A/N: Well, I'm back after a bit of a longer hiatus than anticipated. Thank you all for your patience and for sticking with this story. The good news is, I've finished vet school and after a bit of a hectic few weeks after graduating, and then the chaos of Christmas and New Year, I finally managed to finish chapter 9. CBscifiJUNKY, my wonderful beta, has given this chapter the once over and deemed it fit and readable for you, my lovely readers. I promised you all that I would finish the story and not leave you hanging, so, without further ado, I give you chapter 9…enjoy ;-)

A/N2: Because it's been so long it may be worth your while skimming through the previous chapter. Hell, I had to re-read the whole story to remind myself what exactly I was doing with it ;-)

Chapter 9: A Slayer too…

Int: Random House Bedroom

Spike groaned and turned over, squinting through his bleary eyes at the blurry figure standing at the foot of the bed. He could sense the presence of a Slayer and the tingling on the back of his neck had woken him up.

"Buffy?" he rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision, confused as to why he could feel hostility coming from the Slayer in waves.

Faith smirked when she heard this; she was standing at the foot of the bed, a psychotic grin on her face; knife, that knife, clutched tightly in her hand. She didn't want to just stake the vampire, that would be too easy, no, he deserved to suffer for what he had done…really suffer. It was kind of poetic that she would use the very same knife that Buffy had tried to gut her with.

"Guess again, Twinkie." She responded, the tone of her voice sending a chill down Spike's spine.

Spike sat up quickly, suddenly wide awake when he realized that there was a very pissed off, very psychotic Slayer standing not 2 meters away from him.

"Faith!" he couldn't prevent the slight waver in his voice, betraying his fear, as he whispered her name.

Faith smirked, enjoying the effect she was having on the vampire. He was visibly squirming under her intense gaze while she just stood dead still at the foot of the bed.

"Can I help you with something, luv." Spike tried to hide his fear, his cocky attitude masking the gut wrenching fear he felt.

Faith scowled, "As a matter of fact, there is a little something." She tilted her hand so that the knife was in full view of the vampire. The glinting steel caught Spike's eye and he dropped his gaze, gulping back the terror that was fast taking over him.

Ext: Streets of Sunnydale

Buffy headed for the vineyard, renewed purpose in her stride; her anger at her friends, at the potentials, but especially Faith, fuelling her desire to find Caleb and take whatever it was he had of hers. Buffy kept going over the events of the night before in her mind. As much as she knew it was irrational she couldn't help but be angrier at Faith than any of the others. Deep down, Buffy knew that Faith had nothing to do with planning or instigating the "rebellion" against her. No, Buffy was angry and disappointed in the dark Slayer. Out of everyone she had expected her at least to back her up, to understand her motives, to see that Buffy only had the best interests of everyone at heart.

Is that really why you're mad at her; disappointed in the one person you thought would have your back. Or are you angry at her because you love her and you thought she loved you enough to back you up, regardless of what decisions you made. Buffy slowed her furious pace and thought about her feelings for the dark Slayer. She couldn't lie to herself, as much as she was trying to avoid the issue, there was definitely something there. Buffy could only compare it to the feelings she once had for Angel; but there was something stronger, more intense about her feelings for the dark Slayer. Buffy had to admit to herself that she was angrier at Faith, because she loved her, and had expected more from her.

Int: Random House Bedroom

Faith straddled Spike, she had beaten him to within an inch of his life and he was now lying in a helpless heap on the floor. She held the knife to his throat, preparing to behead the vampire, preparing to kill him. She sat on his hips and glared with hate in to his bloody, beaten face…blood from her own injuries dripped onto his face and mingled with his. Faith watched with morbid fascination as vampire and Slayer blood mingled. She applied more pressure to Spike's throat, the blade breaking his skin and spilling more of his blood. He was resigned to his fate, had accepted that he was going to die at the hands of this Slayer.

"Promise me you'll look after her." It was spoken very softly, Spike trying to hide his pain. He stared into Faith's eyes, begging her to look after Buffy with all his soul. And that was when Faith saw it, his soul. She eased off with the knife and stared into the vampire's eyes and saw the hurt and pain and regret for what he had done, but most importantly, she saw that he did in deed love Buffy and would do anything for her.

