**********
Gunn and Angel had gone out through the
tunnels so Wes just decided to drive Angel's convertible out to get
dinner. I went into the kitchen and
drained a fresh pint of blood for dinner for Angel and then placed it in the
microwave so all he had to do when he got back was hit the start button to warm
it back up for dinner. I then sat down at the front desk to the hotel and
played around on Cordy's computer for a good 15 minutes before I heard someone
coming down from upstairs. I looked up
over the desk to see Linds walking down the stairs in his flannel night pants.
"Boo!" I called out and he jumped
and then flicked me off angrily.
"Fuck you Faith!" He angrily threw
at me.
"I'll leave that to Oz…" I teased
and he smiled a little despite the fact he was still slightly angry.
"You scared the shit out of me."
"Funny," I answered and stood up
and stretched out.
"Where is everyone? I thought that you were out with Wes…where
is Cordelia?" Lindsay questioned as he headed into the kitchen, assuming I
would follow him, as I did. He was
getting some bottled water out of the frig as I entered and leaned up against
the doorframe.
"Angel and Gunn are still out and
fighting evil while Cordy and Wes went to get Chinese. So you and Oz need to
get down here and be prepared to dig in.
It looks like another fun filled takeout night!" I announced and he
smiled a little.
"Oz is out cold. I think I actually wore him out for
once!" Lindsay bragged and I caught sight of movement out of the corner of
my eye. Upon closer inspection it
turned out to be Oz coming down the stairs in just a pair of jeans.
"You keep telling yourself that and one
day I might believe you Linds. Until
then I'm not buying into it until I don't see Oz within an hour of seeing
you," I answered and left the kitchen nodding in greeting to Oz as I
headed back to the computer. Angel and
Gunn came in a few seconds after I was seated behind the desk. I felt Angel's presence before hearing him
come into the building. They stopped at
the front desk to see Cordy but raised an eyebrow when they saw me. Angel still had the stoical face going and
it was going to piss me off very soon.
"Where Delia?" Gunn asked me and I
grinned.
"Dinner," I answered and he
smiled.
"Good I was just telling Angel here how
I was starving!"
"Yeah we figured you would be
hungry. So your food is on the way and
Angel there is fresh blood in the microwave ready for you to hit the button for
instant dinner," I announced to them both and Angel looked at me for a
moment and then walked away completely silent.
Gunn looked after him and sighed heavily.
"You hurt him," Gunn told me and
then turned back around to face me.
"I know and he hurt me too," I
answered and that was the end of the conversation. I stood abruptly as I decided that I would go after Angel and try
to straighten out whatever damage there was between the two of us. I hated going
to bed angry with him or vice versa; it wasn't a thing we normally let
happen. I got around the counter and I
was headed toward the kitchen when I saw Angel come out of the bathroom and I
locked eyes with him right before my world shattered.
**********
Mind-numbing pain shot through my head and I
grabbed my head in an attempt to stop it and my body buckled and collapsed
under the sudden movement and overall lack of bodily control. I saw a car wreck with a lot of people
standing around with lots of medical staff present as well. The whole vibe
coming from the scene was negative and depressing. It was then that I recognized the car and cried out
"Noooo!" and came back from the vision. I looked up as the pain exited my head and my vision returned to normal.
"What happened Faith? What just happened here?" Angel asked
and I noticed he was holding me in his lap as he sat on the floor and realized
he must have caught me before I hit the floor.
I didn't get a chance to answer because a police officer walked into the
front door of the Hyperion and I was speechless.
"I need to speak with Angel," the
man said solemnly.
"Tell me they aren't dead," I asked
as I climbed unsteadily to my feet from my collapsed position on the
floor. The officer looked at me in
shock and then regret and sorrow crossed his face.
"How…did you get a call?" He asked,
confused now.
"Tell me Cordelia and Wesley aren't
dead," I begged of him as I walked closer slowly to him. An irate Gunn spun me around a split second
later.
"What did you see Faith? What happened to Delia?" He yelled in
my face and shook me. I shook my
head.
