Title: The Outcasts
Author: FerretGirl
Pairing/Characters: Wesley/Spike, Faith, Willow.
Rating: PG13 to NC-17
Disclaimer: They boys and girls are not mine, I'm just playing with them.
Summary: A second chance, a new beginning?.
Spoilers: AtS S1 to 4, BtvS S3 and S5/6 I guess. At the beginning S4 of AtS and S7 of BtvS, Joss and I go our separate ways
again.

A big thanks for my beta's miniera, and eloise_bright for their help and encouragement.



The Outcasts



It had been two weeks since The Cynosure sailed out of the harbor of Vilnarsy. Working on the huge sail-ship was hard but satisfying. Willow spent most of her time below deck, working with Miranda the ship's mapmaker and reader, learning a lot from those maps. Not only did they have maps to guide them across several oceans, but also maps of the dimension they were in. It was a lot bigger than they could have thought.

Faith, Wesley and Spike worked on the deck most of the time. Learning how to sail, since none of them had a clue as what they were doing. They were learning fast though, mostly with the help of their new green skinned friend,now christened the hulk.

They got along with most of the crew. The Captain was mostly aloof, giving orders and putting himself above the crew, as their commander. There was the ship's cook, a funny little man who could out babble even Willow. There there was Jack, who took care of the livestock, a tall human with long hair and piercing eyes. His best friend was a strange creature who resembled a fluffy pig the size of a man, named Gordo. They were never apart, if you saw one the other wasn't far behind. The entire crew of The Cynosure certainly was a colorful mixture.

Wesley had learned from the cook that the ship carried a mystical device for the production of fresh water. All the ships owned by the major cargo companies carried such a device. There was a code of the sea involving this tidbit. When a ship approached waving a certain flag, it was the duty of the cargo ship to give them fresh water. No matter what the other ship was.

Faith had been struggling the first few weeks with sea sickness. Spending most of her time hanging over the railing, complaining loud and long that it was unfair that Slayers would get sea sick, since they were...well, Slayers. Which had earned her a smirking lecture from Wesley on the nature of slayers and their oh so human fallibility.

After having spend over a hundred years in the shadows, Spike had made it habit of walking around without his shirt when ever he could. Enjoying the warm sun on his skin. And on his head, since the hat was no longer needed it seemed. No one had looked up surprised or had attacked, when a gust of wind had blown off the hat one day. So the hat, to great regret of the others, was no longer needed.

The vampire was developing a nice tan, after being burned to a crisp at first. In the beginning he had made a point to be stoic about this, after all he was a tough vampire. But after Wesley offered to rub some medicinal oil onto the burned skin, Spike made sure to complain about the burns to Wesley. Even though it wasn't actually needed. Wesley wasn't fooled of course, but didn't mind playing along. Not at all.

And then there was Jeremiah, the ship's parrot. A normal exotic parrot, just like the ones they knew from earth.

"Goddam stupid bird!" Faith yelled, followed by her mop flying through the air. Jeremiah laughed loudly and just moved a little to the side.

"Stupid! Stupid sod!" the bird agreed, bouncing up and down on its feet.

"You do that one more time and I'm gonna turn you into a featherless bird!" Faith pointed at him.

"Not polite! Bugger!" Jeremiah scolded her, tilting his head to gaze at her.

"Fuck if I care! You're a little chicken-shit anyway, hiding away out of reach," Faith emphasized her point by throwing the bucket of water at him.

"Chill dude! Clean the poop-deck! Clean the poop-deck!" the parrot yelled, neatly sidestepping the flow of water thrown at him.

"You do realize that you're arguing with a bird?" Wesley voice came from behind the Slayer. He was carrying three cups of what passed for coffee in this dimension, handing one to a giggling Willow and holding the other out for Faith. "And I do believe he's picking up your language. Chill dude? Really Faith," he said giving her a mock scolding look.

Faith muttered something under her breath and thanked him for the coffee.

"Man, what I wouldn't give for a descent cup of mocha-latte," Willow sighed, making a face as she sipped the brown liquid.

"Some actual tea would be ideal right about now," Wesley agreed, wiping sweat of his face with the sleeve of his tunic. Setting down the brown liquid, he reached to remove the tunic so he could cool down a bit. When he was half way he noticed Faith's look and the catch in her breath. Sighing regretfully, he put the tunic back on.

He was one of the few who kept wearing the tunic on hot days like these. He'd noticed that while he was going around shirtless, Faith would stare at the scars she had inflicted on him with a strange look in her eyes; regret, guilt, sorrow, and she would wince and avoid him. After noticing that, Wesley kept his tunic on. But he'd made a mental note to talk to Faith about this. It was done, it was in the past, she needed to let it go.

