Facing the Shadows
Title: Facing the Shadows
Fandom: Buffy/Angel
Pairings: Faith/Kennedy, mentions of past Willow/Kennedy and Buffy/Immortal
Rating: PG-13
Timeline/Continuity: Futurefic. Spoilers for “Chosen.”
Summary: Years after Willow’s death, Kennedy returns to Sao Paulo with a new lover and a new mission. Written for femslash_minis. mireille719 wanted macaws, cigarettes, and South America. She also didn’t want fluff, and while I’m not 100% sure what this is, Goddess knows it isn’t fluff.
“Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.”-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
American poet, 1807--1882
Facing the Shadows
Year: 2015
Kennedy hasn’t returned to Sao Paulo since, Faith knows. Why should she have? It’s not like Buffy and her Scoobies ever had camping trips at the Sunnydale crater, hiking around it, panting through the dryness of the desert or shimming in the cool weather of the ocean at what once was Sunnydale's beach. They scattered to the ends of the world, Buffy to Italy, Giles to England, Xander to Africa, running from the past, from a truth no one wanted to face.
And Willow and Kennedy came here, to South America, to the suburbs of Sao Paulo. Faith never knew why exactly they came here, but why did any of them go anywhere? Now Giles, going to England, that made sense. And she had been pretty much stuck in Cleveland for the first few years after Sunnydale because, well, she was a wanted fugitive. Leaving the country wasn’t exactly an option unless Willow or someone teleported her out. But what allure did Rome have for Buffy? Why was Xander sent to Africa? No one had ever deigned to inform Faith of the answers.
Just as no one told her why she and Kennedy had been chosen for this mission. It couldn’t have passed the Council’s awareness that this was the very city that Willow and Kennedy had lived in for five years. Faith guessed that Dawn had assigned them this mission on purpose, had decided that it was time for Kennedy to begin the next stage of some healing process. She didn’t like the Council playing with Slayers’ minds like that, not really, but knew that Dawn wasn’t exactly fond of it either. She did it because she felt she had to, because it was what was necessary to save Slayers’ lives and hold off the next apocalypse. And as much as Faith didn’t like it, she could respect it.
Sao Paulo itself was a busy metropolitan cosmopolis. Full of people, bristling with activity, it was the type of city that Faith liked. The type of city one could get lost in-just a single, nameless person in a sea of over twenty-five million. The fourth largest city in the world, after Mexico City, Mumbai, and Calcutta. But on the outskirts, in the suburbs, Willow and Kennedy had known a very different type of existence.
Faith pulled out her box of Newport Lights and took a cigarette. There were only three left within, which meant that Kennedy had smoked half the carton in the last three days. Not a good sign.
Faith slipped out of the motel room, lighting the cigarette once she was outside. She took a drag, then exhaled it slowly as she thought. Kennedy wouldn’t be at her best on this mission, could be prone to mistakes. Faith would have to be extra careful, have to watch out for both of them.
Not that the mission was supposed to be all that difficult. A new figure had appeared on the scene of the demonic underworld, a figure known only as the Shadow. Whoever he was, whatever he was, he was still just a bit player. Small chips. But the Council wanted him dealt with before he had the potential to cause even bigger problems. He was reputed to be working from Sao Paulo, so that’s where Faith and Kennedy were sent to find him.
* * * * *
Earlier that afternoon. . . .
Kennedy made her way through the streets of Sao Paulo looking for something to kill. It was still only late afternoon, not nearly dark enough for vampires to be about, but if she stuck to back allies where the sun did not shine she might find something. Not to mention the host of evil creatures which did not need to fear the sun. She was sure to find something. Anything.
Kennedy slipped into a back alley, scanning it for potential threats. Even seven years later, she still knew the city of Sao Paulo like the back of her hand. Five years of patrolling every night had taught her every nuance, every characteristic which made the great city what it was. The city had a bristling night life, with many restaurants not even serving until nine or ten in the evening and staying open until three in the morning. A veritable vampire feeding ground.
She made an effort to stay close to the center of the city, to keep from wandering into the suburbs. The house she had shared with Willow was miles away, but still she wanted to stay far away from anything that might remind her of it. She had to be together, because any mistake could be the one which ended her life.
That was okay, though. Sao Paulo was a huge city, and so the metropolitan center provided plenty of space for her to hunt. She penetrated deeper into the darkness of the alley, then paused when she heard voices. “A Sombra procura um Assassino,” said a voice, “como o espírito deve ser zangado para ser acordado.” Kennedy’s Portugese was rusty, but he was saying something about A Sombra-the Shadow-needing a Slayer to anger some spirit or other.
