Things had gotten really shitty the last couple of months in Sunnydale.
Buffy, Angel, and the rest of the Scoobies, now including Riley, sat in
Giles' apartment. Riley was their friend now and he knew about Buffy and
Angel's relationship. He had walked in on them at the mansion while they
had been making love in the kitchen. They had accepted him into their
ranks after he helped them out with the Initiative. Now he was going to
play double agent to keep tabs on the Initiative.
As for the shitty, they had found about the Initiative's evilness, which Professor Walsh had been a part of. She was now dead due to her Frankenstein creation, and now even more news was about to leave Buffy's mouth.
"What is it?" Angel asked as Buffy hung up the phone.
"It's Faith. She's awake. She beat someone up, took her clothing, and disappeared out of the hospital. No one knows where she is." Buffy said.
"I'd say this qualifies for a "worse timing ever" award." Xander said.
"What do we do?" Willow asked.
"Well, we have to find her." Giles said.
"What about Adam?"
"I'd hate to see the pursuit of a homicidal lunatic get in the way of pursuing a homicidal lunatic." Xander said.
"Well, Faith's not exactly low-profile girl. Angel and I will patrol and wait for her to make a move." Buffy said.
"And then what?" Giles asked.
"Oh! I have an idea. Beat the crap out of her!" Willow said with a grin.
"Good plan!" Xander said.
"Good on paper. But we still have a decision to make. Do we hand her over to the cops? They wouldn't know what to do with a Slayer even if they knew we existed." Buffy said.
"What about the Council?" Willow asked.
"Been there. Tried that. Not unlike smothering a forest fire with napalm, as I recall." Xander said.
"Well, the Initiative, they do have containment facilities." Giles said.
"One word. Evil."
"There's no way around it. Faith is back and, whether I like it or not.. she's my responsibility." Buffy said.
"Yeah, too bad. That was the funnest coma ever." Willow said.
"We have no idea where she is. We don't know what she's thinking, what she's feeling."
"Who she's doing." Xander said spitefully.
"She could be terrified. Maybe she doesn't even remember? Or.. or maybe she does and.. and she's sorry and she's alone, hiding somewhere?" Buffy said.
"Uh, perhaps there's some form of rehabilitation we just haven't thought about?" Giles said, not loving Buffy's theory.
"And if not. Ass kicking makes a solid plan B." Willow said.
"I'm not gonna rule it out. First thing, we need to find her. Then we can take it from there." Buffy said.
Everyone fell silent, thinking about what they were going to do about Faith. Riley looked up at them, looking confused. Buffy saw him and realized what he was thinking just as he said, "Who's Faith?"
"What did you and Angel tell him?" Willow asked. She and Buffy were walking across the busy campus main walkway and starting to descend down some stairs.
"The truth. That she's my wacky identical cousin from England who whenever she visits hijinks ensue." Buffy said.
"It's good you and Angel are so honest."
"Nah, we told him the story. I-I vagued up a few bits, but no flat out lies."
"That's fair."
"Yeah. We were a little busy last night with Faith hunting."
"Any luck?"
"Couldn't find her. Don't know exactly where to place that in the luck continuum."
Angel walked up to them and kissed Buffy. "Hey baby."
"Hey."
"At least you guys are not alone on this. I bet every cop in Sunnydale is out there looking for her, right now." Willow said.
"Who?" Angel asked.
"Faith." Buffy said. "Pressure is definitely high. I tell you, if I were her I'd get out of Dodge post-hasty."
A young woman with dark hair casually turns around in front of them and Buffy suddenly found herself face to face with Faith.
"You're not me." Faith said.
The two slayers started to size each other up. Buffy's shock melted away as she stared at the rogue slayer.
"So. Check you out, B. Nice. The big girl on campus thing's really working for you." Buffy said.
"We've been looking for you." Buffy said.
"I've been standing still for eight months, B. How hard did you look?"
"Are you all right?"
"Five by five. Best thing about a coma, you wake up all rested and rejuvenated and ready for payback."
"So much for pleasantries, huh?"
"What'd you think? I'd wake up and we'd go for tea? You tried to gut me, blondie."
"You'd have done the same to me if you had the chance."
"So let's have another go at it. See who lands on top."
"It doesn't have to be like this, you know?"
"Actually, I think it has to be exactly like this."
"Faith, these are innocent people." Buffy said, indicating everyone around the four.
