Buffy sat curled against Giles' side, his arm around her and the guitar long forgotten. She held his hand against the growing bulge in her abdomen so he could feel the baby kick and watched his face light with joy each time the tiny infant moved.
"It's beautiful," he breathed eventually.
"It's going to be the star player at the Superbowl in twenty years," Buffy said with a grin.
"Not necessarily," Giles said. "We could be raising the next Alan Shearer in there."
"Alan who?"
"English soccer, love," he explained with a grin. "He's one of the best strikers we've had in years."
"Oh. Isn't that what I said? Soccer's like football, only the ball is rounder."
He covered his eyes and shook his head despairingly. "I don't know why I love you sometimes."
"Because I'm beautiful, funny, smart, witty, athletic . . ."
He cut her off by kissing her and they stayed engaged in that pleasurable activity for some time.
"I guess I should tease you more often," Buffy said breathlessly after a while.
"I guess you should," Giles replied.
Buffy leaned up to kiss him again but groaned as the telephone rang. They held still for a moment and relaxed when the ringing stopped.
"Where were we?" Buffy inquired with a smirk.
"Right about . . . here."
Giles was about to kiss her when the lounge door opened and Xander burst through.
"Hey, G-man, it's for you. It's the hospital," he announced, handing the telephone to the older man.
"Don't call me that," Giles said absently. "Hello?"
Whatever was said on the other end of the line made the Watcher stand suddenly, almost tipping Buffy onto the floor, and begin to pace agitatedly. The colour slowly drained from his face and he spoke in clipped, terse tones.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Buffy asked when he eventually put the phone down.
Giles ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's Faith. She's awake and has escaped from the hospital."
***
Faith looked out from behind the corner of a building to check the coast was clear. Sunnydale police had not become any more efficient over the past year but even they had to make the attempt to find her.
It had been more than a shock to find out how long she had been in her coma; it had been an unpleasant feeling close to panic. Not only had the Mayor's plans failed, she had lain in a hospital bed for a year and everyone else had carried on with their lives as though nothing had happened! The citizens of Sunnydale had no idea how close they had come to being demon-food, and by rights this place should have been hers. The girl she had 'borrowed' clothes from had been remarkably talkative about the events of the past year and Faith had felt a certain amount of satisfaction that she was still in good shape despite the year of non-movement. Admittedly she looked far paler than normal and she wanted to find some makeup to cover that up, but all considered she was feeling pretty good.
Guess the Slayer healing is useful for something, she mused.
The road was clear of people so the dark Slayer dashed across and walked quickly down the street. She had a plan and a destination in mind and nothing was going to stop her.
I want to see B's face when she hears I'm out, she thought chuckling wickedly. That'll be wicked cool. It'll almost be worth the downtime to see that. I'll bet she thought she'd graduated to the big time, killing me and all, but nothing keeps a good Slayer down forever.
She spotted the entrance she wanted and slunk through, pausing briefly to make sure no one was watching. The street was still practically deserted and Faith grinned evilly as she walked through the poorly lit courtyard. Light shone from the windows and she crouched so she could look through one of them.
What the-? Instead of seeing Buffy surrounded by her friends, all Faith could see through the window was a couple eating at a table. The man was young, blonde and wore a black shirt while the dark haired woman opposite him had her back to Faith. Where are they?
***
"She's really awake?" Xander asked.
Giles nodded and Willow sighed.
"Darn. That was our first coma ever," she lamented.
"Her timing's perfect," Buffy said, curling closer to Giles. "I'm out of action and I don't want any of you confronting her. How are we meant to stop her?"
"Look, pardon me for butting in, but what's so bloody awful about this girl?" Spike asked.
"You mean aside from the part where she's a Slayer gone psycho?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah."
"She's evil," Willow said.
"So?"
"Ok, so evil isn't a big thing for you, but she's evil in an evil way. Not in a 'I'll help Buffy 'cause I have to' way. She'd probably team up with the Commedores do Mondo if she thought there was something in it for her," the witch continued.