“Só então possa o herdeiro da feiticeira ser matou,” another voice, this one female, replied. Something about killing the witch’s heir, whatever that meant.
Kennedy stepped forward, and in the darkness she could make out the two shadowy figures exchange some sort of package. Then the first one, the one who had given the package to the other, walked past. Kennedy froze, and the figure passed her, completely oblivious to her presence. From the sound of his footstep, Kennedy figure that one must have been the male.
The female waited for him to leave, then too walked past Kennedy. As she did so, however, Kennedy reached out and grabbed the woman’s hand. She hissed and attacked back, attempting to grab Kennedy’s wrist, but she quickly twisted the woman’s-the vampire’s-arm behind her back. The vampire tried to attack with her other hand, dropping the package, but Kennedy grabbed that one too, and pushed the vampire into the wall.
“A Sombra,” Kennedy said, menacing. “How can I find him?”
The vampire only growled and, with sudden move, succeeded in throwing Kennedy off her.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” said Kennedy, grabbing the vampire by the neck and dragging her to the end of the shadow. “I think you’re going to tell me what I know.” She held the vampire just an inch or so from the direct sunlight which would burn her to cinders.
The vampire spat out an address.
“When?”
“Now.”
Kennedy threw the vampire into the sun, picked up the package, and began to run. As she made her way down the city streets, she ripped the covering off the package to reveal a box with a knife inside it. The knife’s hilt was wood, carved into the shape of a macaw.
Kennedy’s inertia kept her going even as she stopped running. Not watching she was going, she had to fall into a roll to keep from crashing completely.
The knife had been in their house, back when Kennedy and Willow had lived in Sao Paulo together.
It had hung on the wall of their bedroom.
* * * * *
Now. . . .
Faith resisted the urge to light another cigarette. She only had the two left, and Kennedy would want one after the patrol that night. Speaking of Kennedy, where was the girl? She should have been back already.
Faith glanced at her watch. 8:00 pm. There was no way Kennedy shouldn’t be back.
Faith pulled out her cell phone and began to dial Kennedy’s cell phone number. “Hi, this is Kennedy,” her recorded voice recited aftter the recquisite number of rings. “I can’t take your call right now, but if you leave a message-”
Faith hung up. With a sigh, she began pushing the buttons to call the Council’s Brazil HQ.
* * * * *
Earlier. . . .
The vampires standing guard didn’t even try to stop Kennedy from entering the warehouse. Whether it was because they didn’t care or because they recognized her for a Slayer, she didn’t know. She didn’t care.
“Quero encontrar a Sombra,” she said to one of the vamps, certain that her Portugese was ungrammatical. He just grunted and gestured with his head down the hall. Kennedy made her way down the hall, kicking in the door at the end of it. Always make a strong entrance.
“Ah, Slayer,” said a woman who had been reclining on a large chair suspiciously resembling a throne. She was draped in diaphanous black silk. “You honor us with your presence.”
“You’re the Shadow?”
“I am indeed,” the woman said, getting up from her chair. “And do you have a name as well, or should I simply continue to just call you ‘Slayer’?”
Kennedy helped up the macaw-hilted knife she had gotten from the vamp in the alley. “Where did you find this?”
“Oh, I see you have brought me my knife,” the Shadow said. “How kind of you.”
“You think I’m going to just give you this and walk away?” asked Kennedy with a laugh.
“Oh, no,” said the Shadow. “I wouldn’t dream of letting you walk away.”
It was then that Kennedy noticed the thirty-something vamps that had surrounded her. Oops.
* * * * *
Now. . . .
“Kennedy wouldn’t do that,” one of the two Brazilian Slayers the Council had sent over said. “Kennedy trained us, years ago. She knows better than to attempt anything on her own.”
“Do you know the English saying ‘Do I as say, not as I do’?” Faith asked. When the Slayer just stared at her blankly, she continued, “Apparently you don’t know Kennedy as well as you thought you did. She’s not in the best of places right now.”
“We know she is not in the best of places,” the other Slayer said. “That is why you called us, no?”
Damn the language barrier. Maybe she was better off stationed in Cleveland all those years. At least there everyone understood even idiomatic English. (And yeah, being on the faculty of a high school, even just as the P.E. teacher, had helped her pick up words like “idiomatic.”)
“”No, I don’t just mean that Kennedy’s in trouble,” said Faith. “I mean that coming back to Brazil has upset her. She’s not thinking clearly. We can’t trust her to do the smart thing.”
