Role Reversal: Chapter Nine

[jesterladyfic]

Chapter Nine: In Which There Is Hospitals and Exposition

I came in my front door and wandered into the living room and fell onto the couch. I was dead tired and almost not figuratively. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep up this pace of fighting evil before I slipped up even more than I had already. But you know what? I’m sick of moaning and groaning about it. I’ve got a destiny, yada yada, and I may as well accept it. Which works well in theory, anyway. I got up and went upstairs to take a really long shower, but the entire time in the back of my mind was one question:

What was I going to do about Faith?

***

“Faith, we need to have a little talk,” the Mayor said as she opened the door to his knock.

“This is about the box, ain’t it?” she asked apprehensively.

“Nasty business, wasn’t it?” he commented cheerfully as if nothing was wrong.

“Look, I’m sorry I screwed up. I didn’t know about them coming. I didn’t know what to do,” Faith admitted,
hating her weakness.

“I know all about that, Faith,” he said. “And I didn’t come here to discuss it. I brought you a present.”

“I get a present?” Faith asked, her face lighting up. “What’s the occasion?”

“That look on your face is my reward,” he told her. “Now, you actually get two presents, but the first one’s first.
This is for my Ascension.”

He handed her a gift wrapped box. Faith sat down and opened it and pulled out a dress. It was a beautiful
summer dress that was her size and a perfect color on her.

“A dress? Me?” Faith asked. “Aren’t you gonna need me to fight? Dresses aren’t really me, you know?”

“Faith, you’re a beautiful young lady and being a Slayer isn’t all you are. Boys are gonna be lining up around
the block for my little girl. The ones I haven’t eaten, that is.” He chuckled at the thought. “The Ascension will go
smooth as cream and I want you to stand out from all the rest. Now go try it on!”

“I don’t know,” Faith said. “It’s weird.”

“Just try it on,” the Mayor said eagerly. “I want to see it.”

“Fine, you’re the boss,” she agreed and went to try it on, secretly wanting to see his reaction.

Smoothing it down in the front Faith wondered if she had the courage to go out there. It was a far cry from her
usual leather pants. But she thought she looked pretty anyway. Continuing to smooth it down she gathered her
muster and walked back out to face him.

His face took on a proud fatherly gaze and she blushed.

“I’m so proud of you,” he said. “You’re not perfect, no, and you can make mistakes sure as the next girl, but
you’re all the Slayer any man could need or want. I wish you’d wear dresses more often. They bring out something
soft in your eyes. Though, I suppose they’re not really conducive to fighting.” He chuckled again.

“Not really,” Faith said, then bitterly added, “though Buffy doesn’t seem to have much trouble with it.”

“Never you mind about Buffy,” he told her. “I’m going to eat her. Now you ready for your other present?”


***

When I walked into the library the next day I could tell there had been serious information gathering going on.

“The papers were a hit?” I asked.

“Indeed they were,” Wesley said excitedly. “We have almost made up for our devastating loss of the box.”

“Way to be sensitive, Wes!” I told him putting my bag on the table and hopping up on it.

“Oh, I am sorry,” Wesley said, sounding surprised. “I did mean to tell you, Buffy, that I was very pleased with
the way you handled yourself. You’ve been dealing with shades of gray so often recently and I was glad to see you
weren’t confused about the proper way to deal with the situation.”

“There are no proper ways to deal with situations on the Hellmouth,” I told him and turned to ask Giles.

“So, what’s the sitch then?”

“Well, we have acquired a great deal of information about what an Ascension is and the process of it.”

“And...” I prompted. The door opened and Willow and Oz walked in, holding hands.

“Hey, guys.”

“Hey,” said Oz.

“So give us the whole deal on the Ascension,” Willow said, plopping herself down in a chair and giving her avid
attention to Wesley and Giles.

