Fanfiction: Throwback

Throwback: Chapter One

Cordelia filed her nails, thinking that perhaps a nice, long paid vacation of the psychotic-murderess-free type was just what she needed.

"Hey, Book Boy," she said, addressing Wesley over her nail file.

Wesley looked at her, his I'm-British-and-Perturbed look clear on his face.

"Yes?" he answered dryly.

"Can you answer the phone?" Cordelia asked, wriggling her nails demonstratively and then beginning to apply polish.

"It's not ringing," Wes replied.

"It will," Cordy replied, looking at him as if her were mentally challenged. "Law of nature. Wet nails yields ringy phone."

Sure enough, a moment later, the phone rang and Cordelia gestured impatiently towards it. "Make with the answering, I-find-Ancient-Texts-So-Fascinating Guy."

Wesley glared at her, adjusted his glasses, and answered the phone.

"Angel Investigations," he said. Wes immediately fell silent, listening for several minutes. "Excellent," he said finally. "Thank you. This will be very helpful."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. As far as she could tell, this was Wesley's version of talking dirty.

Hanging up the phone, Wes walked back over to the book and made a note in the margin with his ink pen.

He grinned, very impressed with himself. "I've just mastered this protection spell," he said. "That was a colleague calling to confirm my translation."

"So we'll be safe from the s-l-a-y-e-r in the basement?" Cordelia asked.

Wes looked down at her. "I doubt she can hear you, Cordelia," he said, "and Faith can, in fact, spell the word slayer."

Cordelia ignored him. "So the spell de-psycho-fies her?" she asked.

"Not exactly," Wes said. "She maintains her state of mind, her basic personality, but it will surround her with an anti-violence shield, an aura of innocence if you will."

"Will she still be the mayor-ess of slutville?" Cordelia asked.

Wesley shrugged. "We can only hope so," he said, the reference flying straight over Cordy's head as she started painting the nails on her other hand.

Wes spoke the words to the spell firmly, his pronunciation wobbling only on the last phrase. He closed the book triumphantly. He was sure one minor emphasis mistake would not render the spell useless.

From downstairs, the two heard a very loud pitched scream, and they each grabbed a weapon and rushed down.

"Way to go on the spell front, Skippy," Cordelia said.

"We have no evidence that anything has gone wrong with my spell," Wesley replied. Then he gestured toward the elevator door. "We open it on the count of three," he said, nervous that they could see nothing from this angle.

"One, two, three..." the two threw open the door and ran out, weapons held high. They didn't make the most intimidating of pictures.

There, standing at the edge of the room, was a little girl of about four years old, with dark hair and sullen eyes, standing with her arms crossed over her chest. Her entire body was completely engulfed in a black leather number.

Next to her, holding his shin, was a little boy with solemn expression on his face of about the same age, his small body dwarfed by a large black t-shirt.

"She kicked me!" the little boy said, outraged. "And Da says never to hit a girl, even if she's ugly and deserves it! Not even if she kicks you or kisses you or nothing." The little boy glowered in the little girl's general direction.

"I'm not going to kiss you, boy wonder," the little girl said scornfully. "I'm never going to kiss any boy ever."

"I take it the answer to the slutville question is no then," Cordelia muttered.

Wesley looked at her, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Don't you get it?" she asked, amazed at how dense he was being. "Why don't you say hello to Evidence and That Something Has Gone Wrong With Your Spell," she said, indicating the two children.

"My name's not Evidence!" the little boy said, a brooding expression settling over his face. "It's Liam."

"Oh dear," Wesley said. "Angel."

Cordelia nodded. She turned to the little girl, he now had her hands on her hips. "What's your name, sweetie?" she asked, though she knew quite well what the answer was going to be.

"What's it to you?" the child asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh dear," Wes said again. "Faith."

* * *

Throwback: Chapter Two

As the two children eyed each other suspiciously, Wesley rubbed his temples slightly. "Oh dear," he said again.

Cordelia shot him an annoyed look. "The oh-dearing," she said, "not helping, Wesley."

"Wesley?" the little girl said, breaking into a fit of giggles. "That's a funny name." For the moment, the child had lost her tough edge, and Cordelia had to admit that despite the tangled mass of dark hair and the deep circles under her eyes, she was a very cute little girl.

The little boy smirked. "You're kind of funny looking too," he said, unblinking, no malice in his little face as he tilted it to the side to study Wesley. Then he turned to look at Cordelia. "You're pretty," he said, melting her heart with his little boy smile.

"Long hair," Faith said simply, her little fingers wanting to touch it, but not allowing the desire to show on her face.

Cordelia beamed at the children. "You know," she said lightly. "I think I might like them better this way."

An hour later, Cordelia wasn't so sure about that. She'd managed to fit them both in some children's clothes she found in a storage box, but Faith was less than happy with her clothes, and little Liam was a streaker.

As he ran by, shedding his clothes for the fifth time and leaving Wesley cursing in his wake, Faith scratched herself viciously. "It itches," she said, glaring at Cordelia darkly.

"Beauty is pain," Cordelia said.

Little Faith wrinkled her forehead, taking in Cordelia's words with a little skepticism. A moment later, Faith was trying to wriggle out of her clothes as well. Cordy took a deep breath.

"This is so not happening," she said to herself, but then she took a deep breath and looked sternly at Little Faith, reaching out and grabbing the wiggling little girl's arm.

"The clothes stay on," she said firmly.

"Says who?" Faith asked, jerking her arm out of Cordelia's hand.

"Says me," Cordelia said, putting her face right next to the little girl's. "And you don't want to make me mad."

Faith carefully considered the woman's words, and then she shrugged and simply walked away, the weapons case catching her eye.

"Wow," she said. "That's a lot of stuff. Can I play?"

Cordelia seriously considered giving the child a weapon. If she happened to hurt herself before they could turn her back, then the world was simply short one psycho rogue slayer.

As Faith stood on her tiptoes to get a better look at the weapons, her tiny mouth open just a bit in childhood wonder, Cordelia knew that that wasn't an option. Neither child had memories of the adults they had been. She wouldn't hold the girl responsible for the woman's mistake.

"Young man, if you don't sit still right this minute, you'll earn yourself a solid thrashing," Wesley promised the little boy weakly.

Liam eyed the man, trying to decide if he was serious. It gave Wes just enough time to wrangle him into some clothes, a red blush covering the former Watcher's face. Wesley wasn't sure if he would ever be able to look at adult Angel with a straight face again.

"Would you really thrash me?" Liam asked, his voice merely curious and not the least bit intimidated.

Cordelia watched the exchange with a small, wry grin on her face until she felt a small tug on the leg of her black capris. She looked down, and little Faith simply crooked a finger at her, indicating that the woman should bend over.

Cordy knelt down, bringing herself to Faith's level. "Don't let him hurt Liam," the little girl whispered fiercely, her eyes dark with something Cordelia didn't want to understand. Instinctively, she squeezed the little girl in an impromptu hug.

Faith stared at her, shocked, before backing up a step or two. Her little arms crossed instinctively over her chest, but the look on her face seemed to Cordelia to be vulnerable.

"Don't worry about Liam," Cordelia replied. "If it comes down to it, my money says he can take Wesley no problem."

Wesley shot Cordelia an irritated look. "I heard that," he said.

"Meant for you to," Cordy said lightly.

Liam appeared to be sizing Wesley up, his little arms on his hips.

Faith stood frozen to the ground, looking at Cordelia with the same poignantly bewildered and cautious look on her face.

"I could take him," the little girl said, finally speaking. "He looks like a pussy to me."

"Faith!" Wes and Cordelia both said, wondering where the child had picked up the language. It occurred to Wesley that for someone who had once been her Watcher, he knew starkingly little about Faith's background.

Completely unperturbed, the child approached Liam. "Come on, Liam," she ordered. "I'll show you the sharp and shiny things over here."

Wesley's gaze followed the children as they walked to the weapons case. "Oh dear," he said.

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Three

Cordelia looked up from polishing her nails. She tilted her head to the side, and it occurred to her that something was wrong. Carefully, she listened. She heard nothing, and then it struck her that the silence probably wasn't a good sign. In the two weeks since Wesley had botched the spell and turned Faith and Angel into children, there had never once been silence in the office.

Sighing, Cordelia put down her nail polish. "Okay, you little ankle biters," she said, standing up, "where are you and what are you doing wrong?"

For a moment there was silence, then a loud series of thumping sounds, and then silence again.

"Don't make me come down there," she yelled toward the basement, knowing that she was already well on her way 'down there.' Silently she cursed Wesley and his I-have-to-find-the-reversal-spell excuse for going out for the afternoon and leaving her at the mercy of Seek and Destroy, the two four year old wonders.

As she rode the elevator down, she could hear frantic whispering and the clanging of metal. When she stepped out of the elevator, Cordy was greeted by two innocent and smiling faces.

"What are you two doing?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at them and holding her hand in front of her, hoping her nail polish would dry before some type of physical intervention was needed to stop the two children from killing each other or getting themselves killed.

"Nothing," Faith and Liam replied sweetly at once.

"And I'm Christina Ricci," Cordelia said sarcastically. The sarcasm was lost on the children.

"Okay, Christina Ricci," Liam said, grinning up at her winningly. "I'm Liam O'Connor." He stuck his little hand out to shake hers.

Cordelia looked down at him and tried not to giggle at the little boy's confident stance. Little Angel was such a ham.

Cordelia turned her attention to the four-year-old Faith. "What?" Cordy said, "No witty-slash-sarcastic remarks from you too?"

Faith smiled at her and batted her eye lashes innocently. Cordelia groaned. If there was one thing Faith was not at any age, it was innocent. "We're just playing nicely, Cordy," little Faith said.

Cordy noticed that Faith was holding a single hand behind her back.

"What's in your hand?" she asked automatically.

Faith shifted her eyes side to side a little. "What hand?" she asked, moving backwards. Cordelia advanced on her.

"That hand," she said, gesturing with the wet nails.

Liam looked at Faith and knew that Cordelia was about to find them out, so he did the only thing he could think of to do that would distract her. "Where do babies come from?" he blurted out.

Cordelia took a deep breath. "This is so not happening," she told herself. Faith and Liam both looked up at her, wide eyed. "Ask Wesley," she told them.

In a lightning quick move, Faith thrust something under the bed. Cordelia, silently swearing to make Wes pay for leaving her with baby-sitting duty, crouched down to look under the bed.

"No!" both children yelled.

Sighing at the fact that she was ruining her manicure, Cordelia pulled out a large broad sword from underneath the bed. She glared at the children.

"I swear you two are the most violent children I've ever met. If it isn't 'stab this' or 'slash that,' or 'kick those,' it's playing with heavy metal artillery," she muttered, before remembering that she was supposed to be the adult. "What's the rule about weapons?" she asked.

"We're not supposed to touch them," Liam volunteered cheerfully, not looking the least bit guilty.

Cordelia looked at Faith. The little girl looked down sullenly and wouldn't look back up.

"Faith?" Cordelia said.

"I hate your damn rules," Faith muttered darkly, and as soon as the words were out of her mouth, the little girl's body began to tremble just slightly. Cordelia didn't notice, but Liam did.

"I won't let anything bad happen to you, Faith," he promised softly.

Faith backed herself into a corner and sunk to the ground. Cordelia tried not to think about the bruises they'd found all over the little girl's body the first week, bruises that hadn't been on the woman's body, bruises that existed in adult Faith as mere memory.

"I don't need your help," Faith told Liam fiercely. "I don't need anyone's help. Never."

Trembling in the corner, her dark hair still in the lopsided pig tails Wesley had struggled to put it in that morning, Faith looked small and vulnerable, her dark eyes flashing. Sighing, Cordelia went and scooped the little girl up into her arms, instinctively cuddling her for a moment.

Faith was stiff in her grasp, but after a moment, the little girl put her arms around Cordelia's neck and rested her head on her shoulders. Cordy could feel the little girl's heart pumping frantically, and she wondered how long it would be before the child would stop getting that frozen, fearful look in her eye.

"I think it's nap time," Cordelia said, and when Liam started complaining, Cordy just sent him a steely glare.

Saying nothing, Liam crossed his arms over his chest and brooded, his expression the exact mirror of the adult Angel's broody look.

* * *

After naptime, Cordelia taught the children a new game, entitled Treating Cordelia like a Princess. It didn't catch on as fast as she would have liked, and by the time Wes came home, she had taken to painting the children's fingernails to keep them entertained.

Liam considered his hot pink nails, tilting his head slightly toward the side. He'd gotten used to television and cars in the weeks he'd been in this strange place, but pink nail polish was something altogether new.

"Look!" Faith said, a rare smile flashing across her face, as she held her nails gingerly out for Wesley's inspection.

"Fetching," Wes said, trying not to think about all he'd discovered regarding Faith's past as he looked at the little girl.

"Welcome home, pussy," Liam said to Wes in a jolly voice.

"Liam!" Cordy and Wes both said at the same time. At first, Liam hadn't understood that Faith's name for Wes was a bad word, and once he had, he'd begun using it even more frequently.

Both of them turned to glare at Faith. The two children were such bad influences on each other. Still strangely enamored with her polished nails, Faith paid them no attention at all.

Wesley sighed. He'd been having no luck on the reversal spell. It wasn't a simple matter of using the original spell. Instead, he had to carefully construct a new spell to undo the damage his carelessness had caused.

He felt a little hand pulling on the bottom of his pant leg. He looked down to see Liam grinning up at him. "Where do babies come from?" the little boy asked.

"Oh----"

"Don't say it," Cordy said warningly.

"---dear," Wesley finished.

In the silence that followed, Faith finally stopped looking at her nails and cleared her throat, ready to ask a question of her own. "Wesley," she said clearly, her little voice soft and demanding, "I have a question, too."

Wes looked down at her, his eyebrows raised. "What's your question, Faith?" he asked her warily.

"Are you Cordy's bitch?" Faith asked earnestly.

"Faith!" Wes said. "Language, young lady."

Faith gave him a hurt look. It had been an honest question. Cordelia couldn't help but grin at the little girl. Sometimes, she loved that kid.

After a moment of silence, Liam and Faith both spoke at the same time.

"Well," they said in unison, "are you?"

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Four

Wesley took a deep breath, his thoughts racing as he wondered how in the world he had gotten himself into this mess. It was dire, worse in fact than any apocalypse he had ever faced. The stakes were incredibly high, the enemy fierce.

Quite honestly, it was all Cordelia's fault. After he'd spent a full day working on the reversal spell, which was still incomplete, she'd suckered him into watching the two little hellions. He refused to refer to them as children. Surely human children couldn't be that much trouble, that incredibly heinously behaved.

That raised an interesting question in Wesley's mind. Were the two, in fact human? Neither had any memories of the lives they'd lived as adults, so it was logical that they would not have retained their powers, and yet there were moments when Wes had his doubts.

Now was one such moment. He'd made the mistake of trying to take the terrible twosome to a reasonable sit-down dinner. Thus far, Liam and Faith had thoroughly thwarted his attempts at civil conversation with supernatural efficiency.

"Liam, your food goes in your mouth, not in Faith's hair," Wes said, trying to push back the pounding headache.

"Says you," Liam replied, borrowing the phrase from Faith. "Pu--"

Wes cut Angel off before he could finish his statement. "Don't even think about it," he said darkly, looking around the restaurant. Liam grinned good naturedly at Wes but said nothing.

Faith sat quietly, ferociously eating her food. Her table manners were atrocious; she always ate as if each bite were her last, but at least she wasn't trying to tear off the table leg and beat someone over the head with it. Wes kept his expression blank, lest he give the children any ideas.

Finishing her food, Faith looked around the restaurant, surveying her territory. "They don't have a playground," she commented, looking fairly disgruntled. "What kind of eating place doesn't have a playground?"

"The kind that doesn't have golden arches," Wes replied, trying to eat his own food, but distracted when Liam picked up and began examining his knife.

Wes stuck his hand out. "Give me the knife, Liam," Wes said.

Liam said nothing, he simply continued gazing at the knife, an contemplative look on his face.

"Give me the knife, Liam," Faith said, her little voice bossy. Liam, grinning charmingly at Wes the entire time, handed the knife to Faith. Faith, her wide eyes innocent as always, sent a cheerful grin in Wesley's general direction.

"Give me the knife, Faith," Wes said, trying to sound stern. He held out his hand. Faith looked at Liam and nudged him in the side. Finally, the little boy caught on.

"Give me the knife, Faith," Liam said. Faith handed him the knife. They both looked at Wesley and broke into helpless giggles.

Wes put his hands on his temples. He was going to quite simply kill Cordelia for leaving him alone with little monsters one and two.

"Give me the knife, Liam," Faith said, her voice rising a little. Liam handed the knife over.

"Give me the knife, Faith," he said, practically shouting. By this time, the two children were both giggling fiercely, and the entire restaurant was watching them. Several other parents with young children sent Wesley disapproving looks.

"That's enough," Wes hissed in a whisper. The children looked at him solemnly.

"That's enough," Faith echoed in a hiss.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Liam bellowed. The two children giggled, and Wes was caught halfway in between smiling at their antics and boring a hole in his own head with his salad fork. Those two were completely impossible. Who would have thought Angel and Faith had been such mischievous little children? Right now, brood boy was giggle boy, and the rogue slayer was wearing pigtails and smiling broadly.

Wesley sighed. "I think it's time for us to go," he said, motioning for the check.

"I think it's time for us to go," Faith told Liam seriously.

"I THINK IT'S TIME FOR US TO GO!" Liam yelled for the whole restaurant to hear. Wesley rubbed his temples. The children were obviously having a wonderful time. At least they'd put down the knife. Thank goodness for small favors. Then again, Wes was having trouble actually locating the knife. He sighed and decided to leave well enough alone.

Wesley paid the check and then walked out the door, the two children following in his wake and repeating every word he said.

"That was fun," Faith said, almost breathless with excitement. Wesley looked down at her, surprised. The child took such pleasure in the smallest things. One would almost wager that she'd never sat down in a restaurant before.

"I'm glad you had fun," Wes told Faith. It was dark outside by now, and both of the children were in high spirits. Wes groaned inwardly. He'd never get the two of them to sleep now.

A moment later, three vampires came around the side of the building. They immediately spotted the British man and the two four-year-old children, all of whom they marked immediately as easy prey.

"Look," one said. "It's dinner."

The other simply started towards them.

"Oh dear," Wesley said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out several stakes and a small knife.

"Oh dear," Faith told Liam, still grinning.

"OH DEAR," Liam yelled at the top of his lungs. The vampires looked at him very strangely.

