rating: pg 13
Disclaimer: I hold no legal rights to Faith or any other characters from the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Distribution: Anyone with permission for BS&D that wants this can have it, anyone with permission for BoF1 may have this.
note: somewhat AU season 3.
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~Part: 1~
Faith had this feeling of cold unsteadiness in her gut, something not exactly fear, not exactly disappointment, but containing elements of both. She was running away... something that went against her training and half of her instincts. But she knew that Kakistos was after her. Knew that she was pursuing in an effort to catch up with her, to 'feed on the marrow of her bones' which was a really gruesome image.
He'd killed her watcher, killed the only person that she'd ever been able to count on in her life. He'd crushed Joseph's head like a grape, a casual cruelty that had meant little to the ancient vampire. She had nobody to help her, and only a single chance to get out of this alive. She had to get to Sunnydale, find this 'Buffy Summers' and hope that with two Slayers working together, they could kill Kakistos. Maybe it was a feeble, unrealistic hope, but it was the one thing that kept her going.
She'd cut south, going through the Virginias and down briefly into Alabama, hitting the local demonic populations as hard as she could on her way through. Realistically, there was a good chance that her slaying was what enabled Kakistos to follow her so easily. But what else was she to do? Give up everything that made her matter and run away because someone she'd cared about was dead? Not hardly, she was a Slayer, for God's sake.
The frantic pace of her flight was starting to take a toll on her, especially since she wasn't exactly traveling in style. Hitching rides on trains or hidden in the cargo of semi trucks that seemed to be headed more or less in the right direction... It wasn't particularly efficient, or restful. But the alternatives were worse, and she could only see two: either Kakistos caught her and she died, or something killed her on patrol, which would thwart Kakistos but still leave her dead. She wasn't seeing anything better than get to Sunnydale and hope for help.
One ambitious Master vampire in Alabama had tried to capture her, holding her in a pit with alligators while he tried to negotiate something with somebody over a telephone. She'd pictured that suit wearing second for Kakistos, and had managed to kill the alligators and minions, making her way outside where she threw some used car oil onto the building, setting it on fire to serve as a distraction while she ran. She didn't know if the Master vampire had made it out or not, but she'd gotten away, she'd kept moving.
She just about wept from relief when she saw the entering California sign, feeling as if the chance for help was almost close enough to touch. She was running low on everything, exhaustion making her muscles feel slow and heavy, turning her tendons to hot wires under her skin. Her eyes itched and blurred from a desperate need for sleep. At the very least, a Slayer and a Watcher would be someone who might understand why this had her so shaken.
Granted, there was a part of her that almost felt proud of her traveling slaying, but... then she always came back to the reason why she'd left, why she'd crossed the country in two weeks, slaying several hundred vampires and demons on her way through. There was also the fact that she wasn't slaying them because she was hunting exactly, but because she'd go out to stretch the travel kinks from her limbs and there would be demons or vampires. She couldn't afford for them to be trying to sell word of her location. They had to die so that she might live.
It was a few hours later when the truck pulled to a stop at a gas station, the Slayer hidden under the tarps that stretched over a trio of huge motors for some unknown machinery. Faith could feel the air in this pace, a burning, itching, sense of wrongness. This had to be Sunnydale, home of the Hellmouth. She picked up the backpack with her clothing, and the duffel bag full of weapons, and carefully slipped down from the back of the truck. All she had to do now was find a place to stay, and find the other Slayer. She would also need a chance to make some more wooden stakes, she was running low.
After walking a while, she ended up in front of a run-down looking small yellow motel. A few words with the night clerk got her the key to a room for the week, and the bored comment that there was a laundry room at the end of the building. Most likely, this was the sort of place inhabited by migrant workers, runaways, and used for cheap affairs. It was a dump, but it had a bed. She collapsed into it gratefully, a sword in hand and still mostly dressed, pulling the blankets over her, even the extra one from the closet, feeling cold from her travels and fear. Nothing short of someone attacking her room would make her stir, and as exhausted as she was, even that might be debatable. She was asleep within five minutes of closing the door to the room.
