Chapter Four

The details of the dream were something that Faith wasn't willing to share with the others, especially not Willow, but from the marks left on her body, it left little to the imagination and filling in the blanks were easy. The answers to how it was possible was even more unsettling than knowing the man Buffy had been seen with was an incubus. Buffy herself had been possessed by a succubus, the female counterpart to an incubus, and her prey, as it turned out, was now Faith.

While the others dug into researching the demons, Faith found a way up on to the flat roof of the house. Faith had a lot on her mind and it wasn't just centered around what had happened while she slept. Finding Buffy and returning her home now seemed a lot easier than the situation they now found themselves in. There was no telling how long Buffy had been possessed by the succubus demon and there was no way to know how many victims that had been left in her wake.

"I thought you could use a cup of tea," Giles said as he came out onto the roof with a cup of tea in each hand. "Lovely spot up here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, sure," Faith shrugged and she took the offered cup of tea, made just the way she liked it. "You guys find out anything more about these demons?"

"Unfortunately not much more. Both are a rare species, both had long believed to have died out centuries ago. The material we need will be rather hard to get our hands on. But from what I do know, I believe that it is rather unorthodox that a succubus would prey on a female."

"Everything that happens in our lives is unorthodox, G."

"Indeed."

Faith sipped her tea, an eyebrow rising as she could taste the faintest hint of whisky in it. Smiling, she took another sip before setting the cup on the ledge and she stared out over the rooftops. She lifted a hand to her neck, the skin still tender around her pulse point.

"This whole thing is fucked right up," Faith muttered under her breath. "Here I thought I was coming here to find Buffy and bring her back home. Turns out, just like a lot of things in my life, it's gonna be a lot harder than we thought it was gonna be."

"Are you having regrets about agreeing to this mission, Faith?"

"No," she said quickly. "No regrets. Even if it was another slayer and not Buffy, I'd still stick around. You know why? Cos it's the right thing to do."

"When all is said and done and Buffy has returned to herself and is back home, she'll be grateful for the things you have done and will have to do."

"Oh yeah, I'm just her knight in leather pants," Faith chuckled bitterly. "Or I would be if I had a pair. Last pair I had got trashed. Speaking of-"

"How much?"

"Cheap."

Giles chuckled with a shake of his head. "Perhaps, when this situation is resolved, we could make a quick stop before heading off."

"Am I interrupting anything?" Willow asked as she stood at the small doorway that led up to the roof. "Because we kind of found something."

Faith followed the two back inside and down to the kitchen which had turned into research central earlier that morning. Andrew, Dawn, and Xander had arrived that morning and with them they brought a lot of research material from the library in the castle. Faith put as much distance between herself and the Scooby gang as she could in the small kitchen, watching as Dawn handed Giles a heavy, old book.

"The origins," Giles muttered under his breath as he flipped through a few pages. "Ah, excellent find, Dawn."

"So it's good information?"

"Far better than anything else we've stumbled upon, yes."

"The hard part is going to be the exorcism. We need a priest, possibly two to do it," Willow said and she glanced over at Faith. "We also need to capture both of them as well and it won't be easy, not with Buffy knowing you're here to bring her home."

"That thing is not Buffy," Dawn stated.

"She's still Buffy, Dawnie. A part of her is still there. She wouldn't have let Faith go if she wasn't."

Faith looked to Giles, knowing he was already coming up with a plan in his head, working out the details on his own before sharing it with the others. She had a few ideas of her own as well, one wondering if she captured one, would the other come in search of its counterpart? Taking a sip of her tea, she looked at Giles again as he began pacing the kitchen floor.

Dawn and Willow were otherwise preoccupied, Willow trying to explain to Dawn how possession worked and that even possessed, Buffy was still in there, just not under control all the time. Faith had seen young slayers possessed in her time working with Giles and it was never a pretty sight. Although it was rare, it happened and when it happened to a slayer, it meant the demon inside of them had to fight harder to stay in control, fighting with the essence of the slayer day in and day out.

"Slayer One on the move," Andrew said as he stared at Willow's laptop, watching the live feed of the tracker Faith had placed with Buffy. "Traveling north, five miles west of here. Speed suggests she's in a vehicle."

