Chapter Three – Fight!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All of these belong to Joss Whedon and his crew. Thanks for letting me play with them though.

Last time on "Faith's Champion"...

Angel rested his head in the crook of his love's neck, panting harshly as he fought to regain his unneeded breath. The sensations he had felt were mind blowing to say the least. He hovered protectively over her, knowing that the next couple of weeks would be the determining phase of the claim. He had to constantly renew his claim over her, and establish his dominion over her to ensure that she survived the claiming. Without it, she could probably spiral into madness, just like what had happened to Drusilla. That was one mistake he would never make again, as contrary to everyone's belief, she hadn't been driven mad by his murder of her family. No, she had gone mad due to an unchecked claim; one he did not deign to have at that time. He was truly sorry of what he did to her, but one couldn't turn back the hands of time.

Now, he would take his rest, for he knew that he would need it for the couple of weeks to come. Laying down atop her body, another sign of protectiveness, he slipped into light slumber, always alert for the changes in their surroundings. Any hint of danger would not be tolerated.

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It was dark the next time that Faith opened her eyes. Her entire body ached with delicious tiredness, muscles in places where she didn't even realize they existed groaning in protest as she stretched languidly on the bed. She tried to get up, but the muscles in her lower back and her thighs protested the most. Especially her inner thighs. The thought of said muscles made her blush, a rosy red colour slowly creeping over her features. She hardly dared to remember what she did with those muscles.

She was all alone on Angel's bed, their bed, she thought to herself. Or so she thought. She didn't realize that there was someone else in the room until she felt the dipping of the bed as it accommodated it's new occupant, a moment before she felt the slightly cool hand that reached around front of her to place itself possessively around her waist and pull her to him.

Him. She knew who the owner of the hand was. It was a scent that she couldn't forget until the end of time itself, a scent that kept her sane and her hopes up all through her penance to society, a scent that was ingrained into her memory forever. Next thing she knew, she was face down over a hard body as the owner of said hands had flipped her over on to his chest, the thin silk sheet (black by the way, so like the owner, dark and broody) the only thing separating their bodies. She had expected his body to be cold, instead, the slightly cool, if not sometimes lukewarm flesh was what had greeted her. She had been surprised at first, but that had quickly given way to awe.

It was awing, to say the least, that this man – she would never refer to him as vampire as he was far more than that – had chosen her over all others. In a sense she knew what it was that she had surrendered to him; after all, her Watcher, her real Watcher had told her the truth, everything that she needed to know of her heritage and her legacy;the true Slayer. That he had chosen her over another who had once been his hearts greatest desire to share this intimacy and privilege was mind boggling and humbling, to name a few of her feelings. But it was her love for him, magnified ten-fold, that drove her to accept her fate. Well, at least that and the strange stirring in her soul that told her that she had to do it, to accept him fully and surrender what was left of her to him. It was the only way. Of what, she knew not.

"Hi beautiful." Angel breathed as he stared into the dark brown, albeit slightly unfocused eyes of his beloved. He was mesmerized by the creature before him; soft and pliant under him when she was in his arms, yet still with an inner fire that was especially apparent when she was fighting beside him. He remembered that fire all too well. It caused a stirring in his loins, a fact that went unnoticed for the moment.

"Hey yourself." Faith said softly, broken out of her inner musings. She stared at the face of her personal angel, taking in his current expression before she met her eyes to his. "How long exactly have I been out, at least since the last time I was awake?" she asked, placing a light kiss on his lips after the query.

"Well...not long." came the vague reply. Faith narrowed her eyes in slight suspicion. Something fishy was going on, for she somehow knew that Angel wouldn't lie to her unless it was very important.

"What's going on?" she asked, her right brow raising to show that she deemed the answer to said question very crucial. Angel shifted slightly on the bed, one out of uneasiness, the other out of a more personal uneasiness. Couldn't blame a guy for getting turned on by his beloved.

"I'm waiting." she said, pinching his chest lightly to get his attention back on her.

"What is the last thing you remember? Do you know when was the last time you were fully awake?" he asked her instead. This gave her pause; she cocked her head to a side to contemplate her answer. She answered uncertainly.

"Uhm...us...doing the horizontal tango...on this bed...with me on top?" Faith said, earning a light pinch on the backside for her cheeky answer. "Seriously, I only recall waking up to answer natures call and take a bite of a sandwich before you carted me off to bed again." she said, looking him in the eye. "Why? Is it very important?"

"Yeah, it is. That was two days ago." he dropped the bombshell. He winced internally, anticipating her explosion. He wasn't disappointed.

