“We will need to move them,” the old vampire said.  “Where there’s one Slayer, there will be more.”

 

“The ritual,” grumbled the demon closest to Dawn.  “We need to conduct the ritual.  Now.  Tonight, Verrill.  We have waited too long; too much time wasted stalking the girl.”

 

“And look what we have,” snapped Verrill.  “We have two sacrifices.  Have you stopped to think what that means?  One ritual.  Not two.  One night.  Not two.  Our patience and perseverance have paid off.  Stop questioning me.  We need to move someplace more private.”

 

The demon pointed to Faith.  “What do we do with her?”

 

“Nothing.  It’s not as though she can hurt us, now.”

 

XXXXX

 

Buffy’s eyes went wide.  Did she hear what she thought she heard?  From the look on Spike’s face, there wasn’t any doubt.  The baddies were going to be leaving, marching past Spike and her if they didn’t do something quick-like.  Knowing they had no choice, and after a quick nod of understanding, they raced into the room.

 

Okay, surprise entrance, still fun.

 

"Bad, bad Verrill," she said as she shook her finger at him, "you should know better than to mess with Slayers… especially three of them.”

 

The Nigriv demons pushed their hostages to the side and came after her; neither one of them seeming to care that Spike was right behind her.  Not the smartest move she had ever seen, but it was the move she’d hoped for.

 

She wondered if any of them could count.  They didn’t seem to notice that they were outnumbered.

 

XXXXX

 

The demon pushed Emma so hard she bounced off the wall.  Buffy and Spike!  She didn’t think that she had ever been more relieved to see anybody in her life.

 

And that old shit, Verrill, was so going to be hers. 

 

Using the momentum from having been launched off the wall, Emma sprang forward and ducked behind Buffy as the more experienced Slayer fought one demon.  Emma vaulted over Spike as he wrestled the other one to the ground.  At first she thought both demons were going after Buffy, but they must’ve seen Spike at the last minute, because they split up. 

 

Man!  That thing was on Spike so fast… Well, who wouldn’t be on Spike, given the chance?

 

One minute Spike was on the floor wrestling with the Wookie wanna-be, and the next he had vamped out and thrown it across the room.  Wow!  She had never seen Spike fangy before.  Good thing she had changed her mind that day in the basement and didn’t ask him to change for her.  That so would’ve ruined the surprise!  She shook her head.  She had to force herself to stop staring so she could reach the weapons bag that Faith had dropped. 

 

As she pawed through it, looking for the one weapon she was comfortable with, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.  What did he think, that she was stupid?  She found the stake and snatched it out of the bag.  She spun around and grabbed Verrill’s arm as he made his way toward the door.

 

“I don’t think so, you jerk!”  She didn’t wait for some snappy comeback; she drove the stake home instead.  His dust drifted to the floor like the first snow of winter.

 

Buffy ran right through the ash, acting like being covered in it was nothing at all and decapitated the last remaining vamp.

 

“She’s not dead, yet.  But she could be easily enough.”

 

Buffy stopped dead in her tracks.

 

The only demon left standing had Faith.  One hand supported her body; the other held the knife that was sticking out of her stomach.

 

“Let me walk out of here and I won’t eviscerate your friend,” it said.

 

Emma froze, her stake falling to the floor.

 

“I’ll make it easy for you,” Buffy said, taking a step toward the demon and dropping her own weapon to the floor.  “You put her down… gently, and then you can deal with me.  Mano-y-mano.  In a matter of speaking… because I know I’m not a guy and I’m not really sure what you are.” 

 

“Do you think I’m stupid, Slayer?” it asked.

 

“Do you really want me to answer that?”  She took another step forward.  “So what do you say?  A fair trade.  You can have me instead.”

 

“Or me.”

 

“Dawn!” Buffy said, her words coming out in a gasp. 

 

Dawn moved closer to Buffy. “I’m what they wanted in the first place.  Seems like a little fairer trade.”