"Thank you, Andrew," Giles said tiredly. "Before we do anything, we must come up with a feasible plan. Faith, do you have any ideas or suggestions?"

"Faith is hardly in any position to make any decisions when it comes to my sister," Dawn snapped. "What are you even doing here anyway?"

"You guys needed a slayer to bring Buffy home."

"We have a slayer! We have hundreds of slayers! We-we have Kennedy!"

"Dawn-"

"No, Willow, why does she even have to be here? She's just another slayer. She's not a part of what we have here. She's-"

"What?" Faith asked as she got right in Dawn's face. "I'm what? A nothing? A nobody? A loser who is trying to prove herself to you people that I'm good and reformed now? No, I'll tell you what I am, Dawn. I'm the only one who could track Buffy down and I proved as much. Kennedy or any of the other slayers you have back in Scotland at that fancy castle of yours didn't have the balls to get any information on Buffy by all means possible."

"You almost killed Quinn!"

"I didn't almost kill him, jesus. Besides, Quinn was a liar, telling half-truths and likely covering for someone, Buffy maybe, who the hell knows, but I got the tapes and I was the one who found Kate who told me where I could find Buffy," Faith spat and she shook her head. "This is frigging ridiculous. You people call me and Giles in cos you knew I'd get the job done. Now that the whole sitch has turned into something else, you want me gone?"

Silence filled the kitchen and the tension between Faith and Dawn was at an all time high. Faith knew she wasn't exactly welcomed into the situation with open arms, but the others had reached out to her and Giles for help. She didn't have to help them, she could've just said screw that and went on with her life. But no, she agreed to help without a second thought because it was Buffy and because it was the right thing to do.

"You want me gone?" Faith asked Dawn again and she just nodded her head a little. "Fine. I'm gone."

"Faith-"

Ignoring Giles, Faith stormed out of the house and into the quiet street out front. She started walking, at first not knowing where she was going, just knowing she needed to get out of that house to cool off for a little while. She knew that Dawn was upset, her emotions wild and out of control because she was worried about Buffy. Even though the memories Faith had of Dawn weren't even real, she remembered that Dawn had never been like that with her, that they had been friendly until she chose to side with the Mayor and not Buffy. She couldn't blame Dawn for acting the way she was, but it didn't help her keep her cool much either.

Faith was still on edge over what happened in her dreams, over what Buffy had done to her and the fact that she woke up with marks on her body. It disturbed her that something like that had not only happened, but proved that it was very possible. She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn't actually Buffy that had came to her in her dreams, it was the succubus appearing as Buffy that did.

After walking a few blocks, she spotted Buffy's car parked in front of a run-down, abandoned looking building. Even though she was without any weapons and her cell phone, she decided to take a look. Faith found a way around to the back of the building and peered into one of the partially boarded up windows. Inside it was dark and dusty and nearly empty, no sign of any furniture anywhere. Needing a better view, Faith quietly climbed up the fire escape that scaled the south end of the building and went up to the flat roof.

Up there she found a couple of skylights and an angled hatch door that lead inside. Her boots crunched on the gravel on the rooftop as she approached the closest skylight. Without touching the glass, she peered down inside, getting a much better view of the inside of the building than she had seen through the partially boarded up window on the ground floor.

Two people were almost directly below the skylight and she recognized one of them as Lucian. The other was another man and he was tied up to a metal chair, blood dripping from a gash in his forehead. Blinking, she looked again and recognized the man as the same one she'd followed into the alleyway that night Buffy grabbed her.

Faith knew she was putting herself at risk staying up there any longer, but she gave herself a few more minutes, needing to see just what the hell was going on down there. One thing was clear, that man had been taken just as she had been, but where was the woman he'd been with? Did they have her down in the building as well or was she being held somewhere else. Or, worse, did they kill her?

Watching as Lucian punched the man in the face hard, the screams, although muffled by the glass, caused her stomach to turn. When the man's head lolled around, she knew he'd been knocked out cold, yet that didn't stop Lucian from pulling a few more hard punches.

"Luc, stop!" Buffy yelled out as she came running into the room. Faith braced herself, leaning a little closer to the glass but still not quite touching it. "Luc! Stop it! You're going to kill him!"

