***Rating: PG-13 for slight violence and a few naughty words***

**********

Faith stormed past the office where the others where gathered. The phone finally stopped ringing as Fred reached for it. Faith stopped only when she heard Fred say Meg's name.

"Meg, I'm so glad to hear from you," Fred sighed. "I hope you have good news."

"Depends on your definition of good," Meg replied grimly. "Your friend has been exposed to some kind of foreign toxin. I can't make a definite identification. Quite honestly, I've never seen anything like it before."

"When you say exposed, you mean like catching the chicken pox?"

"No, more like injection right into his system. Whatever this stuff is, it's prevalent in his bloodstream. You need to get him to a hospital immediately."

"What will they do?"

"You want the dark-and-unpleasant version or the lollipops-and-gumdrops version?"

"I need the truth, Meg. We all do."

Meg hesitated with a deep sigh. "Fred, I'm really sorry, but I honestly don't think they'll be able to do much but make his death less painful."

Fred swallowed hard, holding back her tears of frustration. "Thanks, Meg," she said quietly and hung up the phone.

"Well?" Lorne asked as he moved to her side.

"Wes has been injected with some kind of toxin that Meg can't identify," she explained. She paused for a moment to steady her voice. "She says… she says there's nothing we can do except take him to a hospital and let them deal with it."

"Not to be Mister I-told-you-so but…." Gunn said from a corner of the office.

Fred shot him a pained look and he frowned, looking down at his boots.

"Who would inject Wesley with something like that?" Cordelia, who sat behind Angel's desk, thought aloud.

Everyone turned to her as she answered her own question with a frown. "Lilah."

"Maybe we shouldn't tell Faith just yet," Fred said. "Not until we form a plan, at least. She doesn't really strike me as the let's-wait-and-strategize type."

With that, the hotel door slammed shut, echoing through the lobby.

"Fred, sweetie," Lorne said, glancing out the office door, "I think Faith just formed her own strategy."

**********

Lorne opened the door to the courtyard and stuck his head out. Angel did not move to acknowledge him. He continued to stare up at the night sky.

"Angelcakes, we have a slight problem," Lorne finally said.

Angel finally turned his gaze to him. "Slight?"

"Okay, maybe slight is a teeny understatement."

"What's going on, Lorne?"

"I know you'd prefer to stay uninvolved, but I just thought that you'd like to know that your little firecracker has taken it upon herself to get the antidote for Wesley."

"Good for her," Angel replied quietly, turning his eyes back to the sky.

Lorne sighed as he continued to hover in the doorway. "Look, Angelcakes, I know this is none of my business, but that young woman has some serious issues. I can read her vibes like a Vegas sign. Her aura is just screaming, 'Trust issues here!'" He paused, studying Angel for a moment. "She thinks she can handle this herself. Are you really going to let her do that?"

Angel looked down as his hands tightly gripped the iron banister. "Faith's a big girl, Lorne. She can take care of herself."

"Do you honestly believe that?"

"Look, Lorne, she made it quite clear that she wants nothing to do with me, alright?"

"You know, Angel, sometimes you have to listen to what someone's not saying," Lorne frowned as he pulled the courtyard door shut.

Angel sighed deeply as he listened to the door close over his shoulder.

**********

Lilah opened her office door and had to bite her lower lip to hold in the primal scream forming in her throat.

The point of the crossbow rested against the bridge of her nose.

Faith smiled at her as her finger gripped the trigger. "You and I need to have a little woman-to-woman talk."

She pushed Lilah back into the office with her free hand and slammed the office door closed with her foot. Lilah stumbled backwards into her desk as Faith continued to advance on her.

Lilah cleared her throat to hide the stutter. "How did you get past security?"

"You call that security?" Faith scoffed.

Lilah crept her hand towards her phone, hoping to be able to hit the intercom and alert someone to her problem. Faith caught the movement, and without hesitation, she shot an arrow into the phone.

