Gladiatrix

Title: Gladiatrix (formerly A Slayer A Witch and A Hell God)

Rating: PG-13 but will change in later chapters.

Summary: Faith didn't go to jail and Tara wasn't mind sucked.

A/N: I've found a great beta who helped me with the flow of the story. So this is the last re-write. I've also added new chapters. Enjoy story and big thx to my beta elizabethrex1 for all the time and support. 
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Part 1   
  
 
Faith had been back in Sunnydale for two weeks keeping a low profile. It wasn't that she was afraid 
of running into Buffy or that she was hiding out. 
Faith was here this time to help.    
  
 
 
Angel was busy dealing with Darla and Drusilla in LA, 
and he'd asked Faith to come back to Sunnydale to 
fight Glory. After all he'd done for her, Faith agreed 
to return.   
  
 

She'd shown up on Angel's doorstep over a year 
ago ready to die. But even after shooting him, beating up Cordy, and torturing Wes, Angel refused to kill her.    
  
 

Instead he became her mentor, teaching her mental 
and physical control using meditation and Tai Chi. The  training was difficult for Faith because she 
was used to fighting with reckless abandon. For Angel 
and Buffy fighting was an art. To Faith, it was simply kill or be killed.   
 
 

But the meditation did give her mental focus, and 
the Tai Chi taught her physical awareness, making her more patient. She now looked for her opponent’s 
weaknesses instead of trying to overpower them.    
  
 

At first she'd argued that she should be punished 
for her crimes, but Angel insisted locking her 
up would be the true crime. How could she redeem herself  locked in a 6x10 jail cell?  The only witness 
to Alan Finch's murder was Buffy, and she'd agreed not to turn Faith in as long as she  stayed away from 
Sunnydale.   
 
 
 
Faith was still kissing Cordy’s and Wes’ ass, doing what she could to make things right with them. There 
had been some progress, but sometimes she'd catch Wes 
looking at her with fear in his eyes. Faith 
could understand that. She struggled every day with 
her dark side, afraid she'd become one of things she 
hunted every night - a monster.    
  
 
 
Faith sighed, wishing now she'd stayed in bed instead of listening to Cordy.  The seer had called Faith 
telling her get her "lazy ass" out of bed.  Hundreds 
of miles away Cordy had seen a small carnival setting 
up not far from Faith's motel. Her vision had been 
vague but she'd seen someone being attacked by a 
demon. She couldn't give Faith a description of the 
demon but she told her the victim was a pretty blonde 
woman.  "That's it!"  Faith had yelled into her cell phone.  "You can't tell me anything else?" Cordy's silence on the other end had surprised Faith.  The 
former socialite was never at a loss words. "Ahhh yeah, that's it.  I didn't see anything else,"  Cordy finally responded.  Faith pulled her 
cell phone away from her ear and stared at it. 

She'd been walking around the carnival for hours and 
seen lots of pretty blondes but none of them were being attacked by a demon.       

She'd never been to a carnival before. If her mother 
couldn't make a little money or get a fix, she wasn't 
interested in going anywhere. Faith flicked her long 
dark hair out of her face. The only make-up she wore 
was black liner around her eyes, accentuating her 
exotic appearance, and blood red lipstick. A red crop top showed off her toned arms and a pair of designer 
jeans hung low on her hips. Black 
Timberland hiking boots completed the look.  Faith ignored the middle age men with their families 
ogling her.  Since she no longer needed to hustle for 
her next meal or a place to stay for the night their 
attention was unwanted.  She shivered recalling some of the things she'd done in order to survive. There 
never was a shortage of men willing to pay a teenage 
girl for sex.  Faith shook off unpleasant memories from her past.      
 
 

She looked at tea cups spinning around in circles.  
The sight of the cups going round and round started 
making her feel queasy.  She'd drank two Big Gulps, eaten an elephant ear and was working on a second bag of popcorn. She grabbed her flat stomach, and went in search of a place to sit.   
 
 


A familiar needling sensation down the  
back of her neck stopped Faith in her tracks. She 
turned her focus inward, trying to narrow her search 
and pinpoint what was making her slayer senses go off. Like radar she slowly turned towards the source 
and started walking.  She pushed her way through the 
crowd. Faith noticed two women 
sitting on a bench.  One of the women had curly blonde 
hair, and she was leaning into the other woman who had 
long straight blonde hair.  Looking closely, Faith 
could see curly holding the other girl's hand, and, 
from the expression  on the girl's face, she was in a lot of pain.   
  
 

Faith knew all too well what it was like to be  bullied. Some of her  mother's boyfriends refused to take no for an answer  when they'd sneaked into her bedroom at night.
 
 

Sensing her approach, the blonde with straight hair 
looked up, her blue eyes landing on Faith. She watched 
as the woman looked at her curiously before her eyes 
widened in recognition. At the same moment, Faith's heart skipped a beat as the memory of meeting Tara for 
the first time played out in her head.   
  
 

Faith had just woken up from her coma, and the 
only thing on her mind was payback.  She used the 
Mayor's device to swap bodies with Buffy. Willow had 
been eager to introduce Tara to Buffy, who was really Faith in Buffy's body.  When the red head left the table, Faith had jumped at the chance to tease the 
girl about her stutter. "Y-you g-gonna g-get that 
sentence out any time soon?"  she'd asked the shy 
blonde.  Tara had bitten her bottom lip and turned 
away from Faith. But even then the glint of tears in 
Tara's eyes had unsettled Faith.   
 
