Someone is underwater; copious amounts of bubbles rise through it, some larger, some smaller, as though someone below is doing their best to hold their breath but can't continue for much longer.
Buffy frantically trying to get to the surface. Below her, Allan grabs her ankle and pulls her down. She kicks her legs and flails her arms, desperately trying to shake loose.
Eventually, she manages to break free of his grip and swim to the surface. She breaks through and draws a deep breath. There, kneeling above the dock, she sees Faith, who reaches down and shoves her back underwater.
Gasping, Buffy wakes with a start from the nightmare and draws several deep breaths to calm herself as she realizes it was all just a dream. She sits up in bed and looks around her room before realizing the dark-colored room belonged to her sister.
Since learning about Faith's lack of empathy for the murder she committed, Buffy had been trying to keep the two girls apart, that and being with Nikki usually kept the nightmares at bay.
Seeing the crumples sheets that were still warm, she guessed her sister couldn't have been out of bed for long. She pushes the blankets back, gets up, and walks out into the hall, where she can hear the news on the TV in her mother's room.
"We go now live to our field reporter, who is standing by at the waterfront with this breaking news about the murder that has shocked the Mayor and residents of Sunnydale," A new anchor calls from the television.
Buffy can see the TV from the hall. It shows footage of the boat retrieving Allan's body "Fishermen discovered the body today, the victim of a brutal stabbing. Authorities and citizens alike were shocked when the slain man was identified as Deputy Mayor Allan Finch".
Buffy can't believe that they not only found the body but that he was also a public figure. "Still reeling from the news, Mayor Wilkins had this to say. The news cuts to the Mayor at a press conference".
Mayor Wilkins comes on the screen looking woeful. "Mr. Finch was not only my longtime aide and associate, he was a close personal friend. I promise you I will not rest until whoever did this is found and brought to justice. Thank you very much".
Joyce notices Buffy standing behind her. "Oh, honey, you're up," she says as she had her arm curled around Nikki, who had been lying beside their mother. Joyce turns back to the TV, "Oh, it's just terrible, isn't it?"
Buffy doesn't know what to say or how to react, and it shows on her face, which, unfortunately for her, was caught by her now suspicious twin.
Buffy is sitting on the study table, and Faith is seated in a chair at the table. Wesley paces as Giles is sitting at the far end. "I want you to look into this. Find out everything you can about the murder of the Deputy Mayor".
"But that's... I-I mean, that's... That's not really our jurisdiction, is it?" Buffy stutters, looking nervous and confused, making me frown as I watched her from my place on top of the check out counter.
"It's no big, B. We'll get into it if he wants," Faith calmly drawls as my sister's eye twitches before they glance over to me, then quickly away when she realizes I was looking at her.
"No, Buffy's right. The Deputy Mayor's murder was the result of human malice. There's nothing supernatural about it," Giles speaks as my sister eagerly nods along with his words.
"We don't know that for certain," Wesley turns to us with a bright smile, "I say it merits investigation."
I smile, too happy to get out on the field. "Yes! CSS: Crime Scene Slayers!" Faith snorts at my enthusiasm. "They should make a tv show about us," I spoke lowly, thinking of the idea seriously.
Giles gets up, walks around the table, giving me a look as he turns back to the other Watcher, "Which I'm sure the police are doing. Meantime if you ask me, there are better uses for the Slayers' time".
Wesley laughs snootily. "Ah. But I don't believe I did-" he holds the daily paper out to Giles "-Ask you."
Giles yanks the paper away. "Considering the success of your previous adventure..." he begins before Cordelia walks into the library, causing us all to look over at her.
"Cordelia," I greeted as the brunette give me a winning smile before turning back to Giles.
"Don't let me interrupt. Wait. Let me interrupt. I'm in a hurry" she raises her eyebrows as Giles sighs to himself, putting down the newspaper.
"What did you need?"
At this point, Wesley has turned to see who has spoken and looks immediately taken by Cordelia. He stares at her with his mouth agape, looking her up and down as my lips upturn in disgust.
"Uh, psych class. Freud and Jung. Book me?"
Giles nods, seemingly happy to be out of the conversation with Wesley "Happily."
