Wearing Masks (Part 9)
Disclaimers
Legal:All characters are (c) Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy and probably a whole mess of other people. No infringement of copyright intended.
Archive:Go right ahead. Just let me know, please
Spoilers:All the way up to "Who Are You?"
Summary:Buffy is Faith, and Tara is . . .
Rating:R (MPAA) - violence, language, f/f concepts
Notes:Faith (in B's body) and Buffy (in Faith's) have just escaped from the Council and returned to Sunnydale in order to battle the Mayor. Unfortunately, only Faith is in possession of her Slayer powers.
Xander's direct. Gotta give him that. B looks like a rabbit that's about five seconds from being road kill. Guess having your nearest and dearest sidin' with the Psycho Slayer isn't too easy to cope with.
"Not that I'm gonna complain or nothin', but how did you guys know where to find us?" I figure it's time to get our minds back on the game. And I'm hoping that it'll get Willow to talk. She's still silent, still lookin' at my hand like she wants to check it's okay.
My mind's tellin' me to ignore it. To keep my distance. To deal and move on. To run away. But I've had a lifetime of running away, and it's never got me jack shit. So for once, I decide to be brave. Of course, it's easy to take risks when you've probably got ten minutes left to live.
"Don't sweat it, Will." It's the first time I've ever called her that, and she notices, her eyes flicking up to meet mine. I show her the hand, "See? Healing up already."
She nods, still silent, and I know it's gonna take more. So when she looks up again, I cup her cheek with my good hand and kiss her. I kiss her the way she kissed me, this morning. I kiss her the way that means something.
When our lips part, I sneak a glance at the others. B's lookin' away, but Xander's doing enough watchin' for both of 'em, anyway.
"Put your tongue back in your mouth, Harris." I smirk to take the sting out of it, then raise an eyebrow. "So? How did you guys work out what was up?"
Xander sees the chance for innuendo at the same time I do, but for a change he does nothing more than quirk his eyebrow.
"After I left Giles' place I found Will in the courtyard. It took me about five minutes to calm her down –" here he shoots a glance at B, who actually flinches, "and then I offered her a lift home, since Sunnydale streets aren't as safe as we all might like. We'd barely got a block away when four patrol cars drove past us, heading toward the apartment block." He shrugs, "That seemed odd, so I pulled over and we watched them turn in at Giles'. When we saw that, we snuck back and watched as they burst in on you guys. They left two guys outside; to stop anyone who got out the door, I guess; but instead they got jumped by the Council guys." He gestures in a vague suggestion of a fistfight, "And you saw what happened when you came out."
Willow takes up the story,
"When you guys got split from the others, I told Xander to follow them, and call me at Giles' when he knew where they were being taken. He wanted to go after you, but I had an idea about how to help you –"
"And she rightly pointed out that the Council guys would spot me and kick my ass." Xander adds with a grin. Willow ignores the interruption.
"I went into Giles' place and used the blood I'd gathered from . . .. Faith . . . to cast a purification spell on you. Like how Amy's mom used your bracelet to cast a spell on you." She looks at Buffy, who nods. Musta been before my time. Or maybe after.
"I'd hoped the spell would affect you both." She admits, looking down at her hands, "but I guess not." She glances up at me, shyly. "Thank you for coming back."
"No big." I shrug, not sure how to show how much what she did means to me. Even if it did hurt like hell. "I wanted my own body back. Which reminds me . . . d'you dig brunettes, Red?"
She stammers, blushing, and I give her a grin to show that I'm teasin'.
"Can we get back to saving our friends?" B asks in a tight voice, not looking at either of us.
"Yeah." I grimace when I realise my voice sounds guilty. Probably because I'd almost forgotten the whole 'saving the day' part of this little gathering.. "You're our magic expert, Red. Any idea how to stop the Mayor? I could kill his body, but that doesn't do any good."
Willow nods,
"I asked Amy about it when we were working out how to swap you and Buffy back. The Mayor is using the most versatile kind of possession. It allows him to move from body to body, given time. But it has weaknesses . . . for example, he can't displace the soul of the body's owner, merely suppress it. And when he moves out of the host, say to occupy a new one, he is vulnerable."
"I can stake him?"
"No." she shakes her head at me, "He's only vulnerable to the thing that killed his body."
I'm about to ask what that is, when I remember the shell of the High School, still in ruins even now.
"We have to blow him up?"
"More or less." I swear, Willow's all but grinning. Guess a little of the pyromaniac lurks within her. "Fire should do the trick."
"Can we kill him without harming the body he's in?" B speaks up for the first time. It's a good question: vamp bonfires are kinda fun, but I don't fancy turning a human being into charcoal. I think I could, if I had to, but I'm glad I won't have to put it to the test: Red nods in reply.
"Amy knows a spell that will force him out of his host. She was going to teach it to me, as well, but we never got time."
"So we need to free Amy. Even then, couldn't he just possess someone else?" B's good at this planning crap, ain't she?
"Not immediately." Willow shakes her head, "Leaving a host is usually done slowly, and with care. It takes time. Getting forced out like this will leave him disoriented for a few seconds."
"Which is when I barbeque him." I grin, then see Buffy open her mouth to object. "You have to leave the Mayor to me, B. Him and the vamps. It's up to you three to free this Amy chick. I'll distract them while you do that, then toast the Mayor." A thought occurs to me, "What are we gonna use to set him on fire?"
"That's where I come in." Xander grins and points down the street, "My car's a couple of blocks back. I got a couple of cans of gas at the all night station. It's not subtle –"
I nod,
"But it'll get the job done."
