The Eye, The Spirit, The Soul

Jack's Spaceship: Somewhere Above The Atlantic

Jack turned to Faith, eyes full of doubt. "That. That was really dangerous. Are you sure you want to keep going? We can always leave, the three of us."

Lestrade frowned at him. "Are you crazy? Not without Sherlock and Watson. I can't go home empty-handed. Not with the crisis in London. I need them. Faith, do you think we can do it? Really bring them back?"

Faith wiped the tears from her cheeks. This had been a very trying mission. She shook her head. "I can't just give up. I have to save h– them. All of them. Osiris gave me this mission. I have to see it to completion."

Lestrade put an arm around her shoulder in a fatherly fashion. "I know exactly what you mean. And I'll help you, even if it kills me." He turned to Jack. "If you don't want to come, that's your business. But get us as far as Alexandria, please."

Faith snuggled under Lestrade's arm in thanks, then after a moment pulled away. "Before you leave, Jack. There is something really important I have to tell you."

"What is it?"

Faith pulled Jack to the side. Her voice was controlled and tight. "The next time we meet, I will not know who you are. Don't call me by name, or give any hint that you know who I am." She swallowed. "And… I'm going to miss you."

Jack stared at her in a mixture of shock and sorrow. "How. . . oh, you know what? Never mind. I'll miss you too."

He gave her a big hug, then turned to Lestrade. "Take good care of her. And yourself as well."

Lestrade nodded.

"Well, we're here. What are you waiting for? Get going."

Alexandria, Egypt: 28 July 204 BC

Faith and Lestrade jumped out of the ship. When the ship vanished, Faith looked around. They were back in Alexandria. Faith begins to pace. Thinking. "Where would that Eye be?" She suddenly stopped, and a smile plastered on her face. "Oh this is going to be fun."

She turned to Lestrade. "We are going back to the palace. Set has the eye."

Lestrade shook his head, smiling oddly at her. "That look. I know that look. You're about to go do something stupid and dangerous. It's the same one Sherlock gets."

Faith grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the palace. "Stupid, yes. Necessary, even more so yes."

Lestrade shook his head. "You don't have to drag me, Faith! I have longer legs than you!"

Before long, they found themselves in the destroyed section of the palace. Lestrade looked more than a little green in the gills when they found all the bodies. He hadn't even met most of those people and it sickened him.

Suddenly, his eyes widened in horror and pain. "Sherlock? Oh no. Sherlock!" He lifted the man's body out of the rubble, eyes dampening.

Faith put an arm on his shoulder. "Lestrade! I…I'm sorry that you have to see this." She looked around, fresh tears coming to her eyes as she saw the remains of her friends.

Lestrade sighed, brushing a dusty lock of hair out of Sherlock's face. "It's alright. Not my first crime scene or anything. Just. . . they really are dead, aren't they? Never thought I'd ever see that. Sherlock. . . I figured he'd outlive us all." He closed the man's glazed-over eyes reverently, laying him down next to John.

Right where he preferred to be anyway.

Lestrade looked up, eyes filled with wrath. "The bastard who did this has the eye? Then let's go get it."

Faith nodded resolutely. "I have a feeling that Set would keep the eye close to him. It's a pretty important trophy for him… but where?"

Lestrade stared at the bodies of his friends for a while. Suddenly his eyes brightened. "Through that door!"

"Why do you say that?"

He gestured to Sherlock's body. Rigor mortis had long since set in, and his index finger was pointed at the door. "Never doubted his hunches. Never will."

Faith smiled. So even beyond the grave, Sherlock still found a way to help. "Alright then. Shall we?"

They walked through the door into the palace kitchens. The sight there was even worse than the throne room. There were bodies everywhere. The focal point was the far wall, on which was pinned Ptolemy, skewered with knives.

Lestrade gagged. "I've seen some pretty sick things, but this. . . this is. . ."

Faith's face was carved from stone. Zephyrus did this. She knew it. "We need to find that Eye, and quickly."

"You mean this?" crooned Zephyrus. He slithered in from a side door, carrying the eye in a small glass jar. "It's a surprise to see you alive, my dear Faith. And you brought a friend, too! How nice."

Lestrade turned to him, eyes blazing. "It was you. You're the one who killed Sherlock!"

Zephyrus laughed. "And a lot of other people, but who's counting?"

Faith's eyes were hard. "Nice to see you again too, Zephyrus. Having fun, are we?"

Zephyrus smirked. "I suppose this is rather liberating, not having to be nice and proper. You really should try it, Faith. It would suit you."

Lestrade lunged at him with an inhuman snarl.

Zephyrus raised his arm, throwing him against the wall with a surge of energy. He smirked at Faith. "Tell your pet to play nice, will you? I want to talk to you."

Faith eyed Lestrade, a light peaking though the hardness. She was begging him to stay put. She turned back to Zephyrus, her eyes hard once again. "I'm listening."

Zephyrus smiled gently. "It's not too late, you know. For us to be on the same side. I know you want that too. Please, Faith, I'm begging you. Set has opened my eyes. I know you were working for him. With you by my side, we could rule as gods forever. Wouldn't you like that?"

Faith's eyes were as cold as stone, but soon melted as his words flooded her ears. "He… He told you?"

