Switcheroony
by alicorn
Chapter 29
[reviews]
Chapter 25
"There is no way around this. We need to speak to Faith and we need her to tell us everything she knows," Giles stated firmly.
Buffy nodded, pleased with this answer. "Oh, I'll make her talk. Trust me," Buffy stated, before annoyingly recalling that right at this moment she couldn't seem to make herself tell Willow how she was feeling, let alone get her best friend to admit to any feelings of her own. With that in mind, what hope did she have of getting Faith to tell her anything the other slayer didn't want to? Surely she couldn't do it physically — at least not yet. Glancing at a still angry Willow for support, she received a shy but supportive smile and nod. Smiling back, she wished she could impart the thousand and one things she wanted to say into just such a smile but somehow she knew that given her current apparent inability to verbalize her real feelings and thoughts and the fact that Giles was still there and Xander was on his way, she didn't hold out much hope that she had just invented the new 'smiley' language of love or gained the power of telepathy.
Willow could see that the wheels in Buffy's mind were turning. The expression on her best friend's face was somewhat familiar but she hadn't quite gotten the hang of seeing Buffy's thoughts on her own facial features. The nagging feeling that she was missing something important crept up her spine like an unwelcome admirer. She really wished that everyone would just go away so that she ... no, so that they could talk. She really missed the talking, the being, the way they were. Would they ever be that way again? She was so afraid that they would not. And that possibility really upset her. It seemed that her life had just become one great big confusing mess. Here she was feeling as if no one would ever understand what she was going through or how brave she was about to become. But all everyone was talking about was Faith; interfering, back-from-the-past Faith. Maybe she would just help Buffy make her talk ... hurt her just a bit ... well, more than a bit ... maybe a lot. The now-familiar rage began to rise within her and she allowed the frustration she felt with herself to pour into it. Maybe she could hold the dark-haired slayer down and let Buffy ... 'Whoa! Where the hell did that come from?' Willow thought, pulling herself back.
"Whilst I agree that I would like to learn far more from Faith, I'm not sure that an aggressive approach will be necessary," Giles continued.
"Oh yeah, because she's been so straightforward and easy to reach so far. You have her number right? You know where she's staying?" Buffy asked sarcastically.
"Well, no. I mean, she has been keeping a somewhat low profile. What I meant to say is that we could catch more bees with honey. Although I can understand that you might be tempted to derive a certain satisfaction from causing her pain ..."
"You think?"
"I don't feel that allowing your natural desire to reap revenge on Faith to take priority would be a good thing for you, or any of us, right now. I know you don't want to hear this but right now you wouldn't be much of a match for her," Giles declared apologetically.
*****************************BtVS************************
Xander gingerly touched his eye socket. He could feel the puffiness starting to form. It was gong to be a wonderfully rich dark shiner. He smirked slightly in satisfaction and a little pain. 'Yep, Faith hasn't changed. She still thinks she can win any argument with her fists.' Maybe he had baited her. But, hey, she had been pretty big with the baiting herself. He reassured himself that he hadn't said anything that someone somewhere wasn't probably thinking.
Faith did seem to be enjoying the whole "I'm back being a Slayer" scenario, what with the whole "I'll save Giles and Xander" thing. Did she really think she could come back? That she could play the big heroine and all would be forgiven? She'd killed a man and then she'd tried to help the mayor kill them all after trying to convince Giles that Buffy had killed the mayor's assistant. How could they ever forget that? How could Cordelia have forgotten that? Did she really believe Faith had changed? That was just plain weird. The Cordy he knew didn't do "gray". It wasn't one of her colors. His two ex-girlfriends, if you could consider Faith as an "ex", seeming to be friends just set his nerves on edge. It was like being in a room where the only thing the other people have in common is you.
Okay, Faith did seem different. But all people change. It didn't necessarily follow that she had actually changed for the good. And, oh boy, had he hit a sore spot when he had asked if there was something more going on between her and Cordy than just friendship. That really seemed to upset her. She had become awkward, defensive and ... he could have sworn she blushed. He didn't think he had ever seen her blush before.
He still couldn't decide if he believed Faith was really trying to help just because Cordelia was involved or because of the way she had been when she visited his apartment. He thought testing her would give him some answers but all it seemed to leave him with was more questions and a black eye.
Speaking of questions, he was about to go eighteen rounds with the quiz master general. He didn't relish having to explain how Faith had saved his butt, let alone how he had then caused her to give him a black eye. Stepping up to Buffy's front door, he took a deep breath he opened it.
**************************BtVS********************
The frustration just wouldn't go away. She'd lost it. And she'd lost it over something ... no, over someone she didn't have the right to lose it over. 'What had he meant by that? Why had he said that? Cordelia was just a friend nothing more. Wasn't she? She was just like any other friend. Okay, so I don't have any other friends but if I did she'd be just ... she'd be my first friend. No. There's Angel. Well, he's kinda like a friend, isn't he? In a kinda sponsor-type killers anonymous way'.
