Angel looked at Faith as she sat down on the glassy floor. She drew in her knees to her chin and wrapped her arms around them.
“The floor’s freezing,” She shuddered.
“I think that’s the first time you’ve spoken to me since that first fight,” And it was true, their trip through the walk-in Rubik's cube had been mainly in silence except for the occasional “I hate this,” or “Look where you’re going.” He didn’t even remember her using his name.
“Sorry,” She said in a mocking tone, “I’ve had a lot on my mind.” She shivered again.
He rolled his eyes and took off his jacket, “Here,” He handed the jacket to her, “Take it, lord knows I won’t be cold.”
“Thanks,” She covered herself with the leather, providing some warmth as her body’s heat circulated through it. She cocked her head to the side and looked up at Angel, who was retreating to the opposite corner, “Angel,” He turned around when he heard the lack of spite in her voice that she it usually contained.
“Yeah?” He asked and moved back to where she was, but still remained standing.
“Why are you doing this?” She asked.
“Doing what.” He motioned down, silently asking for a seat, she nodded and he slid down next to her.
She turned to face him; “Acting like we’re still friends.” Angel was awestruck, Faith sounded so sincere, hurt even, as if she were expecting him to turn away and tell her she was evil and not worth the slayerettes, that she never had truly been one of them.
He said the least thing she expected, “Because I think we still are.” She smiled slightly and he went on, “I think you aren’t really evil, I mean you’re just misled. I’m sure the mayor offered something Buffy and the slayerettes couldn’t. Maybe what you needed was the love that he seems to provide you with. I’ve seen him with you, I mean except for the evil; he seems like the father figure you really need. I don’t begrudge you that. I think, in fact, you needed it.”
“Gee,” Faith shivered again, “And Dr. Laura thinks she’s good.”
“Well, if you’ve been around as long as I have, you learn a thing or two about human nature.” He smiled down at her, “You know, I think it’s a little too cold out here to fare with just a jacket as a blanket. Come here.” He held out his arms and she scooted into them, sharing what little heat Angel had with Faith’s warm body.
“Thanks,” She said and looked into his eyes.
“For what?” He asked.
“For understanding me.” She smiled.
“Like I said,” He held her closer to him, “You and me, we’re a lot alike.”
She chuckled softly, “I’m beginning to see that.” She snuggled into his arms and fell asleep, though Angel spent hours just watching her. How her body rose and fell when she breathed, how innocent she looked, how she relaxed in his arms the way Buffy hadn’t, not even when she was sleeping, since that night when he turned back. He enjoyed it.
Faith woke up, forgetting where she was for a moment. She felt two male arms engulfed around her body, but no pulse and no breathing. Her first thought was to run because she was being held by a corpse, and then all the past night’s events and Angel came flowing softly back, she snuggled back down and blinked her eyes up, expecting to have blinding sunlight fall upon her lids, but it was still night. She also expected to be hungry or have morning breath or something, but it was like time was suspended and her body and her surroundings weren’t reacting as her mind was. She wriggled from Angel’s grasp and stood up. All remnants of sleep were gone, no dried tears that usually formed in the corners of her eyes, and she was completely alert, as if she just been zoning out for a couple of minutes and had just come back down to Earth. It was all too weird.
She tuned back to Angel and shook him softly, “Come on,” She cooed softly, “Don’t just lie there and have me fend on my own. Please, wake up.” Angel’s eyelids slowly rolled up and his eyes turned to her, he smiled.
“Angel,” Faith said but didn’t return his expression, “Come on, we really have to find a way out of here. It’s like we’re in some kind of warp.”
“What,” Angel shook his head, “Some kind of warp?”
“Have you craved blood since we’ve been here,” He shook his head, “It’s still night out, even though I know we’ve been out for hours and there’s no way we could have slept until nightfall, you would have turned to dust.” Faith pointed out the moon and then said, “It’s like time just stopped and we’re just here, in this weird web of dreams or something. I mean the monsters disappear after we start fighting them, the walls change when we turn around. What other explanation is there than we were left here to wander around forever?” Faith fell against the hedge wall and crawled into a fetal position, silently crying in frustration.
