DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Buffy The Vampire Slayer stuff belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Warner Brothers. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. All other characters that appear belong to me. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for private use only and must include this copyright notice and disclaimer. There is some subtext in this story. If this kind of stuff is not legal where you live, if you're under 18 or if you don't like the notion of two women being in love, then you should read no further. This story is a sequel to Heat.

The Right Thing
By Kristjan Brezovnik

"Hi, guys," Faith said when the got to the Bronze in the evening.

"Hey," Raelee said.

"Where's Jasmine?" Monique asked.

"Home. Mom needed help with moving some furniture."

"Oh."

"How are things between you and Stacy?" Renee asked.

Faith looked around and noticed Stacy on the other side of the club. She sighed.

"I don't know. She's still thinking about it, I guess."

There was a brief silence.

"Wanna dance?" Renee asked Amir when the music changed.

"I-I-I…" he took a deep breath. "O-Okay."

Renee smiled and they went to the dance floor.

"Faith," Lara said quietly.

Faith looked at her and then followed her gaze.

"Damn vamps," she growled when she saw a female vamp take out an unsuspecting boy. "I'll be right back."

On the other side of the Bronze, Stacy observed Faith, trying to make up her mind about her. She had been following her around for a couple of nights, trying to get a feeling of what she was doing. Each night Faith would go out on patrol, killing vampires and other demons before they could kill people. Sometimes she saved people just in time. Hell, she was like a super hero or something. She sighed and followed her again.

She almost lost her outside, but she quickly spotted her again and she ran after her.

They walked for about five minutes when the vampire stopped and sank her fangs into the boy.

"Hey!" Stacy heard Faith call.

Faith ran toward them, but the vampire simply snapped the boy's neck and fled, mocking Faith. Faith stopped by the boy and checked the pulse. Even from the distance Stacy could see that Faith was angry. When Faith ran after the vampire, Stacy followed her.

Stacy quickly lost her, but since they were near a cemetery, she decided to check there. The cemetery was peaceful and there was no sign of Faith. When she stopped, ready to turn back, she heard noise of a fight. She listened carefully and soon located the crypt. She carefully approached it and peeked through the grate. It took a few moments for her eyes to adapt to darkness. When they did, she could see that Faith was surrounded by a lot of vampires and she didn't look like she was winning.

Stacy stared at Faith with mixed feelings. She could walk away and let Faith die or she could go get help. A part of her wanted her to let Faith pay for the murder of her grandfather, but a part of her was telling her that it was not right, it wouldn't bring her grandfather back. Not to mention that Faith was fighting evil on a daily basis, saving people. She sighed, deciding to go find help. She hesitated for a moment, thinking about who to get, and then decided to tell Faith's friends.

She was half was to the Bronze when a couple of female vampires blocked her way. She changed direction, but they easily caught up with her.

"A feisty little one," the taller one said as Stacy struggled to escape.

"Let me go, you ugly peace of rotten meat," Stacy said and kicked her.

"Perhaps we should make her one of us," the smaller vamp suggested.

The taller vamp considered the idea.

"Nah, I'm hungry."

"Then eat this."

The taller vamp turned to dust and the smaller vamp turned, surprised.

"Slayer," she snarled, seeing Buffy.

"Dust," Buffy said and staked her. Then she looked at Stacy. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Stacy said.

"Good."

"Em, she called you Slayer."

"Yes," Buffy said cautiously.

"Do you know Faith?"

"Yes."

"Are you like her?"

"Like her?"

"A Slayer."

"Yes," Buffy said. "Why?"

"She's in trouble. She's trapped in a crypt at the Abendale Cemetery and there are a lot of vampires there."

"What? Come on, show me."

They started to run and Buffy had to run slowly so that Stacy could keep up with her.

"That one," Stacy said as they entered the cemetery and she spotted the crypt.

Buffy sped up. When she got to the door, she noticed that it was seriously dented. It only took her a couple of strong kicks and the door flew off the hinges.

