The raven-haired slayer sports her trademark leather, but she’s shed her regular palette of ebony hues this evening. Instead, she wears her Sangria button-up top, form-fitting white jeans, and high-heeled, mid-calf, tan Suede boots.  

On this night, she wants to be easy to spot.

During patrols, dark colors are preferred since they help to camouflage one from the dangerous creatures that roam the streets of the hellmouth city of Cleveland. The point of patrols is to catch the demons off guard and eliminate them before they even register that they’ve been attacked. It follows that wearing bright, flaunting colors would not be conducive to this goal, unless becoming the equivalent of a gaudy Carnival flashing lights shooting target had been the secondary goal.

The element of surprise is essential to a Slayer.

Buffy thrived on the thrill of the shock factor. She loved hunting the grounds for her prey and, once she found them, enjoyed observing them and eavesdropping on their conversations before finding the right moment to barge in and steal the scene with an impactful entrance complete with a witty zinger and an internal laugh track that only she could hear, probably.

Faith quickly picked up on this amusing personality quirk of her slaying partner’s only a couple of weeks after meeting her for the first time at that back alley by The Bronze.

~*~

The Past

Faith saw the herd of vampires trying to help a newbie vampire rise from the grave. Apparently, the noob couldn’t even break itself out of its own grave. Pathetic. Then again, the recently deceased appeared to come from a wealthy family, according to the intel received from Giles, so it could be entirely possible that the coffin it was trying to break out of was made of stuff sturdier than the cheap cardboard box-quality coffins the other newbie vamps seemed to have no issues breaking out of.

Well, shit, if everyone could afford those expensive-ass coffins, the world wouldn’t even need slayers, Faith idly thought to herself wryly as she assessed the situation, hiding with Buffy behind a large gravestone. Vamps would probably just off themselves once they figure out they’re about to spend the rest of eternity buried unalive if they don’t

Faith clucked her tongue as she further pursued that thought thread. Then again, Sire and Co. might come back and help break it outta the grave like these clowns up here. I guess us Slayers still got us some marketable skills, then.

Buffy swiveled her head in Faith’s direction and shot her a glare as she mimed a “Quiet!” with an index finger to her lips. She then returned her attention to the vampires.

Faith mutely scoffed and returned her own detached gaze to the vampire gang with a frown on her lips.

The Bostonian had only known the Sunnydale Slayer for a week and Buffy had already made herself the de factor strategist of the slaying duo. And the blonde apparently required absolute silence on Faith’s part in order to focus and come up with the best plan of attack. Faith was only there to serve as a piece to be tactically moved once the plan reached the, rather literal, execution stage.

Bossy, Faith thought with petulant disgruntlement.

“Okay… okay… I think I see some bulging… THERE. There’s the leg!” one of the bloodsuckers said.

“C’mon, let’s help break out the other leg,” another hastily added.

Faith noticed that Buffy continued to intently watch the scene unfold. The blonde appeared to be muttering softly to herself, at a volume far too low for even Faith’s Slayer hearing to pick up.

Buffy must have found the right moment to strike because she rapidly stood, and Faith followed suit—

“Oh, wait, I think I see the head!”

—only to be unceremoniously dragged back down behind the gravestone as Buffy swiftly dropped to her previous position.

Faith barely had time to harshly whisper “What the fu—?” before Buffy cut her off with another glare and then resumed her watchful monitoring of the vampire crew.

Faith was confused but chose to let it go after seeing that she had lost Buffy’s attention anyway.

“It’s still only a bulge, we gotta punch through the coffin to free his head!” one of the vampires exclaimed.

“Then someone do it!” another demanded.

“I just got a manicure, I don’t know…”

Buffy abruptly rose again and Faith hastily scrambled to follow her lead—

“Rosaline!”

“Fine! I’ll do it, sheesh, how many vampires does it take to break through a coffin? Seriously.”

—only to be left standing alone and exposed above the gravestone after Buffy instantly dropped back down to her previous position.

Faith cursed quietly and dropped back down with her, shooting the blonde some serious eye stakes.

Faith was about to verbally tear Buffy down but it seemed that the blonde beat her to it.

The raven-haired slayer was weirded out at seeing Buffy apparently reprimanding herself by muttering some harsh-sounding gibberish and biting her nail hard as she continued to stare at the vampire gang in poorly veiled frustration.

The Bostonian Slayer was too creeped out to say anything to her counterpart and instead decided to once again let it go and continued to join the blonde in surveying the scene.

"Great, I broke a nail, are you happy now?"

"You didn't even break through the coffin!"

Up. Down.

"Here, let me, I'll give it a shot!"

Some grunting and, "Awesome, he punched right through the wood!"

Up. Down.

"DUDE, you punched them right in the face!"

"They're knocked out!"

Up. Down.

"Whatever, at least they're closer to getting out."

"Shit, now we'll have to press down since we'll get no help in the pulling department."

"Seems easier to break that way."

The false starts continued intermittently and Faith grew only more and more incensed.

Up. Down.

Dis. Bitch.

Faith stopped rising along with Buffy and chose to wait it out until flaky-ass Barbie finally decided to make up her own goddamn mind. 

"Alright, deep breaths, everybody, then we push."

"We don't breathe, you idiot."

"Nobody ASKED you, Rosaline."

"Alright, on three, we all push."

"One... two... three... PUSH!"

Rest.

"Push!"

Rest.

"Puuush!"

Rest.

"Puuuuuuuusssshhhh--aaahh!"

The coffin collapsed right on top of the newly born vampire and the Brethren scrambled to get out of the grave hole to stop squishing their new family member. 

"Uuuugh," the new baby vampire awkwardly groaned out in pain. 

Up. 

"Aww, it's crying, that's a good sign," Buffy loudly announced as she stood atop the gravestone.

Faith's head whipped up, startled that Buffy was actually galvanized into action this time.

Buffy casually and confidently strolled across the grass to reach the now wary vampires. She stopped and folded her arms before her chest as she contentedly looked down into the grave hole.

