"So, by 'end of the world', you mean..." a curious Faith asked her former Watcher, as the four of them hurried their way along the windswept L.A. streets. Wesley looked at her.
"Well, technically the world wouldn't end. But the Four Horsemen would bring Death, Conquest, Famine and War to the world. Millions of people would die, everyone would suffer unbearably... The human race itself would become weakened, threatened..."
"... And the vampires and demons would have the time of their un-life, strolling through the chaos like it was a huge salad bar," Gunn finished his sentence. "Yeah, that's bad..." Spike frowned and glanced back at Wesley.
"And so you hid this scroll-thing, which is bloody dangerous and causes the Apocalypse, in a public place where people actually come to read old texts?" the vampire said with a lifted eyebrow. "That's not very stealthy, is it?" Wesley let out an annoyed breath as they turned the corner. Near the end of the avenue, the huge city archives building appeared, pitch black against the dark blue sky.
"It's walled in, Spike. The hiding place is invisible to the eye, no one can find it except me and..."
"...And Fred. And Angelus and Dru... So much for your bleedin' master plan..." Spike grumbled, equally annoyed with the Watcher. For a while, they all walked together in silence until they finally reached the large building and came to a somewhat sudden halt.
"No sign of a forced entry," Wesley observed. "It might not be too late after all..." he said. Spike however frowned suddenly and looked up, staring at the roof.
"They're here allright. I can smell them... Got in through the roof, I'd say..." he said slowly, looking at the others. "My guess is they got here a couple of minutes ago, they're probably still inside."
Two minutes later, they'd forced entry into the building and were making their way through the halls as quietly as they possibly could. Even though vampires were just as silent as other predators, they could hear footsteps echoeing from different direction.
"They want us to split up..." the Watcher whispered.
"Well, we can't, can we? English is the only one of us who knows where to find the Scroll," Gunn whispered back.
"I don't think they have it yet, or they wouldn't be going out of their way to distract us. We should just take them out and get the whole thing over with," Faith interjected.
"Faith's right. Why don't we head for the main hall, try to stop them from reaching the Scroll. Spike and Gunn, you two sweep the hallways," Wesley said matter-of-factly, all the while glancing around for any sign of movement.
"Hey, why do I have to-" Gunn and Spike both objected at the same time, glaring at each other.
"Shhhh," Faith interrupted them. The footsteps had suddenly stopped, but were now moving quickly in their general direction. "You two go on, me and Wes are going that way," she simply stated, pointing to one of the corridors to the right, which led to the main hall. Before he followed the Slayer, Wesley glanced at the two men.
"If you see any of our vampire friends, kill them without giving it a second thought..." he said softly. Then, they had both vanished in the black corridor.
-----------------------------------------------------
"May I ask why you offered to go along with me instead of Gunn or Spike?" Wesley asked. He wasn't even sure why he was posing Faith this question. Perhaps it was simply because the silence was uncomfortable, and made him hear sounds that weren't there.
"Dunno," the Slayer said with a shrug. "It just seemed like the practical thing to do. You know, Slayer and regular guy in one group, vampire and regular guy in the other. It evens out the strength."
"Right, right..." the Watcher mumbled, "that was very perceptive of you. Smart plan..." Faith grinned, unseen in the darkness.
"Plus, I just got busted out of jail and you got hot," she added casually. She was a bit disappointed that she couldn't see the look on the Englishman's face, but she was sure she could actually hear him fidgetting.
"Right..." Wesley said again. "Well, we better continue through this corridor, I know my way here pretty well but –"
"Wes?" Faith interrupted him.
"Yes?"
"Shut up." The Slayer smiled to herself as she found him perfectly in the dark. Flawlessly, her lips touched his, and she kissed him passionately. For the last month, she'd felt herself get more and more attracted to Wesley, who had changed so much since the first time she'd met him as her Watcher...
Wesley's brain was hardly registering what was happening. He kissed her, softly at first, then more intensely. She was an amazing kisser, he thought, as he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.