Stacy went to the side window and looked in. She noticed that about three quarters of the vampires were gone. She also noticed that Faith was barely standing, staking the vampires more by luck than skill. When Buffy barged in, most vampires concentrated on her, while some still tried to kill Faith, but Faith stood her ground. Then she collapsed and Stacy felt guilty, fearing that she might have been too late. She was confused that she felt guilty about letting Faith die, after all, Faith was a murderer. Still, letting her die was just as bad. She gulped, hoping that Faith was okay.

When Buffy killed the last vampire, Stacy went in.

"Is she alive?" she asked Buffy, who was checking up on Faith.

"Yes," Buffy said and shook Faith. "Faith!" she shook her again. "Faith!"

Faith moaned and slowly opened her eyes.

"What…"

She trailed off as her stomach declared it was not fit to process food and sent it all back where it came from. Only Buffy's superior reflexes saved her from being covered in vomit.

"Sorry," Faith said. "Too many hits… in the stomach."

"What happened?"

"It was… a trap."

"I figured out as much."

"How… How did you… find me?"

"She told me," Buffy said, pointing at Stacy.

Faith looked at her, but her eyes were covered in blood and the crypt was dark.

"Who… is she?"

Buffy frowned.

"I don't know," she said and looked at Stacy questioningly.

Stacy hesitated for a moment.

"Stacy."

"Stacy?" Faith said, surprised.

"Worth?" Buffy asked, equally surprised.

"Yes," Stacy said, surprised that Buffy knew who she was.

"Oh." Buffy turned back to Faith. "Can you get up?"

"Help me."

Buffy helped faith get up. Faith tried to stand on her own, but she nearly collapsed.

"Help me," Buffy told Stacy.

Stacy hesitated for a moment and then supported Faith.

On the way home, Faith was mostly unconscious. Stacy thought about asking Buffy about Faith, but a part of her didn't want to know, didn't want to let go of hate. Finally, however, the other part won.

"Are you Buffy?" she asked.

Buffy glanced at her, surprised.

"Yes."

"Can… Can you tell me about Faith?"

"Em…" Buffy started hesitatingly.

"She already told me, I just want another point of view."

"Oh," Buffy said and thought about it. "Okay."

As they neared Faith's house, Stacy was deep in her thoughts. Buffy had told her all she knew about Faith and it was more or less the same as what Faith had told her, only with less details. But what was troubling her the most was the fact that everyone Faith had betrayed had forgiven her.

"Damn. Hold her," Buffy's voce snapped her out of her thoughts.

"What?" Stacy said, confused.

"Hold her. That's her house, Chase," Buffy said and pointed at the Chase manor.

"Where are you going?"

"After a demon."

"Oh."

Buffy let Stacy take Faith's entire weight and then slapped Faith a couple of times.

"Faith, wake up."

Faith moaned.

"What?"

"Wake up. I gotta go, a demon. Stacy's gonna take you home."

Faith moaned again.

"Okay."

Buffy then ran away and Stacy took Faith home. Fortunately for Stacy, Faith tried to walk on her own, but when they got to the door, there was a problem of how to ring the bell. Faith solved it by simply opening the door.

"Mrs Chase!" Stacy called when they got it.

Mrs Chase quickly came from the kitchen, not recognizing the voice. Her eyes went wide when she saw what condition her daughter was in.

"Faith!" she said and ran to her.

"Mom," Faith said.

"Jasmine!" Mrs Chase called. "What happened?" she asked when Faith was sitting on a chair.

"She walked into a trap. Buffy saved her."

"Faith!" Jasmine said, coming down the stairs, when she saw Faith. "Stacy?" she said, surprised, when she saw Stacy.

"Worth?" Mrs Chase asked, equally surprised, looking from Jasmine to Stacy.

"Yes," Stacy said, feeling odd.

"Thank you."

