Angel and Faith
Angelus waltzed back into the room and smashed the jar of Paige's powers, snapping Faith out of her daydreams. It was getting too easy to pretend she wasn't here. Too easy to pretend that none of it had ever happened.
Too easy to just give up.
He bent down near her bed, perching himself comfortably on the stool.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked, playfully grinning at her. He lifted the blanket off her slightly to see most of her bruises healed and the cuts disappearing. "You've gotta love Slayer strength, don't you?"
He poked at her broken bones, some of them already healed. She'd managed, somehow, to crack her knees back into place. It didn't really matter, he was going to eventually send her on her way. But not before he drove her insane.
"So... what do you feel like doing today, Faithy?"
Silence.
"Well, I feel like doing you."
Silence.
Faith turned her head away. This was not going to happen.
Angelus unbuckled his pants and pulled the blanket off her, climbing on top and smiling down evilly. "Just pretend I'm Zac."
Faith turned her head and closed her eyes as Angelus did what he wanted to do, then climbed off.
"That was great, kid. Really, a pro." Angelus waved and grinned as he pulled the keys to her chains out of his pocket. He dangled them in front of her face, then set them carefully on the stool next to her bed. "I'm giving you a chance to escape. Don't let me down, Faithy. I know you can do it."
"What is he playing at?" Faith thought miserably. "Oh I don't care. Why bother escaping when I don't have Zac to go back to? Why don't I just let him kill me? Maybe then I can see Zac."
Angelus grinned as he left the room. "I'm giving you 24 hours to get the hell out of here. Then the real fun begins."
Faith felt dirty, and tired and sore. He knew what he was doing. He'd broken her spirit. She no longer had the inclination to run, he'd killed Zac, that was the one thing that kept her fighting. But now... wait a minute. There was no certainty that he had killed Zac. So he'd showed her a heart, that could be anyone's heart and if she knew Angelus, which she did, he'd kill Zac in front of her. He loved to make a show. And get reactions. And that would be the best show of all.
Zac wasn't dead.
And she wasn't going to die either.
Faith moved her arms weakly and cracked them back into place. It was a skill she'd perfected earlier on in the Slayer gig. Healing bones. It was just a cover job, they were still hurting, and probably broken, but Paige could help her with that later. Oh, Paige. Faith looked over at the broken jar on the ground. At least she had her powers back. But that still didn't help her. She couldn't orb into this place, so Faith was going to have to rely on her own strength and skill to get out.
"Ok... well... let's try..." Faith wriggled into a half sitting up position and leant over and managed to pick the keys up with her mouth. "What now?"
She jolted her head up suddenly, letting go of the keys and catching them in her twisted hands. "Whoa, I'm lucky." She managed to unlock her hands and brought her hands in front of her face. Wow, her fingers looked gross. She cracked them all, one by one into place. Hoping they'd stay there while she was escaping. There was no time for thinking though.
With her hands free, she unlocked her torso, loosening the chains and then sitting up fully to unlock her feet. She cracked her toes carefully, then slid out from under the chains. The cuts on her feet ached, but they were basically closed now. Walking on them, would split them open, probably, but that didn't matter. Her eyes darted around madly, looking for her shoes. She spotted them in the corner, and crawled her way over, shoving her feet roughly into the sneakers, wincing in pain, but then shrugging it off. With a final look at the room she'd been trapped in, she headed out the door, not stopping to look where Angelus was.
As she broke out of the warehouse, she squinted in the fading sun. Sunlight, no matter how dull, it was something she hadn't seen for awhile. She looked around, with no clue of where she was, and she was tired. But adrenaline kicked in, and she headed away from the warehouse, hobbling slightly on her still sore body. She needed help. And fast.