Something in Common.
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fanfiction.
by DaBear
~~~~
SUMMARY :
Rated R for adult language, gore and sexual situations. Post 'The Gift' Alternate Univerise - Faith finally gets something in common with Buffy. And strangely enough Xander. X-Over fiction with Highlander. The Buffy characters do not belong to me, they belong to Joss Whedon and Co., Mutant Enemy, 20th Century Fox, WB, UPN, and so on and so on. Highlander is someone else's property also, I have no idea who's. In other words there is no intent to make money here, so don't sue me. This is a Faith/Xander romance/action adventure story.
From to much love of living
From hope and fear set free
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods there be
That no life lives forever
That dead men rise up never
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea
Excerpt from 'The Garden of Proserpine' by
Algernon Charles Swinburne - (1837-1909)
~~~~
LA County Correctional Facility for Women.
Los Angeles, CA
Cellblock 6, Cell 5318.
October 4th, 2001 22:38 PDT.
The walls of cellblock 6 seem to writhe back and forth, surging in sympathy with the teaming mass of humanity condensed within the concrete walls. Fires were burning throughout the block and voices screamed in agony and anger. Smoke curled up between the walkways to wreath the roof in a boiling black cloud, seeming to slither along the ceiling as if in search for something, or someone. The riot had started 2 hours before with a muttered comment heard by the wrong girl, the shouts and screams now rebounding off the prison walls giving testament to the volatile nature that is man, or in this case woman.
The noise and commotion was making it difficult for Faith to get any sleep. Actually she could have slept through the noise if she had wanted to, but during the first few minutes of the riot, one of the prisoners had managed to open the electronic doors to the cell block, braking the panel in the process, making it difficult or the guards to shut them down again. Since there was nothing to guard her back while she slept, Faith just sighs at the loss of sleep and leans back on the sink watching the open cell door ready for and trouble that may arise. A few years ago she would have been down there on the ground floor raising hell, kicking ass and generally having a blast. But lately she has come to the realization that there is no need for her to search out trouble, it seems it would inevitably find her.
Faith hadn't made many friends in prison over the last 2 years. Scratch that, take out the 'm' and you have the right answer. So she finds herself in her current predicament. Alone in her room, tired and feeling a bit under the weather but unable to rest because she doesn't feel like waking up to a shive in the kidney. She wished that everyone would leave her alone, she doesn't fuck with them they shouldn't have to fuck with her. Right? Wrong, if you aren't at the top of the heap you were at the bottom, there was no middle ground, no neutral territory. **Remind me to thank B for this lovely suggestion for a vacation spot.** Faith shakes her head at that thought. It's not B's fault she was here. The steps she had taken had led her here. Still she hates the dog-pack mentality of the prison. Alpha bullshit and all that.
She shakes her head at a crashing sound far below on the ground level and briefly thinks about going out to look, but the rules say that you are supposed to remain in your cell in case of a riot. Unless you wanted to add a few years onto your sentence, of course. She doesn't understand the other inmate's actions. Then again she wasn't here for the same reason as most of the inmates, she thinks ruefully. She was here to be reformed, to repent, and to make up for the things that she had done. Meanwhile most of the rest of the inmates were just here till there time was up, then they were going to be back on the streets doing whatever it was that got them in here in the first place.
As Faith calmly stands in her cell waiting for the furor to die down and the guards to regain control, she gets a twinge in her stomach, a pain so subtle she almost ignores it since she hasn't been feeling good all day. But then the pain spreads out to her other organs, spiking her kidneys, ripping into her lungs and then it begins to burn. Her heart clenches in pain and misses a beat; her stomach convulses in protest. Clutching at her stomach Faith doubles over the sink and starts to dry heave. Her muscles spasm suddenly and Faith falls to the floor twitching and writhing in pain.
