Spike slammed the door shut and scooped Faith into his arms. “More black hats on the way.”
“I’m not letting a girl carry me!” Faith moaned.
“It’s me, Angel, or Connor.” Spike looked at Angel and his son. The vampire still had his arm around Connor, holding up the pale boy with red puffy eyes.
Connor moved from Angel and scooped Dana into his arms.
“Let me get her, son,” Angel said quietly.
“No,” Connor answered in a quiet whisper. “If she woke up, she’d . . . she’d want me to be the one . . .”
Angel nodded and looked to Dawn. “Need carrying?”
“Need escaping,” Dawn answered.
“Damn shame your kid lost his memory,” Spike grinned. “Cuz when he was college boy Connor, he was pretty awesome at the whole Houdini bit.”
Connor glared at Spike. “What do you mean lost my memory? I remember fine.”
“Long story,” Angel said. “In the meantime-”
Angel was interrupted by Wolfram & Hart’s guards knocking the door in.
Spike quickly kicked one guard into another, knocking them into the hall. Despite the pain in her legs, Faith pulled out of Spike’s arms and prepared to fight. Spike threw himself in front of Faith and took a hale of gunfire. Spike fell to the ground in anguish. Faith jumped over him and knocked a filing cabinet in front of the door. It wouldn’t last, but it would buy them a few seconds.
“Get Connor and Dawn back to the hotel,” Angel called as he scooped up the injured Spike. “Spike and I are taking the subterranean route.”
Connor frowned as Angel made his way for the hall. Angel looked back at his son. “I’ll meet you there. Get Faith and Dana back safely.”
Connor turned and kicked out a Plexiglas window. He stepped to the edge and jumped.
“Noooo!” Dawn screamed, diving for the falling boy. As she looked over the edge of the building, she saw Connor land smoothly on the ground, still holding Dana. Faith, Angel, and Spike looked at her with mocking grins.
“Well,” Dawn said defensively. “I didn’t know he could do that!” Dawn looked down again. “Looks like he wants us to jump down and he’ll catch us.”
“Yeah?” Faith grinned as she hobbled to the smashed out window and looked down. “This’ll probably be the highlight of his day.” Faith hopped out.
Dawn watched as Connor caught the slayer and lowered her to the ground. She glanced at Spike and Angel, then turned back to the window. She wasn’t sure how much she could trust the suicidal and homicidal son of two vampires. More importantly, she realized falling several stories into Connor’s arms would not help Dawn get past her little crush on the boy. Still, it was that or be shot. After quick consideration, Dawn decided the crush would be marginally less painful than the gunshot.
With a loud but almost joyful scream, Dawn dropped from the building and into Connor’s arms. She was convinced she was going to hit the ground and die, even several seconds after Connor had already caught her. He looked at her shyly and uncomfortably for a moment before lowering her to the ground.
“Um . . . thanks,” Dawn said quietly, staring into Connor’s eyes. She was still holding onto him.
“Um . . . yeah,” he said nervously, staring back at Dawn. Connor’s face was still streaked with tears. Dawn felt a powerful urge to want to comfort him. Her heart ached for this almost angelic looking boy who only moments ago verged on ending his life.
“Much as I appreciate young love,” Faith said, grabbing Connor’s arm. “We’ve got escaping to do.”
“Right,” Connor smiled shyly. The three ran hard for the hotel, but running was hardly necessary. Wolfram & Hart’s contingent in L.A. was small at the moment and containing Angel was the priority. Five stories above, Angel and Spike charged for an elevator shaft and, hopefully, an escape.
**
Angel had two bullet wounds in his back when he stumbled into the Hyperion lobby. Foolishly, he thought the gunshot and car accident filled escape he just managed would be the end of his daily dose of extreme action. However, the scene at the hotel was far from peaceful.
Kennedy laid on one couch, her arm in a sling and nursing broken ribs. Willow sat up on another couch, he head and wrist in bandages. Connor, having recovered from his cry-fest with dad was arguing loudly with Faith as Dawn stood between the two, trying to push the two apart.
“The fuck I’m not, Junior,” Faith shouted angrily. “And you’re going in there too.”
“Fine!” Connor yelled. “Put me wherever you want. But you’re not putting her down there.”