“How do we find her?” asked a Slayer. Faith supposed she should learn which was which, but right now she couldn’t care less. All she cared about was getting Kennedy back.
Faith sat back in her chair. “We’re going to look up an old friend who just happens to be in town.”
* * * * *
Kennedy woke up in her bedroom, reassured by the familiar sights, smells, feels-until she remembered she didn’t have a bedroom, hadn’t had one for years. She was a wondering Slayer, moving from one mission, never putting down roots-
And now she was back in Sao Paulo, in the master bedroom of the house she had shared with Willow for five years. On the bed she had shared with Willow, her legs and arms tied to the bedposts, surrounded by vampires.
This was not a good thing.
The Shadow slipped to the front of the crowd. “Good,” she said. “You’re awake. We can start.”
“What do you want from me?” asked Kennedy, struggling against her bonds and finding them firm. “Why did you bring me here?”
The Shadow picked up the macaw-hilted knife from and hung it on the wall where it had hung so many years ago. Everything was set up exactly as it had been seven years ago. What was this?
“I only want one thing from you, little Slayer,” said the Shadow. “I want your pain.” She turned to a vampire next to her. “Are all the circles set?”
“Yes, your irreverence,” the vampire answered.
“Good,” she said. “You can begin the ceremony.” She smiled as she took a look at the weapons on the wall. “The Slayer who lived here certainly had quite a collection. So many beautiful weapons, able to cause such wonderful pain.”
Behind her, the vampires began to chant. In Latin, Kennedy thought, uncertain.
“But I think it would be best if we started small, don’t you?” The Shadow put a hand on Kennedy’s shirt and pulled it up, revealing the skin covering her abdomen. Then she pulled out what Kennedy recognized as her old Swiss Army Knife, and began to make shallow cuts into the flesh.
* * * * *
“Faith, mia cara,” the Immortal said. “You’re as beautiful as ever.”
Yeah, right. The Immortal was a champion flatterer, but Faith knew that not even a Slayer could go a decade without aging. Especially not a Slayer. Faith remembered the degree to which the years had taken their toll on Buffy right before she died. Only the Immortal was able to go through the years looking as young as ever. Well, the Immortal, and vampires, and some demons, and--well, the point was the list didn't include Slayers.
“Spare me the sweet talk.”
The Immortal looked pained. “You wrong me, Faith.”
“Yeah, sure. What are you doing in South America, anyway?”
“I have business to conduct here,” the Immortal answered. “Now tell me, how is Madelyn?”
Well, at least he remembered to ask. “She’s fine,” Faith said. “No thanks to you.”
The Immortal said nothing, betrayed no emotion. “Well, how can I help you, Faith?”
“I know you have contacts,” Faith said. “Hell, you’re probably here to meet with the Shadow yourself. I need to know how to get to him, how to get Kennedy back.”
“You have your misplaced your love, eh? Well, let it never be said I failed to help someone in the name of love.”
“Just tell me what I need and I’ll get out of your hair. Neither of us wants to prolong this any longer than we have to.”
The Immortal leveled a long stare at Faith. “Do you even know what l’Ombra wants, young one?”
* * * * *
Kennedy did her best not to cry out in pain as the Shadow cut into her.
“You see, the witch who lived in this house was rather fond of Slayers. Fell in love with one, even. They lived together in this house for many years.”
The Shadow didn’t realize exactly who Kennedy was. Kennedy knew she should be trying to come up with a way to use the fact to her advantage, but it was difficult to think at all through the pain.
One thought, however, did manage to come to the forefront of her mind. O herdeiro da feiticeira, or whatever it had been that the vampire had said. Fuck her rusty Portugese. The witch’s heir. And if the witch was Willow, that meant. . . .
They were going to kill Madelyn.
* * * * *
Faith simply stood under his stare. She was discomfited, but damn if she was going to show it.
At last, the Immortal spoke. “She has come for the magic of your friend the witch. Willow Rosenberg, I believe her name was? She believes she can raise the ambient energy resident in Sao Paulo. To do so she will need a Slayer. Your lover will be ideal.”
“And then?”
The Immortal looked at her as if she were a schoolgirl who had answered a question wrong. “L’Ombra is going to torture your lover, hoping to anger that part of the witch’s spirit which remains in the place. Once that power is awakened, she hopes to control it. And then she will attempt to use it to gain control of the rest of the witch’s power.”
“You mean . . . ?”
