Chapter 8: The Dark Slayer

*****Where We Left Off*****

Faith didn't know what the hell was going on but watching Buffy's lover feeding on a human with another vamp while Willow and Buffy watched was one of the most disturbing things she'd ever witnessed. When they started throwing up blood, it got even worse.

She exclaimed and got all eyes on her as she stepped into the room.

Freya could sense the new threat in the room as the dark predator looked at all of them in dismay and disgust. She started to raise her hand against the new arrival until she saw Willow's face—Willow was smiling.

Buffy groaned. "You're timing suck as always, Faith!" she grumbled. She walked forward and gave the other slayer a hard hug. They had a turbulent history, but Faith was the only slayer who could understand even half of what Buffy felt. The last of the Chosen Two, their bond was forged in war and death. Since Willow had called all the Potentials, Buffy could feel every one of them. But with Faith, the connection was the strongest.

Klaus looked at the new arrival with interest. Here was the Dark Slayer he'd heard so much about. The woman was dressed in red leather pants, combat boots, and a black leather jacket cover a black top. She was a caged panther, and he was more than intrigued.

Lucien didn't like the new arrival intruding on his moment of grief. She would bring violence and death—he could sense it. He took Alexis up in his arms and blurred away.

"What is it something I said?" Faith asked with a smirk. She looked at Elijah, narrowing her eyes. "Why the hell are you feeding on a human with another vampire? Buffy may be too far gone to beat some manners into you, but I'll kill that bitch or anyone else I see feeding on a human."

Hayley's hackles rose at the verbal attack, and she started to charge the new arrival. Shaking and sick at both the blood and the visions, she wasn't at her best anyway. Now this. Her anger rose, and sensing this, Elijah grabbed her arm. "Don't," he said gently. "She's Buffy's number two. She could kill you." Elijah didn't know if Faith could or not, but Hayley—though a hybrid—was a young vampire. She wasn't as strong as the rest of them. Nor did she have the experience fighting that Faith did.

"No one's killing anyone," Buffy said. She elbowed Faith hard in the stomach. "Behave and withhold judgment until you hear what's going on."

"Faith, this is Hayley, the mother of Elijah's niece," Willow interjected. "She wasn't feeding on Alexis. The girl Lucien just took off with was poisoned by someone and was dying. They were accessing her visions to find out the new threat."

"Oh," Faith said. Then she smiled eagerly. "Got a big bad to kill? It's been a few days since I've got to kill anything!"

Hayley rolled her eyes and went to see clean up as Klaus laughed. "You slayers are so blood thirsty! I love it!" he exclaimed in approval.

"Faith, this is Klaus, Elijah's younger brother," Buffy introduced.

Klaus stepped forward, holding out his hand. Faith grinned. "So you're the big bad vampire wolf?" Klaus grinned and kissed her hand as Faith snorted. "Damn, B! You weren't exaggerating! Those dimples are hot! Can I have this one?"

"I am so weary of hearing about those dimples," Elijah explained.

Klaus' chest puffed out as he preened under her look of admiration. "I'm not for sale, but I'm always looking to make new friends," he told her with a wink. "Especially deadly and beautiful ones like yourself."

"I am both of those things," Faith said smugly. Then she looked around the large, open room. "So I've never been to New Orleans. This is some house you got."

"Thanks," Elijah said. "We're glad you could make it. Buffy misses you."

"Really?" Faith asked in surprise.

"Of course, I do," Buffy said. "These boys aren't as fun to fight with as you are."

Faith laughed and threw her arm around Buffy. "We do have fun. Do you have a room in this big place for me? I could use a shower. I rode my bike here," she said.

"From Cleveland?" Willow asked in surprise.

"Yeah, well, I needed a change of scenery. Kennedy thinks she's ready to be in charge, so I thought I'd let her," Faith said with a shrug. "For a while anyways. I figure once your ex-bitch has full reign, the minis will be really appreciating me more when I return."

Buffy snickered. "Good idea," she said. "Come on. I'll take you upstairs. The room I had before I moved into Elijah's is free."

