A World of Their Own

Part 17

"Oh my God! Tell me you didn't!"Willow, Tara and Faith were sitting around the kitchen table in Xander's apartment sipping hot chocolate and talking. Faith had been in Sunnydale for just over a week now and was doing her damnedest to get Trisha to see the light.

"I sure did! I tell ya, it was nasty."Faith shuddered, then continued. "I mean, it was just... yuck. But I took pictures."That said, she cracked up laughing as both Tara and Willow choked on their drinks. Faith smiled and reached for her bag. "Wanna see them?"

"NO!"Both witches were adamant in their refusal to look. "What are you going to do with them?"Willow was curious as to why exactly Faith had taken pictures of Trisha and her watcher in a... compromising position."

"I faxed copies to Wes. He still has some contacts in the council. By tomorrow morning, John Leeds will be back in merry ole England, with a career full of musty books and very little human interaction to keep him busy."Faith looked like the cat that ate the canary. She was actually quite proud of herself; the old Faith would have simply resorted to violence to get her way.

"Damn, you're good. But who says the next guy they send won't be just as bad?" This time it was Tara who asked the question that was on her mind. "I mean, she seems to be very good at manipulating people."

Faith seemed to think this over for a minute before she grinned at both witches and held up a fist full of Polaroids. "I can always threaten to post these on the Internet and send the web address to her family." At Willow's look of approval she burst out laughing. "Damn Red, you have changed."

~!~

It was barely light out when John was awakened by the sound of someone pounding on his front door. He rolled Trisha away from him and got out of bed. After slipping on his pyjama bottoms and robe, he made his way down stairs to the door. "Who is it?"

"Stephan Hawkes. I'm from the council. Open the door."John sighed and tightened the belt on his robe. He wasn't expecting a visit from the watchers this soon; it had to be trouble. Or maybe they had finally come to do something about that Faith girl. She was causing him all sorts of trouble with his slayer.

John opened the door and was greeted by three very large men. They certainly didn't look like watchers. "Who are you?"John was already stepping away from the door as he asked. If he could get upstairs and wake Trisha, they might stand a chance against these guys.

"I told you already,"the largest of the three answered. "I'm Stephan Hawkes. This is William Pryce and Eugene Milburn, my associates."He pointed to the other two men, and then grinned nastily at John. "We're here to escort you back to London, Mr. Leeds. It seems you've been a very bad boy."

John sputtered and once again tried to make for the stairs when Eugene caught hold of his arm and held him in place. Stephan made tsking noises and reached into his jacket pocket. "He pulled out a sheaf of fax papers and presented them to John. "I'm sure I don't have to explain what these are."

John looked at the pictures of himself and Trisha making love and hung his head in shame. It was clear to him that he had no choice but to follow these men back to England. He could only hope that his career wouldn't be completely ruined. "I'll just pack my things and say goodbye to ha.\ha."

"You have five minutes. After that, William here comes after you."Stephan stood by the front door, while Eugene went outside to cover the bedroom window and William took up position at the foot of the stairs.

Trisha woke up as John came back into the room. She watched as he pulled a suitcase out of the closet and began to pack. "What are you doing?"She got out of bed and walked toward him.

"For God’s sake, Trish! Put some bloody clothes on, we have company."John continued to pack as Trisha pouted but did as she was told. Once she was dressed in her t-shirt and track pants she wandered over to John again to see what he was doing.

"Why are you packing? Should I get my things?"A trip away from Sunnydale sounded like fun. She hated this place; the vampires never stopped coming, and the number and varieties of demons was overwhelming.

"I'm going back to England. You are staying here."John was angry with her for putting him in this position in the first place. If she hadn't seduced him he would still have his career as watcher to an active slayer; now he wasn't sure what would become of him. "There are three very large men waiting downstairs to escort me,"

"What? Why?"Trisha wanted answers, if she was going to lose her watcher and be left here in demon central, she wanted to know why.

"Because they know. They have pictures, Trisha. Pictures of us... together. They will be sending you a new watcher, preferably a woman."Hopefully, he thought to himself, she wouldn't try to seduce her as well.

~!~

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce hadn't felt this useful in ages. He hadn't thought about his place in Angel Investigations in ages, just doing what he always had. Now it was painfully obvious that he was nothing more than a fifth wheel. Cordelia and Angel had formed a little family of their own with Angel’s son, Gunn and Fred had started seeing each other and were becoming quite seriously involved. He was still pulling his weight in the research department, but he knew that Fred could research just as well as he could, and did when he wasn't available.

They had Lorne to read them and give them advice; Charles was a more capable fighter than he, Angel was capable of spell casting, and Cordelia was some kind of super-demon now. What was left for him? Not a lot as far as he could tell. So it was with great relief and pleasure, even, that he accepted the offer from the council of watchers. It was merely temporary, but it gave him a chance to make up for the past mistakes he'd made with Faith. He would make sure that Trisha didn't fo in in her footsteps.

~!~

"Wes! Hey man, come on in."Faith opened the door of the apartment and ushered him inside. She was happy to see him. He had been the biggest supporter of her returning to Sunnydale, telling her that he had complete trust in her ability to protect the town and it's residents.