Cordelia notices Wesley and gives him one of her best smiles. "Check out Giles: The Next Generation. What's your deal?".
Wesley begins stammering nervously, "Uh, I, uh... well..." he swallows awkwardly, "I'm a..." Both he and Cordelia glance over at me when I begin to laugh, one of confusion and the other pure desperation with a little fear.
I lean forward to Cordelia and stage-whisper "New Watcher" as the younger Watcher begins to look irritated.
"Does everybody know about you?"
My sister rolls her eyes with a shrug as Cordelia stands next to me at the counter. "She's a friend."
The brunette lets out a mocking laugh. "Let's not exaggerate" I tap her shoulder gently with a mutter for her to be nice.
"She's my friend. Buffy had Xander and Willow. I have Cordy," The dark-haired girl smiles up at me softly. Never thought I'd be saying those words when I first moved here but look at us now.
"So..." Cordy steps closer "You're the new Watcher," She questions rhetorically as she eyes Wesley closely; she was like a snake hunting prey.
Wesley summons up a backbone and holds out his hand, "Wesley Wyndam-Pryce."
Cordelia grins as she takes his hand in hers with a grin on her face. "I like a man with two last names. I'm Cordelia".
The Watcher nods with a smile, now seemingly more comfortable than before. "And you teach psychology" Faith, and I begin to snort, knowing precisely what was happening. Wesley was in for a shock.
The brunette just smiles knowingly. "I *take* psychology."
Giles walks behind Wesley with Cordelia's books. "She's a student."
Wesley immediately drops Cordelia's hand. "Oh, well. I, uh..." he swallows nervously again. "Yes. In fact, I am... here to watch... girls. Uh, uh, Nikki, Buffy, and Faith, to be specific".
I watch the spectacle totally enamored I was entertained by the older man hotting on what he thought was a teacher but instead happened to be a schoolgirl. It was to see him flub and suffer.
Cordelia steps closer, smiling brightly. "Well, it's about time we got some fresh blood around here" My friend was not bothered at all as she went in for the kill.
Wesley laughs nervously, glancing at me for some help, but I just shrugged unhelpfully. "Well. Fresh. Yes".
At the checkout counter, Giles stamps the due date into the book "Here we go."
Cordelia looks to Giles gratefully. "Thanks" before she once again turns to the younger Watcher.
"So, welcome to Sunnydale" She gives him a bright smile and goes to retrieve her books. On her way out, she makes sure to put just the right amount of swing in her hips.
Wesley turns his head while watching her back admiringly. "My. She is cheeky, isn't she?"
Faith laughs, still amused. "Uh, first word: jail; second word: bait" I nodded along with her words, only feeling a little creeped out that he still watched her leave after finding out she was a schoolgirl.
He puts the watch in Watcher I guess.
"Ahem," Wesley clears his throat as he pulls out his handkerchief. "Well, uh..." he dabs his mouth," Where were we?"
Buffy slips off the table eagerly. "Done. I mean, we were done, right?".
Faith stands up, clapping her hands together happily. "Uh, yep. Off to patrol. So we'll see ya" She eyed me with a smirk until Wesley cleared his throat to get our attention.
Wesley straightens his back. "One moment, girls. I'm your commander now, and on the matter of this murder, I am resolved. Natural or super, I want to know.".
"Fine by me. Always ready to kick a little bad-guy butt." She touches her hand to my leg before my sister brushes it off with a sharp look.
Her eyes turn to me with a fake smile. "Why don't you stay and practice while I patrol with Faith?" the two of them walk out together with Wesley smiles beatifically after them.
Faith gives me a sorry shrug as Buffy pushes her through the doors. "Someone's acting strange," I mutter as Giles gets my practice things out, making me pout. "All I do is practice lately."
Buffy pushes Faith into an empty classroom not long after leaving the library.
She couldn't keep this up for long; she knew her sister was getting suspicious. She pulls the door closed behind her as Faith checks the other door to make sure it's closed, which it is.
They meet in the center of the room. "So, you gonna rat me out? Is that it?" The darker haired Slayer challenges.
"Faith, we have to tell. I can't pretend to investigate this. I can't pretend that I don't know. Nikki is going to find out soon; I can't keep this from her," Buffy desperately tells the other Slayer.
