Running on Faith, Season One: Episode 6: Almost a Jailbreak
by filmtheory
“Ah, son of a bitch,” Spike yelled as Connor pulled a bullet from his back and dropped it in an ashtray. He grabbed the bottle of vodka and started guzzling it.

“Hey,” Connor said, pulling the bottle away. “I need that to disinfect.”

“Very sweet, but I’m a vampire, mate! Not going to come down with an infection.”

“Oh,” Connor said, handing the bottle back. “Right. Sorry.”

“What’s with these bastards shooting me? Whatever happened to the good old days of crossbows when you could pick the arrow right out of the air.”

“At least these can’t kill you.”

“Where’d you learn to do this, anyway?”

“I was pre-med at Stanford,” Connor said, pulling out the next slug. “Before I had to drop out and lam it.”

“Lam it?” Spike laughed. “Too much film noir, kid. That’s your problem.”

“I could make a comment about too much peroxide being your problem, but since you saved my life, I’m going to let it slide.”

“I ought to hold my tongue too, actually. What with you pulling lead out of my back and all. Plus, that was a pretty sweet plan you came up with on the spot back there.”

“Not sweet enough,” Connor said, dropping the last bullet into the ashtray. “And it’s not like we can try again tomorrow. They’re going to have more security on her than the president.” He sat on the bed. “Looks like we have to go back to Buffy empty handed again.”

“Bugger that. You can run home, tail between your legs if you want. But I’m not leaving without Faith.” Spike looked at Connor appraisingly. “You said you were pre-med?”

Connor nodded. “Yeah. But for like, one year.”

Spike smiled. "Nice."

**

Riley walked into Buffy’s hospital room and sat next to the bed, taking her hand. “If you’re going to get shot, I guess a hospital is the place to do it.”

“I lost her, Riley,” she said through quiet sobs. “I lost her.”

“Maybe not. On his way to the getaway car, or van, actually, our vamp called a law firm in Chicago.”

“You get that from one of your sources?”

“Yeah. It’s called 4-1-1.” Riley held up Pyotr’s cell phone. “He dropped it when I tackled him. Plus, I got his helmet, so we’re going to get some info on his equipment as well.”

Buffy tried to roll onto her side, but it hurt. “Call Willow. She and Kennedy-”

“Already done. Kennedy’s going in. Willow’s checking the place out, see if they have any disreputable connections.”

“Book us on the next flight.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Do I look like I’m kidding?”

“Buffy, you’ve been shot in both legs. You’re not going to be able to handle the drive back to Wichita, let alone a two hour flight into-”

“This is my sister, Riley. It’s the first time she’s been on her own. And she handled it brilliantly. Do you hear me? Better than I could have dreamed. She doesn’t deserve to have me give up on her just because of . . .” Buffy motioned to her legs.

“You’re not giving up. Willow and Kennedy are on it.”

“Riley,” Buffy said with a look of fury in her eyes. “Book us two tickets or I’m calling and booking one. You stay here if you want. I’m going to Chicago.”

Riley sighed and nodded. “I’ll be right back.” He removed his cell phone and walked into the hall.

***

“Straight up case of Schizophrenia,” Doctor Tam said as he wiped his glasses.

“And you can testify to that?” Eve asked.

“Absolutely,” Tam replied. “I’ve never heard a so carefully constructed paranoid fantasy in my life. Still, the basic construct is the common Savior Complex. Perhaps even a Jesus complex. She feels she’s being persecuted because of her service protecting humanity. Even the prosecution's shrink is going to have to admit some psychosis.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Eve said, shaking Tam’s hand.

Eve waited to be buzzed into the interview room. She entered and sat near Faith. “What’s Connor’s connection to you?”

“Why are you so interested?” Faith answered.

“He went to a lot of trouble to try to spring you last night. If you two are friendly, you might contact him and let him know that his stunt didn’t do you any favors. I had a hard time getting that psychologist in to see you. They now think you may be a terrorist, too.”

Faith shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know how I can get a hold of him.”

“If you figure out a way, let me know. I can get you in touch with him.”

“I’ll do that,” Faith said in a voice dripping with insincerity.

The two sat quietly for a moment. “Tell you what,” Faith said finally. “You tell me why Wolfram & Hart is after Connor, I can tell you what the connection between me and Connor is.”

“I’m not with Wolfram & Hart anymore.”

“Even if that’s true, you still know why they want him.”

