Announcement

**Firecracker** · 13-06-07, 12:49 PM

Chapter One:

It was ten thirty by the time the slayers reached their final destination for the night's patrol, which consisted of three different cemeteries. They had gone out as soon as the sun had set and hadn't bumped into any vampires what so ever, something that had them all a little ticked off now.

"Some lucky night this turned out to be" said Kennedy as she walked along side her fellow slayers through Shady Hill.

"I don't know about you two but this is really starting to piss me off." Faith said coming to a halt not too far from the cemetery gates.

"Tell me about it, two weeks and not one vampire," Buffy said.

"We're gonna have to order some in over E-bay or something 'coz I'm too young to retire." Kennedy said.

"Funny Brat very funny." said Faith.

"Do I have to separate you two?" Buffy asked.

"You're right I really should learn to respect my elders," Kennedy replied.

Taking one last look around them and seeing that they were wasting their time they began to head towards the entrance when Faith spotted something. A young girl came running through the entrance with about twelve vampires behind her. The girl had light brown hair about the same length as her own and was dressed in all black with a leather duster that looked similar to the one Spike wore. In her left hand the girl held something that was rapped in old rags.

"Guess we know where they've been all this time, she's been hoggin' 'em all." Faith said pointing towards the girl who had stopped running now and was turning to face the vamps.

"Think now would be a good time to jump in?" asked Kennedy.

Just then the vamps began to surround the girl who had dropped what she was carrying so it was lying in front of her, she had no way to escape, but it didn't stay this way for long as the girl began to deliver a series of quick punches into the vamps closest to her, punching one so hard that he landed at Buffy's feet.

"Something tells me she's got it covered." said Buffy as she staked the vampire.

Two of the vampires that had recovered were running towards her from either side, she shot her arms out and with a quick jolt two stakes extended from each wrist which dusted both vamps as they ran into them.

"New Slayer?" asked Kennedy.

"New Slayer." replied Buffy and Faith in unison.

They watched as the girl set to work on the remaining vampires, laying into them like there was no tomorrow, with most of the vamps on their asses she pulled something out from behind her coat, something which shocked them all.

"The Scythe, how did she get the scythe?" asked Kennedy.

"Guess we'll have to ask." replied Buffy.

The girl immediately set to work on dusting the vampires, staking some beheading others, so that only two were left, seeing that this wasn't going to end well for them the vamps began to run for it.

Taking aim with crossbow she had been wearing on her back Kennedy pulled the trigger and the vampire was dusted mid stride.

"Score." Kennedy said as she reloaded the crossbow.

"No way did she just bag a vamp before me" Faith muttered as she made a move for the remaining vampire.

She didn't get chance to dust the remaining vamp as the girl threw the scythe at his retreating form which sliced the vampires head clean off and left the scythe embedded in the side of a near by tree.

"You have gotta be kiddin' me." Faith said as she turned around to face the others who trying not to laugh and failing very badly.

Picking up whatever it was she had dropped the girl walked over to the tree the girl retrieved the scythe and hid it underneath her coat, turning around she started to walk back the way she came when her path was blocked by the three slayers.

"Ok first you bag all the vamps and you steal for us too" said Faith who was a little pissed she hadn't got a stake in.

This didn't phase the girl at all, taking a step closer to them she gave them the once over.

"You're the Slayers right, I've been looking for you all night, and I didn't steal anything the scythe was given to me," the girl told them.

"Given by who." asked Buffy a little confused now.

"Listen I'll explain everything I promise but first I need you to call your friends, have them meet at you're house, because it's a pretty big story and I don't want to repeat it." she told them.

"How did..." Buffy began to ask.

?'Look I meant what I said? this is gonna sound crazy but given the type of things you deal with on a daily basis this shouldn't be too much of a stretch?I think.'' the girl told them.

"My watcher sent me here to help you?'' she began.

?'Your watcher? Giles hasn't even located any? '' Faith began.

?'Located any?'' The girl finished.

?'Maybe not in this time? but in mine?'' she told the three who were looking more confused by the second.

?'I'm from the future, my name is Hope." she told them.

The three slayers remained still, each of them looking at the mysterious girl in front of them like she had just grown a second head.

**Firecracker** · 13-06-07, 12:53 PM

Chapter Two.

It hadn?t taken the group long to reach Buffy?s house. With the three slayers still trying to process what she had told them the short trip had been a silent one, usually she hated uncomfortable silences but this time she didn't mind. It had given her time to go over everything for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening. What she was about to tell the group didn't exactly roll off the tongue. Walking through the front door they headed for the living room where Willow, Dawn, Xander and Andrew were waiting for them.