"Oh, I see. But you can pretend that Angel's still dead when you need to protect him," She replies snidely. "I guess I can't expect much when you let him hurt someone you shared a womb with."
Buffy gasps as she looks at Faith. "I *am* trying to protect you. I'm protecting her too; she can't be around you now. Look, if-if we don't do the right thing, it's only gonna make things worse for you".
"Worse than jail for the rest of my young life? No way!" Faith scoffs not only at that idea but the idea that Buffy thought she could keep her and Nikki apart. They had a bond like no other.
Nikki would be there for Faith, just as Faith is for Nikki.
"Faith, what we did was..." The blonde begins but was soon cut off.
Faith smirks ominously. "Yeah. We. You were right there beside me when this whole thing went down. Anything I have to answer for, you do, too. You're a part of this, B. All the way". Faith walks out of the classroom, leaving a shocked Buffy behind.
I breathed calmly as I dodged Giles' attacks as we both practiced while Wesley watched on keeping notes. He has now declared that Giles should be the one to spar with me from now on.
He says his skin bruises easily.
"Did Buffy seemed weird to you today, G?" I questioned the older man who was slashing at me with some kind of knife.
"Not that I..uh..can recall," He replied as his breath came out shakily, his stamina has come on leaps and bounds since training with us, but he was still out of breath quicker than I was.
"Hmm," I muttered, knowing that was something up with Buffy, and I knew it also had to do with Faith. I knew it wasn't what I had going on with the older girl because Buffy was into that kind of thing.
"Concentrate now, Nikki," Wesley called out as I rolled my eyes; I could do this stuff in my sleep now. "Fighting isn't anything without concentration" His voice was getting to me, "please, Nikki, just concentrate!"
Throwing my hand to the side, the knife in Giles' hand flew out and embedded itself in the hardback book that Wesley currently held in his hand, all the color in his face drained as he turned the book around.
"Good, well, I can see that you're concentrating enough. Well done"
Giles gave me a look, but the amusement in his eyes was enough for me to know that I wasn't really in trouble. Holding out my hand, I mentally called out for the knife as I flew back through the air into my hand.
The older man watched as I did so seamlessly; he looked proud. "It looks as if you're getting the hang of this once again," he commented as I played with the knife in my hand.
"Yep," I said, watching it spin, "I'm the boss of me now."
The red and blue flashing lights of police car light bars illuminate the area where Alan was killed. A forensic expert takes blood, and fiber samples from the dumpster as another police officer holds a Maglite up.
Detective Stein is also there, interviewing a potential witness. "So, uh... You heard the man scream about what time last night?"
The woman sighs worriedly. "Oh, I'm not sure. 7:00, maybe 8:00."
Detective Stein writes that down before looking back towards the woman, "Can you be more specific, say between 7:30 and 8:00?"
Angel, watching from a distance, sees the blood on the dumpster and watches as the samples are taken as he thinks back to the previous night when he saw the blood on Buffy's hand.
Bouncing my leg as I sat on the steps, we were waiting for my sister to come home from the patrol with Faith. I give the Detective a stoic head nod. I might have an issue with authority.
Suddenly the door begins to open as Buffy makes her way into the house with a small smile; when Mom meets her at the door, her eyes turn to Detective Stein, who was standing behind her "Buffy."
"Maybe we should all go sit down," Detective Stein says as we all nod and begin to move to the lounge area. Buffy holds my arm, but I shake my head, having no idea why he was here either.
Mom sits in an armchair with her feet together, and her hands folded in her lap, listening to the Detective question us as Buffy and I sit on the couch across from her. "Tell me again. You got home at what time last night?".
Buffy sighs at the question but answers anyway, "Late. Um, a-a little past 1:00, I guess." The man nods and writes down what my sister had said before turning his eyes to mine.
"Any you say you were in bed at that time"? I nod slowly, wondering what the hell was going on and if this had anything to do with why Buffy was acting so shifty lately.
"Yeah, I was doing some work in the library before I came home to have dinner with my mom, and then I went to bed" Once again, the Detective nodded and wrote it all down.
"Can you confirm that?" He said to mom, who nodded quickly, backing me up.
