Faith sat on a wall by the boundary, waiting. She was bored (not to mention cold) and her coffee had frozen. This was one of the less glamorous sides of being a Vampire Slayer. She still had to wait. Faith sighed. If Robin wasn't away she would have perhaps rung him up and asked for a coffee, but still, couldn't be helped. She looked down the road. What the drivers were thinking of her was beyond her. They probably thought she was some kind of disturbed woman. Faith thought about it. It was probably true though. She definitely had been disturbed; she'd killed people. She just didn't know if that one still counted against her. Faith glanced at her watch. OK, she had been sat here fifty-three minutes. Great. She had been sat down here for fifty-three minutes. Really? It felt longer than that. She shivered. It may be coming into spring, but it was still damn cold. Why was she doing this again? Faith shook her head. One of these days someone will be able to do tracking a lot more efficiently; and when that day comes, thought Faith, I'll eat my own fricking stake.

Faith shifted uncomfortably again and stared off down the freeway. She was considering ringing either Angel or Giles to confirm how far way he would be by now; but to be fair, it was a hell of a long way for him to get to Cleveland and even if he set off directly from LA and broke every speed limit on the way there (and wasn't stopping ) it would still take him a day and a half since she called LA in the first place, and time was not something she had plenty of. He was due now. Faith pulled her coat tighter around her. Damn, it was cold. Where the HELL was he? She looked down the freeway again and smiled as she recognised a car rocketing towards her in the distance. Finally!

A black car with blacked out windows zoomed down the freeway at least thirty miles an hour over the limit. Its brakes screamed just as it passed Faith and it skidded to a stop twenty feet away. Faith gave a small smile and walked down the road towards it. Someone opened the door and got out of the car.

"OK, Faith," said the driver in a strong cockney accent. "I got your message. What's the big deal over here then?" Faith shook her head looking at the bleach-blonde vampire with an expression halfway between annoyance and relief.

"Finally," she said. "Do you know how long I've been sitting freezing my ass off out here, Spike? Jees!" Spike gave her a look of vague amusement.

"Angel, in all of his wisdom didn't tell me too much," he said slamming the door of the car. "It was pretty much, 'Get over to Cleveland. Faith needs backup,': never said why. I went as fast as I could anyway. There still are speed limits, ya know." Faith snorted.

"And when did that ever bother you, Big Bad?" she asked. "That's not my point anyway. You came here coz I called."

"I know," said Spike. "What's your problem?

"The Hellmouth," said Faith.

"What about it?"

"There's something wrong. Don't ask me what, I don't know. But things have escalated demon-wise. It's like they can sense something. Something's coming and even some of the big tough-guy demons are getting scared (and it's not just how terrified they are of me). Something bad is going to happen when demons act like that; I make a point to worry if that happens."

"And Darling Robin?"

"Brazil," answered Faith. "Went off on some demon hunting extravaganza about a week ago. That's why I called LA to get backup. I may be needing help yet." Spike shrugged.

"Hellmouths always flux and call demons over. What's different this time? Or are you just missing talking to me?" Faith smirked.

"Missed ya? Yeah I have, but I would have just dealt with it fine until I realised we got a second problem. Just before I called you I got a text from one of the other Slayers. She says there's a car carrying two very dangerous vamps (apparently), headed straight for this Hellmouth. Might be coincidence, maybe not. But ya see, I can do 'Hellmouth Apocalypse' alone, and 'Big Bad Evil Famous Vamps' alone, but I'm not risking both at once without help."

"So that's why you wanted me?" Faith nodded. "Famous vamps?" asked Spike.

"Her Watcher said so apparently."

"How dangerous?" asked Spike. Faith shrugged.

"Dunno."

"Who are they?"
"Dunno."

"Can't be too dangerous then."

"Spike, two words: no survivors! Anyone who got too close ended up dead." Spike pulled a face.

"But that does tend to attract attention." Faith looked at him.

"So you don't care about either too much then?"

"Never said that," he said. "I'm just not worried. One thing all you Slayers need to get into your heads is that I..."

"Hold that thought," said Faith, as her jacket started blasting out heavy rock music. She slid her phone out of her pocket, checked the screen, shrugged and then picked up. "Hey, Xander. How's Vegas?"

On the other end of the line, Xander Harris sighed.

"On a scale of one to ten: it sucks," he replied. "I'm missing Scotland already; at least you could have a break there."

"That bad?" asked Faith.

"Oh yeah. Vegas is like LA. It's a demon hive!"

"Sucks to be you," said Faith. "I need to get over there and help you sometime. What's going on over there?"

"Right now?"

"Might help."

"I have no idea."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not there."

"Why?"

"I had to leave. We had to wait for a replacement Slayer and then we took the first flight over here. Took longer than I thought. We tried to get to LA but then found Spike had moved over to Cleveland, so we thought it was best to meet up with him here. Angel already knows."

"What?"
"Problem that went down in Vegas yesterday, and I mean a big problem. I'd rather like to speak to you in person anyway."

"Well, Spike's here..."

"Good."

"Where are you anyway?"

"Right outside your apartment. Now can you hurry up and get home before I get Mena to kick your door down. We've had a long couple of days."

"I'll be there, just keep your Slayer away from my door or I'll have your other eye, Xander." Xander laughed. "No really," said Faith. "Eye." She didn't even have to see Xander to know how uncomfortable he was looking right about now. He'd seen her in her psycho phase and that was not something you just get over. "But anyway," said Faith, "We're coming, so just stay where you are. We'll be with you in a minute." She hung up the phone.

"What was that all about?" asked Spike.

"It's Xander," she said. "Bad news apparently."

"What bad news?"

"Dunno, so I'm gonna find out," said Faith. "Both Xander and Mena have come out of Vegas and over to Cleveland, so it's gotta be bad. If their problem has followed them here, I'll kill them. Bad enough living on a Hellmouth as it is." Spike laughed.

"Faith, as I was saying before, I can tell you now, things aren't bad." He looked back at her, revealing his vampire face and smiled evilly. "I'm the scariest thing you're gonna find in this city."

Barely five minutes after Spike and Faith had left the freeway and headed towards Faith's apartment, another car skidded through the boundary with so much force that one of the streetlamps was flattened as the car's breaks screamed. It screeched to a halt close to where Faith had been sitting only minutes ago, the driver's door opened, and a vampire got out.

She looked young, not even twenty physically, but her demonic features gave away her true disposition: a vampire, possibly centuries old, dressed all in black. She had icy white skin and sharp defined features (which could have made her look quite pretty when she was alive or not wearing her demon face) and ebony hair that fell to about two inches below her shoulders. She took a few steps away from the car, her black boots clicking as the heels hit the road and looked towards the city. She smiled, fresh blood staining her fangs and gathering in the corner of her mouth, then she turned back to look at the car and down the freeway, but really she was not looking at either. Her yellow eyes were glazed over.

"Home sweet home," she smiled, talking more to herself than anyone else who could be around to hear, and licked the blood from the corner of her mouth with a small laugh.