"No such animal."
"I guess it was too much to hope that you'd use your downtime to reflect and grow."
"Could say the same about you. I mean, you're still the same old "better than thou" Buffy. I mean, I knew it somehow. I kept having this dream.. not sure what it means.. but in the dream this self-righteous, blonde chick stabs me. And you want to know why?"
"You had it coming." Buffy said.
Willow started to move around behind Faith with her backpack sliding into her hands. Angel stared at the two slayers in front of him, waiting for something physical to happen between them.
"That's one interpretation. But in my dream, she does it for a guy.. Try it, red, and you lose an arm!" Faith said.
Angel put his hand on Willow's arm and Willow backed down.
"I wake up to find that this blonde chick is still with this guy she tried to kill me for and she's completely forgotten that whole incident. Now that guy is standing out in the sun and all I can say is that he must be human which means I can kill him. So that's my dream. That and some stuff about cigars in a tunnel. But, uh, tell me, college girl.. what does it mean?" Faith said.
"To me? Mostly. That you still mouth off about things you don't understand." Buffy said. A police siren sounded from nearby. "Uh-oh. I guess somebody knows you're here."
Faith didn't look like she cared about that and punched Buffy in the face. Buffy spun with the punch and followed through with a backhand fist. Faith caught her arm and kneed her in the small of her back. She stumbled but quickly retaliated with a round kick that Faith ducked under. The brunette stood back up leading with a round kick of her own. Angel jumped in before the kick could connect with Buffy's head and he blocked the kick before following up with a backhand, catching Faith's arm, and slamming a fist across her face. At this point their fight had gotten the attention of all the students around them.
Faith attacked with another round kick but Buffy blocked that. Willow swung her pack and hit Faith in the back. It didn't hurt the Slayer in the slightest, but it did get her attention and she turned on the redhead. Buffy shoved Faith away and Angel put himself between her and Willow.
"You took my life, B. Payback's a bitch." Faith said.
"Look who's talking." Angel said.
"See ya around."
Faith took off just as the first cop got out of the car. He ran to her and Faith knocked him on his ass, not slowing down. She hopped onto the hood of the squad car as the second cop got out and kicked him in the face. She jumped off and ran through a garden of trees. She reached the walkway again and shoved a male student down who was unfortunate enough to be in her way. Behind her, Buffy and Angel rounded the turn fast giving chase. Faith immediately headed for the six-foot high bordering stone wall. She climbed over it easily and disappeared on the other side. Buffy and Angel reached the wall and stood on a large rock to look over it, but all they saw was a wide-open prairie. Students were walking around, sitting on the grass studying, or just hanging out with each other. Buffy didn't see Faith anywhere.
"Damn it!" Buffy said.
"We'll find her. Don't worry about it." Angel said.
"I do worry about it! She's my responsibility."
"She's mine too. We're going to find her and help her. I promise." Angel kissed Buffy's hair as they started to walk off.
"I know Faith. She'll come after me and she'll come after the people that I love. She's already tried it with you."
"I know. It's not going to happen, I promise you."
"Stop making promises you can't keep."
"Make me."
Buffy stared at him. After a minute, her scowl melted and she grabbed Angel and pulled him to her. "I love you."
"I love you. Never doubt that Buffy Summers."
"Never."
"Let's go find Faith." Angel said taking Buffy's hand and heading back to the mansion to get some weapons and chains.
Buffy and Angel had been patrolling for hours with no luck. Faith was nowhere to be found. She was being smart too. No demons had seen her as well as humans.
"This is so wrong!" Buffy yelled.
"I know." Angel said calmly. Buffy bashed in the side of a trash can with a hard sidekick. "You know, that's vandalism."
"You're not helping." Buffy wheeled on Angel and got in his face.
"I know." he replied coolly.
"Damn it Angel. I hate how you can do that!"
"I know. I love you. What else can I say?"
"Love?"
"Yeah. That's what they call this."
"No. Love! Faith! She's going after mom! Mom doesn't know."
"Buffy.."
"We have to go. Mom's in danger!"
Buffy took off running before Angel could even react. She was about a block and a half away from him and he was having trouble keeping up with her. They reached Revello Drive and Angel lost sight of her once she had reached her house. He heard the sound of glass breaking just as he reached the house.
Buffy found her mother sitting on the bed as she stood up from tackling Faith. "Hi, Mom."
