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I want to be home!
I'm so sick of traveling. Look at this guy... the bus is almost empty and he's gonna sit next to me. He's ancient. Thirty or forty at least. Mirror sunglasses and cigarettes in his sleeve. Oh, you're too cool! Stupid dork.
"Looks like you and me are buddies for a while, pretty thing!" His touch on my arm is sweaty. Gross! I pull away in disgust.
Suddenly the guy's wrist is caught tight.
"Broken? Or dislocated?" Faith's back from stashing our two bags. Don't think she likes having her seat stolen. Flashback to Boston, where she stood up to bullies all the time. I guess she did that even before she was a Slayer.
"Well, who's your pretty friend?" the guy chuckles. Mistake!
"Or both? I can do both!" Something scary in her voice. Mean and cold. I never heard that tone at the playground.
The guy's face goes white and he squeals in pain. "Jesus!"
She pulls him to the front of the aisle and dumps him there grimacing in pain. OK, getting a little scary here! As she walks back to me I see her face slowly change. Something frightening in her eyes fades away.
"Hey, Dawnie... It's OK. You don't have to be afraid of that guy. Nobody messes with the Slayer's girlfriend!"
The Slayer. I stare at her. "I'm a little afraid of him. I'm a lot afraid of you!"
"I didn't hurt him."
But I'm starting to realize something. This is not quite the same girl I used to eat jelly out of the jar with. She's got a dark side now that scares me a little. Kinda like Buffy lately, actually. My sister hasn't been right since she came back from Heaven.
Guess I can't blame either one of them. They've been through a lot. But you know, so have I! You don't see me beating up my friend Spike in the back yard, or torturing strangers on the bus.
Faith sits beside me and takes my hand. She smiles at me like she can't believe I'm real. The feeling's mutual. I woke up this morning and she was sitting next to me with her hand on my cheek, crying. At first I didn't know where I was, or how I got there, but I hugged her around the waist until she stopped crying. I still feel like none of this is really happening. That's a scary thing, seeing as how I already know most of my life never happened.
"I still can't believe that you're the same as Buffy's Faith. I have this picture of her in my mind, from when Buffy talks about her, and she doesn't look like you. Her hair is all spiky, and she has this mean glare, and big bulging muscles, and tattoos... Well... you do have the tattoos. But... she's not you!"
"Hold that thought. It was me... but I wasn't myself." I believe both Faiths are the same, I really do. But I can't get it through my head. It seems like if I took her to Buffy, my sister wouldn't know her. But they do know each other.
"I just can't picture you doing all the stuff my sister does. Beating up on vampires and stuff." I play with the ends of her hair, and the way she looks down at my fingers is just like when we were first together. "I can't believe you're super strong and super fast. It's weird. It's scary. What you did to that guy was scary."
"I used to go after kids all the time when we were in school, if they were asking for it. You weren't scared of me then!"
"I didn't know you could throw people through walls!"
"Buffy can, and you're not afraid of her, are you?"
Faith seems pretty normal again now. "I'm not really afraid of you, I guess... I'm just... this doesn't seem real. Any of it."
I bet Faith is wondering the same thing I am: what next? What's our future? We only know one thing, one way to be. Our long-lost secret life in her bedroom and on the roof of her building, helping each other through whatever crap came our way. Now, I try to imagine what things are going to be like with us. I can't begin to guess. I hope she'll still like me.
"I know how you feel." She takes my face in her hands so gently. No way those hands could break a wrist or knock a vampire cold! We touch noses. I miss that! I miss all those little things! "But this time it is real, Dawnie."
Close my eyes and I'm back in Boston again, deciding whether or not to kiss her for the first time. The night she left me. That was the worst day of my life, and this just might be the best, but I make the same decision I made back then.
"Can you do a backflip?"
I look around–don't feel like making a big public scene–but nobody's in sight. I fall backwards onto my hands, spring back into the air, and land perfectly on a bench like an obedient trained seal. She grins.
