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It may only have been five past six but the club was
already busy. On a small stage a half naked girl gyrated around a pole,
her bored expression unnoticed by the seven or eight men that crowded
around her. To one side a tattooed bouncer made sure there was no trouble.
A handful of other patrons were dotted around the club seated in ones and
twos, and in one corner a group of four men were deep in discussion. A
couple of them looked up as he entered but seeing nothing of interest they
quickly looked away.
Xander allowed the door to close behind him and, with barely a glance
towards the stage, quickly crossed to the bar, behind which a balding fat
man was washing glasses. "I'm looking for a girl," he asked,
holding up a photograph of Faith.
The barkeeper didn't even look up. "Haven't seen her, pal."
"You haven't looked."
With a growl the man stopped what he was doing and after looking at the
photo, smirked. "Haven't seen her, pal."
Fists clenched Xander wanted nothing more than to knock the smug grin off
his face but instead he just nodded and left the man to his work.
It had been no different in the scores of other bars and clubs he'd
visited in the last couple of days. For whatever reason people just didn't
want to get involved. A one eyed man looking for a pretty girl was of no
concern and had evoked little if any sympathy.
After a nightmare journey of bus rides and hitched lifts he'd arrived in
New Orleans tired, hungry and in urgent need of a shower. However he
didn't let that slow him down and, after finding a cheap motel to crash
in, he began his search for Faith. So far though, that search had been a
vain search. Xander shook his head. Who would have thought that she could
keep such a low profile?
Disappointed but unsurprised he turned from the bar and was nearly bowled
over by a scantily clad young woman hurrying towards the stage. Xander
jumped back out of her way but the dancer stopped and glared at him
anyway, a look of annoyance marring her pretty face. "Whoa! Are you
blind or some…" Noticing his eye patch for the first time her
tirade came to a sudden halt.
Xander gave her a lopsided grin. "Half blind," he confirmed.
"Look, I'm sorry. It's just been one of those days."
"Don't worry about it." He started to head for the exit.
"Hey mister, is this yours?"
Xander looked back and saw the woman holding up his photo of Faith. He
must have dropped it. "Yeah, thanks," he said then noticed what
he thought was a fleeting look of recognition cross her face. "Have
you seen her?" he asked, his voice rising with excitement.
The young woman gave the picture another look then shook her sadly.
"No, I'm sorry. I thought I recognised her for a moment but…"
she shrugged.
Xander sighed. "Oh." It would have been his first lead.
From the direction of the stage came the sound of booing and whistling.
"Frigging hell Roxie," the barman cursed with murderous look in
Xander's direction, "are you going to get on the stage, they're
starting to get restless."
"In a second," she told him without taking her eyes from the one
eyed man in front of her. "So who is she?"
After another disappointment Xander was reluctant to talk but couldn't
think of a reason not to. "She's my girlfriend," it still
sounded weird saying that. "She came here about a month ago."
"Roxie," the bartender growled. The boos and whistles had gotten
considerably louder.
"Look I better go" she held out the photo "but I hope you
find her and if I do happen to see her I'll tell her you were looking for
her."
"Thanks." With a smile Xander took the photo from her cold hand
and, as she headed towards the stage, he left the club.
The young man from Sunnydale spent the rest of the night trawling some of
the worst bars that New Orleans had to offer. Strip clubs, drug dens and
even what turned out to be a couple of demon hangouts Xander showed
Faith's photograph in all of them. And in each of them he got the same
answer – nothing.
Trudging wearily out of the scene of his latest disappointment, a dirty
little hovel called simply The Watering Hole, Xander had had enough. There
was only so much frustration he could take and, deciding to call it a
night, he headed back to the motel. Something to eat and a good night's
rest would see him refreshed and ready to begin again.
He'd only gone a couple of blocks when he heard the telltale footsteps of
someone following him and he realised that he'd been
hearing them since he'd left the bar. It just showed how much he was
distracted.
Xander slowed his pace and tried to catch a glimpse of his pursuer.
Whoever it was though was either too good or too cautious and stubbornly
remained out of sight. Still, just knowing that he was being followed gave
him an advantage, one he wasn't going to let slip.
A narrow alleyway gave him the chance to turn the tables on his pursuer
and, ducking inside, he waited for him to appear. He didn't have to wait
long as only several seconds passed before he hurried into the alley.
Leather clad, the man was no taller than Xander but with massive arms and
shoulders seemed to be twice as wide. Completely bald, his head was
covered into tattoos and a ragged scar ran from his chin to where his left
ear should have been. He was the very image of someone you wouldn't want
to meet in a dark alley.
Having faced vampires, demons and worse in his time Xander wasn't afraid,
well not much, and, before the man knew what was happening, he attacked.
