HSF part 6:
Leap of Faith
Summary: The gang, minus Buffy, is having a little Apocalyptic fun at the old high school. Will Faith go through with it? Will they all return to Buffy at the end of the night?
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I only borrow those characters to write stories. Don’t sue me.
Spoiler: Set after season 6
Rating: Rated R for violence.
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With shaky hands, Faith passed the dark cloak over her head. She stood in a dark corner, the orange glow of the torches not quite dissipating the shadows of her temporary refuge. It was the only place she had found where she could have a moment alone. She needed to calm down and think for a little while and was getting tired of all the commotion. She looked down at herself and snorted loudly, the sound reassuring to her ears.
“Donatella would so throw a fit if she saw they made horrors like this.” she mumbled to herself. “Why do evil people have such a terrible fashion sense?”
Faith didn’t like the way her voice sounded. Her bravado was not as convincing as usual.
She sat in the corner and lit up a cigarette with unstable fingers. This was the Faith she didn’t want anybody to see, and she needed to calm down to efficiently hide behind her usual defiant mask.
She pulled her dark hair out of the robe with a swift motion and extended her long legs. Her red leather pants peeked from underneath the cloak and she smiled to herself.
*See girlfriend? No need to be trippin’. Bad ass Faith’s armor is still on…. It’s just covered by some loser Hilton bathrobe dyed black. You’re still the shit.*
She tried to sound convinced. She really did. And almost managed it.
*I’m good. Better than good. Five by five. Maybe lung cancer later though* she thought, looking down at her third cigarette in ten minutes. But then she snickered.
*… Nope, none of that shit… immortal in a few hours. Well I guess the ordeal WILL have some definite perks after all.*
The brunette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could fool a lot of people, but not herself. She used to be really good at it, but not anymore. Not for a very long time.
After Wolfman&Hart got her out of jail, she had tried to act up, the way a comedian puts on an old costume and gets back into his role. But no matter how hard she tried, she wasn’t the same anymore. Time passes, people change. For the best, for the worst. It all depends on what life throws at you. At one point, Faith thought she had more than enough shit thrown at her face to justify striking back and playing God. She wasn’t so sure anymore. Now she was trying not to think about it, but the thought snuck into her brain against her will.
*A shitload of folks will die after tonight…*
For some reason, the unstable girl got pissed off at that. She got up and crushed her cigarette viciously under her combat boot.
“Screw them all!”
She forced herself to remember all the reasons why she hated the world. Flashback of her father kicking the shit out of her drunk mother. The foster families making her feel like a piece of shit when she was a teen. Having to fight for her life in the street after her Watcher died. All the happy homes in Sunnydale while she had to eat mac and cheese in a cheap motel. People trying to kill her everyday in prison because it was such a challenge. Almost a sport. “Hey, who’s gonna manage to kill #88706!”. The world was a Hellhole. Why would she try to see the bright side when she had such a shitty background? The world wasn’t all about Christmas, and flowers and puppies. It was mainly about people killing each other for cold cash. It was about children being abused and young girls having to sell their bodies to survive. Good guys only won in movies. In real life, the bad guys were the only ones leaving the stage on both their legs. And as much as Faith despised the world, life was her crack: she hated it, but couldn’t turn her back on it either. Immortality and power were so appealing…
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The five of them were standing by the car, on a dark road in the woods behind Sunnydale High.
Xander looked at the others, then down at himself and sighed.
“So… how would our beloved leader put this? ‘I look like a bleedin pounce in that sodding poofter robe’… or something like that.”
Spike snorted at Xander’s lame imitation. “You have to learn to dose, you wanker. It’s an art. But since you described the situation accurately, I won’t criticize your use of British slang.”
“Anybody else feels evil butterflies flying around in their stomach?” asked Willow, so pale she looked like she might pass out any minute.
They all cast worried glances at the young witch. Most of the operation depended on her and, despite what they told her, they weren’t sure she could handle that much magic. Spike wasn’t worried she’d go back to evil Willow, but they were asking of her and she hadn’t been back in the game all that long. She’d put a protection spell around Buffy’s room to keep evil at bay.
