The afternoon neared its end, noticed Faith when she glanced at the old wall clock hanging at the main wall of the shed. The clock's hands moved to show five pm and a piercing alarm then rang. Faith finished to close the cardboard box which she was working on with a wide gesture of the sealer before putting it back into place. Then she lifted the box and put it on a cart she found a few feet from there. Finally, she removed the large worn-out gloves she was wearing and casually threw them into a basket near the cart like a dozen men around her. While most of her colleagues of the day headed for the door, Faith just looked around the room, searching for someone. She spotted a moderately tall man wearing an orange vest who was automatically each of the men as they left, while himself looked rather focused on the piece of paper he held in his hand.
Faith walked resolutely toward him and he looked up as she approached.
"Hey Faith," he told her. "Good day?"
"S'okay," Faith grumbled, as she obviously was not there to do small talk. "I'd like to get may day paid"
He nodded quickly, obviously aware of what she would ask before she did. He put away the papers he held on a stool near the cart where dozens of carboard were now piled, and gestured for her to follow. They crossed the shed until arriving to a small locked office, and Faith followed him inside.
"I take you ain't staying then?" the man asked, his name being Billy according to the tag hanging at his chest.
"I'm not sure," Faith answered on a non-committal tone. "I wasn't supposed to stay at all."
"I know," Billy answered while rummaging in a drawer. "You told me you'd take the job only for a day or two. But you're a good worker. If you want to be back tomorrow, you'll be welcome"
Faith nodded her head, but did not bother to reply. Billy took a pocket calculator from the drawer, took a pen, did some calculation he wrote down to a piece of paper, then he opened another drawer of the desk from which he took a few bills that he put in an envelope with the aforementioned piece of paper. Finally, he handed it to Faith.
"Thanks," Faith said quickly, putting the envelope in her pocket.
"If you leave and go south to California, I can arrange you to meet my uncle," Billy said gently. "He had a factory of his own near Fresno. Tell him I'm sending you and he too will accept to take you on a daily basis."
Saying this, he rummaged once more in a drawer and got a small card from it he handed to Faith. The brunette grabbed it and thanked him again while Billy locked the drawers again and was getting ready to leave. Once outside, he closed and locked the door carefully.
"I hope I see you tomorrow," he said with a smile while Faith was getting away. "If not, good luck then"
Faith nodded and said goodbye once more, then crossed the shed door. Once outside, she took the tag with her name that she wore at her chest, crumpled it and threw it in the closest dustbin. Finally she took the way to her motel. She walked fifteen minutes before finally seeing the motel appearing at the end of a long monotonous street. Like the day before, Faith stopped by the reception door. The receptionist were still two at work at this time of the day, and as no patron were there, they were talking quietly. Faith wavered a second for a moment then finally decided to push the door opened. The women behind the counter interrupted their conversation as she entered and one literally jumped to her feet.
"Hello!" she exclaimed happily. "I am Marietta and I am at your service. What can I do to help you?"
Faith rolled her eyes and found herself at a lack for words, not really knowing why she had come in.
"Hum..." she said after a moment. "I am a customer. Room 112 since last week."
"Of course!" Marietta interrupted on a piercing tone. "I've recognized you of course!"
Faith did not reply to the woman's wide smile, and after a brief hesitation, she finally asked in a somewhat embarrassed tone:
"Did I get visitors or phone call while I was away?"
"I'm checking immediately!" the woman answered with no less enthusiasm than previously.
She rummaged slightly around her, checked a registry, before turning back to Faith.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have nothing for you. Do you expect something or somebody in particular? Is there something we can note down to be sure we don't miss it?" she added, already seizing a pen.
"No, no," Faith answered. "You don't need to... It was... just in case. Thank you."
And with that, she quickly went out to go back to her room.
It was as desert and unchanged as the day before. Her clothes drenched by the previous night's rain were still drying on the chair or lying on the opened bed, while an empty pizza box was still scattered on the table.
"Room service's not terrible..." the Slayer grumbled.
She came back to the door and opened it and noticed wearily that she had forgot to remove her "do not disturb" tag. She had not even noticed when she first came in in her haste to enter. She took it from the handle and casually threw it on the desk after closing the door once more. Then she retrieved her day salary from her pocket and the envelope Billy had given her ended on the desk in its turn. After a brief moment of hesitation, she started then to clean the place: she tore the pizza box and put it in the trashbin, gathered her clothes and rapidly folded them. While she was struggling with a particularly difficult shirt, it occured to her that she had not needed to clean anything for quite some time. She shook her head to forget the idea as quickly as it had come, and finally gave up on folding the shirt correctly. It eventually ended balled up in the deep of her travel bag.
