Twice Lucky

Faith Manages

Chapter 1: Ashes to Ashes

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"Well, I say," Wesley said with a very large smile. They each had their own wounds to tend, but everyone had managed to make their way - even Ethan was there - to Joyce's house and, now, were all sitting in her living room with their various drinks.

"That was incredibly British of you Wesley, do try to blend in…"

The younger Watcher looked at Giles with that 'you can talk'-sort of look. Ethan sighed and pinched his nose, letting the smell of the freshly-brewed coffee fill his nostrils.

Joyce came in with two large plates of cookies and started handing them out; in her frustration at the events of the last several days, she'd baked dozens of them.

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Five days ago

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"Joyce, we need to sit down and talk." Joyce sighed; normally, it was her who said this to Buffy when she had done something wrong, or another animal had died.

"Mister Giles, what could be so wrong that it calls for four of you to sit here with me?"

They each exchanged looks. Wesley cleared his throat and she turned to the young, smart Watcher. "There is a prophecy concerning Buffy."

Giles grimaced. "It's to do with Buffy's death."

Diana rolled her pretty brown eyes. "What do you mean? Buffy's got a long time ahead of her." Diana gave Giles a pointed look and took the stead.

"Missus Summers," she said clearly and loudly. "Most Slayers don't make it past their eighteenth birthday. In fact, my mother died on her twentieth."

Joyce paled.

"You can't let her die…"

"We may not have a choice," Giles tried.

"No, I forbid it…"

This time, it was Ethan who spoke, surprising the three Watchers. "Missus Summers, if there's one thing I've learned in my time as a Chaos Mage, it's that you cannot stop destiny."

Joyce sagged.

"The best thing you can do for her at the moment," Giles said gently, touching the woman's arm. "Is be there for her; be a mother to her and listen to her when she needs it."

"It's more than I had," Diana said with a sad smile.

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Now

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"We beat back a demon hell-spawn, an army of vampires and Buffy kicked the Master's bottom."

Ethan actually groaned. "Wesley, it's arse. She kicked the Master's arse, for goodness sakes."

"Wesley did look good with an axe," Cordellia said with a sly grin. The Watcher blushed: he'd long since changed out of combat gear and was wearing his clean, crisp and – naturally - pressed white suit. His hair was combed back straight and his glasses were firmly on his nose.

"I uh…" Wesley stuttered and blushed under the intensity of her stare.

Giles and Ethan both chuckled and clinked their whisky glasses together. "Like old times, Ripper."

"Quite," Giles nodded with a wistful smirk.

"We pulled it together quite well…"

"I'd say so," Giles agreed.

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Four days ago

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"In the other timeline, we used the Scythe to activate all of the Slayers. I want to use it this timeline to activate just two: Faith and Kendra." They were all sat around the coffee table in Xander's house.

"Won't that over-balance the good guys, I mean, us?" Willow asked.

"I'm hoping that, by timing it as the Hellmouth opens, it will be classed as a natural occurrence." Something inside Willow's head clicked and she got it.

"Ah, I'm with you."

"I don't know how you did it in the previous timeline. You just, sorta, put your hands on it and it happened."

Giles smiled as Xander explained the events. "It should be interesting, having three Slayers…"

"And a demon hunter," Ethan pointed out.

"Quite," Ripper smiled. "Three Slayers and a demon hunter."

"And a handful of Watchers to boot.

Giles sighed.

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Three days ago

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"Look, I know about the curse your clan placed on Angel and, quite frankly, I'm disgusted that you never bothered to inform me about it." Jenny Calendar's eyes went wide with surprise as she sat across from her new friend, Rupert Giles. "You told me to trust you. Well, give me a reason."

Jenny sat back in her seat and sighed. "I wanted to tell you everything, but the Elders…"

"The Elders in the Watchers Council are a bunch of stubborn old men. I take what they say with a pinch of salt and work out the rest for myself."

