Fic: Triune (24/?) B/W/T NC-17

["TheBear" <thebear@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Triune

Author: The Bear!

Spoilers: up through season 5

Pairing: Buffy/Willow/Tara (Some of the other Scoobies might get a
little some-some as well)

Summary: Ends the Triad Trilogy- Sequel to the Please Trilogy. The new
Triad deals with an angry Hellgod and new relationships are on the
horizon

Warnings: NC17 Ahoy! I Love BDSM. I Love chains and whips. I love
Sex! If any of these gives you the wiggins, then so will this story.
(Part 24, is NC17]

Disclaimer: If I owned 'em, they'd have to show it on the Ecstasy
Network.

========== BtVS ==========

Part 24

========== BtVS ==========

"Well, this is it," Xander said after he put the car in park and turned
off the ignition.

No one made any immediate moves to get out of the car. 

Tara was still sitting with her back to the door, so she couldn't see
the hotel behind her. Instead her eyes were focused on the passenger in
the back seat. "I've never actually seen a deer in the headlights, but
I can imagine their eyes probably do look like that," she thought as she
observed Faith's wide-eyed, unblinking stare. "Faith," she asked
quietly. "Faith, are you ok?"

"I, uh." Faith whispered; her stare remaining fixed. After a moment,
she blinked several times and turned to meet Tara's gaze, "Uh, yeah.
Five by Five, ya'know." she said, her voice a little stronger.

"Mmm hmm, why don't we go inside then?" Tara asked. 

Xander agreed, saying, "Yeah, come on Faith." He opened his door and
stepped out of the car, adding, "How bad could it be?"

Faith chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "Sure, what's the worst
that could happen?" she said quietly as she turned and opened her door.

"Faith," Tara said, stopping the dark-haired Slayer just as she was
about to exit the car. "You have a chance. A chance you probably never
thought you'd have; make the most of it."

Faith blinked a couple of times, her face an unchanging mask. She
nodded once and then got out of the car without a word.

Tara sighed. "I hope we can all get past this quickly," she thought as
she got out of the car. "We don't really have time for anything else."

The three of them walked in silence to the door that led into the lobby.
Xander held the door open and Tara went in first. As she looked around
the room, she noticed that the only ones present were Gunn and Willow. 

"Oh Goddess!" Tara breathed out, coming to a standstill as her eyes
locked on the form of her girlfriend. The sound of Xander's 'Wow!' and
Faith's 'Damn!' were relegated to background noise as her focus
narrowed. "Oh, Buffy! You did such a good job!" she thought as she
took in the dangerously sexy outfit Willow was wearing.

Gunn laughed and called out, 'They're here!' which was enough of a
distraction to make her feet move again, though nowhere near enough to
pull her eyes away from the redhead. "Willow!" she said breathily,
still not in total control of her vocal cords. She felt her body tingle
with arousal as her mind catalogued the vision before her, "Mmm, legs
and hips wrapped in skintight leather, a lovely pale strip of bare
tummy. oh my, and hard nipples poking through red satin. Wow! Double
wow!"

Willow smiled and opened her arms as though inviting observation. "You
like?" she asked.

Tara quickly closed the distance to her lover. Her voice was deep with
arousal as she said, "Oh, I more than like, Vixen!" They embraced
tightly and kissed passionately for several moments. Tara then broke it
off and growled quietly, "It's all I can do not to take you right here;
right in front of everybody!"

Willow's eyes dilated, and she licked her lips- spiking Tara's arousal
even further- before whispering back, "Be patient, we can probably sneak
upstairs in a few minutes."

"Ok, Tara, get a hold of yourself!" she thought, suddenly a little
embarrassed at her raw lust. "Oh dear, Faith probably heard every word
of that!" she realized. Turning around to face the brunette, she saw
the little smirk on her lips and felt her own face grow warm as she
blushed. 

