Part 18: There's Something Happening Here…
The other girls were steering clear of Faith's position on the parlor couch, probably because she stank from the stress of inhaling four cigarettes in the past two hours. Willpower was all fine and good, until nerves started smacking you around.
Maybe she should go for one of those patches, because if she couldn't quit the cancer sticks there was no telling what other bad habits she might fall back into.
Faith pretended to read some dog-eared fanboy SciFi mag Andrew left on the coffee table while keeping an eye on the Caller ID's clock. She let the sounds of the house wash over her and for the first time since landing in Cleveland she made the effort to pay attention. The constant noise was full of the living rummaging around the kitchen, stomping around in their rooms, playing music, or running water in one of the bathrooms.
What she didn't hear a lot of was conversation, or rather, conversation that meant a whole hell of a lot.
Ruda and her honor guard of five Slayers burst into the room at the speed of full giggle. Someone forgot to give Ruda the memo that Faith was in the 'do not trust' camp, because the girl zipped over to her and asked, "Whatchya reading?"
Faith looked down at the glossy picture of a muscle-bound black dude wearing camos with a gold symbol on his head. "It's Andrew's."
Ruda twisted her head this way and that to get a better look at the picture before rendering her judgment in a sniff. "I don't know what he's supposed to be, but that man is human."
"Yeah, not very convincing if he's supposed to be," she bent her head down to get a better look at the caption, "a Teal'c. Or maybe that's a…"
She was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and she turned her eyes to the parlor entrance, tense and waiting.
A red-eyed Rona appeared followed by a grim-looking Xander who kept a protective hand on her right shoulder. With no preamble, he said, "Rona, go upstairs and pack."
The girl nodded and disappeared.
"Vi here?" Xander called.
The girl in question moved so fast to Xander's side that Faith thought she'd teleported.
"You're her best bud and roomie, so you know the sitch, right?" When he got a nod, he added, "Go up to your room. Stay with her. Keep her there until I come get you."
Vi nodded and was gone.
"Faith?"
And damn if she didn't feel herself pulled off the couch. She figured he'd ask her to deal with Robin while he spirited Rona out the door. Frankly, she thought Xander was being very unfair because Robin would definitely understand something like this, especially since it involved family.
Not that Xander had any reason to know that. Thinking back on their earlier conversation, Faith wasn't entirely sure that Xander knew how Nikki Wood died.
"Find Willow and get her to book an emergency flight. Texas. The sooner the better," he began. Faith raised her eyebrows in surprise, but kept silent. "Her brother's stationed at Fort Hood. Then get her to call the base. They probably have a family support office. Make arrangements for someone to pick her up at the other end. I want her trip smooth as glass because the last thing she needs right now is to worry about the little stuff. Got it?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Tell Giles that Rona's going on an indefinite leave of absence. Once her brother leaves, she might go stay with family for a while. Her parents managed to survive the Bringer attack on her home and they're staying with family up in Oregon."
"Good luck with that," Faith sighed.
Xander's jaw set in a determined line. "No luck involved. We're getting Rona out tonight no matter what and if that means she and I hang out on stand-by all night at the airport then we'll do it. I'll be giving the big meeting a miss, so have someone take notes and catch me up later."
"Will do." Faith gave a sharp nod and departed, planning to first check Willow's lair in the not-ready-for-primetime library before knocking on her bedroom door.
Her first guess was the right one. As Faith relayed Xander's message to Willow, it hit her: not one of the girls interrupted or questioned Xander while he asked Vi and Faith to help.
Did she say asked? Because now that she thought about it, those requests sure as hell sounded a lot like orders.
TBC…