"He's already been proven to be useless."

"He's innocent!"

"No such thing," Lucian yelled back at her. "What are you doing here, stupid girl? What if you lead one of them here?"

"It doesn't matter, Lucian. This man is innocent. He doesn't-"

"He's bait," Lucian hissed. "We need him to remain here until he is retrieved."

Bait for what, Faith wondered and she leaned closer, trying to see if she could see if there was anyone else down there with them. But she was leaning too much and she couldn't regain her balance quick enough. She reached out to brace herself against the glass and it gave way.

"Fuck," Faith coughed as she landed on her back below. "Fuck, that hurt."

Shards of glass of rusted metal lay around her and on her. She blinked a few times and didn't move as she looked up at Buffy and Lucian as they stood by her just staring down at her, anger flickering in both their eyes, Buffy's showing a hint of surprise that she'd fallen from the roof.

"What are you doing here?" Lucian bellowed as he reached out for her and yanked her to her feet.

"Well, you know I was thinking I hadn't spent much time wandering around random rooftops enough these days and when I saw you two, I just had to drop in," Faith replied, chuckling as she saw the anger rise in Lucian.

"I told you, stupid girl," Lucian bellowed as he shoved Faith towards Buffy who grabbed her quickly. "This one is a risk to us. You stupidly let her escape and now, everywhere I seem to turn, she is there."

"Everywhere?" Faith raised an eyebrow. "Buddy, I ain't been everywhere unless there's a doppelgänger out there walking around with this face."

"If you do not get rid of her, I will," Lucian growled at Buffy and he sneered at Faith as Buffy pulled her away.

"Get your hands off of me," Faith said angrily as she struggled to get out of Buffy's hold as she was dragged off towards a set of doors.

"But you seemed to enjoy it so much last night, lover," Buffy whispered harshly into her ear.

Faith pushed her away as they walked out to the back end of the building. Buffy spun around and shut the door quickly behind her and Faith wasn't taking any chances. This was Buffy, but she was being controlled by a demon and there was no telling what she would do to her. Taking a swing, Faith just clipped Buffy on the jaw before she dodged out of the way of a flying fist.

Laughing, Buffy charged at her, but Faith was ready even though she was feeling that fall from the skylight still. Faith wasn't going to go down without a fight and whatever Buffy had planned to do with her, she wasn't going to let it happen, no matter what the cost.

What surprised her the most was how much stronger Buffy was, as if the demon inside of her used her strength and its own together. In a split second, before Faith could react, she was thrown across the alleyway and landed side first into a dumpster. Not only was Buffy stronger, she was faster too and Faith groaned loudly as she was pulled to her feet just seconds later.

"I want you gone," Buffy said through gritted teeth. "And you can tell the others that if they don't leave as well, your blood will be on their hands."

"Come on, B," Faith groaned softly. "I know you're in there. Fight this thing."

"Shut up."

"Fight it, god damn it!" Faith yelled at her. Buffy shoved her to the ground, chest heaving as she clenched her fists at her side. "Fight it, Buffy. You're better than this."

"Shut the hell up!"

Faith shook her head and stood up slowly. Winking, she walked right up to Buffy and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Make me."

Every punch landed harder and hurt more than the last. Faith couldn't fight back, she never had a chance with the speed that Buffy's fists were flying at her. As she started to drift in and out of consciousness, Buffy didn't let up, not even for a second. Faith lay on the ground, curled up in a ball, focusing on anything else but the pain Buffy was delivering to her without a single shred of remorse.

Faith wasn't sure when Buffy stopped or when she walked away. She rolled on to her back and forced her eyes open, her left one swollen almost completely shut. The sky above was darkening and she knew laying there as night fell, she was an open meal to any vampires in the area. Yet, it hurt to move as she tried to sit up and she let out a cry, her hands gripping at her tender ribs.

Mustering up as much strength as she could, she got to her feet and looked around for a way out to the street. It was getting darker by the minute and her head was pounding, her vision blurred as she took a staggering step forward. Holding her sore ribs, she took another couple of steps and knew her ribs weren't broken, just tender and bruised from the beating Buffy had given her. Faith spotted an opening in between the abandoned building and the one next to it and headed for it, slowly yet surely, every step taking an excruciating amount of strength.