She felt Willow stiffen in her arms and looked back to see the redhead
staring over her shoulder at Faith. "I know, sweetie. It's gonna be
hard, but we have to give her a chance," she whispered quietly in
Willow's ear.

"I know," Willow said with a sigh. "Buffy and I talked about it, and
she said the same thing."

Feeling Willow relax in her arms, Tara gave her one more squeeze to
reassure her and then stepped to the side, leaving one arm around her
lover's waist. She watched as Gunn walked over and introduced himself
to Faith. She noticed Cordelia and Wesley as they came out of the
office, but they stopped at the counter. Angel had followed the other
two out of the office and moved around them into the room, but appeared
to be hanging back until Gunn was done. She continued to look around,
but her other lover was nowhere in sight. "Where's Buffy?" she asked
Willow quietly.

========== BtVS ==========

"Damn! I don't remember Red dressing like that!" Faith thought when she
saw Willow's getup. "Of course, I never imagined she'd be screwing B
either, let alone two girls at once."

After a moment of using her enhanced hearing to eaves-drop, she thought,
"Jeeze Blondie, get a room! I just can't picture B being with these
two. She's always been way too uptight about sex and stuff, I can't
believe these two are her lovers!"

Gunn approached the Dark haired Slayer, stuck his hand out and
introduced himself. "Hey, you must be Faith, right?"

Faith nodded and shook his hand, thinking, "Hey, kinda cute."

"You can call me Gunn," he said with a smile.

"Oh, I shouldn't. but I just can't help it!" Faith thought with a wicked
grin. "Gunn, huh?" she said with a little sultriness to her voice.
"That cause you're packing a big shooter?"

Gunn's eyes widened and he gulped loudly, not saying anything for a
moment.

Faith laughed, not unkindly, but with very real humor. She was about to
say something about not taking her seriously, when she saw the people
coming out of the office behind the counter. "Here we go," she thought
with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Faith!" Angel said with a warm smile on his face as he quickly moved
past the still forms of Cordelia and Wesley. 

"Hey Angel," Faith said, trying to maintain her mask of calm. "Jeeze, I
think I've got fricken bats flapping around in here." she thought as her
arms tightened around her stomach. "I don't think I was this freaked
when they locked me up!"

Angel stopped at the bottom of the steps, and looked up at her. His
face was placid, but she could see compassion in his eyes as he asked,
"How are you, Faith?"

She put on a smile as she glibly answered, "Five by five."

Faith watched his head tilt ever so slightly, and his eyebrow twitched
up. "Yeah, so you can tell I'm lying, what did you expect?" she
wondered. She quietly whispered for his ears only, "I'll be ok. I'll
get through it." She didn't see any change in his face and she
thought, "Yeah, you don't believe that any more than I do, do you?" 

Faith walked down the steps and stopped, almost touching Angel. She
looked up into his face and could feel the start of tears pricking at
her eyes. "Dammit! I'm not gonna fricken cry!" she screamed in her
mind. "I will not be some pathetic, weak. little girl! I'm the
Slayer!" she thought, furious with herself for her lack of control.

"You will get through this, Faith. I know you will," Angel whispered
back, his eyes soft and warm and caring.

"I gotta get away from you before I lose it!" Faith thought, nodding
once, then stepping around the vampire and facing the two remaining
victims of her crimes when she last visited the city of angels.

Wesley was standing with his arms crossed over his chest and his jaw
visibly clenched. "Hello Faith," he said, clearly unenthusiastic about
seeing her once again.

"Wesley," she said quietly. In her mind she thought of the things she
wished she could bring herself to say to his face, "I can still remember
every little gasp, every cry, every choked off scream that came out of
you, Wes. All the hurt sounds you made while I tortured you. I wish I
could tell you how I still wake up screaming in the middle of the night,
dreaming about that day. Sometimes I'm inflicting, and sometimes I'm
the one in the chair. but no matter what, I feel the pain." Finally,
after some untold time, she dropped her eyes and stared at the floor,
whispering, I don't know what to say, Wes. Sorry doesn't even come
close."

