Chapter 21

May 27, 2041

San Angeles Police Department (7:40pm)

Groggily Faith stirs, and pain racks her body in countless places as she tries to move her arms and legs. Feeling bandages attached to at least eight different locations across her body, the wounds they covered felt like they were still in the healing stages. With a throbbing headache, she decides to remain still and drift back into sleep. When her eyes fluttered open once more, she saw darkness had driven away the light and a warm presence was near. Without thinking, she calls out, "Kayla?"

The shape stirs at her feet and lifts her head up. The red-headed visage of Katya beams a warm smile seeing her mother awake.

"Sorry mom, it's just me. Were you dreaming about her?"

Faith shakes her head, without any pain assaulting her.

"No. Right before I was drained by the vampire gang, I would have sworn I heard her speaking to me. I guess that's crazy talk for you."

Shrugging, Katya moves to the head of the bed and pours a small tumbler of water for Faith to sip on.

"Not so crazy. Who killed all the vampires? Alecia found evidence of at least six vampires who got dusted."

Taken back Faith only shakes her head. "I don't know, I was lunchmeat at the time. Whoever did it, I guess didn't stick around and talk, huh?"

Katya replies negatively. "No such luck. They found the keys to your restraints in the van and EMS was on the scene. They didn't think you'd make it to the hospital, but you did and you've been out for nearly three days. When they changed your bandages today, the scabs came off. You don't have a scar or anything to show for your near-death experience."

Throwing herself against Faith, she begins crying as all her remaining strength was gone and she was finally able to let down her defenses. As Katya sobs in relief, Madeline and Willow enter hearing Katya's cries from outside. The relief in Madeline's eyes tells volumes on the stress she bore. Sensing some sort of resolve in her stare, Faith hugs Katya tightly, unwilling to address the thoughts running through Madeline's mind.

Arriving home from the hospital the next afternoon, Faith quickly goes to her room, only to discover the closets and chests of drawers devoid of Madeline's clothes and belongings. The bitter sting is difficult for her to manage, especially when she sees the engagement ring siting on top of the dresser. Her near-death experience was just one of dozens Madeline had endured over the past four years, and Faith knew all too well the stress she endured along with Katya. Unfortunately for Katya, she was getting a taste of things to come versus Madeline. For Madeline, she wrongly assumed the danger was no different than what all police officers faced every day. There were countless couples who were both police officers and survived the stress and worry which each of them faced. Yet as Faith remembers staring into her future wife's eyes and she saw a person too scared and terrified to deal with the pain any longer. It was one thing to die in the line of duty on the police force, but to be torn to shreds by a crazed monster one week to the next, finally had pushed her over the edge.

Shaking her head, she slides the ring in the empty top drawer and closes it coldly. Katya watches her from the doorway, knowing that the blow would only harden Faith further against love. As Faith sits distantly on the edge of the bed, Katya comes around to her side and leans up against her in a tight hug. Returning the tight embrace, they sit for another hour not speaking a word until Katya rises and goes to the kitchen to start dinner. With minimal strength to continue, she is surprised that she's able to feed herself, let alone eat. With the rest of the week off to recuperate, she drowns herself in Katya's life, knowing she's as hurt by Madeleine's departure as she was. Though too strong to admit it, Faith realizes her daughter had picked up some of her own bad habits. Her quiet isolation and losing herself in hours of physical training were all the tells Faith needed. Running together in the evenings, they were too engrossed in the trail to talk, which was fine for both of them. Afterwards, while they sat down and ate only the whir of the air conditioning system filled their ears.

Dressed out on the practice mats at the gym, Faith leads the stretching portion of the session, as it was all she was allowed to do for the rest of the week. Though most of her strength had returned, it was evident that it would be several more days until she was at one hundred percent. Dodging several attempts to 'talk about it' to her friends, Faith pushed on with the stretching, and insisted she was doing fine. Fine hardly explained the emotions which were slapping at her every waking moment. Nor was fine comforting Katya appropriately as she had lost a person that had been a part of her life since she was four. Neither of them could comprehend Madeline's decision to abandon them after the past two years of solid commitment, and a few days of rest were unlikely to see any improvement.