The Immortal nodded. “Do not think I am without concern for my daughter’s welfare, Slayer. I came here to Brazil in an effort to prevent l’Ombra’s plans. But now that she has captured a Slayer, there will be no stalling her. In all likelihood they have already begun the ritual. They will be performing it in your friend’s old house, where the energies will be most strongly concentrated. You know where that is?”
Faith nodded even though she didn’t. “The other Slayers will know,” she said, already turning to leave. No time could be wasted.
“La fortuna buona, la mia ragazza,” the Immortal said softly as she left. “Per amore di mia figlia, la mia fortuna buona a lei. Good luck, Faith.”
* * * * *
Kennedy wasn’t sure if it was just a trick of her shivering and her vision blurring, or if the house was shaking. When the Shadow looked up, however, she realized that it was an objective phenomenon.
“The witch is angered,” the Shadow said, a large smile on her face. “It is almost time.” She hit Kennedy in the jaw, then again, then again. The bone wasn’t broken, but it wouldn’t certainly leave one hell of a bruise. Monster swelling.
The shaking got stronger. “Willow?” asked Kennedy. Already the swelling was beginning, making it difficult to talk.
“Oh,” said the Shadow. “So you know of her. That is even better.” She stepped back and raised her hands to the sky. “Power of vengeance, strength from anger, I bind thee to my will. Let-”
And then panic broke out behind the Shadow. It was painful for Kennedy to lift her head to see beyond, but then it was painful for her to leave her head where it was too, so she did her best to raise her body. She watched as Faith entered the room, followed by two of the Slayers she had trained when she had lived in Brazil. Dust trailed in their wake.
Vamps rushed towards the Slayers, meleeing with them. Judicious blows from their stakes lowered the vamp count in the room.
“Fools!” shouted the Shadow. “Hold your ground! We must finish the ceremony!”
“I don’t think so,” said Faith, staking another vamp. “I think I’m going to take my girlfriend and then we’re going to get out of here.”
“Faith,” Kennedy called out, her voice hoarse and her jaw screaming out in pain. “They’re going to kill Madelyn.”
“Hush, love,” Faith said, blocking another vampire attack. “We’re not going to let it get that far. This ends here.”
Presumably having given up on ever getting to finish her ritual, the Shadow turned to Faith and the other Slayers. Entering the combat, she pushed two vampires out of her way to get closer to Faith, easily blocking two of the Slayers' attacks and then backhanding her into the wall.
One of the other Slayers moved in to fight back the Shadow while Faith pulled herself to her feet, while the other used the distraction to slip over to Kennedy and cut her bonds. Not that it was anything but an empty gestured, as Kennedy was far too injured to be able to fight herself, but she appreciated being free.
The Slayer facing off against the Shadow was on the losing side of the battle, but Faith quickly moved back in, creating more of an even match. The two Slayers concerned themselves with the still considerable number of vampires, even as the Shadow grabbed Faith by the neck and pushed her against the wall. “You were a fool to think you could stop me,” she said. “And once I gain the power to seek, there will be no one left at all who will be able to stop her.”
And it was in that moment, as the Slayers were busy fighting vamps and Faith was pushed against the wall, that Kennedy watched a knife-the knife, the same knife she had unwrapped in the alley earlier that day-flew from the wall and lodged itself in the back of the Shadow’s throat. The Shadow paused, took a step back, and then the knife slid around her neck, decapitating her. Dust.
“Well,” said Faith as she easily staked two of the remaining vamps.
* * * * *
“It wasn’t Willow,” said Kennedy as the Slayers watched the remains of the old house be engulfed in flames. They had doused the entire structure in gasoline, then threw a match in one of the windows. “Not really. All that power has passed onto Madelyn. It was more of a poltergeist, born of the strength of all the emotions Willow had while we lived in that house.”
“Does it matter?” asked Faith. “It was shaped by Willow’s feelings, her love for you. Even seven years after Willow’s death, that love lives on. It saved all our lives.”
Kennedy nodded. Her wounds were bandaged, and since most of them were superficial, intended to cause pain rather than inflict actual damage, her Slayer healing should have them mostly under control in a couple of days. As it was she lay, propped up against a tree, watching her old house burn to the ground.
After a few strokes of the Swiss Army knife, the tears had flowed from Kennedy’s eyes freely. Apparently Slayer tear ducts could hold an awfully large amount of liquid, though, for she could still feel the tears stream down her face. “Faith?” she asked. “Hold me?”
Faith found a clean spot on her forehead and kissed it, then wrapped an arm around Kennedy. “I’m here,” she said. “I’m here.”
And Kennedy smiled, and let unconsciousness take her as she lay in her lover's arms.
The End
Note: You can read the DVD commentary of this fic here.
