Chapter 8

I returned to the warehouse via a portal from the installation. Adriana had asked to accompany me on this return trip. She wanted to spend some time cleaning up and tidying up some loose ends before the end. I couldn't stand to hear her talk about her ending, but I couldn't refuse her request either.

I had asked what she needed to do. All she would tell me was that she wanted to make sure that everyone had been taken care of. Adriana had requested that I not tell everyone what was happening until closer to the end. It was bad enough that her predicament was distracting me. She didn't want it to distract everyone else.

We had discussed with Virgil before Adriana and I had left of what we were going to do to obtain the weapon we needed to battle The First. Virgil had suggested that I should just go and get the weapon and return. With there being a level of uncertainty and danger involved, I wanted to go back to see Faith first. In the event that something happened, I didn't want there being anything left unsaid between us.

I wasn't planning on telling anyone that we had found a weapon to use again The First. It wasn't that I didn't trust anyone in the warehouse, but The First had a way of finding out things like where Faith and I were staying in Tahiti. I wanted to make sure that when I faced The First that it would be in for a nasty shock.

When I arrived back in the training area of the warehouse, I was greeted by Willow and Xander. They brought me up to speed about the increasing vampire attacks and deaths. Buffy entered the training area and looked at me strangely as if she was judging me. I had no idea what that was about, but it probably had something to do with Faith. Maybe Buffy was taking Faith's side on the prisoner interrogation incident back in Tahiti. Either way I didn't have any time to waste further on that discussion. There was too much going on and it was hard enough concentrating on that.

I talked to Buffy and Giles. I told them that we didn't have a weapon or a defense yet against The First. I was just stopping back to check on everyone and I was going to portal back to Virgil's universe and keep looking for a solution. They seemed to buy my "white lie". My next stop would be harder.

I found myself at the door of Faith's room. I was still in full combat armor with my helmet on. I knocked on the door. I didn't get an initial response and I was hesitant to knock again. I was afraid… I was afraid of the uncertainty of what could happen. I shook my head to clear those thoughts and I knocked again.

This time I heard "Come in…"

I opened the door and walked in. I saw Faith lying on the bed looking up at the ceiling with her hands behind her head. I could see from her face that she had been contemplating something important.

"Hi Faith… I hope I'm not interrupting you…" I said sounding uncertain and awkward.

There was a moment of awkward silence and then Faith looked at me and then sat up on the bed.

"No… It's okay Michael." Faith replied.

Faith continued, "Did you find anything to use against The First?" she asked.

I was still wearing my helmet, so Faith couldn't see my face as I suddenly felt uncomfortable. I couldn't lie to her. She was affected by this as well.

"As far as anyone outside these doors knows, the answer is no, but Adriana and Virgil were able to find something to use against The First." I said.

That seemed to brighten Faith's mood as she looked at me.

"Don't get too excited. The only problem is that the weapon we need is not in this universe or the universe where Virgil is located…" I said.

Faith kept looking at Michael. He had his helmet still on. There was something going on and Faith suddenly got a very cold worried feeling. She looked hard at Michael trying to make eye contact with him through his visor. Faith was still trying to sort out her feelings about the pregnancy and now Michael was talking cryptically. It was easy for him to isolate himself from his feelings and everyone else. He had his armor to hide behind.

I could see Faith look at me and this made it harder for me. I wasn't built for feelings and relationships. It was so much easier to stay aloof and focus on the mission. Maybe that was my secret for coping. I remembered everything and everyone, but I had disconnected myself from feeling. Being with Faith had me now facing everything I had seen and done through my life. Having to think about and face that Adriana was dying made it even worse. I started to question whether I was even human anymore at that moment with Faith looking at me.

"So where is this weapon?" Faith asked dreading the response.

"I'm going back home… I'm going to Reach…" I said.

I could see the look of shock on Faith's face as I told her I was going back to my home universe. She knew about Reach from the stories I had told her. "Why Reach? Wasn't it destroyed by the Covenant?" she asked.

I said that Reach had been "glassed" by the Covenant wiping out all life on the planet, but the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) had a major installation on Reach called Sword Base. Even though the surface structure of the base was probably destroyed the majority of the installation was underground. From information I had before I came over to this universe, part of the base underground structure had been destroyed during the battle by demolition charges to prevent the Covenant from getting any information and tech. There were probably still portions of the base that were intact and accessible. I believed those portions would probably contain the weapon and supply caches that I needed to find.

Faith looked at me with worry and concern. "When are you leaving?" she asked.

I could see sadness in her eyes, "I want to go as soon as possible, but with the increased vampire attacks I thought I would patrol and try to stabilize the situation here. I'll probably leave here no later than 48 hours from now." I said.

"Are you even going to take off your helmet, so I can see you?" Faith asked.

I almost said no to Faith. I felt better and safer having the armor between us, but I loved her and I respected her too much to hide from her. I took my helmet off and held in my left hand.

As soon as I had my helmet off, Faith got a look at my face and eyes and her concern and worry increased. "What's wrong Michael? You look like shit!" Faith said with concern as she saw me.

I didn't know what to say. Thoughts were racing through my mind. Finally all I could think to say was "I'm sorry…"

Faith stood up and ran to me and wrapped her arms around me in my battle armor. She had tears in her eyes. "Michael… Don't go back to Reach… We can run and hide from The First… We can go anywhere… I'm afraid if you go you won't come back…"

Faith knew that I couldn't run and hide. It was against my nature and training. For some reason I needed to know that she was safe. I only knew of one place that The First couldn't get to her. "Will you come with me when I go back to the installation and Virgil and wait for me there?"

"Yes… I will come with you… I will always wait for you." Faith said trying to smile through her tears.