"So buff what's the big emergency you called us over for ..." Xander began to ask then he spotted the girl who was stood behind Faith.

"Everyone this is Hope, she's a ..." Buffy began

"Slayer" Willow finished

"How did you know that?" Hope asked beating everyone to the question.

"Slayers have a different aura to other beings, usually I'd have to do a spell to see a person's aura but yours is screaming at me." Willow said answering the girls question.

"Is that a bad thing?" Faith asked.

"No, just the opposite. " Willow answered.

"Dawn could you go down to the basement and get Spike for me please." Buffy asked her sister.

While Dawn did this everyone took various seats around the living room, returning dawn joined them taking a seat on the couch between Xander and Faith. Spike followed her into the room a few seconds after.

"Spike, this is Hope" Buffy told him.

"Hello" said Hope.

"She's a slayer ..." Spike began but was cut off by Faith.

"Yeah we kinda got that memo." Faith told him.

"Ok everyone's here you wanna tell us what's going on." Buffy asked before taking a seat with the others.

"I was sent here by my watcher to help you." Hope began

"Wait, I thought all the watchers were dead." said Andrew.

"They are, but not in my time. I'm from the future, from the year 2025 to be exact I was sent back to change things to create a better future.'' she answered.

''She's kidding right?'' Xander asked, thinking the girl was clearly nuts.

''And she's not kidding?'' he said seeing the serious looks that masked the slayers faces.

"The watchers council would allow that?" asked Willow.

"The old council wouldn't. But thanks to your watcher Mr. Giles the council was rebuilt bigger and better then ever, new watchers who fight along side their slayers in battle, no more of that one slayer dies the next is chosen crap they use to spout off." she told them.

"Who trained you?" asked Faith

"You did, you, Buffy and Kennedy, as the most superior slayers you were legends Mr. Giles had you teaching newly called slayers weapons training, hand to hand combat, figured you might as well earn some money at something you're good at. Spike trained me a little as well." Hope answered

"Me?" Spike asked a little shocked about that.

"Yes, one of the councils new methods, who better to train a slayer then someone who's killed two of them." she told him.

"Was the Scythe handed down the line?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, but don't worry you chose who the Scythe's were handed down to." she told Buffy.

"Wait did you just say Scythe's as in plural there's only supposed to be one?" Willow said.

"Yes but that was also said to be true about slayers wasn't it." Hope said with a smile as held up what she had been carrying all night placing it on top of the coffee table she unwrapped it to reveal the second scythe it was similar to the one Buffy had except this one was blue not red.

''Holy Crap!!!'' Andrew squeaked.

''You see the Scythe that was passed on to me isn't yours Buffy it's Faith's." she told them.

She then pulled out the Scythe from under her coat that she had used earlier that night, and place it next to the one she had unwrapped they were identical except Hope's had some scratches along the blue part.

"Mine?" Faith asked leaning forward and tracing her finger along the blade.

''You see, all that whole into every generation was a bunch of crap, maybe if the watchers drank a little less tea and did a little more reading now and again they would have found the prophecy. One that was written when the scythes were made, one that predicted there would be a time when two active slayers would exist together.''

''But what about the slayer before me? Kendra?'' Faith asked.

''As you know, her time as an active slayer was short, that was also written it wasn't meant for her.'' Hope answered.

''It was hidden in South Boston you weren't suppose to find it for another two years but as things stand we needed it sooner, which is why I went there first before coming to you." Hope informed them

''I hope you like the color?'' Hope smirked.

"I gave the scythe to you why?" asked Faith.

"You didn?t? the council had it locked it away after you? died?" Hope told her straight.

?'Oh?'' Faith said blankly.

"And mine?" asked Buffy.

"It was given to another slayer, her name is Ashleigh." she said with a small smile.

"So you turn up here with another scythe because you were sent by the council to change the future things must be pretty bad in your world." Dawn summed up.

"You have no idea." she said turning to face Dawn.

"Every thing that's happened over the past seven years The First, Glory, The Initiative, The town Mayor turned giant snake, Angelus, The Master, it's all been a sweet dream compared with what's to come." Hope finished.

"If things are that bad why send you?" Kennedy asked then off Hope's look

"I just meant why not one of us?"

"Because there's no one to send back... you're all dead." Hope told them then seeing the looks on their faces.

