"Look, Willow - I know we've had our...differences, and I know I'm probably your least favourite person left in the world, but I gotta ask anyway - are you sure about this? If I do this, if I go, then I can't protect you anymore. I can't protect any of them. And I'm really all you got left."
Willow turned her gaze to Faith, her black eyes, as ever, making the slayer uncomfortable. "It's sweet of you to ask, Faith, really. But you know as well as I do that we're done. Having you here might delay the inevitable, but it doesn't change anything. Besides, you're the only one that can do this. The spell is a bitch to start with, and you have certain - let's call them factors - that make it a bit easier."
Faith sat down, making sure to stay outside the circle of glittering sand that surrounded Willow. "You know, I remember a day when you couldn't have said the word bitch without blushing."
"Well, times change. I'm sure I was that young once, but I don't remember it anymore."
"Wes let something slip about this spell yesterday. I wanted to ask you about it - I guess you know what I mean."
"I do. And yes."
"You really think it's worth it?"
Willow blinked, and now her eyes were their natural green - a colour Faith hadn't seen for years. Tear-tracks stained her cheeks. "I can't do it anymore, Faith. I can't be the secret weapon, I can't keep beating back the darkness, I just - I'm tired. There's no world left to save anymore, you know that as well as I do. If I can get you back there, if I can stop it before it starts - then yeah, it's worth dying for."
"And if it doesn't work? What then?"
Willow shrugged. "At least it'll be over. I figured you of all people would get that."
"I do - I just wanted to make sure you were clear on the consequences." Faith sighed. "And what about," she gestured vaguely, "the other problem?"
"You've got the black case with you, right?"
"Right here," Faith patted the messenger bag slung over her shoulder.
"That should be more than enough. Just make sure you leave instructions somewhere - if you don't vanish the way I think you will, then you need to make sure it doesn't escape into the general populace." Willow was about to say more, but broke off at the sight of Faith's grin. "What?"
"The general populace? You know who you sound like, right?"
Willow smiled sadly. "Yeah. I miss him - I keep thinking, if he was here he could help me figure this out." She shook her head. "Are you ready, Faith?"
She stood, nodding. "Yeah - ready as I'll ever be. Can I hug you without breaking your circle-thing?"
Willow blinked with surprise. "Sure." She stood and made her way to the circle's edge, reaching over into the hug. She patted Faith's back with something near affection. "Good luck, sweetie. Say, um, say hi to her for me, okay? I love you."
Faith's voice was thick with unshed tears. "Love you too, Wills. I'll see you on the other side, okay?" They embraced tightly and pulled back, Willow returning to her cross-legged position as she began chanting in Latin. Faith took a deep breath and whispered soft goodbyes to the future as she readied for the past.
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The portal scissored closed behind her with an audible pop as she stepped out of it, nearly taking her trailing foot off. "Damn it," she hissed. "I fuckin' hate magic." She patted her messenger bag and her pockets, making sure all the weapons, and the all-important black case, she'd brought along were still with her - they were, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She pulled a digital recorder from her pocket and toggled the ‘record' button on.
"Faith Lehane-Summers. Date unknown. The portal seems to have worked, but I have no idea when I am. Willow was a little vague on that - and honestly, when she started rambling about shifting dimensions and their effect on space-time, I kinda breezed out. I'm steppin' out to do a bit of recon. Once I've established the date, I'll bury the recorder in the spot we agreed on, so if this doesn't work then at least you'll know I got here. That is, of course, if Red's right about this building being fairly intact after the great Sunnydale sinkhole." She clicked it off and walked down the dark alley she'd appeared in. She heard a growl and a vampire leapt out of the shadows. With a flick of her wrist, a stake appeared in her hand, and she buried it in his chest. He crumbled into dust. "Well, it's definitely Sunnydale," she muttered. "But when..."