"It's a start," Wesley said flatly.

Faith looked up into his eyes. "Well at least no hatred. But you aren't
ready to forgive me, either, are you?" Faith thought. "That's ok. More
than I deserve."

"So, did prison make you not psychotic?" Cordelia asked, tactful as
ever.

Faith had to stifle a grin when she saw Wesley flinch at the former
cheerleader's brutal insensitivity. She could almost feel the echoing
flinches from everyone behind her. "Leave it to you, Cordy, to put
things in perspective like that," Faith said.

Cordelia didn't speak for a moment, then said, "That wasn't an attempt
at humor, I seriously want to know." 

"Jesus Cordy!" Gunn said, his comment echoed by the mumbles of the
others in the room.

Faith stared at her, thinking, "You wanna know a secret Cordy? The only
thing I did that I never felt the least bit of sorry for was smacking
you in the face. If I had it to do over again, I would. In fact, if it
wasn't for the fact that it would blow my chances with everyone else,
I'd do it again right now! God! You pissed me off way before I ever
went evil!" 

Cordelia kept waiting for a response from the dark-haired Slayer.

Finally, Faith just shook her head and said, "Prison doesn't fix things
Cordelia." She turned her back on the former prom-queen and walked
toward Tara and Willow, who were still standing side by side with their
arms loosely circling one another.

"Faith, Buffy wanted to see you alone." Willow said, not moving from
Tara's embrace as she addressed the Slayer.

"Crap!" Faith thought as the fluttering in her stomach intensified.
"Yeah." she sighed resignedly. "Where is she?"

Stepping away from Tara, Willow said, "I'll take you."

========== BtVS ==========

"Well, it's pretty obvious that Red's not gonna be quick with the
forgiveness. she won't even speak to me," Faith thought as she followed
the redhead up several flights of steps. Now they were walking down a
cluttered hallway, debris and trash pushed aside to make a narrow path
in the center of the walkway. "Well, I did keep her hostage, punch her,
hold a knife to her throat and threaten to kill her. So it's not like
she's got no reason."

Willow stopped walking when they got to a door marked 'AUTHORIZED
PERSONNEL ONLY'. She turned around and looked Faith directly in the eye
for a moment before speaking. "Faith."

"God, she's gonna lecture me first? This is sucking bad enough
already." Faith thought, feeling her stomach knot up tighter and tighter
with each passing moment. "At this rate I'm gonna puke right on B as
soon as I see her!"

"Buffy misses you. She misses having you- another Slayer- in her life,"
Willow said, surprising the hell out of Faith.

"What the." Faith thought as she blinked in astonishment, nearly falling
back a step at the shock. "I figured on a lecture, but not this!"

"She wants to forgive you Faith." Willow trailed off into silence for a
moment.

"Oh, now I get it," Faith thought, her surprise giving way to resigned
acceptance. She said, "But. Lemme guess, Red. You don't want her too,
right? I get it."

Willow shook her head and contradicted the Slayer, "You don't get it at
all, Faith. If you've really changed, if you really are sorry for the
things you did, and you're on the good side again, then I'm happy to
have you back. I only ever hated you because you hurt my friends."

"You weren't jealous of me and B?" Faith asked with a smirk. Instantly
she dropped the smirk and chastised herself, "Damn, what is it about you
and Blondie that makes me want to push so hard? Ok, so it's cause I'm
jealous, no big shock there, but I gotta cut it out!"

To Faith's surprise, Willow smiled, rather than getting angry. "Of
course I was jealous Faith. I was jealous of Angel too. That didn't
make me hate him."

Faith dropped her eyes, even more abashed at her reaction.

Willow continued, "I can get over all the bad-feeling stuff if this
atonement thing is for real."