"Maybe she's changed," Buffy said hopefully. "She's been in a coma for a year - maybe she had time to think about what happened and wants to help. She could be lying somewhere, weak and helpless, wishing someone would help her."
"Buffy, she's evil," Willow said gently. "I know I have issues about her, but I don't think she'll change just because she's been in a coma. There's evil in her and I don't think any amount of comas will help her."
"We need a plan," said Xander.
"Going by past performances, she'll head for the biggest evil in town and sign up with them," Buffy said. "She's predictable that way."
"At the moment that would be the Commedores do Mondo," Giles said wearily. "Her timing is impeccable."
"Wrong," Spike said, shaking his head. "Those buggers will never team up with a human, even a Slayer. They don't need her and she'll be too bloody human for their tastes."
"She's a good fighter, though," Xander disagreed.
"They're better and there are more of them," Spike said.
"Come on, we kicked their butts," said Buffy.
"They let us kick their butts," Spike said. "If they hadn't wanted you to escape we'd be in a thousand bits by now."
"Spike's right," Giles said, squeezing Buffy's hand in reassurance. "They have no need of Faith's fighting abilities and if they are as anti-human as he says they are, they'd probably kill her before she could make them an offer."
"There's a plan," Xander said, brightening. "We let Faith go find them, they kill her and we can party."
"It's a little bit unethical," Giles complained.
"I like it," said Spike, grinning evilly.
"You would," said Buffy.
Anya finally stirred from her position next to Xander and spoke. "I don't see why she'd try to kill you all. You don't live where you used to and you don't go to school anymore. How's she going to find you?"
The Gang exchanged glances. "She'll find us," Buffy stated.
Giles ran a hand through his already mussed hair and pulled Buffy closer to him. "We'll have to keep up the guard on Buffy. She'll be Faith's first target and we can't put the baby at risk by letting Buffy fight her. Willow, whenever Buffy's not in class you'll both have to come to my office. Don't, under any circumstances, allow yourselves to be in deserted corridors or rooms. Amy, can you and Willow ward the house?"
The blonde witch nodded.
"Xander, you and I will have to make sure no one is left vulnerable; if any of you need to go anywhere we'll drive you."
The teenager nodded.
"Spike, I know you don't want to slay vampires but could you patrol tonight and keep an eye out for Faith? If you find her, let us know but don't do anything. We need to keep track of her and see what she does before we make any long-term decisions."
"Aren't the police going to be keeping an eye out for her?" Anya asked. "You say she's killed people; isn't that their job and not ours?"
"Anya, how long have you lived here?" Buffy asked. "The police in Sunnydale don't like to investigate anything if they can help it. They'll be doing their best *not* to see her."
"No one is to confront Faith on her own," Giles warned. "We don't need to frighten her more than she already is. Buffy may be right; the time in the coma may have changed her."
"And if it hasn't?" Xander asked.
"Ass-kicking makes a solid plan B," Willow said mildly. "We have Spike now and there are more of us than her."
***
Buffy was already in bed by the time Giles returned from his shower and she had a haunted look on her face as she sat under the quilt with her hand resting on her swelling belly. She looked up as he entered, still rubbing his damp hair dry, and he saw the shimmer of tears in her eyes. Dropping the towel, he was sitting beside her before he even had time to think and pulled her into his arms. To his surprise, Buffy burst into tears.
She cried for several minutes, barely making any noise but soaking the shoulder of the T-shirt he wore. Finally, she began to calm down and the harsh sobs reduced to sniffled hiccups. The tiny blonde woman lifted her head to reveal reddened blue eyes and tear streaked cheeks but kept her arms firmly around his waist.
"Love, what's wrong?" he asked gently.
She sniffed and looked down. "Did I do the right thing last year?"
"What do you mean?"
