STORY THREE: VIVA LAS VEGAS
Xander Harris watched over the roulette table, holding onto the few bills he had in his pocket. He was silently cheering on the ball as it went round and round. "C'mon lucky 8. Lady in red, lady in red..." The wheel slowed down, the ball bouncing around erratically at first, then it slowed down.
Xander reached up on his tippy-toes as everyone around him was also leaning in with apprehension.
Black 13.
Some people cheered, but Xander moaned with the other losers. He watched as his chips went away. "Oh, crap," he murmured. He was supposed to use that money to buy him and Faith dinner, Faith's orders. But the table was right there and he couldn't help it. He patted his pockets, realizing he had no money left to make up for what he lost. He glanced at the money in his hands. "Whopping $15? Eeks." Knowing the only way he could make up for it was to WIN more money... he glanced at the table, the wheels in his head turning.
"Fifteen bucks, huh? Move over, Maverick," Faith said into Xander's ear.
Xander jumped a little. "Oh, Faith... uh... yeah, no Maverick or else I'd have $15,000 instead of 15 bucks." But he moved over for her, grinning as she joined the table. Las Vegas could make anyone and anything hot and sexy; that being the case, Xander thought Faith was Vegas, humanized. He shook out of those thoughts.
She smiled at him. "Not your night, huh, hotshot?"
Xander shook his head. "Nope. Definitely not. Why, do you have a trick to this game?"
"Yeah, don't lose." Faith shook her head. "Wanna try the slots instead?" she suggested, eyeing the meager amount of money. It was just enough to cover them at McDonald's, but that was about it. "Or do you think maybe we should eat something that's not stale candy for dinner?"
Xander glanced at the literal pocket change they had in his hands. "Uh, maybe we should eat a little something more. This body can't handle just little things..." He put his hand over his stomach. "But hey, I lost a lot of weight." He pointed in the direction of the casino. "I think there's a little cafe over there near that big Egyptian thing. My treat... with your money." He grinned.
"One day you gotta remind me what I'm getting out of this deal," Faith said with a quick, slightly nervous laugh. She turned away, apparently to scan the rest of the casino. "All right. The Luxor... I ever tell you 'bout the time I killed a zombie in the ladies room there?"
"No," he said, though he picked up on her reaction to their sparseness that was money. They would have to find something very soon that would bring a little money in. "But out of all the hotels we started with, we had to pick an Egyptian one?"
"Why? Got something against Egypt?" Faith asked, grinning now.
"Well, not the country itself..." he answered.
"Well?"
They neared the entrance to a new exhibit/wing of the hotel. Xander looked up at the two large pillars that reached all the way to the ceiling. "I hate things Egyptian."
"You do? What happened? A mummy eat your puppy?"
Xander looked over at her. "Actually, more like mummy almost ate my face. Or, at least... nevermind, boring, yawn-worthy story." He took her by the elbow and tried to lead her away from the exhibit. "Look, they have roast beast sandwiches!"
"Um, right, back to the part where a mummy almost ate your face? This is a Sunnydale thing, isn't it?" Faith asked, then shook her head. Of course it was. "Roast beast? You're losing your mind, Xander."
"It's a Buffy..ism, thingy," Xander said, realizing he had a slight inflection at the mention of the other Slayer's name. But he recovered. "Either way, it's a big, hunk of meat which I'm all for!"
Faith shook her head. She hadn't missed his tripping over Buffy's name.
A guy in a mummy suit came up behind Xander, tapping him on the shoulder. "You two should look at the new exhib - "
Xander turned and yelped. "Yah!" He stumbled back a little at the sight of the wrapped figure.
"Jesus, Xander, chill out. Get over the mummy issues." Faith smiled at the casino employee. "Hard day at the slots," she explained, earning an understanding nod and a sympathetic smile from the guy in the mummy suit. "So what's the deal on the new exhibit?"
The mummy guy pointed back into the exhibit entrance as Xander tried to compose himself. "The hotel brought in some heavy duty display from real Egyptian pyramids. It's pretty cool, and only free for tonight. But you get free dinner at our buffet if you go in now." He smiled at Faith. "Ditch the guy, and you can have dinner with a real mummy guy."
Faith smirked. Oh, yeah, just what I always wanted.
"Hey!" Xander said, putting his arm between the two. "Who wants to date a mummy anyway?" He paused. "I mean, besides... nevermind again. We're not interested."
"Free food, Xander. I'm interested," Faith said pointedly. "Come on." She grabbed his hand.
Xander frowned, attempting to pull back. "Is there a REAL mummy in here?" he asked the employee.
