A Simple Act of Faith Chapter 4

“Has it been done?” Darla asked when she saw Drusilla the next night.  They were visiting Spike in Wolfram and Hart’s special hospital.  The chip was to be taken out tomorrow and Spike would need to rest and heal about a week before he could test it out and see that if it actually no longer worked.

Drusilla nodded.  “The slayer does not dislike daddy.  She seems to just have contempt for him. She seems to think he will kill us.”

Darla frowned.  “Then we only have one person who we can use to drive Angelus into the darkness.”  Darla paused.  “Meanwhile you and Spike must keep the Slayer busy.  Kill her if you must. I cannot have her interfering with our plans.”

“Ohhh… “Drusilla said and clapped her hands.  “Spikey, let’s play a game.”

“Anything love,” Spike replied, weakly, though he was anxious to get back into the world and kill again.
 

Only Alex was in the office when Doyle came by.   Faith had not yet come in.  Lindsey had gone off stating he had to do research, but she suspected he had actually went out drinking.

“Hello, Darling,” Doyle said after Alex buzzed him in.  A few months ago, they had done a spell to make the entire building a home.  Alex had put a cot in her office just in case.

Alex came out of her office and gave Doyle a tight hug.  Despite the animosity going on, she missed him.

“Oh, what a welcome,” Doyle said and seemed grateful for the warm reception. Especially from Alex who had a tendency not to be that warm. He guessed her embrace came because she seemed anxious for the old times. He wondered if they would ever been friends again.

Alex pulled away.  “Well, I miss you and I suspect Faith does too.”

“Two out of three ain’t bad.  What about Gunn?”

“Gunn’s been avoiding us for the last three months,” she explained.  “He doesn’t come around anymore.  He says he is still available for hire, but—“ her voice trailed off.

“I understand, darling,” he said.

“So what brings you by?”

“A couple of things.  I haven’t seen you guys for a while and I wanted to see how you’re all doing.”

“I’m holding my own—“ she paused.  “Barely.”

“We should go out for a drink, the two of us,” he explained. “I know when they died, we all worked to keep Faith and Lindsey sane, but no one seemed to help you.”

“I’ll survive,” she looked down.  “I always survive.  Remind me when we have this drink that I tell you about my childhood.”

“Anyway—I know you don’t really like him, but we’ve moved,” he explained, handing Alex a card.  “To the Hyperion Hotel.  If you ever need me-- and maybe one day us.  That’s where we are.”

Alex took the card.  The top read Angel Investigations.

“It’s a nice place—haunted originally, but Angel and I took care of that.”

Alex did not say anything.

“Alex, I know you don’t like him—In fact I know that you loathe him, but there are forces of darkness out for all of us.  We should stick together or at least be willing to ask each other for help when needed.”

“I understand, but I don’t think any of us is ready.  And for Lindsey, it may be forever before he’s ready to forgive.”

“I know—but I am concerned about one of you.”

“Lindsey?”

Doyle nodded.

“He’s dwelling, Doyle, and none of us, not even Faith can snap him out of it.  I worry he may do something stupid.”

“I saw him, about a week and a half ago,” he explained.  “He sang at Cartias.  He was not happy.  Not even a little bit and the hatred he has for Angel—Well, I’m afraid it might consume him.”

“I’m aware of the problem,” she explained.  “I’ve suggested counseling, but we can’t force him to go.  The only thing we can do is be there for him when he needs us.  He’s got to work for this and it looks like he wants to do it alone.”

“So it has affected his relationship with Faith?”

Alex nodded and looked down.  “She says they are just friends now.  But she still has that same love in her eyes, but Lindsey—it almost seems like—he doesn’t love her anymore.  It sometimes feels like he doesn’t even like us.”

Doyle frowned.  “We gotta do something for the lad.”

“Hopefully time will heal all wounds.”

“Do you believe that?”

“I have to have a little faith,” she replied, then smiled.
 

The chip was out and tonight would be the first night in almost a year, Spike was able to go out and kill on his own.  For the three months they spent in Europe while Darla recovered from her time in hell, Drusilla had been killing and passing the fresh bodies over to Spike.

“I feel like a rampage tonight,” Spike said and smiled.  “I feel like tasty Slayer’s blood.”

"Don't kill the slayer--" Drusilla said.  "Her death will bring about the king's demise."

"The king being Lindsey."

"He will be no use to use Grandmother."

“Do not kill the Slayer yet,” Darla said, to Spike.  “We cannot afford anything to affect our plans with Lindsey.”

“But—“

“Spike,” Darla said.  “I want my Angelus back.  If you by any methods jeopardize that, I will kill you myself.  I want Lindsey to no longer care about the slayer when we kill her.”

Spike did not reply.
 

Doyle was hit by an extremely painful vision.  It was painful in a physical sense and in what he saw.  It was the park and Spike and Drusilla were randomly killing people.

“What?” Angel asked when Doyle recovered.  They had been in the middle of cleaning the Hyperion when the vision had hit.

“The park,” Doyle said and gulped.  “They are murdering people in the park.”

“Who?”

“A whole lot of vampires, but I recognized at least two,” he explained.  “Spike and Drusilla.”
 