Wesley pushed the children behind him and watched as two more vampires rounded the corner. He muttered an expletive, his eyes darkening. First Faith and then Liam joyfully echoed the expletive. Faith had never heard anyone use that combination of words before.

Behind Wes, the two children wiggled and giggled, and the vampires slowly advanced.

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Five

Of the five vampires, the shortest appeared to be the spokesman. "Look at the big one," he sneered. "It's going to fight us with its little sticks."

The five vampires laughed.

"Stick and stones may break my bones..." Faith began to recite behind Wesley. He shushed her.

"Let the little girl speak," the vampire commanded. "I like food that talks."

Faith pushed her way in front of Wes.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" the vamp asked.

Faith stared at him, and her stomach clenched with something she didn't understand. There was something wrong with this man, something very wrong. He didn't feel right.

"Cat got your tongue?" another vampire drawled, closing in on them.

"What was that about sticks and stones?" the first vampire asked mockingly. Faith stood on her tiptoes and grabbed two stakes from Wesley's arms. She handed one of them to Liam, who was now standing beside her, looking cheerfully up at the vamps, bits of food still stuck to his cheeks.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones," Faith said calmly, "but I will kick your ass."

Wesley just about choked on his tongue at the little girl's words. She didn't know what she was up against.

"KICK YOUR ASS!" Liam yelled, still playing the game he and Faith had been playing earlier and absolutely tickled that Wesley wasn't scolding them for their language.

Bracing himself for a fight, Wes stepped in front of the children.

The lead vampire turned to the others. "We don't eat until the man is dead," he instructed. "I want the little girl alive."

With those words, all of the vamps roared into action. Two of them went for Wesley at once, and the former watcher surprised them by dodging both of their blows, and neatly thrusting a stake into the chest of one of the vampires.

He exploded into dust, and Faith wrinkled her nose, clearly deep in thought.

The second vamp was not so easily taken, and he knocked Wes back several feet. Looking at the children for a moment, Wesley's heart jumped into his throat when he realized that a vampire had a hold of Liam.

A little girl's scream filled the air, as the lead vampire approached Faith and grabbed her by her pigtails. For a moment, the girl's eyes glossed over, and she looked through the vamp.

In one swift movement, Wesley blocked the vamp's punch and dusted him with the other hand. He lunged toward the children, but the fifth vamp caught him by surprise, wrapping his arms tightly around Wesley's neck, choking him slowly and painfully. The remaining weapons fell from Wesley's hands as he gasped for air and struggled against the powerful arms that held him.

Faith's eyes widened, as she fumbled with the stake in her hands. She didn't know why, but she knew what to do with it, and she surprised the vamp when she kicked out with her left foot, sending him flying to the ground.

Faith grinned. "Fun-fun," she said, her voice violent and child-like at the same time, her dark pigtails swinging back and forth.

Meanwhile, the vampire had knocked Liam's stake out of his hands and to the ground. At a loss for what to do, Liam pulled something shiny from his pants pocket: the knife from earlier at the dinner table.

As he struggled against the vampire, Wesley couldn't help but think that Liam was a little devil to have snuck the knife out of the restaurant. Those children were really something else.

Liam bent his knees, and the vampire that was lunging for him missed, grabbing air. Moving quickly, Liam stabbed the knife through the vampire's foot with great force, pinning the foot firmly to the ground. The vamp roared in pain and fury.

Seeing Wesley in trouble, Faith moved quickly. Picking up one of the stakes, she ran over to the vampire, pig tails swinging behind her. Jumping up in the air, she took aim and stabbed the vampire in the back of the chest. He exploded into dust, just as Wesley managed to twist out of his grasp.

Wes stared at the child, amazed. How had she retained her slayer powers when she'd returned to childhood?

Turning her attention back to Liam, Faith took in air quickly when she saw the lead vampire backhand the little boy to the ground. Wes clenched his jaw and moved fearlessly forward, placing himself in between Liam and the vampire, even though Wes knew quite well that he was weaponless.

Before either the vamp or Wesley could move, a small blur wearing a blur shirt and with dark pigtails hurtled by, knocking the vampire to the ground. Wesley watched open mouthed as the child began beating the vampire viciously, furiously.

"Don't. You. Ever. Hit. My. Liam," the little girl said, her hits very literally tearing the vampire apart. "Don't hit him. Don't hit him. Don't hit him." Her cries became an inhuman-sounding mantra.

Wesley intervened, reaching in to pull Faith off of the vamp and stake him.

On the ground behind him, the little girl hadn't stopped fighting or talking.

"Don't hit. Don't hit. Don't hit," she said fiercely, over and over again, punching the hard ground with her fists, her voice catching in the back of the throat and her hands starting to bleed. She looked like a wild animal: beautiful and out of control.

Wesley walked over to her and grabbed her from behind, holding her firmly even when she began fighting against him.

"Shhhhh," he hushed the child, struggling to contain her manic movements. "It's all right, Faith. It's over, luv."

Faith stopped moving for a moment, and Wes tightened his grip. She looked at him, her eyes still glassed over with the memories she had been lost in.

"Don't hit," she said simply.

Wes looked at her, his heart breaking for the small, angry child. "I won't," he said, wondering why he had never seen the same heartbreaking angriness in the woman.

"Don't worry, Faith," Liam said, picking himself up off of the ground. "Me and Wes and you are all fine. Everything's okay." Liam looked around and grinned boyishly.

He looked up at Wesley, completely unfazed by his brush with the undead. "Can we do that again?" he asked.

"No," Wes said firmly.

"No fair," Faith said, recovering a bit, but still snuggled tight in Wesley's arms.

"You never let us do anything fun," Liam complained. He scuffed his feet in the floor. "I bet Cordelia would let us play battle again." Liam looked up at Wesley to see if his ploy was working. It was not.

Settling Faith on his hip, Wes held a hand down to Liam. "Let's go home," he said. "You can ask Cordelia when we get there."

Faith laid her head on Wesley's shoulder. "Wesley," she said softly.

"Yes, luv?" he asked, not able to tear the image of her beating her hands bloody first on the vampire and then on the ground.

"You never answered my question," Faith said.

"Which question?" Wesley asked.

Liam grinned. He knew exactly which question Faith was talking about. "Are you Cordy's bi-"

Wesley cut him off. "Language," he hissed at Liam, "and no, I am not."

"Oh," Liam said looking thoughtful.

Faith said nothing. She'd fallen fast asleep.

As they walked to the car, Liam sang to himself under his breath. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but I can kick your ass."

Wesley grinned. After all, the little verse did have a nice sound to it.

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Six

Cordelia let the water drain slowly out of the bathtub. Who would have guessed that Angel had a first rate bathroom hidden away in his basement bedroom? Ever since she and Wes had taken to sleeping in the spare office rooms, she'd been grumbling about the lack of accommodations, but with a bathroom like this, she could get used to things.

Upstairs, she heard a crash.

Liam's home, she thought. The little boy had a penchant for destruction that absolutely amazed her. He was so full of energy, and most of the time so cheerful, that she could hardly see Angel in him at all.

Sighing, Cordelia pulled on a pair of pajamas and a robe and went upstairs to see what Liam had broken.

When she came into the room, Wes sighed with relief.

"BOOM," Liam shouted, waving his hands around madly.

Cordelia tried not to giggle, but when Liam smiled Angel's rare smile, she lost it.

Liam looked up at her, hands on his hips and a grumpy expression on his face. "You shouldn't laugh," he told her, brooding. "It's not supposed to be funny. I'm mean. Grrrrrrr. I'm a fierce warrior. Grrrrrrr."

Wesley rolled his eyes and shifted the sleeping Faith in his arms. Cordelia smiled softly. Had Angel really ever been this cute little boy?

Seeing he had an audience in Cordelia, Liam lost his brooding expression and began hamming it up. "We were eating, and Wes was a prat, and Faith and I played with the knives, but then we went outside and there were all of these men with ugly faces, way uglier than even Faith's, and they went Grrrr, and I went Grrrrr, and then we beat them up." Panting from the sheer number of words that had flown from his mouth, the little boy took a deep breath.

Cordelia turned to look at Wes. "Went grrrr?" she asked him, arching one eyebrow delicately. "As in... you know," she trailed off and brought her index fingers up to her mouth, posing them as ridiculously large fangs. Liam imitated her motion.

Wes shook his head discretely. He wasn't sure why Liam hadn't retained Angel's powers when Faith had obviously kept her slayer skills. Thinking of the way she'd fought, the fierceness in her eyes and the heartbreaking words she'd uttered, Wesley held the little girl a little tighter. He had a feeling that Faith hadn't been held much.

Cordelia looked at Wesley holding the sleeping girl, and she grinned. She was willing to bet that within two weeks, the little girl would have him wrapped around her little finger.

Seeing that he was losing his audience, Liam tugged on the bottom of Cordelia's shirt. "Wesley isn't your bitch," he informed Cordelia loftily. Liam screwed his forehead up in concentration. "But he might be Faith's." Not even pausing, the little boy went into another long string of words. "Faith had sticks, and she punched them through the chests of the bad men, and they exploded, BOOM, into dust, and one of them hit me and Faith got mad, but I didn't cry or nothin', not even when it hurt real bad, and Faith hurt them and then she got herself all hurt too, and Wesley wasn't a pussy. Not at all."

Wesley, thankful for the fact the Liam had finally said something positive about him, didn't bother to correct the boy's language.

Cordy looked at Faith, concerned despite herself.

"She's fine," Wesley said softly, even though he knew in his gut that Faith wasn't fine, not yet.

"Well, Liam," Cordy said, yawning, "don't you think it's bed time?"

Liam looked at her, the brooding look settling back over his face. "No," he said, stifling a yawn himself. He narrowed his eyes at Cordelia. "You made me do that," he accused sleepily.

Cordy rolled her eyes. "Let me get out my yawn-creator," she said, but the sarcasm was lost on the little boy. "Tell you what," she whispered, thinking of the sleeping Faith. "Wesley will tell you a story, and then it's time for bed."

Wesley looked at her. Leave it to Cordelia to promise Liam that he would do something.

"I'll put Faith down," Cordelia said, stepping forward to take the little slayer. Wes reluctantly placed the child gently in Cordelia's arms. She stirred in her sleep.

"Wes?" Faith asked, her little voice sleepy and a little panicked.

Surprised and touched, Wes leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "It's all right, little luv," he said. His voice comforted her. Faith yawned and snuggled into Cordelia's arms, and the seer carried her to bed.

Liam looked up at Wes. "Tell me a story," he commanded. "A story about knives and blood and sheep."

"Sheep?" Wes asked.

"Yes, Not-a-Pussy," Liam said, his hair falling into his eyes a little bit. "I want a story with sheep. They should be singing sheep with glaives."

"What did you call me?" Wes asked.

"Not-a-Pussy," Liam replied.

"Don't call me that," Wes said, "and don't use that language if you want a story."

"Would you rather I call you Pussy?" Liam asked.

"No," Wesley admitted, "and it doesn't sound as if you want a story very much."

"I'll be good," Liam promised, and Wesley set his mind to thinking about a story involving knives, blood, and singing sheep with glaives.

Upstairs, Cordelia tucked Faith into bed, amazed at the innocent expression on the child's face.

Faith's eyes fluttered open. "Mama?" Faith asked sleepily.

Cordelia didn't feel even the least bit compelled to give the child a quippy or sarcastic reply. "No," she said softly. "Sweetie, it's Cordy."

"Didn't want her anyway," Faith muttered. "Sticks and stones."

Cordy smoothed the hair out of the little girl's face.

"Don't leave," Faith said suddenly. Surprised, Cordelia sat on the bed beside her.

"I won't," she promised, bewildered at the fact that she meant it.

Faith fell back into sleep with Cordy at her side.

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Seven

Wesley hung up the phone and stepped carefully around Faith, who was currently gouging a hole in the floor with a knife. Where she'd gotten the knife, he didn't know, and as soon as he could build up the strength, he'd take it away from her, but right now, he had slightly bigger problems. Besides, the child was perfectly capable of handling a knife, as scary as that notion was.

Wes approached Cordelia and cleared his throat. "I found the last ingredient for the reversal spell," he said.

"That would be of the good," Cordy said. She paused for a moment. "You have Oh Dear Face. Why do you have Oh Dear Face?"

Wes cleared his throat again. "Because the cantyon grass roots must be fresh to work, and they come in season in cyclical fashion..." Wes trailed off.

Cordy waved her nail file at him. "And in English, that would mean?"

"It won't be even remotely possible to complete the spell for another six months," Wes said, wincing in anticipation of Cordelia's response.

"Well that certainly sucks, Brit Boy," Cordy said.

"Well that certainly sucks," a small voice echoed.

Cordy looked down at Liam and smiled despite herself. She was half starting to think she liked him better this way.

"Faith has a knife," Liam said, cheerfully tattling. "I want a knife too."

"No knife," Cordelia said firmly. "Nothing that can be used for stabbing, poking, prodding, branding, shooting, decapitating, or other maimworthy purposes."

"What's branding mean?" Liam asked, fascinated, his dark brown hair falling into his baby face.

"You could use a haircut," Cordy said, tousling his hair. Liam wrinkled his little nose and leaned away from her. He did not like the sound of that.

"We should take them to get haircuts, Wes," Cordy said. "And some more clothes. If they're going to be this way for another six months, they need some new clothes. Besides, grown up Angel left us with all of his nice credit cards."

Liam narrowed his eyes at Cordy suspiciously.

"Wes, get that knife away from her before she impales something," Cordy said, mentally thinking of putting Liam in Gap Kids clothing and Faith in some kind of stylish mini-Cordy clothing.

Wesley walked over and knelt down next to Faith. "Hand it over, baby girl," he said, the term of endearment slipping easily off his tongue.

Faith turned to look at him, batted her eyelashes innocently, and grinned. "No," she said simply, tightening her hold on the knife.

Wesley put some mean in his voice. "Don't make me take it away from you," he said.

Little Faith snorted. "As if you could," she muttered.

Wes held out his hand. "Now, Faith." Grudgingly, Faith handed him the knife, and pleased that she'd done what he had told her to for once, Wes sat the knife out of her reach and picked her up, swinging her around as he did.

Her little kid laughter filled the room, and for the moment, Wes was very pleased with himself.

* * *

An hour later, he wasn't in such a good mood. Why in the world he had thought taking the children to get haircuts was going to be painless, he didn't know. As the barber approached Liam with a pair of scissors, the little boy screamed bloody murder.

"Get away from me with those things, you bloody, sodding prat!" Liam screeched, jumping out of the barber chair and balling his hands into little fists.

Cordelia gave Wesley a look. She had one guess as to where Liam had heard those very British sounding curse words. Already, the boy was starting to lose his Irish accent.

The barber gave Wesley a very pained look, and Wes sighed. Walking over to the little boy, he picked him up and sat down in the barber's chair, Liam wrapped firmly in his arms. Holding the little boy as still as he could, Wes nodded to the barber.

Off to the side, Cordelia snorted with laughter at the sight before her. If Angel retained his memories once he became himself again, he was going to be pretty embarrassed between the streaking and the tantrums.

Finally giving up, Liam sat in Wesley's lap, his bottom lip jutting out and a brooding expression settling over his face as the barber snipped away at his too-long hair.

Cordy looked down when Faith tugged on her legs, and she was shocked when the little girl held up her arms to be held. Moving on instinct, Cordy picked the little girl up and settled her against her hip.

"You aren't going to throw a fit when it's your turn, are you?" Cordy asked her, hoping she'd made a good choice when she'd told Wesley she'd handle Faith if he'd take Liam for haircut duty.

Faith considered the question, a thoughtful expression settling over her four-year-old face. "I don't know," the little girl said candidly.

"How about you don't," Cordy suggested hopefully. Faith didn't say a word, and Cordelia had a feeling that wasn't a good sign.

Five minutes later, Liam had a fairly good haircut, and Wes had several new bruises from holding the little hellion still.

"You look very handsome," Cordy told him, still holding Faith in her arms.

"Do I look fierce?" Liam asked her, smiling hopefully. Cordelia swallowed a laugh. With his cherub cheeks and dark lashes, the little boy looked about as fierce as a puppy, but she didn't want to crush his spirits.

"Fiercer than Wes," she said, shooting the former Watcher a teasing look. Wesley rolled his eyes in an easy motion, but he grinned at her despite himself.

"I look fiercer than Wesley?" Liam asked. "Did you hear that, Faith? I look fiercer than Wes!"

"Your turn, little missy," the barber told Faith, smiling at her. Faith buried her head in Cordelia's shoulder.

The barber laughed. "She's a little doll, that one. Tell her I won't hurt her. We'll just give her little locks a trim, and she'll be done."

"If he touches me," Faith whispered in Cordy's ear. "I'll kick him where it hurts."

"No you won't," Cordy whispered back. A stubborn expression covered Faith's face. "Sweetie," Cordy said, completely forgetting that the child she held was actually Faith, "we just want to cut your hair a little, make it pretty."

Faith thought it over for a moment. Then she leaned in and whispered in Cordy's ear. "Will it look like yours?" she asked.

Cordelia looked at Faith's dark locks. "Maybe," she whispered back, running her hand over the little girl's hair softly.

"Okay," Faith said loudly, "but I still might kick him where it hurts."

Startled, the barber took a step back.

Ten minutes later, Faith's hair was evenly trimmed, and the little girl hopped out of the barber's seat and ran straight into a man with dark hair who looked strangely familiar.

"Who are you?" the little girl asked, putting her hands on her hips and staring up at him boldly.

"Lindsey," the man replied mildly, trying not to be amused by the pip-squeak spitfire in front of him.

"That's a stupid name," Liam informed him, wriggling out of Wesley's grasp to run over and talk to the man as well.

"What's your name?" Lindsey asked the little boy, recognizing Wesley and Cordelia as two of Angel's partners and wondering who the children were.

"Liam," the child told him proudly, "and this is Fai-"

Wes cut him off. "Faye," he said, not wanting Lindsey to make the connection between the assassin Wolfram and Hart had sent after Angel and the child in front of him.

Luckily for Wes, Faith didn't object to the name. She'd been called many names in her life, and most of them hadn't been quite so G-rated as Faye.

Ignoring Wes, Liam, and Cordelia for a moment, Faith stared up at the man in front of her, and the expression on her face wavered for a moment, as if she were deciding whether or not to speak.

"Are you a good man?" she asked finally, staring up at him, no fear on her face.

"Sometimes," Lindsey replied mildly, trying to ignore the fact that the child's question had rocked him to the bones. "Are you a good girl?"

"Never," Faith replied wickedly. "Just ask Wesley."

With that, Wes picked Faith up in one arm, and Liam up in another, and he and Cordy quickly walked out the door.