She crushed the now empty can in her hand and threw it across her room in total frustration. Did it really matter what other people thought of their friendship? Wasn't she just being protective of a friend? Wasn't this how you were supposed to feel about your friends? She wracked her brain for a memory, any memory that she could compare this too. She'd kinda been friends with Buffy. Well, she'd tried but it had been hard to break into their gang — the Scoobies. She'd felt protective of Buffy even back then, hadn't she? She still did and sometimes thought that she always would.
******************************BtVS**********************
"Xander!" Willow exclaimed in concern as she saw the puffiness around his left eye. Her irritation at their earlier telephone conversation was momentarily forgotten as she guided him towards the sofa. "Are you okay?" she asked, reaching towards his swollen eye with her hand, only to have Xander pull away from her.
"Yeah, I'll live," he said smiling as reassuringly as he could manage and slowly lowering his aching body into the sofa.
"What happened?" asked Buffy, folding her arms before her.
"I was trying to find you guys. Giles said you weren't answering your phone," Xander grinned devilishly, only to receive a glare in return. "Anyway, I was going into your dorm room when of bunch of guys jumped me. I'm guessing it was the same bunch who jumped Giles," Xander explained. "They were all in black fatigues and big with the military lingo."
"What did they want?" Giles queried, moving forward in his seat.
"Same as me - to know where you guys were," Xander replied looking at Buffy and then Willow.
"Why?" Willow asked. "What do they want with us?"
"Funny, I never really got the chance to ask," he replied, recalling how just keeping upright had been almost impossible. "Too busy getting beaten up. Something to do with you being the Slayer, I guess. Same as always."
"Yeah," Buffy grinned momentarily, before sobering again and asking "But military types though? Not used to the big bad employing mercenaries ... not of the human variety anyhow."
"It would seem to imply that on this occasion 'the big bad', to use your own terminology, may not actually be a demon," Giles reasoned.
"No. It couldn't be. You killed him. I saw you," Willow mumbled absently. "And last time we thought she was on our side too. Well, some of us did. Others of us became personally involved ... Gee and that's not happening again, is it? ... Then there's the lawyer working for him ... The wanting to believe she wouldn't do that. I never realized how it's all so familiar. Don't you see?
"I think I speak for everyone, Will, when I say — No. Not really getting where you're going ... or even where you are," Buffy commented.
"Faith! Don't you see?? She's doing it again. She's setting us up for a fall. It's revenge ... or the Mayor's not dead ... or this was his dying wish ... or ..." Willow finally took a breath before continuing. "She tries to make us think she's helping us ... that she's gotten past killing someone ... just like last time. She has us running around every which way. She suckers Xander in," she throws him an apologetic look, "... just like last time ..."
Xander jumped in, unable to stop himself, "And then it turns out that all along she was working for some human evil sick-o magic freak/wanna-be a god."
"I think we're in a time looping story loop thingy," Willow stated, recapturing her point, "sort of repeating the same thing with the same people ... well some of the same people ... the major players. Like bad Karma or a bad penny coming back to make us learn something we didn't know or a curs ..." She stopped dead in her tracks, as she realized what she was about to say.
Glances were shared and frowns quickly followed. Giles pushed his glasses up in concern at Willow's ramblings and the thoughts they provoked. And for a moment, he was seriously considering that maybe he had misread the curse. Rising he coughed nervously.
Buffy saved him from having to say it. "Giles, you hit the books and take another look at that curse. Willow and I are going to track down Faith. We need to get some answers. Xander, I need you to tell me everything you can remember about your encounter with Faith and then I need you to go home and rest so that you can heal."
***************************BtVS***************************
'Since when do I hit and run?' Faith asked herself as she stormed through the graveyard, eager for some big bad, or even moderate-sized bad, to kick the crap out of. How had Xander managed to bait her so easily? When had her buttons become so easy for people to see and push? 'What am I? Some kid playing games? I'm a Slayer! A fighter against evil! And hello - I finally have a gig doing the good stuff.'
She lashed out at a drooping branch, tearing it from its tree and tossing it behind her in disgust when it offered little or no resistance to her attack. Her forceful steps sent out a signal to anyone who bothered to notice, or who hadn't already left the area, that this was a mightily pissed off female, carrying toxic mojo. So Faith continued her internal rant, crossing paths with nothing that could distract her mind from its inner debate.
'Okay. "Sunnyhell" was supposed to have been my town but B didn't really die so I became a spare wheel and got kicked out of Oz. But only after I deserved it. But that's old hat ... water under the bridge ... I'm through with going out of control. All I want to do is make up for my mistakes, especially here in this town with all of them, especially B and Red. So where does any of that give Xander the right to get all "you're just the understudy to her Royal Buffy-ness. Careful your head doesn't swell too much." And "what's the deal between you and Cordy? You two more that just friends?" Where the hell does he get the stones for that?'
'Like he gets me ... like anyone really gets what I'm about ... gets why I have to do this. None of them ever got me. Okay, so I wasn't exactly big with the clues and sharing and stuff. But did they ever try? Did I ever give them a chance?' she berated herself. 'Willow tried to tell me ... she told me that B wanted to be my friend ... but I blew her off ... there's a shocker. Hell, I tried to kill her.'
