YELLOW BRICK ROAD
By: Lisette (lisette@chaletian.co.uk)
Rating: PG-13 so far - might change later on.
Distribution: Want, take, have. Just e-mail me first.
Summary: Faith is released from prison - but there's a catch.
Feedback: God, please.
Angel, Buffy, the whole lot, belong to JW, Mutant Enemy, and anyone else who officially owns them. I don't. Big surprise.
Okay, a few notes. Firstly, I haven't seen any of season 3 yet, though I know vaguely what happens. So, definitely after "Billy", and Fred and Gunn are getting with the happy, but "WITW" never happened.
Please, please review - I need to know what people think! I have a fragile ego and it needs bolstering! Thanks to everyone who has already reviewed - you have made me a happy person!
In re the summary, has anyone got any ideas how I could make it better - I don't think it gives a very good idea of what the story's about. Or maybe it does. I don't know, hence the problem.
*** *** ***
Chapter Seventeen - Wolfram & Hart Foot the Bill
Engrossed in the file she was reading, Lilah Morgan did not bother to look up when she entered her office. Which is why it came as something of a surprise when she reached her chair only to find that someone else was already sitting in it.
"Faith!"
"The one and only," came the drawled reply. Once again clad in leather trousers, Faith was sitting back in the chair, legs crossed. On the desk in front of her was a glass of brandy. "I had a look round. Alcohol salve your conscience, Lilah?"
"I hear you had a visitor last night." Faith laughed.
"I guess Wolfram & Hart have their spies everywhere."
"Actually, the chauffeur - once he regained consciousness - was quite informative. Mr Wyndham-Pryce, I believe."
"Good ole Wesley. Come to avenge his friend. Y'know, you'd think a man as brainy as him would have better sense."
"Did you kill him?"
"Did your friendly chauffeur find the body?" Lilah's eyebrows rose, but she forebore to say more. The senior partners might have plans for Angel and his child, but Wesley Wyndham-Pryce was nothing to them. Right now, her problem was Faith herself. The slayer was most definitely a loose cannon, and all the more dangerous for it. She gave a fleeting thought to whether anyone had ever been able to control this woman, then mentally shrugged, and returned to the business at hand.
"Where are you staying, Faith?" Faith rose from the chair, and wandered idly round the room, admiring the occasional objet d'art.
"You know what, Lilah? I don't think I want to tell you. See, the way I figure it, Wesley's not the only one who'll be coming after me. And something tells me that Wolfram & Hart will be the first place they look. So excuse me if I look after my own ass - for the time being, anyway."
"Fair enough. Though I would like to know how to contact you if-" Before she could finish, Faith was shaking her head, a mocking glint in her eyes.
"Lilah, Lilah. You know it doesn't work like that."
"Faith, I really must insist-" She trailed off as a wicked-looking knife appeared in Faith's hand. She toyed with it, the shining blade almost beautiful in the warm afternoon sun.
"No, Lilah, I insist. You want me, you play by my rules."
"What are you going to do with that? You know security would be here in an instant."
"Hey, that's long enough for me to slit your throat, lady."
"But then you-"
"What? You think I couldn't take them? I'm not some brooding vampire-with-a-soul. I'm a slayer. I aim to kill. And I never miss."
Lilah sat down, rather more hurriedly than she would have liked. She was used to hiring demon assassins. It went with the territory. It was cold, clinical. They did the job, she paid the money. But this - this was different. Faith wasn't going to stay in her neat little box, "Slayer turned Assassin". Faith was dangerous - not just to the people she was paid to kill, but to anyone she dealt with.
"All right," she capitulated, keeping a wary eye on the knife Faith was wielding. "We'll play this your way. But remember: Wolfram & Hart foot the bill, we call the shots."
Faith shrugged disinterestedly. "Whatever."
"Angel has a son. I want you to find out where he is."
"And kill him?"
"No. Not just yet. We just want to know where he is."