Thanks to a flashback, this is a bit longer than the others.
11 Months Earlier - Anaheim, California
Faith lay on her stomach in black jeans and a tight black Nirvana t-shirt, on the end of the bed facing the TV and chewing on a red vine, knees bent and boots kicked up to hover in the air over her butt and swing softly as she swayed her legs. Coming back to California to find Angel had been a bust but they were working their way up and down the coasts in teams of two or three and, unfortunately, she had been saddled with Spike and Anaheim instead of Buffy and the rubble that once was L.A. - Where the real action was. Where they would probably find Angel.
She didn't have any issues with Spike, not really. He was quick, good in a fight and fun to be around when he wasn't laying the tired and drunken old 'love-of-his-un-life, blah blah blah Buffy' crap all over her. She had sat through the endless lament that was Angel and Buffy and sitting through yet more Summers didn't appeal to her so she pretty much stayed in her room when they weren't on Angel's trail. Mostly their lives were just lazy summer days in an abandon vacation town then a flurry of activity at night when the demons crept out to party. That was, until recently.
As the season progressed, it all began to change - somehow their objective had become lost in the warm weather. They had taken to breaking into pools and sneaking into demon clubs where they gazed too long and danced too close with one another. If Buffy could see them now, she'd likely put another blade in Faith's gut for what was going on but as the summer grew more intense the Slayer had simply stopped caring. Spike, unwittingly, had become Faith's partner in crime and when it was good, it was better than good.
If Faith had been paying attention she would have noticed the tangerine light of the sun slide down the tropical wallpaper then disappear from her hotel wall as the sun set, followed only moments by footsteps and a soft rap on the door. She glanced in the direction of the sound and put the TV on mute, climbing off of the bed. She lifted a small ice pick she'd been carrying off of the top of the TV and let it fall to her side casually as she went to see who it was.
When the door finally swung open Spike was standing in the hallway with his hands in his pockets, looking down and pretending to be entranced by the garish purple and yellow Donald Duck carpeting. He glanced up when he heard the knob turn to see Faith leaning on the door frame, backlit by the last of the burning sky now that the sun was gone. When she realized who it was she smiled at him - just smiled.
Present Day - The Greene Farm, Georgia
That smile lingered in Spike's mind until a bump against his boot brought him crashing back to reality. Plate and mouth full of peanut butter cookies, Spike sat on Hershel's couch, an eyesore of goth punk vampire in stark contrast to the old fashioned country home. He finally picked his feet up as Beth caught crumbs with the push sweeper for the umpteenth time while she tried to tidy up so that Patricia wouldn't have to.
Spike sighed at having been abandon by both Slayers and bit into another cookie, getting a dirty look from Beth as she started walking the sweeper back over to the couch.
Meanwhile Faith and Buffy sat in the back of the open van, sharing a bottle of Sprite. Buffy took a sip and handed the drink back to Faith with a sigh, "So now Rick hates us. Totally not my fault, might I add."
Faith took the bottle, cigarette in the same hand, and tipped it back, "Nah, he's just freaked out is all. Gotta give him some breathing room. Besides, think this whole barter thing's gotta get done before we can stroke Earnest's ego." She held the drink out to Buffy who shook her head and make a yuk face.
"Way too hot to be drinking oven-baked Sprite."
Flicking her lit cigarette out into the yard in a way that made Buffy uneasy, "I'm on it." Faith grunted the grunt of an old man as she moved forward to pry open one of the two large red Igloo coolers they had stacked one on top of another. She shoved her hand into the cooler without looking.
Buffy visibly perked up, "Oooh, Pibb me." but her expression fell when she saw the look on Faith's face, "What's wrong?"
"We gotta make an ice run." She handed Buffy a sopping wet bottle of Mr. Pibb and grimaced, sitting back and kicking the cooler, which made a swish and rattle sound, "Shit."
"Oh… " Buffy looked at the Pibb with a little superficial dismay then her eyes went wide when she realized what it meant, "Oh! God, Faith! Grab the top one, we have to get that water out of there!"
Faith was already hauling the top cooler off of the bottom by the uncomfortable plastic handles. She handed one side to Buffy who took it and carefully backed out of the van. The two of them trudged one cooler and then the other over to the water pump to empty the melted ice via the drain spouts in a place where the water wouldn't get in anyone's way.
Buffy opened one of the coolers and inspected the contents. She made a face and opened the other cooler, grabbing one of the handles. Faith didn't have to hear the order to help, she grabbed the other side of the cooler and they dumped what was left of the ice along with sodas, lunch meat and bagged salad into the first cooler and nearly filled it up, "Well, it's something at least."
"The fuck it is." Faith huffed, picking up the empty cooler, "B, we don't get more and it's not us who's gonna pay out the ass. Don't got much left as it is, really not lovin' it's odds in the heat without ice."
