Orpheus: My way
By: Jarhead
Summary: After watching "Orpheus", I came to two conclusions. The first is that I'm going to miss Faith. The second is that it was an absolute crime to waste the chemistry between Wes/Faith when they penned "Orpheus," when it was so evident in "Salvage." So I rewrote some of it:)
Anywhere you see "***" means there's stuff there that I didn't see a need to change, and therefore no need to transcribe.
Faith cried out as the sharp sting radiated from where Angelus's fangs bit into her neck. He gulped once, and then ripped his mouth away and shot straight up.
"Something's wrong. What the Hell did you-"
She rolled over to face him, a self satisfied smirk on her face. "Just a lil' somethin' I found at that dive you were hangin' at."
It took a second, but the vampire figured out what she was saying, "You BITCH!" He kicked her hard enough to break a rib on any normal person, which was probably much softer than the vamp was going for. He raised his arms up preparing to crash down on her when a jolt rippled through his chest. He looked down - sticking through the breast pocket of his leather coat was the shaft and red fletching of a tranq dart. Angelus looked up, and saw the former watcher standing in front of him, barely.
Wesley was using his shotgun as a crutch, balancing his weight between it and his left leg. His right hand held the dart-gun that Faith had dropped, and it was leveled at Angelus's chest.
The vampire growled, "Great, now I need a new jacket! You know how long it took Angel to find one like this?" With a growl, he charged the Brit, stopping six feet from him as another dart hit him center mass. And then another. Angelus slumped down to his knees in front of Wesley and looked up at him.
Wes's voice was quiet, but strong, "Did you really think that I would just let you kill her?" Then the shotgun body connected with the vampire's temple, sending him sprawling, where he then lay unmoving.
Wesley turned towards Faith as he regained his balance. She saw concern in his eyes, so much more than she ever would have expected from him. Like he was worried about Faith the girl, not Faith the slayer. Almost like... he...
Then she blacked out.
***
"How could you do that?! Wes, you know what this stuff is, what it does! How could you?" The battered slayer was lying on the bed, unconscious. Lorne was laying into Wesley badly. When Wes replied it was quiet, small.
"It was a risk that had to be taken. The drug slowed him enough for me to tranq him. Faith refused to really hurt him, so live bait was the only other option." She just didn't bother to let you in on that option, did she English, thought Gunn.
The green demon spoke up again, "Wesley, if she doesn't wake up-"
"Then she's one more member of this family that I've failed. Only with her, that makes twice." His shoulders slumped, the former watcher turned and walked out of the bedroom.
***
"Twenty years after that damn donut shop and his fingers never smelled of anything BUT rat! OH I'm so SORRY I give up I'm going to go live in a SEWER!" Angelus had been saving that tirade for a while now.
Faith looked at an obviously homeless, long-haired Angel, greedily drinking from a rat. "He's paying for what he did."
"He's hiding from what he is!" The vampire growled again. And then Angelus turned, a gleam in his eye, and centered his gaze on Faith. "Kinda like you in that way. How is that little cell up in Armpit, California anyway?" He started circling her, much as a shark would.
"So much easier isn't it? Fighting off Bertha in the shower room, sitting around wrestling with self loathing, eating bad food; so much easier than actually doing something productive, isn't it? So much easier than really fighting "The Good Fight." You really think he could love someone like that?"
"I don't know what you're-"
"HELLO! Vampire! I can sense every way your body reacts to good ol' Davey Crumpet. Pulse quickens, breathing to match. Other... reactions." He let her stew on that as he circled around behind her. He leaning in, almost whispering in her ear, "Come to think of it, maybe you two could make a go of it. I mean, Wes HAS gotten all dark and scary. Ruthless even, starting to show some potential." He moved his head to talk in her other ear, "You should be proud. After all, you started it."
"Shut up."
"Razor thin cuts. Just enough to hurt. Just enough so that he could feel his skin split open, and watch the blood trickle out. Playing with his head. Making sure he knew that at any moment you wanted you could kill him." Angelus backed away, his voice suddenly jovial, "I take it back. You're too evil even for him!" She back handed him, her hand passing through his head. He started laughing, circling around her again, her following this time.
"Shut up!" This made him laugh harder. "ShutUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP SHUT UP!" His laughter subsided, but the grin remained.
"Face it Faith, no one will ever love you. No one COULD ever love you! And even if ya' do make it outta this, it's going to stay that way for, oh..." his voice took on a "neener-neener" cadence, "THE REST OF YOUR LI - IFE!"
Her eyes were wet with unshed tears. But instead of letting the tears fall, her expression hardened. This confused Angelus momentarily, as he had expected a somewhat different response. Then her gaze settled on something over his shoulder.
OH YOU GOTTA BE-
"That's what I used to think about myself." A voice that sounded very much like his came from behind him. He turned to face it. Angel was looking at them, "Because I constantly had to worry about becoming like you again. Jackass." Angelus turned back towards Faith, who was now looking at him again.
