To Live in Die in LA:Book Two-Prelude
In the heat of the day/Every time you go away
I have to piece my life together/Every time you’re away
In the heat of the day/In the dark of the night
Every time I turn the light/I feel God is not in heaven
In the dark of the night
Previously on To Live in Die in L.A.
Wang Chung
To Live in Die in L.A.: Book Two
Prelude
Twenty Four Hours ago…
Xander burst into the great hall and immediately fell.
The pages he was carrying went everywhere as his knee throbbed from the impact "Frak" he said as he snatched the papers from the air one at a time before giving up and taking off running again "Boring conversation anyways." he muttered as he felt his socks slip out from under him again as he ran.
He hated this place.
I mean you’d think it would be cool to live in a huge James Bond villain mansion in the middle of England with horses and hunting dogs and all that jazz. A garage full of cars and a long driveway with security cameras the whole way up would make up for those huge paintings with people looking at you no matter how hard you tried to sleep and grandfather clocks that REALLY go off every fifteen minutes no matter how late it was and that old house smell…but they don’t. You’d think that having a secret base in said mansion like one of those Bond villains complete with huge plasma screen that tracked every slayer operative in the world and phones with tons of flashing lights that no one knew how they worked would be the shizzle. But being the ONE guy in the organization that didn’t even pass community college much less Watcher school so you ended up doing crappy jobs like grabbing coffee and reading the news feeds at 4am would make that thought vanish pretty quickly.
And you’d think all those long ass halls with polished floors would make a Risky Business type slide easy in the middle of the night but Xander Harris had bruises up and down his shin to prove you wrong.
He burst into the situation room with a crash. Both Giles and Wesley tried not to notice the commotion as the other three watchers looked over at him with that scalding British stare that looked so damn funny on BBC but in real life? Not so funny. He bit his bottom lip as he closed the doors behind him and the conversation resumed.
"I don’t see much choice." stuffed shirt guy one said. They all had names but Xander to be honest hadn’t bothered to remember one of them. These three men were the only watchers to survive The First Evil’s attacks years ago because they had been off on leave. Because they liked vacations they ended up being what was left of a thousand year old tradition of guiding Slayers and deciding where to put them.
And because Wesley owned the house he got to be in charge "Well it’s not hard to do when you are narrowing your mind so much." Wesley said under his breath. His 5 o’clock shadow was at about 9:30 which meant they hadn’t let the room since Xander had left. "What do you think?" he asked Giles.
Xander knew Giles thought something very bad because he paused to take off his glasses and polish them, meaning he was trying to find words that made what came next a little softer "I think we might be in trouble." he said.
Wesley sighed as he walked around the huge round table that made up the center of the room. "And you agree?" Wesley asked to stuffed shirt guy two, who of course nodded with his best stiff upper lip crap "And you?" Wesley asked to Stuffed shirt number three who had no choice at this point than to join the bobbleheaded idiots who had preceded him. He sat down with a sigh at the other end of the table and ran his hands through his hair. The room was silent save the small clicks the screen made as it changed its position.
Faith’s picture flashed up on the screen.
Xander winced as he saw the APB from the Los Angeles police print out claiming they were looking for an escaped fugitive in conjunction with the arson and body found at a local motel. Consider the suspect armed and dangerous. Faith looked cocky even in her mug shot.
"It’s not her." Xander said in the silence, garnering looks from all five watchers. Stuffed shirt number two arched one of his perfectly quaffed eyebrows "And you come to this conclusion how?"
Xander thought about shoving his socked foot down his throat. Instead he adjusted his patch slightly and said "Because I know Faith." Xander saw Wesley shake his head slightly but he went on anyways "She’s changed, this isn’t like her." he said pointing at the screen as it pulled up local news images of the motel burning and the fire department pulling out the charred body of a local pizza boy from the wreckage.
"Actually" stuffed shirt number one said "It sounds exactly like her." He picked up a file and now Xander winced "She held Mr. Pryce hostage, killed several humans as well as…"
"Enough" Wesley said standing up and slamming his hand down on the desk "We know the story."
Stuffed shirt number three looked at him "Are you sure?"
Wesley glowered at him and looked to say something when Giles said softly "We’re done here. Thank you gentlemen you’re dismissed."
The three watchers looked at Giles and then back to Wesley, who was standing there with his fists trembling with rage. Like disgusted ducks they all waddled out, their obvious displeasure in every single measure step they took. Xander turned to follow when Giles said "Xander you may stay." He was pleased to see the three men turn and look in shock as the doors closed on their faces. He couldn’t resist sticking his tongue out at them.
Giles sighed "Really?" Xander slipped his tongue in slowly as he continued "Hard to believe they won’t take you seriously as a watcher isn’t it?"
Xander turned to look at him "They don’t take anyone serious who wasn’t born with one of those suits on." he sat down at the table "She so didn’t do that."
Wesley looked at him and then looked away but Giles nodded "I don’t think she did either."
Wesley turned now looking at Giles "You don’t? She goes out there, sends a dozen men to the hospital, none of who were connected to any of the girl’s disappearance and then her motel room is burned down with a body in the closet? And you think what? This is a misunderstanding?"
Giles just stared at him for a second and then said "I think life is complicated. Missions doubly so."
"This isn’t a mission." Wesley said jabbing a finger at the screen as Faith’s mug shot cycled through again "This is a disaster."
Giles nodded "All the more reason not to jump to conclusions."
