Author note: Sorry this took so long. New job, health issues, etc., have been rather daunting. But I'm trying to get back on track. So here's an extra long chapter to tide you over. I hope you like. This chapter is rated R (or M, whatever the equivalent is). Lots going on in this chapter! Hope you like. Read and enjoy!

Chapter Ten – Time Goes By So Slowly

"Where are they?" Faith asked as she checked out the windows.

"At least five in the front. A few more headed around the sides."

"Then it's out the back we go."

Wesley looked at her with a smirk on his face. "There is no back door."

"Will they see us if we go out a window?"

"Possibly not."

Could Faith take some of them out without making noise? He just hoped that they didn't have supernatural hearing or they would be caught quickly. And from the dreams that both of them had, they just wouldn't be taken prisoner. These creatures were assassins, plain and simple.

Faith passed him by, squeezing his backside as she passed. Before she could get very far, he grabbed her, yanking her body against his one last time. Not that he was ever nostalgic anymore, but the dire situation warranted some kind of action. Faith didn't waste any time with him, opening her mouth and diving in, virtually sucking the life out of him before coming up for air.

"For luck," she gave him before continuing her journey down the short hall.

Shaking his head to clear it, he turned and followed her. Peering out the windows of his room, he noticed another three harbingers walking around outside. Faith walked over to her room and waved him over. Only one was present on this side of the cabin. One was a lot better odds than three.

"One at a time, Faith. And quietly."

"Yeah, boss."

He almost growled back at her name for him, but he didn't, not wanting them to bicker right before going into battle. They both needed their concentration on the task at hand, not on arguments and nomenclature.

Faith slowly eased the window open, climbing out and landing softly in the fluffy snow. The red-robed figure had his back turned, no reaction to her movements. Wesley followed her, trying to be as quiet as he possibly could. He certainly didn't want to slam the window home before Faith had taken the Bringer down. She moved swiftly, snapping the thing's neck with a jerk. He caught the falling body, taking it and stuffing it back through the window. Gently, he shut it, basically shielding the body from the others. One down, too many to go.

Faith pointed to the back of the cabin as their next destination. As they crept to the back, Wesley screwed on the silencer to one of his handguns. Faith's eyes widened considerably as she watched him perform this action. But she kept silent about it, knowing that the creatures just might hear them speaking.

Two Bringers guarded the back, trying to figure out a way into the cabin. And their backs were turned. Faith pointed to Wesley, like it was his turn to take down the enemy. Wesley lined up his shot, hitting the first one in the back of the head. He quickly lined up the other one mere seconds later, hitting it. It went down quietly in the snow. The red blood was surprising since he didn't think that they were human. Maybe humanoid, since they did have the same shape as he did.

As he rolled the bodies behind the woodpile, Faith tried to erase any bloodstains in the snow that she could. Then they both pushed snow over the bodies to shield them from their compatriots. He held up three fingers to indicate three down.

What they were not counting on was the one barreling around the corner, letting out a battle cry. That surely would bring the rest of them. Faith quickly silenced it by stabbing it in the gut. She wrenched her sword out as two more raced to the scene, if racing is what it was called. The snow on this side of the cabin was slushy and not packed down. Wesley sunk down to his calves in places, and in a few other places, his knees. But Faith was lithe and moving faster than he thought that she could. The two put up a fight, but she took them down also. Six down. However many to go.

Taking out his shotgun, Wesley blasted the first creature to come around the corner. He kept firing at anything that moved until running out of firepower. Only he didn't count on one of them sneaking up behind him, trying to decapitate him with one of those wickedly sharp knives that he had seen in one of his dreams. As he struggled with the one draped across his back, he saw that Faith was taking on two more. He had to try and shake the bastard on his back so that he could assist her.

Clawing at the thing's face, he finally managed to get the upper hand and the knife went into the snow. An elbow to the stomach produced the satisfying grunt that he was looking for, making the thing let him go. Spinning around as quickly as the snow would let him, he punched the Bringer as hard as he could, making it fall with a crunch down into the snow. If he could get to his knife, then he'd be able to make short work of this one. Although the things didn't have eyes per se, he could tell that something was amiss because of the expression on its face. Before he could turn back around, a knife went sliding into his shoulder, luckily not hitting anything vital. He had moved just in time to not have his head taken off.