Magic would also be used to cloud the signals to Spike’s chip so he could fight humans if necessary. There were too many enemies, humans as well as demons, to risk sending Spike into a fight with the chip working. Willow knew Buffy would never forgive her if something happened to the blond vampire.
And no matter what Willow said, Spike could see in her eyes that she would attempt the restoration spell on Angelus if she got the chance. He hadn’t said anything to her about it yet, but he would have to bring it up soon. If she over estimated herself it could screw up their chances, all for Angel’s sake. The wanker didn’t deserve that much.
The blond vampire pulled a Marlboro out of his pack and lit it. He took Willow’s hand, gave her a reassuring squeeze, and pulled her aside. The girl looked so frail, like she would break anytime; it was hard to believe there was such power in her. But he’d already learnt with Buffy, the size of the package was no indication of the power it held.
“Red, I want to know, for sure, that you’re gonna be alright. Now, don’t go thinking I don’t trust you. I do. But it’s a lot to put on your shoulders and I don’t want you to be in any danger. If you think you can’t do it, I’d rather you tell me now so we can rethink the whole thing. Or maybe you could skip the chip spell…”
“Spike…”
“I’ll just be careful…”
“Spike.”
“If I stay away from human beings, I’ll be fine…”
“Spike!”
“What?”
“I’ll. Be. Fine. I’ve done a lot of thinking the past few months, and I’m more familiar with the extent of my powers, and my limits. I will play my part, and I will play it well.”
She gave him the resolve face, her eyebrows shooting up in a comical way, and he didn’t have the heart to argue. When she saw him give up, her face brightened. “Ok then! Chip spell time!”
She closed her eyes and concentrated, whispering incomprehensible words. She brought her hands up a few inches apart and blue sparks of energy flew between her palms.
Spike groaned, looking worried. “Hey now, better not fry my bloody brain, ducks, or you’ll never hear the end of it, I promise.”
His whining didn’t receive an answer. Instead, Willow touched her fingers to the sides of his head. He shut his eyes, anticipating the pain, but nothing came. He carefully opened his eyes again.
“Did it work?”
Willow smiled up at him and extended her arm. “Find out. Go ahead, pinch me.”
He did, but the only sound of pain was Willow’s heartfelt “Ow!”..
“Did you really have to bruise me, you evil you?”
“Sorry.” The self-satisfied smirk on Spike’s face told her he didn’t quite mean that. “Right then. On to spell number three.” They walked back to where the scoobies were waiting. Xander and Giles were sitting on the hood of the car while Anya drew the protection circle on the road.
Willow cracked her knuckles and rubbed her hands together, wiggling her eyebrows playfully. “You guys ready to get your brains fried?”
Giles gave her a look. “I can’t say that I’m quite enjoying your sense of humor tonight, Willow.”
“Oh come on!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Don’t you think this is getting long?” Buffy asked, not looking up from the cards she was holding.
She was answered by simultaneous sighs. She looked up but quickly went back to her cards when she saw Cordelia and Dawn’s annoyed look.
Cordelia snorted. “It’s been TWENTY minutes Buffy. It’s not even midnight yet. Give them a chance.”
The three girls whipped their heads around towards the doorway when they heard a few low curses. A tall, dark haired, nurse in white uniform and squeaky shoes was standing there. She tried taking another step into the room, unsuccessfully. They watched as a confused look passed through her normally cold, unfeeling eyes, then she walked away shaking her head.
“Oh well, who would have known… Spike was right. She really is Satan’s daughter.” Buffy said, putting down a royal flush. “Pay up!”
“What? That’s not fair!” Dawn whined. “And when did you learn how to play Poker anyway?”
“Last year. When I was secretly dating Spike.”
Dawn and Cordelia kept looking at her in silence.
“What? You thought getting pelvic was our only activity? We played Poker too… once or twice. He taught me well.”
“Yeah, you mean he taught you how to cheat.” Dawn pouted.
“Pfff.” Buffy made a dramatic gesture, collecting the other girls pennies. “Semantics.”
She tilted her head, discretely looking at Cordelia’s watch. Cordelia noticed and growled at her before removing her watch and shoving it in her jeans pocket.
