"Sometimes I hate you," she said, hitting the stop button in the elevator and rushing toward him all in one motion.

If he would have just kept talking.

Spike had started in on her as soon as they left the gaming area, all the way down the passage to the parking structure, up until they got onto the elevator and the door closed.

As soon as the door closed, so did Spike's mouth. There had been silence… for about a second and a half.

Faith still believed it was the silence that did her in.

The elevator had started feeling a little too small. The ride from the main floor of the casino to the third floor of the parking garage was a little too long.

And when Spike had brushed past her, moving to the opposite side of the elevator, for no reason Faith could comprehend, that had pretty much done it.

"Sometimes I really hate you," she repeated as the force of her body slammed him up against the wall, her lips capturing his in a deep kiss. She ignored the alarm that was not only sounding in her head, but in the elevator as well.

Spike deepened their kiss as his hands traveled down her back. Raising his head, he pulled her closer and Faith instantly felt his arousal. In a matter of seconds, Spike had taken Faith's shirt off and tossed it to the floor.

On instinct, she wrapped one leg around him. Spike followed her lead and grabbed the other one, pulling it around his waist and lifting her up in the process. The only thing supporting Faith was Spike, who was holding her tightly.

Her body reacting to his, Faith put her hands on his chest and pushed back; her lips never leaving Spike's, tongues still entwined. Her hand moved quickly down Spike's chest until she found what she was looking for. In one quick motion, Faith popped the button on Spike's jeans and yanked his zipper down.

Spike, not one to be outdone, untangled her legs from around his waist and let them drop to the floor. Faith almost lost her balance in the process.

Glad that she hadn't tied her boots too tight, Faith kicked them off and out of the way. Wanting only one thing, she began struggling with her own belt; an obstacle she would have to do away with and quickly.

Spike pushed Faith's hands out of the way just as she finished with her belt. He tore at the button on her jeans so roughly it ripped off in the process. Neither of them noticed as it bounced off the dingy elevator carpeting, coming to rest in a dust filled corner.

As Spike struggled to get Faith's jeans down, she reached for his shoulders. Spike hiked her up quickly and Faith lowered herself onto him in a heartbeat. Using the wall of the elevator for leverage, Faith made sure she had enough momentum going to take him in as deep and as fast as she could.

It was though her body had been waiting for him all along.

XXXXX

Having two cars made conversation impossible on the way back from the casino. Faith didn't mind and apparently Spike didn't either. He didn't even push or demand that she say something once they had arrived back at the house.

If Faith was being honest with herself, she would own up to the fact that she was reveling in how good she felt, remembering him inside her again, amazed at how relaxed she was. It was as though all the tension and frustration that had been building in her over the last few months had ebbed out of her body at the moment of climax.

Faith should've known that the glow wouldn't last. Walking in the front door, she could feel the tension that was in the air.

Buffy, Willow, Xander and Emma were all sitting in the living room. Giles was back, and from the looks of it, something major was going down.

Apart from a slight acknowledgement when they walked in, no one made a big deal that she and Spike had come in together. That pretty much confirmed her suspicions.

Faith lowered herself on the couch, finding a familiar comfort from Spike's presence next to her. She glanced up at him briefly before turning her attention to Giles.

"As I was saying…" Giles began.

"There's no way," Buffy said, standing and beginning to pace. "He's wrong."

Giles sighed. "I'm afraid not, Buffy. She let it slip to Andrew, who in turn called me."

"Why? Did he say why?" Buffy asked, she stopped pacing and returned to her spot next to Faith.

Damn. Girl had energy to give the Duracell Bunny a run for his money.

"She had to have a good reason, right? She knew we'd find out one way or another? I should just call and talk to her myself. I can't believe… why did she do it, Giles? It doesn't make any sense. Well, not total sense anyway."

"Apparently, she doesn't like Italy. She doesn't like being out of the country and away from the things she knows and is accustomed to," Giles said, inexplicably positioning himself between the slayers.

Faith suddenly felt a little claustrophobic so she slipped over to the wingback chair, giving Buffy and Giles more room. Her previous sense of being an outsider flickered briefly when she realized that Spike hadn't followed her.

