We've Crashed Everything in This Moment
by ALC Punk!

It's a dimly lit room, and she sits on her bench calmly. She has been here for a long while, never finding anything but a sort of calm peace. Others in the jail rail against their captors, or run rackets with everything from gum to drugs. But not her. She sits in her cell and looks blankly at the wall.

And tries to forget.

--

Faith felt as if she walked through water. Not many of the other prisoners could even get her attention let alone touch her. After the first one had ended up with broken ribs and a concussion, they'd all let her be.

Not that she cared one way or the other. None of this was important. If her time with Angel had shown her anything, it was that regret for mistakes never goes away. Wallowing in self pity was a good artform, but it only got you so far. Pretending the world didn't exist only worked until you sensed the tremours from the most recent World-Ending spell cast in distant Sunnydale.

She snorted silently, ignoring the fact that she wasn't supposed to care anymore. After all, she was Evil, yeah? Yeah.

At times Faith wondered if it was all worth it. Paying her dues for things she'd done willingly. It sounded so silly. And yet she couldn't make herself leave. The trial had ended quickly with barely a word from her. She hadn't even had her attorney find that file the Boss had told her about once.

It wasn't worth it.

She'd done what she'd done. And if she didn't get rest, she'd do worse. Or maybe she'd just end it all. That knife at Angel's...

A shiver ran through her as she remembered it. So large and shiny. And so sharp. Angel had known. Looking straight at her with concern in his eyes... It was the concern that stopped her. Knowing that someone cared. Someone wanted her not to die.

It was what had sent her to the police. Angel, for all that she'd tried to kill him at least four times, had cared.

And there was a debt to pay to society.

Faith wondered if the blonde cop had let up on the vampire or not. She'd seemed to like him, yet want him dead. Of course, with the people she knew that was pretty much par for their lives.

She wasn't allowed anything. Not even stakes. Why she thought she'd need them in jail didn't make any sense. Angel wasn't going to try to kill her again. And he wasn't going to lose his soul yet. The Boss had been pretty clear on that, after the last debacle.

Angelus, while powerful, would never be a trustworthy ally. Best just to kill him.

Besides, life in jail was often too short to worry about vampires. Unless some vampire decided jail cells were fun.

At least she had a bit of holy water. She'd begged it off a priest after her second week there. The man had seemed very reluctant to give her some. And she couldn't even explain, since they all thought she was insane.

Insane. As if the word conjured her, Drusilla glided into Faith's cell.

There was a moment of surprise, then weariness. "Hello."

"Hello, pretty Slayer."

The two women studied each other for a moment. One stood regally in red-velvet and black leather. The other sat slouched in prison greys. Both were dark-haired.

"Why are you here?"

"My Spike has finally left me." Dru looked around the room and smiled, "And you need a friend."

"That's nice."

"For the ugly Slayer, the blonde. Buffy." Drusilla spat the name and stalked around in a circle. "She doesn't deserve him. He's MINE."

"Yes."

"And she's tainted him. He's GOOD. He's isn't my evil, lovely, luscious Spike anymore." Drusilla slammed a fist into one wall.

"Why are you here?" Faith repeated wearily.

"I wish a new friend." A smile graced the vampire's lips. "The stars said to find you. Strong, young, beautiful."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to be a vampire. And, really. Evil? Been there, done that, didn't get anything but this sense of crushing guilt." The Slayer stood and began stalking towards the vampire. "Leave."

Drusilla pouted childishly and crossed her arms. "Make me."

"Certainly." Faith lashed out, her fist feinting for Dru's head.

The vampire ducked and caught the kick aimed at her side on an elbow. She yelped, and then dodged again as Faith snap-kicked her knee. It buckled slightly, then locked as she pivotted and sent a roundhouse flying towards the Slayer.

Faith ducked under it and came up to slam a fist into Drusilla's gut folding her in half. Continuing her advantage, Faith brought her knee into Dru's chin, the slammed an elbow into her back.

The vampire dropped to the floor, sobbing.

"Everyone's always hurting me! Nobody likes Dru. Dru never--" A doubled fist hit the back of her neck, and she choked off into whimpers.

"Now. Be a good vampire and go away before I actually have to kill you."

"No."

"It will be painful."

"You're lying." A sudden calm seemed to wash over Drusilla, and she attempted to sit up only to be dissuaded by another elbow to her back and a fist to her neck. "You have no stakes. I checked. No weapons, they said." She giggled.

"I'm a Slayer." Faith said softly.

"A neutured Slayer," Drusilla corrected. "Can't even slay vampires without a stake. A sliver of wood, a pointy end, a Slayer shall fall..." She singsonged.

"I fell long ago."

"Once, once, long ago... In a galaxy far far--what are you doing?"

Faith ignored the question and finished fumbling Dru's dress open. Good thing it closed in the back or she'd've had to rip it. She studied the smooth paleness of the vampire's skin, then began counting vertebrae.

Without stopping to think about it, Faith moved, sinking her knee into the middle of Dru's back. Her weight pinned the vampiress completely. Gritting her teeth, Faith readied herself.

A strange slurping noise echoed in the quiet cell as she plunged her hand through Drusilla's skin. The vampire cried out, but Faith ignored her, digging, knowing what she would find. The slurping noise that would have echoed as she drew out her hand was lost in the sound of Dru screaming.

For a moment, Faith looked at the still-beating heart with revulsion. Then she dove forward, rolling towards the bench. She could hear Dru scrabbling on the floor behind her, trying to reclaim what was hers as her blood emptied out onto the dusty floor.

The bottle of holy water sat in a tiny alcove normally used to store books or contraband. Faith pulled it out and popped off the cap. Drusilla's hand closed on her ankle.

A stream of water hit the heart, and it sizzled, froth welling up and spilling out to stain Faith's shirt and pants. Dru's clawed fingernails dug into her ankle, drawing blood.

"Die, dammit."

"Noooooooooooooooooo...."

It took the entire bottle, but the heart burst into flames, then shattered into dust. Dru's body followed it a moment later leaving Faith crouching on the floor covered in foamy gook, blood, and a few second-degree burns.

"Five by five..."

The guards arrived a few moments later. Reports followed that she'd done it to herself in some sort of self-mutilating fit.

--

It's still a dimly lit room, though this time it's padded, too. She sits on her bench calmly. She has been here for a long while, never finding anything but a sort of calm peace. Others around her rail against their captors and fight them. But not her. She sits in her cell and looks blankly at the wall.

And tries to forget. Back to my stories
Feedback
© 2003 ALC Punk!