Title: From Here to Serenity
Author: Bastard Snow
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Buffy's fall through Glory's portal took her somewhere nobody had ever imagined. Now, it's up to Willow and Xander to get her back.
Disclaimer: I don't own either of these.
Author's Notes: Much, much thanks to Drake, without whom this story would not exist. Also, obviously, thanks to Joss Whedon for coming up with two universes that have nothing to do with each other. Makes it a challenge to make them have everything to do with each other.
Feedback: Yes, please!
Faith shook her head. "I still don't get it." She, Xander and Angel were in the lobby of the Hyperion discussing the future. The question of how Buffy could close a portal opened by Dawn's blood had come up, and Xander was doing his damnedest not to even hint that there was anything special about Dawn, or her blood.
"Because they're sisters," Xander lied. "Don't ask me, I mean, all I know is it's a whole blood thing. But the way I understand… it's because they're sisters."
Faith squinted at him. "Okay. So… what's this choice?"
"Well, you're free now. Really free," said Angel. "You can do what you want. You can head out on your own if you want. You're welcome to stay here with me at the hotel… although if you do that, I'd appreciate if you skirted away from Fred for a bit."
"Who?"
Angel shook his head. "Girl we brought back from this other dimension. She's… kind of afraid of everything."
"Uh, okay. Why?"
"She hid in a cave for a long time, went a little crazy. Also she's a genius."
"Weird."
"A little," Angel agreed.
Xander laid out her other option. "Or, you can come back to Sunnydale with me. Do some work on the Hellmouth. We uh… well, Giles has a spare room that you can have until you find your feet. If uh… if you're interested, I can probably swing getting you a job, if you don't mind construction. Plus, we're kind of… Slayer-less at the moment. Not a good thing to be on a Hellmouth."
"Either way, we've scraped together some cash so you're not completely destitute," Angel told her.
"I…" Faith started. "Um. Thanks."
Xander checked his watch. "Anyway. Think about it. I'll be back in the morning. Oh, Angel, tell Cordelia that yes, she's invited, no, she's not picking any of our outfits."
Angel nodded at him and tossed a quick wave as Xander left. He turned back to Faith. "So, I've got a room set up for you for the night. I think Cordy's got a small television stashed behind the counter, and there's a paper around here somewhere if you want to catch up on current events, or… fashion…"
Faith nodded at him.
"You haven't smiled," he noticed.
"Any reason I should?"
"You're out of prison."
"I haven't made up for what I did."
Angel shrugged. "You can do that better out here anyway."
Faith nodded. It was true that she could make up for things better on the outside, but there was also a lot more room for her to screw up. In prison, she had to stop herself from cracking anybody's skull and from breaking out. In the real world, the temptations were far more numerous.
"So, you'll be okay for a while?" he asked.
Faith looked at him, eyebrows creased. "Where are you going?"
"It's uh… night. I'm going, you know… out."
"Need help?" Faith asked. She hoped he did, although she kept her voice even. She really didn't want to have to sit in the hotel all by herself. No way to keep her thoughts out of her head if she was alone. Fighting something, anything, would do that job just fine.
Angel shook his head. "No. It's just a simple surveillance. Why don't you relax? Watch some TV, maybe read some. Get your bearings. If you're awake when I get back, we can talk about stuff. If not, then in the morning."
Faith nodded. Damn. "Okay. Uh, which room is mine?"
Angel reached behind the counter, grabbed a key and tossed it to her. "207. If you choose to stay here, you can change it to where ever you want."
"Thanks."
"Okay, well. Get some rest. I'll see you later."
"Yeah, later."
And suddenly, Faith was alone. Alone was something she hadn't truly been in over a year, even after the other inmates learned not to mess with her. Faith liked alone. She thought she might try it for a while. Find some place on her own and just stay away from everyone. In prison, unless you were in the hole, there was always someone nearby.
Faith was proud of the fact that she hadn't once been sent down there. Even the early fights, when she'd figured out she needed to send a message to the other inmates so they wouldn't mess with her, hadn't been enough to stick her in solitary.
In truth, Faith had held back a lot in those fights. She could easily have killed her attackers. As it was, she barely even broke any bones.
Free and alone, Faith took a few minutes to figure out what she wanted to do. Neither watching television nor reading the paper seemed adequate uses of her first alone time. She decided to check out the room Angel had set up for her.
When she found the room, she knocked on the door, then realized that nobody would be inside. She opened it up and found a nicely decorated room, kinda old fashioned, but definitely respectable. There were some sweats on the bed, which she appreciated. She didn't really have any clothes but those on her back. She'd have to go shopping for something, soon.
