Running on Faith, Season Two: 2.15: Everyone Breaks
by filmtheory
“What’s that sound?” Faith asked, as she stepped out of the SUV.

“Someone’s in the bushes,” Connor and Angel answered simultaneously.

“Maybe we should stick with the car and drive to my mother’s,” Lorne offered.

“This thing does have four-wheel drive,” Faith offered.

“Yeah, but Pylea doesn’t have mechanics,” Angel offered. “If we break down, there’s no getting home.”

“Put your weapons down and your hands up!” someone from the bushes called.

“Yep,” Angel said, gently setting Lorne’s head on the ground. “We’re in Pylea alright.”

Connor dropped Lorne’s body and it landed in the mud.

“Easy!” Lorne said angrily. “That suit is not cheap.”

A pack of about five Pyleans in armor came from the bushes. Two were carrying swords, two had crossbows, and one held a bow and arrow.

“Monarch or Priest?” asked Ahgachk, the leader of the pack. “Identify yourselves.”

“What?” Faith said.

The bowman immediately fired at Faith. She slapped the arrow from the air and dove. “We’re fighting!” she shouted. “Angel, weapons. Connor, do your best not to kill anyone!”

“Hold your fire!” Ahgachk said.

“Three of them our cows!” the bowmen shouted. “They’re obviously Priest.”

“If they were Priest,” Ahgachk said. “They wouldn’t care about killing us.”

“It’s a trick,” the bowmen said. “They’re trying to confuse us by saying they don’t want to hurt us and that they don’t know who the Monarchs and the Priests are. Look! They have the vehicles the Priest sometimes have.”

“Look,” Faith said, now crouching behind the hood of the SUV with a crossbow. “We’re not monarchs or priests. We’re just three people trying to get our friend’s head reattached.”

“We’re not from here,” Angel called. “We just came to reattach Lorne’s head. Krevlorneswath of the Deathwok Clan.”

“Deathwok Clan are monarch,” Ahgachk said as he sheathed his sword. “We’ll take them to Landok. Let him decide what to do with them. You four come with us.”

“Okay,” Angel said, stepping out from behind the SUV. “I know Landok. I’m Angel. The Drokken-killer.”

“Never heard of you,” the leader said. “Let’s hope Landok has, or we’ll be eating your flesh at the Bach-Nal tonight.”

“You’re having a Bach-Nal?” Lorne said. “I’m assuming it’s not for my homecoming.”

The bowmen snorted derisively. “It is to honor the brave death of Landok’s mother, matron of the Deathwok Clan.”

**

“Billy, you were in the army?” Xander asked, handing the soldier a rifle. “You have first guard duty.”

“That’s great,” Kevin Tam said form inside the basement jail cell. “That you have a professional guard and all. But, um, I have rotations in an hour. Is there any chance you could let me out for my shift at the hospital, then kidnap me and lock me up after?”

“Relax, Kevin,” Richard said. “This will all be cleared up soon enough.”

Xander looked at Richard accusingly. “Is that you confessing?”

“Confessing to what exactly?” Richard said.

“We’ve got a mole. I’m betting it’s you. But see, I’m the hedging-your-bets kinda guy.” Xander nodded toward Kevin. “Besides, I figured he could keep you company.”

“Can I speak to Faith, please?” Richard said.

“Faith’s not getting you out of this Mr. Mayor,” Xander said with a cruel grin. “A, because she doesn’t want to and B, because she’s in Pylea.” He looked to Billy. “Shout if they want anything?”

“Like what?” Billy asked.

“Food, perhaps?” Kevin offered. “Or maybe a chamber pot.”

“Yeah,” Xander said. “Hadn’t thought of that.” He contemplated the problem for a moment. “You know what? Hold it in.” Xander gave the cell bars a friendly tap, then headed up the stairs.

“So, I guess Faith’s shagging Billy now, huh?” Dawn was saying as Xander entered the lobby.

“Who said you could talk like me?” Spike said in a mockingly reproachful voice. “And who said you could talk about shagging? Your too young to talk about it, even if you’re old enough to be doing it.”

“Hey guys,” Xander said, entering the lobby. “I thought you two were supposed to be tracking down the remaining slayers.”

“You mean the ones you didn’t lock in the basement while our headquarters was getting attacked?” Dawn asked bitterly.

“I also thought we were burying the hatchet,” Xander added, gathering as much anger in his voice as he could. He didn’t want to sound defensive.

“Well, I wanted to bury a hatchet somewhere,” Spike said with a sly grin. “But Dawn says murder is a wrong, even if the victim is a one-eyed traitor.”

“This isn’t about what went on here,” Xander shouted. “This is about what happened out there, to the other slayers.”

“We don’t know!” Dawn shouted, jumping up from her seat. “We’ve been trying like hell to contact anyone we can for three days straight and we’ve failed! We can’t- Find- Anyone.”

Xander gripped the lobby counter and looked down in frustration. He was quiet a moment. “Damn it!” he shouted as he began kicking the counter.

Spike stood up. “Xander, that’s . . . well, I was going to say that’s not going to do us any good, but it actually looks kind of fun.”

