Title:  The Pure Heart

Author: Teeney8040

E-Mail: kmm2780@hotmail.com

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Pairing: Buffy/Faith

Rating: R-ish

Disclaimer:  Not mine, so I'm not makin' a dime.

Summary: Buffy and Faith fight once more, but this time, for each other and with each other (as in side by side) to stop a great evil. They get help from a source that they don't expect and manage to find love.

Feedback: Always Welcome

The Purest of Hearts

A light breeze played through the trees in one of Sunnydale's finest graveyards. What appeared to be a fog was sweeping between headstones at a rather quick pace. The faint whispers of a female voice was heard in the midst of the fog as it made twists and turns until it reached it's destination. Once it reached the edge of the cemetery it stopped abruptly, raising a squeal from the voice inside. The fog flattened two feet from the ground and seemed to open from below. Suddenly a girl fell from the fog. She landed with a grunt before springing to her feet. She scanned her surroundings before smirking.

"Ya think they could've dropped me off a little closer to Giles' house." She reached inside her denim jacket to make sure her stake was still in the waist of her dark, faded jeans. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a map. After studying it for a moment, she replaced it and started off towards the watcher's house.

Rupert Giles was enjoying a rare quiet Sunday night. He had just sat down with a fresh cup of tea and a book when he heard a knock at the door. He sighed briefly before standing to answer. When he opened the door he found a young girl, she appeared to be about 16, she had blonde hair and deep brown eyes. She was wearing a smirk that Giles found oddly familiar.

"Can I help you with something?" He smiled briefly at her thinking he knew her from somewhere, he just couldn't place her.

"You're Giles right? Buffy's watcher?" His face fell solemn.

"How do you know about that?"

"I'm her daughter, Dylan." She smirked again.

In L.A., Faith was sleeping, not very soundly in her cell. She began thrashing around as if she was fighting in her sleep. She suddenly bolted upright and looked around wildly. Beads of sweat traced her forehead and she was gasping for air.

"I have to get to B."

Back in Sunny D, Buffy was sitting in the same position as Faith in her bed at home. As she struggled to catch her breath she began to replay the dream in her head. She was fighting something. Vampires, she realized. But there was a demon, a huge demon and Faith was there, she was fighting the vamps too. Why wasn't she or Faith fighting the demon? The girl. There was a girl in the dream who was fighting the demon, she kept stabbing him. Weird. She tried to shake it off as a stupid nightmare, but she knew it was a slayer dream, so she knew that Faith had the same dream. She got out of bed and padded to Dawn's room and peeked in the door that stood slightly ajar. She smiled at her sister sleeping soundly and backed out quietly. She stopped at Willow's door and listened briefly, when she heard two sets of snores, she walked back to her room. She stood at the window and cracked it open a bit. She breathed in the cool night air as she slid back into bed. After some tossing and turning, she slowly drifted off to sleep again.

Giles stood at the still open door and stared at the girl for a moment.

"Her daughter?"

"Yup, Elizabeth Anne Summers, the vampire slayer, is my mom." She looked up expectantly at the man. Giles was trying to process the information the girl had given him and figure out how it was possible. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but shut it before opening it again. He absentmindedly took his glasses off and cleaned them.

"How?"

She smiled at the older man and slipped through the door past him. She turned but continued into the house backwards as she smirked at him again.

"Come on in and I'll tell ya all about it." He thought for a moment before shrugging and closing the door and walking back into the house. He waved her towards the couch and she sat across from him. He sat watching her expectantly. She looked around nonchalantly before she realized him staring.

"Oh...sorry, I guess you want an explanation."

"Um, well, yes to be perfectly honest." She took a deep breath.

"Well, okay...I'm from the future. Not like, super future, just twenty years. I was sent here because my future and the future of everything that's good is being threatened. See, I'm a warrior, and I am supposed to lead an army against the greatest forces of darkness that have ever existed. Now, the reason that's all in danger is because my parents are having some issues in the present, well this present, and may never get together to create me. So, without my existence, there's nobody to lead this army and darkness will overtake the earth. Basically, if I'm not born, the world as we know it, is over." She sat looking at the man as he processed the information. She began to fidget. Her foot was tapping to an imaginary beat and she couldn't keep her hands still.

"So, Buffy is your mother...who is your father?" She bit back a laugh and looked him square in the eye.

"Faith." His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Faith."

"Well, not my father, but the donor of the other half of my being."

"How exactly is that possible?"

"Well, four years from now, the Powers That Be, decide to give Buffy and Faith a child, they magically merge their genes as if I was created the old fashioned way...eww...I was created from two slayers, pretty much for the sole purpose of defeating this army. I know that slayers aren't supposed to be able to have kids, but the PTB knew I would possess the strength of two slayers, and they needed all the power they could get to defeat the bad guys." She noticed the look on his face; he was having a hard time believing the story.

"You don't believe me do you?"

"Well, it's just it is a little far fetched is all." She rolled her eyes at him and began to chant under her breath. Giles narrowed his eyes and watched her carefully.

"Someone's at the door." Dylan said knowingly, a smug smile gracing her features.

"I didn't hear a knock." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a knock came to the door. He glanced at her as she smiled back at him. He stood to get the door and Dylan followed close behind. On the other side of the door stood a man. He smiled when he saw Giles and Dylan open the door.

"Hey Dylan, Giles how are you?"

"Do I know you?" Giles asked trying desperately to figure out what was going on.

"Nope, I'm from the future too, I'm a seer. I came to give you this." With that, he placed his hand on Giles' head and sent him a vision. Giles stood with his eyes closed for minutes taking in the vision, his breathing increased and he opened his eyes when the man removed his hand. The seer smiled again and disappeared into thin air. Giles stood for a moment with a strange expression on his face as he turned and faced the girl. He smiled lovingly at her for a moment and placed his hand on her cheek.

"You called me Grandpa." She smiled back at the man.

"Well, mom said that even though you aren't really my grandpa, you were more of a father to her than her real father, so Gramps you became."

He smiled at her for a moment before he recalled more of the vision. "Is everything about Faith true?"

"Yup, you saw everything the way it really happened, the edited version was shown to the public, but what you saw was all raw and uncut."

"So, Faith is actually innocent." She said with a smile

"On all accounts." He thought for a moment before walking to the kitchen.

"I need to make some phone calls, we need to get Faith out of prison and fast, the council will help with that. You will stay here for tonight and we will talk to Buffy and pick Faith up tomorrow. Help yourself to anything you want."

"Thanks gramps." Giles shot her a look. "I mean Giles." She smiled the sweetest smile she had. The one she knew melted his heart every time.

"How much time do we have?"

"A week."

"We better get on it then."

Around two the next day, Buffy made her way to the Magic Box. Giles had called and told her he needed to see her. She walked inside expecting the rest of the Scoobies to be there, but it was empty.

"Giles?" She called out.

"Back here," He called back; the voice came from the training room. She followed the voice. She began digging in her purse for her lip balm and was having problems locating it. She walked into the room with her head almost buried in her bag so she didn't notice the two girls in the room with Giles.

"So, what is it that you needed to talk to me-"She was cut short when she finally looked up and saw Faith sitting in the room and a young girl sitting against the wall.

"Hey B." Faith said barely looking up. Buffy's eyes narrowed as she looked from Giles, to Faith and to the girl.

"Giles, what's going on here? Why is she here?" She spat. Giles looked at Buffy and then Faith, sending her an apologetic smile.

"Buffy, let's go back up front and talk for a moment."

"You're going to leaver her here alone? With a kid? Need I remind you of her problems being psycho?" Buffy noticed the girl give her a somewhat nasty look at being called a kid, but she kept her mouth shut, and Faith barely even flinched at Buffy's harsh words.

"Buffy, come on, up front." Giles had to practically drag Buffy to the front of the store. She glared at him with a fire in her eye.

"Buffy, let me explain a few things." He began to tell her all he had discovered the night before. She listened with no interruptions and waited for him to finish.

