To Live in Die in LA-Part Three
"You're responsible for yourself, Dean. I'm not going to shed a tear if you get ganked- so don't think we're friends here. It's a shared interest gig. That's it. You'll get yours, I get mine."
Those words kept bouncing around in his head like one of those popcorn makers as they walked. Man wouldn't popcorn hit the spot right now? She talked like a cop but walked like a criminal or at least that ass should be against the law. He couldn't believe she was a badge for many reasons, the first being she hadn't once asked for his and second...no cop was that hot. But still, she talked like this was a case, or a job. If she was a hunter he had never heard of her, cause if he had heard of her he would have come to LA a lot sooner than this. Whoever she was, Faith was more than just a mystery, she was Dean's quest.
"So now what?" he asked after a few blocks "Not that I mind the view and all but is there a particular trail of breadcrumbs you following or we just walking around for fun?" The pie was keeping Dean pretty content for now. He wasn't bitching about the urban hike, just wanted some answers.
She didn't even look back. "Friend of mine runs a club not far from here. He might know something."
He looked around and wasn't overjoyed with the neighborhood. There was bad and there was this place, but he followed anyways, anywhere she could go he would follow. "What kind of friend?"
She flashed him a grin. He was cute when he was stubborn, which was an easier way of saying Dean was usually cute as hell. "The kind that knows stuff."
They cut across an abandoned parking lot, ducking under a hole in the chain link and he saw the lights. It was a gaudy looking sign that proudly proclaimed it as "Clem's Oyster and Music bar"and under it in flashing lights "Home of Oxygen Source". As Faith opened the door Dean asked "What the hell is Oxygen Source?" She just smiled and pulled the door open.
"I'm all out of love, I'm so lost without you." came warbling out "I know you were right believing for so long."
Dean's face scrunched up like he had smelt something vile as he stopped at the threshold "Air Supply? The place has an Air Supply cover band?"
She just shrugged "The clientèle love it." she said not waiting for him. Sighing deeply he walked in and tried to ignore the music.
The music was crap, she knew that, but whatever kept the infernal jolly was good enough for her. At least it wasn't Celine night. There was something about tentacled drag queens belting out Celine Dion that had given Faith cold chills. Though that one with the wax face sounded JUST like her.
The bar was pretty well packed for a weeknight. The lights were low and the band was loud, too loud for Dean's taste; then again they were singing Air Supply so they could be whispering in the corner and he would have been yelling Freebird! with his lighter out. Faith walked up to the bar with a swagger Dean could only admire. There were two dangerous looking guys standing on either side of her, but as she put one foot on the bar, they both slowly moved away from her as if she was on fire. Dean had never seen anything like it before, if he had been one of them he would have been halfway down her top easily. He moved up beside her and took a seat, he saw most of the bar looking at them in what could only be described as shock. The band even paused for a half a second before going back into their horrible rendition.
She felt the eyes on them, some of those eyes on stalks or just floating in the dark. No big deal. It wasn't like demons were all tightlipped about themselves. After three beers they were like an episode of Golden Girls with better skin and that was when the information flowed. They loved to dish and they always wanted some new trash to pass around or share and a Slayer and a hot boy walk into a bar was a GREAT start. It was sort of cute in a slimy way. She watched Dean taking in the place and liked how he was putting on such a cowboy face. Like he was perfectly fine wherever. Not that she was looking at him- again. She turned her head to try and catch Clem's eye, leaning in some. She could keep from ogling Dean, damn it.
"Your friend owns this place?" he asked her.
She nodded still not looking over, she was still trying to get he bartender's attention "He moved down here just before...just before the town I used to live in went under."
Dean nodded "Mining?"
Now she had to look at him. What was he talking about? She looked at him in confusion.
"Mining town? I see a lot of those go under once the mine dries up." he said sagely.
She gave him a half grin as she nodded "Yeah mining, Something like that." Sort of like mining if the mine was a hellmouth and the coal was super freak vampires. But was that really so important when Dean had possibly the longest eyelashes she had ever seen on a guy? It was almost like you could wrap them around your pinky if he held still. She continued to stare at him for a long second and Dean smiled back. Mentally he was reminding himself not to drool, she wanted to play it cool and he could be cool.
