* * *
Faith untied the pony tail in her hair once she was in the safety of her hotel room. She threw her duffle bag on the bed and pulled open the zipper, fishing out a pair of red leather pants and a black tank top. If she was going to kill Angel, she was going to do it reminding him of Buffy. Those were the clothes she had been wearing when she had let Angel feed off her.
Faith snorted quietly. She could never believe Buffy let Angel do that. She thought for sure by stepping off that roof that the vampire was dead. She hadn't wanted to risk her life for no good reason. If she was going down, Angel was coming with her.
She changed quickly into the clothes she held, then glanced in the mirror to apply a fresh coat of lipstick. Satisfied that she looked good, Faith tucked a stake into her jacket sleeve, then reached into the bag and pulled out a gun. She stared down the barrel, then shoved it into her jacket pocket.
She was ready to face Angel and she was ready to win.
* * *
"So, what's that supposed to mean?" Xander asked, his brown eyes looking up at Angel. "You think I can't take her?"
The vampire raised his hands in defence. "I didn't say that Xander."
"You might as well have." He retorted angrily.
Cordelia put her hand on Xander's shoulder. "Calm down. You know that's not what he meant."
Xander glanced at her hand, then looked up at her face. Cordelia snatched her hand away quickly and turned, feeling a flush creep onto her face.
Doyle clenched his fists as he watched Cordelia and Xander smile at each other, then felt Erin tense at his side.
"If you like her so much, why would you want to take me out?" She hissed, then turned and walked away.
"Erin wait!" Doyle called and ran to catch up with her.
Angel watched them go with a surprised look on his face.
"Okay, so now we're four against one." Xander said.
Angel shook his head. "They'll be back."
"We've certainly created a tangled little web here." Willow muttered.
"What do you mean?" Cordelia asked.
"Well," Willow glanced up at the other two, then shook her head, "it's nothing. I didn't mean anything."
"Listen, we need a plan." Angel said. "We let Doyle and Erin work out whatever it is they're fighting about then we plan. She could show up at any time."
The phone shrilled by Angel's side, interrupting his speech and he grabbed it. "Hello?" There was a pause. "Thank you. Bye." He turned to look at the others. "Faith left the hotel. We have less than half an hour before she gets here."
* * *
"Erin!" Doyle called and banged out into the street. "Goddamn it." He muttered. "Where'd she go?" He turned to his left and began to jog down the street, passing an alley on his way. He heard a muffled cry in the shadows and turned in surprise.
"Hello?" He called. "Who's down here."
He heard a thump, then heard Erin yell, "Doyle don't come down here. Get out."
He turned to run when something swung at him and cracked down between his shoulder blades. Doyle fell to his knees then forced himself to his feet and tried to run again. Whatever had hit him the first time came down again and landed across his left shoulder. He winced in pain and grabbed the broken bone before getting to his feet once more and starting for the mouth of the alley. The weapon came down a third time, hitting him on the back of the head. He went down again and this time, he didn't get up.
"Doyle!" Erin yelled and ran to his side.
"Pick him up." Faith ordered, dropping the metal pole to the ground.
"I can't carry him."
"I said pick him up!" She yelled.
Erin glanced around nervously before lifting Doyle's right arm and placing it around her shoulders. She stood up slowly, staggering under the dead weight, then finally stood up straight.
"Good job." Faith pulled a gun out of her pocket. She shoved the cold barrel against the back of Erin's head. "Now walk."
* * *
Angel paced the office nervously. "Where did they go? They should be back by now."
Cordelia nodded. "You're right. I'm getting worried."
"So what do we do?" Xander asked. "I mean, I'm worried too, but we should get on with the planning."
Angel nodded. "Xander's right. We need a plan. She could show up here any minute."
The phone rang again, startling them all and Angel picked it up. The three other people in the room watched as Angel's face lost all emotion then tried to keep his anger under control. Then he pushed a button on the phone and placed the received back into the cradle.
"Good." Faith's voice came out into the room. "You've put me on speaker phone like I asked?"
