Day 15 - Faith, Hope, And...
Aug. 15th, 2024 10:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grundyscribblingTitle: Faith, Hope, And...
Author: Grundy
Rating: FR13
Crossover: LotR/Silmarillion
Disclaimer: All belongs to Whedon & Tolkien. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Buffy left Sunnydale for Arda and immortality. Faith didn't.
Word Count: 1200
Note: Wasn't what I thought I was doing tonight, or where I expected to go. But I am tired, the Buffy thing I had kicking around my brain wasn't gelling, and out this popped...
Faith’s last thought as the world went dark was that this had fucking well better work. If it didn’t, someone better resurrect her so she could kill Spike (again) for talking her into it.
Odd how persuadable she got whenever he pulled out ‘Buffy would do it’. Then again, he didn’t use it all that often. And most the of time, he was right. Unfortunately, this time if he was right, she wasn’t going to know it on account of being dead.
Fuck it, B would have died to save the damn world, too. So Faith had the comfort of knowing she’d gotten that much right, at least.
She was fairly surprised when she came to. The all-white surroundings were very off-putting. Either she was being set up for torture, or there was an afterlife and she wasn’t finding it much of an improvement.
Oh, no, not another one of them.
She didn’t recognize the voice.
“You could modulate your volume, ya know. Some of us have headaches on account of having just taken an axe to the head.”
Now that she thought about it, ‘afterlife’ seemed more likely. That axe had not been going slow, and she knew if she’d hit anything in the head at that spot at that angle, it wouldn’t be getting up again. (Unless it was one of that species she still couldn’t pronounce, in which case splitting its head open just meant you had to deal with having broken the sac normally containing the mucus that combusted on contact with air plus a pissed off and not at all dead demon with its head on fire.)
Best put her with the others. It may be messy, but at least that way the mess is all in the same place.
The second voice was distinct, definitely a second… entity. Faith wasn’t sure if she’d go so far as to call it ‘person’. She also didn’t like being classed as ‘mess’ after all the hard work she’d put in over the years to make herself a functional and somewhat adjusted adult.
She cheated, the first one replied sourly.
Not as though she’s the first one, the second said. If a disembodied voice could convey a shrug, that was what this one was doing.
Faith was getting the impression they had met her predecessor and role model.
“If you’re talking about B, you can put me wherever you put her,” she informed them. “That’s fine by me.”
No, we can’t, the sour one said. As she is neither dead nor mortal.
Next best thing, the more laid back one suggested cheerfully.
And the world or afterlife or whatever this was changed.
The next thing Faith knew, she was looking at –
“Xan man? What the hell?”
“Not hell, I’m happy to report,” he replied. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here, but welcome to the club.”
“What club? Where are we?”
“As he said, not hell,” Willow said, popping up next to Xander.
“It’s a dimension for the mortal dead.”
Faith had forgotten about Anya, and how territorial the woman could get. (Not that she hadn’t given Anya reason… another twelve years to think on that led to the uncomfortable conclusion that she hadn’t been on the side of the angels there.)
“Um, hi,” she said, unsure what to expect from the former vengeance demon.
“Yes, greetings, and congratulations on having died a suitably heroic death that they decided this was the place to stash you,” Anya sniffed.
“This is for the heroic dead?” Faith spluttered.
“As near as we can figure, it’s actually the place for the mortals from Buffy’s home dimension that fought the good fight,” Willow clarified. “We ended up here too, probably on account of spending so long there.”
“To be fair, I think you also had a few other things going for you.”
Faith looked at tall, dark, and handsome in surprise.
“Please tell me that’s not B’s kid brother,” she said quietly.
Because she was pretty sure that mortal dead or not, B would kill her if she put the moves on one of B’s brothers.
“B is for Buffy?” the man enquired.
“Yeah, Faith has a thing for shortening names,” Willow said. “She’s also from California.”
“So I gathered. But if we are speaking of relationships to Anariel, I believe in your terms I am her brother-in-law.”
Damn. Even dead, the best guys are already taken. Which would be less annoying if Spike were likely to show up at any point, but she doubted they’d be letting him in.
“So, B’s brother-in-law, I’m guessing you being here was one of the things they had going for them?”
“I doubt my opinion carried much weight, but my wife very much expected them to arrive here. And she got the rest of the relatives… on side? It has been some time since I used California expressions.”
“On side works,” Faith nodded. “But wait, Anya said lifetime, and you don’t look like you died young, so how long passed for you all?”
