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Summary: In an attempt to get over her grief for Spike, Buffy has cut herself off from her past life, and anything that reminds her of the vampire that's still in her heart.  But when a news story brings her attention to the battle in LA, the Slayer finds herself once again facing old betrayals and old faces.  Returning to LA she finds even newer betrayals and the possible death of her most secret hope.


Faded Hope

by bitchee

Chapter 11


Willow had had a long and tiring couple of days. Being stuck with Andrew in a crowded diner, which served bad coffee and even worse food, had pretty much exhausted the last of her patience.

So when she entered the hotel with Andrew trailing behind, the last thing she needed was the blast from the past that she received.

“Holy Hectate what the Hell is going on?” she yelled, as she took in the startling sight of her best friend and Faith fighting like a couple of wild cats.

Willows temper, already stretched by Andrew’s company, snapped. Acting on long established instinct, she raised her hands. “Separate…Bind.”

The words had barely left her mouth before she belatedly remembered that this was the new and improved Faith. Unfortunately, the spelled command had already taken effect, leaving Buffy to gape at her and Faith frozen in a pool of Willow’s magic.


Upstairs, Dawn, startled by Willow’s magical light show flinched back, releasing Spike in the process. Taking advantage of her fright, Spike threw her an apologetic look, before running for the stairs.


Buffy’s gazed flickered between the immobile focus of her rage and the witch that had inadvertently saved said focus’ life. Though unaffected by the second part of Willow’s spell Buffy paused, torn between finishing what she had started and her other urgent need.

In the moments it took her to decide, Spike entered the lobby closely followed by Dawn.
As he came to a sliding stop, Spike was shocked to see Faith suspended in a bubble of light and Buffy pulling herself up from the floor where she had been thrown by Willow’s spell.

Spike’s demon bristled as he took in her feral appearance. Buffy’s normally neat and fashionable look had been replaced by the savage fury and tousled appearance of the slayer. She was radiating power and anger from every pore, the expression on her face calculating and deadly, as her eyes switched between the witch and Faith.

For a moment he was sure she’d renew her attack on the other slayer, regardless of the spell or the witch’s presence. Spike froze in indecision; he was torn between his instinctive desire to go to her side and his conscience that was telling him to get Faith away before Buffy could attack again.

He need not have worried. Buffy had other plans.


Dawn, after nearly tumbling down the stairs in her haste to follow Spike, watched in awed astonishment as her sister moved once again with that incredible speed she’d witnessed upstairs.

Willow, who’d been standing motionless, a guilty and dazed look marking her features, wavered in her own indecision as her mind caught up with the present. She had a brief moment to think that something about the situation in front of her was off, before her world went dark.

The Slayer had done what the slayer did best. She had, with one glance, weighed the situation, examined her options and acted. She streaked towards the only one in the room that had any chance of thwarting her plans, and with one decisive punch, she knocked the witch out.

Turning in the time it took to blink, she changed direction and threw her self at the immobile vampire. Spike barely had time to register Buffy’s attack on Willow before the slayer was suddenly and shockingly in front of him. She growled low and deep and before Spike could even ask her what the fuck she thought she was doing, he was joining the witch in unconsciousness.

Dawn gaped as her sister knocked Willow out with one sharp punch, then moving nearly faster than the eye could follow, proceeded to do the same to Spike.

Moving forward, Dawn quickly pulled her hand back as Buffy’s lips drew back in a snarl of warning. “Buffy… What are you do…” Dawn’s gasped question was drowned out by the growl the slayer sent her way.

Gulping heavily she hastily stepped back as the older girl’s furious glare swept over her. The look in her eyes letting Dawn know clearly that at the moment Buffy was not in the drivers seat.

She backed off as the slayer, satisfied that Dawn wasn’t a threat, stooped down and manhandled Spike until he was over her shoulder. With barely a glance at the others, the former Sunnydale slayer and the unconscious vampire disappeared out of the doors into the night.


Andrew, who had at the first sign of Buffy and Faith’s fight hidden behind the large circular couch, poked his head up the moment the doors swung shut. When his eyes landed on Dawn and the frozen form of Faith, he paled enough to make a vampire look tanned.

Oh Shit! I am so dead was his first thought as he did his best to duck back down before he was spotted. Crawling on his hands and knees, he attempted to head away from Dawn towards the nearest open door. If he could just find somewhere to hide until Dawn had left, then he could probably find a way out of the mess in which he found himself.

God, Merucio and Illona were going to kill him when they found out that the slayer, despite all his efforts, had turned up in LA. It was bad enough that the vampires had survived the fight in the alley. That alone, was sure to have Illona popping a blood vessel. But now that Buffy knew Spike was back, there was no way he could stop everyone from finding out what he’d done.

It was so unfair, he thought in frustration. It wasn’t his fault Willow had decided to give Angel the benefit of the doubt. How was he to know she’d defy Giles’ orders and bring Faith and a dozen slayers to help out in his battle against the senior partners.