"Well, congratulations, I'm happy to announce you've delivered a handso... a boy!" Buffy communicated faux-cheerfully. "Newborns usually come out all bumpy-faced and squishy-looking, don't worry. Anyway, you must be very proud. Here"—she pulled out her stake—"Let me take his vitals."

She mercilessly flung her wooden stake down to land impaled through the new vampire's chest. Insta-dust.

The vampire gang looked at her with disbelieving eyes.

"Oops... I guess that's not where the needle-y end goes," Buffy said as she blinked with affected incomprehension. "Did I mention I'm not exactly trained for the maternity ward?"

"GET HER!"

Buffy, now stake-less, took off in a sprint to find a clearing where the gravestones wouldn't trip her as she fought. 

"Dealing with the family is always the worst! I'm sorry you don't get to choose your nurse!" Buffy yelled out raggedly. "You just gotta have faith!"

...

"I said, you just gotta have Faith!" Buffy tried again, out of breath.

...

"FAITH! This is where you come in!"

"Alright, alright, stop nagging, I'm comin’!" Faith shouted as she ran to catch up to Buffy.

"You kept missing your cue!" Buffy chided testily.

"Didn't know there was one to miss, B," Faith muttered, annoyed.

Faith's eyes suddenly widened in realization.

"Wait, this whole time... were you just waiting for the right moment to make your grand entrance?"  

Buffy looked at her incredulously. "Obviously. You don't really think I come up with those witty one-liners on the spot, do you?"

Faith's jaw dropped. 

"I kept thinking of these great lines but then the vamps kept talking and I kept missing my chance to cut in and deliver the line with the right timing!" Buffy explained quickly in one breath, looking put off. "So I had to bide my time and think of new ones."

Faith's mouth clamped shut and she wasn't sure if it was to grind her teeth in aggravation or to keep herself from cramping her abs up in laughter.

Dis. Bitch.

~*~

The Present

Buffy wouldn’t admit it, but she lived for her histrionics.

"Ha! And they called me the attention whore!" Faith wryly chuckles to herself.

She lived.

Faith’s smile drops and her countenance sombers once again as her mind returns to the present.

The reason she chose to wear such bright colors tonight was for Buffy.

No, not because the girl forced her to. And, no, not because it would be easier to spot Faith so that Buffy could meet her in the graveyard and they could go patrol together.

No, Faith would never again patrol with Buffy.

Buffy was now amongst the creatures that constituted her reasons for patrolling.

Buffy was the prey, and Faith the hunter.

If tonight went as Faith and the rest of the Scoobies planned it, the raven-haired slayer would run into Buffy, and eliminate her.

Faith flexes her right fist open and closed in mild anxiousness at the thought of meeting the blonde Slayer again one month after her death.

No one had had any sort of contact—of any mode—with the golden slayer since the night she was bitten.

By none other than The Master, no less.

Anyway, it seemed that no Slayer could avoid the fate laid down for them by the Pergamum Codex.

The chain of events that led to Buffy’s demise at the hands of The Master began with Giles summoning Buffy and the gang to help him defeat The Master, who had finally unleashed hell on earth by opening the Hellmouth in Sunnydale.

Confused? Understandable. This all happened in the alternate universe known as the Wishverse.

Buffy, Faith, and the rest of the gang, which consisted of Willow, Kennedy, Xander, Dawn, and Giles, had no idea where they were. It was not until Giles—that is, Wishverse Giles, the one who had summoned them—explained the situation that Willow, Xander, and Buffy remembered the Vampire Willow that they had banished back to an alternate universe.

This was all before Faith, Kennedy, and Dawn had become a permanent fixture of the group, though, so the later-initiated Scoobies were still confused, but quickly accepted the situation for what it was.

The entire fiasco was interesting to recall, to say the least, and if it hadn’t been the beginning of the end for Buffy, Faith might have looked back upon her adventures with the gang in the Wishverse with fondness and amusement rather than bitterness and melancholy.

~*~

The Past

Today was turning out to be one of those weird days.

Well, every day was weird for Buffy & Friends, but today was an outlier in terms of bizarreness, statistically speaking.

One moment, everyone is sitting around the dining room table enjoying the leftover chimichangas Xander bought for all of them last night from a traveling street vendor that happened to be passing the town, and the next moment, they’re all standing in a very drab basement full of antique weaponry and tasteless interior design.

But most appallingly, chimichanga-less.

“DAWN!” Buffy shouted disapprovingly.

Dawn jumped, startled. “What? W-what did I do?”

“Sorry, Big Sister knee-jerk reaction,” Buffy said sheepishly. “You look scared and confused. Good. This means you’re probably not to blame for where we are right now.”

“Gee, ever heard of innocent until proven guilty?” Dawn muttered distastefully.

“If I lived by that philosophy, I wouldn’t be… well, alive,” Buffy responded with a frank shrug.

“And I’d still be in jail,” Faith added easily. “’Cause, yunno, guilty as fuck over here.”

Giles cut in reproachingly, “Faith, now is not the time to make a punchline of your past transgressions.”

“S’how I deal,” Faith mumbled, the feeling of being scolded having become more common ever since she started viewing Giles as more and more of a father and mentor figure in her life. Faith and Giles had grown closer over the years as a result of working together to reel in the rogue slayers of the world. “Anyway, Dawnie, you better just trash that philosophy ‘cause, as you can see, skepticism paves the way to longevity. Why d’ya think the real old geezers and hags are so bitter? ‘Cause they didn’t ever trust nobody, duh! Ergo, long life, since they didn’t get killed for being naïve suckers.”

“I’m sure everyone appreciates the life lesson, my good ol’ friend Faith,” Xander said casually as he slung an arm in camaraderie around Faith, who uncomfortably glared at his hand on her far shoulder. “But as Giles said, I think now is not the time for this kind of talk. We should focus on the more important matter—why are the chimichangas gone?”

“Three… two… one…” Faith counted warningly.

“Aaaaand, voila, HANDS! Hands have respectfully disconnected from shoulders and been returned to their rightful owner, who very much cherishes his hands and would prefer they remain attached to his person!” Xander hastily announced placatingly as he instantaneously removed himself from Faith.

Kennedy looked around the gloomy basement and muttered, “What the hell even is this place…?”