“I told you, Connor. Dana’s dangerous.”
“And I told you she doesn’t like basements. No basements! You’re not putting her down there.”
Angel left Spike to limp on his own and made his way to Willow. He didn’t see so much as feel Connor’s gaze shift momentarily toward him.
“Angel,” Connor said, breaking away from Dawn and Faith. “Can you tell her not to put Dana in the basement?”
“Hang on,” Angel said, throwing a hand out. He leaned to Willow and whispered. “The spell Dawn mentioned before. Think you can do it?”
“What?” Connor shouted as Willow shook her head no in answer to Angel’s question. “What spell?” he yelled, coming up before his father.
Angel groaned, knowing Connor’s overhearing the question would make this tricky.
“The suck out your bratty ass black energy spell,” Faith said as she followed Connor.
“What?!” Connor yelled looking back at Faith. “No! No spells. No basements for Dana and no spells on me.”
“I need time, Angel,” Willow said quietly. “Let me go outside and-”
Though he seemed docile and quiet on the way home, Connor had almost instantly returned to his violent and feral demeanor when Faith had said she was locking Dana and him in the basement. And he seemed to be getting angrier by the moment.
“Dawn?” Angel said, looking to the girl.
“What?” she asked, hoping to stay out of the argument. At the moment, she was feeling more like duck-and-cover girl.
“Dawn?” Angel said again, raising his eyebrows. He didn’t want to say it out loud.
“Oh,” Dawn said, getting his meaning. “I . . . I don’t know.”
Connor looked around. Caught between Faith, Angel, and Dawn, he took on the look of a trapped tiger. Angel knew the look well. He also knew his son, strangely enough, seemed to fight better against groups than he did against individuals.
“Whatever he’s asking, it’s yes or no, girl,” Faith said, closing in on Connor.
“I . . .” Dawn hesitated. “I don’t . . .”
Connor broke for the door. Faith almost managed to get a hand on him, but, sensing her presence, Connor threw his elbow back, hammering her in the eye.
Angel tackled his son and dragged the boy to the ground. “Faith!” he yelled, but the slayer was already leaping into the fray on her injured legs. She pushed down, trying to pin Connor.
“Dawn, do it!” Angel yelled.
“You can do it, Dawnie,” Willow called from the couch as she herself tried to stand. By now, Kennedy and Spike too were rolling their injured bodies into the fight.
The group piled onto Connor. He snaked his arms free, grabbing Faith head. He twisted it hard, threatening to break her neck. “First time we fought,” he hissed as he twisted. “You asked me if I was a murderer. Wasn’t then. Am now.”
“Dawn!” Angel yelled as he tried to pulls his son’s hands off Faith.
Dawn hit the floor and slid her hands between the struggling bodies. She found Connor’s shirt and ripped it open. Holding a transparent stone, she placed her hands over Connor’s heart. It would be hard to maintain contact in this struggle, but she knew she had to. She winced as someone’s shoulder pinned her wrist into Connor’s chest at a painful angle. But she maintained contact as she quietly whispered.
“Louder, Dawnie,” Willow called.
“Haseth,” Dawn chanted in a speaking voice. “Haseth massitat. Haseth chantra. Edo Quar’Toth. Edo naught. Haseth. Haseth massitat.”
Dawn’s body was wracked with pain and, more disturbingly, a heavy rush of sadness, anger, hate, and despair. She thought she was screaming but couldn’t hear herself. Outside was a vivid white glow. All Dawn saw was black.
Dawn wasn’t sure if she’d passed out, but she didn’t think too much time could have elapsed. The stone in her hand was now black instead of clear. Everyone was still in the same position. Except now, instead of trying to break Faith’s neck, Connor laid docilely in his father’s arms.
Faith, Kennedy, and Spike slowly began climbing off Connor. The boy’s head sat gently against his father’s chest. His look was one of confusion and shame, but also with a paradoxical hint of contentment. Angel had his right hand wrapped around his son’s chest while his left stroked Connor’s hair gently. Dawn smiled at this tableau of paternal affection. It reminded her of a time so very long ago when her father held her like that. But much like Connor’s idyllic childhood was another life for him, Dawn’s hours in her father’s arms were made of memories of things that had never been.
