Big Sister's Clothes
"Any questions?" Buffy looked around the dining room at her friends, waiting for agreement.
Willow spoke first. "Buffy, I agree with the sentiment, but what's the plan? I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but we've got no info on the First, there's an un-slayable vamp out there, I can't use magic..."
"...and again, no pressure or anything," Xander offered up sarcastically. "Buff, I'm with you on the whole 'why wait' philosophy, but seriously, Will's right. What kind of weapon can we possibly use against this thing?"
The doorbell rang. Buffy's eyes widened in surprise. "Um, everyone I know is here..." She turned to go to the front door.
"Ooh! If it's a vampire, don't invite them in!" advised Molly.
"Duh," replied Kennedy, not to be left out, "I think she knows that."
"Oh, you'd be surprised," said Anya, under her breath. "Invite, help, sleep wi..."
"Anya, hon," interrupted Xander, again, "let's not frighten the reserves anymore than necessary, okay? Buff, who is it?" The gang rose to see who their unexpected visitor was.
Buffy stood speechless as she tried to figure out how the person standing on her front porch could really be there.
"Well, come on, B. At least tell me how much you missed me." Faith hefted her duffle bag up onto her shoulder. "Heard there was big evil a-brewin' -- need some help?"
"One more time, okay, cause I'm just not understanding the part where they just let you out..." Xander had been pacing nervously around the living room for the past 45 minutes. Dawn and the 2 novices had been sent upstairs so that Buffy and the others could question Faith. "I mean, you're sure they said 'Go ahead, you can walk out of prison?' They didn't say, oh, 'hey, look at that girl escaping?'"
"Xander!" Willow admonished. "I'm sure she's telling the truth. You are telling the truth, right? You're not just here to get revenge, or punch anybody in the face?"
"Only if they're allergic to sunlight," Faith replied. "I'm telling you. When I turned myself in, they charged me as a juvenile. They only could hold me until I turned 21, which, happy birthday to me, was 3 days ago. Now technically, I'm not supposed to leave the county, but what they don't know, well, actually it can kill them, come to think of it. But I figure I'll just make with the slaying and then be out of your way."
Buffy, who had been silent for most of this exchange, finally spoke up. "If you think it's going to be as simple as a usual patrol and stake-a-thon, you're sorely mistaken. This thing we're up against, so far as we know, can't be killed. If you have any information, then overshare, 'cause we're in a world of hurt right now."
The younger slayer reached into her duffle and pulled out a small velvet bag the size of an orange. She held it in one hand while she spoke. "Look. I knew you guys would be skeptical. But you hear things, even on the inside. It became real obvious a few months ago that something was happening, and I wanted to be prepared once I got out. This little trinket cost me three months worth of cigarettes, but without it I wouldn't even have known to come here." Faith opened the small bag and took out a shimmering glass ball.
Willow gasped. "A scrying sphere! How did you...?"
Faith smiled. "I told you, I traded for it. Took a while for it to work, but once I figured out how to focus it, all it would show me was you, B."
Buffy stood up from the sofa and began to cross the room towards Faith. "Look. If that's true, then I'm grateful for the extra help. But how do we know that you're not working for the First? How can you expect any of us to trust you?" She crossed her arms, now standing directly in front of her former rival. "The last time you showed up with a mystical whatzit, you stole my body, and then my boyfriend... and I'm not particularly ready with the bygones..."
Buffy stopped as she watched Faith's eyes melt, as if she'd just seen her watcher slain in front of her again. Could her words have genuinely hurt Faith?
The beat of silence turned into a pregnant pause. Before Buffy could think of anything to say, Faith interrupted the tension, "Fine..." She thrust Buffy the sphere, "you're so self righteous, you can do this without me." Backing away, Faith was halfway to the door before she'd turned to go and grabbed her bag.
"Faith, wait..." but she was gone.
"Buffy," started Giles, his tone speaking volumes. Faith was a slayer, the slayer, in fact, and she was certain to have a further part to play here. Giles didn't have to say more; Buffy was already out the door.
"Faith, please..." Buffy caught up to her as she made it to the sidewalk
"I told Angel I shouldn't have come back! I told him you wouldn't understand."
"What does Angel have to do with this?" asked Buffy, suddenly thrown by the left-fieldness of the situation.
"He said you would understand... that you were the only one who was there for him. He could never have come back without you..."
"You talked to Angel about this..."
"Buffy, he told me. He told me how you saved him when he came back. You saved him from the darkness, from the memories..."
Now it was Buffy's eyes that were close to tears as she looked at Faith. The younger slayer had always been sure and proud. But this girl before her was tired and wounded and still much too young. She needed to be saved. She needed Buffy.
