Fanfiction: A Tale Of Slayers : Finale
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The three Slayers just stood there in silence. It was only for a few seconds, but it seemed to stretch for eternity. Faith and Buffy gazed at the Slayer Vampire as the creature returned it, the hatred multiplied several times over. Tears stained the vampire’s cheeks and Buffy realized that Noriko Amano had really loved her Watcher when she had been a human. She recalled how the vampire referred to the Watcher by his last name. No `Mr.’ before Wallace. The same way Buffy and the others called Giles just Giles. The demon that took over Noriko when she was turned into a vampire remembered everything from her life, as well as the love she held for the only father figure she had.
And right now that love drove the Slayer Vampire towards one goal. Revenge.
Behind the vampire, the frigate continued on its way fading into the night of the sea. If the remaining Tarakans on board knew their passenger had jumped ship they must not feel obligated to return for her. Just as well, Buffy thought. They were about to have their hands full with just her.
Beside her, Faith adjusted her hold on the broken ax handle. All Buffy had was the empty crossbow. She let it drop and it clattered on the concrete.
The noise broke the silence and sent the Slayer Vampire in motion. She sprang forward, running directly towards Buffy, as if she didn’t even notice Faith standing there.
The brunette saw this too and took advantage, stepping into the vampire’s path and met the creature with a round kick to its head. But the vampire suddenly reacted to the attack and ducked smoothly underneath Faith’s leg and she was now standing between the two human Slayers, launching its own attack at Buffy. Buffy deflected its lightning fast punches aimed at her chest and head, and Faith came at it from behind. Without looking back, the Slayer Vampire blocked Faith’s right hook with a back elbow, giving Buffy the opening to counterattack. The vamp ducked as Faith swung the handle, at the same time blocking Buffy’s front kick. She stood back up to forearm block Buffy’s right cross and side stepped Faith’s front kick from behind.
No matter how the two Slayers attacked the vampire, she succeeded in blocking all their strikes, but she never took her focus off Buffy. The blonde was hard pressed warding off the vampire’s attacks on her, and the creature wasn’t even striking back at Faith, just defending against the other Slayer. Buffy found herself shuffling back as the vamp’s efforts increased.
Buffy began to retaliated with a punching combination, but the Slayer Vampire grabbed her wrist on the first punch, twisting it, causing her to step off balance, and snapped a round kick to her face. She held onto Buffy and without lowering her leg, sent a back-kick at Faith, who blocked it with the ax handle. Then she sent the leg forward again this time kicking Buffy across the stomach, and the Slayer fell to her knees. Now she did release Buffy and went into a half-spinning kick that knocked Faith’s stake out of her hand as the brunette swung it at her. The vampire quickly stepped into a side kick that slammed into Faith’s chest and sent the Slayer off her feet. Faith hit the ground and flopped back on her stomach, the wind knocked out of her.
Momentarily free of both opponents, the vampire turned her attention back to Buffy, her main target. The blonde Slayer was trying to rise from her knees when the vamp kicked at her face. Buffy brought her forearms up to block the kick but the vampire followed with a hammer fist that hit her just below the back of the neck. The blow dazed her, almost falling forward, and the vamp’s next kick did hit her in the face, knocking her on her back.
Before the Slayer Vampire could press her attack, Faith jumped on the creature’s back, wrapping her arms around its neck. Buffy rolled away and began to pull herself up, forcing her body to move with the speed she knew she did not have. The vampire immediately drove an elbow back into Faith’s midsection, slammed the back of her head into Faith’s face, and flipped the brunette over onto the concrete at its feet. She drove a fist straight down at Faith’s head and the Slayer barely dodged the blow and a small explosion of concrete erupted under the fist. Still on her back, Faith lashed out with a kick that connected with the vampire’s face and it stumbled a couple of steps back, as Faith kicked herself to her feet. She was facing the vampire again when it came at her with an assault of kicks and punches.
Buffy was on her feet again, and began circling the fight since Faith’s back was closest to her. Her fellow Slayer seemed to be holding her own for the moment, but she knew it would not last. Noriko was a very technical fighter, but, at the same time, was not afraid to improvise, she was just unfamiliar with Faith’s streetfighting style. And the brunette was taking total advantage of it. She managed to score a series of punches and backhands that made the vampire stagger back again, farther from Buffy. The vamp regained her balance just as Faith pressed her attack, and blocked every strike this time, retaliating with a front kick that hit the brunette in the stomach. The creature followed through with an inside crescent-kick that spun the Slayer in place, then continued into a spinning heel kick. But Faith ducked that kick then immediately threw herself into a handstand back flip sending both feet up against the Slayer Vampire’s chin. Faith landed on her feet again just as the vampire landed on her back, but it quickly scrambled to its feet. Just in time to take Buffy’s flying kick in the chest.
This sent the vampire flying and she hit the dock hard, rolling into a semi-controlled tumble. She succeeded in using the momentum to spring back to her feet but her back slammed against a nearby wooden crate.
Buffy and Faith were in hot pursuit. Buffy reached the creature first and it blocked her punches, countering with a palm strike to her chin. The vampire blocked Faith’s round kick, as it sent a front kick into Buffy’s midsection, then used the same leg to kick the side of Faith’s supporting leg. Buffy fell to the ground as Faith’s knee buckled. Grabbing her by her brown hair the Slayer Vampire smashed a hard knee into her face.