Had she the energy for prayer, she would have asked God not to let her dream tonight, having relived that last, horrible night in Boston every time she'd tried to catch a moment's sleep over the past two weeks. It was keeping things raw and fresh in her mind, a sense of horror and loss, and an agonizing grief. Joseph Stanton was dead, her Watcher was gone... and she had nobody to count on.
~Part: 2~
Eventually, even the most exhausted slumber will end, and Faith's was no exception. She found herself waking up, her body slightly aching with the odd sort of stiffness that comes from too much sleep, and her eyes feeling almost gummy. She stretched, delighting in the fact that she was in a real bed, in a room, not curled on a crate in a train, or hidden in a gap among some strange cargo. The shower was cramped, and the water pressure was fairly wear, but it felt wonderful to her. She could be clean again... wash away her travels and the ground in fear and dust of slain vampires, wash away her panic... or at least, the outward signs of her troubles. By the time she'd finished her shower and dressed, it was four in the afternoon.
She spent a few hours running most of her clothing through the small and obviously old washer and dryer at the motel, wanting to take advantage of the time to try to get her things clean while she could. They'd been fought in, traveled across the country in trains and the back of trucks, and catching a bit of food or rest in various truck and bus stops across the country, and had acquired a distinct and pungent aroma while traveling. To put it bluntly, her cloths stank, and needed laundered badly, before they got up and started slaying without her. While they were washing, she pulled up the Sunnydale phone book in the drawer, trying to figure out if any of the names or listings might be a place to start looking for the Slayer Buffy or her Watcher. It would have been easier if Joseph had mentioned the name of the other Watcher, but he hadn't had the chance before... well, he hadn't.
By the time her clothing was finished, now smelling like Mountain Fresh detergent instead of... well, the way it had before, she ahd concluded that the phone book was not going to help her find the Watcher or the other Slayer. She would have to do something else. Hmm... if she were trying to find a Slayer, how would she start? Go where the vampires would be, naturally. She would have to check if any of the local clubs or shops looked like prime hunting areas, and failing that, try a sweep of the cemetery regions. She should get a lead somewhere, or at least work off a bit of frustration if she couldn't.
Eventually, her meanderings brought her to a small club. It wasn't particularly big, or impressive compared to some that she'd seen, but it was most likely the best that she'd get in this place. Most likely a prime hunting area for some of the vamps. A vamp could come in here, pick up a 'date' walk them away, and have a nice, tasty treat. Inside, there was music, smoke, and the warmth of dozens of people crowded into a single place. She could feel a vampire's presence in here somewhere, but couldn't get anything specific. Good thing she was dressed to look not so professional. In the tight dark jeans and this little sleeveless top with the cutout and dangling beads, she just looked like a normal girl out looking for an evening of fun. Most vamps wouldn't suspect a thing in this sort of crowd, which meant she could try to find the vamp.
She danced, feeling her muscles warming and relaxing as she moved to the music. A lot of guys came near, dancing near her for a while, flirting, obviously hoping that her dancing and clothing was a sign that she was an easy lay, hoping to score tonight. Too bad, so sad, she wasn't quite that easy, but it made a great way of distracting the vamps in a fight.
"Dance with me?" The voice came from behind her, setting off warning signals inside. It seemed just a bit too rolling, to smooth.
She turned, smiling at the speaker, a fairly cute guy in clothing that could have been straight from... well, not recently. He had dark hair and pale skin, and a hard gleam in his eye. Definitely a vampire. "I'd love to dance."
Her smile was more from finally finding the vampire than any joy at having a dance partner. Most likely, he'd even ask her to 'slip out the back' with him, giving the perfect opportunity to stake him. Yeah, the evening was going pretty well.
He was predictable enough, wandering hands, eyeing her like a particularly appealing snack. Eventually, he leaned down, his voice tickling her ear. "Want to go somewhere more private?"