"What?! Two days ago?!" Faith yelped, more out of surprise than anger. Seeing the hastily concealed look of hurt in his eyes, she quickly reassured her beloved. "Oh no no no, it's not that I'm angry or anything, it's just that I'm surprised, that's all."

"You're not angry? Or worried about why you were knocked out for that long without your Slayer healing powers kicking in?" he asked incredulously.

"Nope." she said, popping the p as she snapped her plump lips close. "I know there's gotta be a reason for that, and I know that that is what you're worried about."

"How are you so sure of yourself?" he asked, eyes narrowing in contemplation as his inner demon was wondering what exactly did she know. The implications of what she knew were astounding, as far as he was concerned. In fact, she could have been stringing him along, anticipating this particular result, for to become a vampire's mate had its perks. The older the vampire, the more the perks, and possibly, the longer the mate could live. He growled low in his throat, feeling angry at the possibility of being cheated by his own mate.

Faith winced, feeling the threatening growl of her mate. Suddenly, she was flipped around, her back making contact with the cool surface of the headboard of Angel's bed. Angel pressed her into the soft yet scratchy surface, his body hovering mere inches above hers as he hissed his displeasure and suspicion into her ear.

"Did you know what would happen should I claim you?" he asked in a soft voice. Faith quivered under his words, one out of hearing the underlying threat in his words, the other out of the effort to keep her own emotions under control. It hurt, very much, that he would mistrust her so.

"No." she whispered finally. She couldn't bring herself to raise her voice any louder, as she would probably break down due to the effort, and also Angel would probably see that as rebellion to his power over her. She might end up punished for it, or worse, he could rescind his claim, so early into the relationship as they were that that was possible. Faith knew that she couldn't stand that, she would most likely go crazy just like Drusilla. But the heartache of losing him would be worse, she probably wouldn't stand a day without him, and end up committing suicide just to make the pain go away. Even thinking of it now made her bleed internally.

"How long have you known what was going on?" he said in a deceptively calm voice. "Answer me!" he commanded, tugging on the tiny heart-string that connected a vampire with his mate. It was uncommon knowledge of the existence of this particular trait of a vampire mate claim, one that Angel himself had accidentally learned of when he drank the blood of an old monk learned in the ways of folklore and myths, which were mostly true anyway. He used this knowledge now, utilizing it to bring his mate to heel.

Faith winced again, this time in actual pain as she felt something tugging mercilessly at her heart. It gave her the feeling of betrayal of her master, an intense emotion that made her feel as if she had done something really wrong, like she had betrayed his trust in her. She couldn't stop the lone tear that rolled down her cheek as she answered, "I..only realised...what...might have happened...when...I felt...a presence...in my...heart." She gasped, seeming to choke on something, before continuing. "I knew...for sure...when...I couldn't seem...to deny...anything...you wanted..." She couldn't say anything else, as the feelings of betrayal were literally choking her life away. Though she did not commit the deed, even the suggestion that she had done so could trigger the power of the claim to take away the life of the mate who had committed the heinous act, be it suggestion or reality.

Angel could feel that his mate was telling the truth, he could almost see it in her eyes. He could also feel her life slowly slipping away, and his protective instinct immediately sprung into play. He growled, immediately taking her in his arms and willing the power of the claim to release its choke-hold on his mate. She did not betray him, she was still true to him in all ways. Inside, he was relieved that their bond was still young; if it were any older, she would have been killed almost instantaneously with the barest hint of infidelity.

As her breathing slowly went back to normal, Angel cradled her protectively in his arms. He sighed, dreading the things that he was about to tell her. She wouldn't take this lightly, she probably would flip and attempt to kill him at this new twist in the plot. However, first things first. He needed to know how much did Faith know about her origins, about who she was inherently. Whether she knew the real deal about Slayers. It wasn't exactly public knowledge where did Slayers come from, after all, which woman in her right mind would like to know that she was descended from them?

"Are you okay, baby?" Angel asked as he lifted Faith's face from the crook of his neck where she had been resting it. He softly brushed her damp hair from her eyes, tucking it behind her ears with a gentleness he had yet to acknowledge or even comprehend deeply. He knew that he loved her, but was it as deep as he hoped it to be? He shook those thoughts from his head.

"Yeah, five by five." Faith joked, ignoring the lingering pain and hurt that she still felt deep in her soul. Seeds of doubt were planted right next to the uncertainties that she had had ever since comprehending her feelings for Angel, which did nothing to help her situation with her lover."What exactly was that?" she queried, quashing her errant feelings for the time being and focusing on the problems at hand.

Angel sighed. "That was the power of the claim, establishing discipline over the hint of infidelity." he replied, inwardly bracing for the deluge of questions that were sure to follow. If nothing more, he was sure of one thing – Faith never took things laying down, she was a fighter through and through and she would want to know what was going on.

