Make Me Forget
by Niki
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Yeah, these aren't mine, they're Joss', but I think you
already knew that.
Note: This is my first Fuffy fic. Let me know what you think and
whether is should be continued.
Note 2: This is slightly AU in the Angelverse. Angel somehow got the
necklace to give to Buffy earlier on, and they are still dealing with
the Cordelia mess. No Wolfram and Hart offer.
No POV:
"Doesn't ANYONE stay dead?" Angel asked, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Oh, I'm dead, alright." Lilah pulled herself off the ground and dusted her pants.
"And who might this be?" Giles asked.
"Lilah Morgan," Wesley said.
"The bane of my existence…" Angel muttered under his breath.
"And that's supposed to mean what to me? Who the hell is she?" Buffy snapped.
"Lilah was a very important lawyer at Wolfram and Hart, the law firm that we've been having an on-going battle with for the past four years. Lilah took a particular interest in making Angel's life quite difficult," Wesley explained.
"Aw, that's all you have to say about me, Wes?" Lilah asked, smirking.
"Lilah was recently killed… at the hands of the demon-possessed Cordelia."
"She was possessed, huh? Just when I was starting to think she had some balls…"
"Lilah, could we do without the commentary?" Angel snapped.
"Angel, sweetie, why am I getting the feeling that you're not happy to see me?"
"Maybe cause I'm not," Angel answered.
"OK! Enough of this bullshit!" Buffy yelled. "Listen you smug bitch, I don't know you, and I really don't want to know you. All I want to know is what the hell you've done to Faith!"
Lilah laughed. "Well, you're a feisty one, aren't you? No wonder you died so many times. And please, do you really think I'm going to tell you anything?"
Willow quickly muttered an incantation under her breath and then asked, "Lilah, how much do you weigh?"
"One-hundred and thirty-two pounds… shit! You put me under a TRUTH spell!?"
"Thanks, Willow," Angel said, smirking. "Now, why don't you take a seat, Lilah. We're obviously not going to let you go, so it would probably be in your best interest to cooperate."
Lilah huffed and made her way back over to the chair she'd been sitting in when she still looked like Cordelia. "Fine, what do you want to know? I don't really think you can do much now, anyway."
"Yeah, we'll see about that." Angel pulled a chair up in front of Lilah, then sat down. Buffy walked over and stood beside Lilah's chair, leaning over her. The rest of the group crowded around to listen to the interrogation.
"Lilah, how have you been impersonating Cordelia this whole time, and are you, in fact, Lilah Morgan?"
"Yes, I'm Lilah," she bit out icily. "I'm a corporeal manifestation of my formal self. I am dead, after all. But the spirit, personality, brain, it's all me. A masking spell was put on everyone so that you wouldn't be able to tell that I wasn't Cordelia. It also… clouds your judgment, not letting you realize as much if I did something out of character for Cordelia. The spell can be broken, however, if anyone comes in physical contact with me. That's why you can see me now." Lilah rolled her eyes and sighed. "I can't believe I'm just spilling all this information like this."
"It's a pretty good spell," Willow said sarcastically.
"Alright, let's get back to the matter at hand." Giles turned back to Lilah. "Lilah, is it? Why have you come back?"
"I didn't just decide to come back. My contract with Wolfram and Hart is for all eternity. That includes after my death." Wesley snorted, causing Lilah to stop and look at him, smirking. "As I was saying, Wolfram and Hart decided that they needed me. They came to Hell, got my soul, gave me physical form, put the spell on all of you, and then sent me here."
"Why did they need you, exactly?"
"Well, they needed someone to be in here, watching you all. Cordelia seemed like the best option. I spent enough time with her in the past that I could imitate her to a certain point. That's when the spell came in handy."
"You're the one that messed with my head… yesterday morning. When I was going up to Faith's room," Angel muttered, shaking his head as he put the pieces together.
"Catching on now, are we?" Lilah asked.
"What have Wolfram and Hart been doing to Faith?" Buffy asked impatiently.
"We've been placing everything that could mess with her head on display for all to see. All these re-enactments of her most… unstable moments… We have them all stored in files. We just needed to pick through them all and decide what would work best."
"Work best for what?"
"They had to be her experiences so that she would feel like you all saw how crazy she really is. Then, we just put her in the role of the most emotionally distraught person in each instance, and let it play out. Her emotions have been intensified a little bit, also…"
"What's that do to her?" Buffy growled.