Zephyrus' eyes softened as well, returning to bright blue. "Why wouldn't he? After all, we both work for him, don't we? I know you were just following orders. And I forgive you. It's the rest of humanity I'm not so keen on."

Faith gasped. "You… you forgive… me?" Something was very wrong. She frowned slightly. "But why not the rest of humanity?"

Zephyrus rolled his eyes. "Have you seen them? They're filthy. Evil. Vile. I've been all over time and space since the last time we've met. They're a plague. But we could start again, couldn't we? Remake the world in our image."

As if a spell was broken, Faith's eyes snapped wide open. She took a step back, her hand coming to rest over her pounding heart. "…You mean… Extermination?"

Zephyrus smiled. "I mean a new creation. A better one. Surely, you can see the merits in that."

Suddenly something changed in Faith's expression and she walked closer to Zephyrus. "A new creation?" Soon she stood right before him. "Just you and me?"

She leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips, shocking even Zephyrus. After a moment, she pulled away. "But I could never." She backed out of his reach, the Eye of Horus in her hands. "Sorry."

"You bitch!" he cried. He raised his hand, smacking her to the ground. Her skull imploded.

Lestrade cried out in horror. "Faith! No!" He grabbed the eye and her crumpled body and ran for the palace doors. As he arrived, he found Jack waiting for him.

"Get in. Quickly."

Lestrade stared at him. "What are you doing here?"

Jack shook his head. "There's no time. Get her on board. We have to get out of here."

Once they were safely on board, Lestrade turned to Jack. "I'm so sorry, Jack. I tried to protect her. I really did. But she. . ."

"Why are you apologizing to me? I barely. . ." He smiled softly. "Of course. But I don't think it was your fault. I guess now we have to find a good place to bury her."

While they were talking, the Eye began to glow. Neither man noticed it until a beam of light from it pierced Faith's mouth.

Jack gasped. "What the. . ."

". . .Hell is going on here?" finished Lestrade.

Faith gasped to life, exhaling a swirl of red smoke.

Lestrade stared in shock. "But that's impossible! She's dead!"

The red smoke swirled around Faith, a child-like giggle emerging from the cloud. Faith's body lurched, as if in pain. Her eyes remained closed.

As the men watched, Faith's skull began to knit itself back together.

Jack turned away. "That. Is. Disgusting."

After her skull was healed, Faith's eyes fluttered open.

"Love you too, Jack…" she murmured wearily. Her eyes were clouded, but they lock on the red cloud hovering above her.

I should have expected this one.

The cloud giggled again.

Lestrade rubbed his eyes. "That cloud of vapour just giggled. And you know, a few days ago, that would have made no sense to me. I think I'm a broken man."

Faith sighed. "Not broken…" She gazed at the cloud, trying to fill in the blanks. "What is your name?"

I giggled again. "I don't have one, yet. Silly Faith!"

Jack sighed. "And it talks. I'm with you there, Lestrade. Even for me, this is bordering on the crazy to not good." He helped Faith off the floor. "Still, I'm glad you're alive, Faith Harkness. Now, what are we supposed to do with these things?"

Faith blinked at Jack, as if trying to place him. Suddenly, her eyes looked sad and she turned back to the cloud. "I need to keep her with me. I have to find her a home."

Lestrade frowned. "A home? Like a glass jar or something? That's what you mean, right?" He gulped. "I hope?"

Faith shook her head. "Come, little one."

The smoke snaked around Faith's arm, pulling up her sleeve. A squeal filled the cabin.

"Someone was playing with you!" cried the cloud. "Can I play with you, Faithy?"

Faith sighed. "Not right now, little one. Soon."

Jack's eyes hardened. "Get off my ship." His eyes were not quite angry, not quite terrified. It was clear that the idea of this thing on his ship did not make him at all comfortable.

Faith shrugged, face indifferent. "If that's what you want."

She reached down and picked up Osiris' bag. "I have a mission to finish. Lestrade, are you coming?"

Before he could reply, Jack grabbed Faith by the arms, slamming her into the bulkhead. "Faith. What the hell is wrong with you? Something has changed about you, and I do not like it." He eyed the smoke. "What is that thing? And what are you planning to do?"

Faith didn't even wince at the impact. Her dead eyes locked on Jack's. "She is me. It's rather hard to explain. She can't exist alone. I will have to find her a home or send her into the rift. I need to make sure we don't have another Death on our hands."

The Cloud giggled at the name of Faith's older self.

Lestrade blinked. "You still haven't said what sort of home she'll need. Faith, if this is what I think it is. . . is that even ethical?"

Faith looked the detective in the eye. "I will only give her to someone who needs her. One of my friends is traumatized to the point that she may be suicidal." Faith gestured to the cloud. "I'm not going to let her take her own life on my watch. I've already watched her die once. She can help her."

Lestrade nodded, sughing. "There it is again. You sound so bloody like him. I suppose there's no stopping you, whatever the cost."

He looked away, muttering under his breath. "I just hope for all our sakes that you find your Watson."

Faith nodded, and looked again at Jack. "Let go of me, please."

Lestrade shook his head, eyes sad. "So. What do we do now? You said something about delivering these items."

Faith shook herself out of a daze. "Yes. I have to bring these items to Osiris." She frowned for a moment. "We have to go to his temple."