Faithfully Dangerous
Author: enigmaticblue
Rating: PG-15
Disclaimer: These aren’t my characters, as you all know. If they were, they’d all be living happily ever after by now.
Summary: Set during my story Latter Days. Faith is sent to L.A. to get information out of Angel and recruit Wesley—if she can. What she discovers is a scheme by persons unknown to take advantage of the imbalance, and an unlikely friendship.
A/N: Although this takes place during Latter
Days, there isn’t a direct 1-1
relationship between the chapters.
So, you could say that time is moving at a slightly different pace,
although
they will intersect.
Chapter 13
Faith hadn’t realized that she’d missed the
Although Faith hated to see him sick, she had to admit that his little stunt had done some good; Caridad clearly no longer had reservations about him, and the other three were firmly in his corner.
They were becoming a unit, she realized. A real, honest-to-goodness family.
The vampire hunt she took the girls out on was more successful than she’d wanted it to be; they had found a number of vampires, but she had been jumped by three demons who were clearly out for her blood. If she’d been alone, Faith wasn’t sure she would have survived. With four other Slayers backing her, it wasn’t an issue.
“Don’t tell Wes about the demons tonight,” Faith cautioned the others as they entered the Hyperion. “No point in worrying him.”
The sound of a throat being cleared had her wincing. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Wesley was leaning against the front desk, Ellen
standing
next to him. Dana was wandering around the lobby, looking better than
she had
before Faith had left for
“I thought you were supposed to be in bed. Recovering” Faith leaned against the counter next to him.
He refused to look at her. “I slept all day. Besides, I’m feeling better.”
Faith gave Ellen a questioning look, and the other woman shrugged. “It probably won’t hurt him to be up and about for a bit,” she said. “Although he would likely be better off resting.”
Wesley responded by giving her a dirty look, then sighed. “As soon as we get the shopping list done,” he promised.
“Shopping list for what?” Uta asked. “Because I’m going to vote for spaghetti if we’re talking groceries.”
“Always thinking with your stomach,” Leslie teased, leaning in to look from the other side of the desk. “Magic stuff?”
“It’s for an Orlon Window,” Wesley replied. “To restore our memories.”
Faith frowned. “You’re doing it?”
“I’m going to try,” he responded. “I don’t know how successful I’ll be.”
Caridad shook her head. “What happens if this screws everything up?”
“More than it is already?” Wesley asked dryly.
“Hey, it could always get worse,” Phoebe inserted. “And as soon as you say it can’t, you’ve gone and jinxed yourself.”
“Good point.” Faith grabbed Wesley’s arm. “Maybe Ellen can finish it up while we talk,” she suggested, pulling him towards the office.
She noticed that he was slumped on the couch by the time she had closed the door, and she took a seat next to him. “You’re not a Slayer, you know.”
“I know.”
“And you don’t have Slayer healing, so you can take recovery time without looking like a wimp.”
“Thanks for that.”
She looked over at him. Wesley had his eyes closed, and she could see the lines that pain had created on his face. “You look like shit.”
“That’s nice to know.”
“What are we doing here, Wes?”
He cracked one blue eye. “What are you referring to?”
“The window-thing, restoring our memories, all of that. Maybe we should focus on something else first.”
Wesley held up a fist, counting the factors off as he named them. “We know that Angel made a deal with Wolfram and Hart that involved our memories. Things are out of balance, so there is more demonic activity, possibly more than we can handle, and they are making it their business to kill Slayers. Someone placed a hit on you specifically, which indicates that you have an important role in what’s to come. And there’s the possibility that the Senior Partners are taking advantage of the imbalance for their own ends, which is likely an apocalypse of some sort.”
Faith swallowed. Hearing it all laid out like that just emphasized how very little was under their control. “So your point is that we should start with what we can do something about?”
“Something like that.” He sighed. “I don’t know, Faith. If you have a better idea, I’d be happy to listen.”
It was evidence of how far they’d come that she didn’t get defensive or pissed off. Instead, she just leaned her head back against the couch as well. “No, not really.”
There was a brief knock on the door, and Caridad stuck her head in. “Wes? Gunn and Fred are here.”
“Send them in,” he told her, sitting up and trying to smooth his rumpled shirt. Faith didn’t bother telling him that it wasn’t going to do any good; he still looked like hell, and there was no hiding it.
“What happened to you?” Gunn asked immediately.
Fred’s hands fluttered, as though she wanted to do something but wasn’t sure what. “You look awful, Wesley!”
He cleared his throat. “It’s just the flu. I’m sure I’ll be fine in a day or two.”
“Maybe we should come back some other time,” Gunn suggested. “If you’re sick—”
“He was poisoned,” Faith corrected him. “Saving one of the Slayers. He just doesn’t want to cop to playing the hero.”
“I wasn’t—”
Faith hushed him with a look. “What’s up, Gunn?”
