"So this is the place, huh?" Faith stared up at the building, trying and failing to gauge if anyone was home. It was made up of pinkish brick, colors muted by years of sunlight, and adorning the wall were scattered graffiti tags and political messages, most seeming indecipherable.
Wesley nodded. "That would be it. Not exactly living large, our new friends."
Gunn stood by the door, reading the names next to each apartment. After finding the right one, he turned his head. "Just one problem. How do we get ourselves in?"
As he finished his sentence, the door opened, letting out a young woman who started running down the street, clearly in a hurry. Before the door could close behind her, Gunn pressed his palm against it, holding it open. "Guess that answers that."
"I think we deserve some convenience, all things considered," Faith said as she entered, shooting Gunn a smile.
"Now, let's have a clear plan before just… bursting in," Fred said, smiling worriedly.
Faith swung around on her heel to look down at her. "I have a clear plan: Break down the door and introduce their kidnapping asses to a well placed kick to the crotch."
Fred sighed. "Wait up," she said, taking quick steps up the stairs.
Wesley came in behind them, and Gunn followed after, finally letting the door close behind him. "For real though, what are we gonna do if they're home?"
Wesley gave a small shrug. "The 'well placed kick to the crotch' plan seems as good as any."
Gunn shook his head. He didn't know if they'd gone crazy after joining Wolfram and Hart, or if they'd always been and he was just now noticing.
The inside of the building was a worse sight than the outside. Small bits of trash lay in every corner, and the white color of the stairs made the dirt covering them all too apparent. The group stopped on the first floor, gathering themselves outside the door to the left.
"None of you are armed, so if it comes to a fight, I'll go first, alright?" Faith said. The others nodded in agreement, and she turned towards the door once more.
She gave the door three knocks with a clenched fist, then took a step back. They stood a short while but no one came to the door.
"Alright, let's break it down," Faith exclaimed.
Wesley stepped forward, shaking his head. He knelt in front of the door, pulling a set lockpicks from the pocket of his jacket.
"Do you just… carry those around?" Gunn asked, but got no answer.
After about half a minute of uncomfortable silence, there was a quiet metallic noise from the door, now unlocked. The triumphant Wesley rose and reached for the door handle, but Faith stopped him.
"I'll go first," she said. "You all stay behind me."
Slowly, she opened the door, her attempt at quiet ruined utterly by the door, which had evidently not seen any form of lubrication in a good few years. She listened for any reaction from inside, but the rest of the apartment was dead quiet. Satisfied, she stepped inside, the others close behind.
The apartment looked about as expected for a home shared by two men in their 20s. Neatness was not the tenants' strong suit and neither, it seemed, was letting air in. In the hall and the area of the living room she could see from where she stood were small cupboards, all mismatched in style, each with its own small pile of books and DVD's on top. If they didn't know the people residing there, nothing about the place would seem to indicate unsavory people, only slightly disorganised ones.
Faith walked into the living room, scanning the room quickly, but finding nothing of note. The room contained a worn couch, a cupboard, a shelf, and a few dying house plans in the window sill, and next to the window, a glass door leading to a small balcony. On the shelf was a small collection of books, in no particular order, and on the shelf beneath them was a number of CD's to the right and a mess of empty soda cans to the left. Separate from all of it lay a book with only a floral pattern for a cover, not quite fitting in.
"There's nothing here," said Gunn, coming in from another room. "Think we got the wrong place?"
Faith shook her head. "Not sure we'll find anything. Could be the whole 'evil bastards' thing is a side gig." She walked over to the window and looked down at the street. "I gotta say, I was hoping on catching them here."
"Just checked the bedroom," Wesley said, walking in with Fred.
"We think we found the clothes they were wearing when you fought them," she said, holding up a pile of black cloth.
"But no weapons?" Faith asked.
"Not in there, at least. Were they carrying any last night?" Wesley said.
"Well, one of them had a taser, but they weren't exactly armed to the teeth."
