BTVS FIC - Running on - Chapter 24 26/38 F/X
Title: Running On
Author tessarin
Rating: 15
Pairing: F/X
Summary: Faith runs from old demons, whilst pursuing new ones in Dover Ohio.
Meanwhile Xander ponders his future and both are drawn into the early moves of a new endgame. Takes place a few months after the events of NFA during the first snows.
Warnings; Adult language, spoilers post NFA.
Disclaimer: Buffy the vampire slayer is owned by Fox. All characters bar original characters are copyrighted by Fox and Mutant Enemy.
Author's Note: Any constructive criticism is welcome. Many thanks to my beta w00hoo.
Chapter Twenty Four
Cley stared at Jules in shock as she finally stopped talking. He did not know how long she had been filling him in on the bizarre world that she claimed existed just beyond his knowledge. Crap, he wasn’t even sure that he had understood a word that she had said.
Sure she had paused and answered his questions when prompted. Although there was quite a lot of I’m new to this or you’ll have to ask Alex. Thing was and this was the part he could not fathom. The thing was he believed her. All of it! The stuff about vampires and demons took a bit of digesting. The constant fight against evil, well he knew a little bit about that himself. He even brought the fact that Lehane was a slayer and that she was like a superhero.
Hell if he hadn’t known the person telling him this since childhood though, he would be locking her up and throwing away the key. Or calling up the local insane asylum to check if they had recently lost any patients. But he did know Jules and he trusted her implicitly. Which really was when he thought about it the reason that he believed her? Oh that and Lehane’s earlier demonstration of unnatural strength. That was the clincher.
"So what do you think?" Jules queried from where she had leant against the wall. She picked at the edge of her coat nervously, peering at him from under the fringe of her hair as she waited for his answer.
"At the moment I am struggling to do even that," he half grinned over at her.
She hesitantly grinned back at him. He could see relief warring with wariness on her face.
"So what now?" She asked as she stepped away from the wall and looked at him intently.
"Now. God help me if I know. I mean it’s quite a lot to take in all in one go Jules," he said. Which he thought was something of an understatement. Talk about having your worldview stood on its head and then kicked in it.
"We could go and talk with Alex and maybe Trudy could show you a few tricks," Jules answered before she goggled when she realized what she had said.
"Oh, I didn’t mean that! Oh god she’ll kill me," she anguished, stifling a half expressed giggle.
"Don’t worry Jules I’ll keep a secret if you will," he answered a smile teasing at his lips.
"Thanks, you’re a trooper," she grinned mischief dancing in her tone, "Sorry just a habit I have picked up from Alex."
"So does Arnie know?" he asked.
He needed to know what his partner had thought when Jules had offloaded this on him. He trusted Jules to give him the low down. The staccato sound his fingers made as they drummed anxiously on the door reminded him about the struggle going on a couple of doors away.
"Yes. Well sort of. We had only just finished clueing him in when we got ambushed by that Paulson guy," she replied, "Do you think Arnie will be okay?"
She looked anxiously towards him stilling the shaking of her hands by vigorously rubbing them against her jeans.
"Yeah I think Arnie is going to be okay Jules. The other thing though? Well that’s a problem as if I believe what you say, then Paulson was some sort of monster right. Not that I don’t," he admonished holding his hand up to stall Jules’ protest.
"Cley for crying out loud he was a big toothed fangy cold monster! I’m sure that’s not the exactly, correct term. But if you ask…"
"I know ask Alex. It looks like I’m going to be having a long conversation with your Mr Harris about a lot of things," he replied.
"Well I am sure he will only be too happy to fill you in and if it helps you any I didn’t believe him either when I forced the truth out of him," answered Jules before she continued in a somewhat sheepish tone, a guilty smile playing on her lips.
"In fact I sort of gave him a hard time over it, so much so that he felt compelled for Trudy to give me a demonstration."
"Well that I definitely believe," answered Cley warding off the halfhearted blow from Jules.
"What say we go and check on Arnie? Once we are sure he is going to be okay then we decide what to do next. Okay?" He asked heaving himself away from the door and working the kink out his leg.
"Great," smiled Jules nervously and enfolded him in a hug.
He could see that she had tears in her eyes and after a moment he returned the hug, gently rocking her from foot to foot.
"It will be okay Jules. We’ll work this out," he ruffled her hair slightly before she gave a half strangled snort and stepped away from him.
"God I must look a sight," she exclaimed reaching into her coat to draw out a handkerchief. She grinned slightly shame faced at him as she dabbed her eyes.
"So we good," he asked.
"Yeah," Jules answered. She started slightly at the knock on the door.
Cley turned and caught sight of a nurse in scrubs peering through the small window. He gestured and opened the door to allow her to enter.
"Any news?" he asked. He could feel Jules tensing up besides him.
"Ah there you are," the nurse exclaimed.
"Well you will be pleased to know that it looks like Mr Tregar is going to be okay. He suffered a minor cardiac infarction probably brought on by stress to his system," she said.
"Can we see him?" asked Jules.
"I’m afraid not. He is currently sedated. You should be able to speak to him tomorrow," answered the Nurse.