"Wolfram and Hart," Cordy said, under her breath. "And the suckfest continues." "And the suckfest continues," Liam belted out, well over his brood session.

"I never got to kick anyone where it hurts," Faith said in complaint, as if she had missed out on some fun.

"Kick this, impale that," Cordy muttered under her breath, but there was no heat in her voice. She was more or less falling in love with both little ones, and she couldn't have denied it if she'd wanted to.

Wesley cleared his voice. "I've been thinking," he said.

"That's never a good thing," Liam said in a stage whisper to Faith. The little girl giggled.

"The two of us can hardly run Angel Investigations by ourselves and look after the children for the next six months, and if Wolfram and Hart figures out what's going on..." Wes trailed off.

"So what do we do?" Cordy asked, narrowing her eyes at the two children Wes held. They had their little heads together, and they looked like they were plotting something.

Wes wasn't happy with the option they had left, but he couldn't see any way around it. "Sunnydale," he said.

Cordelia took a deep breath.

From Wesley's arms, Faith and Liam giggled. They were definitely plotting something.

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Eight

"Are we there yet?" the female voice asked.

Wesley sighed. They'd been over this. "Cordelia, for the last time, we're still twenty miles away from Sunnydale," Wes gritted out between his teeth. Traveling with the pretty seer was one thing, but traveling with Cordelia and two four year old tornados intent on destroying anything and everything in their path was something completely different.

"I don't think we're there yet," Liam told Cordy helpfully from the back seat, unbuckling his seat belt and crouching on the seat like he was getting ready to pounce on something.

"Seat belt, Liam," Wes said from the driver's seat. He was getting to a point where he could almost anticipate what the children were going to do next.

Liam ignored him. "Are there wenches in Sunnydale?" he asked suddenly, genuinely curious.

"Liam!" Wes scolded, no real bite in his voice as he tried not to smile at the little boy's cheerful question. He had to remind himself that Liam was from a different world, a different time.

Cordelia looked at Wes. "Wench," she said slowly. "I'm guessing that's the nineteenth century Irish version of a skankcapades veteran?"

"Skankcapades," Liam echoed cheerfully. "What's a skank?"

"A slut," Faith said matter of factly.

"Faith," Cordy said in warning, turning to give the girl a look. Faith was looking out the window, a frown settling over her face for a moment.

"The world is full of sluts," Faith said. "I'm a slut." She paused a moment, and her voice changed. The child was clearly imitating someone. "Dirty little slut," she muttered, looking out the window.

Cordy met Wesley's eyes, horrified. The more time she spent with the child, the more Cordelia's heart ached for the little girl, and the harder it was to think harshly of Faith the woman. Cordelia had been ignored as a child, pampered from a safe distance, but nothing like what Faith had been through. What kind of monster told a four year old child that she was a slut?

"Never be clean," Faith murmured, her voice hard around the edges. "Dirty little slut."

'I guess we all have our scars', Cordelia thought, her stomach lurching at some of her own memories. She shook her head and looked out the window. Faith had too many scars, physical and otherwise.

"Let's sing," Cordy suggested, trying to keep herself from getting too reflective. Wes groaned, and she shot him an evil grin. Singing would keep the kiddos entertained, and it would annoy Wes, both of which were high on Cordy's list of car trip priorities.

"Seat belt, Liam," Wes barked out, putting a little mean in his voice.

"I know a song," Liam said quickly, speaking in a very loud voice and liking the way it sounded in Wesley's small car.

Faith looked at him sideways. "You're bluffing," she said, turning a little smile on him. "You don't know any songs."

"Do so," Liam said.

"Do not," Faith countered smoothly.

"Seat belt," Wes said. He was getting a headache.

"DO SO!" Liam yelled. Faith grinned at him, and he smiled back at her. There was little the two of them loved to do more than bicker with each other, especially because they knew it gave the adults a headache.

"Prove it," Faith challenged Liam, letting the ghosts of her past slip out of her mind.

Liam looked around, his eyes darting back and forth. At the moment, he couldn't remember a single song. Too full of little boy bravado to admit that Faith was right, he puffed out his chest and made up a song of his own.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh," he sang, rapidly trying to think of words to sing. "Wench, wench, wench, wench." Cordelia snorted with laughter, and encouraged, Liam started hamming it up. "This is the wench song," he sang in his little boy voice. "Wench, wench, wench. It's a song about wenches. And sheep." Liam continued making up lyrics.

"Sheep?" Wesley asked, forgetting all about Liam's seat belt for a moment.

"That's not a real song," Faith said, crossing her arms over her chest. Her Liam was such a funny boy.

"This is so a real sooooooong," Liam sang. "About wenches and sheep. Sheep with glaives." He took a deep breath and then boomed out the end of his song in a half yell, half singing voice. "Sheep with glaives... and WENCHES!"

From the front seat, Cordelia clapped. "It beats Barry Manilow," she said.

Wesley couldn't argue with that. Braking as he approached a stop light, Wes turned around, grabbed Liam's shoulder, and in one smooth move, fixed it so the little boy was sitting on his bottom in the seat.

"Seat belt," Wes said, his voice low and full of warning and his face very close to Liam's.

Wide eyed, Liam buckled his seat belt, and when Wes turned around, he began another verse of the Wench/Sheep With Glaives song.

They were only seventeen miles from Sunnydale. With any luck, they'd be there within half an hour.

Wes grinned as he imagined Buffy's reaction, and more importantly, Giles' reaction to their small charges.

Wes had come to a sort of truce with the terrible twosome. Somehow, he imagined that the Scoobies wouldn't have quite so easy a time with it. Little Faith and Liam were more than a handful.

"Sheep with glaives," Cordelia sang along with Liam, grinning at Wes as the British man flinched.

Just twenty-eight more minutes, Wes told himself. He passed a car and began speeding slightly. The time for slow driving had passed, and Wes was ready for this trip to be over. Nothing was going to slow him down.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Faith said in a tiny voice from the back seat.

"Why didn't you go at the restaurant?" Wes asked, stepping a little on the accelerator.

"What's it to you?" Faith asked, squirming in her seat a little. "I have to go now."

Wes sped up a little more, and with a sigh, he took the first exit he saw.

The sound of sirens made Wes want to impale himself with some incredibly dull object.

Groaning, he pulled over to the side of the road.

"Wes," Faith said. "I have to go."

The officer approached the car. "Do you have any idea how fast you were going?" he asked.

Wes bit his tongue to keep a sharp retort from spilling out of his mouth.

"Faith has to go to the bathroom," Liam announced candidly, taking a quick break from his singing.

Faith squirmed as the officer looked at her. She wasn't going to have an accident. She was a big girl, and only babies had accidents. Dirty girls had accidents.

Look what you did, you dirty little slut. You worthless piece of shit.

Faith squirmed, trying to push the voice out of her memory. She wished that Liam would start singing again. When Liam was singing about wenches and sheep, sometimes the memories left Faith alone.

The officer gave Wes a sympathetic look. "I'll let you go this time," he said, "but only because your little girl looks like a sweetheart."

"I know eight ways to kill someone with my bare hands," Faith said brightly, but as soon as the man's words really registered, she couldn't speak again. The policeman had thought she was Wesley's little girl.

The officer was silent for a moment and then spoke again.

"She looks like her mother," the officer said, nodding his head toward Cordelia.

Faith stared at him, forgetting all about just how badly she had to go to the bathroom. He thought she was Cordelia's daughter. Faith waited for Wes and Cordy to tell him the truth, that she was nobody, just some kid they were taking care of who had to go to the bathroom.

Wes smiled at the police officer. He looked at Cordelia and then at Faith. They both had dark hair, and with the posh little outfit Cordy had dressed Faith in, the two did look as if they could be related. "I suppose she does," he said softly.

Faith looked at him, surprised. When they drove off, she finally spoke. "Am I really your little girl?" she asked tentatively, her little face fierce with a look of trying not to care.

Wes pulled into a gas station parking lot. "Yes," he said finally. "You are."

"Yours too?" Faith asked Cordelia.

Cordelia didn't think for a moment on Faith the woman. The need in Faith the child's eyes was so clear. "Yup," she replied. "Me too, Faith."

"Me too," Liam said. "Faith is my girl too, even if I don't like girls because I can't kick them even if they are ugly."

As she ran to the bathroom, her dark pig tails flying behind her, Faith couldn't help but smile, because for the first time in her life, she was somebody's girl.

Cordelia followed the little girl into the bathroom, surprised at how natural this all felt so soon.

From in one of the stalls, she heard a tiny voice singing softly.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh... wench, wench, wench...."

* * *

THROWBACK: CHAPTER NINE

By the time Wes pulled the car into the driveway, saying that the kids were a little antsy would have been a complete understatement. In the past fifteen minutes, he'd heard eleven different verses of the Wench song, and Faith had added her creative juices and extra-loud singing voice to the mix.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Faith and Liam sang/yelled together.

Wesley put the car into park and noticed that Cordelia was singing under her breath.

"Wench wench wench..." she looked up at him with a defensive smile.

"What?" she asked. "It's kind of catchy in a twisted ewww kind of way."

Wes said nothing.

"Are we there yet?" Liam yelled.

Wes unbuckled his seatbelt. "Yes," he said, suppressing a smile as he imagined the impending meeting, "we are."

The door to the apartment opened, and Giles walked out of the house. He took one look at the children, habitually cleaned his glasses, and muttered under his breath.

"Oh dear," he said.

Faith's sensitive hearing picked up on it. She giggled. "Did you hear that, Liam?" she asked, still bursting with joy at the fact that she was Wes and Cordy and Liam's girl. "He talks funny, just like Wes. You know what that means?"

Liam nodded. "Pu�" Wes shut them both up with a glare before they could get out the entire word. Both children dissolved into giggles, and, taking them by the hands, Cordy led them toward Giles.

Giles looked at Wesley and then at the children. Faith could feel his eyes on her, and she sensed something about the way he looked at her. Immediately, her guard went up. He looked at her weird, sort of like Momma had, like she was dirty compared to everyone else.

Cordy felt the little girl stiffen beside her and instinctively bent down and swooped her up into her arms. Giles couldn't have been more shocked if Cordelia had shaved her head and taken up a life as a transvestite monk. The Cordelia Chase he knew wasn't the type to cuddle a child, and the fact that the little dark haired girl who was eyeing him suspiciously was Faith was completely incomprehensible to him.

"I'm Liam," Liam said cheerfully, "and you smell kind of funny." Liam delivered this news with unbreaking candor, the charming smile natural on his baby face.

Liam tugged on Cordelia's pant leg. "Why does he smell funny?" Liam asked.

Cordy surveyed Giles quickly and then cocked a single eyebrow. "I think he might smell like tweed," she told the little boy.

"Oh," Liam said.

Faith grinned down at him. "Ohhhhhhhhh," she whispered.

"Not again," Wes said, though he had an incredible urge to laugh.

"Pardon?" Giles said.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh..." both children sang loudly and off key.

"This is the Wench Song," Liam sang, the lyrics, as always, changing every time. He looked up at Giles. "Do you know the Wench Song?" he asked, disarmingly friendly, the fact that he'd made up the song and Giles could not possibly know it escaping his attention.

"I'm afraid I do not," Giles said, trying to reconcile the incredibly cheerful and energetic child with the Angel he knew.

"Giles?" a voice said from inside. "Can you make with the bringing-them-into-the-house thing now?"

"Oh," Giles said, stammering a little, "of course." With that, he walked back into the house, Liam, Wes, and Cordy following him, Faith still snuggled securely in Cordy's arms.

As soon as they walked into the room, Liam fixed his eyes on a blonde girl a little smaller than Cordelia. Without giving it a moment's thought, he walked up to her. "I'm Liam," he announced. "You're pretty."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. Some things never changed.

Buffy grinned down at the little boy, but she still couldn't quite get her head to believe that it was Angel.

"Can I touch your hair?" Angel asked. "I won't pull it. You aren't supposed to pull girl's hair, even if its pretty. You're a very pretty wench."

Cordelia just about choked, as a sardonic look entered Buffy's eyes.

"A wench?" she asked skeptically.

"Cut out the wench-age, Liam," Cordy said casually. Liam nodded.

"Do you have nail polish?" he asked. "I like nail polish. And glaives. And Care Bears. Wes likes Care Bears, too. He watches them with me, but Faith won't. She likes Xena better, only Wes and Cordy won't let her watch it anymore after what happened with the..."

At a look from Wes, Liam stopped talking mid-sentence and just smiled broadly.

Buffy felt her heart melt at the little boy's round cheeks, large eyes, and almost unreal cheerfulness. This was what Angel had been like as a child?

"Where are we?" Liam asked, not waiting a beat before he changed the subject.

"Sunnydale," Giles replied, a text book tone coming into his voice as he forgot for a moment that he was talking to a little boy. "La boca del infierno. The mouth of-" Giles stopped speaking as Cordelia shook her head slightly. "Er, the mouth of Heck," Giles said, amending what he had intended to say.

"The Heckmouth," Liam inferred.

In Cordy's arms, Faith stared at Buffy. Buffy had such pretty blonde hair, and Liam liked her already. Faith could tell. Maybe he'd like her better than he liked Faith. Faith shifted in Cordy's arms, the thought disturbing her more than she would have admitted.

Her momma had always told Faith that she had known Faith was bad the day she was born, because she'd had her daddy's dark hair and not Momma's blonde hair, and her daddy had been a bastard and other things Faith wasn't supposed to say out loud. Her scalp tingled a little in the memory of Momma trying to rip out the dark hair.

Faith had cut it once, hoping it would grow back blonde so that Momma would like her. It hadn't.

Faith squirmed to get down when Liam mentioned nail polish again.

"Heckmouth," she whispered, coming to stand beside her.

"HECKMOUTH!" he bellowed amicably, and Faith grinned, slipping her hand through his.

Without meaning to, Buffy narrowed her eyes at the child, because little girl or not, she was still Faith, and Faith wasn't to be trusted, especially not where Angel was concerned.

Faith forced herself not to shrink back from the older woman's glare, even though it hurt real bad on the inside.

"Hellmouth," Faith said darkly, her eyes locked on Buffy's, never flinching away from the blonde woman's glare.

"Faith," Wes said warningly.

"HELLMOUTH!" Liam bellowed.

Buffy laughed and rolled her eyes heavenward. The fact that Angel had been turned into a child wasn't in itself funny. L.A. needed its champion, but still...

"I want my sodding blood!" a voice yelled from the bathroom.

Immediately, both children were intrigued, and in the way of little kids, they started gravitating toward the bathroom.

"I WANT MY SODDING BLOOD!" they both echoed cheerfully.

Faith grinned at Liam. "Do you want your sodding blood?" she asked. Liam, catching onto the game, nodded, his eyes wide.

"Do you want your sodding blood?" he asked Faith seriously..

"Yup. I'd sure like my sodding blood," Faith said, dead set on ignoring Buffy and the bad feeling that was developing in her stomach because of the way Buffy had looked at her.

Giles quickly walked passed the children and shut the door to the bathroom, hissing something under his breath at the shower's chained occupant.

"What's in there?" Liam asked curiously, at the exact same time that Wesley voiced a similar question.

"Spike," Giles told Wes.

"Something dead and bad," Buffy told Liam. "And British and annoying."

"You say those two things like they go together," Cordy said, glancing from Wes to Giles, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Faith and Liam beamed wickedly at each other and made a beeline for the bathroom. Something that was dead and bad and British. It couldn't get much better than that.

"No," Wes barked, in his firm don't-argue-with-me voice. Both children slid to an almost immediate stop. They knew that tone.

Giles looked at Wes, impressed.

Faith and Liam turned to glare at Wes.

"We wanna play with the dead thing," Faith said, batting her eyelashes. Wes was a sucker for the eyelash trick.

"No," all four of the adults in the room said at once.

"Yes," Faith argued.

"No," Wes said in his final answer voice.

Faith leaned over and whispered something in Liam's ear, and the two of them walked over and sat down next to the wall, arms crossed over their chests and grumpy expressions on their faces.

Buffy looked at them, confused and then turned attention back to Wes and Cordy. "Okay, I give," she said finally. "What are they doing?"

"Brooding," Wes answered. "They do that occasionally. Liam's a natural."

Buffy looked over, sure enough, a creepily familiar broody expression had settled over his baby features.

"And the effects of the spell can't be undone for another twenty-one weeks?" Giles asked, breaking the silence that followed.

In low tones, Wes explained the situation, stopping only when he heard distinctly gleeful whispering from the other side of the room, punctuated with giggles.

"What are they doing now?" Buffy asked.

"Now," Wes said smoothly, "they're plotting."

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Ten

"I have an idea," Liam whispered, his brooding expression giving way to a cheerful smile.

Faith scooted her little body closer to his. "What?" she whispered back. Liam had good ideas. "Does it have something to do with ice cream?"

Both children were big fans of ice cream.

"Yummmm, ice cream," Liam said, temporarily distracted. Faith poked him in the side.

"What's your idea?" she asked, rolling her little eyes even though she was still grinning at him. As much as she sometimes pretended not to be, Faith was crazy about her Liam.

"Naptime," Liam said decisively.

Faith wrinkled her nose. That didn't sound like a good idea at all. Then she grinned wickedly. "Pretend naptime?" she asked.

Liam, grin still firmly in place, nodded. Without needing to be told the rest of the plan, Faith knew exactly what her friend was thinking about. "We pretend to be asleep," she said, "and then we play with the dead thing."

Liam beamed at her. "Yup yup," he replied joyously. "You're smart, Faith." From Liam, it was a rare compliment.

Faith didn't say anything. She knew she wasn't smart. She knew she wasn't pretty. She was nothing. Momma had said so.

Saying nothing, Faith gave a very fake yawn and lied down on the ground. Liam lied down beside her, careful not to touch her, because Liam wasn't all together sure he liked girls. He wasn't even that sure that Faith was a girl. She didn't act like other girls. Liam closed his eyes, and Faith did the same, and the two of them tried desperately not to burst into giggles.

"Plotting time has given way to sleepy time," Buffy commented, her face softening into an amused smile at the way Liam's body was curled up into a little ball.

Wes looked over at the kids. He wasn't fooled for a second. "They aren't asleep yet. I'd say plotting time has given way to course of action time."

Cordy grinned. "As far as plans go," she said, "it's not that bad. Remember their plan to get the weapons out of the weapons chest? I never want to see that much peanut butter again."

Giles raised an eyebrow speculatively.

"Peanut butter?" Buffy asked.

Cordy and Wes looked at each other.

"Never mind," Cordy said quickly.

