Lust

Chapter 11: Star-Crossed

“Why won’t you leave me alone?” Buffy cried out into the dark room. The images of all those who she had lost over the years swirled around her face as she spun around, falling to the floor.

“Buffy?” came a gentle voice next to her. She looked up, her face tear-stained as she choked back the sobs.

“Help me,” she cried the face in front of her blurring in her tears.

“Always” came the voice, Buffy’s sobs catching in her throat as she wiped the tears.

“Faith?” she asked taking her hand.

“Yea it’s me, I’ll always be here to help you fend off your demons,” Faith said helping her stand up. Buffy fell into Faith’s arms, resting her head against her chest.

“You don’t have a heart beat,” she muttered.

“Immortal” was all Faith replied as she held Buffy close to her, protecting her from the voices that screamed around her.

“I’m sorry,” she cried as the room started to spin and fade out.

“It was never your fault”.

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“I’m sorry!” Buffy yelled out, sitting straight up on the couch. Faith looked at her, getting up off the coffee table and sitting next to her on the couch, her hand still in Buffy’s.

“It is going to be okay B. It was just a dream,” she whispered to her, gently laying her back down on the couch. She gently wiped the tears that were streaming down Buffy’s face away, gently humming a song.

“Wh…what song is that?” Buffy hiccupped as her sobs subsided.

“My mother used to hum it to me when I was a little girl. She would sit like this and hold my hand whenever I had a scary dream or was upset. I just suddenly remembered it,” she said softly, moving Buffy’s hair away from her eyes. Buffy smiled softly at her, looking down at their linked hands. Buffy’s heart skipped a beat, as she felt the tingles run throughout her body, just by holding Faith’s hand. Faith looked at her curiously, feeling the same tingles. She had not felt them for anyone else, and the only way she could describe them was as tingles. She cleared her throat, causing Buffy to come out of her trance, as she let go of her hand. Buffy sighed, missing the contact immediately.

“Now as much as I would love to go down memory lane, I do have to wonder why you are on my couch at 12:30 in the morning,” she asked, sitting on the coffee table again to get a better view of Buffy. She sat up, wiping the last of the tears away from her eyes.

“I…uh… came here around 9 o-clock. I called your name but you did not answer me. I just figured you were meditating the way you were sitting so I decided to wait until you were done. I guess I must have fallen asleep,” she said sheepishly, looking down at her hands. Faith shook her head, smiling sadly at her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t hear you, sometimes I get so lost in meditation that I have a hard time coming back to reality” she said, stretching her arms above her. Buffy blushed turning her head away from Faith as her shirt rode up, revealing her muscular stomach. Faith smiled at her, twisting so her back cracked, chuckling at Buffy’s little jump at the noise.

“Why were you meditating?” Buffy asked, getting up off the couch. She walked over to the huge book that lay open on the desk. Faith materialized in front of her, smiling as she closed the book and waved it away.

“It relaxes me, makes me focus on why I do things.” Buffy nodded at her, her eyes looking her over suspiciously. “So why did you come over? You never answered my question,” Faith asked, motioning for Buffy to re-take her seat.

“Well” Buffy started, smiling as Faith sat in front of her, handing her a glass of water. Buffy took a sip before continuing. “We had found a prophecy but we could only get a quarter of the whole thing translated. Figuring you have been around since the beginning of time you would know a thing or two, maybe a couple languages,” she teased, setting the glass down on the table next to Faith. Faith chuckled at her.

“Well you are right I was around at the beginning of time. Actually, I was here before the dinosaurs and cavemen. That is another story for another time. I’ll come over to see the prophecy later today, right now I need to see something,” Faith said standing up. Buffy scrunched her nose.

“What is it?” she asked curiously, standing as Faith motioned her to follow her to a training room she didn‘t show her during their tour of the mansion.

“I need to see how well you fight. I was thinking of training you, if you can handle what I give you” Faith smiled at her, pushing the doors open. Buffy gasped at the enormity of the room. Mats covered the floor as every type of training equipment was there.

