Chapter 13: Hot Chicks with Superpowers
Int: Pyramidal Tomb
Buffy spared a glance for the fallen figure before her before she swung the scythe full force at Caleb.
"Too slow, Slayer!" he spat out, grabbing the scythe and using the momentum to push Buffy away from him.
She stumbled backwards into Faith who grabbed Buffy's forearm, preventing her from falling. Caleb advanced on the slayers, taking advantage of their brief distraction and loss of balance. Faith was closer so he targeted her, swinging a punch at her head. He was fast; inhumanely fast however Faith had anticipated the move and she ducked the blow. She felt the air move as his punch soared harmlessly past her head and connected with a stone pillar, smashing it to pieces.
Faith stared in disbelief at the pieces of rock scattered over the floor; He's even stronger than our last encounter. She wasn't sure whether to be impressed or terrified. She didn't dwell on the thought for long as she sensed Buffy at her side, ready to continue this fight.
"Ha ha ha ha! You're not slipping out of this fight, girls. Can't you see? You can't stop me. I can just keep going back for more. It's like being reborn." Caleb laughed and mocked the Slayers standing before him, ready to fight.
Buffy rolled her eyes and swung the scythe at his head but he ducked the blow and grabbed her, throwing her against the wall, "Oh, déjà vu." He quipped before he kicked her into the air and punched her in the stomach as she fell to the ground with a grunt. Before Faith could react, Caleb kicked Buffy in the head and wrenched the scythe from her hands.
"Buffy!" Faith winced when she heard the impact of the strike. She charged the preacher and landed a perfect jumping front kick, knocking the weapon out of his hands.
Plucking it effortlessly out of the air she landed a powerful side kick to Caleb's solar plexus, winding him and causing him to fall to one knee. Spinning the scythe in both hands she aimed the stake at him and charged. With a smirk Caleb intercepted the attack and grabbed the weapon preventing her from plunging it into his chest.
He stood, laughing, taking advantage of Faith's brief surprise at the move, and shoved her away, knocking the scythe out of her hands. He ignored the weapon as it clattered to the floor and advanced menacingly on the dark slayer.
"You love her, don't you." He let loose a barrage of punches at her head.
Even with lightning fast Slayer reflexes Faith was unable to block them all. He didn't stop the onslaught until she had fallen to the floor, exhausted.
"It's kinda poetic," he continued, throwing another punch for good measure.
"You're her opposite," he hit Faith again.
"Opposites attract," another punch connected with the dazed slayers head.
"But what you don't realize, Faith," he spat out at her, using her jacket to pull her closer to him.
"You will never be good enough for her." He whispered in her ear.
Faith spat some blood onto the floor and glared at the preacher, "Fuck you, asshole!"
He laughed, a chilling, inhumane sound that made the hair on the back of Faith's neck stand.
He raised his hand, moving to strike Faith again, to finish her, but he was interrupted by Buffy, recovered from the blow to her head, charging towards him.
Sensing the blonde slayers approach he dropped Faith to the floor and deflected Buffy; using her momentum against her he threw her onto a sarcophagus. He stormed over to the blonde slayer and, picking her up by the lapels, swung her hard into a stone pillar. The pillar shattered as Buffy fell heavily to the ground, stunned, the air knocked out of her lungs. Gasping for air and coughing she watched wearily as Caleb picked up the scythe.
"I was kind of hoping it'd go this way." Caleb said menacingly as he raised the scythe, staring at Buffy, advancing on the fallen figure, preparing to end her. Suddenly Faith tackled him from the side, sending him flying, away from the blonde slayer.
"Leave her alone." Faith snarled at the preacher, standing in front of him in full Slayer mode. Breathing heavily, head pounding, covered in blood from multiple wounds, her fists bloodied and bruised, she was clenching and unclenching them by her sides. She hadn't had time to fully recover from the explosion but none of that mattered; her need to defend Buffy was all the strength she required to keep going against the preacher's inhumane strength. She landed a powerful uppercut to his chin, causing him to stagger. Wrenching the scythe once again from his grasp she raised the weapon to strike.
It felt so heavy, the fatigue from the previous few days, hell, weeks of being a punching bag at various times. Ugh, I have been on the receiving end of a lot of punishment recently. Faith's mind wandered briefly. She tried valiantly to overcome Caleb, but he was too strong, his bond with the First Evil giving him unimaginable power. He took advantage of the fact that she was not in top form and tossed her away from him effortlessly like she was a toy. Buffy winced when she heard bone crack as Faith connected with the stone wall. The dark slayer crumpled in a heap on the floor wincing in pain as her shoulder dislocated from the impact. At this rate there won't be any pillars holding the roof up. Buffy mused as she slowly got to her feet.
