Chapter 8: Going Rogue - Part 1

[FaithRPG]

Faith screamed inside her head, the pain in her hand burned like fire, blood pumped freely onto the handle of he scythe. But she couldn't say anything, if she had opened her mouth it would have let out some sign of pain, and she wouldn't give Indra the satisfaction.

As she was thrown back into the wall and down to the floor, her mind raced, what the hell could she do with this girl, she couldn't kill her. It may need to be done - but she couldn't kill her, she had been taken in by Drusilla, just as she had been with the Mayor, she wouldn't deny it was her own doing but still part of it was about him, and this girl had fallen under a similar spell.

Faith, swung the scythe round in front of her and brought it up, held in both hands, across her body, so it protected her from Indra's attack. then she swung it out from the stake end which allowed the blade to cut across Indras legs, and she jumped to her feet. There had to be some way to get to the girl.

"What have they promised you, whats your big reward for this? Have they even explained what you are?

Those girls you killed..." Indra bring them up, confirming that she had been the one to kill them, stung like daggers. "... They were the same as you, they were part of you, the power you have was the power we shared"

They had been fighting back and forth with their weapons, as she tried to get through to her. With every blow the tension grew inside her, the need to win and finish this fight, it made her slip, she swung the scythe at Indras head only turning it round at the last second, so instead of scalping her, Indra received a blow to the head.

"Clearly you need the sense knocked inta-ya, and believe me this is fun and all, but why would you turn on your own kind to fight with the things your destined to slay."

Faith was at a loss, if she was allowed to just beat the girl things would have been allot easier, but talking to her, this wasn't her thing.

"Vampire Slayer" She spoke these words slowly and loudly, "It's kinda in the job title, and trust me I get it, the whole turning to the dark side, everyone enjoys experimenting but you can't stay all Amy Winehouse forever, the bad girl thing gets old!"

 

[Indra_RPG]

[Sewer]

The longer and harder they fought, the angrier Faith became. She yelled. She spoke of... her dogma?

She dares to try to convert me? She dares to come into my country, into my city, and into the abode of my *devi* and question *my* ways?

She should not have faltered. She should not have thought. She should have focused. She should have trusted in her dharma and in the never-ending cycle of Kali. That hesitation cost her. Indra took a blow to the head. She went down.

:: She didn't get back up. ::

The pain was indescribable. Like a living thing, it burned and burrowed through every possible pore. Indra did not know how it was possible, but even the tips of her fingernails were ablaze with pain. Indra blamed the scythe.

The scythe was a powerful, mystical weapon. Faith's strength matched Indra's swing for swing and punch for punch. But the scythe... it outmatched Indra's sword. The stake end punctured skin and bone alike. The straight axe slit the skin straight down to the muscle. The curved axe stuck easily, yanking out fresh flesh and tissue whenever it was withdrawn. Even at that disadvantage, Indra had given as good as she'd received. Both women were torn, bloody, bruised messes. After the beatings they had dealt to one another, they needed only blackened skin to resemble the punishment the devi had visited upon her errant consort.

Indra: "William."

:: Indra mouthed her deva's name as her skull crashed into the muck.::

She felt profoundly sorry. She was deeply, painfully sorry. Whatever happened in this place, she knew she would fail. No matter what happened, no matter who prevailed, she would lack the strength to reunite her beloved Kali with her dear Shiva. She simply could not carry him, not with so much of her blood... so much of her life and her strength and her soul... spilled onto the sewer floor. The effulgent one would be left to the dalits. It was all her doing.

All my failure.

The blunt blow to the head came with the force of an elephant's foot. A horrible, wet-sounding crack resounded echoed inside her skull as her jaw and a tiny shard of her brow bone became painfully, grotesquely dislodged. Indra was blinded - whether by pain or fury, she did not know. Her field of vision was suddenly, inexplicably bathed in white. Blood and vomit poured from her mouth.

Faith could have killed her - easily - with the scythe, but she didn't. She pulled her punches. She went for the wound, not for the kill.

Even now, when she could finish me, she shouts and insists upon my conversion! Indra thought in disbelief.

:: She vomited once more. ::

This time, only blood came out.

