Forgotten Conscience
by Christopher AndrewsTwo Roads, One Path
“Patient B12 has escaped sir.”
“What? How could she have escaped?”
I don’t know sir, I went in to check on her like I always do and she was gone.”
“Coma patients do not just get up and walk away.”
“I’m sorry sir, but this one did.”
“Find her you fools, I want this whole hospital searched, find her or I’ll nail your balls to the floor.”
“Yes, sir”
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Someone’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Where the hell am I, and why the hell am I so out of breath?
I’m running, but what am I running from?
I-I can’t remember, why can’t I remember?
Running seems to be working for me so I’ll keep doing it.
I wish I knew what I was running from.
I hear a noise in the distance, it’s a train.
Good I can get out of this fucking town. Wait a second I don’t even know where it is I’m running from so how do I know I want out? Might as well, it’s not like I have any family in this town.
Now how the fuck would I know that?
The train slowly gets faster as I run along side it and search for a car to hop on. Hmm, medical syringes? No, I don’t think so, eww garbage; too stinky. Hey, pillow factory supplies, sounds promising. I can survive that long until I get to LA. When did I decide on LA? Oh well at least it’s away from her
.Elsewhere
“Did you find her?”
“No sir, she’s gone.”
“The boss will have our asses if she’s not returned. Go and find her, you have one week, if she’s not returned don’t ever show your face in this town again. Now go”
“B-But sir it’s noon.”
“So you’ll get an extreme tan, so what? Find her or the boss will find you, and you know what that’ll mean.”
“Yes sir.”
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Someone’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fuck I must have dosed off because I was so comfortable. The train comes to a stop and I look out to see where the fuck I’ve woken up in.
Los Angeles? Well at least my brain knows what its doing because I sure don’t.
I take a moment to look around and jump off just as the train starts pulling away. I turn toward the city and start walking. Voices yell out.
“Hey you, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Uh-oh, it’s time to start running again. Of course for me to run away my legs would actually have to move. Okay legs, MOVE. MOVE damn you. I turn around and face the two large men now heading my way.
This was not quite what I had in mind. I’d rather not deal with going to jail right now. Now I better stop fucking around and RUN THE OTHER WAY. Against my better judgement I start walking towards them and for some reason I feel like swaying my hips as I do.
What the hell am I doing? Maybe I can talk my way out of this.
“What’s a pretty young thing like you train hopping for?”
God, why do men have to be such pigs?
“Well I needed a ride and I don’t have any money.”
I don’t, do I? I stuff my hands in my pockets and fish around in the emptiness, nope, nothing. I pull my pockets inside out.
“See, broke doesn’t really go over well with the ticket booth.”
“Well train hopping is illegal, we’re gonna have to turn you in.”
“Hey now, maybe we can come to some sort of… agreement.”
I’m sure if I wasn’t eerily calm that I would have felt a shiver by now. Yet still I seem to be sauntering toward them. Even as they start circling me like a pair of hungry tigers the only thing that hits me is this sudden wave of adrenaline.
“Well what if I promised never to do it again.”
Oh great, I don’t think they’ll accept your solemn oath. Circling like a pair of vultures they close the gap and I can smell the sweat of anticipation on them.
“Oh I dunno babe it’s our civic duty to report anything illegal.”
“You might have to promise us a little something… more.”
I feel a sharp pinch on my ass and it’s like I just snap. I do a 180, grabbing the hand on my ass as I do and I twist it hard bringing him to a bent over position.
“You fucking bitch, get her Manny!”
The other guy runs toward me but a swift kick in the gut sends him flying ten feet into a pile of wood. I guess this is why I wasn’t afraid. I think it’s time I opened negotiations.
“So what kind of…” I twist his arm a little harder. “… agreement did you have in mind?”
“N-Never mind”
“No really! I’d really like to know.”
“I-I’m sorry I... please let me go.”
He seems reluctant, I twist his arm a little more and he screams with pain.
“I’m not sure we’re communicating properly, let’s try this again.”
I raise my leg, bend my knee and hover it over his shoulder.
“Don’t please, don’t.”
I drop all my weight on his shoulder. I feel his shoulder break as it hits the gravel and he screams in pain. Surprisingly he didn’t pass out from the pain. Surprisingly, Have I broken arms before? He starts crying like a baby.
“Please stop, PLEASE I’m sorry.”
I hear the other get up and head this way. What the fuck am I doing? I should have run by now, why haven’t I run away?
“Maybe your buddy will be a little more receptive.”
The other guy inches toward me in a boxing stance, he throws the first punch and I dodge it like avoiding a fly. In a blur, I bend his arm back at the elbow and sweep his legs out from under him. In moments I’m sitting on his stomach and leaning on his shoulder with my full weight.
“I guess not.”
What the fuck am I saying? Leave! Just go and they won’t bother you ever again.
I see a piece of wood next to his head. I get this urge to pick it up and break a piece off. My arm is shaking as I lord the stake over him. He looks up at me with fear and disbelief but for some reason it fills me with joy. I feel this weird vibe as I thrust the stake into his heart, it’s like this energy starts flowing through my veins as the life seems to drain from his eyes.
I roll off him and sit in the dirt. What the fuck am I doing? H-He’s dead, I-I killed him. Oh my god I just killed a man.
Please someone tell me I didn’t just kill a man, someone? I have to do something, I have to get away from here.
I hear footsteps edging towards me.
“Please go away, I-I don’t wanna have to hurt you.”
I look up at him and he takes a few steps back.
“Run, please, before I have to kill you too.”
He starts backing away slowly like avoiding a snake on alert. I get up to square off with him and he bolts out of here like a dog off his leash. I stand watching him run until he becomes a blur. As soon as I see he’s out of range I look down at the dead body beside me.
What have I done? What am I doing? What am I going to do? I feel the tears in my eyes and my head drop into my hands. Oh my god, I just killed a man. I feel the tears start pouring like a flood. Oh my god, I just killed a man. That thought just keeps running through my head. I just killed a man. I killed a man. Dear god I just killed someone.
I hear people coming this way. I-I have to get out of here… B-Before someone sees me. I get up to run and wipe the tears from my eyes with my shirt. I look down at my shirt and realize none of my make up came off, I feel my face. It’s probably because I don’t have any make-up on.
I hear people getting closer and I decide whether or not I put on make up this morning is NOT my biggest problem right now.
Two men and a woman come around the corner. I think it’s time I make a hasty retreat.
“Hey you, what are you doing?”
So much for a hasty retreat, I bolt out of there in the opposite direction, I hear two people coming after me which stops as I hear one of them trip over the dead body. Wait, I don’t actually know that he’s dead, he could still be alive.
Okay I think that’s what’s known as grasping at straws. You stabbed him in the fucking heart, and you think he’s still alive? Where the fuck’s your head at? Well I guess if you knew where your head was you wouldn’t have amnesia would you? I hope I wasn’t this stupid when I had a memory. Then again I probably went around KILLING people for no particular reason so I didn’t have time to think. I gotta find a place to hide before someone recognizes me.
I finally get out of the train station and into the city. People disappear in LA all the time I won’t be any different. I turn down an alley and shift into high gear.
