FF Eliza Lentzski - Someone Like You

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Someone Like You



In the aftermath of the events of season 8, both Buffy and Faith are ready to start the next chapter to their separate lives. But when a new Big Bad is determined to take down the Chosen One, those disparate lives once again merge. How do you move on when you’re haunted by a face from your past? Season 8 spoilers.

This is a Buffy&Faith fanfic story.

http://buffynfaith.net/fanfictions/index.php?act=vie&id=1320

I have build myself this eBook from the fanfic site, I hope that you'll enjoy it.


Sample

Chapter 1: Prologue

Simone Doffler stood on a slightly elevated, diamond-plate platform. From where she stood, she could easily cast her gaze across the sea of her budding rebellion. As minutes passed without the crowd taking notice to her presence, she cleared her throat and motioned both hands up in the air. The simple act was enough to quiet the group of women crowded at the base of the stage.

"Thank you all for coming," she greeted the other women. A smug smile seemed to naturally curl on her lips, settling into its rightful place. "I think you all know why we're here and what we're about."

A slight murmur rose from the group. Some of the women nodded their heads while others looked angry and cracked their knuckles, impatient for the opportunity.

The pink-haired and tattooed slayer silenced the group once again before continuing. "She wanted us to live under her rules, but now we can make her live under ours," she boldly orated. "We can bring our oppressor to her knees!"

"Fuck yeah!" someone called out from the group.

"Bring the bitch down!" echoed promptly from across the room.

The girls cheered and laughed. With each comment made, the crowd of girls boiled in both anger and eagerness. Several of the young women thrust their clenched fists in the air.

As Simone continued, she could see the crowd becoming visibly excited. The energy in the room gave her a rush not unlike slaying. "We can be the agents of change and fear we were meant to be," she asserted. "It's who we are."

A resounding approval sounded from the dozen or so young women surrounding the mohawked girl.

Peering down at the activities happening below them, huddled a blonde woman and a redhead. They stood far above the crowd of cheering women, witnessing everything through an elevated window with the help of half a dozen stacked wooden crates.

Willow turned away from the dirty window and glanced anxiously at her best friend. "What do you think?" she whispered.

"She's gotten much better at giving speeches since I last saw her," Buffy grimaced. She continued to stare at the assembled group, unable to contain her anger.

"What are we going to do about her, Buffy?" the redheaded woman asked seriously. "I mean, without magic, what can we do?" she pointed out in hushed tones. "She's too strong for the police to deal with. We—we can't kill her, can we?"

"No, I don't think we can kill her," the blonde regretfully admitted. "But we do have to do something." Her back teeth ground together as she gazed down on the group of rogue slayers, unaware of her presence. "And fast. Before she gets an even bigger following."

"So what do we do?" Willow asked again.

Buffy pushed out a deep breath. "There's only one thing we can do… I think it's time to call Faith."

++++++++++

The wind whipped around the brunette woman's long hair. She stroked her hand down the velvet muzzle of a large, grey-speckled horse.

"Don't be difficult today, and there'll be an extra sugar cube for you," she murmured to the large animal.

As if understanding her promising words, the horse lifted its head slightly and snorted.

"Ms. Lehane, there's a call for you up at the house."

Faith looked up when she heard the familiar voice. Birk, the hired man who ran the working farm, walked at a brisk pace toward her. He moved with a slight limp, a nagging injury he claimed he suffered fighting in World War II. In one gnarled hand was the wooden walking stick he always had at his side.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Not sure," Birk said with a shrug. Faith had originally thought the aging man didn't like her. But he had soon warmed up to the newest landowner after a present of a bottle of Giles' oldest double-malted scotch. "Mrs. Cribbage said she didn't recognize the voice."

Faith frowned. It was unusual for her to receive calls at the house, and even more unusual for Mrs. Cribbage to not know the caller. "Did they at least say what it's about?"

"Sorry, Miss," the farmhand apologized. "They said it was for your ears only."

Normally Faith would have instructed the house staff to just take a message and not bother her when she was out at the barn, but hardly anyone had the number to Giles' estate. If whoever was calling had taken the effort to track her down, it was generally important. Like, End of the World stuff.

Faith looked wistfully at the broad-shouldered horse. There would be time to ride later. She gave the animal a firm pat on the side. "Will you make sure Buffy gets brushed down and properly bedded?" she asked, turning back to the farm employee.

The diminutive man nodded and took the reins from the brunette. "Of course, Miss."

"Mind her left leg," Faith called as she started to leave the barn area. "She'll kick you if you give her the chance."

