Chapter Text
Buffy flipped through the booklet showcasing a dozen Slayers activated by Willow’s spell. She’d lost count of the number of times she’d already done so. Studied each individual biography, read through each of Willow’s estimations of that Slayer’s likely power levels. The latter was a complicated equation involving the girl’s age and distance from Sunnydale at the moment of the spell casting, and Buffy had yet to see evidence of its accuracy. However, she kept these doubts to herself. She knew how hard Willow had worked to develop some sort of scientific method around the new world of “several hundred girls in all the world” and she wanted to support those efforts.
She stood up and walked to the large window. Fall was on its way and the trees in the grounds of Slayer HQ were already turning orange. Soon they’d be shedding their leaves altogether and Xander would be in charge of the big clear up. Then winter would appear and Buffy would spend a second year shivering on patrol dreaming of California sunshine.
Thoughts of winter inevitably led to thoughts of Faith. She’d found Buffy’s reaction to the cold hilarious and she’d ribbed her mercilessly over it. While Buffy had been wrapped up in countless layers underneath her crazily expensive coat which was supposedly designed for Arctic conditions, Faith had patrolled in her usual leather jacket, monologuing about brutal Boston winters she had known. “Ya not overheatin’ there, B? Looks way over the top. Ya want cold, ya shoulda been there for January 1996 in Southie. Course, our heating was on the fritz too, but I guess that’s what makes us East Coast girls tougher than you Cali chicks.”
There were endless similar jabs, but irritating as Buffy had found it at the time, she’d recognised that having a patrolling partner who was seemingly unaffected by the cold and so was far more agile when Cleveland’s undead and demonic residents put in an appearance was definitely a win.
And then of course Faith had shown her softer side, presenting Buffy with an extra thick blanket to keep her comfortable when she wasn’t patrolling. As the winter had worn on, they’d often found themselves sharing the blanket whilst watching TV together in the den. It had been… comforting, Buffy decided. Especially as Faith was happy to sit there quietly, eating popcorn or pizza, with the only commentary related to whatever trash they were watching. At a time when Buffy was still grieving the loss of her hometown and those who had fallen during the final battle and the weeks leading up to it, those evenings spent in companionable silence with some junk food on the side… well. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it kept me sane. Kept me able to focus on the present and future, rather than crying over the past. Never thought Faith would be my emotional support person. How crazy is that?
Faith’s contribution hadn’t been limited to supporting Buffy’s mental health, however. After the fall of Sunnydale, while the survivors spent several weeks staying in motels contemplating their next steps, Faith had been there offering all sorts of things. Sparring sessions for the newly activated Slayers; fixes and maintenance of the old school bus (“Did motor mechanics 101 in the joint, G-Man”); semi-responsible adult accompanying the younger girls to bowling and video game arcades. Faith never complained about any of this, indeed she seemed to relish her new role, and it took much of the pressure off the core Scoobies.
When Willow cracked the Council’s offshore accounts money was suddenly no object. Cleveland, with its own Hellmouth, seemed the most obvious base for what was already being dubbed “Slayer HQ” and a former boutique hotel in the suburb of Rocky River was acquired for this purpose.
A few of the newer Slayers began to drift away at this point, with homesickness and a desire to return to rudely interrupted teenage lives being the main reasons cite. Buffy had been half-expecting Faith to join this mini exodus – after all her “walkabouts” back in Sunnydale were the stuff of legend and she now had the additional complication of being a wanted felon – but the Dark Slayer was determined to stay. “Guess ya just need to keep the faith, B,” she’d said with a wink as they set off for Ohio.
The newly purchased property needed some work doing to it, but this proved faster and more straightforward than it would otherwise have been thanks to a combination of Xander’s construction expertise and the fact that money was flowing freely. Dawn enrolled in a local high school; Willow turned her attention to tracking down the other activated Slayers around the world; Giles began making plans for a limited Council revival; and Buffy and Faith focused on thinning Cleveland’s undead and demonic population.