The vampire let Faith fall and stalked Buffy again. The blonde Slayer was halfway to her feet when she was grabbed by her bruised neck, and the vamp lifted her to her feet. Before she could do anything, a powerful fist hit her in the face and when she opened her eyes again she was lying on her back, looking up as the vampire approached her. A few yards behind the creature she saw a dazed Faith struggling to her knees. Buffy rolled onto her stomach and tried to push herself off the concrete, but the vampire reached her and kicked her in the midsection, sending the Slayer rolling across the ground.
Hugging her stomach, trying to regain the wind that was knocked out of her, Buffy willed her aching body to move. She hadn’t even made it to her knees before the vampire reached down and grabbed her by the lapels of her jacket. She was suddenly looking into the Slayer Vampire’s yellow eyes.
“I want to kill you so bad I can’t contain myself,” she sneered in her face.
She smashed Buffy in the face with a vicious headbutt, and the Slayer could have sworn she heard her nose breaking. The vampire was the only thing keeping her on her feet now, and she was only able to open her eyes halfway.
“But I think I’ll allow you to live just a little longer,” she said. “It’s only fair. You took my Watcher, I’ll take yours.”
This allowed Buffy to open her eyes all the way, but she was still too weak to do much else.
“Don’t worry,” the vamp said. “I won’t kill him. I’ll make him my Watcher.”
“NO!” Buffy screamed and threw a punch across the creature’s face. It had no effect, there had been no power behind it.
The Slayer Vampire smiled at her and buried a fist into Buffy’s stomach, making her gasp, then she shoved her hard. Buffy flew backwards and crashed into the side of a metal cargo container. She collapsed to a heap on the ground.
Her entire body felt like dead weight but she raised her head to look at the vampire.
“I’ll also make sure your boyfriend is dead and I will kill the rest of your friends. Too bad you can’t stop me. I’ll see you later, Buffy.”
Behind her, Buffy saw that Faith had finally got back to her feet and was running towards them, a little unsteady, but still able to fight. The Slayer Vampire started running to where they had left Giles and the others, and Buffy prayed they had already gotten out of there. It would buy them some time, at least.
Faith immediately gave chase but the vampire was much faster and she would not be able to catch her. The brunette came to the empty crossbow still lying on the ground and snatched it up without slowing down. She went into a running throw and flung the weapon like a Frisbee. At first, Buffy didn’t think she was going to hit the creature, but then the crossbow slammed into the back of her legs and the bowhead tangled itself between them. The Slayer Vampire tripped and hit the concrete hard, the crossbow getting shattered in the process.
Faith had not stopped running and reached the vampire just as she was rising to her knees. She put all her strength behind the kick that hit the Slayer Vampire in the face. The creature staggered back from the impact and Faith wasted no time, unleashing a devastating punching combination, pummeling the vampire back towards a large wooden crate. Then the creature suddenly ducked under one of her right hooks, then blocked a left hook. She lashed out with a low kick against the side of Faith’s legs and they were both swept out from under her, and as she fell sideways the Slayer Vampire slammed a hard fist into the Slayer’s chest. The impact sent the brunette through the air and she hit the ground in a rough tumble. She came to a stop on her back gasping for air, clutching her chest.
She saw the vampire just standing there, glaring at her. Then the creature wiped the blood trailing from her mouth with the back of her hand. Faith was amid the scattered remains of the crossbow and she quickly selected a piece that made an adequate stake. On her feet again, she rushed the vampire. She came in with a midlevel front kick following through with a downward stake strike. The vampire blocked the kick then caught her stake hand by the wrist. Faith immediately punched her across the face with her free left hand and the vamp released her. She tried another stake strike but it was deflected with a forearm and Faith quickly spun into a spinning backhand. The vampire ducked the swing and came up with round kick to her stomach, making Faith double over. She grabbed the Slayer by the back of her sweat shirt and slammed her into the wooden crate. Before Faith could recover, the Slayer Vampire grabbed her again and slammed her face first once more into the crate. This time she lost the stake. She kicked the brunette in the back of the knee causing it to buckle. As she knelt in front of the crate the vampire slammed a knee against the back of her head, smashing her face into the wooden surface, cracking it.
Faith left a bloody smear on the cracked area as she fell limply to the ground.
Oh, my God, she’s dead, Buffy thought as she labored her way toward the fight. She had just watched Faith fall and lay there unmoving. Buffy was only half running due to the pain throughout her body, but she was moving as fast as she could. But seeing her fellow Slayer fall sent a surge of adrenaline through her that allowed her to pick up a little more speed, but it would not be enough if Faith was already dead. She had retrieved the broken ax handle on the way and hoped Faith would keep her distracted long enough to sneak up behind her.
Now the creature turned to face her, its back to Faith’s body. The blonde Slayer stopped. She was just ten feet from the Slayer Vampire and the creature looked at the battered Slayer.
“One down,” she said.
“You’re not gonna win,” Buffy said, through clenched teeth.
“Do you think you can stop me? You can barely stand.”
“I look worse than I feel.”
“You look dead.” The vampire took a step forward. “I just have to make it so. And I will have your Watcher.”
Buffy glared back at the vampire. “As I said before, over my dead body.” Buffy’s eyes flickered. “Or should I say, over our dead bodies.”