As they break up to begin training, Faith steps off the mats to grab a drink and Alecia joins her as Helena Carter and Gregory Hoehler lead the two halves of experience in the class. With everyone's attention diverted, Faith stares deeply at the new recruits. With her eyes resting on Morgan Greenwich, she studies her precision movement through the katas, seeing no errors or mistakes. Her mind drifts away and she superimposes Kayla's form over Megan's and sees no differences. Nearly identical in height and weight to Kayla, the officer only had a pixie cut, chestnut brown hair throwing off her resemblance to her deceased wife. As the class suddenly stops to pair up, Faith shakes as Megan spins around to catch Faith's intense stare. With Kayla's grin, she turns around laughing and joins with Helena to demonstrate a difficult hold breaking maneuver.

As Alecia starts to speak, Faith cuts her off.

"Call me insane, but that's Kayla." Alecia shakes her head in denial. Robotically she begins to explain the facts and how it wasn't possible, only to have Faith silence her once more. "I don't care! I know what I know, and my gut tells me that woman is somehow my deceased wife, or someone related to her. All this is too much. I'm going to grab Katya and take in a movie. I need to get my head out of this world for a few hours."

After sharing a glance with Megan across the room, Faith grabs her bag and leaves. Convincing Katya to escape with her to the movies was far easier than it should have. With an essay and a ton of math homework to tackle, she gladly went with Faith to the latest romantic comedy blazing its way through the early summer releases. Though the most recent comic-based movie was set to topple all the previous records, Faith was happy not to have a bunch of screaming and weapons-fire rattle her momentary calm. Clutching Katya around the shoulders, they share in the emotional turmoil the drama artificially creates, allowing them both to release the real built-up emotions laying just under the surface. After nearly two hours of heart-wrenching drama, they leave easier than they arrived, having depleted the suppressed tears of their real lives.

Exiting the Mayor Friendly's office at half-past eight at night, Captain Zachary Lamb is surprised to see Chief Earle waiting around the corner. Wearing the body language of someone carrying Atlas's burden, he motions to follow him to the stairwell. Closing it behind them, he motions for his oldest friend and most senior police officer to sit beside him on the stairs. Unwilling to speak first, he waits for the police chief to begin.

"We go back so time now, don't we? If I'm not mistaken, it will be nearly twenty years now, come October. In all that time, I never doubted that we were at least fellow officers who had each other's backs. We both survived the chaos of the collapse of civilization and forged order out of the pit of despair and destruction of our fallen city; not just once, but twice now. As the Chief of Police, I like to believe I have the need to know in all police matters that the Mayor and senior staff are privy to."

As Captain Lamb begins to speak, the chief firmly silences him by extending his finger.

"When I found the encrypted files, you were regularly sending to the mayor, I was not upset but hurt. You had files going back at least eight years, and not once was I ever aware that you were briefing him on matters inside my house. Though I have no idea of their contents, these files showed that you were working behind my back. How would you feel if you were suddenly thrust in my position with my discovery? Anger, pain, distrust? All of this was running through my head, and yet, I retained my calm and sought you out."

As his head buzzes, Zachary nods and finally begins. "I think I'd want a good explanation before I laid my judgement on our previous relationship. I can't do that, though, the Governor himself has sworn me to silence on this matter. I will tell you I was given this post only eight years ago, and that security is extremely important. Beyond that, I cannot speak a word."

With the chief's slack facial expression, Zachary rests his hand on his old friend's shoulder as he rises.

"Do you understand what plausible deniability means? Well, if the Chief of Police can honestly say that he has no idea about the issues a stray reporter might bring to light, insulates you and your position. Now I'm only the violent-crimes captain, so who would believe a little nobody like me would head up a secret division in the police department, especially one which you can honestly say doesn't exist? It has nothing to do with trust or faith in you running the police department, and everything about the weight of your position. The woes and concerns regarding a special unit of police officers I bare, are a relief to your duties and responsibilities. It is weight I was chosen to carry, and it is not an easy one to bare. I cannot tell you anything about what I know but know that I do this so that you don't have to. I treasure and value our friendship, and its an honor for me to share the load you carry every day. This matter is one heavy load that you would have to bare along with everything else you do, and its not fair for you to carry it all; so, I'm doing my part."

