Genre: Drama

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: They’re not mine, I just wanted to play with them for a little while. No harm intended, only the greatest love and appreciation for the people who have created these fabulous characters and bring them onto my TV screen every week.

Summary: Spike gets his chip out and Faith gets out of jail to help in the fight with Glory.

Notes:  This story takes place after "The Body". "I Was Made to Love You" never happened, and just to be clear, in my story there is not even the remote possibility of a CyberBuffy.

Much thanks to Cousinjean, my wonderful beta-reader, for all her excellent advice.

And on to the story!

PART FOUR

********

"This is terrible!"

The rest of the core Scooby Gang, sitting around the table at the Magic Box, had to agree with Willow’s assessment.

"I mean, how could this happen?"

"I’m still kinda reeling from it myself," Buffy replied. "I can’t believe they just dumped her on me like this."

"Her? Who, her? What are you talking about?"

"The same thing we’ve all been talking about for the last ten minutes, Will: the Council springing Faith out of prison and sending her here to be my slay-mate. What are you talking about?"

"I’m talking about getting an A-minus on my Creative Writing paper."

Buffy wasn’t sure how she was supposed to respond. "Um, congratulations?"

"An A-minus! *Minus*. That’s like… less than an A! Look at this. She wrote, ‘While I give you points for creativity, next time try a subject matter that is a little more grounded in reality.’ Can you believe that? Not grounded in reality? I wrote about the Master getting free and the Hellmouth opening. That actually happened!"

"I’m sure we’re all very saddened by your academic failure, Will," Xander broke in to Willow’s rant. "But do you think you could focus for a few minutes on a problem that’s actually a problem?"

With an annoyed look at Xander, Willow made an effort to concentrate. "Right. Council. Faith. Focusing."

"The thing is," Buffy said, "she can’t know anything about Dawn. The Council may trust her, but I don’t. If Faith finds out, and she thinks it could help her, who knows what she would do?"

Giles looked up from his book long enough to say, "I think we can all agree that it would be best to keep that particular secret from Faith. So now, perhaps we can move along to more pressing matters, such as Glory?"

"You find anything new in those books?" Xander asked.

"Nothing," Giles admitted, "just more of the same next-to-nothing that we already know. She’s one of three hell gods that rule over a particularly dreadful demon dimension."

"I’m really not loving that ‘one of three’ business." Willow turned to Giles. "Do you think we’ll have to deal with all three of them?"

"Well, there hasn’t been any sign of the other two to date, so I’m certainly hoping that won’t be the case." Giles looked back to his books. "I just hope we can find a way to stop her before it’s too late."

"And before she figures out that my sister is her Key," Buffy added.

"Well, what about a spell? Do you think we could stop her with a spell?"

Giles opened up another volume. "Willow, the last time you tried a spell on Glory, things went rather badly for you. I’m afraid if you try it again, you could be injured even worse than before."

"Hey," Xander interjected, "maybe we can take her out with a rocket launcher."

"Geez, Xander," Buffy chided, "what is it with you? You have one good plan one time, and that’s, like, your answer to everything for the rest of your life?"

"Perhaps we should attempt to find out more about these Knights of Byzantium." Giles turned to Buffy. "From what you told us, they certainly seem to be opposed to Glory. Perhaps, if we could convince them that we are all on the same side, they could be an asset to us."

Buffy considered the suggestion. "I don’t know… maybe. I mean, there’s been no sign of them since that first attack. Besides, they seemed pretty keen on destroying the Key. I don’t think we can risk them finding out that it’s Dawn."

The mood around the table was glum. They were getting nowhere fast on learning about Glory. They had no idea how to fight her, or how to keep her away from Dawn. There wasn’t anything in Giles’ books to help them. Even the vast resources of the Watchers’ Council Library seemed to be coming up empty.

Buffy got up from the table. "Well, I’d better go. I told Anya I wouldn’t be too late. I know babysitting Dawn isn’t her favorite way to spend an evening. Besides, Glory or no Glory, there are still vampires crawling all over this town, so I’ve gotta go have some patrolling with Faith fun."

