Author note: I was typing and by the time I was done, 42 pages were out (OK, so that includes chapter one also). So now I had to break it into two chapters, because you guys don't wanna read that long of a chapter. So read and enjoy. Comments at the end of Chapter Three!
Chapter Two – Beer Bad
"Bloody hell," Wesley groaned as he tried to sit up in his bed.
His head felt like it was ready to fall off. From what he could tell from the closed curtains, it was already light outside. He really couldn't remember when or how he had gotten back to the flat that Giles had obtained for their stay. There wasn't much he could remember about last night, other than drinking copious amounts of alcohol with Faith, Angel, Spike, and possibly Buffy, Xander, Giles and Willow. Maybe it was a figment of his imagination. Certainly the two factions didn't like each other enough to get stinking drunk together. Of course with neither one liking the current Council as a whole, that might have provided some common ground to at least talk.
Sitting up gingerly, he tried swinging his feet over the side and swayed a little before managing to achieve the movement. It's not like he couldn't hold his liquor. He could. He had too many times to count. Whiskey had become his best friend for months after his break with Angel and his friends. And he had drunk himself into a stupor after Fred had died. He guessed he had been in perpetual hangover mode many times in his life. He must have been out of practice for it to affect him this much. Keeping up with vampires and slayers must have been too much of a challenge. He swore that Spike had a wooden leg. Or that vampires really couldn't get drunk.
Moaning, he dropped back onto the bed, wondering why on earth he was actually getting up in the first place. It wasn't like he had a job. The Council obviously hadn't forgotten about his past mistakes, adding on new ones. And he didn't feel that proving himself to the lot was beneficial. He'd do what he damned well pleased. If it meant dying on that bed right then, then so be it.
A pounding on his door made him grab his head again in pain. Whoever was out there had a death wish. But in the condition he was in, they'd have to wait to be thrashed. He couldn't lift a finger without it hurting.
"Hey, wakey, wakey," Faith said as she entered his room without an invitation.
"Oh, go to hell," he answered, not liking that she was chipper.
"Looks who's grumpy this morning, I mean this afternoon. Man, you were so fucked up last night. I had to carry you in here."
Wesley looked over himself, noticing that he had on his pajama bottoms only, not the clothes from last night.
"You didn't," he asked her.
"Hey, barf boy. I had to. You were so wicked gross and all. Just don't do that again. Here, drink this."
Faith handed him a drink that he had no intention of tasting. Probably some American way of handling a hangover, no doubt.
"I think I told you . . . ," he started, wincing as he heard other loud noises in the hall.
"I know. Go to fucking hell. I heard you. Drink up, watcherboy. We need you at full strength."
Wesley wanted to laugh. Why would Faith need him at full strength? He almost choked as his mind wandered into the gutter.
"Ya know I can read your mind, dumbass. Just drink it," she yelled.
Stabbing pain shot through his brain this time at her loud voice. He'd better drink it just to get her to leave. Slowly, he sat up, trying not to spill the contents over his bed. Sniffing it, he grimaced at the smell. This might make him vomit all over again.
Holding his nose, he upended the glass, draining it as quickly as he could. He choked a little at the end.
"Now what? Will it make me puke?" he gasped.
"You do look a little green, Wes. I thought you could hold your liquor?"
"So did I."
"Don't worry. You aren't the only one with a freakin' hangover. Everyone else, except for Spike, has a hangover. Even Giles is praying to the porcelain god this morning, afternoon."
"Good. Wouldn't want him to feel left out, now would we?"
Faith waved at him as she left, him still clutched his head in his hands. His stomach was actually starting to calm somewhat. The spinning that the room was doing before had stopped. Only his head still hurt fiercely.
"What in bloody hell were you doing?" Wesley heard Spike yell from the hallway.
Just what he needed. A pissed off vampire in the middle of the day. Inching his way off the bed, he made his way to the door to look out. Spike was standing toe-to-toe with Xander of all people. He almost shut his door again to the ranting, but decided to watch the show for a moment, just to see what would get Spike all riled up. So he crossed his arms over his bare chest and settled against his doorframe to watch.
"Stay out of it," Xander warned him.
"I'll not stay out of it. What did you think would happen?"
And why does Spike care what Xander was doing?
"Tryin' to sleep here," Buffy said, popping her head out from a door down the way.