The chief stares up at his captain as he walks down the stairs. In a burst of insight, he exclaims: "This has to do about Officer Lehane too, right? All the bizarre and strange stuff that happens around her?"

With a grim and cold expression, Captain Lamb does his best not to confirm his old friend's hunch. Turning coldly, he resumes walking down the stairs.

"See you in the morning Chief."

Chief Earle sits on the stairs for half an hour before rising and exiting. From what he wasn't told, countless questions were unofficially answered and created countless more in the process. Though his friendship wasn't destroyed, it was severely tarnished and would take a lot of time to heal.

Strolling into the Cat market, Faith finds the usual riffraff lurking out of sight of their deputies. Surprising one notable thief, she smacks the back of his head making him drop the stolen knife he had scooped up from the nearby table. As the merchant screams out his anger to the demon, Faith yanks him off the ground and hands him to the arriving officer. Thanking the demonic deputy, she dusts her hands clean and resumes her patrol. By the end of the hour, she meanders to the under-city police headquarters and checks in. Counting six various suspects at twelve desks, she cannot deny her awe at the level of organization her demonic counterparts achieved. As she waits at the front, Hurl rises from his rear office and strolls out grinning warmly.

"I heard you nearly got killed last week. You're looking awfully well for nearly dead."

Faith shrugs innocently. "Well you know, some exaggeration happened but it was a tough fight."

Chuckling, Hurl continues. "That's true. Just yesterday the entire city was saying that I was on death's door after I took on that drunken gang of trolls. Yah, I was beaten to within inches of my life, but four of them are food for cave worms now. Thanks to a Triblon, I'm walking around breathing on my own. Glad I took your witch's advice and hired him on as an official medic for our police department. He gets regular coin and we get priority healing."

Nodding, Faith lets him lead her to his office and doesn't think much when he closes the door behind them. Offering her the luxury of his couch, he finds his seat behind a huge wooden desk and resumes in a quieter toner.

"How's things up top?"

Faith only shrugs. "Seen better. Probably going to see an improvement with these vampires gone now."

Hurl nods as he contemplates how to word his next sentence.

"Yah. I heard you dusted the big cheese and left a vacuum of power in the two surviving vampires."

Faith shifts uncomfortably in her seat. "I hadn't heard that. Actually, I don't remember much of that night. I was taken out early in the fight and wasn't sure how or when it ended; to tell you the truth, got my ass handed to me."

Hurl nods solemnly. "I heard that too. Seeing that we're being so honest with each other, I'll tell you something I heard if you give me an honest answer?" Seeing Faith's worried expression become intense and sincere, he continues.

"I got feelers on lots of stuff that goes on above us, and this past month, I had one of them come to me with some bull crap that I didn't believe. I figured if it were true you'd already told me, or you had a reason not to tell me."

Faith doesn't need her special senses to detect his concern and worry as he fishes into the lowest drawer of his desk. Setting a small box on top of his desk, he slowly spins it in his hands as he continues.

"Ever hear of a Maradan Gem? There are only nine on the earth, and they are nearly priceless if you know its not a fake. Well, a colleague of mine acquired one years ago, and he told me that they glow only in the presence of the Child of Light. Now, with that vague reference, I took it with a grain of salt, because I'm not one who entertains these kind of rumors, as you know."

Faith cannot restrain the chuckle that escapes her making her bob in her seat as she recalls the same line which nearly got her killed the weekend prior. Hurl continues once more.

"Anyways, he said it was confirmed legitimate when she was here in the city, and it extinguished the evening that she died at the Hellmouth. Now here's the unbelievable element to his story. A few months later, it exploded in light and became a feint glimmer. Ever since it has not extinguished, and he brought it to me yesterday."

Opening the box, he spins the box as he is opening it and Faith is bathed in a brilliant pulsing green light, nearly blinding her in the darkness. As her jaw hangs slack, Hurl chuckles to himself and resumes seeing Faith's expression.

"Well either you've never seen or heard of a glowing rock, or this is news to you too."

Faith nods absently. "When did it get this bright?"

