Faith sat on the bottom steps in the basement chewing on her nails as she tried to listen to the conversation being held upstairs in the kitchen. Kennedy had stayed back at the apartment, Buffy ordering her not to come back to the house until Willow had enough time to cool off and get over what happened. The walk from the apartment to the house had been quiet for the most part. Buffy told Faith that Willow had been a complete mess when she saw her but at least her magic was under control for the time being. And if Buffy hadn't been wearing that flowing white skirt, she might have been able to keep her hands to herself. Instead she was sent down to the basement while Buffy, Giles, and Willow talked in the kitchen.
Satsu and Carmen were sparring, trading jabs and kicks with the ease and grace only a Slayer could display. She'd grown tired of just watching them after about ten minutes, but she'd also turned down their requests for her to join them. She wasn't stupid enough to get into it with them—not with the amount of strength she possessed now—even if her body was itching for a little bit of action. She knew she had to wait for Buffy before she could work out all her pent up energy. She did keep looking over at Satsu, pushing down the urge to say something to her about what she and Kennedy had done. Kennedy was her friend, Willow too, and she liked to think that there was a possibility that Satsu could be also. Eventually. But it wasn't her place to get in the middle of something like this.
She realized she couldn't really hear what they were saying upstairs any longer and she groaned softly as she leaned back on the steps, looking back over at Satsu and Carmen as they continued to spar. She could feel them, not quite the way she felt Buffy, but there was a slight buzz there. It was different from what Kennedy felt like too and she was starting to realize that every Slayer had a different feel to them, to their essence. The warm tingling feeling that had just started in the pit of her stomach told her Buffy was nearer now and she turned to look up the stairs as Buffy opened the door and motioned for her to come up.
"So, what's the sitch?" Faith asked as she joined the others at the kitchen table, sitting next to Buffy and trying to keep her hands from falling onto Buffy's thigh. It was only then she noticed Perry standing by the coffeemaker talking quietly to Jackie.
"We've been able to have the ownership of the building transferred over to myself," Giles said as he smiled over at her, clearly proud things were going as planned so far. "We are going to get started right away. A couple friends of mine, Watchers in fact, are at this moment attempting to gather the first group of girls to be brought here. They shall all be arriving within a week, but I do believe that should give us all enough time to prepare."
"A week? Shit, you really work fast," Faith muttered under her breath softly.
"Getting this project 'off the ground', as it were, without delay will make the new girls' training progress much more smoothly and easily in the long run. Now Faith, I was discussing with Buffy the role the two of you will be playing. As we've discussed, you will be training the girls daily, but I won't expect either of you to devote an inordinate amount of your time to these sessions. A couple hours a day is all I am asking for."
"Sure we could manage that, huh, B?"
"Of course," Buffy nodded with a smile as she turned slightly in her chair to face her more fully. She glanced over at Willow for a moment before leaning into Faith a little more, lowering her voice, "I've got things sorted out with Kennedy. The apartment next to yours—ours—is empty. Perry sent Marshall over to give Kennedy the keys. Willow and Giles are staying here at the house; Xander is going to take the apartment across the hall and Dawn will be in the one next to his."
"What about the others?"
"Andrew is coming, but we're placing him in one of the apartments on the main floor. We're going to make him act like a..." Buffy trailed off as she tried to stop the giggles that escaped past her lips. "He's going to act like a secretary or something. I don't know. Giles, what did you say you were going to have him do again?"
"Andrew is going to keep track of who is coming and going at all times. I wouldn't go so far as to label him security, however—one tends to shudder at the mere thought—and his duties will actually more closely approximate those of receptionist and doorman for the building."
Faith smirked as Buffy just stared at her. "So, what about the rest of the people livin' in that place? Ya gonna kick 'em all out or what?"
"Most of the guys live there, but with their wives and families," Perry said as he and Jackie joined them at the table. "With Sam's money still coming in, we got most of them looking for more suitable housing. Give it a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months at most, and the entire building will be cleared out of those who aren't either blessed with the power of being a Slayer or training to be Watchers."
"And Jackie?" Faith asked as she looked over at her mother who had purposely sat down next to Giles. "You stayin' here at the house?"
