A Way Out

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<Why the hell is my head pounding? > The last thing Faith remembered was kicking some warlock/demon’s ass and then mass pain in her temples. She attempted to stand up, but only managed to get into a sitting position without major discomfort.

She heard a male groan come from somewhere near her, but opening her eyes took too much energy.

"What the hell?" The moment she heard his voice, she knew exactly who she was sharing this potentially small place with. It hurt like hell, but she opened her eyes and saw Angel with his back towards her rubbing his head, obviously oblivious to her presence.

"Hey soul-boy." She called out; his presence had given her a second wind, now if only she could find a stake.

"Faith." He turned towards her, a little less than pleased.

"I’m hurt," She mocked him, "Suddenly after you find out I’m not part of the white hats anymore, you act like you hate me." He glared at her with intense dark eyes.

"What did you do," He half-growled and motioned towards their surroundings, from the rusty steel walls to the heavy tarnished door. She wondered if she could tear off that door and smack him around with it.

"Look," She pointed out, "If I was gonna lock you up in this little rusted prison, do you think I’d be with you?" He continued to glare.

"Fuck off," She said and glared back at him.

Suddenly, a flash of light erupted in the little holding cell. A demon-like person came into view as the blinding display disappeared, leaving Faith and Angel to blink away the little triangles in front of their eyes.

Faith recovered first, she tramped over to the demon (who she recognized as the one she’d fought earlier,) and demanded, "What the hell did you do?"

The demon smiled a little too cheerfully at Faith’s question and replied, "I have a challenge for the two of you."

"What’s that, see how long it takes me to find a stake and kill both of you?" She taunted to the demon’s face.

His features curved from a cheerful grin to a cruel glare, "I don’t think you want to mess with me little girl." He held out his hand as Faith flew backwards into the rusted wall, nearly knocking her out.

Angel looked down at Faith, who was trying to get back to her feet and then up at the demon again.

"I have a challenge for you," he repeated, "Your mission, should you choose to accept it…"

"Cut the Mission Impossible crap," Faith interrupted, "Just tell us how we get out of here."

"…Is a maze." He finished.

"A maze," Angel finally spoke up, "Is that why you brought us here? To do a stupid maze."

"I’d assume the real challenge is not tearing each other to pieces first." The demon looked over at Faith, awaiting an answer.

"As long as it gets me out of here," She shrugged, "I’m game." Angel nodded in agreement and exchanged annoyed looks with Faith.

"Good," The demon said, yet again emitting a blinding flash of light, leaving them. But when Faith’s eyes adjusted, she could tell they were nowhere near to the same place the demon <Annoying prick. > had last been.

Faith got to her feet and surveyed her surroundings, looking at night-fallen hedges far too much like the ones from those stupid medieval mazes that they put in to confuse visitors. She glanced down at Angel who, too, was looking around.

"Get up vamp boy," She tossed her hair back, "The sooner we get out of here, the less I have to be with you." Angel glowered at her and got to his feet, towering over her like a skyscraper.

"Stop hovering dead-boy," She pushed him forward, "Let’s find a way out of the ‘Labyrinth.’"

"Faith," Angel said, "Don’t piss me off, I’m in no mood to deal…"

"Like you could do anything to me if I did piss you off," She challenged, "Without B around, you can’t hurt a fucking fly, let alone someone who was made to kick your ass."

"Wanna bet?"

"You think you could take me?"

"I think I could snap your neck in seconds and then leave you a mangled mass."

Faith raised her eyebrows in mock fear; "I’m shaking. Really, but last I heard, Angelus was the only one who could kick anyone’s ass. You’re just his wuss replacement. He was more fun anyway." She grinded her hips suggestively, driving Angel over the edge.

Angel growled and swung at her, but dropped down in pain.

"Little wussy boy can’t even punch. I guess Buffy really did neuter you." Angel glared at her and tried to get up and punch her again, but again fell down in pain.

"I can’t hit you!" He said amazed, "That demon made it so I couldn’t hit you."

