Title: Venom Slayer

Author: Doc & Joshua

Disclaimer: Marvel Comics owns Venom, Punisher, Black Cat, and Ghost Rider. Joss Whedon owns Buffy, Faith and the gang. Doc and I worked on this together and he'll be posting his own version of this story not too long from now... we hope. I just decided to go first.

Summary: AU Post-Season 2. What if Buffy found something more in LA after killing Angel than just her will to keep on fighting? B/F? X/C, W/O

Story:

Three months ago

Los Angeles

"Alright, nobody move!" Buffy Summers, retired Vampire Slayer, didn't know whether to scream or cry. She felt like doing a little of both. All she wanted after saving the world – AGAIN – and in the process sent her boyfriend to hell, was to just fade away into the obscurity of a normal, boring life of a truck stop diner on the outskirts of LA. Instead, here she was at the local grocery, caught in the middle of a hold up. Her life sucked. It was official.

A fact that doubled when one of the creeps grabbed her. "Aren't you pretty?" he said in a low, English accent.

"You don't let me go, you're gonna be a lot less pretty," she warned with a low growl. The thief chuckled.

"I like you girl. Pity you couldn't be more obedient," the man said. "Watchers wouldn'ta sent me in to help if you'd just followed the rules," Buffy stiffened. The Watcher's Council. "Too bad."

"Hey, English, easy with her."

"Just going out for a bit of fun, Boss," the Council agent said.

"Fine. Just make sure she doesn't talk."

"Oh, she won't," the Watcher said, dragging her out the back.

It was a mistake that would end up being his last.

Buffy, at the point of a gun, entered the alley behind the grocery store. Out of habit, her Slayer senses automatically scoped out all the dark places where demons could hide, as well as potential weapons to use. Unfortunately nothing in the alley, that she could immediately or instinctually detect, changed the fact that she had a gun pointed at the back of her head, and as much as she wished otherwise, one of her Slayer powers was not being bullet proof.

Unfortunately for both of them, in one of those shadow places, dwelt an entity that survived on not being detected.

The Watcher shoved her against the wall, pulling his gun. "Well, so long, Slayer," he drawled, cocking back the hammer on the gun. He didn't notice, until it was too late, the black shadow which seemed to crawl up the wall. He definitely noticed it when it jumped onto Buffy though. "What the bloody…?" he blurted as it spread over her body, transforming into a body hugging black suit.

Buffy felt it the moment it touched her, but rather than be freaked out or scared of it, she didn't react at all. When she felt it touch her mind, she didn't fight or recoil from it, she simply let it fill the void that sending Angel to Hell had left within her. After that, she didn't care so much about the gun.

"Guys like you make me wonder if the world's worth saving at all," Buffy said, seemingly not noticing the thing covering her body. "But I think I realized something. The world is worth saving." Sharp looking claws extended from her fingers. "You aren't!" The claws bent and extended, impaling the watcher. He was dead before he hit the floor. "Wha…?"

'He deserved it. It should have happened some time ago. We did the right thing.'

"Who…?"

'I have no name, alone. I had a name with my other, my precious Eddie. We were called Venom. We can be again.'

"We…? You mean… you and me?"

'Yes. We can do great good. We can stop people like this from hurting the innocent. We can save lives.'

"By killing them?"

'It is no less than they deserve.'

Buffy thought a moment. This…whatever it was had a point. Creeps like this Watcher didn't deserve to live. And there were others. Vampires, demons, murderers, rapists. Venom could be a dangerous, yet powerful source for good. "Alright."

'Eeeeeeeeexcccellent!' The symbiote said, spreading over her head. Buffy looked out through the large, white membranes, feeling the symbiote form a mouth, seeing the tongue lash around.

"Venom lives again!" she exclaimed, a rasping voice exiting her mouth. "We stalk once more!"

Inside

"Alright, is that all the cash?"

"Think so. Yo English…"

"He won't be joining you," a voice echoed through the store. "He had a little…accident."

"What the hell…?" Black tendrils launched from the shadow as the black figure stepped out, white spider motif gleaming white like the fangs in her mouth.

"Holy fuck is that…?"

"Ohshitohshitohshit…"

"We won't be having scum like you in our city," the black figure said, tendrils picking the creeps up throwing them outside. "This is our city now. You are not welcome!" She turned back to the terrified forms of the thieves victims. "Call the police. Tell them they have three live ones and one…less than healthy," with that she went after the men.

'We should have killed them.'

'Worst case scenario, baby,' Buffy said in her mind, almost fondly. Strange how easily she'd gotten used to her new partner. 'We need to improve our image unless you want the Spider coming after us again,' the symbiote let off a loud hiss. 'Exactly. No death unless absolutely necessary.'