"What do you think?" Lilah asked, looking at Buffy as if she were brain dead. "All the feelings that were going on at each of those times, she's feeling them all right now, only more intensely. She can't differentiate between what she really feels and what she was acting out. In simple terms that you might understand, she's going crazy."
Tears rolled down Buffy's cheeks as she listened to Lilah relay Faith's experience. Buffy felt guilt welling up inside, filling her up and then spilling over the brim in the form of tears.
"Um, I have a question," Fred piped up from the back. "I was up in Cordelia's room earlier. The one we were keeping her comatose body in. Where's the real Cordelia?"
"If you hurt her…" Angel growled.
"Relax. She's fine. She's resting in a medical area at Wolfram and Hart. It seemed prudent to keep her alive… just in case. You understand, I'm sure."
"Why?" Buffy asked. "Why do they want to hurt Faith? What's the point in all this?"
"Well, she doesn't exactly have a great history with us, in the first place. She was hired to kill Angel and never went through with. The main reason, though, is a little less petty. There's a prophecy. The end of the Senior Partners' power is prophesized to happen at some point in the relatively near future. The catalyst of the events leading up to this is a Slayer. A Slayer that has known us and has touched the root of our power, only to reject both. Considering we've only made deals with one Slayer, it's safe to say that it's talking about Faith. Wolfram and Hart had to get rid of her."
"What? You thought if you made her crazy enough, we'd kill her?" Buffy asked sarcastically.
"We were actually hoping she'd kill herself. The plan's going well, don't you think?"
Buffy once again lunged at Lilah, only to once again be grabbed by Angel. "Buffy! Will you please STOP!?"
"How do we stop this, Lilah?" Angel asked, still holding a furious Buffy in his arms.
"I don't know."
"Willow, why is she able to lie again?"
"She's not able to lie again. I really don't know," Lilah answered for Willow.
"OK," Angel sighed, letting Buffy go once she had finally calmed down. "Someone find some chains or something. Let's lock her up and-"
"Actually, Angel," Wesley cut him off. "May I have a word with Lilah?" Wesley didn't wait for an answer and grabbed Lilah's hand, dragging her into Angel's office.
He stopped before he closed the door and yelled, "Willow, do that locator spell. Quickly, if possible."
Angel found Buffy sitting outside the Hyperion on the steps, her knees up against her chest and her eyes staring at a spot on the sidewalk. When she heard him sit down, she quietly asked, "Angel, are you disgusted with me?"
Angel looked at her pointedly. "Buffy, do you have any idea what you did to her?"
"I'm starting to get it, now," Buffy whispered, not taking her eyes off the pavement.
"I think you realize that Faith has a lot of issues with trusting people. In fact, a lot is an understatement. Everyone that's ever been important to her has betrayed her. She trusted you, Buffy, which I don't really think she should have."
"Angel, I love her. I was just… scared."
"What of?" He asked, turning to her. "Scared of getting that love and happiness that you've always longed for? Scared of what your friends, who I might add have no room to judge, might think? Buffy, since when have you ever cared what people thought? No one thought you should be with ME."
"And they were right," Buffy answered, now turning to face him.
"Alright, bad example. But you've always done things your way, Buffy. That's part of what makes you so great. If you want this to work out with Faith, then why are you running from it?"
Buffy stared back at the ground, thinking over Angel's question.
"BUFFY! I FOUND HER!" Willow suddenly yelled from the lobby. Buffy and Angel got up and rushed in. "I don't know this address. Angel?"
Angel quickly looked down at the map. "That's the building that's where out of office used to be. OK, she has a head start. We need to get there fast."
"We can teleport," Willow suggested.
"I'll go," Buffy quickly said.
"Are you sure, Buffy? Are you sure you can handle Faith right now?" Giles asked.
"I'm the only one that can handle Faith right now." Buffy then looked around at the group and finally settled her eyes on Angel. "Besides, I'm through running."
Angel grinned and then clapped his hands together. "Alright, you heard her. Let's roll."
Buffy materialized on the roof of a tall building. She could feel the breeze blowing her hair and hear the sirens of cop cars miles away. The peace of the roof was disturbed, though, by the smell of cigarette smoke and the sound of crying.
Buffy looked to her right and saw Faith stubbing out a cigarette. She then started to climb the high wall up to the ledge.
"Faith, don't do it!"