The OG Slayers were joined in this endeavour by the other, more recently chosen, girls, but the skill gap between them quickly made itself evident. No amount of training and field time was sufficient to bring the new kids anywhere near to the level of Buffy and Faith. Kennedy in particular took this very hard and her relationship with Willow crumbled shortly afterwards. Rona followed a couple of months later, pleading family commitments in Chicago.
To everyone’s surprise, Faith had tried hard to rally the younger girls. She never crowed about her own Slayer superiority. She even took Kennedy for a few beers and listened patiently to her complaints and existential angst. Eventually Faith had called for the check and said, “Red’s good people and she loves you. Don’t fuck it up.”
But Kennedy hadn’t taken her advice and the witch / Slayer coupling had disintegrated in a mess of tears and recriminations a few weeks later. Kennedy had departed for her native New York, leaving behind a devastated Willow and a subdued Slayer HQ. Buffy found herself on comforting best friend duties while Faith picked up the slaying slack.
In addition to slaying, Faith used this time to scope out Cleveland’s demonic underbelly. She identified the bars and clubs that catered to creatures of the night; she learned where the vampire safe houses were located and even took one of them out single-handedly (with a little help from bright winter sunshine); she made contact with some of Cleveland’s independent demon hunters. This group now included Robin Wood, and Buffy smiled as she recalled the conversation she’d had with Faith about that. They’d been watching X-Files reruns whilst wrapped in their favourite winter TV viewing blanket when Faith had casually slipped it into conversation.
“So, turns out our boy Wood has signed up with the East Side Enforcers, which is the lamest name for a demon hunting gang ever.”
“Oh? Thought he would have had enough of Hellmouths after Sunnydale.”
“Hear ya, B, but he thinks he’s found his purpose in life or some shit.”
“Right, so are you guys gonna be… you know.”
“Screwing? Hell no. That was strictly a ‘no men for three years and an apocalypse on the horizon’ sitch. Kinda got everythin’ I need here, anyways.”
Buffy hadn’t really understood that comment but knowledge that Faith wasn’t about to abandon Slayer HQ and what they were trying to build made her absurdly happy. They’d clinked their bottles together and returned to watching Mulder and Scully investigate the latest monster of the week.
Willow gradually pulled through her heartbreak and turned her attention to the task of locating unknown Slayers activated through her spell. In a short time, she’d pulled together a list of girls who looked as though they might benefit from an intensive course at Slayer HQ, and Buffy and Faith had eagerly thrown themselves into developing a challenging training programme covering a wide range of weapons and hand-to-hand techniques. It was still winter, but Buffy consoled herself with the knowledge that Spring was on its way and with it a bunch of girls needing help managing their new superpowers. She knew that she and Faith were best placed to offer that help, and she was giddy with excitement. This time it would be done properly. This time, it wouldn’t look anything like the shambolic attempts to keep the Potentials safe whilst simultaneously trying to get them ready to defeat the First Evil and prevent an apocalypse.
However, like so many of Buffy’s plans, this one failed to come to fruition, at least in the way she’d hoped. She’d been sitting in the same place she was now, in the ludicrously named, to Buffy’s mind at least, “Conference Room”, waiting for Giles and Willow to arrive. Giles had scheduled a meeting with a bland title like “Next Steps”. She’d been expecting it to be the usual boring detail about some little known administrative process, but when Watcher and Witch showed up, something about their demeanour made her wary. A wariness that was amplified by the appearance of Faith a few paces behind them, exuding what could only be described as conflicted emotions. Her eyes were blazing with rage while her mouth was set in a sort of sad resignation.
Giles had pulled out a chair. “I’m so pleased you were available to meet this morning, Buffy. I thought we could start by going over the arrangements for the new Slayers’ orientation…”
Buffy had already decided that she wasn’t going to be distracted by whatever filler Giles had planned. “Faith and I already did that and gave the report. What’s this really about?”
