Redeemed

Chapter 8

This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.

Faith ran with determination all the way back to Wolfram & Hart. She knew the answer to their problem, if only it could be pulled off. She ran past the secretary that was sitting at the front desk in the lobby, despite the frantic cries of the woman for her to come back so they could check her authorization.

Unwilling to wait for the elevator to make its way down the stories of the giant law firm, she ran the stairs all the way to the top floor where Angel's office was. She ran into the room, not needing to stop and open the door, because it had been knocked off its hinges during the earlier attack by The First.

"Faith, what's wrong?" Angel asked, seeing how out of breath she was.

"I know how to get rid of The First." Faith replied confidently.

Faith ran over to the weapons cabinet and started pulling everything out of it. She pulled everything from swords, to throwing stars, and even stake launchers that would do nothing against any of their foes. She looked over at Angel and the rest of her friends in the room when she was finished.

"Everyone pick your favorite toy," Faith told them, "we're going to annihilate The First."

"Faith," Angel said a little impatiently, "what are you playing at? You know that none of this stuff is going to put even a dent in The First. We have to think of something else."

Faith wasn't listening, however, as she started strapping weapons to her. She strapped a saber sheath comfortably across her chest, and then she pulled the saber itself out and inspected it. Approving of the choice she had made, Faith slipped it back into its sheath.

"Willow, can I talk to you alone?" Faith asked.

Willow was unsure of what Faith's intentions were, but she knew that she meant business. It was obvious that Faith had a plan; whether or not it was just last minute panicking or not was to be seen. Nonetheless, Willow played along with her and went outside the office to speak with Faith alone.

The others, not really sure what was going on, began to pull on weapons as well. They only knew that if Faith was going to face The First, in a sensible way or not, that they would have no choice but to help her. Her mind was settled, and they couldn't very well allow her to go in by herself. It would be suicide.

No one was paying attention to Tanya now, because they were too busy preparing for whatever it was that Faith had going in her mind. She quickly slipped out the door and down the hall before anyone gave it a second thought. It was Kennedy who noticed when the girl had fled.

"She's gone." Kennedy said.

"Who's gone?" Buffy asked, in an annoyed tone. She still didn't believe that Faith was going to go after The First half cocked.

"Tanya's fled."

Angel and Buffy looked over to where Tanya had been sitting, and sure enough, the slayer had fled. No one had seen her get up and run out of the office, because they were all too busy with making preparations.

"We can't worry about her right now," Angel said, "we have to worry about what Faith is about to do."

Faith and Willow returned, a look of resolve across Faith's face, and Willow grabbed some magical supplies from the stuff that she had brought along with her. She was obviously preparing to do some pretty heavy magic, because Willow rarely ever needed the supplies that she had brought along for anything but heavy magic.

"Willow…" Buffy started.

"I can't let you know what I'm going to, Buffy." Willow replied, "It will be safer for you if you just don't know."

Willow had said it in a serious tone that told Buffy that she meant business. Whatever Willow and Faith had talked about out in the hall, Faith had made her swear not to tell the others. That told Buffy that it was either suicide, or it was going to cause a lot of trouble for them in the long run.

Finally, Faith took a seat and placed her head in her hands. She pulled her shoulder length hair back and looked up at the ceiling. Then, she got up from where she was sitting and looked straight at everyone in the room.

"I know that I really haven't given you guys a lot of time to think about what we're about to do," Faith said, "but just trust that I know what I'm doing. I don't want anyone to die in this battle, but just know going into it that there's a great possibility of that happening."

Faith looked around at the others to see if they comprehended everything that she was telling them. If anyone got cold shouldered in the face of the upcoming battle, it would surely cost them their life. Faith needed them to know that, so that as many people as possible could survive the ordeal.

"We're going to go to where The First is hanging out," Faith explained, "and we're going to send that bastard straight back to the hell dimension that he spawned out of."

"I have one problem with that plan." Buffy replied, confidently, "We don't know where The First is, and even if we did, we don't know the first thing about how we're going to stop him."

"We don't know where The First is B, but she does."

Faith pointed over towards the door, and standing in the doorway was Tanya. She had started to run away, and then she had stopped. She hadn't been forced to come back, but she did. Tanya had told Faith that she wanted to make a difference, and she wanted to be part of the heritage that protected those that couldn't protect themselves.

"I want to help," Tanya said, "and I can take you to where The First is staying."

"Why should we trust you?" Angel demanded.

"Because, Angel," Faith replied for her, "if we don't, I can't put my plan into action."

Faith gave one last look to the people standing in the room, before she motioned for the others to follow Tanya out the door. The young and frightened slayer led them out the door of Wolfram & Hart and down the street. They took a left at the first intersection, and Angel, with a coat over his head for the last few minutes of daylight, wondered where Tanya could possibly be taking them.

She took them down a few more streets, and when they thought they were being led astray, they finally rounded the corner to be confronted with a huge abandoned warehouse. However, the warehouse only appeared abandoned on the outside, because it was housing to The First.

"Here's the plan." Faith said, after taking a surveillance of the area around them, "We're going to go in and kill anything that moves. Just like in the hell mouth, right B?"

Buffy couldn't believe what Faith was talking about. What she was telling them was a suicide mission. She knew all too well the price to pay for going into a battle unready for what they would be facing. She had nearly lost the trust of everyone she knew the night she had taken them all into the winery, not knowing what was in store for them when they got down there.

"Faith, I don't think this is a …" She started to reply, but Faith cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"I know that it doesn't sound like the greatest plan, but that's where I come in. Stick around and see how it ends."

With that in mind, Faith led the way into the warehouse, and before them stood The First and the other two slayers. They were accompanied by four vampires and three werewolves. The First alone would be enough to take everyone that was there with them out of existence, and Faith expected them to fight off all of these demons and still be alive to face The First.

"Give us a kiss." Faith said confidently. Then, all hell broke loose.