“Hey,” Angel cradled her in his arms, “It’s okay, we’ll find a way out. It was just a challenge, remember, we had a choice in this, we’ll get out of this.” His voice turned soft as he said, “But I wouldn’t change a moment of last night for a chance to get out.”
Faith giggled through her tears, “Me neither.”
“Good,” He smiled, “We’re going to find a way out of here, okay. And even if we don’t, it’s not like we’ll go stir crazy because we’re alone, we are still here together.”
“Okay.” She returned his smile and let him pull her up.
They had trailed through the twists and turns and changing blocks for hours, success only in becoming more confused and frustrated at every minute. Faith more so than Angel, after all, he had dealt with a life somewhat similar to this maze of mental torture for almost a hundred years; isolated, constantly changing scenery, when you blinked, turned a corner, painstaking agony in loneliness and an almost sobering fright of what lay behind, at the end. She was just a child, as far as the present standards go, seventeen years old, dealing with a likelihood of never leaving a world where she was suspended.
Faith leaned back against her barrier, her captive walls, and took in a breath. It caught, and she fell, starting to sob, realizing that there was no way she could get out.
Angel rushed to her, whispering, “It’s gonna be okay Faith. Hey, I’m here.”
She rolled her eyes up, staring at him curiously for a moment, then looked back down, turning almost comatose.
“Hey Faith,” He whispered, “You don’t have to worry, we’ll get out.”
Her hand whipped out as she threw him away from her, “Stop treating me like glass, I’m not Buffy.” She screamed, then swallowing and lowering her voice she said, “I’m not going to break.” She curled her arms around herself and let her neck go limp, her head collapsing into her lap.
Angel sat up, stunned. He didn’t want her to turn away from him. Faith had opened up to him last night in a way he could never have hoped for her to do, he didn’t want their connection, the one he felt last night, to slip away just because she was too stubborn to let him comfort her.
“Faith,” He sat down next to her cautiously, “Please, don’t close off to me.” He tried to pull her to him, but she shook him away, turning from him quickly. “Let me back in.” She remained unresponsive, “I felt something last night, I know you did too. You let me know a little bit about you, and you didn’t push me away. Do you know what that meant to me?”
She turned back to him, a look of amazement written on her shiny from tears face, “It meant something, to you?”
He smiled, happy to finally get her back, “Didn’t it to you? You showed me a part of you that you’ve never showed anyone before. I felt like I could hold you forever when you curled into my arms. And, yes, I felt something. I felt more love for you in that moment than I’ve ever had, for anyone, not even Buffy.” She smiled and new tears flowed down from her eyes.
“I think that’s the first time anyone’s ever said that to me, and meant it.” Faith sniffled.
Angel’s face turned serious as he looked into her eyes, “Faith, if you would just let me, I could love you so easily. I could show you that not everyone in the world is out to get you. Just let me in.” He held her hand in his and kissed it, “Please.”
She looked into his eyes and put her hand to his cheek, “Show me.” He put his hand over where hers rested on his cheek, bringing it down to his lips and kissing her palm, then he pulled her close to him and placed a soft kiss on her lips. She placed her hands around his back, pulling his against her and turning the kiss into a passionate clash of lips and bodies, bringing him on top of her and pushing her hands up the bottom of his shirt.
Just as she was pulling his shirt from his body, he rolled off of her and broke the connection of their lips. She sat up, panting.
“What’s wrong,” Faith pulled her hair back behind her ear and started to catch her breath.
“We can’t,” Angel said, “The curse.”
“Your soul,” Faith nodded, “You can’t have sex.”
“No,” Angel shook his head, “It’s a happiness clause, I can’t have a moment of happiness. And the thing that worries me is, I might not have to make love to you to have a moment of happiness.”
She smiled, “I could make you happy?”
“Oh, yes,” Angel crawled over to her and put his palm to the back of her neck, bringing her face close to his, “Immensely.” She smiled and went to capture his lip again, but blinding flash broke off from in front of them.
Faith blinked away from the light and brought her eyes back to the spot when the light had disappeared. There, again, stood the little demon that was responsible for the captivity.
“Oh,” Faith said harshly, “You again.”
The demon gave no answer, but waved his hand over his face, the demon visage disappearing and a human face was revealed
.
“Whistler?” Angel said, astonished.
