Latter Days by Enigmaticblue

Summary: Set post-Chosen. After the Slayers are activated, the balance between good and evil is disturbed, and the Scoobies are flung to the far corners of the world to respond to the crisis. In the midst of all of this, will they be able to keep their relationships strong? Or will they be divided by circumstances and torn apart by fate? Follows my short story Yesterday.

Chapter 5

Author's Notes: We're off to Cleveland, stopping in to see Faith. Just so you know, eventually Faith's story will split off to make up "Faithfully Dangerous," but that won't be for a while yet.

Chapter 5: Cleveland, Ohio

“…I can take Kennedy, but only if you get me out of Cleveland. Things here aren’t working out so great. Robin’s been a total bastard to live with over the last week. I’ll go anywhere just to get out of Ohio for a while. Let him handle Ken. He’s used to dealing with punk-ass teens…” ~Excerpt from an email from Faith Lehane to Rupert Giles

Faith had gone to Cleveland with Robin because it had seemed like the thing to do. Giles would have needed a lot of time to get her the proper documents to leave the country anyway, and Ohio seemed as good a place as any.

Besides, at the time she’d thought that being with Robin was what she wanted. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” he hissed, dark eyes angry. “You’re shutting me out.”

Her eyes narrowed. “No, actually, I’m asking for some space. It’s a completely different vibe, or it might be if you’d listen to me for a change, instead of assuming that you know what’s best.”

She turned to leave the house, wanting nothing more than to go out and find a vampire or two to kill—a Hellmouth had plenty of those, whether it was located in Sunnydale or Cleveland. His hand clamped down over her upper arm. “We’re not done, Faith.”

Her move was instinctual; she twisted his arm behind his back, causing him enough pain to send him to his knees. “I think we are done,” she said in a low voice. Faith looked up and caught the eyes of one of the young Slayers who was staying with them.

“I’m going out,” she announced, releasing Wood abruptly. “I think I need to work off this tension.”

“Can I come, too?” Rachel asked, tilting her chin up and trying to look tough. At seventeen, she thought she knew it all; Faith recognized a kindred spirit in the girl.

Hesitating for only a moment, she nodded sharply. “Yeah. Come on.”

She turned to look over her shoulder as she left the house. Robin’s jaw was set, and she could tell that he was pissed as hell that she’d taken him down in front of one of the girls. There would be no living with him after this, and she hoped Giles got his ass in gear and got her out of Ohio—otherwise, she’d be taking matters into her own hands.

“You got weapons?” Faith asked, knowing that there was an extra cache in the truck she’d bought. It was old and battered, and it guzzled almost as much oil as gas, but it was hers, and it was pretty handy when it came to hauling demon bodies around.

It would have been useful for hauling Slayers, too, but Robin kept reminding her that it wasn’t safe to have passengers in the truck bed.

“Don’t leave home without them, right?” Rachel responded.

“Good girl.”

They set off on foot, and in silence. Faith wondered what the other Slayer thought of what she’d seen. She hadn’t meant to get physical with him, but she wasn’t about to let anybody manhandle her—unless she wanted them to, of course.

Robin kept insisting that they could work things out, but Faith suspected that what they’d had in Sunnydale had been due to circumstances and not much else. Robin still wanted his dead mother, and Faith had wanted someone to connect to.

Too bad it hadn’t been him.

“So, you going to take off?”

Faith wasn’t sure how to answer that question. She knew that it wouldn’t be fair to the girls if she left, but at the same time, she wasn’t going to run Robin off. He’d been raised by a Watcher, which meant that he was actually good at this shit. She was good at killing demons, and she hadn’t been getting enough of that lately.

“Depends on what Giles says, I guess,” she finally said. “Don’t think this is going to work out.”

Rachel was quiet. “We’d rather you stay than Robin.”

“Yeah?”

“He’s a little weird.”

“He’s had a rough life.”

“Who hasn’t?” Rachel asked, the question rhetorical. “What is up with him?”

“His mom was a Slayer,” Faith explained. “She got killed by the same vampire who died saving the world in the last apocalypse, and it f—messed with his head.” She’d been trying to watch her language around the kids, tried not to smoke so much. Robin kept telling her that it wasn’t good for her, and it wasn’t good for the girls to see her doing it.