Faith shook her head, she hated Spike with a passion, but she couldn't kill him, she realized this now. She couldn't kill someone who cared that much for Buffy. She couldn't kill him because he had a soul now. It dawned on Faith then that she was almost the same as the vampire; she had only the best of intentions for the blonde Slayer, in spite of their history. She nodded and slowly stood up, ignoring the protests her injured body made against the movement.

Spike sighed with relief and continued to lie on the floor, avoiding the intense gaze of the dark Slayer, "You have my word, I will never hurt Buffy again." The promise was a soft whisper but Faith heard it and nodded at the vampire, then she stepped over his prone form and was gone.

Ext: Streets of Sunnydale

Faith headed back to Buffy's house very slowly; there were still a few hours before 7:00; before she had to lead a bunch of innocent potentials into battle. You always made it look so easy to lead. Faith sighed as she thought about Buffy; I'm terrified, B, I can't lead these girls into battle, I'm not strong like you…

"Oh, but you are strong, so much stronger than you give yourself credit for."

Faith stopped in her tracks and turned around to face the direction the voice had come from, a voice she recognized too well.

"What do you want?" she snarled as she saw the Mayor standing before her.

He shook his head disapprovingly as he took a step towards the Slayer, "Manners, my dear, you might be a little more welcome. It's the end of humanity, Faith, not the end of courtesy."

Faith scowled at him, "You're wasting your time. I know who you are, what you are."

The Mayor smirked at Faith, an amused expression on his face, "Nobody's explained to you how this works, have they? You see... I am part of the First, as you kids call it, but I'm also me, Richard Wilkins III, late mayor and founder of Sunnydale. Here. I'll prove it to you. Ask me a question only I know the answer to. Something like... Where did I hide the moon pies in my office? Or... who was my favorite character in little women? Meg. I know. I know. Most people guess Beth, but Meg, she's such a proper young lady. Remember when Jo burned her hair?"

Faith stared at the Mayor, "I know what you're doing, and it's not going to work. But feel free to keep talking, 'cause, hell, I could listen to you yap all night." She continued walking down the street towards Buffy's home.

The Mayor fell in beside her, matching her fast, angry pace, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Language! You're a leader now. You keep throwing the "h-e-double hockey sticks" around, pretty soon, the girls are going to pick up on it. Then what?"

Faith stopped dead and turned to glare at the First, "You let me worry about the girls."

The Mayor threw his hands in the air defensively, "Of course, of course. You're doing a great job with them, by the way. Much better than Buffy ever did. You were smart to kick her out."

Faith scowled at the Mayor, "That's not what we…" she paused, realizing that he was just baiting her, "Buffy got them this far."

"Why are you protecting her?" the Mayor stepped in front of Faith, stopping her in her tracks, "You think she cares about you?" satisfaction filled him as he saw he was getting to the dark Slayer, "She nearly killed you, Faith." He spat at her, enjoying the dark look that flashed across the Slayer's face.

Faith stood before him, clenching her fists, her jaw was set, "It's different now." She said through clenched teeth, "We're different now."

The Mayor just smirked at her, "No matter what you do, Buffy will always see you as a killer, not as a person. And now you have what she so desperately wants: the respect of these girls. All she needs is an excuse, and she'll finish what she started when she stuck that knife in your belly. You stay on guard, Faith. Buffy's dangerous. If you're not careful, she'll destroy you."

Faith was unable to control her fury anymore, she lashed out at the Mayor, aiming a barrage of fruitless punches and kicks his way. They just passed straight through him as he laughed at her futile attempt to destroy him.

"You're wrong!" Faith screamed at him, "She cares for me…" her protests were nearly drowned out by his laughter, fueling her anger. She attacked him with renewed vigor, throwing everything she had at the apparition before her. Finally, losing her balance, she fell to her hands and knees, exhaustion and frustration filling her.

The Mayor crouched before the prone Slayer, enjoying his game of torment he was playing, "Deep down, you always wanted Buffy to accept you, to love you even. Why do you think that is?" Faith just glared at him, hatred in her eyes.