“Surprise, Angel,” The man said and stepped towards the two, “You didn’t really think some random demon was going to put two people in a maze for their own amusement did you? The truth is, the balance was off. Faith had tipped the scale of good and evil when she went over to join the mayor; we had to get her back on our side. The maze was my idea, neat, huh.”
“Okay,” Faith turned to Angel; “I’m confused.”
“This is Whistler, “Angel clarified, “He found me when I was living in Manhattan. He’s a good demon, he keeps the balance of good and evil even.”
“Yeah,” Whistler interrupted, “When you went all rebellion, you tipped the equilibrium of the scale, and since we had to get you back, I figured this gig out. You already were attracted to each other, so I knew this would drive you over the edge.”
“So you’re gonna let us go back into our little demon filled world and be all peaches and cream again,” Faith said skeptically, “What about Buffy and, well, everyone else.”
“I never said it’d be easy,” Whistler said and they found themselves outside the library in Sunnydale, “I’d guess this is the real challenge that you chose to accept. But knowing you two, you’ll find a way. You’re both fighters, and you have each other. Good luck kids.” He disappeared as the last word was said, leaving Faith and Angel on their own.
Title: Catching Up
Author: Laura Fones
E-mail Address: rb46528@aol.com
Distribution: Just ask.
Spoilers: Five by five, Who Are You, This Year’s Girl
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After “Who are you” Faith sets her sights on LA and is hired to do away with our favorite vampire.
Disclaimer: I own nothing in relation to the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own all.
Feedback: I love it, I thrive on it, and I answer all of it.
Author’s note: I haven’t seen the episode, so, this is best guess, don’t hurt me if it sucks. I have reserved the right to suck.
Faith lay back into the bed of the new apartment Wolfram and Hart had set her up in. Yeah, so her boss was a demon, she’d worked for worse things. She glanced up at the clock, 5:27, another hour before the Angel hunt began. Wolfram and Hart wanted her to do away with their rival, sad that a big powerful company couldn’t do it themselves. After the Buffy-body-switching affair, she wasn’t gonna stay around for dear Buffy to try to bestow her with some more of her famous Buffy knowledge. She’d had enough of that crap. Sure, it had given her time to “reflect and grow,” you know check back into the whole ‘my life is a complete failure and I’m a total screw-up’ thing. But she already knew that one. Just another brick in the wall as Pink Floyd would put it. No biggy…you move on, you party, heavily, and you’ll be fine.
She turned over, grabbing the remote next to the bed and flipped on the television. Mindless crap always helped her clear, well actually erase, her thoughts.
Cordelia dropped the phone and turned toward Angel, “You won’t believe what Giles just told me.”
“Cordelia, if this is something about shoes or style of any kind, I would be eternally grateful if you could skip telling me and help with filing. You know, your job.” Angel said in response as he started to enter his office.
“Faith’s awake, and she’s in LA.” Cordelia said and glared, “And next time I hear about a huge sale at Bloomingdales, I just won’t tell you.”
“Faith is here? But Cordelia,” Angel reasoned, “If she was in LA, wouldn’t you have had a vision by now?”
“You know, Giles is kind enough to give us a heads up about the homicidal psycho bitch in our midst and the least you could do is…” She fell back against the wall and held her head in pain.
Angel dropped down next to her, “What did you see?”
“That the powers that be have an ironic sense of timing,” Angel glared at her, “And Faith. Looks like our demon lawyer guys joined forces with our own cleavage-clad slut from Sunnydale U.”
“Okay, I’m gonna go out and check all the standard Faith-magnet places, bars, clubs, locations around them.” Angel pulled on his coat, “Then I’ll bring her back, chain her… and that’s where my plan kind of…ends.”
“May I suggest, oh I don’t know, killing her.” Cordelia piped in.
“I somehow don’t see that happening,” Faith stepped through the office door and walked in confidently, “Hello Angel.”
“Faith,” He replied.
“And, oh look, jailbait decided to come,” She turned to Cordelia and then saw Wesley enter the room, “And the ex-watcher too. Wow, this is like a bad family reunion. Well, without Buffy. Who I hear is getting along quite well with her new little lover. Sorry, Angel, she’s climbing someone else now. But I’m sure she’s thinking of you when she screams out ‘Riley’.” She chuckled. “So, guys. Did you miss me?”