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Angel’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------He hits me with a flurry of punches. For fuck’s sake Angel, you’re 300 years old, you’ve faced Armageddon more times than you can count and you let a little punk get the best of you. Okay stop complaining about it and FIGHT BACK! I grab his right arm and twist it forward. He flips out of it and runs toward the girl.
Christ man, you’re SUPPOSED to be a protector of the innocent, START PROTECTING! I run after him and manage to tackle him before he gets to her. I look up at her and she’s shaking in fear.
“Run!”
She runs down the alley to freedom, good, now I can concentrate on… FUCK. I fall backwards as he elbows me in the head. There’s a loud noise from down the alley, I think its two people colliding. Damn, the stupid punk has friends. I get up to square off and prepare for a two on one situation. I hear the innocent and the vamp talking.
“The-the-there is a-a, there’s a…”
“There’s a what?”
I know that voice.
“It’s a…”
There’s a what? Come on lady, I haven’t got all night.”
She can’t be here she’s… I block a jab and return the favour with three of my own which connect with his face. He’s thrown against a dumpster and he has to take a moment to regroup.
“There’s a… there’s a…”
“See the problem with 20 questions is that I’m not allowed to ask the same question twice.”
Why didn’t someone tell me she was here?
“To hell with you, I’ll go find out for myself.”
I see her come into view. It is, it’s, it’s…
“FAITH”
Confessions of a Deadly Mind
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Angel’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Why didn’t Buffy tell me she was out of her coma? I know we aren’t exactly on speaking terms but this is big. She should’ve sent word.
Faith looks over at me, then at the vampire and then back at me. We lock eyes. Wait, something’s different, something in her eyes I’ve never seen before. She attacks the vamp, a roundhouse kick and a stake to the heart makes quick work of the vampire. Faith looks over at the young girl, stake still in hand, and she starts toward the victim.
Oh shit, I’ve gotta stop her before she goes on another killing spree. I sprint to her and manage to grab her in a chicken wing type hold.
“Don’t do it Faith. I can’t let you do it.”
Maybe I can still save her.
“Do what? I was just gonna help her up.”
Who the hell do you think you’re kidding Faith?
“Yeah and I’m supposed to believe you were gonna stake an innocent as a token of our friendship? Not after what you’ve done. Run, GO!”
The young woman runs until she turns the corner of the alley.
Ah shit. She hits me with an elbow to my stomach, then two more. I don’t have time to react as she head butts me and I’m forced to break the hold. I step back a few steps and take a fighting stance.
“I-I didn’t mean to kill them, the-they attacked m-me.”
Things are never easy with Faith. There it is again, that look of… something.
“Yeah and all those people just sort of lined up to be staked right?”
I throw three punches and each of them misses. Come on Angel, you gotta step it up a notch if you’re gonna stop a slayer.
“All those people…”
“Yeah, don’t play dumb with me Faith. I know you’re smarter than that.”
Why isn’t she attacking? I throw two more punches and a roundhouse and again she backs off. The look on her face almost makes me believe she’s afraid of me.
“I-I please, it-I only, I don’t want to… I don’t wanna hurt you I…”
“Yeah, okay, last time we met you tried to poison me.”
I throw a fake jab and duck for a leg sweep and it finally takes her down. I quickly scramble on top of her and we struggle for an edge. She’s not using all her slayer strength, this is too easy. What game are you playing?
“I-I, it was just, I didn’t…”
“Didn’t what? What game are you playing Faith?”
“There were two of them, I-I didn’t mean to…”
There’s that look again, but it quickly turns to a look of desperation as I pin her arms to the pavement.
Cool, more Faith with desperation on her face, something is seriously wrong with this picture. She struggles like a little girl and I know this is wrong.
“There were only two… only two of them.”
I move off of her and she starts hitting me like a weakling. Her punches are so soft I barely feel them. I stand up and step away from her. As I look down at her I can tell this is not the cold blooded killer I used to know.
“Please go away, there, I-I don’t wanna hurt you I… please, don’t, I…”
She looks down at her hands and sees the blood on them. She panics. She curls up into the fetal position and tries to wipe the blood off on the ground.
What’s wrong with her? Does she not remember what she’s done? I crouch down next to her and extend a hand to calm her.
“Faith”
She scrambles to back away until she’s stopped by the dumpster.
“Don’t; don’t come any… anywhere near me. I-I don’t wanna hurt y-you.”
I gotta calm her down before she freaks out and hurts someone. She takes a swing at me before I can get too close.
“Faith please, you have to calm down. You’re gonna hurt yourself.”
“I… there were two of them, I just, I just wanted…”
“What Faith? What did you want?”
She lets me get close enough to touch her shoulder and she seems to calm under my touch. This is not the Faith that tried to kill me. Something has happened to her, something horrible.
“I just didn’t want them to, hurt me and I…”
I get close enough to hug her and she starts to calm down. As I put my arms around her she reaches out and hugs my ribs.
“It’s okay Faith, its okay. You can trust me.”
“I-I-I-... I, I…”
“What did you do?”
“I… it… they… and I…”
Don’t push her Angel. You’ll risk total breakdown. She isn’t giving you much right now and if you push her she’ll shut down.
“It’s okay you can trust me. What have you done?”
Shit, you shouldn’t have said it THAT way.
“I-I-I-I-I-…”
Uh-Oh, here it comes.
I-I can’t.”
She pushes me away and gets up trying to run. She stops and looks back at me. She wants to tell me, I can see it in her eyes. She’s afraid to tell me because she thinks I’ll turn her in.
“It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone. I won’t turn you in.”
Stop it Angel, being direct is not what she needs right now. I need to do something; I need to show her that I won’t hurt her. I get up and walk towards her, slowly so as not to startle her and make her run off. I manage to get close enough to put my arm around her; I pull her in close and hold her tight.
“It’s okay, it’s, okay you, you don’t have to tell me. I can help you, its okay.”
She squeezes my ribs and I know this isn’t gonna be easy.
Trust------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“We have to find her; we came all the way to L.A. to find her on a fucking rumour.”
“Yeah well if she ain’t here that guy’s dead.”
“Actually it wasn’t a he.”
“She’s dead.”
It’s actually not a she either.”
Fuck I need to kill Dave one of these days. He’s always correcting me.
“Well whatever the fuck it was I’m gonna slit its fucking throat if it was lying to us.”
“You can’t kill a Carthedge demon by slitting its throat John.”
“Well I’ll fucking set it on fire or drown it or some shit like that all right? Jesus Christ in a fucking taxi cab Dave sometimes I wonder why the boss hasn’t dusted you yet. You’re always pissing everyone the fuck off.”
“Hey I’m the only one who actually takes the time to learn the shit so… Holy shit, stop the car.”
I slam on the breaks and brace myself for the pile of cars that never crash. This better be fucking important.
“John, look”
I look out his window at the street and don’t see her.
“What? What the fuck am I looking for?”
Look, look there.”
I follow his finger with my eyes. I smack him as I see what he’s pointing at.
“We don’t have time for you to whack off, put your dick back in your fucking…”
“Look, look on the street it’s her!”
Holy shit he’s right.
“Holy shit, you’re right.”
All this time we’ve been searching without sleep and all we had to do is drive down one little street and there she is. But wait, who’s she with?
“Hey Dave, who is that she’s with”
“I-I don’t know, he seems to be helping her though. Get a little closer and maybe we can identify him.”
