Whoa, its been a while, huh? But hey, here's another chapter for you, cos its Christmas!
Chapter 8"You sure about this?" Buffy asked for about the hundredth time.
"I'm sure B. Me being here is just too risky. For you guys, for me… plus, havin' SunnyDale hog both slayers isn't really fair now, is it?" Faith replied. Buffy chuckled,
"Just be careful, ok? An' if you ever need anything…"
"Thanks, B. Means a lot." The two slayers hugged tightly, and all watching winced, knowing that hug would probably crush anyone else's ribs. Then Faith turned to the SunnyDale crew. "Gonna miss you guys." She said, smiling.
"Miss you too." Willow squealed, pulling the slayer into a hug. Faith returned it, laughing softly.
"Have a nice life." Cordy said, trying very hard not to sound too un kind. Faith rolled her eyes,
"You too Cor."
"Bye." Oz said, hugging her, she hugged back,
"Bye Oz." Next, Angel, who just nodded. Faith nodded back, knowing that this wasn't indifference, just Angel's awful farewell skills. Faith crack a laugh, and pulled him into a hug. Then Giles-
"Be careful." He told her seriously, "And like Buffy said…"
"Sure thing G-man." She replied, and after a slight hesitation, they each shrugged, and hugged. Finally, there was Xander, and for some reason, Faith felt a tiny wrench as he smiled,
"See ya." He said. Faith nodded, and they embraced. Xander pressed his face into her hair, feeling very strange- last time they been this close she'd tried to kill him… "I'll miss you." He whispered.
"You too." She answered. Xander was shocked by the feeling in her voice. They pulled back, and she forced a smile, punching him gently on the arm. He smiled back. Watching from a short distance, Max could feel the emotion coming out in waves. She had no idea Fay was quite so loved here in SunnyD as she called it. Faith looked to Max, who nodded,
"Good to see you guys again." She said with a wave. The SunnyDale crew all said good bye, and with a squeeze of her fellow slayer's hand, Fay mounted her motor bike beside the others. (Alec was on the back of Seth's bike much to both of their irritation.) She waved to the group, they revved their engines, and peeled out into the street, heading out of town.
The scoobies watched until the bikes were out of sight before turning back to the house, Buffy wiping a tear from her eye. Angel put an arm around her, and she leant into him. So Faith was really gone.
After a very long journey, during which Seth had grown to like Alec even less and soon turfed him off his bike, forcing him to ride with Max, trying desperately not to hold on either too high or too low for fear of having his arms ripped off, (Fay's bike was loaded with her stuff, so no room on there) the manticore group reached Seattle. They head to Seth's apartment, Max saying that turning up with three strangers might freak Kendra out a little.
"So what are we gonna do then?" Fay asked Max. Max shrugged,
"You could probably stay with me for a while, Alec could stay with Seth." She grinned at the furious expression Seth sent her way. "You could probably get a job at good ol' JamPony…"
"Job?" Fay said with a grimace. "God I hate the real world. A girl has to fight evil, hide from the secret government agency on her ass and get a job?"
"Only if that girl wants to eat." Seth said, shifting her out of the arm chair she was in momentarily, taking her place and pulling her onto his lap.
"And we're talking an actual job, not cat burglary, right?" She moaned. Max smiled, but shifted uneasily. Fay grinned, "Oh Maxie, have we been a naughty little super soldier?"
"No. Not exactly… its just, there's this guy…" She began, pausing at the look on Seth's face, not to mention the wicked glint in Fay's eye. "Not that kinda guy." Max scolded, "He's a P.I., into all the dirty sh*t in town… I got him looking for … well, you guys, and Hannah."
"Max, are you crazy!?" Seth exclaimed, "Not only have you told half of friggin SunnyDale, you told some dodgey PI…"
"No!" She interrupted, "He doesn't know, he's just looking for kids with barcodes, he doesn't know who I am. Dont worry about it, I've thought lots about it, and it's cool… trust me." The last was more a question than a statement, and though he sighed deeply, Seth nodded.
