Night Falls
Notes: Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming.
Previously:
"He said I was a dirty girl and that dirty girls needed to be punished. But that I was needed to serve a higher purpose. He wanted me to give you a message," she said.
"What did he say?" Buffy asked, her blood running cold.
"I have something of yours," the girl stated.
Chapter Twenty-Three:
"Do you ever wonder what's going to happen after all of this?" Buffy asked, slipping underneath the covers beside Faith and pulling them tightly around her body. Faith shrugged and rolled onto her side, propping her head up with her hand.
"What do you mean?" She asked, watching as Buffy nervously fidgeted with a stray string that was hanging off the end of the sheets. "Just pull it off," Faith suggested, nudging her slightly.
"I mean after all of this stuff with the First Evil goes down. Do you ever wonder what's going to happen?" Buffy asked again, looking over at her with wide, innocent eyes that belied the darkness and pain held deep within her. "I don't want to. It's been here forever," she said in reference to the string.
"Not really," Faith replied. "I've never thought about the future. I just think about now."
"Well, I think about the future. And I'm worried, Faith. About everything. What is going to happen after we defeat the First?"
"You're getting pretty optimistic on me here, B," Faith said with a smirk. "I thought you were all doom and gloom about the First Evil."
Buffy sighed. "I know that I haven't been very good at rallying the troops. But the First is just like any other monster I've fought…. we've fought," she corrected herself. "The good guys always win. It's just a matter of how much we lose in the process that bothers me."
"People are going to die," Faith concurred.
"Sometimes I lay awake at night wondering…who's going to live…who's going to die. You get so used to someone being around and then all of the sudden that person is gone," Buffy said softly.
"Like your mom?" Faith asked, reaching over and tracing a comforting line up and down Buffy's arm. She felt a spark whenever she touched the older girl, but she suppressed the overwhelming desire that rose up in her chest. She knew that Buffy needed her.
"Like my mom," she agreed. "But also like Ms. Calendar, or Tara. Especially Tara. I still can't believe that happened. It's like one day she as here and everything was perfect. Then in one instant everything changed. For what?"
"I don't know," Faith replied. "Everything happens for a reason though. The trick is figuring out the reason in chaos."
"Then I think, what if the next person to die is Giles…or Willow…or Xander? I don't think I could live with that. But the thing is, I can think about what it would be like if they died. But I can't even think about what it would be like if you died, or if Dawn died," Buffy said, shivering despite the warmth of her blankets.
"I'm not going to die, B," Faith said with conviction. "I've fought a lot of battles in my life and I didn't come this far…"
"But you are going to die," Buffy said, interrupting her. "Giles said so. The prophecy says so."
"But the prophecy also talks about three Slayers, B," Faith reminded her. "I've gotta be one of them."
"How can you be so sure?" Buffy replied. "You die and another is called. But how do you know that she won't die as well. How do you know that she won't be the one brought back by something?"
"I don't know," Faith replied. "But I feel it in my heart. I'm not ready to leave you yet."
"That's never stopped anyone before," Buffy replied sadly.
"Why do you do this to yourself, B?" Faith asked, turning away from the blonde Slayer with an angry sigh. "You can't change the past and you sure as hell can't change the future. What's going to happen will, no matter what we try to do. Maybe I will die. Maybe I won't. I don't want to spend everyday dwelling on that fact. I just want to live."
"Everybody just wants to live," Buffy said, turning so that she could look at Faith, who was trying to avoid her gaze. "All of those girls down there want to live. But not all of them will."
"Do you ever think about what happens after everything?" Faith asked suddenly.
"I thought we were just talking about that?" Buffy replied with a question.
"No, not after the battle with the First, whenever that will be. I mean after all of this – life. Do you ever think about what happens?" Faith asked again.
"You mean if I believe in Heaven and Hell?" Buffy said thoughtfully. "I've seen demons worse than anything I could have imagined. Things that I know came from Hell. We're sitting on top of it as we speak. So yes, I believe in Hell. I've seen it. If there's a Hell, then there has to be a Heaven. Besides, I kinda think I was there," Buffy answered.
"I don't know if I want to…believe, I mean," Faith said softly, staring out of the bedroom window at the rising moon.
"Why not?" Buffy asked, moving closer to her. Faith lifted her arm so that Buffy could rest her head on her chest and then dropped it around the older girl's shoulders.
