The occupants of the room sat in shocked silence as Faith glided in, shutting the door behind her. She crossed her arms as she made her way over to the couch, her eyes hardening slightly in suspicion when no one said anything. "What's the matter? Demon come and cut out all your tongues?"
Giles was the first to snap out of the trance, although he appeared nervous and apprehensive of the girl in front of him. Willow prayed they'd all be able to handle this without something serious happening to any of them. "Fa-Buffy," he stammered, quickly covering his mistake. "What are you doing here?"
"So now I'm not part of the fan club?" Faith asked, turning Buffy's lips into a pout. "I came to see if there was anything you wanted me to fight. Any dangers? Demons? I could use a good kill right about now." There was an edge to her voice that everyone caught. Her gaze burned into each of them in turn, and each repressed the urge to shudder at the veiled hate in the heat of her eyes. None of them had been prepared for this, and it was obvious they were unsure of what to do. They had no plan, no idea of what to do, no insight into how Faith had done it. It was scary to be this unprepared.
"Haven't you done enough?" Riley demanded, staring back at her in disgust. Willow exchanged a glance with Giles, inclining her head slightly. This was an incredibly delicate time, they could not let Faith know that they knew what happened. With that in mind, she grabbed Riley's hand as she stood hastily.
"Come on, Riley, I need you to go over this paper I have for psych," she said, pulling him in the direction of the bathroom. He looked confused for a moment before realizing her plan and fighting her.
"I can't leave them alone with her," he whispered fiercely, leaning down to look her in the eye. Willow's stare locked on his.
"Yes, you can," she hissed before raising her voice so everyone else could hear. "C'mon, Riley, I know you love the girl but you won't be away from her long," she said, putting a whine in her voice to make it sound genuine. The commando hesitated, glancing back over his shoulder at Faith, who blew him a kiss that could only be described as mocking. His shoulders straightened at that and he followed Willow without complaint.
"Wait, why are we going into the bathroom?" he asked as they entered.
"That's where my paper is."
"The bathroom?!" he repeated.
"I was...being creative," Willow replied, slamming the door shut behind them.
Faith raised an eyebrow at their odd behavior but said nothing, trying very hard not to roll her eyes at their stupidity. Now she remembered why she hated them so much...
She surveyed the room calmly, coolly. Like she was in complete control of everything... Her hand trailed over the bookcase as she made her way around to stand in front of Xander, Anya, and Giles. Spike glanced over his shoulder at the closed bathroom door, hearing furious whispers, before turning his head back and looking at Faith.
"Shouldn't you be worried that Red's gonna steal your precious boytoy?" he sneered, taking a swig of blood. Faith smirked at him, her gaze shifting coldly to Tara. The one thing no one ever gave her credit for was her perceptiveness. It was obvious that the little witch wanted this new girl...who was Faith to give up an opportunity like that?
"I don't think I have anything to worry about. Willow seems to be...moving into uncharted territory," she replied, her gaze locked with the witch's. The other girl was nervous, and she could tell by the way her eyes bulged a little and her spine tightened as Faith held her gaze. Tara remained silent, though, because it was not her place to get involved. Faith finally dropped it after that hint, focusing on Xander. "And how are you feeling this morning, Xand? You look like you were hit by a Mac truck."
Xander shifted at her smirk. "Well, in a way I was," he replied, his eyes moving up and down her leather-clad body. Faith's grin widened, and she preened for him.
"How do you know what Xander looked like last night?" Anya demanded, eyeing the other girl warily. Faith laughed and stretched her hands over her head.
"I just met up with him on the street. Made sure he got home safely. It is my job to protect him, after all. You should be thankful," Faith said, licking her lips. "If it hadn't been for me, your poor boy might've been taken advantage of."
Xander's hands were clenched together, and his knuckles were white from the pressure. He couldn't even look at her without being disgusted, and to know that she had stolen Buffy's body...and that he hadn't been able to tell... He shuddered in disgust, not sure if it was because of her or himself. Probably both.