In one swift movement, he had his knife unsheathed and into the gut of the one standing behind him. The other tried to kick out and take the knife out of his hands as he pulled it out of the one behind him, but he dodged and rolled in the snow, landing in a deep drift. Off in the distance, he could hear Faith yell his name, but he didn't have time to contemplate what she might want. The one that he had gut-punched had gotten up and was making its way over to him. Throwing the knife in his hand, he hit the thing with deadly accuracy, right between the eyes. It fell with a thud to the white ground.

Grabbing another knife from his boot, he dug himself out of the snowdrift to see if he could help Faith. From what he could tell, she was bloodied but still in the fight. One down, two more to go for her. At least ten down, probably more. Obviously there were more than the six he had first seen. He just hoped that there weren't many more. They both were bloodied now. He quickly drew his last pistol and shot the one furthest away from Faith. It went down with a spray of blood to the pristine ground around it.

Crunching through the snow, Wesley almost made it to the fight Faith was involved in when he noticed that last one had taken out one of those damn knives that had almost done him in. Shouting at her to watch out would do no good. It would just distract her. So he ran as fast as he could to tackle the creature to the ground before it sliced into Faith's skin. One of them with stitches was enough. His shoulder burned like fire, but he put that aside while he trudged over as fast as he could.

He was afraid that he would not make it there soon enough, but the creature was slowed down because of the snow too. It slipped slightly, enough to give Wesley his opening. It went down hard underneath him. The knife went down underneath the thing also. He just hoped that it had taken itself out in the fall. But just in case, he stabbed the thing a couple of times in the back just to make sure. It didn't move after a few seconds. Looking up, he saw Faith through his faded vision. The knife wound to his shoulder was bleeding, obviously making him a bit woozy. But he couldn't pass out now. They had to dig out their vehicle and get the hell out of there quickly.

"What the fuck? I had it handled."

Typical Faith, he thought as he tried to get up off the Bringer. His knife slipped to the ground as he pulled himself up.

"Just trying to help," he panted out, staggering a little.

"He got you?" Faith asked with a concerned look on her face.

"It's nothing. We need to get out of here. Before more show up."

"Yep. Agree with that. Come on," she told him as she grabbed hold of his good shoulder, leading him back to the cabin.

He grimaced as she let go of him to get the front door open. No other Harbingers were in sight. A dozen or so was quite enough for him. If it hadn't been for the snow, he and Faith would not have the advantage. It was obvious the things had never fought in those kinds of conditions.

"Fuck, you're bleeding."

"When am I not?" Wesley quipped back, gripping the back of the sofa tightly with his good arm.

Faith led him over to sit, helping him sink down on it. He sighed a little as he relaxed into its softness. He really didn't care if he bled all over it. He just needed to rest.

Breaking out the medical supplies yet again, Faith had to play nurse to his injuries. It was supposed to be the other way around but he didn't care at that point. All he cared about was making the pain go away. Only taking his jacket off made it all worse. And then she had to go and pour something on it that made it burn so badly that he drifted off into oblivion again. Thank goodness for passing out.

Faith muttered to herself as she worked on Wes' shoulder. He was sliced pretty good, but not so much that she couldn't stitch him back together. He'd have a good scar from it, but it wouldn't kill him. She was so glad that he passed out from the pain, because looking into his eyes and seeing him in pain yet again made her feel queasy. After finishing the last stitch, she wrapped a bandage around the wound and put a blanket around him. Then she raced around the cabin, putting all the things they needed to take at the door. Running outside, she frantically dug out the SUV from the snow, all the while keeping an eye out for more creepy creatures in red robes. Not that her muscles weren't burning from fighting, now they were screaming at her to stop, take a break. But she knew they had to get out of there as fast as possible.

Grabbing all the stuff, she packed the vehicle with all the belongings that she thought Wes would want, adding as many books in the back as she could, especially the ones that they were looking at before being so rudely interrupted.

Her promise would have to wait until he was better. He added to his scars, which didn't make her all that happy. The red robed things weren't very smart, but they sure were tenacious, which meant they kept coming. Twelve of them almost was enough to do the two of them in. Next time, she was sure they would send more out after them. If she could get Wes to do one of those warding spells, maybe they'd be a little safer until they made it to Sunnydale.

Making it to Sunnydale seemed to be the only choice right then. These things would keep coming until they both were dead. She was sure of that now. They not only went for her, they had no qualms about killing Wes too. And he wasn't even in the way.

