Disclaimer: I don't own most of the characters except for the ones that I created like Mercedes and Audrey.
CHAPTER 22-LEMONAIDE INTO LEMONS
After Angel and Spike had left with Illyria Faith had decided to patrol the immediate are surrounding the large house that they had commandeered. Wesley had been against it as he said that any outward sign that anyone lived there would bring too much unwanted attention to the area. The two had managed to keep the brewing argument calm until the thought of past sins had been unwittingly brought up. Wesley's torture at Faith's hands didn't take to long after that to be brought up and only Nina rushing into the room with a sword in her hands stopped the two from possibly attacking each other. Nina could see the look of hurt and pain in both of their eyes but she could also see that whatever it was that they were fighting about they were just using it as a cover to hide and block off their true feelings. After the interruption Wesley had calmed down a bit and asked Faith to stay and let them talk it out. But she was hot enough that she wasn't in the mood and stormed out of the room, saying that she needed some air. Several silent moments later Nina started to lay a reassuring hand on Wesley's shoulder but he shrugged her off and sulked out of the room through a different door than the one that Faith had left through.
"Who are we kidding, it'll never work," Faith grumbled softly to herself with an angry scowl on her face as she slid off of the street and into the backyard behind the building. Ever since their first kiss she had known that their tempers would inevitably lead to a fight. She had actually expected it to have happened sooner though and if she were totally honest she would admit that she wasn't happy about it and knew that they had both said some things that they weren't proud of.
"Now what's a pretty little thing like you doing out here in the cold," A giddy voice snarled from somewhere behind Faith before she pun around as fast as she could, mentally cursing herself for allowing someone to be able to sneak up on her.
"Having a smoke," Faith calmly replied with a confidant and strong tone to her voice as she showed no hint of fear and kept her cool.
"You should know better than to lie Ms. Lehane, it doesn't suit you," The Immortal said with an almost scolding and condescending tone to his voice as he slid his hands into his pockets and shook his head sadly.
"What…how do you," Faith started to say with a very surprised expression on her face before she realized just how outnumbered she was with several large demons seemingly materializing out of the darkness behind the Immortal.
"It's my business to know, you didn't think that I managed to live this long without knowing my enemies did you…kill her, then the others…especially the watcher," The Immortal calmly replied at first with a confidant smirk on his face before he started to half turn away just as Faith spoke up.
"Over my dead body," Faith growled back with an angry, and slightly scared look in her eyes, before she started forward towards the Immortal. She was about to draw out the knife that she held in her back pocket when he whirled around and the last thing that she saw before an immense feeling of pain in her stomach was a flash of metal.
"That was the idea Faith," The Immortal scoffed with a mocking grin on his face as he brushed some lint off of his jacket and then turned and walked away.
"Faith," Wesley nearly screamed out as he also saw the flash of light, but being back further away he saw that it was a knife before the Immortal threw it. After screaming he tore out of the house and nearly stumbled down the steps as he went forward in a mad dash to get to Faith. He scrambled to her side just as she looked down, saw the knife sticking out of her body, and then lifted a blood covered hand up to eye level, looking very sickly and surprised by what had just happened. With at first words dying on her lips she turned to Wesley and stared at him with wide eyes and an open mouth that had no words to fill it.
"Wes," Faith finally managed to state softly with a very concerned look on her face as her legs began to weaken and she wobbled a bit before wincing badly in pain. "It…hurts," Faith added through gritted teeth as her legs finally gave way and she unceremoniously slumped down to her knees before falling back on the damp grass into Wesley's arms.
"It'll be alright…just stay calm, bloody hell," Wesley started to say with a reassuring tone of voice even though the fear in his eyes betrayed his true feelings while he clamped a hand down over the wound and debated whether or not to pull the knife out immediately or leave it in for a moment.
"Stop it Wes, you're a terrible liar," Faith snickered back with a sarcastic cough, that brought more blood to her lips, as she tried to both remain conscious and to keep from tearing up.
"Just try to," Wesley started to say with a scared silly look in his eyes before one of the demons got impatient and slammed the end of its club straight into Wesley's chest in an upward almost golf swing. The force of the club cracked Wesley's sternum with a loud crunch before he was sent flying back into the house through one of the windows, seeing stars everywhere as the glass exploded around him. His world almost went black as he crashed through a pair of sawhorses.
"Wes," Faith grunted out softly in desperation as she tried to lift herself up off of the grass before her strength gave out and she flopped back down onto her back.
"What's this, a naughty little girl with a knife stuck in her gut…hmm, wonder if she'll scream," A sickly looking demon stated with a delighted and excited grin on his face as he stepped out from behind one of the bigger demons and walked over to Faith, kneeling down beside her. "Let's find out shall we," He added with a sinister grin on his face before he reached down, grabbed the hilt of the knife and then gave it a good hard jerk to first one side and then the other. Faith's body was lit on fire from the inside out as the pain coursed through her body. She screamed out into the night air before the blood that forced its way up her throat drowned her screams out.
