I'm gonna take you to my bungalow
In the jungle-o
We gonna make banana love
You'll sing a high C
Up in the swingin' tree
When we make banana love

"I'm not doin' it, Giles!"  Faith slammed the door to her bedroom, attempting to cut off all communication with her watcher.

He sighed and trudged over to the door.  "Faith, I know you can hear me," he said, leaning close to the door.

"So what if I can hear you?" came the muffled reply.

"Faith.  I'm not going to make you do this."

The door jerked open.  "No, but you're gonna talk me into it, aren't ya?"

He sighed again.  "Faith, this is your chance to show how far you've come.  This is your chance to show what you have accomplished."

"Giles, I don't give flying fuck what those self righteous assholes think of me."

"Good," he said decisively.  "You don't owe them anything."  Faith's face showed surprise and confusion.  He continued.  "This is your chance to prove to yourself how far you've come."

It was Faith's turn to sigh.  She put her hands on her hips and hung her head.  "The last time I `rescued' Buffy, I did it by shoving her out a third story window right before I shoved her head under water with my hands around her neck!"  Her voice dropped to a whisper.  "The last thing she heard me say, was me telling the voices in my head to `shut up.'"

Giles' used the softest, most fatherly tone he could muster.  "That was over a year ago.  You've come so far and accomplished so much."  He ducked his head, trying to make eye contact with his charge.  "It's time, Faith.  It's time for you to be the hero.  It's time for you to feel the strength of your character."  She lifted her head and looked at him with her eyes brimming with tears.  "It's time."

Faith heaved the contents of her stomach into the bucket that had been hastily shoved in her hands.  "Christ on a crutch.  Next time I'm drivin'."

"I'm sorry, Faith," said a sheepish Willow.  "We let so much time go by already.  We're just really anxious to get moving."

"Whatta ya mean, `so much time?'  How long has Buffy been missing?"

"About a month."

"A month!  What the hell kinda show're you people runnin' here?"

Xander spoke up, his voice calm and steady.  "We've sent in three separate extraction teams and she's eluded every one of them."  His eye blazed with intensity.  "The last team was eight of our best slayers pulled from all over the globe."

Faith eased up a bit.  "Eluded?  I don't get it.  Is she in trouble or…"  Her expression changed to one of understanding.  "She's gone rogue, hasn't she?  That's why you called me."

"We're not entirely sure," answered Xander.  "She might be under a spell.  However, she's been in dire need of a vacation for years now and that may have made her vulnerable."

"So why haven't you just used magic to get her out?"

Willow looked angry and a bit scary.  "The demon she was supposed to kill has been blocking me.  He must have some sort of power source inside the jungle.  I can't teleport anything in or out.  I can't even get a look at the place."

"The slayers that we've sent in managed to catch a few fleeting glimpses of her but haven't been able to get close enough to even make an assessment of what may have happened to her.  The only lead we have is the tribe of natives that Buffy was living with during her mission."  Xander punctuated his briefing with pictures of the tribe and pictures of a faint, blond blur.

"Okay," said Faith.  "Tell me everything you know."

The smell of river water hung heavy in the air.  Faith's tank top stuck to her back in a most uncomfortable way.  After going back and forth between London and Cleveland for the past year, she was not used to the oppressive tropic weather. 

Mosquitoes swarmed in choking clouds.  Faith had long since given up swatting at them and just prayed that she wouldn't get too itchy or malaria.  "Hey Cap!" she addressed the river boat pilot.  "What's our ETA?"

The grizzled man gave her a gap-toothed smiled and pointed down-river.  "We go over there," he said, his heavy accent and missing teeth making him hard to understand.

"Great.  Thanks."  She sighed and muttered, "Well, that clears that up." 

After floating on the slow, brown river for another couple of hours, he spoke up.  "We there!  We there!"

Faith eagerly grabbed her bag.  Her trip, which consisted of a commercial flight with three layovers, another plane trip in a tiny, toy airplane buffeted by wind, a helicopter, and finally the three day boat ride, had been long and arduous.  She was anxious to put her feet on solid ground.  Even if it was spongy, jungle floor.

The boat pulled up against the bank and Faith was greeted by a young man in a loin cloth that covered his genitals but left his ass hangin' out.  He carried a slim spear and an apprehensive look.  "Buffy?" he said.

"I'm not Buffy.  I'm lookin' for Buffy."

He nodded.  "Yes, yes," and gestured her to follow him.  She shrugged and tagged along behind him into the dense Amazon jungle.

It was a long walk that had Faith even stickier and more uncomfortable as her stomach growled irritatedly at her.  By the time they reached the settlement, Faith was so hungry and hot and tired that she was nauseous. 

The village wasn't quite what Faith was expecting.  There were only about twenty adults and in indeterminate amount of children.  Instead of a gabble of chattering voices, it was a mellow, subdued hum.  As soon as the travelers were spotted, a group of women gathered around Faith. 

They smiled and waved and murmured at her.  Uncertain and felling strangely shy, she smiled back.  Soon an old man with elaborate, decorative attire walked up to her and spoke to her in his native tongue.

