Author's Note – This has been edited to fit into the rating guidelines. If you want the unedited version and you're over 18 just email me.
CHAPTER FOUR
Are you feeling the pulse of my heartIn the palm of your hand
In the jail of your love
Are you feeling the pulse of my heart
Buile Mo Chroi – Karan CaseyI rolled over hoping for a cuddle but Faith's side of the bed was cold. Listening, I could hear her in the house, talking to Dad, telling him sleeping with me was like being in bed with a python. Unfortunately she was talking about my need to hold onto her when I slept as opposed to any favorable comparisons of my body parts.
I crawled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. When I got out to the kitchen, I froze. Standing at the stove in a ratty old shirt that barely covered anything, Faith was busy making breakfast. She rarely got these domestic urges and God help us when she did. The last time I had to choke down scrambled eggs liberally seasoned with eggshells. I kissed the back of her neck, tasting her salt and tried to identify what was cooking in the pan. I think it had four legs once but I wouldn't swear to it.
"What's for breakfast?" I dared ask.
"Steak and eggs," she replied, cheerily.
Oh God, that's what the greasy half charred things were in the other pan. Eggs floating in butter. My stomach was trying to crawl out past my ribs to save itself. "You know what would go good with this? Hot sauce. Got any Dad?" I forced a grin.
He picked it up off the table and wiggled it at me. Sunlight through the old stained glass window over the sink played across his face. "Way ahead of you."
"Good man." I sat down and braced myself for breakfast. Keely and Mebd lay against the large kitchen's center island. It was so efficient it surprised me since Dad wasn't a cook either. Beyond the food prep surface of the island, it was made up of several cabinets and one corner of it was all glass and shelving for dish display. I never could figure out how to find the refrigerator. Dad's new modern kitchen, with its bright oak coloring, had a wood-fronted refrigerator door so it blended into the cabinets. I found it annoying. Keely and Mebd were either eyeing up Faith and her cooking or maybe casting longing glances to the back door and freedom of the yard. Knowing how well Faith cooked, I was all for racing across the yard and hopping the fence. I tried to distract myself from the wait. "So what's the plan?"
"Giles won't be here until noon. You and I crapped out on our search for any clues to Ethan's plans." Angel drank his coffee greedily.
"Same for me and Buffy," Faith interrupted, heading for the table with the frying pan of terror. "We got a lot of the shit in our past aired out so that's of the good but as for anything useful we got nowhere."
"Well, at least you and Buffy got things dealt with," I said as the steak and eggs hit my plate. "It's not even eight in the morning yet so we have hours to kill before Giles gets here. Any suggestions?" I spritzed the breakfast with a hefty dose of hot sauce.
"I'm going to work. So are Buffy, Spike and Xander. Of course, Spike doesn't open the pub until just before lunch," Angel said, taking an experimental bite. His eyes widened slightly but he tried to hide it.
"That doesn't help me," I said. Oh God, the hot sauce didn't help breakfast. What did she do to this? Was she sure it was steak and not a science experiment gone wrong that Willow forgot in Dad's fridge? Maybe it was road kill or a squirrel the dogs killed.
"You could always help Hamish, Wes, Willow and Maddie. You are a Watcher." Faith smirked at me and I stuck my tongue out at her. "Don't do that unless you plan to use it and I know you're not." She swatted me on the head.
"Hey." I rubbed at my head. Dad just shook his.
"I'm helping Dawn pick up some crap for her found-art studio. She needs someone to do the heavy lifting." Faith put the pans back and dug an apple out of the fridge for herself. So is she punishing us for something?
"I can help, too." I sounded more enthusiastic than the occasion warranted.
"It's a girls only day." She patted my shoulder. "I'd better go change into garbage picking clothes."
When Faith sailed out of the room, I put my plate on the floor. The two hounds perked up. "Come and get it."
"Don't you dare feed my dogs hot sauce," Dad grumbled.