Faith clapped her hands together suddenly, making everyone in the room jump nervously. She rubbed them together, looking like one of those cheesy villains from a bad movie. She perched herself on the arm of one of the chairs and looked up at Giles expectantly. "So? Anything that needs to be killed?"
Giles was quiet for a moment, gathering himself. It was incredibly uncomfortable for him to look into his Slayer's eyes and see someone else's soul inhabiting her body. And for that someone to be the one who had betrayed her sacred duty, and them...it was unnerving, to say the least.
"Come on, Giles!" she cried, throwing her hands up. "Either you aren't looking hard enough or there's something major--like, say, the end of the world, *again*--and you think it's fun to play twenty questions about it. Where should I start?? Is it a demon? Vampire? Vegetable?"
"That's enough," Giles snapped, tearing his glasses off. Faith quieted, and pursed her lips together like she had seen Buffy do a thousand times when she got yelled at. "Sorry," the Watcher said, shaking his head to clear the anger. "I didn't get much sleep last night."
"I can see," Faith acknowledged. "Rough night at the office? Oh, wait, you don't work anymore, do you?" She smirked and tossed Buffy's hair over her shoulder. It was obvious by his laid-back manner and the fact that the place of his employment had been all but demolished that the Watcher was now among the unemployed. There was that sixth sense that no one gave her credit for...
Her hand crept down to absentmindedly rub her belly, the slight bulge incredibly noticeable now that she knew Buffy's dark little secret. Tara's gaze followed her hand as it swept back and forth across Buffy's stomach, her eyes widening in shock. Tara could feel things, feel people. She gasped softly when she felt the presence of two small lives under Faith's hand, wincing when they turned uneasily away from the gesture. Her eyes shot back up to look at Faith, but the witch said nothing. Buffy was pregnant.
Buffy was *pregnant*. And the question of by whom quickly turned into whether or not Riley knew. Tara was guessing not by the way he was acting. An expectant father would be just a little more hysterical if he found out the woman he had created a child with had switched bodies with her worst enemy.
Tara sat in her silence, mulling over the new development.
"There's a new demon in town, or so I've been told by our dear friend Spike," Giles said with sarcasm, ignoring Faith's comments. "It's staying in the caves by the beach, gathering its strength."
"For what? Is it gonna do some kind of evil thing soon or just sit around like all the other stupid demons and wait for me to kill it?" she asked, faking a yawn. Giles' mouth tightened noticeably.
"It's a Bateryifan demon, and can be killed by decapitation. I want you to go out there and kill it and report back to me," he said harshly. Faith raised an eyebrow.
"Is this the part where I salute?" she asked sarcastically. Giles ignored her, going over to rummage through his weapons trunk before withdrawing a sword. He tossed it to her, a little harder than necessary. Perhaps hoping he "accidentally" sliced off a body part in the process... "Am I dismissed?" she asked mockingly.
"Just do what you're told for once, Buffy," Giles said exasperatedly. Faith rolled her eyes and sighed.
"All right, I'll go kill your little Bat demon," she said, swinging the sword over her shoulder. "Is he gonna be hanging from the top of the cave or something?"
"Try not to kill anyone this time," Anya called sweetly as Faith headed for the door. The Slayer stopped dead in her tracks and turned around slowly, a menacing look on her face.
"I've never killed anyone before. Why would I start now?" Faith asked, her gaze cold. Anya glared at her but said nothing. Spike sat in his chair, smirking as he concentrated on his soap. Faith turned and stalked out of the house, slamming the door shut behind her.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, sending an armed psycho out there?" Xander demanded as soon as she was gone. Giles wiped his brow with a handkerchief as Willow and Riley stepped hesitantly out of the bathroom.
"Where is she?" Riley asked, looking around.
"Oh, Giles sent her out with a big sword to go find some nonexistent demon," Xander muttered, leaning back into the couch and closing his eyes. Had that really just happened? How in the world had he stayed so calm? After everything that had happened, after all she'd done...after all he'd done... Ah, the benefits of shock...
"What?!" Willow cried. "Did you have a momentarily lapse of insanity?"