His first punch caught the would-be assailant squarely on the jaw and he
followed this up with a crushing blow to the man's nose. Bone and
cartilage shattered with a loud crack but instead of going down, as Xander
had hoped, the man only grunted. Then he grinned and spat blood from his
mouth. "Is that all you've got?"
Xander gulped and backed away, looking left and right. "What do you
want?" he asked, stalling for the time. There had to be something
lying around that he could use.
"Well I was just gonna take you're money but now I think I'll make
you scream a bit." He began to advance.
Xander screamed. "There, are you satisfied?" When the man made
no reply he shrugged. "I didn't think so."
Suddenly the mugger closed the distance between them and, with his own
punches batted away, Xander found himself clasped in a mighty bear hug.
Lifted off his feet he struggled to break free but the mugger's grip was
just too strong. The air being forced inexorably from his lungs Xander
battled to keep down his rising panic and did the only thing that was left
available – he bit him.
As Xander sank his teeth into the mugger's already broken nose the man
cried out and with a curse threw him to the ground. "You
bastard," he accused, "you bit me!"
Gulping in great mouthfuls of air Xander just smiled grimly. Too damn
right he had.
The man shook his head, spraying blood left and right. "Well you're
going to fucking pay for it," he promised and advanced once
more.
Still on the ground Xander had no intention of being manhandled again.
Watching carefully he waited for the right moment and then launched
himself forward feet first straight at the mugger's left knee. His aim
true the man's knee bent backwards with an audible pop and with a howl of
pain the mugger collapsed in a heap.
Scrambling to his feet Xander looked down at the man for a second then
hurried off, the threats of the mugger following after him.
Once it had been the heart of a large plantation, an impressive mansion
with large windows and a white washed façade but it had long since
been abandoned – at least by the living. Its new occupants cared little
for the appearance of the building but here and there, despite the
neglect, there could still be seen glimpses of its lost magnificent.
Deep in the bowels of the house, far from the killing light of the sun, a
single figure stood in the centre of a large room, her head
bowed. Around her, concealed in the shadows, she sensed a number of
watchers, ready to the bidding of the vampire before her. "You take a
risk coming here Roxanna." More like a growl the voice was deep and
ancient and sent a shiver of fear running through the woman. Vampire she
may have been but there were still times when fear threatened to paralyse
her and this was one of them. Slowly she raised her head but could see
little of the speaker. Like his minions he kept to the shadows. "I
have information Master."
"Information?" His humourless laugh echoed around the room.
"Is that all Roxanna? If it brings you here, you must think that I'll
like it."
For the first time she entered the house felt a bit of confidence return.
"Oh you'll like it," she assured him. "You'll like it a
lot."
Waking up the next morning Xander realised he needed help. New Orleans was
just too big, he had lost count of the number of places he had already
been to and he knew he'd barely scratched the surface. On his own it would
take him months to check out every bar, café, club, and waterfront dive
that the Big Easy had to offer. By which time Faith could be long gone.
With a groan he struggled out of bed. Already multi-coloured bruises
covered much of his back and chest, and any sudden movement sent pain
shooting down his right side. He would be damn surprised if he hadn't
broken a rib or two. Not that he intended to find out; his first priority
was still Faith.
Cheap as it was the motel didn't have phones in the rooms so, after
getting dressed, he hobbled across the street to a payphone. He dialled
the number and waited impatiently as the phone rang and rang and rang.
Where the hell was everyone? He looked at his watch. Quarter past eight
– they should be up by now. It was a half a dozen more rings before he
remembered the time difference. "Oh crap," he swore but before
he could hang up someone at the other end answered.
"Hello?" Still sounding half asleep the voice was barely
recognisable.
"Dawn, is that you?"
"Yes" she sounded puzzled "who's that?"
"It's Xander."
There was a moment of silence then "Oh my God. Where are you? Have
you found Faith? When are you coming home? Why haven't…"
"Whoa Dawnster easy with the questions. I'm on a payphone."
"Sorry."
"That's ok. Is Willow around?"
"Er still in bed. You do know what time it is don't you?"
Xander grimaced. "Yeah sorry about that. I forgot about the time
difference. Can you get her?"
"I suppose. Hold on." There was a clunk as she put the phone
down.
Xander leant against the phone booth and waited. As it had been every day
that he'd been in New Orleans the sky was overcast and looked like it
could rain at any moment. A chill wind ruffled his hair and he shivered.
Looking about he saw that nearly everyone was wrapped up against the cold.
Maybe he should have put a jacket on. Maybe he should think about buying a
mobile phone. He shivered again, come on Willow.
It was another couple of minutes though before he heard someone picking up
the phone and then Willow's voice. "Xander?"
"Hello Will."
