Paladin Project 10 - Second Thoughts
"Hey Xand you ready?" the Slayer bellowed through his closed hotel room door.
"I'll meet you in the lobby in five Faith," he replied as he checked through his equipment.
"Five by five," he heard the woman's footfalls recede into the distance.
Finally satisfied with his preparations he turned to leave. His blood chilled as he saw the figure stood by the door. "Jesse."
"Wow," his long-dead childhood friend grinned at his croaked gasp. "You've had quite the last few years haven't you bro? First you get to date Cordy, my dream girl, sleep with that Faith babe, then leave Sunnydale to become this badass demon hunter while heading a billion dollar corporation." Jesse's face hardened. "That could have been mine, Cordy, Faith, the respect, but no! You had to kill me you jealous bastard!"
"That's not true," Xander kept his face expressionless and his voice even but his heart tightened with tension and his stomach clenched in pain. "Jesse was dead before I staked him. I killed a demon."
"What about me?"
Xander slumped down on the unmade bed. "J.Jenny."
"From you I'd prefer Miss Calendar," the techno-pagan sneered. "If you and Rupert had shown a little more backbone and stood up to Buffy, insisted that she did her job, then maybe she'd have slain Angelus and I'd still be alive."
It was an effort but he managed to force away the heavy guilt pressing down on him. "And maybe if you'd told us the truth about the curse from the start, dozens of innocents would still be alive," squaring his shoulders he walked through the apparition and made for the door.
"Now Mr. Harris leaving with permission is very rude."
His mouth dry, Xander turned back to the spectre. "Neither's trying to kill my graduation class so let's just call it a draw."
Richard Wilkins smiled. "Ah feisty, a little bit of spirit I like that. You'll make a good match for my Faith once you find the nerve to court her."
"She's not your Faith!" for the first time he was truly rattled.
"Ah but she is son," Wilkins replied, his genial expression not shifting an inch. "A part of her at least. There's a darkness inside her, always will be. She'll fight against it but she'll always sink back down into it, it's who she is. She'll let you down, just as she did Linda Price and myself, you'll be next."
"That's bullshit!" Xander ignored the fact that the First's words echoed his own doubts. "Faith's strong now, we won't let her fall!"
"You and the vampire," the First chuckled, "somehow I doubt you two will be enough!"
"You can go to hell!"
"Already there son and you'll be joining me soon," Wilkins' beatific smile widened, "the whole world will."
* * *
Faith rose as Xander entered the hotel lobby, her welcoming smile dying as she noticed her friend's slightly wild-eyed look. "You five by five boss?" Faith hid her concern behind a jaunty tone.
"Fine." Although she hid it behind a bland expression she was hurt by the man's cold reply. Xander glanced around at the others while studiously avoiding her gaze. "Let's get this done," he ordered brusquely.
* * *
Sydney's heart thumped as she made their way to the law firm's reception desk. She wasn't normally nervous on a mission, she had too much experience for that, but this one was different, this time she was working with the legendary Ethan Hunt. "Relax," Hunt muttered in her ear, his voice calm. "I've heard a lot about you, I'm sure you'll be fine."
Sydney smiled slightly at the praise, the legendary Ethan Hunt had heard of her, as she approached the desk. "Hello," she said. "Mr Edward Howard and Stella Bristol to see Ms. Angela Doyle."
"Just a moment please," the young office worker sat behind the desk flashed them a professionally insincere smile. "I'll just ring Ms. Doyle and tell her you're here."
As soon as the receptionist lifted the phone and began dialling Sydney reached up and casually adjusted her left earring, turning the transmission on, and sending a signal piggy-backing onto W & H's internal telecommunications line. Sydney waited patiently for the receptionist to finish her conversation. Finally she did and looked up at them, her practiced smile still in place. "You can go through. Take the elevator to the sixth floor. Someone will be waiting for you there."
"Thank you," Ethan nodded at the receptionist. "Miss Bristol, after you."
"Thank you Mr. Howard," as soon as she was out of the receptionist's earshot she casually raised her right hand to brush her hair behind her neck at the same time whispering into her radio\watch. "Marshall, we're a go."