Her guide translated.  "You eat and rest first.  Let women take to wash."  At that, the group of murmuring women surged forward and grabbed Faith with gentle hands and pulled her along.  She was led to a creek with fast moving, clear water.  The women sat her down on a mat and began to put food in her lap.  Grateful, Faith began to eat the modest feast.

After her meal of unfamiliar yet tasty fruits, they gently pulled her into the cool stream to rinse off the taint of travel and fatigue.  Faith still felt a little shy and self-conscious as they cooed and chattered at the sight of her pale skin.  But she felt renewed and refreshed after her bath.  And with some clean clothes she felt ready to get on with her mission.

She was led back to The Medicine Man's hut.  The translator told her to sit.  As she did, The Medicine Man began to speak.  The translator listened for a bit before he began to translate.

"Buffy comes to take fire.  She will come tonight.  We will hide you so you can follow and she not see."

Faith nodded in understanding.  "Tell me about this demon that she's trying to kill."

"It hide from those that see it.  It wants eat the Earth."

"None o' that cryptic shit.  Tell me what it looks like.  Do you know its weaknesses?"

"What is `weakness?'"

"How do I kill it?"

Faith fidgeted as she waited for the translator to finish talking and listening. 

Finally, "You must first see before you kill.  You must see before you find…"

Faith rolled her eyes.  "Ok.  Enough of that.  This isn't gettin' me anywhere."  She changed the subject back to Buffy.  "So Buffy is gonna come here tonight to… what was it you said?"

"Get fire.  She will come get fire."

She nodded.  "Is there a place where I can crash?"

At his confused look, she simplified.  "Sleep.  Where can I sleep?"

He nodded and took her to a small hut set apart from the rest of the settlement.  "This was Buffy's place, wasn't it?" she asked as her eyes traveled over the bare interior.

"Yes."

"Did she leave anything?"

"No.  One day, she just gone.  All things gone." 

The man left as Faith got herself situated.  She assumed the mat on the floor was to sleep on so she sat down and opened up her bag.  When she found the phone that Xander had given her she turned it on and put in the earpiece. 

"Hey.  Can you guys hear me on this thing?"  She waited.

After a few moments, Xander's confident voice crackled in her ear, "Five by five, Faith."

She gave her head a little shake at the memories that little phrase conjured up.  "Uh yeah.  Well I made contact with the natives.  The witch doctor says that Buffy comes by every once in a while to, and I quote, `get fire.'  He seems pretty sure that she's comin' tonight.  So I'm gonna grab some shut-eye and if she comes, I'll follow her to her new digs."

"That sounds good, Faith.  keep us posted if you can.  But keep it brief.  Without magic to enhance your sat-phone, the battery only lasts about two hours."

"Yeah, I got it.  Uhh, over and out?"

"Watch your back, slayer.  Over and out."

Faith jerked awake, startled by the strange noises assaulting her ears.  The Medicine Man was standing in the doorway of her hut shaking a gourd noisemaker and chanting loudly.  When he saw she was awake he turned and walked to the center of the settlement.  The translator leaned his head in and gestured for her to follow.

She emerged from the hut into the jungle twilight.  The villagers were subdued as they silently watched her pass by.  A large fire was blazing, heating and drying the air around it.  The Medicine Man was dancing in a circle around the blaze, still shaking his gourd and chanting.

After a few minutes he stopped abruptly and looked at Faith.  The translator stood next to her and said, "You can hide.  No be seen by Buffy."  He then led her to a blind.  "You wait here.  Wait for her."

Faith shrugged and made herself as comfortable as possible as the village settled down for the night.

After a while the fire lost its flame, leaving only smoldering, glowing embers.  Sounds of mysterious, nocturnal jungle creatures dotted the heavy air and Faith felt her senses sharpen. 

Every time she heard a rustle or twig snap her heart would race.  As the night progressed, her eyes grew heavy and her head drooped with boredom and fatigue.  Give me a patrol any day.  This stakeout shit is for the birds.

Her chin dropped sharply, waking her suddenly.  She blinked her eyes awake and considered slapping herself when she noticed movement by the dying fire.

Her heart thundered in her chest.

It was Buffy.

She was crouched as she examined the glowing embers.  It was so dark, faith could barely make out any of her features other than her blonde hair.  From what she could tell, it was thick and matted and long.  Buffy poked at the fire with a stick and then reached in and took a small, smoldering branch.  She brought it close to her face to examine it more closely, allowing Faith to see her features. 

It was definitely Buffy.  Her head tilted to the side as she gazed at the orange, glowing tip.  Then, grasping the burning stick in her hand, she turned and walked out of the village.

Afraid of losing her, Faith struggled to her feet, wincing at her sore, protesting muscles as she desperately tried to keep quiet. 

She managed to keep Buffy in sight but just barely.  The one time she feared she'd lost her was when the agile slayer climbed an enormous tree next to an outcropping of rock.  Faith stood at the base of the tree watching the blond slayer clamber up about forty or fifty feet.  She then walked casually along a thick branch that brought her to the cliff-like wall of rock.  Stepping off the branch and onto a ledge, she disappeared from sight.

