Title: Heroes And Slayers

Author: Raven Morbisk

Fandom: Heroes/BtVS

Pairing: Faith/Niki Sanders (some Peter/Buffy)

Email: whatever_who_cares@msn.com

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Rating: Overall PG, but one or two chapters NC-17

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything!! BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and the Heroes characters to Tim Kring. I don’t make any money out of this and neither does this site.

Summary: Post Chosen. Faith goes to Las Vegas; saving a boy from a pack of vampires she meets his mother.

Notes: No particular timeline for Heroes. I’m just guessing somewhere between season 1 and season 2. In chapter 11 I took a small piece of text from Revelations and altered it just a little so it would fit my plot. I’m messing a little with the time thingy... ‘Chosen’ happened around June 2006 and ‘How to Stop an Exploding Man’ was around May 2007.

Chapter 1

After Sunnydale had collapsed into a giant crater, the Scooby gang and surviving Slayers had set up base in Cleveland, to keep tabs on the Hellmouth there. Buffy and Dawn had gone traveling in Europe, currently residing in Rome, while Faith just wanted to go to Vegas.

As soon as she got out of the plane, she couldn’t help but smile. Even though she loved the Slaying, she was happy to get just a little break from all the young Slayers. And thanks to Willow the uber-witch, she was no longer a fugitive. The talented hacker had erased her police files, after Faith promised her that she wasn’t going to create a new criminal record.

‘Gotta thank the Watcher when I get back for puttin’ me in this classy hotel.’ Faith thought with a grin as she took in her surroundings. The hotel slash casino was a whole world of difference compared to her previous stays.

Giles had accessed several bank accounts of the old Watcher’s council and milked them dry. Using the money to build a Slayer’s base in Cleveland with everything they needed and also sending Buffy and Dawn to Europe and Faith to Las Vegas where she would get a very decent room and enough money so she could regularly visit the casino. The two eldest Slayers deserved that much, he had said.

“Welcome to the Corinthian, can I help you?” A rather snobbishly looking guy asked from behind the reception. Faith eyed him for a minute then grinned and set her luggage down.

“Yeah, I got a reservation here. Faith Scooby?” Faith answered, chuckling under her breath at the name Xander and Dawn had chosen. The man began typing furiously.

“Ah, yes, miss Scooby.” Faith grinned and winked at the man who was eyeing her peculiarly. She didn’t exactly fit in with the normal clientele with her leather jacket and pants. He motioned for a bellboy to come over and gestured to her luggage. “Escort this young lady to her room, William.” The young man motioned to her handbag but Faith shrugged it off.

“Nah, it’s okay, Billy. I got this one; you take the other one.” The brunette pointed to the one behind her, where she had the clothes she owned in them. The bag she was carrying had her precious dagger in, which had been waiting in a locker at the airport. Giles had mailed it to Las Vegas the week before and gave explicit instructions not to open the package to an old friend of his and that the package was to be placed in a locker at the airport. Faith was told severely that it was best that she didn’t unpack the thing until she was out of the airport.

“Lead the way, kiddo.” Faith said, grinning at the bellboy’s effort to pick it up. He looked about eighteen years old, with sandy brown, spiky hair and blue eyes. She should’ve thought twice about packing her two new pairs of combat boots with steel tips and heels. And a box made from lead with a few stakes nailed together so it seemed it were wooden crosses, should they have wanted to check the box, and also some silver crosses in it. She didn’t know why she wanted to take them with her; she figured it wouldn’t make her feel so estranged from her destiny.

“Y’know, I used to know a guy named William, but we called him Spike.” The brunette spoke when they entered the elevator.

“Why?” The young man asked, trying to keep his gaze away from the striking brunette.

“That’s a weird story, don’t wanna explain it. But he was a good guy, one of the few.” Faith answered with a grim smile.

“What happened to him?” William inquired curiously.

“He died.” She said, not wanting to go in it any further. The young man seemed to sense this and dropped the subject. Stepping out of the elevator, he took a turn left with Faith following him and went to the last door in the hallway.

“Here we are, miss.” William said and pulled the keycard through the device, opening the door. He continued in the room and informed the brunette where the bathroom was and the bedroom but he had already lost her attention when the Slayer saw the size of the room.

“Is the room to your satisfaction, Miss Scooby?” William asked after he placed her suitcase in her bedroom.

“Yeah, ‘s perfect, Billy.” Faiths replied, still a little in awe of the room then turned to the bellboy “And call me Faith.” She pulled out some money and studied it for a moment “I don’t know what the usual tip thingy is but here’s a fifty.” She said, giving him the money. He smiled his goodbye and left the room.

“Yeah, boy. This’ll do just fine.” She said to herself and opened the window to the balcony. It was still light out. She stepped onto the balcony and grinned happily, like a little child in a candy store.

*---*H&S*---*

It was dark now and Faith was walking around, not in any particular direction. She was deep in thought about her destiny. She knew she was still a long way from redemption and didn’t want to be too long away from her duties. Her head snapped up when she sensed vampires in her vicinity. She looked around but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, then her eyes fell on a boy walking alone with his head down, going in the direction of a dark alley, her senses were screaming at her that something wasn’t right. She decided to follow the boy when he was suddenly surrounded by five vampires. The boy looked around in terror, trying to find a way out but they were circling him.

“What’s a boy like you doing here all by yourself?” One of the vampires asked in a taunting way. The boy started whimpering and ducked when the vampire that spoke made a grab at him but his hand never reached the boy. He dared looking up and saw a young woman fighting off the vampires. The colored boy scrambled away when he noticed the vampires’ attention was no longer on him and hid behind a dumpster, cautiously looking at the woman, fighting in such a way he had never seen. The power that the woman possessed reminded him of someone. He watched on as the brunette plunged a wooden stick in each vampires’ chest and they all exploded into dust.

“Hey, kid?” The woman called out when all the vampires’ were gone. The boy carefully emerged from behind the dumpster, trembling and looking around frightened.

“What were those things?” He asked with a shaking voice.

“They’re gone now, you okay?” Faith knelt down and tried to look in his eyes. “What the hell are ya doin’ here by yourself anyway, kid? Shouldn’t you be like at home with your parents or somethin’?”

“I…, my dad died and I just needed some time to be alone. I didn’t know it was this late already.” He replied.

“Come on, I’ll take ya to your mom then.” Faith stood back up and placed a hand on his shoulder “Where to, kiddo?”

“The Corinthian, me and my mom are staying there for a couple of days.” He replied, still slightly trembling. As they started walking he took deep breaths to calm him down, slowly but steadily it was working.

“’S cool, I’m stayin’ there too. I’m Faith by the way.” She said, shooting a smile down at the boy who smiled back.

“I’m Micah. Could you come up with me? I’m thinking my mom’s gonna be angry if she thinks I’m by myself.” The boy asked.

“Sure, kid.” Faith squeezed his shoulder warmly. The two started talking about little things as they made their way back to the hotel.

‘This is one smart kid, if Robin wasn’t still alive I’d say it’s his.’ Faith thought, shaking her head at the memory of the former principal and they way they parted. It was because Faith had been self-conscious again and she had gone drinking, only to come back to find Robin and one of the older Slayers in bed. Robin claimed that she put something in his drink but Faith didn’t believe him. The last time she saw Robin was when he took his bags and left Cleveland after she had repeatedly said that she didn’t want to be in the same room as the one guy she thought was different than the others.

“This it?” Faith asked, when they came to a halt at a hotel room. Micah nodded shyly and Faith knocked the door loud enough. She heard someone rushing through the room and within two seconds the door flung open to reveal a woman with red eyes, obviously from crying.

“Micah.” She breathed and hugged the boy for dear life. “Don’t you ever, ever, EVER do that to me again, I just lost D.L., and I can’t lose you too.” She whispered for the boy to hear, not knowing that Faith could hear her as well.

“I’m sorry, mom. I didn’t realize it was this late already. And then Faith found me and brought me back.” Micah said, the woman seemed to just realize that Faith was standing there too. She let go of Micah but left one hand on his shoulder as she stood up and now faced the brunette.

“Thank you, Faith is it?” the blonde woman inquired.

“Yeah, I was there just in time to see some muggers or whatever closin’ in on him so I scared ‘em off. I suggested takin’ him home ‘cause I didn’t think it was safe for him to be out on his own.” She shrugged and ruffled through Micah’s hair “Some kid you got there.”

“You didn’t just scare them off; you beat the crap out of them.” Micah grinned up to his savior.

“Thank you so much, Faith. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something happened to him.” She smiled gratefully at the brunette who wasn’t used to someone being so grateful.

“No problem.” The infamous smirk firmly plastered on her face.

“I’m Niki, by the way.” The blonde held out her hand and Faith shook it. She looked in the blonde’s eyes and for a second they seemed to change, like it was someone else, for just a split second.

“Hey, y’know, I’m stayin’ here for a couple of weeks and I was wonderin’ if you guys would wanna keep me company some time this week.” Faith asked, tilting her head a little to the side with a crooked smile.

“Yeah, can we, mom? Faith’s really cool.” Micah jumped up and down. Niki seemed to think hard about this but looking at her Faith could see she was just teasing her son.

“Okay, I’ll buy you dinner then. As a thanks.” Niki replied and flashed another smile at Faith.

“I’ll pay for my own food; I eat like a horse but thanks anyway.” The brunette replied “Besides, havin’ the company of gorgeous lookin’ thing like you and her cool son is enough thanks for me.” Not caring that her words were anything but subtle she added a wink. Receiving a blush from the blonde Faith smirked a little smug.

“I’m gon’ go now. I’ll be around so let me know when you wanna grab some dinner.” Faith said, not pushing her luck. She ruffled through Micah’s hair again and winked at Niki.

“Bye, Faith.” Micah called after the retreating brunette. When she disappeared in the elevator Niki and Micah went in their room. Niki cast one more glance at the elevator and shut the door.

Chapter 2

The next morning, Faith woke in a pleasant mood. Stretching in her bed and purring like a kitten, she grinned when she took in her surroundings.

‘I could get used to wakin’ up like this.’ She thought with a small smile. The sun was already up seeing as it was just past eleven a.m. so Faith stayed in her bed for just a few minutes longer. Her thoughts lingered to the blonde she met last night.

‘Pretty little thing. Micah’s a cute kid, too. Smart and cute. Just like…’ She stared up at the ceiling, willing her thoughts about Robin, which had started invading her mind, away. She shook her head angrily. ‘Stupid jerk, make me think you were a good guy. Been gone for a few hours and screw some baby Slayer bitch, why don’t ya.’

Sitting up, she wiped a single tear away that had found its way down her cheeks. She stepped out of her bed and opted for a little exercise. She dropped on the floor and started doing her push-ups. When she reached a hundred she sat down and began doing sit-ups. After she reached a hundred of those she went back to a hundred push-ups and afterwards a hundred sit-ups again. It was nothing compared to her training in Cleveland but it helped her to wake up fully. When she was done she hopped up and headed in the shower.

‘Maybe give the Watcher a call, jus’ in case they’re missin’ me already.’ Faith thought with a smirk, as the water cascaded around her. She couldn’t help but wonder if they really did miss her, if did they actually notice she wasn’t there. She wasn’t someone to get easily attached to someone, but that damn Scooby gang made it too easy. Especially Buffy, her sister Slayer and big sister to everyone of the gang.

--Flashback—

“You better not get yourself killed, Faith, or I will bring you back to life just so I can kill you.” Buffy said with a chuckle. They were standing at the airport where Buffy and Dawn were about to board their plane. The whole gang was there to say goodbye but Faith was the only one who was standing with Buffy and Dawn next to the gate. She surprised the others and herself as well when she pulled the blonde in a hug.

“Like I’m the only one who’s gon’ miss that little bitch.” She said with some irritation in her voice when they looked at her with a small smile.

---End Flashback—

A week after Buffy and Dawn left, so did Willow and Kennedy. Faith didn’t understand what those two were still doing together. She liked Kennedy, and she loved the redheaded witch like a sister but just not together.

‘Guess that’s somethin’ I’ll never get.’ She shrugged at her own thought, walking in her room in search for some clothes. She grabbed her suitcase and swung it on her bed. She took out a pair of combat boots, a pair of dark jeans and a white tank top. When she finished lacing her boots, she pulled her pants over it. She pulled out the leaden box and took out a silver cross on a chain. She pocketed another silver cross and then took her precious dagger from her handbag, putting it in the back of her pants. Before leaving the room she grabbed her leather jacket and put it on.

In the meanwhile two stories down, a blonde was talking to her reflection in her bedroom.

“I don’t like women that way.” She said but her reflection rolled her eyes.

“Is that why you were blushing, Niki?” The mirror image countered, crossing her arms.

“She gave me a compliment, Jessica. You know I’m not used to getting compliments from women.” Niki sighed and sat down on her bed, still looking at the mirror by the dresser.

“Is that it or is it because you don’t want to rush in anything after D.L.?” Jessica raised her eyebrow, daring Niki to deny it.

“Well, yeah, he just died three months ago. That’s not something to forget that easily. Micah’s hurting, too.” The blonde on the bed shook her head wearily.

“I know that, Niki, I was there too, remember? But if I can see that Micah looks up to the girl, I bet D.L. can see it, too.”

“I’m not ready, Jessica. Even if I was attracted to women, I’m still not ready. For God’s sake, why don’t you get that?”

“You’re deluding yourself, baby. I am you, I know you’re ready, you’re just scared.” Niki was about to retort when her bedroom door opened, revealing her son standing in the doorway with a slight confused expression on his face.

“Mom? Or is it Jessica?” He inquired, stepping in the room cautiously.

“It’s me, baby. We were just having a disagreement, but it’s me.” Niki stood up and walked over to her son.

“Are we going to eat, soon?” Micah asked. Niki nodded and took her son’s hand.

“We weren’t finished, Niki.” Jessica said calmly from the mirror.

“Yes, we were, Jessica.” The blonde replied in an equal calm voice, closing the bedroom door and leaving the hotel room with her son.

“I think Faith could kick Jessica’s butt. Or scare her.” Micah spoke when Niki pressed the button of the elevator.

“Why do you think that?” The blonde asked, looking at her son with a small smile.

“Faith is pretty strong, mom. Yesterday she kicked one of those bad guys so hard that when he crashed in the wall, the bricks just broke and she wasn’t even tired or anything.” He explained.

“She doesn’t look that strong.” Niki smiled at her son who rolled his eyes.

“And Jessica does? Maybe she’s the same as you and maybe Faith has an alter ego or Faith is the alter ego.” Micah questioned aloud. Niki stroked his hair adoring and chuckled softly at his imagination. The chance of that being true is there but it’s a very small chance. When the elevator opened they were pleasantly surprised to see the subject of their discussion leaning against the back of the elevator. Niki glanced in the reflection and saw Jessica smirking, fully enjoying it.

“Hi, Faith.” Micah said with a grin and high-fived the young woman.

“Hey, kiddo. How’re ya doin’?” She asked the boy then looked at Niki with a smile “Hi, Niki.”

“Mom, can we show Faith around? She’s never been to Vegas before.” Micah asked as the elevator closed.

“I don’t know, sweetie, unless Faith already had plans?” Niki directed her attention at the brunette who shook her head.

“Nope, no plans. Well yeah, I was plannin’ on hirin’ a guide who talks too much but hey, if I can get two guides, all the better for me, y’know.” She smirked, once again seeing a change in Niki’s eyes. Behind Faith Jessica was smirking and gave a nod that Niki should go for it.

“Okay.” Niki said and smiled at the brunette.

Several hours later the three were still wandering around Vegas. Faith had Micah sitting in her neck and was talking to Niki about her life in Cleveland, deliberately leaving the Slayer parts out.

“So when my sisters went to Europe I decided to take a trip myself. Red and her girl were leavin’ for South-America so the Wa- I mean, Giles set me up with some money and sent me here.” Faith told the blonde.

“What about your boyfriend? Why isn’t he with you?” Micah asked from her shoulders.

“Don’t have a boyfriend, so I’m all yours, cutie.” Faith grinned and nudged the boy on her shoulders. Micah laughed and almost fell off but Faith had a firm grip on him and put him on the ground.

“How come you don’t have a boyfriend? You’re attractive to say the least.” Niki gave Faith a crooked smile which Faith returned with a smirk.

“I had a boy, then I found him in bed with some skanky-,” she bit her tongue and grinned at Micah before continuing “I found him in bed with ‘nother girl, so I broke it off.”

“I’m sorry.” Niki said with a small smile.

“Five-by-five, babe.” Faith shot a sideways grin at the blonde. “Y’know, I’m getting’ pretty hungry, you wanna grab somethin’ to eat? My treat.”

“Sure, but I’ll pay for dinner,” she held up her hand to stop Faith from protesting “I don’t care how much you eat, it’s my treat.”

“Don’t bother arguing with my mom, Faith. She can be relentless.” The boy spoke up, shaking his head smiling when Faith was about to protest again. Sighing Faith nodded in agreement and motioned for the blonde to lead the way.

Niki and Micah led the way to a small, insignificant restaurant. When Niki went to the restroom Micah turned to Faith and motioned her to come a little closer.

“I know those guys yesterday weren’t muggers, I don’t even think they were human but you already know that, don’t you?” Micah stated more than he questioned. Faith tried to hide a grin at his inquisitive mind.

“Yeah, you’re right, but it’s our secret, ‘kay? Don’t wanna worry your mom.” She winked at the boy who nodded in response.

“But you’re really strong, aren’t you? I saw how you kicked those guys around. And earlier you picked me up like it was nothing.” Micah was dying to ask those questions all day long but didn’t in front of his mom, because he knew that Niki would make him stop.

“I’m a pretty strong chick, yeah. Now shut up, your mom’s comin’.” Faith grinned as Micah winked at her and sat up straight in his chair.

“What were you guys talking about?” Niki asked suspiciously with a small grin when she took her seat.

“Nothin’ important, babe. Just some comic stuff and all.” Faith replied, winking at the boy who tried to look innocent but failed immensely with his fake angel eyes and toothed grin.

“Yeah, right.” The blonde muttered and took a menu, ignoring the chuckles coming from Faith and Micah.

When dinner was over, Faith had succeeded in paying for her share. She had astounded Niki and Micah with the amount she had ordered and finished everything; she even had a few deserts as well. When they inquired her about it she merely grinned and stated she had a fast metabolism. By the time they made their way back to the hotel it was dark, Micah noticed that Faith was extra alert so he occupied his mother with strongly exaggerated stories, so Niki wouldn’t question the brunette about her watchfulness.

“So, thanks for walking us to our room.” The blonde spoke as she opened the door. Micah ran in the room, needing to use the bathroom. Leaning against the doorjamb she looked at the brunette seductively.

“Thanks for hangin’ out with me.” The brunette shrugged with a smirk.

“Do you wanna come in for a while?” Faith looked her in the eyes and sighed, shaking her head. ‘Perfect, I meet someone great; turns out it’s a schizo or somethin’.’

“I would, if Niki was askin’.” She said, putting her hands in her pockets.

“What are you talking about?” The blonde straightened herself and shot Faith a crooked smile.

“I don’t know who you are, but you ain’t Niki.” Faith replied. “Y’know what, tell Micah goodbye for me and tell Niki to call me.” With that the brunette turned away and disappeared in the elevator.

“What the hell?” Jessica whispered and closed the door after she entered the hotel room. Looking in the mirror she saw Niki standing there with her arms crossed, eyebrow raised defiantly and a firm smirk in place.

Chapter 3

“Okay, Micah, can you tell me what floor she got off?” Jessica asked the young boy. Micah shrugged but placed his hand over the elevator button.

“The twelfth floor. She’s in room 1212.” Micah looked at Jessica “You’re not going to hurt her, are you?”

“What? No, baby. I just wanna know how she knew I wasn’t Niki.” Jessica replied and pressed the elevator button.

“Then let mom ask her, I like Faith and I think my mom likes her, too.” The boy offered.

“That’s exactly why I need to ask her. Now, you go to bed and we’ll be back in time to tuck you in.” The blonde smiled sweetly when the elevator arrived.

“I don’t need you to tuck me in.” Micah grumbled but turned and went in their hotel room. Jessica sighed at her reflection. Niki was glaring at her, making clear she absolutely hated being stuck.

“Leave her alone, Jessica.” Niki spoke but Jessica ignored her, when the elevator stopped on the twelfth she made her way to room 1212. Halfway through the hallway Niki emerged, fighting to stay in control.

“No, she didn’t do anything wrong.” She hissed in a hushed tone. After a few minutes of struggling Jessica took control again and continued her way to Faith’s room. Reaching the room, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, hoping Niki wouldn’t resurface in the middle of the conversation that she was planning to have with the brunette. She raised her hand and knocked loudly on the door. It took a few moments but there she was, wearing a pair of shorts and a sports bra. Faith’s hair was pulled back in a sloppy ponytail and she was panting lightly.

“What do you want?” She asked harshly, crossing her arms in front of her Jessica saw the wrapped hands, assuming she was doing some boxing exercises.

“I thought we could talk.” The older woman suggested. Faith rolled her eyes but opened the door further to let the woman in.

“Not here, there are cameras everywhere. Meet me up at the roof in ten minutes.” Jessica smirked and turned to the elevator, turning only to wink at the brunette.

“Great.” Faith muttered. She closed her door and unwrapped her hands, throwing the wrappings carelessly on the floor. She grabbed her jeans, replacing her shorts. She then snatched her tank top and pulled it over her sports bra. After that she let her hair loose, ruffling though it.

“Date with a schizo, why the hell not. At least I didn’t date two souled vampires.” She muttered aggravated. “Of course, she could be screwin’ with me and standin’ on the roof with an axe.” She mused and shrugged when she put her dagger in the back of her pants. ‘Just in case she goes all psycho on my ass.’ She thought indifferently and left her room.

Reaching the top floor, she saw an open door and cautiously walked over to it. Looking around, she didn’t see anyone and walked up the stairs to the roof. When she got on the roof she smiled to herself, knowing that this woman who wasn’t Niki was planning on surprising her. She swiftly turned around, dagger in hand, to face Jessica who had a gun pointed at her head. Faith held at the dagger against the blonde’s neck.

“I could slice your neck before ya get a chance to pull that trigger, so be a smart girl and put it down.” Faith smirked. To her surprise the blonde woman snorted and cocked her head to the side.

“I don’t think so, baby. I got a few questions for you.” Jessica pushed the gun closer to Faith’s head, causing the brunette to press a little harder in her neck.

“I’m not goin’ anywhere with that gun pointed at me, so shoot.” When Jessica raised an eyebrow, Faith rolled her eyes “The questions. Shoot whatever questions ya got.”

“Who are you and how did you know I wasn’t Niki?” The blonde asked casually as if she didn’t have a dagger at her neck.

“I’m Faith Wilkins and dude, are you shittin’ me? Everyone could’ve seen that you’re not Niki.” Faith laughed.

“Are you someone Linderman hired? If you are, don’t think about getting paid, he’s dead.” Jessica asked, ignoring the laughter coming from the brunette.

“Who the hell’s Linderman? Oh and in case you didn’t notice,” Faith said lingering a bit “You don’t have your gun pointed at me anymore.” She continued now standing behind Jessica, dagger against her throat.

“You’re one of us.” Jessica breathed.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talkin’ about but I got a question for you.” She turned the blonde around and was right in her face, holding the hand that was holding the gun in between her legs tightly and the dagger still against the blonde’s throat. “Who are you?”

“I’m Jessica. You could say I’m Niki’s alter ego but I like to think I’m just her guardian angel.” Jessica stared hard in the brunette’s eyes whose strength was fascinating. Jessica knew she was strong but the brunette in front of her seemed to resemble her strength, without the alter ego.

“Does Micah know?” Faith inquired.

“Of course he knows.” Jessica snapped.

“What did you mean with ‘one of us’?” The brunette asked, taking the dagger just a little back but didn’t lose her focus on her surroundings.

“People with special abilities. Enhanced strength, rapid cell regeneration, the ability to fly, manipulating time, things like that.”

“No, not exactly. Look if I let your hand go; will ya play nice and drop the gun?” Faith questioned with a sweet smile, batting her eyelashes. Jessica rolled her eyes at the brunette but nodded. Faith grinned and moved back, putting the dagger back in the back of her pants, watching as Jessica put the gun also in the back of her pants.

“I’m not one of you; I don’t fly or manipulate time although it does sound very cool.” Faith grinned. “What ‘bout you?”

“I’ve got enhanced strength; I use it to keep Niki and Micah safe from the wrong people.” Jessica explained

“But ya also kinda are, y’know, takin’ over Niki’s body.” Faith shot a wry grin.

“I’m doing it to protect her and her son!” The blonde snapped.

“I get that, but before, that wasn’t protectin’ Niki or Micah, that was just ‘bout you wantin’ to get laid.” Faith smirked “Hey, I don’t have anythin’ against getting’ laid, except if it’s with the alter ego of the woman I like, that sorta freaks me out.”

“I didn’t think you’d notice.” Jessica shrugged.

“Of course I noticed, you’ve got that whole strong, seductive thing going on and Niki’s got that cute, sexy grin. Plus, the eye thing.” Faith pointed out as an afterthought.

“The eye thing?” Jessica questioned confused.