Faith's victory, however, was not yet complete. Even with the world bathed in blinding white, Indra could see with her extra sense what Faith could not see with her normal, human eyes: Faith's color had dwindled. Faith thought she had won the fight. For her, this "vampire slayer," as she called herself, the fight did not end at death. She feared death. She feared causing death.

That is her mistake.

One was all that Indra needed.

:: With one swift, fluid movement, she gathered what strength remained. She kicked, fast and strong and with deadly accuracy, so that Faith fell forward -- right onto Indra's upturned sword. ::

Faith had been run through.

:: Indra stood and looked down at her impaled enemy. ::

:: Kneeling, Indra retrieved the scythe. She had to pry it from Faith's fingers -- even as the blood gushed from the former scythe bearer as it had from the last of Drusilla's victims. ::

The sword was not positioned properly. It was off-center. Faith might bleed to death, but if she received treatment in time, she would yet live.

:: Indra took the scythe and limped toward the exit. At the door, she paused and fixed upon Faith's comrades a hard, determined stare. ::

Scoobies: "If you assist her now, your friend may live. Attack me, and you will all die."

:: Then, having traded both blows and weapons with her enemy, she turned and left the scene of her defeat. ::

The truth, Indra thought with shame as she plodded through the muck, is that I lack the strength to finish her off.

It was all Indra could to to return, broken by every possible method, to her home half-empty handed. Her one comfort, at least, was that she could present the scythe to her devi. And she could report that the effulgent one yet lived. It was not a desirable outcome, but it was not quite a loss. They had the scythe. With the scythe, in time, they could achieve the rest.

 

[Mesektet Ra]

"The child is precious to you, then?" she cooed softly into his ear.

Spike growled low in his throat. If this idiot bint thinks she's gonna lay a hand on the Bit....

He was making it obvious, and he knew it, but he didn't care. He'd kill this loony Slayer himself if she so much as touched a hair on Dawn's head.

"Perhaps, Shiva, you and I can come to some sort of an agreement?"

Spike continued to thrash shaking his head. "I bloody well don't think so!" He roared. Whatever meager amount of giving a damn he had for this girl flew completely out the window.

She steadied him, her hand gripping his shoulder like iron. He breathed ragged breaths, the pain renewed and blinding all over his body. "Leave her the hell alone," he hissed, his face still vamped.

"I will protect your dalit girl from these demons if you will protect my Raja from your Dru."

Spike snorted. How the sodding hell was he supposed to do that, exactly? He was chained to the sodding wall. "If you haven't noticed, love, I'm a tied tied up at the mo'," he bit off with a sneer. "You do your own looking after."

"Perhaps the demons will settle for the crippled one, instead."

Spike was about to open his mouth and reply, a wet laugh building in his lungs. While it amused him at the thought of One-Eyed Alex being at the mercy of a bunch of Muckluck demons, he wasn't gonna let it happen.

Like lightning, Faith darted forward and grabbed Indra's sword. Spike backed his head away as Faith swung it up and away from him, her blood splattering his already blood-stained face.

Faith took hold of his torn shirt and hurled him behind her, the chains creaking once and finally dropping to the floor in a shower of mortar and brick. Spike grunted as he landed...on top of Xander.

"BLOODY HELL!" He roared, Xander's axe slicing deep into his leg. One of the pokers in his thighs stabbed Xander in the shoulder - take that, you idiot wanker. The two of them fell, Spike almost blacking out again as they tumbled to in floor in a mess of limbs and chains.

Xander's head rolled over and he spit out a chunk of black charred flesh, obviously fallen from Spike. Spike let a small wicked grin crease his blistered face. "Tha's what you get, you wanker," he whispered.

Spike cocked his head up to see a demon headed straight their way. Xander glared at him for a moment.

Spike: "I always knew you'd be the death of me."

"Obliged," Spike grunted as Xander flailed like a pinned animal to get out from underneath him. Spike roared as he hit the concrete floor, rolling into the muck on his side. He panted, fighting back the encroaching blackness.

"William."

Spike opened his closed eyes at the sound of his name. Beyond the pain, he recognized the sick sounds of a body being pulverized. He rolled over again to see Indra's head crash into the concrete floor of the sewer.

Faith was wailing on the loony Slayer, blood covering the two of the them as they battled it out. Spike couldn't help a wince as Faith slammed the side of Indra's head, the crack resounding throughout the sewer. "Faith, Christ," he whispered, not having the strength to speak any louder. He rolled onto his stomach, his fingers crawling through the muck and waste towards the battle. "Faith, stop!"

