TWICE CHOSEN
By DragonWriter17
Part Two
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Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All of the materials borrowed from Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Joss Whedon and to the entities and companies associated with their creation. I have borrowed them for creative and entertainment purposes only. No compensation has been or ever shall be received for the writing below. No copyright infringement is intended.
My Website: http://www.oocities.org/dragonwriter17/
Feedback: Yes, but only if it’s of the non-flamey variety: DragonWriter17@aol.com
Distribution: The Watchers Forum, The Mystic Muse, and my personal site (If you are interested in posting my story on your site, please contact me first for permission.)
Spoilers: BtVS Season 3’s “Faith, Hope, and Trick” (and beyond)
Pairings: Buffy/Faith
Author’s Notes: (1) The first chapter of this story was originally written for Lilly as part of the Watchers Auction for WriterCon 2006. Lilly and I had been chatting for some time about a possible Buffy/Faith story idea of mine which basically rewrote Season 3 to put the two slayers together (’cause, hey, Fuffy is hot!). When Lilly won me at the auction, she said that I could use that same story to fulfill the bid. So this is the continuation of that story. It’s a short update designed to just finish up where the first part left off. In other words, it is basically a rehash of the ending of “Faith, Hope and Trick” with some small revisions, but it does include at least one major change: Angel does not return after Buffy leaves her Claddagh ring at the mansion. (2) I put a new banner on this part. This is a modified banner that CN posted in the Watchers Forum that was based on some wallpaper done by Chantal. I think I'm going to try to have a different banner on each chapter if I can.
Number of Chapters: Current plan = 18 chapters
Complete: 11
Chapter Summary: After waking up with a hangover, Buffy tries to figure out exactly what happened the night before.
PART 01 PART 02 PART 03 PART 04 PART 05 PART 06
PART 07 PART 08 PART 09 PART 10 PART 11 PART 12
With her heart still racing from her dream about Faith, Buffy jumped out of bed. Instantly, a wave of dizziness hit her, and a sharp pain hammered its way into her brain. She grimaced and closed her eyes, tilting her head down and resting it against her palm.
When she opened her eyes, she noticed what she was wearing. She was still in the same clothes from the night before, but she wasn’t wearing her shoes. She glanced around the room and found them sitting right beside her closet. She didn’t remember putting them there.
“God…how much did I drink last night?” she groaned to herself.
Just then her alarm went off, blaring loudly. Buffy grimaced again as the shrill noise seemed to be intensified a hundred times. She quickly shut off the alarm. Then she trudged away in the direction of the bathroom to get ready for school.
***
Later that day, in the Sunnydale High School library, Buffy was meeting with Giles and Willow. Buffy was sitting on the long table while Willow sat in one of the table’s chairs. Giles stood nearby, holding a stack of papers.
“The Council has approved our request,” Giles informed them. “Faith is to stay here indefinitely. I’m to look after you both until a new watcher is assigned.”
“Good,” Buffy said. “She really came through in the end.” Buffy paused and made a sympathetic frown as she recalled the previous night’s events. Then she shook off the memory and turned back to Giles. “She had a lot to deal with, but she did it. She got it behind her.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Giles said.
Buffy slid off the table. When her feet hit the floor, another sharp pain invaded her skull. She groaned a bit and made a face.
“Are you all right?” Giles asked.
“Yeah…it’s just the hangover.” Buffy’s head shot up as she realized what she had just said. Giles was looking at her curiously. Willow was too. Buffy started backpedaling. “Uh, you know…the, um, the post-battle, feel-all-the-bruises-the-next-day thing.” She gave a quick laugh. “I-I-I’m just assuming it’s similar to a hangover because, as an under-aged non-drinking teenager, I would know nothing about hangovers.”
While Willow smirked behind Buffy, Giles merely stared at her intently. When she didn’t drop her innocent look, he chose not to say anything. Instead, he cleared his throat and turned his attention to his papers.
“I wanted to talk with you about Acathla again,” he said in a serious voice while sifting through his pages.
Buffy’s entire demeanor changed. Her face fell, and a deep sadness entered her eyes. She directed her gaze to the floor and didn’t speak.
“I wanted to ask you about—” the watcher continued.
“Angel was cured,” Buffy said softly, interrupting Giles.
Giles instantly looked up. “I’m sorry?” he said, not sure he heard correctly.
Buffy met his eyes. “When I killed him, Angel was cured.” Then she turned to her friend. “Your spell worked at the last minute, Will.”
Willow looked on in shock as Buffy went on.
“I was about to take him out, and, um...something went through him...and he was Angel again. H-H-He didn’t remember anything that he’d done. He just held me. Um, but i-i-it was...it was too late, and I…I had to. So I-I-I told him that I loved him...and I kissed him...and I killed him.”
Tears were shining in Buffy’s eyes. She looked at the floor again while Giles and Willow remained silent. When she had recovered enough, she looked back up.
“I don’t know if that helps with your spell or not, Giles.”
Giles pulled off his glasses. “Uh, y-y-yes, I, um, I believe it will.”
Willow stood up and walked around the table and touched Buffy’s arm. “I’m sorry.”
Buffy gave them a small smile. “It’s okay. I’ve been holding on to that for so long. Felt good to get it out.” Buffy pushed her hands into her pockets and rocked on her feet a bit. “So…have you guys seen Faith today?”
Giles and Willow both shook their heads. Buffy looked a little disappointed.
“Oh, well, I guess I’ll just catch her later then,” Buffy said. “I, um, I should really get to class.”
After giving two quick waves, Buffy hurried from the library. Willow watched her friend go then caught Giles before he could return to his office.