"You actually expect me to believe all this, a daughter? Me and Faith? Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not actually." He stood for a moment before moving back to the training room to fetch Dylan.

"You're not a believer either huh?"

"If you knew what she had done, you wouldn't either." Dylan began her chant for the second time in two days and before long there was a knock at the door. This time, instead of touching Giles, he laid his hand on Buffy's head. When everything was transferred, he removed his hand and looked at Dylan.

"That's the last one D, you know that right?"

"Yup, thanks!"

He smiled at them and disappeared. Buffy stood for a moment trying to make sense of the vision she'd been given.

"Faith is innocent."

Dylan and Giles exchanged a small smile, knowing they were on the right track, they knew Buffy would be the hardest of the group to come around to Faith being back and they hoped the vision would speed up the process. Buffy made her way slowly to the training room where Faith was still seated. As Buffy walked through the door, Faith looked up and offered a small smile. Buffy returned the smile and walked over to her.

"Faith, I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what B?"

"For Finch." Faith looked away as her eyes filled with unshed tears, Buffy's eyes held the same.

"No, I killed him B, not you, I deserved everything I got."

"No you didn't." Faith looked up at the fair slayer with a questioning look in her eye. Buffy grabbed one of Faith's hands in both of hers and began to explain the vision she had.

"So, why did these time travelers frame me for Finch?"

"To stop a warrior from being born. Faith, in the vision, you barely break his skin, the time travelers stop time and sink the stake in his heart, and then they disappear and start time again. You didn't do it."

"Right, but why B?"

"Because, evil had to find a way to split us up. That girl out there, the one from the dream is our daughter. She was born of the two of us; the PTB did it to create a warrior to defeat an enormous evil in the future. I'm not sure on the details, but she is of us, the two of us." Faith looked up at Buffy, not sure if she should believe what she was hearing. Giles and Dylan appeared in the doorway and Buffy waved them in.

"Faith, this is our daughter, Dylan." Dylan walked into the room slowly and stood before Faith.

"So, you were born of me and B?"

"Yup."

"You must be wicked strong." The old Faith peeked out for a moment and smirked. Buffy smiled as she noticed an identical smirk on Dylan's face.

"Yup." She smiled wickedly for a moment. "You wanna see how strong?"

Faith smiled for a moment before shaking her head.

"Nah, not just yet, it's been a long day already and all this news is a little much for me to handle. But, I'll take you up on that once I've eaten and slept like a normal person."

"Well, why don't we head home, Dylan and Faith you guys are gonna come stay with me."

"Thanks B, but I'll just find a motel or something."

"Nope, sorry, you're staying with me and I won't hear another word about it." Buffy said in a motherly voice, although she was smiling. Buffy's two girls finally agreed and the three left for the Summers' house.

As they arrived at the house, Buffy and Dylan approached the door not noticing Faith was still standing in the driveway. Buffy turned and approached the dark slayer with a concerned look on her face.

"Faith, what is it?" Faith's eyes scanned the driveway and managed to find an ant to focus on. She jammed her hands in her pockets and shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"I'm not sure I can face them yet." Buffy reached out and grabbed one of Faith's hands.

"Faith, look at me." Faith raised her eyes to meet Buffy's and what she saw was unexpected. She didn't see anger or fear or hatred, she saw concern and caring.

"Faith, it may take them a little while to come around, but they will. I know what I saw in that vision and you're innocent. I promise, I'm on your side, I won't let anyone hurt you. Just try to trust me." At that Faith squirmed. Buffy smiled sadly. "I know you have your trust issues, but this time around, I'm not letting anything screw this up. You have me, okay? No matter what."

Faith thought for a second. She resumed looking at the ant on the concrete.

"Will you tell them about the vision thing?"

"Yeah, that's first on the list. Listen, why don't you guys hang here for a minute, I'll go talk to them and then come get you okay?"

"Thanks B." The two exchanged a small smile before Buffy entered the house. Faith's gaze fell on the young girl sitting on the steps. She wandered over and sat down next to her.

"So...me and B are your parents?"

Inside, Buffy managed to round up the gang. Willow and Kennedy where sitting snugly on the couch, Xander was parked in an armchair and Dawn was perched on the arm. They watched as Buffy began to pace in front of them with her hands clasped. The Scoobies exchanged worried glances thinking there was another Baddie to deal with.

"Okay, Buffster, you're starting to make me nervous. What's up?" Xander finally said.

"I have something to tell you guys, and I'm not quite sure how to tell you." Willow looked up at her best friend.

"It's okay Buffy, just tell us, all this crazy pacing and hand claspiness is making me nervous too."

"Okay, just promise you won't go all wiggy on me." She looked at her friends and got a nod out of each of them.

"Okay here goes...itturnsoutthatFaithisnotactuallyevilorpsychoandshe'sbackandwehavetostop anapocolypseandwehaveadaughterfromthefutureandinthatfutureFaithandIareacouple." She squeezed the entire statement out in about 2 seconds flat, leaving her friends to decipher her message.

"Wait...Faith is back?" Xander said.

"Another apocalypse?" Willow asked.

"A couple? That's interesting." Kennedy said, smirking.

"Wait...a daughter? From the future?" Dawn questioned.

Buffy was fairly surprised that the roof hadn't just blown off the house with the news about Faith, so she decided to press on.

"Yeah, let me explain, Giles called and wanted me to meet him at the Magic Box, so I went down there and Faith and Dylan...our daughter...were there, so of course I flipped. Giles and I argued and then this guy appeared. I think he was a seer, but he could project his visions into me. So he put his hand on my head and I saw everything. That night with Finch was an accident. Faith barely broke skin, then these two guys show up and freeze time, it was wiggy. But anyways, me and Faith are standing there frozen and one of the guys looks at the stake in Faith's hand and pushes it all the way through his heart. Then they jump into this foggy stuff and disappear. A few seconds later, time starts up again and we all know the rest of that story." The group sat stunned for a minute taking in all the information that the slayer gave them.

"So, she was innocent?" Willow asked.

"Yup, all the way, and we, being the high and mighty morons, decided to make her a social outcast and she turned to the Mayor because she was alone, and scared and kinda mad. I can see why she did it."

"So she's not evil?" Xander asked.

"Nope."

"So...the two of you...you and Faith, have a daughter?" Kennedy asked.

"Yes, I'm still kinda sketched on her details, but I haven't had a chance to talk to her much."

"Where is she?" Dawn asked.

"Outside, with Faith." With that, Buffy moved to the door and when she opened it, she found the two laughing hysterically. They both turned their heads and gave Buffy an identical smirk. Buffy looked at them suspiciously and smiled.

"Okay you two, I don't know what all this is about, but come on in." Buffy caught Faith's eyes and sent her a look to let Faith know it was okay.

"Don't worry mom...Buffy, I was just telling Faith about some of your finest culinary moments." Dylan said barely able to bite back a laugh. Faith was biting her lip trying not to crack up as she gently led the young girl inside. Buffy stood with a pout on her face, but Faith grabbed her arm and yanked her inside before the magical pout-powers took effect.

"Don't think I won't find out what the two of you said ya know. Cause I will." Buffy stated matter-of-factly.

Buffy ushered the two inside and they stood before the group rather uncomfortably.

"Guys, you all know Faith, except Kenny, Faith that's Kennedy, she's a potential slayer, or slayer in training. Kenny, Faith." The two exchanged a nod. "Guys, this is Dylan. Dylan, this is Willow, our resident witch, Dawn, my sister, Kenny, the potential, and Xander, our...well, Xander does a little bit of everything."

Dylan smiled at the group almost laughing at Buffy.

"Yeah, I know who they are, they do exist in my time too ya know." Buffy just rolled her eyes at the smirk she was receiving from the young blonde. "Wow, you guys look different."

