Chapter 7 Ain't it times like these that make you wonder if you'll ever know the meaning of things as they appear to the others.
Part One.
Faith woke up the next morning feeling happy. She was aware of John leaning on one arm looking at her. That was why she was happy she remembered. The man she had fallen in love with loved her back.
"You're pretty when you sleep." He stated simply, stroking her face. Constantine had been watching her sleep for the past twenty minutes, thinking she was the most lovely thing he had ever seen.
"You're stubbly," Faith told him touching his chin. She wanted to make love to him again immediately. "You up for it?"
Constantine cupped her breast idly. "I've an exorcism at nine, join me in the shower?" he suggested.
Faith sat in a booth in a café in a building, opposite to where Constantine was preforming his exorcism.
Faith couldn't help chuckling, as she remembered kneeling in the shower two hours earlier, her mouth and hands round Constantine's cock. He had pushed her away, warning her he was going to come. She had told him because he was too cheap to buy her dinner the night before she needed the calories.
He had pushed her head and mouth back on him and said. "You never cease to entertain."
And then when he had come and she'd swallowed, she'd said…
"You look happy Faith, penny for your thoughts?" Giles said as he sat down in front of her. He signalled to his enemy Ethan Rayne, who was buying refreshments up at the counter, that they were sitting with Faith.
"Giles!" Faith said startled. "What the hell are you and Rayne doing in Brixton?"
"We're not together, we're both bidding on some mystical artefacts in that house over there. But the owner is exorcising a demon first." Giles explained. "We're waiting till he comes for us."
"Right," Faith commented brightly wondering why the universe did this to her.
"Yes, your new friend John Constantine is doing the exorcism. Is that who you're waiting for here?" Giles inquired taking her paper and frowning at the headline.
"You're out of luck luv if you are." Ethan said bringing over a tray with pots of tea on it. "Word going round the vamp community last night is that the rude Yank bastard married a slayerette."
"Patently ridiculous, as I keep telling you Rayne." Giles argued with him. "I have sworn to the girls parents they'll be strictly chaperoned till they're eighteen. The older ones were working."
"Like the 'Dark Slayer' here?" Ethan crowed, holding up Faith's left hand to the light, showing the brand new gold band on the ring finger. Faith snatched her hand back and slapped Ethan across the back of his head for daring to touch her.
Giles looked at her appalled. Ethan rubbed his head, smirking knowingly at her.
"Like it?" Faith said brightly. "We got matching rings in this great jewellers shop in Islington, yesterday afternoon."
"Not a pawn shop was it luv?" Ethan inquired.
"I'm amazed you're still alive." Faith told Ethan. "I woulda thought something should have eaten you by now and then had indigestion."
"Good Lord, Faith. It was you married to Constantine in Las Vegas last week?" Giles spluttered.
"Yeah, kinda romantic huh?" Faith said hopefully, to an appalled Giles.
Constantine came in with a middle aged Sikh, and went over to their booth. He rolled his eyes at Faith as if to indicate a hard morning and sat down beside her reaching out to hold her hand.
"Giles and Rayne, here for the auction?" Constantine greeted them. "This is Prithri Singh Faith, Singh my wife Faith."
Faith and Singh shook hands; Singh spotted another buyer and went over to her.
"Congratulations on your marriage Constantine." Rayne commented stirring his tea "Must be the supernatural wedding of the year, a Constantine to the 'Dark Slayer'."
"The 'Dark Slayer'?" Constantine said, quirking an interested eyebrow at Faith.
"The whole going bad thing," Faith explained. Constantine squeezed her hand. She could have massacred an orpahanage and he wouldn't care.
"I see you two knew so much about each other before you got wed." Rayne smirked again.
"Well Faith, I wish you every happiness and Constantine congratulations." Giles said with his usual class. His demeanour slipped for a second "A word Faith?"
Faith and Giles stepped outside on to the footpath in the warm summer morning. "I suppose the explanation for your sudden marriage Faith, is the culmination of your life philosophy of want, take, have?"
"Suppose so, yeah," Faith said considering the idea. "And we want to be married to each other."
"You're going to attempt to make this marriage work?" Giles said amazed to her. It was without doubt the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.
"Constantine doesn't 'attempt' anything." Faith smiled joyously, turning to re-enter the café. "Don't worry about me Giles, the road to redemption is a rocky path and I've finally found someone I can walk along it with."
Once Singh and his buyers had left the café together Constantine and Faith found themselves alone in the booth.