"But he is going to be okay," prompted Jules.
"Well it’s a little early to tell. I mean the additional stress on his system caused by this most recent incident, coupled with his earlier injuries is not good. But the doctor is hopeful and the signs so far are good. We should have a better idea tomorrow," the nurse looked somewhat apologetic.
"Thank you," answered Cley.
"You’ll call if you have any update though," asked Jules.
"Sure," the nurse assured them before she turned to leave.
"Sorry," Cley called out, " You haven’t seen my colleague around have you? A US marshal, blond."
"Oh him. No I’m afraid I haven’t. He must have left," she answered.
"Thanks," replied Cley.
"So what now?" asked Jules.
"Well maybe just a quick pop of the head round the door to look in on Arnie," answered Cley.
"What about Paulson though? I mean he had a partner right. Won’t he be looking for him?" asked Jules.
"What Trebeci. God I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. How are we going to explain what happened to his partner," answered Cley the worry clear in his tone.
"Although how do you know he isn’t one of them?" mused Jules wide eyed.
"What a monster!" exclaimed Cley, " Jules I think I would have noticed? I have spent a lot of time around him the last couple of days. Sure he’s from out of town but that doesn’t necessarily make him a monster."
"The same was true of Paulson," Jules pointed out, " I’m not saying he is, just that maybe we need to be a bit careful who we tell. We have to be sure that it is only someone we absolutely trust."
"Okay. But we have got to tell someone Jules. Otherwise they are going to start to look into Alex’s situation and that will lead them straight to Faith. By then it will be too late and I won’t be able to help you. I am only a deputy after all," shrugged Cley.
He could feel Jules watching him. She had plopped herself down on the edge of the bed and had started worrying at a nail.
God what if Jules was right and that Trebeci was a monster. The problem was he had grown to like the man in the couple of days he had known him. He hadn’t had the standoffish Ivy League snobbery that Paulson despite all his best efforts occasionally exhibited. It just didn’t seem possible. But then he hadn’t pegged Paulson as a monster either and if Jules were right then going by her account they would need to have a slayer handy if Trebeci did turn out to be one of the fanged brotherhood.
He shook his head as he considered his options. None of them were good. The thing was could he afford to risk leaving such a monster running round unattended. If Trebeci were just a regular Joe then no harm would be done. Sure maybe he would need to do a bit of explaining. He snorted to himself. Maybe he would leave that for Jules to do or maybe a demonstration would be more convincing.
So who could he trust? Well Arnie for one, but unfortunately he was in no position to help now. So that left one person. Cley wonder how the hell he was going to broach the subject with Sheriff Zeck Brannigan.
He looked over at Jules and smiled.
*********
Faith could hear the other two slayers as they bantered in the yard whilst they caught their breath. They sounded psyched. Obviously up on an adrenaline high from a slay.
She shivered as she took in the cold dark gloom. Almost like night although it was only early afternoon. Normally she loved the night. It was her time. There was nothing she loved more than a good patrol, the high she got from a slay and the after slay party, well that had advantages too she thought.
"See I told you three to two. So guess who owes me a coffee," taunted Kennedy as she sauntered, well sauntered as well as she could in calf high snow towards the back door.
"Fine, although I still say we both got that last one," grumbled Trudy trailing along in the path the other slayer had made.
"Yeah, you keep telling that story long enough and maybe you’ll start to believe it," smirked Kennedy swinging open the door to the kitchen. She laughed when Trudy gave her the bird and then finally managed to get out of the cold into the warmth of the kitchen.
"Faith," she greeted her fellow slayer who was glancing over her shoulder as she entered.
"Great, just what I need," she snapped.
"Nice to see you too," Kennedy replied anger lacing her tone. Her cold breath forming small artificial clouds in the kitchen.
Trudy entered, gently nudging her way past the stalled slayer. She grinned sheepishly when she caught sight of Faith. Her face took on a puzzled expression when she saw that Faith didn’t return it with the expected enthusiasm.
Crap she had been hoping to get out of here before they had returned. Still they would be useful if she did managed to track down the creep who was messing with her life.
Then things got worse.
"Where’s Xander?" asked Trudy completely innocent of the explosive effect her words had on Faith. Simple question, normally a simple answer.
Shit. Funny how old habits now made you feel dirty. Faith could feel herself squirm under their scrutiny like a little girl. She didn’t like it and like fuck was she going to let that stop her doing what was right. What the hell did they know anyway? She could tell them the truth, about her dream and then her bigger lie would be exposed. She couldn’t afford for that to happen not when the fate of someone she cared about rested on it.
So she lied. A white lie sure but a lie none the less.
"He’s asleep and don’t even think about disturbing him. He was zoned out like a zombie, if you know what I mean," she replied saucily.
"Oh god. I so do not want to know," exclaimed Trudy.
"So you and Xander did the deed then?" asked Kennedy gesturing obscenely with her fingers.
"Not that it’s any of your business. But yeah he scratched my itch," challenged Faith.