"Cool. Now lift something heavy!"
It's silly. Totally childish. But I'm just loving showing off for my girl! She makes me want to be a kid again, and what's wrong with that? I'm only eighteen after all, even if I feel like I'm sixty some days. I look around for something to lift.
"Hey!" She squeals when I pick her up, and almost drops our bags. I carry her on down the sidewalk.
"Aren't you getting tired?" she asks after about a block.
"Not yet." I love the weight of her in my arms. I love being close in public instead of in secret.
She starts to squirm and laugh, and that gets me laughing. "OK, put me down, I feel like an idiot!" I set her on her feet.
How long has it been since I just messed around with a friend for the fun of it? Buffy and I had a little of that... I guess that's the last time.
"Let's get some lunch before the big screaming match," she suggests.
I'm all for putting off what's coming. I'm thinking, maybe a thousand lunches, then face B. And I'm starving. But I'm not having Dawn pay my way again. She blew almost every penny she had chasing me down. And she didn't even think I existed!
"No, thanks. I'm not hungry. Maybe you should just eat something at home."
We walk on silently, worried about what's coming. If I don't look up it could almost be Charles Avenue in Boston, and it could be school and parents that have us upset. Dawn always felt safe walking with me, even in my part of town. She was safe, too, but she didn't know why at the time.
"Buffy's gonna wig out big time," she says.
"Yeah." Understatement of the year.
"You're not going to start with the hitting each other and stuff are you?"
Sigh. "Probably."
"Not unless Buffy starts it, though?"
"Oh, I won't start anything. But we have some history, you understand."
"If you want, I'll pretend you saved me from something!"
"That's OK. She'd figure out you're lying and then we'd be in even worse trouble."
"You sure you don't want some nice fast food?" I think Dawn wants to put this off, too.
"I'm sure." I take her hand as we walk. I do not want to do this. But I know how to make myself do something nasty. Just do it. This reminds me of when I showed up on Christmas Eve to give Buffy and her Mom some pitiful presents, and maybe make up for being an asshole to Buffy. I stood outside for like half an hour before I worked up the nerve to go up to the house.
I think this time I have a little more to worry about.
This street is familiar. I stop dead and let go of her hand.
"What is it?"
"We're getting close to Buffy's house aren't we?"
"My house, you mean." I can't imagine my Dawn living in the same house as Buffy. Just too weird. What if Dawn had been home that Christmas? I would have seen her and died of shock. And if I survived the shock, I would have stuck by Buffy better after that. But the Monks couldn't change history–just a few key details. No pun intended.
Suddenly, the reality of meeting Buffy again is too much to face. "Look, I think I'll just let you go on ahead. Maybe you shouldn't tell Buffy about me just yet. I don't really want to be on the business end of a Giles hunting party again."
She starts to object. "You have to come, I want to show you my room! And Giles went to England. He didn't want Buffy depending on him so much. And..." She trails off. "And I'm in enough trouble already just for running away." I guess when it comes down to it she's happy to put off the inevitable. "Where will you stay? Here, let me give you some money." She fishes in her bag.
"No, no. I'll be fine. I have some things I want to do in town tonight anyway."
"You don't have any place to go! This is a scary town, it's not like Boston!"
"I can take care of myself! Slayer, remember?" If Sunnydale is scarier than my part of Boston, that's not a good thing for tourism!
"How will I find you tomorrow?" Her forehead is wrinkled up with worry.
Suddenly I don't want to let her go. I'm afraid if I lose sight of her she won't be real any more. "You go to Sunnydale High, right?"
"Yeah. But it's all crammed in with the Middle School these days."
"I'll catch up with you after school." I can still find my way around, I think.
"I might need to stay late. I've missed almost a week."
"I'll watch for you. Out front."
"Do you know where the building is? It's five blocks west of the old school."
"Gotcha."
