Faith heard the Mayor's words through a roaring in her ears. On the TV screen, an image of her and Willow looking through the Books played on. Swallowing hard, the brunette tried to convince herself this would all work out.
"Hey, Boss, you don't really think I helped her out? Come on, it was all part of the plan." Her voice wavered at the end.
Pursing his lips, Richard Wilkins III moved his gaze from the screen to the Slayer. "I said exactly that to the Chief of Security. Unfortunately, he let me listen to your conversation." He didn't wait for the young girl to make excuses. "Boys!"
The door slammed open and vampires poured into the room. A sad look on his face, the older man moved away from Faith. "Kill her."
The Slayer thanked whatever deity or power was watching out for her. The office only had one entrance. The horde of vampires didn't have enough room to spread out and she started working on the Mayor's henchmen in groups of two or three. Grabbing a chair, Faith wrenched off a couple of the legs. They were dull, but with enough force worked well as stakes. The brunette teen jammed one leg into the chest of a tall, thin vampire. Even before he'd turned to dust, she was moving.
Tossing another demon into a group hovering in the background, she tried to clear a path to the door. It was a mistake. As long as the Mayor's desk had been at her back, the vamps had trouble surrounding her. Once she committed to running, though, the remaining demons encircled her. Cursing, the Slayer threw both her stakes into the crowd, dusting two more. It helped – but not enough. Faith drew her knife and crouched low, waiting for the attack.
Two more vamps rushed her from the front. One got in a lucky punch, knocking the girl back into the arms of another. The knife dropped to the floor. Pushing off with both feet, Faith flipped backwards over the demon who'd been holding her arms. She landed near the wall, but had no weapon to use. Ducking blows and kicks and dodging the various lunges, the Slayer headed for the window. It was a long way down, but it offered a slight chance of survival. Diving head first, Faith crossed her arms over her head. Glass sprayed around her.
The Dark Slayer hit the ground and tried to roll with the impact. Pain ran up both legs, and the brunette struggled to stand. Damaged legs or not, staying meant certain death. Limping heavily, Faith headed for the first safe place that came to mind.
Buffy watched her friend animatedly retell her adventures in City Hall. "A-and then Faith came in and said the Mayor wanted me to bring back bogus information, but she was going to help me find the real stuff."
Leaning forward, Buffy pressed, "Did she? Help, I mean."
"Yeah. She sat down next to me and started looking through the Books. I didn't believe her though, and I was all: 'You can't just expect us to take you back.'" She nodded in apparent satisfaction.
"As fascinating as all of this is," Giles cut in, "could we just get back to the point? You actually had your hands on the Books of Ascension?" He waved his glasses around in agitation.
The redhead grinned and chewed on her gum before answering. "Volumes One through Five," she confirmed.
"Is there anything that you can remember about them that could be of use to us? Anything at all?" the older Englishman pleaded.
"Well," the young witch started, "we were in a hurry. Faith kept freaking out about the Mayor coming back. But she claimed to find a page that had all the details of the Ascension."
"Really?" The Watcher's eyes lit up.
Willow frowned. "I didn't get a chance to look at it, though."
It was painful to see the hope disappear from the older man's expression.
Taking pity on the obviously overwrought man, the red head flashed a quirky smile. She pulled a crumpled page from the pocket of her dress and thrust it at Giles. "See what you can make of this?" Giles nearly laughed in relief and turned toward his office. "Hey, Giles?" Willow sounded more like her old self: hesitant and unsure.
"Yes, my dear?" He gave her a fatherly smile.
"Faith told me some other stuff, too. It didn't make sense, but it might be important." Willow frowned. "She was big time worried when she told me."
The ex-Watcher sat down in one of the chairs. "Was it about the Ascension?"
"Yeah, but not book stuff." She thought for a moment. "She said the Box of Gavrok had creepy spider things in it, and the Mayor wanted some professor from UCS killed. He had information on how to beat the Mayor, even if he completed the Ascension."
Wesley wandered over from his location by the stacks. "Spiders, you say?" He rubbed his chin. "The Ritual of Invulnerabilis mentions eating spiders to imbue the caster with healing ability."
"So, Wes, the night wasn't a total loss." Buffy couldn't resist the verbal jab. "We've got a diagram of the Ascension and we know what His Honor is using the Box for." She grabbed Willow's hand. "We did alright."
"Alright?" the young Watcher echoed. "You can't be serious. We might have information about the Ascension. Faith may have been laying a trap for us, sending us off in the wrong direction." He glared at the two girls before stalking off.
The three Scoobies sat quietly for a minute. "Oh, bloody hell," Giles finally muttered. He'd been reading the page Willow had given him.
"What's wrong?" Buffy wasn't sure she could take any more bad news.
"Since the Mayor still has the Box, we can't halt his Ascension. He'll be able to complete the invulnerability ritual." He rubbed his eyes.
"So that's it?" the Slayer asked.
Giles looked shocked at the question. "Of course not, Buffy. I dare say Faith went to considerable trouble and put herself in great danger to give us this information. We simply need to discover how to use it."
"Does anybody else think we've read every single book in this library these past few weeks?" The Slayer hopped off the counter. "I'll call the guys, let them know another research party is in progress." She reached for the phone and then gasped.
