"Mhhmmmm..."-Buffy stretched in bed at seven a.m. and opened her eyes at once when she realized Faith wasn't there.
She got up, quickly changed clothes and knocked on the bathroom door. "Faith? Babe are you in there?"
There was no reply and Buffy went downstairs, hoping Faith was there drinking coffee. She got really worried when she saw just her mom, who said: "Good morning, sweetheart. Do you and Faith want some coffee?"
"I... Mom, you haven't seen Faith this morning? She wasn't in bed when I woke up."
"No, honey, I assumed you'd both get downstairs at the same time. Did you girls have a fight?"
"No, we didn't... That's why I don't understand..."-Buffy was both confused and worried. She wished Faith had at least left a note to let her know where she was going. Her head was so messed up, she almost forgot to take her rucksack to go to school. Then she noticed Faith's rucksack was gone. It scared her so much. She didn't think Faith would just get tired of her and leave without saying goodbye. But that's what Faith could so easily do... Still, she remembered the way Faith had talked to her, and figured Faith wouldn't leave just like that. Something must have happened.
She ran downstairs with her rucksack on her back, pretending to be going to school, but in reality she had different plans. She had to find out what happened to Faith and she thought the Mayor might have some info. He could have told Faith to meet him before the dawn to try to get her to do something for him. Or hurt her if he figured she was playing him. Just the thought of him touching her girl in any way way making her sick. Her blood was boiling and she ran to Mayor's office as fast as she could.
"Buffy! Hey!"-Xander called out to her when she ran by him without even seeing him.
"Not now Xander! See you later!"-she ran faster and soon she was in front of the huge locked door, which she easily jumped over.
"Young lady! Where do you think you're going?"-a guard asked Buffy and she kicked him hard enough for him to pass out and ran straight to the Mayor's office.
"Miss Summers! What brings you here on such a lovely sunny day?"-the Mayor smiled widely, giving Buffy the creeps. Everybody liked that guy, no one even suspected his goal was to become a demon who'd kill them all. People from Sunnydale really were the most ignorant people in the world.
"Faith. Where is she?"-she asked, strictness in her voice and attitude. She wanted him to see she wasn't there to fool around.
"I really don't know. Shouldn't she be at school now?"-Richard Wilkins III asked, trying to sound casual, but he also wondered where Faith was; he definitely didn't want to lose his powerful ally before she even did anything to help him out. Getting this little annoying blonde was first on the list. She was quite disrespectful and arrogant.
He was casually turning in his chair when Buffy jumped on him, grabbed his throat as hard as she could and punched him.
"She should have been in bed with me this morning, but she somehow wasn't and I thought you could help me with that."-Buffy growled, her face less than an inch away from his.
"Miss Summers, don't make me call the guards. I don't know anything about your fuck buddy or whatever she is. You do look like you might need to relieve some tension, though..."-the Mayor grinned cheekily and Buffy punched him again. His nose made a cracking sound and blood ran over his lips and chin.
"You're not so tough yet, are you? You can't even stop me from beating the hell out of you without your guards. WHERE IS FAITH?!"
The Mayor started getting a bit upset, the little blondie managed to actually cause him some pain and it was really unpleasant. He was determined she would be the first one he'd devour once he got in the badass demon form. And he'd do it slowly, to make her hear her bones snap and feel her flesh being torn from her bones. He was sure she'd be a real nummy treat. A little bony, though.
"I don't know! It's better you leave before I call my guards to take care of you. You should be happy you're not dead already. I've decided to save you for the big finale..."
"What if you don't live long enough to see the big finale?"-Buffy asked, her voice cold. She wasn't sure if she could kill him in his human form, though, she was supposed to be people's warrior, not a killer.
"You can't kill me... Just like you couldn't kill Angelus when you opened your legs for him and turned him evil..."-he smiled, loving the startled look on Buffy's face.
"You really shouldn't have said that..."-Buffy whispered and punched his nose once again. He sobbed in pain and said: "You little slut. Think you could keep Faith with you if you gave her some pussy? Now that she's had enough of your bony little body and ran off it's so easy to blame me... I don't know where she is."
"Shut up!"-Buffy yelled and hit him again. He grinned and said: "I think some of my guards might have heard you now. You should leave before they get hold of you."
