Faith wanted to move on. Move on…without Tara? "F-Faith?" A hole opened beneath Tara's feet, darkness beckoning at the bottom.
Some emotion Tara couldn't name passed over Faith's face so quickly Tara couldn't identify it. She glanced back at the Mayor, almost as if looking for reassurance. Of course, he gave it. One hand dropped to rest on Faith's shoulder, long fingers squeezing in a show of support.
Tara teetered on the edge that pit. It tried to suck her over the edge. "Maybe another day."
"Not gonna make a difference, Tara." Faith shrugged. "Today, tomorrow. Next week. I'm busy. The Boss's got things for me to do."
"Tara." Not "T." Faith probably hadn't intended her comment to be more than a simple refusal of a lunch date. To Tara, though, it was so much more. Faith hadn't refused her friend. She'd refused Tara. Tara, Faith's Dominant from the previous day. Faith's Dominant forever, according to the bond.
Only a last remaining shred of pride kept Tara from collapsing to her knees and begging Faith for another chance. Spine stiff through will alone, Tara managed a soft, "If that's what you want, sweetie." It wasn't what Tara wanted. Far from it. Praying her smile didn't waver, she leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Faith's cheek. "If you ever need anything, please call. I promise I'll be there for you." Her lips tingled as she pulled away.
"I'm really sorry about this, Tara." The Mayor oozed satisfaction. He'd won this round, and he let her know it. "Call ahead next time, and maybe my Faith can squeeze you in."
My Faith. My Faith. Tara forgot all about Faith's dismissal. Faith was hers. "Oh, I'll be back," she said clearly. Meeting his eyes, she fluoresced her personal shields until she glowed faintly. "You can bet on it."
Although he didn't visibly react, the Mayor's eyes went cold and flat. "Excellent. It's such a pleasure to maintain a friendly relationship with the Slayer House."
Giving him a tight smile, Tara spun on her heel and stalked away. They needed to find a way to get rid of the Mayor soon. If she had to do all the research herself, they were going to find a way to beat him.
Most of Tara's certainty had faded by the time she re-entered the House. The walk had been long enough for her to remember they hadn't managed to discover much about the Mayor or the Ascension since Willow's Internet find yesterday. Following the sound of voices to the third floor, Tara entered the Library to an argument.
A very loud argument.
"I'm not going to let this go, Rupert!" Janna snapped. She waved at Willow, who huddled miserably on the couch. "Faith did more than threaten her. She cut Willow with a knife! We have to call the police. I've already talked to Principal Snyder. Faith isn't a student any longer; there isn't anything he can do."
Tara's roller coaster emotions hit the bottom of the hill and rocketed back up. "You can't call the police."
Giles and Janna jumped in surprise at her interruption. "My dear, I know you are…concerned about Faith," Giles started. His hands extended in mute appeal. "I am as well. Janna and I were discussing our options."
Options? What a joke. Janna had already made up her mind. Tara had no doubt of that. And any doubts she may have had were eliminated when Janna said, "We weren't discussing anything. You were making excuses. There are no excuses for this!"
"I agree, Ms. Kalderash. And so does the Council." Tara hadn't noticed Wes or the unknown young woman with him. She'd been too focused on Giles and Janna. "Quentin has approved the use of a Retrieval Team to apprehend Faith. We cannot wait any longer. Her actions today…"
What was wrong with these people? They'd apprehend Faith over Tara's dead body. "Willow, why did Faith threaten you? Tell me what happened."
"We've already heard…" Wes was on Tara's last nerve.
"I missed that part of the conversation," she said with deadly calm. "Since I just came from downtown, and there are no bodies littering the sidewalk, I think we're safe from Faith for a few more minutes."
Giles glanced away from Janna toward Tara. His eyes, behind the lenses of his glasses, appeared worried. "Yes, I agree. Let's all sit down and discuss this further. Willow, please. Would you repeat what happened at the school?"
Willow glanced at Janna for permission first. "She wanted to talk about the Mayor. I thought she'd found out he was a bad guy. I mean, she asked me about hacking into the City Hall mainframe. She must have talked to someone. Giles or…or Buffy. Even Xander." The rush of words petered out.