“Ah yes, well,” Giles began, as he always began, with British stuttering. “The pages that Drusilla acquired for
us have information on what an Ascension is. It is the total transformation of a human person into a demon. But it is
a true demon, not like the diluted forms we see that inhabit the earth now. The results of an Ascension are truly
horrific. There aren’t very many references to them happening at all, save in the books of Ascension, but in my
earlier reading...” Giles fumbled for one of his books “...there was a mention where it was written, ‘Tomorrow is the
Ascension. God help us all.’ ”

“Upbeat guy,” Oz commented.

“Sounds just up our street,” I said. “He say anything else?”

“No,” Giles replied. “No one ever heard of him or his town ever again.”

“Not that it wouldn’t kill me to see Sunnydale go down in flames but at the cost of all the people, I’m gonna
have to kill him instead,” I announced.

“That will be extremely hard to do,” Wesley informed me.

I hate it when he does that.

“Why?” I asked, not really wanting to know.

“Because part of the preparation for an Ascension is a ritual that transforms the do-er into a thing
indestructible. The Mayor is impervious to any harm.”

“So you’re saying that I can’t stop him?”

“I’m saying that until the Ascension, you can’t. However, in the books we’ve seen a number of references to
archeological excavations that have unearthed what were obviously the remains of several known true demons. The
archeologists classified them as dinosaurs, but if what the books say is true…”

“Then the demons can be killed after they’ve completed Ascension,” I finished. “Well, comforting. And not so.
It would be so much easier to kill the Mayor now rather than demon-ified. What did they use to kill the demons?”

“Well, people didn’t do it,” Wesley admitted. “One was buried underneath an eruption of a volcano. And the
others were also natural disasters of some kind.”

“Great,” I said. “All we need then is a volcano. Do you think you can get those on E-bay?”

“Buffy,” Giles reassured me, “don’t overreact. I’m sure we’ll be able to think of something.”

“Sure, pep-talk me,” I told him, rolling my eyes. But in a fond way.

“So where do we go from here?” Willow asked, trying to bring us back to the real issues at hand.

“Can you two update Xander and Cordelia as to what’s going on?” I asked.

Willow nodded.

“Sure thing.”

“I’ll talk to Spike, I guess,” I said. “How’s the ritual coming?”

“It’s rather right on schedule for about Graduation time,” Giles told me. “However, since that is going to be here
it might not be the best place to keep the ingredients.”

“We can probably take it to the mansion,” I said. “But that might mean you spending some time over there.”

“Well, it must be done,” Giles said.

“Giles is so stiff upper lip-y,” Willow whispered to Oz who squeezed her hand.

“Quite,” Giles said, overhearing and took off his glasses to clean them.

“In the meantime, everybody keep finding out as much as they can about the Mayor, blah blah, the usual,” I said.

Willow and Oz nodded and left for class and to tell the others what was up. I stayed behind and talked to Giles
and Wesley about something.

“I’m worried about Faith,” I told them. “I don’t want her around during Graduation. She could do a lot of damage
and I have enough to worry about without her as well.”

“Well, Buffy,” Giles told me, “it’s your decision, of course, but what do you plan to do about it? Faith has made
her choices and the only way I can foresee to stop her would be to, to…”

“Kill her?” I supplied. “I don’t want to do that, Giles.”

“Of course you don’t.”

“Murder of a human, even one who is committing dangerous crimes,” Wesley put in, “is a very serious thing. It
leads to where Faith has gone and that is not a pretty place, Buffy.”

“I know,” I said sharply. “Who knows that better than me? I could be her in different circumstances. I feel
responsible for her in some ways. But I can’t let her go on hurting other people, not when I can stop her.”

“Then incapacitate her in some way that will not mortally injure her,” Wesley told me.

“I agree,” Giles said, raising his eyebrows slightly, in shock, I believe, at this admission. “If you could capture
her and keep her locked up, drugged if necessary, at the proper time after the Ascension we could hand her over to-“

“Who?” I asked. “The Council? I don’t think so. Not after what they did to me and will likely do to her.”