The guy smiled. "It's the best part of the exhibit."
"Faith, I really don't think this is worth the good food." He was still trying to get his hand back, not that contact with her was unfun. "I mean, that mummy guy just hit on you! Not exactly giving off 'trust me, it's fun' vibes."
"What, you'd be happier if guys stopped hitting on me?" Faith asked. "This is Vegas, Xander, that's what guys do. C'mon, quit being such a sissy."
She continued to pull him towards the exhibit.
Actually, he would be VERY happy if guys stopped hitting on her. Especially taller, more handsome guys with jobs. But he had to give in and just follow behind Faith, noticing they were still holding hands. "Um, you can let go. I'm not gonna run, promise." He smiled.
"All right. Wouldn't do you any good anyway." Faith winked at him.
He looked around at the displays behind the glass, seeing pieces of different Egyptian pottery, walls, even papyrus with hieroglyphics scrawled all over them. He stopped at one, actually finding it really interesting. "Giles would have a British/Watcher party in here."
They approached the end of the exhibit where there were a few people looking at the object lit under the spotlights. It was the mummy, propped up in its casket.
Xander cringed. "And now we come to the 'gosh, darn, I wished I missed this' part of the tour..."
"Dude, the thing's been dead for three thousand years. Chill out." Faith stared at the mummy for a few seconds then turned to see where the buffet was.
Xander just stared at the mummy, wanting his eyes to move away. Remember Ampata. Oh, but she was cute before she turned to dust... Then something flickered in the light. Or was it light? "Uh... I think I just saw his arm move," he whispered to Faith, stepping back a little.
"Dude, knock it off," Faith said tiredly. She turned and frowned. Xander was right. The mummy's arm was twitching. God. Even in fuckin' Vegas. "Stakes won't do much good against these things, will they?"
"So I wasn't just seeing things, then," Xander said, stepping behind Faith. "And last time I came across one of those, we just didn't let it suck my life out and it kinda crumbled."
"All right. I think I can handle that."
The mummy began to move a little more, and more people began to notice. They all glanced at one another trying to size up the situation, some thinking it was part of the exhibit.
The mummy suddenly let out a burst of power and shattered the glass casing it was in.
People began to react by screaming and some began to run.
Xander tried to shield them both from the glass. "Run!" he told the people, gesturing to them as the mummy began to step off its display podium. "Do you think mummies are scary NOW?"
Faith yawned theatrically. "Gonna take more than that, X-Man," she replied. She ran up to the mummy. "Hi!" she said, then slugged it in the jaw - the desiccated flesh crumbled under her blow, but the mummy didn't seem to mind all that much. It hit her back, sending Faith flying towards Xander.
"Son of a bitch..."
Xander tried to catch the flying Faith, but only ended up being a cushion to her fall. "See?" He got up, helping Faith to her feet. He looked around as the mummy began destroying things. He saw a part of a stone pillar on display and ran to it, grabbing it and picking it up. "Holy King Tut, this thing is heavy," he grumbled as he held it with both hands, struggling. "Hey, mummy guy! Your Mama was a toilet papyrus roll!"
The mummy growled and turned to Xander as he threw the pillar as hard as he could.
Faith cringed as the mummy just caught the pillar - not without crumbling a little more - and tossed it aside. She looked around for a better weapon, didn't spot one in time, and instead ran between Xander and the mummy before it began pounding him into the floor.
"Hey, ass face!" Faith punched the mummy, this time in the chest, and her fist vanished nearly up to her wrist, tearing through the ancient wrappings and remnants of flesh.
The mummy howled and pushed her back, exposing a gaping hole in its ribcage. "I don't think your strategy's gonna work here, Xander..."
"I had a strategy?" he asked, catching her before she lost her footing.
"Well, pretend you did," Faith muttered, watching as the mummy shuffled towards them. It hit
fast, but walked slow... Weird. "Okay, I have a strategy," she told Xander.
Xander backed away, still pulling her in front of him. "And that would that be?" he asked, his eyes still on the mummy.
"You run and I kill it," Faith said, pulling herself free of Xander.
Xander had his hands out as if still holding onto her arms. "What? But...!"
"I mean it, Xander. Go!"
He watched her move towards the mummy, and he frowned. Great. THIS is the job I get in defeating forces of evil? he thought. "You know, if I wanted to be treated this way, I could've just stayed with Buffy!"
"Yeah, yeah," Faith said, turning away from him and hoping he didn't do anything stupid and heroic. That mummy's punch had knocked the wind out of her. It would tear Xander in half.
Xander shook his head and looked around for another weapon to help out with, no matter what Faith had told him.
