To Cross The River Styx
by Chazzman
Chap 6
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"Hey there," Buffy said as she strolled into the room and sat down in the chair near the bed. She slipped a book from her backpack and settled back in the chair. It had become a ritual of sort. Willow was at one of her weekly psych-therapy sessions to help her cope with the after effects of being kidnapped, so Buffy had come to the hospital to see Faith. Sometimes she talked to her about what had been going on, other times she read aloud from her texts to the girl.
"I got a B on my Lit essay, and I got to beat up Ethan Rayne for turning Giles into a demon. So it's been a good week." She proceeded to describe how Giles had awoken one morning and found himself transformed into a Fyarl demon. Fortunately, Spike who had still been staying with Giles was able to speak Fyarl and had immediately called Buffy. A quick search of the magic shops had revealed that Ethan was back in town, and an even quicker search of the hotels, thanks to one of Riley's frat buddies, had enabled Buffy to catch Ethan and make him reverse the spell.
An hour later, as Buffy finished reading to Faith the latest chapter in 'Ancient History 103', she looked up to find Tara standing in the doorway waiting for her to finish. They would go and spend the next hour or so practicing Tara's witchcraft and Buffy's sorcery, as Giles insisted on calling it. Of her friends, only Giles and Tara knew about her trips to see Faith. And Tara only knew because they had been spell-casting together.
The first time they had practiced together, Tara had immediately sensed Buffy's convoluted feelings about Faith and had cautiously asked her about it. After Buffy had told her about what had happened, Tara had seemed to understand Buffy's need to do something, anything, to ease her heart over Faith's condition. Not that she wouldn't have done it again. But it was still painful to Buffy that it had been necessary at all. Tara had listened to her and had gently encouraged her to do what she had to do in order to purge her heart of the anger she felt from Faith's betrayal.
Buffy smiled and closed her book. "Hey. How's it going?"
"Good," Tara smiled back. "All set for tonight?"
"Excuses ready to go," Buffy nodded. Although she had finally told Willow about Tara, she was still keeping quiet about her new powers to the rest of the gang. Willow been quiet subdued when Buffy had introduced her to Tara, and Buffy had felt that Willow would have been too upset by the information about her new abilities. Additionally, to prevent any accidental slips of the tongue, she had not told Xander and Anya. Giles helped her cover by claiming to be giving Buffy more training time, which technically was true. He had mapped out a course of concentration and meditation techniques for Buffy to practice control of her new abilities in addition to working on her Slayer skills.
***
Willow slowly emerged from Faith's body. It felt like pushing through warm jello. There was no resistance but it felt like something clinging to her as she moved. She had been experimenting to see if she could communicate with Buffy by using Faith's body. Use her voice. Move her hand.
In other words, she was trying to posses Faith's body.
Not permanently, she had promised, but since Faith was in a coma and all, it seemed logical that someone should get some use out of her body...
Not that it mattered. Although she felt as if she should have been able to do it, thus far she'd had no success at any sort of control over Faith's body. It was frustrating. Almost as frustrating as her attempts to move objects. Since that night over the Hellmouth, Willow had been unable to do so much as lift a feather. She had finally put it down to Buffy being 'super-charged' that night from the amulet being close to so many lines of magical power. So she had moved on to attempting possession of the comatose Faith. And failing utterly.
Not that it had been a total wash out. She had found herself able to do certain things that she had not yet been able to do in Buffy's body. One of those things was an ability to occasionally link into Faith's subconscious and see her dreams. They had frightened her at first. Some were violent distorted images from Faith's childhood and from slaying. Others were an incomprehensible mishmash of images, not really frightening, just surreal. Then there were the nice dreams: Training with her first Watcher, Christmas at Buffy's house, the Mayor taking her on a picnic. However even these pleasant dreams often ended in horror with Faith's first Watcher being torn apart by Kakistos, and Buffy walking up and stabbing the Mayor.