"No, I'll be in one of the apartments on the main floor, hopefully not anywhere near Andrew. There is something seriously wrong with that boy," Jackie replied with a teasing smile curling over her lips. "Then again I am sure you all realized that by now."
They all laughed. All of them but Willow, and Faith could see how heartbroken she was. She could even feel it, just faintly, and it broke her own heart to see Willow falling apart despite trying to look as if she was holding herself together. She just looked over at Willow and flashed a smile in sympathy, which Willow returned with a forced smile before she got up and walked out of the kitchen. Buffy went to go after her, but Faith's strong hand on her shoulder kept her right where she was.
"I should go make sure she's okay," Buffy said, her voice almost strained with emotion. "I really should go make sure she's okay. I have to."
"She needs to be alone right now," Faith whispered softly. "I know you might not think that's what she needs, but believe me when I tell ya that her being alone for a few minutes is what she needs."
"How the hell do you know that, Faith?"
"Cos I can feel it, B."
Buffy let out a soft sigh. "I just don't want her to do anything stupid. She's not too good at dealing with having her heart crushed like this."
"She'll be okay, Buffy," Giles said as he motioned to Perry to pass the pot of tea that sat at the far end of the table. "It's quite rough going through the end of a relationship, but she's a lot stronger now than she was before. She does need time and she does need to be alone."
Buffy sighed out again, frowning as she looked over at the kitchen doorway. Faith kept her eyes on Buffy, watching her as she struggled to stay right where she was, to listen to them and not to what the voices in her head were trying to tell her to do. Faith gently massaged the back of her neck, feeling the tense muscles beneath her fingertips. She barely paid attention to Giles as he spoke of the plans for the training school. Academy. Whatever they were going to call it. Buffy finally joined in on the conversation, voicing her concern about the education of the young Slayers that would need to be undertaken on top of their Slayer training. Giles told her a few of the Watchers that were coming were trained in the profession of teaching as well as training and that all the bases were pretty much covered.
The meeting—the actual meeting—started once Satsu and Carmen had come up from the basement and Amber strolled in with Dawn, Xander, and Andrew. Routes for that night's patrol were laid out, teams were established and times to report back were given. Faith rolled her eyes at the way Giles seemed to take over all control and she waited for Buffy to say something, to feel something other than willingly ready to follow Giles' orders. Willow came back in once Giles had begun to wrap up the meeting and she said she was going on patrol with them even though Kennedy would be there too.
"Will, I don't think you coming out on patrol tonight is a good idea," Buffy said softly as she stood up from the chair and followed Willow out the back door.
Faith strained to hear their conversation, but couldn't as they walked further away from the house and she let out a loud groan as she stretched out and grabbed one of the cookies that were on the plate in front of her.
"I should go let Ken know what's the what," she said as she stood up and looked over at Dawn. "Tell Buffy I'll be back in an hour."
"Sure," Dawn nodded and she followed Faith to the front door. "Can I ask you something before you go, Faith?"
"What's up?"
"How are you and Buffy? I mean, you two haven't even talked about what it was like there for you and you haven't even talked about being all super Slayers now either. Everything is okay, right?"
"Everything is fine," Faith said with an easy smile and she reached out and pulled Dawn gently in for a hug. "We're both fine, Dawnie."
"Are you...happy?"
"What makes ya think I'm not?"
"I want to hear you say it," she said softly as she backed away from Faith. "I don't ever get to see you two anymore and Buffy never talks to me about anything. She barely says two words to me when I do see her."
"It's probably nothing to worry your pretty little head over," Faith said as she reached out to muss her hair a little. Dawn rolled her eyes in annoyance but she couldn't keep the smile from crawling across her lips. "And I am happy, Dawnie."
"Gee, I wonder why that is," she laughed as she gave Faith a little wink. "You're shacking up with my sister and even though I should be all 'gross' I'm not. I've never seen her like this and no," Dawn said, stopping to laugh for a moment at Faith's bemused look on her face, "it isn't because of the whole 'Buffy is gay now' thing. It's the whole 'Buffy is actually happy for once in her life' thing and you are the reason she is so happy right now."
"You're afraid something is going to happen, aren't you?"