"Heh, they always scream," The demon that had struck Wesley joked with a giddy grin on his face before the sickly demon sharply pulled the knife from Faith's stomach and then licked some of the blood off of the blade.
"Ah slayer…twenty two…twenty three years old, good vintage," The sickly demon chimed back with a delighted smile on his face as he stared straight back down at Faith, who was doing her best to drag herself away from the scene with one hand and apply some pressure to her wound with the other.
"Get away from her," Wesley growled with a furious sneer on his face before he emptied both barrels of his shotgun straight into the chest of the sickly demon, killing it instantly. Faith barely registered the death as the body flopped to the blood stained earth beside her.
"Wesley no," Nina shouted with a scared look on her face as she flung the door open and then ran across the room in an effort to try and keep Wesley from climbing out of the window while reloading the shotgun. Blood ran from several wounds on his body and there was also a fair amount of blood dribbling out of his nose and around the edges of his lips. One arm seemed to perhaps be broken as he used it to cradle the shotgun though he could only hold the weapon loosely.
"Get out of here Nina, find Angel and get him and the others back here," Wesley angrily shouted back with a furious scowl on his face before he tripped on the sill and went face first down into the garden, getting a face full of dirt in the process.
"But," Nina started to argue with an overwhelmed tone to her voice before one of the demons leapt off of the shoulders of one of the bigger demons and then straight towards her.
"Die bitch," The jumping demon exclaimed with a daring grin on his face just before he crashed into Nina so hard that the two went tumbling backwards into the room, breaking chairs and anything else in their path.
"Faith," Wesley stammered out with a very pained grimace on his face as he lifted his head up and began to crawl towards Faith as she tilted her head back.
"Wes," Faith weakly mumbled back as she fought to keep her eyes open before she reached out and took a hold of Wesley's hand, both hands bathed red in the blood of their owners.
"Ah so touching, to bad you're going to be dead in about two seconds," The large demon that had first struck Wesley stated with a confidant look on his face as he looked straight down at Wesley and Faith, as the former fumbled for the shotgun with his free hand, each movement sent lightning bolts of pain through his body. Seeing this the demon picked its club back up, reared back and prepared to swing down the deathblow. Just as it was about to strike it stopped suddenly and jerked forward a bit.
"Huh," Nina started to wonder with a panicked look on her face as she was halfway out of the window before she got her answer.
"You first," A very determined and angry Angel growled as he drove the point of his blade all of the way through the demons body and then stayed still as it slid off of it, collapsing dead to the ground beside Wesley and Faith.
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He hadn't known exactly why when she walked back into the building but Xander somehow had a feeling that he needed to follow Willow. He did his best to stealthily follow her out of the entryway and through the long hallway lined with offices before Kennedy rounded a corner and reluctantly pulled Willow aside. Through the small window in the closed door Xander watched as Kennedy slowly and deliberately explained something serious to Willow. He could see the usually strong and confident Kennedy appear more like someone who thought that they would be killed the moment that they said their business. His hand hesitated on the knob as he saw Willow go even more pale than usual, and he could tell that she was struggling to stay in control by the force with which she was raking her fingernails across the pockets of her jeans. She turned just enough to one side for a split second, and from that Xander thought that he saw the edges of her eyes beginning to turn black. But almost as quickly as he thought that he saw her calm down and let out a breath before saying something softly to Kennedy before turning on her heel and walking out of the room, barely noticing that Xander had been eavesdropping the entire time.
"Hey Willow wait," Xander started to say with a concerned look on his face as he gave a tearful Kennedy one last look and then started to go after Willow before he was stopped by Buffy.
"We should leave her alone for awhile, she needs some time to think," Buffy interjected with a serious and worried look on her face as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and frowned in the direction that Willow had gone in.
"Why Buffy, what's going on," Dawn asked with a confused look on her face before Xander could speak up.
"Come on, I'll tell you guys while we walk, I need to talk to Giles about something and it's better if I don't have to repeat myself," Buffy replied with a nervous and overworked sigh as her shoulders slumped a bit and she turned and walked off towards Giles' office, with Dawn and Xander walking closely behind her. Neither Dawn nor Xander said a word until after they arrived at Giles' office and Buffy explained that she had bad news.
"Okay Buffy, so spill, what's going on…why is Willow so upset," Xander asked with a determined and worried expression on his face as he shut the door behind them.
"Well…you know that we were supposed to investigate Kristine Johansson's death right…well up until that injury Kennedy…she and Kennedy were having an affair," Buffy replied softly with a loathing tone to her voice as she started to explain away before Giles stopped her.