"Fine." I picked up the plate and dumped my water glass over it. I flung the wet food to the dogs and poured the water into the sink. The hounds gobbled the food up. Oh to have the taste buds of a dog when my lady was in the kitchen.
"Done already?" Faith asked, coming back, still pulling down her shirt.
"I'm fast," I replied without thinking.
Faith grinned rapaciously. "So I've heard."
"You're too thin." Angel had a wicked smile in his eyes.
I didn't like where this was gone. "I'm fine."
"Your dad is right."
"Thank you, Faith." Dad shoved his plateful of death towards me. "Eat up."
"Betrayal all around." I dumped on more hot sauce, bracing my stomach for the assault. When Irish eyes are smiling, tis like a morn in spring, my ass. When Irish eyes are smiling, it means they're up to no good. "So I guess I'm stuck helping with the bookwork."
"You'll live." Faith kissed the top of my head, grabbing my hair. She started braiding it.
"Well, Dad's going to work, maybe you could push meeting Dawn back a few hours and we can stay here," I said, smirking.
"My first class isn't until eleven," Angel said, purposefully not taking the hint.
"That'll make our room seem like Mrs. Ewel's sheets are on the bed," Faith said, her fingers deftly working my hair.
"It will not." I pouted.
"What?" Angel asked.
"Mrs. Ewel was a nice old lady whose very expensive townhouse was the center of spiritual activity of the nasty kind," I said. "In the middle of dehaunting the place, she decided Faith and I were newlyweds and gave us some thank you presents including these sheets."
"They're like being wrapped in a cloud," Faith interrupted, working out a knot in my hair.
"Seriously, makes you feel like a king. And we found out they were like two thousand dollar sheets," I said, still amazed at that. "So if those sheets are on the bed nothing happens there but sleep."
"The other rooms see a lot of action though," Faith said, tying my braid off with a red leather strip. Wonder where the black one went? I didn't like the colored ones.
"I get the picture all too vividly," Angel said, shuddering.
"A picture is about all I'm going to get, too." Faith sighed.
"Hey, Dad doesn't even want to picture it let alone hear us. No more than I want to hear him and Buffy," I said bitterly.
"For once, we're in total agreement," Dad said.
"See? Even thinking about it makes me lose my appetite." I pushed the plate away.
"Good try." Faith shoved the plate back. "Eat. Your pants barely stay on now
and I'm not sure I can find you anything smaller without going to the juniors
department."
Angel nearly choked on this coffee. I just rolled my eyes.
"See what I have to put up with?" I asked.
"Your life is so rough," Dad said without pity and escaped the kitchen without having to eat. The lucky bastard would probably go snag an Egg McMuffin or something. McDonalds' sucks but it's better than anything Faith could cook.
* * *
I ended up helping Wes and company with the research. I swear, after awhile of me not being able to find anything in the books, they started making up shit for me to look up. I never heard of none of it and they had that look in their eyes, you know the one, where everyone's in on the joke but you. Finally I gave up and did some computer searches on Ethan and the aliases we knew for him. Nothing turned up at the airports or credit cards.
I headed off to help Spike open up his pub. I was useless to the other Watchers. Spike seemed surprised to see me knocking on the pub's door.
"Whatcha doing here, kid?" he asked, opening up.
"I'm bored. I can't help with the research. I can't even spell 'glacrepperice nets' let alone tell you what it does or where to find it in a book." I headed inside, my eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness of the place. Spike had gone through some effort to make it look authentic, beyond the dark wood and hanging a few dartboards on the wall. The west wall was consumed by a fireplace with three roomy soft couches to encourage camaraderie over hunkering a table straining to watch a game on the tube. The actual bar might have been as old as Spike, oak maybe and carved with something vining.
"I hear you." Spike relocked the door behind us. "I'm just about to switch out a couple of kegs and I need a few cases of beer brought up from storage."
"That I can do."
We switched the kegs with ease. No one was around to see us moving full kegs like they weighed nothing. While I unloaded import beer bottles into the bar's coolers, Spike started the fryers and stuff like that in the kitchen. The oily smell of the fryers slid past the swinging kitchen doors as he went back there.
