The Missing Half
Chapter 12 – Angel and Demons
(Faith's POV)
We get back to B's house just in time to her the phone ringing. Dawn rushes off to answer it and me and B listen carefully to hear who it is.
The pitter-patter of Little D's feet sounds as she walks into the room. She hands the phone to B.
"Hey. Buffy here. Oh! Hi Angel." So Soulboy's giving us a little ring. This makes me a little more than happy.
"Ya things have been ok here. Big earthquake last night. Ya we're ok for the most part. Faith's a little banged up. Wanna talk to her?" I nod my head excitedly and B hands me the phone.
"Hey Soulboy. Long time no talk. How've you been?"
"Hello Faith. Things have been ok here on the homefront. Are you ok? Buffy said something about an earthquake…"
"Yeah Angel I'm good. Few broken ribs, nothing little Faithy here can't handle. So did something come up? Or is this just a pleasure call?"
"Well as happy as I am to hear from you, this is about business. We've got something about the hell beast Cordy had the vision about. Wesley was doing a little bit more research and he found a prophecy in one of his texts about a weapon that can kill him."
"Ohhh me likey. What's the deal with this weapon?"
"Well it's forged out of a piece of the beast itself. Not real ornamental, very basic looking in fact. Except for the big piece of sharp armor from the hell boy." I'm likin' the way this sounds.
"Wicked. So there's a prophecy involved?"
"Ya it's kinda cryptic soo---"
"Aren't they all?" I butt in. Angel clears his throat and continues.
"It's cryptic but one thing's clear about it. It involves you and Buffy. As the prophecy goes 'Two chosen fighters will…' blah blah blah. That's about all we got from it."
"So me and B gotta go to LA huh?"
"Ya we know it's hidden here. By the beach actually. In a cove kinda place. We'll probably have more for you when you get here."
"Alright Angel, we'll be there as quick as we can." I hang up the phone and turn to B.
"Hey B you up for a road trip? We're needed in LA. Gotta get a weapon that only we can get. It'll help us defeat this beastie boy."
"Sure why not? It'll get us away from those damned books for a while. Dawn wanna go to LA and see Angel and Cordy?"
Dawn suddenly got very happy and squealed "Yes! Of course!"
"Whoa Squirt, bring down the octaves. I like my eardrums not burst."
D grinned sheepishly and scuttled upstairs to pack. I turned to B and said, "So, this should be interesting. We get to go to this beach place. Get a weapon thing made out of our man the new big baddy."
"Hey cool, I'm ready to go as quick as possible, gunna go get packed and stuff." B bounced up the stairs and went to her room.
I started to walk upstairs when I realized I lost my duffel bag full of clothes at the bus station when the earthquake happened.
"Hey B! I gotta get my bag! We kinda left it in all the chaos!" I shout upstairs. I don't think she heard me, but I step outside anyway and am a bit surprised to see it sitting there on the doorstep. I shrug it off, pick it up and take it upstairs. I open it up to see if anything's missing and a note fluttered out of it.
Slayer,
Found this by the bus station. Thought you might want it back.
Spike
Well now that's a surprise. Why the Hell would Spike care enough to bring me my stuff back? Oh well, I should thank him though. I'll get him some blood from the butcher's sometime.
As I'm folding my stuff back up and placing it back in the bag, my door bursts open and Buffy walks in.
"Faith! I just remembered! Your stuff…it's probably still---"
She stops when she sees my bag, safe and sound sitting on the bed.
"Spike dropped it off. Guy's weird."
"I will never get him," Buffy says, then walks off.
……………….
Half an hour later, Dawn, B, and I are packing their car.
We are just about to get in the car when B says, "Hey Faith? Maybe you should drive. Most of my experiences behind the wheel ended up in a crash boom bang."
I snort and say, "No prob B, I'm not sure that dying in a car crash qualifies as dying to save the world. I'll drive." I hop into the front seat. I immediately go for the stereo controls and search for an alternative rock station. The chords from a From First to Last song fade out and I know I've picked the right station.
Buffy rolls her eyes at me. "How typical. I knew you'd like this kind of music. Loud, fast, and powerful."
I stick my tongue out at her. Immature yes but she started it. "I will make a rocker out of you B. Just wait."
Dawn pipes up from the back seat. "It's ok Faith, I appreciate your music." This surprises me.
"Whoa D ya got me there. So I take it your not into the Spice Girls anymore?"
"Well, no, just sometimes, with my friends, its fun to reminisce. But no! I can be pretty hardcore when I want to." This just produces another snort from me. I love this kid.
"Alright alright Pippy, if ya say so." I'm on the freeway now. My attention is diverted to the passing cars and me trying not to rear end the guy in front of me.
