Yeah, quick updates huh? Go me! Anyway, thanks to Whispers, rma, cho, Meme and Hugo for your reviews for the last chapter. Much appreciated!

Creed

Chapter 10

When Buffy finally woke up she yawned and sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Her head was pounding, and it took her a moment to remember why she was still dressed in her clothes. She recalled Faith's decision to stay and have a couple of drinks, but after that it became blurry.

The door opened and Buffy grabbed the blanket, pulling it up to her chin and closing her eyes.

"Hey B," Faith said as she strolled in.

"Hey," she mumbled. Opening her eyes and seeing the light of the afternoon sun, she groaned and slumped back into the bed. She felt like she'd been a punching bag for a host of vamps.

"It's too early."

"Yeah, I know," Faith said, yanking the blankets away from her and pulling the blinds away from the window. "But it's lunch time."

"Already?"

"What do I have to do to get you up?" Faith sighed.

"Give me ten cups of coffee and a packet of aspirin," she replied.

Faith grinned as she walked back out the door. "I thought I saw some coffee downstairs…"

Buffy shot up and hastily followed her. "Wait up! I'm coming."

"Oh, look who we have here." Buffy glanced over her shoulder and saw Cordelia smirking at her. "Feeling well this morning?"

She glared at the brunette, who only laughed in reply.

When they arrived in the lobby, Wesley immediately handed them coffee. He smiled knowingly and Buffy watched him suspiciously. Faith dropped onto the couch, downing her coffee in one go.

"Had a bit of a night, girls?" Gunn asked, grinning widely. Buffy groaned.

"God, what did I do?"

Cordelia chuckled. "Nothing a young lady shouldn't do," she said, causing Wesley and Gunn to dissolve into laughter. Even Angel, who was walking out of the kitchen at the time, struggled to conceal his amusement. Buffy watched them, mystified.

"Faith, do you have any idea what they're on about?"

The brunette shrugged. "Nope."

Suddenly, the front door slammed open and a squad of men rushed in, guns pointed at the group eating their lunch. They were all dressed in black with bullet proof vests strapped to their chests. Three men clad in suits followed them through the door; their smug countenance reminded Buffy uncannily of Wesley upon his first arrival in Sunnydale. It didn't take Buffy long to put two and two together.

"Watchers."

A short, elderly man stepped forward, hands clasped behind his back. "Ah, Miss Summers," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Quentin," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. She showed no signs of the throbbing in her head or the queasiness in her stomach. She was a picture of defiance, glaring at the Head of the Watcher's Council.

"I did not expect to find you here," he said.

"You didn't expect me to defeat Glory, either."

He chuckled. "No, I certainly did not. But as you did defeat her and suffered the consequences, I'm afraid the Council must take certain… measures." His eyes flickered to where Faith stood, and Buffy understood the reason of their visit. She glanced over and saw the brunette's wild and desperate eyes, and they exchanged a worried glance.

Buffy saw the panic flaring in Faith's face and realized the depth of her fear. Faith was afraid of the Council. She was afraid because of the memory of her first Watcher, scared of what the Council had tried to do to her, and terrified of being forced to submit to them. Buffy knew what it felt like to be under the Council's command. Constricting, suffocating, threatened… unimportant. To place that on Faith's already heavy plate would be enough to push her over the edge again, and she couldn't allow that to happen. Last time she had ignored to possibility, and look at where they had ended up. Buffy needed to help Faith stay on track and whether it was for her benefit or for Faith's she couldn't decide.

"No," she declared.

"No?" Travers repeated.

"No. You're not taking her. You're not forcing her to work for you. You're not killing her to call another Slayer. You're going to turn around and go back from where you came."

Travers looked momentarily stunned by her outburst, but then a smug smile appeared on his lips. "Your threats worked last time because you had the power. Do you forget, Miss Summers, you current situation? As much as it pains you to accept it, you are not the Slayer anymore. Faith here is, and it is our duty to see that she does not slide. We have the power now, and I would urge you to step aside."

"If I step aside, do you really think you could take her against her will?" Buffy asked, matching Travers haughty smile with her own to cover how shaken she really was.

"We will take her whether or not you do step aside, but if you are willing…"

"I am not willing," Buffy snapped. "And you don't have the power. You never have. I may not be the Slayer anymore, but Faith still is. There is always a Slayer, and from the moment I took control during your review we became the ones in charge. You think because I'm gone things will turn back to the way they were? Well it won't, because I'm not dead. I'm still here, and as long as I am you are merely there to offer information."

"You forget that we are the ones holding guns," Travers replied, a hard glint appearing in his eyes. Angel and the crew stood silently in the background, willing to let Buffy diffuse the situation with words but ready to leap into action if they are not enough.

"Are you really going to shoot us?" Buffy shot back. "You pride yourself on doing what you must to protect the world, and yet you are threatening to kill us. I can see now why Slayers never used to make it past their eighteenth birthday. It's because you dragged them down. You made them want to give up. I think I've been fighting the wrong people."

"You have never understood-"

"No," Faith interrupted calmly. "You have never understood. You have never understood what it means to be the Slayer. And I'm going to tell you." She stepped forward, standing alongside Buffy. "I can rip that gun from your hands and blow your head off before you saw me move. Then I could shoot every single one of your lackeys before they even got a shot off. I can tell you that I'm the Slayer, and I'll continue slaying wherever I please and with whatever people I choose. I can tell you that I am more powerful than you will ever dream of. I can tell you to go back to good ol' England and stay there, because I don't want you in my sight. And you'll do what I say, because you're beginning to realize that Watchers are simply there to watch. You don't do anything to the Slayer except aid her to die, and that stops now. Go home, Travers."

