Chapter Twenty-Two

As they made their way down the hall, Faith on his left and Buffy on his right, he put his arms around them both and pulled them in for a quick, reassuring hug and an even briefer squeeze of their juicy, juicy ass cheeks. Anya, who was trailing behind them, let out a sullen huff, causing Xander to mentally smack himself on the head. He'd been neglecting his wonderful, beautiful, open-minded girlfriend ever since he'd heard about Buffy's mom being in the hospital, and she deserved better. So, he let go of his girls and turned around, catching her by surprise as he took Anya's face in his hands and gave her the deepest, mosting searing kiss he could manage that also would not lead to sex right outside of Joyce's room. As it was, he heard cat-calls and several whistles from both his Slayers and a few other people in rooms and down the hall that could see them rooting around each other's mouths like it was the last thing they would ever do on this lonely, bitter planet…

As it was, Anya stumbled back and had to catch herself on the handrail that ran down the walls of the hallway, her eyes glazed over as she brought a thoughtful hand to her bruised, swollen lips. Xander just smirked at the vacant look he'd put on his girlfriend's face and took her by the hand, pulling her up level with him and the girls. He leaned over to her ear and whispered, knowing that no one else but the two Slayers who were with him would hear him say, "I'm going to make sure that you are worshipped like the goddess you are when we get home, okay?" He knew he didn't have to ask, as she would all but accept such a promise as her just due, but he wanted to break through that fog he'd just given her so that she would be more than a functioning pile of hormones whilst they were in the room with Mrs S.

Her eyes snapped to his and grinned devilishly, nodding and biting her bottom lip in that way that she knew would make him get instantly hard. Which, of course, it did, as evidenced by the tent in his pants that was making his arousal known when she glanced down to check. Her grin widened, a warmth spreading through her at the knowledge that, even after all this time together-plus, two nubile Slayers at his fuck and call-she could still turn him on with just a look. And, she was going to tease the hell out of him for it, starting with taking his hand and pulling him along with her as she opened the door to Joyce's room. Xander hurriedly untucked his button-down shirt to try and hide the painful erection, but he wasn't entirely successful as Joyce, surprised at the sudden entry of the four young adults into her hospital suite, caught sight of said bulge with wide eyes before a sly grin replaced the gape of startlement with that of a cat who had caught the canary being naughty.

"So, what have you kids been up to?" she asked with a knowing smirk. Her lips twitched as though she were going to comment on Xander's Nethers Salute when movement from the door caught her eye and she froze, a brief mien of rage passing over her face before falling into a mask that showed no emotion. Her eyes, however, never left the lithe, dark form of Faith as she followed Buffy into the room. Faith immediately noticed, of course, and the broad, happy smile that she'd had upon entering fell off of her face like an anvil. The two women locked gazes for a moment before Faith looked away, her eyes bright with the sudden oncoming of unshed tears.

Xander, who had caught a desperate look from Buffy to do something, anything, gave a nervous chuckle and exclaimed, "So, Mrs S, you ready to blow this popsicle stand?"

She jerked her head back in his direction in surprise, caught the trademarked Goofy Look #2, and it seemed as though all of the tension drained out of her shoulders and she sagged. "Don't you know it!" she laughed, looking down at the various bags and sundries that had migrated from the Summers house to the hospital suite that Joyce had been an all-but prisoner of the past few days. "I just have to change into something less revealing and we can get the hell out of here!" A spark of mischief gleamed in her eye as she stage-whispered, "And I think we need to make a pit-stop at the Double Meat Palace for some Duo-Cheese Poutine fries and a Double Choco Shake."

Xander placed his fists on his hips and took up the Captain Morgan pose as he declared in a deep, imperious brogue, "The lady shall have her poutine, if it is the last thing upon this wretched Earth I shall ever do!" He stole a glance to the side to see if his comedic attempt had landed, and was gratified to see Buffy cover her mouth to hide her smile and that Faith had, surprisingly, failed to cover up her own undignified snort of amusement. Grinning, he continued, "Avast, my wenches! I shall retire myself hence, such that the Lady Summers may undress at her leisure." And with that, he flourished an imaginary cape and swept from the room in an overly-dramatic fashion that made even the most mature of the room's occupants snicker.

Buffy, her eyes following Xander's tight ass as he exited the room, asked her mom, "Um, do you have your things packed, or do you need help with getting your things together?"

Joyce's eyes narrowed a bit, the smirk on her face faltering a bit as she contemplated the dreamy expression on her eldest daughter's face. "Puh-lease! I've been ready to leave since five-thirty this morning!" Buffy's head jerked surprisedly at her mother, her eyebrows trying their best to meet with her hairline. Joyce's expression turned wry and just a little grouchy as she grumbled something about nurses waking her up every few hours to get readings.