"Did you see your sister at all or maybe your friend Faith Lehane?" my eye twitched at the question; I knew they were acting weird. Were the two of them in trouble. I quickly eyed my sister, whose face was turning a little pale.
"Other than at school, no, I didn't."
Detective Stein glances back at my twin as he asks his next question, "Maybe you can explain to me what a girl your age is doing out all night" Buffy and I eyed each other, not being able to tell him the truth of why we stay out so late at night.
"We were at Faith's watching TV" Mom bites her lip as she listens anxiously to them.
Detective Stein continues to take notes. "What did you watch?" he questions offhandedly, but I knew they just did that to trap you.
"Infomercial," my sister says shortly, and I almost groaned, knowing that if he questioned Faith, she wouldn't say that, and if they were in trouble, they needed to get their stories straight before answering questions.
"Hmm," The man nods. "That's funny 'cause I got a couple of witnesses who put you near the alley," my eyebrows furrow as my sister discreetly stiffens in her chair, unnoticeable to no one but me.
"Wait. What alley?" I asked, glancing between the Detective and Buffy when I noticed my mom wiping her eyes with a piece of tissue. Then I remembered from the news, "Is this about the Deputy Mayor?".
The Detective eyes Buffy suspiciously before nodding at my question. "Somebody stabbed this guy through the heart. Strange thing is, the weapon, it was made out of wood."
My heart stopped as everything finally fell into place. One of them stabbed and killed the Deputy Mayor; he had been staked by a Slayer.
"Any of this mean anything to you?" The man asks, looking at both my sister and me as we shake our heads in unison. Detective Stein inhales deeply and sighs.
After a few minutes of silence, my sister speaks up, "Is that it? I'm kinda beat".
The Detective sighs heavily as he rubs his face. "Yeah, I have enough for now. If you girls know something, if you're protecting someone, Buffy, I promise you it'll be better for everyone if you just come clean".
Buffy just smiles politely. "I wish I could help you," the older man hands my sister a card before gathering his things.
"Well, call me if you remember anything" Mom sees him out as I turn to watch my twin scurry upstairs as I faintly hear the telltale signs of her crying.
"Oh, Buffy," I sighed, wondering if my sister was really capable of killing someone or if she was just covering for someone else I had come to care about a lot.
I sat on the edge of Faith's bed, feeling like I had been punched in the stomach. After hearing Buffy leave the house, I knew I had to get some answers, and who better to ask than the other Slayer involved.
It just wasn't the answer I was expecting.
"So it was all just an accident," I asked in a hushed tone as Faith kneels in front of me with her hands on my knees.
"Yeah, one minute we were killing vampires, and the next there he was. It all happened so quickly," Faith admitted as she frowned. "I don't think Buffy even really knew he was human when she did, it was like an instinctual thing."
I eyed the brunette closely, doubting that Buffy would kill a person and then lie about it but then again, I don't think Faith would lie to me. Either way, a human being was murdered that night in the alley, and those two were responsible for leaving him there.
"I just can't believe this happened," I muttered, looking at my hands as Faith rubs my leg in comfort. Why hadn't Buffy talked to me about this? I was the most open-minded between the two of us.
"Think about it, Puddin' has she been acting weird or suspicious lately" my eyes met hers as I remembered how skittish Buffy had been, "and she won't let you patrol with us anymore."
That was true; I thought it's because my sister was getting weird about the relationship between Faith and me, but this made so much more sense. Did she think i'd find out what she did and out her?
"We have to tell Giles," I told the older girl whose eyes darkened a little, "he'll know what to do, how we can help her."
Faith frowned as she stood, "Help her?".
I sighed as I tugged on my jacket. "You said it was an accident, right?" she nodded slowly "then I think she deserves the benefit of the doubt," kissing Faith's cheek, "I'd do the same for you."
Moving back, I noticed the sad look on her face before it changes back into her neutral expression as we make our way over to the library. Giles would have to know how to make all this better; he was Giles.
I just hoped Giles 2.0 wasn't around.
Buffy walks into the library, feeling more nervous with every step; she comes in quietly and walks past the counter, "Giles?" She stops when she sees him come out of his office.