Her hair stood up on end, and she seemed even more blurry-eyed than he did. And she looked to be on the warpath to the two in the hallway. Faith came barreling out of her room next to Wesley's clad only in a towel. Neither man stopped arguing as she approached them. Wesley was going to approach, but decided to stop in his tracks. Two pissed off slayers would handle this easily. Or they'd crack the two's skulls open and go back to what they were doing. Faith could make the towel slip, which would stop all the males in the vicinity from doing whatever they were doing. He wasn't going to suggest that. He might get hit.
"Break it up," Faith shouted as Xander's hands went for Spike's throat.
Not a smart move, since vampires don't breathe. But Xander tackled Spike to the ground, moving his arm to throw a punch. Buffy caught it deftly, making sure it didn't go any further.
Willow exited the room that Xander had come from, wearing a pair of men's boxers and a large t-shirt. Both Buffy and Faith noticed this and their eyes went wide. Wesley felt that he watching part of a soap opera. Only he didn't know his part at all. He would just stand back and have someone else deal with what was happening.
"Will? What was Xander doing in your room?" Buffy asked.
Oh, so that's what she was doing, Wesley thought. But isn't she gay?
"None of your cotton pickin' business, Ms. Smarty Pants."
"Damn straight," Xander agreed.
"He took advantage of her," Spike said from the floor.
"Oh, fucking A, you three. Just give it a rest. Xander, keep it in your pants," Faith chided as she turned to go back to her shower.
With a smirk, Faith turned towards Wesley to head back to her room.
"Faith? You never told me who cleaned me up," Wesley muttered so the rest couldn't hear.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" she answered as she approached her door.
"I would appreciate it."
"Come join me in the shower and maybe I'll tell ya," she purred as she passed him by.
"That was way too much information," Angel mumbled as he stumbled out of his room across the way from Wesley's. "Is there something going on between you two that I don't know about, Wes?"
"I don't think that is any of your concern, Angel," Wesley answered as the din at the other end of the hallway rose to a loud crescendo.
Buffy had let go of Xander's arm to speak with Willow about her sleeping arrangements. Xander and Spike had taken to wrestling to see who could gain the upper hand.
"Faith is my friend. I don't want you taking advantage her."
"On the contrary. It's the other way around."
"What did you say?" Faith growled as she stopped in her doorway.
"Tell me what happened last night. Why am I in different clothes?"
"Faith, did you take advantage of him?" Angel asked incredulously.
Buffy was trying to pull Xander and Spike apart at the other end while Willow kept pointing out that everyone should butt out of her business. Faith got into Angel's face to stare him down after his comment.
"Will you bloody well shut up?" Giles bellowed out in his best Ripper voice.
The shouting, fighting and pointing stopped immediately. All eyes turned to Giles, who looked like he had been run over by a truck.
"Go back to your rooms until you can be civil to each other. Do you understand me?"
Buffy started to protest, but Giles gave her that look that almost made her squeak. Faith stuck her tongue out at Angel, and pointed at Wesley that they would definitely talk later. Spike and Xander glared at each other as they made their way to their respective rooms, at the opposite ends of the hallway. Willow threw up her arms in disgust and slammed her door.
"Children. Why do I put up with this?" Giles grumbled as he quietly shut his door.
Wesley sighed as he escaped back into his room. They all really did just act like a bunch of children, having Giles chastise them to stop the nonsense. It somehow felt good to be a part of the fight though -- since last night at the bar it was all for one, and one for all when the watcher trainees had entered.
Faith sat down at a table, crowding in between Wes and Angel. She knew they'd never sit directly next to each other, so she was the buffer zone. They both cared about her. So they both would sit with her by their sides. She felt like she had been enveloped in a hero sandwich. Both men weren't lightweights. Angel's shoulders took up enough room to total two men. Wesley may not have been as broad, but his height made his legs bump hers as she sat down. Buffy was smashed in between Xander and Giles, while Willow was between Spike and Xander. Angel and Spike were sitting side-by-side, which could cause a problem. She just didn't hope she had to separate them. Faith thought it made an excellent seating chart. Everyone who could cause bodily harm to each other had a buffer zone in between. So why did it have to be the women of the group?
"I am sorry about the Council. Many of them are quite young yet, but they'll come around."
