The Quickening

Note: I'm going out of town Saturday for about a week. Therefore, there won't be any updates during that time. Thanks for the reviews and keep them coming. I'll update again when I get back.

Previously:

"You're moving on," the woman said. "And so must we."

"There's more?" Faith asked, accepting the woman's hand as she reached out to help Faith stand.

"Much more," the woman replied. "And it will only be worse."

Chapter Sixty-Seven:

The sun slowly descended over Sunnydale. Long shadows stretched over the ground as the sun lit up the sky in a deep red that spread over the horizon, until it sank and the moon began to rise in its place. The shadows spread and darkness fell over the streets. Angel stood as a silent sentinel in Faith's hospital room. The dark haired slayer still lay motionless in her bed; her mind trapped in a coma while her body slowly healed itself from the wounds that had been inflicted upon her. When Giles asked him to watch over the girl, Angel had been surprised. Giles thought of Faith as a daughter and the fact that the Watcher believed in him enough to trust his most valuable possession to him meant a great deal to the souled vampire.

Angel's face was grim as he watched the moon slowly rise over the town. He could feel evil stirring, rising from its slumber, and emerging from the darkness to prowl the night. The demon in him stirred as well, always tempting him to turn from the life he had chosen and rejoin the rest of his brethren. Turning away from the window, Angel looked back at Faith. The others had visited before school. He knew that Xander and Cordelia wanted to stay, but Giles had insisted that they go about their lives as usual. Angel smiled, remembering how obstinate Xander had been about being able to protect his girlfriend much better than 'soul boy' ever could. Though Angel did not doubt the boy's heart, he knew that if the Mayor's assassin came after Faith again, Xander would not be able to protect her. He also knew that if anything happened to Xander while she was unconscious, Faith would kick his ass when she awoke.

Angel moved over to Faith and sat down in the plastic chair next to the unconscious girl. The slow rise and fall of her chest was almost comforting to the vampire. Leaning forward, he reached across the bed and took her warm hand in his. "You know, I'm not usually one to make emotional pleas or anything," Angel started, wincing when he heard how loud his voice sounded in the empty hospital room. "But I think it's about time to break tradition. I could say that the others need you, Faith. They can't go on without you. But that wouldn't be necessarily true. See, I need you too."

Angel looked down at the crisp, white sheets on Faith's bed. "For a long time, I thought that I didn't need anyone. I thought that it would be better for me, and everyone else, if I just stayed away from people. So I stuck to the shadows. Looking back on it, I realize now how pathetic I was. I stayed in the alleys, ate rats for blood, didn't bathe," Angel said, thinking about Whistler's words to him. "Then someone came to me and told me that I was worth something. He took me to Los Angeles and showed me this girl. All I remember from the first time I saw her is that her hair was like the sun. She was so beautiful. And she needed me."

Angel paused and sat back in his chair, still holding Faith's hand in his own. "I couldn't believe it. Someone actually needed me. All of that time, I had thought that no one could ever need me – that I was just this blot, this stain on the world. But all of that changed. Now I realize that just as much as that girl needed me back then, I need people too. You can live for hundreds of years, but it's not the things you do that you remember. It's the people that you do them with," Angel said. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are a lot of people who need you to wake up, Faith, including me."

Angel looked down at Faith. Though he knew that his words would not magically bring her back from the darkness she had slipped into, he had secretly hoped that she would somehow respond. "That was really touching," a voice said from the doorway of the hospital room. Angel looked up, instantly on his feet when he saw the other vampire standing there.

"Who're you?" Angel asked, moving around Faith's hospital bed so that he stood between the unconscious slayer and the other vampire.

"Mr. Trick's my name. You must be Angel," Trick said, politely extending his hand. Angel looked at him as if he were crazy.

"I'm not going to shake your hand," Angel growled angrily. "You're the one who did this to her, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," Trick said proudly. "Although, seeing as how you're a vampire, I thought you would be pleased for me."

"Pleased? Why would I be pleased that you put a friend of mine in a coma?" Angel demanded.

"Oh, that's right," Trick said. "You've been neutered, haven't you? Don't play for our side anymore? Just the slayer's little lap dog."

"Whatever you came here for, you won't get it," Angel replied determinedly.

"I see," Trick said, moving farther into the room. "The other slayer's friends left you here to watch over her, right? To make sure that I didn't come back to finish the job?" Trick asked.

Angel nodded. "That's right," he replied.

"Well, I didn't want to have to hurt you," Trick said agreeably. "But if push comes to shove, I have a job to do."

"To be honest," Angel responded, "I do want to hurt you. So bring it on." Morphing into his vampire face, Angel charged at Trick, tackling him to the ground. Angel grunted as Trick brought his knee up into the souled vampire's stomach. Rolling off the other vampire, Angel leapt to his face, throwing several quick jabs at Trick. Trick blocked the first, but winced as the second struck him just below the kidney. Pushing Angel backwards, Trick moved away, regrouping. The two vampires circled each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Finally, Trick lashed his foot out, catching Angel just below the chin. Angel stumbled backwards, slamming into the wall. Trick smiled cruelly and advanced upon the other vampire. But this time, Angel was ready for him.

Grabbing Trick by the collar of his expensive suit, Angel heaved him out of Faith's hospital room with all of his strength. The other vampire landed in the hallway, sliding across the polished floor until he came to rest in a crumpled heap by the wall. Angel growled low in his throat, stalking out of the room after Trick. "Uh, boys? What's going on?" A feminine voice asked. Angel looked over to see Buffy and the rest of the Scooby Gang stopped a few feet down the hallway. Buffy had a bemused expression on her face as she watched Trick lurch to his feet.