"Hi honey." Joyce replied.
Angel came bounding through the door, blocking Faith's exit. Faith stood up a Buffy blocked her backhand, but she followed through with a round kick, hitting Buffy in the face. She tried to slam a knee into her midsection but Angel blocked that, countering with an inward crescent kick, sending Faith against the vanity. Buffy grabbed her from behind and pulled her out into the hallway. Joyce quickly reached for the phone and dialed 911 while Angel made sure she was all right.
Out in the hall, Buffy still had Faith. She slammed the brunette into a closed door hard. Faith faced her just in time to block a backhand fist but Buffy grabbed that arm and sent her other fist into Faith's side, then up in a backhand to her face, in quick succession. Then she swung her across the hall, slamming her face first into the wall by the open stairwell. Trying to recover, Faith raised a knee to stop Buffy's mid- level round kick, and then grabbed her by the shoulders. They struggled with each other, both of them slamming into the closed door, then rebounding across the hall falling into the stairwell where they took an unpleasant slide headfirst down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, in the foyer, they rolled away from each other and came up in fighting stances.
"Thought I'd go after your soul boy again, didn't ya? He is a hottie. Looks like he can use a good roll in the sack." Faith said.
Buffy launched an attack but Faith blocked her strikes. She countered with a right hook but Buffy ducked it.
"You're not his type. He's not real big on sleazy and insane." Buffy said.
Buffy attacked again, this time hitting Faith with several punches to the stomach and head. Faith managed to catch her arm on the last punch and slam Buffy back against the dining room wall.
"That's probably because he's never had me." Faith said.
"Going for the boyfriend again? That's tired." Angel said behind Faith.
"Just something to remember me by once I've moved on."
Faith threw a fist straight at Angel's head but he ducked at the last instant and it went through the wall. Buffy threw herself at Faith driving her further into the dining room and sending her across the surface of the table, clearing it of the candles and glass bowl of wax fruit, and knocking down chairs as she fell off the other side.
"Did it ever occur to you Faith that the reason we all forgot you is because we wanted to?" Buffy asked.
Faith was pulling herself up, holding onto the silverware cabinet. Enraged, she grabbed a large flower vase and threw it. It hits Buffy in the side and shattered but she was unharmed. Faith pulled out one of the drawers and dumped all the silverware to the floor as she swung it to throw it at Buffy. As Buffy ducked the flying drawer, Faith snatched up a long two-pronged fork and attacked Buffy. Buffy dodged the strike and shoved Faith against the table.
Faith swung the fork at Buffy's face but the blonde ducked away and it was buried in the wall. Before Faith could pull it out, Angel grabbed her from behind, swung her around, and slammed her against the table again. She quickly hit Angel in the face with a back elbow freeing herself. That's when she heard the sirens approaching the house.
"The cops." Faith muttered.
She scrambled across the top of the table and ran for the living room. Buffy was right behind her. Too close it turned out as Faith reached the open French doorway, she grabbed one of the glass-framed doors and swung it in Buffy's face. The blonde just crashed right through it and stumbled into the living room. She hadn't even regained her balance again when she fired a left-right combination hitting Faith in the stomach and face. This sent the brunette falling onto the coffee table and it shattered under her. The red flashing lights of the police cars were shining into the room through the windows.
Buffy tried to hit Faith again as she got to her knees, but Faith caught her arm and held onto her and drove her across the living room where she sent her into the glass bookcase. Taking advantage, Faith round kicked at her face but Buffy managed to block it and send a backhand fist across Faith's face. Faith countered with another round kick, this time hitting Buffy and knocking her down. She quickly reached the fireplace and grabbed something off the mantle.
Buffy was on her feet. She ran over to slam a left hook into Faith's face. She quickly followed that with a right hook, snapping her head back. Before she could hit her again, Faith grabbed her hand and held it tight, the small device between their palms. A glowing light started to emanate from their hands as the device activated. Then both young women reacted as if they were hit by a shockwave.
Angel ran to the two girls but Buffy pulled back her fist and hit her hard in the face with a right hook, sending her to the floor unconscious.
"You ok?" Angel asked just as Joyce came downstairs.
"All things considered." Buffy said.
"What is that?" Angel gestured to the strange device in Buffy's hand.
"Weapon of some kind." She threw it on the floor and stomped on it. There was a flash of light as it was crushed. "Didn't work whatever it was."