"Swing and a miss, Vampire."
"Yo Wes! We gotta talk." Gunn pinned the older man with a glare. His tone and body language indicated that this was not a request.
Wesley looked at Willow, "You've got things under control here?"
"Oh yeah - I mean, I, uh, think I could manage. This sounds important. You- you should go." Willow mouthed a "Thank You" at Gunn when Wesley turned to leave. Gunn nodded after Wes passed him into the office. He shut the door behind them.
"So what's on your-"
"STOP!" Wes had just gotten to the desk when Charles yelled. Wesley turned to face the younger man who continued, "You are NOT going behind that desk. During this conversation, you are not the boss."
"Alright. What do you need to say?"
"Wes... what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to help Will-"
"Try again, English."
"The magic being used is dangerous. I'm trying to safeguard-"
"No you're not! You're hiding from Faith."
Wesley flinched as if struck, but recovered, "I'm doing what I can-"
"It wasn't your idea, was it? The drugs... she didn't even tell you did she?" Wes slowly shook his head. "You were right back there, dawg. It was necessary, and she did know the risks. You haven't let her down, yet. But if you let her die alone, except for a demon she's known for like all of ten minutes, then yeah, you've blown it. You were her watcher, right man?" Wesley nodded. "Then go watch. Whichever way this goes down, you owe it to her."
Wesley looked down, shame evident. He looked up and looked Gunn in the eye, "Thanks." Gunn opened the door in reply. Wesley walked through it, Gunn following a couple of seconds later. He watched the former watcher head down the hall and disappear around a corner, heading towards Faith.
"You'd better be careful layin' into him like that." It was Fred. She was standing by Willow, behind the desk, looking at him.
"What, you think I'm scared of him?"
"No." A small smile graced her lips, "But I might start to think you care about him, like he was a friend or somethin'." She turned around and went back to talking to Willow.
He wanted, badly, to say something in reply. But she was right. Damn women.
Angelus's face contorted with anger, "Miss? Me? Then I'll just have to do better with this pitch!" His fist connected squarely with her jaw, his knee went into her stomach, and an uppercut sent her into the wall. "HOMERUN!" The vampire turned to face his least favorite person, ever. He pointed at Angel, "When I'm done with you, she's SO dead. NOBODY uses my own one-liners against me!"
"Wouldn't worry about that if I were you." Angel jumped at him, covering about fifteen feet, and the fight was on. Angel struck first, his fist deflected as Angelus counter-attacked, which was also deflected. His next shot hit, along with a knee and then an uppercut sending Angel back slightly dazed.
Angelus smiled, "Oh, and thanks for changing the rules. Tormenting your understudy was starting to get kinda dull." Angelus lunged punching with his right, which, in one motion with his left hand, Angel deflected both out and down and then sent his own palm into Angelus's chin, following up with a couple of body shots and a spin kick to the head. Angel looked back at Faith, who hadn't moved.
"She's slipping." Angel turned back to face the demon shooting his mouth off. "I can feel it. She's got less time than you."
Willow had started the ritual by the time Lorne walked back out into the lobby. Fred looked over at him and asked, "Where's Wesley?"
"He's with Faith. Said something about needing to be there for her."
"Oh." Her face fell for a moment.
"So what's going on?"
"Oh, uh, Willow's going to break the jar with Angel's soul, and let him out. And the Beast's master has been talkin' in her head, threatening her."
"Hmmm."
Willow doubled over, like she'd been punched in the stomach.
"Can she handle this?" Asked Conner.
The witch stood up ramrod straight, still facing away from them, the little fiery ball still floating next to her. "Unleash Astreath!" And the hotel started to shake.
Lorne replied, "I think she can hold her own." Out of the corner of his eye, Lorne caught sight of something very not good. "What the-"
The demon head floated above them, "STOP! I command you! STOP this instant!" The others backed up a little. Willow's hair changed color from red to raven black. And then she turned around, giving them a view of eyes whose color matched her hair.
She looked up at the head, "WOULD YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!" She pointed her palm towards the head. A ball of mystical energy shot out, hitting the head square between the eyes hard enough to knock it back before it faded from view.
Willow went back to what she was doing. She pushed the fireball forward saying, "Now go break the damn jar!"
Cordelia shook her head, eyes still not open. That hurt. Too late she sensed the product of Willow's spell enter the room. The demoness opened her eyes just in time to see the fiery ball smash the jar. As Angel's soul dissipated she could only think of one thing to say.
"Oh, shi-"
"Faith wake up!" Her eyes popped open.
"Angel... I'm dying."
He shrugged it off, "Yeah, it's a lot easier than redemption."
Angleus came at him, landing one punch before taking a shot to the gut, then the face, and being tossed back in the direction he had come from. "Faith!" He knelt down, "Faith listen to me." She opened her eyes. "I know it's hard. I know sometimes it doesn't even seem worth it, but you have to fight. You give up now, he wins, and that makes him right about you. Don't let him w-"
Angelus kicked him in the head sending him flying back. He looked down, "You think I'm losing to this sap and you can add "stupid" to your list of faults."