The next few hours were spent talking mostly. Everyone had questions for Dylan about the future, and while she didn't reveal too much, she tried to humor everyone. Faith did her best to apologize to everyone for her mistakes in the past. The Scoobies had been great about Faith. With everything they had all been through the past seven years, they knew too well that second chances where deserved for Faith. While Dylan was talking to the group, Buffy grabbed Faith's hand and quietly led her upstairs. The blonde slayer led Faith into her room and closed the door behind them. She stood with her back against the door as she watched Faith look around. Faith stood and examined pictures and other trinkets that Buffy had collected in the years they spent apart.

"Dylan's a cute kid huh?" Buffy said. Faith glanced up and smiled.

"Yeah, she has your nose."

"She has your eyes, and your smirk." Buffy smiled recalling the identical smirks she'd been receiving all afternoon.

"She may have my smirk, but she has your pout. She has your hands too. She is a cute kid, but come on B, she came from the two hottest slayers around." They laughed briefly as Faith continued to wander around the room. When she reached Buffy's desk, she noticed a framed picture. It was the two of them on Christmas Eve, right before all hell broke loose. She smiled sadly at the picture before lifting her gaze back to Buffy, whose eyes never left the dark slayer.

"You still have that picture out."

"It's been something to remember you by."

"Why?"

"Because, Faith, I missed you. I know that I screwed our whole friendship up and I have felt guilty about everything. But I was too scared to fix it, I was afraid that if I did, we would go back to the way things were. And they way things were, well, it was kinda scary for me." Faith moved and sat down on the bed, reveling in the comfort the mattress provided. Buffy moved from the door and sat down across from Faith, crossing her legs under her.

"Why was it scary B? Did I scare you?" Faith's eyes looked down at the blanket on the bed as she traced imaginary patterns with her fingers. She didn't want to look up with tears in her eyes.

"No, Faith, you didn't scare me, you intrigued me." Buffy took a deep breath hoping she was ready to take this plunge. "It was the feelings I had that scared me...the feelings I had for you." Faith looked up at the blonde questioningly. The two locked gazed for a moment and suddenly everything came rushing back. One look was all it took for the slayer bond to be forged again. They smiled at each other knowingly as they each felt the slayer sense strengthen and the power within each of them almost grow. Faith didn't want to push the issue of feelings at the moment, so she reverted back to what she knew best.

"So, what's for dinner B?" She smirked at the fair slayer. Buffy rolled her eyes and smiled at the younger girl before standing up and offering a hand to Faith.

"Anything you want Faithy." Faith's smirk only grew and Buffy caught the faintest evil twinkle in her eyes.

"Anything huh?" Faith teased. Buffy rolled her eyes once again and the two broke into laughter.

"What am I gonna do with you Faith?"

"Anything you want B." The two laughed again and all was just right.

Buffy shook her head and smiled once more. She grabbed Faith's hand again and led her back down to their friends.

CHAPTER 2

Then next morning, Giles arrived at the house early looking for the slayers  and Dylan.  He wandered into the kitchen and found the whole crew eating breakfast.

"Hey Giles, grab some food, Faith made it and it's awesome."  Dawn said between bites.

"Thanks, but I already ate."  He smiled at the group and instantly they knew they had trouble.

"What's up Giles, you're wearing your end of the world face."  Buffy said.

"Well, there is something rather pressing that we need to discuss, but you all finish eating and I will arrange my things in the living room."  After receiving seven nods he left and gathered his books on the table.

Ten minutes later, they had eaten and stuffed the dishwasher.  They were sitting in the living room waiting for Giles to come out with it.  He stood a moment and cleaned his glasses before replacing them and facing the group.

"Now, I fear we are in more immediate danger than I originally thought with this demon that Dylan is to face in the future.  I have learned of an ancient prophecy that-"  He was cut off by Faith.

"G, just make sure to explain in layman's terms...not all of us are brainiacs."

"Yes, of course...unless my calculations are extremely incorrect, this demon will present itself in four days."

"Wait, that can't be right, it's supposed to be twenty years from now, I fight it in the future.  How can that be?"  Dylan looked up at Giles, confusion etched on her features.

"Yes, I thought of that, and the only explanation is the men from the vision.  They must have found out about you coming back and decided to come back to stop you."

"So now we have to worry about time travelers too?  I don't get it, why four days from now?  Why not just come back two days ago and kill little D before she got to you?  No offense kiddo."  Faith said.  Dylan just smiled and turned her attention back to Giles, she wanted him to explain the whole thing, it would probably make more sense.

"Well that would create a paradox, see they obviously don't find out that she is here for another few days, otherwise they would have come sooner.  There are rules concerning time travel.  I want to keep this as simple as possible so everyone understands.  Basically, by the time they found out Dylan was here, they weren't allowed to return any sooner than when they do for risk of a paradox.  We'll just leave it at that."

"So what's the plan Giles?"  Buffy had her game face on.

"Well I have done some initial research on the demon we will be facing.  Its name is Maltag.  In short, he is one of the oldest purest forms of evil.  It's sort of an ancient Ubervamp.  But it doesn't need to bite to turn.  It can turn any living being evil with just a scratch.  As you can imagine, he is rather difficult to kill, as all before us have tried and been scratched and turned.  Or, just killed."  This was met by groans from around the room.

"So how do we kill this ancient vampy thing?"  Willow questioned.

"Well, there's more.  It appears its heart is mobile.  It doesn't remain in one place for longer than a second or two, that is one main reason he hasn't been killed.  Anyone to get close enough, either turned or died because they never hit its heart.  But there is one person who can kill it.  She is immune to its turning powers and can see its heart.  She is the one who is born of pure good and strength.  In short, Dylan.  She is the pure heart."

The group exchanged glances until all eyes fell on the daughter of the slayers.  She gave them all a nervous grin.  She began to fidget, until Buffy spoke up again.

"So, what do we do?"

"Well, I would suggest that you and Faith, Dylan and Kennedy begin intense training.  The four of you will need to be in top form to fight."

"Wait, G, how are me, B and Kenny gonna fight it if we can't see its heart?"

"Well, I believe Maltag has been gathering an army of demons and vampires, so you three and the rest of us will have to buy her as much time to kill him as possible.  The good news is that as soon as Maltag is defeated, so is his army.  So, for now Xander, Dawn and myself will be researching the demon to find as much as we can.  Willow, I want you to see if you can find some sort of magic that can take out as many demons and vampires in groups as you can.  I suspect there will be a horde of them."

Buffy stood and faced the group.  "Okay guys, lets get going."

Willow, Xander, Dawn and Giles settled themselves at the table with their books as the girls headed upstairs.  Kennedy went into Willow's room to change as the other three went into Buffy's room.  Once all four had changed they decided the backyard would be the best place to train.  They decided to split into twos.  Two would spar and two would train with weapons.  As Buffy and Kennedy were using swords, Faith and Dylan decided to spar.  Faith learned quickly that Dylan had immense power.  She threw everything she had at the young blonde and still ended up on her back.

"Damn kiddo, you are tough."  Dylan stood above her with a smug smile.

"See, told ya."  The young blonde took a playful bow and wiggled around in a victory dance.

"Maybe you should try taking on the two of us."  Buffy said after watching for the last few minutes.  She knew that nobody could take on the Chosen Two.  Dylan smirked and waved her hands around as if to say 'bring it on'.  The two slayers played well, but they still couldn't take the youngster down.  Dylan appeared to be faster and she was certainly stronger that both the slayers combined.  The young blonde smiled as her parents lay on the ground panting.  Kennedy began to get bored with watching.  She walked over and tapped the kid on the shoulder.  The potential stood ready Dylan lunged at her with a smile.  The two slayers exchanged a glance and sprang up to play.  Much to Dylan's delight she had all three women on the grass in two minutes.  It would have been quicker but she didn't want to damage too many egos in one day.

"Damn B, we created a monster."  Faith sat up rubbing the side of her face where Dylan's foot had connected not too long ago.

"Well, I was told that your power was increased exponentially when you had me, so technically I have the strength of four slayers."  Dylan smiled proudly as she held up four fingers to emphasize her point.

