Chapter Ten – Utah
March 2005
This was so not happening. Faith gasped as she locked eyes with the familiar face. Before she could pull away, a hand came smashing through her window, making glass fly all over the front of the car, including her face. Her arm hadn't been fast enough to shield from the flying glass. Her face stung from the shards.
"Get out," he growled at her as he shoved his arm through to grab a hold of her throat.
He was cutting off her air supply quickly. So she unlocked the door and complied with his request. He flung her to the ground, away from the car. Picking her up by her throat again, this time he did cut off that air supply, the world around her turning quickly to black. She needed to think quickly. Maybe if she reasoned with him, hoping that his past affection for her might have some sway, maybe he would let her go.
"Where is he?" he asked as he released her to fall to the ground.
"I don't know," Faith choked out, coughing from being released from the hold.
"You're lying."
Looking down at his legs, she contemplated if she could really take him down and drive off without him interfering. By the strength he put into that hold, she doubted that she would get very far. And she couldn't leave the car to run for it.
"I'm not," she told him, feeling the dagger underneath her coat, where she had put it before he dragged her out of the car.
"He must be eliminated."
"You bastard," she said as she pushed her legs his way, taking him down hard.
Getting up quickly, she tried to get back in the car. But she didn't make it as he slammed into her back, shoving her to the hard asphalt. The ground dug into her palms as she scrambled to get away from him. Flipping her over, he pinned her arms above her head, effectively stopping her from doing anything else.
"Don't play games with me, Faith."
"Let me go," she ground out, giving him a sneer to rival all sneers.
"He was here. That I know. Are you hiding him?"
"Does it look like I'm hiding him? Go to hell."
"I'm there already. Would you like to join me?"
From what Angel had told her, this being was not whom she thought it was. He was ruthless, strong, virtually unstoppable. Damn vampire was right about that magic dagger. She'd have an opportunity to use it.
"I didn't have anything to do with this."
"You're right. You didn't."
He released her arms, but still pinned her with his body. The black eyes that looked down at her just stared, like he was remembering what they had shared. Maybe there was something of him in there yet.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I have to. I must," he said haltingly.
"They're making you do this. Wolfram and Hart. Don't you see that?"
Maybe the reasoning will work after all, she thought.
A noise came from the car, causing Faith's eyes to widen. Oh no, not now, she thought. She'd have to distract him even further.
"Who is in the car with you?"
"Nobody. Let's just talk about this. Maybe I can help you find Angel."
"You would never do that. We both know that."
"You don't know me anymore."
"Indeed I don't."
Grabbing her by the hair, he pulled her up from the ground. How his strength could be greater than hers shocked her. He marched her to the car, slamming her up against the hood forcefully.
"Tell me what you know."
"Nothing, you asshole."
"I'm not sure why I thought that you were beautiful. You're just like all the rest of them."
He gripped her jaw, making her head stay still in his hand. Another sound from the car made him look again. As he released her to walk over to the car, she struck his jaw with her fist. He just laughed and struck back, not reacting at all in pain.
"Stop. No. Don't you touch her," she yelled.
Faith tackled him before he got the back door of the car open. Taking her fists, she pummeled him as he lay underneath her. Blood wasspilled in several places where her fists had connected. With one well-placed arm, he thrust her off of him to scramble to his feet. He just smiled through the blood as he wiped it off on his sleeve.
"Faith, whatever it is you're hiding in that car, so help me if you don't tell me what it is, I will kill it. Do you understand me?"
Faith knew he was serious. Because the man standing before her wasn't the man that she had trusted. He was gone, replaced by this ruthless killer. But she had no choice if she wanted to live through the night. Climbing into the car, she pulled her bundle out, holding her tight against her breast.
"Faith?" he swallowed.
"Please don't hurt her. She's all I have. Please don't hurt her."
Even being dead, Wesley could do the calculations in his head. She could see the recognition in his eyes of what had happened. As he approached her slowly, the baby in her arms squirmed a little in her tight embrace. She turned her head and opened her bright blue eyes Wesley's way, making him stop in his tracks.
