Have a Little Faith, Chapter 38

“So how is she working out?” Lindsey asked Alex.   They were in Alex’s office. It was nearing six o’clock and Alex started to shut down her computer.

“Lina?” Alex asked.  “She’s fine.  Three weeks without a problem.”

Lindsey nodded. “That’s good.  I’m glad things are working out—“ he paused, “and that you can foot half the bill.”

“And she’s been prompt and working hard,” Alex explained.  “She’s a good girl.  And a little extra money to save a soul is never expensive.”

“I’m glad no one is looking for her and Kate has the information on those kids.   Wolfram and Hart will never get their hands on them.”

“Hello?” said a voice from the hallway.  Alex looked out.  Wesley was there dressed without a tie.  He looked very uncomfortable without one, but Lindsey was glad he was loosening up.

“In the office Wes,” Alex said.  Wesley came into her office, smiled at Lindsey, then gave Alex a slight kiss on the lips.  He seemed even more uncomfortable kissing her in front of Lindsey, though the entire office knew that they had gone further.

“So you guys going out?” Lindsey asked.

Alex nodded.  “We’re going to a jazz club.”

Wesley looked a little uncomfortable.  Lindsey guessed he wasn’t a big jazz or a club fan.  It was hard to tell what made Wesley uncomfortable.  It seemed everything did. Lindsey was glad he was getting to knew him better.

“What about you and Cordelia?”

“We’re going to a dance club.”

“Looks like the women are in control tonight,” Wesley tried to joke.  “Faith essentially told me she was going out tonight right after patrolling and I could not do a damn thing about it.” Wesley smiled.  “So I shocked her by telling her to have a good time.”

“Actually,” Lindsey said.  “Now that you are here.  I want to ask you something.”

“All right,” Wesley replied.

“Cordelia and I are going to look for a new apartment.  This means that this apartment will be vacant.  That means there will be no place to go to if Angelus decides to get antsy.”

“I think I know what you are trying to say, but that apartment is only one bedroom.”

“It has that other bedroom,” Alex reminded him.

“It’s still very small.  It’s half the size of the apartment we have now.  It is hardly enough space for Faith and me.”

Lindsey paused for a long time, before saying: “I meant Faith alone.”

“Oh,” Wesley replied, looking down.

“I’m not saying this to insult you or be mean. Faith is an adult.  She deserves some independence.”

“She was independent before I became her watcher,” Wesley explained.

“I meant as an adult and some one who is far more responsible than before.  She’s not a child anymore.”

“The council wouldn’t be too happy.”

“You would still be her Watcher.  She’ll have some independence in her life.”

“She’s 18 isn’t she?” Wesley asked.

Lindsey did not say anything.

“I’m not going to take her powers away or do anything like that.  The council learned their lesson from Buffy.  That is one tradition they plan to do away with.”

“Three weeks ago.” Lindsey said.  “Remember when I took her out.  I wasn’t just taking out my best friend.”

“I’ll think about it,” Wesley said and cut off the conversation abruptly.

“Okay,” Lindsey said and smiled.  “Let me go get Cordelia.”
 

“Hello lover,” Cordelia said and ran her fingers through Lindsey’s longish brown hair.  It reached to his shoulders now.  “You’re not going to cut it are you?”

Lindsey shook his head.  “I want to be more laid back from now on.” He ran his hairs through her black hair.

“You’re not going to cut yours.”

“Never,” she replied and smiled.  “Ready to go?”

Lindsey nodded.

“You sure you want to go?  You’ll be hanging around with a lot of people who are younger than you?”

“I’m not exactly applying for social security,” Lindsey joked.  Cordelia smiled.  “I’m only a few years older than you.”

“Like all other men, going after young women who are—“

“If you say half my age, I’m going to have to confined you to the bedroom with only me as your company.”

Cordelia laughed and put her arms around him.  “Maybe that won’t be such a bad punishment.”
 

Lee was not that tired.  Vampires really did not need to rest.  He wanted to get the gem so they can go ahead with Angelus’ plan.  He was bored of this Wolfram and Hart office.  When he became a vampire, all his fear of Wolfram and Hart disappeared as well as his tolerance for tediousness.   It was early evening, the sun had just set, he was a young vampire and he wanted to go out on the town.

He traced the journey of the gem all the way back to the current owner.  That’s where he learned a curious connection.

Apparently the owner was very good friends with Holland Manners.

“Holland, you sneaky devil,” Lee said and grinned.  “What are you up too?”  He picked up his cell phone.  It rang once before Penn answered.  “Hey Penn, Angelus there?  Yeah?  Tell him I found out something about the gem.”
 

Holland had the guards waiting when Angelus and his vampire gang came into his office.  Lilah who had been discussing business was Holland panicked and nearly ran into a wall.  She backed up against the wall and seemed frozen in her spot.

“So Holland, when were you going to tell us about the gem?” Angelus asked, ignoring Lilah’s behavior.
Holland smiled.  “Soon.  If you killed the slayer.”

“I want that gem.”

