Work Text:
Sex Can Persuade
by Ragna
"I don't want to look."
Faith crossed her arms and turned away from Giles. It was almost the end of October, and her former Watcher had asked for her to come to London to view an object said to show what might have been or still could be. But only a Slayer could hold it and have a vision.
"Faith, I know you don't want to see what might have been. Buffy has already volunteered to do that part, anyway. I want you to see what might happen."
Faith's shoulders sagged slightly. "No...I'll do both parts. I'm curious, anyway. A little."
"If it's too upsetting, you can stop at any time."
Faith nodded, still not looking at Giles. "When do I have to look?"
"Tomorrow night."
"Happy friggin Halloween, then."
***
The next evening, Faith sat alone in Giles' study, holding a medallion with a pale, milky colored stone in the center. The medallion had to be at least a foot in diameter; it was set in a gold setting carved with runes and strung on a braided gold chain. The gold was dull, showing the age of the object.
She'd only been holding the medalion for thirty minutes when she began to have second thoughts. Since nothing was happening anyway...
As soon as she thought about giving up, the milky surface cleared, and Faith watched her childhood go by in a fast stream. It was strange how quickly the images flowed, and the fact she could see them so clearly was a bit unnerving.
With a simple thought she could slow it down and watch a single scene. She saw her last good time with her mom and smiled, she saw the times with her Watcher where she trained and remembered some of the things he'd told her that she'd listened to but never used.
She wanted to speed though her time with Xander; it was still a sore spot for her, and she regretted not apologizing for the sex and the murder attempt. All the time she'd spent searching for redemption seemed almost pointless when there was actually a person she could apologize to and she chose not to. She watched it anyway, though, and promised herself she'd find a way to deliver the apology.
And then there was Robin...God, watching him die on that bus had been hard, but watching everything leading up to it and then watching him die again wrentched her heart out. She'd never admit it, but she had cared for him. She'd wanted to have a second go, see if things could get serious. See if she could get something normal in her life.
It was then that she realized that what could have been for her was everything that had been. Her destiny had been mapped out for her. She was who she was because that was the way it was supposed to be. As this thought registered, the medallion's stone clouded up again.
She set it down for a moment, and then picked it up again. "Show me what might be," she said softly. Robin was dead and Xander probably had no interest in her, but maybe there'd be someone. Maybe she'd see Angel, and know she was supposed to help him.
Instead, she saw another man. Blue eyes, brown hair, covered in markings of some sort. He was trying to get Angel.
Faith wondered if she was supposed to kill this guy to save Angel's ass or what, and then...
As she saw the last image flash by, she dropped the medallion. As if in slow motion, she watched as the stone broke into a hundred or so pieces.
Giles flew into the study. "Are you all right?"
"I'm...fine." She picked up a shard of the stone. "I broke the medallion."
"Did it work?"
"Sort of."
"What do you mean?"
"I think...maybe it breaking is a good thing." She pocketed her shard. "I need to go to Los Angeles. There's a man..." Faith stopped for a moment. "And I need to get a letter to Xander. There's something I should have told him a while ago."
***
Faith hadn't made it to Los Angeles before Andrew, though she had heard what he had told Angel. And she knew Spike was alive.
But after what she was about to do, neither of them would probably be speaking to her, so maybe it was best if she didn't let them know she was here and just let them continue to think she hated them both.
She didn't bother to knock on the door of the apartment. She kicked the door down. The vampire was right; the man she'd seen in the vision, the man she'd only met once before in her life, was sitting on the bed, covered in tattoos.
"So, you're out of prison. Risky move," Lindsey said.
"Yeah, well you coming back to LA wasn't all that smart, either."
"Angel's got it coming."
Faith shook her head. "You're gonna die if you stay here."
"He doesn't know I'm here. You're a lone wolf; you keep to yourself."
"Well, this wolf joined a pack. A pack that includes Angel." She found a chair that was near the bed and flipped it around, pressing her chest against the back of the chair and looking at Lindsey. "But you're right. For now, he doesn't know."
Lindsey smiled. "I know you too well."
"You knew me. And you didn't even know me all that well. I've changed." She tossed the stone shard at him. "On Halloween, I got a nice little treat. I saw my fucked up past. I saw my future. And you know what?"
"What?" Lindsey asked, picking the shard up off his sheet.
"I saw you avoid this whole thing you have planned with Angel. See, I saw what you were planning, and then the vision split. One half showed what happened, and let's just say it involves Hell, death and a bunch of other stuff that I wasn't happy about seeing. The other half showed you helping to prevent the end of LA. You lived, they all did."
"So why are you here?"
"To drag your happy ass in to go see your new boss." She got up from the chair and headed over to Lindsey. "I like Angel. He got me to change. So now, I'm going to return the favor by saving him and changing you."
Lindsey shook his head. "No way."
Faith paused for a second. "There's something else I saw." She pulled him up and towards her, then captured his lips in a kiss. It only took a moment for him to respond in kind.
She pulled back. "You also get to break up with your current...girlfriend...while we're there." She grinned slightly, still holding his arm. "Unless you'd rather be with her until you die."
Lindsey thought for a moment. "I get you?"
"Nobody *gets* me. But...you switch over, and let's just say the benefits are better."
As she led him out of his apartment, Faith realized she could use sex as a weapon and still do something good. That was an amazing feeling.
Especially when she thought back to the last flash of the image. The former bad Slayer and the former evil lawyer found redemption in each other, and things turned out okay for everyone involved.
END