Part Three - Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
Faith pulled on her leather pants and yanked up the zipper before searching through the shopping bags once again and yanking out a couple of tops to pick from. She chose a black tight vest and put it on, turning to the side as she checked herself out in the mirror. Faith shook her hair back as her body took on a dominant stance. Well, at least she looked the part… now all she had to do was to feel it.
Faith grabbed her boots and pulled them on, lacing them up quickly. Her eyes darted to the door as she watched the doorknob turn slightly. Wesley soon appeared from behind it. She smiled as he approached her and stood up straight, winking at him.
“What’d I tell ya? Quick shower and a bit of nookie, and this bod is back on track. These weirdo clan members best watch out cos I’m just itchin’ for some payback.”
Faith honestly didn’t think Wes would believe these words-she barely believed them herself, but she said them nonetheless, hoping that they would relax both herself and Wesley before the next play.
Wesley smiled at Faith’s courage. He knew that she was putting on a brave front for him, and what was more, he was certain that she was aware that he knew this, but it was appreciated nonetheless. They needed to think positively…act as though they would be able to defeat this clan. Perhaps in believing it, they could make it a reality.
“So, what’s next love? We headin’ on over to Hell Inc, or are we waiting on some backup in the form of the brooding avenger?”
“Angel should be back by now,” Wesley mused as he buttoned up his shirt and walked over to the bed. Sitting, he began to pull on his shoes. “I suppose that he may have gone to do some recon at the theatre after dropping Sarah off.” The ex-watcher’s brow knitted as he tried to decide what their next course of action should be.
“I suppose we should just head over to Wolfram and Hart. The sooner we find out more about the Triuvna, the sooner we can stop whatever nefarious scheme they’ve begun.”
Wesley let out a sigh. He really wasn’t looking forward to visiting the law firm again.
After lacing his boots, he got up and walked back over to Faith, who was turned from him and looking in the mirror. He rested his head on her shoulders for a moment, catching her gaze in the glass reflection. The sight of them together in the mirror made his heart skip a little. He bent down, placing a kiss on her shoulder.
“Grab some weapons…just in case we meet with anything while we are there. I have a few supplies in my office that I need.” Wesley paused as a thought came to his mind. “I think I should also leave a note for Angel…in case he wonders where we’ve gone off to. And in case we need to be rescued later on.” Wesley smiled sardonically. “I would try him on his cell phone, but Angel is not exactly adept at modern technology.”
Wesley reached past Faith to the closet and took out his coat. He then walked over to the door. Pausing, he looked back at his lover once more. It occurred to him suddenly that they might die tonight. Should he tell her? Lord knows he wanted to. But it was still so soon. She might not even believe him.
His heart pounded in his chest…the words were on the tip of his tongue…but in the end, he bit said tongue and left the room, with Faith none the wiser. His heart continued to race, however, as he hurried down the steps to the lobby and into his office. Finding a pen and some paper on his desk, he scribbled a note to Angel:
Angel,
We are going to break into Wolfram and Hart. I have exhausted all of the books in our collection, and Faith and I both believe that the law firm is our best chance at finding out more information about the Triuvna. I just wanted to tell you so that in the event we don’t come back, you will know where to find us.
-Wes
After setting the note down in plain sight on his desk, Wesley walked over to the corner of the office and reached into one of the boxes on the floor, pulling out a long rope and a body harness. If they were to break into the law firm, they would have to exercise a certain level of stealth. He just hoped Faith wasn’t still too sore to wear the contraption.
He stuffed the rope and the harness into his weapons bag and made his way back out into the lobby, where Faith was waiting. He took a deep breath at the sight of her.
“Ready?”
†
Was she ready?
Physically yes; her wounds were healing fast and her muscles were almost getting restless through inactivity…but mentally? The slayer wasn’t so sure.
Yesterday she’d been strapped to an altar as her blood had poured out from her wrists, and now she stood on the rooftop of Wolfram and Hart, with Wesley strapping her into a harness. She looked down through the large skylight window that was to be her entry point and saw ten large, musty books sitting on the desk below, bold as brass. Faith gestured towards the books below.