"Listen I'm sorry for being so blunt but its true the world you're living in now doesn't exist anymore the demons have made it theirs all hell has broken loose. There were more of us, but...'' she pauses sadly.

''Some of the events that I came back to change wont even happen for years to come but I came back to this year because I want to stop them before they even have a chance to begin." she answered getting back on track.

**Firecracker** · 13-06-07, 12:57 PM

Chapter Three:

It was twelve o'clock by the time Hope had finished explaining everything to then gang, after taking a few moments for everything to sink in, Spike had gone out, while Xander and Andrew had headed home as Xander had to work the next morning and Andrew was on a search for a job. Dawn and Willow had gone to bed shortly after, leaving the four slayers alone.

In the kitchen Kennedy, Faith and Hope sat around the small counter as Buffy handed out cans of soda to each of them, and then taking a seat at the counter opposite Hope.

"So we're like head slayers in the future?" asked Faith as she opened her soda can.

"Yeah, you're each in charge of your own unit, or at least you were before..." Hope began getting a little side tracked.

''Each unit consists of thirty to forty slayers, it was your job to train them plan out patrols and to make sure they were up to date on their home work both school and demonology studies too." Hope informed them.

"Ok it's a miracle that I managed to get Dawn to do her homework, how on earth am I gonna get thirty slayers to do theirs?" Buffy asked a little stunned.

"Well believe it or not you do, and you don't have to worry about Dawn so much she turns out just fine, one of the leading watchers to be exact." Hope told Buffy who's eyes beamed with pride.

"Ok I get why these two are in charge chick, but why me?" Kennedy asked shifting in her seat.

"Well as it turns out you would have been the next slayer called after Faith. Mr. Giles noticed that you seemed to pick up fighting and weapons training a lot quicker than the other potentials, you had also been training longer than them as well, so he had Willow do a spell and it checked out." Hope said.

There was a short silence, all of them shifting in there seat's unsure what to say, it was Hope who spoke up first.

"Can I just check my back story with you guys?" she asked then taking a small sip of soda.

"Back story?" Faith asked sitting forward in her seat.

"Yeah they made us study just about every demon there is but they didn't exactly hand out a history of the slayer text book, ya know." she said.

"Well why don't you tell us what you do know and we can fill in the blanks for you." Buffy suggested.
"Once upon a time ..."Hope said then began to laugh at the looks on their faces.

"I'm just playin'." she admitted

"The first slayer is known as the primitive, and was created by the shadow men who chose a girl and forced the essence of a demon upon her, the shadow men later became the watchers." she broke off taking another drink.

"Buffy Summers." She said motioning towards Buffy.

"Called in 1996 after the death of previous slayer India Cohen. Drowned during a stand off against the Master, revived by Alexander Harris. This however caused the next slayer Kendra Zabuto to be activated. Less then a year later Angel is transformed back into Angelus, and tries to use the demon Acathla to suck the world into hell, Kendra is sent to Sunnydale to help stop Angelus but is killed by a vampire named Drusilla." Hope told them before breaking off.

"Met Angel once or twice... nice guy." She told them.

"Angelus, not so much." she said moving her hair to reveal a scar on the side of her neck.

Seeing looks of panic wash across Buffy and Faith's faces she quickly explained herself.

"Sorry I didn't mean to worry you, it was in a parallel universe so whatever is good here is evil there, it?s a long story." she explained.

"So how am I dong so far?" she asked.

"A little too good." Buffy said relaxing once again.

"Ok so with the death of Kendra this activated Faith Lehane." she paused motioning to Faith.

"Faith comes to Sunnydale after the death of her watcher and slays vampires here for a year or so before returning to Boston... ?' Hope began but was cut off by Faith.

"Boston, who the hell told you I was in Boston?" Faith asked knowing that she'd been in a coma and spent the last three years in jail.

''I'm from the future remember?'' Hope said, not understanding what had caused Faith to freak out.

''They all said it, the council's records?that is where you were right?'' she asked.

Before Faith could tell Hope the truth Buffy quickly answered Hopes question.

"Faith was in Boston it's just that we only found out a few weeks ago where she'd been all this time, she didn't say where she was going when she left so? y'know all this future stuff is still a little confusing." Buffy lied giving Faith and Kennedy a look that told them to play along.

"Alright you pretty much know everything." Kennedy told her.

"So back on track what were you thinking in terms of a plan?" asked Faith.