***
Willow's hair had reverted back to normal, and her eyes had lost the black. She grabbed the spell books to hand out and turned around. Then she realized everyone was staring at her with a look very much like fear.
"Are you guys okay?"
Gunn looked her dead in the eye and asked, "So just how evil is this alternate personality of yours?"
"Yeah, she's got some serious anger issues, sweetie."
The redhead thought for a second, and then, "I'm scared of me, too. You guys just can't know how bad she- well," she pointed towards Lorne, "you might." She paused for a second, and then looked back at them, "Look, I'm just about the only one that can do this, but if you help me, she probably won't com back."
The Pylean answered right away, "You got yourself a sale, Sabrina."
"I'm gonna' go check on Angel." Willow nodded, and then Gunn left, all of a sudden in a hurry. Lorne and Fred grabbed the spell books.
"Ready to go?" Willow asked. The others nodded. Willow nodded to Fred, who then started to read from the book she was holding.
Angel hit the wall and stumbled down. "Faith get up!" Angelus came at him. Angel blocked his kick and socked him with a right hook, followed by two shots to the kidney and then he punched the vampire's head into the wall. Angel walked back over to the fallen slayer. Kneeling down again, "Faith listen, even with a soul, I've done things that I'm not proud of, things that I can't take back. You saw me drink. It doesn't get any lower than that. And I thought I could make up for it by disappearing."
"I did... my time."
"Our time is never up Faith."
"It hurts."
"I know it hurts. I know. It's painful, and it's every day. And you can do it. He's wrong about you. You HAVE changed, and you're NOT unlovable. Hell, if there was ever a time someone like Cordy could fall in love with a bastard like me, YOU won't have any problems. So GET UP!"
The pipe rang like a bell as it hit the side of Angel's head. Angelus was livid, "That's for saving the puppy!" Angel got up and Angelus hit him over the head again. "That's for all the Manilowe concerts! And this," the blow sent Angel to the ground, "Is for ignoring me! Seriously, have you noticed the battle with your ALTER-EGO going on here?"
"Alter-ego? That's a joke, right?" Faith, behind him, with a strong voice. Angelus turned around. She was standing up, and not dying. "You're not his alter-ego. You're an afterthought, ASSHOLE." He swung just in time to for the pipe to pass right through her as she disappeared.
"Huh? What's goin' on?"
"Faith. I... wish things could have been different." Wesley? Had to be. He was the only one in this place that didn't wear aftershave, even counting the green guy with the horns. Her eyes flew open, and she bolted upright, breathing heavy and fast. She looked to her right at her stunned former watcher. And then down at her hand that he was holding.
"Faith?" She wanted him to hold her. She wanted- God, didn't matter. There wasn't time.
"Angel's in trouble." He nodded and let go of her hand. She jumped out of bed, a tad wobbly for a second, stopped at the door, and took a second to look back at him. Then she sprinted for the basement.
"Guess it's just you and me now, Rat-boy."
"I've been waiting for this for a long time."
They lunged at each other one punching for the head, the other taking a body shot. They traded hits for what seemed like an eternity, both fairly evenly matched, until Angelus got a grip on Angel's coat, and slammed his head repeatedly into the wall. The vampire grabbed the pipe that had been kicked from his hands and laid it across angel's neck, pinning him down. Angel punched him, throwing Angelus's face from view. The vampire looked back down, his vampire features evident.
"Game-face time. You are such a sorry bastard."
Angelus was going to bite him. Angel punched again, realizing that there was no way to throw him off. Then he felt the stake materialize in his hand. Angelus saw the stake, too late to block it. Angel center-punched Angelus's heart, and for a second, nothing happened. Red light began to engulf both of them, until that was all that there was. And then it was over, and Angel was the lying on the ground, the only one left. He picked his head up, and dropped it again. His clothes were all black. He ran his hand through his hair, it was short. Angelus had lost.
Terrific.
Conner raised the stake up... and a hand with a grip like iron stopped it there. He looked up, suddenly seeing Faith. "Didn't Cordy ever teach you not to play with sharp pointy objects?" Her other hand shot out, grabbed his shirt, picked him up, and slammed him against the cage. "You could put an eye out." Then she knocked the stake from his hand. He punched her with the other. Faith's elbow clocked him square in the nose, and threw him out of the cage.
Conner ducked and rolled. He shot up and charged her. She swung from the door frame and kicked him square in the chest, dropping him on his posterior. He heard the others rush in at this point.
"She's alive it's a miracle!" Lorne apparently had never seen anyone survive the drug.
"She's the slayer." Nobody felt the need to talk after Wesley said that.
Conner kicked up. Faith blocked it and then backhanded him for the trouble. Then she grabbed him by the collar and tossed him into the grating on the wall. He rolled and got up, slower this time, and lunged at her. She threw him into the cage. As he was getting up she planted her foot into his chest and slammed him back onto the bars, where two hands reached from behind to steady him.
