Running on Faith: Season One: Episode 20: Growing Up
by filmtheory
“You have to hold stilll, baby,” Willow said desperately as her lover screamed in pain. Around them, the hotel was in chaos. Spike and Angel were on separate lines, tracking down leads. Faith was holding down Kennedy while Willow attempted to fix her ankle, which was barely connecting her foot to her leg. All the while, Dawn tried to help everyone in the lobby at the same time.

“God this hurts!” Kennedy screamed.

“I can heal you,” Willow said resolutely. “But I need time and I need you to hold still."

“Connor’s a doctor!” said Dawn excitedly. “Well, almost. As soon as he gets back, he can help!”

Angel covered the phone and looked at Dawn. “Dawn, Connor’s not coming back.” Immediately regretting his choice of words, he began back-peddling. “What I mean is, he’s going to be different when he gets back.”

Dawn frowned slightly. She didn’t know what Angel meant, but she could feel the tension in the room when Connor’s name was mentioned.

“What do you mean you can’t find any of them? Keep looking!” Spike yelled before slamming his phone. “No one’s seen Connor and Dana. No one’s seen Eve. No one’s seen Lorne. Nobody knows anything!” Spike threw his phone on the floor and watched as it smashed into pieces.

“God damn it, Spike,” Willow shouted. “They’re sure as hell not going to be able to get a hold of you now!”

“Come on, Will,” Dawn said meekly. “Take it easy.”

“Take it easy?” Willow yelled, turning angrily. “I don’t-”

Willow’s shouting was interrupted by renewed screaming from Kennedy.

“Want to watch what you’re doing, Red?!” Faith shouted. When she turned, Willow had pulled lose the splint holding Kennedy’s foot on properly.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Kennedy barked at Faith. “At least she’s doing something.”

“You need to hold still,” Willow shot at Kennedy angrily.

“She's hurt. Take it easy!” Faith yelled back.

“I told you not to talk to her like that!” Kennedy shouted, trying to sit up.

“everyone stop yelling!” a voice came from the entrance. The group turned to see Buffy standing in the doorway.

“Buffy!” Dawn said hopefully.

“Maurice, I need to call you back,” Angel said, hanging up his cell phone.

“What happened?” Buffy said sternly, almost ignoring Dawn.

“Spike pointed to his chest. Angel Jr. flipped his lid, teamed up with Dana, almost staked me, slit Angel’s throat, and cut off Kennedy’s foot.”

“Angel Jr.?” Willow asked looking at Spike.

“Connor. Cuz he annoys me like Angel does,” Spike said, cursing himself for both his slip up and his lame excuse.

“The two of them took all three of you out?” Buffy asked as she walked into the lobby. She looked around the room. “Fine. Dawn, things are about to get ugly here. Pack your bags and get back to London.”

“But Buffy . . .”

“Willow, look for a spell to fix Kennedy’s foot more quickly.”

“I’m worried about that. I’m not sure . . .”

“If we don't hurry, she’ll lose the foot,” Buffy said. “If you could get bullets out of me when I was almost dead, you can get her foot back on. Spike, you’re going to track Connor.”

“We’ve tried tracking, luv.”

“And we’re about to try again. You’re leading me and Faith.”

“And you two will be able to do what Angel, Spike, and Kennedy couldn’t?” Willow asked.

“Hell yeah,” Faith said matter-of-factly.

“We won’t be pulling any punches,” Buffy said.

“Buffy!” Angel said loudly.

“I understand your concern, Angel,” Buffy said evenly. “But my concern is for the people of L.A. and the world as a whole. If Connor pushes, we push back.”

“But Buffy, he’s not himself.”

“That doesn’t change anything,” Buffy said coldly.

“Buffy’s he’s my son!” Angel yelled. The room was already quiet before Angel said this, yet somehow managed to become quieter. It was as though everyone’s hearts had stopped beating.

“I understand that, Angel,” Buffy said. “But the decision’s been made.”

“B,” Faith said. “I don’t . . .” She looked at Angel. “Your son?”

Angel nodded.

“Like, adopted?” Dawn asked.

