Author: Niki
Title: Make Me Forget- Chapter 12/13
Pairing: Faith/Buffy all the way. Though there is some Faith/Wood for a while and mentions of other Faith pairings.
Summary: After the collapse of Sunnydale, Buffy and Faith begin to get closer than anyone knows. Problems arise, though, when Faith's actions from the past literally come back to haunt her.
Rating: NC-17, baby. But no smut in this chapter… sorry!
Disclaimer: Yeah, these aren't mine, they're Joss's, but I think you already knew that.
Note: Thanks for feed back. I live off it, ok? Sue me.
Note 2: This is slightly AU in the Angelverse. Angel somehow got the necklace to give to Buffy earlier on, and they are still dealing with the Cordelia mess. No Wolfram and Hart offer.
Note 3: So sorry for the delay… I've been harassed plenty about it, so know that I regret it. I'd also like to say sorry for the extreme crap that is this chapter… mainly the fight scene, but also just the chapter in general. Even after reading a bunch of really good fight scenes, I just couldn't get it to work. sighs what can I say? It isn't my thing. But on the up side… one chapter left! Yay!
No POV:
Buffy and Faith materialized in the lobby and were quickly surrounded.
"How is she?"
"Is she going to be alright?"
"Buffy, what happened?"
"Can everyone just back up!" Buffy yelled, trying to control her tears.
"Buffy, do you want me to take her upstairs? I'll do a spell… sort of a sleeping pill type thing."
Buffy nodded and mumbled something into Faith's ear. Faith nodded her head slightly and the two started to get up off of the ground. Faith slowly separated herself from Buffy and let Willow and Fred guide her upstairs. Everyone else just stood around, not knowing what to do.
"Everyone, listen up!" Buffy suddenly shouted, wiping tears away from her face and trying to pull herself together. "We're fighting them tonight. Things have gotten worse and I'm through playing around."
"Buffy, you're not in any state right now to make these kinds of decisions," Giles argued.
"If I wanted your opinion I'd ask for it," she snapped.
"Do you not remember what happened at the Vineyard? This situation is quite like that. In both instances you wanted to rush in too quickly with no plan."
"This isn't the same!"
"Buffy, this isn't the way to help Faith. We all want to help her, I can assure you."
"I agree with Rupert," Wesley said. "This is too fast. We don't have enough power to go in there right now."
"I say we do it," Connor said, walking into the lobby.
"Connor? Where the hell have you been?" Angel asked.
"Around," he said, noncommittally. "I had to work some stuff out."
"Sorry guys, but this is my thing now. I'm calling the shots and-" Buffy stopped talking when she saw Willow come down the steps again. She rushed over and pulled Willow into a corner.
"How is she?" She asked worriedly.
"Well, the second we got up there she passed out from exhaustion. I put her under a spell… A resting spell that should clear her head and keep her knocked out for a while. It won't last forever, though. The influence on her from Wolfram and Hart won't be that strong for a while, so it should keep her from doing anything rash. Hopefully she'll just stay asleep until we get back."
"Yeah, but just in case, I need someone to stay here and watch her. Someone strong enough to keep her from doing anything." Buffy looked over at the group gathered around the table and walked back over.
"Ok, we've got a plan. We ARE going into Wolfram and Hart."
"But Buffy," Giles began to protest.
"No! I don't wanna hear it. This is the plan… we're going into Wolfram and Hart. Angel, what's the best way to get in fast?"
"Well, we don't have a lot of time, so I'm gonna go with what worked really well for us once: a distraction."
"Ok, that's good. Dawn, Andrew, I want you to distract them. Nothing dangerous… just something you can stretch out for a while. We need to be able to get in and out without problems. Xander, you watch them. Keep them out of trouble."
"Man," he said, shaking his head. "My jobs really suck now that I'm the guy with one eye."
"Now we need a tight fighting team. I know which of my guys can fight, but which of Angel's group can handle themselves?"
"I'm your boy," Gunn said. "Wes is alright too."
"Thank you Charles," Wesley said sarcastically.
"Then it's settled. Me, Angel, Giles, Wes, Gunn, and Wills will go in."
"What about me?" Connor asked.
"Your job is to stay here and watch Faith. Everyone else, that's your job too, but mainly I need you Connor. Faith is strong and if she wakes up, I need you to keep her here. You're the only one besides Angel that's strong enough to do that, and I need him with me because he knows Wolfram and Hart."