"OK." She takes my hand again and leans back. We pull playfully against each other's fingertips. "Thanks for coming back with me." Tears in her eyes. "Thanks for being real."
"You're everything to me, Dawnie. You came out of my dreams and saved my life. I'd follow you anywhere." I would, too. She turns back a clock inside me that I didn't think worked any more.
"Except to Buffy."
"Even to Buffy! But not today."
Her fingertips slip from mine and she turns to walk away. She looks back every few steps, and I stay where I'm at, watching her go. When she's about a block away she stops and shouts back: "I love you!"
"I love you too!" I feel really silly now, yelling in public. And I feel pretty damn good, too. Can't get this stupid smile off my face.
I watch until she goes around a corner and out of sight. "Forever and ever," I say to myself. "Forever and ever."
I let out the breath I've been holding. I think she's still real.
It feels so strange to be walking the streets of Sunnydale again! Two things I want to do. Well, three if you count eating, but that doesn't seem likely. I've been picking up change off the ground. Maybe by nightfall I'll have enough for a candy bar.
I veer off the sidewalk and into a park, picking up a few stray branches for the first thing on my agenda. Find a shady spot and set to work with my pocket knife. This work always used to calm me down and help me think. Still does. I'll need a job, a place to live, and a plan for keeping in touch with Dawn while staying out of Buffy's way for a while.
A few hours later, I've got a nice supply of sharpened stakes. Not perfect, but they'll go through rib cages just fine. Night's falling, and the instinct to hunt is coming to a boil in my veins until I could almost scream. It's been so long! I need this more than food and sex combined. Which reminds me... if I'm hungry now, after slaying I'll be ready to eat my own arm. So be it... I can't wait another night! I hope I'm ready.
I'm going from graveyard to graveyard, staying far from Buffy's usual hunting grounds. Which means I'm also staying far from all the best vampire hot spots. No action. I finally give up and head back into town to patrol the back alleys.
Sounds of screaming. I break into a run. A gang of vampires–four of them–has three drunk men trapped in a dead end. A blonde girl is approaching. Shit! Buffy!
She pushes right past the vampires and walks up to the trapped men. Judging by their faces, she's got her fangs out. Not Buffy at all, just another vampire. Thank God.
I step up behind the gang. "Is there a problem here?" They turn.
At the sight of their demon faces, something shifts in my brain and a tremor passes through every muscle. I know I'm more than ready for this. Bring it on, you ugly bastards!
It takes a while, and by the time the battle's done, the three victims have run off. I got a few bruises, but I felt no fear. Not once.
Slaying is what I was put on Earth to do. I stand in the now-empty alley, breathing in corpse dust and tucking a stake back into my belt. As always, I come away from battle hungry, horny, and wired up like I'll never sleep again. I feel unstoppable. I rule the world!
The other thing I wanted to do tonight is satisfy my curiosity. Is my old apartment still the same? Or has someone taken it over?
My old key works in the main door, but that's to be expected. I ride the elevator up and walk down the familiar carpeted hall. A flood of memories coming back. Not particularly good ones.
Try my key in the lock... No good. Jiggle it and keep trying. Click! I'm in! My heart is pounding. It's just plain surreal to be back here.
I push open the door slowly and reach for the light switch without even looking. All my treasured things are still here! My clothes in the closet! My stereo! My TV!
The magazine I was reading when Buffy came to murder me is still lying open on the dusty bedspread. The CD I was playing is still in the player. I look up at the high window I tumbled through with Buffy, before she put my own knife through my aorta. All sealed up now, no glass, but painted to match the walls. Someone did a good job with the repair.
Awesome!
I have a place to stay. A nice place to stay. Thanks to the late Mayor Wilkins. Can't wait to give Dawn the tour! This is a palace compared to my old room we used to hang out in.