"Faith, it is good to see you. How have you been?"He smiled as she hugged him briefly before heading for the kitchen.

"Five by five. You want tea? We have herbal - yuck - and Earl Grey."Faith moved around the kitchen, putting on the kettle and getting some eggs from the fridge. "So what brings you to Sunnyhell? Checking up on me?"

Wesley followed her into the kitchen. "Earl Grey if it's no trouble. I can't stand herbal tea, and I'm here because the council has asked me to step in and take over temporary duty as Miss O'Leary's watcher."

"Cool. You want eggs? I make a pretty mean omelette."Faith began crackings eggs into a large mixing bowl. She wasn't sure why she was so pleased about Wes being here, only that she was. She hoped the council didn't replace him too soon.

"Oh, yes. That would be good. I left quite early this morning and didn't have time to eat."Wes took a seat at the table and watched as Faith moved around the room, fixing tea, making toast and cooking eggs. He was amazed at the changes in the young woman. Once again he felt the burden of his failure. He knew that in some ways, it was his fault that she had turned away from her calling, had gone bad. It was something he could never truly atone for.

"Hey, ease up. You're gonna give Angel a run for king of brood if you keep that up."Faith smiled at Wesley's startled expression. She knew he was thinking about the past; Sunnydale had bad memories for both of them. "We have a clean slate here. A chance to make up for things. I know we can't forget the past, but we can make sure it doesn't repeat itself."

"You are a wise and remarkable young woman, Faith. Thank you."Wesley took the cup of tea she held out to him and smiled. Maybe things would be good here this time.

~!~

Trisha was less than pleased with her new watcher. First of all, he was friends with the other slayer, Faith. Second of all, he was also friends with the witches. The very ones that had corrupted the last slayer. Shs cus currently standing in the back room of the Magic Box watching the older slayer go through her training routine. She had to admit - somewhat begrudgingly - that the girl was good. Way better than she was.

"Now Trisha, show me what your watcher had you do in the way of training."Wes wasn't expecting to see much. From what Faith had told him, she had been very lucky so far. If she had ever had to face Spike or Angelus she would have been killed easily. It was lucky for her that no new master vampire had yet tried to claim the Hellmouth.

Trisha glared at him but did as she was told. Both Faith and Wesley watched as she went through her stances; they could both see that she needed a lot of work. "Sloppy. It's a wonder some fledgling hasn't made a meal of you yet."Wes stepped in and directed her movements.

For the next hour Trisha worked harder than she had since becoming the slayer. She sparred against Wesley and was appalled at how easily he took her down. If she couldn't hold up to a regular human being, even a well-trained one, what chance did she have against a master vampire? She was beginning to think that she might have been wrong in her assessment of these people.

Willow and Tara brought in lunch and tried to make Trisha feel welcome. They could see the similarities between her and a younger Faith. Willow was determined not to let Trisha go down that path. She thought that maybe, if they had been better friends to Faith back in high school, she could have been saved as well.

By the end of the day, Trisha was exhausted. She had watched Faith and Wesley fight, amazed at the ease in which Faith bested the man when she could barely get a hit on him. She made a decision right then and there to give these people a chance. If she was going to live, she needed their help.

~!~

Willow was ecstatic. The shipment she had been waiting for had finally shown up. She bounced around the front of the shop waiting for the others to arrive. Wesley and Faith were moving their things into the house the council had set up for Trisha, and Tara had gone to collect Clem. It was only a matter of minutes before she could finally bring Xander home.

The front door opened and Tara and Clem arrived. Clem was still nervous about being in the same room as two slayers, especially one that had tried to kill him, and he had heard things about the other one - things that made him doubt his own sanity in coming here. Tara had assured him that Faith was different now, and that Trisha was learning that things weren't always black and white. Still, if it weren't for the fact that he missed his friend, he wouldn't be here.

"Oh good, you're back!"Willow rushed over and kissed Tara soundly on the mouth. Clem smiled and turned away to give them some privacy. Tara hugged her lover and stroked her back softly. She knew Willow was excited, but if she didn't get a hold of herself they wouldn't be able to do the spell. Willow's power was unpredictable when she wasn't concentrating.

"Honey, you need to get your focus. Why don't yo ino in the back and meditate until the others get here. I'll keep watch for them."Tara gave her girlfriend a gentle shove toward the training room. Willow nodded her head and left. She knew Tara was right.

By the time Wesley arrived with the two slayers, Willow was calm and focused. Tara helped her to set up the spell and draw the doorway to the next world. as tas the one part of the spell that made her nervous. They couldn't just drag Xander and Spike back through the portal, someone had to go through and retrieve them. Willow was that someone.

Tara finished brushing the blood and herb mixture onto the wall. It was in a large oval shape from floor to ceiling. Willow set up the altar and lit the candles. All that was left was for Willow to picture where she wanted to go and then chant the words that would open the doorway.

They had decided it would be best if Willow focused on the outside of the cabin they had seen when they looked in on the two men before. That way she wouldn't accidentally walk in on them doing things. Willow kissed Tara goodbye and began to chant. The doorway opened and with one last smile to the group of people watching, she stepped through.