"Well, perhaps you could tame your strength, so we can at least pretend to train with you."  Buffy said as she stood and groaned.

"If you say so."

The four women resumed training and remained outside until dusk.  They found the others still researching.

"Hey why don't we order some pizza?"  Faith asked trying to keep her stomach from rumbling too loudly.

"Well, see we aren't really basking in the luxury of money these days Faith."  Buffy said as her gaze fell to the floor.

"It's no prob B, just take me up to the ATM, I'll take care of it."  Buffy gazed at Faith with a confused look on her face, but before she could ask, Faith explained.

"The Mayor.  I know it's kinda weird, but with everything he did to you guys, we should at least make the most of the money he left me."

"Are you sure Faith?"

"Yeah B, it's fine, screw him.  Don't worry about money anymore, at least let me help with that."  Buffy smiled at Faith and the two of them headed for the door.

"Guys, go ahead and order, we'll be back before it gets here."

Twenty minutes later, the two returned to the house.  Buffy walked through the door still stunned at what she had discovered.  It turns out that the Mayor left Faith a little over five million dollars.  Just as she was getting ready to close the door behind her, the pizza arrived, Faith bounded to the door and grabbed the boxes and handed over the money.  They took the four giant boxes into the kitchen and set them on the counter.  Buffy watched as Willow walked into the kitchen quietly and grabbed her pizza and went straight back to the books.  She sensed something was off, and just as she was about to check to see if she was alright, Kennedy waked into the room and slumped onto a bar stool.  Faith raised an eyebrow at her and nudged her with an elbow.

"What's up Kenny, trouble in paradise?"

Kennedy looked at the dark slayer angrily.

"Bite me."  With that she stormed out of the room.  Buffy and Faith exchanged a glance.  Without saying a word, Faith went after Kennedy and Buffy went to Willow.

Faith ascended the stairs and went to Willow's room and knocked softly on the door.

"Go away!"

Faith rolled her eyes.

"Come on Kenny, let me in."

"Go away Faith."

"Kenny."  Faith said in a singsong voice.

"Fine!"

Faith smirked and opened the door; she walked in the room and found the girl sitting on the bed against the headboard with her knees bent.  She had her elbows resting on her knees and her head in her hands.

"Look, Kenny, I was just screwing around.  Sorry if I hit a nerve or something."

"It's fine."

"Well obviously I said something wrong...or right depending."

"Faith, I'm fine.  It's okay."

"Okay, well, you know I've been through a bunch of shit, so if ya ever need to talk or vent or spar or anything, just let me know."

"Yeah, whatever."

"I mean it kid, I know what it's like."

When she didn't receive a response she turned to leave.

"Faith?"

The dark slayer turned as she opened the door.

"Thanks."  The younger girl gave her a small smile.

"Hey, we're five by five, anytime."

Faith smiled at the girl and closed the door behind her as she left.  As she was walking back downstairs, Buffy was coming upstairs.

"Hey B, is everything cool with Red?"

Buffy looked around to see if anyone was in earshot and she pulled Faith into her room and closed the door behind them.

"Couldn't resist me could ya B?"  Faith smirked at the blonde.

Buffy rolled her eyes, but smiled at Faith.

"Faith."  Buffy warned in a playful tone.  Faith rolled her eyes and smiled at the smaller slayer.

"Yeah, yeah, what's up with the bleedin' hearts?"

"I talked to Will, and apparently her and Kennedy have been having a few problems lately."

"What kinda problems?"

"Well...intimacy problems to be specific."

"Who's got the problem, is Red still wigged about Tara?"

"No, and how do you know about that?"

"Please, Daybreak has a bigger mouth than anyone I know and she always seems to have the skinny on everything and everyone here."

"Dammit Dawn."

Buffy moved to sit on the bed and crossed her legs Indian style facing the head of the bed.  Faith followed and stretched out sitting up against the headboard.

"Hey, it's cool B, my lips are sealed.  So what's the what then?"

"Okay, let me try to explain this so it makes sense...and don't get defensive.  Kennedy kind of has a rough past.  I don't know much, I've just picked up on a few things she's said and Will told me some stuff.  She's kinda like you used to be."

"Let me guess, has major issues with getting close, not really into long term relationships.  And if she does find herself in one, she usually runs away, pushes the other person away or freezes up in bed...right?"

"Bingo."

"So, I'm guessing it's the freezing up that's the problem."

"Yup."

"So, what are we supposed to do, it's not like we can really help her with it that much...at least directly."

"Well, honestly I think you will be more help than me."

"Me?  How do you figure?"

"I just think you can help Kennedy.  Whether you realize it or not, she looks up to you a lot more than she does me.  I'm more of a mother figure while you're more of a big sister type.  She thinks you're cool.  Willow said all she's talked about since you got here was how cool you are and how badass you are.  You're her idol."

"Now that's scary."

"No, Faith a few years ago it would have been scary, it's not now, you're different.  Not so defensive, you let people see you.  You seem to have a lot less anger.  She reminds me a lot of you when we first met.  I think you could do a lot of good with her.  You're a good person, we both just made a bunch of mistakes the first time around and I don't want to see her make those mistakes and hurt Willow."

"I still don't get it, how can I help her?"

"Talk to her."

"She isn't exactly the talking type B, takes one to know one.  I doubt she'll spill to me."

"Well, I was kinda thinking maybe the whole 'share and share alike' angle would work."

Faith groaned and pouted slightly for a moment.  Buffy saw this and gave her a super pout.  Buffy of course won.

"Fine."

Buffy grinned and reached out to hug Faith.

"Yay!  Thanks Faithy."

Faith released the blonde and rolled her eyes though smiling.

"Whatever B, it's not like I can say no to you.  Besides, you are important to me, so you're friends are important to me.  I'll do what I can."

"They're your friends too ya know."

"Nah, not yet...maybe one day though."

Buffy grinned and hopped off the bed pulling Faith with her.

"Definitely one day...one day soon."

"Don't get all sappy on me B, come on, let's eat."

The two made their way back downstairs and joined the others watching some random movie as they ate.  When Buffy finished she piled her dishes in the sink and decided to take a shower.

She made her way upstairs to the shower.  While Buffy was showering, Faith called Angel and had him arrange a few things.  She found Buffy's bankbooks and gave Angel her account information.  The next day, Buffy would become a million dollars richer and she would never have to worry about money again.  She hung up the phone and returned Buffy's things.  She was just looking through her bag when Buffy emerged from the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel.  She caught sight of Faith and blushed slightly.  She turned to gather her clothes and Faith had to remind herself to be cool.  She knew that Buffy had some kind of feelings, but they were never explained in depth with everything else going on.  She somehow managed to peel her eyes away from the soft skin of the fair slayer and made her way to the shower.

Faith returned from her shower and found Buffy lying in bed already.  Buffy made sure to pull the blankets back on the other side of the bed for Faith.  The dark slayer changed into boxers and a tank top and crawled into bed.  She turned away from the blonde and began to drift off to sleep when she felt Buffy move.  Suddenly, she felt the blonde's strong, slender arms wrap around her middle and Buffy found her face nuzzled into Faith's neck.  The dark slayer struggled to keep her breathing under control as tingles were sent through her body at the contact.  She shivered slightly as she felt Buffy's face at her neck.  She leaned into the small body next to her and she felt Buffy's grasp on her tighten.  Faith found herself smiling as she drifted off to sleep.