"Yes Faith." Angel said steadily.
"Nice to hear your voice again Angel." She purred. "Now, I have one thing to tell all of you. I have your two little friends. You know, Erin and Doyle. Yeah, that's them. Nasty little spat they had and ran out into the darkness." She laughed. "I guess that wasn't the smartest thing to do."
"What do you want Faith?" Xander asked, getting up from his seat.
"Oh, Xander's there?" She chuckled again. "Maybe you and I should get together later and . . ."
Xander snorted in anger and clenched his fists.
"Then again, maybe not." Faith continued. "You all know what I want. I want Angel. That's right, he's the ransom. You bring me Angel, I'll let your friends go. Those are the rules. And he has to come alone. I don't want everyone showing up. The party is much more fun when it's one on one."
"I'll come." Angel promised. "Where are you?"
"A nice little apartment on the corner of Fifth and Regent." She said. "Number twelve. Be there in half an hour or they both get it."
"How do we know you haven't killed them already?" Cordelia asked.
They could hear Faith laugh quietly. "Would you like to hear from them?" There was silence and in the background they could hear Faith calling Erin and Doyle.
"Speak." She said.
"Angel?" Doyle's voice came over the phone. "You gotta get us out of here man. She's crazy and she has a gun. Broke my damn shoulder. You gotta,"
Then he was cut off.
"So there you have it. Alive and well."
"What about Erin?" Angel asked.
Faith sighed. "Fine, here she is."
"She uh," Erin's voice came nervously over the phone, "Well, I don't know what to say since she just knocked Doyle out for saying too much. We're alive Angel, but I don't know for how long."
They heard Faith wrestle the phone out of her grasp, then her voice came over one last time. "Half an hour Angel. Be here."
There was a click, then the dial tone.
Angel turned to look at the others. "I have to go alone. You know it."
"Angel, she'll kill you and she won't let them go." Willow said. "You know that."
He nodded slowly. "That's just something I'll have to risk Willow."
"Someone needs to go with you." She insisted. "To make sure the other two get out."
Angel nodded again. "Xander. You come. You get Erin and Doyle out then you leave. Understand?"
"Yeah." He answered. "I get it."
Angel turned and began to look through his desk drawers. He pulled out a long knife and handed it to Xander.
"Whoa!" Xander's eyes widened. "This is sharp."
"I think it's supposed to be." Cordelia told him.
Angel pocketed a knife of his own and started toward the office door. "If they're not back within the hour, you have something to worry about. Don't think about me."
He and Xander walked through the office door and headed down the stairs.
Cordelia shot a worried glance in Willow's direction before picking up a knife of her own.
* * *
Faith paced the interior of the empty apartment. Angel now had only ten minutes and she was getting worried. She had no idea when the owners of the apartment would return, she just hoped it wouldn't be soon.
Doyle groaned from where he lay, bound and gagged on the floor. Erin sat beside him against the wall, her hands and feet tied. She had been silent the whole time and her reward was not being gagged. Doyle, on the other hand, had taken to screaming obscenities at her for a good ten minutes before she had taped his mouth shut.
He glared at her from the floor and she glared back. "Useless idiot." She muttered, then nudged him with her toe. Doyle stared up at her and she turned away from the unwavering glare.
"What's his deal?" She asked, jerking her thumb toward Doyle.
Erin shrugged. "I could ask the same about you."
Faith smiled. "So, you're taking interest in my soon to be mass murder spree? How thoughtful of you." She began to pace again. "It started last year when I moved to Sunnydale. I'm a slayer, you know. So, I hung out with Buffy and the gang, even though I knew they were different." She laughed. "I even tried to get Buffy to join me, help me and the Mayor. She refused because of Angel." Faith sighed. "To make a long story short, Buffy stabbed me and it's all Angel's fault. The end."
Erin just stared at her for a long, silent moment, then said. "Well, I have a story for you. Once upon a time there was a nut case. She had once been a good person but something inside her snapped. She went insane and blamed a good man for all that she had done wrong. She kidnapped his friends and threatened to kill them if he didn't come. He came, saved his friends, kicked her ass and she lived happily ever after in an asylum. How's that for a story?"
