After The Storm
Chapter 21
By Vixen
Faith had remarked on how warm it was when they left for this mission. Summer was right around the corner. However, when they crossed over into the area covered by the dark shadowed sky, the place where the vortex had its strongest hold, the heat fled along with all other signs of life. Under the black sky, the overcast streets were unwelcoming and cold.
"Well, I guess we're in the right place," The slayer said as thundered rippled overhead. The creepy sensations the place gave off were stronger than ever. Even though Willow had put a protection spell on both of them before leaving the hotel, Faith could still feel her strength being drawn away, leaving her more vulnerable than she wanted to be in the current situation.
At least the plan was simple enough. A few Romanian phrases said in the right accent, a dash of herbs and powered, and the vortex would cease to be. Faith just hoped she got the words right for the spell. Willow had gone over the incantation with them about a hundred times before they'd left. The witch had corrected Faith on her pronunciation leading the slayer to becoming agitated and annoyed. Still, it was to make sure that all the words rolled off the girl's tongue the right way, they only had one chance at this and it had to work.
Connor's job was easier; all he had to do was toss the mixture of herbs into the center of the vortex. That, and deal with his schizophrenic alter ego who Faith was sure was still talking to him. Faith kept one eye on him at all times, just so that she wouldn't be surprised if he started acting crazy again. Looking back at him again, she shot him a worried glance, wondering if being so close to the vortex would give The First an added strength. He saw the look and knew exactly what she was thinking. Hell, he was thinking the same thing himself. Nevertheless, he returned her look with a pouting scowl of his own, "What? I'm fine."
"Just checking," she replied a little angrily. How she had lost the argument, she'd never know. The mission was too dangerous to throw unknowns like this into the mix. Willow had her little talk with the boy before leaving, and the witch had told her that he was okay to go. Still, Faith was wary, better to be prepared for an ally to stab you in the back, then to actually get stabbed in the back. It was her life's motto and perhaps the reason why she had been so independent in the past.
A wave of bad vibes brought her attention back to the vortex, it was like a passing wave of nausea, thankfully not lasting that long. "Did you feel that? We're getting closer." She pressed forward, hoping they could get this over with and be done with it before anything bad happened. That probably wouldn't happen, she imagined. One of the first rules of being a slayer was to always expect Murphy's Law to screw the easiest of jobs up.
Behind her, Connor was busy ignoring the uninvited visitor who had been walking beside him for a few blocks now. The First. Even knowing that it wasn't really him did little to easy Connor's apprehension towards it. Though he told Faith that he was doing okay, he had a feeling she was catching on. The uneasy looks she cast in his direction, the distance she kept between them, it said it all. She didn't trust him.
"You have to stop her, she'll bring that monster back. He'll kill you all," Other-Connor told him, unheard by the slayer his voice was a constant in Connor's ears.
Fortunately, the boy was starting to become so familiar with the broken record that it's playing fazed him little any more. He moved past The First, kept moving, and didn't answer it back. It was the only thing he could do until they reached the center of the vortex and destroyed the source of The First's power. If that didn't work like Willow had told him it would, though, Connor wasn't sure he would be able to live with the persistent voice. Climbing back in control of his sanity had been hard enough, he didn't think he'd be able to do it again. He looked over at Other-Connor, watching The First spill whatever lies he needed to garner some influence over the events as they unfolded, feeling a strange sort of self-pity.
They turned down another block, and the spiraling cyclone vortex came into view. It had grown in size, pushed out into the edges of the street. It had been sweeping up everything in sight, like a stationary tornado. The slayer pointed to it, nudging her companion, "There it is, are you ready to do this?"
"I think so," Connor answered, opening the paper bag of ingredients he sifted through them, double checking that they were all there. He went over the spell in his mind. First Faith had to say the words. Then he tossed the powder into the vortex, followed by the yellow herbs, both of which smelled really bad. He just had to get close enough to the vortex to chuck the stuff in without being sucked up into it, and their job would be done.
That though, would take some difficulty. The air was whipping furiously around them; the tall buildings made a wind tunnel that blew towards the spiraling black darkness, not away from it. Damn their luck.
Faith gripped a railing on one of the building's front stairways. Pushing her brunette hair away from her face, she regretted not pulling it back into a ponytail before setting out. Pulling out two ropes from her bag, she tied one to her waist and attached it to the stair's railing. It was the only semi-stable thing on the whole block from the looks of it, she only hoped it stayed that way. If she could have thrown the rope around the whole building, she would have, just to secure themselves.
