Magic Multiverse 36 (Patreon)

“So, first things first,” he said. “I thought there was supposed to be only one Slayer?”

Buffy sighed, which felt extra petulant coming from a different face. “Technically, yes, but it’s complicated. The first year I had moved here, there was this Master Vampire trapped under the city. He was strong … really strong. He was also prophesied to kill me. He did, technically.”

He squeezed her hand, not asking any questions. It was clearly a difficult thing for her to say.

“It caused some kind of glitch, as Willow called it, causing another Slayer to be called. Kendra. And then, she died and… Well, Faith was called.”

He listened as Buffy gave a summary of events, Faith arriving, chased by an ancient vampire that, even with the cooperation of two slayers, they barely defeated, how they tried to work together but Faith killed a man yet showing no remorse, how she betrayed them and started working for the mayor, trying to kill Angel for revenge in the process, and Buffy wounding her to put her to a permanent coma.

One that Faith woke up just earlier today, and challenged her by taking her mother hostage, and used a magical device to initiate the body switch.

“First of all, you don’t have to worry about the body switch. It’s not that hard to solve,” he said.

“Really?” she said. “Because that sounds very dangerous.”

He shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong, the original switch is very difficult, but the same doesn’t apply to reverse. As long as you two are in the same room, even I can do that, easily.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. Wiccan magic was focused on spirituality and restoration, so restoring people back to their own bodies was easily achievable. He probably could have achieved that back when he still had his skill in Intermediate. Trying to create an artifact to trigger it would have been harder … but also unnecessary.

But, he couldn’t help but feel a bit confused by the whole Faith story. Listening to Buffy, she was a callous assassin, the most evil person imaginable, but it hadn’t been the impression he had gotten.

Considering Faith tried to kill her ex after said ex returned from hell as a miracle, not to mention she had just used her mother as a hostage, he wasn’t sure just how much he could take Buffy’s assessment at face value.

But, he didn’t even dare to open that particular box. Not yet, at least. “What’s the plan once we finish the switch?” he said.

“We give the murderous bitch to the police, and she ends up in prison,” Buffy growled.

He hummed. He could understand the impulse, and anyone else in Buffy’s place would have tried to argue for murder being justified. “You know it wouldn’t work, right?”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Buffy, sweetie. Think about it. If you don’t want to be held, do you think any prison can hold you?”

“Well,” she said.

“And, if the government realizes just how exceptional she is, they might just offer her to work for them in exchange for being an assassin.”

Buffy gasped. “They wouldn’t… would they?”

“Of course they would. And, not just them. Remember, I just saved you from a bunch of shady figures that knew exactly where to find you. They might be some kind of supernatural mafia. They must have believed they could convert Faith if they were willing to target a police car,” he said.

“Well, then… Maybe the Watcher’s Council,” she started, then shuddered. “No, that’s out of the question,” she corrected immediately. After learning some of the things the Watcher’s Council pulled, including intentionally poisoning Slayers and throwing them against the vampires for their weird tests, he couldn’t blame Buffy for her reaction.

“Yeah. Unless we fully embrace evil and murder her, we need to approach this with nuance,” he offered.

Admittedly, he was mostly playing for time. He knew very little about Faith, other than his very own limited observations, but she didn’t feel like the murderous kind of evil. If she was, she could have killed him easily rather than trying to take revenge on Buffy by sleeping with her man.

It was the kind of thing Cordelia and Willow would do to each other.

Still, even with Buffy’s one-sided report, she didn’t seem that unredeemable; especially when the reward was to have a second slayer against vampires and other creatures. And, a reward for armed combat was equally impressive.

A decision could wait until they solved the magical issue.

“She’s irredeemable.”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t solve our containment issue,” he said, not wanting to argue about the issue yet, especially since there was a good chance that she was fully correct about Faith. “The ritual to fix the body issue is not that hard. The challenge is to put you in the same room without alerting her.”

“Slayer senses,” she growled unhappily.