He was however, disappointed. There was no outburst from Faith, just the brief flash of pain that he felt over their bond before it was gone. Their bond wasn't strong enough yet for him to actually gage her feelings over long distances, whats more to actually know what she was thinking at that very moment. He had to content himself with brief glimpses into her inner world. What replaced it was an outward calm that showed that she was deeply in control of her emotions. He didn't know what it was that she was really thinking. For all he knew, she was cursing him to Hell and back right now.

So that was it. Faith thought to herself, remembering something that her Watcher had mentioned briefly when they came to the topic of claims. They hadn't dwelled too much on that subject as her Watcher had been intent on teaching her the way of their people and of her heritage. Claims were just a minor detail in the scale of things. Looking at the big picture, she would be as unlikely to need to know anything about claims as much as Buffy did. After all, she was the one involved with two vampires, both Spike and Angel at nearly the same time. She was more likely to be claimed by either vampire at any time of day, which would probably spark an all out vampire dominance war between the two Master vamps; Angel cause he was so in love with Buffy, Spike cause he didn't share.

Well, Angel wasn't in love with Buffy anymore. She mused internally. Or was he still in love with her, just briefly distracted by the new claim he had established over her? Faith wasn't sure what the truth was, but it wouldn't do to dwell on these dark thoughts now. She had more pressing matters to take care of now, stuff that definitely did not take care of themselves just like that.

"Claims?" she asked instead, turning questioning eyes to Angel. "I've heard about them briefly, but I don't really know much about them." she said, gently sitting up straighter so as not to antagonize the protesting muscles of her body. She was already weary enough, didn't need to add anymore to the growing list of her pains. Not like it wasn't anything new to the dark Slayer – she had been through worse than this. These were like an ant bite compared to what she had gone through before.

She shook these dark thoughts away. She was getting way off topic here. "What do you mean by claims? What exactly happened before we...well...did the horizontal tango?" she quipped, drawing another pinch on the butt from Angel, who this time was aware that she was joking, just enough for him to give a mock growl and pretend to bite her.

"Remember our fight?" he looked to Faith before continuing at her hesitant nod. "Well, remember at the end where I told you to yield to me?" he asked. "I believe that by initiating the fight and the consequent words that I said, I had accidentally claimed you." Faith's face darkened.

"You what?! Accidentally claimed me? Accidentally?!" she screeched, outrage evident in her voice. "Angel, vampires don't accidentally go claiming people, you can't accidentally claim someone!" she ranted, outraged at the idea that what they shared was just that, an accident. She carefully masked the hurt she felt, a thing she did almost automatically as she had learned earlier on that to show your emotion meant a weakness that others could exploit.

"Uhm... I did do that." he supplied weakly.

"What?" she asked, non-plussed by his statement.

"I have accidentally claimed someone before." he said in a resigned voice. "Remember Drusilla?" he asked. Faith nodded hesitantly. "Well, she was the one that I had claimed before."

"Drusilla, as in doll-talking-blood-sucking-Miss-Edith-talks-to-me Drusilla?" Faith said, horrified. "That was a claim? But what happened?"

"I had claimed her, or to be precise it was the beginning of a claim. However, I didn't go through with it, and that's how you got the Dru of today." Angel sighed. "If a claim is not finished, the claimed one usually goes mad, little by little, until finally they either commit suicide due to the unchecked claim or they die of a broken heart."

"What exactly happened with Drusilla? You claimed her, but then..." Faith trailed off.

"I claimed her, but I didn't care to check up on her after that. I was still quite enamoured with Darla then. As such, Dru herself made a companion to fill the void in her that yearned for my attention. She went mad, yes, but she didn't have the luxury of death. Her vampire survival instincts were too strong to let her just commit suicide." he explained.

"You mean she made Spike just because she couldn't... Oh Angel, poor Dru. And she couldn't even die... Oh god." she breathed. She couldn't help but pity the mad vampire Seer. They both knew the agony of unrequited love but at least Angel continually checked his claim over her. She didn't have that, not even a bit of it, and she knew that Angelus had abused this hold that he had over Drusilla. The poor, poor woman. She thought as she wrapped her arms shakily around herself.

"How exactly do you 'check' on the claim?" Faith asked after a moment of silence. At this, Angel gave roguish grin that set her heart racing In her chest.

"The one and only way to 'check' on a claim is through sex." Angel said, grinning at his love's flushing face. "And when I say sex, I mean continuous, unrelenting, wild sex mixed with some blood drinking." he said near her ear, purposely blowing down the column of her neck. "It is done to ensure that the bond between the claimer and the claimed are strengthened, so that the claimer can protect the claimed one in the event of danger, one which usually follows bonded couples."