Ooh goody. One of my favorite songs comes on. I feel myself melt into it and croon along with the lyrics.
"This puzzled look you stare to me says / "You put me back together" / Her head's down, she waits impatiently / Scattered in my heart, torn up and ripped apart / It's ripped apart…"
B's giving me this look. "You sing?" she asks.
"Yep, get used to it." I reply.
"With the wind strong in my face/ I'm still staggering through / I'm closer to the ground than I will ever get to you / Dirt deep beneath my fingernails/ I'm gripping to the floor / I'm searching through the world/ always looking for something more"
B's looking at me again. It's a different look this time. Oh well.
"And these cold winter nights, without you next to me / It feels like twenty below / Frostbite on my heart / This pain and suffering are feelings that you don't know / Does it feel like, feel like twenty below?"
The song ends and I swear I hear B mutter something under her breath.
I coulda sworn I heard her say "Yes."
………………………
(Buffy's POV)
The song ends and I find myself answering the question at the end out loud. "Yes." I mutter.
Whoa where the hell did that come from? I retreat into my mind and think about what just happened. I was listening to the song, thinking about Faith. Why? I don't know. But then that question.
Does it feel like, feel like twenty below?Yeah it does. Or it did. Before Faith came back. It's like, she's here now and my life is warmer. That spark is back that left when mom died. And Riley left. I don't know why it just feels right. And the way she treats Dawn. Like a person, and not just another little kid. Even after everything that has happened, Dawn still loves her like another sister. And Faith still cares.
This girl is something special.
I feel myself drifting off to sleep. For some reason these car rides always make me tired.
And I'm out.
……………………
(Faith's POV)
So I look over and B's sleeping like a baby. How cute is she when she's all huddled against the window, her breath fogging it up? Very. Looks like it's just gunna be me and Dawn for a while.
"So D, you excited to see LA? Been there before?"
"Ya! I'm all kinds of excited. I've been there when I was younger. But I don't remember a lot of it. It'll be like seeing it for the very first time again!"
"Cool. Maybe I can show you around a little bit. We'll probably have some time for sightseeing."
"Oooh yay! Think we can go shopping?"
"Well that's more B's thing, you'll have to ask her. I just wanna get this weapon and hit the clubs. Nightlife in LA I so much better than Sunnyhell's."
"Ya, too bad nightlife has an age limit."
"Don't worry D, I heard of this demon kareoke bar. Angel mentioned something about it before. Might be kinda cool. Oh! But don't worry. There's like this spell thingy that makes it so none of the demon guys can make with the evil in there. Safe fun. For all ages." I turn around and wink at Dawn, then go back to watching the road.
"Sounds pretty cool. Can't wait." Our conversation dies and Dawn's looking out the window. Better that I concentrate on the road anyway.
……………………
About two and a half hours later, we're pulling into the parking lot of the Hyperion Hotel. I gently nudge B awake and turn around and lightly tap Dawn's knee. Somewhere along the trip she fell asleep too.
When both of them are awake, we grab our bags from the trunk of the car and walk up to the entrance.
"Nice place. It's big." Dawn says.
"Just wait till you see the inside." I add.
We walk into the lobby and set our bags down. I make my way to the desk and ring the bell a few times.
"Hey can a girl get some service here?" I say as Angel steps into the room. A smile creeps over my face and I run over to hug him. A little awkward at first, but I don't care. This is the guy that made me want to live again.
A few seconds later, Buffy's walking over here and she wraps her arms around Angel. "Hey Angel, been a while."
"Good to see you Buffy." We all finish our embrace and step away from each other. Then Cordelia comes down the stairs.
I nod in her direction. "Hey Queen C, lookin' good." She puts on a smile and comes over to greet us.
"You too Faith, how was Sunnydale."
"You know, Hellmouthy." I simply answer. Then she reaches up and touches the almost healed cut on my forehead and points to the bandages wrapped around my ribs.
"You're hurt?" I nod my head.
"Had a little mishap with an earthquake. Something to do with this hell thing." Cordelia actually looked concerned about me. Guess she learned to forgive and forget.
"So how've you been Cordy?" Buffy asks.
"Pretty good. Just fighting the evil with Angel here. Same ol' same ol'."
We all wrap up the small talk when Angel says "Let's get you're bags upstairs. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Dawn, B, me, and Angel grab the suitcases and take it up to our rooms. Angel's got all three of us in rooms next to each other.
It's been a tiring day, so we all make with quick goodnights and retire to our rooms.
Oh what a day tomorrow will be.
A/N: Thanks to all those that have been reviewing! It really is helpful...thanks!
