Faith
Faith lay on the back of the truck - broken and battered. Even a little stabbed, maybe a lot stabbed. Stabbed in the gut with my own damn knife! How did I let this happen to me? She remembers the fight from moments ago, the feeling of the cold metal sliding into her stomach. The look on Buffy's face as she plunged the knife in. Something about that look confused Faith, what started out as rage and hatred turned into fear, sadness, and maybe confusion.
Which one of us was she sad for? Sad that Angel might die? Sad that I might? She could have stopped me from falling off the roof, could have chased me down and fed me to Angel, but she didn't. She just watched me fall, just watched with that bizarre look on her face.
I never thought she could have done that to me. OK, so I did do some pretty nasty things to her. But no one she cared about really got hurt. No one alive anyway... She groaned in frustration, Angel had tried to help her, and she tried to kill him.
I bet B sacrificed herself for him. She's probably in worse shape than I am right now. Maybe she's even dead. This thought brought a smile to her face and lifted her spirits a little, but only for a moment. Even after everything that happened, she didn't really want Buffy to be dead. Despite what she might be trying to convince herself of. Nah, I'm sure they'd find a way to save her, even if she did let soul-boy drain her.
The mayor had to know there was only one cure for that poison. Could he have set me up? She frowned, pushing away the thoughts of betrayal. She had to focus on what she was going to do now.
She groans as the pain wracks her body. She was tough, and this wasn't anything she couldn't survive. What am I going to do once I recover from this? Who was there to trust? The guy who maybe set me up to get stabbed, or the one who actually stabbed me?
Faith closed her eyes and tried to think of a solution. This is insane. I never meant to hang around here anyway. I should have left right after we killed Kakistos, then none of this would have happened. I'll just find a new place to go, start fresh somewhere. There's nothing left for me in Sunnydale.
She tried to readjust her position, which caused a flash of pain, bad enough that she passed out. When she woke up some unknown time later, she had no idea where she was. She was still in the back of the truck, which was now stopped, and it was still dark. Or maybe dark again, she had no way of knowing. She wasn't quite ready to try moving yet, so she focused on what she could hear and sense around her. There was almost no noise or any movement that she could feel, she detected a few humans in the area, but no demons. There was a slight sound of traffic in the distance.
She experimentally began moving each of her appendages. So far she seemed to be in full control of her limbs, there were a few bruises and cuts, but nothing that wouldn't heal. Time to try sitting up, this should be wicked fun. The movement almost made her gag from the intense pain, but she was able to do it. Once she was sitting upright and leaning against the side of the truck some of the pain subsided, it became more of a dull throb. Looking down to examine the wound, she carefully peeled her shirt away so she could get a better look. The crispy dried blood flaked away from her shirt. She watched it curiously as it floated away from her. It took her a moment to remember what she was doing, focusing her attention back on the vertical wound.
Doesn't look too bad, all things considered. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself and plan her next move. She thinks again about what Buffy had said about the poison. Why would the mayor give me a poison to use on Angel that could be cured with slayer's blood? Did he want Buffy to come after me? To try to kill me? Faith didn't want to believe it could be true. She had been sure the mayor really did care about her.
Who am I kidding, who could ever actually care about me? I'm nothing and no one, worthless.
Her mother's voice echoes in her head, and she cringes. She had forgotten, she had re-made herself and managed to forget. Now wasn't the time to remember, now was the time to focus on being strong.
Thinking back on everything he ever said to her and the way he treated her, she just couldn't figure it out. He seemed so kind and caring to me, always trying to get me to be better, not swearing, being a proper lady and shit. I've never trusted anyone as easily as I trusted him. I should have known better than to think he was anything more than another person using me. That's all I could ever be. A tool. Even Buffy only used me, even when I thought we had a connection, she only ever saw me as a weapon. Nothing I did would ever be good enough for her. She'd never see me. Never!
In a fit of rage she punched the barrel she was leaning against with a backhand thrust, denting it and causing a loud bang. I wish I'd never come to this fucking town!
"Hey! What are you doing back there?" A gruff male voice calls out.
Shit! Why can't I do anything right?
"Sorry, I'll be outta here in a sec." She attempts to reply, but her voice is weak, and she's not sure he heard her.
"You can't be back there!" The man yells again, and she sees his head pop over the edge. His eyes widen when he sees the blood on her shirt. "Are you ok? Let me call someone."
The thought of cops coming, shock her into action. There would be no way to explain her condition, and she definitely didn't want to go to a hospital. "No, don't call anyone I'll be fine. It's not as bad as it looks. Just gimme a sec to get up." Stifling a scream as she pulls herself up to standing, she walks towards the back of the truck. "See, I'm five by five." She attempts to casually hop off of the truck. The hop goes pretty well, the landing – not so much. Her legs give out on her, and she crashes into the ground with a thud and a groan.
"Damn lady, let me help you." The guy bends down to help her up. She desperately wants to resist his help, but she's too weak and in too much pain. He carefully guides her to a more comfortable seated position.
"What happened to you? Are you sure I can't call for help?" Faith attempts to hold eye contact with the man. She wants to appear confident and strong. It's then that she notices the man has a curious smirk and a glint in his eye that she doesn't like. She knows she has to get away from him as soon as possible.
"Nah, I'm good." She attempts to stand back up, and then she blacks out again.
