A Simple Act of Faith
Chapter 11

“Howdy Darling.”

Faith smiled.  “What’s he doing here?” Angel had met up with her for there second night of patrolling.  This time Doyle had come along.

“I missed you darling.  I missed you a lot,” he said and touched her shoulder.

“I thought you might like him here,” Angel explained. “It may make things more comfortable for you.”

Faith smiled.  She realized it had been one of the first times she did not feel hurt since Wesley died.

“I miss you too.”

“Angel tells me you’re thinking about leaving us?” he said, his voice a little nervous.

“Yep.  I need a new start, right after I take down Spike and Dru.  I gotta go where the vampires are.”

“There hasn’t been any sign of them all night,” Angel explained.  “They must have seen me.”  He looked Faith over.  He was not sure when he could tell Faith what he knew about Lindsey and Darla.

Suddenly Doyle cried out and held on to his head.  He turned into demon for a moment and then reverted.

“What is it?” Angel asked, touching Doyle’s shoulder.  Faith was similarly  concerned, but Doyle seemed to be riding the visions out better.  She guessed it was because he was working with Angel.

“It’s Gunn,” Doyle explained.  “Someone is trying to kill him.”
 

Gunn had finally annoyed the demon Deevak enough for it to come after him.  He was doing his best to take on the demon with his new ax, but so far the demon was winning.  It had slashed Gunn in the throat and the chest.  It had already killed two of Gunn’s friends.

Gunn gasped and fell to the floor as Deevak moved in for the kill.  At least now he would be with Alonna.

A moment later he heard some yelling and thrashing around.  He heard Faith screaming and someone leaning over him.

“Easy lad,” he heard Doyle’s voice say.

A moment later he was unconscious.
 

Lindsey was there when Vocah arrived.  He remembered how much money and energy it took to get Vocah the first time.

Last time Vocah had been downright nasty, Lindsey expected him to be worse.  After all they had lost Angelus.

Instead he seemed oddly pleasant.  He came close to what looked like a smile.

“So, you are the young man that will bring Angel down to our level?”

Lindsey nodded.

“Then you will be rewarded.  Holland has told me what you desire.  I have my ways.  She will be returned to you.  Angel will be returned to us.”

Vocah smiled again as best he could with the mask and the maggots crawling all over his face.
Lindsey would be disgusted if he was only not disgusted with himself.
 

Doyle, Faith and Angel had brought Gunn to the hospital, where the doctors went to work on him to stop the bleeding.

“I hope we got to him in time,” Faith remarked.  She wished Lindsey was with her now.  Not the sullen Lindsey, but the one before Cordelia’s death.  The strong one that stood by her.

“We did, lass, he’s a stubborn lad.  Gunn’s been on the street and fighting the forces of darkness for a very long time.”

Angel paced the halls. Half worried that he would again lose a person he was sent to save.

They were interrupted when the doctor came out.  He looked them over.  “I take it none of you are related?”

“Is he alright?” Faith asked, ignoring the racist remark.

The doctor nodded.  “We stopped the bleeding.  I had to call the police.  Slashes like that, this had to be a stabbing.”

“I understand,” Faith said.  She would call Kate as soon as she saw Gunn.

“But he should recover.  He’ll be in the hospital for a few days.  He’s asking for someone named Faith.”

“That’s me,” she said.

The doctor nodded. “Come this way.”

“Doyle, call Kate,” Faith said as she followed the doctor.  Faith turned around once to see Doyle nod.
 

Gunn did not look that bad.  There was a bandage around his neck and his chest.  There weren’t many tubes. Just two: one for fluids, the other for oxygen.

"Hey, vampire slayer number 2,” he said, weakly.

“Hey,” she said.  “Does it hurt?”

“Nothing hurts with morphine.  It’s fucking awesome.”

“How about this?” she said, pressing one of the smaller wounds.

“Ow, what’s your problem?”

“That this was Doyle’s second vision of you and you’ve been having trouble with this demon guy for weeks.”

“So I can take care of myself.”

“You can?  Last time I looked the demon had you down for the count.”

“Fine, fine. Thank you for saving me.  Is that what you wanted to hear?  That I need help from others?”

“Yes, but I ain’t the one you should be thanking.  I didn’t save you.”

Gunn’s eyes perked up.

“Then who did?”

“Angel was the one who pulled the demon off you,” she explained.  “And then killed it.”

Gunn looked down.

“I’ve accepted it and now you should—“

“What?” he said, defensively.

“That Angel isn’t Angelus.  He didn’t kill Wesley or Cordelia or your sister.  That he’s some guy with a soul that gives him the same crappy emotions we have.”

Gunn sighed.  “He here?”

Faith nodded.  “He and Doyle are waiting outside.  If you don’t want to work with him, I understand, but you should at least thank him.”

Gunn did not reply.  He felt guilty.  For the first time he felt guilty for what he thought Lindsey and him were doing.

“Can I talk to him?” he said in a low voice.

Faith nodded.  “I’ll go get him.”

She left the room.  Gunn suddenly felt very tight in his chest.  Angel had saved him, twice in fact and he repaid his kindness by conspiring against him.

Faith came back with Angel and  Doyle in tow.

“Hey, lad,” Doyle said.  “How are you doing?”

“As best as I can—“ he said, holding up his IV tube.

“I’m glad we got to you in time,” Angel said, his voice low.

“Yeah,” Gunn paused.  “Angel—“

“Yes.”

“Thanks for saving me,” he paused, “and for saving Veronica.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

“And,” he said and paused again.  “Look—this is hard for me to say, cause I know how much Lindsey is hurting.”

“What about Lindsey?” Faith said, suspiciously.

“He and I have been in cohorts together.  He said it was to get you out of town, but I don’t know.  I think he has something more instilled for you.”

“That ain’t true,” Faith said.

“Yeah it is, Faith,” Gunn said.  “The man came to see me twice about it.  He went out of his way to help drive Angel away.  He was planning something.  We all thought he was just dwelling—but he wants revenge.”

Faith shook his head. “No, you’re wrong.”

“Faith,” Angel said and knew it was time to bring it up.  “He’s right.  Lindsey’s been plotting against me—“ he paused.  “With Darla.”

“No—No—“ she said, shaking her head.

“Faith, I smelled Darla on him,” Angel explained.  “And she’s working for Wolfram and Hart.”

“Lindsey hates them, he would never work with Darla or Wolfram and Hart.  For god’s sake, They tried to kill him.”

“I killed people you cared about, yet you are working with me,” Angel said.

“That’s different.”

“I don’t understand what he will get out of it,” Angel said, “It can’t all be for revenge.”

“Maybe Darla promised him eternal youth or something,” Gunn said.  “Lindsey’s in a lot of pain.  Maybe he wants to have that pain taken away.  Maybe he wants to lose his soul.”

“He does want the pain to go away,” Faith said.  She was still in shock.  She could not believe that
Lindsey went behind her back to work for Wolfram and Hart again.  “But not through Darla.  Wolfram and Hart has offered him the only thing he wants.”

“What’s that, lass?” Doyle asked.  He was also in shock about what he just heard.  He could not imagine Lindsey going to the darkside instead of coming to them.

“Cordelia.”
 

Chapter 12

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