"A car wreck…a car and a truck…one
damaged unbelievably – pinned up against a pole. People and medics surrounding the scene…the vibe was depressing,
dark, bad and then I recognized the convertible. I didn't see Cordy or Wes but I felt them and then he came to the
door," I told Gunn honestly and he shoved me away from him as he collapsed
in the floor. I lost my balance and hit the tile floor hard and even Angel
couldn't get there to catch me. He was
too stunned to move. The officer helped
me to my feet and then looked at me warily.
"You saw that?" He asked me uneasy.
"I'm psychic sometimes," I lied
smoothly. "Sometimes I see
horrible events only sometimes."
"Is she dead? Is Delia dead?" Gunn asked out loud, either directed to the
officer standing next to me or me.
"They were both taken to the nearest
hospital and I was sent here to find out who was the owner of the car. We called both houses of the people but no
one answered at either and then we decided to go with the owner of the car
route and here I am and here you all are.
If you want I could drive you there, to the hospital to meet up with
your friends," the officer suggested to us and Gunn was moving instantly.
"Lets go. English better not be dead cause I when I see him I am going to
kick his ass for giving me this scare," Gunn said as he headed towards the
front door and the officer's car.
"Angel," I called out softly and he
broke from his trance. He headed
silently towards the counter of the hotel and then dug around for something in
the desk. I moved on to the
others. "Oz, Linds?" I called
to the two standing silently in the doorway, each holding the other's hand
tightly. "Get some shirts on guys
and lets go," I gently called out to them. My head was throbbing in pain but I put it aside to deal with
everyone else that needed to come with me.
Oz took off up the stairs rather quickly and came down a minute later
with two shirts and flip-flops for him and Linds. They headed out the door and the officer went with them and Gunn
to get into the car. "Angel?"
I called out again and looked at him.
He came around the counter and headed towards me. He held out his hand
and handed me 2 Extra Strength Tylenol and a bottle of water and then waited
for me to take them. I took them dry
and then turned to follow the others but he caught me and pulled me into a hard
bruising kiss for a mere second and then laced his fingers through mine and
drug me out of the hotel. I managed to
shut the door behind me as I was pulled towards the cop car. It was a tight and very illegal squeeze for
us to fit into the car but we did it to get to the hospital. Oz and Linds were completely silent the
entire way and Gunn was pretty much full of energy. For some reason he believed that there was no danger in this
situation because they had survived demons so why would a car accident be
anything they should worry about. I sat
on Angel's lap in the backseat with Linds and Oz and he held onto me tightly
was silent the entire time. We got out
of the car and Officer Jenkins escorted us to the waiting room right outside of
the emergency room. Gunn walked up the
woman working the desk.
"We had two friends brought in earlier from
a car accident. Wesley Wyndham-Price
and Cordelia Chase. Where are they can
we see them?" Gunn asked the woman and she flipped through the charts she
had on the desk in front of her. I knew
that something was wrong when she called over someone else. One if not both of them were dead. After one of the women headed off hurriedly
down the hall the original woman looked up at us.
"She has gone to get information on
those two patients. She will be back as
soon as possible with that information," she told us and I pushed Gunn out
of the way from the counter and leaned over it glaring at her.
"Where are they?" I hissed at her
and she was a little shocked at my behavior, perhaps my eyes, or my voice, but
she started to shake.
"I am not sure…"
"You are lying. Where are they? Where is Cordelia and where is Wesley?" I asked her again as
I was getting more and more agitated.
"Perhaps you can take your questions up
with me Miss," a male voice suggested and I whipped around to come
practically face to face with a doctor with two clipboards in his hands.
"Yeah you look like you are better
equipped to handle my questions. Wesley
and Cordelia…where are they?" I asked him as I headed towards him.
"I was assigned to Mr. Wyndham-Price
when he came into the emergency room.
Ms. Chase was assigned to another doctor in a different room. I can only speak about my patient."
"Get to speaking then Doc," I
threatened him angry and worried beyond belief now.
"I don't have any good news for you
concerning Mr. Wyndham-Price. He came
in unconscious from the ambulance. I'm
sorry that to you that despite the efforts that my crew and I attempted he did
not make it. We deemed him dead after
being out on the table for 15 minutes.
I have sent the other nurse off in search of some information on Ms.
Chase and she…" he told us and I grabbed him by the jacket and brought him
within inches of my face.
