CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
I'm better…
Buffy walked with Faith back to Angel's place. As always the walks were accompanied by uncomfortable silence between the two Slayers. She couldn't help herself as she would occasionally glance at Faith, finding herself comparing Faith to the one in that picture. It still seemed crazy…as crazy as the plan Giles had presented.
"B… You keep looking at me… What's wrong?" Faith asked.
Buffy was a little embarrassed that she'd been caught and she tried to quickly cover, "Tell me more about this Michael…"
She saw a sad painful look come across Faith's face, "I… I would rather not… It… It hurts and when I think I can almost control how I'm feeling it builds up and I feel like I'm being overwhelmed."
"I'm sorry…" Buffy felt bad for bringing up painful memories for her fellow Slayer.
"It's okay B… I guess it's my destiny to live this life alone… No knight in shining armor for me I guess…" Faith said with a sad tone in her voice.
Buffy had to use all her will power to restrain herself from laughing and maintain the serious look on her face.
If you only knew, she thought trying to maintain her self-control.
oOoOo
The two Slayers reached Angel's place. It was quiet when they entered, Angel was still sleeping.
"I guess I can make myself comfortable for another long and boring night." Faith said with a smirk as she looked around the empty house feeling it mirroring how she felt.
"Yeah… Can you let Angel know I'll stop by later after my patrol…? You need anything… I can pick it up and bring it back with me." Buffy asked
"A bottle of tequila and a new life… Though I would just settle for the bottle right now." Faith replied with a smirk and shrug.
"Faith… You can't give up. I'm sure things will get better. As a matter of fact I'm sure of it." Buffy said trying not to give too much away.
"I honestly wish I could believe you… I feel like I'm circling the drain and I'm afraid Buffy…" Faith said as her eyes started to glisten.
Buffy came closer to Faith, "What are you afraid of?" she asked.
"The things I did for the Mayor… I can still see the blood on my hands and I'm afraid that they won't ever be clean… I'm afraid of dying before I can make things better… I'm afraid of going to hell." Faith said as the tears flowed down her face silently.
"You'll make things right… You've taken that first important step… I'm going to be here to help you every step of the way." Buffy said trying to console her.
"Thanks B… You want to know the funny thing… The time I spent with Michael… Just for that little moment in my life, I wasn't afraid or worried about anything… I felt… It's hard to put into words… I felt safe… I felt… Love." Faith said trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.
"You'll find that feeling again… I'm sure of it." Buffy replied putting her arm around Faith to comfort her.
"I wish I could believe you." Faith said sadly.
oOoOo
As Faith settled in for the evening at Angel's and Buffy was doing her patrol, Wesley was at the Sunnydale airport. He stood watching as a small private jet taxied up towards where he was waiting.
The plane had barely stopped when the door popped open dropping down. Wesley watched expectantly as eight serious and rough looking men exited the plane carrying equipment bags. He could see that these men were experienced operatives, they looked like they were ready for a fight.
The leader of the group approached Wesley, "You Wyndam-Pryce?" he said in a gruff English accent.
Wesley nodded quickly, "Yes… You must be—"
The team leader cut him off, "I'm not here to make friends or engage in pleasantries… Did you arrange transportation like you were supposed to?"
"Yes… I have the armored car and a support car waiting behind the hanger over there…" Wesley said turning and pointing off in the direction.
"Good… I understand our target is with a vampire… The one with a soul… I have no orders regarding how we deal with him." the team leader said.
"Yes… That is Angel. For now just make sure he doesn't interfere… Lethal force is not authorized at this time… Our main priority is securing Faith and transporting her back to the Council." Wesley explained.
The team leader shrugged, "Suit yourself, but if any member of my team is in jeopardy… I will turn that vamp into a dust pile… Understand me!"
Wesley gulped and nodded his understanding. He briefly had a flash of doubt and second thoughts about what he'd done and where this mission was heading, but he quickly pushed those thoughts away.
The group headed towards the vehicles with their equipment, quickly loading up and driving off towards Angel's home.
oOoOo
Faith somehow managed to keep her boredom in check until Angel had woken up. He was a bit surprised to see her back here, but he acted the gracious host when he saw that she'd made herself at home.
