Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Mercedes and Audrey.
CHAPTER 28-NEW DIGS AND FIGHTS
She swore that she had died and gone to heaven. Through her days Faith had stayed at a few posh hotels. But none of them even came close to the honeymoon suite that Gwen had set aside for Wesley and Faith. She had told Faith it was because in her eyes she thought that the two were halfway there already. Though in truth she had given them the suite because the bed was large, enough room for Wesley to sleep comfortably and Faith to be close by, there was a large fireplace in the room, to keep it warm instead of how cold it was when they arrived and because it was next to the fire escape. Faith had helped Wesley through a shower, mostly a sponge bath, as he still had to many bandages to take a full shower. She had been shown how by an overly eager nurse that Faith could tell was having thoughts of giving her the sponge bath the entire time that she was explaining it. After she had made sure that Wesley was comfortable she had tore through the shower herself, hoping to wash away all of the aches and pains of the last few days. It hadn't been a fairy tale as she was still more than a bit sore, in more places than she at first realized but by the end she was feeling refreshed.
"Everything okay," Faith asked softly with a concerned tone to her voice as she picked up a towel and walked out of the bathroom, starting to dry herself off as she went.
"Of course, the lights were to bright," Wesley calmly replied with a tired yawn as he gingerly sat on the edge of the bed staring at the warm fire burning in the hearth, giving off the only light in the large room as he had shut the lights off as well.
"Sorry…I didn't think about," Faith started to say back with a guilty expression on her face as she half smacked herself for not thinking of it before Wesley broke in.
"Neither did I, but everything's okay now right," Wesley joked back with a happy smirk on his face as Faith stopped drying herself off and draped the towel over her shoulder.
"Five by five," Faith whispered back huskily with a relieved but excited grin on her face as she slid around the banister closest to Wesley, using as if it were a stripper's pole, before she kept one hand on it, tilted her hips to one side and made sure that Wesley was looking exactly where she wanted him to.
"You have a dirty mind," Wesley stated with a very matter of fact tone of voice as he slid his glasses off and set them on the nightstand. He had been wearing them while trying to read the label on one of the bottles of pills that he had been given before leaving the hospital.
"Oh really, who has the dirtier mind here huh, I'm thinking you," Faith shot back with a cocky grin on her face as she threw her head back a bit and laughed at Wesley for a bit before she stopped and let her towel fall to the floor as she stepped closer.
"You are going to be the death of me woman," Wesley said with a mock bit of sarcasm in his voice as he did his best to look at Faith with a disapproving scowl etched onto his visage. However that ended up only seeming to make Faith enjoy their game that much more.
"Not in this lifetime," Faith snapped with a naughty grin on her face as she straddled Wesley's lap and moved in for a kiss.
"Is that a promise," Wesley started to ask with an impish smile on his face and excited twinkle in his eyes before their lips met.
"Fuck yeah," Faith snickered back with an angry scowl on her face as she reached up and gently ran the pad of her thumb along his bottom lip.
"You know I'm," Wesley started to whisper back with an unsure look on his face as he averted his gaze from her face while sliding both hands down the length of Faith's legs from her knees to her butt before he squeezed hard, earning a surprised hiss.
"I can do gentle," Faith growled back in an angry pout as she slowly lowered them both down the bed and lost the rest of the night in the firelight.
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"Any bets on what they're doing in there," Dawn asked with an impish smirk on her face as she sat, with her legs crossed under her, on the couch beside Spike as he stared solemnly into the fire.
"Thought Joyce already had the birds and the bee's talk with you," Spike started to ask with a subdued look of surprise on his face before Dawn popped a marshmallow into her mouth, turned to him and grinned wide.
"At least some of us are having some fun tonight," Mercedes grumbled with an unhappy frown on her face as she sat in the chair beside Spike, wishing that she could feel the warmth of the fire on her skin like she had when she was still alive.
"This isn't about having fun, it's about staying alive, living to fight another day," Angel said back with a very gloom and doom expression on his face as he sat low in his chair, staring straight into the fire even though Nina was curled up in his lap, looking like she was moments away from falling asleep.
"Maybe for you it is, all I want is," Mercedes started to grumble back with a childish pout on her face as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and scowled at Angel out of the corner of her eye before Groo stoked the fire up a bit. Even though it really wasn't that cold in the room they had started a roaring fire, mostly due to Dawn begging Spike for it.
