Regrets, Fears and Confrontations
by Slay Chick
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Don’t own the Buffy characters; don’t even
think I own myself at the moment.
Author's Notes: Not sure when this is set but Faith is out of
jail, so what happened between them in season 4
happened. There’s Dawn or Joyce there though.
Faith walked alongside the cemetery, searching for vamps. She came to an abrupt halt, when she felt the other slayer in close proximity.
“Hello Faith,” Buffy greeted her. If Faith didn’t know any better she’d say that Buffy was being friendly. But Faith did know better.
“Right back at ya,” Faith smiled. The best way to handle this was to stay cool.
“So you want to tell me what you’re doing back here. Kill anyone today?”
“I’m not into that anymore,” Faith said, being serious.
“Oh, so your whole I’m-going-to-kill-anyone-I-please attitude was just a phase. Any others you’re going through,” Buffy went on bitterly.
“I don’t need this, I ain’t doin’ nothin’ wrong, so get off my back,” Faith began to walk away.
“You haven’t told me why you’re here yet,” Buffy yelled after her, angry at the fact that she was back here and acting as if nothing had happened.
“My reasons,” she called back.
Faith walked away. Damn, can she ever be bratty.
She wanted to make things right with Buffy, but she was never going to get around to it if she kept acting like a stuck up bitch.
Buffy walked away with a huff. How dare she come back here?
She stormed home to tell the Scoobs that trouble was back in town.
“And she didn’t hurt you or anything?” Willow asked.
“No. She just walked away,” Buffy pouted. How dare she walk away from me.
“Well, I say we keep a close eye on her. With a new Big Bad in town, we don’t know that she’s not working for him, killing again,” Xander chipped in.
“I don’t really know if she’s actually going to kill anyone, but I don’t expect her to save anyone either,” Buffy said.
That night Buffy lay in bed thinking about Faith. The girl was purely evil.
“Faith, you don’t get it! You killed a man.”
“No, you don’t get it. I don’t care.”
She fell asleep, raged over Faith’s reappearance. Buffy tossed and turned in her sleep.
She was dreaming of the night she stabbed Faith.
“You did it. You killed me. Still won’t help your boy though.”
Buffy just stood there staring at the wound, as Faith swung at her, knocking her down.
“Shoulda been there B, quiet a ride.” With that she jumped off the roof.
The scene shifted and Buffy now was walking through the cemetery. She sensed a vampire close up, but there was something different about the vampire, maybe it was also the fact that she could sense Faith fighting the vamp. Maybe she has changed a bit, Buffy thought. She neared the vampire. She could now see Faith fighting it, or rather the vampire beating the crap out of Faith. The vampire was a young girl, about her age and hight, with blond hair.
Buffy frowned and hurried toward them. This vampire looks measly, how can Faith be getting her ass kicked. She couldn’t have gotten that sloppy in jail.
But as Buffy came close enough, she saw exactly why Faith was having trouble with the vampire.
The vampire was a replica of Buffy.
“C’mon F,” it was saying, “You’ve wanted to kick my ass so bad. Remember I killed you, slid that knife into you like you were butter. Felt no regret for it and you know why, because you will always be a worthless, murdering whore.”
“B, no I don’t want to, please, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I’ve never meant to hurt you.” Faith sobbed on the ground. “I lo-“ Her words were cut off as vampire Buffy stabbed Faith, just as Buffy did.
Buffy bolted awake. What the hell was that about, she thought.
She got out of bed and shook her head. She really hoped that this wasn’t a prophecy dream, because as much as she did want to kick Faith's ass, again, she certainly didn’t want to be a vampire again.
“Morning,” Willow greeted her as she walked into the kitchen.
“Damn, Buff you look like hell,” Xander commented.
Buffy glared at him, “Good morning to you too, Xander. I’m gonna go for a walk, clear my head.” Buffy left before anyone could protest.
She walked along the bare streets, it was too early for anyone to be really up and about. She continued walking without a sense of direction until she realised where exactly she was. She was at the motel Faith stayed in last time she came to Sunnydale. Buffy didn’t know if Faith was staying there again or if she was staying at the apartment the Mayor bought for her.
Buffy shook her head and headed the opposite direction, deciding that she should head back home. As soon as she walked through the door Willow rushed at her.
“Buffy look at this.”
Buffy looked at the paper and saw that the front page news featured a little girl who went missing. Buffy didn’t see the big deal. Yeah, sure it was sad when it was kids who ended up being killed by demons and vamps but it wasn’t the first time, it happened all the time.
When Buffy threw a confused look at Willow she went on and explained that this little girl was the new Mayor’s daughter.
Suddenly it all made sense.
Faith’s reappearance in Sunnydale and the Mayor’s daughter going missing weren’t a coincidence. Buffy knew that in some twisted way Faith and Mayor Wilkins were close, and she suspected that Faith was trying to pull a rerun.
Not doing anything wrong my ass, yeah that’d be the day Faith. Out of jail and back to her old tricks, she thought angrily.
“I’m going to find her,” she said through her teeth. “And when I do I’m going to make sure that she never get out of prison.”
“Buffy, do you want us to come with you,” Willow asked.
“No I can handle her.” Buffy stormed out of the house and ran back to the motel. Faith wasn’t there so Buffy went to the apartment that the mayor gave her. She stormed through the door with a bang.
“Oh, B we already did this scene,” Faith groaned. This scene was too familiar for her liking.