“Yeah, you’ve got more of an assertive don’t-mess-with-me-or-I’ll-kick-your-ass look in your eyes but Niki’s got more of a coy look.” Faith clarified. Jessica seemed to think this through, staring at the brunette in front of her.

“I still don’t get how you could be that fast if you’re not one of us.” She said after a few moments of silence.

“I’m, sorta special. Well, I was. I’m not very good at the big speech that usually comes with the package.” The brunette shrugged and stuffed her hands in her pockets.

“Try, we wanna know what your deal is.” To prove her point, Niki surfaced and smiled at Faith.

“Okay, well. There’re these things that go bump in the night, ‘kay? And me ‘nd my big sis, B, are supposed to fight them but Red pulled some mojo and now every girl in the world that could be like us, now is like us. So B’s kinda retired and I still help but I’m not that needed.” Faith sighed, knowing that her explanation was even more confusing.

“I’d show you but I’m guessin’ Micah is alone so I’ll show you ‘nother time.”

“No, you can show us now.” It was Jessica again. “Micah’s safe in the hotel room.”

“Fine, let’s go. Don’t freak out too much.” Faith sighed and led the way back in the hotel. They first went to the brunette’s room to take some precautions. After that they exited the hotel. Neither of the girls spoke as Faith led them to a dark alley. Seeing some vampires, she turned to the older woman and motioned her to be quiet and stay put.

“Hiya guys, what’re ya doin’ here so late?” The brunette said, startling the vampires. The blonde woman who was standing a few meters behind Faith watched on as Faith jumped into battle. Jessica had to fight herself for not joining the girl; there was no way that a girl like Faith could handle those… things. She saw how messed up their faces were and the growling was animalistic.

“Y’know,” Faith quipped after delivering a punch in a vampires’ face “I came to Vegas to enjoy some vacation, I’ve never been on vacation, y’see.” She struck another vampire with a roundhouse kick “Unless ya consider the little trip to jail, but ya can hardly call that a vacation.” She plunged her stake in a female vampire’s chest that then exploded into dust. One down, three to go. Faith was skillfully fighting two vampires at the same time when Jessica noticed the one Faith had kicked away getting up and another one crawling up behind her.

“Faith, look out.” She yelled. Right after Faith plunged her stake in the second vampire she turned just in time to see Jessica rip off the head of the sneaky vampire, watching it turn to dust.

“Nice one, Jessie.” Faith grinned, twirling her stake in her hand and then turned around to throw it at the retreating vampire, hitting him in the back where his heart was. After another step the vampire was dust. There was one vampire left and before Faith could attack Jessica was already kicking his ass. The woman was showing off some good moves, ducking every hit the vampire tried.

“Jessica, catch.” Faith called out and threw a stake at the blonde who instinctively bored it deep in his chest, watching it explode into dust.

“That was fun.” She giggled and turned to Faith.

“That was my destiny, now it’s a destiny shared by many.” Faith said grinning. “You okay?”

“You normally do this every night?” Jessica asked, panting a little.

“Yeah, I love the rush.” Faith smirked “But after a good slay, I usually have to get a cold shower.”

“I can imagine.” Jessica muttered under her breath. Faith heard and laughed.

“Looks like you got that, too. Sure you’re not one of US?” She smirked. “I’ll take ya back to your room, before Micah’s starts wonderin’ where y’are.”

“Yeah, okay.” It was Niki again; her body reacting as if it was her instead of Jessica who had been fighting the vampire. She looked at Faith with dark eyes. Faith licked her lips, feeling a little buzz from the slay but more from the way Niki was looking at her.

“You wanna head up to my room first?” Faith asked with a husky voice. Niki didn’t respond verbally, she just nodded.

Reaching Faith’s room, the brunette quickly opened her door. Turning to see if Niki had followed her in the room she was caught off guard by Niki’s lips crashing on hers. The blonde kicked the door shut and wrapped her hands in the brunette’s hair. Faith licked the blonde’s bottom lip, sighing content when Niki opened her mouth. Faith picked the woman up in her arms who immediately wrapped her legs around the Slayer’s waist.

“You sure ‘bout this?” Faith asked, pulling away slightly.

“Shut up and kiss me.” Came the response, close to a growl. Niki’s mouth claimed Faith’s again as the brunette made her way to the bedroom. She placed the blonde on the bed and pulled away just long enough to take off her clothes, then agonizingly slow removed Niki’s clothing as well. Pressing her naked body in between the blonde’s legs, she let out a mixture of a moan and a growl when the older woman tipped them over, so that she was lying on top.

‘Gotta come to Vegas more often.’ Was the last coherent thought coming from Faith for the remaining of the night.

Chapter 4

It was a little past five a.m. when Faith felt a shifting in her bed, she immediately shot up, stake in hand then visibly relaxed when she saw it was Niki, no, it was Jessica getting out of her bed.

“Jessica?” Faith asked incredulously, putting her stake back under her pillow.

“How’d you know? I’m turned with my back towards you.” The woman chuckled softly, getting dressed.

“Didn’t see that tattoo last night on Niki.” Faith replied, not bothering to cover herself as she sat up against the headboard.

“We switched sometime during the night, something about wanting to watch you sleep. She was worried about you, you were mumbling sorta scared and knowing you were pretty strong, she was a little scared of waking you so she wanted to keep an eye on you instead.” Jessica explained and then turned to face Faith, her eyes glazing over the brunette.

“Watch me? How?” The Slayer cocked her head in confusion.

“When I’m not looking or sleeping or just, you know, busy. She can watch through reflecting items,” she pointed to the large mirror on the other side of the room “like a mirror.”

“Kinky, now I know what you were doing last night.” Faith smirked.

“Yeah, ‘cause I enjoy watching my sister, Niki, myself,” she looked puzzled but shook it off “whatever, I didn’t see. Much.” Jessica winked.

“Hey, I got a question.” Faith called out right before the blonde left the bedroom. When she turned Faith grinned “When you get really horny and no one’s ‘round, does Niki give you a hand or vice versa?” Faith wiggled her eyebrows.

“Pig.” Niki was back. Faith smirked and put her hands behind her head. “I’ll call you, Faith Wilkins.”

“Around here it’s Faith Scooby, sexy.” Seeing the amused look on the woman’s face she elaborated “It’s Vegas, baby, dumber things are known.”

“Weird girl.” Niki muttered and left the hotel room, retreating to her own room. Faith was smiling and she didn’t care, she had a great time and she didn’t feel like she had to get one from the woman. Glancing at the clock she saw it was just past five a.m., she leaned over to the nightstand and grabbed the phone. Dialing a number she had recently memorized she held the phone to her ear. After a few rings a female voice picked up sounding very cheery.

“Hey, B, it’s me.” Faith said into the receiver.

*Faith? What time is it? It’s gotta be like six a.m. over there, what are you doing up, shouldn’t you be enjoying your vacation in Vegas?* the chirpy blonde replied.

“It’s just past five and I just watched a gorgeous woman leavin’ my hotel room. Two women actually, well, two but it’s just one.” Faith laughed quietly when the phone went eerily silent on the other end, she could just imagine Buffy trying to wrap her head around it.

*Faith, ‘splainy?* the utterly confused voice came.

“She’s got an alter ego, like a schizo and they’re actually sisters, or so they say. And get this; one of the two’s got Slayerstrenght-”

*Wow, Faithy, rewind. You’re seeing a schizophrenic?* Buffy interrupted.

“No, keep up, Blondie; I had sex with a woman who’s got an alter ego, don’t know if there’s a difference between schizo and alter ego but, whatever, see me care. And Niki, the one where the so very hot body belongs to, she’s got this great and really smart kid.”

For the next two hours the two Slayers were talking about everything that had happened since Buffy had gone to Europe. After half an hour of explaining, Buffy seemed to somewhat comprehend the complicated woman that Faith was seeing. Around 8 a.m. Faith looked down and saw that she was still sitting naked in her bed.

“Hey, B, I’m gon’ hang up ‘cause I’m still naked and it’s ‘bout 8 a.m. and-”

*Ew, Faith, you’re naked and you’re on the phone with me?* in the background could the grossed out sounds from Dawn be heard.

“Did you really expect anythin’ different, B?” Faith snorted amused

*Nah, not really. Hey Faith?*

“Yeah, B?”

*What are you gonna do with Niki? I mean, are you serious about her?*

“Way to jump the gun, B.” Faith rolled her eyes “I don’t know, I like her and I like Micah and even Jessica seems cool, but y’know me and serious shit.”

*Yeah, you bail or overreact.* Buffy sighed.

“I did not overreact with Robin.” Faith replied through gritted teeth “You didn’t see the look in his eyes when I caught him, B. He knew he was busted.”

*Yeah, okay but what if you go back to Cleveland? Las Vegas isn’t exactly a neighbor city, you know.*

“I know, it’s about 2090 miles apart.” Faith sighed and slumped in her bed. She took the pillow Niki/Jessica had slept on and held it close, glad that Buffy couldn’t see her like this.

*You are serious about this one, aren’t you?*

“What if I ask her to come with me? I mean, she doesn’t exactly have a real job, Micah’s way to smart for his school-”

*Faith, calm down, you’ve just met the woman.* Buffy said, not used to Faith acting like this. Faith sighed and stared at the ceiling.

“You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinkin’. I don’t do relationships, why start now with a woman with a psycho side and a kid.”

*Just enjoy your vacation, Faith. See what happens after that, okay?*

“Yeah, ‘kay. Hey, Buffy?”

*I know, Faith. I miss you, too.* Buffy said, knowing what Faith wanted to say but still sometimes had troubles with putting it in words.

“Bye, B. Tell the brat I said ‘hi’.” The brunette smiled, waiting for the blonde to say her goodbye she then hung up. She stepped out of her bed and went in search for some shorts and her bra. When she was dressed, sort of, she pulled her hair in a ponytail and took some special tape out of her suitcase and wrapped her hands. She then took a punching ball on a stand and placed it in the middle of the balcony. She swung a few soft punches and as the time went on, the punches became faster and harder, sometimes she would kick at the ball, hitting it perfectly. After about an hour she heard soft knocking on her door. Wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand she went over and opened the door, revealing Micah.

“Hey, shorty. What ya doin’ here?” Faith opened the door a little more, letting the boy enter her hotel room.

“Mom’s still sleeping. I left a note, saying I’m up here.” He said a little absently, looking around the room. “You slept with my mom, didn’t you?”

“Waow, boy, do you even know what you’re talking ‘bout?” Faith chuckled, closing the door behind him.

“I’m ten, Faith and I’m not stupid. My mom tried to sneak in at 5 a.m. and you were crashing in your room around eleven-thirty p.m.” Micah rolled his eyes at the brunette.

“How’d you know that?” Faith asked, surprised.

“Every electronic device in this hotel is connected and they talk to me.” The boy explained.

“What d’you mean with ‘they talk to you’? Like they actually tell you stuff?” Faith inquired, taking a seat on her couch, motioning for the boy to sit beside her.

“It’s like how Jessica is really strong, and after last night I’m sure you know about Jessica and her powers, that’s how I can do things with electronic devices.” He told the Slayer.

“That’s some awesome power ya got goin’ there.” Faith grinned.

“Yeah, but you’re avoiding the question. You slept with my mom?” He asked again.

“Dude, you’re ten, how can you know ‘bout those things?” Faith wasn’t sure how to respond to the little guy.

“Like I said, I’m not stupid. Do you like my mom?” Knowing he wasn’t going to get a straight answer on the first question he jumped to another instead.

“Yeah, I do. I like hangin’ out with her, y’know, just like I like hangin’ out with you.” Faith really didn’t know how this boy was going to respond to his mom and another woman.

“That’s illegal, if you like me the same way you like my mom. Don’t deny it, Faith.” He stood up and faced the brunette “My mom still loves my dad, she’ll always love him but I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time so don’t even think about playing around with her.” He wagged his finger at her, trying to look intimidating.

“Kid, you’re way too smart for your age, y’know that? And I’m not playin’ around with your mom.” Faith ruffled through his hair and grinned. Micah’s ever working mind seemed to relax a little so she reached out and pulled the boy on the couch, tickling him.

“Please, Faith, stop.” He laughed, struggling to get away from the Slayer. After a few minutes the brunette stopped and swung her arm around the young boy.

“I do like your mom, she’s cool and beautiful. I like her more than I like Jessica.” She looked down at the boy under her arm and grinned “Is that cool with you?”

“Yeah, but can you please take a shower? You smell.” The boy giggled at Faith who was trying not to laugh.

“Jerk.” She pulled her arm back and gave him a push when the boy looked at her innocently.

“Okay whiz kid, since you think I smell like real bad, ya wanna hit the punching ball while I get a shower?” She suggested.

“Sure.” Micah grinned. He removed his jacket and waited while Faith taped his small hands. She led the boy to her balcony and gave him a few pointers. She turned and headed inside when Micah called out.

“Faith, when you get out of the shower, can we talk about your powers?” He asked.

“Sure kid, whatever you wanna know.” She smiled and went to the bathroom.

Chapter 5

It had been a week and a half since the two women had slept together and they hadn’t done it again so far. Not because they didn’t want to, because they did, at times they had to get away from each other in order not to jump one another. They weren’t even sure if they were dating or just friends. Faith was the first one, the day after they slept together, to say that it would be safer if it didn’t happen again. Niki agreed, both claiming that it would be better for Micah so he wouldn’t get attached to Faith when she finally did have to go back to Cleveland.

Jessica would sometimes go with Faith for some Slaying, after Micah was asleep, usually ending in a heave make-out session before one of them pulled away. If Faith was kissing Jessica, the Slayer would pull away and if it was Niki kissing Faith, the blonde would pull away. To Faith it felt like she had two different girls but she couldn’t have either one of them. The first time Jessica had kissed Faith, the brunette had shoved the blonde away.

---Flashback---

“What the hell are you doin’, Jessie?” Faith asked angrily, staring at the blonde on her couch.

“Then you are fa-” The blonde was cut off by the brunette’s lips.

---End Flashback---

Faith was helping Micah beat a videogame. Occasionally Niki glanced over to the two and chuckled. She was in the bedroom packing because tomorrow they would be headin home.

“They’re cute together, aren’t they?” Jessica asked from the mirror.

“Yeah, Micah’s gonna miss her when she goes home. Hell, he’ll miss her the moment we step out of this hotel and go home.” Niki sighed, putting the emphasis on ‘we’.

“You could always ask her.” Jessica said bored, looking at her nails.

“No. She’s got a destiny; we’d only interfere with that.”

“You, we, could become a part of that destiny. You could finally get some sex without worrying about Micah getting too attached and I can still kick some vampire ass with her around.” Jessica smirked.

“Yeah and then you can get some, too, without Faith noticing, right?” Niki responded with a jealous touch in her voice.

“So that’s why you don’t want to screw her? Afraid that she might think I’m better than you.” Jessica’s smirk grew wider when Niki glared at her.

“Shut up.” Niki retorted and exited the bedroom. She frowned when she saw Micah sitting alone. When she was about to ask where Faith was, the brunette stepped out of the bathroom with her cell phone, with a grimace on her face.

“Seems like I gotta cut my vacation short.” Faith stated grimly. “I gotta go back to Cleveland. There’s a big bad comin’.” she frowned “It’s not good, the Watcher man even called Red and B.”

“Red is the powerful witch, right?” Micah asked, looking up from his videogame.

“Yeah, last time we needed her was to beat the First.”

“So, that means you have to go today?” Niki tried to sound as neutral as possible. Faith nodded, not looking at her.

“Will you be okay? You’re not going to die, are you?” Micah asked scared, he walked over to Faith and wrapped his small arms around her waist, somewhat surprising the brunette. She knelt down and took the boy’s hands in her own.

“Hey, I’m not gon’ die, buddy.” She grinned “I can’t be beat, I’m like superman, ‘kay?” that got a chuckle from the boy.

“You promise?” He asked. She nodded and pulled him close. When she pulled back, she looked him in the eyes.

“When the fight’s over, I’ll call you, sound good?” Faith smiled sweetly when he nodded in response and kissed the top of Micah’s head.

“Micah, can I talk to Faith for a moment, sweetie?” Niki asked gently placing a hand on his shoulder. The boy nodded. The two women left the hotel room and headed up to the roof, where they could talk without having to worry whether there were cameras or not.

“When do you have to leave?” Niki began.

“The brat and B are already on their flight home, so’re Red ‘nd Ken. G-man booked me flight for tonight.” Faith wasn’t looking at the blonde; she walked over to the ledge and looked down.

“The brat, that’s Buffy’s younger sister, Dawn, right? Why is she going back as well?” The older woman asked puzzled.

“’Cause she got witchy powers, too.” The brunette shrugged and finally faced Niki. She walked over to the blonde and cupped her cheek. She stroked her cheek with her thumb, relishing in the softness.

“You’ll be safe, right? Because if you die, I won’t hear about it. It’s not like anyone knows about us.” Niki smiled grimly.

“B knows ‘bout ya.” Faith smirked and placed a feather light kiss on the blonde’s lips.

“You’re avoiding the question.” Niki chuckled, wrapping her arms around the brunette’s neck. Seeing as Faith was a little shorter, she wrapped her arms around the blonde’s waist and looked up in Niki’s eyes, with a little gleam in her own eyes.

“I’ll try to be safe, but knowin’ me, I’ll be in the middle of it all.” Faith chuckled, concealing her nervousness.

“You promised my son you wouldn’t die, so don’t die. We’ll be expecting your phone call.” She pulled the younger woman in a hug and laughed softly “Besides, all three of us would like to see you again, preferably alive.”

“I’m feelin’ popular.” Faith smirked and placed her lips on the blonde’s before pulling out of Niki’s arms. “I’m gon’ go pack.”

*---*H&S*---*

Micah, Jessica and Faith were standing at the gate; the brunette was stalling a little, waiting for the last boarding call before she got on her flight. Faith groaned when a woman’s voice rang through the airport that her flight was now boarding. She hugged Jessica, giving her a peck on the lips then knelt in front of Micah.

“This,” she took off her silver necklace with a silver cross hanging from it and put it on Micah “is my favorite. B gave it to me. Take care of it, ‘cause when I come back, I’ll wanna see it still around your neck, got it?” The boy nodded and hugged the brunette. When the hug ended she stood back up and smiled at Jessica.

“Can I say goodbye to Niki?” The blonde smirked for a second then it disappeared and the gentle eyes that were Niki’s appeared.

“Be careful, Faith.” Niki said and gave the brunette a sudden kiss. It was a chaste but sweet kiss that made Faith want to stay but the thoughts of her redemption took her back to reality.

“I slipped somethin’ in your suitcase before we left; I’m comin’ back for it.” The Slayer grinned and kissed the blonde once more before turning away.

*---*H&S*---*

During the entire flight she couldn’t stop thinking about the blonde and Micah. She thought the feeling in her gut would go away if she didn’t see them anymore but instead it worsened. She was wondering if that was what people called missing someone like crazy. Because Faith was convinced that she was crazy, missing someone she knew for just two weeks.

‘This sucks.’ She thought sullen. The first thing she did after she exited the plane was grabbing her cell phone. Her fingers automatically searched for Niki’s number. When she was about to press the call-button she sighed and closed her phone. ‘Stupid Jessica, if she didn’t go all *you’re fallin’ for my sister* I wouldn’t be in this damn situation.’ She thought, mentally glaring at the annoying alter ego. When she exited the airport, she saw Xander and Andrew waiting for her.

“Great, I get called for back-up, cuttin’ my vacation short, and they send me two freaks to pick me up? What’d I do to deserve this?” The grin on her face showed the boys that she was joking.

“Great to see you, too, Faith.” Andrew scowled and reached for her suitcase, dropping it when Faith swung it in his arms. Xander bowed mockingly, opening the door so Faith could get into the car.

“Is B back yet?” She asked when the two young men got in the car.

“They are arriving tonight. Willow is back and Kennedy, too, but they were on separate flights. I don’t think they are talking to each other.” Andrew answered, starting the car.

“Why’re they on separate flights?” the brunette questioned confused.

“Will came from Brazil and Kenny just got back from Florida.” Xander turned in his seat, facing the Slayer in the backseat.

“So, they broke up?” Faith asked, furrowing her brows.

“No, they said they were still together but they haven’t said a word to each other since they got back.” The brown-haired man replied.

“They’re gon’ break up. I’d bet on it.” Faith shrugged. Seeing Xander grin she held out her hand and shook his. A bet was made, money was the usual.

‘Those fifty bucks are mine.’ She grinned at her own thought and leaned back.

“Hey Faith, how was Vegas? Did you go to any magic shows? I heard they were really cool.” Andrew asked with a wide grin, trying to keep his eyes on the road.

“Vegas was great, man.” Faith replied with a smirk then stared out the window “Really great.” She mumbled under her breath.

“Welcome home, Faith.” Andrew said as they pulled up through huge iron gates. After about fifty feet they reached a large Victorian mansion. They were immediately greeted by a little over twenty people standing in front of the house.

“B’s entourage?” the brunette asked chuckling.

“No, Faith, they’re waiting for you.” Xander laughed at the perplexed expression on Faith’s face.

“No shit.” She exclaimed and exited the car. The minute she stepped out of the car the girls swarmed over her, telling her how much they had missed her, how she was so much better at training them than Giles and on and on.

“Girls, girls, girls, give Faith some breathing space. Let her rest up and then you can annoy her.” Faith grinned at the voice and she made her way through the girls and enveloped the redheaded witch in a hug.

“You look great, Red.” Faith sighed grinning. Willow’s hair was longer, almost reaching the bottom of her back, she was slightly tanned but what the brunette realized the most was how much power the witch was radiating.

“You, too, Faith.” The witch responded and linked her arm in Faith’s, dragging her in the house. The two went up the stairs of the three-story mansion, going to the general living room on the first floor. Faith wasn’t tired; she just didn’t want to deal with all the juvenile Slayers.

*---*H&S*---*

“That’d be Buffy.” Willow shot up when the bell rang. “She said she wanted to take a cab because she didn’t know what time she’d be arriving and didn’t want anyone to wait up.” Faith nodded in understanding and followed the witch downstairs. It was already dark outside since it was nearing midnight.

“You get the door, I’ll get Giles.” Willow said and went in the direction of the library.

‘Some things never change, always with the researchin’ in the library.’ Faith thought and shook her head chuckling. She opened the door, ready to see a blonde and a tall brunette but found a young man instead. He had brown hair and looked like he had been standing in the wind for hours. His brown eyes were filled with sorrow but he didn’t show it.

“Faith Wilkins?” He asked, hands in his pockets.

“Who’s askin’?” She retorted, blocking the door. She could sense the presence of Giles and Willow behind her.

“I’m a friend of Niki’s, she asked me to help you with some big battle.” He answered. Faith’s eyes grew a little colder.

“Who are you?” She asked, trying to stare him down.

“Peter Petrelli.”

Chapter 6

..Three Months Earlier..

Sylar was down; the sword that went through his chest now left a gaping wound. Hiro had teleported himself away after being flung away by Sylar before the Japanese young man could kill Peter, in order to stop him from exploding. Peter was desperately trying to control the power but he was failing. He fell to his knees, breathing heavily. Against the Kirby Plaza building Niki, D.L., Micah and Molly were watching the young man frantically trying to oppress his power. Mohinder was sitting by Parkman, who was shot with his own bullets by Sylar.

‘Please, let it stop.’ Peter repeated the phrase in his mind. He looked up and saw Claire running to the Plaza, she ran over to her father and after she saw the energy growing inside Peter, she took the gun from his hand. He closed his eyes, willing the energy to stop flowing. The blonde cheerleader came closer to Peter, watching his hands glow with light and energy. He opened his eyes and stood up as Claire pointed the gun at him.

“Do it.” He managed to say. Claire’s eyes shone with unshed tears, some what shaking her head.

“Do it! You’re the only one, Claire.” He shouted. The blonde’s tears were now running down her cheeks.

“Tell me there’s another way, please.” She sobbed.

“Shoot me, there’s no other way.” He grunted, holding the explosion off as long as he could. Claire straightened up and gripped the gun tighter, determined to shoot Peter When Nathan landed right in front of her from the sky.

“Yes, there is, Claire.” He says softly. “The future isn’t written in stone.” He pushed the gun in Claire’s hand down, pointing it to the ground.

“I took his power, Nathan.” Peter said. His brother turned to face him “I can’t control it, I can’t do anything.”

“I’m not leaving you, Peter.” He walked over to the young man, who backed away from him. His entire body was bursting with light as he grows brighter and brighter. “There’s another way to end this, and you know it.”

“I can’t let you die.” Peter replied.

“And I can’t let everyone else.” Nathan turned to Claire who was crying, still with the gun in her hand. He turned back to his younger brother.

“You saved the cheerleader, so we could save the world.” Nathan stepped closer to Peter. The young man looked at his older brother, tears shimmering in his eyes.

“I love you, Nathan.”

“I love you, too.” Nathan replied and glanced up at the sky. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” Peter nodded. Nathan took hold of his brother and flew him straight up to the sky where they disappeared from sight. The others walked out on the Plaza, looking at the sky. Noah Bennet limped over to his daughter while Claire stared into the sky. He took the gun from her hand and looked up just as the sky lit up from the explosion.