"Yeah, I think I’m gonna take off, too," added Willow. "Tara had to go to a lecture tonight for one of her classes, and I promised I’d be home when she got back."

"There doesn’t seem to be anything new here," Giles gestured toward the pile of books, "so I don’t see any reason for us to stay here any longer. It’s getting late, so perhaps we should all head for home."

The gang all headed out the door. "There has to be something somewhere. Something we are overlooking," Giles muttered, taking one last look at the pile of books on the table before locking up for the night.

********

Over the next few days, a kind of uneasy truce developed between the two Slayers. Buffy still went out of her way on a daily basis to make it clear that she was less than thrilled with Faith’s return. Faith figured she could deal with that. It wasn’t like she didn’t deserve it, after all.

Besides, it really seemed like B was starting to come around. Oh, she still treated Faith like crap, no question about that. After a week of fighting side by side every night, however, it seemed to Faith that Buffy’s heart was no longer in it, as if maybe she was making a deliberate effort to hold on to the hatred.

In the darkness of night, Faith could almost convince herself that things were back as they had been before she had accidentally killed the Deputy Mayor. Before her whole world had gone to hell. When they were out on patrol, Buffy had enough common sense to let go of her hostility. They fought side-by-side, allies if not friends.

"Faith, look out!"

Faith spun around just in time to see the vampire two feet behind her. One good kick in the head, a couple of punches to his midriff, and a quick stake through the heart. Dust.

She loved doing that. She never got why B tried so hard to pretend that being a Slayer was a job. It wasn’t a job to Faith. It was part of her. It was who she was. Fighting the vamps, killing them, that moment when she could see the look of comprehension in their eyes right before they exploded into ashes. She loved it. It made her feel alive.

After a year behind bars, a year during which the only demons she’d been able to fight were the ones in her dreams, this past week of freedom and slaying had been the best of her life. Like her birthday and Christmas rolled into one. Not that she’d ever gotten anything on either of those occasions – but being a Slayer made up for all that.

Buffy took a quick look around. "That’s five, and I don’t see any more fresh graves. I think that’s enough slayage for one night. Ready to call it quits?"

"Sure thing B. I think I’m gonna head over and check out the Bronze action." Faith paused before asking: "Wanna come with?" She already knew what the answer was going to be.

"No. I’m going home. I couldn’t get anyone to stay with Dawn tonight. She hasn’t been handling losing Mom that well, and I don’t like leaving her by herself for too long."

Yeah, Faith thought as she watched Buffy head for home. It was always something. Giles needs me to help him with some research; I have an early class; I promised Willow I’d drop by. Seven nights since she’d been back, seven different excuses why Buffy had to take off the moment the slaying was done. Faith knew they were all just excuses and that Buffy simply wanted to get out of her sight. Sure, she understood the reason. What she’d done to Buffy was pretty extreme. Still, it hurt.

They’d almost been friends once; the closest Faith had ever been to having a real friend. Before she’d gotten her Slayer powers, she’d just been this loser kid with an abusive, alcoholic mother. The other kids had mostly ignored her. None of the girls at her old school back in Boston could be bothered to give her the time of day. As for the guys, they had only paid attention to her long enough to have a little fun between the sheets.

The day she’d found out she had a special Destiny, she’d dropped out of school and walked out of the hovel her mother called an apartment without a moment’s hesitation. Good riddance.

Her first Watcher had been all right. He’d treated her better than anyone else ever had. When Kakistos had killed him, Faith had freaked. She ran off. She’d heard of Buffy, the other Slayer, and thought that maybe, on the other side of the country in a little town called Sunnydale, there was someone she might be able to connect with. A friend. A sister.

When she’d first arrived in to Sunnydale, she’d almost believed it was going to happen. All of Buffy’s friends had initially seemed to accept her. She remembered that day they had shown her around the school, pointing out all the spots where horrible things had happened to them. That had been a great day. She’d thought they were a kick. She told them that, if she’d had friends like them in high school, she might have felt bad about dropping out.

