FIC: After All Our Nightmares (11/?)
Faith whistled as they drove through the deathly silent city, the roads thick with the usual refuse, abandoned cars and discarded, rotting corpses lining the streets, most of the shops and houses in various states of disrepair.
How in the hell were they supposed to come back from this?
Faith gave the little boy sat quietly on her lap a quick hug that was as much for her comfort as for Rex's, then kissed him on the top of his head. "You 'kay champ?" The boy nodded jerkily at her question, his drawn face suggesting he was as affected by the city's gloomy atmosphere as the rest of us. "Don't worry hon, I gotcha." Faith hugged him again.
Xander pulled the car to the right, down yet another street deserted of life if not evidence of those who had once lived there. "Parking lot to the left, honey."
Xander nodded, a bleak look in his solitary eye. "Saw it," Xander commented as he pulled into a walled lot that looked like it belonged to a two-storey, black-bricked gymnasium, the lot having half a dozen cars already parked in it.
"Are we stopping here for tonight?" Connor queried from the back.
"Yeah," Faith replied at Xander's slight nod. "Hey kid how 'bout me and you check out these cars, see if they have any petrol or shit worth scavenging in it?"
"Sure," Connor eagerly replied, but then the kid was always eager to spend time with her. Doin' apparently anythin'.
"Wicked," Faith passed Rex over to Xander, "you go with Xander honey."
"Awww, but I wanna stay with you."
Faith grinned at Rex's whine. "Don't even try, I'm an expert at that pout, kid. You're just a beginner. Uncle Xander will look after you." Faith looked over Rex's head to Xander. "Won't you?"
"Sure," Xander let out a long-suffering sigh, "do you want a piggy back, Rex?"
Rex nodded so hard Faith wondered if his head might fly off. "Uncle Xander, what happened to your eye?"
The boy dropped his verbal bomb with the guileless innocence of the young, Faith cringing in anticipation of the inevitable grumpy grunt or even worse angry snarl that these days accompanied anyone asking or noticing Xander's eyes. "That's what comes of running with scissors," Xander replied before taking Rex, lifting him over his head and onto his shoulders. "Come on little guy, let's see what's inside."
Faith laughed as she watched the two start towards the shadowed building. Maybe, just maybe, she and Xan could get somethin' back, re-connect through the little guy. 'Sides it did her guy good, Faith's lips quirked up into a smirk, playin' with someone his own age.
"Tomorrow we should go into the city and try and re-supply," Kate commented.
"Yeah," Faith nodded. "There's gotta be some stuff out there we can steal, scavenge, or trade for."
"A gymnasium," Groo mused. "A place where warriors train-." Faith snorted. Groo turned and looked towards her. "Am I in error, Faith?"
"If you think they're warriors, you ain't seen the preenin' pussies who used to use these places in the old days, oiled-up, muscle-rippling," Faith's voice trailed off as she stared into space.
"Gone to your special place, Faith?" Kate queried as she climbed out of the van's rear, hands full of their supplies.
"No," Faith shot the former cop a smirk, "but I was headin' there 'fore you interrupted me."
"Perhaps we can find a place to spar?" Groo suggested with a look at Angel.
"Maybe," the souled vampire replied.
* * *
"Hey Xan," Faith stalked across the lit-by torchlight gym and crouched down opposite her lover, throwing him a couple of health bars, "you were real good with Rex before."
"He's a great kid," Xander half-smiled as he lent against an over-turned bench, they were in the main gym, just inside from the stripped-bare reception area. "I can why you like him so much." A wistful look flickered across Xander's face, but was gone so quick she wasn't entirely sure she'd seen it. "I always thought I'd want kids when I got older."
"Well we could if you wanna," Faith's heart thumped with terror even as she made the suggestion. Fuck, her bein' a mom scared her near to pissin', but if it got her her man back, she'd do it. "I mean it could be fun, havin' a kid, right?"
"A kid in this world?" Xander shook his head, something like panic flashing in his eye. "No, no, that's be irresponsible-."
"And if we get this world sorted out, what'll be your excuse then?" hurt and anger filled her voice, turning it even more husky than normal. "Jesus, Harris! Haven't your balls dropped yet? If you don't wanna be with me any more at least be a fuckin' man 'bout it and tell me, so I know not to waste my fuckin' time tryin'!"
Alarm filled Xander' eye. "Faith-."
"Ah screw off!" Faith rose, yanked back on the leather jacket she'd started to pull off and strode through the darkened gym, and out into the reception area to where Rex was sat on the desk, Angel standing beside him, watching with sad eyes as Connor played with him. Probably remembering all those missed times with his own son, Faith surmised as she strode past the vampire. "I'm gonna go upstairs to have a look around," she declared.
Angel's eyes narrowed as he looked towards her. "Are you alr-."
"Fine, just my boy-friend's a grade A ass." Faith shook her head as she headed towards the steps, torch leading the way. "Not 'xactly news to you. Later!"
