The state of California had quietly filled in the huge crater that had once been Sunnydale. Faith wasn't sure when, all she knew was it must have happened sometime after they had all left on that school bus. Then The Master had shown up, making it his own yet again.

Since Joyce's SUV was part of the glamour, Faith and Buffy never even bothered to look for it. The only transportation they had was Faith's Viper, which they had left at Buffy's house. So they did the only thing they had left to do, they walked.

By the time they reached what had once been Revello drive, it was flat out dark. Using the headlights from the Viper, they both scrounged around looking for anything of theirs they could find. Luck was on their side and clothing was to be had by all.

Exhausted, they made their way back into the cavern.

"Where in the bloody hell have you been?" Spike demanded.

"Where do you think we've been?" Faith shot back.

"Did you find the car?" Xander asked expectantly.

"Damn straight we found it," Faith said.

"How?" Willow asked.

"Come on."

Willow, Xander, Buffy and Spike all followed her. After stumbling their way out, she pressed the panic button on her key chain. The lights started flashing and horn started blaring.

"It was at B's house. Where B's house would be if it was there … Anyway, we were close, but it was too dark to see. Then I remembered these babies," she said holding up her keys. "Can anyone say 'shining like a fuckin' beacon'?"

Xander rushed up to Faith, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Bless you."

Faith laughed. "I'd say that's the first time I heard that, but I'd be lying." She winked at Xander.

"I say we get in and get out of here," Buffy suggested. "Looks like you're getting your parade-waving wish Xander."

Xander nodded in agreement. "Sitting on the back and doing the wave… See? All good things do come to those who wait."

"I suggest we hurry then. Vampires and convertibles, not the best of pals, especially when the bright-n-shiny makes an appearance," Spike added.

"Buffy?" Willow asked, pointing to the opening they had just come out.

"Do it," Buffy said.

XXXXX

"Where the hell is it?" Faith mumbled as she rummaged through the trunk of her car. "Finally!" she said grabbing a wad of cash. "That'll work," she told the others.

Faith made a beeline to the hotel's front desk. "We need three rooms," she told the clerk, slamming the cash down on the counter.

"Three rooms?" Xander questioned on their way out of the office.

"What? You wanna share with me," Faith asked, nudging him. "Relax already. I'm just messing. The boys get a room and the girls get a room."

"And the third room is yours?" Spike asked.

"I'm paying, aren't I?" Faith tossed keys to Buffy. "Yo, there will be a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on my door for like a month." She walked away.

"We're not staying here that long, are we?" Willow asked nervously.

Buffy shook her head. "Doubtful." She glanced towards Faith's retreating form. Buffy wanted to talk to Faith, but now wasn't the time. Looking at her motley crew, Buffy knew they were all exhausted, dirty, and hungry.

Tomorrow. She'd talk to Faith tomorrow.

XXXXX

Faith stood in the shower, grateful that there wasn't a hot water tank she could deplete. Every square inch of her was tired, dirty, and sore. She about jumped out of her skin when the hot water first touched her scalp.

Reluctantly, she climbed out, dressing into fresher clothes. The ones she had been wearing had already found their way into the trash. Faith was just glad they had found what they did. She was the lucky one; her things were still basically in her bag, unharmed. B and the others? Well, they had unpacked everything. They had to search around, finding empty suitcases and shoving the dust filled clothes back into them.

Faith wasn't anywhere near a point where she could actually fall asleep. She was way too wound and way too hungry. Going out and trying to find something to eat would involve people, and right now she didn't want to deal with anybody.

Not quite sure what she was going to do next, Faith turned on the radio that was sitting on the dresser. Static blared out at her and she fiddled with the dial. If she needed anything now, it was the distraction of the noise. All the quiet got on her nerves and made her antsy.

I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh

I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away

Room service! She could deal with someone bringing her food. Faith started rummaging through the desk drawer, looking for a room service menu, which probably didn't exist, but hey, a girl's gotta check, right?

Before she could put the Gideon's Bible back, there was a knock at the door.

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you're gone away

"Psychic room service," Faith mumbled on her way to the door.

You've gone away

You don't feel me here anymore

Faith never bothered to check to see who was on the other side of the door, figuring it really didn't matter. Whatever they wanted or whoever they were, she could handle it. Faith could handle just about anything.

The worst is over now and we can breathe again

I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away

There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight

Okay, anything but this, she noted, having gotten a look at her visitor.

"Hey," she said. Spike just looked at her. "Not like you need an invite, come in already." Faith stepped inside while Spike made his way past.

'Cause I'm broken when I'm open

And I don't feel like I am strong enough

"Was going to get something to eat," she continued. "I am starving. Course I can't find a room service menu. And no, that doesn't surprise me," Faith said, heading towards the nightstand drawer.