"I could do with some good music," Faith said thoughtfully. "Where's Spike?" she asked looking around.

"Right here Slayer," Spike said walking toward the group. He was coming from below decks, licking his lips. "Personally, I think the cattle here tastes a lot better than on earth," he grinned.

"Well, that's at least something," Wesley said, staring at the brown liquid in his cup. He made a face and tossed the rest overboard. "Let's go Spike, we're supposed to be doing some repairs."

"Right behind you, handsome," Spike grinned. Wesley let out an exasperated sigh and walked off after saying goodbye to Willow and Faith.

The girls watched as the two men walked away and Spike sneaked a quick grope of Wesley, giggling as Wesley turned and glared at the Vampire.

"I wish Wes would loosen up some," Faith said, keeping one eye on Jeremiah who had come closer again.

"He's trying, but it's hard. You can't just forget over thirty years of routine," Willow told her. "I think he's getting better, at least he wasn't blushing," she giggled.

"Pity," Faith grinned, "I like making him blush, it's just so damn cute."

"What were you staring at when he had his shirt off?" Willow asked abruptly.

Faith looked at her startled, then regained her composure. "Why? Jealous?" she smirked.

Willow gave her a soft smile. "Maybe," she teased. "But you're trying to move away from the subject. You were looking at the scars, weren't you? The ones you gave him?"

Sighing Faith sat down next to her, rubbing her face. "Look Wills, I'm not good at this talking shit, but yes. Yes I was."

"That's what I thought," Willow nodded "It must be hard, having a constant reminder of your past mistakes walking around all the time."

Faith winced at that. "That's not how I see or think of him," she whispered.

"Then stop treating him like that. Stop living in the past. It happened, you said you were sorry, you went to jail for it, it's done. If Wes can forgive you why can't you forgive yourself?" Willow asked.

"Can you forgive yourself for what you did?" Faith shot back.

Taking a shaky breath Willow thought about that for a moment. "Forgive? Okay, No, I don't think I ever could. Learn to live with it? Yes, with your help and Spike and Wes', I'm learning to live with it. What I did was awful and there really isn't an excuse. But I need to move on and do what's right now." She turned to look at Faith. "Somehow we've all been give an second chance and I don't want to mess it up. And I don't want you to either."

"I need to move on," Faith nodded. She was twisting the cloth she used to clean with in her hands. "Do...do you think I should...talk? To him?"

"I would," Willow said. "But you have to move fast. I think he's steeling himself to talk to you about it."

"Huh. He would," Faith smiled. She looked at Willow thoughtfully for a moment. "Thanks Wills," she said truthfully. "Who would have thought way back in Sunnydale that we'd end up as friends some day."

"Not me!" Willow grinned. "But I can't say I mind. It's funny how things turn out." She turned to give Faith a comforting hug.

"Ship Ahoy! Ship Ahoy!" Jeremiah suddenly screeched, flying from where he was perched to the bow of the ship.

Puzzled the girls stood up and walked to where a crowed had already gathered. A ship was approaching. "It's carrying the saturity flag," someone muttered.

"Oh bugger!" Spike said as his vampire sight gave him a better view of the ship.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked.

"Shit," Faith muttered, having had a good look at the approaching ship also.

It was The Tormente.


~*~*~*~



"Just steer clear from this Captain fellow," Wesley told Spike.

"What if I accidentally trip him and he falls overboard?" Spike grumbled.

"No," Faith hissed. "We don't want any trouble." She blinked and paused at saying that. Who would have thought that she, Faith, would not want trouble?

"And what if he starts?" Spike wanted to know.

"Then you be the bigger man...err...vampire and walk away," Willow said, showing her no nonsense face. "We mean it Spike, no trouble!"

"Oh alright," Spike said, holding up his hands in defeat. "I'll give the git a wide berth. Shouldn't be too much of a problem, he stinks."

They watched suspiciously as The Tormente came closer, until it was drifting alongside The Cynosure.

"Ahoy!" The Captain bellowed. "We need fresh water and call upon the code of the sea!"

"Yes, we shall answer," Captain Traxada said, waving his hand in front of his face. The smell from the other ship was nauseating.

"Good," Bully shouted back. "We would also make use of some of your repair tools. We ran into some trouble a while back." The grin he threw them was positively nasty.

The Tormente's sails were ripped. They looked as if a cannonball had gone through them. There were also some minor damages to be seen to the ship itself.

"But of course," Captain Traxda answered again, though one could tell he wasn't happy about it.