She checked the street in both directions, looking for anyone who might take notice of a small, heavily-armed woman. She saw no one, and bolted to a newspaper box across the street. She stared at the front page for a long moment before pulling the recorder out again. "October 10, 2001. We overshot the mark by about seven months. It's only been a few weeks since the resurrection of B. Summers. I've got to make a decision now - the me of this time is still in prison. So - do I try and stay in hiding for seven months, or do I involve myself in the timeline earlier? Fuck, I wish you were here, Willow. If I get involved now, if I change all the things I can change, how does that change the future? Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? No, you know what? I can't. I've got to help, if I can."
She clicked the recorder off and stowed it. She stood, turned around, and came face to face with the last person in the world she'd have expected.
"Faith?"
"Willow. Uh - hi." Without waiting for a response, she knocked the other woman unconscious with a single punch. "Sorry," she muttered. "I need a few hours to get buried before B finds out I'm here, and you're going to spoil that." She didn't want to leave Willow unattended, though, so she made an anonymous call to the Sunnydale PD and waited for them to pick her up before vanishing into the night.
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"Miss Lehane, isn't it?"
On a hunch, she'd returned to her old apartment. Mayor Wilkins had told her that it was purchased outright, and in her name, and she decided to test the theory. She was surprised when the security guard at the front desk recognised her, though, given that she was significantly older - and different-looking - than the last time he'd seen her, but Wilkins had always paid his staff to be smart and discreet.
"Hey, Todd. Do you have a copy of my key, by any chance? And who do I have to call to get my electricity and stuff back on?"
"Of course - we have several copies. As for your utilities, they're all still on - Mister Wilkins set up payments in perpetuity, and we neglected to inform the companies of your incarceration, so they never shut them off." He reached into a cabinet behind the desk and emerged with a key. "There you are - do you need anything else tonight?"
"Uh, no - I'm good, thanks. Good seeing you again, Todd."
"And you, Miss Lehane. Have a pleasant night." Clutching the key, she found her way to the elevator and punched the button for her floor. She was stunned when she unlocked her apartment door - nothing had been moved. Even the wrecked balcony window was intact, having obviously been replaced at some point since...she fingered the scar on her abdomen.
Putting the memory aside, she locked the door behind her and bolted it. Then she began a slow walk-around of the apartment. Literally nothing had changed. The Playstation, the tv, everything - it was as if she'd stepped out for a quick bite all those years ago and now she'd come home again. She checked her dresser to find it full of her clothes, and she gratefully pulled together a new outfit from there and the closet, laying it out on the double bed. She opened the bathroom door, and her face lit up with joy. It had been almost five years since her last proper shower, one without water-rationing or a lack of soap. She quickly disrobed and stepped into the stall, turning on the warm water and letting it rain down on her.
The shower was a balm, a hearty welcome back to a life she'd forgotten. She thought of Willow, future-Willow, likely dead now. Everyone she knew was dead - but now they were alive again. She was alive again. She had a chance to change everything, and she wasn't going to screw it up. When the bathroom was filled with steam, and both the memories and the dirt were washed away, she shut the shower off and stepped out onto the white bathmat on the floor. She wiped the mirror clean, taking a hard look at herself.
She'd almost expected to see her old self there somehow - young, vibrant, with her long black hair and impressive(even if she did say so herself) body. What she saw instead was a version of herself who'd survived much hard living. One of her eyes was gone, the empty socket covered with a black patch. Her hair, shot through with grey, was cut in a harsh, short style. There were lines on her face, and scars that adorned her body - which, she thought ruefully, wasn't nearly as young and tight as it once was. Scoffing at her own vanity, she padded naked back to the bedroom. She'd had every intention of putting her plans in motion that evening, but as she stared at the bed, a wave of fatigue swept over her. Pushing the clothes she'd picked out onto the floor, she peeled the covers back and climbed in, revelling in the soft sheets and comfortable pillow. She reached out sleepily with one hand, looking for a warm body that wasn't there - wouldn't be there for years, in fact. A tear slipped down her cheek and she grabbed the pillow instead, clutching it to her as she slipped into a blissfully dreamless sleep.
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"Will - are you absolutely sure you weren't seeing things?"
"For the fortieth time, Buffy, yes, I'm sure! It was Faith! But she was - old." She looked imploringly at the rest of the Scooby gang, gathered around Buffy's kitchen table.