"Oh thank God." The relief in her voice was apparent. "I've
been so worried. Where are you?"
"I'm in New Orleans."
"And don't they have phones there?" Her concern had gone, now
she sounded pissed.
"I'm sorry Will. You're right I should have called sooner but I just
haven't had time."
"Haven't you found her yet?"
"No," Xander told her, unable to keep the disappointment from
his voice, "and that's why I've called. I need your help."
There were several moments of silence then. "Xander I…er…I can't
sense the Slayers anymore. Someone has stolen the Axe and…"
"What?! When did this happen?"
"It was the same night that you left. Someone broke into Buffy's room
and took it while she slept."
Xander could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Do you know who
took it?"
"No and with it has gone my Slayer tracking ability."
"Oh."
"I could scry for her, although at this distance I'm not sure how
accurate it'll be."
Xander was willing to take any help he could get. "Could you Will?
I'm at a loss here."
"Of course I can. I'll need something of Faith's though."
"In her room, she left most of her stuff behind."
"Ok."
"How long will it take?"
"An hour maybe."
"I'll phone back in an hour then. And thanks Will."
Standing at the corner of Bourbon and Iberville Xander watched as the bus
pulled away then turned and looked around. The French Quarter – if
Willow was right then somewhere close by he would find Faith and by the
Master's bones he hoped that she was.
They may have been together for only a few short months but Faith's sudden
departure had left a gaping hole in his life. He knew it had been the
right thing to do but it hadn't made things any easier. There were times
in the weeks that followed that he had had to force himself to get out of
bed in the morning – to face life without her.
Xander sighed. By the time he'd learnt of her location he'd been close to
breaking point. He'd been burying himself in his work,
trying to take his mind of Faith, but that had only helped so much. He
couldn't work all the time and as soon as he'd stopped his thoughts
returned to the dark haired Slayer. They may not know it but, by telling
him where she was, Buffy and Willow had probably stopped him from doing
something really stupid. What, he didn't want to think about.
And now, even though Xander knew he shouldn't, he was starting to get
excited. Soon, very soon hopefully, he would be seeing her again. Hold her
warm body against his, kiss her soft lips and…he shook his head
He was getting ahead of himself. He still had to find her and even with
Willow's information it wasn't going to be easy – there were clubs and
bars everywhere. At least now though he was in the right area, his search
so far been restricted to the Westbank and the Garden Quarter. Not that
standing in the middle of the street daydreaming would accomplish
anything.
Behind him was a nightclub called Utopia, which looked a good a place as
any to start so, with a new found confidence, he went inside. A couple of
minutes later he was back outside no wiser but no less confident.
Throughout the rest of the day and well into the night Xander walked the
streets of the French Quarter, checking every bar and club he came across.
From jazz bars to dance clubs, strip clubs to places that defied category
he checked them all but there was no sign of Faith. Slowly his confidence
began to wane and he began to think that he would never find her.
Then Xander walked into a seedy strip club called Talent and there she
was. His breath caught in his throat. Lithe, dark and athletic Faith was
more beautiful than ever. Standing in the shadows she hadn't seen him and
for a while he just watched as she went about her work.
A tray in her hand, the raven haired Slayer moved between the crowded
tables with a predatory grace, serving drinks and, Xander scowled,
avoiding the grasping hands of some of the more unsavoury looking
customers. Was this what she'd had to endure?
One over amorous customer was quicker than the others and managed to slide
a hand round her waist and pull her close. Xander growled deep in his
throat and started forward. He should have known not to worry though,
Faith had been in worse situations and before he had taken two steps, she
had broken free of the man's clutches. In a blink of an eye she had his
arm bent behind his back and was whispering something in the man's ear who
nodded vigorously, his face suddenly pale. The moment she let him go the
man jumped up from his seat and bolted from the bar without a backward
glance. Xander grinned, he wouldn't be back in a hurry.
Faith still hadn't seen him so Xander made his way across the bar towards
her. A couple of steps behind her he stopped, suddenly nervous. Doubts
flooded into his mind. What if she didn't want to see him? What if she
wanted to remain hidden? What if…he gulped…what if she had found
someone else? His heart was beating so fast that he thought it might burst
from his chest. Oh God, what was he doing? He hadn't come all this way and
searched so hard to chicken out at the last minute. He shook his head.
Xander Harris faced his fears and met them head on. "Faith."
It was little more than a murmur and, even to his own ears, barely audible
over the noise of the bar but Xander knew by her sudden stop that she had
heard him.
For several seconds she just stood there, unmoving, then slowly – warily
– she turned. Who she was expecting to see Xander didn't know but it
obviously wasn't him and when she saw him, standing there in front of her
with a ridiculously wide grin on his face, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Xander, what are you…" she began but got no further.