"You're so considerate..."-Buffy said, but realized he may be right. She hit him once more and jumped through the window.
She hated herself for letting his words shake her so much and she punched the wall hard before she ran off of his property. Her hand was bleeding a little, but she didn't even feel the pain.
"Faith, where are you?"-Buffy asked herself out loud and realized she was more scared than anything else. She thought of Drusilla, but it was impossible for her to get to Faith at that time, cause Faith must have left just before the dawn. Maybe Faith had gone to take care of Drusilla when she thought the vampiress wouldn't be expecting her, and something might have happened to her then.
Faith and Wesley landed at El Salvador and headed straight to a little motel to sleep a little. They would have to lie low until the evening, when the box of Gavrok would arrive and attempted to be sent to Sunnydale.
Faith had been unusually quiet and Wesley got a bit worried about her. She looked too distracted to be able to get the job done. He knew she was thinking about Buffy and thought two Slayers in love was a bit poetic. Two Slayers never existed at the same time, never mind fell in love with each other. Wesley thought his Watcher Diary would become a sort of a hit years in the future when they're both long dead and gone. A bit of blush creeped into his cheeks when he remembered he'd written down his speculations of their love life. He was a man after all, no matter how nerdy and shy.
As soon as they made it to the motel, Faith jumped on the bed and said: "Not too bad. It's not as comfy as Buffy's bed, but more comfy than my previous shit hole in Sunny D."
Wesley didn't know what to say to that, so he just took his Typhoo English Breakfast Tea from his bag and turned the kettle on. Having a kettle in the motel room was definitely a plus.
"You really are English through and through, aren't ya? How can you drink that?"-Faith asked and took a cigarette out of her jacket's pocket.
She lit it, completely ignoring the look on Wesley's face. He didn't like cigarettes, but he just didn't even want to try to get into a discussion with a Slayer. She could easily break all of his ribs.
Faith couldn't keep Buffy out of her head. She wondered what the blonde thought about her sudden disappearance; if she was angry or worried, disappointed or hurt. She cursed herself for not leaving a little note for her... It was too hard to think about Buffy and Faith put out the cigarette and decided she would try to sleep. It would make time go faster. She really was beat after spending the whole night awake and not being able to sleep while flying to El Salvador. Faith would never admit it to anyone, but she was deeply terrified of flying.
"Night, Wes. Wake me up."-Faith mumbled and soon after was in the land of dreams. Wesley thought she looked so young while sleeping and he really wanted to protect her.
While Faith was sleeping like a baby, Buffy was trying not to fall asleep in English class. She never understood why she needed to learn something she already knew. She spoke English fluently, wasn't that the point? Ok, she didn't know what fluently exactly meant, but it wasn't like she was ever gonna write a book. There were more important things than those silly subjects she had to learn. Besides, she knew the word sire could be both a noun and a verb, which was something that most of her class mates didn't know. If a vampire hit them in the face they wouldn't know it was a vampire, she thought and pouted a little.
She just couldn't wait to get the hell out of that building filled with boredom and despair, as she often thought of school. There was still no sign of Faith, and Buffy couldn't wait to go home to see if she'd maybe returned in the mean while. It was well known Faith liked school as much as cleaning demon goo off of her shoes.
Finally the school day was over, just when Buffy thought she'd be forced to poke her brain out with a pencil.
"Buffy, wanna come over to hang a little?"-Willow asked her, hoping it would distract Buffy at least for a moment. She couldn't believe Faith could just disappear like that, it seemed like she genuinely cared about Buffy.
"Nah, Wills, not today. I'm going home. Faith might be there... And if she's not I'm gonna go look for her. I'll call you later, ok?"
"Okie dokie."-Willow said, a little disappointed. Buffy quickly kissed her cheek and ran off. The house was empty and dark, her mom still hadn't returned from work and Buffy's heart sank a little more.
"Faith, where are you?"-she asked out loud again and sprinted to her room to get her weapons. She had to try to find Drusilla and make her admit she hurt Faith to avenge Spike's death.
The first place she headed to was the lair Drusilla had shared with Spike when they first came to Sunnydale. It was empty, but Buffy found a few things that belonged to the annoying couple and set them on fire when she realized she had Faith's lighter in her pants. She couldn't even remember how it got there, but she didn't care. At least she had something of Faith's that could cause damage. Fire hurt vampires, fire was good.
