TITLE: Torn Apart

AUTHOR: Lex

EMAIL: lex@bitchenvy.com

RATING: R

SYNOPSIS: Sequel to "Come Tomorrow". Angel's gone for good. Giles and Faith find out just how badly Buffy takes it.

DISCLAIMER: Buffy and Crew are not mine, but Joss wouldn't approve of what I've done here, so I'm keeping them. <mwa ha ha>

DEDICATED: To the usual crew, for listening to me, and to all the people who wrote such lovely feedback on CT. Thank you so much. :-)

Further notes are at the end of the story.

==================================================

Marie Daley had worked the Continental counter at LAX for ten years, and in that time, she had seen a lot of people. Pretty people, not so pretty people, old people, young people, and people that just looked plain interesting. But in all those years, she had never seen anyone quite like the man that stood before her now.

He looked like he was just shy of thirty, with short, dark hair and golden brown eyes. He was over six feet tall, with a heavy, muscular build. He was, she noted, what her daughter would term a 'hottie'. The black leather trench cloaking his tall form only added to the appeal.

"Can I help you, sir?" she managed to stutter out.

He nodded. "Yes, I'd like a ticket. One way. To JFK." He withdrew a wallet and extracted several hundred dollar bills.

Marie's eyes widened. //Oh, my.// "Leaving now, sir?"

"As soon as possible."

Trying to make the stern man before her smile, she kidded, "Trying to run away from something, eh?"

If such a thing were possible, he looked more somber. "Something like that."

As Marie's fingers flew over her keyboard, she watched him surreptiously. The look in his eyes was so sad, she wanted to clutch him to her chest and tell him that everything would be okay.

But somehow, she didn't think it would be.

=====

Rupert Giles was quietly cross-referencing when his younger Slayer burst through the library doors.

"G," Faith called out, "I'm sorry I'm late, but it couldn't be helped, I found this mini-nest of baby vamps out by Restfield, and I had to take them out." She skidded to a stop in front of him.

He looked up from his books. "Excellent. How many?"

"Only five, but that's five less we have to track down later." She looked around the library. "Speaking of 'we', where the hell is B?"

Giles looked concerned. "I was hoping you knew the answer to that question. I haven't seen her all day. She didn't check in this morning, and she didn't stop in between classes. No one else has seen her either."

Faith shivered suddenly. She rubbed her arms. "Someone just walked over my grave."

"Pardon me?"

"Oh, no, it's just something my mother always used to say when she got the shivers."

"Is it your...'spidey sense'?" he asked, using Buffy's term for her Slayer precognition.

Worriedly, Faith chewed her lower lip. "Maybe. I just really want to know where B is." She wandered around in a semi-circle, fists clenching and unclenching. "I don't like not knowing where she is. It's not like her not to check in. She's the reliable one."

"I'm sure it's nothing. She's probably involved in a--a personal matter, and doesn't want to be disturbed."

Faith stopped pacing. "Can you even say his name?"

Again, he said, "Pardon me?"

"Angel. You never even say his name. You call him Buffy's 'personal matter'. He has a name, Giles."

Coldly, he said, "I'm well aware of his name."

"So why don't you ever use it? He's a fact of your life, G. No matter what he did in the past, he and B are a thing, like, forever, so you had better get used to it."

"Forgive me if I'm not exactly enamored of the fact that my Slayer is in love with a murderous bastard."

"You have to get over it, G. The tension between the two of you is high. It's getting ugly. I'm not exactly Percepto Girl, but even I can sense it. Hell, *Cordelia* mentioned it the other day. If you and B don't get over it soon, it's going to affect your working relationship."

Irate, Giles snapped, "And you have so much experience in Watcher/Slayer relations?" The second the words left his mouth, he wished he could recall them.

Faith paled. Lips trembling, she whispered, "No, but I do know what it's like to lose a Watcher and to regret every single thing I didn't tell her when she was alive."

"Oh, Faith..." he murmured, standing up and walking over to her, "I'm sorry. I--I, well, Angel is a sore subject."

She nodded, then brushed him off. "Yeah, well, life sucks and then you die." She paced some more, finally coming to a stop in front of a leather briefcase, partially hidden by a pot of ferns in the corner. "G, you forget your bag?" Faith grabbed it by the handle and laid it on the counter.

Giles shook his head. "No, that's not mine...and not something your average Sunnydale High student carries with them." Flicking open the locks, he lifted the lid...and gasped. In the briefcase was row after row of thousand dollar bills.

