Title: Come To Play
Author: Starla
Email: starla@buffymail.com
Disclaimer: These Characters belong to Joss Whedon, except Gorlock, Alana, Adrian Townsend, and anyone else you don't recognize.
Distribution: Take it, but let me know. If you have any of my other fics, go ahead.
Author's Notes: It *will* be B/A I promise. I realise this part is a little depressing. Sorry. Season 4 did happen, Fish Boy did date Buffy, Angel went to LA, etc.
Spoilers: I dunno. Anything is possible, be warned.
Summary: 150 years after the Scooby Gang die, they return to Earth to help out the current Slayer and her Slayerettes.

Part 14


Buffy stretched and strolled out to the main hall, careful not to wake her sleeping lover. She sang softly under her breath, walking to the window and peeking out the blinds. It was a stunning day outside, the world alive with colour and sound. She smiled softly to herself, knowing that she'd rather be living in a monochrome world than a world without Angel.

A voice behind her startled her, making her jump in fright.

"Mornin' Buffy. Sleep Well?" Doyle smiled, handing her a cup of coffee.

"Sleep? I was supposed to sleep?" Buffy replied with a grin. "Where are the others?"

"Out and About. They're giving our young new friends the tour of Sunnydale."

"Tour?" She raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Haven't they lived here their entire lives?"

"It's more of a what demon did what where tour." Doyle rolled his eyes. "They were comparing stories this morning. You missed it."

Buffy closed her eyes, remembering Angel's soft kisses and whispered words. She opened one eyes, grinning lazily at Doyle. "Yet somehow I'll find the courage to live on."

Doyle chuckled. "I take it you and Angel had fun, then."

"Oh yeah. A whole lotta happiness goin' on there."

"Ahh. Good to know." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Have you thought about what's gonna happen when we have to go back?"

Her shoulders slumped, and she sighed. "I've been trying not to." She glanced at him. "Denial makes the world go round."

He put a hand on his shoulder. "You have to tell him, Buffy. He has to be able to prepare."

She looked at him with sad eyes. "You can't prepare for heartbreak, Doyle."

"I know, love."

They sat in companionable silence, working out the situations in their heads.

Faith smiled as her knife slid through the young man's flesh, catching on bone before slicing evenly through. There was nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of taking a life. Nothing like the tortured screams, the feeling of warm blood coating her small hands.

She dropped the body limply to the ground, staring down at her work in satisfaction.

This was what she excelled at.

Faith had never felt special in her life, before that night. That night that had supposedly changed everything.

It hadn't.

The evil was inside of her, just waiting to be fired upon the world, oozing over it like a blanket of darkness. The events of that night had just given it the strength to free itself.

As a girl, Faith had been pretty enough. She had blossomed into a beautiful teen.But she never had the funds, or the motivation, to keep up with the fashions. To stand out. She blended into the crowd, her face blurring so that she was just like everyone else.

When she had been called, she had harboured a secret pleasure at being different from everyone else.

Special.

And then her watcher had started going on and on about *the* Buffy Summers.

The Other Slayer.

The one who had prevented apocalypse after apocalypse.

The one who rendered William the Bloody a cripple and reduced the Master to a pile of ashes.

The one who always shone just a little brighter than Faith.

Faith had gone to Sunnydale expecting to find a rigid, personality challenged butch of a girl.

And then Buffy showed up in the alley, with her laugh and her friends, and her... life.

There was a spark in Buffy that Faith hadn't expected. It unsettled her. She had expected to at least be able to outcool Buffy.

But no, this Slayer had street smarts.

And then she found out about Angel.

She had been more than a little shocked. This slayer, this legendary, respected slayer was in love with a vampire.

Not just a vampire. Angelus, Scourge of Europe. A Master Vampire.

Faith rotated her hands as she delved through her memories.

She had found herself having... thoughts about Buffy. She still couldn't define if those were sexual thoughts, or romantic, or friendly, or just an overwhelming need to be...needed.

Wanted.

Loved.

But Buffy never noticed. Never Knew.

Faith had tried to bring Buffy out of her shell.

When that had failed, she shut down almost completely.

And a killer was born




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