author: Lucinda
rating: pg13
main characters: Riley, Faith
Faith and Second Chances 7: Settling A Score
disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
distribution: TNL, Wic, Paula, Cat - anyone else ask first.
set in season 4, just after the body-switching has been reversed.
Lunch ended up being grilled cheese sandwiches and some vegetable soup from a couple cans. Hardly the top of the line cuisine, but it was hot and filling. For a while, there was only the sounds of chewing, clinking spoons, and people drinking their coffee.
"The thing that did it... I want to kill it. I want to make certain that it can't ever... that nobody else will die." Riley's voice was grim, filled with pain.
"It won't... it won't bring him back." Steve's voice was soft, hesitant.
"No, but it might help with some of the emotions." Riley sighed, and leaned on his elbow. "It won't bring Forrest back, but...I guess maybe it's revenge."
Faith shook her head, and looked over at Riley and his sad eyes. "Nothing wrong with a bit of revenge in this case. I'll make you a deal - try to get some decent food in you, loosen those muscles up a bit, and then we can go out tonight to find this Polgara and kick it's ass."
Riley smiled at her, this sad little smile that was so much less that what his smiles should be. "That sounds good, Faith."
Faith shook her head again, biting her lip as she tried to tell herself that it didn't hurt to see that broken smile, the pain in his eyes. She tried to tell herself that he didn't matter... And Faith knew that she was trying to lie to herself. She couldn't put it into words, but somehow, Riley mattered. She cared that he was upset, and wanted to see him better. It gave her this fuzzy feeling inside that he'd been checking on her regularly, that when something happened, he talked to her about it.
She didn't know how either of them managed to get through the day. Neither one seemed to be able to really relax, and the demon and Forrest were both topics too painful to discuss, and at the same time, taking up too much of Riley's attention to let him talk about anything else. So they paced, and stretched a bit, and managed to get a little bit of dinner in the way of slices of lunch meat on bread, washed down by some weird blended fruit juice that Steve had. Riley wanted to get that demon, and Faith wanted to make sure that the demon didn't get Riley.
By the time the sun was barely touching the horizon, not quite dusk, they decided that it was late enough to stop bothering to pretend that they could wait. Riley picked up his belt, brushed the side of his tazer as if removing some trace or shadow of dust. Faith picked up one of the little crossbows, a couple good knives, and a wooden stake, wanting to be prepared for almost anything. Riley was tense as he walked to his jeep, clearly impatient to find this Polgara and start with the vengeance.
They sat in tense silence as he drove them near the section of trees and hills that the demon had been lurking at before. Riley's walkie talkie sputtered static at him, and he picked it up, listening for a few moments before speaking. "Yes, I'm ready to attempt to locate the Polgara."
"I won't let it affect my performance, Sir."
"Yes, everything is in order." Frowning, Riley clicked a button, and practically slammed the device into a belt loop. "Worried about my performance. Ha! Concerned about morale...Ha! He's just worried that all of this will end up getting him a negative performance evaluation."
"Who thinks that?" Faith glanced over, wondering if Riley realized that his one hand was clenching the steering wheel almost tight enough to bend it, and the other was shaking as it hovered near but not touching the wheel.
"There's... the guy in charge of the Initiative soldiers, not the scientists. He's... He's more worried about his future reports than about us." Riley's voice had this sort of tremor to it that suggested he was holding back emotion by an effort of will.
Faith reached over, catching hold of his hand, and stilling the tremors. "Riley. It's going to... well, We're going to find it, we're going to kick it's ass. I'm not planning to let you get hurt, and I don't plan to get hurt either. We can do this."
His smile was weak, but it was obvious to Faith that he appreciated the effort to help him feel better. "Let's get on with it then."
They stepped out of the jeep, and began to move towards the caves, muscles tense and nerves alert for the slightest noise. It must have been dozens of times that one of them jumped from a squirrel moving, or a strong breeze rattling leaves. Eventually, there was another noise, a sort of shuffling sound, like clumsy feet over loose earth. There was the faintest of shadows, a tall, lean shape with a lumpy head. Faith could feel the prickle that whispered 'demon' to her slayer senses, and that feeling that reminded her of putting her hand near a fire that spoke of evil/danger.
Nodding, Faith pulled her knife, the crossbow already loaded and prepared to fire. The thing moved a little more, now partly visible though the tall weeds and the low branches, and she fired a bolt towards the scaly figure. It snarled in pain, and rushed towards them. But they were ready for this, had expected it to react like that. Faith twisted to the side, the blade of her knife slicing along the ribs in a curve, glancing off of two ribs. Riley tried to shoot it with the tazer, but the little dartlette skittered off the Polgara's skin. Cursing, Riley started the reset procedure and swung the barrel at the bone spike that extended from the hand. There was a sort of knocking sound, and the arm raised, the creature snarled again, and turned towards Riley.
Faith took advantage of the distraction, launching a spinning kick towards it's head, the knife blade also flashing out towards the back of it's knee. If she could hamstring it, it would fall, or at least be less able to fight.
