Devil's Truth: Vision
by MattK
Faith moaned and began to stir. She tried to sit up, but a sledgehammer hit the inside of her forehead, and she dropped back to the floor with another moan.
“Here now, lass, take it easy.”
Faith blinked and opened her eyes. A handsome man with black hair and blue eyes was kneeling beside her. “Who...who are you?”
“I’m a friend ‘o Angel’s.” He slid one hand under her back, took one of her hands with the other, and helped her sit up.
She looked around. She was sitting on the floor of a bar. Not a filthy, dangerous dive like she was used to. But a warmly, if not brightly, lit place with welcome polished into the wood. “Where the hell am I? How did I get here?”
The black-haired man made a grand gesture. “You’re on t’ Other Side.”
“The Other Side? Is that the name of this bar?” He looked at her steadily. “It isn’t, is it?” It was just then that she recognized the young black man sitting at the bar. Riley’s friend. The one who didn’t like Buffy. “I’m dead, aren’t I?”
He shook his head. “Not quite, darlin’. You’re just here for a visit. Got a little message for ya.”
“Yeah? What’s this?”
“Fightin’ Belial force to force ain’t gonna work. Hittin’ ‘is Bridgestone with force ain’t gonna work, neither. Y’could nuke it, still wouldn’t make a scratch.”
“So we’re fucked. Is that your message?”
“Ye’re not fucked. What kind of talk is that? Now listen careful, ‘cause here’s the key:” He shook his finger in the air like a school teacher. He paused until, sure that he had her attention, he continued. “There’s nothin’ these big bad types hate more’n noble self-sacrifice. ‘Specially from someone who ain’t got a history o’ bein’ noble, for someone who ain’t liable to appreciate it. I can’t say no more—them’s the rules. Think you know what you have to do?”
Faith took a deep, shuddering breath. “Pretty sure I do.”
The dark-haired man nodded. “Ye’ll have a few lines to say, if you get that far. Don’t worry, though. You’ll know what to say. Oh, and if you get the chance, could you give Angel and the Princess a message for me?”
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