The older man just looks at her, expressionless, "Buffy."
"Uh..." the blonde exhales as she begins, "I don't really know how to say this, so I'm- I'm... I'm just gonna say it. I know I've kept things from you before, but...".
Giles turns his head slightly as Faith and Nikki comes out of his office, too. Faith gives her a steely look like she expects Buffy to keep things quiet.
Nikki can't even look at her twin; she keeps her eyes to the ground as if she were the one in trouble.
Buffy starts fumbling, "But, um, but I-I've been blowing off my classes. You know, in-in the sense of not attending. And, uh...".
Nikki sighs as she finally glances up. "It's okay, Buffy. She told him," her twin seemed to say those words in pain. Maybe she was upset about her not-girlfriend getting in trouble.
How do you tell your sister that you watched a man be murdered by the girl she was but wasn't in a relationship with.
Buffy's eyes widened in surprise, "You told him?"
Faith placed a hand on Nikki's shoulder as she pulled the blonde back into her a little "I had to. He had to know what you did".
Buffy frowns, confused at the older Slayer's words, "What I did?" She realizes that Faith has told Giles and her sister a bold-faced lie. "Giles, no. Tha-That's just not what happened. Nikki, please, you have to-".
"I don't want to hear it, Buffy," Giles mutters as he pats the youngest Slayer on the shoulder, subtly bringing her closer to him. Faith was more focused on Buffy to realize.
"No! It..."
Giles sighs heavily. "I don't want to hear any more lies" Nikki sadly gazes at her sister, who was looking between the three of them wildly.
Buffy turns back to Faith frantically. "You can't be serious! You're setting me up?" Nikki eyes Faith as Buffy accuses her. They were both saying the other did it, and there was no way for sure to know the truth.
"Get in my office, now. Faith, I'll talk to you in the morning," The Watcher says to Faith as the brunette nods slowly.
"Giles, please, you have to..." Buffy begins but soon stops by the sound of Giles shouting sternly.
"Now!" Buffy can't believe what's happening; Faith walks around Giles as Buffy goes into his office.
Faith stops and faces him. "Um... Sorry" she says to him, awkward as Nikki silently follows the older girl around Giles, not saying a word.
"Nikki, why don't you stay, and we can talk through it to help Buffy," The Watcher asks as he cleans his glasses, giving the blonde a small nod towards his office. Nikki didn't have time to answer before she was spoken over.
Faith frowns as she almost glares at the watcher. "Sorry, G, I need her with me" She grabs the blonde's arm and leaves at a brisk pace. Giles looks down for a moment, then goes into his office.
Buffy turns to the older man desperately. "Giles, I didn't do this. I swear. Look, I know that I messed up badly, but the murder, i-it... it was..."
Giles interrupts her rambling with a small sigh. "Faith. I know" a stunned Buffy realizes he was just playing Faith's game; he knew she was telling a lie and went along with it instead of calling her out.
"She may have many talents, Buffy, but fortunately, lying is not one of them. Unless she's lying to Nikki, that is, what would make her believe Faith" The Watcher spoke to himself, wondering about the youngest Slayer.
Unless she was playing along too?
"Oh. Oh, God," Buffy drops down into the chair as relief flows through her for a moment; she really thought she was going to be in trouble, "I thought..."
Giles begins to comfort the blonde girl "I'm sorry. I needed her to think that I was on her side. I don't know how far she'll take this charade".
"Try far. Like, all the way," Buffy says until she realizes what Giles said. "Nikki! She's with Faith we can't-"
"We can't give Faith any reason to know that we already know she was the culprit, Buffy," The man grimly states, holding his hand up to stop Buffy from chasing after her sister.
The two continue to talk about the murder unknowing that another person was lurking outside of the office.
Wesley, who is standing by the counter, arms crossed and listening grimly as Giles talks again, "I mean, this is... extremely delicate. If we scare her off now, we may lose her forever, and she could take Nikki down with her".
Back at Wesley's apartment, the young man picks up the phone and dials an international number. "Yes, hello. Mr. Travers, please. Quentin Travers," he listens for a moment. "Wesley Wyndam-Pryce calling."
Once again, he listens, but this time with a confused frown "The code word? Monkey" his face takes an exasperated expression "M-o-n-k... Just put him on, will you? This is an emergency".
Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles sit among the tables, which have the chairs inverted on them for the night.
Giles opens his eyes wide in surprise as he finally gets it too, "Oh!" He and Buffy both look at Willow, concerned.
She notices and looks up. "I don't need to say 'oh.' I got it before. They slept together."
Buffy is genuinely sorry that she had to hear it like this; Willow looks back off into space. A long silence follows; the tension in the air is very thick. "Let's not tell Nikki, or else she might kill you."
Giles, Willow, and Xander frown at the Slayer's words, "Why would she..." suddenly, he understands what Buffy means "...No way Nikki and Faith?" The blonde nods as Giles once again visibly understands.
"Oh!"
Sitting on the edge of Faith's bed again, I bit my lip as the brunette just moved around the place as usual like nothing had even happened "so how long are you going to lie to me?".
"Hmm," Faith mutters, not really paying attention as she puts out her washing to dry around the small room.
"You killed him, Faith, not B," I said bluntly as she dropped one of the vests she was drying before picking them back up calmly. "I can see it in your eyes. I saw in hers too," I admitted standing up from the bed.
Faith shoves the clothes to the ground as she stands toe to toe with me. "Oh, yeah. So what?" I shake my head in disappointment as her eyes drop for a second. "What happened to the benefit of the doubt."
I let out a humorless laugh. "That was before I realized you blatantly lied to me and tried to hook my twin sister up for murder" at this point, we were both raising our voices, ready to argue.
Faith moves forward to grab my arm before I push her away. "No! You're my girl, and you lied to me. I never thought you would be another person who just lies to me!" I shout at her as I see her eyes water.
"I still am your girl!" She growls, sounding angry before we hear the door open, and both turn to see Xander by the door, obviously having listened to the fight.
"Yeah, maybe," Sniffing, I leave, pushing past Xander and begin walking towards the library where I could hit things without that thing being Faith. I didn't want to fight with her, and I hated leaving her angry.
Realizing I couldn't leave Xander alone with an angry Faith, I turn back and walks into the room to see them both on the bed. Faith has both hands tight around his neck now and squeezes hard.
Xander was beginning to lose consciousness. A few moments more, and he's nearly passed out. Creeping up on them, Faith looks over just in time to be knocked across the head by my fist.
I was stood shivering in Angel's mansion. As Faith is chained to the fireplace mantle, I couldn't believe what I saw and what Xander had told me, I know Faith was trying to use him to forget, but he said no.
"I couldn't think of anywhere else to take her," I said as my teeth chattered and tears welled up in my eyes. It all just seemed like a bad dream.
Angel glanced over to me as he finished chaining Faith up and walked over to where I was standing, the tears now rolling down my cheeks. His hand lifted up hesitantly like he wasn't to help me in some way.
Pushing myself into this chest, I cried as I let the man I once feared comfort me. His arms wrapped around my back as he whispered words of consolation into my ears as he tried to ease my tears.
"How could she?" I cried out as Angel rubbed his hand on my back as I thought about the way she hurt Xander. "What are we going to do with her?" Angel moved me back as he wiped the hair from my face along with my tears.
We both stared at each other before Angel let out a sigh. "You go home. I'll deal with Faith."
I looked over to the brunette who was still out cold, before I nodded. There was nothing I could do for her now. "Just promise you'll keep her safe," Angel agrees before I leave the mansion feeling worse than when I arrived.
Faith groans as she looks up and notices she is chained to the fireplace; she rubs her wrists with a huff. "Finally decided to tie me up, huh? I always knew you weren't really a one-Slayer guy".
Angel plays with a bat. "I'm sorry about the chains. It's not that I don't trust you... Actually, it *is* that I don't trust you" he sets the bat aside.
"The thing with Xander; I know what it looked like, but we were just playing," She grins, showing off her teeth.
"And he forgot the safety word" he gets up. "Is that it?" he questions sharply as he walks over to her.
Faith lets out a laugh as she glances at the vampire. "Safety words are for wusses, and you would know all about that, huh Angelus?"
Angel glances over to the door Nikki had left as Faith lets out a snigger. "Oh, was our girl just here? If you play nice, I guess we could share. I dig threesomes".