“Get off of him,” an inhuman voice hissed.
Faith, still on Connor’s legs, looked up to see Dana standing by the weapons cabinet. She held a battle-axe threateningly.
Despite his satisfaction at staying in his father’s arms, Connor lackadaisically stood up. Before Faith realized it, Connor was standing by Dana. Faith moved to her feet, and prepared for a fight. These two were just going to be nonstop trouble.
Angel gripped Faith’s shoulder and quietly whispered, “It’s okay.”
“It’s okay,” Connor’s voice whispered at the same moment. His hand was on Dana’s axe. He was slowly pushing it down. Like his father had done with him, Connor raised a hand to Dana’s hair and stroked it gently.
“I’m not going back,” Dana barked angrily.
“I know,” Connor said, taking the axe from her and dropping it on the floor. His hand moved to her shoulder and he pulled Dana gently into a hug. “We’re going upstairs,” he said to her softly. “To the roof. We can look at the sky and feel the breeze and . . . and you can be you. And I can be me. And we won’t have to go back. Either of us.”
Dawn frowned slightly. Despite the fact that Connor was obviously saving them from much pain and violence, she couldn’t help but feel a fierce pang of jealousy. After all, it had been Dawn that had just endured brutal pain to give Connor some small amount of solace. And now he was stroking Dana’s hair and pulling Dana into a hug. Dawn tried to pretend her jealousy was a side effect of Connor’s “soul-colonic,” but knew the spell didn’t work that way. Not liking this new tableau in which she found Connor, she turned away.
Connor walked with his arm around Dana for the stairs. “We’re going up to the roof.”
Faith looked at Angel questioningly, then moved to block Connor and Dana from the stairs. “Maybe you’re hearing deficient, kid. I said-”
“We’re going to the roof,” Connor said resolutely as he continued toward the stairs without looking up at Faith.
Faith glanced at Angel, then backed away slightly. She still stood between Connor and the stairs.
“How can we keep her there?” Faith asked.
“She likes it there,” Connor said.
“But how do I know she won’t trade us in for some other roof?”
“I’ll keep her there,” Connor said purposefully.
“And who’ll keep you there?”
“Faith,” Spike said in a tired voice. “It’s okay. Just . . . just let them go up.”
Faith looked at Spike, then Angel. She stepped out of Connor’s way. Connor nodded to Faith in gratitude as he and Dana walked past.
“Connor,” Angel called when his son had reached the foot of the stairs. Connor looked back. “A little later, you and I should talk.”
Connor looked at his father with a look of anger that faded to one of sadness and shame. He nodded sadly, then continued with Dana up the stairs.
“You’re just going to let them hang out on the roof?” Dawn barked. “God knows what they could do up there.”
“Only one thing I can think of,” Faith said raising her eyebrows. “And maybe it’d let them use up some energy. Like letting your dog out in the yard. With another dog.”
“Given Dana’s track record,” Lorne’s voice came from the back entrance to the lobby. The demon looked beaten up pretty badly. “I’m not sure she’d associate that particular act with affection.” Lorne came down the steps. “Sorry crazy cats. Wanted to make sure the fisticuffs were definitely over before I-”
Angel had crossed the lobby and slammed Lorne into a wall before the demon knew it. The vampire’s game face was on as he pressed the Pylean the wall.
“Woah, easy there!” Faith yelled.
“Waiting for the end of the fighting?” Angel growled. “Maybe you shouldn’t have come back.”
“Hey, big guy!” Lorne began.
“He’s my son, Lorne. My son! And if you saw the past, if you saw what I was willing to do to Wesley for putting him through that hell, what made you think you’d get any different for putting him through it again? How dare you? How dare you?!”
It took all of the green demon’s strength, but a wave of rage gave him the power to shove Angel back.
“How dare I!” Lorne yelled back. “You’re the one who tampered with your own son’s mind. Not to mention mine, the rest of your friends’, and, oh, the whole world while you were at it. I know he’s your son. That’s why you get a pass in my book. But how could you think that was right, Angel? How could you think it would work? You know how dangerous magic is. You know there’s always a price. And what was the price for this, Angel? Huh? Selling out to Wolfram & Hart? Fred’s life? Wesley’s? Gunn’s? How many more people have to die because you’re an inadequate father?”