“It’s been twenty-TWO minutes Buffy! Quit it already!.. Gee, psycho much?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I don’t trust her.”
Lilah Morgan looked around once more to make sure everything was perfect. Aesthetically speaking, this had nothing to do with the kind of posh workplace she was used to, but it would do. The whole building had been put together in a rush and it was a miracle that it was still standing. They had kept the outside walls of Sunnydale High, and only fixed the inside so it would suit their plans. The space around the breach in the ground had been cleared of all obstacles, allowing an impressive group of people to gather around it. They had installed torches all around the site and it was bathing everything in a spooky orange glow. The few demons assisting in the ritual were already dressed in their cloaks, and waiting for the event to start, while the still numerous humans were awaiting their fate in retreat. Everything seemed to be perfect. They hadn’t even heard of the Slayer and her friends since she had escaped the night before. With a little bit of luck, they were all at the hospital surrounding the little bitch’s bed, so busy praising her and telling her just how wonderful she is that they would never know what hit them. But just in case they were smarter than she thought, she posted guards outside the building.
Lilah’s eyes went back to Angelus and she watched in silence as he finished draining a young boy. He dropped the body to the ground and wiped his mouth from the remaining traces of blood.
“You don’t trust her, because you shouldn’t trust her. Come on Lilah, you and I have known each other long enough for me to know that you’re not just a pretty face. There’s actually a brain behind all that make-up you’re wearing.”
She grinned, obviously pleased with herself. “I did finally succeed in getting rid of that annoying soul of yours, didn’t I. Proved Angel I wasn’t as stupid as he thought I was.”
“Yeah, you know what? I wouldn’t brag too much about that if I was you. Lil’ Buffy pulled that one off too so it doesn’t say all that much about your IQ I’m afraid.”
Lilah glared at him but let it pass. “Can we go back to our topic please? Faith. I’m starting to have my doubts about the girl. I don’t know if she’s gonna go through with it. She assured me that she was cool with it, but I know people--It’s my job to know people, and I could tell that she was nervous about this. She sounded like she could be convinced to do the right thing so I think she needs someone by her side to keep her in the right frame of mind. I was gonna have you staying by my side, but I think you’ll be more useful standing next to her. This way, if someone gets the funny idea of trying to interrupt the ceremony, you can take care of things.”
“Yeah, sure. Where are you going to be anyway?”
“Me? Well away from possible harm in case things don’t go as planned.” She smiled at him sweetly. “I happen to like my body and I am very protective of it.”
Angelus opened his mouth to answer but she interrupts him.
“I’ve gotta go talk to Faith. If you’ll excuse me…” She took the hand of a blond girl who had been standing in the shadow behind her, and they made their way across the crowded room to where Faith was talking to Gavin.
“You were leaving Gavin? What a disappointment.”
The Chinese lawyer just rolled his eyes and walked away. Lilah turned to Faith.
“Faith, I’d like you to meet… “ She turned to the blond girl who couldn’t be more than thirteen or fourteen years old. “What’s your name honey?”
“Jaime.”
The girl’s eyes were empty, her voice lifeless.
“So Jaime here’s gonna be your official virgin sacrifice. I know, I know; it’s a little cliché. But it’s necessary. So keep an eye on her would you, I’m busy. “ She shoved the young girl towards Faith. “Don’t get too attached though because you’ll be slicing her throat in a hour or so. “
Faith stared at Lilah with her mouth hanging open. “What..? Dude, you’re trippin… be serious.”
“I am serious Faith. If you have a problem with that, you better say it now.”
The brunette cast a slightly worried glance towards Jaime before answering. “No. Of course I don’t have a problem. Just thought it’s kinda lame… you know… the virgin sacrifice an all that shit. Don’t worry, I’m cool.”
“Yes. You better be.”
Faith followed Lilah with her eyes until she was out of sight. Feeling like someone was staring at her, she turned to see Jaime standing there. He irrationally snapped at what was more like a shell than an actual person. “Stop staring at me you creep!”
*man, this is gonna be really fucked up…* She couldn’t help thinking.
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“Alright. So we all know what we have to do?”
Xander gave Spike a mocked salute. “Yes general.”
