Return to Innocence
by Snoe
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, well 'cept for Harmony but she's mean.
Everyone else belongs to Joss Whedon, the WB, FOX, Mutant Enemy and whoever
else should be named here.
Author's Notes: Thanks sooo much to Adam Windsor for his help, cause without
him this fic would be a whole lot suckier ;-)
The wooden stake twirled easily in her hand like usual, but this time her heart was nowhere near it. Nowhere near where she was in fact. And if she had thought real hard about it she probably would've realized how far her heart really was away. The blonde girl sighed as her eyes scanned the graveyard with their common grace and finally sat on the edge of a cold gravestone.
Buffy Summers rested her forehead in her hands for a second, feeling the fatigue numb almost every cell in her body with an almost addictive quality. A quick glance at her watch told her that it was already past midnight. She yawned quietly and stood up again as the sound of little branches breaking reached her ears. The blonde stood completely still and waited for a big bad monster to jump out of the bushes at her. Instead a small cat came running towards her, its long tail brushing against Buffy's leg slightly and the slayer sighed, sitting back down.
This was already her second patrol that night. She knew it probably wasn't the best idea to get herself all tired out, but after she had settled into bed there had been no way for her to fall asleep. Maybe it was because of that newscast. Maybe it was because she knew the girl she loved was going to die in less than 24 hours. Buffy let out an exasperated groan and rubbed her hand across her forehead. She really had to get Faith out of her head. Once and for all. It was no good for her to dwell on a dead girl. Well, half-dead anyway. Doomed to die.
Suddenly a hard kick forced her to the floor and immediately Buffy's senses switched to slayer mode, enabling her to sense anything around her without looking. Immediately she was back on her feet, staring at the grinning face of her attacker. Grimacing slightly she stepped back, feeling anger take over her body that was not good for fighting a dangerous demon/human thing.
"Harmony," she growled in low tones, the memories of seeing the woman mishandle Faith a couple of times flooding back to her. Not to mention that it was this woman's fault Faith wasn't a slayer anymore. A deep, sinking feeling hit her then for the first time with realization. Faith wasn't a slayer anymore.
"Little Miss Slayer, I see," Harmony grunted with a wicked grin and took a step closer.
"What do you want?" Buffy hissed, her hand tightening around her stake until she realized it wasn't going to do much good in fighting the woman in front of her. Unconsciously she felt for the knife she was carrying as well and sighed in relief as she realized it was still there. The knife, Buffy realized immediately. Faith's knife. Somehow the feeling left her empty.
"Here on another trip for the Council? They send their little dog after me?" the slayer mocked and Harmony growled slightly.
"Who told you?" she questioned, knowing that Buffy would understand what she was talking about.
"The same British bastard that set you free. You know him, very annoying accent, wears tweed, glasses, looks like a goon," Buffy nodded and stated plainly, the resurfacing pain and anger numbing her body all over.
"No one sent me here. This is the Hellmouth after all, and with my new found demon powers I figured I'd find some friends here. Didn't expect to see you here, slayer," the demon/human nodded and grinned oddly. It was a grin Buffy knew all too well from newborn vamps that thought they could defeat her.
"Well, this is my town. Either you get out of here or I'll have to send you to hell myself." Buffy was in no mood to fight the woman, especially not after being reminded so much of Faith in a couple of minutes. And because after all this woman had beaten Faith to within an inch of her own life, while she was a slayer. Buffy shuddered slightly and tossed the stake up into the air, catching it easily and smiled at Harmony.
"I don't think so slayer. Faith couldn't defeat me and neither can you. Well at least you two lovebirds can be together in the afterlife, don'tcha think? Because after tomorrow neither of you are going to be very much alive. Though I doubt your little piece of shit friend is going where you...," Harmony laughed and was very rudely cut off by the foot jammed into her ribcage.
"Don't talk about Faith that way," Buffy hissed, smiling slightly as she finally realized what she had to do. No matter how much it'd hurt, she had to go see Faith, if it was for one last time. And the sooner she could finish up with Harmony, the sooner she could go where Faith was being held.
The slayer sent the demon flying against the side of a crypt with the next kick against the woman's stomach and immediately was on her, ready to pull the knife. But Harmony had other ideas and delivered a swift kick to the blonde's stomach that left Buffy winded, and the demon used the pause to get up and punch her opponent in the face. Buffy caught the fist in her hand, her own flying against Harmony's jawbone with full force. Her elbow followed her fist immediately and the slayer smiled with satisfaction as she could hear bone and cartilage break to little pieces. She stepped back, looking at the woman's bloody face for a second and reached for the knife quickly. Suddenly a knee connected harshly with her stomach and within a split second the wounded demon was behind the slayer, kicking her against the crypt with enough force to shatter a normal human's spine. Buffy groaned, more in annoyance than pain, and kicked behind her as the demon tried to attack her. Her foot connected, where she had no idea, but the slayer turned around quickly, dodging a fist and swept the woman's legs out from underneath her, then jumped onto her just as quick. Harmony tried to throw the blonde girl off of her body, but was rewarded a couple of hard punches to her already damaged face. Before she knew it the knife Buffy had pulled out was stuck inside her chest, and her last punch at the slayer connected weakly, yet still knocking Buffy off of her. The demon scrambled to her feet, clutching at the knife penetrating her skin and before Buffy was back on her feet the woman had vanished.
Grunting the blonde slayer brushed the dirt off her jacket and walked down the path of the graveyard. There was no time now to hunt after some demon bitch. Not at all. Buffy jogged the rest of the way back to her dorm.
"Are you kidding me?"
Willow rubbed her eyes sleepily, attempting to regain as much consciousness as she could in order to deal with what Buffy had just told her. Groaning the witch sat up against the headboard and stared at her best friend intensely. The blonde was changing clothes, but she seemed to be changing into stuff she definitely didn't need for going to bed.
"I thought you hated Faith? Did I miss something? Buffy!" she yelled as quiet as possible and sent a questioning look towards the blonde's eyes. Buffy pulled a tank top over her head and turned towards Willow as she grabbed up a jacket. Faith's jacket, Willow recognized with bitterness. Buffy somehow had gotten a hold of some of Faith's old stuff after they had gotten back. First the red-head had thought it might just be too burn or destroy it, but Buffy had the stuff carefully stowed in her closet, as if its real owner was coming back any moment.
"I do. We do," Buffy mumbled, her eyes scanning the room for something she might need.
"Huh?" Willow snapped out of her daze and looked at Buffy, her previous question completely forgotten.
The blonde found her car keys and grabbed them with ease, pulling the jacket on and walked towards the door, turning to Willow again.
"Hate Faith. We all hate Faith, remember that, alright? If anyone asks where I am, tell them...something. You're good with that," the blonde mumbled and pulled open the door.
"But...if you hate Faith why are you going to see her? Buffy?" the witch demanded to know, but was only met with Buffy's eyes for a short instant.
"I'll call you Will. And I'll tell you about that when I get back. Just remember that I really hate Faith."
And before Willow even had a chance to respond to her friend's weird actions, the door closed behind the slayer.
The air was slightly warmer at this place. Not that it mattered any if she were to catch a cold. Not that anything mattered anymore. The big clock mounted to the wall just outside of the bars was a silent reminder of what was soon to happen. Or soon to be over. Like they had to make her live it down. Like she couldn't pretend for just a minute. The tears were so close to spilling over again. But not again, not again tonight. They would be dried out by tomorrow as well. All dry with no more to come. No more pain and no more tears.
That stupid reporter earlier had already gotten her that close to bawling her eyes out. Who the hell did she think she was, asking about Buffy? Maybe not really Buffy, but nevertheless. It hurt just the same. It hurt to be betrayed and now she knew. It was never going to be the same again anyway. She would die all alone and yet not alone. There would be millions of people watching TV at midnight just to see her die, just to watch her take her last breath, to catch a glimpse of someone's life fading and maybe feel that justice had been served. To maybe feel that triumphant feeling in their hearts when she would cry, when she would beg. They would live to see her die, to see her die for murder, to murder her for killing and there would be no one there that could tell her otherwise. Not even all those Human Rights groups that pretended they cared about her. They didn't know who she was, there was no person, no individual. There was only Faith and faith had long ago faded.
The girl leaned against the cold wall of her prison cell and pulled her legs up to her chest. There was nothing like the feeling of utter loneliness. The guard sitting on his chair watching her grinned as her eyes grazed him. He had tried talking to her for the longest time since they had first put her into the single-cell they put inmates before the execution. Somehow she had the feeling that maybe he was a reporter disguised as a guard, to get her deepest and saddest and most horrible secrets out of her before they would throw her away.
Faith sighed, sliding down onto the cot and closed her eyes in silent rage.
"Wake up!" the rough voice barked into her ear from the side of the cell and lazily she opened her eyes, trying to shield them from the bright light that illuminated the cell.
"What?" she mumbled, straining her voice and the brunette girl turned onto her back, staring blindly at the grim guard looking down at her from the bars. The brunette girl slowly pushed herself up and mustered the guard that was giving her an evil look.
"Visitor," he mumbled and walked to the front of the cell, unlocking the bars with an ease that showed how often he did this gesture. The big guard opened the bars and stepped aside to let the visitor in with a grim look, then locked the bars behind him as he stepped out.
Faith lifted her eyes to look at whoever had dared to disturb her sleep, probably the last bit of sleep she'd get before dying, and with a quiet whimper she pushed back against the cell wall. Brown eyes were wide and deep as pools as they met lighter, cooler ones, the fear reflecting in them like a mirror of the soul.
"Hey Faith-" the soft voice reached her ears to make them hurt, to make her head spin, to make the fear capture her heart and every limb of her body.
"What do you want?" the brunette whispered so softly it couldn't be heard by anyone but the blonde girl standing a few feet away from her. And Faith knew she could hear, she could hear everything Faith herself couldn't. "You come to see me die? Or are you gonna do it yourself?" she added, her voice a little bit stronger and louder, yet she still just sounded like the scared little kid she was.
The blonde grimaced slightly and closed her eyes, then shook her head. Taking a couple of steps towards the ex-slayer she opened her eyes again, her hand reaching out to the touch the brunette's shoulder, who immediately shrunk away from her touch.
"Don't," Faith breathed, her eyes filling with fear, "Please."
With a relieved sigh he dropped the last of his neatly folded shirts into his suitcase and closed it up carefully. He could not believe how much time had passed since he had left his mother country, and he was desperate to return to England at last. No matter how much he respected the Council, he definitely could not respect their request for him to stay until everything was cleared.
Anthony McCarthy stowed the stack of papers in his briefcase and let the locks snap shut. He just loved to do that. Leaning back in his leather chair he reached for the report about his encounters that he would have to present to the Council upon his return. Scanning the pages for about the hundredth time he sighed in satisfaction. The Council had ordered him to stay until they could be completely sure that Faith had lost every ounce of slayer power she had ever possessed. Now she was to be executed, and although the Council did not approve of the American ways concerning capital punishment, it definitely was a plus in this case. Faith's untimely death would prevent any information from leaking out, and although it was almost positively correct that anyone hearing about the Council or demons and vampires would declare the girl insane, the risk to be taken was still high. He re-opened the briefcase and tossed the last two files carelessly on top of the others.
The young man smiled self-consciously as he considered the last folder he had placed in the briefcase. The one about the other slayer, Buffy Summers. The Council would definitely promote him after finding out how well he had resolved the problem of what he had heard was a bond between the two slayers, maybe even something stronger than friendship. But strong emotions could always be transformed, particularly when there had been so much pain between two people. It had been simple enough to suggest to the other slayer that the Council wished to prevent Faith's death. And even easier, whilst doing so, to mention every act of anger and malice that had passed between the two girls.
"We're confident she's changed, Buffy. There should be no risk of any danger to your friends and family." He'd sounded so earnest as he said that, even if he did say so himself. "Custody? Oh, I don't think it is necessary for us to keep her confined. She truly seems to have changed."
In the end, it had been child's play to invert the blonde slayer's feelings for the brunette. To 'innocently' dredge up every painful memory she had of Faith and to intimate that the Council would do nothing to prevent them occurring again. In the end, the girl had practically demanded that he ensure Faith died.
Anthony's smile broadened. He had played Buffy Summers completely, twisting wounded love into bitter hatred. The skills his family had honed by generations in the diplomatic service had once more served their purpose. There was only hatred between the slayers now, and Faith's imminent death would end even that. Buffy Summers would never even realize how she had been manipulated. And if nothing else, this whole sorry affair had made it clear what the Council must do, should there ever be two slayers again. There could be no attachments between the two, and they would definitely make sure to train and watch the newcomer closely, as to avoid another failure. A failure like Faith had been.
