She walked alone, as she often had in the past. Only a gray hoodie sweatshirt kept her protected from the pouring rain. A burgundy backpack rested on her shoulders. The afternoon sky was darkened with storm clouds. Her dark eyes were focused solely on the ground before her, watching Nike™ covered feet taking one step after the other. She’d lost track of time and space, the slayer-dreams becoming gradually more bizarre. So one night, she’d packed up what little things she had in life and headed out. Back to good ole Sunny D. Her mind griped. She wasn’t sure of what she would do differently this time around. She pulled her hands out of the pockets of her black jeans, looking up. Through the gloom, she followed an invisible path, knowing how to get into SunnyDale by memory now. She’d certainly spent plenty of time running to and from the place, violence and mayhem forefront in her mind. She’d been so single-minded, carving a path of destruction, uncaring as to who was left in its wake. She’d managed to alienate the only other person who had seemed to understand what it was like. Buffy… Her mind whispered, reverently, a faint smile tugging at her lips. Her sister slayer and she alone knew what it was like. To be a Slayer. There was no The Slayer. Not with the two of them. They knew what it felt like to have other people depend on you, need you. She’d been one of those people first. Just one of the gang, fighting the baddies of the night. Now all that had changed.

“Superfriends wouldn’t want to be near me again. Unless it was to kill me or have me back in prison.” Grudgingly, she figured that it would be one of the best things they did. She was a danger. She paused in mid step and looked at her hands. To the casual outsider, they looked perfectly clean, but she knew differently. Her hands would always be stained red. It had all started with Deputy Finch. She should have stopped it then, but she was unable to, instead choosing to completely deny it had even happened. Denial always made a problem disappear didn’t it? Buffy had wanted her to come clean, but she preferred to not even acknowledge it. Though, she was beginning to think that maybe she should. And then the Council came after her and all bets were off. Waking up alone in that hospital room had been one of the most upsetting events of her life, even with seeing her first watcher killed and being used by the second. Realization had hit her then or what she thought had to be it, telling her that none of them had cared. They had their slayer and all she had been was the result of a mistake. Anger had been a close friend of hers for a long time then, and she used it to get payback.

I was a fool. A complete fuck up. Ma would be so proud. She began to wonder why Angel hadn’t killed her when presented with the opportunity. She’d given him ample reason to hate her. Shaking her head, she tried to dislodge her downward spiraling thoughts. No, she didn’t want to think any more about her mother than she needed to. A wet strand of dark hair stuck to her face, the hood miserably losing its battle against the rain. She didn’t care. Her thoughts wandered back to the last dream she’d had. There was Buffy, fighting for all she was worth and then things sped up. Her mind followed Buffy as the blonde made a dizzying run up twisted stairs to the top of some strange construct. She saw this brown haired girl that she didn’t remember ever seeing, who seemed hurt, and an old man who was obviously behind it. The man made a trip over the side of the building with a careless shove from the slayer. She said something; spoke a few words to the young girl. Without warning, time slowed to a crawl as Buffy turned and started to run. Seeing that bright light was where the dream often ended.

Dark eyes found themselves once more focused on the slick ground. She really had no clue what it meant and was starting to get the feeling that she would not like the answer. Whatever it was, though…She was going to find out soon. She looked up as she passed a sign.

Welcome To SunnyDale

That Night…

Motels are funny things, she mused, staring at the walls with their old, peeling paint. At least the bathroom had been in slightly better condition. The paint still looked fresh; though she was sure it had not been that shade of green before. Still, there was barely any space between the toilet and what passed for a bathtub. Despite being able to pay for more, she had fallen back on old habits. And now, she found herself once again in one of the cheapest motel rooms in SunnyDale. At twenty dollars a night, it cost a little more than her old room had. Then again it wasn’t the room she’d had from the Mayor either. That place had been so lavish, almost too large for her. It was--had been home. She dropped her pack next to the door, peeled off her hoodie along with a black t-shirt that clung to her skin and dropped them on the floor. It seemed as safe a spot as any. With a sigh, she sat on the hard mattress, clad in her bra and jeans, and threw herself back on the bed. Both hands rested over her eyes, her palms pressing into her cheeks. This continued for a few moments until she dragged her hands down the sides of her face. Bored…I’m bored! This would not do. She wasn’t content to just idly twiddle her thumbs either. She had been and still was a woman of action.

Coming to a decision, she sat up and got off the bed, walking over to her backpack. She dug through it before pulling out a wooden stake. Weighing the solid wood in one hand, she considered. Maybe there was something that needed slaying. Even if not, patrolling was a good way to pass the time. The decision in mind, she pulled her shirt back on, unlocked the door and headed outside.

