| WARNING: There are some suggestions of a slashy (fem/fem) relationship in this part. I haven't classed G&BVit as a alternative fic on the summary because I'm still not sure where it'll go myself. But if that is something that offends you, then moosey along to the next story. OTOH, there are also strong hints of heterosexuality in this story. If that disgusts you, then I'd moosey along as well. Tolerance, people. Double your pleasure, double your fun. |
// Thump, thump, thump. //
The punching bag swung around crazily as the slayer's gloved fists repeatedly slammed into it.
Her face was the picture of concentration. Her feet danced to the movement of the bag. It was automatic for her body to treat the piece of equipment as it would an undead opponent
But from the stream of curses and muttered words that flowed from her mouth, it was obvious that her mind was elsewhere.
"Goddamn Queen C..."
// Thump, thump, thump. //
That first day, Angel lent them his car for them to drive back to Cordelia's apartment. It was obvious that the vampire was feeling guilty for how he manipulated them into agreeing to live together. The ride back was silent, as was the walk upstairs to Cordelia's apartment. It was only when Cordelia was standing in front of her door, digging her keys out from her bag, when she finally spoke.
"We'll go out tomorrow and get a copy of the key made. I'm also gonna take you shopping to buy some new clothes." She studied the other girl's outfit with a critical eye. "I don't want the neighbours thinking that I've gone all Anne Heche and picked up a butch girlfriend."
Faith snorted. "You wish."
Suddenly, the lights on the balcony started flickering. Cordelia looked up and sighed. "Phantom Dennis! It's all right! She's not evil anymore... I think."
Faith chose to ignore the last part of that sentence. "Phantom Dennis?"
"My ghost." When she finally got the door unlocked, Cordelia stepped through only for the door to fly close again. She hurriedly yanked at it before it could slam shut on the slayer's face. "I don't think he likes you. Probably on account of how you assaulted me and kidnapped Wesley the last time you were here."
"Wait..." The slayer's expression was skeptical. "You have a ghost?"
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and you fight vampires. He came with the apartment, all right? Now get in here and apologise to him."
"Apologise?" Her brow edged up in disbelief. "To a ghost?"
"He's not really a ghost, he's more... living-impaired. He's got feelings you know, and if you don't convince him that you've changed..." She paused, her tone turning ominous and slightly threatening. "You won't like what he can do."
Faith shot the actress a look, before she warily entered. Immediately, the radio started up, the music blaring at top volume.
Oops, I did it again
I played with your heart
Got lost in the game
Oh baby, baby...
"See?" Cordelia exclaimed. But her tone was a little weaker than before. She went over to turn the stereo off again. "Now say you're sorry."
Faith sighed, feeling more than a little uncomfortable as she looked around her. Having to apologise was something that she was still getting used to. Having to apologise to something that she couldn't see just made her feel stupid. She finally fixed her gaze on a random spot on the wall. "Look, Dennis, I'm real sorry for breaking and entering, hitting Cordy and kidnapping Wesley the last time I was here. I wasn't thinking straight... it won't happen again."
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Cordelia with her arms crossed, grinning openly at her discomfort. When Faith glared at her, her expression immediately changed to one of innocence. "What?"
// Thump, thump, thump. //
There was the sound of a key in the lock, and Cordelia came through the door. She loudly dropped her keys into a bowl on the counter but didn't say a word as she stared at the slayer sprawled out on the couch in front of the television. "Congratulations," she said finally, her voice flat. "You win for best impersonation of a lump."
Faith lifted her head to glance over the top of the sofa, an annoyed look already appearing on her face. "What?"
"You've been here for, what, almost a week? I go out to work, and you're sitting on the couch watching TV. I come home, and you're sitting on the couch watching TV. Aren't you meant to be the Slayer? Slay! Maim! Kill!" She paused for a moment. "Ok, maybe hold back on the kill part..."
Faith forced herself to count to ten before she could do anything rash. Like leaping at the other girl and strangling her until she turned blue in the face. She slowly got to her feet and turned to face the actress. "You know, you're making maiming and killing sound real attractive right about now."
Cordelia opened her mouth to retort, but then, her expression suddenly changed. Her hand flew up to her forehead and she stumbled a little, swaying on her feet. "Oh... oh god..."