"No, why would you—"
"Just cos Will and Ken are havin' problems right now doesn't mean me and Buffy are gonna go down that same path."
"I know," Dawn sighed and she followed Faith out the front door. "I just...everything has been crazy in the last couple of months and things seem to change overnight. I just want everything to be normal for once. That's way too much to ask for, isn't it?"
"Way our lives always end up going? Yeah, it's a little too much to ask for. Just live in the now, embrace what ya got and don't think o' tomorrow."
Dawn was speechless for a moment and Faith just shrugged as she headed down towards the street. She followed Faith to the apartment, chattering on and on about the plans for the Slayers Giles was bringing into the city and the plans for her to finish her last year of high school and go on to train as a Watcher. Faith wanted to ask her why she wanted to be a Watcher, but she already knew the answer to that. Dawn wanted to be a part of it all and she wanted to do something worthwhile with them instead of just being another body when it came to researching. Faith had almost told her to go back home when they first set out, but soon realized she actually liked spending some time with Dawn, just the two of them. Dawn had really let her guard down around her and she was treating her as if she was her other sister, as weird as it was for her.
Kennedy was still sleeping on the couch when they got to the apartment. Faith slammed the door behind her and it caused Kennedy to jump off the couch and leap into a fighting position with her eyes half closed. Dawn was giggling as Faith smirked at the struggling Slayer before walking into the bedroom and pulling the small weapons chest Xander had made for her out of the closet. She heard as Dawn quit laughing and began to bring Kennedy up to speed on all that had happened during the meeting. Faith grabbed a few weapons for herself, stuffing them in the duffel bag that sat on the floor by the closet door.
"How's Willow?" Kennedy asked as she stood in the doorway of the bedroom. "She isn't going to like, turn me into a rat or some other kind of animal when she sees me, is she?"
"Not that I know of," Faith replied as she zipped the bag shut. "Don't think ya gotta worry about it. You're comin' with Buffy and me tonight. Doubt you'll even see her. Did Marshall stop by today by any chance?"
"Yeah, about an hour ago. Gave me the keys to the apartment next door."
"And you decided just to go back to sleep on my couch?"
"There isn't any furniture in there," she shrugged. "What, do you expect me to sleep on the floor?"
"Well, you are technically in the dog house, aren't ya? Dogs sleep on the floor."
Kennedy laughed and held out a piece of paper. "Angel called. Wants to talk to you. Gave me a number for you to call when you get the chance. Told me to tell you it's important you get in touch with him as soon as you can."
"He didn't say why?"
"He's got more information about what happened with Julie and her family. He didn't say what and when I asked him to tell me, he told me it was none of my concern. What a way to make me not feel like I'm a part of this, huh?"
"He probably wanted to tell me first. Don't take it personally and never try to understand why Angel is the way he is. I don't even understand it most of the time," Faith chuckled softly as she walked out of the bedroom and tossed the bag of weapons down on the floor near the couch. "Dawnie, help yourself to whatever in the fridge and no, you can't have a beer. Buffy would kill me if she knew I let ya have one."
"Ugh, whatever," Dawn replied as she flopped down onto the couch. "Are we hanging out here for awhile?"
"Just gotta make a phone call then we're headin' back to the house."
"Hey Dawn, want to go check out my apartment?" Kennedy asked when Faith picked up the phone and hesitated at dialling the number Kennedy had written down for her.
Faith just mouthed a 'thank you' at Kennedy as Dawn headed straight for the door. As soon as they had walked out, she dialled the number and waited for it to ring. She paced the floor as the line rang nearly half a dozen times before Angel finally answered.
"Hey," Faith drawled into the phone as she flopped down onto the couch and propped her feet up on the coffee table. "What's up, Angel?"
"Faith," he replied and she heard some shuffling in the background before all she heard was complete silence. "I'm glad you called. There are a few things I need to talk to you about."
"Gonna be awhile? Kinda gotta get back to the house before patrol."
"It's about what happened before, with Julie and the barrier spell and the Hellmouth," he said quietly and she just let out a soft sigh as she cracked her neck and waited for him to continue. "Do you remember how I told you things were going to be really bad?"