“Where’s the girl?” Buffy demanded.
“What girl?”
“What girl! What girl Faith! The Mayor’s daughter! THE ONE THAT YOU KIDNAPPED!” Buffy was loosing her patience.
“I didn’t kidnap no one B,” Faith said calmly, trying to keep her cool.
“Oh, yeah, then who did? Isn’t it a coincidence you show up in Sunnydale and the Mayor’s daughter gets kidnapped!”
“How should I know who kidnapped the kid, I ain’t clairvoyant.” Faith shouted at her.
“There’s no need to clairvoyant to know that you did it.”
“Ugh! You’re impossible B. I didn’t kidnap anyone, I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”
“Let me fill you in then. The Mayor tried to destroy the little community of Sunnydale by planning an Ascension, in which you were a happy little participant, doing the mayor’s-little-girl-always-at-your-side routine. I kicked your ass, stopped the ascension. Then you woke up from the coma and did a second take at ruining my life. Then you went to jail did your time and now you’re back to destroying the world, or Sunnydale at least. You know, kidnapping the mayor’s daughter, trying to take her place. Sorry to inform you but not every mayor is evil.”
“Thanks for the recap, now please leave. I give you my word I didn’t take the girl.”
She’s still as stubborn as ever, Faith thought.
“Right, like your word was ever worth anything. You betrayed me Faith, you lied to my face and you hurt the people I loved and cared about.” Buffy didn’t sound angry anymore, just hurt.
“I’m sorry, look, I really am. If you really want to know what I came back to Sunnydale, it was to make things right or at least as right as they could be. I know I did a lot of screwed up stuff and I want to apologise at least.”
Buffy noted that Faith looked truly sorry, and the annoying thought that Faith might be telling the truth, that Faith might have changed, had flashed through her head again.
“Whatever Faith,” she realised that Faith was not going to admit that she kidnapped the girl, there was nothing left to be said, so she turned and walked out the door.
Faith watched sadly as Buffy walked out the door. Great start, Faith thought. Why did this have to happen now, I really wanted to make things right with her.
Faith knew now why Buffy would think that she kidnapped the girl. She had to admit that it did look suspicious but there was no way she could prove that…unless she rescued the kid.
She decided that that’s what she was going to do, even if it cost her her life, at least then Buffy would see that she had changed.
That night both Buffy and Faith went out patrolling, both looking for the mayor’s daughter and both hoping that wasn’t too late.
Buffy, who was sure that Faith kidnapped her, was looking for a hiding place and Faith was looking for, well, she wasn’t sure but possibly a nest.
Faith walked along the graveyard. She came across a mausoleum. There were plenty of them in the graveyard but none that were occupied, by the living or the undead at least. This one also looked newer than the rest.
Faith was about to walk in, when she realised who’s mausoleum it was. It was the mayor’s mausoleum. She supposed the people of Sunnydale needed to rationalise his death and at least give him a proper burial, seeing as he was the mayor, although Faith wasn’t sure how it was possible to rationalise a person turning into a giant snake.
She found the fact that someone was occupying this mausoleum very strange.
She pushed the door open and walked in, which wasn’t such a good idea as Faith found out as soon as she walked in. She was faced with about half a dozen vamps doing a ritual of some sort and there right in the middle of the altar sat a scared looking girl, which Faith figured to be the mayor’s daughter. She immediately went into fighting stance.
“So you couldn’t go off sacrificing a lamb or something, could you, always has to be human and you know this time you really got me in the shit.” All hell broke loose as Faith began kicking ass, dusting one vamp after another.
Damn I missed this, she thought. If only B were here. It’d be just like old times.
As if hearing Faith’s thought Buffy began to head in the direction of the mausoleum.
Faith kicked and punched occasionally receiving some herself, after all it was one against five. Normally she wouldn’t go fighting five vamps on her own but she really wanted to show Buffy that she’d changed, that she wanted to do good again, to make up for her mistakes.
After dusting what she thought was the last vamp, she rushed to the girl and began to untie her. The little girl whimpered as Faith tried to calm her down.
“It’s okay those bad guys are du-“ She cut herself off. “They’re gone now, you’re safe.”
At that moment Buffy chose to walk into the mausoleum.
“I knew it!” she cried out. “Didn’t kidnap her my ass!”
“I didn’t I just-“
“Save it for the cops Faith. Now let her go.” Buffy moved closer.
“But I-“
“NOW.”
Faith slowly stepped away from the girl. Buffy quickly rushed to the girl’s side. The little girl confused, thought that Buffy was with the other vampires, so she began to yell. “Let me go, let me go! Help!”
Buffy quickly released the girl.
Faith went to calm the girl down again. The girl quieted down and shrank into Faith.
“What did you do to her!” Buffy yelled.
“Prevented her from being sacrificed.”
“I’m supposed to believe that”
“Believe what you want B, just let me get this girl safe somewhere first. Shh, it’s ok,” she calmed the still shaking girl. “That’s Buffy. She’s not bad, she can be one pain the ass but she means well.”
“Why is she yelling at you?” The little girl asked.
“She doesn’t like me.” Faith said broken-heartedly. The statement and the feeling behind it almost knocked Buffy down. Her eyes filed with tears as she realised that Faith was telling the truth, that she had changed.
She watched as she untied the girl gently speaking to her.
“I’m Faith by the way. You want to tell me your name? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“I’m Annabelle but you can call me Annie coz I like you,” Annie said.