After stowing the last of the food in the car, Faith wrestled the kitten out from underneath a bed and set out to place it in the car too. They would have to drop it off somewhere, giving it to someone who could take care of it. Striding back inside, she breathed deeply one more time the clean air around the cabin. Now she was glad they had encountered the Bringers out back instead of here. She didn't have to look at the bodies while she loaded up.

"Wes," she whispered. "Time to go."

His pain-glazed eyes opened with her voice. "Go?" he groaned out.

She gently put a shirt on him, buttoning it up just like a mother would.

"Yeah. We're loaded and ready to go."

"Books," he added.

"I got 'em. Food and clothes too. We're good to go."

"Good, Faith. Good girl. You're handy to have around," he muttered.

"Can you stand?"

"With assistance," he answered.

Slowly, she was able to help him stand. He was so much taller than she was, she almost toppled back to the sofa at first. Steadying him, she walked him out to the SUV and placed him in the passenger seat, buckling his seatbelt across him.

"You can't drive."

"Have to. I'll deal. Go slow and all."

"How did you get out to the cabin that day?" he asked as she clicked his seatbelt in place.

"Hitchhiked."

"Figures."

After kissing him gently on the forehead, she was able to get the SUV out and on the snow-covered lane to the highway. She was never so glad that it was still light outside. She could see where she was driving. Wondering how the Harbingers got to them, she saw a van off in the distance. It looked abandoned, but she was taking no chances. She headed in the opposite direction where the van was sitting. Sure, it would take them back through town, in the opposite direction as Sunnydale. But she could get her stuff and drop the kitten off somewhere. It had taken up residence on Wes' lap, probably because he wasn't moving. The not moving thing worried her.

She couldn't take him to a hospital because they would start asking questions. So she drove as fast as she could without crashing the car. Slowing down as she made it into town, she was lucky that the main roads were plowed. Screeching to a halt, she ran in to her room and grabbed her bag, stuffing it in the back. Across the street, she spotted the only other person she recognized, Wes' coworker. Grabbing the sleeping kitten from Wes' lap, she trotted over to her, hoping that the woman had a big heart.

"Hey, you work with Wes?"

The woman turned, eyes widening a little at Faith's appearance. Sure, she had some bruises on her face. Sure, her clothing had some blood on it. She just hoped the woman would take the kitten and let it go.

"Yes. Has something happened to him?"

"Nah. He's fine. Look, he needs a home for the kitten."

The woman was still suspicious, but eyed the kitten as it mewed in Faith's arms. Faith had gently wrapped it up to shield it from the cold.

"What happened to you?"

"Small car accident. Slick roads and all. Look, can you take it? We can't take care of it."

"We?" the woman inquired.

Oops, Faith thought. She had such a big mouth.

"Yeah, Wes and I are takin' a little vacation together. He's over there in the car. Look, I gotta go. Gotta get cleaned up. Check out the car since it was me who ran into that snowbank. He's not letting me off easy about that."

The woman gaped at her as Faith babbled on about the car. Thank fuck it had some front end damage from the snowbank they had run into the first time. But it was still drivable.

"How long have you known Wesley?"

"Like forever. We kind of split up. That's why he was here. Thinking shit out and all. Now we're back together. Well, sort of back together. We'll see after this little vacation."

Vacation in hell, Faith wanted to add, but that wouldn't sound so good. Faith quickly handed over the kitten. The woman immediately wrapped it up in her coat. Faith reached over and stroked its soft head one more time.

"Sorry to dump and run, but time's a wastin'. Thanks for your help. I know that the kitten will have a good home. Just found her yesterday wandering around in that snowstorm."

"Oh dear. I'm surprised that it didn't die."

"Nope. Must have some strong kitten genes or somethin'."

Faith turned to walk away, hoping that the woman would let it all drop and not summon any kind of authorities.

"Will Wesley be coming back?" she asked.

"Um, hope so. I think so. He likes it here. Might be awhile. Just so you know. I think it's nice here too. So quiet."

"Yes it is. Nice to meet you, uh, what was your name?"

Faith knew she was caught now. So she did what she did best. She lied. "Buffy. I'm Buffy Summers. Glad to meet you too."

Faith shook the woman's hand and quickly made her way over to the car. Wes stirred a little as she started up the engine, gunning it a little accidentally.

"Where's the kitten?" he mumbled.

"Gave it to that lady. She'll take care of it."

"Who?"

Wesley glanced out the window to see the woman Faith referred to. The woman waved at them as they drove past. Wesley waved back with his good arm, still grimacing while doing it. Faith hoped it looked like he was smiling.

