Chapter 20
All You Can Do
Faith looked in the mirror. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, both new. She'd be trading them in for prison clothes today. She was going back. After all she'd been through, after all the opportunities to escape had come and gone, she was heading back. She really wasn't sure why.
Kate was going to take her. The rest of the team had decided that it was best if they didn't become too deeply involved in the official side of things. It would do Kate good, as well. She'd collect the bounty, which she promised to split with Faith. She'd also regain the respect of some of the other officers. Perhaps her career in law enforcement wasn't quite over yet.
It hadn't been all bad, though. Last night the team had taken her out to Caritas to watch Spike do his Billy Idol show. It had been okay – well, it hadn't sucked. Faith had even managed to let herself smile a couple of times during the evening. The clothes had been a gift from Cordelia. After all, a girl couldn't go out without a new outfit.
Faith snorted at that. She wasn't going to be getting any new outfits for a long time yet. But the thought was nice. Even if Cordelia didn't like her, or Wesley either, for that matter, they'd all put their lives on the line for her. Faith didn't understand that. She wasn't sure she entirely approved of the concept, either. But that was part of being on the side of 'good', apparently.
A knock sounded at the door of her room. "Come in, Angel," she said.
The door swung open to reveal the vampire standing there, leaning on the doorjamb. "How did you know it was me?" he asked.
"You're the only one who would willingly come up and see me," she responded. Her voice was not devoid of bitterness. Nor could it be expected to be. She'd had a vision of freedom – freedom, love, and normalcy. It wasn't for her, she knew that. But just enough of her wanted it that she felt bitter at it having been denied her.
"I suppose I ain't gonna get no prettier standing here looking at the mirror," she said. Still, it was difficult for her to tear her gaze away.
"Hey now," Angel said, wrapping his arms around her. "It'll be okay. I promise."
They stood that way a long time.
* * *
Everyone was waiting for them when they descended the stairs. They were gathered in the lobby, trying their best to look glum instead of relieved. It was difficult, though. The wounds, both emotional and physical, from their previous encounters with Faith had yet to heal completely. The team couldn't help but be skittish about it.
Angel smiled at everyone, clapping his hands together in an attempt to imply that there was nothing uncomfortable about the situation. It didn't work, but he plunged on bravely none-the-less. "Kate has news, I hear," he said as a segue. Not very elegant, but it did the trick.
"It's all arranged," she said. "I'm going to accompany Faith to the station where she's going to turn herself in. They know she's coming back voluntarily, so they promised to be nice about."
"Really?" said Gunn. "I wouldn't think that would be in their nature." Seeing the look on everyone's faces, he realized he was talking about Kate's very recent colleagues. "Present company excepted," he added quickly.
"Well, to be honest, they probably wouldn't. But I gave it to them straight – she was the victim here, and they damn well better treat her like one." Kate ran one hand through her hair, deciding how much to add. "I also let them know that if I wasn't satisfied with the way they treated her, I still knew a lot of people in Internal Affairs."
"Ah," said Wesley. "When all else fails, follow up with a threat."
"Something like that," Kate said. "Anyway, I probably didn't need to put it on that heavy, anyway. They've got Sheffield dead to rights on the murder of Michael Johnson. Faith is just corroborating testimony."
"Excellent," Angel said. "Hear that, Faith? You're corroboration."
"Grand," she said flatly.
"There's more," Kate said. "The whole band of them is in the country illegally, operating on a covert mission. The D.A.'s office is contemplating charging them as terrorists. Especially since the British government has denied all knowledge of their existence or mission."
"How convenient of them," Wesley muttered.
"Yeah, well, this tape will now self-destruct in five seconds and all," added Gunn. The 'Mission: Impossible' reference was lost on no one. That was one of the well-known hazards of working covertly – if you ever got caught, you were likely on your own.
"No kidding," Kate said. "They've got two live ones and two bodies, and one still at large."
"Me, you mean," MacKenzie said. "Aye, well, I expect they'd like to have a wee chat with me." He shrugged.
"Well, with Faith's signed statement, and my verbal to back it up, the D.A. has decided to not look for you very hard for seventy-two hours." Kate arched an eyebrow at him meaningfully. Just in case he hadn't gotten the hint, she added, "After that, it would be really good if you weren't around anymore."
The fight over that had been a much bigger deal than in making arrangements for Faith's surrender. The D.A. and the police commissioner both had the same attitude about covert operatives running around L.A. as Kate did. They wanted every last one of them under lock and key. Kate, however, had pointed out that Mac was here to stop them, and had succeeded. Given that the LAPD hadn't even known the team was operating here in the first place, it was a good thing.
After extracting a promise from her that he would get out of town pronto, they had relented. In exchange, she had extracted a promise not to be tailed when she met to meet with them. It was probably unnecessary, but she felt she should stick to principles.
"After Jessup got the news that the team had been disavowed, he completely rolled over on Sheffield," Kate supplied further. "With him singing like a canary, they are accepting Faith and my versions of what happened. That means that she won't be charged with escape. In fact, a motion has been filed to move her to a lower security facility as reparations for the State's failure to protect her."
"Really?" Faith replied, flummoxed at the thought.
"Who filed that?" Angel asked, looking questioningly at his team.
"Her new self-appointed legal team," Kate replied. Seeing as how she had their interest, she dropped the bomb. "It seems that Wolfram and Hart has taken on her case pro bono."
"What!" they all exclaimed at once.
"I don't get it," Gunn said. "They kidnapped us, we blew up their lobby, not to mentions somebody's new hummer, and now they're helping us out?"