“I wish there was someone we could ask,” Willow concurred.

“Uuugghhh…” A groan was heard coming from near to where the group was standing.

“I think I heard a someone,” Buffy very helpfully said, stating the obvious.

“Brilliant, B, I’m sure it was your outta-this-world powers of insight that got you this far into the slaying game,” Faith teased sarcastically, grinning mischievously at the blonde.

Buffy disapprovingly narrowed her eyes at Faith.

Faith looked away dismissively, still smiling cheekily. “Let’s just say I’m glad you had the research gang to prop you up or I might’ve become The Slayer much sooner than I’d have liked.”

Buffy huffed and, rather than indulge Faith’s teasing, which would no doubt have them waste time bantering slapstick back and forth with one another, she decided to ignore the younger slayer and amble over to where the sound of distress had emanated off.

Faith smirked at the blatant refusal to engage and childishly called it her win.

Faith knew Buffy wasn’t really mad at her or giving her the cold shoulder. She and the older slayer were in a good place in their friendship now. The first couple of months after re-acquainting with each other when Faith and Giles returned from Europe to formally help out Buffy’s crew in Cleveland to defeat the latest Big Bad had been… awkward, frankly. Tense and awkward.

The world now had hundreds of slayers activated across continents, and that helped in tackling evil all over the globe, but Buffy decided to step down as legendary leader of the organization and passed the torch on to Giles. Buffy decided to serve her place in the organization as a mere squad leader of the “Cleveland faction,” which really only consisted of Buffy, Willow, Xander, Kennedy, and Dawn. Buffy had had enough of being the fearless leader and carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders—this time even more literally—and chose to retire to Cleveland and help fight evil in her own backyard. Give back to the community and whatnot. How nice.

Giles and Faith were only meant to stay in Cleveland for as long as Buffy needed them to ensure the Big Bad was eliminated. When that moment finally came to pass, Buffy and Faith had bonded and rekindled their friendship enough for Buffy to extend an invitation to both Giles and Faith to stay in Cleveland indefinitely and join their “Cleveland faction” squad. Scoobies 2.0, basically.

Faith and Giles talked it over in private. Faith was conflicted. She knew that Giles needed to return to headquarters in Europe to run the Slayer organization, and she wanted to be right there along with him to support him and to continue to carry out the rogue slayer intervention missions, but she also wanted more time to explore her newfound friendship with Buffy, the girl she’d practically gone off the deep end for just to have a little bit of her attention, back when they were volatile teenagers. Ultimately, she chose to return to Europe with Giles and declined Buffy’s invitation good-naturedly on behalf of both Giles and herself. She figured that while staying and helping out Buffy and her friends in Cleveland would be nice, she had much higher responsibilities calling for her in Europe, and a sense of allegiance to Giles that she also could not ignore. The man, like Angel, had been a large part of her rehabilitation, and she felt that she owed it to him to assist him in his endeavors. Her own desires were secondary, especially when she still had so much to atone for given her past mistakes.

Buffy was disappointed, but understood and respected Faith’s reasoning, and she and the rest of the Scoobies saw both her Slaying partner and her former Watcher off with a smile at the airport as they took off for Europe.

It took less than two months for Giles to notice Faith’s change in demeanor once back in Europe. The girl still performed her job functions very well, but she did not seem to be drawing much satisfaction from a job well done as she used to before their Cleveland trip.

Having once been a Watcher, and thereby inherently being very “observant” by virtue of the title, he was very in tune with the emotional well-being of a Slayer. It was essential for a Watcher, at least a good one, to be able to read and analyze a Slayer’s emotional state and judge the best course of action to take that would most benefit the Slayer under their charge.

Giles had known Faith for many years now, and now that he was more intimately familiar with her background and personality, he could easily tell that the once wild Slayer was unhappy in Europe with him, and he had an inkling as to why.

Lately, Faith seemed to be showing indifference towards most of her activities, and only one thing seemed to perk her up or return her to at least half her usual levels of vivacity. She seemed to be interested in only one thing.

He knew Faith was a stubborn girl, and although he felt mean about what he was getting ready to do, he needed to establish some foundation for the conversation he wanted to initiate with his Slayer.

Giles picked up the phone and spoke into it, “Ah, Buffy, thank you for responding so rapidly. How are you, if I may ask?”

Faith, who was sitting on the couch numbly scrolling through TV Channels suddenly stopped all movement, lowered the volume of the TV all the way to mute, and turned around in the couch with semi-wide eyes to mouth to Giles, “Is that B?”

Giles lifted up an index finger to signal that Faith be still for a moment. “Uh-huh. That’s great to hear. I assume the rest of the Cleveland squad is doing well, also?”

Faith got off the couch and walked silently towards Giles with a small and shyly eager smile on her lips. She pointed towards the phone and then to herself, silently requesting that Giles pass the phone over to her when he was done speaking with Buffy.

Giles deliberately misunderstood. “Ah, yes, also, Faith sends her regards to all of you.”

Faith’s eyebrows scrunched and she shook her head mildly, repeating the same motion as before to try and get Giles to understand that she wanted to speak to Buffy.

“Yes, I merely called in to check if you had received the package of materials I sent over to you for Dawn. I believe they should help her in her Watcher training.”

He nodded into the phone as Faith impatiently waited him out.

“I am glad to hear they all arrived well and complete. Please make sure that she receives them promptly. Also, I have Faith here and she—hmm. Oh, I see. That’s understandable. The time difference completely slipped my mind. You do have to go out on patrol now. I apologize for keeping you… No, it is most certainly a ‘big deal,’ you and the rest of the squad keep Cleveland safe… Thank you for your time, Buffy, I hope we will soon have the opportunity to speak again. Take care of yourselves. Good-bye.”

Faith subtly deflated after Giles hung up, and she huffily returned to her previous placement on the couch, turning the volume up even higher than it was before she had lowered it.

“Faith?”

Faith did not respond and continued watching TV.

“Pardom me, Faith?” Giles tried again.

Faith deliberately continued to ignore Giles.

