FIC: Three Years in Hell, A Lifetime of Pain (10/?)

[William Labarbera <asagiri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Three Years in Hell, A Lifetime of Pain


By Red Demon & Bill Gopher


Disclaimers - Beth and Co. belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and UPN.
We're just borrowing them for a while. 


Archiving - As our girl Faith said, "Want, Take, Have". Just drop us a line
and let us know where it is going.


Rating - PG-13 to light R (Things have calmed down some at this point.)


Feedback - Is like candy to us. The more you write us, the faster we write.
<mailto:Kerrison29@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Kerrison29@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or
<mailto:senseiferret@xxxxxxxxx> senseiferret@xxxxxxxxx 





Chapter 10

Sunnydale, CA


1630 Revello Drive

Xander knocked on Giles study and waiting, shuffling from foot to foot. He
was more nervous than normal. <Of course I'm nervous! Beth's dead, Will's
not talking to Joyce or anyone for that matter, Dawn sounded like she was
about to burst into tears!>
Seconds later Giles appeared, his hair was messed up and he looked like he
hadn't shaved in days. He looked surprised, "Xander what are you, um, it's
good to see you."
"Giles you were never good at lying. Can I come in? I need to talk to
you."
Giles shut the door and locked it, before sitting in his chair. "Xander was
there something specific you want to talk about?"
"Willow."
Giles cleared his throat, "What about Willow was it that you wished to talk
about?"
"Well, what is going on between Mrs. G and Will and why has Dawn been so
upset lately?"
Giles raised an eyebrow, "Xander, why are you asking me?" he said patiently.
He really did not want to get 'in the middle of things' as it were, between
Joyce and Willow. 
"Giles," Xander said exasperated. "You know why I'm asking you. Will hasn't
spoken to anyone for the last week, ever since she spoke to Mrs. G. And
Dawn's been a train wreck looking for an accident. You have to do something,
like talk to her and get her to talk to Will."
Giles stood up and started pacing. "It is not my place to interfere in my
wife's personal life in such a fashion."
"Then what about Dawn? This isn't just about Willow & Mrs. G anymore, not
when it's affecting Dawn."
Giles stopped pacing and turned to face Xander, "What are you talking
about?"
"Giles, she's been in four fights in the last 3 days. The last kid she
decked went to the hospital for stitches." Xander felt the nervousness go
away to be replaced by anger. 
"What!? Why wasn't Joyce or I notified?"
"Because Dawn told them you were in England and Mrs. G was out of state for
an art conference. I managed to calm the kids parents so they didn't press
Assault charges against her. This has to stop, and I don't mean to go up and
yell at her. I can tell you from personal experience that that does not
work. Giles, ever since Dawn found out Beth was dead she's walled herself
off so she can't get hurt. And now that things finally blew up between
Willow and Mrs. G things have gone from bad to worse."
"With Faith missing, Dawn hasn't had anyone except for Will to talk to. And
now that things finally blew up between Mrs. G and Will she's being pushed
to choose between them and that's not fair to Dawn. I gotta tell you I can
understand how Willow felt Giles. But someone needs to talk to Mrs. G and
Dawn, and since you're her dad now, you get the job." Xander paused for a
breath as he looked at the angry look on Giles' face. 
A knock on the door stopped Xander from continuing and he turned to see Mrs.
G step into the study. "Well this is my cue to leave Giles. Mrs. G, I'll see
you later." Xander walked out of the study and closed the door behind him.
As he got to the front door he paused with his hand on the doorknob and
looked at the stairs, <Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.> 
Letting go, Xander turned and quietly headed up the stairs towards Dawn's
room. Xander moved down the hallway and stopped before a door that had
several stickers on it; "Stay Out!!", "Enter At Your Own Peril" and
"Vampires Suck!". Xander chuckled at the last one and wondered where Dawn
had found it.
Raising his hand he knocked on the door, "Go away Mom!!" he heard Dawn yell
from inside the room. "Dawn, its Xander."
The door opened a crack as he saw a red-eyed and sniffling Dawn. "Hey Xand,
what's up?"
"Can I come in Dawn?"
"Sure," Dawn stepped away from the door and Xander pushed the door open and
walked in. He saw Dawn sitting on her bed holding Mr. Gordo. 
"How's that hand? You put ice on it like I told you?"
Dawn lifted an ice bag she had resting on the bed, "Yep, I just took it off.
It's helping with the swelling. Thanks Xander."
"No problem," Xander smiled nervously at Dawn. "Look Dawn, I know things are
really tough on you now. And I'm not going to snow you with stuff like 'It
won't hurt as much or It'll get better with time' 'cause that's bull. But
you can't keep getting into fights like this Dawn..."
"Or what Xander? They'll throw me in jail?" Dawn answered bitterly. "They
already took Beth away from me and now Faith's disappeared too. So what are
they going to take from me now?" 
Xander walked over to Dawn and stopped in front of her, "Dawn. What would
Beth or Faith say...actually scratch Faith, she'd be cheering you on. But
damnit Dawn, you're gonna get kicked out of school at this rate."
"It doesn't matter Xander," tears fell from Dawn's eyes and left tracks down
her cheeks. Dawn pulled Mr. Gordo into tight hug, he was all that she had
left of Beth now. 
"Yes it does Dawn. Beth loved you more than anything in this world and she
wouldn't want to see you self-destruct this way." Xander kneeled down and
put his hands on Dawn's shoulders, "She'd want you to move on, not forget
about her, but to live your life. She once told me that living in this world
is the hardest thing, 'cause it's filled with pain and loss. But the only
thing is had going for it is the people we love and who love us." Xander
pulled Dawn into his arms and held her as he felt her shake and cry. 
=======================