"It is!" Faith said, looking back up at Willow. "It really is, Red. I-
I feel." her glance darted to the side, as she was unable to maintain
eye contact. "Look, I did horrible things, stuff you don't even know
about. and I can't take it back. I wish I could, but I can't. I'm so
fricken sorry for the stuff I did."

"That's good Faith. I'm glad you're sorry, if it's real." Before Faith
could interject, Willow continued, "But only time will tell, at least
for me. Maybe that's not fair, but I'm not really feeling fairness when
it comes to the chance of my friends and lovers getting hurt."

"Yeah, I get that. I wouldn't be all that quick to forgive me either,"
Faith thought, feeling the familiar sense of depression that came with
thoughts of her past, and what she'd done to the people who tried to be
her friends. She whispered an angst-filled, "What do you want from me,
Red?"

"I want what we all have always wanted from you Faith. Help us fight
the big bad, be on our side and don't do anything to hurt any of us,"
Willow said.

Faith nodded, "I can do that," she said. In her mind she added, "That's
about all I can do in the time I've got, but I *can* do that- I *will*
do that!"

"Good," Willow said. She stepped aside from the door and said, "Buffy's
waiting for you up there."

Just as Faith stepped forward and reached for the doorknob, Willow
leaned close and whispered, "If you hurt her, I will erase you from the
face of the earth."

The ultimatum was delivered in a nearly emotionless voice and Faith
turned to look at the redhead, feeling incredulous. She jerked away,
nearly tripping over the debris on the floor when she saw the witch's
eyes. "Crap! What the hell is that?" she thought frantically at the
sight- they were solid black with arcs of blue energy dancing across
them. "Wha." was all she could get out as she gaped at the redhead.

Willow's smile was truly frightening and Faith shivered involuntarily as
the once 'shy little nerd' said, "Things are different now, Faith. I'm
different. Last time all I could do is watch while you hurt my friends
and betrayed us all." Willow blinked her eyes and, just like that, the
magic was gone; her eyes were once again their normal hazel color. Her
smile dropped away, and Faith could hear the conviction and raw emotion
in her voice as she added, "That will *never* happen again." 

As Willow turned to walk away, Faith tentatively reached out. The
thought, "God, I hope I don't get fried!" flitted across her mind as she
put her hand on the redhead's shoulder.

Willow stiffened slightly, but there was no magical nastiness. Faith
let loose the breath she'd been unconsciously holding, and said, "I've
changed too, Willow."

Willow half turned, and Faith could see the surprise on her face, "Yeah,
you didn't expect me to use your name did you?" she mused before saying,
"You'll see, I'm not the psychotic bitch that I was back then."

Willow nodded slightly and her voice sounded cautiously optimistic. "I
hope so, Faith. I really do." Then she walked down the hall, leaving
Faith to face the one person she'd hurt- and been hurt by- more than any
other. "Time to face the music."

========== BtVS ==========

As Willow made her way back downstairs toward the lobby, her attention
was suddenly diverted. "That was closed when I came up!" she whispered
upon seeing the door to her, Tara, and Buffy's room ajar.

A soft giggle emanated from the room following her whisper.

"Ahhh, methinks there's a naughty witch hiding behind that door." she
said softly, while grinning madly.

Another giggle and Willow felt herself becoming aroused. "Somebody's
horny!" she thought, the words singsong and flittering through her head.
She walked to the door and playfully asked, "Is someone in there?"

When the only answer was yet another giggle, Willow sighed dramatically
and said, "I guess not. Too bad, I was really horny too. I guess I'd
better go downstairs and join the rest of the gang."

She got to the word 'gang' when an arm shot out of the room and dragged
the redhead in, Tara's voice growling, don't you dare, Willow!"

Willow laughed as her lover pulled her out of the hall and into her
embrace. "Mmm, Tara," she thought happily as she enjoyed the feel of
the blond witch's tongue twining with her own. "I love the way you
taste, baby. I love the way you smell, too! I love everything about
you!" she thought.