Xander watched as the two men a debated back and forth. In the lull he said "She called me!"
Both men looked at him.
"Day before yesterday. She called me, was asking about hunters, she had figured out the girls were potentials." he said "She sounded…she didn’t sound crazy."
Giles leaned forward "And what does crazy sound like?" he more demanded than asked.
Xander swallowed hard "Little like Stewie from Family Guy?"
Wesley exploded "Damnit Xander! Why didn’t you tell us that? Did she say anything else? Anything that might have set her off? A clue?" he leaned across the table "Anything?"
Xander looked up "No we talked about John Winchester and his kids…and about hunters…and then…" and his face went pale.
"What?" Wesley asked.
"Um…" Xander said feeling very, very small sitting at the table.
"Well come on!" Giles said standing up.
"I might have let it slip that we knew the girls were potentials before we sent her out." he said barely above a squeak.
Wesley and Giles looked at each other and though they didn’t say one word between them, they both were thinking the same thing.
Time to call Buffy.
Five minutes ago…
Buffy made her way into the book store through the roof.
She had seen Faith slip in wearing a sweatshirt that looked large enough to double as a circus tent from across the quad. Xander had mentioned the Winchesters and according to his files the only one that had a real address was the one in college. She had studied the fax Giles had sent her and she had been impressed.
He had the all American thing like Riley without any of the squinty steel the Initiative operative had possessed. She had cocked her head and thought; she could totally rob that cradle a few times.
She shook her head and knew she had been working too long. She folded up the paper and took off towards his dorm, wondering if the new council had personal time off? She had been in Canada near the border of Alaska when she got the call. A whole town had gone off the deep end in vampires and a small group of humans had been holed up in the tiny survival shack like Twinkies in a vending machine. She had gone in with four potentials and cut down the entire pack…group? Coven? What did you call a collection of vampires? A blood? Whatever. They killed a lot of vampires, saving the town and the day. But here she was, no sleep in three days, still smelling like Eskimo vampires looking for Faith.
Fucking Faith.
She didn’t know how many times Giles and Wesley were going to hold their hand out to her just to have her slap it away by doing something like this. It was in Faith's blood, Buffy assumed, but it was getting old, and it was time it stopped.
She had tried, God as her witness she had tried. She had tried to let Faith into her group of friends, tried not to tear her head off when she tried to kill Angel…even tried to give her the benefit of the doubt when she ended up being the long, white haired cat to the Mayor’s evil genius. Who she was pretty sure Faith was banging…ew.
She could have stabbed her in the chest. She could have taken that stupid ass fork looking knife and just shoved it in her slut heart and ended it once and for all. But even there she was lacking, even at the very moment that Angel’s life was in danger…she still couldn’t do it. She had to go with the gut shot.
And then there was taking Riley and screwing him in her body and then somehow turning Angel on her. More sex no doubt. And STILL they gave her chances.. Wesley breaking her out of jail to stop Angelus, and then giving her a pass when she came back to Sunnydale. She had been cautious, wary…Xander even said paranoid. But she knew, she just knew.
Cats didn’t change their spots. Or stripes. Or whatever it was, they didn’t change them.
And here she was being proven right.
As always, wanna find Faith? Follow the cops cars and screams and sooner or later you’ll find her. And as she approached the book store Buffy saw 'the other Slayer' creeping across the roof as the police argued with some federal agents. Buffy saw her spot and took off, leaping to the roof when no one was looking.
As she made her way into the store, she could hear the people inside screaming and whimpering. No doubt Faith had started early. Always an overachiever that girl. Buffy made her way past the offices, she could see some hot ass guy at the front door waving people out, while the guy she was looking for was sneaking in through the back. From her vantage she could see everything…
Everything but Faith.
These must be the hunters Xander was going on about with his man crush and all! Which meant they were here to stop Faith as well. Good…that meant she was going down. As she moved she saw Faith creeping up behind a blond girl, the guy from the front door began to draw a bead on her. Buffy mentally willed him to shoot her already but he hesitated and Faith grabbed the girl. The tall brother came out, his gun pointed too, but they didn’t have a shot at Faith with the girl there. Buffy saw Faith begin to manhandle the girl as both brothers struggled to find a shot.
"Time to give them one." she murmured as she jumped down the three stories and landed on Faith’s back. Faith fell, completely stunned as the hunters stood in shock. Both looked shocked at her arrival and the shorter one looked concerned as he looked at Faith.
Damnit she had screwed them too.
She looked up at the hostage and said "Run!" The blond girl with the dark eyes looked shocked for a moment and then took off. As the tall one reached out to stop her Buffy knew she had been right, Faith had already worked her sexy magic on them. She grabbed his wrist and spun him on his ass as she said "Back off grabby." he made a satisfying thump as he landed on the ground. Hearing the front door click she sighed and knew things were good.
In the most confident voice she could muster she said "It’s ok. I got it under control. You’re safe now. I’m Buffy and I’m here to stop her." she said pointing at Faith.
Both men looked at her in confusion and anger for a moment and then a shot rang out. Buffy felt pain lance up her leg as she looked down and saw blood.. She looked back and saw Dean advancing on her "Hi Buffy, I’m Dean.." and clocked her in the face.
The world went black after that.
Fucking Faith.
Previously on To Live in Die in L.A.
Prelude// Part One// Part Two/ Part Three/ Part Four/ Part Five/ Part Six/ Part Seven/ Part Eight/ Part Nine/ Part Ten