"What happened next?" Tara prodded. At this point, it was an innocent conversation. Faith hadn't done anything. "Why did Faith threaten you?" She saw Janna cross her arms and glare in her direction and didn't care. Tara knew Faith wouldn't have hurt Willow without a reason.
A memory of Faith looking up at the Mayor for approval flashed through her mind.
Tara stumbled to the couch and sat at the opposite end from Willow. Her skin felt hot and cold at the same time. Please, she begged the Goddess. Please, no. If the Mayor had asked Faith to hurt Willow, she might have done it to please him.
"She asked me what I'd found." Willow chewed her lip. "Up till then, I thought she knew, remember? So when she asked me, I figured out she didn't. And I told I wouldn't tell her anything."
A knot formed in Tara's stomach, and dozens of its friends made their way to her throat. She fought to breathe.
"That's when she pulled her knife." Willow would have continued, but Janna interrupted.
"See? Faith pulled her knife." She reached for the phone. "I'm calling the police. I know Wes has a Retrieval Team on standby, but I want the police to have a complaint on file. We have to do this the right way."
If Tara hadn't been watching Willow so closely, she might have missed the way she flinched at the announcement. Did Willow disagree with Janna's decision? "Sweetie, what else happened? Why did F-Faith c-cut you?"
"That was my fault," Willow said, and her announcement froze Janna mid-dial. "I'm sorry. I tried to tell you, Doamnᾰ. But you…you wouldn't listen."
"She cut you." Janna's vengeful posture softened slightly. "She can't get away with that, dragᾰ. No matter the reason."
Willow got up and walked to Janna. Peering imploringly at her bondmate, she waited until Janna put the phone back on the receiver before snuggling into Janna's embrace. "Faith was scary there at the end. But I made her that way. It was weird. She didn't really say anything at first. I did all the talking." Her smile was bright and somehow wry at the same time. "Like always. Faith just stood there. She even looked happy when I told her about the doughnut mix up this morning."
Tara latched onto that completely irrelevant fact. Faith had been happy thinking about doughnuts. Had she…had she been happy because she remembered meeting Tara at the doughnut shop yesterday? Her own lips curled at the memory. She'd never be able to eat a jelly doughnut without thinking of Faith ever again.
"Whatever, Lady Tara. You ain't shy. The way you been actin' lately, I'm thinkin' you might take B as Sunnydale's Head Bitch." Tara loved the way Faith's dimples had peeked out. The way her eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Faith and I shouldn't ever talk to each other, though," Willow continued, breaking into Tara's pleasant memory. "It's like we can't help ourselves. She's so touchy and all the frowns and grumpiness make me want to smack her. And that's when I say things I know will make her mad. Like today. I'm babbling about not having breakfast 'cause you forgot to get a cinnamon powdered-sugar one, and Faith's smiling. Then boom! Faith's all 'grrr'. She asks me why I was spying on the Mayor and what I found. That's when I realized she didn't know what we'd been up to, and I, well, I sort of told her she was stupid for not knowing the Mayor was a bad guy or that he was using her."
Perfect. Tara wanted to close her eyes and bang her head on the back of the couch. Calling Faith stupid was tailor made to cause problems. Hearing it from Willow, after months of hearing it from the Council…
Wiggling a little in Janna's arms, Willow mumbled, "And, um, I guess after that I might have gone overboard by maybe saying she would have been a better Slayer if she'd actually done anything to improve."
For someone supposedly so smart, Willow sounded as stupid as she'd accused Faith of being. There was more to the story, too. Tara knew it. Willow had buried her face in Janna's shirt as if she wanted to hide from the truth. "What else?" Tara demanded. She pressed deeper into the couch to keep from storming over to Willow and shaking the rest of the information out of her.
"I told her I could prove the Mayor wrote the emails from Finch," Willow admitted.
There was a minor furor over that. Tara tuned it out. No wonder Faith been glued to the Mayor's hip today. He was the only person giving her any encouragement. His every action, every comment had been geared to tie her more tightly to him. And Faith had to have known she'd crossed a big line with Willow today.
Tara was ashamed to realize the Mayor gave Faith more support than anyone in this room and that now he was all she had left. Even if Tara managed to get Faith alone, she'd never convince her that the Mayor was playing for the other team.