The mummy drew nearer, and Faith decided that, as usual, the best defense was a good offense. She leapt up and kicked it in the head - only to have her ankles get snatched in midair. The mummy swung her like a club and then let go, and Faith went flying...
She only barely managed to turn the hard landing into a semi-hard roll, and something in her shoulder popped out of place as she did.
"Dammit!" Faith sprang back to her feet, and swore again when she saw Xander hadn't run away.
Xander had found the pole that the red velvet "rope" was attached to. He saw Faith fly in the air and he gritted his teeth. No matter how tough she was, how strong she was, it still hurt him to see her hurt. He picked up the pole and passed her, seeing if she was okay. "You do know I'm a big stubborn lug, right?" he said, running up to the mummy with the pole in hand.
"Not the words I'd use," Faith muttered.
Swinging it like a bat, Xander aimed for the mummy's head.
The mummy swiped his arm and knocked the pole out of Xander's hand. It flew up and crashed near its sarcophagus, breaking a corner of it.
The mummy cried out as if in pain, but it recovered quickly and grabbed for Xander. Xander ducked, its hand barely missing his neck.
Faith grabbed Xander by the collar and pulled him back, tossing him a few feet away. "Stay there," she said, giving him a warning look. She kicked the mummy, this time aiming low, and didn't get flung around. Again, she tore a bit of wrapping and dead mummy flesh, but not enough to really bother the thing. It didn't even scream.
Faith paused, wondering how that worked. Xander hadn't even hit it...
She glanced at the dented sarcophagus. "Hit that! Hit that!" she said, pointing at it.
Xander was busy getting up from Faith throwing him like a football; it took a moment to follow her finger. "Got it!" he cried, grabbing the nearest Egyptian vase and throwing it - at the sign next to the sarcophagus. "Bullseye!" he cried, proudly - and stupidly.
"Jesus, Xander! Not THAT!" Faith yelled impatiently, dodging the mummy's renewed attacks.
He paused then realized the only other object there was the mummy's coffin thingy. Xander ran for it, snatching the pole that was the only thing that had caused it any pain. He brought it down on the sarcophagus, smashing it in the center. Pieces flew everywhere. He hit it again, towards the head area. "Take that," he declared, hitting it again.
The mummy howled in agony - quite a feat since it's vocal chords had long since withered away into dust. With each blow to the sarcophagus, it weakened visibly, and by the end, was utterly unable to fend off Faith's attacks.
Finally, it sunk to its knees, barely even twitching as Faith pulled its head off.
"Wicked..." She stared at the decapitated mummy skull then casually tossed it aside. "Good work, Xander."
Xander threw the pole to the side and jumped down to her side, staring at the headless mummy. "Thanks," he said. "Just call me Xander, the Mummy Slayer... wait, on second thought, no, don't."
A wrapped hand landed on Faith's shoulder just then.
"Son of a - " Faith grabbed the hand and was about to snap its fingers, one by one, when Xander's eye widened and Faith realized who it was. She turned the near maiming into a mostly-friendly squeeze of the casino employee's hand.
"Hey... That sure was crazy, huh?" she asked him calmly.
The guy winced in pain from her grip, jerking his hand back to him. "What the HELL did you two do?" he cried.
Faith glared at him. "Saved your ass?"
"I'm gonna get fired from this! I should report you two to security!"
"Whoa, whoa, there, buddy," Xander said, putting his hand on the guy's shoulder. "Things got out of control and we just helped put it back in it. There's no wrong in that."
"What? You-you smashed thousand-year-old things! How the hell am I supposed to explain that to my boss?"
"I dunno. Doesn't look like my problem," Faith countered. She spotted a trio of men in suits approaching. "Better think fast, though!"
But the hotel staff ignored the man in the mummy costume and headed straight to Faith and Xander.
"Are you responsible for destroying the mummy?" one of them, a tall man with glasses, asked sternly.
Xander looked wide-eyed at the man. "Um, c'mon, do WE look like trouble makers?" he asked, innocently. "Some guy just went berserk and I had to protect my girlfriend here." He put his arm around Faith.
"Yeah, it - "
"Well. We'll just have to give the check to someone else then," Glasses said, smiling faintly.
"Back up - check?"
Glasses held out a check. Faith stared at it, counted the zeroes, then frowned, confused.
"What did you think we were going to do?" another one of the suits asked, smiling at the two.
"Penalize the people who saved our hotel... and our highrollers?"
Xander let Faith go and snatched the check out of the man's hands. "Oh! Well, then, that's us! I killed it, in fact." He stared greedily at the check. "Think you could get us a nice hotel room for the night?" he threw in.
