything we did."

"It never happened." Angel confirmed.

She shook her head. Denial. That was a blissful thing. A thing dreams were made of. "It did. It did. I know it did!" She put her hand over his heart. Underneath her hand, she could feel the rise and fall of his chest, she could almost feel his heart beating. "I felt your heart beat." I still do.

"Buffy..."

They kissed. T felt quite mournful. They'd still love each other; after all, the feelings had started way before one minute after nine o'clock all those hours ago. But a chance like this? Would they ever have another one? It was very much doubtful. Buffy looked at the clock, and saw that the minute was almost up.

"No! Oh God. It's not enough time."

"Shh, please. Please." Angel had started crying too, and they clung to each other, because it wasn't forever. It wasn't permanent. "Please, please."

"No. I'll never forget. I'll never forget. I'll never forget. I'll never forget."

Of course, because that was the way things were going to go, she would.

-

Faith was pure poetry in motion. She was fuelled on by anger, by pain, by revenge. All she kept seeing was Giles being stabbed and dying. And he was lying not five feet away, his body cooling as she fought for her life. And that, that Giles was dead, really wasn't fucking fair.

A clock was ticking inside Faith's head and she heard Buffy's voice echoing in her head, telling her that it wasn't permanent. Angel's condition, him being human, it wasn't permanent. Something would undo all of this.

She slammed a stake into the jewel and watched the demon fall. She was triumphant. The world then seemed to tilt on her and spin. She fell on her but…right by Giles.

For a reason she didn't know or understand, she grabbed Giles' cold wrist to check his watch. The hands, they were moving backwards, time was reversing. Time reversal, Faith thought, that was what Buffy meant. It wasn't even going to happen!

"Not permanent…"

-

"You visited Angel, Buffy?" Giles asked with a roll of his eyes as he entered the hospital. No good could come of Buffy visiting Angel, he already knew. He waited for the drama to unfold, as was sure to." A Mohra demon? That's…and you left after that? Where are you now? My flat? I'll be right there, Buffy."

He gave the waiting nurse and apologetic look and backed away from the counter. The nurse watched him leave, and doubted she'd see him back to check on the comatose girl, Faith Lehane.

-

Buffy draped the white sheet over her bed, the sun sunshine faithfully on her. She smoothed down the edges, taking a small whiff of the sheets. Wonderful.

"They smell good, don't they?"

"What?" Faith looked up from smoothing the edges to Buffy.

The blonde only smiled. "Clean sheets. Like summer."

"I wouldn't know." Faith replied dryly.

Buffy's smile dropped like a hat. "Right. I forgot."

"I noticed."

"I-I wish I could stay, but…"

"Oh, you have to go." After all, Faith thought to herself, this is a dream and the only one doing the never-ending sleep thing is me.

"It's just with…"

"Little sis coming." Faith said knowingly. How did she know? "So much to do before she gets here."

And in her hospital room, Faith dreamed. But there was no sunshine. Angel didn't dance in the sun and Buffy didn't give her cryptic messages.

Buffy was feeling regret. And lots of it. She stood beside Faith at the foot of her bed and said, "Now I really have to-"

So go." Faith cut her off. "Don't let me jeep-" She stopped herself, hearing something. She didn't know what it was, but then…then…two drops of blood so red, staining the white sheets she'd just helped Buff with. To more drops followed after that. Whose blood was it?

"Damn." She cursed, and looked up at Buffy. "Just when we made it so nice." She straightened, turning from the sheets. She looked down at herself for a moment, before looking back up at Buffy. Why did she look so…blank?

"Are you ever going to take this thing out?" She pointed down to where Buffy held the handle of what had been Faith's large knife-the one Buffy herself had stabbed her with. Faith felt a bit nervous when Buffy gave no answer, only staring at her expressionlessly. Then she jerked the knife upwards, making Faith scream-only it was silent.

Drusilla didn't nip at Wesley's neck and Wesley didn't tell her she was a good slayer. Giles didn't talk to her, and she didn't hear him. Buffy repeatedly, many times a day, killed the mayor and fueled her hatred.

"Do you think it's going to rain?" Faith asked. She was lying on a picnic blanket, barefoot, with clothes so different than her norm-her shirt was light blue and her skirt was a bright pink. She was picking at the grapes on her plate. On the other side of the blanket was the Mayor, eating a sandwich.

"Nonsense. It's a beautiful day." He answered. "Now eat your sandwich." He wiped at his mouth with a napkin, ever the cleanliness fanatic.

"I don't know. It's just…it always seems like it starts raining right about now."

"You're too young and too pretty a girl to start wearing worry lines on your face." The mayor said. Something had caught his attention and he sat up. "Well, hey, hey, hey." It was a grass snaked that was slithering across the blanket. Faith frowned.

"Hey there, little fella. I don't know where you belong, but it's not here with us." He set the snake down, back towards the grass and away from the blanket, chuckling a bit. "There you go." He then looked up at Faith. His surrogate daughter. "You see? There's nothing that's gonna spoil our time together. Who wants cheesecake?"

He gave a slight laugh and Faith smiled as he turned to open the picnic basket. The smile soon fell away to horror. There she stood, right in front of the Mayor, decked out in an all black ensemble and a long dark coat. Buffy.

"No!" she screamed.

Buffy swung the blade towards the Mayor's throat and he gagged. Before he could fall, she thrust the knife into his chest. She pulled it out, letting him fall. Her gaze fell on Faith. "I told you I had things to do."

Faith was terrified. Of Buffy. Of what she'd just done. The brunette began to back away, panicking as she attempted to crawl away. And Buffy continued to follow her. It was like all other times (because she wasn't ready yet, because things were different now). Buffy would catch up to her, kick her onto her back, sit on her, pinning her arms, and stab her (but one day, it would all change. One day, Faith would stab Buffy, and rise, victorious, and wake up-and get the revenge she still needed).

And Faith dreamed (if only they knew what could've been).

Teh Stuffs
Name/LJ user name: Alixtii
Character/pairing you want focused on: Faith
Kind of moment you want lost (self revelation, 'shipper, etc.): Since she's starting out in her coma, self-revelation might be best.
Up to three other characters you want in the story: Buffy, Wes, Giles (may all be either real or dream versions)
Up to four prompts/things to include: Dawn foreshadowing, a mention of Drusilla, character death