Giving her mother a sympathetic smile, she walked to the small closet where she remembered storing her toiletries and clothes and grabbed the bag that was sitting on the bottom shelf, handing it to Faith before taking out the dress her mother had left hanging on the sole remaining wire hanger and placing it on the bed. "Well, let's get you dressed!" Quickly turning to Faith, who was standing by the door awkwardly, her head already turned in anticipation of Joyce disrobing, she asked, "Hey, can you take that bag down to the car real quick?"

The tension that was plainly visible on the other girl's face dropped with relief, and she nodded even as she let out a thankful sigh. She opened the door slightly and slid out of it with the grace of a Slayer, so as to prevent any passersby from being able to see Joyce, who was already trying to untie the damned string that held her hospital gown closed in the back. Outside, she quite literally ran into Xander and Anya, who were so engrossed in making out that they hadn't noticed the disapproving looks they were garnering from the staff who were walking the halls, nor the weird old guy who had his door open just enough to stick his head out of his room opposite them, his body hidden from sight, though it was obvious what he was doing anyway.

Anya, for her part, was just about at the precipice of graduating from heavy petting to outright fucking, if her hand stuffed down the front of Xander's pants were any indications. Faith's breathing got a little shallower, her body warming up and tingling in all the right places at seeing her Master's strong, rugged hands kneading his Mistress' ass, his hot mouth crushing Anya's swollen lips. Faith, getting more than a little hot and bothered, had to twist in upon herself so as to keep from touching her pussy and mauling her breasts right there in public…

Not that it would have bothered her to do so, but that creep at the other door was watching her with that look in his eyes, and her Master hadn't commanded her to do so. How she wished he would tell her to touch herself as he made a public spectacle with his chosen mate before he would then turn to ravish her…

And then there was that gross dude staring at her, beating his shrimp-dick, ruining the mood and bringing her out of her daydream. Fuck, she thought, fighting the bile rising in her throat. I wish he'd fuck off.

And then she registered the voices of Buffy and her mom inside the room behind her, muffled but understandable due to her Slayer hearing.

"... tell me what she's doing here? After what she did to us? To you?"

Faith's breath caught in her chest, her eyes wide with the realization that they were talking about her… About the truly horrible shit she'd perpetrated on the Golden Slayer.

"She's changed, mom. She's making up for the bad stuff. She's of the Good."

"But how can you know, sweetheart? What if she's just pretending, or just snaps out of the blue over some innocuous comment? How can you trust her after all that she's done?"

"Mom, she-" Faith couldn't hear any more. She couldn't bear it. She knew she was a piece of shit, someone you couldn't trust, but it still hurt to hear it, ya know? She barely noticed the tears that were now streaming down her flushed cheeks, blurring her sight. She stumbled into Xander as she pushed past the couple making out, needing to get out of there, to be anywhere but at that door, listening to B's mom asking those questions. The real questions, with real consequences. How could Buffy ever trust her again after what she'd done? If her mom hated Faith, how could B ever-

She cut herself off, not allowing her thoughts to reach that forbidden place, that place of hope and dreams of love. She didn't deserve it; she was a monster. Monsters don't get to be loved, or feel happiness… Not the real kind of happiness, anyway. She didn't get to have friends or love or… She didn't know what all the good things in life were to name that which she couldn't have, but she knew there was more to it. It just didn't matter, because she couldn't have it.

Xander wasn't out of shape in any sense of the meaning, but no-one that wasn't supernaturally enhanced could keep up with a Slayer when she wanted to be somewhere you weren't. He wasn't necessarily about to cough up a lung after chasing after her, but he could feel a stitch in his side that wasn't going to let up anytime soon. But that didn't matter, because one of his girls was obviously upset, and he didn't have a clue as to what might have set her off.

Okay, scratch that. He had a pretty good idea, because he wasn't as entirely oblivious to girls as he let on, especially having spent the last few years in the estrogen-filled company of the Scoobies. No, he was thinking it had something to do with the look had given Faith, and Faith's own ability to kick herself when she was down. And, for better or worse, that glare of accusation Ms. Summers had thrown her way had knocked his girl down, and hard.

He caught up to her at his truck in the parking deck. She was sitting in the front passenger seat, the door still open, curled up on her side, hugging her knees to her chest. He couldn't hear her, but it was obvious that she was wracked with sobs, her small form shaking arhythmically as she stared off into space, humming that three-tone tune almost manically, not noticing him as he opened the door a little more so that he could pull her toward him. She finally noticed him when his strong, gentle touch caressed her calf, and whatever she saw in his eyes seemed to open the floodgates, because she seemed to melt into his touch as he pulled her into his arms, her crying becoming audible as she turned her face into his comforting chest.