"You keep looking for love an acceptance from these people, especially from Buffy…" he stood up and started pacing in front of Faith, "you're never going to find it." He turned back to the prone Slayer, his hands behind his back, "The truth is, nobody will ever love you, not the way I love you."

"Get away from me." Faith snarled.

The Mayor just laughed at her, "Such hatred, Faith." He said, straightening up as she leant back on her heels, not taking her eyes off him, "It will come in handy, when the time is right."

The Mayor just smiled at her, "Just remember, Buffy will never love you, Faith. You're a murderer; she'll forever see you as a killer!" and with that, he was gone.

Faith remained sitting on her heels, staring ahead, trying to control the fury and rage that was coursing through her. It took her a moment to realize that she was sitting in front of Buffy's house. She slowly got to her feet and made her way to the front door, as she went to grab the door handle Robin Wood appeared out of the shadows.

"Faith."

"God." Faith whipped round to face the former principal, "Don't sneak up on me like that, I could have taken your head off, or worse…" she scowled at the teacher.

"There's something worse than having your head taken off…" he replied with amusement in his voice.

Faith continued to scowl at him, "You have no idea…" she said resignedly.

"Are you alright, Faith?"

"Why, what's it to you?" Faith attacked, staring the principal down.

"Look, you just seem a bit spooked, that's all, what happened?"

"What did you see?" Faith asked softly, her hand still poised over the door handle.

Wood folded his arms across his chest and sighed, "You were yelling at him to get away from you, but there was no one there, Faith." He said softly, knowingly.

"It was the First." Faith turned to face the principal, fear evident in her eyes.

"I figured as much." Wood stood before the Slayer, "You're really in the game now, Faith. The first doesn't show itself unless it thinks you matter."

Faith laughed nervously, "Lucky me, I'm a player." She grabbed her cigarettes out of her pocket and tried to light one, "Man, look at that…" she held out her hand, "my hand's shaking." She shook her head, "Demons, vampires, woman in the penitentiary system – none of that freaks me out…"

Int: Summer's House

Willow stood by the window, watching and listening to the exchange between Faith and Robin. She knew the principal had a thing for Faith, and she was worried that the Slayer, in her present state of mind, may do something she regretted.

Willow was about to head out to interrupt the two, but Faith's words stopped her.

"…we've given her pretty good reason to be pissed off. You know the messed up thing? The First is telling me to worry about her, and I just wish she was here. In a few minutes I'm gonna lead these girls into some serious crap, and she's the only one…"

Willow smiled sadly, she hated that they had kicked Buffy out of the house; it was probably one of the hardest things she had ever had to do. It had to be done, though, Buffy had started to become reckless, her overwhelming desire to destroy the First had taken control, blinded her to the needs of all the others in the house. Willow watched Faith through the window, she looked so sad, so dejected when she spoke of the blonde Slayer. I guess one good thing came from kicking Buffy out. Willow thought to herself. It has helped Faith at least come to terms with her feelings for her.

"She's not the only one. You're a slayer too, Faith, and I think you're a good leader."

Willow was snapped out of her thoughts and quickly went outside; it was time to break up the dialogue between the two, "Faith, it's almost time." She ignored the scowl that Robin gave her and gestured for the Slayer to come inside and prepare for the upcoming mission.

"Right, time to go." Faith quickly headed inside, flashing the witch a small smile, relieved that she had interrupted the conversation with Robin.

Int: Wine Cellar at Vineyards

"Hey! I heard you've got something of mine." Buffy stood at the top of the stairs, hands on hips, cockily staring down at Caleb.

Caleb looked up and saw Buffy standing there, "Well, if it ain't the prodigal slayer?"

Buffy looked around, "Where's it at? You know I'm gonna find it sooner or later."

"No, you're not. I lay one hand on you, and you're just a dead little girl."

Buffy shrugged, "Lay a hand on me...if you can." She smirked at the preacher.

Int: Tunnel

Faith lead the potentials through the tunnel, her flashlight finally illuminating a stockpile of weapons.

"Everybody stop, I think we just found it." Faith paused in front of all the weapons.

"Look at all this." Kennedy said in dismay.

