One Last Time
Notes/Summary: Written for the Angel Ficathon Two. Requirements will be posted at the end of the story. It's been a few months since the end of Not Fade Away. Angel's in New York, helping Faith out with his blue shadow, Illyria. Something's rising and it can only lead to…goodness? I seriously doubt that. And this fic is no pairing, on Angel's part at least.
Chapter Two: Searching For Dawn
There's only the sound of water dripping from the ceiling to the floor.
Drip, drip, drip…
She watches, as if entranced, for a while, but soon grows bored and resumes jangling the lock on the cage. What she wouldn't give for a bit of super strength right now.
She's tired, but she doesn't trust her surroundings enough to sleep. She doesn't understand what's going on, why she was taken, why they felt they had to kill Andrew. What they could have possibly accomplished by making sure he never saw another day.
She's scared; no surprise there. She's alone, and she doesn't know where Buffy is, or what she's doing, or if she's coming, so how can she not be scared? Being alone sucks big time. Especially when she knows that wherever she is, she is definitely not safe.
"Um, Dawn, can I ask you something?"
"Depends. Is it going to be a long drawn-out explanation before you get to the point? Because, if it is, don't bother."
"No. Promise."
"Okay, Go for it."
She wraps her arms around her knees, smiling a bit. If she had known what Andrew's intentions had been, she'd have freaked out. Now, she only wants to go back in time and relive it. Kind of weird, though. Her and Andrew. She'd never have imagined it, but there it was.
"Andrew, what the hell was that?"
"I kissed you?"
"I caught that. There was that whole…thing…where your lips were attached to mine. Just…why?"
"B-because I like you."
"You like me?"
"Yeah. I mean, you're…you're pretty, you're really smart, you know five ancient languages and you know a lot of other stuff, too. You're a great watcher-in-training, and you're not scared to go out fighting, even if there's a really big possibility you'll get killed. You're funny, quirky, cute, nice…what?"
"I just…I'm still surprised, I guess."
"Is it really that much of a surprise I like you when you're perfect? You're like the perfect-what was that for?"
"That was reciprocated crushage."
"Reciprocated?"
"Yeah. I can't like you back?"
Dawn lets go of her knees and leans back on the bars behind her. She lets out a deep breath. This whole thing where she's kidnapped for everything got old the first time it happened. Now it's just annoying, even if being put in a cage is a new concept.
-
"Let me give you a few highlights about Dawn, Illie." Faith says as she and Illyria walk through Central Park. They're patrolling, not yet beginning the search for Dawn. The search for Dawn is going to be the biggest thing of the week, and will be better spent in the daytime. That way, Faith will have something to do, being unemployed as of earlier today. She's kind of mad that Angel kept his office. But, oh, well. As long as he knows she isn't taking a step in there…unless she and May are going to hang out.
"Is it vital for her discovery?" Illyria asks, ice blue eyes scanning the bushes around them in anticipation of a fight. She's learning, at her own pace, but she is. She'd found some kind of…peace within herself and acknowledged that the shell, Fred, had been worthy of her possession, and had valuable assets. Illyria uses them when needed; she sees that Faith and Angel appreciate it every once in a while if she does something they termed "Fred-like." She thinks of it as her bringing them some type of skewed solace.
"Don't actually know. It might be." Faith replies. "One: Dawn's trouble prone. I know, you might think I meant like accident-prone or something, like clumsy. But-no. People like to kidnap Dawn. People like to threaten Dawn. People like to use Dawn to open portals to other dimensions."
"Portals?" Illyria echoes, something sparking in her memory. She remembers something, vaguely, something that opened dimensions in her time.
"It's some kind of thing. Buffy tried explaining it to me. I still don't get it a bit." Faith shakes her head. "Anyway, Dawn's supposedly not real up until three years ago. She's supposed to be something called the Key-"
"The Key. I know of it. The Key's existence is more ancient than my own. The Old Ones held it in possession for millennia, and kept it from the abomination, Glorificus. Once in danger, a monastery was established to look after it in case we were incapable. After our banishment, they vowed to protect it with their lives. And they did. They eventually transformed it, and sent it to Buffy…as her sister." Illyria says, as all the knowledge of its history seems to leak to her brain.
"Oh." Faith blinks, fully having expected that she'd be the all-knowing one in this situation. "Huh."
Illyria says nothing in response. She does not tell Faith that Dawn, even if human, is still only means to an end. She does not tell her that Dawn has an expiration date, even if not as the pure energy she is. She also doesn't say that there is only one use that will eradicate the girl.
And while she digests this information that the brunette she'd met on many occasions was the treasure from long ago, knows it's only a matter of time. She amuses herself with the thought that it's about to get very interesting.
-
Angel takes a seat and picks up the phone. He dials a set of seven numbers and waits patiently as it rings.
"Tom here." A voice says as the phone on the other end is answered.
"Tom…it's Angel."
"Oh. Gotta go-"
"You could hang up, but that wouldn't be a smart idea." Angel cuts him off. "For one, I can see you from across the room."
He watches as Tom looks around with nervous energy. Of course he's nervous. Ever since Angel's returned to New York, he's been nervous. Angel always brings trouble with him and Tom is a demon that prefers to avoid it.
"Yeah? Well, w-what do you want? I told you last week I ain't a sneak no more."
"And I didn't believe you then, so why start now?" Angel replies. "A girl kidnapped in Rome. She was brought here. Why?"
"You know, Angel, I'm really not at liberty to discuss this-"
"Why?"