"Faith?" the bartender called out. Dean turned to give him his 'Hey she's with me' smile when he froze. This guy was the ugliest guy he had ever seen.
Faith smiled and called out "Clem!" and opened her arms as the bartender leaned over and hugged her. Dean tried not to grimace as he looked at what must have been a bad burn because this guy's skin was off the hook ugly. His ears seemed to droop down and with no hair...damn. Fugly.
"This with you?" Clem said gesturing towards Dean without looking at him.
"And if he wasn't?" she said mock seriousness. Her eyes were hooded as she let Clem draw some conclusions. Maybe it would give her a little rush to say Dean was hers, because in this bar, he better be 'with' a power or he'd be free trade. She wasn't too worried, not yet. Clem was just curious.
"You know what kind of bar this is Faith. We have rules." he said wagging his finger at her.
"My god Clem, you've gotten positively racist in your old age." she said grinning even wider. Clem was not the hard ass he was letting on to be, but then, this wasn't Sunnydale and these guys weren't the same idiots that wandered around the Hellmouth. He had a soft spot for her, right behind his third kidney, or so he said but odds were he couldn't show it past the hug in a place like this.
"Old?" he called out bringing his hands to his face and grabbing two handfuls of skin "But I just had a face lift!"
And Dean barked out a laugh.
Bad move. Faith closed her eyes and shook her head as Clem slowly looked over to Dean. "Are you laughing at me?"
Dean tried to stop laughing as he saw the look on the guys face. "But the face lift...and your..." and the laughing stopped "You were serious?"
Clem looked at Faith "Is he with you or not?"
She looked over to Dean and raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Want me to save you?'
Dean just scowled and said "Hey! Joan Rivers. I'm right here." He could see Faith laughing silently as Clem looked back over to him. "You wanna ask me a question, ask me. Not her."
Clem's eyes looked dark as he said "Your kind is unwelcome here."
And without a thought Dean replied "What kind is that? Reeeaaaallllly Reeeeaaaallllly Goooood looking?"
And Clem's face hardened into a scowl "No human."
Dean's mouth was halfway open as he paused. The band stopped playing and he looked slowly behind him. And then, just then, he saw what he had missed coming in. The extra eye here, the odd skin color there. As he watched the entire bar begin to stand up and growl at him he looked back at Clem and realized...that wasn't a burn. God damnit this was what Sam had been for.
"Human?" he asked gulping. He looked at Faith "Then what's she?"
Good time to have a heart to heart. Faith made a little face and decided that she needed to have most of her attention on the angry mob forming. She shrugged "Special"
"Let's give him a real Clem's house welcome guys." Clem said over the bar "And make sure you get the face."
"Aw, come ON, Clem..." Faith whispered and saw the bartender (and owner) look fleetingly amused. But then, Clem didn't have as much to lose as Dean did when it came to giving good face.
Dean jumped away from the bar and brought up his fists. As the demons moved forward the band began to play 'Even the Nights are Better'. He shook his head, the only thing that made this bearable was that Sam wasn't here to laugh at him.
When the first Golgothan spider demon rushed at Dean, Faith went into the arachnid man and shoved him back hard.
I, I was the lonely one
Wondering what went wrong
Why love had gone
And left me lonely
She grabbed one of the legs trying to twine around her and snapped it off, being sure to spray the venom towards the crowd trying to jump Dean.
I, I was so confused
Feeling like Id just been used
Then you came to me
And my loneliness left me
It was a courtesy. He was not doing badly, still standing and all, but she hadn't brought him here to get him killed. Her arm flew back and she grappled a hunchbacked thing with a pig's face, not sure what it was in Latin, but in any language it was wet with spit and beer.
I use to think I was tied to a heartache
That was the heartbreak
But now that Ive found you
"Back off or I am tearing heads off!" she said with an audible snap of whatever she was holding at the time.
Faith hissed the words and meant them, not one to bluff. She kicked the chittering Golgothan hard in his many eyes and then tried to scrape off some of those eyes to the leg of the flailing creature. She saw Dean duck under the swing and look over at him, his smirk and the eyebrow waggle made her bust out as he looked like a little kid dodging a truant officer.
