Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Warehouse District – Cleveland – June 2004

'It's just too much' Willow told Buffy apologetically. 'I can't triangulate where it's coming from it's just like a general cloud of… nasty, over the whole city' she explained, leaning back against the closed door inside Kennedy's room. Faith was sitting on the edge of the bed looking very much the worse for wear after being bounced off walls by Wesley and they had only just returned from the scene, Kennedy picking them up in one of their 4x4's.

Buffy nodded as she helped Faith lift her top over her head, wincing as she saw the bruises, Faith was being stoic but she still grimaced at the movement. 'If it makes you feel better I think Wesley's chances for procreation are even lower now than they were before' Buffy joked. 'And we don't think Illyria can have kids' she said.

'No jokes' Faith told her as her top was removed and she outstretched her arms so Buffy could start to bandage up her ribs, it felt like a couple might be cracked. 'If I laugh it'll hurt.'

'I don't know if I can manage not being funny' Buffy told her reaching for the bandage.

'You've done fine the last twenty-odd years' Faith replied. 'I was talking to Willow' she said, forcing a smile. 'Christ that hurts' she moaned as Buffy started wrapping the bandage around her.

'Been trashed by magic myself' Buffy responded ignoring Faith's jibe, Buffy knew she was funny. 'You wouldn't think it was as bad as being punched but it is.'

'Telekinesis is just substituting one type of force for another' Willow noted. 'Newton's laws still apply regardless of what's hitting you, the effects are the same' she explained. 'You were lucky you found he had an Achilles heel' she told Faith.

'His was a couple of feet higher up' Faith joked and regretted it instantly when a short chuckle made her ribs feel like they were in a vice.

'Wish I had that solution to hand when I went up against…' Buffy began then petered off, throwing a sideways glance at Willow.

Willow grinned. 'Even if I did have the equipment, I'm far stronger than Wes when I go dark so I doubt it would have worked so well in my case' she responded.

'I dunno' Faith countered. 'He had a lot more juice going on that I thought he did' she told the witch.

Willow shrugged, 'I think he was punching above his weight because of the aura that's filling this burg' she replied, but even channelling the nasty he's still a lot weaker than me' she continued. 'To be honest the mojo boost is probably because he's kinda closer to the dark side than I am normally anyway' Willow theorised.

'He ain't evil' Faith snapped back. 'I'll give you ruthless and edgy though' she admitted.

'Surprised you'd defend him' Buffy said, continuing to wrap the bandage around.

'Wes didn't do this to me' Faith said. 'Something hijacked him, I know Wes, he's not sadistic he's more like..'

'Sociopathic?' Buffy suggested. 'He's not immoral, he's amoral?' she added. He certainly had the ability to cross a line she couldn't with little regret of introspection which although it had proved useful bothered Buffy quite a bit. She didn't know quite how far Wes might be willing to go for the win but it was definitely further than she was, you had to have some boundaries.

'No' Faith responded quickly. 'He knows right and wrong' she stated, 'he's just big-picture, he's more willing to do a little wrong for a big right than most people' she said. 'He feels bad about it but he'd rather do that and suffer inside himself than take the easy option' she said.

Buffy smiled as she finished her work. 'Between you and the gun-nuts it's like he's got a personality cult' she replied half-jokingly. Buffy knew enough about psychology to make her wonder if Faith's childhood played a part in this, she was defending her latest abuser as it were very vociferously, and had been since they arrived back, the two of them unable to make eye contact which wasn't too surprising in the circumstances. Wesley was in Stephen's room with Illyria watching over him, if his eyes turned black again she could subdue him but until then she was fussing over him instead.

Faith tok a deep breath. 'He was going to rape me' she said quietly, looking off into the distance, eyes out of focus as she gazed at the wall. 'That's why he got close enough for me to knee him in the balls' she explained.

'Oh shit' Buffy exclaimed. 'Are you…' she began, then realising how stupid it was to ask if she was alright she instead put her arms around Faith resting her head on her shoulder, trying not to touch any of the bruises. Faith didn't return the hug, she wasn't comfortable with them but all the time she had spent with Dana had at least made her not seek to immediately push Buffy away.

'It wasn't really him' Faith said. 'Not really' she continued. 'I know it wasn't, but my guts are all twisted up.'