He wasn't sure how long he held her like that, just sitting in the front seat of the truck with her softly sobbing into his shirt. Eventually, however, he could hear Buffy and Anya chattering as they led Joyce toward where they'd parked. Faith must have heard them, too, because she reluctantly pulled away from him and gave him a small smile while she wiped at her face ineffectually, trying to get rid of the evidence that she was, in fact, a girl, and one that had been crying, at that. Xander took off his Hawaiian shirt and then the white undershirt that she'd left a big wet spot on before putting the other on again, buttoning it up so as to cover up the fact that he was no longer wearing the undershirt. He gave that to Faith, who used it to dab at her eyes again.

Judging herself to look presentable after checking herself out in the rearview mirror, she and Xander jumped out just in time to greet the trio that was walking toward them, and they all quickly got in, with Joyce taking the Position of Honor in shotgun, and Buffy and Faith sprawling out in the not-so-spacious back seat of the cab. Xander happened to notice that Buffy had her hand stretched out, holding Faith's hand in her own. With a small smile playing over his lips, he exclaimed, "Onward to the Palace of Two Meats!"

They'd settled Buffy and Joyce in at Joyce's house, Buffy ostensibly there to make sure that Dawnie was taken care of in the time that Joyce was supposed to be recuperating, though it was more for Buffy's peace of mind, knowing that somehow being in proximity to her ill mother made everything less "not okay." He'd managed to snag a cheesy, gravy-soaked fry before Mrs Summers snarffed them all down, and Buffy's bright, brilliant smile she'd beamed his way after seeing the mischievous grin on her mother's face made him think that maybe-just maybe-the Hellmouth wasn't gonna bite them all in the asses this time.

They'd dropped Anya off at the Magic Box to count the till (her favorite part of owning a business) and headed back to Xander's place. Faith was still working on her own greasy-now soggy-glob of canadian goodness that once could have been called fries, and Xander was still slurping his shake as he flopped down on the couch beside her almost bonelessly. Faith had turned on a soccer match with some international teams that Xander would have recognized, had he been paying attention.

Instead, he was studying the beautiful, uneven lines of Faith's face. The laugh lines that were starting to form around her eyes and her small, pouty mouth, and the way she delicately picked up the semi-intact end of a glob of fries and deposited it into her upturned mouth… The light in her eyes right then made him fall in love with her like he never had before. The carefree, playful, peaceful relaxation of her posture and her visage: it was so quintessentially what made Faith… Faith, and Xander loved it. He never wanted to see her hurt again like she'd been hurting at the hospital.

She caught him staring at her, of course. She was a Slayer, and she could almost literally feel his eyes on her. And, somehow, she could make out what was on his mind as well. Her eyes locked onto his, her gaze somehow breaking through the facade of his strength and finding the same insecurities she felt within herself: she wasn't worthy of the love given to her freely. They'd both been working on that part of themselves, but seeing the love he felt for her, the pain he was feeling at the memory of her own pain… She didn't know how to handle it.

She'd heard the word PTSD before, and even had read up on it some, but she wasn't sure if such a term applied to her or not. Not when she'd been the one fucking up peoples' lives and killing at the word of a sociopathic pure-demon wannabe who'd treated her like a daughter…

GodDAMNIT, she thought as she broke her near-telepathic communion with her Master. She'd gone three whole days without thinking of that sadistic bastard, whom she'd loved like a father, when her own father had started pimping her out when she turned twelve and then had OD'd not five months later. Wilkins had treated her like those fathers on TV had treated their daughters, and it had hurt so bad to wake up and find out that he was gone. Yeah, he was a murdering asshole, but he'd been her murdering asshole… He'd been good to her.

And now she had not one, but three people crazy enough to give her a second-hell, third-chance, and at least Xander might even love her. Goddamn, but she loved him too…

But Mrs S was right: she had hurt her and hers, and she had no reason to be around them. She wanted to be around them, to be with them, but she was Trouble, and they didn't deserve her kind of trouble any more than what she'd already brought before. She didn't know if the Reward magic was going to allow her to leave, but she needed to give it a try, if only because it would be better for B and Anya and Xander…

She could feel a hot tear break through her own defenses, and her Master reached over and wiped it off. "What do you need from me, Faith?" he asked, his beautiful hazel eyes searching hers for the solution to all of her problems, all of her pain.

She gave him a small, quavering smile and said, "I just want to feel good," she whispered, her voice shaking as she fervently grabbed his hand and kissed it. "Will you make me feel good, Xander?"

His small smile grew wide with triumph as he was given a task that he knew he'd be able to accomplish. "Sure thing, babe." And, with a snap of his fingers, her buttplug started to vibrate with a reverberation that made it seem as though a speaker had been lodged in her ass… And oh damn!