“It’s, ah, well, it’s like this.” Giles had his glasses off and was polishing them vigorously with a handkerchief. “In view of Faith’s, ah, particular status, we thought it might be sensible if she was to take a break from activities here, especially with the arrival of the trainees. Angel has suggested that -”
“Wait.” Buffy had got to her feet and was staring at Giles with incredulity. “You’re sending Faith away now? Just before the other Slayers get here? When she’s down to teach half the classes? How does this make any sense? And I’ve got no clue what you mean by her ‘status’?”
“My status as a wanted fugitive, B.” Faith pushed herself off the wall she’d been leaning on. “We don’t wanna freak the new kids out, and I don’t wanna put you guys at risk. ‘Sides, Angel’s got this whole law firm thing now, and he reckons they can do somethin’ to wipe my record.” She slumped back to the wall.
“It’s only temporary, Buff.” Willow had her best sympathetic face on display. “True, the whole escaped convict thing hasn’t caused any problems up to now, but we’ve been a pretty tight little bunch! Bringing in new people creates a whole new set of risks.”
Clearly, the decision had been taken and, given Faith’s surrender, Buffy knew there was no point arguing. “Okay then. Can I speak to Faith privately, please?”
And she had. Faith had insisted that it was the best thing for everyone and that “Wolfram and whatever will have my name cleared before ya know it, then I’ll be right back to show off my mad knife skills." In response, Buffy had simply hugged her and made her promise to call regularly, something Faith had done. In fact, they’d spoken almost daily until four months ago, when contact had abruptly ceased. Any and all attempts to learn what was going on had been stonewalled by Angel Investigations, with varying degrees of credibility.
Buffy’s trip down memory lane was interrupted by the door opening and the entrance of Giles and Willow. Of course, this time they weren’t being followed by Faith. They took their seats and Willow poured everyone a glass of water, before asking:
“So, Buff, what do you think of this cohort? I honestly think it’s a really strong group who will benefit hugely from what we can offer. But if you’ve got any questions, I’m all ears! I mean, not literally all ears because that would be a very disturbing mutation, but…”
Buffy closed the booklet and pushed it towards Willow. “I need Faith.”
Giles nodded sympathetically before speaking. “She is certainly a great miss, but Buffy, you can manage this with help from Chao-Ahn and Vi, surely? After all, they stepped up with the previous group.”
“I think we all know that the whole thing with the last group was a disaster.” Buffy sighed. “Look, they’re great Slayers, but they don’t have the strength or the experience we need for this. We can’t go ahead without Faith. I mean, do you guys have any clue where she might be? Any hints at all?”
“I am afraid not.” Giles pinched the bridge of his nose. “Angel is being quite evasive on this. A great deal of talk of secret missions but very little information of substance…”
Buffy turned to Willow. “You talk to that girl… what’s her name again? Does she know anything?”
“Fred. And it’s mainly email or IMs. She’s usually very open about what’s going on in Angel Investigations, but she’s not as close to the Wolframs stuff… anyway, she says all she knows is that Faith’s on some undercover mission where she’s not allowed to contact anyone.”
“The last time I spoke to Faith she was scared. Said they’d come across something so dark and evil and no one knew how to fight it.” Buffy shook her head. “This is Faith we’re talking about. She doesn’t scare easily.”
Willow leaned across the conference table. “Um, Buff, can you still sense her? With your Slayer spidey sense I mean?”
“I can, but it’s different.” Buffy paused as she thought how to explain it. “When she was in the coma, I could still sense her, but it was much weaker. Fainter. Now it’s as strong as usual but it’s… masked somehow.”
Giles and Willow sat absorbing this and sipping water. Neither seemed to know what to say.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Buffy said, suddenly. “We need to go to LA and find out what’s going on. And before you say it, Will, I’m not teleporting. Giles, how about we use some of the Council’s money for some first class flights?”