“What happened to them?” Niki questioned but didn’t get an answer. Niki and D.L. hugged Molly and Micah while Claire cried in her father’s chest. He held her close and looked over his shoulder to Sylar. He put on arm around his daughter and pointed the gun with his other hand at Sylar, shooting him in the middle of his head. The others jumped at the gun shot.

“Making sure he’s really dead.” He said, looking at the others.

..Present Day..

The large library was almost empty, thousands of books on shelves and bookcases looked grim in the shadows. The only light was the soft light that lit the faces of the original Scoobies plus Faith, Dawn and Peter. Buffy had arrived five minutes after Peter. They were currently listening to Peter’s story.

“I already heard ‘bout this from Niki.” Faith said rolling her eyes. “What I don’t get is how you’re not dead.” She said glaring at him.

“I was dead. But I take other people’s powers when I come in contact with them. I took Claire’s power and that’s how I’m alive again. I’ve been wandering through America the last three months ‘til I got to Vegas and I ran into Niki and Micah.” He explained.

“So, you can’t die and that’s when you decided to help us out?” Buffy inquired. “Do you even know what you’ll be fighting against?” She then turned to Giles with a rather confused look in her eyes “What are we fighting against, Giles?”

“I’m not quite sure. Rona and Vi were clearing a nest of vampires with five other girls when they came across a pack of demons they describe as ‘ugly-ass-things with horns and teeth and scales and drool and slayer-ass-kicking-power’, their words, not mine.” Giles sighed. “We’ve lost three girls already. When they became Slayers, they also became quite stubborn and under the impression that they cannot be defeated.”

“So, they’re all l’il B’s?” Faith quipped, jerking her stare away from Peter.

“I’m afraid so, although Buffy was somewhat more stubborn and unwilling to listen than these girls.” Giles took off his glasses, cleaning them.

“Hey, I’m sitting right here, you know.” Buffy spoke up bothered.

“Yes, well, nevertheless, seems that these demons are followers of Abbadon, the Destroying angel of the Apocalypse.” He told the six young people staring at him.

“I heard about him!” Willow exclaimed “My grandmother used to tell me stories about him. She said that he was connected with Satan himself. He’s like the chief of the demons of the underworld hierarchy.” She smiled proudly.

“Quite right, Willow.” The older man stood up and began pacing.

“Hey, I know a game where you have to beat this Abbadon.” Xander spoke up with a smile, when Giles looked at him with an irritated look he shrugged “Well, I do. I played it with Andrew just a few weeks ago.”

“Did you kill it?” Dawn questioned with a hopeful twinge in her voice.

“No, we got scared so we shut if off.” The one-eyed man looked down in shame.

“Games are not the same as real life, Xander. When we go and fight this thing, it’s gonna get a lot scarier.” Buffy said rolling her eyes.

“I’m thinking you could use my help. I don’t know what demons are, but I’m guessing they’re hard to beat.” Peter finally spoke up.

“Hang on, buddy.” Faith said, turning back to him. “How can you help? You ain’t got real powers.”

“I can take anyone’s power once I come in contact with them, Faith. You’ve seen Niki’s power, I can help.” He countered.

“Why would you want to help? You don’t know us.” Willow asked, trying to read his expression.

“Because I already lost my brother, I can’t lose anything else.” He said, leaving out that there was one more person but he hadn’t seen her, couldn’t find her, so he figured he had already lost her.

“How’d ya find me, anyway?” Faith asked crossing her arms defensively.

“A tracking system.” He simply said, making clear he didn’t want to go in it any further.

“It’s getting rather late, so I suggest that we all go to bed. I’m sure we’ll find a place for Mr. Petrelli to sleep.” Giles smiled warmly at the young man.

“Buffy, Dawn, I’m sorry we have to see each other again under these circumstances but I’m glad you’re back.” He smiled and made his way out of the library. Reaching the double door he sighed and turned around.

“Faith, it’s nice to have you back but do not hurt this young man until we know more.” The brunette in question rolled her eyes but nodded.

“’Night Giles.” Five people said in chorus.

“Well, I’m going to bed, too. Jetlag’s a bitch.” Dawn yawned. “I’m hoping I still share a room with Vi and Rona?” After Xander nodded she smiled and waved her goodbye.

“Xander, you wanna bunk with us?” Willow asked, pointing to Buffy and herself. The man grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

“Perv, no.” Buffy laughed and playfully slapped him on the arm. “You coming, Faithy?” She directed her question to the brunette who was still glaring at Peter.

“Nah, I’m not tired, ‘sides, you three got a lotta catchin’ up to do. But hey, if Red’s goin’ tell you what happened with Ken, I wanna know.” She flashed the redhead a grin. “And I’ll make sure this chump gets a bed.” She said nodding to Peter.

“Okay, Faith. G’night and I’ll see you tomorrow. Same time, same place, right?” The blonde asked.

“Yeah, sure, B.” She walked over and hugged the blonde “Great to have ya back, blondie.” She whispered and quickly let her go again. She then hugged the witch but when Xander opened his arms for a hug she raised an eyebrow and chuckled when he lowered his arms with a pout.

“C’mere, Cyclops.” Faith said and hugged Xander. The three Scoobies walked away together, animatedly talking about Rome and Brazil and various adventures, leaving Faith alone with Peter.

“So, you saw Niki and Micah?” the brunette asked, wringing her hands. Her sudden change of attitude surprised Peter. Before she was intimating and seemed very aggressive but the moment they were alone she softened up, she was almost to the point of being shy. Getting over the surprise Peter smiled slightly.

“Yeah, I ran into them at the airport, probably after putting you on a plane.” He shrugged and for the first time since he arrived he relaxed in his seat.

“What exactly did they tell you?” She asked, sitting next to Peter.

“That you were very strong and Micah said you were cool and nice.” He noticed Faith smiling to herself “Niki’s a very proud woman but she asked me to keep an eye on you, so you got to mean a great deal to her.”

“She means a lot to me, too.” She said, smiling at the young man “I’m not plannin’ on endin’ in a box.” Faith snorted the last sentence and leaned back in the couch.

“That’s good to hear; or Jessica or Niki would kill me.” He laughed softy. “Tell me, Faith, do vampires real exist or was that something Micah was making up to make you look good?”

“They exist. I took Jessica out on some patrols in Vegas, she loved it.” Faith smirked. “Hey, you want somethin’ to drink?”

“Sure.” Peter smiled but like all his smiles it didn’t reach his eyes. Faith got up and motioned him to follow her to the kitchen. They entered the kitchen just as the front door opened and a group of five Slayers came back from patrol.

“How many girls live here anyway?” Peter asked the brunette.

“When I left two weeks ago, there were ‘bout fifty girls but we find new girls every week. Some girls get called later than others.” She shrugged and opened the refrigerator door.

“Called?” He asked, taking a drink from the water.

“Yeah, when they get their powers, y’know. Once the girls are called we can track them down and give them a home.” She replied and jumped on the counter.

“What if they already have a home?” He questioned.

“Ever seen the movie X-Men? You can say we sorta do the same. The girls can stay here and learn to control their powers. They get schooling here, too, y’know. It’s like a boarding school for Slayers.” She took a swig from her bottle and continued “Girls who still have parent that care can go home for holidays and all that, others stay here.” She shrugged “We’re a big, happy, dysfunctional, gay family.” That last part got Peter choking on his water.

“Gay?” He asked, wiping the water from his mouth.

“Yeah, lots of girls are gay in here. To some it’s a passin’ thing, for others it’s just to be loved by someone or it’s for real.” She winked and then nodded behind Peter.

“Hey Sandra, you want a drink?” She asked the girl.

“Sure, Faith.” Peter’s eyes grew wide and he turned around, staring at the girl with brown hair and blue eyes.

“Claire? What are you doing here?”

Chapter 7

“Nah, man. This is Sandra Gonelit.” Faith said laughing but stopped when the girl in question was staring at Peter.

“Peter?” She spoke up in a weak voice. Peter nodded with a nervous, unbelieving chuckle. That seemed to snap the girl out of her stupor. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around the young man, crying in his chest.

“I missed you so much, Claire.” Tears were running down his cheeks as well.

“I thought you were dead. You exploded. Nathan flew you up in the sky and you exploded, I saw it. How can you be alive?” Claire finally looked up with red eyes and tears still flowing.

“You saved me, Claire.” He said smiling through his tears.

“And Nathan?” She asked, not daring to hope.

“He’s dead.” He said quietly.

“Sorry to break this tear-jerkin’ moment, but Sandra?” Faith spoke up with questioning eyes.

“Claire Bennet, this is my,” She looked up at Peter who smiled response “this is my uncle.”

“Damn, I just had to bring some drama from Vegas.” She muttered under her breath. “Why’d ya say your name’s Sandra Gonelit?” She asked the young brunette.

“Sandra was my mom’s name and Gonelit is for Gordon, my biological mother’s name, Bennet and Petrelli.” She explained.

“What do you mean with ‘was my mom’s name’? Where are your parents and what are you doing here?” Peter addressed the teenager who looked away.

“They’re dead.” She simply said and pulled away from Peter’s arms.

“She got called two months ago. So me and Cyclops went to pick her up. Seemed that her brother invited some vampires in their house. When we got there her dad and her mom were lying dead on the floor, drained, and her l’il brother was gone.” Faith answered instead of the teenager who was already shaking with the memories flooding in her mind.

“I had to stake Lyle a week after.” Claire said barely audible.

“Y’know, I shoulda known there was somethin’ off with you. You never ever got hurt, even though you’re always the first to jump into battle.” Faith said, wagging her finger at the girl.

“Yeah well, I heal fast.” The girl shrugged, crossing her arms.

“Rapid cell regeneration, right?” Faith stated more than questioned. “Jessica sorta told me ‘bout it.”

“Jessica?” Claire inquired and looked at Peter who shrugged casually.

“Faith and Niki are in love apparently.” He replied.

“No,”

“But I thought Niki was with D.L.?” Claire inquired, not listening to Faith.

“I’m not in love.”

“D.L. died in the hospital, the gunshot wound was too severe.” Peter said, repeating the same thing Niki had told him.

“I don’t fall in love. I screw them then I leave.” She started to realize she was talking to herself when the two didn’t acknowledge her words.

“Poor Micah.” The young brunette sighed.

“Hey, didn’t you guys just hear me?” Faith’s voice was louder this time. Peter and Claire stared at her.

“Yes, you are. I can read minds if I want, too.”

“So? I’m not in love with Niki.” Faith crossed her arms like a little child and glared at the male brunette.

“You can’t stop thinking about her; she’s always in your mind. When I said I was a friend of Niki’s, your mind was filled with jealous thoughts. Like the one that actually wanted to make me laugh ‘I’m way hotter than this pathetic excuse of a man.’, face it, you’re in love.” Peter dared her to counter but she kept her mouth shut.

“I’m not in love.” She muttered finally quietly and left the kitchen in a huff.

“Faith is not a person to tell how she feels. I think you just got on her bad side.” Claire giggled. “Come on, you can sleep in my room. I used to share it with two other girls but, they died. Next week I’ll be getting new roommates but for now, you can be my roommate.” She said smiling.

“Uhm, Claire? Faith said something before that left me a little wondering.” Peter started, putting his arm around his niece, leaving the kitchen.

“And what might that be, *uncle* Peter?” She said sniggering. She was so happy that Peter was alive and here with her. Just when she thought she was the only left, her savior came back.

“Are you gay?” He asked with a smirk. Claire looked at him with her infamous half smirk and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Who knows, uncie?” She replied.

“I’d like to know.” He grinned. Claire crawled out from under his arm and spurted up the stairs. “Claire? I’d really want to know if my little niece likes girls.” He called after her. The brunette turned around and winked at him. He shook his head with a soft chuckle and ran after her, taking two steps at a time. “Claire.” He drawled out her name grinning, getting closer to the girl waiting for him.

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. Who knows?” When Peter reached the top of the first flight of stairs she giggled and ran up the second flight. By the time she reached the top, Peter was already standing there with his arms crossed and smirking.

“Flying is cheating.” She pouted.

*---*H&S*---*

“Good morning, Mr. Petrelli.” Andrew chirped happily when Peter entered the kitchen the next morning.

“Call me Peter,” He looked at the young man, expecting him to say his name.

“Oh, I’m Andrew, cook slash ex-villain slash Mr. Giles’-protégé slash Willow’s-right-hand--when-she’s-away.” He replied with a bright smile.

“Andrew, right. You have any idea where Faith is?” He asked, leaning against the counter.

“She’s with Buffy, doing some very secret training that the other girls can’t do. Would you like some breakfast? It’s the most important meal of the day.” He held up a plate with pancakes on, the smile never leaving his face.

“No thanks, I think the girls need it more than me.” He flashed him a grin, remembering Claire saying something about high metabolism.

“Oh, the girls already ate, well, most of them anyway. They get up real early when both Faith and Buffy are in the house. They all want to know what the big secret training is about.” He shrugged slightly “I want to know, too, but I’m the last person they will tell.”

“Why is that?” He asked, sitting on one of the stools that surrounded the counter.

“Because I used to be evil. I was a real villain, you know. Demon summoning and trying to kill Buffy and everything.” He replied in a hushed tone. “I was-”

“He doesn’t care, Andrew.” Willow said as she entered the kitchen “G’morning, Peter. Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah, I slept fine. I just need to talk to Faith for a moment.” He said, turning in seat to face the redhead.

“Oh, she’s with Buffy and their secret training session.” She said, shooting him a smile. “She’ll be back in about half an hour.” She stood on her toes as she was trying to get a plate from one of the cupboards.

“What is the secret training session actually?” Peter figured the redhead would know seeing as she heard that Willow, Xander and Buffy had been friends for the better part of a decade.

“I don’t have a clue. Maybe I do, but if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.” She replied, grabbing some pancakes from the plate and putting it on hers. He tried to read her mind but something was blocking it.

“Don’t bother, Peter.” She said, not looking up from her plate but a small smile was visible. She leaned over the counter and took hold of the syrup that Andrew had set there just a few seconds before. “You can’t read my mind and I wouldn’t do that too much in this house. Girls like their privacy.” She now looked him and gave a sly wink.

“How did you-”

“Willow is one of the most powerful witches alive. She can do anything she wants.” Andrew quipped, sliding a glass of juice to the redhead. “I advice you not to get on her bad side, she’ll skin you alive without so much as blinking.”

“Andrew.” Willow hissed.

“Let me guess. Back when you,” he said pointing at the blonde male “were evil, a villain. You,” he now pointed at the redhead “were after him because he was trying to kill Buffy.”

“No, I was after him and his friends because his best buddy killed my lover.” Willow replied coldly, taking a final bite and leaving the kitchen.

“Tara’s death is a sensitive subject. Naturally, that girl was the nicest girl in the world. Warren didn’t mean to shoot her, he wanted to shoot Buffy. That didn’t go well with Darth Willow either.” Andrew said with a sad smile. “Anyway, are you sure you don’t want breakfast? I can make you some eggs if you’d like that instead of pancakes?”

“No, I’m good, thanks.” He replied, confused with the sudden change of subject and also confused about the young man that had a smile on his face the entire time he had been in the kitchen.

“Hi, cutie.” Claire said, referring to Andrew who blushed a little, when she entered the kitchen. “Oooh pancakes.” She grinned and took the plate with pancakes. “Good morning, Peter.”

“Morning, Claire.”

“No, that’s not Claire. That’s Sandra. It’s okay though, you’ll get the hang of the names soon enough.” Andrew spoke up, not noticing the amused glance between the two other people in the kitchen. “Okay, I’m going to see if Mr. Giles needs any help with research. I trust that you two can help yourselves?”

“Sure thing, cutie.” Claire said, taking a bite of her pancakes. Once again a blush appeared on Andrew’s cheeks. He stammered his goodbye and quickly left the kitchen.

“He’s head over heels for you, and you just have to tease him, don’t you?” Peter grinned and reached over to Claire’s plate, stealing a pancake. The girl inadvertently growled almost inaudible. When the male brunette looked at her amused she shrugged it off.

“Sometimes the Slayer takes over.” She explained.

“Right.” He drawled out the word with a grin.

“Shut up.” Claire stuck out her tongue.

“That’s mature.” He retorted.

“I guess I get that from the Petrelli side.” She flashed him a half smile and took another bite.

“So, Willow seems cool. She also makes me wanna stay on her good side.” Peter grinned a little nervous.

“Yeah, she’s cool. She's also very gay and taken.” Claire responded.

“I figured that when Andrew mentioned Tara being her lover.” Peter said, rolling his eyes with the smallest grin of grins.

“Don’t blame me for mentioning it, just in case you decide to go and fall for a gay witch with a Slayer girlfriend.” Claire shrugged in response.

“Nah, I got my eye on someone else.” He replied, leaning back a little, just not too far to tip over the stool.

“Really? Who?” The young brunette asked with a big smile. Peter shrugged indifferently in response. “Fine, be that way.” She huffed and took the last piece of pancake in her mouth. “Faith back from secret training?” She asked with a full mouth which made her uncle laugh.

“You’re like eight years old when you do that.” He grinned when Claire rolled her eyes and swallowed her food “And no, Faith’s not back yet.” Just then the kitchen door leading to the yard opened, revealing the brunette and the blonde Slayer.

‘I still don’t think it was a good idea to leave your favorite dagger with a woman you barely know, Faith.’ The blonde walked over to the refrigerator and took out two bottles of water, throwing one at the brunette.

‘That’s just it, B. I feel like I’ve known her forever.’ The brunette smiled gratefully and took a swig from the water.

“You’re mentally talking to each other!” Peter exclaimed. The two older Slayers stared at him dumbfounded.

‘Guess I forgot to say he can read minds.’ The brunette smiled apologetically. Buffy rolled her eyes at the brunette and they both left the kitchen, heading towards the library.

“Hey, stop eavesdropping or I’ll sic Willow on you.” Claire said wagging her finger at him then shrugged and cleared her plate “It’s something Willow did to the four of them. They can read each other’s mind but no one else’s. Well, maybe Willow can.”

Chapter 8

“Faith!” Peter called running after the two older Slayers. They both stopped walking and turned to the young man.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Not right now, buddy. I gotta give the Watcher man details on my new training schedule.” Faith sighed and turned around again.

“It’s just that, I forgot to tell you something yesterday.” The young man landed in front of Faith. Buffy shrieked and punched him in the nose. He stumbled backwards groaning, putting his hand over his nose but when he shook his head to clear the daze end removed his hand there was nothing that showed he just got punched.

“Oh, that’s so cool. I think I found myself a dummy.” Buffy grinned, clapping her hands together.

“Don’t do that again. In the house there’ll be no flying, no mind reading and no other neat tricks.” Peter turned around to face a smiling redhead with an amused raised eyebrow.

“Sorry.” He said hastily holding his hands up and turned to Faith again but she had passed him. “Faith, I really need to tell you this.”

“Tell me later, Superboy.” Faith said without turning around.

“Jessica wants to help.” He stated, throwing his hands up in defeat when Faith turned to face him.

“No, no, no.” She said shaking her head and walking up to Peter. “You’re gon’ call that, that, arrogant and selfish woman and tell her to stay put. I don’t care if she threatens to rip your balls off, you tell her she ain’t gon’ help.”

“Why not, Faith? If she’s as strong as she say, her help could be useful.” Buffy said, flashing a smile to Peter.

“If Jessica is in the middle of the battle Niki could get hurt and what ‘bout Micah? I’m not riskin’ him near some freak ass demons.” She countered, facing the blonde.

“He can stay with Andrew and Dawn. They won’t be in the battle itself either.” Buffy replied.

“B, are ya hearin’ yourself? When I called you and was wonderin’ if I should ask her to come with me, you said I just met the woman and that I should just chill.” The young man was completely forgotten when the two Slayers faced each other, heated in their conversation and oblivious to the people that were surrounding them, very interested in their conversation.

“That was before I knew you’re in love with the woman, Faith.”

“I’m not in love, B.” The brunette crossed her arms defiantly and glared at the blonde.

“Of course, you’re not, F.” Buffy replied sarcastically with a small sneer. “Is that why you only slept with her once but still kept seeing her?”

“That was because of Micah!” Faith all but shouted.

“Since when do you care about strangers’ feelings?” Buffy’s voice was becoming colder by the sentence.

“Ya woulda known that if ya weren’t off gallivantin’ around Europe.” Faith threw her hands up in frustration.

“I deserved a little break, Faith. I was *the* Slayer for seven years, for crying out loud.” By now the group of people around the two Slayers had grown out to almost the entire household.

“Yeah, ya were *the* Slayer. The leader, the one that every girl looks up to ‘cause they all wanna live, B. You’re their role model for stayin’ alive and you don’t even bother gettin’ to know them.” The younger Slayer growled.

“No, Faith. They look up to you; they treat you like their queen.” The blonde countered.

“Because I know each and every one of them. I’m their friend; they treat me with the same respect I as treat them. Somethin’ you never got the hang off, huh, B?” Faith snorted.

“Uh, guys?” A weak voice squeaked but it went unheard. The group of girls opened to reveal Andrew nervously wringing his hands.

“And how many girls talk back to you when you give them an order? You’re their leader now, Faith, you gotta show them that you’re in control or they’ll all end up dead.”

“Guys?” He said again, a little louder.

“They know I’m the boss. Jus’ ‘cause some girls take an example from high and mighty Ken, don’t mean I ain’t got no control over them.” The brunette clenched her fists, willing herself stay calm.

“Hey!” Kennedy yelled in the background, causing some girl to giggle.

“GUYS!” He yelled.

“What?” they both shouted back at the blonde male.

“Something big and ugly is smashing up my kitchen.” He said aggravated.

“Rona, Vi and Kennedy.” Both older Slayers yelled in unison, and then looked at each other for a second with a small grin.

“Put together three teams,” Buffy started

“And check the perimeters.” The brunette finished. The three younger Slayers looked a bit confused but did as asked.

“Anything big and ugly, kill it.” The two older Slayers once again said in chorus.

“If ya see somethin’ else, bring it and lock it in the basement.” Faith took the final word and nodded to Buffy, heading with the blonde to the kitchen where Peter was already trying to fight it. The demon was roughly eight feet tall with a light yellow slimy exterior. His arms were at least half his size with moldy fingers at the end. He grabbed Peter by his throat, holding him up. The demon opened his mouth and growled, saliva dripping from his teeth.

“In the middle of broad daylight, with protection spells all over the place.” Faith muttered and grabbed a cooking knife out of one of the drawers. She jumped up and stabbed the demon between just below the place where ears normally are situated. The demon growled and released Peter, turning to Faith. Behind the demon Buffy had snuck up on the counter, noiselessly taking a crossbow from a hidden tile in the sealing.

Faith grinned evilly and ducked Justas the demon swung at her. She kicked against its legs, causing him to drop to the floor. She did a summersault over the fallen demon and waited for Buffy to take a shot. She didn’t have to wait long; the demon received an arrow in his head. Faith stalked over to the demon and just to be sure, she ripped his head off.

“Think we oughta burn it?” Buffy asked casually, sitting on the counter. The brunette shrugged but picked up the body, taking it to through the kitchen door.

“What is she gonna do?” Peter asked, finally getting up from the spot where the demon had thrown him.

“Burn him, what else?” Buffy smiled and jumped off the counter. Peter watched her go, eyebrows raised. He shook his head sighing and followed the blonde out the back. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw at least twenty girls standing near three other, presumably, dead demons.

“Good job, girls.” Faith beamed and threw her demon next to the others. “Were these it?” She asked motioning to the three other demons.

“Kennedy took Sandra and Lily for confirmation, but these were the only ones on the grounds we encountered.” One of the girls answered.

“Okay, then we’ll wait for Kennedy before barbecuing these things.” Buffy said, standing next to Faith. Two minutes later Kennedy arrived with two other girls.

“One got away.” Kennedy spoke, throwing a glare at Peter. He looked a little taken aback; not knowing what he did wrong. Sandra, known to Peter as Claire, rolled her eyes at the cocky brunette and walked over to Peter.

“She’s just a little jealous because her family didn’t bother looking for her.” She said softly. “And also because she reckons you’re after Willow.” Peter nodded understanding before it dawned to him what his niece just said.

“I’m not after Willow.” He said a little too loudly.

“Nice to know I’m not that eligible.” Peter jumped at the voice of Willow.

“How do you do that? Stop that, you’re freaking me out with appearing out of thin air all the time.”

“I’ve been standing here the entire time. Well not the entire time, because that would mean I was fighting with the girls and I wasn’t. I arrived here right after you and Buffy so I was standing here almost as long as you were standing here. I didn’t appear out of thin air. That’s just spooky.” She babbled with a grin. Faith had in the meanwhile taken a can of gasoline from the tool shed, that wasn’t so much filled with garden tools as weapons and gasoline, and was pouring it over the four demons.

“Hey, I thought I was gonna flame them?” Willow spoke with a pout.

“You were too busy with Superboy.” Faith shrugged “But you can light ‘em?” Willow kept pouting but waved her hand and the demons went up in flames. Several girls jumped a little back from the flames.

*---*H&S*---*

The night had fallen upon them once again. Three groups of five Slayers were patrolling, the other girls were either training, keeping themselves entertained in one of the playrooms, watching a movie in one of the cinematic rooms, doing the homework they were assigned to that they had to complete by the next day or helping Giles, Dawn and Andrew research about Abbadon.