“I bloody well hope you do Whelp, we’ve been through this about twenty times for your benefit..”
“Yeah fang face. You think you’re so funny, don’t ya.” Xander pouted.
“Just trying to lighten the mood soldier. Lets do this.”
Spike and Giles watched as Xander, Anya and Willow made their way around the building, then Spike turned to Giles.
“Right behind you Ripper.”
The two men pulled the hoods of their cloak down in front of their faces and walked to the other side of the building. There was an opening in one of the walls where a few demons wearing similar robes were standing.
Giles went in first, giving a slight nod of his head and praying to all Gods that the smell of other humans in the building was strong enough to cover his own. They had found out too late that only demons were wearing the cloaks and it wouldn’t do to be discovered now. But fortunately, the demons standing there barely acknowledged them.
They made their way quietly through a dark hallway that seemed to be leading to the place of the ritual. The only source of light came from sparse torches that bathed everything in a shifty orange glow and made the place even more hostile and gloomy.
Thinking that he had lost Giles, Spike had to look up for a moment in order to locate him. It was only a fraction of second, but he knew right away that he had been found out. There was no need to hope, he saw the recognition in the eyes of the human. Of all people, he had to come face to face with the kid from the 7/Eleven.
Swiftly and almost without a sound, Spike grabbed the boy and pulled him into the shadow where he reached for his head to snap his neck.
He froze.
Half an hour without the chip, and he was already trying to kill an innocent. Panic was choking him. He held his hand over the boy’s mouth to keep him quiet and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He had to be rational about this because it really wasn’t the time for lengthy introspections. The big picture was what mattered, the mission. And the sake of the world depended on the mission to succeed. If that boy had given the alert, it would have been over. Sure, if Buffy had been in the same situation, her reaction would have been to punch the boy’s lights out. But he was working on instincts, and even if he hated to face it now that he had a soul, there was still a demon inside of him and things like that were to be expected.
**Very bad timing for the self-therapy moment mate**
Spike put his hand over the kid’s nose to cut off his oxygen until he passed out, then dropped him to the floor. Then, making sure the hood was covering his face, he went back to where a very anxious Giles was waiting for him.
“Where in the bloody world have you been! I thought they had you.” Giles whispered harshly.
“Sorry. Ran into a bit of trouble. It’s all taken care of. Let’s go.”
They finally walked into what used to be the library. A few walls had been taken down, leaving only the outside walls of the high school, and it was much bigger. Barely smaller than a football field, to be exact.
There were a lot of people in there, standing aimlessly around the place, most of them staring off into space. It was a disturbing sight for both Giles and Spike. There must have been at least two hundred of them. The rest were demons. About thirty or so.
Spike looked up to where Willow was supposed to set up camp and as expected, she was there. They were ready.
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Willow finished making her way to the hole in the collapsed wall she had spotted earlier that day, Anya and Xander bickering happily behind her, testing her patience. She was so close to losing it.
“Why won’t you admit that you’re wrong? You never admit when you’re wrong and I’m right.”
“Because I’m right Anh! It doesn’t make sense…”
“Does too! You think that…”
“Enough!” The redheaded witch turned to Anya and Xander, her eyes flashing with frustration and anger.
“But he refuses to say that…”
“One more word and I swear I’ll do things to you that you’ve never heard of Anya. And you too Xander.”
Anya took one look at Willows eyes. They weren’t quite black yet, but definitely getting there. She backed off.
“Fine. No need to get scary. No more talking.”
Willow sighed, relieved that the constant bickering was finally coming to an end. “Alright. We’re here.”
The place was perfect. It was well away from the coming battle, and Willow would have a great view of what would be happening about twenty feet below without any risk of her spells being interrupted. Anya and Xander had come with her to make sure she would make it without a glitch. She had to concentrate on her magic, not defending herself. They could also reach their assigned position more easily from there since it meant they didn’t have to cross the room.
Xander and Anya looked down at the scene unfolding in front of them with matching worried frowns as Willow finished setting up the ingredients she would need.
“Merciful Zeus! You have got to be joking! It‘s like Carnival down there.”