Faith stalked over to Erin and slapped her hard. Doyle yelled against his gag and desperately tried to kick Faith. She backed away from him and laughed.
"Nice try." Then she glared at Erin. "You might want to watch what you say to me. Angel only has," she glanced at her watch, "three more minutes. If he's not here, you die."
"He'll be here." Erin said. "I promise you."
* * *
Angel and Xander ran toward the apartment block on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Regent.
"This is it." Angel said. "She said apartment number twelve."
Xander nodded. "What do you want me to do?"
Angel bit his lip as he thought. "You should probably stay behind me. Don't let her know you're here but out I have her preoccupied get them out of there."
There was a blast from inside the building and they both jumped.
"Uh, didn't Doyle say she had a gun?" Xander asked, his eyes wide with worry.
Angel nodded and slowly crept toward the door. "Stay behind me."
* * *
"What the hell did you do that for?" Erin screamed, staring at Doyle's leg. His eyes were wide and he screamed uselessly behind the tape as his leg bled onto the floor.
Faith shrugged. "He was pissing me off." She tucked the gun back into her belt and smiled. "He has one minute. That's just a warning of what I can do to you."
Erin tried to inch over to Doyle, then leaned against the wound on his leg trying to stop the blood flow. He yelled in pain again, then calmed when Erin smiled lightly at him.
"Thirty seconds." Faith said, then raised the gun and aimed it at the back of Erin's head. Doyle's eyes widened and Erin turned to stare down the barrel of the gun.
"Twenty seconds." Faith said, then smiled. Erin's breath caught in her throat and she struggled to breath as Doyle thrashed on the floor behind her.
"Ten seconds." Faith cocked the gun. "Five."
Erin closed her eyes.
"Four."
She braced herself for the pain.
"Three."
Doyle screamed behind the gag.
"Two."
Faith tightened her finger on the trigger.
"One."
The shot went off and Erin fell backward, expecting pain to course through her body. When something dropped onto her head, she opened her eyes and stared up at the crumbling spot in the ceiling. Xander lay on the floor, trying to wrestle the gun away from Faith. Another shot went off, slamming into the wall.
Angel stepped into the room and ripped Faith off Xander, then threw her against the wall. She squeezed the trigger and sent a bullet into Angel's shoulder. He grunted and stepped backward, then came after her again.
Xander scrambled over to where Doyle and Erin lay on the floor. He quickly undid the ropes, then ripped the tape off Doyle's mouth.
"I'm supposed to get you two out." He said, then helped Doyle to his feet.
"You're bleeding." Xander said.
Doyle nodded. "She shot me."
They started toward the door as Angel slammed Faith into the wall. She crashed to the floor, still clutching the gun in her hand. Seeing the others leaving, she aimed and squeezed off the last few rounds in the gun. One took Doyle in the back of the leg as they stumbled out the door.
Angel turned to Faith as she threw the gun to the ground.
"It's just you and me now." She said and whipped a stake out of her jacket.
"Just you and me." He agreed.
She threw the first punch which Angel blocked. He turned and kicked her in the stomach then punched her in the side. Faith turned and slammed the back of her hand across his face. Angel staggered backward, then swung his fist back at her face. It caught her mouth and Faith felt blood spill down her chin.
Angel grabbed her head and rammed his forehead into hers, he picked her up by the collar and slammed her against the wall a second time. Faith groaned, then turned and punched him in the face. Her leg shot out and kicked him in the groin. Angel doubled over and she kneed him in the face. He stood up again and grabbed Faith's neck then squeezed as hard as he could. She let out a choking sound before ramming her hand into his nose. Angel's grip loosened and she grabbed her stake, which had fallen to the floor. Angel grabbed her again as Faith stabbed the stake forward, embedding it in Angel's skin. He gasped and looked down, then staggered backward.
Faith smiled triumphantly and stood up, waiting for Angel to burst into dust.