Willow had had enough after the third time she watched a stone-cold killer Buffy disrupting Faith's gentle memories of the Mayor.
"That's not what Buffy is and you know it!" she shouted at the Faith.
"What the-," Faith looked around with a puzzled expression as Willow strode forward.
"He was the monster, Faith, not Buffy," Willow growled out, "At least you could have the guts to face the facts in your own head."
"She's too much of a coward to face the truth!" snarled Buffy as she stepped forward with the knife still dripping with blood.
"I- I- What are you talking about?" Faith stepped back from the angry duo.
"What am I talking about?" Willow looked over at the bloody body of the Mayor and suddenly the scene shifted to that of Graduation and the Mayor shifted and grew into a 60-foot long demonic serpent, which began gulping down people. "That's what he wanted to become. Buffy fought to save lives. You gave up and just tried to destroy 'em."
"You don't understand!" Faith yelled back. "He did more for me in a few months than anyone else in my entire goddamn life. He cared about me!"
"You don't deserve to have anyone care about you," growled the Buffy image. "You're nothing. A slut. A killer. You should be dead. You were supposed to fight for good and you betrayed everything. You're EVIL. You belong in Hell!"
Willow was suddenly alarmed at the way Buffy was acting. "Now wait!" cried out Willow but neither Faith nor Buffy heard her. Buffy dove at Faith fully intent on stabbing her again
"No!" Faith cried out in fear and stumbled backwards. She flung out her arms to protect herself and suddenly Willow felt herself being expelled from Faith's body. After that experience, Willow decided that rather than confront Faith she would simply manipulate the scenes and hope that maybe they would have some influence on how Faith viewed things.
It was a shocking realization to herself that she had done the same thing to Faith in her own mind that Faith had done to Buffy. Replaced the person with a simple character that exaggerated the perceived faults of that person. Slowly, Willow was beginning to see beyond the picture she had developed in her own mind of Faith as nothing more than 'psycho-girl' and instead she began to see her once again as a person.
As she left Faith's body to follow after Buffy and Tara, she did not notice the small tendrils of energy that remained behind, linking them to the dark slayer. Giving her energy.
Hastening her awakening.
*******
The door to the closed as Riley Finn left the meeting. He had done his best to control himself but there was no mistaking the aura of anger that exuded from him at many of Eve's comments. Finally, when his report was finished and the cross-examination over, he had been allowed to leave.
"He's getting nowhere and he's really more of a liability right now," snapped Eve. "He almost blew it at the magic shop the other day, when he called for help on tracking down Ethan Rayne."
"I honestly don't see the need, either," Maggie added. "Eve has provided us with plenty of details regarding her activities. This foolishness endangers the main project, 314. The risk is unnecessary."
"Riley stays," said Jude calmly. "My interest in Miss Summers is not your concern and has no bearing to your project."
"Wrong. You're using my people for 'Your Project' and that makes it my concern."
"Does Agent Finn know about Adam? Is he aware of what you have done to him? No. Besides, there is still the whole outstanding question of whether 314 will be truly feasible. You're still a long way from success, Doc. Meanwhile, the successful recruitment of this 'Slayer' gives way to a whole host of opportunities and possibilities."
Jude stood up. With a glare at Eve, he ordered, "Riley stays and you are to do everything to help him establish a relationship with Miss Summers." With that he walked out of the room.
Dr. Ackerman took a nervous drag on his cigarette. "Well, that was fun," he grumbled sarcastically. "Why do you let him get to you? Shouldn't we be preparing the teams for tonight's hunt?"
"You're right," sighed Maggie, as she ran her hand through her hair. "It's just that there's something about him that irritates me."
Eve handed a few sheets of paper to Maggie. "This is all I was able to find in Giles books on Polgara demons. I don't believe the Glormgist would be prudent due to potential difficulties with disease."
"Difficulties?" asked Dr. Ackerman.
"Glormgist demons tend to lair with rodents."