Faith was done being strong. "Please, Buffy. They won't leave me alone. They want me, bad. They want me dark and I can't fight anymore." Faith paused as the emotion she held in check began to give way. "Buffy, I don't wanna be bad..."
Buffy couldn't help but want to ease her pain. Her hand lifted slowly to Faith's cheek. She touched the young slayer's face and wanted to connect with this beautiful troubled girl, the only one in the world who could possibly relate to her. "Oh, Buffy," wept Faith as she drew herself closer and fell into Buffy's protective embrace.
Buffy wanted to tell the girl in her arms that it was going to be okay, that together they would triumph over all the demons, inside and out. She wanted to make all of Faith's pain go away, to kiss away the pain like her mother would have kissed her skinned knee. But instead she just held Faith, and wished the world would let them be.
"Well, will ya look at that!? Is it just me, or is my every wish from high school being fulfilled right outside." Xander peeped though the crack between the window board and the pane at the slayers embracing outside.
"Xander, please get your mind and your jaw out of the gutter," chided Anya, unimpressed with Xander's voyeuristic lechery.
"Oh, come on, Ahn... you used to think I was cute in the gutter."
Willow chimed in. "OKAY! Enough of the eww... Give Buffy and Faith some privacy. It's obvious they've got issues to work out."
"Well," said Anya, "tell Xander that the pages of those issues don't need to get stuck together."
"Who's stuck together?" Dawn asked as she came down the stairs, obviously a moment late into the conversation.
"Your sister and Faith apparently," purred Kennedy. "Ya know, Faith I can believe, but Buffy?! She didn't strike me as..."
"Slayer material!?" chimed in Willow a second time, in an attempt to protect Dawn from Kennedy's implication. "Oh she's a tough one, all slayery and everything."
"Perhaps it would be best if we let them work things out," commented Giles. "I'm sure there's more research we could do... plan formulating and the like." Giles led them back into dining room, leaving the embracing slayers to the relative privacy of Revello Drive.
That night's patrol had found Buffy facing a small hoard of Harbingers. It was somewhat obvious that they had been looking for her, but hadn't intended in engaging her or almost being totally routed, and they definitely hadn't expected a second slayer. It was the Übervamp that saved the few that survived. The battle between the slayers and the Übervamp had raged for almost a good hour, with neither side making any headway other than Faith's possibly cracked rib, Buffy's wickedly bruised hip and the compound fracture of the vamp's wrist. That final hit ended the fight with the vamp howling as it reset the broken arm with a sickening crunch, testing the appendage by flexing his hand into a fist, smiling and finally vanishing off into the night. The slayers returned home late to find everyone asleep in their assigned bunks, and Giles pouring over his scarce collection of books. "Well, I'm glad to see that you were able to make it back in the correct number of pieces." Giles sounded like a weary father proud of his dysfunctional family.
"We're not really back," replied Faith. "We were just making sure that the baddies weren't on their way back here."
"Well, you can't go out again," worried Giles. "You both need your rest."
"Giles, we can't rest," said Buffy. "Not now, not with that thing out there. Not when..." she took a step forward but her bruised leg seemed unwilling to hold up her weight. Faith caught her by the elbow, keeping her up.
"Buffy, slayer strength or not, you cannot go on without rest." Giles was adamant. "Not even your body can heal fast enough without rest. I forbid you to go out again"
"Giles, you haven't seen what that thing can do. We have to find it..."
"Giles is right, B," interrupted Faith, even thought it was obvious that it took a lot of effort to take a step back from the fight. "I have seen this thing in action and I know that it probably could've gone on for another hour without even breaking a sweat. You need some sleep."
Buffy was stunned, feeling the weight of several days without rest crashing upon her like a tidal wave. "Maybe you're right." She began to head to the stairs. "But, Giles..."
"Yes, Buffy?"
"Promise you'll wake me at the first sign of the apocalypse."
"Of course."
Buffy looked up at the ceiling from her bed, a rhythmic beeping pulsating just outside the periphery of her consciousness. She looked towards the sound and saw the EKG monitor she was hooked up to. The pulse it represented sounded strong, perhaps strong enough to save the world again, so she got up and walked to the bed across from hers. Faith's horribly broken body lay battered, unconscious. Her EKG was fighting an uphill battle, but it still emitted a slow and steady sound. "You sure put me through the ringer with that one." Faith was standing next to her; the two slayers looked on at Faith's prone form. "Whipped me good..."
Faith led Buffy out of the hospital ward and into Faith's old apartment next door. "You know, B... you have the key to winning this whole thing, you just don't realize it."
"Then why won't you tell me what to do?"
