Three days. Even as she was given her leave, Faith knew that wasn't enough time to find Angel, rescue him and kill whatever had captured him, and she was as certain as the members of Angel Investigations that something or someone was holding Angel against his will. He wouldn't have just disappeared without a trace, especially if he were on his way to see Faith.

It wasn't a social call he was paying on the Slayer. He would have called and told her that he was on his way. Faith thought that he was coming to check up on her. Giles and Willow were overseas, and Angel was the only one in the States that would have come to find her. She was annoyed that they still thought they needed to constantly check up on her, but she could bitch about that when she found Angel. At the moment, she was just worried about getting him before he was turned to ash.

"And you're taking Trish with you."

"What!"

Both women looked at Stephanie at the same time. Trish blinked. Her mouth dropped open and snapped shut twice before she was able to say something. "Wait a minute!" She shook her head. "What the hell do you mean she's taking me with her? I don't wanna go hunt demons or whatever."

"It's the only thing I can think of to get Faith gone for a few days without raising suspicion."

"Oh, bullshit! We all get a couple of days before the diva shoots to go shopping and get our stuff together at home."

"Yeah," Stephanie said, "a couple of days. This is three days. Besides, the two of you always travel together when Dave or Randy isn't there. So, her travelling without you would just seem off. So, I'm giving you both an extra day. You do your thing on Raw tonight, and then you head out right after the show. I want you both in San Tropé Friday morning, with or without Angel."

Faith growled. She didn't need the extra addition of keeping Trish safe. Granted, the former Women's Champion was able to take care of herself. Faith ahd personally seen her kick a vampire's head clear off. But, those were vampires and Faith had no idea what had Angel. It might have been more than Trish could handle, and Faith would have preferred to do this on her own.

At the same time, though, she knew that doing things "on her own" wasn't much of an option. Someone was always with her when she went on patrol, and considering they usually travelled in a large group after hours, they were a prime target for vampire clusters. It was almost enough to make her believe that they sent Trish with her just to stop Dave from going, because contender or not, he wasn't going to let Faith go out on a mission alone. "Buffy has her posse," he would always tell her, "so why shouldn't you have yours?"

Faith turned to Trish and sighed. "There's no point arguing with her. Just go with it, but remember this. When the shit hits the fan, and I'm almost positive it will, stay out of the way, alright? I don't wanna stand over you in a hospital like I did Dave."

Trish rolled her eyes. "Not a problem there. Unlike men who don't have enough sense to run, I get the hell out of the way when I can't handle something. You're the Slayer, not me."

"Yeah, well, you kick like one."

Faith snorted a laugh, then took a look around the room. She didn't know where the men of their faction were. She could only guess that it wasn't at the hospital with Hunter, unless Ric happened to be there. Despite his dissatisfaction, he was loyal to the core and if he thought Hunter a friend, then he'd be there. Dave and Randy were a little less amicable. Their tempers flared too high to listen to Hunter gripe. Dave had said as much hours before.

Evolution had disbanded on television. On screen, there was no one on Hunter's side but Ric, and that was soon to fade. As the new Women's Champion, Faith was in the middle of a battle with Trish and Molly Holly that it was a good thing that kayfabe had long since disappeared. These days, no one batted an eye when the two women got out of the same car in an arena. They batted even less of an eye when they were followed out of a car by Batista and Orton, even though they all knew that television told them that Randy was supposed to be dating Stacy Keibler and Batista was a man on his own, though he was being courted by either woman. On television, they could fight over the belt and the man. Off of television, though, they fought for each other.

Evolution was trying to hold itself together off-screen. They were determined to prove that friendships could last beyond storylines. Others had shown that to be the case, but never had a group of friends had so many egos within it. They clashed, whether they wanted to or not. At any time, they could be at one another's throats. At one point, the men even reduced themselves to bragging about Slaying related injuries, anything to get themselves on top. In the end of that argument, Dave always won. Not even the newly torn quad could compare to being sliced open from armpit to waist by smoldering, jagged rock.

Faith sighed. "If I'm leaving right after the show, I need to go and talk to Dave. If I can find Dave." She sighed and rose to her feet. "Ya know, this wouldn't have happened if I'd have gone back with Giles. They could have erased me just as easily as they erased Lita, Lawler, Ross and all those others. This wouldn't have happened because Angel wouldn't have had to come all the way out here to check up on me, and I wouldn't have to wait to go after him. I could have been right out there."

"It still would have happened," Stephanie told her.

"How do you figure that?"

"First, I've talked to Willow. She says the magic around a Slayer makes it harder to do the same spell on you twice. She did it the first time to get you out of jail. It wouldn't have worked the second time."

"You said first. What's the other reason?"

"Because you'd have missed us and been back within a couple of months."

She would have loved to tell Stephanie that she was wrong. She hated when the boss's daughter was right, and this time, she was definitely right. She wouldn't have lasted that long out there without them. Faith sighed and shook her head. "Whatever. I need to get ready to get out of here. Spike's already halfway out. He left L.A. last night. By the time I make it to New York, he should be there with news. Last time anybody saw Angel, they spotted his Jag in Manhattan."

"Flying?" Trish asked her.

Faith smirked. "We gotta have wheels and I'm not driving around with Spike. I get this feeling that he used to annoy the shit out of me. We're taking the Mercedes."

Trish gulped and her eyes brightened. "Dave's Mercedes?"

"One in the same."

"Well… hell. I guess I don't mind going, then. But, remember, I'm gonna do some shopping while we're in New York. We do have a photo shoot to get to. So, I'll shop, you'll look for Angel, and on Friday, we'll parade for the pervy photographers."

"Uh huh." Faith sighed and headed towards the door. Trish and Stephanie could believe what they wanted, but if she didn't have Angel in her possession by Thursday night, they would just have to make up an excuse for her because there was no way in hell that she was leaving the East Coast without Angel.