Taking the other rope, she looped it around the railing and tied the other end to Connor's waist. He gave her a small smirk when her hands touched him gently on his sensitive sides.
She shook her head, and said something. Her words got lost in the wind, so she repeated herself, "We have to be five feet away. Or it won't work. That's what Willow said."
He nodded, affirming that he had heard and started walking towards the vortex, which was so much easier than trying to stay away from it. Pulled towards its direction, he waited for Faith to follow. She needed to recite the spell before he could even begin.
Standing there, Connor realized that he had lost track of where The First was. In its last few minutes with that much power, Connor didn't think it would just give up and leave. Not when its power source was about to be destroyed. Anxiously, he glanced around, not wanting to be surprised by whatever it was planning for him.
When he saw it again, The First had chosen to change its form and tactic. Appearing as Angel, it walked over to where Connor struggled against the rushing wind. The air currents seemed to have no effect on The First, it moved down the block as if it was just a normal windless day. Even through all the noise The First's impression of father was still loud enough to be heard, "You're going to fail. It's all you've ever done."
He closed his eyes, willing himself to ignore it. Connor had worked up a defense against the other persona The First had used, by telling himself that he was not like that anymore. This fear still lived however; not yet changed. He had failed; it was the reason all of this was happening. If he had just been faster, or refused to leave Wolfram and Hart when he had known his father was in trouble, it would have turned out differently. The wrong choices, again and again, it was all he made. Fighting to stay in control and remember that it was just an illusion, Connor shouted back at it, "Shut up!"
"I wanted a son, and instead I got you. A failure, with nothing to show for himself," The Other-Angel loomed over Connor, shaking his head in disgrace. "There wasn't a day that went by that I wasn't happy I killed you when I got the chance. But then you had to come back and screw everything up again."
"You're lying! You're not my father," Connor had forgotten about the mission, his attention only coming back to the job he had to do when Faith called out to him.
"Connor?" Her voice called over the endless clamor again, "Don't go freaking out on me now. Not now! Do you hear me!"
He looked back at her, nodding painfully. "Hurry up!"
Faith began shouting the Romanian at the top of her lungs, rushing through the words, yet she managed to get them all said correctly. Willow would have been so proud. She finished the incantation and the sky began to crackle with more lightening. With a worried frown on her face, she looked over to see Connor still arguing with the thing that only he could see. She was about to yell over at him when she felt a twinge in her rope, the railing was staying in place, but the rope was beginning to snap, so was his. They didn't have much longer, and when Faith looked over at the boy she saw that he had lost his concentration and was yelling at The First. "Connor! Now! Do it now!"
Her voice shook Connor from his private conversation with Other-Angel. Halting the argument, he flashed a twisted grin at it and pulled the powder out from the bag. When he tossed it into the vortex, The First showed the beginnings signs of fear and anger, if it could even feel emotions. It gave Connor hope that Willow was right, all he had to do now was toss the herbs into the vortex and it was over.
Suddenly, Connor felt the rope snap, and the loose end fell slack against the street. Nothing was tethering him to the building anymore, his eyes went wide. He cursed as he felt the wind starting to pick him up into the air. Once he had been lifted from the ground, he somersaulted through the air, floating faster and faster towards the vortex.
Connor refused to fail like the First had said he would though. Grabbing the herbs, he waited until he flipped through the air again and was pointed at the swirling vortex. At the last second, just before he reached its edges and was about to be sucked up into it, he chucked the herbs into its immense darkness.
That was all that was needed. It shuddered once and then closed in upon itself, disappearing into the ground, dragging The First down with it. The warmth and sunshine the rest of Los Angeles had been enjoying that day returned instantly to the area, the winds calmed and all was still.
Connor would have been overjoyed, had he not been fifteen feet in the air. With ungraceful motions, he came flailing down to the street, landing on his back. The pain wasn't that bad though, he had the strength of a vampire in his genes. He'd live. Opening his eyes, he saw Faith leaning over him. A little dazed, he asked her, "That was it? We stopped it?"
"Yep, we did." There was worry in her eyes though, but Connor soon realized that it was for him since the danger had ended. She looked him once over, "Are you okay?"
He sat up, rubbing his shoulder. It hurt like a bitch, but he would get over it. "If I told you 'I'm fine', would you believe me?"
"This time, yes, I think I would."
.........................................
I'm too tired to think of something witty to say. Le sigh.