Willow and Kennedy had retreated not long before to their room, finally resolving that they needed to have a serious talk. Buffy and Xander were out patrolling with the other Slayers and Peter. He had only come along because Claire practically begged him. So that left Faith, sitting alone in her room, staring at the phone. Sometimes she would pick up the phone, dial the number and hang up before it even started ringing. The piece of paper that had Niki’s home and cell phone number on it was useless now that she had dialed both numbers so many times; they were etched in her mind.

‘Why does this crap have to be so hard?’ She asked herself. She wanted to see Niki again, and Micah, too, but she didn’t want to risk their lives. Her stereo was blaring, blocking out the entire world as she kept staring at the phone. If the outside world needed her help they knew they just had to barge in and tell her but the only people that dared disturbing her were Buffy, Xander and Willow. The other girls didn’t risk barging into their chief Slayer’s room.

“Screw it.” She grabbed her phone and walked over to her window so that the music wasn’t too loud. She opened her window and sat on the windowsill. She groaned in frustration and placed the phone on the ledge before jumping off and opening the drawer of her nightstand. She took out her cigarettes and went back to sit on the windowsill. She lit a cigarette and took a long drag. She blew the smoke out very slowly. This was her first cigarette in six months, three days and five hours.

‘But who’s counting?’ She thought to herself grinning. She took the phone and dialed Niki’s home number. This time she didn’t hang up, she kept her ear on the phone as it was ringing, and ringing, and ringing. The phone kept ringing and no one was answering. She hung up and frowned. Taking another drag of her cigarette she dialed Niki’s cell phone. Her anxiety replaced by worry. After two rings she heard the blonde’s voice on the other end.

“Niki?” She asked.

*Hey, sweetie.* Faith involuntarily smiled at the nickname.

“How come you don’t answer your home phone?” She questioned.

*Because we’re not home, we’re visiting someone.* She could hear Micah laughing in the background, apparently talking to someone about a funny game. She noticed that the laughter was fading in the background.

“Who?” She tried to keep some jealousy out of her voice but after hearing the blonde chuckle she knew she didn’t succeed.

*It doesn’t matter.* unknowingly to the brunette, Niki was trying to keep her laughter when Faith snorted.

“Usually when people say that, it does matter and they’re usually screwin’ that person that s’possedly doesn’t matter.” Faith was glaring out of the window, occasionally taking a drag from her cigarette.

*I promise you, I’m not sleeping with her. It only happened once and that was a very long time ago.*

“So, it’s a ‘her’? Tell me, Niki, when were ya plannin’ on tellin’ me ya had a past experience with some slut? Shoulda figured, no girl-on-girl virgin’s that good.” Faith threw her cigarette stump out of the window and instantly lit a new one.

*Somebody’s in a bad mood.* Came from the other end.

“Yeah, well, that kinda happens when people don’t tell me everythin’.” She mumbled around the cigarette in her mouth, fuming on the inside. She shifted on the ridge so her feet were hanging outside the window.

*While we’re on the subject of not telling.* in her resentment and aggravation towards the blonde she didn’t notice her stereo being shut off *When did you start smoking?* Faith’s mouth dropped open, letting the cigarette fall into her lap. She quickly reached for the cigarette but a female hand with manicured nails beat her to it. She followed the hand slowly, watching the cigarette end disappear between the lips she had wanted to kiss again since she stepped on the airplane to Cleveland.

“Hey, baby.” Niki said, and blew out the cigarette smoke, closing her cellphone.

Chapter 9

Willow stormed out of her room an hour after Faith’s music started blaring again, only louder this time. She was tired and still had to talk to Kennedy. The only ones with a room on the second floor were the Scoobies and Giles but just because half of them were out or could sleep through that excuse people call music didn’t mean that Faith had the right to turn the volume up to the maximum.

‘What kind of music is NU Metal anyway?’ Passing the staircase she saw a small boy walking up the stairs, excitedly talking Andrew about Star Wars. She stopped walking and looked from the boy to Faith’s room. Her mouth made a perfect ‘O’ form and she turned around, blocking the way slightly so the boy and Andrew wouldn’t go to the brunette’s room.

“Willow.” Andrew chirped.

“This is Willow? The witch Faith calls Red?” His brown eyes looked up and down the redhead “I can see why she calls you Red.” He grinned.

“She does have very red hair, doesn’t she?” Andrew smiled, looking at Willow.

“Hi, you must be Micah.” Willow smiled warmly at the boy and held out her hand. He grinned and shook it.

“We were just on our way to my room, I was going to show young Micah here what a real comic collection looks like.” Andrew grinned, putting his hand on Micah’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I figured my mom and Faith needed some,” Micah glanced over to Andrew who was straightening one of the pictures that hung on the wall and leaned a little closer to the redhead “alone time.” He said in a hushed tone. Willow raised her eyebrow in an amused fashion.

“I’ll be leaving you two to it then.” Willow smiled at the two and watched them climb another flight of stairs before letting out a breath of relieve.

‘Hope you’re having fun, Faith. I still need to figure out what to do with Kennedy.’ She thought somber.

‘Dump her or screw her.’ The thought came back. Willow rolled her eyes at Faith’s voice in her head and went back to her room.

*---*H&S*---*

“What are you smiling about?” Niki asked, lying on top of the brunette with her hands under her head, her thumbs subtly grazing Faith’s nipples.

“I was thinkin’ ‘bout some gorgeous blonde, nothin’ serious.” Faith replied smirking. She grabbed a remote control from her nightstand and hit a button, turning the volume from her stereo down.

“Are we talking about a strong gorgeous blonde or a more weak gorgeous blonde?” Even though Niki was smirking, Faith saw the insecurity in the blonde eyes and smiled softly.

“Babe, I can honestly say that I don’t know any weak gorgeous blondes. In fact, the blonde that I’m thinkin’ ‘bout is so strong she got a hot, super strong, heartless bitch to her knees. Did I say this bitch is real hot?” Niki chuckled and placed a wet kiss between Faith’s breasts.

“Don’t worry, I don’t want Jessica to be my girlfriend, I want you, Niki Sanders.”

“Girlfriend?” The blonde questioned.

“Well, yeah, I mean, if you want to, y’know. I never had a real girlfriend before and” Faith’s eyes grew wide and she started stammering “I’m sorry, that’s too soon, right? Of course it is. Stupid, stupid, stupid.” She hit her head against the headboard “Ya just lost your man, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I was just-”

“No, it’s sounds nice.” Niki smiled amused at the brunette’s nervous babble and pulled herself up, sitting on the brunette’s abdomen with her knees next to Faith’s sides. She pulled the covers up to hide her naked self “I just thought you wanted Jessica, you know, because you’re so much alike.” Faith snorted.

“If I wanted someone like me, I woulda gone for B, or hell, even Red.” She gently sat up, letting the blonde wrap her legs around the brunette. She put her muscular arms around Niki and stared in her eyes “Nah, I’m thinkin’ I’m good right here.” She kissed Niki’s neck and rested her forehead against the blonde’s shoulder.

“So it’s okay then? That we’re staying?” Niki stroked the Slayer’s brown, soft, wavy hair.

“Ya can stay, but ya can’t fight.” She pulled her head back and gave the blonde a stern look “Neither of you are gon’ fight.”

“And you’re going to stop Jessica from trying?” Niki snorted, rolling her eyes.

“I could knock y’out cold.” The blonde raised her eyebrow. “Y’know, to keep ya safe.” Faith added. “And then tie you up, let Andrew or Dawn feed Jessie, ‘cause I’m sure she’ll be in control after I knock you out.”

“You would actually hit me unconscious so Jessica won’t help out?” Niki tried to suppress a smile.

“Yeah, but now ya know so it would be when ya least expect it. Like, when you’re sleepin’ or takin’ a shower or somethin’.” The brunette shrugged, suddenly very interested in her still open window, suppressing a grin after a quick glance at Niki’s openmouthed expression.

“You wouldn’t.” The blonde said crossing her arms, raising her brow in a smug way.

“Yeah, I would. I don’t need, scratch that, I don’t want no cocky blonde stealin’ my spotlight.” Faith smirked full of herself. Niki rubbed her chin fighting not to say anything and bit her lip to hide her minor discontent to the overprotection, and to keep Jessica from emerging. She swiftly crawled off the brunette, the covers still wrapped around her figure.

“I think I’m going to find Micah.” She just said and looked around for her clothes.

“Can I at least get my covers back?” Faith lied down and propped herself up on her elbows, motioning to her nakedness. The blonde turned around and let out an amused chuckle before shaking her head.

“Nah, I think your ego is big enough to cover that.” The blonde turned again, lifting several pieces of clothing but finding none of hers.

“Faith, do you- Could you please cover yourself up? There are kids running around the house.” Buffy rolled her eyes after she stormed in the room, not bothering to knock.

“I would, but my girlfriend’s got my covers.” Faith smirked, sitting up and placing a pillow over her thighs.

“Girlfriend?” It was then that Buffy noticed the older woman standing in the room with an awkward smile “Oh, you must be Niki? Or is it Jessica? I’m Buffy.” The younger blonde smiled.

“Niki, nice to meet you, sort of, maybe not right at this minute but I heard you’re a great person, even… Do you always barge in Faith’s room without knocking?” Niki inquired with a small grin. Buffy shrugged indifferently.

“Faith’s normally dressed.” She looked at Niki’s state of nakedness and held up her hands in understanding. “I think these are yours then.” She took a step back and leaned out the door, retrieving the blonde’s clothes. “The reason I just walked in Faith’s room.”

“You threw them out the window?” Niki posed the brunette incredulous. She gratefully took the clothes from the blonde Slayer.

“I like havin’ you naked, so sue me.” Faith shrugged with a smirk.

“I’m going to go, now. Niki, it was… interesting meeting you.” She turned to Faith “How many tattoos do you have anyway? And when did you get that nipple pierced?” Buffy rolled her eyes and left the room mumbling something that sounded like ‘Too much free time, too much money, not high enough pain limit’ and shut the door behind her. A split second later a dagger, the same Faith had slipped into Niki’s suitcase in Vegas and that Niki had so nicely returned before Faith pounced her and apparently threw the blonde’s clothes out the window, was imbedded in the door. Niki brows rose surprised but decided to let it go.

“Okaaaaay.” She breathed then turned to her lover “So that was Buffy?” The blonde dropped the covers and began to dress herself. “She’s nice, but she seems kind of…”

“Short? Arrogant? Blonde? Strong? Spoiled?” The brunette said the last two words with an angry edge and cast a critical look at the mirror on the wall across her bed.

‘What’s wrong with a few tattoos anyway?’ She thought, looking at the old tribal on her arm and the barbed wire around her right nipple in her mirror reflection. ‘I should get a new jewel thingy for my pierced nipple, this one’s gettin’ old.’ It was a simple straight barbell, too boring to Faith’s liking.

“I was going for jealous but short, arrogant and blonde could work.” The blonde was now fully dressed and went through a door, she figured would be the bathroom, to check her hair. Instead she wandered in a closet with wall-to-wall weapons. She slowly backed out of the room, bumping into Faith with a wide grin on her face.

“Nice, huh? The G-man bought me half the weapons in here.” She turned a little and pointed to another door next to her bed “That’s the bathroom.” With a confident smirk she strode back to her bed, lying down on her side with one hand propped up to support her head as she watched the blonde. Niki smiled a half smile, cocking her head a little to the side.

“What?” Faith asked letting out a soft, amused laugh. The blonde shook her head slowly.

“Nothing, baby.” Niki walked over to the bed and leisurely made her way to Faith’s naked body. She leaned over to the brunette who was now lying on her back and kissed the top of her nose.

“I like this nothing, can I get more of ‘em?” Faith grinned. Niki bit her lip at the cuteness that Faith was radiating grinning like a fool. She leaned down and placed a soft lingering kiss on her girlfriend’s lips.

“Hey,” Faith spoke, slowly opening her eyes “since now we’re like, y’know, girlfriends and all, that means that there’s no screwin’ Jessie, right?” At Niki’s thoughtful nod the brunette’s mouth formed a stupid grin as she continued “Ya think I could at least watch her getting’ herself off?” Niki rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh and tried to get off the bed but Faith was holding her, the tiny grin growing by the second “Or, if you were helpin’ her, we could have like a threesome, only,” her mind was doing overtime trying to find the right words “with two bodies? Is that right?”

“Faith, I’m not helping my sister get off, as you so eloquently put it.” She pinned the brunette on the bed, her leg slipping in between the Slayer’s “And I’m not having a threesome with you and my alter ego.”

“Too kinky?” Faith smirked.

“No, just… weird.” The blonde leaned down and licked the brunette’s lips then moved to her jaw line. “Besides,” she whispered huskily in Faith’s ear “I think I’d rather get you off than my sister.”

“Faith?” A voice called from outside the Slayer’s room.

“Buzz off, Ken.” She shouted back.

“Giles sent me, it’s about Abbadon.” Kennedy yelled through the door, a little impatient. Faith groaned in frustration, kissed her girlfriend and headed over to the door when Niki gently removed herself from the brunette.

“What is it?” Faith asked when she opened the door. Kennedy stared at the brunette in all her glory.

“Uhm.” She croaked then regained her posture when she saw a pair of arms possessively surround the brunette, covering certain parts. She smiled a fake smile at the blonde with her head on Faith’s shoulder that was full on glaring at the young Slayer for staring at her lover.

“Giles was wondering if you were coming down soon, he thinks he knows when it’s going to happen and he wants his best Slayers down to listen to his view of the whole thing.” Kennedy’s hands made a dismissive motion and then ended on her hips.

“And it was you instead of anyone to tell me… why?” The older Slayer was not pleased with the young brunette.

“Because I’m avoiding Willow and I wanted to see your girlfriend, or is it girlfriends?” Kennedy nodded with a little sneer to the blonde who was finding it harder and harder to keep Jessica from coming out. She closed her eyes and placed her head against the back of Faith’s neck, breathing slowly.

“Don’t be a bitch, Ken. And from what I heard Willow should’ve dumped your ass in Brazil. Now get the hell out of my face or I won’t be able to hold to other side of my very hot girlfriend, singular.” She slammed the door shut and faced her girlfriend. She lifted the blonde’s face and sighed softly.

“You okay?”

“Can I kill her now?”

“No, Jessie, ya can’t. I’m sorry but if ya do, I’m gonna have to clean up the mess and B hates it when I make a mess so she’ll start askin’ questions and we sorta read each others’ mind so ya see the predicament I’m in?” Jessica chuckled “But hey, I can always arrange a private training session with Kennedy for ya and then ya can beat her up at least. Sound good?”

“Sure, now get that cute ass dressed and downstairs.” Jessica playfully slapped the brunette’s behind and winked at her.

Chapter 10

Faith made her way down the stairs after she directed her lover’s alter ego the way to Andrew’s room where Micah was hanging out. She skipped the last few steps, sliding off the handrail. She landed with a small thud and whistled her way to the library.

“So, what’s the what?” She asked, crashing in one of the sofas next to Willow, who was engrossed in studying at her nails. The brunette slipped her arm around the redhead for comfort. Willow shot her a small smile, leaning into the Slayer. She took Faith’s hand in hers, not noticing the glares coming from another certain brunette.

‘If ya wanna talk to someone else than your buddy-buds, I’m here. For ass-kicking purposes as well.’ Faith told the redhead through their mental link. Willow smiled to herself and squeezed the Slayer’s hand appreciative of the offer. Faith looked around the room. Xander was feigning sleep in a single sofa, Dawn was sitting with Giles around the large table that was filled with books and papers and Kennedy was standing the farthest away from everyone but she couldn’t see Buffy or Peter.

“Well, I have an idea of when it will all occur, but no exact location.” Giles started as he got up, rubbing his temple weary. Buffy and Peter slipped into the library without being noticed, or so they hoped. “Abbadon is often linked to the winter, more specifically January. And would you care to explain why you two are late?” Giles turned to Buffy and Peter, standing near the door.

“We were checking on the girls.” Buffy’s answer was accompanied by a ‘what else?’ shrug. She would’ve gotten away with it if Peter didn’t look at the older Brit with a meek expression.

“I’m sure.” He simply said and turned his attention back to the book he was holding. “It is said here that when Abbadon is given the key to the abyss, it will be the end of times and he will unleash his demons on earth.”

“Why does it always need to be a Key thing?” Dawn sighed “I’m not it.” She crossed her arms and pouted.

“So if we find this key before they do, we’re done? That’s it?” Kennedy asked.

“Yes, I believe that is the case.” Giles answered and sat down. “But I doubt it won’t be that easy to find this key.”

“We’ve got ‘til January, that’s like four months. We got time, right?” Xander asked, startling everyone.

“Yes, but I think that once the followers know that we want to stop Abbadon’s rising that we will not be safe anymore in the mansion.” Giles sighed tired “The demons that attacked us earlier today were kin of the demons Kennedy and her group had slain a few days ago.” A few pairs of eyes glanced towards Kennedy who stood by like this didn’t affect her at all “Demons like that and stronger will show up once the followers find out about us, so I suggest that we only attack vampires for the time being and demons that you see attack humans.” He held his hand up when the three Slayers began to object “For the time being, this will not be forever but we need to keep a low profile as long as we don’t know the whereabouts of this key, the origin of these followers or what demons will be attacking us.”

“We survived the First and those supervamps; we can survive this, too.” Buffy said confidently.

“Yeah, B’s right. We lived after takin’ on the evil of all evil, no hell demon’s gon’ tear us down.” Faith exclaimed with a smirk.

“On that note, I propose we call it a day and figure the rest out in the morning.” Willow spoke up with a sleepy smile and got up, glancing at Kennedy.

“Well, I’m sure the new guests will have a room to sleep in, Faith?” Giles asked.

“Yeah, Niki and Micah are crashin’ in my room.” The Slayer replied. “By the way, Giles, if they sorta wanted to stay here, ya think I could get a room with like a door to another room or somethin’?”

“I’m sure we can manage that, with the help of Xander of course.” Xander nodded in response and winked at Faith.

“Thanks.” She grinned and jumped up. Giles smiled softly, remembering how heartbroken and reckless the brunette had been when Robin cheated on her and what effect the blonde woman and her child had on this young woman.

“I’m staying in Claire’s room.” Peter pointed out. “I mean Sandra’s room.” When several eyes stared at him he added “She’s my niece.”

“C’mon Red, we’re crashin’ B’s room.” Faith swung her arm around the shoulders of the redhead and threw a grin in Buffy’s direction who rolled her eyes with a smile but motioned for the two to follow her.

“Xander, you coming?” Buffy asked the male brunette.

“Nah, you go have a girls night, I’m gonna hit the hay.” He got up and kissed Dawn’s temple goodnight.

“Don’t stay up too long, okay Dawnie?” The teenager rolled her eyes at her sister “I’m not saying that to be bossy, I’m saying that to avoid having blue bags that match those blue eyes in the morning.”

“G’night Giles.” The four Scoobies said in unison and left the library.

“Mr. Giles, can I ask you something?” Peter spoke up. Kennedy had left the room without so much as a word seconds before her now ex-girlfriend and best friends left.

“Mr. Giles,” The Head Watcher smiled at the young man “there’s only one person who calls me that around here and I’m sure you wouldn’t like to be compared with Andrew, so please call me Giles, like everyone else does.” He turned to Dawn who nodded, taking a hint and left the room with a soft word of goodbye.

“What did you want to know, Peter?” Giles asked.

“How come I couldn’t find my niece but I did find Faith, even though I used the same tracking system?” He asked curiously.

“The young Slayers are under special protection, so are Buffy and Dawn but Faith refused to be under that protection.” He stood up, stacking some papers that were useless in their research “This protection is like a shield. No matter who or what tries to find them, they will not succeed. It’s for their safety. Not only are the supernatural after these girls, Peter, there are governments that want to harm these girls and I for one would like to keep that from happening.” He smiled at Peter who nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, I know.” He said softly “Thanks, Giles. Goodnight.”

“Oh, Peter?” Giles spoke up before Peter disappeared in the hallway.

“Yes?” He put his hands in his pockets and looked at the Brit.

“I think it’s very noble of you that you want to take care of Claire,” he chuckled at the slightly confused look on the younger man’s face “I know that Sandra isn’t her real name, I know every fact about the girls in here.” Peter nodded in comprehension “And I’m sorry for your loss.” The older man referred to Nathan. Peter smiled grimly.

“He saved the world; the least I can do is take care of his daughter.” He waved his goodbye and left.

“Remarkable young man.” Giles mused.

*---*H&S*---*

Faith had just left her room after telling Micah and Jessica that she was staying with Buffy and Willow for the night. She didn’t give a lot of explanation seeing as the boy and his aunt in her mother’s body were busy playing Faith’s X-Box™. She was carrying a pair of boxers and a tank top to sleep in, knowing that neither Buffy nor Willow would appreciate it if she slept in the nude, when she saw Kennedy standing outside the room that was hers and Willow’s with her arms crossed, staring in the direction of Buffy’s room.

“Ya blew it, Ken. There’s no way she’s comin’ back so I suggest you make sure you’re outta this room tomorrow and find a new place to sleep.” Faith commented, pausing to look at Kennedy.

“She’s overreacting. Anyone would’ve done what I did.” The brunette huffed, turning to face Faith.

“Dude, you left her when some wizards were drainin’ her power to save your own ass.” Faith stated with a glare.

“To get help.” She retorted angrily.

“Yeah, ya sent help but where were you? On a plane to Florida for cryin’ out loud.” Faith was struggling to keep her voice down.

“We were on our way to meet my parents, I couldn’t let them wait. How the hell was I going to explain that we were late? ‘Oh hey, mom and dad, sorry we’re late. My witchy girlfriend was getting sucked off for her powers. Oh, didn’t I tell you? I’m a Slayer and I’m dating a witch.’ Yeah, that would’ve gone great.” She snorted.

“Scared they were gon’ disown you? Willow coulda died!” The older Slayer’s eyes bore in Kennedy’s.

“But she didn’t, she’s alive and she’s safe and I covered for her with my parents.” Kennedy quickly answered, her own voice rising.

“Y’know what, I’m pulling you off your rank. I don’t want you leadin’ my girls to their death.” Faith said frustrated.

“What? You can’t do that! I’m the best you got and you know it!” Kennedy was almost shouting.

“Yeah, like when you killed those demons the day before yesterday? Y’know, the demons whose kin attacked us in broad daylight this morning?” Faith retorted, taking a step closer to the brunette. “You know not all demons are evil, ya can’t go attacking demons that weren’t even remotely hostile.”

“They were dangerous.” Kennedy cried out.

“Not according to Sandra, who did a great job of describin’ them. You took five girls and attacked their babies for God’s sake. What’s so dangerous about three Lister babies?” Faith asked with a small growl.

“Three what babies?” Kennedy asked in confusion.

“Lister, they’re a half breed form of demons, they’re harmless. And you killed them.” Faith’s voice calmed down when realization washed over Kennedy’s face. “Like I said, I’m pulling you off your rank.” Faith smirked and walked away.

“Just because Sandra was being a rat? And by the way, how can you trust Sandra? That’s not even her real name.” Kennedy called after the brunette.

“I know, but I’m bettin’ she’s better at leadin’ my girls than you are.” Faith simply said without turning.

“You’re just giving her my spot because she’s the same as that woman and her s-” Kennedy was cut off by Faith punching her in the face before she could even blink, knocking her on the ground.

“I’m not even gon’ dignify that dumbass statement with an answer.” She plainly said and made her way back to Buffy’s room. She smirked at Xander who was standing outside his room in a pair of slacks and bare chest, scratching his head.

“I wasn’t supposed to hit her but of course, you get a chance because she doubted you. So not fair.” He grumbled and went back in his room. Faith shook her head with a soft chuckle, glancing back only to see Kennedy retreat in her room.

‘Stupid brat.’ She thought and advanced to the last room in the hallway. She entered without knocking, already seeing Willow curled up against the blonde Slayer in the large bed, sound asleep.

“She cried herself to sleep.” Buffy whispered. “You shouldn’t have hit Kennedy.” She added with a stern voice but a grin slowly crept its way up on her face.

“She asked for it.” Faith shrugged and stripped. Buffy groaned and slapped a hand over her eyes. The brunette grinned and quickly put on her boxers and top before crawling in the bed next to Willow.

“Think she’ll be alright?” Faith laid on her side, one hand propped under her head, looking at the witch.

“She’s Will, she’ll be fine.” Buffy replied, smiling at her best friend against her side.

“Night, Faith.” Buffy said softly.

“Night, B.” It didn’t take long before both Slayers dozed off with the redhead in between them.

Chapter 11

A few weeks had gone by uneventful. Kennedy had moved out of the room and was now sharing a room with three young Slayers that practically kissed the ground she walked on. Claire was the leader of her group of Slayer, amongst them was Kennedy who was everything but happy about it. They would regularly fight while on patrol usually ending in a fight that sometimes drew the attention of either Faith or Buffy. When it was Buffy Kennedy was sent back to the mansion but if it was Faith that had to break them apart it ended with Kennedy getting her ass kicked and then sent back to the mansion. Today was no exception for Kennedy to start bitching to Claire.