She could see that Kennedy’s eyes narrowed slightly and for a moment she had the horrible thought that maybe she knew. Shit maybe she had shared Faith’s dream, it wasn’t unheard of for two slayers to share the same dream. Hell she and B seemed to share dreams like bunnies. But no that wasn’t it. It hadn’t been a slayers dream had it, just the sending of some demonic psycho determined to mess with her.
"Trudy, stick on the coffee will you," Kennedy asked looking over at the younger slayer as she stripped off her gloves.
"Sure," replied Trudy.
"Looks like we have plenty of time before our one eyed watcher stirs .So what was he like?" drawled Kennedy as she slumped down into a chair.
"Well don’t look at me. I ain’t filling you in anyway I was headed out," answered Faith in what she hoped didn’t sound too lame.
"Like you’re a bashful one," taunted Kennedy.
"Fuck you," snapped Faith angry with the pipsqueak. Why couldn’t she just butt out so what if she was red’s scratching post.
"You wish," smirked Kennedy, "So what’s the score really?"
"Lets just say lover boy is all tuckered out. I thought I would let him recover before I gave him a second ride," said Faith desperately hoping that Kennedy would buy it.
She figured Xander would be down any second now and she needed to be gone before he stopped her. Before he figured out what was really going on. Bastard was too damn perceptive for his own good. She was lucky that she still remembered which buttons to push to piss him off. As long as she could keep him pissed at her then maybe he would miss the other shit going on. At the moment it was the only thing she could think to do. If he figured it out she knew then that nothing she said or did would stop the stubborn bastard. He would insist on having her back and she couldn’t let that happen. And he would die because of it.
"Too much information. Could you both save it for another time? I rather not hear about my watchers sexual escapades thank you very much," complained Trudy bringing over a three steaming cups.
"Yeah like you don’t want to know," drawled Kennedy accepting the hot cup lacing he fingers together before leaning down to take a sip.
"It’s hot," warned Trudy a little late with a payback smile.
"You figure," replied Kennedy sucking on her finger before glaring at the younger slayer who just gave her an innocent look.
"So what went down at the lake?" asked Faith desperately seeking to change the subject.
"Funny thing place was crawling with vampires and lots of fresh bodies. We came back to get some reinforcements and brief Xander," said Trudy.
"Yeah, that and the weather," complained Kennedy glancing over her shoulder at the gentle snow falling from the sky.
"Plus..," started Trudy before a shake of the head by Kennedy stopped her.
"Well why are we waiting around here then. Let’s hit the road," exclaimed Faith. She finished off her coffee and started to hustle the startled Trudy towards the door.
"Hey shouldn’t we wait for Xander," suggested Trudy, "besides its really cold out there and I was hoping to get warm for a while and we only just got back. And my toes are cold!"
"Hell no. What you need him to hold your hand! As for the rest are you a baby or a slayer," challenged Faith.
"No its just …," Trudy looked over at Kennedy before she relented with a shake of her head and a mutter about crazy scoobies.
"Look Faith. The place creeped me out okay," said Kennedy meeting Faith’s gaze, " It sort of reminded me of some place."
Faith went cold. She could see that her fellow slayer was afraid of something. And she knew what. Kennedy had seen the place where Xander would die.
"Well what are we waiting around her for then. Let’s go dust these suckers. Best way to deal with a fear is slay it right," she followed Trudy out of the door not waiting for Kennedy to follow her, desperately hoping that she would. That her inherent need to butt her nose into other peoples business would lead her to follow them outside.
She could hear the door slam behind her as she sucked in a lung full of cold air. Trudy was waiting over by the gate although she looked puzzled as if she was wondering how the hell she had ended up out here in the cold again. Faith resisted the urge to look back, that action was laced with too much danger. She smiled to herself when she heard the crunch of boots in the snow told her indicating that Kennedy had followed her out of the door.
"So what the hell is really going on," hissed Kennedy grabbing hold of Faith’s arm so hard that she span around, "cause you know what you’re so jumpy I would swear someone was sticking hot pins in you!"
Faith looked down at Kennedy’s hand on her arm. The younger slayer paled slightly at her gaze, "Let go if you value your hand."
Kennedy dropped her hand but still stood close by her look accusing. Her very stance was a challenge. Faith shook her head and grinned.
"Who the fuck do you think you’re are squirt. You think you know me. Well guess what, you know jack squat. So why don’t you just butt out. It’s none of your business, unless that is you’re willing to throw down," snarled Faith.
"Now you listen good Faith. I’m not buying your tough girl attitude. Thing is despite what you think, I do know you. You don’t spar with someone for months; see her when the shit hits the fan without getting to know her. And guess what despite what you may think I’m your friend asshole. So I can smell the bullshit. I can see it in your stance bozo," snapped Kennedy stepping closer.
Faith didn’t know how to respond. She could feel her fists as she clenched and unclenched them. She wanted desperately to smack the other slayer down. To kick her ass and tell her to take a hike, to show who was Alpha bitch still amongst the slayers.
Kennedy was regarding her carefully but Faith could see that she had tensed up slightly waiting for the blow up.
"Fine, you want the truth. We had a fight okay," she said.
