Earlier
"Open your eyes." Dawn purposely kept her voice low and sexy, she wanted the surprise to be complete.
Faith's eyes flickered open. Her eyes widened as she focused on the gun barrel inches from her face. She refocused her gaze to look at the woman astride her holding the gun. Faith's arms were splayed back; her body had been arched out in pleasure. There was no way she could disarm her in time.
Dawn could see the confusion in Faith's eyes. She didn't want her to die without knowing why. "Don't you recognise me?"
Faith wanted to play dumb to gain time but she couldn't help recognition creeping over her as she examined the face above her. She was a young woman now but it was still... "Dawn?" She barely realised she spoke. She suddenly understood why she was about to die. "Wait..."
Dawn pulled the trigger; the gun jerked in her hand and whatever Faith was about to say was cut off. In her planning Dawn had intended to unload the entire clip into Faith, to prevent any possibility of slayer healing or miraculous resurrection but one bullet was all that was necessary. Faith was dead. Dawn started to move, leaping off Faith's body and pulling on clothes. The gunshot had been loud. She was splattered with blood but didn't have time to clean herself off. She dropped the gun in her bag and tore out of the motel room. Running off bloody and alone.
Earlier
Dawn started to nuzzle at Faith's neck. The slayer seemed to be having difficulty making her hands work but managed to get the door open.
The two of them staggered into the room pulling off clothes, their own and each others. Dawn's forceful kisses started working their way down Faith's neck and collarbone leaving love bites. The slayer ripped off her tank top so that the girl had no obstacles. Dawn's mouth teasingly circled her nipples. Faith moaned in frustration, running her hand through the girl's short, spiky hair.
They found the bed almost accidentally and collapsed back into it with Dawn on top, attacking Faith's skin with her mouth. She slowed down momentarily; just barely brushing Faith's nipples with her lips until Faith was crying out in want. Dawn smiled evilly and sucked hard on Faith's nipple, pulling away with a slight nip with her teeth before returning and sucking harder. Dawn moved up and possessed Faith's mouth. Her knee nestled between Faith's leather clad legs and she could feel Faith's hips grinding against her.
Dawn pulled off her own t-shirt and stood up to remove her pants. Faith gazed up and her eyes filled with hunger as she took in the young woman's lithe body. Dawn returned the lustful look. Faith licked her lips and leaned up to grab Dawn. She allowed herself to be pulled onto the slayer's face. Faith's mouth attacked her pussy, wetly kissing her clit and licking her with light teasing touches. Faith quickly stopped playing and started rhythmically sucking Dawn's clit. After a surprisingly short time Dawn felt the heat of impending orgasm. Her hips bucked and she felt Faith's strong hands holding onto her as she kept up the sucking. Dawn came loudly and slumped down, her arms resting on the headboard. Faith waited a moment before slowly and languidly running her tongue up Dawn's pussy once more. Dawn felt her body jerk again with an aftershock and suddenly she felt energised again. With an act of willpower she pulled her body away from Faith's lips. Dawn's hands roamed over Faith's body as she crawled down her. She leaned in for a quick taste of herself from Faith's mouth before starting to kiss down her body. She paused only briefly to feel Faith's nipples against her tongue and spent a long time kissing the muscles in Faith's belly, getting teasingly close to her pussy before moving away again.
Faith bit her lip in frustration as Dawn nuzzled into her pubic hair. She cried out in pleasure as she finally felt Dawn's tongue lick, slow and hard, from her vulva up to her clit hood. Dawn's mind was completely gone, no other thought, memory or emotion entered her head as she became consumed in Faith's pussy. She felt the heat and wetness against her face as she explored. It felt like she was tasting and touching pure sex as she devoured her. Faith's gasps as her tongue bumped over the slayers clit made her own pussy throb. She was so completely lost in the sensations that she was only pulled out of it by Faith's scream of ecstasy and the shuddering tension of her legs as she came. Dawn came to herself and pulled away. She saw Faith was stroking her own breasts and still trembling from the orgasm. Dawn straddled Faith's hips and captured the slayer's wrists. The slayer, still dazed, let Dawn move her arms above her head and stretched out as the girl ran her hands down Faith's taut body. Dawn kissed Faith, their faces drenched with sweat and sex and whispered in her ear. "Close your eyes."