She smiled, and they made their way out the back of the club, ending up in an alley. Faith frowned just a bit as she realized that she'd lost all but one stake, the one tucked into her boot. How could she get that out without him catching on? She heard a growl, and turned just in time for the vampire's fist to connect to her cheekbone, the blow sending her back into the wall.
Faith scowled at him, her eyes going hard and angry. "I can't stand guys who hit women." She then proceeded to knock him around, raining kicks and punches on the vampire, feeling the sort of spongy impact that said he'd have bruises tomorrow. If he even had a tomorrow.
She was starting to think that there wasn't anything to kill this guy with when she hears the shuffling of feet at the end of the alley. A quick glance showed a pair of guys dressed more for comfort than fashion, and an astonished girl whose clothing shrieked money, trend-setter, and aspiring class. The darker haired guy had a wooden stake loosely held in one hand.
Faith grabbed the stake, stabbing the vampire with it, smiling as he fell to dust. Handing it back to the now gaping boy, she smirked just a bit. "I'm Faith, the Vampire Slayer."
~Part: 3~
Faith had watched with a little bit of amusement as they had just stared at her. The girl seemed so shaken, as if everything was more trying to her. Faith really didn't have a lot of leeway to forgive the girl, she reminded her unpleasantly of people she'd been glad to leave behind. There were several glances though, as if the guys were communicating in some weird code.
After a few moments of exchanging glances, the larger guy, not bad looking in a sort of goofy way, gave a small grin. When he spoke, his tone was almost joking, but not quite. "We can show you over to Giles' place. He's our fearless Watcher, although he's out of town right now. We tend to gather there to plan things. We can fill you in on all the gory and ugly details of Sunnydale."
Maybe there was hope. Maybe she could find allies here after all. As they went towards the place of this Giles, apparently the local Watcher and a librarian at their high school, the stories mentioned Buffy the Slayer a lot, and someone else, a girl named Willow. The fashion conscious girl was Cordelia, and the Slayer was named Buffy... Her instincts were telling her that there was more to the story of this Willow person, and something about the disappearance of Buffy... and she really hoped that the two weren't connected. "So, what happened to this Willow that you mentioned? Did she die or bail from town or what?"
"We don't hang with her anymore." The quiet one, Oz gave a short answer, tinged with something... sorrow? Dismay? Whatever it was, it was pretty clear to her that he was a guy of few words, and had some sort of issue about the vanishing of Willow in their lives.
"She's sleeping with the enemy. Willow's shacking up with this evil, nasty, bleached blond vampire called Spike. He's trouble, and bad. She used to be so nice, quiet and sweet, didn't have anything bad to say about anyone... then Spike happened. Evil vampire...." Xander's voice carried anger and bitterness. It was as if everything wrong in the town was because of this Spike, and maybe about Willow... or maybe this thing with Willow was one of the 'bad things' Spike had caused?
Faith nodded, knowing that to the others it would look as if she was entirely accepting of the opinions that the boys were offering. Something wasn't right with that. Vampires didn't normally keep mortal lovers. There had to be a great big piece of the story that she was missing?
"What happened to the Slayer that was here before? Buffy?" She had to know. If the Slayer was gone, and the Watcher was gone, she would have no advantage over Kakistos when he arrived here. He would arrive, she knew that as surely as she could feel that this place was evil. She needed allies, that was the whole point in coming here to this horrible place.
Faith listened as the trio spun out a story of a pretty girl, faced with a terrible destiny. Buffy had faced danger, and fallen in love with a vampire, called Angel, and according to Cordelia, this vampire had been amazingly hot. Something had happened, Buffy and Angel had sex, Angel went evil, then there was a bit of confusion, Willow had apparently got involved with that Spike person, and then Buffy was gone.
If that was the whole story, Faith was the tooth fairy. Actually, she had never found any evidence to suggest that there was such a creature as a tooth fairy, but still. There had to be more to the story. Vanishing Slayers and friends suddenly turning... this had all the earmarks of a bad romance novel... She couldn't quite keep herself from a disgusted murmur. "I'm the tooth fairy if this is everything."