Shaking her head to clear it, she got back to Xander. 'But why would he say ... What the hell did Cordelia ever see in him? Jeez!' She paused, taking a moment to measure the discomfort that Xander's words had created. 'Could he be right? Am I enjoying myself? Has sliding back into Slayer mode felt good? Duh ... sure. And why shouldn't it? I am a Slayer. What's wrong with it feeling good especially if you're trying to do some good?'
*****************************BtVS***********************************
"So she saved you?" Giles asked.
"You could say that ..." Xander hedged.
"And after you thanked her, you tried to ask her some questions but she hit you and ran away?" Giles queried, his eyes doing that 'I know there's something missing here' frown.
Xander nodded sheepishly. "That's pretty much how I remember it. She wasn't real big on the curtain call."
"Really?" Giles commented. "How strange."
"Strange? What's strange? She's lost it again. Whatever Angel may have thought and hoped would happen to his protégée, she'll never reform. A leopard can't change its spots," Buffy stated, somewhat irritated by Giles' apparent inability to just see things for what they were. "Faith still doesn't mix well with others."
"I just meant that I didn't find her at all unreceptive when I asked her questions. She was reserved but not reticent," he recalled. "Are you sure you didn't say something that could have triggered that kind of response?" he asked Xander.
"Hey, do I look like foot-in-mouth guy? Don't answer that!" Xander said, throwing Willow a goofy grin. "I mean, what is it G-man? Since when is Faith suddenly the new knight in shining armor? Did I miss a plot twist somewhere along the line?"
"No, I didn't mean to imply..." Giles fell silent as he became aware of the disapproving glances from Buffy and Willow.
"Right.", Xander responded taking advantage of the Watcher's hesitation, "Because you were in no way trying to justify the way she's been behaving. Look, I'm right with you on the 'she's not her crazy-assed' former self but she's not the poster child for total sanity either. The girl has major issues and her biggest hasn't changed in my opinion. She's still not dealing with playing second fiddle to the real Slayer."
*************************BtVS**************************
There had to be a thousand and one really good reasons why Faith found herself staring into her own reflection outside the Magic Box but she just couldn't put her finger on any of them. Her apartment was just across the street but here she stood.
Ever since she had lost her temper with Xander over those silly remarks, she had been unable to think about anything but Cordelia ... unable to drag her mind into the here and now. Even at the height of her slayer anger stomp across the graveyard, the only lucid thought had been about how Cordelia would have gently laughed at her and pulled her out of her anger with one well-aimed quip.
So here she stood, mere inches from the Magic Shop window, trying to see something in her own face but she had no idea what or why.
This had been ... was supposed to be ... her turf, her town. This had been where she thought she was meant to be ... what she thought she was meant to have. She had battled for it, had clung on to it, had almost lost herself for it. But now all she really wanted was to leave here ... to go back ... back to see a friendly face ... share a smile and stare into the beautiful face of a woman with dark hair and piercing eyes, not unlike her own and yet so very different.
*****************************BtVS********************************
Willow nervously settled herself into the back seat of Xander's car. She was careful not to gaze longingly at the back of Buffy's head because she knew that Xander was covertly checking her out in his rear view mirror, just as the true Slayer settled into his passenger seat.
Willow wondered why she had accepted Xander's explanation of events far more readily than Giles. She suspected that she was allowing her instinctual animosity towards Faith and what the other Slayer had done to them to cloud her judgment. 'Oh yeah, I so know I am. But she hit him! No matter how much of a pain in the neck, runaway-hormone train with a brain he's being, no one hits my Xander. Well, when I say no one I mean no one but us ... that being an "us" without Anya in it. So that means no one but Buffy, Giles and I - who can hit him when he's being a pest or total nut. No matter how you slice it, Faith is so not on the list', she reasoned. 'And why would she want to be on that kind of list anyway? You have to really care to be on that kind of list and she's never worried about anyone but herself ... never cared about anyone but herself ... never been obligated to anyone but herself. Oh why does he always attract women who are always nothing but trouble?' She paused in her internal babble and considered 'But he used to be attracted to Buffy too, didn't he?' She shook her head to clear her mind of that thought.
**********************BtVS******************************
Buffy was really thankful that Xander had agreed to leave this to them, that he wasn't joining their 'Faith hunt'. He was going to drop them off on campus, where Faith had been last sighted. 'Then he's going home and following orders', she smiled momentarily satisfied with herself for having protected him, at least him from further harm. She frowned at the thought that she had let him get hurt at all by the mystery men in black, as well as byFaith.
"Need any help there, little lady?" Xander asked, as Buffy struggled to fasten her seat belt.
"No. I'll get it," Buffy said, looking up at him. As she did so the clip fell between their seats. Turning, she saw Willow reach forward to rescue the clip in one swift 'slayer-like' movement, and move to hand it back to Buffy, with a gentle smile upon her lips. Their hands touched for only a moment but it was as if she had been hit by lightening. "Thanks," Buffy managed in a partially strangled tone, before then dropping the clasp.
Xander smiled in amusement at his two favorite friends before taking the clip, retrieving the clasp and ramming them together with a satisfying click. "There you go. And if you're a good little girl, I'll let you out too," he smirked, tightening the belt.