Behind the Slayer Vampire, Faith had stood up. Her face was scratched up from being slammed into the wooden surface, but they were all shallow cuts. However, there was blood flowing steadily from her nose. She raised her hand and was holding the stake she had dropped.
“Now that hurt,” she said, and plunged the stake into the vampire’s back before she could react.
The Slayer Vampire arched her back and roared in pain. Then she clutched her chest. She turned and swung a hard backhand across Faith’s face that sent the Slayer spinning into the crate again and the brunette slid to the ground. Buffy charged forward as the vampire staggered.
“No!” the creature screamed. She swung a fist at the approaching Slayer.
Buffy blocked it with her free forearm then slammed the ax handle into the vampire’s chest. Buffy let go and the vampire fell against the crate, clutching at the stake. Faith was sitting against the crate close by and watched as she sank to the ground. By the time she reached the ground, the Slayer Vampire’s skin had darkened to a brownish gray and her flesh exploded in a cloud of ash, leaving behind a blackened skeleton. The skeleton just sat there.
After a still moment, Buffy walked over to Faith and slid down next to her, opposite of the skeleton. They both just stared off into space in front of them.
After a another moment, Buffy finally said, “So how ya doing, kid?”
“I think I’m still alive,” Faith replied.
“That’s good.”
Faith nodded numbly. “You?”
“I guess I should be grateful to still be alive. But I know I’m gonna wish I was dead in the morning.”
“I hear you.”
Faith and Buffy just sat there in silence, trying to catch their breaths. Then Faith slowly reached a hand to the skeleton. With a flick of her finger the skeleton crumbled to dust.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“I don’t hear anything,” Willow said.
“That’s a good thing, right?” Xander said, softly, as he walked beside her.
“I hope so.”
“Well, if there was noise that would mean that Buff and Faith were still fighting the Slayer Vamp.” He glanced nervously over his shoulder in the direction they just came from. They were following the path the Slayers had taken when they chased off after the departing ship. “No noise means that the fight is over.”
“Yeah,” Willow agreed, trying to sound less worried as she fidgeted with the cross in her hand. “Or maybe there was no fight,” she said, hopefully. “Maybe she got away.”
“Hey, yeah,” Xander said. “But then why didn’t they come back?”
“Uh,” Willow’s face fell. “Oh, maybe they were tired and they needed to take a break? They did look tired, didn’t they?”
“Yeah,” Xander said, but it was obvious he didn’t believe that any more than she did. “But even if they did fight her, she wouldn’t stand a chance against two Slayers.”
“Right!” Willow put conviction behind those words. “She got her ass kicked!”
“I mean, who cares that she took down Angel in less time than most Tyson fights.”
“Right!”
“Let’s face it, when it comes to fighting Slayers, Angel is the expert in getting his ass kicked. Buffy, herself, kicked his ass when he was trying to awaken Acathla.”
Willow nodded. “And, and when Kendra first met him, she knocked him around some.”
“Yeah, I almost forgot about that. And Faith nearly killed him just a couple of months back.” Xander scoffed. “When you think about it, Angel really isn’t all that tough.”
“Yeah,” Willow agreed. “It’s just that whole stoic, tough guy, imposing image he puts forth.”
“It’s the dark coats,” Xander said.
“That too.”
They fell silent. After a moment the worry returned to their expressions and they continued onward.
Giles had been very vocal when Xander had suggested that he should go check to see if Buffy and Faith were all right. He became even more vocal when Willow agreed and said she would go with Xander. Xander and the Watcher had managed to carry Angel back to the cars. The wound on his neck had almost stopped bleeding, but the vampire was still extremely weak. Giles had not been sure what would happen if he lost too much blood. Better not to find out. Maybe he feared that Angel would succumb to the blood need and go into a feeding frenzy, Xander thought.
It could be the reason he finally agreed to let them go after Faith and Buffy. It might be safer than staying with a starving vampire. And despite being three for three in getting Slayer-whipped, Xander had to admit that Angel could rumble with the meanest of demons. And the Slayer Vampire was definitely one of the meanest to come to Sunnydale. He just hoped Buffy and Faith could take her. He knew Buffy hadn’t been completely healed from this morning, and she had taken a few hard hits since then. Faith seemed to be in better shape, even though she had been covered with blood. The Slayer Vampire, however, despite her brief clash with Angel, would pretty much be in top form.
They had just passed the spot where the frigate had been docked, originally, but they weren’t able to see very far along the dock because of the deep shadows surrounding the pools of light from the tall lightposts.
“Xander,” Willow said, grabbing his arm. “Do you see that?”
“What?” he asked, then strained his eyes to where she was pointing.
A few spotlights ahead he did see a figure stepping into one of the pools of light. As they walked further, he realized there were two figures close to each other, supporting each other.
“That’s them,” he shouted.
He and Willow broke into a run. As they neared they saw that it was Buffy and Faith. Both Slayers looked as if they had gone a round in a Tyson fight. With several Tysons, actually. And it was hard to tell which Slayer was assisting the other.
“Are you guys all right?” they asked as they reached them.
“I thought I told you guys to get away from here,” Buffy tried to make her voice firm, but didn’t seem to have the strength.
“We were worried about you,” Willow said, defensively. “You were gone for a long time.”
“I’m sorry,” Buffy said. “How’s Angel?”
“He’s fine. The bleeding finally stopped.”
