Chapter 3: Cleveland

NO ONE'S POV

It's about 3:30 when she exits I-71 North at Denison Avenue. She pulls over to look around and then at Kennedy's directions. 'Nice neighborhood' she thinks to herself as she comes to Franklin Boulevard. Parking the bike between two snazzy cars, she takes off her helmet and shakes out her hair.

A pretty brunette with her hair tied back in a ponytail rises from her chair. "Sure took you long enough." Kennedy says from the front porch.

Hopping off the bike she makes her way up the steps. She stops in front of Ken for a moment then engulfs her in a bone crushing slayer hug. "God, it's good to see you!"

"Jeeze, you're squishing me, aggg, what the hell, did the PtB like double your strength?"

"Something like that," Faith breaks away to look at her again, "it's just good to see you."

"Yeah, yeah, you don't call, don't write..." Ken gives her a wry smile, "I told you to work it out and come back soon. Ten years is a long fucking time."

"Yeah, well, some shit happened along the way."

"Tell me later. Come on inside, I told the gang you were coming. Everyone's here except Buffy, she'll be back tomorrow."

"The gang? Leading the lamb to the slaughter so soon. Damn, don't I get a last meal or something?"

"Who's the lamb? You? Right! Look, it's cool; they're all excited to see you. Come on, the SiT's are in academics now" she pointed across to the house next door "so we have a couple of hours before they come back here like hungry bears."

"So tell me how this all works" Faith asks as they walk in.

"The girls usually do academics in the morning and Slayer training in the afternoon. I convinced Willow to switch it for today so we can have a chance to talk."

"How is Red?"

"Be careful, I'm right behind you." Willow warns as she walks in the front door behind them. They both turn around. "Faith" she wraps her in a hug "you know I never got a chance to thank you for saving my life." Willow can feel the waves of power rolling off her. Stepping back, she looks at Faith for a moment, letting her know she feels it but won't ask her about it, yet.

"I wish I could have done more." Faith nods a silent 'thank you'.

"You did plenty, at least from my and Dawn's stand point." Will nods back.

She slowly appraises the redhead; she certainly has grown into quite the Wicca. She has a quiet confidence about her and an almost ethereal beauty "You look great, Red. I guess Ken really has been taking good care of you."

"Yes she has." She smiles at Ken then looks back to Faith. "So how are you? What have you been doing? Are you staying? Where are you staying? Ok, too many questions?"

Faith laughed, "Damn, some things never change. I've been traveling mostly, helping where I can. I'm still figuring out what I'm going to do, that's why I'm here. But tell me what you guys have done with this 'Slayer School'."

"Come and sit, I'll give you the 'Reader's Digest' version." Will brings them into the living room. "Once Dawn was well enough to travel we all came here and started setting up the school. Giles got his teaching credentials so the girls could have it all under one roof, academics and Slayer training. We all went back to school to finish our degrees. Then we lost Angel and the LA team, then Xander disappeared. One day he just left and no one's heard from him since." Red was silent for a moment before collecting herself and continuing. "It was hard for a while but once we got our bachelors degrees, we started taking over classes from Giles. When I finished my masters Giles went back to England. He finally married his old girlfriend Olivia about 5-6 years ago?" She looked to Ken for confirmation, who nodded.

"So while all of us were teaching Buffy continued on to get her doctorate in Psychology. She's a Psychologist now." Willow said obviously very proud of her.

Faith turns to Ken raising her eyebrows.

"Hey, when you checked in, you just asked if everyone was ok. You didn't ask for a full report."

Willow continued "She still does some of the Slayer training when she's here but mostly that's up to Kennedy. Mostly she is traveling around bringing in wayward Slayers; girls who've been jailed or institutionalized because of their powers."

"Dr. B?" Faith shakes her head "Don't know if I can get used to that."

"She's very good with them." Willow remarks defensively.

"I'm certain she is, Red, didn't mean anything by it."

"That's where she is now actually, South Africa. She's picking up a girl who's been confined to a mental institution since she was 10, she's 15 now."

"Jesus, the poor kid." Faith commiserates.

"Oh... my... God!" Dawn came running in the room with Andrew trailing not far behind. "Faith!" She is greeted with a hug that nearly knocks her off her feet. "I can't believe you're back, you are back, right? This is fantastic! Buffy is going to be so psyched!"

The five of them have dinner together then migrate back to the living room afterwards talking about old times. Andrew and Dawn looked very comfortable next to each other on the couch; Faith thinks there might be something going on there and reminds herself to ask Ken tomorrow. Willow and Ken are sitting on the other couch with Faith leaning on the arm next to Ken.

As Andrew starts to go off on some tangent regarding Giles and Olivia's wedding, Faith begins to feel Buffy presence. Ken said she was going to be home tomorrow, but Faith could feel her on the road here right now, she could sense it. Guess it's best to just get it over with, she thinks to herself as she allows herself to savor the feeling of her drawing nearer.

"How were you able to afford this place? Are you charging the parents of the SiT's tuition?" Faith knew none of them or their families had the kind of money to buy houses like these or to live as comfortably as they are. Well, Ken's family was super rich, but Faith doubted they would be footing this bill.

"Did you forget my girl's first Scooby job was hacker?" Ken teases Faith.

"I don't get it." Faith was confused.

Shaking her head, Willow continues, "Well, when we got here, we were once again on a hell mouth, but this time we had no Council to back us up. So I got to exploring their bank accounts. And since everybody except for Giles and a few others were killed, we decided to make good use of the funds." Willow was quite pleased with herself.

"You hacked into the Councils accounts and stole their money?" Faith was shocked. "Dude, good thing I didn't know about your talents when I was on the dark side."

"Well, it was just sitting there. It's not like we really stole it. We are using it to combat evil and help people."

"Preaching to the choir, Red."

"There is something else though" Kennedy interjected. "Buffy told Will to set all of us up with a private account as well. Buffy asked me to manage yours until you got back," Ken looks up at her while patting her leg, "she knew you were coming back."

Ignoring that last part from Ken, Faith asks Willow, "Wait, you're telling me you funneled some of the Council's money into private accounts for each of us and you are all ok with this?"

Ken looks at her as if she's crazy, "Think of it like a salary. We basically took what Giles was being paid then made it retroactive from when we started. So for the original Scoobys, seven years went into the accounts off the bat, me and Andrew here got 1 year and so it went for everyone. Then we bought the two houses and fixed up the facilities, then we've been paying ourselves and paying for traveling. It all adds up you know. Any way, it's all just a drop in the bucket, because we can't even spend enough in a month for the interest not to cover."

"Wow." Faith was pretty much blown away.

"You have no idea how much money the Council has. We really can't even make a dent." Willow concurs.

Kennedy patted Faith's leg again, "We'll stop by the bank in the morning and get you all sorted out. Then we'll come back here and go over all the paperwork that's piled up over the years."

"Look. I'm no math major, school never was my bag, but that is some serious cash. There's no way I can accept it."

Willow shakes her head, "It's not about accepting Faith, it's yours. They're your accounts, your name, and your Social Security number. If you don't claim it, it will just sit there like it has been for the last 10 year, collecting interest." Willow pauses for a moment then plows ahead. "Look Faith, we all talked last night and we want you to think about staying on here. We're sure Buffy would welcome the help."

"Guys, this is a lot to handle at once." Faith is really feeling overwhelmed.

Faith's words had just finished leaving her mouth when they hear the front door close and something drop.

"You don't have to make up your mind now, just promise you'll think about it?"

Not ready to answer, Faith closes her eyes for a moment, letting Willow's words sink in while she basks in the unmistakable feeling of Buffy's presence.