CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:

Is this real?

Faith was dreaming…

She was in a castle and there were demons with swords that had captured her. She was hurt badly and chained to a post on a platform in the courtyard. Two of her team members were chained to posts on the platform with her. She saw a demon with a sharp knife approaching her and the other women in her team. She was wishing that Michael was here…

She heard gun fire and Buffy was there trying to get to her, but arrows were falling from the sky like rain. Suddenly there was a huge explosion and a part of the castle walls had crumbled…

From the smoke and debris she could see Michael standing there. She saw him tear through the courtyard firing two weapons from each hand and then he was on the walls. He was throwing the demons off the walls and he had a strange glowing light in his hand that would cut the demons in half. He was tearing through the demons like the warrior he was…

She was being lowered to the platform. She could hear voices saying words like head trauma and cranial bleeding. She didn't care as Michael had come for her. She could see him look at her. He had his battle armor helmet on, but she knew it was him. She was being picked up by Michael and carried in his arms. She could hear him speaking to her, but she couldn't make out the words. She saw the air begin to crackle and spark around them and then everything went white and then they were in a brightly lit room. She heard Michael scream for someone named Virgil to help. She saw Michael take his helmet off and toss it aside and talk to her—his face looked so scared and full of worry. She then saw a floating light bulb and heard it speaking to Michael. Then a very bright light and darkness came, but she could still hear Michael's voice talking to her—talking to her through the darkness to show her the way home…

oOoOo

Faith opened her eyes and found herself looking up at a ceiling. She was confused and disoriented. She had no idea where she was or what had happened to her. The last thing she remembered was being chained to a post on a platform in the castle courtyard—then a huge explosion. Everything else was a mix mash of fleeting images and feelings, like trying to remember a dream.

She needed to get her bearings and find out where she was. She started to raise her head, but she immediately felt a sharp flaring pain and stopped while she waited for the pain to pass. Once the pain disappeared, she started again going more slowly this time. After what seemed like an eternity, she managed to get herself propped up on her elbows without too much discomfort.

Faith looked around the room. It wasn't like any room she had ever seen or been in before. It had a different look and feel than anything she was used to, but for some strange reason it seemed familiar. She could see what looked like a balcony attached to her room and the sunlight was coming through the window and balcony door. From what she could see through the window and balcony door there was a forest and a huge blue lake outside.

She turned her head slowly and saw a bedside table, it had a pitcher filled with what looked like water with a glass next to it. A small smile came to her face as she saw a vase with some beautiful wild flowers in it.

Moving slowly, Faith sat up and fixed herself a drink of water. She found herself gulping down the water. It tasted so good on her throat and she found herself feeling a little bit better after the drink.

She had no idea where she was, but wherever this place was it was definitely a helluva a better place than that castle. She finally felt strong enough to stand up and check things out better and get a sense of her situation, not that she was complaining—yet.

She decided to check out the balcony and she made her way slowly, stumbling a bit from some slight dizziness. As she got closer to the balcony, she still couldn't shake the strange feeling she'd been here before as it felt almost—familiar.

She made it to the doorway and looked out as she didn't quite yet trust her legs to go out there by the edge. She found herself looking out a breathtakingly beautiful scene. She saw the forest and the huge deep blue lake that seemed to stretch forever. She felt a gentle warm breeze blow and the warm sun on her face, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh air to savor it all.

I must be dead and this is heaven, was her first thought at taking in the scenery.

At that thought, Faith started to think of Michael and a wave of sadness hit her and threatened to engulf her. She had no idea of where she was and what to do next.

She was startled when she heard a voice behind her. It was a voice she hadn't heard in so long and feared that she would never hear again.

"Faith…"

She turned slowly, almost afraid that she was dreaming and that this was all some cruel hoax being played on her. She had been dreaming, hoping and praying for this for so long. She turned and saw Michael standing in the doorway across the room.

For a moment she couldn't speak or think of what to say. She wasn't sure if what she was seeing was real or even if she cared anymore if it wasn't real.