Riley slammed the butt of the gun into the Polgara's jaw, his face twisted into an expression of pain and rage. It was obvious that he wanted to make it hurt for killing Forrest.
"Electrocute it already!" Faith called, kicking at the lower back, hoping that it wouldn't be able to... Swearing, she half fell backwards as it twisted, stabbing the bone spike towards her leg. She actually felt it slice through her pants, and it barely parted the skin of her leg, hardly drawing blood.
Riley fired the tazer again, and this time the dart landed in the slice along the ribcage, making a soft sucking sound as it connected. Of course, that was right before the frantic hum that was the surge of electricity, ad the sizzle and scream of the demon as the electricity surged into the open wound.
After a few moment, the Polgara collapsed, almost looking like slow motion. The tazer had a blinking light on the side and no more current flowing down the wire, and Riley still glared at it.
"It's down." Faith grinned, feeling oddly better despite her slashed pants and scraped leg. "Call it in, and then we can stop at Denny's or something. You know, eat someone else's cooking for once."
Riley stopped, still glaring at the fallen demon and breathing heavily. "Right." He fumbled for the walkie-talkie, and almost dropped it when he got it free from his belt. "Agent Lilac to... someone. I need a unit for pick-up."
Faith tried not to laugh as she listened. Agent Lilac? Lilac? Why on earth would Riley's codename be... She managed to keep the giggles confined until he was fumbling the radio back to his belt. "Lilac..."
"It's not..." Riley protested, looking right at her before getting a hint of a smile. "Well, maybe it is a bit funny."
Faith kept giggling, and walked over to stand beside him and look at the fallen demon. "It's down, we beat it. Even if you do have a silly codename. Now, as soon as someone shows up to get rid of it, we can go have some dinner, and a nice slice of pie. With coffee for you and a soda for me."
Riley wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her close for a rough hug. "Yeah, dinner. We just... just go on. One day at a time, you said."
"Yeah." Faith let herself relax a bit, enjoying the feeling of Riley's body next to hers. "oh, wait, where did that crossbow go? I dropped it when I kicked at his lumpy head..."
Eventually, the crossbow was recovered, and some other guys showed up to haul away the demon, who'd somehow got kicked a couple more times for good measure. Riley swore that he'd seen it moving each time. And then, it was time for some food.
That would take care of half of the post-slaying cravings at least. As for the rest... well, rushing into things had got her into trouble before, she should try to take things a bit slower this time. Even if it was frustrating.
end F&SC7: Settling the Score.
rating: pg13
main characters: Riley, Faith
Faith and Second Chances 7: Settling A Score
disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
distribution: TNL, Wic, Paula, Cat - anyone else ask first.
set in season 4, just after the body-switching has been reversed.
Lunch ended up being grilled cheese sandwiches and some vegetable soup from a couple cans. Hardly the top of the line cuisine, but it was hot and filling. For a while, there was only the sounds of chewing, clinking spoons, and people drinking their coffee.
"The thing that did it... I want to kill it. I want to make certain that it can't ever... that nobody else will die." Riley's voice was grim, filled with pain.
"It won't... it won't bring him back." Steve's voice was soft, hesitant.
"No, but it might help with some of the emotions." Riley sighed, and leaned on his elbow. "It won't bring Forrest back, but...I guess maybe it's revenge."
Faith shook her head, and looked over at Riley and his sad eyes. "Nothing wrong with a bit of revenge in this case. I'll make you a deal - try to get some decent food in you, loosen those muscles up a bit, and then we can go out tonight to find this Polgara and kick it's ass."
Riley smiled at her, this sad little smile that was so much less that what his smiles should be. "That sounds good, Faith."
Faith shook her head again, biting her lip as she tried to tell herself that it didn't hurt to see that broken smile, the pain in his eyes. She tried to tell herself that he didn't matter... And Faith knew that she was trying to lie to herself. She couldn't put it into words, but somehow, Riley mattered. She cared that he was upset, and wanted to see him better. It gave her this fuzzy feeling inside that he'd been checking on her regularly, that when something happened, he talked to her about it.
She didn't know how either of them managed to get through the day. Neither one seemed to be able to really relax, and the demon and Forrest were both topics too painful to discuss, and at the same time, taking up too much of Riley's attention to let him talk about anything else. So they paced, and stretched a bit, and managed to get a little bit of dinner in the way of slices of lunch meat on bread, washed down by some weird blended fruit juice that Steve had. Riley wanted to get that demon, and Faith wanted to make sure that the demon didn't get Riley.
By the time the sun was barely touching the horizon, not quite dusk, they decided that it was late enough to stop bothering to pretend that they could wait. Riley picked up his belt, brushed the side of his tazer as if removing some trace or shadow of dust. Faith picked up one of the little crossbows, a couple good knives, and a wooden stake, wanting to be prepared for almost anything. Riley was tense as he walked to his jeep, clearly impatient to find this Polgara and start with the vengeance.
