Loss of Faith

Chapter 26: The Art Of War

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Xander's POV –

We had taken my car back to Faith's house, Joyce and Buff had used it to get to the hospital earlier, and we made it back in record time. A big part of that was Buffy insisted on driving. Maybe insisted is too kind of a word. More like snatched the keys and would have taken off without us, if we hadn't jumped in before she could pull out. Being undead didn't do a thing for Buff's driving skills. If it wasn't for her slayer/vamp reflexes we would have been smeared all over at least a half dozen places on the way here.

Buff pulls right up to the door and is out of the car in a flash. Joyce and I come through the door just in time to see her lifting Shannon off the ground with one hand by her throat and slamming her into a nearby wall. Willow is standing up from her chair with a hand to her mouth and Giles is sputtering, "Buffy! What is wrong? What are you doing?"

Buff just ignores them both. She only has eyes for Shannon. "Where did they take her?" she growls out. Her eyes are glowing yellow and Shannon's are wide with fear.

"What are you talking about?" Shannon gasps out. It's a little hard to understand her, what with Buff practically choking off her air supply. Shannon is trying to break Buff's hold on her, but it's a little like watching a kitten wrestling a tiger, not a chance in hell.

Buffy let's out a frustrated growl and slams her fist into the wall right next to Shannon's head, gouging out a huge chunk of concrete. "Your Council buddies took Faith," Buffy tells her. Then she starts shaking Shannon, emphasizing each word as she speaks, "Where…. Did…. They…. Take…. Her!"

Shannon is flopping around like a rag doll and her face is going grey. If Buff doesn't let up soon Shannon's going to pass out from lack of air, then we'll never find out where Faith is.

I walk over to them slowly and carefully put a hand on Buffy's shoulder. I try and talk to her in a calm voice but inside I'm a little scared of what she might do. "Buff, she's going to need to breathe to answer your questions. Can you ease up just a little before she passes out?"

Buffy flicks her eyes from Shannon over to me and I can see the pain and fear that are there. I don't blame her. I'm pretty scared for what might be happening to Faith right now too. But overlaying the emotions in Buffy's eyes is a layer of rage that would send the devil himself scurrying for cover. I think maybe she was actually listening to me though, because I see her hand loosen its grip slightly and Shannon slides down the wall until her feet hit the ground again.

"We were at the hospital then Buffy and Joyce went to see Faith," I say. I make sure my voice is loud enough for Giles and Willow to hear what happened since I don't want to have to tell this twice. "When they got to the room she was supposed to be in, it was empty. We went back to the nurses' station to make sure of the room number and we found out Faith was transferred on the orders of a 'Dr. Travers'. There's only one Travers that we know of and we don't believe in coincidence. So, Shannon, where would a Council goon squad set up shop around here?"

"I did not think they would have followed us to the hospital," she says. "I had called them to go to the cemetery, but since Faith brought me back here I thought they would have missed us. They must have been closer than I thought."

Buffy's arms are starting to tremble with her barely contained rage. "I don't care what you thought. Where are they?" she yells and she throws Shannon across the room onto the couch. Willow goes over to Shannon and puts an arm around her while looking up at Buffy with pleading eyes. I'm not sure what Will sees in Shannon, but I hope it's worth it.

"There are a number of safe places here in Sunnydale that the Council has use of," Shannon starts saying while rubbing her throat. "The original plan was to set up in a warehouse at the docks so that once Faith was taken, there would be easy access to a ship that would transport her back to England."

"Which warehouse is it?" Buffy asks. She seems to be calming down but I think it's only because she knows if she doesn't, she might blow the only chance we have for getting Faith back. That is, if they don't just kill her and be done with it. I'm trying really hard not to think too much about that possibility. I'm not sure there's a force on earth that would be able to stop Buff from taking revenge, both here and abroad.

"It's at the end of the wharf. Number thirteen." Shannon is just a wealth of information once Buffy got her talking. "There's a large bay door in front and an access door in the rear. It has a catwalk around the interior about twenty-five feet above the floor space."

Buffy is nodding her head as Shannon finishes talking. Will," she says. "Can you pull up any blueprints for the warehouse layout on line?"

"Sure Buffy," Will says. "I can try." Then she gives Shannon a small hug before going back over to the computer.

"Giles," she says next, "What kind of weapons does the Council usually give their field operatives?"

"I would imagine standard issue equipment would vary depending on the assignment," he says. That sounds like Giles speak for 'I don't know' to me.

"Xander, keep an eye on Little Miss Information. I want her around when Will finds those blueprints," she tells me. Then she looks over to Joyce and her face softens for the first time since Faith went missing.

"Mom," she asks and her voice is small, almost tentative, "Can….can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

Joyce is already moving over to her and says, "Of course, honey. Let's go in the other room." Then she slips her arm around Buff's waist and they walk out.

I wander over to where Will is flashing through different building inspector websites and look over her shoulder. I'm still keeping an eye on Shannon, but she's huddled on the couch and doesn't seem to be any big hurry to move off of it. I guess Shannon has had some simple truths brought home to her lately and she probably needs a few minutes to deal. Maybe they seem simple truths to us because we all grew up fighting the supernatural, not knowing if the next fight would be our last. That kind of life makes you appreciate what little happiness you can find that much more. Vampires with souls can exist, Slayers can love vampires, but most of all, when two people love each other it doesn't matter who or what they are. They just need to be together.