“We should just attack them.” Kennedy hissed. They were following a group of vampires and ended up watching from the bushes when the vampires went in an abandoned building.

“No, wait. We don’t know how many are in there.” Claire responded, pulling the older Slayer down.

“It can’t be that much; we’ve had a good slay the last couple of days.” Kennedy retorted disobediently.

“I don’t care. I’m not going in there without knowing how many vamps are in there. Now shut up.” Claire snapped.

“Then let’s find out.” Kennedy declared boldly and before Claire could say anything the brunette crept her way to the old building and swiftly climbed her way using a drainpipe to one of the windows. Not seeing enough, she made her way higher until she could climb on the roof.

“Gotcha.” She mumbled as she looked through a sky window. It was a one floor building and inside were dozens of demons and vampires. The walls were covered with torches and writings. There was one individual standing in the middle and for all Kennedy could tell this was a human and he was holding a thick book. He was wearing dark green robes, which hung open. He seemed like a young man, not older than thirty years old. She leaned in a little closer and concentrated on her hearing, trying to hear what he was saying.

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Archangel of Armageddon, Abbadon, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should demolish the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.” The human closed the book and slowly looked around the demons and vampires that surrounded him.

“What the hell?” Kennedy muttered, seeing something sparkle in the light of the torches.

“This, my loyal beings, is the Key. In three months time, Abbadon’s imprisonment will be over and he will reign down on earth with his demon hordes. Our long awaited search has come to an end.” He lifted a simply old-fashioned key. It resembled a key from the middle ages but this one gleamed and radiated a certain power, a dark power, but a power that was not to be underestimated. The demons and vampires roared and Kennedy thought she’d seen enough. She carefully made her way back down the building. Her trip down wasn’t as silent as she went up, alerting several vampires in the building.

“I think we’ve got a little birdie on the roof, Master.” A demon commented pointing a finger to the roof with an evil smile.

“What are you waiting for? See what it was.” The human shouted. A few vampires growled and made their way out of the building, intending to find whatever was spying on them and kill it.

Outside Kennedy quickly made her way to the bushes were Claire was. The moment she was out of sight a hand covered her mouth, seeing Faith and Buffy she relaxed and Claire removed her hand. She glanced around and saw the other girls had left, probably an order from the two older Slayers.

“You alarmed them.” Buffy whispered not looking away from the building. Kennedy was about to speak up when the blonde motioned for the two younger Slayers to stay down and keep quiet. One second later seven vampires emerged from the building and began looking around and sniffing the air.

‘We have to get out of here.’ Buffy thought, glancing around to sneak out without being heard. They were surrounded by branches and dry leaves that would crackle if they moved.

‘Wait it out, B. We can take ‘em if they spot us.’ Faith shot through their mental link.

‘Yeah, but they’ll attack the mansion if the others realize we’re the Slayers.’ Buffy barely finished her thought when Kennedy shot up from the bushes running towards the vampires.

“Crap, stupid brat.” Faith grumbled and quickly followed the stubborn brunette.

“Stay.” Buffy hissed when Claire moved to get up as well.

“I promised Peter I’d look after Faith if he wasn’t around.” She countered, looking from Buffy to the fight.

“Faith can take care of herself.” Buffy growled trying to keep her own promise to the same young man.

“I promised him. Plus I can’t die.” Claire stated and then ran out of the bushes. Buffy rolled her eyes and joined the fight. She took on two vampires at once, relieving Faith of a third.

“Kennedy, you stupid bitch.” Faith groaned, delivering a right hook to one of the vampires before staking him. It wasn’t long before the vampires were all dusted. Not taking the chance of waiting to see if the others had heard the commotion, Faith picked up Kennedy and threw her over her shoulder, kicking and screaming. Buffy nodded in agreement at Faith’s nonverbal plan to bail and motioned for Claire to follow them back to the mansion. They took the long way on purpose, hoping that it would throw off the vampires’ if their scent was all over the place.

They finally arrived at the mansion, stopping just outside the door Faith put Kennedy back on the ground who immediately tried to take a swing at the older Slayer. Faith caught her fist and head butted her on the nose. Kennedy let out a howl of pain and grabbed her nose.

“You self-righteous, conceited, immature little bitch.” Faith said, voice dripping with anger “You wanna get us all killed? If they find out that this is where we are, they’ll attack the mansion.” Faith was fuming “Don’t ya ever think ‘bout someone else’s life than your own?”

“Faith, calm down.” Buffy tried to ease the fuming Slayer, stepping in between Faith and Kennedy who was holding her nose. Claire just stood by and watched.

“Calm down? B, they could get in here and kill Micah, and Dawn for that matter!” Faith was almost shouting.

“I know, but if you don’t calm down you’re going to wake some Slayers and you know how cranky they can get.” Buffy said calmly. Faith nodded and started pacing, occasionally glancing at Kennedy, who had tears brimming in her eyes from the pain but was of course too stubborn to let them out.

“Kennedy, get inside and I wanna talk to you in the morning.” Buffy ordered. Kennedy nodded and quietly opened the front door, slipping inside.

“You go too, Claire.” Faith said a little more calm now that Kennedy was gone.

“I just wanna say I’m sorry. You trusted me and I blew it. I understand if you want to replace me.” Claire told the older Slayers, staring at the ground, voice thick with guilt.

“It’s not your fault. If you hadn’t made the girls go back to the mansion it could’ve gotten worse. That was good thinking.” Buffy replied and smiled at the young girl.

“Yeah, go and get some sleep, we’ll talk ‘bout it in the morning.” Faith was almost her calm self again. Claire nodded sullenly and disappeared in the mansion.

“Are you calm now?” Buffy turned to her sister Slayer.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good.” Faith waved it off. The blonde smiled and linked her arm in Faith’s. They both entered the mansion and headed up the stairs.

“Two weeks! Two weeks we been watching the place, tryin’ to figure out how to get in there and that brat just messed everythin’ up.” Faith groaned.

“She didn’t mess anything up,” Faith lifted her eyebrow and Buffy sighed “okay, she did but she didn’t know we were watching the place. Maybe she thought it would help us or something.”

“No, she just thought she could be a hero and save the day. There was no way she coulda known that that was the place were Abbadon’s followers gathered.” Faith fumed softly “She probably figured it was a nest and she wanted to outsmart Claire.”

“You’re going to be okay, right? I’m not going to find a dead Kennedy buried in the backyard in the morning?” Buffy asked when they had to split up.

“Five-by-five, B.” Faith simply said and went to her room. Xander had finished the last touches on Micah’s add-on room the week before but that didn’t stop from Micah sometimes sleeping in bed with her and Niki. The poor boy sometimes still had nightmares about Sylar and about his father’s death.

“Hey, baby. Had a rough night?” Niki spoke up groggily when the brunette crawled in their bed.

“Yeah, ya could say that. Where’s Micah?” She asked, noticing it was just the blonde in the bed.

“He’s asleep in his room. He’s wiped. He helped Xander and Andrew set up the new game room and helped Willow fix some computers Dawn had accidentally knocked over practicing her magic.” The blonde replied with a yawn, shifting in the bed so she could place her head on Faith’s shoulder.

“Baby,” Faith whispered. When Niki murmured something incoherent but showing she was still somewhat awake Faith continued “why didn’t ya ever tell me that Jessica isn’t the only one with enhanced strength?”

“Because I’m scared she might disappear if I didn’t need her anymore.” Niki murmured sleepily.

“And you don’t want that?” Faith’s hand stroked the soft blonde hair gently.

“No, I still need my sister even if she is a pain in the ass.” The blonde replied then lifted her head and stared with sleepy eyes at her girlfriend. “I know it’s weird but when she died I felt lost and now she’s always with me, literally.”

“Whatever makes you happy, baby.” Faith planted a sweet kiss on her lover’s lips. Niki smiled and lay back down, nodding off. Hearing her lover’s breath even out she looked at the mirror across her bed.

“See, Jessie, she still needs ya.” She whispered then closed her eyes, falling asleep as well. She pulled Niki closer in her sleep while Jessica stared at both of them with a small smile on her face.

*---*H&S*---*

“She’s gone.” Buffy said into the air. Behind her a young man appeared out of thin air, with his arms crossed and leaning against the wall.

“Claire knows.” Peter said coolly.

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Buffy commented with a sarcastic tone “You share a room with her; she was bound to find out with you sneaking out of your room every night for the last week.” Buffy turned around and faced the young man.

“Maybe I can stay for the night, then.” A smile crept on his face as he pushed himself off the wall. Buffy stepped forward and put her arms around his neck and Peter wrapped his around her waist, pulling her close to him.

“I guess that you’ll have to be a good boy, now won’t you?” She whispered as she tilted her head a little, looking him in the eyes. Peter closed the distance between them by pressing his lips against Buffy’s.

Chapter 12

The sun was so bright Faith had to hold her hand up to block the sun from blinding her. She looked around, not seeing anything but a long grassy meadow. No trees, no buildings, not even a couple of bushes, just miles of clean-cut grass.

“Great, this is just great. I was just thinking that I was having a nice peaceful dream but no, I just had to share a dream with you, didn’t I?” Buffy spoke up irritably from behind the brunette.

“Think I wanted to share a dream with you?” Faith turned around with a slight smirk “I was hopin’ for a kinky dream with my girl and her sister.”

“Yeah well, the Powers That Be have a strange sense of humor, letting us share Slayer dreams and the other girls can have their own.” Buffy pouted, looking around for some kind of clue.

“You thinkin’ this a Slayer dream?” Faith inquired.

“What else?” Buffy shrugged. Faith mirrored her move, pulling up her shoulders.

“Save the world.” A voice boomed through the air.

“We get that, any tips on how to get the key?” Buffy replied, looking at the sky. Faith sat down on the grass, crossing her legs, looking very bored already.

“They don’t think much of us, do they? Whatever, I don’t like ‘em either.” She muttered. Buffy shot a glare at the brunette. “Well, I don’t.”

“Chosen ones, the seraph to His enslavement you seek is in your power.”

“No, you’re not following, are ya?” Faith yelled “They got the key; we just need a way to get it.”

“Evil holds the Key to the enchainment of the Archangel. The Key to the abyss is yet to be achieved.”

“So releasing Abbadon doesn’t necessarily mean his demons are gonna destroy the world? You need another key to do that?” Buffy questioned, getting a slight cramp in her neck from looking up to the sky.

“After all these years and you’re still not one of the one of the brightest crayons in the box, huh Buffy?” Cordelia appeared before them with a smile. Faith shot up with a grin.

“Nice to see ya, Queen C. Lookin’ good as ever.” Faith smirked.

“Aw, Faith. Flattery will get you anywhere.” Cordelia smiled “Just not with me now you’re gay and all.”

“Cordy, what? How?” The blonde was utterly confused

“Oh, I work for them now.” She said pointing at the sky.

“So, you’re not gon’ go all cryptic?” The brunette questioned hopeful.

“Oh, no, this is going to be cryptic.” Both Slayers rolled their eyes “They won’t let me tell you the whole deal.” Cordelia made a dismissive move and turned serious.

“Okay, let’s have it.” Buffy said, intensely paying attention.

“I’ll make it as simple as I’m allowed so listen carefully.” When both Slayers nodded she continued “The angel holds the key to the serpent’s chain. When thousand years have ended, the dragon shall be released. When given the key to the bottomless pit he will unleash his demons on earth.”

“So,” Both Slayers said, hoping Cordelia would help them out just a little.

“Geez, how stupid are you? Those end-of-the-worlds slash near-death-experiences are really numbing your brains.” Cordelia sighed and shifted her gaze up to the skies. “This is what you want to save the world? At least let me spell it out for them?”

“Cordy, we really don’t have time for this. Just tell us what we need to know so can save the world again.” Buffy sighed irritated.

“I don’t know everything; I just know what they tell me.” Cordelia replied, shrugging “Okay, look, those demons have the key to unlock Abbadon, but they can’t do it themselves because it was an angel who locked him up in the first time so it needs to be an angel to unlock him.” Cordy rolled her eyes at the confused stares the two Slayers were giving her and added “Or in this case, a person who is like an angel, pure and innocent.”

“But they said that what we were lookin’ for was in our power.” Faith stated.

“The person you need has already helped save the world once. It’s the same person that found you, Faith, but failed to find everyone under Willow’s protection spell.” Cordelia was waiting to see the light bulb go off in Faith’s mind.

“Peter’s the pure and innocent one? No way.” Faith snorted.

“I didn’t say it was Peter.” Cordelia smiled content when the wheels started running in the Slayers’ minds. “Now, you have to wake up or someone might die.”

“Hey, what about this key to the abyss?” Buffy called out as the scene around them started spinning.

“You’ll find out in time.” They heard Cordelia call back.

Faith woke up startled and immediately jumped out of her bed, throwing a pair of slacks and a shirt on before rushing to the hallway. At the other end of the hallway she saw Buffy standing there with an equal confused expression, and then a second later they heard a crash coming from Giles’ room. They both ran to his room and burst in. Giles was lying on the floor, his hand gripping his chest.

“Giles?” Buffy whimpered and crawled beside him. Faith went to the phone by his bed and dialed an ambulance before running out of the room. Within another minute both Willow and Xander were standing by the door, both stared in disbelief at the scene before them. Faith pushed through and knelt next to Giles.

“I, I think he’s having a heart attack.” Buffy said with tears in her eyes. The older man was groaning in pain, clutching his chest and breathing heavily.

“I called 911, they said they’d be here right away, they said we should put him in a sittin’ position with his knees bend so he can breath easier.” Faith said calmly. With Buffy being this emotional she had to be the in control now. Buffy nodded mutely and carefully pushed Giles up while Faith bent his legs.

“B-Buffy.” Giles croaked.

“Don’t try to talk, Giles. I need you alive.” Buffy said through tears.

Ten agonizing minutes later the ambulance arrived. They stormed in the room, examining Giles’ pulse first then gently put him on a stretcher. They wheeled him out of the mansion as careful and fast as they could with all the girls standing by watching their Watcher being hauled off in an ambulance.

“I have to-” She trailed off, seeing the man she saw as her father with an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth on a stretcher.

“Go, B. We’ll see ya there.” Faith said, knowing that Buffy wanted to go with them.

“She’s his daughter.” Xander said to one of the paramedics who wasn’t sure if he should allow it. “He’s… you gotta save him.” He let the tears run free now, looking at the young man with pleading eyes.

“We’ll try, sir.” He replied. When Buffy was seated next to Giles, the doors slammed closed and the ambulance was speeding off. Xander opened his arms, allowing Willow to cry in his chest. Faith ushered the girls back inside, willing her own tears to stay hidden.

“Look, I’m gonna get dressed and head over to the hospital, you guys comin’?” She asked the two best friends.

“Yeah, we’ll be right there.” Xander rasped and led the redhead inside.

Once Faith was in her room, she closed the door and rested her head against it. After a few seconds she let her emotions get the better of her as she hit the wall next to the door, leaving a hole in the concrete wall.

“Faith?” The sound of another voice in the room made her turn in surprise. She wiped the single tear and knelt in front of Micah.

“Sorry, buddy. Didn’t mean for you to see that.” She whispered. Micah smiled somberly and wrapped his little arms around her neck.

“I understand. When my dad was in the hospital I wanted to hit a wall, too.” He said softly and let her go. “Giles is going to be okay.”

“I hope so, buddy.” She stood back up, regaining control over her emotions “I’m gon’ get dressed and then I’m goin’ to the hospital with Red and Cyclops. You gon’ be okay here?”

“Yeah, I’m going to be fine, mom’s just checking on the girls upstairs.” He responded. Faith smiled and headed in the bathroom, grabbing some clothes on the way.

Roughly ten minutes later Faith had brought the car to the front of the mansion as she was waiting for Xander and Willow. When she spotted Kennedy she got out of the car, leaving the engine running.

“Hey Ken, I don’t know how long we’re gon’ be away but Peter and Niki are in charge ‘til then. If somethin’ happens, don’t try bein’ a hero. Make sure Micah, Dawn and Andrew are safe and-”

“Make sure Niki’s knocked out, don’t take all the girls except when there’s too many of ‘em and if that’s the case make Sandra and Rona team leader.” Kennedy said like she was reading of a list “And only kill the demons that attack because there could be decoys. I know.”

“And keep them on the ground floor.” Faith added. Kennedy rolled her eyes nodding and glared at the older slayer. “Look, if ya can prove that you can lead and protect these girls instead of using them just because you’re the leader then maybe I’ll give ya your own squad again.” The younger girl’s eyes lit up slightly but she still managed to look like she didn’t care.

“Let’s go, Faith.” Xander said hastily with Willow in tow. Faith nodded and shot a glance at Kennedy who kept staring at the redheaded witch. The three friends crawled in the car and made their way to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital they quickly made their way inside, knowing the place from inside out from the frequent visits over the last fifteen months they lived in Cleveland.

“Buffy.” Willow breathed and rushed over to the blonde sitting in an uncomfortable chair with her head in her hands. She looked up with red eyes from crying and sniffled a few times before answering their questioning gazes.

“The doctors said he had a mild heart attack.” She wiped a few tears and continued “He can go home in the morning, but he has to stay away from stressful situations.” She smiled a little; it was when she said it aloud that she started believing Giles was going to be okay.

“That’s the best news I heard all day.” Willow chuckled relieved. Xander clapped his hands together happily and grinned.

“Yeah, that’s great news. Can we see him?” Faith asked, feeling like she just started breathing again.

“Yeah, I told the nurses that we’re his kids so they put a few extra chairs in the room.” Buffy stood up on wobbly legs, leaning on Faith for some support as the four of them walked to Giles’ room. They felt their hearts clench at the sight of the older man with tubes in his arms and his nose. They all took a chair and sat next to Giles’ bedside. Buffy and Willow took the side of Giles’ head while Faith and Xander placed their chair at the footing of the bed.

“My children,” the man said smiling “how wonderful you’re all here.”

“He got some morphine to sedate his headache because he bumped his head when he fell out of the bed earlier to prove he was healthy enough to go home.” Buffy explained and then turned to Giles “Then he said it hurt too much to live with so they gave him morphine. He can handle being beaten by demons but a stupid headache is too much. You’re an idiot, you know that?”

“Posh posh, I am not under the influence of the drugs they may or may not have given me.” He said, trying to sound stern.

“Hey, Giles. Ya think it’s possible to never scare us like that again?” Faith said with a small grin.

“Yeah, you can’t leave us. We need you, you know.” Xander chimed in. Willow just smiled and placed his glasses that she found in his room on the small stand next to his bed.

“I am not intending to go anywhere.” He answered, stifling a yawn. “I think I’m a bit tired.” With that his eyes fluttered closed. The four people that sat around his bed didn’t get up once that night; they just stayed seated and eventually fell asleep in their respective uncomfortable chairs.

Chapter 13

“Now there’s a sight for sore eyes.” A nurse bustled entering the hospital room. Buffy and Faith were already awake again, both thinking the same thing. Sleeping is only satisfying in the arms of their significant other. Faith was just about to hear Buffy out about the blonde’s thoughts about Peter when the nurse had interrupted them.

“This is the first time I’ve seen your father in here. It was bound to happen, seeing as you girls have the habit of landing in here, which would give any parent a heart attack.” The friendly nurse smiled and checked Giles’ IV.

“Yeah well, the girls back home are gonna be happy when he gets back.” Buffy mumbled, taking Giles’ hand in hers.

“There are other girls, too?” The nurse raised her brows slightly. Faith grinned at what the nurse must have been thinking and winked at the blonde.

“Yeah, we’re one big happy family, but I don’t think dad’s gon’ be too happy when the girls all go back to their moms, y’know. He hates to see the younger ones go.” Faith hid her grin, looking very serious. Buffy looked away from the nurse to Giles, who was awake because he was slightly grinning even though his eyes were closed, to hid her own grin.

“How many daughters does he have?” The nurse gripped her chart in anticipation of the brunettes answer.

“How many kids, B?” She asked Buffy who started thinking hard.

“About fifty-three girls and two boys.” She answered “No wait, it’s fifty-six girls with you, me and Wills here and, yeah two guys although he’s still denying Andrew. Oh and maybe a daughter-in-law and grandson but that’s not for sure just yet.” Buffy winked at the brunette.

“Like his maybe-son-in-law that’s the uncle of one of his girls?” Faith shot back with a grin.

“Those are a lot of children. How do you explain all your sisters? Do all of you get along?” The nurse was really intrigued about this large family. Faith and Buffy loved messing with this very gullible woman.

“Oh, you know what that’s like. A bunch of teenagers with raging hormones. There’s a lot of fights but in general we get along great. We even go out together.” Buffy pointed out, not entirely lying.

“Yeah and then there’s a little bitch that tota    lly-”

“Faith.” Giles chastised finally opening his eyes and smiling at the two young women that were joking with the poor nurse. “Watch your language.” He slowly sat up, startling the two others from their sleep.

“What?” Xander asked looking around. He rubbed his eye sleepily and grinned at the older man “Hey, you’re up.”

“What time is it?” Willow asked hoarsely.

“About time your father goes home.” The nurse said, smiling at the four young people. “He has to keep away from stress but other than that he’ll be fine.”

“So, dad,” Xander grinned “that means that Andrew has to stay away from you and no late night reading for you.”

“Maybe he’d better stay in his room.” Buffy suggested with a small smile.

“I will not be confined in my room, I have things to do.” Giles countered loudly but to no avail, his four “children” were already plotting against him.

“Oooh, we can buy him a puppy to keep him company.” Willow grinned “Or maybe a cat, so his shoes won’t get annihilated.” She said in afterthought.

“Yeah and maybe we can get him hooked on videogames.” Xander laughed.

“There will be no such thing as videogames in my room.” Giles tried again. The nurse shook her head chuckling and left the room with Buffy to get the paper works in order. Once the nurse was out of earshot the joking stopped.

“I know they said no stress but I kinda need to tell ya somethin’, Giles.” Faith spoke up.

“I’m already in the hospital, Faith; help is just outside the door.” He smiled, assuring Faith she could continue.

“Me and B had a dream.” She stated.

“A Slayer dream?” Xander questioned.

“Not sure, wasn’t anything like really prophetic or anythin’.” Faith shrugged “Cordy showed up and told us that the bad guys can’t unlock Abbadon ‘cause it can only be unlocked by an angel, or in our case, a person who’s pure and innocent.”

“Do you know who this person is?” Giles prodded.

“Not yet, but she did say it’s the same person that found me but not everyone under Red’s spell thing, and it ain’t Peter so I’m bettin’ Superboy knows who.” The brunette replied, leaning back in her chair.

*---*H&S*---*

After another round of joking with the nurse and more people telling Giles to stay away from stressful situations they were on their way back home. Much to Buffy’s annoyance she had to sit in back instead of driving Faith’s beloved car. When they arrived at the mansion Giles felt his heart swell at the sight of the plus fifty girls standing outside with a large banner across the entrance saying “Feel better soon, Giles.”.

“Told ya the girls would be happy when you got back.”

“It’s hardly been a day.” He managed to say, still a little in awe.

“We weren’t just joking in the hospital, Giles. You’re like a father to all of us.” Willow smiled and squeezed his shoulder. Even though the school semester was still ongoing, for the younger Slayers, the adults had come to an agreement that their schooling would be canceled until the upcoming apocalypse was averted. There weren’t any objections coming from the other Slayers when they had announced it. There was another reason as well, the lack of freelance teachers.

*---*H&S*---*

Giles was assisted to his room after each Slayer came over and gave him a hug; some of them even chastised him for scaring him like that. Buffy had disappeared from Faith’s sight which made Faith grin a little, knowing that she was right about the blonde and Peter but that her sister Slayer was too scared to fess up. She shook her head chuckling before saying her goodbyes to Willow and Xander and headed up to her room where she guessed Niki was still sleeping after staying up last night to keep a watch on the girls.

“I’m going to get some sleep. Hospitals just aren’t the same as my own bed.” Xander grinned and hopped up the stairs, leaving Willow in the hallway with a bunch of Slayers.

“Yeah right.” She mumbled and headed up the stairs as well, but not going to her room. She opted to do some meditation in her own recreation room when she heard a music coming from one of the other recreation room on this floor, but that wasn’t what interested her, it was the soft singing that accompanied it.

“So what is it that brings to mind all these little thoughts? It's something that brings up feelings that I could never ever have fought.” Willow peered in the room seeing a blonde girl scribbling something on paper while singing along with the song.

‘That’s Claire.’ Willow frowned confused ‘When did she dye her hair?’

“Those eyes, oh my. The sweetest jaded green, matches any single sky.” Willow noticed that Claire deliberately changed the lyrics because in the song the woman was singing about blue eyes. “And I fear, oh dear, that I just might be falling. Oh please, will you hold me near.”

‘Who’s got green eyes around here?’ She thought. For a second she considered leaving the girl but she had missed the sound of someone singing too much. She felt like the girl was singing it to her, but that was just silly because Claire didn’t even know she was standing there.

“‘Cause honey, babe, I hope and pray that every day I can see those eyes.” Claire looked up from whatever she was writing and then grew wide-eyed.

“Willow, what are you doing here? Was I too loud?” The blonde started panicked and quickly turned off the music.

