THE END IS ONLY THE BEGINNING
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.
CHAPTER 9-NERVES OF STEEL
With knuckles whiter than the light that you see after you die Andrew tightly held his death grip on the vans armrests. He had been almost thrown into the seat by an overly anxious and somewhat angry Angel after Willow had made it clear in no uncertain terms that Andrew by himself could be dangerous and annoying, but Andrew with a video camera was a harbinger of the apocalypse. Xander sat in the chair beside him, intently scrutinizing every single square inch of the pictures that Angel had received from Lilah. Even with only one eye the ex-carpenter didn't miss a single aspect of the pictures, even going so far as to notice that there were a few pictures missing. Gunn had stayed behind to hold the fort in L.A. along with a now almost hyperventilating Fred. Giles had initially decided not to go but had then quickly changed his mind, after Willow had said that she'd be alright with Kennedy at her side, and almost missed Angel as he was about to head back towards the Wolfram and Hart building. Angel and the others had traveled back there to get a big enough vehicle that could fit everyone inside and allow for the fact that only Los Angels was currently operating without the sun. Angel wasn't about to get Cordelia back only to have him disintegrate into a ball of flames in front of her two seconds later.
"I like this chair…it's comfy…," Andrew mumbled with a happy and content smirk on his face while his hands still kept their death grip on the armrest, making for a very unusual sight.
"Yeah…real comfy…," Xander mumbled in reply as he wiped away the tears that blurred his vision and fell unimpeded onto the pictures in his hands.
"How much further…," Angel asked impatiently from the passenger seat as he came close for the second time to driving his hand through the window.
"Another hour or so Angel…please try to calm down…," Giles replied with a nervous frown on his face as he pushed the accelerator down even further, fretting at the eighty miles an hour reading on the speedometer.
"I can't…I'll be calm when I know for sure about Cordy…," Angel said with a very frustrated scowl on his face as he leaned his head back and fingered the hilt of the swords that sat between his legs.
"Lilah just gave you these Angel…no threats…no…," Xander asked with a nervous and confused look on his face as he broke into the conversation.
"No threats at all…in fact she seemed a little to eager to give me those…why…," Angel said with a concerned frown on his face as he ran a nervous hand through his hair.
"Nothing really…but I noticed that there are some pictures missing…and…," Xander replied with a deep in thought look of worry on his face as he leaned forward in his seat.
"Missing…what do you mean," Angel asked in surprise as he turned back and motioned for Xander to give him the pictures, which the ex-carpenter did reluctantly.
"You see the numbers in the upper right hand corner…one slash twelve, two slash twelve and so on…," Xander replied with a serious look on his face as beside him Andrew looked on in glee as if this was one of his wildest dreams come true.
"Yeah…so what…wait pictures five, six, and seven are missing…," Angel muttered with a slowly growing tone of contempt and anger in his voice before he added, "Great…now for all we know we could be walking straight into a trap." In the back seat Andrew went a ghostly white and almost passed out while Xander grabbed the axe that Gunn had thrown him on the way out and mentally started to prepare himself for battle.
* * * * * *
Wesley had taken one of the few remaining cabs in the city back to the Wolfram and Hart building to get his suv before heading off to one of his usual pubs. After he had fallen out of favor with Angel and the others at Angel Investigations he had become quite familiar with many of the local bars and pubs. Usually he'd drink until he felt like he was about to pass out, in a vain attempt to dull the aching crater in his heart, before passing out at the table and ending up being woken up the next morning or later that night by the bartender. He had lost some money that way and after a while had resorted to only taking enough money to pay for the drinks. On this night however his mission was only to drink enough so that he could get a good nights sleep and get the thoughts of Faith, which now seemed to be constantly at the forefront of his mind, out of his head. He could still smell her intoxicating aroma of the combination of shampoo, perfume, and various body lotions. He had no more than sat down and taken the first swig of his first beer of the evening, at a local demon dive, when a voice musically broke in from behind him.
"You know how hard it was for me to follow you Wes…," Faith said with a fake look of anger on her face as she pulled up a chair and sat down beside him, motioning to the bartender to bring her one of what Wesley was drinking.
"Hello Faith…I thought I told you that…," Wesley started to say without changing the look on his face before he took another swig of beer.
"I know…but since when have I ever done anything that you told me to do…thanks," Faith replied with a sexy smile and wink Wesley's way before thanking the bartender for the beer.
"Well you should have listened this time…I prefer to drink alone…," Wesley said with a stone cold serious look on his face as he leaned forward in his chair and set his bottle of beer back down on the table.
"So I've heard…wanna tell me why…," Faith asked softly with a look of concern on her face before she took a sip of her beer and leaned forward on her elbows on the table.
"Because…bloody hell just because…," Wesley stammered out in frustration before Faith let out a short laugh that for some reason seemed to ease the tension between the two.