Constantine leaned over and kissed Faith on the mouth. The kiss was given in affection and returned with passion. This was the way all their non sexual kisses were turning out. Constantine lapped at her tongue with his own, pulling her on his lap instinctively. he couldn't help himself. He needed to be close to her. Faith hooked her bare leg in its black linen skirt, round his hip wanting to feel as much of him as she could. Constantine slid his hand up her smooth bare thigh, delighting in touching her flesh.
"Uh hum excuse me, but Faith I think you took my wallet by accident." Giles voice came breaking their embrace.
Faith broke away from her kiss with Constantine embarrassed. She didn't normally make out in public. Not since she'd got out of prison anyway. "No Giles, I never had it."
"That bloody Rayne!" Giles said angrily. He looked at them and shook his head and then hurried off.
"I need to get changed." Faith told Constantine. She looked at him shyly, fearing rejection. "Wanna see where I live?"
Constantine looked interested at Faith's rooms that late afternoon. Her furnishings looked antique as if they had come with the room. The only things that were Faith's were pot plants and bed and table coverings that looked Medieval somehow. He commented on it.
"They're from Pylea." Faith said stroking the coarse fabric. "It was a beautiful place."
Her cat came jumping in the window. Faith fed him. "This is my cat Hellmouth." She explained. 'I took him to Pylea with me accidentally and brought him back alive! I subscribe totally to the theory that a cat isn't just for Christmas."
"It's a great apartment Faith." Constantine told her. She relaxed visibly, he could tell his approval was very important to her.
Constantine went over and held her. He knew he was obsessed with her and he didn't give a damn.
"I love you Faith." He whispered to the young woman. "You are so wonderful in every way."
"Oh John," Faith whispered back. It was all too good to be real. "You don't know me properly yet, and if you did…"
There was a knock on the door and Buffy and Dawn came dashing in with a giant rubber plant, laughing. They stopped in the middle of the living room and looked surprised at Constantine standing close to Faith.
"We saw this plant for sale and thought it screamed 'you'." Buffy explained to Faith putting the rubber down.
"Hello Constantine." Dawn said curiously. "I didn't know you knew Faith."
Constantine spoke in his normal expressionless voice "Yeah, didn't I mention in it in Rome? We got married last week."
"Get out!" said Dawn amazed. "You married Faith! You guys make such a good match!"
"Thanks brat." Faith said touched. She thought they made a good match, and to have someone else confirm it was mana from heaven.
"You eloped in Vegas and didn't tell me?" Buffy said to Faith sounding hurt. "I thought we'd surmounted the tried to kill each other bit, and were finally friends."
"B. oh god, we are." Faith said distressed. "You're my best friend. Constantine and me were working things out, before we made a big public announcement, is all."
"We can't work out whether to put an ad in a newspaper or leave flyers in demon bars." Constantine said dryly. The supernatural world was going to be agog about their impulsive marriage he realised. He could see it in his mind. Roll up for The Constantines nine day wonder, observe the sixteen year age gap, marvel that a beautiful ex convict wanted to be with a cynical bastard like him.
"Constantine is going back to LA tomorrow, to close down whatever he's got running there currently." Faith told Buffy. "I thought you could help me organise a reception for after the blessing."
"Will it involve clothes shopping?" Buffy asked hopefully. Buffy loved a good shopping expedition.
"Totally." said Faith persuasively. Faith offered the ultimate appeasement. "New shoes will need to be bought as well
Buffy smiled mollified. "Well I say congratulations to the bride and groom then."
Part Two
London 9.30pm
Faith sat in her armchair stroking her cat. She had been apart from Constantine for a week since he had gone back to L.A. and finished his affairs there. His grandparents had been born in the United Kingdom, so he qualified for permanent residency in the United Kingdom. He was more than willing to close everything down in Los Angles to join her in the U.K.
Faith missed Constantine with a passion that scared her. She had never, never felt this way for any man before.
Firstly there had been her myriad loser boyfriends in Boston starting when she was fourteen. Her mother's boyfriend hadn't put her off sex, just made her promiscuous. As if searching for the answer to why her Mom's boyfriend had done that to her. God, she'd been a sad little girl.
Faith had always had a sexual attraction to Angel and the two had a real sympathy for one another. But a Vampire and a Slayer, with the shadow of Buffy between them, it was never meant to be.
Wesley, when she had come back to L.A. to help capture Angelus, she had known they were made for one another. Wesley and Faith made that good a team. Pryce had taken her aside once Angel was resouled and made love with her on the floor in an empty hotel room in the Hyperion. The sex had been about as depraved as you could get without toys. Faith would always remember their tryst fondly.