Stacy gulped and nodded. She watched as Mrs Chase and Jasmine then took care of Faith. She knew Mrs Chase knew that Faith had killed her grandfather, yet she still loved her. And now that she had seen the worry in Mrs Chase's eyes, it was even more difficult for her to hate Faith.

"What happened?" Cordelia asked, worried, when they met in their dreams. "I feel like a truck ran over me."

"I walked into a trap. Fortunately Buffy came in and saved my butt." She paused for a moment. "Stacy got her."

"What?" Cordelia said, surprised. "Stacy Worth?"

"Yes."

"I thought she hated you."

"So did I."

"Come here," Cordelia said, hugging her.

Faith hugged her back and they melded.

"Hi," Buffy said as she entered Faith's room the next day. "You look like shit."

Faith grinned.

"I feel like it too. Thanks. For saving my life."

"You should thank Stacy."

"I will." Faith sighed. "I still can't believe she went to get help."

Buffy didn't respond.

"Em, I have… news," she then said. "Don't freak out."

Faith raised an eyebrow.

"That bad?"

"Well, it's not actually bad, it's just…" She sighed. "What the hell. The Council was here."

"What! What did they want?"

"Well, basically, they wanted to play mind games with me, make me think I was worthless. They lost."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want them to play mind games with you. And besides, you know Cordelia would go postal if they messed with you again."

Faith smirked for a moment.

"Yes, she would," she agreed.

"So, anyway," Buffy said hesitatingly, "we now work for the Council again."

"What?!" Faith said, angry. "Are you out of your mind?! You can't…"

"Faith! Relax. I know."

"You know? Then why are we working for them again?"

"Who said we were?"

Faith blinked, confused.

"But you said…"

Buffy smirked.

"I don't have any intentions of following their orders, we'll just have to make more effort to make it look so. And besides, they sort of work for us, I made that clear to them. And the good part is that Willow now has full access to the Watchers' Council Network."

"Really?" Faith said, calming down. "Cool."

"Yeah. She said she'll try to control it."

"Control it?" Faith asked, raising an eyebrow. "How?"

Buffy shrugged.

"I've no idea."

"Oh."

"Seems they got a bit nervous after we got rid of their agents and broke into their network. That's probably why they offered peace."

Faith grinned.

"Good."

Buffy hesitated for a moment.

"She also found out about the group Riley joined."

"Yeah?"

Buffy nodded.

"She said they kill demons, like us."

"So they're on our side?"

"Looks like it."

"Good."

"Oh yes, the Watchers don't know about Jasmine and Cordelia."

"They don't?" Faith said, surprised.

"No. Apparently your first Watcher kept Jasmine a secret."

"Well, I know, I read the diary, but I thought she kept a separate diary for Jasmine."

"Obviously not. And Giles said he has been keeping a fake diary and he kept Jasmine and Cordelia out too."

"Way to go, Giles."

Buffy smiled.

"Yeah."

"Oh yeah, what's that about a troll I heard? I've been a bit out of the loop. Xander said something about him being Anya's ex-boyfriend."

Buffy grinned.

"Olaf. He cheated on her and she turned him into a troll. And then she became a vengeance demon."

"Oh. And that big hammer at the Magic Box was his?"

"Yeah. Oh, Giles also said he thinks that the heat was just normal heat."

"I hope so. We've had enough of supernatural crap."

"Yeah. Are you going to patrol tonight?"

Faith thought for a moment.

"No. Tomorrow."

"Okay. Watch out for some guys that dress like knights."

"Knights?"

"Yes. They call themselves the Knights of Byzantium."

"What do they want?"

"Destroy the Key."

"Oh."

"Glory also came by. She wanted the same thing."

"Destroy the Key."

"Yes. I sent Dawn and Mom to Spike."

"Yeah?" Faith said, surprised.

"Yes." She smiled. "Dawn said that Mom and Spike watched Passions together."

Faith laughed.

"What?" she asked when she noticed that Buffy was hesitating.