"Michael … Is it you? Is it really you?" Faith said in a whisper afraid to break the spell or wake up from this dream.

Faith saw Michael smile and move towards her.

"The last time I checked it was still me." he said smiling taking in the sight of her.

Faith found her legs and moved towards Michael. They met halfway. She looked up into his face. She was still hesitant and scared that this wasn't real. She reached up slowly and touched his face. Michael reached down and touched her face, gently caressing it. He could see her eyes light up and glisten with tears.

"I've hoped and dreamed of this for so long ... I've been searching for you. I thought I'd lost you." Faith said trying to choke back her emotions.

"Am I dead? Is this heaven? How do I know that this is real?" She asked still finding it hard to believe this was actually happening.

Michael leaned down and wrapped his arms around her and gently picked her up in his embrace with her feet off the ground. He leaned in and kissed her for what seemed like an eternity.

"This isn't heaven, but it feels damn close." he said looking into Faith's eyes.

Faith returned his look and smiled again and she kissed him again.

oOoOo

Michael and Faith spent the next few days allowing for her to recover and rest some more. They used the time to catch up on what had happened at the castle and what happened while they were apart.

Michael introduced Virgil to Faith and explained how he had saved her life. She was surprised to hear the background about Virgil and that he was created by aliens. Michael gave her a brief explanation about the Forerunners as there would be time later to go into more details. Faith thanked the AI for helping both of them. Virgil turned a slightly red color when she thanked him. When Michael queried him about his change in color, Virgil said it was only a minor system fault, but Michael could have sworn that he was blushing.

Michael had inserted Adriana into the installation's network. At first Virgil was very defensive about allowing another AI to access the installation, but Michael explained that Adriana and he were a package. Now the two AI's were having what could only be described as a grand time comparing code and information. It was apparent that Virgil was enjoying the company after his long lonely vigil as caretaker of this installation.

After Faith had recovered from her injuries, the couple still had a lot of decisions to make about what they were going to do, but that could wait as they wanted to spend some quality time together to celebrate their reunion and get reacquainted. During this personal reunion, Adriana endeavored to make sure that Virgil did not disturb the couple during this more intimate reunion period.

Several days later, they took a break and Michael took Faith over to the village to show it to her and introduced her to everyone there. Faith met Tala and her family and was told the story of how Michael had saved her and her brother.

Faith had a moment of doubt and concern as she detected some chemistry between Tala and Michael. Her worries were confirmed when both women found themselves alone together. There was a moment of awkward silence between the women, but Tala broke the silence by telling Faith that she was very lucky to have a man like Michael and to never doubt his love for her.

Faith looked at the beautiful young woman, feeling a little self-conscious at the glowing radiance she projected, but Faith stuffed her fears and doubts down as she was too happy to think or worry about it—Michael was with her and that was all that mattered right now. Besides she had her own guilt and baggage to worry about.

With Faith and Michael's arrival, the village had another big celebration of life. Everyone took part in the celebration. There was a moment of surprise as it was announced that Tala and one of the village's warriors named Maska were to be married soon. Faith watched Michael's face with some concern at the announcement, but all she saw, much to her relief, was his face showing happiness for the new couple. They both went and wished Tala and Maska long life and happiness together.

oOoOo

A few days later after the village celebration, Faith and Michael were on the balcony off of their room in the installation. They were both bent over resting their arms on the balcony railing. They were watching the sunset off in the distance over the lake.

"It's so beautiful here … It's like heaven." Faith sighed.

Michael turned from watching the sunset and studied Faith's face. He knew every contour, every feature and every line of her face. He couldn't believe it had been almost five years since he'd first dreamt of her on that planet so far away in another universe.

Faith turned to look at Michael and she smiled at him almost bashfully.

"What?" she said smiling.

"Just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" she asked.

"About everything that has happened to bring us to this point."

They were quiet for a few moments. Michael broke the silence.

"We have to go back … They don't even know if you are alive or dead."

Faith sighed, "Yeah I know … This was too good to last."