Faith heard a rustling behind her and turned to see Spike reaching into the pocket of his duster with his good arm, grabbing something out and handing it to her.

"What is this?" she asked, taking the package in her hand. "You brought me a hoagie?" she asked, unwrapping it.

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you're gone away

"Knew you'd be hungry. Ran into the truck stop that borders this place," he said.

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you're gone away

Faith smiled. "Damn! Look at this thing. Steak and cheese and… no onions huh?" she asked, sneaking in a quick glance at him.

Whenever Spike had gotten them something to eat, he never got onions. Which really didn't make much sense to Faith, vampire's sense of taste not being all that great. Spike always said he could smell them too. But how good could his sniffer be if he doesn't breathe? Whenever she'd ask him about it, he would try to explain it all to her. It just never made much sense.

Then she would bring up the bloomin onion, trying to score a point and all and he'd say they didn't count.

Why didn't they count? It was an onion wasn't it? Okay, a batter-soaked-deep-fried onion, but still a fuckin' onion… hence the entire 'onion debate'.

Over time, she had gotten used to it, gotten used to him bringing her something to eat after slaying… minus the onions, unless it was bloomin'.

"Thanks," she finally said.

You've gone away

You don't feel me here anymore

"Don't mention it, pet."

Faith turned off the radio; it was distracting for some reason. She took her sandwich and sat down at the small table in the corner of the room, noticing that Spike hadn't moved from his place just inside the door.

"Sit down. You're making me nervous." He glanced uncertainly at the bed, the only seat left in the room. "Just sit," she said.

Faith ate in silence, making every bite count. She was afraid that if there wasn't food in her mouth, she might start talking and she didn't want to do that. She wanted to play it calm, cool, but knew the façade wouldn't last past the last bite of her steak sandwich.

Finally finishing, she crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the garbage can.

"Heads up," called Spike.

Thankfully, her slayer reflexes acted before her head figured out what he was doing. Faith found an ice-cold beer in her hand.

"This rocks," she said, smiling. "Thanks."

She watched as Spike pulled another out from his other pocket. Faith noticed that this one wasn't as easy to get to since he couldn't use the arm closest to it.

"You can have this one too," he said when he finally maneuvered it out.

Faith stood and took the beer from his hand. "Thanks. How's the arm?"

For the briefest of moments, Faith felt Spike's fingers brush hers, sending tremors all the way down to her toes. She tried to blow it off.

Yes, so they hadn't actually… in awhile. And she was afraid of what would happen if they progressed beyond that simple touch. Faith knew what could happen. It had happened more times then she could count right now. She had distanced herself. One slip up…

The thought was never finished. One moment she was thinking of kissing Spike and then next moment, he was kissing her. Her body reacted to his touch like it had done in the past, with all of her senses coming alive.

The smell of him, the taste of him, the everything of him flooded her thoughts. Knowing that when she woke he'd be there, knowing that he always had her back covered, knowing that he could make her feel things, not just physically, things that she never allowed herself to feel before, knowing that sometimes she had lowered her defenses, letting him in almost totally. Knowing she'd never do it again after today.

All her longing, all of her caring, all of her heartache was being poured into one kiss, their last kiss.

Faith pulled away.

"This is really done, isn't it?" Spike asked, sitting back down on the edge of the bed.

"Kinda is," she said, sitting down next to him.

"Care to tell me the why?"

Faith couldn't look at him anymore. She found her eyes drawn to a black piece of string that was curled up on the bottom of her pant leg. If she concentrated on the string, she could ignore the moisture that was beginning to gather in her eyes.

Damn it.

Faith didn't cry, especially over men. This was different. Spike wasn't your ordinary man and when Faith was with him, she didn't feel ordinary either.

"This isn't me," she finally said, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

Spike took her chin gently in his hand, forcing her to look at him. "You've been saying that all along. And I've been saying all along love, gotta do better than that."

Faith felt the tears, felt them sitting there, just waiting for their opportunity to spill, to embarrass her, to make her feel weak.

"I'm not ready," she said quietly.

How was she going to explain this to him? If he knew her at all, he would've known this was coming. She didn't want to explain it to him. She couldn't. She wasn't sure she totally understood it herself.

"You'll need to stop running one day, Faith," he said softly.

Faith wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "But not today." She saw the defeat in Spike's eyes. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Not your fault. Knew it was coming. Love's bitch, you know," he said with a slight smile.

Faith looked at him and smiled. "Not sure I'd be advertising that."

Spike's smile wavered and then disappeared completely. "What are you going to do now?"

"Go somewhere. Still got the wheels." Faith smiled weakly. "S'pose I should make sure B and the gang get a ride to where they're going first. Probably take off after that."

