Part Two - Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Faith stood staring at herself in the mirror, the look on her face a mixture of horror and disgust. Her hands wandered over the shimmering material, trying to get a feel for the dress. It was no good; every dress she’d tried on since she’d agreed to this poor excuse for an uncover mission made her look absolutely ridiculous. She sighed as she reached for another dress, which on the plus side was less sequin-y than the last, and held it up against herself.
Why couldn’t they just stake out the joint during the day? Why did they have to go through this whole façade in order to get the skinny on this girl? Faith pulled the dress unceremoniously over her shoulders and dropped it on the floor as she picked up the next one. She’d been in the store for over an hour now, struggling not to clock the over eager assistant who was squeaking and shrilling at her, as if Faith was picking out a prom dress or something.
The standoff between her and Wes hadn’t lasted long; as soon as he’d cracked a smile at her expense she knew she wouldn’t have been able to resist that smile for long. In fact, Faith had only been able to hold out for a few minutes before agreeing to undertake the mission, which she figured was pretty much just an excuse to see Faith looking like an idiot in a cocktail dress.
“Are you decent?”
Faith spun around to see the curtain twitching behind her.
“Just gimme a sec.”
Faith quickly pulled the dress on and was just smoothing down the creases when the shop assistant, clearly too excited to wait a second longer, yanked back the curtain and gasped as she saw Faith. The girl’s hands went to her face and she emitted a high-pitched squeal as she leapt on Faith, her arms squeezing around her tightly.
“This is it! This is the one!” The girl continued to gabble and squeal as Faith gently pushed her away, untangling the girl’s arms from her own and keeping her at a comfortable distance.
“Oh my god! Your guy is gonna like be totally catatonic when he sees you tonight. He’s gonna freak! In a good way, like in a ‘wanna rip that dress off right now’ kinda way… though if he does that you know you can’t return it right? I mean not that you’d wanna return it, cos hello!!! You look uber hot!” The shop girl continued to twitter on, but Faith had stopped listening. She was staring at herself in the mirror, her fingers sliding over the soft fabric as her eyes wandered up and down her reflection as if she was looking at a stranger.
She… she looked good. Very good in fact. Different, but well… good. Even when she’d hit the clubs, done up in her latest ‘you know you wanna fuck me’ outfit she’d never looked this, this beautiful before. Faith turned to the shop assistant and smiled, unable to contain her excitement any longer.
“I’ll take it.”
†
Tonight was the night.
Wesley had hurried throughout his day with a feeling of intense nervousness. He hadn’t really absorbed the fact that in a few hours, he would be at the ballet…with Faith, of all people. So much had happened in the last week, and he was still trying to register it all. He wanted to be sensible, and in control, but when Faith was around him he just felt so damn elated. He truly saw her for the first time. She had always been attractive, of course, but the way he felt now? It was so new, and yet so intense that it almost frightened him. Having been dead inside for so long, it was alarming to suddenly feel so very alive. Was he falling in love? Really and truly? With his former slayer? Did this make him a horrible person? More importantly, did that matter to him anymore?
As he straightened his cufflinks in the lobby, he tried to remind himself to put things into perspective. They were on a mission tonight, after all. But perspective went out the window when Wesley heard the soft click of a door, and heard footsteps coming toward the top of the stairs.
Looking up, his heart literally skipped a beat as Faith turned the corner. Pale skin against black satin sent his heart racing as she descended, and he stood up straight as she came closer to where he was standing at the foot of the stairs. He tried to appear as the epitome of calm, cool and collected, when in fact he was feeling a flush come over him at the sight of her.
Faith slowly stepped down the staircase, her feet moving unsteadily in the uncomfortable heels she’d managed to squeeze her feet into, towards the lobby. What she wouldn’t give for biker boots to have become mandatory when attending the theatre right now. Her hand gripped the banister as she steadied herself.
She quickly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and proceeded to continue down the step, her stomach jumping with excitement as she saw Wesley at the bottom of the stairs dressed to the nines in a killer tux. His eyes said it all as he caught sight of her, and Faith knew she’d made the right choice picking this dress. She smiled, which quickly turned into a smirk as Faith rolled her eyes, trying to hide her embarrassment.
“Yeah, yeah. Come on Wes, get the mocking and teasing out and done with. You got me dressed up like a friggin’ princess. You win… for now. Don’t know how happy you’ll be feeling when I trip over in these god forsaken heels and spill all over your tux.” Faith stepped off the last step and now stood only inches away from Wesley.