The three suits conferred briefly then Smiley nodded. "Certainly. Our Rameses Bridal Suite,
in fact..."
"Bridal suite, huh?" Faith grinned wickedly and pulled Xander close. "So I guess we're five by, huh?"
Xander looked up from the check, a sort of deer-in-headlights expression on his face. "Oh, uh, yeah! Cool. We'll take it!" He put his arm around Faith again. "Only want the best for my new wife." He grinned. "So, show us to our pyramid o' love."
"This way." Glasses escorted Faith and Xander to the elevator and all the way up to the
top floor, then down a richly carpeted hallway and finally stopped at a large brass door.
"The Rameses Suite..." Glasses flung open the door and gestured for them to enter.
Xander stepped into the large room, his arm still around Faith. "Holy Egypt, Batman. We'll take it." He let go of Faith, turned towards the man with glasses. "Thanks, man." He all but pushed the guy out the door. "We really thank you for this. I'm sure this will make our honeymoon a whole lot... honey-er." He made a face at his choice of words. "Well, you know how newlyweds are." He grinned and shut the door. He turned towards Faith. "Wowza. See what happens when you fight for the forces of good?"
"And you were sayin' you wanted to stick with B before..." Faith shook her head. "See what you'd be missing out on? I wonder if the bed vibrates..."
Xander went over to the bed and pushed down on it to test the mattress. "This is a nice hotel, Faith, not Motel Valentine. Only the best here." He sat down and bounced a little to test it further. "Too bad a mummy couldn't go crazy at the Bellagio." He looked over at her, his face suddenly etched in worry. "Are you okay? That mummy got you pretty good."
Faith rubbed her shoulder. "Dislocated this... here. Hold my arm, will you?" she asked, holding her arm out in his direction. Then, once he grabbed it, she made a quick jerking motion and grunted slightly. "That's more like it. Now I'm good. How about you?" Faith asked, staring intently at Xander.
"Kinda grossed out, even though we've done THAT scene before," Xander said with a grin. "All things considered, okay." He shrugged. "So, who wants the bed this time? We'll flip a coin for it; that whole 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' thing never works for me."
"Yeah... If that's how you wanna do it," Faith said, for once sounding a bit bashful. "I mean..." She smiled at him. "How long we been running together, Xander?"
"Oh, I'd say almost a few months or so." He grew curious. "Why? Does that mean we have to move on to 'guess what number I'm thinking'?"
"No..."
"I Spy?"
Faith laughed in exasperation. "Xander, NO. I mean we don't have to take turns on the bed."
He stood there a moment, leaning in as if not believing what he was hearing. Then, "Oh, man. Are we moving on to separate rooms? I wanted this room." He laid back on the bed in disappointment. "Can I just lay here and enjoy the feeling of a down feather comforter?"
"Jesus, Xander, can we just fuck now?" Faith blurted out.
Xander raised his head in total, utter shock. "Would you hit me if I said, 'yes'?" He grinned then shook his head, sitting up. "Whoa, wait, Faith. It's this after battle thing, isn't it? You know I'd love to take advantage of that if you weren't... well, a better friend." Or if I hadn't fallen for you a few months back. "I think it's just better if maybe you find someone else to... fulfill that aftershock you tend to get?" He was joking, totally - but yet not really.
"No, Xander, this isn't 'aftershock'," Faith insisted. "This is..." She hesitated, tried to think of what to say, decided to screw it and move onto the new step. Faith pulled Xander down onto the bed and straddled him, running both hands up his chest. "This. Us."
Xander looked up at the bombshell brunette straddling him. Things his dreams were more than made of. He swallowed. "U-Us? Um, did you have a drink or ten before we got up here, Faith?"
Faith grinned. "No. That comes later..."
Why was he trying to deny what was happening? This was all he thought about at night as he lay on the floor of every hotel/motel/random place they stayed at.
He ran his hands up her sides, feeling her every well-trained muscle as she moved and found himself nudging her to move closer to him.
"That's more like it," Faith murmured, reaching down to tug his shirt off. "See? It's like falling off a bike, Xander..."
"Oh, I can say I've improved since last we..." Xander remarked, not believing what was happening. He let her take his shirt, but he pushed back a little. "Are you... you're not just doing this because I only have one eye, are you?" He smiled, trying to make it look like a joke.
"It's not your eye I'm after, Xander," Faith whispered as she tossed his shirt aside.
After that comment, he leaned up to kiss her hard and deep.
"You do know," he whispered. "This is what I've wanted since I saw you for the first time in a long time..."
Faith pressed a hand against his lips. "No more talking now," she said, grinning widely and moving her hands further down.
