Disclaimers: Joss owns all the BTVS characters and I own the rest. I make no claims to his, and he makes no claims to mine, obviously, he's a multi-millionaire genius, why would he?!
Title: No Doubt own the song, not me. Gwen is a talented little devil, really.
Date Stamp: Miss K, aka Kitty wrote this 24.12.01
P.S: Happy holidays everyone!
 
Faith's POV
 
Slayers Do Christmas XXXVI - Suspension Without Suspense
 
'You want to cut to the chase, I've got things to do, and standing her talking to some jumped up half God ain't one of them!'
 
'Oh, feisty, I like that in a potential soldier. Here's the deal, Faith. I've been watching you for years now. I know, I need to get out more. If TV was better I wouldn't have got that chance, but I digress. You join me, I spare Discord, and the "Clash of the Titans" doesn't go ahead. Think about it. You've no doubt figured out that we're fighting over Dawn's soul. If Discord loses, I get little Dawnie, if she wins, which she won't, because I don't play fair and Elle does, well if she wins then Elle gets to keep Dawnie-pie safe. You willing to risk it all? If you say no, I'll ask Buffy and you know she'll say yes and give me her soul. Your choice, like I said, think about it.'
 
'What if I say yes, would you really leave Dawn and Dis alone? How can I trust you?'
 
'Oddly enough you just can, trust me that is. I know, crazy, trust the Devil, you'd never think that'd work, but it does. If you join me then you become one of my people. It's not all that bad. You get a condo out in Florida, we had the offices re-carpeted, they're so plush now, ask Elle. Ok, don't ask Elle, it'll sort of give the game away. What else? Um, free dry cleaning, six weeks holiday a year, I know, the union fought me for that one, and I had to cave after they all went out on strike. We're getting computerised, that's a battle I don't want to go into, it gives me a headache, but it means that soon paperwork will be down to a minimum.'
 
'I need to...'
 
'Think about it, didn't expect an answer right away. You have an hour. Then the battle commences. I'll be around, just call my name and I'll come out to play. You can call me anytime; anytime, Faith. Remember, the future of Dawn's soul is in your hands. Night, night. Oh, happy holidays!'
 
And with that she's gone, and I'm left alone in the graveyard, with one of the biggest decisions of my life to make.
Thing is how can I say no?
I can't, I can't say no, if I do and Dis loses, Dawn and her are screwed.
I sit down, against a tree and light a smoke up.
It's not much of a decision.
The only thing that's keeping me here is B, she's all I've got, but if I say no then how can I look at her knowing I could have saved Dawn?
Listen to me, Dis might kick righteous ass!
Then that voice in my head bucks up.
 
 
What if she doesn't?
 
Buffy's POV
 
This is like a needle in a haystack!
Who came up with that saying, and why did they have a needle while they were in a haystack?
Actually, why were they stupid enough to look for the needle when they lost it?
Were needles really expensive in olden days?
If they were, then they should have taken better care of them, that's what I think.
I know I would've, I wouldn't have been searching through...
Faith!
She's sitting under a tree, smoking and wow, she looks depressed.
This sucks, I don't know what I'd do if my cousin turned out to be dead, but sort of alive and an Angel, and her boss was all famous looking, and God.
Hello?
I'd be hitting Zoloft town, after taking a turn off at Vicodin junction.
You know things are bad when you start to memorise the names of anti-depressants.
 
'Hey you, I was getting worried.'
 
I sit down next to her and rest my hand on her knee.
She's all warm and toasty.
 
'Sorry, B. I needed to get out and work some grrrr off.'
 
I'd hate to see anything she met on the way here.
 
'I'm getting confused with all this, Faith. Why's God here?'
 
'They're fighting over Dawn's soul. Dis is God's fighter, and, shit, I don't know who Lucy's is, probably some big Demon.'
 
'Oh, right they're... they're what?! What's Dawn got to do with any of this? When were you going to tell me, just after Dis loses and Lucy steals my sister?!'
 
I push myself up, away from her.
I can't believe she wasn't going to tell me!
What sort of crap is this?
 
'I only found out a little while ago, don't fly off at me! Everyone gets it in the neck with this deal. You could lose Dawn, and I could lose her and Dis.'
 
Ok, there's a big old point there, staring me right in the face.
I sit back down next to her.
 
'Right, well no-one, not even the Devil messes with the Summers family! I mean it, Faith, I'm not going to stand by while everything whizzes past me. I'm going back to see Elle, no-one's touching my sister! And you're not going to lose Dis, we'll... I don't know, we'll figure something out. We're the Chosen Two, we've faced Big Bad's before.'
 
'B, this is the Big Bad, the Devil, Lucifer, Beelzebub... shit, just the bad ass of the entire life of the planet! I don't think she gives a crap about a pair of Slayers.'
 
'We'll see, you coming?'
 
I stand up again and brush all the dirt off my trousers.
Why's the ground so dirty?
Oh, because it's the ground, right, I'm there with that one.
 
'I'm going to stay here for a bit longer. I got stuff I need to think through. I'll be back real soon, seeing as it's all kicking off in an hour.'
 
I look down at her, as she rests her head back on the tree, and blows a smoke ring in the air.
She looks... normal, not like Faith the Slayer, but like Faith who's just found out her puppy has died. Dis; derrr, Buffy, Dis is dead and she's just found out.
Get it together!
My head is starting to pound with all the information travelling round it.
 
'I'll see you back at yours then.'
 
'Thanks, B.'
 
'What for?'
 
'I don't know, just being you, I guess.'
 
She looks up at me and I want to cry at the expression on her face.
She looks so sad, like she's lost everything.
I kneel back down and take her hand, kissing it.
 
'We'll figure something out, we will, ok? Do you want me to stay here with you?'
 
'No, you go back and grill them two, find out what you can. I'll be back soon.'
 
I hug her tight and whisper in her ear.
 
'I love you, Faith.'
 
I pull away quickly as she says something, so softly, even with my Slayer hearing I'm not sure I heard it.
Did she say she loves me too?
Did she say that?!
 
'What did you say, Faith, just then, what did you say?'
 
She looks up at me and smiles, a sort of half smile, and flicks her cigarette away.
 
'I said I'll see you soon, B.'
 
Maybe it was wishful thinking, I really thought she said...
I'm emotional because of this Dawn thing.
Hearing stuff is not a good sign, Buffy.
 
I push back up and set off back to Faith's.
I'm not going to let the Devil get my sister.
 
She wants to mess with the Summers family, then she's going to have to go through me!