"We needed her gone," Giles explained, turning to them as the adrenaline drained from his body, leaving him pale and visibly shaking.
Anya spoke up. "Spike, you're being really quiet. Which usually means you're going to try to do something stupid and embarrassing." He turned around to glare at her.
"You think I was gonna interrupt that? That was some quality entertainment," the vampire said, gesturing to the door with his cup. "I think I'll stick around and see what else you get yourselves into."
"Back to the whole you-let-Faith-have-a-big-sword-in-public thing," Xander said, ignoring the vampire, "again, I say: what were you thinking?!"
"We need to devise a plan. We simply can't do that with her here. This buys us time to figure out exactly how we're going to restrain her until we get some answers."
"And if she hurts someone? What then?" Tara asked quietly. Giles looked down at her, his face pale and drawn with exhaustion and nervousness.
"That's a risk we have to take."
"Can we afford to?" Xander asked, his brown eyes large with fear and guilt.
Giles sighed warily and dropped into the nearest chair. "We don't have a choice."
*~*
They each had their jobs. Willow and Tara found something to render Faith helpless, enabling them to transport her to L.A. quickly and safely. Xander helped them, following their directions as they mixed a potion that, when consumed, would put her out long enough for them to contain her. Anya was flipping through Giles' spiritual books with a bored expression on her face, continuously looking for some kind of spell to reverse it. Riley had been called to the Initiative, but promised to return as soon as he possibly could. Giles oversaw them all, researching as well.
Spike sat, watching his soap opera with a smirk on his face.
"Almost done!" Willow shouted excitedly from her spot at the kitchen counter. Giles rose from his seat and went over to the small kitchen to oversee the final touches. "This particular one will knock her out for a good five minutes."
"Why doesn't it work for longer?" Anya asked from her seat on the couch. "Shouldn't we use something that'll keep her asleep for a long time?"
"We would," Giles said, "but anything longer could bring harmful consequences to Buffy's body. Had the circumstances been different, I wouldn't hesitate to use a more effective one. However, we merely need her out long enough to tie her up and gag her so that--"
"Geez, I don't need the encyclopedia version," Anya said with a roll of her eyes. "Why do you always take so long to explain things?"
Giles ignored her, instead peering into the kitchen to check on Xander's progress. Tara stood next to the stove, slowly stirring a bubbling liquid as she flipped through the book Willow brought her. Xander looked at it over her shoulder, his eyes bulging slightly.
"Are we almost done with the sage? It's making my eyes burn," Xander said, looking from the counter where he was presently cutting it up to the book again. "The only thing we don't have is the newt eye. Why does everything need a newt eye?"
Tara smiled at him. She seemed much more relaxed now, obviously in her element. She knew what she was doing, and she was good at it, unlike before when she had been nervous about Faith. "The sage is good, it's burning because I blessed it. I did a spell like this on my sister once, and didn't bless it beforehand. She didn't really appreciate that..." Tara trailed off, a smile on her face at the memory. "I didn't want to screw it up this time and accidentally have her become possessed by a demon or something."
"In a way, it wouldn't be much different from what's happening now," Willow smiled, taking some of the sage and sprinkling it into the mixture. It hissed and spat as Tara continued stirring.
"You know, for a little innocent sleeping potion, that sure does look sinister," Xander said as he watched it.
Tara looked at it, then sheepishly turned down the heat. "That would be because it's too hot," she said, her cheeks turning a rosy color.
"Question," Anya called from the living room. Giles turned around to regard her with barely veiled annoyance. "How do you know that we need Faith here to perform the ritual? The ritual which, by the way, isn't in here."
"Keep looking, there has to be something," Giles said, rubbing his tired eyes. "And it's a good bet that because they had to be together when she did it, they'll need to be together to switch back."
"Plus it's better to have her tied and gagged. That way we know she isn't out killing anybody or making alliances with people whose goals include becoming giant snakes and eating the town's population, 'cause, gee, that hasn't happened before," Xander piped in. Giles sighed and ran a hand through his tousled hair.