"Yeah… I figured you were the 'Mi casa es su casa' type host." Faith said with a small smirk.
She found herself alone again pondering her life and her choices as Angel went to feed in private—he didn't like anyone watch him drink blood.
It's funny that I'm here with Angel… A few days ago I would've enjoyed riding him. The Mayor…we were plotting to try and take his soul, turn him back to Angelus. Now… I can only look at him and he's just a friend. Still he's a nice looking piece of eye candy…can't hurt to have friends like that, she thought.
As Faith sat there lost in her thoughts, she was unaware that she was being watched from outside…
oOoOo
The team leader talked softly into his headset to make sure everyone was in position. He had Wesley next to him as he didn't want the man wandering off on his own and giving away their position. The team leader had no doubts about the ability of his men to pull off this mission. They were all ex-military—a mix of former SAS, Green Berets and GSG9 operatives. They were all experienced with dealing with demons and vampires.
The team leader went over the plan again in his head, Go in hard and fast… Use crosses to hold back the vampire and Taser him… Taser the Slayer and shackle her and load her in the armored car…make a fast drive back to the airport and then fly to England… To make sure that the Slayer doesn't cause any problems, she'll be drugged the whole trip…
"We go in one minute…" he whispered into his mike. He lowered his night-vision gear over his face and scanned the house. His thermal vision gear returned two heat signatures—one normal and one at a lower body temperature.
"Flash-bangs first and then rush in to incapacitate and subdue… Understood?" the team leader whispered again into his mike.
He heard the clicks back over the com channel acknowledging the instructions. The team leader turned to Wesley, "Get ready… Here we go…"
oOoOo
A vampire had the duty tonight to keep an eye on Faith. It was boring work and he could feel his hunger building, but he kept his cravings in check with his fear of the Mayor. The vampire fidgeted as he expected another long and boring night of watching the house where the Slayer was hiding out. He just hoped that he would be relieved to give him enough time to hunt down a meal before sunrise.
His fidgeting stopped as his senses picked up movement near the house. He thought that he might get a chance at a meal, but then he saw armed men approaching the house from several different points. He was surprised as no one had told him about anything going down here tonight. He decided to err on the side of caution. He pulled out the cell phone, he'd been given, and called the number that was on speed dial. The vampire was surprised and felt a tingle of fear as he heard the Mayor's voice on the other end of the line.
"What is it?" the Mayor asked.
It took a moment for the vampire to regain his composure and his nervousness was still evident as he spoke, "Sir… There appears to be a group of men moving in on the house where the Slayer is hold up… I didn't know if you had sent them or not… I thought it best to check in to make sure."
There was a long pause on the other end of the call, the Mayor finally spoke, "I didn't order any action… Keep a watch and let me know what happens."
"Yes Sir!" the vampire said as the line disconnected. He gave the house and the approaching group of men his full attention now as his hunger was quickly forgotten.
oOoOo
Angel was feeling better after feeding. He saw Faith sitting on the couch, looking like she was lost in deep thoughts as he came back into the main room. He was about to ask her if she wanted anything, when he suddenly froze and looked around quickly.
Faith saw Angel freeze and her Slayer mode kicked in, "What's wrong?" she called out urgently as she stood up moving towards him.
Angel started to speak, "Somebody's outside… Watch yourself and—"
He was suddenly interrupted as several of the windows broke as small dark round objects came crashing through landing near where they were standing.
Angel's eyes widened as he recognized the shapes and he turned towards Faith yelling, "TAKE COVER!"
Everything was moving in slow-motion. Angel started to leap towards Faith to use his body to shield her from the grenades. The flash-bang grenades went off with a large noise and bright flash. Faith and Angel found themselves both temporarily disoriented and couldn't focus and were staggering. The doors and windows at each end of the main room burst open as men wearing black outfits came rushing in.