The return of the easy banter that they had been sharing the last few days made Wesley feel a little more at ease, and he smiled wickedly as Faith spoke, taking her hand in his own and turning it over so that he could place an ever-so-slightly open-mouthed kiss her palm.
Leaning in close, he whispered into her ear, “If you trip, I’ll catch you.”
Faith grinned back as her hands moved to his chest; she brushed them over his jacket, stopping to flick a small piece of dust off of his shoulder.
“A very ’dashing’ suit I might add Wes. Geez, if I knew you scrubbed up this well before, I might not have put up such a fight on this little covet mission to the ballet.” She smiled at him before taking his hand.
“Guess we better get this night of torture on the road.”
When she’d reached in to fuss with his suit jacket, Wes wondered if his rapidly beating heart would give him away. These thoughts soon vanished as she took his hand in hers and they made their way to the front of the hotel where the cab was waiting.
“You’re looking positively radiant, Faith,” he said warmly as they slid into the car. Once they were settled comfortably in the backseat, he put a reassuring hand on her knee, perhaps more to steady him than her.
“Where to?” the cabbie asked in a reasonably polite voice, considering he had been waiting ten minutes in front.
“The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion,” Wes answered as he felt for the tickets in his jacket with his free hand, just to make sure he hadn’t forgotten them in his nervousness.
When they arrived, Wes got out first and lent his arm to Faith as she followed. He knew that she was out of her element, but to look at her, no one would ever have guessed. She looked so elegant. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride that she was at his side. One of the reasons that he wanted to take her to the ballet, other than the undercover mission they were about to embark on, was to show her that it was ok to be soft once and awhile. She could be a slayer and still be a woman. Her strength wasn’t diminished by this…if anything, it radiated from her more than ever.
They made their way into the theatre, pausing only to hand over their tickets. Wes said a silent thank you to the powers that be for the fact that there were no metal detectors as they went in. He hoped that Faith remembered to pack her stake in the tiny purse she was carrying. He had completely forgotten to ask her before they left.
They were running a bit late, and the Tchaikovsky score was just starting on the first act as they reached their seats on the front row of the balcony. It was a shame that they would only be catching the first two acts before their planned trip backstage during intermission. The seats were good ones, and Wesley would have liked to watch the entire production. But seeing as they had a job to do, and seeing as Faith probably wasn’t the most enthusiastic of ballet aficionados, (Wes didn’t begrudge her this fact; if anything, her obstinate dislike of the genre endeared her all the more to him) they would have to make do with the first half of the ballet.
As the curtain went up, and the dancers began to glide across the stage, Wes leant in conspiratorially. “You’re being quite stoic about this, Faith. I must say I am glad that you changed your mind about coming. Just remember our plan. When the curtain closes for intermission, you’re to go toward the dressing rooms. Tell them you are looking for the ladies room if you must. If there is anything strange going on back there, make note of it, and I will meet you in the lobby.”
Wesley could feel himself getting nervous. “And Faith, if there is any danger…please, be careful.”
He reached for her hand once again and gave it a squeeze. He then turned his attention to the stage once again, taking in the spectacle while he could. Pushing away the anxiety he felt about their upcoming mission, he couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as he glanced sideways and noticed Faith’s expression when “Prince Siegfried” pranced onto the stage in tights, only to be surrounded by a group of ballerinas dressed as Swans.
†
The theatre was packed out. The audience sat mesmerized as they all stared at the dancers prancing across the stage-the whole audience except Faith of course. Faith had tried to at least pretend to be interested for the first twenty minutes, but once the bemusement of the guy dressed in tights had past she’d found her eyes wandering across the seats below.
Everyone was so quaffed. The women sat elegantly dressed in their expensive gowns while the men beside them all looked like they were at a Bond appreciation party. Faith’s fingernails nervously tapped on the balcony rail in front of her. She was out of her depth to be sure, but nonetheless the slayer had managed to pull it off, and hadn’t received even one inquisitive look as she’d walked through the lobby with Wesley on her arm. She quickly glanced over to him now, who sat beside her and was clearly enthralled by the ridiculous outfits moving back and forth across the stage.
