"I don't understand what happened." Gwen said, "She was just gone… all of it was gone…" She was back in LA. She'd stayed to look for Faith, even after calling the LA crew, but eventually she had to give up.
"I shouldn't have let her go." Buffy said.
"Buffy, it wasn't your fault." Several people said.
"Wasn't it?" She sighed, "Will, I want you to find out everything there is to know about these gits."
"Already on it." Willow said with a sympathetic smile.
"I'm not losing her again." Buffy said quietly.
Two months later.
Faith sat in the corner of the room, starring blankly at the wall. How could this really be happening? She kept thinking. She'd been moved to a ward with nineteen other girls a few weeks ago, but had spoken to none of them. Lydecker didn't see any risk in letting her have as much freedom as the others. She wouldn't escape. Faith had spent every minute of ever day thinking of ways out. Every time she was taken to a lab for test, she'd memorise the routes. But there were no visible weaknesses.
It was only in the last couple of days that Faith had begun to consider what was actually happening to her. She had begun to throw up every day… not just in the morning. She felt like sh*t, and she knew a life was growing within her. She also knew, unlike the others, what that life consisted of. Part of it was what Faith had spent her life fighting. That which she hated. Part of it was demon. And that made her feel even more sickened. When she'd first thought of it, she'd refused her next meal, deciding to starve herself to death rather than give them the satisfaction of doing this to her, but the moment Lydecker realised, Faith found herself with tubes in her throat- if she wouldn't eat, then Lydecker would force her to ingest the food the baby needed.
A nurse came into the room, calling them to dinner. Lydecker was waiting outside, and called to Faith. She didn't meet his eyes, but murmured,
"I'll eat."
Lydecker smiled, convinced he really was breaking her spirit. In truth, Faith had made a split second decision to eat in order to conserve her strength and escape…plus she really didn't need another reason to feel sick. Lydecker considered feeding her in the less pleasant way anyway, but knew the struggle would not be good for the child she carried, so he let it slide, allowing Faith to eat with the others.
It was yet another week before one of the other girls dared to approach the solitary figure in the corner.
"Erm, Faith, isn't it?" She said timidly.
"What?" Faith snapped.
"I just wanted to see if you were ok." She said defensively. "You seem to be taking it worse than the others."
"That would be because they volunteered for it, wouldn't it?" Faith said. The girl was shocked,
"You didn't?"
"No! You think I'd be here if I didn't have to be? I didn't damn well volunteer, no."
"So then, how… well, why are you here?"
"Cos they thought it would be an interesting experiment." Faith said bitterly. The girl's eyes were full of pity for this girl she didn't know.
"Because of how strong you are?" She asked. Faith raised an eyebrow, and the girl shrugged, "I saw you wrestling with those guards when you wouldn't eat, and that's when you're feeling like I know you do right now."
"Why did you volunteer for this?" Faith asked, her voice hollow.
"I didn't know it would be exactly this… I just… you gotta understand, I had nothing… they offered me quite a bit of money, plus food and board for about ten months… I didn't know it was this until I got here, and now it's too late. I guess I have no right to complain."
"Of course you have the right to complain!" Faith exclaimed, "I bet they didn't put in the contract that the food was practically gruel and the board was a locked room! Plus all the tests, and chemicals they shoot into you… not to mention the thing they've put inside you…"
"You really don't like babies, huh?" the girl replied with a mirthless chuckle.
"It's not the babies…" Faith said. The girl frowned, "They're… you wouldn't even understand… or believe me for that matter."
"They're what?"
"They used demon DNA. These babies are part demon."
"So?" The answer shocked Faith. The other girl smiled, "I lived in a town that was totally swarming with demons and vampires when I was young… I know they're real, and that they're nasty… but these aren't really demons! Even if they have a bit, they're mostly human, and I don't know about you, but I know that whatever is inside me is not evil."
Faith had no retort to that. She was a slayer, and if she was to be true to her own senses, she knew the being within her, however early in development it was, had a soul. It was, as the girl had said, mostly human. If it had a bit of demon in, a bit of other creatures too, that was just extra. Over all, this child was human… and it was hers. Through and through. These other girl were just surrogates, but Faith knew that her child was actually hers. It had no father, so she was all it had. Right then, she decided to get out, with the child.
"I'm gonna get out of here." Faith said.
"Is that even possible?"
"Anything is possible." She laughed shortly, "Have a little faith."
The other girl smiled,
"If you think you can really get out, then I'd like to come too."
"What about the money?"
"Screw the money. This is my kid. I'm Naomi." She held out a hand. Faith shook it without hesitation. If Buffy had taught Faith one thing, it was that an ally was always a good thing.
Faith motioned to Naomi, and they slunk silently down the corridor. The guard who'd thought they needed the toilet, lay unconscious in a cupboard near the girls' room. Waiting by the corner of the corridor, Faith placed one hand on her increasingly swollen stomach, reminding herself how important this was. They proceeded round the corner, and headed for the door at the end. Faith didn't know exactly where it lead, only that that was the way any guards or doctors went when they were on a break, or going home from a shift. They were almost at the door. The door was open… the two girls were running down the corridor on the other side. Faith glanced back to check on Naomi as she reached the next door. She was gone. Faith turned right round, to see Naomi frozen, Lydecker's gun to the back of her head.
"Go ahead, Faith." Lydecker said. "The door is right there." Faith looked round at the door, only feet away.
"Go!" Naomi yelled, "Get out!" But Faith could see the pain in the girl's eyes. The slayer sighed… she knew that Lydecker had predicted this as the only way to stop her. With tears in her eyes, Faith dropped to her knees, hands behind her head. Naomi cried out as guards rushed forwards, grabbing Faith. She was dragged back into the depths of the compound once more, her cheeks wet with tears. But Faith was not returned to the room. She was taken to a separate one, and strapped down to a bed.
"You see Faith, we gave you the chance to have it easy, but your punishment for trying to escape, and convincing another to follow you, is solitude. You will spend the remainder of your pregnancy in here, and the adjoining rooms. You will have no more contact with anyone but myself, the doctors and the guards."
"I guess we'll get to know each other better then." Faith said smiling bitterly.
"And any more bad behaviour will result in the punishment of 494." Lydecker added, using the number the doctors referred to them by for Naomi. Faith swallowed, trying to dispel the knot of terror and sorrow in her throat. She really did hate being the good guy.
"Nothing?" Buffy asked despairingly.
"No, there's lots, but nothing about the location of their secret projects. I'm sorry Buffy." Willow replied. They'd tried everything from internet searches to magical locator spells, but it seemed that Faith had just disappeared.
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