“Yes. Also, we need to trap her once you switch bodies, because if you two fight, you’ll destroy my house.”

“You have an idea?” she said.

“Yes. I’ll enter the house first, and give her another massage, and act like the candles and the incense are a part of it. Once she’s relaxed and stopped paying attention, you’ll sneak in, but will have a rope around your arms and legs, ready to be tightened. I’ll complete the ritual then.”

“Sounds simple,” she said, suspicious.

“Simple is our best option. Either that, or we talk to Riley and ask him to bring a lot of shady commandos to help. And, that requires us to trust the government.”

She shook her head. “Let’s not do that. I still don’t know what the commandos are doing in Sunnydale, but it can’t be good.”

“Exactly,” he said.

With that decided, he parked in front of the house. “Just in case, stay in the car for five minutes before getting out, and give me fifteen minutes at least,” he said.

He was glad for his precaution, because the moment he entered his bedroom, blonde Faith was already awake. She acted as if she was sleeping, but he could tell the difference. Some of her tells were still the same as Buffy’s.

He was very glad that they didn’t go with a sneak-attack route.

He tiptoed around the room carefully as he burned the candles, and threw some rose petals around, the cheesy romantic overtones giving the perfect cover for the ritual circle.

Only when he finished, he undressed to his underwear to reduce her alertness even more, and slid into the bed. “Good afternoon, sleepyhead,” he whispered as he settled over her back, and started massaging her.

“Mmm, you weren’t exaggerating those new tricks,” she whispered. “I’m ready to go.”

“Patience, Buffy,” he whispered, his fingers dancing over her body. Knowing more about her, he had started to pay more attention to her reactions. It was interesting. She had a yearning that became obvious whenever his touch turned gentle.

It further confirmed that she was more complicated than Buffy’s one-sided explanation, but he was also aware it didn’t make her any less dangerous.

Luckily, regardless of anything else, he was confident in his Tantric skill, the relaxation weakening her awareness. Her eyes stayed closed, unaware of the fact that the candles started to burn more intensely, or that the rose petals were floating around them.

He was good enough to make blonde Faith lose all sense of time. Ten minutes later, brunette Buffy walked in, far faster than she had promised, but he expected it. She was terrible at listening to others when it came to plans.

Luckily, she at least followed his request and moved silently, the ropes loose around her arms and her legs. He nodded at her, and she tightened her grip.

He spoke the last verse of the latin spell out. “Terra teste, redde illas animas corporibus suis legitimis!”

Blonde Buffy raised her head. “What—“ she said, then, seeing her own body, her eyes widened.

Unfortunately, that was all she was able to say before the body underneath him went limp. The same went for the bound body of Faith. Without magic, he would have needed to question whether it succeeded, but with it, the switch was very apparent. “Hello, Anne,” he said, and stole a quick kiss before moving back.

Immediately, he went to Faith, who was finally in her rightful body, and put his hands on her back, but this time, his massage was different, trying to weaken her instead of make her relax.

Admittedly, it was not a perfect solution. Not even a viable combat technique, but while Faith recovered from the switch, he was able to weaken her somewhat, at least enough to prevent her from ripping the ropes.

“Hello, Faith,” Buffy said as she stood up.

“Maybe put on a shirt before confronting me, B,” Faith said, her tone amused and irrelevant, but he could hear the desperation underneath. His touch allowed him to feel it even better. “I mean, nothing I haven’t played before, but—“

“Buffy, no,” he said sharply, realizing that Buffy was about to punch her. Depending on how hard she hit, it might actually give Faith a chance to get out of the ropes. “Just grab the sheets and reinforce the ropes before we discuss our next steps. Calmly.”

“Calmly!” Buffy said. “She stole my body and almost killed my mother—“

“Restraints first, talk later,” he said, still massaging Faith.

While Buffy moved, Faith turned to look at him, confused, but her tone still had an irrelevant, amused edge. “You surprised me, Sammy boy. When did you catch on?”