“And the vampire chick?” Xander asked.
“Dust,” Faith spoke up.
He suddenly noticed just how bad the younger Slayer really looked. In fact, this time she looked worse than Buffy, and she was actually leaning against the blonde.
“Here, let me help.”
He went to Faith’s side and put her arm across his shoulders. The brunette didn’t say a word as he pulled her away from Buffy.
“Thanks,” Buffy said, then looked at Willow who was standing in front of her. “Will?”
Before Willow could say anything, Buffy fell forward and the redhead grunted as she caught her in her arms. Buffy regained some of her balance and Willow was able to help her stand. The four teenagers began to walk slowly along the dock.
“So I take it this was a hard fight,” Xander said, after a while.
“Oh, yeah,” Buffy said.
“We’re talking Pay-Per-View worthy,” Faith added.
“But you’re both still alive,” Xander pointed out.
“That’s the important thing,” Willow added. She was silent for a moment. “What about the Watcher?”
Buffy and Faith exchanged a look and she and Xander saw their expressions.
“Oh,” Willow said, softly. “I’m sorry.”
Willow worried about the Slayers’ solemnness, and she didn’t think it was all from just the fight, and fatigue. It must have been disquieting having to fight and kill a demon that was a Slayer. Seeing what would happen if either of them were turned into a vampire.
“So how are you doing?” Buffy asked her.
“Me?” she exclaimed. “I’m fine. You’re the one who looks …” She stopped when she saw how Buffy was looking at her. “Okay. It was a little disturbing having you almost kill me. But I knew right away that it wasn’t you. That it was Oranstine. I mean, you would never in a million years ever try to kill me.” Then she looked at Buffy. “Would you?”
“No.” Buffy smiled.
“Just double-checking.”
“Xander, if you try to carry me like a baby I swear I will kick your ass,” Faith said.
“Okay, okay. You just seemed kinda tired, that’s all.”
“I can make it,” she declared.
Buffy and Willow smiled at the exchange. Then Willow’s face grew serious again. “Uh, Buffy?”
“What is it?” she said, when Willow hesitated.
“Uh, back in the diner, before you guys rescued us…”
“Yeah?” Buffy prompted. Xander and Faith were also listening now.
“Well, Giles …”
“What about Giles?” Xander asked.
Willow took a deep breath and started talking as they continued along the dock.
“Sorry about the car,” Angel said.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Angel had been sitting on the ground with his back against the side of the Citroen. Giles and Willow had bandaged his neck before she and Xander had went in search for Buffy and Faith, but the blood covering his shoulder had left a stain on the car’s door. With Giles’ help he was now standing, although still leaning against the car. He said it would be best if he kept the wound as elevated as possible above his heart, to keep most of the blood in his veins away from his neck. Giles, not knowing as much about vampire first aid as Angel, couldn’t argue with him, even if he still thought it was a bad idea.
“I hope they’re all right,” Giles said, not for the first time, sweeping his gaze across the docks again.
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Angel replied, not for the first time. He stood there regarding the Watcher for a moment. He knew that the man loved Buffy, probably as much as he did, but as a daughter. Giles may even know her better than Angel did. There were few relationships that bonded two people closer. Two lovers, husband and wife, brother and sister, father and daughter, Watcher and Slayer.
Being Buffy’s Watcher had become more to Giles than just his duty. In some ways, he had to endure as much pain as Buffy did. When his Slayer suffered, he suffered as well. And he had also lost a lot, himself.
“I’m sorry,” he finally said.
Giles looked at him. “It wasn’t your fault. You did your best. That creature was just too strong. Even Buffy could not stop her by herself.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Angel said, softly.
Giles turned his head. He took off his glasses and took a deep breath. “I know.” He was silent for a long time. Angel waited for him to say something, giving the man as much time as he needed. The Watcher finally looked at him.
” That wasn’t your fault, either.”
“If there had been some way I could have stopped it—”
He fell silent when Giles raised his hand. “I know that it wasn’t really you. And I’m sure Jenny knew that—” He had to stop to clear his throat. “But my heart keeps telling me otherwise. But … I’m sure that voice will quiet after a while. It will be just a matter of time.”
Angel nodded, understandingly.
Giles turned away again, putting his glasses back on. He saw Buffy, Faith, Willow, and Xander emerge slowly from between a storage building and a high stack of crates.
“There they are,” he said.
Angel tried to push himself away from the car and nearly collapsed. Giles steadied him and the vampire decided to wait for the others to come to them.
He saw that Willow and Xander were supporting Buffy and Faith as they walked. They both looked like hell, Faith probably just a little worse off, though Buffy was still nursing injuries from this morning.
As they drew nearer, Buffy eased herself away from Willow, and walked a little unsteadily toward them. He instantly recognized a determination in her stride that told him something was not sitting well with her. He wondered what it could be.
“Thank heavens you’re both safe,” Giles breathed with relief as they reached the car.
Buffy looked at her Watcher but walked passed him without a word and went straight to Angel. The cut above her brow was open again, and her nose had been bleeding. Faith’s face had more cuts, but none of them looking as severe.
He wrapped an arm around Buffy as she hugged him.
“Noriko, is she . . ?” Giles said.
“She’s gone,” Faith answered for the group. Angel noticed they were all looking at the Watcher a little strangely.
He looked down at Buffy who had her cheek buried against his chest. “What’s wrong?”
