Latter Days by Enigmaticblue

Summary: Set post-Chosen. After the Slayers are activated, the balance between good and evil is disturbed, and the Scoobies are flung to the far corners of the world to respond to the crisis. In the midst of all of this, will they be able to keep their relationships strong? Or will they be divided by circumstances and torn apart by fate? Follows my short story Yesterday.

Author's Notes: Remember how things went after Chosen? Well, forget about all of that, and ignore the comics. This is my version. This series is comprised of Latter Days, Faithfully Dangerous, and Now and Always, and the entire series will be known by the third title. You’ll see why. (And although some of the locations mentioned in this fic exist, this is my world, which means that I’m twisting reality to my own ends.)

“What a beautiful piece of heartache/This has all turned out to be/Lord knows we've learned the hard way/All about healthy apathy…There is a me you would not recognize, dear/Call it the shadow of myself/And if the music starts before I get there/Dance without me, you dance so gracefully/I really think I'll be okay/They've taken a toll, these latter days/Nothing like sleeping on a bed of nails/Nothing much here but our broken dream/Oh, but baby, if all else fails/Nothing is ever quite what it seems…” ~Over the Rhine, “Latter Days”

Chapter 9: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…Faith made it safely, and we’ve been settling in. Kennedy will probably be well enough to travel in the next few days, so if you want to make the arrangements, that would be great. Things have been really tense here between Ken and Zoë. We did manage to locate another Slayer, however, and she’s adjusting well. Now, it’s just a matter of making sure the Demos don’t get to anymore of them…” ~Excerpt from an email from Willow Rosenberg to Rupert Giles

Willow pushed sweat-soaked hair out of her face. She knew that she’d probably been pushing herself too hard, but the sense of urgency she felt hadn’t diminished, even though they’d been able to successfully locate a third Slayer before the Demos had.

It wasn’t just the Demos, however. There were other demons who knew about the Slayers, and who were all too willing to kill any they could find.

She’d managed to discover three more Slayers, all in South America, although none close by. One of them was going to have to retrieve the girls, but she didn’t know who would be best to go.

“You need to refuel,” Zoë said, coming into the room. “If you keep going like you have been, you’ll wear yourself out completely.”

“It’s important that we find these girls,” Willow responded.

Zoë sat down next to her at the table. “Their deaths are not your fault, Willow.”

She stiffened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Willow—”

“It’s not about that.”

Zoë’s eyes were sympathetic. “I feel as though we ought to develop a strong partnership, and to do that, we must be honest with one another.”

She sighed, knowing that the Watcher was right. “You know that I was the one to resurrect Buffy, right?”

“And therefore was the one to open the door to the First Evil.” Her voice was even. “That does not mean that you’re responsible for each and every death that occurs.” When Willow opened her mouth to reply, Zoë cut her off. “No. There were consequences to your action, but you cannot take on the burdens of the entire world. You’ll do no one any good that way.”

“I guess.”

“There is no guesswork involved,” Zoë replied severely, in her best Watcher voice.

Willow laughed. “It’s been a long time since someone has used their Watcher voice with me.”

“At least you’ll listen to me.” The humor drained out of her face. “I feel as though I’m failing here.”

“Because of Kennedy?” Willow asked, incredulous. “You can’t blame yourself, and you’re doing a great job with Rute and Teresa.”

Zoë sighed. “A Watcher should be able to get along with her Slayer—all of them, in this case.”

“Watchers are people, too,” Willow reminded her. “And there aren’t a lot of people who can get along with Kennedy.”

As though her words had summoned the girl, Kennedy walked through the door, followed closely by Faith, Rute, and Teresa. “I still think we could have taken them,” Kennedy said sourly.

“What? An entire room full of demons? Are you kidding?” Faith asked incredulously. “You’re not even at 100% yet.”

Kennedy’s expression was mulish. “I’m fine.”

Faith moved too quickly for the other Slayer to block the blow, and although Willow knew that the hit was not a hard one, Kennedy’s wince made Faith’s point clear. “Right,” Faith drawled. “You’re fine.”

“Giles sent confirmation for your travel plans, Kennedy,” Willow said, interrupting what was sure to become a nasty argument. “Your flight leaves the day after tomorrow.”

“Good,” she shot back. “It’ll be good to get back.”

She left the room, and the silence that fell wasn’t entirely comfortable. Zoë and Faith still hadn’t decided what they thought of one another, and the other two girls weren’t always able to follow the entire conversation. Teresa’s English was better than Rute’s, but they were both more comfortable with Portuguese or Spanish.

“Are you girls hungry?” Zoë asked lightly, obviously trying to change the subject. “I know I am.”

She led the younger Slayers out of the room, and Faith slumped in the seat the Watcher had just vacated. “Did Giles say when the reinforcements are arriving?”