"She's . . . ," Wesley started before falling to one knee, not coming any closer.
"I'm so sorry, Wes," Faith whispered as she touched the dagger in her pocket.
November 2003
"So, it's Salt Lake, then Vegas here we come."
Faith was indeed excited at the prospect of going to Las Vegas. Wesley just wanted to get to Los Angeles in one piece. It had been relatively quiet all day long, especially after their impromptu snowball fight. Their clothes had dried in the truck with the heat turned up full blast. Now all he wanted was a hot shower and a soft bed.
"We'll stop in Salt Lake City to rest."
"I'm surprised that you haven't fallen over from exhaustion."
"How long has it been?"
"We've been up way too long. I'm even feelin' the effects."
If Faith was feeling the effects of running for two days straight, then he should be keeling over from sheer exhaustion. But somehow he wasn't. But once his head hit that pillow, he knew he'd be out for the count.
"Let's stop now," he suggested.
"Hey, best plan you've ever had."
"What? My plan for Angelus wasn't good?"
"Good? Maybe. But one where I was gonna get my ass kicked, so not so good in that respect."
"I know," Wesley sighed.
"And if you apologize for it, I'll slug you right here. It needed to be done."
"I should have been the one to do it."
"Sorry, but I like my watcher in one piece, thank you very fucking much."
Faith still referred to him as her watcher. He just wished that she wouldn't. It made dealing with her a challenge sometimes. He really just wanted to be her friend.
"You don't like that I call you that, do you?"
She read his mind yet again. He thought he had a decent poker face. But it never seemed to work around her. Cordelia was the only other person who could read him. And she stopped that long ago.
"Just because I'm not anymore. I realize though that you think the bond is still present."
"You don't think that it is?"
Wesley thought for a moment what it meant to be a watcher, what it meant to be responsible for one woman's life. He had no idea in Sunnydale what it meant to be responsible for Faith. In Los Angeles, he figured it out, somewhat too late for the two of them.
"I want us to be friends, if possible."
"Friends with benefits?" Faith asked him.
Wesley laughed at her assessment. Faith wanted to be friends with him. That was a plus. But she wanted something more from him. Would it be so hard to give her the physical part of a relationship without all the emotional parts that went along with it? He had tried with Lilah to separate the two, only to grow attached to her. He couldn't afford to grow attached to Faith. Not with all that was going on with his life.
"You're thinking too much over there," Faith added because he had been quiet too long.
"The friends part, I understand that. It's the second part that I don't know how to deal with."
"It's pretty simple, Wes. You scratch my itch, I'll scratch yours. No one is hurt. Everyone's happy. Not like I'm gonna set up housekeeping with you or anything. We'd kill each other inside of a week."
Faith was right, yet again. They could never live together, as anything. But if what she was saying was true, could he get past the fact that he could have feelings for her? She obviously didn't for him.
"You're right."
"I can't believe you just said that. Hard to admit, huh?"
"Not as hard as you think," he growled back, but not putting much venom behind it.
An exit with a motel appeared, so Wesley took it as an omen. Time to rest, he thought. His eyes drooped a little just thinking about it. Pulling into the motel parking lot, they both scanned the area for any trouble. Nothing was apparently dangerous.
"Go get a room. I'll drive this around back some place, just in case."
"I'll make sure it has one of those vibrating beds," Faith shot back.
She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Pulling away, she opened the door to the cold air, making the interior chilly in an instant.
"Scratchy," she mumbled as she made her way over to the office.
Driving around back, Wesley found a nice spot to hide the truck. As he got out, he grabbed the two bags that held their belongings. Rounding the corner to go back to the parking lot, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, making him stop. Before he could turn around, he was knocked to the ground hard.
Faith stood at the front desk of the motel, getting a room for the two of them. At least she didn't have to worry again about how many beds the room had. The man would share one with her, or she hoped that he would. The last time he had, she'd been sick as a dog. Now she was better. A real bed would be nice for a change.