They sat in tense silence as he drove them near the section of trees and hills that the demon had been lurking at before. Riley's walkie talkie sputtered static at him, and he picked it up, listening for a few moments before speaking. "Yes, I'm ready to attempt to locate the Polgara."
"I won't let it affect my performance, Sir."
"Yes, everything is in order." Frowning, Riley clicked a button, and practically slammed the device into a belt loop. "Worried about my performance. Ha! Concerned about morale...Ha! He's just worried that all of this will end up getting him a negative performance evaluation."
"Who thinks that?" Faith glanced over, wondering if Riley realized that his one hand was clenching the steering wheel almost tight enough to bend it, and the other was shaking as it hovered near but not touching the wheel.
"There's... the guy in charge of the Initiative soldiers, not the scientists. He's... He's more worried about his future reports than about us." Riley's voice had this sort of tremor to it that suggested he was holding back emotion by an effort of will.
Faith reached over, catching hold of his hand, and stilling the tremors. "Riley. It's going to... well, We're going to find it, we're going to kick it's ass. I'm not planning to let you get hurt, and I don't plan to get hurt either. We can do this."
His smile was weak, but it was obvious to Faith that he appreciated the effort to help him feel better. "Let's get on with it then."
They stepped out of the jeep, and began to move towards the caves, muscles tense and nerves alert for the slightest noise. It must have been dozens of times that one of them jumped from a squirrel moving, or a strong breeze rattling leaves. Eventually, there was another noise, a sort of shuffling sound, like clumsy feet over loose earth. There was the faintest of shadows, a tall, lean shape with a lumpy head. Faith could feel the prickle that whispered 'demon' to her slayer senses, and that feeling that reminded her of putting her hand near a fire that spoke of evil/danger.
Nodding, Faith pulled her knife, the crossbow already loaded and prepared to fire. The thing moved a little more, now partly visible though the tall weeds and the low branches, and she fired a bolt towards the scaly figure. It snarled in pain, and rushed towards them. But they were ready for this, had expected it to react like that. Faith twisted to the side, the blade of her knife slicing along the ribs in a curve, glancing off of two ribs. Riley tried to shoot it with the tazer, but the little dartlette skittered off the Polgara's skin. Cursing, Riley started the reset procedure and swung the barrel at the bone spike that extended from the hand. There was a sort of knocking sound, and the arm raised, the creature snarled again, and turned towards Riley.
Faith took advantage of the distraction, launching a spinning kick towards it's head, the knife blade also flashing out towards the back of it's knee. If she could hamstring it, it would fall, or at least be less able to fight.
Riley slammed the butt of the gun into the Polgara's jaw, his face twisted into an expression of pain and rage. It was obvious that he wanted to make it hurt for killing Forrest.
"Electrocute it already!" Faith called, kicking at the lower back, hoping that it wouldn't be able to... Swearing, she half fell backwards as it twisted, stabbing the bone spike towards her leg. She actually felt it slice through her pants, and it barely parted the skin of her leg, hardly drawing blood.
Riley fired the tazer again, and this time the dart landed in the slice along the ribcage, making a soft sucking sound as it connected. Of course, that was right before the frantic hum that was the surge of electricity, ad the sizzle and scream of the demon as the electricity surged into the open wound.
After a few moment, the Polgara collapsed, almost looking like slow motion. The tazer had a blinking light on the side and no more current flowing down the wire, and Riley still glared at it.
"It's down." Faith grinned, feeling oddly better despite her slashed pants and scraped leg. "Call it in, and then we can stop at Denny's or something. You know, eat someone else's cooking for once."
Riley stopped, still glaring at the fallen demon and breathing heavily. "Right." He fumbled for the walkie-talkie, and almost dropped it when he got it free from his belt. "Agent Lilac to... someone. I need a unit for pick-up."
Faith tried not to laugh as she listened. Agent Lilac? Lilac? Why on earth would Riley's codename be... She managed to keep the giggles confined until he was fumbling the radio back to his belt. "Lilac..."
"It's not..." Riley protested, looking right at her before getting a hint of a smile. "Well, maybe it is a bit funny."
Faith kept giggling, and walked over to stand beside him and look at the fallen demon. "It's down, we beat it. Even if you do have a silly codename. Now, as soon as someone shows up to get rid of it, we can go have some dinner, and a nice slice of pie. With coffee for you and a soda for me."
Riley wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her close for a rough hug. "Yeah, dinner. We just... just go on. One day at a time, you said."
"Yeah." Faith let herself relax a bit, enjoying the feeling of Riley's body next to hers. "oh, wait, where did that crossbow go? I dropped it when I kicked at his lumpy head..."
Eventually, the crossbow was recovered, and some other guys showed up to haul away the demon, who'd somehow got kicked a couple more times for good measure. Riley swore that he'd seen it moving each time. And then, it was time for some food.
That would take care of half of the post-slaying cravings at least. As for the rest... well, rushing into things had got her into trouble before, she should try to take things a bit slower this time. Even if it was frustrating.
end F&SC7: Settling the Score.