"To reek your holy vengeance against The Immortal for killing Kristine, we know…you've only said it about a million times," Dawn mumbled out through a mouthful of marshmallows, receiving a death glare from Mercedes at the end.
"Here Dawn, have another marshmallow," Willow said softly with an impatient frown on her face before she shoved another large marshmallow into Dawn's mouth, effectively silencing the key.
"Have you found anything yet," Connor asked with a bored look on his face as he got tired of closely studying a marshmallow and popped it into his mouth.
"Nothing that we don't already know," Willow sadly replied as she shook her head, ignoring the glare that Dawn was sending her way as she was valiantly chewing away in the hope of emptying her mouth quickly.
"We should all turn in for the night and start fresh tomorrow," Groo offered with an optimistic and hopeful smile on his face as he set the poker back down in front of the fireplace and started to head towards the door.
"Where the bloody hell are you off to in such a," Spike started to grumble softly with a confused look on his face before Mercedes chuckled and leaned in close.
"Can't you smell it," Mercedes snickered out softly under her breath into Spike's ear before a slight grin was seen on his lips.
"Moving on…Dawn, what did you tell Buffy, I don't think that she was to happy about you and Willow not coming back tonight," Angel said softly with a not very enthusiastic frown on his face as he tried to remain calm.
"It was easier than I thought, okay so I didn't actually speak to Buffy directly…but I left her a message saying that we were spending the night with one of Willow's contacts, we've done it before," Dawn started to reply with a sheepish smile of pride on her face before Willow interjected.
"Twice Dawn…we've only done it twice in over a year," Willow stated with a look of disbelief that Dawn had used that excuse before she went back to typing away on the laptop that Gwen had provided.
"But will that work, won't she want to call the contact back…just to make sure," Gwen asked with an anxious expression on her face as she hoped that Buffy wasn't the overprotective type.
"And thus the proverbial fly in the ointment is revealed," Spike joked with a grimly amused smirk on his face before he leaned over and gave Dawn a one armed hug.
"We're so screwed," Dawn mumbled out sadly with a very unhappy pout on her face as she lowered her hand, which held a marshmallow and had been at her mouth, to her side and hung her head.
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"I'm sure they're fine Buffy, we all heard the message, they're staying with one of Willow's contacts," Xander said softly with a supportive tone to his voice as he sat down at the small table and poured some milk into his bowl of cereal. Buffy had made Giles, Xander, Andrew, and even Robin listen to Dawn's message and assure her that everything would be alright. She had decided that it was best not to take any chances with Angel and Mercedes out and about.
"They'll probably be back before lunch, in the meantime we really should be focusing our efforts on finding this Mercedes, from what The Immortal has given me she's about half as old as…she's around sixty years old, known for being a maverick, can become very emotional, and if she wants to can disappear into the Rome nightlife for days on end," Giles replied with a tired look on his face at first before he corrected himself rather than speak Spike's name, as though he had finally admitted to Dawn that he had accepted that Buffy did indeed have feelings for the blue eyed dyed blonde vampire he wasn't ready to admit that it was love.
"She sounds a lot like Spike," Kennedy stated with a calm look on her face as she set about fishing in the refrigerator for something to eat.
"Almost makes you wonder if they…does the information point us towards anywhere that she frequents," Buffy mumbled out softly under her breath at first with a somber expression on her face before she switched gears and went on with the current mission at hand.
"Her file says that she does enjoy a pint after work, she stays away from most of the more upscale restaurants and clothing stores, is not a very big jewelry fan, and um…frequents the club scene, of all orientations," Giles answered with a very hard look of concentration on his face, as if he were trying to come up with a battle plan while explaining things, before he became a bit flustered at the end.
"Tell me about it, I swear she's been in every bar, club, strip joint, and brothel in Rome," Kennedy started to reply with a curious half smirk on her face before Xander cut in.
"You'd know wouldn't you," Xander exclaimed through a cough that he tried to cover it with, not hiding the angry tone of his voice.
"What's that supposed to mean," Kennedy angrily snapped back as she jerked her head out of the refrigerator and looked ready to rip Xander's head off before Buffy sensed the open hostility and jumped up in between them.
"You know damn," Xander started to grumble back with a frustrated and angry scowl on his face before he was cut off by Buffy.
"That's enough Xander, you and Giles will check out the restaurants and retail shops while Kennedy and I…check out the rest," Buffy snapped back at Xander at first before she grew a bit flushed at the job selection for herself.