Buffy threw an angry glare at Xander and then smiled weakly at Willow before turning to sit back in her seat. 'Jeez, get a grip!' she demanded of herself, closing her eyes in despair. 'This is about catching Faith and keeping Xander out of it. Talking with Willow will just have to wait,' she told herself, as the car pulled away allowing Xander to hit the main thoroughfare before Buffy opened her eyes. She forced herself to quietly stare at the road before them.
'Somehow I don't think getting Faith to tell me what we need to know is going to be as easy as getting Xander to follow orders,' she decided. Soon Xander would be home safe and sound in the arms of his beloved Anya - she'd long given up trying to figure that one out — but he'd be out of harm's way.
Suddenly three unbidden thoughts immediately flooded into her mind — Orders; Anya; and for some reason a black silk scarf! Buffy went from smile to gape in only seconds.
She mentally shook her head and closed her eyes, only to find the damned woman before her. 'What the hell would Anya need a scarf for ... Oh! ... why on earth would I be thinking about ... Oh, OH! The woman before her wasn't Anya. This woman was leather-clad ... flame-haired ... standing by a pile of books and a leather chair ... a black scarf swinging from her hand as she glared at Buffy ... Telling her off for something she ... hadn't done ... No ... something she hadn't said! She could feel the excitement rising within her and her inner muscles clenched as a thousand images flew through her mind.
"Buffy, you OK?" asked Xander, puzzled by the strange look that he saw crossing her face. "Should I slow down?"
"Nope," she replied in a high pitched tone. "No, I'm fine. Just get us there."
"No problemo. Your wish is my command," he smirked, throwing her a wink with his uninjured eye before accelerating.
Buffy forced a tight smile across her face, sinking back into the passenger seat as the car leapt forward. She really needed to keep her mind out of the gutter. She needed to get herself under control.
**************************BtVS*************************
Buffy knew she was working on instinct alone. She knew that she had nothing else left as she moved through the campus with all the determination she could summon. She needed to do this, she needed to find Faith, she needed to get this resolved before she had to ... 'What? Before I have to what?' she asked herself. 'Before I have to take the bull by the horns and ask Willow how she feels about me? Tell her how I feel about her? See if she thinks we could have a future together? Or if she hates me after I'm finished talking? If she'll ever talk to me again? And what if I end up losing my best friend? I guess I haven't just lost my Slayer strength, I've lost my nerve as well.'
Shaking her head, she tried to throw off her innermost fears. Those days and nights — 'oh god, the nights' — those nights they had spent together. They were something she would never forget, something she didn't want to lose -- not now, not ever. But now was not the time to sink back into her far too intense feelings. She needed to focus, to concentrate; she needed to forget that the beautiful woman following her actually meant more to her than anyone in her life, especially a wayward and quite possibly insane ex- slayer with a grudge.
As Willow silently followed Buffy, she struggled to suppress her need to speak, her desire to voice the fears and hopes swelling within her, the need to touch. 'I could just reach out, thread my fingers into hers, touch her.' Every moment that she had shared with Buffy over the last few days was indelibly seared into her mind and her soul. But now the wonderful woman before her seemed to have only one purpose and talking wasn't it. Now was about trust, about backing her up. And that's exactly what she would do.
Buffy could feel something pulling within her. It was as if her very core had become a compass of some sort. The harder she focused her will on finding Faith, the stronger the pull became. "This way," Buffy stated, turning off the main drag and into the cemetery.
"Ahh, the cemetery. Can I just say how totally shocked I am — NOT!" Willow mumbled as they moved across the Slayer's main arena. She never, for even a moment, doubted one turn or change of direction, somehow knowing that Buffy was right, mainly because she usually was. But also because she, herself, instinctively felt that Faith had come this way. Willow didn't even find it strange that Buffy was acting as if she was on a scent, somehow tracking the ex-slayer down. She knew that, although she might have Buffy's Slayer powers on loan, Buffy still seemed to be able to tune herself into Faith on another level. You might be able to take the powers out of the Slayer, but it seemed the Slayer still remained. Many years of following her beloved had taught her when to question and when to accept -- this was definitely a time for the latter.
As they emerged from the other side of the cemetery, Willow drew in a sharp breath because standing before them was the Magic Box and on the ground before it lay most of the display window. They had no doubt who had broken it. The 'why' wasn't important; the fact that they were on Faith's trail was.
"Oh is she so going to pay for that," Buffy vowed, flexing her shoulders and setting her jaw.
********************************BtVS****************************
'Why did I let my jealousy blind me to what I was losing back then? Why have I been ... hell, why can't I ever ask for help when I really need it? I can't even bring myself to call Cordelia and she never offers unasked for advice.' Faith laughed. 'I guess I'm hoping that she wouldn't consider helping me a waste of her breath. But hell, the girl can really ask a question.' Faith had found all of Cordy's questions irritating at first. However, although some of the answers had proved unsettling, others had helped her to figure a lot of things out. Faith smiled as she fondly recalled their last late night chat. She really missed her friend. She missed having someone who actually listened and cared.