“A few days,” Willow replied in a low voice. “There were two Watchers and their Slayers who just arrived at headquarters yesterday. All four are trained, and with Zoë here, the language barriers aren’t as great.”

Faith frowned, considering their forces and whether they would have enough people to win the day. “I think it might be better to use guerilla warfare,” she finally said. “We can make quick strikes instead of one frontal attack. If we know where a large number of the Demos are going to be, we can kill quite a few at once without them ever seeing us.”

“You’re going to need magic for that,” Willow pointed out.

“I know.” Faith gave her a sharp look. “And you won’t be any help if you use up all your juice in one place.”

Willow sighed. “I’ve been trying to find more Slayers.”

“Have you?”

“Yeah, but not around here. Someone is going to have to bring them back.”

“Send Zoë and Teresa,” Faith advised. “Watchers are trained for that kind of thing, and you can always tell the parents that their kid has won an all-expenses paid trip to a great school. Teresa can go as a recruiter or whatever.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Willow admitted, impressed with the plan. “The Watchers won’t be here right away. Zoë can probably go and come back before you guys are ready to strike.”

“If I’ve got four others, I’ll be good,” Faith assured her. “We’ll keep the incursions small at first, then work up to a big offense.”

Willow smiled. “Sounds like a plan.” After a moment’s hesitation she added, “I’m glad you could come.”

“I was glad to get out of Dodge for a while,” Faith responded, waving off her gratitude. “Robin was really starting to piss me off.”

“Can I ask what happened?” Willow knew that she might be hitting on a touchy subject. She and Faith had been enemies once upon a time, but that life seemed far in the past. Besides, she knew she wasn’t in a position to cast stones.

Faith shrugged, her body language suggesting that it didn’t matter, but her eyes telling a different story. “Probably the same thing that happened between you and Kennedy. You think you’re building a bond that will last a lifetime, and it turns out that it’s just for the moment.”

Willow didn’t think that she was imagining the regret in the other woman’s voice, and she suspected that the breakup with Wood had affected her more than she wanted to let on. “Yeah. I guess a life or death situation can make everything more intense.”

“Something like that.” Faith rose. “I’m starving, and you look like you could eat, too.”

Willow rose and followed her out, carefully disguising how shaky she was.

~~~~~

Faith had been prepared for a fight. She wasn’t expecting a warm welcome or easy acceptance, although that seemed to be what she’d found. Willow didn’t appear to be holding a grudge, and the others acted as if they didn’t know about her past.

Maybe they didn’t; she wasn’t about to rehash old history.

Although Kennedy had presented something of a problem, Faith knew that it wasn’t personal; the girl was pissed off at the world in general. Faith understood the feeling, and she thought that as the other girl grew more secure in her abilities and her place in the general scheme of things, she’d get less prickly.

Faith was just glad she didn’t have to be around while Kennedy went through that transition.

She wouldn’t have minded tracking down a few Slayers, but she much preferred the idea of fighting demons. It was just too bad that she had to wait for backup.

Idly flipping through the channels, Faith waited for Willow to return from the airport. The Watchers and their Slayers were arriving that afternoon, and they would need to make plans for taking down the Demos. She had a few ideas, but they were dependent on how well she was able to work with the others.

The front door swung open, and Willow came into the apartment, followed closely by four others. Both Watchers were men who seemed to be in their mid- to late-thirties, while the Slayers were probably in their late teens. Faith realized that they’d been lucky to get two of the younger surviving Watchers, as well as two of the older, better trained Slayers.

“Hey, Faith,” Willow said as she came through the door. “This is Arnold Emrys and his Slayer, Rhoda, and Davis Klein and his Slayer, Erna.”

“It’s a pleasure,” she said, remaining seated just to see how they reacted.

“We’ve heard much about you,” Davis said, the expression on his face making it clear that most of what he’d heard hadn’t been complimentary. “You were guarding the Cleveland Hellmouth, yes?”

Faith caught traces of an accent she couldn’t quite place, although his English was flawless. “I was until Willow needed me here,” she replied.

Willow cleared her throat. “Now that you guys have all met, maybe we should get some sleep,” she suggested.

“I slept on the plane,” Davis replied. “I think we should begin to make plans immediately. Once we know what we’re facing, we can move forward.” He turned to Faith. “I assume you’ve done some reconnaissance.”

She shot him a look. “Yeah. I have.”

“At least we have a place to start from,” he remarked, his expression making it obvious that he didn’t think much of her leadership abilities.

“I’m certain that Faith has done everything she could,” Arnold said, clearly trying to make peace before more barbs began to fly. “And while I know we’re tired from traveling, perhaps we should begin to make plans.”

“Ja,” Erna said quickly, shooting her Watcher a look that Faith didn’t have any trouble interpreting. Apparently, the German Slayer was ready to shed her watchdog. Interesting. “There are many of these demons, and few of us.”

Rhoda sank gracefully to the floor. “How many are there? We were told it was a demon clan, but those range greatly in size.”

When neither Watcher said anything, Faith began to fill them in on what she’d learned over the last couple of days. “I can’t tell you the exact number, because the only ones I’ve seen are their fighters, and there are probably sixty of those.”

“That sounds about right for a Demos clan,” Arnold said thoughtfully. “When they get much larger, they’ll generally split up, or in-fighting will reduce their numbers.”

Faith nodded, deciding that she liked Arnold. He seemed to know what he was talking about at least, and he hadn’t pissed her off yet, which boded well. “I thought we could pick them off, use guerilla tactics.”

“Wouldn’t a single strike be more effective?” Davis asked.

Erna stared at him. “Did you not hear her? Six against sixty is not favorable odds.”

“With magic, we could kill them all at once,” Davis replied. He looked at Willow. “Surely you could devise a spell that would pinpoint each Demos and strike him down.”

Willow’s eyebrows went up. “Do you have a suggestion for how that might be done?” The witch was clearly not pleased at having her abilities questioned, and Faith couldn’t blame her; she had a feeling that she was going to have to kick his ass before this was all over.

“You’re the great witch,” he replied. “You were the one who activated all the Slayers at once. I thought you would be able to do anything.”

Faith cleared her throat. “She’s a powerhouse, not a goddess,” she said sharply. “And I think you’re forgetting who’s in charge here.”

He sneered. “Oh? And that would be you?”

“No, that would be us,” she shot back. “The Slayers. That’s what’s eating you, right? You’re pissed off that you’re not in charge anymore.”

Davis’ eyes sparked with anger. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Let’s call for a vote.” Faith smirked. “Who’s gonna be in charge of this mission?”

“Faith,” Rhoda said.

Erna threw a look at her Watcher. “Faith.”

Arnold rubbed the crease between his eyebrows. “I believe that Faith knows the lay of the land better than any of us, and she has the experience in battle.” He refused to look at the other Watcher as he spoke.

“Faith.” Willow smiled at the Slayer, and Faith sensed that they had made a connection that hadn’t been there before—united against the prick. She could handle that.

“Looks like I’m the leader for this shindig.” Faith’s stare challenged him. “You okay with that, or do you want to be excused?”

The muscle in his jaw jumped. “That’s fine.”

Faith knew that she was going to have trouble with him down the road, but for right now, she decided to let it go. “Fine. We’re going for quick strikes that take out as many Demos as possible without risking our own forces, and we start tonight.”