Acting on pure reflex, Faith jumped the couch and caught the other girl before she crashed to the floor. She cradled her close as convulsions ran through her body, her head thrown back as agonised moans escaped from her mouth. Her hand found and gripped the slayer's shoulder, her fingers tightening painfully, but Faith forced herself not to pull away.
"Oh... god..." A last spasm of pain wracked the actress' slender body before she was finally still.
"Cordelia..." Faith said, shaking her. Then when she didn't get a response, her voice became more urgent, more anxious. "Cordelia!"
The actress groaned then rubbed at her temples. She finally opened her eyes and looked upwards towards the heavens. "I am not your switchboard operator!"
Faith followed her gaze to stare curiously at the ceiling. "Huh?"
At the sound of her voice, Cordelia suddenly seemed to realise that she was still in Faith's arms. She pushed her away before attempting to stand on her own. "I'm vision gal. I get visions from The Powers That Be. Mostly they're for Angel... but that one had your name on it. C'mon, I'll explain on the way."
The car screeched to a halt at the mouth of a dark alley somewhere on the edge of the city.
As Cordelia shone the beam of the headlights into the scene before them, Faith could clearly make out the three vamps about to feed on the three girls. She sprang out over the door before the car had even completely come to a stop. "Stay here. Don't get in my way." Faith snapped back at the actress, before she threw herself at the vampire nearest to her. He was easily dispatched; a stake through the heart whilst his head was still dipping down to feed on the girl before him. Faith immediately whirled around to face the other two vamps who had dropped the women that they had been holding. Dimly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw them running away, screaming.
One of the vamps lunged at her and her mind was jolted back to the fight. She ducked out of the way, then lashed out and connected with a kick to the gut. He doubled over in pain and she brought her knee up to smash him in the face. But his partner tackled her and she rolled with him, only to throw him over her when she had the leverage. Faith jumped to her feet again.
The vamps circled her warily. Her eyes darted between the both of them, noticing the tensing of every muscle, waiting for one of them to make the first move. The smaller vampire suddenly tried to sweep her legs out from under her but she leapt it, only for the other demon to catch her with a punch in the stomach. She landed heavily, the wind knocked out of her. Faith barely found the strength to scramble out of the way when the vampire tried stomping at her.
"Hey!"
It wasn't so much Cordelia's shout that distracted them, but the arrow that buried itself in the vampire's shoulder, mere moments later. Faith was almost as surprised as they were. Almost. She leapt to her feet, moving forward in the same motion to sink her stake in the wounded vamp. The other vampire turned to her again, his teeth bared as he rushed her. She ducked his swinging fist, then turned before he could regain his equilibrium and tripped him. As he fell to the ground, she drove her knee into the small of his back before ramming her stake through his heart. Seconds later, she was kneeling in a pile of dust, sucking in deep breaths through her teeth.
The rush of adrenaline disappeared all too soon. Faith slowly started getting to her feet, wincing as her muscles screamed from long disuse. She squinted from the bright headlights that still shone on the now empty alley as she began to walk towards the car, and to where Cordelia was waiting.
"You fight differently," the actress remarked as she came closer.
Faith grimaced. Her whole body ached and there was a sharp pain in her back and she wasn't in the mood to take shit from an ex-cheerleader. But the sarcastic edge was missing from the other girl's voice, and Cordelia's dark eyes were almost thoughtful as they studied her. "What?"
"You're not so... 'come on and take me' with the vamps anymore. You're in for a quick kill and then out again. You're fighting more like... Buffy."
Faith stiffened at the mention of the other slayer. But she looked up and saw Cordelia watching her with dark, penetrating eyes and she knew that the other girl was waiting for her to react. So she merely shrugged, hiding her automatic response. "Yeah, well, I'm not exactly in the best shape to tell a vamp to bring it on." The pain stabbed at her back again, and she winced.
Cordelia noticed and she came up to the slayer, touching her lightly on the shoulder as she examined her. "You're bleeding."
Faith wiped her hand across her back to see that it came up wet and sticky with blood. "Must've cut myself on some of that broken glass on the ground." She scowled, and shook her head. "I'm rusty. Shoulda never let some two-bit vamp throw me around like that."
"Yeah, well, at least you're alive." But the actress' gentle tone belied her blunt words. She pressed her hand against the slayer's wound, staunching the flow of blood as she guided her over to the car. From the trunk, she took out a first-aid kit and began to clean out the gash. Faith squirmed as the alcohol stung her. "Sorry," Cordelia apologised, without looking up from her task.