As she rose her hand to bust the face of the next one she felt Clem's hand on her wrist "What are you doing?" he whispered under the clamor of the fight.
She looked at him quizzically "Um...fighting?"
"Why?" he asked, his eyes wide with desperation. When he saw her not understanding he added "How else can I tell you what's going on except during a fight?" he nodded to his back room "Come on! You have to hear this!"
Faith looked at Dean as he sent a roundhouse to a rather large Lor'lak demon, sending the bruiser to its knees. "Well you wanted to sit at the big boy table." she muttered and jumped the bar as Clem ran away shrieking in mock terror.
"Help me!" he screamed with his hands in the air "She's gonna kill me!" he said busting into his private room. She shook her head and followed him, slamming the door behind him. Hoping Dean was as good as he thought he was.
Even the nights are better
Now that were here together
Even the nights are better
Since I found you
Even the days are brighter
When someone you loves beside you
Even the nights are better
Since I found you
"I might not be as good as I thought I was." Dean thought as he felt a hamhock of a fist hit him from behind. He spun, landing a work boot to the things knee, at least he hoped it was a knee, and felt a satisfying crunch. He had lost sight of Faith in the tussle but he wasn't that worried about her. After all, the girl wanted to prove this was her show...time for her to prove it.
"Come on boys" he said through a split lip and a smile "Daddy's home" and he dove into the mob, taking an ear in one hand and what he hoped was a nose in the other.
Please god let that be a nose.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
As soon as the door closed Clem's fear vanished. He was breathing hard as he turned on the cameras in the main bar "Thanks for that. L.A. is weird, it's all about reputation. If I just talked to you I'd lose half my customer in less than a week. Here. " he said turning on the monitors behind him. "Listen while you watch your friend. There's enough bad blood in that room for them to fight each other for a while instead of all ganging up on him."
She watched Dean fly into a mass of demons with a grin and she had to admit. She was beginning to like that boy. "Ok Clem talk. We're on the meter here."
"Lindsey's back" he said quickly "Do you know who he is?" he paused and Faith nodded "Good. So you know that's bad. Cause he was dead."
Her eyes flickered back to Clem quickly "Dead? How Dead?"
"As in the kind where you stop moving for a long time." Clem added "Someone brought him back."
"Wolfram and Hart?" she said going back to the monitors.
Clem's ears shook "They won't touch LA. After what happened to them here...this is officially no man's land. This is something else."
"Something like?" she asked watching the fight start to go bad for Dean.
"Something that wants potentials." he saw her not even pause so he added "As in potential slayers." her eyes flew off the screen and locked him with a stare. He just nodded slightly and she cursed under her breath.
Giles knew exactly what was going on when he sent her here.
That was the moment Dean was lost under the mob. She had told Dean he was on his own, but that didn't slow her down now. She was getting out there. "Thanks Clem, your street rep is safe with me." she said busting the door down and flipping over the bar. Clem collapsed into his chair smiling "I miss Sunnydale" he said as he saw Faith dive into the crowd.
Dean almost had em.
The thing with the horns was a bitch but he was pretty sure he was wearing him down. In the end something spit in his face and he felt his eyes sting something fierce. From there something head butted him and then took a shot at his junk and he collapsed into a ball on the floor. Something kicked the side of his head and he thought distantly, this was where Sam would jump in and distract them.
The world went kinda dim.
And then he heard the screams. At first he wondered if that was him, he always heard some people go all girl like at the end and then wondered who the fuck was that screaming and then they go...oh yeah me. But no...he wasn't screaming and it was more than one person. He cracked one eyelid and the entire world was at a Batman fight scene angle...
And Faith was in the middle tearing the demons apart.
She was like a whirlwind, throwing guys around, tossing them like rag dolls. He could see some of them actively running from her, however many eyes they had were wide with terror as their hands, tentacles or in one case vines, extended over their heads in panic. "Must've hit my head hard" Dean mumbled as he saw the horned thing grab Faith from behind in the bear hug he had been avoiding the whole fight. As the burly creature picked her up and squeezed, Dean knew her back was broken. At the very least she was about to be mortally wounded. He expected to hear a crunch of bones and ribs as the thing tore the hottest girl he ever met in half and then came to step on his face like he was a bug. He moved to one side to get up, his head still spinning from the last kick badly.