"How are things with Faith? I'm surprised she hasn't snapped you like a twig by now." Spike's voice floated out of the kitchen.
"Very funny. Things are good." I nearly fell into the cooler trying to shove bottles into the deepest part of the box. "Outside of this research stuff, I like what I do, too."
"Think Giles and Wes could get me a deal like yours?" Spike came out of the kitchen, leaning in the doorway.
I looked over my shoulder at him. I was shocked at the sad expression on his face. I wasn't used to that from Spike. "Are you serious?"
He nodded, his blond curls flopping. He had long ago given up on the slicked back look. "I've been thinking about selling this place and moving back to England."
"Not doing well here?" I asked stupidly. The look on his face told me what I needed to know. "Or is it about Buffy?"
"Buffy." Spike sat on one of the stools. "This isn't going anywhere. We're just dragging each other down. How long before none of us will even be able to remember what happiness is?"
"I'm sorry." And I meant that.
Spike stood on the brass rail and pulled a mug down, tossing it to me. "Thanks. Pour me an Abbot Ale. Help yourself to something."
I looked at the clock. Ten thirty in the morning wasn't too early to drink, right? I poured him his ale and myself a Guinness.
"She's never once said she loved me." He shuddered a bit, as if his body was just giving up life. "Did you know that?"
Man, if he started crying I wouldn't know what to do. But I could hear the tears in his voice. I didn't know what to say. "No, I didn't."
"I know she cares. She would have cut me loose years ago otherwise. When I was still a vampire I knew what we had was wrong." He lit up and tossed me the pack. I set it aside as I don't smoke. "I thought after I got my soul it would be different and it was. It was more like pity. That was worse than what we had. Now that I'm human I don't even know what we have. Something oddly comfortable." He took a swallow of the ale. "But stagnant."
I nodded. Did I tell him Dad felt the same way or keep my mouth shut? I went with the safer way and just let him talk.
Spike got up with his mug, tapping my shoulder. He went to the pool table and racked up the balls. It was a bad break. He scowled at the table. "Figures. I know we feel something for each other but it's not exactly love. One of us just needs to let go. I'm thinking after everything I put her through over the years, it ought to be me. Lately we've just been digging up those bones."
I knew Spike had been out to kill her when he first came to Sunnydale, which already makes you doubt his smarts. What causes a vampire hunt out the Slayer? Okay, he had killed two already. But having more balls than brains isn't good for that long term planning or at least that's what the Watcher Council keeps cautioning me about. I knew about the chip and what the First did to him. I think there's a lot of ugliness I don't know about nor do I really want to. "Have you talked it out with her?" I asked, sinking a striped ball.
"Well, I'm not just going to cut and run without telling her how I feel. Your father did that once already. I saw what it did to her." Spike sighed, sagging. He seemed to need the table to keep him on his feet. "No matter what happens, it'll be ugly."
"Yeah." I'd take his word for it. I've never really been dumped. I've only had three women in my life for any length of time. Cordelia and that ended badly but that had more to do with what had to be done to save the world than either of us wanting to end things between us. Dawn and I mutually agreed that being together, once we found out who each other was, was like sleeping with your sibling. And so far Faith doesn't seem inclined to leave me. "But you're friends, right? Or is that even possible once you leave?"
Spike snorted, missing the pocket with his shot. "I have no idea. Truth is, I'm probably better friends with that big wanker you call Dad than I am with her at this point."
"Well, you have known him longer." I picked at some initials some jackass carved into the expensive wood frame of the pool table. "For several lifetimes."
Spike tapped me with the pool stick. "Don't remind me. You have no idea what it was like living with that pompous bleeder all that time. I was bad. Angelus made me look like a choir boy. But things usually went right for him up until that band of gyppos came along. Me, things always go all to cock no matter what. I shouldn't be surprised my relationship with Buffy did, too." He went back to the bar and poured us both another drink.
"Maybe you're doing the right thing," I suggested.