Vi grabbed a sword from the pile and looked around, "I don't get it. Why'd they abandon all this stuff?"

Faith turned as she heard a noise behind them, she saw a Bringer jump down from the rafters, "Maybe 'cause they didn't." she said ominously, as she raised her sword and charged the nearest Bringer.

Int: Wine Cellar – Vineyards

"You whore!"

Buffy stopped running and turned to face Caleb, "You know, you really should watch your language. If someone didn't know you, they might think you were a woman-hating jerk."

Int: Tunnel

"Is that it? I mean, not that it wasn't fun, but…" Vi was cut off by Kennedy who was inspecting a nearby door.

"Yo, Faith, check this out!"

Faith headed over to where Kennedy was aiming her flashlight and cautiously inspected the doorway. She shone a flashlight into it which revealed a set of stairs leading down into the basement. She threw at quick glance at Kennedy and the rest of the potentials before gesturing to them to follow her down the dark stairwell.

Once they reached their destination they all took a moment to survey their surroundings. Faith headed over to a plank laid across a waterway, she was interested in the padlocked box that was on the other side, "Wait here." She called over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off the box as she headed towards it.

Int: Wine Cellar – Vineyard

Buffy saw a trapdoor under some fallen wine barrels, she ducked Caleb's wild punch and dived for the door, disappearing into the basement of the wine cellar.

Buffy stood up, brushing herself off as she looked at the now closed trap door. But her attention was drawn to a dark rock; or, more accurately, to the weapon that was embedded inside the dark rock.

Grinning, Buffy jogged down the stairs and went to inspect the weapon more closely. She slowly reached out to touch the handle.

"So…you found it." Buffy turned to face Caleb, "Not impressed, cause the question now, girly girl, is can you pry it from solid rock before I come over there…"

Buffy grabbed the handle and pulled the weapon out of the stone with ease. She looked over at Caleb, a smirk on her face. She could feel the power of the scythe surging through her, it was so raw, so powerful. She felt invincible; finally they had a fighting chance against the first.

"Darn." Caleb exhaled a worried breath.

Int: Tunnel

Faith crouched before the box and inspected the old fashioned padlock. Not known for her patience, she stood up and kicked the lock, busting the box open. She bent down once again to open the box. Her eyes widened when she saw a timer reading 00:08 seconds that was wired to bricks of C4. She jumped back, "Everybody get down!!"

The box exploded, the fireball and concussion from the blast sending potentials flying. Faith had tried to get as far away from the bomb as she could, but it was too late. The blast threw her in to the water. I'm sorry I failed you, B. Her last thoughts, before unconsciousness overcame her.

Int: Wine Cellar – Vineyard

"You don't even know what you got there." Caleb was backing away nervously from the blonde Slayer.

"I know you're backing away." Buffy said, still approaching him.

"You think wielding some 2-sided doo-dad's gonna make a difference?" Caleb snarled at her.

"Let her go, Caleb." The First appeared behind the priest. Caleb hesitated, "I said let her go."

"If I let her go, she slices me open with that thing." He gestured to the Scythe.

Buffy stared at the preacher as if he'd gone insane, she knew he was talking to the First but it was still disconcerting to see him talking to nothing. She suddenly frowned, confused as she felt panic, fear, pain, and then nothing. Her connection to Faith had been strengthened when she had grabbed the scythe, so this sudden severe weakening of their bond scared her. She could barely feel the dark Slayer at all.

The First smirked at Buffy, "No she doesn't, she hasn't got time. She has friends." Buffy snapped her head in the direction of the First, she could hear her, it, see it, but what freaked Buffy out the most was that the First had taken her form. Buffy gulped back her fears, her own mortality staring her blatantly in the face, a reminder that she was not invincible. She hesitated, gripping the scythe firmly in her hands, a worried expression on her face as she looked at the First.

The First continued the dialogue with Caleb, "And her friends are in trouble." she smirked psychotically at the blonde Slayer, "Faith go boom…"she said laughing maniacally.

Buffy glared at the First and Caleb, fear for the dark Slayer's life her only coherent thought. She rushed past them and bolted up the stairwell, her only goal; to reach Faith before it was too late.