He wasn't going to make it in time, he heard her grunt and then the snap of bones. His left hand trailed into his jeans to pull the gun as he knew that thing was coming for him next. He felt its hands on his shoulders and he spun to shoot his attacker.
And found Faith standing there holding him up. She slapped the gun out of his hand so fast he thought maybe he had lost consciousness for a moment. "Dean?" she asked, her voice sounding way too concerned "Dean you ok?"
He looked past her for a moment and saw the horned beast on the ground not moving. Its ribs extending from its chest in a bloody mess. The look on the thing's face was still screaming. He looked at it and then back to Faith as it sank in.
As the world tipped to the right he slurred "What the fuck are you...." and he passed out.
Leaving Faith holding an unconsciousness hunter and about half a million questions when he woke up.
She easily lifted him and draped him over her shoulder. Heated eyes swept the room as she stared down the remaining restless demons.
"Anyone follows me or makes my back prickly and I am going to kill you and then everyone you ever knew, we all square?"
When no one said a word, she nodded, leaving the bar. She walked to the nearest hotel, and didn't bat an eye when the desk clerk kept staring at Dean while taking her money for a cheap room. They had seen all kinds here. Faith patted Dean's bottom and grinned at the grey-haired lady.
"Couldn't help myself. Just had to have one."
The woman behind the desk tried to smile back, but it came across wan and a little off.
Faith walked to the room, unlocked the door and went inside. She let Dean slide to the bed, being gentle about it. He was on his back, sprawled out. The bump to his head wasn't busted open, that was okay. She decided it was the right thing to do to check him for injuries. Like a good Girl Scout. Well, a bad Girl Scout, but there were badges to earn and she was going for it. She took off his boots and his jacket before running her hands under his shirt. Warm. Hard. Oh, and not broken. Very official checking here. He had some blood on his lip and she ran her fingers over the rusty red stain. Her finger slid into his mouth and she caught her breath, wanting to lean over and kiss him.
Of course his eyes had to open right then.
She blushed bright red and drew her finger from his lips, coughing to cover some of her embarrassment.
"Ah, you lived. Want some painkillers? I have some."
Dean didn't move, he just laid there staring at her.
It was making her stomach do slow rolls that had nothing to do with how pretty he was and everything to do with how still. He was watching her like he was deciding whether or not to shoot her. She knew that look. She shrugged "More for me." and tried not to notice him follow her with his eyes. Well this wasn't how she imagined their first minutes in a motel room like. She leaned against the sink and tried not to look at herself in the mirror. She reached into the one of the hidden pockets of her jacket, feeling the packets of pharmaceuticals there. Maybe she could talk him into some Percocets. Help him relax and sleep. In the mean time, maybe work some damage control. Try to get him thinking less about her beating up a BAR of DEMONS. She said to him "You know you hit your head pretty hard, you might have ended up seeing things there at the end." She winced as she heard herself trip over the lie. Man, she used to be better at this.
She almost jumped when she heard his voice behind her "Is that how you're gonna play this?" She turned and found him standing way too close to her for her to not have heard him move. Take the boots off and the boy needed a freaking bell! Without the jacket and boots he looked...god damnit why did he have to look so vulnerable? The look on his face, it was like he was being forced to shoot Old Yeller or something. He wasn't mad or upset. He looked tired and resigned. She turned and tried not to notice the whiteness of his socks in the low light. Something about beat up boys in white socks made Faith go all weak in the knees.
"Play what?" she said leaning against the sink, not bothering the fake smile.
He stared at her for almost five minutes without saying a word. She couldn't tell if he was studying her or trying to remain upright, but the sheer determination in his face was driving her nuts. Finally he sighed "Ok fine." he turned and sat on the bed and scooted his boots over to him.
She almost gasped as he began to put them on "Where are you going?"