"And they kinda turned out to only be sorta bad?" Faith asked, chuckling when she could just picture him rolling his eyes at that. "Yeah, I remember."
"That was just an appetizer of sorts. Julie and her family—"
"Were nothing but a joke, right? Cos seriously," she laughed as she shook her head, "after all was said and done, worst that happened was the Hellmouth was opened and me and B got sucked into that portal. It wasn't even half-bad in that place either, Angel. And look at the plus side of things here for a minute. We came back stronger than ever. Can't be all bad, right?"
"No, can't be all bad at all. You don't know what is coming, Faith. None of us do. There are changes that are about to happen and not everyone is going to be able to deal with them."
"What kinda changes?"
"Death."
"Great," she said, rolling her eyes as she shifted on the couch to get more comfortable. "Who is dyin' this time?"
"Don't know, but I'd advise you to be very careful, Faith. You may possess power that all but mimics immortality, but it does not mean you cannot be killed."
"So, ya think I'm gonna end up gettin' myself killed?"
"I didn't say that. I just said to be very careful. I can't worry about you?"
"Thinkin' you're more worried about Buffy than me."
"Faith," Angel said, the irritation in his voice making her cringe, "the seers are never wrong and when they speak of death, it makes me worry about all of you, not just Buffy. More and more is coming to light with Julie and her family. They were well connected with many demons and vampires in and around Cleveland and Julie's little vampire army only followed her since they were promised and guaranteed safety. They aren't very happy with the way things turned out, but it isn't like they are mourning her loss either."
"So, we gotta watch out for vamps en masse now?"
"You always need to be fully aware of things around you and I know that it is not possible to know absolutely everything, but—"
"That's when you come in handy, right?" Faith asked, cutting him off yet again. "Look, Angel. I appreciate ya lookin' out for me—for all of us—but we can handle things here on our own. Ain't like we're doin' it all ourselves. We got Perry, Marshall, and the rest of those guys and besides, Giles is bringin' in probably like a hundred Slayers to train 'em here. We're gonna be all right."
"The seers have told me that not all is as it appears to be and that the changes that are about to transpire is going to forever change everything, Faith. I want you to promise me something."
"What?"
"Just...whatever happens don't let it change you."
"You mean, 'don't let it change me back into a raving psychotic murderous bitch', right?"
"Just be safe, be aware, and keep your head in the game at all times."
"Always a game," she muttered under her breath. "That's what life is, ain't it? One big fuckin' game and we're all just playing in it. Win some. Lose some. Whatever, right?"
"What you went through with Julie and her family was a test. Testing you as a person and as a Slayer. What you are going through with Buffy—"
"Wait, what does what I've got with Buffy got anything to do with...well, anything?"
"It has everything to do with everything, Faith. Don't you see? The magic used to create the barrier spell will never be fully understood, nor will everything that has happened because of it. Your relationship with Buffy is mostly because of this spell. Once you realize that, then you'll truly be able to see the bigger picture."
"Oh I see the bigger picture," she said angrily as she dropped her feet to the floor heavily. "You're sitting there telling me that my relationship with Buffy ain't even fucking supposed to be what it is. Gotta tell ya, Angel, you have no fucking idea what our relationship is and I really don't think you ever will. Jealousy doesn't look good on you, man. Doesn't sound good either. Shit, Angel. I'm in fucking love with Buffy, okay. I ain't never been in love before and I—"
"I know," he said softly before she could continue with her rant. "Do you know why I was able to come there when the barrier was supposed to keep my kind out? Somehow, it sensed that I needed to be there when I came there. It sensed it, Faith. It sensed my soul too, which is why I was able to come there."
"Like it had a mind of its own? What the hell? I thought it was a barrier? Magic? Magic can't think, can it?"
"Apparently it can."
"How come you're telling me this now? Does Giles even know?"
"We've discussed it, yes. There is just so much we didn't know even when we thought we had it all figured out. When I came there and left the first time, before I even came there, I knew that there was a chance I wouldn't be able to enter the city where the barrier ended. The seers told me I'd be able to come, that I needed to come."