Faith looked around the room for another moment. There were only two more doors.
Behind the first, she found a small, empty closet. She had nothing to put in it. Faith closed the closet door, then opened the second door in the room, and grinned.
She hadn't showered alone in ages.
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Freshly showered, and in clean clothes, Faith decided to explore the hotel a little. One floor seemed to be pretty much like any other. She found the kitchen and helped herself to a turkey sandwich. She was sure Angel wouldn't mind.
As she padded around the third floor, a door opened and a thin slip of a woman poked her head into the hallway.
"Angel?" she asked. "Oh… you're not…"
"He went out," Faith said.
"I'll just… I'll wait for him here, then."
"Who're you?" Faith asked.
"Oh! Where're my manners? I suppose that spending… five years trapped in a hell dimension, a fugitive from the demons that held humans as slaves, not knowing when my next meal would come or how I was gonna stay alive for more than a few days, and not knowing if I'd ever see home again, let alone Earth, well it might just have been a little too much I suppose. I'm sorry, what was it you asked?"
"Uh. Who are you?"
"Oh!" The woman released an awkward and seemingly fearful laugh. "I'm Winifred Burkle. You can call me Fred. Well, I'm gonna –"
"Hold up."
"What? Why? Is something wrong?"
Faith was taken aback by Fred's frailty.
"No. It's five by five."
Fred snickered again. "Twenty-five. Perfect square."
Faith regarded the woman oddly. "How 'bout that?"
"Can I tell you something?" Fred asked in a conspiratorial whisper.
"Yeah."
"Angel saved me."
Faith smiled. "Me too."
Fred looked crestfallen. "Oh." She sounded like her heart was broken. "I have to go." She darted back into her room and slammed the door shut behind her.
Faith stared at the door a moment.. That's what five years alone had done to the girl? Faith shook her head. No thanks.
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Cordelia gasped. "Oh, godsend. The coffee here is crap."
Xander set down the tray of coffee "I figured. After all, you make it don't you?"
"You make it don't you?" Cordelia repeated, mocking Xander's voice. She lifted a cup of coffee from the tray.
"Real attractive, CC," Xander said as he sipped his own drink.
"So, I'm seriously invited?" she asked, tasting her drink, scowling and switching it with another.
Xander shrugged. "Yeah. Why not?"
"Uh, because I'm your ex-girlfriend, and your fiancée is a former vengeance demon?"
"Ah," Xander raised a finger in the air, "but if not for you, we would never have met."
"If not for a bit of rebar through my stomach." She sipped her new drink and grinned brilliantly in approval.
Xander's eyes dropped to the floor. "Yeah."
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Get over yourself. I have!"
Xander laughed and shook his head. "Thanks, I think." A door opened behind him and he saw a tall, bald black man walk into the hotel.
"Mornin'," the man said.
Cordelia waved. "Hi, Gunn. This is Xander, from high school."
Gunn shook Xander's extended hand. "Hey. Would that be Xander 'lying, cheating, back-stabbing, untrustworthy scum, but nice in a kind of dopey, adorable, fixer-upper way, and completely obsessed with Buffy' Harris?"
"Uh, yes?" He turned to Cordelia. "Adorable?"
"Like a puppy," she explained, "not adorable like Brad Pitt. And nice how you don't deny the Buffy obsession."
Xander waved her off. "Long gone. Except for the whole bringing her back from another dimension thing."
"Well, that's understandable."
"So what are you here for?" Gunn asked.
Xander pointed behind Gunn. "Her, actually."
Gunn turned around, saw Faith, and smiled. "Morning. We just got all kinds of visitors today. Ain't nobody tells me anything."
"Hey," Faith said with a quick nod.
"I'm Charles, but most people just call me Gunn."
Faith raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
He shrugged. "It's my last name."
"Morning, Faith" Xander called. "You about ready?'
She eyed him cautiously. "For what?" she asked.
He held up a wad of cash. "You need some new clothes, right?"
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After an extensive shopping trip – which Cordelia insisted on tagging along for – Xander and Faith returned to the Hyperion Hotel laden down with tank tops, form-fitting jeans and a substantial selection of girly underwear that Xander was able, surprisingly, not to picture Faith in. He supposed it was the whole 'murderer' thing that kept his imagination – and memory – in line.
The shopping trip lacked the awkwardness of the previous day's car ride, not because they were talking or getting along, but rather because Xander handed Faith a lump of cash for her to spend as she pleased, then was dragged around to stores where Cordelia, unlike in high school, bought nothing. They met up a couple of hours later for a quiet trip back to the hotel, where Angel was waiting.