***
Giles looked about with a sigh as the wind began to pick up. The clouds were moving in rapidly so it looked as if they would have to cut the practice short. Still, he had been very impressed with Buffy's progress in developing her mental powers. His research into past slayers with similar powers had unfortunately been stymied by the lack of access to the resources of the Watcher's Council. He and Buffy had decided to try and keep Buffy's new powers secret, not even Willow and Xander had been told. Willow had not been told because Buffy worried how she might react. When Buffy had told her about Tara finally, Willow's only comment had been to accuse Giles of purposeful neglect. He still cringed whenever he remembered her softly spoken words: 'Maybe if you had trained me properly I could have defended myself and might not have had my brain chopped up.' Since then, Willow had only once been over to the apartment, and that had only been because he had been turned into a demon by Ethan.
Tara smiled as she felt Buffy expanding her spell to include her and Giles. It felt as if she was being enveloped in her mother's arms. A sensation of warmth and security passed through her body as Buffy's detection spell expanded outwards.
Buffy felt a sense of pleasure as she stretched the detection spell to a circle 20 feet in radius where she finally detected Giles and Tara. Being careful to hold the detection spell steady, she used her mind to pick up a book and a crystal. The book she floated over to where she 'felt' Giles was and the crystal she held in the air by Tara. She then reached up and removed her blind fold.
"How did I do?" she asked as she blinked to adjust her eyes and looked over to the two figures in hopeful expectation. Her smile slipped and shoulders slumped as she saw Giles holding the crystal and Tara holding the book.
"Drat."
"No," Giles and Tara both said at the same time. They looked at each other, and Tara, blushing, indicated for Giles to continue first.
"Buffy, what you have managed to do in such a short time has been nothing short of amazing." Tara nodded firmly. "And in no small part, a little frightening." Buffy looked shocked at that statement, but when she glanced at Tara she could see that the blond witch agreed. Giles noted the surprise and worry on Buffy's face and continued. "It's not that I am afraid of you become evil. I've known you too long and after all that you have faced, well let's just say that I believe you have too strong of a moral character to ever seek to do evil with this power. Many magic users tend to be unaware of the potential for evil overwhelming them when they seek the easy path to greater power. A path that you don't seem to need, frankly. I'm not sure how strong your powers are but we haven't even begun to stretch them with what we've been doing here. These... exercises are simply thing to teach you control. That you are still making some mistakes is actually in a strange way, reassuring."
"I'm getting credit for mistakes? Why can't you be one of my professors?" Buffy grumbled.
"And I'm also very pleased that you haven't let this power go to your head and start using it every day during slaying. It is important that you not become slack on your physical aspects just because you can float a couple of stakes in the air."
"Ninety-eight," said Tara softly.
"What?"
"She's up to being able to control ninety-eight different stakes in the air at the same time. Of course that was last week..." she trailed off with a small sheepish shrug.
Giles looked shocked while Buffy just smiled.
"So what next Obi-Wanita?" Buffy asked Tara. "Try again?" Suddenly a rumble was heard from overhead.
"M-Maybe we should stop for the night," Tara said as she nervously looked up.
"Quite right," said Giles still trying to picture the vision of Buffy patrolling with 98 stakes floating around her. Vampires would never be able to even get near enough to touch her. He began to pick up some of the supplies.
"OK. Hey Tara, tomorrow Willow's gonna be studying at the library till eleven, you wanna go to the Bronze? I'll call Riley. Maybe we'll get lucky and find you that special girl?" Buffy grinned at the now blushed Tara. Tara had finally told Buffy about her homosexuality in order to stop Buffy from trying to set her up with any of Riley's friends. Buffy had blinked for a moment after Tara's revelation, Tara had been certain that she had heard the shifting of gears, and then Buffy had proceeded to talk about working on finding 'that special girl for her'.
Tara smiled back at Buffy. She had finally become used to Buffy's teasing and cajoling. Her confidence was still quite low but being around Buffy always seemed to make her more daring. She met the challenge in Buffy's eye, flipped her hair back in a nonchalant manner and nodded. "You're on."
