TITLE: Episode 4-Haunted, Part 2
SERIES: Faith, Rogue Slayer
AUTHOR: elizafan568
EMAIL: elizfaith568@yahoo.com
FEEDBACK: Yes, please.
ARCHIVE/DISTRIBUTION: This site. If you want to post on on your site, just ask.
SUMMARY: Faith's view of redemption becomes clear in face of Zen's mind games; A discovery in Europe puts Zen into action.
SPOILERS: Buffy season 7 and Angel season 5
CONTENT/WARNINGS: n/a
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: All character are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc. I do not own them. Written for fun not profit.
NOTE: Set post-"Not Fade Away". There may be some spelling/grammatical mistakes so please bear with me as I have not been able to get a beta.
Episode 4: Haunted, Part Two
“Arrghh!” Connor yelled out as Lorne tried his best to bandage up the nasty wound in his shoulder.
“Sorry kid, but this is pretty bad. You really should go to the hospital.” he said as he fumbled with
what few medical supplies he had been able to find in the hotel. “Not until I know Faith’s ok.” Connor spit back.
Faith had barely managed to drive herself and Connor home after what happened. When she had realized it was Connor she had stabbed she went into a state of near catatonia. She hadn’t spoken a word since. She just got him on the bike with her and drove them back to the hotel. Lorne and Andrew where already there. Faith had motioned to Connor’s injury and then headed upstairs and they had not heard from her in the two hours that followed.
“Look, Connor, I know you care about her…a lot actually. I been getting the vibe off you ever since we moved back in to the hotel, but there’s nothing you can do for her right now.” Lorne spoke as he got up from his seat next to Connor and started cleaning up the scattered bandages. “ In fact seeing you, probably would be a bad thing for her right now. Let Andrew take you and I’ll stay here and watch Faith, see if there’s anything I can do for her.”
“Alright. I guess your right, but if you don’t mind I’ll go alone. Not much in he mood for cheery company right now.” Connor said as he stood and headed for the door. He grimaced as he tried to move his arm, the pain was nearly overwhelming, but he was dealing, it was the least of there problems right now.
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Andrew started to protest as Connor shut the door behind him. “Okay, but I know some great word games to pass the time while waiting around in a hospital. So, Lorne, what do we do about Faith? Maybe I should go up and…”
“I don’t think so. I’m sure Faith appreciates your ‘enthusiasm’ as much as anyone, but I don’t think now is the best time. Let me go up there alone and see what I can do. We need find out what’s wrong soon because if what Vince told me is true, we are going to need her in top shape…soon.”
**********************
“So, there you have it Miss Raiden, an item of extreme value to me is being kept in that hotel and if you can get it for me, I’ll make you richer than you can imagine.” Ethan said as he sipped his beer. Gwen looked at him with a lack of trust. The fact that Ethan was unwilling to tell her exactly what the item was or how much it was worth was enough to raise her suspicions about the whole thing. And reason enough for her to call the whole thing off…if the money wasn’t so good.
“Right. So, its on the third floor, in one of the rooms. No security system and lightly guarded. A suspicious person might wonder why your hiring such an expensive thief as myself for such a seemingly easy job.” Gwen said in a most sarcastic tone, shooting Ethan a knowing look.
“Oh, trust me, there is know hidden agenda here. I just want to make sure the job gets done, and gets done right. Its that important to me. That’s all.” Ethan finished off his beer and motioned for the check. “so, do we have a deal?”
“Deal, but I want half now and then half when I get your…whatever it is. You said it’ll be in a glass case right, impossible to miss?” Gwen asked as she got up to leave.
“Yes, that’s right. it’s the only thing of value in the whole building, you’ll know it when you see it.”
“Whatever, I’ll catch you later.” Gwen said as she headed toward the door. Everything about this was wrong. Her thief’s intuition screamed at her to just walk away from this job, but she had dealt with creeps like this before. Worse even. Besides, she recognized the address, it was Angel’s place. What danger could there be there. It’d be nice to see him again anyways. Not to mention Gunn. She smiled to herself as she walked outside and headed toward the hotel. It wasn’t far and she could use the exercise.
**************************
“Faith, can I come in?” Lorne asked in a whisper as he lightly knocked on her door. When no answer came he slowly opened it. He found Faith lying on her bed, still fully clothed, jacket on, curled in a fetal position. He didn’t need to hear Faith sing to know that something was seriously wrong with her. He knew about her past and he got the feeling it had something to do with that, but there was obviously something more at work here.
Faith glanced up only slightly as Lorne entered the room before returning her attention to the wall. As Lorne sat on the bed, Faith seemed to withdraw further as she squeezed her legs tighter to her chest. “Faith…are you alright? Something is wrong, that much is obvious to all of us. What is it?” She didn’t respond, just continued staring blankly at the wall.