Hands moving to her hips Buffy looked over the cooler situation and shrugged, "Hershel's got a generator - maybe he'll barter us a steady stream of ice until we head upstate?"
Faith sighed and grabbed the closest end of the full cooler, "Won't kill to ask, I guess." When Buffy took up her side of the cooler they made their way back to the van and pushed them both back into place, this time side by side. Faith sat up on one of the coolers and picked her warm Sprite up, "Could use weapons, too. Stakes aren't getting it done with those lame brains and we don't got the big guns with us."
Nodding, Buffy took a paper towel off of a roll that was stuck in a pocket on the back of the passenger's side seat. She dried off her soda, "I'll go in and see if I can wrangle some paper to make a list. You gonna be okay out here?"
"Without Dummy takin' up all my room?" Faith arched a brow, her head sinking back into her neck in that way she thought made her look gangsta, "Go. Do. Gives me a chance to veg."
Sighing, Buffy rolled her eyes at the choice of words and headed into the house. Faith reached into the mess of items in the back of the van and pulled out a baseball cap they'd found with a small haul of clothes from one of the abandon stores in Ohio. She sat next to one of the coolers, her back against the other and tossed the hat onto the van's floor in front of her, upside down. She started to pat her pockets down when she noticed Spike's deck of cards clipped to the passenger's visor.
Faith grimaced with the prospect of having to get up and do something herself when she saw Carl walking buy and formed a little plan to stay lazy, "Hey, kid. Uh.. Carl."
Carl slowed on his way back into the house then stopped and looked around to make sure she was talking to him, "Yeah?"
She leaned a little out of the van and pointed at the cards, "See those cards? Think you can get em for me?"
Carl followed Faith's arm to the passenger seat and looked back warily, "I don't think I'm supposed to…"
Leaning back against the cooler Faith shrugged and made a grunting noise, "No problem, didn't figure you were tall enough, anyway."
What Faith was implying made Carl's brows knit together and he marched over to the door. He didn't see Faith's smirk as he tore the door open, stormed into the seat and pulled the cards off the visor. He climbed down, shut the door and handed them to her with a cocky smile.
Faith raised a brow and took the cards, "Thanks, kid. You need somethin', let me know, I owe you big." She pulled open the pack of cards and slipped one off the top with her thumb, moving it around until it was between her index and middle fingers. Carl watched her with interest as she gave the card a toss. The interest turned intense when the card spun softly out of her hand and landed right in the baseball cap.
Carl leaned on the frame of the open door with both hands, "Where did you learn to do that?"
Faith glanced up, having been unaware that he was still there. She decided to leave out all of her solitary confinement and shrugged, "Practice. Lotta practice."
"Can I try?" Carl asked and Faith gave him a look, "I promise I won't drop any." She didn't see the harm in it and pulled a few cards off of the deck, handing them to the boy. He grinned a tiny grin and got ready, his eyes zeroing in on the hat.
He tossed a card a little too hard and it missed the hat by a foot and landed somewhere under the driver's seat. Faith took a card out of the deck wordlessly and held it up, showing him the hold, then tossed hers and it hit it's target again. Determined, Carl held his up the way he'd seen Faith do it and gave the card a more gentle toss, this time it landed in the hat and a big smile broke out on his face, "Yes!"
Faith returned his smile and pushed his hat down in front of his face playfully, "Bulls eye, kid, you're a natural. Keep going." She took a sip of her Sprite, waiting for the next card to fall into the hat when she noticed how the boy was staring at her drink. Figuring it must have been awhile since he had any empty calories, Faith gave him a pat on the back then opened the cooler next to her and pulled out a liter bottle of Goose Island orange soda then pushed it into his hands.
"Is… all this for me?" Carl asked, eyes wide, not sure if he should take the gift.
"Yeah, got two flats of em back here. Pretty good stuff, real sugar. You want another, don't be shy, gotta make some room in the van anyway." Faith started, taking a swig of her drink, "You like SPAM?"
"Well. Actually…" Carl looked up at Faith, "I still have twenty dollars from my birthday … Buffy told my dad you had batteries? I have this…" Carl pulled a small Dreamcast from behind him that had been stuffed in his back pocket and showed it to Faith, pointing to where the batteries go, "If you have this kind of batteries, I can pay you."
Faith looked over the game, trying to find the battery type then handed it back to Carl. She climbed over all the crap in the back of the van and started going through a hobo bag that was filled with small odds and ends. Carl watched as she made her way back with a battery that looked like it belonged in a large watch.
She opened the back of the game and fit the battery then turned it over again. The game started up with a little Sega fanfare and she handed it to Carl, "Call us even, okay? Got a couple, like I said. Don't be shy."
Carl smiled at Faith and started to run off, then trotted back to get his soda, "Thanks Faith!" With that he was gone, back into the house for damn change. Faith shot him a smile as he went then sighed and heaved herself out of the van. It was getting late, time to make a deal.