Buffy mumbled something under her breath, causing both Spike and Angel to grin. Faith only caught the words fight and fist, which meant that Buffy wasn't going to take anything off the new members.
"If I could have a list of the members, that would be helpful," Wesley asked as they all sipped their beers.
"Of course. You might know background on some of them that I didn't uncover. I assure you each of them have been thoroughly checked by every known source for conspiring with anyone that has been on our watch list."
"Things like that can be fixed, you know," Angel piped up.
"Unfortunately, all too well. Just last month I had to expel one member for associations with Wolfram and Hart."
"Who?" Angel quickly asked, interest piqued.
"A lady by the name of Allison Cromwell. Comes from a good family in London. Apparently a relative worked for the Rome branch for quite some time. The sweep missed it."
"See. No system is full proof. Even yours, Rupert," Spike commented on the watcher's abilities.
Giles eyed Spike for a moment, but let the comment drop.
Faith couldn't believe that each of them around the table had defended Wesley. She would have thought that she would have been the only one to stand up and tell those people where to take a flying leap. Even Buffy got into it. Unfortunately Wes didn't look any more chipper that there were so many people in his corner. He would be her watcher no matter what, the Council be damned.
"So now that the Council's told us to fuck off, what do we do?" Faith asked Giles.
"Faith, it's not that they've told you anything. Don't worry. Most of the members are reasonable beings. They will see that the help that the four of you will give will be invaluable. No matter what anyone's current status is."
As Faith eyed Wes, she could see that he really didn't care about the opinion of the Council. Good for him, she thought. Maybe he really was over caring about what those pompous asses thought.
"We'll just tell them to piss off," Spike added, gulping the beer in front of him.
Faith noticed that all of them seemed to be drinking their sorrows down the drain. Most had finished the first round in a few minutes time. And Wes had been the first one to the finish line.
"I'm dry," Xander said as he held up his empty beer glass.
Since the place was crowded, no waitress came to take an order. Wesley volunteered to go order the next round at the bar. Faith decided to join him, to maybe see if there was something she could say to him to get him out of the brooding mood he had gotten in since he left the Council's headquarters.
"Need help?" Faith inquired as Wes approached the bar.
He waved her over to stand in front of him. She hadn't meant to stand so close to him, but the crush of bodies helped that along.
"Doin' OK?" she said as she pulled his head down to hear her.
"Never better," he lied to her.
"Liar. You know I know when you lie."
Another patron bumped into the back of Faith as they were waiting for the other round of drinks. Not that Faith wasn't quick on her feet, but she had been too busy to pay attention, so she accidentally slammed up against Wes. He grunted a little as the bar bit into his back. A jolt of pure lust almost overwhelmed Faith's senses. Pulling back sharply, she upended a drink on the floor from another person passing by.
"Hey, sorry, man," she called out.
The man just glared at her, walking over to join a large group at the other end of the bar. As she turned around to see Wes again, he had faced the bar and was gathering up a couple of pitchers.
"Give me one?" she asked.
He handed her the one of the pitchers, while taking the other two in his large hands. Holding them over his head, he maneuvered through the crowd, blazing a path for Faith to follow. She watched his butt and almost tripped over a foot in the way. She really, really did need to get laid if she was thinking about Wes to scratch her itch. Yeah, sure he was sexy and all, but was so not right for her. Maybe Xander could accommodate her. But when she arrived back at the table, she could see that Willow had engaged him in a deep conversation. Then she thought about Spike, who was tossing those drinks back like they were water. No, too depressing. She eyed Giles up and down, but decided that he was way too much like a dad to her, or at least an uncle, so no go there. And Angel, just way too much angst and broodiness. So if there were no friends willing to give her a happy, she needed to pick up a stranger.
Sighing out her distress, Wesley bent over to whisper in her ear. "Something bothering you?"
"Nah. Nothin'. Doin' fine," Faith said as she slammed the beer down her throat, almost choking from the amount.
Damn it, she just wished he would quit getting so close to her. And she would have to stop getting so close to him. He backed away slightly, but still had his hand directly next to hers on the table. Angel's head came up from the conversation that he was having with Spike to glare at her. Now what'd she do? Wesley quickly jerked his hand away, crossing them over his chest. They were doing signals to each other? And they thought that women were hard to read.