"Dawn is the Key."

Faith blinked, surprised.

"What?" She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She's not really my sister. She's the Key and some monks turned her into Dawn and changed reality so that she was my sister."

"Really?"

"Yes," Buffy said nervously.

Faith thought for a moment.

"How many people know?"

"Just Giles and Mom."

"Oh." She hesitated for a moment. "And why are you telling me that?"

"Because Glory's after me because she thinks I have the Key or know where it is. And if she kills me, I need someone to protect Dawn."

Faith raised an eyebrow.

"And you trust me not to go to the enemy?"

Buffy nodded.

"You've got too much to live for."

Faith smiled.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Did you tell Jasmine?"

Buffy shook her head.

"No."

"Can I?"

Buffy nodded.

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Oh, remember Glory?"

"The demon bitch?"

Buffy nodded.

"Yes. Only she's no demon."

Faith frowned.

"Then what is she?"

"A goddess from Hell."

Faith's face became serious.

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"Shit."

Buffy took a deep breath.

"I'm gonna go now."

"Okay. I'll see you."

"Yes. Bye."

"Bye."

"Hey," Jasmine said when she came to Faith.

Faith smiled.

"Hey."

"How do you feel?"

"Like I got run over by a Star Destroyer," Faith said and Jasmine chuckled. "Close the door."

Jasmine did so and then sat on the bed.

"What's up?"

"You know about the Key?"

"Yeah, that Glory bitch is looking for it."

Faith nodded.

"Yes. Dawn's the Key."

Jasmine frowned.

"Which one?"

"Buffy's sister."

Jasmine raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yes, Buffy told me."

"Shit."

"And Glory? She's not a demon, she's a goddess from Hell."

Jasmine stared at Faith for a few moments.

"I repeat, shit."

Faith smiled.

"Yeah. Oh, Buffy also mentioned some knights."

"I saw them!" Jasmine said.

"Yeah?"

Jasmine nodded.

"Yeah, last night, when I was on patrol."

"Oh."

"Are they Human?"

Faith nodded.

"Yes. They call themselves the Knights of Byzantium."

"What do they want?"

"Destroy the Key."

"Destroy… Wait! They wanna kill Buffy's sister?"

"Yeah."

"Motherfuckers."

Faith grinned.

"Yeah."

"Too bad we can't kill them."

"Doesn't' mean we can't kick the crap out of them."

Jasmine grinned.

"Yeah. I'll go talk to Buffy later."

"Okay. Oh, the Council was here."

"What? What did they want?" Jasmine asked, worried.

"Mess with Buffy's head. She said they failed."

"Oh. Good. You need anything?"

"No, I'm just bored. Fortunately, Alice was keeping me company."

Jasmine smiled.

"Do you want me to send her to you again?"

"No, I got Raelee's notes to go over."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

"Hey, guys," Jasmine said when she and Alice came to the park and Alice ran off to play with her friends.

"Hey," Renee said. "How's Faith?"

"Better. She's going over Raelee's notes."

"Oh."

"Did anyone see Stacy today?"

"Yes," Monique said.

"What did she look like? I mean, you do know that she saved Faith's life, don't you?"

"Yes, Raelee said so," Renee said.

"She looked… thoughtful," Monique said. "She kept glancing at me and Renee and I think I saw her glancing at Raelee and Lara too."

"Oh. Oh yeah, I got some news. Remember Glory?"

"Yes," Raelee said.

"She's a goddess from Hell."

"A real goddess?" Renee asked, worried.

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"She may be a goddess, but she's an airhead," Jasmine said and everyone chuckled. "Anyway, watch out for some guys in knight armor."

"W-What ab-bout them?" Amir asked.

"They want to destroy the Key."

"And that's a bad thing?" Monique asked.

"A very bad thing. Now, anyway."

"Oh."