There was a loud pounding on the door and Joyce sighed, "The police."
"She's their problem now."
"You're sure you're okay?" Angel asked again.
"Five by five." Buffy grinned, staring down at Faith's motionless body.
As for the shitty, they had found about the Initiative's evilness, which Professor Walsh had been a part of. She was now dead due to her Frankenstein creation, and now even more news was about to leave Buffy's mouth.
"What is it?" Angel asked as Buffy hung up the phone.
"It's Faith. She's awake. She beat someone up, took her clothing, and disappeared out of the hospital. No one knows where she is." Buffy said.
"I'd say this qualifies for a "worse timing ever" award." Xander said.
"What do we do?" Willow asked.
"Well, we have to find her." Giles said.
"What about Adam?"
"I'd hate to see the pursuit of a homicidal lunatic get in the way of pursuing a homicidal lunatic." Xander said.
"Well, Faith's not exactly low-profile girl. Angel and I will patrol and wait for her to make a move." Buffy said.
"And then what?" Giles asked.
"Oh! I have an idea. Beat the crap out of her!" Willow said with a grin.
"Good plan!" Xander said.
"Good on paper. But we still have a decision to make. Do we hand her over to the cops? They wouldn't know what to do with a Slayer even if they knew we existed." Buffy said.
"What about the Council?" Willow asked.
"Been there. Tried that. Not unlike smothering a forest fire with napalm, as I recall." Xander said.
"Well, the Initiative, they do have containment facilities." Giles said.
"One word. Evil."
"There's no way around it. Faith is back and, whether I like it or not.. she's my responsibility." Buffy said.
"Yeah, too bad. That was the funnest coma ever." Willow said.
"We have no idea where she is. We don't know what she's thinking, what she's feeling."
"Who she's doing." Xander said spitefully.
"She could be terrified. Maybe she doesn't even remember? Or.. or maybe she does and.. and she's sorry and she's alone, hiding somewhere?" Buffy said.
"Uh, perhaps there's some form of rehabilitation we just haven't thought about?" Giles said, not loving Buffy's theory.
"And if not. Ass kicking makes a solid plan B." Willow said.
"I'm not gonna rule it out. First thing, we need to find her. Then we can take it from there." Buffy said.
Everyone fell silent, thinking about what they were going to do about Faith. Riley looked up at them, looking confused. Buffy saw him and realized what he was thinking just as he said, "Who's Faith?"
"What did you and Angel tell him?" Willow asked. She and Buffy were walking across the busy campus main walkway and starting to descend down some stairs.
"The truth. That she's my wacky identical cousin from England who whenever she visits hijinks ensue." Buffy said.
"It's good you and Angel are so honest."
"Nah, we told him the story. I-I vagued up a few bits, but no flat out lies."
"That's fair."
"Yeah. We were a little busy last night with Faith hunting."
"Any luck?"
"Couldn't find her. Don't know exactly where to place that in the luck continuum."
Angel walked up to them and kissed Buffy. "Hey baby."
"Hey."
"At least you guys are not alone on this. I bet every cop in Sunnydale is out there looking for her, right now." Willow said.
"Who?" Angel asked.
"Faith." Buffy said. "Pressure is definitely high. I tell you, if I were her I'd get out of Dodge post-hasty."
A young woman with dark hair casually turns around in front of them and Buffy suddenly found herself face to face with Faith.
"You're not me." Faith said.
The two slayers started to size each other up. Buffy's shock melted away as she stared at the rogue slayer.
"So. Check you out, B. Nice. The big girl on campus thing's really working for you." Buffy said.
"We've been looking for you." Buffy said.
"I've been standing still for eight months, B. How hard did you look?"
"Are you all right?"
"Five by five. Best thing about a coma, you wake up all rested and rejuvenated and ready for payback."
"So much for pleasantries, huh?"
"What'd you think? I'd wake up and we'd go for tea? You tried to gut me, blondie."
"You'd have done the same to me if you had the chance."
"So let's have another go at it. See who lands on top."
"It doesn't have to be like this, you know?"
"Actually, I think it has to be exactly like this."
"Faith, these are innocent people." Buffy said, indicating everyone around the four.
"No such animal."
"I guess it was too much to hope that you'd use your downtime to reflect and grow."
