CHAPTER EIGHT
Faith rubbed her eyes. Maybe Angel had a point. She had gone out on this mission half-lit but there was no way of staying at home. She wanted to help find Connor. Only she and Spike knew the kid's importance to Angel. He didn't want to tell anyone else yet so she wanted to be the one to find him and bring him in as gently as she could.
Wes had called her on patrol to tell her two more victims had been found. No signs of Daniel, Connor or the Ays demons. She had headed over to where the bodies had been found but she didn't have any more success in finding Connor there than she and Spike had had earlier. The sun was nearly up and Spike and Angel had already called it a day. She was sober again and ready to go home. That's when she ran across him behind one of the college bars digging in the dumpster.
"Steven," she called, remembering that seemed to be the name he was answering to. "Would your father like you eating out of the trash?"
Connor's head snapped up, his nostrils flaring. His eyes slotted as his lips skinned back. He jumped off the garbage bin. "Demon lover."
"Awww, you remembered," Faith said as he charged her and then she shot him twice.
Connor kept up his charge. She danced back, not sure if three doses was safe. He collapsed just as he grabbed hold of her. He slid down her body, puddling at her feet. It was somewhere between comic, seductive and pathetic. She squatted down then glanced at the sky. The sun was up. No calling Spike or Angel for help. She figured she could call Wes or Gunn but why bother? Surely she could lug him back to the car on her own. If she had to wait, someone was bound to spot them and she didn't want to try to explain to the cops why she was kidnaping a teenager.
She hefted him up in a fireman's carry and started for the car. "You have the boniest damn hips, kid," she said and he couldn't complain. Faith found she liked silence in a man. Spike, for example, was always bitching like a woman. It was irritating but without it, would he be Spike? Maybe she should tranq him and find out.
Faith got Connor to the car without being spotted. She dumped him unceremoniously into the trunk. She traced the bow of his cupid lips with a finger as she fought to place him in her memory. There just weren't any Connor shaped holes in it. "Damn you, Angel. Sorry, kid, I can't risk you waking up and I don't need anyone spotting you snoozing in the back seat, looks suspicious, you know."
There were no complaints as she shut the trunk. She could get used to the silent type. There was something to be said for unconscious men. Faith slid behind the wheel, got started toward the firm and place a call. "Angel, I got him...he's fine. I shot his ass full of tranqs and he almost didn't go down...no, no signs of Holtz. I'm thinking Connor slipped his leash since he was eating at Chez Dumpster. Either that or Holtz was elsewhere on campus and there was just something too good to resist in the trash. I'd rather not think about it. You got a holding cell for him?...Okay, see you there."
Angel was waiting for her in the garage with the whole crew by the time she arrived. Spike and Fred had a gurney between them and Gunn and Wes had tranq guns at the ready just in case. She popped the trunk and jumped back, waiting for an explosion that didn't come. Connor was still sleeping peacefully. She and Angel lifted him out and put him on the gurney.
Fred started strapping him down. "Was he any trouble?"
"The tranqs worked, took two. I almost thought I'd need three," Faith said as they started wheeling him off.
"Where did you find him?" Wes asked.
"Not too far from where the bodies were found. He's pretty dirty but he has no blood on him," Faith replied. "I don't think he's our campus killer."
"You could be right," Wes conceded. "However, he did attack you, Faith. He represents an unknown danger that we need to assess."
"I just hope he doesn't bring charges against me for kidnaping," she joked. "Angel, you do have that holding cell, right?"
"We brought over Angelus' cage from the Hyperion," Fred broke in. "If it could hold Angelus, it should be adequate to hold this boy."
"Provided he doesn't slip through the bars," Spike said. "There's not much to him."
"Nah, he's a lightweight," Faith said, ignoring Angel's evil eye."
"We have one of the doctors waiting to examine him," Fred said.
"I want him to be made as comfortable as possible in the holding cell," Angel said. "As far as we know he's innocent of any killings and he appears troubled...needs our help."
"We don't know who he is yet," Gunn said, "But we're working on it."
Faith saw Angel nod his head, distractedly. As they entered the room with Angelus' cage Faith saw the doctor who worked on her the night along with Knox, setting up equipment. Knox's eyes widened.
"Oh, this is wrong," Knox said, gesturing at Connor. "That's Project 229. He's never supposed to be brought here, Eve's orders."
Faith caught Angel's arm before he could launch himself at Knox. She could see it coming. Even Knox seemed to sense something was wrong. Angel cast a glance down at the fingers digging into his arm as if he couldn't quite understand why they were there.
"What are you talking about, Knoxie?" Fred seemed perplexed. "I don't know anything about a Project 229."
Knox took a step back, nervously chewing on his bottom lip. Faith realized he had spoken without thinking. Fred obviously wasn't supposed to know about the project.
"Knox, Fred asked a question," Gunn snapped, irritated by the hesitation.
"It's one of the outsourced projects. Eve said you had signed off on it, Fred, and were leaving it in my hands." Knox tried to rally some officiousness.
