Chapter 6
Smiling, Faith stretched lazily and buried her head deeper into Gunn's arm. Her smile widened when he kissed the top of her head. Dragging her fingertips lazily over his chest, she stopped briefly to tease his nipple. In a fit of laughter, he grabbed her and rolled her onto her back; she allowed him to flip her onto her back and tickle her for a few seconds.
Smiling into the crook of her neck, Gunn relaxed next to her while propping himself on his elbow. "That was phenomenal."
"I know." The cocky smile that spread across her face was quickly replaced with surprised glee when Gunn started to push her off the bed.
After a few seconds of yelling for him to stop, Gunn climbed out of bed and lifted her into his arms. "I'm stealing you away. You're going to be mine forever."
"If by forever you mean for the next few minutes. We have to go to work."
"I'm too happy to work. Let's stay in bed all day and make love."
Gently pulling herself from his grasp, she looked over shoulder and raised her eyebrows at him while she made her way to the shower. The lack of covering across her rounded backside enticed Gunn to follow her into the bathroom.
In a fit of happiness, Faith let herself feel with reckless abandon that she had previously only reserved for stealing and slaying. After many wonderful minutes, Faith finally turned off the steaming water and stepped from the shower. Wrapping towels around her hair and then around her body, she followed Gunn into the bedroom.
Their late night dinner had led to a night cap at Gunn's apartment which led to an early morning sunrise session of love making. Frowning at her slinky black top and sleek leather pants that looking surprisingly non-trashy according to Dawn, Faith realized that it was probably going to be a good idea for her to have a drawer at Gunn's apartment.
Slipping the clothes on, she gave Gunn a look that he interpreted as meaning that they would have to stop at her apartment in order for her to change. He had driven them around town last night, which meant that she would either have to go in to the office with him or pick up her car.
Watching Gunn knot his tie, Faith untangled her hair with her fingers. "You think Angel will be in on time?"
"Isn't he always? I bet he's raring to go and ready to get back to it. Staying at home was never his style. Having a bouncing baby boy is great, but he needs to save the world to feel fulfilled."
"I get that, though. I need that too. I mean, I don't think I could ever do what Buffy's doing."
Grinning widely, Gunn picked up his keys and started Faith from the apartment as they spoke. "You don't a kid and a big house?"
"I don't think I'm the mothering kind. I can't even hold Brady without breaking into a cold sweat," she said laughing slightly and bumping Gunn's side playfully.
"I think you'd look good with a baby."
"Don't get any ideas, champ."
Closing the door to the car, Faith leaned back and turned the radio on. The quiet music in the background distracted her from the fact that she was seriously discussing having babies with anyone.
"Faith, I don't want kids, especially right now. My career is going well, I love my job, I have great friends. If I want a baby, I can baby-sit Angel's. I'm sure he's going to have a whole clan with Buffy. Don't worry, girl, no pressure from me."
"Good. Because I don't want kids. The whole birth thing? Not my style."
Laughing, Gunn relaxed in his seat, enjoying the remainder of the ride to Faith's apartment in peaceful silence. He doubted he would want to be a father at any time soon, and he was sure Faith was in no hurry to settle down and start driving a mini-van. He startled himself with that thought; he was amazed he could consider Faith in such serious manner. Shaking himself a little, he glanced across the car at the stunning brunette and grinned. She was perfect, he thought. No other woman had been so honest, brutally so at times, and yet so sensual and sensitive. Gunn was amazed at her ability to be a hardened warrior and a wonderful lover all at the same time.
Parking outside Faith's apartment, he waited patiently in his double parked space as Faith went to change into more suitable clothes for the office. When she returned to the car wearing black slacks and a light blue button down, Gun smiled. The Faith of yesteryear would have stayed in the same slinky top and dared people to comment about it. This Faith would still kick ass, Gunn thought, but she wouldn't pick a fight as readily.