A footstep outside her cell catches Faiths ear. **Someone's here. Get up, get up, get up getupgetupgetupgetup. GET UP!! Don't let it end like this. GET THE FUCK UP!!!**
"Ahhh, there you are my pretty. Well, it seems the poison is having the effect that they promised it would. Remind me to thank them. Oh, wait. You won't be here to remind me. Nevermind." Faiths Slayer sense kicks in overtime as those words are spoken. Her head is ringing with the presence of the frail-seeming female in prisoner denim that steps into her cell. "The Council has asked me to give you their regrets, but they must ask that you tender your resignation." The female grins a sudden deaths head grin, all teeth and no feeling there beyond pure malice; and then she starts to... change. Gaining near two feet in height in an instant she rips out of her clothing, it flutters around her ankles in strips like confetti. Then she begins to expand outwards, gaining huge amounts of mass and muscle until she stands at a little over seven feet tall and looks like a bad cartoon version of a bodybuilder, with muscles upon muscles and just a badly stretched pair of panties covering her. Its skin is a pale bluish hue, and she has hair and eyes of the most deadly shade of white. This demon is something that Faith had never seen before, and judging from the blinding headache that she was getting from its mere presence one she hoped to never see again.
Faith groans as what the demon said registers and her fears are realized. With B's death four months ago she had been waiting for the inevitable assassin. She knew that the Council looked upon her as a liability. Since there had been no new Slayer called when B took her swan dive she was pretty sure that the Council would sooner or later send someone to get rid of her and make way for the next Slayer. One more malleable to there plans and wishes. She briefly flirts with the thought of letting the demon kill her, then thinks of what Angel would say to that and quickly brushes the thought aside.
From the floor Faith gasps out "Nasty looking fucker ain't ya."
Grinning her trademark cocky grin Faith pulls herself off the floor with difficulty and grins her determination to take this demon on and kick its ass just like she has always done. "Tell the Council that they can stick their regards up their collective ass." With that said she jumps into the air and executes a picture perfect spin kick to the demon's head. Unfortunately the demon doesn't show any affect to the kick, just standing there and grinning maliciously as Faith lands on her feet unsteadily. "Fuck, what are you? The Hulk?"
Growling in anger the demon backhands Faith across the cell and into the wall, cracking her skull against the unyielding concrete and making Faith's vision go blurry in pain. Refusing to give up Faith pushes herself back to her feet and then launches herself at the demon and proceeds to deliver an uppercut to its chin followed by a spinning crescent kick to its neck. The demon just stands there and laughs. None of her hits are doing damage, it's like a 4 year old trying to beat up an adult. It ignores her haymaker to its chin, her round kick to its ribs and her attempted leg sweep and just stands there and laughs and laughs and laughs.
Then, with a contemptuous sweep of its arm the blue skinned demon knocks Faith across the cell and out the open door. Faith rebounds off the railing; barely catching herself in time to avoid a five story fall. Gasping for breath Faith grips the railing overlooking the cellblock and stares fearfully down the open drop. **Thats about the same height that B fell from.** was the thought that flits through her mind as she is trying to catch her breath. She feels weak, like something had sapped her strength and sick with the burning sensation racing through her guts, pain spiking up and down her nervous system. Shaking off her daze as she hears the monster stomping towards her, Faith staggers back up to her feet and turns around to face the demon. Just in time to catch the vicious uppercut to her jaw that lifts her up and over the railing and sends her plummeting towards the crowds below.
As the floors rush past Faith tries desperately to twist her body around to give her some sort of safe landing. Failing that she is hoping that maybe she'll hit someone and they'll cushion her fall. All she manages to do was allow herself to see the floor rocket up to meet her. No one was under her, they had seen her body thrown from the walkway and scattered in fright.
**Hope B's not mad at me anymore. I'll be seeing her a lot sooner then I had thought.**
And then Faith knew no more as she hits the concrete floor with a sickening thud and the snapping of braking bones.
~~~~
The morgue tends to be a disturbing place to most people. There are many different factors that lead to this disquite. The temperature that the room is kept at is one, the chill of the room seemingly trying to impart the feel of death to the living interlopers that dare to work with the dead in its confines. The smells also lend to the sense of dread, the slow rot of dead bodies and the chemical smells that burn the fine membrains of the nose. Finally there is the utter lack of sound, except for those made by the living.