Faith's eyes shut and Dawn kissed her again and reached over to her bag, which she had placed by the side of the bed. She pulled out the gun and wiped away emerging tears. She pointed it at Faith's head. "Open your eyes."
Earlier
Dawn backed away from the vampire. She screamed for help again and cast a worried glance at her cross, ten feet away where the vampire had knocked it. She tried to make a dash for it but the vamp grabbed her and threw her against a wall. "Isn't this what you wanted?" said the vamp, its features twisting into an evil smile.
Dawn felt the points of teeth begin to break her skin. Then the vampire's head jerked back and Dawn saw the dark slayer gripping the vamp's shoulder. She pulled the vamp away from Dawn and punched it hard in the face. The vamp reeled from the punch but recovered quickly and launched itself at Faith. The slayer was forced backwards as she blocked a dazzling array of punches and kicks. Faith felt herself pushed up against the edge of a dumpster and without pause jumped straight up, boosting herself from the edge of the dumpster she jumped over the head of the vamp and kicked it in the back of the head. Dawn could hear the bone snap and the vamp's head lolled at an unnatural angle as it spun around and clawed at Faith. Its fighting skills were being clouded by rage and Faith knocked it off its feet. She jumped on it and staked it with obvious relish.
The kill completed she began to walk off. Dawn ran to her side and clutched at her arm. "Thank you, thank you."
Faith seemed slightly bothered by the thanks. Trying to shake Dawn off she said "no problem."
"You saved me from that thing, is there any way I can repay you?" Dawn let her voice slip into a seductive tone and pressed her body against Faith's. She could tell Faith was affected but the slayer resisted.
"No need. You should just be careful who you go into dark alleys with."
Dawn was gazing up at Faith with her best 'you're my hero' eyes and she could see Faith's resolve slipping. "I'm so scared, I'll only feel safe with you."
Faith's brain was trying to tell her to walk away, but her brain was becoming increasingly less in charge. She was having trouble working out why she was resisting this. The girl started rubbing her breasts against Faith's and she gave in. She pushed the girl back against the wall and started aggressively kissing her.
"Can we go someplace private?" Dawn whispered huskily as Faith's hands slipped under her t-shirt.
"I'm staying at a motel nearby." Faith agreed with the idea of a motel, nakedness would be good right now. The girl's hands were roaming under her clothes but it wasn't enough. "I'm Faith."
Dawn struggled to remember her alias. "Joan." She pushed Faith off of her. "Motel."
Dawn paused to pick up her backpack, which she had dropped earlier, and they started walking quickly.
The motel was very near and it was only minutes before they were at the door. Dawn started to nuzzle at Faith's neck.
Earlier
Dawn watched the woman walking away from the club and hurried to catch up. There was an alley by the club so she pulled the woman into it and kissed her fiercely. The woman was more surprised than turned on but didn't seem to mind. They kissed again, slower and hotter. Dawn dropped her backpack and fumbled in her jacket pocket. She pulled out a cross and touched it against the woman's midriff. The woman let out a yelp of pain as the cross burned her skin and her vamp face came to the surface. "Hey that hurt."
"Sorry, it was necessary." Dawn smiled cruelly and then screamed "Help!"
The vamp looked at her strangely. Dawn held out the cross to keep her back but the vamp knocked it from her grasp.
Dawn backed away from the vamp.
Earlier
Faith was easy to find. Dawn had pinpointed her location to a couple of blocks and it turned out that the slayer had a job as a bouncer for a club. She was dressed in her normal leathers and looked as sexy and dangerous as she always had.
Dawn watched her from a doorway down the street. She hadn't seen Faith for years but her old feelings were still strong. She had never really pinpointed whether she had wanted to be Faith or just plain wanted her. Her feelings then hadn't been mature enough for her to tell. Watching her now she had no doubt that she wanted Faith.
A man was turned away from the club. He didn't take it well and viciously punched her. Faith took it and paid it back. The guy was quite big so he only flew a couple of metres; blood was pouring from his shattered nose as he picked himself up. He looked angrier than ever. Dawn saw the glint of metal as he pulled something from his jacket. Faith was already facing away from him, her attention back on talking to her fellow bouncer. The big man stood and pointed a gun at her back. Faith stiffened slightly and turned her head. The shot never came. There was a blur of movement and the gun clattered to the floor. Dawn saw a knife sticking into the man's hand. Faith strolled over to him and pulled it out of his knuckle. She nudged the gun into a sewer grate and lifted him to his feet by his throat. Dawn could see her saying something to him. She didn't need to hear to be able to get the gist of it. The big man stumbled away, clutching at his bleeding hand. Faith grinned at the other bouncer.