Some unknown time later she awakens in a room she doesn't recognize. She has a clean shirt on which is raised to expose her stomach. There is a bandage covering the wound. Sounds of someone moving around in the other room reach her, she tracks the movements, trying to be aware when they were coming closer. She carefully begins the process of evaluating her body to see how badly she's hurt. Everything checks out ok until she tries to move her arms and finds she can't. Not because of the pain, but because she's restrained.
There are metal bands across her chest, arms, and wrists. There are similar bands across her hips and legs. The only movements she's allowed is to barely lift or turn her head. What the fuck? She senses whoever is in the house is getting closer and feigns sleep as they enter the room. How did I manage to land on the back of a truck driven by a kidnapping weirdo? Of all the shit luck.
Faith had always wondered if her life would end this way. Her bad choices getting her stuck in a situation she couldn't possibly get out of. Once she became a slayer, her fear of being trapped had lessened, she had been confident there was nothing her slayer powers wouldn't save her from. Finding out she was wrong, killed the last bit of confidence she had been trying to cling to.
"Wakey wakey." A cheerful voice calls out to her. "I brought you some water and snacks."
Faith remains still, with her eyes held tightly shut, hoping that she is imagining this. Hoping that she'll wake up in a hospital, or even prison - anywhere would be better than this.
"Come on. I know you're awake... slayer." The last word comes out of his mouth with a snarl and is followed by wild laughter.
Faith's eyes pop open at his taunting. How does he know about slayers? I don't sense vampire or any other demon.
"Who could have imagined my luck, finding you in the back of my truck. One in a million chance. Or I guess it was a 2 in a million chance." He continues laughing at his clever joke.
She had assumed she'd just be able to bust out of these restraints at any moment, but if he knew who she was, now she wasn't so sure. She watches him as he moves about the room, not saying anything.
"Come on? Nothing to say? I thought you slayers were supposed to be witty, always ready with a joke?"
Faith is used to things not going her way, but this was above and beyond not going her way. "You've got the wrong slayer for jokes." She scowls at the man and attempts to test the strength of her restraints without him noticing. Quickly she sees that it's pointless, the bonds are far too tight and secure. This guy knew what he was doing. How is this possible? Is it the mayor? Who else would know someone who could do this?
"Too bad, I do enjoy a good pun." He looks down at her, smirking. "I guess that makes you Faith." She doesn't reply, and he continues to grin at her, "Are you afraid?"
Faith tries to keep her face neutral, but she can tell by his smile that she's losing that battle.
"What are you going to do to me?" Having visions of very unpleasant things the man could do to her, she was relieved when he looked offended and backed away slightly.
"I'm not going to do anything to you." Without saying anything else, he moves closer to examine the bandage. Seemingly satisfied with his work, he nods and retrieves the water he brought. He holds a straw up for her to drink. She presses her lips together and moves her mouth away as far as she can.
"Oh, come on, why would I bother trying to poison you?"
Still, she refuses the drink.
"You need to hydrate if you're going to heal. You're of no use to me if you're not strong." He cocks his head at her, despite her wariness, she finds something about his movements disarming. He's clean cut and might almost be considered attractive if he didn't have her strapped to a table.
Her throat is burning, and she can feel that she does need the water. She doesn't know how much time has passed. It could have been days. Her resolve begins to weaken. She nods her head, indicating that she'll take the drink. After she swallowed several mouthfuls, the man again laughs.
"Anyone ever tell you that you're an idiot, Faith?" The man leers down at her, teeth showing in a disgusting toothy grin.
Watching him smiling down at her as her mind reels in terror – then her world once again goes black.
She awakens to find her hands and feet shackled together. The restraints offer her no ability to move. Not that it would matter, she's enclosed in a metal box that barely allows her enough movement to raise her head. There's no light and minimal sound. She can feel slight motion, letting her know that she must be being transported somewhere.
This is just fucking fantastic. Why am I such an idiot? She knows it didn't matter if she drank the liquid or not, she'd still be here. But knowing that he tricked her made her feel even worse.
She tried to relax and sense what was around her. She didn't sense anything demonic from her captor, but that didn't mean much. She tried to remember any detail that might help her out of this situation. He hadn't said a whole lot. How could he have known about what that fake watcher said to me? Even if she did know, that didn't help. She didn't know much about Ms. Post or where she might have come from.
I don't think he could be part of the council. Maybe just like there is a watcher's council, there is some evil council. A group of totally insane humans who want demons to rule the earth again. They probably imagine the demons would be grateful and let them gain power of some kind. Idiots. Joining with demons never works out the way you want it to. She frowns and leans her head against the cool metal side of the box. The irony of her last thought makes her grimace and berate herself again for being so stupid. Buffy! This is all her fault. She did this to me.
She drifts in and out of consciousness, having no idea how much time has passed when the movement finally stops. She can hear quite a bit of noise, and her slayer sense tells her there are a lot of demonic beings in the area. She also senses something else, something she never expected to sense again. B? How can she be here?
She doesn't want to believe it, but she can clearly feel the other slayer is close. Maybe they know I was captured and are here to rescue me? No, there's no way they could know about this, or that they would even try to rescue me after what I did. They probably just captured her too. Serves her right, if she wasn't so uptight neither of us would be in this mess. She sighs and groans. I'm sure she'll find some way to blame me for all this.
A window into her box slides open before she has a chance to even try to react, a hand reaches in with a syringe. Her world once again, goes dark.