Fanfiction: A Tale Of Slayers : Part 9-15
CHAPTER TWELVE
Buffy, Faith, and Xander walked through the library doors and found Willow and Giles conferring with each other on the upper level. Buffy was relieved when she saw that they were okay. She had feared that they would be attacked while she and Faith had been away. Once they had gotten her mother to a motel, she had called Giles to let them know everything went, more or less, according to plan, and was happy to hear his and Willow’s research had not been interrupted by any surprise visitors. And it turned out the Tarakans didn’t have the school under surveillance after all. The Slayers had made a quick sweep of the campus just to verify that there were no demons lurking in the bushes or connecting buildings.
As they passed the check-out counter Angel appeared in the office doorway.
“Angel,” Buffy said, feeling a smile on her face. She went to him and hugged him.
“Are you guys all right?” he asked.
“Yeah, we’re fine.”
“Giles told me about your plan. Did you run into any trouble?”
“Scratch two more Taraka uglies,” Xander chimed in.
“You got your mother out of there?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. Holed up in a motel outside of town. She should be safe for a while.”
“By then, this should all be over,” Faith spoke up.
“Let’s hope so,” Xander added.
Buffy pulled away from Angel and he looked at her closely. “You’re sure you’re all right?” There was concern in his voice.
“Yes,” she said, firmly but she was still smiling. “I caught a few bumps but with Mom safe, I feel much better, now.”
Willow and Giles were coming down the steps and heading towards them.
“Find anything new?” she asked them.
“Some,” Giles said, looking at her. “Are you all right?”
“Yes,” Buffy said, with a sigh. “And I wish everyone would stop asking me that. I’m good.”
“Yeah,” Faith said. “She bagged both the demons herself.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you, though.”
“Either way, they’re on your score card.”
“I don’t keep track of that sort of thing.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll do it for you,” Faith said with a smile.
Buffy gave her a “what am I gonna do with you?” expression, then turned to Giles and Willow. “So, what did you find?”
“Oh, yes,” Giles began. He had removed his tweed jacket hours ago and Buffy noticed his haggard appearance for the first time. Out of all of them, he was the only one who still had not gotten any sleep. And after the night they just went through, she wasn’t sure just how much longer her Watcher could go on like this. She made a mental note to send him to his office for a nap as soon as he made his report. She listened as he continued.
“We’ve found several volumes with chronicles of a demon that was undoubtedly Oranstine. Some of them, however, are conflicting.”
“How do they conflict?” Buffy asked.
“Well, some of Oranstine’s exploits occur very close in the same time frame,” Willow said.
“Which would suggest that there are more shapeshifting demons than just Oranstine,” Giles finished.
“Great, that’s just what the world needs,” Xander said. “More demons who can disguise themselves to be anything.”
“Relax, Xander,” Buffy said. “It’s not really all that different from other demons who could take on a human form. Remember Marc in the talent show our sophomore year?”
“Yeah, but he only had one disguise,” Xander countered.
“Ooo,” Faith said. “I haven’t heard this one before. What happened?”
“Marc turned out to be a demon that needed a few human organs to keep his human form for another seven years,” Willow began. “And when we finally found out who it was all the demon needed was a brain. Marc was about to slice the top of Giles’ head off with a guillotine; that was his act for the talent show, when Buffy and—”
“Uh, Willow,” Buffy said.
“What? Oh. Sorry.” She looked at Faith. “I’ll tell you the rest later.”
“Can’t wait.”
“So, Oranstine…” Xander prompted.
“Oh,” Giles continued. “We found out that Oranstine’s power center appears to be a tattoo, the exact design on Faith’s arm.” The brunette Slayer unzipped her sweat shirt and slipped out of the left sleeve, exposing the tattoo. “Reports are a bit sketchy, but it seems to be located on the demon’s chest. It’s not known where it got the tattoo nor where the power behind the tattoo is derived from, but by casting it on others, it can share a part of its power, its essence, so to speak.”
“You mean a part of that demon is in me?” Faith demanded.
“Some of its power, yes,” Giles said.
“How do we get rid of it?” Buffy could tell Faith was fighting to keep the worry from her voice.
“From what we found,” Giles hesitated. “Once the tattoo has been placed, it can never be removed.” Giles held up his hand when he saw that Faith was about to speak. “But my guess is that if Oranstine were to die, then the power behind the tattoo would negate itself.”