* * *
"Received," Marshall whispered into his earpiece. After taking a breath before starting to tap furiously at his lap-top. With the signal already Wolfram & Hart all he had to do was gain control of the law firm's internal security system. Within minutes he'd found and opened a trapdoor and secured control of the system. A smile on his face he looked up at the two sat in the front of the van. "I'm in charge of their system; video's re- playing from this time last week."
"Already?" he reddened at the admiration he heard in the Oriental's voice. "That was fast; I don't do my on-line shopping that quickly. Kate?"
The blonde nodded before lifting her radio. "Xander you're a go."
* * *
"Roger that Kate."
Faith watched as Xander dropped his walkie-talkie back into his pocket. Ever since they'd left the hotel, Xander had barely looked at, much less spoken, to her. And she didn't have a clue what she was supposed to have done. "We ready XMan?" she tried for a cheerful tone but her humour sounded forced even to her own ears.
"Yeah."
There it was again, that coldness. Shrugging away the hurt, he was far from the first guy to turn on her, she spoke again. "So I'm up right?"
Xander nodded. Faith looked up at the ceiling some forty feet above them. In the distance she could see a ledge just below a trapdoor. According to plans they'd managed to get the opening led to a ground floor that led to a storeroom. The cover weighed about fifty pounds, no obstacle to a Slayer even one-handed and off-balance.
Taking a second to gauge the distance and trajectory of the leap, she dropped into a crouch before bouncing upwards, sailing through the air, her hands held above her head. Her fingers caught on the edge of the rim, slipping for a second and nearly sending her plunging downwards but after a half-second of terror she managed to secure herself. For a few seconds she just hung there, concentrating her focus and enjoying the slight strain on her muscles, she swung upon onto the narrow landing. Upon standing, she looked up at the cover above her.
Faith grinned slightly as she bent her knees, god she'd missed this in prison, testing her powers, pushing herself. She took a second to look through her X-ray goggles for any sign of life in the room above before leaping into the air, her fists smashing into the trapdoor, ripping it out of its position before hitting the floor on her shoulders and rolling to her feet. "Damn," she smirked, "I'm good." After bracing a chair against the door she pulled a nylon rope out of her belt pouch and lowered it through the hole. Feeling a tug on the other end she started to pull the rope upwards, enjoying the slight burn that soon developed in her shoulders and arms. Within a few minutes she'd pulled Xander through the hole. She beamed at the man. "Told you I could do it!" she hissed.
Her pride faded at the man's cold words. "Let's get the others up before someone tries the door."
"Five by five," she hid her hurt by glancing away from the man and down the hole. Grabbing hold of the rope she began to pull, aided this time the pulling went much quicker. All the time Faith couldn't help but wonder what the hell was happening to the warm-hearted, kind man she'd begun to fall for. What the fuck had she done?
Within minutes all five of them were up in the storeroom. Xander spoke his voice tight but controlled. "Remember people we're on a schedule here. Marshall figures we've got a window of two hours before they realise we're re-playing CCTV footage from earlier in the week. Mandy you're in a command of dealing with any security systems we run into, Lara and Wes, you're in charge of selecting the useful texts, and Faith and I are muscle. When we've finished we walk out of the front door."
"Front door Xand?" Faith queried as she pushed the trap-door back in place, this was the part of the plan she wasn't down with. "that's risky."
"What do you suggest Faith?" Again Xman's voice wasn't exactly giving her a fuzzy feeling. "You might be able to drop through the hole without breaking both your legs but the rest of us can't. You're a team player now remember. Unless you're feeling the urge to go lone wolf again."
Ouch, Faith winced at the hurt Xander's words caused her. She opened her mouth to angrily retort only for Wes to break in, his tone matching Xander's for coldness. "That's quite enough Mr. Harris," she gaped, Wes was taking her side? "Faith was merely raising a very valid concern. While I believe your solution is the preferable one, both viewpoints have their pluses and minuses. Your attitude towards Faith is unnecessary, quite frankly I've come to expect better of you."
Xander stared at the former Watcher for a few seconds before nodding and turning towards her. "Sorry Faith," he grunted.
"Oh stop," she muttered, the sincerity in Xander's tone was underwhelming, "I'm tearing up."
Xander turned back to the Watcher. "Which floor?"
