“So,” Faith said as she and Connor walked to the demon bar. “You and Dawn. What’s going on there?”
Connor looked at her curiously. He didn’t know what she meant, but didn’t want to say so. He hated be laughed at and being called things like “romantically retarded.” He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.
Faith smiled warmly. “You like her?”
“She’s nice.”
“Nice as in . . .”
Connor looked at her oddly. “She’s nice to me. Most people . . . aren’t.”
“Ever think that’s because maybe you’re not nice to them?”
“No,” Connor said, turning to face her as if he’d been waiting for someone to propose that. “The first time we met, when we were hunting Angelus and the Beast, you came in and started bossing everybody around. You just got there and you didn’t know what was going on and you had to act like you knew everything. Then you called me a kid and acted like I wasn’t important and I couldn’t help you when you so could have used me.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Chill out. First of all, I don’t remember any of that. But if it happened, sorry. I just busted out of prison after three years. It’s like a zoo in there. You have to be cocky and aggressive, or you wind up someone’s bitch. And I ain’t nobody’s bitch. I guess I was kind of still in that mode.”
“So I guess you know how I might feel after sixteen years in Quar’toth.”
Faith looked at Connor appraisingly. She remembered her mother again. I hope some day you have a kid like you so you can see what it’s like! “Alright,” she said to Connor with a slight grin. “I’ll give you that one.”
Connor smiled. It was a real smile now, not a mocking or sly one. A smile that could light up a room. Faith thought if anyone had one, this kid did. She wondered if it was that his smile was that bright or that he did it so infrequently that it had a more powerful affect.
For the first time in her life, Faith felt . . . maternal. It was uncomfortable and kind of icky. But she thought back to that room in Vail’s mansion. This kid really was a younger, angrier, more intense, male version of herself.
“We’re here,” she said. “Follow my lead.” She opened the door, then paused. “Look, ki . . . Connor. Nobody’s perfect. I’m going to make mistakes. Same as everybody else. But I’m in charge, so you need to listen to me. You used to take directions from Holtz, right?”
Connor was slightly offended by Faith mentioning his foster father. He settled some when he realized she meant no offence. Connor nodded.
“Well he didn’t care about you one percent as much as we do. So if you can take directions from him, you can take directions from me. And if you can take directions from me, than you and me got no problems. Comprende?”
“Compredno,” Connor said with a smile.
“Bueno,” she said, opening the door. “Now let’s go in here, torture this guy, and rescue Giles.”
******
"All I'm saying," Faith said as she slammed Fordon's head into the bar. "Is that girls like a guy with confidence. Can you cut this guy's horn off?"
"No," Fordon yelled. "Not the horn!"
"That tell us what we want to know," Connor answered angrily. "And I have confidence!" he went on, turning to Faith. He pointed to the dozen or so injured or dead demons lying on the floor of the bar. "You saw me back there."
"I don't know anything about Wolfram & Hart," Fordon yelled.
"Then you lose a horn," Faith said. "And I'm not talking about confidence as a fighter, Connor. I'm talking confidence with people. You got to make it like there's no logical choice except to go out with you."
Connor grabbed the horn and put the blade of his knife to it. "Okay. But how do I do that?"
"Look," Fordon said. "I really don't know anything, but if you let me go, I can help your friend with his girl problems. I know a guy who specializes in love spells and I can-"
"Shut up!" Faith and Connor yelled simultaneously.
Connor began sawing into Fordon's horn.
"Ahhhhh," the demon yelled. "There're nerves in there. Look, Connor, right? Guy to guy here, that horn is really important to me. In a guy way."
"What?" Connor said. "What's that mean?" He glanced at Fordon's girlfriend, lying unconscious on the ground. He noticed she didn't have a horn, but something like a second mouth on her forehead. Connor looked back to the horn. Realization hit him and he quickly released the horn and jumped back. "Oh, gross!"
"Connor," Faith said angrily. "Cut the horn off!"