He didn't even look up as he pulled the first one on "Away"
He should have sounded like a spoiled child. With a line like that she should have sneered and rolled her eyes thinking, 'You wanna take your toys and leave fine'. But as she saw him lacing his boot up she found she couldn't muster it. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she said "Fine. What do you want to know?"
He stopped and locked eyes with her. "What are you?"
She bit down the sarcasm just bubbling under her first thought. Who in the fuck did this kid think he was asking her all these questions. Though if she was being honest with herself (and how rare was that) he was only a year or two younger than her. Closer to her actual age than the one she projected with her own jacket and scowl. So he wasn't a kid in the sense of age, this was about something else.
She felt her head fall, and as she recited the words every Slayer had heard at least once from Giles. She said her bit as she counted the bodily fluids stains on the floor in her head. "Into each generation a girl is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer."
He looked up at her from the bed "What does that mean?"
She looked back at him "Means I am stronger, faster, harder to hurt and quicker to heal than the average bear." She opened her jacket and pulled up her t shirt, showing where the Churak demon had grabbed her in its supposedly deadly bear hug and tried to crack her in half. Dean stood up as he saw the small red marks around her mid section and even they were fading fast. He reached out and touched the skin and she jerked sideways as she laughed. He looked up at her and she said "Tickles"
Dean's face fell as he took a step back and stumbled over his remaining boot. He fell to the floor and Faith took a step towards him to help. He actually grabbed the boot and held it between them "Stop!" he said "You are not human." he shot out.
The words were like a gunshot, hurting more than anything she received in the fight. Shouldn't hurt. She shouldn't let it hurt. Her mask came back up and her fake smile bore a hole in his face. "I like to call it 'human plus'." but she saw the joke had no affect. "No Dean, I am a slayer. You never heard of one in your wild and varying journeys?"
He slipped the other shoe on without ever breaking eye contact "Some kind of demon? Half demon or something?" he was more talking to himself "Or maybe you're like some kind of Amazon..."
She made a face. She should have been helping him out of the room by now. With a swift kick in the ass. Maybe even out the window. But here she was trying to put him at ease or find some middle ground. Like it was vital. Jesus. She told herself to shut up even as she heard herself say softly. "C'mon Dean....I saved your ass. More than twice tonight and you're gonna give me that..." She took a step closer and she knew it was a mistake.
He jumped up and held his arm out "Stop" he said "Do not come any closer." She paused and cocked her head, trying to divine if she was scaring him. No way, right? Not Dean. But it seemed likely. He sounded on edge as he warned her off. "I appreciate everything you've done and all. But..." and his words failed him.
So it was going down just this way. He was running out and she needed to close the wound off that he couldn't see. It hurt. It was hurting her way past anything she could decapitate. Her voice was harder than she meant it to be when she forced the words out. "But it wasn't enough to make me human in the Dean Winchester guide to everything normal." she said with her lip curling in scorn "Great, no problem." She turned back to the mirror and leaned on the sink. "Then run away little boy. Go run back to whatever corn field you came from and hide under your bed. That way the world can be just as you think it should be and you never have to actually look at it for what it is."
Dean watched her for a moment and took a hesitating step towards her "Faith?"
"GO!" she growled, and she had to admit, she didn't sound very human with that either.
He didn't run though. He slipped on his jacket slowly and took another look at her again before saying "I'm sorry." and he walked out of the room.
As she looked up at the warped mirror and saw her face distort itself slightly, she noticed the tears she WAS not crying well up in her eyes. "So am I." She whispered to herself before shattering the offending image into dust. Her own face had seemed to mock her, her eyes asking 'Well what did you expect?'. Really, she had this coming. She set herself up for it. Fuck. Taking him into Clem's bar even and what was she thinking, making sure he made it out all in one piece? One human piece that spit on her like she was... a monster.
He was not the first, he wouldn't be the last. That was what people were good for. Being massively disappointing and making you feel like you had a belly full of sharp nails.
She was beginning to remember why she hated LA.
Part One/ Part Two/ Part Three/ Part Four/ Part Five/ Part Six
Part Seven/ Part Eight/ Part Nine/ Epilogue