DISCLAIMER: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel characters are the property of Mutant Enemy, Joss Whedon, and Fox Studios. The story contents are the creation and property of Djinn and are copyright (c) 2001 by Djinn. This story is Rated PG-13.
Gravity
Part 2 -
Survival
by Djinn
"Come on, put your back into it. A Watcher scoffs at gravity." – Giles to Spike, Restless
It was cold and dark, and
Faith couldn't see her hand in front of her face. "Just friggin' great," she said. She turned slowly, trying
to find some light in the darkness. There was none.
"Giles? I can't see
anything."
He didn't answer.
"Dawn? Spike?"
Nothing.
"Willow? Tara?"
They didn't answer. She drew
the line at calling for Xander or his new girlfriend.
"So
I'm all alone here?"
"Not exactly." a
voice said just behind her.
She whipped around, hand
already turning into a fist, ready to strike. She pulled back with a quick
intake of breath.
Buffy stood there, surrounded
by a dim green light.
"God, B, you about gave
me a heart attack."
Buffy said nothing, just
looked at her.
Something wasn't right—when did
Buffy have nothing snarky to say back? "Aren't you dead?"
Buffy frowned. "I don't
think death is what this is. Do you?"
Faith shrugged. "Beats
me. Where are we anyway?"
Buffy moved away from her. "I
don't know." She turned back to Faith, her expression
lost. "I don't like it. I want to go home."
Faith could feel the other
slayer's loneliness and pain battering up against her. It was almost too much
to bear. "Buffy, stop it."
"Help me."
"I don't know how to
help you," she said, feeling desperate as the pain increased.
"You have to. You have
to help me."
The loneliness was
unimaginable. "Buffy, stop it," she screamed.
"Faith!"
She felt hands shaking her. She
instinctively struck out but didn't connect. The hands shook her again.
She jerked awake and saw
Giles' face in front of her. Realized she was safe in the bed she shared with
him.
"Faith? Are you
alright?"
"Giles?" She
remembered the dream, then him waking her. "Did I hit you?" She felt
confused, off balance. "Did I hurt you?"
He laughed quietly. "No.
I've become quite proficient at ducking. It's rather a dicey proposition waking
you up in the mornings, you know."
She smiled for a moment,
until the memory of the dream threatened again. "Giles, I saw Buffy."
She saw his eyes narrow. "I talked to her. And it didn't feel like a
dream, Giles. It felt real.
"Where was she?"
"I don't know. It was
dark. All dark. Except for her. She was glowing sort of green."
"Glowing?"
Faith nodded. "She
wanted me to help her get home. I couldn't. I didn't know how." She pushed
herself up to a sitting position and tried to shake off the dream. "It was
so real."
He sat up too then reached
over and smoothed her hair. "We've all been dreaming of Buffy."
"Well, yeah. You all
loved her. But I didn't. So why am I dreaming of her?"
"You never dream of
her?"
Faith thought back. "I
think I might have when I was in the coma. I remember being so
scared of her. She was after me. She'd kill the Mayor and then she'd come after
me." She was quiet for a moment. "And she did."
"She said you were in
her dream when she was near death after letting Angel feed on her. You gave her
the secret to stopping the Mayor. And it worked. There's a connection between
you two."
"You think this is a
slayer dream?"
He sighed. "I don't
know." His voice was a mixture of hope and dread.
She reached out and touched
his hand. "If she's not dead, where is she?"
"I'm not sure," he
replied quickly, but it looked like he had his suspicions.
##
Willow heard the sounds of
sparring from inside the training room as she and Tara settled in at the table.
"Bloody hell, Dawn,
block me!" Spike sounded annoyed.
Spike as watcher. Willow took
a second to think about that. Found she still couldn't really comprehend it.
"Dawn!" The
vampire's voice rose then there was the sound of a body hitting the mats hard.
Willow tried to ignore her
curiosity as she buried her head in a text on incantations. The words began to
blur as she tried to hear what was going on in the next room.
