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Witch's Faith
"All fixed!" said Xander, testing the hot water and packing up his tools.
"Thanks, Xander," said Faith.
"Sure, no biggie," said Xander uncomfortably. He was very aware of his own unpleasant past with Faith, and wasn't sure what to make of the "new improved" Faith all his friends seemed so taken with. But she seemed to be sincere.
Faith left the bathroom while Xander turned his attention to the broken bathroom door. He had already fixed the ceiling light in the main room and the draft under the door. Anya was setting up a bigger, better space heater.
Buffy returned shortly with a shower head, a top for the toilet tank, and lots of blankets. It was clear from last night that Faith needed them. She had tried to persuade Faith to come back to her house, but respected Faith's need to stay away from Willow for now. So at the very least, Buffy was determined to make Faith's place more livable.
Xander and Anya were almost out the door when Xander remembered something. "Oh! Almost forgot." He took something out of Anya's bag and tossed it to Faith. "A present from Willow." He and Anya climbed the stairs and drove off.
Faith was about to open the hastily-wrapped box, an unwanted reminder that she had lost someone special, when it began to beep loudly. She tore the paper off and took out... "A phone!" It kept ringing.
"Answer it," suggested Buffy.
Faith fumbled with the buttons. "Um... hello?"
"Faith? Hi... it's Tara. I'm sorry to bother you." Tara wanted to ask how Faith was doing, but obviously Faith couldn't be doing too well. Nevertheless, Faith could hear the concern in her voice.
"That's OK. What's up?"
"I just thought I should tell you, a Dorothy Betts came by this morning, looking for Buffy and asking Dawn and I if we had an acquaintance named Faith."
"Dorothy Betts? I don't know who that is." But something triggered an alarm in the back of Faith's mind. One of Elise's vampires? Surely not in daylight. Someone else renting an illegal apartment in this building? But she hadn't met anyone yet other than the landlord.
"About 50? Heavyset with graying hair and black-rimmed glasses?"
"I have no idea, that's really weird. What did you say?"
"Well, Dawn said we knew you... before I could warn her telepathically. But I did stop her from blabbing that we had seen you recently. I wasn't sure if this lady was someone you really wanted to see or not."
"Well, thanks."
"Sure. You, um... take care of yourself, Faith. Come home soon."
"Sometime, maybe." said Faith. She could imagine visiting–perhaps, one day–but she didn't think she'd see that house as her home ever again. "Bye. Oh–tell Willow thanks, for the phone."
"Sure thing. Goodbye."
Buffy approached with a white paper shopping bag. "What was that about?"
"No clue. Somebody was asking about me." Faith shrugged.
Buffy held out the paper bag. "Might as well open all your gifts at once!"
Faith took the bag hesitantly, not wanting to be the object of pity. Her eyes grew shiny when she took out the contents.
"Willow told me you did all your carving with a twenty-four-inch machete. Very impressive, I might add! But... I just thought..." Buffy shrugged.
Faith was holding two small carving knives and a stack of assorted wood blocks. "Thanks, Buffy... I don't know what to say. You're really sweet." Everyone had been very nice to her for many days as she was recuperating, but truly thoughtful kindness like this was still an unfamiliar concept for her. "Thanks for helping me get my place fixed up, too. I was just so busy I kept putting things off."
"You're welcome. What were you so busy with?"
"Well, patrolling, and I... have a job. At least, last time I called I did. They're waiting for me to get better."
"Where did you get a job?"
"Oh, it's all under the table. I don't have an ID or anything to get a real job. It's cool, though, they pay pretty good."
"Where at?"
"Buffy, promise you won't laugh at me."
"Cross my heart!"
"At the graveyard. I'm the gravedigger."
Buffy's mouth opened. The holes Faith had been digging! She had meant to ask what that was all about. She clenched her jaw and did not laugh. Until faith laughed first, anyway.
"All right, enough!" Faith finally said. The girls' laughter subsided.
"Well..." said Buffy, "I'm starving. What do you say we go shopping tomorrow and just go out tonight?"
"You're on! I can get my own groceries, though."
"You don't know what I like."
Faith looked at Buffy questioningly.
"I'm staying here, Faith. With you. If that's OK? Until you're better, or ready to come home?"
