Well, here's chapter 3. Like the other chapters it's still subject to change.

I'd also like to say a big thanks to Javamonsoon for his feedback.

As always, review and feedback are welcome.

3: Faith, Hope and Darkside

It was around eleven at night and the bronze was packed with partying kids. Buffy had only just arrived and was searching for the others. The she caught sight of Willow and Oz, having some romantic smooches. Buffy smiled slightly and sat down in the chair opposite them.

"Don't let me interrupt" she said.

Oz and Willow looked up from their kissing and Buffy passed Oz one of the drinks she'd been holding.

"Thanks" said Oz.

Willow looked at Buffy for a moment, as though trying to work something out. "Are you...is she all glowy?" said Willow, noticing that Buffy was in a good mood.

Buffy rolled her eyes and gave her friends her best innocent look. Willow always could see right through her.

"Yeah, I suspect happiness." agreed Oz.

Buffy finally relented "I passed my English makeup exam, hangin' with my friends. Hello, my life, how I've missed you."

Buffy was surprised to see Scott walk up to the table.

"Hi, Scott. What are you doing here?" asked Willow

"You told me that if I came here after eight, I could run into Buffy" replied Scott.

Buffy shot Willow a withering look. The redhead witch hid behind her drink, taking a big gulp.

"Uh, I'm sorry. I'm a bad liar. It's not good for the soul. O-o-or the skin, actually. It makes me blotch." said Scott, apologetically.

Buffy was a little lost for things to say so she went for the safest option. "Hi, Scott"

"Hi" he replied.

There was an uncomfy silence as Scott tried to think about something to comment on. "Don't you love this song?"

"Uh, yeah! Actually I do?" answered Buffy.

"Well, would you like to..." Scott moved his head to indicated the dance floor.

"Dance?...um" Buffy looked at Willow for help but she just smiled encouragingly.

"I don't know" Willow frowned slightly at Buffy's response. "I'm bad with...well. Thank you for asking. It's just that there..."

Scott gave her an understanding look "Okay, you know what? I'm just gonna go stand by the dance floor. If you change your mind, you can mosey on over, and then if not, then you don't mosey. No harm, no foul, right?"

Buffy managed a half hearted "Right" as Scott walked off to find a place to wait. As soon as he was gone Buffy rolled her eyes, mentally kicking herself for bungling the whole conversation.

"Come on, Buffy. I mean, the guy is charm, a-and normal, which is what you wanted to get back to." said Willow, admonishing her for rejecting Scott.

"Plus, bonus points for use of the word 'mosey'." added Oz.

"I just don't think I'm ready." said Buffy

"What's stopping you?" asked Willow.

Buffy thought about that question. What was stopping her? How long was she going to sit around morning Angel?

Her train of thought was broken by the arrival of Xander and Cordilia. She still wasn't sure what Xander saw in Sunnydale Highs self proclaimed queen. Cordilia herself seemed to be in a far better mood. Well better by Cordilida standards anyway.

"Check out Slut-O-Rama and her Disco Dave." she said, pointing at the dance floor.

Buffy looked to where Cordi was pointing and saw a couple that stood out from the rest. There was a girl, a brunet, dancing energetically with a man who was moving way too fast for the music.

"What was the last thing that guy danced to, K.C. and the Sunshine Band?" said Cordi, commenting on the man's dancing.

Buffy watched as the couple continued to dance until the girl pointed towards the door. The guy seemed to take the hint, leading her out with his arm around her.

Something about him aroused Buffy's suspicions. "I don't think that guy thrives on sunshine."

Buffy got up and made for the door the couple had just left from. As she crossed the dance floor she was startled when Scott stepped out in front of her.

"Hi" he said.

"Hi." replied Buffy. The she realised. He thought that she'd come over to dance with him. "Oh, no, I...I-I have to..."

"Oh. Uh, uh, sorry, my bad" said Scott.

"No. I-it's mine. Really, it's mine, but I...I-I-I have to go." said Buffy, trying to let Scott down gently. With that Buffy left. Leaving a very confused Scott behind her.

As soon as Buffy was outside the bronze she scanned around for any sign of the couple. No sign of them. "Where'd she go?"

"I bet it's nothing" said Cordilia "They're probably just making out."

Then Buffy heard something. Someone, a girl, shouted "Hey!" then there was a sound like something breaking. Xander produced a steak from his jacket and handed it to Buffy. The whole group headed off in the direction of the noise.

"That does not sound like making out. Unless I'm doing it wrong" said Willow.

Buffy rounded a corner and saw the boy, defiantly a vampire, lying on the ground looking dazed. The girl was completely unhurt, she was even smiling. She took a few steps towards Buffy.

"It's okay, I got it. You're, uh, Buffy, right?" she asked.

Buffy was too take aback to reply. The vampire got back up again and grabbed the girl by the shoulders. She snapped her head back, catching the vamp in the face. While he was stuned she grabbed hold of his arm.

