A/N: I definitely can't guarantee that replies will continue to be this prompt. But so far the story is cooperating pretty well with what I'm trying to do with it. I definitely can promise that we'll be arriving in Lima next chapter. That one may get a little prose-heavy as I describe the club and apartment, or more prose-heavy than my writing already is anyway. But I hope you'll all bear with me. Anyway, enjoy and leave reviews if you feel like it! I love hearing from you guys. :)

pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs~pqs

The next day the pair called a Scooby meeting, though Giles kept trying to get them all to refer to them more professionally as 'staff meetings'. But everyone knew that wasn't going to stick. Faith felt like she was literally buzzing, not used to leading anything in a setting with any of the core Scoobies present. Her fingers drummed on the heavy wooden conference table in the center of the room, built by Xander to withstand attacks and slayer fits alike but with easily removable pieces in case emergency stakes are needed.

First to arrive were Tara and Willow, the blonde witch giving the pair at the head of the table a gentle smile before taking a seat next to Faith. The slayer found herself relaxing a bit, with her only two close friends on either side of her. Willow was bouncing a little in her seat, already having figured out what this meeting was about but somehow managing to contain herself.

Next was Buffy, striding in with a slightly suspicious expression that had Faith rolling her eyes in exasperation. They'd moved past a lot of their past, but there was always going to be a kind of tension between them. And Buffy seemed the least willing to let that fade away. Though to her credit she did manage a smile when she caught Faith's eye-roll and even nodded a greeting to Spike before seating herself next to Willow and starting to pester the redhead to find out what this was all about. Thankfully Willow kept her mouth shut, seemingly finding amusement in keeping Buffy in the dark for now.

Following the blonde slayer was Dawn, nose buried in some book as she wandered over to seat herself next to Spike and ignored her sister's huff at her choice of seating. Xander followed her, single brown eye darting around the room curiously before he settled next to Buffy. Then came Giles, sitting next to Dawn and gesturing for Faith to go ahead and get things started. The brunette slayer wiped her hands on her jeans briefly and then stood and cleared her throat.

"Red already knows this but I got a letter a couple weeks ago from a lawyer. It was about my Uncle Jamie; he died and left me everything. I mean it's not a ton of cash or anything like that but there's a building, a pub and apartment in downtown Lima, Ohio. Red mentioned that we had a hotspot there and it got me thinking." She paused to take a breath and gauge the reactions around the room. Buffy had her head tilted in that thoughtful way she had while Willow was beaming excitedly and Dawn had looked up from her book to listen curiously. Giles was attentive, Xander was doodling but probably listening too, and Tara was watching Faith with a proud smile that nearly made her blush.

"Spike and I wanna be the team in Lima, turn the pub into an all-ages nightclub kinda like The Bronze. It'd be a good way to keep an eye on the local nightlife, shit went down at The Bronze about as often as it did the school back in SunnyD so we'd be centrally located to catch any vamps passing through town." Another pause, this one to gather herself for the explosion she knew would follow her next suggestion. Of course before she could start she was interrupted.

"That's a wonderful idea Faith, a small veteran team should find someplace like Lima rather restful I think. Enough action to keep you occupied but nothing like a Hellmouth." Giles commented, smiling at the pair almost like he usually did the main Scoobies. Faith shifted slightly, uncomfortable with the foreign sense of approval filling the room.

"Well we figured we should request a Watcher before you assign one to us. We thought, if she was interested, Dawn could join us for a while. The apartment has three bedrooms, or she could get her own place if she'd rather. It'd give her something to do if she's not planning on goin' back to school right away you know?" The slayer all but held her breathe and waited, everyone's eyes now on her.

"You want to take Dawn with you?" Buffy asked, voice sharp and clipped as though she were containing an explosion. Faith's shoulders drew back and she opened her mouth to reply but the girl in question beat her to the punch.

"I'm twenty-four years old Buffy, I can make this decision for myself. And frankly I am getting pretty bored around here, you have enough junior Watchers that you don't need me too. And I'd like to actually do something with all the stuff I've learned." Blue eyes met green in a classic Summers' sister stand off and everyone else leaned back out of the line of fire and waited.

"I thought you were going to get your PhD." Buffy pointed out sharply, chin set mulishly as she stood to her full and not all that intimidating height. Then again she didn't need to be big when she turned those icy eyes on Faith for a moment and caused her sister-slayer to shrink back slightly from the glare.

"I can do that from Lima as well as I can do it here. I can take courses online, and my supervising professor is usually halfway around the world anyway so it's not like I need to stay here to stay in contact with them. And writing my Dissertation is something I'm going to have to do between apocalypses no matter where I live. In fact Lima would probably be a quieter environment for studying than Cleveland, seeing as it's not right on top of a Hellmouth." Dawn delivered her points without any mercy, standing tall and meeting her sister's gaze with fire in her eyes. Faith just hoped this all meant she was accepting, and not just saying all this to make a point to her sister.

Buffy huffed and looked around the table for support, but the two people she most expected to back her up where very carefully not meeting her eyes while Tara and Giles seemed to be in support of Dawn's decision. So she turned her glare of Faith and Spike, the latter meeting her eyes with an amused smirk while the former gratifyingly seemed to have to gather herself to do so.

"Look B, I'm not trying to hijack her or anything. It's her choice. Though if she doesn't wanna come I'd really just rather not have an official Watcher at all. Spike and I do okay in the research department on our own anyway." Faith tried to soothe the older Slayer's ire. It only half worked as the blonde sighed and put her hands up.

"You're right, Dawn's a grown-up now. But I want regular updates; as your sister, not Head Slayer." She pointed at Dawn with a stern expression, showing that she meant business. Dawn just grinned back smugly, quite happy to have won this particular argument.

After that the meeting went smoothly, and the wheels were set in motion for the three of them to make the move to Lima and set up shop. Council funds were authorized for the redecoration of the bar into a nightclub that could act as a trap for vampires as well as a cover for the three to have in town. Giles even offered to help them decorate the apartment however they'd like by handing them a Council credit card and telling them not to go too crazy in picking out furniture. Things were changing, and Faith had a feeling that something big was looming over the horizon.