I feel around in back of the bottom dresser drawer. Money! I'll eat tonight after all! In fact... the kitchen still has cookies in the cupboard, and some cans of soup. The cookies have turned to stone, but I wolf them down. I wander into the bathroom with the big tub–that's going to feel great tonight–and then into the little spare bedroom.
I stop in the doorway, startled.
In the spare room is a huge package, about three feet on a side, wrapped in brown paper. Another one on top of that, not quite as big, and a letter in a sealed envelope. This is not the first gift the Mayor left for me... but it's certainly the biggest.
I grab the envelope and tear it open. My hands begin to tremble slightly as I read.
I open the top package. It's a box of books, and a few odds and ends like candles and jars. I move it to the floor. Heavy!
Slowly, hands shaking harder, I pull the paper off the big package. There it is.
The Box.
Can't sleep. I don't know what to think, what to feel. Life was starting to seem simple, and that's all out the window now. But it's worth it. I have been given a gift that many would kill for. In fact, I killed for it myself once.
I am going to make Dawn so happy.
Screw sleep! Maybe I'll just go back out and patrol some more. I turn on the light. The letter's by my bed, and I read it over for the tenth time.
"My dearest Faith,
If you are reading this, then I am dead and Buffy has won. But you, by some miracle, have survived. I have one last task to ask of you. I am certain you will enjoy it.
You were meant to stand by my side at my Ascension, but Buffy has taken you from me. We would have both become immortal. More than just immortal: impossible to kill. Without you there, the final rite will be incomplete: it will still be possible to kill me even when I am a demon. Although I rather doubt our friend Buffy has the firepower to even wound me. The Hellmouth has never seen a demon like me!
I write this in case I am somehow killed, so that you may carry out my terrible revenge.
No Ascension is possible for you. There aren't enough creatures left in the Box of Gavrok to make you a demon. But I have left you the Books of Ascension and marked certain key rites and spells. If you follow them precisely and make use of the remaining creatures, you can live forever. Nothing will ever be able to kill you.
You will need a servant and companion to make the final rite complete, or you will still be vulnerable as I am now. Old age will never overtake you, but it will still be possible to kill you. So find someone you can trust to do your bidding, someone who will also live forever.
Then use your new power to kill Buffy. Remember what she did to you. Make it a slow death. And make sure she sees her friends die first. Make sure she hears their screams.
Of course you will be compensated for performing this favor. I've enclosed the number of a bank account that has been set up for you. My fortune belongs to you now, Firecracker! I'm trusting you to be a very, very bad girl!
Yours with all my love and the purest, sweetest hate,
Richard Wilkins III"
~ Continue to Episode 2 – Temptation ~
(Thanks to Darklight for the idea that Faith might inherit the Mayor's wealth. That got me thinking what else he might leave for her!)
I would be grateful if you would give me your comments and rate my stories in my Guestbook, or email me. Reader responses will determine whether I publish more stories, and will help improve them! Thanks for reading! (If you'd like to be notified when I post new stories, let me know.)
If you enjoyed this story, try Witch's Faith. Feeling rejected by Tara and Buffy, Willow finds herself helping Faith get out of prison–and falling in love. When the dark Slayer's plots turn deadly, Willow must betray someone she loves. But who will she choose?
Faith walked out to Willow's car in a daze. She didn't truly believe this was happening until the prison gate closed behind them and they were on the open road. The afternoon sun turned to rain and it was the sweetest sound Faith had ever heard. She wished Willow would drive faster. A hundred miles an hour... two hundred! She was ready to slay–vampire after vampire turning to dust before her. And then she wanted sex... real sex, not a stranger's head between her legs in the bathroom, forcing orgasm quickly because privacy might end at any moment. Faith glanced curiously at Willow, wondering if the girl had ever had thoughts of homosexuality.
In the back seat, Faith found a bundle of lovely, wood stakes. The real thing! The Slayer took a stake in her hands. She caressed it, felt its perfect weight. Its solidity made the future suddenly solid as well. "Hey, Red... thanks."
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