Faith sighed and started the climb, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

It was harder than it looked so Faith sat on a lower branch to think.  Okay.  I'm not so out of practice that Buffy would be so much better than me, climbing this fuckin' tree.  So what does this mean?  Answer: she's climbed this tree many times before.  She must live on that ledge up there.

As if answering her, a dim light appeared from the ledge.  Buffy had a fire going.

Faith climbed back down to the ground and silently crept out of earshot.  She fired up her sat-phone and whispered into it. 

"Xander?  You still there?"

Almost instantly his voice filled her earpiece.  "I'm right here Faith.  Whatcha got?"

"Found her place, man.  She led me right to it."  Faith heard his sigh of relief along with a few faint cheers in the background from the others.

"Fabulous work, Faith!  This is the farthest we've gotten since she disappeared."

"So now what do you want me to do?"  She felt her heart skip a little at his praise and viciously stomped it down.

"Just like we talked about.  Ya gotta get that tracer as close as you can to her.  Ideally, inside her soon-to-be temporary home.  Wait `til she leaves, sneak in there and find a place to hide it.  Whatever you do, do not engage.  There's too much danger of—,"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember.'

Willow's voice suddenly dominated her hearing.  "How does she look?  Does she look okay?"

"I couldn't tell.  She didn't look injured or anything and as far as I can see, she's alone.  If she's workin' for the bad guys, I haven't seen `em yet."

Xander came back.  "Okay, Faith.  You've done great work.  Get back to us tomorrow when you planted the tracer."

"You got it."  She felt a little pang in her chest and before she could stop herself, she said, "Just hang tight, guys.  We've almost got your girl back."

As it happens, she spoke a little too soon.

That night Faith found a tree not too far away that made an excellent stakeout tree.  She got herself comfortably settled and watched for Buffy to leave.

The morning sun was cheerful and tropical and it drew out the blond slayer.  Faith's dark eyes followed her until she was out of sight.  She dropped from her perch and made her way up Buffy's tree to the ledge.  It was much easier in the daylight.

 The ledge turned out to be the entrance of a small cave.  She peered into the dark hole before stepping in.

Her eyes adjusted and she was greeted with a strange sight.  The walls of the cave were covered with what looked to be primitive drawings and a pile of what could only be Buffy's clothes at the back of the cave.  The fire smoldered a bit but was carefully banked and all possible flammables were at least six feet away.

Faith took out the phone.  "Guys?"

Immediately, "Come in Faith."

"She hasn't rogue, man.  She's gone native."

"What?"

"Well, when she came out of the cave this morning, she was naked or close to it.  First I thought it was the distance or a trick of the light but now…"

"You're in the cave right now?"

"Yeah.  She's not hiding, she's nesting."

"Give us a vid," said Xander.

Faith activated the video on the phone and panned it around.  "Can you make any of this out?"

"Not yet but we'll get our magic-techs on it right away.  Are those drawings on the cave wall?"  Something niggled at the back of Xander's brain but he couldn't quite get a handle on it.

Faith stepped close to the wall and peered at the drawing closest to her.  "Holy shit!"

"What?!  What?!" barked Xander, alarmed.

"Dude, she's drawing girl/girl porn on the wall!"  She brought the phone up to the drawing.  "Tell me that doesn't look like one girl goin' downtown on another!"  She started to laugh.  "Dude, if this wasn't so tragic, it'd be funny."

Xander reminded her of her mission.  "Did you get the tracer planted?"

"Oh shit!  Not yet.  I'll do that right now."

As she said that, the cave suddenly darkened as the entrance was blocked.

A gruff, feminine voice sounded behind her.  "Faith."

Faith's heart sped up as she jerked in surprise.  She turned slowly around.

Buffy stood in the doorway of her cave.  Faith could only make out her silhouette.  Buffy's hair was more than just matted and unkempt.  It was a mass of blond dreadlocks.  She brandished a large branch in her hand.

Faith put her hands up, palms out, hoping to placate the unstable slayer.  "Now look, B," she started, keeping her voice calm and soothing.  "Your friends sent me.  I swear."

Buffy slowly entered the cave, advancing on the alarmed brunette.  She raised her club.

"Now c'mon B.  I don't want to fight you!  Your friends are really worried about you.  You remember them right?  Willow?  Xander?"

The names and no visible affect on the hunching slayer.  "Your sister, Dawn?"  Still nothing and Buffy was getting closer.

They stood staring at each other for a few eternal seconds. 

Faith made a sudden grab for Buffy's weapon and quick as a cat, Buffy spun out of her reach, all the way around and bashed Faith's head with her club.

Faith saw stars and stood stunned.  Buffy hit her again and she fell to the ground, phone skittering out of her hand and earpiece arcing through the air.

Xander, Willow, Giles, Dawn, and the rest of the room watched in horror and dread as the video capture filmed Faith's unconscious face with a little trickle of blood rolling down her forehead and the bridge of her nose to drop to the ground. 

And the picture went black. 

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