 

Spike had worked his way behind fur-face, where Xander and Andrew already were.  Demon was kind of dumb; it was so focused on Buffy and Dawn that it wasn’t paying attention to anyone else in the room, especially the three men who now stood behind it.

 

Oh...

 

Emma moved back and stepped on something.  She looked down and saw the handle of her broken axe.  Spike was watching her.  He nodded toward the handle and then gestured toward himself.  He had lost his sword sometime during the scuffle.

 

She took another step back and the broken piece of hickory was now on the floor in front of her.  With some help from her slayer reflexes, she kicked up the piece of wood, caught it in her hand and tossed it to him.

 

“No!” she shouted as Andrew dove for it.  His legs and arms got tangled up with Spike’s somehow and they landed on the floor with a loud thud.

 

The demon pushed Faith away as he tried to protect his back.  Emma ran to her, but was pushed out of the way when Spike caught Faith before she hit the ground.

 

“Faith?  Can you hear me?”  He cradled her head in his lap.  “I’m going to get you out of here.”

 

“Emma!” Buffy shouted.  “Grab the scythe!”

 

What the hell was a scythe?  She was about to ask Buffy what it was, but she was a little busy trying to get the demon’s hands off her neck.

 

“It’s the red axe!” Dawn shouted.  “The one Buffy dropped.”

 

So that’s what it was called.  She picked it up and tossed it to Dawn.  “Do something with this.”

 

Dawn’s eyes got big.  “Why me?” 

 

Emma didn’t answer her; she ran to Buffy and started kicking the demon’s knees.  At least she thought they were knees.  Buffy broke free of the grip around her neck at the same time, which Emma from personal experience could vouch for as sucking, and then Buffy rammed her elbow into its stomach full-force.

 

“Duck!” Dawn yelled. 

 

Going on instinct if nothing else, Emma and Buffy ducked.  The demon’s head landed between them.

 

“Wow!” Emma said as she stood up.

 

Dawn stood there with a smile that lit up her entire face.  “Buffy was right.  This thing is kind of cool.”

 

“Dawn--” Buffy began.

 

“I know.  I know.”  Rolling her eyes, Dawn handed the scythe back to her sister.

 

“Are we done?”  Spike asked.  “We need to get her out of here—now.”  His voice cracked.  “I am not watching someone else I love die.”  

 

His glance flickered briefly in Buffy’s direction, but she didn’t notice, she was too busy talking to Andrew.   Spike picked Faith up gently and headed for the door. 

 

The reddened knife was lying on the floor, abandoned.  A trail of blood marked their exit. 

 

Emma had no choice; she followed them out.

 

“Are you okay?  We need to get out of here,” Buffy asked Xander as she helped him to his feet.

 

“Just peachy,” he said, his tone making it clear that it wasn’t. 

 

“Then we leave.  Now,” she said.

 

XXXXX

 

“Here,” Xander said as he handed Emma a cup of coffee.

 

“Thanks,” she said.  Without taking a sip, she sat it down on Faith’s bed tray.

 

“She’ll wake up when the doctor thinks she’s ready or when Faith’s ready.  She’s not one to be rushed,” he said, pulling a chair up and sitting down next to Emma.

 

“She almost died,” Emma said.

 

“But she didn’t,” he said, trying to reassure her.  Xander could understand her being upset, but he also sensed something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

 

“How’s your head?” she asked.

 

“It could’ve been worse.”  Now that was an understatement.  “You look tired.  You haven’t been sleeping much, have you?”

 

“No time, really.  With the slaying and the waiting.  Fills up a person’s schedule pretty quick.”

 

“You don’t need to spend all this time here, Emma.  They know to call us when she wakes up.”  He reached out and touched her arm.

 

Emma drew back hastily.

 

“Whoa!  Sorry.”

 

“No.  I’m sorry.  Little jumpy.”  She repressed a yawn.

 

“Little sleep-deprived is more like it.”  He took a sip of his own coffee and grimaced.