She could see the disappointment flash across Kennedy’s face.
"Yeah, guess what Faith fucked up again. So no surprise there right," she challenged the younger slayer.
"You’re so full of the horseshit," smiled Kennedy, "Hell even Trudy can see something is up and she hardly knows you. So are you going to tell me the truth or do I go back to the house and kick Xander out of bed."
At Faith’s start and glare Kennedy smirked, "I didn’t think so. So let me guess the fight happened. But its something else that has got you spooked enough to run out the house. Did he tell you that he loved you. Is that it?"
Faith turned thankful that Kennedy couldn’t see her smile. Thankfully she was so far off base. Xander, her, and the l word, hell she still wasn’t convinced it existed. In the context of them well all she hoped for was friends with benefits. How could Kennedy be so clueless as to think that Xander would ever tell her he ….she started to run towards Trudy, " Leave it squirt I’m not talking out of school."
"Faith," Kennedy called out, "You can trust me. I just want to help. Look I know I’ve got a mouth on me, but maybe. Well maybe I can smooth things over,"
"Look squirt, thanks. But I think I just fucked that up. That ship has well and truly sailed. And you know what it’s for the best. Especially for Xander capiche."
"But you can’t just give up," pleaded Kennedy her tone earnest.
"You trust me right?"
At the other slayer’s nod she stopped, "Look trust me its best that I’m not around Xander for the moment. It’s not safe for him to be around me. Do we understand each other, do you get it?" She ignored Trudy who had come up to the other two asking what was keeping them. Instead she focussed he attention on Kennedy, holding her gaze.
She could feel the other slayer studying her intently, looking for tells or giveaways. The wind was cold on her face and she kept her hands clenched at her side resisting the urge to turn away or wipe away the welling moisture.
"Yeah I understand," replied Kennedy after what seemed an eternity to Faith, "Come on we’ll fill Xander in when we get back."
**********
"I’m still not sure this is such a good idea," whispered Jules as she walked with Cley towards the waiting doors of the Tuscarawas county sheriff’s department.
The parking lot out front was filled to brimming with patrol cars most of them by now under a heavy covering of snow. Thankfully the fall had abated in the last few minutes. So all she had to put up with was the bone chilling cold wind blowing down from the north. Jules shivered inside her coat mainly as a nervous response to the gnawing worry that was twisting in her stomach. She had a feeling like this when she had suspected Mr Youll’s cows of having Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. The crap she had got for that diagnosis. She had been right though. Youll had been mightily pissed at her they had managed to contain the outbreak. Now her instincts were again telling her something was off but she hadn’t a clue what it was. Probably just being hyper jumpy.
She grinned to herself; maybe things trying to kill you all the time did that to you. So Alex had been right after all, you either laughed it off or blew off steam in some other way. Shit she was feeling washed out after only five days of this life. How the hell had Alex done this for eight years, her already high regard for him had gone up another few notches in the past few days. Even despite his questionable taste in women.
She still wasn’t quite sure what to make of Faith. She could tell that Alex and her had some sort of connection. Whether it was good for either one of them? Well that was another matter. She looked over at Cley who seemed to have stopped and be doing a visual count of the cars.
"Looks like a couple are still out on patrol, but its only Hausmann and Petrelli by the looks of it so it looks like Zeck should still be around," exhaled Cley.
"About that….," asked Jules.
"Yeah, Yeah you were about to ask about attempting to ask Zeck for help," interrupted Cley although Jules could see that he was sending her a somewhat apologetic grin.
"So, before we head in to the bears den, don’t you think," she prompted.
"What that we get our stories straight. Don’t worry Jules I’m not going to ask the Sheriff to help us fight monsters. As you’ve explained Alex and the people he works for are responsible for that. No I’m just going to see if I can raise some doubts in his mind over this whole US marshal thing. At least enough to possibly get him digging on his own account. That will either confirm that Trebeci is a good guy and that like myself he has been duped by a monster," said Cley.
"And if this Trebeci is a monster?" asked Jules.
"Well then hopefully the Sheriff’s digging around will flush him out. If not I can keep a discrete eye on him," answered Cley.
"Fine. But don’t go following my example! So far both my attempts at explaining this have ended in disaster," shrugged Jules.
"Hey, stop beating yourself up. So what if when you told Arnie, you found that Paulson was a monster and when you told me I tried to arrest you. Just think this has got to be third time lucky," chided Cley giving her a friendly punch to the shoulder.
Jules glanced over at him. She still felt glum, cold and not a little scared. Not that she should be. The station was likely given the number of patrol cars parked up to be literally filled to the rafters. And why was she scared as far as they knew she hadn’t even had a parking ticket. The problem was Jules mused is what she knew, and knowing you were harbouring the wanted fugitive all these men were mistakenly looking for. Well she couldn’t help but be scared right.
"So where’s that patented Jules smile," Cley tweaked her cheek causing an exasperated smile to break.
"God will you never grow up Cley Trenton," she complained but the bastard had managed to coax a smile out of her anyway.
"Never," he grinned over at her.
