Sam stood patiently, yet nervously, as Welsey helped him fit his jacket properly.
"They made it a bit tight in the waist," Sam cringed, "I guess that's to make me stand upright, huh? I've gotten too used to baggy clothes."
Faith
"British tailors," Wesley said, by way of explanation. "As long as you don't eat or... breathe, you should be right."
He smiled a little, then looked up at the stair case.
Faith held onto the railing, careful not to fall. Her long brown hair was swept up, the make shift weapons securing it into place, and with each step, the side split in her long black dress revealed a golden tanned leg.
Sam
Sam followed Wesley's gaze, eyes fixating on her. He barely managed to hold his jaw shut.
"Faith, you look amazing," he said finally with a smile.
Faith and Angel
Faith smiled, the dimple appearing in her cheek. "You clean up pretty nicely, yourself."
Wesley saw this as his moment to tactfully leave the pair alone.
"Your car is outside," were his parting words, as he went to join the rest of Wolfram and Hart in spying on the pair.
Angel watched uncertainly, somewhat glad it was Sam and not Dean.
Sam
Sam fiddled with his ear piece for a moment, before extending his elbow to Faith.
"Shall we?"
Faith
"We shall," Faith replied, taking his arm.
~*~*~*~
The car rolled up at the location of the party and Faith looked out through the tinted glass.
"Now or never, right?"
Sam
"Right," Sam agreed.
"Let's do it."
He got out of the car and walked around to hand the keys to the valet. Once Faith was out he extended his arm again, and they walked right up to the front door.
He searched inside his suit jacket for the forged invitation and handed it over to the desk clerk, who pointed them in their general seating direction. Once inside, Sam pulled Faith over to the side a little.
"Security posted at every door so far. Smell any fangs yet?" he asked softly.
Faith
Faith was a little unnerved at how good he smelt, and she focused on his question.
"None at the front... but there's a few in here. Maybe three so far," she replied quietly.
She stopped short when she saw the host. Who bore more than a slight resemblance to her former boss.
Sam
"Are you sure you won't be recognised?" Sam asked for maybe the fifth time that day.
He checked his watch. There was still a while to go before 'the last meal' was served to the unsuspecting patrons.
Faith
"Yeah, I never met the family," Faith replied softly, smiling broadly for show.
A waiter who was passing offered them glasses of champagne.
Sam
"Ok," Sam nodded, patting his chest where his bottle of Holy water sat hidden.
"Shall we take a seat then?"
Faith
Faith caught a vampire staring at them, so she turned her face up to Sam's and smiled charmingly.
"Ok honey," she said for the benefit of any passers by.
She waited till the room was slightly less crowded.
"What are the names we're looking for on the cards?"
Sam
"Reginald and Wilhelmina Vaust," Sam said in a low voice, "heirs to the Russian throne, but brought up in America. Thus the accents. That's all I got on intel."
He found the name cards and graciously held Faith's chair out for her.
Faith
"Seriously?" Faith said under her breath.
She sat down gracefully, touching Sam's arm in a show of affection. "Thank you, milaya moya."
Thank God, Fred had briefed her on Russian earlier.
Sam
"You're very welcome dorogaya moya," Sam smiled, pardoning himself as he bumped into the elderly woman sitting to his left.
He took note of the majority of the guests taking their seats, and guessed the proceedings were about to get underway.
"I hope the food is good at least," he said to Faith.
Faith
Faith lifted her water glass and took a sip, using it to hide her words.
"Two more vampires in here."
Sam
"Great," Sam pulled a face, wishing he had a better view of the entrance.
He took a moment to suss out the room, eyeing the stage where their host stood, and taking note of the large red curtain behind him. Three guesses what was behind it.
He also noticed the lack of exits. There were the two main doors, and opposite was a single door fire exit. Not much to work with in getting the hundred or so people in the room out in a hurry.
Faith
"And how long have you two been together?" the older lady on Sam's left asked them.
Faith looked at Sam and smiled adoringly. "It feels like an eternity."
Sam
Sam was suddenly brought back to Earth from his gazing, and took a moment to register what the woman had asked.
"Eight years in April," he smiled, slipping a hand onto Faith's lap.