Faith was taken back by the apology. She had been waiting for an insult and even had a comeback prepared. Instead, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the feel of the gentle hands on her as Cordelia began to wrap a bandage around her wound. "You're good at that."
Cordelia shrugged. "Angel gets tortured a lot. Mostly hot pokers and iron bars through the chest. I'm always stitching him up."
"Yeah... um... thanks. For shooting the vamp and everything."
Another shrug. "I don't get rent money if you die on me."
// Thump, thump, thump. //
Sucking on a watermelon-flavoured Jolly Rancher, Faith wandered over to the stereo. Fiddling with the buttons a bit, she finally found her favourite alternative rock station and turned the volume way up.
Almost immediately, Cordelia stormed out from her bedroom. "What is this crap?!" she demanded.
"Crap?!"
"Yeah... it sounds like a cow in labour! A cow in labour having a Caesarean section!"
Faith paused for a moment, her mind trying to process that image. She shook it off as she gestured to Cordelia's CD collection. "Oh, and your musical tastes are just so wicked classy. Boyzone?"
Suddenly, the radio dial quietly spun on its own behind her, until it settled on a station playing the latest Ricky Martin love ballad.
Cordelia grinned smugly, folding her arms across her chest. "See. Dennis is with me."
Faith sighed, outnumbered and defeated. She glanced upwards and muttered under her breath. "Dude. You're whipped."
// Thump, thump, thump. //
Faith had resumed her nightly patrols ever since she received the message from TPTB via Cordelia. Almost two weeks of sweeping Los Angeles' streets and she was just starting to get a feel for where the vamps liked to hang out in the big city. However, this was the first time that Angel had asked her to come out with the team, something to do with a client and a demon drug lord who used vampires as his henchmen.
The slayer kept half an eye on Gunn, Wesley and Cordelia as they all fought the vamps. Gunn was a good guy to have around, he was holding up his end in the fight even though he didn't have her or Angel's supernatural strength. Cordelia was smart enough to keep on the edges of the fight, only ducking in whenever she saw an opportunity to distract one of the vamps for the real fighters or if she was able to get a direct strike at his heart herself. But it was Wesley who surprised her the most; he had picked up some new skills since those days when she used to run him ragged on her workouts as her Watcher. He and Cordy worked well together, one of them would distract the vampire whilst the other one dusted it.
Then Faith suddenly heard a scream. She looked up to see Cordelia being dragged away by one of the undead losers while Wesley was struggling with another one. Angel and Gunn were inside the compound already, trying to take down the demon godfather. She cursed, and ducked back from the punch that the vamp she was fighting threw at her. Faith caught hold of his hand and quickly twisted his arm around, pinning him close to her as she plunged her stake into his heart. She didn't even wait for the dust to fall before she turned and raced over to where the demon was still trying to overpower Cordelia. Even though he must have been twice her size, the actress was still struggling with him every step of the way.
As she raised her arm to stab the creep through the back, the vampire dropped hold of Cordy and reached up to block her thrust. She retaliated by punching him in the gut with her other hand and they fought briefly before she finally dusted him. Then Faith spun around, and in one smooth motion, she threw her stake at the last remaining vampire who had pinned Wesley to the ground. A surprised look came over his face before he changed and dissolved to dust. Wesley collasped, sinking gratefully down into the floor.
But Faith had already turned away. Cordelia was still standing nearby, rubbing at her neck where it had turned red from when the vamp had dug his fingers into her. Their eyes met, and Faith could see the beginnings of gratitude reflected in the other girl's eyes. She came closer to her, touching Cordelia on the chin as she examined her bruised neck. "You ok?" she asked, not bothering to hide the concern in her voice.
"Mmhmn. Thanks to you." Cordelia paused. "So I guess we're even now."
The slayer's lips quirked in a small smile. "Didn't know we were keeping score."
"I'm a Chase, missy." But Cordelia's haughty tone was at odds with the way that her eyes bore into the slayer's darker ones, and she made no move to pull away from where Faith's hand was still lingering on her face. "We always collect our debts."
"Yeah?" Faith moved a step closer. She could feel the faint stirrings of something familiar beginning in the pit of her stomach, spreading in her blood like warm champagne. Her touch on the other girl's face turned into a caress, and still the actress didn't pull away. "What if..."