“For an immortal I didn’t think you would need to train” Buffy whispered as she walked over to the gymnastics area.

“Every era there is something new and fighting styles can change. I always found that even though you might train everyday, there is always something new to learn, some technique that needs to be conquered,” she said walking over to a closet. She took off her shirt, leaving her in loose black pants and a black top that stopped just under her chest, revealing her muscular stomach and back. She grabbed clothes out of the closet, tossing them to Buffy. “I also find that I don’t go stark raving mad if I train. The world can get boring after a few billion years” she smiled as Buffy looked dumbly at the clothes in her hand. Faith rolled her eyes, turning around.

“They fit you, change into those and we can get started” she said impatiently. Buffy snapped out of her daze, quickly changing into the clothes. They were exactly like Faith’s outfit except they were white instead of black.

“Do you mind telling me why we are doing this at one o-clock in the morning?” Buffy asked as Faith turned around, throwing her a staff.

“Because there is no better time than the present,” she said, motioning for Buffy to start.

They started to circle each other, Buffy’s face contorted in concentration as Faith continued to smirk at her. Buffy crouched and pushed off the mats, flipping over Faith’s head. Faith did not move as she blocked Buffy’s attack from behind. She turned, everything going in slow motion as Buffy watched in horror as Faith twisted, bringing the staff swiftly underneath her, sweeping her off her feet. She landed with a loud thud, her staff bouncing out of her hand. Faith brought her own staff down to Buffy’s neck.

“Lesson one, never assume you have the upper hand” Faith said, extending her hand out to Buffy. Buffy looked up at her, scrambling up to her feet by herself, grabbing her staff.

Faith smiled at her as Buffy slipped into her offensive stance. Buffy charged at Faith, feigning left as she swung the staff at Faith’s head. Faith bent down avoiding the swing, blocking Buffy’s knee that came up at her face. Faith smiled mischievously at Buffy, twisting her body so her shoulder was underneath Buffy’s knee as she launched Buffy clear across the room.

Buffy growled as she got up, running at Faith. She swung the staff at Faith’s right arm as she kicked out with her left foot. Faith blocked both attacks and stumbled back as Buffy flipped off her body, her foot coming within inches of Faith’s face. Faith laughed as Buffy landed, immediately executing a leg sweep. Faith rolled over Buffy’s head, her foot connecting with Buffy’s butt. Buffy rolled, immediately getting to her feet as she planted the staff down, using it to propel her kick at Faith. Faith dodged the kick, flicking her staff out at Buffy’s, causing her to fall hard down to her side. Buffy groaned as Faith lowered her staff to Buffy’s neck.

“Lesson two, never let your emotions rule your actions,” she said at the panting slayer. Buffy looked up at her, determination in her eyes. Faith smiled at her, “This is going to be fun,” she thought as Buffy stood up, brushing herself off. She slipped into her fighting stance, motioning for Faith to continue.

They sparred for two hours straight, with Buffy landing on her ass many times. Buffy gingerly looked at the huge bruise that was forming on her hip from all the falling she did. Faith nodded at her as she put the staffs away.

“Not bad for a mortal” she said as Buffy looked at her incredulously.

“Are you kidding me? I have not spent that much time on my ass in my entire life then I spent with you tonight. I have bruises where I never had bruises before and muscles that are in places I never knew muscles existed,” she grumbled, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Faith handed her a towel as she looked over her body.

“Here let me look you over,” Faith said as she inspected Buffy’s battered body. Buffy shivered from the contact as Faith’s fingers gently ran over her body.

“Only some minor scraps and bruises,” Faith said, swallowing as her head swam from being so close to Buffy. “You should take a shower and come down stairs. I’ll fix you up when you get there,” she said, stilling her hands on Buffy’s shoulders. Buffy stood there, her eyes closed and her mouth slightly open, her breath coming out ragged. Faith shook her head and stepped back away from her.