Finally Tara pulled away, breathing heavily. "Goddess, you look so hot,
Willow!" she growled. "I want you, I need you now!" she almost begged,
her voice plaintive.

Willow felt a warm sweetness filling her at the pleading tone in her
lover's voice. "Oh, so much more than just physical. you warm my heart
baby!" she thought. She ran her hands over the denim clad cheeks of her
lover's butt and said, "You know, all you ever have to do is ask, baby."
She wasted no time, but stepped back and whipped the satin top up and
over her head, laying it over the back of the chair to her right. 

"You know, I've been in and out of this top four times today." Willow
said with a wink and a smirk, enjoying the flushed look in Tara's gaze
as she stared at the redhead. She cupped her breasts and tweaked her
nipples between her fingers, all the while staring at Tara. "I love to
see you get all hot and bothered when you look at me!" Willow thought
exultantly.

"Don't you just love the way that top looks when my nipples are hard?"
the redhead asked, teasing her lover and loving every minute of it.
"Oh, and look at what these pants do for my ass!" she added, turning and
bending over. "See how they fit like a glove? I can't wear any
panties, though. They'd show for sure!" 

Tara whimpered, her eyes fixed on Willow's ass.

Looking back up at Tara from between her legs, Willow cooed, "Feel it,
Tara, It's like second skin." She closed her eyes and groaned loudly as
Tara caressed and fondled her leather covered butt. She straightened up
and turned around. Then she grabbed Tara's wrists and moved her hands
back to her butt. Once Tara resumed her fondling, Willow began to
unbutton the blonde's shirt, wanting skin on skin.

"You're so beautiful Willow," Tara said, emotion flooding her voice.

Willow paused her unbuttoning for a moment and closed her eyes, "Oh
goddess! I feel so good when you say that to me, baby!" she thought,
reveling in the feeling of warmth that filled her. Opening her eyes to
see Tara's love filled gaze staring back at her, Willow cried softly,
"Oh baby! I love you so much! I want you so badly right now!" she
emphasized her statement by quickly divesting the blond witch of her
shirt and bra, and immediately suckling one erect nipple, while tweaking
and rolling the other with her fingers. In an amazing display of
multitasking, Willow used her free hand to unbutton and unzip Tara's
jeans.

Tara meanwhile was apparently unable to do more than whimper and gasp
appreciatively at the redhead's agility.

After a few minutes of lovely torment to Tara's breasts, Willow turned
the pliant girl around in her arms and walked her over to the mirror
hanging on the bathroom door. She kneeled behind her lover and drew her
jeans and panties down to the floor. She tossed them aside as Tara
stepped out of the puddle of cloth.

Standing back up, Willow looked over the blonde's shoulder at the
mirror. "Look at you, Tara!" she whispered hungrily in her ear. See
how beautiful you look, especially when you're aroused like you are
now!" She began to touch and stroke Tara's body, describing what she
was seeing in the mirror as she did.

"Mmm, look at the way your skin blushes when I play with your breasts,
Tara. It's so delicious to look at! Your breasts feel so full and hot
when I drag my palms up and over them like this. Oh, yeah, I love the
sounds you make baby! They make me so wet!"

"Oh yeah, watch my fingers as I move them down, down, down. Oh, goddess!
You're so wet Tara! So wet for me. do you have any idea how happy that
makes me, that I can make you wet like that? Open your eyes baby, I
want you to watch my fingers sliding in and out of you. isn't that hot?"

"Look at your face, baby. I want you to see what happens when I. oh
yeah! So beautiful when I'm rubbing your little button in a circle like
that. Oh, are you gonna cum baby? So soon? Oh yeah, no, keep your
eyes open baby. that's right, I want you to see what I see. Oh look!
That look! You're so beautiful baby! I love seeing your face when you
cum!"

Willow led the shaky witch the few steps to the bed and let her collapse
onto it. She took off her pants while Tara recovered from her short,
but obviously powerful, orgasm. 