"Married so young?"
"It was arranged," Sam explained, "our parents are both wealthy investors in the American property market and they thought the union would help with finances back home in Russia."
Faith
Faith only barely managed to keep the smile constant on her face as she felt Sam's hand on her lap.
"Children?" the woman's husband asked.
"Not as yet," Faith said, leaning over and kissing Sam's cheek softly. "But we are eager to start a family."
Sam
"Very eager," Sam nodded, glancing back at Faith in what he hoped looked like a loving manner.
"In fact so eager that we're actually trying while we're here. We've had a few near misses, but the doctor thinks it should be soon."
"All the best my lovelies," the woman patted Sam's other hand, "you two look perfect for each other, I'm sure youll have n trouble."
"I'm sure too," Sam agreed, wondering how deep this grave was going.
Faith
Faith smiled charmingly, but her eyes were discreetly scanning the room. She noted movement behind the curtain, and hoping that Sam knew morse code, she slipped her hand slyly under the table and tapped out a quick message onto his knee.
"There's something behind the curtain. Not vampire. Must be the demon that he's paying tribute to."
She looked at the door as the food was served.
Sam
Sam sat back a little as his meal was served, waiting until the waiters had passed before responding by the same means.
Do you think it's coporeal or should I get ready to exorcise it?
He poured both himself and Faith a glass of wine, before waiting for the speech to begin.
Faith
Faith considered the question for a moment.
"I think you should be ready to exorcise, just in case."
She looked up at the host as he began to speak.
Sam
Sam settled with his arm around the back of Faith's chair, his hand barely touching her arm.
I'll take the demon, you take Wilkins. Vamps first come first serve.
"...I'd like to thank you all for coming tonight, you don't know what it means to me to be among the gathering of truly the finest human beings in Los Angeles at the given time," Wilkins went on.
"To be among the elite politicans, the city council and their close family, and even royalty, is a great pleasure. You've all done so much for this city and the people in it, and so I've taken it upon myself to thank you all personally. Cheers."
He held his wine in a toast, and everyone returned it.
"You know... I've never been one to make much of a fuss of anything. As is evident by the fact that I'm not sure I see more than a few familiar faces. You all came because you knew my name and not me personally, I'm sure. I'd like that to change from tonight. I'll be a lot more prominent among the well known circles and I want you all to know the real me and why I'm undertaking such endeavors. You see, a long time ago, when I was just a boy, a great wrong was done to me. And as time went on I thought to myself, this should never happen again. No one should have to go through what I went through. You see so much turmoil out there on the streets already, there's no need for domestic crisis. Unfortunately, there's never really a set way to overcome the wrongs that take place behind closed doors. But people work with me here, and I promise that each and every person in this room will never have to face that kind of evil again after tonight."
He hesitated as a man stepped up to the podium and whispered something to him. His face fell, and he stepped back to the microphone.
"I guess the big surprise will have to wait. It appears we have two traitors in our midst. Two people in this room were not invited. Now I don't know who you are, but if you make yourselves known to my staff as soon as possible, it will save a lot of hassle later on."
And then he continued with his speech, while the crowd began to quietly chatter amogst themselves and eye everyone around them suspiciously.
We haven't been made yet. Should we bide our time?
Faith and Angel
"Best to wait so we have the advantage - "
Faith was cut short when she felt her chair go wrenching back from the table. She found herself eye to eye with a vampire.
"The Slayer!" he cried.
"Damn, never was much good at hide and seek," Faith said. "Alright, then. This just makes this easier."
She ducked the punch and swung her fist around, the other hand pulling the weapons from her hair.
"Heads up, Sam," she said, tossing him a chopstick.
The crowd had begun to panic.
Faith dodged a blow, came back with her own, and then plunged the chopstick into the vampires chest, pulling it out and moving onto the next one.
"If you'll all just come this way!" Wilkins was saying, trying to usher everyone behind the curtain.
"Come on then, Slayer," the next vampire sneered.
"Yeah yeah, you try doing this in a dress."
Faith reached around and ripped the dress from the split, enabling her to fight freely, but unfortunately baring most of her legs and if she bent down enough, most of her upper thigh area.
"Angel, back up!"