In The Graveyard…

She was feeling pretty good. Two vamps dusted and she’d only been out for half an hour. It was kind of strange, like the population had jumped since she’d been away. B’s slacking. She toyed with the idea of locating her sister slayer and teasing her about it. She sobered slowly. Buffy wouldn’t like the idea of anything with her, let alone talking. The last time she remembered seeing Buffy, the blonde had tried to kill her. She heard a noise to her left and quickly looked in that direction. Buffy?! Something was off. She hadn’t gotten that familiar twinge when the other slayer was around.

“Buffy!” The blonde didn’t even acknowledged she was there, stiffly walking along, a stake clenched tightly in one hand. She seemed distracted, enough to not notice the two vampires sneaking up on her. The brunette didn’t take time to think about it and sprinted across the grass. She planted with her right foot and launched herself at the other slayer, tackling her to the ground. “Pay attention!” She yelled into the blonde’s face before jumping to her feet and starting after the vampires. Buffy just sat there, not even blinking as one of the vampires swung at her savior. Unblinking, the brunette caught the fist aimed for her face and thrust the stake home with her other hand. The other vampire was caught with a back kick and knocked to the ground. She crouched over him after he fell, and he too became dust. “Got ‘em, B.” She looked to Buffy, surprised at the blank stare facing her. “Buffy?” I didn’t tackle her that hard. She kneeled and waved a hand in front of the blonde’s face. The lights are on, but no one’s home. She snapped her fingers a couple times. Suddenly, those green eyes blinked at her. There we--

“Hello! I am Buffy!” …go? The brunette’s mind stuttered. She waved her hand again. “Who are you?” A chill ran down the brunette’s spine. Something was very, very wrong.

“Faith…” The brunette set her stake down on the ground and grabbed Buffy’s arms. “Buffy, you know me!” At the still vacant stare, she started shaking slightly. “Buffy! It’s me! Remember? Turned evil and tried to kill all your friends!” Hate, she’d expected. Maybe even getting pounded, but to not even be remembered? This was unreal!

“I’m the Vampire Slayer. I kill vampires.”

“Yes, yes I know you kill vampires! B, stop it already! You’re starting to scare me!” Faith then noticed a faint whirring noise. Buffy tilted her head and blinked at her. “Buff…”

“Where…are…m-my friends?” Faith was alarmed to hear the blonde slayer’s voice deepening and slowing down. She noted the chill to Buffy’s skin, and then how it did not feel like skin at all. She released her hold and scrambled backwards, her eyes widened in disbelief.

“Buh…you’re not Buffy!”

“I think the Buffybot headed this way!” Bot? She got to her feet slowly, seeing Xander along with a blonde she recognized as Xander’s girlfriend. She turned and bolted, hiding behind a large stone angel and trying desperately to get her bearings. She had gotten out of sight before they noticed her. She knew a lot of strange things happened in SunnyDale, but she was pretty sure that Buffy being a robot wasn’t one of them. She heard Xander speaking and listened closely to hear him.

“Yeah she’s here,” He paused for a moment and then responded as if someone was talking to him. “I think her batteries ran down. Time to recharge her.” She then heard the blonde’s voice.

“Xander…is that a stake?”

“Of course it is. You know, Buffy with a stake isn’t a strange occurrence.” His voice caught on the slayer’s name.

“She’s still holding hers.” Hearing sudden silence, Faith carefully edged around the statue and peered at the duo standing there. Xander was kneeling next to the robot, much in the same position she had been in. He looked to the blonde, who merely shook her head.

“I’m going to need some help to get the bot back, Will.” He was quiet and nodded.

“She is heavier than she looks.” The woman lifted one of the arms. “Couldn’t Willow have made her lighter than this?”

“An…don’t. Just don’t,” He looked over at the robot as he stood. “She’s all that we have. And she’s no Buffy. The only Buffy who’s Buffy is the real one.” Faith pulled away from the statue and headed away swiftly. If anything else had been said, she didn’t catch it. She needed to think. Had Buffy really done it? Had she left SunnyD? She felt saddened, but understood. Buffy had wanted to live a normal life, do things like an average every day girl would. And she figured the blonde slayer had done just that. Just packed up one day and left, because normal and SunnyDale had never gone hand in hand. She’d always thought SunnyDale should have been her place and now it really was. I may not be THE Slayer, but I’m still a slayer. She should have been happy. The old Faith would have been jumping for joy at the fact. Finally, a town to call her own. But no. Instead she just felt hollow. She really was all that SunnyDale had now. The thought left a sour taste in her mouth.