When she was done with her task, Faith plopped down on the chair by the desk and took the calendar from underneath everything that had been thrown over. The last two days had been crossed in black, and the Slayer stared at the dates for a moment, seemingly lost in deep thoughts. Her fingers ran over the days, then she turned to a half unfolded map of the area on which a itinerary had been drawn with a pencil. She remained still several minutes, her right hand's fingers taping the edge of the table while the left one went from the calendar to the map. Finally, Faith threw the calendar back to its original place and stood, sighing.
"The hell with that," she said for nobody to hear. "Let's have some fun after all!"
Faith did not know if the 'Holding the night' was the only place in the area where she could dance – which was probably true – but anyway, it was the only place she knew and she liked the bar enough. Decided to make the most of her recent freedom, the brunette was moving with her usual ease in the middle of the dancefloor, the ambiance being quite different from her previous visits. Some remixed Madonna appeared to be the theme of the night. She knew how to get people to look at her if she wanted to, and though she was way calmer than she used to be, tonight was no exception. Having still not decided what she expected from that night, Faith just ignored her suitors offers for the time being, only answering to Jason Jr waves of hand from behind his bar.
As a new song started, Faith headed for the counter, refused a new offer as she passed and plopped down onto a stool. The waiter quickly came to her.
"What would you like?" he asked kindly. "Another beer?"
She nodded, and seconds later, a full mug was standing under her nose. When she made as if to rummage her pockets for money, he raised his hand to protest.
"No, no, no," he said firmly. "This is for me."
Faith did not need to be told twice.
"Having a good night?" Jason asked as he settled in front of her.
As the Slayer nodded, and before she gave a vocal answer, he looked around and asked:
"Tara's not with you?"
"Looks like not," Faith answered, slightly annoyed; and she did not give any detail.
He must have gotten her tone of voice because he did not push the issue.
"I thought you were only here for a few days. Staying for a while ?"
The brunette shrugged.
"Dunno," she said in a non-committal tone. "I was thinking about leaving tomorrow or the day after. Still not sure."
"Going where?"
She shrugged again casually.
"Dunno,' she said once more. "I think I'll see when I leave."
He wanted to add something, but seeing how Faith looked annoyed, the young man did not quite know what to say. But Faith decided she would not ruin her evening, and changed the subject herself.
"What about you? What have you done with your father? I didn't see him around tonight."
It was his turn this time, to look annoyed, at the mention of his father.
"He's not there," he confirmed. "I kind of avoid him these days."
"Have you reached a decision?" she asked.
He grimaced slightly.
"I called the number you gave me. I explained what happed to a man, just like you said..."
He fell silent, appeared to be thinking about what to say.
"I know that what happened was terrible. But he's still my father..."
Faith gave him the ghost of a bitter smile.
"Yeah, I kinda get that," she said, more for herself than him, as she raised her mug to her lips.
He wavered a little, ignored the gestures of a girl who was trying to get his attention, and turned again to Faith before asking in a whisper:
"What will they do to him if...?"
It took Faith half a second to understand what he meant, then she shrugged after a brief hesitation.
"I don't really know..." she admitted in a sympathetic voice. "It's not really my thing."
When she saw the disappointed look appearing on his face, she hastily went on:
"But they're not murderers. They're the good guys. Most of the time."
She realized that this last part would not do anything to reassure him but it was too late. She tried a smile, but the conversation stopped there.
"Thanks for the information, but I gotta go, too many people waiting..."
With that, he quickly went to the group of patrons who were waiting for a drink a few feet away from the Slayer. The brunette's loneliness did not last though. Jason had hardly left when someone else plopped down on the empty stool to Faith's right.
"Hey," the newcomer said happily.
The young woman turned her head and recognized Luke. He was broadly smiling at her, obviously happy to meet her.
"I didn't expect to see you again," he confirmed. "You told me you were leaving the day after." he added, mentioning his last encounter with the Slayer.
Faith shrugged.
"Change in plans," she answered casually, hardly looking at him.
"Can't say it bothers me," he said, still smiling. Then, he looked around, as if looking for something or someone, and added:
"Tara's not here?"
Faith shook her head and took another sip of her drink.
"No, she's not here. She left."
"Oh," he simply commented, probably trying to decipher Faith's somewhat mysterious tone on the subject.
He wavered shortly, before deciding to make the most of this piece of information.