“Faith…you know we’re all here for you. And I hope you know that you can trust us. We wanna help, anyway we can. And Connor’s not mad about you stabbing him. Heck, I don’t think its crossed his mind to be. He’s just concerned about you.” Still Faith gave no recognition to his presence.
“Well, when you feel up to talking, let us know. I’ll be downstairs princess.” As Lorne started for the door, he saw Faith finally move. “Wait…please.” she whispered out. Lorne turned back and sat back down on the edge of the bed.
“I’ve…been having nightmares a lot lately. About my past and the things I’ve done. And about Angel. How he died and I wasn’t there to help him. But they’ve felt so real. I know there not just nightmares, but something more.” Faith whispered out, her voice breaking in intervals.
“Go on.” Lorne said with concern in his voice and care in his eyes.
“I thought I had been able to move on, that I had learned to deal, but the feeling these thing have given me….I don’t think I can do this, Lorne. With Angel gone, and the reality of what I’ve done hitting me again, stronger than ever, I just can’t. Its too hard. I don’t deserve you guys support. I don’t deserve anything but pain.”
“Faith, that’s not true and you know it. You’ve changed. We all know that. I’ve seen your strength, when you took the Orpheus drug and nearly died saving Angel. You are strong and you can go on. Don’t think otherwise. You can do real good Faith, you just have to keep fighting.” Lorne sounded more sincere and emotional than Faith had ever heard him. He sounded so sincere, she felt a little better…just a little.
“I don’t know Lorne, I just don’t know. I’m so tired and it hurts so bad.” Faith said as tear welled up in her eyes. The images of Alan and Angel flashing through her head, as vivid as ever.
“I know princess, but it will be okay. Just try to get some rest. Just remember, we’re all here for you no matter what and we believe in your. We wouldn’t be here otherwise.” Lorne said as he got up again and headed out of the room.
“I don’t deserve it, though. I don’t think I ever will. I don’t think I’ll ever make things right.” Faith said as she rolled over and shut her eyes.
“You don’t have to do anything for us, Faith, or for anybody else. You have to do it for yourself, because you want to, because you know its right. That’s all that matters. You can do it.” And with that Lorne left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.
Lorne’s words circled through Faith’s head as she tried to find some peace to get some rest, but the images wouldn’t go away, and her doubts only grew. She didn’t know why Lorne believed in her so. She had done nothing for them since coming together…except nearly kill Connor. What good could she really do for anyone? She couldn’t even save Angel, much less herself.
************************
“I trust everything went well with Miss Raiden.” Zen asked as Ethan entered the lair. He was studying a few scrolls quite intently so he didn’t look up as Ethan approached.
“Everything is in order. She should be sneaking into Faith’s room sometime tonight. If the slayer is as unstable as you claim she is, Gwen’s death is sealed.” Ethan said as he sat down at the table opposite Zen. He was extremely pleased with the way things where going. He couldn’t wait to see what happened next.
“Don’t worry, she’s right where I want here to be. If things go as planned, and I’m sure they will, then the dark slayer will return, and my people will soon be free from our little handicap.” Zen remarked in a tone that hid his underlying excitement. The fulfillment of the prophecy was at hand and he would soon have a servant at his side who’s darkness mirrored his own. After tonight, his destiny would be at hand.
The orb on the pedestal began to glow as the time drew near. Zen started his chant as Faith’s image appeared in the white mist swirling around inside the orb. The time was now.
**********************
It was alittle past 2am and Gwen figured everyone in the hotel was asleep by now, except for Angel of course. Vampires sleep during the day, not at night. She hadn’t seen him since she had recruited Gunn for her little project over a year and a half ago. A slight smile crossed her face as she was kinda looking forward to sneaking a peak at the two of them again.
She easily repelled up the wall and snuck in through the third story window. If this thing Ethan wanted was as important as he made it out to be, then Gwen figured Angel would keep it in his room. All the lights were off in the hall as she slowly prowled down the hall toward Angel’s room. Hopefully Angel wouldn’t be there, but if he was Gwen was sure she could talk her way into a good position. She’d done it before.
As she reached the door, Gwen slowly turned the knob with the precision of the master thief she was and lightly nudged the door open just enough to see that there was no lights on inside. Gwen slide in through the door and her eyes went wide as she looked over the find someone asleep on the bed. A young women.
**************************
Faith awoke with a shock, the sheets sticking to her sweat cover body. Even awake the images wouldn’t leave her head. She couldn’t make out anything in the room except for a figure standing five feet from her bed. Faith’s mind started to race as she leapt off the bed to confront the figure. She could now see it was a female dressed in a black leather, long sleeve halter top with matching black leather pants.
“Who the hell are you and want are you doing here?” Faith demanded, a mix of anger and uncertainty in her voice.
The woman opened her mouth to answer but Faith could hear nothing she said. As she stared the women down, Faith saw another figure appear behind her. One from her past the brought about a torrent of emotions in her. It was Mayor Wilkins, a smile on his face the Faith had always cherished. She froze in shock.