Anya snickered. “You’ve been to how many apocalypses exactly Xander? Three? Four?.. Any of those times had to do with two midgets playing chess? Or fairies reading stories to the kids?”
“Those sarcasms are uncalled for Anya. I’m sure you’re as freaked as I am. There’s got to be at least two hundred people down there. Why are the Scoobies always outnumbered? I swear, if we make it through this, I‘ll interview potential Scoobies as soon as we get home so this doesn‘t happen again.”
Willow patted her freaked out friend on the back reassuringly. “Come on Xand, try to see the glass half full for once. It‘s not as bad as it looks.”
“When I see a glass and don’t know if it’s half empty or half full, I drink it. No more dilemma.”
Willow rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, you know what? The Scoobies are always outnumbered, but do I have to remind you that the Scoobies are still standing, living and breathing nonetheless? That must mean that we’re doing something right, don’t you think? Besides, you won’t have to fight all these people. As soon as I’m done with the spell, the humans will probably run away screaming their heads off…”
“Yes. Leaving us to deal with thirty or so demons, two evil psychotic lawyers from hell, a rogue Slayer and Angelus the magnificent himself. Not to mention the Hellmouth. We’re so screwed.”
“I’ll agree with Xander here. It doesn’t look really good for us.”
Willow shut her eyes tightly in frustration. **And she chooses NOW to agree with him?!**
Seeing Willow’s expression, Anya back pedaled quickly. “But I’m all for risking my life for the greater good. Go apocalypse! Yay us doomed white hats!”
Willow chose to ignore the vengeance demon and walked to the edge of the crumbled wall to try spotting Spike and Giles. With everybody wearing the same thing, it would have been nearly impossible if she hadn’t known exactly where they were supposed to be. But she found them without too much trouble. Spike was actually looking up at her. She gave him the thumb up. He discretely indicated to her where Lilah and Faith were standing.
“Lilah.”
“Huh?” Xander looked at her in confusion.
“That evil psychotic lawyer you were talking about? That’s her right over there. Cordelia said to watch for this one, she’s the one in charge.”
“Oh, are those Jimmy Choo stilettos she’s wearing? I bet evil law firms pay very well.”
Willow had enough. “Ok, you two, go now. I have to do the spell and you need to be down there.”
She watched them leaving and called after them. “Have fun!.. Don’t get killed!”
She waited until they reached their assigned position, then gave Spike and Giles the signal that they were all ready to start.
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The witch stood at the edge of the wall, overlooking the whole scene. She was holding a small leather pouch in one hand, and power coursed through her as she said words in a language long forgotten. The magic she was up against was powerful. She was more powerful.
Emptying the content of the pouch on her upturned palm, she blew the shimmering powder over the scene. She knew the mind control spell was broken right away, but it took a few seconds for people to realize what was going on. They started stirring and blinking, as if waking up from a long nightmare. Then the first scream sounded, and panic spread quickly from one end of the room to the other.
People were rushing the exits in a desperate attempt to get as far away as possible from this place that reeked of evil and death. They were willing to kill anybody who would get in their way. The commotion reminded Willow of a stampede. Or maybe more like the running of the bulls, in the streets of a small Spanish village.
She saw Spike shoving at a few people who, in their haste to get away, were trying to push past him. Giles even had to punch one who was clinging to him, pulling on his cloak and threatening his disguise.
Lilah’s shrill voice suddenly resonated through the open room. She was barking orders at her minions. The normally calm and collected lawyer seemed frantic.
“Don’t let them out! DON’T LET ANYBODY OUT OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!!”
Willow saw her leaning towards Angelus to say something in his ear, then she grabbed Faith’s arm and the two women walked to the opening of the Hellmouth.
**Oh oh.. Not good.**
The redheaded witch glanced worriedly towards Spike. He was the one who was supposed to give the signal of the attack by striking first. He hadn’t moved yet, but there were still a couple of humans in the way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Humans were running everywhere. Lilah was pissed; she didn’t like it when things didn’t go her way. She had spent a very long time working on this plan and nothing would make her fail. This could only be the work of the Slayer’s stupid little friends. She had underestimated them, obviously.