"When I . . . did I do the right thing? In the end, I almost got myself killed anyway and came too close to letting the Mayor win. Did . . . hurting . . . Faith do anything? Really? Was there something else I could have done?"
"You did what you thought was right at the time. I don't agree with your decision but it was the one that seemed right at the time."
"But what I did made no difference. I still almost sacrificed my life for Angel's - which in retrospect was not a good choice with the Ascension going on - and I almost killed her. How could that have been right?"
"Faith's fate was the bait you used for the Mayor, wasn't it? I doubt there was anything else that would have worked quite so efficiently against him. And the dream you had with Faith afterwards gave us the beginnings of the plan we used. In view of that, you made the right decision."
"But I almost killed her - I wanted to kill her. I became no better than her."
"Love," Giles murmured, pulling her closer, "she hurt you and you wanted revenge, but you never became her. Faith never showed any remorse for her actions but you do. You still feel guilty for what happened to Alan Finch despite the fact that you didn't strike the blow, don't you?"
Buffy nodded slowly.
"There is the difference between you."
"Rupert, I still see her in my nightmares. I see the knife, and the blood - it will never go away, will it?"
"No, love."
"I'll always wonder if there was something else I could have done - some other choice I could have made."
"You wouldn't be you if you didn't."
"Thank you."
They sat in silence for a while, Giles slowly rubbing Buffy's back and the blonde woman sheltering in his protective warmth.
"I made you all wet," she said after a while, looking at the damp patch on his shoulder.
"It'll dry," Giles said mildly.
Buffy sniffed again and he reached over to a box of tissues and gave her one. She took it gratefully and blew her nose. Giles looked down at her, with her mussed hair and big Bugs Bunny T-shirt replacing her old silk pyjamas, and began to chuckle.
"What?" she asked suspiciously.
"I was just reflecting that Faith will find things very different to when she, uh, left," he explained with a smile.
Buffy thought for a moment and smiled. "I guess she will. The last that she knew, I was with Angel and you and I barely agreed on the weather, let alone anything else."
"Things have definitely changed."
"Uh-huh. She'll probably go wild when she realises that we've got married and as for the baby . . . I can't wait to see her face."
Giles looked at her shrewdly. "You missed her, didn't you?"
Buffy looked down and began picking at the quilt. "For a while I thought I'd found someone who really understood me. She seemed to know what I felt and was going through and it was something we could share. She made me see a side of myself I've always been afraid of letting out and I'd never felt so alive before. I guess, for a while anyway, it was like having a sister who understood me better than anyone else could."
"And then she killed the deputy mayor and you lost that."
Buffy nodded slowly. "I hated her for that, and for betraying all that we were supposed to stand for. But I think she was right as well; I needed her to toe the line because I was afraid of what I'd do if I let go as well. In the end I hated her for hurting me so much, and the people I loved. But now . . . if she's changed I want to help her."
"Love, you can try but if she's not willing to accept your help . . ."
"I know." Buffy rubbed her face and took a deep breath. "This wasn't how I planned the evening to end."
Her husband smiled at her. "It wasn't what I had planned either."
"What did you have planned?"
"Nothing important now," he said lightly.
Buffy considered for a moment. "Why isn't it important?"
A light flush began to creep up his cheeks and she stifled a giggle. "It just isn't. Now, do you want to go to sleep?"
"No," she said firmly.
"It's getting late, love, and you still have college tomorrow."
"I'm not sleepy right now; I had a nap this afternoon."
"What did you have in mind then?"
She leaned up and whispered in his ear, giggling as his blush intensified.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
Buffy reached up and kissed her husband deeply.
"Faith wigged me and I need to feel you close to me," she whispered to him and kissed him again.
***
Faith woke up shivering, her joints protesting at the uncomfortable position she had been sitting in all night. Doorways were not the best place to sleep. She rubbed her eyes and looked around at the dirty alley she had found. This is not right. I should be in fancy hotels, with hot baths and as much food as I can eat. Not lying in doorways and stealing food, she thought unhappily.