"What the fuck do you mean that Wes is
dead? He can't be dead. He survives everything. You are lying to me," I screamed in his
face and then shoved him back away from me.
"Get him right now. Make
him come out here, the joke is over," I spat at him angry with him for
trying to lie to me. Angel came up
behind me and wrapped his arms around me and I struggled to get away from him.
"He is dead Faith, he is dead,"
Angel quietly whispered in my ear and I struggled to get away from him and away
from Angel's misconstrued lies as well.
"You know he is Faith…you got the vision. You saw the wreck; you know that it's true. Please Faith; get it together for me, for
Gunn, for Cordelia. You need to make
sure that you are still strong for Cordelia cause she is going to need you when
she gets to see you," Angel whispered in my ear and I just let it all
out. Tears flowed freely down my face
and I turned around and fell heavily into Angel's arms. He held me tightly as we stood there rocking
softly in the middle of the hallway. I heard the doctor explaining the
complications that Wesley died of to Gunn, Oz and Lindsay.
"He was dead before he even made it to
the hospital. We tried our best to
revive him but his injuries were far too severe," the doctor explained to
them.
"What happened that you couldn't save
him?"
"From what the EMTs told me when they
brought him in he was driving the car and was hit by the truck on that
side. The car was then pushed across
the intersection and smashed up against the light pole, which injured your
other friend. When he came into the
hospital we deemed the cause of death to be a combination of the following. Several of his ribs were shattered, which
led to his punctured left lung and heart, causing massive blood loss. He ultimately drowned from blood and fluid
in his lungs and from severe blood loss."
"So you are saying he died alone and in
pain?" Gunn quietly asked the doctor.
"Essentially. I'm sorry," he added quietly, knowing that it really didn't
matter what he said to us. The nurse that originally had left to get
information came back a few minutes later and we all turned to face her.
"Ms. Chase is still undergoing emergency
surgery but from what the nurse I talked with said is that everything is
looking good for her right now.
Provided nothing happens during the surgery and immediately afterwards
Ms. Chase should be ok. I was told to
escort you guys to the waiting room where her doctor will speak with you as
soon as he gets out of surgery," the nurse informed us and we headed with
her to the waiting room where other people were waiting to hear about their
loved ones like us. Angel pulled me
into his lap on the chair he sat down and I sat down and curled into him and he
wrapped his arms around me protectively.
Gunn sat silently in the chair next to me and I held one of his hands
tightly in my own. We must have sat
like that silently for an hour before a can of soda appeared in front of my
face and I looked up to see an elderly woman hanging me the coffee.
"You looked like you could use
this. You wanna talk about what
happened?" She asked me as I took the coffee from her after I slipped my
hand out of Gunn's. I looked over at
Angel and Gunn to see them asleep, both leaning up against each other. Oz and Lindsay were sitting quietly talking
to each other with heads close together and hands intertwined.
"My friends were in a car accident about
two hours ago. Wesley didn't make it…we
are waiting to hear about Cordelia once she gets out of surgery," I told
her and she frowned slightly.
"I'm sorry to hear that," she
answered softly as I opened the soda can and took a small sip. "She was a close friend I take
it?"
"My best friend, coworker, partner in
crime kinda girl. She's Gunn's love of
his life. We all worked together at the
same place," I told her and she smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry to hear that…did Wesley work
with you as well?"
"He was our boss, our leader, our
sanity. He kept us all calm and cool in
the most horrible situations. I keep
wanting to ask him what we should do at this time but he's dead and I won't be
able to ask him that anymore."
"I'm sorry," she softly said to me
and I looked up at her from the soda can I had been staring at and talking to
the entire time.
"Why are you here?" I asked her.
"I work here. Come in to talk with the people in the waiting room. Volunteer work really—I work the graveyard
shift. It keeps me busy and I love
helping people," she answered and I smiled gratefully at her.
"Thank you for the soda and most of all
for caring," I told her. "It
is people like you that the world needs to be safe for," I told her and as
soon as I got the last word out of my mouth I got another mind-numbing
vision. The soda hit the floor about
the same time I did. I saw a girl in an
alley that I recognized getting attacked by a group of ugly ass demons. When the pain stopped and my vision came
back to singular instead of double then I focused on all my friends standing
above me with worried expressions on their faces.