Spike just slapped my mug back into my hand. "Maybe. I don't think she ever really got over Angel. Riley knew it. That's why he moved on. I had no business ever falling in love with her in the first place. I sure as hell didn't want to. Tried to deny it. Maybe if Dru hadn't left me it would never had happened."
"Can't turn back time. Lord knows Dad would have for any number of reasons, the least of which would be keeping me from being raised in Hell," I said, putting Spike out of his misery at least as far as the pool game was concerned. The other misery was beyond me.
"Yeah, I keep trying to forget that. Every time I feel like I've been trampled by a Hellgod, I remember what it had to have been like for you," Spike said, staring at the pool table. "And who the hell taught you to play pool like that?"
"You!"
"Told you, all to cock, no matter what I do." Spike racked up the balls again. "They say you never forget your first love. I'm wondering if you never get over them. Angel'll tell you he never loved anyone until Buffy. He was her first great love with no offense to your Mum. Dru was mine and there are days that I wish she'd come back. I think, maybe I'd go off with her still. Of course, I'd have to die again to do it but sometimes I think…you know?" He looked at me, the scar over his eye twisting as his eyebrows arched.
"I guess. Maybe it's a little easier for me. There's no going back to my first love." I said, ready to kick myself for it. I hated to think about Cordelia, the sight of her body hanging from that tree in the Hyperion's courtyard where Wolfram and Hart's thugs faked her suicide.
"Yeah. Sorry." Spike did look remorseful.
I nodded. "You want me to talk to Giles about you when he gets here?"
"Quietly. I don't want Buffy getting wind of it before I make a decision and talk to her."
"I'm actually pretty good at keeping secrets," I said as I almost scratched. Luckily the cue ball bounced back out of the corner pocket.
Spike laughed. "I guess you would be. No one ever did suspect you were the one
who took Angel out of the picture, did they?"
"Not once and I've gotten better with time." Maybe I shouldn't be proud of that but it was a skill. I didn't have all that many of them so I took pride in the ones I did have.
"I'd say let's have another beer but the staff will be here soon. Wouldn't do to be totally pissed before the bar even opens." Spike looked grim. "You okay staying at your dad's place?"
"More or less." I shrugged. "Faith's losing patience with me."
His eyes lit up, ready to peek inside someone else's pain for a change. "About what?"
"It's been a whole five days since we've done it." Oh, stupid, Connor. Why tell him? "She's getting impatient and I just can't…not with Dad in the house."
"Gotcha. I can't imagine Faith is quiet in bed." Spike smirked at me.
I chuckled, feeling a blush rising. "Not quite." I looked around at the pub. "You know, you've got a nice place here."
"Thanks." He leveled his gaze at me, giving me a look. "You and Faith keep off my pool tables."
"How about you challenge Dad to a few games and keep him out of the house for a few hours?" I shot back but I liked the pool table idea.
Spike tapped me with the pool cue. "That might be arranged."
* * *
Spike's help arrived and he was still short one waitress. I called Buffy's house to see if Giles got in all right. He had and they were still working the research end. Wesley rather kindly suggested my help wasn't needed yet. I stayed at the Black Horse and helped Spike out. I'm no waitress but I'm sure going to tip better after this. There's something sinful about being stone drunk before two in the afternoon but several of his customers were. One of them grabbed my ass. I'm not sure if he thought I was a girl or he was gay or what but I'm lucky Spike didn't throw me out along with the drunk.
I had fish and chips at the bar, which more than made up for breakfast. I had time to kill before the big meeting at Buffy's so I headed home to wash the sweat and smoke off of me. I was half way through the shower when the phone rang. Figuring it might be Wes with news, I ran dripping to answer it. I found Buffy with the phone in hand. We both just stared at each other. She hung up the phone mechanically.
"Telemarketer."
"Uh, I didn't hear you come in over the water," I stammered, not really able to move. Why won't she just look away so I can escape?
"Sorry," Buffy said, blushing. She seemed unable to move as well. "Giles wanted a book from Angel's library. I have a key and Angel's still on his way home from work."