"Holy *shit*, G," Faith swore as she reached a hand to touch the money. Her fingers encountered an envelope, and she took it.

Written on the creamy linen paper was the name 'R. Giles' in a heavy, old fashioned script. Giles tensed as he saw the handwriting. He had seen that penmanship before, on the note that led him to Jenny's dead body. It had been written by Angel. Giles grabbed the envelope and tore it open. Inside was a single sheet of paper. Only a few words were inked on the pale expanse.

"Take care of her."

It was signed with an ornate 'A'.

Faith's breath caught in her throat. "Is that from who I think it's from?"

Giles was too dumfounded to speak.

Oblivious to Giles' shock, Faith continued. "G, that's literally millions of dollars in there."

Softly, he said, "I realize."

Then it dawned on her. "G...if he's giving you this money to take care of her...that must mean he's...he's gone."

Giles closed his eyes. "I realize that, too. And if he's gone..."

"...B's not taking it well. Shit," Faith swore again as she whirled around on her heel. "I'm gonna go find her. She can't be alone right now."

Watcher and Slayer locked eyes. Neither voiced what they both feared, what Faith would find when she finally located Buffy. With that thought foremost in her brain, Faith took off at a dead run.

=====

Faith ran as she couldn't ever remember running before, the world around her blurring as she sped past. Legs pumping, heart racing, she made it to the house on Rubello Drive in record time. Fortunately for her, because she didn't have the time to explain, Joyce's truck wasn't in the driveway. She caught a low hanging branch on the tree outside of Buffy's room and hauled herself up, springing gracefully onto the roof of the porch. Buffy's room was empty. "Damn it!" she cursed as she climbed through the window, "Where the hell could she be?"

Faith ran through the house, searching each room quickly. Buffy was no where to be found. "Damn, damn, damn," she muttered as she stood in the hallway, her hands clutching her head. "Where is she?"

Then it came to her.

The mansion.

The only other place Buffy could be was the mansion. Flying out the door, Faith took off in the direction of Crawford Street.

=====

The sun had already set and the mansion loomed ominously over the neighboring houses. Her breath gasping from her chest, Faith slowed as she reached the front door. She grasped the heavy, ornamental knob and pulled, yanking the door open. She strode through it, and headed for the living room. From the hallway, she could see the remains of a burnt-out fire smoldering in the fireplace. Buffy had to be there somewhere...

At the sight of the small blonde lying prone before the fireplace, Faith froze. Chills ran up and down her spine. "Oh, God, B," she whispered, falling to her knees before the other woman. Faith reached out a hand to Buffy's head. Her hair was tangled around her head, the blond strands hopelessly knotted.

"B?" Faith called quietly, "B, can you hear me?"

Buffy didn't so much as twitch.

Grasping her shoulders, Faith rolled her over. And sucked in a breath. Her face was tear stained, with soot and dirt streaking her skin. Her lips were pale and bloodless, and her flesh was cool to the touch.

But her eyes...her eyes were what scared Faith. Buffy's eyes, usually filled with a myriad of emotions, were dead. There was nothing behind her eyes but an awful, lurking emptiness.

"Buffy!" she called, her arms wrapping around the smaller woman to haul her into her embrace, "Damn it, Buffy, say something!"

Buffy's eyes flickered. Finally, she focused on Faith. For long minutes, Buffy stared at the brunette. Then she spoke.

"He's gone," she whispered. "He's left me for good this time. I'm never --" Her voice cracked and she whimpered.

Faith hushed her. "Shh, shh, it's gonna be okay."

Forlornly, Buffy shook her head. "No, no it's not. It's never going to be okay again.

"Don't say things like that. Can you walk?"

"I-I don't know."

Faith stood, bringing Buffy with her. She let the blonde's feet rest on the floor, then released her hold. Buffy's knees went out from underneath her immediately, and Faith dove to catch her.

"I guess not. All right, let me call Giles." She carried Buffy over to the couch. "Don't go any where."

While Faith called their Watcher, Buffy closed her eyes. It was too much to keep them open. She had nothing left.

Nothing.

=====

At Faith's frantic phone call, Giles dropped everything and sped over to the mansion. Faith met him at the door.

"Now, I don't want you to freak, but she looks pretty bad."

"Did he beat her?"

Faith shot him an incredulous look. "Are you out of your mind? This is Angel we're talking about here. Angel would cut off his damn hand before he hit her. I know you have no love for him, but that's ridiculous."