Chapter 21
By Vixen
Faith had remarked on how warm it was when they left for this mission. Summer was right around the corner. However, when they crossed over into the area covered by the dark shadowed sky, the place where the vortex had its strongest hold, the heat fled along with all other signs of life. Under the black sky, the overcast streets were unwelcoming and cold.
"Well, I guess we're in the right place," The slayer said as thundered rippled overhead. The creepy sensations the place gave off were stronger than ever. Even though Willow had put a protection spell on both of them before leaving the hotel, Faith could still feel her strength being drawn away, leaving her more vulnerable than she wanted to be in the current situation.
At least the plan was simple enough. A few Romanian phrases said in the right accent, a dash of herbs and powered, and the vortex would cease to be. Faith just hoped she got the words right for the spell. Willow had gone over the incantation with them about a hundred times before they'd left. The witch had corrected Faith on her pronunciation leading the slayer to becoming agitated and annoyed. Still, it was to make sure that all the words rolled off the girl's tongue the right way, they only had one chance at this and it had to work.
Connor's job was easier; all he had to do was toss the mixture of herbs into the center of the vortex. That, and deal with his schizophrenic alter ego who Faith was sure was still talking to him. Faith kept one eye on him at all times, just so that she wouldn't be surprised if he started acting crazy again. Looking back at him again, she shot him a worried glance, wondering if being so close to the vortex would give The First an added strength. He saw the look and knew exactly what she was thinking. Hell, he was thinking the same thing himself. Nevertheless, he returned her look with a pouting scowl of his own, "What? I'm fine."
"Just checking," she replied a little angrily. How she had lost the argument, she'd never know. The mission was too dangerous to throw unknowns like this into the mix. Willow had her little talk with the boy before leaving, and the witch had told her that he was okay to go. Still, Faith was wary, better to be prepared for an ally to stab you in the back, then to actually get stabbed in the back. It was her life's motto and perhaps the reason why she had been so independent in the past.
A wave of bad vibes brought her attention back to the vortex, it was like a passing wave of nausea, thankfully not lasting that long. "Did you feel that? We're getting closer." She pressed forward, hoping they could get this over with and be done with it before anything bad happened. That probably wouldn't happen, she imagined. One of the first rules of being a slayer was to always expect Murphy's Law to screw the easiest of jobs up.
Behind her, Connor was busy ignoring the uninvited visitor who had been walking beside him for a few blocks now. The First. Even knowing that it wasn't really him did little to easy Connor's apprehension towards it. Though he told Faith that he was doing okay, he had a feeling she was catching on. The uneasy looks she cast in his direction, the distance she kept between them, it said it all. She didn't trust him.
"You have to stop her, she'll bring that monster back. He'll kill you all," Other-Connor told him, unheard by the slayer his voice was a constant in Connor's ears.
Fortunately, the boy was starting to become so familiar with the broken record that it's playing fazed him little any more. He moved past The First, kept moving, and didn't answer it back. It was the only thing he could do until they reached the center of the vortex and destroyed the source of The First's power. If that didn't work like Willow had told him it would, though, Connor wasn't sure he would be able to live with the persistent voice. Climbing back in control of his sanity had been hard enough, he didn't think he'd be able to do it again. He looked over at Other-Connor, watching The First spill whatever lies he needed to garner some influence over the events as they unfolded, feeling a strange sort of self-pity.
They turned down another block, and the spiraling cyclone vortex came into view. It had grown in size, pushed out into the edges of the street. It had been sweeping up everything in sight, like a stationary tornado. The slayer pointed to it, nudging her companion, "There it is, are you ready to do this?"
"I think so," Connor answered, opening the paper bag of ingredients he sifted through them, double checking that they were all there. He went over the spell in his mind. First Faith had to say the words. Then he tossed the powder into the vortex, followed by the yellow herbs, both of which smelled really bad. He just had to get close enough to the vortex to chuck the stuff in without being sucked up into it, and their job would be done.
That though, would take some difficulty. The air was whipping furiously around them; the tall buildings made a wind tunnel that blew towards the spiraling black darkness, not away from it. Damn their luck.
Faith gripped a railing on one of the building's front stairways. Pushing her brunette hair away from her face, she regretted not pulling it back into a ponytail before setting out. Pulling out two ropes from her bag, she tied one to her waist and attached it to the stair's railing. It was the only semi-stable thing on the whole block from the looks of it, she only hoped it stayed that way. If she could have thrown the rope around the whole building, she would have, just to secure themselves.