Faith just stared.
"I'd really like to, Faith... I'd worry about you here all alone. And... it'll be fun! We'll make it nice, get some stuff for the walls..."
Faith's eyes were watering again. She ran forward and hugged Buffy tight. She pulled back a bit to look at Buffy and was greeted by the Slayer's lovely, tender smile.
Before she even realized what she was doing, Faith's lips were on Buffy's, and her tongue was slipping into the other Slayer's mouth.
Buffy jumped back, startled and feeling violated. She wanted to spit. Wipe her lips. But she stopped herself from bringing her sleeve to her mouth, aware that Faith was probably already feeling terribly rejected after Willow.
Buffy tried to be gentle, but direct. "Faith... you do know I'm straight?"
Faith shrugged and turned away, not meeting Buffy's eyes. She wasn't after Buffy! She didn't even know why she had done that. But she was surprised at how much she felt like crying.
"I tried the phone, it works."
"How did she sound?" Willow asked Tara, concerned. Dawn helped her get her heavy coat off and started putting away the groceries they had gone for.
"It was kind of awkward, but she sounds like she'll be fine. Buffy called earlier, she's going to stay over there, if Faith lets her. Oh, and Faith says thanks for the phone."
Willow nodded sadly.
"Willow? You OK?"
Willow sighed. "Come upstairs. There's something I have to get off my chest."
Something about the redhead's manner alarmed Tara greatly. She followed Willow up the stairs and into their room, closing the door behind them.
"Willow? What is it?"
"There's a reason I'm so worried about Faith... a reason I got the phone. I did a spell, Tara... a bad spell..."
"Oh, Willow!" Tara was very worried now.
"Not recently... I still don't have much of my power back. It was when I was helping Elise. It summoned something called the Oracle. I was worried about Buffy, and this thing tells the Slayer's future."
"What did it say?" Tara asked, wide-eyed.
"It said..." Willow began, but she started to cry so hard that it frightened Tara. Willow had kept this terrible secret burning inside her for so long. "It said that... soon one of the Slayers... would be dead! Not lose her powers even, just die! And... it's fate... the Oracle is never wrong!"
"Oh, my God! Willow, are you sure?!"
Willow quoted the Oracle and the passages she had read in the ancient texts. "I didn't want to say anything to Buffy and Faith," she sobbed, "I thought saying it might make them do something to make it come true!"
Tara was starting to cry as well. Losing Buffy or Faith! It was unthinkable! "You're right, some prophecies work like that. Just in case, we shouldn't tell them. But it sounds like it doesn't matter what we do!"
Tara now lived with the same terrifying knowledge that Willow had kept hidden for so long. She almost wished she didn't know.
Buffy and Faith were sharing a pizza, discussing Elise's schemes and Faith's future. The lack of ID was a problem–she was hiding from the law after all, while her magic-blinded parole officer believed her to be in L.A. and imagined Faith checking in weekly. But at least she had a job, and a place to live, and was training to be back in shape for slaying as soon as possible.
"I've got a nice stash of money saved up by now. The rent on this place is nothing. I want to somehow pay back that hotel for smashing the place up. And the bank, we stole hundreds from them." Faith looked ashamed.
Buffy patted her hand. "Willow took care of all that in secret. She's the hacker, remember? She can't go to classes this semester, so she secretly used her loan to pay some people back instead."
"I'm so glad... I'll give her some money later. I'm the one who did the expensive damage!" She leaned her head on her hand, remembering the tantrum she had thrown when Willow walked out.
Buffy excused herself to use the ladies' room, and walked past the pizza parlor's front window. Her car was parked across the street, and she noticed a police car pulled up behind it. Two officers were looking at her license plate, peering inside the car, and looking up and down the street. She was about to go out and speak to them, but they drove away. She shrugged and forgot all about it.
Faith's strength improved with each passing day. Soon, she barely noticed the cold presence of the magic fading within her flesh. Buffy still slept with Faith, since it was better than the floor, but she felt rather uncomfortable whenever she found Faith pressed against her.
Buffy helped Faith train at the Magic Box daily, and the dark Slayer worked out to the limit of her returning strength. She even began teaching Dawn some martial arts, which Buffy approved of. She was glad her sister got along so well with Faith. Dawn kept Faith informed about Willow and Tara, and kept them posted about how she was doing. Faith even began helping Buffy patrol the city, and proved to be a valuable ally despite her diminished powers.