The L.A. County morgue is empty of the living, the clock on the wall reads 3:30 a.m.
In the far corner of the room there are six bodies laid out upon gurnies, shrouded with white sheets, still and quite obviously dead given where they are. These six are the casualties of the prison riot; beaten, shot, stabbed or crushed. All six of these young females could have been something better, something brighter. And among these six is one who is about to be the recipient of a small miracle, a second chance at life. A life few would dream of, a life that fewer still would wish for.
It's been a little over three hours since the bodies had been wheeled into the morgue by the hospital staff. The coroners assistant had wanted to go home to his new wife, she was a lovely little thing and had promised him something special tonight. So he had had left before 1:00, after only a brief inspection of his new charges. He wouldn't have noticed anything amiss with the bodies, but if he had stayed he would have witnessed something few get to see. Then again his new wife was an eager little thing, he probably would have preferred to be at home anyway.
As the clocks LED flips to 3:32 the silence of the room is broken. The crackle of a small electrical discharge could have been heard if there had been anyone there to listen. Following the slight crackle there is a period of silence followed by a series of sharp cracks. Likewise, if any one had been there to listen carefully they would have heard 24 separate noises, which so happens to have been the number of bones that one Faith Williams broke when she was thrown from a fifth story walkway.
Next comes the exciting part. The Breath of Life, the first gasp of air of one whom had just risen from the dead. And Faith doesn't fail us here; it is a spectacular show. Her body arches up off the gurney in a spasm of pain and pleasure. Then her hips drop sharply back down and the force of the spasm dents the steal of the gurney surface. Faith jerks her torso up and forward and then the first gasp of air is taken on Faith's new start in life. A long sharp inhale of air, a choking sob of release. One usually doesn't realize how precious air is until it is missing. The sheet that had covered her body slides to the side and reveals her naked form as she writhes in pain. The first time is always the most painful. Coughing and gasping for breath Faith opens her eyes to see neither Heaven nor Hell, but something to her that is completely unexpected.
Taking in her surroundings in one quick feral glance and calming her breathing she slides off the dented gurney letting the sheet drop to the floor. Stalking across the room to a counter inset with drawers she jerks them open one at a time, breaking locks when necessary, searching for a weapon. Finding a likely looking knife that appears sharp enough, she then looks around for some cloths. **Gotta keep the priorities strait girl.** The raven-haired slayer mutters some obscenities under her breath as she fails to see anything in the morgue that would pass for clothing besides the sheets. Since the toga look went out a few eons ago, Faith opens the door to the hallway slowly and silently and peeks outside. Seeing the door across the hall marked "Locker Room" she figures it must be her lucky day. Relatively speaking.
Dressed soon enough in a green T-shirt, that is a few sizes to large, but tucked into a pair of blue jeans a tad to small in the hips and with one size to big work boots Faith feels up to the walk through he halls. Faith, with a morbid chuckle pockets her toe tag as well as over $600 that she found (stole) in the various lockers, and putting the knife in her back pocket, makes her way out of the hospital. It is a ridiculously easy feat to escape from a hospital morgue at 3:30 in the morning. There was only one person in the halls and that was an intern getting a snack at a vending machine.
Once safely outside the hospital Faith flags down a cab after a few minutes and she is soon on her way to the only person in L.A. that she thinks would be even willing to help her figure out what the hell is going on. Besides he's the only one she knows here.
~~~~
"That is, he might help if was friggin here." Faith mutters to herself as she searches the Hotel Hyperion. Everything was locked up tighter then a maiden's chastity belt, it is a good thing she remembers where Angel said he kept the spare keys. Funny the things they ended up talking about on his monthly visits. Although she hadn't heard from Soulboy in the last 3 months, ever since he came to tell her that B was dead. She had already known of course, had known the moment that B had taken her dive, her dreams were haunted by the vision of the Gateway and B's fall. She hadn't gotten a good nights rest in months, up until a few nights ago, and then the nightmares stopped.
Finally she finds a clue in the last place she would have looked, the front counter. Snorting in disgust at her lack of forethought she reads the note.
