Giles felt like punching through a wall at the moment.

Anger and hate for nameless and faceless men – if one could call them that- for what they had done to the young woman sitting in front of him.

When Spike had arrived looking as though a train had hit him, he had not expected Faith to be the one helping him walk through his door.

After William had assured him over and over that he was fine, Faith had admitted that she had caused the state Spike was in. Immediately Giles had grabbed him blood and prepared it for him – hoping the healing process was faster if he fed.

Spike had opened the only eye of his that had not been swollen shut and quickly looked at him to explain the circumstance. Which had led to Faith explaining why she didn't blame Spike…and why she didn't blame Spike…that was what was currently making his alter ego about to pop out and decimate the bastards that had done what the did to the young girl.

Pacing back and forth across his living room, unbeknownst to him, acting exactly as his son had not but a few hours before.

He had listened and watched as Faith explained what happened to her as a child, all the while not looking up at him, and with Spike wrapping his arm around her in a form of giving her comfort and strength to continue on.

To see Faith – whom he knew to be bold and unrepentantly rebellious – look for all the world like an ashamed frightened child…well…reminded him that she was still just a child.

Looking at her now, with her head lowered not looking up at him as if she had something to be ashamed caused a tightening around his heart that he only thought Buffy caused him.

Thinking back on everything he knew now…he had failed this girl in the worst way possible.

"Faith…you need to tell him love…about last night." Spike encouraged as he continued to hold her, knowing that his father needed to know why Buffy might want to hurt Faith if she were to find her here at the moment.

Faith's eyes grew wide as she looked over at Spike.

"It's alright…he's not gonna judge you…remember what I said if he does." Spike said with a smirk, well as much as he could. His jaw was still pretty hurt.

Faith gave a little laugh and a little smile and gave a small little nod.

"What happened last night?" Giles asked, not really sure he wanted to know. If someone had tried to hurt Faith last night he was more than positive he would be grabbing his axe and saying to hell with the consequences.

"Well um…you know…being in Buffy's body I ah…I kind of…I did something pretty bad. And um…I mean something I know she won't forgive me for." Faith kept looking down and away from him as she said the words.

For a second Giles felt a fear that Faith had killed someone in Buffy's body and was instantly relieved and then shocked at what Faith said.

"I um…I…I had…sex…with her boyfriend."

When Giles' shock wore off he knew immediately that Buffy most certainly would not forgive Faith for what she had done. Yet something about the way she said it made him suspicious as to why she hesitated with her words when she had not done so explaining what had happened to her in the past.

"Pet…" Just Spike saying the one word made Faith seem to deflate even more - though Giles thought that was impossible.

It looked like Faith was gathering up her courage before she spoke, which made Giles curious as to what possibly could have startled the girl so…

"He was making love to…her. And…he…he told her…that he…he loved her." Faith finally looked up at Giles without lifting her head fully.

"Oh." Giles murmured the word with widened eyes as Faith quickly looked back down.

"It…it freaked me out. No one's ever…" Faith couldn't continue, feeling a heaviness where her heart was as she acknowledged to herself that no one had ever said those words to her.

No one.

"I see." Giles continued as the understanding of just how complicated things had become hit him. Along with the knowledge that Faith had never had anyone say words that he knew every child should hear. Every child should know.

Giles eyes glanced at Spike and away.

"You deserve to hear those words pet…everyone does. My mum said it to me all the time. At least I knew one person in the world loved me. And now you do too."

Spike's words made both Giles and Faith look up a little startled at him.

"What?" Faith asked with just a hint of hope in the one word.

The look she gave him made him chuckle.

"Told you. You're like a sis to me now. Doesn't mean I won't pummel you as soon as I can actually stand up on my own. But yeah…I love yah pet."

Faith laughed and smirked as she felt something ease inside of her at his words. It felt incredibly good to finally hear them. Feeling something in her shift as she knew he actually meant it – and not actually freaked out that he did.

Giles looked between the two. His head tilted slightly as he considered that kind of relationship between them…and finding it quite fitting. The very attitude that Spike had was of rebellion. Faith had been the very definition of rebellious teenager – though now he understood exactly why that was.

It made sense.

Yet…something…something in him was telling him that Buffy would not only be highly suspicious…but even hurt by the relationship that the two in front of him were forming.

Blinking a few times he shook his thoughts away as something occurred to him in that moment.