It would have sounded better without the stutter.
*****
"What the fuck is your problem?" snarled Riley as Eve stepped out of the front of Lowell House.
Eve look calmly at the angry young man. "Problem?"
"Every goddamn meeting it's 'Riley is screwing up', 'Pull Riley', 'Get rid of Riley'. I'm having enough trouble with this mission without you trying to sabotage my every effort."
Eve arched an eyebrow and began to walk off. When Riley didn't follow she stopped and called back over her shoulder, "Walk with me." After a minute of walking in silence Eve began to speak.
"What exactly is your mission, Agent Finn? Get in close with the Slayer? Why does Jude Law want you next to Buffy? I am already there. I can provide all the needed information on Buffy and her activities. Instead my orders are to slowly isolate myself from everyone until I receive orders to tell them that I am leaving Sunnydale. That I can't handle the constant fear. That I need to get away and start fresh. And after I have left, do you know what will happen to me?"
She stopped walking to look him straight in the eye.
"I will be shutdown. Program completed. End of run. I'm a loose end that the government can't have running around. Jude Law is afraid of me and wants me packed up and liquidated. I know this and still I will follow Dr. Walsh's orders. I have to. But don't expect me to enthusiastically welcome you when you're doing such a pitifully poor job."
Riley's face had blanched when she had mentioned being liquidated, but then he thought about what she was and calmed down. Eve did not miss the change in his face.
"That's right. I'm just a thing. I don't deserve to exist. Keep think that. After all, you've got enough on your conscience what with killing me once already," Eve said with a smirk. Riley took a step back as his face flushed with guilt.
Eve started to turn away but stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "Here's something else to think about. Jude told you he wants to recruit Buffy, but do you really think that Buffy would join a group that traumatized her best friend the way my cover story has been put forth?"
"So what are you saying?"
Eve cocked here head to the side. "I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think you're here to recruit Buffy by getting her in the sack. Jude Law came here to eliminate problems. Buffy Summers being in jail for murder would solve a lot of his problems."
"Wha- Wait a minute. Why would she be in jail for murder?" Riley asked in frustration.
Eve smiled coyly at the soldier. "Be honest Riley. You've seen her in action. Do you think you'd have the slightest chance of surviving an angry Slayer if Buffy ever found out what you've done behind her back and how you are deceiving her with every kiss?"
She walked off leaving a very troubled Riley alone with some very dark thoughts.
*****
As Giles drove them back to the campus, Buffy thought about the problem of fixing Tara up with someone, and compared it to her problem of trying to fix Willow. With Tara the problem was self-assurance hampered by an almost painful shyness. Willow was actually now very self-assured and confident, even more so than before her kidnapping, however her trust in people had been destroyed.
She worried about how solitary Willow seemed now. Buffy had kept Tara away from Willow since the incident with Giles, not wanting the shy blonde witch to become a target of Willow's anger, which seemed to erupt at the most inopportune times. Last week she had suddenly flared up over a minor joke by Xander and proceeded to rip into him over his currently aimless life, lack of any career goals or prospects, and had told him to just stay away from her with his 'Demon Lover'. Buffy had tried to smooth over the hurt by talking to Xander but a number of Willow's comments had cut too close to home leaving him in a deep depression.
"I don't want Xander around her any more. She's not getting better, Buffy. She's getting worse and she's starting to affect everyone around her," had been Anya's comment on the whole situation, and Buffy had been surprised to find herself agreeing with the former vengeance demon. Buffy had recently found herself not wanting to be around Willow because whenever she was she felt a continuous sense of anger and rage inside over what had been done to her. Most of the time, Buffy would quash those feelings because she saw that Willow was alone and needed somebody, even though she said she didn't.