"Fuck that," She grabbed him and tossed him across the hedges, making her, too, steady herself because of the intense agony that engulfed her body.

"That son of a bitch." Faith said as she leaned against the hedge wall, "That bastard made it so we couldn’t kill or even hurt each other. Prick!"

"He knew we’d kill each other if we could," Angel said matter-of-factly, "He knew we’d tear each other apart." He slowly stood up; making sure the ache was completely gone.

"So what do we do now," Faith asked as she crossed arms over her chest.

"We find our way through this little maze and we get out." Angel pointed towards the path lined by hedges.

"I’m for it as long as I don’t…." Faith was cut off by the loud roar that erupted behind her. She whipped around and fell into fighting stance to be met with the image of a horrible gargoyle/lion.

"I knew just getting through the maze was too easy," Angel called and ran to where Faith had already begun to pummel the monster.

Faith snapped the beast's head back and bashed it in with her own as Angel continued to hit it with as much force as he could. The creature reared back, throwing Faith and then Angel. Faith landed with a grunt of pain, and then Angel fell on top of her. Faith pushed Angel aside and was about to finish off the grotesque monster when it faded away and she looked at nothing but a dense row of shrubs.

"Today just isn’t my day," Faith sighed, leaning back into the hedges, out of breath.

Angel nodded in agreement as he too, lay against the shrubbery. He could smell the spicy scent of her sweat as she wiped her forehead, and as much as he hated to admit it, it was an attractive smell. He looked at her as she closed her eyes to rest for a minute, his eyes traveling down her perfectly shaped nose, exquisitely formed lips and inviting neck. Angel quickly turned away as she sighed and opened her eyes, rotating her neck back until it gave a gratifying crack. She looked over at Angel and motioned for them to get up.

"Come on," She pulled him up, "The sooner we get out of here, the more time I have to find that demon and kick his little satanic ass."

"Yeah," Angel said softly, "A way out…" He wasn’t sure he wanted to find one.

After hours of no success in finding a way out, fighting creatures that disappeared right after they had thrown both maze travelers off, and strange hedge ways that changed if you blinked or turned around, they had decided to accept defeat for the day and get some much needed rest. Angel had located an almost clear area that had a larger walkway than all the others that looked strangely like it was made just so it could be used for that purpose. It had an archway of dense hedges like all the other entrances and high boundary bushes like all the others, but it had a smooth almost obsidian-like floor, instead of the rough paving stone that the additional rows all seemed to be covered by.

Faith walked up to the far side of the row that reminded her of those dead ends in those little maze puzzles, <That’s what this is though, > She thought bitterly, <A game some little demon thought up to punish me for… something. >

Angel looked at Faith as she sat down on the glassy floor. She drew in her knees to her chin and wrapped her arms around them.

"The floor’s freezing," She shuddered.

"I think that’s the first time you’ve spoken to me since that first fight," And it was true, their trip through the walk-in Rubik's cube had been mainly in silence except for the occasional "I hate this," or "Look where you’re going." He didn’t even remember her using his name.

"Sorry," She said in a mocking tone, "I’ve had a lot on my mind." She shivered again.

He rolled his eyes and took off his jacket, "Here," He handed the jacket to her, "Take it, lord knows I won’t be cold."

"Thanks," She covered herself with the leather, providing some warmth as her body’s heat circulated through it. She cocked her head to the side and looked up at Angel, who was retreating to the opposite corner, "Angel," He turned around when he heard the lack of spite in her voice that she it usually contained.

"Yeah?" He asked and moved back to where she was, but still remained standing.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked.

"Doing what." He motioned down, silently asking for a seat, she nodded and he slid down next to her.

She turned to face him; "Acting like we’re still friends." Angel was awestruck, Faith sounded so sincere, hurt even, as if she were expecting him to turn away and tell her she was evil and not worth the slayerettes, that she never had truly been one of them.

