Faith smiled, feeling Mort's arms around her as she woke up. They'd gone to bed, and snuggled up together. There'd been a little kissing, and some explorative touches, but they hadn't rushed into anything. Mainly, it had been comforting. A reassurance that they weren't alone, that they were attractive, that life would go on. And now, she could wake up in his arms, her cheek pressed against his chest, one arm around her shoulders. It was a good feeling.

"I know that you're awake." His voice was low, almost inaudible.

"Shhh… I'm savoring." Faith could feel herself smiling.

"Savoring, hmmm?" He chuckled, his hand rubbing a bit on her shoulder. "How's the shoulder feeling now?"

"Better now." Faith stretched, resigning herself to being awake. "I sort of wish that things had gone a bit differently last night. No demonus interruptus, no running into that nasty excuse for a Watcher… just me and you."

"Mmmmm." Mort nodded, shifting his position just a little. "I've been having that idea all night. Unfortunately, we did get interrupted. Our night out did get derailed."

Arms wrapped around him, Faith just leaned against Mort, thinking about how things might have gone. She moved her leg just a little bit, and then… well… Well. Apparently, not only was Mort also thinking about how things might have gone, but his muscles weren't the only part of him that was impressive. For a moment, Faith froze, wondering what to do, how to react. It didn't feel like it was time to take things to that level yet. She found herself looking into Mort's eyes. "ohhh."

"Ohh, indeed." He leaned down, giving just a tiny kiss. "Maybe I should go have a shower now? Especially since we don't need Tanya to hear… everything. Or anything, for that matter."

Part of her wanted to keep him here, to take the moment to find out if he was really as flexible in bed as he was out of it, if he was as impressive as her thigh thought he was. But… Another part was still hesitant about this new thing between herself and Mort. Still trying to believe in him, not as someone to watch her back, but as someone to watch her heart. "We'll have to try that out some other time."

Mort had to be smiling from the way his words sounded. "Really? I'll hold you to that."

Had he deliberately used the same words that he had when he'd asked her to a movie? Was it a deliberate reminder, or just the way he naturally spoke? Either way, it gave her this warm and tingly feeling. Her words sounded a bit husky as she spoke, thickened by lustful half thoughts and imaginings. "Sounds good. You go shower, I'll see what's for breakfast."

Faith pulled on some clothing, and then made her way downstairs. Faith definitely felt like she was retreating. But this wasn't the sort of thing that she'd want Tanya to hear, no eavesdropping – voluntary or not – for her sex life, thank you very much. Of course, if Tanya were to have something come up to take her away fro a while… oh, the images that brought up.

"Morning, Faith. How does scrambled eggs sound?" Tanya sounded as if things were back to normal with her.

"Sounds good. So… You're okay about the whole Slayer thing?" She grabbed some plates, setting them out on the table. "I mean, you seemed a bit freaked out last night."

"It was unexpected. So is the idea that there's a master vampire here. And… everything. But, I don't have to be the one to fight the vampire. I can't make the idiot training the potential Slayer – was her name Laura? I can't give her Watcher a clue. What I can do is make certain that you remember to eat, that you and Mort know there's someone here who does care." Tanya sighed, leaning against the counter with a mug of coffee nearby. "I don't like the idea. Slayers tend to get killed, and I'm getting pretty fond of having you around. But you're the Slayer, whether I like it or not, whether you like it or not. So, why not do what I can to help you? I couldn't find anything in particular that a vampire might want though. No ancient ruins, no Indian burial sites, no stories about scary old witches living in the area… nothing."

"Maybe it's in one of the books?" Faith offered the suggestion with no enthusiasm. "Maybe knowing who the vamp is would help us know what they want? Except that I don't know… Maybe I can grab a minion and try to get them to talk."

"How dangerous is that?" Tanya looked worried.

Faith wanted to reassure Tanya, wanted to tell her that it was perfectly safe. But that wouldn't be quite true. With a sigh, she offered the truth. "It depends on how good the minions are. If they know how to fight. If they can make a plan and keep it. How many there are."

"Well… since I'm not an expert, might I just suggest that you take Mort with you to watch your back? And try not to go somewhere that you could be ambushed." Tanya sipped at her coffee, looking unhappy.

"Yeah. I like having back-up. I like not being alone out there." Faith sighed, and decided to pour herself a cup of coffee as well. "And the girl… he called her Lorrie. Of course, he could always get killed, either dying from that demon tossing him into a tree or getting killed by those minions."

Tanya looked at her, and sighed. "We probably shouldn't be wishing bad things on someone. And if he's really as bad as you make him sound, I'm sure it will catch up to him."

Faith just chuckled, considering the many ways that things could catch up to that miserable man. Then, she sipped at the coffee again, deciding that she'd rather think about her man. It would be far more enjoyable to think about Mort, his great smile, buff muscles, and that consideration for later.

