Summary: I guess it's not much of a One Shot anymore huh? A look at a secret relationship between Buffy and Faith in Season 7.
Disclaimer: None. Nope Nobody. Not me. Don't own 'em.
Mad World
Was it normal, Buffy wondered too many times that night and next day, to be scared for the life of someone you have for so long loathed? Not that she loathed Faith anymore, but the fear she felt for her fellow slayer and the mission she was about to go about was unnerving. It was strange and unusual, but she feared that feelings were growing. Could she say it? Could she think to herself that she had feelings for Faith? Did she, Buffy Summers, love Faith Lehane? Wait, love? No. She couldn't love her. That wasn't right! Dazed, and a bit confused, Buffy fought with herself over the next twelve hours in which she would have any time at all to talk to her counterpart.
Faith, however, hadn't made a move to have anything to do with Buffy since the previous night. She smartly took a good night's rest in her original sleeping assignment of the guest room and emerged the next morning ready for a day long battle. It would be easier, she decided, not speaking, no, not looking at Buffy until she had returned home from the day gone with Angel. They both had things to discuss, and if they neared each other within the slightest few feet today they would never be separated.
While the sun reigned across the sky for the whole of the day, tensions raised to an all time high. It wasn't usual for such sarcasm to hold a thick supremacy in the air, but with the looming battle, emotions weren't something to be leashed. The potential slayers stay to themselves, roaming outside for brief training sessions lead by Kennedy. It was most evident now that she was sort of the 'head' potential.
The real Slayers stood clear of much conversation or social conditions at all for the whole of the day. Not only did they refuse to meet eyes with each other, but sparkling orbs insisted on not meeting with any other living, breathing being until the Rogue's departure.
When Angel did finally make his untailored, hushed appearance, the only departing words given to the two was a simple "Good Luck", and that was only given by the gentle witch, though she had never had any good judgment towards either the dark slayer or soulful vampire.
-
-
-
-
"C'mon, Fang, we been walkin' for like thirty minutes. Where is this place? An' I thought we were drivin'." Patience, a virtue the Slayer had never properly learned.
"Relax, Faith. We are almost there." The Vampire kept silent to most of Faith's nagging along the walk. His hands sat snugly in the pockets of his pants, strangely where the weapons he was supposed to be dawning should be.
"Hey, thought you said you had weapons for us. Y'do have some, don't ya'?" The Rogue had already picked up on the peculiar lack of armaments they had brought. She wasn't much sure how this tussle would be handled with out weapons. Faith glanced up at the vampire once more, a smirk comfortably placed on her lips, though the slight glance of scepticism was perceptible.
Angel once more glanced to the Slayer he had encountered so briefly before. He understood her more than she herself did. "Faith…relax." The pair followed an invisible trail for another few, short minutes until Angel had led them to the docks. There was an abandoned harbour, a few pale, indistinct buildings, all painted in a cracking pastel, and from where Angel was leading Faith, an entrance to another side of the hell-mouth.
Faith followed in complete silence, letting the master of off-beaten paths take her to their destination. They moved to the edge of the dock where a ladder beneath its surface led them to a small plot of land beneath the built structure. Once they had both safely gotten past the ladder bit of this obstacle course, the thin peninsula of land extended just briefly. At the end of its path lay a small hatch, just big enough for a person of reasonable size to slip through. Angel stood away from the hatch and nodded towards it. "Ladies first." He invited her.
Shrugging, Faith flashed another wolf's grin at her partner and opened up the hatch. A glance inside would show pure darkness. Without any sign of fear or hesitation in her, Faith hopped into the pitch black, and soon landed on the soft ground below with a quiet 'Oof'. Faith couldn't remember seeing Angel fall down beside her, but when she stood and let her eyes adjust to the darkness, Angel was standing calmly next to her. Damn vampire reflexes. She sent a playful glare in his direction, though figured it went unnoticed with such darkness. Off in the distance a cacophony of the shrill cries of demons and the strange sound of clinking metal against rock met the intruder's ears.
A bit blindly, Faith made her way forward until a small light could be seen and the noises had increased. She followed the slowly growing light until finally it was evident where they were headed. She couldn't see Angel in her peripherals, and figured he was behind her, following. Slowly, slowly, she inched forward.
Closer—
Then closer, until the scene could finally be processed—
The pit, or more valley below them was overflowing with Turok-han. Demons were clawing, climbing at and over each other, releasing screams of pain and disturbance. It was literally hell beneath them.
And for the first time in so long, Faith was scared. The battle beneath her that she would sometime be forced into scared her. The feeling was foreign and sent a few tremors down her spine. Faith forced herself away from the nightmare and peered around for Angel in the dark. He wasn't behind her, or next to her. Frowning, she ventured back into the dark, however her search was cut short, and the battle Angel had brought them to begun. Turok-han exploded from each side, left and right, and Faith was helpless.
Angel stood off to the side, leaning against the wall with a smug smile.