“No, no, you weren’t too loud, in my opinion not loud enough because I had to almost come in the room to hear you clearly but then you would’ve seen me and obviously your reaction was to stop and that wasn’t my intention because,” she took a breath and blushed a little at the teenager’s amused look “I was just listening to you sing. You’ve got a beautiful voice.” Willow smiled and walked further in the room. “When did you go blonde?” She asked gesturing to the new look.

“Oh, I am a blonde, but I dyed my hair brown a few months ago.” She explained, fingering her blonde curls nervously. “How-how long have you been listening?”

“Just the last couple of lines. Like when you changed the lyrics to make it green eyed?” Willow grinned slightly when Claire’s cheeks turned a shade of pink.

“I, uh, I do that all the time. Whatever sounds better to me.” The young blonde forced a casual smile. The redhead nodded, unconvinced and indicated to the piece of paper that Claire held in her hand.

“Can I ask you what that is?” She questioned.

“A song I’ve been writing for Peter.” She shrugged casually “I don’t think he knows just how much he’s my hero.”

“He’s your uncle right?” The redhead inquired. She knew all of this, like she knew most things about the girls but she wanted them to trust her so she pretended she didn’t know.

“Yeah, my biological father was Nathan Petrelli but I was adopted because he couldn’t have a kid by another woman than his wife running around messing with his political career.” She shrugged.

“I wish I was adopted.” The redhead snorted in response.

“Why? Were your parents that bad?” The blonde questioned curiously.

“My parents never really paid any attention to me. After Sunnydale went all crater-y I called them and told them along with telling them I was in Cleveland when they asked me ‘now why would you want to live there? I thought you were going to stay in Sunnydale?’. Haven’t heard from them after that.” Willow told the young girl.

“That sucks.” Claire said sullenly wrinkling her nose at the thought of the redhead’s parents.

“Yeah, well, I got a new family in exchange.” Willow grinned. “Are you going to tell who your secret crush is?” The witch tried now that Claire was a little in thought.

“What? No.” The blonde grinned and stuck her tongue at the redhead.

“That’s mature.” Willow grinned, then after a few seconds she did the same eliciting a giggle from the teen.

*---*H&S*---*

It was a little past dinner time and Giles was, much to his discontent, still in his room. The moment he tried to leave his quarters there were at least three girls ordering him back in. He was now waiting for someone to collect him for dinner when someone knocked on the door and entered the room with a platter filled with food.

“I can’t even go down for dinner?” He sighed annoyed.

“Nope, you’re to stay here ‘til further notice.” Buffy smiled sweetly and set the platter on a small table.

“I feel like a child who is being punished for sneaking out in the middle of the night.” Giles sighed and sat down on the single chair, grabbing a book. He noticed the blonde eying him slightly and raised his head to meet her eyes “What is it, Buffy?”

“I was just wondering.” She hesitated a little but continued after getting an affirmative nod from Giles “What triggered the heart attack? You’re a healthy guy and not too old or anything.”

“Buffy, I am fifty-three years old and in this type of life it was compelled to happen sooner or later.” He smiled warmly “Why do you ask?”

“Just wanted to know you wouldn’t get a heart attack after I tell you this.” She took a deep breath and sat on the bed facing the older man. She felt like she was about to tell her mother. “Giles, me and Peter started a relationship.” She said calmly, waiting to gauge the older man’s reaction before continuing.

“I don’t see any problem, Buffy, he is a nice young man and you’re an attractive young woman, no one ever expected you to stay alone after Sunnydale.” He deliberately left out the mention of Spike.

“We’ve only started dating for like a week, but a few weeks ago I, uh, sorta got caught up in my after slayage effects and well, you can guess the rest.” She blushed when Giles’ eyes widened for a second and he began stammering before controlling himself.

“Again, I don’t see-”

“I think I’m pregnant.” Buffy blurted out.

Chapter 14:

“YOU’RE WHAT? DO YOU WANT ME TO HAVE ANOTHER HEART ATTACK?”

Outside the room several Slayers winced at the harshness of Giles’ voice. Most of them figured it was Kennedy or Faith who was getting their heads bitten off by their Watcher. The shout woke Niki from her sleep causing Faith to stride up to Giles’ room but she was stopped by Peter.

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.” He said, not backing down from Faith’s glare “Buffy’s in there talking to Giles about us.”

“Us as in, you and B?” The Slayer asked. The young man nodded in response. “Fine.” The brunette turned and went back to her room.

In the meanwhile, in Giles’ room.

“Giles, calm down, I’m not sure and I’d rather not have everyone find out.” Buffy said, standing up and cautiously walking over to the older man.

“Where is he?” Giles growled as he stood up and began making his way over to the door but Buffy stopped him.

“Giles, no, he doesn’t know. Nobody knows, just you and me.” The blonde put her hands up to keep him away from the door.

“How could you be so…” He turned around, waving his hands in frustration.

“Stupid? Blonde? Just plain ol’ Buffy?” The blonde tried to lighten his mood.

“Irresponsible.” Giles turned around with a heavy sigh. “What were you thinking, Buffy?” The blonde was overwhelmed by guilt. She stood there looking at the man she saw as her mentor, her friend, her father.

“I wasn’t thinking, the Slayer just took over and by the time I realized what was happening I couldn’t stop.” Buffy replied “And, you know,” she sighed with her eyes lightly cast downward “birth control? Not like I’ve got a lot of experience with that seeing as the guys I slept with weren’t exactly able to reproduce. Thank god for that.” She mumbled the last part.

“What about Riley? He was human.” Giles asked. Buffy congratulated herself for getting Giles of the Peter subject, even for a few moments.

“With all those drugs they slipped him? I don’t think he’s ever gonna have kids.” The blonde snorted. Silence crept in the room; neither of them could look at the other. Buffy fidgeted nervously on her shirt while Giles was leaning against his wall, obviously thinking hard.

“Buffy, if you are indeed,” he swallowed hard “expectant, then you cannot fight with us.” He said softly.

“Like hell I won’t! You need me, pregnant or not, I am fighting.” Buffy’s voice raised a notch. She started glaring at the older man for wanting to keep her from fighting along with her friends.

“No, you will not! If I am going to be a grandfather I will not have my daughter risk losing her child!” His eyes grew hard as he stared at the blonde. Neither of them knew that just outside the door Peter was nailed to the floor.

‘I’m gonna be a dad?’

*---*H&S*---*

Claire was in one of the training rooms, sparring against Kennedy. There were about a dozen girls surrounding them, wanting to see which of the two was stronger. So far they were still equals. The other Slayers were holding bets as to who would win but that didn’t matter to the two sparring Slayers. They were trying to show off their moves to impress their certain someone. Kennedy knew Willow would be entering the training room any minute; the redhead would go around the mansion and ask who’s going home and who’s staying.

“Slayers.” Willow muttered under her breath with a roll of her eyes as she entered the room. Claire glanced at the redhead and smirked.

“It would be pretty embarrassing if you would take a dive with Willow standing there, wouldn’t it?” She winked at the brunette and evaded Kennedy’s kick, only to grab her leg and twisted it. It didn’t have the effect she wanted because Kennedy was already expecting it, coming at the blonde with a kick to the head with her other leg.

“You know, being the leader of my group I would’ve thought you were smarter than that.” Kennedy said, still in fighting stance when Claire spit some blood on the ground and wiped her mouth, getting in fighting position as well.

“It’s not just about the power, Kennedy.” She feigned a right punch, knowing Kennedy would block it and threw a jab in the brunette stomach, hard enough to make her double over. She kicked the legs from under the older Slayer’s legs and placed her foot on Kennedy’s neck. “That’s why I’m the leader of your group now; I’m able to swallow my pride. You just want to be the hero and get all the attention.”

“Bitch.” Kennedy grunted and grabbed the blonde’s foot. Claire grinned and in a split second she was on top of Kennedy, with her knees on the brunette’s arms. “Get off.”

“What? I thought you’d be used to having a girl sit on you?” She looked up and saw straight in the amused green eyes she loved seeing each and every day. Kennedy wouldn’t stop struggling under her so she looked down with a raised eyebrow “We done now?” Seeing the older Slayer nod she jumped of and straightened her clothes. She stuck her hand out to Kennedy who reluctantly took it and pulled herself up.

“Are you girls done playing now?” Willow asked, trying to hide her amusement from seeing Kennedy get beat by a younger Slayer.

“Yeah, we’re done. What do you want?” Kennedy asked a little, a lot, frustrated that a younger Slayer beat her.

“I wanted to know if any of the girls here are going home for Thanksgiving.” A few hands went in the air and Willow counted a total of five girls, including Kennedy. She frowned for a second, not remembering Kennedy going home for Thanksgiving the year before.

“You’re going home? That means I won’t get to kick your ass again.” Claire mockingly pouted her bottom lip and made it quiver, looking at the brunette with puppy eyes.

“Shut up.” Kennedy glared then chuckled slightly at the blonde’s mock hurt expression “And yeah, I’m going home. There’s no reason for me to stay here for the holidays.” She said, looking pointedly at the redhead. The witch in question shook her head with a sigh and left the training room, feeling Kennedy’s eyes burning in her back.

“Geez, Kenny, there are other girls out there.” Claire felt actual sympathy for the older Slayer.

“Yeah, but none like Will.” Kennedy replied “Anyway, I’m leaving the day after tomorrow. I’m gonna go pack, see you guys later.” She waved her goodbye and left the room.

*---*H&S*---*

Peter was wandering through the garden, constantly repeating one phrase in his head. You need me, pregnant or not, I am fighting. Pregnant. Or not.

‘Me, have a baby?’ His thoughts were interrupted by a slender brunette suddenly walking beside him.

“You scared of being a dad?” Faith asked. She knew Buffy was pregnant, it was the last thought she could hear coming from the blonde before she started avoiding Faith.

“I should’ve known something was wrong, she kept shutting me out of her mind.” He replied “And today, she’s been avoiding me all day.”

“Yeah, well, it’s scary for her too, y’know. A slayer’s lifespan isn’t exactly long and now she’s got somethin’ in the oven. Talk ‘bout cookies bein’ done.” She said the last part under her breath, remembering the conversation she had with Buffy to cheer the younger Slayer up after Robin.

“She still wants to fight, you know.” He said looking at Faith “Pregnant or not, she wants to help.”

“Well, I guess that means that she can stay with Niki then. ‘Cause I sure as hell don’t want no pregnant Slayer fightin’ with us.” She grinned and patted the young man’s back supportive.

“Giles is pretty mad at me.” He stated, gazing at the mansion.

“What’d you expect? You knocked up his favourite.” Faith laughed in a friendly way “But he’ll get over it, eventually. You just hope he keeps the Ripper in or you’re sweet powers won’t help you.”

“The Ripper is bad, right?” Seeing his friend nod he sighed nervously “How do I lessen the possibility of him coming out?”

“Be there for Buffy, don’t break her heart.” She replied with a small smile. She liked Peter, he was different.

“Yeah, I can do that.” He then looked thoughtful for a moment and looked at the brunette with a slightly confused expression “You didn’t come here to be all considerate about Buffy’s pregnancy, are you?”

“No, I actually wanted to know how ya find me.” She shrugged.

“I told you, a tracking system.” He replied, looking at the ground.

“I don’t believe it, ‘cause apparently whoever found me is the only one to unlock Abbadon, so I’m guessin’ it’s a person.” She smirked at his surprised expression then frowned when his eyes started showing fear.

“Does that mean the demons are going after her?” Peter stopped walking and looked panicked.

“Once they find out it’s gotta be a person who’s pure an innocent, then yeah. So I’m advisin’ you to go get whoever that is and bring her here.” The moment she finished the sentence Peter had took off in the sky. “Damn, I wish I had that power.” She murmured, staring up at the sky where Peter had disappeared.

*---*H&S*---*

Peter landed on the roof of a building in the centre of New York. He quickly made his way down several flights of stairs until he came to a halt at one apartment. The door was forced open. He entered the room carefully, scanning his surroundings. When he heard a soft groan he rushed to it, finding Mohinder on his back with several bleeding gashes.

“Mohinder, are you okay? Where’s Molly?” He asked, checking over his wounds. He used the enhanced strength he had absorbed from Niki and gently lifted the man up and placed him on the bed.

“She’s not here, she’s at school.” He groaned in pain. Peter sighed relieved. “Peter, the things that did this, they weren’t human.”

“I know, that’s why I need to get to Molly, they’re after her.” He replied. He saw the phone standing by the bed and quickly dialled the mansion.

“Faith! Good, look you need to pick someone up; he got attacked by those followers. I’m going to get Molly, she’s the girl they’re after.” He nodded a few times and then put the phone down.

“Mohinder, whatever you do, don’t get spooked when a redhead pops up in here, she’s a good witch and she’s gonna take you somewhere safe.” The words barely left his mouth when two figures appeared in front of the bed, Willow and Faith.

“Whoa, what a rush.” The brunette chuckled then turned serious seeing Mohinder staring at her and the redhead. “Let’s go Superboy, take me to the girl.”

“Right.” He nodded and turned to Mohinder “She’s good, just do anything she tells you to.” With that he grabbed Faith by the arm and jumped out of the window a spilt second before going invisible. A few minutes later they reappeared in an alley around the corner of Molly’s school.

“This is an elementary school!” Faith exclaimed, following the young man in the school.

“Molly’s seven years old.” He simply said, receiving a simple ‘oh’ from the brunette. He walked straight to the secretariat. A young woman smiled at them and asked what she could help them with.

“I’m here for Molly Walker.” He said somewhat rushed. With the help of Matt Parkman they had been able to convince the school that Molly was under the witness protection program and that only three people were allowed to see her in school and pick her up. Those people were Matt Parkman, Mohinder Suresh and Peter Petrelli.

“Okay, what’s your name? We have a strict rule on people who want to see Molly.” She said with a small smile.

“Peter Petrelli.” He answered. The woman nodded and walked around her desk, going in one of the hallways. After a minute or two she came back with Molly. She noticed Peter and let go of the woman’s hand, running towards Peter with a big smile. The young man picked her up and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Faith smiled adoringly at the pair, noting that the woman had gone back behind her desk.

“Look Molly, we need to go.” He said, looking at the young girl. She nodded, knowing that when they came to pick her up early that someone was after her. Faith and Peter nodded their goodbye at the woman and left the school building. When they were out of sight he told Faith to hold him tight, with Molly in between them. They turned invisible again and took off in the air, flying back to Cleveland.

“That was wicked cool, man.” Faith exclaimed when they landed in front of the mansion. Peter grinned letting go of Faith but kept Molly in his arms. They entered the large mansion.

“This is going to be your home for a little while, Molly. You’ll be safe here.” He set her down, watching in amusement as she took in the large hall.

“What about Mohinder?” She asked then turned her head quickly when she heard her name. “Kennedy!” She yelled and ran in the arms of the Slayer.

Chapter 15

Faith and Peter stood shocked. Peter because he didn’t know what was going on and Faith more because the sight of Kennedy on her knees in tears as she hugged the little girl.

“I thought you were dead.” Kennedy whispered “When I heard the news about James and Shelly, I just” She let the girl go just enough to see the small girl crying too “Oh Molly, I’m never gonna let you go.”

“I couldn’t find you. I used my power to find you but I couldn’t, I thought the boogeyman got to you, too.” Molly sobbed in the Slayer’s arms.

“He didn’t, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.” They hugged for a few more seconds when they heard a soft cough, indicating that they weren’t alone. Kennedy wiped away her own tears before wiping Molly’s and kissing her forehead. She stood back up, but didn’t let go of Molly’s hand.

“You two know each other?” Peter stated the obvious, pointing between Molly and Kennedy.

“Yeah, I’m her godmother. Her father was my half-sister’s boyfriend when they were younger. When they broke up we were still friends, best friends even.” Kennedy smiled at the small girl who smiled widely back. “When Molly was born, I was about thirteen but James didn’t look at my age, he just knew I would love Molly no matter what.”

“But, you know about her power?” Peter inquired.

“Yeah, when she was, I think four or maybe five she would play hide and seek with me, and she would always find me so I joked about her having some special power and she told me that that was how she could find me.” Kennedy explained.

“And ‘cause you were under Red’s spell she couldn’t when she needed ya the most.” Faith said thoughtful. “Red, how’s the patient?” She asked Willow coming down the stairs.

“He’ll be fine; he just needs to rest now.” She said with a small smile then looked back and forth between Kennedy and the little girl “Don’t tell me this is who they’re after?” Faith and Peter nodded in response. “Dear Goddess.” She breathed and knelt down in front of the girl.

“Hi, I’m Willow.” She stuck out her hand and Molly shook it “Mohinder will be fine, he got a little hurt trying to protect you but he’ll be okay in a few days.”

“Mohinder?” Kennedy asked confused.

“He adopted me after the boogeyman was defeated.” Molly replied. “Is Matt going to get hurt, too?” She directed her question at her two saviors.

“No, I don’t think so, Molly.” Peter smiled “But we’ll call him to tell him you’re with us.” Molly’s smile was all the answer Peter needed.

“Hey Ken, why don’t ya take Molly to the new game room, Micah’s probably there and then we gotta talk.” Faith said. Kennedy wanted to protest but Molly’s excited squeal distracted her.

“Micah’s here, too?” She asked, practically bouncing. Kennedy chuckled and nodded, leading the girl up the stairs.

“I’m going to talk to Buffy.” Peter said and left without waiting for an answer.

*---*H&S*---*

“Okay, talk.” Kennedy said annoyed, flopping in one of the chairs in the library.

“Don’t start; I don’t wanna be here just as much as you.” Faith recoiled irritated. Kennedy rolled her eyes and mumbled an apology. She knew Claire was in the room, but didn’t look at her.

“Since B is… occupied I’m gon’ try somethin’. I don’t think you’ll like it but tough, you’ll just have to deal.” Faith said, waiting for both girls to nod before proceeding “I want you two to be co-leaders. That means” she said a little louder when both girls started protesting “that whatever decisions ya make will be discussed with each other. Before actin’, try to find a compromise.”

“Like you and Buffy did?” Kennedy retorted angrily.

“That was different, that was THE battle. When this battle with Abbadon comes, all the Slayers are gon’ have to listen to me.” Faith snapped. Both younger Slayers were thinking the same thing after that statement.

‘What about Buffy?’

*---*H&S*---*

Peter knocked softly on Buffy’s door. A few moments later Buffy opened the door, smiling as she stepped aside to let her lover in. Behind closed doors was so much easier for both of them. Peter relaxed but not enough to reassure Buffy. The blonde started panicking inwardly thinking that he found out and was about to tell her that they should stop seeing each other.

“So… you think it would take long before Kennedy tries to kill Claire for taking over her group?” Buffy tried making small talk.

“Buffy, I know you’re pregnant.” Peter said, not wanting to delay this turmoil inside his head. He had to know what her plans were.

“Oh.” Buffy replied. “Are you, you know, angry?”

“I don’t know what I am.” He said throwing his hands up “There are like a millions things running through my head. I’m scared, most of all. Scared that when it does come to a big fight that you might lose our baby. Or I might lose both of you.”

“Peter, don’t tell me-” she started then grew wide-eyed “You, you’re not like breaking up with me? Or telling me I should, you know, have it get rid off? Because I do want this baby.”

“What?” Peter stared at her shocked “No, I don’t. And it’s not just because Faith scared me about the Ripper, I want to make this work.” He took the blonde’s hands in his and placed a kiss on them. Buffy grinned and kissed him hard.

“I’m still fighting.” She said sternly pulling away. Peter rose and eyebrow and wrapped his arms around her.

“Like hell you will.” He kissed her before she could protest.

*---*H&S*---*

Faith entered the game room and saw Micah showing off to Molly. Kennedy was sitting not to far from the two kids with a small smile on her face. She glanced at Faith for a second but then proceeded watching the two children.

“I need to tell ya somethin’ ‘bout Molly.” Faith said softly, taking a seat next to Kennedy. The younger brunette nodded in response, letting Faith know she was all ears.

“The bad guys are after her, they need her for unlockin’ Abbadon.” She made sure her voice was low so neither Micah nor Molly could hear her.

“Why Molly?” Kennedy turned her head at the older Slayer with a worried expression.

“Because she’s pure and innocent, accordin’ to Cordy, like an angel.” Faith answered, not missing the flash of pride in the younger Slayer’s eyes at the mention of ‘like an angel’.

“I’ll protect her.” Kennedy stated.

“We’ll al protect her, Ken.” Faith said with some anger growing in her voice.

“Yeah, but you’ll protect her to keep her out of the hands of the bad guys. I’ll protect her because once this is all over; she’s going home with me.”

“You’re leaving after the battle then?” Faith stated more than questioned.

“Yeah, I can’t stay here. Seeing Willow… it hurts just too much knowing I can’t have her anymore.” Kennedy sighed. “If she doesn’t want me anymore, I’m not gonna hold her back from falling in love with someone else by staying here and pining over her.”

“Stayin’ or goin’, you’ll still be pinin’ over her and it doesn’t matter if you’re here or not, she will fall in love again if that’s what her heart wants. You’re bein’ an ass if you can’t get over it.”

“Faith,” Kennedy started with a sigh.

“I know it hurts, Ken, but you’ll get over it eventually. Don’t go runnin’ just ‘cause a girl broke your heart.” She nodded to the two kids “Ya think Molly would like it if ya ripped her away from her friend?”

“No, I guess not.” She sighed.

“Besides, I could use an older Slayer with all these hormonal chicks runnin’ around when B leaves.” Kennedy was surprised to see Faith winking at her before getting up. “Don’t leave ‘cause of Red.” The older Slayer said and left the room.

*---*H&S*---*

Claire stomped off to one of the training rooms. She was definitely not happy about sharing her group with Kennedy. She didn’t bother taping her hands as she began punching the punching bag furiously.

“If you go at it at that rate, you might end up hurting yourself instead of the person you’re imagining.” Claire snickered at the voice behind her. She turned and saw Niki, or was it Jessica, leaning against the door jamb.

“Faith made me and Kennedy co-leaders.” Claire snorted. “Co-leaders, what the hell?”

“Maybe you should make it work. Faith can have good ideas, you know.” The blonde said walking over to Claire.

“You’re just saying that because she’s your girlfriend.” The young Slayer took a guess at who she was talking to.

“Correction, my sister’s girlfriend.” Jessica grinned and grabbed the punching bag from behind, motioning for Claire to hit it again. “Faith thinks that you two could complete each other in battle. You’re the caring one, always putting your girls’ safety first and Kennedy goes for the win.”

“Me and Kennedy hardly complete each other; we don’t even like each other.” The young Slayer was getting more relaxed but still threw some hard punches at the bag.

“Buffy and Faith didn’t at first either.” Jessica replied, remembering some of the stories Faith had told Niki and her about the early stages of their friendship, or the lack of. “Look at them now, they’re like sisters.”

“We all are sisters, sister Slayers, but that doesn’t mean we like each other.” Claire countered.

“Kennedy can be very ambitious, but when it comes right down to it, I don’t think she’ll want any of her girls getting hurt.” Jessica smirked when she came to a silent realisation. “Or is it because Kennedy-”

“Don’t.” Claire interrupted as she stopped throwing punches, panting slightly.

“It is, isn’t it?” Jessica smirk grew wider when the teenager in front of her started glaring. “You should tell her.”

“Yeah right.” Claire snorted with a roll of her eyes. “Hey Willow, I know you’re like twenty-three and I’m just sixteen but how about we get together, it could be fun.” She said with sarcasm clear in her voice.

“I think you should tell her, who knows what’ll happen?” Jessica suggested.

“She’ll babble nervously and then say I’m too young and that we can still be friends. Then she’ll avoid me at all costs.” She replied sullen.

“There’s a big chance of her saying that, but there’s also a chance of you convincing her.” The older woman said and left the room, leaving Claire to think about it.

Chapter 16

It was the day after Thanksgiving. Most of the Slayers were still at the mansion, but some of them went home for a week. Molly and Mohinder had invited Kennedy to celebrate Thanksgiving at Matt Parkman’s house with them. Faith and Peter objected at the idea, wanting to keep an eye on Molly, but Kennedy assured them that they would both be coming back. Mohinder was going home after Thanksgiving, starting his own research about Abbadon and his followers.

Giles was allowed, by Buffy, to leave his room but under no circumstances was he allowed to do anything stress related. He tried to tell the blonde that researching about Abbadon was not stressful but Buffy wouldn’t hear any of it.

Peter was avoiding Giles at all costs, to be honest, the older man scared him. Well, Dawn had scared him with tales of the Ripper. He kept sneaking in Buffy’s room at night when he thought no one was awake. Only Claire, Kennedy and the Scoobies knew of their relationship, they were keeping it a secret for just a few more months, it was the best thing to do for the time being. As for Buffy’s pregnancy, Willow and Xander had found out through their mind reading. They hadn’t confronted Buffy yet, waiting for Buffy to tell them.

Kennedy and Molly had moved in with Claire, they both figured that if they were going to be co-leaders they might as well begin to try and get along. So far it wasn’t working that great but when Molly or Faith was around they both feigned liking each other. Both Molly as Kennedy each had their own bed but Molly slept in Kennedy’s bed whenever she could.

All in all, it was quiet. Even during patrol girls didn’t talk as much as they normally did and even the demons were staying low. It bored Faith to death but every night when she came home she could crawl in her lover’s arms and nothing seemed to matter anymore.