"What did you do to the boy?" Angel growled as the doctor began a cursory exam of Connor.
Knox tucked his chin down, giving Angel an incredulous look. "Kid? That's not a kid. He's a demon."
"He doesn't look much like a demon," Fred said dubiously.
"Neither do Spike or Mr. Angel," Knox countered. "Trust me, he's a demon. Nothing human heals like he does. I know. I've seen the medical reports."
"I think you need to tell us everything about Project 229," Angel said, his voice too calm and still. It made Faith's skin crawl.
"I think we should get him into the cage," the doctor said. "He looks fine, no troubles breathing despite the tranquilizers but he seems to be coming around. I'll get him some scrubs. We should take all his clothing to forensics. He is one of the suspects in the ritual murders, yes?"
"Yes," Wesley said. "We should probably help with the clothes."
"Spike, give me a hand," Faith said. "Knox, I think Angel's waiting for an answer."
"But you already know about the project, sir. I've given all the reports to Eve. She said she was reporting directly to you on this," Knox protested, increasing agitation showing in his eyes.
"Pretend that she hasn't." Angel walked toward him until Knox was forced into a chair, looking up at him submissively.
"Man, why do I get stuck with stripping a kid?" Spike whined before Knox could start.
"Because I said so." Faith shoved him into the cage.
"Fine but you take the tail end. You're used to getting boys out of their pants," Spike said and Faith punched him hard enough to knock him into the cage. "Oww, that hurt." Spike rubbed his shoulder as Faith started unstrapping Connor from the Gurney and levered him onto the cot inside the cage.
"Do you mind, Spike?" Angel grated then looked back at Knox.
"Project 229 concerns demon 229, him." Knox pointed into the cage where Faith and Spike were stripping the clothes off of Connor and handing them to Fred to put into evidence bags. "He's a demon that Eve claimed had a role in some prophecy. Wolfram and Hart wanted to know if there were things about him that could be used. I mean, there are some demons that make powerful venoms that can be rendered into medicines and others secrete substances that can be sold at a great profit. They wanted to know if there were ways of tapping into his healing abilities and strength so the doctors in New York did extensive experimentation and unfortunately couldn't find anything that could be used. Demon 229 seems to be unique as far as we can tell. It would help if we knew which dimension he was from. Eve said she thought it was Quor-Toth but since there are no dimensional openings to there, that seemed unlikely."
"What kind of medical experimentation?" Angel made a fist, his knuckles popping ominously. Faith felt an uncomfortable shiver up her spine at his cold tone.
Knox swallowed hard, eyeing that fist. "Anything you can think of. Every major organ system was tested, DNA work was done, his reactions to drugs, his strength was measured, his healing abilities pushed to their limits."
"Knox, it sounds like you and Eve turned him over to Dr. Mengele," Fred said, wrapping her arms around herself.
"He's not a human being, Fred. I would have thought that neutralizing a demon would sit well with the new paradigm here," Knox said, looking offended.
"I do have the reports. Fred, I'd like you to look them over, you and Wesley, and tell me what the doctors did to him," Angel said, "And Knox, he's not a demon, not entirely. He's mostly human, more human than Spike or me."
Faith watched Knox shrivel either from the arctic blast rolling off Angel or because it was finally sinking in he had been a dupe and had been hurting a kid.
"Angel, how do you know that?" Wesley asked.
"Take my word for it. It's the reason Eve circumvented Fred and the laboratory here. She knew I'd stop her if I knew about this," Angel said and Knox squirmed in his seat.
"Bloody hell, look at his chest. This kid is as delicate as a bird," Spike said, tugging the blue scrub top the doctor offered down over Connor's shoulders.
"He's wiry," Angel shot back. Faith rolled her eyes at his defensiveness.
"I'm wiry, Peaches," Spike said. "This kid is a piece of fragile spun glass."
"Spike, trust me, there's nothing fragile about him," Faith said, tying the scrub pants on over his narrow hips. Connor moaned a bit as she did. "Shit, he's waking up."
"Faith, Spike, get out of the cage," Angel said. "Especially you, Spike. He doesn't like vampires."
Spike grinned. "Awww, granddaddy's worried about me."
Angel's eyes narrowed. "Faith, lock Spike inside."
She rolled her eyes again and propelled Spike out. Wes locked the door behind them.
Gunn waggled his cell phone at Angel. "Just called the office. Eve's taken the day off and I've been called up for a meeting with the Senior Partners. I can't exactly say no."
"Go." Angel waved him on. "Looks like Eve's letting you take the heat for this alone, Knox"
He looked up at Angel, trying to look tough but only managing to look ready to wet his pants. "I was told he was a demon. I didn't do anything to him myself, just filed the paperwork." Knox's eyes begged Fred for a rescue. "I was only following orders."
"I'm pretty sure that's what Mengele said, too," Spike put in.
"Who is that guy?" Faith asked, wondering if she should be watching the news or should have paid attention in history class.