-
-
-
-
Buffy had finally decided. It was appropriate. It was okay. She felt fine and at ease because she could just admit it to herself. She, Buffy, liked Faith. Yeah, okay, so it did sound a little weird, but at least she could say it now, right? And it wasn't just the kissing and the nights they shared that she liked about Faith. She liked a lot of things about her. Like…
Like that her hair was brown.
Oh, and that she was tall.
…
So, she didn't know much about her new to be lover, but she would find out. She would get to know her better. Yeah, they could do the bonding thing that never happened. And they could know every little detail about each other, and it would be great. Buffy was excited. Buffy literally bathed in excitement until a piercing shriek, and soon a chorus of following ones.
The Slayer nearly flew from her deserted room and down the stairs. She paused at the second to last step to observe the broken glass and broken down door that now filled the entry hall. Chaos soon upended itself as a horde of Bringers and their knives erupted from the broken windows and through the potential slayer nest. Taking only a portion of a second to fly down the rest of the stairs, Buffy made a grab for the closest thing she could find as a weapon: a candlestick stationed at a nearby decorative table. Whatever. It would do.
-
-
-
-
The numbers were countless. Every body was melding into one giant nerve and attacking her with such ferocity and zeal. Buried beneath the many fists and feet of the impending army, the Rogue Slayer was frantic to find her partner. She caught glimpses every few moments her vision was allowed to be used again. Angel stood alone against the wall, only watching.
"ANGEL!"
But no response came except for that disgusting smirk that play across his lips. Something was most definitely wrong. Faith squirmed and fought beneath the imperial weight of the enemies atop her.
It was getting hard to breathe now—
She had to get help, had to get out—
She pushed, shoved, punched, and fought, until—
THWACK! Lights out.
-
-
"Willow! Get the rest of the girls! Take them to the basement, anywhere! Just get them out of here! I'll take care of the rest."
"Okay. Buffy, be careful!"
It shouldn't be this hard to fight a group of blind demons, men… creatures. Whatever they were. I mean, c'mon, they are blind! Buffy rushed about the house, trying not to let her eyes run over the falling bodies of dying potentials. She had managed to discard her candlestick weapon and scurry to the weapon's chest. A nice, sharp sword was the Bringer's slaying now.
Buffy watched as the remaining number of potentials followed the witch into the basement. They would be safe there, for now. There were only a handful of them left. This could definitely mark down their winning odds. But the Slayer refused to think about that now. Like Faith had once said, letting that negative type of thinking in was never good.
Faith.
The name suddenly struck Buffy. She wondered if she was okay. Maybe it was good that she and Angel had gone. They were safe from this now fatal attack. Or maybe they weren't. Maybe they were led away on purpose. But why? Buffy's mind raced with infinite fatal possibilities as she raced through the rest of the house, searching for the three she had sworn got away.
No, not in the kitchen. Not in this very dark and looming sort of hallway. Buffy slowed her pace to a silenced step, hoping for maybe a surprise attack. She could give them a taste of their own medicine. Slowly, ever so soundlessly, the Slayer took a surreptitious glance into the guest bedroom. Aha! There, crowded around a small group of three potential slayers, cowered against the wall, all three Bringers stood with knives raised high. She'd attack in…
Three…
Two…
One…
-
-
Betrayal. This only fuelled the fire. Already when the rogue Slayer awoke from an unknown hit to the noggin, along with the headache, she felt wrath.
Where had Angel been?
Why wasn't he fighting? Why was he just watching?
Faith took a minute to herself to fully awaken and possibly recognize her surroundings, though the humid cavern wasn't anywhere she had ever been. Somewhere inside the hell-mouth… She guessed. The restless and now very achy slayer attempted standing, but soon found that wasn't going to happen. Chains. Hm. Original.
"From beneath you it devours." Angel slowly emerged from the growing shadows. He hadn't changed since the fight, since the trip to this literal hell. He still stood at his half-cocked position with a luminous grin, and his hands still sat comfortably in his pockets.
"Yeah, been hearin' a lot of that lately." The Slayer wasn't in any mood or notion at all to be playing games. It seemed Angel though had other ideas.
He stood stock still, staring at her through narrowed eyes for the longest moment time could muster, until—
The body began to change, but the facial expression stayed quite the same. The Mayor soon stood where Angel had previously existed. Right. So, she had been played. Again. This was what—The First? It had to be from what she had been told about it. Perfect.
"Whaddya' gonna' do, buddy, bore me to death? Ain't exactly any damage goin' on here." Sarcasm so far was her greatest weapon when rendered useless.
"You know, Faith, I don't think I like this new… attitude of yours. " A quiet growl was heard from behind the Mayor's non-existent form. Faith kept her eyes plastered, switching from the shadows, then to the Mayor. Back and forth, back and forth. "And frankly, I don't think our friend here does either."
It was too sudden to anticipate. One lone Turok-han erupted from the shadows, as the many of them had done before. He roared a powerful, almighty growl that would ultimately put the Slayer in her eventual place.
"Oh, shit."
-
-
-