Fandom: Buffy/Angel
Pairings: Faith/Kennedy, mentions of past Willow/Kennedy and Buffy/Immortal
Rating: PG-13
Timeline/Continuity: Futurefic. Spoilers for “Chosen.”
Summary: Years after Willow’s death, Kennedy returns to Sao Paulo with a new lover and a new mission. Written for femslash_minis. mireille719 wanted macaws, cigarettes, and South America. She also didn’t want fluff, and while I’m not 100% sure what this is, Goddess knows it isn’t fluff.
“Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.”-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
American poet, 1807--1882
Facing the Shadows
Year: 2015
Kennedy hasn’t returned to Sao Paulo since, Faith knows. Why should she have? It’s not like Buffy and her Scoobies ever had camping trips at the Sunnydale crater, hiking around it, panting through the dryness of the desert or shimming in the cool weather of the ocean at what once was Sunnydale's beach. They scattered to the ends of the world, Buffy to Italy, Giles to England, Xander to Africa, running from the past, from a truth no one wanted to face.
And Willow and Kennedy came here, to South America, to the suburbs of Sao Paulo. Faith never knew why exactly they came here, but why did any of them go anywhere? Now Giles, going to England, that made sense. And she had been pretty much stuck in Cleveland for the first few years after Sunnydale because, well, she was a wanted fugitive. Leaving the country wasn’t exactly an option unless Willow or someone teleported her out. But what allure did Rome have for Buffy? Why was Xander sent to Africa? No one had ever deigned to inform Faith of the answers.
Just as no one told her why she and Kennedy had been chosen for this mission. It couldn’t have passed the Council’s awareness that this was the very city that Willow and Kennedy had lived in for five years. Faith guessed that Dawn had assigned them this mission on purpose, had decided that it was time for Kennedy to begin the next stage of some healing process. She didn’t like the Council playing with Slayers’ minds like that, not really, but knew that Dawn wasn’t exactly fond of it either. She did it because she felt she had to, because it was what was necessary to save Slayers’ lives and hold off the next apocalypse. And as much as Faith didn’t like it, she could respect it.
Sao Paulo itself was a busy metropolitan cosmopolis. Full of people, bristling with activity, it was the type of city that Faith liked. The type of city one could get lost in-just a single, nameless person in a sea of over twenty-five million. The fourth largest city in the world, after Mexico City, Mumbai, and Calcutta. But on the outskirts, in the suburbs, Willow and Kennedy had known a very different type of existence.
Faith pulled out her box of Newport Lights and took a cigarette. There were only three left within, which meant that Kennedy had smoked half the carton in the last three days. Not a good sign.
Faith slipped out of the motel room, lighting the cigarette once she was outside. She took a drag, then exhaled it slowly as she thought. Kennedy wouldn’t be at her best on this mission, could be prone to mistakes. Faith would have to be extra careful, have to watch out for both of them.
Not that the mission was supposed to be all that difficult. A new figure had appeared on the scene of the demonic underworld, a figure known only as the Shadow. Whoever he was, whatever he was, he was still just a bit player. Small chips. But the Council wanted him dealt with before he had the potential to cause even bigger problems. He was reputed to be working from Sao Paulo, so that’s where Faith and Kennedy were sent to find him.
* * * * *
Earlier that afternoon. . . .
Kennedy made her way through the streets of Sao Paulo looking for something to kill. It was still only late afternoon, not nearly dark enough for vampires to be about, but if she stuck to back allies where the sun did not shine she might find something. Not to mention the host of evil creatures which did not need to fear the sun. She was sure to find something. Anything.
Kennedy slipped into a back alley, scanning it for potential threats. Even seven years later, she still knew the city of Sao Paulo like the back of her hand. Five years of patrolling every night had taught her every nuance, every characteristic which made the great city what it was. The city had a bristling night life, with many restaurants not even serving until nine or ten in the evening and staying open until three in the morning. A veritable vampire feeding ground.
She made an effort to stay close to the center of the city, to keep from wandering into the suburbs. The house she had shared with Willow was miles away, but still she wanted to stay far away from anything that might remind her of it. She had to be together, because any mistake could be the one which ended her life.
That was okay, though. Sao Paulo was a huge city, and so the metropolitan center provided plenty of space for her to hunt. She penetrated deeper into the darkness of the alley, then paused when she heard voices. “A Sombra procura um Assassino,” said a voice, “como o espírito deve ser zangado para ser acordado.” Kennedy’s Portugese was rusty, but he was saying something about A Sombra-the Shadow-needing a Slayer to anger some spirit or other.
