REPRECUSSIONS
Disclosure: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.
CHAPTER 11-FINDING FAITH AND SURPRISES
"I wonder where those two scampered off to in such a big hurry," Lorne asked with a slightly hurt and impatient frown on his face before he popped an olive into his mouth and sat back in his chair.
"I bet that it had something to do with that telephone call, whoever it was said something or told Wesley something urgent, otherwise he wouldn't have left so suddenly," Fred added with a keen smile of interest on her face as she leaned forward and lightly tapped the end of her pencil on the table.
"I agree with Fred, but without knowing who it was that called Wesley we don't have a clue as to where to begin," Buffy announced with a frustrated sigh as she sank back into her chair, letting her head roll back and stare up at the ceiling.
"What if we were to assemble the troops and then head to Sunnydale, from what Angel said it's going to be getting pretty ugly there in a hurry," Gunn added with a concerned expression on his face as he straightened his tie.
"I don't care Gunn, I'm not…," Buffy started to argue with a stone cold serious look on her face, as she clenched both hands into fists on top of the table, before Spike reached over and pressed an ice cube to the back of her neck, causing her to shiver a little.
"We have to Buffy, no matter where you are you're still the one, look we don't have to go back to your house if you don't want to, we beat the First then skip town, we could go back to our house or see the world, whatever you want," Spike said softly with such a sympathetic look on his eyes that Buffy knew that he was right and that it would be entirely fruitless to argue any further.
"Okay…but if we're going to go to Sunnydale then I'm going to have to go home and change clothes, I can't fight the forces of darkness in this," Buffy said with a considerably calmer tone of voice before she stood up and turned to Spike.
"Aw…it really brings out your…," Spike started to reply with a sly grin on his face before she figured out where his train of thought was headed and glared at him while shaking her head before she stormed out of the conference room.
* * * * * *
"One good thing about an impending apocalypse, less traffic…ah come on Wesley, at least a smirk," Angel pleaded with a very dour looking Wesley as the two raced down the road towards Sunnydale, hoping that they could get to Faith before anything bad happened.
"I'm sorry Angel but Faith sounded desperate, how many times has she ever been desperate enough to look to someone else for help," Wesley replied with a somber and worried look on his face as he half turned his gaze to Angel before placing it back on the road in front of them.
"Only once…the night that she tortured you and then begged me to kill her…if she's that desperate now…," Angel answered with at first a kind of nonchalant smirk on his face before his demeanor became serious and he pushed the gas pedal all the way down to the floor.
* * * * * *
After making the call she had originally intended to wait at the payphone for Wesley to come. But a mere five minutes later she had hurriedly slipped into the Bronze after seeing a trio of ubervamps lurking around in an alleyway across the street. Her teeth chattered uncontrollably as she entered the Bronze, silently cursing her luck that someone had left the air conditioner on. She wrapped her arms tightly around her body as she slowly made her way towards the bar, initially intending to drink herself silly and relieve the chill in the air. But the persistent pain in her feet from the trip to the Bronze, and the knowledge of how bad it would look for Wesley to find her sitting behind the bar at the Bronze drunk off her rocker. The last thing that she wanted to do at that moment was do anything to cause him to think ill of her. With a loud grunt Faith hopped up onto one of the stools and inspected her feet. Cut and bleeding Faith set about removing the small glass shards and cement chunks that had embedded themselves in the underside of her foot, biting her bottom lip each time one of the shards or chunks struck a nerve. Reaching behind the bar Faith grabbed the first bottle of liquor that she could get her bloody hands on and dabbed some of it on the bottoms of her feet, tears springing to her eyes at the sharp pain shooting through her feet as well as through her shredded hand. Not knowing what else to do she could only come up with the brilliant idea to sit exactly how she was, legs crossed under her, on top of a stool at the bar and wait for Wesley.
* * * * * *
"Okay everyone listen up, this is important," Giles called out with a nervous feeling in his stomach even though he outwardly portrayed nothing of his inner war to the potentials staring fearfully at him. The news of Faith's bloody exit had demoralized the potentials far worse than Giles had feared. Vi was openly sobbing into Xander's chest as the carpenter did everything that he could to calm her down, but to no avail. The usually confidant Rhona wouldn't look anyone in the eye while Amanda seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown as for the last hour nothing coherent had come out of her mouth. Unlike her usual could careless attitude Kennedy had been quiet ever since she had revealed Faith's dark secrets, choosing to sit at the counter and sharpen whatever weapons needed sharpening than talk to anyone.