"Oh goddess Willow! I don't think I've ever. not that fast. That was
the hottest thing I've ever seen!" she said as she drew in great, ragged
breaths, trying to get her air back from the unexpected and sudden
intensity.

"Buffy did that to me last week while we were playing," Willow explained
as she laid the pants over the seat of the chair, just below her skimpy
top. "I thought I'd never walk again I came so hard!"

Tara smiled up at her lover and said, "Well, why don't you get down here
and let me show you just how grateful I can be!"

Smiling giddily, Willow said, "Oh yes, Lady Tara. Your wish is my
command!"

========== BtVS ==========

The A.I. Gang and Xander were sitting around the lobby waiting for the
other four girls to come back downstairs. Buffy and Faith were still on
the roof, so far as they knew; and Tara had gone upstairs soon after
Willow and Faith. No real guessing was needed to know what happened
when Willow didn't come back down after dropping off Faith.

Xander was passing the time by staring at Cordelia and remembering their
night together. "Sure, I know she doesn't want a repeat, but I can't
help thinking about her. She was so beautiful and so sexy. Mmm, the
sounds she made were amazing! I never guessed Cordy'd be a moaner and a
screamer." 

Cordelia threw her head back as she sat on the couch and complained,
"What's taking so long? They've been up there like forever!"

"It's only been an hour and a half." Angel said, but even he was pacing
slowly back and forth.

Wesley looked worried when Xander spared him a glance. "You don't
think. they might be. fighting, do you?" the former watcher asked.

"God, you still worry like a woman, Wes," Xander thought with a smirk.

"If there was fightin' goin' on up there, I don't figure it for taking
this long," Gunn opined with raised brows while he sat, stretched out on
the couch.

"What do you mean?" Wesley asked, his befuddlement evident in his voice.

Gunn looked at the Brit as though he were a simpleton, "Are you kidding
me?" he asked derisively. "Last I checked, you were at the same fight I
was last night."

Wesley blushed in apparent chagrin at the chiding tone of Gunn's voice.

Gunn continued, "Didn't you see that girl fight? I have never seen
anything like that in my life. She could take everyone in this room at
once without even breaking a sweat." He put his hands behind his head
as though that succinct comment had proven his point.

Ever the wannabe-professor, Wesley contested, "May I remind you that
Faith is also a Slayer? I often had the occasion to observe the two of
them sparring when I was their watcher."

"Oh yeah, I remember the Slayers-getting-sweaty sessions so very well."
Xander hummed at the pleasant memory.

"Gunn's right," Angel said, interrupting Wesley mid lecture, "She's
changed." Turning to look up the stairs, Angel sighed and said, "She
was good in high-school, maybe the best Slayer I've ever seen. But,
back then? she never could have done what she did last night ." a
combination of wonder, awe, and a little worry colored his voice as he
spoke.

"Still," Cordelia interjected, "Faith's all sneaky and evil. She could
have surprised her."

"Faith's changed, Cordy. Besides, if Buffy was in trouble, I'd know,"
Xander said, interrupting Cordelia and surprising everyone.

"What do you mean by that?" Cordelia asked archly, giving Xander one of
her patented glares.

"I'm not the same guy I was in high school either, Cordy," Xander
thought, smirking at her glare. "We're bonded," he explained to the
group. "Tara cast a spell."

"What spell?" Wesley asked, suddenly discarding his concern for
curiosity.

Xander shrugged his shoulders and said, "How should I know?"

"What did the ritual." Wesley began, his face radiating his fascination.

Cordy cut him off, Throwing her arms up in a dramatic gesture and loudly
espousing, "Like it matters? They aren't killing each other, so what's
taking so long?"

Gunn smirked and said, "Well, Faith's pretty hot, and Buffy's into
girls. so,"

Wesley blushed, Cordelia said, "Eww!" and Angel glowered all at the same
time. Xander shuddered and shook his head, saying, "Do yourself a
favor, Gunn. Don't even joke about that in front of Willow or Tara.
Especially Willow!"