"I'm sure they wouldn't
mind if you watched," Tara said softly.
Willow smiled and touched her
shoulder as she rose. "You know me too well."
"And I'm fine with that."
Willow walked quietly into
the training room, expecting to see Spike getting the worst of the deal. But it
was Dawn who was picking herself off the mats.
"What the hell is the
matter with you?" Spike paced angrily. "You go out there like this
and you'll last all of a minute."
Dawn shrugged,
her irritation clear. "I'm just distracted. It happens. Didn't want to
train now anyhow."
She's been spending too much
time with Faith. Her sullen nonchalance was a mirror image of the other slayer.
With a little bit of teenager thrown in. Okay, Willow corrected, a lot of
teenager. It probably wasn't fair to blame Faith for that part. Especially when
Dawn spent a lot more time with Spike than with the other slayer. Willow wasn't
entirely sure what Faith did with her free time. She wondered if she should be
worried about that.
"Don't care if you don't
want to train. Some night you won't want to patrol either. Doesn't give you an
excuse for being on the wrong end of a thrashing."
"Fine." She stalked
back to where he stood, finally noticed Willow. "Hey."
"Hey," Willow
returned as she watched Dawn circle Spike.
A second later Dawn was on
the mats again.
Spike lost it. "What. Is.
Your. Problem?"
"Nothing."
"Something is. You
aren't like this. Did something happen at school? With your Dad? He's not
trying to take you away again is he?"
"No, nothing's wrong,
Spike. I told you that."
"And I don't believe you,
Niblet. You tell me when you're serious about
this." He walked out of the room.
"Crap," Dawn
muttered as she pushed herself off the mat.
Willow moved toward her. "He's
just scared, Dawn. He doesn't want anything to happen to you."
"I know. I'm just not used
to having him mad at me." Dawn's face was a mask of misery.
Willow touched her cheek. "What's
really wrong?"
"It was just a dream. I
don't know why I'm letting it get to me."
A dream. Willow was suddenly
worried. "There are dreams and then there are slayer dreams, Dawn. What
was it about?"
"Buffy."
Willow had seen her friend in
dreams too. It was jarring, a reminder of how much she missed Buffy. She could
only imagine how much worse it was for Dawn. She pulled the younger girl into a
hug. "I know it's hard, Dawnie, but it'll get
better, it has to."
Dawn pulled away. "No,
it wasn't that kind of dream. She wanted me to help her. To help her get home. I
don't think she's really dead."
Willow felt a surge of hope
that she tried to suppress. "We buried her body. She's gone, Dawn."
"Yeah, her body is gone,
but what about her soul? I'm telling you she's trapped somewhere."
"But where?"
"In the portal," Giles
said quietly from behind them.
Willow turned, felt Dawn move
with her. Neither of them had heard him or Faith come in.
"I believe Buffy is
caught in the portal," Giles repeated. "And we need to get her
out."
##
Time passed slowly inside the
portal. There were no shifts from day to night, no turnings from one month to
another. Buffy was utterly alone.
When she'd sacrificed herself
for Dawn, she'd expected to die. Had even felt peace at the thought. But this
wasn't death. This wasn't life either. She feared that she had become part of
the portal, just one more jumble of energy in the chaotic blackness that was
the gateway. The idea terrified her.
Don't panic, she ordered
herself, amazed she was still sentient enough—separate enough—to order anything.
She had to get out of this
place. Even if it was only to die for real. She knew she'd go mad if she spent
much more time here. But she couldn't get out on her own. She needed help. Willow,
or Giles. She'd tried to find them in their dreams but hadn't succeeded.
It had never occurred to her
to try the next slayer, or the existing one either. Her successor wouldn't even
know her, and Faith wouldn't care. So it had been a
surprise when both of them had shown up in her prison. Faith had seemed
different, stronger yet less wild somehow. But the other slayer—it had been a
shock to see who had replaced her. She'd felt rage that her sacrifice had only
resulted in having Dawn take her place. It was wrong.
But that didn't matter now. All
that did was getting free. She hoped she was getting through to Dawn and Faith.