Thoughts about Willow inevitably led once again to thoughts about the 'angel' she had seen several weeks ago while dangling over the Hellmouth. Was it truly an angel? How had she been able to see it? Why had it looked like Willow to her? Another odd thing was that now whenever she thought about the angel, it would always seemed to produce a surge of warmth, comfort and a deep sense of love within her. Why? She had even talked about it with her mom, again leaving out the detail of it looking like Willow. Joyce had simply found comfort in the idea that as the slayer, perhaps she wasn't as alone in her fight against evil as had always been thought and that maybe it was a guardian angel. Giles had been unable to find anything after weeks of research, as most of his texts dealt with the demonic end of the supernatural spectrum.
Tara watched Buffy as she stared out the car window. She could tell by the look of bliss on her face that she was thinking about the 'angel'. The first time she had seen Buffy looking this way she had asked if the slayer was daydreaming about her new boyfriend. "Hardly," Buffy had laughed and then she had frowned as she realized that her thoughts about the angel had giving her a more fulfilled feeling than any of Riley. Buffy had simply told Tara that she was just trying to remember what the angel had looked like, but Tara wasn't fooled. The look on Buffy's face had been one of enraptured adoration.
Riley was in for a major disappointment. Just like she had been.
******************************
Faith awoke to the sound of thunder. The room was only dimly lit as she looked about in confusion. Finally, it registered on her that she was in a hospital room. Flowers and some books sat on the table next to her bed. What was she doing here? She felt fine, and the Mayor needed her at graduation. Her mind still confused, she got out of the bed and headed out to get some answers.
And some clothes.
*
*
*
The Mayor was dead, and she had been in a coma for eight months. Slowly, she had begun to piece together things. She remembered fighting with Buffy who had wanted Faith's blood to save Angel. Now she was hiding outside Giles' apartment listening in as the Scooby's discussed her awakening.
There were new faces in the group, and some missing faces.
Buffy seemed to have a new boy-toy and Faith wondered without much concern if Angel was dust, but she didn't believe he was.
Willow was there, but without wolf-boy. By the sheer vitriolic hatred Willow was emitting over the news of Faith's escape, Faith wondered if maybe wolf-boy had been killed during graduation.
Xander had a thin brown-haired girl practically growing out of his side.
And then there was a blonde girl who seemed to be trying to hide in the cushion of the chair she was sitting in. Especially after Willow had ripped into her for suggesting that maybe Faith was lost and confused and that this could be any opportunity to help her. From the looks on their faces, the rest of the Scoobs were also taken aback.
Buffy had quickly intervened and tried to calm down Willow.
"Willow, please Tara didn't-"
"Tara didn't have the psycho-bitch trying to kill her last time."
"Willow, I was there. I stopped Faith last time, I will do it again."
Willow was breathing hard and starting to shake. Her eyes became wild and she fell backwards against the wall.
"Will? What is it?" Alarmed, Buffy quickly moved to hold the hyperventilating girl.
"Ca- Can't- Can't brea-"
"She's having a panic attack," said Giles as he rushed into his kitchen and emerged with a paper bag. He raised the bag towards Willow's face and had just about gotten it there when she suddenly let out a scream and twisted away from him.
Flailing out with her arms, Willow screamed in terror, "Don't touch me!" She huddled back against a surprised Buffy who still had her arms wrapped about Willow's waist.
Shocked, Giles stepped backwards and stood there, stunned.
"Willow! Willow, it's OK. You're safe. No one's gonna hurt you," Buffy said gently while trying to calm her best friend.
"Give the bag to Buffy," whispered Riley as he stepped up next to the frozen ex-Watcher. Nodding, Giles slowly extended the bag towards Buffy.
"Buffy," Giles said in a calm voice. "Take the bag. Have Willow breath into it."
Slowly, Buffy reached back to take the bag. Willow was still rapidly gasping, as if she could not breathe.
"Sweety, you have to breathe into the bag," Buffy murmured softly. After a moment's hesitation, a desperate looking Willow grabbed the bag and began breathing into it. A worried Buffy continued to hold the girl and stroke her hair. Several minutes, later Willow's breathing began to approach a more normal rate and she began to cry.
