| Have a Little Faith, Chapter 27 |
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Part 27
“He’s hanging off the roof!” Wesley cried out. He looked up from across the street where they remained hidden in the darkness of a closed store front. They waited until Faith started to fight Angelus and they had a good idea where Lindsey was. “Faith and Angelus are fighting.”
“We don’t have much time!” Alex shouted to Gunn, Cordelia and Doyle who were right behind her. “Let’s go!”
The three of them rushed across the street. As they arrived, a cab pulled in front and the door opened.
“Thank goodness you’re here!” Wesley screamed
out.
Faith lunged against Angelus and slammed him against the edge. Angelus was saved by the raised edge. As soon as he was down for a moment, she rushed over to the rope. Before she had a chance to grab it, Angelus tackled her.
Faith elbowed him in the eye and got up. She kicked him in the face and knocked him down again. She rushed back over to the rope but Angelus grabbed her legs pulling her down. She fell over face first. He yanked her across the hard surface of the roof. She cried out in pain and tried to get free from Angelus’ grip, but it was difficult in her position.
She pushed herself up with her arms and pulled her legs back hard. Angelus went flying. Faith again ran towards the rope, but before she could reach it Angelus landed with all his weight on top of her. She could feel his cold fingers across her throat. “It would have been better if you just decided to stake me,” he said, with sarcasm in his tone.
He smiled and put on his vampire face. “You’re weak Faith. A slayer would never let a vampire go free.” He was just about to bite her when suddenly he was shoved off her.
“Hi!” said a cheery voice from behind him. “Miss me, lover?”
Angelus stood back up. Faith looked up from the ground.
Buffy was standing above her.
“Bitch!” Angelus cried and chased after Buffy.
“Oh my god!” Cordelia screamed out. “Lindsey!”
The five of them had gone to the floor beneath. They could see Lindsey’s tied legs dangling, but they were all relieved to find he was still moving.
“Stand back!” Doyle cried out. He grabbed a box and threw it against the glass. The box just bounced off. “Bloody hell!” Doyle screamed out with no humor in his voice.
“Stand back,” Alex warned everyone and she was glad they listened. She had reached into beneath her shoulders and pulled out her gun. It was a 38, so she would probably have to fire several shots. Cordelia never realized that Alex carried a gun, but she was glad she had it now.
Alex fired all six of her bullets to get the glass to shatter. The room was engulfed by a light breeze.
Alex, Doyle and Gunn rushed to the windows. The three of them shoved the glass out of the way. The ledge was about a foot long. Enough to walk on but they would have to be careful. Gunn was the first one to go out on the ledge. Lindsey was low enough that Alex could see the wound on his stomach.
“Someone grab his legs,” Alex said. “Keep him steady! Don’t let him strangle any more.”
Gunn reached for Lindsey’s feet and grabbed them by the calves and held him up so the pressure would no longer be around his neck. He held on to them and tried to keep himself from falling. He could barely see Lindsey’s face in the darkness, but he could see that he was covered in blood.
“Doyle, I have a knife in my bag,” she cried out. “Please get it!” Doyle found the knapsack that Alex dropped to the ground. They had carried the various weapons Faith gave to them in case Angelus’ friends were around. Doyle find the knife buried at the bottom. He grabbed it and rushed to hand it over to Alex.
With knife in hand, Alex climbed out on the ledge and held on to the edge of the window with one hand while she tried to reach Lindsey with the other.
“I can’t reach,” she screamed after she lifted her hand up and only reached near the middle of Lindsey’s face. “I need help.” She nearly lost her balance by a strong gust of wind.
“Hold on,” Gunn said, but he was barely holding on himself.
Doyle came out on the ledge. He held on to the broken window and tried not to look down.
“I’ll boost ya up.” He turned around to see Wesley and Cordelia looking concerned. “Wes, can you hold on to me?” he asked when he too nearly lost his balance due to the wind.
Wesley nodded. He grabbed a chair and pulled it to the window. He stood on the chair and held on to Doyle’s waist while Cordelia kept the chair steady. Doyle grabbed Alex by the waist and hoisted her up.
Alex took a moment to balance. She could see that Lindsey’s eyes were closed. He was covered in bruises and blood. He did not look dead, but he had stopped moving. She could see his chest still moving up and down, but the wound on his stomach looked ugly, but she was more concerned about how long he had been hanging. She hoped they had made it in time.
“Hurry up!” Doyle cried out over the wind. “I’m doing this without a net. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.”
Alex could barely reach the rope. She cut it about five times before it finally broke.
Gunn caught Lindsey and then pulled him carefully passed the broken glass to safety.
“Lindsey!” Cordelia cried out. She rushed over to him while Gunn laid him on the ground. Gunn ripped the tape gag off which should have caused an extreme amount of pain, but Lindsey made no response.
“Oh my god. Is he breathing?” Cordelia said, frantic.
“Stand back,” Alex said. “Give him some air.” Only Wesley and Doyle moved back.
Gunn felt for a pulse; it was there. He pulled the rope off. Lindsey’s neck was beginning to swell.
“I think he might be waking up,” Alex said.
He was half-conscious. He opened his eyes slightly and tried to reach out to Cordelia. She caught his hand half way.
“Cordelia—“ he muttered. His voice raspy and barely above a whisper. “Faith— Where’s Faith?“
"I’m here,” she said, grasping his hand. “Oh, please Lindsey, don’t leave me. I need you. We all need you.”
He gasped and started coughing, some blood came out at the corner of his mouth. His coughing got very intense for a few seconds and he moved his head up, but then his eyes closed and his head fell back down. Gunn was glad to see his chest was still moving up and down.
“Lindsey!” Cordelia screamed in a near panic. “Come on, please wake up.”
“We have to get him to a hospital,” Wesley ordered. “Right now.”
Angelus fought both Buffy and Faith. Buffy slammed Angelus against the heating duct.
This gave Faith her chance. She ran over to the rope and yanked it. It came up quickly because it was cut at the other end. She hoped that they had gotten to Lindsey in time. All she knew now was that she was free to get Angelus.
“Angelus!” Faith screamed, holding up the cut rope so he could see it. “Now, I’m going to fucking kill you!”
“Not yet,” he said and shoved Buffy off of him. Buffy fell over, but quickly recovered.
Faith charged at him. Angelus jumped up and ran to the edge of the roof. He stood there for just a moment.
“Well, girls, it’s been nice fighting with you,” he said, extremely mad. “But I have to go.”
He smiled, then jumped off the roof.
Buffy and Faith rushed to the edge. They looked over it. Angelus was on the street. They saw him running. Faith could see Alex’s car across the street, but none of her friends were in sight. She could not see Lindsey.
“Coward,” Buffy screamed, in near tears.
“Come on,” Faith said, with more tears than her. “Lindsey—“ she said, barely choking out his name.