Chapter 6.

Days passed. Buffy's apology after the excitement of being attacked by zombies had more or less wiped the slate clean. The thrill of still being alive after a battle probably helped everyone let bygones be bygones. Buffy soon got back into school and the old band was back together plus a kick-ass lead guitarist in Faith. Maybe it was the shared misery of attending classes and studying together that helped them bond more this time. Because Faith found that she had forgotten everything she'd ever once learned in school. Willow and DD helped tutor her. And the four Slayerettes still patrolled together with either Buffy or Faith watching their backs while the other Slayer patrolled alone. Slayers needed a little alone time, Faith knew that from experience. She and Buffy more than most.

"She won't let us take on more than one vamp at a time." Willow confided one day while they were studying.

"Huh?"

"Buffy!" Willow continued. "She won't let us fight more than one vamp at a time, even when there's four of us."

"So?" Faith grinned internally but kept her face neutral. "If you want to face more vamps, you're going to have to face Buffy first."

"But- but..." Willow started turning red.

"Not my fight, Red." Faith patted her shoulder. "But I'm sure if all four of you team up on her, you can take her." she gave an evil smile.

Willow gave a pitying mew and tried to give her the puppy dog eyes.

Faith just laughed. "That kinda shit don't work on me. We're not dating and I ain't your girlfriend." she waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Unless you're offering?"

Willow meeped.

Faith just laughed harder. "That's okay. It still wouldn't work on me."

The watchers were also falling into a rhythm. With the non-Slayer members committed to learning to fight, and one watcher being enough to train two Slayers at the same time when they had a fellow Slayer to pound on instead of a watcher, that left one watcher free to train the humans.

Diana taught the spear that she was already familiar with thanks to Faith. She also taught dirty fighting. She was such a nice, matronly looking woman that you wouldn't think her capable of some of the dirty moves she knew. She also taught catch-as-catch-can wrestling. An English form of submission wrestling. She even showed how a weaker opponent could overcome a stronger opponent this way by using Buffy as her assistant. Buffy's look of surprise when DD put her in an armbar she couldn't break using force was almost worth coming back in time to see. Almost.

"The point of this isn't to encourage you to wrestle with vampires. That is extremely dangerous. Even for Slayers. The point is to teach you not to panic, even if you are knocked down. Even if a vampire is on top of you and about to bite, there are ways to escape and I'm going to teach you all of them." Diana promised.

Giles covered the more traditional forms. Such as boxing, sword fighting, and introducing them all to archery and crossbows. Cordelia was a surprise as something of a natural with the bow. Actually, she tended to be at the head of the class for all the weapons.

"Once you memorize the motion and the position you're supposed to be in, it's easy." she explained. No one bothered to explain to her how hard it was for normal people.

It had taken Faith much longer to learn than that. But that was okay with Faith as that left her with plenty of one-on-one time as she tried to teach Xander how to shoot. Or rather, while she tried to distract him as he was trying to shoot. It was a lot of fun trying to make him uncomfortable. And once she was done distracting him, he actually started shooting straight.

Willow and Oz were getting instruction from DD on how to shoot crossbows and Faith caught Willow glaring daggers at her. Faith couldn't help but smirk, it was just too funny that Willow could be jealous of Faith's attention towards Xander while standing next to her supposed boyfriend. But she shrugged it off and left the kids alone to practice while she and Buffy sparred under Giles' supervision.

After the workout Faith talked Giles into purchasing a proper bow and a set of wooden arrows for Cordelia right away. The others needed more practice before they tried taking on a vamp with a bow or crossbow, but there was no way that she was leaving Cordy without a bow. That would just be a waste of good talent.

"Okay, new rule. Cordy isn't allowed to shoot until we see the yellow of their eyes." Xander complained.

"Hey! It's not my fault you guys suck at the bow and arrow." Cordy preened. She had gotten pretty good and could usually dust vamps if they were standing still, coming straight at, or running straight away from her. Oh and as long as their wasn't much wind, like tonight. She wasn't an expert but it was still better than the others could do with a bow.

Faith came up and joined the group. "You should leave them at least one or two in each group, Cord."

"What if there's only one?" the cheerleader asked.