"Well you still owe me some vacation time on a beach somewhere." he said smiling once more.

They continued to watch the sunset.

Michael hated to spoil the mood, but he knew that there would never be a good time to ever bring it up.

"Ummm … there is something I need to tell you." Michael said with much unaccustomed hesitation in his voice.

Faith was watching the sunset. She picked up on Michael's tone as she heard a twinge of guilt in his voice. She knew what he was going to tell her, she had known since she'd first met Tala and seen how she looked at him. Tala had that same look in her eyes as she did—love.

Faith took a moment to think how she would respond. For a second she thought of getting angry followed up by screaming and yelling with some violence thrown in, but that was the old her. She couldn't change the past and god knows that she had her own baggage weighing her down. Michael was with her—he came back to her when he could have stayed here and that's all that mattered to her in the end. She was happy and she wasn't going to ruin it.

She made up her mind on what she was going to say and do. That didn't mean she was going to let him off that easy. She didn't betray a hint of emotion or take her eyes off the sunset as she spoke, "Is this about you and Tala?"

Michael's eyes widened as he could have sworn that she had just read his mind. He looked at her with shock and awe, "How? How did you know?" he barely managed to sputter out.

"Women can tell about these things … Are you planning to do anything like that again?" Faith said with a slight menacing tone in her voice, but still not taking her eyes off the sunset.

"No ma'am!" Michael said sounding with all the vigor of a recruit in basic training.

"See that you don't." Faith replied again—still watching the sunset—with her menacing tone, but trying hard not to smile as she'd put the Spartan in his place. She was silently relieved that they had put that problem behind them.

Michael sighed in relief that he still had his skin and was in one piece after confessing to Faith. He was surprised that she'd had taken the news so well, as he was aware of her temper. He was tempted to ask her why, but his well-honed survival instincts kicked in and told him to shut-up while he was ahead. He turned to look again at the sunset. They stood again quietly looking at the setting sun, basking in the waning sunlight.

Faith watched the sun and decided that if Michael could come clean with her, then she needed to come clean on a few things herself. A part of her hated to tell him that she'd given up on him and what she had done—at least what she could remember—in Los Angeles, but she wanted to get that weight and guilt off her chest. She broke the silence, "Ummm … Michael, I really need to tell you something. It's about—" she said with hesitation and uncertainty in her voice now.

Michael didn't hesitate as he interrupted her, "Do I need to shoot anyone or blow anything up?" he asked in a matter of fact way while still watching the sunset. Adriana had given him a quick report of how Faith had reacted when she thought he had died. He didn't need to know any details of what Faith had done while he was gone, he had more than enough demons, guilt and baggage to carry and he wasn't in any position to judge her.

Faith blinked in surprise at his response and took a moment to think about it.

"Faith?" he said in a slightly annoyed and confused voice.

"Just thinking … No … It's nothing I can't handle now!" she replied smiling with happiness and relief in her voice, looking at Michael.

"Then I don't need to know about it." he said hearing how much better she sounded.

Faith turned back to face the sunset and they continued watching it. They were quietly reflecting on everything that had happened to them and both were wondering what the future would bring for them. Michael spoke breaking the silence once more.

"Relationships are strange." he said in a matter of fact way.

"Uh huh..." Faith replied smiling.

They watched until the sun was gone and the stars lit up the night sky. They took each other's hand then went inside, both appreciating the chance and gift they had been given.

oOoOo

Sunnydale, California – October 14, 2004: 1144 PST

Buffy found herself wandering through a very quiet warehouse. It seemed different now—it was emptier. Adriana was gone with Michael and there had been no word on their and Faith's status.

Just when things looked desperate at the castle, he just shows up out of nowhere making one of his dramatic appearances turning the tide of the battle. Images of him slicing and impaling those demons with that "sword" still haunted her dreams. As the Slayer, she'd been trained on how to use a sword—Michael showed her that he was no slouch using one himself.