Mission Briefing...

Faith sat in the empty briefing room, <Well empty except for me and Samuel
that is> she thought wryly.
Faith saw him turn on the projector and a map lit up on the wall of Lyon and
St. Etienne's. 
"Our agent is being held in what was initially thought to be an abandoned
prison facility." Faith saw the image change, now it showed a large, black
building. Nearby were several buildings <Guard barracks according to intel>
further out from the buildings were guard towers, fences and razor wire.
"Now we have found out that there is a large underground facility that is
only accessible from the main building. The underground facility was used to
house the convicts that were kept here prior to the war and is now being
used to extract information from POW's. However, that is of lesser
importance."
The image changed again and a picture of a man showed now. He was Hispanic
and about 5' 11". "This is the agent, his name on this operation is
Ramirez." There was a click and the image disappeared and the lights came on
in the room.
Samuel walked stiffly, leaning heavily on his cane as he walked forward
towards Faith.
"It is of paramount importance that we get him out of there, however, if for
some reason you cannot bring the agent out. Then you are to terminate him.
We cannot afford for the information he is carrying in his head to get out."
Faith spoke up for the first time since entering the room, "What about any
POW's that may be down there? We can't just leave them there."
"We are not sending you there to 'rescue' POW's." Samuel saw Faith's
features harden. Sighing silently, "However, if you run into any you have
our permission to free them and bring them back to the extraction point."
Samuel watched Faith carefully, "You are not going there to rescue POW's, do
not get sidetracked from your primary mission in a misguided attempt to
'find' POW's there. Our intelligence shows that there are none and only our
agent is being held there at this time. Are we clear on this Miss Spencer?"
Faith nodded, "Yes." 
"If you do find any POW's you will either get them out or terminate them. We
cannot mount any further operations to 'rescue' soldiers stupid enough to
get themselves captured and the military does not have the available
resources to mount any attempts to retrieve them. So you will be doing them
a favour. Do you understand?"
Faith hid her feelings at the casual mention of murdering any POW's there.
<I can't save you Beth, but maybe I can help one of the Marines there. And
I'll be damned if I'm gonna just kill them at his say-so.> "Perfectly."
================
25 kilometers SW of Lyon
Experimental Prison Unit 52 - Gehenna
Faith spied the building from her position outside the fence, the layout of
the prison was exactly as she expected from her briefing, with a large
two-story building in the center and further out, the guardhouses on the
corners. Faith shifted the M4 Carbine she was carrying on her back as she
waited. Checking her watch she watched the seconds count down until her
'distraction'. The seconds counted down, 15...10...5, 4, 3, 2, 1. "Now!" she
whispered and suddenly there was a large explosion followed by gunfire in
the west half of the compound. A grim smile flicked across her features,
"Show time," she murmured and made her way down to the fence. Minutes later
she was inside the compound and moving towards the prison building and where
the NSA agent was being held. 
Once inside Faith moved quickly and silently to the stairs that would take
her down to the cells, turning the corner she spied a guard at the doorway
to the stairwell with his back to her. Holstering her pistol, she pulled out
a wicked looking dagger 6" long and slightly curved. Quickly moving towards
the guard she smashed him over the head with the hilt just as he started to
turn, dropping him. Turning the body over, she saw it was just a boy,
"Sorry, but I don't kill children" she muttered and pulled out a syringe and
vial she had gotten from Angel, pushing it in his arm and she filled his
veins with the medicine. "Angel said this drug would keep anyone out for
several hours, I hope he's right." Faith pulled him into the stairwell and
sat him so to the casual observer he was sleeping. Grabbing his assault
rifle, a FAMAS-2 French Army assault rifle, Faith removed 2 more clips from
his belt and pushed them in her pocket before she headed down the stairs. 
Most of the prison level was empty even of guards so far, moving to the last
set of cells Faith took out the keys from a guard who no longer needed them
and opened the door. Inside was a man lying down, a marine by his tattered