“I’ll be downstairs,” she said, leaving the room. Buffy watched her leave, sighing as she shivered again, the memory of Faith touching her causing her to feel ghost touches across her skin.

“What am I going to do?” Buffy asked the room, her eyes filling with tears as she left the room, heading to the bathroom.

Hecate appeared in the room, staring at the door Buffy just left through.

“Are you sure?” she asked the room, sighing as the answer echoed in her head.

“Alright but don’t you think its bad timing? We are on the brink of war and the last thing they need is to fall in love,” Hecate said flinching.

“Alright alright sheesh you sure are pushy,” she said, disappearing out of the room.


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Faith walked into the kitchen, hopping up onto the dark counter.

“What the hell am I doing?” she thought, running her hands over her face and through her hair. She stopped, looking down at her hands; their normally pale color was fading. She jumped off the counter, running to the mirror. Her face showed it as well, her paleness was giving way to a slight tan.

“What the Hades?” she slipped in her Atlantean tongue, looking herself over, lifting up her pant leg.

“What’s the matter Amdis?” said a voice behind her. Faith spun around, a sword materializing in her hand, her eyes flashing a bright gold. Hecate held her arms up, smiling at her.

“Goddess Tay I could have killed you,” Faith breathed out. The sword dematerialized as Hecate tried her best to show she was sorry without breaking out in laughter.

“I’m sorry Amdis, I didn’t realize I would be able to sneak up on the universe’s greatest assassin” she smiled at her. Faith growled at her, turning back to the mirror.

“That part of me is dead,” she growled, staring at herself in the mirror. The gold flecks in her eyes were slowly fading.

“No it isn’t, otherwise you wouldn’t have reacted the way you did. That part of you, that killer in you, will always be there and you know it. And it is a good thing it is because things are turning for the worst in the coming months” Hecate said sadly as Faith looked at her in the mirror.

“What do you know?” she asked as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

“Well having to be in Ronwe’s presence for more than two seconds in repulsive I should let you know you better realize that I love you. Otherwise you would be screwed on the information department” Hecate smiled, laughing when Faith glared at her through the mirror.

“And to think I had to sleep with him once to save the world” Faith muttered, Hecate looked her in shock.

She shook her head at her, “To make a long story short a dimensional rift was growing out of control, I was only a billion years old at the time and my powers weren’t capable to control the rift by myself and Lucifer was in another hell dimension dealing with an uprising in their purgatory. Ronwe and I tried to combine our powers but we just could not connect, so I slept with him. We fixed the rift, I told Lucifer, end of story,” she said turning around to face Hecate.

“Wow…..eww” Hecate said, shaking her head. Faith smirked at her.

“Tell me about it, I scrubbed myself clean for ten years after that!” she chuckled as she hopped up onto the counter next to her.

“Well I found out that he is kicking his men into high gear. Lucifer has pretty much given him free reign; he doesn’t know what Ronwe is up to. Right now, I am supposed to be doing so recon work finding you. He said he trusted me enough to find you in a fashionable amount of time. So naturally of course I have him busy dimensional hopping, because you know to find you my dear we should follow every lead we can” Hecate smiled wickedly. Faith’s throaty laughter filled the room,

“Where did you send him?” she asked, wiping the blood tears from her eyes.

“Well my dear remember that horrible shrimp dimension?” Hecate smiled, her eyes dancing with mischievous delight.

“That is perfect” Faith smiled then turned her head towards the door leading to the living room. “B is done,” she said nonchalantly, smiling at Hecate.

“Awww c’mon I want to meet this girl. I haven’t seen that smile on your face in…NEVER! Please can I meet the slayer?” Hecate smiled innocently at her. Faith scrunched her nose, looking at her suspiciously.

“What?” Hecate asked, smiling awkwardly at her.

“You are up to something,” Faith growled at her, slipping away from her. Hecate rolled her eyes at her, “I told you this was going to be hard,” she thought, looking at the ceiling.