“You’d think they’d at least lock them up in a vault or something, ‘stead of leaving them out for any leather clad, harness lovin’ slayer and her boy toy to get at.” Faith smirked down at Wesley as he tightened the harness round her thigh, pulling on it to check its hold. Wesley smirked along with Faith at her comment. “Boy toy?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. She really did have a way with words sometimes.
Wesley seemed to know this place inside and out, which both relaxed and bothered Faith in equal measure. Sure, it was neat when breaking into a joint to have an insider on your side, but the fact that Wesley was an insider to the law firm that had tried to mould her into an assassin didn’t exactly sit easy with the slayer. But she kept quiet, knowing that now-as they were attempting to break into Wolfram and Hart-wasn’t the time or the place to get all ‘questioning girlfriend’ on his ass.
“So, how’s this going play out Wes? I float down, swipe the books and you pull me back up? I don’t know… don’t you think it’s all a bit too easy? I mean, you’d think there would be guards, alarms, hell even a few security lasers… if these books are so important why the hell ain’t no one protecting them?”
Wes bent down, taking a look into the window that led into his old office, where the templates were still kept. It was a little unnerving that his father had said the same thing as Faith about the books being out in the open on the table. He quickly shook the thought from his mind.
“Not to worry,” he said, reaching into his supply bag and pulling out a charm bag filled with a rather unpleasant smelling mixture of magical ingredients. “I’ve been hanging onto this since Angel and I had to break into a museum a couple months back-to retrieve an urn containing a demonic entity. Seems the curator had planned to set it free. Perhaps he was hoping to have three wishes granted in return. At any rate, the charm worked like…well…a charm,” he grinned as he reached over and placed the packet into Faith’s small hand, covering it with his own.
“It should make you impervious to mystical or technological detection. If there are guards there, who actually see you, then we might have some trouble. But if memory serves, the building only has regular guards on the first floor. The rest of the building is protected by a mystical detection spell. Once you retrieve the templates on the desk below, I will pull you directly back up. I don’t want to lose sight of you if for a moment.”
Wesley reached for Faith and drew her into a quick kiss.
“You shouldn’t have any problem, love. But if you do, I’m right here.”
Reluctantly pulling away, he adjusted the harness one more time so that it fit Faith snugly. He then took out a crow bar from his bag, and pried the ceiling window open. When he was done, Wesley grabbed the rope and tied it around a radiator that protruded from the roof as an anchor. He left enough rope for her to reach the bottom of the building, and took up the slack, wrapping it around his arm.
“Ok, we’re ready,” Wesley stated as he helped Faith into position. As he began to lower her, he let up the slack of the rope gently. His heart began to pound a little as Faith’s lithe body descended into the building.
Wolfram and Hart was the last place on earth Wesley wanted Faith to be.
Faith spread her arms out to ensure her balance as she was lowered in the office by Wesley. The room was pretty swanky-not that Faith had expected anything less from the demonic law firm. She just couldn’t imagine Wesley there. Had his office looked like this? The slayer still had so many questions about the two years since their last meeting, the biggest of course being why the hell he and Angel had thought that they could take down the big cheese from the inside.
The rope tightened as she came to a stop mid-air. The slayer reached out for the worn leather books below her, careful not to drop the powdery concoction Wes had given her.
“A little lower…” Faith whispered the words as loudly as she could up to Wesley. If anyone caught them now she’d have to go all ‘Matrix’ on their ass with some flying skills and pray that this harness would hold up throughout.
The slayer felt her body lower another foot and she grabbed the books, hugging them tightly against her chest as her eyes darted towards the door. She hung there in silence for a brief moment, waiting anxiously to see if their little break-in had stirred any rumblings in the building.
Silence.
Faith let out an audible sigh as she glanced up at Wesley and nodded to him to bring her up. “Well, that was pretty simple,” Faith thought to herself as she felt the rope tug on her harness.
“Almost too simple.”
Relief washed over Wesley’s face as he pulled Faith up. He could see that the books were clutched tightly in her grasp, and he thanked the powers that there seemed to be no guards on duty; and if there were they obviously weren’t privy to their intrusion. As he pulled the rope slowly but steadily up, he wondered if perhaps the universe had finally cut them a break. After all, how many near-death experiences could they fit into a week?