"Could say the same about you. I mean, you're still the same old "better than thou" Buffy. I mean, I knew it somehow. I kept having this dream.. not sure what it means.. but in the dream this self-righteous, blonde chick stabs me. And you want to know why?"
"You had it coming." Buffy said.
Willow started to move around behind Faith with her backpack sliding into her hands. Angel stared at the two slayers in front of him, waiting for something physical to happen between them.
"That's one interpretation. But in my dream, she does it for a guy.. Try it, red, and you lose an arm!" Faith said.
Angel put his hand on Willow's arm and Willow backed down.
"I wake up to find that this blonde chick is still with this guy she tried to kill me for and she's completely forgotten that whole incident. Now that guy is standing out in the sun and all I can say is that he must be human which means I can kill him. So that's my dream. That and some stuff about cigars in a tunnel. But, uh, tell me, college girl.. what does it mean?" Faith said.
"To me? Mostly. That you still mouth off about things you don't understand." Buffy said. A police siren sounded from nearby. "Uh-oh. I guess somebody knows you're here."
Faith didn't look like she cared about that and punched Buffy in the face. Buffy spun with the punch and followed through with a backhand fist. Faith caught her arm and kneed her in the small of her back. She stumbled but quickly retaliated with a round kick that Faith ducked under. The brunette stood back up leading with a round kick of her own. Angel jumped in before the kick could connect with Buffy's head and he blocked the kick before following up with a backhand, catching Faith's arm, and slamming a fist across her face. At this point their fight had gotten the attention of all the students around them.
Faith attacked with another round kick but Buffy blocked that. Willow swung her pack and hit Faith in the back. It didn't hurt the Slayer in the slightest, but it did get her attention and she turned on the redhead. Buffy shoved Faith away and Angel put himself between her and Willow.
"You took my life, B. Payback's a bitch." Faith said.
"Look who's talking." Angel said.
"See ya around."
Faith took off just as the first cop got out of the car. He ran to her and Faith knocked him on his ass, not slowing down. She hopped onto the hood of the squad car as the second cop got out and kicked him in the face. She jumped off and ran through a garden of trees. She reached the walkway again and shoved a male student down who was unfortunate enough to be in her way. Behind her, Buffy and Angel rounded the turn fast giving chase. Faith immediately headed for the six-foot high bordering stone wall. She climbed over it easily and disappeared on the other side. Buffy and Angel reached the wall and stood on a large rock to look over it, but all they saw was a wide-open prairie. Students were walking around, sitting on the grass studying, or just hanging out with each other. Buffy didn't see Faith anywhere.
"Damn it!" Buffy said.
"We'll find her. Don't worry about it." Angel said.
"I do worry about it! She's my responsibility."
"She's mine too. We're going to find her and help her. I promise." Angel kissed Buffy's hair as they started to walk off.
"I know Faith. She'll come after me and she'll come after the people that I love. She's already tried it with you."
"I know. It's not going to happen, I promise you."
"Stop making promises you can't keep."
"Make me."
Buffy stared at him. After a minute, her scowl melted and she grabbed Angel and pulled him to her. "I love you."
"I love you. Never doubt that Buffy Summers."
"Never."
"Let's go find Faith." Angel said taking Buffy's hand and heading back to the mansion to get some weapons and chains.
Buffy and Angel had been patrolling for hours with no luck. Faith was nowhere to be found. She was being smart too. No demons had seen her as well as humans.
"This is so wrong!" Buffy yelled.
"I know." Angel said calmly. Buffy bashed in the side of a trash can with a hard sidekick. "You know, that's vandalism."
"You're not helping." Buffy wheeled on Angel and got in his face.
"I know." he replied coolly.
"Damn it Angel. I hate how you can do that!"
"I know. I love you. What else can I say?"
"Love?"
"Yeah. That's what they call this."
"No. Love! Faith! She's going after mom! Mom doesn't know."
"Buffy.."
"We have to go. Mom's in danger!"
Buffy took off running before Angel could even react. She was about a block and a half away from him and he was having trouble keeping up with her. They reached Revello Drive and Angel lost sight of her once she had reached her house. He heard the sound of glass breaking just as he reached the house.
Buffy found her mother sitting on the bed as she stood up from tackling Faith. "Hi, Mom."
"Hi honey." Joyce replied.