"She called Giles. He's sending a car to take them to the airport tomorrow afternoon sometime."

"Tomorrow afternoon? What about you?"

"Going back to L.A. Still got a little unfinished business there… the whole being back, still not sure what's that's all about," Spike said. "And I'm sure tall, dark and forehead is missing me by now."

"Buffy?" Faith asked, wishing she could take it back. It wouldn't really matter how he answered it. One of them was going to feel hurt, rejected on some level. Faith couldn't help it. She needed to know what was going to happen when she wasn't around anymore.

"We talked a little bit," Spike said, not volunteering anything else.

"You two okay?"

Spike was thoughtful for a minute. "I think we will be, yeah."

"When are you leaving?" Faith asked, suddenly concerned.

Spike stood up. "About now. Came to say goodbye and to bring you dinner. Know what that slaying thing does to you." Spike smiled.

"You would know better than anybody, wouldn't you?" Faith said, standing up herself.

"S'pect I would."

"I never meant to hurt you," Faith said again, feeling like she needed to make sure he knew that.

"I know," he said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and turning for the door. "Not your fault. Pretty sure it has a lot to do with who I am too pet. S'pect I might need to work on that a bit myself."

"How you going to get there?"

"Vampires got their ways." Spike smiled and walked out the door.

XXXXX

After Spike had left, Faith sat back on the bed, wondering if she had done the right thing. Noticing her abandoned beer, she cracked it open and drank the entire thing in one swig. The second one was quick to follow.

Lying back, she was unsurprised that she was back in the same place she always seemed to wind up, alone in a hotel room. As she rolled over on her side, she recognized that something was different.

Faith didn't really feel alone.

She had… friends? Could she call them friends? Sure they had fought together, saved each other's lives more times then she could count, but were they friends? Spike was gone now and he was a friend.

He was, wasn't he?

What about the rest of them?

With that question in her thoughts, Faith slowly drifted to sleep.

XXXXX

Buffy woke with a start, trying to figure out where she was.

Willow was sleeping quietly in the bed next to her. This was so much better than the last place she woke up in. Buffy glanced at the clock. They still had quite some time before the car arrived. She snuggled up in the blankets, ignoring the scratchiness and savoring the comfort they gave her. Her thoughts drifted to Faith. Buffy knew she had to speak to her before they went their separate ways. She figured Spike was already gone by now and she knew Faith wouldn't be too far behind.

Buffy bolted up, realizing that she might already be too late. Faith could've already left. Buffy tossed the covers off and raced to the window. She peeked through the curtains to see if Faith's car was still there. Relief washed over her. It was parked right where they had left it the night before. Spying her change of clothes on the chair, Buffy dressed quickly and quietly, making sure not to wake Willow, and headed out the door.

XXXXX

Faith groaned loudly as she heard the knock on the door.

Who the hell could it be this time? All she wanted to do was sleep. She had been kidding about the 'Do Not Disturb' sign, but now she wished she really had one.

"I'm coming," she said, pulling the blanket off. She made her way slowly to the door, opening it without checking to see who was there. She used her hand as a shield to block the sun from her partially closed eyes. "B?"

"Hey, Faith," Buffy said.

Faith was suddenly alarmed. "Everything okay?"

Buffy shooed away the imaginary killer bees of alarm. "Everything's fine. I just wanted to talk to you. I didn't mean to wake you up, but I didn't want you to leave without me stopping by to, talk to you. Did I say sorry if I woke you?"

"Yo, B, bring it down a notch. Come on in," Faith said.

"Did you want to put something on?" Buffy asked.

Faith glanced down, noticing that she was dressed in a t-shirt and panties. "Why? Not like I'm naked." Then she noticed the discomfort in Buffy's eyes. "Jeez, B, I'll put my jeans on. Loosen up already."

Faith picked her jeans up off the floor and tugged them on. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she looked at Buffy. "So what's going on?"

Buffy eyed the chair and asked, "Can I sit?"

"Yeah," Faith said. "Sit. Don't know what's going on here, B, but you're freaking me out a little. What already?"

Buffy wouldn't even meet her eyes. Finally she spoke. "I just… there were some things. God, why is this so hard?" she asked, finally meeting Faith's eyes. "I know we haven't been… close in the past. There's always been this tension between us; stuff has happened, things were said and done, and I, kinda wanted to talk about that."

Faith ran her hands through her hair and rubbed her eyes so hard she saw spots. She finally opened them, letting them rest on Buffy.

"I've already apologized for… that," Faith said. "Don't know how many times I can say 'Sorry, B.' Times change. People change. I'm not the same person I was then. If you can't see that now…"

Buffy cut her off. "No, that's not what I meant. I wanted to tell you that… I know that now. I see it. I get it and I guess I accept it. I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize it."

