Faith was surprised by the lack of security as she made her way through the building. Yeah it was a morgue, but usually they didn't just let strangers walk in unless it was a town built on a Hellmouth.
As Faith wandered the building she was drawn toward the sound of laughter her Slayer hearing had picked up. Laughing in a morgue was disturbing on several levels, but the fact that she recognized the laughter of one of the people only increased her discomfort.
When she finally found the source of the sound down in the lower levels Faith was surprised to say the least. On the floor of an office Xander was clutching his gut laughing for all he was worth, laughing with someone who looked just like her.
To her credit Faith only blinked once before she leapt into the room and knocked the thing with her face out cold. Pulling some wires from a computer Faith had already finished tying up the imposter when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm the real Faith boytoy, this one's the fucking shape shifter," said Faith without even looking up from her task.
"No she is a woman named Tru Davies who happened to save my life," said Xander without removing his hand.
"Not a shape shifter?" asked Faith as she studied the face that was an exact match to hers.
"She is a Willow verified non shape shifter," said Xander.
"Shit," said Faith.
Tru awoke to a sharp pain in her head with something cold pressed against it. Opening her eyes seemed to be a mistake as light just seemed to cut straight through her eyes and push long sharp tendrils of pain into her brain.
"Hey guys I think she's waking up," said Davis.
"Hey Tru, try to drink this," said Xander as a small cup of something was pushed into her hands.
Doing as she was told on some kind of instinct Tru quickly downed the bitter contents. Soon she was pleasantly surprised to find that her head had stopped hurting, and the light no longer attempted dig out her brains with a chainsaw.
"What was that?" asked Tru as she fully opened her eyes.
"Just something I came up with in high school. I got hit in the head a lot when I was starting out and needed something that would allow me to open my eyes the next day without feeling the need to dig my brain out with a spoon," said Xander.
"What are you talking about X? I know for a fact that you still brew up a pot of that at least once a week," said a voice that was an echo of Tru's.
"Faith I presume?" asked Tru as she turned to face her leather clad reflection.
Faith had enough manners to look guilty for her actions as she said, "Yeah, unless there is another one of us running around somewhere. Did you really tell Willow and Dawn that you were a twenty year old black transvestite that had the hots for X?"
"They thought I was a demon at first so I felt like messing with their heads was justified," said Tru.
"She really had them going until Willow did a crystal ball that let her see Tru and investigate her past," said Xander with a grin.
"Yeah it was fun to see them try and keep up with me while researching me and that demon at the same time," said Tru with a Faith like smirk.
"Man I wish I could have seen their faces," said Faith as she cracked a full blown smile before a timer went off.
"What was that?" asked Tru.
"Timer of when we have to leave," said Xander. "Willow called Faith while you were out and gave us a time and place for a ritual that would result in what you saw yesterday. Today. Whatever."
"Why didn't you guys leave while I was out?" asked Tru as she followed Xander and Faith to the elevator.
"Needed a guide so we decided to wait to see if you would wake up in time," said Faith with a shrug.
"That and Faith felt bad for knocking out a possible sister," said Xander as he checked the weapons he was carrying.
"Is there anything else I can do?" asked Davis as the trio entered the elevator.
"Pray," said Xander grimly as the doors closed.
"Pray... right, I can do that," said a flustered Davis as he was left alone with the dead.
"You know I'm beginning to worry about security in this city," remarked Tru as they strode unchallenged into the express elevator of the cities largest building.
"Nah, this is normal," said Faith. "By now the smart ones already left and the dumb ones are being held for the big sacrifice."
"How do you know they aren't dead already?"
"Because Willow said that for this ritual needs one thousand people to die at about the same time. We figure that whatever is behind this will probably blow a few floors containing hostages once it gets through with its chanting," said Xander.
"Blow a couple of floors full of people!"
"You would be shocked and horrified at how many demons have used explosives for sacrifices recently. Unless you align the stars just right, or perform a ritual on a Hellmouth it takes a lot of souls to open a path to hell," said Xander with a shrug.
"Kind of makes you grateful that you only get sent back in time when a dead guy asks for help doesn't it?" asked Faith.
Tru didn't answer because she knew Faith was right. She may not enjoy her particular gift some days, but it sure was better than the lot her double had.
When the elevator chime indicated that they had reached the roof the site that greeted them chilled Tru more than anything she had seen so far. Not more than twenty feet from them was a demon straight from the pits of hell chanting in a language that no human should hear.
"Hey sis, make yourself useful and use my phone to send a picture of the ugly one to Willow," said Faith just before she tossed Tru her ringing cellphone and started to run towards the demon with Xander close behind her.
The fight that followed was anticlimactic all things considered. The demon hadn't been able to capture as many humans in the building as he needed so it had killed it minions to help towards the total number of deaths it needed.
Without any other distractions Xander and Tru delivered blow after blow to the demon. None seemed to have much effect, and Tru had to save Xander from falling off of the roof more than once, but the demon died when Faith got a lucky hit and punctured a demon organ that happened to be very flammable.
The resulting supernatural fireball scorched the bottom of a low flying plain.
Five days later Tru's family joined Faith and Xander as they waited for her to finish reading a very important document.
"This confirms it, you are officially our half sister," said Tru as she finished reading the results of the DNA test.
"So not only did dad cheat on mom, but he had a kid that that not only looks exactly like you but was born at the exact same time. When did our lives turn into a soap opera?" asked Harrison.
"Trust me, as far as daytime TV moments go this isn't even original. We already did the long lost sister thing, even if we didn't know it at the time," said Xander
Tru's sister opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when Tru said, "Don't ask, he might tell you."
"Better listen to him sis, when it comes to whacked out relationships X here is the king of all he surveys," said Faith with a casual smirk.
"As fun as the upcoming make fun of Xander hour is sure to be, I have a plane to catch," said Xander.
"Aw come on X, you don't have to ruin this fun family moment by running off to Africa," said Faith.
"Sorry Faith, but I think its best if I go somewhere else before I start seeing triple," said Xander with an easy grin.
"You sure you have to leave so soon boytoy?" purred Tru from where she snuck up on Xanders' blind side.
"I'm sure we could lots of fun if you decide to stay a while," said Faith in the exact same tone as she slid up on Xanders other side.
"Okay that's it, I'm out of here," said Xander as he suddenly stood up. "Ladies thank you for the mental image that will sustain me for my entire stay in Africa. Though honestly it will be nice to get away from dark eyed women who like the whole cosmic twin thing way too much."
In a darkened room in Africa a young woman gasped as she shot up in bed. Every night for the last few months she had awoken from bizarre nightmares involving monsters, and tonight was no exception.
Walking over to the bathroom sink the young woman splashed her face with water a few times to help shake off the last remnants of her dream. She knew the nightmares were effecting her life in a negative way, and she hated them for it.
"Come on girl get a grip. All you have to do is meet your contact, show him around, warn him of the local warlords, and you're done. If you can do this they'll start trusting you with more than fluff assignments again. You've had nightmares before, and you got over them. You will get over these to; it'll just take some time."
So saying Dana Tasker, agent of Omega went back to her bed and forced sleep to come. Soon she would do a simple tour with one Alexander Harris, and then she could go back to doing some work that mattered.
Yeah, it would be nice to do some work that mattered again.
The End