Angel lunged for Lorne again, but Faith and Spike had him and were pulling him back.
“Enough!” Faith yelled. “No more fighting. I don’t want any more fighting. From now on, all disputes will be settled by a round of rock, paper, scissors!”
Faith glanced at Spike. She’d almost said Texas Hold ‘Em, but that brought back memories of the first night she’d kissed him. She could do without the embarrassment. Thought of the card game unfortunately also brought back memories of a funny kid she was getting know. Apparently, he didn’t exist anymore.
“What happened to you?” Dawn asked, seeing Lorne’s battered state.
“Wolfram & Hart stopped by our hideout. Beat me up and stole our hostage.”
“Eve escaped?” Angel yelled.
“I don’t know if ‘escaped’ is the word. They didn’t seem pleased with her and she didn’t seem pleased to be going.”
“We can deal with Eve later” Faith said. “Anyone going to tell me what the glow show was all about?”
“Spell,” Angel said curtly. He was bitter Faith had stopped him form attacking Lorne and even more bitter that she was right to do it, as was Lorne to say what he said.
“Duh,” Spike replied to Angel. He looked at Dawn. “Care to explain Lil’ Bit?”
“In the orb,” Willow spoke up. “The one with Connor’s real life, I saw Cordelia do some kind of heally thing to Connor. Figured maybe we could do a spell that had the same effect. Cleanse him of the black energy.”
“I found one in the Codex of Seth,” Dawn said.
“Snake worshipers!” Lorne said in shock. “You used a spell from snake worshipers!”
“Willow was keeping an eye on Buffy,” Angel said. “We knew Dawn would probably be the one to get closest to Connor. She practiced the spell and, well, did it.”
“Two spells in one day,” Dawn said with a smile. “Yay me!”
“So, no more feral Connor?” Faith said hopefully.
“Unfortunately,” Willow said nervously. “When people are exposed to a mystical environment, the energy from that environment seeps into them. From the time he spent in Quar’Toth, Connor has a lot of blackness in him. We can pull it out but . . . eventually, it’ll find it’s way back to it source.”
“Quar’Toth?” Lorne asked.
“Connor,” Willow answered. “Getting rid of the energy permanently would require us to create a portal to Quar’Toth, which is impossible. And too dangerous to do even if it were possible.”
“So, Junior gets a soul-cleaning with every meal,” Spike smirked. “Kind of like a mystical diabetic.”
“Once a week should do it,” Dawn said.
“Why can’t we just trap all the evil in a black orb like Cyvus Vail did?” Angel asked.
Willow shook her head. “Vail can play around with black energy because he practiced heavy black magic. Anyone not of the evil persuasion who tried to handle that much evil . . . they’d be overwhelmed by it.”
“Well, who knows,” Spike smiled patronizingly. “Maybe some other dark wizard will come along and Angel can contract with him. Speaking of evil spells, where’s Buffy? She secured in the basement? We get her fixed yet?”
Willow looked down.
“When we came in,” Faith said, “these two were pretty banged up. Looks like she got away.”
“She had something on her back,” Kennedy said. “Parasite or something.”
“Yeah,” Willow said. “But she seemed to be less about the spreading of parasites and more about the offing Connor.”
Faith looked at Willow. “Why would a parasite care about that?”
“I don’t know,” Willow said. “I . . . I think I remember her speaking French, too.”
“French?” Spike asked. He looked at Faith.
Faith nodded. “Who else do we know who speaks French, plays with demons, and apparently wants Connor dead? First order of business is to find out who’s battle ready and who’s in the infirmary.” Faith looked around. “God. You guys all look like shit. This is going to be ugly.”
***
“It’s kind of like going back into the lion’s den, isn’t it?” Dawn asked as she pulled her knapsack onto her back.
“More like the lion’s mouth,” Faith said as she loaded up on weapons. “But it’s what we gotta do.”
“Without any back up?” Dawn asked.
Faith turned to Dawn. “If you were in a fight and Willow was getting beat down, would you try to help her?”
“Of course,” Dawn said, offended at even having been asked.
“That’s why no back up,” Faith said.
“Come again.”