"Are you sure about this Buffy, it might be wiser if Xander and I checked out these clubs while the two of you," Giles asked with a nervous look on his face as he could tell that this was all getting to Buffy and felt the need to help her out if he could.
"Right, the two of you wouldn't last five minutes…you'd stick out like a sore thumb, besides…I'm the only one that knows which clubs Mercedes liked to frequent, and if we do find her it'd be better if I do the talking, she'll listen to me, or at least she won't see me and run like if she saw any of you," Kennedy stated with a very clear and joking tone to her voice at first before she calmed down a bit and explained her rationality.
"Why would she run, if she's innocent like you say then there shouldn't be any reason why she wouldn't want to talk to us," Xander asked with a very pointed and threatening tone to his voice as he turned around in his chair and looked over at Kennedy.
"Maybe because she knows your history Xander, with you everyone except for your immediate friends are guilty until proven guilty, you can never admit that you're wrong, Mercedes did not attack Kristine and she did not kill her, you can hate me all you want, but I'm not wrong," Kennedy snapped back with a heavy dose of intentional sarcasm in her voice as she did her best to glare a hole straight through Xander before grabbing an apple out of the basket on the counter and storming out of the room past Robin, Rhona, and Vi.
"What's her problem," Vi asked with a confused look on her face as she tried unsuccessfully to cure herself of bad bed hair.
"You mean today…or in general, that girl always has a problem," Rhona joked back with a relaxed grin on her face before she walked over to the refrigerator, not noticing Robin's gaze following her.
"Anything new," Robin asked softly with an emotionless tone to his voice as he turned his gaze from Rhona to those at the table.
"As of yet no, though we were planning our strategy for the day," Giles began to say with a calm look on his face as he collected the files, snatching one away from a pouting Xander, before he was interrupted by Buffy.
"We're going to split up and hit all of Mercedes' hot spots, she's bound to revisit one of them and when she does we'll get her, but if not at least we'll find out more about her," Buffy interjected with a helpful smile on her face as she sat back down at the table and stole away a few pieces of Xander's cereal.
"I checked around last night, from what I've seen I doubt to many that knew her are going to tell you much of anything, your boyfriends influence reaches an awful lot of people, they wouldn't dare say a word against someone that worked for him…let alone the actual Immortal," Robin said back with a kind smile on his face as he walked over and picked up another of the apples from the basket on the counter and then took a bite.
"What makes you say that," Buffy asked with a concerned look on her face as she slowly got up from the table and headed his way.
"Have you looked around Buffy, your boyfriend is pretty popular around here…popular enough that I think that he could get away with anything and no one would be the wiser, you sure can find the gems," Robin replied with a none to pleased expression on his face before took another bite of the apple.
"That wasn't very nice," Vi stated with an unhappy frown on her face as she found what she was looking for in the refrigerator and pulled her head back out and shut the door.
"You're right it wasn't, but it was the truth right, two master vampires, a government soldier, Dracula, and now the Immortal, a guy that you really know very little about, you don't even know what he's capable of," Robin joked back at first with a relaxed smile on his face before his expression grew serious as he explained himself.
"And you're saying that you do," Giles piped up from his seat at the table as he didn't like where the conversation appeared to be heading and he was hoping to keep the discussion civil.
"Not completely, but I do know that he's not the boy scout that you all seem to think that he is, there's a lot of evidence linking him to some of the worst crimes in this cities history, and not in a good way, think about that," Robin replied with a very serious look on his face as he continued to chew on the apple before he shifted his weight to his other foot, turned, and left the room.
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"Feeling any better," Mercedes asked softly with a nervous look on her face as she plopped down in the chair next to him.
"A little, mostly I'm just stiff," Wesley replied softly with an uncomfortable grimace on his face as he tried to get himself comfortably situated on the couch with as little movement as possible.
"I'm sure that we could find some way to remedy that, but since you're staring at me like I've grown a second head I'll take that as a no," Mercedes said back with at the beginning an amused and excited half smirk on her face before her face fell as she tried to hide her disappointment and switch subjects.
"That would be the wisest course of action for you to take right now," Wesley said softly with a nervous look on his face as he watched Mercedes wring her hands like a scolded child would.
"Forget about it, stupid idea anyway," Mercedes mumbled back softly with an unhappy pout on her face as she looked away towards the fire as Willow walked into the room carrying the laptop that Gwen had loaned her and with an apple in her mouth.
"Breakfast on the go," Wesley asked with an impish grin on his face as he looked up at Willow and watched as she sat down beside him on the couch and blushed.