"They's trouble," Gordo whispered at Wesley. "They's no good, nothing but trouble." The pig-like man scrunched his nose up, glaring at other ship. "But they's might be good for some games, win some coins," he nodded as if pleased by that idea.

"Just make sure ye don't get in any trouble yeself," his friend Jack scolded.

"Course not," Gordo answered highly offended. "I ain't suicidal."

Willow glanced at them, having heard the conversation. The sooner The Tormente would leave, the better she thought. Soon would not be soon enough.

~*~*~*~


Staying out of Captain Bully's way had been far easier then Spike imagined. Of course it had cost him several glaring contests, a shouting match and almost a physical fight to get the man to back off.

Captain Traxda, not a foolish man, had helped a great deal in the matter. Recognizing the Spike and Bully time bomb, he'd made sure to entertain The Captain for the time The Tormente was being fixed. This was a hard matter for Traxda, since Captain Bully *did* indeed stink and neither of them had anything in common.

The crew of both ships avoided each other when ever possible as well. Unless there were Sinto games. A game played with cards and dice. Both Faith and Spike had grown highly interested in the game, and more importantly, the bets that came with it. Between the two of them, they had upped the group's fundings considerably.

The Tormente had been around for a week now and most of the repairs were done. Their group, along with rest of the crew of The Cynosure hoped the other ship would leave soon, or even better...yesterday.

Wesley was leaning over the railing, staring up at the colorful stars. He made sure to be as far away from The Tormente as he could, not only did the crew smell, the ship itself stank too.

"Penny for your thoughts," a voice came from behind him, "or whatever currency they use here."

Wesley smiled and turned around. "I was just looking at the stars and hoping that bloody ship would leave soon," he told Spike.

"Well not before the big game tonight," Spike said. "Faith and I have some heavy bets going on."

"I suppose I should be glad they're not playing kitten poker," Wesley smirked, remembering the stories Spike had told him.

Spike moved closer to Wesley, planting both hands on either side of him on the railing and thus effectively trapping him. Not that Wesley minded.

"Why, you little pillock," Spike smirked.

"Git," Wesley shot back.

"Sod."

"Wanker."

"Not yet," Spike leered at Wesley.

Wesley smiled, removing his hands from the railing. He snaked them around Spike's waist and pulled him closer. "Patience," he whispered, looking into the vampire's blue eyes.

"I'll just take what I can get then," Spike said and before Wesley could answer he captured the other man's lips with his own. He pushed his tongue passed the Watchers parted lips, tasting salt and something sweet mingled together.

Wesley sighed into the kiss, his hands moving in slow circles on Spike's back. When he felt the vampire's hand in his hair, pulling him even closer he groaned, the sound muffled by in Spike's mouth. God, he loved kissing this man, he could spend hours doing just that. Tasting Spike, salty and coppery with an underlying dangerous current.

Someone clearing a throat loudly made them pull apart, albeit reluctantly. They looked up to see Faith smirking at them.

"Did you still wanna go to the game, or are you too...occupied," she grinned at Spike.

Grinning back Spike didn't let go of Wesley. More importantly, and this pleased Spike, Wesley didn't let go of him. Usually the other man moved away, keeping an appropriate distance when around others. Now, Wesley kept his arms where they were, around the vampire's waist. Progress, Spike thought, was a good thing.

"If you promise to keep him out of trouble I guess he can come play with you," Wesley said, managing to look serious.

"Thanks Dad," Spike said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You're welcome son," Wesley winked.

"I'll make sure he stays out of trouble," Faith laughed, glad to see Wesley loosening up a bit. "let's go Spike."

"Hang on," Spike said. He turned around and captured Wesley's mouth for a hard breathtaking kiss. Causing the other man to let go of the vampires waist and clutch the railing. "Let's go," he told Faith. "Don't wait up," he winked at Wesley.

Wesley blinked at him and snorted. "Have fun," he said, watching Faith and Spike walk over to the other ship.

~*~*~*~



"I did not cheat you miserable sods!" Spike bellowed. It wasn't the first time those two rats from The Tormente had accused him of cheating, but it would be the last, he'd had enough. Grabbing one of them by the scruff of the neck, Spike tossed him over the table. Cards and dice went flying in all direction as the man ended sprawled on the floor.

The other man, much bigger then his friend, lunged for Spike only to end up with the vampire's steel fist in his face.

"Spike!" Faith yelled. "Knock it off, we don't want any trouble." She was itching to get into the fight, but she was trying to control her temper. All thoughts of control went flying through the window when one of the rats was approaching Spike's back with a knife.

Faith jumped, grabbed the man by his arm and twisted it hard. She could hear bone cracking. "That wasn't very fair," she hissed in the man's face.