“We know who put the hit out on you,” he said without preamble. “And we think we have some idea why.”
~~~~~
They had worked all night, and Gunn thought it had been like old times, when they were all close, like family. For a little while he could forget that they were working for the enemy now, that they were all on different teams—if not different sides.
For a while, he could forget that he and Fred were no longer together for reasons he could no longer remember. At least he didn’t think he could remember them. He was beginning to realize exactly how much he didn’t understand about everything that had gone on, everything that had changed.
Every time he tried to recall some specific detail of the previous year, Gunn found it slipping away, and he wondered if he would have even noticed it had Wesley and Faith not discovered that their memories had been tampered with.
After spending all night with Fred, researching the Black Thorn, the Senior Partners, and Vail, Gunn had no desire to go into work, so he canceled his appointments for the day. Although they hadn’t been able to find as much information as he would have liked, there was enough to present to Wesley.
Wesley was, after all, the research guru. What they couldn’t find, he might be able to locate through another source.
“You think we should go over there now?” Gunn
asked around
Fred shook her head, her expression apologetic. “I’m sorry, Charles, but I’m beat. Do you mind if I take a nap?”
“Nah, that’s fine. You mind if I take your couch?”
“No! Go ahead.” Fred suddenly looked shy. “Unless you want the bed.”
“I’ll be good on the couch.”
“Okay.”
They stared at one another, and Gunn felt the old attraction flicker between them. He wondered if it would work between them this time, if they knew each other better. Then again, maybe they didn’t know each other at all without those memories; there might be something crucial there.
“I’ll just—” Fred began, pointing towards her room.
“Yeah.”
He hadn’t actually been able to sleep; Gunn had lain on her couch thinking of what they had discovered, and if he could possibly stay at the law firm knowing what he did now.
How could Angel have agreed to work there? And why had they followed him so blindly?
“Gunn?”
He sat up and looked over at Fred standing there, her dark eyes still sleepy, and her hair just a bit tousled. Gunn felt his heart skip a beat, and he took a deep breath. Now was definitely not the time to start up their relationship again, not when it could easily be based on something that wasn’t really there.
“You ready to go?” he asked, glancing at the clock. It was after five, so he thought it would probably be safe enough to head over the hotel. The sun was beginning to set, so at least some of the Slayers would be out, but that might be for the best.
“Can we get something to eat on the way?” she asked, sounding plaintive. “I don’t remember the last time I ate.”
Gunn realized that he could say the same, and that he was starving as well. “Yeah.”
They lost track of time during dinner, which was why it was much later than they’d planned before they arrived at the hotel. But they caught both Faith and Wes there, so Gunn decided that it was probably for the best. Blurting out the reason for their visit had been the only way he knew of to immediately get Wes’ attention, and possibly his trust.
He knew how suspiciously both Wes and Faith regarded his continued employment with the law firm.
At his announcement, Wesley leaned back against the couch heavily. “How did you discover who was responsible?”
“Lorne managed to get it out of Angel. He said that he sensed Angel knew more than he was telling us.”
“Wait,” Faith said, holding up a hand, her face hardening. “Angel knew who put the hit out on me, and he didn’t say anything?”
“Faith,” Wesley began.
She shook her head, cutting him off. “No, don’t say it. I don’t care why he did it.”
Gunn decided that it was time for a better explanation. “He did it because it was the same guy who erased our memories.”
Wesley frowned. “Just a moment. The person who put the hit on Faith is the same one who also erased our memories?”
“Lorne said Angel was worried about what would happen if we went after Vail,” Gunn said.
“Fuck,” Faith said succinctly.
Wesley raised an eyebrow. “Well put.”
She snarled at him, and Gunn noticed that Wesley’s expression remained impassive. “Faith, sit,” he said gently.
The Slayer did so slowly, putting her head in her hands. “What else?”
Gunn knew that it probably felt like a betrayal to know that Angel had had information like this and hadn’t told them. “Vail is a member of the Black Thorn,” Fred explained. “They’re kind of like the board of executives. We couldn’t get a straight answer on whether they’re the Senior Partners, or people who serve them.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Faith demanded. “So we know he’s a sorcerer. Big deal.”
“The big deal is that he could probably turn us all into toads without even trying,” Gunn responded. “But the fact that he put a price on Faith’s head says that he has a special interest in her.”
“That begs the question of why a sorcerer would need to use such mundane methods to kill Faith, if that’s truly his intention,” Wesley murmured.
“Maybe he doesn’t want her dead,” Fred pointed out.
“What else would it mean?” Faith asked.
The other woman shrugged. “Maybe he wanted to keep her busy, and keep Wesley busy. It’s a lot harder to focus on Wolfram and Hart when you’re fighting off demons at every turn.”
Wesley held up a hand. “Putting that aside for the moment, we know that Vail is a member of the Black Thorn, and that they are somehow connected to the Senior Partners. I think that’s enough to know that he is our enemy, and that he must be dealt with.”