fatigues, and she moved forward towards him. Faith reached out to grab his
arm and felt a powerful arm grab her and pull her down and the marine was on
top of her pinning her. 
"Who are you?" he asked. 
"My name's Faith and I'm here to get you out."
"Do you expect me to believe you just waltzed in here?" he asked
suspiciously. Looking at his dogtags Faith could make out the name 'S.J.
Taylor'.
"Well waltzed in isn't a word I'd use, however if we don't get out of here
now, we won't be leaving, period." Looking at his figure she could see the
left side of his face was a large bruise, his eye was swollen shut and his
nose was crooked and looked broken. Slowly he let go of her and let her up.
His movements were now slow and he seemed to favour the ribs on his left and
limp. "Can you walk?" Faith asked as she handed him the assault rifle and
clips. 
"You're kidding right?" he grinned back at her. Walking out of the cell the
two headed down towards the end when a shot rang out and Taylor grunted as
he fell forward. Spinning around back the way they came Faith saw 2 guards.
Firing a hort burst, she killed one guard as she leapt into a cell and
bullets filled the air where she had been. Looking back, she saw Taylor
lying in a pool of blood. Faith fired several rounds blindly down the
hallway hitting one guard and quickly popped her head out and saw the second
guard jump into a nearby cell. 'Two can play at that,' she thought
viciously. She removed a grenade, pulling the pin and started counting "One
potato, two potato, three potato" and threw the grenade bouncing it in the
cell with the guard. A loud "WARUMMMPH!!!!" and a short scream echoed from
the cell. Checking inside she saw the guard or what was left of him at
least. 
"Faith," Hearing her name Faith ran back towards Taylor. 
"I thought you were dead." 
"Not hardly, but pretty damn close though," Taylor smiled an effort that
caused him to cough up blood. "There's still one Marine from my squad here,
you have to get her." 
"Get her?" Faith asked. "I thought there weren't any women over here." 
"There are only a few, Beth's been in my squad before the war started." 
"Come on we gotta get you outta here." 
"Beth...Buffy?" she whispered. Faith started to move Taylor but a loud grunt
of pain came out as she started to lift him up. 
"Look I'm not gonna make it out of here I can't even walk, but I can save
you and her by buying you some time. She's at the end of the hall, just
bring me the guards ammo first." Quickly grabbing up the ammo and weapons
Faith brought them back and saw Taylor had pulled himself partially in the
doorway. 
"I can't leave you Taylor, I was sent to either bring you out or..." Faith
trailed off.
"They aren't going to take me again and they aren't going to get past me
till they kill me." 
Seeing the young woman hesitate "I'm a Marine, that means there is no 'I'll
do my best or try'. You do it, period." A wolfish smile crossed his face and
Faith saw the look in his eyes and nodded. 
"Give'em hell Taylor" 
"One thing, do me a favour and when Beth is better tell her I said I'm sorry
I couldn't keep my promise", Faith hurried through the door. 
Leaning back against the doorway, Taylor thought about Faith and how she
reminded him of Beth. They both carried themselves the same way, a casual
grace that reminded him of a tiger he watched stalking a gazelle. Settling
back he heard the sound of footsteps from the stairs and waited for the
first moron to pop his head out so he could take it off. <It's time they
learn why you don't fuck with a Marine,> he thought as a wolfish smile
flashed on his face never reaching the cold look of Death in his eyes.
<<<<<<>>>>>>
Faith moved quickly down the corridor to the cell Taylor had told her where
B was. Unlocking the door and opening it Faith saw a figure lying in the
center of the small cell.
"Beth... You awake B?" The form launched itself at Faith, slamming her into
the wall. Before she could regain her wits, she was thrown roughly to the
ground. Her head slammed into the floor. She heard a growl and looked up at
the dirt and rags covering the person on top of her. Faith saw the matted
long hair hiding the face. She reached up and moved the hair out of the way
and saw Beth's battered face. Beth's eyes were closed and she leaned in
close to her neck and sniffed. Faith watched as Beth did this several more
times before a look of recognition came over Beth's face.
"B, we have to get out of here. We have to go now!"
"Out? We go out now? Good." Beth moved off of Faith and took measured steps
and stopped near the door. "Mate come too. No stay here, bad." Faith watched