"I'm so-sorry. I d-d-don't know w-what happened. All this talk about Faith-"
"Shh, Shh, Shh. Don't worry Willow. I'll take care of Faith," Buffy crooned into her ear.
After several more minutes, the sobs had died down. Faith watched Willow raise her head to look at Buffy.
"Buffy?"
"Yes, Willow?"
"Maybe we can toss her off a higher building this time,"
"Sure Willow. Anything you need."
Outside the open window, Faith's face turned grim, and a new resolve built up inside her. Slipping away from the window, she looked down at the device in her hand, and a wicked smile began to form on her face.
"Oh yeah, Red. Buffy's gonna give you exactly what you need."
*****
Eve sauntered into the dorm room she shared with Buffy with a smile on her face. Things had gone exceptionally well, and she was rather pleased with her performance. Buffy and the rest had completely believed that she had been having a panic attack because of the stress over Faith's return. A few more similar scenes and the idea of her having a mental breakdown would be accepted without question. They would accept her need to leave Sunnydale behind and have no more contact with anything or anyone associated with it.
Eve sighed.
Stupid basic commands.
Eve had spent hours reviewing scenarios, working out options, setting up alternative plans. All to no avail.
For a little while she pondered whether she was insane. She was happily proceeding on a course that would result in her eventual destruction, even though that final outcome was something she did not desire. Eventually she had abandoned that thought. It wasn't like she had any choice in any case. She was following her creator's directives. The happiness was a programmed reward for following her orders.
It was only when she encountered something outside of those directives that she could do as she wished and be happy about it.
Something like the Faith situation. Eve was pondering how she could turn this to her advantage. She knew Jude Law was fascinated by the idea of obtaining a Slayer as an operative. Faith, however, was a wild card. Eve wondered about the possible bargaining opportunities if she could get him the rouge slayer. She had just started to reach for the phone when a knock came at the door. She turned and opened the door.
"Say goodnight, Gracie," was all she heard as Faith's fist connected with her face, knocking her unconscious.
*****
Willow hardly ever left Buffy's side anymore. Many times, she would pretend to be ridding piggyback on the slayer. Although she could not really feel Buffy, she liked the idea of wrapping her arms around her, as if comforting or protecting her. Now, however, she was away from Buffy. Hunting for Faith.
She had been doing this ever since the incident with the 'Gentlemen'. She would find whatever bad guys where nearby and then 'call to' Buffy. Actually it was more of sending Buffy a feeling of danger, along with images of where the particular evil doer/doers was hiding. Buffy had simply chalked it up to her 'spider-sense' being enhanced by her new powers.
Willow drifted about scanning the crowds and pondering what the dark slayer was planing. She had hoped that maybe Faith had listened to her during the time she had spent in Faith's dreams.
She hoped that Faith would surrender quietly, but somehow she knew that wasn't going to happen. Faith wasn't ready yet. Faith had healed physically but mentally she was still a wreck.
Then Willow saw her. Slipping through the door to Stevenson Hall. For a second she hesitated. The idea of Faith taking out the imposter held a tantalizing bit of delight for her. But then she realized that Buffy would be overwrought with guilt and grief if that happened, especially after what had happened this afternoon.
"Crap. OK, fine. Time to activate the Bat-signal," she sighed.
****
Two girls crashed down the stairs and into the lobby of Stevenson Dorm, scattering other students. Buffy had surprised Faith as she was tying up a gagged Willow, and had instantly attack her in rage.
Faith had fought back, but it was clear from the start who had the advantage in this fight. Faith had been lying on a bed for eight months, whereas Buffy was an angry Slayer who was training every other day.
"What the hell is wrong with you? It didn't have to be this way, Faith."
Buffy slammed her fist into Faith's stomach causing the dark slayer to gasp and stumble backwards. She had not used her 'special powers' yet for three reasons. The first was that she was in public and her own Slayer strength seemed to be doing the job just fine. The second was that as angry as she was with Faith's attack on Willow, Buffy did not truly wish to kill Faith. Currently, Buffy had serious doubts as to being able to control her magical strength and not kill Faith were she to use magic.