The ratty man squeaked and struggled loose, immediately running to stand by his friend's side. "You'll both pay for this!" He hissed at them, clutching his arm to his chest. "We know exactly how to get to you two!"

"Oh yeah? Well good luck trying," Spike snorted. He picked up their winnings and pushed them in his pockets. "We'll take these, since we didn't cheat." Turning around on the balls of his feet he stalked out of the cabin.

Faith glared one more time at the ratty men. "Don't get any wild ideas or I'll break something other then your scrawny little arm," she warned them, before running after Spike.

"Damn, those rats play dirty," Faith grumbled.

"They're dirty inside out," Spike agreed, walking over the plank back to The Cynosure. He jumped on-board and looked up staring at the sky. "It's odd." He said.

"What?" Faith asked, jumping aboard the ship herself. "The stars? I think they're pretty."

"No," Spike answered. "Those men. Not that long ago I was one of them," he sighed. "Dirty inside out."

"You were never dirty outside," Faith grinned. "But I know what you mean," she added more seriously. "You're not like that anymore. Now I'm no good at lecturing, that's more Willow and Wes' thing." She folded her arms in front of her chest and looked at him. "So I'll repeat what Willow told me." Holding out her hand she ticked off her points, "In the past, not you anymore, second chance, get over it, move on."

"You're right," Spike agreed. "Your lectures suck. I'm sure the one from Willow was better."

Faith rolled her eyes. "Hahaha. But you're getting the idea, right?"

"Yeah yeah, I get it." Spike said. "Move on."

"Yup," Faith nodded, stifling a yawn. "I don't know about you, but I'm beat. I'm going to turn in. See you tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan," Spike said and followed her down below. "Night."

Arriving in the cabin he shared with Wesley, Spike was surprised that the other man was still awake.

"Thought you'd be asleep by now?"

"It's not *that* late yet," Wesley pointed out. "I'll be back in a second, Miranda wanted to ask me something about the maps she and Willow were working on." Giving Spike a quick kiss he opened the door. "Don't wait up," he winked at Spike and moved out the door.

"Funny man," Spike grumbled. He undressed quickly and flung himself on the bed. He was fast asleep within moments.

~*~*~*~


When Spike woke up, he noticed Wesley's bed hadn't been slept in. "Probably been up all night philosophizing about god knows what with that Miranda bint and Willow," He muttered.

Quickly washing and getting dressed he walked out of the cabin. He headed to the kitchen to get some of that coffee wannabe stuff to wake up. Nursing the cup in his hand he walked up the stairs onto the deck.

"Morning sleepy head," Willow said cheerfully, looking up from her conversation with Faith.

"You're awfully cheery for someone who spend the entire night studying and talking," Spike said, joining them.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked, making a face as she sipped the dark liquid.

"Weren't you up al night talking shop with Wes and Miranda?"

"No," Willow looked at him puzzled.

"Hey, look to your right and see the good news!" Faith pipped up. "The Tormente is gone!"

"Thank god for small mercies," Spike said, looking over to where the night before The Tormente had been. "When did they leave?"

"No clue," Willow answered "And I can't say I care. I'm just glad they're gone."

"Either of you two seen Wes?" Spike asked.

Both Faith and Willow shook their heads. "Not since last night," Faith said.

"Hm, strange. His bed hasn't been slept in, so I thought he'd spent the night talking again with that Miranda bint. He was going over there before I fell asleep."

Willow frowned at him. "He was?" she asked. "That *is* strange, we were expecting him but he never showed up. We figured something had gotten in the way."

Spike suddenly had a very uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn't right here.

"Tormente gone! Bully gone!" Jeremiah screeched at them. He flew down on the deck and began walking back and forth between some barrels. "Look! Look!"

"Shut up, stupid bird," Faith muttered, "It's far to early to be bitching with you."

"Look! Look!" Jeremiah insisted while he kept walking back and forth between the barrels. "Tormente gone! Wes gone! Bully gone!"

Willow walked toward the parrot and sank on her knees to look behind the barrels. "I think he wanted to show us this," she said standing up again. In her hand she held a pair of glasses.

They only knew of one person who wore glasses. Wesley.

"Those are Wes'" Spike said, plucking the glasses out of Willow's hand. He gazed at them accusingly as if they would give him an answer.

"Wes gone! Tormente gone!" Jeremiah told them again.

The group stared at each other in horror and then back at where The Tormente had been. "Oh god," Willow whispered, catching onto what the parrot meant.

"Fuck!" Faith agreed, hitting the railing hard with her fist.

The Tormente was gone. Wesley was gone. One and one...is two.

2004 by FerretGirl