Connor nodded silently and then went upstairs.
"Ok, everyone got the plan?"
"Um, Buffy?" Willow raised her hand cautiously. "What exactly are we doing once we get there? It might be a good idea to have a plan for that part also."
"We fight," she answered, clearly thinking the answer was obvious.
"Yeah, but who? I mean, how do we have any idea what we're looking for?"
"I've got a pretty good method for finding out information there," Angel said.
"Alright guys, that's the plan… get ready, we're leaving in 30." Buffy turned to the weapons cabinet but a thought occurred to her and she turned back. "Oh, and Wes? Get some supplies for a locator spell. We're finding Cordelia."
Xander smiled and shook his head. "I knew she would remember."
Xander causally strolled into the lobby of Wolfram and Hart, admiring the architecture and noting the marble floor. When he got to the center of the lobby, he turned and looked outside. Dawn nodded at Xander through the glass windows and then charged into the room, Andrew's arms wrapped around her.
"Nobody move!" Andrew yelled, whipping out the decorative knife Giles had given him and pressing it against Dawn's throat. "I'll kill this little… BITCH!" Andrew then leaned forward closer to Dawn's ear. "Sorry, Dawnie. I don't mean it," he whispered.
The lawyers and other employees of Wolfram and Hart barely gave them a second glance and kept walking.
"Jesus," Xander muttered, rolling his good eye. He pulled out his gun that he'd brought for backup and fired a shot into the air. That got their attention.
"Thank you, ladies and gentleman. Now, if you don't want the crazy, one-eyed man to blow your brains out all over this lovely marble floor, pay attention to the guy holding the girl hostage." He gestured with his gun over to Andrew.
Realizing that the spotlight was on him again, Andrew put on his "intimidating" face. "That's right! Listen to him… he has one eye! But since he said listen to me that means follow my instructions I guess… so yeah! Nobody move!" The crowd that had formed stopped moving and stood frozen around Andrew and Dawn.
Xander glanced over and saw Buffy, Angel, Willow, Wesley, Gunn, and Giles quickly walking to the elevators. Nobody noticed. Xander nodded to himself, pleased. Phase One, complete.
Connor sat in the dark, watching Faith steadily breathe in and out. The lighting was dim, but he could just make out her features… so soft and beautiful. Her forehead looked serious, though, as if she was having some kind of nightmare. In the time Connor had gotten to know Faith, he knew it was safe to say that she had nightmares quite often.
Suddenly Faith began to stir, her legs getting caught in the many covers on top of her.
"Faith?" he whispered, trying to judge whether or not she was waking up.
She gave no reply but continued to toss and turn until she opened her eyes and began pushing herself. Faith shakily climbed out of the bed, having to balance herself on the nightstand next to her. "Connor? What am I doing here? Where's Buffy?"
"Faith, lay back down. You're weak… you need to rest." Connor jumped up and moved closer to Faith, wondering if he should try and help her back into bed.
At his words Faith quickly pulled herself together and tried to appear strong. "Shut it, Junior. There's nothing wrong with me. Where's Buffy?"
"Really Faith, I think you should get back in bed. You don't look well."
"It's fine. Really, I'm fine. I just wanna go get something to drink. My mouth is dry."
"I'll get it for you," Connor offered.
"No, that's ok… I'm a big girl. I can get some water."
Faith slowly made her way over to the door, taking in her surroundings and adjusting her eyes to the dark. She left the room and began walking down the stairs, Connor a few steps behind her. She listened carefully as she got closer to the lobby, hearing what seemed to be an argument.
"No, I don't care! They don't have enough fighters to be attacking Wolfram and Hart like this! Y'all, they're WINGING it. They clearly don't have a plan, no matter what Little Miss Blonde Slayer Buffy says."
"Fred, sweetie, I understand where you're coming from, but we've got nothing else. We almost lost Faith today, so something drastic needs to be done."
"She's right, you know. They don't have a chance going in there like this."
"She-devil, we really don't need your help."
The group in the lobby looked up when they heard Faith step out from the staircase. She saw that it had been Lorne, Fred, and Lilah arguing. Lilah? Oh… right. Buffy had said something about her.
"Faith! You're awake! Wow… that was fast," Fred said nervously.