Faith wanted to remind him that they had an escaped felon for a mentor, and that wasn’t good for them either, but she’d refrained.

Man, but she was ready to bust loose.

“Was that Spike?” Rachel asked. “The one that just came back?”

“Yeah, that was him.” And wasn’t that a kick in the pants? She supposed that he and Buffy were even now; they’d both come back from the dead twice. Faith had some catching up to do.

Not that she knew of anybody who would want to bring her back if she did buy it.

Shaking her head, trying to rid herself of the doubts that seemed to plague her all too often these days, she increased her pace, smiling when Rachel matched it. “You ready to see some action, kid?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Faith began running; there was an active cemetery not far from where they’d rented a house. It was one of the reasons they’d chosen the location. There was sure to be a few fledglings there tonight. Once they’d cleaned up there, she’d drop Rachel back by the house, grab a few things, and go out on a serious hunt.

Faith had her cell for when Giles got around to calling her; meanwhile, she didn’t have to go home.

~~~~~

When the phone rang, she eyed the caller I.D. suspiciously. Robin had called a dozen times so far, but she hadn’t picked up. She half-expected him to find a different phone and call from there in an attempt get her on the line, but so far there hadn’t been any numbers she didn’t recognize.

Giles’ name was welcome, however, and Faith swallowed the last of her breakfast sandwich and answered. “Talk to me.”

“Faith? Are you alright?”

She sighed. “Did Robin call you?”

“He’s worried.”

“I told him I needed some time alone,” she replied tightly. “It wasn’t supposed to be a big deal.”

There was a pause. “I see.”

“Look, Giles, this isn’t working for me,” she said bluntly. “He wants to know every move I make, and he doesn’t like letting me out of his sight. I get that his mom royally fucked him up, but I am not his mother.”

“That’s quite the astute observation,” he said.

Faith rolled her eyes, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to see it, but confident he would hear the sentiment in her voice. “Do you know how many shrinks I had to talk to in prison? You pick up a few things.”

He cleared his throat uncomfortably; the others always got a little squirmy when she mentioned being behind bars. Faith never knew whether that was because they thought she still belonged there, because they didn’t like harboring a fugitive, or for some other reason completely unknown to her.

“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, Faith,” he finally said. “And Robin was quite—upset on the phone.”

“You mean that he was nearly in hysterics.”

“Hmm.” Faith understood his hesitation. No matter how much things changed, some things stayed the same, and there was still a divide between Slayers and Watchers. She supposed that it was natural. “I’ve been working with the coven. They have managed to alter your records in the system; they have a very good techno-pagan there now.”

Her ears perked up at that. There was always the niggling fear that someone would recognize her and try to take her in again. Not that they would be able to; she was a Slayer, and the only reason she’d been there was because she’d chosen to be.

Being hunted was pretty damn inconvenient, though.

“Yeah?”

“As far as the criminal justice system is concerned, Faith Lehane died in the Los Angeles riots,” Giles explained. “Your new papers are on their way. I’m afraid that they’re going to be delivered to the house, though.”

She made a face. Her preferred method was to slip out of town without saying goodbye, but it didn’t look like that was an option this time. “Yeah, okay.”

“The coven found another Slayer in Illinois,” Giles added. “Robin is already on his way.”

Faith hid her sigh of relief. “That’s great, Giles. Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me,” he replied, his tone wry. “The truth is that Willow needs you in Brazil. There’s a demon clan there that has declared an open season on new Slayers, and that’s a problem that must be taken care of immediately by those with experience. I would send Spike, but as he just arrived—”

“It makes sense that it would be me,” Faith finished for him, hiding the flash of joy she felt at the words. She’d never been out of the country before; her first trip would have been to Mexico while in Buffy’s body, but she’d never made it. Brazil was perfect.

Giles’ tone made it clear that he was relieved she understood. “Yes, it does. Thank you. After that, I’m going to need you to do me another favor.”

“What’s that?” she asked suspiciously.

“I’ll need you to go to Los Angeles and check in on Angel,” Giles replied. “You’re closest to him, and you left on good terms, I believe.”

“We’re okay,” she confirmed. “Why?”

There was a pause, and Faith knew that this time the head Watcher was trying to figure out how to say what he meant. “Angel is now running the L.A. branch of Wolfram and Hart, a notoriously evil law firm. We must know whether or not he’s been subverted, and we need to know all we can about the amulet that Spike wore.”

Faith understood what he was saying. Angelus would only add to their current problems, and even if he wasn’t precisely evil, he could still do a lot of damage. She’d heard about his trip to the dark side with his soul intact.

“I’ll do what I can,” she promised. “We’re on good terms, but you know Angel. If he doesn’t want to listen, he won’t.”

“I know. More than anything else, we need information,” Giles assured her. “And, if you can, I’d like you to convince him and anyone else you can to join our side.”

Faith blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I realize that we haven’t had much to do with Angel and his team, but we need everyone we can get, as long as they haven’t been corrupted.” She could hear a thread of fear running through his voice, and she shivered. “We’re spread too thin, Faith. I’m sending everyone I can possibly spare to Willow, but we’re not finding Slayers as quickly as we anticipated, possibly because they are being picked off. And, when they are found, there is still the problem of training them, because we don’t have the Watchers we need.”

She swallowed, feeling a little overwhelmed by Giles’ statement, and knowing that he must feel the same, just from what he’d said. Willow’s spell had opened Pandora’s Box, and there was no undoing it.

It might have been necessary, and maybe it would prove to be the right choice in the long run, but right now it was scary.

“I’ll do what I can,” Faith promised. “They might listen to me, but I can’t make any promises.”

“That’s all I ask. Have Willow call me when you land in Rio,” he instructed. “The plane tickets and itinerary will be with the bundle of paperwork I’m sending you.”

“Wait.” Faith had just thought of something. “If Faith Lehane is dead, who does that make me?”

“You’re still Faith,” he assured her. “Just with a different surname. I have to go. Be careful!”

The line went dead, and she smiled. It felt good to have someone concerned enough about her to listen to what she wanted for a change.

And it looked like she was going to be doing quite a bit of traveling.