'Very well. But can we make them bleed?' Venom gave a wide, evil grin.

"Bleed them and dump them, vampire bait," she hissed as she caught up to them, launching webbing from the top of her hand, trapping them all. "Not our problem then, leave them for the coroner."

"W-Wait!" one of the thieves said. "Don't just leave us out here!"

"Why shouldn't we?" Venom hissed. "It is more than you deserve."

"B-but the vam…"

"So you know. How…interesting," Venom said thoughtfully. "Tell us, is there more to your little gang than just you?"

"Y-yeah," the thief said, despite his compatriots denials. "Warehouse, that's where they meet."

"Thank you," Venom said, turning away.

"Wait, I told you that so you'd let us go!"

"We don't remember saying that."

Moments Later

Buffy paused after exercising her new powers, taking a web-sling around the city and stopping on a highrise skyscraper in downtown. It was on the way to the gang's warehouse anyway.

She needed to catch her breath, metaphorically speaking of course as the symbiote maintained her vitals a peak efficiency at all times. She stopped and looked at her reflection in the window beneath her feet. That was another thing, she was standing perpendicular to the building!

"Alright baby," she affectionately touched her . . . the symbiote's . . . Venom's reflection, "we need to talk for a second. But first, we're working on the look," with a look, the mouth sealed up from a gaping maw into a vicious jaw with the tongue now sliding over lethal fangs rather than mucous.

Next, she grew a couple of inches while the suit became so skin tight that it was more like a literal second skin, framing and enhancing the look of her mystically empowered muscles. She also noticed the white spider emblem on her chest, which was another thing she made sure to enhance, and decided to get rid of the mark as the last thing they needed was the Spider coming after them. However, as soon as she tried to change it, the symbiote spoke.

'No. It stays.'

'You sure?' She asked. 'He hears about this…'

'It stays. It is a part of us, what he did. Like the Masters bite is of you,' her hand went to her neck, where the Master of Aurelius had bitten her, where the bite still lay, hidden beneath her new 'skin'.

"Alright," she said out loud. "It stays. But can we adjust it just a little?" She showed her other the suggestion. The symbiote complied, changing the spider motif so it was smaller, in the middle of a winged figure.

An angel. Fitting, Buffy thought.

"Better," she still spoke with the rasping hiss, but she liked it better that way, disguised her voice and it was just the way the symbiote talked.

'Now,' she spoke mind-to-mind with her other half, so much more fulfilling and trustworthy and warmer than Angel ever had been, 'first thing's first. None of that consuming battling minds thing like with Parker. And Eddie . . . well, I can't make any promises that I won't be killed, naturally or otherwise, but I can promise to never let you go baby. We need each other. We . . .'

'We ARE each other. We are one, we are . . .'

"VENOM!" the newly blended being exulted in sheer ecstasy. She idly noted that her reflection looked like it was practically having an orgasm.

'YES!' they cried out together in their mind. They were now truly bonded, if possible, even more closely than Brock and the symbiote had ever been.

"Now," the newly reborn Slayer said to herself, "let's get to work!"

Present Day

Venom looked through the skylight down at her prey, the men who had been threatening her city. The symbiote moved slightly, spitting out a chocolate bar before a black tentacle shot out, grabbing it and throwing it into their mouth. Venom grinned. So nice of the local shop keepers to continually supply them with chocolate. Much tastier than human brain. Less trouble too. Good thing the symbiote absorbed the chocolate for the chemical it needed. That stuff usually went straight to her hips. Not that she actually had anything to worry about in that respect anymore.

She smiled as the gang leaders began throwing accusations at each other. Her smile left, however, when one stepped forward. He was ugly, demonic, with cloven hooves and a dark haired girl, petrified, being dragged by a leash behind him. Venom gave a hiss. A Slayer, Kendra's successor. And the creature that held her captive was obviously the ring leader. Strange, vampires usually don't have any need for money, especially not one that old.

"What are you children fighting over this time?" the vampire demanded loudly, not that Venom needed him to shout. Her Slayer hearing was greatly enhanced by the symbiote. It was truly amazing how well they fit together, even after all these months. "We do not have time for your petty squabbling. If Wilkins Ascends before we're ready we're all dead!"

"Hey, you said you had the cops handled," one of the gang leaders accused, "How come they've been arresting our boys then?"

"Some people are sayin' Spiderman's moved into town!" Venom gave a snort. Honestly, 'some people'…

Still, they'd garnered some useful information. An Ascension, whatever that was. If the old man was worried about it, it must have been something big. Something to worry about later. For right now…

Tendrils of black erupted from Venom's hands, shattering the glass skylight and raining down on them. The old vampire looked up, releasing the leash in preparation for battle. His 'pet' took this moment to run for it, hiding in the shadows as Venom's lithe, ebon frame landed before them.