Faith smiled uneasily as her eyes met with his for a brief moment before she turned back to scanning the audience below. What did Wes really see in her? To see him now, enjoying-and seemingly understanding-the ballet in front of him, Faith could tell that he was in his element here, surrounded not by people who intimidated him, but by his peers. This was his world, not hers, and it was a place that Faith doubted very much she could ever get used to, let alone feel comfortable in. The women around her, the ones that were getting all teary over the prat on stage were the type of women Wesley should be with. Not a slayer whose purse contained weapons rather than make-up and perfume.
Shaking her thoughts from her head, Faith tried to regain focus on the task in hand. Her anxious thoughts about her compatibility with the ex-watcher weren’t gonna help the young kid they were here to rescue, much less herself. She didn’t know what she was looking for; the sea of people below were barely a blur in the darkness of the auditorium, yet her eyes continued to look through the rows of seat looking for something, anything that might give her a lead.
But as the curtains closed and the lights came up, Faith was no closer to getting the skinny on the chick that had had a cameo in her dreams. Her hand quickly squeezed Wesley’s knee as she slid out of her chair and into the flock as the audience was herded out of the theatre.
Faith followed the crowd, smiling politely as excited members of the congregation turned to each other, gasping and swooning over the ballet moves they’d just seen. Faith’s hand wrapped itself around the handle of the door behind one of the ushers and she quickly sneaked inside.
The corridor Faith found herself in was full to the brim, with dancers and staff running back and forth, squealing and shouting over each other as they prepared for the next act. They hurried past her, not once questioning her presence as they were all too pre-occupied with their own business.
Faith walked slowly through the chaos, sticking close to the wall so not to crash into one of the many white puffy dresses that scuttled through the hall. She made her way past the dressing rooms, until the girls’ voices were a distant murmur behind her. The lights around her dimmed the further she weaved her way through the dank corridors, beneath the stage. She stopped mid-step as she heard footsteps approaching. Her eyes quickly looked around for a place to hide, before her hand quickly yanked open a nearby door and the slayer stepped into the darkened room on the other side.
Faith closed the door behind her and leant against it, peering through the small gap between the door and its frame.
“Hold on a sec bro…. That any better? I’m telling ya, I can’t get even a bar down here. You’d think with all the mojo going on round here, they’d be able to sort out the reception in this joint.” The guy moved further down the corridor, holding his cell up in the air, until he eventually got a reading.
“Right, as I was saying. The girl, she’s getting kinda antsy; don’t get me wrong the chains are keeping her cozy, but it’s the dreams… it’s like she’s fighting in them, near knocked Jo out as he tried to adjust her cuffs… that’s what I’m saying! She did it in her friggin’ sleep!! I’m heading back over there now, just had to give the boss the 411 on it all before I take over from the guys in an hour…. Alright, I can stop off on the way… what do you want? You want fries with that? K, got it. I’ll see you a few…” With that the guy snapped his phone shut and headed down the corridor towards the foyer.
Faith quickly grabbed her phone and began to text Wesley.
TALL HISPANIC GUY, CHECKED SHIRT HEADIN UP TO FOYER NOW. FOLLOW HIM.
She waited impatiently for it to send. Once she knew it was safe outside, Faith slowly twisted the doorknob. As she went to pull it open a light was switched on behind her. The slayer spun round, raising her guard instinctively.
The light that had been switched on was a small antique desk lamp which sat on an old wooden desk. Faith’s eyes fell upon the young woman who sat behind the desk. She couldn’t be much older than Faith, and was dressed as if she was heading to court. The girl leant back in the chair and smiled, her fingertips lightly touching in front of her chest.
“Hello Faith, now this is a surprise, and let me guess. That was your little watcher friend you were just making contact with.” The girl’s hand gestured at the door behind Faith and the slayer jumped as she heard the lock click and the two bolts slid into place, locking the door.
“Why don’t you take a seat? I’m sure you’ve just got oodles of inquisitive questions for me?”
†
Faith had only been gone a few minutes, but already Wes was feeling nervous as he paced the length of the lobby. Every few seconds he had to look at his watch to remind himself that Faith had only been gone a short amount of time. The seconds seemed to drag on like hours. More than once he had attracted the inquisitive gaze of the woman working at the ticket booth. Realizing that he must look rather conspicuous, he halted his obsessive pacing and leant against the railing to the stairs that led to the upper balcony of the theatre.
“Wesley?”