"Well I figured its gonna take me a while to track down the demons, so we start with the vamps, they're our weakest link. We search factories, abandoned buildings, mausoleums, there's bound to be a nest somewhere that I haven?t cleaned out." she told them.

?'Well at least we know why there's been a shortage of Vamps and other nasties the last two week.'' Kennedy said, mild annoyance filling her voice.

"Ok that's a start but what about the demons how are we gonna which ones to kill? Buffy asked.

"I'll know." Hope told them.

"About the demons, you're not coming with me its something I have to do alone." Hope told them.

After a long pause Faith was the first to speak.

"Alone?" Faith said "You've gotta be kiddin' me."

Suddenly Hope lost it she slammed the can down on the counter and stood up.

"This isn't some competition, its not about who gets to slay what, these demons are responsible for what happens in the future and that includes killing all of you. Don't get me wrong I'm all for safety in numbers, but if you go after them in this time and they kill you I'm pretty much wasteing my time here." Hope yelled at them.

"All Faith meant is that you're not alone, we can help." Kennedy told her.

"Yeah 'cause you all did such a bang up job the first time." Hope said then off their hurt looks.

"Listen I'm sorry for freaking out, but you have to understand that the future is messed up enough without anything else going wrong, we'll sort something out when the time comes." Hope said apologizing
.
"What happened Hope? How did we ...?" Buffy began to ask.
"Die?" Hope finished sitting back down.

"There was another apocalypse, there was maybe a hundred slayers on our side but the demons were winning. You had just gone down under a horde of demons and were just regaining your balance after taking most of them out." Hope began as she turned to face Buffy.

"You didn't see the demon coming at you from behind but Faith did, she tried to get you out of the way and she succeeded but not before the demon stabbed her she died saving you. The battle was won but not without its losses." Hope informed them.

Giving them a moment to process what she had just told them Hope downed what remained of her soda.

"What about me?" asked Buffy her voice filled with sadness.

"We were out on patrol there was a demon the rest of us were trying to fight off his buddies he gained the upper hand stabbed you we called an ambulance but it was too late you died in Spike's arms." Hope finished.

After a moment she turned her attention towards Kennedy, who she noticed was silent, she was just about to speak when Kennedy stopped her.

?'Don't, I don't wanna know.'' She said quietly.

?'Understandable.'' Hope replied.

"When do we start?" Faith asked.

"Tomorrow at noon I found a couple of nests on my way though town took out one tonight." Hope told them

"Do you have some place to stay?" asked Buffy as she picked up her empty can and placed it in the trash.

"No that's actually something I was gonna look into tomorrow." Hope said a little sheepishly.

"Well you can stay here if you'd like, Spike's got the basement and Faith's on the couch but there's a spare cot in the basement I could bring up?" Buffy offered.

"The floor's fine really I've slept in worse places." Hope told her standing up. "It's been a long day mind if I go wash up?"

"Sure the bathrooms the first door on the left." Buffy told her
They had waited until Hope had disappeared up the stairs the moment they heard the water start running they knew she wouldn't be able to hear them. Faith was the first to speak.

"Why the hell did we tell them I was in Boston?" Faith asked standing up.

"Maybe because you deserve a second chance." Buffy said meeting faith's eyes letting her know she meant it.

Faith smiled at the thought that maybe she could finally be happy and at peace in the future.

"So what do we tell her? Kennedy asked.

"Because if she doesn't know about you then I'm guessing she doesn't know about Willow either." She added.

"We don't" Buffy replied

"Whatever it was we must have had our reasons."

"Well we should tell the others, don't want any slip up's." Kennedy suggested.

It was then when they heard Hope coming back down the stairs, entering the kitchen she wore gray sweat pants and a white t shirt that was a size too big.

"Squeaky clean." she announced.

"I'll just go and find you a sleeping bag." Buffy said before exiting the room.

"I'm gonna go hit the sack" Kennedy said as she headed for the stairs.

"Sounds like a plan." Faith said stretching her arms above her head, before heading off to the living room.

A few minutes after Buffy returned with a sleeping bag and some pillows.

"Sleep tight" Buffy said handing them over to Hope.

"Thanks" Hope smiled "I'll go get set up."

Entering the living room Hope saw that Faith was laid on the couch with a large blue blanket rapped around her. Unrolling the sleeping bag Hope placed the pillows on the floor and then climbed in. Seeing that Hope was settled in Faith reached over to the small table in the corner of the room and turned of the lamp.
"Faith" came Hope's voice from the darkness.