She decided to check out the sewers, disgusting creatures were often hiding there and she was sure they could tell her where Drusilla was.
Her spidey sense was tingling and she whispered: "Good. I could use some ass kicking."
"Oh, it's you."-Buffy was disappointed to see it was Angel, not some badass thing she could beat the hell out of.
"Yeah. How have you been, Buffy? What are you doing here?"
"Chatting with you in the sewers. We tend to do that a lot, don't we?"-Buffy tried to joke, but only got a 'Hmm' from the brooding vampire.
"I'm looking for Drusilla. Where is she?"-Buffy asked when she figured there would be no chatting with Angel.
"In a tunnel beneath the cinema. Do you want me to come along?"
"No, I'm going alone. Thanks. See you around."
Buffy ran off and thanked goodness for her Slayer sense of direction. She found Drusilla fast enough and she was pleased to see the bitch was asleep. Faith was not there and there were no signs of struggle, so Buffy figured the insane vampiress had nothing to do with Faith's disappearance after all.
Still, she jumped on Drusilla's waist and pinned her hands above her head with one hand before the asleep vampiress managed to react.
"Where is Faith?"-Buffy asked and placed Mr. Pointy, the stake which belonged to Kendra, who was, ironically, killed by Drusilla, on Drusilla's chest.
"Uhhhh, Slayer... Do I smell anger?"
"Looks like your sense of smell is good, so now tell me... What did you do to Faith?"
"Nothing! She left you... Went for a trip with a man in a suit."
Buffy couldn't help feeling really hurt when she heard that, but she said through gritted teeth: "Where is she? What man? What do you know, you crazy bitch?!"
Drusilla laughed, her laughter manical and loud. Buffy punched her and pierced her skin with the stake.
"Uhh, Slayer, you're hurting me..."
"This is nothing, Dru. Trust me."-Buffy whispered and knocked Dru out with a punch.
She smiled when she saw chains in the corner. Vampires sure liked bondage. This time it would serve her well. She dragged Drusilla to the chains and put shackles on her wrists. Then she took a cross and pressed it against Drusilla's cheek hard, which made her wake up with a scream.
"I can do this the hard way, Dru. You and I have unfinished business. You killed my friend."
"If I hadn't you wouldn't have Faith now."-Drusilla giggled and Buffy had to admit she was right, but it still wasn't a good excuse for murder.
"I don't exactly have Faith now, that's why I need you. You have your little visions don't you? Where is she? Who is that man she's with?"-anger kept building inside Buffy and she squeezed Mr. Pointy so hard it snapped in two and cut her palm a little.
"You're hurting me..."-Drusilla whined and Buffy placed the cross on the other cheek, which started smoking straight away and Drusilla screamed in agony.
"I don't care. I'll hurt you much more if you don't tell me what you know."-Buffy growled and kicked Drusilla as hard as she could. It felt sooo good, too good, even, which scared her a little.
Buffy continued to kick and punch the restrained vampiress and smiled a few times when she heard the bones crack.
"Fine! I'll try to ask the moon and the stars about your beloved one... Stop hurting me..."-Drusilla sobbed, wondering when exactly the cute Slayer turned into a sadist.
"Talk to the devil if you have to just tell me what you know..."-Buffy whispered, wondering what the hell was wrong with her. She actually liked causing pain to Drusilla and it scared the hell out of her.
"The Box. The Ascension. I can see.. Faith... hurt... My head is buzzing... I can hear the hissing... It's cold..."
"Faith is hurt?!"-Buffy got really scared and she dropped the stake.
"Ssssh... I can't hear... Buffy..."-Drusilla screamed and started thrashing in the chains so hard Buffy thought she might break them. Drusilla put her game face on and started snarling and trying to unchain herself and jump on Buffy. Buffy couldn't risk Drusilla freeing herself, the bitch looked crazier than ever and Buffy staked her. The dust covered her shoes and Buffy frowned and ran out of the tunnel as fast as she could, feeling like it would crumble on her and bury her alive. Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest and she couldn't wait to get to Giles and tell him he had to help her find Faith cause she was hurt...
And whoever hurt her would pay a very big price, Buffy swore to herself, placed her broken stake in her sleeve and ran to Giles.