Faith picked up the box; the demon's hand was still attached to the cuff dangling from the side. "Let's go," she snapped at the stunned vampire. When he just stared at her, unmoving, she asked "What? Don't tell me you've never seen blood before?"
The Slayer stalked to the limousine and shoved her package across the long back seat. Flicking an impatient glance at the driver, she climbed in and shut the door. The driver followed suit and they were soon underway. During the trip back to City Hall, Faith examined the outside of the box next to her. Although it appeared to be made of metal, it had a strange grained texture. Casually leaning back in the seat, the Slayer raised the privacy screen, shutting out the vampire's view.
Heart pounding, the brunette slowly opened the latch and raised the lid. Frowning, she leaned closer. The box was empty. I come all the way out here, toast a demon, and for what? Some freakin' empty box! Irritated and confused, Faith almost missed the scratching sounds emanating from the container. Peering in again, her eyes widened and she slammed the lid. Even her enhanced reflexes were barely enough. The material of the lid chopped off the tips of the legs crawling out of the box.
With a shaking hand, the teen latched the box and brushed off the grisly remains of the limbs. What the hell was that thing? She was pretty sure the creature had been a spider. But the Slayer had no idea why the Mayor would need a box full of them for his Ascension. Stuffing her unease deep down inside, she lowered the privacy screen. "We almost there?" she demanded.
"Yeah. Should be there is under ten. Why? You got a hot date?" the vampire sneered.
Meeting its yellow eyes in the rearview mirror, Faith licked her lips. "What if I do? Demon killing always makes me hot." If the demon had still been alive, the brunette knew he would have flushed and stammered. Instead, the vampire bared its fangs and growled. Closing her eyes and feigning boredom, the Slayer endured the remainder of the ride.
When the car finally stopped at the curb in front of City Hall, Faith waited until the driver opened her door. Climbing out of the vehicle, box held protectively against her chest, she glanced up and down the street. Something tickled…B. B was there, watching. The younger girl almost smiled. So, the Scoobies were still in the hunt. Ignoring her screaming senses, the Dark Slayer kept her face expressionless and walked up the stairs.
Now that it was after hours, vampires provided security at the front desk. Nodding to the pair lounging at the receptionist desk, Faith strode quickly down the hall. Unlike earlier, she didn't knock. Ramming the closed door with a booted foot, the Slayer stormed into the Mayoral office, box held aloft like the spoils of war.
"Hey ho! There it is!" The Mayor jumped from his seated position on his desk and moved to the box Faith had dropped onto the very end of the gleaming surface. His beaming smile dimmed a little as he fished an envelope out of his coat pocket. "Um, where's the courier?" he asked. "I was supposed to pay him."
Faith smirked. Plucking the envelope from the Mayor's hand, she replied, "I made him an offer he couldn't survive." For just a moment, the Slayer feared she had gone too far. Then the older man gave a bark of laughter.
"You are one heck of a girl, you know that?"
The brunette tried to look flattered. His rapidly changing moods threw her off balance and made her nervous. He either didn't notice her unease, or she'd managed to keep it hidden.
"I mean the initiative, the skill," he went on. Faith knew she should say something, but her mind was frozen.
Trying to fit back into her usual persona, she waved a hand. "Go on," she urged. She stood and moved to the chair in front of the desk. Leaning back, she propped her feet on the desk.
The Mayor had continued gushing praise during her change in location, but he stopped the second the shoe leather touch wood surface. "Hey, hey, hey," he chanted, looking at her expectantly.
Pulling her feet down and gesturing an apology, the Slayer focused back in on the Mayor's words. "If Buffy Summers walked in here and said she wanted to switch to our side, I'd say, no thanks, sister, I got all the Slayer one man could ever need."
Faith stiffened. If Buffy ever said that, she'd be lying. No one would believe she'd ever work for you. Me, everybody expected me to be here. The brunette sighed at the painful thought.
The Mayor noticed her changing mood. "What?" he questioned.
Straightening a little and banishing the thoughts about the blonde Slayer, Faith brushed off the question. "Nothing. Just thinking there was no way B'd ever say anything like that."
"You never know, it might happen," her Boss tried. Seeing her skeptical glance, he queried, "Are you still upset about that whole Angel-Buffy thing?" He shook his head. "She can have him. You deserve far better than that poor excuse for a creature of the night."
Wanting to get the Mayor off the subject of Buffy, Faith pushed for a reaction. While the older man talked, she moved to the box and began to undo the latch. Her movements were slow – she had no desire to release the creepy things inside. The Mayor didn't know that, and his reaction was swift and over the top. Diving across the desk, he laid his upper body across the lid. "Don't do that," he ordered.
Buffy hesitated outside the Mansion. She hadn't seen much of Angel since the night they'd tricked Faith. Still, he must be OK with things; he had helped cure her of the Aspect. The blonde squared her shoulders and knocked lightly on the frame of the French doors leading to the courtyard. "Angel?" she called.
