“So, you’re telling me that B has decided to actually go after Angel, even
though she has moved on with her life with that guy Dawson,” Faith commented
as she, Cordelia and Willow were walking around Capeside. It was the day
after Christmas and the girls were enjoying the crisp, winter weather that
had descended upon the small town. Even though the visit to Pacey’s
hometown wasn’t going as smoothly as the group had hoped, they decided to
stick it out. That was a decision they were beginning to question now that
the former Slayer, Buffy, had made it her goal to try and recapture her
former life with Angel and her friends.
“Not to mention the little fact that Angel and Willow, her best friend, are
together,” Cordelia added. “I mean, I always knew that Buffy was selfish, I
just didn’t think she was so into herself that she didn’t care what her
actions did to other people, let alone those that she supposedly cared
about.”
“Guys, come on, be fair,” Willow tried to stick up for the absent Slayer.
Even though the red head was hurt that Buffy had decided that she wanted
Angel back, Willow still felt the need to defend her. “Buffy hasn’t exactly
had the easiest of times lately. I’m sure she’ll realize that we can’t just
go back to the way things were before she left town.” Cordelia and Faith
both stared at the hacker as if the girl had just grown a second head.
“Don’t tell me, you’re actually condoning her behavior,” Cordelia asked.
“Willow, that girl is trying to take away your boyfriend. And look around
here,” Cordelia spread her arms, indicating the town. “How tough could she
have had it. This isn’t exactly a hotbed of demon activity. She was the
Slayer and she ran away from her duties. She didn’t give a damn what
happened to us.”
“I hate to say it, Red, but I’m with the princess over here,” Faith added.
“Blondie doesn’t seem the type to give up. She’s totally…..” Faith stopped
mid sentence, scanning the area around the three girls. It was still
daylight, so they knew it wasn’t vampires that the Slayer was detecting, but
that didn’t mean that there wasn’t some other nasty hiding in the sun.
“Faith?”
“We’ve got company,” Faith announced at the same time six men came from
nowhere to surround the three teens.
“Look guys, whatever it is you’re selling, we’re not interested,” Cordelia
said as she, Faith and Willow came together in the center of the circle the
men had formed. “So why don’t you just back off and we’ll just be on our
way.”
“I don’t think so,” came the accented reply. The three girls instantly
picked up on it.
“Watchers,” Faith hissed. The leader, at least, he appeared that way,
smiled evilly at the brunette.
“Very good, Slayer,” he sneered. “Glad to see that you aren’t as stupid as
your appearance would make one assume.”
“What do you want with us,” Willow demanded, hoping to keep the fear she
was feeling from cracking her voice. She didn’t succeed.
“We don’t want anything from you and the cheerleader. We only came here
for the Slayer.”
“Why? She hasn’t done anything wrong,” Willow argued.
“Hasn’t done anything wrong,” the leader repeated. “It is the Slayer’s job
to destroy all vampires, no matter what. They are to listen to their
Watcher’s and not get involved with civilians. Faith has gone against all
of those rules. She ignores Mr. Giles. You are proof that she has involved
others to help her in her duties. And then there is the vampire Angelus,
whom she has not only refused to kill, but that she is friends with.” The
Watcher turned his attention back to Faith. “You have gone against
everything that it is to be a Slayer. You must be taken care of so that
another can be called in to replace you.”
“Wait a minute, Buffy did all of those things too so why aren’t you going
after her, too?” Willow questioned. “She’s the one who brought us in and
she used to date Angel and she never listened to Giles. You can ask him and
he’ll tell you that. Faith is only involved with us because we refused to
let her do it alone. Even Kendra accepted our help when she needed it.”
The Watchers all shook their heads.
“That is all besides that point. Young Ms. Summers is not being dealt with
because she is no longer an active Slayer. She has given up her duties and
because of her previous death, a new Slayer would not be called if she were
to die now.” There was such a chill in the man’s voice that the three girls
couldn’t help but shiver.
He nodded towards his men, who quickly closed ranks on the girls. The men
reached to grab all three of them, which finally spurred them into action.
Hoping to find the weakest link, Faith began to fight the men, taking on
four of them at once while Willow and Cordelia each fought one. The men
were surprised at the fighting skills of the Sunnydale residents. They had
been prepared for it when it came the brunette Slayer, but had expected
Willow and Cordelia not to be able to defend themselves. Faith spotted a
break in the Watchers’ defenses and grabbed Willow and Cordelia’s hands,
pulling them towards it and away from the fight. The all moved quickly,
wanting to get away from the men and to the relative safety of their hotel
where they knew the others were. Safety in numbers were all in their
thoughts.