"So, I've got you all for me tonight then?" he asked with a somewhat mischievous smile.
His good mood and optimism finally got the better of Faith, and she smiled. She turned frankly to him, considered his happy expression and brightened a little:
"You have no idea..."
It was raining again, Vi told herself when she awoke : it was a light rain which she could barely hear streaming along the gutters or against the windows. The woman turned to the alarm-clock on her bed table to her left. The bright red numbers displayed midnight. Vi whispered lazily and stayed a few minutes to listen to the sounds outside, wondering what had woken her. A storm maybe? But she could not hear any thunder rumble in the distance, and the sound of the rain was definitely too low to be the reason she was awake in the middle of the night, even if she had become a light sleeper over the past two years. She rose on her elbows and listened again. Rain, wind blowing in the leaves. Despite her enhanced Slayer senses, Vi did not hear anything else. She finally fell back on her mattress and turned to the wall, deciding to come back to sleep. She closed her eyes and pulled the blanket up to her chin.
She turned and turned again in her narrow bed, but there was nothing she could do : sleep would not come to her. After half an hour struggling to get back to sleep, Vi gave up. She groped around for the switch of her bed lamp and sat up as she switched the light on. She looked around her small room to make sure nothing had moved. The check was quickly done: though she enjoyed a personal room, it was her unique privilege. The room was tiny and only contained a single bed, a bed table and a large wooden wardrobe. Vi had taken the time to put some decoration on the walls to make the place somewhat more welcoming : in particular, a large corked panel was hung over her bed with pictures of family and friends. In the middle of them, a large picture of herself, Rona, Kennedy, Sho-Ann and a few others taken just a few days after the battle in the hellmouth, could be seen. There was no more private bathroom in her room than in any other. Vi shared the bathroom right next to her room with two other Slayers.
She finally stood and quickly slipped into a pair of gray leggings she found on the edge of the bed, then took a black polo-neck sweater in the back of her wardrobe. A pair of shoes and socks later, Vi rummaged in the drawer of a bed table to find a flashlight. With that in hand, she went out in the corridor as silently as possible. Vi scanned her surroundings at the light of her torch. There was no single sound nor move. The young woman walked toward the stairs, attentive to any noise. She climbed the stairs up to the second floor which was just as still and silent. Vi crossed the corridor slowly, sometimes pausing behind a door to listen. Once relieved, she resumed her silent walk to the next stop. At the end of the corridor, Vi found herself in front of a glass door opening on an outside platform which lead to the main wing of the building. Vi considered the rain streaming along the window for a few seconds before deciding to push the door open carefully. The cold bit her face and she had to prevent herself from rushing to the main wing door and opening with noisy haste. Instead of this, Vi slipped as silently as ever in the corridor of the second floor dormitories. Everything was silent, and in the halo of her flashlight, Vi saw it was also deserted. But once arrived at the bottom of the steps leading to the highest floor, she knew her patrol would not end as calmly as it had begun: whispers could be heard from the top floor. Vi then gave up any pretense of silence and climbed the stairs two at once. At the top, three girls jumped when Vi's flashlight lighted their faces. Vi quickly walked over to them, at first shared between annoyance and worry. Worry definitely won over when she noticed that one of the boarders had been crying.
"Shirley? What happened?" she asked hastily, her tone betraying her anxiety.
As the girl called Shirley – a blonde who probably was not more than fourteen years old – started to cry again, Vi turned to the two other girls:
"Camille, Natalie, what happened?"
Both were older than their friends, and they exchanged an embarrassed look before replying:
"It's Hope..."
The name was barely spoken that Vi was rolling her eyes.
"What about her again?" she asked on a dry tone, her previous anxiety forgotten.
"I beg her Vi, I promise..." Shirley quavered, looking up to the redhead Slayer, her eyes filling with tears. "But she wouldn't listen..."
"What happened?" Vi interrupted impatiently. "Where is she?"
The three girls exchanged a new glance and Shirley cried a little louder as she opened her mouth to say something. Before Vi asked her question again, the taller of the three, Camille, answered with a slight french accent:
"She's gone."
"Gone?" Vi exclaimed, feeling suddenly very awoke. "What do you mean gone? Gone where?"
"She left," said the girl called Natalie. "She took her pack and cleared off. She took the fire escape and I think she crossed the park and climb the wall at the back where it's the lowest."
"She told us she was about to get fired and she didn't want to come home. She said she would rather leave and do her own thing." Camille resumed.