At first, she wasn’t going to send any of the demons after the humans. There were already demons guarding the exits and she needed all the reinforcement she could get around the ritual site in case the white hats decided to interrupt. But the humans were crucial to the ritual and she couldn’t risk them escaping. They needed them to keep the Hellmouth’s energy flowing until it could be opened permanently. So she decided to send some of the minions to help keep the humans inside in case the demons at the door would be outnumbered.
“Don’t let them out! DON’T LET ANYBODY OUT OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!!” She shouted at the black robed demons.
Turning to Angelus, she leaned towards him to speak in his ear.
“Change of plans handsome. I’ll stay with Faith, and you make sure that nobody comes anywhere near us. You know the Slayer’s friends better than anybody here so you know which one poses a threat, which one to take down first.”
“I’m on it.”
The dark haired vampire turned to walk away and Lilah took Faith’s arm and guided her to the opening in the ground that lead to the famous Hellmouth.
“Time to do this Faith.”
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Spike saw Lilah walking with Faith to the gap in the ground and decided that it was time to act.
He pushed back the hood that was covering his head and reached behind him to retrieve the sword that was strapped to his back under the cloak. Spike pulled it out and took a swing, cutting off the head of the demon standing next to him. This officially started the battle.
Without missing a beat, he moved on to the next demon who had the guts to attack him. He could see Rupert from the corner of his eyes. The watcher was taking care of two demons at a time and seemed to be doing just fine, so Spike threw himself heart and soul into the battle, dispatching the demons one after the other.
Spike was vaguely aware of what was going on on the other side of the room but didn’t pay much attention because he knew Anya and Xander could hold their own. He had looked quickly, and seen Xander hacking away happily at demons, while Anya was busy with the Chinese guy. The lawyer seemed like an old pro at sword fighting, but Anyanka was giving him a run for his money and did it with a happy smile on her face that said she was thoroughly enjoying herself. The girl sure did love a good spot of violence. Demons were going down left and right, leaving only a few standing.
The blonde vampire turned around only to be faced with the ugliest demon he had ever seen.
“Well you sure are a nasty ugly bugger mate. The world won’t miss you too much.”
Taking a swing of his sword, he decapitated the thing. The demon went down, revealing the grinning Angelus who had been standing right behind it.
“Hello there Spikey boy. Enjoying your evening?”
Spike just stood there, staring into the eyes of the one person he hated the most in this world. He felt the rage warming up his cold body. It started at his toes, slowly making its way up until he couldn’t hold the blood lust back any longer. That was the moment he had been waiting for.
“Well hello to you too Angelus.” he said through gritted teeth. “Ready to die?”
Before the brunette vampire could reply, Spike threw himself at him. Both men went down hard. The snarls and growls could be heard through the room over the sounds of the fight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow’s eyes widened when she saw the two vampires fight. She had expected this, but in her delusional mind, had secretly hoped it wouldn’t happen. Yet, there they were, completely lost in a vicious fight and seemingly unaware of their surroundings.
**Shit!**
If Spike lost sight of the big picture, they were all screwed. And as it was, it really didn’t look good. The two were now back on their feet facing each other, their blades clashing viciously.
But as worried as she was, especially after what Buffy had told her about Spike and his emotional state, she couldn’t focus only on him. Looking away from the two vampires, her gaze was drawn to the opening in the ground that would soon be the Hellmouth, and she didn’t like what she saw. Lilah was holding a blonde girl by the back of her shirt over the gapping opening in the ground. The blood was flowing freely from the girl’s throat and into the Hellmouth.
Thinking fast, Willow said a few words in Latin, then flicked her wrist. Theoretically, Lilah and the blonde girl should have flown back hard enough to crash into the wall. Nothing happened.
Willow looked puzzled for a moment, then frowned as she realized what was going on. There was no doubt in the witch’s mind that a magical barrier had been erected around Lilah and Faith to protect them.