----------
The boss was never happy about having to use vampires as muscle. Too many of them are cocky, or stupid, or both. That was why he was so pleased to get a Slayer on his side. That and the fact that I could move around in daylight, wherever he wanted.
My point is, that no matter how picky you are when it comes to hiring vampires, you're gonna get some dead wood: some cub who thinks he's the next Angelus. When you've been doing this as long as B and I have, you get to recognise the type.
Buffy points, and I nod in agreement. The boss has three vamps in the lobby of the police station, watching out for us. They're lurking in the shadows, but one of them has just lit a cigarette. Maybe he figures on being the next William the Bloody. Moron.
"I'll go in and dust these three." I whisper. "Then you bring in the others."
Buffy nods silently. She's not pretending to like having me in charge, but at least she isn't bitching about it. That's better than I would probably do, in her place.
I 'sneak' up to the front entrance, making sure the vampires will see me. Pushing the doors open, I step inside, carefully looking away from where the vamps are hiding. Sure enough, they leap out: expecting an easy kill.
Cancer-boy explodes into dust before any of them even realises that I'm expecting them. The second follows straight after. Number three, either luckier or smarter than his pals, turns to run. Lucky for me he isn't smart enough to yell for help. I grab the hem of his jacket and yank him back toward me, burying the stake in his heart.
It's over fast, but more importantly, it's over quietly. The longer we can go without the Mayor knowing we're here, the better. I wave to the others, and they run up to the doors, Buffy and Willow at the front; Xander behind them, carrying the two cans of gas.
I grab the cans from him as he stumbles inside, and nod toward the doors leading out of the lobby.
"I'll go through first and attract their attention. Once things are really busy, the three of you come through. The cells are off to the left." I smile slightly and silently thank Sunnydale PD for running me in a couple of times for fighting. It was always fun to see 'em squirm when I phoned the Mayor to bail me out. The smile fades quickly: somehow it's not as funny anymore. "I figure that's where he'll have the others. Can you deal with the locks, Red?"
"No problem. I have spirit fingers." She wiggles them playfully.
"There may be a vamp or two on guard: I hope to hell the three of you can handle them."
Silently, Willow raises the two bottles of holy water she is carrying. They all have them: plus a stake each. Xander had a full anti-vampire arsenal in the trunk of his car. I'm beginning to see why B has been so successful.
Pity it took me so long to work it out. Once, I could have been a part of it. But not any more.
----------
I slam against the wall, hard. The two vamps holding my arms haul me back and then throw me forward again. I manage to twist enough that I hit with my shoulder first, not my head, but I've got bruises on bruises and it still hurts like hell.
Things started out so well, too: I burst into the place, slapped the two cans of gas down on the counter, and staked the first vampire before anyone realised I was there. Unfortunately, that's about where my luck ran out.
The second vamp was just a fraction smarter or quicker than the average, and my stake didn't take him in the heart, but in the shoulder. I'd hit him with everything I had, and he was flung backward over the counter: taking my stake with him, and knocking one of the cans on to the floor.
I had more than one stake, of course, but as I went to grab it one of the others charged me. I got knocked backwards, but would have been okay if my feet hadn't slipped from under me.
I hit the ground hard, wonderin' what the hell had happened, when the stink of gasoline hit me. Seems the cans Xander used weren't the toughest, and gas was leaking from a split in the side of the one that fell off the counter.
Normally, I can flip to my feet in a split second, but the gas meant I couldn't get a proper grip on the floor, and by the time I got up; my clothes and hair stinking of the stuff; two of the other vamps were ready to start introducin' me to the wall, and four more, plus the Mayor, were on their way.
One of the vamps tries to shift his grip, grabbing at skin that's slick with gas. His hand slips, and I seize my chance, twisting hard out of the other vampire's grasp. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Red and the others disappear down the corridor to the cells. At least that part of the plan is working right.
I grab my spare stake and dust the vamp to my left, then get hammered back against the wall by one of the newcomers. It's not that he meant to do it, it's just that I can't catch a damn break. I crack him in the face with my forearm, then drive the stake into his heart, but it's all a fraction too slow.
The three others pile in, and it's four on one in close quarters, our feet slippin' on the wet floor and me getting dizzy from the fumes. Maybe that's why I'm a little slower than I need to be, or maybe I'm just out of practice, but two of them grab me just as I dust one of their buddies. I try to tear free and almost do.
Almost.
The third pulls a knife and slams it into my gut.
----------
I black out for five, maybe ten seconds. When I come to, the vamps are still holding me near the wall. My gut feels like it's on fire, but my head is numb and cold. The Mayor is standing about twenty feet away, shaking his head regretfully.
"I never thought my Faith would be the romantic hero type." He sounds mildly disapproving, almost like I'm not here to kill him. "Taking us all on alone. What were you thinking?"
"Not quite alone."
I twist my head sharply, feeling dizzy for a moment, but I fight it down.
B stands at the entrance to the corridor to the cells, a slight smile on her face, her hands clasped behind her back.
"Well isn't this cosy?" the Mayor exclaims, "Two slayers for the price of one."
"Cosy?" B shrugs, "Actually, I thought the place could do with warming up."
She pulls her hands from behind her back, and I catch sight of the lighter and the rag at the same time everyone else does. The flame of the lighter licks the cloth, and it catches alight instantly; must have been soaked in gas.
Then she throws the rag toward us, and we all remember where we're standing.
