*~*~*
"I really appreciate this, Willow." Angel helped the witch set up candles around his bed. "I know that things have been rough."
She smiled to him. "Hey, I'm here to help."
"I should have thought of this back in Sunnydale."
"I needed a vacation anyway." She grinned. "And plus, well, bonus you own a hotel."
He chuckled. "Bonus indeed."
She set out some stones on his nightstand. "This could take me a little while. I mean, when I did this with Buffy, she was just catatonic. Faith is way deeper."
"Is there anything else I can do to help?"
She sighed heavily. "Wish me luck." She ushered him out and pulled up a chair across from Faith. "Here we go."
*~*~*
Willow looked about the lavishly furnished apartment she was in. It didn't look familiar. There was a window letting in the bright sunlight. Very bright and warm. She turned to look around and saw Faith making a bed. She was dressed in a floral summer dress that clashed with her tattoos. "Faith?"
The slayer looked up and smiled. "Hey there, Red. I didn't think that you'd be in here. Last time it was B."
"Where is this, Faith?" Willow felt the need to repeat the slayers name as much as she could.
"This is the place Wilkins got for me. Nice digs, huh?" She looked about. "He said that his slayer wasn't going to be living in some dirt bag motel."
"Why are we here?" Willow began to help her make the bed.
"Because this is where I'm meant to be. Because this is the second time and I ain't gonna need no third to tell me different." She tossed a throw pillow on the bed.
*~*~*
It was a prison cell. It was dark and dank and smelled really bad. Willow looked to Faith who was lying back on her bunk and looking up at the ceiling. "I should have stayed here. I shouldn't have gone to Sunnydale."
Willow looked at the riot that was ensuing outside the cell. "Why, Faith?"
Faith hopped off her bunk and looked out. "There were three riots while I was here. I stayed out of all of them, working the redemption thing."
"That's a good thing." Willow touched the slayer's shoulder. "Faith, what did Drusilla do to you?"
*~*~*
Willow heard the pounding bass beat in her head and watched the lights as they flickered and flashed. It was a nightclub. Faith was standing in the middle of an empty dance floor staring at the witch. "This is where it happened."
"What happened?" Willow stepped onto the dance floor.
"I was dancing with B." As if on cue, an image of Buffy appeared and began dancing with Faith. "We were even starting to get hot and heavy." The image of Buffy kissed Faith and pressed herself against her. When the kiss ended, Willow was standing on the opposite side of the dance floor and watched as Darla and Drusilla approached.
The image shifted again and Willow was now standing where Drusilla was, lifting her hands to the sides of Faith's head. She could feel something surging from her hands and heard Faith cry out a little. Willow watched as black smoke billowed into Faith mind, chocking her.
*~*~*
They were back making the bed again. The sheets were black this time and no sun was shining through. There was a thick black fog blocking the windows.
"It won't be long now."
Willow looked up to her. "What won't?"
Faith looked to the fog. "I'm dying."
Willow also looked at the fog. "What is it doing?"
"Blackin' me out like an ink blot, Red." She sighed. "It feeds of my thoughts. It's hungry and it has no other place to go."
*~*~*
Willow gasped and fell out of the chair she was sitting on. The candles had burnt down about halfway. She must have been there about an hour. But it didn't seem that long. She stood and dusted herself off, sitting the chair back up and went to the bedroom door. But when she opened it, the black fog was there.
She whipped around to find Faith sitting up in the bed. "You think it hasn't spread?" She stood from the bed. "It's in your head too now."
*~*~*
Angel paced and looked to the bedroom. Willow had told him to stay out, but it had been two hours and still nothing.
"Here."
He jumped a little and turned to Fred who was holding a mug in her hand. "You should probably eat something." She handed him the warmed blood with a smile.
He smiled back and sipped it. "Thank you."
"Is Willow still in there?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
"Golly, they sure have been in there a while now."
"Yup."
Chandra crept out of her room down the hall quietly, closing the door behind her. She made her way to the duo and sighed. "They still in la- la land?"
Angel scowled. "You were so busy with Lindsey I almost didn't think you'd notice."
She winced. "Angel, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong? Chandra, he's evil."
"He is not!" She stomped her foot. "Look, he told me all about the whole lawyer gig. But he's on the right path. Like you."