"Cordelia?" They were interrupted by Wesley's plaintive voice. Cordelia jerked her head back as she shot the slayer a startled look. At the same time, Faith yanked her hand away with a low growl, knowing that the spell - over whatever the hell it was that they had just been doing - had been broken. They both turned to look at the ex-Watcher who was still sprawled limp on the ground. "Uh... little help?"
// Thump, thump, thump. //
It had been a rough day.
Faith had been out patrolling the whole night, and she had bagged more than her usual average of vampires. When she finally got back home, Cordelia had immediately dragged her to the Hyperion, saying that Angel needed help on some new case. They had spent the day taking out a cult of devil sun worshippers. Now Faith wanted nothing more than to take a long shower and collapse into bed.
As Cordelia let them into the apartment, Faith headed over to the couch first, sinking down on it as she waited for the feeling to return to her legs. But she immediately jumped to her feet again, reaching down to touch where something wet had begun to seep through her jeans. A large glob of peanut butter came away on her hand. She looked up at Cordelia incredulously.
The other girl gave her a big, fake, smile. "I was having a sandwich this morning. It must have... slipped out."
The slayer's surprise had changed completely to disgust now, as she looked around for something to wipe the peanut butter off her. "This is just... gross."
Cordelia raised an eyebrow. Her tone was heavily laden with sarcasm when she spoke again. "Yeah, because when I first saw you, the first thing I thought was 'germ-free.'"
"I might have spent my life in shitty motel rooms, but at least I was hygienic about it!" Faith snapped. Pulling another face, she stomped away into the kitchen.
// Thump, thump, thump. //
"Looking good, girlfriend."
Cordelia turned around at the sound of the voice, still fishing her keys out from her purse. "Faith," she greeted as the slayer appeared in the hall behind her. The hostility that marked her voice was gone, but there was still an edge there. Partly suspicious, partly taunting... almost playful.
Faith was still raking her eyes over the outfit that the other girl wore, lingering on the short skirt and knee-high boots before her gaze settled a moment too long on the low-cut Glo-mesh top. "Didn't you and G have a date tonight?"
Cordelia sighed. Loudly. "We ran into one of his 'crew' and something demonic... and undoubtedly slimy... came up. I wasn't dressed for slimy demon hunting so I came home. Aren't you meant to be on patrol?"
It was the slayer's turn to sigh. "Patrol was a total bust. Total as in there was absolutely nothing out there. I've never seen the dead act so friggin' dead."
"That's not good, right?" Cordelia asked, allowing a tiny frown to mar her brow. "It usually means they've skedaddled because some new big bad has come to town."
Faith nodded. "We should let Deadboy know, see if he can find out what's up."
"Tomorrow." Another sigh escaped the actress' lips. "I've had enough of work for one day." She was about to turn the doorknob and go inside, when Faith's hand suddenly closed over hers. Cordelia looked up to see that the slayer was only inches away from her, dark eyes catching and holding her gaze.
"Wait..." Even though she was standing so near, Cordelia suddenly found that she had to strain to hear the other girl's husky voice. "The night's still young. You're looking... wicked sexy. Why don't we go someplace? Have a girl's night out?"
Cordelia paused as she considered the invitation. Looking this good had taken a lot of work. And Gunn had barely seemed to notice. She might as well not let it go to waste. Cordelia finally shrugged as she replied, trying to make her acceptance sound offhand. "All right. It's not like I've got anything better to do anyway."
She watched as the slayer's full lips lifted slightly in a grin. "Don't worry, you'll enjoy yourself. Trust me."
The club had only been a short walk from Cordelia's apartment.
Faith had chosen it deliberately; it wasn't as hardcore as some of the clubs she had found in LA but she guessed that Cordelia wasn't into that scene anyway. This place reminded her a little of The Bronze, maybe just a little bit darker, and she thought Cordelia would approve.
It was why she smiled when Cordelia tugged on her arm as they sat down at an empty table with their drinks. "This place is great!" she said, raising her voice a little to be heard above the band and the sound of the crowd. "Why haven't I ever been out here before?"
"I dunno..." Faith took a long pull at her beer as she studied the other girl. "You get out clubbing much?"
"Well... there was this place with this donkey demon. And this other place where I met this guy who impregnated me with sperm from his demon master."