Faith was again bored.  She was taking a break on history and reading a textbook on science.

She was thinking more and more of going to New York; A new start. Angel had Los Angeles covered.
That’s when she came across the first body.

It definitely a vampire attack.  Faith had never liked seeing the dead, and it was even worse because she thought of Cordelia leaving in a body bag.

She could sense them, they were close by.  She went off in a run when she was greeted by a dead jogger.

“Damn,” Faith said.    She examined the body and discovered that it had puncture holes.
 

Angel arrived on the scene to find several dead bodies.  He sighed.  He was to late to save him.  He examined the ground further and discovered two more bodies.  Someone had had a massacre.

And if he smell things correctly, he knew exactly who was behind it.  A moment later he sensed someone directly behind him.  Angel swung around quickly to take on the vampire, but was surprised to find no vampire there.  Instead Faith stood and looked at him with a glare filled with hatred.

“I didn’t do it,” Angel explained.

“I know,” she said and cracked her gum that she was chewing at a furious pace.  This was the first time they had really truly met up since Sunnydale.  “I can see you are still soul boy and you ain’t got a drop of blood on you.  But what gives? Why are you here?”

“Doyle,” he explained.  “He had a vision.”

“I thought you usually can get there in time.”

“Not always,” he said and looked down.  For a moment, Faith felt sorry for him.  She knew that he had not really killed Wesley, the demon had, but every time she saw his face she thought of them dying and of Lindsey’s terrible pain. “But I can at least tell you who did it.”

“Who?”

“Spike and Drusilla.”

“Kids can always be a pain.  Especially when they take after the parent,” she said, bitterly.  She smiled, but there was no happiness in it.

“Look,” he said.  “I know this isn’t easy, but we should work together to stop Spike and Dru.  They've killed three slayers between them.  And what they did here—“ he said, motioning to the bodies.  “And them telling you they are here and you can’t stopped them.”

“I stopped you.  In fact I twice didn’t stake you when I had the chance.  I might have done it on the roof after what you did to Lindsey—“

“Well, Spike and Dru are trouble.  A lot of trouble.  We should work together to stop them.  They’re gunning for you.”

“I’m not ready for working together.  I’m ready for Cold War,” she said, spitting out her gum.

“And I think if they are here, Darla is not far behind,” he explained.  “The three of them can be a terror.”

“They are here for you,” Faith said.

Angel didn’t reply.

“Darla wants you back,” Faith said.  “I’m sure that’s why they’re back in LA and I’m sure Wolfram and Hart took care of Spike’s chip.”

“I’ll stake her—them the moment I see them.”

“That a promise?”

Angel nodded.  “I did it once before.”

Faith shoved another piece of gum in her mouth and started chewing vigorously.  “How’s Doyle doing?”

“He misses you guys.”

“You think Spike and Dru are still here?”

Angel shook his head.  “Their scent is old.  They were obviously doing this for you.”  Angel paused.  He was not that far from the park.  Was the vision not to save these people, but to put them together?

“Or you.”

“Or me,” Angel agreed.

“I’m going to call my friend that works with the cops.  She’ll send someone by.  You should lay low.”

Angel nodded.

“You sure you don’t want to go to talk?” he asked.  “I would like to talk.  About everything.”

Faith shook her head.  “No—I’m not ready.”

“I saw Lindsey last week,” Angel said, knowing this would perk her interest.  “2am in Cartias, alone and not in a very good mood—“ Angel paused.  “But I figured you know about that.”

Faith sighed and spit out her new gum.  “There’s a café about a mile from here. Zenita’s.  You know it?”

Angel nodded.

“I’ll see you there in an hour.  Just to talk.”
 

“And so you are back again?” said a voice from behind him.  He was up to his third shot.

Darla hopped on the seat next to him.  Lindsey did not say anything.  He just wanted to get more drunk.

“Hello Lindsey.”

“Darla,” he said, not looking at her.

“Look at you, young, healthy, hanging out in a bar on a Saturday night alone.  There are some that would call you a loser, especially when you’re supposed to have a girlfriend.”

Lindsey sighed, her voice was getting on his nerves.

“What do you want, Darla?”

“It’s what you want.  If you really wanted to drink alone, you wouldn’t have come here knowing you could walk into one of your Wolfram and Hart buddies or me.  There’s a reason why you came back here.”

“So why do you think I’m here?” Lindsey asked, his voice condescending.

“You want something.  We both want something.”

“You can’t give me what I want.”

“I can.”

Lindsey turned around and looked at her.  Darla had the best look for a vampire.  She looked small and vulnerable, but Lindsey knew she could break him in half.  She was like a black widow spider.

“Wolfram and Hart.  They have spells, lots of spells.  They can bring her back right before she died.”

“But there’s always a catch.”

“The catch is for you to drive Angelus back to me, so he will lose that filthy soul of his.  We will be together.  We won’t bother you or your wife anymore.”

“And Faith?”

“The slayer is a different story.  How about it Lindsey?  To sleep again next to your darling wife.”

“What can I possibly do?” Lindsey said.  He was drunk and slightly amused at the conversation.  Could Wolfram and Hart even get a soul from heaven?