The group sat and chatted for quite some time, sometimes talking about what happened in LA, but most of the time talking about what was happening with the Sunnydale contingent. That seemed to be a safer topic.
"Oh, man. That thing was huge. And Buffy, she takes the sword, and bam. No more ugliness," Willow went on, slurring her words slightly.
"Must have been fun," Spike added. "While we were getting our asses handed to us on a platter, you guys were playing with a Shikash demon."
"You coulda called," Xander told the vampire.
"Yeah, like you would have come running," Spike finished.
That shut the whole table up instantly. Faith knew that they wouldn't have come running, well, except her, which she did, just too late to make a difference. Giles still hadn't explained that one to her. Neither had Buffy. Faith didn't know whether she should get up and walk away to see if they would settle their differences, or she should start something between the two groups to see where it led. So she decided to get up and walk away for a few moments, just to see if something would happen.
"Be back. Little girls' room. Beer on the way," she said as she picked up one of the empty pitchers.
She received a few smiles in return. Placing the empty pitcher on the bar, she made her way back to the restroom. After finishing her business, she went up to the bar to order another round. Looking over at the table, each faction was talking amongst himself or herself, but didn't make eye contact with each other. Now why did she have to be the one in the middle?
Someone bumped her from behind, so when she turned to see if maybe Wes had followed her, she looked into the eyes of a man not too much older than she was. He was tall, muscular, straight brown hair and gorgeous hazel eyes. He smiled at her in return as he picked up his pitcher. His dimples were to die for.
"Hi," he said as he started to leave.
She tossed him a wicked smile back, thinking that she had just solved her problem of scratching that itch. Only she looked over the guy's shoulder to see Wes's reaction. Bad move on her part. He shot daggers her way, jaw clenched tight.
"Hey," she answered back, trying not to pay attention to the asshole at her table.
"You're American?"
"Yeah. You too?"
"Yeah. Been here about six months. At least they have decent beer."
"There is that," she said as she glanced Wes's way again.
She really needed to quit doing that. Why did she care what the fuck he thought?
"You here for work or pleasure?"
"Work. Just out with some friends tonight."
If you could call them friends, she wondered. Nah, she could. They'd take the damnplace apart if someone tried to start something with her. That she knew.
"Me too. Work, I mean. My friends are over in the corner."
The man pointed out a table with about six others gathered around it. Faith really just wanted to turn so that she didn't have to watch Wes's reaction any more, so she tried to maneuver the guy around to stay out of his line of sight.
"Yeah, I gotta group over there." Faith pointed out the gang at the table.
The guy's eyes narrowed a bit, but that was it. Faith noticed that reaction.
"Gotta go. Nice meeting you."
The guy was rabbitting before she had a chance of talking more with him.
"You gotta go so soon?"
"Well, yeah. My friends might want their beer."
"Let 'em wait," she smiled back at him.
She tilted her head, trying to give the guy the signal that maybe he might get lucky if he played his cards right.
"Faith?" Wesley called to her from over her shoulder.
She really wanted to turn around and smash him in the mouth right then.
"Our beer?" he finished.
The look on his face was unmistakable. He was jealous. Like she gave a good damn about his moods. He was off limits, so she was getting what she could while she could.
"Don't mind my friend, the dumbass. He's just grumpy all the time."
"Uh, maybe I should get back to my table."
Wesley asked the bartender for a bottle of scotch, leaning over between her and the new guy. She could feel the anger roll off of him in waves, but so could the new guy. He backed up a few paces as Wesley pulled the bottle from the bar and walked back to the table.
"He's, uh, a little intense."
"You're tellin' me," she mumbled.
They were gonna have major words in the morning, after that nasty hangover of his was over with. One bottle of scotch just for him? Until she saw that Giles had put his glass out too. Both of them would be sick as dogs.
"Nice to meet you," the man said as he started to walk away.
"What's your name?" she asked before he could escape.
"Sam," he answered quickly. "Yours?"
"Faith," she told him, realizing that Wes had already said it while the three had stood at the bar.
"Yeah," Sam said as he walked away.
That was the strangest conversation she had with a guy in a long time. Most of them didn't run away when she was flirting with them. This one did. And it was Wes's fault. Damn, stupid watcher. She just didn't want to admit that she was losing her touch.