Vi rolled her eyes, once more, and her arms fell dangling at her sides.
"I can't believe it..." she whispered more for herself than for the kids in front of her.
She appeared to think for a minute while the three girls stared at her expectantly.
"What are we supposed to do Vi?" Shirley asked, drying her tears.
"Go back to bed," Vi ordered after a moment. "I'll take care of that."
"Going back to bed?" Natalie repeated.
"That's exactly what I said." Vi answered severely. "Go back to bed before waking up all the squad. We'll talk about it again tomorrow. Now."
The three girls looked at each other again, and eventually turned on their heels to comply with Vi's order, her tone leaving no room to protestation.
"Camille, Nat, take Shirley with you for the night, don't leave her alone." the redhead added.
Camille nodded and put her arm around the youngest girl's shoulder in a friendly gesture to pull her behind her and her roommate. Vi waited for the door to close behind the three girls and switched her flashlight off. She sighed once more, waited for another moment and finally turned on her heels. She nearly ran back to her room, and once there, grabbed her cellphone she had left on her bed table. She dialed a number quickly, and waited a few seconds before whoever she was calling, answered.
"This is Vi," she said hastily. "I think we have a problem..."
"It's there," Faith said casually, as she slid her room key in the lock.
A click told her the door was unlocked and she pushed it open, pulling Luke along behind her by his belt. He did not show any resistance and closed the door behind them. Faith switched the light on and Luke took in his surroundings. The room was perfectly clean, the bed was neatly made, and except a few papers and a map on the desk, he could see no personal item anywhere.
"Nice," he commented.
He sat on the bed after taking off his coat while Faith was closing the curtains. Then she came back to him with a slight smirk. He wanted to stand when she arrived beside him, but Faith prevented him to do so, and pushed him back lightly before sitting astride his knees.
"So, where were we at?" she breathed in a sensual tone as she leaned over him.
"Hum..." he answered appreciatively as the young woman slightly licked behind his ear.
Then, Faith went down his neck, and slowly on his nape, which resulted in his hairs erecting at the contact. The brunette then slid her hand to his belt and pulled his shirt off his pants before gliding her cold fingers on his skin. He shivered and stretched his hand toward her waist. Faith did not let him do what he had in mind and instead, pushed on his chest so that he fell lying on the bed.
Luke let it happen, the Slayer's forward attitude being obviously to his liking. Faith leaned over him, rolled his shirt up his chest very slowly. Her skilled fingers lingered along his sides, then his stomach, his chest, and were soon followed by the brunette's warm tongue. She removed his top and while she was about to go back to his right collarbone, he stopped her, putting suddenly his hand on Faith's neck and pulling her closer to kiss her frankly. The Slayer answered to the kiss, even biting slightly at his lips, and she ran her hands again up to his belt and opened it roughly. Luke reacted at once: his hands went down from Faith's neck to the bottom of her tank top and he started to pull it to the top. Faith stopped him and took care of that task herself. In one nimble movement, her top joined Luke's on the floor. The young man removed his shoes while Faith started to unbutton her partner's jeans before taking care of her owns. Then she grabbed the top of Luke's jeans and slid it along his thighs. When the he was finally in his underwear on the bed, she stood above him and started to slip her jeans off seductively. Luke tried to come to her help but Faith instructed him to remain still with a mischievous glance. He obeyed and watched, feeling his desire growing with each passing second. When she was finally done, the Slayer straddled her partner again, pressing her intimacy against his own, which elicited a husky whisper on his part. He pulled her closer again and tried to topple her over but Faith resisted, showing clearly she was the one in charge. She kissed him roughly while her hands caressed his chest and glided slowly against his thighs. She made this torture last during minutes that probably felt longer to Luke as he grew more and more excited, and he moaned loudly when she finally slided her hand into his underpants before removing them swiftly. He then moved his hands to the back of her bra to take it off and she allowed him to proceed. She leaned again over him to kiss him as he started to caress her breasts and she began to remove her panties, when the Slayer's cellphone suddenly rang in the room.
It did not appear to bother Luke who went on what he was doing as he did not even hear, but Faith stopped abruptly and freed herself from his embrace.
"I must answer," she said quickly and she pushed him away when he tried to capture her lips again.
"Really?" he asked seductively. "Now, you sure?"
She nodded hastily.
"Really," she replied and stood.
He sighed and fell back on the matress while Faith scanned the room, looking for her cellphone. She jumped off the bed, ran to the desk, lifted a few papers hurriedly, frenetically rummaged the pockets of her jacket hanging on the chair before gazing frantically at the rest of the room when she did not find it.