He sighed and grabbed up his bags as he walked out of the room. Taking a look at his plane ticket he smiled, realizing he was leaving this awful country at last.
What was it about those eyes that always threatened to hold her captive? To swallow her whole in their endless depth and darkness. Like dark pools filled with water of sadness and pain. And it used to be that no matter how much water flowed into them, the pools wouldn't spill over, as if under control by a higher power. But now, now in this dingy cell with no one there but them to regret and relive, those dark pools were slowly filling up to the top, flooded with pain and fear that finally escaped through the only exit possible and traveled down the girl's pale skin.
Buffy had to use all her willpower to pry her eyes off of the tear-streaked face before her. Tears hadn't been what she had expected. What she had wanted. A vulnerable Faith couldn't be hated. A lonely, scared girl locked in a cage like the monster she was not, set to die for crimes she looked too innocent to have committed.
"Faith..." the blonde tried again, her voice mingled with hurt and anxiety. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to say.
"What...B," the other girl mumbled quietly, "you come to see through that I die, huh? Are you here to rub it in my face?" Faith rested her chin on her knees that were drawn up to her chest, hugging her legs tightly as if she expected to be hit any minute.
"Faith, I never...," Buffy shook her head, desperately searching for the words to express her feelings. But before she had a chance to continue mumbling incoherent sentences, the brunette had already cut her off.
"Yeah I know. You never wanted it to come to this. You wanted me to die that night on the roof. To die by your hand, with my knife in my gut. But I didn't die then, B. Now...now you really killed me. Killed all of me and anything left. You did it." Faith looked to her side, silent tears dropping onto her arms like reminders of the pain.
Although she had expected it, the slayer was still shaken by the bitterness in the brunette's voice. Bitterness that made Faith's voice shake. But some feeling inside of her told her that bitterness wasn't really directed at her. The same feeling that had crept up on her during that fight in the church, right before they switched back. Faith hitting Buffy, Faith hitting herself.
"What do you want from me, B? There's nothing you could still want. There's nothing left to give! I'm nothing, just another piece of trash, right? Just like you said. The only two things I ever had, they took those from me. I'm no slayer anymore and you took my life as well," Faith mumbled, hissed and eventually sobbed as her voice broke and collapsed into silence.
Buffy took another step back. She didn't even know what she was to do. All this time the words of that Council guy had stung in her heart, the memories of what Faith had done and not regretted. She had reminded herself every day, every waking moment of how much hurt had been caused to her and her friends by the brunette. Too much pain. Too much to handle. But that newscast, the Faith she had seen sitting there. It wasn't the same lively, ready to do anything, Faith from a year ago. Broken. Hurt. Dead. And somehow there had been doubt in her mind. Somehow she had feared that the Council had after all succeeded in doing what she had tried to prevent.
The blonde tried to find the words she wanted to say, but she didn't even know what that was, anymore. With one last look at the sobbing brunette, she turned and called for the guard.
She had seen what she needed to see.
The cigarette butt fell to the ground, the last of its smoke twisting through the air before it vanished, crushed by a booted foot. The person lit another cigarette casually and turned to face the creature standing before him with a look that showed no emotion. He took a drag and blew the smoke out deeply as he spoke.
"What do you want?"
The woman he pegged to be a demon took a step towards him, but was reprimanded by his glance. Her features were slightly different from a human's, her eyes shining deeply yellow and her fingers were distorted into claws that he easily recognized as a demon's. He hadn't seen her before, which either meant that she was new or very old from very far away. Cocking his head slightly he figured the first was probably more accurate and took another drag.
"Listen here, I don't have time for your games. Either tell me what you want and who you are or get out of here," he growled, rolling his eyes and the demon smiled with fake innocence. "Bloody hell," he muttered and went in for the kill. He was sick of these newcomers that thought they could just flat out rule the Hellmouth.
But before he had a chance to kill this very annoying creature, the woman had her hand on his chest and pushed him back with enough force to send him flying into the wall. He coughed, getting up swiftly and eyed the woman/demon suspiciously.
"I have come to you because I was told that you as well have trouble with the slayer. If we worked together we could defeat her," the demon stated, looking deep into his eyes, questioning.
Brushing dirt off his shirt he took another drag from his cigarette, before throwing it on the ground as well and turned his back to her. "I don't work in teams alright."
"I will let you have the credit and her blood. And I know a way to prevent her powers from being passed on. A world without slayers, what do you say now, creature of the night?"
The tall man turned back towards her, a tiny flicker of interest lingering in his eyes. He seemed to consider for a second, then nodded slowly. "That still leaves my other questions. Who are you?"
She smiled sensuously and he realized that she was rather pretty, if not even very young, and laid the artfully crafted knife on the stone trench next to them that he eyed suspiciously.
"I'm Harmony."
"Governor, what do you want me to tell the people from ACLU? This is the third time they have called today, I really believe you should talk to them," the young man in the gray business suit spoke worriedly, creases in his forehead as he looked at the elderly man in front of him.
The governor sighed and waved his wrist slightly, indicating that he was at last ready to take the call. The young man nodded with relief and closed the thick mahogany door behind him again, nodding towards the secretary and walked back into his own, very small office.
Papers and folders lay strewn everywhere on the dark desk, mingled in between a few books, pens and a very ancient looking desk-light. He walked a few steps closer, retrieving the silver name sign out of the sea of papers and polished it with the sleeve of his jacket. Setting it down on his desk after wiping the papers away he settled in behind the desk, groaning in frustration.
A white envelope with the word 'Urgent' printed across it in red stared at him from the top of the pile. The young guy picked it up, studying it carefully and furrowed his brows as he read the return address. It was that annoying woman from the UN Commission of Human Rights. They had been writing the governor for some over five months now and he was the one that got bombarded with their letters. And on top of that the lawyers from ACLU were constantly trying to contact the office, threatening with a lawsuit and likewise. And all because of that murderous chick Faith...something. He didn't even remember her name. This girl really should have picked a better time to get convicted, especially with the election coming up soon. Executions were definitely issues that would be addressed in a campaign and since this case had reached such popularity it might impact the governor's re-election negatively.
The door opened slightly and a woman poked her head in. "Mr. Johnson?"
He leaned back in his chair, the envelope still in his hand as if he was actually busy doing something important for once. "Yes Karen?" he replied, trying to make his young voice sound as grown up as possible.
"Governor Davis wants to see you, sir," the blonde woman responded and closed the door as he nodded solemnly.
Sighing he stood up, ready to be yelled at once again and dropped the envelope in his trashcan on the way out.
The artificial light that fell upon her screwed shut eyes was in no way pleasant. It illuminated her eyelids bright red, dark red, red. Just red. Red wasn't good. Blood was red. Allan's blood. Lester's blood. Her own blood on her own knife.
Breathing out quickly her eyes snapped open and immediately there were dark spots dancing before her eyes, forcing her to close them again just as quickly. Bringing her hands to her head she covered her eyes swiftly, attempting to block out the light at last. The girl rested her head on her knees that were drawn up close to her body, and anyone that had been watching her for more than ten minutes would know that she hadn't moved in hours.
Faith had finally been able to stop the tears that had just kept coming. Though that didn't mean they weren't imminent, if set off by the tiniest thing they might just start up again. It hadn't all been alright before this morning, in fact nothing had been alright since the day she was born, but at least she was somewhat at ease. Even when Buffy stabbed her in the front, and eventually in the back, just that not literally. Even when she knew that she would be dead come midnight. Now, now that Buffy had come back she was nothing but confused. Utterly and completely confused. And hurt.
This whole time she had kept telling herself that what had happened had been inevitable. That she had it coming from Day One. That Buffy hated her with all her might and there was nothing she could do to change that. But as the blonde girl had stood above her, Faith hadn't dared to look into those eyes again after she did for a second. Buffy had been just as confused and hurt as herself. And Faith had no idea what to think of that. She had no idea what she was supposed to do. Not that it really mattered.
The guards had already brought her to the pre-execution cell, which was just a bunch of concrete walls, a thick metal door in the middle and a barred window that faced another prison wall, with a metal table, metal chair, metal shelf and rusty metal cot cramped up in there. Well the cell did have a TV cemented into the wall. That was one of the benefits of being executed, you were allowed to watch TV all by yourself without having to fight with other inmates. Yeah, or you could read and shit like that. And not to forget the last meal. The Warden had even come to see her, well or intimidate her, whichever was more accurate. Faith almost had to grin at the thought of what she almost said when he had asked her what she wished her last meal to be. She knew that they tried everything possible to get what the inmate requested. Though somehow she doubted the Warden would have responded pleasantly upon her answering 'Buffy'. So she had settled for hamburgers and cheesecake. Couldn't say she didn't love cheesecake. Though unfortunately it reminded her desperately of the mayor.
Faith sighed and leaned back against the concrete wall, opening her eyes again and, this time, with a little bit more success. She decided that maybe watching a little TV could only help to take her mind of Buffy. Buffy. Yes definitely a good idea. The brunette settled back against the wall as the image sprung to life and a female voice filled the room.
"We are here at the ACLU Headquarters, where the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Mary Robinson is speaking on behalf of the imminent execution of Faith Wilkins tonight at midnight. Let's listen in," the reporter nodded and the camera zoomed in on a woman standing on a podium, ready to give another one of those speeches.
Faith groaned, but did not bother to change the channel. It was just as likely that she was on the other stations as well.
Somewhere else in the same city another person had their eyes glued to the screen upon hearing the name Faith Wilkins mentioned. In fact, most pairs of eyes in the small diner had been directed to the small TV screen hanging above the counter.
"...I believe the execution of Miss Wilkins runs counter to widely accepted international principles and to the international community's expressed desire for the abolition of the death penalty. In my letters to California Governor Gray Davis appealing a stay of execution I have highlighted the overwhelming international consensus that the death penalty should not apply to juvenile offenders. This consensus reflects the belief that children and juveniles are more susceptible to change, and thus have a greater potential for rehabilitation than adults. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the U.S. signed in 1995, stipulates capital punishment shall not be imposed for offenses committed by people under the age of 18. Although signing the Convention does not carry any obligation to implement its provisions, as a signatory, the U.S. is obliged not to violate the spirit and intent of the treaty. Faith Wilkins was 17 years old when convicted of her crimes, a minor, basically a child. We strongly believe that she does not have to die."
Buffy narrowed her eyes at the woman on the TV screen. What did she know? All this crap they kept talking about Faith and no one knew the real her. And from the evil glares the woman on the screen was receiving from the other occupants in the diner showed that they didn't know any better either. They only knew what everyone had told them, but didn't bother to look deeper. Cringing, Buffy realized that was how she had been. Before she had killed Faith the first time. And when she had looked deep enough to scare even herself the Council had managed to instill anger and hatred inside of her that made her no better than these people in here. She grunted quietly, trying to shake of the thoughts and looked back up the screen, where by now an elderly, white-haired man was scaling the steps to the podium, then silenced the crowd of reporters with his hand. Buffy felt there was something very familiar about him.
"The ACLU and UN Human Rights Commission have filed for re-trial of Faith Wilkins's case, as well as appealed for a stay of execution. In my opinion, this is a matter entirely for the people of California to determine, and should not be subject to outside interference. Under these circumstances, my first instinct was to press ahead with the judgement of our court. However, my political opponents have loudly declaimed the execution of this woman, cynically seeking to turn an act of justice into a political football. I have decided to call their bluff. For now, I have ordered Faith Wilkins' execution to be postponed. However, it is my pledge to the people of California, that if re-elected as Governor next year, I shall ensure that the execution goes ahead. I will stand by my convictions in this matter. Can my opponents say the same? Thank You," the man spoke calmly, then stepped down from the podium before the reporters could ask any questions.
Buffy's eyes widened slightly and she stared in disbelief at the screen, letting the meaning of the words sink in. What kind of weird coincidence was that? Throwing a couple of bills on the counter she stood up, leaving the dinner as loud and angry voices from the other customers rang through the room.
Somehow the handcuffs felt warmer this time around. Somehow her steps seemed easier this time around. Somehow the guards pushes were harsher this time around. But it really didn't matter to her. She wasn't going to die. Not tonight. Another day added to the hell that was her life. And to her surprise she was glad for that. For the first time in her life Faith was glad to be alive. Or maybe she was just glad that she wasn't dead.
Faith smiled softly as she lowered her head. The guards never took well to a prisoner smiling, unless they were released. The livid bruise on her ribcage reminded her of that oh so well. Especially since the guards at San Quentin weren't really used to handling women and girls. If she had been a slayer that kick to her ribs would've merely bruised her for a few hours, but now in her newfound all human body it hurt a hell of a lot worse. Faith cringed at the thought and stumbled as the guard pulled on her chains roughly. Just why did they like to do that so much?