Buffy listened to Faith in amazed pride, hearing her own feelings reflected in the brunette's words. Or rather, the way she used to feel. Hearing Faith talk about the power she had made Buffy ache in a way she didn't know was possible. It covered every inch of her skin and permeated her very soul, and she struggled to keep her face blank. It became harder to breathe, and even as the Watchers lowered their weapons and departed, Buffy found her head becoming light. She watched as Faith's shoulders sagged, a visible sign of her relief. Angel wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled at her. Cordelia and Gunn exchanged a high five, and Wes grinned, brushing a hand through his scruffy hair. Buffy stumbled back a few steps, attracting the others attention to her. Then she turned and fled up the stairs. No one followed her or mentioned it the next morning.

The week passed quickly. Buffy and Faith went out during the nights, partying hard into the morning. They purposely avoided anything even remotely connected to anything supernatural, and stuck to behaving like a couple of wild girls out for a good night. Men sought them out, only to be turned down quickly. They were only there for themselves, and nothing else could interest them. Buffy tried to repeat what had happened their first night of clubbing, and Faith constantly searched for the spark she had felt, but there was nothing. Soon they both either forgot about it, or talked themselves into denying it.

Faith accompanied the gang on a few cases, hating the notion of leaving Buffy at the hotel. Buffy waved of her concerns, hiding the envy she felt as Faith prepared to go and trying to squash the fear of Faith going without her. She kept busy, helping Cordelia with the filing and boring office work. The two actually managed to control their dislike of each other and had some quality girl-bonding time. They attempted to get Fred to leave her room, but the brunette would only respond to Angel, and they soon gave up. Buffy felt a twinge of jealousy as the young woman's eyes lit up whenever Angel came to visit her. It wasn't as intense as she thought it would be, and soon she began to wonder why it wasn't painful to be around him.

She tried not to think about it much and when the week ended, Buffy was ready to return home. The night before they left, Faith snuck into Buffy's room and sat on the end of her bed. They didn't speak. Buffy lifted the blankets in a silent offer and Faith slipped beneath them. They fell asleep in each other's arms.

Faith woke in Buffy's arms, and wondered if her stars and planets had finally sorted themselves out and aligned to give her incredible amounts of luck.

"We should get going."

Faith startled and saw that Buffy was already awake, gazing down at her.

"Yeah, I suppose."

They walked into the lobby slowly, trying to put off their departure. The gang was already awake and researching for their latest case. Faith strolled over to where Angel was leaning against the counter. She punched him lightly in the arm. "Thanks, A-man," she said, "for letting me crash here for a while."

"Anytime, Faith." He squeezed her shoulder. "You know you're welcome here, don't you?"

"I'd better be," she joked, and quickly said her goodbyes to the others. Angel approached Buffy, and she dreaded it. Their goodbyes never ended well. They were always filled with tension and angst and underlying emotions that they both felt but never mentioned. But he surprised her.

"You going to be okay?" he asked, too softly for the others to hear.

She looked at him, locking eyes. "I don't know," she whispered truthfully. "I don't know."

He hugged her and she found herself gripping to his top.

"You'll come back and visit?"

She nodded, wordlessly.

"I miss you," he said, and Buffy found it easy to reply.

"I miss you, too," she said.

And that was it. He watched as she hugged the others, and she turned to glance at him as she held open the front door. She offered him a smile, a small, slight smile that only he caught. But in that smile he saw a glimpse of hope. He knew she would be alright. Buffy was a fighter, and she didn't give up. He saw Faith hopping on her feet outside, waving down a taxi. Slayers never did.

The bus ride back was eventless, and Buffy found herself dozing most of the way. Faith fidgeted in the seat beside her, picking constantly at the seat in front of her, or tapping her foot against the floor.

"How much coffee did you have?" Buffy asked suddenly, watching with an amused smile as Faith jumped at her voice, then tried to look relaxed.

"What? Why?" she asked.

"You haven't stopped moving since we left."

"Sorry, I'm just a bit…" She dropped her head. "God damn it, B. I haven't seen the others since I tried to kill you all! They're not gonna to welcome me with open arms, you realize?"

Buffy nodded, swallowing hard. "I know."

"Will they even let me hang around? 'Cause I can't see it happening."

"They will," Buffy replied firmly.

"How do'ya know?"

"Because I'll make them."

Xander flipped the omelet over and slid it onto a plate, pushing it across to Dawn who accepted it hungrily.

"You know what, Xander?" she said, with a mouthful of food. "You and Anya should move in here. I swear you are the best cook!"

Xander beamed at the compliment. "Thanks, Dawnie."

Spike walked in the backdoor, the stench of smoke following him through. Dawn pinched her nose.

"God, Spike," Xander coughed. "Maybe you should've given up smoking when you gave up humans."

"Maybe you should have stopped eating when your shirts starting bursting at the seams," he replied snarkily. Xander opened his mouth to retort, but couldn't think of one, so he quickly shut his mouth.

"Now, boys, let's behave like men, shall we?" Willow said, walking in with Tara.

The doorbell rang and Dawn leapt off her stool to answer it. There was a moment of silence in the kitchen, which was pierced when they heard Dawn shout a few expletive words.

"Dawn!" Spike shouted.

"Spike!" replied a very familiar voice. "I told you I'd stake you if you taught Dawn swear words!"

The Scoobies in the kitchen recognized the voice instantly and hurried excitedly into the hallway. Dawn was staring at something behind Buffy.

"Buffy!" Xander exclaimed, "You're ba…"

He trailed off when Faith stepped through the door.

She smiled weakly. "Hey."

To Be Continued…

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