Faith raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word. She continued watching the other girl, wondering if she should press her to speak about it. After all that she had heard about what Angel and his crew had gone through, she didn't doubt what Cordelia said was true. But the other girl had just said it, without sounding whiney or mopey or bitter. She didn't want to hurt Cordelia by bringing up old memories. Faith knew that she wasn't good at this, at doing the right thing around people that she cared about.
Cordelia finally appeared to feel the intensity of her gaze on her. She turned to her, her hand reaching up in worry. "What? Oh god... have I got something on my face?"
Sometimes she wondered exactly when she had started thinking about the other girl as a friend. The shallow Queen C that she remembered and despised never seemed all that far away. "Actually... I was thinkin'..." Faith let her lips curve in a half-taunting smile, as she gestured out to the dance floor. "...that you won't be able to keep up with me out there, what with you being so out of practice and all."
Cordelia huffed. "Oh please. I can run you into the ground any day."
"Yeah?" The slayer's smile widened, as she stood up and took hold of Cordelia's hands, pulling her out of her chair and drawing her towards the dance floor. "Did I just hear a threat?"
Cordelia's only reply was was an answering smirk, as she followed Faith out to a space amongst the dancing couples.
God, she had missed this.
Faith closed her eyes as she lost herself in the music, her hips instinctively capturing the beat of the bass. She could feel the beat pumping through the floor, getting into her blood and coursing through her veins. Just like the slaying, like the sex, this had always been her drug.
She opened her eyes again and looked up, across at her partner. And her brow rose in surprise. The girl hadn't been lying, she knew how to move. Cordelia was meeting her gaze, a challenging look in her hazel eyes. Faith closed in on her, sharing her space. Their bodies soon fell in synch with each other and with the music, and though they never touched, the sheer physical connection between them was obvious to anyone who looked their way.
Unfortunately, the song ended all too soon, and the band immediately surged into another. Slow this time, the beat throbbing like a low and sensual hum. Cordelia turned to go back to the tables, when Faith caught hold of her arm. "You're out after only one song, princess? Does that mean I win?"
"But... it's..." She didn't finish her sentence. Her gesture to the men and women pairing off on the dance floor made it clear what she meant.
The slayer raised an eyebrow, her stare mocking and daring at the same time. "You know you're with G. I know that you're not my type. Do you really care what they think?"
Cordelia thought for a moment. "Not anymore," she finally replied.
Faith smiled in triumph. Her hand was still resting on the other girl's arm and her fingers tightened momentarily as she pulled her close again. Cordelia tensed for the briefest second, before she allowed her hands to fall lightly on the slayer's hips.
Faith closed her eyes for a moment, her senses filling with the actress' expensive scent. She could feel the warmth radiating off her skin, almost burning her where her arms were still loosely brushing the other girl's body. She opened her eyes to see that Cordelia was looking down between them, apparently embarassed and not wanting to catch anyone looking at them. Either that, or she was checking out her rack. "C?" the slayer murmured, a hint of concern in her voice.
The slayer met her eyes as the actress' head snapped back up. There wasn't any sign of the embarrassment that she thought she would see. Instead, the expression on Cordelia's face made it look like she had suddenly remembered something. And Faith knew her well enough by now to know that she was working her way towards pissed-off. She waited.
"I'm not your type? What do you mean I'm not your type?!"
Faith smirked, but didn't reply.
The actress wasn't stopping for passengers anyway. "I can't not be your type. People have begged to be my type! I'm everyone's type!"
"Cordelia?" The slayer finally spoke up, her voice low and exasperated.
"What?"
"Shut up."
// Thump, thump, thump. //
It had been last Wednesday. Faith came home late from patrol the night before and had slept longer than she had planned. She had an early appointment with her probation officer and was already cutting it fine, as she ate breakfast while she waited for Cordelia to get out of the bathroom. Popping the final corner of toast into her mouth, she made her way down the hall and pushed the bathroom door open. Only to find Cordelia standing naked in front of the mirror.
"Oh!" But her surprised exclamation quickly turned into an amused and appreciative sigh as she noticed the other girl's body. "My god..."
"FAITH!!!" Cordelia screamed. One of her hands immediately flew up to cover her breasts, the other arm dropping in a downwards direction, making her look like an incredibly pissed-off Botticellian Venus. "Didn't anyone ever teach you how to knock?!"
"The water stopped running half an hour ago. I thought you were done."