Faith struggled to her feet, using the scythe for support, when she saw Caleb leering at her menacingly, fast advancing towards her.
"Let's finish this, Slayer." He growled, angrily knocking debris out of his way as he approached her.
"Do your worst." She spat back at him, wavering a little as she stood defiant, once again, to face him, cradling her injured arm, dark eyes filled with rage. For a brief second Caleb hesitated. She's never going to give up, she will fight me until the bitter end. But he pushed this thought to the back of his mind and continued to advance towards Faith.
"Prepare to die, bitch!" he was a little rattled by her persistence, defiance, and his seeming inability to end her in spite of throwing everything at her.
Just past Caleb's advancing form Faith could see that Buffy was moving towards him, her intention clear, to intercept him before he reached the injured brunette. Their eyes locked and Faith nodded toward Buffy, almost imperceptibly, before she summoned all the strength she had remaining and gritting her teeth at the pain shooting through her injured arm she threw the scythe forcefully at Caleb's head.
Caleb ducked, laughing, and turned back to Faith, "Is that all you have got left, Slayer?"
His expression darkened when he noticed the defiant smirk on Faith's face. Sensing Buffy behind him he spun around to face her, just in time to see her swinging the scythe at his mid-section. He jumped backwards but not fast enough to avoid the blade slicing deeply into his flesh. Stumbling he laughed and wagged his finger at Buffy before he fell to the floor unconscious.
Buffy rushed past the fallen preacher to Faith's side. The brunette was favouring her injured arm, scowling at the fallen preacher.
"Are you alright." Buffy asked, concern in her voice. *She must have a head as hard as concrete to still be standing after all the punishment she's been dealt recently* Buffy mused.
"Yeah, 5 X 5." Faith muttered, "Bastard dislocated my shoulder." She muttered, gritting her teeth as she placed her good hand on her injured arm and with a sudden jerking movement popped her shoulder back in place.
"Motherfucker." She cursed under her breath, gasping at the pain. She grimaced and looked up at Buffy, noticing blood from a deep gash on her head had covered half of her face.
"You ok? You're bleeding everywhere, B." she stood wavering in front of the blonde, cradling her injured arm.
Buffy chuckled, "You're one to talk, F." She moved to embrace the brunette, kissing her deeply.
Faith broke free from the kiss, panting, "You sure showed him." She gestured to the crumpled form of the preacher on the floor.
"We showed him, Faith, it was a team effort." Buffy smiled at the brunette.
Int: Pyramidal Tomb Hidden Shadows
"Are you going to let that bitch get away with stealing your girl?" The blonde vampire's expression darkened at The First's words. He stared menacingly at Faith, jealousy and rage welling inside him. Hate for the brunette fueling his anger.
Int: Pyramidal Tomb
Glancing at the crumpled, unmoving heap on the floor, Buffy picked up the scythe and turned to quickly kiss Faith once more, "Let's get out of here." She brushed some hair from the dark Slayers face so she could inspect the deep gash on her temple just above her left eye.
"Well, it's about time!"
Both slayers turned, stunned when they heard that voice.
"Angel!" Buffy exclaimed; she hesitated for a second before running to the vampire to embrace him.
"I guess that qualifies as happy to see me." He smiled under the bone crushing embrace.
"Hey big guy." Faith said, still standing rooted to the spot, cradling her throbbing arm. The vampire smiled warmly at the dark slayer.
Buffy looked into Angel's eyes smiling, "Angel, what are you doing – "she shook her head, "don't even. I just want to bask." She continued staring into his eyes for a few seconds but snapped out of it when Faith cleared her throat subtly, or not so subtly, in the background. Buffy blushed and glanced apologetically at the brunette, "OK, I'm basked. What are you doing here?" she turned her attention back to the vampire.
"Not saving the damsel in distress, that's for sure." He said while staring pointedly at Faith, gratitude in his expression. Faith nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
"Oh, you know me. Not much with the damseling." Buffy said.
"Got your share of distress, though." He gestured to Caleb's body on the ground as he walked over to the brunette.
"Faith." He said simply, "Good to see you."
His back turned towards the blonde, "Thank you for being there for Buffy! And, I'm glad you heeded our last conversation." He said softly so only Faith heard him. She fidgeted uncomfortably.
Buffy was oblivious to the exchange between the two, "What have you heard?"
Angel turned to face Buffy, "I got coverage on the whole thing," He held up a folder full of notes, "It's very gripping. It needs a third act."
Buffy shook her head at him, "You have to leave LA."