"Giles, do you have any eye o' newt laying around?" Willow asked. Giles nodded, pointing to the top cabinet.
"I believe I have some left over from the last spell we performed."
"Oh, and some more blood would be great, mate," Spike called, his coffee cup dangling from his fingers. Giles shot a withering look at the back of his bleached head.
"And you also have two hands and feet, and are quite capable - despite your inability to bite people. If you insist on staying here and getting in the way, at least get it yourself," Giles said as he sat back down at his desk and lifted the top book off the small pile, setting it down in his lap and opening it.
"Why, Rupert, getting touchy in your old age? C'mon, it's not like I ask for much. Money, blood sometimes, maybe help getting this bloody chip out of my head... Just pour it in and warm it up. I'm in the mood for a pint of 'O'..." When he realized no one was listening to him, Spike turned to whining. "Red? C'mon, be a good witch and help me out."
"Bite me, Spike," Willow called sweetly from the kitchen. Spike gritted his teeth.
"Believe me, I would if I could. You'd be the first one, pet," he replied, setting his cup on the coffee table in resignation. He'd get it later, during the commercial...
"It's done," Willow called from the kitchen as she lifted the pot off the stove and set it down on the counter. "What are we putting it in?"
"There should be a can of that awful soda Faith loved to drink somewhere in the kitchen. Pour it into a glass and add the soda," Giles called. Xander found the can of Jolt and handed it to Tara. She did as Giles said, swirling it slowly. Xander watched it slosh around the glass gently, seemingly mesmerized by it.
"And this will work?" Xander asked, his eyebrow raised skeptically. Willow shot him a look.
"Yes, Xander, it'll work just as well as we said it would five minutes ago," she said, exasperated. Xander half-smiled at her, his gaze clouded with worry. "You okay?" Willow asked, moving over to give his hand a squeeze. "You don't look too good today?"
"Rough night," he said. Well, it had been. And he wasn't about to deal with it now. Later was good. Later would make it hurt less. Why do today what you could put off until tomorrow? Or, in Xander's case, never...
Willow didn't seem to notice his inner turmoil, or if she did she didn't comment on it. She merely patted his arm and side-stepped him to exit the kitchen. Xander followed her out. Anya had moved, and was now curled up on the arm of Spike's car, staring at the television intently. Xander raised his eyebrow.
"Should I be worried, or just creeped out?" he asked, looking between the two. Anya turned her head to look at him and smiled.
"Relax, it's not like he can bite me or anything," she said, snuggling closer to the vampire. "And he makes a good pillow." Spike smirked at Xander, but said nothing, which made him skeptical. He didn't comment on it, though, already too tired to worry.
Tara came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray of drinks. She set one carefully on the center of the table before handing one to each of them in turn. "I figured we could use some caffeine," she said as she sat down next to Willow on the couch, taking a long sip. "Plus it won't look too suspicious when she gets back and we want her to drink something by herself."
Giles smiled at her in thanks, glad that she seemed to have joined their small family. Tara had a good head on her shoulders, and was extremely knowledgeable about witchcraft. She might be shy when it came to meeting people, but she added to the dynamic of the group and was quickly becoming part of the team. They seemed to accept her as one of their own, and he was glad to see it. Another Wiccan in the group could only help.
"Xander, I'd like for you to check in the 'Irizene Maglione' for something, it was written by a monk who had experience with souls," Giles said as he got back into his research, pointing Xander towards the bookshelf. Willow and Tara had already each picked up book and were thumbing through them. He almost gave a book to Anya, but thought better of it. She'd only whine, and he didn't need that right now. What he needed was for the incantation they needed to just fall into his lap...
The door banged open, and Faith walked into the room. The sword at her side was red with crusty blood and gore and green with what appeared to be slime. The fact that it had been used was not lost on any of them. They regarded her with a calculating calm, the tension and coldness in the room building as she shrugged off her jacket to reveal a skimpy halter top and dropped the sword.
"Well, I got your demon," she said cheerfully. "Don't know if it was the one you wanted, but...hey, it's one less I have to fight later on."