“Só então possa o herdeiro da feiticeira ser matou,” another voice, this one female, replied. Something about killing the witch’s heir, whatever that meant.
Kennedy stepped forward, and in the darkness she could make out the two shadowy figures exchange some sort of package. Then the first one, the one who had given the package to the other, walked past. Kennedy froze, and the figure passed her, completely oblivious to her presence. From the sound of his footstep, Kennedy figure that one must have been the male.
The female waited for him to leave, then too walked past Kennedy. As she did so, however, Kennedy reached out and grabbed the woman’s hand. She hissed and attacked back, attempting to grab Kennedy’s wrist, but she quickly twisted the woman’s-the vampire’s-arm behind her back. The vampire tried to attack with her other hand, dropping the package, but Kennedy grabbed that one too, and pushed the vampire into the wall.
“A Sombra,” Kennedy said, menacing. “How can I find him?”
The vampire only growled and, with sudden move, succeeded in throwing Kennedy off her.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” said Kennedy, grabbing the vampire by the neck and dragging her to the end of the shadow. “I think you’re going to tell me what I know.” She held the vampire just an inch or so from the direct sunlight which would burn her to cinders.
The vampire spat out an address.
“When?”
“Now.”
Kennedy threw the vampire into the sun, picked up the package, and began to run. As she made her way down the city streets, she ripped the covering off the package to reveal a box with a knife inside it. The knife’s hilt was wood, carved into the shape of a macaw.
Kennedy’s inertia kept her going even as she stopped running. Not watching she was going, she had to fall into a roll to keep from crashing completely.
The knife had been in their house, back when Kennedy and Willow had lived in Sao Paulo together.
It had hung on the wall of their bedroom.
* * * * *
Now. . . .
Faith resisted the urge to light another cigarette. She only had the two left, and Kennedy would want one after the patrol that night. Speaking of Kennedy, where was the girl? She should have been back already.
Faith glanced at her watch. 8:00 pm. There was no way Kennedy shouldn’t be back.
Faith pulled out her cell phone and began to dial Kennedy’s cell phone number. “Hi, this is Kennedy,” her recorded voice recited aftter the recquisite number of rings. “I can’t take your call right now, but if you leave a message-”
Faith hung up. With a sigh, she began pushing the buttons to call the Council’s Brazil HQ.
* * * * *
Earlier. . . .
The vampires standing guard didn’t even try to stop Kennedy from entering the warehouse. Whether it was because they didn’t care or because they recognized her for a Slayer, she didn’t know. She didn’t care.
“Quero encontrar a Sombra,” she said to one of the vamps, certain that her Portugese was ungrammatical. He just grunted and gestured with his head down the hall. Kennedy made her way down the hall, kicking in the door at the end of it. Always make a strong entrance.
“Ah, Slayer,” said a woman who had been reclining on a large chair suspiciously resembling a throne. She was draped in diaphanous black silk. “You honor us with your presence.”
“You’re the Shadow?”
“I am indeed,” the woman said, getting up from her chair. “And do you have a name as well, or should I simply continue to just call you ‘Slayer’?”
Kennedy helped up the macaw-hilted knife she had gotten from the vamp in the alley. “Where did you find this?”
“Oh, I see you have brought me my knife,” the Shadow said. “How kind of you.”
“You think I’m going to just give you this and walk away?” asked Kennedy with a laugh.
“Oh, no,” said the Shadow. “I wouldn’t dream of letting you walk away.”
It was then that Kennedy noticed the thirty-something vamps that had surrounded her. Oops.
* * * * *
Now. . . .
“Kennedy wouldn’t do that,” one of the two Brazilian Slayers the Council had sent over said. “Kennedy trained us, years ago. She knows better than to attempt anything on her own.”
“Do you know the English saying ‘Do I as say, not as I do’?” Faith asked. When the Slayer just stared at her blankly, she continued, “Apparently you don’t know Kennedy as well as you thought you did. She’s not in the best of places right now.”
“We know she is not in the best of places,” the other Slayer said. “That is why you called us, no?”
Damn the language barrier. Maybe she was better off stationed in Cleveland all those years. At least there everyone understood even idiomatic English. (And yeah, being on the faculty of a high school, even just as the P.E. teacher, had helped her pick up words like “idiomatic.”)
“”No, I don’t just mean that Kennedy’s in trouble,” said Faith. “I mean that coming back to Brazil has upset her. She’s not thinking clearly. We can’t trust her to do the smart thing.”