Buffy squeezed her eyes shut and made a decision before opening them again, she let go of Faith and moved back slightly to look her in the eyes. 'Before Spike got a soul' she said, 'he once tried to rape me' she told Faith, her voice barely over a whisper. 'I've been beaten up so many times but it's not the same' she sympathised.

'But how can you look at him without remembering' Faith asked, her voice trembling.

'I can't' Buffy told her. 'I know it's different now, I know he's got a soul and that without it he wasn't the same person, but knowing and feeling deep-down aren't the same thing' she said. 'There's always this little voice at the back of my head that reminds me what happened.'

'This is fucked-up' Faith declared. 'I got my watcher back, and he cared, and we could talk but now we'll always have this hanging over us' she said. 'Shit, I tortured him and he was going to rape me' she continued, 'that can't be a basis for a healthy watcher/slayer relationship.'

'You weren't exactly the typical watcher and slayer to start with' Buffy couldn't help but point out.

'That's why we got on so well' Faith replied. 'Wes said he liked spending time with me because I was just right.'

'Yeah?' Buffy queried.

'You know, like Goldilocks and the Three Bears' Faith explained, 'yeah I know it sounds stupid but like the porridge you know, not too hot or too cold' she said, 'but more like not too evil or not evil enough. He said I was just right.'

'Were you both drunk when this sounded sane?' Buffy asked.

Faith smiled. 'Not yet but we were heading that way' she replied, her smile disappearing again fast. 'It was nice to have someone to go out with and talk to about random shit.'

Buffy tried not to roll her eyes. Wesley had gone evil and tried to rape her but Faith was worried about losing her drinking buddy. 'You're worried you can't forgive him?'

'I'm worried he won't be able to forgive himself more' Faith responded. 'He's wrapped up even tighter than I am on the emotional shit' she said. 'Fuck B why can't things that are going good stay the fucking way they are?' she asked rhetorically. 'This was probably the best time of my life' she moaned.

Buffy sighed. 'To quote an undead poet of my acquaintance, "life isn't bliss, life is just this".'

Faith nodded. 'Okay, well at least if I put it into perspective this shit won't even make my top ten fucked-up memories' she joked, trying to force a smile.

'Don't make light of it Faith' Buffy told her. 'It's not the best time for you to break down but after we've dealt with Berith take my advice and let it all out' she advised. 'I'll ask Illyria if you can borrow Glory' she offered. 'Best punching bag for letting off steam ever invented.'

'You just like to watch people hit her' Willow interjected.

'I'm not going to deny it' Buffy responded. 'Alright Faith, you know I need you to suck it up for now but if we live through the month and you break the habit of a lifetime and need a shoulder to cry on… find someone else because I still don't like you very much.'

Faith grinned. 'Thank God for that' she replied. 'I need some continuity in my life' she said. 'Go sort out the girls' she advised. 'I'll be okay and you've got bigger fish to fry' she told her.

Buffy gave Faith another largely unwelcome, but fortunately short-duration hug, and Willow stepped aside to let her open the door. 'I'll just see if I can speed up her healing maybe' Willow told Buffy who nodded as she left the room, Willow closing the door behind her again.

Faith looked up at Willow who took a seat beside her. 'Thanks for not saying anything' she said. 'Too weird already' Faith told her.

Willow frowned. 'It's not some freaky sado-masochistic thing is it?' she asked. 'Because that would just be creepy.'

Faith shook her head. 'You saw us kissing, he was kissing me back right? It wasn't just me?' she asked.

'Looked mutual' Willow agreed. 'You haven't been…' she began. 'I mean not behind Illyria's back when you've been supposed to be propping up bars together?'

'No' Faith denied. 'I just wanted to let him know it was alright… and that I cared so I kissed him.'

'Cared?' Willow queried.

Faith looked uncomfortable, and not because of her injuries. 'It sneaked up on me' she said. 'I just saw him differently one day, I thought I was getting too old for a fucking crush' she said sadly. 'I never said anything, he's got Illyria and I reckon he loves her, not that I'm an expert on that stuff, and anyhow I cut on him, how could he ever really forget that? He can't, just like I can't forget what he tried to do to me now' she continued, almost spewing the words out. 'But he kissed me back, you said so' Faith continued, her voice trailing off back to a whisper.

