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 Forgive and Forget.

Welcome to New Sunnydale High
By Kristjan Brezovnik

Faith was a bit nervous when she entered the new Sunnydale High. She hadn't been in a school in a while, except for powwows. The first few hours she was a bit nervous, but she slowly got used to it. She still didn't like it though, but she knew it was a necessary evil.

When she got to school the next day, she was more relaxed, she knew her way around and she was beginning to believe that she could make it. During the main break, she noticed a bunch of older bullies harassing a girl she remembered seeing in one of her classes. She didn't like it and she decided to help the girl, who actually reminded her of Willow a bit.

"Hey," she greeted the girl when she got to her, ignoring the bullies, "I think we're together in English Class."

The girl looked at her, confused, and then back at the bullies, scared.

"Excuse me…" the leader of the bullies started.

"You're excused," Faith interrupted him with a glance and turned back to the girl. "Anyway, my name is…"

"You're pretty annoying," the leader of the bullies said.

Faith sized him up.

"Nope," she said, "you're the one who's being annoying. Why don't you be a good little boy and get lost, or else?"

The bullies looked at each other, confused, not used to that kind of treatment.

"Or what?" the leader finally asked with a grin.

Faith rolled her eyes and kicked him in the groin, making him fall to his knees. She quickly kicked another bully in the groin and the last one in the stomach. Then she grabbed the leader's ear.

"I've got news for you, boy, there's a new bully in town and she doesn't like it if other people mess with her. Got that?"

The boy nodded and Faith let him go. She turned back to the startled and scared girl.

"You okay?" she asked and the girl nodded, unsure. "Good. Anyway, my name's Faith."

"Raelee," the girl said and followed Faith.

"So, what did they want?"

"Nothing, they were just… being annoying."

Faith grinned.

"Well, if they bother you again, you let me know and I'll take care of them."

"Okay. Thanks."

Faith smiled.

"No problem. So, you any good at English?"

"Yeah. I'm good at languages. I've taken up Latin and Greek."

"You're kidding!" Faith was impressed. "I'm having problems with English grammar and it's my mother tongue."

"I can help you," Raelee offered.

"Oh yes, that'd be great! Thanks."

Raelee smiled.

"No problem."

Suddenly Raelee's gaze went behind Faith. Faith followed it and noticed a girl that looked even more mousy than Willow or Raelee.

"Your friend?" she asked.

Raelee jerked and looked back at Faith. Faith noticed a light shade of red on Raelee's face.

"Yes," Raelee confirmed. "We've known each other since kindergarten."

"What's her name?"

"Lara."

"She looks even more mousy than you."

"Yes, she's very shy."

"Yeah. Listen, I gotta go now, I don't want to be late for my next class. I don't want the Principal all over me."

Raelee smiled.

"Okay." She hesitated for a moment. "See you later?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay."

Before going to the classroom, Faith had to go to the toilet. When she was about to get out, she stopped in front of the door to scratch her leg. Just then the door flew open and hit her in the head, sending her sprawling on the floor.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," said a quiet, pleading voice. Faith looked up, rubbing her head, and saw that it was Lara. "Please, I didn't…"

"It's okay," Faith interrupted her with a smile, "it was my fault. I stopped right in front of the door. Stupid much? Anyway, you're Lara, right?"

Lara looked at her, surprised, and nodded.

"I'm Faith. Raelee told me your name."

"Where are you, you little…" someone said as the door opened again, causing Lara to back off, scared. "There you are."

Faith observed as four girls came in and cornered Lara.

"You little slut. How many times…"

"Is there a problem?" Faith interrupted the girl, not liking how she treated Lara.

The girls turned, surprised.

"And who might you be?" the leading girl asked threateningly.

"You don't know?" Faith asked in mock surprise. "I'm Faith, the new number one bully. And you, if I'm not mistaken, are the new bitch club queen."

"What?" the girl gasped, surprised.

"You know," Faith said and put her arm around her shoulder, "you remind me of my girlfriend a bit. She used to be the number one bitch at the old Sunnydale High. But she was a bitch only on the surface. We'll see about you. Oh, before I forget, Lara and Raelee are, how shall I put it, under my protection. You mess with them, you mess with me and then I mess you up. Got it?" She didn't wait for the girl to respond. "Come," she said, taking Lara's hand and left the stunned girls. "They bug you again, you tell me," she told Lara outside and Lara nodded, grateful and a bit scared. "Good. So, what do you have now?"

