Disclaimer: You guys know the drill... I own no characters, am making no money off of this, and only have ideas to my name.

Whispers in the Dark - Chapter 13

"Where's Tommy?" Kim asked as Jason helped Rocky through the doors of the library.

"We don't know," Jason replied. "We tried to track him, but the tracing spell wore off."

"Why didn't you guys get to him in time!" Kim questioned, Kat coming over to comfort her, but to no avail.

"We got ambushed," Rocky said. "Nearly lost my arm... speaking of which, anyone know how to splint a broken arm?"

"I can help," Giles said. He wandered over and started to help him while Jason, Kim, and Kat continued to talk.

"What are we going to do?" Kim asked.

"Everything we can," Jason assured her. "Remember what Willow said about the trace? It could reappear soon, which will give us his and Faith's location."

"I hope you're right," Kim said. Before anyone could say anything else, Buffy swung the doors open and stopped quick to catch her breath, clearly from running in a mad dash to get there.

"Where's Tommy?" Buffy asked.

"We think Faith has him," Jason replied. "We were ambushed, and by the time Rocky and I got to him, he was gone."

"Damn," Buffy said. "Tommy's not our only concern," she said, switching gears. "After she kidnapped Tommy, she got the drop on Angel and I. I'm fine, but she struck Angel with an arrow."

"Is he?" Giles asked.

"Ash? No... but there's more than just blood on this arrowhead, I need you to analyze it." Buffy handed the arrow to Giles, who took a small sniff, and then looked at it intently.

"I'll need some time to research it, but I think I have a good idea of what this is," Giles replied. He returned to his office, leaving Kat, Kim, Jason, Rocky, and her together.

"Where are Xander and the others?" Buffy asked.

"They're catching a couple hours of sleep to freshen up," Kim replied. "Giles wanted to take this shift to watch over me, he gave Kat and I some ideas in how to fight off vampires a bit more effectively."

"Ok... as soon as they wake up, we need Willow to focus on finding Tommy. If he's still alive, it will probably be with Faith."

*Faith's Apartment*

Tommy began to stir awake, but barely began to open his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the splitting headache he had. As he scrunched his head, he also felt the pain of a wound on his temple, along with the feeling of drying blood. Next he noticed the cool air on his skin, and that his skin was exposed on his entire body, for the exception of his boxers. He was sitting in a chair, and he realized that as he moved, or attempted to move, he was restrained by ropes and metal handcuffs.

"You can stop pretending to be asleep, hot stuff," Faith said.

"Where am I?" Tommy said, still groggy from the blow to his head.

"My new pad," Faith said. "I was thinking we could have a little private time together. You could try out the new bed, or we could just get down and dirty right here. I mean, you tied up and handcuffed up is kind of kinky, don't you think?"

"Sorry, not interested," Tommy replied firmly.

"Oh, that's right... you like that skinny chick, don't you," Faith taunted. "I doubt she can give what a stallion of man you are needs."

"You didn't drag me here so you can have sex with me, so cut to the chase."

"Ouch," Faith replied. "Okay, so you don't to have a little fun beforehand... fine by me. But just so you know, the pleasure I'd give you would be far better than that little slut could ever give you."

"First off... her name is Kimberly, my future wife. Second, I have more pleasure just by being in her presence than I ever would doing something with you."

"Pleasure from her presence?" Faith asked. "Oh I get it," she said, smiling devilishly. "Because you guys actually haven't gone all the way, have you? Actually, she's not a whore, she's a wound up little prude."

"She and I are merely waiting for the time God gives us," Tommy said firmly, but respectfully.

"Too bad that I'm going to have to kill you before that day," Faith said nonchalantly. "But, you know, you could maybe give yourself a chance. All you have to do is help me kill Buffy, and promise you guys will get out of town, and you have yourself a deal. You can delight yourself in your little Kimberly on your wedding day, get off all you need to."

"Not interested," Tommy replied.

"So noble," Faith taunted.

"Noble... right," Tommy rolled his eyes. "Out of curiosity, what exactly is your plan here?"

"Besides torturing you for information and then killing you?"

"I'm asking big picture here, Faith," Tommy replied. "So you kill me, get to spend time with the Mayor. But then he ascends. And not that I've ever witnessed an ascension, but you get to spend time with a demon who wants to destroy Sunnydale and then the world. You do realize that you're part of the world? That if the Mayor destroys it, you're gone too?"

"Shut up."

"No, because what you're doing is wrong, and the biggest person your hurting is yourself." As soon as he finished speaking, Faith lifted her leg and thrusted her shoe onto Tommy's barefoot. He yelped in pain, which was certainly greater not only because her foot was in the shoe, but because of her amplified strength. Suddenly leapt onto him, straddling him with a devilish smirk on her face as she looked him in the eyes.

