Adventures of Faith the Slayer

VII. Broadswords & Stakes

Disclaimer:  Faith & the rest of the BtVS gang belongs to Joss Whedon; Annja Creed belongs to Alex Archer.  No money's been made off this.  I just want to get this nagging plot bunny idea out of my head so I can concentrate on other things.

Spoilers/Timeline:  post Season 7 of BtVS / pre-book 5 in the Rogue Angel series 

Summary:  Faith had a run-in with a woman who could yield an ancient broadsword in a darkened New York alleyway.  Did I mention the said woman is also a famous TV personality from Chasing History's Monsters?

Author's Note:  As per previous chapters, this one was written a few years back; just transferring it over to here from where it was previously posted. Read & Enjoy. Vote, Rec & Like.

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FAITH HEARD THE FIGHT before she saw it.  She was in New York with the gang kicking back and relaxing.  She thought she could do the whole check out the latest Broadway musical hit, but she got bored midway through one of Giles' picks and excused herself.  She sent a text message to Buffy that she was booking it and that she'd just meet them back at the hotel.  Buffy's short reply was for her to keep out of trouble.

Faith smirked at the warning.  Like she was the one who looks for trouble.  Her days of patrolling and dusting vamp asses and whatever kind of demon was abound was over -- at least since Sunnydale was annihilated from existence.  They relocated to Cleveland to help stop yet another Hellmouth from opening, but it has been over three years now since they moved to the east coast and so far so good.  Nothing too severe yet that required them to have all hands on deck; the Potentials were doing a damn good job of protecting the Hellmouth whilst the 'veterans' enjoyed a free demon ass-kicking weekend.

Well, so much for her free demon ass-kicking weekend.  From the grunts and scuffle she heard coming from the alleyway she knew she was bound to jump in and help the helpless.

Faith ran towards the alley and came to a full stop when she saw a woman brandishing a heavy and ancient looking broadsword.  She was hacking away at the creatures and bad asses alike that cornered her.  A swing to her left sliced off the vamp's head, dissolving it to nothing but grainy particles.  The brunette didn't take the time to enjoy the feel of the kill before she pivoted to the direction of yet another attacker -- this time it was human since it hasn't put his game face on -- and the sword sliced the guy's raised hands off.  Blood squirted everywhere, sending the now handless man screaming like a damn banshee.  He didn't get to go very far before the woman rammed the tip of the blade through her attacker's abdomen, pushing it all the way in until blood gushed out of the man's mouth.

Faith was stunned and impressed.  She couldn't help herself from clapping at the man slid down to his knees on the ground and toppled sideways.  He was dead alright.

"Bravo!"  Faith clapped her hands and walked up to where the woman was standing in the middle of bloodied bodies and dust pools of at least five vamps from what she could count.  "I thought I'd have to get my hands dirty with the dusting and ass-kicking, but you...damn, girl, you're one helluva fighter!"

The woman wiped the blood off her sword on the dead man's shirt and right before Faith's very eyes, she saw the broadsword disappear in thin air.

"Whoa.  Are you some kinda witch or something?"  She paused from taking another step closer.  Given the fact that she deals with the supernatural time and again since she was called to Slayerhood, seeing the woman tuck her impressive broadsword in another parallel plane or whatever those geeks would call it was something she'd only associate Red would be able to do.

The brunette tossed her head over her shoulder and looked at Faith.  She had a pretty face, and a tall, lean physique that screamed she knew how to handle herself in a situation.

"No.  I'm just an archeologist and sometimes reporter for Chasing History's Monsters," was her flippant answer.

Faith squinted against the poor lighting of the alleyway.  She has heard of the show.  Andrew and Xander were so fixated on that show because of that blond reporter who posed for Maxim she believed it was.  On occasion she'd sit down with those two and watch with them so she was fairly familiar with the show's reporters.

"Holy crap!  You're Annja Creed!  Dude, you rock!  Love your style, girl.  My guy friends liked that other chick -- Kristie I believe her name was -- but you...I like your style."  It has been years since Faith turned all hero-worshippy towards a television personality, but after catching an episode of her report on that legend of La Bête, Faith made sure to catch almost every episode of the damned show.

Annja was surprised at the reception she received from the young woman who happened on her in the darkened alleyway.  Usually she received a different kind of reaction when people realized she was from the show.  Usually they gushed about how very unlike Kristie she was and so on and so forth; bottom line was, she never got this very flattering reaction from a fan before.

"T-thanks, I believe," she sounded uncertain, but the smiling face of the brunette standing with her in the alleyway told her she was genuinely glad to meet her in person.  "I'm Annja, but you already know that."  She extended her hand for a shake.

"I'm Faith," she quickly took the propped hand and gave her hand a firm shake.  "My friends and I are just in town for the weekend.  We're from Cleveland actually, and before that...well, before that I spent some time in California," she shrugged.

"That's...that's good to know," Annja smiled.

"I think I gave you too much information," Faith blushed.  The tough as nails Slayer never blushes.  This was totally different scenario for her.

Annja laughed and shook her head.  "Not really.  But if you don't mind me saying so, you wanna get outta here before cops swarm in and haul us for questioning?"

Faith looked at the three maimed and bloody bodies littering the alleyway.  She was right.  Neither one of them will have an explanation credible enough for cops to believe.

"Sure.  I'm hungry.  Wanna grab some chow?" Faith invited.

Annja grinned at the mention of food.  "Yeah.  I'm famished, actually.  I think kicking these goons' asses wore me out."

Faith cocked an eyebrow and looked at the dusted vamps on the ground.  "Goons and vamps," she reminded her idol.

Annja frowned and looked at the dust pools where the fiends were at before she sliced their heads off.  "You know, that I'm having a hard time believing," she admitted.

"This coming from a woman who has an ancient sword tucked away in another world?" scoffed Faith.

Annja considered what the younger brunette said and shrugged.  Ever since she got a hold of Joan's sword her life changed -- drastically and dramatically.  She encountered far more sinister beings and she has yet to get used to them.  But people with deranged faces turning to dust after she chopped off their heads?  She thought she was just imagining it until Faith mentioned vamps.

"Vamps?" she echoed.  "As in vampires?"

"Yep," Faith nodded and lead then out of the alleyway.

"I thought they were just myths," Annja admitted.

"Nope," Faith shook her head.  "I can tell you all about vamps and monsters or demons over dinner if you like."

Annja cocked an eyebrow at the brunette's tone.  "Wow, you sound like you speak from experience."

"Oh, you have no idea, Annja, you have no idea," Faith chuckled.  "Have you heard of a town called Sunnydale in California?"

"Yeah.  That place is nothing but a crater of what it once was I believe," she pouted.

"Yeah.  Well, my friends and I were responsible for that," was Faith's sheepish reply.

"What?" Annja couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Yeah," she nodded.  "You see it all started when..."