"You get them if they try to run, otherwise let the spears have 'em." Faith ordered. And plenty of vamps were starting to run. Word had gotten out somehow and individual vamps were now avoiding the Scoobies.

Cordelia sighed as if horribly put upon. "Fi-ine."

Faith just smirked. Cordy was a talented bow-woman, but she was not good at working with a group. "Corporal Harris, lead 'em out."

"That's Private Harris, ma'am." He replied almost automatically.

"You're squad leader. You've just been promoted." Faith answered.

"Hey! Why is he the leader? Why not... you know... me?" Cordy complained.

"Everyone with any military training, whether mystically gained or not, please raise your hand." Faith raised her hand. As did Xander.

When the watchers had eventually reconciled with the US army, Faith and Xander had been selected as the official liaisons for whatever reason. Personally, she thought it was Buffy's idea of a joke or an attempt to submarine relations with the army before they got chummy. Xander had done most of the talking and in the end, they were offered special commissions as Lieutenant Colonels that would allow them to take command with reduced red-tape in the event of an apocalyptic situation. They initially declined the offer but after some negotiating, Xander said they would accept but only after they successfully completed OCS.

Faith had wanted to smack him. Twelve weeks of hanging out with a bunch of uptight, wannabe soldiers was not her idea of a fun three months.

To say that OCS was a surprise to her would be an understatement. Firstly, the students were not nearly as bad as she thought they'd be. They were just regular people who wanted to help their country. All of them were intelligent. Plenty of the instructors had sticks up their asses, but apparently that was inserted later. Plus, she learned a lot of cool shit. Demolitions had certainly been her favorite. Blowing shit up never got old. But survival training and leadership training both paid huge dividends later in life.

After training they both received their special commissions, as full-bird Colonels.

"When did you-" Xander began.

"Later." she cut him off.

"Yes, ma'am. You heard the lady, let's move out." Xander ordered.

Faith was having such a good time that she almost forgot to check the mansion to see if Angel had come back. There was no Angel, but there was a scorch mark she recognized, where Angel's body had protected the cement underneath from scorching. "Hello?" she called. "Angel?"

With a roar, he attacked. Buffy seemed to have forgotten to mention that Angel had been completely insane when he got back, Faith mused. She'd also forgot to mention how he'd came back completely nude. Not that I'm complaining, it is a very nice sight to see. The fight didn't last long, she was a very experienced Slayer and he was a weakened and mad vampire and she eventually knocked him unconscious. Now, where did I put those chains?

She chained him up securely then got the blood she had stored out of the fridge. After so many weeks, it probably wasn't the freshest, but it didn't smell off. She'd feed this to him for now and get some new stuff tomorrow.

She also found his bedroom, with his clothes still there. She found a pair of sweats and put those on his unconscious form. Shame to hide something that sweat, but he'd be embarrassed enough when he regained his mind. She went and got a cup of blood for him and putting a straw in it, she carried it back to the main room to wait for him to wake up.

She woke up the next morning to Angel's chains rattling. He growled and snapped at her.

"Hello, Angel. How are we feeling today? Would you like some blood?" she brought the cup of now lukewarm blood over to him.

He growled, snapped, and strained at his chains. She edged the cup forward until the straw hit his lips. Apparently, sucking blood through a straw was not a skill he had lost in Acathla's hell dimension. She had looked up the name only to realize she'd been saying Alcatha this whole time. When the first cup was finished, she got him another one. Talking the whole time about nothing but avoiding any words or names she thought might set him off. (Buffy, Xander, and definitely Buffy)

On the 8th cup he stopped drinking about halfway through. Faith figured he'd had enough for now. "Well, I hope you're good for now, I'll be back after school with some fresh blood." she assured him. Unsure if he understood or not. Either way, he seemed calmer now.

"Faith, where have you been? I've been worried sick!" DD exclaimed as she entered their apartment.

"Sorry. I was staking out a possible vamp nest and I- I'm lying. Okay, the truth. But you have to swear not to tell anyone until I say so. Telling them now will give them the wrong impression and just lead to trouble that no one needs. Swear?"

Diana took a deep breath. "I swear I will not tell anyone unless lives are at stake." So far, her decision not to tell the council hadn't blown up in her face. In for a penny, in for a pound.

