Dear Faith

Dear Faith

By Lily Livered

Dear Xander,

When can I start?

F.

When Faith appeared at Giles' front door -- two days ahead of the brief message she had scribbled on a bar napkin -- the Scoobies were gathered there.

"Um, hi."

What the hell is she doing here?

She came?

I knew she'd come.

She looks like my kind of trouble.

Did we do the right thing..?

Who is that?

Faith could see the looks on their faces, could pretty much tell what they were thinking. It looked like Xander had been sugarcoating a little when he said that it would be cool for her to come back.

"Who is that?" Anya frowned, automatically moving closer to Xander's side. "What is she doing here?"

"Um, I was kind of wondering that myself." Tara added. "Cause you all seem to know"

"This is Faith." Xander smiled brightly and pulled Faith through the doorway. "Faith, this is my fiancee Anya, and Willow's special friend Tara."

Faith raised one eyebrow in mild surprise, then shrugged. "Okay. I guess I've missed some stuff." She dropped her duffel on the ground and rummaged around in it.

"Giles, Wesley asked me to bring this with." She handed him an old book. "He said that he accidentally took it with him when he left."

"Thank you Faith." Giles stepped forward and took it. "Uh Would you like anything to drink or..?"

"Nah, that's cool. I figured I'm here, I may as well do what I came for." She fidgeted. "You know, Slay some evil."

Hesitantly, Giles smiled, but then caught himself and stopped. "That's alright. I think you can wait a little before you get back into it. Have you found anywhere to stay yet?"

"No, I came straight here. Figured if maybe you wanted to run me out of town, at least I wouldn't have already payed for a night in a motel."

"Oh!" Dawn piped up from where she was lurking at the back of the group. "I know where you can live, Faith." She smiled brightly.

Dawn Don't Somebody thought.

"You should totally move in with us -- me and Spike, I mean."

This time, both eyebrows raised. "I really missed some stuff, didn't I."

"I look after the little bit." Spike supplied from his corner. "Keeps a roof over my head, and stops her from eating ice cream for breakfast."

"Thanks for the offer, Little D, but--"

"This is non-negotiable, Faith." Dawn said sternly. "You will live at my house, and you will like it. And you will also do the grocery shopping, because all Spike buys is beer and weet-a-bix."

"Um, okay." Faith smiled for the first time since her bus passed the 'Welcome to SunnydaleHELL' sign.

~*~*~

"Are you sure that's a good idea..?" Willow frowned. Spike, Faith and Dawn had just left, headed for the Summers-the Bloody residence.

"Hey!" Xander protested. "She isn't bad anymore. We have to give her a chance."

"Besides, you didn't complain when Spike moved in there. And from what Xander's told me, he tried to kill you all a lot more times than Faith did."

"That's not the point." Willow pouted. "It's just, she's"

"Scary?" Tara supplied. "That's the vibe I was getting" She trailed off softly.

"Dangerous." Willow finished. "At least we know Spike can't hurt anyone. Faith could."

~*~*~

"Xander, will you tell me about Faith?" Anya asked as she snuggled under the blankets of their bed.

"Um, Ahn, this isn't really a great time to talk about---"

"Xander, just because we just had sex doesn't mean we can't talk."

"I know, I'd just like it better that way. That, and I find that the night time hours are good for sleeping, and day time is good for talking. Besides, you and Faith came to Sunnydale around the same time. You probably met her."

"Fine. Just as long as it isn't because you're hiding something." Anya decided. "Because you know I know this spell that can--"

"Alright! We'll talk about Faith!" Xander sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"Why is she here?"

"Because I wrote her and asked her to come."

"Right And the two of you are friends?"

"I hope so. She's not such a bad person once you get to know he--"

"Did you have sex with her?"

"Have you been talking to Willow?"