The Big Payback

Chapter 2 – Faith Seeks Revenge

Part 1

Angel was awaken by the telephone. 'What now, Doyle?' he thought as he reached for the phone.

"Angel, I just had a vision of Buffy in trouble. She was in a house in, I'm guessing it was Sunnydale, I couldn't tell, but you have to hurry."

"All right." Angel hung up the phone. 'How am I supposed to get to Sunnydale at 10 a.m.?' He picked up the phone again and dialed Giles number; when he answered the phone, Angel asked, "Giles, is Buffy all right? A friend of mind just had a vision of her in trouble."

"I don't know about your friend's vision, Angel, but I doubt that Buffy is in trouble. She decided she would forego patrolling for a few days and sleep in to give herself a chance to recover from the last few weeks' activities. I agreed that that was a good idea. All of us are taking a much needed break. However, if you're that concerned, why don't you call her to make sure?"

"I can't do that, Giles; I promised that I wouldn't bother her any more. Can you do a three way to her house without letting her know that I am on the phone?"

"I understand, Angel; just mute your phone and stay on the line while I call Buffy. That way, you can hear her but she can't hear you."

When Giles made the call, an upset Joyce answered the phone. Buffy was not there, she had taken off again, leaving another of her little notes on her bed. Apparently she and Angel broke up and she was so upset about it she needed to get away for a while. "Do you know that she emptied my refrigerator and made a mess on the living room carpet before she left? I hope she stays away this time. I have had enough," an irate Joyce said before hanging up the phone.

"Angel did you catch all of that? It looks like Buffy has run away again. I guess with all that has happened plus with your leaving, it was too much for her. Most irresponsible of her if you ask me."

"Giles, what if she didn't run away; what if she really is in trouble? Can you call Willow and Xander to see if they have heard from her?"

"Of course, hang on."

Responses from Willow and Xander were a combination of confusion and anger. Their opinion was that if Buffy really had taken off again like before, they would prefer that she didn't come back.

Part 2

Two days later Angel got a call from Giles. Faith was awake and was out to kill Buffy and her friends and Giles really needed his help. "I'll leave right after sundown, Giles," Angel told him.

Sure enough, Faith was on a rampage when Angel got there. She had captured Joyce in her own home and was trying to force her to tell her of Buffy's whereabouts; Faith didn't believe it when she was told that Buffy had left town and no one knew where she was.

"Read the note that she left," Joyce told her. "It's in there on her bed."

"I don't believe it," Faith said incredulously, "sweet little B actually went against the rules and left town? There's hope for her yet." To herself she thought, 'And I know exactly where she went.' She knocked Joyce out for the heck of it, left her tied to her bed and took off with plans to look up Buffy in LA because she was sure that that was where Buffy would go. Just as she opened the front door, she found herself facing Angel. "Where's Buffy?" she demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" a cagey Angel replied as he and Giles stepped inside. "What did you do to Joyce?"

Infuriated that he figured her out so quickly, Faith attacked. Angel managed to defeat her and knocked her out.

While Faith and Angel fought Giles searched the house for Buffy's mother. He found her still unconscious and tied to her bed. He untied her and when she regained consciousness he told her that they had captured Faith and would be turning her over to the authorities. What he didn't tell her was that he was turning her over to the Watchers' Council. He didn't tell Angel either.

Remembering Giles' telephone conversation with Joyce, Angel checked out the stain on the living room carpet and told Joyce, "That stain on your living room carpet is blood; it's not Buffy's, but it is definitely blood."

Joyce didn't care and Giles had an explanation for it, "She probably brought it home from the activities on graduation day."

More concerned now than ever that something had happened to Buffy, Angel asked to see the note that was left. When he looked at it, he became furious. "This note is printed on a computer printer; anyone could have done this. Doesn't this seem odd to any of you?"

By now Faith was conscious and heard Angel's question. "It did seem odd to me that B would go to the trouble of typing a note and printing it instead of just writing it, since she was in such a hurry to get away from home as the note implies."

Giles and Joyce still refused to believe that anything had happened other than that Buffy had run away from home, again.

Angel volunteered to stay in Sunnydale until Giles contacted the authorities to have Faith picked up, but Giles assured him that he had everything under control and that Angel should return to LA. It disturbed him that Giles and the others, even Joyce, were taking such a cavalier attitude about Buffy's disappearance. None of them, except Tara, were concerned that she might be in trouble.

Back at his house, Giles contacted Quentin Travers at the Watchers' Council and explained to him what had happened with Faith. Travers congratulated him and said that a team would be there to pick her up later that afternoon.

While Giles was on the phone with Travers, he mentioned to him that Buffy was missing and told him about the note that was left on her bed. For good reason Travers did not seem concerned about Buffy, because he said, "Give her a little time, Mr. Giles; according to you she has been through a lot recently and maybe, as her note says, she just needs a bit of a break. Please keep me posted and let me know if you need support from the Council."

Giles was pleased to get back in Travers' good graces and he hung up the phone feeling quite pleased with his position at the moment. However, when he went to check on Faith, she had escaped and was no place to be found. He called Angel to let him know that Faith had escaped and might be on her way to LA.

When Faith arrived at Angel's apartment, he was able to convince her to stop running; she decided to turn herself in to LA police and to accept whatever punishment they gave her.