Indra vomited blood. Spike tried to get to the scene, to do something, anything - he had no idea what, his arms and legs still bound in the chains that dragged loudly through the sewage.

Before he could open his mouth and utter another syllable, Indra kicked Faith's legs out from underneath her.

Right onto her sword.

"SHIT!" Spike cursed, pushing himself upwards. The pain blinded him for a moment, and he sat wavering on his knees. "You bloody bitch!" He hissed at Indra, even though he couldn't see her for the moment.

Everything shifted back into focus, and he crawled slowly over to Faith and rolled her over. "Faith? FAITH!" He shouted, or at least tried. "You've taken a sodding knife to the gut before, don't go off and die now!"

He was frantic, holding Faith in his burned lap. With one quick movement that took all he had, he pulled the sword from her solar plexus with a sickening thunk. He realized that he was covered with blood - his own, Xander's, Indra's, and Faith's.

"XANDER!" He roared. He wouldn't be able to do this alone, not in his state.

 

[FaithRPG]

The kick was swift and powerful and knocked the wind out of her, but seconds later a pain spread threw Faiths body, a pain that should be unfamiliar and like nothing else felt before.

But this was a pain she had felt before, she fell onto Indra's sword and it went clean threw her. Faith's beaten and broken body lay on the cold wet ground of the sewer. Indra had beat Faith down, she had managed to get a good few blows in herself, Indra would have been on her last legs. But this was it, the minuet the sword slid into her stomach - she was out of this fight.

She lay on the ground motionless, her breathing was slow and shallow, she felt Indra's presence kneel down beside her and place her hands on the scythe. The moment she touched it, Faith tightened her grip, but she couldn't hold on Indra pulled it from her grasp. Indra had the scythe and Faith could feel it, the girl was holding it and it felt like she was gripping her soul. She wondered if every slayer felt this or was it just her feeling the loss.

Moments later her eyes unfocused, everything around her became a blur. She heard Indra speak to the group but couldn't make out the words. Then someone was rolling her over, her eyes were blurred and she couldn't make how who it was, the muffled sounds of shouting and panic where all she could make out.

Then pain ripped threw her body as she felt her insides move, whoever had her just removed the sword and blood began to pump freely out of her, she could feel the wound slightly open and close with every heart beat, which were slowing down, she opened her mouth to try and speak, but no word would come out. She gasped for air, and tried to speak.

"...scythe..."

Thats all she could say before it was followed by blood gurgling up through her throat and spit out of her mouth. And with that she felt herself slip into unconsciousness.

 

[Mesektet Ra]

Oh, you sodding IDIOT.

Spike grunted as he tossed the sword away. "Damnit!" He hissed to himself. He knew better than this. He knew...

The walls became bleary and unfocused for a moment. He wavered, Faith's blood pumping freely onto his lap.

He heard the wet sounds of blood gurgling through Faith's throat and gently rolled her head over as she spit it up. He slid her gently off his lap and onto the sewage covered floor.

He sat back, taking a deep breath to steel himself against the pain and RIPPED one of the pokers from his thighs. He roared, and before he could think twice, ripped the other one free. His own blood flowed from the wounds.

He fell backwards onto his elbows, almost blinded by the pain. Faith...

He rolled forward, his hands grasping for the sword wound. He placed his hands over it and clamped them on tight. "Faith, Christ, c'mon..." He muttered. The world was beginning to spin. He felt the hot blood flow through his fingers. The demon inside roared.

"Xander..." He panted, turning his black and blue mottled face to his temporary comrade. "Dawn..." He searched for her, but couldn't see her.

Blackness surged across his vision and he leaned forward, putting for pressure on Faith's wound through the swell. "Christ on a minibike, someone..."

 

[palabravampiress]

[Sewer]

Spike didn't even seem to notice the demon. He was up and off of Xander in about a nanosecond, his attention distracted elsewhere. Along with his body and one of the attached pokers, Spike took a nice big chunk of Xander flesh.

Spike: "Hey! I needed that!"

Now his shoulder matched his head. He was gonna feel that one in the morning... as well as, you know, right now. He could swear that the sodden, sunken shirt fabric that seemed to stick to the wound scratched the raw, bleeding skin with every foul breeze.

