"Whose turn is it to set the traps?" Cordelia asked, looking around at the two men that sat in front of her.
Angel and Gunn both pointed to each other.
"His," they chorused.
"You guys amaze me," Cordelia said in disbelief. "You'll fight Hell-beasts, but you're scared of rats."
"Man, I hate rats," Gunn shuddered. "With their beady little eyes."
"And their beady little teeth," Angel added. "And I'm not scared, I just had a bad experience..."
"And their tails all whoosh-whoosh!" Gunn continued.
"Well aren't you two the biggest scardies I ever - ARGH!" Cordelia let out a scream as Faith appeared in the office, holding onto the arm of a teleporter.
"You're back," Angel smiled.
"I hope you had a good retreat," Cordelia added. "All peaceful and meditate-y."
"Sure," Faith shrugged. "Until the hippies turned out to be life-sucking Shur-hod demons."
"Oh." Angel bit his lip.
"Vegas," Gunn nodded.
"Yeah," Faith agreed.
"Sam?" Angel guessed.
The Slayer nodded, and then looked at Barney again. "You got the locale?"
Barney nodded. "Angel's been keeping track. Ready?"
"Yeah." She turned and nodded at the others. "Catch up soon. Tired."
As they disappeared, Gunn turned to Angel. "She's not much with the talking, is she?"
Angel smiled slightly. "Sometimes."
~*~*~*~
Faith slung her bag over her shoulder and smiled at Barney as he disappeared. No sooner had he gone, she turned to the motel room door and knocked.
Sam & Dean
Sam looked up as Dean answered the door.
"Faith?" he frowned, stepping back.
A smile crossed Sam's face and he stood from the table.
"Hey," he greeted, stepping forward to hug her, "you're back!"
Faith
"Hey handsome," Faith greeted, hugging Sam back.
She leaned up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
Sam & Dean
Sam slid his hands down her back and lifted her into his arms before kissing her properly.
Dean took a look outside and closed the door.
"That was quick," he observed, "thought you weren't due back for a while yet."
Faith
"Evil hippies," Faith said, by way of explanation.
"Knew I should've gone to Vegas."
Sam
"Evil hippies?" Sam repeated.
"You were fighting?"
Faith
"Yeah," Faith nodded, dumping her bag on the floor by the bed.
"They all sorta... revealed the evil side yesterday. Spent all of last night killing them."
Dean & Sam
"Damn," Dean pulled a face, "really should have gone Vegas."
"Sorry it didn't work out," Sam apologised, before taking her to the bed and setting her down gently.
Faith
Faith shrugged.
"It's ok. I had a few days of total quiet and calm. Probably wouldn't've noticed the evil, had I not been a Slayer. Sorta... in-built radar for it."
Dean & Sam
"Know the feeling," Dean sat down at the laptop Sam had been on and closed his files down before getting on the internet.
"Was it what you needed?" Sam sat beside her.
Faith
"Yeah," Faith said, looking over at Sam.
"Think so. Was just... peaceful. At first. But to be honest, the killing was actually kinda good too. Love a good spot of violence. Helps me work things out."
Sam & Dean
"I thought it might," Sam nodded, "we haven't really done anything like that in a while now."
"Nothing like a battle to the death to make you feel better," Dean muttered, typing something in.
Faith
"Well," Faith shrugged again. "It wasn't really a battle to the death. I think... had a little more grief than I thought. Easiest fight since I've been called. And I was outnumbered by... a whole retreat."
Sam
"Either way, I'm glad you're back," Sam leant in and kissed her cheek.
"Is it for good?"
Faith
"Yeah."
Faith nodded and gave him a half smile.