"I so don't know how Cordelia does this
vision thing," I mutter and then freeze.
"Why am I getting her visions?" I asked and they all looked at
each other for a few minutes and then back at me. Confused, empty expressions were what I was greeted with.
"What did you see? Was it about Delia?"
"No, a blonde girl is getting attacked
in the alley near the West Marina. Big
ugly ass nasties are in charge of this assault. Two visions in less than 2 hours, not cool," I muttered to
myself and Angel lifted me off the floor.
"I guess that Oz and I will go. You guys can stay here and wait to see what
happens with Cordy," Lindsay suggested and I shook my head.
"Oh no Linds…Oz might be able to handle
this one but this is not your run of the mill nasties…these guys are huge. I'll go, you guys can stay here and wait for
Cordy to get out of surgery. I'll be
back as soon as I make work of these guys," I shrugged them off.
"So you are saying that the two of us
couldn't handle them and you are going?
With the visions and everything?
You don't know what is going on with them. What if you get another vision while fighting them?" Oz
asked me really worried. "I'm not
ready to lose another member of the team tonight," he quietly added and I
froze.
"I'll go with her. Gunn stays to be here for Cordy when she
gets out of surgery and you two are staying here to be with him for
support. If we need back up then we
will call you. We'll be back in an hour
tops. If she gets put in a room make
sure the desk knows where to send us – make sure they know we are more than
family," Angel instructed them and then he caught the eye of the elderly woman
who was talking to me earlier.
"So I think this is my cue to leave so
you all can do much better things for the greater good of humanity," she
quietly told us and then headed off to talk with other people sitting in the
waiting room.
"Let's go," I told Angel and he
nodded to me and we looked back at the guys.
"We'll be back as soon as we can," I told them and pulled each
of the three of them into a tight hug before we left.
**********
We made it through that night and Cordelia
made it through the surgery. The next
few days were very trying for all of us involved in Angel Investigations. Cordelia wavered in and out of consciousness
for the next week before she finally regained full consciousness. Lindsay and Oz took care of the office of
Angel Investigations and they also arranged the funeral and service for
Wesley. I was still getting visions and
Angel and I were taking care of them.
Gunn remained by Cordy's side 24/7 tending to her every need while she
was awake and conscious. The funeral
was for a small private group of people that knew Wes intimately only and it
was held three nights after the car accident.
Buffy and Giles were the only two to come up from Sunnydale to attend
the funeral. We didn't expect the
others to come but it still hurt that only two people from the Sunnydale crew
came up to show their regards to a fallen ally. Gunn was there for the service and then he left to go back to
Cordelia's side in the hospital.
The service ended midway through when I got
my 5th mind-numbing vision since I mysteriously attained Cordelia's
powers. This one was of a teenage group of college kinds that accidentally
invoked a powerful demon that was hell bent on eating them in payment for
setting him free.
"Damn frat boys. They are trying to invoke some sort of demon
troupe and the demons are going to show their gratitude for resurrecting them
by eating them," I muttered once I could concentrate enough to get the
words out.
I immediately grabbed some Tylenol and my
sword and looked around naturally for Wesley to tell us what to do. My face fell and only Angel caught the
change.
"Oz is on it," Angel stated and I
nodded to him. Lindsay tossed me my
vest and I pulled it on and slid the sword down the back. Oz grabbed a few books and came out of the
library area.
"I think I got them," he answered
and Giles immediately looked the books over.
"These will do," he answered and
they divided them up as the front door opened to the hotel. Kate stood there silently with a single
white rose in her hands. I smiled
gratefully to her.
"I couldn't make it to the funeral or
the burial but I made it here to pay my respects," she softly said and
then walked into towards us. We were
still getting ready to move out when she got closer. "Where are you going?"
"Faith got a vision," Linds
answered and she stopped.
"Faith got it? Why am I confused here?
Since when did Faith get the visions?"
"Since the PTB transferred them to me
before Cordy's accident. She wouldn't
have been able to handle them so I got them," I answered and she nodded to
me slowly.
"Need help?"
"No, we are good. If you sit with Linds we will be back…"
"Oh no I'm not staying when everyone
else goes."