"Chemistry," Lara said in her quiet voice as she corrected her glasses.

"Great! Me too. Do you have anyone for a partner?"

Lara shook her head.

"Can I be your partner?"

Lara looked at her surprised, nobody ever asked for her permission. She nodded.

"Okay. You any good at chemistry?"

Lara nodded.

"Good, 'cause I'm not."

When she lay in bed in the evening, Faith felt great. She had new friends and she felt important. She wondered if that was how Buffy had felt. She wondered if Raelee and Lara would eventually join the Scooby Gang, like Willow and Xander had. And Cordelia. She sighed, she missed her girlfriend. Cordelia had only been gone a month and it already seemed like she had been gone for years. She slowly started to understand how Buffy must have felt with Angel being a vampire and all that they had gone through. She wondered if she and Cordelia would also be able to overcome such troubles.

She sighed, it always came back to Cordelia. She thought for a moment and then got up. She wanted to be closer to her so she went to her room and lay in her bed. She closed her eyes and imagined that Cordelia was lying next to her. She smiled, took a deep breath and then drifted off to sleep.

Next day, when she came to school, she noticed Lara. She stared at her for a few moments, not quite sure why she had attracted her attention, other than being her friend. Lara was very shy, but there was something else in her behavior that Faith couldn't quite place. She walked toward her, trying to figure it out.

"Hey, Lara," she greeted her with a smile.

Lara jerked and looked at her with a haunted look. Suddenly Faith knew what it was, she had been beaten.

"Have you been beaten?" she asked.

Lara's eyes went wide as she stared at Faith, surprised and afraid. Faith knew that Lara wasn't afraid of her.

"It was your parents, wasn't it?" she asked.

Lara finally pulled herself together and shook her head.

"No," she said quietly, but didn't meet Faith's eyes.

Faith gently lifted her chin.

"Look at me," she said and Lara slowly did. "They beat you, didn't they?"

Lara looked away and wanted to back off, but Faith took her hand and didn't let her. Lara cringed at the touch. Faith lifted the sleeve of her pullover and saw a bruise.

"Why did they do it?" she asked.

Lara shook her head.

"Look, if it happens again, let me know and I'll take care of it."

Lara looked at her, surprised. The only one who ever stood up for her was Raelee.

"And no matter why they did it, you didn't deserve it. Okay?"

Lara didn't respond and Faith sighed.

"Do you want me to talk to them?"

Lara shook her head, scared, and Faith thought.

"Does Raelee know?"

Lara shook her head again.

"Please don't tell her," she begged and Faith raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"She's your friend…"

"No, don't tell her. Please," Lara pleaded.

Faith sighed.

"Okay. But if they do it again, I'll beat them up."

Lara looked at her, shocked. Faith smiled and gently hugged her, knowing there were bruises on Lara's back.

"You're not alone, Lara, you have friends," she said.

Lara hesitated for a moment and then hugged her back, forgetting about the beating, glad that she had friends that cared about her. She sobbed for a few moments and Faith held her and caressed her.

"Thank you," Lara finally said and wiped her tears.

Faith smiled.

"That's what friends are for," she said and Lara smiled briefly.

In the evening, when she was on her way to the Bronze, Faith thought about Lara. She knew that Lara had been beaten and she knew that it was most probably her parents who did it. She remembered how her mother used to beat her and although a long time had passed since she had been beaten, the memory still hurt.

"Well, well, if it ain't the number one bully."

Faith looked up and saw that it was the three bullies. She rolled her eyes, anticipating a fight.

"Don't you have anything better to do than to annoy people?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact we do. We beat people."

"Oh, you don't say," Faith said in mock surprise. "Is that your job or just a hobby?"

The bullies grinned.

"It's a hobby, but I consider it a job."

"Then consider another job, 'cause you're fired. And unless…"

Faith trailed off when she saw a small group of vampires closing in for the kill.

"Unless what?" the lead bully asked, thinking she was suddenly afraid of him.