Not any more. I could hear the key in the lock but I wasn't prepared for Faith to be with him. They both stopped dead.
"Do I even want to know?" Angel's dark eyes narrowed but I could tell he wasn't really angry.
"I thought it was Giles on the phone." I gestured at the portable on the table. "I didn't know Buffy was here."
Angel snorted. "You're dripping all over my rug, son."
Taking that as the cue to escape I headed back for the bathroom but not before hearing Buffy ask, 'Faith, does his stomach always cave in like that?' I tried not to hear Faith's answer. I am not skinny. Why does everyone keep implying that? I toweled off furiously then pulled on my pants before rejoining them.
"Better?" I asked, holding my arms out to the side. Faith swatted my backside lightly.
"It's too late. Poor Buffy has to wash out her eyes," Dad said, looping a protective arm around her shoulders.
"Hey, for all you know she liked it," I said.
"He has a point, Angel." Buffy favored Dad with a naughty grin, coming over to me. She ran a hand through my wet hair.
I nuzzled her neck. Buffy tensed, obviously shocked. She was used to me being shy around her but Faith just grinned. She might actually got for this idea.
"See?" I smirked at Dad. "Tell you what, Dad, you take that book over to Giles and me and the girls will stay here."
Angel laughed. "You think you'd survive being the filling of a Slayer sandwich?"
I beamed, conjuring a mental image. "I'm willing to try."
Dad read that look and popped me on the shoulder. "Faith, control your man."
"It'll probably just turn him on," she said, taking a handful of my hair, pulling me down.
It was just easier to go to my knees taking the pressure off my scalp. I slid an arm around Faith, pulling her closer. I kissed the soft skin of her belly peeking out from under her half shirt.
"I think Faith was right about that," Buffy said, going over to give Dad a kiss hello.
"That's what I'm afraid of. We probably should get over to your house, Buffy, before the little pervert gets out of hand," Angel said.
"Coming from you I should be highly offended." I eyed him sourly. "I know the things you used to do."
"So it's inherited. Good to know," Buffy said, heading for the library. "I have to get that book Giles wanted."
"Oh, so that's why she's here," Faith said, letting me up.
"Yep." I pulled her close, kissing her quick. "How'd you end up coming home with Dad?"
"Dawn dropped me off there. She teaches a night class there tonight so it was just easier to catch a ride with Angel." Faith pushed my wet hair off my cheek. "How'd the research go?"
"Don't know," I replied. "They sent me to help Spike open the bar."
"You did that well with the inquiry." Dad seemed a little depressed at that.
"I'm just not a research guy."
"Do me a favor," Dad said. "Just don't replace Xander as the dullest knife in the drawer."
Buffy whacked him with the book she had retrieved. "Be nice."
Angel gave her a sheepish look and we all headed out to his car. When we got to Buffy's place, everyone was there except for Dawn. My hair had been rebraided and most of the snickering at my expense had died down. Xander must have ordered up a mess of Chinese. Smells of hot and sour soup, Hunan beef, orange chicken and Kung Pao shrimp wafted out of the house.
"Grab some food and find a place to sit," Willow said. "Nice braid, Connor. Love the tie."
I fingered the bright red strip of leather self-consciously.
"You look like Duo from Gundam Wing," Xander added and several of the Scoobies started snickering.
"What?" The reference went right over my head.
"That's who you are, a Japanese anime character," Xander decided.
"Thanks," I muttered heading for the kitchen. Giles was there helping himself to some lo mein. "Hey, Giles."
He turned and smiled. "You're looking well, Connor."
"I'm doing good. Kinda useless with all the research but looking forward to kicking Ethan's ass." I smiled at the thought. "I still owe him for last time."
Giles gave me a look that I wasn't sure wasn't pity for being foolhardy or simply amusement. "Hopefully it'll be as easy as that."
"But not likely, right?" I ladled out a bowl of hot and sour soup.
"He's got a knack for getting out of trouble relatively unscathed," Giles said, heading into the living room.