As they crossed the hallway to bring her back to her cell she could see the other inmates from the corner of her eyes as they walked up to the bars, staring out at her. It didn't take long before the inmates in the cells that were high up on the sides of the building on the second and third stories were facing out too. Faith lifted her head, awkwardly pushing her brown hair behind her ears and watched dumbfounded as the prisoners smiled out at her from their bars. She could tell that the guards were getting nervous, not that they had anything to fear from the inmates, but still it was an eerie picture. Someone started banging on their bars and soon the whole building echoed with the sound of metal hitting metal, while someone men were shouting her name in mockery of the guards, as if to tell them that if she could escape execution so could they.
That she was alive was like a symbol to them and they did everything possible to make sure the whole city of San Quentin would be able to hear. There was no way she couldn't smile slightly to herself. She hadn't realized until now how scared she had been of dying. Faith Wilkins was scared of death and so glad to be able to live another day that she didn't really care about the roughness of the guards as they threw her back into her cell with burning eyes.
The shouts didn't really bother her that much. Lewd comments made by immature and horny men were nothing new to her. That wasn't why her stomach was in a tight knot and her heart was beating 200 times a second with hidden fear. She didn't want to admit to herself that she was so nervous because she had no idea how Faith would react to her visiting again. Especially not after the first visit of the day had been such a wonderful demonstration of a staring contest, ending with Faith crying her eyes out. All in all that visit had been a complete reverse of what Buffy had expected. Faith had never been one to lack words, no matter if they were hurtful, lewd or sometimes even sweet. And she definitely had not been one to cry, though that was something Buffy remembered painfully from the time before she herself had let the younger girl down. And for the past year her excuse that she would rather let down than be let down had worked so well. Not anymore.
The guard opened the cell for her with a smile that she returned weakly and stepped inside. And before she had a chance to change her mind the lock snapped shut behind her, the sound echoing in her mind. She really was glad that so far in her slaying career she had never done anything that would cause her to end up behind bars. Forcing her mind back to the matter at hand her eyes wandered around the small cell. It was a double but apparently they didn't think it safe enough for someone else to share a cell with Faith. A small metal shelf was mounted to the wall, a few dusty books that very much resembled those Giles had stocked in his shelves lying on top of it. On the metal table that stood secured against the barred window Buffy's eyes spotted the outlines of a crumbled and withered picture. She closed her eyes quickly and breathed out deeply.
The slim figure of the girl was curled up on the bed, the oversized prison garb making her look much smaller than she always seemed in Buffy's memory. Buffy couldn't tell if the girl was asleep or just hadn't heard her come in...or just didn't want her to come in. Either way it was Buffy who would have to make the first move, again. Not that she deserved any different. She stepped closer to the bed, Faith's back turned to her and the blonde reached out to touch the other girl's shoulder, snapping it back in the last second, remembering the brunette's plea from earlier.
"Faith?" she mumbled quietly, too quietly almost and desperately hoped that Faith did hear because she felt that she couldn't ask again.
"What're you doing here Buffy?" Faith replied just as quietly, never turning around, and Buffy cringed slightly at the way the brunette pronounced her name. And her whole name at that.
"Faith I...can we just talk?"
Finally the younger girl turned around, her hands grazing her face slightly as she looked at the blonde and Buffy realized Faith had been crying. To her dismay, a small part of her still felt satisfaction at the thought. Biting her lip she leaned against the table while looking at Faith softly.
"About what? You come to tell me that I don't deserve to live another day? That a piece of shit like me shouldn't even be allowed to die painlessly?" Faith's voice was more than hurt, it was betrayed. And though Buffy deep inside was somewhat glad that the brunette learned what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you thought loved you, she hated that she herself learned what it felt like to betray someone you love and not know how to make it right.
"No...I don't want to tell you that, because I don't think it's true," Buffy said quietly, but her voice was stern and displayed how serious she was. Faith grunted slightly, then laughed bitterly and sat up with her back against the wall.
"You were the one that told me I'm a piece of shit, remember? Well you and Wesley. So it must be true right? I mean, if some nerd from the fucking Watcher's Council and the almighty slayer Buffy Summers can see that it must be right." Faith was still crying, the tears evident in her voice but hidden from Buffy's view by the darkness that had settled in the cell with the rain clouds looming in the sky.
The blonde slayer closed her eyes again, the bitterness pierced her heart more than it should have, and looked at Faith again. She couldn't give up now.
"I'm...I'm sorry, Faith. For saying that to you. You're not a piece of shit Faith, don't believe that."
The brunette scoffed again and turned her head. It was obvious that she wasn't going to respond in any way. Buffy sighed and searched in every corner of her mind for the right words, for the words to make Faith trust her again. Even with all the things they had done to each other, it wasn't worth letting go. Nothing was worth enough to make her let go.
"I know I hurt you, and you hurt me back, but I just want us to start over. Maybe we can just put the past behind us Faith and move on," Buffy hesitated. Did she really want that? The words of that watcher still hung in her mind like a veil to conceal what she had seen of Faith the first few times she had visited her.
"Right. You want me to trust you again so you can throw it in my face how stupid I am, how easily I come back to you. You probably tell that story to your little Scoobies all the time and you all fall to the floor laughing at how stupid Faith is, huh? Poor little Faith, she never was a smart one," Faith's voice brought her back from her thoughts and Buffy glanced at the girl in front of her.
"Faith! No, that's..." and again she was cut off by the brunette's bitter voice.
"Save it, B. I'm not gonna fall for it this time. Just save your breath and leave me alone." And with that Faith turned her back to Buffy again, indicating that the conversation was definitely over.
The blonde could feel the tears stinging in her eyes and a strange hollowness in her heart as she pushed herself up. Her eyes fell upon the picture on the table, the memories immediately flooding her mind and she couldn't keep them out. It was a picture of her and Faith at Homecoming, looking so sweet, so innocent, so...together. Buffy closed her eyes as she walked towards the bars, waving for the guard.
She stepped out with one last look at the ex-slayer and mumbled loud enough for Faith to pick up on it. "I will prove to you that I'm serious Faith."
The tall man looked down at the bodies to his feet. They were mostly teenagers, maybe in their twenties, though nevertheless young enough and strong enough for his purpose. Their purpose he added in his mind and grunted. He was not made for teamwork at all.
"When are they going to wake up?" came the voice from behind him and he winced slightly, throwing his cigarette to the floor and stomping on it to control his overflowing urge to set this woman straight.
"Bloody hell, don't creep up on me like that! It'll take a while until they die and un-die the whole bloody ritual. Just be patient, alright?" he grumbled and walked away from the bodies towards the entrance of the crypt. He had to find a meal for the newborns once they woke up hungry and ready to run out and get themselves killed by the goddamn slayer. Newborns were all so stupid, and they definitely couldn't risk their 'project' by having their minions prance about in the bushes just waiting for a stake to drive through their undead hearts.
"I'll be back, luv," he smirked and walked out of the crypt, just glad to be away from the woman that ordered him around worse than his Dru had.
"Are you serious? She just left?" Xander exclaimed, a look of disbelief on his face as Willow recounted the happenings of the night.
"She just left. She mentioned, no wait, she more urged me to remember that she hates Faith," Willow nodded emphatically, hoping to cast some light onto what she thought was Buffy being possessed by an evil, Faith-loving demon.
"That all strikes me as rather strange. Are you sure she said Faith?" Giles was cleaning his glasses for about the fifth time since Willow had announced Buffy's sudden departure.
The redhead nodded again, gesturing with her hands as she told the story one more time. "Yes, I'm sure she said Faith. The psychopathic super-bitch, you know. I would've said psychopathic slayer, but you know she's not a slayer anymore, so now she's just psychopathic super..." Willow stopped as she noticed the other occupants of the room throwing her exasperated looks. "Sorry, it's just...I'm worried about Buffy is all."
"I can't believe she just left us, again. What if we have to face some unspeakable evil? Who is going to save my life?" Xander mumbled, a blank look on his face as he continued talking to himself.
Giles lifted his glasses back to his eyes, then started another cleaning session as a look crossed his face that usually meant he had an idea of some sorts. He exchanged the glasses in his hand for the coffee cup sitting on the counter and turned to the others.
"Well we could always call the state penitentiary, maybe Faith knows something. As much as I'd hate to do it, I am very worried about Buffy. And Xander could be right, it has been quiet so far, but maybe that is just the calm before the storm," the Englishman explained and looked at the faces of the four teenagers before him. They all nodded reluctantly, realizing that calling Faith might be their only option. All sunken in their own thoughts they snapped back to reality when Tara spoke up softly.
"I thought she was to be executed today. I mean, there was that newscast last night, right?" the blonde witch spoke, looking for reassurance in Willow's eyes.
"Maybe Buffy just went to make sure that Faith really kicked the bucket, y'know?" Xander shrugged, looking at the others as they digested this statement.
Giles considered a reply and opened his mouth to voice it, as something on the TV caught his attention and he walked closer to the sofa. "Turn that up Xander," he mumbled, clutching the coffee cup in his hand as four other pair of eyes turned to the screen.
"... For now, I have ordered Faith Wilkins' execution to be postponed. However, it is my pledge to the people of California, that if re-elected as Governor next year, I shall ensure that the execution goes ahead. I will stand by my convictions in this matter..."
"Wha...what?" Xander questioned, turning to look at his friends in hope that they had understood what was going on.
"Faith isn't going to die. I can't believe they would let a homicidal lunatic live," the redheaded witch muttered under her breath and looked up at Giles. "I hope Buffy doesn't know about this. Who knows what she'll do."
"Nothing stupid, I hope."
A hard jab to the jaw sent the vampire falling onto his back. It was only anger that fed him, ran straight through him, controlled his every thought and within a few seconds he was up on his feet, ready to strike again. This time it was a foot that connected with his head and sent him tumbling onto the floor again.
"That's enough, mate. Go eat," the man that had so severely beaten him said in his thick British accent and pointed to the figure of a tied up woman in the corner of the crypt. The newborn vampire didn't need to be told twice and scrambled to his feet, eager to sink his teeth into anything by now.
"You're gonna kill them like that," came the female voice from the side of the crypt and the stronger vampire turned to look at her in irritation.
"They're already dead, luv," he mocked her and lit a cigarette as he watched the five new vampires feed eagerly on the meal he had provided. "And anyway, without proper training they will be no match against the slayer. If we want to get rid of that blasted girl we have to have a plan of attack. These five are just the beginning." Taking a last drag of his cigarette he threw it onto the stone floor and walked over to the five young vampires.
"Let's go mates! You need to be trained before you can fight the slayer."
The one he had just showed the feeling of being defeated looked up at him, blood trickling down his chin slowly. "Yes, sire," the vampire growled and wiped the blood away with his sleeve.
Spike shook his head in disgust; he hated messy eaters.
The words had never left her mind. They had been stuck in her brain ever since Buffy had said them. She wasn't sure what to make of them. Had the slayer been serious or just trying to play her again? Faith didn't know and she hated not being able to tell what was going on with the blonde slayer. *I will prove to you that I'm serious Faith.*
Somehow Faith had the feeling that, if indeed Buffy was serious, the way she was going to prove it wasn't a good one. Not one that she herself or any of Buffy's little Scoobies would appreciate. Though still, the brunette wasn't sure whether to believe Buffy. The pain of the last time she had trusted the blonde still lay heavily on her heart. It didn't feel good to be betrayed, to be stabbed in the back. In some ways, it hurt even more than having your own knife plunged into your gut by the one person you thought would understand you.
Faith sat up on her bed slowly, her back leaning against the cold wall as she stared at the spot where Buffy had stood not too long ago. She really wanted to trust the blonde. She really wanted everything to be okay again. But that didn't mean that she could shake off that paranoid feeling, the voice that kept telling her Buffy was just out to hurt her again, in any way possible.
The brunette closed her eyes and sighed. No matter how much she couldn't trust Buffy right now, she just hoped the blonde wasn't going to do anything too stupid.
The sound of someone typing on a half-broken keyboard stung in her mind. It definitely did nothing to ease the headache she had developed, and the constant *tap tap tap* of the keys rung in her head. She closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead as if it was going to help with the pounding inside her brain.
