"What??" she screeched into the other end.

"Gabby? I need a place to stay…" The voice pleaded softly at her, and she sat up quickly, suddenly concerned.

"Kael? What happened?"

"I can't really talk now…" He paused more for dramatic effect than anything else, "but I got booted from mine. I won't be there for long. Just say yes?" She hesitated, thinking rapidly about the consequences. Kael wasn't generally welcome in their house, nor was he a popular topic of conversation. But it was Kael.

"Yeah…Yeah, just get here whenever you can. I'll find room." Gabrielle heard a sigh of relief from him.

"I owe you one."

"Don't - "she started to respond, but heard only the dialtone and hung the phone up, quickly darting downstairs to get out a bottle of scotch. Not for Kael though; before the day was over, it was safer to be drunk and passed out than sober and taking the blame for whatever happened between Kael and the rest of the household.

Kael hung up the payphone, turning around and beaming at Spider.

"Well, pet, we've got ourselves a place of our own for a few months. Rent-free too." Her eyes grew wide as she rushed forward to grab his arm.

"How'd you manage that?" He shrugged, slipping an arm around her waist as he lead her to the van.

"I called in a few favours. Nothing huge. But, we do get all we can drink while we're there…And feel free to interact with the owners. They're all friends of mine." She smiled blissfully, getting into the passenger side of the black van. "But no sampling them!" Kael reprimanded with a teasing grin as he climbed into the driver's seat, turning the van on and pulling out into the sparse traffic.

The bottle of scotch was already a third of the way finished when the doorbell started to ring like there was no tomorrow. She cursed under her breath, pushing away from the table and speeding down the hall before anyone else awoke.

"Way to be discreet, you ass," she said, flinging the door open and ushering him in.

"Hey, wait a second. I brought a guest." Kael caught the door as it closed, grabbing Spider's arm and pulling her in. Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

"You, stay here. Kael and I have to discuss rent and the terms of him living here." Spider nodded, frowning as she watched Kael enter the kitchen with Gabrielle, leaving her alone in the foyer.

As he walked in the kitchen, Kael spied the bottle on the table, grabbing it and sitting down.

"I see you prepared a little bargaining fuel?" Gabrielle clenched her jaw as she took the scotch away from him.

"No, this is mine so I can deal with you coming and disrupting everything here."

"You let me come here. You didn’t have to. But now that I'm here, its not bloody likely that I'm leaving."

"Okay." Gabrielle spoke firmly, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. "And who's the girl?" He smirked at her.

"I found her in a bar yesterday afternoon. I think we got something special."

"Uh-huh. If she's staying, your rent is doubled."

"Aw, c'mon! You know how hard up I am for cash! Its not like we're staying forever or anything." Leaning across the table, Kael made himself look as sympathetic as possible, and Gabrielle sighed, glaring at him before rising.

"Fine. NO rent, but you're not staying longer than a month, got it?" He nodded, also rising, taking the bottle as he did, getting two glasses form the counter and filling them up.

"Victory toast?" Gabrielle grabbed her glass, downing it quickly.

Spider stood in the middle of the foyer, staring around at the walls, the parts of the rooms that were visible, and up the staircase. She took a seat on the second step up, resting her chin in her hands and waiting for Kael. She heard voices rising in the kitchen, and then footsteps behind her, causing her to straighten her back but otherwise remain still. The footfalls bounded down the stairs and in a second, there were arms around her neck and someone was nuzzling her. All she could see was blonde hair before she pulled away, shrieking and sending the tall figure flying backwards on the staircase.

When she turned around, Kael was by her side, glaring intently at the person sprawled half-naked on the stairs, save for a pair of boxers.

"You, keep your hands off my woman!" He shouted angrily at Edge, who looked around rather confused.

"I thought it was Gabrielle! It looked like her from behind!" He offered sheepishly and somewhat apologetically. Shaking his head, he looked around, placing Gabrielle beside Kael, and compared the two women, noticing that they looked nothing similar.

"Edge, get the hell back upstairs," Gabrielle commanded harshly, somewhat embarrassed for him. He nodded, starting up the stairs before he stopped, turning around and glaring at Kael.

"What's he doing here?"

"Renting a room, now go upstairs and put some sodding pants on." Edge descended the stairs, eyes still fixed on Kael angrily before Gabrielle stepped forward.

"I'll explain later, just get upstairs and don't make a scene." He did as he was told, turning around to glare yet again before going to his room and slamming the door.

"That bastard is such a spoiled little brat." Kael remarked to no one in particular, looking over at Spider with concern. "Are you alright? Did the ugly poof scare you too?" She nodded slowly, for the first time wondering what the hell she'd got herself into. Gabrielle cleared her throat.

"You guys can go in the basement. That’s where you're staying. There's a bed in there and some other stuff. Don't bug anyone, and you're out in a month." Spider started to thank her, but Kael cut her off, tilting her head towards him.

"Don't listen to her. We can stay all we want," he whispered, leading her to the basement door. "She's a little crazy…you know, fucked in the head. We’ll get along just fine."