The clerk handed her the key to the room. She contemplated grabbing something to eat right after checking the room out, but decided that her itch needed scratching so much more than food. The conversation in the truck had revved her engines. It had been months since she broke up with Robin. Now that she had a willing man around, it made her want him all that much more.
She just hoped that Wes wanted her as much as she wanted him. That comment about friends with benefits threw him for a loop. She'd take anything she could get from the man. On the surface, she could hide her feelings with the best of them. Below the surface, she'd cry her eyes out once they arrived in Los Angeles. It was for the best though. She needed to concentrate on her life and he needed to go back to his.
She had just suggested the friends with benefits thing to stay close to him. But like always, relationships ended for her too quickly. At least this time she had control over where and how it ended.
Walking to the room, she noticed that the parking lot was empty of people. Wes hadn't made it back around from whatever hiding spot he had found. Which seemed strange since it took her a little while to check in and get the key. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she looked around for him. He was nowhere in sight. But she could feel that he was near. Now wasn't that freaky. Must have been because of all the time they were spending together, she thought.
As she rounded the end of the motel, the lights came on in the parking lot. But no lights reached to the side, putting it in shadow. But she could still see rather well. The hiss to the side of the dumpster was unmistakable. She just hoped that Wes hadn't encountered whatever demon was hiding to surprise her.
Standing with her arms crossed over her chest, she stood still. "Come out."
The demon complied, bearing its teeth menacingly her way.
"You know, you guys always have the showy teeth. You're all bark and no bite. At least you'll be once I get done with you."
Faith was usually never one to quip while fighting. That was Buffy's forte. She just pummeled, slayed, and went home. Much more efficient to a certain degree. Not as much fun, but Faith could only handle one thought at a time while hitting things.
"Slayer," the thing hissed her way.
"Yeah? What's your deal? I'm not hassling you. You got a death wish or something?"
"No, but apparently, we do," Wesley spoke up behind her.
She cocked her head around to see Wesley surrounded by at least four very large, very nasty looking demons, all with guns trained on him.
"Damn," Faith muttered to herself.
Faith could see a slight trickle of blood on Wesley forehead. So he didn't go down without a fight. But guns were guns. She hated it when demons used guns.
"They would like to speak with us."
"No shit. We'll come. Just put those weapons down."
One of the demons stuck a gun into Wesley's back to get him to move in her direction.
"Not a chance," another one told her.
"You hurt him in any way, you'll be dead before he hits the ground," she challenged the demon with the gun directly pointed at Wesley.
"I doubt you're that fast."
"You wanna find out?"
"Faith, shall we just see what these gentleman want?"
Pointing to a building down the alleyway, Faith walked in front of the others, checking everything out. They would have to disable all the demons with guns before they could make a break for it. That would be difficult. Once they got inside the building, maybe that would be possible. They obviously were being led somewhere to meet whoever had been following them. These demons looked like the muscle, not the brains.
Another demon opened the door of a back room to some kind of business. As they entered, the one demon with the weapon trained on Wesley shoved him in, making him crash to the ground. Faith put herself in fighting stance, trying to assess whom to go for first.
"What did I say, you fucking moron?"
"Quiet," the hissing demon shouted.
Faith struck out at him, sending him to the ground also.
"Payback," she told it as she went over to help Wesley up.
"Not good to intimidate the demons with the guns, Faith," Wesley murmured to her as she helped him up.
"Thought it was a good idea at the time."
"I admire a human with spunk," a voice off in the distance said.
Faith turned towards it, getting in front of Wesley to protect him. She didn't care whether he liked it or not. It was her job to protect him. He'd just have to deal.
"I would admire a demon who didn't send a goon squad after me andshow their faces to me until now."
Wesley's hand on her shoulder made her realize that maybe she should tone down the biting comments since the gun totting demons were still around.
"Think you could ask Larry, Moe and Curly there to vacate the premises. We obviously have business to discuss," Faith shot back to the creature in the shadows.
A wave of the hand sent them away. The hissing demon was still present though, drawing his gun.
"No respect any more," Faith mumbled to herself.
"Slayer, I presume."
Great, this was about her. She had put Wesley in danger. This was all her fault.