:: At least he left me my axe, Xander thought, reaching down and bringing the weapon up just in time to block the sewer demon's sword. ::

:: Xander knew better than to kick. Last time he'd done that, he'd almost gotten an impaled foot. Instead, he used his axe to push the demon's sword off to the side with all his might. It wasn't much might, but it was enough. The demon lost its balance. Xander rolled the other way. ::

It wasn't much. It wasn't even enough to drop the demon to the ground. But the maneuver did at least buy Xander enough time to get to his feet. That was something.

:: And out of the corner of his eye, he saw something else... ::

There, in the muck, lay Faith. She'd been impaled - run through by Indra's sword.

:: Xander's eye widened. ::

He'd seen that before. Cordy had been impaled once. Anya had been run-through by Buffy's sword. It was a theme. Or maybe it was a recurring motif. Xander hadn't exactly paid much attention in lit class. But just like any woman who looked twice at Xander tended to have a little demon in her, she also apparently tended to get a big, metallic, phallic symbol shoved through her abdomen at some point or another.

Best not to consider the implications of *that* little revelation.

:: The demon charged. Xander blocked. ::

The next few minutes were an impossible whir of activity. Clink! Sword slammed against axe. Swish bodies danced lithely through the air in the old, familair steps of battle. Xander could swing dance. he could even sort of sexy dance, but this - this old-time fightin' stance sorta dance - this was what he did best. Xander saved his best moves for the field. Thunk! Axe pounded into -- and was deflected off of -- scale. Squish! Sword sliced skin, leaving a nasty gash across Xander's stomach. It was a nasty, familiar-looking gash. But it was superficial, thanks in part to Xander's recent packing on of the poundage. Thunk!Anya hadn't had that. Clink!She'd been... Squish! Xander's triceps and biceps burned with effort... not from injury. Clink! He still fought the demon. Thunk! Swish! Thunk! Clink! Swish! Squish! Thunk! That last squish hadn't been his, it had been...

Faith's?

:: Xander caught a glimpse of Spike - as he pulled the sword out of -- ::

Spike: "No! It has to stay --"

Clink!

It was too late. The sword was out. Blood gushed in time to Faith's heartbeat.

Thunk! One heartbeat. Swish! Two. Thunk! Clink! Swish! Three.

Holy monkey brains! That one was way too slow.

"Xander!" Spike roared.

Spike: I'm a little bus --

:: The demon came in close -- and Xander let him. He dodged, allowing the blade to slice through a superficial layer of love handle, and swung his axe blade up and into the sweet spot he'd discovered before -- the curve of the neck. Choking and bleeding, the demon fell back. ::

Spike: "Nevermind."

:: As quickly as he could, Xander shrugged out of his shirt and knelt by Faith, shoving a woozy Spike out of his way in the process. He ripped his shirt into two pieces, tying them together to create a bandage, which he wound and tied tightly around Faith's middle. ::

A normal woman's lower ribs would have been crushed. But Faith was a slayer. She wasn't so easy to crush.

Spike: "Who taught you first aid, Laud the Impaler?"

Another pump of blood spilled out, soaking the bandage.

Spike: "Yours too! Hurry! Put some pressure on the wound!"

Behind him, the fallen demon convulsed and twitched, but Xander didn't care. He was too busy digging his cell phone out of his pants pocket.

:: Twisting his head in an almost owl-like manner, Xander looked behind him. ::

Scoobies: "Sam! Riley! Dawnie! Scooby me, stat!"

:: Xander brought his cell phone to his ear and speed dialed Willow. ::

Pick up. Pick up. Pick up!

 

[Mesektet Ra]

Spike: "Who taught you first aid, Laud the Impaler?"

Spike grunted deep as Xander shoved him out of the way. Stupid. So bloody stupid... If the sword wound wouldn't kill Faith, being a right prat and ripping the sword out would do it. "Damnit, you wanker..." He hissed. He tried to come up with a snappy retort, but not came to him.

The world twisted and turned once more. Spike wavered.

Spike: "Yours too! Hurry! Put some pressure on the wound!"

Spike nodded, pushing himself up and tearing the remnants of his shirt off. The fabric had crusted into his blisters and burns, tearing chunks of skin off with it.