"Yeah?" replied Faith

"Night." Hope offered

"Night kid." Faith replied before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

**Firecracker** · 13-06-07, 12:59 PM

Chapter Four:

The next morning Buffy woke up at eight thirty. She hadn't got to sleep until four o'clock. What Hope had told them kept playing on her mind. The fact that Faith died saving her life was something that surprised her, but then it didn't at the same time. Over the past few weeks Buffy had seen a different side of Faith. They had come to an understanding the day Buffy had returned to the house with the Scythe. It was then when Buffy had realized that she no longer felt any hate towards the younger slayer, that she no longer felt the sting of her betrayal. Since then they were slowly becoming friends again. She had meant what she said the previous night Faith did deserve a second chance.

But it was something else that Hope had told them that had kept her awake. She died in Spike's arms. Did that mean that they were together in the future? After thinking about that for over an hour she had decided to go and talk to Spike, but when she got down stairs she had been greeted by an empty basement. She was beginning to think that he was avoiding her. Ever since the day in the hell mouth when she had told him that she loved him. Her mind drifted remembering what happened.

"Spike!" she said pleading him to come with her.

"I mean it! I gotta do this!" He told her holding his hands up in protest.

Looking at him Buffy entwining her fingers with his letting him know that she was willing to stay down there with him, they held each others gaze as a flame burst from their joined hands.

"I love you." Buffy told him as if she had known it all along.

A flood of emotions washed across spikes face. He was about to speak when Buffy ripped the amulet from his neck and threw it as far as she could across the cavern.

"Buffy what are you..." he began.

"I can't lose you." was all she had told him.

Realizing that she wasn't going to get to speak with Spike, she headed back upstairs and finally managed to get to sleep.

Walking over to her closet she pulled out a her navy blue sweat pants and a white vest top. She figured that with three other slayers in the house she could find someone to spar with. Heading downstairs she walked into the living room looking around she didn't see Faith or Hope anywhere, so she headed for the kitchen. When she got there she was greeted with smiles from Willow and Kennedy who were sat at the counter eating their breakfast.

"Morning, where are Faith and Hope?" She asked them as she poured herself a glass of juice from the carton that was on the counter.
"Outside they've been sparing since we got down here who knows how long they have been out there." Kennedy replied

"You wanna join them when we're done?" Buffy asked

"Sure." replied Kennedy

"Kennedy filled me in on your little chat with Hope last night so she really doesn't know about me or Faith?" Willow asked

"No and I want it to stay that way we must have had reasons for not telling them." Buffy told them

"Well I'll drop by Xander's later on and fill him in, don't want any slip ups do we?" Willow told them.

Kennedy got up and placed her empty dish in the dishwasher.

"You ready?" she asked Buffy

"Yeah." Buffy replied standing up

"Have fun." said Willow

"Yes mom." Buffy said smiling at her friend before following Kennedy out of the door.

Earlier that morning:

Hope rolled over onto her side and looked at the small clock that was placed on the back wall.

"Six thirty?" she groaned as she sat up.

She had given up on the idea of sleep a long time ago. She had told herself repeatedly that this wasn't her world, that she would be safe if she fell asleep, but it was no use. She heard Buffy come down stairs some time in the night.

"Probably going to talk with Spike" she thought to herself. She had also known that Faith had been awake most of the night but still Hope had remained silent. She figured if Faith had wanted to talk she would have.

Standing up Hope grabbed a set of black bottoms and a grey t-shirt from her rucksack and headed upstairs as quietly as she could as not to disturb anyone. Coming down fifteen minutes later she placed her old cloths in her bag rolling up the sleeping bag she placed it in the corner of the room with her things. Looking at the Scythe that was also there she stood there a moment before picking it up. She traced her fingers along the two scratches that were on the blade.

"Hopefully I can stop this as well." Hope said as she placed the Scythe back in the corner, heading towards the kitchen she walked out of the door and onto the back porch.

Little did Hope know that Faith had been awake the whole time, throwing the blanket off herself Faith pulled on her black sweat pants and a white t-shirt. Walking over to the corner she picked up Hope's Scythe.

"Stop what exactly?" She asked looking at the scratches, before placing it back in the corner.

Heading in the direction she had seen Hope go, but when she got there she found the kitchen empty, looking out of the window Faith saw Hope doing some exercises in the back garden. Grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge Faith stepped out side and walked over to Hope. Faith offered one of the bottles to Hope who accepted it.