"I know you never thought of me as anything but Buffy's watcher…but…I do care about you Faith. Quite a great deal actually. If anything I think I worry more for you than I do Buffy. Not… for…slaying…but um…I worried for you since the moment I found out what had happened to your watcher. I can only imagine how very afraid and alone you felt…" He was speaking soo softly that it felt like he was trying to soothe her as he spoke.

"G…" Faith hesitated in speaking when Giles interrupted her.

"I never thought that…me being a complete stranger you would…need me…or trust me. But…I realize now that I…I should have been more a friend than watcher. Maybe if I had…you wouldn't have kept… all of this inside of you."

Faith could see the compassion in his eyes and didn't know how to handle it when Spike piped up once more.

"She thinks what happened to her is her fault. Told her it wasn't. She doesn't believe me." Spike said to his father, quickly before Faith could stop him.

"What?! That's…that's preposterous. You were a child!" Giles brow furrowing as astonishment lit his face. He looked back and forth between the two trying to guage if what Spike said was true.

Spike continued to look at Faith through eyes that could barely open as she shot him a glare that clearly meant 'shut up.'

"See! Told you. Need to get that through your thick head that it was not your bloody fault. The blokes that did that were lower than demon. They were muck! You weren't a slayer and couldn't hurt them back." Spike sitting up straighter at the anger for the men that had touched her like that made him want to move and fight something.

"Quite right. What you've told me about what happened to you…is in no way…in any shape or form…your fault. And if it was within my power I would find any man that ever laid a hand on you as a child and cut off any appendage he thought made him a man."

Both Faith and Spike looked over at Giles and found a look in his eyes that was just plain dangerous.

Spike slowly smiled as he knew exactly where he got his temper from now. Faith slowly smiled after the shock of knowing that Giles felt that way for her. It was one thing for someone to say that they cared. It was another to know that they would actually hurt those who hurt you.

"Thanks Giles. It means a lot to me."

The way she whispered the words, Giles knew she was being completely honest. The confidence that she had always exuded gone in that moment. Giles felt like pelting himself with the thoughts that he had possessed about this girl being a threat to them all. How very odd that it was the opposite.

"Yes well…I do care for you Faith. But there are things that you have done that we need to work through. I promise to stay by your side if and when you want me. But due to the….circumstances…I do believe we should seek professional help for you… to overcome such thoughts and past events." Giles tried to tread carefully with his wording, not knowing what could set off the young Slayer.

"You need it ducks. Hell…I need it. Don't think a shrink would know what to do with a vampire needing mental health." Spike said with no humor whatsoever.

Faith looked nervously at Spike. "A shrink? You really think I need to see a shrink?" Nervous and beyond twitchy about talking to someone about things.

"Need to say things to someone who can help pet. Only thing me and the old man can do is hunt down people and start butchering them."

"As just as that punishment may be, my…um…concern is um… your wellbeing."

Faith looked between both men, trying to figure out if they were on the up and up when Spike spoke up again.

"Do you think you can call Joyce. Faith can't stay with at the mo'. Still waiting for Adam to show up. He senses Faith…and we might have bigger problems on our hand."

"Joyce? Buffy's mom?! You want me to stay with Buffy's mom?!" Faith's raised voice was starting to hurt Spike's head.

"Not forever! Just til I'm sure the transformer doesn't show up."

Faith's eyebrow quirked up. "Transformer?"

Spike closed his eyes. "Bloody Andrew…" Murmmuring the words to himself he couldn't believe how much the boy had rubbed off on him over the years.

"Look…it's just until I know you're safe. You can stay in the basement until I can at least put beds in the lower level. Then if you want…you can come live with me…in a crypt…at the cemetery." Spike was trying to make the arrangement sound better to her, but all Faith heard was that she was going to have a place made up for her.

Spike was actually suggesting they live together!

"Um…Spike. I ah…I know that you believe being in the cemetery is um…a more than adequate living arrangement for yourself...but Faith.."

"Is right here. And if bleach boy says I can stay with him…I'm cool with it." Faith dismissed Giles concern of where she lived.

"He's not wrong Faith. Deserve an actual home of your own! Not some cheap motel room or crypt. As soon as I can get my hands on more dosh your damn well gonna be living in a home of your own! Mind you it won't be a bleeding mansion like Peaches tends to be fond of…but a might bit more descent then the lower level of a crypt." The indignation leaving him as the pain coursed through his body.

Really it was indignant the fact that he tended to move when he talked. Never able to control that about himself. Hated being still. Felt like when he was alive he was always standing still.

Only after he was turned did he know that there was no time for standing still.