Buffy awoke the next morning still wrapped around the dark slayer.  She smiled into Faith's hair and slowly breathed in the sweet scent of the dark locks.  Buffy propped herself up on her elbow and gazed down at the sleeping slayer next to her.  She brought one hand up and began to slowly trace patterns on the brunette's exposed arm.  She felt the dark slayer shiver and knew instantly that she was awake.  She smiled and placed a soft kiss on Faith's shoulder.  A soft gasp managed to escape Faith's mouth and Buffy found herself shudder at the sound.  She knew she could press on.  She replaced her arm around the dark slayer's middle and found the hem of the tank top Faith was wearing.  Her fingers made their way north as she traced her fingertips lightly on the tan skin.  She felt Faith's muscles twitch under her touch and she placed another kiss on the slayers skin, but this time on her neck.  Unable to handle it any longer, Faith rolled over on her back and gazed up at the other slayer.  Faith saw her own desires reflected in the blonde's eyes.  She rolled over facing Buffy and slowly leaned in and kissed her.  The kiss was unlike anything either of them had experienced.  It was sweet and gentle.  Buffy moaned lightly at the softness of Faith's lips.  She rolled herself on top of Faith and gazed into the dark pools before her.  She leaned in and kissed Faith again.  She kiss began as lightly as the first, but soon desire took over.  Faith ran her fingers through Buffy's hair and wrapped her hands around the back of the fair slayers neck.  She pulled the blonde closer and deepened the kiss.  Faith moaned as tongues battled for control.  Faith's hands began to wander and she soon found them tugging at Buffy's shirt trying to pull it off while breaking contact as little as possible.  Buffy smiled and pulled her tank top over her head and she quickly began to pull Faith's up over her head as well.  But before she could get it off, a sudden knock on the door jarred both slayers out of lustville.  Buffy rolled off of Faith and frantically searched for her shirt.  Faith pulled the sheet up covering Buffy just as the door swung open.  A smug smile was gracing the lips of the slayers' daughter as she took in the scene before her.

"Wow, and here I was worried that a week wouldn't be enough for you two to get back on track."

"Did you need something?"  Buffy asked a little perturbed at the interruption. She sat up in bed and held the sheet to her bare upper body.

"Giles and everyone are waiting for you guys to go over some demony stuff...I can tell them you're busy."

"Tell them we'll be right down Dylan."  The annoyance was evident in Faith's voice.

"Are you sure you don't need a minute...or ten."  The young blonde teased.

"Out!"  Buffy ordered pointing her finger out the door.  Dylan just smirked and held up her hands as if to say 'okay, okay' and walked out closing the door behind her.  Buffy gazed down at Faith who had rolled over on her stomach.  Buffy leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the dark slayers shoulder blade.  She brought her mouth to Faith's ear and whispered softly,

"I don't think ten minutes would have even come close to enough time."  Faith raised her eyebrows at this.

"Oh really B?"

"Honey, that's what slayer stamina is all about."  Buffy placed another kiss on Faith's soft skin and hopped out of bed pulling her shirt on as she went.

"Damn B, you're killin' me."  Buffy smiled down at her and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of bed.

"Come on Faithy, we'll get back to this later."

"I'm holding you to that."

The Scooby gang spent most of the morning the same way they had spent the previous day.  They split into a research team and a training team.  They broke around noon to eat lunch and got back to it.  Faith grabbed Buffy's hand as they made their way back outside.  Buffy stopped and looked up at the dark slayer.

"Is everything okay Faith?"

"Yeah B, um.ya think we could take a walk?  There's some stuff I wanna talk to you about."

Buffy gave her a sweet smile and nodded her head.

"Let me tell Giles and we can go."

"Okay."

After letting Giles know they would be gone for a while, they began to walk down the street.  Buffy didn't do anything to rush Faith into what she had to say; she knew the brunette would talk when she was ready.  They made their way into a park nearby the house and Buffy led Faith to the swings and each sat down.  Faith dug the toe of her shoe into the sand for a minute before she began.

"Look, B, I need to apologize for everything I did."  Buffy smiled sadly at Faith and shook her head at her.

"No, you don't Faith, it's all in the past.  It's done."

"No, B, I messed up big time."

"Faith, stop."

"No...listen, there's a few things you don't know.  I had a plan, but it backfired.  I got sucked in."

"What do you mean a plan?"

"When I first went to the mayor, I planned at first to double cross his sorry ass.  I was still on your side, but I didn't want you to know.  But the more I got involved with everything and the worse you guys treated me, the closer I got to Wilkins.  I felt like I didn't deserve you guys, it was like the life I never had, but after Finch, it went to hell and I knew it would because it always does.  I never meant for it to go as far as it did, but after everything the mayor did for me, I got guilted into doing everything I did for him.  I didn't want to lose what he was giving me.  He seemed to really care about me.  He treated me like I was important and special.  I knew I messed it up with you and the Scoobs, I knew I couldn't go back, so I went bad instead.  But originally, I never meant to hurt you guys."

"Faith, it's okay, as long as you stay with us this time, I don't care about anything from back then.  The whole 'I'm gonna kill everyone craziness' was done before you and after you.  You aren't the only one who tried to kill us all.  Let's just put it behind us and move forward.  I'm not gonna let anything like that happen again.  So don't give it another thought."

"B, why are you being so cool about all this?"

Buffy thought silently for a moment, debating if she should tell Faith about the vision.  She finally decided that honesty would work better in this case.

"Faith, it was the vision that the seer gave me...I saw a lot of things."

"Like what?"  Faith began to get worried that Buffy knew something that she didn't want her to know about.

"Don't freak out when I tell you."

"Buffy, just tell me."

Buffy immediately knew that Faith was worried she'd seen something.  Full name usage was never a good thing.

//Faith was ten years old.  Her mother came stumbling from the bedroom and began to yell obscenities at the young girl huddled in the corner of the kitchen.

"You stupid worthless slut!  You're not good for anything!  You don't even deserve to live!"

She went on until the young girl began to cry.  Her mother ran towards her and grabbed her off the ground.  She pulled her close until they were face to face.  She kept screaming until the front door slammed.  Faith's father came storming in and pushed her mother out of the way.  He kicked her for good measure.  She leered down at the young girl crying on the floor.  He gave her a sickening grin as her grabbed her.  He pulled her into the bedroom and shut the door behind him.  An evil grin spread across his face as he began to unbutton his pants.//

//At age fifteen Faith entered the house being careful not to disturb her parents.  She closed the front door quietly when she heard a noise in the kitchen.  As she approached, she saw her father standing above her mother.  She was bound and gagged and badly beaten.  He turned to look at Faith.  "It's your fault she's going to die you stupid bitch.  You are a worthless whore.  But don't worry, she didn't love you anyway, nobody loves you and nobody ever will."  He glared at her for another moment and turned back to her mother.  He reached into a drawer and pulled out a handgun.  "It's your fault you stupid, worthless bitch.  She will die because of you."  Suddenly a shot was fired and Faith flinched away.  When she looked back, her mother was dead.  The close range of the gun had destroyed her face.  Her father reached out and grabbed her.  He dropped the gun and grabbed on of her hands
in each of his.  He forced Faith's hands down to the mess left of her mothers face and smeared her blood onto Faith's hands.  "It's on your hands now, it's your fault."  He suddenly released her hands and reached to pick the gun back up.  He held it to Faith's face and stared coldly at her.  She was paralyzed with fear and didn't move a muscle.  "You whore."  She squeezed her eyes tightly and heard a shot fired.  She opened her eyes and saw that her father had shot himself.//

Buffy opened her eyes and saw that Faith was crying, she did her best to keep her tears at bay, but they kept coming.  Buffy felt an ache in her chest and she rose and knelt in front of Faith.  She placed a hand on each knee and looked up at Faith.

"That's when the running really started.  He s-shot himself about t-two months before I was c-called."  Buffy felt her eyes well up and she pulled the younger girl into a hug.

"Faith, honey I am so sorry."

Faith did her best to calm herself down.  Buffy released her hold on Faith but held on to her hands.

"I didn't want you to know all that stuff about me.  I didn't want your pity."

"No, Faithy, I don't pity you, I just want to help you.  I swear I'll take it all to the grave, nobody but me has to know."

"Thanks B.  I.want us to go slow with all this stuff with us though.  I've never done this when feelings where actually there, and I don't wanna screw it up."

"Sweetie, you won't screw it up.but we can take it all at your pace, I won't rush you at all, I promise."