Spike roared loudly and doubled over, making a quick tourniquet for Faith's wound and wrapping around her through the pain. He clamped his hands tightly to her stomach, trying the staunch the flow of blood, which was starting to come all too slowly.

"Damnit, Xander, DO SOMETHING!"

He looked over to see Xander on the phone. Prolly Red..., he thought blearily. His eyes focused and unfocused. He could hear Faith's heartbeat slowing.

"Damnit, Faith..." He said softly. "I'm sorry."

 

[Slayergal]

::Sam had been standing motionless watching the two rogue slayers fight each other. She had almost completely forgotten about the sewer demons as she stood there watching to powerful slayers battle it out. By the time Sam heard Xander holler for help she was too late. Spike had already managed to get untangled. That's when she saw Faith fall on the rogue slayer sword. Before she could react Spike had beaten her to Faith's side.::

"Faith!"

::Sam rushed to Faith's side. Faith was bleeding badly. If they didn't get her medical attention soon she would die. She swung her backpack off her back and opened it up and grabbed the first-aid kit she had in there. She handed the first-aid kit to Xander.::

Xander: "Here use this. I don't know what's left but anything is better than nothing."

 

[palabravampiress]

[Sewer]

The phone rang.

It rang again.

In the background -- or maybe it was the foreground, since it was happening right in front of him instead off in Old Blightey or, technically, over airwaves over Old Blightey -- there was pandemonium. And not the fun kind like on South Park. You know, with the dancing Pandas. Nope. This was the kind with the Great White Haircut yelling at Xander like he was some kind of a doctor or something and Sam shoving a half-empty first-aid kit at him... again, like he was a doctor or something.

I picked the wrong profession. Ma always said she wanted a doc in the family. Shoulda been a sawbones instead of a... sawin' up wood guy.

:: Frantic, Xander waved his arms around in a general demand for a moment's peace. ::

"Hey Xand, holy crap you should see the new base it's a frickin castle an actual freakin cast..."

Willow: "Yeah. Castle. That's great. We need magic. Mega mojo magic. Now!"

:: Xander took the first aid kit and looked inside. He poured disinfectant over the wound. ::

Willow: "Faith was run through. With a sword. That Captain Moron here pulled out."

:: A contraception joke sprang to mind, but Xander bit his tongue. ::

There was no time for jokes. The sewer had become a quip-free zone.

:: Panicked, Xander gave himself a neck cramp and probably a serious infection by using his injured shoulder to hold the phone up to his ear. ::

The sticky, drying blood coated in puss and various sewer muckage held the phone in place. It was a neat Scooby trick that Xander had picked up over the years.

:: With his hands thus freed, he then attacked the first-aid kit at near Yeti speed, digging through what seemed like miles and miles of gauze and bandage. And then... ::

Xander: "A tourniquet!"

:: Lifting Faith gently and maybe even tenderly, he pulled out a large rubber cord and tied it underneath her ribs. He tied it as tightly as his Xanderly strength would allow, the goal being to keep as much of the blood as near to Faith's vital organs as possible for as long as possible. ::

Willow: "Teleport. Fly. Bend the space time continuum if you have to! But get here. Fix this."

The phone sank into the sewer ickiness, but Xander didn't bother to pick it up. He was all Jack Bauer with the time and the not having any.

Willow: "We're in the sewers under Freak Street in Kathmandu!"

:: He hollered that last part as the phone slipped away. ::

Talk later. Bandage now.

:: Determined, Xander grabbed up the miles of gauze and bandage and prepared to forever meld his Faith dreams with his Ampata dreams. ::

Spike: "Move! The shirts. Move them. Now!"

:: As fast as he could, Xander employed that other essential Scooby skill -- the bandaging of potentially mortal wounds -- and wrapped Faith up as tightly as he could. ::

He used every scrap of bandage in the first-aid pack, but the white was already turning kind of pink two heartbeats later.

Dawn: "Dawnie! Run for help! Go! Get a nurse or a doctor or a freakin' monk!"

:: Still working at warp speed, Xander grabbed the shirts and Spike's hands and placed them back over Faith's wound. ::

Spike: "More pressure. Vampire pressure! Break her ribs, if you have to. You say you're soulified? Prove it! Keep the blood inside."