"I don't..I don't know if Joyce would feel comfortable with me. I ah…I kind of decked her one when trying to be evil Slayer girl." Faith admitted slowly, blinking as she relived the shockingly kind woman that had tried to reason with her without judging her. Even when she had been in Buffy's body.

The words made Spike jerk up at the news.

He never knew that. Never knew Faith had hit Buffy's mother.

Makes sense…but…Faith had never told him that little tidbit of events. Looking at the way Faith was showing signs of regret and embarrassment…it made sense that she wouldn't want anyone to really know after…

After Joyce was gone.

"You hit her in the head?" Spike asked as something of worry started to form in his mind. Things that Faith said to him beginning to make sense.

Faith looked over at him completely confused. "Yeah...why?"

Spike's mind started to churn and he suddenly wondered if Faith hitting Joyce had caused the tumor to form.

Really it made sense. Getting hit by a Slayer as a dead thing hurt like hell. He could only imagine what that would do to a mortal.

But it wasn't fair to assume something of the sort…still…it gave him a way of having Joyce looked at months before learning about the tumor. If it had been Faith's punch…then the next few months of Joyce feeling anything like a headache would ring an alarm bell for Buffy. If it hadn't been the hit…well…maybe they could catch it before it becomes larger.

"Thinking about something." Spike said evasively.

Looking up at his father he nodded his head. "Best call Joyce and see if she can come by. Have a little talk with her about everything that's going on."

Faith stiffened but Spike just gave her a little squeeze to let her know everything would be ok.

And it had been.

The sight of Spike had left Joyce speechless and even more so when Spike explained…in detail…why he was in that state.

The look she gave him made him want to crawl back to his crypt and hide, but Faith had once more spoken up for him.

When Joyce had heard EXACTLY what Faith was saying, Joyce had taken Faith upstairs into Giles' bedroom.

Spike could hear from down stairs how Faith was giving Joyce more details then she had to them, but Spike felt his anger building in his chest with every new detail she revealed to the kind woman.

Spike could smell the tears and hear the tell tale signs of crying, and found himself guilt ridden and hurt as he realized they were Joyce's.

After some halted words Joyce was more than open and welcoming for Faith to live at her home.

Faith had been a little thrown when Joyce had opened her arms and hugged her tightly.

Faith's eyes had widened- but then with a Spike's words in her head – slowly she returned the hug and allowed herself to just feel the warmth of someone for the first time in what felt like forever.

Spike had spoken with his father about coming back tomorrow to discuss things when they came back downstairs.

Faith with her hands in her back pockets, finally able to look at Giles.

Pushing back some of her hair she said, "J…Mrs. Summers said she's ok with me sleeping in her basement."

"I told her there's a perfectly good room that she can have but…" Joyce began with a tilt of her head.

"But Buffy would freak if she found out. So…basement it is." Faith said with a lifting and dropping of her shoulders.

"Well…I believe it better than Spike's crypts…at least for now." Giles added seeing the panic reaching Faith's eyes.

"Faith don't go getting upset. Promise as soon as I know it's safe…and habitable…you can come stay with me. Be looking for a place nearby in the mean time." Spike said as he realized the building that he and Buffy had decimated had been vacant the entire time he was in Sunnydale. It had been centrally located and close to the cemetery.

It was worth looking into. Especially since it would be dirt cheap.

Faith looked over at Spike on the couch and relaxed after his assurance.

"Soo…this mean I'm not gonna see you for a while?" Faith's question ringing in everyone's ear of fear and sadness.

Spike smiled as much as he could, "Are you kiddin'? I'll be over everyday. Have to check up on you two! Make sure you're not causing more trouble."

Faith crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look. Joyce also gave him a raised eyebrow with a motherly scowl.

"Lord you two are no fun." Spike said as he threw back his head and closed both of his eyes as exhaustion was hitting him once more.

Joyce couldn't stop herself as she went over to Spike and tenderly touched his face. The touch immediately making Spike open his eyes.

Wincing at the touch, Joyce grimaced and winced herself. "Shouldn't we put some antiseptic on this?"

Spike felt a swell of emotion from the question. "No need…a day or two and it should heal up."

Joyce looked doubtful at the statement. But wisely she knew not to argue with him on needing help.

"Go on then. Both of you need to be careful Buffy or anyone else doesn't see you two together. She'll assume the worst." Spike was just about to fall asleep when a mug with blood was pressed to his lips.