"The top one," Wes replied, "the library's hidden in the roof."
"Let's go."
* * *
"Two guards," Wes let a whispered curse, "the bloody buggers! They weren't here last time."
"Yes, they didn't leave security arrangements exactly as they were last time you broke in. How inconsiderate of them."
"Sarcasm does not befit you Lady Croft," Wes replied loftily, "Xander?"
"Faith?" Xander turned to her. "After all violence is your thing."
She gritted her teeth as she nodded. She was getting pretty damn sick of the 'tude she was copping off Xman, she might owe him big but that didn't give him licence to piss all over like this. Old Faith would have already laid the smack down on his ass already. "Five by five." She quickly checked out her black trouser suit she was wearing to fit in with the crowd. It sure as hell wasn't as sexy as her usual gear of skin-tight leathers and midriff tops, but, she glanced at the two guards waiting there and smirked, it was more than enough to get her close to a pair of middle- aged fat asses without them raising the alarm.
After a second she turned the corner and started towards the two men, putting a little extra sway into her hips and pouting her lips. God, she loved the power her looks gave her - even if it was over a couple of douche bags like these. "Hi boys," she purred as she approached the two guards, her tongue running slowly across her bottom lip. "I know why a pair of studs are you are up here in the middle of nowhere."
"Why's that?" Asked one of the guards, god he was practically drooling.
"'Cause if you were downstairs none of us girls would get any work done." Deciding she was close enough she lunged forward, grabbed the men by their tie knots and pulled, propelling the two guards face-first into the wall opposite. Spinning round she snapped off a pair of side kicks to the men's heads sending them crumpling to the ground. She grinned to herself; damn she'd missed the rush a bit of violence gave her.
"Get the bodies," her good humour evaporated as Xander walked up behind her followed by the others, "and dump them in the broom closet. You and I will take their posts. Wes, you, and Lara find what books you can. Many, you go with them, deal with security."
Once the others had disappeared Faith turned to Xander, intending to confront Xander and the way he'd been treating her. Her resolve crumbled at the man's cold mask. She turned away so he couldn't see the pain etched on her face. What her mom had always said was true- she was nothing but a worthless whore.
"Hey Xand you ready?" the Slayer bellowed through his closed hotel room door.
"I'll meet you in the lobby in five Faith," he replied as he checked through his equipment.
"Five by five," he heard the woman's footfalls recede into the distance.
Finally satisfied with his preparations he turned to leave. His blood chilled as he saw the figure stood by the door. "Jesse."
"Wow," his long-dead childhood friend grinned at his croaked gasp. "You've had quite the last few years haven't you bro? First you get to date Cordy, my dream girl, sleep with that Faith babe, then leave Sunnydale to become this badass demon hunter while heading a billion dollar corporation." Jesse's face hardened. "That could have been mine, Cordy, Faith, the respect, but no! You had to kill me you jealous bastard!"
"That's not true," Xander kept his face expressionless and his voice even but his heart tightened with tension and his stomach clenched in pain. "Jesse was dead before I staked him. I killed a demon."
"What about me?"
Xander slumped down on the unmade bed. "J.Jenny."
"From you I'd prefer Miss Calendar," the techno-pagan sneered. "If you and Rupert had shown a little more backbone and stood up to Buffy, insisted that she did her job, then maybe she'd have slain Angelus and I'd still be alive."
It was an effort but he managed to force away the heavy guilt pressing down on him. "And maybe if you'd told us the truth about the curse from the start, dozens of innocents would still be alive," squaring his shoulders he walked through the apparition and made for the door.
"Now Mr. Harris leaving with permission is very rude."
His mouth dry, Xander turned back to the spectre. "Neither's trying to kill my graduation class so let's just call it a draw."
Richard Wilkins smiled. "Ah feisty, a little bit of spirit I like that. You'll make a good match for my Faith once you find the nerve to court her."
"She's not your Faith!" for the first time he was truly rattled.
"Ah but she is son," Wilkins replied, his genial expression not shifting an inch. "A part of her at least. There's a darkness inside her, always will be. She'll fight against it but she'll always sink back down into it, it's who she is. She'll let you down, just as she did Linda Price and myself, you'll be next."