She looked up at him, but didn’t say anything. She pulled away and stepped to her Watcher. Giles, finally sensing the uneasiness coming from the teenagers, looked at her questioningly.
“Buffy?”
His Slayer was now standing directly in front of him. There was a fire in her eyes that Angel could not exactly call anger, but she was obviously upset about something.
“Back at the diner,” she began. “What did you think you were doing?” Her voice was hard and cold.
Giles just stared at her, uncertain, as the words sank in. Then realization came to his eyes and he glanced at Willow. Willow was now lending her shoulder to Faith, who was standing between her and Xander. The redhead looked away, unable to meet his eyes. Slowly, he looked at his Slayer again, her eyes still pinning him with their gaze.
“If Oranstine had accepted your offer to let Willow and the waitress go and keep just you, tell me you weren’t planning on killing yourself?” Her eyes suddenly filled with tears as she whispered, “Please…”
Giles had to clear his throat. “Buffy, there are, uh, certain obligations that a Watcher has. The most important one is to ensure the safety of his or her Slayer. I could not allow—” He stopped when he saw the pain in Buffy’s expression.
“You mean to tell me, that when Angel had you prisoner, when he was torturing you …”
Angel couldn’t stop himself from flinching at her harsh words, but he knew the anger wasn’t directed at him.
“If you had the chance, you would have tried to kill yourself then?”
He did try to kill himself, Angel thought, suddenly remembering something from the demon Angelus’ memories. He had already tortured the Watcher for hours, trying to get him to reveal the correct ritual to awaken the demon Acathla and it had seemed Giles was ready to confess all. Angel had leaned in closer to listen to Giles’ words.
In order to be worthy,' his voice had been very weak and tired.You must perform the ritual … in a tutu. Pillock!’
Of course, this had enraged Angelus beyond reason, and he actually would have killed Giles if Spike had not stopped him from putting the chainsaw to the Watcher.
But Angel kept this to himself. Right now, Buffy did not need to know this. In fact, he would never tell her.
“If it would have kept them from awakening Acathla,” Giles was saying, bluntly, to his Slayer, meeting her gaze, “then, yes. I would have.”
“Bullshit!” Buffy shouted at him. She grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him up against the car, none to gently. The tears were streaming down her cheeks now. “Don’t give me that `Watcher’s obligation’ crap!”
Concerned, Angel put a hand on her shoulder, which she roughly shrugged off, but she never took her eyes off her Watcher.
“I came for you!” she declared. “Xander got you out of there while I kept the vampire’s busy! None of my friends are gonna die if I can save them, do you hear!”
“Buffy—” Giles tried to say, but Buffy shook him with rage.
“No! And you will not kill yourself! I will not let that happen again!”
Now everyone, including Angel, was looking at Buffy, not knowing what she was talking about.
“Again?” Willow asked.
Buffy did not turn her attention from Giles. “Do you know what happened to Merrick? Do you know how he died?” she demanded.
“I know he was killed by the vampire lord Lothos,” Giles said.
“No! Lothos didn’t even touch him!” Buffy was shouting again. “Lothos had me under his spell! He would have taken me! But Merrick had a gun and distracted him so I could get away! I ran away while he faced a vampire alone, with a gun! But Lothos didn’t get him because he saved the last bullet for himself!”
Angel saw the stunned expression come over Giles’ face. He opened his mouth but was speechless.
“You are not going to do that!” Buffy told him. Then it seemed as if all her anger was spent and she sagged against his chest. “I won’t let you do that!”
“I never,” Giles started to say. “I didn’t realize …” The Watcher put his arms around Buffy as she cried into his shirt.
“Promise,” Buffy said. “You promise me, that no matter what happens, you will always wait for me.” Buffy was pleading now. “I will find you. I will rescue you. Just promise me.”
Angel just stood there, wanting to comfort her, and knowing that he couldn’t. Not this time. He glanced at the others, standing together, also watching in silence. They knew this was between Buffy and Giles, but their emotions were evident on their faces. Willow’s face was damped with tears. There were no tears in Faith’s eyes but she actually looked closer to tears that Angel could remember.
“Promise me.” Buffy’s voice had dropped to a whisper.
Giles was fighting the tears in his own eyes, but he lost when one ran down his cheek. He managed to keep his voice steady.
He gently told his Slayer, “I promise.”
EPILOGUE
After………
Buffy had taken Angel home so the vampire could replenish the blood he had lost. Knowing Angel did not like having humans around while he fed, Buffy assured the others she would be fine taking him by herself.
“Now when you say you’re taking him home to feed,” Xander had said, “you’re not going to offer yourself as an appetizer, right?”
Buffy rolled her eyes and informed him that Angel kept a refrigerator well stocked with nonhuman blood. Giles had told her to be careful, especially, in her current condition. Buffy nodded and opened her mouth to say more, but then closed it again when no words would come to her. After telling him she would meet them back at the library, they drove off, in different directions, away from the now quiet docks.
Even though she wasn’t feeling very strong right now, she insisted on helping Angel inside the mansion, who was still weaker than she was. She led him to his bedroom and helped him out of his bloodied, coat and shirt. She replaced the dressing on his wound, which was healing but still looked savagely horrid, and cleaned the dried blood off his skin.