Standing, she stretched to work out some of the stiffness from the cold and began to work out her plan of action for the day.
***
Buffy snuggled deeper under the covers and tried to ignore the shrilling of her alarm clock. After a few seconds she gave up and one blue eye opened to glare balefully at the offending machine. She sighed and reached up to turn it off, snuggling back into the warmth when it stopped ringing. For a few minutes she lay on her side, enjoying the warmth and the time to lightly doze. Following the mysterious disappearance of the psychology professor earlier in the year all the psychology classes had been cancelled and the students given an automatic passing grade which meant that she did not have to be up as early as usual on some days.
It took her a while to work out what was wrong, but she finally realised that the warmth she was snuggling back to was, well, warmer than it normally was this late in the morning. She wriggled and managed to awkwardly turn around.
Giles lay asleep next to her with a small smile on his face. She lightly traced his face with one fingertip and he began to stir.
"Morning," she said quietly when his green eyes opened.
"Morning love," he replied before kissing her.
She sighed as he released her, half in protest, before she remembered why she had woken him up. "Uh, sweetie, as nice as it is to find you still here, why *are* you still here? Shouldn't you be in college doing professor stuff?"
He reached out and began playing with a lock of her blonde hair as he spoke. "I don't have any classes this morning so I thought it might be nice if I drove you in today."
"Ah." Buffy considered for a moment. "This wouldn't have anything to do with Faith being on the loose would it?"
"Possibly."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Yes."
"Better." Buffy kissed him lightly before sitting up. "Well, whatever your noble intentions, I have to get going if I'm going to make it to class on time."
"Do you want to take the shower first?"
"Not really."
"I'll be five minutes," he assured her, watching with a smile as his blonde wife snuggled back under the covers despite her decision to go to class.
***
When Buffy had showered and dried she stood in front of the wardrobe trying to decide what to wear. Despite being six months pregnant she could, just, manage to disguise it with long sweaters and skirts. She was not ashamed of the baby, but she found it was easier at college if people did not have the constant reminder of her condition so she tried to play it down as much as possible. Looking out at the unseasonably cold weather she picked out a rust coloured sweater and a long brown skirt to go with it.
Shoes were slightly trickier. The bulge of the growing baby made it difficult to bend over so it required some clever manoeuvring to tie laces on shoes, but it was no longer comfortable to wear the high heels she used to wear. Instead she usually picked out knee length, flat boots with zips that were hidden beneath the long skirts. Checking herself in the mirror she decided she looked as good as she could so, with one last smoothing of her skirt, she went downstairs.
In the kitchen the scene was a familiar one. Willow sat at the table eating cereal with a sheaf of lecture notes propped up against the milk jug in front of her. Xander had a bowl of cereal, three slices of toast and a large cup of coffee in front of them and was attacking them ravenously. Her face lit up with a gentle smile as she caught sight of Giles, a book in one hand and an uneaten slice of toast in the other, paused halfway to his mouth. She walked over and took his hand so that she could steal a bite of his toast before sitting down at the table and getting a piece of her own.
He did not notice the theft and simply carried on reading and eating his toast. Buffy poured him a cup of coffee from the pot on the table and then snagged the juice carton from Xander so she could pour her own.
"Morning Buffy," the teenager said through a mouthful of cereal.
"Morning Xander. What are you doing up so early? Rupert is driving us in today."
"Someone volunteered me for the lunchtime shift. And I still have the evening shift tonight."
"Poor thing. Why don't you look for something else?"
"What else am I qualified to do? If there were a job that involved looking for demons in ancient books, eating Ho-Ho's and staking vampires I'd be an expert but nothing in the real world pays for that."
"Buffy, we need to get a move on," Willow said from behind her notes.
"Right. Moving now."
***
"So Spike didn't find her?" Willow asked as she accompanied Buffy across a college courtyard towards their class.