“You’ll have it.  I want the slayer dead.  Stop dicking around and kill her.”

Angelus looked over Holland then laughed.  “You’ve been playing us since the beginning,” he said.  “You knew what we were up to, you held it over us to keep us at bay.”

“Just as you did those two-bit assassinations and played around with the slayer to keep up preoccupied.  Angelus, we have no problem with your spell.  Do it, let the gates of hell open. Do whatever you want, but kill that Slayer first.”

“I’ll kill the slayer when I’m good and ready,” Angelus said and growled.

“She has the gem,” Holland said.

“What?” Angelus said and took a step back.

“I took a precaution and dropped some information with the slayer about the gem.  Actually Lilah here did it and when Detective Kate Lockely, a very beautiful blond detective started making inquirers about it.  I told the owner to give it to her.”  Holland smiled.   “Angelus, you seem to think that we don’t share the same goals.  We do.  We have no qualms with your little spell.  As long as you come back and aid us in our coming apocalypse.”

“Ooh—“ Drusilla said.  “Apocalypse”

“That’s right my dear,” Holland said, smiling at her.  “All the destruction that you want.”  He turned back to Angel.  “The Senior partners have a strong stake in you, no pun intended.  That’s all we really want from you.  The slayer, she can ruin everything.  She needs to be eliminated.”

“I work on my own time table,” Angelus grumbled. Though he admired Holland for his conniving, he did not like being manipulated.

“So, I’ve arranged that the slayer would have your gem.  You’re going to have to kill her to get it.”
 

“I hope you’re not to tired,” Cordelia said, as they walked through Alex’s dark office up to their apartment.

“Nah,” he said.  He could barely see her in the dark.  “It’s been a while since I’ve been out at a club.  I couldn’t afford it when I went to school and when I was working at Wolfram and Hart, I did not have time.  Sometimes they considered it a security risk to socialize outside places picked by the firm.”

“Well, you’re not a bad dancer.”

“Sometimes you had to entertain clients.”

“Female clients?” she asked and Lindsey could not tell, due to the darkness if she looked mad or now.

Lindsey laughed.  “Sometimes.”  He grabbed her by the wrist.  “Are you a jealous girl?”

“Um—No.”

Lindsey laughed again.  He kissed her with more passion than he had felt in a long time.
 

Faith had a late night patrol.  She wanted to go out, but all the vampires decided tonight would be the night to be out in force.  It must have something to do with the spring, though every day in LA it was hot and sunny.

It was 2 am, she doubted she would get to a club tonight after she dusted her seventh vampire.

“For gods sake,” she told herself as she dusted the last vampire.  A moment later she heard someone clapping.  Faith looked up and saw that it was Angelus.

“Very impressive—“ he said.  He was smoking a cigarette.  “But nearly not as impressive as Buffy.  She could kill them all, even the ones she loved.  Did I tell you that I am going to kill you, her, Lindsey, Wesley, Cordelia, Alex, Doyle and the lovely detective Kate Lockely.  Everyone you love except Charles Gunn.  His sister would like to do the honors.”

“Angelus,” she said.  “You bore me.  You wanna fight or what?”

“The curse is lost, my dear, you might as well kill me.”

Faith smiled and looked at her stake.  “I’m been contemplating it.”

“Contemplate?  That’s a mighty impressive word from an elementary school graduate.”

“You gotta sound smart when you’re around smart people.  Look at you, you been hanging with that loony chick and you’re completely bonkers.”

Angelus smiled.  He seemed unfazed.

“Well, I’m still bored.  You wanna fight,” she said.  “Let’s fight.”
 

Wesley pulled into the front of his house.  He had just dropped Alex off at home.  He hoped Faith was home, but since it was only 2am, she was probably still at the club.

Wesley sat in his car for a moment.  He thought about what Lindsey said earlier that it was time that Faith lived on her own.  He felt betrayed.  Not by the people around him, he had grown to care for all of them, but his own feelings.  It had been more than a year since he stepped into Faith’s life and in that year he had learn to let go, learned to care not for Faith, but the others.  His relationship with Alexandria was going slow, but he hoped that it would last.  He was almost completely different than what he was last year and he was not sure what was right.  Faith was a slayer, but she was also a person with the right to live her own life.

He took a deep breath.  There was a lot he did not tell the council.  They kept every tab they could on Faith.  They did not want to lose her like they did Buffy.  However if he did pull on her hard, they would lose her.  He had grown both fond and tolerant of her.

Wesley got out of his car.  He did not want to lose Faith either.  So it was best if he allowed her to live her own life.

Wesley walked to the apartment.  He would be lonely here without her.  But he would try not to be.  She was still part of her life and perhaps in the future Alex would be too.

Wesley opened the door to the hallway to his apartment and stopped and took a deep breath.

Three people were standing there.  Two white men and one black woman seemed to be waiting for him.

“Yes,” Wesley said, suspiciously.  “Can I help you?”

“Hello,” a man with blond hair said.  “Wesley.”

Wesley did not respond.

“We need the slayer,” he said.  “And you will bring her to us.”
 

Chapter 39

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