Title: Hello Goodbye (9/12)- Faith

Author: Jeffrey Patrick

Description: The Scooby Gang undergoes separate trials in order to restore

Buffy to life.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a carrot stick and some fuzzy meatloaf.

Buffy and all related characters are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant

Enemy. It's their playground. I just ride the circle slide.

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Faith sat up straight and rigid in her bunk. It was almost midnight. It had been nearly 6 hours since Angel called. He was preparing to head to Sunnydale to warn the others. He had told her all he knew, and tried to sound confident that she would succeed at any test she was given. Beneath his voice, echoing from his heart, was the slightest hint of doubt.

She couldn't blame him. It wasn't as though she were a white hat. If anything, she was maybe a gray hat. But she had spent her time on the dark side, and hurt a lot of people. The darkness had embraced her in a way no one else ever had. It had nearly become her mother, playing opposite the mayor's father figure. But her head had since cleared, and she was travelling the long, hard road to redemption. Without Angel's guidance, she wouldn't have made it through her first few months in prison. She wasn't going to let him down. She wasn't going to let Buffy down.

She had been down that road. She had made every effort to hurt the only people that had ever even attempted to love her. Buffy had openly embraced her as a sister Slayer. Willow, though quiet, had accepted her into the Scoobies. Xander had... She had used him. That was one apology she had yet to make. Using him was bad enough, but then she nearly killed him... made him feel weak and meaningless. As she thought about the pain she had caused, a single tear ran down her face. Its warmth startled her. As much as she wanted to change, she hated feeling... the guilt, the pain, and the regret. She wiped the tear away with the back of her hand. She glanced at the clock.

11:59pm

She closed her eyes, recalling Angel's last words to her over the phone. "It's the only chance we have, Faith. The only one Buffy has. I don't know what this test will be, or what you will face. I only know that the Powers aren't going to make this easy."

"I won't let you down," she had said.

"Do your best," Angel had said. "No matter what happens, I'll be grateful that you tried."

She felt warmth on the back of her neck. She knew it had happened. Slowly opening her eyes, she found herself in the desert. The sandpaper wind burned her bare arms as it whipped around her. She covered her eyes, trying to see if she was alone. It was impossible to see.

"Hello?"

"Come," said an unfamiliar voice.

"Who's there?"

"Come."

Faith took a step toward the voice. She tried to shut out the howl of the wind. Once she found her center, she could make out the faint sounds of feet shuffling lightly over the sand. She followed.

After what seemed like hours, the wind's blowing ceased. She opened her eyes to find herself standing before a fire. It was a foreign place, yet strangely... it seemed familiar.

"Hello?"

"You are the One," the woman's voice said. "The Destroyer of Darkness."

Faith blinked. There was a young woman before her, wrapped in gauze and painted as a warrior.

"That's me," Faith said. "I'm the Slaygal. And you are? Wait..." Faith studied her, as the fire danced in the young woman's eyes. "You're a Slayer too. Were you called after Buffy died?"

"I am the first," the woman said. "The first of many."

"Wow," Faith said, obviously impressed. "Kinda got to set the standard, huh? Cool."

"You are the last," the first Slayer said.

"Wrong about that, girlfriend," Faith said, looking away. "Buffy has a chance. It's why I'm here."

"You are the last," the first Slayer repeated.

"That's not the way it works," Faith said. "One bites it, another is called."

"You are the last."

"Stop saying that."

"The last."

"Stop it!"

Suddenly, the desert was gone. Faith found herself alone in an alleyway. "What do you mean? How am I the last?"

"She means if you choose to bring back Miss Summers, the line of Slayers will never be the same. The rules will change."

Faith spun to see the last face she wanted to see. It was a face that haunted her dreams. It was the face of Alan Finch, the deputy mayor she had slain in that very alley. "H-how?"

"The old things shall pass away. Behold all things become new."

"I mean... How are you here?"

He smiled at her. "They sent me to tell you... what must be, if you are to pass the test."

"Why you?"

"As a reminder, of the worst of times," he said. "Still, another will remind you of the best of times."

"What do you mean the old things will pass away? If I bring Buffy back?" She took a step back. He was too close to her.

"You are the One," he said. "The only one, in fact. This is not the first time Miss Summers has slipped beyond the veil."