Willow grabbed Freya's hand. "Faith, this is Freya, the big sister," Willow introduced.

Faith gave Willow a knowing look. "She looks much better than Kennedy. I approve!" she said. "Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you. The oldest human on the planet. Giles would love to introduce you to the Devon Coven."

"Excuse me?" Freya said, frowning.

"Don't let anything she says bother you," Willow said. "She has no filter."

"What did I say?" Faith asked, confused.

"Let's go upstairs. I'll explain," Buffy said, pulling her along. "I'll introduce you to Rebekah while you're up there. Although if she finds out your threatened Hayley already, she might bitch-slap you."

Elijah and Klaus watched the slayers leave. Willow and Freya followed to broker the peace with Rebekah. "She's exactly what I pictured," Klaus remarked.

"I'm sure she is," Elijah said dryly. "But Faith being here complicates an already delicate situation."

"How so? She's just more strength on our side," Klaus said.

"Faith is not Buffy. You saw how she reacted to Hayley," Elijah pointed out. "You saw Buffy with the Strix. There's no controlling or predicting slayers. Buffy's love for me cannot force her to go against her programming or instincts."

"Buffy is loyal, and she inspires loyalty in others. Her Faith will die for her," Klaus said.

"But that doesn't mean she'll die for us," Elijah pointed out.

"Buffy loves you, and that means you're family. I listen to these humans. Willow talks a lot, and I've learned that there's nothing they won't do for their friends," Klaus said. "I'm sure you heard what Willow did to the man who accidentally killed her lover when he tried to shoot Buffy. She skinned him alive, and he was human. Faith has killed innocent humans and was even jailed for it. They're no church choir, Elijah. Relax."

"I'm not necessarily talking about their moral code, Niklaus. I'm referring to the primal drive inside of them to end a threat to humanity. All vampires pose that threat," Elijah said. "When Faith finds out about the Strix, she will go hunting. A group of elitist vampires will be too much for her to take."

"Let her. What do you care? Let her kill them all," Klaus said with a shrug.

"What will keep Lucien in check then? What is this beast Alexis showed me in her vision?" Elijah countered.

"We will figure it out, brother," Klaus said confidently.

"I hope so," Elijah said, uncertain.

*****The Next Day*****

Everyone slept late since Faith had kept the girls up telling stories about Buffy. Eventually, Klaus and Elijah had joined them to listen to the tale. This inspired Rebekah to tell more than one story of her own. None of them were awake to sense any intruders.

Vincent, however, came to deliver bad news and freaked out when he saw the macabre display.

"What the hell is going on?" he shouted. "Klaus! Elijah! Any Mikaelsons? Get your asses down here!"

Vincent recognized the dead woman on display. The cashier from the Jardin Gris shop was lying dead on the floor on a bed made of lavender sprigs. The woman had slashed both of her wrists and had presumably bled out onto the floor. The horrific scene both disgusted and angered Vincent. He shouldn't be surprised at the lengths that a family of vampires would sink to, but somehow this caught him by surprise. It didn't seem like the Mikaelson's style.

"Bloody hell, Vincent," Rebekah said, peering down from the balcony above. "What's with all the yelling? It's barely noon!"

Vincent pointed at the dead woman. "Care to explain why you're setting up ghastly scenes like this when there is a young child in the house?" he demanded.

Rebekah looked at where he was pointing. "Damn it," she muttered. "Elijah! Nik! Get out here!" She made her way downstairs to get a closer look as Klaus came out of his room.

"Vincent?" Klaus asked, spotting his least favorite witch. "I don't recall inviting you into my home."

"I came to tell you that Cami was arrested for all the murders," Vincent grimly. "She's obviously been framed by your little buddy Lucien. But then I saw this in your house, and I'm coming up with a whole other theory."

Klaus saw the woman and frowned. He went and knocked on Buffy and Elijah's door. "Buffy, wake up. We have a situation that you and Elijah need to deal with. I gotta go kill my former protegee and rescue a fair maiden," he said. Then he blurred away.