After he had "destroyed" the majority of the demons in the castle and disappeared with Faith. Riley, her and the survivors from their group gathered their dead and wounded—they used some horses and carts they found in the castle to get back to the portal point faster. When they returned to the warehouse, she was surprised when Xander and Giles asked her what had happened. She'd assumed at the time that Michael had a quicker way home.

She remembered the last time she'd seen Faith—she was in bad shape and didn't look like she would survive without medical attention. She had no idea what Michael had been thinking or where he went. He just picked her up and created a portal that was different than the ones Willow created with her magic and they were gone—that was a month ago.

Buffy didn't have much time to worry about Michael and Faith as she had more pressing matters, they still had wounded from the battle that needed attention. Once home, Riley was a big help again as he used his contacts and influence to get the wounded medical treatment quickly—there had been no further fatalities.

Their ranks had been thinned out by the battle, but Giles and Willow were working to locate more Potentials. They weren't in a panic as there were no immediate threats or crises. Sunnydale was actually somewhat calm and quiet in terms of demons and vampires. Word had gotten out about Michael's return and that tended to make those creatures fearful—a man that "nuked" the Hellmouth and got out of there tended to cause a lot of fear among potential enemies. Buffy made sure that nobody talked about him disappearing again. She liked the peace and quiet after everything they had been through, but she was still worried about Faith and what had happened to them.

She replayed in her mind, the good-bye scene with Riley. It had been tense and awkward. She found that she still had feelings for him. They had never ended their relationship on a clean break—there was so much that had been left unsaid. Her mind replayed that night when he left town—the first time—and she'd just missed him and her heart still felt the pain as she'd watched the helicopter fly away. Her mind replayed all the "what if" scenarios and what could have been.

We had our chance … We lost it and we have to live with it, she thought as she saw the same look in his eyes and read his mind, but neither of them would say it out loud.

She knew that if she pushed it she could have Riley and a small part of her lusted for that—the chance to get back what she'd lost. She pushed those thoughts down hard, she wasn't going to be the cause of ending Riley's marriage. She just couldn't see herself being the "other woman". She just wasn't that kind of person—she actually kind of liked Riley's wife the one time they met. Besides if she wanted a roll in the sack, there was always Spike, when they weren't arguing and maybe even when they were.

Before Riley had left, he'd given Buffy an update on his mission and what the government was going to do. He'd reported that the computer threat posed by the AI Adriana was no longer there, without saying that she was no longer in Sunnydale along with Michael. He also advised that any further "action or confrontation" planned should be re-evaluated. Fortunately, for once, cooler heads at the higher levels prevailed and with the threat posed by the AI gone, talk of "corrective action" was shelved—for now—but that surveillance on Buffy and the others would remain in place.

After what Riley had witnessed first-hand, of Michael in action, gave him pause of how they would fair in an open confrontation without it escalating rapidly beyond something they could manage to contain. He was confident that they could take out the Spartan, but it wouldn't be easy and it would definitely be messy and bloody. The thought of having to go up against a Spartan in fight caused him to shudder.

What Buffy hadn't told Riley was that Adriana had left back doors on some of the more sensitive government computer networks with programs running to flag and notify Willow of any files and communications that involved Buffy and the group—to give them warnings if any action against them was planned. Buffy and the others were aware that the government would be keeping tabs on them, but she wasn't too upset or willing to put up a fuss about it—yet.

oOoOo

Buffy found herself wandering into the common area. She saw the clock and realized that it was almost lunch time. Almost on cue her stomach growled and she smiled thinking that lunch would be a good idea. She noticed other people were starting to stagger in the area for lunch as well.

She saw Giles sitting at one of the tables reading a book and eating a snack. She didn't feel like eating alone, so she made her way over to Giles after grabbing some food from the kitchen.

Buffy sat down across from Giles, she debated disturbing him while he was reading, but he could tell that she wanted to talk about something without looking up from his book, "Something wrong?"

Buffy smirked as she shook her head as Giles always seemed to be able to read her. She did want to talk, but not in the lunch area—too many ears around.