Faith stopped moving for several moments and then climbed down. She turned to look at Buffy slowly, and the pained look on Faith's face nearly made Buffy take a step back. She could see the tears running down the dark slayer's face.
"Really, B. As much effort as I'm sure you put into finding me, it's wasn't worth it. Leave me alone."
"Faith, really. Let's talk for a while. You've got all the time in the world to kill yourself."
"What is there to talk about, B? We've said and done all we need to."
"We've said a lot, yeah, but none of it was what we needed to say."
"And what would that be?"
"Faith, you don't need to do this. This is really unnecessary. We can work out all these problems. What you want to do is REALLY permanent."
"You don't understand, Buffy!" Faith shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "I can't feel like this! I can't feel this pain… this torture. I don't know what's me… some of it's me now, some of it's me then, some of it's not even me at all! I can't…"
Buffy tried to walk closer as Faith continued crying. "Faith, I can explain it all… I can tell you what's happening. Please, just calm down. Please listen to me."
"Listen to you? Listen to you tell me you love me again? All you do is LIE!" At Faith's yell, Buffy stopped moving closer. "Everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie. I trust you less than I trust myself, which is pretty fucking bad, cause I don't trust myself at all!"
"Faith, I'm not lying to you. I haven't lied to you about anything. I want you to trust me… Faith, I've gained all of my trust back in you. Do the same for me. Please"
"You trust me? Why do I find THAT pretty fucking hard to believe?"
"Why shouldn't I trust you, Faith?" Buffy asked.
"I'm a murderer, Buffy!" Faith yelled, her voice suggesting that she couldn't believe Buffy could be so stupid. "I lie, I cheat, I've betrayed you. I tried to steal your boyfriends. I stole your body. You shouldn't fucking trust me!"
"That was a long time ago, Faith! We're different people now."
"I'M NOT! I'm still sick and crazy! I want to hurt you, B…"
"Faith, what you're feeling, it's not real."
Faith shook her head and laughed. "Buffy, it doesn't get any more real than this. I feel it all coursing through my veins. This need to hurt. To destroy."
"Fight it, Faith. You just have to fight it."
"I'm not strong enough. I never was. That's why I gave in before. I can't be that girl again. I have to stop myself before I don't care anymore."
"Faith, we can stop it together! This isn't the way!"
"Come on, B. Like this isn't what's best for everyone? No one has to worry about me going psycho anymore. I don't have to worry about what I might do. Who I might hurt. And you don't have to worry about feeling sorry for me. It's the best thing."
"Faith, I don't feel sorry for you." Buffy shook her head and laughed. "Right now, you feel sorry enough for yourself to cover all of us. What happened to the Faith I know? The Faith I'm in love with? The Faith I love doesn't just give up and pussy out whenever people don't like her or something doesn't go her way. She sticks it out and tells it to go fuck itself."
"I guess you never did love me, cause if you were in love with that bitch, I'm sad to say she was never me. I've always ran at the first sign of trouble. Don't you remember?"
"So change it, Faith. It doesn't have to be like this."
"Oh, I think it has to be exactly like this." Faith chuckled and wiped some of the tears from her eyes. They were quickly replaced by new ones. "Check us out, I guess these replays really are rubbing of on us."
Buffy smiled and started walking forward again very slowly. "Faith, Cordelia never woke up. It was that lawyer from Wolfram and Hart. Lilah. You remember her, right? She's been messing with your head. Making all of these things happen. She's intensified your emotions. She's trying to confuse you, and you're doing exactly what she wants. She wants you to kill yourself."
"Why are you telling me this?" Faith asked quietly.
"Because this is wrong, Faith. This isn't the answer."
Faith shook her head at Buffy's words. "Sorry, B. I gotta." Faith turned and climbed up on to the ledge again.
"God, Faith! PLEASE! Don't do this! Don't do this to me! Don't leave me…" Buffy trailed off as she began to sob and she could no longer talk from the lump in her throat.
Faith stopped climbing but didn't turn around. After a moment, she began climbing again. Just as she almost got to the top, she was pulled back by Buffy. They fell on the ground, Buffy on top of Faith.
"No!" Buffy yelled, tears still streaming down her face and onto Faith, who she straddled underneath her. "I'm done saying I'm sorry. I'm done begging. I'm stopping you now! Your choice is gone. I'm NOT letting you do this!"
"Get the fuck off of me, Buffy! I have to! Let GO." Faith struggled underneath her, but Buffy didn't let up her iron grip.