Giles, Willow, Xander, and I are all in the library with Buffy and Angel. "It was the new Watcher. He had a couple of guys helping him" I was pacing around, not believing what had happened.
"I gave you one job," I say, walking up to Angel. "I asked you to keep her safe, and you let a snot nose mini Watcher take her from you? What kind of ancient vampire are you?!"
Giles put his hands on my shoulders as he tugged me away from the guilty-looking vampire. "Then he figured it out?" Willow questions glancing around at all of us.
"Which means that Faith will be soon on her way back to England to face the Watcher's Council," Giles explains as my eyes close with a sigh. I had a hand in this; I gave her to Angel.
"And then what?" I huff, turning to look at Giles, who just watches me knowingly.
"Most likely, they'll lock her away for a good long while," He answers as the guilt in my gut only gets worse when I think about Faith being locked up for an accident.
"So we head them off at the airport and stop them".
Willow interjects, "Can I... I-I'm just wondering. Why?" I give her a dark look. "I'm not the most objective, I know. I kind of have an issue with Faith sharing my people" she glances at Xander, who closes his eyes.
"But she murdered someone and accused Buffy. Then she hurt Xander. I hate to say it, but maybe she belongs behind bars" If it were anyone else, then I would agree, and I hate what she was doing to Xander, but it was Faith.
Is this how Buffy felt about Angel and me?
"She's out of control, I know. But Angel was getting somewhere with her. She was opening up. If we could just stop Wesley," Buffy says as Wesley walks into the library. I let out a growl that could rival a vampire.
"That's no longer an issue," The mini Giles says as he comes to stand beside us.
Giles scoffs as Wesley dares to look offended. "You let her get away?"
"'Let' wouldn't be the way I'd phrase it, but... Yes, she escaped," Giles rolls his eyes and takes off his glasses.
"That's good work," Angel says as he walks across the room and stands by my side. "First, you terrorize her, then you put her back in the streets."
I grit my teeth as I glare at the new Watcher. "You idiot!" I hiss, jumping forward until Angel winds his arms around my waist, keeping me from attacking the stupid Watcher who had done more damage than good.
Wesley's eyes go big as he watches Angel trying to calm me down. "That was hardly my plan. I was trying to save her".
I fought against the vampire again. "But you didn't! You probably destroyed her," I shouted at him accusingly as my friends look on. Buffy quickly eyes Angel's arms around me but says nothing.
Giles interrupts quietly, "Nikki, that's enough" He puts his glasses back on as my sister lets out a sigh.
"We better find her before she does any more damage" she stands up. "We're gonna need to split up. Giles, why don't you go to her motel? Xander, Willow, her haunts and be careful, Nikki-".
"I'm going to check the docks," I tell them as I quickly make my way out of the room with the rest of them splitting up their plan. I needed to find her before everyone else, and I had an idea where he might be.
Wesley glances at me as I pass him. "What can I do? I want to help".
My lips turn in disgust, and I say resentfully, "I think you've done enough."
Walking along the docks, I search every ship and place but stop when I hear Faith behind her. "You don't give up, do you?" she says, shaking her head but doesn't jump at me, which I think was a good sign.
I just shrug. "Not on you, no. Never on you" Faith smiles a little before it drops off her face as she eyes me carefully,
"You knocked me out," The accusing tone in her voice makes me wince.
"You were hurting Xander, so I think we're kinda even. Well, actually thinking of everything else, you're the one in the red," I joke as we both laugh for a moment like nothing was wrong.
"I still want to help you," I say as her eyes brighten at my words.
Faith smiles to herself as she scuffs her shoe. "You always do," she lets out a short laugh. "We're so bad for each other," it's true. We were a little toxic at times, but our love was different. That's why we weren't 'together together'.
People might not understand it, but we did, and that was okay with me.
I chuckle at her words before going quiet and looking at the boat. "Go, before anyone else gets here. Just go" Faith steps forward and captures me in a kiss before the sound of someone clearing their throat gets our attention.
"Little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes?" Faith clucks as my sister rolls her eyes with a sigh as she observes the two of us.