The smirk fell right off Gunn's face and he quickly nodded his head,
saying, "Yeah, you don't need to tell me twice!"

The sound of soft giggling grabbed everyone's attention and they all saw
Willow and Tara descending the stairs, hand in hand and glowing with the
look of the freshly laid.

Cordelia, predictably, was the first to comment. "God! Are you three
under some kind of lust spell or something? I mean, seriously; who has
this much sex?"

Tara blushed slightly and quietly said, "Sorry, didn't mean to rub your
nose in it."

Willow must have been feeling especially sassy, because she leaned
closer to Tara, but spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, "Oh, but I
like when you rub my nose in it." Her grin threatened to split her face
in two.

"Dear God in Heaven!" Xander thought as he laughed out loud. "Wesley
looks like he's gonna choke on something, and Tara's, well I don't think
I've seen her blush that red pretty much ever!" He looked over at
Cordelia and saw her grimace of disgust, but thought, "Is that a glimmer
of envy I see there Queen C? I know how much I miss daily sex. I
wonder if you've ever had anything like that before- if you have any
idea how awesome it can be."

Gunn's choking laughter echoed Xander's, while Angel just continued to
scowl.

Seeing Angel's scowl, Xander thought, "Gosh dead-boy. I almost feel
sorry. wait- nope, not sorry at all."

Willow changed the subject when she said, "Hey Cordelia, Buffy and I
thought we should all go out to a club tonight, kinda a
Last-night-of-freedom-before-we-gotta-start-training-for-the-big-fight
kinda thing."

Cordy must have been desperate for something to do, because she jumped
up off the couch as though she'd been stung. "Clubbing? Oh yeah, I'm
totally on-board with getting the heck out of this place for a night
out!" She walked toward the office, gesturing for Willow to follow her,
saying "Lets check the events calendars and see what's going on where."

========== BtVS ==========

"I wonder if this is what it feels like to take that last walk on death
row?" Faith thought as she slowly trudged up the stairs. "Even then,
they don't make you climb stairs, do they?" she wondered with an
ironically thematic gallows humor.

Reaching the top of the stairs despite her subconscious efforts not to,
Faith opened the door, wincing at the brightness of daylight after the
dark stairwell. "Of course, I knew it. The roof. It hadda be the
fricken roof, didn't it, B?" She stood there for several moments before
thinking, "Come on, Faith. How pathetic is this? I'm scared to step
onto the roof. oh, it's like some kinda. meta-something. or whatever,
right? One of them stories that's supposed to teach you something or
other. Like I'm afraid to go out of the darkness into the light? Oh,
yeah. That's deep." 

Faith chuckled humorlessly and shook her head as she stepped out of the
doorway onto the roof. "Just another way to put off the inevitable."
She looked around to the left and then the right before she saw Buffy,
standing on the roof's parapet, facing out, away from the stairwell and
looking into downtown LA through the perpetual brown haze. Slowly, she
walked over to the blond Slayer, "The one person who's haunted my
dreams. and not just since I went to prison, B. No, you were there
through the whole time I was in a coma before that, and when I was
working for the mayor before that, and even before I met you. I'd hear
my watcher tell stories about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Christ, I
idolized you. still do." she thought sadly as she closed the distance.

When Faith'd gotten within five feet, Buffy turned around and looked
down at her.

The ringing silence made Faith uncomfortable. Her voice rasped out of
her dry throat as she tried to say, "Hey, B."

Buffy jumped down, landing right in front of Faith, still not saying a
word but just staring into the dark Slayer's eyes.

"What now?" Faith thought, starting to feel annoyed. "Say something,
B," she whispered, desperate for any reaction from the star of her
dreams and nightmares.

Buffy completely surprised her when she responded with a wicked right
cross, knocking Faith flat on her ass.

Faith was so surprised that she didn't even try to get up, she just held
her slack and aching jaw, staring up at the blond in shock.