Angel slowly shook his head no.

“It’s complicated,” Buffy said.

Faith struggled to breathe. “Complicated or not, we can’t . . . not Angel’s son.”

“Look what he did to Kennedy,” Willow said in a quiet but furious voice. “You want him doing that to you? Or to some other unsuspecting person?”

“We’ll do our best to keep him alive,” Buffy said. “But when it comes down to it, we have to bring Connor in.”

Faith bit her lip and looked down. She nodded sadly. “Dusk is in a few hours. I’ll go get ready.”

“Dawn, pack your bags.”

**

“Giles will be excited to see you,” Buffy said as she threw a suitcase on the bed. “He’s always saying how lonely he is in England.”

“Buffy, I’m not going back,” Dawn said.

“Dawn, we’ve been over this. I don’t want you getting hurt. Now get packing.”

“Buffy,” Willow said, opening the door.

“Shouldn’t you be looking for a spell for Kennedy?” Buffy asked, still packing.

Willow bit her lip nervously. “Angel left and . . .”

“Figured he would,” Buffy said uninterestedly.

“Look, yesterday, I saw this thing Angel had. This orb. I thought I saw an image of me in it. As he was leaving, I kind of floated it out of his pocket.” Willow handed the orb to Buffy. “I think it’s images from . . . Buffy, I think there was a spell. A memory spell like I did that one time. To make people forget-”

Buffy watched the image of Connor dragging a screaming girl across a warehouse floor and watching as Cordy cut the girl’s throat.

“I get the picture,” Buffy said softly, tossing the orb back to Willow. “Go tell Faith there’s a change of orders.”

“Chu . . . change?” Willow said nervously.

Buffy nodded. “We kill on sight.”

“A human?” Willow asked worriedly.

“He’s the child of two vampires,” Buffy said as she folded one of Dawn’s shirts. “That spells human to you?”

Willow looked at Buffy nervously, then nodded. She left the room quietly.

Dawn gulped and spoke cautiously. “You’re talking about Connor, aren’t you?” She knew she hadn’t seen this new and apparently psychotic version of Connor, but still she felt this was going too far.

“Doesn’t concern you. You’re going back to London.”

“Buffy,” Dawn said nervously. “Buffy, stop packing. I need you to listen to me for a minute.”

Buffy looked at Dawn suspiciously, then glanced at her watch. “One minute.”

“Buffy, you can’t protect me forever.”

“That doesn’t mean-”

“Hey! Me. Still with the talking. So, you can’t protect me forever. If I had decided to become a teacher or a scientist, then maybe you could have. But I decided to become a watcher. It’s a job that entails a bit of danger. It said so in the job description.”

“Dawn,” Buffy said in a cold and almost mechanical voice. “You’re all I have left. What’s about to happen here is probably going to be pretty bad. You can come back and watch when it’s over.”

Dawn shook her head no. “I need to grow up sometime, Buffy. Be my own woman. Make my own choices, my own mistakes, and take all the risks that come with that. It has to happen some time, Buffy. I choose now. I choose now to grow up.”

Buffy nodded calmly. “You want to be an adult, now? Fine. As a watcher, you’ve had one slayer nearly lose a foot, Spike nearly get staked, and your other slayer run off into the city with a former member of your team who is now also of the mentally unstable. You’ve got a total of three important supernatural fugitives who at large in your city. Not a great record, Dawn.”

“Buffy, I know I-”

“Dawn, as an adult who has decided to be a Watcher and therefore works for me, you are being ordered to return to London and report to Giles for further training and reassignment. And since you’re an adult now, I’ll let you pack your own clothes.”

Buffy dropped Dawn’s shirt carelessly on the bed and walked to the door.

***

Faith stepped into the kitchen. Spike was drinking a mug of pig’s blood as he leaned his back against the counter.

“Hey pet,” Spike said, tossing Faith the bra she’d left in the kitchen earlier. “Probably going to need all the support you can get out there.”

Faith grinned at the pun and grabbed the bra. “Thanks.” Faith opened the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. “New marching orders from general Buffy.”

“Yeah?”