Soldier boy was out. He barked orders. He called for backup. He was cool in a crisis, maybe even a little cruel. He didn't care who the hell had a problem with it. All he saw was the wound. All he heard was the rasping sound of Faith's labored breathing. All he knew was that he wasn't leaving a man -- or, okay, a woman -- down. In some ways, that stupid Halloween switcheroo was the best thing that had ever happened to Xander. Half of his scoobying came from field time dutifully clocked. The other half? It was all soldier boy.

Then, all at once, the first-aid was over and there was nothing left to do.

:: He touched his fingers to Faith's neck. ::

The pulse was weak and fading fast.

Defeated, Xander sighed and dug around in the muck. He came up with the phone, which he then promptly slung against his ear.

Willow: "Will?"

Funnily enough, he felt his breathing and pulse start to regulate. Also, the wooziness and the general, all-over pain returned. He was starting to calm down... which would have made sense if he could have remembered uncalming up.

Yay for adrenaline, he thought. He just hoped it had been enough to save Faith.

 

[Mesektet Ra]

Passing out was becoming more and more a viable option.

He kept his hands firmly in place, squeezing tighter and tighter as Faith's heartbeat slowed more. "Bloody hell, son of a bitch, goddamnit..." He cured quietly, all to himself. He was an idiot, and it would get Faith killed.

"Faith was run through. With a sword. That Captain Moron here pulled out."

Spike narrowed his eyes and growled at him. The edges of his vision were becoming blurry. No, no, not now, please not now...

Spike: "Move! The shirts. Move them. Now!"

Spike blinked wearily, shaking off the encroaching concussion. He ripped the shirts away from Faith quickly, falling back on his elbows again as Xander lifted Faith and wrapped the tourniquet around her middle.

Spike blinked once more, slowly. The pain was blasting all over his body, setting every nerve on fire.

Spike: "More pressure. Vampire pressure! Break her ribs, if you have to. You say you're soulified? Prove it! Keep the blood inside."

Spike nearly passed out as Xander grabbed his hands. His head hung back like a rag doll before snapping forward, trying to keep his mind on the situation. He simply nodded, no longer in the mood for games, and pushed as hard as he dared on Faith's wound. The bloodflow was slowing, partly due to her heartbeat slowing and partly due to the fact that Spike was probably bruising her ribs.

"C'mon, Faith. C'mon. Don't die because I was a prat." He begged quietly, her blood slipping through his fingers.

 

[Indra_RPG]

[Chand Palace -- Kathmandu, Nepal]

:: Indra entered the palace quietly. ::

It was late at night, after all, and she did not wish to wake a cadre of servants or to be discovered by Rajnath in her current disheveled state.

Fortunately, Drusilla had the sight. She waited for Indra just inside the door.

:: Feeling curiously as though she had thrown herself into the path of a speeding vehicle for the second time that week, Indra closed the door behind her and sank down against it. ::

The tiled floor felt welcoming and cool, but there was a rug nearby. It was a plush, welcoming rug.

Now, if I can only reach it, Indra thought.

In her current state, she was not above crawling. A few moments found her sprawled out on a Persian rug that had been in her family for generations. This, she promptly stained with blood. Whose blood it was, she was uncertain. Kali would know. All Indra knew was that while some of it was undoubtedly the former property of the woman she had just murdered, most of it was her own. It came spurting from some dull, cold wounds and dripping from more superficial, burning ones.

:: Indra's belly rumbled. Metallic-tasting bile rose in her throat, but then receded. ::

In no short time, she was certain she would add that to the intricately woven pattern of the rug, as well. She knew she should move. The tile would be easier to salvage. But the rug was so soft"¦ so un-sewer-like. She would, just this once, sacrifice her family's decadence for her personal comfort. She had earned the right.

:: Exhausted, Indra raised the hard-won scythe and held it up to her devi. ::

It was heavier than she might have imagined, and also charged with a peculiar sort of energy. Indra felt"¦ attached to it somehow. Her fingers connected with the shaft of the weapon and resisted when she tried to let it go. It was almost as if her hands were magnets and the scythe was drawn to them. Drusilla had spoken the truth. The scythe was obviously an instrument of great mystical import.

Drusilla: "The scythe-bearer lies impaled upon my sword, but I could not retrieve both this weapon and your William. You have my most sincere apologies, my devi."

