Chapter Seven
Unwelcome Guests
The next few days were not much different from Faith's first day at the Summer's household after Buffy and Spike left for Los Angeles. She spent most of her nights patrolling, then slept more than half the day away. And as far as Willow and Dawn could tell, Faith was enjoying her stay, and was taking advantage of their hospitality. Any time she was hungry, one or the other would be there to fix whatever she wanted. She never had more than one or two changes of clothes of her own, so she often helped herself to any of their clothes she took a fancy to. Of course after patrolling, there were the rips and tears, and dirt and blood stains that usually meant they were destined for the rag bag.
"How long are we going to put up with her crap?" Dawn complained to Willow right after Faith left to patrol. "I'm getting sick her!"
"I know," Willow sympathized. "I'm tired of her too. But we don't to piss her off. You know she's unstable, and the slightest thing might make her call the Council and tell them about Buffy."
"Well, I know for a fact she's called them, and she hasn't said anything yet."
"But that doesn't mean she won't."
"How much longer do you think she's going to stay here?"
"I wish I knew. I'll tell you what - tomorrow afternoon I'll fix her a really nice lunch, and when she's in a good mood, I'll ask her how long she's staying and what she's decided about Buffy."
"What if she says the same thing she always does - that she's still doesn't know?"
Willow just shrugged her shoulders.
The next afternoon Faith didn't get up until almost three. And she was in a bad mood. Nothing seemed to go right on the previous night's patrol. Four of the seven vampires she fought managed to get away from her. And when she went after several demons, they also managed to escape. Twice Willow tried to bring up the subject, but Faith wasn't listening, she just bitching about her bad night. Willow heard the front door bell but ignored it when she heard Dawn yell out she had it.
A minute later Dawn came into the kitchen. "Uh, Faith."
"What!"
There are some men on the front porch who want to see you."
"What do they want?" Faith's mood wasn't getting any better.
"I'm not really sure, but the one who asked for you has an English accent."
"Oh, shit!" Faith said almost under her breath. Then louder she said, "Just what I need."
As she went through the house to the front door Willow and Dawn exchanged worried looks.
x...x
As soon as Angel came down the stairs, Cordelia grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into his office.
"Angel, I'm sorry, but Buffy and Spike have to go. No, I m not sorry - they have to go."
"Look, I know things have been a little tense these past few days, but I don't see where they've done so much."
"Of course you don't! So let me spell it out for you, starting with Spike, and whenever he sees you walk into the room. Just as soon as you do, he's all over Buffy - stroking her hair, rubbing her back, just for the look on your face."
"It's not like that."
"Yes it is, It's exactly like that. And I'm not the only one who's noticed it."
"I - "
"Moving on to Buffy and Charles. Ever since Charles threatened to stake Spike, Buffy has made a point of arguing with him, and contradicting him, and doing everything she can to give him a reason to give her a reason to beat the hell out of him, or worse."
"Are you sure? They don't seem to be so adversarial to me."
"Well of course not. When it comes to Buffy, you're wearing blinders."
"I'm not wearing blinders."
"But that's not all. Spike keeps trying to stir things up with Wesley and Charles and Fred."
"Stirring up, how?"
"By telling Wesley that Fred deserves someone better than Charles. That she'd be better off with someone else, anyone else, than Charles. And Charles knows it, and when he's had enough he's going to go after Spike and then things are going to explode."
Before Angel could answer, Fred tapped on the office door and stuck her head inside. "Cordy, there's phone call for you."
"Take a message!" she snapped. Fred eased back out of the office and shut the door.
"Angel you have to do something, and you have to do it now."
"Like what?"
"Well, for one, get Buffy and Spike out of here. Send them back to Sunnydale, or at least to another hotel."
And again, Fred interrupted. "I'm sorry, Cordelia, but the woman on the phone said her name is Willow, and it's important."
"Okay. I'm coming," she said. Then almost under her breath she added, "Let it be good news for a change."
Angel followed her out of the office.
"Hey, Willow," Cordelia said into the phone. "What's up?"
She listened for a few seconds as everyone gathered around, curious about what was going on.
"Oh yeah? ... Really? ... Good ... That's the best news I've heard all week ... Okay, I'll let them know ... Thanks for calling. 'Bye"
Cordelia turned to Buffy. "Well, Buffy, you and Spike can go back home now. Faith has been called back to Cleveland, and the Council knows nothing about you. So - see ya."
"Is that all she said?" Angel asked.
"Yep. Pretty much it - Faith's leaving, Buffy and Spike can come home." She then looked at Buffy again. "You're still here?"
"Still daylight, Love," Spike said. "Gonna be a while yet."
"You'd let a little thing like that keep you here?" she retorted.
"It'll be dark in four or five hours," Angel interrupted. "I'll drive you to Sunnydale. I'd like to see everyone again."
"Right," Cordelia came back sarcastically. "Be sure to tell Faith how much we miss her."
x...x
It was almost ten p.m. when Angel's car passed Buffy's house. Just to be on the safe side, he parked several houses away and they came in through the kitchen door. Willow, Dawn and Faith were waiting for them. There were hugs all around from Willow and Dawn for Buffy and especially Angel. Spike was mostily ignored. After that, Faith hugged Angel longer and tighter than the others. And just as a dig to Buffy, she took Angel's face in her hands and kissed him soundly on the mouth.
"It's good to be home," Buffy told them, not letting Faith know her little display bothered her. Then to Faith she said, "So what's this about you going back to Cleveland?"
"Some of Travers' guys were here this afternoon. They said the Hellmouth in Cleveland was acting up. No specific details, just that the whole city could collapse into it if I didn't get back there and take care of business. They gave me a bus ticket, so I'm ready to go. Don't worry, I didn't say anything about you. But it took some convincing that the Hellmouth was quiet enough that the civilians, you know - Willow and Xander, could handle things for a while. Otherwise a dozen or so of their commandos would take up residence here."
"So, just out of curiosity, why didn't you tell them about me?" Buffy asked.
"I thought about it, a lot, but it was something Little Sister said right after I got here that convinced me not to."
"What did I say?" Dawn asked.
"But I guess it didn't register until they told me I had to leave."
"WHAT did I say?" Dawn asked again, louder.
"I don't remember the exact words, but it was something like 'one day I'll be gone but Buffy will here forever.' And that's the truth." Faith paused, then said, "Sunnydale needs you, B. Somebody's got to guard the Hellmouth. And as powerful as Willow is, the civilians ain't gonna cut it."
"Thanks," Buffy said.
Then before things got too emotional, Faith said to Angel, "Give a Slayer a ride to the bus station? Give us a chance to catch up."
"Sure," Angel replied. "I should still have time to get back to Los Angeles before sunrise."
He hugged Willow and Dawn again then turned to Buffy. "What I said - that you're always welcome, still goes. But next time, leave the attitude, and your boyfriend in Sunnydale." And without another word, he and Faith walked through the house and left through the front door.
"What was THAT all about?" Willow asked.
"Nothing," Buffy replied. "A little personality conflict."
"Did you do any patrolling while you were there?" Dawn asked.
"No. No patrolling. They don't do that there. They just hang around the hotel, getting on each other's nerves, and wait for paying clients to call or come in. I was bored out of my skull!"
"So, what do you want to do?"
"I think I want to see what Faith's done to my town while I was gone. I think I'll patrol for a while. We'll see you guys some time tomorrow."
And with that, Buffy and Spike left through the kitchen door and melted into the night.
The End