“There’s my girl. You know what you need to do next. Its kill or be killed here, firecracker. Take that final step and all of these emotional problems you’ve been killing yourself over will disappear.” His words froze Faith in place and her body went numb.
************************
Zen watched the scene through the orb with a evil smirk on his face. He could feel Faith’s resolve wavering, caught in indecision of what to do. The mayor’s words were his words, turned to sound like the mayor through the power of the orb.
“Now Faith, you know what to do and how to do it, so just get it over with. You know how good it feels…How powerful. Kill this women and set yourself free the unnecessary morals of humanity.” the mayor spoke for Zen, each word cutting Faith like a knife.
As he spoke, Zen spun more images through Faith’s head. Angel’s death…the Deputy Mayor…torturing Wesley…Professor Worth. Everything she had done wrong was bombarding her and Zen was relishing it all.
***********************
Faith dropped to her knees clutching her head in her hands and gritting her teeth. Gwen backed up not knowing what to think or do in this situation as the women in front of her seemed to be having some sort of mental breakdown. Gwen tried to speak to her but it seemed her words fell on deaf ears. She wanted to leave but her curiosity as to what was going on and where Angel was overruled her thief instincts.
As the images hit her harder and harder, it hit her. The clarity Faith had been looking for all her life. Her true purpose in life was finally clear. And it wasn’t the path of darkness. It was the path of redemption. Her redemption the way she saw it was now finally clear.
As Faith stood up, the smile on the mayor’s faltered right along with Zen’s. The whole aura around Faith had just changed. Zen’s excitement was quickly turning to immense displeasure. Faith looked into the eyes of the mayor’s image, a fire burning inside her unlike anything she had felt before.
“I know your not the mayor, but even if you were it wouldn’t make a difference. I don’t walk that path anymore and I never well again. Your just wasting your time.” Her words carried the power of conviction unlike anything she had spoken before. The image of the mayor began to fade as the orb started to crack as Zen tried to regain control.
“I know the darkness will always be apart of me. Up until now, I thought that that fact alone would prevent me from achieve redemption, but now I know different. Redemption isn’t something someone can achieve in life. Its something you strive for until the end, not worrying about when that end will come.”
“You see, I couldn’t return to the dark side even if I wanted to cause my life isn’t mine anymore. It stopped being mine the day I became a murderer. My life now belongs to those people out there that I can help. I owe it to both the people I killed and to all the people out there still alive that I have the power to help. My life is theirs and I’ll fight for them until the end, no matter what.” The image of the mayor seemed to solidify and crack along with the orb at Faith’s words.
“This is what redemption is to me. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me and your just wasting my time, so if you don’t mind….GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HEAD NOW!!!!” Faith yelled as the image of the mayor shattered and the darkness of the room began to fade away.
Before the darkness was completely gone, another image appeared. One Faith did not recognize in the least…it was the image of Highlander Zen. He spoke but a line before he faded away.
“You just made things a lot harder on yourself as you will soon see.” And with that, he disappeared.
Faith breathed a sigh of relief as she took in her surroundings and once again took notice of the young woman in her room. “Now, as I was saying before, who are you and what the hell are you doing here?”
*******************
Zen looked at the remains of the orb on the pedestal with disdain on his face. Ethan wanted to say something but thought better of it. Best not to agitate him further in this state.
As he turned to walk out he nearly ran into one of Zen’s vampire minions running in. “Woah, I wouldn’t just now. His plan A just failed and I would go giving him any reason to get slice happy with that sword of his.”
“Normally I wouldn’t,” the minion responded, “but he has to hear this. It concern’s the ritual site over in Europe.”
Zen, overhearing the exchange, turned from his lament and walked over towards them, his hand on his sword and fire in his eyes. “What about the ritual site?” he demanded.
“Well my lord, it seems that the slayer known as Kennedy has stumbled over the tomb of one of you ancestors. The only one to actually die in this dimension..” the vamp shook as he spoke, never taking his eyes off Zen’s sword.
“Lord Zentai, my namesake’s tomb!? That’s impossible! My race has searched for it for years with no success and now you tell my some newbie slayer has stumbled onto it.” Zen’s anger rose yet again as he body tensed at the news. “This is unfortunate news indeed. He was buried along with a copy of the prophecy. If its contents become known now my plans will be ruined.”
“You still have some time lord. They haven’t gotten to tomb open yet and…”
“Then I still have some time.” Zen cut him off. “Do you have the exact location of the tomb?”
“Yes, my lord, I do.”
Zen headed over to his desk and pulled an ancient looking amulet from on of its drawers. “Good. Then it looks like I’ll be taking a brief trip to Europe then. While I’m there I’ll be sure to teach this slayer Kennedy what happens to little girls who are too nosey for their own good. Along with anyone else that is with her.”
End of Episode.
