Faith chewed anxiously on her thumbnail, staring up at the ceiling. She was running on a few hours of sleep, and there was no way she was going to get to sleep tonight, not after hearing more about the legend that Wesley was now convinced was happening to Airlia.
She reached for the phone and held it for a few moments, debating whether or not to call him. He was the closest thing to a father that Airlia had... and he did deserve to know. But on the other hand, what could he do about it? No one knew where to find her and he was tied up with everything in his life.
That was why, Faith suddenly realised, they hadn't been able to make it work. Or why she'd gotten cold feet and left. Because he had a life, a real one, one where he was surrounded with people, doing normal things, in the public eye, but she was constantly in the shadows, hiding from the public, fighting for her life most of the time. Or fighting for the lives of others. And that was no life to inflict on someone else who did not need to live that way.
With shaking hands, she dialled the number of the person who Airlia loved like a father.
Zac
Hanson were on their way to their next appointment on their promo tour with Zac's phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket, raised his eyebrows briefly at the name that came up and answered it.
"Hey," he greeted.
Faith
"Hey, sorry, if it's early, or late, or a bad time," Faith started.
She didn't quite know how to tell him what was happening and it was upsetting her.
Zac
"Eh no it's fine. We're on our way to another gig, but it's a bit of a trip so... what can I do for you?" Zac asked with a shrug.
Faith
"Oh, I don't want to dump this on you before a show..."
Faith bit her lip nervously, her voice had lost it's usual cool tone.
Zac
Zac frowned.
"Dump it on me anyway," he said. "Otherwise I'm going to be going through the whole show wondering what's so terrible."
Faith
"Airlia's missing."
Faith decided to just blurt it out. No point beating around the bush.
Zac
"Missing," Zac repeated. "Missing as in got separated at a theme park missing? As in run-away-from-home missing? Or missing as in..."
He trailed off, somehow unable to finish the sentance.
Faith
It was that moment then that Faith's eyes finally stopped co- operating with her command to not cry and she burst into tears.
Zac
"Oh!" Zac exclaimed. "Oh Faith... Faith don't cry! I'm sure she'll turn up soon I... Is this that apocolypse thing you mentioned to me once?"
He chewed his bottom lip, torn between trying to comfort Faith when he felt useless to do so, and trying to figure out exactly what had happened.
Faith
Faith took a few deep breaths, then finally was together enough to speak.
"Yes. It's her very own apocalypse. But I just... I always thought we'd know more, you know?"
Zac
Zac nodded.
"What do you know?" he asked.
Faith
"We know that she disappeared a few days ago, sometime late at night, but we're not sure if she went willingly, or if she was just taken, and it's unsettling, because she was under heavy protection at Wolfram and Hart, so it either means their shields are down, or someone betrayed us."
Faith took a deep breath, sounding a lot calmer than she felt.
"It has something to do... or rather, has everything to do, with the Greek myth regarding the pegasus and the golden bridle. Have you... are you familiar with it?"
Zac
"Umm... I know that pegasus was from Greek Myth... and that's about it," Zac replied. "I know more about Egyptian myth but y'know, I have Saku to blame for that."
Although, he supposed that knowing Airlia was half pegasi, perhaps he should have looked up the myth long before now.
Faith
Faith briefly outlined the myth for him.
"So yeah."
Zac
"Interesting," Zac replied. "So what, you think that this Beller-dude, or a guy who wants to be him has kidnapped Airlia or something?"
Faith
"Pretty much, yeah. And so he'll use Airlia to fight and then to fly to Olympus."
Faith sighed.
"And if he's not allowed access, he'll try and end the world. You know, the usual."
Zac
"Ahh I see," Zac nodded thoughfully. "So how can I help?"
Which was a really good question considering he was on tour, but then, he supposed Ike and Tay could always say he was sick if he had to disappear for a couple of days.
Faith
"Well, there's not a lot you can really do," Faith said, uncertainly.
"It's just... I just thought you should know."
Zac
"Okay," Zac replied. "I appreciate that. I do. Let me know if anything changes or if there does turn out to be a way I can help."
Faith
"I will, for sure."
Faith paused awkwardly.
"Anyway... I should try and get some sleep."
Zac
"Okay. Good night," Zac replied. "Thanks again for telling me."
Faith
"Night."
And with that, Faith hung up.