"That's bullshit!" Xander ignored the fact that the First's words echoed his own doubts. "Faith's strong now, we won't let her fall!"
"You and the vampire," the First chuckled, "somehow I doubt you two will be enough!"
"You can go to hell!"
"Already there son and you'll be joining me soon," Wilkins' beatific smile widened, "the whole world will."
* * *
Faith rose as Xander entered the hotel lobby, her welcoming smile dying as she noticed her friend's slightly wild-eyed look. "You five by five boss?" Faith hid her concern behind a jaunty tone.
"Fine." Although she hid it behind a bland expression she was hurt by the man's cold reply. Xander glanced around at the others while studiously avoiding her gaze. "Let's get this done," he ordered brusquely.
* * *
Sydney's heart thumped as she made their way to the law firm's reception desk. She wasn't normally nervous on a mission, she had too much experience for that, but this one was different, this time she was working with the legendary Ethan Hunt. "Relax," Hunt muttered in her ear, his voice calm. "I've heard a lot about you, I'm sure you'll be fine."
Sydney smiled slightly at the praise, the legendary Ethan Hunt had heard of her, as she approached the desk. "Hello," she said. "Mr Edward Howard and Stella Bristol to see Ms. Angela Doyle."
"Just a moment please," the young office worker sat behind the desk flashed them a professionally insincere smile. "I'll just ring Ms. Doyle and tell her you're here."
As soon as the receptionist lifted the phone and began dialling Sydney reached up and casually adjusted her left earring, turning the transmission on, and sending a signal piggy-backing onto W & H's internal telecommunications line. Sydney waited patiently for the receptionist to finish her conversation. Finally she did and looked up at them, her practiced smile still in place. "You can go through. Take the elevator to the sixth floor. Someone will be waiting for you there."
"Thank you," Ethan nodded at the receptionist. "Miss Bristol, after you."
"Thank you Mr. Howard," as soon as she was out of the receptionist's earshot she casually raised her right hand to brush her hair behind her neck at the same time whispering into her radio\watch. "Marshall, we're a go."
* * *
"Received," Marshall whispered into his earpiece. After taking a breath before starting to tap furiously at his lap-top. With the signal already Wolfram & Hart all he had to do was gain control of the law firm's internal security system. Within minutes he'd found and opened a trapdoor and secured control of the system. A smile on his face he looked up at the two sat in the front of the van. "I'm in charge of their system; video's re- playing from this time last week."
"Already?" he reddened at the admiration he heard in the Oriental's voice. "That was fast; I don't do my on-line shopping that quickly. Kate?"
The blonde nodded before lifting her radio. "Xander you're a go."
* * *
"Roger that Kate."
Faith watched as Xander dropped his walkie-talkie back into his pocket. Ever since they'd left the hotel, Xander had barely looked at, much less spoken, to her. And she didn't have a clue what she was supposed to have done. "We ready XMan?" she tried for a cheerful tone but her humour sounded forced even to her own ears.
"Yeah."
There it was again, that coldness. Shrugging away the hurt, he was far from the first guy to turn on her, she spoke again. "So I'm up right?"
Xander nodded. Faith looked up at the ceiling some forty feet above them. In the distance she could see a ledge just below a trapdoor. According to plans they'd managed to get the opening led to a ground floor that led to a storeroom. The cover weighed about fifty pounds, no obstacle to a Slayer even one-handed and off-balance.
Taking a second to gauge the distance and trajectory of the leap, she dropped into a crouch before bouncing upwards, sailing through the air, her hands held above her head. Her fingers caught on the edge of the rim, slipping for a second and nearly sending her plunging downwards but after a half-second of terror she managed to secure herself. For a few seconds she just hung there, concentrating her focus and enjoying the slight strain on her muscles, she swung upon onto the narrow landing. Upon standing, she looked up at the cover above her.
Faith grinned slightly as she bent her knees, god she'd missed this in prison, testing her powers, pushing herself. She took a second to look through her X-ray goggles for any sign of life in the room above before leaping into the air, her fists smashing into the trapdoor, ripping it out of its position before hitting the floor on her shoulders and rolling to her feet. "Damn," she smirked, "I'm good." After bracing a chair against the door she pulled a nylon rope out of her belt pouch and lowered it through the hole. Feeling a tug on the other end she started to pull the rope upwards, enjoying the slight burn that soon developed in her shoulders and arms. Within a few minutes she'd pulled Xander through the hole. She beamed at the man. "Told you I could do it!" she hissed.
