"Drink?" Wesley asked as he and Faith stepped up to the bar of one of many of LA's local taverns.

"Why not? Vodka on the rocks."

Wesley laughed quietly at her. "A little strong, don't you think? It's still quite early."

"Yeah, maybe I can get one of your little girlie drinks," Faith scoffed. "Maybe something with an umbrella in it or pink with a cute little name."

"What can I get you two?" the bartender asked as he approached them.

"Two vodkas on the rocks," Wesley replied, his eyes never leaving Faith's as she raised her eyebrows at him expectantly.

"Good man," she smiled, her arms crossed over her chest. "You grab the drinks, and I'll snag us a table."

With a wink, she started off towards the billiards room, disappearing amongst the sea of people.

Before Wesley could even form a thought, a familiar voice came from behind him, "Well, look who's back on the prowl."

"Lilah," he growled, turning to face the woman. "You know, this little thing of yours is getting tiresome. I thought it would end after last night."

"Oh, please," Lilah smirked, sipping from her drink. "Don't flatter yourself. You and I both know that it's you who's been thinking of me."

"Is there a reason you're here?" Wesley sighed, irritated. "Besides utilizing valuable air and space?"

"Always so snippy, Wesley," Lilah smiled. "I like that about you. I'm here to remind you that the job offer still stands, and seeing that you're still very unemployed, I just thought you could use the little reminder."

"You know exactly where you can put your little job offer."

Lilah laughed softly in response. "You can only live off your savings for so long." She sipped from her drink before nodding towards the billiards room, "So, who's the little jailbait with you tonight?"

Wesley chuckled under his breath.

"Care to share the joke?" she sneered at him.

"Just pondering how appropriate the term jailbait is in this case."

Lilah raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at him in response, "I'm sorry?"

Wesley chuckled again, crossing his arms over his chest. "You don't recognize her."

"You can only recognize so much about a person from the back of their head," Lilah shrugged.

"That little piece of jailbait is quite that," Wesley replied, a smug smirk forming on his lips. "She's Faith. You remember her, don't you?"

The corner of her mouth twitched at his admission. She sipped casually from her drink before replying, "So your little Slayer is out, huh? I figured it was about time for her parole hearing."

"It was today, actually," Wesley answered, his smugness never wavering. He stood confidently, his head held high, as he watched Lilah attempt to cover her tracks. "It's her first night out. I'm showing her the town."

"Your drinks, sir," the bartender said, sitting down two cups on the bar.

Wesley nodded and handed the man a ten. "Keep the change," he said as he retrieved the drinks.

Lilah shrugged, rattling the ice in her glass casually as she replied, "I've been breaking in a new assistant. I guess I'll be doing it literally now, huh?"

At that moment, Faith approached them, two pool cues in her hands. "Did you have to go to the actual company to get our drinks?" she complained as she stood beside Wesley.

"I was just on my way actually," he replied. His smile grew as he motioned towards Lilah. "Faith, let me introduce you to someone…"

"I remember you," Faith said, using her pool cue to point at Lilah. "You're that lawyer bitch that sent me after Angel."

"Lilah Morgan," she replied, offering her hand for Faith to shake. Faith glanced down at her extended hand and back up into Lilah's eyes, glaring. Lilah took her hand back nonchalantly, using it to smooth down her skirt.

Wesley's smirk only intensified as he watched the two women interact.

"You know, you're kinda like the catalyst that ended up putting me behind bars," Faith replied with a tilt of her head. "I don't know if I should thank you or break your nose right about now."

Lilah felt herself unconsciously lean away from Faith in response. Taking a moment to recollect herself, her confidence slowly returned and she smiled innocently at Faith, "I'd forgotten what a charmer you are."

She then turned to Wesley, still smiling. "Might wanna watch out for her. I hear that charm wears off quickly when she's angry." She paused for a moment, her sweet smile turning into a devious smirk, as she added, "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Wesley glared at Lilah in response, his armor finally cracked by the lawyer.

"Lady, you've never seen me angry," Faith growled from beside him, taking a step closer to Lilah.

In response, Lilah hastily finished off her drink, placing it on the counter. "And on that pleasant note, I bid you goodnight, Wesley. Keep in mind that job proposition." She smiled daintily at Faith as she added, "It was nice to see you again, Faith."

With that, Lilah walked between them, slightly pushing Faith out of the way, as she made her way towards the exit.

Faith mumbled a threat under her breath before turning to Wesley and asking, "She offered you a job?"

Wesley nodded, sipping from his drink. "To give her an inside look at Angel Investigations."