Maybe her head was trying to tell her that this was a bad idea. A very bad idea indeed. And she really couldn't argue with that. It wasn't like she didn't know how bad this idea was. But this was the only way she could think of to prove to Faith that she could be trusted. And not only would this prove how serious she was, maybe this would give her a chance to help Faith. She knew now that she didn't want the ex-slayer to die. And even that newfound knowledge her head tried to argue about. Faith had looked so fragile, so vulnerable the last two times she had seen her. And she could still feel the other girl's pain from the day Faith had sobbed in her arms. There was no other way, she *had* to do this.
Buffy looked up slightly as loud screams came from the hallway and she watched closely as two men in blue jackets led a screaming and kicking man away and down the hallway. She shook her head slowly. This definitely wasn't a place for someone with a brain-splitting headache. Looking around she spotted the clock on the wall and sighed. It was typical for these people to make her wait this long.
Out of the corner of her eye she spotted someone sitting down in the chair across from her. The slayer lifted her eyes to look at the woman sitting behind the desk, who was already eyeing her suspiciously. Buffy remembered the woman as a 'friend' of Angel's, whatever that meant, and from the night that she had almost locked Angel away to his certain death. She really didn't trust this woman but it was probably better to tell this to someone that knew at least to some extent about vampires and slayers than someone else. Buffy stared at the blonde, who was waiting expectantly for her to explain why she was here. Taking a deep breath the slayer closed her eyes, then opened them again as she decided that it really had to be this way.
"I'd like to make a confession."
She woke up, startled by the sound of a deep voice yelling her name with no hint of sympathy. Blinking her eyes open the young girl slowly rolled over, staring blindly at the bulky female guard standing outside her cell. She knew it couldn't be time for breakfast yet, and even if it was, they usually didn't give her a private escort to the cafeteria.
"What?" she mumbled quietly, but attentively and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
"You're needed for questioning. Let's go," the grim woman responded and held up the handcuffs as the young girl stepped closer to the bars.
"Questioning for what?" the prisoner asked harshly, wincing as the guard snapped the cold metal cuffs around her wrists non too gently and unlocked the bars.
"The murder of Allan Finch. We're taking you downtown. Let's go little one," the guard replied stiffly and connected the handcuffs to the chains that she cuffed around the girl's ankles and started walking down the boardwalk next to the other cells.
Faith grumbled as she started walking in front of the guard at a steady pace. She hated being called little one more than anything, but almost everyone here did because after all she was the youngest inmate there. Though this time that didn't bother her as much as what the guard had told her. She had long been convicted of killing Finch, why drag up old dirt?
The air was cold as they stepped outside, now accompanied by two male guards with enough weaponry in their holsters to make a sieve out of Faith. A police car was parked a few feet away, the eyes of the policemen standing next to it observing her every move. And the moves of the bystanders. Not that it would really matter if some guy with a shotgun decided to blow her head off right in the middle of the street. She was going to die either way and that way might just be a lot bloodier. The female guard grabbed her lower arm tightly as she led Faith down the few steps of the facility.
The wind was cold, the air was cold, basically it was just cold. Though it never got cold enough here to snow, the winter months definitely were better spent inside near a fireplace or at least with a jacket on if you had to be outside. Faith had neither and she shivered. The gray jumpsuit and gray long-sleeved shirt underneath they had made her change into once she had gotten to San Quentin wasn't exactly warm material. But at least it wasn't orange. Orange definitely wasn't her color. Her eyes met with the icy blue ones of the policeman as the guard pushed her towards the car. He was young, somewhat nervous apparently. It probably wasn't everyday that he was driving around with a convicted murderer in the backseat.
The second policeman walked around the car and sat in the driver's seat, while the young, who still held his gaze with Faith, nodded towards the guard. The bulky woman released her hold on her prisoner's arm and handed Faith over to the cop. He smiled softly at her and she couldn't help but smile back. The policemen usually were nicer than the prison guards. They didn't really know all the dirt on an inmate, though Faith doubted there was a person in the nation that didn't know who she was by now.
"Let's go," the policemen mumbled softly and even allowed her to get into the car herself.
She wasn't really sure anymore what she was doing. Everything had just spun out of control. Of course she had known what would happen when she had first talked to that cop. The whole thing had happened faster than she had expected, and within hours she was sitting in an interrogation room somewhere near San Francisco, not knowing what was ahead of her. The detective that was sitting across from her kept asking her the same things over and over. Apparently they didn't really believe her. Well, maybe because she hadn't come forth until now. It was almost two years after the murder. Who would believe her now? Especially since Faith had confessed to being alone at the time it happened.
Buffy looked up and rubbed her forehead. Thick smoke was curling through the air, and the detective added another cigarette to the empty Coke can in front of him. He leaned back and sighed, apparently he was just as annoyed with her as she was with him.
"You know even if we charge you, this won't affect her sentence," he started again, obviously not wanting to go through having to charge her.
"I know. But I have to do this," she replied simply. She wasn't going to budge one bit.
He leaned forward again, probably to intimidate her, which he hadn't found out yet wasn't going to work, as the door to the small room opened.
"Mr. Lombardi?" came the voice from the door as it opened further, the fake florescent light from the hallway falling into the dingy interrogation room.
The detective glanced at Buffy and got up slowly, his dark suit wrinkled and sweaty, the tie loosened around his neck. He walked outside quickly, probably glad to get away from her for a few minutes and she definitely didn't mind. The slayer felt sweaty and icky, especially after sitting in this smoke-ridden room for more than three hours.
"Get her in here, I don't have time forever alright."
She jerked her head around as Lombardi's voice echoed through the room and Buffy couldn't help but roll her eyes. He kicked the door open and the blonde winced slightly, almost ready to attack but reminding herself where she was. The detective was holding someone by the arm, still yelling at one of the cops outside and Buffy squinted against the bright light to see who it was. He turned his head towards her and for a second she thought she could see his eyes gleaming, before he threw the person in front of him right towards the table, slamming the door shut again.
"B?!" the person muttered, pushing away from the table and staring at her in surprise.
Buffy sat up straight in her chair and took in a deep breath. She hadn't expected them to bring Faith here too. Not yet at least. Lombardi pushed the brunette girl into the chair next to Buffy and walked to the other side of the table, slamming his hands down onto the old wood and leaning over the table.
"Listen I don't like to be fucked with, so both of you better tell me the truth," he just about hissed and finally dropped back into his chair.
"Wha…what's going?" Faith mumbled quietly, her chains clinking with the slightest movement against each other, and she looked at Buffy desperately.
"You're little friend here has given us some new information on the murder of Allan Finch. Do you want to add anything to your statement?" the detective questioned Faith, the folder of her confession and charges crumpling under the tight grip of his hand.
"N…no. What'd she tell you?"
Buffy sighed and looked down at the table. She had known that Faith had covered up the fact that she hadn't been alone when Allan died. And after five hours in the police station, she was beginning to realize just how hard Faith could have made things for her if the brunette had ever revealed that Buffy had been there. The blonde sighed again and looked as the detective was very obviously trying to intimidate Faith like he had tried with her before. The old Faith would've never let him get as far as he had gotten now, but the new Faith was almost vulnerable.
"If you don't confess she could be charged with murder, do you know that?" Lombardi stated more than asked, staring right into Faith's eyes. The brunette seemed frozen, like a deer caught in headlights.
"But she didn't do it! I did! I killed him," Faith responded, shaking her head as she looked at Buffy.
"B, why? What'd you tell him," the brunette mumbled, her voice so small that Buffy thought it would just break off and vanish into oblivion.
The slayer reached her hand out, taking Faith's cold, handcuffed one into her own and looked at the almost frightened girl.
"Faith I *have* to do this. I can't just keep blaming you. I was there and I didn't stop you and I didn't go to the police. If I don't take responsibility for that it makes me as guilty as you."
She sneaked a look at Lombardi who was nodding to himself, then grumbled and jumped up.
"We're going to check with the Sunnydale-PD about your story. For now we'll just keep you here," he told them tiredly and knocked on the big mirror to the side.
The door opened again and two policemen stepped inside, one taking Faith by her arms and the other taking Buffy.
The cell they were put in was small but it was more or less private. Cringing, Buffy remembered her earlier thoughts about not having been locked up as the lock fell shut behind them.
Now there really was no way out.
"What'd you do that for Buffy?" Faith's hurt voice catapulted the blonde out of her thoughts and she stared at the younger girl sitting on the cot to the side of the cell.
"I told you why Faith," Buffy mumbled under her breath and took a seat on the cot opposing Faith's. "I have to show you that I'm serious about it. That you can trust me."
The brunette looked away slowly, drawing her knees up to her chest, a movement that was hindered by the chains still cuffed to her wrists and ankles. "What's the deal here, B? You got a plan right?"
"No plan," Buffy sighed and leaned back against the cold stone wall, waiting for Faith to look back at her any moment.
"So you're just throwing in the towel? Sounds like you've lost control, B," Faith mumbled quietly but Buffy picked up on it and she shook her head slowly.
"My life hasn't been in control since the day I met you."
This finally got Faith's attention and the ex-slayer turned her head abruptly, staring at Buffy with a slight smirk. And for a few seconds Buffy thought she could see that spark in Faith's eyes again, that spark that had drawn her to the brunette since day one. She smirked back, hoping to lighten the mood and finally get Faith's trust back.
"Is that a good or a bad thing B?" Faith questioned, and although she was still smirking Buffy could hear the silent fear in the younger girl's voice.
"You tell me, *F*," the slayer nodded seriously, then slowly stood up and turned towards the bars that gave them the great view of the gray hallway. She turned back around, finding Faith's eyes resting on her, and although Buffy hated to be stared at, the brunette's gaze did nothing to anger her. Walking a few steps she sighed, knowing she had to do this now, and sat down next to Faith. And even after anticipating it, Buffy still felt her heart constrict as Faith flinched and moved away slightly.
"Faith…," the blonde slayer started quietly, remembering the brunette's plea about not touching her. Buffy apologized for the second time, hoping it would finally get through.
"What I said back then…I really shouldn't have said that. And I wasn't even being truthful Faith. I didn't come to make sure you died, I never wanted to see you die. And you're not a piece of shit Faith, you're such an incredible person but you're the only one that can't see it. From the first time I saw you it was like you were made of a greater force that I couldn't resist. You just took me by surprise and I didn't know how to handle it."
Buffy looked into Faith's eyes for any reaction, any sign of understanding. Back in the days she knew there would have been thousands of walls to break down, but this time it seemed as if the brunette was actually letting the words sink in. There was no time but now to continue and just get it all out. The blonde reached her hand out, slowly, making sure Faith knew she was going to touch her, and finally rested her own hand on top of the brunette's colder one.
"I know you're sorry for what happened, you told me you were. I was so happy that we finally could make everything right again, and then, right when I had your trust back someone reminded me of all the pain and I was too stupid to see through it and realize you had changed. So maybe if you can forgive me, we can really start over. Be friends again. How about it Faith?" she continued quietly, hoping, fearing that the answer wouldn't break her heart.
But as she felt Faith move her hand underneath hers, pushing it off slowly, it felt as if her heart was already broken before the brunette had even responded. The younger girl moved slightly and then turned her face to Buffy. The slayer had already given up hope, had already settled in defeat for the hollow feeling inside her body, but as her eyes fell upon the tear-streaked face of the ex-slayer the hope flickered inside of her. Faith leaned forward and her hand curled around Buffy's comfortably, her lips drawn to a slight smile.
"I do, always," Faith whispered and before Buffy could respond again a finger on her lips silenced her, then the welcome weight of a head on her shoulder calmed her.
And for the first time in months there was an ease between the two girls that allowed them to sit comfortably in silence together.
With a loud crash the headstone fell to the ground, breaking under the force of the foot that had disturbed it in its original position. But not even that seemed to satisfy the owner of the foot as another headstone went tumbling onto the dry earth.
"Bloody hell!" a voice cursed and stopped, lighting another cigarette. The defeat of the night did nothing to smother his already overwhelming hatred for the slayer. The man with the bleached almost white hair turned to the young woman in front of him as she stared at him in disrespect.
"Just quiet it down. You're gonna wake the dead," she snickered slightly at the last sentence, realizing just how true it was, but then returned a more serious face.
He had been furious to hear that two of their minions had been staked earlier that evening. Sure, those two had basically been newborns, barely trained and lusting for fresh blood. But what made him so furious was that it hadn't even been the slayer that had staked their vampires. No, the slayer's friends seemed to be going on a vamp hunt as well now and had crossed the path of their newborns. Only one of the newly awakened had made it back to the crypt and to his sire.
"Don't tell me what to do. I want to get rid of the bloody slayer as much as you do, but your way doesn't seem to work. What good is waiting when we could assemble an army of vampires to beat her," the old vampire asked credulously, pointing his glowing cigarette at her with anger in his eyes. He hated waiting. He hated not being in control. He hated that they had been rising vamps just to have them killed shortly after for almost two months now.