More to the point, she needed a new plan, since she wouldn't be able to count on having the other Slayer help her against Kakistos. One Slayer and one Watcher would not do, she had learned that in Georgia.
What was a Slayer to do?
~Part: 4~
Faith ended up spending some of her time in the afternoons exploring the town, occasionally with one of the teens, which she'd learned called themselves 'the Scooby Gang'. They would tell her some about the town, and about some of the things that they'd experienced. Tales of demons, and vampires, and magic spells. Sometimes, she'd hear about the same thing from a second person, and the story might sound entirely different. It was quite the interesting experience.
She'd do a patrol after what she was starting to think of as 'story time'. There was definitely a lot of vampires and demons around... apparently the whole 'lure of the hellmouth' wasn't just a story. But there was something weird, a section of town where everything seemed... quiet. Not the quiet of no vamps, but the quiet of no obvious activity. It didn't fit the rest of the town, and it gave her all sorts of questions.
Faith made a note to herself to not only pay extra attention, try to figure out where the boundaries to this quiet zone fell, but see if she could figure out why. If the Watcher came back, maybe he would know something. At the very least, he should have a different take on some of the Sunnydale adventures. Maybe he could fill in a few gaps.
There was definitely a lot going on here, demons and vampires all over. But... for some reason, there was a place, this old sort of run down mansion on Crawford Street that all the nasties seemed to avoid. They wouldn't go inside, like the place just creeped them out entirely. So, she'd gone to check it out. There had been some seriously weird feelings from that place, something that made her hear echoes of a woman screaming, some sort of roaring noise, the crackle of flames... metal clanging like a swordfight. This feeling of twisting, like some sort of sudden roller coaster, expect that she wasn't moving. And it made her skin crawl... something big and dark and very bad had happened in there. Anything bad enough to scare the vamps and demons after the fact had to have been really bad. She was almost afraid to find out, bus nobody seemed to know.
Eventually, maybe two weeks after she'd got into Sunnydale, her patrols well established, things had fallen into something like a pattern. She'd even been taking the wallets of the vamps before dusting them, the better to pay her rent at that horrible motel. She'd found a map of Sunnydale, highlighting the cemeteries and other high traffic zones for vamps and demons, and marked out that quiet area. There wasn't a clear physical or mystical delineation, but it was easy enough to figure out the boundaries. All she needed to do now was figure out what the boundaries were for, who's territory was that?
She was making a sweep through a park, one of the quiet ones out of the way, isolated enough that nobody would hear things, nobody investigate. She almost continued on towards the cemetery, except... there was this feeling, like a vibration in her bones. It was almost like the feeling of a vampire, but just a bit different, not quite so hostile feeling, but not weak. It was weird, and it seemed to be coming from... that way. Carefully, she followed the feeling, which seemed to be coming from a slender woman beside the fountain, a person dressed in leather pants and a jacket, with red hair falling half way down her back. Maybe this was the mysterious Willow? Whoever she was, there was something about her that was... off.
Red looked up, her head slightly tilted, and then turned towards her, looking right at Faith. She didn't look like she was preparing to attack, but she definitely looked wary. The feeling of power was stronger here, and Faith had a sudden, wild idea. If she couldn't get help from the Slayer here, maybe... maybe she could get help from the local scary population? At least to get rid of Kakistos.
Might as well go for it. After all, she was running low on options. "I'm Faith, the Vampire Slayer. You must be Willow. I've heard a few things about you."
"What have you heard? And why did it lead you to stalking me in the park?" Red was looking at her, her expression caught between suspicion and curiosity, but carrying no obvious threat.
"Sorry about the stalking, it's a habit I've got into. As for what was said, more like what wasn't said. I'm pretty sure I only got part of the story." Red at least seemed willing to listen, which was a good sign. Maybe this crazy plan would work...