“But you’re not sure?” Buffy asked.
“I’m afraid I haven’t found anything to confirm that hypothesis.”
“Hey, it works for me.” Faith said. “I’d be willing to test out that theory. Even if it won’t come off when I kill it, at least it won’t have any power.”
“Perhaps,” Giles said. He looked at his younger Slayer with concern. “But then Oranstine’s death may take you with it.”
Faith and the others didn’t say anything for several seconds. She glanced at them and saw they were all looking at her. Finally, she shrugged. “Hey, no biggie. Slayers like to live dangerously, right, B?”
Buffy managed to give her a supporting grin. “Yeah. I’m sure nothing will happen when we take Oran out. And besides, Willow’s protection spell blocks out her power over you.”
“The spell may neutralize the demon’s hold on Faith, but it cannot remove it,” Giles said. “With Oranstine dead, there’s no telling what may happen.”
“And how do we know that this thing is actually working?” Faith held up the pouch hanging from her neck.
“Well, the magic is in place,” Willow said. “That much I’m sure of, but there is a way to test it.” She glanced at Giles.
The Watcher removed his glasses. “Willow and I also believe we’ve discovered why this Slayer Vampire appears to be impervious. The tattoo which lends Oranstine’s influence also binds the bearer of its mark to the demon itself. As long as Oranstine is alive, no one with its mark can be killed.”
Silence fell as the words sank in. Buffy regarded her fellow Slayer. Faith had only been a Slayer for just over half a year, since just before last summer, being activated at the moment Kendra was killed, she reflected. Even though the time was considered short, she did go through a lot during that period. Most notable being the loss of her first Watcher at the hands of the master vampire Kakistos, causing her to flee Boston to Sunnydale, seeking Buffy’s help. That much the two Slayers had in common, and that their second Watcher happened to be the same person. But Buffy could see very little of herself in this new Slayer. Where as Buffy tried to deny her calling as the Slayer; not just when Merrick had first approached her, but also when she met Giles here in this very library on her first day of school, Faith committed herself —no, Buffy amended— practically threw herself into her role as the Slayer. She had a zeal that Buffy never had, which, she was slightly embarrassed to admit, made her a bit jealous at the time.
She recalled how protective of her title she had been when Kendra had come along claiming to be the Slayer. But she had quickly come to accept the concept of two Slayers, thinking it would be sort of nice to have somebody cover for her while she could take some time off, as Giles had suggested when they had the discussion of her going to college. On days like this, college was looking a lot better. Wait until Faith has had about a hundred more days like this, she thought. But then, she had to survive today. They both had to. But so far Faith appeared to be holding up pretty well.
Buffy finally broke the silence. “You said there was a way to test it?”
“Yes.” Willow looked uncertain. “See, if Faith is indestructible, uh, then she should be able to…”
“I get it,” Faith said. She took the sweat shirt off and pulled out a stake from the back of her waistband. Even though it had been unlikely they would be facing vampires at Buffy’s house, during the day, she wouldn’t want to be caught without one.
Realizing what she was going to do, Buffy said, “Wait!”
But Faith was already putting the sharp wooden point against her open palm and made a quick slash across her skin. She hardly winced as blood welled up and started to drip onto the floor.
“Oh, dear,” Giles whispered. But nobody said anything else as they stood and watched the blood dripping from her hand.
Faith looked down at the pouch resting on her chest. She grabbed it with her other hand and pulled it over her head. Willow reached out and took it from her. As soon as the pouch left her hand, Faith’s cut suddenly stopped bleeding and they all stood in awe as it began to mend itself. After almost a minute the wound was completely gone, as if never there. She wiped the blood away with her other hand and there wasn’t even a faint scar left. She looked at the knuckles of her hand and remembered how badly she had scraped them last night, punching the rock surface of the wall. She hadn’t noticed how fast they had healed. And it also explained why she had not drowned during her underwater escape from the caves.
She just looked at her hand for a long moment before closing it into a fist. She said, “I don’t know whether to think this is very cool or to be more worried.”
“Being indestructible can have its advantages,” Xander spoke up.
“But not without a cost,” Angel said. “Without the protection spell you cannot be killed, but then you’ll be at Oran’s mercy.”
“Not a very fair trade,” Buffy said.