“How do we find her?” asked a Slayer. Faith supposed she should learn which was which, but right now she couldn’t care less. All she cared about was getting Kennedy back.
Faith sat back in her chair. “We’re going to look up an old friend who just happens to be in town.”
* * * * *
Kennedy woke up in her bedroom, reassured by the familiar sights, smells, feels-until she remembered she didn’t have a bedroom, hadn’t had one for years. She was a wondering Slayer, moving from one mission, never putting down roots-
And now she was back in Sao Paulo, in the master bedroom of the house she had shared with Willow for five years. On the bed she had shared with Willow, her legs and arms tied to the bedposts, surrounded by vampires.
This was not a good thing.
The Shadow slipped to the front of the crowd. “Good,” she said. “You’re awake. We can start.”
“What do you want from me?” asked Kennedy, struggling against her bonds and finding them firm. “Why did you bring me here?”
The Shadow picked up the macaw-hilted knife from and hung it on the wall where it had hung so many years ago. Everything was set up exactly as it had been seven years ago. What was this?
“I only want one thing from you, little Slayer,” said the Shadow. “I want your pain.” She turned to a vampire next to her. “Are all the circles set?”
“Yes, your irreverence,” the vampire answered.
“Good,” she said. “You can begin the ceremony.” She smiled as she took a look at the weapons on the wall. “The Slayer who lived here certainly had quite a collection. So many beautiful weapons, able to cause such wonderful pain.”
Behind her, the vampires began to chant. In Latin, Kennedy thought, uncertain.
“But I think it would be best if we started small, don’t you?” The Shadow put a hand on Kennedy’s shirt and pulled it up, revealing the skin covering her abdomen. Then she pulled out what Kennedy recognized as her old Swiss Army Knife, and began to make shallow cuts into the flesh.
* * * * *
“Faith, mia cara,” the Immortal said. “You’re as beautiful as ever.”
Yeah, right. The Immortal was a champion flatterer, but Faith knew that not even a Slayer could go a decade without aging. Especially not a Slayer. Faith remembered the degree to which the years had taken their toll on Buffy right before she died. Only the Immortal was able to go through the years looking as young as ever. Well, the Immortal, and vampires, and some demons, and--well, the point was the list didn't include Slayers.
“Spare me the sweet talk.”
The Immortal looked pained. “You wrong me, Faith.”
“Yeah, sure. What are you doing in South America, anyway?”
“I have business to conduct here,” the Immortal answered. “Now tell me, how is Madelyn?”
Well, at least he remembered to ask. “She’s fine,” Faith said. “No thanks to you.”
The Immortal said nothing, betrayed no emotion. “Well, how can I help you, Faith?”
“I know you have contacts,” Faith said. “Hell, you’re probably here to meet with the Shadow yourself. I need to know how to get to him, how to get Kennedy back.”
“You have your misplaced your love, eh? Well, let it never be said I failed to help someone in the name of love.”
“Just tell me what I need and I’ll get out of your hair. Neither of us wants to prolong this any longer than we have to.”
The Immortal leveled a long stare at Faith. “Do you even know what l’Ombra wants, young one?”
* * * * *
Kennedy did her best not to cry out in pain as the Shadow cut into her.
“You see, the witch who lived in this house was rather fond of Slayers. Fell in love with one, even. They lived together in this house for many years.”
The Shadow didn’t realize exactly who Kennedy was. Kennedy knew she should be trying to come up with a way to use the fact to her advantage, but it was difficult to think at all through the pain.
One thought, however, did manage to come to the forefront of her mind. O herdeiro da feiticeira, or whatever it had been that the vampire had said. Fuck her rusty Portugese. The witch’s heir. And if the witch was Willow, that meant. . . .
They were going to kill Madelyn.
* * * * *
Faith simply stood under his stare. She was discomfited, but damn if she was going to show it.
At last, the Immortal spoke. “She has come for the magic of your friend the witch. Willow Rosenberg, I believe her name was? She believes she can raise the ambient energy resident in Sao Paulo. To do so she will need a Slayer. Your lover will be ideal.”
“And then?”
The Immortal looked at her as if she were a schoolgirl who had answered a question wrong. “L’Ombra is going to torture your lover, hoping to anger that part of the witch’s spirit which remains in the place. Once that power is awakened, she hopes to control it. And then she will attempt to use it to gain control of the rest of the witch’s power.”
“You mean . . . ?”
The Immortal nodded. “Do not think I am without concern for my daughter’s welfare, Slayer. I came here to Brazil in an effort to prevent l’Ombra’s plans. But now that she has captured a Slayer, there will be no stalling her. In all likelihood they have already begun the ritual. They will be performing it in your friend’s old house, where the energies will be most strongly concentrated. You know where that is?”
