REPRECUSSIONS
Disclosure: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.
CHAPTER 7-IT ALL COMES OUT IN THE WASH
"What's it like…," A soft voice asked Spike as Molly slowly slid her way into the seat next to him in the board room.
"Eh Nibblet…what's what like…," Spike asked softly with only a slightly annoyed frown on his face as he had retreated back to the board room in the hope of getting some time to think, but yet the potentials question had not riled his nerves as much as he thought it would.
"You know…being a vampire and all…my watcher never really told me much about vampires other than that I was supposed to stake as many as I could before I died…if I ever got lucky enough and became the slayer," Molly replied with a nervous and scared look on her face as she reached out and poured herself a glass of water from the decanter on the table.
"Becoming the slayer isn't…lucky Molly, it's downright a bloody death sentence," Spike grumbled back softly with his reply as he tried to not let Molly's gaze catch his own.
"But Buffy makes it look so easy…other than when she didn't fare so well against that super-vamp she…," Molly started to wonder aloud with a confused look on her face before Spike cut her off.
"You've only known Buffy for what…a few days…week's maybe, what you probably don't know is that she's been doing this, saving the world and fighting demons, for nearly a decade, she's had her ups and downs, had loves come and go, lost her mother…her life, and after all of that she gets tossed out like yesterdays news, no Molly being a slayer isn't fun or a blessing, it's a damn curse that you should hope that you never know," Spike cut in with a very serious look on his face as he watched Molly slowly take a sip of water out of the corner of his eye.
"I never thought of it that way…guess it doesn't sound so good anymore…but you never answered by question, what's it like to be a vampire," Molly muttered with a solemn pout on her face as she held her glass tight and stared down into its mirrored depths.
"You want the honest truth pet…fine, you've earned it for not blasting Buffy like those other damn traitors…the honest truth is that it's incredibly boring being a vampire," Spike answered with an odd look on his face before he leaned back fully in his chair and propped his legs up onto the table. Spike half expected the young potential to choke given the look of complete and utter surprise on her face after hearing his response.
"But…but vampires…I mean you have all of that power…you're immortal…," Molly stammered out as it was plainly evident to Spike that her mind was working on a much faster speed than her mouth was.
"Nothing that a stake to the heart or decapitation wouldn't fix pet…although we have a lot of power we're not as free as you think, have you ever thought about how long a day really is…the sunlit part of it I mean, as long as that bleedin sun is sitting up there in the sky I have to stay in one place unless I want to run the gambit and try not to burst into flames," Spike broke in with a soft and tender tone to his voice that he didn't realize that he'd once used when he had begun talking regularly to Dawn back in Sunnydale.
"So what did you do to pass the time," Molly asked softly , now having gotten over most of her initial fear of the dreaded William the Bloody, with an inquisitive look of interest on her face as she leaned in a bit closer to Spike.
"Oh you know…a little of this…a little of that…and I never missed an episode of Passions…," Spike replied with an almost bored look on his face before he smiled a bit as Molly's eyes widened in ecstatic shock and joy.
"Oi…you watch Passions to…I love that show…do you think that Miguel will end up with Kay or Charity…," Molly exclaimed with a thoroughly excited look of glee on her face as she inched closer to Spike.
As Spike started to reply neither one noticed the blonde shadow standing in the doorway, watching their conversation with interest. Buffy had caught a quick cat nap, with the scythe tightly clutched to her chest, on the couch in Angel's office before she had awoken and gone in search of Spike. She had nearly given up searching when she had noticed a single light on in the boardroom and thought that she heard voices. When she crept closer and recognized the voices she had softly pushed the door open just far enough so that she could hear the conversation. When the talk had turned to Spike's favorite soap opera Buffy had to bite her lip to keep from giggling over the thought of the former big bad vampire sitting for an hour in his favorite chair and yelling at the screen. When she had slipped into the doorway she had originally intended to tell Spike that she was tired and wanted to sleep somewhere that was a bit more comfortable than the couch in Angel's office, with him at her side. But when she entered the doorway the sight struck a chord deep within a happier time of her memory. The sight of the former big bad and the juvenile slayer babbling on and on about a soap opera reminded her of the times that she had watched Spike and Dawn discuss whatever was vexing either of them.