Angel came bounding through the door, blocking Faith's exit. Faith stood up a Buffy blocked her backhand, but she followed through with a round kick, hitting Buffy in the face. She tried to slam a knee into her midsection but Angel blocked that, countering with an inward crescent kick, sending Faith against the vanity. Buffy grabbed her from behind and pulled her out into the hallway. Joyce quickly reached for the phone and dialed 911 while Angel made sure she was all right.
Out in the hall, Buffy still had Faith. She slammed the brunette into a closed door hard. Faith faced her just in time to block a backhand fist but Buffy grabbed that arm and sent her other fist into Faith's side, then up in a backhand to her face, in quick succession. Then she swung her across the hall, slamming her face first into the wall by the open stairwell. Trying to recover, Faith raised a knee to stop Buffy's mid- level round kick, and then grabbed her by the shoulders. They struggled with each other, both of them slamming into the closed door, then rebounding across the hall falling into the stairwell where they took an unpleasant slide headfirst down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, in the foyer, they rolled away from each other and came up in fighting stances.
"Thought I'd go after your soul boy again, didn't ya? He is a hottie. Looks like he can use a good roll in the sack." Faith said.
Buffy launched an attack but Faith blocked her strikes. She countered with a right hook but Buffy ducked it.
"You're not his type. He's not real big on sleazy and insane." Buffy said.
Buffy attacked again, this time hitting Faith with several punches to the stomach and head. Faith managed to catch her arm on the last punch and slam Buffy back against the dining room wall.
"That's probably because he's never had me." Faith said.
"Going for the boyfriend again? That's tired." Angel said behind Faith.
"Just something to remember me by once I've moved on."
Faith threw a fist straight at Angel's head but he ducked at the last instant and it went through the wall. Buffy threw herself at Faith driving her further into the dining room and sending her across the surface of the table, clearing it of the candles and glass bowl of wax fruit, and knocking down chairs as she fell off the other side.
"Did it ever occur to you Faith that the reason we all forgot you is because we wanted to?" Buffy asked.
Faith was pulling herself up, holding onto the silverware cabinet. Enraged, she grabbed a large flower vase and threw it. It hits Buffy in the side and shattered but she was unharmed. Faith pulled out one of the drawers and dumped all the silverware to the floor as she swung it to throw it at Buffy. As Buffy ducked the flying drawer, Faith snatched up a long two-pronged fork and attacked Buffy. Buffy dodged the strike and shoved Faith against the table.
Faith swung the fork at Buffy's face but the blonde ducked away and it was buried in the wall. Before Faith could pull it out, Angel grabbed her from behind, swung her around, and slammed her against the table again. She quickly hit Angel in the face with a back elbow freeing herself. That's when she heard the sirens approaching the house.
"The cops." Faith muttered.
She scrambled across the top of the table and ran for the living room. Buffy was right behind her. Too close it turned out as Faith reached the open French doorway, she grabbed one of the glass-framed doors and swung it in Buffy's face. The blonde just crashed right through it and stumbled into the living room. She hadn't even regained her balance again when she fired a left-right combination hitting Faith in the stomach and face. This sent the brunette falling onto the coffee table and it shattered under her. The red flashing lights of the police cars were shining into the room through the windows.
Buffy tried to hit Faith again as she got to her knees, but Faith caught her arm and held onto her and drove her across the living room where she sent her into the glass bookcase. Taking advantage, Faith round kicked at her face but Buffy managed to block it and send a backhand fist across Faith's face. Faith countered with another round kick, this time hitting Buffy and knocking her down. She quickly reached the fireplace and grabbed something off the mantle.
Buffy was on her feet. She ran over to slam a left hook into Faith's face. She quickly followed that with a right hook, snapping her head back. Before she could hit her again, Faith grabbed her hand and held it tight, the small device between their palms. A glowing light started to emanate from their hands as the device activated. Then both young women reacted as if they were hit by a shockwave.
Angel ran to the two girls but Buffy pulled back her fist and hit her hard in the face with a right hook, sending her to the floor unconscious.
"You ok?" Angel asked just as Joyce came downstairs.
"All things considered." Buffy said.
"What is that?" Angel gestured to the strange device in Buffy's hand.
"Weapon of some kind." She threw it on the floor and stomped on it. There was a flash of light as it was crushed. "Didn't work whatever it was."
There was a loud pounding on the door and Joyce sighed, "The police."
"She's their problem now."
"You're sure you're okay?" Angel asked again.
"Five by five." Buffy grinned, staring down at Faith's motionless body.