Chapter 4: Fighting Back
“Hey everyone.” Faith grinned as she walked into work the next morning with two trays of coffee. “Cappuccino, anyone?”
“You’re awfully chipper this morning.” Wesley smiled.
“Faith, you didn’t--” Angel told her.
“I got yours with that touch of cinnamon.” Faith winked evilly at her brother. “Speaking of, I’m going out to San Fran next week with some friends, so I’ll have to have the week off. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Friends we know?” Cordelia asked sweetly as she hugged her fiancée.
“Actually, yeah, Some.” Faith shrugged at the brunette. “Harmony decided to come last minute, B already took the week off, ‘cuz we planned this, like, two months ago. It’s a girl thing. I would invite you, Cor, but you probably have a ton of things to do, impending wedding and all.”
“Actually, no.” Cordelia shook her head. “I already took care of all the wedding plans. I’d love to come with.”
“Peachy.” Faith forced a smile when she realized she was backed into a corner.
“Great!” Cordelia giggled happily.
“Hi.” Gunn mumbled as he entered.
“Hi, baby.” Faith hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.
“Didn’t hear you come in last night.” Gunn replied, hanging his jacket on the coat rack.
“I got in late.” Faith admitted. “I was talking to Buffy for a while. She wanted me to stay in town til morning, but I was insistent that I come back.”
“What about?” Gunn asked.
“Girly stuff.” Faith lied. “She’s fine, Charles. A real trooper. I mean, she’s trying to move on.”
“Good.” Gunn nodded. “How is Harmony?”
“Um, she’s fine.” Faith told him. “They’re both fine. Angel, can I talk to you in private for a second?”
“Sure.” Angel nodded as they walked into his office. “What is it, Faith?”
“I ran into Xander when I was in the ‘Dale, Angel…” Faith remarked. “He told me some stuff…about Cordelia.”
“Okay?” Angel scoffed at his sister’s attitude. “Like what?”
“Cordelia’s been harboring feelings for you since she had been dating Xander.” Faith told him reluctantly. “I mean, technically….It makes sense now, doesn’t it? She gets pregnant and convinces you to marry her. Thereby, keeping you bound to her and apart from Buffy. I know how seriously you take the concept of marriage, brother. God, I don’t know why I didn’t realize it earlier.”
“That’s enough, Faith!” Angel bellowed. “For one thing, Xander hates Cordy, you know that. Why would you believe his lies?”
“Angel, we’ve both known Xander all our lives. You never once hated him until he started crushing on Buffy. How can you say that about him? You guys used to be best friends!” Faith snapped back. “The point is, I know him and I trust him. I don’t trust Cordelia. Hell, I never even trusted her, not even when we were little kids. You want to know why? She hurt my best friends. That’s something I can never forgive.”
“You’re out of line, Faith.” Angel told her. “Cordy and I don’t need this.”
“God, are you actually giving me this ‘self righteous’ speech?!” Faith demanded. “Don’t you see what she’s done to you? She’s turning you against everyone, including me, your own sister…Fine, if you wanna shack up with that two faced bitch in the other room, you can. I’ll be damned if I’m going to be a part of this farce. I quit.”
“Faith!” Angel yelled as she walked out of the hotel. “Dammit!”
“What happened?” Cordelia asked Angel as he came out of his office. “Is everything all right, honey?”
“No. It was Faith. She said some stuff, and I got angry. Sibling disagreement.” Angel lied, not wanting to reveal the details of their conversation.
“What kind of stuff?” Fred inquired. “She looked pretty mad.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Angel mumbled.
“Of course it matters.” Gunn argued. “What the Hell did you say to her, O’Connor? I know my girlfriend. She doesn’t get upset easily. What did you say to her?”
“You wanna know, Gunn?” Angel fumed. “She ran her mouth off about Cordelia and I told her to back off. That’s it. Faith will get over it.”
“Right.” Wesley rolled his eyes.
“Stay out of it, Pryce.” Angel warned his friend, defending himself.
“Don’t tell Wesley what to do!” Fred screamed. “God, you’re so wrapped up in Cordelia that you could give a shit less what happens to the rest of us. I can’t believe this!”
“Hey. I’m in the room here.” Cordelia yelled and turned to Angel. “I’m going to go, Angel. I’ll talk to you later.”
Cordelia grabbed her purse and exits the hotel. Angel turns back to the rest of the group, anger etched on his face.
“Look, I’m sick of arguing with you guys about this.” Angel told them. “If you can’t all learn to accept Cordelia as my wife, which she is going to be, may I remind you….then I think you should all leave.”
“I’m out.” Gunn raised him arms up immediately in defeat. “You know, the day you see Cordelia for the evil bitch that she really is, I hope it’ll eat you up. You sure deserve it for picking that wench over my best friend. I hope she kicks your ass to the curb.”
“Goodbye, Angel.” Fred hugged him. “I really hope you find what you’re looking for. I’m sorry, but I can’t stay either.”
“Wes? Got something to say?” Angel turned to his best friend.
“Good luck.” he muttered and left.
The three walked out of the hotel together. They found Faith crying on the curb across the street.
“What are you guys doing?” she asked them.
“We quit today.” Wesley commented. “We trust you, Faith. I hope you know that.”
“Thanks.” Faith nodded and sighed. “Now that we’re all out of jobs, I suppose we can all hit the unemployment line together.”
“Perhaps…” Gunn nodded. “Or, we could start up our own business. We got the resources, the experience. I think we’d manage okay.”
“What are you saying?” Fred asked.
“’Summers Detective Agency’.” Gunn replied. “It has a nice ring to it. How bout it?”
“I suppose you’re right.” Faith chuckled. “All right, I’m in. I mean, what have we got to lose, right?”
“Us too.” Wes motioned for him and Fred. “We have nothing to lose.”
“Good…We’ll be okay.” Gunn assured Faith.
“We will.” Faith agreed. “I like the name.”
“Me too.” Wesley smiled. “We have a lot of work cut out for us, now.”
“We’ll manage, though.” Fred spoke. “We should all get some rest. Got big days ahead of us now.”
“Night, then.” Gunn said, hugging the other couple. “Take care, guys.”
“Night.” Wes hugged Faith. “You call me if you need anything at all, all right, Faith?”
“I promise I will.” Faith nodded.
The two couples took off in two separate directions, all eagerly awaiting to show their potential and see what was going to be in store for them.