"This is the bastard who attacked Faith," Angel spat. "He came here to finish her off."

"Just like I predicted," Cordelia muttered. "And I'm the stupid one," she said sarcastically.

Buffy's expression quickly changed as she eyed up Trick. "He's one of the Mayor's boys?" She asked Angel, who nodded. Buffy smiled. "Then this is going to be fun." Angel watched as Buffy launched herself at Trick, taking him by surprise with a flurry of kicks and punches that left the vampire stunned. Trick fell to his knees on the floor, his face bleeding profusely. Buffy towered over him, a stake resting in her hand. "You're pathetic," Buffy said just before she slammed the stake into Trick's chest. "How does that feel?" She asked, leaning forward and sneering in his face as he exploded into a cloud of dust.

"Threat extinguished," Cordelia said. "So how's our girl?"

"Still the same," Angel replied, desponded.

"Do you think the Mayor will send someone else?" Willow asked fearfully.

"I don't doubt it," Giles replied, removing his glasses and absently wiping them on his shirt.

"Don't worry," Angel said. "I'll stick around. I kinda like keeping her company anyway."

"Don't get any bright ideas, soul boy," Xander said, though he smiled at the vampire.

"I won't," Angel promised.

"Well, enough of this," Cordelia said. "I don't know about you, but I came here to see Faith, not shoot the shit with you guys."

……………………

"That was pretty touching," the woman standing next to Faith said as she and the dark haired slayer listened to Angel's speech. Even though Faith was in a coma, she could hear every word being said to her.

"Angel's a good friend," Faith replied softly.

"That's right. You have lots of those now, don't you?" The woman asked. Faith looked over at her before turning back to the scene unfolding in front of her. The other Faith was several years older than the one who her mother had cruelly burned with a cigarette. She lay on the couch, struggling as a man towered over her, unzipping his pants.

"What happened?" The woman asked.

"He was one of my mother's drug dealers. Came around looking for payment, but she wasn't around. So he thought he'd take something else instead," Faith said, looking down at the ground as the older man raped the girl on the couch.

"This moment changed things for you, didn't it?" The woman asked.

"I didn't trust a man again after that," Faith said. "Not until I met Xander."

"And Giles, Angel, and Wesley," the woman added. Faith smiled.

"Turns out that all guys aren't bastards," Faith replied. The scene in front of her suddenly shifted, distorting out of shape. When everything had come together again, Faith was standing in her old motel room in Sunnydale. "What are we doing back here?" Faith asked.

"Watch," the woman said. Suddenly, the motel room door burst open and Faith stumbled inside. She had been out hunting for vampires when a group of them had taken her by surprise. Buffy had taken the night off to spend it with her friends and was not there to help as Faith was nearly beaten to death by the vampires attacking her. The slayer closed the door behind her and walked over to the mirror above the bureau. Steadying herself on the piece of furniture, she looked up into the mirror. Her eyes were cold and lifeless as she surveyed the damage done to her. Suddenly, she lashed her fist out at the mirror, breaking it into a thousand pieces. Glass flew everywhere, deeply cutting her hand, but Faith could barely feel it.

"You have so much anger in you," the woman said. "It overcomes you."

"I don't feel that way anymore," Faith countered.

"Yes, you do. Deep down inside of your heart, you still carry that pain. You still want to smash in every mirror you see. You want to punish every person who did you wrong. You're still stumbling down the wrong path."

"I'm trying," Faith said wearily.

"But not enough," the woman replied. The scene shifted again and this time, Faith was standing in the alley where she had staked Alan Finch.

"Don't make me watch this again," Faith pleaded. However, she could not stop the vision from passing before her eyes. She saw as she and Buffy came running down the alley, staking vampires as they jumped out at them. Suddenly, Alan Finch leapt out of the shadows in front of Faith. Faith slammed the stake into his chest, realization passing over her face when she felt his heart beating through the wood.

"How did it feel?" The woman asked.

"How did what feel?" Faith asked, looking over at her.

"How did it feel to take a human life?" The woman asked, rephrasing her question, and licking her lips.

"Terrible," Faith replied angrily.

"No, it didn't. You tell yourself that it did so that you don't have to acknowledge what you really feel," the woman countered.

"What're you talking about?" Faith asked, moving away.

"Tell me how it really felt. Tell me what it made you feel like," the woman prodded.

Faith looked down at the ground and closed her eyes. "It made me feel like a god," she whispered brokenly.

"That's right. It made you feel powerful. It made you feel like nothing in the world could stop you," the woman said. Faith opened her eyes and looked into the face of the woman.

"Who are you?" She asked, squinting her eyes suspiciously. The woman laughed.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out by now," she said. "You've seen me before."

Faith paled as she realized whom the woman was. "You're the First Evil, aren't you?" She asked, backing away. "You're the one who has been haunting my dreams. You made all of this come true."

"No, Faith, I didn't make all of this come true. You made it come true. And I've had so much fun watching," the woman said, laughing. "But I will do something for you, since you've bee such a sport."

"What's that?" Faith asked, stepping closer.

"I'll tell you how to destroy him," the First said seductively. "I'll tell you how to beat the Mayor."

"Why would you do that?" Faith asked.

"Sunnydale is mine," the First said. "One day I'll take my place in it. But I want it to be there when I do. The Mayor, he's just a pawn in a game that I'm going to win."

"You're afraid of him," Faith said, smiling.

"Do you want what I have or not?" The First asked.

"You know I do," Faith said.

"Then come closer, love," the First said, smiling as it whispered in Faith's ear.