"You're ears turn red when you get angry…I never noticed that…," Faith added with a sly snicker before she took another sip of her beer.
"Me either…," Wesley mumbled back softly as he nervously lifted a hand up and scratched his right ear.
"So what's the game plan Wes…try to find the answers to all of your problems at the bottom of a bottle…," Faith asked with a very serious tone to her voice that she hid behind a slightly playful smile.
"Something like that…listen I can take care of myself out here tonight, you should go back to the Hyperion and stand guard…take care of Robin…," Wesley said slowly as if he were making it up as he went along. Faith flinched a bit at Robin's name before she swallowed hard and answered.
"You don't like him…," Faith asked with a nervous frown on her face that she hid behind her bottle of beer.
"It's that obvious…," Wesley mumbled back with an uncertain smirk on his face before he finished off his bottle of beer and motioned for two more. Mostly because he got the distinct impression that not matter what he did or said Faith wasn't going anywhere until she got her point across, whatever it was.
"Yeah…at least to me…but then slayer senses and all…," Faith offered up with a short chuckle before she ran a nervous hand through her hair.
"Sorry if that's not what you hoped would happen but…," Wesley started to say with a slightly worried frown on his face before Faith cut him off with a wave of her hand.
"Hey…you're entitled to like or hate who you want…but yeah there was that hope…," Faith started to say with a casual tone to her voice before her mood turned somber a bit.
"Faith…I really am…sorry, I know that I haven't known him for more than like a few minutes but…," Wesley trailed off with a worried scowl on his face as he suddenly found that he couldn't look Faith in the eye.
"How about we change the subject before one of us ends up with a few less teeth…," Faith replied with a nervous smile before she finished off her bottle of beer and sat back a bit as the bartender put another one in front of her.
"Agreed…besides I'd hate to have to ruin that beautiful smile of yours," Wesley chided back with a sly snicker before he took the first drink of his second beer. Faith started to say something sarcastic in response but thought better of it and just smiled and shook her head. "Was there something in particular that you wanted to talk about or…were you just throwing out the concept," Wesley added with a now more serious look on his face, one that he had used many a time before.
"Are you happy…," Faith asked, her eyes seemingly super glued to the rim of her beer bottle, as she nervously shuffled her feet under the table.
"And by happy you mean…what exactly," Wesley replied with a question of his own as he wasn't sure exactly where Faith was going with her new line of questions.
"Happy…you know…at a point in your life where you want to be…have friends, loved ones…and all that shit…," Faith asked with an impatient frown on her face, looking to Wesley that she was just about to jump out of her chair and out the door.
"Hmm…if that's the criteria that we're using for this then I'd have to say…no…I'm not happy," Wesley answered with a grim scowl on his face before he took another swig.
"That's what I thought…," Faith mumbled sadly as she leaned her head back and took a big long swig of beer.
"And you…are you…," Wesley asked softly, keeping his eyes staring straight ahead at an old poster on the far wall. Faiths only reply, at first, was to shrug her shoulders before Wesley cocked an eyebrow and stared at her she solemnly shook her head. "Birds of a feather…and all that," Wesley said with a solemn look on his face before he unconsciously took a gamble and laid a hand overtop of Faiths free hand.
"We are two really fucked up people aren't we…," Faith said with a slow nod of her head in agreement as she didn't flinch a bit at Wesley's touch.
"Yeah…I've been tortured, blown up, shot, and had my throat slit nearly from one bloody ear to the other…and yet…," Wesley added as he slowly nodded his head and looked over at Faith.
"You wouldn't trade any of it for the world right…," Faith interjected with a tired yawn as she looked over at Wesley.
"Well I could have done without the torture part but…in the end it worked out for the best so all's well that ends well right…," Wesley said with a nervous shrug of his shoulders before he took another drink.
"What do you mean…I nearly killed you…," Faith exclaimed with an angry scowl on her face as she ripped her hand out form under Wesley's and balled it up into a fist.
"But you didn't Faith…that's the point…and because of how that all turned out you got started on your road to redemption…a road that I could use myself…try to see if I can get back to what I once was…," Wesley shot back with a serious, but not angry or sad, look on his face as Faith leaned forward a bit, seeming to hang on every word.
"What you once were…," Faith mouthed back in response without any sound coming out of her lips.
"A good man…," Wesley finished Faith's thought with a dejected and sullen look on his face as he slumped down in his chair and started to try to drain the bottle of beer in one gulp before Faith angrily grabbed the bottle away.
"Wait a damn minute Wesley…you are a good man…sure you've made some mistakes in your past but who hasn't…you can't dwell on the past forever…you've got to move on, you've got to believe that fate has something good in store for you…otherwise what's the use," Faith exclaimed angrily as she slammed Wesley's bottle of beer down onto the table and looked him in the eye.