When he finally pulled Faith all the way up he leant in to help her climb out of the window.
“Well, it’s a small mercy we got these without detection,” he said as he undid the harness.
“You looked really hot doing that, by the way,” he added with a smirk, before taking the volumes from her hands to make sure they were the ones they needed.
It was as he thought…they were the same templates that he used to keep on that desk when he was the head of the mystical studies division of Wolfram and Hart. He wondered why everything was still exactly the same as it was before they left. Why hadn’t new people come in and changed things?
“Good, these are the books we need. They will call forth anything about the Triuvna that the law firm has stored in their archives.”
Wesley looked around to make sure that they were still alone. They needed to get back to the hotel…but he wasn’t so sure that leaving the perimeters with the books was such a good idea. It was possible that the archives were only accessible within or around the building. It was also possible that if they left, the templates would give off a signal…some kind of alarm. He tried to think back…Had he ever taken the books off property?
Indeed he had…though that night wasn’t a very pleasant memory.
A shadow passed over his face…but when he looked up at Faith, her eyes so expectant…it passed and he smiled warmly at her.
“Now that we have what we need, we should probably be on our way.”
†
A smartly dressed woman sat calmly behind a large wooden desk, her fingers interlaced as she watched the CCTV footage again and again.
“Rewind and show it again!” She barked at her nervous assistant, whose sweaty hands trembled with fear as he fiddled with the remote. Louisa Manners, the new CEO of Wolfram and Hart, stared once again at the footage. One moment the books were there, the next they had vanished, as if they’d been magicked away.
“Sebastian, am I right in thinking that the books have numerous protection spells that are supposed to prevent them from being stolen?”
“Yes Sir, I mean Ma’am, you’re correct. Someone would have to physically carry the books for them to be able to leave the facility.”
“And if that’s the case… that means that someone’s broken in, swiped the books and left without so much as a flicker on our surveillance… I’m not happy Sebastian. Whoever has the books now has access to the millions of ancient texts and prophecies we tried to keep hidden. Get files and records on the phone. Get her to lock down access through the templates. It will take a while, but should stop our little thieves in their tracks. Then call up our New York offices and get them to use their set of books to track everything our templates have summoned over the last three hours … I want to know everything.” Louisa turned her chair round to the window and stared out at the Los Angeles skyline. She’d get the templates back, and she’d personally rip the throats of anyone who stood in her way.
†
Faith walked into Wesley’s office, holding two mugs in her hands. Quietly, she placed the cup of tea down onto his desk, careful not to cover anything he might be using. Taking a sip of her coffee, Faith looked down at Wesley, whose face was stern with concentration as he studied the three books in front of him.
Faith picked up the book she’d been reading previously, and sat back down on the large leather chair in the corner. Tucking her legs underneath her, the slayer found the page she’d been on and continued to read, both hands clutching the warm cup of coffee.
They’d had the books in their grasp for no more than three hours, and for that whole time Faith and Wes had been manically reading everything they could find about the Triuvna before the book’s connection expired. Faith didn’t understand that part, but apparently the books could time out on them at any moment, so they had to retrieve as much info as they could before it was too late. Faith turned the page and sighed; another page saying the exact same thing as the last. All these books spoke about the ritual. The blood of a true slayer would allow a demon to rise from the ashes once more. What these dusty old books didn’t say was which demon was gonna rise, not to mention where and when.
Faith’s eyes glazed across the page. The Triuvna could see the future, then bend and re-shape it to fit their needs. This demon that they planned to resurrect would somehow enhance their powers, allowing them to create one future for all, and the end of free will for mankind. Faith sighed as she slammed to book shut and summoned a different text. Her and Wes had worked all this out already; what they needed now were some cold, hard facts about this power-enhancing demon, and more importantly, how the hell Faith was gonna kill it.
Opening the book, Faith smirked as she watched the text form on the pages. Even she had to admit these books were pretty cool, even if they were from an evil law firm. The slayer brought her mug of coffee back to her lips as her eyes glanced over to Wesley and smiled. He looked so cute when he frowned. While she’d been ordering up the translated texts, Wes had been working his way through the Latin and Ancient Sumarian texts, looking for clues… and clearly from the anxious look on his face he was having as much luck as she was.