Eve fidgeted uncomfortably. “Connor’s father used to work for the firm,” she said after a long pause. “They think he could perhaps . . . replace his father, in a manner of speaking.”

“And you need him to get back in Wolfram & Hart’s good graces.”

Eve looked at Faith appraisingly. “And your connection to Connor would be . . .”

“He’s my boyfriend. Faith felt like cringing at having made up such a lame excuse, but after getting the information she did from Eve, she felt like she had to give the lawyer something interesting in return. ‘Angel dropped him at my place’ didn’t seem to have quite enough pop in it.

“He certainly is loyal,” Eve said quietly, suspecting Faith was lying. But it didn’t matter. Connor wanted Faith. And Eve, in a manner of speaking, had her. Sooner or later, she would get Connor. And she might not even need to get Faith out of prison to do it. The only question was how Eve could offer her as bait.

****

“It’s nice to have you back, Miss Summers,” Vladimir said, placing Dawn in a seat on an airplane. The helicopter had taken them to a hanger. That’s when they put her on the personal jet.

“I’ve had bad luck with airplanes recently,” she said. “Are you sure we couldn’t just take a train?”

“Our client is most anxious to have you in his company.”

“Well, we don’t want to keep the Risen One waiting.”

Vladimir smiled. “No, we would not.”

“So, where’re we going?”

“You’ll find out soon enough. In the meantime, would you like something to drink? A soda, perhaps.”

*****

“And you’re Miss Kennedy?” Arthur Wilson asked.

“Just Kennedy,” the slayer answered with a smile. She was surprised to see that the lawyer was a young man. With a name like Arthur, she’d expected a rather stodgy old man. Someone like Giles. But Arthur was young, stylish, and seemed friendly. They shook hands.

“And this is Willow,” Kennedy said, indicating the red haired witch that was Kennedy’s lover and watcher.

“Please, come on back,” he said leading the women to his office. He sat behind his desk. Kennedy and Willow sat in the large, comfortable leather chairs in front of the desk. “How can I help you?”

“Well, as I told the secretary, I need a will and I need to make an amendment to my trust. My father’s lawyers aren’t happy . . . actually, I should say my father isn’t happy with the change. Therefore, I need new representation.”

Wilson nodded. Trust meant money. And that meant he needed to make Kennedy happy. “Of course. What are the requirements for your trust to be vested?”

“I’ve already met one, 18th birthday. Other trusts become vested when I turn 21, 30, and when I marry. However, though they’re vested, the trusts are in the form of an annuity.” Kennedy leaned forward nervously. “Willow is my life partner. I want to arrange my will and my trusts so that she receives the annuities in the event of my death.”

Willow moved nervously. “Kennedy, I still don’t think this is a good idea. Your father is right.”

“Damn it, Will, we went over this already. Twice. You said you weren’t going to do this!”

“I’m sorry,” Willow said, looking at Wilson. “Can we just have a moment?”

“Of course, of course. I need to look something up anyway. I’ll be in the lobby when you’re ready.” In truth, Wilson needed the time anyway. He wasn’t the best at wills and trusts, but he’d be damned if he lost this client to another associate.

As soon as the door closed behind Wilson, Willow placed an orb on the desk and hit the timer on her wristwatch. “Ten minutes,” she said as she ran to Wilson’s computer and started dialing. “Then the security cameras see what’s really going on in here.”

Kennedy went to the filing cabinet and went to the M’s. “Nothing on Markovic,” she said.

“Try Fedorov,” Willow called.

“Federov,” Kennedy said, yanking a file. “Evanna. Looks like they hire her for-”

Willow froze as she stared at the screen. After less than two years together, Kennedy could already feel when Willow’s mood shifted. “What is it?” Kennedy asked, looking at Willow.

“See if there’s a file for Rayne. R-A-Y-N-E.”

Kennedy flipped through the filing cabinet. “Yep. He’s a client of theirs in prison. It says-”

“Put it back. We have what we need.” Willow logged out and made her way to the other side of the desk. Kennedy quickly sat next to her just as the ten minutes was up. Willow quickly snatched the orb form the desk.

Kennedy waved her hands. “Fine, Willow. Whatever you say.” Kennedy stood and stormed from the room.

Willow ran after her. “Come on, Kenn. Don’t be mad at me.”

“Mr. Wilson,” Kennedy said as she passed the attorney. “We’ll be in touch.”

******

Kennedy and Willow were waiting in a limo when Buffy arrived. Willow was lying with her head in Kennedy’s lap while Kennedy looked down at her, stroking her hair.