He said the least thing she expected, "Because I think we still are." She smiled slightly and he went on, "I think you aren’t really evil, I mean you’re just misled. I’m sure the mayor offered something Buffy and the slayerettes couldn’t. Maybe what you needed was the love that he seems to provide you with. I’ve seen him with you, I mean except for the evil; he seems like the father figure you really need. I don’t begrudge you that. I think, in fact, you needed it."

"Gee," Faith shivered again, "And Dr. Laura thinks she’s good."

"Well, if you’ve been around as long as I have, you learn a thing or two about human nature." He smiled down at her, "You know, I think it’s a little too cold out here to fare with just a jacket as a blanket. Come here." He held out his arms and she scooted into them, sharing what little heat Angel had with Faith’s warm body.

"Thanks," She said and looked into his eyes.

"For what?" He asked.

"For understanding me." She smiled.

"Like I said," He held her closer to him, "You and me, we’re a lot alike."

She chuckled softly, "I’m beginning to see that." She snuggled into his arms and fell asleep, though Angel spent hours just watching her. How her body rose and fell when she breathed, how innocent she looked, how she relaxed in his arms the way Buffy hadn’t, not even when she was sleeping, since that night when he turned back. He enjoyed it.

Faith woke up, forgetting where she was for a moment. She felt two male arms engulfed around her body, but no pulse and no breathing. Her first thought was to run because she was being held by a corpse, and then all the past night’s events and Angel came flowing softly back, she snuggled back down and blinked her eyes up, expecting to have blinding sunlight fall upon her lids, but it was still night. She also expected to be hungry or have morning breath or something, but it was like time was suspended and her body and her surroundings weren’t reacting as her mind was. She wriggled from Angel’s grasp and stood up. All remnants of sleep were gone, no dried tears that usually formed in the corners of her eyes, and she was completely alert, as if she just been zoning out for a couple of minutes and had just come back down to Earth. It was all too weird.

She tuned back to Angel and shook him softly, "Come on," She cooed softly, "Don’t just lie there and have me fend on my own. Please, wake up." Angel’s eyelids slowly rolled up and his eyes turned to her, he smiled.

"Angel," Faith said but didn’t return his expression, "Come on, we really have to find a way out of here. It’s like we’re in some kind of warp."

"What," Angel shook his head, "Some kind of warp?"

"Have you craved blood since we’ve been here," He shook his head, "It’s still night out, even though I know we’ve been out for hours and there’s no way we could have slept until nightfall, you would have turned to dust." Faith pointed out the moon and then said, "It’s like time just stopped and we’re just here, in this weird web of dreams or something. I mean the monsters disappear after we start fighting them, the walls change when we turn around. What other explanation is there than we were left here to wander around forever?" Faith fell against the hedge wall and crawled into a fetal position, silently crying in frustration.

"Hey," Angel cradled her in his arms, "It’s okay, we’ll find a way out. It was just a challenge, remember, we had a choice in this, we’ll get out of this." His voice turned soft as he said, "But I wouldn’t change a moment of last night for a chance to get out."

Faith giggled through her tears, "Me neither."

"Good," He smiled, "We’re going to find a way out of here, okay. And even if we don’t, it’s not like we’ll go stir crazy because we’re alone, we are still here together."

"Okay." She returned his smile and let him pull her up.

They had trailed through the twists and turns and changing blocks for hours, success only in becoming more confused and frustrated at every minute. Faith more so than Angel, after all, he had dealt with a life somewhat similar to this maze of mental torture for almost a hundred years; isolated, constantly changing scenery, when you blinked, turned a corner, painstaking agony in loneliness and an almost sobering fright of what lay behind, at the end. She was just a child, as far as the present standards go, seventeen years old, dealing with a likelihood of never leaving a world where she was suspended.

Faith leaned back against her barrier, her captive walls, and took in a breath. It caught, and she fell, starting to sob, realizing that there was no way she could get out.

Angel rushed to her, whispering, "It’s gonna be okay Faith. Hey, I’m here."

She rolled her eyes up, staring at him curiously for a moment, then looked back down, turning almost comatose.

"Hey Faith," He whispered, "You don’t have to worry, we’ll get out."