"And why did you need to come here in the first place?" Faith asked, wanting to really ask him what good he's done up to that point, but kept her mouth shut. "This is a whole big mess, Angel, and I don't understand a goddamn thing that's going on right now."
"Just be careful."
She opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she heard the click as Angel hung up the phone. She left the apartment and knocked on the door next to hers, collecting Kennedy and Dawn so they could make their way back to the house, explaining along the way vaguely what Angel had told her. She stopped short when they reached the front walkway to the house and she spotted Buffy standing on the front porch waiting for them with Xander. She was taken over by those lusty thoughts of grabbing Buffy, pinning her against the wall and running her hands up her legs, under her skirt, and finding out if she really was going commando or not.
Buffy seemed to know what was going through her mind and she flashed a coy smile as Faith managed to start moving again and walked up the front steps. Faith waited for the others to go inside, but pulled Buffy away from the door before she too could go in. She led her down to the far end of the front porch, smirking as she backed Buffy up against the wall.
"Ya really planning to go slayin' wearing this?" Faith asked softly as her hands smoothed over the hem of her skirt and teasing the skin under it with the tips of her fingers.
"No, I was...going to change..." Buffy trailed off, her eyes sliding shut as Faith ran her hands up her inner thighs, the soft material of the skirt very slowly sliding up with her hands. Faith licked over her lips, watching Buffy as her fingers neared her destination at the apex of her thighs. "Faith!"
"Hmm?" Faith grinned as she found she'd been right about Buffy going commando. In the instant her fingers slipped through her folds, she felt a flood of wetness pour out and it nearly made her come in her pants. "Fuck, B. Ya realize how fuckin' sexy this is? Feelin' ya get so fuckin' wet for me with just a touch."
"Faith, we need to go...inside," Buffy gasped as Faith pulled her left leg up and wrapped it around her waist as she plunged two fingers deep inside Buffy. "Faith, not that inside."
They both laughed softly as Faith stilled her fingers, really not wanting to pull them out of the soft, warm, wet confines of Buffy's channel just yet. She knew they didn't have time for this and that any second now one of the others would come out to find them, but she didn't care. And from the way Buffy rolled her hips harder into her hand, she knew Buffy didn't care either.
"Y'know," Faith whispered as she leaned in to her ear, her lips just grazing her cheek as she did, "I think you should wear skirts like this a helluva lot more. Easier access."
"You really never think about anything else, do you?"
"Nope," Faith chuckled softly as she pulled back from her and stared into her eyes in the darkening light. "I know you don't either."
"We really need to go inside, Faith. Sun has almost set. Patrol..." she groaned as Faith slid her fingers out of her with a slow, wet plop.
A silent 'later' was uttered from Buffy's lips as she stepped past Faith and headed inside. Faith just brought her fingers to her lips, licking off Buffy's secretions slowly, savouring every last drop, before she went inside to join the others for a quick meeting before patrol. She stood in the doorway of the living room and listened to Buffy as she told Satsu and the others to meet up with them in two hours unless they were otherwise preoccupied with slaying. Buffy left to go change into clothes more suitable for slaying and Faith went outside with Kennedy, declining her offer of a cigarette.
"Will won't even look at me," Kennedy said softly as she shook her head. "I don't blame her though."
"Give her some time. She's hurt right now, Ken."
"Yeah."
"She won't even go near Satsu either," Faith pointed out the obvious. "Think of how it'd be if the situation was reversed and don't fuckin' forget your little jealous tirade when Julie was around and Will was spending a lot of time with her."
"Haven't forgotten," Kennedy sighed before she took a long drag of her cigarette and exhaled, the white smoke curling up to the sky slowly in the breezeless night. "You and Buffy sure can't keep your hands off each other, can you?"
"Hell no," Faith chuckled as she leaned against the railing on her elbows. "Can't blame me though. She just fuckin' asks for it sometimes."
"I think it's sweet," Kennedy smirked as she nudged Faith with her shoulder. "Young, new love is always exciting at first. Then one thing happens and it's all downhill from there."
"Ain't nothin' gonna change how it is now."
"Things always change, Faith. Whether you want them to or not."