“Ok, Annie,” Faith smiled thinking how adorable she was.
Buffy watched seeing how careful and gentle she was with Annie ans something in her heart jumped.
She moved cautiously to help untie Annie so as not to scare her again.
When she moved close enough, Annie shrinked deeper into Faith, who reassured her it was okay.
Buffy helped untie the last few ropes and helped Faith lift the girl to her feet.
Annie kept close to Faith all the way to the police station. She still wasn’t sure why Buffy was so mean to Faith considering Faith was so nice.
Buffy couldn’t take her eyes off Faith. She couldn’t believe how much she’d changed. Or maybe she never really changed, maybe Buffy was just seeing Faith for the first time, really seeing her. There was always something about her but the first time she was in Sunnydale Buffy was too wound up in her own problems to look into it, this time though Buffy wouldn’t make the same mistakes. She wasn’t going to ignore Faith this time. They’d both made mistakes, Faith paid for hers, now it was Buffy’s turn.
When they walked through the door of the police station, Annie hid behind Faith and Faith slightly hid behind Buffy. She still wasn’t comfortable around cops, sure she did her time, fair and square but it didn’t mean that she was okay with cops.
Everyone turned and looked at them. One of the cops spotted Annie and rushed to her side.
She whimpered and held on to Faith, who turned to calm her down.
Buffy watched how affectionate she was with the child and unconsciously smiled.
“How did you find her? Where did you find her?” The officer asked in awe as another two officers rushed to join the growing party.
Buffy and Faith exchanged a nervous glance. They couldn’t exactly tell them that they found her just before a group of vampires tried to use her as an offering.
“Uh, we… found her in the cemetery. She uh, was… she got stuck in a mausoleum… under a, um, boulder. Probably got lost and then got stuck,” Buffy babbled, trying to make her excuse sound authentic.
The officer just nodded and tried again to pry the little girl away from Faith.
“Can uh, we have a minute alone with her?” Faith asked.
It was the officers’ turn to exchange glances but they agreed.
“We’ll just call for someone to pick her up,” said one of the officers before walking away.
“Annie, you have to go with the nice policeman,” Faith said, kneeling next to the girl.
“But I want to stay with you,” Annie argued.
“You want to see your daddy again, don’t you?” Faith asked.
Annie nodded.
“Then you have to go with the officer.”
Annie thought about it and nodded but tears continued to fill her eyes.
“I’ll miss you,” she whispered, looking directly in Faith’s eyes.
“I’m not going to disappear,” Faith smiled, her eyes beginning to water.
It was amazing, she’d known this girl for about an hour and she was already so attached to her. Maybe because Annie was the kid that she never was yet always wanted to be.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Annie moved to hug Faith, who instantly returned the gesture.
Tears blurred Faith’s vision, as she held the little girl tightly.
She finally let go and stood up. An officer approached them again.
“The girl’s father is here to pick her up,” said the officer that originally approached them.
Annie released her grip on Faith and stood by him.
“I’m ready,” she said.
“Thank you girls, so much. I think you already know what a relief it is to have the mayor’s daughter back,” he said.
“It was really Faith who found her,” Buffy smiled at her.
Faith smiled back at her a bit nervously. She hadn’t really had time to think about what Buffy would think of her now. Whether she still didn’t believe her or if she’d realised that all Faith wanted to do was to make it up to her for all the pain she’d caused.
“Well, thank you Faith. Could both of you stay a bit longer; we’d really like to ask you some questions. You girls will be famous, finding the mayor’s daughter, well, it’s something even our best detectives couldn’t do.”
When the policeman mentioned ‘famous’ both girls looked up in alarm.
Buffy looked over at Faith to see how she felt about it. She knew that this was Faith’s chance to show everyone that she’d changed, to prove to them that she was good. But from the look on Faith’s face Buffy immediately saw that Faith didn’t want it in that way. Buffy threw her an are-you-sure glance which Faith confirmed by nodding.
Wow, even after all this time we still seem to have a connection, Buffy thought.
“Um, we’d prefer you didn’t mention that we found her. Or if you have to please change our names, we wouldn’t really be comfortable with the whole ‘fame’ thing,” Buffy said.
“Very well, if you’re sure,”
Both girls nodded.
“Would you at least answer some questions before you go?”
“There’s not really anything to say officer. We heard screaming, we ran towards it, found her stuck, got her out, brought her here,” Faith spoke to the officer for the first time.
“She saved me-“ Annie piped up but then stopped when she saw Faith’s pleading look.
As young as she was she understood that what ever had happened tonight had to be kept secret. Faith knew that Annie understood, she knew she didn’t have to worry about her babbling about men with distorted faces, who tied her up tried to sacrifice her. Although Faith wasn’t even sure how much of what happened Annie actually understood.
Suddenly a man with dark brown hair, who looked to be in his mid thirties, rushed towards them, calling out “Annie, Annie.”
Annie turned around.
“Daddy,” she yelled and ran straight into his arms.
“Oh, sweetie, daddy was so worried about you. God, Annie I’ve missed you so much,” her father babbled.
Faith watched Annie and her father and again felt sadness and loneliness rise from within her, wishing for the family she never had, wishing for someone to love her.
When Annie and her Father finished exchanging greetings, Annie proudly pointed to Faith and said, “This is Faith, daddy, she rescued me. I was stuck in musluim and she rescued me.”
Everyone exchanged a laugh at the little girl’s mispronunciation.