The older man sighed and lamented at having correctly asserted the cause for Faith’s recent mood swings. Or, well, Faith’s recent indifference. The mood swings were more of a “just now” development. The girl hadn’t show this much interest, much less emotion, about anything except this phone call, ever since they left Cleveland.

“Faith, would you please turn the volume down and face me so that I may speak with you?”

“Why should I? You didn’t let me speak with B,” Faith said neutrally, voice projecting over the loud noise of the TV.

Giles shook his head at the young girl’s petulant behavior. He crossed over to the couch, stood over Faith, and motioned for the Slayer to give him the remote. Faith tried to resist withering under his stare, but eventually gave in to the weird parental scolding feeling that she was getting, and reluctantly handed over the remote. Giles promptly muted the TV, and then sat down on the couch with the defensive-looking Slayer.

“Faith, I will be straight-forward, as I know you prefer I do not skirt around the subject and just get to the crux of the matter,” Giles began.

“Then out with it,” Faith said impatiently, arms crossed before her.

“Would you like to be together with Buffy?”

Faith’s eyes widened, and she tilted her head low-key semi-curious and semi-freaked. “Damn, G-man, where didja get that idea? I mean, I know that’d be hot as hell, but most people keep that shit in their fantasies. B and I put Xander in his place enough times for it, so I would know.”

Giles was used to Faith’s occasionally crude language and less then pure mind, so he merely shook his head in negation to Faith’s statement.

“I did not say that under such implications. I meant, would you like to return and join Buffy and her company in the Cleveland slaying faction?” he clarified, unperturbed.

Faith’s mouth dropped slightly, half in surprise and half ready to respond. What she wanted the response to be, though, she wasn’t sure.

Well, actually, she was sure. She knew what she wanted to do, but she also knew what she needed to do.

As was her modus operandi, she chose to evade the question altogether.

“C’mon, G-man, why you goin’ all Spanish Inquisition on me all of a sudden? Did I screw up any and now you wanna ship me back all ‘defective product, no warranty’ style, that it? Man, I thought I’d at least get three strikes ‘fore I was out.”

Giles smiled gently and with an understanding look said, “Faith, if you wish to return to Cleveland and be of assistance there, you need only tell me.”

Faith was gearing up to utter another non-response, but she stopped and allowed herself to mentally digest Giles’ words. She nodded minutely to herself, seemingly having reached some sort of inner agreement with herself, before determinedly meeting Giles’ eyes. “I don’t want to go back to Cleveland if it means abandoning you, Giles.”

Giles blinked. “What do you mean by ‘abandoning’ me, Faith?”

Faith sighed, turning to face the muted TV with a weary expression. “I mean… if I go, what happens with you, G-man?”

“Why, I go with you, of course,” Giles replied easily, as if it was the most natural conclusion.

Faith whipped back around to face the former Watcher, brow furrowed, eyes wide, and jaw hanging. “Wha… W-what are you sayin’? What about, I mean, aren’t you, like, Slayers Inc. Head Honcho, or somethin’? You can’t just walk away from that!”

“I never said I planned to step down as the leader of the organization,” Giles corrected calmly. “I can continue to oversee operations just as well from Cleveland.”

“But… but you won’t have all the fancy tech equipment you need in Cleveland like you do here—“

“I can install the necessary equipment to conduct operations in any spare room of any housing in Cleveland.”

“And… and the crowd you’re always hanging with at all those headache inducing meetings are all here—“

“I can just as easily join them through teleconferencing.”

“Fine, but what about when you’re needed, IN PERSON, across the Atlantic. What then? You can’t just jet over like you do here, ‘cause you ain’t gonna be just a nice 30-min flight from any country in Europe, anymore—“

“Willow could just as simply teleport me where I am needed. If anything, that might be much faster than flying anywhere could ever hope to be. I don’t expect that the time and space warping sickness will be pleasant, but it fades with frequency of the medium of travel.”

“’Kay, you got me there, but how about—“

“Faith, it appears to me that you are the one endeavoring to pose all these obstacles to my accompanying you in Cleveland. Is there a reason you are deliberately raising all these barriers?”

“I—” Faith began, and then promptly cut herself off as she searched her mind for words to express her sudden anxiousness. “I mean… it’s stupid… I just… it seems too easy, yunno? That we’d be able to go join Buffy and them with no repercussions or nothin’. There has to be some sorta pitfall. Stuff never just… pans out for me. I’m not the type to ever catch a break, is all.”

Giles softened at hearing Faith’s source of unease. The girl was not used to having things come easy to her. She was used to wrangling with something or someone before earning a grab at her reward. He wanted to reassure her that those times were over—or at least, their frequency of occurrence largely reduced. He knew, however, that Faith did not respond suitably to heart-to-heart exchanges, since she perceived them as the other party pitying and looking down on her rather than trying to help and empathize with her. He needed to placate her in a manner that she was comfortable with.

“Well, in that case, if you would like me to orchestrate a grand battle with exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, please let me know and I shall arrange a conflict for you to overcome, if it helps you feel better about boarding that plane to Cleveland.”

Faith shot him a good-natured, wry grin. “Damn, G-man, ‘preciate the offer, but you don’t gotta go through all that trouble. Don’t hafta tell me twice—far as I’m concerned, my ass is already on that plane.”

“In spirit, I’m sure,” Giles said neutrally. “At any rate, I’m glad we’ve settled that.”

“Yeah, just didn’t wanna skirt on my responsibilities, yunno? I figured I owed ya for all the help you’ve been to me, and I didn’t wanna leave you to fend for yourself here in Europe. I know you got a tough job, and I wanted to try my best to assist with missions and stuff since I still got a long ways to go before I make up for all the crap I’ve put everyone through.”

“Faith, do not ever feel that you owe me anything. In the past, our relationship may have had more of a mentor-protégé dynamic, but today, I see us as colleagues on equal footing. I respect your insights just as you do mine,” Giles said sincerely. “I perceive that you may not feel deserving of such position in my eyes, but please understand that you have more than repaid your debts, to everyone you’ve wronged, to the world, and most importantly, to yourself.”