Faith couldn't help but shiver at Angel's words. The way he said it implied that there was much that she had to learn and know about claims. The look in his eyes when he said 'sex' was almost enough to get her truly undone. It was a look she recognized very well, after all she had been the recipient of many such glances for however long it was that they were cooped up in Angel's chamber. It always signaled the start of Angel's seduction, and she always ended up fainting of exhaustion after the bouts of 'bedroom exercise' with the man. This time she really shivered in memory of just what they had done together.

"How long..." she cleared her throat at the sudden huskiness of her voice. "...how long exactly has it been since I was fully lucid and in charge of my emotions and thoughts?" she whispered, dreading yet anticipating the answer.

"Remember what I said about the continuous sex... Two weeks." he finally relented when Faith raised her eyebrows threateningly at his continued attempts at evading her question.

"Oh my god." she whispered, awed and shocked at the same time. That long just to ensure that their bond was stable?

"I don't think that he can help you there." he said as he slid his body over hers, covering her completely. "But I can." he breathed just moments before he claimed her lips and silenced her questions for now as he exercised his right to keep their bond strong. Faith reciprocated with a muffled whimper, her eyes fluttering shut of their own volition as she wrapped her arms around his neck and surrendered herself once again to her lover and master.

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It had been two weeks since anyone from Angel Inc. had seen the dark Slayer. The last time was when Angel had held her in his arms and warned them from going near his rooms. Or more specifically, warned Wesley and Gunn from doing so. However, that didn't stop Cordy or Fred. Cordy especially was fuming and wanted to know what exactly was going on. When she went near the door, she couldn't hear anything much at first. Then after a while, she recognized the heavy breathing of...someone. Whoever that someone was, she still had no idea.

She had sat down to wait for Angel to come out and give an explanation of what exactly was going on, but it was a dull, long wait. She was finally getting impatient to the point where she almost barged into Angel's rooms when she heard the shriek of a woman's voice proceeded by the animalistic shout of a man's. She stood up to investigate, but a sudden, powerful wave of magic pushed her backwards to the wall again. You didn't need to be a rocket scientist to understand what exactly happened in the room. The shouts were a testament to what had happened in said room. She turned towards the stairs, not interested in finding out what had transpired between the occupants of the room. She was too hurt, heartbroken by the fact that the man she had had a major crush on decided to be with someone else, a woman who had tried to kill them some time ago no less.

She headed downstairs, unmindful of the questions directed her way. She didn't expect to see Angel till his 'business' was finished, whenever that was. The questions from Wesley were promptly ignored as Cordy lost herself in a long bout of self pity, moving on autopilot as she continued with her previously forgotten job of sorting through their company's mail. Then when her job was done, she ordered some food and proceeded to seclude herself in her room, with Wesley hot on her heels, hounding her for answers. This cycle continued for three days nonstop until on the fourth day, the door of their erstwhile leader opened and the man himself made an appearance.

Lorne was in for a visit that day, having swung by before opening Caritas for the night. They had not expected Angel's appearance any time soon, so they were understandably surprised to see him calmly waltzing into the reception area of the office and head straight for the small fridge that he kept in there. He then proceeded to take out a bag of blood and pour it into a mug before going on to take out a small wrapped sandwich that was kept in there and place it on a plate. He didn't even acknowledge the fact that there was anyone else there until Lorne stopped him with a well placed sentence.

"Whew, that must have been some night that you've been through, Angelcakes, cause the smell is divine." Lorne said, stopping Angel in his tracks. "Also, the marks are kind of obvious." he added, pointing to the raw nail marks that marred his back, visible due to the fact that he wasn't wearing any shirt, and that he was wearing a pair of black flannel pants that rode low on his waist.

Angel's eyebrows raised quizzically. He hadn't expected to see Lorne in the Hyperion, but his presence was always welcome. Surprisingly, he hadn't felt the need to protect his mate from Lorne. Probably because he was an anagogic demon and all. Lorne didn't bring out all the demon goodness in him, after all. That was strange.

He gave Gunn and Wesley curt nods when he passed them by on the way out of the office, as both men and also Fred were gathered round the reception area, tucking into some boxes of Chinese. Well, Fred was, with a tomato red face he might add. The former were staring at him in some suspicion and disbelief, of what, Angel didn't want to know. He had a lot on his plate as it was. He grimaced in Lorne's direction, the latter whom gave an understanding nod (seeing as he could sense some surface emotions as it is).