Not able to resist, Buffy walked over to the children and squatted down to their level. She had an incredible urge to pick Liam up, but as she peered closely at him, she realized that he actually was asleep.

Opening one eye just a little, Faith looked at Liam and realized that he had fallen asleep.

'Some plan', she thought. They would have been better off using a plan about ice cream.

Faith shifted on the floor a little, and she found her one open eye looking directly at Buffy.

Buffy felt the child's gaze, and unwillingly, she ripped herself away from Liam and looked at the little girl with Faith's dark hair and Faith's haunted eyes.

"Aren't you sleepy too?" Buffy asked, trying to make her voice nice and settling for syrupy sweet. Her stomach clenched when she looked at the child and saw the woman, the same way it had when she'd seen Faith in her own body. Faith in any body was still Faith: the rogue slayer she'd failed to save, the woman bent on destruction.

Faith didn't move visibly, but her body stiffened at the tone in Buffy's voice. That wasn't a real happy tone. That was fake happy, and fake happy wasn't to be trusted. Fake happy was dangerous.

"Come here, Faithie," Momma said, her voice dangerously pleasant. "I have something for you."

Two year old Faith walked forward, talking happily to herself.

She had no way of knowing that the 'something' was a blow that was going to send her flying across the room.

"Useless little slut," Momma bit out, her voice still dangerously pleasant. "Stupid." She spit out the last word in a whisper, but Faith, knocked to the floor, her ears ringing and her eyes filling with tears, heard it loud and clear.

Faith glared at Buffy defiantly. "I'm not sleepy," she said, mistrusting the slayer's tone completely.

Buffy sensed the way the child's body stiffened, and she was reminded of the many times she'd tried to approach Faith, to be there for Faith, only for the girl to turn her away.

Some things never changed.

Recognizing the expression on the slayer's face and not knowing what exactly it was, Faith closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't have to look at that face if she didn't want to.

Unconsciously, Liam rolled over in his sleep and snuggled up to Faith. The little girl rested her head on his shoulders, and without the child even knowing that it was happening, three of the fingers on Faith's right hand had crept into her mouth.

Buffy stood there for a second, watching the two of them huddled together like puppies, perfectly comfortable and perfectly innocent. She felt a pull toward them both from somewhere deep in her gut.

A changed expression on her face, she watched a moment longer, as Faith's breathing became the regular breathing of a small child, fast asleep, and the rhythmic sound of Faith sucking on her fingers got a little louder.

Buffy stood up and walked back over to the other adults.

"They actually are making with the sleeping over there," Buffy said. "It's a regular Snooze Fest '99."

Cordy and Wes shared a quick and private grin. This wasn't the first time their charges had fallen asleep when they'd meant to do something far less innocent, usually something involving something that was pointy and/or sticky.

Giles sighed and cleaned his glasses. "And you believe that this law firm, this Wolfram and Hart, might have figured out what happened to Angel?"

Wes nodded, thinking of Lindsey.

"What's the worst they could do?" Buffy asked.

Wes opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted. "If someone doesn't come in here and give me my sodding blood and turn on Passions, I'll-"

Giles cut Spike's voice off dryly. "Complain in a very irritating and childlike fashion?" He said, clearly mocking the vampire, but also obviously weary from similar conversations.

"Spike's been neutered," Buffy said, just loudly enough that she knew the vampire would hear her. "He's like a fuzzy little puppy."

"In that case, might I suggest a rolled up newspaper?" Wes asked.

"An evil puppy is still evil," Cordelia said firmly. Then, looking pensive, she continued. "Or is it an evil puppy is still a puppy?" Cordelia trailed off for a moment.

Buffy looked at Cordelia, relieved that, despite all of the changes she'd seen in the woman, some things, at least, had remained the same.

Wesley's cell phone rang, and he excused himself from the room to answer it.

Cordelia, left alone with Giles and Buffy, without the two children for a buffer, tried her best to make conversation.

"So how's the slayer thing going for you?" she asked Buffy. "You haven't died in a while. That's always a good thing, right?"

When Faith heard Spike yelling, she opened her eyes. She hadn't meant to fall asleep. She'd just wanted to get away from the way the slayer was looking at her. She'd almost forgotten that that was the way that people were supposed to look at her.

Careful not to let the adults know she was awake, Faith whispered directly into Liam's ear. "Wake up, my Liam," she said, knowing that he'd never remember that she'd called him hers. "It's time to go play with the dead thing."

After a few more whispers, Liam opened his eyes, and the two children silently opened the door to the bathroom and crawled into the room.

"It's about time, you bloody wanker," Spike muttered when he heard the door open. He twisted in his chains, expecting to see Giles. Instead, he saw two four-year-old children, both of whom were looking at him with slightly sleepy, very interested eyes.

"Wanker," Liam echoed, testing out the sound. "Wanker-wanker-wanker."

Faith wrinkled her nose a little. "Is that like a wench?" she asked.

Spike narrowed his eyes. Something about these two was very, very familiar.

* * *

THROWBACK: CHAPTER ELEVEN

Spike stared at the two children in front of him.

The dark haired little girl had her left hand slung casually into the back pocket of her jeans, and he couldn't help but notice the bright pink flowers stitched on the pant leg. Her stance was confident, her eyes curious, and though she had a soft smile around the corner of her lips, her eyes were guarded and wary.

The little boy's forehead was knotted up in concentration as he stared at Spike, a dark look settling over his face.

"You're the dead thing, huh?" The girl said, her smile widening a little, as she leaned in to get a good look at him. Somehow, she'd thought he'd look at little more dead and a little less pretty.

"Dead and British," the little boy said, still deep in thought, his little forehead wrinkled.

"Who the bloody hell are you two ankle biters?" Spike asked. "And where's my blood?"

"He wants his sodding blood," Faith said, mischief sparkling in her eyes. She poked Liam in the side.

Liam was still staring at Spike. "He doesn't look dead," he said, his little boy eyes wide.

Faith arched an eyebrow. "I don't know," Faith said. "His hair is pretty damn white. He could be dead." Faith watched him out of the corner of her eye, to see if he would scold her for using a curse word. After all, he was British, and the only other British person Faith had ever met was Wes, and Wes scolded her all the time.

Faith wasn't sure, but she thought that maybe that was because she was Wesley's girl.

Spike, chained up in the bathtub, stared at the child, trying to keep the smile that kept wanting to creep up off of his face at her fierce little expression.

He rolled his eyes instead. "I made my hair this way on purpose," he said, "and yes, I do want my sodding blood."

The children stared up at him, saying nothing.

"Why do you want blood?" Liam asked, curiously. "Are you going to paint something with it?"

Spike stared at him incredulously. "No," he said dryly.

"Are you going to throw it at someone?" Faith asked. That sounded like fun.

"No," Spike said, amused and really not wanting to be. The hairs on the back of Faith's head stood up, and she narrowed her eyes at Spike. Something about him didn't feel right, but something about him felt nice, too.

"Are you going to wench someone with it?" Liam asked, his eyes wide.

"Wench someone?" Spike asked. "How exactly do you wench someone?"

Faith raised an eyebrow at him in a very adult way. "You know," she said. "You wench them. Or maybe you'd wanker them." Faith pondered that for a moment.

"Wanker," Liam said, remembering the new word and how much fun it was to say. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhh...."

Faith grinned, knowing exactly what was coming.

"This is the wanker song," Liam sang. "It's a song about wankers. And wenches. And sheep with crossbows. Wanker, wanker wanker. Wench, wench, wench."

When Liam started up the second verse, Faith joined in. "Ohhhhhhhhhh..." they both sang together, keeping their voices low enough that the adults outside in the living room didn't hear them.

It was then that Spike realized what it was exactly that had been bothering him about these children. They smelled familiar. The little boy smelled like family. He smelled like Angel.

As he stared at the children, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that there was a distinct chance that the little boy was his grandsire, Spike caught himself humming the tune under his breath.

Faith, bored with the song, ventured toward the end of the shower that had the faucet. Still singing under her breath, she leaned in and turned it on. Ice cold water streamed out of the shower head, hitting Spike in the face.

He sputtered through the water.

"Turn that off," he growled.

Faith stood, frozen to the ground.

"Mommy?" Faith whispered. She wasn't sure whether she wanted Mommy to wake up or not. Sometimes Mommy was angry when she woke up, but Faith was fast most of the time, and if she could just be good enough, Mommy wouldn't be angry any more.

"Mommy," she said again, tentatively.

Why was Mommy asleep in the bathtub? There was water. So much water. Red water.

"Mommy?"

"Faith, he looks awfully funny wet, huh?" Liam said. Spike was drenched and grimacing underneath all of the water that was hitting him.

"Hey Faith?" Liam said again, trying to get her attention.

The little girl didn't respond.

Liam came to stand beside her, and he leaned in and turned the water off. Spike opened his mouth to yell out the indignity of being chained up in a bathtub and teased by small children, but something in Faith's expression stopped him.

"You okay, Platelet?" he asked, sounding concerned despite himself and having no idea where the casual term of endearment came from.

Faith looked at him. "Why was Mommy sleeping in the bathtub?" she asked.

For a moment the room was silent, and in the silence, Spike panicked. "How 'bout we sing again?" he asked, not even realizing that he was giving in to the pull he felt toward the children.

Liam stood next to Faith and put his hand in hers. He didn't say anything, but silently, he told her that it would be all right.

"I'll start," Spike continued awkwardly. "Ohhhhhhhh..." He paused for a moment, wondering exactly what to sing. "Bloody helllllll..." he dragged the word out, and the two children looked at him. They seemed to have a thing for curse words. "This is a song about the Big Bad," Spike sang.

"Was he big and bad?" Liam asked, breaking into the song. "And were there sheep? With glaives?"

"Or pudding?" Faith whispered, her voice barely audible.

Spike shrugged, deciding that the children were at least as entertaining as Passions. He continued singing, and before he knew it, both children had climbed into the bathtub and up onto his lap.

* * *

"So," Cordelia said, still trying at conversation. "How's the new boyfriend?" She paused a moment, and Buffy and Giles said nothing, still staring at her. Cordelia persevered. "I hear he's not, you know..." Cordy trailed off, and she brought her index fingers up next to her mouth and made a face, using her fingers as two ridiculously large fangs.

"No," Buffy said, clearly wishing Cordy would stop trying to make conversation.

"Well that's good," Cordy said brightly. "You're alive, and he's alive, and you're both..."

She trailed off.

"Alive?" Giles supplied dryly.

Cordelia shrugged. "I was going to go with shockingly abnormal in a J. Crew kind of way, but..." she trailed off, ready to kill Wes for leaving her here alone. She wasn't the person they thought she was anymore, but somehow, every time she opened her mouth, Queen C took control of her tongue.

"It's like a vicious tongue demon," Cordy muttered under her breath.

Giles and Buffy looked at her, clearly clueless.

"Evil puppy," Cordy said suddenly, snapping her fingers. "Oh, not good, evil puppy." She looked around. "Where'd Liam and Faith go?"

"The consistent answer to that question is somewhere they're not supposed to," Wes said, entering the room and rubbing his temples slightly.

"Spike," everyone in the room said at once.

They raced for the bathroom. Buffy flung open the door, ready to tear Spike's arms off and beat him with them if he'd hurt Angel Version 4.0.

Buffy stopped in her tracks the moment her eyes saw the scene. It took a minute for it all to penetrate her brain.

Faith and Liam were sitting in Spike's lap, completely disregarding the chains with the innocent acceptance of small children, and Spike appeared to be telling them a story.

"And then," Spike said, his voice animated, "the prince and the princess ate the knight, and they all lived happily ever after. With blood."

"Yay!" Faith and Liam said together, clapping their hands and looking adoringly at the bleach blond vampire.

Cordelia groaned, as if Liam and Faith weren't violent enough already. They so didn't need stories about eating people. She could already see the frequency of their stabbing activity skyrocketing.

"Out," Wes told Faith and Liam sternly.

"But Mr. Spike was going to play Big Bad with us," Liam said, wheedling.

Buffy stared at Spike incredulously. Spike, still sopping wet, tried to look evil, but failed miserably.

"I want the two of you out of that tub and in the living room now," Wes said. The children didn't move, and Wes raised one eyebrow at them in warning. Quickly, the climbed off of Spike's lap and out of the tub.

Giles looked at Wes, impressed. He'd been under the impression that no one could control the Destructive Duo.

"Can we come back to visit Mr. Spike later?" Liam asked, having taking an incredible liking to the blond vampire.

Faith looked up at Buffy and grinned. "You're right," she told Spike. "She does look like a little blonde Happy Meal with legs."

Wes bent down and swooped Faith into his arms, ready to put his face next to hers and scold her in a way that made it quite clear that he wasn't pleased with her behavior.

Beneath his touch, she shivered, and as soon as he held her in his arms, she snuggled up against her body. Her little heart was still racing. Wes looked at Spike. He could sense that something had shaken Faith and shaken her badly. Almost unconsciously, he hugged the child. His girl.

"If you hurt her- hurt them," he said softly, his voice dangerous, "I will kill you."

"I didn't touch her," Spike said. "I'm not the one who hurt her, and unless your head is planted firmly up your ass, you damn well know it."

Cordelia cleared her throat and gave Spike a very pointed look. He rolled his eyes.

"Unless your head is planted firmly up your rear end, you darn well know it," he corrected himself.

Cordelia nodded, satisfied. No one used language like that around the kiddos on her watch.

Wes looked at Faith and then at Liam. Liam groaned. He knew that face. That was lecture face. Liam squirmed just looking at it, hoping that Wes didn't decide to make good on his perennial thrashing promise.

Faith placed her hand flat on Wesley's cheek, and her other hand crept into her mouth again.

"Mommy was asleep in the bathtub," she whispered.

"What?" Buffy asked, something like alarm entering her voice. Faith buried her head in Wesley's arm.

"Go away," she said, her words muffled through Wesley's sleeve. "Why don't you all just go away."

Wanting to fill the awkward silence that followed, Liam tugged on Buffy's shirt. "Do you know the Wanker Song?" he asked.

All of the adults in the room looked at the vampire chained up in the bathtub. Like many things in life, they were convinced that somehow, this was entirely Spike's fault.

* * *

Kate hung up her phone. The officers she'd sent by Angel Investigations had reported back that there was no one in residence, and that the investigations agency itself had been temporarily shut down.

"Angel," she murmured, under her breath, "what are you up to?" She knew he was connected with the murderer they were looking for: a woman from Sunnydale, who answered to the name of Faith.

"I think that you and I may be looking for the same thing," a voice said smoothly, causing her to look up.

She narrowed her eyes at the handsome man who stood before her. He was a lawyer. She didn't trust lawyers. He worked for Wolfram and Hart, and that made things that much worse.

More than anything else, he was a man, and Kate Lockley did not trust men.

As Lindsey prepared to pump the detective for information about Angel's whereabouts, and that of the assassin slayer he'd sent after Angel, he pushed back the words that were pumping through his head along with the beat of his heart.

Are you a good man?

* * *

By the time Wesley and Cordelia had gotten the kids settled in the living room, and Giles had gotten Spike settled in the bathtub with his blood, Buffy was starting to have second thoughts about what she'd just volunteered to do.

Baby-sitting couldn't be that hard, could it?

As the thought passed through her brain, a flesh colored streak ran by her.

"What was that?" Buffy asked.

Giles took off his glasses and began cleaning them. "I believe that was Liam," he said. Then he gestured to the chair Liam had previously been sitting in. "And I believe those are Liam's clothes."

Cordelia smiled brightly, trying to look for a way to make the situation less awkward as Wes chased after Liam.

"Did we mention he's a streaker?"

* * *

THROWBACK: CHAPTER TWELVE

Wes spread the information he had out on the table. He sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Working on the reversal spell?" Cordy asked, coming into the room, her voice low. In her arms, she carried a sleeping Liam, his body limp and a soft baby smile on his face. He looked so angelic that Wes practically snorted. Reaching up and pushing Liam's baby wisps of hair out of his face absentmindedly, Wes shook his head.

"No," he said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them. "Not exactly."

Cordelia looked at the papers on the table. "Okay," she said. "You know It?" Cordy asked. Wes was clueless as to what she was talking about. "I am officially not getting It," Cordy said.

Wes cleared his throat. "Faith's file," he said. "It's everything The Council knew about her. Shockingly little, actually." Wes looked down. "I was her Watcher."

"Don't go getting all guilt-like on me," Cordy said. "Kids can smell guilt, and the last thing we need is for Search and Destroy to figure out you feel all bad about the way things went with adult Faith."

Even as she said it, Cordelia heard her own voice saying one of the many insults she'd thrown in Faith's general direction. She adjusted Liam in her arms.

"But I want to wench the wanker, you bloody sodding fool," the little boy murmured.

Cordy sighed a very aggrieved sigh. "That reminds me. Someone really needs to stake Spike, even if he is still a puppy. An evil puppy is still..." Cordy trailed off for a moment.

'Not this again', she thought.

"Someone needs to stake Spike," she said more firmly, even though she had no intention of staking Spike. He irritated Buffy far too much to be dusted.

"Duly noted," Wes mumbled, looking down at the papers. According to the Council's records, Faith had been in various foster homes from the time she was four and a half until her calling at age fifteen. The records said nothing about her life before the age of four.

"Waaaaahhhhh-taaaaaaaa!" Cordy and Wes both jumped at the sound of the high pitched battle cry. Liam slept through it, having a little boy's capability of sleeping through anything and everything.

"Faith," Wes said, his eyes widening. "I thought you were watching her."

Cordy shook her head. "Giles said he'd look after her for a few minutes while I came up here to put Liam down."

Thinking about the fact that Giles had been left to the mercy of a four year old whirlwind with super strength, Wes raced down the stairs, and Cordy followed, Liam still snoozing blissfully unaware in her arms.

They arrived in the kitchen on Buffy's heels.

"What happened?" Buffy asked, looking around the room. The floor was covered with water, a bar of soap had been smooshed into the floor, and Giles was lying on the floor, looking quite dazed.

The Watcher shook his head for a moment and then shot a disgruntled look at Wes and Cordelia.

"You failed to mention that Faith had retained her slayer powers," he said, wincing a little as he stood up.

Wes, feeling an insane urge to laugh, knelt down to Faith's level. "Did you hurt Mr. Giles, Faith?" he asked sternly.

Faith batted her eyelashes innocently at Wesley and then turned to glare at Giles. "He tried to make me eat soap!" she said indignantly.

Wes, Buffy, and Cordelia turned their glances to Giles. Giles, looking a little flustered, explained. "She was using vulgar language, and I told her that if I had said something like that as a child, I would have had my mouth washed out with soap."

Picturing a little Giles cursing made Buffy bite down on her lips to keep from smiling.