"I'm afraid of where I'll end up," Faith admitted. "I've done terrible things. I don't know that all of the good deeds in the world could make up for the things that I've done."
"I didn't know that you believed in all of that. Sin and God and Satan," Buffy replied, looking up into Faith's distant, turbulent eyes.
"My mother was Catholic," Faith replied. "She used to take me to Mass every Sunday when I was little. I pretended to hate it, but really I was fascinated by everything – the mysticism of it. Wine into blood, bread into body. It was incredible." Faith paused, smiling a little. "We stopped going after a while," she resumed, her smile disappearing. "But all of the things that the priests said, they stuck in my head, you know?" She said, looking over at Buffy. "I can't get them out."
"You're a good person, Faith. You may have done some bad things, but there has to be a way back from that," Buffy replied insistently.
"Does there? Don't you think that there's a point when all of the good deeds in the world can't save you? Some things are just too bad," Faith said reflectively.
"We all have sins on our consciences, Faith. No one in this house is perfect. We've lied, we've cheated, we've stolen, and we've killed. Sometimes for noble causes, sometimes not. Sometimes just because we're vindictive or vengeful or angry. The world is full of people just trying to tip the scales back into good," Buffy said, reaching up and touching Faith's face. "Look at me, baby," she whispered.
Faith looked down at her, wondering at the depth of emotion that she saw swimming in the blonde's emerald eyes. "What?" She whispered back.
"I believe in you, Faith. I always will," Buffy replied, pressing her lips softly against Faith's. Faith let her eyes slip closed, capturing her tears before they fell, and lost herself in Buffy's kiss.
…………………………………
"I thought you said we'd be there by sunset," Wesley grumbled. "It's well past that now."
"I didn't exactly expect to blow a tire in the middle of nowhere," Xander replied moodily. "I just hope someone will let us in," he mumbled, walking up to Buffy's front door. Raising his fist, he knocked three times on the door and waited. He could hear movement in the house. Footsteps approached the door and then stopped.
"Who is it?" A petite voice yelled through the door.
"Dawn," Xander said, grinning as he looked over at Wesley.
"Yes, I nearly forgot I'd be inhabiting a house full of teenage girls. Remind me again why I decided to come here?"" He asked.
"To help save the world. It's good for the people," Xander replied. "It's me," he yelled through the door.
"What the secret code?" Dawn replied obstinately.
"Secret code?" Xander asked, furrowing his brows in confusion. "Since when has there been a secret code?"
The door swung open and Dawn greeted him with a brilliant smile that lit up her whole face. "There's no secret code. I was just messing with you," she replied, diving into Xander's open arms.
"Missed you, kiddo," he said.
"Where did you go away?" Dawn asked, pulling away to punch him as hard as she could on the arm, which did little damage, but he feigned pain for her sake. "Everyone's been so worried about you. Especially with the new guy in town."
"New guy?" Xander asked, stepping into the house with Wesley in tow.
"Caleb," Dawn replied. "He's some kind of preacher, or something. Working for the First though, so he can't really be all 'yay with God'," she said.
"Do we know anything about him?" Wesley asked.
"Do I know him?" Dawn whispered over to Xander. Xander smiled.
"That's Wesley," he said. "Faith's Watcher?"
"Oh, right. He looks different. Less dorky," Dawn said.
"Thanks," Wesley replied, rolling his eyes. "Back to my question?"
"No," Dawn said easily, leading them into the kitchen where Anya and Giles were sitting in a rather uncomfortable silence. "We don't know anything about him. Look who's back."
Anya glanced up, her eyes widening for a moment, before she launched herself out of her chair and into Xander's arms. "Where the hell were you?" She asked, hitting him considerably harder than Dawn on the same arm.
"Ow," he muttered, rubbing the sore spot. "I went to Los Angeles."
"And you didn't think it would be a good idea to call us?" Giles asked, smiling despite his irritation at the rash actions of the boy.
"I was kinda pissed," Xander replied, shrugging. "Besides, I brought back help, so you can't be too angry with me."
"Hello, Giles," Wesley said cordially. "I hope you don't mind my being here."
"Are you kidding?" Giles asked, rising to his feet and shaking his hand enthusiastically. "I've been the only Watcher in a house full of girls this whole time. I'm quite glad you're here."
