As months passed by for the two slayers their lives began to change, but it wasn't all for the better for the brunette half compared to her blonde counterpart. Faith Lehane was currently traveling down a dark path standing alongside the Mafia although half of the time she forced herself to forget the illegal activities she participated in regularly with the help of drugs and alcohol ingested on a regular basis. Her body was also slowly deteriorating from the drugged food and drink consumed throughout her time with the infamous group, but on the other hand the torture and violation of her body was less with Angelo only allowing Faith's body to be touched by him almost claiming her as his own, including as going as far as branding the back of her neck with his initials. The dark slayer found herself stealing, gambling, kidnapping and even murdering numerous victims. Her PTSD never resurfaced due to the number of drugs pumping throughout her body and she became a pawn to the Mafia obeying every rule laid out to her. The only advantage throughout this dysfunctional lifestyle Faith had become a part of was being rewarded with luxury items, but one of these items given to her by Angelo would soon change everything for Faith and Buffy.
Sat on the edge of her bed the brunette slayer was rocking herself back and forth slowly, her finger running over the blade of her precious Jackal knife admiring the curves of the metal while Angelo kept a close eye on her in the far corner of the room, cell phone at his ear as he organised the latest job Faith would complete as she always did. From all her possessions the Jackal knife was one of the items she was rewarded with though she never questioned how it was so easy to obtain.
She studied the knife long and hard hearing a particular slayer's voice in her head "All that killing and you're afraid to die?" She muttered softly to herself "You should have been there B…quite a ride" Her other hand holding over the scar that was still visible on her lower abdomen the blonde had kindly left as a souvenir years ago. Tears came to the brunette's eyes as her mind flashed back years ago, hoping the blonde slayer was thinking about her too. Was she even looking for her? Did she assume Faith had fled the country? Or did she just give up on Faith just like all them years ago?
Unknown to Faith the blonde slayer had already given up looking for her, presuming the dark slayer had been killed after hearing many rumors amongst the other slayers and not to mention her lover Spike who she had turned to during her hour of need but found more than just comfort in him. She saw this becoming more but she wasn't sure what yet as her main priority was her business and the girls she continued to look after.
"Did I give up too quickly?" Buffy questioned with a sigh as she took in the beautiful endless views of Venice before her eyes sipping on chardonnay tapping her recently manicured nails along the curves of the glass resting the back of her head on Spike's shoulder.
His eyes looked down at her and then back to the breath-taking view from the balcony before he spoke. "You did what you could…" Spike replied soon being cut off.
"Did I? Because of me, she's dead…" It was now the vampire's turn to cut her off.
"It's not your fault love…she should have reached out to you but instead she walked away. It's what she does best right?"
Buffy scowled and shook her head. "I pushed her away…again. She wouldn't have been thinking straight after what happened that night. What if…."
Spike stopped her rambling as he pulled her in at the waist gently nuzzling into her neck but she brushed him off and turned her heel towards the downstairs of the apartment. Spike rolled his eyes before following her.
"She was never there for you so why are you getting yourself so worked up over this?" he asked following her to the main living area where the blonde slayer poured herself another glass of chardonnay., resting the glass on her bottom lip before answering.
"It's complicated" Spike grabbed the glass from her hand placing it down on a nearby glass coffee table.
"It always is with her…did you and her…is there something between you?" He raised an eyebrow towards her looking slightly aroused as he quizzed the blonde slayer. Buffy swallowed and went into her own head a few moments at the many times she thought her and Faith were more then what meets the eye.
Buffy smirked at the blonde vampire. "Ugh…god no! What is wrong with you?"
Spike sniggered "No need to get so uptight about it love. I saw how you two looked at each other…especially her with them doe eyes….
Buffy cut him off "Please stop! Nothing was going on..anyway...I have work to do…feel free to stick around."
Spike smirked back at her. "Will you make it worth my while?"
Grabbing the glass of chardonnay and making her way to the study the blonde shook her head. "Raincheck?"
Before Spike could reply the door to the private study was shut. "Um…yeah…sure. Whenever suits you pet!" he raised his voice slightly before turning to the chardonnay on the side lifting the bottle to take a sniff screwing his face up as the strong aroma hit his nostrils. "Got anything decent love?" he called out to Buffy but he didn't receive a response so took it upon himself to search the apartment.
Meanwhile, the blonde locked inside her study was sat on a large red leather office chair, her legs draping over one of the arms. Resting on her lap was an IPad, her finger scrolling through numerous pictures of her and Faith together throughout their time in Italy, the blonde studied each one soon finding herself obsessing over what Spike had said to her. Did Faith love me? Did we have something? Or was it just the slayer connection she was always talking about? Either way Buffy wanted answers now more than ever knowing she couldn't ever speak to Faith again…or so she thought.
Back at the warehouse Faith was still sitting on the edge of the bed allowing her own thoughts to consume her. In a twisted way they became comforting to her compared to that of the present day. The last few months felt as if they had been an endless nightmare and for the first time in her life she had completely given up on believing she would return to a normal life, return to her hopes and dreams, and most important her return to Buffy. This was another dream about to be shattered before her very eyes.
She snapped out of her daze eventually as Angelo distracted her placing down a MacBook onto her lap. Faith raised a brow at Angelo and then back at the computer screen. "You like?" Angelo asked running his fingers over the smooth new material of the keyboard.
"Grazie" Faith replied. Angelo smiled before placing a kiss on top of her head causing the brunette to tense. "Erm...so what's with the flashy tech?" Faith asked poking at the keys prompting the laptop to turn on.
"Un Regalo" Angelo replied with a grin. "But...this is not just any gift...it's to help assist you to track someone down.." Angelo lit a cigarette before tossing the packet to the brunette. "Some puttaba causing too much noise back in Venice...I need you to take care of her...but first I need you to see something" As he spoke he hit the keyboard and a page began to load in front of Faith's eyes. As she scanned the website her hand gripped harder of the Jackal causing Angelo to take it from her grip before she caused more damage to herself. "I hope you won't allow your personal feelings to affect your judgment il mio amore...but know I want her dead and my guess is after reading this you will too." Angelo spat his words as his finger scrolled down the page of the new's article, the main headline reading "Business Woman of the Year: An Interview with Supernatural Security CEO Buffy Summers".
As Faith read the article tears rolled down her cheeks as she read the blonde quote how the business idea was inspiration taken from an old friend, the pictures of her luxurious and new lifestyle and the endless reviews of clients praising her. She slammed the MacBook down throwing it to the ground as rage suddenly came over her, flashbacks of the last year or so came flooding in all at once and as if in slow motion in front of Faith's own eyes as Angelo turned to pick up the laptop with the only remaining strength left in her she grabbed the Jackyl from Angelo's grip slashing his throat in one fell swoop. As his lifeless body hit the floor Faith sighed in relief before grabbing the MacBook and Angelo's gun from his back pocket and making her way out of the room her voice echoing around the building as she opened her arms out wide "Vieni a prendermi, bastardi! Within a few minutes the warehouse filled with gunshots and the sound of numerous unknown bodies hitting the ground.
Then silence for a few moments before a large crash as the doors of the warehouse came crashing down to the floor followed by the brunette slayer falling to her knees, her eyes like dark marbles, holding the Jackyl close as she watched a large amount of blood dripping down the handle and onto the ground, her breathing labored as she fought back the tears of relief as the nightmare finally came to an end, looking towards the distance. "You're next BITCH!"