"Good call. Can't take care of a kitten when we can barely take care of ourselves."

That stung Faith a little, but she let it pass, knowing that Wes was just down on himself for getting hurt.

"Twelve, Wes. There were at least a dozen of them."

"I remember quite well how many there were."

"Thanks, for all of it. You took down more than I did."

She could see out of the corner of her eye Wes looking at her. She didn't want to take her eyes off the road since she was nervous driving in the first place.

"I did, didn't I?" he finally said, a little wonder in his voice.

"Yep. You sure did. Fucking deadly accurate with that gun of yours. Reminds me to never cross you again. You hit those things between the eyes without even blinking."

Wes sighed, resting his head into the headrest. "Practice."

"Not fucking practice. If I was that accurate, the two of us wouldn't be sitting here right now. I would have dusted Angel that time with the crossbow. Mad skills, Wes. One more thing that I've learned about you. You've got some mad skills."

Wes surprised her yet again. She always thought he was this bumbling Watcher guy. Now she knew better. He was smart as a whip, probably smarter than Giles, could shoot better than anyone she had ever known, had balls out the wazoo for taking down those red robed guys without flinching, and could make her excited with just a look. How could all of this have happened in just a few days time?

"Luck," he replied.

"Fuck no. Nice to have a partner who can keep up his end of the deal. Partner?"

"Partner," he told her, closing his eyes against the pain in his shoulder.

Now they were partners in more ways than one.

Wesley awakened to the SUV parked in a parking lot. It was dark now, artificial light shining in through the windshield. Faith was nowhere to be found. The pain in his shoulder had lessened a little, but not by much. He really thought about taking something for the pain, but he didn't want his mind muddled. Pain medication did that to him. So he bit the bullet and hoped that by the morning it would be manageable.

The door opening startled him a bit, but it was just Faith, dangling a key in front of his face.

"You're awake."

"Just barely," he groaned out as he tried to move.

"Hang on. I need to park closer."

Faith swung out of the spot she had parked and pulled up in front of a room on the end. As he tried to open his door, Faith beat him to it, helping him out of the car.

"I'm falling asleep at the wheel. I hope this is OK."

"Is there a bed?"

"Better be."

"Then this is alright."

Faith chuckled a little at his comment, but didn't talk further. She had to let go of him as she unlocked the door. It wasn't much, but there was a big bed and the room was warm. Helping him over to the bed, she deposited him on it and ran back out to the car.

Several bags later, she slammed the door home.

"Can you like ward this room or something? Just in case."

It would drain energy, but it was probably necessary.

"Can I help?" she asked as he started to concentrate.

As he mumbled out the spell, Faith touched his arm, sending a jolt of energy up and down his arm. He felt the spell literally pop into place as she touched his skin.

"Was that supposed to happen?" she asked, still not letting go.

"I must have somehow tapped into your slayer power. Are you alright?"

"Peachy. Just felt weird. Warded?"

"Yes, for the night."

Wesley felt slightly better also. Maybe the borrowed power helped heal him just slightly. He had read accounts of borrowing of power from witches and warlocks, but never from a slayer. But they had combined their power to put the wards up. There had been an account from Giles once, combining Buffy's power with his and Willow's. It could be possible. He just hoped that Faith had brought the correct books with them for research.

"I didn't mean for that to happen. It just did."

"No biggie. I'm fine. You're not. Let me take a look at that shoulder."

The stitches pulled some as Faith took off his shirt. She poked around a little, then shook her head with wonder.

"You must heal fast. It's already mostly closed up."

That was impossible, he thought. The slice was deep enough to warrant stitches. It should have taken days, maybe even a week to close up. He slowly got up from the bed and staggered to the bathroom.

"Hey, you're still woozy. I can't stitch you up every time you take a fall, you know."

He looked into the mirror at his reflection. The wound was healing nicely. Surely there would be a scar, but it had closed up. Had that jolt that Faith gave him do more than help with the spell he was performing? Otherwise, he looked like hell. Nothing like the beauty behind him. Her bruises had already healed, making it look like she had not been in a fight that afternoon. Her skin was clear and pale in the harsh lighting of the bathroom.

"That's not supposed to happen, is it?"

"Not usually. But it's healing."

Faith's hand ghosted over his wound, gently tracing his collarbone and the side of his neck just enough to make him shiver.

"We should get cleaned up."