"Conner, it's over. It's me... really." They were both breathing heavy. He relaxed, grudgingly. It was over. His face telegraphed that he'd missed his chance. Faith relaxed her stance, too, and then started swaying slightly. Then she fell backwards into Wesley's arms. That he had caught her seemed to come as a surprise.
"Wes?"
"I'm here. I've got you."
She closed her eyes, leaned into him, and for just this once, let herself enjoy relying on someone else's strength. "I'm real-lee wiped. And kinda hungry."
He smiled, "Lets get you upstairs."
Faith knew he could hear her approaching before she even reached for the door. It opened silently to hear ears. She joined him leaning against the rail, looking over the fully tended garden. Couldn't say it enough, Sa -WWEEETTT crib!
The vampire spoke first, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I ate some mushrooms and got eaten by a bear."
"That about sums it up. So, you're headed back to Sunnydale?"
"Yeah. Think I'd prefer the bear, but the way Willow talks it up that's where I'm needed."
"Good."
"Angel, after things cool down there... I'm not going back to prison. I-I-"
"Can do more good on the outside. You're a slayer Faith."
"Yeah I am."
"You know it never stops for people like us. We never stop fighting."
She smiled and looked at him, "Well, I was gonna, and then someone got all pep-talky."
"Yeah, well," He turned around and looked through the glass doors, "I've got a lot to thank you for." Gunn was still reading Conner the riot act. Wes had been helping when she had walked out. She got the distinct impression he was not used to it being this quiet around here. No, not quiet, but peaceful, with everyone getting along.
Even so, "Well, that vice is plenty versa. I mean I could start, but it'd only lead to hugging, and..."
"We don't want that."
"No."
"You're not going to tell Wes, are you."
"No. Bad timing, ya' know. Really, bad timing. I mean, there's that whole Sunnydale Big Bad thing, the dead lawyerbitch thing, and I think he and Fred have some issues to work out-"
"Point taken."
"Maybe when I come back. Ya' know, start fresh?" He nodded.
"I'll keep a room open for you." This time she did hug him. He was definitely uncomfortable with it. She bit back a laugh.
"Oh, and, 'It's painful, and it's every day'. Why does that sound familar?"
"So I recycled a speech Buffy gave me. Everyone's a critic." She just smiled. Angel opened the door, and they both went back inside.
Gunn was standing over Conner, his arms folded and looking intimidating. Conner was sitting with his shoulders slumped, and talking with an apologetic voice, "Right I get it. I messed up."
"Ah, cheer up punk. That just means you're one of us."
Gunn looked over at her, "You headed out?"
"Yeah, no tears big guy." He held out his hand, and they did a special shake thingy.
"Hey, I'm good. I just wish I coulda' seen you kick the crap out of junior here."
Faith smiled, "Yeah, it was pretty funny."
She walked over to the desk fidgeting a little, "Wes..."
He stuck his hands in his pockets, like he didn't know what else to do with them, "Faith..."
"See, the English know how to say goodbye." She pointed at Angel, "He wanted to hug."
Angel was slightly miffed, "I did not."
Wes smiled a little, which was what she was going for. "You put on great show, Wes. We made a good team."
"Yeah."
Gunn broke in smiling, "You're gonna let the girl do all the heavy lifting?"
Her former watcher looked slightly embarrassed, but recovered, "That's pretty much it."
Fred and Willow came out of the office talking about some magic book or whatever. They were both very cheery chatterboxes, the kind that a Faith of not too many years ago would have knocked out on pure principle. Now they were just kind of amusing, bordering on mildly annoying. And Fred just found out about Willow's... preference. Okay awkwardness, time to do that slayer stuff.
"Time goes by Will." Faith walked past her.
"Oh, uh, okay, wagons west, see you guys."
Angel spoke up, "Willow."
"He's going to tell you how much he owes you."
She looked back at him, "Oh, don't mention it. I got a slayer out of the deal, so we're even-Steven." Willow walked up and hugged Angel, Faith walked to the door. When Willow let go she said, "I'll tell Buffy you said, hi."
"Good. Thanks." The look on his face said that the idea of Buffy and the saying of "hi" to her hadn't even occurred to him. Times, they do change. On that note, she looked back at Wesley one last time. He was already looking at her. And what she saw in his eyes made her breath catch.
Faith had never been much for the Bible. Even when it was the only thing that she had been permitted to do up in Stockton, she'd never once reached for the book. Any God who would create such a cruel world as this one was a God she didn't have much use for. But looking into his eyes now, seeing what was there, she couldn't help but believe. Any God who could take a man that she had tortured and have him look at her like he was now…well, that was a God that maybe she could work something out with. Faith could only hope that Wes knew that she would be on her way back here as soon as the Sunnydale crew didn't need her anymore.
Willow walked up to her, "Well, in or out young lady." Willow smirked, Faith returned it. Then she followed the witch out the door.