Picking up the pitcher of beer, she weaved her way back to the table. Looking over at Sam again, she noticed that he was talking and pointing her way. The others at the table didn't look too happy. Slamming the pitcher down on the table, she yanked her chair out and plopped back down.
"Hey, no spilling the nectar," Xander quipped while he poured another beer for himself.
Wesley poured himself another scotch and handed the bottle to Giles. Instead of savoring the drink, he tipped his head back and downed it in one gulp. She even saw Angel wince a little.
"Faith, who was that man you were speaking with?" Giles chimed in.
Oh, great, now Giles was gonna get on her ass for talking with a guy. There was definitely going to be ground rules spelled out. They weren't her fucking parents, or brothers, or uncles or whatever.
"Why you want to know?"
"Because from what I remember, the man is a watcher trainee."
Faith almost banged her head on the table. No wonder the guy scooted out of her reach. He probably knew exactly who and what she was. Wes's little show didn't have the effect she thought it did. She could hear a little snort coming from beside her. It was really tempting to take her elbow and lay him out, but she restrained herself from taking down her watcher, at least in front of other people.
"Sam or something. Just makin' conversation. Being friendly."
Wesley slammed his glass down on the table. "Yes, Faith is such the friendly sort," he said with an edge to his voice.
Conversation ebbed and flowed between the groups, with Wesley just sitting and staring at the would-be watchers.
Giles' eyes widened at a new patron, so he got up to check it out. "I'll be back," he mumbled as he scooted his chair under the table. Faith thought that was funny, him always being the gentleman. Of course, from what Xander and Willow told her, Giles could be quite wild.
Wesley soon followed, not saying a word, but heading towards the restrooms since he drank like a fish, which was no surprise. At least half the bottle of scotch was gone, in addition to the multitudes of pitchers. Xander got up to retrieve more beer. Then Angel left, heading the way that Wes went. Spike was the only male now in attendance. The three women stared back at him.
"I need a cig," he said as he left with a flourish. Leave it to Spike to leave as dramatically as possible.
"Men," Willow said as she watched Xander at the bar, talking to a woman.
"You can say that again," Buffy agreed.
"They're so fucking stupid," Faith added.
The three giggled.
"So, Faith. You and Wes? And that guy at the bar?" Willow started in on her.
Faith could be buddy buddy with the witch, but did she want to? She guessed that they were the only female friends she had ever had. And she really needed their advice.
"Me and Wes? What, are you nuts? Figures the guy at the bar was a watcher baby."
Buffy started to laugh and accidentally snorted some beer up her nose in the process. "Oh God. I was just thinking about the Sunnydale Wes. Wouldn't it have been funny . . . ?"
"Don't finish that sentence," Faith warned her.
"You don't even know what I'm gonna say," Buffy said, slurring her speech.
"Am I gonna have to hit you afterwards?"
"No, I don't think so. I was just going to say, you have Wussy Wes and now you have Glarey Wes. Sort a weird in a strange way."
Willow just raised an eyebrow, shaking her head. "You're drunk."
"Nah. You just noticed," Buffy replied.
"That didn't make any sense, B."
"All I'm sayin' is that he's changed. You've changed. We all have changed. See, that was coherent." Both Faith and Willow shook their heads yes. "Besides, he's kinda sexy with those vibes he's giving off."
"Oh, shut it, Buffy," Willow said as she took another drink of her beer.
Willow told her best friend to shut up. Would wonders never cease? Not that Faith didn't agree with Buffy's assessment. It's just that it was look and no touch Faith here. She knew that. Unless Buffy didn't have that rule.
"So you're sayin' B, that you think he's hot?" Faith asked slowly.
"I would say," Buffy started, raising her beer to the other two women, "that these men are the hottest of the hot around here. A toast to all the hotness around us."
Willow dropped her head on the table and banged it a little. Faith thought about following, but Buffy was actually making a lot of sense. The beer must be working on her head too. Their guys were hot, if majorly off limits. Now she really did need a guy.
"Hello, ladies," a man said from behind Faith.
TBC
Next: Beer bad, even worse. Hey, I was making a joke. See whom Giles went after, what Wes encounters, and the fun that the women have at the expense of someone new.
Note: I know. I've never been in a bar in England. Hey, Faith's perspective. I'm probably not right. Just go with the flow.