"Janna, Faith's actions are reprehensible," Giles stated. Before Tara could become too angry at him for defecting, he got back in her good graces. "You cannot call the police, however. Willow's retelling indicates that the Mayor is aware Willow has broken into the City Hall computers. If you call the police, he may very well choose to file his own statement and make a complaint against Willow."
Everyone paused to consider that. Wes, of course, took it as an opportunity to butt in. "I will contact the Retrieval Team. They have nothing to do with…"
Buffy strode in, derailing his tired rant. "Hey, Wes. Welcome back. And…Kendra, right? Sorry you got dragged into this fight. The Retrieval Team has to wait. Faith is the least of our concerns. I tried to track down Skyler and those Books; only I couldn't find him this morning." Tossing her jacket onto the bench by the door, Buffy took a seat in one of the chairs, almost as if she was holding court. She certainly had everyone's attention. "So I did a little research and had a chat with Willy." Tara didn't bother to ask who he was and why Buffy had spoken with him. "According to Willy, Faith was hunting for Skyler Monday night. He steered me to a really ugly house across the tracks. Guess what?"
She scanned the room, waiting for a participant in her personal game show. "No? Fine. Ruin my only fun for the day. Skyler's dead. Giles, I know my math isn't the best. If I add Faith to the Books and a dead demon, I get 'we're screwed.' I bet the Mayor has the Books."
"How did those interviews go?" The Mayor appeared at Faith's office door. "You were gone for hours. I was getting worried." His voice lowered and he glanced comically around. "I know Joan thinks they're all axe murderers – or worse. Did you have to fight them off?"
Faith shook her head and then wished she hadn't. Someone, probably Willow or Janna, must have a Faith-shaped voodoo doll with dozens of pins sticking out of its little head. "Nah. Only had one really scary guy." He'd sported gold teeth and dozens of tattoos that Faith suspected were gang affiliations. Her hand had been on her dagger the entire time they'd talked.
"Oh." As if sensing she wasn't up to playing, the Mayor sobered. "Do you have any qualified candidates?"
Not one. Faith stared at the pile of file folders and notes she'd scribbled during her many conversations. She needed to send Giles a heartfelt "thank you." In the middle of the first interview, completely unnerved by the applicant's Dominant leer, Faith had channeled her former Watcher.
"Mr. Zajicek, I have several scenarios for you." Scrambling to remember the training scenarios (that she hadn't paid attention to the first time around), Faith stood up and moved around behind the hulking man. She released a sigh of relief at finally being out of his line of sight. "Let's say ya' come to work and there's a door open." OK, it hadn't been one of Giles' situations, but it would have to do. Faith was too rattled to remember more.
"'Fraid not, Boss. I think if we hired a couple of 'em, you'd be buying new computers and staplers in the morning." Faith rubbed her eyes and sat up straight in her chair. She felt a hundred years old from spending the entire day in this one freaking spot. A glance out her favorite window showed the sun had already dropped, and shadows blanketed the garden below.
To make matters worse, her stomach growled because she'd skipped lunch. Too bad the Mayor was so anti-House. The interviews had been a complete waste of time, and Tara had been buying. She'd also looked like Faith had punched her when Faith had turned down the invitation.
Hell, Tara had looked a lot like she had when Faith had kicked her out of the apartment.
The headache pounded with more vigor. Willow had obviously jabbed a few more pins in her Faith doll, and Faith was glad she was glued to her chair. If she'd been standing, she might have ended up on the floor. Black dots danced in front of her eyes for a minute.
"Faith?" The Mayor's voice sounded like he was using a tin-can phone from very far away even though he stood a few feet away.
"I'll keep lookin'," Faith answered. Pressing her hands against the desk, she carefully stood up. The room swayed but finally stabilized. Fucking awesome. All she wanted to do was crawl home and pass out. Maybe take an entire bottle of painkiller on the way. Unfortunately, the Mayor had his ritual thing tonight. "What time's your party?" Maybe she could nap in here for a while until it started.
Unfortunately, Willow must have put a curse on her when she'd started poking the voodoo doll. With an excited hand clap, the Mayor answered, "That's why I'm here. Everything's set up. Are you ready?"
"Let's motor, Boss, before you explode or somethin'." Gritting her teeth, Faith followed the Mayor through City Hall. "Where are we headed?"