The Englishman spun around quickly, knowing in his heart that it wasn’t Faith’s voice, but unable to keep from hoping. The disappointment on his face must have been obvious, as the woman who had called out to him seemed a little put off by it.
“Virginia. Um, hello. Fancy seeing you here.” Wes thrust his hands nervously into his pockets. As if this night wasn’t already taxing his nerves enough, now he had to face his ex, accompanied by what appeared to be a new bodyguard, or maybe a new boyfriend; knowing Virginia, probably both. Trying to smile, he mechanically dispensed of a few pleasantries. All he could think about, however, was getting away, and finding Faith. This waiting around was killing him. Every second she was back there she could be one second closer to some unknown danger that he hadn’t taken into account when he had urged her to go on this mission. If anything happened to her, anything at all, he would blame himself entirely.
“You look…different,” the curly-haired woman remarked, taking in the sharper outlines of the ex-watcher’s features, the facial hair, and the general look of what may be described as danger that hung about him, even dressed up as he was this evening. Wesley smiled weakly and said something about having had a hard couple of years, to which he was rewarded with her most sympathetic of smiles.
“Oh, bloody save it,” he thought, getting more annoyed as she seemed intent on chatting him up.
The good mood that Wesley had been in only an hour ago was completely evaporated now, and he could feel himself becoming more and more on edge. Virginia was soon prattling away about some new country club she belonged to, and how wonderful its tennis courts were, when Wesley’s phone began to buzz. Immediately taking the phone from his suit jacket, Wesley read Faith’s text, and looked up towards the door that came in from the bottom floor of the theatre. Sure enough, within a couple of seconds, the very man that she had described came through it, taking long and swift strides toward the main entrance of the building to the front.
“I have to go,” Wesley said tersely as he began to follow the man, leaving Virginia staring slack-jawed at his lack of manners.
Once outside, he was able to catch a glimpse of the man hurrying down an alley on the far side of the building next to the theatre. Wes reached into his jacket to procure his gun, and followed at a slight distance, until they were both in the dark of the alleyway. Slipping behind a dumpster at one point when the man turned around, probably becoming aware that he was being followed, Wesley took a deep breath, trying to reach that mercenary part of himself that he knew he would need to get this job done. A couple moments later, he emerged from the shadows.
“Stop right there,” Wes said as he cocked the gun and aimed it in the direction of the man.
Hearing the click of the handgun, the man knew better than to run, and slowly turned around to face Wesley. Wesley took a few careful steps forward, the gun aimed squarely at the man’s chest. “Who do you work for?” Wes barked out. “Where is the girl?”
“Look man, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just a stage technician. I was going to get some food,” the man replied as he put his arms up in the air. But Wes wasn’t buying it. Whoever this man was, he was obviously just a lackey, but Faith wouldn’t have sent him the message to follow him unless she had overheard something.
“Please, don’t try my patience,” Wes said coolly as he took a shot at the man’s right arm, careful to avoid the torso. He wouldn’t do Wesley any good if he died. He had information. He had to!
The man doubled over in pain, letting out a cry. In a manner of a second, Wesley was kneeling down next to him on the ground, pointing the gun at his neck.
“Now, I will repeat the questions. Who do you work for, and where is Sarah Roberts?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Please!” the man pleaded. Wes cocked the gun once more, when suddenly he heard the shuffling of feet behind him. Turning his head to the side for a moment, he saw that they weren’t alone. Three robed and very gruesome demons had him surrounded, as the man lay gasping in pain.
“Well, well. If it isn’t the man himself? Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. We were expecting you.” The taller of the three demons chuckled. “To be honest, we were a little afraid that you’d figure the game out before we got you to this point, but nonetheless, we are quite happy to see that you are alone. You weren’t alone when you arrived. We saw you.”
Wesley felt a pang of fear race through him. Not for himself, however. He had the horrible feeling all of a sudden that he and Faith had been led into some sort of trap.
Worse yet, he had a strong feeling that it wasn’t him they were after.
†
Faith felt her arms tighten, and she put up her guard as the girl behind the desk spoke. She didn’t look dangerous, and if she had to, Faith knew she could break the chick’s twig of a figure in a second; but she also knew that looks could be deceiving, so her guard remained up, her body tense ready for any sudden movements.
“Faith, please… You don’t have to be defensive with me. Now take a seat and we can talk like adults.”
“I’m just dandy here, thanks love. I didn’t come here to get all chatty.”