“We’ll think of someone,” Giles assured me. “The main thing is that she is no longer in the position to harm
anyone.”

“Right,” I said. “I’ll go find her.”

“Buffy,” Giles said, pleading on his face, “use the uttermost caution.”

“I always do,” I said.


***

About a week ago I had Willow finally figure out where Faith was living now. We’d tried before but we’d found her outside the home first and so abandoned the house hunting. I wanted to know so we could keep better tabs on her. But I was going there now to do way more than keep tabs on her. I was going there to - I swallowed and looked at the knife in my hand. I didn’t know what and probably wouldn’t until the heat of the battle made the decision for me. I didn’t want to think about it.

You know, it’s funny that whenever Faith does something truly terrible, I’m really mad about it, but I always keep my
cool and don’t fly off the handle; but, now, when she’s actually been laying low and not hurting anyone that I know of,
I was going to take her down. Her down. Faith down. Human down. I was the Slayer, not a killer. I was supposed
to defeat the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness, not the fellow Slayer that was only here because of
me anyway. Faith was here because I wouldn’t die and I couldn’t save Kendra. Oh, plus all her bad choices, that
too. Funny how when the moment comes to take care of someone else’s problem, the only thing you can think
about is how it’s all your fault.

In I went. Faith was lying on her bed with the music blasting, flipping through a magazine. The apartment was
killer. I would love to live there. But not under the same circumstances.

I flipped the music off. Faith turned around and faced me, a slow smile working up her face. I knew that smile.
It meant she’d been itching for a fight and had now found one. I guess I was only too happy to oblige.

“So what’d I do this time?” she wanted to know.

“You know this is just a general thing,” I said.

“Oh, so judgment finally fell?” she realized. “Come to take me away?”

“Something along those lines. Take, drag, whichever,” I said. “I’m open.”

“Oh, you’re just full of open,” Faith agreed sarcastically. “That and yourself.”

“I can’t let you hurt anyone else,” I said simply.

“Well, I was gonna start with you anyway,” she said, moving into a fighting stance. I readjusted mine to match
hers and the fight began.

It was pretty snazzy and exhilarating actually. Fighting a human with my own abilities was something I’d never
encountered before. Of course fighting someone I’d once loved very dearly made me sick.

Faith did have a nice apartment for fighting though. There was big open spaces, a huge bed, lots of convenient
furniture for smashing. We fought for about ten minutes and within that space of time we completely trashed the
place.

Faith grabbed my arms and I struggled to make her let go. Her foot slipped on the floor and we crashed
through the large window landing on the roof outside. As we landed, I slipped a handcuff on her wrist locking her in
tandem with the one already around my own.

“Stick around,” I told her.


***


“I’m worried about Buffy,” Giles told Spike as he completed setting up the still finishing ritual.

“Bint can take care of herself,” Spike said, not really caring. Buffy wasn’t his favorite person at the moment.

“Yes, I know,” Giles replied. “But Faith is very dangerous and I want to make sure that she’s getting the job
done without encountering any harm.”

“Fine, we’ll stroll on over to the Dark One’s and I’ll break up their little squabble.” Spike gave in. “But you gotta
keep this ritual going strong.”

“Yes, it’s quite self-sustaining now,” Giles assured him. “Though I would like to get some information about the
actual cursing itself.” Giles started to move out the front door and Spike followed him. “Now, were you in the actual
location at the time when Drusilla was cursed?”

“No,” Spike said as they walked up Crawford Street, “we’d split up at the time…”


***

Faith and I were tugging each other around by the handcuffs, smashing into walls and looking for all the world like a pair of schizo acrobats at the circus who couldn’t remember their routine properly.

With a snap the handcuffs broke and we each flew back and smashed into the wall. She recovered first and
picked up a loose brick and tossed it at my head. I narrowly dodged it and lunged for her. Closer quarters leave little
room for flying objects aimed at my head. Yes, I know I’m very bright.