Vincent started to turn and leave when he spotted a beautiful new woman at the top of the stairs. Her sleepy eyes looked down at him with interest. "What's with all the yelling?" she asked with a sleepy yawn.

Vincent frowned, not liking the idea of another woman caught in the Mikaelson's web. "Lady, I don't know who you are, but if you know what's good for you, you will get far away from this family. They bring evil and destruction everywhere they go," he said.

Those words cleared the fog of sleep from Faith's brain, and she narrowed her eyes at the newcomer. Then she grabbed the handrail and jumped to the floor below. Like a stalking tiger, she moved toward the black man. "If you're going to toss out accusation and insults before I've had my coffee, you can at least tell me your name," she said.

Vincent saw the way she landed and knew she wasn't normal. No jewelry except a cross necklace around her neck showed her sporting a daylight ring. Curious, he held out his hand. "I'm Vincent Griffith," he said, introducing himself.

Faith gave him a considering look and took his hand. "Faith," she said simply.

Immediately, Vincent felt a rush of power. "You're like Buffy," he said. "You're a slayer."

A crooked smile appeared on her face. "There ain't no one like Buffy," she said. "B is one of a kind, the one and only. I'm the darker, more broken imitation of her."

"Don't say that!" Buffy scolded, standing at the top of the stairs with Elijah by her side. She quickly moved. "What's going on?"

"You friend here was telling me I should get far away from your new boy toy and his family if I know what's good for me," Faith said with a snicker. "Like I've ever done what's good for me."

"You could end up like her," Vincent said pointing to the dead woman they hadn't noticed.

Both Faith and Buffy started at the body. "What the hell, B?" Faith asked in shock.

Rebekah was reading a card she got off the body. "Elijah, it comes with a note," she said.

Vincent looked surprised. "What? You didn't kill the woman?" he asked.

Buffy gave him a disgusted look. "Are you insane? No one kills humans around me. If they did, I'd kill them or in the case of Elijah's brother, hurt him a whole lot," Buffy said.

"You really don't know Buffy," Faith told him, shaking her head.

"Someone did this while we were sleeping," Elijah said.

"I think I know who," Rebekah said, handing Elijah the note.

Buffy read it aloud while Elijah read it silently. "Roses are red, lavender is blue. Come find me before I find you."

"Aurora," Elijah said grimly.

"Yes," Rebekah agreed. "My former protegee and Nik's one-time great love is in town."

"This is how his ex says hello?" Buffy asked. "I'm so going to kill her!"

"And I thought I had relationship problems," Faith said with a smirk. "So who are we killing first?"

"Let Nik handle Aurora," Rebekah advised.

"He left to deal with Cami," Vincent said.

"He's got experience at juggling women," Rebekah said with a shrug.

"Why are you here?" Buffy asked Vincent.

"They arrested Cami for those murders," he said.

"What?" Buffy asked in dismay.

"Nik will deal with it," Rebekah said. "If Lucien set up Cami, he will regret it. Cami is dear to too many people, including my brother. I quite like her myself."

"She's my friend," Buffy said. "I was going to go kill those horrible Strix if they didn't leave town, but I can make time for Lucien."

"Strix?" Faith asked.

"A bunch of Elijah's former groupies," Buffy said. "Vampires with delusions of grandeur. They need killing real bad."

"Cool," Faith said with an excited grin.

Vincent wasn't sure what the new player in town would bring to the table, but he knew that she was going to be a game changer. The spirits were already murmuring to him. She was a blade used to destroy evil, unpredictable and untamable. Her hands had shed innocent blood, so she knew the taste of darkness and abhorred it.

Vincent smiled. Just when things were dark, the ancestors brought back his faith. He never thought, however, his faith would be a real person.

*****To Be Continued*****

What do you like more? A Faith/Klaus pairing instead of Cami/Klaus or a Faith/Vincent pairing? I had toyed with Klaus/Faith, but Vincent needs someone to pull the stick that's perpetually lodged in his bum. Thanks for reading!