I release the parking break and start to follow him down the street. Jesus Christ, this isn’t obvious, we need a better plan.
“Can you see who it is yet?”
“I-I can’t quite make… Oh shit! I-We have to get reinforcements.”
“What? Why? Who is it?”
“I-It’s Angel.”
“Angel? You mean Angelus Angel, the same Angel who kills hundreds of us a week Angel, protector of the innocent Angel?”
“Yes that Angel.”
“Well then I guess it’s a good thing I’m gonna ram him with the car ain’t it?”
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Angel’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------That car has been following us for a couple blocks now, whoever it is must want me to know they’re following us; I better come up with an escape plan fast otherwise… I hear someone gun their motor; I guess I’m out of time. Faith, I have to protect Faith. She’s obviously in no condition to fight. Okay so where’s the quickest easiest way to escape.
I look behind me and I see a bouncer standing at the entrance of a building. Perfect, a club, I can just disappear into the crowd with Faith. She’s clinging to like it was for dear life so I don’t think I’m gonna lose her. Well it’s still my best option, and as I look at the car barrelling down on us I realize it’s our only option. As Faith sees the car I feel her trying to pull away but I hold on. Just a few seconds more, just a few seconds more Faith.
NOW! I jump out of the way just in time pulling Faith with me, making sure she lands on me and not the other way around. Oh fuck, that’s gonna hurt tomorrow, Faith.“Faith, are you okay?”
“I dunno about this Faith person you keep talking about but I think I’m okay.”
Hun…? That didn’t sound like a joke to me. I-It couldn’t be, could it? Oops no time to finish that thought the stalker thugs are coming to, time to disappear. I get up and dust myself off before helping Faith up.
“All right, come on Faith let’s…”
As I try to lead her away she rips her hand from mine.
“You tried to kill me…”
This isn’t the time for this.
“No actually I think that was the guy trying to run us over with the car.”
“How do I know they were trying to run me over? Maybe they just wanted to run YOU over.”
“Would you like to stick around and ask them?”
She looks over at the thugs for a moment and then back at me, I can almost see the wheels turning in her head. After a moment of indecision she grabs my outstretched hand and off we go. We walk down the street so as to try and blend in with the crowd but I look back and see the two thugs starting to follow us, okay time to get into high gear. We reach the club but get stopped by the bouncer.
“Authorization”
Fuck, I don’t have time for this.
“I don’t have time for this.”
“Authorization”
He seems reluctant to cooperate.
“Look we just need to use the exit in the back.”
“That exit is for use by authorised customers only.”
Oh come on.
“Authorization”
I didn’t wanna have to do this, but those guys behind us ain’t gonna slow down.
“You leave me no choice, I’m sorry.”
I take a quick wind up and sock him a super human strength punch. Sometimes being a vampire with a soul has its advantages you know? We enter the club as the bouncer takes a second to regroup. Wow, I can see why they hired him I can’t see many humans being able to take him down. I take a few steps in and see, okay this isn’t the kind of club I was hoping it was.
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Bouncer’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What the fuck? I’m gonna fucking kill whoever that guy was. I see two people running toward the club. Not again, okay I ain’t letting these guys through. It doesn’t matter what their reasons. I stop them at the door and they protest.
“Hey, let us in.”
Be tough.
“Authorization”
I love the looks on people’s faces when I say that.
“Look just let us in, we have to…”
“You don’t have to nothing.”
Don’t have to nothing? Is that even a real sentence?
“Go do your circle jacking somewhere else.”
Ha, I make a jacking off motion so they know what I’m talking about.
“Hey, we don’t wanna see the fucking show, we just… That guy that just decked you, he’s Angel.”
Whoa, really? That was “the” Angel?
“Really, you mean that was ‘the’ Angel? Wow, so why didn’t he just show me his authorization when he had the chance? He is a vampire after all?”
Wow, THE Angel just decked me? How cool.
“Why what kind of club is this?”
Duh, it’s…
“The Vampire Lounge only vamps allowed.”
The two of them smile at each other but suddenly their faces get all contorted and their fangs grow.
“Let us in.”
Well, they’ve got authorization.
I step to the side and pull back the curtain.
“Right this way gentleman, enjoy.”
I hope they destroy each other.
Backfiring------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faith’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“This is not what I had in mind.”
Oh great, I have no fucking clue who I am, I’ve got two people trying to kill me and the only one I seem to trust’s plan just backfired. He starts to lead me through the barrage of horny men for some reason I feel drawn to them. Even though everything about them makes me wanna slit their throats.
We enter the backstage area and it hits me.
I wanted every person in that room dead. That thought just triggers something in me. Everything starts to blur and I trip over my own feet and I drop to the floor. I lay there for a minute as this guy realizes what’s going on. All of the sudden I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head.
I’m standing in front of this girl; I think we’re squaring off. She throws three punches and I’m dodging them easy, I duck for a leg sweep and she drops flat on her back. I quickly crawl on top of her and try and pin her down, she tries grabbing at me to escape but I pin her arms above her head. God she’s beautiful. I brush her blonde bangs out of her face and stare down into her beautiful eyes.
“FAITH”
What? What’s going on?
“Hun”
“We have to get out of here or those guys will catch us and you’re in no condition to fight.”
What the hell was that? I hear someone coming this way. Screw it, I’ll figure it all out later as weird as this guy is I trust him, at least I trust him more than I trust whoever’s chasing us. I get up off the floor and we get out the back door.
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John’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We burst into the backstage area. I can’t see them.
“Do you see them Dave?”
“No”
Fuck, we gotta find a better plan.
“The boss is gonna have our asses for this.”
Not if we can stop her before SHE gets to her. A door closes and we both jump. We race towards it and find ourselves in a back alley. I look left he looks right, we switch directions.
“I don’t see them.”
I don’t see them, either.
“It doesn’t matter; we know where they’re going.”
“It doesn’t matter? Are you KIDDING ME? If she’s with Angel then it’s only a matter of time before SHE gets here.”
“Fuck, don’t you think I already fucking know that?”
“Then you know what will happen if she gets here don’t you?”
Jesus Christ of course I know what will happen. It’s all the boss ever talks about, that’s why we were assigned to keep the girl from waking up.
“We don’t know for sure what will happen.”
“Would you like to just stand around and find out?”
“No god damn it let’s get ourselves some picks and shovels and some other tools.”
“What for…?”
“Cause we’re gonna dig us some graves.”
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Cordelia POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I wonder if I should get the black pumps or the heels today. Hmm, maybe I should get them both. Angel will know, he’s good at this kind of thing. It’s too bad Buffy burned him the way she did, or was it he who burned her? Anyway he’d be a great guy to work for if he wasn’t so Buffy broody all the time. Where the hell is he anyway?
He’s usually come out of that dank pit he calls home by the time I get to work. I get into the elevator and press down. Something must be wrong. Oh good work Cordy, that thought crosses your mind AFTER you trap yourself in a basement with very few exits and something that probably KILLED Angel. Wow what a great detective you are. You know what? Fuck that this thing may be big and bad but it has never faced anything like Queen C the Super Bitch.
I start tip toeing around the basement, if I can get the jump on it I may actually stand a better chance at living through this. I peek around the corner to Angel’s bedroom and something goes flying out of there so fast it knocks me over.