Faith grabbed Angel and retreated into his office. Xander and Cordelia continued to chat, arguing about some pointless subject like why anybody would admit to being a Clippers fan, or if, in fact, leprechauns existed, when someone else entered the room.
"Xander," called a British voice.
Xander turned around to see Wesley Wyndham-Pryce approaching him, arm extended. Xander shook the offered hand. "Wow. You're… not wearing a suit."
Wesley smiled. "They do get rather tiresome. I'm sorry to hear about the troubles with Ms. Summers."
Xander had to laugh at the understatement. "Thanks. We'll get her back though."
"I was wondering if I might speak to you privately, for a moment."
Xander looked to Cordelia for some hint of what it might be about. She shrugged. "Uh, sure."
Wesley led Xander into a secluded spot, crossed his arms and spoke softly.
"I do not know if you're aware, but prior to being incarcerated last year, Faith went on somewhat of a rampage. She… well she tortured me, and tried to kill Angel, all while in the employ of a law firm with which we often butt heads."
Xander frowned and crossed his arms. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. Buffy was light on the details when she got back… plus we kinda had this other thing going on."
Wesley waved off his concern. "I've quite recovered. It's just a warning. You don't know what she's capable of."
"Well," Xander said. "I don't even know if she's coming back with me. I'm kind of split, actually, on which would be better. On the one hand, Hellmouth. Lack of a slayer is kind of a bad thing."
"And on the other?"
"I don't want her to kill me and my friends."
Wesley nodded, and opened his mouth to speak, when someone else did instead.
"I don't do that anymore."
They turned to find Faith standing not ten feet from them, arms crossed
"Faith!" Xander was obviously surprised. "Uh, we were just…"
"Talkin' about me behind my back, and talkin' about me bein' a killer."
"No," Xander attempted to cover, "we were talking about… uh… Mimi Rogers."
Wesley looked at him oddly, and Xander shrugged.
"Whatever. Listen… that Sunnydale offer."
"Yeah?"
"I think that's the right one. It's where I did the most hurt. It's probably where I can do the most good. And I wanna… help out, you know."
"Sure," Xander said.
Faith took a deep breath. "And if it's not uh… that job thing? I'd um… appreciate it."
Xander checked his watch. "Well, if you don't have much else to do… how soon can you be ready?"
Faith shrugged. "Not like I have anything keeping me here."
Xander nodded. "Okay. Well, let me just find –"
"WHO THE HELL ATE MY TURKEY?" Cordelia yelled, storming her way out of the kitchen. Faith looked at the ground guiltily.
"Sorry, Cor," Xander called out, drawing her attention. "I got hungry."
She stabbed a finger at him. "Where's the respect, huh? You don't just raid someone's fridge!"
Xander shrugged as Faith moved towards the center of the lobby, her bags of clothes, and Angel. "You know my appetite."
Cordelia scowled at him. "Well, don't let it happen again."
"Should be easy since we're about to leave."
"Oh." She walked up and gave Xander a hug. "If I don't get that invitation, I'm going to be very offended."
Xander wrapped his arms around her and laughed. "You'll be invited," he assured her. Xander kissed her on the cheek. "Stay alive, huh?"
"Duh! You too, okay?"
Xander nodded, then turned and shook Wesley's hand. He walked over to Angel and tossed his keys to Faith. "You can put your stuff in the back."
Faith looked at the keys in her hand, and turned to Angel, fear in her eyes.
Angel smiled softly at her. "You're going to be fine. And you can call me any time, okay? For anything."
Faith nodded shortly. Angel reached out and patted her on the back.
"Go on," he said. "Xander'll be out in a minute."
Faith nodded and left the hotel. Angel turned to Xander.
"Don't screw up," he ordered.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Deadboy."
"I mean it. She's in a fragile place, and you could do any number of things to set her off. A joke at the wrong time, a careless word…"
"Look, I get it. Don't provoke the murderer."
"She's not –"
"Yeah," Xander said. "She is. I'm not saying she doesn't deserve a second chance but we'd be stupid as hell not to keep an eye out. Well as far as I'm concerned, we've filled up on our quota of stupid for the year."
"Fine. But don't let that farm boy of Buffy's near her."
Xander coughed. "Riley left."
"Oh. Was she…"
"I mean, there have been other things to… but pretty much, I think so. Yeah."
Angel nodded. "Listen, just… take care of her."
Xander glanced over his shoulder at Cordelia, then back to Angel. "You too."
They gave each other a curt nod, and Xander left.
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End Chapter 7