"Stop, Faith! Stop struggling. It's over. You're not doing this."
Faith's struggles started to die down as she cried. She gasped for breath and twisted under Buffy, no longer even seeming like she was trying to get away. As she finally stopped moving and began to sob, Buffy loosened her grip and put her arms behind Faith's back, pulling her up and hugging her tightly.
"Shh, Baby, it's gonna be OK. I'm here, I'm not leaving you. I promise." Buffy stroked Faith's hair as shook with her sobs, barely able to breathe.
"I still wanna hurt you, B," Faith managed to get out.
"I know, Baby. It's OK. I love you… we're gonna fix it. Just fight it for now."
Faith nodded her head against Buffy's shoulder as she continued crying. Her shakes began to stop and her breathing slowed after several minutes of Buffy slowly rocking her back and forth and stroking her hair.
"You really love me, Buffy?" Faith's strangled voice whispered.
"I really love you."
Faith lifted her head slowly from Buffy's shoulders. She looked into Buffy's tear-stained face that matched her own. "B, make all this stop. Get rid of all of it. Please… make me forget all of it."
"I will, Faith." Buffy kissed her lightly on the lips and pulled Faith back into her arms, slowly beginning to rock her again.
No POV:
Buffy and Faith materialized in the lobby and were quickly surrounded.
"How is she?"
"Is she going to be alright?"
"Buffy, what happened?"
"Can everyone just back up!" Buffy yelled, trying to control her tears.
"Buffy, do you want me to take her upstairs? I'll do a spell… sort of a sleeping pill type thing."
Buffy nodded and mumbled something into Faith's ear. Faith nodded her head slightly and the two started to get up off of the ground. Faith slowly separated herself from Buffy and let Willow and Fred guide her upstairs. Everyone else just stood around, not knowing what to do.
"Everyone, listen up!" Buffy suddenly shouted, wiping tears away from her face and trying to pull herself together. "We're fighting them tonight. Things have gotten worse and I'm through playing around."
"Buffy, you're not in any state right now to make these kinds of decisions," Giles argued.
"If I wanted your opinion I'd ask for it," she snapped.
"Do you not remember what happened at the Vineyard? This situation is quite like that. In both instances you wanted to rush in too quickly with no plan."
"This isn't the same!"
"Buffy, this isn't the way to help Faith. We all want to help her, I can assure you."
"I agree with Rupert," Wesley said. "This is too fast. We don't have enough power to go in there right now."
"I say we do it," Connor said, walking into the lobby.
"Connor? Where the hell have you been?" Angel asked.
"Around," he said, noncommittally. "I had to work some stuff out."
"Sorry guys, but this is my thing now. I'm calling the shots and-" Buffy stopped talking when she saw Willow come down the steps again. She rushed over and pulled Willow into a corner. "How is she?" She asked worriedly.
"Well, the second we got up there she passed out from exhaustion. I put her under a spell… A resting spell that should clear her head and keep her knocked out for a while. It won't last forever, though. The influence on her from Wolfram and Hart won't be that strong for a while, so it should keep her from doing anything rash. Hopefully she'll just stay asleep until we get back."
"Yeah, but just in case, I need someone to stay here and watch her. Someone strong enough to keep her from doing anything." Buffy looked over at the group gathered around the table and walked back over. "Ok, we've got a plan. We ARE going into Wolfram and Hart."
"But Buffy," Giles began to protest.
"No! I don't wanna hear it. This is the plan… we're going into Wolfram and Hart. Angel, what's the best way to get in fast?"
"Well, we don't have a lot of time, so I'm gonna go with what worked really well for us once: a distraction."
"Ok, that's good. Dawn, Andrew, I want you to distract them. Nothing dangerous… just something you can stretch out for a while. We need to be able to get in and out without problems. Xander, you watch them. Keep them out of trouble."
"Man," he said, shaking his head. "My jobs really suck now that I'm the guy with one eye."
"Now we need a tight fighting team. I know which of my guys can fight, but which of Angel's group can handle themselves?"
"I'm your boy," Gunn said. "Wes is alright too."
"Thank you Charles," Wesley said sarcastically.
"Then it's settled. Me, Angel, Giles, Wes, Gunn, and Wills will go in."
"What about me?" Connor asked.