"Unless you want to become their food," Faith said and pointed behind him, "get the hell out of here."

The bullies turned.

"What the hell?" one of them said, surprised, when he saw the vampires' faces.

"Leave, I'll take care of them," Faith said and walked past them, readying her stake.

The bullies stared after her, surprised, and slowly started to back off. They watched Faith as she attacked the monsters and were shocked when Faith stabbed one and it turned to dust. The longer they watched as Faith methodically dusted the vamps the more impressed they were and the more they wanted stay in her good graces.

Five minutes later, it was all over and Faith looked around to see if anyone had gotten away. She didn't see anyone and she put her stake away. She noticed that the three bullies were still there, but they didn't seem to be in any hurry to confront her after the fight they had just witnessed. She grinned at them and continued to the Bronze.

"Faith?" Mrs Chase said, surprised, when she saw Faith come out of Cordelia's room.

"Oh, good morning, Mrs Chase," Faith said with a smile.

"You sleep in Cordelia's room?" Mrs Chase asked, curious.

Faith blushed a bit.

"Yeah. That way I feel like she's right next to me and I don't miss her that much."

"Oh."

Faith smiled and went to the bathroom.

When she got to school, she noticed that the three bullies looked at her with respect and not with anger. She liked that, the last thing she needed was to have to worry about mortal bad guys.

"Hi, guys," she greeted Raelee and Lara. "What's with the worried faces?"

"Hi," Raelee said. "Another girl has disappeared."

"Another?" Faith asked, curious.

"Yes. Every day since the beginning of school a girl disappeared."

"Every day?"

"Yes."

"And always a girl?"

"Yes."

"So… six or eight?"

Raelee furrowed her eyebrows.

"Six, I think."

"And they haven't found a single one?"

"No."

Faith thought. She barely got to school and already weird things were going on. She shook her head.

"See if you can learn something more about the victims, okay?"

Raelee nodded.

"Okay."

"Hey, G-man," Faith greeted Giles in the evening, before she went on patrol.

"Faith."

"Bad news," she said and entered the house.

"Come in," Giles said and closed the door behind her.

Faith grinned as she turned around.

"I found out today that girls have been disappearing since the beginning of school. Six so far and probably the seventh today. I'll go to school and look around. See if you can get Willow to hack into some computer and find out something more about the victims."

"I will."

"Okay. See you."

Faith left and Giles went to the phone.

Faith didn't see anyone that night, except a couple of new vampires, which she promptly dusted. She did notice, however, that someone had apparently forgotten to lock up the school. She entered, careful, and looked around, but she found no one in the entire building. She shook her head and left, but decided to come back earlier the next day.

"Has anyone disappeared yesterday?" she asked Monique.

"Yes, why?"

"Who?"

"Some girl from the tenth grade."

"Damn."

Faith left the girl and looked for her two friends.

"Faith, another…" Raelee started.

"Yeah, I know."

"You do?" Raelee asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I asked Monique."

"Oh."

Faith shook her head.

"I think it happens here, in school."

"Here?" Raelee asked, surprised and suddenly worried.

"Yeah. I was looking around yesterday and the main entrance was open."

"Someone broke in?"

Faith shook her head.

"No, someone didn't lock up or unlocked it."

"You mean it's someone from the school staff?"

Faith shrugged.

"Probably."

"Do you suspect anyone?"

"No, not yet."

"How… The bell. We have go, Faith."

"Sure. See you later."

In the evening, Faith was slowly getting bored and she was about to leave when she finally spotted someone approaching the school. It was a girl, Monique as she soon noticed, the new bitch club queen, and there was something strange about her eyes. Faith curiously followed her into the school, down the stairs into the basement and into the fire-room.

Fortunately for Monique, she was right behind her. Because Monique didn't close the door, Faith could see a bulbous white mass of a demon approach Monique.

"Monique!" she called and pushed the girl aside.

Monique snapped out of her trance and looked around, confused.

"Faith?" she asked.

"Get out of here," Faith said.

Monique noticed Faith's stance and she followed her gaze. She screamed when she saw the demon and then quickly ran out.