Faith allowed a couple of respectful seconds to let the silence hang and Giles’ words sink in. “Thanks. That’s nice of you to say, Giles. I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”

Giles felt that Faith had not fully embraced the honest sentiment behind his words, and readied himself to give another impassioned monologue when Faith quickly rose from her seat and clapped her hands together in closure. “Alright, then, guess I better call up B and tell her the good news. D’ya think she’s still out patrolling? Damn, she probably is, it’s only been like 25 mins since you hung up.”

Giles relented and decided to shelve the subject for another time. “On that note, Faith, I should confess… that wasn’t really Buffy I was speaking to on the phone earlier.”

Faith blinked, perplexed. “O… kay. Then who were you talkin’ to?”

“No one. I merely affected speaking on the phone with her. I thought it would make broaching the topic of moving to Cleveland much easier to approach if you heard me speaking with her, since you’ve been rather unresponsive to any sort of prodding these past couple of weeks.”

“Hold up, so you pretended to be on the phone with B just to get a rise outta me?” Faith asked with disbelievingly wide eyes, followed by a respectful grin of acknowledgement. “You’re a mean one, Mr. Giles.”

“I do recall the subject of Buffy always obtaining rather… shall we say, impassioned responses from you in the past,” Giles explained matter-of-factly.

Faith snorted incredulously. “She just gets me all worked up is all. B’s always known how to push buttons I didn’t even know I had. Kinda pisses me off, really.”

“Truly, the signs of a potentially formidable foe or a promisingly faithful friend.”

“Well, you can bet she’s getting a Faith-ful once we’re back in Cleveland,” Faith said with a smirk. “She isn’t gonna know what hit her.”

Giles raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the younger girl.

“By which I mean sparring, G-man, calm your flapping ti…tie,” Faith drawled out, playfully appeasing. “Well, I’m off to call B now that I know she’s not really on patrol… hmm, I don’t really know what she’s up to actually but I’ll take my chances. Been trying to find an excuse to ring her up since forever! She’s gonna be wicked hyped to hear this!”

Giles watched contentedly as Faith enthusiastically ran to the far corner of the office to pick up the phone.

In retrospect, after defeating The First, Giles always seemed to encourage for a friendship to form between Faith and Buffy, and Faith was beyond grateful for the opportunity he afforded her to mend things with and grow closer to the older Slayer. Buffy turned out to be the dream best friend Faith had always wanted, and the younger Slayer could never imagine a life where the older Slayer did not factor in somehow.

“Uugghh… ooph… hhrrmph!”

The grunts and wheezing coughs of pain brought Faith back to their present ordeal in the unfamiliar basement.

Giles lay sprawled on the basement floor.

But, wait, that couldn't be right, because Giles was also standing right next to them. 

There were... two Giles...?

"Will you stop your dawdling and help a dying man...!?" the Giles on the floor said, sounding huffy in that unique British way of his. 

Well, not unique anymore, apparently, since there were two of them now.

"Oh! Yeah, of course, help, that's what we do. We're helpers!" Willow said hastily, snapping to attention. "Wait... DYING?!?"

"Ough..." Giles-on-the-floor groaned in agony.

"Will, help now, wig out later!" Buffy said urgently. 

The Giles they were transported into this strange place with was already leaning down and helping his counterpart sit up while everyone else had been too busy freaking out. 

"English efficiency," Xander noted, looking impressed. "We got a real stand-up guy here, everybody. Well, lean-down guy now, I guess."

"Xander, listening now, joking later," Dawn said reproachfully. 

"Like sister, like sister," Kennedy said with a well-meaning eye roll.

"You can say that again," Faith muttered good-naturedly.

"I'm not going to say it a third time," Kennedy drawled out.

Faith shot her an unimpressed glare. 

Buffy had dropped down to help Giles keep the wounded Giles propped up in a sitting position. In the midst of this action, Buffy noticed that the wounded Giles was bleeding profusely from his left wrist. 

"Oh, God, Giles, what happened?" Buffy asked worriedly. 

"I'm afraid I can't say, Buffy, as I was teleported here at the same time you were," Giles responded promptly.

"Not you, Giles," Buffy snapped out in her nervous concern. "I'm talking about emo wrist-slit Giles over here!" 

"Why, you are most... certainly different... than the Buffy of this world was," wounded Giles wheezed out. "It's fascinating, really..."

"Thank you, I... don't get that a lot, so I don't know how to respond, to be honest," Buffy said distractedly, before shaking her head and willing herself to concentrate to say, "But so not the issue right now. Who did this to you?"

Unwounded Giles was pressing on the wrist wound to try and stem as much of the flow as he could, but as he felt the viscous liquid seep out through the gaps in his fingers, he knew his counterpart only had minutes left to live before he was gone.

It was distressing to see himself on his deathbed, so to speak. 

Were they in the future? And if so, was he witnessing his own upcoming death occurring at some undisclosed date? 

"I did this... to myself, actually," Giles breathed out. "It was... a cry for help, if you will."

"Shit, I thought she was just kidding about the emo part," Kennedy remarked with startled eyes.

"Giles, are you depressed!? Is this what things are getting ready to come down to!?" Xander questioned brusquely, dropping to his knees to grab the unwounded Giles by the shoulders and gaze at him with crazed eyes. 

"Another world...," Willow muttered to herself thoughtfully, glancing worriedly at both Giles. "Is this... the future?"

The Giles on the ground chuckled weakly. "I would hope not." His gaze panned from Xander to Willow. "You... you're not vampires." 

"Not what we aspire to be, usually," Xander quipped.

"You know me... as a vampire?" Willow said carefully, brain at work firing synapses. Her eyes widened. "Another world! Could this be that Vampire Me's world!?"

Buffy's brow furrowed before realization struck her, as well. "I remember her. We sent her back. But that was back in high school!"

Xander stood as he also was slapped with the epiphany. "Is this that world where everybody dresses like they're on the set of a vintage BDSM blue film!?"

Everyone stared at Xander.

"Hey, Vampire Willow's words, not mine," Xander said with a shrug.

Willow stared at Xander.

"Pfft, so we talked, big whoop, I still had a thing for you back then," Xander defended petulantly.

"Uh, anyone care to fill the rest of us in that didn't go to high school with you?" Kennedy piped up.