"He is nothing like me."
"You're right. You've done worse." She looked almost near tears and brought a hand to her belly. "But I don't judge you by your past. I look at what you're doing now."
He looked to her belly as well. "I'm sorry."
She let a tear fall. "I think I'm gonna go get some rest for tonight." She turned and ran back into her room.
Fred watched her. "It sucks to be in love sometimes."
Angel looked to her. "What?"
"She loves you."
*~*~*
Willow looked to the fog. "How do we stop it, Faith?"
The slayer shrugged. "Give it a home is my guess. I dunno. I've never slayed fog before."
The redheaded witch tried to think. "What else can we put it in?"
Faith sighed. "We're gonna die."
"We are not going to die, do you hear me?" She paced. "It's a simple spell, I know it! It's just right there in front of me and I can't…" She trailed off as she looked to Faith.
*~*~*
They were sitting on the fresh made bed. The sheets were white again and Faith was in the summer dress again.
Willow looked to her. "You're scared to go back, aren't you?"
Faith looked down. "I don't belong back there."
"Drusilla's spell wore off, didn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Then why are you still here?"
"Because I don't belong out there. Because I belong dead."
"You don't. Angel needs you. You're like one of his best friends. You're what he uses to remember to stay on the good path."
"He's got his new slayer now. He doesn't need me."
Willow scowled. "You and Buffy are more alike than you think."
"Huh?"
Willow stood and put her hands on her hips. "Snap out of it! You're not dead. You are needed and if you want to wallow in all this then I guess you were never a real slayer. But you can prove it out there." She pointed to the window. "Out in the real world."
*~*~*
Willow took a deep breath as she came calmly out of her trance and looked to Faith. The brunette slayer opened her eyes and quickly shut them again to shed some tears.
Willow took her hand. "Welcome home."
*~*~*
When the door opened, Angel jumped to his feet. He had been perched outside in the hall for another forty-five minutes. His eyes widened and a smile spread when he saw her. "Faith!" He wrapped her in his arms. "You're alive."
Faith smiled back and returned his hug. "Couldn't let you try this Daddy shit on your own. Figured you might need someone to change diapers."
He chuckled and rubbed her back before letting her go and looking in the room to Willow. "Thank you so much."
The witch smiled. "Anytime." She wavered on her feet.
Angel swooped her into his arms. "You need rest." He carried her to her own room and laid her down. "Do you need anything?"
She smiled to him. "Just the rest."
Smiling, he went back out in the hall.
*~*~*
Faith walked down to the lobby and stopped dead in her tracks. "Hey."
Wesley looked up from the counter and stood. "Faith."
She swallowed. "I'm, uh, awake now."
His tone was flat. "So I see."
She stuffed her hands in the pockets of the borrowed jeans. "Maybe we should talk."
"Maybe you should listen." He scowled. "It's no secret I don't trust you. And one little feeble attempt at an apology is not going to cut it. You'll have to prove it to me. And that won't be easy." He slammed the book shut he was reading. "Just because they let you out doesn't mean you're forgiven."
"Wesley that's enough." Angel came down the stairs two at a time. "Stop."
Faith had her fists clinched at her sides but she was taking in every word he was saying. "It's okay, Angel. He's right. It ain't gonna be five by five until I prove it."
Lindsey walked down the stairs as well. "You might be able to."
*~*~*
When Chandra awoke, she felt better. Yawning, she sat up and stretched.
"Hi there."
Chandra screamed and turned around to the shocked face of… "Fred!"
She swallowed. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'll be going now."
"No wait. It's okay. You just surprised me." She patted the bed next to her. "Have a seat." She smiled.
Fred grinned and sat. "So how are you feeling?"
Chandra sighed. "Good. As good as I can be. I mean, you know about my kid, right?"
She nodded. "But it could be good. Like a mystical healer that was brought here to help end the suffering of people with things like cancer or AIDS or something."
The slayer smiled. "I like that idea."
*~*~*
Lilah paced in her office wringing her hands together. She could handle that little slayer bitch on her own, but the fact that Lindsey was back meant that he had probably spilled about the scroll. And that could also mean that Angel knew as well. She couldn't take out a major player in the Game.