"Yeah, I'm a quick healer…" Faith muttered distractedly, looking around at the weapons on the table and the lack of Scoobs. "So they went to Wolfram and Hart?" She suddenly asked, getting right to the point.
"Well, yes… I mean, technically, that may be their plan-"
"Yes, they went to Wolfram and Hart," Lilah said, cutting off Fred. "It appears they're off to save you or avenge you or some stupid chivalrous thing like that."
Faith nodded and moved over to the table, picking up weapons and placing them in different parts of their clothing. "How long ago did they leave?"
"Faith, honey, you really don't need to go over there. You're the target, so walking into the lion's den might not be the best idea." Lorne slowly moved closer, feeling uncomfortable with Faith's brash demeanor and the weapons in her hands.
"Buffy's there," Faith said, turning to look at the three people in the lobby. "She didn't abandon me earlier… I can't abandon her now. My place is by her side."
"No Faith," Connor said from the steps. "My one job is to keep you here… keep you safe. Buffy asked me personally."
"Well, then come with and keep me safe. You heard them. Apparently they can use some more fighters over there. And besides, Buffy can be stupid sometimes. She should know better than to think I'm just gonna sit this one out." Faith walked to the door and turned back to Connor. "You in or you out? Cause you know there isn't a chance in hell you can stop me."
Connor stared at her a moment and the second she saw his expression change, Faith threw him the battle ax that was in her hand. "Ok Junior, let's do this."
"Can you stop calling me that?" the three in the lobby heard Connor ask as he and Faith disappeared into the night.
"Man, I wish I could be there to video this," Lilah said, shaking her head and laughing.
"Angel, where are we going?" Buffy asked as she ran beside him.
"We're going where we can find answers." Angel stopped in front of a large pair of doors and kicked them in violently.
The group stepped into the room and saw three lawyers sitting on a couch that was beside a large, expensive desk. The leather chair at the desk was turned around and rocking back and forth.
"Angel," said a man as he turned around in the chair to face the group. "I was wondering how long it was going to take you to show up. I must say, I was expecting it to take a little longer. Bravo."
"You know, I really hate how everyone in this damn place knows who I am and yet I don't know ANY of you."
"Oh, pardon me for my rudeness." The man stood up and extended his hand to Angel, smiling. "I am Charles Vaughan, head of the Special Projects Division of Wolfram and Hart."
Angel stared at the extended hand with distaste. "You know why I'm here, so let's not bother with the pleasantries."
"Yes, I do know why you're here. You know, I really expected Lilah to do a better job. I only met her briefly before she died, but I was under the impression that she could handle an assignment like this. I guess I was wrong."
"Faith. What have you done to her?" Buffy asked, stepping forward.
"Miss Summers, do you REALLY think I'm going to tell you that? How much of a fool do you take me for?"
Willow began muttering an incantation under her breath and Vaughan chuckled. The lawyers sitting on the couch laughed along with him.
"We have the best in the world working for us… do you really think your amateur spells are going to do anything? I can assure you, you will not be getting this information out of me."
"Here's the deal, Vaughan: You don't want to start war with us. Me and my crew have foiled countless numbers of Wolfram and Harts plans. Unless you want us coming down on you even harder, you'll tell me how to stop this. And when I say coming down on you harder, I mean you won't be able to PEE without looking over your shoulder to check if I'm there."
"Well, as frightening as that sounds," Vaughan said, moving out from behind the desk and standing in front of Angel. "I still don't think I'll be telling you anything. Why would I? We put a lot of work into this project… we've utilized unique, one of a kind resources to put this plan into affect. I'm not going to botch it all just because you're threatening me."
"Well, we're going comb this whole building till we find what we're looking for. How's that?"
Vaughan laughed and moved closer to Angel. "I'd like to see you try. One of my colleagues has just summoned our… special security. It's not as if we're just going to let you waltz around the building for the rest of the day."
He backed up some and turned to walk back to his desk, laughing. "And besides, you would never be able to find what you're looking for. It doesn't even exist."
A look of realization slowly spread on Angel's face and he smiled at Vaughan. "Thank you, Mr. Vaughan. You've been very helpful." A look of horror crossed Vaughan's face when he realized his mistake. Angel turned to the group and quickly moved to the door. "Let's go!"
They ran down the hall, following Angel. The group got in the elevator just in time to see a large group of vampires coming out of the stairwell.
"Angel, do you have some type of plan?" Giles asked, worried.