"Faith, nobody is asking you to be like me. Nikki knows that, and I know that but you can't go on like this," Buffy says as her eye twitches when Faith wraps her arms around me.
"Nikki is nothing like you either okay, she's more like me than you're willing to admit, B," Faith grins evilly. "Scares you, doesn't it?" She climbs over the railing and hops down to the dock.
I watch the two argue for a moment before Buffy stops, faces Faith, and backhand punches her in the jaw.
Faith was trying to make her like us, but Buffy wasn't like that; she was good. Yes, she made mistakes, but she saw them and corrected them, not like me and definitely not like Faith.
I hear a noise above and notices a palette of crates above them, falling directly at the two of them. Climbing over the rail, I shove them out of the way but gets struck myself and go down.
Dazed, I watch as Faith gets up and goes to help me when vampires suddenly attack. Faith spins around when she hears them roar but is soundly punched in the face forcing her body to snap to the side. "Faith!".
The vampires grab and throw her to the ground. As Faith tries to get to her feet, the second vampire roundhouse kicks her in the face. She blocks it and drops a bit but manages to get up and stop an uppercut from the third one by grabbing his hand.
She backhand punches him in the face, making him step back to keep his balance, and turns to face the second vampire. She high blocks a wide swing from him and punches him, making him fall, but the third one behind her flat hands her in the back, and she stumbles.
I start to come out of her daze. "Oh, God..." I whisper, watching as a set of vampires also have Buffy with her arms behind her back. She tries to get free, but none of her moves have any effect, so she snaps her head back and butts him dead in the nose, but the vamp still doesn't let go of her.
Closing my eyes, I lift the wooden crates up telekinetically before pulling my legs out from under the pallet of boxes that fell on me. I get to her feet, but I'm immediately punched.
I fall, spinning onto the crates, and roll off onto the concrete. I get to my feet as the vampire approaches, and I try to backhand punch him, but he middle blocks it, so I hit him in the gut instead.
My jab is weak, though, and has no effect on him. This time I rear my arm back as I breathe deeply and throw it forward using some of my telekinesis in the hit, sending the vampire flying.
Turning, I watch as another vampire does a painful right hook to Buffy's face, making stumbles backward. The vamp advances and swings again, this time snapping her head back with a powerful uppercut, making her fall onto a pile of crates.
Coming back to my own fight, I do a half-spinning hook kick, connecting with the second vampire's jaw. He falls to the ground as the first one comes at me again, but I now have my stake out now and jams it into his chest.
I look over and sees Buffy struggling with a vampire. He wraps a cord around her neck and begins to choke her. As I move to help, I'm thrown back, but I correct my stance and quickly throw my stake, and the vamp burst into ashes.
I see the vampire fighting Buffy yank at the cord around her neck and pull her off of the crates. He pulls her up and swings her around into a pallet leaning against still more crates. She hits it hard and falls to the pavement.
The vamp picks Buffy up again and slams her against the huge crates as she struggles to get loose, but the cord around her neck is too tight. "I hear once you've tasted a Slayer, you never wanna go back." He opens his fang-filled mouth wide and moves in for the bite.
Buffy struggles to keep him away but can't "Faith!" I call out, throwing her the stake as she stands closer to the two of them.
Suddenly the vampire stops and looks up in wide-eyed shock. "Oh, no. No, this is no good at all". He begins to fall and explodes into ashes as Faith pulls the stake back as the dust settles on the ground.
Faith, Buffy, and I look at each other uncertainly for a long while Faith lowers her stake. I run to my sister, who just silently massages her neck.
The mayor stands in his office as he pulls on his overcoat, getting ready to leave for the night. He looks down at his desk, adjusts the pen holder's angle, gives a satisfied nod, picks up his briefcase, and heads for the door.
When he opens it, he is surprised to see Faith standing there, arms crossed. "You sent your boy to kill me," she says accusingly.
Mayor Wilkins looks at her, unfazed "That's right, I did."
"He's dust," Faith shrugs, uncaring as she plays with the door frame.
Mayor Wilkins just grins at the younger girl. "I thought he might be. What with you standing here and all."
Faith steps brazenly into the doorway. "I guess that means you have a job opening" The Mayor steps back to let her enter and closes the door.