'Maybe he feels something for you too, or maybe his emotions are just as messed up in the circumstances as yours are' Willow responded, 'but if you want certainty then Wes belongs to Illyria, at least that's how she sees it, and anyone that tried to take him away wouldn't like her response' she advised. 'This isn't bullshit Faith' Willow told her, swearing for effect. 'She would kill you.'

'I've got my scythe' Faith noted.

'So you'd kill her to steal her boyfriend?' Willow asked. 'Oh yeah, that would start you and Wes off on the right foot' she said sardonically. 'I've been in a triangle, they don't end well even without the prospect of homicide hanging over them' she stated. 'Someone's heart gets broken, and in this case maybe ripped out because we've all seen her do stuff like that before and that was to people that hadn't pissed her off.'

'She doesn't scare me' Faith declared.

'Then you really are insane' Willow retorted. 'I'm the only one around here, except maybe Glory on a good day, that would even dream about going up against the Blue Meanie and not be pretty certain I was going to get smacked down in a few seconds if she was serious about the fight. She doesn't even have much of a conscience to hold her back, Wes is her Jiminy Cricket and in this situation he's kinda outta play.'

Faith knew she was right but Wes kissed her back, Willow said so herself, she wasn't just imagining it. He must want her too, maybe he didn't love Illyria, she wasn't even human right? Just a love-sick skinny demon with someone else's memories, she thought then felt bad about it. Despite it all Illyria was a person, she clearly had feelings of her own not just Fred's, she had a different unique personality, a definite sense of humour, she even seemed to be able to care about people independently of her shell's imprints hence the fact that she was fond of Anya. Faith liked Illyria, sometimes she drove her nuts, and the incident with being turned into a puppet wasn't ever going to be forgiven, but she didn't want to steal a friends guy from her, that was something the old Faith would have done in a heartbeat, but she wasn't that person any more, or at least she hoped she wasn't.

Willow smiled. 'If you're lucky one of the points in the triangle might die and save you all a lot of angst and trouble' she said.

'But what if it's Wes?' Faith asked.

'Then you and Illyria might find you could be very happy together' Willow replied deadpan. 'Hey don't knock it till you've tried it' she said, indicating a picture of her and Kennedy together that was sitting nearby.

'Red the only thing about me that isn't confused is my sexuality' Faith replied. 'I like some grounding at least.'

'So Wesley's chances for a three-way aren't too high?' Willow responded, trying not to blush at the risqué humour.

Faith chuckled. 'I don't know how much better the new Faith is, but the latest model Willow is more fun than she used to be' she said.

'Just remember that like Buffy I still don't like you very much' Willow responded. 'But if you can go another couple of years without killing or beating up one of my friends I might start to review my position on that.'

'Harsh but fair' Faith agreed.

Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – June 2004

'We put enough tranquilliser into Drusilla to knock-out a Rhino but she was still moaning so we gave her a shot of Orpheus to top it off' Spike said. 'She's in a happy place now' he added, dropping into the chair in front of Angel's desk.

Angel nodded. 'Giles just off the telephone to that Coven he's got connections with back in England' he told him. 'Their exact words were "what the bloody hell was that and were you responsible?" he says.'

Cordelia walked in holding a glass of cold water to her forehead. 'I guess when they Powers-That-Be pulled the plug on my visions they jus stopped transmitting because trust me the receivers working fine' she said. 'I nearly got all nostalgic when it hit me.'

'You got a vision?' Spike asked in surprise.

'No just the pain I used to get with them' Cordelia replied. 'God knows what it would have felt like if I wasn't two thousand miles away' she continued. 'Heard anything more about Wes?' she asked.

Angel shook his head. 'Talked to one of the girls in Cleveland, Shannon I think it was, he's okay but he beat up on Faith pretty bad before she broke the hold the magicks had over him.'

'Plus his balls of course' Spike interjected. 'Poor bastard.'

'Well you've got to give Berith his due' Cordelia said. 'He's got wattage' she said. 'I wonder if they picked him up in China?'

'Not Wolfram and Hart's usual smooth technique' Angel opined. 'They usually slip in and out of our dimension quick and clean, they don't set off psychic alarm bells over most of the planet.

'It's not normally a god coming through' Spike pointed out, 'but I'll give you this, it's definitely power over technique to my way of thinking' he said. 'Wish I was there as back-up, wouldn't want Buffy to lose any more teeth tangling with a Hellgod.'