She hoped they'd have the sense to go to Giles or to Willow.
If death was her gift, why couldn't
she give it to herself? Had the first
slayer deliberately misled her? Had it all been a way to trap her here, in this
no-man's land between life and death?
The way the first slayer had
wanted her to be.: alone.
##
"Xander, wait up." Dawn
trotted to catch him.
"Hey, Dawnster." Xander grinned at her. "Whatcha doing down in this part of town? I would've figured
you for the school yard about now."
"Teacher work day. They
get a half day off. I was training for a while. Then I decided to meet you. Giles
wants to talk to us all."
"I know. Anya called,
said to come to the Magic Box. This isn't the best route though." He eyed
the dilapidated buildings along their way. "Not too safe. Well, unless
you're a slayer, I mean."
"Spike might disagree
with you, I sucked at training today." She laughed. "But you still
sound surprised when you say I'm the slayer. Is it that hard to believe?"
"No. I mean, I believe
it. I've seen you kick some serious vampire butt since you and the watcher from
hell rode back into town. But dealing with you being the slayer is another
thing altogether."
"Yeah."
"So how are you doing
with the whole superpower secret identity thing?"
She shrugged. "I'm okay.
I mean I wasn't exactly part of the popular crowd anyway. And you should see me
in PE. I so rock. I'm thinking of going out for a team."
"Now, grasshopper, your
powers must only be used to help others." Xander struck a sage-like pose.
She giggled. "Okay, sensei.
No sports." They walked along quietly for a few moments.
Dawn thought of Buffy. "I
understand her better." At his look, she clarified, "What Buffy was
feeling, why she acted the way she did. I think it's going to be really hard to
be a slayer." The last part came out as a whisper.
She could tell he wanted to
disagree with her, to encourage her. But he didn't want to lie.
"Yeah, it probably will
be."
"I mean look at
Faith."
"I'd rather not." His
voice was bitter.
Dawn shot him a look. He was
still scared of the older slayer. "She's changed, Xander."
"Sure
she has."
"No, I mean it. She's
different now."
Xander started to walk
faster. Anger and unhappiness were clear when he spoke. "Oh yeah. Sure she has. She's out there killing vamps with the same 'wicked'
zest she always had. It's just a matter of time before she snaps again."
"I don't think so. Neither
does Spike."
"What? That's supposed
to make me feel better? She's okay because Spike says so? What is that? Professional
courtesy from one homicidal maniac to another?"
"That's not fair and you
know it."
"Right." He stopped
her as they rounded the corner to the shop. "Dawn...you and Spike...you're
not ummm..."
"Not what?"
"You know..." He
made a crude but unmistakable gesture.
"I'm sure!" Dawn
punched him in the arm.
"Ow!"
"Well God, Xander. I
mean I used to have a crush on him, but he's still totally hung up on
Buffy."
Xander smiled in relief as he
rubbed his sore arm. "Good. And I suppose it's against the rules and all. Watchers
and slayers doing the nasty."
"I hope not. I wouldn't
want Faith and Giles to get..." Dawn broke off, realizing too late what
she was saying.
His look was beyond
incredulous. "Faith. And Giles?"
"That's not what I
meant."
He clearly didn't believe
her.
"Forget I said anything,
okay?" Damn it—when would she learn to think before she spoke?
"No way, Dawn. You can't
tell me something like that and expect me to forget it." He seemed lost in
thought for a moment, his face tightening. "Is Giles out of his
mind?"
Dawn felt a need to protect
both Giles and her fellow slayer. "I think he loves her."
"Well I hope he loves
her just as much when she's strangling the life out of him someday."
"Xander..."
The door the shop opened and
Anya stepped out. "Would you two hurry up, Giles is getting
annoying."
Xander started to walk away.
Dawn hissed at him,
"Please. Please don't say anything to anyone, okay?"
"Sure Dawn. Right. Mum's
the word." He stalked off to kiss Anya hello.