Faith couldn't help herself as she blew hot air onto the cold glass of the shop's window and, with her finger, drew a heart pierced by a stake. While she stared at the image before her, a memory dragged her back to that hot summer day not so long ago when she had been standing outside Buffy's class and had drawn the same image on the window pane and lured Buffy out to play hooky ... and stake some vamps. It had all seemed so right, so comfortable. She has thought back then that the blonde Slayer would care and listen and be a real friend and... That had been how they were, how two slayers were meant to be, but now ... 'Hell, I wonder how it all went so wrong? How did we manage to screw it all up so bad?'
Faith felt such frustration at having lost so much. She had let it slip through her fingers while she stupidly craved more, unable to be content with what she had, the companionship and friendship of the other Slayer, something unheard of, rare and, therefore, precious. And, who knows, maybe even her eventual acceptance by Buffy's Scoobies. Faith would give anything to go back and give herself a good shake; let her younger self know just how much she had given up, how much she could have had.
As anger flooded her mind, Faith swayed and lost her balance in her attempt to regain control of her emotions, pitching violently against the shop window which surrendered to the sudden impact of her body weight, shattering at her feet. She felt the inane desire to laugh but instead she simply turned and walked away, crunching broken glass beneath her boots.
******************************BtVS*********************
"Do I want to ask how our other project is progressing?" Angel mumbled, his tone implying that he'd rather not know but that if there was something he needed to know he'd be able to deal with it. He couldn't begin his return trip to LA until sundown but had felt the need to check in on Cordelia, especially since she had seemed unusually reserved the last time he had spoken to her.
"No. Everything's okay," Cordelia responded, swallowing the lie down with far less guilt than she had expected and coating it in a matter-of-fact and dismissive tone. "So how'd it go there? How did Mr Escolatti feel about our... service?"
Angel laughed, as he knew exactly what she was really asking. "We got paid. Wesley has the cashier's check for our set fee plus a healthy bonus."
"Bonus! Ooh, I love that word ... just how big a bonus? Are we talking 'take-out' or a 'new three-piece ensemble'? Because I could go for the take-out, but you know and I know that nothing quite says 'thank you' like a new outfit," Cordelia piped up, her spirits lifted at the thought of some much needed retail therapy.
"More like maybe ... a new coffee machine," Angel suggested, relieved to hear the Cordelia he knew so well, although he hated to send her crashing back down to earth with what the true size of their bonus would be when their costs were taken out.
"Great. I saw one on sale over on Beverly Blvd. last week," Cordelia gushed.
"Good. Maybe you could take Fred with you." He really had dropped Faith on Cordy without warning or discussion, but she'd done a great job. He'd seen such an improvement over the past few weeks. So maybe he'd throw Cordy a little ... what did she call it ... 'retail pleasure' ... no ... 'retail escapism' ... no, that wasn't it ... 'retail orgas' ... oh, what did it matter? "Fred needs to get out more and so do you. I'm not really big on the whole shopping for office supplies thing but I know you women like it."
" 'Us women'? And just what do you mean by that?" Cordelia fumed, even though she knew she was being teased. It was a strange, affectionate kind of teasing; the kind she'd seen brothers and sisters doing a lot of in school and, although she would never admit it, she'd been slightly envious.
Angel smiled to himself in satisfaction as he was sure that Cordelia was about to happily make him the gift of one of her 'I'm telling you for your own good ... you're so out of date, so out of touch and I can't believe you don't know it' lectures. It always amused him that the woman who had fallen for that Iron Age oaf, 'Groo' was in reality a modern woman, a closet feminist, and he thoroughly enjoyed reminding her of it whenever he got the opportunity. Preparing himself for an ear full, he sighed in satisfaction, deciding that all was right in his world.
"I'll have you know that 'us women' have been holding this world together for far longer than you 'spotlight-stealing' men realize, and another thing ..."
**************************BtVS*********************************
Suddenly looking up, Faith glanced about her, realizing exactly where she was. It was Angel's old stomping grounds. 'Figures. Even here he's trying to get in on the action,' Faith thought to herself, smiling for the first time. 'When did this all get so complicated? It was supposed to be so easy. Get them to walk in each other's shoes ... in each other's bodies and they would realize how they felt about each other ... stop lying to themselves and each other ... finally really be happy. They would see how much they need each other ... see how good they are for each other. So why was everything so complicated?'
**************************BtVS*********************************
Buffy caught a glimpse, just a flash ... there. She sped up, only to fall over her own feet and straight into the arms of her beloved.
"Buffy! I've got you," Willow said, stating the obvious, for want of words that escaped her.
"Thanks," Buffy grumbled, feeling suddenly vulnerable and off-balanced. The arms lifting her back to her feet were so tempting, so warm, so ... 'NO! Damn it, woman, you need to keep your mind focused ... not to be going off on some starry-eyed detour. You had your chance this morning and you blew it,' she firmly reminded herself, as she regained her footing and reluctantly moved out of Willow's arms.
