Chapter Eight
Faith was perched in a tree waiting for just the right moment. Buffy was also sitting in a tree, but her job was much different. She was supposed to sit quietly and stay out of sight, a plan Faith could only hope she would follow. There was of course, not even the slightest guarantee of that.
Buffy's mind was beginning to clear, but although she had longer and longer flashes of coherence, she was still extremely confused most of the time. She went in and out, and now would be absolutely the worst time for her to have a bout of the crazies. It would bring them nothing but more trouble than they currently had, and Faith knew what they had was already more than enough to deal with.
Physically Buffy was still way below par. For the last three days Faith had been lugging her around, moving almost constantly in an attempt to stay hidden and on the loose. Buffy was able to walk for short periods of time, and Faith was letting her stretch those out a little longer every day in an effort to rebuild her strength and stamina. It was working...slowly.
It was the mind thing though, that had Faith most on edge. If Buffy kept getting stronger and her mind remained cloudy, well they were going to have a real situation on their hands. Buffy was already dangerous enough, there was no way Faith was looking forward to trying to take her on when she was closer to full strength. Handling her now was a big enough challenge and Faith had no desire to see things escalate.
But right now she couldn't worry about any of that. Right now her focus had to be on the five vampires grouped in the little clearing below. They were searching for any sign of the Slayers, and they'd been coming uncomfortably close for the last few hours now. Faith knew she had to take them out, but she also knew it wasn't going to be easy.
They were big, they were fast, and they seemed much more professional than the usual vamps. Apparently Spiran was sending out a higher quality flunkey as the time ticked away.
"Let's spread out, but not too far. We know they had to have been here so..."
"I've got something!"
The vampires gathered around eagerly.
"Jones, can you tell..."
"They're both moving, but one's still hurt. You can tell from the way these impressions change in depth that she's favoring her right side. Every step's causing her a lot of pain."
"Okay, look alert. Most likely they're someplace close and..."
The crossbow bolt ended his sentence prematurely, and as the others tried to comprehend the fact that their leader was now just dust, another looked down to see that she had a stake embedded in her heart.
Faith was among them then, having leapt to the ground as she threw the stake. Three to one were much better odds, but these vampires were tough and they fought together like a finely trained unit. She was taking as good as she gave, but she finally managed to dust another one.
The maneuver she'd performed to get herself into staking position was brilliant, but it ended with her foot grazing an exposed tree root upon landing. She stumbled just slightly, but that was the break the two remaining vampires needed. Before she could regain her balance, they were on her.
The largest one grabbed her from behind and quickly yanked her arms up into a full nelson. With her upper body immobilized, Faith tried to bring her legs up to flip herself over him, but he whirled her around and slammed her hard into a tree. The second vampire kicked her legs out from under her, throwing her painfully off balance.
"Well, well, well, looks like somebody's caught."
Faith continued to struggle, but he merely tightened his grip, straining her shoulders to the max. She bit down hard on her lip to avoid making any noise, but her extreme discomfort was obvious.
"Now we've got some questions for you, and you've got a couple of choices to pick from. Choice # 1: You can answer us and then we'll drain you quick. Choice # 2: Well this choice isn't so nice. It involves torturing you until you tell us what we want to know, and then we'll drain you quick. So, which one is it going to be?"
"Kiss my ass, fuckhead."
"Choice # 2 it is then. Let's start simple, okay? Is your name Faith?"
"..."
"Boss says it is, but I like to get confirmation whenever I can."
"..."
"I'm going to have to insist that you answer me."
"Yeah? How 'bout you go fuck..."
Her insult ended in a yell as the vampire in front of her lifted her shirt, flicked on a lighter, and held the flame against the bare skin of her stomach.
"Faith...can I call you 'Faith'? I'll bet that really hurt. Maybe we should just cut to the chase."
"Sounds great."
"See, there's really only one question we need answered. Why don't we just focus on that, and let all this other stuff go. You ready?"
"For sure."
"Good. So where's the other Slayer?"