“You and me, kiddo,” Faith said. “Our friends need us, we throw it all on the line to help them. Right now, Willow, Angel, Spike, and Kennedy are pretty hurt up. In a fight, they’d only get themselves in trouble. We already have to worry about saving Buffy’s ass. I don’t need anymore friends in the fray to slow me down.”
“What about your legs?” Dawn asked.
“They’re fine. Angel said Connor mostly just grazed me.”
Dawn nodded. Still, she was nervous about the impending fight.
“Relax, Dawn. You forget that this is how it’s been for centuries. Just the slayer and her watcher.”
“Yeah,” Dawn said with a smile. She liked the idea of finally being recognized as a watcher. “I guess so.”
The walk back to the building where Wolfram & Hart’s LA crew currently had their headquarters was quick. Unfortunately, night was coming just as quickly. Faith and Dawn went to the roof of a nearby building. As they rode the elevator up, Dawn looked at Faith nervously.
“You’re aware that we’re like three buildings away, right?”
Faith nodded. “They’ll be watching the places next door. We’re going to have to get a little Tarzan action going.”
“Shiny,” Dawn said.
“What?” Faith asked.
“Shiny,” Dawn said. “Means cool. They say it on this TV show I watched until it got cancelled.”
“You watch too much TV.” Faith went kicked in the locked door blocking the roof access. They were in a beat up apartment building. She doubted anyone would mind.
On the roof, Faith lowered he duffel bag to the ground and removed a rifle. “Don’t worry,” she said, seeing the look on Dawn’s face. “They’re only tranqs.”
Laying low on the roof, Faith took aim at the guards on the roof of Wolfram & Hart’s temporary headquarters. She squeezed off three quick shots, putting down the three guards on the roof.
Faith picked up Dawn and smiled. “Bend your knees when you hit the roof.”
“What?!” Dawn yelled. But it was too late. For the second time that day, Dawn was flying through the air. She hit the roof with a thud. Still getting her bearings, she heard another thud as Faith landed on the roof next to her.
“No time for a break, Watcher girl.”
“Watcher woman,” Dawn said sarcastically as Faith picked her up.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Remember to bend your knees when you hit this time.”
****
As the sun set on the L.A. skyline, Angel approached the roof where his son was hopefully still waiting with Dana. He was alarmed by the sounds of running footsteps. But the alarm melted into satisfaction as he heard laughter coming from the roof above. Connor and Dana were playing.
Angel opened the door and watched as Dana chased Connor. “Careful!” Angel yelled as his son came perilously close to the edge of the roof.
Connor stopped and looked at his father. A slight feeling of dread descended over him. Quickly, Dana tagged him.
“Hey, no fair,” Connor yelled. “I was distracted.”
“You didn’t call time out,” Dana grinned.
Connor quickly tagged Dana. “You’re it. Now time out.”
Dana stuck out her tongue, then kind skipped away from Connor, leaving him in relative privacy with his father.
Connor walked to Angel much like a dog that had crapped on the rug would walk to its owner. Connor had been enjoying himself, but knew that his brief escape from the wrongs he’d done had come to an end.
“You two seem to behaving fun,” Angel said.
“Dana made up a game. We take turns chasing each other. The one who has to catch the other one is called-”
“It?” Angel said. He frowned at his son’s crestfallen look. It must break the boy’s heart that his father seemed to know everything. “It’s an old game, son.” Angel felt heartbroken that his son’s life gave so little respite from the violence of his existence that the simple game of tag was foreign to him.
Connor was looking at the floor. Angel put a hand on his son’s shoulder. He knew what the boy was feeling. Pain. Remorse. Hatred of himself. “We’ll get through this.”
Connor shrugged.
“Don’t do that. Don’t shrug it off. I told you we’d get through this and we will. We both made mistakes, Connor. Very similar mistakes. And we’re . . . we both bear a lot of responsibility for some of the things we did.”
“You didn’t . . . do that stuff that I did.”
“Connor, I . . . I didn’t now how little you understood about this world,” Angel conceded sadly. “I thought you’d learn your lesson if you were on your own a while. You were right. I never should have thrown you out like that. I thought you needed some tough love. Now I think maybe you’ve gotten more of that than one person could bear.”