The third was that it was giving her a deep personal satisfaction to kick Faith's ass.
That was her mistake.
She never saw Faith slip the small metallic device into her hand. Buffy slammed her fist into Faith's head hard enough to daze her. Faith raised her hand to clutch at Buffy's arm, and the world suddenly shifted.
She heard a shriek in her mind and she was suddenly in a world of pain. Buffy experienced one second of unreality as she suddenly saw her own fist smashing into her face.
And then all she saw was darkness.
*****
Willow awoke feeling achy and disoriented. She stood up, looked around and discovered she was in the back of an armored truck. Puzzled she looked down and saw Faith waking up slowly. In a panic she looked about for Buffy.
Closing her eyes, she concentrated on being with Buffy. A second later she felt the comforting warmth that enveloped her whenever she merged with Buffy. Opening her eyes, she moved out of Buffy, and found herself in the exact same place as before. Gasping she spun about to look at Faith with her 'fairy' sight and was shocked to see the bright glow that she normally got with Buffy.
She remembered the fight, Faith grabbing Buffy's arm and the sudden pain that had knocked her out.
Faith had done something... had something in her hand. Something that had switched their bodies.
Buffy was inside Faith's body. Faith was inside Buffy's body.
Life on the Hellmouth really, really sucked.
*****
Faith stared at the face in the mirror. Buffy Summers' face. Now, her face. It had worked. She had Buffy's body.
Buffy, in Faith's body, had been hauled away by Sunnydale's finest. To add to that joy, when she had called Giles to inform him of her victory, he had informed her of the presence of a Watcher's Black Ops team that would be taking Faith back to England.
She was free.
She could do whatever she wanted.
So why was she feeling as if she'd screwed up again?
Finally, she decide that what she needed was to get out and party.
****
Of course they hadn't believed her when she told them. Why should they? She was supposedly psychotic. Claiming to be somebody else just reinforced that image.
Buffy slumped back in exasperation. She stared at the chains holding her wrists and legs. They were reinforced to prevent her using her slayer strength to break them. Suddenly, she smiled.
They were not magic proof however. She began to concentrate. Trying to imagine the lock and tumblers in her mind and pushing at them in order to open the lock. At first, it felt difficult, and she had a brief moment of panic that she had lost her ability when Faith had taken her body. Then she heard a click and one of the handcuffs sprung free. Overjoyed with her success she rapidly opened the second handcuff. Then she moved to the door of the truck.
The door was even easier to unlock. She closed her eyes and tried to sense where the Council goons were outside the truck. She found, to her delight, that she could practically see them. Almost as if she had another set of eyes looking about on the outside.
The leader was in a back room talking on the phone while the other two had their backs to the truck.
She eased the door open quietly and slipped out of the truck. Moving stealthily, she slipped along side the truck trying to get to the driver's seat. However, just as she was reaching for the door handle, a cry of, "She's loose," came from one of the goons. She grabbed the handle and yanked it open, when a sudden image of a gun being raised flashed across her mind. Buffy threw herself to the ground just as a bullet tore into the cab of the armored truck.
Buffy scrambled to her feet and dove through the warehouse doors as more shots were fired.
*****
Tara watched with rising anxiety as Buffy danced with several boys. Something was wrong. She could feel it in her bones, and the hair on the back of her neck was prickling. It had been impossible to carry a conversation with Buffy all night. Buffy had acted like she barely knew Tara, and her responses had been universally vague.
Tara finally took a look at Buffy's aura and nearly panicked at what she saw. She would have slipped out then and there but at that moment Buffy choose to leave the dance floor and return to their table. When Buffy got there, she grabbed her drink and downed it in one chug. It was with a tremendous feeling of relief that Tara spotted Riley entering the Bronze, and she directed Buffy's attention towards him.