"I know that," Faith said, recalling the tale Buffy had once told her. "She drowned. Xander brought her back."

"Did he?"

"Yes. He brought her back. But a new Slayer was called the instant she died. Kendra, then me. That's how it played."

"And who was the Slayer?" he asked as though the answer were obvious. To Faith, it was.

"We both were," she said. "Buffy and I slayed together. We were sisters."

The answer seemed to surprise him. "You believe that?"

Faith looked away.

"There can be only one," he said. "One girl in all the world, chosen to stem the tide of darkness."

"Well, B has never been one to play by the rules," Faith said. "There were two Slayers. End of story."

"Not by a long shot," he said quietly. "When Buffy died, Kendra was called. She was the Slayer. The One. When she died, you were called."

"But Buffy was still the Slayer," Faith said. "She was strong. Put me in a damn coma, not that I didn't deserve it. If that wasn't Slayer power, I don't know what it was."

"That's the first smart thing you've said," the deputy mayor explained. "You DON'T know what it was."

"That's... impossible."

"She died, the power passed to Kendra. If what you believed were true, why wouldn't she and Buffy, or you and Buffy for that matter, be only half as strong as previous Slayers?"

"I think I should take it from here, Alan," said a familiar voice.

Suddenly, Faith found herself in her old apartment. The one that had been a gift from..."

"My pretty little Faith," Mayor Wilkins said, as Faith turned to see him. "It appears as though prison has been hard on you. Just look at that drab uniform. Blue is just not your color."

Faith looked away. She couldn't bear looking in his eyes. He stepped behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Come now, Faith. Surely we can find a way to turn that frown upside down!"

"Don't," she said.

"Don't what, Faith?"

"Don't talk to me like you're my..."

"Father?" Richard Wilkins kissed the back of her head. "For all intents and purposes, I am. I saved you."

"Saved me?" She turned to face him, only glancing up briefly at his eyes. "From what?"

"From mediocrity," he said with his patented smile. "The other Slayers, including our young Miss Summers, were too preoccupied with the common man to realize their true potential. But not my Faith. You had the edge, little girl. Can't let it dull now."

"I loved you," she said, meeting his gaze. A slight smile crept across her face. "You made me feel like... like I was loved."

"You were loved, sunshine," he said with a wink. "And what a team we were! I'm sorry you missed graduation day. I think my speech might've been on the dull side. It seemed the kids were just dying to get out of there!" His smile grew wider, and he chuckled.

Faith looked away. The smallest hint of a smile had appeared on her face, but her heart had turned cold. "It was wrong. I knew it. I just wanted someone..."

"To understand you," he finished. "I did. I was always there for you, Faith. They all deserted you. The little blonde girl and her hooligan friends... where were they when you needed them?"

"I turned them away," Faith said. "I was the bruiser. I was the Bluto."

"I believe you mean Brutus, Faith."

"Whatever. Let me bottom line it for you, Mayor. I was... wrong. WE were wrong. I'll never go back to that."

"So what do you think will happen, Faith? Think the Summers girl will ever accept you? Think she'll let you back in? Into her circle? Into her heart?"

"After what I did? No. I don't imagine she ever will. B's got a big heart, but every gal has her limit." She turned around and stared at the moon. "But the night is young, and so am I. I'll find my place."

"In a prison?" he asked. "Faith, you can be somebody. You have the power. They want to strip it from you. They want to take the only thing you have left."

She looked back at him. "What are you talking about?"

"That's the test, Faith." He stepped closer to her, and put his right hand on her left shoulder. "You heard what that strange little girl in the bandages said... and poor Alan. You are the last of your kind, Faith. There is power in you... flowing greater than it has in the others."

"How can I be the last?" He looked away for a second, as though he wanted to hide it. She grabbed his arm and turned him forcibly back toward her. She knew that even he would have to play by the rules this time. "Tell me."

He grinned. "Good girl. You always have known how to make the most of your surroundings."

"Give."

"Patience is a virtue, Faith."

She glared at him. He smiled. "Okay, okay... I never could say no to you. When that hideous creature called the Master, drowned young Miss Summers, what do you suppose happened to the Slayer powers?"

"They went to Kendra."

"Correct. And when she died?"

"They came to me."