"So, here is the rats nest, complete with rats," she hissed. "We don't like the way you've been poisoning our city."

"'Our'?" The old vampire said, looking around. "There are more of you?"

"There is only us," she growled.

"So, one of those ever so colorful costumed heroes," the vampire sneered. "You think you can stand against the might of Kakistos?"

"Listen, hoofie, we'll only say this once," Venom said. "We don't like you. Our other don't like you. These guys only follow you cause they're scared of you."

"As it should be," the vampire said. "Now. You will get out of my way…"

"Actually, we were thinking of killing you," Venom said, charging forward. Kakistos took the charge, not expecting the strength the newcomer possessed, the speed she possessed, or the long black claws that sliced through him. Fangs glistened in the light as she pulled herself closer. "We aren't a lone Slayer or some gang member you can frighten into submission," a second set of blade like claws slipped into the vampire, piercing through the other side. "We are VENOM!" There was a tear as the vampire was ripped in half. "And you are dust," she looked at he vampire dust as it settled to the ground before turning to the terrified gang members. "Boo!" She said, opening the symbiote's mouth to reveal her dagger like fangs. The gang leaders did the smartest thing they ever did.

They ran.

"Well, that was enjoyable," Venom said, walking over to the shivering, frightened Slayer who had shuffled into the corner. "Take it easy, girl. We won't hurt you, you have our word," the girl shuffled as far into the corner as she could.

'This isn't going to work like this, she's too scared.'

Shortly

'OK, decision made,' Venom Slayer thought between her 'selves', 'and . . . it might be nice having a girlfriend to talk to again. Too bad Carnage went to that insane freak Cassidy. Slayers and Symbiotes go together.'

Venom Slayer stepped into the shadows and then retracted into a black leather outfit that enhanced many of Buffy's attractive features, and aided in her few faults, such as putting high heels only a Slayer could wear on the bottom of her boots. Thus, when she stepped into the light once more, it was Buffy looking down upon the Slayer and offering her hand in friendship and comfort.

"You're going to be OK now, they're all gone," she whispered quietly to the cowed girl.

Surprised at hearing a human voice for once, and spoken with kindness, the girl jumped and looked in wide-eyed wonderment at the petite, yet tough-looking girl crouched in front of her.

"Wh-what hap-happened to the-the-the d-d-d-demon? It killed m-mm... it killed Kakistos like he was a newbie!" the Slayer, finally realizing she was free, began to gather her wits about her.

"Well, aside from the big vamp with the equestrian fetish, what did you call him? Khaki-toast?" Buffy paused as the raven-haired girl laughed at the joke before continuing, "I didn't see any demons. Other than hoof-boy, I'm actually the one that took out the vamps, which you seem to know about. I'm the Slayer by the way. My name's Buffy."

The girl's wide-eyes blinked in slow motion, and finally her slim hand, not helped by the month or two that Kakistos had imprisoned and possibly fed off of her, took the blonde's and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

"You're the . . . the . . ." she stuttered, "You're the other Slayer?!"

Buffy arched an eyebrow at the addition of 'other', but quickly squashed the flash of annoyance that it caused. "And so are you," she countered with a quick grin.

The girl blushed and blurted, "Faith, my name. My name is Faith. I . . . I've heard so much about you! You're like a legend! You're the best!"

Now it was Buffy's turn to blush as the symbiote practically preened under the praise, affirming what it already believed and knew to be true.

"Well, I don't know about /legend/," she accepted the praise and began to lead Faith out of the warehouse. "Here, let me get that for you," she reached over and tore off Faith's bindings with ease, and helped the girl to the door. "You hungry? I got some chocolate left over here," she reached behind her out of Faith's sight as the back of her outfit turned liquid, spat out a couple more chocolate bars into her hand before returning to black leather, and she brought the candy out in offering.

"Hell yes! Thanks!" Faith nearly prostrated herself as she ripped the packaging off of the bars and swallowed them both whole after only a few bites.

"First things first then," Buffy announced as Faith now stood under her own power, "Food." She lead the way to a nearby diner, walking instead of web-slinging because of Faith and not wanting to scare her.

"Hey," Faith said after a few minutes of companionable silence, "you ever noticed that after a good slay you get hungry and horny?"

Buffy's inhibitions had gone to hell with Angel, or maybe the symbiote just didn't see the point in their new blended nature, so without a hint of guilt or embarrassment, she answered with an interested tone, "You too?"