"Besides, It'd be wicked if he did find the others, wouldn't it?" Fay put in.
"'Cept that if some lowlife can find them then so can Lydecker." Alec said.
"Na… Lydecker does not have the sorta contacts that this guy does. Most of the people Vogelsang talks to would not go within a mile of Lydecker or anything vaguely government related. He's cool, ok?" Max told them all.
"Ok, whatever… do what you will, Maxie, but don't expect me to get involved." Seth sighed again. Max nodded, about to say something about how she didn't need his authorisation, but she thought the better of it. "Maybe we should all turn in for the night, I'm kinda beat." Seth said, "Dickweed here can stay with me 'til he gets his own place."
"Thanks so much." Alec muttered sarcastically.
"I'm all cosy here." Fay whined playfully, huddling up to Seth. He rolled his eyes.
"Max?" He asked hopefully. She grinned, and grabbed Fay's arm, dragging her off his lap with a screech.
"Hey!"
"Lets go, Sis. You gotta meet Kendra." Max almost laughed at that thought, and Fay frowned,
"What?" she asked. Max cracked up. "What?" Fay demanded. Max dragged her out of the apartment, waving to the guys over her shoulder.
"Hunny, I'm home!" Max called as she let them into the apartment she shared with Kendra.
"Max, Hi!" Kendra greeted, "And who is this?"
"This is Faith." She'd said her sister's SunnyDale name without even considering it, and on realising, glanced at her- she nodded.
"Hi, I'm Kendra." They shook hands, "So… what brings you to sunny Seattle- where did you go anyway, Max?" Faith raised her eyebrows at the high-pitched voice and ditsy manner, trying not to acknowledge the large amounts of pink everywhere.
"Fay an' me go way back." Max said, flopping onto the couch. "Sorta sisters."
"Cool. Wish I had a sister." Kendra said.
"So… is it ok if Fay stays with us for a while?" Max asked hopefully.
"Sure thing… not much space though…"
"I can just take the floor- Probably softer than mosta the beds I've slept in." Faith conceded with a shrug.
"Don't be dumb, we can share." Max said. "I barely sleep anyway."
"You sure, sis?" Fay asked. Max nodded, and yawned,
"Tonight however, I may crash."
"Where've you guys come from- you both look knackered!" Kendra asked, wondering even as she said it if she'd get any answer- she knew how secretive Max could be.
"SunnyDale." Faith replied.
"It's near LA." Max explained in answer to Kendra's blank look.
"Jesus! LA? No wonder you're tired. What the hell were you doing down there!?"
"Visiting some old friends." Max replied in partial truth, "And my sister, of course." She nudged Faith.
"Yeah- I lived down there."
"Wow… isn't it real hot near LA? Sunshine all the time… Not like here. God, if we get one more dry day this year, it'll be a miracle."
Max chuckled,
"I'm turning in." She said, yawning again. "Fay?"
"Yeah… nice to meet ya, K." Faith said. Max shook her head,
"Is it not possible for you to call people by more than one letter?" She joked.
"Of course it is, M." Faith replied with a grin.
Next day- JamPony.
"You really mean this, don't you?" Faith sighed, "I gotta get a job."
"Unless you're gonna start chargin' people for saving their lives, yeah… No, you're not gonna charge people, Fay."
"Dammit. Ok… lets get this bitch over with."
"That's the spirit."
They approached the desk and Normal looked up. He frowned, looked at his watch, and raised his eyebrows,
"Granted you've been gone for god knows how long on 'urgent business', but by god, you're on time! Are you ill?"
"Ha ha, you're just so funny. I've got another good for nothing employee for you."
"Thanks a lot." Faith murmured. Max grinned,
"Normal, she's a good rider, she'll be…"
"If you say hard working, punctual or polite, I'll die laughing." Normal interrupted in a flat voice.