"No clue. We got separated and..."
Faith screamed this time as the flames burned along her abdomen for at least fifteen seconds.
"One of the guys you killed? He was an expert tracker and he'd been reading your tracks for hours. They led us right to this spot, pretty neat, huh? Man, I wish I had a skill like that...Anyway, I'll ask you again Faith, where is the other Slayer?"
"..."
"So you want to see your skin turn black?"
"..."
"Fine. Light her up and don't stop until I say so."
"...No, wait! I'll tell ya, alright? The bitch nailed me about twenty minutes ago and hightailed it with our supplies."
"Hmm...I should have told you that the Boss is just about positive that killing you won't affect the barrier in the slightest. Now the other one? Well she's the one we have to keep alive, nobody really gives a shit about you. We can torture you until we get the info we need, then we can drain every delicious drop from your body. See for days now, all we've had is animal blood...I can't begin to tell you how good Slayer blood sounds."
He slammed the side of her head into a tree, and for a second the world went black as she fought to remain conscious.
"Last chance bitch...Where's the Slayer?"
"I'm right here."
A crossbow arrow caught him in the left cheek, the only open spot Buffy could see. He screamed, well actually gurgled, and let go of Faith. She punched the other vampire, knocking him onto his back several feet away, then spun and pulled the arrow from "Mr. Big Talk's" face. He screamed again as it was pulled clear, and Faith continued with the motion, throwing the arrow through the other vamp's heart as he struggled to rise to his feet.
The last vampire took the opportunity to run for his life, but another arrow from the crossbow caught him in the leg, knocking him to the ground. Faith was on him then, and she had him secured in just seconds. She turned to see Buffy notching another arrow as she limped her way over painfully. Their eyes met and Faith could have jumped for joy when she saw how clear Buffy's were.
"Hiya B."
"Hey F."
"It's good to have ya back."
"It's good to be back. I guess we need to talk."
"Absolutely, but first..."
Buffy followed Faith's gaze to the vampire cowering on the ground.
"Oh right. I'm sorry, where are my manners? I wouldn't want our guest to think I'm rude."
"Yeah, I'm thinking this pincushion's got plenty of info to share."
"I don't know any...Aarrgghh!!"
"Hope for your sake that's not true. Know what floors me pal?"
"N...No."
"What floors me is just how fucking fast the tables can turn. Makes a girl dizzy just tryin' to hang on."
The vampire was groaning and pleading already as Faith persistently twirled the arrow that was still protruding from his leg.
"Please, I don't know anything!"
"Real shame in a way, you taking this approach. See, I can keep doing this forever. And if I finally get tired? Well, pretty sure The Slayer here wouldn't mind dishing out a little payback. Thinking she's kind pissed, ya know?"
"Really, I swear I don't know..."
His words were lost when Faith pushed the arrow in deeper. Buffy leaned in close, her eyes offering only misery and death:
"Here's your choice: tell us what you know and we'll dust you quick. Keep stalling and I am personally going to do to you what your boss did to me."
"Wh...What do you want to know?"
Faith took charge again:
"So what's he know about me?"
"Nothing really, just what she does."
"Yeah...and?"
"He knew about you, but he thought you were dead...or in prison...He didn't research you because...he didn't figure you'd factor in."
"What else?"
"He said...he said it made no sense that you were helping her. You're supposed to be evil."
Faith twisted the arrow again, and the vampire cried out.
"I am evil, but I guess you already figured that out."
"Yes! Yes, please stop!"
Buffy leaned back in again:
"Why can't Spiran's mystics track us?"
"...I don't kn..."
His statement ended in a shriek as Faith roughly pulled the arrow from his leg and rammed it in, just millimeters from his heart.
"Listen up asshole, I dig hurting people, 'specially vamps. Wanna dick around with us? Works great for me. Always did wonder just how many pieces you could cut off a vamp before they dusted...Hey B, grab the machete, willya?"