“Amdis I am not up to something alright. If we are going to be fighting on the same side then we need to establish some sort of connection, and maybe let her in on a few things considering she might flip if she sees me standing next to Ronwe” she said matter-of-factly, crossing her arms across her chest. Faith sighed, knowing she was right.

“Alright, but no funny business. If I think she is getting freaked out you need to leave,” she said starting towards the door.

“Wow she must be something,” Hecate said jumping down to the floor.

“Why do you say that?” Faith growled turning towards her.

“Nothing let’s go” Hecate said pushing past her. Faith watched her, her words echoing in her head.

“You have no idea,” Faith thought, following her into the living room.


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Buffy had the towel around her neck as walked around the room. She had heard voices coming from the kitchen, but decided against investigating. She walked over to the fireplace, looking up at the huge tapestry.

“That was long ago when I was still human. That demon I’m facing is the demon you met a few days ago. We don’t get along”

Buffy shook her head, Faith’s voice fading from her mind. She stared intently at Faith; she was beautiful when she was human. Buffy felt something stirring in her as she continued to stare at the tapestry. She did not turn when she heard people enter the room.

“You were a slayer,” she said, not turning around. Faith sighed, looking up at the tapestry.

“It had turned out that I was the third slayer. The original, as you have met her already, was primal and was created at the very beginning of what is known as the Demon Reign. I know it seems confusing, especially the way you learned history but…” she paused, looking over at Hecate. She nodded at her and smiled.

“Right now I have someone who wants to meet you. I’ll explain everything later to you I promise” she said, sighing again when Buffy dropped her head, turning around to face her.

She looked up at Faith, her eyes betraying her confusion at the dark-haired woman next to her. Faith smiled at her warmly. Buffy’s breathe caught in her throat as she looked deeply into her eyes. Hecate watched the silent exchange between the two women in front of her.

“This just might work,” she thought as she cleared her throat. Buffy blinked, shaking herself out of her reverie,

“I’m sorry” she chuckled outstretching her hand. “My name is Buffy,” she said, smiling as Hecate took her hand.

“My name is Hecate” Hecate replied calmly, smiling as Buffy’s eyes widened in recognition.

“Mother of all witches Hecate?” she stuttered out looking at Faith incredulously.

“Well” Hecate started until she saw Faith’s face. She smiled at her and winked, causing Faith to quietly growl.

“I warned you Tay,” Faith thought, smiling as Hecate glared at her.

“What did I tell you! Stay out of my head woman, its bad enough I have my own voices to deal with I do not want to deal with yours” she thought back, smiling at Buffy. Buffy has an amused expression on her face as she watched the silent interaction between the two immortals.

“Yes I am and I have been wanting to meet you, slayer, for a very long time” she smiled at her, winking at Faith again. She glanced at the ceiling and frowned. “But alas I must take my leave. But I do so look forward to seeing you again and maybe that Little Tree” she smiled as she posed for them.

“Later ladies” she laughed as she disappeared.

“Show off” Faith muttered, scratching the back of her head. Buffy chuckled as she shook her head.

“She reminds me of Cordy,” she said sitting down on the couch. Faith smiled at her as she sat down next to her. They sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes.

“Uhh are you hungry?” Faith asked, breaking the silence. Just then, a deep rumbling noise came from Buffy’s stomach. Faith smiled at her as Buffy looked away in embarrassment.

“I’ll make you something,” she said disappearing. Buffy frowned at the empty space,

“I hate it when she does that,” she said scrambling off the couch. She idled into the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe, laughing at the sight of the immortal running around the kitchen gathering supplies.

“Well they don’t put this in the history books,” Buffy said, causing Faith to stop in the middle of her search through one of the cabinets. She looked back at her and chuckled,

“What don’t they put in the books?” she said, returning to her search.

“Well next to demons they usually have scary, big and evil. But never homebody, cook and sweet” she said earning a heart laugh out of Faith.

“That would be one of Aphrodite’s minions,” she said as she placed a pot on the stove.