That wasn't what Faith had requested and she took a moment to consider it. "Alright. He's locked up for now and will be perfectly safe again soon. But Angel's back."

"Angelus?" DD couldn't help but use the name for the demon.

"No. Angel. As in Willow's spell worked, Buffy sent the ensouled Angel to a hell dimension where he was tormented for centuries because apparently time moved at a different rate there. No one knows or ever figured out how or why he came back, so don't ask. Why I asked you not to tell anyone is that he's pretty much feral right now. Something B forgot to mention the first time around, I guess. Along with the fact that he came back buck nekid." she grinned and licked her lips at her watcher and was rewarded with a blush. "Anyway, I know he gets better, I'm just not sure how long it will be. But I've got some pig's blood for him to eat for now. And I'll just wait until his brain comes back, I guess."

Diana sighed. "You're sure he gets better?"

"Very much so. Becomes quite the champion of good once he and B break up." Faith informed her.

"Very well, I will keep this a secret for you. Just please come home tonight?" she begged.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. Fell asleep waiting for him to regain consciousness." Faith gave a small smile.

Faith followed Willow and Oz to the library. Oh wow, massive flashbacks. This had been her first case with the Scoobies even though she hadn't been here for this argument. Everyone was blaming Xander for possibly letting Oz out on a night when someone was mauled to death. She remembered that it hadn't been Oz though. It had been a student with a massive Dr. Jekyll complex.

"WOKE UP?!" Giles shouted at Xander.

"HEY!" Faith could shout with the best of them. And yelling at Xander was a sure way to tick her off. "The wolf wouldn't have come back to the cage if he got out. Oz, did you come back to the cage after you changed back?"

"No." said Oz, taciturn as ever.

"There. Wasn't Oz. And even if it was, it's not Xander's fucking fault. So lay the fuck off." she shot a glare at Giles. A glare that had caused more than one demon to soil itself.

"Explain to me how it wouldn't be Xander's fault had Oz gotten loose and hurt someone." Giles glared back.

"Because Oz is the werewolf. No offense bud, I like you and all. (None taken) But the rest of us have lives that go on despite the wolf. Climbing out that window would have made enough noise to wake Xander, so... Back. Off." Faith was not backing down from this one and she stared the other watcher down.

Giles thought for a full minute and visibly calmed himself before being the first to back down. "I'm sorry, Xander. Perhaps Faith is right. It is unlikely that a werewolf would return to a cage had it gotten out."

"And I'm sorry for falling asleep." Xander offered, more to Oz than Giles but sincere enough that nobody questioned it.

"Great. Everyone's friends again. Let's see if we can't figure out what's actually killing people then." Faith suggested while trying to think back. This had been so long ago that the memories were very fuzzy.

The group met in the library after school to research, though Faith spent most of her time trying to remember. She turned down the request to babysit Oz saying she had training to do with her watcher and a few places she wanted to patrol. After school Faith went to the apartment she and DD shared. Her watcher drove them to the butcher for some fresh blood then to Angel's mansion.

"Hey buddy. I got fresh blood." she held up her bucket.

A growl was the only response but at least he didn't lunge.

"Are you sure he gets better?" Diana asked nervously. Though she hid her fear well.

"Positive. And he saves a lot of people. He's already stopped lunging after just one day. So, that's really good. We didn't find out about him until... oh yeah. And he was better by then." Faith assured her.

"What was 'oh yeah'?" DD asked.

Faith waffled for a moment. "When they sent me my new watcher." she said as she filled a cup with blood. "Angel was better by then. But that's a couple months away. Anyway, once he's better, we need to take him to LA without B finding out. I remember her being a lot more depressed right now last time, I think hellboy here had something to do with that. I think it'll be better if she doesn't know about him for a while. A long while." she finished as Angel finished drinking the first cup.

Angel drank only 5 cups that time. She put the rest of the blood in the fridge and took out out the old blood. She'd use that as bait again later. Since Angel seemed to have calmed down drastically, Faith pulled the mattress off Angel's bed and dragged it over to where Angel was laying. "I know you don't get cold, but the hard ground can't be too comfortable to lay on. So here's your old bed." She moved it into position and Angel climbed on top. "Double-D and I are going to stay and talk for a while. Just listen for now. When you start to be able to speak, then we can talk about getting you out of those cuffs."