"Why…what's the use, with both slayers gone we're nothing but sitting ducks for the First, we're all going to die…," Vi moaned with a defeated look on her face before she resumed sobbing into Xander's chest.
"We're not all going to die Vi, we'll think of something," Willow said with a nervous smile on her face even though her tone of voice was meant to be reassuring.
* * * * * *
Angel tore through the streets of Sunnydale, caring little for the rundown condition of the town around him. More than once he took a corner a bit too fast and nearly spun the car out. By the time that they got to the downtown district, thus forcing Angel to slow down Wesley's knuckles were almost white from trying to keep himself from being smashed into the door in the middle of one of Angel's almost kamikaze turns. They almost had trouble picking The Bronze out from the other buildings in the area but Angel let off of the gas and slammed the car to a halt in front of The Bronze.
"What is it, Angel…," Wesley asked with a worried look on his face as he turned to Angel while he unbuckled his seatbelt.
"Blood…Faith's blood," Angel replied softly after staying softly for several moments, desperately hoping that he was wrong.
"Damn," Wesley growled with an angry expression on his face as he threw open the door and got out, standing around in the rain looking frantically for any sign of Faith.
"Calm down Wes…the scent isn't that strong, maybe the blood is from something benign, like a paper cut," Angel offered up with a forced smile of optimism on his face as he also got out and turned to his old friend.
"Don't delude yourself Angel, more than likely the rain washed away most of the blood long before we got here," Wesley replied with a very serious and unhappy frown on his face before he slammed the door shut and sulked off towards the sidewalk.
"Are you ready for this," Angel asked with a concerned look on his face as he pulled his coat back and pulled out a dagger that he had remembered to pick up on the way out of the office.
"Faith's in trouble so I have to be," Wesley remarked with an almost cold look on his face before he pulled out a handgun that Angel hadn't noticed him having and pushed the front door open, leaving just enough room for Angel to squeeze in behind him.
"Be careful Wesley, we don't know what's in here other than Faith," Angel stated with a concerned look on his face before Wesley interrupted.
"Oh my…," Wesley gasped with a shocked and worried tone to his voice before he rushed towards the bar.
"Wes what…oh," Angel started to ask with a confused look on his face before he caught site of Faith swaying back and forth on the top of a stool by the bar. The formerly rogue slayer sat perched up on the stool like a canary in its cage, except that she had her knees bent and her still bleeding feet sticking out to either side. As he neared Wesley's heart sank at the sight of Faith's bloody right hand being held in such a limp and protective fashion.
"Faith," Wesley shouted with a panicked edge to his face as he rushed forward and knelt down, catching Faith in his arms as she woke up and lost her balance.
"Wes…," Faith mumbled softly with a confused and somewhat and eerily scared tone to her voice as she fought to open her eyes.
"It's okay Faith…we're here now," Wesley blurted out in a rush before he did his best to help Faith sit up, although he kept his arms firmly around the slayer as Faith was trying to stop her head from swimming and the room from spinning.
"We…," Faith muttered softly as her mind had yet to fully clear and she wasn't sure that she had heard Wesley right.
"I'm here to Faith…," Angel interjected with a very worried look on his face as he reached in and laid a hand on Faith's shoulder so that she'd know for certain that she wasn't hearing voices.
"Where…where am I…," Faith mumbled again before Wesley surprised Angel by scooping Faith up into his arms and off of the floor.
"We have to get her out of here and her injuries dressed," Wesley stated with a commanding tone of voice as he headed out of the Bronze and started to use his foot to kick open the door.
"Wait, here let me," Angel exclaimed with a nervous and worried look on his face as he rushed up to Wesley and carefully held the door open to let Wesley carry Faith out of the Bronze.
A half an hour later found Wesley and Angel setting Faith down on the largest bed in Sunnydale hospital that they could find. Wesley had started to go off in search of supplies but when he had done so Faith had reached out and gripped his hand with a death grip, refusing to let go. Wesley had been about to say something when Angel had softly coughed his advice for Wesley to stay there with Faith while he, Angel, went off in search of the supplies.
"Wes…," Faith mumbled weakly as a lone tear slid out of her eye and across the bridge of her nose, almost instantly Wesley reached out and gently wiped it away.