She groaned, "Come on then. Let’s get in there and get this over with."
Next Chapter
Author tessarin
Rating: 15
Pairing: F/X
Summary: Faith runs from old demons, whilst pursuing new ones in Dover Ohio.
Meanwhile Xander ponders his future and both are drawn into the early moves of a new endgame. Takes place a few months after the events of NFA during the first snows.
Warnings; Adult language, spoilers post NFA.
Disclaimer: Buffy the vampire slayer is owned by Fox. All characters bar original characters are copyrighted by Fox and Mutant Enemy.
Author's Note: Any constructive criticism is welcome. Many thanks to my beta w00hoo.
Chapter Twenty Four
Cley stared at Jules in shock as she finally stopped talking. He did not know how long she had been filling him in on the bizarre world that she claimed existed just beyond his knowledge. Crap, he wasn’t even sure that he had understood a word that she had said.
Sure she had paused and answered his questions when prompted. Although there was quite a lot of I’m new to this or you’ll have to ask Alex. Thing was and this was the part he could not fathom. The thing was he believed her. All of it! The stuff about vampires and demons took a bit of digesting. The constant fight against evil, well he knew a little bit about that himself. He even brought the fact that Lehane was a slayer and that she was like a superhero.
Hell if he hadn’t known the person telling him this since childhood though, he would be locking her up and throwing away the key. Or calling up the local insane asylum to check if they had recently lost any patients. But he did know Jules and he trusted her implicitly. Which really was when he thought about it the reason that he believed her? Oh that and Lehane’s earlier demonstration of unnatural strength. That was the clincher.
"So what do you think?" Jules queried from where she had leant against the wall. She picked at the edge of her coat nervously, peering at him from under the fringe of her hair as she waited for his answer.
"At the moment I am struggling to do even that," he half grinned over at her.
She hesitantly grinned back at him. He could see relief warring with wariness on her face.
"So what now?" She asked as she stepped away from the wall and looked at him intently.
"Now. God help me if I know. I mean it’s quite a lot to take in all in one go Jules," he said. Which he thought was something of an understatement. Talk about having your worldview stood on its head and then kicked in it.
"We could go and talk with Alex and maybe Trudy could show you a few tricks," Jules answered before she goggled when she realized what she had said.
"Oh, I didn’t mean that! Oh god she’ll kill me," she anguished, stifling a half expressed giggle.
"Don’t worry Jules I’ll keep a secret if you will," he answered a smile teasing at his lips.
"Thanks, you’re a trooper," she grinned mischief dancing in her tone, "Sorry just a habit I have picked up from Alex."
"So does Arnie know?" he asked.
He needed to know what his partner had thought when Jules had offloaded this on him. He trusted Jules to give him the low down. The staccato sound his fingers made as they drummed anxiously on the door reminded him about the struggle going on a couple of doors away.
"Yes. Well sort of. We had only just finished clueing him in when we got ambushed by that Paulson guy," she replied, "Do you think Arnie will be okay?"
She looked anxiously towards him stilling the shaking of her hands by vigorously rubbing them against her jeans.
"Yeah I think Arnie is going to be okay Jules. The other thing though? Well that’s a problem as if I believe what you say, then Paulson was some sort of monster right. Not that I don’t," he admonished holding his hand up to stall Jules’ protest.
"Cley for crying out loud he was a big toothed fangy cold monster! I’m sure that’s not the exactly, correct term. But if you ask…"
"I know ask Alex. It looks like I’m going to be having a long conversation with your Mr Harris about a lot of things," he replied.
"Well I am sure he will only be too happy to fill you in and if it helps you any I didn’t believe him either when I forced the truth out of him," answered Jules before she continued in a somewhat sheepish tone, a guilty smile playing on her lips.
"In fact I sort of gave him a hard time over it, so much so that he felt compelled for Trudy to give me a demonstration."
"Well that I definitely believe," answered Cley warding off the halfhearted blow from Jules.
"What say we go and check on Arnie? Once we are sure he is going to be okay then we decide what to do next. Okay?" He asked heaving himself away from the door and working the kink out his leg.
"Great," smiled Jules nervously and enfolded him in a hug.
He could see that she had tears in her eyes and after a moment he returned the hug, gently rocking her from foot to foot.
"It will be okay Jules. We’ll work this out," he ruffled her hair slightly before she gave a half strangled snort and stepped away from him.
"God I must look a sight," she exclaimed reaching into her coat to draw out a handkerchief. She grinned slightly shame faced at him as she dabbed her eyes.
"So we good," he asked.
"Yeah," Jules answered. She started slightly at the knock on the door.
Cley turned and caught sight of a nurse in scrubs peering through the small window. He gestured and opened the door to allow her to enter.
"Any news?" he asked. He could feel Jules tensing up besides him.
"Ah there you are," the nurse exclaimed.
"Well you will be pleased to know that it looks like Mr Tregar is going to be okay. He suffered a minor cardiac infarction probably brought on by stress to his system," she said.
"Can we see him?" asked Jules.
"I’m afraid not. He is currently sedated. You should be able to speak to him tomorrow," answered the Nurse.