Buffy could tell Faith was getting kinda squirmy with all the sharing, so she rose and took her swing again.  She reached over and grabbed Faith's hand.  She softly traced her thumb over the silky skin, but remained silent.  She heard Faith take a deep breath and hold it for a moment before she released it.

"I guess we should get back B, I wouldn't want little D to kill Kenny before we got back."  Faith gave Buffy a small smile before standing, she tried to pull Buffy up with her, but she stayed seated.  Buffy gave Faith's hand a tug, pulling the dark slayer down.  She reached up and gave Faith the sweetest kiss she could muster.  When it relinquished, Buffy gazed into Faith's eyes and smiled.  No words were needed as she stood.  Buffy never let go of the brunette's hand as the two made their way back home.

CHAPTER 3

T-minus 3 days and counting til a good ole demon ass kicking takes place.

Willow greeted the two slayers when they arrived home.  She noticed Faith's tear stained cheeks, but said nothing about it.  Faith made her way out back to resume training and just as Buffy was about to exit the house, Willow caught her arm.

"Buffy, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure Will.  Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, but there's something you should take a look at.  I was getting ready to figure out how much money we had for groceries so we could go shopping, but something is wrong with the account."

Buffy's face fell and she let out a groan.

"Are we already broke?"

"Here, just come look."

Willow led Buffy into the dining room where her laptop was set up.  Buffy sat at the table looking at the screen.  Her eyes almost fell out of her head when she saw the account balance.

"This has to be wrong."

"I know, apparently there was a mix up, but the money was transferred into the account at midnight last night."

Buffy thought for a second and suddenly smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Faith."

"Faith?"

"The mayor left her five million dollars when he died.  She saw how upset I got the other night about all the money stuff, she must have done this."

"Five million dollars!"

"Shh, Will, she didn't want anyone to know, don't say anything to her."

"Well, we don't have much to worry about anymore."

"I guess not."

Buffy sat thinking for a few minutes.  Willow knew she had something on her mind and she sat quietly until her friend decided to tell her.

"Will...there's something else I think you should know about."

"You and Faith?"

Buffy's head shot up and she found Willow smiling knowingly at her. "How...how?" 

Willow smiled and rolled her eyes. "Oh please Buffy, I've known since that first night at the Bronze.  It was so obvious that Faith had feelings for you.  I knew you had them too, but with everything with Angel you were never able to explore those feelings.  I knew you had time before she came back with the whole body-switching thing because you so badly wanted to believe that things could be different between you two.  Believe me, you wouldn't have felt nearly as betrayed be her if there hadn't been serious feelings inside."

"Why is it that I'm always the last to know these things."

"Because you have never taken enough time for yourself, you always put everyone else ahead of you.  It's a very common thing in selfless people to ignore their feelings until somebody who knows them confronts them about it."  Willow smiled knowingly.

"So, you're okay with everything?"

"Yes, I am, you two belong together, and this time you can do it right."

Buffy stood and pulled her friend into a hug.

"Love you Will."

"Love you too Buffy, now get back to work, no more slakey slayers."

Buffy pulled away and swatted Willow playfully on the arm.  The two exchanged smiles as each got back to work.

A few hours later they called it a night.  They had pretty much all the information they were gonna get on Maltag and the slayers were sore and tired from the non-stop training.

They decided to take a night off and have some fun, and in Sunnydale that pretty much only came in one form, The Bronze.

Faith had just finished changing after her shower and Buffy was still in the shower.  Faith knocked on the door and cracked it open a bit.

"Hey B, is it cool if I come in to do make-up?"

"Yeah, honey come on in."

Faith found herself smiling when Buffy called her honey.  She started putting on her make-up and grinned to herself at Buffy singing contently in the shower.  When her make-up was done, she plugged in the curling iron and waited for it to heat up.  She began to run a brush through her long dark hair as the water in the shower turned off.  As she picked up the iron, she saw an arm reach out of the shower and grab a towel.  Buffy pulled the curtain back and stepped out of the shower.  Faith felt her heart speed up at the sight of the blonde in the mirror.  Buffy's body glistened and through the haze in the room, she looked like an angel.  The fair slayer caught Faith's eye and smiled.  Faith turned and faced her as Buffy leaned in slowly.  Their lips met briefly in a soft, sweet kiss.  As Buffy pulled away she smiled as she looked at Faith.

"You look amazing."

With that she placed another soft kiss on Faith's lips and walked back to her room.  Faith let out a shuddery breath and smiled to herself.

"Damn I love that girl."

An hour later the group was settled at the Bronze.  Those who were old enough decided to splurge and drink a bit to loosen up.  Xander was dancing with Dylan and Dawn.  Kennedy and Willow where out there as well, they seemed to have gotten over their little rift for now.  Faith returned from the bar with two fresh drinks and two shots.  She set one of each in front of her blonde.

"Bottoms up B."

Buffy watched as Faith downed her shot and chased it with her drink.  She smiled at the younger slayer and quickly followed suit.  She stood and grabbed Faith's hand and pulled her towards the dance floor.

"Come on Faithy, let's dance."

Faith grinned and followed her to the floor.  The two quickly fell into the rhythm.  They danced like they did way back when.  When they were just girls, before slaying took over and life got in the way.  Buffy allowed all her worries to fade away as she pulled Faith closer to her.  Faith wrapped her arms loosely around Buffy's neck as the blonde's stayed on Faith's hips.  Buffy looked up and found Faith's eyes locked onto hers.  The bond between them seemed stronger than ever and the two danced for hours.

Hours later Kennedy, Dawn and Dylan managed to get the four drunk Scoobies home.  They each retreated into their rooms.  Once both slayers had changed they crawled into bed and Buffy pulled Faith in close to her.  For the first time in as long as she remembered, Faith felt safe and loved and needed and wanted.  She smiled to herself as she smooshed herself as close to Buffy as she was able to and the blonde responded by wrapping her arms around Faith as much as she could.  They both felt like they couldn't get close enough to one another.  They enjoyed the comfortable silence both very content just being close.

"Thanks for being so understanding with the slowness factor B.  I know its weird, but I just want both of us to be ready for this."

"It's okay Faithy, I totally understand.  It may take time, but I'm gonna show you how incredibly amazing and beautiful you are.  I know I can't change your past, but I will make damn sure your future is as perfect as it can be."

Faith felt herself biting back tears as Buffy's words sunk in.

"Love you B."

"Love you too Faithy."

The two slayers fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

In a huge cavern below the cemetery a huge beast was thundering around while he spoke to a man dressed in a lab coat.  The man tried to remain calm as he spoke to the giant creature.

"So everything is ready for the slayer?"

"Yes, all we need is her blood and I can perform the transfusions."

"Good, they won't be expecting this."  He turned towards the two men standing near the entrance.  "Make sure to get one of the slayers, I don't care which one, but bring one of them to me."

The two men nodded and walked through the cavern towards the entrance.  The demon let out a low bellowing laugh as he walked away in the opposite direction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy awoke and was immediately confused.  She saw that it was too dark to be morning and she struggled to figure out why she woke up.  She felt Faith stir beside her in bed and she began to whine.

"No.don't.stop.please don't.no.please, please.stop.please."

Just as Buffy was about to rouse her from her dreams Faith sat bolt upright in bed.

"NO!"  She looked around wildly throwing her arms out in front of her as if fending off demons from her dreams.  Buffy reached out, but Faith flinched away and leapt out of bed.

"No, Faithy, it's me honey.  It was just a dream."  Buffy stepped out of bed and slowly inched her way over to the brunette.

"Shh, Faith, it's just me, I won't hurt you."  Buffy continued in a soothing tone noting that Faith was drenched in sweat and still very wild-eyed.  Buffy reached out and took Faith's hand.  That seemed to snap the spell Faith was under.  She blinked furiously and shook her head to clear the dream residue.

"B."  Buffy enveloped Faith into a gentle hug as Faith began to cry.

"It's okay sweetie, I'm not going to hurt you.  It was just a dream."

