Saving Faith

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters, nor do I own the Everclear song lyrics in the beginning of the chapter.

Chapter 2

"Any man who says it's Heaven and Hell
Prob'ly got somethin' useless to sell
You ask me if I'm saved, but what's it to ya?"

"Saving Grace," Everclear

For several seconds Faith just stared, eyes wide; she was unable to find words. After she had come to the delayed conclusion that her ears had not deceived her- that this smiling, tobacco-chewing old man in front of her had not only declared himself to be an angel, but also asked her to turn her life over to God- she shook her head, the incredulity in her expression quickly softening into relief. It wasn't real. None of it, nothing of this whole screwy day was real. That was the only possible explanation.

Laughing shortly, a smile curving her lips and lightening the tension of her gaze, Faith shook her head, letting out a loud sigh of satisfaction. She shook her head ruefully as she looked back at her self-proclaimed angel- Earl, he had called himself. That cinched it even more- what kind of angel was named EARL?

"Alright, I get it now, this all makes sense," she declared, shaking her head again, and even she could hear the relief coloring her tone. "Either I'm dreaming, I'm totally whacked out, or I'm on one hell of a trip here. Thank God for that, because this is one day I don't mind restarting here."

"You can thank God all you want, Faith, and he enjoys and encourages it," Earl replied easily, and to Faith's partial amusement, partial disbelief, he took a last swallow of Mountain Dew from his bottle, throwing it into the nearby dumpster, and spat out a stream of tobacco before turning back to face her, standing up straight rather than remaining leaned against the wall. "But this is real. You, me, what you did, what you're doing now, it's live, happening action in the here and now."

"No way in hell- OR heaven, since that's where you're claiming to come from," Faith shot back, her voice rising slightly. She took a step towards Earl, her stance growing more defensive, almost aggressive, as she tilted her face up to stare into his eyes.

"First off, the only angels in existence, at least here on earth, are the broody ones who rob the cradle with little blonde ex-cheerleaders and are on an all liquid, all blood diet. Second, if there WERE angels, and they wanted to come to Sunnydale, aka the Hellmouth, which they wouldn't, they definitely wouldn't come here looking like they just left a mountain biker bar or a Charlie Daniels concert. Third, pretty sure if angels could drink like humans, and why the hell would they if they were a freakin' angel, they'd pick, like, nectar of the gods or something, not Mountain Freakin' DEW, redneck beverage of choice. And no angel would be chewing tobacco and SPITTING in front of their doomed soul human," Faith asserted, her voice slightly louder and increasingly sarcastic and assured as she continued. "And even if you had some explanation for all that, and there's no way you do, there's one thing that no one could ever explain away, and that's what angel would come to ME, and to cover my ass, of all things?"

"Not everything in life makes sense, Faith," Earl said calmly, still giving her that same gentle, partly amused smile. Looking at it irritated her. Maybe in part because she felt drawn to it. "Especially when you're young and human."

"Tell me about it, this is a Slayer you're talking to here," she rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips before fixing a hard stare back in his direction. "But that's not a good enough backup of you being a freakin' angel, that's no explanation at all, so I KNOW you're full of shit now."

"I hadn't started to give an explanation yet," Earl replied patiently, rolling the tobacco in his mouth into one cheek and shaking his head in what appeared to Faith to be continued amusement- amusement at HER. What was so funny about HER, he was the redneck ninja-like guy claiming to be her angel, and he wasn't even real!

"Angels are different from vampires, even souled vampires, Faith," Earl went on, his slow drawl seeming in no hurry to make its way through Faith's list of points in any sort of timely or confrontational fashion. "We're creatures and creations of God, not demons .We're God's servants. Even souled vampires who do good work ain't the servants of God."

His smile quirked at the corners, and he chuckled, touching his own head." Plus, we angels aren't big fans of the hair gel."

