"Faith, you always give me such amazing gifts," the Mayor beamed. "The little witch." He laughed. "Now, what shall we do with you?"
Trying to keep her voice level, the Slayer said, "I was thinking about that. See, I figure Buffy and the Super Friends will come running to save Red here. Maybe we should set a trap."
The older man hesitated. "Hmmm. You could be right. For now, though, put her in the storage room down the hall and post a guard."
"Got it, Boss." Faith pulled her captive back into the hall. Relaxing her grip while still forcing the redhead to go toward the storage room, the brunette whispered, "OK. We need to find a way to get you into the Mayor's office. I'm still working on a plan." She wrestled open the door to the small, cluttered room. "Stay put until I got something lined up." Not waiting for an answer, the brunette shoved Willow inside and closed and locked the door. Slowly, she returned to the Mayor's office.
"All locked up," she said cheerily. "Mind if I use your phone to call for a guard?" Faith walked into the room and leaned against the long desk.
The Mayor was deep in thought. He didn't respond verbally; he just waved a hand at the phone.
"Thanks." Dialing quickly, the Slayer made arrangements for a single guard to stand outside the room holding the young witch. After completing the call, Faith sat back and watched the older man. Tension tightened his jaw and his hazel eyes were cold. The brunette knew she needed to tread carefully.
"So, Boss, you just gonna let Red stew in the room?" Hoping the movement looked casual, she leaned back in the chair, fingers laced behind her head.
Focusing on the young girl, Wilkins tilted his head questioningly. "That's the plan. Why, Faith? Did you have something else in mind?"
"Maybe." Thoughts racing, the Slayer decided to go for broke. "What if we sent Red back to the gang with some information?"
"Like what?" She had his attention. The Mayor leaned across the desk.
Fuck, give me a minute here. The last details still weren't set in her mind. "Well, you and I both know B's gonna come for her. What if we arranged for her to 'escape' and get a look at some of those Books of Ascension you got tucked away." Seeing her employer frown, she rushed on, "Don't freak out or nothing. We'll make sure she don't see anything really useful."
"Hmmm. It's devious and a little risky." Faith held her breath. The Mayor gave a shout of laughter. "I love it. We'll send the irritating Slayer and her friends on a wild goose chase."
The set up was perfect. The vampire guard watching Willow understood the job, and Faith and the Mayor were baiting the trap. Smirking at the older man, the Slayer leaned against the closed door and listened intently. "OK, Boss. The vamp just went into the room." She paused and chuckled. "Seems Red's grown a pair since I've been gone. She just dusted your boy." Straightening, the brunette looked at Wilkins. "It's show time."
Opening the door to the office, Faith strode through. "You'd have to be brain damaged to come back here tonight," she tossed over her shoulder.
"You ever have a dog?" the Mayor asked in response.
"What?" Faith frowned. Just follow the script, damn it.
"I did," the older man said, closing his office door. "Rusty, an Irish Setter. Swell little pooch." He joined Faith as she meandered down the hallway, passing a hidden Willow. "A dog's friendship is stronger than reason; stronger than its sense of self preservation."
He would have continued his bizarre story, but the Slayer cut him off with a raised hand. "She's in the office."
"Magnificent." He smiled fully. "Well, done, Faith. You've really been an asset today."
Blushing at the praise, Faith said, "Thanks, Boss. You mean a lot to me."
Clapping her on the shoulder, the Mayor directed, "Now, go and make sure the little witch only finds what we want her to. She's had enough time to paw through my things."
"No problem. Give me about fifteen minutes to do my thing." She left the older man in the hallway, heading for the office and Willow.
She wanted to give the witch as much time as possible to find the information the Scoobies would need to defeat the Mayor, but the older man would get suspicious if she waited too long. Quietly entering the office, she walked up behind the redhead. "Well, look at the bookworm," she mocked.
"Faith!" Willow spun around.