“Giles, I know you don’t like me playing with mystical forces,” Willow told him, “but I can really help with this binding spell.”
Giles sighed and said, “There is no spell.”
As the watcher headed for his office, Willow finally realized what Giles had done: he had created the story of the binding spell in order to force Buffy to admit what had really happened. Willow glanced at the door once again, a worried expression on her face.
***
As Buffy headed down the hallway between classes, she kept her head down and wasn’t really paying much attention to where she was going. As a result, she bumped into someone coming out his classroom. When she looked up to apologize, she was surprised to find Scott Hope standing in front of her.
“Oh,” she said. “Scott.” She gave him a smile.
“Uh, hello,” Scott replied flatly as he pulled on his backpack.
“I’m, uh, I’m glad I ran into you, actually,” Buffy said awkwardly.
“Oh. Why?”
“I, um…I wanted to explain, if I could.”
As Buffy and Scott were talking, Faith came down the hallway. They didn’t see her, but she saw them. She stopped and ducked behind a corner to watch.
Buffy kept her gaze on her hands. “There was someone a while ago, and, uh, the ring sort of confused me.” She looked back up. “But I liked what you said about friendship. I liked it a lot. And Buster Keaton. Big fun. And I’m capable of big fun, even though there’s no earthly way you could possibly know that about me.” Buffy got a little embarrassed. “Wow. If I knew I was gonna go on this long, I probably would’ve brought some water,” she muttered. She let out a deep breath and went on. “What I’m trying to say is…if you would still like to go to the film festival—and I would understand it if you didn’t—I’d pretty much love to go with you.”
Scott looked around uncomfortably. “Uh…ahem…I don’t know, Buffy. I’m…I’m really gonna have to think about this.”
Buffy seemed a little hurt but nodded in understanding. Scott started to walk away, went a few steps, then stopped and came right back with a grin on his face.
“Okay, you know what? I thought about it, and I’m in,” Scott said, widening his grin. “When do you want to go?”
Buffy returned his smile. “Oh, well, I’m booked for tonight, but after that I’m good.”
The two beamed happily at one another.
Down the hall, Faith frowned. She watched Buffy with a mixture of sad longing and miffed jealousy.
Just then, Buffy happened to turn in Faith’s direction. For the merest of seconds, they locked eyes, and Buffy caught the expression in Faith’s eyes. Before she had time to wonder what was up, however, she saw Faith turn and walk away.
***
Later that day, shortly after sunset, Buffy returned to Angel’s mansion. She slipped in to the great room where Acathla had stood and where she had sacrificed Angel to save the world. She looked down at the floor and began to cry. She slowly crouched down and looked at her Claddagh ring, which she held in her hand.
“Good-bye,” she said softly.
Then she placed the ring on the floor. She stared at it for a long moment before standing back up and walking away.
***
After leaving Angel’s mansion, Buffy headed for the cemetery to meet Faith for patrolling. When she arrived, she saw Faith sitting on a headstone. Buffy paused for a moment and took a deep breath. Then she made her way over to Faith.
“Hey,” she said. “Been waiting long?”
Faith shrugged. “Nah, ten minutes or so.”
“I, um, I’m sorry I didn’t get to talk to you at school…”
“No prob,” Faith said nonchalantly as she stood up. “Had to talk to Giles anyway.”
Both of them were quiet for a long moment. They looked at the ground and their hands but only fleetingly at each other.
Finally, Faith put on a forced smile and gestured for them to begin patrol. Once they had started walking, she said, “You seemed pretty chummy with Scott. Are you two going out?”
“Um…yeah,” Buffy replied. “We are. Tomorrow. Some kinda film fest.”
“Good. Good for you,” Faith said flatly, trying to hide her disappointment. “He’s a cutie,” she commented.
“Yeah, he is,” Buffy agreed. “A-A-And he’s nice, too.”
Once again, the conversation lulled, and the two stole awkward glances at each other.
After a full minute of silence, Buffy spoke. “So…has your hangover been as bad as mine?” She cast a rueful grin in Faith’s direction. “My head’s been killing me all day.”
Faith chuckled. “You gotta learn how to drink, girlfriend!” she teased, giving Buffy a body nudge.
Buffy nudged back, pretending to ignore how her heart leapt at the innocent use of the word ‘girlfriend’. “No thank you,” she said firmly. Then she put on a cavewoman voice. “Booze bad, make Buffy’s head go boom.”
Faith gave a big laugh, with her wide smile in full-dimpled form, and Buffy couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the dark slayer was. It was several seconds later before she realized she’d been staring. Faith was staring back, with an expression of slight amusement in her eyes. Buffy cleared her throat and looked ahead.
“So…we, um, we had a lot of fun last night, huh?” Buffy asked. “’Cause, um, I can’t exactly remember everything that happened.”
“Ohhhh yeahhhh,” Faith said with confidence. “We definitely had a lot of fun.”
Buffy worriedly cut her eyes toward Faith. “How much fun?”
Faith grinned. “Don’t worry, B. Nothin’ happened that’ll land ya on the front page of the Sunnydale scandal sheet.”
Buffy laughed, even though she didn’t appear to be particularly reassured. Then her face took on a look of gratitude. “Thanks for bringing me home,” she said sincerely. Her expression immediately changed to worry and she stopped walking. “It was you that brought me home, right?”
Faith merely smiled and kept walking. Then she turned to face Buffy. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” she said teasingly before turning back around and striding quickly away.
Buffy raised her hand with her index finger up. “Ummm…yes, please…” she said. But Faith didn’t answer; she just laughed and continued walking. “Faith!” Buffy said with a bit of a whine before hurrying to follow the other slayer.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 03…