"No sign," Buffy agreed. "He tried everywhere I suggested and a few places I didn't know about and there wasn't a whisper."
They began to approach a crowd of people around a notice board.
"At least you're not alone on this," Willow said. "I bet every cop in Sunnydale is out there looking for her right now."
"Pressure's definitely on. If I were her I'd be getting out of Dodge post hasty."
"But you're not me," a voice said from the crowd.
Buffy turned and came face to face with Faith.
The dark Slayer eyed the blonde girl, taking in the soft sweater, long straight skirt and brown boots. "So, check you out B. Nice. The big girl on campus thing's really working for you."
Buffy in turn examined her opponent, taking in the slightly too small clothes and the makeup plastered on to hide her pallor. "I've been looking for you."
"I've been standing still for a year, B. How hard did you look?"
"Are you all right?" the blonde girl asked, projecting concern into her voice.
"Five-by-five. It's the thing about a coma. You wake up all rested and rejuvenated. And ready for payback."
"You haven't changed a bit, have you?"
"What did you think, I'd wake up and we'd go for tea? You tried to gut me, honey."
"You'd have done the same to me if you'd had the chance."
"Lets have another go at it. See who comes out on top."
Buffy felt an icy wave of fear pass over her at the idea of Faith trying to hurt her and her baby. "It doesn't have to be like this, you know."
"Actually, I think it has to be exactly like this."
"Faith, there are innocent people involved."
"No such animal."
"I guess it was too much to hope that you'd lose your downtime to reflect and grow."
"I could say the same about you. I mean you're still the better-than-thou Buffy. I mean, I knew it somehow. I kept having this same dream about, I'm not sure what it means, but in the dream this self-righteous blonde chick stabs, and you wanna know why?"
Willow slowly began to take off her backpack and edge around behind Faith. This did not look good and Faith appeared to be even less stable than she was before the coma.
"You had it coming," Buffy said, and winced inside at the harshness of her words.
"That's one interpretation. But in my dream she did it for a guy."
Holding her bag as a weapon, Willow continued edging towards Faith.
"Try it Red, and you'll lose an arm," Faith said without looking around. "I wake up and can't find the blonde chick, the guy she tried to kill me for or any of her Scooby Gang. So I think, what can have happened? Could they have all died stopping the Mayor? But no, they went to college and carried on as though nothing happened while I rotted in a hospital. So that's my dream - that and some stuff about big demons, a picnic and a few other weird things. But tell me, college girl, what does it all mean?"
"To me? Mostly that you still mouth off about things you don't understand." In the distance Buffy heard sirens and she sighed with relief. "Uh-oh, I guess someone knows you're here."
Faith heard the sirens and briefly the panic showed on her face before it was replaced with a mask of fury. Quick as lightening, she punched Buffy in the face and the blonde Slayer stumbled backwards. Willow ran towards the dark-haired girl and threw her bag at her, but she brushed it away easily and concentrated on Buffy again. She spun and kicked towards the blonde girl but she managed to duck under Faith's leg and retreat a few steps.
"Have you been slacking on your training B?" she asked as she tried another kick.
Buffy dodged back but it caught her on her thigh. She recovered quickly and tried to punch Faith but the other girl evaded her easily. Willow ran, leapt and managed to tackle Faith to the ground but the other girl threw her and she crashed into a bench several feet away.
Standing, Faith said furiously, "You took my life, B. Payback's a bitch."
Weakly, Willow panted, "Look who's talking."
"See you around," the dark Slayer said and pushed past Buffy.
A police officer ran towards her but she pushed him to the ground and continued on, over the hood of the cop's car and over the field, pushing people out of her way as she went.
Buffy considered following but acknowledged that in her condition she was lucky not to be hurt, although she would probably have a bad bruise on her leg for a day or two. Willow, on the other hand, did not look so good but a blonde girl was already crouched next to her. She walked over and offered the redhead a hand.
"Thanks, Buffy," Willow said gratefully. "I'd forgotten how strong she could be, which was really stupid I guess."