Indra's own voice sounded far away. The ceiling seemed impossibly fuzzy, and then it seemed like nothing at all because Indra had closed her eyes. She wanted to slip into sleep"¦ or death. Whichever welcomed her would suffice. But, from upstairs in the nursery, Indra heard the faint sound of an infant's hungry cries.

:: Her eyes shot open as she whispered one word: ::

Indra: "Raja."

:: She turned her eyes to Drusilla. ::

Drusilla: "You are not safe here, Kali. Rajnath or one of the staff might discover you. Where shall we go, now that the devi-killers are incapacitated?"

Indra's meaning rang clear, even if her words were spoken softly and weakly. No doubt Drusilla knew of her desire to distance her devi from her family. No doubt Drusilla gleaned those traitorous thoughts from her mind, from her voice, from the way that her body had found renewed vigor at the slightest, faintest cry from her son. Drusilla had the loyalty of Indra's spirit and even of her mind, but her body still responded like a mother to the cries of her son.

She only hoped that Drusilla would not insist upon taking an eye for an eye.

:: Through a cloud of pain and mental haze, Indra forced herself to sit up. ::

"We should leave. Now," she told Drusilla. "The others are only temporarily incapacitated. They will come for us. Your Willia will be able to track our scents."

 

[Mesektet Ra]

Spike pressed on the wound harder and harder. He leaned forward.

The vision of Faith's bleeding belly and the sewer floor contracted and twisted. He blinked, impossibly slow.

"Xander...Sam..." Damnit, could anyone hear him?

The pain blasted away throughout every nerve, his arms on fire from pressing so hard against Faith's wound. He heard the sound of a rib crack. Everything was blurring...

"I...can't..."

He fell over next to Faith, his head smacking against the muck and hard concrete of the sewer floor. His chains clanked as his arms and legs fell limp.

Blackness.

 

[Slayergal]

::Sam stood back out of Xander and Spike's way and watched them work silently. She began to wonder where Dawn was. Dawn should have been back by now. She hoped Dawn hadn't fallen in a trap trying to find a doctor. She was about to suggest that her and Riley call for a backup team of commands to come and get Faith. But She new no human doctor would have time to save her. Faith would be dead before they made it to a hospital. Xander was right they needed Willow. She stood watching the blood pump out of Faith's wound. It was a sicking feeling. Sure she had seen dead bodies before but never had she witnessed someone actually dying. Sam felt like vomiting and she might of done just that when she heard Spike holler out and then thud to the sewer floor. She stopped herself before she could turn and vomit. She nodded to Riley to help move Spike out of the way and knelt down beside Faith and began to put pressure on Faith's wound.::

 

[Black Eye Guy]

The haze of colors began to redefine and sharpen as vague forms began to take shape. Even before the world became unfuzzed she knew she was no longer in the castle as the stench of a swear swam up her nose and filled her lungs.

Suddenly the world came into focus and she could see the swear she was now standing in, and the gang lying on the floor around Faith.

As the teleportation completed, she had the wind knocked out of her, and her legs buckled so she fell to the floor, her knees hit the ground hard, the squelching should made her want to vomit, as she gasped for air only to find the taste of the swear fill her mouth.

She sat for a moment to regain herself, as she she began coughing and spluttering, adjusting herself to the new surrounding's.

 

[palabravampiress]

[Sewer]

:: Xander heard a familiar sputtering sound -- Jeez, I've known her so long that even her *sputtering* sounds are identifiable? and looked up. ::

Willow: "Will!"

:: He gestured to Faith. ::

The situation was dire. That much was obvious. The bandage was bleeding through. Her breathing was shallow. Her pulse was irregular. She had maybe a minute or two left in her... max.

Willow: "I'll play Lucy to your Ricky in a minute, but right now... think you can mojo us up some Faith-saving magic?"

:: Xander looked up at Willow hopefully. ::

He knew how things looked, what with Spike charred up extra crispy and down for the count, Faith on the cusp, and he and Sam both sporting the season's newest fashion accessory: head wound couture. Riley and Dawn were the only ones still in any sort of fighting shape at all.

And in Reality Land, things are even worse than they look. Yay us.

Psycho slayer had the scythe... and was probably taking it back to psycho vampire and her vampire vampire slayer bud even as a warm pump of blood stained Xander's fingers.