Once we all had our dinners and had crammed into the small room, the meeting started.
"So do we know what Ethan wants?" Buffy led us off.
"I don't think that he wants anything. I believe he's being paid by the Fratelli," Giles replied. "We reasoned he's here to distract you, Buffy."
"Me? From what?" Her pale eyebrows raised.
Giles plucked his glasses off for a quick cleaning. "That's what we don't know yet."
"Why would they be targeting Buffy beyond the obvious?" Xander forked up a helping of beef.
"We assume whatever the Fratelli are planning requires the Slayer is incapacitated," Wesley said.
"Then why only pick on Buffy?" Dawn shot her sister a protective look.
"Maybe cause whatever they're doing has to be done here in Sunnydale," I said and all eyes turned to me. I suddenly froze up. I'm not used to being the center of attention. I'm not usually idea man. "I mean, Faith is all over the place. She could have been in Sydney or Tokyo or wherever. She might not get back in time to stop them but Buffy's always here. So they have to get her out of the way."
"That makes a lot of sense." Hamish looked way too shocked that I had a good idea. It hurt a little.
I glanced over at Angel, smirking. See Dad, I'm not dumber than Xander.
"So our best plan is to figure out what the Fratelli are up to," Wesley said.
"That sounds like more book work," Buffy said. "Me and Faith ought to hit the
streets, see what we can learn."
"I think we should try warding Buffy against magic, too. I would have to be general since we don't know what Ethan is going to do but it's better than nothing." Willow set aside her plate.
"Good idea. Buffy, you might want to wait until Willow does that." Giles put his glasses back on. "Let Faith go out and start patrol."
"I can take the far side of town and work back," Faith said, resting her strong hand on my thigh. "Connor can come with me."
"Works for me," I said. Patrolling, beating up demons, those were things I was good at. Always go with your strengths.
Buffy glanced over at us. "Angel, Spike and I will meet you out there somewhere."
"Can we borrow the GTX, park somewhere more central?" I asked Dad and he surrendered the keys with the warning not to dent it. Yeah, like that's what I planned on doing first chance I got. Why do people tell you that? Who purposely sets out to dent the car?
Faith and I eradicated a murder of vampires who had selected a 70's dance at
the Bronze as their feeding ground, then we took out a few demons I didn't even
know the name of and leaned on some others to find out anything about Ethan or
the Fratelli. We still came up empty. The Fratelli must be craftier than most
of the other things I've come up against or they were taking out all witnesses
to their activities.
At least it felt good to pound on the demons but then again it felt terrible, too. I felt useless except for this part of my job. I'm not dumb. I just don't try. Maybe it's time to let Wesley train me the way he wanted to. I wasn't sure why I was getting all introspective and down on myself. Maybe it was being around Dad. I wanted him to be proud of me and I didn't think he was. Dad prizes brains and I ain't got them or at least I don't use them.
We had teamed up with Buffy briefly. She had her two boys in tow. At least Dad and Spike worked well together. A few more hapless vampires died but you can't really feel sorry for them. I mean, beyond the fact they're vampires, if they move into the Slayer's territory you have to figure they're either dumb or have a death wish so why not remove them from the feeding grounds? Buffy wasn't having any more luck when it came to the Fratelli or finding any traces of Ethan. Finally we parted ways again to go back over the ground we had already covered once.
Faith and I dragged back to the car. We were still short on sleep. Nothing
bothered us on our way back. Faith took the keys from me. She always says I
drive like a maniac. She drove the car to the edge of the woods and parked.
"Think they could be holed up somewhere back in that mess, off the trail?" she asked, not looking thrilled with the idea. Faith was a city girl. She didn't like being surrounded by trees. I did. That created a little friction from time to time.
"Could be."
We looked around but it was obviously a losing battle, too much ground, too dark and Faith's dislike for being in the underbrush was showing. She couldn't move as silently as she needed to. Finally we gave up, deciding it would be better to come back when it was light and we had more bodies to do the search with.
