The Incandescent Hellmouth

Author's Note: Welcome, everyone, to the sequel of 'A Sparkle On the Hellmouth'. I strongly suggest you read the first story before reading this one in order to get an idea of the characters' developments in the prequel, otherwise the fanfic will probably make little sense to you. And this story is going to be Faith-centric, just to warn you all up-front; Buffy will be taking a back seat until she gets her act together (if she does) from the events of the prequel fanfic. What do people think – should this be a Bad Buffy fic?

"Speech"

'Thought'

*Text*

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Chapter 1 – Pain and Suffering

Los Angeles – Friday, 11 pm

Gasping, Faith the Vampire Slayer ran headlong into the downpour of rain during that warm September night. She careened around a corner, bouncing off of a dumpster and screaming in pain. Panting despite the broken ribs, and running on a broken leg, none of this was heeded by the girl as she ran. Her face and visible skin were a myriad collection of bruises and cuts.

'Oh Di, I couldn't save you…I'm sorry, I couldn't save you...' Faith's thoughts were a mad jumble as her mind whirled with images of her Watcher's brutal torture and death, flashing like a macabre late-night movie flick through her mind.

Rain slashing at her face, Faith held back the sobs that threatened to overwhelm her and she gripped the wooden stake so tight, her right hand almost started cramping. Struggling for breath, Faith's heart pounded in her chest as she fought to keep running, running away from the hell that was behind her. 'Why the heck didn't I finish off that undead asshole when I had the chance? Not to mention his minions? And why the hell didn't I head straight for Sunnydale like we originally planned, instead of hanging around here?'

Trembling limbs jerked as she bounced off a hulking figure around the corner, as Faith more or less crashed into him. The speed at which she was running meant she bounced off the guy, crashing heavily to the ground - crying out, as pain ripped through her tortured frame.

"No, no, you're not killing me, you bastard, noooooo!" Faith gasped out, trying and failing to get up.

The hulking figure stepped closer as she fought to scramble to her feet and bring her stake up, ready to fight; trying to force her exhausted body through another battle. But as the figure came into the light from a nearby streetlight, she saw it was a guy – and not a vampire.

Any other time, Faith's mind would have registered him as a something of a hot-looking stud. But here and now, all she noticed was that worry for her was written all over his face, as he took in her pain.

"Hey, take it easy. I'm not going to hurt you," the stranger said soothingly, hands out and palms forward in a placating gesture.

She was in too much of a flight or fight mindset to notice the guy's body jerk minutely, the moment their eyes met.

"No, you don't understand, I gotta keep running, they've killed…they, they…killed a friend of mine," Faith pleaded desperately, frantically hoping this guy would move - like now!

"My name's Andrew, and you're a Vampire Slayer – right?" the stranger asked, while staring at this battered and bruised creature of beauty in front of him. He reached down and then lifted her up to her feet.

"Huh? What the fu – how'd you know that? You know I'm the frickin'…" Faith stammered, rapidly trying to think how to get this guy away from the death that threatened them - only to hear a sound come from the darkness, which almost froze her very soul.

Ominous growling behind her made the distraught Slayer rapidly turn around. She looked at the figures approaching in the darkness, not knowing what to do or where to look anymore.

"Oh, shit, no," Faith whispered brokenly, as yellow eyes approached both her and the stranger.

The growling from the darkness grew, and for a split second, Faith couldn't help wondering why the hottie in front of her wasn't running away screaming.

The answer came in the form of a loud rumble from the male teen's chest, as he glared into the shadows. Shocked, Faith opened her mouth to ask who or what this guy was, and why her Slayer-sense was now pinging loudly; and yet she didn't, as an unfamiliar feeling washed over her – almost as if she was safe.

"I've got you; and my friends will be here soon. We'll live through this," Andrew said gently but firmly, a look on his face that no man or boy had ever given her before.

"I..." Faith stammered, unable to say anything else.

"Stay alive for me," the guy said warmly.

Nodding numbly, the battered and broken Faith could only look on in confusion as the hottie burst out of his clothes and morphed into a giant wolf – maybe horse-sized, but at least twice the size she was. The growling from within the darkness grew, as the wolf – werewolf? – howled into the night.

The brunette Slayer's jaw almost hit the ground, when five more horse-sized wolves careened into the alleyway. The Pack positioned themselves around her, and the one calling himself Andrew.

"You guys are officially awesome," Faith said dazedly, knowing she wasn't alone anymore, and getting the sense that she actually might live long enough to see the next day.

The growling in the darkness grew louder, as the dark forces of Kakistos charged. Gaining strength from knowing she wasn't alone against a horde of vampires anymore, the Bostonian Slayer snarled and charged into battle with the Pack; despite her broken leg and ribs. Howls and snarls erupted into the night air, along with grunts from the Chosen One as they ripped into the undead.