“I . . .” Connor shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You’re going to have to. Not now. But soon. Connor, we’re going to go to England. Meet with a man called Giles. Using information Lorne gave her, Willow’s come up with a way to help you and Dana learn to come to grips with some of the things that have happened in your life.”
“Willow?” Connor said, clearly not pleased with the suggestion. “That means magic,” he spat bitterly.
“Magic helped you earlier, Connor. What Dawn did. Didn’t that help?”
Connor knew his father was right, so he didn’t answer. He hated when Angel was right. “So this’ll help Dana, too.”
“Yeah,” Angel said with a slight smile. After a quiet moment, he added. “It’s good that you look out for her. Makes me . . . makes me proud of you.”
Connor smiled nervously, but still could bear to look his father in the eye. For some reason, his father being proud of him was as embarrassing as Angel being ashamed of him. “Thanks,” he said in a nervous whisper.
*****
Faith crept through the hallways with Dawn not far behind her. “Looks like they’re still rebuilding security from earlier,” Faith whispered.
“From when Dana and Connor kicked all their asses?”
“And nearly ours.”
Dawn nodded, remembering all too well. “So Angel having a kid. Did he explain to you how that-”
“’ello swee’earts,” a cockney voice came from behind them. Dawn and Faith spun to see a tall, muscular vampire and two cronies standing behind them.
Faith laughed. “Wolfram & Hart must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel if they’re padding their numbers with goons like you.”
“Yeah,” Dawn said, trying to sound intimidating.
The vamps quickly jumped toward the two women. Dawn slammed her foot down on the lead vampire’s. Despite his large build, he bellowed in pain.
“Take that, cockney boy,” Dawn yelled.
“Dawn,” Faith said, simultaneously nailing one vamp with a kick and another with a punch. “Leave the insults to your sister.”
Dawn slammed her stake into the British vampire. He managed to yelp out, “That ‘urt, it did,” before bursting to dust. Dawn pressed her luck, trying to stake of the vamps Faith was fighting, but got an elbow in her forehead for her troubles. Dawn’s move was still a major help to Faith. The vamp was actually cocking his fist to hit Faith and was as surprised as Dawn that he elbowed the girl. When the vamp instinctively turned to see what he’d hit, Faith threw off the vamp she was grappling with and staked the one who elbowed Dawn.
The last vampire began to run. “Scourge of mankind, that one is,” Faith said sarcastically as she took off after him. Faith slammed a stake in the vamp’s back stumbling through the cloud of dust that the vamp had become.
“Don’t want him alerting anyone,” Faith said to Dawn, explaining her running down the vamp.
“I’m afraid you are too late, mademoiselle,” a distinct French accent spoke.
Faith and Dawn turned to see a tall man with dark hair in a beautifully tailored silk suit. Faith was about to ask if he was du Plessis, but didn’t. This was obviously the guy. Behind him, Buffy stood, looking aggressive.
“Have you ever beaten my sister in a fight?” Dawn asked nervously.
“Of course!” Faith said, offended at the question. She racked her brain trying to come up with an example, but couldn’t manage one. “You ever beaten a dark wizard in a duel?”
“Who am I?” Dawn said scornfully. “Harry Potter?”
“I was thinking more the smart chick. Hermetty or something.”
Faith lunged forward, throwing up a block as Buffy attacked. Immediately, she felt heat over her head as a fireball shot from du Plessis toward Dawn. Dawn dove for cover.
Faith made a sweep for Buffy’s feet, but Buffy jumped, drop-kicking Faith. Faith dodged the drop kick and spun on Buffy’s back. She could see a pronounced hump. Whatever it was Wolfram & Hart stuck on Buffy, it was growing quickly.
Buffy immediately spun, not wanting to keep her back exposed. She threw two quick punches that Faith managed to block. Faith was momentarily distracted as an energy beam shot from Dawn toward du Plessis.
“Way to go, Dawn!” Faith cheered, catching a kick to her face while she was distracted.
Faith rolled to her feet, facing Buffy. Buffy was making a point of not giving Faith a shot at her back. The parasite was definitely in control and doing its best to protect itself. Buffy threw a punch, but Faith rolled back away from her, coming to a stop near her weapons bag.