"Ain't gonna let 'em change," Faith said firmly, but the tone of her voice gave away her fears that she did think Kennedy was right. Just a little. "Right now, I ain't worried about things with me and Buffy. It's going great, better than I thought it'd be and it just keeps getting better."
"You mean the sex just keeps getting better?" Kennedy laughed and Faith could only wiggle her eyebrows as she grinned. "You're just lucky we all knew what you were doing out here a few minutes ago and left you two alone. I think it would have traumatized Dawnie for life if she walked out to find you with your hand up Buffy's skirt."
"Not my fault I can't resist," Faith said and they both shared a laugh as the others came out of the house, all of them talking quietly as they began to split off into the designated groups. "Ready to motor, B?"
Buffy nodded as she watched the others head down towards the street. Willow was with Xander and Carmen. Satsu and Amber were going off on their own for a couple of hours, and Kennedy was with Buffy and Faith. Giles and Andrew were staying behind, planning to meet up with everyone else in a few short hours with Perry and Marshall. They headed straight for the neighbourhood around the Hellmouth, nobody saying much as they walked down the quiet, nearly empty streets. Buffy stayed close to Faith while Kennedy trailed a few steps behind them, chain-smoking and muttering to herself every once in a while about how she was more than capable to be out on her own instead of with them.
Aside from running into a few random vampires around the neighbourhood, all of whom were dusted without much of a fight, patrol was rather uneventful and the three of them spent more time talking than slaying. After two hours, they headed for the cemetery closest to the house to meet up with the others. Faith kept hoping for the night to continue to be slow. Slow meant an early night and she really couldn't take her mind off of just what she wanted to do with the rest of her night either. Every little look shared between her and Buffy got her heart racing and her body aching for her touch.
Glenview cemetery, by far the largest cemetery within walking distance of the house, was just buzzing with activity when they walked through the main gates. Faith could feel the vampires there in the cemetery and from the way her body was picking up on them, she knew there had to be two dozen or more there just waiting for them. Buffy motioned for them to split up and Faith pulled her in for a rather quick kiss before she grabbed a stake out of the duffel bag and headed off towards the furthest corner of the cemetery alone. She walked briskly up to a small group of vampires standing around one of the crypts, counting about four of them and sensing three others nearby and out of sight.
She went charging into the group of vampires, throwing a series of well-timed kicks and punches, working them over a little before plunging the stake through their hearts. With the strength and power she now had, she felt invincible, untouchable. She even thought she saw a hint of fear flash before the vampire she was now facing, staring down. She breathed heavily as she twirled her stake in her hand, grinning at the vampire who was now backing away from her, ready to run to save his undead life. She let him run—and as soon as his back was turned she flung the stake towards him, grinning almost maniacally as she watched him dust before he took another step.
Her ears picked up the sounds of a fight not too far off and she picked up her stake from the ground and took off running. Willow was cornered by three vampires, Xander and Carmen fighting off five others. Buffy and the others were nowhere near to help and even with her strength, Faith knew she wouldn't be able to take them all on by herself. She ran over towards Willow, pulling two of the three vampires away from her just long enough for Willow to stake the one closest to her.
"Go help them!" Willow said as she pointed to Xander, a hairsbreadth away from being bit by the tall, dark-haired vampire that had him pinned to the ground. "Now, Faith!"
Faith wasted not a second more, pulling the vampire off of Xander and helping him to his feet as two others charged towards her, trying to take her out. She cast a quick glance over at Carmen who seemed to be having a bit of trouble with the two vampires that she was fighting, but Faith didn't have time to help her or the others as four more vampires came out of the shadows and surrounded her.
"Fuck," she groaned under her breath, wishing she had more than just a stake to fight with. She'd left the duffel bag full of weapons on the bench near the front of the cemetery and now, because of her carelessness, she found herself in a situation she wouldn't easily get out of.
"Faith!" Xander called out as he was thrown to the ground. "Get...Buffy and the others..."
She managed to break free of the vampires circling her, but she barely got two steps away before they surrounded her again. She wasn't going to panic. They couldn't hurt her. She was only worried about Xander and Willow being caught in a fight this big. They were good fighters, she couldn't deny that having seen both of them in action a couple of times over the last several days, but they were not Slayers and one wrong move and the vampire they were facing would get a free meal. She took a steady and deep breath, trying to calm herself, find her center, and once she did she unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, staking each vampire she got close enough to only to find herself surrounded by twice as many by the time she was nearly through.
