An Unlikely Alliance

It had been so long since Buffy-in-Gwendolyn had fought another Slayer that she had forgotten how hard they could hit. She had especially forgotten how hard Faith could hit. And she had especially forgotten what it was like for a normal human being without Slayer powers to receive a blow from a Slayer like Faith. Or, to be more specific in this case, Gwendolyn-in-Faith, who was technically a newbie to the Slayer game, never having occupied a Slayer's body before, but unfortunately a fast learner as well.

Within an instant of the blow landing upon her face, Buffy-in-Gwendolyn was ****. She automatically collapsed to the ground where she lay helpless while Gwendolyn-in-Faith felt free to do whatever she wanted to do.

It was not until some time later that Buffy-in-Gwendolyn finally woke up. Unfortunately, she was first awakened by a kick in the ribs.

At first, Buffy-in-Gwendolyn did not want to open her eyes. But whoever had kicked her in the ribs was not content to do so just once. Instead they kept doing it again and again, shouting "Wake up!" until Buffy-in-Gwendolyn finally opened her eyes.

At first she feared that she would see a certain woman in a red dress -- a woman she had once seen in a dream -- standing over her with a sneer on her face.

But instead she saw Kathy Newman standing upright and smiling down at her.

"About time you got up," said Kathy.

"Seriously?" asked Buffy-in-Gwendolyn. "You could not have just shaken me awake like a normal person."

"But I'm not a normal person," said Kathy. "You said so yourself."

"Did I?" said Buffy-in-Gwendolyn, distracted because she kept trying to push herself off the floor with a right hand that was no longer there. "Oh, God," she said when she realized this last part. "So last night was not a dream."

"Last night?" asked Kathy. "It's not yet midnight so technically it's still last night right now."

"So why did you wake me up?" asked Buffy-in-Gwendolyn.

"Because the girl you were fighting with -- the one that kept claiming to be Buffy -- took Buffy."

"Wait," said Buffy-in-Gwendolyn. "What?"

"The one you called Faith," said Kathy. "I wasn't awake when it happened but judging from the bruise on your jaw, that Faith apparently cleaned your clock and took off with Buffy."

"Don't be silly, Kathy," said Buffy-in-Gwendolyn. "She couldn't have taken off with Buffy because, you see, I'm -- oh, forget it. Which way did she go?"

"I don't know," said Kathy. "I wasn't awake when she took off. But I did notice that your partner -- the one you called Evans -- is no longer here so apparently she managed to get him up and out of here as well."

"Wait, Evans isn't my partner," said Buffy-in-Gwendolyn. "He's her part -- Oh, I get it. You think I'm Gwendolyn."

"Who?" asked Kathy.

"Gwendolyn Post," said Buffy-in-Gwendolyn. "The evil Watcher. She tried once to kill the real Buffy when she was alive -- and I have the uncanny feeling that she's going to try to do so again."

"So why did she bother to take her away?" said Kathy. "Why not just kill her here and leave us to deal with the body? And if you aren't her, then who are you?"

"I don't know why she took her away," said Buffy-in-Gwendolyn. "But whatever reasons she has for doing so are not likely to be good ones. We have to find her. As for your last question, perhaps you're better off calling me Rose."

"Rose?" asked Kathy. "But that would mean -- Hey, if you had the power to swap bodies with people, why didn't you tell me earlier? You could have saved me a lot of trouble."

"I don't have the power to swap bodies," said Buffy-in-Gwendolyn. "She does. In fact, I bet that why she stole Fai -- er, the person you think is Buffy."

"Whatever," said Kathy. "Well, whoever stole Buffy, I'm sure glad I planted a tracking device on Buffy's body when the 'U.S. marshals' showed up."

"Wait," said Buffy-in-Gwendolyn. "If you had a tracking device, why did you need to wake me up?"

"I need your help, of course," said Kathy.

"Why?" asked Buffy-in-Gwendolyn.

"Because you're so brave and strong and smart," said Kathy.

"Okay," said Buffy-in-Gwendolyn. "What's the real reason?"

"Because once I track down this body-snatcher you call Gwendolyn," said Kathy, "she's likely to have her assistant take another shot at me. And I'm going to need someone else there to draw his fire."

"Somehow I figured as much," said Buffy-in-Gwendolyn, resisting the temptation to roll her eyes.