"And you know this," Giles started to ask with a concerned look on his face before he let his voice trail off as Buffy picked up the slack.
"I know all of this because Kennedy told me after Kristine died, she admitted to the affair with Kristine and another of the Immortal's people," Buffy continued with a glum expression on her face as she sank down into one of the more comfortable chairs in Giles' office.
"Boy, this just keeps getting better and better," Xander grumbled with a bitter and unhappy scowl on his face as he couldn't stay calm thinking about what Willow must be going through.
"Oh…but it gets better," Buffy started to say with an anxious look of suspense on her face as she sat up in her chair and turned to Xander.
"Of course it does…we love the troubles getting worse," Xander groaned with an unhappy pout on his face as he flopped down onto the couch in the office and stared up at the ceiling.
"This other person that Kennedy was having the affair with…well it's Mercedes, the vampire that might have been the one that attacked Kristine," Buffy replied with a nervous and unsure smile on her face, as she started off looking in Xander's direction, before Giles spoke up.
"Oh really, you don't sound to sure of that, did Kennedy say something that leads you to believe that this Mercedes woman was not the one that attacked Miss Johansson," Giles asked with a deep in thought look on his face as he leaned back in his chair a bit and took his glasses off.
"Well…it wasn't really what she said Giles, it was more…how she said it, I can usually tell when someone's lying to me…I don't think that she was, I think that she truly believes that someone other than Mercedes," Buffy started to answer with a concerned look on her face as she looked back and forth between Giles and Dawn, who was busying herself with pruning one of the large plants in Giles' office, before she was interrupted as the door opened wide.
"Was the one that committed the crime, honestly Buffy…I would have thought that by now you would have realized that no matter how well you think that you know someone they can always surprise you," Robin interjected with a calm but warm tone to his voice and a gentle smile on his face as he walked into the office wearing a dark suit and tie, looking more ready for a power lunch than demon fighting.
"You mean like you surprised Faith by swapping spit with the first new slayer that'd," Dawn started to grumble with an unhappy scowl on her face as she crunched up one of the dead leaves in her hand before Giles stopped her.
"That's enough Dawn, Robin…what are you doing here, I thought that you were in South America," Giles sharply exclaimed at first to Dawn before he calmed himself down and continued with a polite tone to his voice as he stood up and shook Robin's hand. Buffy smiled and nodded her head slightly in reply and Xander grinned and waved. Only Dawn gave him a less than kind greeting as she closed herself off, stopped listening to what was being said, and decided to instead focus her attention on Robin, trying her best to remember everything about him. She didn't know what it was but she had a hunch that something wasn't quite right about him, as if it was more than a bit suspicious that he had just showed up out of the blue. She became so obsessed with this mission that it finally took Giles laying his hand on her shoulder to snap her out of her stupor to come to find that her cell phone was ringing. She embarrassingly excused herself and stepped out into the hallway. At first she was excited as she saw who it was that was calling her, but the moment that Spike's voice emanated from the small device she knew that it wasn't good.
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"How did this happen, how did they find us," A nearly seething Angel demanded with a very upset tone to his voice as he angrily paced back and forth out in the hallway as Faith had been rushed to surgery and Wesley wasn't far behind her. Only their timely arrival back at the safe house had given either of the two any chance of living. Wesley's number of broken ribs had only gone up, and some that had only just started to heal were broken again. His other injuries were just as grave as from all of the blood at the scene Angel had a hard time figuring out just how injured his best friend really was. Faith hadn't been conscious since well before the fight had ended. The demons that had been left behind had liked to talk big but the moment that the Immortal left and Angel showed back up with Illyria and Spike, the tide quickly turned. Illyria said something about no one hurting Wesley and went through the demons like a force of nature.
"I don't…know, Wesley and Faith were just talking, then they were fighting, Faith went outside to cool off, and then like two seconds later all hell broke loose," Nina stammered out with an overwhelmed look on her face as she fought back tears despite her own injuries. Angel sharply turned back to growl at her but only got half of it out before the look in her eyes shamed him and he instead reached out to comfort her. "No…don't, I know I screwed up okay, I just need some time to think," She stated softly with a confused and scared look on her face as a few tears fell while she pushed Angel away and then walked off down the first empty hallway that she could find.
"But…Nina," Angel started to say with a confused and worried look on his face before a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"You certainly have a way with women," Spike interjected with a humorous tone to his voice at first as Angel whirled around ready to fight before he saw from the look on Spike's face that he was only using his dark humor to try to lighten the mood.
"Real cute Spike, why don't you make yourself useful and figure out what happened, and where the hell Mercedes is," Angel grumbled back with an unhappy scowl on his face as he balled his hands up into fists and tried to keep from strangling his grandchilde.