Angel crossed his arms. 'It's out of our league Spike you know that' he said. 'Buffy's got scythes, gods and big guns if they can't handle it what make's you think we'd do any better?'

'Willpower' Spike responded. 'Don't underestimate what you can achieve by simply not giving up, if you meet something stronger or meaner out-endure the bastard. Those girls may be a bit stronger than us, and they might have the toys, but do you really think they can take the pain, I mean really take it?'

'Maybe not but I bet Illyria can' Angel opined.

'Well that's cheating' Spike responded. 'I think she gets off on it' he said. 'It's like the joke about the sadist and the masochist, the masochist says "beat me" and the sadist says "no".'

'Painkillers starting to kick in' Cordelia said gratefully. 'I guess I lost my resistance to them because it used to take more than that to get rid of the psychic migraines' she explained. 'You know Berith has probably flipped the switch on every magic user and psychic on the planet.'

'Likes the big showy entrance like one of those insecure types that has to open both sides of double doors when he comes through them to prove he's in charge' Spike suggested. 'It's the quiet one's you have to worry about' he continued. 'They're far more dangerous, like that git I got to torture you with the hot pokers that time, polite well spoken inoffensive sods, now they're scary.'

'Marcus' Angel responded. 'His name was Marcus.'

'I knew you'd remember' Spike told him, 'better with names than me.'

'I remember the red hot pokers going in pretty well' Angel replied, glaring at Spike.

Spike shrugged. 'Should have got a videotape made of that' he said regretfully. 'I still can't believe you destroyed the ring though, you must have been barmy.'

'I still had too much to atone for' Angel replied. 'I've got a mission.'

'You've got a self-esteem problem is what you've got' Spike retorted. 'If I had that ring, now I'm all good and souly I mean, imagine the good I could do' he said. 'I could get a tan, go to watch cricket and the footy again, have an excuse to wear cool shades.'

'And that would be doing good would it Spike?' Cordelia asked sarcastically.

'It would be good for me love' Spike replied. 'And I'd fight evil in my spare time, "Super-Spike" the vampire that can't be staked and walks in the light' he said. 'A daywalker like Blade in those films but without the bad hair.'

'No, just your bad hair' Angel responded.

'There's nothing wrong with my hair, it's a classic look' Spike responded defensively. 'You wait it'll come back into fashion soon enough.'

'So you think you're a trend-setter as well as looking retro?' Cordelia asked, 'because you're wrong on both counts.'

Spike opened his mouth to respond but Angel raised a hand to stop him. 'Don't try and argue on this subject with Cordy' he warned. 'You're hopelessly outclassed.'

Cordelia nodded seriously. Fred might know science, Wesley might know demons, but nobody knew clothes and hair like she did.

'Then I'm being an individual' Spike declared, 'more in keeping with the persona anyway.'

'More lone-wanker than lone-wolf' Angel told him.

'At least I dress for me not other people' Spike retorted.

'I do not dress for other people' Angel spat back.

'Yeah right' Cordelia responded before Spike could. 'Hey I guess the vision headache sans vision bought back some of the old Cordy with it too.'

'When did she stop being a vicious bitch with a sharp tongue?' Spike asked nonplussed, a split second before what was left of Cordelia's glass of water went all over him.

'Next time it'll be Holy Water' Cordelia told him. 'And don't say what you were thinking of saying either' she told Angel giving him a glare.

'I take back what I said earlier' Spike said. 'Sometimes it's not just the quiet inoffensive ones that are the most scary' he told Angel who nodded his agreement.

Warehouse District – Cleveland – June 2004

Faith slowly eased herself into a chair that one of the other girls offered her and tried not to look in Wesley's direction. There was certainly an atmosphere but nobody expected otherwise, Wes had gone temporarily evil and had used magic to beat up Faith so they were being kinda awkward around each other, no biggy they'd get over it, weird shit like that going on was their lives most decided.

'Amanda and Rona's teams are in position ready to go with a few of the gunslayer chicks with each of them' Kennedy began. 'As soon as Berith turns up we can have a team there in minutes, they won't be taking notice of the traffic laws' she joked, 'with us covering this part of town ourselves with most of the firepower.'