Giles had the grace to look ashamed. "Where is she?" He pushed past Faith, into the nearly empty room. Empty but for the brokenhearted blonde girl curled on the couch.

"Buffy," he whispered, touching her head, "Buffy, are you all right?"

Buffy raised those dead eyes to him. "It was too much, Giles. Far too much to ask."

"What was?" His limbs were cold, all the warmth in his body deserting him in a freezing rush. She looked...empty.

"It was too much to ask of me. I gave them my all, everything I had, my hopes, my dreams, my strength...even my life. And they took it all. But that was all right, because I still had him. And now he's gone..."

Giles could see her trembling uncontrollably, and his insides quailed in fear. This was Buffy, the strongest, most resourceful woman he knew. And she was broken, broken in a way that he was uncertain could ever be fixed.

He looked at Faith. "I want to get her into a hot bath. Maybe get some warmth back into her. She's like ice."

======

Back at Giles' apartment, Faith eyed the shower. She was afraid that Buffy would drown if left in a bath, so she decided on a shower. Letting the water run until it was hot, she went over to where Buffy was perched unmoving on the toilet seat.

"Okay, B, let's get those clothes off." Faith knew that the shirt was Angel's and hoped Buffy would take it off willingly. Buffy reached up a hand to unbutton the first button, then the second, then the rest until it hung on her small frame. Faith took it from there, stripping the fabric off of her. She had on nothing underneath, so once the shirt was gone, Faith stood her up and marched her over to the shower, drawing back the door. "Go ahead."

Silently, Buffy stepped into the shower, walking directly under the spray. As the hot water washed over her, she began to sob again, sob so strongly that she fell to her knees.

Faith watched her for a moment, but her own heart was breaking at the sight of Buffy's agony. Without hesitating, she stripped off her own clothing, and climbed into the shower behind Buffy. She sat down, and wrapped her arms around the shaking girl. At Faith's touch, Buffy slumped back into her embrace.

"Shhh," Faith whispered, "It will be okay, you'll see. It will."

Buffy didn't answer.

Faith snagged a bottle of shampoo, and dumping some into the palm of her hand, began to wash Buffy's hair, detangling the knotted strands. She kept up a stream of mindless chatter as she scrubbed, talking about something silly Xander had done the day before.

"...So the guy had him by his throat, dangling him in the air, when Xander said, 'If you don't put me down, Buffy's going to get upset.' Well, the no-neck paled, stuttered out an apology, and dropped Xander to the damn ground before he took off like his feet were on fire. I almost peed myself, I laughed so hard." Surreptitiously, Faith checked for hint of a reaction.

Nothing. Not even a eye twitch.

Covering Buffy's eyes with her left hand, she dunked the blonde's head forward, allowing the shampoo to rinse out.

She wished she could rinse away the pain that easily.

=====

That night, Sunnydale went unpatrolled while Faith and Giles sat up watching Buffy. Neither was willing to leave her, so instead they sat in Giles' bedroom, watching her sleep. It had taken hours and the assistance of several sleeping pills, but she had finally fallen asleep.

But the blessed oblivion of sleep was denied Buffy as nightmare upon nightmare tormented her defenseless mind. She tossed, and she writhed, trying frantically to escape the dream demons that attacked her.

//She was surrounded; they were on her, covering her with their inhuman flesh. "Angel!" she yelled as she clawed at them, "Angel, I need help!"//

Both of her watchers jerked awake in horror as the small woman on the bed began to jerk wildly, clutching at her skin as though trying to pull something from her body. "Angel," she called out for her lover, "Angel, I need help!"

Giles closed his eyes in agony as Faith got up to shake Buffy awake.

"ANGEL!!" Buffy sat up straight in bed as she screamed his name, her eyes open but unseeing. "Where are you?" she moaned piteously, "I need you, Angel!"

Faith couldn't stand it another second. "B! B, wake up!" she said, grabbing Buffy's heaving shoulders and shaking her roughly. Buffy was firmly enmeshed in her dream, and she confused Faith's grip with that of a demon. She wrenched at Faith's confining hold, screaming at the top of her lungs for Angel. She was so confused -- where was he? Angel always had her back, Angel would never leave her.

It was that last thought that brought her fully out of her dream.

And as she looked at the horrified faces of her Watcher and sister Slayer, she realized that her nightmares had nothing new to offer her. She was living her worst nightmare.

He was gone.

THE END