“I think you mean mausoleum, honey,” her dad corrected her. He then turned to Faith. “Thank you so much for saving my daughter. I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am. If there’s anything I can do, just name it.”
Faith shook her head, ”It’s alright, she’s a sweetie. I had a great time with her."
“Daddy, can I see Faith again?” Annie asked.
“Of course, that is if it’s alright with Faith.”
“Of course it’s all right with me,” Faith said. “She’s a great kid.”
“Actually, I have a proposition for you, if you’re interested. Annie’s babysitter just moved to L.A. If you’re interested you have the job. I’ve been searching for a new babysitter but Annie isn’t taking a liking to anyone, and you, well she’s taken an instant liking to you.”
“Of course I’m interested!" Faith exclaimed. Then her smile wavered as she looked at Buffy, half expecting her to explode and begin going on about how she used to kill for a thrill and how she was in jail, but Buffy just smiled reassuringly at her.
She watched Faith, noting that this seemed like the only time she’d truly seen the slayer happy.
“Well then, it’s settled. Here’s my address, come around tomorrow about 7. Just tell the security who you are and they’ll let you through.”
Faith just nodded, she was speechless. By the time they’d walked out of the police station, everyone was content. Especially Faith. Part of her was sensing flashbacks, she was going to be working for the mayor again, although this time in a totally different context.
Buffy stopped. “Faith.”
Faith stopped as well and nervously glanced at Buffy. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you during the last few days. I really-“
“No B, it’s okay. I totally deserved it. I know you probably won’t ever forgive me for everything I did to you and friends and your mom, but I want you to know that I am really sorry.”
Buffy nodded. She wasn’t sure if she was quite ready to let go of what Faith did but she was now sure that Faith has changed.
There was an uncomfortable silence between them. “Um, it’s late I better go,” Buffy said.
“Yeah, see you around B.”
Note: An issue that might arise is how old are Faith and Buffy and the rest of the gang. Well, I don’t know how much time you have to do in jail for all the stuff Faith’s done but for the sake of keeping her young and sexy I’d say she’d have done about 3 years, so they’d all still be in their yearly/mid twenties. I know that in real life you’d probably get life or something but, hey this is my story and so shall it be, he he. Anywayz this is going to finally be focused on Buffy and Faith.
Faith was on patrol and was doing her usual rounds. She’d just left the mayor's house after babysitting Annie. That kid had so much energy, that Faith figured if it weren’t for slayer strength then she surely would have been able to keep up. Still Faith had a blast playing and mucking around. Part of her felt like she was finally making up for her lost childhood.
She strolled the cemetery and for the first time, since becoming a slayer, she was hoping not to run into anything nasty. She was too exhausted and too peaceful to kick ass. If someone would have told Faith this a few years ago she’d have laughed in their face and told them to lay off the drugs but time and redemption changed all that.
Faith only wished that others saw that too, especially a certain blonde.
As if summoned by the thought Buffy appeared in front of Faith.
Man, gotta try this sometime when I’m in bed, thought Faith.
“Hi” she said.
“Hi B.”
“So um, you wanna do the rounds together?” Buffy asked, almost shyly.
Faith smiled and nodded. Almost like old times, she thought.
They walked through the cemeteries in a comfortable silence, there was so much to be said, so much to be asked and cleared up but both knew now was not the time.
By the time they’ve concluded their usual rounds, Faith gained enough courage to ask Buffy if she wanted to get coffee or something to eat.
“Sure, definitely up for that,” Buffy answered.
They sat next to the window in small coffee shop, which was deserted except for two couples who occupied opposite sides of the restaurant.
God this is nice, Buffy thought. I missed this so much.
“I missed you,” Buffy said subconsciously.
Faith’s head snapped up. “You did?”
Buffy stared at Faith wide eyed, afraid of what was going to happen in the next few seconds. She hadn’t realised that she’d said this aloud and she wasn’t sure that now was the time to discuss it.
Buffy raised her head and met Faith’s eyes. She saw the honesty and the fear racing through them and she decided that Faith deserved the truth.
“Yeah, I did,” she answered.
“Even though I-“
“Faith there was a time before… well, before all that happened. Remember? When we were a team. Remember how we’d slay and then we’d go dancing at the Bronze and the whole club would be centred around us? …Or was that just me?”
She asked not sure if the last part was just out of her imagination.
“No, it wasn’t just you,” Faith whispered. “But I know what you mean.”
A smile had crossed Buffy’s face. “Then what are we still doing here?”
Faith looked questioningly at her before catching on and adopting a similar smile on her face.
“Lets go then.”
And for just that night everything that happened after the night Faith killed Finch, was forgotten.
Buffy woke up feeling free and happy. She didn’t want to know why though because every time she worked it out, she’d also work out that there were consequences, so she just decided to enjoy this feeling while it lasted.
Half way through breakfast she remembered. She and Faith went out dancing just like they used to and from the number of times the phone rang, followed by Willow asking if she knew anyone called Josh or James or Craig, it seemed that she and Faith hadn’t lost their touch.
She shortly wondered how Faith was doing bating off all the guys calling her. At least Buffy hoped she was bating them off. At this point Buffy was beginning to get quiet jealous and decided to give the brunette visit. She could have just called but she didn’t feel like explaining something to Willow that she herself didn’t understand at the moment.
She quickly got dressed and left.
She knocked on the door and waited for Faith to answer.