“Ow fuck, so much for the element of surprise.”
I look up at what knocked me over, Angel.
“All right Angel what the hell is going on?”
He whispers his answer back.
“Shush, Cordelia not so loud.”
Who the hell does he think he is telling me…? Wait, why am I supposed to be quiet?
“Why?”
“You’ll wake her.”
As soon as he said that he cringed.
Her…? Oh no, her? I get up and head towards Angel’s bedroom. If he and Buffy… then Angel must be all evil and… Oh my god, it’s Faith! What? Wait, Faith, Angel and Faith? No wait, Faith still has her clothes on, oh good. Now all I have to do is deal with the psychopathic SERIAL KILLER IN THE BASEMENT!
Angel runs up behind me and covers my mouth right before I scream.
“Wait, whoa, shush. Let’s not let’s not have this conversation here.”
We walk towards the elevator and get on. As we go up I take his hand off my mouth.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Faith? You just woke up last night and decided what the hell; I think I’ll kidnap a psychotic killer coma patient or something?”
“No I… I didn’t think…”
We get to the top; he opens the doors and starts back walking.
Yeah you better believe it.
“That’s right Angel you obviously weren’t thinking, you need to get her back to that hospital before someone realizes she’s gone.”
“I think they already know.”
Oh good this is gonna be fun.
“You’re gonna get arrested for kidnapping you know? What if they put you in a cell with a nice sunrise view? You won’t have time to become somebody’s bitch cause you’ll be a pile of dust. What the f…”
“Cordelia, shut up. I didn’t kidnap her. I didn’t find her, she found me.”
Oh okay, well of course that makes it okay to have an evil killing machine move in downstairs.
“Besides you didn’t see the shape she was in when I saw her.”
“Oh so she looked cold and lonely and slightly less whorish than usual so you said ‘Ah what the hell’?”
“Damn it Cordelia would you just shut up and let me explain?”
Oh this should be good, I step back and shift all my weight on to my back foot crossing my arms in front of me as I do.
“Look Cordy when she came out of nowhere it sounded like the old Faith but as she took out the vamp I was fighting I could see there was something different. When she dusted him she panicked as if she’d never seen one before, then she went into full on hysterical mode. She kept begging me to get away so she couldn’t hurt me.”
God how gullible can Angel get?
“And it never occurred to you that she might be faking it to get you to trust her? She’s faked our friendship before; she might be doing it all over again.”
Yeah good point Cordy, stick it to him.
“Look, I can smell fear and she reeked of it last night. She’s not faking anything.”
Awe shit, can’t fight the nose, with that vamp sense of smell and all.
“Well… well what the hell are you gonna do with her now?”
“I’m not sure; I don’t think she recognized me when she saw me but something deep down told her to trust me. All I can do right now is attempt and build on that, everything else will come later.”
I walk over to my desk and pick up the phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“A friend”
Wesley------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cordelia’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I listen to the phone ring. Damn it Wesley pick up the fucking phone already.
Why is it people never pick up the phone when you’re in a crisis situation?
“Hello?”
“Hey Wesley”
“Cordelia, what’s wrong?”
Every time I call someone that’s all I hear, what’s wrong?
“Is the world coming to an end?”
“No not yet anyway but you never know.”
“So what do you need?”
“It’s Faith.”
“What about her?”
“She’s…”
“She’s what? Is she waking up?”
“She’s here.”
“What? What do you mean she’s here? She’s where?”
“She’s here, at the office. Angel found her wandering the streets.”
“I’ll bring my shotgun…”
The phone clicks. OH SHIT…
“Wait Wesley, no!”
Angel grabs the phone from me and slams it on the table.
“You called Wesley? What the hell are you trying to get her killed? You know how Wesley feels about Faith, what if he panics and calls the Watcher’s Council? They’ll raid the place and take her away.”
Yeah, and?
“So what if they did? She’s a killer Angel, a vicious cold blooded killer and I can’t understand why you’re protecting her.”
She’s and evil killing machine nothing more.
“Everyone deserves a second chance Cordelia.”
“There are some people who just don’t deserve it.”
“Did you?”
Hun
“What?”
“Did you deserve a second chance?”
“What are you talking about?”
“When I first met you I thought you were a self absorbed money grubbing bitch, but when you came to work for me I decided to give you a second chance. You’ve proven to be a good and noble person, not like the person I thought you were.”
Awe gee the guilt card.
“Yeah but…”
“All I’m asking for is for you to give her the same chance.”
“Angel I didn’t kill half the people in Sunnydale and try and kill the other half.”
“I did.”
“What?”
“I tried to kill half of Sunnydale and send everyone to hell. I’ve done horrible evil things and killed more people than I can count…”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because you were evil then, but you’re a good person now and…”
“So why should Faith be any different? Why can’t she learn to be a good person and help people?”
“It’s just not the same.”
It isn’t.
“Why not”
“She had a soul from the beginning, she had a choice and she chose to be evil.”
“You’re wrong. I had my choice made for me; I was cursed with a soul, to live with the pain and suffering I had caused. Faith has a choice now; can she live with what she’s done? And we have to help her through it no matter what that choice may be. We all have to make that choice sometime. Can we live with knowing what we know? We have to make a choice, but more than that we have to decide what kind of person we want to be. Faith ahs seen the deepest darkest part of herself and she has to learn to live with that.”
What about the amnesia? Wait is it amnesia? We don’t even know if she has anything at all. She could still be lying to us.
“What about her forget me everything memory? If she can’t remember any of the horrible things she’s done, then what?”
“Then we teach her. We teach her about being a slayer and about her destiny.”
“What if she can’t deal and goes all psycho killer, trying to kill us and all that fun stuff?”
“Then we’ll have to stop her.”
“How, by sitting her down and explain what she did was wrong? Why don’t I just bend her over my knees and spank her?”
Whoa, now that’s a disturbing visual, me sitting in a chair with Faith lying face first on my knees while I... Okay what the hell am I doing? God I really need a boyfriend.
“I’ll stop her by any means necessary if I have to.”
“Yeah and while you try she picks us off one by one.”
“Look there is only 3 ways out of the basement and if you’re that concerned about it I’ll block off the stairs and the elevator so the only person she can hurt is me.”
Wait, but, he’s gonna lock himself down there with her? That’s suicide she’s a slayer, he’s a vampire it’s bound to end badly. He must really believe she has no memory or he’d never do that. I…
“Okay, if you need my help then, I’ll…”
The door bursts open and Wesley charges through, shotgun raised. Oh shit, he’s gonna kill her.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Yes sir, I understand sir, I’m sorry sir. Yes sir, I know I understand the significance of what this means for you. Yes sir, for us too, I know sir…”
The boss is really letting him have it. I’m glad I made Dave call the boss instead of doing it myself.
“Yes sir, I understand sir. Two into one sir, yes sir. Two into one must be stopped, yes sir. That’s why I called you sir. We have a plan sir. Yes sir, that’s the idea sir. We called you to request the army sir. Yes sir, I know you didn’t raise the army for this reason sir but if she’s with Angel then we have to go through him to get to her before SHE gets here; the 9th platoon? Yes sir, I appreciate, we appreciate your willingness to help sir.”
The 9th platoon; perfect, we can do it with the 9th platoon.