"And?" Wes asked, having trouble picturing Giles actually trying to wash Faith's mouth out with soap. The older Watcher simply wasn't that aggressive.

"And," Giles said, glaring at Faith. "I believe her exact response was 'I'd like to see you try...'" Giles trailed off, feeling awkward repeating Faith's words out loud. "Pussy," he said, arching his eyebrows a bit.

"You know, Giles," Buffy said, "that's gotta be one of the top ten things I never thought I'd hear you say, right after 'I've always wanted to have a threesome' and right before 'that Britney Spears is extremely talented.'"

Faith tilted her head to the side and looked at Buffy. "What's a threesome?" she asked curiously.

"Nevermind," everyone in the room said at once.

"Threesome," the sleeping Liam murmured. "Waaaaaa-taaaaaaaah."

"Waaaaaa-taaaaaaah!" Faith echoed.

Wesley cleared his throat and gave Faith a stern look. "You don't hurt people," he said firmly. Faith shrugged, and he gripped her shoulders firmly. "I mean it, Faith-girl," he said, "when someone's weaker than you are..."

Giles harrumphed.

"... you don't hit them just because you're strong."

"But that sodding wanker was going to make me eat soap," Faith said fiercely, digging her toe into the kitchen floor.

Wes gave Faith an even look. "Do you want me to wash your mouth out, young lady?" he asked. He couldn't believe that he'd just used the phrase 'young lady.' Faith was turning him into a father.

Faith shook her head sullenly.

"Then apologize to Giles and watch your language," Wes said firmly.

Faith turned to Giles. "Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all. Cordy gave Faith a warning look over Liam's sleeping head. Faith sighed. "Sorry I called you a pussy and hurt you 'cause you're weaker than me," Faith amended.

Then she looked at Wes and Cordy. "Happy?" she asked them.

"Ecstatic," Wes said dryly. Stubbornly, Faith turned toward him and held her hands up silently. Without even thinking about it, Wes picked her up into his arms. She snuggled against his chest, and Wes turned his attention to Giles.

"Terribly sorry about that," he said.

Buffy cleared her throat. "I know I said I'd babysit for you guys while you went to do the researchy thing, but..."

She trailed off.

Wordlessly, Cordy transferred Liam to Buffy's arms. "It's break time for Cordy," she announced, leaning over to kiss the top of Liam's head. "I've got a manicure appointment."

Wes cleared his throat. "And I'm going on a little trip," he announced. He had every intention of looking into Faith's past himself. There was something about the woman they'd all missed, and having met the girl, he wanted to know what it was.

Faith looked at him, alarmed. "You're leaving?" she asked in a whisper.

Wes turned her around in his arms so that they were facing each other. "I'm coming back," he said. "Cordy, Buffy, and Giles will take good care of you."

Faith wasn't so sure about that.

Buffy shot a pleading look at Giles.

"I have some...er... some outside research to do," Giles said. "I'm sure you can handle the two of them far better than I can. After all, you have slayer strength as well."

A new though occurred to Buffy, and she looked at Angel. "Is he, you know...?" she trailed off.

"He's mine," Faith announced firmly. "My Liam."

"He's not all fangy, if that's what you mean," Cordy said.

"My Liam," Faith reiterated. She didn't want Buffy to get any ideas.

Buffy shot an annoyed look at the child.

"You know," Cordy said under her breath so that no one but Buffy could hear her, "she's just a little kid, Buffy, and there's stuff there you don't even want to know about. You might think about that. She's just a kid."

Buffy blanched for a moment, and shifting Liam in her arm, she smiled at Faith. "We're going to have lots of fun while Wes and Cordy are gone," she said brightly.

Faith smiled, her eyes sparkling in a way that made Wesley and Cordelia groan. "You know," the little girl said. "I think we are."

Right then, Buffy decided to call for reinforcements.

An hour later, Liam was awake, filled with energy after his nap, and insisting on going to see his Uncle Spike.

"Uncle Spike?" Buffy asked. Somehow, that just seemed wrong.

"Yes," Liam said. "He tells great stories about eating people and blonde haired bints who can't resist the Big Bad." Liam's eyes got wide just thinking about it. "And he says hell and ass a lot," Liam continued. Buffy gave him a warning look. "'He says 'hell' and 'ass,' a lot" Liam corrected himself, using air quotes. He'd seen Cordelia use them before.

Faith giggled. "I like Uncle Spike, too," Faith said. "He's not a 'bloody' 'sodding' 'pussy' 'ass.'" The little girl made liberal use of air quotes. She and Liam burst into giggles. They'd found a way around the no bad words rule.

"No more air quotiness," Buffy said firmly. "None."

Faith and Liam grinned at each other."

"'Okay,'" they both said at the same time, using air quotes.

The doorbell rang. Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. Her reinforcements were here. Xander, Willow, Anya, and Riley trooped into the room.

"Hello, small people with grubby fingers," Anya said cheerfully. She turned to Xander. "The little girl is cuter," she said loudly, turning to Xander, "although they're both relatively aesthetically pleasing for small humans."

Xander looked at the kids, feeling a little awkward. He'd never liked Angel, and he had a history he would have rather forgotten with Faith.

Liam grinned up at him. "Do you know any stories?" Liam asked cheerfully.

"Do you know any songs?" Faith asked.

"Do you know the wench song?" they both asked together.

Xander looked around the room for a second. Was he supposed to know a song about wenches?

"Sure," he said, thinking on his feet. "Ummmm... this is the wench song," he said, half-singing, half-speaking and sounding very awkward. "It's a...ummmmm... song about wenches and... umm... Cheetohs." Riley rolled his eyes at Xander. Who did he think he was kidding?

"Cheetohs?" Willow asked, giving Xander a strange look.

Little Liam and Faith beamed up at Xander. Finally. Here was an adult who knew how to sing properly.

For a moment, the room was silent, and then Faith spoke up. "What's a threesome?" she asked, still pondering Buffy's words from earlier.

Anya's eyes lit up. "Well, small inquisitive child," she said, "a threesome is when..."

"Anya!" Buffy and Xander said at once.

"We will talk later, little Faith-shaped one," Anya said.

In that moment, Buffy knew she was in way, way over her head.

* * *

THROWBACK: CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The car was silent except for the music Lindsey had turned on out of habit the moment he had climbed into the driver's seat.

He turned onto the highway, looking into the rear view mirror and catching sight of Kate's face as she did so.

Her jaw was firmly set, her eyes hard. She was a cop, Lindsey decided, maybe even more than he was a lawyer.

Are you a good man?

He turned the radio up louder, drowning out the little girl's voice in his head.

She'd told him her name was Faye, but the longer he thought about it, the more firmly he knew that he'd met the child before, or more precisely, he'd met the woman-child before. Faith.

He wondered what exactly Detective Beautiful in the passenger seat was going to say when she found out her suspect wasn't even waist-high.

* * *

"I know a game," Liam said solemnly.

"So do I," Xander countered. "My game is called feed Uncle Xander Cheetohs."

Liam considered it for a moment and then wrinkled his nose suspiciously. "That doesn't sound like very much fun," he said.

"Sure it does," Xander said, putting enthusiasm in his voice, "it's almost as fun as playing Be Uncle Xander's Minion."

"Xander!" Willow said.

"What?" Xander asked, shrugging. "Like I'm ever going to get this chance again, and come on, why are evil people the only ones who get minions? Just once, I'd like to see a happy, skippy minion." Xander took a sip of his orange soda.

"Whatsa minion?" Little Faith asked, breaking away from her conversation with Anya for a moment. "Is it like mission...missiona..." Faith looked to Anya for help.

"Missionary position, Faith-esque child," Anya supplied brightly, obviously pleased with her pupil. Xander choked on his orange soda.

"I know a game," Liam repeated, a slight, brooding expression settling over his face at the fact that no one was paying attention to him. He didn't care about any stupid missionary position anyway.

Buffy knelt down next to Liam and looked into his darkly fringed eyes. "What's your game?" she asked, smiling at him.

Immediately, Faith's attention was on Liam. "What's your game?" she asked, not wanting to be left out. He was her Liam after all.

"My game," Liam said, "is about sheep."

Xander gave the room an incredulous look. "Remind me to ask big Angel what's up with the sheep fetish," he said. Then he thought about it for a second and shuddered. "Actually," he said, "remind me not to ask big Angel about the sheep fetish."

"Sheep are fluffy," Liam said, "and they can fight real good, like fruit loops." In his four year old mind, it all made perfect sense.

"Inflatable sheep," Anya piped up.

"An," Xander said patiently, "remember when we talked about inappropriate conversations for young children?"

"Nothing sexually explicit or permanently damaging," Anya said clearly. Then she stared at Xander. "Sheep aren't explicit," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Willow blushed, suddenly understanding the inflatable sheep reference. In the corner of the room, Riley looked uncomfortably stiff.

"So," Liam said, gesturing widely and explaining his game, "there are three sheep, and they all say baaaa and they always have to be touching each other." Liam made up the rules as he went along. "And there are a bunch of... a bunch of..." Liam stalled as he thought.

"Cows?" Faith suggested.

Liam nodded vigorously. "Cows," he said. "And the cows have to close their eyes, and the blue cows--"

"There are blue cows?" Riley asked from the corner, amusement entering his voice. Little Liam glared at him. He did not like the big man. He was kind of hoping Uncle Spike would eat him, because then, Uncle Spike wouldn't be hungry anymore and he could have lots of sodding blood, and then there wouldn't be a big man anymore. Liam thought that sounded like a good plan, and he filed it away in the back of his mind for future reference.

"Blue cows," Faith said with an affirming nod. The big man was looking at her kind of weird. He smelled like Buffy, and that made him scary, because Buffy smelled nice even though she was angry, and that was bad.

Faith was bad. BAD.

Liam jabbed her in the side, and without thinking about it, she took a step toward him.

"Blue cows," Buffy reminded Liam, amused and wondering what kind of game the creative little boy Angel had been would come up with.

Liam nodded. "The blue cows have to try to catch the sheep," he said, "and the pink cows try to catch the blue cows, and the sheep try to catch the pink cows."

"Back up the cow wagon there," Xander said, trying to wrap his mind around the rules of the game. "So the pink cows and the blue cows have their eyes closed, and the sheep have their eyes open, but they have to always be touching each other..."

"And they can't walk," Liam said. "They have to roll and crawl and stuff."

Faith nodded. This all made perfect sense.

"And the pink cows chase the blue cows and the blue cows chase the sheep and the sheep chase the pink cows," Willow said. Then she paused and grinned. "That's a lot of cows."

"Let's play," Liam said. The scoobies looked at each other for a moment, hesitantly, and Riley came to stand next to Buffy. Buffy stood up, and Riley wrapped an arm around her.

Liam growled at him softly.

"Did he just growl at me?" Riley asked, completely disconcerted.

"No," Buffy said quickly, giving Liam a warning look. "Strong wind." Silently, Buffy cursed herself. What kind of lame excuse was 'strong wind' when they were inside the house and wind wasn't very growl-y anyway?

"So," Willow said brightly, "how about this game playage?"

Liam looked darkly at Riley. "Okay," the little boy said finally, a smile coming over his face. "We'll play. Me and Faith and Buffy, we're sheep. And Anya---"

Anya cut him off. "I want to be a pink cow," she said dreamily.

Xander looked at her closely. "Is it wrong if I'm turned on by that?" he asked.

"Xander!" Buffy scolded.

"Anya can be a pink cow," Liam said decisively.

"With Riley," Faith said, suddenly inspired. She grinned wickedly.

"What?" Riley asked. He smiled at the kids.

"You don't want me to be a pink cow," Riley said, feeling ridiculous as he flashed the kids a cheesy-sensitive Iowa farm boy grin. "How about I be a blue cow instead?"

Both children shook their heads firmly.

"No," Liam said. "Pink cow."

And that, was that.

Half an hour later, Liam was still making up rules to the game, and Xander was relishing the fact that his team was beating Riley's team, according to Liam, eleventeen to nothing.

"This time, the blue cows sing," Liam said.

"Sing me, Mommy,"Faith said.

"Damn brat," her mother mumbled.

Faith climbed into her lap. "Sing me," she said again.

Her mother shoved her onto the floor.

Faith climbed back into her lap. "Love you," she said simply in her not-yet-two baby speak. She'd heard Sarah's mommy tell her that.

Faith's mother shoved her to the floor, and this time, Faith cut her knee on broken glass.

"Do you love me now?" her mother asked. Her mother's face crumbled. "Do you love me now?" she asked again, half desperate, half raging. "Do you?"

Faith inched toward Liam, and since she, Liam, and Buffy were lying on the floor next to each other as Liam had dictated they had to do because they were sheep, Faith unconsciously moved toward Buffy, too.

"Yes, blue cows have to sing," Liam said. "That's the rule."

"You're just making up the rules," Xander said.

"Am not," Liam argued.

"Are too," Xander said.

"But you like singing," Faith said softly, a desperate and haunted tone entering her voice. Buffy looked down. The child was practically in her lap, and Buffy could see that Faith's little body was completely tense. Cordelia had said that Faith was dealing with stuff that Buffy couldn't even imagine, and Faith's own words echoed in Buffy's head. Why is Mommy asleep in the bathtub?

Tentatively, Buffy reached down a hand and gently rubbed small circles on the little girl's back. Faith looked up at her, and the surprise, mistrust, and masked awe in the child's eyes made Buffy flinch. This Faith wasn't the woman Buffy had known. She was a child, an innocent, and Buffy hadn't quite realized it until this moment.

"But I'm a blue sheep," Willow said suddenly, panic entering her voice as she realized that her group was the group that was supposed to sing under Liam's new rule. "I can't sing. I don't do the singing thing. There will be absolutely no Willow singing. No how, no way, no sir-ee, bub."

"Who's Bub?" Liam asked.

Faith pointed at Riley. "I think he is," she said.

"I'm not Bub," Riley protested.

"Sure, Bub," Faith and Liam replied at the same time. Buffy stifled a grin. It was nice to see Riley flustered like this.

"No singing," Willow protested again. "Never."

Five minutes later, Willow and Xander were singing with their eyes closed, trying to find the Buffy-Liam-Faith complex that was making a poor effort at crawling around on the floor, and Riley and Anya were wandering around with their eyes closed, saying nothing.

"Come on," Buffy told little Faith and Liam, "let's go get him." She steered them toward Riley and away from the singing blue cows.

"This is me singing about blue cows and blue cow things and blue cow-y stuff and ummm ..." Willow trailed off, at a loss as to what to sing next.

"Sing about wenches or wankers or blood or ketchup," Liam called out helpfully.

Willow followed the direction of his voice. After all, she was a blue cow, and blue cows were supposed to catch sheep. Those were the rules of Liam's Game.

Giggling fiercely, Faith, Liam, and Buffy made their way to Riley, and Faith reached out and tagged his leg. "We got him!" she yelled joyfully.

Buffy, Liam, and Faith collapsed into laughter on the floor, the little ones rolling around on top of Buffy like puppies in a litter.

Riley knelt down and pressed a kiss to Buffy's cheek.

Xander, Willow, and Anya opened their eyes just in time to see Liam sink his teeth into Riley's calf.

"Yeeeeooooow!" Riley screeched.

"Yeeeeooooow!" Faith echoed joyfully, pleased with the sound.

Liam spat on the floor.

"Liam," Buffy said sharply.

"But he tastes bad," Liam insisted, thinking she was yelling at him for spitting.

"You don't bite people," Buffy said, giving the little boy a look.

Liam, well accustomed to looks, was quite impervious to them by now.

"How bad did he taste?" Faith asked.

"Standing right here," Riley reminded her. Faith paid no attention to him whatsoever.

"Worse than Wesley's pudding," Liam said, and he stuck his tongue out of his mouth and raked his fingernails down it.

Xander started laughing.

"This isn't funny," Willow said, cracking up, "this is bad. Very bad and not funny." The wicca couldn't keep a straight face.

"Wesley made pudding?" Buffy asked, distracted for a moment.

Faith and little Liam nodded with big eyes. Wes had tried to surprise them, but his pudding had tasted bad. Real bad.

"And he tastes worse than that?" Faith asked incredulously.

Liam nodded and spat on the ground.

"No more," Buffy told him. "Spitting's not nice, and neither is biting people. Now tell Riley you're sorry."

"You want me to lie?" Liam asked, wide eyed.

"Yes," Buffy said. "No," she corrected. "I mean...yes...no..."

"I want my sodding blood," Spike yelled from the bathroom.

"I WANT MY SODDING BLOOD!" the kiddos echoed.

"You know," Xander pointed out, "none of this would have happened if we'd played feed Uncle Xander Cheetohs."

Bedlam was alive and well in Sunnydale.

* * *

THROWBACK: CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands," Willow sang, a little off key.

Liam and Faith stared at her, their expressions completely blank.

"Okay," she said, "so not so much so with the hand clapping. I can deal with that." She looked at Xander out of the side of her eye. "Tough audience," she said.

Faith and Liam turned their attention to Xander, expectantly.

"Booger," Xander said.

The kids looked at each other for a moment, and then started cracking up.

Xander turned his head toward Willow. "It's a gift," he said, bowing slightly.

"Ani," Faith said quietly, looking up at Anya and pronouncing her name in a distinctly childlike way, "you do something now."

"Well, tiny human," Anya said brightly, her eyes wide, "would you like to see a trick Ani can do?" The children nodded. Anya turned to Xander, concentration settling over her face. "I'm going to need a box of tacks, a Frisbee, two pounds of green jello, a bottle of Flintstone vitamins, and an inflatable sheep."

Xander pretended to think about it for about half a second. "A world of no," he told her, but as he saw her smiling at him, he detoured from The Sarcastic Island to Happy Xander Land, and his expression softened as he wondered what exactly she had planned for that Frisbee.

Willow looked up at the ceiling, trying not to go to Happy Willow Land.

"If you're happy and you know it, wench your wench..." Liam sang.

Faith poked Liam in the side. "Sodding blood?" she asked him in a whisper.

He nodded, and the two of them slipped out of the living room and into the kitchen, leaving Xander and Anya staring at each other, and Willow staring at the ceiling.

From across the room, Riley raised one eyebrow, as Buffy continued to play the damage control game.

"You can't take what Angel does seriously," she said. "He's just a little boy now."

"Liam," Riley said, no humor in his voice, even as his lips turned up in a slight smirk.

Buffy nodded. "Right," she said, forcing herself to remember that the child's name was Liam. "And little boys, they bite people, and call people pussies, and try to staple people's pant legs to the wall all the time." Riley stared at her. "Not buying it?" she asked him.

Riley shook his head. "No," he said plainly.