"Thanks" Hope said as she opened the bottle and took a drink from it.

"No problem, mind if I join you?" asked Faith.

"Not at all I could use the company not many people up at this hour, I'm sorry if I woke you." Hope said recapping the bottle.

"You didn't, just not a good sleeper is all." Faith admitted being in prison would do that to you she thought to herself.
"So what about you, why are you up so early?" asked Faith.

"I don't sleep much never have since this whole mess started. The only way you could get some sleep in my world was to sleep in shifts, but I only slept when I had to." Hope told her.

"How come?" asked Faith

"Because it doesn't matter how fast or strong I am when I'm asleep I'm just as weak as everyone else, and being weak would get you killed." Hope informed her

"Sound's rough." Faith noted.

"It was at first but I got use to it." Hope said shrugging it off.

"You wanna spar?" she asked.

"Think you can take me?" asked Faith not at all serious.

"I guess we'll see" replied Hope with a smirk.

"Alright you're on." Faith told her as they put their bottles over to one side.

Before Hope could turn around Faith sent a quick punch towards the back of her head trying to catch her off guard and to see how good this girl really was. Hope spun around and caught Faiths fist in her hand.

"Not bad, you got some good reflexes Future Girl." Faith told her

"Future Girl?" Hope said grinning at Faiths nickname for her.

Faith then threw a series of punches at Hope all of which were blocked.

"So how long you been doing this?" asked Faith narrowly avoiding a kick from Hope.

"Awhile..." replied Hope as she ducked to avoid a high kick.

Turning around she flipped backwards and landed in a crouched position, and then turned to punch Faith as she stood up. Faith caught her fist and pushed Hope past her so that she landed on the grass.

"That last move you did you wanna try to pull your arm a little further back and put a little more spin into it." Faith said as she offered her hand out to Hope who accepted it.

"Here try again, and aim for my hand." Faith said holding her hand out in front of her.

So Hope tried the same move again doing what Faith had told her.

"You're right, that's a lot better, thanks." Hope said

"No problem." Faith said picking up her bottle of water and drinking from it.

"That was some pretty impressive work last night. You always take on twelve vampires by yourself?" asked Faith.

"I found a nest on my way through town decided to take it out didn't really have a plan." Hope admitted.

"So you just went in there, not knowing how many of 'em where in there?" Faith asked then began to laugh.

"Ok I have been spending way too much time around B." Faith said.

"Huh?" was all Hope said clearly not seeing what was so funny.

"A couple of years ago when I first came to Sunnydale there was this demon who had a bunch of vamp's looking for this amulet that was suppose to restore his strength or something like that, so anyway I come across this mausoleum and I find B hiding in one of the caskets, apparently she didn't like the odds of six against one. So we head outside and the vamp's are jumping down this man hole and B was all you don't know how many are down there, so I go over and I jumped down anyway." Faith told her.

"Cool." Hope said laughing at what she had just heard.

"So today" Faith paused.

"Think you can leave some vamp's for the rest of us?" She asked.

"I can't promise." replied Hope with a smirk.

"So are you up for round two?" Hope asked.

"Sure." Faith said

Walking back into the centre of the lawn, they began to spar once more. They continued like this for over an hour, not one of them noticed Buffy or Kennedy standing on the porch watching them. Faith had just gained the upper hand pushing Hope towards the tree, running up it Hope flipped backwards landing behind Faith, she kicked her sending her into the tree.

"Nice." Faith noted.

"Mind if we join you?" asked Buffy as she and Kennedy walked over to them.

"More the merrier." Faith told them.

"That thing with the tree was cool, how'd you do that?" Kennedy asked.

"It's easy come on I'll show you." Hope offered as they walked over to the tree.

"How long have you been out here?" Buffy asked Faith as they walked over to the porch and sat on the steps.

"A couple of hours, you definitely trained her she's got a lot of your moves." Faith told her before downing the remainder of her water.

They continued to watch Hope and Kennedy who had finally managed to run up the tree and flip herself over to land on her feet.

"Well check out Brat!" Faith shouted over to Kennedy how took a mock bow and then turned to face Hope.

"Thanks." Kennedy said before looking over to where Faith and Buffy were sat.

"You look up to them don't you? You respect them." Hope asked.

"What makes you say that?" asked Kennedy.

"Because underneath all your little banter sessions with Faith and all the times you call Buffy out when you thing she's not making a whole lotta sense..." Hope began.

"How did you...?" Kennedy asked.