“Aphrodite was rea…..never mind I can’t even act surprised anymore,” Buffy said, waving her hand for Faith to continue.

“Well she wasn’t an immortal. She was a god they are different. God’s can be destroyed, but they do retain so immortal like qualities like, living forever. But when Olympus fell, she split, last time I checked she was running a heaven-like dimension filled with love and joy. It was sickening” Faith laughed as the room started to fill with the smells of her cooking. Buffy felt her mouth watering.

“That smells so good what are you cooking?” she asked as she sat down at the island in the middle of the room.

“One of my mother’s recipe’s. I was afraid I was going to forget a lot of my memories from when I was human so Lucifer cast a spell to let me remember everything in vivid detail. Ronwe broke the spell but by that time, they were permanently etched in my mind. It was one of the few things Lucifer did that showed me he really did love me” she trailed off as she stirred something in the pot. Buffy took in all of this information before saying anything.

“It sounds like you still love him,” she said silently, looking down at her hands.

“Some part of me will always love him. But unfortunately, that part of me also lives in darkness and hate. But will I ever be in love with him again? Never, not after everything he has done to people and to me” she said looking back at Buffy.

“I could say the same thing about Angel right?” She asked as she went to the refrigerator and took out a package.

Buffy took a deep breathe as the memories of her time with Angel flooded her mind. Faith watched silently as the memories of them making love, Angel becoming evil, Buffy killing him, them at the prom and then the battle with the mayor flood her mind.

“I thought Angel was my soul mate. Looking back, I will always love him, but like you, he is a part of my past. I don’t think I will ever be able to fall back in love with him again, even if every time I see him all I think about is our past. He was my first love, he will always hold that part of me,” she said quietly, not realizing she was crying until Faith was standing next to her, wiping the tears away.

“It is going to hurt, but your soul mate is somewhere out there,” she said, smiling softly at the slayer.

“Thanks” Buffy said, laughing as she imagined what she looked like. “God I must look like a blonde Rudolph,” she thought as she wiped away the last of the tears. Faith chuckled, shaking her head as she went back over to the stove.

“So why do you have all this food?” Buffy after a while. Faith stayed silent as she cooked, contemplating her answer.

“I haven’t told you about all of my powers yet, well pretty much the only thing you really know about me is that I am older than time but have managed to stay hot,” she laughed as she turned the stove off. Buffy laughed at her, running her hand through her hair.

“Seriously though” Faith continued, “I am surprised that you trust me, I mean you have seen my place and you have even fought against me. I know you think you understand that I am powerful, but you still have no idea what I am capable of. I guess I am just amazed that with all of this mystery around me you seem to be completely at ease,” Faith said as she set a glass in front of her and poured her ice tea. Buffy took a sip before replying.

“I don’t understand it either,” she said, staring at her glass. “All I know is that I feel safer with you,” she said softly. Faith looked at her intently, their eyes meeting. Faith felt herself get lost in Buffy’s eyes, intrigued by the mixture of green, blue and brown that seem to swirl in them, leading down a spiral abyss. Buffy gave her a half smile before breaking eye contact with her.

“I’m glad you feel that way. Usually I have people cowering in fear in my presence. It is a new, but nice, feeling that someone isn’t terrified of me” Faith smiled at her warmly before going back to the cabinets.

“I am terrified of you though, terrified by these feelings that you stir inside of me” Buffy thought to herself. Faith set the plate down softly as Buffy’s thoughts echoed in her head. She shook her head, putting the food she cooked on the plate for Buffy.

“This cannot be happening,” she thought as she leaned on the counter for a minute, trying to fight back the emotions that rushed through her. She looked up at the ceiling

“I cannot fall in love again.”


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a/nSorry I know I keep promising to update sooner but with everything that is going on right now it is very hard but I will keep going as long as I keep getting reviews. Also i would like to give a shout out to my friend B who keeps inspiring me to continue- Love Ya. So chapter 12 will be coming soon. Enjoy keep reviewing