There was a definite trace of humor in her voice when Red spoke again. "So... you want details before getting stake-happy? Or is it just a really slow night and you're bored?" Willow was curious, and thoughtful. This Slayer was definitely comfortable with the hunting part of her destiny. She obviously had a reason why she wasn't attacking. Was it merely out of curiosity, or was there something else? "If you want to talk, there are a couple tables over there, we can maybe... sit down and chat."
Well, that would be a start, Faith decided. She still didn't trust Willow, even if she hadn't shown any signs of attacking her. She kept glancing over, noticing the way the red head moved, like a hunter, sleek, smooth, graceful. The ended up perched on the tops of two tables, facing each other, but with definite personal space.
Taking a breath and hoping for the best, Faith began to explain her tone trying for neutral. "It's been an interesting patrol. There's a part of town that looks like prime vamp turf, likely buildings for lairs, plenty of dark allies, all that, but I didn't run into a single hunting vamp. Actually, I felt like I was being watched, and didn't run into any hostile demons either. There were plenty of both in the rest of town to make me think that's an odd thing. Also, I got some info on Sunnyhell from some guys who said they helped B, but there were some big gaps there, y'know? I figured since the gaps were about you, you could fill me in on them."
"hmmm I can fill in a few of the blanks for you, I suppose. Let's see..." Willow was looking thoughtful, as if she was trying to decided how safe Faith would be. After a few seconds, she continued. "once upon a time, there was a tribe of gypsies that decided to give a vampire a soul. However, for some stupid reason, they put a clause on their spell: if he ever had a moment of pure happiness, with no guilt or misery over his past, the soul would go away. Buffy and Angel got... involved, they... got really involved one night, and he lost his soul. Instead of Angel who was hopelessly devoted to Buffy, there was Angelus, who couldn't stand her."
"Angelus! I've read a bit on him in the watcher books. He's dangerous... what happened after that?" Faith suddenly found herself much more interested.
"Angelus decided that instead of tormenting the Slayer that the soul had loved..." Willow paused, licking her lips before continuing her story. "Instead of tormenting Buffy, Angelus had something else in mind. He wanted... me. He gave me presents, flowers... I had a talk one night, with Spike, trying to sort out my feelings. Xander apparently saw me talking to Spike, and the next thing I knew, my 'friends' were accusing me of sleeping with the enemy and betraying them all. They stopped talking to me. I had Angelus and his family, so I wasn't alone."
"So, you aren't involved with this Spike vamp at all? They sounded pretty sure..." Faith could feel her frown, knowing that the Scoobies thought that Willow was sleeping with Spike. They hadn't mentioned Angelus at all. This complicated the already confusing mess.
"I'm his mum now, so no, there's no sex with Spike. Besides, then, he was involved with Dru, his girlfriend for over a century. He's a natural born... or maybe naturally turned flirt, so I guess I can see how the whole no sex thing might be missed." Willow frowned, unhappy with something. "Dru wanted Angelus, not Spike... or maybe she wanted them both, I'm not certain. But Angelus didn't want her anymore."
Willow's fingers were tapping along the table, and her eyes had flickered golden as she continued, a hint of growl getting more noticeable as she mentioned this 'Dru'. "She left the family and Spike, set up her own lair, and got a hold of the demon Acathala, who almost sucked the world into hell once that crazy tramp pulled.. umm I digress. Dru had me kidnapped. She was really pissed that I had Angelus and she didn't. So, she decided to chain me up and torture me for a while before unleashing Acathala, which she DID the stupid, crazy..."
With a pause, the redhead almost visibly reigned in her temper, the growls ceasing. "ahem, sorry. Bit of an emotional subject. Anyhow, Dru let Acathala open a portal to hell while Angelus and Spike were trying to rescue me. Buffy showed up during the whole fight, which I missed on account of being chained up in the basement and bleeding. Spike was forced to kill Dru, which closed the portal, but not Before... umm Buffy sent my Angelus to hell. Then, she ran away, left town, adios."