“Connor,” Faith said, taking a gulp. “We kill on sight.”

“What?” Spike said, moving forward.

“Apparently, Connor’s the kid of Angel and some other vampire. Freak once in history kind of thing. Anyway, B figures that’s close enough to not human to kill”

“Not to mention shag,” Spike laughed.

“What?”

“You heard me. Toss me a beer, eh luv?” Spike snagged the beer Faith tossed. “Angel’s kid,” Spike said, shaking his head. “Seems like a hell of a thing to do to him. Both of them, really. Never liked Connor. Well, I did for a little. Then he got on my nerves. Still, I hate to see him get played like that.”

“B thinks Connor’s dangerous.”

“And you? Where you come down on this?”

“I’m just a foot soldier.”

Spike shook his head. “You’re every bit as much a slayer as she is, luv. Never let anyone tell you different.”

Faith smiled and sauntered toward Spike. “Every bit?”

“Toe nails to split ends.”

“How lovely,” Faith said with a smirk. She slowly unbuttoned Spike’s shirt. “How’s your wound.” She examined where Dana had staked him.

“Better,” Spike grinned.

“Better enough for a test drive?” Faith asked, sliding Spike’s shirt off.

“Test drive? I’m ready for NASCAR, pet.”

Faith ripped Spike’s pants open. “Feel free to scream.”

“I will,” Spike said, pushing Faith’s shirt off. He leaned forward and kissed her, his tongue darting into her mouth. He touched her breasts gently.

“Fuck, your hands are cold,” Faith said.

“Want me to blow on them?”.

“Want me to blow you?” Faith grinned back.

“Tease.”

“Not Buffy, Brit. I follow through on my promises.” Faith grabbed Spike’s pants and pulled them down hard.

Spike grabbed Faith and pushed her against the wall. He grabbed her pants and pushed them down. Faith reached down and grabbed Spike’s hard dick.

“I’m already wet,” she whispered.

Spike moved between her legs and slip up into her. Faith moved her hips into Spike’s thrusts and grabbed his head, pulling it close to her.

“Oh, god,” she moaned as Spike moved into her. “That’s it. Like that. Do that again. That thing with your . . . oh, fuck yes.”

Spike felt the need to pant despite the fact his lungs no longer required air. He grabbed Faith’s hips and pulled them into him.

“Ungh,” Faith moaned. “Keep going. Harder. Don’t hold back.”

Spike sped up, slamming his hips into hers harder and harder. “Oh god,” Spike said as he orgasmed hard inside Faith.

Faith’s breathing gradually slowed as she came off her own orgasm. “So. That’s vamp sex. Not bad.”

****

“Keep looking. I told you, keep looking!” Angel slammed his cell phone shut. The sun was just down and Spike would be out leading Faith and Buffy to Connor any minute now. He turned a corner and headed into a bar. The demon patrons began to squirm as Angel entered.

“Relax,” he said loudly. “I’m looking to track down and catch something that’d kill you all if he got the chance.”

“Why?” one demon yelled. “So you can sick him on us?”

A grumbling of assent shot through the bar. Several demons stood and walked toward Angel threateningly. Angel backed away. “Now guys,” he said, checking the door. It too was blocked by demons.

“Alright, alright, alright,” a familiar voice came.

Angel looked up to see Lorne pushing his way through the crowd. “Just sit down and settle down. I’ll get him out of here in the happy, no-heads-roll kind of way. Then it’s a round on me for everyone.” Lorne grabbed Angel’s arm and pulled him toward the door. “Come on big guy. Let’s go.”

Lorne got Angel outside and walked him toward an alley. “Angel, look,” he said nervously. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Angel grabbed Lorne by the neck and slammed him against the wall. “You’ve been looking for me? I ought to kill you. In fact, I’m going to kill you!”

“Angel, baby, come on. I’d don’t blame you for being Mr. Anger Ball, but we’re on the same side here.”

Angel squeezed Lorne’s neck tighter. “Are we? How’d that happen?”

“Word on the street is our boy is hunted.”

“Demons know about him already?” Angel growled.

