“Okay, that was weird,” Faith, thought.  If felt as though her insides had been tossed roughly up into the air and then slammed back down into her body.  Just as fast as it started, it stopped.  Now all was quiet.

 

Something was different, though.  She could feel it. 

 

Faith knew she could open her eyes, she just wasn’t sure she was ready yet.  She gripped Buffy’s hand even tighter to make sure she was still there.  Buffy squeezed her hand back.  That gave Faith the additional strength she needed to open her eyes.

 

Which she did… very slowly... and she couldn’t see a damn thing. 

 

Well okay, it wasn't that she couldn't see, it was that there was nothing to see, total darkness, blackness, she blinked rapidly trying to clear her sight.

 

What in the hell was she seeing now?  Everything around her was flickering in and out of focus.  Faith glanced to her left and saw Buffy.  She was whole, complete, no flickering.  Faith smiled when she saw that Buffy was looking around like a newborn too.

 

“What do you see?” Faith finally asked.

 

Buffy turned and looked at her.  “You,” she said, turning her head slowly and looking around.

 

“Can you see us?” Spike asked.

 

“Yes,” both Slayers said in unison.

 

“And Will and Xander. I can see you all,” Buffy said.

 

“But that’s it,” Faith said.

 

“What?” Willow asked.

 

Faith stood, bringing Buffy with her.  “I can see you.  All of us, but, I don’t know.  It’s weird.  This room.  This building.  It’s here and then it's not.  It goes from this room to nothing.  Nothing is there.”  Faith was finding it hard to explain.

 

“She’s right,” Buffy contributed.  “There’s nothing here, nothing but us.  The Magic Box isn’t here.”

 

Faith turned to Buffy.  “Ready to go for a walk?”

 

“Let me check something first.”

 

Faith watched as Buffy ran over to the emergency bag she had brought downstairs with them.  She picked it up and took a stake out. 

 

“Well look at that,” Faith said.  The stake was there one minute and gone the next.

 

“I can still feel it,” Buffy said.  “I just can’t see it.”  She dropped the bag.   “Thought I’d use it, but guessing not a good idea, invisible stakes, not real handy in a pinch.”  Buffy came back and took Faith’s hand.  “I’m ready as I’ll ever be,” she said.

 

“Ah, B.  Do you think you can let go of my hand now?”

 

Buffy snorted.  “Oh!  Sorry,” she said dropping it.

 

“I’m glad I’m wearing my own stuff and didn’t decide to hit the mall when I got here.“ Faith said, looking down at her clothes.  Faith laughed aloud when she saw a look of terror spread across Buffy’s face. 

 

Buffy frantically began checking her own clothes.  “For a second there I was afraid my clothes would be all flickery.”  Buffy sighed.

 

“Talk about distractions,” Xander agreed.

 

Faith saw Spike’s eyes light up and go all-thoughtful.  She shot him a look; catching the one that Buffy was shooting him at the same time.  Spike knew he was outnumbered and prudently chose not to say anything.

 

“Umm, back up and out?” he said instead. 

 

“Yep.  Let’s go.” Faith said, looking at Spike.  “You are going to follow close, right?”

 

“Not letting you out of my sight.”  Turning around, he mumbled under his breath,  “Couldn’t ‘ave taken time to go to the bloody mall.”

 

“Couldn’t let it go could you?”  Faith said, giving him a light shove.

 

Faith headed for the stairs, suddenly feeling like a mother duck with her four ducklings tailing close behind her.  She stopped when she reached the stairs, turning and looking at Buffy with a questioning gaze.

 

“You’ll be able to walk up them,” Buffy said.  “They’ll look like they’re not there every second or so, but this is a spell.  They’ll still be there.  Understand?  You won’t fall.  You can’t see them, but you’ll be able to feel them... just like my fake stake.”

 

Faith thought about it.  “Maybe you’d better lead,” she said taking a step back.

 

“Okay.”

 

XXXXX

 

They made it all the way up from the basement and through the workout room.  The feeling itself was very disorienting.  Faith had to stop looking at the stairs because they kept fading away.  She was afraid she was going to fall into nothingness.  It didn’t matter what Buffy had told her, it was still wigging her out.

 

Chuck was still sitting behind the counter.  He was there one second and gone the next.  Faith had stopped walking to watch him fade in and out.  She was fascinated.  It was like watching someone with a strobe light flashing, except he wasn’t moving and there wasn’t a light.