“Not really,” Cordelia shrugged, “You know, master bitches like yourself aren’t generally missed.”
Faith put her hand to her chest and made a mock pained expression, “Oh, that hurt,” She found a chair and sat, “So, my boss tells me, you’re a detective now. The fanged private eye. Classic, really, I mean it. And let’s see, Cordelia’s a seer, some kind of vision thing that you have going on, right and Wesley’s dead weight, no huge surprise there. And, what else?” She held scrunched her eyebrows in feigned thought, “Oh yes, you’re the thorn in my boss’ side, so, he wants you dead.” She stood up, “I think I’ve covered everything, basic synopsis, prose, liner notes, all that good stuff. Are there any questions?”
“Do you honestly think you’re going to kill me,” Angel chuckled.
“Well, let’s see…” Faith thought, “I’m gonna go with, yes.. You wanna know why, because I almost have multiple times. But you wanna know what stopped me? You’re scrawny-ass girlfriend. But, she’s not here.” She put her hand across her forehead in forged drama, “So, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say. I’m. Going. To. Kill. You.” She smiled, “But you know, I’ll let you chain me first. You know, just for fun.” She stood for a moment and charged at Angel, back handing him and kicking him full force in the side. She kneed him from behind and punched him again in the face. Angel whirled around and backhanded her as she high side kicked him to the ground. Angel returned with a front roll to control his fall and used the momentum to return to his feet.
“It just occurred to me that we should probably do something,” Cordelia turned to Wesley.
“Like what?” He was slowly backing further from the fighting couple.
“Grab her.” Cordelia yelled.
“Oh, right.” He and Cordelia positioned themselves behind Faith and pulled her back on both shoulders. Faith flailed for a while then accepted she was caught when Angel pulled her down into a chair, shackling her.
“Maybe we should put her downstairs,” Cordelia said, “She’ll frighten the clients.” Faith glared at her and mouthed ‘I am so going to kill you.’
“Good point,” Angel said, “Plus, she could get out being just up here. I have stronger chains in my bedroom.”
“Should I be comforted by that?” Cordelia asked.
“Just help me take her down.” Angel quickly undid the shackle attached to the chair and barely avoided Faith’s leg as she kicked up to try to escape. He carried her from the chair, squeezing the bundle of nerves at back of her neck to keep her from trying to escape. He and Cordelia forced her onto the bed and chained her legs and arms to the posts.
“Want me to take care of super bitch?” Cordelia asked Angel.
“Yeah, I have to handle this case,” He said as he entered the elevator they’d taken down to his basement apartment and added, “I’m going to talk to Kate with this one, she may be able to help.”
Faith watched the elevator ascend the shaft and then met eyes with Cordelia, “Well, the things you miss.” She chuckled, “That coma really had me out of quite a bit didn’t it? Not only has Buffy moved onto a new boy toy, Angel getting in between another pair of legs. Timeless.” She smiled and relaxed in her chains, no point in fighting them, and tormenting little Cordy wasn’t a horrible distraction.
“Angel isn’t even close to getting in between… god, never mind! He’s not with Kate.” Cordelia found a chair and sat across from where Faith lay.
“He isn’t, really,” Faith shrugged, “Too bad. He’s a good one, really has that power thing going on between him. So Cordy, catch me up. I mean, I’ve been out for eight months, illuminate me.” Cordelia leaned back, no point in avoiding any questions,
“Well,” She began, “Angel and Buffy broke…”
“Ahh, yes, little cry-Buffy.” Faith interrupted.
“One thing we agree on,” She continued, “He moved to LA, and then he met Doyle,” Her voice hit an emotional high note. “Doyle was half-demon and he had this vision power. The Powers that Be sent him messages of people in trouble, that’s how we know our cases. Anyway, Doyle died, in a heroic way, redeeming himself or something. The oracles accepted it and now I guess he’s in heaven or whatever. When Doyle died, he passed on the seeing-vision thing to me. And then Wesley came and now we’re a group.”
Faith suppressed a smile, Cordelia was going soft, “So what’s the deal with Angel’s little slut?”