* * * * * *
"Damn…where is he…," Faith growled with an angry frown on her face as she walked back into the living room, while pulling her shirt on, and glared at the assembled potential slayers seated all throughout the room.
"I don't know Faith but that'll have to wait, we need to talk about what we're going to do next, with Spike and Buffy…not available I believe that our first objective is to somehow find a way to discover what the First's plans are," Giles said with a slightly dejected sigh as he sat down in the only open chair and rubbed his tired eyes.
"Good idea…but maybe we should first talk about all of the drugs that you're forcing Wesley to take, now I admit that I'm no stranger to…drugs…but not the type that you've got upstairs…do you mind telling me what…," Faith responded with a defiant and unimpressed scowl on her face as she ignored the scared and fearful looks of the potentials and the confused and shocked looks of the Scooby's as she stormed through the living room until she finally came to a stop directly in front of Giles.
"I'm sorry Faith, but I don't know what you're…," Giles started to stutter out with a shocked look of fear on his face before Robin jumped in.
"Talking about…maybe you should ask your gun wielding pathetic excuse for a former watcher upstairs…or aren't the two of you through having…," Robin added with a very angry and vindictive scowl on his face as he swept into the room before Faith turned on a dime and slammed her fist into his jaw, knocking him out with one punch.
"Don't you ever, ever…," Faith growled with a menacing glint in her eye as she waved her tightly clenched fist above Robins unconscious body while the now terrified and confused potentials looked about to bolt from the room at the first opportunity.
"Faith wait, calm down…please, there was no call for that…and you're setting a very poor example for the girls," Giles said smoothly after clearing his throat and rising back out of his chair.
"Don't tell me to calm down Giles…Will stay out of this, this doesn't concern you," Faith stated with a steadfast look of serious determination on her face as she kept her fist balled up but seemed to relax, if only ever so slightly.
"You knocked him out cold Faith, I'd say that qualifies this as concerning us all," Xander said with a timid tone to his voice as he cautiously made his way forward to pull Robin away from Faith.
"Maybe we made the wrong choice…," Amanda mumbled softly to Rhona as she kept a suspicious eye on Faith, who heard the comment and spoke out immediately.
"You're damn right you did…I never wanted this job, you all just staged a coup and put me in charge without even asking me…did any of you Benedict Arnold's ever stop to think that I never wanted to be a leader," Faith nearly shouted back at everyone in the room as she slowly swept her gaze around the room.
"Benedict who…," Vi asked with a confused frown on her face before she hunched her shoulders and tried to squeeze even further into the corner than she already was.
"She did screw up the first time out…taking us into that trap…," Kennedy questioned aloud with a deep in thought expression on her face as she slowly and cautiously took a step away from the small group that she had been at the forefront of.
"Maybe we should vote her out to…seems only fair…," Rhona added with an angry look of arrogance on her face as she crossed her arms and slowly nodded her head.
"There will be no more voting anyone out Rhona, we don't need to compound or problems, they're bad enough as they are," Giles stated with a very thinly veiled threat to everyone in the room before he slowly sat back down, all the while keeping eye contact with Faith, who looked like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey.
"Is that right…oh and I guess pumping Wesley so full of drugs that he's of no threat to you was just an accident…an oversight," Faith declared her questions aloud with a defiant glower on her face as she quickly glanced around the room, almost daring someone to come and fight her.
"His wounds are serious Faith, those drugs are to keep him sedated until we can get him to a proper medical facility and nothing more, I swear to you, I would never knowingly betray him like that," Giles responded softly after clearing his throat with a grave look of concern etched upon his face before Faith let out a belly laugh.
"You swear…hah, that's rich…you know I bet that you promised Buffy that you'd never turn your back on her to…odd how that all turned out huh," Faith quipped softly in between a well placed snicker as she crossed her arms proudly in front of her chest and smiled happily.