Next day, Faith finally felt fit enough to go to school again. Sure, she still had bruises all over her body, but they were fading. And then there was also the fact that Stacy now knew that she had killed her grandfather. She didn't know what Stacy would do, but there was something she needed to ask of her. She took a deep breath and approached her.

"Stacy."

Stacy turned and backed off a bit.

Faith bit her lip.

"Thanks for saving my life."

Stacy stared at her for a few moments and then nodded.

Faith hesitated for a moment.

"Em, whatever you do, please don't involve my family. Or my friends."

Stacy stared at Faith for a few moments and then nodded.

"I won't," she said.

"Thanks," Faith said and left.

Stacy stared after her. It had been over a week since Faith had confessed to her and she still didn't know how to feel about her. She had hated Faith after that, but for some reason she couldn't let her die. And so she saved her life. She saved the life of the girl who had murdered her grandfather. It was a confusing thought. She knew she didn't do it because of Faith, at least she didn't think so, she did it because it was the right thing to do, save someone's life, even if that someone had murdered her grandfather. And then there was Faith's mom. She obviously knew about the murder, yet she still took Faith in. And she had seen the worry on her face when she had brought Faith home. She sighed. It was so damn confusing.

"Mom, Dad, what would happen to Grandpa's murderer?" Stacy asked when she got home.

"He would go to jail," her father said.

Stacy wanted to correct him, but she decided against him.

"And what if that person regretted what sh… he did?"

"Do you know who it is?" he mother asked.

Stacy quickly shook her head.

"No. I overheard a conversation at the Bronze yesterday and it got me thinking."

"I see."

"I think that person should still be tried and go to jail," Mr Worth said.

"But what if he was, I don't know, some sort of superhero?"

"Superhero?" Mrs Worth said, surprised.

"Yeah. You know, like Batman or something. I mean, what if Batman, when he was young and his parents killed, what if he would kill someone, someone innocent. And then, when he grew up, he would regret it. Would he still go to jail? In spite of the fact that Gotham City needs him?"

Mr and Mrs Worth looked at one another.

"I don't know, honey," Mrs Worth said.

Stacy sighed.

"Thanks," she said and left her confused parents.

While waiting for Faith at the Bronze, Cordelia went to the restroom. She was just washing her hands when Stacy walked in.

"Stacy."

Stacy looked at her, confused.

"Yes?"

"I'm Cordelia. Faith's girlfriend."

"Oh," Stacy said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"Thank you for saving Faith's life."

Stacy blinked, confused.

"But I didn't…"

"You went to get help when you could simply walk away and let Faith die. Thank you."

Stacy stared at her for a couple of moments and then nodded.

Cordelia smiled briefly and then left.

Stacy stared after her with mixed feelings.

About ten minutes later, Stacy saw Faith come in and head straight to her girlfriend. Stacy watched as Faith straddled Cordelia's knees and they shared a passionate kiss. She then noticed as Cordelia applied some powder to Faith's face. When Faith came to the bar a minute later to get herself a drink, Stacy saw that there was a new bruise on Faith's face, one that wasn't there in the morning. She jerked when Faith looked at her, feeling her stare.

"Hi," Faith said nervously, afraid to look Stacy in the eyes.

Stacy didn't respond, but she kept observing her.

"Faith," she said when Faith got her drink and turned to go.

Faith stopped and when their eyes met, Stacy saw fear in Faith's eyes. She gulped, realizing that Faith's future was in her hands. She knew that if she turned Faith in, Faith would confess everything. But if she did that, people would die because Faith wouldn't be there to save them. She sighed.

"I won't turn you in."

Faith's mouth opened. She wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

"Thank you," she finally said and Stacy could see that her eyes were getting wet.

Stacy nodded and broke the eye contact. Faith stared at her for a couple of moments and then left. When Stacy looked at her again, she was sitting in Cordelia's lap, leaning her head on Cordelia's shoulder like a little girl. She sighed. She wasn't ready to forgive Faith yet, but she knew she had done the right thing and she felt that one day she would forgive her.

The End