Niki was walking around the mansion, waiting for Faith to come back from patrol. Micah was already asleep, seeing as it was nearing midnight. She loved her son to no ends but she was missing her Faith-loving and she knew Faith was aching as well. She noticed the lights were still on in the kitchen so she went in finding Willow eating some ice-cream. The redhead looked up and smiled at the blonde.

“Hey there, Niki. Waiting for Faith?” She questioned. The blonde nodded with a chuckle and took a seat next to Willow.

“How’d you know it was me?” She asked, stealing the spoon from Willow taking a portion from the ice-cream, popping it in her mouth.

“Jessica is more intimidating.” The redhead took the spoon back from the blonde with a grin.

“Ah.” Niki replied “What are you still doing up? Eating ice-cream to compensate something?”

“It’s pretty confusing talking to both of you, you know that?” Willow laughed, seeing the confident look in Jessica’s eyes before it faded and the innocent sparkle was back, meaning that it was Niki again.

“You’re avoiding the question. Questions.” Niki shook her head “I’m doing all the talking, Jessica; you had your fun sparring with Claire this morning.” She said aloud. When she glanced to her side she saw Jessica in the refrigerator reflection rolling her eyes. Niki turned to the redhead and smiled at Willow who had the spoon halfway to her mouth, looking amused at the blonde woman.

“Does she do that a lot?” The witch asked and put the spoon in her mouth.

“When she wants to be a bitch, yeah.” Niki smiled. She gave the redhead a look that clearly said ‘Questions are yet to be answered.’

“I couldn’t sleep and the research isn’t getting us any further so hence the ice-cream.” She said holding up the small jar of chocolate ice-cream. “How are you holding up? You know, with dating a Slayer.”

“I’m happy, but I could be happier.” The blonde responded and yet again swiped Willow’s spoon. The redhead mock-glared at the blonde and turned around to grab another spoon from one of the drawers.

“Ah, the problem of children in the vicinity after the slayage?” Willow questioned and received a nod from the blonde. “I could soundproof your bedroom.” She frowned for a second looking contemplative then mentally smacked herself in the head “Why didn’t I think of that any sooner?”

“Because you were too busy thinking about Kennedy?” Niki inquired. Faith had told her that Willow hadn’t shared much about her break-up so Niki opted that she might as well give it a try.

“No, I was actually more thinking about my first girlfriend, Tara. Maybe I rushed into a relationship with Kennedy. I mean, Tara was killed barely a year, not even a year, before I started with Kennedy.” Willow smiled grimly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“No, it’s okay.” Willow interrupted with a small grin “It feels kinda good to talk about it. The others are always asking if I’m holding up and am I okay with the break-up and things like that. Not one of them asked me if I think about it or if I have any regrets or anything.”

“They probably figured you’d go to them if you wanted to talk about it.” The blonde offered, taking another share of the ice-cream.

“Yeah, probably.” The redhead smiled and closed her eyes for a second “Faith’s on her way back.” she cocked her head to the side “Some Slayers are a little hurt but nothing too bad.” She opened her eyes and saw Niki staring at her with a partly amused and partly awestruck look.

“That’s a pretty cool power.” The blonde said grinning. She licked her spoon clean and threw it in the sink. Willow smirked in response, doing the same and closed the lid on the ice-cream jar.

“It took a while to get it under control but it’s neat.” The redhead replied and stood up, putting the ice-cream back in the freezer. “If I was you and you’re in the mood to face a wired Slayer I’d meet Faith out front.”

“Now you’re just showing off.” Niki grinned but stood up “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She waved her goodbye. Willow shook her head with a soft laughter and made her way to her room, deciding to give the sleeping thing another try.

Standing just outside the manor Niki suppressed a shiver from the cold November wind and smiled seeing her lover arrive with six Slayers. Faith saw the blonde waiting for her and turned to the blonde Slayer next to her.

“Claire, you make sure the hurt Slayers get some care and then hit the sack.” Faith ordered then turned to Niki “I got a date.” Claire wiggled her eyebrows at Niki as she passed her and closed the door.

“Have I ever told you how hot you look when you’re bossing those girls around?” The blonde questioned, putting her arms around Faith’s neck.

“No, but I’m always hot so it doesn’t really surprise me.” Faith smirked. Niki shot her a crooked smile that always made Faith’s eyes darken in lust. The brunette grabbed the woman’s hips and pulled her closer. She growled lowly when Niki raised her brow in a daring way. She kissed the older woman with a searing passion, not asking but demanding access, biting hard on the bottom lip. Niki moaned low and entwined her hands in Faith’s hair. She took a hold of a few brown tresses and pulled the brunette back.

“I need you, now.” Faith smirked seductively at the blonde’s order and pulled her away from the door. They went around the house ‘til they came to a part where were no windows except on the second floor, where Willow’s room approximately was. Faith pushed Niki against the wall and slipped her leg in between the blonde’s thighs.

“You’ve got a thing for walls.” Niki stated absently as Faith took hold of the blonde’s hips and grinded it against her leg. Faith bit her bottom lip as she watched Niki threw her head with her eyes closed against the wall, moaning softly. She attacked her girlfriend’s neck, removing her hands from the blonde’s hips and made her way under Niki’s shirt.

‘God, how can someone taste so sweet?’ Faith thought, sucking and nibbling on Niki’s neck. The older woman took Faith’s head in her hands and kissed hard, then moved to the brunette’s jeans with her hands and nimbly unbuttoned and unzipped it, slipping her hand in the soaked panties, stroking the wet mound. Faith broke away from the kiss with a sharp gasp when Niki flicked her middle finger against her clit. The blonde turned the rolls and pushed the brunette up against the wall, slowly stroking her lover’s clit.

“Baby, please.” Faith pleaded, rolling her eyes in the back of her head feeling her girlfriend softly pinch her sensitive nub.

“Please, what? Tell me what you want, baby, tell me.” Niki said huskily. Faith was breathing hard, trying to find the words. She pulled her shirt over her head and unclasped her bra, suddenly thinking it was getting very hot. Niki ducked her head, pulling one of the brunette’s nipples in her mouth. Faith was very happy she was standing against the wall, not knowing how long her legs would support her any longer.

“In, Niki, in, now, please.” The brunette pleaded whispering. She was rewarded when Niki entered her with three fingers at once, steadily pumping in and out of the dripping wetness. Faith’s moans were growing louder and more continuous; she growled discontent when Niki stopped her attention on her nipples and slowed her thrusting. The blonde smirked for a second then sped up her thrusting.

“Oh shit.” She cried when Niki curled her fingers, hitting the brunette’s sweet spot again and again. Her orgasm was building, Niki could feel it. Faith’s breathing and moans were constant, filling the blonde’s ears. Faith pulled Niki close and sunk her nails in the blonde’s back; Niki’s breathing was growing heavy as well, hearing her lover close to her ear moaning and whispering her name.

“Scream for me, baby.” Niki said feeling her lover’s walls clench around her fingers and pressed down hard on her lover’s clit with her thumb. She was rewarded by Faith screaming out her name, shuddering when Niki softly stroked the sensitive nub with her thumb before retracting her fingers. Niki put her fingers in her mouth, licking every drop of Faith’s wetness while staring at the brunette who was still trying breathing heavily.

“Just as sweet as ever.” Niki smirked then toppled over when Faith pounced her. Within seconds the blonde’s shirt was ripped open and her bra was thrown somewhere out of the way. The two women lay kissing on the ground, breasts to breasts with Faith grinding her leg against the blonde’s crotch. Faith licked her way down her jaw line to the blonde’s neck, agonizingly slow down to Niki’s breasts. While she sucked and bit on one nipple the brunette’s hand massaged the other breasts, tweaking the nipple hard causing Niki to arch her back moaning a mixture of pain and pleasure. Faith pulled away from the woman’s breast and straddled her waist, looking down at the older woman.

“Damn, you’re beautiful.” She whispered sounding raspy. Niki blushed faintly and sat up kissing her girlfriend, scraping her nails along the brunette’s back. Faith motioned for the woman to lie back down and gently moved down her body. When she came to the zipper of the blonde’s denims she slowly undid it and slid them off Niki’s slender legs. Placing a kiss on the soaked panties, she fingered the waistband and pulled them down as well. Kissing and licking her way up the woman’s legs she finally came to the dripping wet pussy.

“Faith, baby, stop teasing me.” Faith smirked at Niki and gave into temptation, inhaling the arousing scent that was purely Niki before running her tongue across the length. Faith smiled when she felt Niki shudder at the touch and did it again, receiving a long throaty moan. She delved her tongue in the wet mound as deep as she could and rapidly pumped in and out with her tongue.

“Sweet mother of-” Niki was cut off as Faith moved her lips over the sensitive nub and sucked on it, occasionally scraping her teeth across. Niki was seeing stars, she was sure of it, when Faith plunged two fingers in and pulling them back out. She repeated this, slamming her fingers in harder each time, knowing Niki loved to mix pain with pleasure.

“More, baby.” Niki moaned. Faith did as she was told and entered another digit. Sensing her girl was close she bit down on her clit. Niki called out her lover’s name in ecstasy and dug her nails in Faith’s back, breaking the skin as multiple waves of pleasure rippled through her body. Letting her lover come down from her high, the brunette licked across the length a few more times then crawled up the blonde’s body.

“Just as sweet as ever.” Faith grinned, repeating the line Niki had said before, and kissed the blonde ever so gently.

Chapter 17

The next day everyone stayed clear from Faith’s room. Both Buffy and Willow had told the other Slayers that under no circumstances were they to disturb the Slayer and her girlfriend. It got a few snickers from the teenagers but it was overall understood. Micah was spending time with Andrew and his new found passion, cooking. To his own surprise the boy was a natural at it; this delighted Andrew because now he had a friend, it didn’t matter that the boy was only ten years old, who he could talk to about cooking, games and comics without being judged.

“That’ll probably be Kennedy.” One of the Slayers spoke up when hearing someone ringing the bell. Giles nodded absently, sipping his tea and reading the newspaper. He perked up though when he heard a male voice coming from the door. He stood up and went to the front hallway.

“Can I help you?” He asked the man. There was something familiar about this man, there was something in his eyes that Giles had seen before but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Hello, I’m looking for Faith Lehane.” He responded friendly. Giles hid his shock and suddenly realized what it was that looked familiar.

“I’m sorry, sir, but Faith Lehane died fifteen months ago during an earthquake in California.” He said calmly.

“I know she’s still alive, I saw her yesterday.” The man said, taking a step closer.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir, but I can assure you that there is no Faith Lehane living in this residence and I must ask you to leave now, Faith Lehane is a sensitive subject to be brought up here.” Giles was growing very suspicious of this man.

“Fine, but I know she’s here.” The man retorted, his voice sounded annoyed. He turned around and left. On his way back to the street he passed Kennedy and Molly walking up to the mansion. Kennedy eyed him carefully and glared when he looked down to Molly.

“Who was that?” Kennedy asked coming up to Giles.

“A man asking about Faith. I believe that’s her father.” He replied then turned to the young Slayer that was still standing by the door “Sally, would you please get Buffy and tell her we need to speak with Faith.” The young girl nodded and took off.

“Giles.” Kennedy said when she realized something, watching the other man disappear from sight.

“Yes, Kennedy?” Giles closed the door, smiling at Molly before looking at Kennedy.

“I saw that man before.” She turned to him with a worried expression “That night when you had a heart attack, I saw that man in the abandoned building surrounded by demons and vampires. He was sorta the leader of the pack.”

“Bloody hell.” Giles exclaimed and ran off in search of Willow.

“What’s he going to do?” Molly asked referring to Giles.

“He’s gonna make sure that nobody can take you away from me.” Kennedy said firmly and smiled at her goddaughter. “Come on, I’ll bet your little boyfriend’s in the kitchen.”

“Micah’s not my boyfriend. He’s a boy who’s a friend.” Molly replied, frowning at her own explanation.

*---*H&S*---*

Giles was eerily silent, he didn’t know how to say this to a girl he had began seeing as his own daughter over the last fifteen months. He sat in his chair around the research table in the library, next to the older man on a chair sat Kennedy, not sure why she was here. On the table on the other side of Giles sat Buffy who was smiling at the thoughts that ran through her sister Slayer’s mind just like Xander who staring goofily when some more private thoughts crossed the brunette’s mind. He was sitting next to Faith on the couch with Niki on her lap.

“Stop it, Cyclops.” Faith laughed and slapped his arm when she found out that he was listening to her thoughts. She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend’s waist and placed a soft kiss on Niki’s back.

“Faith, I have something to tell you.” Giles began cleaning his glasses nervously.

“Shoot.” Faith replied shifting Niki in her lap so she could see Giles better.

“I believe your father has come by today, he was asking for you.” He said calmly. Niki felt Faith stiffen around her and protectively put her arms around the brunette’s neck. “Kennedy recognized him as the leader of Abbadon’s followers.”

“What did you tell him?” She asked, acting casual.

“I told him Faith Lehane had died fifteen months ago in the earthquake that consumed Sunnydale.” He replied. Faith let out a small breath of relieve and held her lover closer. “He didn’t believe me, though; he claimed he saw you yesterday.” He added cautiously.

“Next time he shows up, I’ll kill him and feed his ass to his precious Abbadon.’ She thought angrily.

“Don’t even think about it, Faith, he’s still human.” Buffy spoke up, shaking her head at the brunette. A few seconds later Peter and Willow entered the library. Peter nodded his hello and cautiously went over to greet his girlfriend. He went the long way around the table, not wanting to go by Giles and pecked Buffy on the lips before taking a seat at the table.

“Giles, the spells are finished. It took a lot more than last time but it won’t be easy to get through the gates if someone’s evil.” Willow said as she entered the library, she glanced over to Faith and Niki and blushed recalling last night’s events below her window.

‘Don’t think, don’t think. Quick think something else. Oh geez, Faith’s looking at me. Lalalala, bunnies. Bunnies? Anya was scared of bunnies. Anya equals conversations about orgasms. Crap, no don’t think about orgasms. Orgasms bad, especially Faith and Niki orgasms, oh dear Goddess help me. Stop looking at me, don’t you… No, don’t smirk you evil bitch. Stop looking at me.’ By now Willow was full on glaring at Faith who was trying very hard not to laugh at the redhead.

“Faith, are you even listening to a word I’m saying?” Giles asked with a loud sigh.

“Sorry, Giles, Red was distracting me with her horny thoughts.” That got Faith a playful smack from her lover and a blush from the redhead. “Ow.” She mocked hurt and laughed. She pulled Niki closer and whispered something in her ear. Niki looked over to Willow who was trying to see what was going on. The witch’s eyes grew wide when she saw Niki disappearing and Jessica appearing.

“You wanna play, too, Will? We could always work something out, would you like that?” Jessica asked innocently.

“No!” She yelped, Jessica gave the redhead the saddest look she could muster “Not that you’re not… I mean, because you are and I think-” She turned to Giles and chuckled nervously “I’m going to go now.” Willow squeaked and practically ran out of the library.

“Chicken shit.” Faith muttered.

“You’re mean, Faith.” Xander laughed.

“Yes, well, now that we’ve established that Willow has no intentions to sleep with your girlfriend’s alter ego, Faith, I suggest we continue this.” Giles spoke up, putting his glasses back on after thoroughly having cleaned them for the last twenty minutes.

“Yeah, yeah, what do we have to do? Break in there with some Slayers and kill them all?” The brunette suggested, still holding Jessica in her arms. It may not have been her girlfriend she was holding but she had to have a hold on something or she felt like breaking something. Or someone.

“I think,” He was interrupted by the phone ringing “I think that we need to begin organizing the Slayers and indeed try to break in and”

“Mr. Giles? There’s a Robin Wood is on the phone for you. He says he wants to talk to you.” A Slayer said from the library door. She didn’t look a day over fourteen but had a certain look in her eyes that could be startling intimidating.

“Thank you, Paulie.” Giles said standing up and walked to the library doorway. “Why isn’t Andrew picking up the phone?” he asked.

“He’s gone with Molly and Micah to the store for extra medical supplies.” When she saw Kennedy wanting to protest she quickly added “Lily and Claire are with them.” With that Kennedy visibly relaxed in her chair. Giles left the library, closing the door behind him.

“So, what’re we gon’ do ‘bout my daddy bein’ here and evil?” Faith asked the five remaining people in the library.

“I say we kick his ass.” Kennedy spoke up. “Preferably before Abbadon’s demons take over the world.”

“I’m with Kennedy.” Jessica said eagerly.

“You’re not fighting, Jessie.” Faith replied “But I’m with ya, too, Ken.”

“I don’t know, Faithy. We need to have a plan; we can’t just go barging in there. Who knows how many demons he’s got? Maybe a lot more than Kennedy saw.” Buffy protested.

“She’s right, plus it’s been a while so the chance is big that he’s got more demons and vampires by now. Why else would he take the risk of coming here if he didn’t have the back-up, just in case, it’s not like the demons don’t know that this is Slayer Central so if your dad is the leader, he has to know about this place.” Xander chimed in.

“Send me in; I’ll do a little recon.” Peter suggested. “I can sneak in there while being invisible and it doesn’t really matter if they find out, they can’t really kill me.”

“Except when they rip that cute little head of yours head clean off.” Buffy smiled snidely “Nope, you’re not going in there.”

“Buffy.” He started to dispute and stood up. Buffy stood up as well and pushed him back on his chair.

“Peter, no. I’m the Chosen One,” she rolled her eyes when Faith coughed subtly “part of the Chosen Two, and if I say you’re not going to sneak in there without mine or Faith’s permission all I want to hear from you is ‘Okay, I won’t.’ or we’re going to have some serious problems, got it?”

“Fine.” Peter replied heated.

“Good.” Buffy stated “I’m gonna get some drinks.” She said and left the library, heading to the kitchen.

“Hey, Superboy, don’t sweat it. We’re all Buffy-whipped ‘round here.” Faith spoke up, realizing that Peter must have felt rather embarrassed after being put down by his girlfriend.

“Yeah, only me and Faith contradict her and get out of it alive.” She looked thoughtful for a moment then frowned “Maybe just Faith, now that Willow doesn’t have my back anymore.”

“Yeah, if you want it to last between you two, you better start learning to obey her Blondness.” Xander laughed. Peter calmed somewhat, he knew better than to get his blood boiling.

“Okay, children, we need to make room by the day after tomorrow. Robin is coming with at least thirty new Slayers.” Giles said entering the library. He looked at Peter sitting with his arms crossed on his chair and chuckled lightly “I assume you tried to disagree with Buffy’s decision?”

“I was just trying to help.” He replied sulking.

“What did ya say ‘bout Robin?” Faith asked the Brit. Jessica glanced at her from the corner of her eye, jealousy and protectiveness over her sister growing in the pit of her stomach.

“He’s coming the day after tomorrow with at least thirty new Slayers he found.” Seeing the brunette slump discontent in the couch he continued “I know you two had a rough break-up, but for the sake of your relationship and Robin’s health, try to act normal.”

“As long as he stays the hell away from me, we’ll just be fan-freakin’-tastic.” She replied crossly. Buffy re-entered the library with six bottles of water and threw them at her friends. They nodded their thanks, watching the blonde walk to Peter and knelt down in front of him.

“I’m sorry, sweetie.” She said warmly. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Buffy on her knees, looking at him from under her lashes. He pulled her on her lap and kissed her neck softly.

“No way.” Both Xander and Faith muttered.

“Uhm,” Kennedy looked confused at the sight next to her and then turned to Giles “I’ll take some girls tomorrow for new beds and whatever else we might need.” Kennedy offered.

“Yeah, and Willow and I will try and fit all the girls in, maybe do some add-ons.” Xander proposed, a little grateful he could work with his beloved tools again. He loved to help Buffy and the good fight, but there was something about construction that was a part of him, no matter where he was.

“Very well. I’ll inform the girls that there’ll be newcomers arriving.” Giles responded.

Chapter 18

“Just put all that in the last training room, girls.” Xander ordered the hard working Slayers. They had cleared out two game rooms on the second floor and an entertainment room on the second floor so they could fit the new Slayers in.

It was growing late and there was just a handful of Slayers that were out on patrol with Faith and Kennedy. The other girls were busy hammering and drilling in the empty rooms so that it wouldn’t look so much like an old game or entertainment room. The walls were being painted and the beds were put together. Closets and dressers were installed and with the help of some useful magic by Willow and her trusty helper, Dawn, the rooms were closed to being finished. The only problem was…

“Xander, how are eighty girls going to share six bathrooms?” One of the older Slayers amongst the young Slayers, names Sara, asked.

“Uhm,” he scratched his head thinking “we’ll figure something out. Like maybe in due time build a place in the backyard and have all the game rooms moved over there.” He said thinking aloud. He turned around, leaving Sara standing with a puzzled expression, going straight to the library where blueprints were scattered over the research table.

*---*H&S*---*

The next morning Niki woke up to an empty bed. She looked around and saw Faith sitting by an open window in a pair of slacks, smoking. She tiredly rubbed her eyes and stared at her lover. She was about to speak up when her son came out of his room in his Spiderman PJ’s yawning. Faith turned to look at him and smiled at the cuteness.

“Hey slugger, d’you sleep okay?” She asked, flickering away her cigarette.

“It was okay.” He replied and crawled in the big bed where his mother still was. He snuggled close to the blonde woman, stifling a big yawn.

“How are the nightmares?” Niki asked, going through his little curls.

“I don’t have them as much anymore.” He replied and stared at the brunette by the window. “Aren’t you cold?” He asked, gesturing to her bare chest. The first times he saw Faith’s breasts he was absolutely mortified but as time grew by he got used to the fact that his mother’s girlfriend mostly walked around topless in their room.

“Nah, it’s okay.” She grinned “Unless you guys’re cold? I could close the window.” She suggested but the two individuals in the bed shook their head. She closed the window anyway and walked over to the bed, crawling on the other side of Niki. She turned on her side and placed a soft kiss on the blonde’s lips.

“Go back to sleep, it’s still wicked early.” She whispered, noticing the weary expression both mother and son wore. She crept under the covers and waited for her lover and Micah to fall asleep. This was one of her favourite times of the day, watching the two people that meant most to her sleeping without a care in the world.

“There’s nothing like you and I.” she mumbled, remembering a line from the song she heard the first time she had dinner with Niki and Micah in Las Vegas.

*---*H&S*---*

Faith left her room two hours later fully dressed and hungry. She walked through the hallway and came to a halt when she saw Xander and Willow sitting in front of the redhead’s bedroom door with each a cup of coffee in their hands.

“What the hell are you guys doin’?” The brunette asked amused.

“Buffy and Peter are fighting, we’re listening.” Xander replied, shooting Faith a goofy grin.

“What’s it about?” The Slayer asked and joined the two on the floor.

“Peter doesn’t want Buffy to patrol or fight or train as long as she’s pregnant and Buffy, well, she disagrees.” He answered. Willow was staring intently at the blonde’s door, trying to enhance their mental link.

“Shit.” She suddenly exclaimed and scrambled off the floor, swearing under her breath when hot coffee spilt over her hand. Xander and Faith followed her quickly in the witch’s room just as the door to Buffy’s room swung open.

“Stubborn, annoying, self-absorbed little….” Peter muttered and headed down the stairs. The three people cautiously exited the room and started laughing.

“That’s B for ya.” Faith grinned then turned to her two friends “Is Robin here?” She asked, hoping her anxiety wasn’t obvious in her voice.

“Yeah, he’s downstairs in the library talking to Giles and Mohinder.” Willow answered.

“When did Mohinder get here?” The brunette questioned surprised.

“About ten minutes ago.” Xander shrugged, taking a drink from his coffee. He and Willow watched several emotions cross the Slayer’s face: unease, hurt, confusion, anger and then she turned cold.

“Yeah, ‘kay. I’ll go see if they need help with anythin’.” Faith said and headed down the stairs.

She came to a halt by the library door and peered in. Robin was sitting with his back to her at the research table listening to Mohinder besides him. Across them sat Giles who subtly glanced over to Faith, trying to decide whether she should just leave. She took a deep breath and walked in the library.

“Hey Mo, what’re ya doin’ here?” Faith asked shooting the man a smile as she took a seat next to Giles. “Hey.” She greeted Robin colder than she had intended.

“Hi, Faith. How are you?” Robin asked smiling sweetly.

“Five by five.” She shrugged indifferently turning away from Robin she looked at Mohinder

“Now then,” Mohinder started “it seems that your Powers That Be were right about Molly but however, they don’t need Molly to open the Abyss. Something went wrong in the translations.”

“What the hell are you talkin’ ‘bout?” Faith questioned.

“He means,” Robin started but was stopped by a glare coming from his ex-girlfriend.

“I didn’t ask you.” She snapped.

“This means that they can unleash Abbadon’s demon army without Abbadon to control them, meaning”

“Total wipe-out.” Faith finished, slouching in her chair.

“Good or evil, when Abbadon’s demons roam the earth without their master to control them, all will be lost.” Giles told them matter-of-factly.

“So, what d’we do ‘bout it?” She asked the three men.

“We fight.” Robin answered.