"Giles, they're absolutely sure she's there, right?"
"The warden had a guard verify it by sight, Buffy. Faith Lehane is in the same prison cell she'll be occupying for quite some time."
"Then, what? A vampire doppelganger? A clone? What? She looked back to Willow. "Tell me everything. Everything you saw."
"Uh, she was looking at the newspaper box, muttering to herself. At least, I think it was to herself. She put something in her pocket, though, so it might have been a tape or a cell phone or something. I didn't even recognise her until she turned around - and even then, just barely. She's older - like, way older. Her hair's gray, and she's got an eyepatch on one eye. That's about it - I said her name, she said hi and then she clocked me." Willow patted the bruise on her jaw, and Tara winced with sympathy.
"Well, it sounds like Faith," Xander opined. "Always was number one with the sucker punch."
"Whoever, or whatever she is, we need to find her. Ten minutes ago, if we can." Buffy looked to Giles. "How can we track her down?"
Giles frowned, but hid it quickly. "Well, obviously a locator spell is out. All that will do is find the Faith who's in prison. Perhaps we can start by checking her old haunts."
"Okay, we'll have to go in groups. Just remember, guys, this is Faith. She's armed, and she's extremely dangerous. Don't engage, don't even approach her. Just find her and call me. Xander, you and Anya scout City Hall. Willow and Tara, you guys check the motel - Willow knows which one I mean. Giles, we'll check her apartment."
Everyone agreed and split off into their respective groups. "Giles, do you feel like driving? I feel a pressing need to hurry," Buffy tossed him the keys to her mother's jeep.
"Agreed."
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The incessant beeping of the phone woke Faith from a sound sleep. She grabbed at it a few times without success before finally retrieving it from the nightstand. "H'lo?" she muttered.
"Miss Lehane - it's Todd, at the front desk. I just wanted you to know that there were two individuals here, asking for access to your apartment."
Faith was suddenly wide awake. "Who?"
"They didn't identify themselves. One was a short blonde girl, the other was an Englishman. I told them you hadn't been back since your incarceration, but they seemed inclined to believe otherwise."
"Shit," Faith was out of bed, pulling on the outfit she'd chosen the day before. "Thanks, Todd - chances are they'll find a way up here somehow."
"We already did," a voice spoke from behind her. "Really should lock that balcony door."
Faith dropped the phone and quickly finished dressing before she turned around. Buffy took in the sight of her, staring in shock.
"What happened to you? No - strike that, you're not her, there's no way. Who are you?"
"Look - B, I'm going to ask nicely. I need you to turn around and leave, right now. There's no need for you to be involved in this, and it'd be easier for us both if you weren't."
Buffy squared her shoulders, not saying a word.
"Last chance, B. Leave. Please."
"Not gonna happen."
Faith grabbed her messenger bag from where she'd dropped it the night before. "Then I will. Place is all yours."
"Look, Faith - there's no need for us to fight. If you just come quietly-"
"Like you said, B. Not gonna happen."
"Then I guess there might be need for us to fight after all." The look in her eyes brooked no argument, and Faith sighed. She put the bag back where she'd taken it from, but not before retrieving a small metal canister from inside.
"Well then, let's dance."
Buffy charged, but Faith didn't even try to defend herself. Instead she dropped to the floor and slammed one end of the canister down on the hardwood floor. The top popped off and a massive surge of energy flashed out in all directions. Buffy disappeared so fast she didn't have time to blink. Faith slumped against the wall and sighed with relief.
The canister was a spell - done up by Willow herself. It would make the place where it was set off impenetrable to anyone but Faith. It was so effective that not even a molecule of anyone else's DNA could occupy space within the protected area - Buffy would have been teleported at least a hundred yards away by the initial blast. She'd been hoping not to use it, as Willow had warned her that it would be like setting off a magical atomic bomb - visible to any witch in the city. But Buffy had found her far too quickly. She needed a safe space, and this was the only way to guarantee it. The only witch in the world capable of breaking the spell, Willow promised, was herself, and the Willow of this time didn't have the skills or the ingredients necessary.
"Well," Faith observed, mostly to herself, "here we go."