"But he is going to be okay," prompted Jules.
"Well it’s a little early to tell. I mean the additional stress on his system caused by this most recent incident, coupled with his earlier injuries is not good. But the doctor is hopeful and the signs so far are good. We should have a better idea tomorrow," the nurse looked somewhat apologetic.
"Thank you," answered Cley.
"You’ll call if you have any update though," asked Jules.
"Sure," the nurse assured them before she turned to leave.
"Sorry," Cley called out, " You haven’t seen my colleague around have you? A US marshal, blond."
"Oh him. No I’m afraid I haven’t. He must have left," she answered.
"Thanks," replied Cley.
"So what now?" asked Jules.
"Well maybe just a quick pop of the head round the door to look in on Arnie," answered Cley.
"What about Paulson though? I mean he had a partner right. Won’t he be looking for him?" asked Jules.
"What Trebeci. God I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. How are we going to explain what happened to his partner," answered Cley the worry clear in his tone.
"Although how do you know he isn’t one of them?" mused Jules wide eyed.
"What a monster!" exclaimed Cley, " Jules I think I would have noticed? I have spent a lot of time around him the last couple of days. Sure he’s from out of town but that doesn’t necessarily make him a monster."
"The same was true of Paulson," Jules pointed out, " I’m not saying he is, just that maybe we need to be a bit careful who we tell. We have to be sure that it is only someone we absolutely trust."
"Okay. But we have got to tell someone Jules. Otherwise they are going to start to look into Alex’s situation and that will lead them straight to Faith. By then it will be too late and I won’t be able to help you. I am only a deputy after all," shrugged Cley.
He could feel Jules watching him. She had plopped herself down on the edge of the bed and had started worrying at a nail.
God what if Jules was right and that Trebeci was a monster. The problem was he had grown to like the man in the couple of days he had known him. He hadn’t had the standoffish Ivy League snobbery that Paulson despite all his best efforts occasionally exhibited. It just didn’t seem possible. But then he hadn’t pegged Paulson as a monster either and if Jules were right then going by her account they would need to have a slayer handy if Trebeci did turn out to be one of the fanged brotherhood.
He shook his head as he considered his options. None of them were good. The thing was could he afford to risk leaving such a monster running round unattended. If Trebeci were just a regular Joe then no harm would be done. Sure maybe he would need to do a bit of explaining. He snorted to himself. Maybe he would leave that for Jules to do or maybe a demonstration would be more convincing.
So who could he trust? Well Arnie for one, but unfortunately he was in no position to help now. So that left one person. Cley wonder how the hell he was going to broach the subject with Sheriff Zeck Brannigan.
He looked over at Jules and smiled.
*********
Faith could hear the other two slayers as they bantered in the yard whilst they caught their breath. They sounded psyched. Obviously up on an adrenaline high from a slay.
She shivered as she took in the cold dark gloom. Almost like night although it was only early afternoon. Normally she loved the night. It was her time. There was nothing she loved more than a good patrol, the high she got from a slay and the after slay party, well that had advantages too she thought.
"See I told you three to two. So guess who owes me a coffee," taunted Kennedy as she sauntered, well sauntered as well as she could in calf high snow towards the back door.
"Fine, although I still say we both got that last one," grumbled Trudy trailing along in the path the other slayer had made.
"Yeah, you keep telling that story long enough and maybe you’ll start to believe it," smirked Kennedy swinging open the door to the kitchen. She laughed when Trudy gave her the bird and then finally managed to get out of the cold into the warmth of the kitchen.
"Faith," she greeted her fellow slayer who was glancing over her shoulder as she entered.
"Great, just what I need," she snapped.
"Nice to see you too," Kennedy replied anger lacing her tone. Her cold breath forming small artificial clouds in the kitchen.
Trudy entered, gently nudging her way past the stalled slayer. She grinned sheepishly when she caught sight of Faith. Her face took on a puzzled expression when she saw that Faith didn’t return it with the expected enthusiasm.
Crap she had been hoping to get out of here before they had returned. Still they would be useful if she did managed to track down the creep who was messing with her life.
Then things got worse.
"Where’s Xander?" asked Trudy completely innocent of the explosive effect her words had on Faith. Simple question, normally a simple answer.
Shit. Funny how old habits now made you feel dirty. Faith could feel herself squirm under their scrutiny like a little girl. She didn’t like it and like fuck was she going to let that stop her doing what was right. What the hell did they know anyway? She could tell them the truth, about her dream and then her bigger lie would be exposed. She couldn’t afford for that to happen not when the fate of someone she cared about rested on it.
So she lied. A white lie sure but a lie none the less.
"He’s asleep and don’t even think about disturbing him. He was zoned out like a zombie, if you know what I mean," she replied saucily.
"Oh god. I so do not want to know," exclaimed Trudy.
"So you and Xander did the deed then?" asked Kennedy gesturing obscenely with her fingers.
"Not that it’s any of your business. But yeah he scratched my itch," challenged Faith.