She shook her head, silencing him with the wave of her hand. "Don't be so impatient Spike. Losing those two vampires was for the best. After all, we wouldn't have found out that the slayer is 'out of town' if it hadn't been for them, correct? And we don't want to draw any attention to ourselves, so as long as stupid newborns go get themselves dusted we should stay undetected."
He mumbled under his breath, something sounding like an insult but he knew she wouldn't be able to pick up on it.
"Don't worry, I have a feeling he will come to me soon," she smiled and headed off towards the crypt.
Spike growled, throwing away the cigarette and followed her reluctantly. "Who's the lad anyway?"
She chuckled, a chuckle that sounded more like evil laughter and threw him a glance. "Let's just say he's trained to deal with your kind, so don't try anything stupid Spikey."
He growled louder this time, making sure she could hear his anger loud and clear and slammed the door to the crypt shut with enough force to shake the caskets inside.
"You can't be serious, sir?"
"I am very sorry, but we have no option. The problem is only being exacerbated by our ignorance to it. My secretary will hand you the official papers."
The conversation he had had just a few hours ago lay on his mind like a heavy blanket. He wished he could just forget the orders he had been given earlier, but it was hard to do that, especially considering where he was going.
With a sigh the young man pushed his glasses up on his nose and turned his head to look out the window, smiling politely at the old woman next to him as he escaped another one of her stories. For the past hour she had been 'entertaining' him with stories about her toy poodle and adult son that was too rich to bother visiting her. The sky was dark blue with some clouds streaking the horizon as he looked out the window to his right. He could not believe they had already sent him back there, no he did not want to believe. The joy of returning home had definitely been cut short.
Heaving another very exasperated sigh Anthony McCarthy opened his briefcase and read over the report the Council had given him for the fiftieth time.
"All rise. Honorary Robert Harrison is now presiding."
She lifted herself off the cold chair heavily, feeling the weight of what was to come lie on her like a burden. Behind her she could hear the fabric rustle as the masses of people sat back down, including herself. She had waited for this day for the last month and a half. The Judgment day.
Up front the judge was giving a speech, another one of those about young people and responsibilities. He had given them in great numbers during the whole time period of her trial. Her trial. That just sounded so wrong. And if she was found guilty and convicted now there would be no slayer on the streets to protect the innocent. She sighed and leaned her head in her hands. This all was just like a nightmare, all the images blurred into oblivion, not remembering what happened just the second before, and always the constant fear of a threat while hoping to wake up. Buffy felt like that right about now.
Shortly after her confession they had charged her. Charged her with quite a few things actually. It seemed that once they got started charging they just couldn't stop digging up dirt. The prosecutor had even mentioned that whole burning down the gym thing, and that she had been expelled or suspended numerous times. Like that really had anything to do with the main charge. Accomplice to murder. The prosecution had been trying for weeks to convict her of murder as well. It was ridiculous. But she knew this trial had to happen.
Her mother had, as anticipated, been furious when she had found out Buffy was in jail. Almost as much as the Scoobies. They all had put her through the worst guilt-trip of her life. And as soon as Willow had thrown the idea that this was all Faith's fault out in the open the others had latched on to it and were by now probably proud members of the "Execute Faith Wilkins" fan club. Buffy scoffed quietly as she realized that her mother would most likely vote for Gray Davis as governor now, even though she despised him. Buffy sighed again, knowing that her mother wasn't all that bad. Somehow she had managed to get the thousands of dollars for Buffy's bail so the slayer didn't have to stay in jail for the duration of the trial. They had been living in a hotel for the past few weeks, since Buffy wasn't allowed to leave city limits. Her mother worried about college and that Buffy had missed a great deal of classes. The slayer just couldn't bring herself to tell her mother that about two weeks ago UC-Sunnydale had written her a nice letter stating that if she was convicted of a felony, she wasn't welcome at their facility anymore. If she told the others that though it would just give them another item to add to the All-the-things-Buffy-lost-because-of-Faith list. And there didn't need to be any more on the list.
"Will the defendant please rise?" the judge's voice boomed through the room and almost mechanically did she stand. Shaky she stood, looking at the judge for any sign of what was to come.
The foreman of the jury stood up slowly, making himself seem very important. The paper trembled in his hands, maybe from the soft breeze of the fans above or the fact that he himself looked to be quite nervous. The judge nodded in his direction and the man nodded as well, his eyes locked on the paper.
"On the account of breaking and entering, we, The Jury, find the defendant: Guilty."
The Sports-store. Buffy heaved a sigh but didn't move one bit. She could get through this. Maybe, somehow. She had always wondered how Faith had managed to sit through her trial all by herself. Buffy knew her mom was sitting behind her, being there for here, and earlier she even had seen Willow and Giles, who had driven down here just to tell her 'good luck'. And Faith. Faith had complained and whined and complained some more, and maybe not because of that, but they had allowed her to sit in on the trial verdict. The two girls hadn't seen much of each other this past month, mainly because Buffy hadn't been able to drive there and Faith was still securely locked away on Death Row. She missed Faith, she truly did.
"On the account of Murder in the first degree, we, the jury, find the defendant: Not guilty."
She breathed out calmly. Kendra. There hadn't been enough evidence, but apparently the prosecutor had dug up the files on her. Resisting arrest after Kendra's death hadn't been the smartest thing, but it wasn't enough to convict her of something she hadn't done. No one had been too worried about that charge. Nothing valid. She could hear her mother exhale in relief behind her as well.
"On the account of Accomplice to murder, we, the jury, find the defendant: Guilty."
No, no, no. This couldn't really be happening. If they found her guilty of that, then it was easy to find her guilty of murdering Finch as well. She felt herself sweating even in the cold acclimated courtroom. Is this how Faith was feeling? This was it, the moment she had been waiting for and yet dreading at the same time. The moment that could even decide that she no longer had the right to live.
"On the account of Murder in the second degree, we, the jury, find the defendant…"
She took another deep breath. She would need it. It was as if someone had turned the tension level in the courtroom up by far. The only one that looked rather bored was the judge.
"Not guilty."
The words reached her ears, though she wasn't sure she really heard them. In her mind she had played those words over and over again, and she wasn't sure if it was just another dream or reality. But as she turned to look at her mother she knew it had to be reality. A wide smile spread across her face, until the foreman continued.
"On behalf of these charges, we, the jury, sentence the defendant to four years in a state prison, a fine of five thousand dollars and psychological counseling for the next ten years."
The man sat down as the judge nodded at him again and Buffy felt herself shake for the first time. Prison? What was this? That couldn't be, they had said she wasn't guilty. She closed her eyes, fear burning inside of her already. A murmur rang through the courtroom, people busily complaining to each other about the sentence.
"Order in the court," boomed the judge's voice as his gavel flew onto his desk. The crowd silenced quickly, hoping to get answers from the old man above.
"I, as the judge of this court, have had the chance to evaluate the evidence and statements as well. I respect the ability of the Jury's sentence, but as the judge I have the power to re-sentence as I find it proper. And I hold the belief that Buffy Summers was strongly psychologically influenced by Faith Wilkins, before and at the time of the murder, which made it almost impossible for her to perform her duties as a citizen of this nation."
Buffy swallowed hard. She still had the chance to speak up, to tell them that it wasn't the truth. And take her prison sentence. It was the right thing to do. She could almost feel her mother nod behind her at the degrading words of the judge. The slayer turned her head slightly, her eyes grazing the rows until she met a familiar pair of brown ones. Faith shook her head firmly, her eyes pleading with the slayer not to say a word. And Buffy did as she asked.
"Because of this, I am reducing the sentence to a suspended two year term in a state prison, a fine of two thousand dollars and psychological counseling for the next five years. And also, most importantly in my opinion, I am prohibiting any personal contact between Buffy Summers and Faith Wilkins for the time being. They will be allowed to converse through letters and a monthly phone call, under the strict supervision of an employee of the prison facility and an employee of the Social Services or an approved psychological counselor. They are not allowed to see each other, except under the circumstance of Faith's Wilkins execution, where I will allow one visit, within 24 hours of the execution, under the strict supervision of an employee of the prison facility."
This sounded even worse than spending four years in prison. Not being able to talk to Faith, just when they had finally managed to be friends again. It was as if someone was set out to destroy them. The anger and the tears that welled up in her weren't controlled as easily as she wished they had been. The judge looked at her, with a look on his face that was supposed to tell her to be thankful and how lucky she was. And she knew she was. She just didn't feel it.
"Young lady, I hope you have learned your lesson here," he murmured and expected her to agree.
Buffy nodded. Maybe he saw the pleading in her eyes, or the sadness. Whichever it was, she didn't care.
"You may talk to Miss Wilkins one last time as I see she is present here today, and I will call for the police to remove her from this building in five minutes," he said a little bit more empathetic this time.
"This court is adjourned." The gavel fell hard and the sound rang through the room, announcing the end of a month of waiting.
He looked at the small map one more time and up at the building again. This just couldn't be it. Deep inside he just hoped this couldn't be it. Not that this small town sitting on top of the Hellmouth wasn't enough already, the only place that offered somewhere to stay was this fleabag motel.
Anthony sighed in despair, his extreme animosity towards the American culture only worsening by the second, and grabbed up his bag to head for the entrance of the motel. He deeply had wished for the Council to allow him to stay outside of town, in a nice classy hotel and even out of danger. Sure, he had been trained to deal with vampires and demons, but after all he was no slayer. He didn't even have a slayer to watch. He had committed himself to the Council so he would be able to train and watch over a slayer himself one day, but now he was only being used as the Council's dog that did whatever they told it to.
He just hoped that this stay in the US wouldn't prolong itself like the other one had. His orders were very simple this time and nowhere near as cruel as the last. After all, he was a watcher and taking a slayer's powers was something he definitely disbelieved in. Though he had no reason to disagree or distrust the Council, his orders had been clear and understandable. This time though his job wasn't as hard to do and he had no doubts that he could be back home in no time.
Now he just had to wait for Buffy Summers to come back home to Sunnydale.
"Oh god honey, I am so glad this is over!" Joyce Summers exclaimed as her arms tightened around her daughter.
Buffy grimaced slightly, feeling overwhelmed at what had happened and at the sadness she still felt inside. Though she knew her mother would mistake the few tears that rolled down her face as tears of happiness and not of their real reason. As soon as the blonde had pried herself away from her mom, satisfying the woman with a stiff, faked smile, her watcher and best friend came over as well.
"Buffy! I am so happy for you!" Willow smiled brightly and the slayer did her best to return that smile. She managed somehow to get through the next two hugs that just didn't seem to want to be over.
"Yeah, I'm happy too," she mumbled, looking around the crowd that was slowly disappearing from the benches and out the doors. Where was Faith? She couldn't leave here without seeing Faith at least one last time.
Apparently her mother caught her glance and Joyce's hand on Buffy's shoulder startled the slayer and she looked at the three people with confusion in her eyes.
"Buffy, come on, let's go home," her mom smiled brightly, edging her daughter forward slightly. It seemed as if the three had already planned on keeping Buffy as far away from Faith as possible, but there was no way the blonde slayer was going to let that happen.
"Uh in a second mom," she responded, finally having spotted a lonely Faith standing near the big double-doors. "Just wait for me outside alright?" she mumbled as she started walking towards her friend, hurrying so she did not have to hear her mother's protests. She knew they were going to watch her, going to watch them, but right now she didn't care.
Buffy stepped up to Faith with a half-hearted smile. The brunette was standing a few steps away from the exit, where a young policeman stood watching her with disinterest. This time only her hands were cuffed, and Buffy eyed the dark blue windbreaker the younger girl was wearing, that had ‘Police' written across it in big yellow letters. Faith smiled back slightly and took a step closer to the slayer.
"I was kinda cold coming down here and he was nice enough to lend me his jacket. Think it suits me, Buff?" Faith grinned and for the first time in the past few minutes Buffy's smile was sincere.
The slayer nodded slightly and reached out her hand to rest it on Faith's upper arm, a gesture she knew had probably just caused her mother a coronary. "Faith, I just want you to know that no matter what that judge said about you influencing me, it really wasn't your fault, alright?"
Faith looked to the floor, pushing her hair behind her ear, "I know, B. I just didn't want you to ruin your life as well, y'know? You can't save the innocent if you're locked up, Buffy. It didn't even have to go this far."
Buffy knew what the brunette was talking about. And she knew Faith was still feeling guilty for Buffy being charged. "Faith, you know I had to do this. To win your trust I had to do the right thing."