She left the room to get the blood from the refrigerator, giving him privacy to finish undressing. As instructed, he was sitting up in bed, under the covers when she returned. She set the 32 ounce plastic cup, with sealable lid, on the night stand, within his reach, and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“No straw?”
Buffy looked at his impassive expression and couldn’t fight the grin that spread on her face. “Somebody’s getting spoiled. You must have really lost a lot of blood if you think I’m gonna be babying you again until you get better.”
He tilted his head as if disappointed, even though he didn’t know how to pout. The only person who had fewer expressions was Oz. He indicated the cup. “A couple of these and I’ll be fine.”
Buffy eyed the cup. “I’m definitely not gonna be able to look at a `Big Gulp’ the same way ever again. And I didn’t know how much to warm it up, I figured you wouldn’t want it cold, but I didn’t want the cup to melt either, I guess vampires wouldn’t want cold blood, since when they feed on a human their blood is pretty warm, not that you like drinking warm blood because it reminds you of feeding off … just that it tastes,” she frowned at her own words, “better.”
Angel was just looking at her, his eyes soft.
“Oh, I know.” she groaned. “I’m babbling.” She put a hand to her forehead. “It must be the concussion I don’t know I have, yet. It’s making me all—”
“Go talk to Giles,” Angel simply said.
“I don’t think I can face him right now.” She shook her head, letting her eyes fall. “The way I blew up at him…”
“It’s what you were feeling,” he told her.
“He probably thinks I’ve finally lost it. His next entry in his diary will probably read, `And today the Slayer blew out her porchlight. I think I’ll make some tea.’ “
“You know he doesn’t think that. He understands.”
Buffy let her eyes wander the room. “I don’t know. I just can’t imagine my life without Giles being there.” She looked at him. “Any more than I can be without you.”
Angel took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“He gives so much and I just take and take. How does he put up with me? And now he has to look after Faith, too.”
“You don’t think he can do it?” he asked.
“He is doing it. I just don’t know how he’s doing it. Faith is more of a handful than I ever was.” She looked into his eyes. His expression was still the same. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m really not as bad as Faith.” His expression remained the same. “Okay, okay! Maybe I did give him a hard time. But that was a long time ago. I’ve grown since then, had time to mature,” she insisted.
She looked at him and they were silent for a long moment.
Finally, she said, “I’ll go talk to Giles.” He nodded. “And I should go so you can eat. I can hear your stomach growling.” She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
She stood up and walked over to the heavy curtain covering the doorway. He still made no move to reach for the cup. Buffy looked over her shoulder. “I’ll check on you tomorrow.”
“I’ll be here,” he said.
“Don’t get too excited. I didn’t say I would be here early.” She gave him a smile. “As soon as I get home, I think I’ll fall into a nice coma.”
“Good night,” he said as she disappeared through the curtain.
Throughout the entire ride back to the library, Giles had not said a word. In the back seat, Willow and Xander were also quiet. Without any idea how to break the uncomfortable silence, Faith remained quiet as well. It wasn’t until they entered the library that Giles spoke up, asking Faith to go to his office so he can look over her wounds. The Slayer just nodded and complied. She heard Willow and Xander say they’ll start cleaning up the library so that it would be ready on Monday. Business as usual, she thought.
While Giles cleaned the scrapes on her face, he still said very little, except to ask if she was feeling any pain. She told him her left arm was giving her problems, and she removed her sweatshirt to let him examine it. The Watcher’s touch was gentle. He wasn’t “the Watcher”, she thought, Giles was her Watcher, too. So what if Buffy had him longer, she was just as much his Slayer as B was.
And it didn’t seem as if the Council was in any big hurry to assign her a new Watcher any time soon. Maybe those old folks were still adjusting to having to deal with two Slayers, she wondered. She had been in Sunnydale for six months now, living in that crappy motel room, which she didn’t really mind, actually. And Giles did make sure she didn’t have to worry about paying for it, and kept her stocked with plenty of weapons, and he even said nothing when his eyes would bug out at the receipts she would give him after shopping for clothes.
He pretty much gave her a lot of space.
Maybe too much, she thought. Maybe the Council decided it would be easier to just dump her with Giles. Hey, he was already here, and he was well experienced with dealing with a Slayer already, let’s let him deal with the other one.
Was that what she was? she wondered. Just the other Slayer? Buffy has been a Slayer for three years, so Faith was still the new kid on the block. And did Giles feel any resentment for having her dumped into his lap? He never said anything that would make her believe that he did. And didn’t Buffy tell her once that Giles had requested to the Council that he would watch over her? She couldn’t really remember.
Maybe she should try to get to know him a little better. The way B knew things about him. Hell, the rest of the scoobys knew him better than she did, including Cordelia, and he was supposed to be her Watcher. He did share with her his past-experience, when he was younger, and how he and a few of his old friends had gotten in trouble with that Eyghon demon, who came after them all last year. Not that she would admit it to anyone, but he probably did save her life by stopping her from going after Oranstine and fang-girl by herself.
But then, he knew that Buffy would not be able to face them by herself, he told her as much. She couldn’t help but wonder if he had stopped her from going out so that Buffy wouldn’t have to fight the demons alone. She decided to put that thought out of her mind.
It turned out that her shoulder had been badly sprained, nearly pulled out of socket, Giles said. He fixed her up with a sling for the arm, despite her protests that it wouldn’t go with any of her clothes. But she didn’t put up too much of a fight and let him take care of her.