"Yeah, how are you feeling," Willow replied with a content smile on her face at first before she grew serious as she leaned a bit closer to Wesley.
"Five by five," Wesley joked with a cheesy tone to his voice as he half shrugged his shoulders before Faith clamped her hands down onto them.
"Looks like I'm starting to rub off on you Wes, not sure if that's a good or bad thing," Faith said with a curious look on her face as she nodded her head in greetings to Willow but ignored Mercedes.
"Let's hope it's a good thing, though speaking of breakfast…I could really use a nice hot cup of," Mercedes added with an anxious look on her face before she was interrupted by Willow.
"Spike was heating some blood up when I left the kitchen, if you hurry you might be able to have some of his," Willow offered up with a helpful look on her face before she took another bite of her apple and looked down at the computer screen.
"Sounds good, since I'm not wanted here," Mercedes said softly with a restrained tone of anger in her voice before she got up and left the room, but not before sending Faith a glare and a wink Wesley's way.
"Got that right," Faith grumbled under her breath as she rounded the end of the couch and plopped down in the chair that Mercedes had just vacated.
"Is Angel up yet, I want to talk to him," Wesley started to say with a serious tone to his voice as he sat up a bit straighter in his seat before being cut off.
"You're not helping Wes, you're still to banged up," Faith stated with a very clear and determined look on her face as she sat up straight on the front edge of her seat, looking straight at Wesley.
"I know that Faith, I meant that even though I won't be able to physically assist you all in the fight I shouldn't just sit on my hands, at the very least I can help plan the strategy or be used as a decoy to draw someone like Giles out of the office," Wesley said back with a serious and impatient look on his face as he reached out and laid a hand on Faith's knee, not noticing the happy smirk that momentarily graced Willow's face as she watched.
"How would that help us, Giles doesn't work for the Immortal," Faith asked with an unconvinced expression on her face as she laid her hand over top of Wesley's on her knee and began to idly run her thumb up and down the side of Wesley's index finger.
"That's true, however if Wesley could get Giles out of the office then I could lead Buffy and Xander somewhere else…say a mall or someplace like that for a few hours, maybe even get the Immortal to go with us, then you and Mercedes could slip in…get her soul and get out, all while Angel and Spike get that book so that Wesley and I can finish translating the first one," Willow said back with a deep in thought look on her face at first as she leaned back in her seat and stared off into space before she turned back to Wesley and Faith and looked mighty proud of herself.
"Would ya look at that Wes, who needs Angel when we have super Will here comin up with the plan," Faith joked with a sly grin on her face as she lightly slapped the back of Wesley's hand and then shot her grin over towards Willow, causing the witch to drop her gaze to the floor and blush.
"Hey, I heard that," Angel interjected with a morose pout on his face as he walked into the room with a cup of steaming hot blood in his hands.
END OF CHAPTER 28
Author's Notes: This chapter is mostly about Angel and his group setting up camp at Gwen's loft apartments. She has enough room for everyone and they can be secluded away from the rest of the people living in the building. After the sponge bath that she gave to Wesley Faith took a shower herself and then the two started to have sex but her injuries and the long day caught up with Faith and before long both were sound asleep. I put in the bit with Spike and Willow stuffing Dawn's face with marshmallow's as a way of shutting her up, adding a pinch of humor to the mix and imho it would be something that could happen in the Buffy universe. Even though Buffy and Willow haven't killed her for having the affair yet that doesn't mean that Kennedy will get off easily, as shown by Xander and his chance to let his feelings on the subject be known. Robin comes in and leers at Rhona for a bit, part of the reason that he and Faith split up way back when, before he tries to see how much Buffy and Giles know about the situation. Earlier Buffy didn't have a problem with hitting the gay bars with Kennedy in the hopes of finding information about Mercedes, it was just something that wasn't high on her list of places to visit in Rome. Robin's questions have gotten them all to start thinking that perhaps they don't know the Immortal as well as they think that they do. The last bit with Mercedes and Wesley with Faith coming in is that basically Mercedes has the hots for a number of people, Kennedy, Spike, Faith, and Wesley being chief among them. Willow does have the ability to come up with a good plan on her own so I put that in at the end and Angel's words weren't meant to be in anger it was more his usual way to try to cover up for his wounded pride a bit, but in the end he'd agree that Willow had a sound plan, all in all a semi light hearted moment for Angel. So again thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing.