TITRE : And a Fire Burned the Night suite de Gardens in the Desert
AUTEUR : Vincent Fretin
FEEDBACK : vincef2001@yahoo.fr
SPOILERS : Début saison 7.
RATING : PG-13
DISCLAIMER : Faith, Buffy et tous les autres personnages appartiennent à Joss Whedon, WB, etc.
RESUME :
Suite aux événements de Babylone, les deux Tueuses se posent de nombreuses questions quant à la réalité de leur voyage dans la ville des Jardins Suspendus. La nuit venue, un deuxième voyage va conforter leur intuition qu’il ne s’agissait pas d’un rêve. Peut-être y aurait-il mieux valu car les voilà coincées à Carcassone, entre hérétiques, démons et soldats, en pleine période de gloire de l’Inquisition.

PART 1   PART 2   PART 3   PART 4

PART 1

In the yard of the Los Angeles County Jail, guards and prisoners were completely stunned by the sight they had in front of them. Their minds were telling them that it wasn’t possible but their eyes were seeing it, seeing her and what she was doing.

Faith didn’t care about all these people staring at her, her attention was entirely focused on the barbell she had in her hands. Doing weight lifting had always calmed her since she had come in this place. Of course, she hadn’t exaggerated with the weights, she hadn’t wanted to catch suspicious glances in lifting way to much charges. Today, it was different though. Today, she didn’t want to spare her energy or avoid a show. Today, she needed to exhaust herself physically, needed to feel her sweat on her body, needed to empty her mind. She needed to forget the events of the previous night, events that had been driving her crazy since she had awakened.

Forget her fears that it had just been a dream, even if it had felt so real.

Forget the sadness that had overwhelmed her when she had found herself back in her cell.

Forget the icy stake that seemed stuck in her heart since that moment.

Forget Buffy!

She put the barbell on the mini pillar thingies right behind her but didn’t let it go. Instead, she said to the girl on her right to put some more weights. The girl’s eyes grew even wider before she finally replied:

"Faith! You’re lifting 200 pounds already!"

"Don’t give a fuck, Magda! Put some more weights on this damn bar!"

Faith’s tone discouraged Magda to argue further. The thief who had been Faith’s cellmate for 10 months now knew when the brunette wasn’t in a mood to be messed with. Faith had a reputation of a dangerous loner and no one dared to play with her. So, following Faith’s request, she put 30 more pounds on the barbell.

"Done!"

Faith nodded to Magda and lifted the bar, a move that was accompanied by the cheers and surprised gasps of the constantly amazed spectators. But Faith didn’t hear them. She was once more lost in her thoughts, trying, once more, to clean her head. To forget for a while.

Forget about Buffy!

Forget the pain she would feel if their new friendship had just been a dream.

Forget the peaceful and happy feelings she had had when they had laughed together there.

In Babylon!

And she prayed, begged for it no to have been a dream.

"…and I swear Miss Summers, I wasn’t the one who began the fight…"

Buffy sighed, feigning to listen to the conversation. The two girls, sitting in front of her desk, had had a fight in the cafeteria. The fight had begun in front of the counter where students took their meal and it had ended with the two girls food wrestling on the floor. Usually, when such things happened, the troublemakers were brought in front of Principal Wood who was supposed to come soon. In the meantime, it was Buffy’s charge to take care of them. Something she really wasn’t in the mood to do.

In fact, she hadn’t been in the mood at all since she had woken up. The dream she had had the previous night was haunting her. Her mind was constantly arguing with her heart. The logical part of her brain was telling her that all the Babylonian events had just been the product of her imagination while her heart wanted to believe everything that had happened and particularly her new friendship with Faith. Then her heart would tell her that all the things she had felt seemed too real for it just being a dream…her mind would reply that she wanted this friendship possibility too much to be objective… etc… etc. Kinda a Shakespearian dilemma, real or not real, that was the question.

Suddenly, the door leading to the hall opened and Principal Wood entered the place. Relieved to see that her superior was finally there, Buffy didn’t say a word when he told the girls to enter his office. She was expecting him to follow them in there but, instead, he approached her desk.

"Thanks for keeping those two busy, Buffy!"

"You’re welcome!"

"How are they?"

"Ready to kill each other! Some guy stuff. You should go there before they decided to do a rematch."

"You’re right! Oh, by the way, Lucy is waiting for you to call her."

"Lucy?"

"Yes, the new girl! The one I asked you to read the file yesterday!"

"Oh, yeah! The one who barbwired the chem. lab!"

He pointed his finger on her and said before entering his office: "I’m counting on you, Buffy!"

Buffy let the door of the office being shut before sighing heavily. Another girl to listen to. Some eco freak that protested against experiences in the lab. Whoopee! She looked at her wrist for the time, four hours of work left. Four long hours that wouldn’t solve her dilemma. Dream or not dream that was becoming her obsession.

It was the last appointment Faith had with her lawyer before the release. Once again, they were checking the procedure she would have to follow once outside the jail walls. It wasn’t much; she just had to stay away from the cops and to babble with a shrink, once a week during the following year. Nothing too hard to stick with even if the shrink thing was bothering her. How could a man tell you what to do to clean a head that wasn’t his? A diploma didn’t give you this power, only magic did. She couldn’t understand why so many people willingly paid to visit shrinks. Besides, she would have to pay attention at what she would tell him/her if she didn’t want to exchange her cell’s grey and depressing walls for stuffed ones. That thought made her grin then think at the dream again. She hadn’t thought about it for 5 minutes, had to be the record of the day.

Once again, her mind drifted out of jail, towards Sunnydale and a bunch of people, the Scooby gang, then to their leader, Buffy. The first thing she had thought about when she had come into the room with her lawyer was to ask his mobile phone, to call Buffy. Then she remembered that she was probably at work… which was something she had learned in her dream, so, it could just been the fruit of her imagination. Moreover, calling Buffy would probably confirm if the previous night had been a dream or not and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the truth, a truth that might hurt her badly. Putting her hand in her hair, she tried once again to listen to what her lawyer was telling her.

The night had come now in Sunnydale but Buffy didn’t care. The end of the afternoon had been quite rough with a new demon that had appeared in the basement of the High School; just before the moment she usually left the place. Probably the kind of demon that had missed the memo saying that its specie usually showed up in the dark of the night. Still, she had had to locate then deal with it and it hadn’t been done in a heartbeat. When she had finally beheaded the glowing sliming thingy, the sun had long vanished. After having done a quick patrol, she had come back home, eaten a burger then, locked herself in the room when they had gathered the occult library they had brought back from the Magic Box.

She knew that the Scoobies and particularly Willow and Dawn were puzzled by what she had done. After all, she wasn’t really research girl, at least when she was in Sunnydale and not in Babylon. But she didn’t want to explain it to them yet, didn’t want to hear them telling her that it had probably been a dream, didn’t want them to tell her all the things her own brain had told her the whole day. They couldn’t understand! She had to know the truth, needed to, even if it wasn’t the one she expected. And if it was the case, she didn’t want the others to see her breakdown. Because she knew that such a news would broke her, this past day had proved her how much she wanted Faith and her to be friends again, how much she had missed the dark Slayer.

At the end of her day, just before the demon had decided to make a cameo appearance, she had thought about the way to prove it. It could seem crazy but somehow, she knew that IT would bring her an answer. But it would need time too. There were lots of books, lots of mess too. None of them had had the courage to sort them out yet.

She looked at the clock. It was 11.58. There would be no more patrol tonight. This was most important. Selfish, maybe, but, once again, she didn’t care. She had to know.

She closed a book and directly grabbed another one. She turned the pages and stopped in its middle. A smile appeared on her lips, the cold pressure of uncertainty vanished form her heart, replaced by a warm and delicious feeling. The text she had in front of her talked about an old battle between a man and a giant but she didn’t care about that. No, what truly mattered was the she was able to read it, read this story, read old Babylonian and it could only mean that her dream hadn’t been a dream but something completely different. She agreed that it was something strange, disturbing but also something good, because it had brought a friend back, it had brought her Faith back.

She suddenly felt her eyes becoming heavy and, without trying to fight this sudden slumber, she closed her eyes and fell asleep, unconsciously knowing that she would join her friend in whatever place their second journey would lead them.

A few seconds after Buffy had fallen asleep, Willow and Dawn opened the door of the room Buffy had been into for hours. They were worried. Acting like this, researching alone without accepting the help of the Scoobies wasn’t very Buffy like. But they had seen the look in the Slayer’s eyes, her "I know it sounds strange but I have to do it so stay away from me" look. So, they had just nodded and let her do whatever research she had to do. But they hadn’t seen Buffy for hours now and they were more and more worried.

"What is she doing?" Dawn asked. She couldn’t see inside the place as Willow was blocking her view.

"She’s asleep!"

"Should we wake her up?"

"No! She seems to need it. Go downstairs and take a blanket to cover her. We’ll discuss her creepy behaviour in the morning."

Dawn just nodded and, while Willow closed the door, she descended the stairs.

Birds singing, dogs barking, people talking. Even before opening her eyes, Faith knew that she wasn’t going to wake up in her cell. But, contrary to the previous night, she wasn’t lost, nor scared but happy. So, it hadn’t been a dream after all… so, everything had happened… so, Buffy and her were friends again. Then, she felt someone sleeping at her side. Still feeling no fear, no worry, she slowly turned her head and opened her eyes to see the person she shared the bed with. Buffy! She smiled at the sight.

The blond Slayer was still sleeping and she looked so peaceful. She looked at her a few minutes before putting some blond hair behind Buffy’s right ear. The petite Slayer stirred and Faith knew she was waking up.

The brunette saw her friend’s emerald eyes slowly open and couldn’t do anything else than stare at her, a smile glued on her face.

The first thing Buffy saw when she woke up was Faith’s face in front of her, Faith’s smile and she could do anything else than imitating her. Then, she literally threw herself in the dark hair girl’s arms in saying happily:

"I knew it!"

That was a move Faith wasn’t expecting and, while receiving the older girl in her arms, she couldn’t keep her balance and fell backwards, bringing Buffy in her fall, out of the bed. Faith fell on her head while Buffy landed on her.

"Ouch!"

Concern replaced joy in Buffy’s mind.

"Faith! Oh my God, Faith! I’m so sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"I’m five by five, B! Fucking dizzy but it happens when you hit your head."

"Sorry, it’s just that…"

Faith who had still Buffy in her arms put her hand on the blonde’s cheek and said:

"I’m happy to see you too, B! I hoped all day long that Babylon wasn’t a dream!"

Hugging the brunette again, Buffy replied.

"I know! Me too!"

They stayed in the embrace for a long minute before Buffy decided to stand up before helping Faith to do the same. She then saw Faith’s smile grow.

"What’s so funny?"

"Your nightdress! Seems cut in a sheet!"

Buffy looked at herself for the first time since her awakening. Her mind had been too focused on seeing Faith again to scan the place or her clothes before. Faith was right, she was wearing a kind of nightdress that was both too large and visibly not fashion victimised. She raised her head and noticed that Faith’ nightdress was similar to hers.

"Well, looks like we shared the sheets then!"

Understanding what Buffy implied, Faith looked at her clothes and her face couldn’t hide her disgust. Without thinking, she quickly pulled the thing over her head and was now entirely naked in front of her fellow Slayer. Then, the brunette threw the clothes as far away from her as possible and, in the gesture noticed Buffy who was staring at her, her cheeks completely red. Finally realising what was happening, Buffy turned to give Faith some privacy, missing Faith’s own blush coming on her cheeks.

"Em… sorry, B!"

"N… no, it’s nothing Faith! There must be clothes somewhere..."

They each scanned a part of the room, analysing it for the first time. It was a small room with a window wherein the bed seemed to take the majority of the space. There was a table with a vase, a mirror, a brush, a towel and a basin on it and chairs, one on each side of the bed where clothes were laying. Guessing that the clothes that were next to her side of the bed were probably hers, Faith quickly grabbed it and put them on. It was a hideous used to be red dress with white parts.

"Em… you can turn around, B!"

"Good!" pointing at her clothes, she said: "These are probably mine!"

Understanding that Buffy wanted to change her clothes too, Faith moved to the table, looked in the vase, it was empty. She was about to say that it was probably there for them to wash themselves and that they should probably get some water when her eyes stopped on the mirror that was showing her the light Slayer in all her glory. Swallowing hard, Faith couldn’t look away until Buffy was ready. What was happening to her, it wasn’t the first time she had seen Buffy or another girl naked, why was she so embarrassed by it?

Buffy had had the same thoughts when she was putting her clothes on. Why had she been so flushed when she had seen Faith naked?

Their thoughts were interrupted by Faith’s stomach that began to growl. Both Slayers laughed at the sound, cutting the awkward moment, bringing back happiness and making them forget her thoughts.

"Looks like your tummy is starving!"

"Let’s get out of this room. Time to eat and to discover where the hell we are this time."

"Looking at our clothes, there is definitely a medievaly feeling about the period!"

Faith nodded then went to the window to look outside. She felt Buffy joining her and they both analysed the scene that was in front of them. There were definitely during the medieval ages. The street was full of people wearing medieval clothes, conducting medieval carts or riding medieval horses. They could also see strong fortifications that were probably surrounding the city.

"So, medievaly it is!"

"Yes!"

"I think it’s time for us to have a closer look at this!"

"Lead the way, B! But before,"

Buffy smiled and finished Faith’s sentence: "…we’ll feed the abyssal stomach that is yours, F."

They shared a last smile before exiting the room.

The exit led to stairs that they descended quickly. Then, they arrived in a small kitchen where bread was waiting for them to be cut. Knives, bowls, milk and water were also on the table. Faith grabbed the bread and cut two huge part of it before handing one of them to Buffy. The blonde took her part, thanked Faith before filling the bowls with the bottle of milk. Faith was already biting on her bread, completely filling her mouth with it.

"I’ve never understood how you could put that much food in your mouth without chocking!"

Faith just smiled then, provocatively, she put some more food on her mouth. Buffy bit her bread, made a face and said:

"Geez! That’s worse than eating a rock. And there is nothing to put on this bread!"

"Guess we ain’t that rich. Medieval times were difficult ones, B. People were dying from starvation every fucking day."

"I know that!" then she smiled and added: "I don’t think I would be the one this situation would bother the most."

"Bite me!"

"Oh, if I have nothing else to eat, I would. I wonder what a Faith’s steak tastes like."

Faith licked her lips before answering: "And what part of my wicked body would be the sweetest, B?"

Buffy’s eyes widened but she didn’t reply. Once again, Faith had had the last word in this banter contest and she knew it, Buffy could see the contentment in her brown eyes but Faith didn’t push further and asked:

"OK! So, what’s the plan now, B?"

"Going out! Finding where we are, when we are! Finding our watcher…"

At that moment, the exact same thought hit the two Slayers. Were they Slayers in this world? Spotting the knife that was on the table, Faith quickly took it and targeting a spot on the wall, threw it… and missed. Missed a shot that she couldn’t have missed if she was the Slayer. So, she looked at Buffy who just nodded, stood up, took the knife before regaining her seat and throwing the knife to the same spot. The knife landed right on its middle.

The Slayers looked at each other but no words were said it wasn’t necessary. Now, they knew who was the Slayer and who wasn’t.