Faith was the first one to wake up. She sat up in bed, then shifted around and stared at the still-sleeping Xander for a second. Then she shook her head. "Snap out of it..." she muttered to herself as she got out of bed and hurried to the shower.
She turned the water all the way up, thus missing the shrill, insistent ringing of her cell phone in the other room.
Xander's head shot up at the sound of the phone. He squinted against the blaring morning sun. "Wha...?" He looked over at the other side of the bed and the only thing he saw were the wrinkled sheets. He frowned then heard the water running. He rubbed his eye and heard the phone ring again.
He was halfway out of the bed, reaching for the cell phone of Faith's sitting on the floor with the rest of her clothes. He picked it up. "Hello?"
"Uh... Faith?" came the quiet male voice from the other side. It sounded like he was speaking from some tunnel.
"No. Obviously not," Xander said, trying to wake up more.
"I... I need to... talk with her."
"Sorry, buddy, but she's in the shower."
"Please... talk...I need to talk with her."
Xander wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. Maybe it was too early for the late night they had; maybe it was the fact they had made love but he still woke up alone in the bed. "Fine." He got out the bed and knocked loudly on the door so that Faith could hear him. "Hey, you've got a call."
"Wha?" Faith emerged from the bathroom with damp hair and a towel wrapped around her. "Who?" she asked Xander, frowning curiously.
Xander shrugged, handing her the phone. "Dunno. Um, are you done?" He nodded towards the shower, trying not to be tempted by her towel-wrapped body.
"Yeah, go for it," Faith said as she took the phone, still a bit confused.
Xander nodded brushing past her and practically pushing her out into the room.
"Yo."
"Faith..." There was a long pause as if now that he had her on the phone, he didn't know what to say. "I... this is... your number. Um..."
Faith frowned again. "Who is this?" she asked. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Which was probably a bad thing...
There was another pause. "I need you... here. You can under... it's just .. it's weird. Things keep crashing in-in my house... you remember that house? We would hide in the-the cellar." There was a nervous laugh after that.
"Cellar?" Faith repeated. Then her eyes widened a bit. "Shit - Mark?"
"You remember... yeah, it's me. It's Mark... Same old Mark. S-Same house. Same cellar." He let out a shaky breath. "I'm in there right now. In-In the cellar. Strange... things. Please, get here..."
"What? Dude, hang on," Faith said. "What things? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus..." There was a bump in the background. "Faith... you have to get here..." Then he hung up.
"Fuck." Faith stared at the phone for a second, then banged on the bathroom door. "Xander, hurry it up!" she yelled, moving to get dressed and toss her stuff together in a hurry.
"What? I just got in the warm bath!" he called from inside. "With bubbles!"
"Fuck the bubbles, it's an emergency," Faith replied.
"Fuck the bubbles?" Xander called. "You can't just ..." There was a pause and then the sound of water splashing around. He stuck his head out the door. "Emergency? Why? What's going on? Who was that guy?"
"Old friend of mine from Boston. Something crazy's going on," Faith said, telling him about the strange phone call. "We're leaving. Now."
"But.. I'm not dressed or packed..."
"Well? Dress. Pack." Faith crossed her arms impatiently.
He sighed and grabbed pants off the nearest chair, bringing it into the bathroom. After two minutes, he was out with everything in the bathroom. He put them in his duffel bag. "Wait, Boston? You mean, the Boston that's on the OTHER side of the country? I know my car can go fast, but it's not a miracle car."
"We fly, then. We have the 'thanks for saving our ass' check from the hotel, remember?" Faith
asked, grinning a little. Not how she'd planned on spending it, but... "We can leave your car here in the lot."
"I was hoping to spend it on a lavish something rather." Xander was busy zipping up his bag. "So, what kind of trouble is this guy in? And is this a guy in the guy-sense? Old ... beau of yours?"
"No!" Faith couldn't help but laugh at Xander's worries. "Mark's just this guy I hung with back then. Another member of the 'My Life Sucks' club, ya know? He wouldn't say what the trouble was. Something strange."
Xander kind of smiled off his not-so-subtle inquiry about the guy. "It's always something strange, right?" He hefted the bag on his shoulder, glancing back at the room. "Good-bye wonderful Ramisisiss room. You definitely gave good... things." He went out in the hall. "So we're just gonna hop on the next plane to Boston? Hometown, huh?"
"Yeah. No place like it." Faith smiled, but she was not looking forward to it. Even aside from Mark's obvious distress, Boston was pretty high on the list of places she didn't want to see again. Yeah, well, suck it up. "C'mon, let's get out of here."