All the usual disclaimers apply. The characters are not mine, I am merely a fan who makes no commercial gain from writing this story.
Sequel to "I, Angel" - if you haven't read that and want to catch up, please click on the link to Soo W above and you'll get there
"...you wanna know the deal? human weakness. it never goes away..."
Faith noticed the prison van slowing and braced herself for action. Inwardly, she swore she'd never agree to one of Wesley's crackpot schemes again.
When he'd explained it in the prison, it all sounded so plausible. Faith was due to transfer temporarily to a new prison for her parole hearing. They would find someone who was about her height and build and looked enough like her to stand comparison with the photograph in her file. On the way there, they would create a diversion, stop the prison van, practice a little magic on the guards and do a swop. No-one in the new prison knew Faith, so the chances of being found out were minimal. The intruder would sit the parole hearing and be transferred back, when they would do the swop again.
Now it was actually about to happen, she couldn't believe her own stupidity. This was never going to work.
The van pulled to a stop. Faith's guards fidgeted uneasily in their seats and looked out of the window over her head. There was nothing to be seen; the van was parked in an abandoned road in the middle of nowhere.
Faith sat like a statue, waiting for her cue.
Voices came from the cab. Faith took a deep breath, and allowed her body to go completely limp. She slumped forward, slipping to the floor of the van. Her guards tried to pull her back upright again, but she played dead convincingly and they had to get down on the floor to lift her.
Suitably distracted, they didn't notice the faint struggle in the cab, nor the lilac vapour pouring through the grille. As the guards breathed the fumes, they became fuddled and slow, and eventually sank to the floor next to their captive.
Seconds later, the door swung open and Wesley and Gunn peered in from the outside. Using keys they'd stolen from the cab, they unlocked the guards from Faith and locked them to her decoy. Gunn shook Faith's shoulder.
"Is she out?"
Gunn nodded and hoisted the slayer's body over one shoulder. "Let's make a move. There's not much time."
The two men scrambled out of the van and ran the short distance to Angel's car. Stowing Faith in the back seat, they covered her in a blanket. Then they returned to the van. Gunn let all the air out of one of the front tyres, then locked the back doors and returned the key to its rightful owner. Meanwhile Wesley walked around the vehicle chanting quietly.
Gunn looked at him, shaking his head. "Are you sure this is going to work.?"
Wesley came to the end of his ritual. "Of course. An elementary spell to erase short term memory. It never fails, especially if you sow doubt in their minds early on after waking. Come on, let's get Faith out of here."
They returned to the car and sped away into the night. Behind them, the guards were coming round and picking themselves from the floor.
"What the heck..."
"It's OK you guys," a cheerful voice came through from the cab. "I think we hit a pothole. I'm going to check for damage. Sit tight while I radio for back-up."
The prisoner clinked her chains and smiled at the guards in a friendly manner. "The van suddenly stopped and we all just went flyin' from our seats. Are you hurt? I was worried."
"That's enough from you, girl. Save your jokes for the other inmates."
In the back of Angel's car, Faith surfaced and sat up. She twisted in her seat and looked over the boot.
Incredibly, they weren't being pursued.
She turned and reached forward to pat Wesley on the shoulder. "Good job, kiddo."
Wesley smiled at her, "Are you OK? No after effects?"
"I'm fine." Faith took a lungful of air. "Who did you find to take my place?"
"A friend."
"A friend?" Faith groaned. "Tell me it's a kick-boxing, street-fighting, tough-cookie sort of a friend?"
Gunn gave Wesley a look. "Not exactly."
"Wesley? Who is it?" Faith was glowering.
In the prison van, Fred gave up trying to make friends with the guards, and kept her twinkling eyes cast down and her thoughts to herself for the rest of the journey.