"Or at all," Faith stated shamelessly.

Dawn glanced at her two companions, and snootily said, "Speak for yourselves."

Faith snorted to herself. "As if you even existed, Pipsqueak."

"And let's not forget, your high school diploma only half counts, since the monks made up your first two years," Kennedy pointed out. 

"Did they make her a straight A student?" Faith asked incredulously. "Damn, talk about white privilege."

"That's my line," Kennedy quipped. 

"Good Lord!... Forbid that I be the one in this moribund position, and may I suffer a swift, painless death before this ragtag youth assemble to attempt a rescue," the unwounded Giles said in his stuffy exasperation. He turned back to his declining counterpart. "I apologize for their poorly timed tangents, you were saying something about a cry for help? Were you the one who called us here?"

"Indirectly, yes," the wounded Giles coughed out. "I deliberately... placed myself at death's door... in order to invoke the vengeance demon... Malice"—Faith's eyes widened in recognition—"She specializes in granting individuals... their dying wish... For that to happen, one must be... well, dying."

The unwounded Giles' eyes widened. "You wished for us to come to this world."

"Wait, Giles, so you're actually... how long do we have? Is there nothing we can do to save you? You got your wish, we're here! You don't have to die anymore!" Buffy said with a hysterically forced cheerfulness. 

"No, he must die," the unwounded Giles said grimly.

"Well, you lend a whole different meaning to the concept of self-harm there, Giles," Xander said disapprovingly.

"No, the wish becomes null if you don't kick the bucket right after it's granted," Faith informed dully. "It's like a twisted, demonic parody of the Make-A-Wish foundation. Except that, with Malice, you better be ready to die to keep your wish."

Everyone stared at Faith with jaws hanging open.

"Don't act so shocked, I know stuff," Faith scoffed out. 

Everyone still stared in stunned silence.

"And Malice and I might go a little ways back, no big," Faith added with a dismissive shrug.

Everyone nodded understandingly and all was right with the world again. Kind of.

"Wait, Faith, you know this Malice character?" Buffy asked curiously. "Did you make a dying wish? When were you so close to dying that even Malice decided you were terminal enough to appear before you? Oh, God, was it when I stabbed you? Wait, if you met her, how are you not dead right now? Did you wish to live? But aren't those mutually exclusive!?"

"Not the time or place, B," Faith said placatingly. 

"Sorry," Buffy said, sounding embarrassed at her outburst. "It's clearly not my place to ask."

"Nah, I don't mind you being all up in my biz, B," Faith said teasingly. "I'm just saying... I'll tell you some other time."

"Hey, uh, guys, not that I'm not happy about this, but isn't Giles taking a little long to, um... check out?" Willow noted timidly.

"I did not cut... a major vein," the wounded Giles informed. "I wanted enough time... to explain the situation... I am glad you are somewhat familiar with this world... it will save my breath... Please, listen, without interrupting... this time... I have only so much energy left..."

Everyone listened respectfully, feeling somewhat chastised. 

The wounded Giles appeared to tap into emergency reserve adrenaline to deliver his last words, mustering up the energy to speak clearly and quickly.

"An ancient vampire known as The Master has turned Sunnydale into his reign of terror for the past couple of years... I am part of a Team of Vampire Hunters that The Master and his acolytes derogatorily call The White Hats... We've been trying to overthrow the vampires' regime for years, even called in a Slayer from Cleveland named Buffy... she was a rather austere and focused young lady... but she wasn't with us for too long before she died at the hands of The Master—"

"But... I miraculously came back to life, right?" Buffy questioned with a forced cheerfulness.

Everyone remained uncomfortably silent.

"Sorry, no interruptions, I'll be silent Buffy now," Buffy said quickly. 

The wounded Giles continued on wearily, "The next Slayer down the lineage, Kendra, who was a young girl from Jamaica, was sent to help us"—the wounded Giles meaningfully stared at Buffy, looking exhausted and apologetic—"Unfortunately, she met a much more tragic demise than Buffy..."

"What could be worse than being dead?" Xander asked skeptically.

"Being undead," the unwounded Giles said somberly, sharing a long look with the wounded Giles.

"No fair, you can guess what he's thinking 'cause he's you!" Xander exclaimed huffily.

"So, I've died three times, but I have to say... hearing I'm dead... shocks me every time," Buffy uttered pensively.

"It's okay, Buff, if I found out I was dead... like dead dead, not undead dead... I'd be bummed, too," Willow comforted sympathetically, putting a hand on Buffy's shoulder. "Speaking of my lesser half, I wonder what sort of sultry and morally questionable trouble she's gotten up to since we sent her back!"

"If you are referring to the Vampire version of yourself," the wounded Giles began. "I regret—well, not truly, that girl was off her rockers—to inform she was eliminated in battle many years ago."

"Oh..." Willow's expression was blank for a moment before she frowned in disappointment. "Fooey! I really wanted her to see I wasn't all fluffy and nerdy anymore! A-and I wanted to show off Kennedy to her!"

"Babe, it's always sweet when you objectify me as your trophy girlfriend," Kennedy said with a sarcastic but good-natured smile. 

"It's 'cause I-I'm proud of you!" Willow defended. "I wanted bloodsucker me to see I was all about The Pride these days! I thought she, me, and Kennedy could--" 

"Don't finish that thought, Will," Buffy said with a knowing smile.

"Hey, I want to hear more," Dawn whined.

"No... Buffy's right... maybe it's for the best that she's gone, because if I introduced Kennedy to her, she might have stolen her from me," Willow muttered with a solemn sigh. "And Kennedy probably would have chosen the much cooler rad version of me, anyway."

"Uh... don't I get a say in this narrative?" Kennedy questioned with a confused smile.

"No, this is my doomsday scenario, let me wallow, please," Willow said in a low voice.

"Well, while Willow wallows," Xander began. "How about we pass the floor back to the dying man."

Everyone stared at the half-dead Giles that was still semi-draped on the floor.

"No pun intended." Xander paused awkwardly. "No, it was an honest mistake, I swear."

"He can't help his impeccable comedic timing," Dawn said, taking pity on his awkwardness and supporting him.