She and Buffy had been bonding. It was almost like having a real friend. Until that horrible night when the Deputy Mayor had come out of nowhere, when she had mistaken him for a vampire and driven a stake through his heart. Faith hadn’t been able to deal with that. She’d dumped the body in an attempt to make the problem go away, but that had just made things worse for her. When the Watchers had come and tried to remove her to England, she had snapped.

Going to the Mayor had been the wrong thing to do. She knew that. She’d known it even then, but she had wanted to do something to get back at Buffy and all her little Scooby pals for turning their backs on her. Besides, the Mayor had been so good to her. He treated her as she’d always thought a father would treat his daughter. It was hard to see the evil when someone was giving you everything you’d ever wanted. A father… a family.

Faith forced herself out of her silent contemplation. Suddenly, she just wasn’t in the mood for the Bronze. She needed something to take her mind off her problems. Maybe there were no more fresh graves here, but Sunnydale had no shortage of cemeteries. No shortage of vampires, either. Faith figured she could take a sweep of a couple of the other graveyards before she headed back to the fleabag hotel the Council had sprung for. She needed at least one more good slay before she turned in for the night.

********

Spike saw two vampires disappear behind the bushes. There was some commotion, some noise, and then nothing but silence. He knew what that meant. Walking toward those same bushes, he smiled in anticipation. He hadn’t seen the Slayer in over a week. She probably wouldn’t be all that pleased to see him, but he missed her.

"Hello, Slayer."

The young woman who emerged from the bushes was not who he was expecting. This was someone he had never laid eyes on before. That fact had only an instant to register before she came at him, stake raised.

"Hello, vampire."

"Hey, hey, wait. Hold on just a minute. Who the bloody hell are you?"

"I thought we just covered that, bleach boy. I’m the Slayer, and you’re about to be dust."

"Hold off! You can’t be the bloody Slayer. I happen to know the Slayer quite well, and you’re not her. For you to be the Slayer…"

Words he had uttered to Angel a century earlier echoed through his mind: "The way you tell it, one Slayer snuffs it, another one rises. I figure there's a new Chosen One getting all chosen as we speak."

"That would mean Buffy…" He felt like he wanted to pass out. "How? … When?"

Faith lowered her stake and looked at him a little more closely. "Hey, don’t I know you?"

Spike didn’t respond. He just stood there looking at her with disbelief. After the way she had taken out those vampires in the bushes, there was no question in his mind that this girl was a Slayer. He didn’t want to believe Buffy was gone, but the proof was standing in front of him.

"Yeah! I do know you! Hah! Spike! William the Bloody. Still got that wicked little bug zapper in your head? Maybe I don’t have to kill you after all."

How did she know him? He was sure he had never laid eyes on her before. "Who the bloody hell *are* you?"

"Name’s Faith."

Faith. That rang a bell. Xander’s description of a Rogue Slayer came back to him. "Dark hair. Yay tall, name of Faith, criminally insane." He breathed a sigh of relief. If this was the same Faith, then nothing had happened to Buffy.

"Faith. I’ve heard of you. Aren’t you supposed to be in prison or something?"

"I was." Faith sat down on a headstone and shrugged. "I’m out now."

"All rehabilitated and ready to fight for the home team again, eh?"

"Something like that."

"And Buffy’s okay with this?"

"She’s dealing."

"So that’s the way it is, then." Spike muttered. "Everyone gets a free pass except for Spike."

"What did you say?"

"What? Oh, nothing, love." Spike took out a cigarette and lit it.

"So, B doesn’t have a problem with you walking and talking, so long as you’ve got that chip in your head, huh? She always did have a problem killing things when she doesn’t think they’re a deadly threat to humanity. Still, knowing your history, I’m surprised she hasn’t felt an urge to turn you into a pile of dust."