Faith made her way up the short dirt path that led up to the main house. On her way, she passed the chicken coup and the pigsty of the working farm. It had taken a while to get used to the expansive lands she had inherited nearly a year ago. It had taken an even longer time, however, to come to terms with Giles' death.

Reaching the main house, Faith pulled off her riding boots, careful to not tromp any mud on the natural wood floors of the farmhouse. She'd learned the hard way that Mrs. Cribbage, the housekeeper, didn't take kindly to her mussing up the normally immaculate house. It had taken a few months of Faith getting in the hard-nosed woman's way, but now a more comfortable rhythm had fallen over the house as the two became more familiar with each other's habits.

It was a big house – not a mansion – but much larger than the motel rooms and squalid apartments Faith was accustomed to. The décor wasn't Faith's style either, but she couldn't bear to change anything about her new home. Everything about the place from its overstocked library to its large, stone fireplaces was purely Rupert Giles.

Faith picked up the telephone in the formal hallway. "Hello?" she said into the receiver, not sure whom to expect on the other line.

"Hi, Faith."

"Buffy?"

The brunette was unable to hold back her surprise. Although things were moderately patched between them, she hadn't seen or spoken to the blonde slayer since Giles' last-will-and-testament had been settled. In a twist that surprised them all, Giles had bequeathed all of his belongings, which included a flat in London and the working-farm in the British countryside, to Faith. He'd left Buffy a book.

"Last time I checked," the Chosen One deadpanned.

Out of nervous habit, Faith ran her fingers through her wind-blown hair. She picked a small piece of straw from her locks. "Wh-What's up, B?" she asked, trying to mask her uneasiness. She couldn't help but feel like she was in trouble.

"I need you to come to San Francisco," Buffy stated curtly. "We've got a situation over here."

Faith had heard a rumor that the California girl had resumed living in her home state. Beyond that, she didn't know what Buffy had been doing since the destruction of the Seed of Wonder, the heart of all magic on Earth.

In their epic battle against Twilight, the Seed, which ironically had been located in Sunnydale, had to be protected. Removing the Seed from the Hellmouth would have resulted in the end of the world. Destroying the Seed, however, what Buffy had done in a final act of desperation and devastation, severed all magical ties with other worlds and the Earth's connection to other dimensions. The Slayers' powers and the sired vampires remained intact, but witches who gathered their magic from other worlds were no longer able to do so.

"What's the Big Bad this time?" Faith asked.

She felt more at ease knowing this wasn't a recreational call. This was all business, and business had been slow since the destruction of the Seed. No new vampires could be created now that the world possessed no magic. Other half-breed demons still existed as well, but they had largely remained underground.

The Boston-born slayer could hear the other woman's audible sigh. "I've got a rogue slayer on my hands. A bunch of them, in fact."

"Have you told…" Faith trailed off, instantly realizing her mistake. Her knee-jerk reaction when badness came around was to call Giles. But without him, who were they supposed to rely on? Who was their stability now?

"I thought about that, too," the Californian said in a small voice.

Faith cleared her throat uncomfortably. "What do you know?"

"Spike's still pretty connected to the underground scene," Buffy started. "He warned me that a slayer with a vendetta for me was coming my way. Willow and I did a little footwork and traced the information back to Simone Doffler."

Faith silently rolled the name over her tongue. "I don't think I recognize that name."

"There's no reason you would. She wasn't with us against the First," Buffy explained. "Simone was originally in Rona's group in Chicago. She had a real issue with authority, so Rona shipped her off to Andrew's squad in Italy. Rona claimed she was hoping being in a less urban area would soften her edges a little, but she basically was just passing on a problem child to Andrew."

"Rona thought Andrew could deal with a rogue slayer?" Faith stated in mirthful disbelief.

Buffy chuckled. "Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Long-story short," she continued, "Simone's been bad news ever since she was Called. We battled once, a while back in Italy, and I won. So now she's made it her business to take me down."

"Basically the crazy wants to nail the final nail on your coffin," the brunette noted. "So, you said something about having more than one rogue slayer? Explain," Faith prompted.

"Yeah, it looks like Simone's been rallying some troops. That's why I need to nip this in the bud right away before her group gets any bigger."

Faith frowned. "Are there really that many girls who don't like you?" she asked in all seriousness. "What'd you do, Summers? Borrow all of their makeup without asking?"

"No offence, Faith, but you don't know what it's been like over here the past few months. While you've been livin' it up in jolly old England, I've been battling against small cliques of girls who'd like nothing more than to beat me down. Most nights on patrol I face more slayers than vampires, honestly."

"Then what makes this different?" Faith wondered aloud. She was proud of herself for being able to look past the Chosen One's jab.