"I was thinking of doing some training this afternoon, I was wondering—" Buffy started to say when she was suddenly interrupted by a loud crackling noise. She turned to face the noise and saw a bright growing light appearing in the middle of the common area. It almost looked like one of the portals that Willow would open, but this was different.

Buffy saw Willow across the room sitting with Kennedy. She had the same shocked and surprised look on her face. "Willow, are you doing this?" Buffy yelled over the noise.

"It's not me!" she yelled back.

Buffy heard Giles mutter, "Oh dear lord …"

Xander had rushed into the room and made his way over to Buffy, "What's happening?!" he asked.

Buffy shook her head in puzzlement turning her head as the light was getting brighter and it hurt to look towards it.

"This doesn't look good!" Xander yelled as the noise grew louder averting his gaze from the blinding light as well.

Buffy was about to yell at everyone to head to the armory to gear up, when two forms appeared in the portal and suddenly took shape.

She blinked and everyone stared in shock as they were staring at Michael in his battle armor and Faith was standing next to him looking healthy and smiling.

Faith broke the ice finally, "Hey B … Did ya miss us?"

oOoOo

It took everyone a long moment to regain their composure and recover from the shock of Faith and Michael's sudden appearance. It didn't take long for the crowd to swarm around the couple, bombarding them with questions. It took Buffy a moment to regain control, so that she could ask questions in a calm manner to find out what the hell was going on.

Everyone finally sat down and Michael had made himself a little more comfortable by taking off his helmet. It was Faith that explained to the group what Michael had done and where he had taken her. There was another long moment of stunned silence as they heard the story of the Forerunner installation. Even with all that they had seen and faced over the years and that Michael had seen and fought aliens, it was still hard to believe that there were aliens out there in other dimensions and that they had the ability to travel between them.

Buffy found the story hard to believe, but here was Faith and Michael in front of her. They were both looking healthy and Buffy also noted that they also looked pretty happy. She could see that Faith seemed more at peace now that she was back with Michael.

Willow asked about Adriana. Michael told her that she was staying behind for the moment at the Forerunner installation with Virgil. Willow was a little shocked to hear that another highly advanced AI was out there and that Adriana didn't want to come back. Michael said it was only for a short time as she was having an "interesting" time with the Forerunner AI.

As both groups caught up on all the news of what had happened, Michael couldn't help but notice that Willow was watching him strangely. He didn't know what had happened to her when he stepped into the circle during the portal spell. She had recovered from the jolt she had received, but she was still dealing with all the images, memories and emotions that she had absorbed from Michael when they merged briefly during that spell. She found herself looking at Michael—she realized that she probably had a better understanding and insight—even more so than Faith—of what and who Michael was. The only other person that would come this close was Adriana.

"So what's the plan now?" Buffy asked Faith.

"We'll see what happens … First thing is that I promised Michael was that we were going to spend some time traveling, maybe find ourselves a secluded beach somewhere. We're planning on going back to get Adriana in a few days, but other than that we are taking each day as they come."

Buffy couldn't help but notice the mischievous look in Faith's eyes and couldn't help but feel a little jealous of her fellow Slayer. At the same time she was still happy for Faith—she deserved happiness and a fresh chance. Michael appeared calm and at peace as compared to the last time she had seen him.

Xander found himself drawn to Michael's battle armor. He had always thought it was cool and he'd voiced on several occasions wishing that he could try it on, but Michael had told him that the armor could kill him from the force feedback—the earlier models had done just that during testing with non-augmented personnel.

Xander picked up on something different with the battle armor and it took him a moment to realize what it was, "What's that writing on the shoulder of Michael's battle armor. I can't make it out. What does it say?" he asked.

Faith smiled at the question, "Michael and I talked about it and we decided that in the event if we became separated again, that there should be something to help him find his way home. The symbols are dimensional co-ordinates, but take a closer look at the writing..."

Xander leaned in closer and could finally make out the small inscription on the left shoulder of the Spartan's battle armor.

"Property of Faith Lehane. If lost return to Sunnydale California or the 5414 Erde-Tyrene Research Installation."