"I'm too talented," Xander humble-bragged. "It's both a blessing and a curse."

The wounded Giles chuckled weakly, but it came off as a cough to those that surrounded him.

The unwounded Giles tried to help him sit up again, but the wounded Giles had no muscle strength left to keep himself upright. "I do apologize. You said no interruptions but yet again we've digressed."

"Nonsense... you watch over a vivacious bunch... I am pleased to see that in another reality, I enjoy such a high-spirited day-to-day," the wounded Giles sincerely expressed. "A young lady named Cordelia... she spoke to me about your existence, about a wish that she made that created this world..."

"Oh, is Cordy here?" Willow asked enthusiastically.

The wounded Giles sighed. "But... I only knew her for a few hours before she was killed by The Master's right and left hand vampires... At any rate, the situation has only deteriorated in the past several years, and Kendra has tragically been converted to what is termed a Slaypire, a Slayer turned Vampire... there are sparse accounts of their existence in the journal literature of the Slayer lineage, considering that all Slayers and Watchers take every precaution to prevent that fate from befalling a Slayer... for that reason, the Slaypire's abilities are not well-known, but from a record I recall reading many years ago, they are terribly frightening creatures, more powerful than both Vampires and Slayers themselves." 

Everyone grimly exchanged gloomy looks at hearing the fate that had befallen the Jamaican Slayer. Her death in their world now seemed much more compassionate compared to the memory desecrating circumstances that turned her into the very things that she was trained to kill.

"Kendra is virtually undefeatable without a Slayer in our corner to confront her and stand somewhat of a chance," Giles explained. "By that time, our ranks had dwindled to only three members, and we searched for the next activated Slayer in the lineage to aid us in our uprising efforts. The council informed us her name was Faith Lehane, a young girl hailing from Boston."

Buffy witnessed Faith perk up as she became interested in her role in the story. 

"We sent one of our team members, Larry Blaisdell, to track her down and have her join our team, since we were not able to get in touch with the girl's Watcher," the wounded Giles explained, and Faith's features sombered. "We later found out that a vampire named Kakistos had murdered her Watcher and the girl had been on the run for several months, trying to survive and not knowing who to trust or turn to for help."

Faith surreptitiously glanced at Buffy, and the blonde's ingrained hunter's intuition sensed Faith's eyes and felt compelled to meet them curiously. Faith only held her gaze for about two more seconds before she returned her attention to the wounded Giles. 

"The Council tried to help her but she furiously resisted them, and when Larry tried to help her, she... she..."

"She what," Faith bluntly prompted, voice low and sounding gruff with a tinge of fragility.

"She killed him," Giles said grievously. 

Everyone was silent as they stared at Faith with uncertainty. 

The raven-haired girl pursed her lips and ran a hand through her hair, releasing an exhausted sigh.

"Well, can't say I'm too shocked to find out I'm apparently a fuck-up in every universe," Faith said with a half-hearted shrug, trying to appear unaffected but coming off as visibly disappointed to those that knew her. 

"Faith..." Buffy said gently, trying to get her fellow Slayer not to be so hard on herself.

The wounded Giles' eyes widened. "Faith...? That Faith...? Are you... would you happen to be Faith Lehane...?" 

"Yeah... not your Faith, though," Faith clarified glumly, still hung up on her counterpart's actions.

"She's my Faith," Buffy said off-handedly to the wounded Giles.

Everyone blinked. 

Buffy paused and repeated the sentence in her mind.

"From my world," Buffy further expanded. "Our world... our... Faith."

If anything, she just made it more awkward.

"Anyway," Dawn said loudly, breaking through the silence. "So after that unfortunate incident, did the Faith here also go through an unnecessarily angsty, insufferably drawn-out redemption arc?"

"... An... arc?" the wounded Giles questioned in confusion. 

"Excuse my sister's speech, she's a millennial," Buffy said with an appeasing smile, then more seriously and quietly added, "We're just wondering what happened to the Faith of this world after... after Larry."

"She was never seen or heard from again," the wounded Giles divulged with a despondent look. "She's been missing for the past six years. The Council told me that they at first tried to help her, but I don't believe that is the case... I believe that they judged her a dangerous murderer... a threat to herself, to others, and to The Council's mission. I believe they... they have been out to eliminate her ever since... Her disappearance has stunted the Slayer lineage... the world is without a Slayer until she either returns to fulfill her destined duty, or she perishes and activates the next Slayer down the line.... Needless to say, without her help, we haven't been able to even challenge The Master and stand a fair chance... Confrontation without a Slayer is nothing short of reckless, if not suicidal."

Faith gnawed the inside of her cheek, feeling second-hand shame for the Wishversion of herself. 

Buffy and Willow glanced at her worriedly.

"So, long story short, you poofed us here so that we could help you defeat The Master?" Kennedy inquired.

"He was only a Level 1 Boss villain, but I'd prefer if we didn't have to suffer through that again," Xander remarked quickly.

"I don't get it, why didn't you just wish for The Master and his reign of terror on Sunnydale to disappear?" Dawn questioned, trying but failing to eradicate the "duh" tone from her voice. 

"That would have been more straight-forward... wouldn't you agree?" the wounded Giles acquiesced with a pained smile. "The thing about vengeance demons... or any wish-granting entity, really... is that they never tend to fulfill a wish in the exact manner that the recipient envisions ... I was afraid, you see... that Malice would let me live long enough to ascertain my wish came true, but not long enough to see the possibly negative ramifications that would result from that wish... Seeing the consequences of Cordelia's wish taught me to be careful when I deal with disrupting the natural, however unfortunate, order of things... I felt that the only way to ensure I saw my goal through was by bringing the Buffy of her world to help this Sunnydale... Cordelia told me, in a panic, that I had to get Buffy, that things were better, that people were happy... and we did get Buffy, just not the right one..." He stared pleadingly at the blonde Slayer. "You are the one she spoke of... I have the utmost faith that you can right this world..." He turned to the raven-haired Slayer. "And you have Faith... with two Slayers, and support from your team... you stand a substantial chance at defeating the Slaypire Kendra and The Master..."