"She's the Key, ain't she? That ancient, portal-opening energy everyone's been looking for since Glory's been off the map. If someone's looking for ritual fun, then what's better than her? And let's not forget that she's the Slayer's sister, made from her in fact. They have the same blood. She's potent, man. That's all I have to say. So can I go now?"
"Yeah." Angel hangs up his cell phone and sits for a moment, deep in thought. Then he stands and exits the bar. He's already starting to get a very bad feeling about this.
-
"It's really quite amazing what your mind comes up with, Illyria." Wesley says, appearing next to her out of thin air.
"Go away." Simple words coming from Illyria. Maybe it's because she's tired and annoyed. She's been dealing with this ghost for five months. At first, she thought it meant there was hope of him returning, and then she realized it only meant he was angry and was going to bother her for all eternity, like he'd accuse her of doing to him.
"It's been five months. I'd think that by now you'd have realized it's a moot point to tell me so." He catches the dagger that comes his way; he's obviously not your typical angry spirit, being corporeal. "That's awfully rude."
"Do you not have anyone else to haunt? I am thinking." Illyria replies, giving up.
"About the Key. It's fascinating what monks do in their spare time these days. And, by the way, about that haunting business, I can be in several places at once. You'll learn what I mean." Wesley pauses, "Of course, by then it may very well be too late, so it would be imperative for you to learn why now."
"Your visits become increasingly infuriating." Illyria states. She stands to face him. "What do you hope to accomplish?"
"There is no hope, Illyria. And also, there's no reason for me to hope when I've already accomplished what I wanted. Besides, I'm dead."
He fades away then, as always, and she's left standing in her room, her mind trying to explain what the imposter is, because she is adamantly sure that it isn't Wesley.
-
The shot to the back of his head is an unwelcome surprise. And not only because it's a surprise, but also because it kind of hurts. It brings him to his knees and stars and sparks seem to shoot in his eyesight. He's seconds away from asking where they came from until it occurs to him that he's the only one seeing them. He swings blindly, attempting to get up and only connects once.
He's mostly sure that this has everything to do with Dawn and finding her.
-
Faith enters the apartment with a sigh and ignores the fact that Illyria is in her room chattering. She's used to the Old One's tendency to talk to herself, hold fights and conversations. It's been five months; how could she not?
The phone rings, shrill and loud in the virtually empty apartment. She stares at it, surprised. No one ever calls them. Ever. It was like an unwritten rule. No one from the Council can call those people they shouldn't associate with, but do.
After the third ring, it occurs to her to answer it. She picks it up, placing it by her ear and heaving a sigh. "Hello?"
"Faith?"
She frowns at the voice, a bit confused. She hasn't heard from him since they had that nice debriefing in Italy that turned out to be a fight between herself and Buffy. Her Scooby membership card expired the moment she'd let it out that she really did wish she'd killed Buffy. Oh well. It's not like she hadn't meant it. Yeah, she was aware that she was redeemed, but a lot of good people in the world hadn't liked Buffy, so what was the big deal? Oh, wait…was it because she'd actually tried to kill her in the past?
"Xander?"
"Uh, yeah, hi. I'm calling, because of…because of Buffy. Um, she won't call herself, what with the thing between her and Angel, and the-"
"Me still wishing I'd killed her thing? No big. It might be better that you called." Faith answered. "What's up?"
"How's the search for Dawn going?"
"Dunno yet. I'm waiting for Angel to get back with the info. How are things going for you?" She asks, sitting on the couch. She almost feels as if he's sitting in front of her.
"They're…good. Great even. Africa's great."
"Good."
"Yeah. How's New York?"
"Well, you probably know more than half of it. I quit working officially for the Council, I help Angel and Illyria, I dumped Wood on his ass-"
"You and Wood are over?" Xander asks.
Faith frowns, even though a smile is threatening to overcome her face. "Yeah. Interested?"
"Faith-"
"Joking. It's fine." Faith stares up at the ceiling, counting the few cracks that are there.
"It's not. I called because of the Dawn thing, and because I was thinking. About you. And I was wondering what you were doing." Xander mumbles something else and Faith's grin widens.
"Xander, did I hear you say something?"
"Say something? No. All I said was that I was thinking about you-"
"And that you were worried about me. You don't have to, Xan. I'm a big girl now…but thanks, I think." She smiles, because for some reason, the thought that Xander called because he was thinking, and worrying, about her, sends this gigantic spark up her spine and has her feeling incredibly important.
"You…you're welcome." Xander replies and she thinks this is a big step for them both. Towards what, she has no freaking clue. She just knows that it makes her feel nice on the inside, and that's what counts, right? She hasn't completely burned all her bridges.
"Bye."
"Bye, Xander." She says. She's about to hang up, actually, the phone is halfway from her ear.
"Faith, hold on!" Xander yells and she brings the phone back to her ear. "I, um, do you…God…"
Something has Xander tongue tied, and Faith's nervous. Nervous because she's starting that stupid thing where she's hoping for something and is about to be rejected in about a moment, because she burned that particular bridge a very long time ago.
"Are you trying to ask me on a date or something when it all blows over?" Faith asks, trying to push down the dreading feeling.
"Is that a bad idea?" Xander asks, and relief floods her system.
She makes a silent promise right then. If she's getting this second chance with Xander, she's going to do right by him. No, she's going to do righter-than-right. She's going to be so much better to him than she was for Wood, and that in itself says a lot. She's going to try, because it's Xander.
"I can think of a few reasons for why it isn't." Faith says in reply.
The sooner they find Dawn, the better for her.