"Buffy?" Willow could see lines of strain bracketing her friend's mouth.
"It's Faith. She's hurt." The blonde moaned. "Giles, we have to help her. She's so scared."
Her ex-Watcher rushed to the counter. "Can you tell where she is?"
"No." Buffy shook her head. "All I get are her emotions." Tears ran down her cheeks and she breathed in hoarse sobs.
"It must have just happened," Willow commented. "You weren't getting her emotions until a minute ago. The Mayor would have taken the Box back to City Hall. We need to search that area. Even a Slayer can't run too far when they're hurt."
Visibly shaking, the blonde straightened. "Right. I'll call Oz and Xander. They can meet us there." She picked up the phone. "Giles, bring the car around. We'll be outside in a few minutes."
Faith pressed into the doorway, panting. The Slayer had managed to avoid the Mayor's goons, but the effort had drained her. She'd planned to head for Buffy's house, hoping the other Slayer or Mrs. S would help her out. But the brunette wasn't sure she could make the trip, now. It was taking all her strength just to stand. Extending her senses, Faith felt the thrum of vampires nearby. Fuck, how did they get so close?
Straightening, she limped down the alley. She'd moved too slowly. A vampire blocked her path, smirking at the obviously wounded girl. "Going somewhere, Slayer?"
"Thought it looked like a nice night for a walk," Faith shot back. She was unarmed, alone. She glanced around. The alley was devoid of anything useful. "You wanna join me? We could head toward the cemetery. I hear it's pretty this time of night."
The vamp shifted into game face. "Enough small talk," he lisped. "It's time for you to die." He rushed at the shorter girl.
Waiting until the last moment, Faith dodged. Her ankle buckled, but she avoided the demon's grasp. She turned to face the vampire, knowing it was too late to run. "Looks like it's just you and me. Don't like your chances," the Slayer bluffed.
Growling, the big demon took a step toward her and swung. Ducking, Faith returned the blow, catching the vampire in the stomach. He grunted, but didn't go down. Cursing, she tried a kick, but her anchoring leg couldn't take the additional weight. She fell and her opponent took advantage of her weakness. Lashing out with a booted foot, he made solid contact with her head. Faith curled into a ball, struggling to stay conscious. Her vision greyed around the edges. She had to get up. If she went down now, it was all over. Palms flat on the pavement, the Slayer pushed, trying to get up. Her arms gave out before she was more than a few inches off the ground. Closing her eyes, she waited for the end.
"Hurry, Giles!" Buffy snapped at the older man. "Doesn't this rattle trap go more than twenty?"
Concentrating on the road, the older man spared a glance for the anxious teen. "Indeed, Buffy. However, we aren't sure where we are going. Should I rocket down the street and perhaps pass Faith up?"
Willow jumped in before the blonde could say anything else. "Hey, guys. Let's use our heads, OK?" Two sets of eyes glared at her in the rearview mirror. "Ummm, if the Mayor's vamps are after Faith, then Buffy should be able to sense them. Won't they be all gathered in the same place or something?"
Her rapid-fire delivery was rewarded with a beaming smile. "Way to go, Will. You're right. Pull over, Giles. I need to be stationary to do this." Smirking, she couldn't resist adding, "Of course, we're barely moving now. It might work right here."
The car nosed up to the curb and stopped. Holding up a hand to ward off any chatter, Buffy reached out with her Slayer senses. For the first minute, it appeared the action wouldn't work. However, as she regained a bit of inner calm, the Slayer could feel the vampires clustered near the Sunnydale theatre. "The theatre, Giles." The exploration with her senses heightened her awareness of the other girl's emotions. The pain was overwhelming and fear mixed with the brunette's despair. Faith was giving up.
Having a location, Giles pushed the Citroen to its limits. They careened through Sunnydale, ignoring traffic signals and the occasional car. Screeching to a stop in front of the deserted movie theatre, the three Scoobies jumped out of the car. Buffy hesitated, making sure they had the correct direction. "This way." She took off, leaving Giles and Willow to follow. Sprinting down the block, the blonde counted a dozen demons in the area. They'd have to be careful.
Following the trail of emotions, Buffy ran for the alley near the end of the block. Rounding the corner, she saw a vampire repeatedly kicking a body on the ground. Rage surged through the Slayer and she grabbed the vampire and slammed it into the nearby wall. Letting emotion control her, the blonde continued to pound the vamp into the bricks, not caring that he was unmoving in her grasp. Giles and Willow ran up as the angry blonde finally stopped. Dropping the bleeding and battered vamp to the ground, she turned to her backup.
"Go back for the car. I'm going to carry her and meet you halfway." Not waiting to see if they followed orders, Buffy knelt next to the taller brunette. Faith barely seemed to breathe and blood matted her hair and trickled from her nose. Carefully, the Slayer slipped her arms under the injured girl and lifted. The disparity in their heights made the job awkward, but Buffy cradled her former enemy against her chest and paced slowly down the alley. With the close contact, the blonde was inundated with Faith's emotions. Bowing her head at the lingering fear and throbbing pain, she pressed her lips to the brunette head. "I've got you, Faith. I promise."