“Look, it’s not hopeless,” Dawn said. “I’m . . . I’m working on a spell.”

“What?” Xander asked. “Dawn, you--”

“Are a very talented witch,” Spike cut him off. “And if you got a spell, I say let’s make with the magic. Because nothing else has worked.”

Xander sighed resignedly. “What kind of spell?”

“The slayer locator spell,” Dawn said nervously.

Xander shook his head. “Dawn, that’s serious mojo.”

“News flash, droopy boy,” Spike cut in. “Gretchen’s dead and Willow’s missing. When it comes to major mojo, Dawn’s the current Alpha Witch!”

“Hey,” Dawn scolded Spike. “I don’t need you to stick up for me. I can speak for myself.” She turned to Xander. “But everything he just said . . . ditto. Unless you have another witch locked up somewhere, I’m your girl.”

***

The monarch patrol marched behind Faith, Connor, and Angel. Angel held Lorne’s head, Connor carried the body. Suddenly, the patrol’s leader froze and looked back and forth.

“Ambush!” the bowmen yelled as the Pyleans dove for cover.

Connor was hesitant to drop Lorne’s body, but Faith hit him like a linebacker and knocked him into the bushes just as an arrow whizzed by.

“Watch the suit!” Lorne shouted as Angel also took cover.

“We’re outnumbered!” Ahgachk shouted. He turned to Faith and hesitantly handed her a sword.

“Thanks,” Faith said. “Connor! Angel! We got three in the . . . never mind.”

Connor and Angel had already leapt into the fray and were stripping the attackers of their weapons.

The Pyleans fell on each other, hacking off their heads and chopping up their bodies.

“Behead them all first, then hack them up later,” Faith called to Connor and Angel.

Angel was way ahead of Faith, but every time Connor downed an attacker, he hacked at it until the head stopped moving. Blood sprayed his face.

“Connor!” Angel called. Angel shuddered when Connor turned his blood-covered face toward Angel. “Just get the head off. We can do the rest later.”

“Gragghhhh!” Ahgachk shouted as his head fell to the ground. A sword immediately slashed his chest.

Faith downed one of her attackers, then turned and hurled her sword into the neck of the attacker who killed Ahgachk. “Connor, hack him,” she said, pointing to the downed attacker.

Conner grinned, raising his axe. Angel held a hand up. “I’ll do it. I don’t want you slipping into any old habits.”

“Killing demons bothers you?” Connor asked derisively.

“They’re not all evil here,” Angel said as he hacked up the body of the attacker.

“Yeah,” Connor said. “I know. Lorne’s good.”

Lorne smiled, glad to know Connor thought he was good. “Um, some of my fellow Pyleans are also . . . well, I don’t want to call them good, but they’re not evil.”

“Help me get this guy’s body,” Faith called as she dragged Ahgachk’s bleeding and decapitated body toward his head.

“No,” Ahgachk answered. “It’s too late. I can see my body. I will not last until I am reunited with it. Go into my pocket. Get the schematics from my pocket. Get them to Landok.”

****

“I don’t know how I feel about this,” Xander said.

“Well, I know how I feel about it,” Spike replied.

“Of course you do! You’re the one who suggested it.”

“Dawn,” Spike said.

Dawn looked down pensively.

“Hey,” Xander shouted. “I’m the senior watcher. I decide!”

“In case you haven’t noticed, mate,” Spike said, punctuating the sentence by shoving Xander. “The Watcher’s Council is more or less out of contact with us, so we’re running things democracy-like, the way you Yanks always brag about. And you, Droopy Boy, are lucky you get a vote after your shenanigans.”

Xander gritted his teeth. “Look, I don’t like the mayor either. But I’m not going to-”

Dawn interrupted the argument by handing Spike a knife. “This isn’t a democracy. I’m in charge. Do it.”

Spike grinned and headed for the basement. “I like Dawn running things.”

“You can’t do this!” Xander yelled.

“I’ll bet I can,” Spike smirked. “You can watch if you don’t believe me.”

“Dawn,” Xander said desperately as he looked at the younger watcher.

“I don’t like it either, but we’re not getting anywhere. We’ve tried spells, but the Mayor’s too powerful.”

Spike stepped into the basement. “Billy boy, go upstairs and take a break.”

Billy wanted to protest, but something in Spike’s demeanor gave him the impression that would be dumb. Billy headed up the stairs.

“So,” Richard said. “It’s come to this.”

“What?” Kevin said as he sat next to Richard. “It’s come to what?”

“Doc,” Spike said, tapping the bars with his knife. “Why don’t you step up here and put your hands through these here bars.”

Kevin stood up, but remained at the back of the cage looking at Spike nervously. “Why? What are you going to do to me?”

“It’s alright, Kevin,” Richard said. “I suspect he’s here for me.”

“Guilty conscience, mate?” Spike smiled.

“Just seems like common sense,” Richard said.

Kevin reluctantly stepped forward and placed his hands through the bars. Spike removed hand cuffs and shackled the doctor. He then opened the cage and stepped inside. Richard raised his hand and began to speak. A bolt of energy shot from the stairs, hitting Richard in the chest before he could speak. Spike looked to the stairs to see Dawn.