 

“I couldn’t sleep even if I tried,” she confessed, barely above a whisper.  “Guilt doesn’t make for good sleeping.”

 

He swallowed hard.  “Guilt?”  She was poised to get up, but he reached out and took her by the arm.  “What do you have to feel guilty about?”

 

“What don’t I have to feel guilty about?  If she dies…” her voice was low, so low he had to lean closer to hear her.  “She’ll die hating me because I’m an idiot.  I forgot the first rule of vampires, ‘don’t invite them in’ and then I go and get myself kidnapped.  If that doesn’t scream ‘loser’, I don’t know what does.  I don’t blame her for hating me.”

 

“Faith doesn’t hate you.”  He let go of her arm.

 

Red spots flared on her cheeks.  “Could’ve fooled me.”

 

He frowned to himself.  “I know Buffy has talked to you already.”  He caught the confused look on her face.  “When Faith lost it and yelled at you because of the Spike thing?  I think she told you that it had nothing to do with you.  Am I right?”  She nodded her head.  “Faith isn’t healthy processing girl.  The more emotions she starts to feel, the more she lashes out, withdraws and she can get kinda mean.”

 

“You don’t say.”

 

“That’s when you need to push harder.  Right back at her.”

 

Her brows crinkled in confusion.  “Sounds like a sure-fire way to get your butt kicked.”

 

“Pure defense mechanism.  The more she yells at you and pushes you away, the more she likes you.  Just ask Spike.”

 

“She doesn’t hate me?” she asked tentatively.

 

“My guess would be the total opposite.”

 

“When did you get so smart?”

 

He laughed.  “I keep telling everyone its survival instinct.  Hanging around all these women on a daily basis?  I don’t have a choice.”

 

Emma smiled and reached for her coffee.  “Guess I’m lucky to have you around then?  Keep me on the straight and narrow?”  She took a sip, matched his grimace and glanced up at him through veiled eyes.

 

His lips trembled in an insecure smile.  “Sure.  Why not?  I got nothing but time.”

 

XXXXX

 

“When do you think she’ll wake up?” Dawn asked Buffy. 

 

“I don’t know, Dawn,” she said.  “Xander and Emma were there late yesterday and Faith didn’t even budge.  I’m hoping I’ll find out more today.  Emma’s there now, she went to the hospital as soon as we finished patrolling.  Kid doesn’t sleep.”  She grabbed the keys to the van and her jacket off the hook by the front door.

 

“I think I’ll take today off,” Dawn said, sitting next to Xander and Andrew on the couch.

 

Buffy followed her into the living room. “Are you okay?”

 

“It’s too hard just waiting for her to wake up,” she said.

 

“She’ll be okay.”

 

“What’s important is that I tried,” Andrew said. 

 

Buffy and Dawn had walked in on the middle of some conversation Xander and Andrew were having.

 

“What are you talking about?” Buffy asked Andrew as she put her jacket on.

 

“I’ve been trying to convince Xander for almost a week,” he said, “that I helped you guys.  The dissolution of the gooey stuff was all me!  In the little room at least.”  His shoulders slumped.  “They were coming out of the goo.  I figured if there was no goo, there would be no demons.  Xander doesn’t believe me.”

 

Buffy hated to do it, but she had no choice.  “He’s right, Xander.  Like it or not.  One demon per portal-puddle and he took care of the rest of the puddles.”   

 

Xander had been sitting quietly on the couch the entire time.  The bump on his head had been bothering him more than he cared to admit.  “So the entire ‘puddle-kicking’ exercise actually had a point?”

 

“It did,” Buffy said.  “Andrew was right.”

 

“I thought I got knocked on the head a little harder than I thought there for a minute,” Xander conceded.

 

There was no mistaking the pride in Andrew’s voice.  “I’m sorry, what did you say, Buffy?”  Cupping his ear with his hand.  “I didn’t quite hear you.”

 

Dawn smacked his arm.  “Don’t push it.”