Looking up with a slight smile Faith nodded at her friend. "I trust you Buffy," she responded seriously and the blonde smiled back at her. "I know Faith." She heard the brunette sigh quietly, her eyes locked on something behind her and the blonde turned her head to her side, seeing her own three ‘guards' coming towards them, as well as the policeman.
"You'll write me, right F?" Buffy asked quietly, smirking at the brunette.
"Everyday," the ex-slayer replied softly and nodded slowly at Joyce, Willow and Giles that were throwing her glances that portrayed their extreme suspiciousness.
Buffy immediately felt the tension rise as the others stepped up next to her, staring Faith up and down. She sighed, realizing this was the last time she would be able to see Faith, a realization that already brought tears to her eyes again. And though she knew the brunette wasn't too fond of them, she herself just couldn't leave without one, and Buffy pulled Faith into her arms tightly for one last hug. And to her surprise the younger girl didn't try to stop her, but melded into her embrace as if they had been doing this forever. The only protest she got came from Willow.
"Buffy!" the redhead squealed, followed by a gasp from her mother. But Buffy did nothing to pull away from Faith, not for the next twenty seconds anyway. When the cop finally cleared his throat and motioned for Faith to come with him, the blonde slayer slowly let go, her hand sliding towards the brunette's as she walked away.
They looked at each other one last time and let go of the other's hand as they were both pulled away.
"He's here, I can feel it," the woman smiled sensuously at the tall man in front of her and he shrugged.
"Here where? I don't see no one but those bloody vampires, luv," he mocked her with a snarl and turned his back to her. He knew if he just kept looking at her she'd win again. She won every time.
"Don't worry Spikey," the woman responded as she walked towards the door of the crypt, "it won't be long before he'll seek us out. And then we can get rid of the last slayer as well."
He growled, letting her know how much he still despised the nickname she had given him to annoy him. The vampire was definitely getting sick of this demon woman occupying his crypt and bossing him around every second of his waking night. He just wanted Buffy Summers robbed of her powers and dying under his hands, her blood leaking into his mouth. Spike licked his dry lips in anticipation and turned towards her.
"Yeah well the lad better get here soon and hand over that bloody poison or I'll just have to go kill the slayer myself."
She laughed out loud and turned away, shaking her head, which only angered him more.
Adam Johnson stared absentmindedly at the beeping fax machine sitting in front of him. All he wanted anymore was a good cup of coffee and a couple of minutes to just sit down and relax. But with the upcoming election there wasn't even a minute he was not running some errands, re-writing the governor's speeches, and planning lunches and business meetings. But if the information he was about to receive were to turn out as he hoped the governor wouldn't be able to deny him that promotion anymore.
After all he had been the one that suggested to grant a stay of execution for that piece of white trash Faith Wilkins, in order to create an uproar under the population that would ensure a majority of votes for the governor. And the first results were due in any minute, when he finally would prove to everyone that he had the smarts for the business.
He snapped out of it as the edge of a piece of paper started to show and frantically his hands started to pull on the paper, urging it to come out faster. Finally he held the sheet in his trembling hands, his eyes scanning the page.
His sudden outburst of an excited "Yes!" was heard throughout the offices as the young man ran to inform his boss about the good news. He had no doubt that Gray Davis would be re-elected governor of California for the next term, if just to fulfill the peoples' wish to execute that girl.
His life was going well.
Her keys dropped onto the counter loudly and the blonde girl heaved a relieved sigh. She looked around, not seeing any sign of her mother and walked over to the fridge. Taking another look to make sure her mother was nowhere in sight the girl took the milk carton, opened it, and put it to her lips.
"Buffy!"
The girl choked, spitting out the milk that now was running down her chin and held the milk carton in front of her in puzzlement.
"Buffy, how often do I have to tell you not to drink out of the carton?!" Joyce Summers reprimanded her daughter and shook her head as she took the milk from Buffy to put it back in the fridge.
The blonde grinned sheepishly and wiped the milk from her chin. "Sorry, mom. Any mail?"
Her mother sighed, then nodded and walked over to the desk, mumbling as she walked to retrieve Buffy's mail. "There's one from your community service officer, a whole bunch of advertisement and some magazine."
Buffy pushed herself away from the counter and stepped out of the kitchen, looking at her mom expectantly. "And?"
Joyce hesitated, picking up the mail and sighed again. "And a letter from Faith." The woman turned around, looking back at her daughter in hope that the girl would not want to read that letter but the gleam in Buffy's eyes told her otherwise.
The girl reached out, holding her hand open and her mother put the mail into her hand with a disapproving look. Buffy smiled, walking over to the sofa and dropped everything but the crumpled letter with the state prison facility emblem on the top onto the coffee table. The slayer leaned back, staring at her name written on the front in one of the sloppiest handwritings she had ever seen, and looked at her mom expectantly. Joyce muttered something unclear to Buffy and took the letter from her daughter's hands, ripping it open harshly, as if ripping open the enveloped would mean she was ripping apart Faith herself.
Buffy waited impatiently as her mom scanned the letter and finally let it drop onto the sofa cushions, turning to walk into the kitchen. "That girl really has the worst spelling and grammar. I'm surprised she even knew how to sign her confession."
Sighing, the blonde girl picked up the papers and watched her mother leave. Her mom had not been too happy with being assigned the person who would have to pre-read every single one of Faith's letters, as the judge had ordered. Of course, some guard person at the prison already read the letter before it could be sent, but apparently that wasn't enough. And the fact that Faith had kept her promise and written a letter almost every day for almost the past two months had made Joyce's job no easier.
Buffy unfolded the papers and started reading:
"B,
how's life? I know you must probably be getting sick of all my letters but you wrote me that I better not stop writing so I won't. I just hope you aren't as bored as I'm in here. They finally decided to give me a cellmate but hell I wish she were gone already. All she does is talk bout her problems. Sometimes I really wish I could just make her shut up. She really reminds me of Red. I don't wanna offend you or nothing but you know Red and me aren't really on good terms.
But anyways I've been thinking about what you said. Y'know bout us just getting it all in the open. Or something like it. And you already told me what you felt so I guess I have to huh? It's hard though you know. Look at me little Faith scared of a few words. I'm starting to worsen in the state of being pathetic every minute.
I have to get this out, and I'm really not good at 'thank you's but I really am grateful for all you've tried to do for me. I know how hard it must've been for you and after all I did you still wanted to be my friend. I just wish I had realized that earlier maybe we would be sitting together somewhere watching midnight movies like friends do. I miss being with you. When I came to Sunnydale that was the first time in my life I was actually happy. Boston sucked everyone was just treating me like a piece of shit. Which I guess I was. And I had a purpose after everyone said I had none. When I heard about you I thought you might be all alone and miserable like me, but you had friends like Red and Giles. Heck even a mom that didn't just sit around and get drunk all day. I thought everyone was out to hurt me, but it wasn't until way too late that I realized you had been serious. I guess I thought I was born to be nothing but a bad girl.
Every day and every night I see their faces and they won't go away. Allan, Lester, even you B. What I did to do you hurts even worse than anything else. God I was set out to hurt you in every way possible and you still didn't let me go. You're still here with me, and I wonder about that every day. You're just too sweet for your own good. But I'm gonna have to stop myself here before I get too sappy. That word and my name just don't go together. I hope I didn't scare you away B, after all I'm no good at this heart-to-heart stuff. And I hope that you can forgive me sometime, 'cause I want us to be five by five.
Your friend,
Faith"
Buffy folded the letter and put it back in its envelope. Slowly she got up, ignoring her other mail on the table and ran up to her room. Her mother was never pleased seeing her cry over Faith's letters. And right now that was all she wanted to do.
"The final results are now in. Robert Deuker with 37%, Lewis Goldman 14% and the new and re-elected Governor of California Gray Davis 49%."
The cheers rang through the building like an earthquake and he couldn't help but smile. The campaign finally had paid off and now there was nothing in his way of being promoted. Adam Johnson turned to face the Governor who greeted him with a strong handshake.
"You did a good job, Johnson. How about we talk about that promotion tomorrow in my office?"
As the Governor walked up to the podium to give his acceptance speech his inner happiness could not be exceeded. Though it seemed kind of ironic, he knew he owned the best day of his life to that murderous chick Faith Wilkins. Now it was time to celebrate and afterwards he could set up what the people of California wanted to see the most.
An execution.
He was more than furious. He could not believe how that girl had treated him. True, their first encounter hadn't been pleasant either, but they had not parted with harsh words the last time. But this time, this time she had actually slammed the door shut in his face. Twice at that. And he also could not believe how long it had taken the Council to give him new orders.
She had been back home for almost two months now and Anthony had managed to advise her about a month ago against conversing with Faith ever again, or she would suffer severe consequences. And to make it clear to her that the felonies she had been convicted of really put her in the same file Faith had been in. But Buffy Summers had wanted none of it and made it also very clear to him. The Council was a very ungrateful bunch, and that he knew. Especially after they had used him for over a month to run errands in this despicable country. And if that hadn't been enough he had also had to deal with the slayer.
When the Council advised him to converse with that ex-watcher Rupert Giles he had done as they asked. But neither slayer nor watcher had been very pleased to hear of him. So he had done the only thing left to do, called the Council and admitted his failure. Now it had taken the Heads of the Council almost a month to give him his new orders. The new job wasn't going to be easy, but thank god he knew just the right person for that.
Anthony tightened the grip on his briefcase and stepped through the mushy grounds towards the crypt he had been informed held who he was looking for. Not sure whether one would knock on the door of a crypt he just pushed it open and was greeted with harsh words coming from someone with a familiar accent.
"Bloody hell, shut the goddamn door mate!"
The watcher stepped inside, his eyes slowly adjusting to the semi-darkness inside and he grimaced as he spotted the tall man walk towards him. He had no doubt this man was a vampire, and from the corner of his eyes he thought he could spot a whole group of them feasting on a poor soul. Anthony inched his way backwards to the door, ready to set these vampires on fire when he heard a familiar voice to his side.
"Well look who's back, needing my help," Harmony spoke with a subtle voice and walked towards the vampire, pushing him away harshly. "You have a job for me to do?"
Anthony sighed in relief and nodded quickly, correcting the place of his glasses and looked at the demon they had created.
"Yes Harmony, I have a job for you to do. You will be rewarded well."
She smiled, stepping closer to him and her hand moved to rest on his in tweed-clad chest. He was nervous, definitely nervous and he knew she could feel it. This woman intimidated him, and the whole group of vampires did nothing to ease him.
"What is it you want us to do?"
Anthony swallowed, then smiled back as he regained his composure.
"I need you to kill the slayer."
Harmony laughed, a sharp bitter laugh, and then turned on her heels to face Spike. He could see the anger in her eyes and pushed her away from his body before she decided to do damage. With burning eyes the vampire stared at the British guy that he figured to be a watcher. The demon turned back around, now standing next to Spike and glared at the Englishman.
"I want you to give me more of that poison," she hissed and the watcher actually looked dumbfounded. Spike growled, but Harmony's hand stopped him from charging at the man.
"You know, we want to rid the slayer of her powers and then kill her," she explained irritated and stepped back closer to the man.
"B…but that means there would be no more slayer," the watcher stuttered and Spike could smell the man's fear on him. He was getting hungry and he hadn't had British blood in hundreds of years. The sight of the man's blood pulsating in his veins made Spike want to plunge his teeth right in.
"Wouldn't have pegged you for such a smart one, mate," he mocked and watched as the man shrunk back.
"My orders were to have the slayer merely killed so we can track down and train the heir. And we do not work with vampires, we train the slayer to kill them. Now either you accept my offer or I will have to find someone else that will be willing to," the watcher spoke sternly, fumbling with the glasses on his nose.
Harmony laughed again, this time louder, and the vamps in the corner cringed back. She had taught them to fear her already and Spike growled, remembering his own run-in with her cruel intentions. The demon stepped forward towards the watcher and glared at him, a slight smile on her lips.
"No, either you accept my offer or you will have to suffer the consequences," she hissed, the man shrinking back even more as her eyes burned into his.
"Like I said before, I am not authorized to give you any more of the venom. I was merely ordered to have the slayer killed. So if you cannot accept that, our ways will have to part here," the watcher spoke stiffly, fumbling with the glasses on his nose and turned abruptly.
Harmony growled deeply and stepped back towards Spike again. He knew what she wanted him to do. She knew what his dead body lusted the most. And just when Anthony moved to push the crypt door open the old vampire's strong hand clammed around the man's shoulder and pulled him back.
The watcher struggled and it was all he could do not to scream when the vampire morphed into game face.