Getting over Willow was a far more difficult battle, but she was slowly winning that as well. Finally, over a week after she had left Buffy's house, she decided that helping the gang was more important than her need for distance. So Buffy brought her to her first Scooby meeting in years.
Faith was nervous, but she was greeted with warm smiles and gentle touches, and she soon realized that things were going to be OK between her and Tara and Willow. Spike and Xander were still having trouble accepting her, but she figured that they would get used to her presence in time.
The meeting focussed on what Buffy, Faith and Spike had been discovering about Elise's plans for Dawn. "Elise isn't trying to capture the Key just for show," Buffy explained. "Some unnamed demon has her convinced that he can actually activate the Key." Dawn went pale. Nobody wanted a repeat of Glory. The gang agreed to double their efforts to stop Elise–and to guard Dawn.
After the meeting, everyone went to the Bronze. Faith took a table by herself in a dim corner, and when Buffy followed her, she smiled and waved her away. "I'm cool. I'll just listen to the tunes and ogle the girls." Faith winked. "You go hang out with the others! You go out with me all the time–you hardly see them anymore."
It was true–Buffy did want to spend some down time with her other friends. She sat down at their table, and Willow and Tara leaned back to wave at Faith to join them. Faith shook her head but smiled to show that she was fine alone. And she was. She listened to the music and watched Buffy from afar, hearing her beautiful laugh drift across the crowd occasionally. Buffy was probably the most beautiful creature Faith had ever seen. Faith could watch her all day. In fact, sometimes she did.
After an hour or so, Buffy left the others and sat down across from Faith.
"Time to patrol?" Faith asked.
"No hurry. I just wanted to hang out with you too."
"Don't you get a little sick of having me around all the time?" asked Faith, smiling to turn the serious question into a joke.
Buffy wasn't fooled. She put her hand on Faith's arm. "No, actually, I don't. I can't remember when I've had as much fun as I've had this week with you."
"You know what we could do that would be really fun?"
"What?" asked Buffy warily.
"We could have hot nasty sex!"
This was a running joke, and one which never failed to get an adorable blush out of Buffy. "I'll have to decline again, I'm afraid. I rate that about as fun as our old hobby of hitting each other with shovels!"
"Oooh! Sounds kinky, B!"
"You better watch it, Faith! I'll decide I'd better sleep alone, and guess who's gonna get to sleep on the floor!"
Faith kicked Willow hard in the chest, sending her flying into a lamp which smashed and lay sparking on the floor.
Buffy ran to pull the plug and helped Willow to her feet. "Faith! It's Willow!" The witch had been waiting in Faith's locked basement in the dark when they returned from an evening of slaying.
Faith's adrenaline rush faded. "Oh, no. Are you all right? I saw someone hiding and I just attacked!"
"Yeah," said Willow, feeling her sore shoulder. "I think you're getting stronger!"
"What's going on?" asked Buffy. "You magicked the lock?"
"Tara did. She's still out looking for you. We've been searching everywhere for you guys! Something really bad is going on!"
"What is it?" asked Faith, not liking what she saw in Willow's eyes.
"The police, Faith, they're looking for you! Two cars pulled up to the house in the middle of the night and stormed in with guns. Dawn was screaming! They didn't find you so they left... they said to call them if we saw you. We said we hadn't seen you since before you went to prison, but they acted like they already knew you had been with us!"
Faith sat heavily on the bed, speechless.
"How did they find her?!" asked Buffy, feeling Willow's panic creeping over her.
"I'll die if I go back to prison," said faith softly. She finally had a taste of what was like to really live–and do some good. And now it would all be taken from her!
"We have to get Faith out of here. Hide her somewhere!" said Willow. But could Faith hide forever? Would they have to never see her again? The police knew they were in contact! Willow started to shake. This was the final punishment for her black magic! Her powers had broken Faith out of prison early, and now Faith would never be set free again. Why did Faith have to pay for Willow's magic? The witch began to break down into sobs. Faith just sat and stared, with the expression of a woman sentenced to death.