Wesley was amazed at how unashamed Faith was at walking around partially nude. Her shirt dropped to the ground, revealing her unencumbered breasts. She hadn't had time to fully clothe herself that afternoon. Not that he had minded. And he was amazed at how quickly he became excited by just looking at her through the mirror.

"You comin'?" she joked as she turned on the shower.

"Certainly."

Dropping his shirt to the floor, he gingerly took his pants off, looking at all the encrusted blood on his pants and boxers. He had bled more than he thought. Or could this have been from their attackers?

Faith had her back to him as he entered the shower. She was standing directly under the scalding spray, rinsing the remaining blood from her body. Turning, she pushed him under. He flinched as the water hit his wound, but didn't move since it felt so good to be warm. The soapy hands on his back felt like heaven. He let the water pound into the top of his head as Faith washed his backside.

"Turn," she commanded.

She proceeded to wash the worst of the blood off the front of him. Then she scrubbed his hair briskly, helping him rinse off since the arm still hurt to raise above the elbow.

"Squeaky," she said as she ran her hands up and down his chest.

She had already cleaned there, but decided that he needed a more thorough cleaning.

"Your turn," he said as he shifted in the tub.

Faith quickly soaped herself down, running her hands up and down her body. He wasn't certain she meant to be seductive, but she was. She finally rinsed her hair, pushing it back from her face as she opened her eyes to look directly into his.

"Like the show," she said as she moved closer.

"Minx."

"Bastard."

"Tease."

"Shut up and use that mouth for something better than making up names for me."

He literally groaned as she kissed him and stroked him at the same time. Luckily the water was still quite warm. But most of it was hitting Faith in the back, since she had worked him to lean against the wall. He closed his eyes as Faith's magical hands worked up and down his body. Suddenly, the water hit his chest as Faith went to her knees in front of him. He almost went there with her also as he looked into her eyes.

"Oh god, Faith, we should …"

He couldn't get the sentence out before she decided to take matters into her own hands. And she was talking that he had mad skills. This was definitely a skill that he could get used to. She was in charge here. He had nothing to do but enjoy what she was doing to him.

"Mad skills," he whispered in her ear after she had worked her magic on him.

"I aim to please. Now out," she commanded, shutting off the water behind her.

He didn't disobey, knowing that right that instant she was still in charge. She quickly and briskly dried off, then helped him as his mind wandered in different directions. The pain was enough to manage, but he still was thinking about their attackers from earlier in the day. And the fact that Faith needed some attention of her own.

As he reached out to touch her, she swatted his hands away, leading him to the bed. Pulling back the blankets, she deposited him on the bed. Swiftly, she squirmed under the covers too, placing her head directly over his heart. Her small sigh of relief was very apparent to his hearing. She wasn't talking to him, just lying silently. He didn't know what to say to her other than to thank her for caring.

"Faith?" he started.

"Shh. Sleep. Then we figure out what the hell is going on. Not before."

"You . . . ," he wanted to tell her.

"Forget about it. Later," she responded with finality.

Stroking his fingers through her damp hair, he wondered if she really meant later. If what she did in the shower was just her way of saying thank you and not a sign of something more. He wanted to show her that he did care for her, but his body wasn't reacting. Just the fact that she was holding him made him sleepy. Drifting off to sleep, he hoped that the wards would hold until they could put together more pieces of the puzzle.

Faith didn't mind. She totally didn't mind. But it was a first. She always thought about herself first when it came to sex. So she thought about her partner this time. Was that such a bad thing? Not that it was gonna become a habit or anything.

As she slowly opened her eyes to the darkened room, she wondered how the hell she had ended up like this. She was wrapped around Wes like a blanket. Hell, she never did the cuddling thing. But the room was cold, she told herself. Fuck the room. She just wanted to make sure he was still breathing. Or that he didn't skip out on her. If she wasn't around, those creatures wouldn't have gone after him. He was injured, because of her. He could have died, because of her. He seemed to be good at getting in her way, or saving her ass. She'd just call it payback for killing that scary spider so many years ago in Sunnydale High's cafeteria.

She willed the bad memories away for the moment. They needed to concentrate on the task at hand. They had demony red robed things after them, some kind of apocalypse could be coming, and they were now sleeping together. She didn't know which one scared her the most. Crap, she almost mumbled out loud. This is so screwed up.

Wes shifted under her tightened grip, rubbing his backside against her as he settled. God, she just wished she would have taken him up on his offer. She was practically dying for him to touch her intimately. Hell, if he didn't, she just might untangle herself and do the job. What was it about being close to him? She really shouldn't be feeling about him that way, about any guy for that matter.