Dawn ran past Faith. The slayer could hear du Plessis yelping. She didn’t know what mojo Dawn had worked, but it was apparently the good stuff.
Faith quickly pulled out a sword as Buffy charged forward. “Buffy, don’t,” Faith said desperately. Buffy threw a hard punch. Seeing the fist flying for her face, Faith leaned forward with the sword, driving it into and through Buffy’s ribs. A horrendous shrieking filled the hallway as blood dribbled down Buffy’s lips.
“Dawn!” Faith called.
“I got him on the run!” Dawn shouted back.
“Dawn I need you here!” Faith yelled loudly as Buffy slumped into her arms. “Dawn, no time to argue.”
The parasite on Buffy’s back shriveled up and detached from the slayer’s back. Faith laid Buffy on the floor.
“Faith” Buffy said weakly.
“It’s okay,” Faith said. She could hear Dawn’s frantic footsteps approaching, yet still yelled for the watcher again. “Dawn!”
“I’m here,” Dawn said, dropping to her knees next to her sister. “You stabbed her?!”
“No time, half pint. I need a healing spell and I need it now.”
“I don’t know if I can-”
“Enough’s enough, Dawn! Do it or your sister’s dead.”
Dawn felt drained already. Overcoming Wolfram & Hart’s protection spell, pulling dark energy from Connor, and dueling du Plessis had left Dawn in a weak state. But she knew Faith was right. She was her sister’s only hope. In stark contrast to the effortless healing performed by Willow, Dawn let out a blood curdling screamed, matched by her sister, when she laid her hands on Buffy’s ribs to perform the spell. A white light flashed, and Dawn collapsed onto Buffy’s chest.
“B!” Faith said frantically. “Are you okay?”
“Woozy,” Buffy answered.
Faith scooped the unconscious Dawn into her arms. “Grab that thing that was on your back. Willow will want to check it out.”
Buffy looked at the dead parasite as she weakly lifted herself to her feet. “Bezoar. Already know what it is. And I don’t want to touch it again.”
“Bezoar?” Faith asked.
“Mind controlly parasite think. Very much no fun. Wonder why I wasn’t out trying to dig up a big momma demon somewhere.” She picked up the Bezoar using only her index finger and thumb. “Let’s get out of here before more guards show up. Or I pass out.”
“Your sis,” Faith said. “I know I was pushing her, but . . . how’d she get so good at magic so fast.”
“She’s . . .” Buffy paused. “Special. My sister’s special.” She smiled in admiration of the unconscious girl in Faith’s arms. “Very powerful. I think I’m getting that now.”
******
“Any chance there’s a free room here?” Faith joked as she carried Dawn into the room.
“Willow,” Buffy said flopping the Beazoar on the floor. “This is yours. I don’t want to . . . Giles!”
“He just got here!” Willow said happily.
Buffy ran with what little energy she had into her watcher’s arms. When Giles hugged her back only half-heartedly, she looked at him. “Giles what’s wrong? Is someone hurt?”
“We’re all hurt, luv,” said the wounded Spike from a chair. “But we’re all getting better. Rupert just came to get Angel, Willow, Kennedy, Dana, and Connor. Free trip back to the old country. Well, my old country, anyway.”
Rupert Giles, looking so much older than the man Buffy had last seen not so long ago, held up his hand. “Everyone here is fine.”
Angel walked slowly into the lobby. Connor walked a few steps behind him, carrying a suitcase. Dana followed a few steps behind Connor.
“What’s wrong?” Angel asked, feeling the mood of the lobby.
Giles cleared his voice as he cleaned his glasses. “After Faith’s earlier encounter with Markovic brothers, and based on Spike’s information about them, the Council decided to keep tabs on them. We monitored their back transactions, personal interactions, et cetera. And we followed them. That is until last week.”
“What happened last week?” Angel asked.
“They disappeared.”
“And you think they’re coming here?” Faith asked, laying Dawn on a couch.
“We know they’re coming here.” Giles stepped toward Faith and handed her a photograph. It was Vladimir Markovic and the badly burned witch, Sasha. “These pictures were taken at the airport in Santa Barbara,” Giles said. “Yesterday.”
If you enjoyed Running on Faith, Season One, please be sure to see the sequel, Running on Faith, Season Two
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