"Yeah, sort of. There's lots of us runnin' around now. So I'm not The Slayer, if that's what you're askin'."
"Yes, we know about that unfortunate event. Makes my life much more difficult. But I know to which slayer I am talking."
"So talk."
"You killed an important member of my family."
Faith racked her brain. She killed bad demons all the time. What was this guy talking about?
"If you would show yourself, maybe we could work out a compromise," Wesley said from behind her.
She could feel the heat of his hand now on her arm, to hold her back at least momentarily. Until he could assess what they were dealing with. The creature came into view. Faith still didn't know who this was. The thing literally looked like a walking shark. Funny how many creatures resembled other animals from the wild? Like they evolved somehow from them.
"My relative. You shut his operation down in Cleveland. The gambling operation?"
Faith thought back to all that she had accomplished in Cleveland. She vaguely remembered shutting some demon down that was taking people's money in some gambling scheme. But she hadn't killed him.
"Uh, I don't remember much. But from what I do recall, I didn't kill him. Is that what this is about?"
"You are lying. He will be avenged."
"Not lying here."
Wesley tensed his hand up on her arm, pulling her back just slightly, to where her back was touching his chest.
"Why don't you perform the Ki'rah on her? To prove that she didn't commit this crime against your kin?"
"We have witnesses. It must be done."
The hissing demon raised the gun her way. She hoped that Wes had some ace up his sleeve, or she'd have to go for the guy with the deadly gun first.
"Then I claim the right to do it for you. You know you have to comply," Wesley spoke up.
"What?" Faith yelled.
"Very well, human. You may. But if she is found guilty, then she must face the consequences."
Faith didn't like these odds one bit. Wesley was going to prove her innocence? What if she accidentally killed this guy and she didn't know it?
The shark demon in front of her chanted a few phrases her way, making her wonder what on earth this test was. When Wes grabbed the guy's arm and then grabbed hers tightly, she found out in a big way what the test was. It was like lightening struck her. Wesley's eyes rolled in the back of his head, scaring her that he had been injured.
"Shit, Wes. Let go," she told him as she tried to get out of his grip.
He finally let her go, slumping down on the ground.
"Remember what I told you in that alley. Now's the time," she said as she advanced on the hissing demon with the gun.
"You are free to go," the head creature said, matter of factly.
"What? You hurt my watcher, then you say you can go?"
"Let's go, Faith," Wesley gasped from behind her.
"I didn't do it," she said with finality.
"Yes, I know. But now I know who did," the shark demon stated.
The shark raised a weapon quickly and shot the hissing demon down. Green goo and blue blood sprang from each of the holes the shark demon made. It shocked Faith that the guy could just turn on a colleague, even though he was just hired help. Not like it hadn't happened to her once or twice.
"I am sorry to inconvenience you," the demon stated as the other four goons came back into the room.
"OK. So no more hassling?"
"You stay out of my way . . . ," the demon started.
"And I stay out of yours. Just stay out of Cleveland, all right?"
"I think that I can manage that."
She just talked to a demon and he agreed to do what she told him. Was their honor in the demon world? She still wondered if she should take the asshole down, but the guns told her otherwise. And Wesley didn't look to be in the best shape right then. Why did they have to get their shit kicked every time they stopped? But maybe now they could quietly make it to Los Angeles, preferably in one piece.
Faith reached Wesley, but he shrugged out of her hold quickly, walking back to the motel down the street. He gathered up their bags that were left on the side of the motel, dragging them to their room. Faith quickly opened up the door. Wesley threw the bags down on the bed and marched into the bathroom, promptly throwing up the contents of his stomach.
As Faith sat on the bed, she wondered why on earth he kept taking such risks for her. Was he stupid, or did he just like pain? Of course, she kept jumping in front of him, trying to defend him.
Slowly walking out of the bathroom, Wesley sat down beside her, but not touching her. He was pale, but didn't look like she needed to take him to the hospital any time soon. She didn't know whether to get her anger out or to mother him.
"What in the fuck did you just do?"