Faith was staring at Willow, watching the golden eyes and remembering the growls. Red looked like a vamp, sounded like a vamp, but she didn't feel quite like a vamp. "Red, catch."
She tossed a small gold cross at Willow, hoping to figure out how much like a vamp she was. The redhead simply caught it, with no damage or signs of pain. This was getting to confusing, could she get notes somewhere? "When did you get the vamp eyes?"
Willow glanced at the object in her hand, one finger tracing over the cross. "umm While the whole fight in front of Acathala thing was happening, I sort of... ummm talked to the Oracles and ended up bonded to Angelus, soul to demon. So, I got a few... side effects, like yellow eyes and I'm stronger. The quiet area in town in my clan's territory, and we can be discrete. So... why did you come to Sunnydale? And what's with the cross tossing and surprise thing? Did you expect... you expected it to burn me, didn't you?"
Faith let out a soft whistle, impressed by the story. More so by the way Willow had put everything together, immediately understanding the point of the little cross. "Yeah, I did think it would burn you. You put out a vamp vibe, a really strong one, like a master. Guess the whole bond thing might explain that. You didn't seem surprised that I'm the Slayer, why's that?"
Willow made a little dismissive wave with her hand. "My minions have been keeping an eye on you since you first got into town. A girl, with a slayer vibe, dark hair, and a tattoo. Slayers are dangerous, so I told them to stay back, but keep an eye on you. No single minion could take a trained Slayer, they'd just get killed trying. There are enough idiots from the rival clans that I'm sure will piss you off enough to hunt them down and slaughter them all. Which means one more rival we don't have to get rid of ourselves."
"Practical. Let me guess, if those other rivals killed me, just peachy for your clan?" Faith had been listening to Willow, trying to see the person described by the Scoobies, and not seeing either the shy girl or the 'deceitful traitor' that they'd tried to say she was. But, Red had power, and a clan of vampires. "I got a proposition for you , Red. Since you seem to be the one in charge, at least for some of the vamps here... I think... I think that there's something we can help each other out with."
~Part: 5~
Willow looked startled for a moment, her eyes taking on the slight glaze of intense thought. "Since I don't think I'm your type, I have the feeling this would be a business matter. Does it relate to why you're in Sunnydale?"
Those calm words made it all real again, the fear, the helplessness as Kakistos had killed Joseph. Her confusion over why the ancient vampire was after her and the raw panic inspired by the suggestion that he might get her. Like if a small child was bad, the scary things would get them. Only Kakistos was real. "I was in Georgia, along with my watcher. There was something big going on there, and the council thought it should be handled. I haven't... I haven't actually been the Slayer... or a Slayer for very long. We went, and there was... this really old, ugly vampire was there. He was taking control of the area, planning something that was probably going to be big and evil and nasty. He... he killed my watcher, and was coming after me. I think... I'm certain that he was following me, although I might have lost him in Arizona. I came here because... I thought if I had the other Slayer working with me, maybe Kakistos would be the one killed, not me."
"Kakistos is coming here, after you. You think he wants you for some sort of... maybe a ritual sacrifice or something? If he comes here, he'll try to take over, want the hellmouth." Willow's eyes were focused on Faith, filled with this intensity as she considered her words. "hmm.... Are you... are you suggesting an alliance? You and my clan against Kakistos?"
Part of her rebelled at the idea, having heard so much about the untrustworthiness of vampires. But she didn't have any other options. "Yeah. With a little side of I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone kind of thing... except... hmm there's the whole killing thing that vamps tend to do..."
Willow smiled, an expression that didn't look quite human. "My clan behaves. No randomly turning people, no public hunting, no dead bodies of people that will be missed. That sort of thing draws unwelcome attention, and there are... other ways. Kakistos doesn't sound like anyone we want in town any more than you want him here. Also, we keep our territory clear of hostile demons, so you won't need to do routine patrols there, although we might get a hold of you if there's a particularly big, nasty demon."