Faith didn't waste time and she attacked the demon. The demon was slow, but Faith's onslaught didn't appear to harm it. Faith tried her stake, frustrated, but it went through like she had stabbed a huge jelly cake.

The demon soon had enough. It went to one of the windows and started to shape-shift its way through the grate. Faith ran out, but by the time she got to the window, the demon was gone.

"I hate jelly," she murmured, annoyed.

Next day, Faith looked around for Monique. She found her in the company of her airhead companions, but she looked a bit subdued and Faith noticed that she became a bit nervous when she saw her.

"What do you want?" one of the companions, Renee, demanded.

"I need to talk to you," Faith told Monique, ignoring Renee. "Alone."

Monique hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

"Leave us alone," she told her friends.

"Monique?" the other companion, Cassandra, said, surprised.

"Go, I need to talk to her."

Cassandra and Renee looked at each other, confused, and left.

"I need you to tell me exactly what you've been doing yesterday," Faith said when they were gone.

"What was that thing?" Monique asked and shivered at the memory.

"That's what I'd like to know," Faith said. "Probably some demon. That's why I need to know what you've been doing yesterday so I can find a link."

"A link?"

"Between you and the other victims."

"Other victims? You mean those girls who disappeared?"

"Yes."

"You think that thing got them?"

"Yes."

Monique was quiet for a while as she absorbed the information. After all, it's not an everyday experience to find out you're on some monster's menu. She had heard rumors of strange creatures running around Sunnydale, but she had never imagined running into one.

"How did you know… I mean…"

"I had some clues and I waited outside the school. Then I saw you and I followed you."

"Why?"

"Well, you don't seem the type to go to school in the middle of the night and alone and you had a strange look in your eyes. I figured the demon had you under a spell or something."

"Oh." Monique thought. "What happened after I left?"

"I tried to kill it, but it's like jelly, I couldn't harm it. It got away."

"So it's still out there?" Monique asked, scared

"Yep, afraid so."

Monique thought about how Faith didn't seem disturbed by it.

"You're not scared?"

"Just enough to be careful." She smiled. "Now, about yesterday?"

"Oh. Yeah."

In the afternoon, when Faith came to Giles', Willow and Xander were already there, doing research.

"Hey guys. Any luck?"

"Yes," Willow said. "I found a link."

"What?" Faith asked, curiously. "Already?"

"Yes. There are two links, actually. First is that they all had Chemistry on the day they disappeared."

Faith raised an eyebrow.

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"So? I mean, they had other classes as well."

"I know, but Chemistry's the only one that they all had."

"Oh. And the other link?"

"They were all very smart."

"Smart?"

"Yes, their average grade was A."

Faith raised an eyebrow and whistled.

"Interesting. A demon who likes smart girls. Oh, by the way, I saw it."

"The demon?" Giles asked and Faith nodded.

"Yes. It's white and like jelly. I staked it a couple of times, but I couldn't harm it. It escaped through the grate in the basement window."

"Basement?" Xander asked.

"Yes. I saw Monique yesterday as she entered the school. She looked like she was under a spell or something and I followed her. She went into the basement, into the fire-room. When I knocked her aside, the spell obviously broke and she ran away. I tried to kill the demon, but it escaped. End of story."

"Well, that gives us some idea of what we should look for," Giles said.

"You better find out what it is and how to kill it soon, because if I keep rescuing its victims, it'll move to some other location."

Giles nodded.

"We'll do our best."

"Good. I'll help you till sunset and then I'll go to school."

Giles nodded.

Before hiding near the entrance, Faith made a round around the school to make sure no other entrances were open. Just as she returned to the main entrance, she noticed that someone had gone through the door. She hesitated for a moment, uncertain, and then went in. She quietly ran to the basement and then stopped for a moment to listen. She heard the faint echoes of the next victim's footsteps. She realized that they were coming from the direction of the fire-room. She quickly ran there, but this time the door was closed and locked. Unfortunately, it was a fireproof door, but fortunately, the wall was not so thick as it was supposed to be.

Faith took a deep breath and then kicked as hard as she could. The door was not even dented, but the wall started to crumble. Faith quickly kicked again and the door crashed to the floor. Faith stepped inside just in time to hear a scream. She looked and saw someone, a girl, duck in terror, covering her head with her hands as the demon closed in for the kill.