Opening his eyes he was kind of shocked to see his father tilting the mug to his lips and into his mouth.

"I promise we'll be careful if you promise to stay here the night and recuperate." Joyce said as she pulled away with a small smirk on her face as her glance switched between Spike and Rupert.

Joyce couldn't help but note the similarities between the two. She wondered in that moment if Spike had not told her if she would have seen just how much the looked alike.

Would she have figured it out? Really she should have. Rupert's alter ego while they had been under that spell had shown really how alike Spike and he were.

But knowing…my god did they look alike.

"Don't think the old man would let me out of his sight even if I paid him." Spike said as his father gave him a pointed look.

"Do shut up and drink your blood." Giles said as he tilted the mug and forced Spike to open and drink and not respond to his order.

"Ok." Joyce sighed out. Leaning over she placed a kiss on his forehead and pulled back to smile at him. "I'll see you tomorrow. Please try and stay out of trouble yourself!" Raising her eyebrows to emphasize her own command to William.

"Yes mum." Spike managed as his father once more began to pour blood into his mouth. The glare he shot his father would have been comical if not for the fact that his eyes were barely opening.

It would have been comical and an incredible sight to anyone else when Faith walked over and gave Spike a kiss to his forehead as Joyce had just done. "Don't give 'G' too much of a headache. That's Buffy's job."

The little smirk they gave each other was all that was needed as a response.

Joyce then placed her hand on Faith's arm and caressed it up and down with a tilt of her head to tell her it was time to go.

Spike closed his eyes as he heard the front door open and close.

As the minutes ticked by after they left he could feel his father's edginess and nerves even without seeing his face.

"Right…let's have it." Spike muttered.

"It was incredibly stupid what you did." Giles mumbled out, his anger at Spike coming out despite everything.

Spike rolled his eyes behind his closed lids and then opened them.

"Told you…"

" Yes well that doesn't mean I'm going to agree with how you do things and then have to sit here and watch you struggle to recover in obvious pain and anguish."

Spike said nothing as he realized his father at some point had gone to get the aide kit he usually used with Buffy.

"Don't waste anything on me. Look! My eyes are already opening up wider. The blood does me more good then any gauze or whatnot!"

Giles huffed out and looked at Spike angrily.

"She could have killed you."

Spike looked into the eyes of the man that had eventually called him an ally and now called him son and wondered for the first time if it was really the right thing to keep things from him.

"She wouldn't of. Trust me…I know her better than you."

Giles looked away from Spike and nodded. "Yes…well…with the fact that you've already lived through these years once…it's no doubt an advantage."

Spike said nothing as his father rerolled the gauze.

"Still…with however many decades more experience you have…"

"Thirty." Spike admitted.

The way his father's head snapped to look at him, and the shock on the old man's face, he knew he should have never told him.

"Are you…are you trying to tell me that you're…that you're from the future three hundred years from now?!"

Spike couldn't look at his father as he slowly gave a nod of his head.

That's when everything began to make sense to Giles. Why Spike was so set on saving everyone.

Everyone was gone.

Spike knew his father had figured it out. Knew that now there was truly nothing left for him but to tell him the brunt of what had happened.

"Even the bloody Poof is gone. Just…me… left at the end. Me and a Power That Be that would make you barmy if I told you who they were." Spike bit his bottom lip as he thought about the only being that had understood just how lonely and painful it was to be the last of them.

The person that had helped him plan and work on the plan of going back in time and changing things.

Spike tilted his head on the back of the couch and looked at his father.

"Missed the hell out of you lot. Even without knowin'…about you…I missed you. All of you. Every bloody day I was…" huffing out a little he shook his head, "I was truly a dead man walking."

With the silence that followed Giles knew that Spike wasn't going to say anything else on the matter…and really he was greatful.

"I ah…I assume…that's why you don't want to give me all of the details to um…to what...needs to change."

Spike said nothing, but Giles knew that it was the exact reason Spike was unwilling to tell him specifics. And after what Faith had done to him…Giles was more than a little worried.

It was when Giles noted just how still Spike was that he realized Spike had fallen asleep.

Reaching over to one side of the couch he took the throw that lay there to gingerly cover Spike.

He didn't know exactly why he was doing it. Not really sure if vampires needed protection from the cold.

Slowly and as quietly as possible he closed the blinds and drapes as much as possible. Giving one final look at the man on the couch Giles assured himself that Spike would be fine.

That everything…would be fine.

Author's Note: Show love and leave a review guys! You know you want more story!