"No, wait! They've been turned into vampires, the Boss got hungry or something...Anyway certain spells don't go right now, I don't know why... Plus they ran out of some of the stuff they need, and nobody but the witch on the Slayer's side can do spells without the right ingredients...You need too much power."
"How many vamps are stuck in here?"
"I...I don't...God, please stop!"
"Already explained the rules. Talk or suffer."
"I guess about two hundred...I don't know exactly."
"Two...two hundred? How is that possible? There couldn't have been that many people left..."
"I don't know, I swear I don't know!"
Faith looked at Buffy and saw how shook up she was.
"B?"
"..."
"Hey B?"
"..."
"Buffy!"
"What? Oh...Uh yeah, I'm done."
"Look Slayers, we can work together. You guys have worked with vampires before and..."
Faith shoved the arrow all the way in and walked over to Buffy as the vampire crumbled into dust.
"You okay?"
"...Fine."
"No you're not. Sit down for a sec. C'mon B, sit down."
Buffy sat down looking shell shocked, and Faith waited quietly, trying to give her some space. After several minutes passed without Buffy showing any signs of snapping out of it, Faith decided to step in.
"B, it's not your fault."
"...Two hundred people."
"So he says. 'Sides, no real way to know how many of those come from the people who got left behind. They coulda already been with Spiran, it doesn't mean..."
"What does it mean then, Faith? That it was only a hundred and fifty?! Maybe just a hundred?! I should have never raised the barrier! I should have..."
"Stop this shit right the fuck now!"
Buffy flinched, but when her eyes rose to meet Faith's, they were filled with fury. That was just what Faith wanted.
"Christ, no matter how things change, they always stay the same. You're still so fucking full of yourself it's incredible. Well big newsflash Blondie, the world's not spinning on your orders. There's plenty of people and things that do what they wanna do, no matter what the fuck you want. You're not responsible for every shitty thing that goes down, hard as that is for you to believe."
"Just shut up!"
"What, still can't stand to hear the truth? God Buffy, you did what you had to do, what needed doing. Were you supposed to just let this asshole crack open the Hellmouth and roam all over the world killing everybody? Okay sure, it was a hard choice, but B that's the only kind you ever get. You're The Slayer, that's just the way it is. Way shitty for you yeah, but doesn't get any luckier for the rest of us. You gotta do the rough things and save our sorry asses time after time, and no way is it fair. So what? Just gotta suck it up, Slayer."
"..."
"B, you're never gonna know how many of Spiran's crew came from the people who got trapped in here. Gotta let it go now, not like we don't have plenty of other shit to deal with."
They sat silently for a bit, and then Buffy let out a soft laugh:
"I still hate it when you're right."
"See? All stays the same."
"I guess it does. Okay, what's the sitch?"
"What do you remember?"
"Pretty much everything, I think. Some stuff's still kind of confusing, but I do know it wasn't Will and I know you're really you."
Faith grinned happily:
"That's a good start for sure."
"So everyone's okay?"
"Yep, all safe and sound on that side of the barrier. Course they been way worried about you."
"Can we see them?"
"Up to you. Figured you guys had some kinda code worked out, so I've just been waiting for your brain to unscramble itself."
"Well, we can leave them a message at a checkpoint, then they'll leave us a time and place to rendezvous."
"All right."
"I just want them to know I'm okay."
"Think everybody needs a good visual. All works for me, unless that's how you got snagged in the first place."
"...It's not."
"So how did it go down?"
"...Could we...Would it be okay if we didn't talk about it right now?"
Buffy suddenly looked on the verge of tears, and Faith knew that meant something pretty bad must have led to her capture.
"It'll keep. Fact is, don't ever gotta talk about it if it doesn't factor in."
"It doesn't. Thanks."
"Sure. Okay then, first priority is to leave a Scooby Gang message, then wait for'em to get out their decoder rings."
"That's how it goes."
"Sounds cool. Hey B, can I ask ya something?"
Buffy met her eyes again:
"Of course."