Then the demon suddenly found itself airborne and Faith instantly reacted. She ran to the furnace and opened the hatch just in time for the demon. She kicked the jelly-like body as hard as she could, correcting the demon's trajectory. The demon tried to get out, but Faith quickly kicked it several times and then closed the hatch. Then she watched through the small window as the demon thrashed around and finally evaporated. She also noticed the remains of a couple of skulls and several other bones.

She turned around, hearing sobbing. She approached the still cowering girl and saw it was Lara. She kneeled beside her and took her hand.

"Hey, it's okay," she said soothingly. "It's dead."

"Why… Why did it want me?" Lara asked, still in shock.

"Because you are smart."

"Smart?" Lara asked, confused.

"Yes. All those girls who disappeared were smart."

Lara glanced at the furnace.

"Is it dead now?"

"Yes." Faith thought for a moment as she remembered what Lara had done. "How did you do that?"

"What?"

"Throw the back demon."

A look of panic covered Lara's face.

"Please don't tell anyone. Please," she pleaded, terrified.

Faith raised her eyebrows.

"Okay," she said.

"You promise?" Lara insisted.

"I promise." She thought for a moment. "I wish I could do that," she then said thoughtfully.

"You do?" Lara asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Faith said and got up. "Come, let's get out of here."

Lara followed her.

"Hey, Raelee," Faith said when she saw her friend.

"Hi, Faith."

"What's wrong?" Faith asked, noticing the look of concern on Raelee's face.

"Lara, she's… I don't know. She's usually very shy, but today, she's… she's terrified. I think."

"Oh. I'll talk to her."

"Okay."

"Oh, by the way, Mr Liu has disappeared."

"Liu? The Chemistry teacher?"

Raelee nodded.

"Aha. The police are already asking questions."

"Son of a bitch," Faith swore.

"What?" Raelee asked, confused.

"He was the one who was killing the girls."

"What?!" Raelee asked, shocked.

"Yeah. I killed the demon who was killing the girls yesterday and guess what, all girls had Chemistry on the day they disappeared."

"How do you know?"

Faith smirked.

"Intelligence report," she said mysteriously. "Anyway, where's Lara?"

Raelee thought for a moment.

"I think she went to the toilet a couple of minutes ago."

"Thanks. I'll go talk to her."

"Okay."

When she got to the toilet, Lara was no longer there, but a boy was able to tell her where she went. Faith followed the lead and soon found her.

"Lara."

Lara jerked when she recognized her voice. She slowly turned around and Faith could see that she was scared and that she refused to meet her eyes.

"Look, I won't tell anyone about your powers, don't worry. And you don't have to be scared of the demon anymore, it's dead." She thought for a moment. "Look, Raelee's worried about you. Why don't you go talk to her? You don't have to tell her about your powers." She paused. "And if you want to talk to someone else, you can always come to me."

Lara stared at her for a few moments and then nodded and left. Faith stared after her and sighed, hoping Lara would get rid of her fears.

In the afternoon, Faith went to Giles, who was still doing research with Willow and Xander.

"You can take a break now," she said, "the demon's dead."

"You killed it?" Xander asked.

"Yeah. It was Mr Liu, our Chemistry teacher. I kicked it into the furnace and it evaporated. Bones from the victims are there."

"Good," Giles said. "But we should still find out what kind of demon it was so we will know how to deal with it in the future."

"I hope I don't see any of his kind again," Faith said.

"Well, yes," Giles agreed. "Still, it is better to be safe than sorry. If we find the demon, I would like you to confirm that it is the right one."

"Yeah, sure."

"Then how about we take a break," Xander said. "My butt hurts like I've been sitting on fire. It's probably red."

Faith and Willow raised their eyebrows at him.

"What?"

"I think Xander is right, we should take a break," Giles agreed.

"Good. Anyone wanna go eat something sweet?" Xander asked.

"You buying?" Faith asked.

Xander made a grimace.

"I wish."

Faith grinned.

"I could use something sweet," Willow said.

"Then let's go. You coming G-man?" Xander asked.

Giles hesitated for a moment and then sighed.

"Why not."

The End