Cordelia's POV
I listen to the phone ring.
Damn it Wesley pick up the fucking phone already. Why is it people never pick up the phone when you're in a crisis situation?
"Hello?"
"Hey Wesley."
"Cordelia, what's wrong?"
Every time I call someone that's all I hear, what's wrong?
"Is the world coming to an end?"
"No... not yet anyway but you never know."
"So what do you need?"
"It's Faith."
"What about her?"
"She's..."
"She's what? Is she waking up?"
"She's here."
"What? What do you mean she's here? She's where?"
"She's here, at the office. Angel found her wandering the streets."
"I'll bring my shotgun..."
The phone clicks.
OH SHIT...
"Wait Wesley, no!"
Angel grabs the phone from me and slams it on the table.
"You called Wesley? What the hell? Are you trying to get her killed? You know how Wesley feels about Faith. What if he panics and calls the Watcher's Council? They'll raid the place and take her away."
Yeah, and?
"So what if they did? She's a killer Angel, a vicious cold blooded killer and I can't understand why you're protecting her."
She's an evil killing machine, nothing more.
"Everyone deserves a second chance Cordelia."
"There are some people who just don't deserve it."
"Did you?"
Hun
"What?"
"Did you deserve a second chance?"
"What are you talking about?"
"When I first met you I thought you were a self absorbed money grubbing bitch, but when you came to work for me I decided to give you a second chance. You've proven to be a good and noble person, not like the person I thought you were."
Aww gee, the guilt card?
"Yeah but..."
"All I'm asking for is for you to give her the same chance."
"Angel, I didn't kill half the people in Sunnydale and try and kill the other half."
"I did."
"What?"
"I tried to kill half of Sunnydale and send everyone to hell. I've done horrible, evil things and killed more people than I can count..."
"That's different."
"Why?"
"Because you were evil then, but you're a good person now and..."
"So why should Faith be any different? Why can't she learn to be a good person and help people?"
"It's just not the same."
It isn't.
"Why not?"
"She had a soul from the beginning, she had a choice and she chose to be evil."
"You're wrong. I had my choice made for me. I was cursed with a soul, to live with the pain and suffering I had caused. Faith has a choice now. Can she live with what she's done? And we have to help her through it no matter what that choice may be. We all have to make that choice some time. Can we live with knowing what we know? We have to make a choice, but more than that we have to decide what kind of person we want to be. Faith has seen the deepest darkest part of herself and she has to learn to live with that."
What about the amnesia? Wait, is it amnesia? We don't even know if she has anything at all. She could still be lying to us.
"What about her forget me everything memory? If she can't remember any of the horrible things she's done, then what?"
"Then we teach her. We teach her about being a slayer and about her destiny."
"What if she can't deal and goes all psycho killer? Trying to kill us and all that fun stuff?"
"Then we'll have to stop her."
"How? By sitting her down and explaining what she did was wrong? Why don't I just bend her over my knees and spank her?"
Whoa, now that's a disturbing visual, me sitting in a chair with Faith lying face first on my knees while I... okay what the hell am I doing? God I really need a boyfriend.
"I'll stop her by any means necessary if I have to."
"Yeah and while you try she picks us off one by one."
"Look there is only 3 ways out of the basement and if you're that concerned about it I'll block off the stairs and the elevator so the only person she can hurt is me."
Wait, but, he's gonna lock himself down there with her? That's suicide. She's a slayer, he's a vampire. It's bound to end badly. He must really believe she has no memory or he'd never do that. I...
"Okay, if you need my help then, I'll..."
The door bursts open and Wesley charges through, shotgun raised.
Oh shit, he's gonna kill her.
John's POV
"Yes sir, I understand sir, I'm sorry sir. Yes sir, I know. I understand the significance of what this means for you. Yes sir, for us too, I know sir..."
The boss is really letting him have it. I'm glad I made Dave call the boss instead of doing it myself.
"Yes sir, I understand sir. Two into one sir, yes sir. Two into one must be stopped, yes sir. That's why I called you sir. We have a plan sir. Yes sir, that's the idea sir. We called you to request the army sir. Yes sir, I know you didn't raise the army for this reason sir but if she's with Angel then we have to go through him to get to her before SHE gets here. The 9th platoon? Yes sir, I appreciate, we appreciate your willingness to help sir."
The 9th platoon? Perfect, we can do it with the 9th platoon.
Dave looks over at me looking for my approval and I nod.
Hey maybe if I'm lucky Dave will get caught in the crossfire and the boss will have to give me a new partner. Hmm, idea accepted, concept approved.
"They'll be here by sundown? Yes sir, we appreciate your expedience on this issue, it will be resolved by midnight tonight. Thank you sir, goodbye sir."
Dave hangs up his phone and turns to me.
"The 9th platoon is coming; they'll be here by..."
"I have ears Dave. I could hear everything. We need to get started."
Faith's POV
I'm standing in front of that girl again. I look around but can't make anything out. It's a big room but, well, that's about all I can make out. It feels familiar somehow but... shit, she throws the same three punches and the first one nicks my chin but the other two I dodge without effort.
I duck for a leg sweep and take her feet out from under her as she drops flat on her back. I crawl on top of her again and pin her down. She tries grabbing at me and I pin her arms above her head with one hand and look down at her and I think I stopped breathing. Her beauty just hits me like a punch in the face. I brush her blonde bangs out of her face and stare down into her beautiful eyes.
I can see by the look on her face she's not afraid of me. I guess we're not trying to kill each other.
All of the sudden I pull my hand back and the look on her face changes to pure terror. I feel my hand clench and I have this uncontrollable urge and I punch her in the face.
I sit up.
Holy shit what the hell was that? Is-is-what did I do? Could that be what I was running from? How far did it go? How far did I go? Could I have? No, I... but after what happened how could I not have? Maybe I lost control and just... why can't I remember? I... I have to remember what I've done, I can't live just not...
I hear a bang.
Oh my god, what's going on? I, where the hell am I? What? How did I get here? I-I can't remember. Oh good, I can't remember jack shit about anything since before, well... since before. Now to top it off I'm blacking the fuck out and waking up god knows where in some guy's bed. What the fuck is wrong with me?
I hear loud footsteps getting louder.
Oh fuck someone's coming. What do I do? Where do I go? I don't even know where the hell I am, how the hell am I supposed to know where to go?
I get out of bed and get away from the door. I hear the footsteps get closer.
"Hello?"
Good idea, yell out and let the big angry mean guy know exactly where you are. That'll stop it. What if those weird stalker guys tracked me down? What if they've come to turn me over to the police? What if?
He walks into the room.
Who is he? The look on his face says he knows me, but he's not happy to see me. What if she? What if she and he? What if there was a she and he and then I... Oh god no.
I look down and he's got a shotgun in his hand.