“They know someone started taking out their own in pretty big numbers last night. Good and bad alike. But I’m talking slayer troubles, boss.”

“Buffy?” Angel said.

“Not just her. There’ve been at least two other new slayers in the city today. They’re looking for Connor. All they have is the name and the description. But if turning your kid in gets three slayers out of the city-”

“They’ll do it in a heartbeat,” Angel finished the sentence.

“Well, yeah. If they had one.”

“Still don’t see how that makes us simpatico,” Angel said, pressing into Lorne again.

“Angel, the slayers want Connor dead or alive.”

“And you’re the one who put him in danger.”

“Because I had to!” Lorne yelled. “Do you have any idea what you did? How big it was?”

“I have a pretty good idea how big it was. What it cost. It cost us Fred and Gunn and Wesley. And you know what else? I’d do it again, Lorne!”

“Angel, your son is . . . he’s unprecedented. Something like that doesn’t happen without a purpose.”

“His purpose was to bring about Jasmine. That doesn’t mean I don’t love him.”

“I’ve seen his future. What he’s meant to do from here. Angel, I want your son to stay alive as much as you do. More, maybe.”

“Because you’ve seen his future?” Angel said sarcastically.

“Yes,” Lorne answered firmly.

“I’ve seen his future, Lorne. It’s my future. My son is my future.”

“Wow, Pinocchio,” Lorne sighed with relief as Angel dropped him. “You sound just like a real boy.” He smoothed out the wrinkles in his suit. “I did what I did because your son has things to do in his future. Things he can’t do if his memory was altered.”

“He had his old memories back, Lorne.”

“But the new ones would get in the way.” Lorne’s eyes began to tear again. “Angel, I saw that place. It was . . . indescribable. I . . . I feel sick just thinking about it. I feel sick just thinking about thinking about it. I, more than anyone, didn’t want to give that back to him. But if he’s going to do the things that humanity needs him to do, he needs to be who he really is, not this perfect son you created for yourself. But he’ll also need to be alive.”

Angel looked at Lorne. “Things that humanity needs him to do? Lorne, he’s insane. He’s suicidal and homicidal and other kinds of cidal I can’t think of right now.”

“Right now. But in the future, Angel . . . in the future, your son will be like you. Your son will be a champion.”

Angel looked at Lorne intently for a moment, then at the ground. He closed his eyes, but couldn’t stop the flood of tears that burst through his closed eyelids like a tidal wave through a wooden dam. “Champion,” Angel whispered.

“Provided we can get him there.” Lorne put a hand on Angel’s shoulder. “And I don’t just mean finding him.”

Angel looked up at Lorne questioningly.

“There won’t be any quick fix this time, Angel,” Lorne said. “This time, you’re going to have to sit down and work things out with your son.”

“We need to find him first.”

Lorne nodded. “I think my former partner and crime might be able to help with that. If we can find her.”

*****

“I’m not questioning your leadership or your judgment. God, B, why does it always have to be like this with us?”

“Faith, you don’t have all the facts here,” Buffy said angrily as she stormed into the lobby.

“Then give them to me.”

Willow, who’d been sitting at the front desk, looked up to hear for herself the reasons for the ‘shoot to kill’ orders.

“Connor’s a killer. Connor’s a demon. Connor’s on the loose and will be impossible to bring in alive. Those are the facts. You know what the orders are.”

“What about Angel, B? How can you do this to him? How could you live with it?”

“Connor wants to kill Angel, Faith,” Buffy said coldly. “If we let Connor live, he’ll probably come back and stake the man that fathered him. That is what I can’t live with.”

Buffy and Faith were distracted by the sound of a struggle outside. A moment later, they watched as Eve screamed beneath her gag and struggled harshly against Angel, who was dragging her into the lobby of the Hyperion. Angel flung her onto the floor.

“What’s this?” Buffy said.

“A lead to Connor,” Angel said.

Kennedy, now on a crutch with and with her foot mostly attached, hobbled into the lobby. “Willow got me all . . . what’re you doing here?”

“Angel brought us a lead,” Buffy said coolly.

“You can’t do this, B,” Faith said quietly.