Dave looks over at me looking for my approval and I nod. Hey maybe if I’m lucky Dave will get caught in the crossfire and the boss will have to give me a new partner. Hmm, idea accepted, concept approved.
“They’ll be here by sundown? Yes sir, we appreciate your expedience on this issue, it will be resolved by midnight tonight, thank you sir, goodbye sir.”
Dave hangs up his phone and turns to me.
“The 9th platoon is coming; they’ll be here by…”
“I have ears Dave. I could hear everything. We need to get started.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faith’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I’m standing in front of that girl again. I look around but can’t make anything out, it’s a big room but well that’s about all I can make out. It feels familiar somehow but… shit, she throws the same three punches and the first one nicks my chin but the other two I dodge without effort.
I duck for a leg sweep and take her feet out from under her as she drops flat on her back. I crawl on top of her again and pin her down. She tries grabbing at me and I pin her arms about her head with one hand and look down at her and I think I stopped breathing, her beauty just hits me like a punch in the face. I brush her blonde bangs out of her face and stare down into her beautiful eyes.
I can see by the look on her face she’s not afraid of me, I guess we’re not trying to kill each other.
All of the sudden I pull my hand back and the look on her face changes to pure terror. I feel my hand clench and I have this uncontrollable urge and I punch her in the face.
I sit up.
Holy shit what the hell was that? Is-is-what did I do? Could that be what I was running from? How far did it go? How far did I go? Could I have..? No, I… but after what happened how could I not have? Maybe I lost control and just... why can’t I remember? I… I have to remember what I’ve done, I can’t live just not… I hear a bang. Oh my god, what’s going on? I, where the hell am I? What? How did I get here? I-I can’t remember. Oh good, I can’t remember jack shit about anything since before, well… since before. Now to top it off I’m blacking the fuck out and waking up god knows where in some guy’s bed. What the fuck is wrong with me?
I hear loud footsteps getting louder.
Oh fuck someone’s coming. What do I do? Where do I go? I don’t even know where the hell I am, how the hell am I supposed to know where to go?
I get out of bed and get away from the door. I hear the footsteps get closer.
“Hello?”
Good idea, yell out and let the big angry mean guy know exactly where you are. That’ll stop it. What if those weird stalker guys tracked me down? What if they’ve come to turn me over to the police? What if?
He walks into the room.
Who is he? The look on his face says he knows me, but he’s not happy to see me. What if she? What if she and he? What if there was a she and he and then I… Oh god no.
I look down and he’s got a shotgun in his hand.
Revenge for Betrayal------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faith’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Oh fuck.
I drop like a rock to the floor just as I hear a gun shot. I roll on the floor till I hit the bed and curl up to hug my knees.
Please don’t, someone help me please.
“Wait! Wesley don’t, you don’t know the whole story.”
Who’s that? It sounds like a woman. Maybe it’s her, maybe I didn’t kill her and she’s trying to stop her insane boyfriend from hurting me. Maybe she’s gonna tell the whole story and then they’ll try and kill me together. You know, a real bonding experience.
“I-I’m really, I’m really, really sorry if I did something to you, I…”
I stick my head up from the top of the bed. He’s standing at the other end pointing a shotgun at me.
“You’re sorry? You know exactly what you did and you think… you think sorry is gonna…”
He cocks his shotgun.
Oh shit, I duck back behind the bed
“You actually think an apology is gonna make everything okay, after what you’ve done?”
“Wesley calm down!”
I must’ve done something really horrible… what the hell are you thinking? People don’t just point shotguns at their friends. Of course you did something you idiot.
“Wesley stop, and listen… to us for a… second.”
Who’s that? It sounds like that guy who helped me. Was this part of his brilliant plan too? I’m not gonna live to find out what I did if this keeps up.
“Wesley, stop! She can’t remember a thing. She has amnesia.”
“So that makes it okay? We just forgive and forget and twiddle our thumbs?”
I look up over the bed and he’s lowered his shotgun. I hope this is a good thing.
“No we don’t, but what’s the point of killing her if she doesn’t know why you want her dead?”
“I-She’s evil, when did you forget that Cordy?”
“I didn’t forget Wes. I just think that we should hold off killing her until we know for sure if she’s forget me everything or not.”
They don’t believe me? Why don’t they believe me? What if they decide I’m faking before I can get my memory back and kill me? I better do something.
I crawl over to the feet of this guy holding a shotgun.
“Please don’t kill me! I-I’m sorry, I don’t I… I’m… I don’t even know why I’m sorry but I am. Just, please don’t, please don’t kill me.”
I brace myself for whatever fate awaits me. That guy who helped me speaks up.
“Does this sound like the Faith we used… to know?”
Who’s this Faith he keeps talking about?
I feel this sharp pain in the back of my head and suddenly everything goes black. I’m standing across from that guy who helped me.
This is different that the other one. I have that same familiar feeling about where ever the fuck we are but it’s a different kind of familiar about what we’re doing here.
He throws the same three punches as the girl did and again I dodge them easily but instead of ducking for a leg sweep I throw two connecting punches which send him to the floor. I straddle his hips and put my hand on his neck. I start to put my weight on his neck. I grind my hips into his as I watch him struggle to breathe.
What the hell am I doing? Stop! Don’t, please don’t.
I can’t stop myself.
Someone stop me.
I pull back a clenched fist. I feel my lips move but I can’t hear what I’m saying. I feel myself pull my arm forward but something stops me.
Oh thank god I’m having second thoughts.
I look behind me and someone’s got me by the wrist. I look up at who it is, it’s HER.
What the?
I try and get up off the floor but my arms buckle and I collapse.
Oh fuck.
“She’s coming around.”
Someone turns me over on my back.
He’s-He’s gonna kill me.
I cover my face in a vain attempt to shield myself.
“Please don’t hurt me. I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to hurt her. I-I’m sorry.”
“Hey I’m not gonna hurt you, it’s okay, calm, calm down.”
“What are you doing Wes? I thought you wanted her dead?”
He helps me up and I lean against my knees. Fuck my head still hurts.
“It’s okay. I-I believe you now.”
“What-what made you change your mind?”
He walks over to that girl.
“There are records of memory loss in the slayer chronicles about slayers who have strayed from their path. The stories say that The Powers That Be stripped the chosen one of their memories so that they could see the error of their ways.”
Slayer, what’s a slayer?
“It also says they were prone to black outs.”
“So… do you believe us?”
I wonder what it says about mind numbing headaches.
“Yes”
I look over at the guy who helped me.
Oh my god.
“You’re bleeding! Oh my god someone, someone call a… call an ambulance. We-We’ve gotta help him!”
“Wait Faith, it’s okay, he’s a…”
Okay? He’s dying.
“It’s okay? He’s, he’s been shot. If we don’t do something he’ll…”
As I struggle to apply pressure my hands slip on the blood.
What happens if he dies? I’ll be left with nothing, no one to protect me, no one who’ll help me, no one to save me from, and no one to save me from myself. I have to… I have to...
I look down at my hands and they’re covered in blood. I see someone lying on the ground through my hands. I focus more on who it is. It’s, it’s that guy I stabbed, his blood.
His blood is on my hands.
I look back at the guy on the floor; it’s changed to the guy who helped me.
He, He’s just another victim, another person who’s died because of me.