Gunn,
Wes, Cordy, Fred and I are on our way to Sunnydale.
Something's come up and Giles called us in to help.
If you need to contact us, call my cellphone or the Magic Box.
A
"Who's the fuck is Fred?" Putting the note back on the counter Faith scratches her nose in thought. "Ah Hell, I didn't want to go back to SunnyD this soon. The gang'll fuckin' lynch me."
Deciding that putting it off till tomorrow... or later today, she thinks as she looks at the clock over the counter wouldn't be so bad. Faith turns and head's to Angel's bedroom to get some shuteye. Searching the place earlier showed it had the most comfy bed. Stripping off her 'borrowed' cloths Faith slides naked in-between the silk sheets with a sigh of pleasure. It has been 3 years since she has last slept in a comfortable bed, and she intends to indulge herself and sleep in late. With a smile on her lips Faith snuggles deeper into the sheets and slips off into dreamland, her mind avoiding any questions about the strange things that had happened to her tonight and just luxuriating in the decadent feel of silk.
~~~~
After waking up at 5 in the evening. Faith decide that she needed some decent cloths. Searching through both Angels and Cordy's closets Faith had found an outfit that she wasn't ashamed to be seen in public with. A black long sleeved formfitting pullover with tribal designs down both arms, black cargo jeans that were snug but allowed her full range of movement and a nice pair of steel-toed combat boots. Shirt and pants came from Cordy and the boots from Angel. **Good thing I have big feet** Faith thinks. **All of C's shoes had three inch heels, no fucking way could I fight in those. Never did figure out how B could were 'um on patrol.**
Like a child on Christmas morn, Faith went through Angels weapon stash to find some gear. Looking in a drawer in one of Angel's closets she found something that made her heart race in glee. A shoulder holster, complete with one 9mm Browning Automatic and one combat knife under the right arm; just like Rambo's. She always liked that movie, the sequels sucked, but the first one was wicked cool. After a few adjustments it fit like a dream, snug and easily drawn. Then another knife in her boots and finally a black leather biker jacket with sheathes for six stakes, three on either side.
Finally feeling fully dressed again for the first time in 2 years Faith sits in the foyer of the hotel trying to figure out a way to get to SunnyD. A taxi is out of the question, would cost too much. The bus? No, the Council probably knows by now that her corpse was not in the morgue and will most likely have it under surveillance. Train's prolly also a no-no as well, same reasons. As she sits there pondering her predicament, a slow grin spreads across her features as she remembers a conversation with Angel about one of Wesley's new obsessions. Motorcycles. Seems he and his rich girlfriend liked going cruising. The thought of Wesley on a motorcycle just boggles Faiths mind, but motorcycles are the only form of motor vehicle transportation she actually knows anything about. One of her few fond memories of her fuck of a father. Since probably took Angel's convertible that means it should be around here someplace.
Bounding up the stairs to Wes's room she searches it again and finds a pair of riding gloves and a full faced helmet. But no keys. **Damnit,** Faith thinks to herself **I really do not want a crash course in motorcycle hot-wiring today.** Sighing in resignation she heads down to the garage and as she is opening the door she spots a pegboard to the right of the garage door that has a set of keys on a Harley-Davidson keychain. Snagging them with a grin she heads into the garage and stops dead in her tracks.
"Oh my God..." Faith stops breathing for a second at the beautiful sight before her. A Midnight blue and chrome Harley-Davidson soft tail. Faith would have creamed her panties, if she had been wearing any.
With an excited grin on her face Faith says, "Wes is SO not getting this back!" Grabbing the garage door opener off the table next to the door and laughing in pure happiness Faith straddles the bike and pulls her hair back in a pony tail and stuffs it down the back of her coat. Pulling on her gloves and helmet Faith hits the garage door opener and starts up the bike.
Faith purrs as the powerful bike begins to rumble between her thighs. Once outside the hotel garage she closes the door and stuffing the opener in her pocket Faith puts the bike into gear and leaves the City of Angels behind her without a backward glance.
~~~~
TBC...
DaBear