He stopped and looked down at the stake, then pulled it out of his chest. It clattered to the ground as he looked up at her. "You missed Faith . . . again." Then he punched her in the face, causing her to lose consciousness. As she fell to the ground, her eyes closed, Angel nodded. "Yeah I know. I can just hear you now, 'I'll be back Angel. You won't live through the next fight'." He shook his head. "We'll deal with that during the next fight then, won't we?"
He turned and left the apartment, left Faith to be found by the apartment's owners.
Xander, Erin and Doyle were cowering down the hall, Doyle nursing his bleeding leg.
"Is she dead?" Xander asked, standing up to meet him.
Angel shook his head. "No, but I have a feeling we won't see her for quite a while."
"What do you mean?"
He nodded toward the door down the hall and they looked over to see the owners come home.
"Oh my God!" They heard a man yell, then a woman gasped. "Don't come in here!" He yelled. "I'm calling the police."
Angel smiled. "Yeah, as I said, I don't think we'll have to worry about her for a while. How long do you think she'll get for break and entry?"
* * *
Doyle hobbled through the office door on his crutches a few days later. He walked into the side of the door and grunted in protest. "Do I have to use these things?" He whined, going to sit on the couch.
Erin followed him into the room and nodded. "Doctor's orders. You have to stay off that leg for at least a week. You were shot twice Doyle."
He groaned. "That just means not going to the bar and no drinks."
Erin smiled as she sat beside him. "I can think of better things to do anyway."
Doyle grinned back. "Like what?"
"I don't know." She leaned in to kiss him. "Like this."
The door opened, scaring them and Erin jumped away from Doyle. Angle grinned sheepishly. "Sorry guys. I didn't mean to interrupt anything."
Erin shrugged. "Nothing I can't do any other time."
Xander and Willow followed him into the office, smiling at them.
"How's your leg Doyle?" Willow asked, seating herself in a chair across from them.
He shrugged. "Could be better."
Xander cleared his throat. "I'll uh, I'll be right back." He turned and walked through a door as Angel watched in confusion.
"Doesn't he realize that's a broom closet?"
Willow's eyes widened. "Oh no." She got up and walked toward the door, then opened it, revealing Xander and Cordelia locked in each other's arms.
Xander glanced up. "You mind? We only have an hour left to finish our fling." He said, then grabbed the handle and closed the door.
Willow shook her head. "Well, I never saw that coming." She sighed. "Xander's right. We should be getting back to Sunnydale. I think I've missed enough classes to fail the whole year." She banged on the door. "Xander, let's go."
"Just a minute," came the muffled reply.
Willow smiled as she walked toward Angel. "It was good to see you. Maybe you'll bring everyone to Sunnydale some day."
He nodded. "Maybe. Bye Willow."
She hugged him. "Bye." She turned to the two on the couch. "See you guys later. Hope your leg feels better Doyle."
He nodded. "Thanks Willow."
She walked toward the broom closet and yanked open the door. Xander came tumbling out, followed by Cordelia and Willow pulled Xander to his feet. "Let's get going."
He nodded. "Sure thing. See ya 'round dead boy."
"I told you not to call me that."
Xander smiled. "Yeah I know. You would think one would learn after telling me that for years and not getting any results."
They headed for the door and Xander waved before it closed behind them.
Cordelia smiled. "That was definitely an interesting weekend."
Doyle snickered. "Of course, you and Xander will always have the broom closet."
"Shut up." She said and smacked him on the back of the head.
Doyle just smiled and winked at her.
Angel shook his head. "I need to get some sleep. Someone wake me up when we get another client." He said, then turned and rode the elevator down to his house.
The phone rang and Cordelia glanced at it before looking over at Doyle. She picked it up, "Angel agency. We help the hopeless." She nodded. "Sure, we have a time open at three if you want to come in." There was a pause, then, "Great. We'll see you then."
She hung up the phone and nodded toward the elevator. "Do you want to wake him up, or should I?"
The End
Back to Fanfic Page
Back to Main Page