Her hand whipped out as she threw him away from her, "Stop treating me like glass, I’m not Buffy." She screamed, then swallowing and lowering her voice she said, "I’m not going to break." She curled her arms around herself and let her neck go limp, her head collapsing into her lap.

Angel sat up, stunned. He didn’t want her to turn away from him. Faith had opened up to him last night in a way he could never have hoped for her to do, he didn’t want their connection, the one he felt last night, to slip away just because she was too stubborn to let him comfort her.

"Faith," He sat down next to her cautiously, "Please, don’t close off to me." He tried to pull her to him, but she shook him away, turning from him quickly. "Let me back in." She remained unresponsive, "I felt something last night, I know you did too. You let me know a little bit about you, and you didn’t push me away. Do you know what that meant to me?"

She turned back to him, a look of amazement written on her shiny from tears face, "It meant something, to you?"

He smiled, happy to finally get her back, "Didn’t it to you? You showed me a part of you that you’ve never showed anyone before. I felt like I could hold you forever when you curled into my arms. And, yes, I felt something. I felt more love for you in that moment than I’ve ever had, for anyone, not even Buffy." She smiled and new tears flowed down from her eyes.

"I think that’s the first time anyone’s ever said that to me, and meant it." Faith sniffled.

Angel’s face turned serious as he looked into her eyes, "Faith, if you would just let me, I could love you so easily. I could show you that not everyone in the world is out to get you. Just let me in." He held her hand in his and kissed it, "Please."

She looked into his eyes and put her hand to his cheek, "Show me." He put his hand over where hers rested on his cheek, bringing it down to his lips and kissing her palm, then he pulled her close to him and placed a soft kiss on her lips. She placed her hands around his back, pulling his against her and turning the kiss into a passionate clash of lips and bodies, bringing him on top of her and pushing her hands up the bottom of his shirt.

Just as she was pulling his shirt from his body, he rolled off of her and broke the connection of their lips. She sat up, panting.

"What’s wrong," Faith pulled her hair back behind her ear and started to catch her breath.

"We can’t," Angel said, "The curse."

"Your soul," Faith nodded, "You can’t have sex."

"No," Angel shook his head, "It’s a happiness clause, I can’t have a moment of happiness. And the thing that worries me is, I might not have to make love to you to have a moment of happiness."

She smiled, "I could make you happy?"

"Oh, yes," Angel crawled over to her and put his palm to the back of her neck, bringing her face close to his, "Immensely." She smiled and went to capture his lip again, but blinding flash broke off from in front of them.

Faith blinked away from the light and brought her eyes back to the spot when the light had disappeared. There, again, stood the little demon that was responsible for the captivity.

"Oh," Faith said harshly, "You again."

The demon gave no answer, but waved his hand over his face, the demon visage disappearing and a human face was revealed.

"Whistler?" Angel said, astonished.

"Surprise, Angel," The man said and stepped towards the two, "You didn’t really think some random demon was going to put two people in a maze for their own amusement did you? The truth is, the balance was off. Faith had tipped the scale of good and evil when she went over to join the mayor; we had to get her back on our side. The maze was my idea, neat, huh."

"Okay," Faith turned to Angel; "I’m confused."

"This is Whistler, "Angel clarified, "He found me when I was living in Manhattan. He’s a good demon, he keeps the balance of good and evil even."

"Yeah," Whistler interrupted, "When you went all rebellion, you tipped the equilibrium of the scale, and since we had to get you back, I figured this gig out. You already were attracted to each other, so I knew this would drive you over the edge."

"So you’re gonna let us go back into our little demon filled world and be all peaches and cream again," Faith said skeptically, "What about Buffy and, well, everyone else."

"I never said it’d be easy," Whistler said and they found themselves outside the library in Sunnydale, "I’d guess this is the real challenge that you chose to accept. But knowing you two, you’ll find a way. You’re both fighters, and you have each other. Good luck kids." He disappeared as the last word was said, leaving Faith and Angel on their own.

THE END