Then the Fang Gang had made that deal with Wolfram and Hart. Everyone including her, had lost all memories of Connor. Faith only remembered her former Watcher grown competent. She had no recollection of the man who had been destined for hell like her, then redeemed himself.
So Faith had then got serious with Robin Woods and it was such a great relationship they had together normal, healthy, fun. She gladly got married to Woods and was happy. Then suddenly her memories of Connor and her Wes had come flooding back to her in April 2004, as if a spell had been broken. Faith loved Woods too much to hurt him. So Faith didn't go to L.A. to be with Wesley, like her instincts were screaming at her to do.
Then a month after her memory had returned, Woods had been bitten by a Werewolf. Woods had tried to rip her to shreds the next full moon. The Watcher's Council heard the news of Wesley Wyndham Pryce's death. Faith had spent an hour crying in the shower so Robin couldn't hear her, and then gone out to get hammered with Giles.
Faith had stared at a bottle of bourbon for a full half hour without touching it, the day Woods walked out the door on her. She had put it back in her drinks cabinet and gone over to Giles house for a good cry and a cup of tea.
Faith spent the next two month's in Pylea helping Lorne and the Groosalugg bring Pylea back on track. Faith unlike her cat had loved Pylea. Pylea possessed a savagery that was being tempered with the reform taking place. Faith fully intended to go back there one day. Pylea's ruler the Groosalugg was her kind of guy as well.
Her cell phone beeped and Faith looked it at. 'LOVE YOU FAITH. JOHN.' Faith's chest hurt, ached with missing Constantine so much, it was like going through a drug withdrawal. She touched her gold wedding ring like a talisman.
L.A. 1.30pm
Constantine looked disbelievingly at his wedding ring again. He had just taped the last of his possessions up in a cardboard box and sent a sentimental text to Faith. Constantine wondered if he was truly going insane. He felt he was acting like a love struck teenage and couldn't stop himself.
Constantine's frequent associate in Los Angles Dr. Midnite, had suggested he had lost his mind.
"You must have just crossed over into Crazyland and didn't even realize it …" the Voodoo master had accused Constantine amused. "You're forty-one and what is the slayerette, eighteen? Isn't that their normal age Constantine?"
"She's twenty four." Constantine answered. "Her name is Faith."
"The Dark Slayer? No wonder you can't live in L.A." Midnite had burst out laughing and Constantine had walked out the door.
Constantine was aware of two figures in the doorway of his now old apartment. Chas his ex sidekick, elevated to angel status once dead and Ellie, a thousand year old demon and his on and off lover.
"What brings you the two of you here at once?" Constantine asked. "I hope it's just that you met in the stairwell."
"Our shared concern for you John." Ellie breathed huskily. "'They're' planning something."
'And that's news because?" Constantine asked sounding bored.
"It concerns you specifically John." Ellie said her tail showing.
"I think 'they' want to turn you into a twenty first century Job." Chas said looking worried, his wings unfolding and refolding nervously. 'They both want your soul and God thinks he can get away with letting Lucifer torment you a lot without you cracking. You've just become a gentleman's wager."
"Aren't you taking a risk being here or are you being part of their plan?" Constantine said looking bored.
"Part of their plan of course" Ellie trilled. "They're starting John. We're just messengers but we do love you, that's why they sent us, to hurt all three of us. The big guys are very inclusive when it comes to dishing out pain."
Chas looked uneasy. Ellie and Constantine enjoyed his discomfort. Angels were pains in the ass especially the good ones. The three stood uncomfortably silent for a few minutes.
"Thanks for the heads up." Constantine said finally. "Will I be seeing you at our reception next week? I don't expect you in the church of course Ellie."
"Well hats make me look ugly." Ellie shrugged. "Is Charity wearing a hat."
"'Faith' said it's a surprise on the day." Constantine said. He knew Ellie could never resist a dig. "How's Xander, still using his blind spot on you?"
"Ah, Xander did you know he lost his cherry to 'Faith' John? Your little bride really got around in her younger days." Ellie smiled insincerely.
"Ellie you can't help your self can you?" Constantine said amused. Faith could have screwed every college football team in California and he'd still want her.
"Demon, John." Ellie laughed pointing at herself. "Well I must head back to the United Kingdom. Can I take something with me of yours, save on shipping?"
"Tempting but no,'" Constantine refused.
"You're so mistrusting John," Ellie blew him a kiss and vanished from the room in a puff of sulphur.
Constantine's cell phone beeped and he looked at the message. 'I LOVE YOU 2. FAITH' Constantine smiled fondly down at it.
Chas wings flapped faster in distress.