Gunn stood throwing a coke can back and forth in his hands. "Sounds like we're dealing with a lower budget than usual."
"Well, it's good to see that our occupational change hasn't made us too elite to pick on the working class every now and again." Wesley said.
Gunn snorted. "About the most elite thing we could be doing, English." He threw the coke can to him.
Wesley tried grabbing for it, but missed it by a mile. He watched it fall to the floor and roll into his shoe.
"Well, let's think about it," said Fred. "Where haven't we-" She stopped.
The others looked at her puzzled, then, almost in unison, followed her gaze. In the doorway to the hall stood a young man, his face a pale white, frozen. His gaze shifted from Fred to Faith, and recognition glimmered in his eyes.
"Ben," Gunn said. "You forgot something last night."
"You-" he said, cutting himself short. Then he slammed the door and ran.
Faith was at the door in the blink of an eye. She tried throwing it open, but fumbled for a second. From the hall, she heard the front door also slamming shut. She muttered something to herself, then turned her head towards the balcony.
"What are you doing?" asked Fred
"I'm cutting him off," she said.
She ran over and opened the balcony door, jumping on the railing. Gunn was immediately behind her.
"I'm coming with you," he said.
She lowered herself down towards the street, hanging on by her hands, then let herself fall. She looked up to see Gunn attempting the same maneuver.
"Hey, so you're not a slayer, I'm thinking that might be a bad-"
He landed next to her tumbling to his side. She knelt down clutching her fist.
"You hurt?" she asked, gritting her teeth in sympathy.
He groaned in pain as he got up. "I'm fine, just-" He looked towards the door. "Kid's running!"
Faith jumped up, already running. Ben had only gotten a few meters from the door. Gunn right behind her, still groaning to himself, she gave chase. Ben looked back at them, then sped up. They reached a red light at an intersection. Ben hesitated a moment, then continued across, looking straight ahead. The roar of a car got louder to his right, and then came a screech, as it avoided him by a hair. He was startled a moment, but forced himself to run on. Faith was still on his tail, running past the stopped car without a thought. Gunn crossed last, forcing the car to stay still even longer, and to his side, he could see the owner giving him a resentful look.
Faith was closing in. Ben was fast, but matching a slayer would make even an athlete sweat. He couldn't keep this up. Looking around quickly, he knew what to do. He turned slightly to the right, moving towards a staircase down about 20 meters away. Faith knew exactly where he was going. He was headed for the metro.
"What if he calls the police on us?" Fred asked.
"I doubt he will with Faith on his tail. And alerting the police might get some unwanted eyes on him and his friends," Wesley replied.
"Speaking of his friends, I wonder if other guy living here is going to come around. We should get out, I don't like this."
The door opened slowly. They both froze in place.
"I'm not surprised you're here," came a raspy voice from the figure now standing in the doorway.
Fred breathed heavily. "You're-"
"You're Leon," Wesley finished, his tone almost nonchalant.
"My reputation precedes me."
"Well don't sound all pleased!" Fred cried. "Your 'reputation' is kidnapping people off the street."
He looked at her with slightly curious eyes, but didn't answer. His attention seemed to be grabbed by something out of the window. In his left hand, they noticed him fidgeting with a dimly glowing orb, about the size of a plum.
"I'm surprised you came here so quickly. Did the police assist you?"
"The police?" Fred asked. Next to her, Wesley seemed to be tensing up.
"Yes. They did bring in our associate, did they not?"
Fred was about to reply, but she was cut off by Wesley stepping forward.
"We're not friends of theirs," he said. "But we don't take kindly to your sort."
He pulled out a gun.
Gunn finally caught up to her on the way down the stairs. It was a slower affair than the chase had been above, but there was still only one way to go, further down.