"That's an awful lot of faith to have in someone," Buffy said uncertainly, then glared at Xander before he made an inappropriate remark. "And, well, we DON'T have Faith. Not this world's Faith. Without her, even if Faith and I and the rest of the gang manage to save this Sunnydale, there won't be a Slayer to keep the hellmouth safe after we're gone."

"Buffy's right," Willow opinioned. "What would be the point in going through all this trouble if the town is only going to keep getting taken over by vampires and demons if no Slayer's here to shoo them away!"

"We need Faith," Dawn said resolutely, meeting everyone's eyes. "Wishverse Faith."

Giles met his gaze evenly with the raven-haired Slayer. "Faith, are you up for the most important Rogue Slayer capture mission we've had to date?"

Faith stood determinedly with arms akimbo, eyes confidently glinting, and lips forming an intimidating smirk. "Let's find this flakey bitch."

The door slammed open. A short, blond boy stood laconically at the threshold.

Willow's eyes widened, tearing up as she whispered out in shocked disbelief, "Oz...!?"

Oz did not register his name and ran hastily to the wounded Giles' side. "Giles! Giles! Wake up!" Oz tried slapping him lightly but it appeared that the wounded Giles had been unconscious for a couple of minutes.

The unwounded Giles rapidly placed his index and middle finger by the neck of the unconscious Giles. His features darkened. "He's gone..."

Oz's usually stoic face changed to one of momentary distress and grief before his eyes lifted up and happened to clash with Willow's.

"You..." he said, sounding haunted. "I killed you, how...?" He looked down at Giles and then back at Willow. "You did this!"

He shot up to his feet and grabbed a stake that hung on the dungeon's wall before rushing forward with it, sharp pointed end aimed at Willow's heart.

~*~

The Present

Faith shook her head nostalgically at the memories.

Exciting times, those were.

Kennedy, being the closest Slayer to Willow, had been the one to swiftly intervene and grab Oz's stake in a tight grip, effectively stopping him from reaching Willow. 

Willow, already an established and powerful witch as well as an old school member of the original Scooby gang, had both the magical and physical means to easily intercept Oz's attempt on her life, but the redhead had been too shocked at seeing Oz again after years since their last encounter, and had failed to react and move out of the way in time, forcing her girlfriend to do the honors in her stead.

The brunette continued to walk through the cemetery, wondering how she hadn't run into any small-time vamps during her distracted stroll down memory lane.

Giving further thought to the matter, though, there really was no wonder.

Just like in the animal kingdom, in the demon kingdom, small fries steered cleared when there was a top chain predator prowling the terrain.

"You know it's not safe for a girl to wander around alone wearing such high-viz outfits," a voice with a female timbre cautioned casually. "That flashy top just screams, 'Bite Me.'"

"Dunno. With how bright it is, the vamps might just burst from getting a lil’ look-see," Faith smoothly retorted. "It's the latest in protective Slayer assault weapon wardrobe technology."

"Hot ... and a mouthful," the voice opinioned, sounding closer. "I'll be sure to wear shades so that your blinding brightness doesn't dust me on sight."

"Can't help it if you can't handle the visuals," Faith drawled, turning around with a grim smirk. "Been a while, V. How long did it take you to think of your opening 'intro-pun-ction'?"

"Ha ha, good one! You know me. I love to make an entrance," Buffy said cheerfully, standing a few feet away from Faith, looking pale and wearing all different hues of black. "And it has been a while. I thought about paying you guys a visit. But I had a feeling you wouldn't have invited me in."

"Can you blame me?" Faith said, feigning playfulness. "If you were me, you'd have done the same."

"Touché," Buffy said with a disarming smile. "I'm sure that's what I would have wanted."

"Just carrying out your will, V," Faith said, surprised at how steady her voice came out.

"I don't think I ever wrote one," Buffy said pensively. "Felt too much like college essay writing. Though in my line of work, I probably should have." Buffy gave Faith a salacious grin. "Good thing I gave you the oral, huh?"

"Your verbal run through is very much stuck to my mind," Faith followed up without taking the bait. "What is it with vampires and their weird come on's? Who knew being undead spiked up your libido?"

"I can't say I know what you mean," Buffy said. "I think my charm and cuteness just leveled up. The old me definitely didn't know how to make this body work for her. But this is the new me, re-vamped.”

Faith shook her head at the blonde’s silliness despite the situation.

Buffy smiled, proud of herself. “Thank you. Thank you. I’ll be here all night.”

“Never a dull moment with you, V,” Faith expressed with nostalgic eyes.

“What can I say, I seem to get punnier with every death,” Buffy said with a casual shoulder shrug. “I might’ve wasted my mortal life away. But I have eternity now."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Faith commented in a throwaway manner. "You know better than anyone that vamps' lives get cut short when they least expect it."

"Well, do I have the Slayer to worry about?" Buffy asked with amusement. "I'm practically an Angel or a Spike. You should know how to deal with my type by now, Faith."

"You're more like an Angelus or a pre-chipped Spike, if we're telling it like it is," Faith remarked with a dismissive shrug. 

"Ouch, plunge it in deeper, why don't you?" Buffy said with affected hurt and her trademark pout. "Have you no soul?"

"I know you don't," Faith stated coldly, pulling her stake from her back pocket. "And plunging it in deep is exactly what I plan on doing."

"Skipping to the main act already? But I was loving the foreplay," Buffy said with a sinister smile.

"We can spar a little, if you want, and then I'll lay it on thick and get this thing over with," Faith said. 

"How anticlimactic, I thought I was supposed to be the Big Bad Boss villain of the season?" Buffy asked with childish disappointment. 

"Summer's almost over."

"Summer's been gone for a while, Faith," Buffy stated with eyes that almost expressed sympathetic understanding, making Faith's grip on the stake waver.

"Not yet. It's not over 'till I fulfill my promise to B," Faith growled out resolutely.

"It's too late now, F," Buffy said with an angry expression. "You let me become this... this thing... and now..."

There was a long pause.

"Now...?" Faith prompted.

Buffy's face morphed into that of a fanged vampire's—

"Now you're going to humor me."

—and she charged forward.