End part 24.

They spent a good deal of time in the afternoon dragging trash into a large pile. Tanya had grinned as they tucked bits of paper and the most hideous old carpet into gaps on the pile, and then she'd splashed some old gasoline from the lawn mower over top of it. They'd all watched as Tanya lit the fire, starting the bits of paper on fire. It wasn't long before one of the paper flames came into contact with the old gasoline, and while it no longer had quite the oomph needed to power a motor, it burst into flame quite nicely.

The carpet started burning next, sending up both huge clouds of black smoke and the most horrible stench. Apparently, it wasn't just ugly carpet, but rank, nasty, ugly carpet. Tanya shuddered, one hand trying feebly to wave the smoke and stench away. "Urgg… I should have known that nasty thing would find a way to ruin anything. Even it's own cremation."

"But it's burning, even if it is under protest." Faith chuckled, stepping a bit farther to the right in an effort to avoid the smoke. "Why don't you go inside, have a shower or something. Figure out how we can try to learn what the old toothy one is after… I don't even know if the Master I felt was a guy or not. I mean, there are female vamps. This could be one."

"Do you run into very many?" Tanya looked a bit curious.

"Not too many. Most vamps tend to be guys… even the minions. Maybe it's because they think the guys would be a bigger, stronger body to throw between them and their enemies. Maybe it's chauvinism. Maybe they just don't see the point. Or maybe the female vamps are just a bit more clever, and don't get caught as often. They can be every bit as vicious, ruthless, devious and scheming as the guys." Faith replied, thinking over the vamps that she'd fought over the past… well, in her time as a Slayer. It felt like the past year, but she had missed a big chunk of time.

"Works that way with mutants too. Most of the older ones deliberately making trouble are guys. But there's just as many scared little girls as scared little boys." Mort shook his head, scowling slightly. "Of course, the two most devious mutants I met… one's a guy, currently in prison after his master plan was thwarted, and… I have no idea where Mystique is."

"You can't check the news? If she's as much trouble as you make her sound…" Tanya looked thoughtful.

"We might very well have seen her in the news. Or on the street. Or anywhere. She's a shape shifter. She can look like anyone. She could look like you, or like Faith. She could look like your lawyer. She could look like me, but I doubt that she'd see any point to it." Mort kicked a stone, sending it flying into the fire.

"Maybe I should just hope she stays away. It sounds like we've got enough to worry about here anyhow." Mort sighed.

Faith paused, something nagging at her mind. Somehow, his mention of Mystique and a guy that had to be Magneto had reminded her of it, but what could it be? They had enough trouble with that unknown master vamp, and that inept, bigoted Watcher… Wait, it had to do with him, or something he'd said. Back at the graveyard… "The Watcher-jerk was all freaked out about that new vamp. The one that was supposed to be a mutant. What if the big vamp isn't after a thing, but a person? What if he's out to gather a private army of mutant vampires? All the vamp strength, plus any nifty tricks they may have from genetics at play?"

Mort and Tanya tensed, looking at her with wide, unhappy eyes. Tanya rubbed her hands over her arms, looking as if she very much wanted to be inside now. "That's… a frightening thought. Vampires are scary enough when they're simply stronger, faster and want to eat you. If they can also… vampires are bad. And mutation changes the rules."

Mort put one hand on Tanya's back, sort of an effort to sooth her, or possibly to be reassured himself. "Mutant vampires? Does that mean this vamp would be deliberately hunting for mutants? The idea… scary, especially since there is so much variation in what mutants can do."

"As far as gather-an-army plans go, it's got a lot in it's favor. Down side, finding mutants, getting them… I mean, if they're powerful enough to be a really promising recruit, they might be able to fight off a vamp." Faith shrugged. "But hey, if something's worth us going through effort, there are probably things worth effort to the bad guys. Depending on the bad guy, I know there are."

"How comforting." Tanya shivered. "I think I'll just go right on inside now…"

In the end, all of them went inside. They took turns with the showering, wanting to remove the stench of the burning carpet. Outside, plumes of smoke continued to rise from the burning carpet, shingles and bad wood from the renovating. Milk and some chocolate chip cookies helped a little bit, although the possibility of a gathered nest of vampire mutants remained an ugly image in their minds.

"I think there's definitely a call for Slaying tonight. Something's out there, and where there's a master vamps, there's minions." Faith commented around a mouthful of cookie.

"You just felt freaked out by that idea and want to kill something in hopes of feeling better." Mort's words held a hint of teasing.

"Well…" Faith paused, considering his words. "Yeah. But it's still a good idea to get rid of the minions."

"Might as well go with you then. Hopefully as back up and not bait." Mort sighed, swallowing the last of his milk.

"Back up's good." Faith smiled at him "We'll leave just after sunset."

end part 25.