"I've never been one for plot exposition... more of a dynamic character." Faith was heading out to the rooftop outside the broken window. Buffy followed her out to the scene of their near deadly fight.
"You've got to be willing to take a leap with me." Faith stood on the ledge, facing the night sky and the street below.
Buffy stepped up besides her, willing to take her lead. She took Faith's hand. It was warm and soft and strong, just like her own. "Take me..." and the two slayers took to the sky.
Buffy felt the wind rush over her face and arms like sensual hands. Her fingers interlocked with Faith's, she pulled herself into Faith's embrace as the two tumbled through the night. She felt Faith's hair whip around her cheeks, her scent filling her like wild jasmine. She felt the strength in Faith's body, the crush of their breasts, and finally those big, beautiful, porcelain doll lips on her own.
They were no longer falling. A desert wind blew over them as they locked in a lover's embrace. A bonfire burnt next to them, soft sand cradling them. Their clothes fell off their naked bodies with a thought and a wish. Nipples were sucked with tender strength. Tongues drove slayers to ecstasy in a wash of emotion and sweat.
The night was spent, and so were the slayers. The sky in their dream began to lighten. Faith looked more beautiful in this natural light as they embraced and cradled each other. Her curves were so feminine, so powerful. Buffy kissed Faith's beautiful lips one last time as the first rays of sunlight fell upon her face.
Faith gently pulled away. Buffy pouted, and inquisitively said, "Hey, is this your mind or mine?"
"Beats me," replied Faith, smiling enigmatically in the light of the sunrise. "Ooh, that reminds me... the whole key to this mess..." said Faith.
"What reminds you?" murmured Buffy, searching for another kiss.
"You do, all dressed up in big sister's clothes. You're the key to whole enchilada. But you gotta wake up first."
Faith was no longer in Buffy's arms. She was not even in Buffy's room. As Buffy opened her eyes to the real sun shining through her window, she tried to recall Faith's last words to her. Realization hit, and she leapt out of her bed. "Big sister's clothes....God, how could I have been so stupid?"
"GILES! Giles, wake up." Buffy ran down the stairs and shook the still groggy form on her sofa. "Giles, I know how we can beat this thing. I figured it out in my dream."
"Your dream?" Faith asked, coming down the stairs behind her. "Beg to differ with you, B."
Giles sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Buffy, what new information can you share? Was it a portent?"
"Sort of..."
"Not really..." Faith and Buffy spoke at the same time. Buffy started again. "Look, I know it's gonna sound crazy, but it might be our only chance. It has to do with Dawn."
"What has to do with me?" said Dawn, entering the living room. "I'll do anything, as long as I don't have to spend another night with a snoring slayer wanna-be on my floor."
Buffy smiled. "Alright. Faith and I figured it out in our dream. We have the ultimate weapon in our possession. All we have to do is figure out how to harness its power."
Giles picked up his glasses from the end table and put them on. "What weapon, Buffy? You've already established that this ancient vampire can't be staked. Other than luring it out into the sunlight, what can you suggest?"
"Sure, we can't kill it," Buffy said. "But we can make it relocate." She turned to look at her sister. "Dawn, you up for this?"
Giles spoke angrily. "Buffy, surely you can't be suggesting sacrificing your sister to open a portal between worlds. You can't have forgotten the ramifications of the last attempt."
"I don't intend to sacrifice anybody, Giles." Buffy explained. "But we all know that Dawn's blood has some magical properties. It'll just be up to us to figure out how to harness that power without doing any damage. I'm counting on you to find a way."
Dawn interjected. "Hey, I'll help in any way I can...as long as there's nothing involving robes, knives, or scaffolding."
"Good." Buffy sat down on the sofa next to Giles. "I know this sounds like a risky plan, but I know by now to trust my dreams."
"What else did your dream show you?" asked Giles. "Even the most insignificant detail may be important."
Buffy and Faith shared a knowing glance. "I really don't remember," Faith offered.
"Um, the rest was really all a blur. I think there was something to do with school."
"Yeah, that's it! School, and a test, and I hadn't studied."
"Well, if you remember anything else, please do tell us." Giles rose and walked toward the kitchen. "And now, before we make any other plans, I'm getting some coffee. We'll begin research after breakfast."
Buffy and Faith headed up the stairs again. "School?" said Faith. "Lame."
"Well, what was I supposed to say? Hey, I figured out how to kill Nosferatu and oh did I mention that Faith and I had hot slayer sex in the middle of the desert?"
"Well, that would have been a start..."
"A start?" Buffy asked.
Faith laughed, looking relaxed for the first time since her arrival. "B, you got a lot to learn about portents. They usually come true." She slipped her arm around Buffy's waist and led her back into the bedroom.