“She know where Connor is?” Buffy asked, nodding toward Eve.

“Maybe,” Lorne said as he entered behind Angel. “Sorry I’m late. Had to feed the meter.”

“Where the hell’d you get off to, Green?” Faith said, stepping toward Lorne.

“Not important,” Angel said. “Buffy, here’s the deal. I lead us to Connor. I call the shots. We bring him in alive.”

Buffy stared and Angel for a moment, considering the offer. Actually, she was considering whether to lie to Angel or not. Regarding Connor, her mind was made up. She shook her head no.

“What?” Faith yelled loudly.

Spike and Dawn walked down into the lobby, each carrying a piece of Dawn’s luggage. Dawn’s eyes were red and puffy. She’d spent most of the afternoon crying. Both froze when they entered the lobby. The tension was so thick it made the air seem heavy and humid.

“What’s going on?” Spike asked.

“Buffy’s dead set on killing Angel’s kid,” Faith yelled.

“Why?!” Angel yelled furiously. “Why?!”

“Because you’re son is murderer, Angel!” Buffy yelled back.

“That was a long time ago! He can be saved!”

“It was today Angel!” Buffy yelled back. “Today. He’d have killed Kennedy if he got the chance.”

“You don’t know that!”

“I know it, Angel! He and Dana are dangerous, especially if they’re working in tandem.”

“And yet we don’t have orders to kill Dana,” Faith cut in.

“Dana isn’t a demon,” Buffy snapped.

“Neither is my son,” Angel replied sharply.

“Angel,” Willow said softly. “If he’s the son of two vampires . . . how could he not be?”

“Buffy,” Faith said quietly. “Buffy, we can’t do this. Maybe the kid’s brain got all scrambled or unscrambled or whatever. But magic . . . magic can’t change a person’s soul. You knew the Connor that we all did. How could he be evil? I don’t think-”
“Think?” Buffy barked. “Faith, the last time you thought, you marched a platoon of girls into a trap. And that’s what will happen this time. Please, leave the planning to me. It’s the tough choices that save lives. Maybe some day, when you’ve been a slayer longer, you’ll learn that.”

Faith bit her lip and went pale as her temper raged inside her. She looked to the stairs. Dawn was going back to England. Connor was to be killed. Her team was dissolving. Her eyes settled on Spike and a sudden burst of confidence shot through her body.

Faith looked at Buffy. “I am every bit the slayer you are,” Faith repeated Spike’s words to her. Maybe he was just trying to get into her pants when he said it. That didn’t matter now. Even if it wasn’t true when Spike said it, Faith would make it true.

“Maybe it took getting laid for me to get my balls back,” Faith said. “But here’s where I am on this. Saving Connor is the tough choice. It will save at least one life. His. It’s a tough choice. And it’s the choice I’m making.”

“Faith,” Buffy started angrily.

“You know, B,” Faith continued, ignoring the interruption. “I remember back in the day, you know, when I was evil, you were pretty ready to kill me to save Angel. I even heard you turned your back on the Council. If that’s true, then this shouldn’t look too unfamiliar to you.”

Faith turned away from Buffy and faced Angel. She stood a moment, then walked to him. “You’re the only one who never gave up on me. I think I owe you and your kid the same. Come on Angel. Let’s go get your son.”

Angel smiled. Had his son not been on a violent rampage in the moment, his soul certainly would have been at risk. Angel grabbed Eve and pulled her to her feet.

“Wait!” Dawn’s voice called from the stairs. She darted down the stairs as quickly as she could while carrying her Watcher training materials. Arriving at Faith’s side, she grinned. “Well, I’m your Watcher, right?”

“Dawn!” Buffy barked.

“Sorry,” the younger Summers said, looking back. “But I told you. I choose now.”

Spike was already walking across the room.

“Guys,” Willow said pleadingly.

Angel looked back to Willow. “I’m sorry about what my son did to Kennedy. But if you kill my son, you better kill me next.”

Lorne sighed, and turned. “Lot of people for one car.”

“Don’t worry,” Faith said confidently. “We’ll manage.”

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