"Yeah, give me a second." Angel closed his eyes in concentration then hit several of the buttons for different floor and pulled out the emergency lever. A large white button appeared underneath the rest and he punched it quickly. The elevator quickly started moving up.
"Angel, where are we going?" Buffy asked impatiently.
"To the White Room," Wesley answered, smiling at Angel. "The one place in Wolfram and Hart that doesn't exist… I must say, Angel. I'm quite impressed."
"Eh, it was nothing."
The elevator suddenly turned white and the group was standing in a large, blank, white area.
"That's it!" Angel yelled, spotting a large glowing sphere. Red and black mist swirled around it and faint screams could be heard coming from it.
"Are we sure? I mean, we don't wanna come in here smashin shit up that may trigger the sky to rain fire or something."
"Gunn, does it LOOK like anything else is here? I'm placing my money on the big glowy ball," Angel snapped, seeming to forget their reason for being there.
"God, can you quit with the pissing contest? We have work to do." Willow sighed and walked over to the sphere, observing it as closely as she could without touching it. "I can feel the barriers on this thing… they're strong. I'm gonna have to take them all down before you can smash it, Buffy."
"Do what you have to Will… just make it fast." As the words left Buffy's mouth, a group of about 18 vampires suddenly appeared in the white space of the room. "On second thought," Buffy added, "let's make it REALLY fast."
Connor and Faith ran into the building, avoiding the riot that appeared to be going on around a small group of people. They paid the group no notice as they rushed to the elevators. As the doors to the elevator closed and they had to decide where to go, the reality that Faith had no idea what she was doing began to overwhelm her.
"Goddammit!" Faith yelled, punching the wall of the elevator and creating a huge dent in it.
"Calm down, Faith… it's not that bad. We can work this out."
Faith slowly turned her head to look at Connor, a murderous look in her eyes. "DON'T fucking tell me to calm down. Do it again and I snap you neck."
Connor stared unbelievingly at Faith for a moment and then moved to the elevator buttons, sniffing them each for several seconds.
"Oh, THAT'S the solution… sniff the wall. Good thinking, Kid."
"Just be quiet for a second. I need to concentrate." Connor moved his head back and forth, sniffing the buttons over and over again until he stood up and pressed the buttons for certain floors and then pulled the emergency one out. A large white button appeared and Connor moved forward to sniff it again. After a moment he tapped it and the elevator began moving upward until it finally dissolved into white.
The sight that greeted Faith and Connor was not pretty. Willow stood near a giant glowing sphere, chanting with her eyes close. Faith assumed that if she opened them, they would be completely black. Buffy, Angel, Giles, Wesley, and Gunn fought off a group of almost twenty vampires, and their odds didn't look good.
"Go help!" Faith yelled and rushed into the fight.
Angel tried to get up, only to be knocked down again before he could get his footing. Just as he was beginning to worry, the vamp suddenly exploded into dust. Connor looked down at him, smirking and shaking his head.
"You getting your ass kicked Dad? It's a sad day when I have to come in and save you."
Before Angel could respond, two vampires tackled Connor, knocking him to the ground. Angel immediately jumped up and pulled one off of Connor, but before he could get the other off of him the other vampire came back and jumped on his back, pulling a string tightly across his neck.
"Connor!" Angel yelled as he flipped the vamp over his shoulder. "What the HELL-" He kicked the vamp in the face, sending it back down to the ground. "-are you doing here?" Angel staked the vampire on the ground and turned to watch Connor fight.
"It wasn't my fault! She insisted on coming… I wouldn't have been able to stop her!" Connor staked his vamp and turned to glare at his father. "Don't blame this on me."
"We'll talk about this later Connor… I'm very annoyed at you and your irresponsibility."
"Angel!" Wesley yelled, fighting off three vamps. "Some help would be nice!"
Angel and Connor ran to Wesley, passing Buffy and Faith, who were fighting off 5 vampires.
"Faith, what are you doing here?" Buffy punched one in the face and then turned and kicked the other in the chest. She dusted a vamp and glanced over at Faith as she continued fighting the other one.
"You're here cause of me!" Faith quickly dusted two in a row and then began beating the crap out of the remaining vampire. "The least I can do is help!"
Faith and Buffy fought simultaneously, slowly pushing the two vamps they were fighting closer together. After a quick glance to each other, they both kicked the vamps in the chest so that they flew back and hit each other. Buffy and Faith quickly moved in and staked both vamps.