Faith could barely focus as the men rushed towards her and Angel. She could barely make out as she saw the men pull out crosses forcing Angel to stagger backwards. She saw the men hold strange looking guns in their hands and saw cables shoot open sticking into Angel. She saw Angel convulse as the Tasers sent huge jolts of electric current into him. He staggered fighting to stay on his feet, but he finally dropped to the floor unconscious as he continued to convulse from the electro-shocks.
Faith was still trying to focus and shake off her disorientation as she saw the men approaching her. She tried to focus so she could fight back. She was surprised and shocked when she suddenly saw Wesley's face amongst the group of black-clad men—it threw her off balance.
"Why Wesley?" was all that she managed to say as the men hit her with Tasers, sending her to the floor unconscious in convulsions.
The men moved in quickly shackling Faith. They dragged her outside to the waiting armored car and dumped her in the back. The men loaded up into the vehicles, splitting up between the armored car with two in the front and two in the back with Wesley and the unconscious Faith. The remaining four men jumped into the other vehicle to provide support and backup. Both vehicles sped off, making their way back towards the airport at high speed.
oOoOo
Michael had just arrived at his observation spot for the night. He was planning on spending a couple of hours to make sure things were quiet and to confirm where the Mayor's man was keeping watch—to see if it changed.
He was just settling in and making himself comfortable for his wait. He quickly located and fixed the position for the Mayor's spotter. He immediately got a bad feeling as he saw the vampire's body language—he appeared agitated while looking at the house.
Michael suddenly got worried and he shifted his view to the house. His thermal optics picked up a large number of heat signatures leaving the house and they were dragging somebody—it was Faith!
It didn't take him long to realize that he was watching a "Snatch & Grab" operation in progress. He saw the group dump Faith into the back of an armored car and start to drive off.
Michael didn't hesitate as he called up a map on his helmet display to show the road from his current location. He saw the vehicles speed off and marked a NAV point that would allow him to intercept the vehicles. The first thing he had to do was take out the Mayor's spotter, he couldn't have him reporting back what he saw.
oOoOo
The vampire watched with fascination as the humans stormed into the house. Only several minutes went by and he saw the men drag an unconscious Faith out of the house in shackles. He was a little impressed by how easy they'd subdued the Slayer, but he quickly refocused as he flipped open his cell phone to call the Mayor to give him an update. He had just pressed the redial button when he saw a flash and felt something sharp against his throat.
The vampire was stunned and could only mouth the words, "What the—" as his head separated from his neck and he turned into a dust cloud. The cell phone dropped to the ground. A voice could be heard calling from it, "Hello… Hello… What's happening?"
oOoOo
Michael was in full sprint mode as he ran past the vampire and removing his head with the combat knife in one quick slash. It hadn't even slowed him down as he sprinted towards the NAV point that he'd calculated where he could cut off the vehicles taking Faith away. As he sprinted, Michael felt his anger build. That someone would try to take her away. They would pay a price if she was hurt.
He made it through the woods and was on the road arriving at his NAV point. He quickly caught his breath as he stood in the middle of the road and waited…
He didn't have to wait long as headlights appeared coming up fast. Michael had Junior tag the vehicles on his helmet display—they were 250 meters away and closing fast. He took a deep breath to relax and get ready…
oOoOo
The two men in the front of the armored car were smiling and starting to feel relaxed. They were happy that the operation had gone smoothly with no problems. In less than an hour they would be flying back home. It was in and out quick like they had planned. They had actually expected more resistance as they had all heard stories about the Slayer, but then they had been trained and paid to deal with hard situations.
The driver's eyes widened as he saw someone standing in the middle of the road. Even from this distance he could tell he was a huge guy and appeared to be wearing some sort of suit and helmet. The man in the shotgun seat saw the same thing and their alertness went up. The passenger tapped on the window port to the back and it slide open.
"Heads up… We've got some wacko standing in the middle of the road. Appears to be wearing some sort of body armor suit. Let'em know in the support vehicle."
"Are you going to stop or go around him?" one of the men in the back called out.
The two men in the front of the armored car laughed, "Yeah right… I think we're going to create some road kill in a moment." replied the driver as he stepped on the gas and the armored car increased its speed.