From outside, Angel signalled his operatives to start taking out the perimeter guards.
Sam
Sam put his hand on the old lady's shoulder and insisted that she stay calm, then stood up on his chair and wolf whistled.
"HEY!" he yelled, trying to get everyone's attention.
"I know this is a bit shocking and all, but we'd really appreciate it if you just move towards the exits, or take cover if you have to, and please wait this out. But either LEAVE or STAY PUT!"
He'd barely gotten it out before he saw two vampires coming for him. As he slipped down he grabbed the wine bottle, quickly clocking the first over the head with it, before turning and jamming the chopstick into the second. While the other was dazed, he quickly turned and did the same. Finding a moment spare, he reached for his Holy water, and made his way through the crowd and up to the stage.
"Faith?!" he called, spying Wilkins coming down from the podium.
Faith
"Ah!" Faith yelped, hitting the opposite wall.
"So," Wilkins said, advancing on her. "You're the Slayer that worked for my Uncle."
"Your uncle?" Faith asked, pushing the vampire off her and looking up for a second.
"Mayor Richard Wilkins the Third? Yeah," Wilkins said smugly. "And now you're ruining my party."
"What can I say? Not a big fan of these things." Faith jumped, catching the chandelier as Wilkins dove for her. She threw her legs around his neck and twisted, letting go and rolling back into a standing position.
Meanwhile, people were starting to stream out the doors.
"We still gotta get past that curtain," Faith yelled to Sam.
Sam
"Not a problem, leave it to me," Sam nodded.
He leapt onstage and fiddled with the centre of the curtain for a moment until he found the opening. Glancing back at the crowd, half of it through the doors already but a fair few casualties staying behind, he ducked through.
"Holy..." he cut himself off, seeing the demon for the first time.
It was nothing like he'd seen before. But not taking time to ponder, he hit it with the Holy water and started spouting out his common exorcism.
"Deus, et Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, invoco nomen sanctum tuum, et clementiam tuam supplex exposco: ut adversus hunc, et omnem immundum spiritum, qui vexat hoc plasma tuum. Mihi auxilium praestare igneris. Per eumdem Dominum. Amen."
Faith
"Not so fast, little girl," Wilkins snarled, grabbing her by the throat.
Faith coughed a little and kicked out, but he had his hand firmly gripped.
"You might be useful to me."
Faith threw her head forward to knock against his, and he let go of her in surprise. She coughed, breathing shallowly, then flipped around to fight again. She pulled the little dagger from it's sheath and cut across his throat.
"Oh, I have a trick or two that you don't know about," Wilkins said triumphantly as the wound healed over.
"Sam!" Faith called, praying he was having better luck than her. "Once you're done, get the hell out!"
She dove down, narrowly missing a knife in the leg and rolled away.
Sam
Sam barely heard her, he was busy rattling it off so fast in case one of its... legs/tentacles/whatever struck out at him. But at least it seemed to be in pain.
"Sequentes cruces fiant in fronte obessi. Recede ergo in nomine Patris et Filii, et spiritus sancti: da locum spiritui sancto, per hoc signum sanctae Crucis Jesu Christi Domini nostri: Qui cum Patre et eodem spiritu sancto vivit et regnat Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. AMEN!"
Sam hit it with the Holy water again then stepped back into the curtain. It definitely wasn't ded, but it seemed to be... dying? Either way Sam felt it was good enough, and exited the area.
Onstage, he scanned the crowd for Faith.
Faith and Angel
"Son of a - " Faith cried out. She could feel her shoulder hanging somewhat uselessly on one side.
"This way," Angel's crew were now inside the building, helping everyone out.
"He's impervious!" she called to Angel.
"That may be the case, but we've rigged this place to blow, so everyone needs to get out now!"
Sam
Sam scowled at that, changing his visual target.
His eyes set on the elderly couple they'd been sitting next to, clutching either other in their seats, too scared to move.
He jumped from the stage, landing on both feet, and rushed over to them.
"You have to get outside, now," he insisted.
"My wife can't move very fast," the man insisted, "this is all your fault!"
Sam struggled for ideas for a moment, before simply picking the woman up and heading for the doors. Her husband following behind, paranoid he might drop her or harm her some other way.