Moments later Faith answered, wearing nothing but a pair of black hotpants and a cropped sports top. Her face glistened with sweat and her hair was sticking to her forehead.
Oh, man she looks so- don’t go there- but she’s so dam- stupid brain stupid brain, Buffy mentally scolded herself.
“Hey B,” Faith greeted and moved aside so she could come in.
“Hey, I just came round to ask you if you wanted to go to the Bronze again tonight,” Buffy quickly asked.
“I can’t.”
Buffy’s face fell. She’s probably hooked up with one of the guys she gave her number to last night, she thought.
“I’m babysitting Annie tonight real late. But if you want you can come and hang with us,” Faith offered.
Relief flooded over Buffy.
Faith kept staring at her. “Well?”
“Huh?” The only thing that registered in Buffy’s mind was the fact that Faith wasn’t going out with one of the punks from the Bronze but she obviously must have asked Buffy something as well.
“Do you wanna come and baby-sit with me?”
“Oh, will Annie mind?”
“Nah, I’ll just have to explain to her that you just look like the creature from the black lagoon.” Faith joked.
“Hey,” Buffy laughed and swatted Faith playfully. “I don’t really look like him, do I?” She asked only half serious.
“Nah, you look more like Kathryn of that Cruel Intentions movie, ‘cept your hair is different.”
“You wanna talk movies? Have you seen Bring It On coz that Missy chic looks a hell of lot like you. You sure you never did cheerleading?”
Faith gave her an are-you-nuts look. “Jumping up and down screaming ‘Go team Go’. I don’t think so.” Wow, Faith thought, Déjà vu.
“Um, Faith?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, um, you know the guys, from the club…how do you….do you …what do you do when they call you?” Buffy asked awkwardly. She didn’t want Faith to know that she was jealous but she was curious about how Faith handled all the guys ringing her, whether she went out with them or not.
Faith laughed at this and Buffy felt herself going red.
“I don’t give them my real number.”
“You don’t?”
“Nah, if I’m after someone I go after them.” Faith winked at her.
Buffy, by this point was confused. Both with Faith and with herself. What did Faith mean? Was she suggesting something or did she just mean that she takes the guys she likes home with her?
Buffy shook her head.
“I’ll see you tonight then?”
“Yeah, here’s the address, don’t give it to anyone.” Faith half joked, scribbling it down on paper.
Buffy did a quick sweep of the cemeteries before heading over to the mayor’s house to baby-sit Annie with Faith.
She knocked on the door and quickly tidied her hair.
“Hey B, come in.”
Buffy walked into the giant manor with a wow escaping her lips.
“Yeah,” Faith said. “It’s pretty damn cool, ain’t it!” Buffy nodded.
She followed Faith into the living room, where Annie was sitting with a game of monopoly.
“Hey, Annie, look who’s here.”
“Hi Annie,” Buffy said.
Annie looked up and said, “Hi. Faith told me that you’re not like the creature from the black lagoon.”
Faith laughed at that and Buffy playfully swatted her arm.
“I can’t believe you actually told her that.” Faith shrugged.
“Well, I thought it was pretty damn funny.”
Buffy shook her head and they both went to sit with Annie around the monopoly board.
“Hey Annie, you own all my streets now and I’m broke so why don’t we call it a game and start another one,” suggested Faith in order to include Buffy.
Annie nodded. She turned to Buffy and declared in a proud voice, “I won again!”
Buffy laughed at this, it was obvious Faith was letting her win, or as much as it was possible in monopoly.
They sat playing there for a while. Annie was getting used to Buffy and even her little girl mind could understand there was something, a special connection, between Faith and Buffy. It was in their eyes, the way they looked at each other, it was in their easy flowing banter, in their body language. It was in their souls.
“I’m thirsty,” Annie said halfway through the second game.
“Alright, I’ll get ya a drink. What do you want?” asked Faith.
“Um, I want a soda,” Annie said, nodding her head as if to confirm her choice.
“You want anything B?” Faith got up to go to the kitchen.
“Nah, I’m fine.”
Buffy and Annie were discussing ice-skating, which Buffy found out Annie was fond of, when they heard a bang come from the kitchen followed by a yelping noise.
“I’ll go see, if she’s alright.”
“The kitchen’s two turns right,” Annie called out. Buffy followed the directions and walked in just in time to catch Faith was hopping on one foot, holding the other.
The blonde slayer giggled finding this sight quiet amusing.
Faith mocked glared before explaining that she’d had an unfortunate accident involving a pot and a frying pan.
Buffy was still in the midst of laughter when a scream echoed from the living room.
“Annie,” Faith yelled and raced into the room.
She kneeled down to comfort the child and make sure she was all right.
“A m-man, th-there was a man in the window,” Annie stuttered.
“What did he look like?”
“He looked like one of the men, that-that kidnapped me. He had a funny face, but scary funny, not ha-ha funny, and he had the same black robes as the other men.”
All the blood left Faith’s face as she realised that Annie wasn’t kidnapped because she was the first girl they could find, she was kidnapped for a reason. They didn’t need just any girl, they needed Annie and they planned on getting her.
Not if I can help it though, thought Faith.
“Stay here with Annie, I’ll go have a look,” ordered Faith.
“No, you don’t know how many there are out there,” Buffy protested.
“I don’t, but I kicked five of their asses and I can do it again if I need to.”
Faith gave Buffy one last look and headed out the door.
“Be careful,” Buffy whispered.
Faith could barely see anything. It was a really dark night, there were no stars and the lights on this side of the manor were completely off.
She kept walking though, keeping her eye on the bushes for any sign of movement. But even with her slayer senses, she couldn’t see or hear anything. She concluded that maybe the vamp got scared and ran away. She decided to just circle the manor just to be sure. As she walked around the corner something heavy hit her on the head before she could do anything about it and the next thing she knew was a world of darkness.
Disclaimer: Don’t own nothin’. The little spell Willow uses to open Faith’s house also isn’t mine. I think it may belong to Charmed but I’m not sure. I don’t know how to say open up in Latin and since most of Willow’s spells are in Latin, I figured if I can’t do Latin I’ll just rhyme.
Buffy paced the living room floor. Faith had been gone for about fifteen minutes now and if Faith was caught up in a fight she could handle then she would have been back by now.
Buffy was becoming more scared by the second, not for herself or Annie, they were both inside the house where the vampires couldn’t get to them, but for Faith. What if something happened to her? What if she was hurt or worse? Buffy didn’t want to think about that. They’d just began mending their relationship and she didn’t want to loose the other girl ever again. In the last few days that she and Faith spent together Buffy realised not only how much she’d changed, how she’d grown into this compassionate beauty, but also how much she’d missed the other girl. How she’d missed slaying together, going dancing, teasing each other. She missed the brunette’s energy and passion for slaying and for life. She’d also realised just how much more complete she felt now that Faith was around.
I’ll be damned if anything happens to her, Buffy thought.
I can’t take this anymore, she thought. I have to see if Faith is all right.
She walked over to Annie and kneeled down next to her.
“Annie, I have to go see if Faith is alright. You’re safe inside, but don’t go outside and don’t invite anyone in. Do you understand?” Buffy said very sternly.
Annie nodded and as Buffy began to head towards the door she called out, “Buffy?”
“Yeah.”
“Why wouldn’t Faith be alright? She saved me from the bad men before.”
Buffy turned and smiled at Annie, at her innocence and her simple look on life. It should be that way, Buffy thought. Like chicken pox, you only have to fight it once. But demons got stronger, plotted better and if you aren’t careful, in the end they’ll win out.
“It’s hard to explain, but you know when you get a cold and then you take medicine and it goes away, and then later on it comes back? The bad men are kind of like that, like a bad, annoying cold.”
Annie nodded to say she understood.
“Now remember what I told you?”
“Stay inside and don’t let anybody in,” Annie answered.
Buffy smiled at Annie, she could see how Faith found the little girl adorable.
Faith woke up with an earth-shattering headache. What ever those boys did to her, they did it well. She opened her eyes and tried to look around. This was hard to do on two accounts; she was strongly fastened to a table and the room was almost pitch black. After a few minutes of orientation though Faith had a pretty good idea as where she was. The table wasn’t a table but a sarcophagus and judging by the room’s temperature and atmosphere it was a mausoleum, and three guesses which mausoleum, these wacky vamps would take her to. Well, Faith only needed one, Mayor Wilkins mausoleum, the same place she found Annie.
She struggled against the restrains but these weren’t normal human restrains so these guys obviously were clued in on the fact that she was a slayer. For someone who did so much research and actually managed to capture a slayer, these guys were rather stupid, because the fist place B would look, at least Faith hoped she would look, was the mausoleum Annie was found in. She froze as she heard someone enter the dank tomb.
“Perfect, Ariaus will be pleased. Two slayers in one night, we shall finally be blessed with more power than imaginable,” said a voice.
Two slayers? What did I miss, Faith wondered. Did they capture B as well?
“We only have one so far, don’t get ahead of yourself, that’s how the others fail, they assume something they don’t have yet is theirs,” said another voice.
“C’mon, the blonde’s as good as ours. She’ll run to save her girlfriend and as soon as she gets here, she’s in our grasp and we’ll start the sacrifice. She’ll have to be a special kind of stupid not to look here,” said the first voice.
“We’ll see, in the meantime, we’ll work with what we have.”
Oh Shit, Faith thought. These vampires aren’t as dumb as they seem and there was nothing Faith could do to keep Buffy away.
Willow was pacing the living room.
“Will could we have a change of pattern, I’m beginning to get dizzy,” Xander joked.
“It’s not like Buffy, you know, to just not tell us where she’s going and then be gone for a long time and not come back, you know? And not call and did I mention she’s been gone for a long time and even if she went patrolling she’s usually back by now,” Willow babbled. “And, oh Goddess, Faith! She’s back in town, maybe she, she …well I don’t know…did something really bad to Buffy to make her go away for a long time and not come back! What if she slayernapped her or hurt her!”
“Willow, I do realise Faith is back in town but if she tried to hurt Buffy then she’d get what’s coming coz remember last time, with the stabbing and the coma.”
“I, I know but I’d still feel better if we went and looked for her and I’m going to do just that,” Willow put on her resolve face as well as her coat.
Xander got up and followed her.
Buffy had circled the manor twice already and had found no sign of Faith or the vamps. She was about to go back inside when a truck went by lighting up the scene and Buffy caught a glimmer of silver on the ground. She kneeled down and inspected the sparkling object. It was a ring and a familiar one too. It was Faith’s ring. Any hope of Faith being all right left Buffy’s mind right there and then. She slipped on the piece of jewellery for comfort, somehow just knowing that it belonged to Faith, made her feel closer to the brunette slayer.