She started working frantically on a counter spell, but knew it would take too much time. They didn’t have the luxury of time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike had let go of his sword for the moment, and his fists were now flying in a blur, turning the face of his enemy into a bloody mess. Not that he wasn’t bloody himself, but the damage he’d inflicted on Angelus was ten times worse than what he’d received. Angelus was lying on his back, taking the punishment with a smirk on his face that made Spike’s blood boil in his veins. He was out for vengeance. He knew it wasn‘t the time. He knew he should keep his head in check and that he had more important things to do, but he couldn‘t help himself. For a moment there, he just lost control and nothing else mattered, until he heard her voice in his head.
“Just promise me you will stick to the plan and you won’t get yourself killed because of Angelus.”
Spike stopped pummeling Angelus and shut his eyes tight, taking a deep calming breath. He was letting her down. She counted on him, and he was doing exactly what she asked him not to do. It wasn‘t time for revenge. It wasn‘t time for vendettas.
Looking up from Angelus’ ravaged face, Spike saw. And his mouth dropped open. Faith had started chanting.
His eyes widen as the ground started shaking underneath his feet.
**Bloody Hell--this can’t be good…**
He snickered at his own thought.
**Yeah, understatement of the year mate**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow put her hand on the wall next to her to stabilize herself as the ground shook and pieces of what was left of the roof started falling. She watched helplessly as a column of orange light shot straight up from the opening in the ground and into the night sky through a hole in the roof.
**Oh God--this can’t be good…**
She turned sharply toward where Spike was standing over the prostrated form of Angelus and yelled to try to get his attention.
“SPIKE!!!”
He was looking at Faith, and Willow could only stare as Angelus took that moment of distraction to his advantage and knock Spike’s legs from underneath him, sending him crashing to the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dawn gripped the edge of the desk next to her to keep her footing when the entire building started shaking. She shot Cordelia and Buffy a panicked look, eyes glistening with restrained tears.
“This--this doesn’t mean anything, does it? It.. Doesn’t mean they failed, right?.. Right?”
Cordelia walked to where the young girl was standing and put a comforting arm around her slender shoulder.
“It doesn’t mean anything Dawny. Even if Faith started the ritual--I’m sure the guys will find a way to stop it. We have to have faith in them. Besides, what else can we do? We have to wait.”
Buffy didn’t say a word. She only stared out the window at the orange light that now illuminated the night sky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike went down hard. He had been distracted for a second and was now paying the price. You just couldn’t be distracted around a master vampire like Angelus. The older vampire had knocked him down with his leg. Both men lunged at the sword Spike had let go of earlier, but Spike got it first and used the hilt to hit Angel and make him let go of his arm. They both stood up, facing each other.
“Time to end it poofter. I have somewhere I have to be.”
Spike threw himself at the older vamp with every intention in the world of making it quick this time. This fight had gone on for long enough and he would not let Buffy down. Not again. This time he would be the one saving the world. And he’d do it for Buffy and Dawn… Oh. And the rest of humanity--of course.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faith.
She was alone again.
It hurt.
Yeah, she could admit it now. It did hurt.
And she was scared. She hated to be scared but couldn’t help it this time around.
There was a fight going on around her. People. Believing in something. Fighting for a cause.
**What’s your cause Faith? What do you fight for? Do you believe in something? How could you believe in something if you don’t even believe in you--if you don’t believe in Faith. What about humanity girlfriend? Aren’t you part of them? Shouldn’t you be out there fighting for them… with them?**
She could feel the energy coursing through her body. But it was cold and empty. It felt evil. It shouldn’t matter though. She was supposed to like it. Wasn’t she supposed to be one of the bad guys now? Hadn’t she turned her back to her calling? She wasn‘t a Slayer anymore. That was Buffy‘s gig. It wasn‘t hers. She had no gig. Saving the world was for Slayers and she wasn‘t one.
But the small voice inside of her told her she was lying.
**You can’t turn your back on being the Slayer you idiot. It’s part of you. Whether you think you’re worthy or not. It’s not a choice and you know it. It just is. It's not like chosing to become a doctor or a fucking nun. Guess that's why you're feeling like shit right now Faithy... **
Yeah. Maybe that’s why she was stumbling over the words now. Maybe that’s why she was chanting with less conviction and hating the evil force crawling through her body.
Her voice was getting shakier as she pronounced the words.
Yeah. That was why she knew she couldn’t go through with it. But it was too late to stop now, wasn't it.