“Here Faith.” Willow held the pouch out to the Slayer. Faith eyed it for a few seconds then accepted it and hung it around her neck once more.
Faith was looking a bit pale to Buffy. A total contrast to the headstrong Slayer she resembled just a couple of minutes ago. But the blonde Slayer was sure that Faith would be able to hold herself together. She was very tough, yet she was still dealing with the fact that she had died last night. Or maybe she wasn’t dealing with it, she thought, remembering how Faith was insisting that Oranstine had faked her death to activate the Slayer Vampire. Maybe she denied the fact that she had died because she did not want to face that horrible truth. Heaven knew, as did everyone else in this library, that Buffy had not easily come to terms with her own brief death, at the hands of the Master. Not until she had turned his remaining bones to dust with a sledgehammer. And now Faith was faced with the possibility of dying with Oranstine.
How things had suddenly switched, Buffy thought. Before they had left the library to go get her mom, Giles had been adamant with Faith that she needed to watch over Buffy, make sure no further harm came to her. The older Slayer had declared that she wasn’t a baby, but her Watcher would hear none of her protests and even had Faith promise that nothing would happen to Buffy.
“I’ll play baby-sitter,” the brunette had replied with a grin, causing Buffy to glare at her.
And then a similar scene had played out in her Mom’s motel room. Joyce had taken Faith aside to talk to her as Buffy and Xander had returned to the Citroen. When she had an idea, she had been on her way back to the room to tell them about it, when her mother’s voice made her stop just outside the door where she listened to the conversation.
“Don’t worry Mrs. S, Buffy’s tough,” Faith was saying. “She can handle this.”
“But in her condition,” her mother replied. “She’s just not as strong as you are, right now. It just has me worried.”
“Trust me,” Faith said. “By the time the sun goes down, she’ll be almost good as new, and ready to kick major as— uh, demon butt. Back at the house, those two guys were really tough and we took care of them like that.”
Buffy heard Faith snap her fingers. She was leaning against the wall as she listened, her expression solemn. A moment of silence followed, then Joyce Summers spoke again.
“Can you look after her for me, Faith?”
After a brief pause, Faith replied, in a bravado tone, “Hey, no problem. I’ll play baby-sitter.”
Buffy rolled her eyes at that. Then, gathering a false front of her own, she walked into the room saying, “Hey, I just had an idea.” The other two women looked at her, and she noticed her mother hiding her worried expression, but Buffy pretended not to notice. “Mom, can we borrow the jeep?”
“The jeep?” she asked. “To go out slaying?”
“Yeah. I mean, no. We’re not going to slay anything with the jeep. The car will be fine, we’ll make sure it stays out of any fights.”
“Buffy,” Joyce said. “You remember what happened last time when I let you borrow the car. And that time I was under the influence of a curse.”
“A curse? How did that happen?” Faith asked.
“Oh, that’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later,” Buffy said.
“I ate cursed candy,” Joyce told Faith.
Buffy let her shoulders drop. “Apparently not that long.” She took a deep breath. “So how `bout it, Mom? It would really help us out.”
“Okay.” Joyce picked up her purse from the bed and took her keys out. Buffy took a step forward, but her mother turned to Faith. “Do you know how to drive, Faith?”
“I’ve had occasion to drive a few cars,” she said, giving Buffy a knowing look.
“So you have a license?”
Faith said, truthfully, “I don’t have a California license.”
Her mother decided not to press the issue and handed the brunette her keys. Buffy mumbled, “Oh, really feeling the confidence in this room, it’s almost embarrassing.”
“Buffy,” her mother said, approaching her. “I just don’t think you should be driving in your condition, that’s all.”
“`My condition.’ Mom, I’m not pregnant! And pregnant women do drive.”
“You know what I mean. You’re still weak.”
“I was strong enough to kill two demons an hour ago,” she commented.
“Stop,” her mother said, in a serious tone. “I just want you to be careful, all right?”
Buffy looked at her mom. “I know. And I will be. I promise.”
Joyce hugged her and held her tightly for a long time. This time, Buffy hardly felt any pain. When she pulled away, she saw faint hints of tears in her eyes.
“We better go,” Faith said, breaking the silence.
“Yeah, I better go with Xander. He shouldn’t be without a Slayer escort.” She looked at her mother.