Buffy led the younger girl over to the bed and they both slid in under the blankets.  Buffy stretched out on her back and pulled Faith in close.  She continued to soothe Faith as she rubbed her back and smoothed her hair."Sorry B.  I didn't mean to wake you.  Damn nightmares."

"No, honey it's okay...wanna talk about it?"

"Just a nightmare."  Faith tried to shrug it off, but Buffy decided to prod a bit.

"What about?"  With her question she placed a gentle kiss on Faith's forehead.

Faith squirmed a bit almost debating if she should share.  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Remember your vision, the little part with my dad?  He kinda decided to come back and haunt me."

"Do you have nightmares about it a lot?"  Buffy reached for Faith's hand and brought it to her mouth and kissed each fingertip gently.

"I didn't for a long time.it started again in prison after some of the guards decided to have a little fun.  They kinda made it come crashing back.   I got over it again, but knowing you saw it kinda got me thinking about it again."

Buffy felt tears well up in her eyes and struggled to keep them at bay.  She intertwined her fingers with Faith's and kissed her forehead again.

"Honey I'm so sorry I got you thinking about it again."

"It's alright B, it's kind of a relief having somebody else know.  It's weird, I can't explain it.

"I know what you mean."

"Thanks Buffy."

"It's okay honey, just get some sleep.  You're safe here with me, I promise."

The two shared a gentle kiss and pulled each other as close as possible.

"Love you Faithy."

"Love you to B."

T-minus two days and counting.

Buffy awoke the next morning early...too early for her liking.  She rolled over on her side and gazed at Faith who was sleeping on her stomach, but facing Buffy.  She reached her hand out and softly pushed a strand of hair out of Faith's face and tucked it behind her ear.  She found herself thinking about the vision she received and she had to remind herself to stay calm.  She remembered exactly how she felt when the seer gave her the vision.  It made her sick.  She felt awful about everything that Faith had been through and it made her feel even worse about the way they had all treated her before.  The group had pretty much confirmed with their actions everything Faith's parents told her.  Maybe not everything, but Buffy was sure they had made her feel pretty worthless.  The blonde struggled to hold back her tears.  She would make things different for Faith.  She vowed to herself that when Faith allowed things to go further than they had been going, Buffy would be as sweet and gentle and nurturing as she could possibly be.  She smiled as Faith mumbled something in her sleep and she leaned in and placed a small kiss on her forehead.  Faith's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Buffy.

"What time is it B?"  She asked sleepily.

"Too early, go back to sleep sweetie."

Buffy stretched out on her back and she felt Faith move in closer.  The brunette rested her head in the crook of Buffy's neck and wrapped her arms around her.  Buffy kissed the top of Faith's head and pulled Faith as close as she could.  She began to trace her fingers lightly over Faith's back.  She kissed the top of her head again and closed her eyes.  Suddenly she felt Faith kiss her neck.  Her heart almost skipped a beat at the contact.  Faith's hand found the hem of Buffy's tank top and slid her fingers under the fabric.  She allowed her hands to travel up and ever so lightly touch the underside of Buffy's breast, as if it had been accidental.  Faith leaned in and kissed Buffy's neck again, but this time she let her lips linger for a second and she gently nipped at Buffy's pulse point.  The blonde slayer gasped lightly at Faith's lips, but she held her ground.  She would let Faith take the lead, unsure of how far she wanted to go.  Faith's hand began to travel north again, but this time she allowed it to move over Buffy's breast and her thumb ran over her nipple ever so lightly.  Buffy moaned slightly at the contact.  Faith leaned in and kissed her neck again.  Buffy found her hands pulling at Faith's tank top and the brunette allowed Buffy to remove the article.  Buffy rolled them both over so she was on top of Faith and she leaned in and kissed her lightly.  Her eyes asked Faith if she was sure, and the younger girl smiled in response.  The blonde kissed her
again and began to trail light kisses along her neck.  Nipping lightly at Faith's pulse point.  She pulled Faith's earlobe into her lips briefly before allowing her teeth to graze the skin lightly.  Buffy moved one of her legs in between Faith's and felt the dark slayer respond immediately.  She trailed kisses back down her neck and then her lips found one of Faith's breasts.  She traced circles with her tongue around her nipple and gently bit the tender flesh.   A quiet moan escaped Faith's lips.  Buffy left a trail of tender kisses down Faith's taught stomach paying particular attention to her scar.  She placed several kisses on the jagged line etched in Faith's abdomen.  Her fingers found the edge of Faith's shorts and she slowly pulled them down Faith's long, slender legs.  She kissed her way back up the brunette's legs and she leaned in once more for a sweet kiss with the younger girl.  Her eyes once again asked for permission.  Faith gave the silent okay as Buffy kissed her once again.  The blonde kissed her way back down the brunette's body and her fingers made their way to Faith's panties.  She slowly pulled them off and threw them to the floor.  She kissed her way back up her legs and gently inserted two fingers into Faith as her mouth focused on the tiny bud of flesh between her legs.  Faith let out a moan as she leaned into Buffy.  Buffy kept it up until she felt Faith shudder in orgasm and heard her moan into a pillow Faith had placed over her face.  (It sounds weird, but they are trying to be quiet.)  Buffy smiled with satisfaction as she slowly crawled up Faith's body.  Faith removed the pillow and Buffy saw that she was crying.  Buffy immediately began to panic.

"Faith, baby, are you okay?  Did we go too fast, I'm sorry."

"No, B, it was perfect, not too fast.  I've just never had anyone be so gentle."

Buffy smiled at the younger girl and leaned in to kiss her.  Faith suddenly smirked as she grabbed Buffy and rolled over her so she was on top.

"My turn."

An hour and a half later, two very satisfied slayers made their way downstairs.  They appeared to be the only ones awake.  Buffy began making coffee as Faith got everything together to make breakfast.  As Faith worked at the stove, Buffy sat on the counter top next to her.  She whispered sweet nothings into the dark slayer's ear and a few silly comments just to make her laugh.  Faith moved away from the stove and planted herself between Buffy's dangling legs and reached up for a kiss.  They shared dozens of sweet kisses through their grins and that's just how Willow and Kennedy found them.

"Morning guys."

Buffy looked up from Faith and found Willow smiling happily and Kennedy smirking from the doorway.

"Morning."

"Hey, food should be ready in a few, B already made coffee."

"Well, aren't you two bubbly this morning?"  Kennedy asked as she poured two cups of coffee.

Buffy just rolled her eyes and leaned into Faith for one more kiss before hopping off the counter.

"So, do you think we're ready for Saturday night Buffy?"  Willow asked as she took a seat on a barstool.

"Hope so Will, any luck on the spell front?"

"Actually, I did manage to find a spell that might help.  It's sort of a sunburst type thing.  I don't know how many vamps it'll take out at a time, but it should be more than one."

"So, maybe you and Kenny can work the vamps and me and B can take the demons out?"

"Sounds like a decent prelim plan."  Buffy said as she began to set the table.  Suddenly the phone rang and Buffy grabbed it.

/Hello?/

/Hey Buffy/

/Angel?/

/Yeah, it's me, how are you?/

/Good, you?/

/Not bad, listen, Cordy had a vision./

/Let me guess, me and Faith fighting vamps and demons and a young girl is fighting a big bad trying to stab the crap out of him every three seconds./

/How.how did you know?/  Buffy smiled.

/We have a visitor from the future./

/So, Faith is already with you?/

/Yup, and get this we met our daughter./

/We have a daughter?/  Buffy cringed.

/Um.not you and me us, me and Faith us./

/You and Faith have a daughter?/  It was Angel's turn to laugh.

/Yeah, gotta love the PTB, they make all kindsa things happen./

/Well, that was certainly unexpected, do you need us for anything with the demon?/

/Nope, we've got it covered, we know when it's coming and how to kick its ass, so it should be pretty easy, well as easy as evil gets anyways./

/Well if you do need anything don't hesitate to call./

/Thanks Angel, I'll talk to you soon./

/Bye Buffy./

/Bye./

"Cordy had a vision?"  Xander asked from the doorway.