Faith snickered in spite of herself; real or not, this was wild, and sort of funny. She wasn't going to rush waking up yet. It wasn't like she had so much to look forward to when she opened her eyes. The killing a guy part of this dream had sucked, but this part with this Earl guy was hilarious. She kept her hands on her hips, angling one shoulder towards him almost flirtaciously, and raised an eyebrow as she addressed him.

"You guys don't lose your soul over sex either, I'm guessing."

"Well, we had a few of those," Earl smiled, shrugging. "But that's between them and God."

When Faith snickered again, shaking her head, Earl went on, continuing to leisurely address her counterpoints one at a time.

"As for how I look, well, we can look like whoever we want to, Faith. This is how I decided to look for you."

"Lucky me," she deadpanned, eyebrows quirking again as she looked Earl's rather unimpressive form over pointedly, smirking. "I usually go for younger, more of a dangerous outlaw or grunge loser kind of look though…can't say I've got much interest in your choice here, Earl, no offense."

"That's partly why I chose it," Earl told her with a hint of a smirk of his own. "Figured you'd listen better, focus on what I've got to say if you weren't distracted by a pretty face and a sexy body."

When Faith snorted, unable to keep from grinning, Earl smiled at her, seeming to enjoy her expression. "As for that god drink stuff you mention, well, I like human food. Don't see any reason why I should let ya'll have all the fun."

"Okay, whatever," Faith continued to smirk. She shifted her weight, then tilted her head to one side, still fixing him with a challenging look. "You still appear out of nowhere, looking like a guy from Beverly Hillbillies, you announce you're not only sent by GOD, but are also a freakin' angel, you want to clean up my mess, and you know my name-"

"Well of course I know your name, Faith," Earl cut her off, his tone genuinely puzzled that she would find this odd. "What kind of angel would I be if I didn't know my own charge?"

"That's what I'm getting at!" Faith exclaimed, thrusting out her arm to point at him almost accusingly. "There is NO WAY you're some God-sent angel come to clean up my messes and save my sorry soul, or come make me over into a good little girl, you're either deluded and totally ninja-like at sneaking around and getting rid of bodies, which is kind of creepy, actually, or else none of this is real! Because why the hell would God ever come down from his throne in the clouds to give a damn about ME when he never gave a damn about me before?"

She was finding herself to be more agitated than she had originally thought, her breath coming faster, her hands forming fists at her sides, and her face felt hot, flushed. She stared at Earl fiercely, her throat tight. But he looked back at her calmly, giving her that same almost tender smile, and Faith swallowed, not sure why it was that she was so uneasy, yet somehow almost comforted at the sight of it.

"That's where you're wrong, child. God loves you with a love you ain't never gonna fathom, Faith, and He don't expect you to do anything to earn or deserve it, because the truth of it is, none of us can."

"Not even you angels?" she shot back, jerking her chin up towards him, and Earl shook his head.

"Not even us. Faith, all God wants from you and everyone else is for you to be happy and at peace, but the only way for that to happen is for you to ask for His help. He's been watching over you and waiting on you to just ask for it since day one, but most of you humans don't do that until you're in a whole heap of trouble, do you?"

Earl shook his head again, chuckling slightly, and Faith tensed, almost glaring back. She obviously didn't believe a word he was saying, but if it HAD been true, then it sounded to her like God was the one who was all screwy.

"Are you trying to tell me that God sits up in the clouds twiddling His thumbs until someone begs Him to get to work, THEN He hops right to it, no questions asked?" she asked, incredulity stark in her tone and expression. "What kind of deep, huge, unfathomable love is THAT, because it sounds to me like plain old "Do something for me and then I'll love you" love to me."

"First thing God and First Corinthians would tell you about love is that it's patient," Earl replied mildly, shrugging. "Reckon that goes for you and God both."

Faith rolled her eyes. The guy had a way of answering without really answering, and it was pretty damn irritating. How do you keep arguing with a guy who just stands there calmly and SMILES at you anyway?

