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"Different circumstances, that could've been me."
~Buffy, re: Faith; Dopplegangland~
Walking on the balls of her feet, as quietly as she could in boots, Buffy quickly made her way around the corner of the building. Then, seeing the dark-haired girl in front of her merely walking at a fast and steady pace, regardless of what noise she made in the darkness of the alley, she dropped her somewhat stealthy act and sighed.
Faith turned around to look at her with a somewhat surprised expression, but didn't ask whatever question was on the tip of her tongue. "You're quiet tonight."
The blond Slayer shrugged. "I just wanna get this done."
"Yeah," Faith agreed, a wicked smile rushing across her face. She stroked the hunting bow in her hands. "I'm dying to test out the longbow. It might be my new thing," she said proudly, prompting a small smile from Buffy.
"I can't believe you went back for that stuff." After that little 'getting arrested' incident, she had thought Faith would stay the hell away from the scene of the crime. But that was Faith for you-'Want. Take. Have.' No matter what the consequences.
And now she was apparently ignoring Buffy, or else was too wrapped up in her bow to hear. "Hey, how do you feel about getting some ribs? You know-after we're done?"
Buffy looked at Faith with something like confused awe-only Faith would ever have that thought. 'Hey, after we kill a bunch of vampires, wanna get some ribs?'
She barely had time to giggle at that before they struck. At least four Eliminati, and all of them big, fast, and angry. Shit.
Slayer instinct fully on, Buffy started throwing punches and kicking whatever she came in contact with. It seemed like every time she dusted one of them, another came out of hiding. Next to her, she heard Faith struggle with her bow and then swear, dropping the thing completely.
Side by side, they took out the remaining Eliminati, the turned to face each other, unconsciously checking themselves and the girl facing them for bruises and cuts. Faith leaned down to pick up the bolt from her now-broken bow, and Buffy took another stake from her back pocket.
"I think we've got more coming," Faith said. They both started walking in the direction of the warehouse they'd seen Balthazar in before. With that huge tank he apparently lived in, they probably wouldn't be moving him anytime soon.
Buffy shook her head, trying not to worry. "We're never gonna make it to the warehouse."
The dark-haired Slayer disagreed. "If they keep coming one at a time, we got a shot."
As if taking a cue from Faith, another Eliminati landed in front of her, sword drawn. Faith grabbed him by the arm, shoving him into a crate, then throwing him onto a convenient pile of wood. Taking her cue, Buffy jumped in to stake him, actually feeling a little rush as he exploded into dust. Undeterred, the two Slayers continued into the alleyway.
At the end of the building, Buffy saw something grab Faith by the shoulder. Reacting immediately, the dark-haired girl threw the offending man into a wall, and like before, Buffy took the cue and drove her stake into his chest.
She didn't register how easily the sharpened stake entered his flesh until it was already in; nor did she notice the shock and fear on the completely human face of the Deputy Mayor. All she felt was her blood pumping hard, and all she heard was the warrior cry Faith sent up into the air.
They both looked down at the body at the same time. "Oh, my God..." Buffy heard the slight whimper in her throat even before the tears began to brush at her eyelids. "Oh, no..."
Faith grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to lead her away. "We gotta get out of here, B.," she said firmly, but her voice was shaking.
Buffy still had her hands over her mouth, and she was shaking her head, looking back at all the vampires she'd killed and then remembering Ted, how his 'human' face had given under her fist... "No, we...we have to call someone. 911, or..."
Faith shook her head, trying not to look at the man on the floor of the alley. "No. He's dead, Buffy, and the two of us in jail isn't gonna make him any less dead. Lets just-get out of here."
Buffy wanted to protest, wanted to say something...but all she could do was look back at the dead man in horror, as Faith calmly led her out of the alley by her arm.
As soon as they were out of the alley, Buffy started crying, heaving sobs that came out of every part of her. And as unexpected as it was, Faith just took her in her arms and hugged her, letting her cry out her grief onto her shoulder.
When one of them finally spoke, it was loud in the silence that now pervaded. "We've gotta go, B." Faith said gently. "We've gotta get out of here before someone comes out to see what all that noise was."
Buffy nodded, sniffling. "I know. Its just..." she pointed weakly to the alley behind them.
Faith shook her head. "No. We can't think about that anymore; we gotta keep a clear head. There's gonna be questions, and we're gonna have to answer them."
"But what about-"
The other girl interrupted her. "I'll take care of him. but now, we're just gonna run, okay? Don't think, run."