"Must you teach everyone that infernal name?" he watcher inquired.

"Yes."

Diana just sighed. "Very well. You said you remember this... case?"

"Yeah, they called themselves the Scooby Gang so anything that required research or investigation was a 'case'. Anything that didn't was usually a 'fight' or a 'battle'. Plus at least one apocalypse every year." Faith explained the terms.

"I see. Go on."

"I remember that it was some Dr. Jekyll kinda guy. He went from normal student to roid-rage monster. I just don't remember his name or what he looked like when not transformed."

"So it was some kind of potion he took?" the watcher extrapolated.

"Dunno. I remember it was about his girl though. Guy was crazy jealous. Tried to kill everyone that talked to her." Faith was remembering. "Didn't see her after that, so I'm pretty sure he killed her too." she snapped her fingers. "I don't remember the guy, but I remember the next victim. The school psychologist. But... he died quick. I'm remembering now. Can't just wait outside his office cause it would be over before I could help."

"I'll see if I can't get him to call in sick tomorrow. It does happen tomorrow, yes?" DD jotted in her notebook.

"I think so. What are you writing?" Faith asked.

"Notes. Things to do. This is my unofficial watcher's diary. It helps me organize my thoughts before committing everything to the official diary." she informed her charge.

Faith thought for a minute. "Okay. This stuff only goes in the unofficial diary until it happens, got it? This is just in case something happens to me." she waited until the watcher gave her word. She took a deep breath. "Gwen Post is evil, but you can wait until she gets here to do anything about it. I've been thinking a lot about her and that week over the years. The demon she sicked me on didn't attack me first. He beat me good but didn't kill me even when I was down. And there are such things as good demons. I've met them. And this time, I want to meet Lagos instead of fight him. If he turns out to be evil too, then I can kill him. But not before."

"Good demons?" Dormer wondered.

"Free will. Demons aren't above going native. And there's this demon karaoke bar we have to visit when we take Angel to LA. After you meet Lorne, you'll believe me. He's green with small, red horns but he's the sweetest guy I've ever met." Faith informed her. "Now the second thing is the Cruci-whatever-"

"Cruciamentum." DD supplied.

"Yeah, the test is over. Done. You don't give it to B. You don't give it to me. The council never gives it again."

"Faith, that's not up to me."

Faith just stared at her for a minute. She looked away and started pacing. The first had actually done them a favor when it had blown up the council. It had made reforms very easy since there was no one left to reform. And more importantly, the new council had left her and Xander mostly alone. She'd have to think about if, how, and when she could reform the council. But those plans were years off yet if ever.

"Fine. Buffy then. Swear to me, if anything happens to me, you'll warn her." Faith ordered.

"I swear. There will be no Cruciamentum for Buffy or you." DD agreed. She hadn't been sure she could go through it anyway. This made the decision easy.

"Alright, I think the only other thing you need to know right now is that the Mayor is planning to transform into a true demon. Ovalkwik? Something close to that." Faith silently cursed her Xander for turning her onto the webcomic Schlock Mercenary. Then again it had taught her the first maxim which had earned her plenty of money: Pillage first, then burn.

"Right."

"Oh. And when the sisterhood of... I forgot their names. Super-strong female demons trying to open the Hellmouth. Anyway, when they come to town there will also be some zombies trying to blow up the school in the boiler room. Xander took care of it himself originally. But if I change something, it will take at least two humans with balls of steel to do what he did." Faith smiled at the story she'd finally gotten most of from her husband. She was pretty sure he was still downplaying his role that night in saving everyone who was busy saving the world.

"That's it?"

"That's the Big Bads for the year. At least originally. There were vamps and demons every week too. But nothing major that I can remember." Faith finished.

"I can remember." came the whisper from the mattress.

A/N: Ovalkwik is from the webcomic Schlock Mercenary. As are The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries. Maxim #1: Pillage, then burn.

A/N: If you re-watch Revelations, you'll see that Lagos was not interested in killing anyone. Faith attacked him first, but even after defending himself, he didn't kill her. And he never drew the big ax strapped to his back, Buffy did. It's always made me wonder if the Slayers got the right demon that time. More of that theme to follow.