"Well isn't this just the cutest thing?" Fred's voice suddenly echoed through the deserted corridor. Startled, both Slayer and Watcher turned to where the sound was coming from, but the darkness was too dense to make out anything.
"I don't know, I've seen cuter." Angelus' voice drifted towards them, too close for comfort. Faith looked around anxiously. Her Slayer night vision was not too bad, but in this pitch black corridor, it was no match for actual creatures of the night.
"Wesley, Wesley," Fred said, clicking her tongue in disappointment. "My poor Wesley. Is this the way you rebound? Making out with the first trailer trash ho that comes your way?" She let out a dramatic sigh, obviously enjoying this moment enough to draw it out. "Then again, I am a pretty hard act to follow."
"Don't I know it," Angelus snickered.
Wesley held his breath and listened closely when he heard Angelus' footsteps walking slowly in their direction. Closing his hand around Faith's lower arm, he urged her to follow him, and the both of them slowly backed away from the sound.
Angelus stopped dead in his tracks. Listening to their retreading footsteps, he let out a short, harsh laugh.
"You really don't get it, do you? You can come after us again and again and try to stop our plans, but you'll never be the hunters. You'll always turn out as the helpless little lambs, waiting for the slaughter. And when me and my girls are done, you're gonna be wishing I'd ripped your still beating hearts out."
-----------------------------------------------------
Gunn and Spike both looked up as a loud laugh ringed through the empty building.
"Angelus," Spike stated, turning to the direction the sound had come from.
"Yeah, and if he's this cheerful, things definitely ain't good," Gunn said softly. Without thinking twice, both of them started heading over to the direction of the sound, but they had barely taken a couple of steps when a form appeared, blocking their path. With remarkable confidence, the shape glided towards them.
"Hello, Dru," Spike said softly as the brunette stopped right in front of him. She smiled wickedly and tilted her head so her lips softly brushed his ear.
"Spike... My poor lost puppy. Do you want to know a secret?" she whispered, her eyes glinting with delight. "We're playing a game. Are you sure you don't want to play along?"
"And the insane bitch award goes to..." Gunn said, rolling his eyes. Drusilla snapped her head round, looking at him furiously.
"Shh. You can't play," she hissed. She turned back to Spike, but was immediately distracted again by the soft but familiar sound of a wooden stake being pulled out of a jeans pocket.
-----------------------------------------------------
As her eyes had gotten used to the darkness, Faith stopped and squinted her eyes. Not too far away, she could make out the form of Angelus, but Fred was nowhere to be seen. All of a sudden, she realized what was going on.
"It's a diversion... Fred's gone to get the Scroll, hasn't she?" she said, her voice echoeing loudly in the deserted hallway. Angelus snickered again.
"Well, yeah, pretty much. You know, I really don't get why everyone was always calling you stupid. You figure things out pretty quickly. For example..."
And without another word, he had made his way over to them. With one sharp blow of his fist, Wesley was knocked out and fell to the floor unconscious.
"Your boyfriend here is out cold. Which just leaves you and me. That's easy to figure out. Question is, can you figure out what's gonna happen when I'm slowly choking you to death?" the vampire hissed.
In one quick move, he had the Slayer pinned to the wall, his hand clenched firmly around her throat so she couldn't move. Slowly, he lifted her up until her feet were dangling a few inches above the tiled floor. The brunette gasped, but pulled up her legs and kicked the vampire in the stomach. The vampire groaned, but immediately felt that the Slayer couldn't use all her force in this position.
With a devilish smile, Angelus tightened his grip around Faith's throat. She weezed, losing strength with every second that passed. Her lungs were burning as she desperately tried to breathe. Finally, the vampire leaned in close.
"I told you you'd wish I had ripped out your heart," he whispered in her ear, as he felt her ragged breath stopping and her body becoming motionless. And without a moment's pause, he let the Slayer's limp body slide down onto the floor...
-----------------------------------------------------
TBC.