"Brave, not stupid," Buffy corrected.
"I w-w-w-would never have done it," the other blonde girl said and Buffy looked at her with interest.
"Oh, yeah, Buffy this is Tara," Willow said. "Tara, this is my friend Buffy. And that was Faith. She's a little . . . psycho."
"Oh, right," Tara said. "She's the other Slayer, right?"
Buffy and Willow gaped at Tara.
***
"So your mom told you all about vampires and Slayers and stuff?" Willow asked as she walked with Tara down the stairs from Giles' office.
It had been decided that the two witches would make a quick search of the college to see if Faith was till hanging around, although it was unlikely. It would give Giles lots of time to fuss over Buffy and the two witches would have time to talk. Most of all, it would allow Willow to work out how much the blonde girl knew and the idea of some relatively alone time with her had a lot of appeal.
"Right. I guess she figured that as I was going to college near the Hellmouth it might come up," Tara confirmed. "She didn't tell me much about Faith; just that for some reason there are now two Slayers."
"Buffy died a bit a few years ago and Kendra was Called," Willow explained.
"Kendra?"
"She was the first Second Slayer. Then she got killed and I guess Faith was Called."
"So what do we do if we find her?"
"Run, flee, maybe skeddadle. We're not here to engage; this is strictly recon."
Tara smiled at her and Willow smiled in response.
"What?" the redhead asked, wondering what had brought out that beautiful smile.
"You said recon," Tara said, her smile widening. "You sound like 'Cool Monster Fighter'!"
"Well, technically, Faith isn't a monster. And as far as fighting, I'd be lucky to bruise her fist with my face."
"Oh," Tara said, stopping suddenly with a look of dismay.
"What?" Willow asked, stopping as well.
"Face-punching, I'm not so good with the whole . . ."
She swung her clenched fist in front of her for a couple of seconds, trying to mime.
"Swimming?" Willow guessed.
"Violence."
"Don't worry," Willow said, resting her hand on the other girl's arm without realising she was doing so. "We're sure to spot Faith first. She's like this cleavagy slut-bomb walking around going, 'Ooh, check me out, I'm wicked-cool, I'm five-by-five.'"
"Five-by-five? Five-by-five what?"
"See, that's the thing. No one knows. We'll come up with a plan when we know what Faith's up to and you're plenty safe with me."
Tara patted Willow's hand gently and smiled when the redheaded girl took her hand. "So, um . . . we recon until nightfall?"
"Giles has given us passes to get out of class and they're just doing recaps of the year now, so yes. Then the ritual hiding begins. You could hide with us?"
***
Faith walked down a street after dark, her hands in her pocket, trying to come up with a plan of attack. She had no idea where Buffy lived and no idea what she would do if she did know. The whole world seemed to have left her behind. Spotting a hunting shop she began to walk towards it but stopped when she heard a siren. The dark Slayer ducked into an alley and watched as a police car drove past. Something tried to creep up behind her and she turned.
An ugly demon stood behind her with a packet. "Faith! Your friend sent me. I got a little remembrance from him."
Smiling, she looked the monster up and down. Just what I need - something to work out my frustrations.
When the demon was moaning on the ground, bleeding from several cuts, she took the packet and checked around her to make sure nobody had seen anything. Another siren sounded and Faith glanced around for an escape route. A ladder above her to a fire escape caught her attention and she jumped up to easily catch the end. She pulled herself up and quickly scaled the ladder. Glancing inside the building she grinned when she saw the dingy conference room.
"Score," she whispered.
It was the work of a couple of minutes to break in and then she could examine the packet. A video-cassette immediately caught her eye and she smiled when she saw the TV and video abandoned in the corner of the room.
Putting the video in the machine Faith watched as the screen lightened and the Mayor appeared. A lump of sadness knotted in her throat and she swallowed down tears.