Faith nodded even though she didn’t. “The other Slayers will know,” she said, already turning to leave. No time could be wasted.
“La fortuna buona, la mia ragazza,” the Immortal said softly as she left. “Per amore di mia figlia, la mia fortuna buona a lei. Good luck, Faith.”
* * * * *
Kennedy wasn’t sure if it was just a trick of her shivering and her vision blurring, or if the house was shaking. When the Shadow looked up, however, she realized that it was an objective phenomenon.
“The witch is angered,” the Shadow said, a large smile on her face. “It is almost time.” She hit Kennedy in the jaw, then again, then again. The bone wasn’t broken, but it wouldn’t certainly leave one hell of a bruise. Monster swelling.
The shaking got stronger. “Willow?” asked Kennedy. Already the swelling was beginning, making it difficult to talk.
“Oh,” said the Shadow. “So you know of her. That is even better.” She stepped back and raised her hands to the sky. “Power of vengeance, strength from anger, I bind thee to my will. Let-”
And then panic broke out behind the Shadow. It was painful for Kennedy to lift her head to see beyond, but then it was painful for her to leave her head where it was too, so she did her best to raise her body. She watched as Faith entered the room, followed by two of the Slayers she had trained when she had lived in Brazil. Dust trailed in their wake.
Vamps rushed towards the Slayers, meleeing with them. Judicious blows from their stakes lowered the vamp count in the room.
“Fools!” shouted the Shadow. “Hold your ground! We must finish the ceremony!”
“I don’t think so,” said Faith, staking another vamp. “I think I’m going to take my girlfriend and then we’re going to get out of here.”
“Faith,” Kennedy called out, her voice hoarse and her jaw screaming out in pain. “They’re going to kill Madelyn.”
“Hush, love,” Faith said, blocking another vampire attack. “We’re not going to let it get that far. This ends here.”
Presumably having given up on ever getting to finish her ritual, the Shadow turned to Faith and the other Slayers. Entering the combat, she pushed two vampires out of her way to get closer to Faith, easily blocking two of the Slayers' attacks and then backhanding her into the wall.
One of the other Slayers moved in to fight back the Shadow while Faith pulled herself to her feet, while the other used the distraction to slip over to Kennedy and cut her bonds. Not that it was anything but an empty gestured, as Kennedy was far too injured to be able to fight herself, but she appreciated being free.
The Slayer facing off against the Shadow was on the losing side of the battle, but Faith quickly moved back in, creating more of an even match. The two Slayers concerned themselves with the still considerable number of vampires, even as the Shadow grabbed Faith by the neck and pushed her against the wall. “You were a fool to think you could stop me,” she said. “And once I gain the power to seek, there will be no one left at all who will be able to stop her.”
And it was in that moment, as the Slayers were busy fighting vamps and Faith was pushed against the wall, that Kennedy watched a knife-the knife, the same knife she had unwrapped in the alley earlier that day-flew from the wall and lodged itself in the back of the Shadow’s throat. The Shadow paused, took a step back, and then the knife slid around her neck, decapitating her. Dust.
“Well,” said Faith as she easily staked two of the remaining vamps.
* * * * *
“It wasn’t Willow,” said Kennedy as the Slayers watched the remains of the old house be engulfed in flames. They had doused the entire structure in gasoline, then threw a match in one of the windows. “Not really. All that power has passed onto Madelyn. It was more of a poltergeist, born of the strength of all the emotions Willow had while we lived in that house.”
“Does it matter?” asked Faith. “It was shaped by Willow’s feelings, her love for you. Even seven years after Willow’s death, that love lives on. It saved all our lives.”
Kennedy nodded. Her wounds were bandaged, and since most of them were superficial, intended to cause pain rather than inflict actual damage, her Slayer healing should have them mostly under control in a couple of days. As it was she lay, propped up against a tree, watching her old house burn to the ground.
After a few strokes of the Swiss Army knife, the tears had flowed from Kennedy’s eyes freely. Apparently Slayer tear ducts could hold an awfully large amount of liquid, though, for she could still feel the tears stream down her face. “Faith?” she asked. “Hold me?”
Faith found a clean spot on her forehead and kissed it, then wrapped an arm around Kennedy. “I’m here,” she said. “I’m here.”
And Kennedy smiled, and let unconsciousness take her as she lay in her lover's arms.
The End
Note: You can read the DVD commentary of this fic here.