"I'm Faith" she continued. The she shoved the vampire into a section of chain link fence.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there's a new Slayer in town." said Oz.

Buffy and the scoobies continued to watch as Faith continued her fight with the vamp. Buffy couldn't deny that she was good. No matter what the vamp through at her she just blocked it or avoided it al together.

Faith reached over to Buffy and jerked the steak from her hand before Buffy could say a word of protest. "Can I borrow that?" she asked.

The fight continued for a few more moments until Faith expertly staked the vampire, who crumbled into dust. Faith turned to face Buffy and handed back her stake. "Thanks B. Couldn't have done it without you."

Faith walked past the others, heading back for the bronze. Buffy just stared after her, unsure how to proceed.

Above the ally, Darkside looked on from his perch on a rooftop. "So that's Faith Lehne. Perhaps I should introduce myself."

A few hours later Faith and Buffy were alone, walking through one of Sunnydale's cemeteries, partly on patrol and partly to talk. Back at the bronze Faith had told them all her slaying stories but there hadn't really been much time for any one-on-one discussion.

"So, on average, how many vamps do you get a night?" asked Faith.

"Varies. Sometimes there's lots, sometimes there's nots." replied Buffy

"Well, well, well. Look who's back"

Buffy rolled her eyes. Not him again. She looked over to where the voice had come from. Sure enough Darkside was there.

"And you brought a friend" he continued, giving Faith a wide smile. "Hey"

"Who's that?" asked Faith, smirking.

"Darkside, meat Faith, fellow slayer. Faith meat Darkside, a pain in my butt." answered Buffy, sounding rather tired.

"Darkside?" snorted Faith "that your real name?"

"Look who's' talking 'Faith'." countered Darkside. "So you're a slayer too then. Good. Twice the glory for me." He readied himself in a fighting stance. A dark aura enveloping him as he did.

"May I?" asked Faith, sarcastically.

"After you" replied Buffy, bowing slightly.

Darkside charged forwards, straight at Faith. She ducked down then punched up as soon as Darkside was close enough. The force of the blow, coupled with his own momentum threw the boy over Faith's head and into a grave stone behind her, which shattered with the impact.

Darkside got up, unsteadily. Buffy walked up to him. "You ok?"

"Ow. Yeah, think so."

"Good" Buffy punched Darkside right in the face causing him to spin round and fall to the floor. Once again he got back up. This time stumbling a little.

"He really doesn't learn does he?" said Faith as she walked past Buffy. She walked right up to Darkside, who had only just stood up, and punched him in the gut. He doubled over in pain, then Faith smashed her fist into his face. He flipped over ending up on his back on the grass.

"You done?" asked Buffy.

"I'm done" groaned Darkside from where he lay. "If you two don't mind. I could use a lift home."

"Oh, you gotta be kidding!" yelled Faith. "B, please tell me were not going to help this loser?"

"We can't just leave him here for the vampires F." answered Buffy. She reached down and hoisted Darkside up. Faith grudgingly took up a position on the opposite side to Buffy.

"So where do you live?" asked Buffy.

"Not far. That way." said Darkside, pointing out of the graveyard.

Sometime later the trio came across a motel on the other side of town. "This is me" said Darkside, unhooking himself from the two slayers.

"Wait, you live here?" asked Faith. "I live here!"

"Really?" said Darkside, looking surprised. "Huh, small world." He move off towards one of the metal stairways. "Guess I'll see you in a day or two."

"What. A. Loser" said Faith as soon as he'd gone.

"Yeah, but he's good for a laugh." said Buffy.

The next evening Darkside was sitting on the roof of the motel he was living in, looking out at Sunnydale town. He'd been there for hours now and the sun had long ago left the horizon.

His new home wasn't exactly the Ritz but it had four walls, a roof and a T.V. so it was liveable. Getting money to pay the rent was easy. All he had to do was teleport into a bank vault and hep himself. Same went for food, clothes and anything else that took his fancy. If there was one power he loved most of all it was probably the teleporting.

"Take a look at this tiny place" Darkside was so surprised by Ansem's voice he nearly fell off the roof.

"Seriously, a little warning next time, ok?".

"I'm surprised you haven't fought the Slayers again. You can't seem to avoid them for long." Ansem moved forward so he was standing next to Darkside.

"Yeah, well. If I'm going to be the villain of this piece, the heroes are going to be tough to avoid." There was an explosion of in the distance. Darkside looked over and saw a large plume of smoke rising from a wooded area. "That must be Mister Trick's 'Slayer fest'. Well that tells me where I am."

Darkside was about to get up and return to his room when he felt...strange. Then he collapsed. Darkness erupted from him, rising up in a pillar until it was nearly ten feet tall.

"Arrrrrgh! What...w-whats..." he tried to say through the pain.

"You're losing yourself to the darkness." said Ansem, merely observing events. "Part of you wants to become one with the dark while another fights against it. It is the conflict that is causing the pain."

As Ansem spoke the pain subsided, the darkness vanished and Darkside rose to his feet. "So what's going to happen to me?" he asked.