"I think the person you just hurt the most was yourself, because I'm going to make this night the most painful of your life."

*Sunnydale High School Library*

Willow, Oz, and Xander walked through the doors, and were alarmed to see the state Rocky was in, as well as the looks of frustration on the others.

"What happened?" Xander asked. Buffy was about to answer, but it was Kim who piped up first.

"They've got Tommy, Angel has been poisoned, Rocky has a broken arm, the trace isn't working, and we have no leads." Kat and Jason got up to try and ease the tension, but Buffy followed it up.

"That about sums up what's happened."

"Do you guys still have the map?" Willow asked. Jason handed it to her, and she took it and made her way over to the large table in the middle of the room and sat down. "I'm going to see if I can help strengthen the trace, anything else we can do?"

"Pray," Kat said. "Other than that, we can't do much of anything until we find out where Faith is."

"Wait... isn't there normally one more girl with you?" Rocky asked.

"Cordy was supposed to meet us here, guess she's running late," Xander said.

"Are you sure she's just running late?" Jason asked.

"If she's not here soon, we'll go looking for her," Oz said. "But this isn't the first time that something like this has happened."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Xander asked.

"I'm just saying she isn't always the most timely person... chill."

"I've got it!" Giles and Willow shouted simultaneously as Giles ran into the room.

"Will, you first," Buffy said.

"Tommy's near city hall, probably on the top floor of one of those fancy apartment buildings."

"How can you tell it's the top floor?" Jason asked.

"The way the signal is responding," Willow replied.

"Ok, so we've narrowed our search," Buffy concluded. "Giles?"

"The poison that's running through Angel's body is enchanted. The only way to cure him is to give him the blood of the slayer."

"Perfect, I know of a slayer who can help," Buffy said.

"Wait," Kat piped up. "You mean that Angel has to feed on Faith or you to survive?"

"Well, hopefully just Faith," Xander replied.

"No offense, but doesn't that seem like we're stooping to their level?" Jason asked this time. "Faith might be a criminal, not to mention working for a demon and dark wizard, but last time I checked, she was still human. I mean, we were taught never to use our power for personal gain, and never to elevate a battle."

"Look, no offense, I don't have time for whatever Power Ranger Code of honor you took," Buffy said. "Tommy is missing, Angel is dying, and we need both if we are going beat Wilkins or Lucius."

"Maybe," Kim said. "Look, I love Tommy... but I side with Jason on this. We're called to be heroes, what this sounds like is vengeance."

"Oh great... so we're going to stall and lose them because of our conscience, is that it?" Buffy asked sarcastically.

"Well... we could just rescue Tommy and let Angel die," Xander said. Buffy looked at him incredulously, and Xander tensed up under her gaze. "Or I could just insert my foot in my mouth."

"Or you and Faith could both help rescue Angel," Kat said. "Or at least try."

"And how are we going to get Faith to do that?" Buffy asked. "She was the one who shot the arrow in the first place!"

"We continue what Tommy went to do," Kim said. "We try and rehabilitate her, her mind anyway."

"Giles, how much time do we have before the poison kills Angel?" Jason asked.

"A day, maybe 36 hours," Giles replied grimly.

"I guess then we're just going to have to work fast then," Jason said. "Let's go."

"Excuse me?" Buffy asked. "Last time I checked, I called the shots."

"I'm going after my best friend," Jason replied seriously. "Kim and Kat are coming along. If you want to join us, go right ahead. But I'm not waiting for you." Jason, Kim and Kat started to walk out, armed with weapons.

"Wait!" Buffy yelled after them. "I'm coming with you, you'll need my knowledge of Sunnydale to get through."

"Let's go then," Kim said, giving Buffy a small smile. They walked out of the library and the school, and got into Jason's car. He drove the trio of ladies downtown, and parked outside of one of the high-rises. They went through the lobby and saw a youngish man waiting at the front desk. They walked towards him, Buffy pulling out a picture of Faith that she had brought with her.

"Does this girl live here?" Buffy asked. The man only laughed.

"She said you'd becoming for her," he replied, his face shifting, exposing his demonic nature.

"I've got him," Jason said, nudging Buffy out of the way.

"No Jason!" Buffy screamed, but by the time she was done, the vampire leapt over the desk knocking Jason down. Jason used the momentum to flip him over, and kicked himself up and pulled the stake from his belt.

"Come on, is that all you got?" Jason asked with a small smirk on his face. The vamp didn't answer, instead choosing to charge the young man. Jason caught him with two kicks, one to the knee, the second to the chest, causing the demon to stagger. He spun and plunged the stake into the chest, the vampire becoming ash.

"Nice work," Kat said to her boyfriend.

"Thanks," he smiled.

"I really need to stop underestimating you guys," Buffy confessed.

