Willow practically felt the student body recoil in shock at the transformation. She and the other Slayerettes had spread the word that something really bad was going to happen at Graduation with the Mayor, but nothing could prepare people for this sight. It was a slap in the face, a wake up call to the residents of Sunnydale. The Mayor was not just corrupt, but he also happened to be a giant snake demon that was trying to eat them all. Willow wondered how anyone would be able to forget this if they survived.
Willow’s eyes met Xander’s on the other side. No words were spoken, but she understood what went unsaid. She took one more look at the empty seat behind her as she stood on firm legs and quietly removed her cap. Without looking, she knew that Xander was doing the same. We’re going to win this, Buffy. We’re going to do this for you, and for the world. Soon, all of the senior class was on its feet, staring upward at the monster that had been–and perhaps still was, in some way–the Mayor of Sunnydale. Willow twisted her neck to find Oz amongst the sea of people. Even though there was no way he could have known she was looking for him, he turned to meet her eyes as they alighted on his familiar form. It was almost as if her boyfriend could sense her gaze. Willow gave him a small smile, which he returned. Then she knew that they really could win this.
~~~
Xander hopped onto his chair as he saw Willow stand and remove her cap. He tossed his own cap to the ground, and looked out upon the classmates that had never paid any attention to him before. How was he supposed to command them? But even as he marveled at Cordelia’s oddly trusting gaze, he knew that many were already looking to him for guidance. No one else would take charge; it would just have to be him. Xander Harris, Zeppo Extroardinaire.
“NOW!” he yelled as loudly as he could, removing his maroon gown and flinging it on top of the discarded cap, even as his former classmates did the same, revealing the various weapons strapped to their bodies. Here we go.
~~~
Devon had faced crowds before, even the occasional angry one that took exception to his singing, but this was definitely something new. The lead singer of Dingoes Ate My Baby knew how to deal with people, whether they were angry mobsters or groupies. But he suddenly found himself taking commands from some guy whose name he couldn’t remember, and rushing headlong into a, well, a battle.
“When I say quiet I want–”
Devon heard Snyder’s voice cut across all the screaming, and the singer stared as the bottom half of the Principal collapsed to the ground in a bloody mess. Dude.
“Fall back!” Oz’s friend shouted. “Everyone, hand to hand!”
Xander, Devon thought. That’s his name.
“Everyone!” Xander yelled desperately. “Let’s go! Move! Move!”
The senior class surged towards the waiting crowd of vampires. As he was swept along the human tide, Devon realized that he could not have resisted if he had tried, and if he were to stop moving his legs, he would either be carried or trampled by the horde of students. When’d I get so damn wordy? I sound like some fruity poet. He snorted. ‘Human tide.’
The students began to spread out a bit, and Devon found himself able to move of his own volition. Before he could think about where to go, some guy with a messed up face grabbed his shoulders and tried to bite his neck.
“Whoa, man!” Devon yelped as he shoved the creep away from him. “I don’t swing that way.”
The weirdo growled, and dropped into a fighting stance. Devon glanced down at the two “weapons” he held in his hands. Shrugging, he raised the cross in his left hand and the wooden stake in his right. The guy, who Devon assumed was a vampire, seemed to take this as a threat, and backed off. As he did, Devon’s eyes lighted on the hottest chick he had ever seen. She was standing behind the spot where the vampire had been, and her eyes were scanning the faces of the people around her. Dark brown hair framed a dimpled face with brown eyes and full lips. She looked to be about 5'5" and was clothed in a pink, slightly frilly, dress that looked like something a six-year-old would wear.
Devon smiled widely. Kinky, his mind insisted at the sight of the dress. Damn, that is one hot chick. And she was heading right towards him.
“Dude,” he breathed. The last thing he saw was her hand coming towards his neck.
~~~
Faith snorted contemptuously. The guy had been too busy checking her out to move before she broke his neck. She didn’t stop to watch him fall, but rather remained intent on her goal, who stood a few meters behind the body of the Sunnydale High Graduate.
Xander tried to run. That was smart, but it was pointless, for she wrapped her hands around his neck and shoulders before he could get two feet.
“Faith, wait,” he choked out as she held him in a strangle hold.
“Wait?” she repeated. “Why should I wait, Xander? What wisdom are you gonna impart on me now?”
“You..don’t want...to do this,” he gasped.
“Don’t I?” She tightened her hold and his hands beat feebly against her own as she cut off his air supply. “You Scoobies, such a tight little family, can’t be bothered with people like....”
She trailed off as she heard a familiar voice coming from someone with his back to her who she knew could be none other than Angel. He was speaking to the Mayor, although she couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, and he was waving a familiar blade. Faith tossed Xander aside and began to stride purposefully towards the vampire, having already forgotten about the spluttering teen.
“Hey, remember me?” Angel called. “I certainly remember the guy who tried to remove my soul, and then tried to have me killed. Didn’t work out the way you planned, but I still have a bit of a grudge against you now.”