"Hello Faith," the Mayor said. "If you're watching this tape, it can only mean one thing. I'm dead. And our noble campaign to bring order to the town of Sunnydale has failed. Utterly and completely. But on the other hand, heck, maybe we won. And right now, I'm on some jumbo monitor in the Richard Wilkins Museum surrounded by a bunch of kids sitting Indian style and looking up at my face filled with fear and wonder." He paused, laughed and waved. "Hi kids!"
Faith smiled sadly and watched as he continued. "But the realist in me tends to doubt it. Now, Faith, as I record this message you're sleeping. And the doctors tell me you might never wake up. I don't believe that. Sooner or later you will wake up, and when you do, you'll find the world has gone and changed on you. I wish I could make the world a better place for you to wake up in. But, tough as it is to accept, we both have to understand that even my power to protect and watch over you has its limits. See, the hard pill to swallow is that once I'm gone, your days are just plain numbered. Now, I know, you're a smart and capable young woman in charge of her own life, but the problem, Faith, is that there won't be a place in the world for you anymore. By now I bet you're feeling very much alone."
Faith nodded and wiped away a tear. "But you're never alone. You'll always have me." The Mayor picked up a box. "And you'll always have this. Go ahead. Open the box."
Looking down, Faith realised that there was a box in the packet identical to the one the Mayor held up. "Don't worry. It's not gonna bite. That's my job."
Her mentor laughed at his joke and Faith smiled sadly again. "Go ahead. Open it."
She obeyed and pulled out a strange silver device that had rings and chains attached to a small rectangular object.
"Surprise! You won't find these in any gumball machine! See, when you've been around as long as I have, you make friends. And some of them forge neat little gizmos. Just like the one you're holding right now. And here's the good news. Just because it's over for my Faith, doesn't mean she can't go out with a bang."
He looked down and laughed softly as the screen faded to black leaving Faith alone in the dark.
***
Buffy sat in the living room, curled up against Giles' side, while Willow and Amy argued in the corner with Tara looking on silently.
"It will work," Amy insisted.
"Not without something of Faith's," Willow argued.
"But there must be something," she said and threw her book down to the floor with frustration.
Spike snorted from his seat in one of the armchairs. "This girl is trained to avoid people like us. You honestly think we'll find her if she doesn't want to be found?"
"We can't let her come near Buffy again," Willow protested. "You weren't there today. She's at full strength and Buffy . . ."
"Isn't," the blonde Slayer said flatly.
"W-w-what did she do last time?" Tara asked shyly.
"Just your basic psycho routine. She hates me so she'll come after me and . . . the people I love," Buffy finished with a horrified look. "The only person she can still find is . . ."
***
Joyce hurried down the stairs as the doorbell rang a second time and opened the door.
"Hi Joyce," Faith said with an evil grin.
She pushed the older woman over easily and walked in, shutting the door behind her. "Mind if I come in?"
***
"Stay here," Giles ordered.
"No," Buffy said firmly.
"It's too dangerous."
"We're talking about my mother. I'm coming with you."
She opened the passenger door on the minivan and hoisted herself in. "I'm still the Slayer and I'm not letting her hurt my mother."
"You tell him, pet," Spike cheered from the back of the vehicle.
Giles turned and glared at the vampire. "You aren't helping."
"What a bloody shame."
"Very well," the Watcher sighed and turned to Willow, Tara and Amy standing on the sidewalk in front of the house. "Stay inside and don't let any strangers in."
"We know," Willow said, irritation apparent in her voice. "We're not amateurs any more."
"All the same-"
"Just drive," Spike snapped.
***
Joyce lay on the bed, tied up with some scarves and a curtain tie and watched as Faith went through her drawers.
"Ruby sunset . . . burgundy skyline . . . harlot. Mmmm, way to go Joyce. Now, normally I wouldn't be going for something this dark but I read in some magazine that a year in a coma can damage a girl's natural skin tone." She quickly put on the lipstick and carried on speaking, "Good thing pale is in this year. Or was it last year?"
