"Thank you," Faith said quietly, holding onto Boyd's arm as he helped her out of the car. "I can't tell you how grateful I am."
Boyd smiled a little. "Not a problem, Miss."
He helped her out into the middle of the sidewalk, where she extended her white cane. She turned in the direction of Boyd's voice and nodded.
"Thank you again, I can take it from here."
"As you wish. Stay safe, Miss."
Faith smiled lightly, and turned away, making her way down the virtually deserted street in the town.
~*~*~*~
"So here," Topher said, indicating the screen. "Her eyes will transmit everything they are seeing back to us."
"But you said she was blind," Boyd frowned, rubbing his neck.
"She is," Topher shrugged. "Or rather, her brain thinks she is. Sit back, relax, watch the pretty pictures."
"I'd feel much better if we were closer," Boyd pointed out. "You're sending her in to deal with a crazed cult leader."
"We don't know they're crazed," Topher nodded.
"He's trying to summon a demon," Boyd raised an eyebrow. "He's crazed."
Sam & Dean
"So what do you think? You think he's human?" Sam's eyebrows rose as he watched the complex from the passenger seat of the impala.
"Who knows these days," Dean held back rolling his eyes, "the amount of different monsters doing their own rituals these days?"
"A point. But how can we tell if we can't get in closer?"
"Oh we'll get in closer. Just want to make sure the head honcho's home."
"Where else would he be?" Sam shrugged.
"Oh I don't know. Cruisin' for chicks?" Dean smirked.
They both watched as a car pulled up, dropped someone off, and then drove away.
"Hey," Dean hit Sam on the arm, "that looks like-"
"No way," Sam shook his head, "can't be. She's blind."
"Or she's faking."
"Or it's just a really good lookalike."
"Really?" Dean scorned.
Faith
Faith paused in her tracks, and lifted her sunglasses up to rub her eye. She turned her head a little, the normally dark irises a muted colour, covered by white. She slipped the sunglasses back on, and continued on her way.
She reached the house and felt her way up to the front door, before knocking three long knocks, and one short one.
She could hear the sound of footsteps and seconds later, felt the rush of air as the door opened.
"Who are you?"
"Rose," Faith replied. "I've come to see him."
Sam & Dean
"Yep, that's Faith," Sam nodded.
Dean loaded his Taurus and armed it.
"You take the back, I'll-"
"Dean, wait," Sam put a hand on his shoulder, Dean turning to look at him questioningly.
"We could ruin a perfect opportunity here. I mean, she's here for a reason, right?"
"Possibly to join a cult," Dean nodded.
Sam gave him a scornful look.
"What? You saw her. That's not Faith. Not our Faith, anyway. I say we go in and blow the joint wide open."
"And the summoning ritual? There are bigger forces at stake here," Sam pointed out.
Dean looked back at the house with a knowing grunt.
Faith & Boyd
Faith smiled as they helped her up the front stoop, and made her way down the hall, where she could hear the voices.
~*~*~*~
"She still glitching?" Boyd asked, glancing away from the screen for a second.
"Depends what you mean by 'glitching'," Topher shrugged.
"I mean accessing memories she shouldn't have anymore," the Handler replied.
"On paper no, but... you know her. She has a natural... adaptation, if that makes sense. She sees a situation, and she works outside the parameters if she needs to," Topher said. "It's... not ideal. But I've tried everything. She's a freak of nature."
"She's a human," Boyd shook his head. "Or she was, before we did this to her. She's going to be safe in there, right?"
"We'd never send our newest and most requested into a dangerous situation."
Sam & Dean
"So are we just going to sit here all day?" Dean asked.
"I think we should at least wait for some kind of sign," Sam shrugged.
"Like what? Them unloading the bodies?" Dean scorned.
"No," Sam frowned, "I don't know. Some kind of trouble, at least. We could barge in while they're sitting around singing for all we know."
"Or summoning demons."
"We should at least wait until nightfall," Sam reasoned.
Boyd & Faith
"Uh-oh," Topher sat up, making Boyd pay attention. "Heads up, you might have to retrieve her."
Boyd kept his eyes glued to the screen. "Give her a few minutes to adapt..."
~*~*~*~
Faith was being forced out the door, held by the collar, almost lifted off the ground by the extremely paranoid leader of the cult.
She remained calm, certain that her faith would see her through.
"Prove you are a believer!" Jonas sneered.
"What am I, if not made of light?" Faith smiled a little. "I hitchhiked across the country to get here, Jonas, because my faith has not wavered. It was only when I became blind that I truly began to see. Your teachings. Yours were the words I heard over and over, recited to me. I believe in this cause, I believe we will not fail."
"I do not come into this garden a pure being, Esther," Jonas replied, though he had calmed down.
Sam & Dean
Dean gave Sam a look, not bothering to ask permission before opening the car door and getting out.
Sam sighed and followed suit, watching as his brother made for the right side of the house. He opted to walk up to the front. It was a public display of assault, after all.