She dropped into the soft sofa cushions with a tired sigh and leaned her head back. Her whole body ached in protest of the cruel workouts she was putting it through day in and day out, and her stomach protested against the foul smell that seemed to surround the girl now no matter how many showers she took a night.
"Are you alright, honey?"
The girl sat up abruptly, a look of confusion lingering in her eyes as she looked at the blonde woman sitting in the seat next to the sofa.
"Huh? Uhh, yeah. Just a little bit sore from patrol and you know, picking road kill off the streets all day." The girl nodded and her mother smiled reluctantly at the morbid joke.
Buffy Summers smiled back at her mother half-heartedly, feeling the uncomfortable silence once again settle over them. It had been there ever since they had come back from the trial. Maybe even before, but Buffy had been living on campus and the two women had barely seen one another. Now that the slayer once again was living with her mom their lack of a conversation topic made it depressing to sit around the house much.
The blonde girl sighed and turned her attention back to the TV. That was usually the only thing that made it possible for them to stay in the same room as the other without bored stares or even a shouting match that they both wanted to avoid. The only times her mother chose the silence over a TV program was when they mentioned Faith's name. And in the past few weeks they seemed to do that a lot, probably in hopes that the re-elected governor would hurry up and set an execution date. Some channels even ran documentaries on her friend's trial and personal life, telling Buffy things she herself felt better off not knowing.
Throwing another fake smile at her mom Buffy leaned forward to escape to her room, even sleeping a restless sleep was better than this, when suddenly the shrill ring of the phone cut through the air. Both of them slightly jumped, then relaxed with a sigh and the older woman picked up the phone. The slayer finally stood up, figuring the call was for her mom anyway, and walked around the sofa as she heard her mother's voice respond to the person on the other line.
"Yeah she is. Hold on just a second," Joyce Summers sighed, it didn't sound like a happy sigh, and looked at her daughter, holding up the receiver. "It's for you."
Buffy raised and eyebrow and walked back over to her mom, snatching up the phone gently, searching her mother's eyes for any sign of who it could be, but found nothing. The only people that would call her were Willow and Riley, but it was late and neither of them were very big fans of disturbing someone at this time, unless of course it was an emergency. And that realization sent panic rising up in her, which was very evident in her voice as she answered.
"Hello? Will?"
"B?"
The voice was so small and soft even she could barely hear it, but it was there. And hearing it almost made the blonde's heart stop. With whatever emotion she no longer knew.
"Faith?" Buffy asked incredulously, realizing that talking to Faith without prior weeks of approval and under the strict supervision of some big authority figure could mean serious problems. "Faith, I don't think…," she started, but was cut off.
"B, don't worry. The judge said I could call you as long as my guard is here and you and your mom are in the same room."
"But why?"
Faith hesitated, wondering what the why referred to and then decided to continue instead. "B…Buffy, he did it." Her voice was still soft, but stronger this time. Strong enough for Buffy to hear the tears in her friend's voice.
"Who? Did what? Faith what's wrong?"
"Turn on the news Buffy," the younger girl mumbled and Buffy thought she could hear a male voice in the background making lewd comments. The blonde shivered slightly and reached over the sofa to grab the remote. The news flickered on and she stared at the screen, oblivious to her mother next to her in the room, her mind only concentrated on the even breathing coming from the other end of the line and the reporter on the screen.
"…here in front of the Governor's office, where Governor Gray Davis has just announced that the new execution date for 17-year-old Faith Wilkins was determined earlier this morning. In his speech the Governor stated that it was time to for justice to be paid and to clarify to every citizen of this nation that crimes will have to be paid for. The execution date is set for May 5th, 2001, an event that has reached national status and will be broadcast live throughout the country…"
Buffy leaned against the back of the sofa, the words caught in her throat. And although she knew it was going to come soon, the news of Faith's imminent death just hurt. And again Buffy felt like she didn't have control over things, a feeling she hated with passion.
"Oh god Faith. That's your…," she finally managed to whisper, to croak, a sound that portrayed the pain she felt oh so well.
"My birthday. Many happy returns, hey B?"
He could feel the life draining out of him, out of his veins with every drop of blood lost. It was strange to feel yourself dying, to feel your heart slow down to a near stop, to realize your soul was trying to detach itself from your body.
He gasped one last time, and even that small action took all the strength he still had left. The canine teeth buried deep in his neck had long stopped hurting him. All he still felt was a slight burning sensation in his neck and his blood being drained, his body being sucked dry.
"Are you almost done? I'm getting bored here," came the thin female voice from far, far away. There was no answer, just a low grunting coming from the base of his neck and then he felt his dying body dropped to the floor.
"Don't tell me how to do my business, luv," a man answered and finally his eyes shut as his heart stopped.
And that was when he heard the hiss and felt the warm liquid drop onto his lips, running into his mouth, feeding him. He parted his lips farther, eager to drink more, and the liquid oozed over his lips. It was as if just from a few drops strength was surging through his body again and he snapped his hand up, pulling the wrist above him down to his mouth.
Ignoring the mumbled protests of the man from before Anthony started sucking the vampire's blood.
The wind was soft as it swayed with the branches of the tree above him. The sun was throwing shadows across her hair and he watched the strands of blonde shine in the light. He knew something was wrong, something was up with her. It was an ability he had always possessed, to tell when she was upset. He stopped, turning to look into her eyes with his puppy-dog look and waited for her to look back at him.
"Buffy, what's wrong?"
She looked up, into his eyes, and he saw nothing resembling his girlfriend reflected in hers. Something definitely was up.
"Nothing. Why do you ask Riley?"
He sighed then lifted his hands to her shoulders and rubbed them. "You seem so distant, as if you aren't really here with me. Is it something I did?"
Buffy stared at him in confusion then slowly shook her head. Somehow she was getting sick of Riley's good-guy puppy-dog attitude. She lifted her hand to brushed some strands of hair out of her face and started walking again, leaving him no choice but to follow.
"It's nothing and no, it's not something you did. I've just been thinking a lot," she mumbled, not looking at his face for she knew what question would follow and she really wanted to avoid it.
"About what?" he asked, trying to walk in front of her again but this time she wasn't going to let him.
"Faith." Her answer was quiet, but she knew he would be able to hear, and she knew he did when he stopped, then grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him.
"Why?! Buffy all she's done is hurt you and you're still worried because she's going to die. You've lost so much because of her and you don't even seem to care," he said, his voice rising as he realized she wasn't very interested in what he had to say.
"Riley just cut it please. I don't need to hear it again," she hissed, but her voice sounded bored for she had heard it all before.
"She's ruining our relationship Buffy. Since you got kicked out of college, which was her fault as well, we have barely gotten to see each other. You spend most of your time doing community service and training and patrolling, but the little time you have left over you waste by writing page long letters to her or think about her, instead of being with me," Riley complained and the blonde girl scoffed quietly, turning her head from his.
"Honestly I won't be disappointed when she's dead, at least we'll be okay again," he added to the end.
Buffy jerked her head up, staring at him in disbelief, feeling unable to utter any words to his statement and jerked her arm out of his grasp to start walking again. She knew he was going to follow her, walk her to her door, just because he was Riley. But right at that moment Buffy deep inside wished that Faith and Riley's places were switched, no matter how wrong it should have felt to think that.
The girl in front of her had a forlorn look on her face, her dark eyes seeming haunted and scared as she turned to look out the large window to their side. The woman sighed, dropping the cards she held in her hand onto the table and sat forward in her chair. It wasn't very often that she saw a young girl act like this and be of complete mental health. Though that was what she had been asked to find out. It had been no news to her that the ACLU wanted to stop the upcoming execution and that their lawyers would seek an escape by giving the girl a psychological evaluation, but she had not expected the evaluating psychologist to be herself.
Dr. Olivet watched the girl intensely while scribbling keywords onto her yellow notepad. All she had found out so far from this patient was enough for her to declare this girl insane. But she knew that the Governor and the people of the nation would not take well to this girl being acquitted. Thank god she was not the only psychologist that would have to evaluate this girl over the next three days. She felt nothing but deep sympathy for the young brunette sitting before her, but to risk losing a job over someone that had no chance of being acquitted wasn't one of her favorite things to do. Maybe her colleagues would agree with her on the subject of bad mental health.
"Faith?" she asked softly, but yet it startled the girl. In her opinion this girl was in bad need of psychological counseling, and the harsh treatment of the prison guards probably did nothing to ease a teenage mind.
"Huh?" the brunette mumbled, her dark eyes screaming for help but Dr. Olivet had no choice but to ignore it for the time being. Faith shifted uncomfortably, the chains that still bound her ankles and wrists clanging against each other. The older woman had asked for permission to have the chains released right at the beginning of their session but the Warden had been strict. After all this girl was a murderer, a dangerous animal. But now, in the dim light from the gray sky outside Faith Wilkins looked nothing like an animal but a scared little girl that was doomed to die.
"What are we going to do now? I thought you had a plan, luv?" he asked, staring down at her while taking a drag from his cigarette.
She scoffed and sat down on the rotten sofa she had managed to dig up somewhere. Probably out of a sewer, by the way it smelled. He felt a lot better knowing that her plan to eliminate the slayer had failed. His plan of attack was always more welcome to his kind. Stalk, attack, kill.
"I say we go out, find this girl, and kill her," he smirked, watching her face disappear behind the curtain of smoke he was producing.
"She's the slayer you dumbass, she will turn you to dust before you can say another one of your damn 'bloody's."
He loved when she got mad. The rage that boiled inside of her with her anger made her careless, made her less powerful than him. Smiling he threw the cigarette to the floor and shrugged his shoulders. He knew she would come up with another plan sooner or later.
"It's no wonder there's so few of you, you're all too stupid to kill a simple girl," Harmony hissed and pushed him away harshly as he advanced towards her. Spike growled in protest but she wouldn't let him get a word in.
"My plan is working just like I had in mind. You tell your new vampire over there to hand over that venom and then we'll have the slayer come to us," Harmony smiled back, making him realize that he had always been in her grip with no way to outsmart her.
"How are you going to have the slayer come to us luv? Send her an invitation for tea?" He knew he couldn't win against her so he mocked. It was an everlasting game between them that he despised and she loved.
"She'll come all on her own. Even the slayer has her weak point Spikey," the demon stated and walked over to the group of vampires feeding.
"And that weak point is?" he grumbled, watching her closely as she chased the vampires away with her stare.
The demon turned, her eyes burning in that undeterminable color he had learned to love and with a slight smirk responded.
"Faith."
Something had been in her mind all night long. And she knew it wasn't Willow with her magic problem or Riley with his constant complaining about Faith. Faith. Somehow she felt as if the nagging feeling clouding her mind had to do with the brunette. The feeling that she got when vampires where near or some great evil decided to open the Hellmouth for good. The feeling that something was wrong.
"Buffy?" Willow asked, concerned about her best friend's apparent absentmindedness.
"I'm sorry Will, did you say something?" the slayer mumbled, looking at the redhead but yet her eyes were looking right through her best friend. She truly wished she could shake that feeling off but it stuck. And Buffy couldn't help but be worried about her sister-in-slaying.
"…have to have faith, Buffy," Willow nodded and immediately the blonde's head snapped up and she stared at the witch in puzzlement.
"What?!" the slayer managed to choke out, hoping Willow hadn't been experimenting with mind-reading spells or something along those lines for her own sake.
"I said that if you're worried about Riley and your relationship not to because it will work out, you just have to have faith…oh, sorry," the redhead cringed, realizing the word that had set her friend off and did so easily nowadays.
"No, I'm sorry Will. I just have this weird feeling that something is wrong, you know. It's probably nothing, but…," just as Buffy tried her hardest to shake off the feeling they were interrupted by the ringing telephone. Glad for the interruption the blonde threw Willow an apologizing glance and picked up the receiver with her free hand.
"Hello?"
"Buffy? It's Angel."
Angel? What could he want. He never called unless of course, it was an emergency. And Buffy knew it was right away. She hadn't been feeling irritated all night long for nothing.
"Angel…what is it? What's wrong?"
The mention of the vampire's name even received a surprised look from Willow, who had been busy relenting her story of a botched spell to Xander and Anya.
"Cordelia, she had a vision. I don't know if you want to know about this," Angel's voice was deep and as reserved as it always sounded but Buffy could tell the difference. He was actually worried.
"Tell me Angel!" she responded a bit too harshly, but the nagging feeling had really gotten to her.
"It's Faith. She's in danger."
And that was all Buffy needed. She dropped the receiver, knowing Angel would definitely understand and raced towards the door of Giles' apartment. From the corner of her eyes she saw Xander moving to pick up the phone she had dropped, but she didn't care. Not even for the protests of her friends.