Having Buffy pull away from her sent a shot of insecurity and doubt through the young witch/temporary slayer, shaking her recent determination to talk to Buffy and open her heart. 'Maybe now isn't the best time,' she reasoned, stepping back and giving Buffy even more room.
"I think I saw her," Buffy explained, gesturing towards a wall beyond a group of trees.
"I don't believe it!" Willow exclaimed.
"What?"
"That's the side entrance to Angel's old mansion. You don't think this could be where she's being staying, do you?" Willow absently questioned, caught up by the somehow circular pattern of recent events.
"Okay, that would be just a little too weird," Buffy agreed. She had been concentrating so much on her pursuit of Faith that she hadn't realize where they had ended up. Moving towards the side entrance that she had used a thousand times to visit Angel, she was reminded of all that had occurred here between her, Angel and Faith. Her memories disturbed her.
"Buffy? Are you okay?" Willow asked quietly. She didn't like the distant and troubled expression that had just crossed her true love's face one bit. It reminded her of someone and something that she had never really come to terms with — Angel. 'Why did I have to mention him? Why did we have to end up here? Is he ever going to be out of her life?'
******************************BtVS*******************************
"Giles, are you sure this is necessary? Angel and the guys will be back tonight. I could wait and leave in the morning," Cordelia reasoned.
"I do not believe that we can really wait. Every hour that passes just brings the eclipse closer and closer. I wouldn't be asking if I didn't consider it prudent to act quickly," Giles assured her. He wanted someone here who had been in at the inception of the curse, and someone with a direct route to TPTB was an additional bonus he could not afford to ignore.
"Kinda figured that. I mean, asking for my help - not normally in your repertoire; let alone doing it twice in one day," Cordelia declared. "Okay," she relented. "Angel has the car, so I'll pack light and get my indispensable self on a bus. Can you have someone pick me up? I don't really like the idea of being single white female returning to 'fangy' town. Been there, seen it, done it and have the T-shirt."
"Just let me know what time you expect to arrive and I'll make sure you're safely picked up," Giles agreed, eager to get Cordelia to Sunnydale as soon as possible. He was very keen to have her help them track down Faith and have a reasonable, extended, informative and civil conversation. He needed answers and his investigations so far had led him to believe that answers would be best served by having all parties to this mess in one room, talking as honestly as possible.
It had taken him almost half an hour to persuade Cordelia that returning to Sunnydale was in everyone's best interests. He found it somewhat amusing that no one who actually left Sunnydale ever seemed to want to return.
*****************************BtVS***************************
Faith heard the all too familiar footsteps behind her. She smiled 'So finally the scene we've all been waiting for.' As she turned, the faces of the two women before her did nothing to surprise her. "So, here we are, eh B? You and the super-charged girlfriend, all stony-silent and wicked disapproving. Shucks honey, the more things change ... the more they stay the same."
"I wish I knew where to start. But it feels like I've said it all before," Buffy exclaimed, raising her eyebrow in an attempt to mimic the look her mother often threw her.
"I would've thought so B, but you can't forgive let alone not forget, can you? Oh no, not you. Too way out on a limb for you. Careful you don't throw that cold, cold shoulder out. Remember, you can't heal like you used to. Still 'Better-than-Thou Buffy' ... even after all this time," Faith commented. Seeing a flicker of doubt momentarily cross the features of the now red-headed former slayer, she paused. "Only now I guess something's finally knocked you off your high horse."
Buffy stood in icy silence, unable to believe that after all she had put them through, Faith was still the cocky-mouthed, major league bitch she had always been. Nothing had changed. She really shouldn't have been surprised, let alone allowed the unexpected growing disappointment she could sense building.
"Is the view good from the cheap seats?" Willow piped in, unnerved by Buffy's silence.
"Awww sweet cheeks, I paid plenty for my Front Row seat to this one," Faith noted, winking before stepping back to let them come all the way into the mansion and to give herself a little more room for maneuvering.
"You really have no idea just how much trouble you're in, do you?" Buffy asked, moving forward carefully while keeping Willow just within her line of sight. She was more than aware of her present limitations but she needed to take the lead with Faith. She needed her to know ... to believe that she was more than just her Slayer powers, even though it might not be really true.
"B, did I go and make you mad?" Faith asked, leaning against the fireplace with a nonchalance she really didn't feel. 'Why the hell am I feeling like I've done something wrong? I'm the good guy this time. Step it up girl.' She took a slight breath. "So how's your willpower holding up? I mean, now that you have a taste for gingerbread girl?" Faith asked, raising a questioning eyebrow and tilting her head towards Willow.
"What?" Buffy demanded, her cheeks flaming.
"You know. What with the undercurrent you two have, I just wondered how you were managing to hold yourselves back," Faith smirked. "All the 'wicked hot and spicy' tempting you?" she taunted, as Buffy grew crimson. "Guess this whole sitch is beginning to show that Red has more of a dark side than I figured. And we all know how hard you find it to avoid the dark and wicked. Pity she's not a reformed sinner too. That would just float your boat."
"If you kissed your mother with that mouth, I'm not really surprised she left. Hell, I'm not surprised that you have no one at all," Willow stated rather nastily, stepping in front of Buffy and squaring her shoulders, as anger and the need to hit someone ... no, make that the need to hurt Faith quickly built within her.