“We got about eighty years,” Willow said. “Tara had a few less than us three.”
“From the time Anariel – your B – returned to Imladris until my death was slightly more than two hundred years.”
Faith goggled at him.
“Damn, B-in-law, you look good for your age.”
“You can call him Hope,” Willow offered, eyes sparkling with mirth.
“Seriously?”
“It’s close enough to his childhood nickname,” Xander confirmed.
“Come on,” Anya said briskly. “We had better introduce you to everyone.”
“Everyone?” Faith asked, slightly worried.
“Tara’s keeping the rest of the curious at bay,” Willow informed her. “You’re the first new person we’ve had in a while, and most everyone else here is related to Buffy one way or another.”
“You didn’t mention how long you made it,” Xander said quietly.
“Ripe old age of twenty-eight, yo,” she said proudly. “Not bad for a Slayer, huh?”
“Not bad at all,” Xander replied.
She could see the pity in his eye and started to take offense, but he continued before she could.
“You did good, kid.”
She opened her mouth to fire off a sassy one-liner, then closed it again.
Because it had just struck her that for a guy who lived to a hundred or damn close to it, she was a kid.
And not many people had ever told her she did good. First because she’d been the screwup, then because once she’d stepped up and shouldered the weight of the world, people started to just expect it. Demand it, even. And it just never stopped after that.
Until now.
Because she was done.
“Thanks,” she said quietly.
And because it was Xander, but old man Xander, who knew Sunnydale and whatever world it was B came from, where people must be a little bit different, he knew what she meant.
“Come meet the family.”
“Your family?” she asked tentatively.
“Mine. Buffy’s. Yours.”
“Mine?” she demanded, not sure if she would laugh or cry.
“If they decided you belonged here,” Anya said briskly, “that means you’re one of us. Which makes them your family, too. And Buffy’s world wasn’t big on letting kids fight alone.”
The afterlife just might be growing on her.
Author: Grundy
Rating: FR13
Crossover: LotR/Silmarillion
Disclaimer: All belongs to Whedon & Tolkien. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Buffy left Sunnydale for Arda and immortality. Faith didn't.
Word Count: 1200
Note: Wasn't what I thought I was doing tonight, or where I expected to go. But I am tired, the Buffy thing I had kicking around my brain wasn't gelling, and out this popped...
Faith’s last thought as the world went dark was that this had fucking well better work. If it didn’t, someone better resurrect her so she could kill Spike (again) for talking her into it.
Odd how persuadable she got whenever he pulled out ‘Buffy would do it’. Then again, he didn’t use it all that often. And most the of time, he was right. Unfortunately, this time if he was right, she wasn’t going to know it on account of being dead.
Fuck it, B would have died to save the damn world, too. So Faith had the comfort of knowing she’d gotten that much right, at least.
She was fairly surprised when she came to. The all-white surroundings were very off-putting. Either she was being set up for torture, or there was an afterlife and she wasn’t finding it much of an improvement.
Oh, no, not another one of them.
She didn’t recognize the voice.
“You could modulate your volume, ya know. Some of us have headaches on account of having just taken an axe to the head.”
Now that she thought about it, ‘afterlife’ seemed more likely. That axe had not been going slow, and she knew if she’d hit anything in the head at that spot at that angle, it wouldn’t be getting up again. (Unless it was one of that species she still couldn’t pronounce, in which case splitting its head open just meant you had to deal with having broken the sac normally containing the mucus that combusted on contact with air plus a pissed off and not at all dead demon with its head on fire.)
Best put her with the others. It may be messy, but at least that way the mess is all in the same place.
The second voice was distinct, definitely a second… entity. Faith wasn’t sure if she’d go so far as to call it ‘person’. She also didn’t like being classed as ‘mess’ after all the hard work she’d put in over the years to make herself a functional and somewhat adjusted adult.
She cheated, the first one replied sourly.
Not as though she’s the first one, the second said. If a disembodied voice could convey a shrug, that was what this one was doing.
Faith was getting the impression they had met her predecessor and role model.
“If you’re talking about B, you can put me wherever you put her,” she informed them. “That’s fine by me.”
No, we can’t, the sour one said. As she is neither dead nor mortal.
Next best thing, the more laid back one suggested cheerfully.
And the world or afterlife or whatever this was changed.
The next thing Faith knew, she was looking at –
“Xan man? What the hell?”