 

“Come on,” Spike urged from behind.

 

“You heading out?” Chuck asked.

 

“Yep,” Spike said.  “G’night.”

 

“This is too bizarre,” Faith said as they headed out into the street, looking around.  It was the same thing out here.  One-minute stuff was there, the next nada.  Well, unless you wanted to count total darkness as something.

 

“You seeing, or not seeing what I’m seeing?” Faith asked as they all walked to Joyce’s jeep.

 

“I’m right there with you,” Buffy said.

 

Faith noticed the flickering of their transportation.  “Guess we’re walking to school.”

 

It was the same wherever they went.  People, buildings, streets, and signs: they were all flashy.  There one minute, gone the next.  There was no doubt in Faith’s mind that Sunnydale really didn’t exist anymore. 

 

“I guess we have one question answered,” Faith said as they walked.

 

“What’s that?” Willow asked.

 

“Sunnydale is definitely gone.  Nothing here is real,” Faith said.

 

Buffy glanced at Willow.  “Good spell Will.”

 

Willow beamed.  “Good.  I’m glad it worked.  Although not real happy about the outcome,” she said frowning slightly.

 

“So,” Xander asked, “did we just answer some questions or create a whole new nummy batch?”

 

“I’m going with the whole new nummy batch idea,” Buffy said as they approached the school.

 

“There it is,” Xander said.

 

“And there it isn’t,” Faith said, shaking her head.  “This just sucks.”

 

“Everything’s a little wonky, isn’t it?” Buffy asked.

 

“That’s not the half of it.” Faith sighed deeply.

 

“You’ll be fine,” Spike reassured her from behind.

 

“Thanks,” she said, turning and smiling at him.

 

“Looking like it’s closed,” Xander pointed out.

 

Buffy proceeded up the steps to the door.  “Not for long.” And with that she used her elbow to break the glass.

 

“Ha!” Faith said.  “Look at B being the bad Slayer.”

 

“Not like it’s the first time,” Buffy said, winking.

 

“Hopefully it’s the last,” Xander said.

 

“What?” Buffy asked as she fiddled with the inside of the door.

 

“Her last time having to break into the school.  Not the last time being the bad Slayer.”

 

“Xander!” Buffy said again.  Faith couldn’t help but laugh. 

 

“Nooo,” Xander said obviously uncomfortable.  “That’s not what I meant either.”

 

“Give up while you can, Harris,” Spike said, smirking.

 

They made their way slowly into the school.  Thankfully no one was around.  Somehow Faith had made her way to the back of the group.  Xander, Willow and Buffy were up ahead talking quietly among themselves and Spike was walking beside her.

 

“How you holding up,” he asked, taking her hand in his and giving it a light squeeze.

 

“Okay.  Not so dizzy now.  Kind of getting used to it.  Giving me a headache though.”

 

“’Tis alright.  I can take care of that for you later,” he said with a wink.

 

Faith wondered if there was going to be a later.  She didn’t have time to dwell on it though; the rest of the gang was waiting for them outside the library.

 

Buffy turned back.  “Come on,” she said, barely above a whisper.

 

Faith dropped Spike’s hand, a sense of guilt overcoming her and ran to catch up with the others.

 

“Oh my God,” Buffy said, walking into the library.

 

Faith couldn’t be sure, but it looked like the hellmouth was back in all its glory.  Like everything else, the library was there one minute and gone the next.  The hellmouth remained, although now, between flashes, Faith could tell it wasn’t a huge crater anymore.  It was more rubble than anything else, but she thought she could see an opening in the middle of all the rocks and dirt; it was entrance to a cave or a tunnel.

 

She and Buffy walked to the middle of the library and looked down.  There it was.  They were standing on top of it.  Faith couldn’t believe it.  Sunnydale wasn’t back, but its opening to hell was.

 

“So,” Faith said.  “Now we know.  What do we do about it?”

 

Buffy hugged her arms around herself. “I’ve dealt with this Hellmouth too much in my life.  I don’t want to do it again.”

 

Faith didn’t know what to say; unfortunately she didn’t have the chance to figure it out.  She heard something behind her.  Spinning around she cried, “Watch out.”

 

Vampires surrounded them.

 

Everything happened too fast after that.

 

One minute she was standing there, the next she was splayed out on the floor, her legs taken out from under her, with four vamps coming towards her.

 

She did what she did best.  She started slaying.