"Waiting for an important call?" Luke asked, seeing her in such a hurry to answer.
She did not bother to reply and rushed to the pile of clothes scattered on the floor. She turned her jeans' pocket inside out after disentangling them from Luke's, and finally found the ringing phone under the clothes' pile. In her haste to grab it, Faith nearly missed to release it under the bed and she had to start again twice before correctly picking it up.
"Hey, hey, it's me," she announced quickly and she stood again and taking a step to get away from Luke.
He leaned forward to watch the young woman's face with attention, wondering what mysterious call she could be waiting so impatiently. But when the caller spoke, it soon became evident to the look of deep disappointment which replaced the one of hope on Faith's face, that whoever was calling was not the person the brunette was expecting.
"Oh, Giles, it's you..." Faith mumbled, not even trying to hide her annoyance.
On the other end of the line, the Watcher at first, did not pay attention to the young woman's tone, as engrossed in whatever he was about to say.
"Ah, Faith," he began. "I am happy to hear y..."
Then he apparently realized the Slayer's unhappy tone and interrupted his train of thoughts.
"Hum... maybe it's a bad time?" he asked, slightly embarrassed.
"Could hardly be worse," Faith freely admitted. "What's up?" she interrupted to get to the point.
Giles only briefly wavered and swept aside any required pleasantries to go straight to his request as Faith suggested.
"I am afraid I need your help," the Watcher started.
"My help about what?" Faith interrupted again impatiently and she got a little farther from the bed and slipped her panties on again.
"Hum, we have a little problem in training center in Oregon. You do remember Violet, I suppose?"
"Of course I remember Vi..." grumbled Faith. "A redhead not as silly as she looked who was in Sunnydale?"
Giles appeared to hesitate a moment over the description. He finally cleared his throat before answering:
"Hum, I guess we put it that way..." he admitted, before resuming. "Well, Violet leads a training center for young Slayers in Oregon..."
"I've got it so far," Faith cut him again. "What's the problem?"
"If you just stopped interrupting me..." Giles began.
FAith was about to react again, but the British man cut her short as he went on:
"We have a problem with one of the boarders who has escaped and..."
"Escaped?" Faith said ironically with a smirk. "I thought the kids were free to come or not?"
"They are of course," Giles replied a little dryly. "But we must consider this situation carefully as I think she might be a danger to herself and others..."
"I see..." Faith whispered, leaning against the wall behind her. "What about me? You want me to come to lecture her?"
"I would like you to go and find her," Giles explained. "And to bring her back to the center. Are you in still in Oregon? I think the best option would be to go to the center to see Violet so that she can explain herself. Your help would be greatly appreciated." he added after a brief silence.
"I'm nearly in California," Faith answered. "Where's the place?"
Giles gave her a few indications and Faith went back to the desk where she spread out her map. She looked for something, traced a route with a finger, frowning.
"It's a long road," she said. "Can't be there before tomorrow afternoon"
'I did not expect anything else," Giles answered. "Do your best. I'll inform Violet of your arrival. She will explain the details."
"Yeah..." Faith said. "Okay."
"Thank you very much Faith. I will call you back when you get there. My regards to Tara, and be careful on the road."
"Yeah..." Faith repeated with a grimace.
"Goodbye."
And he hung up. Faith remained still for a moment, her cellphone in hand. Then she grabbed her jeans at her feet and slipped it on quickly.
"What are you doing?" asked Luke surprisingly.
Faith turned around and realized that for a second, she had forgotten about him.
"Ah, sorry, I've forgotten you," she answered, not sounding sorry at all.
She slipped her jeans off again and came back casually toward the bed.
"Since you're there, let's get back where we were," she said.
"Ouch," he commented, slightly annoyed. "I've seen more excited in front of a pile of clothes to iron. Are you kidding? I'm hot and half naked in your bed. Some girls would kill for that."
He tried to put some humor in his tone to hide his bitterness a little, but Faith was not amused. She pushed him slightly on the bed, straddled him and put her hand directly to his crotch. He gasped, both in desire and pain at the brutality of the contact.
"Listen Mr Oregon or whatever you think you are, it's that or nothing. If you don't like it, you know where to find the door." she spat, leaning over his ear and increasing her pressure on his member.
He appeared to waver for a second and as Faith was about to stand, he finally stammered:
"Okay, as you wish, no problem."
"Perfect," Faith answered without smiling. "Let's get this done."
And she pushed him again to make him lay under her.