"Good," Wes replied, smiling a little. He was still uncomfortable around most of the Scooby Gang. Though Faith had been the only one to physically hurt him, he knew their opinions of him. Sometimes words did cut just as deep as a knife. He had made some mistakes back then, just as Faith had, though his had not been fatal to anyone else. However, he felt the burden of those mistakes wearing him down as well. He had come back partially to redeem himself in the minds of his peers. As he shifted his weight to his other foot, glancing around the room nervously, he found himself wishing that Faith were there. At least hers was a familiar face with which he had already begun to develop a relationship.
"If you ever do that again…" Anya warned, glaring at Xander and folding her arms across her chest. Their relationship had been rocky at best since he left her standing at the altar, but Anya had to admit that she still loved him. Love was a funny thing, once it rooted itself, it never seemed to let go.
"I won't," Xander promised, gently kissing her forehead. "This is where I belong."
"So, do we have a plan?" Wes asked eagerly.
"Actually, we do," Giles replied. "Tomorrow…"
……………………..
"Why did I get stuck with you?" Hailey asked, glaring over at Andrew.
"Hey!" Andrew replied indignantly. "I'm not that bad."
"No, you wouldn't be…if you would just shut up every once in a while," Hailey grumbled. "So how did you learn to do all of this anyway?" She asked as she helped him install a camera in one of the cemeteries. Buffy had decided some time ago to set up surveillance around town, but the equipment Andrew ordered had only just arrived.
"The Internet," Andrew replied proudly.
"You know, I gotta say, I'm impressed. I could use a person like you down in Coyote Creek," Hailey said. "My job would be a whole lot easier if I had cameras monitoring the town."
"So you're planning on going back after all of this goes down?" Andrew asked, looking over at her.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Hailey asked, handing him a wire.
"What about Willow?" He replied, taking it from her and hooking it up to the camera.
Hailey sighed. "I hadn't thought about that. I didn't come here planning to stay. I just came to help."
"She's not going to be happy if you just leave," Andrew said. "I may not know too much about women, but I know that Willow's been hurt in the past. I had some part in that. She deserves better than to be hurt again," he said reflectively.
"I don't want to hurt her," Hailey said thoughtfully. "I just don't know if I can stay here. I had a life back there. Sure, it wasn't the best life in the world, but I had a purpose. I liked my job."
"You can hunt vampires here," Andrew offered.
Hailey flashed him a lopsided grin. "I know that. There's no end to the vampires here. But there are two Slayers here as well. There's no one back home to protect the people there. They only had me."
"Maybe it's time they learned to fend for themselves," Andrew suggested. Hailey sighed and sat down on one of the gravestones. She was slowly growing to love Willow, despite the fact that she had not loved anyone in a long time. She just did not know if that love would blossom into something that would make her stay in Sunnydale.
"What would you do?" Hailey asked.
"You really want to know?" Andrew asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Hailey replied.
"I would stay here. Willow's special," he said. "You aren't going to find someone like her again."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Hailey admitted. "We done here?" She asked.
"Yeah," Andrew replied, moving away from the camera. It was camouflaged as rock on the ground. "Can you tell?"
"No," Hailey said, inspecting it. "It's flawless. You should really consider doing this professionally."
"Maybe I will," Andrew said, beaming. "Once the First is gone and all. No point in making plans when the world might end."
"Very true," Hailey agreed. "So having you around must be hard for her, huh?"
"What?" Andrew asked, looking over at Hailey as they walked out of the cemetery, heading to the next one where they were supposed to plant a camera.
"It must be hard for Willow, having you around if it reminds her of Tara," Hailey commented.
"I guess," Andrew said. "I mean, I'm not the one who killed Tara, but I could have stopped it. I should have known what Warren was doing. He was out of control."
"And you weren't?" Hailey asked.
"We all were," he replied. "But Jonathon and I were too scared to do anything. Warren was the one who instigated everything."
"And Jonathon's dead now," Hailey said.
"I killed him," Andrew admitted. "He was my only friend and I killed him. I'm sure it's hard for Willow to see me, but it's hard for me to see her too. She reminds me of everything I've lost."
"I guess it goes both ways then," Hailey said. "Who do you think this Caleb guy is?"
"I don't know," Andrew said. "Are you pumping me for information?" He asked, stopping and looking at her.
Hailey grinned. "Once a cop, always a cop," she replied. "Sorry."
"It's okay," Andrew said, resuming walking. "I want to help."
"I know," Hailey replied. "The others do too. Just give them time. You may find that you have more friends than you think."