Faith stumbled out onto the quiet street and let out a cry as her legs gave out and she tumbled hard to the ground. There was not a single soul around, living or dead and she felt helpless to help herself. With her strength deteriorating and fast, she had no way of knowing whether she'd make it through the next hour of her life.

Everything was bright, a soft glow of white filled the otherwise empty room Faith was in. She recognized the room from previous dreams she'd had, dreams of her and Buffy. It was the tell-tale sign that she had passed out and succumbed to her injuries and was now trapped inside the dream world within her mind.

"It's useless, you know?"

Faith turned to look at where Buffy sat on the only piece of furniture in the entire room, a bed made with crisp white sheets, almost blending into the background.

"What's useless?"

Buffy sighed loudly, frowning as she looked down at her hands. Faith's eyes trailed downwards as well, seeing her hands, battered, bruised, her nails short and without the red nail polish. Her skin was pale, her hair lifeless and dirty. Even the clothes she wore, a pair of grey sweatpants and a baggy black t-shirt, were worn and dirty.

That nagging gut feeling told Faith that she was sharing a slayer dream with Buffy, something that hadn't happened in years. This was different than the other night when the succubus as Buffy had come to her. This was really just Buffy here with her, not the demon.

"Buffy?" Faith asked cautiously as she moved to stand at the edge of the bed. Buffy kept her eyes on her hands, her head hung low. "What's useless? You gonna tell me or am I gonna have to guess?"

"Fighting the demon."

Faith sat down on the edge of the bed, keeping some space between her and Buffy. Unable to be in complete control of herself, she reached out for one of Buffy's hands and gently intertwined her fingers with Buffy's and yet, Buffy still didn't lift her eyes to look at her and she could feel the hot tears as they fell from Buffy's eyes and landed on her hand.

"Why is it useless?"

"There are things you will never understand."

"Then tell me, B. Help me understand."

Buffy took her hands out of Faith's and gently cupped her face. "I want you to save me."

"I'm-"

"You can't save me if you can't fight the demon."

"Which is useless, yeah, you said that already, B. Look, I'm all for having these dreams with you, but this whole talking in circles, not really getting the answers? I ain't down with that."

"When she comes for you, fight."

"When who comes? The succubus?" Faith asked and Buffy just nodded her head slowly. "How do I fight it?"

"By remembering that it isn't me. It's just a copy, an illusion. If you do the impossible, what is rendered useless and you fight her, you can save me."

"B, what do you-"

"I'm somewhere else," Buffy continued, her hands dropping away from Faith's face. "Trapped. Alone. It's so dark, so cold. I'm afraid."

"Buffy-"

"Save me, Faith."

Faith reached out for her, but she had already disappeared and she was left there alone. Buffy's last words echoes inside her head as she struggled to wake herself up. She couldn't think about the things that Buffy had said to her there when she was still asleep. She couldn't come up with a plan if she couldn't wake herself up.

Tearing at the soft, white sheets on the bed, she let out a feral cry. She was angry and frustrated, taking it all out on the bed, ripping up the sheets and throwing the mattress into the never ending white void.

The steady beeping irritated Faith and she moaned as she slowly opened her eyes, the light in the room far too bright for her to handle. She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat was dry and tight and no sound came out. Panic began to wash over her as she tried to move, every inch of her body burning with a fiery pain.

"Faith, don't move," Giles said calmly and she felt his hand on top of hers.

Blinking, she tried to get her eyes to focus and she groaned as she sat up on the bed slowly. "Where-"

"You're in a clinic," Giles said and he reached for the small glass and the pitcher of water that sat on top of the bedside table. "You were badly beaten and left for dead in the middle of the road. If that gentleman hadn't found you and brought you here, good heavens, I do not want to think of what could've happened to you, Faith."

Faith sighed and with Giles' help, she sipped some water from the glass. Her head was pounding and she felt worse than she ever had before. Not even the fight she had with the Beast or Angelus had hurt this much.

"Dare I ask who did this to you?" Giles asked quietly and Faith just rolled her eyes. "Ah, right, the-the succubus. I wasn't aware such demons possessed a great power, especially not one to be able to beat a slayer to a bloody pulp."