"What did it look like?" Giles asked, taking off his glasses to stare at her. His brown eyes pierced her, and she could feel the hostility. Faith raised an eyebrow. Buffy must have done something to piss him off...
"Slimy, tall, slimy, green hair...did I mention he was slimy?" she joked.
"Several times," Giles said coolly. Faith's mouth tightened for a moment at his somewhat menacing tone, but she let it slide. He'd get what was coming to him. They all would.
Buffy and Angel especially.
"Tough room," she observed, circling the desk and walking over to the back of the couch. She leaned against the back of it, her hand brushing against the back of Xander's neck. It was a calculated move, and got the desired result. He shot up like he'd been stung and turned around to quickly face her, fear and guilt in his eyes. She winked at him and smiled lewdly.
"Here, Buffy," Willow said a bit too cheerfully, handing Faith the glass. "We figured that you'd want something to drink after all the slaying and death."
"Thanks," she said absentmindedly, her eyes moving around the room. "But we all know what slaying really does to me. What I really want is...hey, where's the boytoy?"
"Official commando business," Spike said from his chair. "Probably needed their permission to take a piss."
"Now that you mention it, he always seems way too happy when he gets one of those annoying beepy things," Anya observed, tilting her head to look down at Spike. "He's as whipped as Xander, only he doesn't get to have sex as a reward."
"Don't say that, Anya, we don't know what happens in that frat house after dark. And hey!" Xander snapped in his own defense. "I'm not whipped. I'm just..."
"In it for the sex?" Faith sneered. "It happens."
"You would know," he muttered.
"What?" she demanded, her tone hard and her eyes ablaze with suspicion.
"Nothing," he replied sweetly, sitting on his hands when he realized they had begun to shake.
"So what're we researching today?" she asked, plucking the book out of Tara's hands. "'The Soul's Journey'. What is it, some thirteenth-century romance novel?"
Tara turned around to stare up at her, her gaze cool and collected. Faith held it for a moment before beginning to feel uncomfortable. Tara's eyes burned into hers, and Faith got the unnerving feeling that the witch knew what had happened... She shrugged it off. Even if she did, there was no way they'd believe her.
Faith broke Tara's gaze and took a sip of her soda. She took another, gulping it down in an effort to regain her composure. What was the matter with her? It's not like Tara could tell, anyway. No one could. Buffy was in England, probably getting the Slayer Handbook shoved down her throat by those Watcher's Council bastards, and no one else knew.
No one knew.
She finished the last of the soda and wiped at the dribble that her slurping had caused before it reached the base of her chin.
Get a grip, Faith! she snapped at herself. Don't let them get to you. They're nothing. NOTHING.
Looking up, she realized that they were all staring at her. The world seemed to slow down in the next few seconds, and she felt uncomfortable and claustrophobic in the room. It was as though she was aware of every corner, every shadow, every nook and cranny... The room was still, quiet save for some melodramatic actress pouring her heart out on the television. And then it began to spin.
She squirmed under the intense, hostile looks they were giving her, suddenly feeling faint. The curtains were closed, and yet she felt as though she was standing under the hot sun in the middle of the desert. Faith squinted against the glare from the lamp on the desk. She felt hot and nauseous, and was aware only of the blood pounding through her veins. She heard her labored breathing, it drowned out the television and the dripping faucet and the cars outside. It was all she could hear, it was all she could detect. It was like she was being stripped of her senses...
Too late, she realized what was going on. The glass slipped from her hand, and she could hear it falling. It shattered against the wood floor, but she paid it no mind. The room spun faster and faster, even though it seemed as though everything was happening in slow motion. Their smirking faces blended together in the haze of color, the image burned into her mind forever. She tried to speak but her mouth was dry and she couldn't move her tongue. With a curse on her lips, she fell as her knees gave out, hitting the floor with a sickening crunch.
They knew.
All her plans, her ideas for the baby...her revenge. They were taking them away. Her life spun out of control in those last few moments of consciousness, and Faith was powerless to stop it
They knew.
The world went black.
TBC…
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