Angel paused and looked the giant snake demon up and down. “And they call me a monster. I wonder what your dear constituents would say if they knew. Or what your dear Edna May would think if she saw you now. Would she curse your name? Would she love you? Or would she run screaming?
“And what about Faith?”
The Slayer in question tensed upon hearing her name.
“You’re supposed to be, what, her father figure?” Angel continued. “What kind of life is she going to have with a demon like you? Will she be able to turn to you when she needs a comforting shoulder? I can just see it now...oh wait, I can’t. She’s a blossoming young girl,” Angel said, parroting the Mayor’s words from their clandestine meeting in the school cafeteria, “and you want to keep her from the life she should have until it’s passed her by? I think that’s a little selfish.”
Faith scowled and tried to push her increasing uneasiness to the back of her mind. As Angel began to speak again, she continued her slow advance, being careful not to make a sound that might reach the vampire’s sensitive ears.
“You gave her this knife, didn’t you?” Angel moved the bloodstained weapon beneath his nose and made a show of inhaling deeply. “I can practically taste her blood; the blood of the Slayer is a powerful thing, but then I guess you knew that. A bit risky, don’t you think? Using a poison that can only be cured by the blood of a Slayer. You must have known that Buffy would come after Faith. And if you didn’t realize what the cure was, well....Never use a mystical poison without doing your homework first. The consequences can be disastrous.”
Faith had heard enough. She covered the last few feet between herself and the vampire, and prepared to strike him. But the vampire must have sensed her, for he moved first, striking her in the gut with an elbow.
Faith cried out in pain and sank to her knees as the world dropped away around her. Breathe, she reminded herself. Breathe. She briefly registered the Mayor’s roar of outrage, and when she opened her eyes again, his tail was vanishing inside the high school. Angel was gone too, and she realized that the Mayor must be chasing him. She struggled to her feet, and began to jog after them. Before she entered the building, however, a voice in the back of her mind warned her against that.
If you go in there, you won’t come back out.
Faith stopped, and considered the voice. It wasn’t her conscience, she was sure of that. B? she hazarded after a moment. Her silent question was met with no response, and she laughed softly at herself. Talking to voices in my head. Must be out of my mind.
Still, she couldn’t disregard the warning. She began to move along the outside of the school building. In the distance, far from the fighting, she spotted a familiar figure crouched over something. She began to sprint, her senses screaming at her to hurry, as she realized that it was a detonator.
She heard glass shattering, and her head whipped to the side to watch Angel leap through the library windows. He hit the ground and called out to Giles.
“Do it now!” The vampire was already running from the building, and Faith’s instincts forced her to move as well.
“No!” she screamed as she watched Giles push down on the lever. She could do nothing but watch in horror as the school, and the closest thing she ever had to a father, went up in flames.
She fell to her knees as grief battered against her weary mind. But, as she had so many times that day, she pushed the feeling to the back of her mind and let the mind-numbing anger overtake her.
With a cry of primal rage, Faith tore at the crouched figures of Giles and Angel, unsure which she would tear apart first. Then something rammed against her back and she was sprawled on the ground. Grunting, she tossed the weight off her back, and rose to her feet to stare at Xander, once more at her mercy.
Then they were all there. Xander lay sprawled before him, Angel and Giles slowly approached behind her, and she could see Willow, Oz, and Cordelia in the distance, looking on. Faith’s eyes met the redhead’s for a second, then Faith looked away, uncomfortable. They were all here, all except Buffy, and that was because of her....
And he was gone. The only person who didn’t think hate her was dead, and she was surrounded by the people who had orchestrated his death. And yet she couldn’t bring herself to kill them. All she could think was that he was gone, he was really gone, and she was alone again. Tears stung in her eyes, and she grabbed fistfuls of hair in her hands, barely aware of her actions or her surroundings. Then the tears were flooding down her cheeks, and strong arms were wrapped around her as she collapsed, beating her pain and her frustration out upon the broad chest she found herself pressed against.
Abruptly, Faith’s eyes snapped open and she came back to herself. She shoved herself forcefully away from Angel’s comforting form. Eyes rolling frantically around the small circle of faces staring at her, judging her, condemning her, she did the only thing she could. She ran.
~~~
Angel had not found it easy to offer comfort to the girl who had put his love in a coma, but deep in his soul he knew that it was the right thing to do. But he could only watch as Faith rejected the comfort he had offered her, and turned on her heels and ran. He briefly wondered if he should go after her, but the weariness in his bones warned him against such an action. She would only run faster, and he didn’t stand a chance of catching her like this. So he watched as she disappeared into the fog.
TBC
AN: Sorry about the wait, people, but I really have been insanely busy! Anyway, I had trouble with this chapter, and I’m not sure how it turned out, so please review and tell me what you think.
And happy Thanksgiving! I leave you with these solemn words of wisdom....
Anya: It’s a ritual sacrifice. With pie.
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