In the support vehicle trailing the armored car they got word over the radio that there was someone on the road up ahead—they weren't going to stop. The team leader got a little concerned, but if some nut wanted to stand in front of a speeding armored car—well then it was his loss.
Wesley was sitting by the back door of the armored car watching the unconscious and shackled Faith. He was filled with doubts and misgivings about what had gone down, but he was committed to this action.
Maybe when we get back to England… Maybe she'll understand we're doing this for the greater good…
He'd been lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard the conversation, but he saw the men talking. He yelled to one of the men at the front, "Any problems?"
"Just some nut wearing armor standing in the middle of the road… He'll be road kill in a moment…" the man replied with a laughing smile.
It took Wesley a moment to process what the man said and suddenly his eyes widened as he realized who was out there. He started to yell out a warning, but suddenly there was a huge crash and everyone got thrown around inside the armored car and it all went dark…
oOoOo
Michael saw the armored car getting closer. He could see that they had increased their speed and that they weren't going to make any change in direction to avoid him. A smile came to his face as he'd hoped for this response. The men inside were about to find out who a Spartan was and what they were capable of.
Michael watched the distance close quickly and when he calculated the timing, he dropped into a crouch activating his armor-lock mode. His shields began to glow and shimmer—hitting full power two seconds before the armored car impacted with him dead center.
The front end of the armored car crumpled in on itself in a loud crashing sound as it hit the immovable Spartan object. The force of the impact ejected the driver and passenger of the armored car through the windshield. Both men were dead before they bounced and skidded across the road. The support vehicle trailing behind the armored car hit its brakes and came to a screeching halt about 50 meters behind the wreckage.
Everyone in the car looked at the crash scene in shock. They couldn't believe that something had just stopped a speeding armored car dead in its tracks. They quickly regained their composure, exiting from the car and moving to the trunk. The men had already drawn side arms as the trunk opened showing more and heavier automatic weapons inside.
The ex-military men were all experienced and had seen and survived lots of different situations, but they were unprepared for the sight of a seven foot tall armored behemoth that stepped out from the wreckage of the armored car where its engine block used to sit.
"What the fuck is that!" one of the team members said in a hoarse whisper.
The team leader was an experienced combat leader and could keep his cool under fire, but he found himself starting to feel unnerved by what he was seeing.
"Whatever the hell it is… OPEN FIRE!" the team leader yelled as he managed to regain his composure.
The four men opened fire with their automatic weapons and watched as the creature dodged the fire or their bullets bounced off harmlessly.
"Jenkins… Get the SAW out of the trunk!" yelled the team leader.
"Sir!" replied the soldier as he ran to the car trunk to pull out the heavy machine gun.
Michael heard the men and he had them tagged as hostiles on his motion sensors. He didn't want to waste much time as this firefight would attract unwanted attention soon. He moved quickly dodging their fire—melting into the darkness like he'd been trained. His thermal optics made the night as plain as day. He could see that these men were well-trained and experienced, but then he had learned how to take out ODSTs when he was ten.
He moved quickly and quietly through the darkness. He moved into position. He took a deep breath and counted to five—he made his move.
oOoOo
The team leader was flustered and frustrated as he tried to pin-point the enemy in the darkness. He was going to get his night-vision goggles, out of the car, when automatic weapons fire suddenly opened up on his left flank taking out two of his team. That left him and Jenkins with the SAW. They didn't hesitate as they both turned and each opened up with a full burst at where the fire had come from, but they saw nothing.
The attention was diverted as the back door of the armored car suddenly swung open. A man stood in the door opening holding a weapon with one hand and his other arm looking bloodied and hanging loosely by his side.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!?" the man screamed.
He was answered by a three round burst from the darkness that blew his head apart. His body fell on to the road.
The team leader and Jenkins turned and opened fire again towards where the shots had come from, but again they saw nothing. The two remaining men stayed together in order to be able to concentrate their fire.
They were both surprised as a round glowing object came flying out of the darkness. The team leader thought it was a flare.
Why would he throw a flare? He can evidently see us in the dark, the team leader thought.
