If Faith hadn't been scared of Kakistos before, she was freakin' terrified of him now. He'd shown up while she had been taking a run around town, trying to get her bearings, an understanding of the layout of the town. She thought she'd be okay on her own, she was the Slayer, right? He must of have been watching her, outside her slayer range. Damn, what was she gonna do? It wasn't like she'd remembered to bring that walky Cordelia had given her.
She was running scared when she blew right past Tor and Heidi, two of the Pack. Heidi grabbed her. "Faith, what is it, you're reeking of fear!"
"Kakistos, he found me, he's right behind me!"
"Oh, so that's who that big ugly thing is." Tor said, pulling out his own walky, having spotted Kakistos a few blocks behind Faith. "Boss, we got us a problem. Big, ugly, as in way bigger and way uglier than the Master, vamp chased Faith right into us. Advise."
"Fall back to the library. If the Master was almost more than all 6 of us could handle fully armed, then we need more firepower to deal with that thing. We'll meet you there."
"Acknowledged, on our way. Come on, Faith. We'll figure out a way to deal with big and ugly." Tor said. He and Heidi each grabbed one of Faith's arms and the three raced for the library.
They arrived just as Xander and Cordelia did. Not far behind was Kyle and Rhonda. Jesse and Willow arrived with Ms. Calander and Giles. The Pack began strapping on their heavy armor. "Faith," Willow said. "I know you and Buffy weren't the same size, but until the Tribe gets some armor made for you, hers will at least offer some protection. I can help you get into it."
"Good idea, Willow," said Giles. "It's in the book cage." The three moved to the cage and between her and Giles got Faith into the armor.
"Okay, we can't have a confrontation here in the library, so we have to take it to them. I want Tor, Kyle and Rhonda to circle around behind from the left, Cordelia, Heidi and I will go right. Faith and Jesse, with his fireballs, will be in the middle. Giles, Willow and Ms. Calender will provide overwatch. I want Willow in the bell tower. Giles on the water tower down the street and Ms. Calender on the roof of the apartments two blocks down. They've got that handy fire escape. Everyone with walkies. No one out of contact at any time. Go." Xander said. Everyone went, heading for their assigned areas. Faith was scared sick. And did X say this Jesse dude could make fireballs?!
"You really do fireballs?" She asked, incredulous. "I thought X was joking when he mentioned that earlier,"
"Nope, no joke. I've been studying Magic for a little over a year now. Gotten pretty good with fireballs." He demonstrated by making one appear above his hand. She could feel actual heat from it. "Woah, major league cool!"
"Everyone, be advised. Kakistos and a black vampire are incoming, less than two blocks from Faith's location." Ms. Calender voice came over the walky.
Various acknowledged's could be heard. And then he was there, roaring, his hands reaching for her. She vaguely saw Jesse though a fireball in her peripheral vision and Kakistos yelled and then the Pack was there. Darting in and out, striking at the oversized vampire. The black vampire was reduced to dust under another Jesse fireball and then it was over. With a surprised look on his ugly, scarred face, Kakistos became a dust pile.
Faith felt numb. This thing had chased her for weeks across the whole damn country. Had taken the one person who'd been good to her from her and now he was dust. Faith walked over to the pile of dust that used be Kakistos, a monster that had haunted her nightmares for weeks now and hawked a loogie on it. Damn that felt good. She heard a 'gross' from Cordelia and 'way to go' from a couple of the guys. It was over, the monster slain. The relief nearly made her pass out. She felt Jesse grab her and say something about shock. The next thing she knew they were back in the library. Someone had taken the armor off her, and put a blanket around her shoulders. Jesse pressed a cup of hot coffee into her hands. Why did they feel cold, she was in California not Boston. Someone was rubbing her back. Slowly she started to become more aware.
"What happened?" She asked.
"You went into shock," Jesse answered. "It happens, you basically overloaded on adrenaline and stress and fear. You shut down for a little bit, until your body could flush some of it out. You'll be okay. Some sleep and you'll feel better."
"That's never happened before."
"Well, you've also never been chased across the country and then had to confront the source of your nightmares before. Slayers, like Protectors, may have power, but you're still human. You still feel. Sometimes more than you can handle. But it's past and you're fine now." Jesse told her.
"Trust him on this, he is basically studying medicine, traditional Chumash medicine, but still medicine. They may have their own terms and treatments, but still know what they're doing." Xander said.
The group broke up, each heading for their respective places. Xander and Cordelia took Faith back to the Chase Mansion. Faith managed a shower and then fell into the bed, so exhausted she was out before she could even get the covers over herself.
The next day dawned bright and beautiful. Faith could see the sun through the window and realized she had slept the whole damn night, straight through. No nightmares. Kakistos was dusted and Diana avenged. It was a good start to her time in California. D had been right, these people could help her. Maybe she'd stick around for awhile.