He’d done everything Merucio had asked of him. He’d even found the nut job slayer that was posing as the Immortal’s lover. With the spells provided by Illona, courtesy of the Rome office of Wolfram and Hart, it had been a simple matter to change the dowdy and somewhat mentally unbalanced girl he’d found in Cleveland into the exact duplicate of Buffy Summers.

The hard part had been keeping everyone away from her.

Even though she may have looked enough like the Slayer to fool even her sister, anyone that really knew Buffy, would have worked out the truth pretty quickly the moment the pseudo slayer opened her mouth. She was so dumb she made Harmony look like a rocket scientist.

He thought he’d covered everything. Buffy, the real Buffy, was in Florida safely tucked away with her pain in the ass sister, while his and Merucio’s creation danced the night away in Rome. In the process alienating all of Buffy’s friends and allies, thus ensuring that the only one who might have possibly come to Angel’s aid would never be contacted.

The tricky part had been keeping the spell active on Buffy and Dawn.

Merucio, AKA the Immortal, had provided the initial charm, but Andrew had to renew it periodically. At first he’d been worried that one of the Summers girls might start to wonder why he called so often, but Merucio had calmed his fears by telling him that the spell would make his calls seem perfectly normal. Everything would have been fine if Willow hadn’t stuck her nose in and….

Andrew, lost in self-pity, had just enough time to let out an unmanly squeak before the fashionable Italian boot of the slayer’s sister put paid to his plans for staying hidden. The kick to his face, though not super powered, was more than enough to send him reeling.


Dawn had been on the verge of one of her good old panic fests when the sight of Andrew Wells’ not so stealthy attempt at escape distracted her.

Narrowing her eyes, she positioned herself and waited. The moment his head appeared around the edge of the couch she pounced. As far as she was concerned, his furtive scuttling was enough evidence of his guilt. Drawing back her leg like Spike had taught her, she kicked him directly in the face.

She found the subsequent bleeding and girly crying most satisfying, but thought there was room for improvement on the groveling front. Reaching down she grabbed him by his hair. Wrenching his head back until his eyes met hers, she did her best Spike impersonation. “Right you little weasel, start fucking talking or there won’t be enough left of you for my sister or Spike to even bother torturing”.

Andrew, never overly brave at the best of times, took in the fierce hatred on Dawn’s face and blubbered even harder. With tears, snot and blood decorating his features, he was barely able to get the words out. In hiccuping gulps, he spilled the whole plan, telling her everything.

Dawn, shaking with rage, was considering breaking Buffy’s golden rule by kicking the little shit to death, when Angel, with his usual bad timing, arrived back with Faith’s takeout.


Angel gaped at the sight of Faith, still suspended by Willow’s magic, before his befuddled gaze took in the unconscious witch and the incongruous sight of Dawn pinning a bleeding Andrew to his hotel floor.

Takeout forgotten, he rushed to the witch’s side. “What the hell happened here?” demanded Angel, while feeling for the redhead’s pulse. Satisfied she was alive, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the couch.

After setting her down gently, he turned to face Dawn. “What is going on Dawn? What are you doing here? And why is Willow unconscious and…” throwing a glance Faiths way he paused. “Why exactly is Faith… frozen?”

Eyes swinging back to the still fuming ex key, he stared at her hard before reluctantly turning his attention to Andrew. Noting that the boy was making strange gasping noises and his face had a decidedly blue cast, he looked back up to meet Dawn’s eyes.

“Don’t you think you should take your foot off his throat?” he asked indifferently. “That cannot be good for his health” he observed, brow furrowing, he folded his arms and waited expectantly.

With a pointed look at her squirming captive, Dawn rolled her eyes. “Gee, loom much, brood boy? Andrew and I were having a very interesting conversation, which you interrupted” Angel flinched as Dawn’s foot instead of lifting, pressed down even harder.

He had the brief thought that Buffy’s little sister had become remarkably scary since they had last met.

It was only then that it occurred to him that Dawn’s presence meant that her sister couldn’t be far away.

“Where is your sister Dawn? And again, what the hell is going on?” he growled in frustration as the girl in front of him shot him another annoyed look. “And while you are at it”, he ground out, jaw clenched in anger, “you can explain exactly why the slayer’s sister is torturing Giles’ right hand man in the middled of my lobby floor”.

Dawn, after giving Andrew a warning poke with her boot, was just pondering how much to tell him when there was a groan from the couch.


Willow woke feeling as if she’d been hit by a Fyarl demon, her head was foggy and her jaw ached.

Whoa, remind me to lay off the caffeine so late at night, Goddess that was one doozy of a dream…her pained thoughts slid to an abrupt halt as she opened her eyes and got a good look at her surroundings.

“Oh crap,” she muttered taking in the concerned look on both Angel’s and Dawn’s faces.

Lifting herself gingerly into a seated position, she sighed heavily. “Okay, from the looks on your faces I’m gonna go with ‘not a dream’” raising her fingers to her jaw, she probed gently, wincing when the left side in particular gave a sharp twinge.

Dropping her hands back to her lap, she arched a brow in inquiry. “So, one of you like to tell me why my best friend just went all damage bound on my ass?” She blinked, realizing somewhat belatedly that Dawn seemed to be restraining Andrew with her foot.