She watched as Anya scowled,
clearly aware that something was wrong. She gave it twenty-four hours before
everyone knew. The she brightened. Giles and Faith would probably blame Spike
and his big mouth.
"Dawn, come on." Anya's
voice was not friendly.
"Okay, okay," she muttered,
hurrying to the door, her worries over Faith and Giles supplanted by thoughts
of Buffy.
##
Giles watched as all the Scoobies assembled. Dawn was just locking the door and he
waited for her to join them. He felt an excitement, a purpose flood him. Buffy might be alive or nearly so.
His eyes turned to Faith. She
was sitting stiffly, almost sullenly. She sensed his gaze and the eyes that met
his were like stone. Then they softened. He gave her a gentle smile before
turning back to the others.
Xander was staring at him, an
emotion that Giles couldn't identify and didn't want to try written on his
face.
"Dawn," Spike's
voice startled him. "Get in here already."
She shuffled in and sat with
her...watcher. Giles found that very hard to fathom, any vampire but especially
William the Bloody as a watcher. The Council was not at all happy about this. The
only thing that had kept Spike alive was their fear that Dawn Summers would be as
loyal and unpredictable as her sister had been. They couldn't afford to lose
control again.
"All right, we're all
here. For those who don't know, Faith and Dawn have been dreaming about Buffy. They
believe she's trapped somewhere alone in a dark place."
"So? Humans dream, how
is this different?" Anya was clearly unimpressed.
"Slayers' dreams are
different, An," Xander said, not looking at her.
"Different how? Buffy's
still dead." She looked around at the faces, most of them shining with new
hope. "We saw her die, remember? The big swan dive to eternity."
Giles tried to head her off. "Anya,
I—"
"No! For months now
everything has been about Buffy. How sad you all are, how you miss her. Well,
I'm sad too. But life has to go on. You have to give her up."
"Why? So
we can all focus on your wedding plans?" Willow's tone was nasty.
"No. I just don't want
to see you spend time and energy trying to bring her back if it won't work and
will just make everyone all sad again."
"We don't even know
where Buffy is," Tara said gently. "Maybe Anya is right."
"No, she's bloody well
not," Spike was on his feet. "If there's even a chance..."
"What? You spend the
next fifty years trying to get a dead woman back?" Anya's voice rose.
"Well why not? I've got
the time."
"And you've also got
Dawn," Tara said. "I liked Buffy a lot, but maybe it is time to let
her go, to let her rest in peace."
"She's not at peace. She
never will be if we leave her there. And what will it mean for me and Dawn if
the dreams don't let up?" Faith's unexpected comment surprised Giles as
much as it seemed to the others.
There was silence. Giles
decided to wrestle back control of the meeting. "Right then. That's the
crux of the matter. How do we help her find peace?" He turned to Anya. "No
one is saying that we're going to bring her back to life. God knows I'd like
that. I think we all would." He glanced at Faith and saw her face tighten.
"But we do need to help her soul move on."
"How?" Xander
seemed tired of talk. "What do we do?"
"For now,
research." Giles pointed to the books he'd stacked on the table.
The others groaned.
He smiled, amused in spite of
the nature of the task. "These are our normal references. If we don't find
anything here we move on to the rest of the
volumes."
"But what are we looking
for?" Tara asked.
"I believe Buffy is
trapped in the portal. We don't know anything about it really or about what
happened to it when she closed it down. Anything you can find will be
helpful."
"We should look for
information on those monks too." Willow looked at Dawn and smiled gently. "They
knew how to make energy into flesh. Maybe that knowledge isn't completely
lost?"
"You want to use what
they knew to bring Buffy back? The same way they made me?" Dawn's voice
was hopeful.
Willow nodded.
Giles studied her. She was
becoming so powerful. It was possible that if they found the method, she might
be able to do this. "Good thinking, Willow."
She smiled gratefully and for
a moment he saw the gawky and unsure teenager he'd first known.
"Well, what are we
waiting for?" Spike asked as he brushed past Giles and grabbed a book. "Let's
get started."