I back away from him.
No! I can’t, no, no more blood, no one else.
I back myself into a corner and close my eyes, but as I do I’m hit with a jumble of images.
Faces, people, places none of them I recognize but… but something about them, some thing about them means something. As the jumble of images races through my head, I see their faces change. Cuts and bruises start to appear on their smiling faces, except their faces aren’t smiling any more. They’re afraid, why are they afraid? What did I… why did I do that to them? No, I-I don’t... I don’t want to know. I didn’t, I’m, I’m not like that. I…
“No!”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cordelia’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What’s she doing?
“Wesley what’s wrong with her?”
She’s screaming like a banshee. Maybe she’s gonna go all psycho and kill us.
“She must be having some sort of nightmare.”
“Nightmare, Wesley she’s wide awake.”
I run over to her.
Maybe I can get her to calm down.
“Yes I’m well aware of that Cordelia, but what you have to remember is that there’s a battle going on inside her.”
I get close enough to her and start shushing her like my mother used to do when I used to throw a hissy fit.
I don’t know, what the hell else can I do?
Her screaming slowly gets softer and she stops flailing about like spazilla.
“Her memories are all coming back to her at once…”
“But why the fuck is she all spazed out and shit?”
“Cordy, it’s like fighting a whirlpool, everything’s coming back but everything is coming back all mixed up…”
She passes out; it must be too much for her.
“She may remember torturing someone, but instead of remembering just anyone she may remember it being a family member. Can you understand what that must be like?”
“How the fuck would I know how it feels? I’m not a slayer; I’m just an insignificant little spec to them. The Powers That Be don’t even know I exist.”
“Cordelia”
I look over and Angel is walking up.
Confusion
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Hey buddy, they’re here.”
Perfect.
“We’re ready.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faith’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hun, what? What-where the hell am I? I think I passed out.
I sit up and shake the cobwebs out of my head.
What the fuck was that all about? That guy… where is he? I passed out and he was bleeding to death. I gotta find him, he’s gotta be okay.
I get up and look around.
Where the fucks have I gone now? This is really starting to suck.
I go into the next room…
Wait a minute, I’ve been here before; this was where I passed out. He’s, he’s not here! Where is he? What did they do with him? They couldn’t have gotten him to a hospital; in the shape that he was in he wasn’t strong enough to live till the ambulance got there. He must’ve...
I see a pool of blood on the floor and rush over to it. I touch it…
It’s still warm; I must not have been out for very long. What did they do with you? They probably dumped your body in the ocean or something fucking bastards. I hear a noise and then footsteps coming this way. They must be back; I hide around the corner of the bedroom. How could they do this to you? I hear them get closer and as they come into view something just snaps.
“You murderer”
I rush them and catch them off guard.
“I’ll make you pay!”
I grab the guy by the throat and trap him at the wall.
“Faith what are you doing?”
I’m stopping him that’s what. He’s gotta… what am I doing?
She punches me in the kidneys and I throw him across the room.
“Fuck that hurt!”
I turn to face her and I punch her in the stomach. As she keels over I knee her in the face sending her flat on her back. I start to saunter over to the guy who’s lying under a table trying not to die.
What am I doing? These people obviously knew the guy, they might be able to tell me about who I am.
I grab him by the hair and pull him to his feet so we’re looking at each other face to face. He brings his arm back and tries to punch me but I easily block it, I grab his wrist and use it to throw him back across the room.
They were talking like they knew me earlier.
I see a knife on the table next to me and I have this uncontrollable urge to pick it up.
No please, not again. Stop it, no.
I start towards him as he gets up slowly.
“Please, run g-get away, I-I don’t wanna hurt you I…”
I can’t stop, no, not again. Help me, stop me, someone kill me.
As I get closer to him the girl gets up and tries to protect him.
“I-I’m sorry, I-I-I can’t… I can’t stop, I-I don’t wanna hurt you I…”
“You could have fooled us.”
I get close enough and I raise the knife above my head.
Someone! Please! Stop… Someone’s grabbed my wrist.
I turn around to see who…
It’s HIM!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angel’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Faith what the hell are you doing?”
I walk into the room and she’s trying to stab my friends. Her hand is shaking and she’s staring at me like she’s just seen a ghost. Her hand is shaking so much she drops the knife.
“You’re alive! Oh my god you’re alive!”
Course I’m alive, why wouldn’t I be… Oh shit, right, she doesn’t know.
Her whole arm starts shaking.
“I thought they had… Thank god you’re… I thought…”
Her knees start to buckle and I let go of her wrist and she falls to the floor. She looks like she’s cold.
It’s not cold in here, it’s L.A. when does it every get cold? Wesley, he might know.
“Wesley! What’s wrong with her?”
I look over at him and he’s limping his way to a chair. I walk over and put his arm over my shoulders, I help him get to a chair and he sits down.
“What do the Slayer Chronicles say about this?”
He doesn’t say anything. I rush back over to Faith but I’m not sure what to do.
What if I do something and it kills her? What if I don’t do something and she dies?
“Wesley what do I do? What do they say I should do?”
Again he says nothing. I look over at him and he’s got this blank look on his face staring down at Faith.
I can almost see the wheels turning in his head, trying to decide what he should do. Just let him think Angel, he’ll do the right thing.
Cordelia speaks up.
“Wesley!”
“There’s nothing”
What?
“What do you mean?”
“The Slayer Chronicles don’t mention anything about this.”
“What are you talking about? There’s gotta be something, somewhere about this.”
There’s got to be.
“No, this is completely new.”
“Well then what the fuck’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know.”
She’s not stopping, what do I do?
“Help me then. This can’t be a good thing. Help me, help her.”
Again I look over at Wesley and he’s still sitting there, looking down at her with that same blank look on his face.
He’ll help her, I know he will.
He gets up slowly and makes his way over to us, still limping slightly. He bends down to one knee and reaches out, feeling her pulse.
“Help me get her on the bed.”
I pick her up and carry her over into my bedroom. I gently lay her down putting her head on the pillows. Faith’s shaking seems to calm down as Wesley begins examining her. As if winded Wesley suddenly stops his examination and gets up. His walking gets a little more even as he goes towards the other room and he beckons us to follow. Cordy and I make our way over to Wesley.
What’s wrong? Is she dying? Damn it, don’t let her be dying.
“What’s up Wes?”
Gotta love Cordy, she’s direct and to the point.
“Is she gonna be okay? She’s not dying is she?”
“No, she’s okay for now…”
“For now”
What does he mean ‘for now’?
“Near as I can tell, she’s suffering from withdrawal.”
Withdrawal?
“Withdrawal from what”
“There is no way to know for sure, all I can think of is that it must be some sort of drug.”
“A drug, what are you talking about? Faith was never an addict.”
“No but she’s obviously addicted to something and my guess it’s a bad drug.”
“Well gee Wesley how do you figure that? Could it be her sunny disposition, or maybe her willingness to STAB us to death for no particular reason?”
“Now Cordelia that…”
Hold it, wait a second.
“Look! It’s not important what her problem is right now; the question is how do we help her?”
Wesley and Cordelia stare at each other for a second, but then Wesley turns to me.
“We need to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible, but we can’t do it in the state that she’s in.”
“She seems to recover pretty quickly from these attacks; maybe we should wait till she’s feeling better?”