"I'm here Faith, I didn't go anywhere," Wesley whispered softly with a grave look of concern on his face before Faith was able to open up her eyes enough to get a good look at Wesley.
"Where's Angel," Faith asked with a confused look on her face as she half glanced around the room before returning her grateful gaze to Wesley.
"He went to find some supplies to patch up your wounds, stay still and…," Wesley replied with an awkward stillness between them that Faith soon shattered.
"Don't worry about me Wes…slayer healing n' all," Faith mumbled out with a terribly see through look of pride on her face before Wesley reached out and ran his right thumb against Faith's cheek.
"Doesn't work that way Faith, while your body does heal quickly it still needs the help of the wounds being cleaned and properly dressed to do its work, hence the worry," Wesley replied with a sincere and determined look on his face as he looked straight into Faith's eyes and she looked straight back at him.
"This all part of the watcher handbook…baby the injured slayer while she's too weak to kick your ass for being so compassionate," Faith asked with a joking smirk on her face before she coughed and began to shiver a bit.
"Everyone is deserving of compassion Faith…some arguably more than others," Wesley replied with a sympathetic and sincere smile on his face before Faith shivered again.
"Except murdering backstabbing whores like me…," Faith shot back with a very self deprecating edge to her voice before Wesley jumped up out of his chair.
"Stop that right now Faith…you're not a whore…you didn't…," Wesley stammered out with an angry scowl on his face as he tried to keep his temper under control and this thinking clear.
"What makes you think…I didn't…from time to time…," Faith started to joke back with a weak version of her usual proud smile before her teeth began to chatter and her shivers intensified.
"Faith…Angel…," Wesley shouted with a panicked look on his face as he stared at Faith before he shouted back at Angel over his shoulder.
"Cold, so…cold," Faith chattered out with an uncomfortable look on her face as she wrapped her arms around her body and started to curl up into a ball.
"Faith no, stay with me here…," Wesley exclaimed with a very worried look on his face as he climbed up onto the bed with Faith and pulled her into his arms, hoping that his body heat would help warm her up. After some time in this position Wesley thought that Faith had silently slipped back into unconsciousness, but changed his mind when he heard the faint sounds of her crying and a sniffle. "Faith…," Wesley whispered softly with a deep amount of concern in his voice as he pulled the hair away from Faith's face and wiped away a few of the tears.
"I'm here…Wes…," Faith whispered back just as softly while keeping in her same position as she swallowed hard and sniffled again.
"Yeah," Wesley replied with a nervous tint to his voice as he placed his free hand under her chin and brought her gaze up to meet his.
"I'm glad you're here…," Faith said with a soft and appreciative smile, one Wesley would later admit to Angel as being quite possibly the most beautiful smile that he had ever seen, on her face before she lowered her head onto Wesley's chest and almost instantly fell asleep.
"I'm glad I'm here to," Wesley whispered back extra softly as he tried to fight back the tears before he pulled Faith a bit closer and kissed the top of her head. A few minutes later Angel returned with three bags full of supplies, only to discover Faith wrapped in Wesley's embrace, with the formerly rogue slayer's head laying directly over Wesley's heart, as the ex-watcher slumbered along peacefully, and as serene and calm of a look on her face as Angel could ever remember being witness to. He was about to turn away and leave the two in peace to call back to LA and appraise Gunn on the situation when a flash of light caught his eye. Silently stepping closer Angel located the source of the flash of light, smiling softly and almost contently as his gaze fell onto a St. Jude's medal that was clutched tightly, along with a good amount of Wesley's shirt, in Faith's left hand.
* * * * * *
"Anything yet," Buffy asked with a concerned look on her face as she zipped up her vest and looked across the aisle at Gunn, who sat opposite her in the back of the helicopter.
"Nothing yet," Gunn replied with an unhappy frown on his face as he readjusted his microphone.
"Can't this bloody thing move any faster," Spike grumbled with an unhappy pout on his face as he adjusted the top band of his headphones so that it wouldn't mess up his hair.
"We're going as fast as we can Spike, it might go a little faster if you got out and pushed," Fred replied with a sarcastic smirk on her face as she checked the tightness of her seatbelt.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you pet," Spike shot back with a less than thrilled somber look on his face before Buffy joined in.