 

“Now as soon as Giles figures out what to do with the rest of them-” Buffy began.

 

“Which I have already done,” Giles said, walking into the living room, Willow not too far behind him.

 

“Already done what?” Buffy asked.

 

“Willow and I have come up with a plan to make sure our friends don’t materialize again anytime soon,” he said, proceeding to tell them what the plan was.

 

“The magic stuff sure comes in handy once in awhile,” Willow added with a smile.

 

XXXXX

 

I will not make the same mistakes that you did
I will not let myself
Cause my heart so much misery
I will not break the way you did,
You fell so hard
I've learned the hard way
To never let it get that far

Faith wasn’t sure what woke her up, but she was awake now and not very happy about it.

 

Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid

 

“Did the radio wake you?” Buffy asked.  “It was kind of quiet, thought it would be nice.”  She was sitting in the visitor’s chair.  “Thought I had the volume turned down low enough.”

 

I cannot cry
Because I know that's weakness in your eyes
I'm forced to fake
A smile, a laugh everyday of my life
My heart can't possibly break
When it wasn't even whole to start with

Faith tried to scratch the sudden itch she felt near her side, but changed her mind when she felt the pain there.  “Damn!”

 

I watched you die
I heard you cry every night in your sleep
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
You never thought of anyone else
You just saw your pain
And now I cry in the middle of the night
For the same damn thing

“Need to watch that.  Kind of a double-edged sword—the healing-pain thing.”  She stood up and walked toward her.  “How are you feeling?”

 

I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty
Because of you
I am afraid*
 

“Like shit.  Can you turn the radio off?”

 

Buffy turned it off.  She sat down on the edge of the bed.

 

“How long have I been here?” Faith asked.

 

“Not quite a week.  The doctor is very impressed with your speedy recovery.   Told him it ran in the family…”

 

“We look nothing alike.”

 

“Only way we could be here around the clock.”  Buffy shrugged her shoulders and smiled.  “Besides, we are kinda like family.”

 

This was a lot different from the last time she woke up from almost being gutted.  “When can I get out of here?”

 

“I’m not sure.  You’re healing pretty fast, though.”

 

“Sliced and diced.”  Faith looked down at the hospital gown she was wearing.  She couldn’t see the bandages and stitches she knew were down there.  “I thought I got it in the gut?”

 

Buffy shifted nervously.  “The knife went in and then got pulled a little toward your side before it came out.”  She shook her head.  “Doctor kept you drugged-up an extra couple days so you’d rest.  You’re very lucky; it could’ve killed you.”

 

“Walking across the street can kill you.”  She tried to sit up straighter, she didn’t like the fact that Buffy was looking down to talk to her.

 

“Need any help?” Buffy asked as she stood up.  “I can raise the back of your bed for you.”

 

“Just give me the thing and I’ll do it.” 

 

Faith took the control and raised the back of the bed as far as she could.  When her side began to burn, she stopped and put the remote on her bed tray.

 

“Spike’s been here every night, Faith.  He heads back to the house just before sunrise.  He’s really going to be disappointed that he missed being here when you woke up.”

 

Faith shifted uncomfortably, but said nothing.

 

Buffy plucked at her sleeve.  “Emma’s here, too.  She ran down to get something to drink.  She’s been worried sick about you.  She should be back anytime,” she continued.  “Andrew was right about the puddles.  He’s strutting around like a peacock.”

 

“The puddles?”

 

Buffy filled her in on how the puddles actually did serve as ‘one-per-customer’ portals for the Nigriv demons.  “Giles and Willow are going to take care of the rest of them.  A mysterious, controlled fire will burn through the stadium in record time and then burn itself out.  Thanks to the coven.  Long story, but that’s pretty much the guts of it…. Um, I mean the basics.”

 

Faith arched an eyebrow at her.  “And the hellmouth will remain sealed once more?”