She could see that Kennedy’s eyes narrowed slightly and for a moment she had the horrible thought that maybe she knew. Shit maybe she had shared Faith’s dream, it wasn’t unheard of for two slayers to share the same dream. Hell she and B seemed to share dreams like bunnies. But no that wasn’t it. It hadn’t been a slayers dream had it, just the sending of some demonic psycho determined to mess with her.
"Trudy, stick on the coffee will you," Kennedy asked looking over at the younger slayer as she stripped off her gloves.
"Sure," replied Trudy.
"Looks like we have plenty of time before our one eyed watcher stirs .So what was he like?" drawled Kennedy as she slumped down into a chair.
"Well don’t look at me. I ain’t filling you in anyway I was headed out," answered Faith in what she hoped didn’t sound too lame.
"Like you’re a bashful one," taunted Kennedy.
"Fuck you," snapped Faith angry with the pipsqueak. Why couldn’t she just butt out so what if she was red’s scratching post.
"You wish," smirked Kennedy, "So what’s the score really?"
"Lets just say lover boy is all tuckered out. I thought I would let him recover before I gave him a second ride," said Faith desperately hoping that Kennedy would buy it.
She figured Xander would be down any second now and she needed to be gone before he stopped her. Before he figured out what was really going on. Bastard was too damn perceptive for his own good. She was lucky that she still remembered which buttons to push to piss him off. As long as she could keep him pissed at her then maybe he would miss the other shit going on. At the moment it was the only thing she could think to do. If he figured it out she knew then that nothing she said or did would stop the stubborn bastard. He would insist on having her back and she couldn’t let that happen. And he would die because of it.
"Too much information. Could you both save it for another time? I rather not hear about my watchers sexual escapades thank you very much," complained Trudy bringing over a three steaming cups.
"Yeah like you don’t want to know," drawled Kennedy accepting the hot cup lacing he fingers together before leaning down to take a sip.
"It’s hot," warned Trudy a little late with a payback smile.
"You figure," replied Kennedy sucking on her finger before glaring at the younger slayer who just gave her an innocent look.
"So what went down at the lake?" asked Faith desperately seeking to change the subject.
"Funny thing place was crawling with vampires and lots of fresh bodies. We came back to get some reinforcements and brief Xander," said Trudy.
"Yeah, that and the weather," complained Kennedy glancing over her shoulder at the gentle snow falling from the sky.
"Plus..," started Trudy before a shake of the head by Kennedy stopped her.
"Well why are we waiting around here then. Let’s hit the road," exclaimed Faith. She finished off her coffee and started to hustle the startled Trudy towards the door.
"Hey shouldn’t we wait for Xander," suggested Trudy, "besides its really cold out there and I was hoping to get warm for a while and we only just got back. And my toes are cold!"
"Hell no. What you need him to hold your hand! As for the rest are you a baby or a slayer," challenged Faith.
"No its just …," Trudy looked over at Kennedy before she relented with a shake of her head and a mutter about crazy scoobies.
"Look Faith. The place creeped me out okay," said Kennedy meeting Faith’s gaze, " It sort of reminded me of some place."
Faith went cold. She could see that her fellow slayer was afraid of something. And she knew what. Kennedy had seen the place where Xander would die.
"Well what are we waiting around her for then. Let’s go dust these suckers. Best way to deal with a fear is slay it right," she followed Trudy out of the door not waiting for Kennedy to follow her, desperately hoping that she would. That her inherent need to butt her nose into other peoples business would lead her to follow them outside.
She could hear the door slam behind her as she sucked in a lung full of cold air. Trudy was waiting over by the gate although she looked puzzled as if she was wondering how the hell she had ended up out here in the cold again. Faith resisted the urge to look back, that action was laced with too much danger. She smiled to herself when she heard the crunch of boots in the snow told her indicating that Kennedy had followed her out of the door.
"So what the hell is really going on," hissed Kennedy grabbing hold of Faith’s arm so hard that she span around, "cause you know what you’re so jumpy I would swear someone was sticking hot pins in you!"
Faith looked down at Kennedy’s hand on her arm. The younger slayer paled slightly at her gaze, "Let go if you value your hand."
Kennedy dropped her hand but still stood close by her look accusing. Her very stance was a challenge. Faith shook her head and grinned.
"Who the fuck do you think you’re are squirt. You think you know me. Well guess what, you know jack squat. So why don’t you just butt out. It’s none of your business, unless that is you’re willing to throw down," snarled Faith.
"Now you listen good Faith. I’m not buying your tough girl attitude. Thing is despite what you think, I do know you. You don’t spar with someone for months; see her when the shit hits the fan without getting to know her. And guess what despite what you may think I’m your friend asshole. So I can smell the bullshit. I can see it in your stance bozo," snapped Kennedy stepping closer.
Faith didn’t know how to respond. She could feel her fists as she clenched and unclenched them. She wanted desperately to smack the other slayer down. To kick her ass and tell her to take a hike, to show who was Alpha bitch still amongst the slayers.
Kennedy was regarding her carefully but Faith could see that she had tensed up slightly waiting for the blow up.
"Fine, you want the truth. We had a fight okay," she said.