"It's the First, right? The First Evil. The power that tried to convince me to kill myself."
"Yeah. It's gotten a little more ambitious since then. It's raising an army."
Angel shrugged, "Yeah, well, it failed once, and I'm here to tell you…"
His sentence is cut short as Caleb, suddenly standing behind him, swings a marble statue at Angel's head. The force of the blow propels the vampire into the dark Slayer taking her down with him. Faith grunts in pain and exasperation as she stumbles, unable to regain her balance and falls onto her injured arm, pinned under the unconscious vampire.
"Are you ready to finish this, bitch!?" Caleb spits, standing menacingly before Buffy, black blood streaming from his eyes and nose.
He takes a swing at her with the statue; Buffy manages to block him with the scythe, barely, the force behind his blow causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.
Quickly regaining her footing, she swings the scythe at him again he blocks the strike using the statue, the jarring force of the scythe connecting with the marble knocking her to the ground again. Oh, for crying out loud. Buffy scrambles quickly to her feet, frustrated that she can't seem to find a weakness to finish the preacher. Caleb throws the statue at her head, but she ducks and rolls and stands ready, scythe clenched tightly in her hands.
"OK, how many time do I have to kill you? Ballpark figure." she asks, exasperation in her tone.
"You understand nothing." Caleb snarls, grabbing the scythe as Buffy swings it at him. He wrenches it free from her grasp and throws it to the floor, punching Buffy in the face. Her head snaps back and Buffy stumbles with the impact, dazed and disorientated. She can sense the preacher's growing frustration that he hasn't managed to kill either Slayer yet. Guess we have something in common.
The scythe slides along the floor and stops just short of where Faith is pinned under the unconscious vampire. She grunts as she slowly but surely struggles to free herself. Seriously, big guy, you're wicked heavy. she grumbles to herself.
Her attention is drawn back to Buffy as she sees Caleb grab the dazed blonde by the jacket and slam her into the ceiling. Concern for the blonde is all the motivation she needs to find a burst of strength to shove Angel off her. She digs deep, ignoring the shooting pain in her arm and retrieves the scythe.
"I am going to end you." she mutters through gritted teeth, her expression dark. Buffy is struggling in Caleb's grip, but she notices out of the corner of her eye that Faith is free and standing, scythe in hand. Her face is filled with rage, all of it directed at the Preacher. For just a brief moment fear wells deep in Buffy, she recognizes that expression the dark Slayer is wearing; it is angry, murderous, full of hate, and its an expression she hasn't seen since Faith worked with the Mayor. She is jolted back to reality when Caleb releases his grip on her letting her fall to the floor. He strides up to her and grabs her jacket again, picking her up.
"You think you have power over me?" He snarls through gritted teeth.
Buffy somehow managed to break free of his grip. She threw a devasting hook to his head and followed it up by landing a powerful front kick to the abdomen. The force of the kick caused him to stumble backwards towards the brunette Slayer.
"Stupid girl. You'll never stop me. You don't have the ba –". His attention all focused on Buffy, Caleb had forgotten about Faith who is standing behind him, scythe in hand, ready to deliver the killing blow. She twirls the weapon and swings it up between his legs. His eyes widen as he looks incredulously at the scythe lodged in his body.
"Seems like your biggest mistake was discounting the other Slayer." Buffy said, smirking at Caleb.
Faith didn't waste anymore time and swiftly pushed the scythe up through Caleb's body, finishing him off, "JUST. FUCKING. DIE." She yelled as he fell, split in two, either side of her.
She pulled her gaze away from the now very deceased preacher and locked eyes with the blonde Slayer who was staring back at her just as intently, relief, respect, concern, love in her expression. Faith frowned a little. How can she smile at me when I just went back to that terrifying, dark place. I'm a murderer, always will be.
Angel regained consciousness just then and stood up, angrily, "OK, now I'm pissed! Where he is he?" he demanded.
Buffy looked to her right then her left then to Faith who was standing between the pieces, scythe gripped firmly in her shaking hands, the brunette has still not taken her eyes off Buffy. She is trying to ground herself, to bring herself back from the brink of her murderous rage. Buffy smiled reassuringly at Faith; she can see the myriad of conflicting emotions in the brunette's expression.
She turns to Angel, deciding to try and break the tension with some humour, "He had to split." She chuckles at the inappropriate joke.
Faith raised an eyebrow at the blonde slayer and finally relaxed her stance as she too snickered.
"Looks like I was the damsel in distress for this Act." Angel chuckled, rubbing his still aching head. He picked up the folder of information he'd brought with him and handed it to Buffy.