The Gypsy technopagan nodded.

"Fine," she almost snapped at him. "I'll tell you everything I know, but even that is limited. It all began in 1898, when Angelus tortured and killed the favourite daughter of the Kalderash clan…"

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Two days ago

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Drusilla stared at the box with a nasty little smile. The box wasn't much to look at, but she had been assured that it was what they were after: the last part; the head; the prize.

She stroked it and patted it as the soft whispers filled her mind.

"Luv, is that it?"

"Yes," she swayed, her long brown hair rippling beautifully in the moonlight; her eyes half-closed in a silent orgasm.

"It's him. He talks to me, whispers in my ears," she groaned softly, a small guttural growl that escaped her lips. Spike sighed and decided against taking the box from her. Instead, he led her slowly, gently, back to the van.

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One day ago

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"Bloody hell, Ripper. I know you told me that there would be a bloody great big demon coming from underneath the library, but you didn't say anything-" Ethan swung the sword around with practiced ease, slicing a tentacle. "About hundreds of bloody vampires."

One of them managed to get through one of the windows and lunged at Ethan, which he saw and spun around, slicing its head off; the body splashed into dust.

"Nice move," Giles said with a grunt, as he stabbed a vampire in the eye with a stake. The creature screamed and backed off.

"When you two have finished bonding," Jenny grunted as she pushed against the board. "A little help, here, wouldn't go amiss."

Warren joined her side and pushed hard against the wood and flipped the middle finger at one of the critters that tried to take a swipe at him.

Angel stared down at the lifeless body of the Slayer and grabbed her skirt, pulled her out and used the device to start pumping air into her lungs. He remembered what Xander had told him about CPR, and did as instructed.

"Come on," Angel growled. The last thing they needed at the moment was to loose a Slayer; he pushed on her chest, hoping that her heart would restart.

After a few moments, he sat back and gave up.

Willow started muttering; the language had gone from English to Arabic and then to something else that not even Ripper had recognised, as she started moving and swaying; her head rolling around as though she were on drugs, her eyelids were closed, but fluttered repeatedly. Her muttering got louder and, suddenly, she placed her hands on the Scythe and something happened.

Angel couldn't believe it: he was about ready to get up and help the others in the last moments, when Buffy Summers breathed. The air rushed into her lungs and she rolled over and coughed up water.

Ethan watched in fascination as Willow's hair suddenly turned a brilliant white, an energy pulse shot out of her and lit up the whole room. The vampires outside suddenly went very quiet. Ethan and Giles looked at each other and lowered the wooden board. Outside, there was nothing.

Buffy smirked as the two pelted it full-steam across the grounds; the air filling her nostrils, the smoothness of the grass underneath her feet. She wasn't alone; there were others with her. Kendra had been called, as well as Faith.

She saw the Master standing in the grounds, waiting for her.

She skidded to a halt. "Oh, look: a bad guy."

The older Vampire sneered and lunged.

The two - Slayer and Master – clashed. Fists blurred as the two fought for the higher ground. Buffy fell onto the floor and spun her legs around in fury, catching the Master off-guard. He staggered back, only to be hit in a fury of punches. He managed to get a reprieve as he struck a lucky blow and knocked the Slayer off-balance. He saw the roof and ran.

Faith hit another wave of orgasm as she rode Xander, lifting up as his hips pushed her. It was then, at the climax of Willow's spell, that something happened; something that neither Xander, nor the Powers That Be could've seen. It was truly a miracle.

Buffy followed him to the rooftop and steadied herself. The smirking Master stood there with a large grin on his face.

"Can't you feel it? This is destiny!"

He raised his hands, stared up at the moonlight and laughed.

The pulse of energy shot up and outwards in a great ball and the Master laughed until he was turned to dust.

No bones remained; no ashes floating in the breeze.

Just nothing.

Buffy Summers stood there with a big smirk. "Well, betcha didn't see that one coming."