"Buff, you know she's been through a lot. Losing people. New school, new everything. Enough was probably enough," Xander contributed.

"Stop defending her, Xander. Besides, I get all that. But what she did… It's huge. She lied and her lie led us here."

"Wait a minute," Faith said, interrupting. "Just to make sure I get what this is all about, Dawn is the one who left the BS message for Giles saying that all this stuff was going down here? Why? So she could leave pasta-town?"

"The Bit?" Spike added, sounding shocked and then he smirked; unsuccessful in hiding his appreciation of Dawn's machinations.

"From what I can deduce, yes," Giles said. "Andrew said that once Dawn found out they were not following us to Detroit, she started ranting about her plan blowing up in her face. She was not only stuck in Italy, she was stuck without her sister and the rest of you."

Buffy looked about ready to burst into tears. "I just can't believe…"

Giles put in hand gently on Buffy's shoulder. "She misses you, Buffy. Between Sunnydale and now Detroit…"

Buffy met his eyes. "But she planned this before Detroit."

"But during Sunnydale. That was probably enough for her," he said.

"So what do we do now?" Faith asked.

Giles removed his hand and turned his attention towards Faith. "As I stated previously, even without the anonymous tip, we would've found ourselves located here."

"But Dawn is still staying in Italy?" Willow asked. "Which I guess makes sense. Don't want to reward her for being sneaky by letting her come here."

Faith wasn't the only one who saw Giles shift uncomfortably.

"What?" Buffy demanded.

"As you are well aware, I have been absent the last couple of days. I was using the pretense of conducting some research," he said.

"Pretense?" Willow asked. "That can't be good."

"Actually," he paused. "I spent the majority of the time trying to convince her to go back. When I was unsuccessful at that, I secured a hotel room for both Andrew and Dawn who arrived on a flight from Italy yesterday morning," he said.

You could've heard a pin drop. "No way," Faith said.

"You flew them in?" Xander asked.

"No. Dawn booked a flight and then Andrew booked one so she wouldn't be traveling alone. I instructed them to stay at the hotel until I had the opportunity to tell Buffy what had transpired."

"And Kennedy?" Willow squeaked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Willow. Kennedy remained behind to continue the training of the newest slayers."

"Oh," said Willow, her shoulders slumping.

Buffy still hadn't said anything.

"B? You okay?" Faith asked.

Buffy finally looked at her. "I'm fine. How can I be mad? I miss her." She shrugged.

"You're letting the Bit off easy then?" Spike asked.

Buffy smiled. "Oh, there will be no easy. I'll tell her what I think about her little plan… and then I'll tell her how much I missed her."

"Are they going to stay here too?" Emma asked.

Faith had almost forgotten she was there, she had been so quiet.

"Yes," Giles said, standing and referencing the clock on the mantel. "I have summoned a taxi and they should be arriving shortly."

"I was banished to the couch when I got here," Emma said. "Spike banished himself to the basement. We're running out of room. Unless…"

Faith watched Emma's eyes light up. Uh oh.

"I could always be banished with Spike," she added. "I'd be more than happy to give up the couch."

"Think again," Faith said.

Emma smiled. "Just a thought."

Faith stood up. "Look. I don't need the bedroom. Let Emma and Dawn have it. Give Andrew the couch. B's already in with Willow." Faith shrugged her shoulders. "Makes sense."

"Where will you…" Giles began.

Faith smiled when Buffy shot him a look.

"Very good then," Giles said, looking extremely uncomfortable if only for a moment.

"Guess we should start moving stuff around before they get here," Buffy said.

"Good idea, Buffy," Xander said.

"Won't take me long," Faith added.

"I'm already done," Willow said, smiling.

Faith was headed out of the living room when she heard Xander call out. "Hey Faith. Looks like you might be missing a button."

She had been that close to making a clean getaway.

Faith turned back around and smiled sweetly. "Now that you mention it, Xander, I could take the couch and Andrew could bunk with you." The look on his face was priceless. "Or not. If you need me, I'll be in the basement."

Faith could hear Spike chuckling as they both made their way upstairs to get her things.

XXXXX