Buffy knew she had to go save Faith but she also knew that she couldn’t just leave Annie, so Buffy headed back inside.
She had a hard time explaining to Annie where Faith was as she herself didn’t quite know, although had a pretty good clue on where to look first.
She paced the living room floor, waiting for Annie’s dad to come home. She didn’t have to wait long.
The front door clicked open and Annie’s dad walked in. He had a look of surprise on his face and Buffy wasn’t sure why that was at first. Then she remembered that Faith was meant to be babysitting Annie and she was no longer there. With the vamps making a reappearance and Faith making a disappearance, Buffy almost forgot about Faith babysitting.
“Uh, Faith had a very sick grandmother. Very sick, she had to go to the emergency room and Faith was called and she asked me to look after Annie. She didn’t leave that long ago. I’m Buffy by the way, I was at the police station that night with Faith,” she quickly explained.
“Ah, yes, Buffy I remember.”
Buffy nodded and smiled, “I really have to go though, I’m late for…uh…movie night with my friends, it’s uh, my friend’s birthday and we’re having a movie night.”
“Oh, well it’s a shame you had to miss out on some of your friend’s birthday. Well, then tell Faith that I wish her grandmother well and tell her to call me when she feels up to coming back to work. I know how stressful sick relatives can be.”
Buffy smiled again and bolted out the door before he even got a chance to pay her.
She knew exactly where she was going.
Faith was still pretending to be unconscious but this was really starting to get on her nerves, she wasn’t learning anything new about these guys as they went from talking about their plan to bragging about their preys. But Faith figured it was safer to pretend to be unconscious then let them know she was awake.
There was a bang outside and Faith unconsciously said “Shit B.”
The vamps turned around and looked at her, although she was quite sure that they didn’t realise that by B she meant Buffy.
“I’ll go check out the noise, you keep an eye on the slayer.” Said one of them and left, leaving Faith with the vamp that liked to assume things. This gave Faith an advantage, she could finally find out what they wanted with her and Buffy, besides the obvious of course, to kill them.
“So, uh, you in a gang or something?” Faith asked.
“Gang! What are we, a bunch of pimple faced wannabes! We’re in a cult. We worship Ariaus, the vampire spirit demon. He is the spirit of the original vampire, he lived for thousands of years until the slayer set the entire town on him at his weakest moment and even then he couldn’t be fully killed. His spirit will live on forever,” he said the last part with pride, as if he was talking about his own son.
“So, uh, what do you want with us?”
“We sacrifice the souls of the slayers to Ariaus and he comes back in flesh, and we will be blessed with more power than we can dream of.”
Wow, Faith thought, sounds like one of those TV gimmicks. Pay us $10 000 and we’ll give you the body you’ve dreamed of!
“I think you’ve been watching a bit too many infomercials,” Faith smirked at him, although she doubted that he saw it.
The vampire growled in response.
In Faith’s head it clicked. Annie was never the target, she was the bait. These vampires did a lot more research than she’d ever given credit for. They knew about her criminal record, they spied on her and B, they knew what buttons to push. They knew how suspicious it would look if Faith just got in town and the mayor’s kid went missing. They knew they’d come to rescue her. They observed them and they knew that if they kidnapped Faith then Buffy would come to rescue her. She and Buffy played right into their hands and now both of them were as good as dead.
Why did I come back? Faith wondered. If I never came back they would have never been able to lure Buffy in just like that. I only cause trouble wherever I go, Faith blamed herself.
Willow and Xander stood outside the house.
“So, um, where do you think we should start to look?”
“Faith’s apartment.” Willow resolved.
They quickly made their way there.
The lights were out and anyone would have assumed that no one was home.
Willow stood in front of Faith’s door and said “Open locks, who ever knocks.”
The locks opened and Willow and Xander found themselves in Faith’s studio apartment.
“Nice,” Xander commented.
“This is pointless.” Willow grumbled, after searching the small apartment. Faith may be sneaky but there’s no way that anyone would get away hiding someone in this small apartment.
“Where could they be?”
“Maybe we should check the cemeteries, maybe there’s a new big bad in town,” Xander suggested.
Willow nodded.
The noise outside got louder and Faith registered the fight to be in full force. Suddenly the door to the mausoleum was blown wide open and Buffy and the second Vamp flew in.
These vamps are stronger than your usual kind, they match the strength of a slayer, must be something to do with that Aries spirit that vamp was on about, Faith thought. The light shinning through the door illuminated the tomb better and Faith could finally see what was gong on.
She watched as Buffy was now being attacked by both of the vamps. Buffy threw a punch at I-assume-vamp, who dodged it, which meant that the other vamp got the punch.
“Hey moron,” Faith yelled. “You want a fair fight! Release me and you’ll have one. I kicked five of your asses before and I’ll do it again!”
The vampire laughed. “You killed the weak ones, the powerless ones. We’ve been blessed, empowered by Ariaus and we now match your strength.”
While Faith distracted the I-assume-vamp, who she discovered liked showing off that he was strong and important and was easy to pump for information, Buffy got the upper hand on the more strategic vamp and was currently holding a stake to his heart so that any movement would cause him to go ‘poof’.
The I-assume-vamp pulled a knife out of his belt and held it to Faith’s throat.
“You kill him, I kill her.”
“Do it Buffy,” Faith whispered.
She’s using my full name, that’s bad, Buffy thought.
“Do it. At least then one of us can get out of here alive. I deserve to die anyway. It’s my fault we’re here. You were right when you said I shouldn’t have come back, I do only cause trouble.”