"Take it easy, Red. The Mayor thinks we're setting you up with some bogus information. We've got about fifteen minutes to find the actual info on the Ascension." She sat down behind the stunned girl. "Hand me a book and let's hurry this up. I don't even want to think what the Boss would do to us if he found out I was double crossing him."
Faith took the book Willow gave her and flipped through it. "Gonna have to help me out, Red. What am I looking for?"
At first, the Slayer wasn't sure the Scooby was going to answer her. "We're looking for anything mentioning the Ascension." At Faith's incredulous look, Willow babbled, "Hey, we don't have any information at all. It's the best I got."
"Right." The brunette turned back to the book.
The sound of rapidly turning pages filled the room. "You know, Faith, it's too late."
"Hey, I thought you Scoobies were always filled with cheery thoughts and positive energy."
"No. It's too late to smile and say 'hey, guys, sorry. I chose the wrong side.' You can't just expect us to welcome you back."
The words hurt more than she imagined. Struggling to hide her pain, she said hoarsely, "Maybe it's time I just did the right thing."
Willow never looked up at her companion. "Wow. I guess that's admirable. But I'm wondering what you think you can get out of all this. You know, it didn't have to be this way. But you made your choice."
"And now I gotta live with it, yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before." The redhead had no idea how deeply she had driven a knife into the Slayer's heart. And Faith hoped she never figured it out. "Shut up and keep looking. We've got maybe six or seven minutes before the Boss comes back."
The next minutes passed too quickly as far as the brunette was concerned. While she wanted the witch out of her hair, they still hadn't found anything remotely useful. Then she spotted a passage in the book that detailed the events of the Mayor's Ascension. "Willow, here!" She didn't bother showing the redhead. Her Slayer hearing picked up the Mayor's footsteps in the hall. Ripping that page and another random page from the book, she shoved it back on the shelf and stood up. Glancing briefly at the extra page, she pushed it into a pocket.
"Hide this somewhere." She stuffed the page on the Ascension in the witch's hand. "It'll tell you everything you need about the Ascension." The witch opened her mouth to ask a question. "Look, the Mayor's on the way. Let me finish. Inside the box Buffy stole are some big ass spider things, and there's some professor at UCS the Boss is afraid of. I don't have a name. He knows how to stop the Mayor, even after he Ascends." She grabbed the older girl and dragged her into the middle of the room.
"Play along. No matter what." Faith could tell things were moving too fast for the witch. "Just do it, Willow, or we're both dead!"
The footsteps were getting closer. "Sorry for this, Red." The Slayer backhanded the other girl, and Willow tumbled to the floor. Not giving her a chance to say anything that might get them both into hot water, she reached down and hauled the redhead to her feet. "You're begging for some deep pain," she said in a loud voice.
Amazingly, Willow smiled. "I'm not afraid of you," she answered in a clear, ringing tone.
Keeping her own face expressionless, Faith pulled her knife from its sheath. The ornate double blade gleamed in the low lighting. "Let's see what we can do about that." Although the witch flinched a bit, she didn't back down. Moving closer, the brunette pressed the blade lightly against her companion's throat.
"Girls, I hope I don't have to separate you two," the Mayor said from the doorway. "Now, Faith, you can play with your new toy later. Something's come up."
This wasn't part of the plan. Tensing, Faith looked at the older man. "Everything, OK, Boss?"
"I just received a heck of an interesting phone call," he answered. "Faith, you know I don't like to repeat myself." The Mayor gestured to the knife. Quickly resheathing the weapon, the Slayer moved away from her captive.
"Sorry. So, about this phone call?"
"It seems you were right about Willow's importance, Faith." He smiled happily in her direction. "Buffy wants to give me back my box in exchange for her friend."
Standing in the school cafeteria, Buffy glanced around. Giles and Wesley stood woodenly in one corner while Oz and Xander made sure all but the main entrance was locked.
"The whole place is locked down, except for the front," Oz commented.
"Yeah," Xander joked. "It gives me that comforting trapped feeling."