Buffy stared at her dearest friend in surprise. Not a week ago, Willow would have been unable to form any response to such a remark, let alone prevent herself from turning bright red and going into full babble mode. But today she was standing up to Faith and, 'oh my goddess', actually threatening her. While Buffy stood crippled by her inability to say and do what she actually wanted to, instead blushing furiously.
***************************BtVS******************************
Buffy moved slowly around Faith and towards the back of the mansion. Although silent, she never removed her fixed gaze from Faith, while drawing the dark-slayer's eyes to herself as she traveled. Meanwhile, Willow stood very still, taking a page from Xander's book and trying to make Faith forget she was there.
Willow's eyes were drawn to the bag over Buffy's shoulder. She wondered when she was going to produce any of her weapons, how long would she continue to toy with Faith. It was like watching two cats, with their strange preparatory dance. Each sizing the other up as they prepared to launch a short but sharp and vicious attack.
The strange thing was that Faith seemed to have accepted her fate. She was watching Buffy with an almost fatalistic, dispassionate attitude. Not her usual devil-may-care, I-can-get-out-of-anything, damn-the-world arrogant air. No, this was almost disconnected, as if she knew what was coming, as if nothing could surprise her, as if she was resigned to whatever was about to happen. Willow couldn't help finding this change in Faith's manner just a little disturbing. She had been prepared for venting, anger, bravado, some kind of show, some kind of spectacle. She wasn't sure if her uneasy feeling was nerves or just a strange sort of disappointment.
"Looking good there, B," Faith commented, as she changed her relaxed her position to lean on the fireplace and spread both her arms along its almost neck-high ledge. "You been working out?" she asked raising an amused eyebrow.
Buffy clenched her teeth, biting back her response as she continued to silently glare at her nemesis. Lowering her shoulder bag onto the stone table to the right of the fireplace, she smiled slightly.
"You had to know this would end here," Buffy stated.
Faith laughed, "Can't say I'm suffering from shock and awe."
"So why begin it?" Buffy asked, watching Willow slowly inch to place Faith firmly between them.
"Something needed fixing and I guess I'm just a fix-it girl at heart," Faith replied.
"I thought destruction was more your style," Buffy commented.
"You really need to take your blinders off, B. Not everyone and everything in this world rotates around your opinion of who or what they are," Faith commented, almost sighing in frustration. "Other stuff happens while you're busy saving the world, you know. Things change. People change."
"Good verses evil, black verses white, Hagen-Dazs verses ben&jerry's. Some things just don't change," Buffy stated, feeling just slightly disconcerted by the fact that Faith was continuing to talk to her. She had expected the violence to have begun long before now but not a discussion.
Faith felt as if she had been here before, so many times that 'deja vous' just didn't cover it. "Whatever, B. You're right. I mean you're always right, aren't you? When are YOU ever wrong? When have you ever taken a wrong turn? When have you ever chickened out or taken the easy option? OH! OH!" Faith turned meaningfully to glance at Willow, "Let me think." Then shaking her head she turned back to Buffy. "Nope you've never taken the easy option. You've never run away from something rather than face it head on... have you?"
"You don't know anything about me," Buffy declared, anger welling within her. She stepped forward. "And why would you? All you're interested in is dishing out your revenge, getting some payback and reclaiming what you think should have been yours," she spat, a bit of guilt flashing within her, as she recalled plunging the blade into Faith. "But you don't have what it takes. Maybe you never did. You certainly don't know what sacrifice is," Buffy stated, unable to look at Willow as she attempted to justify her actions. She stepped forward to subconsciously allow Faith's body to block Willow from her line of sight. "Do you even know what an obligation, what a duty, what a responsibility it is to be the chosen one? All you've ever been interested in is kicks and cheap highs."
"Oh yeah, I'm getting a way wicked high from saving slayer tweedle dee and tweedle dum, and playing your little gay cupid. Kinda always had my heart set on becoming a fruit fly to the two biggest closet oral gymnasts ever," Faith stated sarcastically, turning to face Buffy.
Willow chose this exact moment to make her move, throwing her arms out as she prepared to surround Faith from behind and capture her upper arms in one swift motion. But her timing was off and as she propelled herself forward, she saw Faith begin to drop to the ground. Following her target down, Willow missed seeing the small pale white fist that then proceeded to hit her square in the face. "OOOOAwwwww," she screamed, more from shock than anything else, as Buffy's upwardly moving fist caught the tip of her nose before bouncing into her right eye socket.
Faith stepped to her right, under the out stretched arm of the now mostly powerless slayer. She had seen the punch coming and avoiding it was child's play. The yelp of pain from Willow had surprised her though. Faith hadn't heard Willow move, let alone come up behind her. 'Damn the girl's good. I'll have to keep an eye on her.'
Moving quickly she took advantage of Buffy's shock and concern for Willow to step behind the former slayer and pull her left arm behind her back, locking it in a vice-like grip before throwing her right arm around Buffy's throat. "Whoa there B, you're gonna get some one hurt," Faith stated. Glancing at Willow's now eye-watering face, she checked out the new Slayer. "You okay there, Red?" she asked.
