Ankeny Iowa – The Hospital

"Nice job on the bones Alex" Faith hit him as she walked up toward him. She was pissed. Alex took on his defensive look of confusion, genuine confusion for once. She stopped just short of head-butting him in the face and stared. Aggressively.

"What are you talking about? We got them," Alex was calm, but firm. What was she talking about? They'd got him. They'd dug him up. Salt. Fire. Gone. Surely it was over. Alex took a moment to mental discipline himself. If it was over Faith wouldn't have phoned him to meet in the hospital. Things were far from over. At least this time someone had survived.

"Lori's dad. Hook through the shoulder. He'll be fine. Proves we were right though. About Carnes." Faith looked over her shoulder frequently. Through a little window Alex could see Lori talking to her father, whose arm was now encased in protective and absorbent bandages. He looked a complete state. Lori was quite upset, that was clear, but Alex caught an odd glimmer in her eye. He couldn't put his finger on it.

"What's the next step?" He was speaking to Faith, but it wasn't her voice that answered him.

"You must have missed something in the grave." Sam was defiant, certain. Alex didn't like it. He made a childish face at him, then realised what he looked like and stopped. Faith shot him a dangerous look. Alex was in the wrong here, and she was determined to make sure he knew it. Dean stepped in, seemingly from no-where. These brothers had a habit of sneaking up it seemed.

"We burned everything in that grave." Dean snapped across, almost snarling in Faith's direction. Alex flinched slightly, not expecting it at all. They stood for a moment, in silence. Each of them lost in their own private battle of thoughts. Before long, Faith spoke. Her voice was calm, but insistent.

"Alex, can I talk to you for a second?" She shot a look at Dean. "Alone."

"What's up Faith?" Alex asked, once out of earshot of their accomplices. Faith lowered her guard slightly, letting some semblance of true emotion enter her eyes. Longing. Her voice came out soft and wavering slightly.

"Do you have any idea how hard last night was for me? Last night was almost breaking point for me. We need to wrap this up and move on. Now." She was very determined. Alex put a hand on her shoulder, gently stroking the fabric of her top with his thumb. Her expression softened slightly. "Look, we can't wait much longer. These guys are really starting to get to me now." Alex looked over his shoulder to where Dean was getting a verbal beating from his brother.

"Really? I kinda like them." He smiled to himself. Faith caught it and jabbed him in the ribs, playfully.

"Yeah, I bet you do." She laughed to herself before walking back over to the brothers. She kept grinning at Alex until she was almost at her destination. She turned around, grin fading and regained her 'business' composure. Even from the distance he was at, Alex could hear the sharp tone in the orders issuing from her lips.

"Hey guys, I'm thinking a bar is in order. Any calls in agreement?" Alex moved in to the boys' rescue. They quickly chorused their aggreement before walking off, leaving Faith trailing in the middle of a sentence.

"Sam, you need to- Where do you guys think you're going?" She watched them down the corridor but did not move.

"Bar," was all she heard of Alex's voice as the door swung closed behind them.