Faith leaped down the last staircase, looking around the metro platform. She was deafened by noise from the trains going past and the blur of people walking past. But through it all, she spotted her target on the other end of the platform. She sped towards him while Gunn ran to block his escape route. Ben grew visibly panicked as he saw them approaching fast, caught like a deer in the headlights. The door opened behind him. For a moment, he thought it over, then ran inside. Faith sped up. He wasn't getting away that easily. As she got close she saw the door closing itself rapidly. She reached out an arm, managing to block it and open it long enough for her to enter, a panting Gunn behind her. Ben stood only few meters away, waving his arms frantically to open the automatic door. Faith saw red. She rushed towards him, slamming him into the wall next to the door before he knew what hit him.
"You," she panted. "Answers."
In a moment of lucidity, she became aware of her surroundings. Around the train car, people had turned their attention to the scene. She found judgmental and frightened eyes around the crowd, watching her every move. An audience was the last thing she needed.
"You really wanna do this here?" Ben said, suddenly seeming calm.
She let go of him, still fuming. Her high had passed. Around her, people turned their heads away, scoffing.
"Why did you kidnap Isabel?" she said, her tone low.
"I don't know what you're on about," he said. "You've got the wrong guy." He made his way past her, giving Gunn a slightly curious look as he walked.
Faith turned on her heel and followed after. "You know damn well what I'm talking about. Why else were you running?"
Ben threw out his arms. "Oh, I dunno, maybe to get away from the violent criminals who broke into my home? Maybe that's it, who knows?"
Gunn took a step closer to him, as the train started slowing down around them. "You and I both know you're full of crap, kid."
He lowered his eyebrows dubiously. "Kid? What are you, like 25?"
Gunn crossed his arms, but didn't answer.
"And what was your plan, even? Break into my house, chase me through the city and… what? Record a confession to all the crimes you think I did? Beat me up for some sense of justice? Whatever it was, I'm not playing ball." He shook his head and started moving towards the exit.
"Hey, we're not done here!" Faith shouted, but he only sped up.
She cursed under her breath, running after him. But when she stepped out, he was nowhere to be seen.
"Where'd the kid go?" asked Gunn, who was only a second behind her.
Suddenly, they both heard the train starting up again, coming to the same realisation in unison. Turning around as the train moved past them, they spotted him through the window, flipping them off as he moved away from them and into the darkness of the tunnel.
"Not gonna lie, that was a bust," Gunn muttered.
Faith fumed, but said nothing.
Leon's shot a look at the gun, for once looking surprised. "You're bold."
"I'm practical," Wesley said.
Just before he finished speaking, the gun slipped from his grip, pulled by some unseen force. It curved smoothly to land in Leon's free hand. With slow, deliberate movements, he started disarming it.
Wesley looked to Fred, whose eyes threatened to burn the building down with their flames. She met his gaze. "A gun?" she mouthed.
He didn't answer.
Leon threw the now empty gun back to him, and he caught it in his hand. "We don't need to settle this with violence."
"We might, if you don't give us back the girl." Wesley said, coldly.
He considered it a moment before answering. "Isabel. That's her name."
"How touching that you took care to learn the name of your victim." he replied.
"I mean the girl no harm. But I can see we're not getting far here." He stepped to the side, presenting the door with a hand motion. "I'll offer you a chance to leave. I do not wish to trouble you."
Wesley looked down at the empty gun in his hands, then back at the silver-haired man. Beside him, Fred started moving towards the door.
His whole body felt tense, begging for release, but he knew he didn't have a shot at taking Leon in a fight. The two stared into each others' eyes a moment, before he looked away and walked out of the apartment.
He found a silent Fred outside the building. The wind had gotten stronger while they were inside, biting through his jacket. He walked over to stand next to Fred, neither saying anything for a while. They watched the cars going by in a flurry of traffic, filling the air with their cacophony. After a while, he muttered, to himself as much as her, "We had him."
Next to the defeated Gunn, Faith ran her fingers through her hair, seeming ready to rip it out by the root.
"The bastard!" she shouted. "We had him!"