Joyce nodded to her daughter that she was all right and started to follow Faith out of the room. “Faith?” she said.
The brunette looked at her and Buffy saw them share a silent communication, which she pretended not to know what it was about. “I will,” Faith said. “Don’t worry.”
“Be careful,” she said again.
“We will,” Buffy said, and the two Slayers left.
Now, back at the library, Buffy felt like she was the one that needed to look after Faith. Even though there was no way she could have beaten her in an arm-wrestling match just now.
“Don’t worry, Faith,” she finally said. “We’ll figure something out.”
Faith looked at her. There was rage suddenly in her eyes. “Oh, I’m not worried. I’m gonna kill that demon bitch myself.” She grabbed her sweat shirt from the counter, where she had put it, and slipped it on as she crossed over to the book cage, heading straight for the weapons cabinet. Everyone watched the younger Slayer with concern, even Angel.
Buffy looked to Giles. Her Watcher took his cue and followed the brunette. “Faith. Now, we must not lose our heads here. We need to maintain our focus.”
Faith had pulled out another battle ax, this one not as big as Lagos’ ax, but it would do for her. Then she dove in for more weapons. “Yeah, while you all are staying focused, I’m gonna go out there and kill me a demon, and hopefully I’ll find our fellow Slayer with her.”
“Faith,” Giles said, firmly. “You cannot go out there alone. We need to stay together on this. Our only hope is to combine our forces against these odds.” But the Slayer was not paying him any attention as she pulled out a crossbow, slinging it over her shoulder. “Faith. I’m not going to let you go out there by yourself, it’s suicide.”
She looked at him. “Back off, Giles. You can’t stop me.” She returned her attention back to the weapons.
Giles looked over his shoulder to the others, who watched silently. Buffy started to walk forward, but he raised his hand to stop her. She gave him a questioning look and he gave her a reassuring nod. She rejoined the others.
He turned to his younger Slayer again. When he spoke, his voice was soft and without authority. “Faith, I know exactly how you feel.”
The brunette scoffed at him, pulling out a wicked looking machete. Buffy felt the urge to slap her for that, as she began to realize where Giles was going with this. But she told herself that Faith was not exactly thinking clearly right now. Hell, she thought, Faith usually didn’t act rationally most of the time.
“Unless you feel like killing that demon as much as I do, then there’s no way you can know what I’m feeling!”
Faith slammed the cabinet shut again and turned to leave the cage. She stopped when she saw Giles rolling up the sleeve of his left arm. Her determination to leave was still there, but she was curious. Giles had the sleeve rolled up above his elbow and presented the inside of his arm to the Slayer. Buffy knew Faith was looking at the weird tattoo the Watcher had near the inside of his elbow.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“This is the Mark of Eyghon,” he said, meeting her eyes. “Eyghon is my demon.”
Faith looked at him for a long moment. Then she asked, “Is this demon still around?”
“No. It’s gone, I assure you. But I never would have made it through without the help of some good friends.” He glanced over his shoulder once more at the group by the counter. His attention on Faith again, he said, “I would like to tell you about it.”
Faith didn’t say anything for a moment. Giles whispered, “We can’t do this without you, Faith.”
Faith’s eyes wandered around the library, then she looked at the weapons she was holding. Silently, she set them down. Giles took the crossbow and she slipped out of the sling.
“We can talk in my office.”
She still said nothing as she walked with him across the library. Giles handed the crossbow to Buffy when they reached the group, Faith stepping inside the office. “The rest of you continue…”
“Got it,” she said. “Oranstine, tattoo, Slayer Vampire.”
“Yes. And Willow, get on the computer and check the hospital and the police station. Buffy was rather rough with the two chaps at Faith’s motel last night, perhaps they were unable to avoid being taken into custody.”
“If they’re at the police station, then I wasn’t rough enough with them,” the blonde Slayer commented.
“Sure,” Willow said. “But it might be best to try the newspaper first, considering that hacking into the police and hospital databases is kinda illegal.”
“Oh, yes, quite right. Let’s do try to be within the law. To start with, anyway.” With that he stepped into his office and closed the door behind him.
But they all just stood there for a moment, not moving to their tasks.
“Wow,” Buffy said, shaking her head.
“What?” Angel asked.
“Giles often said I still surprise him every once in a while.” She glanced at the closed door and smiled. “But he can still surprise me, too.”