It was probably because of the time in prison. No guys to take care of business. This guy could certainly take care of business and then some. She wondered if she just helped herself that he would be mad. But no. He was hurt. She'd wait until he felt a little better. She still couldn't resist rubbing her hand through his chest hair, just a little. And she certainly couldn't resist snaking her tongue out and tasting him, just a little.

"You insatiable wench," she heard him mumble.

Fuck, she hadn't meant to wake him up. She just wanted him to get better. Her tongue flicked out again, right between his shoulder blades. His little groan of encouragement made her feel all tingly. Goody, goody, she thought. He must be feeling better. Would he push her away if he didn't?

He took her hand that had tangled in his chest hair and was now licking each finger thoughtfully. Shit, the things he could do with his tongue.

"Are you OK?" she whispered through her light kisses.

The chuckle that came out told her everything. Of course a man was always OK when faced with the fact that he just might get lucky. Moving up, she decided to taste his shoulder and then his neck while rubbing her legs up and down his back. How could he be so smooth to the touch? How could he possibly want her to touch him in the first place?

Faith jerked away from him, realizing that she had to stop this. Had to stop playing lover to Wes, the one person who had figured her out those many years ago. She wasn't worthy of the gentleness he showed her.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he rolled over.

"I'm sorry. I'm just sorry. OK. Go back to sleep."

She was so glad he couldn't see her expression, that he couldn't see the tears that were threatening to fall. The damn jerk didn't back away, didn't turn away from her. He just gathered her up in his arms, not giving in to the resistance she was putting up.

"This is not how this is supposed to be," Faith confessed.

"How so?" he asked. "We're not supposed to give each other comfort? We're not supposed to actually like each other? Don't you suppose we're beyond that by now?"

Fuck, they were supposed to be beyond that. She wanted them to be beyond that. What did she want from him?

"Do you like me?" she asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

God, she sounded like a stupid freak for asking. Of course he didn't like her. How could he? She fucking tortured him. She made his life a living hell in Sunnydale. She was probably the reason why he wasn't a Watcher any more. How could he like her?

Suddenly, he had her beneath him, kissing her senseless. So he wanted to screw her. How was that different from any other man?

He finally came up for a breath, sighing as he did. "Would I be here right now?"

He slowly descended to her neck, sucking softly, making her whimper in response.

"I love how you taste, how you respond, how you fight, how you think. What's not to like? You get angry too easily, you sometimes get down on yourself, you definitely love being in charge. But that makes you you. Don't complicate this any more than it is."

"I'm not. It's just, I don't know," came out a little whiney.

The friction he was causing was making her eyes cross a little. On the one hand, she just wished he would get down to business. On the other hand, she wished he would just give her a morsel, something to hold onto.

"I want you. All of you," he groaned as he did get down to business.

That put her over the edge. One little sentence made all the difference. No one had ever told her that he wanted her. Wanted to have her in bed, yeah. But that was only one small part of her. As he moved over her, making her feel wanted, making her feel fucking great, she realized she wanted all of him too. Not just what they were doing right then. Hell, she'd even crack a book open now and then if that's what it took.

As she arched her back, she felt him pull away a little, felt him leave her as she shook with pleasure. Only he hadn't finished yet. With a small cry, he found his release too, only not inside her. Her mind understood why he'd done that. She just felt that need to connect with him.

"Sorry," he whispered in her ear.

"At least you're thinking. Me? Not so much."

"Hardly. Looks like you might need another shower."

"Coming?"

"Not for a while."

"Mind. Gutter. Never thought Wesley Wyndam-Pryce's mind would be in the gutter all the time."

"With you around, it's particularly difficult not to be."

Faith playfully slapped him, pushing him off of her to inspect the damage.

"Yep. Shower. Now."

TBC

Author note: I didn't think this fic was going to take the turn to Sunnydale. I just might save that part for a sequel. I really wanted to wrap this up before they arrived. And Faith is rather mushy in this chapter. So, sue me. I love it when she does this. She's so confused right now. Just the way I like her. I'll be updating my other fic shortly, since I did a big chapter here. Thanks to all who have followed one or the other or both. It's been a journey! I've gotten some lovely comments. To the reader who went back and read them all, thank you, thank you. You don't know how great that review felt. You are a gem. To all the others out there who have read, but may not have reviewed. Please keep reading. Review when you can. Drop a line any time. I look forward to hearing from you!