Faith Lehane (slayer_faith) wrote in btvsal, @ 2009-08-15 23:47:00 |
|
|||
Current location: | The Hospital |
Current mood: | surprised |
Entry tags: | ben bale, faith lehane, place: la |
Knight in Tarnished Armor
Who: Faith and Ben
When: Saturday Evening
Where: The Hospital
When Faith first felt herself waking up, she was surprised to realize that, with the breathing and the heart beating in her chest, that she wasn't dead. Really, she had expected to wake up...well, nowhere, because she had thought that she was right dead after that thing with Candice. God, how could this have happened? Whoever Lindsey was, Faith wanted to kick that guy's ass for what he had done. Still, she had the feeling, although she didn't really have much feeling, due to what she was sure was lots of drugs, that she wouldn't be doing anything any time soon. She finally managed to open her eyes, and saw the last person she expected sitting at her bedside.
Sitting beside her, her hand clasped in both of his, was Benjamin Bale. He was asleep, and his face looked harried and tired, as though he'd been here a day or two already.
Well, if that doesn't brake out the surprise out of the bag? Faith weakly raised and arm and poked him in the side. While she didn't hold quite the venom toward him that she once did, especially after she heard about him selling his fighting ring thing, but that still didn't explain just what in the hell he was doing here.
He quickly raised his head, blinking rapidly as he regained his senses. He smiled, then, reaching over to tenderly brush her hair with his palm. "...hey. How ya feelin', beautiful?"
She blinked. "Not that I'm hating, but what are you doing here?" Really, he was the last person she was expecting at the moment.
"Let me tell you what I'm doing here." He said, turning deadly serious. "And you'll surely excuse me if I tell a small story first." He closed his eyes. "An informant of our family came to me a few days ago with some information. The... 'people', and I use that term loosely, that Candice is now affiliated with.... are the people that hired the assassins that murdered my parents a few years ago." He looked her in the eyes, letting that sink in. "And yet... I still said I had no intention of getting involved in this fight. I said I would get my revenge in my own time. Not get the family involved." He shook his head, looking at her laying there, wounded. "But then... I was told about this. That they sent their little hellhound after YOU. I believe it was meant to take a major player out of the battle. But instead...." he growled. "It added many. NOBODY attacks you, Faith. NOBODY. The Bale family is, as of this moment... going into battle alongside the Slayers."
A half crooked grin spread across Faith's face. "I'm amazed, Ben. Hearing about who actually did in your parents didn't get you motivated, but them sending my former best friend after me did. I've got to know, why? We didn't exactly part on good terms."
He hated himself for saying this... because even though Meredith wasn't there, he felt like he was cheating on her just uttering the words. "Because... I love you, Faith. And even if you go to you grave hating my guts... that'll never change. And nobody gets to hurt you while I breathe. NOBODY."
She blinked. She wasn't really sure what to say to that. In all honesty, she was half sure that she was dreaming all this up, that some part of her subconscious wanted to hear this all along. Of course, that would be admitting weakness, which she hated. "Well, then if you're really into this, then you need to talk to Giles, or Catherine. She's head Slayer, and probably less likely to shove a silver spike through you on sight than he is. You want to make me believe that you actually love me?" She sighed, not wanting to admit that what he said had any affect on her, but knowing that would be a lie. "Then fight in my place."
"I will." He said, those words an answer to pretty much everything she'd asked him to do. "We all will. Except Bretton. He's not fighting. He just... doesn't know it yet." That was another story for another time. "But I already sent David to put his old gang together. And I know when it comes to fighting... where I go, Brandon and Baily go."
She gave a slight nod to that. "Baily would whip the ass of anything you point her at," Faith pointed out. Baily just loved to fight. Great girl, but loved the fighting.
"Nobody's ever going to do anything like this to you again, Faith." His voice was both a scary, assured anger... and a touching concern. "And Candice...." his eyes grew dark there. "She WILL pay."
"I think she was lead astray," Faith pointed out. "She mentioned someone...a guy named Lindsey. Said that he was her new friend and he got her hooked up with her new pad. That name ring a bell? I think he's one of those lawyers for that big ass firm."
"Lindsey?" His voice almost degenerated into a primal growl. He felt his teeth start to form fangs, as he actually struggled to not change into his wolf form right there. "That son of a bitch... I told him if he ever hurt anyone I cared about..."
She reached up and weakly squeezed his hand. "Not here, Ben," she asked. "Save it for when you need it most." She sighed. "Frankly, until right now, I wouldn't have connected me with the phrase 'anyone you care about.'" Not that she was defending their actions. Hey, she was still in the hospital bed here!
"Just so you know..." he started, calming himself down a bit, and looking normal (if not horribly tired) again. "No matter what happens from this point on: I'm sorry. For anything I ever did to hurt you."
"I know," she said. She could kind of figure that out on her own at this point, but it was still good to hear it.
"Hopefully... once you're healed..." he forced a smile, knowing things could never be the same again, no matter how badly he wished they could. "We can be friends again. I'd love to see you back at Avarice."
"I think that can be arranged," Faith said with a slight smile on her lips. "You are going off and being my knight in shining armor, after all."
"Nonsense." He corrected her, his face smiling sadly, as if resigning himself to knowing what he really was. "My armor is tarnished. Always will be. Your knight I may be...." he leaned down to gently kiss her on the forehead. "but nothing about me will ever be shining. Rest, my Faith. You will be avenged."
"Tarnished...shining...it's more the knight part that's important than the condition of his armor," Faith pointed out, but she was already starting to doze a little bit. The meds were starting to take affect again.
He sighed, watching as she started to fall back to sleep. He knew he lost her... but he knew it was his fault. And he'd still die to keep her safe.