"Yeah, well, you sit around waiting for something to happen, chances are it never will. God helps those who helps themselves, or don't you angels know that in angel academy?" she shot back with a flash of triumph, but Ear was not at all shot down, like she'd hoped.

"That ain't in the Bible, Faith, that's from Aesop's Fables. Smart guy, Aesop, but he ain't God. You see, God, He helps people when they've reached the point that they're so lost and broken up inside that they can't do one more thing on their own. You know what he does then, Faith, when He sees His own children like that, and they call out for His help?" Earl asked her quietly, his eyes on hers, and Faith thinned her lips, tearing her eyes away quickly.

"Sends a poor schmuck like you to do His dirty work, I guess. Look, this is all bullshit, okay? Nice talking to you and all, but you're no angel, alright? None of this is even real," she declared.

She turned her back on him deliberately, beginning to walk away. "I think it's time for me to get out of bed and face reality."

She hadn't taken more than three steps before a loud snapping noise behind her made her jump. When she turned back around instinctively, her eyes almost popped, pupils dilating with her shock and fear, and she found her legs not quite willing to work. Earl hadn't moved from where he was standing, nor had he stopped smiling, but jutting from his shoulders now were large golden wings, with a span of ten to twelve feet, glowing brilliantly and illuminating his entire frame and the space around it.

Faith's sinking, sickened stomach, her flushed face, and rapidly beating heart informed her all too well that this must be real. She really was standing in front of a freakin' angel.

"Holy shit," she whispered, her voice shaking, and Earl shook his head.

"No, holy servant of God, aka Earl." As Faith continued to gawk at him, unable to help herself, her mind racing to make sense of it, Earl continued, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Fear of the Lord is beginning of knowledge, Faith. God is certainly a loving God, but He will also not be mocked."

She blinked, taking in a slow breath. Her mouth was dry, her head too full of too many thoughts to make sense of any of them, and it took several tries before she formed words.

"What do you want from me?"

"It's what God wants from you that matters," Earl corrected her, but she couldn't tear his eyes from his massive wings to look at his face. "He's giving you a second chance, and he sent me to help you out. There's a lot of people headed straight for hell, Faith, and it's my job to make sure you ain't gonna be one of them."

Some days Faith felt like she was already in hell, living it right here on earth. But she didn't speak, swallowing again, and let Earl go on with his monologue.

"You remember what you did today?"

When Faith hesitated, then nodded jerkily, he went on, continuing to look towards her face so intensely that she was eventually forced to look into his eyes.

"You killed a man, Faith. We all understand it was an accident, but a line was crossed today, and the second you chose to run, your soul began a dark descent that me and God couldn't have had nothing to do with…until you decided to ask for help. But you did ask, and now we're in it for the long haul. So are you ready, Faith?"

Faith's brow creased, her eyebrows furrowing; her head was still struggling to compute Earl's words, to accept them and understand them as reality. It took her a few minutes to realize a question had been asked.

"What?"

"Are you ready, Faith, to accept my help? Are you ready for a second chance?"

She was standing in front of a guy with angel wings, a guy who was God's best pal, who had somehow erased her murder and more importantly, could probably strike her with lightening before she could blink. Real or not, there was only one correct answer, and it sure as hell wasn't no thanks.

"Yeah," she replied faintly, nodding, and Earl's smile widened.

He reached out, gently caressing her hair, and she shivered, then went very still, stunned at how such brief touch from him had felt warm and soothing to her core.

"Good girl," he remarked, before pulling his hand away. "Looks like you're gonna be another tough one, and I do like a challenge. Guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

Then his wings retracted, pulling back rapidly into his shoulders until they were completely gone, and then Earl was gone too, disappearing as suddenly and totally as he had come. Faith stared after him for several moments, catching herself beginning to breathe more evenly again, her body slowly loosening, and then she was disappearing too, her world darkening, spinning beyond her grasp into nothingness.