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 16


Buffy jolted awake, blinking rapidly. She let out a long, deep breath.

"You ok, Buffy?" Xander was leaning over her, looking into her eyes in concern.

"Uh...I think so..." She slid into a sitting position, looking around the room. She'd fallen asleep on the couch.

Alana was standing in the doorway, head cocked to the side. "What happened?"

"Oh, Just Faith performing a little break and enter on my dreams." Buffy sighed. She stood. "I'm gonna go have a shower." She stood and slowly walked out of the room.

Oz watched her go. "Should we tell her about the kid Faith killed?"

"Do we have to?" Willow asked, biting her lip. "You know she'll only blame herself."

"For what?" Angel walked into the room, pulling on a black knit t-shirt.

"Faith killed Johnny Manson." Alana said, a tear trickling down her cheek.

Angel took a step toward her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We'll stop her."

She raised her head and stared at him levelly. "Yeah. But how many people are gonna die in the process?"

Buffy closed her eyes and let the hot water run over her face and through her hair.

When she first started slaying, she had showered a lot. Almost like she could wash her destiny away. Her tears would mingle with the water and soak into her skin.

Her tears were part of her armour now. A reminder of pain; past and present; Of everything she had gone through; Of the friends she had mourned and the demons she had killed.

They were a reminder of what she was fighting for.

She thought about her dream, and what she had said to Faith.

She knew that something she had said to Faith had been close to home.

< Human weakness never goes away... >

Faith was insecure.

How could she use that?? Could she maybe convince Faith to turn over a new leaf? Buffy doubted it was possible.

Even if it was, she needed to fight with her all. She knew from experience that if you hesitate in a fight you'd end up defeated.

Especially when it came to Faith.

When Faith woke up, she lifted a hand to her face and realized that her cheeks were soaked with tears. Her skin was soft and wet, hot in spite of the cold room.

She'd been dreaming of her family again.

Her little sister Macy, who had long black hair that she always wore in plaits.

When Macy had died, Faith had left home. The little girl was the only thing keeping her in town. She'd been raped and murdered by their stepfather when Faith was 14.

Faith shivered. She hadn't thought of Macy in a long time.

It had been even longer since she had felt something other than anger, too. But she recognized the emotion swirling in her gut.

It was sadness.

She'd had a lot of experience with the feeling, before; When she was 3 years old and her father had died in a truck accident; When she was 9 and her best friend John had left town; Macy's tragic death; And the long, lonely stretch of time when her watcher had been killed.

Faith cursed herself for her misery.

< You're strong, Dammit Faith! Don't back out now, can't back out now. Remember the power in darkness? Remember the knowledge that you're better than everyone else? Embrace it, Faith! Get past your fear, get past your feelings. And be free >

She smiled, a cold, evil curve.

"Get ready to party, B."

No matter what happened now, she'd be free.




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