I went out that night hunting for vampires. I went alone. I wanted to release my anger and frustrations on something and vampires were the perfect target. I lost count of how many vampires I dusted after twenty.

I returned to the warehouse as the sun was coming up. I was tired and spent. I had released my rage and anger and now I wanted to sleep.

I came in the warehouse and it was still quiet. I provided Adriana an update on my patrol as I headed for my room. I could feel myself crashing and I skipped going to the armory to take off my armor. I would just do it in my room or I would just sleep in it. I hadn't decided yet. I opened the door and I was surprised to see Faith curled up on the bed. I could only watch her and smile. At that moment of seeing her asleep and how beautiful she looked, I remembered thinking that I had no soul… I was wrong… Faith was my soul.

I stripped off my armor and crawled into bed with Faith. As I got in beside her, Faith woke up and turned to face me. Faith just looked at me and then she reached for me and kissed me. I was tired but I wanted her and she wanted me.

Afterwards we lay there spent. I was staring at the ceiling still trying to figure out everything I was feeling. Faith was lying beside me and looking at me. I didn't know how I could tell her that Adriana was dying and how it was eating me up inside…

Faith was still trying to decide how she felt about the pregnancy let alone how she was going to tell Michael. She just couldn't add this to his plate right now with him going to Reach. She just wanted to be with Michael at that moment and not have to worry about everything that was going on around them.

Faith got up a few hours later and left Michael to sleep. Faith made her way through the warehouse and found Buffy having a late breakfast in the kitchen area.

As Faith sat down, Buffy asked how Faith was doing.

"I'm okay… I'm still not too hungry in the mornings." Faith replied.

"How are things with Michael? Have you told him yet?" Buffy asked.

"I think we'll be okay… But I haven't told him yet. I didn't want to add to his burden right now." Faith said.

"You have to tell him sooner or later. Sooner would be better than later when your condition becomes obvious." Buffy said.

"B… Something is going on. I can't say too much as Michael asked me to keep it quiet, but I will be going back with Michael." Faith said lowering her voice.

"Does this have anything to do with The First?" Buffy asked curiously in a lowered voice as well.

"Yeah... But there is something else going on that Michael hasn't told me. Whatever it is, it must be big and bad as it looks like it is eating him up inside. I can't have him worrying about me and a baby right now." Faith said.

"Anything else I can do for you Faith? Just ask." Buffy asked.

"Thanks B." Faith replied smiling.

Stacy had been in the kitchen area when Faith came in and walked over to talk to Buffy. Stacy had managed to recover quickly from the vampire "attack" to everyone's relief and was taking it slowly. Stacy watched and made her way nonchalantly towards the two Slayers. She managed to get within earshot of Buffy and Faith without drawing their attention.

Stacy picked up pieces of their conversation. Stacy started to get upset when it appeared that Faith and Michael were patching their relationship up, but it took all of Stacy's self-control to not scream and run from the kitchen area when she heard the word… baby.

Stacy walked at a fast pace back to her quarters. The whole time her mind raced at what was happening…

"That bitch is pregnant and carrying Michael's child! That should be me… How could this happen?" Stacy thought to herself furiously.

Stacy hurried into her quarters and as she closed the door. The First was standing in the middle of her room as the image of her dead little brother.

"Things not working out like you planned… huh?" said the smiling image.

"Damn it! They should be finished and now they are back together and that whore is now pregnant!" Stacy angrily vented.

The First kept smiling. Even though Stacy's plan was falling apart, The First's plan was still moving along. "I think it's time to send that email, but I feel that won't be enough…" said The First.

"Why not?" asked a desperate Stacy.

"Because you are not a Slayer… Michael is powerful and unless you are as strong as or stronger than Faith… I don't think that Michael will accept you as his lover." replied The First.

"Even if I kill Faith… There is no guarantee that I will be the next Slayer." Stacy reasoned out.

The First always smiling replied, "True… But I think that there is way that you can get the power you need…"

"How?" asked a desperate angry Stacy.

"You could become my vessel and I can give you some of my power and strength. This would make you more desirable to Michael once Faith was gone…" replied The First.

Stacy was a little leery of this offer of power, but without it she would probably lose any chance of being with Michael and her perfectly constructed fantasy world would come crashing down around her.

"If I accept your offer… Can I then kill Faith?" Stacy asked.

"I have given it much thought… If you just straight up and killed Faith, there is the possibility of being found out or that Michael would mourn by her graveside… No I think the best thing is to just make Faith "disappear" by dropping her into another dimension with no way back…" The First replied smiling as always.

Stacy smiled at the thought of that bitch and bastard child being lost forever in another universe. It filled her heart with joy the more she thought about it.

"What do I have to do?" Stacy asked while still smiling at her thoughts.

The First replied, "Just accept me and pledge yourself to be my servant and I will do the rest…"

Stacy spread her arms and raised her head and said with all her soul and conviction, "I pledge myself to you… I pledge to be your humble servant… Accept my pledge to serve you."

The smiling image of Stacy's long dead little brother changed and The First Evil showed its true image and it sent black tendrils out and they entered Stacy's body through her eyes, nose and mouth…

Stacy continued to smile…

Faith had returned to her room to pack a small bag of things for her trip with Michael back to the installation. Faith was starting to feel somewhat normal again. She was happy and optimistic for the moment. Faith would tell Michael about the baby when he got back from Reach. She was hoping that whatever else was troubling Michael would either be resolved or he would open up and tell her, so that maybe she could help.

"One thing at a time…" Faith thought.

Faith took one last look around her room and left to meet up with Michael in the training area to portal back to Virgil.

As Faith left and closed the door to her room she missed seeing on her computer a message box come up indicating that she had one new mail message…