:: Reflexively, Xander wiped his hands on his pants and then grasped Faith's hand. ::

:: He squeezed. ::

For now, it was all he could do.

But later"¦

Faith: "We're gonna find that rogue slayer. And then I'm gonna watcher her butt right back onto the good side"¦ with maybe a little bit of torture and sword pokage on the side. You know. Just for kicks."

 

[Black Eye Guy]

As the nausea subsided and the taste of vomit left her throat. She finally took in her surroundings, and for the first time saw what a battered mess the group was. Whoever they were fighting they had had their ass's firly kicked.

She pushed herself up to her feet and made her way over to Faith before falling back down to her knees.

"Jesus..."

She genitally shoved Xander out of the way so she could have easy access to the wounds. She grabbed Faiths Hand and immediately started to let her power flow.

She released one of her hands from her grip and moved it over the sword wound, immediately the wound stopped flowing and her blood pressure began to even out and return to normal.

Willow clasped Faiths hand in both of her again and began to let her magick heal her body, restore her normal heart beat and any internal wounds she could. It wasn't long before the room began to spin, Nausea returned this time from her using so much if her power to heal Faith. She dropped her hand and put her own arms on the ground to stop herself from falling over.

"Thats it... thats all I can do..."

She was severly weakened, her power was completly drained but she had done enough to help Faith, they would just need to get her somwhere safe and to some proper health care professionals. She looked down at Faiths battered and Beaten Body and was filled with guilt. She had sent her on this mission.

"We need to get her somwhere safe, I can't get us home Im toally tapped out."

She was looking at Xander.

"Xander, what happened?"

 

[palabravampiress]

:: Xander picked up Faith and placed her in Riley's arms. He was really the only one fit for the job of carrying Faith out of there. ::

Getting her out that manhole's gonna be a bitca, though, Xander thought, but it wasn't like the sewer was crawling with options. Crawling with other stuff, yeah, but no options, he thought as he flicked a... gross spider of some kind... off of his shirt. As usual, he resisted the urge to eat the spider. It looked juicy, too. Stupid Dracula.

:: He looked at Will, who was apparently demanding to know what happened. ::

Willow: "Huh? Sorry. Spaced out there for a minute."

:: He pointed to his head wound. ::

Xander: "Must've wound the bandage too tight."

:: Half to speed up the process of getting Faith help and half to avoid Will's penetrating gaze -- the creep-o-meter on that had definitely risen from her crayon breaking days to her teleport-across-the-world days -- Xander turned away and started toward the door... and then he remembered Spike. ::

How could he forget? There was still cooked Spike taste in his mouth... and it was not half as satisfying a sensation as one might think.

:: Xander turned back around and glanced down at Spike. ::

Xander: "Huh."

:: He looked at Sam. ::

She was at least as banged up as he was.

And he was bigger.

Son of a bitca.

At least Spike was compact and technically already dead, so not too much on the breakable side.

Willow: "It was the rogue slayer, Will."

:: Always up for multi-tasking, Xander explained as he knelt. ::

Willow: "When we got here, Faith was fighting some demons. We joined in."

:: With a grunt, Xander slung Spike into a fireman's carry and forced himself to his feet. ::

Willow: "The rogue slayer had a sword to Spike's throat. Tried to use him as leverage."

:: Ignoring the sudden feeling of head rush that pervaded his senses and also the sudden buzzing in his ears -- not to mention the shooting pain that shot well, everywhere, but mostly through the soft, uber-important contents of the interior of his cranium, Xander started toward the door -- again. This time, all of the team members were in tow. ::

Willow: "Faith took exception to that. They fought. She lost."

:: Xander turned sideways and tried to maneuver Spike out the door with a minimal amount of head-bumping. ::

He wasn't too successful, but hey, it was a tiny door designed by and for tiny mountain-type people. It was the altitude. Made people shorter. Or so he guessed.

:: When he made it through the doorway, he paused, turned, and fixed his eyes on Willow's. ::

Willow: "She got the scythe. The rogue slayer, I mean."

:: Xander hefted the big burden on his shoulders. ::

Willow: "I'm just hoping Captain Moron here -- who, by the way, has been going extra-heavy on the pig's blood lately -- remembers or knows something that we can use to track her. Looks like they spent some good, old-fashioned, slayer-on-vamp quality time together."