They were finishing their breakfast when they heard a door being slammed somewhere in the house. They looked at each other then, heard footsteps coming to their way. Without exchanging a word, they made their move. Buffy quickly stood up to take the knife that was still in the wall while Faith remained at her place, ready for anything. Then Buffy came back to her chair, her weapon ready to be thrown. They waited a few seconds, controlling their nerves as the steps were coming closer and closer. The footsteps finally stopped in front of the kitchen’s door, then, it opened and a young boy entered. Seeing that it was a boy and that he apparently behaved as his presence was normal, the Slayers relaxed and listened to him.

"About time you wake up! I’ve just spent an hour cleaning the shop."

Putting the bucket he was carrying down, he made his way towards Faith who was the closest, then, kissed her on the cheek before doing the same with Buffy. Noticing the strange looks they were giving him, he said:

"OK, what’s happening? Have I done something wrong?"

Buffy was the first to react and answered:

"N... no! There is nothing..."

"Oh please! Don’t tell me it’s Slayer related again! Jesus Christ, Madeleine, I’m 13 years old, now! I’m old enough to hear anything my sister could say about vampires or demons! Don’t you think, Beatrice?"

The boy looked at Faith, her eyes asking for some support here.

"Em... look... you know, It’s kinda a dangerous job and..."

"I’m not talking about going on patrol with you even if sometimes, I would feel safer at night with my sisters next to me. I’m just saying that I could hear you speak about it without you trying to spare me the horrible details of the night."

"Well, I think he has a point, B."

Noticing that she had just called Buffy, B, Faith looked at the boy who was staring at her has a second head had grown on her shoulder.

"Don’t tell me a wizard switched your minds again like last time! Once was creepy enough!"

"What makes you think that..."

The boy cut Buffy and answered: "Well, she just called you, B! You’re supposed to be the one to call her B, not the other way around!"

The two Slayers looked at each other before Faith replied: "Well, I d... dreamed about it, last night, hell, I even fell from the bed so, I guess I’m still adjusting..."

"Oh, now I know what this noise was about! I knew it! When I heard it, I thought, Fernand, one of your sisters must have hit the floor. I wasn’t worried though! There isn’t much damage left to do in there"

And saying it, he pointed his finger on the head. The Slayers glared at him, a gesture that made him smile. Then, he grabbed a bowl; fill it in with milk before drinking it entirely.

"Well, time to open the shop! We’ll need water for the flowers today, lots! Could you please go to the fountain and bring it back?"

The Slayers nodded by reflex but Fernand didn’t move. Finally, after having received irritated glares from the boy, they understood that he was waiting for them to move so, they stood up and followed him in the hall then through a door that obviously led to the front of the house they were living in.

This room was obviously the shop their "brother" had talked about. In fact, before seeing what the shop looked like, the first thing they had noticed was the smell, the smell of the various kinds of flowers that were present in the shop. Flowers from all colours that were presented marvellously well in the shop, their shop. Now, they understood why lots of water was needed. A cough finally drove them back to Earth. Fernand was, once again, glaring at them and, spotting the buckets next to the front door, they smiled to the boy then, took the receptacles before exiting the shop.

Somewhere in the city, soldiers roughly led people wearing white dresses out of prison. They had their hands attached in the back and had a hard time keeping their balance because of their guardians who were constantly pushing them forwards, towards a street on the left. A monk accompanied them. He visibly enjoyed seeing these men brutalised by the soldiers. The grin on his face just confirmed it. Then, he spotted something and ordered the soldiers to stop. Worried, the captain joined the priest and asked:

"Is it something bothering you, father?"

"Yes, the notice, where is the notice? Don’t tell me you forgot it, captain!"

The captain swallowed before replying: "No... we have them... I was just waiting..."

"Waiting about what, captain? These men are heretics. The Church has condemned them. Everyone has to see who they are, what they are. So, put the notices around their necks now!"

"Aye, aye, Sir!"

The captain saluted the monk before ordering his men to oblige his request. Once each prisoner was wearing the notice, the captain looked a last time to the satisfied face of the monk before moving his prisoners again.

In a dark alley, not far from the prison where the heretics had been locked, an individual wearing rags whose face was hidden by a bronze mask was talking to a bunch of demons that were covering their own features with tissue. The mask changed his/her voice and no demon knew if this person known only as "The Ghost" was male, female or something else.

"OK, they’ve just left the prison! The crowd must be gathering at the place right now, waiting for their dose of blood and pain. It’s now or never! Did everyone know what its task is?"

The question was answered by nods and groans.

"OK, let’s go, then! Remember, timing is everything! I’ll wait for you at our place."

"So! We’re sisters and you’re the one that is called B!"

Faith smirked a little at the thoughts before answering Buffy.

"Stranger things have happened, B… I mean M."

"Very funny!"

They were walking the streets of whatever city they had landed in, looking for a fountain where they could fill in their buckets. Buffy had been the first to discover that they were in France. She had recognized the language she, as it had been the case in Babylon, was now able to speak fluently which was a big improvement in comparison with her previous level in French. She wondered what her French teacher would think of her if she went to show him how well the "Dream therapy for foreign languages" had worked on her. Still, she couldn’t talk to him right now and, besides, the guy had been killed during Graduation Day.

"Penny for your thoughts, even if they don’t use the money here!"

"Huh… oh sorry! Zoned out a minute."

Faith smiled.

"I noticed. So, what are we gonna do now?"

"Well, first we have to find water! Then, I suggest we’ll try to find Madeleine’s watcher."

"Good idea! I think we should tell him the truth, would skip the crap and avoid us wasting too much time."

"That’s what I was thinking about too. I hope he’ll believe us!"

"Well, Sidouf did believe what we told him. A fucking watcher is a fucking watcher, B. They don’t seem to have changed much with time."

"At least, as a watcher, he won’t freak out and burned us as witches. It was like a national sport at that… this time."

"Yep. I like a little tan on my skin but that would be a little too much!"

The shared another smile before Buffy spotted a fountain on their left. Indicating it to Faith with a sign of her head, the two women walked to it and began to sink the buckets in the fresh water. At that moment, they noticed a group of people running to a street to their right. Some of them were excited, other seemed quite sad. Something was going on there and they had absolutely no idea what it could be. They looked as the crowd was becoming bigger and bigger, completely oblivious of their surroundings.

Suddenly, Faith felt two hands around her waist, hands that soon were lifting her in the air. She wasn’t the Slayer in this world but it didn’t mean that she wasn’t defenceless or that she had forgotten about her training. Knowing that her attacker’s head was probably very close to the back of hers now, she threw her head back, a move that made it connect with her opponent’s jaw. Faith heard a moan of pain behind her and felt the hands loose her grip. Spotting Buffy who was coming to her help, she quickly moved out of the guy’s way (she just knew it was a guy).

When Buffy had heard the tiny scream that had escaped Faith’s lips then, had noticed what was going on, she hadn’t even thought about anything and had reacted on instinct. Someone was attacking Faith and that simple fact made her furious. She moved to help her friend, smiling when she saw Faith hit the man. Then, when Faith had been out of the man’s arms, Buffy didn’t hesitate and punched him, barely succeeding in controlling her Slayer’s strength. The man hit the ground loudly.

He was wearing soldier’s clothes, had brown hair and a goat. Other soldiers were with him and they quickly surrounded him. But Buffy didn’t care. If the man or one of his peers tried to touch Faith again…

"Ouch! What was that about, girls?" the man hissed while standing up, supported by one of his friends.

Unimpressed, Buffy replied in a harsh tone:

"No one touches my sister!"

"Jesus Christ, Madeleine. I just wanted to tease her. That’s what a man likes to do with her fiancée."

The two Slayers stared at each other. Fiancée? Oups!