“What if we kill him?” Fred asked. “That would take care of the assassins, and maybe it would free Angel up to leave. If his son was safe—”
Faith shook her head. “I can handle demons coming after me. I’m used to it. I think we need to get our memories back before we start messing around with the kid.”
“Can we?” Fred asked.
“I believe that I can create an Orlon Window,” Wesley replied. “Once we collect the necessary ingredients, I can begin work on it.”
“After you’re recovered,” Faith put in.
“How long is that going to be?” Fred asked.
Faith shot her a look. “As long as it takes.”
“The poison should run its course in another day or two,” Wesley said mildly. “It will likely take longer for us to find everything we need.”
“Take the time you need,” Gunn replied. “We’re in a holding pattern right now. Soon as we break this spell, who knows what will happen?”
And that was the part that worried him.
~~~~~
“Would you like to tell me what’s really upsetting you?” Wesley knew he was taking a risk by asking the question. It wasn’t as though their relationship was precisely defined, nor was it the sort where he could easily show his concern.
He knew how Faith felt about Angel, however. He’d been there when she’d refused to kill Angelus, no matter what. Even when half-dead, she preferred to risk her life again and again rather than run a stake through him, as long as there was any chance at all of re-ensouling him.
Angel’s actions would feel like a betrayal.
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Faith asked, her tone intentionally snide.
Wesley let her words and her tone roll off his back, knowing that she tended to strike out when upset or hurt, whereas he tended to pull back. “As I mentioned earlier, I slept all day. I’m not feeling particularly tired.”
She headed for the door of the room that was almost—but not quite—theirs. “I can’t be here.”
“Is it that hard?”
Faith stopped cold. “Is what hard?”
“Trusting me.”
Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know what to tell you, Wes. I was never the sharing kind.”
“Neither am I.” Wesley rose from the bed and approached cautiously. “But perhaps we could try it this once. If it’s that terrible, we never have to do it again.”
She turned to look at him, one corner of her mouth tilting up in a smile. “You really know how to get under a person’s skin, you know?”
“I’ve been told that before.” Now that it felt a little safer, he risked touching her, running the back of his hand across her cheek. “We’re partners, you know.”
Faith didn’t respond right away.
“Aren’t we?” he pressed.
“Yeah. It’s just—I’m solo girl.”
“I know.”
“God, Wes. He knew.”
The emotion in her voice tore at him. Wesley could hear the hurt there, and he knew that Angel had a lot to answer for. “Yes, he did.”
“I know it’s his kid. I guess I get that. Not that I’ve ever had any, but I can see why he’d want to protect him.” Faith pulled back, beginning to pace the room. “I thought we were more to each other than that, though.”
Wesley sat back down on the bed, feeling too tired to do anything else at the moment. “You were. I think that you are, but it’s hard to say how working at Wolfram and Hart has affected his judgment.”
“And it didn’t affect yours?” she asked.
Wesley shrugged, uncomfortable with the question. “Perhaps it did. It’s hard to say.”
“What are we doing here, Wes?”
He watched her as she stood next to the window, looking out. How was it possible that she had become the one person he trusted, Wesley wondered. “We’re doing the best we can.”
She nodded slowly. “We need to do the memory spell. I wasn’t sure before, but I think that should be our first priority now.”
“And Vail?”
“Figure he’s been around awhile,” she responded. “He’ll keep.” Faith turned back to look at him. “Maybe we should open the doors again.”
“What do you mean?”
“We could make this a business,” she suggested. “I know we’re supposed to be training Slayers here, but that would be a way to do it, right? And they’d get paid for it, which could take some of the pressure off. Even if we only made enough to cover the upkeep for this place, it would be worth it.”
“The Council agreed to pay the upkeep,” Wesley countered. “I don’t think that’s an issue.”
Faith snorted. “And what if the money runs out? Or the Council doesn’t want to keep paying for this place? We could end up with the rug pulled out from under us.”
Wesley frowned slightly. “Do you really think they would?”
“It could happen.”
She didn’t trust anyone, Wesley realized, except perhaps for him. Plus, there were so many things that they couldn’t possibly control. If this allowed Faith a measure of security, he was willing to indulge her. Besides, as she’d said, it would be good training for the girls.
“It’s up to you,” Wesley replied. “Whatever you decide, I’m behind you.”
“It’s a big city,” Faith said quietly. “There have got to be people out there who could use our help.”
“And that would make you feel better,” he said knowingly.
“I’d feel like I was doing something other than treading water,” she agreed, coming over to sit on the bed next to him. “You really should get some more sleep.” Faith smirked. “I know you’re tired.”
Wesley sighed. “A bit.”
“Being sick sucks,” she observed.
“It does.”
Faith traced his jaw with her finger. “Thanks.”
Wesley decided not to ask what she was thankful for. The expression on her face was enough.