Sam didn't stop once they'd made it outside, until he could see the perimeter Angel's men had set. He made sure the couple were on the other side of it, before sprinting back to the building to find Faith.
Faith and Angel
"Angel, go! Get them out of here!" Faith said, never taking her eyes of Wilkins. "I'll be fine, go!"
Angel hesitated, then helped the remaining people out, fully intending to go back in for Faith once he was certain everyone was out and safe.
"Just you and me and some explosives," Faith grinned.
"And still you won't think of joining my side?" Wilkins mocked, ducking her punch.
"Your Uncle died doing what you're trying to do," she replied, reeling back slightly from the force of his kick. "So you Wilkins's don't really have a high success rate of this ritual. You may want to start begging for mercy any time now."
"I think," Wilkins countered her kick with one of his own, sending her flying back against the wall. He approached her and kicked her down again. "No no, don't get up."
He produced a knife that looked strangely familiar and held it up for Faith to see. Her eyes widened.
"That's mine."
"You're about to get it back."
Sam
Sam got to the door in time to see Wilkins show the knife to Faith.
"WILKINS!" he yelled, trying to distract him long enough for Faith to get the drop on him.
He immediately started running towards them.
Faith
Faith kicked up and caught his attention again, and while she did that, she dodged to the side, only one leg was left exposed and that's when she felt the searing pain of the blade through her calf.
"Ok, OW."
Wilkins assessed the situation and quickly got himself the hell out of there before the building blew up.
Sam
"Faith!" Sam yelped, seeing the blood straight away.
He ignored Wilkins' exit and rushed to her side.
"Come on, we have to get out of here," he rushed, quickly slipping one arm under her shoulders and the other under her legs.
Faith
Faith put both her arms around Sam's neck, trying to ignore the pain in her leg.
"Is everyone out?"
Sam
Sam took a quick look around.
"Everyone but the demon. Which should be dead by now."
He made it to the doors and rushed outside, ignoring people running to his aid. They got barely fifty yards from the door when the building blew, and Sam fell to the ground to sheild Faith from the debris.
Faith and Angel
Faith was vaguely aware of the flashing of cameras as they came out of the building. Then she had the unsettlingly nice feeling of Sam's weight on her body.
Angel had one of his press team talking to the cameras already, weaving a story.
Sam
Sam waited until the rubble had settled, then held back a cough as he rolled off her.
"Are you ok?" he asked straight away, before remembering about her leg.
He quickly took is fancy jacket off, then his shirt, and wound the shirt into a tight bandage to hold back the blood.
Faith
Faith nodded numbly, remembering her shoulder at the last moment as she awkwardly got to her feet, supporting her weight on Sam.
"Hold me," she said, looking up at him. "I need to put my shoulder back in."
Sam
Sam tentatively took hold of Faith's arms, turning his head away so he couldn't see the bones moving.
Faith and Angel
Faith took a deep breath, preparing herself for the inevitable pain, when Angel came over.
"Ah, Jesus!" she said, snapping it back into place.
"You ok?" Angel asked.
"Yeah, piece of cake. Like riding a biker."
"We gotta go, the press are here."
Sam
"The press? Already?" Sam looked a lot more worried than he probably should have.
"Then yeah, let's go. Now."
Angel and Faith
Angel was already organising their way out.
"Right," Faith said, glancing at Sam. "That will come up in a conversation later. Come on, before some rogue cop not on Angel's payroll decides to arrest me."
Sam
"Or me," Sam added, "let's find the car."
***
A half hour later, they were walking through the doors of Wolfram & Hart, Sam shaing the car keys in his fist nervously.
Faith and Angel
"Chill," Faith said, limping along beside him. "Angel has enough of the police force in his pocket to make them too scared to try and intercept you here."
Angel turned slightly. "I resent that. I don't have them in my pocket."
"Ok, fine, but the previous owners did." Faith waved him off. "Now, I feel the need for medical attention. And then a shower."
Sam
"The cops, sure. But what about FBI?" Sam murmured under his breath so they couldn't hear.
He threw the keys down onto a nearby counter, then made his way into his sleeping quarters to change clothes.