"I would but splitting up wouldn't be to wise right about now, as for Mercedes…she split even before we left, she could be anywhere by now," Spike replied with a serious look on his face as he in turn looked down the hallway first one way and then another, purposefully avoiding making eye contact with Angel.
"Perfect…just perfect, we leave for five seconds and the whole world goes to hell," Angel growled with an angry scowl on his face as he threw his hands up in defeat before turning around and starting to stomp off.
"Maybe you should go find Nina, she didn't look like she was doing to well," Spike added softly without the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice as he leaned back up against the wall and lifted his gaze up to meet Angel's, if only briefly.
"She…she said that she wanted to be alone, there are things that she has to think about," Angel tried to reply with a nervous and awkward frown on his face as he wasn't sure that he exactly liked talking about his relationship with Nina with Spike.
"The bird's had a big night, probably came pretty close to getting snuffed out, she's probably off somewhere quiet and dark to have a good long cry, once she's done that she'll want to see you," Spike said with a helpful without being helpful expression on his face and tone to his voice as he slid his hands into his pockets before Angel spoke up.
"When did you become," Angel started to ask with a surprised and confused look on his face as he took a step back towards Spike but was stopped by Spike's reply.
"You watch as much daytime tv as I have…you pick up a few things, now go…I'll stay here and make sure that everything's on the up and up, oh and if you see big blue, steer her this way, with Wesley hurt as badly as he is she's likely to go off if some poor bloke even tries to talk to her," Spike replied with a serious look on his face as he shuffled his feet a bit and shrugged his shoulders before smirking slightly.
"Okay…just don't break anything before I get back, and don't make any decisions without me," Angel started to say softly with an unsure frown on his face before Spike nodded his head and waved his grandsire off. Spike watched Angel walk down the hallway and turn a corner before he pushed off of the wall and started to turn around before it happened.
"Spike," Dawn exclaimed with an almost frantic look on her face as after speaking she ran forward up to him and gazed at him up and down with a look in her eyes that told him that she was relieved that he was still in one piece.
"What happened," Willow asked softly, almost out of breath, as she did her best to keep up with Dawn and then catch her breath.
"What's it look like, Buffy's boyfriend tried to tie up a few loose ends, skewered Faith with a knife…and used ole English for a piñata," Spike replied with what he tried to portray as an attitude that he could care less, but both Willow and Dawn could tell by the fact that he didn't look at either one of them when he answered that his outer attitude was a lie.
"The Immortal, but why would he," Willow began to ask with a confused and concerned look on her face as she finally caught her breath before Spike shook his head and answered before she was finished.
"Because he's planning something big, and he can't have anyone getting in the way, messing things up, only problem now is that Wesley and Faith are out of commission for awhile, Nina's a wreck, Illyria's on the warpath, Angel's shirty, and as for Mercedes…well we seem to have misplaced her," Spike answered without the slightest hint of emotion in his voice at first before a sarcastic edge filled his speech.
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"Where are you going," Diane asked with a confused look on her face as she pushed the door open and found Audrey making herself look presentable. Everything would have looked normal except for the fact that the older woman could see that the pink haired slayer was armed to the teeth at the same time.
"To see him," Audrey replied with a serious look on her face as she continued to get ready, not even lifting her gaze enough to look back at her friend.
"You're not going to get anywhere close to him with all of those weapons, unless you have an appointment you're going to have to leave them behind…all of them, you can survive without weapons for a few hours," Diane added with a confidant look on her face as she slowly nodded her head while walking fully into the room and shutting the door behind her. She almost laughed when Audrey looked up at her with a pleading look in her eyes and a scared look on her face.
"Mm…yeah you're right, I just hope that he can give me what I'm looking for," Audrey replied softly with a nervous, anxious, and reluctant glint in her eyes as she deemed herself finished and stood up.
"Oh yeah, and just what is that," Diane asked with a concerned look on her face as she watched Audrey divest herself of all of the weapons that she had packed on earlier.
"My life back, or at least a reason not to snap his neck," Audrey grumbled back softly with at first an almost nostalgic smile on her face before her expression grew cold and bitter before she left the room quickly, not allowing Diane to say anything in return.
END OF CHAPTER 22
General Notes-Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing, I'm only three reviews away from tying my record for most reviews and four away from breaking it. Hopefully it'll happen with this chapter. Thoughts and opinions are still welcome about where the story should go from here, I have my thoughts but I like to hear all of yours as well. As to the fight we all knew that it had to happen sometime with those two hotheads, and at the end of this chapter Faith is in surgery half-dead, and Wesley isn't much better. I'm thinking about finding a girlfriend for Andrew…any ideas. Yeah Faith was stabbed earlier on the show but I just didn't think that here she'd let The Immortal get close enough to actually stab her so I had him throw the knife. Once again thanks to everyone for all of the hits and reviews.