End.
By: Jarhead
Summary: After watching "Orpheus", I came to two conclusions. The first is that I'm going to miss Faith. The second is that it was an absolute crime to waste the chemistry between Wes/Faith when they penned "Orpheus," when it was so evident in "Salvage." So I rewrote some of it:)
Anywhere you see "***" means there's stuff there that I didn't see a need to change, and therefore no need to transcribe.
Faith cried out as the sharp sting radiated from where Angelus's fangs bit into her neck. He gulped once, and then ripped his mouth away and shot straight up.
"Something's wrong. What the Hell did you-"
She rolled over to face him, a self satisfied smirk on her face. "Just a lil' somethin' I found at that dive you were hangin' at."
It took a second, but the vampire figured out what she was saying, "You BITCH!" He kicked her hard enough to break a rib on any normal person, which was probably much softer than the vamp was going for. He raised his arms up preparing to crash down on her when a jolt rippled through his chest. He looked down - sticking through the breast pocket of his leather coat was the shaft and red fletching of a tranq dart. Angelus looked up, and saw the former watcher standing in front of him, barely.
Wesley was using his shotgun as a crutch, balancing his weight between it and his left leg. His right hand held the dart-gun that Faith had dropped, and it was leveled at Angelus's chest.
The vampire growled, "Great, now I need a new jacket! You know how long it took Angel to find one like this?" With a growl, he charged the Brit, stopping six feet from him as another dart hit him center mass. And then another. Angelus slumped down to his knees in front of Wesley and looked up at him.
Wes's voice was quiet, but strong, "Did you really think that I would just let you kill her?" Then the shotgun body connected with the vampire's temple, sending him sprawling, where he then lay unmoving.
Wesley turned towards Faith as he regained his balance. She saw concern in his eyes, so much more than she ever would have expected from him. Like he was worried about Faith the girl, not Faith the slayer. Almost like... he...
Then she blacked out.
***
"How could you do that?! Wes, you know what this stuff is, what it does! How could you?" The battered slayer was lying on the bed, unconscious. Lorne was laying into Wesley badly. When Wes replied it was quiet, small.
"It was a risk that had to be taken. The drug slowed him enough for me to tranq him. Faith refused to really hurt him, so live bait was the only other option." She just didn't bother to let you in on that option, did she English, thought Gunn.
The green demon spoke up again, "Wesley, if she doesn't wake up-"
"Then she's one more member of this family that I've failed. Only with her, that makes twice." His shoulders slumped, the former watcher turned and walked out of the bedroom.
***
"Twenty years after that damn donut shop and his fingers never smelled of anything BUT rat! OH I'm so SORRY I give up I'm going to go live in a SEWER!" Angelus had been saving that tirade for a while now.
Faith looked at an obviously homeless, long-haired Angel, greedily drinking from a rat. "He's paying for what he did."
"He's hiding from what he is!" The vampire growled again. And then Angelus turned, a gleam in his eye, and centered his gaze on Faith. "Kinda like you in that way. How is that little cell up in Armpit, California anyway?" He started circling her, much as a shark would.
"So much easier isn't it? Fighting off Bertha in the shower room, sitting around wrestling with self loathing, eating bad food; so much easier than actually doing something productive, isn't it? So much easier than really fighting "The Good Fight." You really think he could love someone like that?"
"I don't know what you're-"
"HELLO! Vampire! I can sense every way your body reacts to good ol' Davey Crumpet. Pulse quickens, breathing to match. Other... reactions." He let her stew on that as he circled around behind her. He leaning in, almost whispering in her ear, "Come to think of it, maybe you two could make a go of it. I mean, Wes HAS gotten all dark and scary. Ruthless even, starting to show some potential." He moved his head to talk in her other ear, "You should be proud. After all, you started it."
"Shut up."
"Razor thin cuts. Just enough to hurt. Just enough so that he could feel his skin split open, and watch the blood trickle out. Playing with his head. Making sure he knew that at any moment you wanted you could kill him." Angelus backed away, his voice suddenly jovial, "I take it back. You're too evil even for him!" She back handed him, her hand passing through his head. He started laughing, circling around her again, her following this time.
"Shut up!" This made him laugh harder. "ShutUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP SHUT UP!" His laughter subsided, but the grin remained.
"Face it Faith, no one will ever love you. No one COULD ever love you! And even if ya' do make it outta this, it's going to stay that way for, oh..." his voice took on a "neener-neener" cadence, "THE REST OF YOUR LI - IFE!"
Her eyes were wet with unshed tears. But instead of letting the tears fall, her expression hardened. This confused Angelus momentarily, as he had expected a somewhat different response. Then her gaze settled on something over his shoulder.
OH YOU GOTTA BE-
"That's what I used to think about myself." A voice that sounded very much like his came from behind him. He turned to face it. Angel was looking at them, "Because I constantly had to worry about becoming like you again. Jackass." Angelus turned back towards Faith, who was now looking at him again.