"Tough huh?" he said, giving Angel a bright smile. "Keep it up, it'll be okay in the end." he reassured the vampire, whom just nodded over his mouthful, sorry, mugful of blood. The room was silent until Angel was out of earshot (which is very far by the way), before Wesley asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"What is going on, Lorne? You seem to know more than any of us do at the moment." he turned slightly accusing eyes to the demon lounging languidly on a sofa set in the lobby. Said demon just gave a noncommittal shrug, not wanting to divulge anything before Angel said the get go.

"C'mon man, you could just give us a hint." Gunn pleaded, curious about what exactly happened to his boss and also friend.

"I believe that that is classified information. It does not concern anyone in this room." Lorne said primly, eliciting a nervous giggle from Fred for his antics. "Besides, it is for me to know and you to find out." he added.

"But Lorne..." Fred pleaded, her voice dying out as she spotted Cordy walking into the lobby. Cordy hadn't been herself these past few days as she seemed to retreat into her shell. It was quite uncharacteristic of the usually bubbly brunette, and it was worrying her friends.

"Hi Cordy, haven't seen you in my bar lately. You said that you would swing by a couple of days ago." the anagogic demon said cheerfully, oblivious to the cold atmosphere that suddenly descended onto the room. "So, are you coming over anytime soon?" he asked hopefully.

"No." came the monosyllable reply.

"Okay then, just come on over when you guys are ready." the demon said as he straightened his immaculate yet odd neon green suit and red tie. His trademark clothes shone with a light of its own.

"Bye Lorne." Fred offered timidly, waving from behind the carton of food, Indian, by the smell of it.

"Bye Freddie-poo." Lorne blew a flying kiss at said lady, air kissing the vicinity around Cordelia. "Bye Cordy, bye guys. See you in my pub, Monday." he ordered.

"It's a date." Cordy answered in monotone, earning worried glances from the rest of the gang. Said demon then swept out majestically, as if this were his home, which it almost was.

"Weird, huh?" Gunn said in the awkward silence that followed.

"You mean Lorne? Him being a good demon and all?" Wesley asked the huge black man, whom shrugged. "No it isn't, it's just Lorne being Lorne."

"You mean, a demon ordering us around is normal?" Fred asked right after her boyfriend, earning her a grateful glance from said guy. He was never one for words.

"He's not ordering us around. That's just how he is." Wesley valiantly defended the demon that he had come to like over time.

"Oh." came the soft reply. "So, how are you Cordy? Are you feeling any better?" Fred asked, all too knowing of what had happened to the other woman in Angel Inc. She may be a genius, but she wasn't blind to what Cordelia felt for Angel. Only men were that oblivious. But sadly, Angel didn't feel the same way for her.

"I'm fine." said woman answered with a bit more emotion this time.

"What happened the other day? You totally zoned us out." Gunn asked a bit tactlessly. He earned a swift kick on the shins from his girlfriend. "What? What did I say?"

"Ugh! Men are so clueless!" she ranted as she stormed out of the room, her boyfriend following after her, apologizing profusely. "Sorry baby, I'm just curious is all...Freddie, don't leave me..." he whined as their voices faded away.

"Are you ready to talk about it?" Wesley asked in the ensuing silence. By the stiff way she held her shoulders and the rigid stance of her body, he knew that she wasn't ready yet. He wisely backed off.

"Hey, when you want to talk about it, we'll be here for you. Any time." he said resolutely, missing the slight wince in her features.

The whole cycle repeated itself over the course of the two weeks that Angel kept himself secluded in his room. He only ever came out to grab a drink of blood, or replenish his stores of the item, or to grab a bite for the person sequestered inside with him. And over that time, Cordy had come to resent Faith, her initial heartbreak and hurt feelings turning to more malicious thoughts and her innate fear of loosing Angel to an outsider making her resent and even downright loathe the dark Slayer.

When Angel finally emerged from his room on the night marking the end of the second week he spent locked inside, he wasn't alone. That same day, Cordy had worked up her own reserve to give Angel a piece of her mind. He wasn't being fair to them, his friends and coworkers, by harbouring a known criminal whom in the past had nearly killed at least half of the group, Angel himself included. Fred had tried to dissuade the other woman of this notion, firstly because she hadn't gotten the whole story yet, and secondly because she could stand from an observers point of view and give objective opinions, not clouded by hate or jealousy or guilt.

Everything was coming to head at the Hyperion tonight, and nothing that Fred could do would stop it.

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Author's Note: Hey you guys, I'm really really sorry that I couldn't update sooner. I got stuck with writer's block after the exams and couldn't get back into the thick of things to continue the story. So, this is another filler chapter, hope that you all like it.