 

“Yeah.  The vamp population has shown up again.  Guess they were lying low and waiting for the hellmouth to open.  Now that it's not, it’s been pretty much business as usual.  Emma and I have been patrolling together.  She’s pretty good.”

 

“Xander okay?”

 

“He and Emma have been spending a lot of time together.  I honestly think they’re good for each other.  Xander, on the other hand, is trying to figure out why he’s been incapacitated the last few big fights.  Locked in a cave the last time, and sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall this time.  I told him that he has a guardian angel or something.”  Buffy smiled.  “I think he’s still kinda mad about it.”

 

Faith’s gaze shifted around the room.  She hadn’t noticed the balloons, flowers and cards that were scattered around.  “Who?”

 

Buffy stood up and walked over to the dresser where most were displayed.  “All of these are from Emma.  Girl’s gotta too much money and no idea what to do with it.”  She then pointed to a bunch of balloons that hovered by the TV set.  “Those are from Dawn.”

 

Faith tilted her head.  Were her ears working right?  Dawn brought her balloons?  She was starting to think she woke up in an alternate dimension or something.

 

“She was here yesterday,” Buffy continued.  “She wanted to talk to you, but you were still asleep.  She asked me to tell you that she’d see you when you got home.”  Buffy pointed to the last set of flowers: orchids, roses, carnations, all arranged in a white basket with a big pink bow.  “These are from the rest of us.  Andrew picked them out.”

 

Spike didn’t bring her flowers?

 

Buffy must’ve read her mind.  “Spike didn’t bring any flowers; he said it would only piss you off.”

 

Faith couldn’t help but smile.

 

“You’re awake!”  The exuberance of the younger Slayer couldn’t be denied as Emma bounded into the room.  “I didn’t think you’d ever wake up.”  She was holding a life-sized teddy bear and another handful of balloons.  “I brought you these.”

 

“And on that note,” Buffy said, “I’m outta here.”  She walked over to Faith and kissed her on the forehead.   “See you later.”

 

Faith didn’t have time to take in what Buffy had done before Emma did the exact same thing.  Definitely an alternate dimension.  “Enough!” she said, a little louder than she had intended. 

 

It didn’t faze Emma in the least; she skipped over to the dresser and arranged her newest additions, giving the teddy bear a hug before she set it down on the floor in front of it.

 

“Are you done now?” Faith asked.

 

“What?  You don’t like flowers and teddy bears?”  Emma plopped down on the bed.  “Everyone likes flowers and teddy bears.”

 

“How long have you been here?  And how much caffeine have you had?”

 

Emma laughed.  “I’m here all day long--everyday.”  Her cheeks flushed and she looked a little embarrassed.  “I leave and go slaying with Buffy at night.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I’m a Slayer and that’s what Slayers do.”

 

Faith rolled her eyes.  “Not the slaying.  Why are you spending so much time here?”

 

“You don’t know?”

 

“If I knew I wouldn’t be asking.”

 

Emma’s voice was barely above a whisper.  “Because it’s my fault that you’re here.”

 

“What?”

 

“It’s my fault.”

 

Faith forced herself to sit up despite the pain.  “No,” her voice caught in her throat, “it is not your fault.  I don’t want to hear you say that ever again.”

 

“But it is.”

 

“Damn it, Emma,” she said.  “It’s my fault, not yours.  I was a bitch and then I left you alone when I knew what could happen.  Don’t you get that?  You’re young.  You’re a new Slayer.  I should’ve known better.  You needed me and I wasn’t there for you.  That’s my fault.  Not yours.”  Faith fell back against the pillow.

 

“You mean that?”

 

“Yes, I mean that.”

 

Emma leaned forward and gave Faith a gentle hug.  “Xander was right.”

 

What did Xander have to do with any of this?  “About what?”

 

“You like me.”

 

Faith whacked the pillow, trying to flatten it out.  “Xander never knows what he’s talking about.”

 

“You’d be surprised.”

 

XXXXX

 

*Lyrics from Kelly Clarkson’s Because of You