"Normal…"
"Whatever- fill in the form, an' you gotta get your own bike." He shoved a form into Faith's hand. She opened her mouth to brag about her beloved motorcyle, but Max stopped her,
"He means bicycle, sis."
"Oh this just gets worse, doesn't it?" Faith groaned. Max grinned, and steered her out, and round the corner to where a bike shop had recently been set up for the soul reason that Jampony was also there. Fay bought a bike for barely anything, thanks to her wicked bargaining skills (and the guy knew Max) and they returned to Jampony.
The sisters settled in chairs, and Fay began filling out the form.
"Name- Faith… Erm… surname… any ideas, Maxie?"
"Dracula."
"Helpful. Really helpful." Fay said sarcastically. "Ok…" Then she grinned, "Winters." She said. Max smiled back,
"Yeh. Summers and Winters. Sounds good." She agreed.
"Right. Faith Winters. Date of birth… for gods sake… ok, 1st of the 2nd, 2000. Nice an' simple. Home Address… can I put yours?"
"Sure thing."
"Cool… home phone number… Yours." A few minutes and a lot of lies later, Fay handed in the form, and got a temporary sector pass from normal that would get her through until the proper one was ready.
"Well that wasn't soo painful." Fay said, sitting down again. "What now?"
"Now we sit around as long as possible." Max replied with a grin. Faith smiled,
"Now that I can understand."
"My girl is finally back in town." A young black woman said, entering JamPony.
"Hey OC." Max replied.
"Where you been, Bu? And who is this fine ass gal you bought wit' you?"
Max grinned again,
"This is Faith. Faith- meet Original Cindy." The two shook hands, and Cindy sat down with them.
"So… where were you, girl?" She asked.
"LA, then SunnyDale."
"SunnyDale?"
"Near LA." Max told her.
"And why the hell did you get the urge to run all the damn way down to friggin LA?" Cindy exclaimed.
"To visit some old friends, and see my sister." Max replied. Cindy's eyes went wide,
"Your sister?"
"Not literal sisters." Faith clarified, "But might as well be. We go way back."
"You never told me." Cindy said, but her tone suggested to Faith that Max didn't tell her good friend much about her past.
"Maxie, I'm hurt!" Faith said jokily.
"You never told noone about me." Max countered.
"Touche." Faith chuckled. Cindy looked back and forth between the two, wondering what Faith's story was, but knowing Max well enough not to bother asking. At least it was clear that they were close, and Cindy knew instictvely that Max had told Faith a lot more than she had told Cindy, or perhaps Faith had been there, she considered.
"So." Cindy said, bringing herself out of her own thoughts, "You joining the oh-so-happy Jampony family?"
"Already did. Filled in the form an' all." Faith told her. Cindy saw the look that past between the sisters and felt a stab of jealousy- it was usually she and Max who shared those looks.
"Max!" Another person cried. It was a tall, limp haired guy with a dopey grin, "You're back! …and you bought a friend…" he grinned, "Hi, I'm Sketchy." He finished, holding out a hand to Faith.
"Hi. I'm Faith." She replied, and shook his hand with a very firm grip. He swallowed and pulled his hand back.
"We go waaay back." Max said. He nodded, getting the message.
"Oh. Ok." He said.
"Max, my sister, good to see you again." Said Sketchy's companion.
"Hey Herbal." She replied, "Fay, this is Herbal Thought. Herbal, my sister, Faith." They too shook hands, and the group dropped into inane banter, mostly about what Max had missed while she'd been away. Faith noticed that none of them bothered to query her whereabouts much, and presumed that it was well known that Max was very secretive.
"Bip bip bip, people!" Normal cried, "Lets move, up, come on, this is a place of business!!" Several packages flew their way, but only Max and Faith managed to catch them, even though the flow of conversation never ceased. No one even noticed. "Bip!" Normal yelled again. Max rolled her eyes,
"An I thought riding up the freeway all day was a drag- looks like it's back to work." She groaned, "C'mon, Fay, I'll show you the town."
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