Hurl only shrugs his massive shoulders like a massive tidal wave crashing down.

"He's not sure. He stopped checking it a few months ago, and finally got around to check on it a couple of days ago."

Faith tentatively stares into the brilliant gem and closes the lid.

"Do you know how it's supposed to work?"

Hurl shrugs once more.

"He said it flashes faster and brighter as she gets closer. I've seen it do it from the time I've had it, but its more active during the day than at night. Its like she passes over us now and then, but never gets brighter than it is now. My guess is that she's in the city now."

Faith stares at the small ornate box and struggles to catch her breath. As if her heart was going to explode in her chest, she wills herself to breathe and forms the question. As if reading her mind, Hurls laughs as he interrupts her.

"Yes! You can borrow it, but you have to bring it back intact. I can't afford to replace it if it gets lost or damaged."

Flabbergasted, Faith nods in approval and jams it into her jacket pocket. Rising, Faith lets him walk her out of the undercity dumbfounded by the revelation. She has no idea how long she wandered the city streets and suddenly finds herself at the police dorms near midnight. Scared to know the truth while too stubborn to let it go, she extracts the box and splits it open tentatively. The brilliant pulsing glow blinds her and she closes the lid. Cracking it open once more, she notices the pulsing had increased dramatically since she left Hurl's office and she closes it up and stuffs it back in her pocket. Arriving back at her apartment, she finds Katya fast asleep and she retreats to her room. As she sits in her underwear on the edge of the bed, she cracks the box open once more to discover the pulsing had decreased considerably and was nearly the same rate as it was in Hurl's office, or a tad bit faster. With mixed tears of pain and joy, she closes it up and tucks it under her pillow as she falls asleep.

May 31, 2041 (7:40pm)

Barely arriving on time for the Friday afternoon class, Faith strides to the mats finding the class finishing their stretches with Alecia leading them once more. Faith scans the crowd and cannot see Morgan anywhere. As she stretches and works out the kinks, the class moves into practicing and Faith obeys the doctor's orders to take it easy. Fortunately, as a detective, she rarely had to chase down suspects or violent types on duty. Often, guilt made the suspects surrender when the evidence was presented to them. Additionally, they usually had four to six officers on the scene who were more than happy to wrestle or control the more violent suspects they encountered.

Not wanting to waste too much time stretching, she decides to skip the remainder of her gym time to spend it with Katya who was just getting out of school. Rushing home, she is just leaving the shower when Katya and Willow arrive and are equally surprised seeing Faith clad in only a towel rushing into her room to change. Excusing herself, Willow leaves to return home and Katya puts her books away and changes into her house clothes. Though not much different than her workout attire, the slim shorts and sports tops was a common theme for both her and Faith after hours. Though Madeline hadn't been very fond of it, Faith never voiced any objections and was often dressed the same. As Faith exits her bedroom, she is surprised to find Katya waiting patiently on the couch reading her school book. The Pathways to Advanced Algebra was one of three subjects Katya was rocketing ahead in her studies, as most of her classmates were struggling with multiplication and division. Though she didn't understand how come she instinctively comprehended so many advanced concepts of math, chemistry, and science, she also recognized the importance of not looking a gift horse in the mouth either.

Faith leaps over the back of the couch and lands beside Katya making her laugh. Tossing the book aside, she leans back into Faith's lap and stares up into her mother's tired-eyes. Though the tears had ended, and the redness had been dispelled, Katya could see the underlying pain she restrained. As she starts to ask about her mother's inner turmoil, Faith beats her to the punch by speaking first.

"I'm going to patrol tonight, and I might be back late. Don't worry, I'll try to call every couple of hours. My strength and reflexes are back up, and I need to track down these last two vamps. If I stake them quickly, we might be vampire-free for a few months. Do you want me to see if Willow or Tara can stay the night or you go and hang out with them?"

Katya shakes her head. "Nah, I have a bunch of homework to finish for next week, and we both know I won't get anything done Sunday. We have another practice tomorrow and a game Sunday, so I need to get all this junk done tonight."