"Let her go!" Willow commanded, shaking her head to clear the slight fog that the punch had caused in her right eye, as she moved towards them.
Faith tightened her grip on Buffy's left arm to produce a grunt of pain. "Back off now. We don't want anyone getting hurt here, do we?" Faith teased.
"Oh, I think there's going to be a bit more than hurt happening if you lay another hand on her," Willow stated, moving forward again.
This time Faith gave Buffy's arm a stiffer jolt, pulling her neck back as she did. The yelp elicited just the response she was after as Willow froze. "That's better. Pity Giles' training appears to have made you deaf. I said Back Off!..... Nice move though, coming up behind me. Shame Buffy, the retired Slayer, messed it up for you."
"Why are you doing this?" Willow asked, fighting the desire to just rush forward. All she could see through the red haze that was beginning to overtake her was Faith hurting her Buffy. Swallowing and taking a deep breath she tried to focus on the best course of action, rather than allowing her new Slayer instincts to take over.
"Oh, like you're interested. You've both made your minds up," Faith stated, the resignation evident in her tone.
Buffy was momentarily caught by the tone of Faith's voice, before the pain in her arm returned to remind her just who was holding and hurting her once again. "Yeah, because your behavior is doing so much to prove us wrong," she managed to gasp.
Faith swallowed as something inside wished they would just give her a chance. "Like you'd listen."
"We might," Willow offered.
"Yeah right, because you snuck up behind me to hear better," Faith sarcastically commented. "Do I look like an idiot?"
"I plead the 5th," Buffy commented under her breath.
Faith couldn't help tightening her grip a little bit to elicit the sharp intake of breath from Buffy that she needed to feel vindicated. But that was all it took to make Willow lose her resolve and snap. Before Faith could smile in satisfaction, Willow was upon her, like a crazy woman, reigning blows down on the somewhat stunned Slayer.
Buffy was tossed to one side as Faith tried to remove herself from Willow's reach. 'Where the hell did she learn to... Oaaawwww... Jeez, that really hurt... Red, you're gonna be in a world of pai... pain when I... Ooooowww,' Faith stumbled, unable to predict where the next blow was coming from; she threw her arms over her head, suddenly feeling like a child. She had seen that look before and it had scared her then. It was pure undiluted rage. There was no artistry or strategy to Willow's attack so she couldn't defend herself from it. Faith needed to get some distance between them.
*******************************BtVS********************
Giles turned the key again, offering his prayers to the god of car engines. But his reward was a single whine and nothing else. "Oh, blast it," he exclaimed, slumping back in his now immobile period piece. He knew what he had to do and he hated it.
Xander's many comments about how it was quicker to walk than it was to take Giles' car flew into his mind. It seemed that today he was doomed to walk to Xander's and then go through the humiliation of having to ask to borrow his car.
He wracked his brain to think of another way out of his present predicament, when he saw the pay phone.
****************************BtVS************************
Buffy quickly moved towards her bag, realizing that this was her chance to level the playing field as she had planned. Reaching into her larger than usual weapons shoulder bag, she pulled out an old friend.
Faith, threw her leg out hoping to catch Willow's legs and knock her over. All she wanted was to do was to get away from the mad, infuriated woman, not hurt her but what she succeeded in achieving was pain as Willow stomped down on her knee. "Owww!" Instead the dark-haired slayer curled her leg up beneath her as her temper snapped. "Okay now, Red, can't say you didn't ask for it," she stated as she threw her elbow into the newbie Slayer's gut, causing her to double over before following her elbow with an open-palmed push at Willow's now lowered head.
As Willow felt the air rush from her lungs and then her neck suddenly trying to collapse into her shoulders, she reeled back instinctively. She was able to put aside her rage long enough to search the room for Buffy, her concern for her best friend overpowering her desire to harm Faith. Seeing her, Willow smiled slightly but then she saw what Buffy was holding and fear quickly replaced her concern.
Faith stretched her shoulders before attempting to stand. "Oh boy Red, you really let the inner Slayer out there, didn't ya?" Faith taunted — ready, willing and able to teach this newbie upstart just what a Slayer could actually do. When she felt a sharp jabbing pain in her neck, 'Bitten?' she thought. But no. Reaching up she felt and pulled at her offending attacker, bringing the cause of her confusion forward... she found herself having to blink before she could see... 'a dart? A Dart! ... oh... Oh... Clever.' She looked up to see Willow gazing behind her, with a look of relief on her borrowed features. Natural curiosity taking over, Faith struggled to turn so that she could see where Willow was looking, but the world seemed to rush ahead of her, causing her head to spin.
Falling to one side, Faith watched as her sight began to blur. She tried to prevent her fall, but her arms seemed slow, languid. She hit the floor like a crumpled old woman. Looking up, she saw a face move towards her, a smiling face.
"Welcome to MY inner Slayer," Buffy declared smugly, as her hand still holding the tranquilizer gun dropped to her side.
***************************BtVS*************************
Thanks to Lilly a Beta Treasure