Faith's eyes fluttered as she turned her face up towards the sky, enjoying the feel of the cool rain on her face, stopping her from burning. Burning up completely.
She liked the rain. When it poured down in sheets of grey from a blackened sky and flooded the ground below. When it rained, it was the only time that Faith felt content. It was when it rained that Faith was most likely to show emotion. It brought out a vulnerability in her that never really existed in a sunny world.
She didn't cry. And she wouldn't now.
The cold didn't bother her. Not the way it bothered other people. She was always cold. Cold and hard, but never calm. She was a jumble of emotions, all of them fighting inside of her body, trying to come out, but she never let them. She had forgotten how, in a way.
Lifetime of practice.
She could be angry and violent, flirty and fun, but she could never be happy.
~*~*~*~
Angel watched her for a few more moments after Lorne had left his side, before turning away and heading downstairs into the building to find Sam and talk to him.
"Darkling still on the roof?" Spike asked as his Grandsire appeared. "It's raining, you know."
"I know," Angel replied.
"Aren't you worried she'll get the sniffles?" the blonde asked sarcastically, pushing his luck a little.
"Spike, give it a rest, will you?" Angel told him. "I'm not in the mood tonight."
"If you were in the mood, it would just put me out of it."
Dean & Sam
"Right there with you Spike," Dean winked as he and Sam sauntered over.
Or rather, Dean sauntered, Sam walked looking like a lost dog.
"Where's Faith?" he asked Angel.
Spike and Angel
"I like him," Spike said to Angel, pointing at Dean. "He understands my pain."
Angel ignored the other vampire and turned to Sam.
"Can I have a word?"
Sam & Dean
Sam glanced at Dean, then nodded.
"Sure thing," he agreed, walking forward to join Angel in his office.
Dean held up his fist to pump Spike's.
Angel and Spike
Angel closed the door behind them, then walked over to the window, watching the droplets of water slide down the glass.
"I need to ask you a favour," he began, finally turning to face Sam. "It's about Faith."
~*~*~*~
Spike grinned and raised his fist in return.
"Mate. We can have some fun here."
Sam & Dean
"What about her?" Sam looked up, a little worried about repercussions from his earlier scene.
~*~
"Need something to do to pass the time," Dean agreed with a grin.
Angel and Spike
Angel rubbed at the bridge of his nose, letting out a short sigh before speaking again.
"I need you to try and get her to talk."
He paused.
"With Faith... you have to listen to what she doesn't say, really."
~*~*~*~
"So," Spike said, drumming his fingers on the desk. "Quite a scene, earlier. Your brother, he's got some bite, doesn't he? Didn't pick that."
Sam & Dean
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, confused, "she talks fine."
~*~
"Yeah, bite's probably the right word," Dean sighed, leaning back against the desk with one elbow across it.
Angel and Spike
Angel sat down in the armchair behind his desk, elbows on the hard surface as his fingers steepled together.
"Not about things like this," Angel told him. "She already has a hard time opening up and trusting people, and then stuff like this happens and she retreats further and further."
He paused.
"I could see it in her eyes again. And I don't know if I can pull her back this time."
~*~*~*~
"Worried, mate?" Spike asked, glancing at Dean. "He was a bit... insane for a moment there."
Sam & Dean
Sam thought about it for a moment, but shrugged a little.
"I don't know if she's said anything, but we've been through a lot in this past month. She's been abducted multiple times, we almost got turned into living wax statues, and I'm not all that sure how we're still mentally capable with all the drugs we've been fed," Sam chortled a little.
"My point being, this could just be another chink in the armour. And she hasn't gone through any of this alone for a change."
~*~
"Maybe," Dean relented, not for the first time wondering why he felt he could trust this guy.
Or fang, whatever.
Angel and Spike
Angel nodded slowly, thinking about what Sam had just said.
"I know," he replied quietly. "I think if she had been alone, this would have had a very different outcome."
He was starting to wonder if maybe Buffy had been right with the accusations she'd lodged Wesley's way. Even he had thrown his own that way over the last few years.
"She's on the roof," he said, after a moment of debating whether or not to voice his thoughts.
~*~*~*~
Spike shrugged.
"Natural to want to protect family. Even if you can't stand them half the time."
He gestured to Angel's office.
"Like Peaches in there. Just about all of the time, can't stand him. But would protect him if need be. But I don't think your brother will fall all the way down. Half way maybe. But there's no chance he'll cross a line, not with you and the Rogue on his back."
Sam & Dean
"Maybe she needs some time to think," Sam shrugged, "unless that has a greater meaning I'm not getting...?"
~*~
"Yeah I know," Dean nodded, eyes still on the door.
"But it's not like we'll be around forever. And then what?"
Angel and Spike
Angel shook his head.
"I'm worried she might run. Cut off ties again."
~*~*~*~
Spike shrugged.
"Guess you have to trust he'll do the right thing when it comes down to it."
Sam & Dean
"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Sam insisted.
~*~
"That's the hard part," Dean admitted, scratching at his chin.
"He's changed a lot since I... Since I was gone those four months. And not for the better. I've been trying to keep an eye on him, but..."
He just shook his head, not finding the words.
Angel, Spike, Faith and Lorne
Angel nodded.
"I think... I think I'm glad she has you."
~*~*~*~
"He had to step up," Spike said, scratching the back of his head. "It couldn't've been easy for him. In my experience there are two main types of monsters. Those who are that way from a bad situation, and those that are pure evil. I don't believe your brother is the latter. And the first category? They can be saved."
He scented the air.
"Rogue's on the move."
~*~*~*~
Faith knocked lightly on Lorne's door, dripping wet.
"Faith?" Lorne furrowed his brow. "Come in."
He put a robe over her shoulders.
Sam & Dean
Sam nodded, a small smile appearing on his face.
"I think I'm glad I have her."
~*~
"I guess we'll find out," Dean sighed, ignoring his last comment.
Angel, Lorne and Spike
Angel opened his mouth to respond to that when Lorne buzzed his phone.
"Angelcakes?" Lorne's voice was quiet, so as not to disturb the brunette Slayer who lay on his couch, sleeping fitfully. "She's in my office, asleep, but I can't seem to calm her down. Perhaps you could...?"
~*~*~*~
"Sometimes it's all you can do," Spike said, shrugging again. "You just have to wait it out. Deal with it as it comes."
Sam & Dean
Sam made his way to the nearest window, looking out onto the city.
~*~
"We're gonna have enough to deal with this year already," Dean stood from where he leant and walked across the lobby aimlessly.
Angel and Spike
"Ok," Angel said, then pressed the phone off.
He stood up.
"Do you want to stay here?" he asked Sam.
~*~*~*~
"Still, that's life."
Spike paused.
"Or, unlife, in my case. Always have too much on your plate. Apocalpyse, demon of the week, the usual."
Sam & Dean
"No, I think I should leave actually," Sam nodded to himself, starting to head for the door.
~*~
"It's a little different when it's your brother who's supposed to lead the army," Dean said pointedly to Spike, going to sit down on one of the benches.
"Ok."
Angel nodded more to himself than to Sam, and let him go.
~*~*~*~
Spike shrugged.
"Nothing is set in stone."
Dean & Sam
Dean stood as Sam left the office.
"Come on," he said to Dean, heading for the main doors.
Dean glanced back at Spike, before following his brother out to the car.