THE EMERALD CITY
By: Lisette (lisette@chaletian.co.uk)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sequel to "Yellow Brick Road". Faith continues on her path to redemption with a little help from the AI crew, but it looks like Wolfram & Hart have still got plans for her.
Distribution: Go ahead, take it, just let me know.
Feedback: Go on, make me a happy person.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Go figure.
Author's Notes: Okay, so yay sequel. It would probably be a good idea to read "Yellow Brick Road" before reading this, but it's not necessary. Basically, after assorted trials and tribulations, Faith is back in the fold. Also, I'm English, so please excuse any suspect spellings, bizarre phrases, and make allowances for the fact that the only season 3 ep I've seen is "Fredless".
And we're starting the Buffy cross-over-ness. Buffy and Spike are getting jiggy, but Xander hasn't jilted Anya yet. Giles is back in England.
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Chapter Two - Them - One, Us - Nil
Faith looked at her Sunnydale counterpart warily, but Buffy wasn't paying her any attention. Oddly enough, she wasn't paying Angel any attention either; she was looking at Wesley.
"Anya was attacked at the Magic Box last night. Bunch of vamps. We thought they were on a general destructo rampage, but something was missing."
"A ring," broke in Cordelia, massaging her temple.
"Yeah. Giles gave her the heads up about it, and she got hold of it for him. Looks like it was all they were there for. No guarantees they wouldn't have fed off her, though, but Xander turned up in time."
"What's this got to do…" Buffy interrupted Angel's question as if she hadn't even heard it.
"Xander staked the vamp, but before he did, he got something out of it. A name - Wolfram & Hart. Willow looked them up on the net; apparently they're some law firm in LA."
"With a vengeance," muttered Wesley, then motioned for her to carry on.
"Anyway, I just wondered if you knew anything about them.
"Oh yeah!" This was from Cordelia, and Buffy looked at her curiously. "Let's just say they're our resident big bad, 'kay?"
"A law firm?"
"Think "devil's advocate", only in the literal sense."
"Gotcha. Well, whatever that ring was, they're really keen to have it."
"They sent a group of vampires to get it? Straight into the slayer's arms? That doesn't sound like the efficiency we've come to know and…hate." Buffy finally looked at Angel, and her gaze hardened slightly.
"Yeah, well, they were efficient enough to land Anya in hospital and get the ring, so, at this point it's pretty much them one us nil." The ex-lovers locked gazes, then Buffy blushed and looked away uncomfortably. The silence grew, then Wesley cleared his voice, and spoke.
"Do you know what the ring was, Buffy?" She turned to him in relief, fishing a piece of paper out of her bag.
"Willow wrote it down for me. Um, the - the Wonderful Ring of Reynard. It's supposed to…" She got no further, as Wesley gave a snort of derision. She raised an eyebrow. "Wes?"
"It's fiction," he stated emphatically. "Completely made up."
"Well, according to Giles, it's the real deal." Wesley looked at her in disbelief.
"No, it's fiction. Well, literature, really, I suppose. Thirteenth and fourteenth century beast epics, to which Chaucer actually…" Wesley stopped, aware of the glazed looks that had already crept into the others' expressions. "Look, suffice it to say, the Ring of Reynard does not exist."
"Okaay. So why were your friends at Wolfram & Hart so keen to get their hands on it?"
"She's got you there, man," offered Gunn. Wesley shot him an irritated look, but before he could continue, Faith stepped forward.
"Supposing it exists, what does it actually do? I mean, are we talking like super powers, 'cause that would be wicked cool!" There was a flicker in Buffy's eye as she registered Faith's presence for the first time, but she didn't comment. Instead she inspected her piece of paper again.
"According to Giles, it's made up of three stones. The green one renders the wearer invisible, the white one cures all manner of diseases, and the green one makes night as clear as day."
"What!" Angel strode forwards and snatched the piece of paper.
"Well, that explains why Giles wanted you to have it," Wesley said wryly.
"Night as clear as day - doesn't sound very vamp friendly. Invisibility works, though."
"Think that's why Wolfram & Hart want it?" Wesley turned to face Gunn, shaking his head decisively.
"No, invisibility's easy enough to come by with magic."
"And assuming they're not looking to get rid of LA's vamp population, that leaves…"
"Curing disease," finished Wesley. "So the question is, which of their staff or clients has an incurable disease." He noticed Buffy's disbelieving look. "What?"
"All that trouble for a lawyer with a cold?" Cordelia laughed.
"Guess we never told you about Lindsey and his Evil Hand."