Faith flipped backward up to the edge of the roof. I followed her and we exchanged some more blows. She
brought her leg down toward my shoulder, but I caught it and threw her onto her back, but she flipped back up and
caught me in the face with both feet. I staggered backward and she grabbed something out of her pocket and
brought it down in a stabbing motion. The choice was made and I pulled out my knife and swung.

We struck at the same time, me in her stomach and her in my arm. I do think that I got the better end of it
though because she’d jabbed me with a needle and I’d gutted her with a knife. I felt sick.

“You did it, B.” Faith looked down with astonishment and perhaps some respect at the knife growing out of her
stomach. I started to see black dots. Blackness opened wide its arms to engulf me and before I was enveloped in
its hug I saw Faith pull out the knife and whisper, “I’m sorry,” before toppling over the edge of the roof and plummeting downward with her brown hair waving in the breeze.

The darkness embraced me and I didn’t see anymore.


***

“Buffy!” Giles shouted as he saw her lying out on the roof. “Buffy, can you hear me?”

“Relax, Watcher,” Spike told him. “I’ll get her.” He jumped through the window landing next to the fallen
Slayer. He sniffed the air and picked her up. He glanced over the roof ledge and then returned to Giles.

“There’s no blood on her,” he told him. “But the other girl’s in the alley. Better get them both to the hospital.
Slayer’s got a funny scent.”

Having spilled all of his information, Spike walked away to the door, Giles hurrying after him. They picked up Faith in the alley and took them both to the hospital.

Faith was taken into intensive care immediately and after Buffy’s examination she was placed into a normal
room, stabilized but completely non-responsive to anything the doctors did to wake her up. All they could find was a
strange toxin in her blood and a needle prick in her arm. Spike nudged Giles into the hall.

“Gotta move it,” he said. “Mayor’ll likely show up soon and not too happy with us. I’ll stay here and keep an
eye on the Slayer while you take this...” Spike pulled the empty syringe he’d found in Buffy’s arm out of his pocket and handed it to Giles “...back to the Batcave and figure out what’s going on.”

Giles looked grateful for Spike’s leading in the situation and hastened to do as he said, after casting one last
glance at his pale Slayer lying in the hospital room.


***


The Mayor stood in the middle of Faith’s apartment and appraised the wrecked place with nervous thoughts.

“They crashed out here, sir,” one of his vampire lackeys said, motioning to the roof. “Someone’s blood is down
in the alley. It’s Faith’s.”

“No!” the Mayor snapped. “Find her! She’s a good girl and she can take care of herself,” he told himself,
desperately trying to sound convincing. His phone rang and he grabbed at it eagerly. It was the hospital.


***

“Slayers and poisons?” asked Wesley. “I will notify the Council immediately.”

“Excellent,” Giles told him. “They have a very reliable toxin database.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Wesley concurred. “I shall report back very soon.”

“Good man,” Giles said and Wesley hurried into the office to use the phone.

“Every book on poisons, Slayers and everything in between is out here, Giles.” Willow’s worried face hovered
into his view.

“Let’s get cracking then, shall we?” Giles said. “Buffy’s life is at stake.”

Giles, Willow, Oz, Xander, and even Cordelia, sat there tirelessly looking for anything that might help them,
redoubling their efforts when Spike phoned and told them that the doctors said Buffy was getting worse, breathing
very shallowly and that they were unable to pick up any neural activity.

They weren’t making any head way when Wesley came back into the room looking very nervous.

“Well,” Giles asked anxiously, “were they able to find out what it was?”

“They wouldn’t help,” Wesley said reluctantly. “He hung up on me.”

“What?” Giles asked, outraged. “Their Slayer is lying in the hospital and the berks hung up on you?”

“They said,” Wesley explained, “that Buffy was too independent and that when a Slayer’s time has come it
needs to be allowed to occur in order for the new Slayer to ar-“ Wesley cut off short and flinched as Giles picked up
the book nearest him and threw it into the wall.