"She likes to talk about it all the time, but so far I’m still here." Spike took a drag on his cigarette. "So, how is it you know me when I’m sure I never met you before?"

"Oh, we’ve met."

"Have not. I’ve got a thing for Slayers; I think I’d remember if I met you."

Faith smiled. "Well, I wasn’t exactly… myself at the time."

Spike looked at her, waiting for more.

"It’s kind of complicated. We met at the Bronze one night, about a year ago. Except I wasn’t me. I was Buffy."

Spike looked at her like she was insane. "You were Buffy?"

"Um hum. I had this little device thing that switched us. I was her and she was me."

"And we met at the Bronze?" Spike asked skeptically.

"Oh, yeah." Faith stood up. "You don’t believe me, do you? Let’s see… how did that go?" She got a mischievous grin on her face as she took a few steps to bridge the gap between them. "I could be rich. I could be famous. I could have anything. Anyone." Faith stepped even closer, so that there were mere inches between them, and put her hand on Spike’s chest before continuing in a sultry voice. "Even you, Spike. I could ride you at a gallop until your legs buckled and your eyes rolled up. I've got muscles you've never even dreamed of. I could squeeze you until you pop like warm champagne and you'd beg me to hurt you just a little bit more. And you know why I don't? Because it's wrong." Finished with her demonstration, Faith stepped back and gave Spike another wicked grin.

It took Spike a moment to recover, and when he did, all he could think of to say was: "Oh. That night." That was one memory that was permanently imprinted in his mind. "That was you? Actually, that makes sense. I always just figured she was drunk off her gourd when she said that. I should have known something was up. Even drunk, Buffy would never talk like that. Not to me, anyway."

********

The vampire had muttered that last bit under his breath, but Faith caught it anyway.

So that’s the way things are, Faith thought. Another vampire with the hots for Buffy. What is it with that girl?

Spike pointed at something behind Faith. "Here comes trouble."

Faith turned in the direction Spike indicated and saw a group of four vampires approaching.

She got the first vamp quickly; one fast jab of her stake through his heart and he was dust. As she turned to face the second, Faith was vaguely aware of Spike fighting one of the remaining attackers, but she didn’t have time to think about that. She had two vampires of her own to contend with.

She gave one a fast kick in the gut, grabbed the other one and threw him against the wall of a nearby mausoleum. She turned back just in time to see the first vampire running back at her. He tackled her and they rolled on the ground. Faith ended up on top, pulled out her stake, and plunged it downwards.

Just as Faith staked him, the one she had tossed grabbed her from behind. He pinned her arms to her side and knocked the stake out of her hand. She could feel his mouth descending toward her neck. For a second, Faith thought it was over.

Spike, who had just finished off the fourth vampire himself, grabbed the vamp and pulled him off Faith. She quickly regrouped, retrieved her stake, and plunged it through the vampire’s heart.

She turned back to Spike. "Wow, thanks."

"Excuse me? What did you just say?"

"I said thanks."

"Sorry. I’m just not used to hearing Slayers say things like that."

"Why wouldn’t I thank you? That last one was wicked strong. He almost got me. You kinda saved my life there. So, let me get this straight. You are a vampire, right?"

"Last time I checked."

"So, what are you doing killing other vampires to protect Slayers?"

"Well, the chip keeps me from hurting humans, but I still like a spot of violence now and again. Fellow’s gotta have a hobby, you know."

Faith laughed. "You know, for an evil undead guy, you’re pretty okay."

"Yeah, well, maybe you could try telling that to a certain other Slayer we both know."

With that, Faith decided it was time to call it a night. Heading back to the hotel, she couldn’t help shaking her head at the absurdity of the evening’s events. A soulless vampire with a computer chip in his head saving the life of a Slayer. If she had ever told anyone back in Boston a story like that, she would have had to sell it as fiction. Nobody would ever believe it otherwise.

But it was just another typical day on the Hellmouth. Sunnydale had to be the weirdest town anywhere.

To be continued …

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