~~~~~

Zoë followed Teresa through the airport, glancing anxiously at her watch. They didn’t have much time before they were to board their bus, and they had yet to pick up their bags.

She sensed, rather than saw, the blow coming. Zoë didn’t duck; instead, she fell out of the way, the knife missing her by mere centimeters. “Teresa!”

The Slayer didn’t hesitate. Although she hadn’t been training for long, instinct seemed to count for something. Her left foot hit the man in the temple, sending him flying. “Who is he?” she cried in Portuguese.

“I have no idea,” Zoë replied, scrambling to her feet. “Come on. We need to grab our bags.” She caught sight of another two thugs who were moving towards them purposefully. “Never mind. We can come back for them later.”

Ignoring the screams and gasps around them, Zoë grabbed the Slayer’s arm and began to usher her through the airport, heading for the bus depot. “Let’s go. I think it would be best if we lost them.”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Teresa replied. “What if we lead them to the new Slayer?”

Zoë thought of a thousand curses, but none of them seemed potent enough for the situation at hand. She’d been trained to deal with emergencies, but right now she had at least three men who appeared to be intent on killing both of them, for some unknown reason.

There was an outcry behind them, and she glanced over her shoulder to see several men with guns moving to surround their pursuers. “I think we just bought some time.”

Zoë kept a sharp watch for any others who might be following them. The last thing she wanted to do was to lead the men—whoever they were—to a new, untrained Slayer. The girl was likely to be bewildered about her newfound strength and agility, but to add in men who wanted her dead this early in the game was too much.

The bus was already pulling out when Zoë saw one of the men she’d spotted. It was clear that he wasn’t going to be early enough to catch it, giving them a little extra time and protection. She had two more Slayers to find before someone else did.

“When we find the next one, I want you to get her back to Rio,” she told Teresa in a low voice as they rode the swaying bus. It was packed tight with hot, sweaty bodies, but she figured that was for the best. There was little chance that anyone would care what they were saying.

Teresa shook her head vehemently. “No! It is too dangerous for you.”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured her. “It’s the only way to be certain that they’re both protected.”

The Slayer was not convinced. “We came together for a reason—to be safe.”

“We’ll talk about it when we find this girl,” Zoë replied, hoping that when it came down to it, Teresa would follow her directions. She honestly believed that it was the best way of making sure they both stayed alive.