Once again, Faith began to turn the pages of the musty book in front of her; she could feel her eyes drooping as the same dreary text filtered through the pages.
The Triuvna will call upon their Master, and he will bestow upon them all his means and worth to bring forth their idealized world. He who died of unnatural means, he who perished as the age around them went black, he who died at the hands of one who had been chosen, will rise again with the blood of the chosen.
Faith read the passage over again to make sure she’d understood it, and to her amazement she did. A smile crossed her face as she dumped her mug on the table beside her and took the book over to Wesley and slammed it down on top of what he was reading.
“Looks like the slayer has become the watcher, love.” Faith pointed to the passage.
“It says that whatever this demon was, he was killed by a slayer. Makes sense really, seeing as they needed my blood. So… if we can find their watchers’ diary, we’ll have the skinny on this demon.” Faith smirked as she watched the realization of her words hit Wesley. She wrapped her arm around his neck as she eased herself into his lap.
“Which means… I found something useful.” Faith’s hand rested on his neck as she kissed him.
†
Sebastian gulped audibly as the voice on the other end of the phone told him what the stolen templates had gained access to. “Are you sure of this?” he asked, clicking the pen he held in his other hand against the desk nervously. “Yes, our Files and Records department has been notified. Access to the templates should be effectively shut down within moments,” he said, trying to sound reassuring. “Yes, yes we know what’s at stake. We will take every measure to make sure that these thieves are caught. Thank you again for your help. Goodbye.”
Bracing himself, he sauntered slowly back into Louisa Manners’ office. “I got through to the New York office. It’s bad news I’m afraid. Even though Files and Records have shut down access to the templates, the perpetrators have already summoned some of the sacred prophesies of the Triuvna…” Sebastian took a step back from Louisa’s desk. “…including the sacred scroll of Bantar.”
Louisa’s eyes narrowed at this. The last few months she had been working diligently to help set this in motion…the resurrection of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce…the luring of the slayer to the underground vault beneath the theatre where she successfully drugged her and offered her over to the clan. It was all to help raise the demon Bantar, sacred God to the Triuvna, the original source of their power. The dealings between the Triuvna clan and Wolfram and Hart had been going on for years…and had gained momentum after Angel had left the law firm. Wolfram and Hart had promised to offer assistance to the clan in raising the demon, so long as the clan, in altering the future, made it so that the vampire would be powerless. The fact that the clan already wanted to bring the line of slayers to an end was an added perk. One couldn’t blame them for including that clause, since it was a slayer that had defeated their God in the first place.
And it was a slayer’s blood that helped raise him again. But according to the official report that Louisa Manners had had to file, the slayer had survived. The one person that they never would have thought would come to her aid had rescued her in the last moment. Of course it was too late to stop the ritual, but the fact that the slayer was still out there, and the fact that important facts about the Triuvna clan had been accessed in the last few hours, narrowed the suspects down considerably.
“Faith Lehane and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.” Louisa turned to look out the window once more. “How could I have not guessed already.”
“Bantar has already been raised, Ma’am. Surely their efforts are in vain?”
“Bantar has not been fully raised. The ritual was successful in drawing his essence out of the ether, but it was stopped before the clan could cause him to fully materialize in this plane. He is in a holding dimension, and we are working with a group of mystics to draw him out. We don’t need the slayers blood to do this…just time.”
Louisa sat back in her chair. “In the meantime, I want Mr. Wyndam-Pryce and his renegade slayer exterminated. Permanently.”
†
Wesley’s mouth dropped open in surprise, but before he could utter a word in response to Faith’s findings, the slayer was scrambling onto his lap and kissing him. He resisted at first, trying to steal a look at the text she’d gotten the information from. His sense of scholastic pride was somewhat affected by this, but seeing the pleased look in her eyes made him smile, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her closer and deepening the kiss.
When he finally came up for air he brushed aside the hair that had fallen in front of her eyes.