Her pride faded at the man's cold words. "Let's get the others up before someone tries the door."
"Five by five," she hid her hurt by glancing away from the man and down the hole. Grabbing hold of the rope she began to pull, aided this time the pulling went much quicker. All the time Faith couldn't help but wonder what the hell was happening to the warm-hearted, kind man she'd begun to fall for. What the fuck had she done?
Within minutes all five of them were up in the storeroom. Xander spoke his voice tight but controlled. "Remember people we're on a schedule here. Marshall figures we've got a window of two hours before they realise we're re-playing CCTV footage from earlier in the week. Mandy you're in a command of dealing with any security systems we run into, Lara and Wes, you're in charge of selecting the useful texts, and Faith and I are muscle. When we've finished we walk out of the front door."
"Front door Xand?" Faith queried as she pushed the trap-door back in place, this was the part of the plan she wasn't down with. "that's risky."
"What do you suggest Faith?" Again Xman's voice wasn't exactly giving her a fuzzy feeling. "You might be able to drop through the hole without breaking both your legs but the rest of us can't. You're a team player now remember. Unless you're feeling the urge to go lone wolf again."
Ouch, Faith winced at the hurt Xander's words caused her. She opened her mouth to angrily retort only for Wes to break in, his tone matching Xander's for coldness. "That's quite enough Mr. Harris," she gaped, Wes was taking her side? "Faith was merely raising a very valid concern. While I believe your solution is the preferable one, both viewpoints have their pluses and minuses. Your attitude towards Faith is unnecessary, quite frankly I've come to expect better of you."
Xander stared at the former Watcher for a few seconds before nodding and turning towards her. "Sorry Faith," he grunted.
"Oh stop," she muttered, the sincerity in Xander's tone was underwhelming, "I'm tearing up."
Xander turned back to the Watcher. "Which floor?"
"The top one," Wes replied, "the library's hidden in the roof."
"Let's go."
* * *
"Two guards," Wes let a whispered curse, "the bloody buggers! They weren't here last time."
"Yes, they didn't leave security arrangements exactly as they were last time you broke in. How inconsiderate of them."
"Sarcasm does not befit you Lady Croft," Wes replied loftily, "Xander?"
"Faith?" Xander turned to her. "After all violence is your thing."
She gritted her teeth as she nodded. She was getting pretty damn sick of the 'tude she was copping off Xman, she might owe him big but that didn't give him licence to piss all over like this. Old Faith would have already laid the smack down on his ass already. "Five by five." She quickly checked out her black trouser suit she was wearing to fit in with the crowd. It sure as hell wasn't as sexy as her usual gear of skin-tight leathers and midriff tops, but, she glanced at the two guards waiting there and smirked, it was more than enough to get her close to a pair of middle- aged fat asses without them raising the alarm.
After a second she turned the corner and started towards the two men, putting a little extra sway into her hips and pouting her lips. God, she loved the power her looks gave her - even if it was over a couple of douche bags like these. "Hi boys," she purred as she approached the two guards, her tongue running slowly across her bottom lip. "I know why a pair of studs are you are up here in the middle of nowhere."
"Why's that?" Asked one of the guards, god he was practically drooling.
"'Cause if you were downstairs none of us girls would get any work done." Deciding she was close enough she lunged forward, grabbed the men by their tie knots and pulled, propelling the two guards face-first into the wall opposite. Spinning round she snapped off a pair of side kicks to the men's heads sending them crumpling to the ground. She grinned to herself; damn she'd missed the rush a bit of violence gave her.
"Get the bodies," her good humour evaporated as Xander walked up behind her followed by the others, "and dump them in the broom closet. You and I will take their posts. Wes, you, and Lara find what books you can. Many, you go with them, deal with security."
Once the others had disappeared Faith turned to Xander, intending to confront Xander and the way he'd been treating her. Her resolve crumbled at the man's cold mask. She turned away so he couldn't see the pain etched on her face. What her mom had always said was true- she was nothing but a worthless whore.