"Willow!" said Buffy, shaking her friend. "We don't have time for this. We need to think! Faith... we'll take care of you. We won't let you go back."
At that moment, flashing lights flooded in through the high windows.
Faith turned to the door slowly. Moments later, voices could be heard outside and someone pounded heavily on the door. "Open the door! This is the police!"
The three girls could not move. Willow's eyes were wild. Buffy had gone white. This could not be happening! Faith was slumped and broken, as though she were already dead and in Hell.
The door crashed open and two police officers, crouched low, aimed their weapons at the girls. "Put your hands in the air!" More officers stood just outside the door at the bottom of the steps.
Willow and Buffy obeyed. Faith just sat and stared. "Put them up!" Slowly, Faith complied.
Dorothy Betts entered between the armed officers, carrying handcuffs. Faith and Willow recognized her at once. "Faith's parole officer," breathed Willow. The spell the witch had used on her had not worked!
"Faith, stand up and move slowly to the wall," Mrs. Betts ordered. Faith began to comply and then made a suicide run at the armed officers. Mrs. Betts grabbed her arm with surprising agility and closed the cuffs over Faith's wrist. A police officer jumped in to help get Faith's other wrist cuffed. Faith slumped again. The officers holstered their weapons.
Mrs. Betts spoke to Faith in tones of triumphant cruelty. "You are under arrest! You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to assistance of counsel. Anything which you say or do from this point forward can and will be held against you in a court of law." She unfolded a piece of paper from her pocket. "You are charged with parole violation, perjury at a State of California parole hearing, and forcible escape from a state penal facility. That includes falsifying your place of residence, falsifying your place of employment, failure to meet with your parole officer as required, assault on your parole officer and willful concealment of your whereabouts. Additional charges pending include violations of state and federal employment statutes, violations of state and local housing codes, assault and battery, vandalism, theft, credit card fraud, illegal interference with private computer systems, abuse of publicly-funded medical facilities, carrying concealed weapons, and conspiracy to commit murder with wanted felon Elise Connor. Charges pending as a result of investigations into your conduct in prison include assault and battery, extortion, rape, smuggling of restricted goods, and intimidation of fellow prisoners." Mrs. Betts' eyes glinted evilly. She gestured to a thin man standing just outside the door. "Agent Bruce Tanaka with the FBI is pursuing additional federal charges."
Mrs. Betts shoved Faith roughly toward the door. "And on a personal note, may I add that your kind of filth is the reason I do what I do. You can look forward to spending the rest of your life rotting in a maximum security prison. No more visitors." She pushed Faith ahead of her up the steps, surrounded by armed police.
Willow ran out after them, screaming. "You can't! You can't! She's good now! She's good!" There were three marked police cars parked outside, two unmarked, and over a dozen armed officers. Buffy stepped out of the door and just stood there in shock.
Mrs. Betts turned around at the top of the steps and looked down at them with a sneer. "She's shit. And she knows it."
Faith looked down at Willow for a moment, and then turned her attention to Buffy, eyes glassy. Her words of parting were simple and heartfelt. "Buffy, I love you...! Kill me."
Willow felt Buffy slip partway back inside the doorway. She knew that the sack hanging by the door contained a loaded crossbow. No, Buffy! she transmitted telepathically. You can't! They'll lock you away forever! Think of Dawn!
Suddenly Buffy had the crossbow in her hands and was advancing slowly up the steps, tears in her eyes. Mrs. Betts face betrayed fury, but nobody dared to move. Then Faith realized that her own release would destroy Buffy's future, and she shook her head sadly at her friend. She wanted, needed that arrow in her heart, but not at that price.
"Put the bow down, Ms. Summers!" Mrs. Betts hissed. "You've already earned yourself five to ten years, don't make it life!"
Buffy's face was blank except for the terrifying intensity of her eyes. This didn't feel real to her at all. Consequences were meaningless. Ignoring the police surrounding her in every direction, she raised her weapon slowly.
Willow screamed, "Buffy, no!"
Tears streaming down her expressionless face, Buffy aimed carefully at the heart of the parole officer.
Continue to Episode 18 – Proof.
Time stood still. The flashing red and white lights glinted off the razor point of the crossbow bolt. Dorothy Betts' eyes were defiant, but betrayed just the slightest fear.
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