“Guilt, my dear.  It’s what eats at you and at him.  You must remind him every chance he gets of what he’s done.”

“And then you give me a spell to get Cordelia back?”

Darla nodded.  “We’ll even do the spell for you.  Especially since Gavin tells me your expenses are tight.”

“That’s a mighty tempting offer,” Lindsey said.

“Think about it,” she touched his brown hair as she got up.  “Guilt has a tendency to stop eventually.  People get over their regrets.  You don’t want to wait too long.  My time is short.”

Lindsey touched Darla’s hair.  She felt warm, she must have fed recently.  Her victim somewhere dead in the alley.  Was it a women or a man?  Perhaps it was a child.  Similar to the one that Angelus killed that sent him on the good path.  Did her victim have a family or were they single?  Would they be missed?

“It shouldn’t be to difficult to drive Angel to such a pretty thing like you,” he said.

Darla smiled.  She touched the side of Lindsey’s face.

“What do you want to do?”

“Do?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s a Saturday night, we’re good looking people.”

“You’re a vampire and I’m a human.”

Darla shrugged.  “I’ve fed.  Contrary to popular beliefs vampires aren’t completely cold-blooded killers.”
 

“I’m so worried about him,” Faith said, taking a long sip of her cherry coke.  Angel had treated her to a cherry coke and apple pie.

“He’s not dealing well, is he?” Angel said with no emotion in his voice.  He did it to keep the emotions under control.

Faith shook her head.  “It ain’t completely you.  I think Lindsey feel’s responsible for her death.  He was all ready to the be the one that died.”

Angel did not respond.  He knew everything, remembered everything.  Angelus had wanted to torment Lindsey for betraying him.  It was reason he hired that lame assassin.  Angelus enjoyed torment more than killing.  One of the reasons why he sired Drusilla; To cause her eternal torment.  He had wanted to torment Faith too.  Practice new methods before moving on to Buffy.

“I never did tell the both of you that I was sorry.”

“Why not?”

Angel looked down and stared intently into the water he could not drink.  “Because I knew you wouldn’t forgive me and why would you?  I killed your watcher and Lindsey’s wife.”

Faith sighed.  Suddenly the conversation got very uncomfortable.

“Sorry about that—Sorry about everything.  For all I put you through.  For all I put Lindsey through.”

“I understand—I mean I know.  You—had no soul.  The demon was in full control,” she said, but she was not sure she believed her words.

“We don’t have to be friends—but since we’re working together here—can we at least be allies?”

“I may not be here for much longer.”  New York was looking more appealing.  It would be a new start away from this pain and feelings of being uncomfortable.  Sometimes she felt both Lilith and Wesley were right.  Slayers need to be alone.  The first Slayer had known that.  Buffy told her.  Often Faith believed she was right.  Faith would never have the closeness that Buffy had with her friends, because they hadn’t been ripped apart by tragedy.

“Where are you going?”

“Maybe to New York.”

“Never really liked that place,” Angel said, playing with the ice from the complimentary water that he could not drink. “Except the World Trade Center.  You can see forever from the observation deck.  Even at night. And Windows on the World.  You’ve never tasted such food.”

“I’ve never been there.”

“It’s a good place to hide,” he explained.  “But maybe it’s a good idea.  You and Lindsey need fresh starts.”

Faith did not say anything for a longer time.  She debated telling him, since she did not even like him and Lindsey would get royally pissed off if he learned she confided in Angel before him.

“Lindsey ain’t coming with me,” she said, then stuck her fork into the apple pie.  She drank the cherry coke, then burped.

“Oh,” Angel said.  “I didn’t know.  I got the impression you guys were dating.”

Faith shook her head.  “I love Lindsey and all,” she said, “but I don’t want to compete with his guilt.  Guilt wins every time.”

“I know what you mean.”  Angel said and looked down.  “I see their faces every day.”

“Been wanting to ask you this—“

“What?”

“Wesley, Cordelia—Did they suffer?”

“You sure you want to hear about it?”

“Please.”

“For the plan to work and to torment you.  Wesley was made quickly.  Penn did not torture him.  Just drank and made him drink.  That’s it.   Cordelia.  I left her alive to bleed to death slowly.  I wanted Lindsey to find her dying, but I didn’t torture her—  Do you feel better now?”

Faith nodded. She looked down and shoved the rest of the pie in her mouth.  She held back the tears.  After she finished her pie, she said: “I just wanted to know.”

“Will you ever forgive me?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

“I saw Buffy you know,” he said.

She nodded.  Lindsey and her had just left Sunnydale in his car without saying goodbye.  Alex was pissed for them leaving her, but she forgave them quickly.  Gunn had made his way back by train.  Buffy had called her a few weeks later telling her that Angel and her had talked and he decided to go back to LA to make amends in the city that he had tormented.

“She still loved you—“ she explained.  “Even when you were Angelus.”

Angel nodded.  “I know.  That’s what Angelus wanted to torment.  But even if she still loves me.  She won’t ever forgive me.”
 
 

Chapter 5

Home

Main

Faekitty Pages