The drive to the office was quiet, Faith yawned a few times, which was Gunn's cue to stop at the nearest drive-thru for coffee. Arriving at the office about an hour later than he normally did, Gunn waggled his eyebrows at Faith as she exited the elevator for her floor. He was in a good mood. She laughed and shoved his arm playfully at his lewd facial expressions.
It was early for Faith to be in the office. Sliding into her chair, she sighed and picked up the first file lying on her desk. Updates of building progress and photos of the expanded grounds were scattered around her office. Budget approvals had to be signed; dormitory decorations had to be decided upon. Faith was adamant that she would not be the one to choose the decorating styles of the dorms. Dawn would have to be consulted, she decided.
Leaning back in her chair, she looked at a yellow post it note she hadn't noticed earlier. It was stuck to the underside of a file she had just unearthed. The numbers written on it made no sense to her, she didn't recognize it as a phone number she knew or as a code to anything she could recall. Staring at it a few minutes, she lifted her phone and dialed the seven numbers, hoping that her hunch would pay off.
The raspy voice at the other end of the line didn't start with any preamble. "Come alone." The voice stated an address and before Faith could say a word, whoever or whatever, she thought, had hung up.
Standing slowly, she made a decision within a few seconds. The elevator was crowded but no one else was going to the sub-levels. She was the only one on the elevator by the time it reached the parking garage. Signing out a key with the security desk that few people had reason to use, she started one of Angel's SUVs and pulled up the ramp and into the sunlight.
Drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, she drove the forty-five minute drive through the city and into the historic district. Traffic was awful for the time of day, Faith mused, she would have been there sooner if not for the smog congested streets. It was not the first time Faith had missed night time travel. Traffic was always better at two in the morning, she thought wryly. Meeting creepy voices in the middle of the morning was not her style.
Parking the car on the street, Faith wasted no time in scouting the building. The small corner store was as unassuming as it was dilapidated. Shingled hung from the roof and painted concrete walls peeled like dead skin. Thanking the powers that she hadn't chosen to impress Gunn by wearing the only pair of stilettos she owned, she started up the stairs to the stoop in leather ankle boots, her hands in her pockets.
The door opened of its own accord and Faith smiled thinly. This was going to be interesting, she thought. The raspy telephone voice called to her from a darkened corner of the back of the front room. Counter tops were covered with white sheets; a thick layer of dust covered every surface.
Her shoes left impressions in the dust. The thin beam of sunlight coming through the boarded up window illuminated the dancing dust particles in the air. Fighting the urge to sneeze, Faith straightened her back almost imperceptibly and started towards the voice.
As the figure came into view, she gasped at the hideousness of the being. What was once a man, she thought, was now an abomination of a human being. His scaly and scarred skin had grooves in it that she could loose her finger in. Parts of the flesh on his head were pealing like the paint outside on the building.
"I'm glad you're here."
Nodding, she kept quiet. Trying not to listen to her instincts, which were telling her to run as fast as she could, she stayed silent and still.
The creature laughed and she saw sharp and pointed teeth, less than there should have been, that were rotting green and brown. His breath reeked worse than the rest of him. Biting back a surge of nausea, Faith looked in his eyes, her obvious disgust written on her face.
"Being with the champion and his ilk has softened you. Pathetic. You were once a great warrior."
Taking a deep breath, she spoke calmly. "I can kill you now and put you out of your obvious misery or you can tell me why you wanted me here. Your call."
His laughter died abruptly as a grunt escaped his lips. "I wanted to give you a warning."
Her raised eyebrow was enough to prompt him to continue. She wanted to speak as little as possible since she was trying to breathe as little as possible. The stench was incredible.
"The tests are not yet over. You will never be safe. None of you will ever be safe."
Suddenly angry, she snapped at him, "That's it? That's all you had to say, because that is pathetic. Thanks for the update on that." Turning to leave, his voice stopped her.
"Wait. Wait. Don't be so hasty. You can't hurry towards death."
Opening her mouth to speak, she was suddenly unable to speak. The floor beneath her opened and before she could make a sound, swallowed her whole. The hideous creature's laughter was the last sound she heard as the darkness pulled at her.