"Correct again. So when Buffy was brought back by that slacker Harris, who was the Slayer? Kendra or Buffy?"

Faith looked at him puzzled. "They... they both were."

"WRONG!" he shouted in a sing-song voice. He grinned at her, and lowered his voice. "Was Buffy less powerful than before?"

"No," Faith said. "If anything, she kicked even more ass, to hear her tell it."

"And how could that be?" he asked. "If they were both the Slayer, they shared the power, which they clearly did not."

"Okay, stop it with the head games. Just... tell me the truth."

"When Miss Summers died, the Slayer moved on, leaving only a trace of its essence in her. When the boy brought her back, something dark latched onto her... taking the form of the Slayer spirit to mask itself. I saw it in her. So did you. She was fighting it back, but it would overtake her one day."

Faith turned away. "Why?"

"It had some plan, I assume. We all have our plans, Faith. Whatever it was planning, it must involve her still. When they bring her back, the Powers will allow it to grow in her still, if they must. But they fear what it means for them... for the world."

"Then why? Why bring her back at all?"

"They risk one darkness to stop another. Whatever her dark purpose is, Faith, it involves the Key. The darkness convinced your little blonde friend that death was her gift. It got Glory and Miss Summers out of the picture."

"But if they want to use her..."

"Why destroy her? Simple, Faith. To add more darkness to the mix. If she comes back without your gift... and the others, the darkness will overwhelm her. She will be the darkest thing this mudball has ever seen. I'd kind of like to see it myself, but the powers want you to step up to the plate. They want you to be the last... in order to make Buffy the first."

"The first?"

"Of a new breed of Slayer. The old things pass away..."

"All things become new."

"Something like that. But think about it carefully, Faith. If you do what they want..."

"I won't be the Slayer. They want me to give it to B. Give up...everything."

"Everything that makes you special," he reminded her. "Everything that sets you above the rest."

Faith found a crate beside the dumpster in the alley. She took aseat. "They want my powers?"

"They want a new kind of Slayer. They know if Buffy possesses both the darkness AND the Slayer spirit... well, she'll achieve balance... be more effective. They don't think my Faith is worthy."

Faith put her head in her hands, but said nothing.

"You and I both know it doesn't have to be this way," Wilkins said. "You hold the power here, Faith. They can't strip it from you. You can keep things the way they are."

She looked up at him with anger in her tear-dimmed eyes. "The way they are? The way they ARE?"

"Now, Faith, there's no need to raise your voice."

"I don't like things the way they are! I'm in freakin' jail! I hurt people... because YOU asked me to. I practically destroyed everyone that gave a damn about me, because... I felt like I was better than everyone else."

"You WERE better."

"No. I'll do it... whatever it takes. Bring Buffy back."

"You could go down in history, Faith. You could make your mark in blood and ash."

"I'd rather be on Buffy's speed dial."

He smiled at her. "This is no joke Faith. If you agree to this, you won't be the Slayer anymore. You'll be weak."

"I'll be me," she said flatly, "only with a little more of my soul back... a little more light in my heart." She grinned. "Listen to me. Sounds like I might break out in song any minute like in one of those fruity musicals."

He chuckled. "Yes, well... I suppose that wouldn't be such a bad thing. I just want you to be happy, Faith. Fathers can't help but want their children to follow in their steps."

"I need to find my own steps," she said. "Take it from me. Make me normal."

"Why Faith?"

"Because even if I could be sure I would do the right thing, I could never be the hero that B is. It was her nature. What makes her a great Slayer is that... well, she's B. I owe her more than I even want to think about. Giving this up won't quite help me break even, but it's a good start. The Slayer isn't me; I'm the Slayer. As long as the boogiemen are out there, I'll fight... powers or no powers. So take 'em, and bring Buffy back."

He smiled at her, and she felt a tingling sensation all over her body. She knew it was happening. When it was over, she glanced up at the moon and smiled. "Thanks."

Richard Wilkins ran his hand over the top of Faith's head. "Are you going to be okay, Faith?"

She smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the affection. "You know me. Always five by five."

"I have to go now, as do you, " he said, kissing the top of her head. "Oddly, I find myself... proud of you, Faith. And I want you to know..."

She smiled at him. He was struggling to find the words. "It's okay," she said. "I love you, too." He returned her smile as he faded from view.