One hour and forty minutes later...
Xander glanced down at the directions and
then made the right turn that would have them reentering the Sunnydale City
limits in moments. The interior of the ambulance was quiet. Spike had given
up his litany of curses and taunts as soon as he realized that his traveling
companion wasn't listening to a word of it. He had been chain smoking and silently
fuming ever since.
Suddenly, Spike whirled around his seat. "Did
you hear that?"
Xander looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.
Of course, that was assuming Spike was ever in full possession of his mind,
he thought. "Hear what? The only thing I've heard in the past hour was you lighting
up those sticks of death over there."
Spike growled at him. "I heard something...it
sounded like it came from the back." He moved over to peer through the partition
window.
It looked normal enough. Nothing was out of
place. Their passenger was still dead to the world. But it just seemed...
Xander's voice interrupted Spike's thoughts.
"Don't worry about it. Five more minutes, we'll be at the cemetery and she goes
back to being Giles' problem." And I get to find out what the hell is going
on with Angel, he added silently.
The ambulance pulled up to a stop sign. Xander
put on his left-hand turn signal. He looked to the right. He looked to the left.
And then all hell broke loose.
A large, black armored truck flew across the
intersection, slamming to a halt in front of him. Another vehicle pulled up
behind them cutting off any means of escape.
"Oh fuck." Xander muttered as he glanced in
the rearview mirror.
They watched a dozen armed men exit their
vehicles and surround the ambulance. A tall man, who appeared to be the head
of this squad, stepped to the front. He instructed the two men to step outside.
Xander scrambled out of the ambulance, his
hands held high in the air. Spike snickered at him as he exited much more slowly.
"Why do you have your bloody hands up? They're not the effin' police."
"Spike, a large group of men with very big
guns have us surrounded. I'd dance the Macarena if I thought it would keep me
from getting shot."
The tall man walked over to Xander. "You can
put your hands down. No one is going to shoot you. We're only here for the Slayer."
One of the other men wasn't happy with that
statement. "Collins—"
"Shut up, Weatherby." Collins kept his eyes
on Xander as he motioned his men toward the rear of the ambulance. "We're just
going to take the Slayer. You and your friend can go quietly."
Xander remembered Angel's parting words about
avoiding stupid heroics and sighed unhappily. "Sorry. There's no way I can let
you take her."
How I'm going to stop you when it's one of
me against all of you and Spike can't help me...I don't know, he thought.
Spike glanced over at Xander, his expression
of disbelief indicating he was wondering the same thing.
One of the Council's men reached for the door
handle. Unexpectedly, the door flew open, hitting him in the head and knocking
him unconscious. A hand reached out, snatching a gun from another man and butting
him in the face with it.
The others spun around to see the source of
the commotion. They watched in stunned amazement as a very alert and awake Faith
bounded out of the back of the ambulance. She grabbed another man by the throat,
quickly dispossessing him of his weapon, and held him in front of her like a
shield as she backed up slowly.
"Faith?" Xander finally managed to squeak
out of his stunned vocal chords.
Faith grinned as she squeezed a little tighter
on her captive, all the while inching further away. "Hey, Xander. Been a while."
"Since you shot Angel and your sugar daddy
tried to eat the town? Um...yeah."
Faith's expression hardened at Xander's flippant
mention of the Mayor. "Gotta give B credit. I really thought that offing her
boy toy would be enough to take her out of the game. But since you're still
here, I guess I underestimated her."
"She tried to kill the Poof? `Bout time some
Slayer did." Spike muttered.
"Shut up, Sp--er...Chip." Xander emphasized
the name.
One word from Xander and Spike would find
himself on the wrong end of a stake. Xander doubted the Council's men really
cared that William the Bloody was technically no longer a threat.
He turned back to Faith, disdain etched on
his features. "No, Faith, you overestimated yourself. Angel is still undead
and kicking. Once again, you lose."
Faith's smile was feral and borderline psychotic.
"Good to see you, Xander. I'd wish I could stay and reminisce. But don't you
worry, we'll catch up real soon." She catapulted her captive forward, knocking
two other men off balance. She fired her gun at the vehicle closest to her,
flattening the tires and puncturing the gas tank. "Real soon."
With that final threat, Faith turned and ran
off into the night, her hospital gown blowing in the breeze.
The Council's men sprung into action. Several
of them chased the young woman down the street, hoping to run her down on foot.
The remaining men raced to the still functioning vehicle at the far end of the
street. Two of them moved to assist their fallen coworker,
who was just beginning to come to. They helped
him inside the truck and then piled in themselves. They sped off to hunt down
the Slayer.
Xander and Spike just stood there in the middle
of the now deserted street. Xander stared down the block, in the direction that
Faith had headed. He glanced over at the disabled truck parked behind the ambulance
and shuddered.
I guess I should be glad she didn't try to
shoot me too, he thought.
"Do you think they'll catch her?"
Xander was brought out of his musings by Spike's
soft question. He shrugged at the blond in response. "I don't know. Last time,
they took her into custody she escaped in less than an hour." He closed the
ambulance's rear door. "C'mon. Let's go to the cemetery. Angel and Giles must
be wondering what happened to us. And we need to fill them in."
"Yeah, pet. Be sure to mention to Angel `bout
how you were ready to take on all those men. Alone. And unarmed. Oh and don't
forget the part where you were taunting the crazy girl with the gun."
Xander flinched at Spike's sly words. He climbed
into the driver's seat and started the engine. "Well, maybe we'll leave that
out."
Spike sat down beside him and lit what had
to be his twentieth cigarette of the night. He smirked at Xander as they turned
the corner and headed for the arranged meeting point. He leaned over and whispered
in Xander's ear. "Then again...maybe we won't."