'I can teleport to join which ever team needs me' Willow declared. 'If Berith is too much for me we'll play delaying tactics until the rest of you turn up.'

'I wish we knew what he looked like or how big he was going to be' one of the girls said. 'Ignorance ain't bliss' she complained.

'The bigger they are the harder they fall' Buffy declared.

'And the harder they hit you' Faith added wryly, showing everyone she still had her spark and was in the game despite being strapped up.

'Worst case scenario' Buffy continued, ignoring Faith. 'Willow softens him up with the magicks, Illyria and Glory play tag team to wear him out if he's as strong as we think he could be, and then when he's nice and docile we introduce him to Plastic Fantastic, the scythe he can't screw with.'

'And the rest of us take care of his backup' Kennedy added.

'I can help Willow with the softening up as long as someone is on-hand to tazer me if I look like I'm turning nasty' Wesley said. 'And please note I said to Taser me' he continued, 'Faith's solution may have worked but I would have preferred something less traumatic' he told the group, starting off some laughter including from Faith herself who tried to keep her true thoughts and feelings very much to herself.

'Probably best you don't get involved' Willow advised him. 'We can both still feel it and I'm better at keeping it suppressed' she pointed out.

'Yes I realise I'm third rate compared to you' Wesley replied, 'in power and control.'

'Power-wise maybe second rate on a good day' Willow told him generously. It would be more accurate to say on a bad one though.

'I'm wondering if all the psychic interference is deliberate' Wesley suggested. 'It knocked me almost completely out of the equation, I'm sure even Willow is off form because of it and if we had decided to bring our semi-domesticated seer-vampire with us Drusilla would be catatonic and of very little use.'

'It is deleterious both to myself and Glory also' Illyria stated flatly. 'We are powerful enough to resist its influence' she said, 'but doing so does require concentration and hence reduces our combat effectiveness.'

'The power required to do this is colossal' Willow told them. 'I doubt Berith nor the Senior Partners have a fraction of the capacity to do this which would explain why they seem to have recruited the assistance of our old friend The First.'

'Are we sure about that?' Shannon asked.

'It's him' Glory responded. 'I spent more time in his presence than Illyria and she thinks so too, using the Hellmouth to boost the signal and help keep the door open between realities.'

'Most Demons who come to this realm are diminished, corrupted as you know' Illyria explained. 'Even I am a pale imitation of what I once was, Berith may not be anywhere near so weak.'

A knock at the door momentarily interrupted the conversation, everyone hoped it was the pizza finally arriving.

'The image of Illyria being weak compared with what we're going up against just fills me with happy joyful thoughts, I don't know about you ladies' Stephen noted sardonically, getting up to answer the door.

The young watcher opened the door and found himself looking at a guy maybe ten years older wearing what looked like military fatigues and with red hair, bright red that looked artificial in the same way Illyria's was blue. He was wearing dark glasses which he took off to reveal his eyes were red as well, crystalline red like shards of rubies that caught the light.

Stephen's jaw dropped and despite himself he stepped aside. 'So I hear you've been looking for me' the stranger told everyone stepping through. 'Decided to save you all the trouble' he continued. 'Time is money so the bean-counters back home tell me' he declared looking around. 'I love what you've done with the place' he said, looking around. 'Last time I was here properly the big thing everyone was talking about was bronze, but look at the technology these days' he said. 'Television, Computers, Jet Airliners' he listed, 'Plastic scythes' he added with a grin. 'I like that one, very inventive, but you always were a sneaky species that way' he told the humans. 'Don't look too shocked, I'm a seer remember' he told them. 'Difficult to catch me off-guard with tricks like that, I can see through those glyphs you like using too' he added. 'They're not up to my power-output.'

'It's an Old One' Illyria said in clear astonishment, looking him over, 'of my race.'

'Not exactly' the stranger told her. 'You'd be my peoples Neanderthals, not quite as advanced but pretty close' he said. 'We got the better colouration' he told her, that blue hair looked ridiculous he thought. 'Oh come on even you monkey descendents must have realised who I am by now surely?' he asked rhetorically, looking from face to face.

'Berith' Buffy responded, slowly reaching for the closes scythe.

'Got it in one' the Demon-God told her. 'You were maybe expecting someone taller?' he asked, a quizzical expression forming on his face as Buffy's hand slowly closed around her scythe handle.

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