He watched as the glowing object sailed across and attached itself to Jenkins. Jenkins tried to pull it off himself, but it wouldn't come loose. The team leader's eyes widened in shock as he realized at the last moment that it was a grenade. He tried to dive out of the way as the grenade went off shredding Jenkins and the car in a huge explosion.
The team leader grunted and felt burning stabbing pains as shrapnel from the car shredded his body. He could barely move and the pain was excruciating as he lay bleeding in the middle of the road with burning debris around him.
He knew he was dying—he could feel his life draining away. He could feel the heat from the fires and the warmth from his blood as it pooled under him. From some strange reason he first felt and then saw their mysterious enemy walk out of the darkness towards him. He couldn't do anything but stare as his blood continued to flow out of him. He noted that the armored man was wearing a full armor suit and helmet. He couldn't see any face or eyes through the gold visor, but he could swear he could feel the person behind the visor stare at him. The last thing the team leader heard as his vision went dark was the figure's voice.
"You were good… I'm better…"
oOoOo
Faith's body hurt all over and she couldn't focus. She knew that she was in the back of a vehicle. The last thing she could recall was being at Angel's and then loud explosions and a group of men storming in. She thought she saw Wesley's face and asked him a question and then there was extreme pain and then everything went black. She tried to move, but she found that her hands and feet were shackled.
I don't remember agreeing to be the submissive at this party, Faith thought groggily as she tried to focus and orient herself.
She was surprised as she suddenly felt herself being lifted roughly. She could hear and feel the hot breath of someone breathing heavily behind her and pushing her roughly forward. Faith stumbled forward and she could see a doorway and outside she could see fire and bodies…
I've died and gone to hell… I knew I would end up here sooner or later, she thought as she struggled to focus.
Faith reached the doorway and she felt a hard painful grasp on her arm as the person behind her held on to her. She heard a voice behind her—it was filled with fear.
"Okay bitch! Everyone else is dead… You're my ticket out of here!"
Faith winced as the voice behind her started yelling.
"WHOEVER'S OUT THERE…? I'VE GOT THE SLAYER… IF YOU DON'T LET ME LEA—"
The man never finished what he was saying as a shot rang out from the darkness.
Faith felt something warm spray her face and she felt the hard grip suddenly let go. She was still disoriented and she started to lose her balance and was falling to the ground. She could see the ground coming closer and then she suddenly felt like she was hanging in mid-air. She turned her head and found herself looking into a helmet with a gold color visor. She could see the flames of the fire reflecting in the visor. Faith closed her eyes again and the darkness embraced her.
oOoOo
Wesley regained consciousness after the crash. His head was pounding but it was in competition with the pains that the rest of his body was feeling. As he started to move, he could feel wetness on his face and he had the taste of blood in his mouth. He lifted his head slowly and saw the door of the armored car hanging open and saw that he was alone in the armored car.
Wesley raised his body slowly and painfully staggered to the door. He found himself overwhelmed as he looked at utter destruction—flames and bodies surrounding him. He couldn't remember what had hit them and he had no idea of what he was going to report back to the Council.
Wesley moved slowly out the door and sat down on the back bumper of the armored car. He was touching his head gingerly, gasping from the pain when he was startled by a voice. He forgot his pain as he turned quickly and saw an armored man walk out of the darkness.
"Wesley… If you didn't have your own destiny… I would pull your head from your body very slowly."
It all came back in a rush and he realized that he was facing this Michael—the man from the future. Wesley saw that Michael was cradling an unconscious Faith in his arms.
Wesley tensed up as he knew that this man could do what he said. He listened as Michael continued speaking, "If you or any Watcher comes within a hundred miles of Faith…me or my family…ever. I will hunt every last one of you down… I will burn your headquarters to the ground and salt the earth. Tell your bosses that Faith is no longer a part of them and they have no say or control over her… Tell them to leave Faith alone or I will kill them all… Understood?"
Wesley quickly forgot about his injuries. He was in shock and couldn't say anything. All he could do was nod his head vigorously. He sat there, numb and in shock as he watched Michael walk away carrying Faith—melting into the darkness. Wesley was left alone, sitting there surrounded by the death and destruction left in Michael's wake.