"Hey hey hey!" he called out, displaying his hands to show he wasn't armed, "how about you let the lady go, huh?"
Dean crouched at the side of the house, gun at the ready.
Faith
Faith's head tilted slightly. She knew that voice. But... how?
Jonas kept a hold of Faith's hand, firm enough for her to know not to do anything stupid.
"Nothing wrong here," he said, flashing Sam a smile. "Just a disagreement that we've settled now, right, Esther?"
Esther nodded, and then bent, to pick up the sunglasses that had fallen to the ground. She looked in the direction of the voice.
"Everything's fine," she agreed. "My faith has been restored. But thank you."
Sam & Dean
"Right, Esther," Sam said pointedly, making Dean cringe a little.
"As long as you're sure. About... faith, I mean."
He gave the man a confused look, trying to act innocent.
Faith & Boyd
Faith noticed the emphasis on the word and she tilted her head a little, accessing a memory.
"Faith is fine. Mine, that is."
She smiled to reassure both Sam and the man holding onto her arm.
"Game of Cluedo, got a little heated, you know how family can get."
~*~*~*~
"Oh are you kidding?" Topher threw his hands up in the air.
"But the imprint is intact?" Boyd questioned.
"What?" the younger man looked up from where he'd been playing his video game. "Yeah, she's fine."
Sam & Dean
"Okay. Alright," Sam said agreeably, starting to back off a little.
Dean stood from his crouch, looking behind him before heading off around the back of the house.
"As long as it's cool. See you 'round," Sam started to walk away.
Faith
Faith nodded and Jonas let go of her arm as he watched Sam walk away and then he turned to her.
"Esther? That man, I know you didn't bring him. I know you were telling me the truth. He and the others. They've come to destroy us. To raze the garden and to salt the earth. Esther, before, I looked into your eyes, and I saw nothing. And so I believed. And I look into them now, and I need to know, was this a miracle?" he asked.
Faith smiled and nodded. "I believe it was a message. Just as it was a message when I learned I had to come here."
"Come," he said. "We will begin the ritual."
Sam & Dean
Sam glanced over his shoulder in time to see them re-enter the house. He ducked through some trees and began to make his way back, unnoticed.
Dean meanwhile had managed to pry open the back door and sneak inside. He took a very careful look around, not spotting anything immediately out of place, before coming to the open room where the ritual was obviously meant to take place. No sooner had he found it, however, did he hear footsteps.
Quickly and quietly, he took cover in what appeared to be a storage closet.
Faith
"Friends," Jonas led Faith to the front of the crowd, holding her hand. "Meet our newest, Sister Esther. Sent from the Lord himself."
Faith smiled a little, and lifted her hand to wave, before being helped down into her seat. Feeling hugs on all sides, and her head knocked against someone else's. She blinked, behind her sunglasses, vision starting to come back.
~*~*~*~
"Oh shit," Topher said, looking up. "That knock... she's regaining her vision. I hope she has enough sense to not say anything."
~*~*~*~
"Friends, I do not come into this garden a pure being, Esther. I come into it the way Adam left: broken, corrupted, impure. But those whom I shelter, they are not corrupted. They have not walked in the world the way I have. They have not seen the things that I have seen. And against this world, they are defenceless. So I will protect them. And any who seek to harm them to foul this garden, shall fail!"
As Jonas gave his speech, he walked around the room, lighting the candles.
Sam & Dean
Sam made it back to the side of the house, and debated if he should try going through the front door. That may have been a little conspicuous.
He headed around back to tail Dean.
Dean meanwhile, was rolling his eyes at the lunatic pacing the room.
Faith
Jonas had started chanting, the summoning spell for the demon in full swing, when one of the men from the front room ran in.
"Jonas! We have company."
He immediately grabbed Faith by the arm and pulled her up out of her seat. "The truth this time, sister"
He raised his hand and then brought it down to slap her, Faith blocking it at the last minute.
"It's a miracle," she said, taking her glasses off. "I can see."
Sam & Dean
Sam heard a commotion through one of the windows, and hurried his step. When he came to the back door he came face to face with someone holding a shotgun.
Sighing frustratedly, he raised his hands in surrender.
Moments later, Dean squinted as Sam was shoved into the room.
"I don't know anything, I don't know anyone, I'm not here to stop anything, I swear," Sam was shaking his head.
Douche, Dean rolled his eyes.
Faith
Faith looked up as Sam came into the room, and she then returned her attention to Jonas and what he was doing.
"Jonas, stop this," she protested. "These people are innocent - "
"I am saving them!" he yelled back at her.
Sam & Dean
Sam eyed off the shrine over by the side wall, covered almost predictably in animal intestine and bone. Not to mention the blood sigils.
He looked around wondering where Dean could possibly have gotten to, as Dean readied his gun and Holy water.
Faith
As Faith tried to herd the people out, she felt another slap, this one restoring her vision completely. She approached Sam as the cult flew into a panic.