“I was wrong Faith. I was very wrong. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me and I will not loose you again. I let you go once and I’m not letting go again, ever. I love you Faith, and I need you here, with me.”
Tears blurred Faith’s vision. “I love you too B, I always have, since the day I met you. When I looked into your eyes I knew you were special and I was right but I was too afraid to admit it, too afraid of rejection, so I rejected you instead. I’m sorry.”
“Okay, that was touching,” said the vamp Buffy was holding and punched her in the stomach. He now had the advantage over her.
Willow and Xander heard familiar voices echoing the mausoleum. After searching several cemeteries they finally found Buffy. They looked at each other and ran towards it.
“Fast food,” they heard a growling voice behind them and made the mistake of stopping.
A vampire just rose from a fresh grave. Usually they’d be armed with stakes and crosses but Willow being so sure that Faith kidnapped Buffy, didn’t take any of those things as they’d be useless against a slayer.
“Uh, could we negotiate a different time for this?” Willow asked hopefully.
The vampire lunged at her. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’.” Willow screamed as the vampire grabbed her. Xander launched himself at the vampire with a broken branch in his hand, only to be knocked back down.
“You’re next,” the vampire growled at him.
Inside the mausoleum Buffy was busy with her own fight. Faith, unable to help felt awfully useless. Both vamps were now onto Buffy. Stakes, knives and bodies were flying through the air. The knife the I-assume-vamp threatened her with landed inches from her stomach. At first Faith was relieved for the near miss and then realised that with a bit of twisting she could cut some of the ropes loosening her restraints. She twisted her wrist, grabbed the knife and began filling down the nearest rope.
Buffy was fighting using her last breath. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep up.
Almost got it, thought Faith as she filed down another rope.
Finally the rope gave in and a Faith used all her strength to break the rest of the restrains. At the sound of the retrains breaking both vampires looked up. Faith spied a discarded stake on the floor and quickly chucked in to Buffy.
“Head up!” She yelled.
Both vampires’ heads went up and Buffy used the moment to stake the less talkative vampire.
As his friend collapsed into dust, the I-assume-vamp threw a punch at Buffy and ran for the door.
“Not so fast, big shot,” Faith jumped on the vamp as Buffy used her final strength to stake the vamp, before passing out.
Meanwhile Willow and Xander were still in battle with their very own vamp.
Willow was on the ground and Xander was backed up against a tree.
“Now, now, lets talk about this,” Xander half pleaded. Willow groaned from the ground and with a truck full of effort managed to leap on the vampire a stake him from behind.
They stood a moment in silence trying to catch their breath before Willow motioned to the mausoleum.
Faith lifted an unconscious Buffy off the floor. She laid her on top of the casket and took her hand.
“C’mon B, wake up. We beat the bad guys. Well actually it was pretty much you. Come on baby, open your eyes.”
She began to stroke Buffy’s hair.
“You can’t tell me you love me and then leave me. B?” Her eyes filled with tears and Faith no longer had the desire nor the power to hold them back.
Buffy felt something wet dripping onto her. She slowly opened her eyes and realised that the wet stuff were Faith’s tears.
“Faith,” she whispered.
Faith locked her eyes with Buffy’s and began to cry harder, pulling the blonde into a crushing embrace. Buffy returned the hug but breathing soon became an issue.
“Ah, Faith, can’t breathe.”
At that exact moment Willow and Xander walked in.
“Let her go, or I’ll…I’ll turn you into a rat.” Willow yelled at Faith.
She and Xander ran towards them and began pulling Faith off Buffy.
“Uh, guys I’m okay,” Buffy said to them as she swatted their hands away.
“But we heard you say, you can’t breathe and we saw her choking you and you were gone for a long time, which is why we went looking for you coz we thought Faith kidnapped you and we found her choking you-“
“Willow, you’re babbling,” Buffy interrupted. “There’s a lot of explaining to be done and I’d rather not do it here,” Buffy said.
“I better get going,” Faith said feeling uncomfortable with Willow and Xander interrogating her.
“No, Faith please stay. I need you with me,” Buffy pleaded looking into her eyes.
Faith could never resist Buffy. She nodded in agreement.
When they finally got home, they sat around the living room and Buffy began to explain from the beginning, including how she’d being seeing Faith and finishing with how she felt for her.
“I love her, I think I always have and I’d really appreciate it if you guys could support us in this,” she said taking Faith’s hand in hers.
Both Willow and Xander trusted Buffy’s judgment. From what they heard tonight it seemed that Faith really had changed. The light they saw in Buffy’s eyes though was enough to let them know that Faith was going to make her happy and knowing that they wished them all the best.
Exhausted, Buffy dragged Faith upstairs to her room and they both collapsed on her bed. But as tired and worn out as they were they didn’t go to sleep. Buffy lost herself in Faith’s eyes, smiling.
“I love you so much,” she whispered stroking the hair out of Faith’s eyes.
“I love you too B, always and forever.”
They held each other tightly as if afraid that if they let go, they’d loose each other again. Buffy gently brushed her lips against Faith’s, who pulled her into their first kiss. Their lips danced, their kiss burning with need, passion and desire.
When they pulled away Buffy laid her head on Faith’s chest, trying to get as close as she could to the brunette. They held and caressed each other, needing the closeness and comfort until the fatigue over ruled them and they drifted into a deep and peaceful sleep, each knowing the other was safe.