"Yeah, well, I had to..." The actress suddenly seemed to become aware of the other girl's almost hungry gaze as it tracked up and down her naked body. "Get out!" she shouted, pushing the slayer out the door whilst managing to keep herself covered.
Faith laughed as the door closed in her face. "You've got nothin' you wanna hide C. Trust me!" she called out.
Cordelia had been frosty for a few hours after that incident but then she dealt by seeming to totally erase it from her memory. Faith wasn't able to have the same luck. Even though she had gotten a quick peep show out of it, she realised that she had come off with the worse end of the bargain. Seeing the other girl naked had only kicked her hormones into overdrive.
It had been way too long since she had sex. The last time was when she was in Buffy's body, being 'made love' to by the Beefstick. And it had totally freaked her out, being in someone else's body, experiencing sex that meant more than just a simple screw, and knowing that it wasn't meant for her. It had been enough to convince her to shy away from the offers that the other inmates made when she had been in prison. She didn't need to get any more confused.
But noble intentions aside, the simple fact remained that she was feeling horny. Walking in on Cordelia had brought that to the surface, when it had been boiling under her skin for the longest time anyway. It was even starting to affect her slaying; she was lingering in her fights and getting off in the only way she had left. Of course, baiting the vamps would only increase her chances at deadness.
So she vowed that she would get some sort of action tonight. Some hot guy or girl, a quick screw and a kiss goodbye, that she could forget all about when she went home in the morning. No mess, no fuss, no complications.
Easy.
// Thump, thump, thump. //
"Would you feel better if we named the bag Cordelia?"
The deadpan voice interrupted her thoughts. Faith glanced over to see Angel standing at the bottom of the steps that led from the Hyperion lobby down to the basement-cum-workout room. She quickly pulled her mind away from what she had been thinking about. "Only if we also stick on a wig and a Dolce and Gabbana outfit," she finally replied as she jabbed viciously at the bag again, causing it to swing wildly from the hook that it was hung on. "It's that obvious, huh?"
"That you're taking out your issues with Cordelia on the bag? Well, ah... only because I could hear you using Cordelia as a swear word from upstairs in the lobby."
She stopped the movement of the punching bag with both of her hands, and looked up at him, her eyes widening slightly in amazement. Damn vamp was actually enjoying this. "So is this my penance?" she demanded. "Having to live with Queen C?"
His lips twisted into a smirk. "If you can live with her, you can get through anything. I'm speaking from personal experience."
"Really? And how long did you last?"
"A day. Almost two."
"Great." She pulled off her gloves and began to unwrap the strapping around her hand. "I'm been with her for almost a month. I must be a fucking saint by now."
The smirk disappeared as Angel entered the gym area to sit down on a nearby workout bench. "Is it that bad?" he asked, in genuine concern. "I mean, we can always..."
"No, it's all right." Faith surprised herself with how quickly she jumped in before he could offer some other living arrangement. She hurriedly added, "C's cool... but she can get under your skin like no one else."
The vampire smiled slightly. "I was counting on that," he admitted, in a soft voice. He looked up at her again. "How's everything else going?"
She shrugged as she sat down next to him. "Five by five. My P.O. says that she's 'happy with my progress.' Slaying's all right, I'm starting to get the feel for it again. And I'm stickin' strictly to the undead this time. Don't have much else going on... dealing with Queen C is almost a full-time job unto itself." She reached up to massage the knotted muscles in her shoulders. "Fuck, even talking about her gets me strung so tight. I really need to get laid."
Her abrupt change of subject must have stunned him. She didn't think it was possible for vampires to blush, but Angel was doing a good job of proving her wrong. "Wh... what?" he stuttered.
Faith grinned widely at his discomfort, enjoying the fact that she had turned the tables on him. "Don't worry Soulboy, that wasn't a come on."
"I didn't... I... I know..."
The slayer continued on blithely, determined to turn the screws in now that she had got him off-guard. "I'll just go out to some club after patrol, find a cute guy with a nice package, then use him and lose him."
Angel was beet-red by now as he got to his feet. "You'll be careful?"
Faith nodded solemnly. "I'm packin' both the smooth and ribbed variety. Even picked up a packet of glow in the dark ones recently."
"Good. Good." Angel quickly turned to go back up the stairs. His last
words floated back down to her, forced out in a half-strangled voice. "Have
fun."