Nathan opened her door, his bald head shining in the florecent light. Her boss pushed his wide framed glasses up on his nose. "I've heard something very interesting."
She stopped pacing. "And that would be?"
He handed her a file. "This might help you."
She opened the file. It was on the slayer. But when she was younger back in Las Vegas. She skimmed through the pages, reading briefly about the hardship she had gone through with her mother and how she came to LA, etc. But one thing struck her funny.
Lindsey's picture taken with her in Las Vegas.
"They knew each other?" Lilah smiled up to Nathan.
"They were like brother and sister I hear. I'd say you have a `kill two birds with one stone' situation here, Miss Morgan."
*~*~*
Lindsey laid out the large piece of paper and began to draw. "This is the room where you got the first scroll, Angel." He drew a bit more. Angel, Faith, Wesley, Fred and Chandra all gathered around. "But that's just the main room. There's a sublevel below that. It's where we keep the documents that only junior partners can get to. I didn't even know about it until my promotion."
"See? Bonus to getting your hand chopped off," Angel quipped.
Chandra looked to Lindsey's hands. "What?"
Lindsey grumbled. "Long story. But that's not the point." He pointed to a square. "The sublevels are hard to get to. But I doubt they'd expect us to try anything..."
"You mean like me going in and getting the first scroll?"
"Shut up and listen. They will expect you, Angie, because you've tried it. But they won't be expecting Faith. They probably dropped all tabs on her when she went all good and decided to spend time in LA's less finer establishments. They also wouldn't expect Faith to dress up as a lawyer."
All eyes went to Faith. Wesley snickered.
Lindsey continued. "Faith won't set off any of the spiritual alarms. She's strickley human. The only thing we have to go through then is the security guards, which she shouldn't have a problem with, and some electric alarm systems which I might be able to disarm by modem. I can use Lilah's access codes."
Wesley snorted. "So Faith will be going in alone?"
"I'll bet money they already know about Chandra. Fred seems too timid to be a lawyer."
"What about me?" Willow said from the top of the stairs. "If they try any other mystical guards I can probably break them down."
Chandra nodded. "Then let's buckle down and suit up."
"I really appreciate this, Willow." Angel helped the witch set up candles around his bed. "I know that things have been rough."
She smiled to him. "Hey, I'm here to help."
"I should have thought of this back in Sunnydale."
"I needed a vacation anyway." She grinned. "And plus, well, bonus you own a hotel."
He chuckled. "Bonus indeed."
She set out some stones on his nightstand. "This could take me a little while. I mean, when I did this with Buffy, she was just catatonic. Faith is way deeper."
"Is there anything else I can do to help?"
She sighed heavily. "Wish me luck." She ushered him out and pulled up a chair across from Faith. "Here we go."
*~*~*
Willow looked about the lavishly furnished apartment she was in. It didn't look familiar. There was a window letting in the bright sunlight. Very bright and warm. She turned to look around and saw Faith making a bed. She was dressed in a floral summer dress that clashed with her tattoos. "Faith?"
The slayer looked up and smiled. "Hey there, Red. I didn't think that you'd be in here. Last time it was B."
"Where is this, Faith?" Willow felt the need to repeat the slayers name as much as she could.
"This is the place Wilkins got for me. Nice digs, huh?" She looked about. "He said that his slayer wasn't going to be living in some dirt bag motel."
"Why are we here?" Willow began to help her make the bed.
"Because this is where I'm meant to be. Because this is the second time and I ain't gonna need no third to tell me different." She tossed a throw pillow on the bed.
*~*~*
It was a prison cell. It was dark and dank and smelled really bad. Willow looked to Faith who was lying back on her bunk and looking up at the ceiling. "I should have stayed here. I shouldn't have gone to Sunnydale."
Willow looked at the riot that was ensuing outside the cell. "Why, Faith?"
Faith hopped off her bunk and looked out. "There were three riots while I was here. I stayed out of all of them, working the redemption thing."
"That's a good thing." Willow touched the slayer's shoulder. "Faith, what did Drusilla do to you?"
*~*~*
Willow heard the pounding bass beat in her head and watched the lights as they flickered and flashed. It was a nightclub. Faith was standing in the middle of an empty dance floor staring at the witch. "This is where it happened."