"Yeah," Kate said. "It seems that when they finally figured out what Project Eve was, they got scared. If an army of Slayers had gotten started in their jurisdiction, they would lose a lot of clients. It seems that they want to make sure that no one finds out how close Sheffield and his team came to succeeding."
"I can see that," Wesley said. "The only way to control the story is to own it. The only way to own it is to become Faith's defense attorney. In that situation, they'll be able to discredit anything they don't want released, and possibly even seal the records."
"More than that," Kate said. "They're bringing a lot of force to bear on Sheffield and Jessup. They want them to endorse Faith and my statements as exactly how it happened, and use those as confessions. No real trial at that point."
"And your statements are highly selective," Mac said. Kate's nod confirmed his deduction about them. "That would pretty much end the whole thing right then and there, with no mention of the Watchers, or the Slayers, or even Angel."
"You got it," Kate replied. "I think Jessup's going to take it. Sheffield is remaining silent, but I think it's pretty clear that his employers hung him out to dry on this one."
"The sad thing," Mac said, reflecting on that last statement, "is that if Sheffield had stuck to his morals, he could've scrapped the whole mission. The RAF would've brought him back into its bosom, buried the whole thing, and Arinoth would've had to start all over. But as soon as he started accepting orders for Arinoth, the whole game changed." He shook his head. "I'm sad to see it happen."
"Well I'm not," Cordelia volunteered. "He was a bad man. He just hadn't had the opportunity to show it up til now." She nodded.
"Well lass," Mac replied, his face grim, "it's a mercy that more men never are faced with such an opportunity. I fear at how many would fail such a test."
There were nods all around. None of them could be too sure on which side of good and evil they would walk given the right circumstances. They could only do the best they could, each and every day. That's why Faith was returning to prison – it was the best she could do right now. It was all she could do.
After a moment's reflection, Kate looked up. "We'd better get going," she said. Faith nodded. She hugged Angel, and then looked at the others. No one else was stepping up to give her a hug, but they the courtesy of wishing her 'good luck' at least.
As they headed out, Angel grabbed the donut box and rushed up to Faith. "Bear claw?" he offered.
"Nah," she said. Then she smiled and added, "Those things'll kill ya." It wasn't much of a joke, but it was enough. They left the lobby.
* * *
Far across the water, Arinoth looked at the latest report from his operation. He gritted his teeth at its content, and set it aflame there in the palm of his hand. Gone! Wrecked! His whole operation in shambles, exposed to the other Watchers.
Worse yet, Sir Radcliffe's body had yet to be discovered. He cursed at that. The damn slippery eel had evaded him, and was even now plotting against him. He would need to find him – find him and drive him into the ground once and for all.
Fortunately, he was now firmly in control of the council. There would be no investigation. He had nothing to fear from the other watchers – or from Sir Radcliffe.
He picked up the playing piece from the board: his representation of MacKenzie. He should have killed the man before, back when he first considered it. He could still do it, this instant. But he was neutered now – cut off from everything. He would let MacKenzie go, and hope the man would flush out Sir Radcliffe. Then he could have revenge on them both.
And he would make sure it was face to face.
* * *
Mac shook hands Angel and his team. His bags were packed, and he needed to get out of L.A. There wasn't much for him here, anyway. He had another mission – he had to find Arinoth and stop him once and for all. He wasn't sure how he was going to do that, but he was sure that the Watchers were the key. He had to infiltrate that organization first, and to do that he needed to return to England.
Gunn slapped him on the back. "Too bad you can't stick around. I was hoping you'd show me how you did that trick with the metal detector."
"Some other time, perhaps," Mac said. "I intend to return, you know. Legally next time."
"You'd better," Cordy replied. "A girl can't hang around forever just waiting for a big, strong, handsome, European guy to show up and sweep her off her feet, you know."
"I'll keep that in mind," MacKenzie replied.
"Say hello to the home for me," Wesley said.
"I will," Mac replied, taking his hand. "And I'll make good use of the information you gave me about the Watchers. It'll be a big help." He pumped Wesley's hand again.
"Let me walk you out," Angel said. Together, the two men headed for the door. "By the way," Angel said absently, making clear that the question he was about to ask was anything but an afterthought. "Why did you use the tranquilizer on Sheffield? I thought you were there to kill him."
"I was," Mac said. "But I pulled out the tranq gun to use on Faith, when it looked like she was going to jump. I figured if she made any moves, I could drop her and you could catch her."
"Oh," Angel said. "So when Sheffield grabbed his gun …"
"I just used the only thing in my hand at the time," Mac replied. "I won't say I'm glad of it, because leaving Sheffield dead would've solved a lot of problems for me, personally. But I guess this is as good an ending as any."
Angel nodded several times. He was, at this point, at a loss for what to say. "Allrighty," he said at last. He thrust his hand out to Mac.
Mac took it, pumped it once, and turned to leave.
"Good luck," Angel said to him.
"Aye, a little luck never hurts," Mac replied. Then he paused and turned. "But I'd rather have some good mates at my back."
"You got it," Angel replied.
Angel watched Sheffield walk out of the building and disappear onto the L.A. streets. He had no idea how he was going to get back to England, or how when he would see him again. He did, however, have feeling that the man would survive. There was something about him – something that Angel seemed to recognize. Later on, he would realize that MacKenzie reminded him of himself.
Perhaps the two might join forces again. They were a formidable pair. For now, though, Angel was content rejoin his own little band. That group of loyal, dedicated friends who looked after one another, put their lives on the line for one another, who …
"All right, who ate the last bear claw? Is it just too much to ask that I get one just every once in a while? I mean, this is my hotel after all. You would think …."
The End