"How-how long was I-"

"Just short of a day," Giles replied, knowing just what Faith was trying to ask him. "The doctors here had limited resources, and fortunately they were able to stabilize the internal bleeding fairly quickly. They wanted to move you to a hospital, but I declined to sign the papers on your behalf. I know how much you hate hospitals."

"This place is just as bad," Faith whispered hoarsely.

"Quite right," Giles replied with a soft smile. "Would it be rather silly to ask how you are feeling?"

"Like I've been beaten nearly to death by a possessed slayer."

Giles frowned slightly and Faith took another sip of water before laying back down on the bed. She closed her eyes, not because of the pain or because she was tired, but because the lights were far too bright. She hated feeling so weak, so banged up and helpless. She knew it could've been a far worse outcome. She knew she could've ended up dead in a ditch, drained of her blood or worse.

The slayer dream she shared with Buffy started to come back to her in bits and pieces, none of it too clear or making much sense, the pounding in her head making it harder to focus.

It wasn't just the shared slayer dream that was coming back to her mind, it was what had happened before she'd taken the beating of a lifetime. The abandoned building, Lucien and the man from the alleyway the night Buffy had taken her, the things she'd heard and about how the man was bait and for what, she had absolutely no idea.

It was overwhelming to say the least and with the state that she was in, she couldn't handle the hundreds of thoughts flowing through her mind. She knew the pain wouldn't last for more than a handful of days, if that, and that she was still at her worst at the moment, but that would change in a few short hours when the pain would become less and the pounding in her head would eventually just fade away.

"Hey," Dawn said meekly as she knocked on the open door. "Can I come in?"

"Yes," Giles replied.

"Hi, Faith," Dawn said as she cautiously approached the bed. "I uh, how are you feeling? We were all worried about you."

"Were you?"

Dawn took a deep breath, clearly focusing on not lashing out on Faith at the moment. "With your history of coma's and all, yeah, we were worried about you."

"Gee thanks."

"I want to apologize," Dawn said and she took a step closer to the bed. "I want to apologize for what I said to you yesterday before you took off. I was wrong. We do need you and if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't even be here right now and we wouldn't even know where Buffy is or what had happened to her, so I'm sorry."

Faith groaned as she sat back up on the bed and reached out for the glass, nearly knocking it over before Giles quickly grabbed it for her. Mouthing "thanks" she held the glass unsteadily as Giles poured her some more water.

"Buffy did this to you?" Dawn asked quietly, alarm rising in her eyes as she watched Faith painfully take a sip of water.

"It's not Buffy," Faith said under her breath. "It was the succubus."

"Inside of Buffy."

"No, Dawn," Faith groaned and she glanced over at Giles. "It's not really Buffy. It's just an illusion. A copy."

"How are you certain of-"

"Buffy came to me when I passed out in the street, in a slayer dream. It mostly didn't make a whole lot of sense, but she said she was trapped and alone."

"Are you sure it was a slayer dream?" Giles asked her patiently.

"As sure as I've ever been about anything, G."

"And this demon? It's taken her body or just a form of it?"

"Thinking it's-"

"Shape-shifted into Buffy?" Dawn interrupted. Faith sighed and nodded her head a little. "But everything we've read on those demons-it-none of it mentioned anything like that!"

"Dawn, you are aware that most of which we've found on these particular demons is simply just folklore. We haven't found anything solid as of yet on either of the demon's or their true abilities," Giles said pointedly. "Faith, I want you to rest and when you're feeling better, we'll discuss the details of this, ahem, slayer dream you shared with Buffy."

"I'd be able to relax and rest a helluva lot more easily if I wasn't in this place. It's just as bad as being in a hospital, G. You gonna spring me outta here soon or what?"

Silence filled the room as Giles and Dawn exchanged a look that left Faith feeling uneasy. She knew she'd taken a bad beating, that she'd been practically on the brink of death when she collapsed in the streets, but she hadn't thought it was that bad. She was already healing and with every minute that passed, the pain lessened just a little.