"He's just a little protective of me," Buffy said. "When you think about it, it's kind of cute, in a little kid way."

"Is playing with knives in Giles' kitchen cute in a little kid kind of way?" Riley asked.

Buffy's eyes flew open, and she turned around to see Xander and Anya staring at each other, deeply involved in some kind of incomprehensible conversation about the many uses of Flintstone vitamins, and Willow, her eyes fixed on a point in the ceiling, trying to look inconspicuous and failing miserably.

"You might want to consider investing in friends a little less distracted by sparkly things," Riley told her, following her into the kitchen.

"Sparkly things?" Buffy asked, temporarily distracted. Then she shook her head. "All right. Knife. Kitchen. Kids. Watch me focus." Riley bit back a smile, as Buffy took charge.

"Freeze," Buffy said, her voice loud. In the living room, Willow, Xander, and Anya froze and looked at each other guiltily.

"Pseudo-Faith? Angel-like child?" Anya called, looking around. "Where did they go?"

* * *

The documentation started roughly around Faith's second birthday. Occasional hospital visits. A broken arm from falling out of her crib. A severe burn on the bottom of her right foot from playing with the stove.

"How exactly does a three year old child burn the bottom of her foot on a stove?" Wesley asked, anger seething through his voice.

That was the sole documentation he had of Faith's early childhood. Two visits to the local minor emergency room. Aside from the hospital records he'd managed to dig up, he had no other paper work on the slayer until just before her fifth birthday, when she'd been taken into the hospital upon the death of her mother.

Why is Mommy asleep in the bathtub?

Faith's voice echoed in his ears.

Why is it all red?

Wesley felt his eyes burn with unshed tears at the tarnished innocence he could hear in her voice in his memory.

He muttered an expletive. She'd discovered her mother, wrists slit, dead in a bathtub overflowing with blood-tinted water.

He could see the scene vividly before his eyes. The little girl: dark hair, with dark circles under her eyes and bruises on her scrawny arms, tentatively shaking her mother's arms. The bathtub, off white porcelain, the water still running.

He had no idea where the image came from, but he knew it was true. His girl.

Ignoring his tearing eyes and the mounting fury inside of his chest, he turned the page.

"Well, Faith girl," he said softly, picturing her four year old self in his mind.

"Let's see where life's roads took you next."

* * *

"Hey Liam, catch!" Faith yelled happily. Liam turned, and Faith tossed him a knife, nice and easy. She had to play easy with her Liam. She was stronger than he was, but that was okay, because the Mommy was much stronger than she was � always stronger -, and he kept her away at night, with his singing.

The Mommy hated singing.

Buffy saw the knife flying toward Liam's head, and she moved as quickly as she could, bolting in front of him to catch it. She turned to glare at Faith.

"You do not throw knives," she said, her voice horrible and low.

'I don't care', Faith told herself right away. 'She can yell and she can hit, and I don't care'.

"But Buffy, we throw knives all the time," Liam said. "Sometimes we catch them..."

Buffy knelt down to Faith's level. "You don't touch knives," she said, softening her voice at the forced carelessness in the child's eyes. She reached out a hand to touch Faith's shoulder, and Faith flinched visibly.

"...and sometimes, we throw them out windows..." Liam continued on, babbling.

Riley brought his hand to his temple. He was getting a headache.

"You could get hurt," Buffy said, gentling her voice as much as she could. She could feel Faith trying not to tremble under her finger tips, a sullen look settling over the little girl's mouth. "We don't want you to get hurt."

"... and sometimes, the poodle next door doesn't like that very much..." Liam babbled on.

Buffy shot a glance at Riley. "Is he still talking about knives?" she asked him. Riley nodded.

"Yup," he replied.

"Do you understand, Faith?" Buffy asked her. "You don't throw knives at people."

"Not even if they're gonna catch them?" Faith asked, the words catching in her throat a little, her back stinging something awful with the memories of the knife cut that was really her falling down the stairs because she was damn clumsy.

So damn clumsy.

"... and sometimes, we stab things with them. Stab-stab-stab..."

"No stab," Buffy said firmly, turning to look at Liam, pulling Faith closer to her in a casual hug.

"Stab," Liam said, wrinkling his brow a little.

"No stab," Buffy said.

Faith met Liam's eyes. "Stab," they both chorused at once.

"No..." Buffy cut herself off. This was ridiculous. How was it that she, her boyfriend, and three of her friends were completely incapable of watching two not-quite-ordinary four year olds?

Faith saw the moment of weakness, and, snuggling up to Buffy, she went for it. "Can we bring Spike his sodding blood?" she asked. "Please?"

"We'll be really good," Liam promised. "No stabbing."

Buffy sighed. What was the worst thing that could happen?

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Fifteen

"You two stay right here," Buffy said firmly. "I'm going to go have a talk with 'Mr. Spike' before you go in there."

"Can I hold the blood while you're gone?" Liam asked, his eyes wide. It was on the tip of her tongue to say no, but Buffy couldn't make herself do it.

"Watch him," she ordered Xander and Riley, and carefully, she handed the cup of blood to Liam.

Faith inched toward Liam, who got to hold the blood because nobody hated him.

Liam smelled the blood. "Smells like band-aids," he declared, with his characteristic cheerful grin.

Immediately, Faith and Liam met eyes, and an unspoken message passed between them. "We want band-aids," they chorused at once.

"What?" Riley asked, surprised to hear Liam saying anything that wasn't some variety of 'grrrrrr,' the wench song, or 'stab-stab-stab.'

"Band-aids," Liam piped up. Glaring at Riley, he put on what passed in his four year old mind for a manly voice. "Me and Faith want band-aids," he said, his mouth now set in a firm line.

Xander looked at them and then shrugged and looked at Riley. "You heard the man," he said in a goofy, booming voice. "Band-aids!"

* * *

By the time she was done with Cordelia's right hand, the manicurist was getting tired of hearing about the woman's two 'adorable' hellion children. By the time she was done with Cordy's left hand, the woman was learning to hate the name 'Liam,' and by the time she was halfway done with the pedicure, she'd begun to shudder every time she heard the words 'sheep,' 'wench,' and 'glaive.'

What kind of kids did this woman have, anyway?

Cordy shifted in her seat, wondering how the Scoobies were doing looking after Liam and Faith. She glanced down at her watch. Was it her, or was this pedicure taking an awful long time?

* * *

"If you do anything to hurt either of them," Buffy said, fixing her eyes on Spike.

"I know, I know, you'll stake me good and proper," Spike said. Buffy glared at him. Spike gave her a disgusted look. "I'm chained up in a bathtub, Slayer," he said mildly, gesturing with his eyes toward his chains. "What do you think I'm going to do to the nibblets? Stare them to death?"

Buffy steeled herself against the fact that he had a good point. "You won't call them nibblets, or platelets, or munchies, or anything food-related," she said. "You won't say any bad words around them. You won't tell them bloody stories."

Spike yawned, giving her a bored look.

"You won't let them kill themselves," Buffy said.

A crash from the kitchen had her jumping.

"Looks like you're doing a bang up job of it yourself, Slayer," Spike said, a smirk on his face.

Buffy pointed her index finger at him sternly, but couldn't think of anything to say. Another crash from the kitchen had her running out of the bathroom and towards the sounds of the kiddos' laughter.

* * *

Kate glanced at Lindsey, not letting herself feel anything towards him. He was a means to an end, a way to Sunnydale. A way to catch a murderer, an animal. A woman without a soul.

As a detective, Kate Lockely was first rate. She had no pity for the criminals, and no fear of their crimes. This Faith woman was no different. She would catch her and lock her up, like the animal she was.

Kate glanced at Lindsey again and then looked quickly out the window when he turned to look at her. As a detective, she was first rate. As a woman, she wasn't, and Kate was willing to live with that. She didn't want to be anything else, didn't want to feel.

Lindsey looked at her for a moment, and she felt his gaze on her face.

A small smile crept onto Kate's face. She'd get the criminal, like always, and maybe this time, though she didn't even let the thought cross her mind, she'd get the guy as well.

* * *

"Oh, Faith." Wesley's voice was soft as he read through her file. She'd been called sullen, a rebel. An attitude problem. Shuffled from foster home to foster home from the time she was four until she was nine, when she had finally settled down in a group home, with good people. By the time she was twelve, she was years behind in school. One foster brother was killed in a fist fight, another sent to juvie on charges of sexual molestation.

Wes pored over the file. It was all so straight-forward, so matter-of-fact. Oh, this child fell through the cracks. Oh, this is the one we lost. No big deal. Can't win them all. Oh, she found her mother's body. Oh, no one ever taught her to read. Oh, she spent her formative years without a permanent home or steadfast authority figures. Oh well.

Wes slammed the file closed, haunted by the child he'd held in his arms. His little Faith.

* * *

Another crash and the sound of Xander trying to cajole the kids into calming down had Buffy rushing into the kitchen.

"That was great, Faith!" Liam said. "I didn't know plates made such good Wench-bies."

Buffy came to a hault, looking at the shattered plates on the floor of the kitchen. Wench-bies? Wench-bies? What in the world was a Wench-bee?

Liam pulled another ceramic plate out of Giles's cabinet and, with an expert fling of his wrist, sent it flying like a Frisbee to crash into the wall.

"Oh," Buffy said out loud, a smile on her face. "I get it. Wench-bee. Frisbee."

"Clever," Xander said. The kids beamed up at him, and Buffy narrowed her eyes at her friend. Xander put a stern expression on his face. "Clever and wrong," he amended emphatically.

"Where'd Riley go?" Buffy asked, "and why are they covered with band-aids?"

Xander opened his mouth to answer, but before either of them realized what was happening, Seek and Destroy were making a beeline for the bathroom and dear old Mr. Spike.

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Sixteen

"Here's your sodding blood, Mr. Spike," Liam said, bouncing up and down and sloshing blood onto the floor.

Since Buffy was watching, Spike made a show of taking pains to accept the blood nicely and without any improper comments. "Thank you," Spike said pointedly, shooting a meaningful look at the slayer.

Faith and Liam waited. "Thank you bloody hell?" Liam asked hopefully.

"Thank you wanker ass bint?" Faith suggested, and Spike struggled to keep a straight face. He'd never heard that one before. Eagerly, both of the kids stared up at the vampire, but Spike said nothing else. The two children turned to Buffy.

"What did you do to our Spike?" Faith demanded, her little hand knotted up in a fist. "Why isn't he saying bloody sodding pussy hell?"

Spike turned innocent eyes toward Buffy, and crossed his chained arms over his chest, waiting for her reply, a smirk playing around the edges of his lips. "I believe the Little Bit there asked you a question, Slayer," he said.

Buffy glared at him.

Liam nudged Spike. "Do you want me to eat her for you?" he asked, clamoring onto Spike's lap. "Do ya, Mr. Spike?" he asked again. He turned to grin at Buffy. "Cause I will."

Spike pretended to think hard about it. Buffy clenched her jaw. "No," he said finally, raising his eyebrows at Buffy. Without a word, she turned and walked out of the bathroom. The slayer knew Spike wouldn't hurt the kiddos, and she didn't particularly want to listen to whatever it was he was about to say next. "She doesn't look like she'd taste very good anyway, Liam m'boy. Bitter." Buffy turned around to glare at him. Conspicuously, Spike took a sip of his blood and licked his bottom lip.

The blood dripped slowly from her arm, onto the tile floor. Drop. Drop. Drop.

"Look at the mess you're making, Faithie. Filthy little animal." Mommy's voice cut harshly through the air. Faith breathed slowly, forcing herself not to make eye contact. She didn't care. Her arm throbbed.

"Look!"

With no expression in her eyes, Faith did as she was bid and looked down. There was glass all over the ground, and the liquid that smelled like Mommy's breath and trouble, and with a drip, drip, drip, there were little round droplets of blood.

"Eat it."

The anger burned inside her stomach, and even though she knew deep down it was a mistake, Faith threw back her head and looked at her mommy. Straight. In. The. Eye.

The next instant, she was on the ground, and her head was being pressed up against the filthy floor.

"I said eat it."

"Bite Sized?" Spike asked, bringing Faith back to the present. "You okay, tidbit?"

Faith didn't say anything, didn't look at him, at Liam, or at Buffy, who had come back to stand in the doorway.

Instead, she looked at the bathtub.

"My Faith?" Liam said. "Do you want me to sing to you? About wench-bies and glaives and sheep and... sheep-wenches with glaives?"

Spike made a soothing sound in the back of his throat and gently held a hand out to Faith.

Faith stepped toward him and stopped before she was actually touching him. People thought Mr. Spike was bad, too. That's why he was here, chained up like an animal.

Filthy little animal.

"Let him go," Faith's voice was low.

Buffy looked at her. "He's dangerous, sweetheart," she said, her voice guarded.

"Let him go now."

"Faith, what's wrong?" Buffy bent down to her level. "Look at me. What's wrong?"

"LET HIM GO. LET HIM GO. LET HIM GO." Liam added his yells to Faith's, and, like an expert, he launched himself out of Spike's lap and onto the floor, and threw himself straight into a gargantuan temper tantrum.

He kicked and screamed, thrashing around on the floor, keeping one eye on Faith the entire time.

Faith stared at him, awed. No one had ever told her she could do that. Why hadn't she known she could do that?

"Liam!" Buffy stared at him, every bit as awed as Faith. The longer they stared at him, the more into the tantrum he got. He kicked his legs against the bathtub.

"Quite a set of lungs," Spike said wryly.

"LETHIMGO!" Liam yelled, smooshing it all together into one word.

Faith stood there, watching him, and a small grin settled over her face. Liam was doing that for her, and because he was yelling, she didn't have to. The anger, the hurt, seeped out of her body, and, quite calmly, she turned to Buffy.

"I think you better let him go, B," she said, and with that, the tiny girl sat down next to Buffy's feet and popped her thumb into her mouth. Liam would tease her about it later, but right now, Faith didn't care. She just sat back, and enjoyed the show.

* * *

Wesley rubbed his temples. When would that dratted person answer their cell phone? Honestly, it was beyond intolerable. It had been ringing for a full five minutes, and in Wesley's opinion, it showed the utmost inconsideration to...

"Hey buddy!" A voice broke into his thoughts. "Answer the friggin cell phone!"

Wesley looked down. "Oh dear," he said, fumbling with his phone. "Hello?"

He paused for a moment, and his stomach lurched. "You're quite sure?" he asked. "It's out of season."

Even after the person on the other end hung up, Wes stared at his phone for the longest time. His supply man had said the last ingredient for the reversal spell would be waiting for him in Sunnydale by the time he got home.

He could turn them back.

Wes glanced down at Faith's file and saw the child in his mind's eye.

"Positive." Lindsey's tone was professional. "According to my records, they often meet here. This is where they would bring the fugitive." His fingers itched to touch her hair, her face, her...

Lindsey indulged in the thought.

Without realizing it, Kate leaned her head forward. She'd been so careful, so guarded. She wasn't going to do this now.

Lindsey leaned his head forward, his eyes locked onto hers.

"SODDING HELL!"

Kate bolted straight up. "Did you hear that?" she asked, pulling back.

Lindsey narrowed his eyes at the house, but all he heard was a small voice in the back of his head, asking him if he was a good man.

"PUSSY!" Liam hollered at the top of his lungs, still deep in the throes of a tantrum. "LETHIMGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!"

Liam rolled around a little, and Buffy stared at him.

"Stop this right now," she said, hands on her hips. "Liam..." she tried to put a little warning into her voice, the way she'd heard Wes do it.

Liam picked up Spike's jar of blood and launched it across the room.

"Hey!" Spike said. Then he turned to Buffy, and, hiding a grin, she shrugged. "Tell you what, Slayer," Spike said. "I'll make you a deal. I'll handle little Poof Bit there, if you'll, as he so eloquently put it, let me go."

Without waiting for an answer, Spike turned his attention to the screaming child in front of him. "Liam," he said, in a low, awful voice.

Liam paused mid-wail and turned to look at Spike.

Faith inched toward Liam and placed herself firmly in between her boy and the rest of the world. No one was going to hurt her Liam. Not ever.

Liam stared at Spike with huge round eyes still wet with angry tears. Spike opened his mouth and then closed it again. He had his mini-grandsire's attention, but he wasn't exactly sure what to do with that attention. What was a person supposed to say to a kid in this kind of situation? His mind raced.

"That is not acceptable behavior..." Spike improvised. That sounded about like something he'd heard someone say on that on the show that came on before Passions. Liam stared at him, and Spike knew he had to say something else. "...young man!"

Spike finished, a parental look coming over his face. Buffy stared at him incredulously. Was that Spike? Spike?! Mr. Big Bad had just used the phrase "young man," and it hadn't been preceded by "I'm going to kill that..."

As Buffy stared, openmouthed, the words 'time out' floated out of Spike's mouth, and when a brooding Liam sat down on the edge of the bathtub, arms crossed over his chest, Buffy narrowed her eyes at Spike.

"How did you do that?" she asked suspiciously.

Spike leaned back and shrugged. "I ate a preschool teacher once," he said.

"Really?" Faith asked, not the least bit disturbed. "How'd she taste?"

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Seventeen

Faith and Liam watched in satisfaction as Buffy unchained Spike. Spike winked at them, and Liam, remembering that he was supposed to be mad at Spike for putting him in time out, glowered at the vampire.

"That's the best brood you've ever done," Faith whispered to Liam. "It looks really scary."

"Really?" Liam asked, his eyes lighting up with glee and a smile breaking into his brooding expression.

"Really," Faith said, and without a word, she leaned over and put her head on Liam's shoulder. If her Liam was in time out, then Faith was, too.

Buffy shot Liam a warning look. She wasn't positive, but she was pretty sure that talking in time out was a no-no.

Spike held a finger up to his lips, indicating that the children should be quiet, and Buffy gave him an incredulous look. What in the world was happening to Spike?

As soon as he saw the look, Spike let a tough guy expression settle over his face and did just enough Big Bad posturing to make up for the fact that he was getting rather attached to mini-Poof and the Bite Sized slayer.

As Buffy and Spike exchanged glares and smirks, Liam whispered into Faith's hair. "I made up a brand new song," he said. "You gave me the idea."

"What's it called?" Faith asked in a whisper. She knew how to whisper. Filthy little sluts knew when to keep their mouths shut.

Liam snuggled up against Faith a little, and after casting a furtive glance at Buffy and Spike, he told Faith the name of his new song. "It's called the Wanker Ass Bint Song," Liam said. "I think it's about band-aids and crossbows and..." Liam gave Faith a devilish grin.

"And Wanker Ass Bints?" Faith asked, a smile coming onto her face.