Taking the other rope, she looped it around the railing and tied the other end to Connor's waist. He gave her a small smirk when her hands touched him gently on his sensitive sides.
She shook her head, and said something. Her words got lost in the wind, so she repeated herself, "We have to be five feet away. Or it won't work. That's what Willow said."
He nodded, affirming that he had heard and started walking towards the vortex, which was so much easier than trying to stay away from it. Pulled towards its direction, he waited for Faith to follow. She needed to recite the spell before he could even begin.
Standing there, Connor realized that he had lost track of where The First was. In its last few minutes with that much power, Connor didn't think it would just give up and leave. Not when its power source was about to be destroyed. Anxiously, he glanced around, not wanting to be surprised by whatever it was planning for him.
When he saw it again, The First had chosen to change its form and tactic. Appearing as Angel, it walked over to where Connor struggled against the rushing wind. The air currents seemed to have no effect on The First, it moved down the block as if it was just a normal windless day. Even through all the noise The First's impression of father was still loud enough to be heard, "You're going to fail. It's all you've ever done."
He closed his eyes, willing himself to ignore it. Connor had worked up a defense against the other persona The First had used, by telling himself that he was not like that anymore. This fear still lived however; not yet changed. He had failed; it was the reason all of this was happening. If he had just been faster, or refused to leave Wolfram and Hart when he had known his father was in trouble, it would have turned out differently. The wrong choices, again and again, it was all he made. Fighting to stay in control and remember that it was just an illusion, Connor shouted back at it, "Shut up!"
"I wanted a son, and instead I got you. A failure, with nothing to show for himself," The Other-Angel loomed over Connor, shaking his head in disgrace. "There wasn't a day that went by that I wasn't happy I killed you when I got the chance. But then you had to come back and screw everything up again."
"You're lying! You're not my father," Connor had forgotten about the mission, his attention only coming back to the job he had to do when Faith called out to him.
"Connor?" Her voice called over the endless clamor again, "Don't go freaking out on me now. Not now! Do you hear me!"
He looked back at her, nodding painfully. "Hurry up!"
Faith began shouting the Romanian at the top of her lungs, rushing through the words, yet she managed to get them all said correctly. Willow would have been so proud. She finished the incantation and the sky began to crackle with more lightening. With a worried frown on her face, she looked over to see Connor still arguing with the thing that only he could see. She was about to yell over at him when she felt a twinge in her rope, the railing was staying in place, but the rope was beginning to snap, so was his. They didn't have much longer, and when Faith looked over at the boy she saw that he had lost his concentration and was yelling at The First. "Connor! Now! Do it now!"
Her voice shook Connor from his private conversation with Other-Angel. Halting the argument, he flashed a twisted grin at it and pulled the powder out from the bag. When he tossed it into the vortex, The First showed the beginnings signs of fear and anger, if it could even feel emotions. It gave Connor hope that Willow was right, all he had to do now was toss the herbs into the vortex and it was over.
Suddenly, Connor felt the rope snap, and the loose end fell slack against the street. Nothing was tethering him to the building anymore, his eyes went wide. He cursed as he felt the wind starting to pick him up into the air. Once he had been lifted from the ground, he somersaulted through the air, floating faster and faster towards the vortex.
Connor refused to fail like the First had said he would though. Grabbing the herbs, he waited until he flipped through the air again and was pointed at the swirling vortex. At the last second, just before he reached its edges and was about to be sucked up into it, he chucked the herbs into its immense darkness.
That was all that was needed. It shuddered once and then closed in upon itself, disappearing into the ground, dragging The First down with it. The warmth and sunshine the rest of Los Angeles had been enjoying that day returned instantly to the area, the winds calmed and all was still.
Connor would have been overjoyed, had he not been fifteen feet in the air. With ungraceful motions, he came flailing down to the street, landing on his back. The pain wasn't that bad though, he had the strength of a vampire in his genes. He'd live. Opening his eyes, he saw Faith leaning over him. A little dazed, he asked her, "That was it? We stopped it?"
"Yep, we did." There was worry in her eyes though, but Connor soon realized that it was for him since the danger had ended. She looked him once over, "Are you okay?"
He sat up, rubbing his shoulder. It hurt like a bitch, but he would get over it. "If I told you 'I'm fine', would you believe me?"
"This time, yes, I think I would."
.........................................
I'm too tired to think of something witty to say. Le sigh.