"Nazi doctor," Spike said.
"Proof that having a soul doesn't necessarily make you good," Angel added. He turned his attention back to Knox. "What did the doctors do to him to damage him mentally?"
Knox shock his head. "Nothing. Eve said some heavy duty magic was used on him and when they reversed parts of the spell, he went suicidal. He became too much for the doctors to handle and Eve said he couldn't be allowed to die. He had a role to play and all that stuff so they brought in telepaths to figure out what was wrong. It was all their poking around that did the damage. I don't think we know if it's permanent or not. Eve seems to think he'll get better and she hired someone to help with that, someone the demon trusts but I don't know who."
Angel nodded. "Get out of here. Fred, you can deal with this. See if you can find any other irregularities and any other projects going on behind your back."
She bobbed her head, her long hair swinging. "Of course. Come on, Knox." This time there was nothing friendly in her voice toward him that Faith could hear.
Faith looked over at Wesley and wondered if Angel was going to send him away. The doctor had already gone on her way. Wesley ranged closer to the cage, staring in at Connor who was stirring.
"What makes this young man so important?" Wesley fingered the bars of the cage. "You know more than you're saying, Angel."
"I don't know a thing about what's been done to him or why, Wesley. I know a little about his past. There's nothing there that'll help us now," Angel lied.
Wesley glanced over his shoulder at him. "You truly do not think he's involved with these killings?"
"No, I don't. As Faith pointed out, he would have been covered in blood if he killed those kids tonight," Angel said.
"And what of his companion, the one who attacked Spike?" Wesley asked.
"He may very well track Co...Steven back here," Angel said. "We have to be prepared for that. But in the meantime, I think your time is best spent on figuring out how to banish the Ays because I'm wagering Spike is right about them possessing those boys whom we know did at least some of the murderers."
Wes looked back at the cage as if torn between his desire to help stop the murderers and his innate curiosity about their captive. "I think I know how to do it. The problem will be finding them in order to cast the binding spell."
"Work on it," Angel said. Wesley nodded and headed out.
Faith went over to the cage. Connor was sitting up on the bed, shaking his head. "Do you want a drink of water or something? You probably have one hell of hangover from those tranqs."
Connor got up unsteadily, looking at her. His eyes widened seeing Spike and Angel. He took a step back and fell onto the cot. His head rapped against the bars. He startled, grabbing the bars as if seeing them for the first time. Jumping up he threw himself against the bars on one side then the other, racing back and forth, trying to batter his way free until he was bloody.
"This isn't going well," Spike said.
"We have to get him to stop," Angel said, going up to the bars.
Connor screamed "Demon!" and slammed himself against the bars trying to grab Angel.
"You don't have any weapons. Just calm down," Faith said.
That bit of information only seemed to make Connor more crazed. Angel snared him through the bars, pulling him against them backwards. He tried to slide an arm around Connor without putting him in a choke hold.
Angel made shushing noises, "It's all right, Connor. Just relax."
The boy went ballistic. Kicking, thrashing, arching his spine, almost climbing the walls. The word, 'demon' turned into gibberish as it spilled out of Connor's mouth faster and faster as his movements became more desperate. Faith elbowed Angel aside, getting her own grip on the boy.
"Angel, Spike, just step back away from the cage," she said. "He doesn't recognize you, Angel. You're only making it worse." Faith did put him in a choke hold but didn't put much pressure behind it. With her other hand she stroked his hair. "It's all right, Steven." She looked over her shoulder. "That's the name he seems to like," she added for Angel's sake. "It'll be all right. I won't let them hurt you. I know it's scary inside this cage."
Connor sobbed and his knees went out. Faith slid down the bars keeping contact with him all the way to the floor.
"I know, I know how scary cages are. I've been in them. But it's for your own good. I promise you my job is to stop demons. I'm a Slayer. You met me before and somewhere inside the scrambled eggs those mind readers left you for brains, you'll remember that and you'll know I take demons out. So, if I'm saying Angel and Spike are good demons, you can trust that." She loosened her grip on him. Connor wept more loudly. "No one is going to hurt you again, okay? No one. I promise you. Angel and Spike are here to protect you, no more people hurting you. Can we talk about this now? You can go sit on the bed and we'll just talk."
Faith pulled her arms out of the cage. Connor curled into a ball weeping piteously. She stroked his back and gazed up at Angel sadly, "I don't think it's going to get better than this."
"Not until we find out what Eve had done to him. Someone needs to stay with him in case they try to spirit him away from here," Angel said, sounding like himself for the first time since Faith had flown into L.A.
"Faith and I can do that, Peaches," Spike said. "You go talk to the others, see what the bastards did to him, see if it can be fixed."
Angel managed a melancholy smile. "Thanks, Spike."
He turned and left. Spike gave Faith hand up.
"This is majorly fucked up," she said.
"Yeah. Let's grab some chairs. We both know this ain't over," he said.
Faith wished he was wrong.