Looking up at the calm expression on the other Slayer's face, ignoring her wild eyes, Buffy nodded. "Okay. We'll run."
"Good." Somewhat relieved, Faith grabbed the other girl by the hand. "Alright-on three. On, two, three!" The two Slayers took off, running away from the alley, away from the body, up and over trash cans, crates; knocking over whatever was in their way.
Whatever was in their way.
They didn't stop until they were as far away from the alley as possible, without going out of Sunnydale. Faith turned to Buffy with an exhilarated grin on her face. "We're home free, B. Even if the cops find that guy, they've got nothing on us."
"What?" Buffy shook her head. "That doesn't make it any better. I...I killed him."
Faith grabbed both of Buffy's hands in her own. "No. He was in the wrong place, in the wrong time, and since he was there with all the Eliminati, tracking us, chances are he was a baddie anyway. It wasn't your fault."
"No, it was! I stabbed him! I just..." Buffy fell to her knees, face in her hands. When she raised her head, there were more tears, streaking a slow path down her face. "You don't understand. This isn't the first time this happened."
Faith let that sink in with only a slight widening of her eyes, but she shook it off. "Doesn't matter. We're two of a kind, B., and if you killed him, so did I. Now lets go home."
Buffy accepted Faith's hand up, and kept holding it even after she was firmly on her feet. "I don't think I can."
"Then come to my place," the other Slayer offered. "We can both let this sink in awhile, okay? It'll be fine. Just pretend it never happened." She started to lead the other girl towards her part of town, but Buffy held her back.
" 'Just pretend it never happened?' Faith, a man is dead because of me. we've got to get to the police."
Faith scoffed. "Slayer in jail? Yeah, that's a good equation. It mighta been self-defense, but they'd see it as murder. You cant trust cops. Especially cops that willingly work in a town like this."
"But-"
Faith cut in before the other girl could finish. "Look, B., you're strong. You're the strongest person I know, and you're also the best. Some guy went into an alley where two Slayers were fighting, and he attacked them. That means he's either a bad guy, or incredibly stupid. You'd never do it on purpose, but it happened. And we just gotta deal and move on."
Seeing the completely sure look in the other girl's eyes, Buffy nodded slowly, then began to follow the other Slayer to her apartment.
"Home sweet home," Faith said as she opened the door.
Buffy entered the small room with wide eyes. She hadn't visited for awhile, and last time there had at least been Christmas lights to brighten the place up. Now it appeared just as tiny and dirty as it was. Faith, noticing her look, smirked. "I know it isn't exactly the Sheridan, but I have limited income."
"No," Buffy protested. "It's...nice. You've done wonders with it."
"Yeah, according to Martha Stewart dirty laundry is really a good way to open up the room." Faith plopped down on the bed, inviting Buffy to join her. She did, gratefully, slipping off her coat. "So, tell me about this other guy?"
"What?"
Faith propped herself up on her side, looking at the blond. "You said that wasn't the first time."
Buffy buried her head in Faith's pillow, trying to forget. When she looked back up, Faith was still looking at her. She sighed. "Its was...my mom started dating this guy, and he was really weird. He was really strangely perfect, and nice to my friends and my mom and stuff, but I got this weird vibe off him. Then Mom started acting all Stepford, and he threatened me..." Buffy's voice lowered dangerously. "He caught me sneaking into my room and then he hit me." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Faith stiffen. "So I hit him back. I knocked him off the stairs and he broke his neck."
Faith let out a deep breath. "Shit. That's harsh."
Buffy shrugged. "Well, he turned out to be an evil robot who was drugging everyone through his yummy food, but still."
Faith choked out a shocked laugh, looked at Buffy to see if it was okay, and then went back to laughing. "Shit, B. Only you could ever feel bad about something like that."
Buffy shrugged, lying down on her back like Faith now was. "I know it was an accident, but..."
"Look, B. I meant what I said back there. You're the best person I know, and you know me. I don't get all gushy with the compliments." As it was, Faith was looking off to one side, like she was embarrassed. "But I honestly think that if that guy was there, he was up to no good."
"So we figure out what he was up to," Buffy finished with a relieved smile. "But Giles-"
"We don't tell Giles," Faith cut in harshly. "That's my little part of the deal. I help you find out what the baddie was doing, and you don't tell the authority figure. Okay?"
Buffy smiled a little, trying to be like Faith. Sometimes things happened and you couldn't control them. She had to realize that. "Okay."
"Good." Faith settled back, shutting off the lamp next to her side of the bed. "So lets go to sleep."
And the two girls slept.