Looking at the computer screen I ask, "Any luck yet, Will?"

"I've been through and printed some of the building code prints for the warehouse and now I'm going into the city files. I'll start with the tax files, then move onto the real estate files. I'm sure I'll find a print we can use," she says. She glances over to Shannon on the couch and lowers her voice, "You think she'll be okay, Xand? Buffy wouldn't really hurt her, would she?"

Giles is looking over the prints as they come off Will's portable printer and I can feel more than see him listening for what I say next.

I don't want to lie to her. She's been my best friend since kindergarten, but she has got to know how bad things are. "Will," I say as gently as I can, "I know you and Shannon have been getting close. Maybe more than close." Wills face turns pink and she is watching the monitor a little more closely. "You guys haven't known each other very long. What would you do if Faith had come back to town and tried to kill her?"

Wills eyes flash up to mine and I can see the anger rising up in her at just the thought of it. "I would use every spell I could find to return the favor," she says.

I nod my head. She doesn't know it yet but she just made my point for me. Looking straight in her eyes I tell her, "Exactly. And Faith has loved Buffy pretty much from the moment she came to town. Buffy has probably loved Faith almost as long, it just took her longer to figure it out. What do you think they're willing to do to protect each other? What do you think they'll do to avenge each other? Add to that Faith's a slayer and Buff is now a super slayer, do you think there's anything that could stop them if they don't want to be stopped?"

I can see the blood drain from Willow's face as the thought of how much raw destruction either one them could bring down comes to her.

"Maybe the Council was right about slayers being turned," she whispers.

I put a hand on her shoulder and say, "No, killing the slayers just because they were turned wasn't right, Will. Where would it stop if we killed everything that might possibly be dangerous? Tigers? Lions? Bears? Oh my!," I give her a little grin to ease the tension. Then I go on, "I will tell you this much, the Council definitely should have stayed out of our business and sat this one out. We need to find where they're holding Faith, and then we need to get her out. And in the meantime, we pray that they don't do something stupid like hurt or kill her. Because if they do, Will," I turn her face so she is looking right at me, "I'm not going to try and stop Buffy, I'm going to help her."

She looks at me for a moment like she never saw me before. Maybe she hasn't, cause I meant every word I said.

Giles clears his voice and says, "This looks interesting."

"What's that G," I ask.

Right at that moment Buffy and Joyce come back into the room. I could see that they both had been crying, but they still had their arms around each other and Buff seemed a lot calmer. I bet Joyce could have talked a raging bull elephant down. She just has that way about her, a way of making it seem like everything will always work out alright Not for the first time I wonder if Buffy really understands how lucky she was to have her.

"What's the what?" Buffy asks as they come over to where we're standing.

Giles glances over to them and gives Joyce a small smile then says, "There seems to be two skylights that are on the original prints but not on later ones. I would imagine that they were covered over for privacy and as such, they are probably little more than plywood and tar paper. Also, there was once an underground tunnel that ties into the old aqueducts. It's shown here as being boarded over as well."

"So," Buff says, "Two concealed ways in, plus the front and back doors. Good, I'll only need one of them."

"We'll," I say.

"What?" Buff asks and she has her nose scrunched up in confusion.

"I said 'We'll, as in 'we will' need only one of them," I tell her. "I'm coming with."

She gives me a thankful look but doesn't argue. She knows that I'd do anything for Faith. And for her, too. She simply says, "Thanks Xand."

"If……..if you two take one entrance, I…..I could take one of the others." We all turn at the same time to see Shannon standing behind us. She looks away as we stare, then looks back with determination. "I want to help. I was wrong and mislead. I need to help undo what I caused to happen," she says.

"You want to help what? Help make sure we all get captured," Buffy hisses. Not big on the forgive and forget is our Buff. Although I can't blame her right now, I think she needs to give Shannon a chance. Everybody deserves at least one shot at redemption.

I give Buffy a pointed look at the same time that Joyce squeezes her arm. Buff looks at us both then says, "Fine, whatever, you can help. But if I even think you're setting us up, I'll make sure you go down first. Do you understand?"

Shannon nods her head and quietly says, "Yes."

"Okay," Buff says moving into take charge girl mode. "Shannon you go in through the roof. Be quite, but be quick."

I hear Giles mumble, "Take the high ground."

I turn to Buff and ask, "Where're we going in?"

She gives me an evil smile and says, "Through the front door. We hit them hard and we hit them fast."

I glance over as Giles says under his breath, "Confusion to my enemies." What's with G-man? Is he going senile on us?

Buffy looks again at Shannon, "We meet up inside, find Faith and get her out. Anyone gets in our way we roll right over them."

Giles again is doing that mumble thing, "Keep your friends close…….."

Then Buffy looks at him with a smile and says, "And your enemies closer." Anything I'm forgetting Giles?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

Giles gives her a gentle smile of his own and answers, "No actually. It appears you were paying more attention through the years than I gave you credit for."

"Thanks, about time you realized that," she says teasing him. "You, Mom, and Will stay here. We'll call as soon as we have Faith back."

We all go over to the armory and load up with weapons. The Council started this, but Buff is going to make sure we finish it.