He matched her smile. He had to admit, the attitude that felt weird on Buffy’s face looked magnificent on her real face. “Are you sure your ego can handle the answer?”

“Bring it on,” she said, trying to sound confident despite her situation, but he could feel that it was paper-thin.

In some ways, he reminded him of Buffy when they had just met, when she was still trying to make him believe that she was a normal girl, wearing the mask of Anne, afraid that he would see underneath.

Faith gave him a similar impression, but even more intense. Only, wearing the mask of toughness rather than normalcy.

“Your fashion sense was the first warning. Buffy is not the leather pants and dark lipstick kind of girl, but the way you kissed was the real giveaway.”

“See, B, your boyfriend things I’m the better kisser,” she taunted.

Buffy immediately looked tense. “I didn’t say better,” he responded with a gentle bob to Faith’s nose, which caught her flat-footed.

“What do you mean, not better? I’m much better than Miss Goody-Two-Shoes. Her only romp was with the dead boy!”

He chuckled, because that outburst might be the first genuine reaction from her rather than her desperate attempts to cover up her insecurities. She believed she was better than Buffy in bed, and she was seemingly proud of it.

He smiled, because it gave him an angle to approach the situation.

In an area where he was a genuine expert.

Almost a master.

Buffy might have reacted to that provocation badly before. When they started, she had too many insecurities in bed due to her complicated history, but their … treatments worked to fix that. “You wish, Faith,” she said confidently.

“Don’t be too arrogant. He’s not that good in bed either. Too much into soft shit. He literally put me to sleep.”

That made Buffy giggle louder. She continued to turn the sheet into another rope. He found interesting just how easily Buffy settled down now that Faith was secured. It didn’t solve their underlying anger, but it gave him even more understanding of the situation. “You realize I kept massaging you that long because I needed you sleeping while I went and rescued Buffy, right?”

Her eyes widened. “Really? I assumed she got free on her own. You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?” she said. “Any chance I can convince you to upgrade to the better Slayer?”

“Depends on your offer,” he said, caressing her neck while he caught Buffy’s gaze, and winked at her. That killed Buffy’s upcoming rant.

Faith smirked, missing the implication. He could sense that she wanted to hurt Buffy, and as long as she believed seducing him was an option, she would lean into it. It was somewhat absurd to believe, but then, she had just woken up from a coma, and gone through a body-changing ritual twice.

A little confusion was to be expected.

After that, Buffy, used the sheet she had folded to secure Faith’s arms and legs firmly, removing the flight risk, at least temporarily. “What now?” Faith asked, still irrelevant. “Let me guess, you’re calling the cops to throw me in a dark hole.”

“Not really an option,” he said before Buffy could say anything. He kept his hands over her back, still massaging, but this time, it was not to weaken her. Nor was it sexual. She was clearly starved for touch, or any kind of intimacy. It would go a long way toward her trusting him.

“Unless you want to stay, nothing will be able to keep you in prison.”

“What? Are you going to drag me out like a rabid dog and shoot me?” she asked, mostly as a challenge.

“That’s what you deserve after trying to kill my mother—“ Buffy responded, unable to contain her anger. Faith seemed to be happy seeing Buffy angry, which was a weird choice, considering without him stopping, there was a good chance Buffy would break a few bones.

And, he didn’t feel desperation to escape.

He sighed. He had a feeling that he was dealing with an even more complicated situation than he realized. He wrapped a hand around Faith’s waist, and noticed that she did her best to lean against him without making it obvious.

What a mess of a woman. He was over his head.

“Alright. No one is shooting others. Ideally, we talk for a while, see if we can come to a compromise,” he said.

“A compromise, what? I promise to be a good girl, and get another watcher.”

“Actually, Buffy fired the Council. No more Watchers, right?”

That made Faith look at Buffy, surprised. “Good for you, B. So, no more Giles?”

Buffy failed to adapt to the sudden changes. “Well, he’s still around. Just not a watcher anymore.”