"I'll have the guys go through that. See if there's anything new. Reliable source?" She raised an eyebrow questioningly at Angel.
"Not remotely." Angel shrugged, "I, uh, brought something else as well."
Buffy stared at the crystal pendant that Angel removed from his pocket, shaking her head, "I can already tell you, I have nothing that goes with that."
"It's not for you."
"Splainy?" Buffy folded her arms in confusion.
Faith stared at the amulet, frowning, mesmerised, only half listening to the conversation between Buffy and Angel.
Angel continued, "I don't know everything. It's very powerful and probably very dangerous. It has a purifying power, a cleansing power, possibly scrubbing bubbles. The translation is, uh—anyway, it bestows strength to the right person who wears it."
"And the right person is?" Buffy frowned at Angel.
"Someone ensouled, but stronger than human. A Champion." Angel stared pointedly at Faith, but she didn't notice, her attention still on the amulet. She felt drawn to it; could feel the power it holds deep inside her being.
"As in me?" Buffy asked Angel, forgetting for a brief moment that she is not the only Chosen one.
Faith turned her attention back to the conversation and scowled; hurt by Buffy's blatant disregard for the fact that she too is a powerful being, "No, it's too dangerous…" but she is cut off by Angel.
"I don't know nearly enough about this to risk you wearing it, either of you…" He looked at Faith and his comment brought Buffy back to reality. She stole a glance at the dark slayer, realizing what she had said earlier. She can see Faith glowering beside her but to her credit the dark Slayer did not storm out and run away, something she would have done in the past. She really has grown. Buffy mused.
"I came here intending to be the one to wear it." Angel continued, "but the powers that be have a different plan so it doesn't matter how I feel about this." He handed the amulet to Buffy, "I can't be with you in this fight." He said sadly.
"I know." She said, taking his hand and squeezing it, "Someone has to hold the fort outside of Sunnydale when…" she swallowed, "if this thing gets past Sunnydale."
"I need a smoke." Faith blurts out, rolling her eyes a little; she is getting tired of Angel and Buffy getting all emotional and touchy feely and she really needs to get out of the dingy tomb.
"Good to see you, Angel." She slaps him on the shoulder, "Stay safe." Handing the scythe back to Buffy she turns to leave but is stunned when Angel stops her and grabs her in a hug. She stands awkwardly for a moment but eventually relaxes and returns the gesture.
"Um, ok, when did we become hugging friends?" She raises an eyebrow at Angel.
"Take care of her." He whispers in Faith's ear before releasing her from the hug, "Take care of yourself, Faith." He says, smiling at the dark slayer.
Faith nods awkwardly and directs a small scowl at Buffy before making a beeline for the exit, scrambling to get out of there.
Buffy stared after Faith frowning; she knows she hurt the brunette's feelings. She does have enough sense though to realize that Faith needs some time alone, so she resists the urge to run after her. Smothering Faith would be a sure way to make her bolt. She knows she needs to learn to trust the brunette and let her have time to herself. It's just a smoke break. They would sort this matter out later.
"So you and Faith, hey!" Angel turns back to Buffy once Faith is out of earshot.
Buffy turns to him blushing and shrugs, "Yeah. Took us a while to figure it out."
Angel chuckled, recalling his conversation with Faith back in L.A., "Seems the only two that didn't know were Buffy and Faith."
He smiled at the blonde Slayer, "I am happy for you both."
Taking Buffy's hand, "You will get through this battle, both of you."
He squeezed her hand in encouragement, "As for the amulet…" he diverted the topic back to the pressing issue at hand, "It is intended for a Slayer, but for the Slayer who holds the Chosen line."
He looked pointedly at Buffy, "I think originally it was intended to be paired up with that real cool axe-thing…"
"Scythe…" Buffy interrupted.
"Yeah, scythe." Angel corrected, "But now there are two of you. The amulet will only give power to the Chosen one that can continue the line of Slayers."
"Faith." Buffy whispered to herself, she looked up at Angel, tears forming in her eyes, "I can be so stupid sometimes." She muttered.
Angel nodded, "She will forgive you, Buffy, she loves you."
"How many times have I just discounted her as a second rate Slayer? I mean, she saved my life, from Caleb, he nearly killed me but she was there and she killed him instead and still I brushed her off as insignificant the moment you showed me the sparkly amulet thingy." Buffy's shoulders slumped dejectedly.
"So maybe you should go to her and give her what is rightfully hers." Angel suggested.
Buffy sighed, "You're right, I need to fix this." She turned to leave but paused, quickly grabbed Angel in a bear hug, gave him a very chaste kiss on the lips, "Stay safe, Angel." She said with feeling, before heading outside to find Faith.