"What happened?" Willow stepped onto the dance floor.
"I was dancing with B." As if on cue, an image of Buffy appeared and began dancing with Faith. "We were even starting to get hot and heavy." The image of Buffy kissed Faith and pressed herself against her. When the kiss ended, Willow was standing on the opposite side of the dance floor and watched as Darla and Drusilla approached.
The image shifted again and Willow was now standing where Drusilla was, lifting her hands to the sides of Faith's head. She could feel something surging from her hands and heard Faith cry out a little. Willow watched as black smoke billowed into Faith mind, chocking her.
*~*~*
They were back making the bed again. The sheets were black this time and no sun was shining through. There was a thick black fog blocking the windows.
"It won't be long now."
Willow looked up to her. "What won't?"
Faith looked to the fog. "I'm dying."
Willow also looked at the fog. "What is it doing?"
"Blackin' me out like an ink blot, Red." She sighed. "It feeds of my thoughts. It's hungry and it has no other place to go."
*~*~*
Willow gasped and fell out of the chair she was sitting on. The candles had burnt down about halfway. She must have been there about an hour. But it didn't seem that long. She stood and dusted herself off, sitting the chair back up and went to the bedroom door. But when she opened it, the black fog was there.
She whipped around to find Faith sitting up in the bed. "You think it hasn't spread?" She stood from the bed. "It's in your head too now."
*~*~*
Angel paced and looked to the bedroom. Willow had told him to stay out, but it had been two hours and still nothing.
"Here."
He jumped a little and turned to Fred who was holding a mug in her hand. "You should probably eat something." She handed him the warmed blood with a smile.
He smiled back and sipped it. "Thank you."
"Is Willow still in there?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
"Golly, they sure have been in there a while now."
"Yup."
Chandra crept out of her room down the hall quietly, closing the door behind her. She made her way to the duo and sighed. "They still in la- la land?"
Angel scowled. "You were so busy with Lindsey I almost didn't think you'd notice."
She winced. "Angel, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong? Chandra, he's evil."
"He is not!" She stomped her foot. "Look, he told me all about the whole lawyer gig. But he's on the right path. Like you."
"He is nothing like me."
"You're right. You've done worse." She looked almost near tears and brought a hand to her belly. "But I don't judge you by your past. I look at what you're doing now."
He looked to her belly as well. "I'm sorry."
She let a tear fall. "I think I'm gonna go get some rest for tonight." She turned and ran back into her room.
Fred watched her. "It sucks to be in love sometimes."
Angel looked to her. "What?"
"She loves you."
*~*~*
Willow looked to the fog. "How do we stop it, Faith?"
The slayer shrugged. "Give it a home is my guess. I dunno. I've never slayed fog before."
The redheaded witch tried to think. "What else can we put it in?"
Faith sighed. "We're gonna die."
"We are not going to die, do you hear me?" She paced. "It's a simple spell, I know it! It's just right there in front of me and I can't…" She trailed off as she looked to Faith.
*~*~*
They were sitting on the fresh made bed. The sheets were white again and Faith was in the summer dress again.
Willow looked to her. "You're scared to go back, aren't you?"
Faith looked down. "I don't belong back there."
"Drusilla's spell wore off, didn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Then why are you still here?"
"Because I don't belong out there. Because I belong dead."
"You don't. Angel needs you. You're like one of his best friends. You're what he uses to remember to stay on the good path."
"He's got his new slayer now. He doesn't need me."
Willow scowled. "You and Buffy are more alike than you think."
"Huh?"
Willow stood and put her hands on her hips. "Snap out of it! You're not dead. You are needed and if you want to wallow in all this then I guess you were never a real slayer. But you can prove it out there." She pointed to the window. "Out in the real world."
*~*~*
Willow took a deep breath as she came calmly out of her trance and looked to Faith. The brunette slayer opened her eyes and quickly shut them again to shed some tears.
Willow took her hand. "Welcome home."
*~*~*
When the door opened, Angel jumped to his feet. He had been perched outside in the hall for another forty-five minutes. His eyes widened and a smile spread when he saw her. "Faith!" He wrapped her in his arms. "You're alive."
Faith smiled back and returned his hug. "Couldn't let you try this Daddy shit on your own. Figured you might need someone to change diapers."