"Someone needs to be here in case Gunn
calls," Angel argued. "Oz is
needed now as are Faith and I."
"Then let the old man stay. I'm in this group," was Lindsay's
counter argument.
"Giles is needed in replacement of
Wesley," I answered quietly.
"He has been doing this Watcher job for years longer than Wes did
it for," I added gently and Linds nodded to me.
"Yeah yeah I'm here if you need backup."
"Good Lindsay," I smiled at him and
then turned to the group. "B, you
are with me and Angel. Oz and Giles get
the privilege of once we get there identifying the demons and reversing the
spell," I quickly announced and we headed out in the van quickly to the
frat house. We got there just as the
demons were coming forth. Giles and Oz
immediately found the spell to reverse the first one and then did it as B,
Angel and I attempted to defend the frat boys and keep us alive too. The spell basically allowed us to decapitate
the demons, which sent their souls back to the dimension they originally came
from. We got back into Oz's van covered
in demon blood and guts for the return trip back to the hotel.
"What would Gunn say here?" Angel
asked quietly.
"Me and English here kicked some ugly,
nasty smelling, foul tasting ass," Oz stated, doing an excellent
impression of Gunn, from the driver's seat of the van.
"He calls Wesley 'English'?" Giles
quietly questioned and Angel nodded smiling.
"He hardly ever called him Wesley except
when he was serious. English was his
nickname for him," Angel told Giles softly from his position on the floor
in the back of the van. Giles was
sitting shotgun while B, Angel and I were subjected to either the couch or the floor
in the back of Oz's van. Angel had
allowed B and I to share the couch and he leaned up against the opposite wall
from the couch, our feet were barely touching as we were sprawled out.
"He is going to miss him perhaps the
most out of all of us. Those two were
damn near inseparable at times. They
fought together side by side for years," I quietly admitted and to my
surprise B reached over and took my hand.
"People die everyday. Be thankful you got to know him for as long
as you did. Cherish those memories that
you have that bring that smile to your face.
I know that you thought very highly of him just by the look on your face
when you were talking about him and Gunn.
I'm glad he didn't die unknown and unloved in this world. He will live on as long as you remember
him," B told me gently and tears silently spilled down my cheeks. She held my hand the entire ride home that
was made in complete silence.
**********
Buffy and Giles headed back to Sunnydale the
next morning and we were left to deal with the repercussions of the events that
taken place recently. Our team was
severely understaffed and we weren't keeping up with the visions that I was
getting. I had to not only get the
visions but fight the battles that went along with them as well and it was
starting to take its toll on me physically and emotionally. Gunn was out of the field as well since he
was spending every moment with Cordy, not that we didn't agree with him doing
that, it was just taking away from the team.
All of us, including Kate, came back to the hotel a night a little over
a week after Wesley's funeral totally exhausted, badly injured, and overall
severely beaten. I had ended up with a
broken wrist and a very badly beaten body.
Oz, despite his internal injuries and external cuts, had to carry
Lindsay out because he ended up shattering his knee and breaking one of his
arms. Kate was bleeding from a cut
across her forehead and other minor cuts all over her body. Angel was the worse out of all of us. He was covered in his own blood from head to
toe. He had gotten his chest impaled
and was then almost gutted; he was going to have to have his stomach stapled
shut to keep his insides inside. His left
shoulder was completely out of socket and that arm broken in at least two places. He had severely sprained his ankle when he
was tossed off a huge loft and landed on uneven ground below and yet he still
stood again to fight. We got to the
hotel somehow through the sewers and managed to get all of us into the lobby
area where we all collapsed for a moment.
"Kate you need medical attention
soon," I mumbled as I attempted to sit up straight from my lying position
on the floor.
"We all do Faith," Lindsay's voice
weakly put in.
"You thinking we call the
paramedics?" I asked in general.
"I'll get on it," Kate said and
grabbed her radio out of her bag.
"This is Lockley. I need an
ambulance to the Hyperion hotel. I'm
requesting medical attention for myself and three civilians," she said
into her radio.
"Copy that Kate we are dispatching the
medical team now," a male voice said over the radio and she set it down
next to her on the couch. Angel was
slowly limping into the kitchen and I stole a glance at him right before he
collapsed in the doorway.