"Your job is to stay here and watch Faith. Everyone else, that's your job too, but mainly I need you Connor. Faith is strong and if she wakes up, I need you to keep her here. You're the only one besides Angel that's strong enough to do that, and I need him with me because he knows Wolfram and Hart."
Connor nodded silently and then went upstairs.
"Ok, everyone got the plan?"
"Um, Buffy?" Willow raised her hand cautiously. "What exactly are we doing once we get there? It might be a good idea to have a plan for that part also."
"We fight," she answered, clearly thinking the answer was obvious.
"Yeah, but who? I mean, how do we have any idea what we're looking for?"
"I've got a pretty good method for finding out information there," Angel said.
"Alright guys, that's the plan… get ready, we're leaving in 30." Buffy turned to the weapons cabinet but a thought occurred to her and she turned back. "Oh, and Wes? Get some supplies for a locator spell. We're finding Cordelia."
Xander smiled and shook his head. "I knew she would remember."
Xander causally strolled into the lobby of Wolfram and Hart, admiring the architecture and noting the marble floor. When he got to the center of the lobby, he turned and looked outside. Dawn nodded at Xander through the glass windows and then charged into the room, Andrew's arms wrapped around her.
"Nobody move!" Andrew yelled, whipping out the decorative knife Giles had given him and pressing it against Dawn's throat. "I'll kill this little… BITCH!" Andrew then leaned forward closer to Dawn's ear. "Sorry, Dawnie. I don't mean it," he whispered.
The lawyers and other employees of Wolfram and Hart barely gave them a second glance and kept walking.
"Jesus," Xander muttered, rolling his good eye. He pulled out his gun that he'd brought for backup and fired a shot into the air. That got their attention. "Thank you, ladies and gentleman. Now, if you don't want the crazy, one-eyed man to blow your brains out all over this lovely marble floor, pay attention to the guy holding the girl hostage." He gestured with his gun over to Andrew.
Realizing that the spotlight was on him again, Andrew put on his "intimidating" face. "That's right! Listen to him… he has one eye! But since he said listen to me that means follow my instructions I guess… so yeah! Nobody move!" The crowd that had formed stopped moving and stood frozen around Andrew and Dawn.
Xander glanced over and saw Buffy, Angel, Willow, Wesley, Gunn, and Giles quickly walking to the elevators. Nobody noticed. Xander nodded to himself, pleased. Phase One, complete.
Connor sat in the dark, watching Faith steadily breathe in and out. The lighting was dim, but he could just make out her features… so soft and beautiful. Her forehead looked serious, though, as if she was having some kind of nightmare. In the time Connor had gotten to know Faith, he knew it was safe to say that she had nightmares quite often.
Suddenly Faith began to stir, her legs getting caught in the many covers on top of her.
"Faith?" he whispered, trying to judge whether or not she was waking up.
She gave no reply but continued to toss and turn until she opened her eyes and began pushing herself. Faith shakily climbed out of the bed, having to balance herself on the nightstand next to her. "Connor? What am I doing here? Where's Buffy?"
"Faith, lay back down. You're weak… you need to rest." Connor jumped up and moved closer to Faith, wondering if he should try and help her back into bed.
At his words Faith quickly pulled herself together and tried to appear strong. "Shut it, Junior. There's nothing wrong with me. Where's Buffy?"
"Really Faith, I think you should get back in bed. You don't look well."
"It's fine. Really, I'm fine. I just wanna go get something to drink. My mouth is dry."
"I'll get it for you," Connor offered.
"No, that's ok… I'm a big girl. I can get some water."
Faith slowly made her way over to the door, taking in her surroundings and adjusting her eyes to the dark. She left the room and began walking down the stairs, Connor a few steps behind her. She listened carefully as she got closer to the lobby, hearing what seemed to be an argument.
"No, I don't care! They don't have enough fighters to be attacking Wolfram and Hart like this! Y'all, they're WINGING it. They clearly don't have a plan, no matter what Little Miss Blonde Slayer Buffy says."
"Fred, sweetie, I understand where you're coming from, but we've got nothing else. We almost lost Faith today, so something drastic needs to be done."
"She's right, you know. They don't have a chance going in there like this."
"She-devil, we really don't need your help."
The group in the lobby looked up when they heard Faith step out from the staircase. She saw that it had been Lorne, Fred, and Lilah arguing. Lilah? Oh… right. Buffy had said something about her.
"Faith! You're awake! Wow… that was fast," Fred said nervously.
