NOTE; This story takes place in an alternate Buffyverse, a few years into the future. Faith has remained with the good guys, and is Buffy's secret girlfriend. Spike is still evil and Dawn is now at college. Tara and Willow are still together and some of Buffy's past adversaries are not as dead as she thought.
Dedicated to Kew for encouragement. Thank you.
+++++++++++
Gravestones whipped by as Buffy sped across the ground. Pumping her arms in a fast, steady rhythm she ran at a speed that few could match. Her honey blonde hair whipped behind her as she gained on her targets. Ahead of her two vampires were racing to escape. With a skip and a bound Buffy leapt forwards, her foot using the top of a headstone as purchase and launched herself at the back of the closest vamp. She struck him hard, with her foot straight out in front of her like a spear and he went down. Using her momentum, she hit the ground and folded into a forward roll, side swiping the second vampire and taking his feet out from under him. Neither vampire was quick enough to regain his feet before she did. Not even breathing heavily, the young woman stroked a loose lock of hair away from her eyes and hooked it behind her left ear.
"Now," she said in a friendly tone, watching the two undead slowly standing up. "Which of you guys is going to tell me where Spike is holed up?"
"I'm not gonna tell you where Spike is, Slayer. I'm just gonna bathe in your blood!". The vampire, who Buffy thought must have been a banker or something in life, because of his pinstripe suit, swung his claws at her. With what seemed like almost impossible ease, the young slayer blocked his swipe with her forearm and hit him hard with an uppercut that knocked him onto his back again. The other vampire, Buffy decided to call him Jay because he was wearing a red leather jacker with a yellow letter J on it's back, seemed smarter and waited to see what she would do next.
Knowing she had her two under control she took a second to glance over towards the other fight. About a hundred feet away, Faith was tackling another three vampires. Faith smacked her fist into the face of a vampire that was still wearing his mouldy policeman's uniform. The blow shattered the creatures jaw and lifted it's entire body off the ground. With the same fluid movement that had set the punch in motion, she continued forwards and brought her foot up in a devastating spin kick to the chest of another, larger vampire. Quickly, she twisted her head to the right and felt the air rush by her, as the fist of a third vampire narrowly missed connecting. Like lightning, she seized the outstretched arm and brought it down at the same time as she smashed her knee upwards. The bones of the vamps arm shattered under the force of her blow, but it didn't get chance to sceam because her other hand had already stabbed a wooden stake into it's unbeating heart. Dust exploded around the stunning brunette.
Faith grinned at the cop who was already staggering back towards her; she was in her element and having a blast!
As the banker groaned and ran his tongue over his teeth to check that he still had all his fangs, Buffy looked straight into Jay's eyes. "I am not interested in you. Tonight, all I want to do is to find Spike."
Jay's eyes danced about as he took in the vampire lying on the ground, the slayer standing before him with a stake dangling from her hand and his chances of escaping amidst the graves. Deciding, he nervously looked at the blonde woman, "If I tell you where Spike is, he'll kill me."
"No, he won't. If you tell me where he is, I will make sure that he won't be in a fit state to kill anyone."
Across the graveyard, the large vampire clasped both his huge arms around Faith from behind and locked his hands together, squeezing her with all his might. Her breath blasted from her with a loud, "Oooofff!" Her arms were pinned to her sides and went almost numb with the crushing pressure, allowing the stake to fall from her fingers. Snarling like a rabid dog, the cop rushed at the helpless girl, his claws spread wide.
Instinct took hold and Faith planted both her feet together on the ground before her. With a small thrust, she forced the large vampire holding her to rock backwards, lifting her higher. Both her feet struck upwards and pounded into the face of the cop like a hammer. Using the extra thrust she gained from the cop, Faith continued raising her legs up and over her head. This shifted the large vampire's centre of gravity and, already off balance, he crashed to the ground with her. The impact jarred his arms loose and Faith rolled freely towards her wooden stake.
"No way, Bitc..." he grunted, lunging to stop her. Her fist closed around the wood and slammed backwards into his heart. Instantly, he turned to dust. Brown curls swung about her face as she tilted her head up and gave the cop a predatory stare. "Ready to dance, Baby?"
As the banker began to sit up, Buffy stepped forward and shoved him back down with her booted foot. Casually, she batted his grasping claws away and plunged her stake into his chest. With a cry, he turned to ash and disintergrated. "That's better, now we can talk uninterrupted." Jay cowered back another couple of paces.
"You're only going to kill me, anyway, so why should I help you?"
"If you tell me what I want to know, and I don't think you are lying to me, then I promise you that I will not kill you."
"Swear on your sister's life?"
That threw Buffy. She didn't like the idea that some vampires knew enough about her to know about Dawn. She didn't like that one bit. "I swear on my sister's life that I won't kill you."
"O...Okay. But you have to promise me that you won't come after me....ever."
Buffy regarded him for a moment, sizing him up. "Alright. I promise on my sister's life that I won't kill you or ever hunt you down."
Satisfied, he visibly relaxed, even adopting a cocky smile. "Spike has taken over the sanitorium on Corral Road."
Something in his eyes told her that he was telling the truth. Time to pay Spike a visit. Slipping her stake into the back of her trousers, she turned and began to walk away.
"Great!" Jay called out boistrously. "Say it one more time, Slayer. Tell me I don't have to worry about you anymore! Tell me I'm safe."