Not bothering to look in their direction, Buffy said, "One way out means one way in. I want to see them coming."
As soon as the words left her mouth, all the lights went out. "I don't think they want to be seen, Buff," Xander quipped.
"That's OK." Angel smiled in the darkness. "I can see alright."
The doors to the cafeteria swung open. Richard Wilkins III strode in followed by Faith. The other Slayer held the captive witch at knifepoint against her chest. Like two gunfighters at high noon, Buffy and His Honor paced to a spot in the middle of the large room.
Grinning manically, the Mayor piped, "This is exciting, isn't it?"
The blonde Slayer took a minute to respond. A quick glance showed her friend in one piece with no obvious signs of abuse. Checking her new link with Faith, Buffy was surprised to feel anxiety surrounded by a surprisingly strong level of satisfaction.
"Let her go," the Slayer ground out.
"No." Buffy's eyebrows rose at the unexpected response. "Not until my box is in my hands." The laughter faded from the Mayor's face and voice. "So you're the little girl who's been causing me all this trouble.
"She's pretty, Angel," he directed to the tall vampire behind Buffy. "A little skinny. I just don't understand why it couldn't work out between you and my Faith. Guess you just have strange taste in women."
The feeling of revulsion Buffy had sensed the night in the Manor was back. Faith really didn't like the idea of a relationship with the vampire.
"Well," Angel replied, "I guess I just like 'em sane."
That hurt. Buffy flinched at the emotion pouring down the link. I really need to find a way to block this out.
"Angel," Oz cautioned. The Dark Slayer had tightened her hold on his girlfriend.
"That's enough. We don't need to be talking about this." The blonde Slayer needed this to be over. "Make the trade."
Angel picked up the box and moved to Buffy's side. Faith dragged Willow forward. They stared at each other for a moment. Finally, the Rogue Slayer shoved the young witch into Buffy's arms and yanked the box from the vampire's grasp.
"Well, that went smoothly." The Mayor smiled genially at the assembled group. "Let's go, Faith. You've had a long day and I want you to rest up for the big job you've got coming up."
Faith followed the jubilant Mayor into City Hall. He hadn't said much on the drive back from Sunnydale High School, and the Slayer had been able to think about exactly what she'd done. Despite his evil nature, the older man in front of her had been a father figure. He took care of her; praised her; wanted what was best for her. She'd betrayed him, and provided his enemies with the information they needed to kill him.
Sunk in her own depressing thoughts, she didn't at first notice the Mayor had disappeared from his office. Huh, wonder where he went off to? Must not be planning on being gone long, though. Left that creepy box in here. Restless, Faith walked over to peer at the framed photos on the wall. Smiling images of Richard Wilkins III and his family stared back at her. Feeling the weight of her earlier actions dragging at her shoulders, the Slayer forced herself to stand up tall.
She decided to get a drink from the small fridge behind the desk, but stopped in the middle of the room. Her Slayer senses screamed. Fuck, she thought, there must be, like, twenty vamps out there. Fighting the urge to hit the hallway and Slay the horde, she grabbed the soda and perched on the edge of the desk. Her boss re-entered the room.
"You got anything else for me tonight, Boss?" she asked.
The older man was quiet as he approached her. "Well, Faith, I had planned on sending you home to get some rest. But, let's watch a little movie first."
The Slayer raised an eyebrow at the statement. "You wanna have Movie and Popcorn Night?"
"Not exactly. This is just a short clip. I think you'll find it interesting, though." He opened up a large armoire, revealing a TV set and VCR hookup. Shoving in an unmarked tape and flicking on the television, the Mayor turned to Faith. "After Alan rifled my files and discovered my Ascension plans, I decided to beef up security."
The brunette nodded absently, her attention on the screen. The picture was black and white and a little grainy, but the image looked a lot like the Mayor's office.
"The first thing I did was add more vampires to the after hours force." He crossed his arms and stood next to Faith. "Then I had a set of cameras and microphones installed in my office."