"Because they haven't had a leader before," Buffy opined. "With all these other angry slayers, they've just wanted to beat me up to give me a scare. I don't think any of them actually want to kill me – they're just looking for someone to blame."

"And Simone is different," Faith stated, beginning to understand.

"She's out of her mind with wanting revenge, Faith," Buffy emphasized. "And I'm not just worried about my own life. If she succeeds and takes me down…I don't know who she'll go after next."

"Probably me, huh?"

"Maybe."

The two women were quiet for a moment.

"Is…is Angel still with you?" Buffy asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Faith affirmed. "We both moved out to Giles' estate in the country. I figured it would be safer than having him in London. Less…um…people out here."

"H-how is he doing?" Buffy questioned.

"He's better. Not…perfect. But better since…it happened," Faith revealed, stumbling over words she couldn't yet bring herself to say. "You should talk to him," she stated gruffly, trying to shove down emotions that threatened to spill over. Trying to rehabilitate Angel had been a longer process than she'd originally thought. "I think it would help. Both of you."

Buffy shook her head even though she knew the other girl couldn't see her. "I can't. Not yet at least. I can't –." The golden-haired slayer put a hand up to her face, and closed her eyes. "I can still see Giles," she sighed. "Unfortunately our slayer healing abilities fall short of emotional scaring."

"I know," the brunette acknowledged sadly.

"Can you leave him alone long enough to come out here?" Buffy asked.

On the other end of the line, thousands of miles away, Faith hesitated.

"I'll pay for the ticket," Buffy offered, her voice nearly pleading.

"B, you don't have to do that," the raven-haired woman sighed. "I'm not that same kid in Sunnydale who had to steal just to afford McDonalds."

"Right. Sorry."

"It's not that I don't want to help, B," Faith tried to explain her reticence. "I guess I just don't understand why you're reaching out to me? You've got plenty of other slayers across the globe who'll back you up in this."

"Because she hates me, Faith. She wants to kill me," Buffy re-emphasized. "And I figured if there was one person who knew what that was like, it would be you."

"I never wanted to kill you, B," the Bostonian quickly clarified. "Maim you a little, sure," Faith lightly laughed. "But I couldn't have killed you, not even at my wildest moments."

"I appreciate that. I do. But I still need you."

The word need resonated in the once-rogue slayer's mind.

Faith chewed on her bottom lip. "Alright." The word seemed to catch in her throat.

"Really?"

Faith's stomach tumbled hearing the relief in the Chosen One's voice. "Yeah," she grunted. "I'll make the arrangements as soon as possible. Do you have a number where I can reach you?"

"I can't afford a cell phone," Buffy explained. "I'm working, but it's not enough money for a plan yet. I've…I've actually been staying with Xander and Dawn since we moved here."

The admission of her sister-Slayer's living and financial situation unsettled Faith. She shoved back those emotions, however, and tried to stay focused on the task in front of them.

"How about Willow or Xander?" Faith suggested. "Do they have cell phones or landlines?"

"Yeah," Buffy affirmed. "I can give you Xander's number and tell him to expect a call from you." She rattled off a series of numbers and Faith quickly scrawled the information down on a pad of paper next to the phone.

"Got it. I, uh, I guess I'll be seeing ya soon, B," Faith said.

"Soon," Buffy breathed.

"Yeah."

A number of clicks sounded in the background.

"I-I should go," Buffy stumbled. "This international calling card is going to run out soon."

"Okay."

"Oh, and…thanks again, Faith," Buffy said in a soft voice. "I know you've got your own stuff to worry about, but I do really appreciate you helping me out with mine."

Faith hung up the phone, unsure if she'd just made a mistake by agreeing to fly to California and help Buffy. It wasn't that she didn't want to see the blonde, but things were different now. Things were…complicated.

A dark shadow passed across the hallway, and Faith brought a hand to her heart. "God, you scared me," she laughed in relief. "You've got to stop lurking like that."

Angel's forehead lined with concern. "Who was that?"

"Buffy." She couldn't lie to Angel, even to spare his feelings.

"What's up?" he asked. It was clear he was trying to be nonchalant, but Faith could tell just the word 'Buffy' was tearing him up.

"Apparently there's a rogue slayer in San Francisco who's building a small army to take down Buffy," Faith informed the undead man. "Assistance is needed and so arrangements were made."

"When do we leave?" Angel immediately offered.

Faith frowned. This wasn't going to be easy. "We aren't going."

"What do you mean? Aren't we going to help her? She needs us," he stubbornly stated.

"Angel," Faith started, internally grimacing at the words she knew she had to say. "S