He hummed. “Let’s focus on the present. Let’s focus on the situation.”

“Shouldn’t we call others?” Buffy said.

“Not necessarily,” he said. “Having more people wouldn’t help. And, it avoids the complications if we decide to let Faith go free.”

That made her eyes widen. “Wait, that’s an option?” they said at the same time.

“Why not?” he said.

“Because she’s a wanted woman.”

“So. Only in America,” he said. “At worst, I will drive her to the Canadian border myself so she can sneak away. I can even give up some cash to shore up.”

Faith seemed surprised by his declaration. “B, does he have brain damage or something? Or maybe he doesn’t understand how dangerous I am?”

“Believe me, I spar with Buffy regularly. I know how dangerous you can be if you wish. That’s why we’re having the talk.”

“She killed many people—“

“While being manipulated by a three-hundred-year-old demon that approached her at her most vulnerable—“ he started.

“Fuck you. I wasn’t manipulated. I chose to be evil,” Faith exploded angrily, cutting him off, her self-loathing hitting him hard. Just like that, he understood her much better. She was desperate for control and acceptance at the same time, and she would happily embrace the evil label just to attain one of the two.

Buffy scoffed. “You were evil before the mayor got his hooks on you. You killed a man, and didn’t even feel any remorse.”

“Of course I didn’t. We’re Slayers. We slay. Why does it matter human or vampire?” Faith spat out, her tone even more aggressive, but he could also feel her heartbeat picking up speed.

Buffy opened her mouth to answer, but luckily, when he caught her gaze and shushed, she followed his direction. He could feel that it was the perfect angle to confront Faith properly.

He kept his hand on her body, caressing slowly. “So, you don’t feel any guilt. At all?”

“Of course not,” she responded, her voice even harder, sharper, and desperate. “Why should I? He was hanging out with vampires. How would I know that he was there to snitch on Mayor? It was an accident.”

“Why does it being an accident matter if you don’t care?” he said. As he questioned, he continued to massage her, though this time, he was putting another trick, making her relaxed in a specific way so she would become more careless … and honest.

“Of course it doesn’t matter. I don’t care. Just like I don’t care about anyone else!”

“So, no disgust toward yourself. No sudden sense of emptiness whenever you think about it? Nothing?” he said.

“Of course not,” she scoffed, and he could see Buffy’s expression tightening.

“Interesting. Of course, you don’t mind if I put a small truth spell and ask the same questions again, right?”

That made her freeze. “O-Of course not,” she said. “Why would I care? I told you that I don’t care! At all! I’m a monster!” she started, getting hysterical. She tensed against the bindings, and he was glad that they had reinforced them.

He kept his arms around her, while Buffy looked at Faith, shocked at the outburst. “Faith!”

“Shut up, Buffy! It’s all your fault!” she suddenly exploded. “The perfect Buffy. Amazing Buffy. Nothing like the garbage Faith! I wish you had more than a few hours locked in my body and learned exactly how bad life could be!”

He was impressed with the depth of Faith’s self-loathing, bursting forward after the slightest challenge. He stopped massaging her, and just hugged her despite her tied state. Faith buried her face in his chest, crying, lost in the moment, while Buffy watched them, shocked.

Clearly, for some reason, Buffy had believed Faith’s bravado even though it wasn’t convincing … but then, it clicked with her.

Buffy couldn’t see Faith’s vulnerability, because that would require her confronting and accepting her own vulnerabilities.

He gestured for Buffy to come and hug Faith as well. He had a feeling that he hadn’t begun to understand the depths of the complicated relationship between Buffy and Faith, but one thing was clear.

Faith idealized Buffy even when she hated her, probably to an unhealthy degree, and her rejection when she was at her most vulnerable shattered Faith in the process, though she probably hanging by the thread to begin with. But, he could never say that directly, not without sending Buffy into a dark spin of her own.

As he hugged Faith and Buffy at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.

He was not qualified for this!