“Not hell, I’m happy to report,” he replied. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here, but welcome to the club.”
“What club? Where are we?”
“As he said, not hell,” Willow said, popping up next to Xander.
“It’s a dimension for the mortal dead.”
Faith had forgotten about Anya, and how territorial the woman could get. (Not that she hadn’t given Anya reason… another twelve years to think on that led to the uncomfortable conclusion that she hadn’t been on the side of the angels there.)
“Um, hi,” she said, unsure what to expect from the former vengeance demon.
“Yes, greetings, and congratulations on having died a suitably heroic death that they decided this was the place to stash you,” Anya sniffed.
“This is for the heroic dead?” Faith spluttered.
“As near as we can figure, it’s actually the place for the mortals from Buffy’s home dimension that fought the good fight,” Willow clarified. “We ended up here too, probably on account of spending so long there.”
“To be fair, I think you also had a few other things going for you.”
Faith looked at tall, dark, and handsome in surprise.
“Please tell me that’s not B’s kid brother,” she said quietly.
Because she was pretty sure that mortal dead or not, B would kill her if she put the moves on one of B’s brothers.
“B is for Buffy?” the man enquired.
“Yeah, Faith has a thing for shortening names,” Willow said. “She’s also from California.”
“So I gathered. But if we are speaking of relationships to Anariel, I believe in your terms I am her brother-in-law.”
Damn. Even dead, the best guys are already taken. Which would be less annoying if Spike were likely to show up at any point, but she doubted they’d be letting him in.
“So, B’s brother-in-law, I’m guessing you being here was one of the things they had going for them?”
“I doubt my opinion carried much weight, but my wife very much expected them to arrive here. And she got the rest of the relatives… on side? It has been some time since I used California expressions.”
“On side works,” Faith nodded. “But wait, Anya said lifetime, and you don’t look like you died young, so how long passed for you all?”
“We got about eighty years,” Willow said. “Tara had a few less than us three.”
“From the time Anariel – your B – returned to Imladris until my death was slightly more than two hundred years.”
Faith goggled at him.
“Damn, B-in-law, you look good for your age.”
“You can call him Hope,” Willow offered, eyes sparkling with mirth.
“Seriously?”
“It’s close enough to his childhood nickname,” Xander confirmed.
“Come on,” Anya said briskly. “We had better introduce you to everyone.”
“Everyone?” Faith asked, slightly worried.
“Tara’s keeping the rest of the curious at bay,” Willow informed her. “You’re the first new person we’ve had in a while, and most everyone else here is related to Buffy one way or another.”
“You didn’t mention how long you made it,” Xander said quietly.
“Ripe old age of twenty-eight, yo,” she said proudly. “Not bad for a Slayer, huh?”
“Not bad at all,” Xander replied.
She could see the pity in his eye and started to take offense, but he continued before she could.
“You did good, kid.”
She opened her mouth to fire off a sassy one-liner, then closed it again.
Because it had just struck her that for a guy who lived to a hundred or damn close to it, she was a kid.
And not many people had ever told her she did good. First because she’d been the screwup, then because once she’d stepped up and shouldered the weight of the world, people started to just expect it. Demand it, even. And it just never stopped after that.
Until now.
Because she was done.
“Thanks,” she said quietly.
And because it was Xander, but old man Xander, who knew Sunnydale and whatever world it was B came from, where people must be a little bit different, he knew what she meant.
“Come meet the family.”
“Your family?” she asked tentatively.
“Mine. Buffy’s. Yours.”
“Mine?” she demanded, not sure if she would laugh or cry.
“If they decided you belonged here,” Anya said briskly, “that means you’re one of us. Which makes them your family, too. And Buffy’s world wasn’t big on letting kids fight alone.”
The afterlife just might be growing on her.
no subject
Date: 2024-08-17 03:47 am (UTC)Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2024-08-17 06:23 pm (UTC)I was surprised by the general enthusiasm for this one. Giles will be there eventually. (He and Spike both survived Faith.)
Faith, Our Girl
Date: 2024-11-16 01:23 am (UTC)2) if the Valar aren't used to Anariel's irreverence, the meeting Faith in the Second Music is going to be very popcorn worthy.
Re: Faith, Our Girl
Date: 2024-11-16 01:25 am (UTC)Re: Faith, Our Girl
Date: 2024-11-18 12:13 am (UTC)Re: Faith, Our Girl
Date: 2024-11-18 12:13 am (UTC)