"Yeah, I'm a quick healer…" Faith muttered distractedly, looking around at the weapons on the table and the lack of Scoobs. "So they went to Wolfram and Hart?" She suddenly asked, getting right to the point.
"Well, yes… I mean, technically, that may be their plan-"
"Yes, they went to Wolfram and Hart," Lilah said, cutting off Fred. "It appears they're off to save you or avenge you or some stupid chivalrous thing like that."
Faith nodded and moved over to the table, picking up weapons and placing them in different parts of their clothing. "How long ago did they leave?"
"Faith, honey, you really don't need to go over there. You're the target, so walking into the lion's den might not be the best idea." Lorne slowly moved closer, feeling uncomfortable with Faith's brash demeanor and the weapons in her hands.
"Buffy's there," Faith said, turning to look at the three people in the lobby. "She didn't abandon me earlier… I can't abandon her now. My place is by her side."
"No Faith," Connor said from the steps. "My one job is to keep you here… keep you safe. Buffy asked me personally."
"Well, then come with and keep me safe. You heard them. Apparently they can use some more fighters over there. And besides, Buffy can be stupid sometimes. She should know better than to think I'm just gonna sit this one out." Faith walked to the door and turned back to Connor. "You in or you out? Cause you know there isn't a chance in hell you can stop me." Connor stared at her a moment and the second she saw his expression change, Faith threw him the battle ax that was in her hand. "Ok Junior, let's do this."
"Can you stop calling me that?" the three in the lobby heard Connor ask as he and Faith disappeared into the night.
"Man, I wish I could be there to video this," Lilah said, shaking her head and laughing.
"Angel, where are we going?" Buffy asked as she ran beside him.
"We're going where we can find answers." Angel stopped in front of a large pair of doors and kicked them in violently.
The group stepped into the room and saw three lawyers sitting on a couch that was beside a large, expensive desk. The leather chair at the desk was turned around and rocking back and forth.
"Angel," said a man as he turned around in the chair to face the group. "I was wondering how long it was going to take you to show up. I must say, I was expecting it to take a little longer. Bravo."
"You know, I really hate how everyone in this damn place knows who I am and yet I don't know ANY of you."
"Oh, pardon me for my rudeness." The man stood up and extended his hand to Angel, smiling. "I am Charles Vaughan, head of the Special Projects Division of Wolfram and Hart."
Angel stared at the extended hand with distaste. "You know why I'm here, so let's not bother with the pleasantries."
"Yes, I do know why you're here. You know, I really expected Lilah to do a better job. I only met her briefly before she died, but I was under the impression that she could handle an assignment like this. I guess I was wrong."
"Faith. What have you done to her?" Buffy asked, stepping forward.
"Miss Summers, do you REALLY think I'm going to tell you that? How much of a fool do you take me for?"
Willow began muttering an incantation under her breath and Vaughan chuckled. The lawyers sitting on the couch laughed along with him.
"We have the best in the world working for us… do you really think your amateur spells are going to do anything? I can assure you, you will not be getting this information out of me."
"Here's the deal, Vaughan: You don't want to start war with us. Me and my crew have foiled countless numbers of Wolfram and Harts plans. Unless you want us coming down on you even harder, you'll tell me how to stop this. And when I say coming down on you harder, I mean you won't be able to PEE without looking over your shoulder to check if I'm there."
"Well, as frightening as that sounds," Vaughan said, moving out from behind the desk and standing in front of Angel. "I still don't think I'll be telling you anything. Why would I? We put a lot of work into this project… we've utilized unique, one of a kind resources to put this plan into affect. I'm not going to botch it all just because you're threatening me."
"Well, we're going comb this whole building till we find what we're looking for. How's that?"
Vaughan laughed and moved closer to Angel. "I'd like to see you try. One of my colleagues has just summoned our… special security. It's not as if we're just going to let you waltz around the building for the rest of the day." He backed up some and turned to walk back to his desk, laughing. "And besides, you would never be able to find what you're looking for. It doesn't even exist."
A look of realization slowly spread on Angel's face and he smiled at Vaughan. "Thank you, Mr. Vaughan. You've been very helpful." A look of horror crossed Vaughan's face when he realized his mistake. Angel turned to the group and quickly moved to the door. "Let's go!"
They ran down the hall, following Angel. The group got in the elevator just in time to see a large group of vampires coming out of the stairwell.
"Angel, do you have some type of plan?" Giles asked, worried.