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Assessing the situation, Willow knew there was only one thing she could do.
Giles was too far from the action to be able to get anywhere near Faith in time to stop the ritual. Xander, despite the best intentions in the world, had a hard enough time surviving. He couldn’t be expected to save the day. And Anya already had too much on her hands and wouldn’t make it in time either.
She had to stop Angelus, and she had to do it now.
Taking the orb of Thesala out of her bag, Willow started chanting the words she already knew by heart, as fast as she could, all the while praying to all Gods and Goddesses that she wouldn’t be too late.
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Angelus stopped mid punch and frowned at Spike, not sure of what was happening.
“… oh shit!”
His head shot up as light went through him.
Spike tilted his head to look at the dark haired man as he dropped to his knees. It took him a few seconds to understand what was happening but then, he knew.
He stepped closer to Angel, who’s face was scrunched up in pain, and stopped in front of him. He looked down on the newly souled vampire, his chiseled features a mask of icy hatred.
“S..Spike?”
Spike cocked back his fist and slammed it into Angel’s face.
“That’s for my girl you bloody fucking wanker.”
Picking his sword up from where he had dropped it, Spike rushed towards the rogue Slayer who was still chanting, though her enthusiasm seemed to have severely dropped.
The sky was now entirely orange over their heads and the ground was shaking with increasing force. Faith was standing at the edge of the gapping hole in the ground, surrounded by a flow of light. She was alone now, the lawyer having taken cover near a wall in the back.
Spike approached Faith carefully. But before his foot touched the light, she snapped out of her trance like state and yelled at him.
“NO! Stand back. It’s gonna kill you!”
Spike hesitated. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he definitely wasn’t overly enthusiastic about going into that flow of energy.
“Trust me. You don’t want to do that. If you touch that light, you’ll burst into flames.”
They both turned as they heard Lilah shrieking Faith’s name. The woman tried to go towards them, but the floor was shaking too badly for her to keep her footing so she just kept at yelling for Faith not to stop chanting. The girl ignored her.
Spike turned back to Faith. They had looked through books, but hadn’t found anything about this ritual and he had no clue how to stop it. But… Faith knew.
The Slayer was staring down the Hellmouth, the energy making her dark hair move around her head as if she was standing on the deck of a boat on a bright sunny afternoon. She turned to look at Spike and he was startled by what he saw in her eyes. Determination. And incredible sadness.
“Run, Bleach boy. Take them out of here. And…” She choked, as if holding back a sob. “Tell her… Tell Buffy that I love her. And I’m sorry for everything.”
Tears were now flowing freely down her pretty face. And she was scared. She was scared shitless.
“Please--it’s important. I need her to know that I do love her. You two be happy, ok? And don’t do anything I would do.”
She gave him a quick smile, and before Spike could say anything, she took a graceful dive into the Hellmouth. Doing what nobody ever expected Faith to do: giving her life for the world, and erase her past mistakes.
“Will do luv. Will do…” Spike whispered with a sad smile.
But he didn’t have too much time to get sentimental. The old High School was coming down around them. Fast.
He turned around and shouted for everybody to leave the place.
“Everybody out! NOW!”
He looked up to make sure Willow would get it but she was already gone. He waited a few moment to make sure everybody was leaving, then made his way out. He passed by Angel who was still where he had left him mere moments ago, but kept on walking, not even sparing him a glance.
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The Scoobies watched in relief as Spike walked out of the building just a few moments before it went down. He walked towards where they were all waiting, carrying across his shoulder… Angel.
He dropped the unconscious vampire on the grass in front of the stunned Scoobies, giving him a swift kick in the ribs for good measure.
“Get that piece of trash away from me and tell him to be forever grateful to Cordelia Chase for loving him. If it weren’t for her, he’d be rotting under the rubble right about now.”
He turned to leave, but quickly added. “And when he regains consciousness, tell the bloody wanker that if he ever comes anywhere near Buffy or me again, I’ll do the same thing to him that he did to her… only a thousand times worst. I‘ll see you all at the hospital.”
The blonde vampire left so fast, he seemed to vanished into the night. But they couldn’t blame him. The Slayer was waiting.
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