"It's ok," Kim said, giving her a squeeze on the shoulder. "Can we use that computer to see if Faith is still here?"

"I can give it a try," Kat said. She logged into the computer and started looking through the files. "There's actually a bit of security on here, but nothing to serious."

"Since when did you get good at breaking security?" Kim asked.

"Between some of the things Billy showed me in the power chamber, and all the admin work at the school, I can find my way around certain things," Kat grinned. "Never thought I'd be hacking a local government though." She continued to type away, and then began to smile much more widely. "They're up in room 1501."

"Let's go," Buffy said. The four wandered into the elevator, and ascended to the 15th floor. When they got there, they were startled to see that there was only one other door. It was without a doubt room 1501. Buffy stood outside the door for a moment, motioning for the others to hide near the corner of the hallway, and then she kicked the door in and crossed the threshold of the room only to see Tommy bound in the chair, covered in cuts, bruises, and burns. Though his mouth was covered with duct tape, he tried to say something. Buffy turned to see Faith, attempting to plunge her cruel-edged knife into her temple. She ducked, and found her way across the room.

"Well well well, you finally made it to my lovely home," Faith cackled. She moved toward her, tapping her leg with the knife. As the rangers saw her move towards Buffy, Kim almost ran towards Tommy. But Jason restrained her.

"What are you doing?" Kim whispered.

"Just wait," he replied.

"You here to take my blood, B?" Faith asked mockingly. "Give that demonic boy-toy his little cure?"

"Like you're one to talk, F," Buffy mocked back. "You make fun of Angel, and yet you're rolling with the highest of demons."

"You just don't understand do you?" Faith asked. "What the Mayor wants is..."

"Total destruction," Jason said, revealing himself. Faith turned her head to see Jason in front of the doorway, and then turned her attention back to Buffy

"So you brought another hottie with you this time?" Faith said.

"Not just a hottie," Buffy said.

"We'll see about that," she said, and then turned, attempting to slash Jason across the chest, but he jumped back.

"Look, I don't want to fight you," Jason said.

"That's too bad for you," Faith quipped, attempting to slash him again, this time catching his shirt, tearing a chunk of cloth from the front of it. He grimaced, knowing she also was able to cut him. "You should fight back!" She lunged at him again, but he moved, and Buffy ran over and landed a punch, knocking the knife out of her hand. The slayers wrestled on the ground, and as Faith was distracted, Jason motioned for Kim and Kat to come out of the hallway and ran towards Tommy. The first thing Kim did was rip the duct tape from his mouth.

"Bea...u...tiful?" Tommy asked, clearly out of it from the torture he received at the hands of Faith.

"It's me, handsome," Kim replied. "We're going to get you out of here." Kat was working the ropes behind him.

"What about you?" Tommy asked, realizing that Kim was out in the open. "Why are you here?"

"Because we work together," Kim said. "Besides, clearly I'm not the only one in danger."

"Less talk, more work," Kat whispered, trying to hurry up on getting the ropes undone. At this point, they heard a loud crash, and Buffy was writhing in pain on the ground amongst broken glass and wood. Faith had thrown her through her coffee table.

"Faith," Jason said, backing up from her, clearly not wanting to fight her.

"I don't know you, nor do I care why you are here," Faith said coldly. "If you're friends with B, you're my enemy."

"Just wait!" Jason tried to stop her, but she elbowed him in the head, sending him crashing into the wall. She turned to see Kim and Kat, along with the now untied Tommy sitting on the chair.

"Faith, listen," Kim said, starting to stand up.

"You going to try and talk me out of what I'm doing to?"

"Look in the mirror and see what you're doing," Kim said to her. "You tortured my future husband, you're harming a guy who doesn't want to hurt you, and you're working towards the end of the destruction of a whole city. Does that not affect you in some way?"

"You all keep speaking as if I'm someone who needs your help," Faith cackled. "As I look around the room, I'd say you're the ones who need help."

"At least we're willing to admit it," Tommy said. Faith snorted, but then the heel of a patented Jason Lee Scott tornado kick struck her in the back of the head.

"Get Tommy out, now!" He shouted to the three of them. Faith got up and looked at the former red ranger enraged. She was about to charge, but then it was Buffy who caught her with a punch. She hit her with a barrage of punches and kicks, leading them close to large window on the opposite side of the apartment. Faith tried to land a kick, but her momentum led her to lose her balance right as Buffy kicked her, allowing her body to break through the thick glass, falling from the top of the apartment complex to the ground.

"Faith, no!" Buffy screamed, Jason running to the edge, but they both saw it was too late to undo what had just been done. They saw her land into the bed of a very large truck, so it was possible she could have survived, though not very likely. What was worse was she realized the way to save Angel came down to her giving her blood for him.

To be continued...

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- Googz333