"Yeah, give me a second." Angel closed his eyes in concentration then hit several of the buttons for different floor and pulled out the emergency lever. A large white button appeared underneath the rest and he punched it quickly. The elevator quickly started moving up.
"Angel, where are we going?" Buffy asked impatiently.
"To the White Room," Wesley answered, smiling at Angel. "The one place in Wolfram and Hart that doesn't exist… I must say, Angel. I'm quite impressed."
"Eh, it was nothing."
The elevator suddenly turned white and the group was standing in a large, blank, white area.
"That's it!" Angel yelled, spotting a large glowing sphere. Red and black mist swirled around it and faint screams could be heard coming from it.
"Are we sure? I mean, we don't wanna come in here smashin shit up that may trigger the sky to rain fire or something."
"Gunn, does it LOOK like anything else is here? I'm placing my money on the big glowy ball," Angel snapped, seeming to forget their reason for being there.
"God, can you quit with the pissing contest? We have work to do." Willow sighed and walked over to the sphere, observing it as closely as she could without touching it. "I can feel the barriers on this thing… they're strong. I'm gonna have to take them all down before you can smash it, Buffy."
"Do what you have to Will… just make it fast." As the words left Buffy's mouth, a group of about 18 vampires suddenly appeared in the white space of the room. "On second thought," Buffy added, "let's make it REALLY fast."
Connor and Faith ran into the building, avoiding the riot that appeared to be going on around a small group of people. They paid the group no notice as they rushed to the elevators. As the doors to the elevator closed and they had to decide where to go, the reality that Faith had no idea what she was doing began to overwhelm her.
"Goddammit!" Faith yelled, punching the wall of the elevator and creating a huge dent in it.
"Calm down, Faith… it's not that bad. We can work this out."
Faith slowly turned her head to look at Connor, a murderous look in her eyes. "DON'T fucking tell me to calm down. Do it again and I snap your neck."
Connor stared unbelievingly at Faith for a moment and then moved to the elevator buttons, sniffing them each for several seconds.
"Oh, THAT'S the solution… sniff the wall. Good thinking, Kid."
"Just be quiet for a second. I need to concentrate." Connor moved his head back and forth, sniffing the buttons over and over again until he stood up and pressed the buttons for certain floors and then pulled the emergency one out. A large white button appeared and Connor moved forward to sniff it again. After a moment he tapped it and the elevator began moving upward until it finally dissolved into white.
The sight that greeted Faith and Connor was not pretty. Willow stood near a giant glowing sphere, chanting with her eyes close. Faith assumed that if she opened them, they would be completely black. Buffy, Angel, Giles, Wesley, and Gunn fought off a group of almost twenty vampires, and their odds didn't look good.
"Go help!" Faith yelled and rushed into the fight.
Angel tried to get up, only to be knocked down again before he could get his footing. Just as he was beginning to worry, the vamp suddenly exploded into dust. Connor looked down at him, smirking and shaking his head.
"You getting your ass kicked Dad? It's a sad day when I have to come in and save you."
Before Angel could respond, two vampires tackled Connor, knocking him to the ground. Angel immediately jumped up and pulled one off of Connor, but before he could get the other off of him the other vampire came back and jumped on his back, pulling a string tightly across his neck.
"Connor!" Angel yelled as he flipped the vamp over his shoulder. "What the HELL-" He kicked the vamp in the face, sending it back down to the ground. "-are you doing here?!?" Angel staked the vampire on the ground and turned to watch Connor fight.
"It wasn't my fault! She insisted on coming… I wouldn't have been able to stop her!" Connor staked his vamp and turned to glare at his father. "Don't blame this on me."
"We'll talk about this later Connor… I'm very annoyed at you and your irresponsibility."
"Angel!" Wesley yelled, fighting off three vamps. "Some help would be nice!"
Angel and Connor ran to Wesley, passing Buffy and Faith, who were fighting off 5 vampires.
"Faith, what are you doing here?!?" Buffy punched one in the face and then turned and kicked the other in the chest. She dusted a vamp and glanced over at Faith as she continued fighting the other one.
"You're here cause of me!" Faith quickly dusted two in a row and then began beating the crap out of the remaining vampire. "The least I can do is help!"
Faith and Buffy fought simultaneously, slowly pushing the two vamps they were fighting closer together. After a quick glance to each other, they both kicked the vamps in the chest so that they flew back and hit each other. Buffy and Faith quickly moved in and staked both vamps.