“Ahhhh,” Willow screamed as her hands were ripped from Faith’s. Faith and
Cordelia stopped in their tracks and turned to where the red head was, their
blood running cold at the sight before them. The leader held Willow, a
knife to her throat.
“Well, well, well, looky what we have here,” the man sneered, pressing the
knife into Willow’s throat.
“Red,” Faith yelled, ready to rush the man that held the hacker, only to be
held back by a hand on her arm. She turned to face Cordelia, anger apparent
on her face. “Let me go.”
“No, Faith,” the cheerleader argued. “Its suicide. You’ll only get
yourself killed if you go after them, and maybe Willow too.”
“All we want is you, Slayer,” the man hissed. “We’ll let your little
friends go if you come peacefully.” The two girls could tell that the man
was lying. There was no way they would be let go. Faith made another move
to help her friend but Cordelia refused to let her go.
“No, Faith. They won’t hurt Willow. They need her. She’s their only
leverage against you. They know that. Let’s just get back to the others
and we can figure something out.”
“She’s right,” Willow agreed from her position. “Go and get help. You
won’t be any good dead.” Faith looked between her two friends, torn by what
she had to decide. She hated the idea of leaving anyone behind, let alone
Willow, but she also knew that she would only be signing her own death
warrant if she tried to get the other girl out alive. “Go, Faith. Get
Angel and the others. Don’t worry about me.” It took Faith another minute
before deciding that Willow was right. She wouldn’t be doing any of them
any good if she got herself killed.
“You hurt her, you bastard, and I will kill you,” Faith hissed. “We will
come for her.” Faith grabbed Cordelia hand again and ran towards the hotel,
leaving Willow behind with a group of very upset Watchers.

Faith and Cordelia made their way to their hotel, checking to make sure that
they weren’t being followed. While they were pretty sure that the Watcher’s
Council already knew where they were staying, they didn’t want to take any
chances just in case they were still in the dark. Why give the other team
more information than they already had was their motto right now. Once they
reached the hotel, they knocked on Angel’s door, entering it as soon as the
vampire answered.
“We’ve got a problem, Fang,” Faith began without preamble. Angel shut the
door as looked at the two girls, recognizing the fact that their nervous
energy came from fear. He also noticed that Willow wasn’t with them.
“Where’s Willow?” Faith and Cordelia shared a look and dread and anger
filled Angel’s body and soul. “What happened?”
“The Watchers,” came the simple, shared reply from the girls. Angel sat
down hard on the bed, stunned.
“What happened?” Cordelia came over to sit by Angel, offering him some
silent comfort. Faith, for her part, paced in front of the pair as she
began to explain to the vampire what had transpired. She could see that it
was taking all of the control that he had to not go out and immediately seek
and destroy those that had dared hurt the woman that he loved. His eyes
flashed yellow as his demon roared at the thought that someone dared touch
what was his. At last, Angel jumped and headed towards the door, intent on
killing or at least seriously harming the bastards the held Willow. It was
only because both Cordelia and Faith held onto him that he didn’t get far.
“Angel, man, I know what you’re thinking of doing and trust me when I say it
isn’t a good idea,” Faith told him.
“Those bastards took Willow,” he explained, as if they didn’t already know
that fact. “What do you expect me to do? Stay here and do nothing?”
“Of course not,” Cordelia answered. “But going off half cocked won’t do
anybody any good, least of all Willow. That’s the whole reason why she told
us to leave her in the first place. She knew her best chance would be if we
all banded together, not go off on our own.” Angel stopped struggling,
knowing that the cheerleader was right.
“You’re right,” Angel stopped his struggling. “As much as I hate to admit
it, you’re right, but we have to do something. Just the thought of what
they could be doing to her…”
“Don’t think about it,” Faith ordered. “We’ll get her back, trust me.
What we need to do right now is call the others and get them all here. Then
we can make a plan and get Willow back where she belongs. With us. With
you.” Angel nodded his head, sitting on the bed, weariness apparent in his
body language. Cordelia went over to the phone and dialed the extensions to
the other rooms, quickly explaining that something had come up and that
everyone needed to meet in Angel and Willow’s room, immediately. Five
minutes later, a very confused and worried group of Slayerettes were
gathered and waiting to see what was going on.
 

next