“It’ll be okay, Wills,” Kennedy said with a smile. “Now that we know who’s behind it, it should all be easy.”

“Ethan wants her for a reason,” Willow said. “He must . . . he must know about Dawn, about what she is. And the idea that a creep like Ethan Rayne knows about Dawnie is, it’s just too much to handle.”

The door opened and Willow quickly sat up. Even now, she was embarrassed to show intimacy in any place slightly resembling public. Kennedy frowned. Willow’s shyness about public affection was one of the slayer’s pet peeves.

Riley helped slowly load the injured Buffy into the limo. Then he climbed in behind her. “You must be Kennedy,” he said, shaking her hand. “I’m Riley. Heard a lot about you.”

“You too,” Kennedy said.

“So what do you have for me,” said Buffy, uncharacteristically getting straight to business. It made Willow nervous, but she understood. She could only imagine what she’d do were it Kennedy out there in Ethan’s clutches.

“Ethan Rayne,” Willow said.

“He’s in a military prison,” Riley said.

“He was transferred to Menard Penitentiary in Chester,” Kennedy said.

“This Arthur Wilson is a go between for Rayne and Markovic,” Willow continued. “Wilson is Rayne’s attorney, so Rayne can call him without the prison being allowed to monitor. Then Wilson connects Rayne with Markovic or that Federov woman.”

Buffy nodded. “Good work. Now I guess I need to go see Ethan Rayne.”

*******

“I hate morning,” Spike moaned.

“Kind of figures, since you’re a vampire,” Connor said, sucking on a grape soda.

“Not just that, but nothing’s on the tele. Couldn’t we have gotten a better place? That had cable, maybe.”

“The Crowne Plaza doesn’t seem like the place to stay when you’re planning crime.”

“Even Motel 6 has HBO.”

“I like the Discovery Channel.”

Spike snorted. “Geek.”

Connor sat up and placed his soda on the table. “So, your guy says Faith’s in this mental hospital. Can he get us floor plans or something?”

“He even knows what cell they got her in. Problem is, after last night, cops are expecting us.”

“I have an idea. Instead of hitting the hospital, we just grab Eve.”

Spike looked up. “Has its merits. Even if she doesn’t have any information, I can still slap the bitch silly.”

“It’s good to have a backup plan. Think your contact can get us Eve’s address?”

“He used to work for Wolfram & Hart, mate. Of course he can find her.” Spike picked up the cell phone.

Connor stood and walked to the window. “What do we do when we find her? Help her with the defense strategy?”

Spike laughed and lit a cigarette, waiting for his contact to pick up. “I don’t know. You were pre-med, not pre-law. Remember?”

“Yeah, but most lawyers are guys that couldn’t get into med school,” Connor laughed.

“We find out what Eve wants with her. Then we find out if Faith’s got a shot at beating this thing. If not, we use the access only a lawyer can get to pop our girl out.”

Connor nodded. “I guess that’s a plan.”

*******

“I’m Arthur Wilson,” Riley said, handing over a fake ID. “This is Linda Miller. We’re defense council for Ethan Rayne. We’d like to speak with our client.”

Buffy, walking on crutches, and Riley followed the prison guards back to the cell where Ethan would be brought for a meeting with his lawyers. They waited more than ten minutes. Buffy started getting antsy.

“Think they’re on to us?” she asked.

“Relax,” Riley said. “I think it just takes this long for them to get him.”

Almost on cue, the door buzzed open and Ethan entered. “Well, Arthur you’re a bit late but . . . oh bloody hell.”

The door slammed shut and locked behind Ethan. Riley stepped toward him.

“You can’t do this,” Ethan said. “I have rights.”

Riley punched Ethan in the stomach and threw him on the table. He was almost face to face with Buffy. Riley gripped Ethan’s arm and twisted it behind his back. Ethan groaned.

“So, Ethan,” Buffy smiled. “You can guess why we’re here. Tell us about the Risen One.”

“Um, which risen one is that dear?” Ethan said coyly.

Riley twisted Ethan’s arm further and the warlock yelped.

“In case you haven’t noticed,” Buffy said imperiously. “There’s no surveillance in here. Thus allowing for a nice, private chat between you and your attorneys.” Buffy grabbed Ethan’s hair and twisted it in her hand. “What did you think? That you and your pal could take my sister and get away with it?!”