Still silent, Buffy pulled a cloth wrapped bundle from under the jacket
she was wearing over her little crop top and matching leather pants. 

"Oh no! No, please, no!" Faith thought, dismayed by the sight as Buffy
unwrapped a large and ornate knife. The thoughts and feelings it evoked
played across her mind like she was watching a movie, "God, I remember
how excited and scared I was when the mayor gave me that. how pissed I
was when I had to leave it behind, stuck in the body of that
spider-thing. how terrified I was when you stuck it in my gut like a
steel flame, burning me from the inside out." Frozen in place, she
couldn't take her eyes off of the gleaming blade, once again in the
hands of her sister Slayer. "What's it gonna be this time B?" she
wondered.

Finally Buffy spoke. She hunched down and stared directly into Faith's
eyes and said, "You did so much, Faith. So many terrible, evil things.
but I think the worst was this," she said, turning the knife back and
forth in her hand, reflecting the weak sunlight across Faith's face.
"Even worse than when you shackled me to the wall and were planning on
torturing me. You made me hate you Faith. You made me hate you so much
that I stuck this inside you. not only that, but you made me hate you so
much that I wanted to do it; so much that I was actually looking forward
to it!" Her voice had risen to a shout by that point.

Faith scrambled to her feet, backpedaling from the angry women in front
of her. "I- I'm sorry." she began.

Buffy advanced on her, keeping within her personal space as she
interrupted, ranting, "Sorry? You're sorry?" Waving her arms
dramatically, Buffy yelled even louder, "Well, Sorry doesn't cut it,
Faith! Sorry doesn't take back what you did! So, what else you got?"

"B, I- I." Faith started again. Her thoughts were jumbled by this
unexpected attack and she felt a combination of anger, fear, and
self-loathing as the petite blond attacked.

"You what? What are you gonna say, Faith? Huh? Tell me how you can
make it all better!"

Faith's anger grew large enough to overcome the loathing for a heartbeat
and she got right back in Buffy's face. "What?! You want me to grovel?
Is that it? Well, I won't. Screw you B!" Faith shouted angrily. "I'd
fricken eat dirt and roll around on the ground like a worm if I thought
it'd change one crappy thing I've done in my life; but it won't! I
can't take back all the h-horrible." Her anger died out as quickly as it
had swelled up and then the guilt and self-loathing came once again to
the fore. Faith turned her back on the blonde, cursing herself for the
tears she couldn't stop from flowing. "There's nothing. There's
nothing I can ever do to fix all the stuff I broke, Buffy," Faith cried
out softly, utterly failing to keep from weeping openly. "Christ! I
feel like I'm dying," she thought, hugging herself tightly against the
pain in her stomach and chest.

Faith flinched hard at the feel of Buffy's hand on her shoulder, fully
expecting another blow to come.

"You're right, Faith," Buffy said softly.

"Huh?" Faith asked, thinking, "Ok, I think my brain is starting to leak
out my ears."

"You can't change a single thing you've done," Buffy said, compassion
evident in her voice.

Faith allowed herself to be turned around to face the senior Slayer.

"All you can do is be a better person, do the right thing from now on,"
Buffy said, still holding on to Faith's shoulder.

Faith looked into Buffy's eyes and saw the compassion that was in her
voice mirrored there. Her face contorted in sorrow and she felt the
hot, wet trails of tears sliding down over her cheeks.

"You're a Slayer, Faith. You can help us save the world. Again." Buffy
whispered, her eyes not leaving Faith's teary orbs.

Her arms fell away from her chest and she sobbed, "Buffy, I- I'm so damn
sorry!" She felt her knees give away and the strong arms of her
sister-Slayer catching her and pulling her tight.

"I know you are Faith," Buffy whispered. 

Kneeling on the roof of the Hyperion hotel, Faith wept in Buffy arms
while the daylight faded and the afternoon gave way to night.

========== BtVS ==========

end part 24





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