When he was done, Faith was trying to find the words to thank him. She wasn’t really used to thanking people, was unable to recall the last time she actually told someone “thank you.” But it seemed like the right time to say it. Especially to him.
That was when Buffy walked into the library. She exchanged quick pleasantries with Willow and Xander and came straight into the office, as Faith knew she would.
“How you doing?” Buffy asked, standing at the doorway.
“Giles was able to put me back together again.” She indicated her new sling. “And he didn’t even need all the `Queen’s horses and all the Queen’s men.’ “
“And if I tell you to take it easy for the next few days, will I be ill-advised not to worry that you’ll do something to aggravate your injuries?” Giles asked.
Faith gave him an innocent look. “Do I look like somebody who wouldn’t listen to her Watcher?” Faith couldn’t help but put a little emphasis on `Watcher.’
“Do you really want me to answer that or should I just glare?” Giles said, with a minute trace of a smile.
Over his shoulder she saw Buffy smile knowingly at the remark, and gave Faith a look that told her she heard this before. It made her feel a little better.
“So we’re done?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Good.” Faith headed for the door but picked up Giles’ weapon bag with her free hand. “I’ll just put away the rest of the arsenal.”
“That’s all right. I’ll take care of that,” Giles assured her.
“No. It’s no problem.”
Buffy stepped further into the office to allow Faith to leave.
When Buffy was sure Faith would not be able to hear them, she met Giles’ eyes. Before she could say anything, however, he motioned her to sit down. She did so and he immediately started to clean the bruises on her face. After cleaning the cut on her brow, he used a butterfly Band-Aid to keep it closed.
“Buffy—”
“Giles—”
They said at the same time. They smiled at this. Giles let her go first.
“Giles, I’m sorry I blew up on you out there,” she said sheepishly. “And in front of everyone.”
“And I am sorry, too.” At the looked she gave him, he continued. “I should have known more about the details of Merrick’s death.”
“Please don’t be mad at Willow. She was just worried—”
“I know. And I’m not. She’s a good friend and she felt that she should tell you. And she was probably right in doing so.” He removed his glasses. “She usually is, about these things.”
Buffy was silent for a moment. Then in a more serious tone. “But I did mean everything I said out there.”
Giles met her eyes. “I know.”
“I just don’t think I could go through that again.” She rolled her eyes as tears started to form. “Look at me. It seems there’s a lot I can’t go through again. I was barely able to make it through them the first time.”
“But you did,” he told her. “You made it through. We were here to help you. Willow. Xander. Myself. We will always be there for you, Buffy. The same way you’ve always been there for us.”
“I lost Angel, but somehow I got him back. If I lose you, Giles, I can’t get you back.”
“Well, I’m not planning on going anywhere.”
They sat there in silence for a moment. Then he put his glasses back on. “We really should call it a night. It’s been a rather interesting twenty-four hours.” He glanced at his watch and frowned.
“What?” Buffy asked.
“It’s almost five minutes to the time the Council called me last night to inform me of Noriko’s activation as a Slayer.”
“She was only a Slayer for just one day.”
“No, Buffy,” Giles said, softly. “The young girl who was Noriko died when she was turned into a vampire. She was never a Slayer.”
“So when we killed the Slayer Vampire, her death won’t activate another Slayer?”
“I don’t believe so. As a vampire she was already dead.”
“Oh. But she still cared about her Watcher,” she told him. “Even as a vampire, her whole motivation was to keep her Watcher with her. That’s something we have in common.”
“They can both rest, now.”
She nodded. She stood and headed for the door as Giles put away his first aid materials. She stopped and looked back at him. “You’ll remember your promise, won’t you?”
He nodded. “I shall.” Giles prayed he would be able to keep that promise to her.
It really didn’t take much time putting the weapons away, considering that they had used most of them up earlier. She was just closing the book cage when she saw Buffy and Giles step out of his office. Willow and Xander had also finished putting the rest of the books back in place and came down the stairs to join them.
“We’ve made this place as presentable as we could,” Xander commented. “Ready for school on Monday. But I doubt anyone will notice since we’re probably the only ones who come in here.”
“Well, you all did an excellent job tonight,” Giles said, putting on yet another tweed jacket. Three jackets in one night. Faith wondered if that was a personal record for him. “And I for one am looking forward to a Sunday spent in bed.”
“Curled up around a good book?” Willow asked.
“I’m sure I’m bordering on blasphemy when I say, I would rather not see another book for the rest of the weekend.”
Buffy raised her eyebrows at the comment. “Boy, Giles. That didn’t hurt, did it? You definitely need to lie down if you’re starting to talk crazy like that.”
“Yes,” the Watcher said. “Anyway, can I give anyone a ride home?”
“B, you’re going to pick up your mom, right?”
“Yeah. And then there’s still that demon puddle I need to scrub off the floor of my house.”
“Mind if I come with you?”
“No. I could use the company.” She smiled. “And this way Mom can see that you look as bad as I do, this time.”
“Then I’ll take Xander and Willow home.” Giles looked at the other two teenagers.
“I still need to call Oz and tell him everything went all right with the slayage,” Willow said. “He doesn’t show it, but he really is an old worry-wart.”
“And be sure to tell him how you took down that vampire single-handedly,” Buffy told her, and the redhead beamed with pride. “I’ll see you Monday, Giles,” Buffy said.