“Bloody hell!” he shouted and clenched his fist. The Scoobies looked aghast at this side of Giles they hadn’t
seen before.

“I apologize, Giles,” Wesley began again. “I tried to reason with them but then he hung up on me and refuses
to take my calls.”

“Who does?” Giles asked without looking at him.

“My father,” Wesley admitted.

Giles did look at him then.

“I’m sorry,” he said shortly. “I know you tried, Wesley. Don’t worry, we’ll just find it ourselves. Now help.”

“Of course,” Wesley said and hurried to the table to begin researching with the others.


***


I couldn’t believe it but I was actually doing the whole cliché life flashing before eyes thing. It hadn’t happened to me last time I died, but admittedly, that was rather quick.

I got to the point where Faith and I were fighting on the roof and I didn’t want to see what was going to happen
next. I closed my eyes and tried to run away.

I woke up in a hospital bed. I was alone. There was no one else there. I got out of the bed and wandered
through the halls. I hate hospitals. I’ve always hated them for various emotionally dragging down ways.

But I was glad that I was here. I knew that it meant I wouldn’t have to leave again. Maybe I could rest.

I came to a room and there were machines beeping inside. I went in. It was Faith.

“Back for more?” she croaked out.

I winced. She looked horrible. That was my fault.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean,” I started to say as I tried to walk away. But Faith got to the door ahead of me. For a
girl who had a gut wound she moved real quick.

“Let’s go somewhere else,” she said. “Hospitals really aren’t my thing.”

“All right,” I agreed. “How?”

“Close your eyes,” she said.

I raised an eyebrow but closed my eyes obediently.

“When did you become Wicca girl?” I asked.

“I’ve always been here,” she said and I opened my eyes. I was in my room. Faith was sitting on my bed. The
window was open and the curtains flapped in the breeze.

“Do you remember...” she asked casually, leaning back on her elbows and exposing her wounded stomach
“...when we found that nest of fire demons down by the beach?”

“Yes.” I smiled and walked over to sit beside her. “You nearly got yourself killed.”

“But you pulled me out,” Faith said, smirking. “I knew you could handle it.”

“You always did seem to know things,” I answered.

A knife appeared in my hands and it vanished. I got up and walked away unable to look at her.

“You couldn’t pull me out again,” she told me. “I have to do that.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” I asked quietly.

“Because I didn’t want you to see me,” she said.

“I know who you are,” I said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”

“I’m sorry you’re going to die,” she said. “Looks like there’s an epidemic going around.”

“I’m not,” I said and sat down on the bed again. “I can’t do this anymore, Faith. If black isn’t not white, then
what is it? If you can fall, so can I. If I win, someone else comes. Can’t we rest now, Faith?”

“No,” she told me. “Not you. You’ll die, but you can’t rest. I couldn’t do it so you have to.”

“I don’t want to be the One.”

“But you are. I can see it. Don’t always like it, but I can see it.”

“Faith, I never meant…”

Faith shook her head.

“Cheers, B. I meant but doesn’t mean I meant to mean to.”

“Does that make sense?” I asked her smiling.

“Hell yeah,” she answered and shot me a grin. I felt warm. “So want some help?” she asked.


***

Xander was starting to feel desperate. It had been hours and they hadn’t found a cure for Buffy. She was slowly slipping away from them and if they didn’t find something soon, she would be lost to them forever. And a future without Buffy just didn’t bear thinking about. He redoubled his efforts.

“Look at this,” Oz announced to everyone. They all gathered around his and Willow’s corner and looked over
their shoulder.

“Yes, it certainly has the same symptoms,” Giles agreed. “I do believe it is the very poison we are looking for.”

“Oz found it,” Willow pointed out, probably nearly deliriously happy at being able to help Buffy at last.

“We’re all well aware Oz found it, Willow,” Cordelia snapped, looking happy that the research was finally over.

Oz kissed Willow’s hand quickly and they all hurried off to the hospital.

Spike met them at the entrance.