Faith grinned as she pushed herself off of the tabletop. Someone would help her against Kakistos... It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "So... we have a deal? Ah, we don't have to seal this with blood or anything, do we?"
Willow grinned back, the expression oddly predatory and sensual at the same time. "Don't have to, although if you really want, it could be arranged... As long as you keep it, your word will do."
Faith moved closer to Willow, putting a bit of sway into her hips. Joe had always said that vampires were motivated by sex and violence... if she could move herself from violence to sex in the minds of Red's clan... "Not that I plan to break it, but... I always prefer to seal a promise with a kiss."
Stepping close to Willow, Faith kissed her on the lips, slowly, sensually. Part of her was screaming that this was bad, an unwise idea. Besides, she'd always preferred male lovers. Willow stood there, stunned by the unexpected kiss.
Faith smirked at her and sauntered away. "Be seeing you Red. Give your boy a nice hello for me."
Things weren't the way she'd expected in this town. Nothing was quite normal, especially not the part where not quite but almost vampire redheads running clans, willing to offer a tentative truce with a Slayer. Best keep Willow off balance, best not to let her change things around so that she became one of her followers. "Got to keep her off balance... last thing I need is to find myself under authority of some red haired almost vamp. But help is good. Kakistos is bad. I just might live long enough to see eighteen after all."
But maybe, just maybe things were looking up. Maybe she wouldn't have to keep running anymore. Maybe between herself and Red... Willow just didn't seem like the right thing to call the woman who ruled a clan of vampires. Red seemed to fit better. Maybe with Red's help, Kakistos would be beaten. She hoped so, anyhow.
~Part: 6~
If she could count on Red and her vamps to help get rid of Kakistos, that would be wonderful. If she could trust them to keep the bargain on not trying to kill her... If it wasn't some elaborate trap. If she wasn't dreaming of the possibility of help while tucked into the back of a truck. So many if's, and not enough information.
But she figured that this was real, and not a dream. Her dreams were never this long, this elaborately detailed and confusing. There were so many variables to the situation. How much could she trust Red and her Vamps? How much could she trust the Scoobies? Would this mysterious Watcher Giles come back in time? Did she dare to hope that they would be able to defeat Kakistos? Dare she try to plan for after Kakistos?
She wanted to be able to count on Red keeping her word, making her vamps follow the bargain. She wanted to have something... some constant. Willow as a local power seemed like something that she could deal with. She'd been fairly polite, no attacks, no insults... and she'd been willing to work together against Kakistos... maybe against other major threats. Of course, it went against everything that a Slayer was supposed to be doing to make a deal with a vampire. But... she intended to keep her side, and she needed help against Kakistos.
Faith scrubbed one hand over her eye, refusing to let more tears fall for Joseph, for the times before Kakistos had changed everything. Tears wouldn't change anything, and they'd make her eyes scratchy. She had to learn to deal with Joseph's death, with everything that had changed, because the only other option was mental instability followed by death. She didn't want to become Faith the loony Slayer or Faith the Homicidal Maniac.
She could figure out what to do next once she was sure that she would be around to have a 'what to do next'. Time to figure out if there was a chance to hook up with a cute guy. Time to figure out if there would be a better place to stay. If she survived Kakistos.
He would be there eventually. He'd chased her halfway across the country, a few more hundred miles would hardly stop him now. Especially with that whole demon magnet effect that the Hellmouth was supposed to have. So, Kakistos would be here, it was just a question of when.
And a question of would she be ready. Faith was through running. It hadn't worked, it had made her feel sick inside, and it had done no more than buy her a bit of space. She had to use that space to be ready, to prepare herself for the inevitable conflict.
Because when she next faced Kakistos, she knew that only one of them would walk away. She prayed that it would be her.
While she was at it, she threw in a prayer that Willow was sincere in her acceptance of the truce, that she wouldn't have to fight her vampires as well as Kakistos. That she might have a slim chance of allies.
Faith did not permit herself to ask for the chance of friends.
The End