"Like old times," Buffy said grinning.
Faith smiled at her for a moment when suddenly her face changed and a look of rage passed over her. Faith suddenly lunged at Buffy, knocking her down. She straddled her and began punching her in the face over and over again.
"Faith, stop!"
Giles heard the scream and ran to Buffy, knocking Faith off of her. More vamps jumped on them and the three attempted to fight them off. Faith switched back and forth between punching vampires and punching Buffy, seemingly unable to make up her mind.
Angel saw the fight taking place so close to the sphere and rushed over. Before he could jump in he was kicked in the balls by Faith, who then turned and staked a vampire. She then turned back to Angel and began beating on his back, pushing him further onto the ground.
"Buffy! I did it! Break it!" Willow yelled over the fighting, looking for Buffy.
At the sound of Willow's voice Buffy immediately rushed to the sphere and stopped in front of it, trying to work out the best way to shatter it.
Faith saw the vampire coming up behind Buffy and pulling out a knife. Through her confusion and mixed feelings, the only thing she could comprehend was that she had to protect Buffy. Faith quickly staked the vampire she was fighting and ran to Buffy. She saw Buffy shatter the sphere and suddenly she felt as if her soul was lighter… nothing was confusing anymore. She knew what she had to do.
As the vampire moved to stab Buffy in the back, Faith threw herself in front of the knife, taking it in the chest. Buffy turned around and stared in horror as the vampire pulled the knife out of Faith's chest and she dropped to the ground.
"NOO!" Tears flooded Buffy's eyes as she moved forward and grabbed the vampire's head, ripping it off.
Before the dust settled Buffy was on the ground at Faith's side. She didn't notice the fight that was dying down around her… only that Faith's blood was staining the white around her.
Faith's POV:
Goddamn, this hurts. Fuck! How many times have I been stabbed now? This is getting ridiculous.
My eyes are closed but the bright white of the room is shining through as if my eyes were opened. I don't know if that's a good thing… either I'm in that big ass white room or I've died and gone to heaven…. Ok, never mind that then. I'm still alive.
I slowly open my eyes and the first thing I see is Buffy's beautiful face above me, crying. Her tears are spilling down on my face. I don't care though, because I can see everything clearly now.
She loves me. I love her. It's as simple as that… all the rage and hatred I was feeling toward her is gone. All I can feel is love. She came in here to save me. She risked her life to save me. She's never done that before. The thought of it almost makes this pain bearable. Key word there being almost.
"Oh, god…" I moan in pain.
"Faith? Faith don't move. Stay very still… how do you feel baby?"
"Like I've been stabbed," I say, chuckling. I immediately regret it as I feel this horrible pain in my chest… Jesus fuck!
"Faith, it's ok now," she whispers, kissing my forehead and stroking my hair. "We did it… no more feeling like that. No more pain. I stopped them. You're safe now."
"You did that for me?" I ask, wanting to hear her say it. My vision's starting to blur. I can feel the blood pouring out of me… I can feel myself getting weaker. It's an effort to blink.
"Of course I would Faith. I love you. Never doubt that, OK? I'd do anything for you."
God, the way that feels…. I feel the words wash over me. I feel more sad and more happy than I ever have before. The best thing that ever happened to me is being taken away.
"B, listen to me, ok?" She nods at me as she holds my hand I see the group coming to surround us. I guess we won. I try and block them out and pretend it's only me and Buffy. "I love you B. I've loved you since the first day I met you. No matter what I've done… all the things I've done to you… I've never stopped loving you. Not once. I wish we could've been together sooner, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be."
I cough and I feel something wet come out of my mouth. Am I drooling? Why do I have to be drooling? Everyone's looking at me. Just staring. Willow's crying… she looks horrified.
"Buffy," I whisper. "I'm not gonna pretend that we'll meet again some day…you're going to a much better place than me."
"Faith, don't say that!" B can barely get her words out through the tears now. "You'll be fine. You're going get better, and we're going be together. I swear."
The edges on my vision are closing in… the spots are starting to sprinkle over her face.
"I love you, B, ok? I always will…"
I feel my eyes starting to droop as I let myself fall into the darkness. Her gorgeous, angelic face is the last thing I see, and before it all goes completely dark and fades away I hear her say, "Faith, I love you. Please don't leave me…"
I wish I didn't have to.
...to be continued...