“What’s this all about then?” he asked. “You got the cure?”

“Yes, I believe we do,” Giles answered. “We may require your assistance however.”

“For what?” Spike asked suspiciously.

“The translation here roughly states,” Wesley explained, “that in order for the strength of the strong to return,
the life of the opposite must be added.”

“You need my bloody…blood?” Spike questioned. “Get some undead simpleton. I’m not donating for that bird.”

“Spike, it is imperative that we have someone who is a Master and preferably from the Line of Aurelius, which
seems to be the Line that is commonly associated against Buffy.”

“So, it needs to be me,” Spike ended, “because Angel’s sodding demised and I’m letting you nowhere near
Dru. Fine, stick your needles in me, but the bint had better appreciate it. Not bloody likely,” he added under his
breath.

“Thank you, Spike,” Giles said. “Come with me and we’ll procure your blood and then we’ll have someone
stand watch while I administer it to Buffy.”

Giles and Spike hurried to find a secluded area, Giles drawing a syringe from his pocket as he did so. The rest
went to see Buffy in her hospital room.

Xander and Willow went inside, while Oz, Cordelia and Wesley stood in awkward silence outside the door.
Well, at least Wesley was awkward.

While they stood there, they heard someone crying around the corner. Cordelia, always anxious to know
anything about anyone, peered around it and then snapped her head back to whisper,

“It’s the Mayor! He’s crying!”

“Faith,” Oz stated.

“Most probably, yes,” Wesley agreed. “I do believe there was a modicum of real affection in their relationship
from what I’ve observed.”

“Watch out, he’s coming!” Cordelia hissed. They all tried to look nonchalant. Oz won. Wesley lost.

The Mayor rounded the corner and spotted them, then stopped.

“Where is she?” he asked sharply. “I’m going to kill her.”

“Who are you killing today?” Cordelia asked in a bored tone. “So long as it’s not me anyway.”

“Where is the Slayer who tried to kill my little girl?” His voice rose to a shout at the end.

“You can’t have her,” Oz said quietly.

“Indeed you cannot.” Wesley puffed himself up. “You will not be allowed to harm her.”

“Then you’ll have to stop me,” the Mayor said and started to push past them. The three of them hung onto him
while Wesley shouted for help. Several orderlies came running around the corner.

“He’s trying to hurt her,” Wesley said hysterically.

The orderlies pulled the Mayor away.

“Sir, you need to calm down,” they told him as they dragged him down the hall.

“This is far from over,” the Mayor shouted back at the three and at Willow and Xander who were standing just
inside the door. “You’re going to wish you had let me kill her.”

“Uh, he's insane,” Xander said nervously.

“No duh,” Cordelia told him, her tone sarcastic, but affectionate.

Giles and Spike drew near and everyone except Spike went inside to administer his blood to Buffy.

Everyone crowded around the bed and held their breath as Giles slowly depressed the plunger, pushing Spike’s
blood into Buffy’s veins.


***

I woke up. Everyone was standing around me and then started wearing ridiculous grins and hugging each other and hugging me. I wondered briefly for a moment if it was my birthday, but then I remembered if that had been the case, everyone would be running and screaming and crying.

“What’s with the big celebration?” I asked, sitting up, wincing as I felt a little weak, but strangely empowered.
Maybe there was some kind of big drug in my system.

“Buffy, we got you back!” Willow squealed. “You’re not going to die!”

“Well, that’s good news anyway,” I answered. It was all coming back to me now. I hate it when it does that.
“Let me get dressed and then we’ll go back to the library and make up a game plan,” I said.

Everyone shooed out of the room and I stood there for a long moment, remembering Faith. Remembering the
fight. Remembering what she’d told me. Remembering how peaceful it had felt to be with her. Remembering that
now I had to go and fight. Again.

I got dressed and then went to see her. She lay, very pale, very comatose. Slowly I bent down and kissed her
forehead. Then I straightened up. It was time to end this.