"Oh, did I forget to tell you? We don't really have to go anywhere." They'd reached the back of the building near the storeroom where Faith had discovered the tunnel. "I've asked a few friends to meet us here."
Faith's headache was suddenly eclipsed by a familiar cramping in her Slayer senses. "Boss…" Her dagger cleared its sheath. How had the vampires gotten through her new lock or the crates she'd piled over the tunnel?
"Oh, put that away," he said fondly, opening the storage room door. "You could poke someone's eye out. I promise I'm in no danger. You're here, and I've invited one of my closest business associates for the ritual."
He and his friend were going to end up dead. Shoving past him, Faith vowed to keep the Mayor in one piece.
"My goodness. I thought you said you had your pet Slayer under control." A thin, well-dressed black vampire stood in the center of the large room. He stared at Faith disdainfully. "If I hadn't been paying attention, Richard, she might have actually staked me."
Might have staked him? Faith was going to stake him. She took a step forward, shifting the knife so that the blade sat parallel to her forearm. It gave her just the right angle to take the vamp's head off.
And it would have worked if the Mayor hadn't grabbed the back of her shirt.
"Faith, meet Mr. Trick, my business associate." Shaking her like a dog held by the scruff of its neck, the Mayor said in a steely voice, "Do not kill him. He's very good at making things happen."
Nothing made sense. Faith's mind was locked in place the way her body was held stationary by the Mayor's grip. Trick was a vampire. She could feel him. But the Mayor didn't want her to stake him? He'd called Trick his business partner. The Mayor knew Trick!
He knew Trick was a vampire and he didn't care.
"Faith?" The Mayor peered at her, an eyebrow cocked. "Am I going to have to send you home early? I can't have you killing anymore of my associates. It was murder explaining the ones you slayed last night."
"I'm good," Faith mumbled. Her lips felt funny. Stiff and dry. Like she'd run the obstacle course a dozen times in the middle of the day without taking a drink. "Trick's safe."
With a final, piercing stare, the Mayor released her and straightened his suit jacket. "Excellent. Let's get started." He skipped across the room with a wide smile that tore at Faith's leaden heart. That was her smile. The one he flashed when he talked to her about working for him or when she'd done something to please him.
He wasn't smiling at her this time, though. He was smiling at Trick.
Faith hovered near the door, mind and Slayer senses grappling with the situation.
"Let's get started. Faith, shift those crates back against the wall. I'll need some room to move." Shedding his jacket, the Mayor went to one of the shelves and picked up a piece of chalk. "Faith!" he snapped when she simply stood at stared at him. "I'm waiting, and I really don't have time to hold your hand. If you can't deal with this, you're of no use to me."
"This is appalling." Diana sniffed in disapproval and gestured at the arrows sticking from the target. "In the last week, you have not improved at all. What use will you be in the field with such poor accuracy?"
With disjointed strides, Faith crossed the storage room and quickly shoved the piles of crates from the center of the room. They made asymmetrical patterns against the wall. She ignored the pain from splinters transferred from the rough wooden crates.
The Mayor was working with Trick. It all made sense now: the lack of guards, the crappy lock on the storage room door. The emails the Mayor had faked.
Willow hadn't been lying. The Mayor had made it look like Finch was working with the Mayor. For an instant, Faith thought she might pass out. Her skin grew hot and tight and her head felt funny. But passing out wasn't in the cards. It was too easy. She had to be awake and aware as the Mayor traced a pentagram on the floor.
"You'll have to stay back." She wasn't sure whether the Mayor was warning her or Trick. Replacing the chalk on the shelf, he opened another box and removed a bunch of candles. He set the candles at the points of the pentagram, lighting each one with a lighter he took from his pocket. "Is everything set for after?"
Trick nodded, expression bored. "Yes. I don't know why you're going to all this trouble."
"Because I need to know!" The Mayor spun so quickly that Trick fell back a step. "I can't complete my Ascension by skipping steps. I'm running out of time. The courier arrives with the Box of Gavrok tomorrow. I have to complete this ritual before I can ingest the contents."
With a sigh, Trick held up a hand in surrender. "It's your funeral if this doesn't work, Richard."
"Ah! But if I do this right, I won't ever have a funeral." The Mayor was all smiles again.