He chuckled and rubbed her back before letting her go and looking in the room to Willow. "Thank you so much."
The witch smiled. "Anytime." She wavered on her feet.
Angel swooped her into his arms. "You need rest." He carried her to her own room and laid her down. "Do you need anything?"
She smiled to him. "Just the rest."
Smiling, he went back out in the hall.
*~*~*
Faith walked down to the lobby and stopped dead in her tracks. "Hey."
Wesley looked up from the counter and stood. "Faith."
She swallowed. "I'm, uh, awake now."
His tone was flat. "So I see."
She stuffed her hands in the pockets of the borrowed jeans. "Maybe we should talk."
"Maybe you should listen." He scowled. "It's no secret I don't trust you. And one little feeble attempt at an apology is not going to cut it. You'll have to prove it to me. And that won't be easy." He slammed the book shut he was reading. "Just because they let you out doesn't mean you're forgiven."
"Wesley that's enough." Angel came down the stairs two at a time. "Stop."
Faith had her fists clinched at her sides but she was taking in every word he was saying. "It's okay, Angel. He's right. It ain't gonna be five by five until I prove it."
Lindsey walked down the stairs as well. "You might be able to."
*~*~*
When Chandra awoke, she felt better. Yawning, she sat up and stretched.
"Hi there."
Chandra screamed and turned around to the shocked face of… "Fred!"
She swallowed. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'll be going now."
"No wait. It's okay. You just surprised me." She patted the bed next to her. "Have a seat." She smiled.
Fred grinned and sat. "So how are you feeling?"
Chandra sighed. "Good. As good as I can be. I mean, you know about my kid, right?"
She nodded. "But it could be good. Like a mystical healer that was brought here to help end the suffering of people with things like cancer or AIDS or something."
The slayer smiled. "I like that idea."
*~*~*
Lilah paced in her office wringing her hands together. She could handle that little slayer bitch on her own, but the fact that Lindsey was back meant that he had probably spilled about the scroll. And that could also mean that Angel knew as well. She couldn't take out a major player in the Game.
Nathan opened her door, his bald head shining in the florecent light. Her boss pushed his wide framed glasses up on his nose. "I've heard something very interesting."
She stopped pacing. "And that would be?"
He handed her a file. "This might help you."
She opened the file. It was on the slayer. But when she was younger back in Las Vegas. She skimmed through the pages, reading briefly about the hardship she had gone through with her mother and how she came to LA, etc. But one thing struck her funny.
Lindsey's picture taken with her in Las Vegas.
"They knew each other?" Lilah smiled up to Nathan.
"They were like brother and sister I hear. I'd say you have a `kill two birds with one stone' situation here, Miss Morgan."
*~*~*
Lindsey laid out the large piece of paper and began to draw. "This is the room where you got the first scroll, Angel." He drew a bit more. Angel, Faith, Wesley, Fred and Chandra all gathered around. "But that's just the main room. There's a sublevel below that. It's where we keep the documents that only junior partners can get to. I didn't even know about it until my promotion."
"See? Bonus to getting your hand chopped off," Angel quipped.
Chandra looked to Lindsey's hands. "What?"
Lindsey grumbled. "Long story. But that's not the point." He pointed to a square. "The sublevels are hard to get to. But I doubt they'd expect us to try anything..."
"You mean like me going in and getting the first scroll?"
"Shut up and listen. They will expect you, Angie, because you've tried it. But they won't be expecting Faith. They probably dropped all tabs on her when she went all good and decided to spend time in LA's less finer establishments. They also wouldn't expect Faith to dress up as a lawyer."
All eyes went to Faith. Wesley snickered.
Lindsey continued. "Faith won't set off any of the spiritual alarms. She's strickley human. The only thing we have to go through then is the security guards, which she shouldn't have a problem with, and some electric alarm systems which I might be able to disarm by modem. I can use Lilah's access codes."
Wesley snorted. "So Faith will be going in alone?"
"I'll bet money they already know about Chandra. Fred seems too timid to be a lawyer."
"What about me?" Willow said from the top of the stairs. "If they try any other mystical guards I can probably break them down."
Chandra nodded. "Then let's buckle down and suit up."