It was a dismal night, as Kat sat up on the couch at her place, having been asleep on the couch in her living room, and put a hand to her temple. Pain sliced through her head, as images came to her. Flashes. She was sure this was probably the reason that Doyle had kissed her. To transfer his gift to someone else. Someone strong like himself. Like her. She'd always been strong, after all. This was so much pain, though. Something no amount of torture in her vampire years could be compared to.
As images came to her, she vaguely heard the sound of Damon, but couldn't say anything while the images were coming.
When the vision ended, the pain continued, and she saw Damon knelt in front of her. She also felt his hands on her arms.
"What's wrong?" Damon asked her.
"I think I know why Doyle did that. He transferred his splitting migraine visions over to me. I just had a vision. Doyle had visions all the time of people in danger. This one...I wasn't in Sunnydale for long, but I know a Vampire Slayer when I see one, but this wasn't Angel's Slayer, Buffy. This was another one. Angel will be able to shed some light on who she is. On the way to finding some pain killers, of course," Kat explained.
"What are we waiting for then?" Damon inquired.
She began to get up, in which he helped her do. Then he helped her head to the door.
Soon, they walked in. He helped her sit down at her desk. then, once she'd directed him to Doyle's stash he'd always kept for his visions, he handed her the bottle. Then she took a couple, before having a shot glass of Bourbon from her own desk. Then, when the pain was less, she felt like she was ready.
"Oh, my God! What happened to you?" Cordy had to blurt, when she walked in on them.
"Vision. Doyle's kiss apparently gave me his gift. Is Angel downstairs? I think the person I saw in my vision might be a Vampire Slayer."
Cordy was about to say something, when Angel came in, leaning against a wall.
"I'm here, Katherine," he said, having heard her ask where he was.
"You and Cordy. You two were in Sunnydale a lot longer than I was. Was there a Slayer other than Buffy? Because I know what she looks like, and whoever I saw in my vision wasn't Buffy."
"Did she have dark hair? The only other living Sunnydale Slayer was Faith. She went Dark. Then she went into a coma. What did you see?"
"Her doing questionable things. But you're a human. If she went Dark, I don't want you to get hurt by her."
"As much as I appreciate that you're trying to protect me, I think I'd prefer if you went back home. I'll find her. Eventually."
"Do I need to remind you what she did last time, back in Sunnydale?" Cordy questioned him. "Even if you find her, you're not a supernatural creature anymore. How are you going to deal with her? She killed people. Remember?"
"I remember," Angel replied.
"If you think you can get through to her, do it, but if we don't hear from you in say a few hours, we'll find you, and we'll find her," Kat said.
"Understood," Angel replied.
"You're going to let him go out there alone?" Cordy questioned.
"He knows what he's doing. I imagine, he knows Faith pretty well. Probably better than anyone else that knows her. If that's true, I think he can do whatever he's planning to do with her. But there was a reason for me having a vision about Faith," Kat replied to her.
Later that night, Kat was at her place with Damon after Cordy had filled her in on everything Faith related. Kat understood now why Angel thought he could save her. He saw her as some lost soul. Someone in need of help. Someone that he could help, even though he was human now.
"You're a new face. Both of you are. Angel doesn't usually surround himself with strangers," she heard from behind her.
Kat turned around to see the girl from her vision.
"Yeah, well, I'm not a stranger to him. I was a vampire once. I'm the one that helped him learn to be a vampire again after that cursed soul was given to him. We're old friends. Damon, well, he and I are complicated. For now, we're all helping each other."
"I don't see that everyday. A vampire and a vampire turned back into a human. I mean, how is that even possible?" Faith inquired.
"It's called a cure for vampirism. I got it shoved down my throat a long time ago. I should tell you. If you've come here to hurt anyone, Damon's not someone you want to mess with. There are the vampires you were trained to hunt and kill. And then there's my kind of vampires."
"You know who I am, then," Faith assumed.
"I do. Cordy and Angel each filled me in on some things. Plus, I've always been one to know things others don't want me to," Kat told her. "What are you doing here, really?" Kat then inquired.
"Thought I'd stop by. Find some old friends. See who I'm dealing with. Angel's never been alone. That okay with you?" she replied, not really giving her a straight answer.
"As long as you don't hurt anyone, I don't care who you came to see, but if you're going after Angel...Whatever he did for you to hate him enough to kill him, you should stop. Leave this city. Go find a different one to play around in," Kat warned her. Angel could take care of himself as a vampire, but not very much as a human. Not like she could. But then again, she had experience. Enough experience how to not get herself killed by someone or something stronger than herself. Plus, it helped to have a vampire on her side when she needed it.
"And if I don't?" Faith inquired, always testing others.
"Then you and I have a problem. If you want to hurt Angel, you'll have to go through me," she replied and informed her.
"Fine by me," the Dark Slayer replied, before bringing up an already loaded crossbow. "I was saving this for Angel, but I don't like competition."
"Well, I'll say this. You made a mistake. Two, actually. The first was coming here. The second was threatening me with a crossbow."
A moment later, without her having to say anything else, Damon had the Slayer against a wall, an arm against her, and used his other hand to grab her wrist, making her drop the weapon.
Kat came up, but stayed a safe distance away, always being the cautious one.