"Okay people…can we calm down now, this is getting us absolutely nowhere, Fred how far are we away from Sunnydale," Buffy stated with a frustrated and slightly scared look on her face as she held her hands up in between Spike and Fred.
"We're about fifteen minutes out right now, the convoy isn't having as much luck as we are, they're roughly thirty minutes out, we'd better hope that Angel and Wesley have everything under control," Fred answered with an unhappy and pessimistic pout on her face as she looked across the aisle to Buffy before turning her head and watching the ground pass by out the window.
"But where are we going to land," Molly asked with a worried and a little bit scared look on her face as she hesitantly glanced out of the window before snapping her gaze back inside of the helicopter and back to Gunn.
"The hospital should have a landing pad on the roof, we'll land there, then we'll wait for the convoy and fan out and look for Wes and Angel after that," Gunn replied with a quick check of his watch before he signed on the dotted line on a paper clamped onto a clipboard and passed it back to the co-pilot.
"Do we have a battle plan or are we just going to be winging it," Spike asked with a less than pleased frown on his face before he took out a cigarette that he had hidden away from Buffy and placed it to his lips.
"Of course they have a plan Spike…," Buffy interjected with a less than thrilled scowl on her face, one that Spike had to admit was his favorite Buffy scowl that made him want to do anything but fight, before she reached over, grabbed the cigarette out of his mouth and placed it in her own instead.
"Buffy…," Molly gasped with a shocked look on her face before Buffy pulled a lighter out of her pocket and lit the cigarette, much to the shock of the rest of the group in the helicopter.
"What…I only live once right, well three times in my case but as I see it…slayer healing will compensate as long as I don't make a habit of it like you Spike," Buffy stated with at first a surprised look on her face then a sly smirk in between drags on the cigarette.
"Since when did you…," Spike asked with a confused cocking of his eyebrow as he turned to Buffy and smiled.
"Last summer…after you…left," Buffy stammered out with a sad and almost scared look on her face as she cast her eyes downward.
"Sorry…," Spike whispered back with a self loathing scowl on his face as he straightened back out and stared out of the window.
* * * * * *
"Do you really think that is going to work Will," Xander asked with a worried look on his face as he sat down in a chair beside Willow, who had spread a map of Sunnydale out on the floor in front of her and sat assembling the components that she would need to cast the spell.
"No clue, but in case you haven't noticed we're kind of running out of options here Xander, I'll use the first spell to find Faith…wherever she is, and the second to make her do whatever I tell her to," Willow replied with a brave smile on her face before she turned away from Xander and resumed her preparation.
"But the last time you cast that thy will be done spell I became a demon magnet…literally I might add, Giles went blind, and let's not even go into what happened to Buffy and Spike…," Xander trailed off with a less than enthusiastic frown on his face as he got up out of his chair and knelt down beside Willow.
"I won't let it get out of control again Xander, I can't…," Willow started to firmly state back to her old friend before she seemingly lost a great deal of her resolve and she turned away, letting her voice trail off in the process.
"Shouldn't we send a team to the high school to Giles, it won't take all of us to bring Faith back here, not once Willow casts her second spell, and we haven't heard a peep from the First in awhile…who knows what it's been planning all of this time," Robin asked softly with a concerned look on his face as he turned his gaze from Xander and Willow in the living room to Giles standing at the foot of the stairs with a sword in his hands.
"That might not be such a bad idea…however if we were to do that we'd need to make sure that whoever we put in charge of the group going to the high school was aware that their only objective was to get information on the First and its recent activities and get everyone back here in one piece, the last thing that we need is…," Giles stated firmly with a far off look in his eyes as he walked into the kitchen with Robin following closely behind.
"To lose anyone else…," Kennedy finished for him with a very serious expression on her face as she was tying her hair back into a tight ponytail.
"I…I'm not going to the high school…," Vi stuttered out with a scared look on her face as she took a step back away from Kennedy and the weapons.
"I'm not asking you to Vi, no one has to go to the high school that doesn't want to, it's going to be an entirely voluntary group," Giles replied with a hopefully reassuring tone to his voice as he smiled down at Vi, who seemed to try to squeeze herself into a crack in the wall.
"Good…so then who's going with me to the school," Kennedy stated with ready, willing, and able look on her face as she stood up, grabbed an axe and started off towards the doorway.
END OF CHAPTER 11