“Buffy”
“Close,” She smiled, “But I mean Katy girl, who is she?”
“She’s cop-lady,” Cordelia replied, “She’s actually kind of a bitch nutcase.”
“I like her already,” Faith said.
“You would.” Cordelia stood up, “I’m gonna get a glass a water, you want?”
“Figure you should keep me alive?” Faith teased, “Sure.” Cordelia nodded and went into Angel’s kitchen. Faith watched her leave and started to tug on her restraints, testing for a weak spot. She quickly found one, She undid the chains and propped them up so it looked like they were still intact so Cordelia wouldn’t suspect anything.
Cordelia entered with two glasses of water and set them down, sliding back into the chair. “So,” she said and sipped, “What have you been up to?”
“Let’s see,” Faith said, “Spent eight months on a hospital bed in coma, that was fun. Then I woke up, reeked havoc on Sunnydale, switched bodies with Buffy, fucked her boyfriend, and then came back. And from what I can tell, it’ll be fun from here on in.” She slipped out of her restraints and punched Cordelia, successfully knocking her out. “You have no idea how fun.”
Faith cocked her head, smiling for a moment. Then she pulled Cordelia from the ground and hooked her into the chains, “Now, let’s go play with Wesley.” She smiled.
“Kate found a lead,” Angel yelled into the office as he entered, slamming the door behind him. He hung his coat up before actually realizing that the office was completely empty.
“Cordelia,” Angel called, “Wesley?” Angel furrowed his brow and remembered Faith. He said to himself and pressed the button to recall the elevator.
“Hello again,” Faith said as she hit him over the head with the battle-ax that he previously displayed in the front window. “You really need to replace those chains.” She let the ax fall and clang to the hard wood floor. She kneeled down and pulled him up onto a chair; retrieving the chord she found in a utility chest and tied him onto the chair. She pulled another chair in front of his, waiting for him to come to, she hadn’t hit him hard enough to keep him down that long.
After a few minutes, his eyes slowly rolled up as he regained consciousness. She leaned down onto the palms of her hands that rested on her knees. His vision cleared as he realized he was tied down. He strained in them, making the chair creak under its force. She smiled at his stubborn (but anal) persistence.
“They won’t break.” She said as she watch him continue to struggle, “Listen, the chains were fun, kinky and all that. But you know, time’s being wasted, and I’ve got to kill you.”
“You don’t have to do this, Faith,” Angel said, “We can help you.”
“You know, Hun,” She stood and turned her chair so its back faced him, “As much as I love your little ‘you can get better’ pep talks, spare me. Actually, the way I figure it, you should be jumping in my boat.
”
“Oh really,” He scowled, “And why is that?”
“Bitch.” He said through clenched teeth.
She moved back, giving him full view of her mocking gasp, “You slash me. Bitch, whore, slut, tramp, been there, done that, no big deal. Although, honestly, the same could be said for your chaste little Buffy. Her holier than thou routine doesn’t work anymore. You know, college will do that to you. I mean, sure, she couldn’t screw you because of the soul thing. But now, she’s found herself a little Iowa sweetie to nuzzle close to, wile away the dull hours, take her mind off you.” He strained in the ties again making her laugh and whisper, “Oh, do it again.”
“I was wrong Faith.” He said.
“What about,” She asked, steeling herself for another ‘you can get better’ speech.
“We should have stopped trying on you long before now.” He glared up at her; “You didn’t deserve our time.”
She backed off of him, silently surprised by his statement. She wasn’t sure if it was hatred or hurt that filled her. An unusual clench enveloped her chest, anger, perhaps. All she knew was, she wanted him dead, right now.
“Yeah, you should have.” Faith said dangerously low. She stood up and went into one of the file cabinets, where she knew a stake would be and drew it open, slowly lifting the wooden stave. “Last chance Angel. You can die, or, well actually, forget the or. Because, I really want you dead.”
“Faith, it doesn’t have to be like this.” Angel said, a solemn, but desperate plea.
“No Angel,” She look at her weapon, then back at him, “It has to be exactly like this.” She moved to ready the stake, but it was quickly knocked out of her hand, though she couldn’t see who was responsible, because, with a blow, she too was knocked out.
“Not so fast Faith,” Buffy’s voice mouthed.