"Swing and a miss, Vampire."
"Yo Wes! We gotta talk." Gunn pinned the older man with a glare. His tone and body language indicated that this was not a request.
Wesley looked at Willow, "You've got things under control here?"
"Oh yeah - I mean, I, uh, think I could manage. This sounds important. You- you should go." Willow mouthed a "Thank You" at Gunn when Wesley turned to leave. Gunn nodded after Wes passed him into the office. He shut the door behind them.
"So what's on your-"
"STOP!" Wes had just gotten to the desk when Charles yelled. Wesley turned to face the younger man who continued, "You are NOT going behind that desk. During this conversation, you are not the boss."
"Alright. What do you need to say?"
"Wes... what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to help Will-"
"Try again, English."
"The magic being used is dangerous. I'm trying to safeguard-"
"No you're not! You're hiding from Faith."
Wesley flinched as if struck, but recovered, "I'm doing what I can-"
"It wasn't your idea, was it? The drugs... she didn't even tell you did she?" Wes slowly shook his head. "You were right back there, dawg. It was necessary, and she did know the risks. You haven't let her down, yet. But if you let her die alone, except for a demon she's known for like all of ten minutes, then yeah, you've blown it. You were her watcher, right man?" Wesley nodded. "Then go watch. Whichever way this goes down, you owe it to her."
Wesley looked down, shame evident. He looked up and looked Gunn in the eye, "Thanks." Gunn opened the door in reply. Wesley walked through it, Gunn following a couple of seconds later. He watched the former watcher head down the hall and disappear around a corner, heading towards Faith.
"You'd better be careful layin' into him like that." It was Fred. She was standing by Willow, behind the desk, looking at him.
"What, you think I'm scared of him?"
"No." A small smile graced her lips, "But I might start to think you care about him, like he was a friend or somethin'." She turned around and went back to talking to Willow.
He wanted, badly, to say something in reply. But she was right. Damn women.
Angelus's face contorted with anger, "Miss? Me? Then I'll just have to do better with this pitch!" His fist connected squarely with her jaw, his knee went into her stomach, and an uppercut sent her into the wall. "HOMERUN!" The vampire turned to face his least favorite person, ever. He pointed at Angel, "When I'm done with you, she's SO dead. NOBODY uses my own one-liners against me!"
"Wouldn't worry about that if I were you." Angel jumped at him, covering about fifteen feet, and the fight was on. Angel struck first, his fist deflected as Angelus counter-attacked, which was also deflected. His next shot hit, along with a knee and then an uppercut sending Angel back slightly dazed.
Angelus smiled, "Oh, and thanks for changing the rules. Tormenting your understudy was starting to get kinda dull." Angelus lunged punching with his right, which, in one motion with his left hand, Angel deflected both out and down and then sent his own palm into Angelus's chin, following up with a couple of body shots and a spin kick to the head. Angel looked back at Faith, who hadn't moved.
"She's slipping." Angel turned back to face the demon shooting his mouth off. "I can feel it. She's got less time than you."
Willow had started the ritual by the time Lorne walked back out into the lobby. Fred looked over at him and asked, "Where's Wesley?"
"He's with Faith. Said something about needing to be there for her."
"Oh." Her face fell for a moment.
"So what's going on?"
"Oh, uh, Willow's going to break the jar with Angel's soul, and let him out. And the Beast's master has been talkin' in her head, threatening her."
"Hmmm."
Willow doubled over, like she'd been punched in the stomach.
"Can she handle this?" Asked Conner.
The witch stood up ramrod straight, still facing away from them, the little fiery ball still floating next to her. "Unleash Astreath!" And the hotel started to shake.
Lorne replied, "I think she can hold her own." Out of the corner of his eye, Lorne caught sight of something very not good. "What the-"
The demon head floated above them, "STOP! I command you! STOP this instant!" The others backed up a little. Willow's hair changed color from red to raven black. And then she turned around, giving them a view of eyes whose color matched her hair.
She looked up at the head, "WOULD YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!" She pointed her palm towards the head. A ball of mystical energy shot out, hitting the head square between the eyes hard enough to knock it back before it faded from view.
Willow went back to what she was doing. She pushed the fireball forward saying, "Now go break the damn jar!"
Cordelia shook her head, eyes still not open. That hurt. Too late she sensed the product of Willow's spell enter the room. The demoness opened her eyes just in time to see the fiery ball smash the jar. As Angel's soul dissipated she could only think of one thing to say.
"Oh, shi-"
"Faith wake up!" Her eyes popped open.
"Angel... I'm dying."
He shrugged it off, "Yeah, it's a lot easier than redemption."
Angleus came at him, landing one punch before taking a shot to the gut, then the face, and being tossed back in the direction he had come from. "Faith!" He knelt down, "Faith listen to me." She opened her eyes. "I know it's hard. I know sometimes it doesn't even seem worth it, but you have to fight. You give up now, he wins, and that makes him right about you. Don't let him w-"
Angelus kicked him in the head sending him flying back. He looked down, "You think I'm losing to this sap and you can add "stupid" to your list of faults."