"Not trying to rock the boat or nothing, but what makes ya so sure this is all on the up and up?"
"It's hard to explain, but everything's so clear. It's clear just like it's supposed to be, like I'd forgotten it should be. My mind feels light instead of like there's a big heavy fog pushing down on it. I feel like I'm here, really here."
"You are, and I'm really glad you're back."
"Me too. Besides, it doesn't matter. I'm never telling you or anyone else what the secret phrase is. Never."
"Never gonna ask ya either. Sure were smart to throw that into the mix. If ya hadn't, Willow'd have hauled that sucker down days ago."
"I guess I thought we should be prepared in case it went bad."
"You figured it right, just like always."
"So what's our plan?"
"What?! Expect me to keep doing it all? Fuck, was sure once you got all squared away, you'd be back in the lead dog spot."
"Faith..."
"Hey, this here's a shitload of pressure! I'm a borderline psychotic with some major homicidal tendencies. Think you'd better step up to the plate now. 'Sides, I'm way more used to staring at another dog's ass than I am to looking out at the open road."
They both laughed at that, but as the laughter faded away, Buffy's gaze turned serious. Faith quickly became uncomfortable under Buffy's unwavering scrutiny, and she looked away under the pretense of scanning the surrounding area.
"Faith?"
"..."
"Faith?"
"So we better get moving. Bound to come looking sooner or later, no reason we gotta be here when they show up. Figure we can..."
"Faith."
She let out a deep breath, gathered up her courage, then let her eyes meet Buffy's head-on.
"Yeah, B?"
"You saved my life. I don't know how you managed to get me out of there, but I do know you must have risked your life time after time to do it. There's a lot of history between us, and isn't that just the world's biggest understatement, but that's all it is, history. It's in the past, so let it stay there. Don't go back, it's not where you belong and it's not where I want us to be."
"..."
"I kept calling to you because I knew you'd come. No matter what happened between us, I knew nothing would stop you from coming. I don't know how I knew that, but I did Faith, I bet my life on it. So no more looking back, for either of us. Deal?"
Faith could feel the tears welling up, and she did everything she could to prevent them from falling. A few still managed to make it to freedom and they rolled down her cheeks, but Buffy pretended not to notice as she smiled the warmest smile Faith had ever seen.
"And I think you're right, we should get out of here."
They got to their feet and Buffy was more than just a little bit shaky. Faith grabbed their backpack from behind some bushes and slung it around her neck, letting it come to rest on her chest.
"Okay B, hop on."
"No it's okay, I can walk."
"Not up for discussion. Offered you the reins, ya didn't wanna grab'em. That makes me the boss, the big cheese, the head honcho. What I say goes and I say, 'Hop the fuck on, Slayer'."
Buffy laughed.
"Boy, you're really loving this, aren't you?"
"A little, yeah."
Buffy hopped onto Faith's back, her arms lightly encircling her neck.
"Good B. Now was that so hard?"
"A little, yeah."
"Smartass. Okay, sunrise is just three hours off. Figure we'll just keep on the move, leave a sign when we can, then make camp someplace."
"That's fine with me. Do we have any water left?"
Faith unzipped the backpack and handed her a fresh bottle.
"Got two more left."
"Mmm...that should be plenty for me. What are you going to drink?"
"Ha, ha. Got some stashed nearby. If it's there and nobody messed with it, we're good. If not, we'll have to hit a store or a house. First let's just concentrate on clearing the next few hours."
"I'm ready when you are...Mush!"
Faith blew the swig of water she'd been trying to swallow all over the ground.
"What the...Did you just tell me to 'mush'?"
"Well you are the lead dog and all."
Faith took another sip, then calmly placed the bottle back into the backpack.
"Hey B, been meaning to ask..."
"Uh-huh?"
"You been gaining weight? Feels like ya weigh at least fifty pounds. Now we can't score ya any of that pukey non-fat yogurt you love, but maybe we can grab a rice cake or a piece of cardboard for ya."
"Shut up."
"Just sayin'."