*---*H&S*---*

“Faith, wait up.” Robin called after the Slayer. Faith turned around, not seeing her girlfriend ascending the stairs. Niki stopped at the bottom and looked at her girlfriend and a man she figured was Robin.

“What do ya want?” Faith crossed her arms defensively.

“I missed you.” Robin reached out and touched her cheek. Faith closed her eyes and winced slightly when her ex-boyfriend moved his hand behind her neck.

“Don’t.” She said when he pulled her closer for a kiss.

“Why not?” He asked confused. She put her hands on his chest and looked him in the eyes.

“You screwed me over, Robin, you hurt me real bad.” She began “Besides I’m with someone, someone I really like and don’t wanna lose.” She said pulling away from the man.

“I thought you said you could never love a man as much as you loved me.” He questioned. Faith felt her walls break but forced herself to get it over with.

“Yeah, I did say that and you’re always gon’ be the guy I loved most, sexually.” He smiled brightly and took a step closer, making the brunette take a step backwards “But I’m not with a guy.” She looked behind her and smiled at Niki, motioning for the blonde to join her.

“You’re,” Robin wasn’t sure he could say it. He watched Niki put her arm possessively around the brunette’s waist and Faith not caring one bit.

“My girlfriend.” Niki answered. She extended her hand “Niki Sanders.”

“Robin Wood.” He said as he took the blonde’s hand. He flinched somewhat when Niki clenched his hand to some extent. “Strong handshake you got there.” He chuckled nervously, pulling his hand back. The blonde shrugged innocently at Faith when she scowled lightly at her.

“Can you go get B, Red and Cyclops, baby?” The brunette asked her lover. Niki glanced suspiciously over to the uncomfortable black man and nodded.

“Sure, see you in a few minutes.” She kissed Faith softly on the lips and walked away.

“You’re happy?” Robin inquired, looking at Faith watching Niki walk off.

“Yeah, I am. I got a gorgeous girlfriend, a great family and I get to kick some ass every night. What’s not to be happy?” She flashed him a warm smile.

“I guess that it’s time for me stop hoping then.” Robin replied before holding out his hand. “Friends?”

“Friends.” Faith sniggered and shook the hand. She turned around just in time to see Micah storming at her.

“Faith, Faith.” He was out of breath but a big grin was plastered on his face “Kennedy told Molly that she could beat you so I said that there’s no way that Kennedy can beat you and now Molly and I wanna see you two fight.”

“Dude, y’know Kennedy can’t beat me to save her life.” Faith laughed. “Okay, tell the brat that I’ll meet her in the backyard in an hour. First I gotta handle some grownup things, y’know.” She ruffled through his hair and nudged him off.

“Micah, Niki’s kid.” Faith explained when she saw the amused but confused look on Robin’s face. “Let’s go.” She playfully pushed him to the library seeing Buffy, Willow, Xander and Niki arriving.

*---*H&S*---*

The meeting had ended forty minutes ago, that was how long Kennedy and Faith were battling in the backyard. They had attracted quite a crowd and they were counting. So far the older Slayer had beaten Kennedy two times and almost lost once when Niki arrived to watch.

“Are you worried about Robin?” Buffy asked the blonde, nodding towards the black male watching every move Faith made.

“Should I be?” The blonde responded, not taking her eyes of off Faith.

“No, I don’t think so. She always acts like she’s the big bad bitch but deep inside she’s just a girl that doesn’t want to get hurt and he hurt her.” Buffy answered “If you asked me that two months ago, I would’ve said yes, because I honestly didn’t believe you two would last.” She turned to look at Niki “but I can see the way she looks at you, I hear her thoughts about you and I can see that she wants to make it work. Just one piece of advice though.”

“What?” Niki asked, turning her head at Buffy.

“Don’t tell her you love her. At least ‘til she tells you first or she’ll bail.” The Senior Slayer stated. Niki wanted to say something but she was cut off by Buffy raising her eyebrow. “Oh and hurt her and I’ll kick your ass so hard you can lick my toes.” With that Buffy turned and walked away.

“Kinky.” Came the voice of Claire. Niki turned her head and smiled at the young Slayer.

“Hey Claire, how’s the crush?” The older woman asked with a small grin.

“Jessica told you about it?” Claire rolled her eyes “Still the same. I’m not sure what to do about it. Jessica reckons I should tell her.”

“I agree with Jessica on that, you should tell her.” Niki stated. “Do it now, she just went back inside.” She added, gesturing to the witch going through the backdoor. When the young Slayer didn’t move Niki took her arm and pulled her to the mansion. “Get in there and tell her.” She pushed Claire through the door and went back to watch Faith beating Kennedy.

“Hey, Will. I’m in love with you?” Claire mumbled, making her way though the kitchen. “Willow, you’re the girl of my dreams. Not the Slayer ones ‘cause that would be wrong and also, not fun.” She stopped in her tracks When Willow laughed along with Mohinder.

“I’ll see you later.” Willow eventually said and made her way up the stairs. Claire took a deep breath and followed the redhead to her room. She knocked lightly on the witch’s door, announcing her presence. Willow turned from putting some books back in order and smiled at Claire.

“Hi, did you need something?” She asked smiling sweetly. Claire shook her head and entered the room.

“I was just,” she started “Oh screw it.” She muttered and walked up to the redhead, pressing her lips against Willows. The redhead didn’t move. After a few seconds Claire pulled away “Uhm, bye.” She said quickly and left the room.

“Wait, what?” Willow snapped out of her stupor, shaking her head.

Chapter 19

Niki was pacing in the entertainment room on the first floor where she, Micah, Molly, Dawn and Andrew were sort of locked in. The four others were watching Star Wars to cheer Andrew up after he had been ordered not to leave the room, meaning he was not allowed to go secure his comics or to cook.

“Why do I, we,” she corrected, referring to her and Jessica “have to stay here? Buffy is the one who’s pregnant.” Niki fumed.

“Because Buffy is the almighty leader and no matter what, she’s always right.” Dawn spoke up sarcastically, not looking away from the movie.

“Buffy’s pregnant?” Andrew turned in the couch to look at Niki. “How?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Niki said quickly, realizing that not everyone knew about Buffy’s relationship with Peter. She stopped pacing “Molly?” The little girl turned around with a mouth full of popcorn “I need you to tell me where Faith is.”

*---*H&S*---*

“How do we do this? We’re not the most subtle bunch of people right about now.” Robin gestured to the small crowd of Slayers behind them, in broad daylight, waiting for orders.

“They know what to do.” Buffy stated watching Faith walk up to the building. “I’m more worried about Faith.” She said under her breath. When she saw Faith enter the building she motioned for the Slayers to get in position. The group of girls spilt in four with Claire, Kennedy, Rona and Vi each leading a team.

“You’re splitting them up? What about the new girls? They don’t know any of them.” Robin started protesting.

“These girls are fine leaders. Besides you, Xander, and Willow can each accompany a team.” She smirked “You take Vi’s team; most of the girls you brought are in her team.” She walked over to Xander and told him to go with Rona, because his protégé, Sara, was there and then told Willow to stay with Claire and her team. She herself would escort Kennedy.

“Okay Kennedy, Claire, Rona and Vi.” She called out. The four said girls approached the blonde Slayer and paid close attention to anything the blonde said. When the blonde was finished talking they headed back to their respective teams.

“Keep an eye on Will for me.” Kennedy said to Claire. The blonde nodded and took a deep breath before heading to Willow and her group of Slayers.

*---*H&S*---*

Faith entered the warehouse; she frowned when it was empty. She then noticed her father coming towards her.

“Jack Lehane.” She spoke up “Thought ya died in jail. No wait’ she looked thoughtful for a moment “I hoped ya died in jail.” She snarled.

“Now, now, is that any way to talk to your father?” He responded, stopping at just an arms length. Faith rolled her eyes and looked around the building.

“Nice crib ya got here. Empty, abandoned, dead, just the way you like it.”

“You’re not still angry for me leaving, are you?” The man asked uninterested.

“No, I’m pissed for you leavin’ me with that psycho bitch ‘cause ya just had to rob a liquor store.” She snapped “That and you’re, y’know, evil now.” She shrugged.

“Evil is such a big word.” He dismissed it with a waved of his hands “Besides, I recall you being ‘evil’ for a while, too. Isn’t that right, Mr. Wyndam-Pryce?” Faith looked to her side and saw Wesley standing behind her with a smirk.

“Yes, it is.” He answered. Faith tried to punch him as he passed her but she just went right through him.

“Oh great,” she muttered “Didn’t we beat your sorry ass before?” She suppressed her initial shock that Wesley obviously was dead. She made a mental note asking Giles about it later.

‘B, get your ass in here. It’s the First.’

“It didn’t take.” He morphed into Angel.

“Y’know, some people might think that you’ve got a crush on me or B, seeing as ya keep following us. I think we need to give your stubborn ass a good kick.”

“You can’t beat the First Evil, Faith.”

“We can try.” The moment the words left her mouth Jack Lehane clapped in his hands once and hundreds of demons and vampires appeared from open floor panels. She got into a fighting stance and let out a small breath of relieve when the door behind her swung open.

“A party? Without me? That’s not nice.” Buffy said. Glass shattered from the roof as Peter landed in front of Faith, bathing in a ray of sunlight actually made him look an angel.

“Two Slayers and this,” he indicated to Peter “boy? You think you three can stop all my demons?” Jack laughed.

“No, but maybe plus-seventy Slayers might work.” Buffy smirked when the other girls poured in the building carrying various weapons.

“Kill them!” Jack shouted. The demons and vampires roared angrily and charged.

“Killing more than I can tell,” Buffy muttered, getting into a fighting stance next to Faith.

“Burning now I bring you hell.” Faith finished smirking over to Buffy.

*---*H&S*---*

Niki made her way down the stairs and moved towards the door but she was stopped by five girls blocking the door. They crossed their arms simultaneously and shook their head at the blonde.

“Ah come on. I need to be there.” Niki started then felt Jessica take over. “Five Slayers can’t hold me.” She smirked and stalked forward only to stop in her tracks when Giles casually joined the five girls.

“I can’t let you leave, Jessica.” He calmly took a sip from his tea and looked at the blonde woman. “Faith might not kill me but she could do some damage to this old bones if you get hurt.”

“She needs me. If I fight then Buffy can come back and-”

“Peter is watching over Buffy and so are Claire and the other girls.” He replied “Peter will fly Buffy out of there when it gets too demanding.”

“I will knock every one out of you if you don’t let me get to Faith.” Jessica growled, clenching her fists

“Faith figured you might say that so she told me to tell you that if you joined the fight that she will refuse sleeping with Niki any longer.” He inwardly cringed of actually having said that. Jessica raised her eyebrow amused and sent the older man a smirk.

*---*H&S*---*

Willow was surrounded by a dozen vampires. The redhead smirked at the bloodsuckers and threw her hands up in a powerful wave, shattering the covered up windows, letting the sunlight do all the work as the vampires that were caught in it burned up. She turned, shooting flames from her hands at a vampire that had jumped away from the sunlight.

“Willow, don’t get carried away with the magic.” Claire shouted. When the redhead winked at her she was momentarily distracted, causing a demon to run a sword through her. She growled and hit the demon with a roundhouse kick before slicing his neck with the ‘pretty’ dagger she borrowed from Faith.

“Do you have any idea of annoying it is that you guys keep destroying my clothes?” She growled and jumped on one of the bigger demons.

On the other side Buffy was back to back with Kennedy, fighting four demons at once. A huge demon crashed through, swinging a big looking axe above his head. Buffy ducked and took Kennedy down with her when the axe was inches away from cutting off her head. She kicked out the legs from under the demon, making him drop the axe in surprise and jumped up, grabbing the fallen axe. She gave the demon another hard kick, keeping him from getting up and beheaded it with its axe.

“Buffy!” She heard Kennedy scream behind her. She turned just in time to see an average sized, but ugly looking, demon falling to the ground with a hole in its head. Jessica smirked at the Slayer before grabbing the Slayer’s confiscated axe and cutting of a vampire’s head.

“Thanks.” Buffy breathed “Faith’s gonna kill you when she sees you.” She said before turning around and delivering several well-aimed punches to a large demon.

“She won’t.” Jessica replied and kicked a vampire so hard that he crashed into three other demons that in return crashed into others. “Where is she anyway?” she asked, fighting off other demons.

“She’s” right punch, left punch “looking for Jack.” She delivered a head butt then turned to Jessica but she was already making her way fighting through the demons in search of Faith. She smirked when she saw several demons flying through the air and landing on top of other demons.

“Having fun using my powers?” Jessica asked when she reached Peter. He turned to her with a smirk of his own.

“It’s a handy power.” He answered then nodded to the back of the building. “Faith’s over there.” Jessica nodded her thanks and made her way to the back of the building. On her way she killed a few demons and vampires that were taking too much out of the girls. When she could finally see a brown-haired blur she grinned and fought her way to her sister’s girlfriend. She saw Faith running after a human and picked up a demon and threw it at the human, causing him to fall to the ground. Faith moved the demon on top of her father and held her dagger at his throat. Niki fought Jessica and took control.

“Faith, don’t. You’re not a killer.” Niki placed her hand on the brunette shoulder.

“I told you not to come here.” Faith hissed, not looking away from the man, staring coldly at his daughter. “I killed before, this shouldn’t be any different.”

“Do you wanna live with another murder on your head?” She asked.

“Niki,” she started.

“You’re not a killer, but I am.” It was Jessica again as she threw Faith a few feet further and crushed the man’s head with her boot.

*---*H&S*---*

Buffy was fighting feverishly. She had so far succeeded at avoiding blows to her stomach but it was tiring and almost too much for her concentration as she fought three large demons. She could hear cries of the girls as they went down but focussed on the task at hand. She managed to trick one of the demons into knocking another demon’s head off with a mighty blow but fell on her back when a different demon punched her hard in the face. She instinctively put her arms over her face as the blows came and tried to kick at the demon. When the blows stopped coming she looked and saw a sword imbedded in the demon’s head. She accepted the offered hand Kennedy stuck out and got up. Opening her mouth to say thanks she was suddenly pushed out of the way, turning around quickly she just saw a hand impaling the brunette’s chest, sticking out of her back.

“Kennedy!” She yelled and grabbed an axe that was lying on the ground, chopping the demon’s head off. She caught the young Slayer just as she hit the ground.

“What were you thinking, stupid brat?” Buffy chastised as she held the dead Slayer. She closed Kennedy’s eyes and let out a single tear before getting up. She took a firm hold on the axe she was carrying and swung out, hitting several demons at once.

*---*H&S*---*

Faith got up, seeing that Jessica had let Niki taken over. Niki was staring at her boot still in the man’s head with some shock and disgust. The skull was crushed and she was standing in a pool of squashed brains and blood. Faith saw the demon too late as he crashed into her lover, sending her flying. The blonde landed in the middle of other demons as Faith rushed her way over. She just kicked and punched her way through the demons and eventually saw Niki lying on the floor with her arm in an odd angle and bruises covering her face. Faith began to cry seeing Niki and fell on her knees.

“Baby?” Faith asked softly. Around her were Robin and a few other Slayers fighting to keep the demons away from her but she didn’t register them. Faith chuckled happily when the blonde opened her eyes slowly.

“Faith, I need,” She coughed quietly “I need you to take care of Micah, now.”

“No, no, baby, please? Don’t you leave me, I need you.” Faith sobbed, touching the blooded face with trembling fingers “I love you, I really do, I love you and I wanna spend the rest of my freakin’ life with you, baby, but you’re gon’ have to stay awake for me, please?” Niki gave her a half smile.

“Figures. I have to die before you tell me you love me.” Niki chuckled faintly, fighting to keep her eyes open “I love you, too, Faith.”

“Niki!” Faith cried when the blonde’s eyes closed.

Epilogue

I have to die before you tell me you love me. Faith shot up in her bed, breathing heavily and sweating intensely. She inaudibly got out of her bed and changed her soaked shirt, because Micah was sleeping in her bed she was forced to wear something to avoid feeling like a paedophile. She stared in the mirror, getting angrier by the second.

“Why didn’t you just stay here?” She whispered harshly, pretending she was talking to Jessica. “She was supposed to stay here, she was-” She slammed her fist in the wall next to the mirror, crying softly. She turned around hearing the little boy whimper in his sleep. She crawled back in the bed and pulled him close to her.

“It’s okay, buddy. I’m here.” She whispered to the sleeping boy. She cried almost inaudible as she flashes of last week’s event flowed through her mind.

--Flashback—

When Willow saw the lifeless body of her ex-lover on the ground she boomed through the building for all the girls to get down. The demons were so confused by this act that they didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late. Willow began shooting flames and lightning from her hands, turning every demon that was still standing to crisp. She didn’t stop until Claire pulled her down, holding her as the tears cascaded down the redhead’s cheeks.

Micah, what was she supposed to do now? He lost both his parents in barely over six months. She knew Niki wanted her to take care of Micah, but she knew it was going to be hell fighting for custody against his grandmother, even his aunt. She wasn’t sure if it she would win but one look at the boy next to her and she was determined to never let the boy go.

--End Flashback—

Six months after the fight. Thanks to her friends, mostly Buffy and Peter, Micah was now hers. Court was doubtful about Faith’s parenting but Peter had pulled some strings, thanks to being the brother of a Senator, and they had won.

Buffy was as big as a hot-air-balloon. Fortunately the blows she had received weren’t too severe to jeopardize the baby. She and Peter had moved out of the mansion two months earlier into their own cosy little house. Peter worked at the Retirement Home for War Veterans and Buffy was going to start a self-defence class.

Willow and Claire weren’t together, like Claire hoped. Willow thought it was too soon and that Claire was just too young for her. The young Slayer reluctantly accepted this and sulked over it for a few weeks but then she started dating a guy who she had saved from a vampire. He was three years older than Claire and apparently knew all about the supernatural.

Faith was sitting on her bed in room. The music was blaring loudly but she sat emotionless staring out in front of her. She acted like she let it go; everyone thought she had let it go but whenever she was alone she would break down. It didn’t take long for Micah to realize that Faith was hurting as much as him. Sometimes they would lie hours in bed together, listening to Faith’s music and not saying a word. Micah was at school now. Faith had said that she didn’t want Micah following classes in the mansion but that she’d rather have him go to school with kids his own age.

At night she would patrol alone. She was the only one patrolling the place where their friends, sisters and lovers were buried. After a few weeks vampires and dangerous demons became aware of the Slayer that first beat them to near death then made them run for their lives before killing them. Only newcomers would go through her patrolling area now.

“Wish I could see you for one last time. Wish I could say goodbye to you. It’s hard to deal with you dyin’, it’s time to say goodbye to you. Bloody faced, kissing death, walking through barbed wire.” The voice on the stereo cried. Faith felt tears run over her cheeks but made no movement to wipe them away. She tentatively touched her wrist where she had a two week old tattoo on it saying ‘Niki’ and on the other side ‘Jessica’. She had Micah’s name tattooed just below her neck on her back, but nobody knew about that yet.

“I love you.” She whispered in the empty room. She let herself fall back on her bed and closed her eyes, drifting off to a restless sleep.

Alternate Epilogue

I have to die before you tell me you love me. Faith shot up in her bed, breathing heavily and sweating intensely. She inaudibly got out of her bed and changed her soaked shirt, because Micah was sleeping in her bed she was forced to wear something to avoid feeling like a paedophile. She stared in the mirror, trying to calm herself.

“Faith?” A sleepy voice called out. The brunette took a deep breath and turned around.

“I’m here, baby.” She smiled at the blonde in her bed. Even now, six weeks after they attacked Jack Lehane and his demons, the bruises were still visible on Niki’s face and yet she still looked like the most beautiful woman in the world to Faith.

“Come back to bed, I say Christmas isn’t ‘til at least 6a.m. so stay away from your presents.” Faith chuckled at her blonde lover and crawled in the bed next to Micah, who was snuggled up very close to his mother. Niki insisted she slept on the side of the bed where her cast couldn’t hurt anyone in her sleep. She was thankful that in a few days her cast would be coming off.

“Niki?” Faith whispered waiting for the blonde to indicate she was listening “I love you.”

In a few hours it would be Christmas morning. There would be lots of presents going around the mansion and a party at the end of the day. Fifteen girls out of the plus-seventy, including Kennedy, which had battled in that warehouse, were not going to be receiving any of it.

The funeral had been hard for everyone; they all lost a sister, a friend or a lover. Molly took it the hardest, it was the second time she lost her godmother but this time it was definite. She had gone back to New York City with Mohinder after the funeral but she stayed in contact with Micah through emails and phone calls.

*---*H&S*---*

The huge dining hall that they had never used before was now fully decorated in the Christmas colours. Several large tables were set and on the wall farthest from the entrance hung pictures of all the fallen girls that had lived in the mansion.

It was early evening and the people that had not gone home for the holidays occupied the chairs around the table, waiting for Andrew and his helpers to bring out the feast.

“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” Buffy called out standing up from her seat. “First of all, Merry Christmas.” She smiled when the room was filled with the same greeting retorted at her. “I have an announcement to make,” she slipped her hand in Peter’s “Peter and I are going to have a baby, which” she laughed softly at the surprised gasps “which means, I’ll be out of your hair soon because we’re going to buy a house and thus move out.” Most of the younger Slayers bursted out in applause and delight. Buffy laughed with a slight shocked expression and sat back down.

“I don’t think they’ll miss me.” She said to Peter.

On the other end of the table sat Willow, she was smiling at her best friend, happy that she could start a normal life at last. She knew Claire was watching her from the far side of the table. The two of them hadn’t shared a word since that day in the warehouse.

“Are you gon’ stop torturin’ that girl?” Faith whispered sitting on the chair next to her.

“She’s torturing herself.” Willow answered in a whisper.

“Then tell the girl already, she’s just waitin’ for you to say somethin’, good or bad.” The brunette stated.

“Kennedy,”

“Kennedy died, Red, and it wasn’t like she was as important as Tara.” Faith interrupted “Kennedy loved you, with all her heart but she told me she didn’t wan’ stand in your way if ya ever fell in love again.”

“But I’m not in love with Claire.” Willow countered “She’s just a kid.”

“You don’t have to be in love to go on a date.” The brunette winked at Willow then turned her attention to her lover on her other side.

After dinner was ended Claire rose from her seat. The room went quiet, waiting for Claire to say something.

“Uhm, as most of you know, Peter’s my uncle. What you don’t know is that before we knew we were related, he saved me from having my head sliced open. He came all the way to Texas to save me and six months ago, he and my biological father saved the world” Peter wanted to protest but Claire cut him off “by not having a bomb explode in New York, which would’ve cost the lives of millions.” She waved at one of the Slayers across the room and then looked at Peter “So this is for my hero.” She walked to the front of the room with the other girl who was carrying an acoustic guitar.

“You know I try to be all that I can. But there's a part of me I still don't understand.” She started singing with her eyes closed, pretending it was just her and not the entire household looking at her.

“Why do I only see what I don't have? When my reality shows things are not that bad…” She opened her eyes and smiled at the shocked faces staring at her.

“Your faith has shown me that…” She braced herself and went all out “When my world goes crazy, you won't let go. When the ground gets shaky, you give me hope. When I try to push you away, you never move,” She smiled as she looked in the young man’s eyes.

“Now when I start doubting you help me see, there's strength, and a light, and a power in me. Believe me there ain't nothing I can't do. My hero is you, my hero is you” By now some girls had stood up and walked their way over to Claire, standing behind her and Shelley, who played the guitar professionally.

“I never saw the way you sacrificed or knew the price you paid. How can I make it right? I know I've gotta try.” Peter had tears in his eyes. Buffy was smiling at her just like the others but Buffy’s smile was proud, like a sister.

“When my world goes crazy you won't let go. When the ground gets shaky, you give me hope. When I try to push you away you never move,” The girls behind Claire and Shelley were forming some sort of a choir, singing in the background.

“Now when I start doubting you help me see, there's strength, and a light, and a power in me. Believe me there ain't nothing I can't do. My hero is you, my hero is you.” She took a deep breath as her eyes began tearing up.

“And I hope that you can see… You're everything that I wanna be,” Peter now had tears running down his cheeks as he looked at his niece. “When my world goes crazy you won't let go. When the ground gets shaky, you give me hope. When I try to push you away you never move,”

“Now when I start doubting you help me see, there's strength, and a light, and a power in me. Believe me there ain't nothing I can't do. My hero is you, my hero is you” Claire grinned when Buffy pulled Peter to his feet and dragged him over to Claire.

“My hero is you.” She finished and hugged her uncle. “I love you.” She whispered a second before the dining room burst out clapping.

“I love you, too, Claire.” Peter whispered back. He pulled away and wiped his tears before wiping hers “And you’re just as much my hero.” He looked over his shoulder then turned back to Claire “If there ain’t nothing you can’t do, then ask Willow on a date instead of kissing her. I’m pretty sure she’ll say yes.” He winked at his niece before leading her back to their table.

“I thought you couldn’t read her mind?” Claire asked confused.

“Who said anything about mind-reading? I just asked her.” He grinned and pushed her to the redhead.

“Uhm, hi, Willow.” Willow shot the blonde a half smile “Doyouwannagoonadatemaybe?” She rushed out.

“Sure. That is if you asked me on a date.” Willow chuckled when Claire vigorously nodded her head “Alright, we’ll go on a date.”