Lilah squealed quietly and pulled her hand back. She looked back up at Faith who frowned at her. Smoothing down her hair with a shaky hand, Lilah took a deep breath and stood confidently.

"So, I assume this little visit of yours is in regards to Wesley."

Faith lowered her crossbow slightly. "Wes is sick, you have the cure, and I want it."

"And you will get it," she smiled, "but for a small price."

"Yeah, this isn't a negotiation," Faith countered. "You give me the cure. No price."

"I'm sorry, Faith, but that isn't how the civilized society functions." She casually crossed her arms over her chest. "I expect payment for my services."

Faith knocked Lilah down to the floor in a flash. She knelt beside the woman, her left hand wrapped tightly around Lilah's throat as she held her to the ground. Lilah gasped for air as she clawed at Faith's arm. Faith did not budge as Lilah's perfectly manicured nails dug into her skin and drew blood. She held her stance, her eyes dark with rage.

She leaned close to Lilah as she replied, "You think you're one evil bitch, don't you? Babe, you haven't seen evil until you've fucked with me."

Lilah continued to gasp for air as Faith's grip on her windpipe never loosened. She could feel her lungs begin to burn, to scream for oxygen. She fought the urge to slip into unconsciousness. If she slipped, there would be no returning. She knew that Faith would make sure of it.

Faith loosened her grip only slightly as she saw Lilah's eyes begin to roll up into her head.

"Where's the antidote?" she snarled.

"Like I'm going to tell you," Lilah gasped, a slight smirk on her face.

Faith chuckled quietly. She laid down her crossbow and removed the arrow with her free hand. She pressed the point of the arrow into Lilah's cheek. Blood began to trickle from the dimpled spot.

Lilah grimaced at the sensation but did not scream. She would not give Faith the upper hand.

"Where is it?" Faith barked, tightening her grip on Lilah's throat again.

Lilah did not respond and continued to smirk defiantly at Faith.

Faith frowned. She slowly drug the point of the arrow down Lilah's cheek, ripping her flesh and spilling her blood on the clean carpet.

Lilah finally gave in and screamed. Under Faith's pressure, it only came out as a hoarse whisper.

"Is it in the office?" Faith asked, her voice so calm that it frightened Lilah.

Faith watched her for a moment and raised an eyebrow. She sneered down at her. "Of course it is. You're just dumb enough to think no one would ever look here."

"You realize," Lilah whispered, tears of pain running down the sides of her face, "that you've just sealed your fate. You could have helped us, and we could have helped you. But now, Wolfram and Hart will be after you 'til the day you die."

"I'm a Slayer. My fate was already sealed," Faith growled.

Faith slammed the back of Lilah's head onto the floor, knocking her out.

**********

"Let's go," Angel said, grabbing his leather duster. He pulled it on as he and the others made their way towards the front of the hotel.

They needed to get to Faith before she did something rash, something stupid. Something deadly….

Angel's thoughts froze as the hotel door swung open and Faith emerged from the dark of the night.

"Faith!" he said, shocked by her sudden appearance.

"We were just about to come rescue you," Fred stated matter-a-factly from over his shoulder.

"Huh," she frowned. "Thank God I didn't need rescuing, or I'd be dead."

She approached them, handing Fred the small vial of purple liquid. "Here's the antidote."

As she handed the vial over, Angel caught a glimpse of the blood on her right hand.

"Faith?" he asked cautiously.

She turned to him, her eyes bloodshot and tired.

"You didn't… I mean, Lilah is still…?"

"She'll be okay after some stitches and some morphine," she replied darkly.

Angel felt a sense of relief wash over him. He wanted Lilah as dead as the next person, but he didn't want Faith to be the bringer of death again. She couldn't stray from her path of redemption. If she did, there would be no hope for her.

"Well, are you all just going to stand around with your thumbs up your asses?" Faith fumed, looking at each of them. "I did the hard part. Now, bring Wes back."

Before anyone could respond, she walked upstairs to be at Wesley's bedside.