"And what about the staring contest now. Hello, Marcus, here! He wants an answer!"

"Em… sorry Marcus! Didn’t know it was you, I reacted instinctively… B… Madeleine too."

Faith looked at Buffy while saying it, silently asking Buffy to go on her way.

"Yes, sorry! I… we… we didn’t notice you. You know, with all this agitation."

Still rubbing his chin, the man nodded. He nodded to his colleagues who moved away, glad that the situation was back to normal. He smiled to Buffy and replied:

"No worry. My mistake too! Just remind me to lift buckets full of water more often. Jesus, Madeleine, that’s a heck of a punch you have."

Thinking that it was the right time to change the topic of the conversation, and curious about all this crowd, Faith asked:

"So, Marcus, do you…"

Realising that maybe the real Beatrice could know what was happening, Faith decided to change her question.

"Are you going that way too?"

"Well, it might be our last moments of fun so, yes. I don’t want to miss the show!"

"Last? What do you mean?"

"Oh, I have bad news, honey." Marcus said while approaching Faith, ready to wrap her hand around her shoulders but a look at Buffy and mostly, a look at Buffy cold stare when she realised what he wanted to do, cut his move.

"Em… the English army is close now. They will reach Carcassone in a few days. I’ll fight them in a few days."

He had added the last part, hoping some comforting gesture from her fiancée but nothing came. Sighing, he began to move away in saying: "But they’re not here yet so, let’s go see the show and don’t worry about the buckets, my friends will carry them for you."

Marcus and the soldiers began to move away soon followed by the Slayers who thought that it could be a good way to learn a couple more things about this place.

"At least she has taste!"

Buffy who had been lost in her thoughts for a minute looked at Faith, puzzled.

"Huh?"

"Béatrice! The guy is a stud! Ouch, what’s that for?"

Faith stared at Buffy. It was her turn to be puzzled. The blonde had just punched her on the shoulder and she had no idea why. And it seemed that Buffy had been as surprised by it than her as she was just staring, blankly, at her.

"I… I… em...sorry!"

Then, Buffy increased her pace to join the soldiers, letting an even more puzzled Faith behind her. The brunette then increased her pace too, still wondering why Buffy had punched her. Was it something she had said? It was strange; Buffy had reacted as if… no… Buffy, jealous? Impossible… Faith blushed a little… Buffy jealous on Marcus… surprisingly; she noticed that she liked that thought… really liked it.

The maid was crying, surrounded by bodies, blood and broken furniture. They hadn’t heard them coming, hadn’t seen them before it had been too late. They had killed everybody, she was the only survivor. Oh, she hadn’t done anything to earn that chance. They just needed someone to bring their message to the others. Her! She had failed her job, failed to protect them but what could she have done to prevent it? She was just a maid, she had no ability in fights and the attackers had been so strong, as if they had been guided by demons, hidden behind their tissues.

The maid rubbed her eyes, stopped the tears from falling then, stood up. She had a mission to do, had a message to deliver and she hadn’t the time to whine. As usual, time was an issue.

The Slayers had reached Carcassone’s main square. There were lots of people gathered for this mysterious show Marcus was continually talking about. They could also see the nobles sitting on the balcony of the City Hall, waiting for it to begin. Buffy and Faith could see that they were looking at something that seemed to be standing in the middle of the square but that the Slayers couldn’t see because of the crowd.

"Have you any idea about what the fuck is going on here, B?"

"No! But I…"

Suddenly, screams, yells, shouts, curses, all coming from the crown interrupted what Buffy was saying. Turning their attention towards the direction where the shouts had begun, in the Eastern part of the square, the Slayers easily spotted a group of people coming. Soldiers were pushing men with white dresses and they wouldn’t win the "sweetest pusher award" for their job. A notice was hanging on the chest of the white dress men, a notice with the word heretic written on. They followed the strange procession with their eyes till the moment when it stopped, in front of what had been hidden to the Slayers by the crowd until then, stakes. There was no doubt about it, these men were condemned to be burnt at the stakes. The soldiers were already attaching the condemned.

"B! We… we can’t let them do that! We have to do something!"

"I know! I just don’t see what! The crowd is so excited that we would be beaten to death before reaching the stakes if we intervene."

"But we…"

"I KNOW!"

Buffy’s reply was harsh, too harsh and Buffy directly put her hand on Faith’s arm mouthing a sorry to the brunette. She understood Faith’s feeling, understood her desire to stop this insanity, she was revolted herself by the savagery of this time. they had to do something but what could they do? They hadn’t the time to plan something and she could see that Faith was nervous and furious and she knew that if she didn’t find a solution quickly, Faith would try to save them, no matter the costs… and she would follow her. Buffy had discovered in Babylon that Faith had completely accepted her mission as a Slayer now… saving lives, protecting people.

"You don’t seem happy? Don’t tell me that what happened to Lazlo still bothers you!"

It was Marcus, they had forgotten about his presence.

"This is wrong!"

The reply came at the same time out of Buffy and Faith’s lips.

"Hush! The Inquisition has ears everywhere! I don’t want to see you in the stakes like these Cathars, for Christ sake. This Lazlo guy might have been your friend but he was an heretic, a demon worshiper and deserved his fate. You should have seen all the occult books we found in his house. Books about demons and a so-called Council he was proud to work for. The bastard deserved it, like these men."

Both Slayers had a hard time to swallow. They didn’t have to exchange words or to look into each other’s eyes. It looked like they could give up their search for Madeleine’s watcher…ashes rarely answered questions. Turning their attentions back to the stakes and the current situation, they heard a monk who had come with the soldiers ask the prisoners if they wanted to give up their heresies and return to the path of God. When no one replied to his proposition, he just nodded to the soldiers that had lighted torches in the meantime.

The Slayers didn’t have the time to think anymore. It was the time to act, to save these men or rather die trying. They were ready to jump on the crowd when, suddenly, a voice, coming from City Hall resounded.

"Stop the execution!"

All eyes looked to the person who had just spoken, he was obviously an important man with refined clothes and all. He was tall, had brown hair and a very long beard that hided his throat. By listening to what the crowd was telling them, the man was none other than Lord de Barbazan, Seneschal of the king, in charge of Carcassone’s defence.

"My fellow citizen! A treachery, an act committed by cowards, forces us to postpone the execution. An hour ago, while we were all beginning to gather to attend the execution, some Cathars attacked the house of the notables of this city. These bastards killed everyone who was in their way and kidnapped the children present in the houses. They threaten to execute them if we burn the heretics. We have to discuss the situation. In the meantime, the prisoners will be locked again. As… as the father of one of the prisoners, I’m asking you to keep your eyes open… if you see anything suspicious, don’t hesitate to tell the soldiers…these monsters have to be stopped."

The Seneschal walked back into the City House, emotion was clearly noticeable in his voice and everyone could understand why. The Slayers, who were ready to try to help the so-called heretics, were wondering if such people deserved their help after all… and they weren’t the only one to share this feeling of disgust. They heard Marcus smirk before saying: "And you were sorry for these guys! Pathetic…"

He then joined the other soldiers and exited the square with them.

"OK, where are the producers of this shit. I don’t like the script at all here."

Buffy just nodded. She felt sick, didn’t know what to do. She had thought that after the Babylon experience, she and Faith would be able to deal easily with whatever was going on… she had been so wrong! Babylon was a piece of cake in comparison with this place where chaos and hell seemed to have chosen to live in.

They stayed in the square for a few minutes before moving. Neither one of them wanted to talk now. While moving towards the shop, they spotted their buckets, laying on the ground, empty. The soldiers must have dropped them there and a stop at the fountain was again a necessity. Sighing, they grabbed the containers and moved away from this square of hell.

Suite PART 2