When we got back to the car, Faith caught me, pushing me back against the car. That's right, mo chroi, dent Dad's GTX. Her mouth found mine greedily. I reached into the car and put the key in the ignition, turning it just enough for the radio to come on and drown out any noises we might be making. She shoved me backwards, toppling me into the back seat. Faith slithered on top of me, pulling at my shirt. She left my head and hands captured in the cloth as she nipped at my neck.
I squirmed out of my shirt as she ground against me. She bowled me back against the soft backseat of Dad's car, catching me between her legs. Her hands ran up my back.
Our tryst ended abruptly when I heard, "Hey, Peaches, ain't that your car?"
I froze. Oh shit. What the hell were Spike and Dad doing near the woods? Was Buffy with them?
"Don't stop," Faith hissed, her teeth catching my earlobe.
"Oh, that's smart, leave it by the woods with the top down so anyone can steal it," Dad bitched.
"Hopefully they're around here somewhere," Buffy said, "Wesley is about to go through the roof because they aren't answering Connor's cell phone."
My phone? I glanced in the wheel well and saw my phone was missing off my belt. I could hear it vibrating somewhere in the front seat. Damn.
"Don't answer it," Faith said.
I grabbed the edge of the car door and pulled myself up just a bit, just so I could see the interlopers. "Go away!"
"Oh, for the love of…not in my car," Angel moaned.
Spike snickered. "Pull up a rock and watch. You could probably use the tips, Peaches."
"You two are detailing that car," Dad said, ignoring Spike.
"Yeah, I sit back there," Buffy said.
"That's probably not all you do, B," Faith shot back, her short nails digging into my ass. That'll teach me to get shy. How do I get into these sorts of things?
"I'm not sure which rates as the grossest thing that have happened on that back seat, you two or Angel and anyone," Spike said.
I heard Angel's fist hit something meaty and Spike grunted.
"Watch the shoulder, Nancy boy," Spike said and I could smell the strike of his match on the ignition strip.
"It's neither. The most disgusting thing to happen back there was Darla's water breaking. Connor was almost born on that back seat," Angel replied.
"Oh, ewww," Buffy said.
I echoed her, rolling off Faith and landing in the wheel well, doing a full body shudder. "Thanks for nothing, Dad."
"Yeah, way to turn him impotent," Faith said, sitting up, looking for her shirt. She didn't mind flashing everyone.
"I'm not impotent," I grated out.
"Yeah right. You might as well answer your phone," Faith said, tugging on her pants.
I pulled on my jeans then answered the phone. "Yeah, what?…I was busy…uh-huh. Okay. Buffy's here with us. We'll be back there soon enough." I hung up and tried to find where my shirt went. It was on the ground outside of the car. I fished it up. "You guys just couldn't go away?"
"Well, we know it wouldn't have taken you long but they want us back at Buffy's," Spike said, grinning around his cigarette.
I flipped him off. "So Wes just informed me."
"The car's the fastest way back," Buffy said, getting in the front seat.
"And you thought they wanted the car because they were too lazy to walk across town," Spike said, squeezing in beside her.
"Shut up Spike," Angel and I said together.
"You dented the side panel," Dad complained. sliding behind the wheel.
"That was Faith," I said and she pinched my side.
"So what is the big emergency that we all have to go racing home for?" Faith's expression went all business.
"Wes was pretty cryptic. He just said we have visitors from L.A. and they have news," I said.
"If this could have waited, Wes is going to be my personal piñata," Faith grumbled. "And I'm using one of these three as the stick." She pointed at the front seat.
Spike turned and looked at us. "Hey, you two can carry on while Peaches drives. I don't mind."
"I do," Buffy and Angel chorused.
"Drop dead," I growled.
"Been there done that, got up and walked around afterwards," Spike replied.
"Did Giles or Hamish tell you guys anything more insightful than we got visitors?" I asked.
"No. Guess we'll find out soon enough," Dad said.
Yeah, great. This was going to turn out bad. I don't know how I knew it but I did.