She finished and kissed the mirror, leaving smears of red lipstick on the shiny surface. "Anyway, for real now. I wanna ask you something, and I want you to promise to be honest, and to not spare my feelings just because I could kill you. Promise?"
"I promise," Joyce said shakily.
"Ok." Faith fluffed her hair a few times. "How do I look?"
Joyce swallowed down her fear. "Psychotic."
"Mmmm, I was shooting for sultry, but hey. Bet I know what you're thinking."
"Really?"
"You're thinking 'You'll never get away with this'," she said dramatically.
"Actually, I was thinking 'My daughter's going to kill you soon'."
"That a fact?"
"More like a bet."
"Whoa, you got a pair on you Joyce, I like seeing that in a woman your age. Guess you can afford to talk that way. I mean, in the world according to Joyce, Buffy is going to come crashing through that door any minute." She flung herself onto the bed next to Joyce "But I don't think so Her bedroom is all bare, nothing left, and there isn't even a pair of her socks in the washing. She doesn't come here much at all - too busy being grown up girl at college to remember dear old Mom."
"You don't know the first thing about Buffy," Joyce chuckled. "Or me."
"Don't I? I know what it's like - you've served your purpose and now she's moved on. She does that with everyone and doesn't care. It's like the whole world is moving on and you're stuck where you are."
"Are you planning on slitting my throat any time soon?"
"Don't tell me you don't see it Joyce. You've played your part, you've squirted her out and raised her up, and now you might as well be dead. Nobody cares, nobody remembers, especially not superhero Buffy. You'll have to accept it soon; she's moved on from both of us."
The bedroom door exploded inwards with a shower of splinters and before the wood had settled Buffy stood in the room, flanked by Spike and Giles.
"Hi mom," Buffy said cheerfully. "We still on for lunch on Sunday?"
"Hi honey," Joyce said, smiling.
Faith leapt from the bed and tried to tackle Buffy but was stopped by Spike throwing her to the floor.
"What, I'm not even good enough to fight yourself?" Faith asked as she stood.
She spun and tried to kick the blonde Slayer, but again the vampire blocked her. Furious, she shoved him out into the hall and they fell through the banister, splinters of wood flying, and tumbled down the stairs.
"Hey!" Spike exclaimed. "Watch the wood!"
Faith grinned. "She moved onto the next vampire already. It'll be a pleasure to slay you."
Spike snarled and his face took on the features of the demon inhabiting him. "Like I'd want to shag a Slayer."
He lashed out with a kick and tossed the dark girl into the lounge. She stood and took up a fighting stance.
"You wish," she taunted.
They fought like creatures possessed and missed the arrival of Giles, Buffy and Joyce in the room. The Slayer's mother winced at the destruction to her house but said nothing.
Finally Faith managed to throw Spike through the glass doors to the dining room and she turned to Buffy. "Wanna try me?"
"Faith, it doesn't have to be like this," Buffy said desperately. "I want to help you."
"You want to help yourself so you're trying to get rid of me," Faith spat. "I'm not helping you."
She lashed out with another kick and Buffy stumbled back to avoid her. Giles growled furiously, surprising Buffy and Joyce, and swiftly kicked Faith following it with a punch. The dark Slayer rocked back on her heels but otherwise did not appear to notice his attack. She kicked him in the stomach and he flew back to hit the wall with a resounding thud.
"It's just you and me now, B," Faith said, bringing up her fists. "As it should be."
She spun and kicked, pulled off balance when Buffy avoided her, and reeled back as the blonde girl punched her.
"Now you're talking," she said victoriously.
Faith lashed out with a punch, which Buffy blocked, and grabbed the blonde girl's hand with her free hand. The Mayor's device was concealed in her hand and as she clasped Buffy's hand a white light shone out from their joined hands. It was brief, so short that Giles almost thought he imagined it, until he saw the shocked look on both girls' faces.
*finis*