Faith snarled upon seeing a well-dressed black vampire, her injuries forgotten as a red haze clouded her vision. "You!" she screamed furiously.

Andrew growled, easily smelling Faith on this vampire, and so he charged headlong into the fray. His packmates fought vampires of their own, and slowly, the tide of battle began to turn in their favor.

'I'll kill you!' Andrew snarled silently, tearing into the minions around the vampire known as Mr Trick.

Faith howled in fury as Mr. Trick - seeing his guards fall, and possessed of a strong sense of self-preservation - saluted her mockingly. "Be seeing you, Slayer!" the vampire shouted, as he darted away from the alley with undead super-speed.

As the last of the minions burst into dust courtesy of the maddened Chosen One, the Pack was shocked and concerned when she immediately collapsed afterwards. Andrew unphased and sprang to her side, mindful of her injuries. The last thing Faith saw before the relief of unconsciousness engulfed her was her furry savior looking down at her in concern.

"She's breathing, but badly injured," Andrew Wells reported, as he checked her pulse.

Oz unphased as well, looking down at the broken girl. He asked gently, "Anyone with her?"

Andrew sighed, "Yeah, I think so. Uh, she said the vamps killed her, though, so..."

Oz nodded to the other Pack members, "Track her scent, and find her dead friend. Or Watcher. Or whoever it is."

"The Slayer said it was a friend," Andrew shrugged.

"Right," Oz nodded again. His unsaid 'be careful' was heard by all the Pack members, who were kinda dreading what they would find; after glancing at the unconscious Slayer.

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The Lair – Saturday, 12:00 am

Giles found talking to Jeannie Levinson rather enthralling, oddly enough. They were deep in discussion regarding the modern day dark arts, and both were glad the Pack's safehouse (known as the Lair, fittingly enough) was empty apart from them. After the last four months, things had finally gone back to normal, following the chaos and death everyone had gone through the previous spring; thanks to Angelus and Spike and Drusilla. Their conversation was, however, interrupted by the front door of the Lair blasting open.

"Giles, Giles...please tell me he's here, Giles!" Andrew bellowed.

"We're in here, Andrew!" Mrs. Levinson called quickly.

Giles immediately stood at the urgency in the boy's voice, only for his stomach to churn as a distraught Andrew burst into the living room. Mrs Levinson gasped in horror, her hand on her chest as she too took in the chilling scene.

"Good Lord!" Giles exclaimed at the sight of the battered and bruised unconscious girl in Andrew's arms.

"She's a Slayer; we killed a shitload of vamps that were after her, but one managed to get away!" Charles Gunn snarled.

A pale Amy Madison stood behind Jonathan Levinson and Warren Mears, with a concerned Oz bringing up the rear. "They...they killed her friend, she looked old enough to be her...her Watcher," Amy said, memories of father's death causing her voice to tremble slightly.

Oz hugged Amy, rubbing his head against her as he softly soothed her. "We'll get who did it, Ames, like we did with your dad."

"I know," Amy whispered, leaning heavily against him; her eyes on Faith.

"The Slayer...her name's Faith, I believe… good heavens...Professor Dormer, her Watcher, she's dead?" Giles said, looking aghast.

The Pack instantly nodded, those who had actually seen the mutilated remains of Diana Dormer feeling ill. They also felt sympathy for Faith over the thought of what she must have gone through. Placing the Slayer gently on the couch, Andrew quickly darted off for the first aid kit.

Giles quickly set to work creating a cast for the broken leg, and trying his best to tape up the broken ribs. 'She really ought to be in the intensive care ward of a hospital, I suppose, but with her Slayer healing…no, probably not. The last thing we need is the police sticking their noses into this, after all!'

"That vamp who got away, he'll pay for this," Andrew abruptly snarled, his eyes glowing as his inner Quileute wolf rose to the surface.

Setting a hand on the vibrating Beta, Oz said soothingly, "Take it easy, Andy, we'll make whoever did this pay."

The other wolves nodded eagerly.

"Dearly," Giles affirmed, struggling to maintain focus on his task. 'We ought to get Xander and Cordelia in on this as well, I suppose. With their abilities, those Twilight-type vampires should be able to track down the vampire in question...'

No one moved as the first rays of dawn began to shine through the windows, and a broken Slayer was watched over by Andrew's unmoving form.

A/N: Okay, what do you think? I know Faith seems a bit OOC so far, but in the series she'd already dealt with these horrific events alone. In this story she will have help, and hopefully a family to help her stay on the straight and narrow. Buffy will appear too, but she will not be like she was in the series, given what happened in the previous story. It goes without saying that Xander and Cordelia will be different than what they were on the show as well...what do you think, should they elope to Las Vegas once they're old enough to get married? Should Giles and Jenny do the same thing, during the Band Candy incident? Should Angelus come back from Hell? Please review and tell me what you'd like to see happen!