I Saw It All
by Samantha
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Don't own Faith and Buffy, Trace is mine.
Author's Notes: I wasn't gonne post here for a while cause of lack of time, but i
wanted to share this.
Feedback: Oh yeah, it's why i post=)
Trace stood in the shadow of the art building watching the parking lot that sat behind it and the library. He needed to get a car, Joe and Zip had told him so. Joe had been the one to give hime his nickname too, gave his brother his also. Joe was the top, so gettin a name from him really meant somethin. Trace couldn't fool himself though, he knew he wouldn't have had a chance without his brother. Joe had picked him and named hime Sketch cause he could draw real good, Joe saw him in a fight at school one day, had saw something in him, so he picked him up after school, in the next five years Sketch hadn't disapointed him. For that reason Trace was getting a chance, that and Joe really liked him, they all did. Joe had named him Trace cause ever since he was real little he was always follwin Sketch around. Finally in the last six months or so they had really started to let him in on stuff. This was his first real job.
Joe had dropped him off and he knew he was supposed to jack a car and drive it back, he had helped a couple times, but this was his first time alone. He couldn't hotwire it this time either, had to have the keys. He sure as hell wasn't gonna fuck this up, so he stood watching the parking lot of UCLA. He glanced at his watch, ten-thirty, not really late, but the school was on thanksgiving break so only a few cars were in the lot. One was a highend tight car, it was top, two more were nice, one was ok, and the other was a junker. Trace was waiting for someone to come out to one of the first three.
Faith sat in the library diligently trying to take notes for her psych paper. She had been doing fine till Buffy came in, not even though Buffy was quietly reading a magazine, Faith kept getting distracted, her eyes wandering over to her. This was their usual Thursday routine so Faith was used to it. When Faith had first gotten out of jail things had been tense between them, but gradually short emails got longer, turning into phone conversations and eventually visits. So that now three years later Dawn was in her second year at NYU, and Buffy had decided to move in with Faith, who was in her junior year at UCLA.
The apartment they shared wasn't that big but they were getting along better than ever, sometimes Faith let herself pretend they were more than friends, but never for long, those kinds of thoughts only lead to trouble.
"Hello??" Buffy was looking at Faith over the top of her magazine.
"Huh?" Faith blushed a little knowing she had been caught dazing.
"Just checking to make sure you were still with me, you looked like Lance Bass on his tour of space." Buffy smiled setting down the magazine, standing and stretching. "I guess I should get going, round up some baddies for the night. I'll see you at home in a bit?"
"Yeah," Faith smiled at the word home, for once it sounded right.
"Don't work too hard," Buffy squeezed Faith's shoulder on her way by placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.
"I won't," Faith smiled as she walked away disappearing out the door. Shaking her head Faith went back to her notes.
Notes: This is not a happy story, if u are looking for that, I suggest something ms kitty writes, ha ha ha just playing, she doesn't write happy stuff, just good stuff=)
About ten-fortyfive Trace stood up straighter craning his neck as a blonde girl left the library.
"Come on, get in a car," he said softly to himself. As he watched the girl paused next to the black explorer. One of the nice cars, not the best one, but a good one all the same. The girl stopped by the hood, and seemed to be writing something in the dust. After a couple seconds she turned away disappearing into the night.
"Crap," Trace said under his breath as the girl walked away. He knew it could never have been that easy. Sighing he leaned back against the wall to wait.
Faith leaned back stretching, she yawned looking at her watch. A little after eleven, not late at all, Buffy wouldn't be home for another hour or two at least. But it was vacation, and she was sick of studying. Might as well go get a good slay in, maybe meet up with Buffy. Oh yeah that was a much better plan than sitting around the stuffy library, even though Giles probably would have been jealous of her.
Faith picked up her notebook and the two books she had checked out earlier, and slid them into her back and zipping it up. Leaving the other books on the table too lazy to put them away, figuring that way they would still be here when she was ready to study tommorow, she picked up her pen and started out of the library, heading to the back entrance and stepping into the parking lot.
As Trace watched another girl walked out of the library, dark haired this time, but just as good looking. Pretty small too, not that it really mattered. He touched the handle of the gun he had tucked into his pants for reassurance. He wasn't really gonna need it, a girl like that would hand him the keys as soon as she saw the gun, practically beg him to take the car. Probably just knock her once first for good measure, that's what Joe always did. There she stopped in front of that same explorer, probably reading whatever she had written, pulling out her keys time to go. Pulling the gun in front of him Trace started across the twenty or so feet separating them.
Faith smiled as she read the dust on her car, "I love you" with a little bee under it, how Buffy always signed everything to her, she was so cute sometimes, stopping to write that on her way out. Faith wished it would never wash off. She pulled her keys out of her pocket, fumbling and dropping them on the pavement. Still thinking how cute Buffy was, and what a cute little thing she did, and what she could do back to her.