“You’ll never stop surprising me, Faith.” He lingered on her name as if it were something precious. “I really am growing quite fond of you.”
“Ahem.”
Wesley and Faith’s attention was turned to the vampire standing behind them at the door. How long he had been standing there was up for contention.
“Angel,” Wesley began, clearing his throat and giving a sideways grin to Faith as he gently disengaged from her and stood up. “It appears we have some answers, thanks to Faith,” he cast an affectionate glance her way. Angel walked over to the desk where they were standing as Wesley pointed down to the passage Faith had found. But just as he was about to explain the text to the vampire, the words disappeared from the pages.
“What the-? Where did it go?” Angel picked up the book and leafed through it. All the pages were blank.
“It appears that access to the books has been closed,” Wesley said as he looked over Angel’s shoulder. “We expected this. But the important thing is that we now know where to look to find out more about the demon.” Wesley started rummaging through the boxes of books on the floor. He had yet to shelve everything properly since his return, a fact he was now lamenting.
Finding the box he was looking for, he set it on the desk and opened it.
“Luckily I held onto these,” he said as he took out a volume.
“The Watchers’ Diaries?” Angel asked as he read the side of the box. Wesley began to take them out, handing a few to Faith to rummage through.
“Faith, why don’t you enlighten him,” Wesley smiled as he walked toward the door. “I think I am going to need more tea. We may be looking quite a while for any reference to this demon.”
Faith watched Wesley leave before turning to her attention to Angel.
“This demon that they raised… looks like he was killed by a slayer. So if we wanna know more about him, we’ve gotta sieve through the watcher jargon. Only problem is that we’ve got no clue when the hell he died; all the text mentioned was that ‘the world turned black,’ but seeing as that happens every night-”
“-the Dark Ages,” Angel interrupted her, “It may not be the case, but it’s as good a place to start as any.” Angel moved towards the box of books and lifted out a few, checking the dates on their spines. There were around twenty separate diaries which covered the era, so Angel took the first few and sat down in one of the worn leather chairs with them. He turned his attention to the slayer.
“And you Faith, how are doing?”
Faith looked up from the text she’d been skimming through and smiled at him.
“Five by Five boss.”
“Faith…”
Faith shut the book she was reading and eyeballed Angel.
“I’m fine, really I am. So a demon clan tried to drain me for a sacrifice… just another day at the office,” Faith could tell that he wasn’t convinced. Angel had seen the darker side of Faith and knew it didn’t take much for her to fall back there. He and her walked a fine line, both had killed, both had reveled in it, and now both were dealing with it.
“I ain’t gonna go psycho on your ass if that’s what you’re thinking… I’m doing good now; plus I’ve got something to keep me grounded.” Her eyes subconsciously wandered towards the door that Wesley had gone through.
“Wesley, he’s there for me you know.” Faith’s eyes averted to the floor as she spoke to Angel, her fingers playing with her hair.
“Faith, you know that I’ll always be there-”
“Different kind of ‘there’ Angel, but thanks for the offer.” Faith winked at him as Wesley entered the room, catching a tray with three cups on it.
“I hope mine’s got coffee in it Wes, cos I’m feeling like the three of us are going be up all night.” Faith took a cup and smiled up at him before handing him a small pile of books.
Wesley grinned down at the slayer. "Believe me, Faith, I'm fully unaware of your preference for that unpleasant beverage," he said, rubbing her shoulder before walking over to his desk.
“You best be getting to it Watcher Boy… don’t want your slayer showing you up again now do we?” Faith’s smirk turned into a grin as she thanked him for the coffee.
"Mmmm...yes, we can't have that," Wesley quipped as he took a sip of his tea and sat it down. He began to sift through the box of books before noticing that Angel had already taken a number of them out. Wesley looked at the pile in front of the vampire. "The Dark Ages? Well, this should be enlightening," he remarked good-naturedly as he took a book off the top of the stack. Angel raised an eyebrow. He still wasn’t used to this new version of Wesley. Not too long ago the ex-watcher could have given him a run for his money in the brooding department. Both he and Faith really seemed happy, even with an impending apocalypse on the horizon.
Chapter Fourteen