* * *
Shallow Graves traced his finger down the scar the little bitch had left him with, heart racing as he stared at the darkened building ahead of him. He'd swelled the number of members in his gang from just under twenty to thirty, and whoever was left after they'd killed her buds was going to take a turn in breaking the trash. He'd been already to kill her too, but that was too easy. No, she was gonna be left alive but wishing she wasn't.
Shallow Graves laughed lowly as he glanced at the others. "Rumour has it they have a vampire with 'em so we're going to go in fast and hard, three bikes through the-."
"Wouldn't it be best to leave the bikes behind and sneak up on them then," queried his second in command, a red-haired, emerald eyed man standing about six six with a lean but wide-shouldered body and a straggly beard, his leathers covered in a coat of dust.
Graves forced back the urge to strike at Brick for daring to interrupt him. "Nah," instead he shook his head and spat on the ground, "more than likely he'll still hear us coming and have more time to warn his buddies. We go in fast and hard, just remember. Not a hair on the brunette's head is to be harmed. I want that tramp in good condition when I start."
"But not so much when we finish!" laughed a craggy-featured Latino with a squashed flat nose and dark, haunted eyes.
* * *
Angel sighed as he watched his protégé stalk away before looking back towards the gym door, he could go and talk to Xander, heck shake some sense into him. But he also knew that him and Xander would never 'click' in the same way he'd managed to connect with Doyle and Wesley, that the youth would never listen to him, could never be made to realise how lucky he was to have an amazing, beautiful young woman who for some unfathomable reason idolised him.
Too much bloody water had passed under the bridge. He'd probably do more damage than good.
And of course there were other bigger problems, his gaze returned to his son and the child they'd been entrusted with. Like everyone's growing attachment to Rex. When the truth came out-.
"Uncle Angel!" Rex's eyes suddenly caught his. "Show me your fangs again!"
And there, his heart just about cracked into two.
* * *
Faith stopped at the gym's threshold and peered into the darkened room. While downstairs had served as the weights and aerobics room, together with the sauna and changing rooms, this room would have been what ol' Blue-Eyes had been thinkin' 'bout when he talked about sparring.
Faith half-smiled, two hunky men gettin' all sweaty and topless, she could go for that.
Her mood dipped as she thought of Harris. Head shaking, she strode into the gym and looked around, her torchlight leading the way. Faith coughed slightly as the dust coating the long-since abandoned room entered her lungs.
From what she could see, the place had probably been real well equipped back in the day. A disused boxing ring took centre stage in the middle of the gym, but there were spaces by its side where she guessed exercise mats had laid in case anyone had wanted to martial arts or wrestle spar, while heavy bags and speed balls hung down from the ceiling. There was no head gear, sparring shields, or gloves left behind, but she guessed looters had-.
Her eyes narrowed as she shone her torch over the counter by the door and illuminated a padlocked locker stood there. "Interesting," Faith muttered, excitement quickening her heartbeat as she one-hand hurdled over the counter. Either looters had missed this, or they hadn't had any bolt-cutters.
Fortunately for her, she didn't need any bolt-cutters, Faith grabbed the padlock's chain in her hands, braced herself then yanked her arms apart. Muscles rippled with the effort, iron rubbing against her palms, but then the metal snapped and the padlock fell to the ground between her feet, Faith leaping backwards as the door swung open, a gust of foul air racing out to escape.
"Score," Faith whistled as she leaned into the locker, her blood racing as she examined its contents. The guy who had owned the gym had clearly been a martial arts fanatic, a pair of kamas hung with a pair of gleaming sai blades and a pair of tonfas on the left and right walls, in addition to a stout looking bo hanging on the far wall beside a curve bladed katana, a surujin whip, and a deadly-looking Nunchaka, all packed in display cases and in great condition. There was even a gorgeous, red dragon war fan, its beauty belied by its iron edge. "All these goodies and it ain't even Christmas," Faith whispered then gasped as she reverently lifted the Nunchaka to find a leather bandolier with a quintet of Shurikens in it. "Oh fucking A." Faith grinned as her spirits lifted, who needed men when you had wicked toys like these to play with. This was the best selection of weapons she'd since the Fall.
Faith began eagerly opening each case in turn, lovingly examining the weapon before putting it back and starting with the next. In her heart of hearts she knew she'd have to share her find with the others, but she could revel in them first couldn't she?
"What the fuck!" Faith gasped as a huge hand grabbed her by the neck and flung her face first into the locker, Faith instinctively twisting so she hit it side rather than face on, her eyes widening with horror as she recognised the gargantuan monster standing almost two feet taller than her. Faith side-kicked at the giant, his ham-sized hand casually slapping her foot away. "You've made a big mistake attacking me like this!" Her fist uppercutted ineffectually into Towers' python-thick forearm as he grabbed her hair and slammed her into the locker wall opposite with enough force to crack the display case's glass, her own head splitting open. "My buds are downstairs!"
"I'm not worried about them!" Towers giggled as the roar of motor-cycles filled the air. "They've got problems of them own!"