Dawn had never really understood how Buffy had felt about Angel and Spike and even Faith. She hadn't really got how Buffy could see the evil things they had done, even to the point of being the victim of them, and still love them. Still be so attracted to them. Now she understood. She hated Faith for the things she had done but her crush on the dark slayer was undeniable. She was finding it hard to think straight while looking at her.
It made her hate Faith all the more. She had planned on simply shooting the slayer but she couldn't do it like this. There were many reasons not to. Stray bullets were something that haunted her nightmares of Tara and the ease with which Faith had taken down the man with the gun made it seem a lot harder than she had originally thought to shoot the slayer. Dawn would have liked to believe that these were the reasons that motivated her but she knew they weren't. She had comforted herself with thoughts that she wanted to kill Faith to protect people, to stop a rogue slayer. She really only wanted revenge. She couldn't just kill her; she needed Faith to know why. To look into her eyes as she did it. A plan formed as she continued to watch Faith.
The next day she went first to a hairdressers. Her long, brown hair was soon gone. It was chopped down to a couple of inches, bleached blonde and waxed into spikes. When the hairdresser was done she barely recognised herself. Her next stop was to get some new clothes. She was hoping that relying on her hair and body to distract Faith from recognising her wasn't expecting too much but, she bitterly remembered, Faith had never paid too much attention to her in the first place.
That night, now dressed in a sexy revealing outfit covered with a leather jacket, she returned to the spot she had used before to spy on Faith. She went over her plan again in her mind and waited. It wasn't long before she saw Faith turn away an attractive woman for no obvious reason. She was pale and dressed in nineties fashions so Dawn added it all up pretty easily. Dawn watched the woman walking away from the club and hurried to catch up.
Earlier
Dawn pulled the box from under her bed. When Tara had died there hadn't been anyone to collect her belongings. Her family either didn't care or... they just didn't care. Xander and Buffy had boxed everything up with the intention of giving it to Willow when she seemed ready. Dawn had taken a few things herself. Sometimes it felt to Dawn like she had had crushes on virtually everyone she knew but Tara was one of the few who she knew had loved her. Willow had never missed the items because even once she seemed to be starting to accept Tara's death Buffy was still wary of rekindling any of the feelings that had driven Willow over the brink, so all of Tara's things remained boxed in the basement.
Dawn pulled out one of Tara's jumpers and held it briefly to her cheek. She made no effort to hold back the flood of grief that it evoked. It seemed appropriate for the occasion and she was used to grief these days. She placed the jumper aside and pulled out Tara's spellbook. Dawn knew it had been Tara's mother's before her and she held it reverently.
It wasn't long before she found the spell she was after. It required an image of the person she was looking for, a map and a few other general magical ingredients. She went to a desk drawer and pulled out a picture of Faith and Buffy. She had taken it herself when they were relaxed and unguarded. Their hands brushing together as they shared a bottle of water after a workout. Dawn had never shown anyone else the picture, Buffy's expression was too clear and after Faith went bad everything became too complicated. She gazed at Faith's picture for a long time trying to work out her own feelings before laying it on the bed and heading out to the Magic box.
She was helping out at the magic box a lot these days so she had her own key. She let herself in and soon found the relevant ingredients. Herbs, candles, incense, she suspected a lot of it was redundant but she didn't want to deviate from the spell. After she had gathered them she started searching around the register. Anya was just the kind of shop owner to have a gun and it wasn't long before she found it. She took a moment to thank no deity in particular that Anya hadn't let Giles or Xander find out about it because there was no chance it would still be there if she had. Dawn found it to be fully loaded and there were extra bullets with it. She dropped it into the bag with the rest of her supplies and went home.
The spell went well. She narrowed Faith's location down to Boston and then repeated the spell with a map of Boston and had her pinpointed to a few blocks. Dawn had no idea how long Faith was likely to stay there but it was a start.
She was on a bus the following day. Her thoughts were still numb and horror ridden. She had seen so much death and now she was going to start paying it back. She didn't understand how her hatred of Faith seemed to fit into her desire for Faith but the two feelings seemed to meld together until they were barely indistinguishable.