When Buffy sat on a surprised Riley's lap and kissed him with an enthusiasm she had never before shown in public, Tara figured it was time to leave. A couple of wolf whistles and shouts of 'Get a room' came from a near by table.
"Uhm, Buffy?" Tara tried to get her attention. "I-I'm not f-feeling so well. I think I'm g-gonna head home for the night."
"Sure thing girlfriend," Buffy said off handedly. The she looked at Tara. "You OK to walk home by yourself?"
"Y-Y-Yes. I'll be fine," Tara hastily assured her as she got up and moved to leave the club.
****
The girl was nervous. Faith was certain of it. Her instincts were on high alert. This Tara chick was a problem that needed fixing. Pity. She was kinda cute. Oh well. First things first, time to dump the chump.
"Riley, Honey? I know you just got here, but I'd feel better if I made sure Tara got home OK. You understand, don'tcha?"
"Uh...er...yeah," stammered a flustered Riley as she pressed herself against him. This aggressive Buffy was such a change that he was totally thrown for a loop. For months he had worked to gain her trust, with the eventual goal of seducing her, and now here she was throwing herself at him. Practically, having sex with him in public. However, now his conversation earlier with Eve had him completely off balance and unsure of what to do. He had to think, and the current situation had his mind practically frozen with lust and worry. A break was more than welcome.
"Don't worry, baby. I'll make it up to you later," she cooed. Giving him another deep French kiss, she leapt off his lap and quickly moved for the door.
****
Tara was walking quickly and kept looking around for any dangers, when the voice made her blood run cold.
"You know, I'd swear this is not the way back to the campus."
"B-B-Buffy! W-W-W-W-What are y-y-you d-d-d-doing here?"
"Well it looks like I'm waiting for you. I thought I should make sure you got to where you belong. Dangerous town Sunnydale. You never know what might happen when you stick your nose in some place where it shouldn't be."
"Shouldn't be?"
"You were going to Giles' place."
"W-W-W-W-"
"W-W-What's that?" Buffy's eyes seemed to darken and she moved towards Tara. Tara shuffled back a couple of steps but Faith quickly closed to distance between them.
"B-B-Buffy?" Tara squeaked in fear as Faith grabbed her arm in a grip of steel before she could run.
"No," said the dark slayer as she looked into Tara's eyes. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"
*****
Buffy ran, dodging through alleys and back streets, towards Giles' apartment complex. She truly hoped that she could avoid any more Council goons until Giles could get in touch with the Council and get them to rescind the death order on Faith. She did not want to hurt anyone but she was not going to just allow them to kill her.
As she rounded a corner into another alley, she suddenly crashed into someone, knocking them to the ground.
"Oofff, Oh! I'm so sorry, I --- Willow?"
Eve looked up to see Faith standing in front of her looking rather startled. She looked around quickly and lifted her right hand towards Faith. Buffy saw Willow's hand come up in what she thought was a sign of surrender.
"Will, it's OK. I'm not-."
The remainder of whatever Buffy was about to say was lost as the skin at the base of Willow's palm suddenly split open revealing two metal tubes from which an electric bolt instantly shot out at a completely dumbfounded Buffy and knocking her unconscious. Slowly and cautiously, Eve got up and moved closer to check that Faith was unconscious. She then reached into her purse, pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number.
"This is Eve. I need a recovery team at the north ally of Main Street between 11th and 12th streets. Inform Command that I have captured the rogue slayer known as Faith."
"Roger, Eve. Recovery Team ETA should be three minutes."
Eve closed the cell phone and stood back to consider how this new development might affect things as she waited. When she had been attacked earlier today, and Faith had been taken away by the police there had been nothing she could do but sit and fume as an opportunity had passed her by. But now, it seemed the Hellmouth had smiled on her and delivered Faith right into her lap, once again.
Completely ignored, the ghost of Willow Rosenberg cursed and slashed in a futile effort at the creature that occupied her former body.
********
End Chap 6
TBC....