“Well it’s better than doing nothing, oh wait, it IS doing nothing.”
Wesley and I speak in unison.
“Cordy!”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Well I’m here. Angel’s place was easier to find this time, L.A. being a huge city and all I never think I’m gonna find it. Well, better go in and see what all the fuss is about. Whoa, hold it. Who the hell are these guys? Why are a bunch of vamps staking out Angel’s place? Better lay low; this is obviously a bigger deal than I thought.
The Truth------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angel’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I sit watching her, her shaking stopped not too long ago, but only because she managed to get to sleep. I hope she’ll be okay. Her shaking lasted almost 6 hours. I hope we can help her; she’s been through so much, seen so much. If we can help her learn to be a better person then maybe, just maybe she’ll have a fighting chance. The way she was going before Buffy put her in a coma, she would’ve been dead a long time ago.
She stirs in her sleep, and her eyes flicker open.
She’s awake.
She sits up and rubs her forehead.
“Fuck, I’ve got such a fucking headache it feels like the end of the world.”
I can’t help but laugh, but it startles her.
“Whoa what the heck are you doing here?”
“I was just watching you to make sure you weren’t dying.”
“Uh okay then I guess my next question would be WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?”
She jumps out of bed on the opposite side I am and backs away.
I gotta get her to calm down before she does something that’s gonna get her killed.
“Wesley! Cordy! She’s awake!”
“Faith calm down.”
“Calm down? You want me to calm down? Then stay THE FUCK away from me!”
Wesley and Cordy enter the room.
Oh this is great, 3 people who Faith has no reason to trust at all trying to help her. Cordy doesn’t like her, Wesley tried to kill her and I mysteriously survived a gunshot wound to the chest. This has got to be the most perfect situation EVER.
“Now Faith please, calm down.”
“Yeah okay, you tried to kill me with a shotgun and you’re telling ME to calm down?”
This isn’t going well.
“Look he’s right, you gotta calm down; it’s bad for your complexion.”
“If people don’t stop telling me to calm down I’m gonna have to start kicking some ass. Just tell me what the fuck THAT is?”
She’s pointing at me hysterically. This probably isn’t gonna end well no matter what we say.
I look over at Wesley.
“Wesley…”
We look at each other.
“We’ve got to tell her, there’s no other way.”
“Are you sure she can handle it?”
He looks over at her and then back at me.
“Look, this is Faith we’re talking about.”
I can’t think of any other solution.
“Yes, that’s why I asked. This is FAITH we’re talking about.”
“Hey!”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“Hey!”
“Well we can’t just dump everything on her at once, this is Faith we’re talking about.”
“Hey!”
“We don’t have to tell her everything just enough to calm her down.”
Faith comes over and breaks us up.
“Hey! Stop talking about me like I’m not here. I can handle anything, and who the fuck is Faith?”
Okay time for the brutal truth.
“Your name is Faith.”
“Okay, now that we’re talking. What in the name of everything unholy are you?”
“I… I’m a vampire with a soul.”
I can see by the look on her face it probably wasn’t a good idea to be THAT upfront with her.
“Faith its okay, I’ll explain…”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Okay near as I can tell there are at least 20 vamps upfront in the first wave. Plus 2 groups of 10 waiting in the back wings in case of a need for reinforcements, hmm 40 vampires against the 3 of them probably not great odds. I’ll have to see what I can do to even out those odds. These guys are obviously organized, 40 vampires don’t just show up on some guy’s doorstep for no reason, especially when that guy is Angel. They’re gonna need back up and I’m just the person to give it to them. I better not rush in or I won’t have the element of surprise. I’ll wait till the action starts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cordelia’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Oh gees; Wesley loves this part.
“You are the slayer…”
This is the part where he gets to be all cryptic and biblical and all that crap.
“A slayer, what’s a slayer?”
“Into every generation, a slayer is born. One girl in all the world with the strength and the power to fight the forces of darkness…”
“No, it’s, it’s not true…”
She’s freaking, this is probably not a good thing.
“Faith…”
“No, shut up. I-I don’t wanna know.”
“You are that slayer.”
“I-I-It’s bullshit”
She gets up and takes a few steps back.
“Faith, listen…”
“You-you people are psychotic. One of you attacks me with a shotgun, and the other tells me he’s a blood sucking demon from beyond the grave. Fuck you, you guys are… its bullshit.”
She starts running.
How did I not know this was gonna happen? I think this is one of those times I get to say I told you so. I love it when I get to say that. Angel and Wesley chase after her. I suppose I should go after them.
I start after them and they head up the stairs, I hate stairs. As I get up the stairs I see Wesley and Angel standing behind Faith in silence.
“What the hell is up guys? Did…”
I look towards the door. Oh crap, there are two vamps standing at the door with a whole bunch of vamps behind them.
The Fight------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faith’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Who the hell are these guys?
I look at Angel and Wesley on either side of me.
They seem to be asking themselves the same questions I am. Well at least I’m not the only one clueless anymore, feels good and disturbing at the same time.
“Hey, do you know these guys?”
Both of them shake their heads. Cordelia puts her two cents in.
“They don’t look all that friendly.”
Well gee, what gave it away?
“Two into one must end here.”
Two into one what the hell is up with that?
“What are you talking about?”
“Take them…”
Talkative bunch aren’t they?
“None of them are to leave here alive.”
I see they majored in homicide in school.
Suddenly their faces change.
“Holy crap, what the hell are they?”
“Vampires Faith, evil vampires”
They start to rush us.
Oh crap what do I do? These are big evil demons. Just because they say I’m this slayer person doesn’t make me a master fighter. I-I don’t know what I’m doing let alone knowing how to kill them.
“What do we do?”
The first of them comes up and attacks Angel. I move back a few steps behind Angel and Wesley. They try and hold off the first couple of vampires.
“Cordelia… A little help please?”
I look over and Cordelia is rummaging through a desk drawer.
“I know, I know I’m working on it.”
She grabs a wooden stake out of her desk and throws it to Angel who catches it, staking a vamp seconds later.
“Cordelia, protect Faith.”
“What? Protect a slayer? Are you kidding me? She should be protecting…”
“Cordy!”
“All right fine… Cordy help us fight, Cordy help us protect a psychopath from a bunch of other psychopaths. Why don’t I just do everything…?”
She gets punched in the face knocking her down. The vamp that attacked her turns and faces me.
Oh fuck, what can I do now? I’m not a warrior, I-I can’t protect myself.
He starts walking towards me and my only impulse is to back step.
“Faith fight back”
I can’t, I-I don’t have what it takes to be this slayer person they were talking about.
I back myself into the wall and he just keeps coming. I take a swing at him but miss easily. He responds with a quick jab. Ow! I grab my eye. He hits me with a right cross and it knocks me to the floor. He gets on top of me and pulls his hand back, suddenly dropping it on my face. I try and fight him off but he starts punching me in the stomach and I can’t breathe.
Help… me, please. He… starts hitting... me, all… over. Help me. Stop… help… stop. S-Someone… stop, please. Someone stop him, someone help me stop him.
He stops and looks down at me. I can barely see him as I feel blood drip down my face. He’s smiling but all of the sudden his face changes. He’s a pile of dust in no time. I roll over coughing up blood as I do.