"I'm not touching that thing!" Connor said disgustedly.
"Hey," Faith yelled. "What'd we just talk about outside?"
Connor shook his head angrily and gripped the horn. "Fine," he said bitterly. "But I'm pointing it at you. If it sprays . . . anything . . . it's going on your face, not mine."
Faith grimaced. "Why are guys so into that?"
"What?" Connor asked as he started sawing again.
"I'll tell you when you're older." Faith looked to Fordon again. "We got your name from Wolfram & Hart's old files, Fordon. We know you know them."
"I'll talk!" Fordon yelled. "I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll talk!"
"Connor!" Faith yelled. He looked at her in confusion. "You stop cutting when they say they'll talk."
"Oh," he said, moving back. "I didn't notice. Just sounded like screaming to me."
*******
"Just kiss her," Faith whispered. She was crouched down, sneaking across the roof.
"I can't," Connor whispered back as he walked beside her. "She hasn't kissed me yet."
"So?"
"You can't kiss a girl before she kisses you, can you?"
Faith stopped and looked at Connor as if he were crazy.
"You're not going to call me romantically retarded again, are you?" he asked.
"Well . . . you kind of are. You can kiss Dawn before she kisses you. Just go and . . Wait! Get down!"
The two lowered themselves flat against the rooftop.
"You hear something, Mickey," one of the guards said.
"Your imagination, Jack."
"I'm going to go check over here."
"And now," Faith said quietly. "We fight."
Faith and Connor sprung to their feet. Faith pulled a stake from her belt while Connor's shot out from the device mounted on his wrist.
"Gotta make me one of those," Faith said as she punched Jack in the face.
"Deal," Connor said.
"Call the back up," Jack said as he stumbled.
Connor jumped over Jack and landed in front of Mickey. "Back up?" he said as he elbowed Mickey. "You wimps."
Mickey threw a punchy and Connor dodged. Connor jabbed with his stake, but Mickey backed away. Connor quickly glanced behind Mickey, then threw a combination of punches and kicks. Mickey smiled as he shuffled backward, blocking them all.
"You throw a lot of punches, but don't seem to land many," Mickey mocked.
"Not trying to land them," Connor growled and threw a roundhouse. Again Mickey dodged by moving back.
"Oh yeah," Mickey said, landing a quick jab to Connor's ribs and backing away a few steps. "Then what're you trying to do?"
Connor threw another combination, driving Mickey back a few more steps. "Get you to the edge of the roof," Connor smiled.
Mickey turned and looked back. Connor quickly shoved Mickey, tripping the vampire backward over the low-rising wall. Connor threw his left arm out and Mickey instinctively grabbed it. Connor pulled Mickey up with his left arm while his right arm shot forward, staking him. Connor was still pulling Mickey when the vamp turned to dust, causing Connor to stumble backward.
Nearby, Jack had pushed Faith back near the edge of the roof as well. He knew he had to finish her fast before Connor came over and it was two on one. "That's what I'm going to do to you," Jack laughed as he drove Faith back a few more feet. "Except I'm not going to catch you when you fall."
"One slight difference," Faith said, throwing a punch and backing away again.
"Which is?" Jack said, hammering Faith in the shoulder and driving her back further.
Faith took one more step back. "I know where the edge is," she said, leaping backward. She sprung off the low edge and jumped over the vampire, spinning in air. Jack spun to meet her, but as Faith came down, she drove the stake diagonally down into the vamp's heart. Jack burst to dust.
"Damn, those two were some tough vamps," Faith said. "Dawn better move in on you fast, ‘cause I'm so worked up I could do you on this rooftop."
"Really?" Connor said, more curious than excited.
"No!" Faith said in her most 'as if' voice. Connor smirked, turning and walking toward the roof access door. "Well, probably not," Faith whispered to herself.
Connor turned and cocked an eyebrow playfully. He could tell she was teasing him now.