Faith leapt on top of the closest mausoleum and looked around quickly, trying to figure out just how many there were. It hit her then that this was Julie's army since there were never that many vampires in one area unless it was a larger nest of them. She spotted Buffy and the others on the other end of the cemetery, facing their own large group of vampires. She leapt off the mausoleum and jumped back into the fight, barely breaking a sweat as she dusted vampire after vampire. She lost count after seventeen of them and yet they kept on coming.
"Shit, there's too many!" Faith said as she struggled to fight them off while she also tried to protect Xander and Willow. "Will, can't you just cast a spell to get them to back off for a sec here?"
"I tried..." Willow said, her voice shaking with fear as she gripped onto the axe she wielded. "It's not working!"
"Get the hell outta here then!" Faith yelled at her and Xander.
She grabbed onto Willow's axe, swinging it around and decapitating five vampires' heads with one strike. She ran through the dust as it fell almost in slow motion, unleashing her inner Slayer and a bit of the psychotic murderous bitch she still felt way deep inside of her. Every blow felt good as she struck out against the vampires that just seemed to be crawling out of the shadows from every angle. It felt powerful every time each one turned to dust. And just like before, right when she thought she had them all, more showed up, ready to fight.
Xander had managed to get out of there before the fifth wave of angry vampires surrounded them, but Willow was cornered once again, too frightened now to try to run. It took only that split second she turned to look over at Willow for one of the vampires to kick the axe from her hands. The vampire dust flying in the air burned her eyes as she struggled to gain the upper hand once again. Her heart nearly stopped when she heard the blood-curling scream coming from Willow as one of the vampires used the axe that had gone flying from Faith's hands to attack Willow.
Faith could hardly breathe as she made her way over to Willow, startled as a wave of arrows began to shoot towards the vampires. She looked back and saw Perry, Marshall and a half a dozen of the other guys lined up with their crossbows, trying to take out every vampire they could.
"Willow," Faith said as she knelt on the ground next to her, her breath catching in her throat when she saw how much blood was pouring from the gash across her stomach. "Will, you still with me?"
"Faith..." Willow coughed, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth as she laid there almost motionless, barely able to turn her head to the side to look up at Faith. "Get to the others...don't worry...about me..."
"Fuck," Faith groaned as she placed her hands over the wound to try to stop the bleeding. "Ain't leavin' ya here alone, Will."
"I...can't..." Willow breathed out, her breath shorter and coming in small, shallow gasps as the blood poured out of the wound and over Faith's hands.
"Willow!" Kennedy yelled out as she ran across the cemetery, dodging the headstones and the arrows that flew through the air and the vampires that were left. "Oh god, Will..."
"We gotta get her outta here," Faith said quickly as she looked back to find an opening in the massive group of vampires that still surrounded them. She looked down at Willow, literally feeling the last breath as the life slipped out of her. "Oh fuck."
"Will? Willow!" Kennedy shook her a few times, trying to get her to open her eyes, to breathe. She pulled Willow into her lap as Faith stood up slowly, her hands shaking as she looked down at the blood that covered them.
Everything went foggy and felt as if time had literally came to a stop. Faith blinked away the tears as she watched the others fight the last of the vampires and she knew there was more waiting for their moment to sweep in and take them all out, or turn to dust trying. Buffy made her way over to them, collapsing on the ground next to Kennedy as she held on to Willow, saying her name over and over again through the torrent of tears that fell.
"What the hell happened?" Buffy asked as she got up from the ground and walked over to Faith. "What the hell happened, Faith?"
"Couple of 'em got lucky. I was too late. Couldn't..." she trailed off, her voice being choked by the tears that now fell from her eyes. "God, I was too late. There was just too many. It's all my fault."
"It's not," Buffy whispered, her own tears falling as the others finally caught up to them.
It was as if the world slipped away as they surrounded their fallen friend, emotions running high, anger flooding in. The only thing Faith could think of was that Angel had been right. Yet again.