##
Faith tried to concentrate on
the book in front of her. The words kept blurring. She shook her head but it
didn't help. She wasn't helping—didn't want to. Not for this. Not to bring
Buffy back. Not to go back to that life where she was the bad slayer—would they
send her back to prison?
She slammed the book down and
kicked her chair back, startling the others. "I'm outta
here."
She was through the training room
and at the alley door when she heard Giles' voice behind her.
"Where are you
going?"
"Out to patrol." It
was a lie but he wouldn't know. Or probably care. Not if his precious Buffy was coming back.
"Ah."
She started to open the door.
"Are you coming back,
Faith?"
She turned to him and was
surprised to realize she'd started to cry. "No."
He moved to her slowly, his
voice infinitely gentle. "Why not?"
"You won't need
me." She forced herself to meet his eyes. "I know you...and Willow. You
won't stop until you have Buffy back with you. Not just at peace. You want her
back. In the flesh."
He nodded. "Yes. I
do."
"And there isn't any
place for me then. Not with B back. All of you barely tolerate me now."
He moved closer. "I
wouldn't call what we've been doing tolerance."
"What? The sex? Oh yeah,
like that meant anything."
She turned to go again, sure he wouldn't try to stop her.
"It meant a great deal
to me, Faith." He slammed the door she'd just started to open, moving
faster than she expected, and with more force. "A very great deal."
She turned angrily and was
surprised to see something wild and dark in his eyes. "You think you can
take me?"
He shook his head slowly, his
expression becoming less dangerous. "Of course not. We both know
that."
Her voice shook as she looked
down. "It will all just happen again, Giles. The slaying...I still enjoy
it."
He brushed the hair off her
face. "I know. You're a hunter, it's what you were made for."
"But it's what got me in
trouble last time. Liking it too much."
"You've changed."
"Nobody believes that
except you." She wiped a tear away angrily.
"Dawn does. I've seen
how you look out for her. I've seen you seemingly lost in the moment of the
kill but still able to take the time to warn her or throw her a weapon. You
aren't the mindless killer you fear you'll become again. You are exactly what
you were called to be: a slayer, doing her job, helping another to learn
hers."
She laughed scornfully.
"And you think Buffy will let me near her sister when she gets back?"
"I don't think it will
be up to Buffy. Dawn will learn from whomever she chooses. Just as she picked
her own watcher. She's as stubborn as her sister in that sense. And she looks
up to you. In a way she never did Buffy."
Faith considered that. She
couldn't think of anyone who'd ever looked up to her before. "But
Buffy..."
"This isn't about Buffy.
This is about you, Faith." He moved away from her a bit, making it clear
she could open the door if she wanted to. "This is your home now, Faith. It
has been for a long time."
"What? Since I first got
here? I don't think so."
"Since the Mayor." At
her look of shock, he continued. "I'm not saying that I don't consider him
evil, because I most certainly do. But he did one good thing among all that
evil. He taught you what it feels like to be loved. Unconditionally, without
any sordid expectations. He was the father you never had. And he loved you. So
much so that we were able to use that love to destroy him. I think between his
love and Angel's compassion, you were able to find your way back to
yourself."
She walked to him and put her
hands on his chest. "Giles, I'll never be like Buffy."
"I should hope not. Much
as I love her, one is enough." He smiled playfully. "And I couldn't
do this."
His lips touched hers in the
way she'd come to crave. Softly but with passion. She felt herself giving in to
this man. Marveled at his power over her. Before she knew him, she could count
the time she spent with a lover in hours. Now, with him, she could count the
months.
His voice was very low. "Faith,
I want you to know something. If it's us...if you want to stop this, you just
have to say the word. I'll still be your watcher. You must know that."
"Is this your way of
saying you're tired of me?" Her voice was teasing.
His was still serious. "I'm
a good deal older than you, Faith. And I don't lead a very exciting life,
certainly not for a vibrant young woman."