"Start taking these people out of here," she said to him. "He swore to protect them. If he won't, we have to."
She finally got his attention and continued on, "Sam, the blind girl is looking you in the eye. Do you know what that means? It means God brought me here. He has a message for you, and that message is move your ass! Go! Come on!"
Sam & Dean
"Sure thing Faith," Sam nodded, about to do as she asked.
Dean finally took the moment to make his grand entrance.
"Hold it right there!" he yelled over the commotion, gun trained on the leader.
Faith & Boyd
"It's Esther," Faith told him.
She looked up in surprise as Dean appeared.
"Gotta get her outta there," Boyd said, getting up from his seat.
Sam & Dean
Sam frowned, confused, before Dean caught his attention. Catching the signal he began herding the people out.
"Jonas," Dean caught his attention, "just what do you think you were trying to do here, exactly?"
Faith & Boyd
"Sacrifice, the usual," Jonas turned to face Dean, his eyes flashing black. He smiled.
Faith helped Sam get the people out, and she looked up as Boyd caught her arm to help her.
"You came back," she breathed. "He's not who he said he was."
"Everything's going to be alright," he assured her.
"Now that you're here," she responded automatically.
Sam & Dean
"Damnit," Dean cursed under his breath, wishing he'd brought the colt instead of his Taurus.
He flicked the Holy water out and threw it at Jonas instead, watching as his skin hissed.
"Sam?! Knife!" he called out.
Faith & Boyd
"I should help - " Faith shrugged Boyd off and ran back into the room, to help Dean.
Jonas growled, covering his face with his arm, then let out a surprised cry as Faith appeared out of nowhere and punched him.
He kicked her legs out from under her, and she used the opportunity to kick him in the shins, kicking so hard he collapsed, the bones in his legs shattered.
Sam & Dean
"I'll go you one better," Sam reappeared in the room as Dean landed on Jonas and held him down.
"Spiritus imundi..."
Dean clamped down harder as Jonas began shaking with the exorcism.
Boyd & Faith
"Uh Boyd, that's her ex boyfriend... you might want to get outta there... NOW!" Topher's voice came through Boyd's earpiece and he scowled.
"Ok, Echo, are you ready for your treatment?" Boyd asked.
"One sec," Faith held her hand up and Boyd blanched a little.
He tried pulling her arm, but she punched him, hard, and he fell back, and went back into the other room to see how Sam and Dean were doing.
Sam & Dean
Sam finished the exorcism moments later, and Dean fell back and the plume of smoke shot upward and then disappeared beneath the floorboards.
"I thought he was supposed to be summoning the demon?!" Dean immediately yelled at Sam.
"Maybe he was," Sam shrugged, "maybe a friend of his didn't make it out of Hell. I don't know!"
Faith
"Boys, gotta make this quick," Faith drawled, leaning against the doorway.
She glanced behind her, at Boyd's unconscious figure.
"I'm gonna send something to Angel and I need you to collect it."
Sam & Dean
Sam turned to see her in the doorway as Dean got up and brushed himself off.
"Faith, what are you even doing here?" Sam shook his head with a frown, "pretending to be blind? I don't get it."
"Yeah, why didn't you just kick his ass? Instead of playing damsel in distress? It really doesn't become you," Dean raised an eyebrow.
Faith
"Echo," Faith winked, tapping the side of her head.
"Technically, I was blind. It just stopped working when I get slapped. And I sneezed. It was like a seizure. Or a sneezure, to be exact."
She smiled faintly, and looked behind her. Boyd was still out.
"Looking good, both of you, by the way, I mean, I know it's been a few years, but... damn. If I have to go back to the house, the memory of you two will keep my thighs warm while I'm there."
Sam & Dean
"What house?" Dean screwed his face up, as Sam's lost colour.
"The dollhouse?" he realised, "Faith, tell me you're joking."
Faith & Boyd
Faith heard Boyd groaning and starting to stir. She walked over to Dean and stuck her hand in his pocket, pulling out his phone.
Don't come get me, I'm fine. It's under control. I'm sending something to Angel, can you guys go get it and look after it? I'll be in contact when I can. She tapped out the message on Dean's phone and handed it to Sam, her eyebrows slightly raised.
Boyd slowly got to his feet. "Echo, it's time for your treatment."
Instantly, Faith let the Doll take over again, and her face went slightly blank. She turned and left the room.
Sam & Dean
Sam's eyebrows rose as he watched her, then showed Dean the phone when he made his way over.
"That's creepy, right?" Dean asked before reading it.
"It's... wrong, is the word I'd use," Sam amended, watching after her.
"What's she talking about?" Dean frowned.
"I don't know," Sam shook his head, "but I guess we'd better get back to LA and find out."
Faith & Boyd
Faith let Boyd lead her back to the van, his hand on the small of her back, a purple bruise forming on his cheek.
"Echo?" he tried, before they got in.
"The imprint is intact," she told him softly.