Hearing her, Buffy opened her mouth to scold, but Spike caught her eye and shook his head. "Let her be," he whispered gruffly under his breath. "Just let her be."

* * *

"Sir, I'm afraid we're going to need your ticket, not a cocktail napkin with a half-eaten cookie in it."

The flight attendant's voice snapped Wes out of his stupor. "Of course," he said, fumbling through the pocket of his jacket. He handed it to her, his mind filling with images of a small, dark-haired little girl and an angry, hurting, dark-haired woman.

Could he change her back? He'd seen her hell. Tortured at a young age, forgotten by a system that couldn't save every child. Could he send her back to a new hell of her own making? And what of Liam? Cheerful, joyful little Liam with the unruly brown hair and the heart of a champion. Could he curse the child by turning him back?

"Damn it," Wes muttered savagely under his breath.

"Sir?" the flight attendant asked.

"Oh bother," Wes muttered. "Not you," he clarified to the woman. She looked at him, eyebrows raised and Wesley simply picked up his luggage and started walking toward the plane.

"Sir," the woman called. Wesley turned around.

"Yes?" he replied, his British accent crisp and his voice polite.

"You forgot your cookie."

* * *

"Me and my Liam are hungry," Faith announced a moment later. "Is the time out over yet?"

Spike meant to say no. He wanted to say no. He opened his mouth to say no. "Ask the slayer," he said, chickening out at the last moment.

Buffy rolled her eyes at him. Those kids had the so-called Big Bad wrapped around their tiny little fingers.

"Buffy?" Liam asked, looking up at her with huge, round eyes.

Buffy looked at them, looking up at her so hopefully, and her heart melted. "What do you want to eat?" she asked.

"A preschool teacher sandwich," Faith said without hesitation.

Spike struggled to keep a straight face and failed.

"Or chocolate chip cookies," Liam added.

"Faith, baby, come see what Mommy has for you."

Faith looked at her mother warily. Sometimes she was Momma and sometimes she was Mommy, and sometimes she was the Mommy, and sometimes Faith was nothing. Sometimes what Momma had for her was a smack. Or a knife. Or the hot, hot stove.

"Oh baby, don't look like that," her mother crooned. "Sweetie, Mommy's feeling good today. I'm doing better, baby, really. I made you cookies." She held up a tray of cookies. "See?"

Hesitantly, Faith stepped forward, and silently, she ate the cookie her mother handed her. Her mother petted her hair and hugged her, and kissed her on the top of her head.

It was the best day of her life. Ever.

"Faith?" Buffy's voice broke into the child's thoughts.

"Cookies are good," Faith said. Then she grinned up at Spike. "Preschool teacher cookies!" she added.

"I'm home, I'm beautiful, and I missed you," a voice called from the other room. Instantly, Liam and Faith were racing towards the owner of the voice.

"CORDY!" Liam yelled, flinging himself at the older woman.

Cordy squeezed the little boy to her side, and when Faith pressed her face against her knee, Cordy bent down to envelop them both in a giant-sized group hug.

"So, what did you stab?" she asked the kids conversationally.

"Nothing important," Liam said. "We have band-aids," he added proudly.

Cordy looked at the dinosaur and Barbie band-aids plastered all over both kids, and she made a mental note to take more pictures. Little Angel wearing Barbie band-aids? If that wasn't a Kodak moment, Cordelia didn't know what was.

Faith murmured something into Cordy's leg.

"What did you say, sweetie?" Cordy asked.

"You came back," Faith said loudly, hugging the woman's leg tightly.

Cordy opened her mouth to reply, but the second she opened it, images flew into her mind with a force so powerful that she flew over backwards.

Moving with slayer speed, Faith managed to keep Cordy's head from hitting the ground, and she held it, as Cordy's eyes glazed over.

What was Mommy looking at, with her eyes all blank like that? Why was she asleep in the bathtub? The water was red, so red.

Mommy, Mommy, what are you looking at? Mommy, Mommy, why are you asleep in the bathtub?

"Cordy?" Faith said.

From inside her vision, Cordelia vaguely heard the little girl's voice, but she was too caught up in images slicing through her mind to answer.

"Cordy?" Liam echoed. Why was she just sitting there? Like Kathy. Dead Kathy. Liam wrinkled his nose. Who was Kathy? He couldn't remember.

"CORDY!" Faith screamed. Buffy and Spike charged into the room, followed by Xander, Anya, and Willow. Faith looked up at them through a panic-stricken face. "Make her come back," she said. "I didn't mean to make her go!"

My fault. My fault. My fault.

Don't care.

My fault

Can't care.

My fault. My fault. My fault.

Mommy?

"Cordy, come back," Faith said. "I'll be better. I promise. Cordy, just come back."

My fault. My fault. My fault.

The real world came back into her line of vision and hit Cordy like a brick wall. Faith and Liam were looking down at her, their eyes wide, Faith's body frozen stiff and her face devoid of color.

Cordy racked her brain, trying to think of something to say. "Uh, peek-a-boo?"

"Peek-a-boo yourself," Spike said, giving her a meaningful look that made Cordy roll her eyes and made Buffy jab him suspiciously in the side.

"Vision thingy," Cordy said, using the technical term. "Vamps, a bunch of them, right at sunset. In the high school."

"The school?" Buffy asked.

Cordy nodded impatiently. "Charred. Burnt to a crisp. On the mouth of...heck. Yeah, that school."

Xander looked out the window at the setting sun. "It's almost sunset," he said.

Cordy's attention was on Faith. "Faith, baby, come back to me," she said. Faith looked at her warily. "I'm okay, sweetheart."

"Your hair's messed up," Liam volunteered. Cordy caught him up in a hug and tickled him. Cautiously, she tickled Faith, too, but the child didn't respond. Instead, she stared at Cordy, her eyes blazing.

"Don't you ever leave me," she said fiercely. "I'll be good, so don't you ever leave, Cordy."

Cordy kissed the top of her head. "I won't."

"Can you show us where?" Buffy asked, breaking into the moment awkwardly. "The vamps, with the... vampiness," Buffy clarified. "Can you come with and show us where?"

Cordy nodded.

"I can stay with the kiddos," Willow volunteered hesitantly.

"We can have another invigorating sing-along about the capitalism of sex toys," Anya volunteered brightly. "Can't we, small people?"

"No," Faith said, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly. "Me and Liam are going with Cordy."

Cordy opened her mouth.

"You're not leaving me," Faith said, her voice hoarse. "I'll be good."

"And I can sing you my new song," Liam volunteered. "It's about Spike and band-aids and crossbows and it goes like this." Liam took a deep breath. "This is the Wanker Ass Bint song," he sang. "It's about wanker ass bints and crossbows and the Big Bad who ate a preschool teeeeeeaaaaaaacheeeeer..." Liam looked at Faith and grinned. "Who was aaaaaaaaaaa...." Liam drew the word out.

"Wanker ass biiiiiiiiiiiint!" both kids belted out together.

Cordy fell helplessly into giggles.

"Catchy," Anya commented. "You might add something about an orgasm or fair trade."

Liam grinned up at her. "Don't worry," he said. "The song's not over yet. Me and Faith, we'll sing it all the way to the school."

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Eighteen

"If you're happy and you know it, slay a vamp," Faith's little voice rang out just louder than Liam's.

"If you're happy and you know it, slay a vamp." Both children clapped.

"If you're happy and you know it, then your wench will surely show it, if you're happy and you know it, slay a vamp!" The children dissolved into giggles, and Buffy found herself walking along to the tune.

Spike rolled his eyes. "I liked the other song better," he said.

Immediately, the children changed tunes, and, if it was humanly possible, began singing even louder. "This is the wanker ass bint song. It's about wankers and asses and bints..."

"Orgasms," Anya said in a stage whisper. The children obliged her.

"And oooooooorrrrrrrrgaaaaaaaaaassssssmmmmms!"

"Do sheep have orgasms?" Liam questioned curiously, breaking off from the song while Faith went into another verse extolling the virtues of eating preschool teachers.

Spike eyed Liam, amused. "Note to self," he said loftily, "mock Peaches Senior upon his return for unhealthy sheep fetish."

"What's a fetish?" both kids asked at once.

"Well," Anya said, a huge smile crossing her face.

Xander clapped his hand over her mouth. "It's kind of like cheetohs," he improvised.

"Cheetohs?" Willow mouthed to Xander over the kids' heads. Xander shrugged.

Faith and Liam looked thoughtful.

"A cheetoh fetish," Anya mused, as soon as Xander took his hand off of her mouth. "Interesting."

* * *

"What in the world?" Kate spoke under her breath and Lindsey, barely masking his amusement, turned to look at her.

"I believe the children are singing," he told her.

Kate shot him a disgruntled look.

Lindsey grinned. Disgruntled was a good look for her.

"I could tell that much," she said.

"Ooooooorrrrrrrrrrgaaaaaaaassssmmmmmssss!" Liam's yelling/singing hung in the air, and for an awkward moment, neither the lawyer nor the cop spoke.

"Interesting song choice," Lindsey said finally, a note of amusement hidden in his voice.

"Who are those children?" Kate asked.

Lindsey, keeping his voice down, turned to her as they followed the loudly singing group into the old and slightly charred high school. "The little boy you've met before," he said, sure of it now. "The little girl..."

His voice trailed off.

Are you a good man? She'd asked him.

Are you a good girl? He'd asked her in return, and brazenly, she'd told him no.

"Faith," he said out loud.

* * *

"Sir, what would you like to drink? Sir? Sir?"

Wes finally focused on the woman. "Pardon?" he said, his voice rough.

She smiled brightly at him even as she couldn't keep herself from rolling her eyes. "Would you like a soda? Some water?"

"You don't happen to have answers in there, do you?" Wes asked, peering sardonically into her beverage cart.

She shook her head, making a clicking sound with her tongue.

"In that case, I'll have a Ginger Ale."

As he sipped his drink, Wes thought of the children. Liam with a chocolate-covered face. Faith snuggled tight in his arms. She was so little. So innocent.

The facts were facts, though. Los Angeles needed Angel. Did he have the right to keep the champion a child? A non-vampiric child who might never grow into a champion?

Wes shook his head.

Liam could not stay a child indefinitely.

But what of Faith? Wes wondered. What purpose was there in bringing her back? Bringing her back to what? To prison? To guilt? To the results of the fact that no one, himself included, had cared enough to fight the ghosts of her past?

They hadn't even realized there were ghosts.

Wesley took a swig of his Ginger Ale. He closed his eyes, images of Faith and Liam burned into his mind.

* * *

"Remember," Buffy told the kiddos. "You stay close to Cordelia, and if anything bad happens, scream."

"Scream what?" Liam asked.

"Cheetohs?" Faith suggested, giving Xander an impish look.

He grinned at her. Underneath the anguish and the attitude, that kid was a charmer. Who could resist dinosaur band-aids?

Buffy stepped cautiously into the hallway, her slayer sense on high alert.

Faith shivered. The back of her neck felt all funny, and her stomach was playing tug of war with itself.

When the first vamp came into sight, Buffy and Faith both charged towards it.

"Faith!" Cordy's voice rang out, but the little, dark slayer paid no attention.

Buffy thrust herself in front of the child, but Faith launched herself off the ground, flying through the air toward the vampire, and in the next moment, another vamp caught Buffy from behind, taking her attention off of the little girl.

Faith didn't have a stake, but as her skin stood on end, she could only think of one thing.

Bad. That thing was bad. She hit him as hard as she could in the face with her tiny fist, taking him by surprise.

Bad.

Bad. Bad girl. Little slut. I'll show you. Stupid little bitch. Do you know what happens to bad girls?

"Bad," Faith grunted out, pummeling the demon with every ounce of strength she had. "Bad." She lowered her voice to a hiss.

Liam started towards her. He wasn't about to let Faith fight all by herself. Spike grabbed the back of the child's shirt and unceremoniously picked up the wriggling little boy and handed him to Cordy.

"I believe this is yours," he drawled. It wouldn't do to let the Half-Poof get himself killed.

Without another word, Spike launched himself into the middle of the fight, on his way to retrieve Faith.

* * *

Silently, Kate and Lindsey stood in the shadows and watched the fight.

"Vampires," Kate said, her voice dull.

"It would appear so," Lindsey replied.

"And the girl, that little girl," Kate said, watching the child whose every movement screamed of rage and pent-up anguish.

"Faith," Lindsey supplied. He'd had to see it for himself to know for sure. He'd sent an assassin after Angel and somehow, both the assassin and the target had ended up as four year old children.

"Ugly," Faith said out loud, grabbing a piece of debris in her fist and hitting the vampire with it, full force. "Ugly. Bad. Stupid." She punctuated every word with a devastating blow. "Little bitch. Little slut."

Kate watched, horrified, as the words surged from the little girl. This was the enemy. Hurt and open, raw and screaming. This was Faith.

Spike hauled the little girl into his arms, and in one smooth movement, Buffy leaned in and staked the vampire.

As the vamp burst into dust, little Faith, her dark hair coming out of its ponytail entirely, struggled against Spike's grip.

"Gonna kill it," she said ferociously. "Gotta kill it."

Pillow on her face. Can't breathe. Can't breathe.

"Let me kill it!" Faith said lowly.

Spike held the flailing child close. "Shhh, now, little luv," he whispered into her hair.

"It's dead," Buffy said softly, as she finished off the last vamp. "It's gone, Faith."

Why was Mommy asleep in the bathtub?

Faith turned wild eyes on Buffy.

My fault.

"You," Faith burst out angrily, tears cascading down her face. "You have to take everything."

Buffy looked at her, bewildered. She reached out to touch the little girl softly, and as Buffy moved, Faith threw her arms up in front of her face protectively.

"Don't." The word escaped her mouth before Faith could stop it.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Buffy said, her voice low and her heart breaking. This was Faith? This was the girl who she'd once nearly killed? The one she'd never been able to reach?

"No one's gonna hurt you, my Faith," Liam piped up from Cordy's arms. "I wouldn't let them. I'd wanker their wench good if they tried something." The little boy put on his fiercest face.

Cordy walked over to Faith and knelt down next to her. "No one's going to hurt you," she said, her voice even. "Not now. Not ever again."

Faith looked back at her. "Don't you leave me, Cordy," Faith said. "Don't you leave me again, like everybody. Don't you leave me like Wes, Cordy," Faith practically growled.

Cordy reached out and smoothed a hand over the little girl's hair. "Oh, baby," she said. "I'm not leaving. This is me, not leaving. And Wes is coming back."

Faith stared at the seer, her little arms crossed over her chest.

"And you shouldn't have run into the fight," Cordy continued. "What's the rule about fighting evil?"

"Always ask first," Faith and Liam said at once.

"And look both ways before crossing the street," Liam added. He grabbed Faith's hand casually in his own, and with the motion, a single Barbie band-aid fell off of his arm and onto the floor.

"And don't pretend Giles is evil," Faith added with a tentative little grin.

"Yes," Cordy said. "Not pretending Giles is evil just so you can throw him around is a very important rule."

"No biting," Liam continued, "unless it's Riley."

Cordy tried not to laugh, but failed miserably. Then she fixed a look on Faith. "The moral of the story is that you don't just run into a fight," she said. "It's dangerous and something bad could happen."

A stubborn look settled over Faith's face, and moving on instinct, Cordy pulled both children into a hug. Liam readily hugged back, but for a moment, Faith stood there, motionless. And then, fiercely, she threw herself against Cordelia and hugged her hard, burying her face in the older woman's chest.

In the silence that followed, Buffy looked up and saw Lindsey and Kate staring at them.

Anya broke the silence. "This is the Orgasm song," she sang under her breath in a surprisingly good voice. "It's about enticing sexual positions and the capitalistic integrity of domestic currency..."

Liam and Faith looked at each other and joined in on the song.. "Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnndddddd.... CHEETOHS!" They both added, dissolving into giggles.

Anya sighed happily. "And cheetohs," she added, poking Xander in the side.

"Cordy?" Faith said, realizing something.

Faith looked at the little girl, who was giving her very innocent eyes, and she wanted to groan. Those were totally Faith's Let Me Stab/Kill/Maim/Eat/Do/Say something I'm not supposed to eyes.

"Yes, Faith?" Cordy answered warily.

"Do we have to tell Wes?" Faith asked, all innocence. "About the vamp?"

Liam solemnly shook his head side to side, trying to influence her decision, and looking at the two of them, absolutely covered in band-aids, their hair disheveled, Cordy felt the insane urge to laugh.

They were a handful, all right, her little Seek and Destroy, but they were her handful.

Cordy threw her hair behind her shoulder and responded like a true parent. "We'll see."

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Nineteen

Giles walked into his apartment and took one look at the children, who were sprawled on the floor doing something that could only be described as unbelievable.

Giles took his glasses off, and a small, British sound escaped his throat. "What are they doing?" he asked, arching one eyebrow.

Cordelia looked up from the magazine she was currently flipping through, glanced over at the children, and shrugged. "Painting each other's nails," she replied.

Liam held his messily painted right hand up proudly. "Look!" he ordered Giles. "It's blue."

Xander barely constrained his glee. "And sparkly," he added. "If this isn't a Kodak moment, I don't know what is." The idea of Angel covered in Barbie band-aids, joyfully painting his nails a bright, sparkly blue appealed to Xander on so many levels. Oh, the potential for mocking!

Anya leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Xander got a goofy look on his face, his eyes going wide and a half smile settling over his lips. Anya's idea of a Kodak moment got him... thinking.

Giles cleared his throat and busied himself with desperately trying not to conceptualize whatever it was Anya had said.

"It involves honey," Anya told him. "And quarters."

"What would you do with honey and quarters?" Faith asked curiously. The little girl's forehead wrinkled in concentration as she added some finishing touches to one of her fingers.

Xander gently clapped his hand over Anya's mouth as she turned to respond.

"I bet it has something to do with an orgasm," Liam said innocently. Xander's hand still on her face, Anya nodded vigorously.

Desperate for a subject change, Giles knelt down to talk to Faith. "Your nails are very pretty as well, Faith," he said in a tone that had Faith wrinkling her nose. He didn't talk to her like she was a real person, just because she was little. Or maybe just because she was Faith.

Maybe she wasn't a real person.

"Faith, what do you say?" Cordy prompted upon hearing Giles complimenting Faith's nails.

"I was taught by the best?" Faith suggested, shooting a grin at Cordy.

Cordy shrugged. She'd been shooting for 'thank you,' but she couldn't argue with the plain, hard truth.

"Why is one of your nails pink when the rest are blue?" Giles asked Faith curiously, patting her on the head while he did so.