***
Willow's hair had reverted back to normal, and her eyes had lost the black. She grabbed the spell books to hand out and turned around. Then she realized everyone was staring at her with a look very much like fear.
"Are you guys okay?"
Gunn looked her dead in the eye and asked, "So just how evil is this alternate personality of yours?"
"Yeah, she's got some serious anger issues, sweetie."
The redhead thought for a second, and then, "I'm scared of me, too. You guys just can't know how bad she- well," she pointed towards Lorne, "you might." She paused for a second, and then looked back at them, "Look, I'm just about the only one that can do this, but if you help me, she probably won't com back."
The Pylean answered right away, "You got yourself a sale, Sabrina."
"I'm gonna' go check on Angel." Willow nodded, and then Gunn left, all of a sudden in a hurry. Lorne and Fred grabbed the spell books.
"Ready to go?" Willow asked. The others nodded. Willow nodded to Fred, who then started to read from the book she was holding.
Angel hit the wall and stumbled down. "Faith get up!" Angelus came at him. Angel blocked his kick and socked him with a right hook, followed by two shots to the kidney and then he punched the vampire's head into the wall. Angel walked back over to the fallen slayer. Kneeling down again, "Faith listen, even with a soul, I've done things that I'm not proud of, things that I can't take back. You saw me drink. It doesn't get any lower than that. And I thought I could make up for it by disappearing."
"I did... my time."
"Our time is never up Faith."
"It hurts."
"I know it hurts. I know. It's painful, and it's every day. And you can do it. He's wrong about you. You HAVE changed, and you're NOT unlovable. Hell, if there was ever a time someone like Cordy could fall in love with a bastard like me, YOU won't have any problems. So GET UP!"
The pipe rang like a bell as it hit the side of Angel's head. Angelus was livid, "That's for saving the puppy!" Angel got up and Angelus hit him over the head again. "That's for all the Manilowe concerts! And this," the blow sent Angel to the ground, "Is for ignoring me! Seriously, have you noticed the battle with your ALTER-EGO going on here?"
"Alter-ego? That's a joke, right?" Faith, behind him, with a strong voice. Angelus turned around. She was standing up, and not dying. "You're not his alter-ego. You're an afterthought, ASSHOLE." He swung just in time to for the pipe to pass right through her as she disappeared.
"Huh? What's goin' on?"
"Faith. I... wish things could have been different." Wesley? Had to be. He was the only one in this place that didn't wear aftershave, even counting the green guy with the horns. Her eyes flew open, and she bolted upright, breathing heavy and fast. She looked to her right at her stunned former watcher. And then down at her hand that he was holding.
"Faith?" She wanted him to hold her. She wanted- God, didn't matter. There wasn't time.
"Angel's in trouble." He nodded and let go of her hand. She jumped out of bed, a tad wobbly for a second, stopped at the door, and took a second to look back at him. Then she sprinted for the basement.
"Guess it's just you and me now, Rat-boy."
"I've been waiting for this for a long time."
They lunged at each other one punching for the head, the other taking a body shot. They traded hits for what seemed like an eternity, both fairly evenly matched, until Angelus got a grip on Angel's coat, and slammed his head repeatedly into the wall. The vampire grabbed the pipe that had been kicked from his hands and laid it across angel's neck, pinning him down. Angel punched him, throwing Angelus's face from view. The vampire looked back down, his vampire features evident.
"Game-face time. You are such a sorry bastard."
Angelus was going to bite him. Angel punched again, realizing that there was no way to throw him off. Then he felt the stake materialize in his hand. Angelus saw the stake, too late to block it. Angel center-punched Angelus's heart, and for a second, nothing happened. Red light began to engulf both of them, until that was all that there was. And then it was over, and Angel was the lying on the ground, the only one left. He picked his head up, and dropped it again. His clothes were all black. He ran his hand through his hair, it was short. Angelus had lost.
Terrific.
Conner raised the stake up... and a hand with a grip like iron stopped it there. He looked up, suddenly seeing Faith. "Didn't Cordy ever teach you not to play with sharp pointy objects?" Her other hand shot out, grabbed his shirt, picked him up, and slammed him against the cage. "You could put an eye out." Then she knocked the stake from his hand. He punched her with the other. Faith's elbow clocked him square in the nose, and threw him out of the cage.
Conner ducked and rolled. He shot up and charged her. She swung from the door frame and kicked him square in the chest, dropping him on his posterior. He heard the others rush in at this point.
"She's alive it's a miracle!" Lorne apparently had never seen anyone survive the drug.
"She's the slayer." Nobody felt the need to talk after Wesley said that.
Conner kicked up. Faith blocked it and then backhanded him for the trouble. Then she grabbed him by the collar and tossed him into the grating on the wall. He rolled and got up, slower this time, and lunged at her. She threw him into the cage. As he was getting up she planted her foot into his chest and slammed him back onto the bars, where two hands reached from behind to steady him.