Smirking, Faith nods and ruffles Katya's hair as she rises to start dinner. Making a quick stir-fry, she serves it on a bed of brown rice, and spends her early evening watching Katya do school work. After letting Willow and Tara know what she was up to, the pair says they will check up on Katya periodically and Faith promises to notify them when she gets home for the night. Leaving Katya locked up tight, Faith buzzes out of the apartment wearing a special protective necklace and a pair wooden stakes in her jacket. Though they weren't as nice as the ones she lost the previous week, they were her backup set and knew she had to commission a dozen more Saturday afternoon. Driving her vehicle to the city center, she liked to have a ride home after a long night of patrolling.

Even better, she could return to her vehicle for snacks, water and bandages if the need arose. Additionally, she liked a safe place to make calls and relax as her patrolling often kept her out to nearly sunrise on the worst of days. For her, this night was starting to be one of those long unforgiving occasions until she saw one of her suspects sneaking after a pair of young teens. Just as he was about to pounce, she intercepted him and spent five minutes fighting and six more questioning him before jabbing him with her oak backup. Finding his identification, she meanders to his apartment to discover the nesting site of another two vampires, one of which was unknown to her. A young blonde teen barely of high school age and just recently risen, was dispatched far too easy as she blindly charged Faith. The last vampire spent fifteen minutes begging to be let go, promising to leave town. Shaking her head, she spends another ten minutes entertaining his delusional aspirations of freedom, and milks him for the remaining vampires. Insisting he and Barry, the vampire she had staked earlier were the last now, discovers he had tortured a mother and daughter. The daughter, the vampire she had staked when she entered, was made a vampire just so that she could kill her own mother.

Disgusted, Faith starts to show him the door only to stake him as he reaches for the door handle. With a horrible crime scene on her hands, she calls Milo Benson, one of the night duty MDK detectives on her team and tells him of her discovery. With hours of reports and interviews ahead, she calls Katya and hunkers down outside the door. Having become accustomed to Faith's discoveries past her duty hours, Milo takes the gruesome scene in stride and puts out a call to keep a look out for the person on the lease and the missing daughter. Though Faith knew no one would be found, she would log that report in the morning after she'd has the chance to get some rest. The reports to Captain Lamb were easy when she could tell the story as is, and not omit references to vampires or staking them. By the time her report would cross the chief's desk, she would rarely recognize it, having only the bare facts she submitted.

Declining the ride back to her apartment, she meanders back to her car just past two in the morning and drives back. As she drives mindlessly, she can't believe her eyes when she finds herself parked in front of the Police barracks. Originally built to house the dozens of new recruits just after the fall of the Cocteau regime, the barracks were eventually expanded to house the ever-increasing numbers of recruits and single young officers joining the department. Though she never stayed in them, she had visited many recruits and the accommodations were nothing to scoff at. With the only accommodation she found annoying was the sharing of bathrooms between two rooms, all she talked to had little problems with the arrangement. With a dedicated bedroom and separate living area, they only had a small fast-cooker, similar to a microwave, in each room. Fortunately, a full community kitchen was on each floor of the two-story building and was used fairly often.

Reaching into her glovebox, she extracts the small wooden box and cracks it open. Blinded by the brilliantly fast pulsing green light, she closes the box and leaves the car. Unsure what was driving her, she finds herself in front of a plain metal door with the name "Greenwich" mounted on a placard beside the doorbell switch. With her hands shaking, she opens the small box and sees it blinking so fast it barely registers as pulsing at all. Inundated with emotion, Faith can't find the strength to push the button and gently closes the lid on the box. She has no idea how long she stood in front of the door, until a soft voice to her right gently slaps her out of her paralysis.

"Do you want to go for a ride? Privacy isn't something we get in here. The walls are too thin, despite being fire-proof."

Turning as she jumps in shock, Faith sees Officer Greenwich staring at her with waves of love and adoration blasting from her. With tears falling from her eyes, she motions to go down the stairs to Faith's car. Saying nothing between them, Faith realizes she drove to her apartment without any consideration. Leaving the car, she leads her to her apartment and sits in the lofty couch. The minutes tick by as they stare silently at their hands and feet. Unsure where to begin, Faith opens her mouth, only to find the words escape her.