She smiled, charmed as always
by his manner. "I've had just about all the excitement I can stand." She
realized what she'd just said sounded like an insult. "Not that I mean you're
boring. Because I don't." She began to back him up, toward the small room
that held the weapons. "I know you aren't that, I see the fire inside you
when I touch you, when you touch me."
He reached back, opened the
door, and pulled her inside. "Don't leave us, Faith. Don't leave me."
"I don't think anybody
has ever asked me not to go," she said with a smile, as she let him lower
her to the floor. She kicked the door shut with her foot.
"I love you," he
whispered.
She froze, remembering the
moment with Riley, when he thought she was Buffy. Felt panic coming on again.
"Faith," he said
again, "I love you."
Her. He loved her. It meant
everything to know that. And she finally recognized the feeling that had been
growing inside of her for him. "I love you too, Giles."
##
"I'd say whatever's
wrong, is okay now," Tara said as they all listened to the silence coming
from the training room. It was punctuated with the slam of a door, then more
silence. She hated when there was tension; it made her feel sick inside.
"Either that, or one of
them is dead," Anya said.
"Or just naked,"
Xander said.
Everyone turned to him.
"Braniac
here figured it out?" Spike asked Dawn. "Or has someone been doing a
little too much talking?"
She turned red. "I
didn't mean to."
"She didn't mean to,"
Xander said. "Just sort of came out."
Anya was clearly still processing.
"You mean Giles and Faith are having sex in there?"
"Trust you to get right
to the heart of the matter," Willow said.
Tara nudged her. "I know
you don't all like her. I mean I didn't either when I first met her. But she
seems different now. Her energy is all smooth." Everyone but Willow looked
at her in confusion. "When she took over Buffy's body, her personality, I
mean even with the confusion of being in somebody else's form, was all
disjointed, uneven. Like she had no idea who or what she really was. Now it
isn't like that. It just gets smoother and stronger the longer she's with
us...but probably most of all with him."
They didn't look convinced.
Tara looked at Willow. "We
really aren't in a position to question Mister Giles' right to make an
unconventional choice, are we?"
"Question Giles?"
Anya said with a smirk. "What about Faith? He's old enough to be her
father."
"And you're old enough
to be Xander's great to the nth power grandmum, Anya.
So what's your point?" Spike asked. "Age is
hardly the issue."
"Projecting much,
Spike?" Xander wrapped his arms around Anya. "It's okay An, I like
older women."
Anya laughed. "I just
mean that while it may not make sense, it's okay with me if they want to be
lovers."
"I'm sure Giles will be
so relieved you approve," Willow replied with a raised eyebrow.
"I think Mister Giles
will be much happier if none of us mention this," Tara said softly. "And
don't we have some research to do?"
Anya leaned into Xander and
whispered something.
He stood up, pulling her with
him. "We just remembered there might be books and other useful stuff in
the storage room. Downstairs. We'll go look." He pulled Anya behind him.
"It may be a
while," she said. "Don't come down."
"Three guesses what
they're going to do," Dawn said as they disappeared down the stairs. She
looked at the two witches. "There's still the loft or the bathroom if you
two need to go off somewhere."
"We're fine."
Willow laughed as she took Tara's hand in hers and turned back to her book.
Tara felt Willow squeeze her
hand and the enormous love she held for Willow flooded through her. "Yeah,
we're fine." She looked sternly at Spike and Dawn. "Don't you two
have something to do?"
"Right." "Uh
huh." They both picked up books and started to read.
In the silence, they could
all hear some interesting sounds from the training room and downstairs. Tara
got up and flipped on the cd player. New Age music filled the room, muffling
any other sounds. "Now get to work," she said. "We have a friend
to get back."
##
It seemed darker in the
portal. If that was possible. Buffy could feel it pulling at her. Trying to
make her one with it. Trying to make her lose hold on herself, on her
uniqueness.
She fought it. But she didn't
think she could hold out much longer.
"Please help me,"
she whispered into the blackness, not sure that anyone could hear her, much
less help her as she tried to fight off the portal's call.
FIN...
Continue on to Part 3 - Surrender