"Like old times," Buffy said grinning.
Faith smiled at her for a moment when suddenly her face changed and a look of rage passed over her. Faith suddenly lunged at Buffy, knocking her down. She straddled her and began punching her in the face over and over again.
"Faith, stop!"
Giles heard the scream and ran to Buffy, knocking Faith off of her. More vamps jumped on them and the three attempted to fight them off. Faith switched back and forth between punching vampires and punching Buffy, seemingly unable to make up her mind.
Angel saw the fight taking place so close to the sphere and rushed over. Before he could jump in he was kicked in the balls by Faith, who then turned and staked a vampire. She then turned back to Angel and began beating on his back, pushing him further onto the ground.
"Buffy! I did it! Break it!" Willow yelled over the fighting, looking for Buffy.
At the sound of Willow's voice Buffy immediately rushed to the sphere and stopped in front of it, trying to work out the best way to shatter it.
Faith saw the vampire coming up behind Buffy and pulling out a knife. Through her confusion and mixed feelings, the only thing she could comprehend was that she had to protect Buffy. Faith quickly staked the vampire she was fighting and ran to Buffy. She saw Buffy shatter the sphere and suddenly she felt as if her soul was lighter… nothing was confusing anymore. She knew what she had to do.
As the vampire moved to stab Buffy in the back, Faith threw herself in front of the knife, taking it in the chest. Buffy turned around and stared in horror as the vampire pulled the knife out of Faith's chest and she dropped to the ground.
"NOO!" Tears flooded Buffy's eyes as she moved forward and grabbed the vampire's head, ripping it off.
Before the dust settled Buffy was on the ground at Faith's side. She didn't notice the fight that was dying down around her… only that Faith's blood was staining the white around her.
Faith's POV:
Goddamn, this hurts. Fuck! How many times have I been stabbed now? This is getting ridiculous.
My eyes are closed but the bright white of the room is shining through as if my eyes were opened. I don't know if that's a good thing… either I'm in that big ass white room or I've died and gone to heaven…. Ok, never mind that then. I'm still alive.
I slowly open my eyes and the first thing I see is Buffy's beautiful face above me, crying. Her tears are spilling down on my face. I don't care though, because I can see everything clearly now.
She loves me. I love her. It's as simple as that… all the rage and hatred I was feeling toward her is gone. All I can feel is love. She came in here to save me. She risked her life to save me. She's never done that before. The thought of it almost makes this pain bearable. Key word there being almost.
"Oh, god…" I moan in pain.
"Faith? Faith don't move. Stay very still… how do you feel baby?"
"Like I've been stabbed," I say, chuckling. I immediately regret it as I feel this horrible pain in my chest… Jesus fuck!
"Faith, it's ok now," she whispers, kissing my forehead and stroking my hair. "We did it… no more feeling like that. No more pain. I stopped them. You're safe now."
"You did that for me?" I ask, wanting to hear her say it. My vision's starting to blur. I can feel the blood pouring out of me… I can feel myself getting weaker. It's an effort to blink.
"Of course I would Faith. I love you. Never doubt that, OK? I'd do anything for you."
God, the way that feels…. I feel the words wash over me. I feel more sad and more happy than I ever have before. The best thing that ever happened to me is being taken away.
"B, listen to me, ok?" She nods at me as she holds my hand I see the group coming to surround us. I guess we won. I try and block them out and pretend it's only me and Buffy. "I love you B. I've loved you since the first day I met you. No matter what I've done… all the things I've done to you… I've never stopped loving you. Not once. I wish we could've been together sooner, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be."
I cough and I feel something wet come out of my mouth. Am I drooling? Why do I have to be drooling? Everyone's looking at me. Just staring. Willow's crying… she looks horrified.
"Buffy," I whisper. "I'm not gonna pretend that we'll meet again some day…you're going to a much better place than me."
"Faith, don't say that!" B can barely get her words out through the tears now. "You'll be fine. You're going get better, and we're going be together. I swear."
The edges on my vision are closing in… the spots are starting to sprinkle over her face.
"I love you, B, ok? I always will…"
I feel my eyes starting to droop as I let myself fall into the darkness. Her gorgeous, angelic face is the last thing I see, and before it all goes completely dark and fades away I hear her say, "Faith, I love you. Please don't leave me…"
I wish I didn't have to.