"I thought you didn't believe in fate…that's what you said that night…," Wesley muttered with a slightly frustrated scowl on his face as he took his bottle of beer back and took a drink.
"Back then I didn't, at that time life was like a roller coaster to me…it had its ups and downs but in the end you're always just going around in a circle, going nowhere…but now I'm not so sure…," Faith shot back with an aggressive look on her face as she sat up straight in her chair and glared at Wesley.
"Fate can be fickle…but I have often wondered about the other things that you said that night…would things have been different if I had been Buffy's watcher and Giles been your watcher…and if I had the…," Wesley started to say with a nonchalant frown on his face before he shut up and looked away.
"I remember Wesley…all to well…I asked you if you had the hots for me…but you never really got the chance to answer me did you…now this is going to sound stupid but there were times in prison where I did lie there and wonder what your answer would have been to that last question had I not been torturing you," Faith confided softly to Wesley before she began to nervously tap her fingers on the table and looked away.
"Well that was a very direct question for you to have asked me…but you're right…I really never answered that question…perhaps it's high time that I did…," Wesley started to say while slowly nodding his head before his tone grew serious and he turned to Faith, who stopped tapping her fingers on the table and let out a shaky breath as his gaze locked onto hers.
"So what's your answer…," Faith asked, forcing the words out through a nerve clenched jaw, as she leaned in closer, mirroring Wesley's movements.
"You tell me…," Wesley said softly as he took a gamble and quickly gapped the space in between them and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Wesley nearly had a heart attack as he waited for Faith's response. For a split second she leaned back a bit and opened up her eyes to once again lock gazes with Wesley. But just as Wesley was about to apologize for being to forward Faith grabbed the back of his head and pulled him into a deep, passionate, eager kiss, their tongues ultimately battling each other for control.
* * * * * *
"Eww…I've got sand in places that I didn't even know I had and…," Cordelia groaned with a frustrated scowl on her face as she started to stand up.
"Well that wasn't as bad as the great sandstorm in '02…," Anya said with a slightly unhappy frown on her face as she pulled herself up beside Cordelia.
"Oh my…," Cordelia raced out with a shocked and horrified look on her face before she turned away and tried to calm her queasy stomach.
"What…oh neat…entrails…," Anya asked with a confused look on her face at first before a large smile spread itself across her face.
"What…," Cordelia shouted in total confusion before Anya couldn't take it anymore and broke into a fit of laughter as the sun just started to slip beneath the horizon.
"When you've see one set of entrails you've seen em all," Anya replied with a look that seemed to say that she could care less as she walked around the broken down car and towards the horribly mutilated corpse of one of the Initiative soldiers.
"That doesn't help…," Cordelia mumbled with a sarcastic scowl on her face as she slowly walked around the rear of the car and tried to shake the dust and dirt off of her clothes.
"Did you see what did this…," Anya asked with a deep in thought look on her face as she squatted down and crossed her arms, looking around the body for anything clues.
"Sorry but I was a little to preoccupied with not dying…," Cordelia answered with an uncertain look on her face as she walked up next to Anya and wrinkled her nose at the sight of the body.
"Well someone should still be here…unless they all ended up like this guy…," Anya started to say with an optimistic look on her face and tone to her voice before she sighed and shrugged her shoulders.
"Let's hope he's the only one…," Cordelia said with a sick to her stomach look on her face as she walked away from the corpse.
"Hey wait for me…," Anya shouted in surprise as she jumped to her feet and ran off after Cordelia.
* * * * * * *
Neither had spoken since the kiss, both unsure of exactly what to say, both unwilling to admit that they had enjoyed the act more than they thought they would. Faith sat low in her chair, draining one bottle after another, hoping to ease her nerves. Wesley meanwhile chose to intently scrutinize the labels on his bottles before he drained them of their contents. By the time an hour had passed since the kiss Wesley and Faith were doing all that they could to even stay in their seats, as a few minutes earlier the bartender had cut them off and refused to give them any more beer.
"You two fleshbags got a lot of nerve showing your faces around here and…," an arrogant voice from behind Faith started to say before she winked at Wesley and whirled around out of the chair and to her feet. Seconds later Faith was busy smashing the demons head into the table.
"Hey Wes look…it's our old friend Frank…," Faith said with an energized smile on her face as she continued to bash the demons head into the table.
"It's Francis…," Francis was able to shout out in between times that his head was bashed into the table.
"Say goodnight Francis…," Wesley replied with a calm smirk on his face before in one motion he reached into his coat, pulled out one of his guns, and made good on an earlier promise.
"Good night Francis…," Faith added with a mocking wave as she let Francis' body fall to the ground, stepping over him and grabbing another couple of beers despite the bartenders best efforts before returning to her seat. Everyone in the bar fearfully stared at the body of the demon on the floor with its brains blown out of the back of its head.
END OF CHAPTER 9