"I did not betray my slayer…I mean Buffy…I simply…," Giles shouted as he started to explode back up out of his seat and glare menacingly down at Faith, before being interrupted by a cough from the hallway.
"You simply thought that you were doing the right thing under the circumstances…isn't that right Rupert, but trust me on this one, after a little time has gone by you'll come to hate yourself for what you've done after you realize that you did indeed turn your back on your slayer, as I once turned my back on Faith…I was punished for my indiscretions…I pray that you possess the foresight to repair the damage that you have caused before some horrendous tragedy befalls you," A very wobbly Wesley choked out with a pained grimace on his face, as the blood had seeped through the bandages again, while he stood shirtless in the doorway to the living room, leaning on the doorway for support. All of the assembled potentials gave a collective gasp of shock before soft murmuring broke out amongst them.
"Wesley," Faith shouted, nearly in a shriek, as she rushed to his side and wrapped one arm around his waist and awkwardly helped him to the nearest seat, one that a nervous potential leapt out of like she had been goosed.
"I'm okay…," Wesley replied softly with a pained grimace on his face as he wiped the sweat out of his eyes.
"What are you doing out of bed," A very worried Willow asked as she started to rush forward but shrunk away quickly when Faith cast an angry glare her way.
"Hoping to set the record straight…how am I doing…," Wesley stated weakly with a meager smile on his face, one that Faith for the life of her couldn't help but copy, as he tried his best to sit still in the chair, but every breath in and out tore his chest up with jagged barbs of pain.
"That remains to be seen…perhaps it would be best if you went back upstairs and lie down, you look a little pale," Giles said with a nervous and concerned look on his face as he stood up and gazed down at his former replacement.
"Someone should change his bandages to, the blood has seeped through them again," Willow added with a pale frown on her face before Kennedy walked forward and helped Faith take Wesley back upstairs.
* * * * * *
"Damn…he's not answering…I don't like this, something must have gone wrong," Angel growled with a combined angry and subtly concerned lean to his voice as he set the receiver down and turned to look up at Gunn.
"Maybe he turned it off…or maybe he…," Gunn started to offer up with an optimistic smile on his face before a nervous Fred cut in.
"Or maybe he's unconscious…or to badly injured to even pick up a phone and…," Fred interjected with a nervous and worried look on her face before Lorne turned around in his chair and cut her off with a groan.
"Alright already my little sugarplum, we get the point…how about instead of the four of us sitting in the dark and dingy office like Stonehenge maybe someone should actually go so Sunnydale and…," Lorne stated with a bored out of his mind frown on his face as he swirled the remaining ice cubes around in his drink.
"And find him and bring him back here, Wesley will know something about the weapon that Buffy and Spike brought with them, besides I'd rather have him be researching it than one of the techies in R & D, no offense Fred," Angel finished Lorne's statement with one of his own before he smiled meekly in Fred's direction.
"None taken," Fred stammered out softly with a slightly embarrassed smile on her face before she resumed scanning the latest printout that Knox had given her a few minutes earlier.
"Okay so…Fred, I want you to take a team to Sunnydale and find Wesley and bring him back here on the double, take a medical team with you so that if anything has happened to Wesley you can help, Gunn I want you to find Buffy and…Spike a house here in Los Angeles, preferably one with the necro-tinted windows, a big lawn, and plenty of security, Buffy came to me to be safe and I'll be damned if anyone thinks that…," Angel commanded with a serious glare on his face as he stared, as he often did, straight ahead in between Gunn and Fred's heads into empty space.
"And what should I do…oh glowery and unhappy one," Lorne asked with a half amused smirk on his face as he got up out of his chair and walked towards Angel's desk.
"Lorne, get in touch with all of your contacts, human and demon, I don't care what you have to do but I want you to make sure that not a single newspaper, tv show, radio, or internet site lets out about what's really going on in Sunnydale, we have to keep this under wraps until we can figure out what to do," Angel added with a very intense look of concentration on his face before he lifted his head up and turned his attention fully to Lorne, who squirmed under the attention.