“Monday,” he said. “Sleep well.”
“I’ll be right there, B,” Faith told her as the blonde Slayer started for the door. Buffy nodded.
Faith looked at Willow and Xander.
“Hey,” Xander said, to Giles. “Will and I will wait for you in the car.” They quickly followed Buffy through the double doors.
Faith watched the doors close, then turned to Giles.
“Yes, Faith?”
Faith tried to find the words she wanted to say. “Look, I know we don’t really know each other very well.” She hesitated. Giles waited, not rushing her, even though he must be anxious to get to sleep. “Uh, you and Buffy already have a history. God,” she whispered, she knew she wasn’t good at this, so she just came out and said what she was thinking.
“I’ve already lost one Watcher to the demons, and the other one, Mrs. Post … . Well, she was evil.”
“Faith,” Giles started to say, but she stopped him with a raised hand.
“I didn’t say anything before —B was pretty much on a roll— but I guess what I’m trying to say is, I would really feel bad if something were to happen to you.” She fell silent, letting her words sink in.
Giles said, “I feel the same way. I mean if something were to happen to you. However, I will do my best not to let you down, Faith.”
Faith nodded. “Okay. Then … I’ll see you later.”
“Of course,” he smiled at her.
Faith nodded again and headed for the doors. Giles stayed behind and pulled his keys from his pocket to lock his office door. Just as Faith was about to push through the doors, she turned to look back at him.
“Giles?”
“Yes?”
“When the Watcher’s Council called, to tell you about the new Slayer,” she paused. “Was Buffy with you?”
“No. I was here alone.”
“So, you didn’t know which one of us was dead?”
“It terrified me,” he admitted. But Faith’s questions were starting to concern him and he wondered where she was going with them. “Why do you ask?”
Faith met his gaze and didn’t flinch away. “Who did you try to call first?”
She saw the confusion on his face then watched the realization settle in his expression. He was about to reply, but Faith stopped him. She already had her answer.
“Never mind.” She tried to smile. “It doesn’t matter.”
She pushed through the double doors and let them swing behind her.
End of A Tale of Slayers
Began: January 20, 99 — completed: June 9, 99
AFTERWORD
Whewwwww!!!!!!! Finished at last! First of all, if you’re reading this, then you finished the entire story unless you’re just one of those people who skip all the way to the end to spoil the story. I want to thank you for reading my very first fan-fic. I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Oh, if you don’t want to read this section I perfectly understand, it’s just that I spent five months writing this story I just feel the need to talk about it a little bit.
But first, propers. I like to thank the archive’s AleXander whose transcripts proved invaluable to this story. It also saved me from having to dig out episodes from my own video library. And to Anya for “Misery Loves Company.” It just happens to be the very first fan-fic, Buffy or otherwise, that I read. And of course to all the Buffy fan-fic writers, who this story is dedicated to, for the inspiration to actually finish my first original story.
About “A Tale of Slayers”… .
In simple terms this is a story about the bond between the Slayer and her Watcher. The title comes from Dickens’ book “A Tale of Two Cities” which I am now ashamed to admit I have never read. I removed the “Two” because, as you know, there are three Slayers in this story, but I still need to give Dickens his due. For the story itself, I was inspired ripped it off by “Lethal Weapon 4” the fight scene at the end with Danny Glover and Mel Gibson against Jet Li, at the time the coolest fight in movies. But with three Slayers!!!! Oh, and it’s a total coincidence that both fights take place at the docks, I had originally thought it would take place on the beach, but I had to change that when Buffy first fought the Slayer Vampire on the beach. The rest of the story took shape with having to figure out how to make a third Slayer.
Another important reason for me to write this story was that at the time there were no fanfics I could find where Faith was spotlighted. By the time this story makes the archive I’m sure there will be plenty of stories with our favorite bad girl. And, as stated before the prologue, I started writing this story before Faith turned evil, but I continued to love her even after she turned evil. Don’t misunderstand, I am and always will be a Buffy’s man but I love writing for Faith.
Endings….. Endings are very important to me. Sometimes an ending can make or break a story for me. When I say “ending” I mean the last few words spoken by a character, or just the last paragraph. By the time I finished writing the prologue, I already knew how this story was going to end. That last exchange between Faith and Giles, that never changed. And it also works with her eventual fall to the dark side. Not that I’m trying to ride on Joss’s coat tails there, the catalyst for Faith’s fall will always be her killing the deputy mayor, but maybe this will provide a little more background character for her.
Action….. Oh, yeah. What’s a Buffy story without a little action. Now if someone reads this and goes away thinking it was a cool action story, cool!!!! That’s a compliment. But no amount of action would mean anything to me if there isn’t a story there, a reason to feel for the characters, to increase the tension of the action. I was just starting on chapter fifteen and feeling good about my fight scenes and especially my Slayer fight scenes, when “Graduation Day part 1” comes along and Joss puts me in my place and shows me how it’s done. And it didn’t help my confidence that two days later I saw “The Phantom Menace” and saw the BEST fight scene in a long time!
Please!!! Feel free to give me some feedback. Comments, thoughts, even if you really didn’t like it. No flames. A dull candle burn, maybe.
And, once again, thank you for reading it. And I apologize for my ego-trip.
I think I’m gonna go read a “A Tale of Two Cities” before I start on my next fic.
Peace.