Unable to restrain himself any longer Xander swept her up in his arms.
Surprised again it took Faith a few moments to relax but then he felt her
arms snake around him and she returned his hug fiercely.
Xander felt tears on his cheek but he didn't care, he'd never been
happier. There had been times when he'd thought that he might never see
her again. "I've missed you Faith," he told her, his voice full
of emotion.
At his words the Slayer pulled away and looked up. Tears unchecked on her
own cheeks she smiled, a glorious happy smile that Xander would remember
always. "I've missed you too," she responded.
A few curious onlookers attracted by such a strange scene for a strip club
cheered, a cheer that attracted more attention. "Candy, get back to
work." The shout from narrow faced old man behind the bar was gruff
and insistent.
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Candy?" he asked with a smile.
Faith gave him a nudge. "Shut up, it's just a name," she told
him then looked over shoulder and shouted, "in a minute Frank."
Frank wasn't happy and wasn't shy in letting Faith know about it either.
"Not in a minute, now," he shouted back. "I don't pay you
to talk, I pay you to serve. You can talk to Nelson on your own time, now
get back to work."
The last thing Xander wanted was to cause her any trouble. "Look,
I'll come back…"
Faith had other ideas though. "I don't think so." She directed a
cold look in Frank's direction. "You can take your job Frank and
shove it where the sun don't shine. I'm done." She grabbed Xander by
the arm. "Let's go."
Once outside Faith dragged Xander into the nearest alley and, practically
throwing him against the wall, kissed him hungrily. Xander responded
eagerly and for the next couple of minutes the lovers remained locked in a
passionate embrace.
Eventually their embrace had to end and not least because of the heavy
rain that had started to fall. Soaked to the skin they broke apart with
the utmost reluctance. Xander snagged another kiss. "Are you staying
close by?"
"Why do you wanna know?" She grinned. "Have you got
something in mind?"
Xander returned her grin. "I was thinking maybe I should get you out
of those wet clothes." His grin widened. "Just to keep you from
catching a chill you understand."
"Well if it's for medical reasons, how can I refuse?" She
snagged a kiss of her own. "It's a couple of blocks away."
Xander had thought his own room was small but it was huge compared to
Faith's. On the second floor above a Creole restaurant it was barely big
enough to contain a single bed. It did have its own bathroom though and a
window that led on to the fire escape. "It's not much," he
commented standing in the doorway. The hallway behind him was narrow and
had four other doors that he suspected led to similar rooms.
Already inside, Faith shrugged and turned to face him. "No it's
not," she agreed, "but it's got everything I want. A bed, a
bathroom and now" she smiled "you."
Xander closed the door. "So you want me do you? Well maybe I won't
let you have me."
"Yeah right," she said and in less than a minute Xander found
himself flat on his back on the bed grinning up at the Slayer above
him.
Entwining her hands in his hair she bent forward and brushed her lips
against his. "Are you sure there's no way I can persuade you?"
Xander shrugged. "I don't know, you can try if you want" his
grin widened "Candy."
"Oi!" Faith exclaimed with mock anger. "I swear if you tell
anyone about that I'll…"
"You'll what?" he asked, laughing.
"I'll break every bone in your body," she told him and to
emphasise her point she punched him in the chest.
It wasn't a hard punch, at least not for a Slayer, but after his run in
with the bear hugging mugger Xander's chest was a little tender and he
grimaced.
Seeing the pain on his face Faith was immediately apologetic. "Oh
fuck Xander, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
Xander put a finger to her lips. "Shh. It's ok, it wasn't you."
He told her about the mugger.
"And you're sure you're ok?" Faith asked when he had finished.
"Still a little sore." Which was a lie, the pain along his ribs
had been getting steadily worse.
With a smile the dark haired Slayer began to unbutton his shirt.
"Well let's see if I can take your mind off it."
Some time later, their passion sated, the lovers lay entwined in each
others arms. Tired by their exertions they drifted towards sleep. A smile
of contentment on his face Xander breathed in deeply. Never again did he
want to be parted from the girl in his arms. There was no denying that
without Faith his life would be less somehow. And, though there was still
much to talk about, he was certain that he could convince her to come back
to San Bernardino with him. And if he couldn't, he shrugged mentally, then
there were other places he wouldn't mind seeing – if Faith was with him.
Today had been a good day and the future…suddenly took a turn for the
worse as, with an almighty crash, the apartment door burst open and
revealed in the doorway a huge mountain of a man. Hunched forward his head
swung left and right, surveying the room before settling his gaze on the
dark haired Slayer. An evil smile split his face. "Hello Faith,"
he growled.
Beside him he felt Faith stiffen and then, her voice thick with fear, she
uttered a single word. "Kakistos."
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