“No, you came here to hunt down a slayer. Now, what was her name…Sarah wasn’t it? I‘m afraid she‘s not here. We anticipated that Angel Investigations might come to the theatre, but I didn‘t expect to see you… That‘s just a bonus.” Faith steadied herself as the girl rose from her chair and walked round to the front of the desk.
“So, when did the little rogue of a slayer start working with the vampire then? Last I heard you were going it alone, repenting for all your sins and such. Don’t know why, from what I hear your shady past was pretty impressive, something to be proud of even. My, Faith. You’re awfully quiet tonight. Cat got your tongue?” Faith remained motionless as the girl approached her, confidently stepping up until she was only inches away from the Slayer.
“Come on Faith! It’s no fun if you don’t play the game. This should be the big scene near the end of the movie where the heroine gets all the answers! She discovers where Sarah is being held, who the hell has been sending her those confusing dreams, and, most importantly… who has her lover bound, gagged and praying for death?” Faith didn’t need to hear another word. Her arm shot out and pushed the girl to the floor. The slayer’s eyes were full of rage and fire as her hands grabbed the girl’s throat tightly, holding her to the ground.
“Tell me what you know!”
The girl’s smirk was slightly disfigured, struggling to breathe, let alone make words, as she looked up at her attacker.
“You… you really should…n’t be doing this. I wanted … wanted to talk like adults, and… and you strangling… me isn’t going to help you… seeing as I don’t breathe!!” The girl’s face quickly morphed into its demonic form as she cackled with laughter beneath Faith. Before Faith could react, the vampire’s fist collided with her jaw, knocking the slayer down to the ground. Shaking it off, Faith went to get to her feet when she felt something pierce her skin. She looked down at her arm to see a needle sticking out of her bicep.
“Time to sleep now Faith.”
With those words, Faith’s eyes began to close and everything faded into black.
†
“Who are you?” Wesley spat out at the demon standing before him. The darkness of the alley hid his features, but the other two were slightly more visible, save for the red cloaks that covered them from head to toe. They were ominously familiar to Wesley.
Just as Wes’ attention was turned, the man on the ground lunged upward at him, assuming his true form. Wes quickly rolled to the side, kicking his leg out to trip the vampire, and sending him rolling onto the ground again, only to spring up within a second. The vampire snarled as he made his way closer.
“I heard about you and the slayer…taking down Murray. That must have been quite a show, huh?”
“What do you know about that?” Wes asked cautiously as he backed up toward the wall. Things weren’t looking so good for him right now. He was completely cornered by the vamp and the three demons.
“We know it all,” the demon spoke. “After all, we are the ones who set all of this in motion. Everything that has happened since you came back,” the demon chuckled, stepping out into the light. Wesley grimaced as the creature’s face was brought into view.
It was horrible. Death. Decay. The face of true evil.
“We brought you back, so that Angel would use his one chance to restore the life of someone dear to him on you. Don’t you wonder what would have happened if you had never come back from the dead? Angel would have gone to help Faith that day. He would have been her champion, and when we needed to fell her, as we do now, he would have used that one chance at resurrection and healing for her, not you. So you see, we found ourselves in somewhat of a predicament.”
Wesley was more than a little confused at the demon’s words. “How did you know about Angel’s pact with the demon clan? He did a favor for them at Wolfram and Hart.”
Sudden realization hits.
“It was you. You used your shaman to bring me back. Twice.”
“Very good, Mr. Wyndam-Pryce,” the demon laughed darkly. “We are the Triuvna. Our alliance with Wolfram and Hart dates back centuries. We see into the future. But more than that, we can change the future to accommodate our needs. We create destiny. But such a power comes at a price. What we need is a sacrifice; you see…the blood of the slayer. But not just any slayer. The last one called under the old order.”
“Faith?” Wesley started to panic. “What about Sarah Roberts? The missing girl? Was all of that just part of the trap? To get me to bring Faith here?”
The demon looked thoughtful. “No, she exists. And she is here…in a vault underneath the theatre. Her accommodations aren’t as comfortable as she might like, but she is alive, I assure you. We were prepared to use her if he had to. Now that the plan has gone so swimmingly, we can let her go.”
Wes looked doubtfully at the demon. “Why are you telling me all this? Why tell me your entire plan?”
A sickening smile slowly spread across the demon’s hideous features.
“Because it’s already too late for your slayer.”
Chapter Ten