When the bus arrived in Boston she was full of dark purpose. She was willing to search to the ends of the earth for the murderer but in the end Faith was easy to find.
Earlier
Alone. Dawn had Xander at her side but she felt utterly alone. Everyone she truly loved had been taken from her. Mostly by violence. Dawn had stood over Buffy's grave before but somehow the second time it was so much harder. Maybe it was because now Buffy was buried next to their mother. Maybe it was because Willow's grave was at the north end of the cemetery. Maybe it was because Faith had killed them both.
"I still can't believe it." Xander's voice cut into the silence. His grief was a raw, open wound. Dawn could virtually see the blood, she knew he would never fully recover from it. She wondered if she ever would, already knowing the answer.
"Believe it." She said in a flat monotone. She was hollow and empty.
"You know right? That I'm going to look after you?" Xander's earnestness hurt her heart. She couldn't cope with it.
"Don't say things like that. Tara said that to me."
Xander flinched at her memory, another dead friend. They turned away from the grave and started the slow walk to Willow's headstone.
"I just don't understand how it happened."
"Does it really matter, Dawnie?"
"I just need it to make sense; Faith was a slayer but so was Buffy. How could Faith get the drop on her like that?"
"Because Buffy trusted her." Xander's voice was low and full of hate. "She's never been able to resist the 'big bads'"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dawn's mind was fitting the pieces in but she still needed Xander to say it.
"It doesn't matter."
Dawn swung Xander round to face her. "It matters to me. Are you saying that Buffy and Faith...?"
"Let's just say that Buffy didn't used to strip off to fight her foes." Xander regretted saying it as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He could see the hate burrowing into Dawn. "Buffy trusted her and Faith killed her for it. I'll kill her."
"You know that Buffy wouldn't want that." Xander knew what he said was true despite privately agreeing with Dawn.
"Buffy's dead."
Xander managed to stop himself shouting at Dawn. "It doesn't matter anyway. She's long gone and there's no way we can find her."
Dawn didn't answer. She turned and walked away. Xander let her go, unwilling to risk either of them letting their anger out on the other. He resumed his slow walk to Willow's grave; Dawn would calm down again soon.
Dawn was angry at Xander for not understanding. She knew he wanted Faith dead as much as she did but suddenly he was the voice of reason. She knew he was wrong about one thing anyway. She had grown up with magic all around her. There were ways to find people.
Dawn pulled the box from under her bed.
Earlier
Buffy had only just got home when she heard the knock at the door. She opened it expecting to tell one of Dawn's friends she was out. Faith was standing there. Her stance was nervous and her eyes betrayed the belief that she would be attacked. For a long time Buffy didn't speak, she just stood and stared.
"Hey, B." Faith tried a small smile.
"Faith?" Buffy's mind had unfrozen and she was wondering why Faith wasn't throwing a punch.
"Can I come in?"
Buffy moved aside so that Faith could enter, despite it being bright and sunny she still didn't want to say the words to invite her in. Just in case. Faith walked into the house and followed Buffy into the living room. Faith stood awkwardly.
"Please, take a seat." Buffy had gotten over the surprise and was now heavily into the suspicion.
"Thanks." Faith sat and gazed intently at Buffy.
"So, how have you been?"
"Five by five."
The familiar phrase set Buffy off; she laughed, too hard and too long. "What the hell are you doing here, Faith?"
"I came to... to see you." She spoke nervously, afraid of the response.
Buffy didn't remember Faith ever seeming so vulnerable but it didn't convince her. "So that's it, you want to make amends, start over?"
"No, I know I can't make anything up to you. I just wanted to see you. I wanted ..."
"What? What did you want, Faith?"
"I don't know, to try? All I know is that I suddenly have a choice about where to go and I wanted to come here." Her wide eyes hid nothing from Buffy, the plea in them was clear.
"After everything you've done..." Buffy couldn't even finish the sentence. She turned away, unwilling to let Faith see the tears forming.
"If I could make up for what I've done I would. But we can't live in the past." Buffy turned and found Faith standing right in front of her, the dark slayer's eyes captured her. "We're slayers, B', we can't afford to waste what life we've got."
Buffy's breath caught in her throat as she saw the genuine feeling in Faith's eyes. Faith leaned slowly forward and gently kissed Buffy on the lips. Buffy relaxed into the kiss, Faith started to draw back but Buffy grabbed onto her and held her close. The kiss became more desperate and passionate. Faith pulled away and fixed Buffy with searching gaze. "I don't want to rush things with you, B; I don't want to you to hate me."