 

Faith rolled quickly to the left, grabbing a chair.  Jumping up, she smashed it on the edge of the table and found herself with four makeshift stakes.  Snatching them up, she stuffed them all in her jeans, except for one she planned on using.  Too bad she couldn’t see it anymore.

 

“Damn it,” she screamed.  She grabbed her newest additions and tossed them to the ground.  She had the one she brought; she just hoped it would be enough.

 

Turning around, she saw that her undead bestest friends weren’t too far behind her.  Going on faith that the table would react the same way as the stairs at the Magic Box, Faith used it for leverage.  She was grateful when she felt it under her feet, if only momentarily.  “Like there was any doubt,” she said half-seriously, completing her flip.  Faith flew over the top of them, landing on her feet, their backs now to her.  “Looking for me?” she quipped.  She took them all out before they could respond.

 

It gave her just a second to see what was happening with the others.  Xander and Willow had run upstairs to the stacks and two vampires were following them.  Xander made a running dash, linebacker style, and pressed them back.  They went tumbling back down the stairs.

 

Willow was chanting, holding out her hand.  A small light appeared. No need to worry about her.  Faith watched the light as it turned into a small ball of fire.  It flew out of Willow’s hand and towards a vamp.  Catching on fire, it flared and then dusted.  Willow moved on to the next one with Xander running interference for the ones that got too close.

 

Buffy, as usual, was holding her own.  In the few seconds Faith watched her, she had taken out a few demons herself.

 

Spike was, well, Spike.  He totally enjoyed the taunting before dusting and there was a lot of taunting going on.

 

Faith turned and saw even more coming towards her.  “How many are there?” she shouted out.

 

“I don’t know,” Buffy said.  “Too many.”

 

“Keep fighting Slayers,” Spike yelled.  “Haven’t gotten the best of us yet.  Don’t ‘spect they’ll do it this time.”

 

“Where are they all coming from?” Faith asked as she took out two more.  “Only one stake here.”

 

“Heads up,” Xander shouted.

 

Faith looked towards him as he tossed a stake her way, Faith did not take her eyes off the stake until it was safely in her hand.  When it stayed, not flickering once, she oozed relief.  “Thanks,” she said, spinning around and taking out two more.

 

“We need to get out of here,” Buffy said.  “Xander!  Willow!  Go.  Spike, you too.  Keep them safe.  You know where to rendezvous.” 

 

Faith watched as they both headed out the exit upstairs.  Spike glanced at her before jumping up and over the railing... and he was gone.

 

“Faith we need to go,” Buffy shouted. “Now!”

 

“Right there with you, B,” Faith said, fighting and trying to move backwards towards the door at the same time.  She knew there was no way they’d be able to leave the same way the rest of them had.

 

Faith was just about to make it when she felt an arm around her throat.  “I’ve had about enough of you,” she said, trying to spin around.  She was stopped short.  A strong hand had grabbed her wrist and squeezed it so hard that Faith didn’t have any other choice besides dropping her stake. 

 

She tried to fight and squirm her way loose… until she saw Buffy.

 

Buffy had stopped fighting.  Her arms had fallen to her sides, her stake clattering to the floor.  She was looking just beyond where Faith stood.  She was looking at who was holding her.

 

The arm was still around Faith’s neck; she tried to turn around to see what Buffy was staring at.  Something big was happening; she just wasn’t sure what it was.

 

“Buffy,” she tried to yell, but it came out as a squeak and she knew her struggling was in vain.  Whoever had her by the neck wasn’t letting go and was squeezing her throat tighter.  She was having a hard time breathing. It better stop soon or she was going to pass out.

 

“Let her go,” Buffy’s shaky voice said.

 

“Slayer,” came the voice from behind Faith. 

 

The arm dropped from Faith’s neck.  As soon as she was able to move, Faith pushed her way through the vampires that had gathered between her and Buffy.  She didn’t have time to wonder why they weren’t chasing her or why they were leaving Buffy alone.

 

“It can’t be,” Buffy said.

 

Faith could see Buffy was on the verge of tears; she turned to see who had held her. Faith wanted to know who had terrified Buffy to the extent of which Faith had never seen before.

 

“It can’t be,” Buffy repeated.

 

“Oh, but it can,” said the vampire.

 

“I killed you,” Buffy’s voice sounded flat.

 

“Guess that makes us even.”

 

XXXXX