Leaning weakly against the wall, Faith watched the Mayor step into the middle of the pentagram and sit down cross legged. It was a familiar pose. She'd seen Willow do it several times. Of course, Willow hadn't known she'd been there to see anything. Faith had been peering through the Work Room window as Willow and Janna practiced spells.
"But, Janna, I don't need to put up a ward. That takes too long," Willow complained. "I figured it all out. A ward is just a big wall to keep the evil out, right?" She didn't wait for Janna to respond. "All the salt or chalk lines and the chanting." Sinking to cross-legged to the floor, she threw out her hands.
Faith jumped back with a gasp as blue fire leapt from Willow's palms and exploded in a very visible and shimmering wall around Willow.
There was no fire in the storage room. The Mayor lacked Willow's flair, and he hadn't found a way around the chanting. His voice filled the room, the words making absolutely no sense to Faith.
"Potestatem matris nostrae in tenebris invoco…maledictum filium tuum ab omni periculo custodias nunc et in saecula!" Faith didn't understand what he chanted. But somehow she felt it. Her skin prickled and the temperature in the room seemed to plummet.
Shivering, Faith hunched her shoulders and peered at the Mayor. He glowed. A sullen red light highlighted his head and hands. She'd left the Council for this? Was a portal to Hell about to open up in City Hall?
Faith wanted to laugh, but felt tears burn her eyes instead. The Council had been right. So fucking right. She wasn't good enough to be a Slayer. She'd screwed up everything. Involuntarily, her hand touched the hilt of her dagger. Maybe Faith could make it right. The Mayor was still sitting in his chalk star. Trick didn't look like he'd do anything that wrinkled his clothes.
Very slowly, Faith drew the dagger and inched forward. She was at the very edge of the chalk pentagram when the floor began to shake. The shelves rattled against the walls, and items crashed to the floor. Faith staggered and saw Trick gripping the edge of a crate to stay upright.
Long minutes passed. Finally, the floor quit rolling and the train-like roar quieted. The Mayor hopped up and rubbed a section of the chalk pentagram away with his foot. "What a rush. Trick, let's see if it worked," he said, striding toward Trick.
Faith froze, praying the Mayor didn't see her hovering nearby with her knife in her hands.
She needn't have worried. He didn't spare her a glance. All his attention was on the trap door leading to the tunnel Faith had discovered. Trick bent down and yanked it open. "You can bring him up now," he called into the tunnel.
Footsteps sounded from below. Seconds later, a vampire climbed out. Another vampire followed – handcuffed and chained.
"Unlock those." The Mayor sounded impatient. "And give him his sword."
The lead vampire hurried to unlock the restraints while a third vampire climbed from the tunnel. He carried a sword.
"You sure about this?" Trick eyed the captive vampire uneasily.
"Absolutely." The Mayor moved closer. He was an easy target, hands hanging loosely at his sides.
Trick nodded, and the vampire with the sword thrust the weapon into the hands of the now-free prisoner. With a roar, the vampire sprang forward. The sword hummed through the air.
Faith relaxed a little. She wouldn't have to take the Mayor out. This vamp would do it for her. The powerful overhead blow sent the blade into the top of the Mayor's head. It wasn't a kill shot Faith would have chosen, but it was dramatic as the sword sliced downward.
The Mayor split in half. Faith's stomach threatened to revolt. Bile burned her throat and she started to gag.
Then the Mayor…reformed. The two halves of his body fused together like a coat closing as the wearer pulled the zipper. In a heartbeat, he was completely whole without even a scratch. "Well, I'd say that was a success."
Trick moved behind the dumfounded vampire and staked him. "It seems so. What's next?"
The Mayor searched in his jacket pockets while Faith stared. What the Hell was he? Not human. No one survived that. No one just glued themselves back together. He didn't ping her Slayer senses at all.
"Ah, here it is, the list of things I have to do in the next one hundred days." Brandishing a piece of paper, the Mayor announced, "I've officially completed this step, Trick. Nothing can hurt me until my Ascension. Just a few more hoops to jump through." He laughed. "Gosh, I feel good. Faith, Trick, how about a trip to the ice cream parlor to celebrate?"
A/N: As much as I've fought and argued, Real Life is winning the fight. I'll be taking the next couple of weeks off from writing and posting. The Muse and I will be back the first weekend in November, though, with another chapter for you.