"Don't kill her. Angel will want her alive. Besides, Buffy will have a field day with her when she finds out that Faith's here. Never actually met her, but I kept tabs on Angel enough to know what kind of person Buffy is," she told Damon.
Eventually, they got back to Angel's place with Faith, and then tied her to a kitchen chair, just in case.
"Normally, we'd deal with those that try to kill either of us differently, but I've always been willing to do things Angel's way. If that doesn't work, then we'll just have to change things up a little. And maybe I'll decide that you're not worth killing. One thing to know, though. I'm sure it was difficult when it sunk in that you killed another human years ago, but guess what? I'm not the only vampire that got turned back into a human. Angel's human, too. You hurt him, then I'll find some creative ways to hurt you," she replied and threatened her. "Why don't you go upstairs. I think I'll be okay without you. I'm sure Angel will be back here soon," she told Damon, who then did as he was asked to.
"I gotta say, if I wasn't your prisoner, I'd say I'm impressed," Faith commented to her.
"Yeah, well. You're not my first bad guy. Although, you're my first human enemy. And my first up close and personal Slayer. But I'm pretty good at taking care of bad guys. I spent over 500 years running and being several steps ahead of the enemy, so by the time I got turned into a human, I didn't like it much, but I was able to use those skills to stay alive. Experience always helps," Kat replied to her. Then, feeling a presence, she turned to see him coming towards them to the kitchen. "You finally came back. So, what's the plan?"
"My plan is to help her," Angel answered her. "It's up to you if you want to be here while I do," he added to her.
"I have to be here. So far, I'm the reason you're still alive. Remember? And I may not have experience in Vampire Slayers, but they can't be much different than vampire hunters. And until you learn how to fight and win a fight as a human, I'm the only help you're going to get. I don't think Cordy is planning on being anywhere near Faith after what you two told me Faith did. And I don't blame her," she replied.
"Faith," he greeted, as he slowly approached where she sat.
"Long time no see," she replied. "You know, I'm feeling much better, so why don't you just let me go. You know, you can't keep me here forever. We've gone through this dance before, Angel, and it didn't stick."
"You know, I can't do that," he replied to her. "You might be feeling great about now, but sooner or later, it's all going to catch up with you. Then you won't be feeling so five by five anymore. You'll need someone," he then tried to persuade her.
"I don't need anyone, and I never will need anyone. I work alone. You know that," she countered.
"Everybody needs somebody, eventually," he reasoned with her.
"Well, that's not me," Faith replied to him.
Eventually, Angel got to a point with her that he didn't feel that she needed to be restrained anymore, so they let her wander freely in his apartment.
Kat leaned in the doorway to the open bedroom, watching her. She could tell that she was having a hard time with something. Probably a memory. So, she decided to tell her something.
"I've never exactly been in the same position you are now, but I was lost for a long time. My past haunted me, but I didn't let anyone know except for the one person that I trusted with my life the most. I know what it's like trying to not relive your past. My kind of vampires. They all have souls, but with the ability to turn off their emotions if they don't want to feel. I turned mine off for a while, because I couldn't deal with the grief, but it still haunted me. I ran from someone that was going to use me in a ritual. I ran for my life, knowing that him using me would kill me. I wanted to live, so I turned. I came back home when I heard news about a slaughter in the area that I grew up in. I never saw him do it, but he was the only monster that I knew would actually do it, so I always blamed it on him. My entire village and parents were slaughtered. For centuries, even with my humanity off, finding my mother like that haunted me. If it weren't for my ability to turn off my emotions, I never would've survived my existence. Even to this day, I still have regrets. I broke people's hearts that I care so much about. I killed people that didn't deserve it. I became everything I hated about the person that put me down that path. I lost people that I cared about whether it be them being killed, or me hurting them too many times with my actions. It took me becoming human to finally take responsibility for what I've done. And now, I think when you're ready, you should probably start apologizing to the people you hurt, just like I finally did recently to at least Damon. An apology for what you've done is a start."
"What am I going to say to B? All my life, there was only one person who tried to be my friend, went out of their way when I had no right or reason to expect her to, and I screwed her. Not to mention, her boyfriend. Only him, literally."
"You could start with I'm sorry. Then go from there. I got the sense that she's a good person. Maybe, even with all that damage, she'll eventually forgive you. I've never been good at forgiveness. I was always vengeance first sort of thing. I always held grudges for a long time, but I'm starting to learn how to act like a human should. I know forgiveness isn't easy, but there's something I learned from my centuries with the only noble vampire I've ever known and loved. I always underestimated his forgiveness towards me, but what I learned from him is that forgiveness starts with forgiving yourself. Once I forgave myself for taking the actions I did that cost all those events that happened after I ran and turned, I finally forgave my former enemy, and he's not an easy person to love or forgive. I've just been here, trying to keep Angel alive, so I haven't told him that I forgive him yet."
"I'm not sure if I can forgive myself," she replied.
"You will when you're ready. It takes time, depending on the person you are. It took me a while, because I was such a good person before I turned all those centuries ago, and as a human again, a part of that part of me has returned."
Eventually, after putting hard work into helping Faith, Faith eventually turned herself in for all the horrible things she'd done. Then, eventually, Angel and them decided to fix up and move into an old hotel Angel knew of, which was where they began to have their business at.