Huh, I wonder what he did too piss her off. Oh well, at least he’s quiet for once. Shrugging she turned her attention back to the other two, she put on her resolve face. “Well? C’mon?”

Angel just shrugged, while Dawn did the avoidy thing with her eyes that meant she was probably about to lie, but felt really bad about it.

“Okay Dawnie, I’m going to release Faith” she warned, “and after I’ve finished groveling for jumping the gun and freezing her, you and I are gonna have a little talk and it better be the truth” she fixed the former key with her best ‘don’t mess with me missy’ look before turning her attention to the silent vampire.

Seeing the brooding expression on his face, she suddenly felt her headache worsen.

Goddess help me, I should have gone with Ken while the going was good. Being cooped up with a bunch of hormonal teenage slayers is sounding so good right about now.

“Angel do me a favor” she said, attempting to stand. “While I take care of Faith, can you find somewhere to lock Andrew up before Dawn does him any permanent damage?” She stood, swaying with a combination of tiredness and possible concussion.

“I don’t know what he did and at the moment I can’t find enough energy to care, but I do know that it must be something bad, so make sure that wherever you put him is spell proof. I wouldn’t want to have to do a locater spell anytime soon, I don’t think my head could stand the excitement.”

Ignoring the now annoyed vampire and a still angry Dawn, Willow made her way over to Faith. “Release” she muttered with a tired wave of her hand.

Faith abruptly found herself sprawled on the floor and Buffy nowhere in sight. When her brain finally caught up, she had the somewhat startling urge to actually hug the witch for turning up when she did.

“Hey Faith sorry about the misunderstanding” she shrugged sheepishly. “I sort of jumped the gun there. Sorry” she apologized again. Seeing the bewildered look on the brunette girl’s face, Willow reached up to rub her aching head while she tried to formulate a plan of action that didn’t involve using any more magic.

“If it’s ok with you can you do the yelling and recrimination thing later? Preferably after about twelve hours sleep, cos I just woke up from one of Buffy’s more serious punches and I really need to know what the hell is going on.” wobbling slightly, Willow reached down and offered Faith her hand.

“C’mon Faith you look about as good as I feel” sighed Willow, grimacing as she got a look at the slayer’s injuries. “Tell you what, how bout for starters we go talk to Dawnie and find out why they’re in LA, then you can give me your version of the sitch?”

She smiled tentatively at Faith’s noncommittal nod before carefully easing the injured slayer to her feet. As soon as Faith had settled herself on the couch, Willow turned her attention to Dawn.

“Ok Dawnie, time to come clean.”

Motioning for her to sit while placing herself between the injured slayer and Dawn, she reached forward and casually tucked a strand of long dark hair behind the other girl’s ear before meeting the ex key’s mutinous glare.

“Look” she began. “I know we haven’t exactly kept in touch lately Dawnie, but I like to think that I’m your friend, and even though Buffy’s been wrapped up in her new life and we haven’t talked much, I still consider her my best friend, so please just tell me what’s going on. Why are you not in boarding school and why is Buffy acting so strange?”

Willow paused, trying to put into words what, up until now, she’d refused to confront. Deep down inside there was a part of the now powerful witch that would always be the awestruck young girl that Buffy had befriended in high school.

That part of Willow was still amazed that someone like Buffy had snubbed the cool girls to hang out with the geeky little nerd that she had been. Because of that, she had avoided confronting Buffy over the way she had been treating her friends and sister ever since she started dating the Immortal. Her inner insecurity unable to face that the slayer might have finally decided that Willow wasn’t the sort of person she wanted to stay friends with now she had the chance at a normal life.

Willow’s lip trembled as the events of the night threatened to overwhelm her. She was tired and her emotions, like her magic, were a little wobbly after the strain of the past few days. Steeling herself for the worst, she met Dawn’s gaze and continued.

“Dawnie, I love Buffy. You know that, but this thing with the Immortal, it’s… well it’s been hard. She hardly ever calls and when she does, all she wants to talk about is how wonderful he is and how happy she’s been. And I’ve tried to be supportive, I really have. I guess I just can’t understand how she’s changed so much in such a short time. And I have to admit” her expression, without realizing, taking on a disapproving cast as she spoke. “I still don’t understand her sending you away. The Buffy I know would…”

“But Willow, she didn’t” cut in Dawn. At Willow’s confused look Dawn frowned, her mouth closing with a snap as she pondered how much to tell the other.


Dawn, after talking to Andrew, was pretty sure that Willow didn’t have anything to do with the spell. At least Andrew hadn’t mentioned her name as one of his co-conspirators. But she still couldn’t understand how someone as powerful as Willow could have been fooled so easily. It was that worry that had her hesitating over her words.

Searching Willow’s confused and expectant gaze, Dawn - after a few moments of studying the others expression - concluded that Willow really had no idea that she had been the victim of someone else’s magic.

With a heartfelt sigh of relief Dawn immediately launched into a detailed if a somewhat rambling explanation of the truth. “Well, it’s like this. A couple of days ago”…