As Buffy Summers left her watcher's apartment to get to her car she couldn't help but feel that this was a trap.
"So how do we know she's going to come?" he questioned, the weight of the body he had slung across his shoulder impacting his voice to make it even deeper.
She looked at him with a smile, clutching the syringe in her pocket. It had been even easier to break into that mental hospital than they had anticipated. The dark of the night kept them concealed as they made their way back towards the dark car Spike had stolen from some poor soul on the way. The slayer was on her way and Harmony could feel it. She could also feel the anticipation of an upcoming fight, though she hoped that with Faith as hostage the slayer would surrender.
"She will Spike, just trust me on this."
He grunted in reply and stopped, pushing the unconscious form of the brunette girl down from his shoulder. Harmony hissed as she saw the small trickle of blood on the girl's neck and felt the strong urge to dust the vampire.
"Spike! I thought I told you not to drain her yet, we need her you damn idiot!"
He smirked and shrugged, "Chill luv, I just had a sip."
Harmony growled and turned, watching their minions as they stood in anticipation a few feet away. 'This was all way too easy' was the last thing in the demon's mind before something unexpected happened.
One of their vampires turned to dust before their very own eyes.
There were about ten vampires, all looking strong and smart enough to offer a good fight. But that wasn't her main concern. As soon as she had sighted the building her eyes had fallen upon the form of the woman she despised and one of her biggest enemies.
"I see you're too much of a wuss to fight for yourself Spike. Making pacts with demons now? You must be desperate," she mocked as the dust of the first vampire to meet Mr. Pointy settled.
Spike's anger flared up in his eyes and the body he had been holding dropped onto the concrete with a thud. All Buffy wanted was to get Faith out of here. Out of danger. Though never really out of danger and deep inside the slayer thought that maybe it would be better if the younger girl died in a fight. She shook the thought off and moved to stake the second vamp.
He blocked her punch and his foot in her stomach sent her flying back a few feet. Cursing herself for not concentrating Buffy lunged at the dead guy and drove her stake home just when a pair of strong hands yanked her back. These vampires obviously had been trained and Buffy realized it really had been a trap when the vampires overpowered her and pushed her up against a concrete wall, holding her there.
Harmony grunted as she watched the fight. She had expected the slayer to be stronger, to be able to stake more of their minions but within a few minutes the vampires had the blonde girl pinned up against a wall. The demon turned to look at Spike who was holding up Faith by her neck, his eyes lingering on the girl's neck in sheer lust.
Shaking her head the demon advanced towards the disabled slayer and pulled out the syringe. The blue liquid looked almost black in the dark and she positioned the needle at the slayer's neck, when suddenly she heard a yelp from behind her and she turned.
Spike was doubled over, clutching his crotch and the brunette girl stood next to him shakily. And before Harmony could react the syringe had been knocked out of her hand with a roundhouse kick slayer-style.
Buffy groaned, stretching as far as she could and yanked her leg away from the vampire's grip as their attention was averted. The syringe crashed onto the ground as her foot connected with it and the dark liquid leaked into the earth.
The next thing she heard where two screams, one coming from the demon in front of her and one she wished she never had to hear again.
"You little bitch!" Harmony hissed at her and Buffy struggled in the vampires' grip whose attention was now nowhere but on her. "Spike!" the woman yelled and apparently the blonde vampire knew what he was supposed to do. Buffy growled in warning at the demon, who again came closer to her.
The difference this time was that Harmony was holding a knife in her hand. Faith's knife.
She hated feeling so weak. So helpless. It wasn't who she was. But his grip on her as he pulled her closer to him was too strong for her as a normal human to fight off and she knew it. For a moment it looked as if Buffy were to save her live once again, but the vampires surrounding the slayer seemed to be even too strong for Buffy. And there was nothing she could do but wait for him to sink his teeth into her neck and drain her off her life. Strangely enough she wasn't scared one bit. It wasn't like she had much to live for even if William the Bloody spared her.
Faith groaned as the vampire tightened his hold and she stared at the ridges on his face, his long teeth grazing her neck in warning. Something inside of her told her to stop struggling, to let him kill her right here and right now. But apparently that something wasn't linked to the part of her brain that controlled speech and she couldn't help but scream as the teeth finally plunged into her vein.
"Buffy! Help me, B, please!"
The thought of death made her struggle, but Faith's plea for help made her fight. She looked to her right and quirked an eyebrow as she recognized the watcher that had tried to take Faith away from her. He would have to suffer first and Buffy yanked her arm out of his grip, punching him hard in the face twice and sent him stumbling backwards over the vamp crouched next to her foot. With her free arm she reached over to her other side, letting the stake from her sleeve slide into her hand and plunged it into the vampire's chest that was to her right side. Harmony yelled in despair and plunged the knife forward just as Buffy lunged at the demon, tackling both of them onto the floor with two vampires still holding onto the slayer's legs. The knife scattered onto the concrete and Buffy's weight on top of the woman kept her from reaching the weapon.
The slayer sent her fist flying into the demon's face and turned onto her back, kicking her legs against the vampires' chests and jumped up as she was finally free. Turning to look for Faith a small whimper escaped her lips as she saw Spike drinking from the younger girl who didn't seem to be able to struggle much longer.
"Faith!" she yelled, trying to get her friend's attention and jumped over the demon's body to save Faith from Spike, as a dead hand clamped around her ankle and sent her crashing to the concrete. The vampire was on top of her in an instant and moved to sink his teeth into her neck as well. *Stupid idiot* she thought as her stake drove through the undead heart and the slayer jumped up again. *Six more to go*. Buffy watched as the watcher-vampire struggled to get up and advance towards her. Apparently he was fairly newborn and she grinned in satisfaction as he lashed out at her. It felt good to kill one of the British bastards without feeling guilty about it, and the blonde twirled her stake in her hand as the watcher finally turned to dust as well. She had to get to Faith, to save her from being drained and maybe even turned. If a vamp Willow was bad, she didn't even want to know what a vamp Faith would be like.
Subconsciously Buffy warded off a kick from Harmony and followed with a roundhouse kick of her own that sent the demon stumbling backwards. From her sides two of the remaining five vampires lunged at her and the blonde girl jumped, both of her feet connecting hard with the dead guys' skulls as she kicked at them. Immediately she was on top of the first one, driving the wood through his heart and ducked as another vampire went sailing over her head. He sprung to his feet within seconds but a second too slow for her and the slayer took a hold of his arm, yanking him closer to her and drove her knee hard into his back. She smiled as her actions produced a sickening crunch and released the vampire from his agony with her stake at last. *Three left. God Faith please hold on,* she pleaded with the girl still captured in Spike's grip and she threw a worried glance in Faith's direction, the fear rising in her heart as she saw that the dark eyes were closed, the girl's thin body hanging limply in the vampire's grip.
Caught up in her thoughts she didn't see the vampire raise the tire iron behind her and only in the last minute could she cushion the blow with her hand, still tumbling to the floor. The vampire stared down at his unconscious prey and kneeled down, dying to kill the slayer and lowered his mouth to the bared neck just when he felt something slice right through his chest. "Bye bye stupid," the slayer underneath him hissed and he dissolved into thin air. Buffy rolled onto her back and pushed herself up, her eyes scanning the area for the remaining two vamps and Harmony who seemed to have simply vanished from the face of the earth.
Suddenly she saw movement from the corner of her eyes and ducked, sending the deliverer of the roundhouse kick stumbling slightly. She crouched, sweeping the legs away from her assailant who crashed to the floor with a loud thud. Buffy moved to stake one of the last two vampires when a kick to her hand sent the stake scattering away just like the knife before. The slayer looked up and stared into Harmony's grinning face, who was holding up the knife to stab Buffy. The girl shot up, jabbing the demon into the stomach and introducing the woman to her elbow once again, then pulled a stake out of her back-pocket and dusted the vamp to her feet before Harmony had time to regain composure.
He watched in interest as the fight continued. This was like going to a movie, just better. He had a snack, or better a meal and a good fight to watch. Buffy was dusting the vampires right and left and if he hadn't been drinking he would have had to smirk and remind Harmony that he told her so. But Faith's blood tasted too good to stop drinking and help his accomplice fight. Even though this girl wasn't a slayer anymore her blood still tasted different from normal humans. It had more power, it held more energy and he loved what it did with his body. He could always kill Buffy another time. It seemed as if she was almost done fighting and was ready to move on to him, when Harmony came back with the knife.
Buffy sent a few quick jabs against the woman's ribcage who responded with a knee to the slayer's stomach. The blonde girl kicked up high towards the demon's face, who ducked and instead lost the knife as it feel cluttering towards the floor again. Readying for another kick Buffy stepped back, right into the remaining vampire she seemed to have forgotten everything about. But instead of becoming the victim, the slayer elbowed the vamp into his face, and threw him over her shoulder into Harmony, both of them crashing to the floor. Buffy picked the stake up from off the floor and drove it hard into the vampire's back. It made Spike cringe in shared pain, after all he had been the sire.
He grunted as he realized the pulse of his victim had slowed down to almost a complete stop. He couldn't risk draining the last bits of blood, not that he needed to. Letting the dying body drop onto the concrete he licked his lips and morphed back into human face. Taking one last look at the two fighting women he shook his head, light a cigarette, and walked off into the darkness.
The pain shot up in her arm and she groaned. There was no way she'd let this woman win the fight. It wasn't as much for her own sake as for Faith's. She felt like she had to avenge this woman taking the younger girl's powers, once and for all.
Buffy kicked hard against the demon's knee and she thought she actually heard a crunch. With a satisfied smile she watched as Harmony went down, but not without taking Buffy with her as the older woman swept the slayer's legs away. Both women reached for their weapons but found them gone and their eyes fell upon the knife lying a few yards away. Buffy jumped to her feet, but was sent flying forward with a kick to her back, that allowed Harmony to grab the knife. Raising it above her head the demon plunged it down where Buffy was lying, only to be kicked hard in the face right before impact. She howled in pain and fell back, allowing Buffy to straddle her, trying to pry the knife out of her grip.
"Even if you win, you'll never save her," Harmony growled, nodding her head over to where Faith was lying and Buffy followed her gaze, long enough to have the demon knee her in the gut and send her flying over the woman hard onto her back. Harmony jumped up, kneeling above the slayer as she struggled to plunge the knife into the fallen girl's chest, who was pushing up against Harmony's hands.
"You'll never win this Harmony," Buffy panted, staring up at the crimson demon eyes and lifted her legs, then harshly kicked the over her own head, connecting with the other woman and jumped up as the knife landed easily in her hands. Without hesitation she lunged at the fallen demon and punched her again to make sure she stayed down. "This is for me," she hissed as her fist once again connected with the bruised face and the woman groaned.
"And this," Buffy growled, raising Faith's knife above the woman's chest. "Is for Faith."
The knife glided easily through the tissue and into the demon's heart.
"Faith…Faith, oh god Faith don't die," she whispered, her voice shaking worse than she could remember from ever before.
Buffy kneeled next to her fallen friend, the knife dropping easily to her side and her eyes scanned Faith's neck for the puncture wounds. Only a small trickle of blood was still escaping from the wound, but Buffy knew from the pale skin that all the brunette's blood had been drained. Faith's skin felt so cold under her hands. The blonde's fingers trembled as she searched for the vein, lingering there to find a pulse.
The slayer fell across her friend's body and a sob escaped her lips as she found nothing.
The air was cold as it whipped around her body. To anyone else, the wind would have been bitterly cold. As a slayer, she barely felt it. But even without her powers, she would not have noticed the chill. Her full attention was on the body in front of her to detect any sign of a heartbeat, her eyes locked with the girl's face to see any signs of breathing. But there was nothing.
Buffy really wished she had listened to her Health teacher and even Giles as they had tried to explain CPR to her. But who would have thought she really would need that to save someone's life. The blonde exhaled deeply and positioned her palms on the girl's ribcage in front of her. The panic running through her veins really did nothing to help her in this situation. She pushed down, cringing as she heard the crack but the blonde couldn't just stop. Slayer strength definitely wasn't a bonus when performing CPR and Buffy moved back, realizing she was just going to injure the girl more.
The blonde slayer leaned forward, watching the brunette's face as if hoping that the girl would open her eyes before Buffy would do what she was about to do. Her lips touched Faith's gently and she just couldn't help but feel that this wasn't right as she exhaled her air into the younger girl's lungs. Her left hand was still resting on the girl's ribcage and she jumped as she felt Faith's chest rise, but realized that it was nothing but her own breath expanding the girl's lungs.
"Faith," she whispered, wiping the quiet tears off her cheeks in a hasty movement and leaned down again. Her air escaped smoothly into