"Either you will become more powerful, or you will lose yourself faster than I thought."

"Lovely." said Darkside before continuing on his way.

Hours later Darkside was disturbed by a knock at his door. He opened it to find a girl he didn't recognise standing outside.

"Hi. Would you like to by some candy?" she asked.

She wasn't much of a salesman but something about the candy jogged Darkside's memory so he brought a box.

"Oh right" he proclaimed to the empty room. "Ethan Rain's chocolates that make everyone act like kids." he looked at the ox in his hand. "I wonder..."

He took out one of the sweets and examined it closely. It seemed like a normal chocolate, but then again he seemed like a normal teenager.

Throughing caution to the wind Darkside popped the sweet in his mouth and swallowed. Nothing happened. "So magic doesn't affect me. Cool."

He jumped back on his bed and started on the rest of the chocolates. There wasn't much to do right now, but soon enough, the fun would start. He just had to wait.

"Hey Buffy." Buffy looked up to see Willow walking in the school library. It had been two days since Ethan Rain had turned all the adults back into children and she was still trying to shack the mental image of her mother as a teenager.

"Hey Wills."

"Red" said Faith. Faith was sitting opposite Buffy although instead of reading she was laying back and trying to pass the time until she could beat up more vampires.

"Hey...um, Faith. Err, listen, Buffy I just came by to say that police just closed Harmony's case. Their saying it's a mugging gone wrong."

That caught Buffy's attention. She pushed aside the book she was reading and looked up at Willow. Even Faith seemed to become interested. "Well, that's typical. No way was that a mugging. Harmony looked like she'd been..." Buffy trailed off as she remembered the sight of Harmony's body.

"Little lost here guys. Who's Harmony?" asked Faith.

"Right, you didn't know her. Harmony was a girl that went t to school here until something killed her while she was going to class. I...never found what did it." said Buffy.

Giles walked into the library carrying a small group of books under one arm. "Good morning Buffy, Faith. Ah Willow, good to see you. Any updates on Harmony's case."

"They closed it." said Buffy.

Willow nodded in confirmation. "Mugging gone wrong."

"Idiots. The girl was practically eviscerated. How could they think that-"

"Giles, it's before lunch. I really don't need words like 'eviscerate' in my head." said Buffy.

"Right. I'm...sorry. It's just that I've had no luck finding out what happened either and it's...well, frustrating."

"Hey, we'll get it eventually." said Faith, rising from her chair. "Mean time I'm going to find somewhere louder. Later B." with that she walked off.

Buffy told herself that Faith was right. Whatever killed Harmony would come back and when it did, she'd be waiting for it.

After sundown Faith had gone straight to the cemetery. She was itching for a fight and there were either going to be vamps there or that moron, Darkside.

"Helloooooooo hot stuff!" and the winner was; the moron.

"Seriously, don't you have a girlfriend or something?" asked Faith more rhetorically than as an actual question.

"No. Why, you offering?" Darkside gave her a wink. Faith laughed. "Hey. You're going to pay for that slayARRRRGHHHH!"

Darkside stumbled slightly, clutching at his side as if in pain. Faith wasn't sure what was going on. Was this some kind of trick?

"Your...going to...raaagh!" This time he fell to his knees, both arms wrapped round his stomach. Darkness started coiling up around him like some kind of purpley-black smoke.

'Ok, not a trick. What the hell's happening to him?' thought Faith.

"No. Not now...not now." he moaned out. A black portal appeared around him, swallowing him up. Then he was gone.

"How...am I going to explain this to B" wondered Faith out loud.

Darkside re-materialised in the middle of the desert. He tried to stand from his kneeling position but he just fell down again.

He rolled onto his back and saw Ansem looking down again.

"The conflict inside you is destroying you. Only you can end it" Ansem backed away as he spoke. "Open your heart to the Darkness." Darkside forced himself to stand. He rose, unsteadily to his feet. "Let your being become Darkness itself."

"RRRRRAAHGGGGHHHHH!" Darkside road at the sky, flinging his arms out to the sides. Darkness erupted from his body once more, forming a tall column.

When it faded, Darkside was still standing. He was breathing heavily and he felt like he'd been hit by a bus, but he was still here.

"Interesting" said Ansem.

"Ow...guess this means I'm...going to be around a little...longer then...boss." panted Darkside. Then he realised that Ansem was pointing above him. He looked up. "Well...that's new." He walked off, sensing the thing behind him following. Now he was more powerful than even. Soon he was going to hit Buffy and this world in a way they'd never see coming.

"Oh my god. There's something happnin' to me. I can feel a change is coming. Baby better watch your step 'cause I'm in love."

Update: As of today (05/08/13) I'm now on chapter 15 (which is titled 'Corruption') and I have only one major plot point to cover before the ending. So that should be about two chapters for the last plot point, one build up, then the ending and the epilogue. With luck the whole thing will be done and up beginning of next month. Don't read if you like happy endings...or Willow and Tara.