What did she just say? B was apologizing? "What?" Faith asked, stunned.

"Well, with Angel, and he had fai… confidence in you. And after that with the jail thing. And then helping us out with The First. That all should've been enough for me, but it wasn't. But now, after all we've been through, I'd be pretty... shallow I guess, not to see it, for what's it worth."

Faith eyed here suspiciously. "What is it worth?"

"Friendship."

"Like you want to be… friends?"

"We could try. I know I didn't ask you the last time, but I'm asking you now." Buffy stood up and walked towards her. "Would you like to come back to Italy with us? We're still setting up pretty much and we could really use your help with all the new slayers coming in. What do you say?"

Truth be told, Faith had no idea what to say.

Buffy must have seen it in her eyes because she continued talking. "I already talked to Giles. He's all for it. He's sending a passport and all that other stuff so you can come with," Buffy added. "Will you come?"

"I don't know, B," Faith said, standing and pacing. "I don't know if I'm ready for that, for any of this."

"Is that why Spike left?"

"Because of me?" Faith asked. "Yes… and no. I wasn't ready for him either."

"Do you love him?"

"Do you?" Faith shot back and then regretted it immediately. "Sorry, old reflex."

Faith sat down on the foot of the bed and Buffy joined her.

"Gotta admit this is kinda bizarre, B. There was a time there when I tried to take your life from you. Now it kinda of feels like you're giving it to me."

"You mean what little life I have?"

"Please, B. You are The Slayer. You always will be, doesn't matter how many others are running around. You're the boss. And your friends, your family. You got a lot."

"In that case, then yep, I'm giving part of my life to you." Buffy smiled. "I don't want to be the boss anymore. You've been at this almost as long as I have. Kinda thinking that sharing will be a really good idea."

"You mean it?"

"Pretty much."

"You're not gonna want to hug or anything are you?"

Buffy laughed, crossing her heart. "No hugging. Honest."

"Can I think about it?"

"Yep, car won't be here until early afternoon."

Faith wanted to ask her. She had to know how Buffy felt about Spike and more specifically, how she felt about her and Spike.

"Hey, B?" Faith asked.

"Hmm?"

"Spike?"

"What about him?"

"I'm no expert in relationships and I admit I don't know much about you two, but you had a thing. And then he and I had a thing… and now he's gone and we're left. How exactly did that happen?"

It was Buffy's turn to start pacing. Faith didn't push her. If she'd learned anything, it was that B would talk when she was good and ready.

Buffy finally stopped and looked at her. "Spike will always have a place in my heart. Is it love? I don't know. I haven't been able to answer that question for a very long time. I care what happens to him. I missed him. I can talk to him about things I can't talk to other people about."

Faith could totally relate to that, but kept it to herself. This was B's turn to share.

"And yes, we had the physical part too, but that came at a time when I was in a place I don't ever want to go to again. So it's hard to look at it with an unbiased eye. I relate our being together that way to one of the darkest times of my life. Not a good starting point for a strong relationship and, let's face it, he's a vampire. Kinda limits our future, you know? And I might actually have one now. I never let myself think that way before."

Faith smiled. "Is that what you told him?" Faith saw the confusion in Buffy's eyes. "Spike told me you two talked. Wondered if you told him all that too."

Buffy was thoughtful for a moment. "Pretty much." She looked sad. "I will miss him. I told him that."

"Did you tell him you love him?"

"Honestly? Yes. Told him I loved three men in my life and he was one of them, but not in the way he wanted it to be." Buffy sat back down. "What about you two?"

"Pretty much the same. He said something about being love's bitch." Faith shrugged her shoulders. "Not quite sure what that meant."

"I could probably fill you in on that one day," Buffy said with a bittersweet smile. "Does he love you?"

"He never said it. I don't know. He cared… cares about me. I think he's still a little hung up on you, though. Beats me. Maybe that's part of the reason. I've lived in your shadow with the slaying, not quite ready to live there when it comes to him too."

"You don't have to live in my shadow Faith. You put yourself there. I didn't."

Faith knew Buffy was right. She was so busy trying to prove herself all the time; somewhere along the line she starting thinking that Buffy was the ideal she had to live up to. Not so much anymore. They were different. They were beyond different. Faith figured that didn't necessarily make Buffy better than her, did it?

Faith knew what she was going to do. She wasn't sure where it came from or what it meant, but in that moment it felt right to her.

"I must be crazy. I'm going against everything I've ever believed, but what the hell. I'll go. Maybe I'll bag me a true Italian and I hear the food there is the bomb," Faith blurted out.

"You'll come?"

"Why not? I only have one question."

"What is that?"

"What in the hell am I going to do with my Viper?"

The End

Broken-by Seether Feat, Amy lee" Lyric by "Evanescence"