"Right chief, I'll get on it right away," Lorne replied with a smile and mock salute before he shrugged his shoulders and smiled meekly in response to the angry glare that Angel cast his way before scurrying out of the office.
"Don't worry Angel, I'll find the perfect house for Spike and Buffy before sundown," Gunn added with a confident smile on his face before he got up, adjusted his tie, and followed Lorne out of the office.
"I'll find him Angel, I will…but what should I do if I have to go back to Buffy's house…they didn't seem to welcome you very well and…," Fred asked meekly with a scared smile on her face as she got up out of her chair and collected her files.
"If you have to go there then collect the rest of Buffy's things and if he's there Wesley to, whatever shape he's in and bring it all back here, just whatever you do don't tell any of them that Buffy and Spike are here, they kicked them out so I want them to continue to wonder if she's safe or not," Angel answered with an almost threatening edge to his voice as he slowly rose up out of his chair and leaned lightly on his desk.
"Okay…," Fred replied softly, almost in a whisper, before she turned around and hurried out of Angel's office.
* * * * * *
"So what happened to him," Kennedy asked softly as she helped Faith keep the gauze in place while the two wrapped a bandage around Wesley's wounded shoulder. Wesley had long since succumbed to his fatigue and slipped back into sleep.
"You mean before or after the ubervamp nearly ripped his arm off," Faith joked with an unhappy smile on her face as she held the end of the bandage in place with one hand and reached for some tape with the other.
"Yeah…Willow told me about what he was like back when he first came to Sunnydale, but I can't see how he could go from that to…to…well to this," Kennedy replied with a nervous and unsure look on her face as she struggled to find the right words for her question.
"Life happened to him Kennedy, like it happened to me…except I didn't get blown up, tortured nearly to death by my slayer, or shot, all I got was a fucking knife wound to the gut and a coma…Wesley's been through hell…a lot of it because of me…and no matter how much I want to…," Faith answered with an almost far away look on her face as if she were staring straight through Wesley's body and down to the goings on in the living room below.
"Man he's had it rough…God if I…wait a minute…did you say torture…you didn't…," Kennedy started to mumble out sadly before the realization of Faith's words struck her brain and an active thought commenced. Kennedy turned her head and intensely stared at the slayer beside her, while Faith refused to meet the potentials gaze and instead kept her gaze locked onto an old scar on Wesley's shoulder. Moments later Faith slowly and rigidly nodded her head before answering Kennedy's question before she could even ask it.
"You heard right Kennedy, I tortured Wesley…Wolfram and Hart paid me to kill Angel, and in the process beating the shit out of Wesley was an added bonus…but ever since that night there have been days that I can't even look in the mirror because I'm afraid that I'll see those eyes…his eyes…staring back out at me, pleading for me to stop, worried about his own death, I'm afraid that no matter what I do with the rest of my life my past will continue to haunt me throughout, wrenching me from having any chance of a semi normal life or ever being happy…," Faith said slowly and deliberately with an almost emotionless frown on her face as she slowly ran her hand over a few of the scars that she remembered giving Wesley and a few that she hadn't.
"Oh my…," Kennedy gasped out with a shocked and horrified look on her face as she nearly fell back out of her chair before Faith shot out her other hand and grabbed the potentials arm, squeezing hard until a pained look crossed Kennedy's face.
"That's only the half of the horrible things that I've done in my life…pretty much every dirty and demeaning word for a slayer, ally, friend, woman…fit me in one way or another…in the end I'm a lost soul, one that doesn't deserve anyone to even attempt to save, but for some ungodly reason Angel and Wesley have tried…I'm just not sure what I want anymore…it was all so easy in prison…you know…you breathe a word of this to anyone and I'll kill you…," Faith growled out with an angry edge to her voice at first before her tone softened and she slowly let go of Kennedy's arm, with neither noticing Wesley's right hand slowly slip over Faith's hand on his stomach as Kennedy grimly nodded her answer.
END OF CHAPTER 7