"Angel?" I asked him and he grunted
in reply. "You going to be
ok?" I called out but was in too much pain to move unless it was a life or
death situation. Another grunt was my
answer. I pulled my cell phone out of
my vest and dialed Cordelia's hospital room number.
"Hello?" Gunn's familiar voice
asked after the second ring.
"We need you here at the hotel," I
got out and then had to move the phone aside as I started coughing up blood.
"Faith what happened? What is going on?
Is everyone alive?"
"I got a nasty vision of this serpent looking
demon and some of his flunkies trying to raise something. So we head to the ritual site and got our
asses kicked. It was a royal party down
there, I'm surprised we are all alive at this point," I answered
weakly.
"I'm on my way. I gotta let the nurse know that I am
stepping out of the room. How long do
you need me for?" Gunn informed me.
"Three hours tops. Enough time for us to get medical attention
and someone to come back to the hotel to watch Angel. I need you to fix him. He
needs surgery and we can't take him to the hospital," I instructed
him.
"Ok, I'm on my way. Where is Angel?"
"Passed out on the floor in the
kitchen," I answered and he chuckled.
"Later," he said and hung up with
me. I hated to call him away from
Cordelia especially with all of the surgeries she was going through lately to
rebuild her face from the damage she had gotten with the accident and the
surgeries to make sure that her internal organs were all ok and functioning
properly. She was going to be in the
hospital for a long time and then doing rehabilitation for much longer after
she was released.
"Angel—Gunn is on his way. Is there any way you could get into the
kitchen out of site from the door?" I called to him and didn't reply. "Angel?" I called again and I saw
Oz limp by me slowly towards Angel.
"He's not breathing," Oz deadpanned
and I groaned. "Not funny
Oz," I called back as I pushed myself up to a sitting position with my
good arm despite my body screaming at me not to do it. I coughed up some more blood and then
managed to get to my feet. I helped Oz
pull Angel none too gently into the kitchen out of sight from the doorway and
as we were headed back out of the kitchen the medical staff came in through the
front door.
"Detective Lockley?" He called out
and I pointed to her on the couch.
"I'm over here," she called back
and they headed over to her first. They
managed to get her onto a stretcher and were headed out with her when I started
coughing up more blood and Oz grabbed me right before I collapsed. They came back immediately to get me. They put me on the stretcher and I looked at
them.
"You need to get Oz and Lindsay
too. They are injured just as badly as
I am," I informed them and they looked over at the guys.
"The second ambulance is just pulling up
and we are going to put them on that one and take you with Detective
Lockley," one of the men told me and I just nodded to him.
"Make sure you get them medical
attention too—they are in bad shape," I told him and coughed up more blood
and then passed out on the stretcher before it made it out of the hotel lobby.
**********
I was treated at the hospital and then I
signed myself out against the recommendation of my doctor. The cast on my wrist was restricting most of
my movements. I had put my street clothes, despite them being in shreds, back
on and as I was pulling on my shoes Gunn came into my room.
"What are you doing?" A male voice
questioned me.
"Why are you even here? Did you go to the Hyperion and take care of
Angel?" I asked him without pausing from tying my boots.
"I went, fixed him and put him in your
bed," Gunn answered.
"I called you an hour and 45 minutes ago
Gunn. That means you spent about an
hour with him. I wanted you with him
for a few hours to make sure he was ok."
"He's Angel – a vampire – he's
fine," Gunn answered.
"He is my lover," I answered. "We haven't called you, except for
tonight, away from your lover for anything at all Gunn! We all almost died tonight. As it is we are all injured and unable to fight
due to the battle we fought tonight. If
I get another vision you are the only one who will be able to stop whatever it
is and I refuse to send you out there alone because if you die then Cordy will
never be the same and never forgive me."
"I made sure Angel was ok. I stitched him up, made him feed, etc. I did my job. All the other members of my crew are here Faith."
"Angel is at the Hyperion alone
Gunn."
"So?"
"We didn't kill the serpent. We just injured it and hopefully trapped it
until we can go back down there and kill it.
We just had to make a run for it or we were going to all die," I
answered and I slowly pulled on my jacket despite my body's obvious discomfort
with that movement.