Footfalls sounded inside. "Oh, hi, Buffy." He examined her closely. "Everything alright?"
"Um, yeah." The Slayer was nervous. "Giles and I came up with this plan. I need your help," she blurted out.
The centuries old vampire looked confused by her strange behavior. "Sure. Come in for a few minutes. I need to change if we're going out." He returned inside, and Buffy trailed along in his wake. "So, what's the plan?"
The blonde teen shook off her hesitancy. "We're going to do a little information gathering. Giles thought we might be able to find something at City Hall." She paused. "Maybe Faith will give us something we can use to defeat the Mayor."
Her words stunned the demon. "Really? I would have thought you'd given up on that. She wasn't in a very helpful mood the other night, and, after she discovered we'd tricked her, I wouldn't expect she'd want to help."
"Yeah. That's true." God, can this conversation get any more stupid? Buffy changed the subject. "Thanks for helping with the demon last night. Thought sensing means much badness."
Angel reemerged from the sleeping alcove dressed all in black. Poetic, the Slayer thought, but it makes his lack of color all too noticeable. He'd look better in lighter colors. "Sure, Buffy." The tall vampire smiled. "I couldn't let you keep reading everyone's mind. You might have decided to kill Xander for all the thoughts he has about you."
The blonde laughed. "Yeah. That's the truth." An uncomfortable silence stretched between the couple. "So, you ready to rock and roll? Cause I'm thinking information on the Ascension is of the good."
"I'm ready." He looked at her intently. "Are you sure everything is OK?" he asked as they walked outside.
The blonde girl forced a tinkling laugh. "I'm fine."
Thirty minutes later, the two crouched behind the shrubs in front of City Hall. Nothing was happening. Buffy concentrated, searching for Faith. She got a faint echo of unease and adrenaline. Wherever her sister Slayer was, she wasn't inside the city building. "Well, this is a whole lot of boring," she whined. Sitting down on the damp grass, she rested against the vampire.
"What did you expect, Buffy? A big sign saying 'Ascension Halting Plans Here?'"
"Hey! That's not nice." This was so not going the way she'd imagined. The Slayer concentrated on her boyfriend, trying to find out what he was feeling. Nothing happened.
"Um, Angel?" she said slowly, a sick feeling in her stomach.
"Yes?" The vampire pushed her away a little so he could look in her face.
"I couldn't sense your thoughts last night. Um, I kinda missed the 411 on that." She took a deep breath. "Since we have some time to kill, could you bring me up to date?" Please, please don't let him say he's immune to empathy, too.
"Sure, Buffy. I'm surprised Willow or Giles didn't tell you." He brushed some hair out of her eyes, smiling tenderly. "It has to do with being dead."
"Um, OK," she replied without thinking.
Laughing, Angel jostled the small blonde. "Buffy, when a person dies, the soul departs. Once the soul is gone, there isn't anything for a telepath to read."
"But, you have a soul. And, does that mean no once can read your thoughts or your emotions?" The Slayer was cold, thinking about the implications.
"Well, I do have a soul. But that happened because of a curse. And, even with the soul, I'm still dead." He shrugged, unable to clearly explain the phenomena. "I guess it's like the mirror. The thoughts and emotions are there, they just don't create a reflection to be read.
"Oh," the blonde mumbled. I so need to talk to Will. If I wasn't feeling Angel in the Mansion, I had to be feeling Faith. Oh my God, Faith is attracted to me!
As she struggled with that concept, she felt the girl in question. The other Slayer was seriously freaked about something, and the emotions were stronger than before. She must be heading towards them. "Angel," Buffy said, "Faith's coming."
"What? How can you be sure?" He crept to the bushes and peered out. Not seeing anything, he turned back to his blonde companion. "Buffy, what's going on with you? You've been acting really strange all night. Are you sure that the Heart got rid of the Aspect?"
Buffy nodded. "Oh, yeah. It's gone. No more creepy thoughts of Mom and my Watcher doing the nasty on a police car." She shuddered. Hearing those thoughts probably left scars in her mind.
"Joyce and Giles?" Angel chuckled. He started to say something more when the sound of a car sent the both scrambling back to their vantage point.
A long black limo pulled up to the curb and a vampire in full 70s regalia hopped out. Glancing around, he walked to the back door and opened it for the passenger. Buffy was unsurprised to see Faith climb out of the car. The other Slayer held a large box against her chest and looked around her intently. Brown eyes paused fractionally as they wandered over the blonde Slayer's location. Buffy felt the younger girl's amusement and – happiness? – that she was there.
Faith didn't say anything to the limo driver. Clutching the box, she went inside. The vampire climbed into the car and Slayer and vampire watched him pull farther up the block and park.
"So, Angel, I wonder what's in the box?" Buffy asked.