Faith shot him a wicked glint and delicately lifted up her middle finger, clasping the other fingers in a fist. "This finger?" she asked innocently.

Giles looked at her. Was the child flipping him off? It was hard to tell. At that exact moment, he stopped patting her head.

"Faith!" Cordy said.

Faith turned to Cordy, her lone, pink finger still raised in an indelicate position. "Yes?" the child said, the very picture of innocence.

"Put that finger down," Cordy said.

"Can't," Faith replied. "It's drying."

Cordy opened her mouth and then closed it again. That was the kind of logic that she just couldn't argue with.

A room away, Buffy sat, holding a mug in her hands and watching the marshmallows swirl gently in the hot chocolate.

She hadn't managed a coherent sentence since she'd sat down at the table with their two visitors from L.A. A lawyer and a cop? The cop she could understand. They were, after all, talking about Faith.

Faith? Her dark hair flying as the woman whaled away at a vampire, beating him senseless before staking him.

Faith? The child fiercely and rhythmically punching a vampire, grunting out the echoes of her past as she did. Little slut. Bad. Bad. BAD.

Faith? The rogue slayer fighting with Buffy on the roof tops.

Faith? The child with her arms thrown up to ward off oncoming phantom blows.

Faith? The child frozen to the ground, caught up in memories she couldn't understand and a past she couldn't escape.

Buffy swallowed hard and looked up at the man sitting across from her at the table. "I get the cop thing," she said, glancing over at Kate. "But what's with you, lawyer type guy? Are you Faith's lawyer?"

"Not strictly speaking," Lindsey replied.

Are you a good man?

Faith's words echoed in his mind. Lindsey heard the children laughing in the other room, and he sensed himself coming to a crossroads. The laughter took him back, into his own past, into the person he had once been.

The little girl laughed gleefully as her brother tossed her up into the air. Other children clung to each of his feet, and he could hear the baby coughing in the other room.

"Lindsey, Lindsey!" the little girl in his arms yelled gleefully. He was her favorite person in the world. The only person in her world.

"Yeah, Menley?" he said, fixing the child on his hip even as he thought about the medicine he'd never be able to afford for the baby.

His four year old sister touched one slobber-covered hand gently to the side of his cheek. "You're my brother," she pronounced, as if that was news to him. "I don't even care if you're a boy," she promised him. Menley was currently on an anti-male kick. "You're a good boy," Menley clarified, distinguishing him from her other brothers, all closer to her age.

Lindsey, age thirteen, blushed.

If he was so good, why was the baby coughing? Why was Menley still wearing that scrap of a summer dress when it was starting to get cold? Why did he wish to God that Momma would wake up out of her work-induced exhaustion and make everything okay?

"Throw me again, Lindsey," Menley ordered, and Lindsey did as she asked.

The child's peals of laughter from the memory echoed in Lindsey's head, and he made a decision in that moment.

"I would like to represent Faith when and if she returns to her former state," Lindsey said. "I'm currently in between law firms, but I could provide counsel nonetheless."

Kate stared at him. A Wolfram and Hart employee walking away? It was almost unheard of.

"Is Faith returning to her former state?" Kate asked, pushing down everything inside of her that was shouting that the current situation was nothing more than some trick of mirrors and smoke, that the criminal in her mind was still out there somewhere, an unforgivable, inhuman monster.

Faith? The little girl with the haunted eyes and the tortured past?

"Should Faith return to her former state?" Kate rephrased her question, surprising herself.

"I don't know," Buffy said. She opened her mouth to say more, but a yell from the other room distracted her.

"NOT-A-PUSSY! YOU'RE HOME!"

Kate and Lindsey looked at each other and then shot questioning and sardonic looks at Buffy.

"Wesley's back," Buffy said, biting down a grin. Not-a-Pussy Wyndam-Pryce. It had quite a ring to it.

Silently, Buffy, Kate and Lindsey walked into the other room to the sounds of Liam informing Wes in one fantastically long run on sentence of everything that he had missed out on while he was gone.

"And then we sang about sheep, and Anya taught us the Kama Sutra, and we played the sheep game, and Riley was a wanker, and so we..." Liam trailed off guiltily. "Uhhhhh...we did not staple him to a wall," the little boy amended his story as he talked. Wes might not like what they'd done to Riley. "And then Cordy had a vision, and Buffy fought vampires, and Giles was British, and Mr. Spike got his sodding blood, and we sang the Wanker Ass Bint's Orgasm song all the way home." Liam paused, so excited and cheerful that no one in the room could reconcile the image of the little, bouncing, band-aid covered, nail-polished four year old in front of them with Angel, the master of the brood.

"Not-a-Pussy," Liam continued, "you missed out on an awful lot."

Wes gave the child a stern look. "Language." Liam looked at Wes thoughtfully. He had forgotten how much Wesley wasn't a person to be pushed. He'd forgotten how much fun it was to push Wesley.

"Well, it's not like you are a pussy," Liam started to say. Wes tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at the child. Liam shut his mouth and scuffed his foot into the ground.

A single band-aid dropped off his elbow, and Liam bent down, picked it up, and resolutely tried to stick it to the middle of his forehead.

Wes turned his attention to Faith. "And what about you?" he asked the child, aching to hug her, to hold her, to love away the pain that he was only just now beginning to understand. "Did you have a good time while I was gone?"

Faith looked at Wes, her little lips set in a firm line and her eyes stormy. Without a word, she punched him in the stomach.

It knocked the breath out of him.

"Faith!" Everyone in the room said at once, horrified, except for Lindsey, who bit back a grin.

Wes said nothing. He merely straightened up and looked at Faith, refusing to back away from her.

"You left," Faith said flatly, by way of explanation.

"Yes, I did," Wes admitted in the same voice.

"You left me," Faith said, her bottom lip quivering. She took her arm back to punch him again, but he took her little fist firmly into his own.

Little Faith of the burnt feet and blood red past.

"I came back," Wesley said simply, his voice low and steady. He looked down at the child's clenched fist. "And this isn't the way to solve anything, little luv. We don't solve problems with fists."

Unless they were vampire problems, Wes added silently, but that would come with time.

When he called her little luv, Faith wavered. Was that the same thing as love? Did her Wesley love her? Really love her? Like the way Liam maybe-loved her? Like the way that people maybe didn't hate her quite so much anymore? Like maybe she wasn't quite so bad that people had to leave and never come back?

"Maybe I should kick you instead," Faith said, her sullen voice cracking to let in just a hint of a wicked smile.

Wes gave her a look, and without another word, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. After a moment, Faith hugged back, fiercely. He picked her up, and Faith snuggled as close to him as she could get.

"If you ever leave me again, I'll kick your ass."

Faith's statement hung in the air.

"If I leave," Wes told her quietly, privately. "I'll always come back to you, Faith." His voice caught in his throat. "You're my girl. My little girl."

He knew that those were the words she needed to here.

"And I love you." His final statement fell on Faith's ears like a clap of thunder. She looked at him, bewildered, terrified, and painfully hopeful.

"You do?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," Wes replied steadily.

Faith tried not to look like she cared all together too much, but for the first time, in a long time, she felt safe.

"Would you like to hear the Wanker Ass Bint's Orgasm Song, Not-a-Pussy?" Liam asked finally, breaking the silence.

Wes opened his mouth to reprimand the child for his language, but then said nothing. The contents of his pocket, everything needed for the reversal spell, made Wes look at the little boy in a new way.

Before she began singing along with Liam, Faith whispered one more thing into Wesley's ear. "Don't believe anything Cordy tells you," Faith said solemnly. "I was awful good while you were gone."

As the word good crossed her lips, for the first time, Faith didn't feel like it was a complete lie. Maybe, some day, she really would be good. Maybe she wasn't going to be a Bad Girl, and Ugly Girl, a Little Slut forever.

Maybe, instead, she'd be Wesley's girl. And Cordy's girl. And Liam's girl.

Just maybe.

* * *

THROWBACK: Chapter Twenty

"How about a grin there, Liam?" Xander asked, snapping a picture and finishing up with his fifth roll of film. He turned to Cordy. "Do you think he'll streak any time soon?" he asked.

Cordelia snorted. "Like I'm supposed to have his streaking itinerary. Sure, Xander, let me get it out of my purse." Xander was too busy putting in another roll of film to notice her sarcasm.

"Streaking itinerary," Anya mused. Then, abruptly, she turned to Xander. "How's next Thursday at noon?" she asked.

Xander's eyes grew wide and then he broke into one of those guy grins that men couldn't help but have around a woman like Anya.

"Did you get a picture of my nails?" Liam asked. "And my band-aids?" He held up his hands, an enormous smile on his little face, his hair mussed almost beyond repair. "What about Faith's nails? Did you get a picture of Faith's nails?"

Xander turned to snap a picture of Faith. The little girl smiled up at him almost shyly, vulnerably, her darkly lashed eyes open disarmingly wide. Liam slung his arm around her shoulder. "Take one of both of us."

"Okay," Xander replied. He still couldn't believe his luck. Dead boy would never be able to live this one down. "Say cheese."

Faith and Liam looked at each other. "Wanker bint!" they called at the same time, shooting the camera toothy grins. In a transition too smooth for anyone else to see, the children went from standing next to each other to wrestling, screaming with laughter.

Faith held back, wrestling gently with him. She wasn't going to hurt her Liam. Not ever.

Liam, scrappy little fighter that he was, held his own, and as the two rolled around on the floor, they burst into song.

"This is the wrestling song," Liam sang. "It's about wrestling and blood and wenches and wanker sheep with bow ties."

"SHEEP WITH BOW TIES!"

Spike, standing in the doorway, watched them with a wry grin on his face. "Sheep with bow ties, Poof Junior?" he muttered. The children shifted seamlessly into the Wanker Ass Bint song, and rounded out their medley with the loudest version of the wench song ever, sung in an odd little round.

"Looks like you're set," Willow said, trying to keep a straight face as the children's song drifted into the room.

Wesley nodded. "I can turn them back," he said.

Cordy peaked into the next room, and Liam, delighted, waved at her, a gigantic smile on his little face.

"Do we have to?" Cordy asked. "He's so..." she paused and sighed. "So innocent," she said. "And happy. He's happy."

"The world needs Angel," Buffy said. "As adorable as Liam is, as nice as it is to see him little and worry free, the world needs him."

Cordy rolled her eyes heavenward. "Champion shmampion," she muttered, even though she didn't mean it. Then she turned back to Wes, her stomach lurching. "And Faith?" she asked.

Wes looked at each of them in turn: Buffy, Willow, Cordelia, and Giles. He'd made up his mind, and nothing they said was going to change it.

Faith of the burnt feet and blood red past.

Just out of earshot, Kate turned to Lindsey. "You think they'll turn them back?" she asked, her voice low.

Lindsey didn't meet her eyes, caught up for a moment in another time.

She'd slipped through the cracks. How had he not noticed? How had Momma not noticed? He'd been cooking dinner and keeping the twins from killing each other and trying to study, all at once, and he hadn't realized how quiet she was being.

Menley was never quiet.

And now, he was standing on her grave. A pathetic little slab, and that out of charity. Too many kids and not enough money, and now she was gone.

He wouldn't let it happen again.

Never.

He'd get them out of there, all of them.

Never again.

"I don't know," Lindsey answered finally. He looked at Kate out of the corner of his eye, and the depth she saw in his liquid pools of color almost knocked the wind out of her. "Do you think they should?"

"This is the wench song it's a song about wenches and the Big Bad and sheep with glaives..."

The sound of the children singing made Kate smile. "She killed a man," she said. The words hung in the air. For so long, Kate had thought of people like Faith as monsters. Faceless, soulless monsters.

"Wench me, Liam!" Faith called, and no one, other than Liam, had the least idea what she meant.

"I don't know whether they should," Kate said finally, "but I don't think I could."

Lindsey smiled softly, images dancing through his mind. In the right light, Faith looked almost like Menley. Almost.

"I couldn't either."

"You're sure?" Cordy asked Wes, her voice low.

Wes nodded.

Giles cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak.

Wes simply held up one hand. "I've made up my mind," he said. "I won't let you, any of you, send her back to a life where she went from being abused to being ignored, never once having anyone," Wes looked at each of them, "never having anyone, including the lot of us, give her what she needed."

Buffy opened her mouth.

"She's my girl," Wes said simply, and that, was that.

"Faith? Liam?" Cordy said. Instantly, the wrestling kiddos looked up at her, a tangle of arms and legs and extraneous limbs.

"Yes?" both children answered sweetly at once.

Cordy groaned. She knew that look. Seek and Destroy were at it again. "What did you pummel this time?" she started to ask, but she cut herself off short. "Wes and I need to talk to you two for a minute."

Instantly, Faith froze, her entire body going stiff. She forced herself to stay in the present, not to remember that talking meant hitting and that hitting meant hurting and the taste of blood in the back of her mouth.

Easily, Wes took both children into his arms, and he settled them each on a leg. Faith relaxed, and the children wiggled to get comfortable.

"Do you remember when you came here?" Wes asked.

Liam and Faith looked at each other and nodded uncertainly.

"Sort of," Liam said. The memories, of his mother and father and Darla (whoever that was) and Kathy (Kathy?) and the last, sweet kiss were all meshed together in his mind, just out of reach.

"We found a way for you to go home, Liam," Wes said.

"No!" Faith burst out angrily. "I won't go back, and I won't let you take my Liam!"

"Hush, little luv," Wes said softly, kissing the top of her head. "You're not going anywhere."

Liam's eyes widened. "I'm going alone?" he asked. He couldn't really remember life before he'd had his Faith. Not really.

Cordy, her gut wrenching, took a stab at it. "There are people there who need you, Liam. Hundreds and hundreds of people who need you to be big and strong."

"Like Wes?" Liam asked. "Like Spike?"

Cordy nodded, biting back a smile. "Like that," she said. "And, if you're here with us, they might be in trouble."

"They might need me," Liam said slowly. "But what about Faith? She needs me too. I think she needs me worst." Liam looked down and muttered the last few words. "Besides," he said, rushing the last few words together. "I love Faith best of all."

Faith looked at him. "Really?" she asked, her bravado cracking just enough that everyone could see she cared.

Liam nodded.

Faith looked at Cordy and Wes, torn. Inside, she was panicking. Liam couldn't go. Not her Liam. Not her boy. He couldn't go.

And yet, deep down, she knew that he had to.

"Are there lots of people who need him?" she asked in a terribly small, but still tough voice.

Cordy nodded. "Yeah, baby," she said. "There are."

Faith looked at Liam. She was Cordy's baby. She was Wesley's little girl. But she was, and always would be, Liam's Faith.

Liam looked into Faith's eyes for a moment, and then, his expression sober, turned back to the adults. "I have to go back, don't I?" he asked. "They're going to die, like Kathy, if I don't go back." Half memories came flooding back. "And people are going to be hurt, kids like Faith and me, and there bad people..." Liam trailed off, thinking of Faith's mom. "They're going to hurt people if I don't go back."

Tears filled Faith's eyes, and she wiped them angrily away. "I don't want you to go," she told Liam honestly. Before she would have said she didn't care, but now she did care, and it was all his fault. "I don't want you to go, Liam, but I think you have to."

Wes hugged the little girl to him tightly. She was trying so valiantly not to cry.

"I'll miss you," Liam said sweetly. "But you'll always be my Faith."

Faith looked at Cordy and Wes with knowing eyes. "He has to go now, doesn't he?"

* * *

Faith sat on the stairs, her stomach hurting deep down where it felt like her heart was breaking. Liam was going away.

But he loved her, the voice inside her head said. Like Cordy and Wes and maybe even Buffy a little, Liam loved her. Liam loved her best of all.

As Willow and Wes sprinkled the chaoctive powder over Liam's head, the little boy wrinkled his nose. He felt funny, fuzzy, and in his last moments, he did what he did best.

He sang.

"This is the wench song," he sang. "It's a song about wenches. It's Faith's song, cause she's my best girl. It's a song about fun and cookies and vamps and sodding blood. It's a song about wenches. It's a song for my Faith."

Liam took a deep breath. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," he sang. "This is the Faith song."

And with that, there was a sound like a vacuum, and a very confused and full sized Angel, band-aids plastered all over his body, his hair completely gel-less and utterly messed up, and his nails painted bright blue, cleared his throat.

"Guys," he said, his memory fuzzy. "What's going on?"

Xander snapped a picture. This was too good to be true. "Say cheese," he told the vampire. "You're covered in Barbie band-aids."

"Good look for you, Peaches," Spike said. "And we'll be needing to have a conversation about sheep here pretty soon."

"Faith," Angel said, the memories just almost in his mind. "Where's my Faith?"

Upon hearing her name, Faith walked into the room, her face tear stained, but brave, her little hands jammed into the pockets of her jeans. She looked at Angel, long and hard for a moment, and then she smiled, a heartbreaking and almost tender expression on her face.

"I'm Faith," she said, her hands moving to her hips. "What's it to you?"

Angel shot sideways looks at the others in the room.

Wesley picked Faith up, and the little girl snuggled into his arms.

"Angel," Wesley said. "I'd like you to meet my girl. My daughter." He looked at Faith. "If that's all right with you."

Faith looked up at him. She'd never had a Daddy before. Not ever, cause she was ugly and bad and stupid and no Daddy had ever wanted her. Only now it was different. Because of Liam and Wes and Cordy and everyone. It was different now. Faith nodded her permission, a smile playing around the corner of her face. She and Liam had talked about Cordy and Wes being their mommy and daddy a lot.

"And Cordy?" Faith asked. "Am I Cordy's, too?"

"Hell yeah," Cordy replied. Then she looked sheepishly around the room. "Sorry," she said. "They're a bad influence on me." No one commented on the fact that she'd been corrupted by four year olds, and Cordy brushed Faith's hair out of her face. "Of course you're my girl, too," she said. "Someone's got to pass on the fashion wisdom to you, and Wesley's tortured rogue look still has tweed vibes."

Wesley continued with the introductions. "And Faith," he said. "This is Angel."

Faith looked at Angel, hard for a moment. "I know," she said. For a moment, the little girl saw Liam in the vampire's eyes, and her own eyes sparkled with mischief. "Do you know any good songs?" she asked Angel. "I bet you'd make up really good songs."

Before he knew it, Angel was singing. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh..." he trailed off and looked around the room. "Okay," he said, "someone has to tell me why I have a sudden urge to sing a song about wenches."

Xander snapped one last picture, finishing the roll, and Angel gingerly removed the Barbie band-aid from his forehead.

Faith leaned her head into Wesley's chest.

She'd miss Liam forever, but for the first time in her life, it felt like she was home.

End

Eliza Dushku - Faith Lehane

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Fanfiction: Throwback