"It doesn't know where you live."
"We left a trail of blood through the
sewers up to the hotel. If it wants to
track us it will," I answered angrily.
"I have to go now," I told him.
"I'll come," he volunteered
now.
"I asked you to stay there before I
don't want your help now," I snapped at him. "You've done enough helping for one day." I grabbed my cell phone and keys off the bed
and headed towards the door.
"What are you gonna do? You can barely support your own weight how
are you gonna carry him?"
"I'll do it because I have to," I
told Gunn. "I'll do it because I love him," I answered quietly. He nodded silently and averted his
eyes. I left the hospital and caught a
cab back to the hotel. I told the cab
driver to wait for me for 15 minutes and I would be out again. I walked as quickly as possible into the
hotel and up the stairs. Angel was on
the bed safe but sloppily stitched up.
I growled low in my throat in frustration at Gunn. I threw some clothes in a duffel bag,
grabbed my wallet and put it in there as well.
I grabbed an outfit for Angel and grabbed $1000 cash and put it in my
bag as well. I slung the bag over my
body and headed to Angel. Fortunately
he was still in his pants and I pulled a tee shirt over his head. I managed somehow to put him over my
shoulder and I headed slowly and painfully down the stairs. I took him out to the cab and put him
carefully in the backseat.
"Whoa – whoa – is he dead?" The
cabbie freaked.
"No, he's out from pain medicine I
swear. I need to take him to a friend's
house to watch over him. I need to grab
another bag, give me five more minutes, " I told him and he looked scared
but nodded. I went back into the hotel
and grabbed my vest and made sure the compartments were refilled and my sword
was attached. I slid the bag off my
shoulders and put on the vest, complete with sword. I grabbed some ingredients out of a sealed tub and chanted a few
words as I sprinkled them over my body.
The spell I cast made my vest and sword invisible to other people as
well as metal detectors so I could get through the airport with it. I grabbed my bag once again and headed back
out to the cab.
"Where to now Miss?" He asked. I gave him directions to Cordelia and Gunn's
apartment. We pulled up and he looked
at me.
"I'll be back in 15 minutes ok? I have
to drop him off and then I'll be back," I told him and put the bag back
over my body and hoisted Angel out of the cab and then over my shoulder so I
could carry him. I got to the door to
the apartment and it opened for me automatically.
"Thanks Dennis," I called out as I
slowly made my way to my old bedroom. I
put Angel down on the bed and settled him in.
He started violently coughing up blood right after I set him down. I grabbed the closest towels to clean up the
mess a little but I didn't bother cleaning it all up. I knew he would puke some more before he woke up. I felt horrible about leaving him like that
but I had to go. "Dennis I need
you to watch him and don't let anything happen to him. If you understand me turn on the TV," I
instructed and the TV turned on. "Thank
you so much Dennis. I owe you when I
get back," I informed him and then kissed Angel's forehead and left the
apartment. I got back in the cab and
told the driver to take me to the airport.
He took me there silently and stopped at the main entrance.
"Here you are Miss…that'll be
$45.73," the driver told me. I
slid a $100 bill through the glass to him.
"Keep the change. Thank you for the ride Sir – I appreciate
it." He looked back at me shocked.
"You can't be serious," he told
me. I smiled slightly.
"You have helped me more than you have
realized," I told him and got out of the cab and walked into the
terminal.
**********
I headed immediately to the information
counter and got myself the next flight headed in the direction of Seacouver,
WA. I had to wait two hours and in that
time I called Gunn to tell him I was headed to Seacouver to get Adam and
others. He was pissed I was leaving but
I had no choice in my opinion. After I
got off the phone with Gunn I called Adam.
He wasn't available at his home or cell so I was screwed. I hoped he was still in Seacouver. I got on that flight anyway and flew to
Washington. Once I arrived in Seacouver
it was 9am. I had not slept at all that
night and barely the night before that. I headed out of the terminal ignoring
the looks I got and looked for a cab. I
tried to get into one of the parked cabs and he shook his head angrily at me.
"I am already full. My client is coming out in a moment,"
he said to me in rough English.
"I'll pay you $100 tip and the fare if
you take me," I told him and showed him the $100 bill.