"Faith, I already hate you, but part of me loves you too and for today that's the part that's I'm listening to." Buffy pulled her into a hungry kiss and Faith's willpower quickly disappeared.
Years of pent up lust started bubbling to the surface. They were in Buffy's room without really knowing how they got there. Buffy started to strip off. Faith started to protest again but Buffy silenced her with her mouth and hands. Soon they were both naked. Faith was amazed at Buffy's raw need. She seemed to want to devour Faith whole, not that the dark slayer wasn't loving every minute of it.
After several hours they lay entwined in each other's arms. Whispering endearments in each other's ears and capturing small kisses. Buffy let out a sudden laugh.
"What?" Faith asked, a smile already permanently plastered on her face.
"I just imagined what Xander's face would look like when I told him. After Willow coming out he's going to think he has this effect on women."
"Well now that you come to mention it ..." Faith cut off as she noticed Buffy staring up at her with blissful expression on her face. Smiling, she started kissing Buffy again.
"Buffy are you in..." At the sound of Willow's voice the two leapt apart from each other but she had already opened the door. "Faith?" Willow took in the entire scene and leapt to all the right conclusions.
"Willow, I um... Faith and I have settled our difference."
"I can see that." Willow's voice was cold and flat. Her hatred of Faith still evident.
Faith got out of the bed, ignoring her nakedness and started to pull on her clothes. As she grabbed her jacket from the floor a knife fell from an inside pocket.
"Still playing with knives, Faith?"
Faith picked up the knife and shrugged. "Just protection, Will, I am still a slayer."
"Sorry, I was just getting confused because of those times you held a knife to my throat and, you know, all those people you gutted."
Faith's temper flared as Willow's words hit home. "You got me there, Will. I killed people and went to prison for it. Kinda surprised I didn't see you there actually, I heard you got your hands bloody."
"That was different, he had . . . he deserved it." Willow avoided Buffy's eyes as she said this. She felt bad about the things she had done but she could never regret killing Warren.
Faith gestured wildly with the knife. "Well that makes it all ok. Personally my first was an accident but to each their own."
Buffy got up from the bed, wrapping the sheet around herself. She had hoped this meeting would go better but she would separate them if she had to.
"I'm not like you, Faith." Willow was trembling with fury.
Faith pointed the knife at her to emphasise her words. "You hate me because I'm more like you than you want to admit."
"No." Willow shouted. She angrily gestured and the knife flew from Faith's hand. There was a wet thud. They turned to see Buffy slowly falling to her knees, the knife sticking into her chest.
Faith was at her side in a second; Willow was frozen to the spot. Buffy opened her mouth but whatever she was trying to say came out as a wet gurgle of blood. "Buffy." Faith stroked her cheek and looked into her eyes as the life left them.
"No, no, no." Willow repeated to herself.
Faith looked up and could see the rage and grief contorting Willow's face as her eyes flooded with blackness. She could see the darkness in Willow surfacing and her own sudden hate made the decision she had to make easier. With a smooth movement she whipped the knife from Buffy's chest and hurled it at Willow.
It stopped in mid air inches from Willow's throat. An evil smile spread on Willow's face. "You have..." Whatever she was about to say was halted. Faith had moved like lightning and was gripping the hilt of the knife, forcing it closer to Willow's neck. Slayer strength momentarily won out and a moment was all that was needed. Faith slammed the blade into the witch's neck and pulled it out again. Willow tried to speak but no sound would come out. Blood spurted over Faith and she just stood there and let it. Willow collapsed to the floor, blood spreading quickly. Faith stood there, the knife still in her fist. She was knocked out of her shell shock by the sound of the front door slamming and Xander's voice calling out. She dropped the knife and looked around at the scene. She heard Xander coming up the stairs but still couldn't move.
He appeared in the doorway and stopped dead. His eyes taking in everything. "Oh my god." His eyes settled on Faith and with a cry he lunged at her. She barely thought about it as she put him down with one punch. She knelt down by Buffy's body and gently kissed the slayers forehead. She couldn't get her mind to work properly. Couldn't process what had happened yet. She couldn't bear to stay. She knew she couldn't explain this. She knew she had to leave now. She grabbed the rest of her clothes and tore out of the house. Running off bloody and alone.