Trace was right behind the girl as she bent to pick up her keys. He wasn't quite sure how to proceed, yell freeze, or jump on her, or what? As she started to turn he jumped on her landing a solid punch on the side of her head he was pretty proud of, one sketch woulda done.
Faith had just got the tingle when someone jumped her from behind landing a fair blow to the side of her head. Damnit, she had been totally zoning on Buffy, ignoring her instincts, thinking the tingle was a good one.
Instinctivly she threw her hand back into the stomach of whoever had jumped her with a sick slurp she felt the pen and her keys push through the skin with a sickening pop, imbedding themselves inside.
Trace gasped with surprise as something seemed to break inside him, he fell back off the girl accidently firing the gun as he fell. Landing hard on his butt he winced as pain shot through his whole body. Looking down he saw the pen and keychain sticking out of his stomach and fought the urge to hurl. He scrambled to his feet. He had to get away, call Joe's cell, he'd come get him.
The shot echoed through the air, Faith heard a window in her car shatter as the bullet slammed through it. She turned around knowing no demon would carry a gun. With a sinking feeling she she saw the kid look down at his stomach, with her keychain dangling out of it. He scrambled up and started to run without looking back at her, she could see he was no more than thirteen. She clenched her hands around her stomach, trying hard not to be sick, there was something warm and sticky there. In confusion she looked down at the rapidly spreading stain of blood on her shirt. The fucking bullet had gone right through her. She looked back at the kid still running away and another shot rang out.
Disclaimer: I own Trace, not Faith, Joss owns her, i think we should trade,
Kaci owns the lyrics at the end.
Notes: Here you go, the end, quick as promised, for those who don't heed the
warnings=)
Trace fell hard as pain surged through his back, he had heard the blast and knew he must have been shot. Shit he could barely move, with effort he pushed himself over so he was laying on his back, it hurt like hell but at least he wasn't staring at the pavement. Who knew the bitch would have a gun.
Faith turned looking for the source of the shot, a few cars over a man in a suit stood next to a mercedes, gun still in his hand. Faith could hear the kid moaning as he rolled over.
"What the hell!" She yelled at the man. Holding her side she limped over to the kid, with each step she could feel more blood pumping out.
"He just fucking shot you, what the hell are you doing?" The man shouted angerly at her.
"He's just a kid," she yelled over her shoulder. The man turned from her pulling out his cell phone and dialing 911.
Faith felt too weak to stand when she made it to where the kid was, she knew it was stupid but she lay down next to him. Blood was pooling under him, hers mixing with his now. She knew he wouldn't survive the shot. Looking at his face she could see the streetlight reflecting off the tears that were leaking out of his closed eyes.
"Shh, it's ok, you'll be ok," Faith offered false comfort smoothing his hair back. At the sound of her voice his sobs broke out, no longer silent.
"I want my momma," he cried.
Trace didn't know what it was about the girl's voice that broke him, but suddenly he was crying harder than he had in years. Good thing Sketch and Joe weren't around or they woulda ragged on him for sure. He laughed a little to himself, screw that, he was just shot, they would freaking cry too. God momma was gonna be pissed, she was always on Sketch when he visited, tellin him to leave Trace out of it all. Said he was gonna be better than that, she knew he was. A lawyer maybe.....or a doctor...or...something good.
Faith didn't have to check for a pulse to know the kid was dead, she could just tell, but she checked anyway. Nothing. Laying on her back tears blured her vision, she felt close to the kid. If things had been different when she was his age she might have died the same way. He hadn't wanted it to be like that, he was a victim of circumstances, given no other choice really. Same as she woulda been without her watcher.
The pavement felt softer than it had before, she could feel herself drifting, everything was bluring at the edges. She knew all about how your life would flash before your eyes when you died, she was waiting and hoping it would be quick, there was so much she didn't want to relive. And those parts did go by fast, but the rest, they were slow.
Her first doll was a slow reliving of that christmas, way back before things got bad, the hell of the next few years was a blur, a few good moments, meeting her watcher, meeting Buffy, a skim over the mayor, laughing with Buffy at the apartment. Then to her surprise she saw things that hadn't happened yet. Buffy, Dawn and her at christmas, kissing Buffy on some new years in the future, the all night bed romp that followed, a water fight with the gang that looked like Buffy and her wedding, them snuggled under a blanket. The images just kept coming one after another and another, showing her what it would have been like. Then Buffy was crouching next to her.
"I'll see you there," Buffy smiled leaning over her for one last kiss.
The paramedic pulled the sheet over Faith's face, it settled around her, some features still visible through the thin sheet.
"Let's call it, eleven-thirty," she said sighing.
"Him too," her partner covered the boy he had been examining. "God he was just a kid," he wiped his face leaving his hand over his mouth as if he wasn't able to swallow the truth.
"She wasn't that much older. Probably had a bright future," she stood up and together they walked back to the ambulance, waiting for the police to finish.
::Frankies a dealer his nickname is the healer he makes his living helping people die::