“Thanks, Bit,” Spike said.

“Just get to it,” Dawn said. “I’m not much happier about this than Xander is.”

*****

They moved in a circle, counter-clockwise. They stomped forward with their left foot, then dragged their right to meet it. Once the feet were together, they threw their hands up and looked to the sky, then lowered both again and repeated the initial step. In the middle of the circle was not yet lit funeral pyre of Lorne’s mother.

Faith, Angel, Connor, and Lorne watched as the mourners completed their ritual dance and lit the pyre. Lorne, though detached from his body and not overly fond of his mother, still managed a tear for the matron of the Deathwok Clan.

“Angel!” Landok’s voice rang as he looked up after the dance of sorrow.

“And Faith,” the slayer added, handing over a scroll. “Your guys got killed. They told us to bring you this.”

Landok took the scroll. Depsite the news of the death of his comrades, he looked elated. “It is the Drokken-killer, come to help!”

“Landok,” Angel began. “That’s not why we’re-”

“He has followed the Cursed One again!” Numphar shouted gleefully.

Connor looked at Angel. He could feel a shift in his father and knew the words Cursed One had some meaning for Angel.

“Yes,” Landok said. “First, the High Queen of Pylea returned, and now her champion has as well.”

“Angel?” Faith said nervously. “You look pale . . . er.”

“Cursed One,” Connor said, repeating the words that seemed to have such meaning for Angel.

“Yeah,” Angel said. “Connor . . . Connor, it’s . . .” He couldn’t bare to say it.

“Cordelia,” Connor said, looking down with a mixture of happiness, sadness, and worry.

“Yeah,” Angel repeated. “Cordelia.”

Faith shrugged. “Well, Cordelia or not, I’m still the hottest brunette in this dimension.”

*****

Xander was upstairs, pulling his hair out. Like Buffy, he didn’t much care about the Mayor. But the consequences to the souls of Spike and Dawn were dire. In making this decision, Dawn has edged closer to a line Xander didn’t want her crossing.

Dawn sat on a chair outside the cell in the basement. Her cold gaze watched impassively as Spike continued his work.

The Mayor groaned in pain as Spike peeled off another layer of skin. “I told you all I know! Freely and gladly!”

“I’ll bet you have, mate,” Spike said, lighting a cigarette. “But just for kicks, I’m going to pretend I you haven’t.” Spike lowered the cigarette to a skinned portion of Richard’s arm and burned it.

“Spike, that’s enough.” Dawn stood and walked toward the cage. “I can’t tell if he’s lying or not, but I can tell this isn’t getting us anywhere either.”

“It will,” Spike said. “Maybe it’ll take a day or two. Maybe a month. But sooner or later, he’ll break. Everyone does.”

“We’re not doing this for a month,” Dawn said. “Looks like we go to work on Doctor Tam.”

Spike smiled and Kevin frowned.

“Well,” Kevin said. “I suppose it was only a matter of time. But could you at least have my medical bag handy so I can dope myself up when this oaf is done?”

“Don’t worry,” Dawn said. “Spike’s not torturing you.”

“The hell I’m not!” Spike protested.

“We’ll try magic again. But this time, we’ll take him away from Richard so we can be sure there’s no interference.”

“Let me ask you this, Miss Summers,” Richard said in a weak voice. “Have you tried your magicks on Faith’s friend Billy?”

“Why would we?” Dawn asked, trying to show a brave front while silently cursing herself for not at least considering it.

“It’s an awfully big coincidence, him showing up when he did,” Richard said. “And let’s not forget his history. He was in the military, missing for years as a P.O.W. If he was gone so long, he couldn’t have been a P.O.W. in the current war. He’s too young for Desert Strom or Somalia. So, what’s that leave?”

“Bosnia,” Spike said, gritting his teeth.

“What about Bosnia?” Dawn asked, standing up.

“He was a P.O.W. in Bosnia,” Spike said, taking a drag from his cigarette. “The Markoviks are Serbian. They were there, Bit. They had Billy.”

“For six years,” Richard emphasized. “As you said, William. Sooner or later, everyone breaks.”

Spike and Dawn ran to the top of the stairs.

“They’re gone. It’s the perfect time,” Billy said into his cell phone. He turned to see Spike come out of the basement. “Mom, I’ll have to call you back.”

“Oh, no,” Spike said. “Don’t hang up. I’d like to talk to your mum if you don’t mind.”

Xander walked out of the office, still pissed about the decision to torture the Mayor. He looked from Spike to Billy. “What’s with the testosterone?”

“Xander look out!” Dawn screamed.

The military-guy training came in handy one more time. Xander dove for cover just as Billy whipped out his pistol and fired. The bullet hit Xander in the arm and he fell to the floor.

“You’re dead now!” Spike said, pulling a crossbow from the cabinet. The doors to the hotel burst open and three vampires in body armor stormed in. Two more came from the opposite door.

“Here we go,” Dawn said, mustering a fireball in her hand. “Round two.”

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