Wes just sat there, putting his head between his hands. He was silent for a few moments. Faith slid her hand toward his, but he jerked it away quickly.
"He was going to perform a ritual to see if you had lied to him. By acting as a conduit, I successfully made sure that it didn't scramble your brain cells. The Ki'rah has been known to do that to humans."
"What? It didn't scramble yours?"
"Because I wasn't the one he was after. I am proud of you though."
He was proud of her? Since when? Maybe after the Angelus thing, but he wasn't very verbal about it.
"Huh? What did I do now?"
"You didn't kill that demon in Cleveland. And you held off until I could ascertain what kind of demon he was."
"Yeah, well. As I said, Wes. I do trust you."
"And one more thing?"
"OK," Faith said hesitantly.
"If I touch you, I'll shock you. That's why I pulled my hand away."
Faith let her breath out, glad that he wasn't really pulling away from her right that instant. She knew it would happen. She just wasn't quite ready for it yet.
"How bad a shock?"
"Not as bad as in that room back there, but it might hurt."
Faith reached over and grabbed his hand. A jolt of electricity passed between them. She let go quickly, shaking her hand.
"Just testing. How long do we have to wait?"
"I'm not sure. A day, maybe two."
They could be in Los Angeles before it wore off. So they'd have to find something to get rid of this damn little curse. She'd take drastic measures. Before she could suggest to him her course of action, he grabbed her hand back. It shocked again, but not as much as before.
"We could just keep doing that, couldn't we?" Faith asked him.
"Feeling a little green around the gills?"
"Not so much. You?"
"It passed. No food left."
Faith grabbed his arm, feeling the jolt again. But this time she didn't let go. The shock dissipated to nothing as she held on. Both panted from the pain, but took deep breaths as it passed.
"You know, if I let go, we'll get shocked again."
Wesley grinned at her. "Then don't."
"Not gonna. Unless you know, you have to use the powder room. So what do we do now?"
"We sleep."
Yeah, right, she thought. They'll sleep. But when Wesley laid his head down for two seconds, still holding her hand, he was asleep. So she joined him, putting a blanket over him and crawling underneath the blanket to sink into the bed beside him.
TBC
Next: Is Faith going to get to use that knife? And what is the deal with it? They finally get to Vegas and have a quiet night, just the two of them.
Author notes: Oh, wow. We're almost done with this fic. Probably two to three more chapters left. I hope you like how this is playing out. I probably didn't surprise any of you about the revelation at the beginning of the chapter. It explains why Faith ran instead of staying. I will explain why she is significant to the dagger, shortly. I hope that this chapter was long enough on the details of the demons that were chasing Faith and Wes. I felt like we'd seen enough of that, so I finished it more abruptly than I would have liked. I really need to get out of this rut I've put both of these characters in. They both seem to be taking on the same personalities in every fic I write. Something I need to work on. But for now, I want to finish this one. So please keep reading and commenting.
Thanks go out to: Man, since the site has been down for so long, I was surprised that I even got any reviews. But it looked like people were able to get some in anyway. Thanks so much for persevering, checking back to see if I posted, or getting the e-mail and going on to do it. Thanks to Tariq, eriniyes (yay, new reviewer), psychotic chaos (another new reviewer), NAA76 (another one), Steph, and all the others that are following this.
Answers to questions:
I have e-mailed several of you the other site. If you want the NC-17 version, just e-mail me and I'll send it to you. Make sure you're old enough.
Psychotic chaos—by the way, love the name. I did read that fic. It is one of my favorites too. Know of any others? I'm always out there, trying to find good fics with this pairing. I've read so much good stuff!
NAA76—You are so nice in your review. Thanks a bunch. I really want to do that challenge. If those plot bunnies would just let me go.
Steph—A primo reviewer!! You so busted me on that dialogue. I need to toughen it up a bit. Good catch. Work with me on the hiatus (that's what I'd call it). She will rage, just wait. But thanks for keeping me on my toes. I sometimes soften Faith up a little too much, knowing that she has changed, but not to that extreme. Keep on poring over that stuff and make sure I'm going where I need to go.