"Conner, it's over. It's me... really." They were both breathing heavy. He relaxed, grudgingly. It was over. His face telegraphed that he'd missed his chance. Faith relaxed her stance, too, and then started swaying slightly. Then she fell backwards into Wesley's arms. That he had caught her seemed to come as a surprise.
"Wes?"
"I'm here. I've got you."
She closed her eyes, leaned into him, and for just this once, let herself enjoy relying on someone else's strength. "I'm real-lee wiped. And kinda hungry."
He smiled, "Lets get you upstairs."
Faith knew he could hear her approaching before she even reached for the door. It opened silently to hear ears. She joined him leaning against the rail, looking over the fully tended garden. Couldn't say it enough, Sa -WWEEETTT crib!
The vampire spoke first, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I ate some mushrooms and got eaten by a bear."
"That about sums it up. So, you're headed back to Sunnydale?"
"Yeah. Think I'd prefer the bear, but the way Willow talks it up that's where I'm needed."
"Good."
"Angel, after things cool down there... I'm not going back to prison. I-I-"
"Can do more good on the outside. You're a slayer Faith."
"Yeah I am."
"You know it never stops for people like us. We never stop fighting."
She smiled and looked at him, "Well, I was gonna, and then someone got all pep-talky."
"Yeah, well," He turned around and looked through the glass doors, "I've got a lot to thank you for." Gunn was still reading Conner the riot act. Wes had been helping when she had walked out. She got the distinct impression he was not used to it being this quiet around here. No, not quiet, but peaceful, with everyone getting along.
Even so, "Well, that vice is plenty versa. I mean I could start, but it'd only lead to hugging, and..."
"We don't want that."
"No."
"You're not going to tell Wes, are you."
"No. Bad timing, ya' know. Really, bad timing. I mean, there's that whole Sunnydale Big Bad thing, the dead lawyerbitch thing, and I think he and Fred have some issues to work out-"
"Point taken."
"Maybe when I come back. Ya' know, start fresh?" He nodded.
"I'll keep a room open for you." This time she did hug him. He was definitely uncomfortable with it. She bit back a laugh.
"Oh, and, 'It's painful, and it's every day'. Why does that sound familar?"
"So I recycled a speech Buffy gave me. Everyone's a critic." She just smiled. Angel opened the door, and they both went back inside.
Gunn was standing over Conner, his arms folded and looking intimidating. Conner was sitting with his shoulders slumped, and talking with an apologetic voice, "Right I get it. I messed up."
"Ah, cheer up punk. That just means you're one of us."
Gunn looked over at her, "You headed out?"
"Yeah, no tears big guy." He held out his hand, and they did a special shake thingy.
"Hey, I'm good. I just wish I coulda' seen you kick the crap out of junior here."
Faith smiled, "Yeah, it was pretty funny."
She walked over to the desk fidgeting a little, "Wes..."
He stuck his hands in his pockets, like he didn't know what else to do with them, "Faith..."
"See, the English know how to say goodbye." She pointed at Angel, "He wanted to hug."
Angel was slightly miffed, "I did not."
Wes smiled a little, which was what she was going for. "You put on great show, Wes. We made a good team."
"Yeah."
Gunn broke in smiling, "You're gonna let the girl do all the heavy lifting?"
Her former watcher looked slightly embarrassed, but recovered, "That's pretty much it."
Fred and Willow came out of the office talking about some magic book or whatever. They were both very cheery chatterboxes, the kind that a Faith of not too many years ago would have knocked out on pure principle. Now they were just kind of amusing, bordering on mildly annoying. And Fred just found out about Willow's... preference. Okay awkwardness, time to do that slayer stuff.
"Time goes by Will." Faith walked past her.
"Oh, uh, okay, wagons west, see you guys."
Angel spoke up, "Willow."
"He's going to tell you how much he owes you."
She looked back at him, "Oh, don't mention it. I got a slayer out of the deal, so we're even-Steven." Willow walked up and hugged Angel, Faith walked to the door. When Willow let go she said, "I'll tell Buffy you said, hi."
"Good. Thanks." The look on his face said that the idea of Buffy and the saying of "hi" to her hadn't even occurred to him. Times, they do change. On that note, she looked back at Wesley one last time. He was already looking at her. And what she saw in his eyes made her breath catch.
Faith had never been much for the Bible. Even when it was the only thing that she had been permitted to do up in Stockton, she'd never once reached for the book. Any God who would create such a cruel world as this one was a God she didn't have much use for. But looking into his eyes now, seeing what was there, she couldn't help but believe. Any God who could take a man that she had tortured and have him look at her like he was now…well, that was a God that maybe she could work something out with. Faith could only hope that Wes knew that she would be on her way back here as soon as the Sunnydale crew didn't need her anymore.
Willow walked up to her, "Well, in or out young lady." Willow smirked, Faith returned it. Then she followed the witch out the door.
End.