~~~~~

Faith was grateful that Giles managed to get the paperwork and the tickets to her before Robin returned with the new Slayer. It was harder to say goodbye to the girls than she’d thought it would be, but easy to simply leave a “dear John” letter for Robin. She regretted that it hadn’t worked out, but not that it hadn’t worked out with him.

Maybe she wasn’t meant to be in a long-term relationship. She’d known it, but she hadn’t listened to her instincts.

She was in Washington, D.C. when Robin called. Giles’ note had explained that there weren’t any non-stop flights, and the cheapest package had a layover there. Faith didn’t much care as long as she was out of Cleveland and on her way to something different.

Once Kennedy was well enough to travel, she’d take Faith’s place, and the older Slayer had no doubt that she’d help keep the younger ones in line. She was well trained, and she’d had a Watcher, which was more than Faith had had when she’d first been Chosen.

For a moment, she considered not picking up her phone, but changed her mind. Might as well get it over with. “Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in Washington, D.C., on my way to Rio,” Faith replied, not bothering to soften her tone. “Giles already told you that.”

“Come back to Cleveland, Faith,” he coaxed. “We can work it out.”

Faith’s mouth twisted. She hated messy breakups; this was why she should have stuck to sex with no strings attached. “That option was off the table when you put your hands on me,” she shot back.

“I thought you liked it when I put my hands on you.”

“Talking dirty to me isn’t going to help you.” Faith fought the urge to hang up on him. She wanted closure; they were still on the same side, and it was likely that they’d run into each other again. “Look, we’re not going to work out. I’m too independent.”

The anger crept back into his voice. “You were shutting me out, Faith.”

“I wanted my own space, just an evening or two out by myself. Shit, Wood, you know I’m not the kind of girl you can cage.”

“I wanted to take care of you.”

Faith was about to make a suggestion that was anatomically impossible when she saw the little girl sitting beside her, watching with wide eyes. She closed her eyes, reining in her temper. “You wanted to stifle me. I’m not your mother, Robin, and I’m not a replacement for her.”

She heard the dial tone a second later, and she knew that she’d scored a painful blow. Maybe she shouldn’t have said it, but she’d spoken the truth. Faith hadn’t been lying when she’d told Giles that she had picked up quite a bit from the shrinks in prison, and she didn’t believe that Robin chasing after both Buffy and her was a coincidence.

Leaning back in the uncomfortable airport chair, Faith tried to push all of that from her mind, focusing on what lay ahead.

She might suck at relationships, but killing demons she could do.