"Any sweet benefits?" Faith asked, eyeing him.

Wesley looked at her, incredulous.

Reading his expression, she exclaimed, "What?! I'm just saying. You need to eat, you know. Yeah, you'd have to listen to her run her mouth but…"

"Faith, no."

"I'm just saying that you got to do what you got to do sometimes." She paused, curious. "Are you honestly going to stand there and tell me that you haven't at least thought about taking the job?"

Wesley sipped from his drink and walked off towards the billiards room. As he walked away, both drinks in his hands, he called over his shoulder, "Of course I haven't."

Faith stood by the bar for a moment, watching Wesley leave, the skepticism emblazoned across her face.

*********

Wesley lay in his bed, his arm draped over his eyes. Feeling a new wave of nausea rising inside him, he breathed deeply in an attempt to hold back the urge to throw up. If he let loose now, it was over. The rest of his night would be spent getting cuddly with the hard porcelain of his commode.

It had been a long time since he had drunk like he had tonight. Actually, he realized with a frown, he had never drunk like that a day in his life.

He had never been wild when he had been younger. He had been too busy studying and learning the proper ways of a Watcher to ever really rebel like the young were supposed to. No staying up 'til all hours. No drinking. No late night parties with loose girls. Nothing but him and his textbooks, his journals, his studies.

His father had been vigilant about it. Where he had failed, he had wanted his son to succeed. At any cost. There had been no time for youthful experiences in the Wyndam-Pryce home, no toleration for temptations from Wesley's studies. No toleration for rebellion.

Tonight, Faith had brought out that rebellious side of him. The side that he had kept hidden under the surface all his life. With her, he felt no need to hold back. He had had drink after drink, enjoying each one even more than the last. He had exuded more confidence than he had ever done before, and he had had fun…

Of course, Faith's idea of fun had been to scam a couple of drunk college boys out of a few bucks at a pool game, but it had still been fun for him. Fun in comparison to the drama that was still unfolding in his real life anyway.

The fun was only temporary. Like everything good in his life, it would fade eventually. He would wake tomorrow with a pounding head, a queasy stomach, and a reminder of what his life was really like. Empty. Painful. Sickening. Everything that his night at the bar with Faith had not been.

A small squeak of the hinges of his bedroom door brought Wesley from his thoughts.

He slowly sat up on his elbows, squinting at the doorway. Faith, dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of boxers that Wesley had loaned her, leaned against the doorframe, back-lit by a light from down the hall.

"Faith?" he asked, his eyes slowly adjusting to the light.

"You know, Wesley," she replied, her arms crossed over her chest, "I've never really officially apologized for what I did to you."

Wesley remained silent.

"You were a pain in my ass, you realize. Back in Sunnydale," she continued as she uncrossed her arms and placed her hand on the doorknob, twisting it back and forth gently.

"The same could be said for you," he replied with a yawn.

"Everything about you pissed me off. The voice. The clothes. All the crappy orders you always tried to give me and B."

"Faith," Wesley sighed, "You realize that it is normally customary for an apology—which I believe this is leading up to—to contain far fewer insults."

"I hated you back then. Hated you."

"Yes, well, you were not alone in that hatred. I definitely was not Mister Popularity amongst the Sunnydale population."

"And you hated me."

Wesley began to shake his head, but stopped short, as he realized that the room began to spin as he did so. "You couldn't be more wrong, Faith. I never hated you. I hated the fact that I couldn't control either you or Buffy, that you would always ignore my every instruction, but never did I hate you."

Faith laughed quietly to herself, her eyes on the carpet. She gently twisted her toes into the soft rug as her laughter faded away. As she looked back up into Wesley's eyes, her expression turned serious again. "I'm sorry."

Wesley sat up completely, his back resting against the headboard of his bed.

"I don't say that to many people so… So I don't really know what else I'm supposed to say." She shrugged slightly, running a hand through her tousled mane. "But I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Wesley replied quietly. "I appreciate you saying it."

Faith simply nodded, a slight smile at the corner of her mouth. She leaned in the doorway for a moment longer, watching him, before finally removing herself from the threshold.

"Night, Wes," she called over her shoulder as she disappeared back down the hallway.

"Goodnight, Faith."

Wesley sat up for a moment longer, listening to the sound of Faith's footsteps depart. He heard the familiar sound of his couch cushions compressing as Faith made herself comfortable. The light that had illuminated the hallway disappeared as he faintly heard the sound of the TV in the background.

He smiled to himself, sliding back under his covers with a sigh.

Apparently I'm not the only one full of surprises, he mused.