"God damn vampire hearing. Let's go." Faith laughed internally, realizing that poor Connor would never really know that he did get her kind of worked up sometimes. The way he looked, talked, and walked were all very unimpressive. But when he fought, he had everything a guy needed to get her hot and bothered. The quick and graceful movements, the hammering kicks and punches, and the look of vicious anger on his face. She exhaled just thinking about it. But as soon as he stopped, he was just walking, talking, and looking like himself again. The sex appeal drained instantly and Faith was left feeling chummy and slightly maternal. Ick again she thought to herself. I gotta get Spike back so I can scratch this itch and stop thinking about stuff that's just . . . gross.
"So," she said, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "I decided I'm not going to be a mother figure, but a cool older sister type. How's that sound?"
Connor looked at her with a warm smile. "Like family," he said happily.
"Yeah. It's . . . it's nice when you do that."
"What?" Connor asked, looking confused.
"Smile. You should do it more often."
"You too.”
Faith laughed, than gave Connor a big fake smile. "Good enough for you?"
"Perfect," Connor said as he opened the door.
A vampire inside turned and looked at them in shock. "Where are Jack and Mickey?" he said bewilderedly.
"We killed them," Connor said in disbelief, as if this vamp should have already known.
"You didn't hear us out here?" Faith said in a voice as incredulous as Connor's.
"Um . . ." the vamp looked outside at the roof. "No."
"Man,” Faith said, sounding annoyed. "You gotta be the deafest vampire I ever-"
Connor quickly jabbed the vamp with a stake.
Faith turned to Connor looking pissed. "I wasn't done yelling at him!"
"He was boring," Connor said petulantly as he started down the stairs.
"Fordon said they had a kind of jail on the seventh floor," Faith said, following him.
"What floor are we on?"
"Don't know. No numbers. See? I knew we should have kept that vamp around longer." Faith threw open the door to a random floor. She stuck her head into the hall and looked both ways. A lawyer in a suit walked by looking and papers, glancing up when he saw Faith. He smiled slightly.
"Can I help you?" the lawyer asked.
"Yeah," Faith said, grabbing him and jerking him into the stairwell. "What floor are we on?"
"What?" the lawyer said, looking between Faith and Connor.
"What floor?" Faith yelled.
"Eleven, eleven" the lawyer said frantically.
"Thanks.”
Faith was about to hit the lawyer when Connor asked "Where're all the guards?"
"Whu . . . What?" the lawyer stammered.
"You're gonna start this shit again?" Faith said angrily. "Answer the kid's question."
"Mu . . . most of them are gone," he said. "Dead or quit. The Slayers have nearly wiped us out. I'd be out of here too if I didn't have a mortgage to pay."
"House in the area?" Faith asked.
"Pacific Palisades," the lawyer answered, finally comfortable with the topic of conversation.
"Nice," Faith said in an impressed voice as she raised her eyebrows. Instantly, she slammed the lawyer in the forehead with the heel of her open hand. His eyes rolled back and he slumped down, unconscious. Faith dropped him on the floor.
"You guys have nearly wiped him out?" Connor said. "Giles and Willow never mentioned-"
"Don't know what he's talking about either," Faith said, looking down suspiciously. She shook her head. "Four flights down. Let's go."
Faith and Connor rolled down the next flights of stairs. As they ran down, she realized that she actually liked this kid. She didn't have the same baggage with him she had with the others. She'd gotten him over his allergy to taking orders. It felt nice to be in charge without having a sneaking suspicion she shouldn't be.
Faith punched out the lock to the seventh floor and threw open the door. She and Connor jumped into the hallway. There were no offices. The entire wall was a see-through Plexiglas panel through which people on the floor could see into divided cells. Faith stepped slowly to the glass and looked into one of the cells. Giles was sitting in a corner, his shirt off and pants pulled down. On top of him, with her back to Faith, Drusilla moved back and forth, writhing in pleasure.
Faith swallowed to get moisture back in her mouth. "What. The. Fu . . ."
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