She could see the disappointment flash across Kennedy’s face.
"Yeah, guess what Faith fucked up again. So no surprise there right," she challenged the younger slayer.
"You’re so full of the horseshit," smiled Kennedy, "Hell even Trudy can see something is up and she hardly knows you. So are you going to tell me the truth or do I go back to the house and kick Xander out of bed."
At Faith’s start and glare Kennedy smirked, "I didn’t think so. So let me guess the fight happened. But its something else that has got you spooked enough to run out the house. Did he tell you that he loved you. Is that it?"
Faith turned thankful that Kennedy couldn’t see her smile. Thankfully she was so far off base. Xander, her, and the l word, hell she still wasn’t convinced it existed. In the context of them well all she hoped for was friends with benefits. How could Kennedy be so clueless as to think that Xander would ever tell her he ….she started to run towards Trudy, " Leave it squirt I’m not talking out of school."
"Faith," Kennedy called out, "You can trust me. I just want to help. Look I know I’ve got a mouth on me, but maybe. Well maybe I can smooth things over,"
"Look squirt, thanks. But I think I just fucked that up. That ship has well and truly sailed. And you know what it’s for the best. Especially for Xander capiche."
"But you can’t just give up," pleaded Kennedy her tone earnest.
"You trust me right?"
At the other slayer’s nod she stopped, "Look trust me its best that I’m not around Xander for the moment. It’s not safe for him to be around me. Do we understand each other, do you get it?" She ignored Trudy who had come up to the other two asking what was keeping them. Instead she focussed he attention on Kennedy, holding her gaze.
She could feel the other slayer studying her intently, looking for tells or giveaways. The wind was cold on her face and she kept her hands clenched at her side resisting the urge to turn away or wipe away the welling moisture.
"Yeah I understand," replied Kennedy after what seemed an eternity to Faith, "Come on we’ll fill Xander in when we get back."
**********
"I’m still not sure this is such a good idea," whispered Jules as she walked with Cley towards the waiting doors of the Tuscarawas county sheriff’s department.
The parking lot out front was filled to brimming with patrol cars most of them by now under a heavy covering of snow. Thankfully the fall had abated in the last few minutes. So all she had to put up with was the bone chilling cold wind blowing down from the north. Jules shivered inside her coat mainly as a nervous response to the gnawing worry that was twisting in her stomach. She had a feeling like this when she had suspected Mr Youll’s cows of having Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. The crap she had got for that diagnosis. She had been right though. Youll had been mightily pissed at her they had managed to contain the outbreak. Now her instincts were again telling her something was off but she hadn’t a clue what it was. Probably just being hyper jumpy.
She grinned to herself; maybe things trying to kill you all the time did that to you. So Alex had been right after all, you either laughed it off or blew off steam in some other way. Shit she was feeling washed out after only five days of this life. How the hell had Alex done this for eight years, her already high regard for him had gone up another few notches in the past few days. Even despite his questionable taste in women.
She still wasn’t quite sure what to make of Faith. She could tell that Alex and her had some sort of connection. Whether it was good for either one of them? Well that was another matter. She looked over at Cley who seemed to have stopped and be doing a visual count of the cars.
"Looks like a couple are still out on patrol, but its only Hausmann and Petrelli by the looks of it so it looks like Zeck should still be around," exhaled Cley.
"About that….," asked Jules.
"Yeah, Yeah you were about to ask about attempting to ask Zeck for help," interrupted Cley although Jules could see that he was sending her a somewhat apologetic grin.
"So, before we head in to the bears den, don’t you think," she prompted.
"What that we get our stories straight. Don’t worry Jules I’m not going to ask the Sheriff to help us fight monsters. As you’ve explained Alex and the people he works for are responsible for that. No I’m just going to see if I can raise some doubts in his mind over this whole US marshal thing. At least enough to possibly get him digging on his own account. That will either confirm that Trebeci is a good guy and that like myself he has been duped by a monster," said Cley.
"And if this Trebeci is a monster?" asked Jules.
"Well then hopefully the Sheriff’s digging around will flush him out. If not I can keep a discrete eye on him," answered Cley.
"Fine. But don’t go following my example! So far both my attempts at explaining this have ended in disaster," shrugged Jules.
"Hey, stop beating yourself up. So what if when you told Arnie, you found that Paulson was a monster and when you told me I tried to arrest you. Just think this has got to be third time lucky," chided Cley giving her a friendly punch to the shoulder.
Jules glanced over at him. She still felt glum, cold and not a little scared. Not that she should be. The station was likely given the number of patrol cars parked up to be literally filled to the rafters. And why was she scared as far as they knew she hadn’t even had a parking ticket. The problem was Jules mused is what she knew, and knowing you were harbouring the wanted fugitive all these men were mistakenly looking for. Well she couldn’t help but be scared right.
"So where’s that patented Jules smile," Cley tweaked her cheek causing an exasperated smile to break.
"God will you never grow up Cley Trenton," she complained but the bastard had managed to coax a smile out of her anyway.
"Never," he grinned over at her.
She groaned, "Come on then. Let’s get in there and get this over with."
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