Thank, thank god. Whoever saved me, I owe them.
I look up to see that a fourth person has joined the fight but I can’t make them out. I get up and miraculously I feel no pain.
I gotta know who they are if I wanna thank them.
I try and see but there are five vampires circling her. All of the sudden they turn and take out a vamp.
I-it-it’s her. She’s here, she’s okay. I-I guess I didn’t hurt her after all.
The four remaining vampires rush her and its not long before they’re pounding on her like a group of thugs. I look over and I see Wesley is busy with two vamps and Angel’s got three of his own to deal with. Cordelia is pinned down to her desk trying not to die. I look back at the thugs pounding on her.
No! I can’t let her… she can’t… I won’t let her. I feel something boiling inside me; it’s not anger or rage. It’s-it’s something more. She-I-I have to do something.
I run over to help her.
She can’t die; she can tell me who I really am.
I grab one of the vampires by the neck and throw him across the room.
“Get off her!”
I throw an uppercut at the vamp to my left and send him 10 feet flat on his back. I take hold of the vamp to my right and knee him in the gut. She gets up and starts attacking the remaining vampire, she makes quick work of him staking him in no time. She looks over at me.
What? What’s wrong? She’s looking at me like… like I dunno what.
She passes the stake to me and I stake the vamp like he wasn’t even there. I run at the vamp across the room and tackle him. It doesn’t take long to stake him.
What the hell am I doing?
I see a vampire coming through the door and I attack him like a mad woman, a left and a right. He’s down in a matter of seconds but I don’t stop there. I climb on top of him and start to pound on him.
I can’t stop myself; all I can think about is how much I want him dead.
“Fuck you, you bastard you tried to kill her… I can’t believe how much you’re gonna die.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Dave, send in the reinforcements.”
This is not going well. Wait, what’s she doing? She’s attacking that guy.
“Hold it, hold back on the back ups.”
She keeps pounding his head in.
It-it’s working, it must be working.
“Okay. That’s it, we’re pulling out.”
“What? What the fuck are you talking about?”
“We’re pulling out.”
Fuck maybe Dave should be the next to disappear, he never listens to anything.
“Dave, look…. It’s working. The formula is working.”
He looks over at Faith and then back at me.
“We still have to stop them even if it is working.”
I hear two more vamps yell out as they disappear into the dust.
“How do you think the boss would feel if we went back and told him the 9th platoon has fallen? The 9th are one of the most elite teams in the order.”
“Yeah and how do you think he’ll feel if we tell him we failed to stop The Meeting? It’s the first step in the prophecy.”
“Don’t you think I know that? That’s not the point. If we don’t fall back and regroup we’ll never get another chance to stop them.”
For Christ’s sake I hate it when he argues with me. Fuck this!
“All right fine, you stay here and die…”
I put my fists together and hit him in the back of the head. He drops like a rock on the floor.
“I’m getting us the fuck out of here.”
I call for a retreat and slowly we falling back. As we start to get away one of them bends down and checks Dave.
“Leave him.”
He looks up at me.
“But sir…”
“I said leave him soldier!”
“Sir he developed the…”
“I GAVE YOU AN ORDER! Leave him!”
He gets up and follows me out the door. We start to run but no one’s chasing us. Finally, after about 3 blocks I give the order to slow down. We are knee deep in shit here people.
Always Learning------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buffy’s POV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I chase a few of the remaining vampires out of Angel’s place.
These guys aren’t like other vamps. They’re organized, and trained for something. Dunno what but hopefully I’ll find out.
I look around. Angel, Wesley and Cordy seem to be okay considering.
“Is everybody okay?”
“I believe so.”
“Yeah”
“A few bruises but nothing broken considering.”
Okay then why do I still hear fighting?
“Buffy not that we don’t appreciate the help but what are you doing here?”
Well gee let’s skip the how are you routine.
“Nice to see you too Angel, Wesley called me since you wanted to know.”
I look over to the sound of skull cracking.
Faith!
She’s still pounding on a vamp. I run over to her and it’s like she doesn’t even know the rest of us exist.
“You tried to hurt her, you bastard. I can’t let you hurt her; you’ll never hurt her again. I won’t…”
The last time she was this panicked was when those Kakistos guys followed Faith to Sunnydale after killing her watcher.
Angel, Wesley and Cordy quickly join me.
“She’s been having panic attacks like this ever since we found her.”
The vamps’ been knocked unconscious and his face is almost black and blue but still that doesn’t seem to stop her.
“Do you have any idea why?”
I can think of one.
“Well, we have a theory.”
She’s a psychopath?
“We know that she has apparently been afflicted with Forgotten Conscience…”
“Which is?”
“According to the Slayer Chronicles, slayers who loose their way and stray from their destiny are given what we have dubbed Forgotten Conscience…”
She is still going and she doesn’t eve look tired.
“The powers that be, in order to show the slayer the error of her ways, well strip a slayer of her memories to get her to see her problem.”
“And this is what happened to Faith?”
“Yes. The problem is none of the other slayers have had panic attacks.”
Okay so…
“Then what’s wrong?”
“I examined her earlier; near as I can tell she’s suffering from withdrawal of some kind. Possibly drug related.”
Drug related? She’s hooked on smack?
“You’re telling me she’s a drug addict?”
She finally hit rock bottom, hun?
“Buffy nothing is certain yet, no drug on record does this to a slayer.”
“Well one thing’s for sure we can’t let her go on like this.”
I go over to her and as her right fist is in an upswing I grab her by the wrist. She looks up at me and something happens.
It’s like I’m dejaying my last view, I’m walking up to Faith but I lookdown at the guy she’s pounding and it’s Angel. What the hell? I grab her wrist and she looks up at me.
Ow! I stumble back and grab my jaw.
She fucking hit me. BITCH!
She starts getting into a fighting stance.
So this is the way you want it?
I shift my feet into a fighting stance.
That’s fine by me.
I throw three punches but she dodges them easily.
Again something happens and I’m throwing those same three punches.
My legs are kicked out from under me and I’m on my back in no time.
What the fuck is going on?
I don’t even have time to react and she’s on top of me.
H-Her eyes, it’s like there’s nobody home. The lights are on but no one’s there.
She pins my arms above my head and I can’t break free.
Damn it, her slayer powers were never this strong. What the hell is up?
Suddenly I feel her hand on my throat.
Oh my god.
“Faith stop”
She starts putting her weight on her hand while the other keeps my arms steady. Lucky for me Angel comes over and pulls Faith off me with a full nelson. I back away and gasp for air.
“What… the hell… was that?”
That’s all I can get out before I start coughing trying to breathe.
I look up at Faith. She’s struggling to break free, but her face quickly changes from a look of rage to a look of fear.
“I-I-I’m sorry I… Are you okay?”
Am I okay?
“You tried to kill me.”
“I-I-I…”
I get up and look over at Faith.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?”
She lowers her head and stops fighting Angel’s grip.
“I’m sorry I… I don’t know I…”
She looks up and stares me right in the eyes.
“Help me…”
I can see the tears start to well up in her eyes. I hear someone trip and fall, I look over. One of the leaders of the band of vampires is still here. I run over and pick him up and push his arm into a chicken wing.
“Stick around for a while. I’m sure we’ll find SOMETHING to talk about.”