"You'd be amazed at what still happens in the future." Hope told her.

"Anyway so you figure hey they've been fighting this long and they're still standing, sure Buffy's died a couple of times but she's still here. They're the embodiment of what a good slayer is to you, and that's what you wanna be, it's what you're going to be." Hope told her.

"How did you know that?" Kennedy asked.

"Because when I first started training that's how I felt about the three of you." Hope told her.

"That little move I just showed you, you taught me that and then some. I could show you if you'd like." Hope offered.

"Sure thanks." Kennedy said as they walked over to Buffy and Faith.

"Oh and don't worry your secret's safe with me." Hope told her

"You two ready?" Buffy asked as she stood up.

"Actually I'm gonna do some training with Hope." Kennedy told them.

"Brat, I'm hurt aren't we good enough for you anymore?" Faith said in mock hurt.

?'Brat? B? Future Girl? Don't you call anyone by there real names?'' Hope smiled.

?'Nope.'' Faith, Kennedy and Buffy answered.

"Look's like it's just you and me B" Faith said as they walked onto the grass and began to spar.
Kennedy and Hope had been training for an hour when Kennedy stopped.

"This feel's weird, you're teaching me moves that I taught you that I don't even know yet." Kennedy told her.

"Well if you think it's weird now imagine what its going to be like when you're teaching them back to me in seventeen years." Hope told her.

"My advice, don't think about it so much." Hope told her.

The four of them continued like this for another hour before heading inside.

**Firecracker** · 13-06-07, 01:02 PM

Chapter Five:

Hope was sat at the counter reading the newspaper when Buffy walked into the kitchen. She had taken a shower after they had finished sparring and changed into some fresh cloths before heading downstairs. Walking across to the fridge she pulled out an Pizza box.

"Leftover's from yesterday night." Buffy explained before placing the three slices on a plate she put it in the microwave.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

"Nothin' much just seeing what's happening in Sunnydale." Hope told her.

"Kennedy do ok with the training?" Asked Buffy.

"Yeah she's getting it down pretty fast she'll be kickin' your ass in no time." Hope joked as the microwave finished.

Buffy walked over to the counter and took a seat opposite Hope and put the plate on the counter between them.

Taking a slice Buffy pushed the plate across to Hope who looked a little surprised.

"Come on." said Buffy seeing Hope's look.

"You don't have to be so nice to me. I mean you hardly know me. It's enough that you let me stay here last night now you're feeding me too." Hope said.

"So you're telling me that you're not hungry, and besides if that was a rule in this house then there would have been about thirty homeless potentials." Buffy told her.

"Thanks." Hope said before finally taking a slice.

Taking a bite she noticed Buffy eyeing the basement door behind her.

"Would you go talk to him already?" she asked putting the pizza back on the plate.

"How did you know?" asked Buffy with a guilty smile on her face.

"I'm from the future, remember?" Hope told her returning the smile.

"Hope can I ask you something, what you told us the other night?" Buffy began.

"You wanna know if you and Spike are together in the future?" Hope finished.

"You are, and you're happy. This isn't some passing phase he doesn't leave you for you're own good or run off and come back months later married. This is the real deal. It's destiny, Forever." She tells Buffy.

"Thank you." Buffy tells her before heading towards the basement door and opening it.

Seeing the basement door close Hope turns around with a smile on her face and begins to eat her pizza.

Standing at the top of the basement stairs Buffy took a deep breath before descending them. She didn't need to call out to know that Spike was there she could sense him. Reaching the bottom of the stairs she saw he was laid asleep on the cot over in the corner, or at least he appeared to be. She stood there a moment just watching him, Hope's words repeating in her head, she was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of Spike's voice.

"You know pet, it' awfully rude to disturb the dead." He joked before sitting up and walking over to her.

"I came to see you last night but you weren't here." Buffy said.

"Yeah I hit a few bars after patrol." Spike told her.

"You've been avoiding me." Buffy said getting straight to the point.

"Ever since the day down in the Hellmouth, is this about what I said?" Buffy asked.

"Look Slayer, you don't have to explain. I get it alright. Heat of the moment, the end was looking nigh, thing's got said." He said.

"Is that what you think that the past few months meant nothing, that I didn't mean what I said?" Buffy asked stepping closer to him.

"I meant what I said Spike." Buffy said taking another step closer to him so that she was standing in front of him.

"I guess somewhere deep down I've always known, but I was always too scared to admit it." she said looking into his eyes.