There was a bit of awkward silence with Dawn still there in the room. Faith tried to clear her mind, but those hundreds of questions, thoughts, ideas and lack of answers pounded through her mind like a pack of racehorses on the track on a Sunday afternoon. Faith wanted to ask for something to relieve the pain, but she had never been one for drugs, prescription or otherwise, always dealing with the pain in her own way, preferably not in a clinic or a hospital room and with plenty of Jack to drown the pain, and her sorrows, away.

"Ah, the patient is awake," a young female doctor said, her voice thick with an Italian accent, as she walked into the room carrying a clipboard. "Faith, is it?" She asked and Faith nodded her head. "How are you feeling?"

"Been better, been worse. So, Doc, when can I get outta here?"

The young doctor laughed and her expression quickly turned serious. "You suffered serious injuries, most of which we were lucky to be able to treat here. Your guardian refused our offer to transfer you to the nearest hospital. You are very lucky to be alive, Faith."

"Yeah, figured as much," Faith grumbled under her breath. "Still didn't answer the question, Doc."

"Call me Dr. Fiore, please."

"Dr. Fiore," Faith repeated, slightly amused at the seriousness the young doctor showed. "When can I get outta here?"

The doctor looked over at Giles with an exasperated expression fluttering over her delicate features. Faith knew she was a difficult patient. Being anywhere where there were doctors and medical equipment always had her on edge, making her irritable and frustrated.

Faith knew the longer she had to stay there, the more time they would be wasting. It's not like she couldn't just get up and walk out of there, she could, but with her injuries and her body feeling like it'd been put through a meat grinder, she didn't quite have the energy to get up and leave. She kept her eyes on the young doctor, watching as she and Giles walked to the doorway to have a semi-private conversation away from her.

"Are you always this stubborn?" Dawn asked and Faith couldn't help but chuckle. "Really? You're worse than Buffy."

"Doubt that."

"Why do you hate hospitals so much? It's not like this is a hospital. Not really."

Faith didn't say anything, not wanting to get into that conversation. Not with Dawn, not with anyone. Dawn let out a soft sigh when Faith didn't answer her and she hesitated a moment before sitting on the edge of the bed beside her.

"Why do you want to get out of here so badly, Faith? You're pretty banged up and if you could see your face right now, it's pretty gross."

"Thanks for the honesty, kiddo."

"Why?" Dawn pressed and Faith took a deep breath, staring at the youngest Summers' and wondering why, all of a sudden, the tables had turned and she was now concerned about her instead of not giving a single crap whether she lived or died. "Why, Faith?"

"There's more to this than Buffy being possessed," she whispered, her eyes darting over to the young doctor and Giles still quietly talking by the doorway. "The longer I'm in here-look," she sighed and tried to sit up a little more in the small, uncomfortable bed. "I came here to bring Buffy back home to you, to your friends and family. I'm gonna get the job done, Dawn, by all means possible. I can't do that if I'm stuck here, can I?"

"But you-"

"I'm hurt, yeah, but don't forget that I'm a slayer. I heal a lot quicker than your average human. All I need to do is get some rest, preferably anywhere but here, and I'll be five by five in a day or two."

"Giles will be super pissed if I break you out."

"He'll get over it," Faith whispered, winking as Dawn looked back over at Giles and the doctor. "Never figured you'd be offering to break me outta this joint."

"Never thought I'd even bother to offer."

Laughing, Faith couldn't help but smile at Dawn. When she wasn't being an annoying brat, she wasn't all that bad. While Giles and the doctor discussed running a handful of tests on Faith before she could be released from their care, Faith and Dawn began to scheme up a little plan of their own; Operation Bust Faith Out Of The Clinic Before She Goes Insane.

Faith needed to tell Giles and the others the details of the things she saw at that building, the things she heard. She needed to get out every last detail of the slayer dream she had with Buffy as well and hope that the Scooby gang could figure out what she was trying to say. All the things that needed to be done, it couldn't happen while she was stuck there, basically bedridden in a clinic that felt too much like a hospital to her.

The walls were starting to feel like they were closing in on her and she had to try her best to remain calm and not panic. Places like this always got to her and she didn't want to be in there any longer than she wanted to be.

And Dawn's plan seemed almost foolproof, almost. All they had to do was find a way to convince Giles and the doctor to leave just long enough for Dawn to help her get the hell out of there.

Easier said than done.