"Get in," he told me and I gave him
directions to Adam's house. He waited
for me to knock on the door and when no one answered I came back to him.
"Take me to the college," I told
him and he drove me to the college. I
paid him his fare and tipped him the $100 I promised him. He left me alone with my invisible vest and
duffel bag. I headed down towards the
center of campus. I shopped the first
girl I saw.
"Excuse me," I asked her and she looked
at me and it was visible in her face and eyes she was afraid of me.
"Y-yes?" She stuttered.
"Could you tell me where I could find
Dr. Pierson?"
"I don't know who that is," she
told me and quickly walked away. I
frowned at her. I continued on till I
found a professor looking man.
"Excuse me," I asked him and looked
me over with distaste.
"Yes?" He questioned me.
"Does Dr. Pierson still work here?"
I asked him.
"Who?" He asked, wary.
"Dr. Pierson. Adam Pierson. Tall, short
brown hair, pale, big nose," I quickly described him and he knew who I was
talking about.
"What is your business with him?"
"Family – friend emergency. I need to let him know a mutual friend
died," I told him and he nodded to me after some consideration.
"I'll show you to his classroom. He has a lecture right now," he
informed me and I smiled in thanks to him.
He took me to the lecture room and we stood outside. "He will be done in half an hour. Don't interrupt him until then," the
man told me and I promised I wouldn't.
He left and I gave him thirty seconds before I walked into the lecture
hall. He was in the middle of a
sentence when he caught sight of me.
"Faith…" he trailed off and then looked back
at his class. "How about we take a
10 minute break," he suggested to the class and then turned to me.
"Hi," I weakly said and he pulled
the bag off my shoulder and pulled me into a hug. I whimpered a little as my body was crushed in the hug and he
pulled away.
"What happened to you? You look like hell!" Adam exclaimed.
"Bad night in the office."
"What else?"
"Angel and I have tried every way we
could to get ahold of you. Messages
wouldn't go through at the college evidently.
We didn't have your home or cell number anymore - are they
different?"
"I had to change them. I guess I sorta forgot to call you
guys," he sheepishly answered.
"Wesley died two weeks ago," I
bluntly told him.
"Oh God," he answered after a
second.
"Cordelia is still in the hospital. A drunk driver hit them one night."
"Faith, I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say."
"Last night Angel, Oz, Lindsay, Kate and
I went out after this huge serpent thing.
Well we were very unprepared for it and I'm lucky we all made it out
alive. Oz, Linds, and Kate are in the
hospital and Angel is out cold still and you see me," I explained. "We are three crew members down. Gunn is by Cordy's side 24/7, which I won't
deny him and Wes is no longer available.
We are in serious shit Adam," I finished.
"So you are saying?"
"We need you Adam, you and whoever else
you can get to help us and our cause."
"What kind of time frame are we looking
at?"
"Permanent," I answered.
"I don't think…" he started.
"Oh God – not here," I muttered and
he looked up at me. "Shit!" I
groaned as the vision hit me full force.
I saw a young man with short-cropped strawberry blonde hair who was
fighting another Immortal. The blonde
got shot in the chest, effectively killing him and then the other one went for
the kill.
"Faith?"
"An Immortal, cropped strawberry blonde
hair fighting another who is gonna shoot him and then take his head," I
managed to get out before another short burst hit me, the name of a boat,
Tessa. "On the docks near a boat
named 'Tessa'," I added and Adam had his cell out immediately. I heard him on the phone with someone to get
to the docks to save Richie's life. I
sat down on the floor during the call.
"What was that? You just got a vision?"
"Oh yeah did I forget to mention
that? I get Cordy's visions now,"
I shot back at him. I dug into my vest
and pulled out Tylenol and took them quickly to get rid of the headache.
"Is someone gonna save that guy?" I
asked.
"Yeah.
MacLeod is on it," Adam answered.
"Good," I answered and got to my
feet. "You taking me home
now?" I asked.
"Um…yeah…Ok. Class is dismissed. I'll
see you guys next class," Adam dismissed the class. They slowly trickled out of the room all
staring at me on their way out. Adam
helped me to his Land Rover. "I'll
be back in a few minutes I have to cancel my other class," he told me and
I nodded to him.