"But I'm not afraid anymore. I love you." she told him.

"I love you." he repeated before leaning in to kiss her.

Pulling back he looked into her eyes He remembered Hope's words from earlier, he hadn't been asleep. He pulled Buffy into his embrace and smiled, if the world were to end in the next ten seconds then he would die the happiest man alive, well un dead in his case. No more words were said he just held her. Hope's words repeating in his mind, Destiny, Forever.

**Firecracker** · 13-06-07, 01:09 PM

Chapter Six:

The vamp's were held up in an abandoned building around the centre of town, from what Hope had seen the previous night it looked like they had been there a few weeks now. The vampires were sat around on old pieces of furniture and boxes when suddenly the large blacked out window on the left side of the building came crashing through, Hope who had just dived through it landed on her feet glass falling around her. The vampires began to scramble in all directions to avoid the sun's ray's that where coming through the broken window.

"We tried the front door..." Hope shrugged "But it was locked." she said her voice filled with sarcasm.

Buffy, Faith and Kennedy followed her in looking around each of them counting the vampires.

"Four each good enough for you Hope?" Faith asked.

"Hell yeah." was all Hope said before stepping into the shadows.

As the slayers stepped out of the sun's rays the vampires began to spread out, and after a moment charged towards the slayers.

Faith set to work first, she had brought the scythe with her but didn't want to use it just yet, no vampires for two weeks she wanted a decent fight. Sending kicks and punches at each of them sending one of them into the sunlit area, he lay there for a few seconds before bursting into flames.

Kennedy took on four of her own, using a mixture of the moves Buffy and Faith taught her as well as a few of Hope's. Easily gaining the upper hand she ran up the wall and flipped over the vampire. After receiving a powerful kick he was pushed forwards and impaled on an exposed beam which dusted him. Before Kennedy could turn to face the others she was pinned against the wall by one of the vampires moving her hair he leaned in to bite her struggling against him she felt his fang's as they scraped her neck.

Hope was down to just three vampires now but still had her hands full, she was about to take one of them out when she saw Kennedy's neck about to get friendly with a vampire's fang's. Ignoring her vamps for the moment she pulled a stake from her belt and threw it at the vampire holding Kennedy. Hitting it's target the vampire turned to dust. Kennedy gave Hope a grateful nod before getting back to her vamp's.

One of the vampires saw that Hope was off guard and grabbed her from behind, struggling for a moment Hope flipped him over her shoulder so that he landed on his back in front of her. Grabbing him by the front of his shirt she lowered her other hand towards his chest, with a quick jolt of her arm a stake extended from up her sleeve and dusted the vampire.

Buffy was down to two vampires now. The first was dusted as he ran into Mr. Pointy, the second one she had sliced his head off with the scythe, as she turned to take on the remaining two the scythe was knocked from her hand's and slid across the floor.
Ducking to avoid a flying kick she grabbed a piece of the broken window frame from the floor and dusted the vampire, retrieving the scythe she turned to face her last vampire. Finished with her vamp's, Buffy saw that Kennedy had two left.

"Kennedy!" she called as she threw the scythe towards her.

Catching the scythe mid air Kennedy dusted the vamp nearest to her. the remaining vampire ran at her, sweeping his feet from under him she sliced his head off before he could get back up.
Faith had finished off the rest of her vampires with the scythe and walked over to where Buffy and Kennedy were stood watching Hope who had two left. Staking one as he ran at her with a baseball bat. she reached for another stake but found her belt empty.

"Need a hand?" Buffy called out.

"No thank's I'm good." Hope replied seeing the bat at her feet.

Curling her foot underneath it she lifted it into the air and caught it, the vampire smirked at her before rushing her.

"Batter up." Hope said before swinging the bat towards the vamp.

Hope hit the vampire so hard that he flew through the air and was impaled on the exposed beam, dropping the bat to the floor Hope walked over to join the others.

"That thing with the bat was tight." Faith told her.

"Yeah it was pretty cool." Hope admitted as she and Faith stepped out on to the street.

"How's your neck?" Buffy asked Kennedy.

"It's fine." Kennedy replied as she and Buffy followed the others.

"Hey how d 'you feel about going to The Bronze tonight?" Faith asked as they walked down the street.

"Sounds like a plan, I'll call Xander when we get back." Buffy said.

"What's The Bronze?" asked Hope.

The end.

Announcement

Futures Hope: Enter Hope (part one)

Futures Hope: Enter Hope (part one)

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