as Beth turned and cocked her head back down the hallway where she had come
from. "T..Tay. Tay come too. Go now. More they come soon."
Faith heard gunfire from down the hallway where Taylor was. "Okay B, we're
gonna go now. Follow me close okay?" Faith moved past B and stepped out into
the hallway, <Shit, we're not going back that way. There should be another
stairwell about 5 meters back.>
Faith felt B touch her on the small of her back as she started moving
quickly back towards the stairwell. She reached back to take B's hand to
guide her when Beth pulled her hand out of Faith's.
"NO! Not hold hand, can walk." Faith sighed mentally, "Okay, I won't hold
you're hand B." Faith took B's hand and put it on her right shoulder. "Now
I'm not holding your hand B and you know where I am, k?"
Faith heard machine gun fire from the doorway where she left Taylor followed
by a large explosion and the gunfire stopped. "We'll see Tay later B. He'll
be okay, but we have to go now." Faith opened the door and started inside
the stairwell, B's hand was still clutching her shoulder as they slowly made
their way up. <Take care Taylor. Thanks.> Faith turned her attention back to
climbing the long stairwell and getting her and B out of this hellhole and
towards the landing zone where the 'copter waited to take them home.
<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Stopping at the edge of the tree line, Faith surveyed the once open ground.
Bodies lay strewn about the field, and several small fires and 2 large,
flaming wrecks that were once helicopters. 
Faith moved towards the edge of the field and stopped, staying in the
shadows. She took B's hand off her shoulder and turned to look at her.
Beth's breathing started increase. 
"Mate okay? We go home now. Home, we go home now!" Faith put her hand over
B's mouth to stop her from talking. "I have to go check this out, you stay
here B."
"Mate leave? Mate angry. Not come back. B is bad." Faith saw the crestfallen
look on B's face and moved back over to her. "I'm just leaving for a few
minutes and then I'm coming right back. I promise." Faith reached out and
lifted Beth's chin gently with her hand. "I'm not angry, really. I'll be
right back. But you have to stay here and be quiet. There might be bad
people out there. Okay?"
She saw a smile blossom on Beth's face, "Be back? Good. B stay, be quiet."
Faith felt her heart melt as she saw the smile on Beth's battered face.
Leaving Beth hidden Faith moved thru the field quickly and quietly using
every ounce of skill she had to avoid being seen. As she approached one
wreck she could see it was the copter that was supposed to fly her out,
about 30 yards away was the second copter. Looking at the second chopper she
saw it was a Blackhawk and the markings on it said "US Marines", <What the
hell is going on here?> She stopped at the first body and flipped it over.
She saw the unit patches on the shoulder, a triangular blue field with two
red 1's in the center. <Shit! Marines here? What the hell?> She pulled the
Alice Pack off the Marine and stripped him of weapons and ammo, stuffing
them in the pack and shouldered it. Faith checked the rest of the bodies and
found they were a mix of Marines and her NSA retrieval team.
<This is just frigging great!> Faith moved from body to body grabbing
anything she thought could be of use and headed back to where she left B.
Faith got back to where she left B, but there was no-one in sight. A figure
pounced on her from behind knocking her down and dropping both Field Packs. 
"Back!" said a loud whisper from behind her. "Was quiet! Surprised mate!"
Faith could hear the smile in Beth's voice and turned over to see B hovering
only a few inches above her and a broad smile on her face. <What is with
this mate thing she keeps saying?> Faith thought.
"Yes I'm back B. I promised. We have to go now. We aren't going home this
way."
"We get Tay. Tay hurt. Take Tay home." The smile started to slip off her
face. "Go home now!"
"Please B, we have to be quiet." She pulled Beth away feeling the skin and
bones underneath her fingers and shuddered. "If we're not quiet, the bad
guys will get us again, okay?"
"No go back, never. Where Tay? We go get Tay. Go home."
Faith thought quickly what to say, "No, Tay's not back there now. He'll meet
us later." Faith pulled out an energy bar and removed the wrapping. "Hungry?
I have food B." Beth's eyebrows shot up, "Food? Yes hungry." Faith pushed
the bar into B's hands and watched her almost swallow it without chewing.
"Okay B, lets go now." <We have to get out of here before the fires bring
every soldier in this country down around our necks.>

TBC...