 
Faith silently cursed herself for who  she had been then. Faith 
moved swiftly to close  the distance between her and the two blondes. As she 
ran toward the women, she reached behind her back, 
grabbing the hilt of the knife she'd tucked into her 
pants. "Tara! Get away from her!" she yelled.   
  
 

That got the curly haired bitch’s attention. The 
woman pulled her fingers back from Tara's temple but 
didn't  
let go of her hand.  Faith stopped a few feet away 
from them, glancing at  Tara. "You ok?" she asked, before focusing on the other woman. "If you wanna keep that hand," she 
threatened, pulling  
out her knife. "I suggest you let her go."   
  
 
 
She watched as Tara winced and then sucked in a 
deep breath. "Faith, it's Glory," she warned.  Faith 
tried to hide her surprise. Angel had told her Glory 
wasn't just a demon; she was a Hell God.  If it  weren't for her slayer senses still going off, Faith would've thought she was human. The demon looked like 
a slightly older version of Buffy with curly hair. 
Glory was watching her intently, a slight smirk on her lips.   
  
 

Faith looked Glory slowly up and down. "Don't 
take this the wrong way, girlfriend, but you look like 
a hooker who's seen better days. Those heels look 
pretty  
worn out, like you been walking the same corner 
too long."  Faith shook her head sadly.  "And wearing white after Labor Day? That's a no no," she 
advised. "Well, that's what my friend Cordy tells me anyway." Out of the corner of her eye, Faith  could see Tara's eyes turning a light blue. 'What 
the fuck!' Faith thought.    
  
 
 
Glory sized Faith up. "So you're Faith,"the Hell 
God stated in a bored tone, clearly not impressed. 
"I'm sure you know all about whores, don't you, Faithie?" she taunted. "Your mother's probably in hell right now with her legs spread."  Glory started  laughing. "The next time I'm there I'll check for you."  Faith could feel herself start to  lose  control. The demon leaned forward.  "I bet you could  teach her a few new tricks----couldn't you, Fathie?" Glory added.    
  
 
 
The knife was out of Faith's hand before she knew what she was doing.  The blade stopped inches from Glory's face.  The blonde didn't blink as she 
continued to stare at Faith.  "Is that the best you can do?"  Glory asked.  "It'll take more than two little girls and a pair of second rate witches to stop 
me." Glory gripped Tara's hand tighter.  "Isn't that right, Tara?" 
Faith's sensitive hearing picked up the sound of bones cracking.  "I told you to let her go!"  Faith snapped. Glory smiled.    
  
 
 
The tip of an elegant finger reached out, touching the tip of the knife.  The demon pricked her finger on the edge of the knife and left a drop of blood clinging from the blade’s tip.   
     
  
 
"You should've stayed in Los Angeles; at least you would've lived a little longer, slayer." The knife 
turned in mid air, the blade now facing Faith.  "When 
you get to hell, tell your mother I said hello."  
Glory's eyes shone with glee. "You first," Faith 
ground out between clenched teeth.  
    
  
 
Glory pointed the bleeding finger at Faith. The 
slayer crouched.  Glory frowned.  She pointed her 
finger at Faith again.  Faith saw the knife move 
forward then stop.  "Who's doing that!"  Glory yelled.    
  
 
 

Faith straightened up and glanced at Tara.  Eyes 
that were blue only moments ago flashed silver as 
the silent blonde stared at the knife floating in mid 
air.  Faith's eyes widened when the knife spun around so that the blade pointed at Glory.  The demon turned her head to look at Tara.   
  
 

Faith launched herself at Glory, knocking the Hell 
God off the bench.  She landed on top of Glory, her closed fist connecting with the demon's jaw.  
Faith grinned in satisfaction at the surprised look 
on Glory's face.  A second punch earned an irritated glare from the Hell God.
     


"Get off of me!"  Glory screeched.  A solid punch  connected with Faith's cheek.  The slayer fell  backwards, losing her balance.  She jumped to her 
feet in a fighting stance. "Faith!" a soft voice called out in warning.     
  
 
 
As Faith's world stopped spinning from the punch, she 
realized Glory wasn't in front of her - but her knife 
was.  When Glory grabbed her by the back of the  
head, Faith snatched the knife out of air and turned around swinging.    
  
  

The blade sliced across the demon's cheek. "Aaaahhhh," 
Glory screamed. She covered her cheek with both 
hands. "My beauty. You've ruined my beauty!" Blood 
gushed from the wound, covering the front of Glory's 
white skirt suit. The demon stared down at herself in 
disbelief.  
  
 
 

Faith gripped the hilt of the knife preparing 
for another attack. "No, Faith.  We have to go."  
Through the blood roaring  
in her ears Faith heard Tara’s words.  The brunette looked  around the area for the first time since seeing Tara and Glory.  A large group had 
gathered and was staring at the three women.   
 
 

"Glorificous! Glorificous!  The dark one hurt our mistress."  Glory's servants rushed  towards her, hoods covering their faces.  Tara closed 
her eyes, her hands down at her side, fingers spread. A loud clap of thunder drew the crowds attention.  
Seconds later, sun still shining, it began  raining.  
The downpour sent people scattering for shelter.    
  
  
Faith grabbed Tara by the hand. Let’s go," Faith urged. She pulled Tara away just as Glory's 
minion’s reached her.   

(tbc)