Riley was leaning into Ethan, crushing his chest. He was gasping for breath. “The Risen has powers you couldn’t comprehend. He got me out of that hellhole secret prison and into this place. And soon, he’ll get me free. So if you really want to know about the Risen, you better stop talking about what I’ve done to you and start talking about what you can do for me.”

“Are you an idiot?” Buffy shouted. “You kidnap my sister and now you want me to help you?”

“Use your brain, you dolt. I’m just the Risen’s fall guy. He could have contacted those blokes that nabbed Dawn in a hundred different ways. But he wanted a trail that lead to me.”

“You gave the orders,” Riley barked.

“Absolutely. He got me moved here and promised to eventually get me out. And if I hadn’t given the orders, he would have gone elsewhere. So why don’t you let me go and we can talk about this in a more civilized manner.”

“How does he contact you?” Buffy asked. Rayne made no response and Buffy nodded to Riley, who began twisting Rayne’s arm again.

“Sooner or later, the guards will come to get me,” Rayne grunted. “I could have you thrown in jail yourselves. Assault. Impersonating a lawyer. Let me go now, and we can cut a deal.”

Buffy looked at the chaos-worshipping dark wizard. Prison must have toughened him up a bit. She’d never seen him withstand this much before. Finally, she waved at Riley and Riley released Ethan.

Ethan immediately slumped into a chair. “The Risen says he needs me to perform a ceremony.”

“What kind?” Buffy interrupted.

“I don’t know. But that’s why he’s going to get me out, you see. So here’s my offer. You get me out of prison through legal means, wipe my record. Then I’ll tell you everything I know about the Risen, including where he’s taken your sister, what he’s after, and how he contacts me.”

“What do you mean what he’s after?” Buffy said. “We already know what he’s after. He’s after Dawn and he has her.”

Ethan laughed. “She’s just the cherry filling that helps make the pie.”

“Then what’s the pie?” Buffy growled.

“No, no, no, my dear. The deal is I talk after you get me out. If the Risen gets me out first, then I gladly go to work for him, performing whatever rituals he should request. You free me before him, then I work for you.”

“We don’t even know if you know anything of use,” Riley said. “You expect us to go on your word?”

“Sadly, dear boy, that is all the proof I have to offer.”

Buffy shook her head. “Riley could call his connections. Slow down the works until the Risen is forced to find someone else, leaving you high and dry.”

“A chance I’ll have to take, I suppose.” Ethan leaned forward. “The Risen has your sister, Buffy. That means he’ll need me soon. Very soon. Not much time to spare if you’re going to spring me. And once I’m out, god only knows what he’ll do to your precious sister.”

“Maybe I should kill you,” Buffy said coldly. Riley, standing behind Ethan winced, but the slayer’s hard expression remained. “If I do, you can’t perform the ceremony.”

“He’ll find someone else. Or perhaps he’ll just kill your sister because she’d be useless to him. But get me out of here, Buffy, and I’ll help you find him. I’ll help you stop him.”

********

Ultimately it was decided that Spike would be the one to hide under a blanket in the back of Eve’s car. No matter how stealthy he was, Connor still had to breathe and Eve might hear it.

Eve was headed down to the pier, usually a dangerous place for a woman alone at night. But this was where the particular shaman she was about to see chose to meet. She’d turned onto Beach Drive when she slammed on the brakes. At first, it just appeared to be a boy in the road, but a spilt second later, she recognized the boy as Connor.

No sooner had Eve identified the boy in the road, then Spike sprung up in the back seat, grabbed her, and pulled her into the back with him.

Connor walked to the driver’s door and got in. “I’m Connor Reilly,” he said, adjusting the mirror and buckling his seat belt. “It’s nice to meet you.”

*********

“Buffy . . . Buffy, that sounds crazy,” Willow said. “Letting a lunatic like Ethan Rayne out of prison.”

“That’s our only play at this point. Now this is where you come in. If Riley can’t get Ethan released through his connections, I need you to do a spell.”

“Buffy . . .” Willow interrupted.

Buffy continued as if Willow hadn’t spoke. “He needs to think that it’s a legit release. He can’t know we’re pulling a trick. When this is over, we can figure out how to deal with Ethan. Until then, he’s the only way we have to find the Risen. We . . .”

Buffy stopped amid thought. Her face changed to a visage of anger. She unsteadily rose to her feet, not using the crutches.

“You know, I’m really sick of calling this guy the Risen,” she said in a calm but frightening voice. “I want to know who he is. I want to know where he is. And then, I want to make him pay for what he did to my sister.”

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