"Yeah, she was a little late this time."

"How is Fang?"

"He's fine Faith, he was definitely surprised with the news of out daughter."

"Hey no talking about me before breakfast, it's a rule."  Dylan entered the room rubbing her eyes, obviously still exhausted.

"You okay D?  You look beat."  Faith walked over to the girl and tousled her hair lightly.  Dylan smiled up at the slayer as she playfully swatted Faith's hands away.

"Yeah, didn't sleep very well."

"Well, you should rest up today, we're gonna need you to be 100% Saturday night."  Willow said, concerned for the girl.

"I think we should all take it easy today, we can get our plan finalized and just hang out.  I don't want anyone to be burned out."  Buffy said.  The group nodded in agreement.

"Is Giles gonna make it for breakfast Buffy?"

"Yeah, Will he'll be here in a few minutes, he said he wanted to make sure all the spell stuff was ready and you guys have everything you need for it."

"Okay, yummy, let's eat."

Giles arrived minutes later and the group had breakfast.  Buffy told him about the plan to take the day off so everyone was in top shape.  He agreed completely.  He and Willow decided to hit the Magic Box for supplies they needed.  Faith was busy in the kitchen cleaning up and Buffy was getting a fresh cup of coffee.  She made one for Faith the way she liked it and handed it to her with a kiss and a smile.

"Okay, I may be lacking sanity at the moment, but do you wanna go shopping later?"

"Oh my God Faith, I think I just lost my million dollar bet with Dawnie.  I never in my life thought I would ever hear you say those words.  Hmm...wonder where I can get a million bucks.  Oh wait...I just realized that exact amount appeared in my account the other night.  Any idea where it came from?"

"I don't know about you B, but if somebody dumped a million in my account, I wouldn't be questioning it."

"I guess you're right.  But Faith-"

"Don't B."

"But-"

"Nope, not gonna hear it.now ya wanna go shopping or what?  Besides, I noticed that little D didn't have a bag or anything and she isn't exactly the same size as any of us.  I just thought I could take my fave three girls out and spoil them rotten."

"Three?"  Buffy began to pout.  "I'm your favorite though right?"

"Yeah B, always my favorite."  Faith grinned and leaned in for a kiss. 

Kennedy chose that moment to walk into the kitchen and smirked for a moment, before her face fell.

"Hey Faith?"

Faith looked up and smiled at the younger girl, blushing at being caught in the sappy act.

"What's up Kenny?"

"You wanna take a run?  I'm not sure I can just sit around here all day doing nothing."

"Yeah, sure kid, let me finish cleaning up and get changed, gimme twenty minutes, k?"

"Thanks Faith."

"No problem."

Faith turned back to Buffy who was smiling widely.

"See, you two will be bonding in no time."

Faith just smiled and rolled her eyes, she leaned in for one more kiss and finished with the dishes before heading upstairs to change.

She walked out the front door and sat on the driveway to stretch a bit before she ran.  Kennedy came out a minute later and joined her.  They stood and jogged off down the street.  They ran the first few minutes in silence just falling into a rhythm.  Kennedy obviously had something on her mind, but Faith didn't want to push her.

"So, what's the deal with you and Buffy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you guys dating or whatever?  I never would've pegged her to be playing on my side of the fence."

"I know what you mean about that one.  Man, when I first met her she was so damn uptight.  Total stick up her ass. I got her to settle down a bit, but screwed it up with the whole Finch thing."

"That was a set up Faith, you know that."

"Yeah, but once you tell yourself something and believe it for so long, it's hard not to think otherwise."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Me and B have such a complicated past it's hard sometimes.  But I fell in love with her a long time ago and I'm pretty much willing to lay it all on the line for her to make it work.  It's hard...it pretty much goes against everything I've been for as long as I remember, but she's worth it."

"What do you mean?"

"I've always been 'get some, get gone' and 'want, take, have.'  It's never been 'wake up in the morning and spend the day with the one I spent the night with.'  It was hardly ever more than sneak off in the middle of the night or kick his ass out.  It's kinda scary, but I know we've both changed and I think we can make it work this time."

"I guess we're a lot more alike than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, all I ever heard about you was that you were evil and psycho.  I didn't understand how a slayer could be like that with the whole calling and fighting evil.  I tried not to let everyone else's opinion sway mine.  I don't like to judge people, especially not knowing them.  I thought when I first came here that Buffy and I would be somewhat alike with the whole slayer thing, but we aren't at all.  So I guess I figured you and I wouldn't be alike at all either.  But, the whole one night stand thing was pretty much me for a while.  I had a few longer relationships, but they didn't work out.  I kinda freaked and ran.  But I really care about Willow and I don't want to do that to her, I just get wigged out sometimes."

"I know what you mean, but all in all you just have to figure out if she's worth it.  It may work out.  I know me and B are just toeing the line right now, but it's already been better than I ever imagined it could be.  If you decide she's worth it, you just have to let go and do it.  Willow wouldn't do anything to hurt you.  She's a good person.  You just gotta make a choice and stick to it.  And if you decide to go for it, don't go back on it or hold back in any way.  Trust me, looking over the edge is scary, but once you fall, it's amazing."

Kennedy allowed herself a minute to let Faith's words sink in.

"Thanks for all this Faith."

Faith smiled and nudged her playfully.

"Hey, like I said, it's no problem, that's what big sister slayers are for."

The two shared a smile and continued running.

Buffy found Willow in her room looking kinda down.  She walked in quietly and sat down on the bed next to her.

"You okay Will?"

Willow looked up and gave her a sad smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Is it Kenny?"

"Kinda."

"What's going on?"

"Same old stuff."

"She's still kinda freaking?"

"Yeah, I don't get it Buffy, is it me?"

"No, not at all.  She just has issues.  Faith and Kenny are a lot alike and I know how hard it is to be with someone who has baggage.  I think all we can do is give them as much time and space as we can, and I know that's hard, especially the space part.  But I know she cares about you Will."

"How are you dealing with Faith?"

"Well, I know she's had a life filled with people who told her she was useless and worthless.  She only allowed people to get close who pretended to need her so she could kick them out and feel like she was in control.  I think she felt like it was okay to be alone if it was her choice not somebody else's.  I took that and turned it around.  I just try to make her feel as safe and wanted and needed as I can.  I try to be as gentle and sweet with her as I can.  I want to show her that it's okay to need and be needed."

"So what should I do with Kennedy, I don't want to lose her Buffy."

"I know you don't Will, but my only suggestion is to talk to her.  Find out what has her so freaked and turn it around to make her feel right with you.  Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I think so, I just wish she would open up more.  Sometimes she makes Faith seem like an open book of feelings back in the day."

"Just give her time to adjust to this and to trust in it and you guys will be fine."

Willow thought for a minute and smiled.

"I'm not giving up on her."

Buffy returned the smile and hugged her best friend.

"I know you won't Will, and I'm always here if you need me."

"Thanks Buffy."

"Anytime."

Forty-five minutes later, the two brunettes arrived back at the house and each went to a separate bathroom to shower.  Faith was just about ready when Buffy knocked on the door and asked if she could come in.

"Yeah B, come on in."

"So how was your run?"

Buffy walked over and placed a sweet kiss on Faith's lips.

"It was good, we talked about some stuff.  I think I got her thinking a bit.   She'll be fine.  How's Red?"

"She's fine, we talked a lot too.  So ya ready for some shopping fun?"

"Just about, are little D and Daybreak ready?"

"Yup, they're waiting downstairs."

Thirty minutes later the girls were wandering aimlessly through the mall.  They decided they should shop for Dylan first since she possessed the least.   Buffy tried desperately to drag her into the Gap, but she wouldn't have it.  Buffy pouted briefly mumbling something about having a daughter that she couldn't play dress up with.  Faith rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the pout powers and dragged Dylan into a leather store.  The young girl perked up immediately.

"This is so cool, you guys aren't exactly up for me and leathers in the future."  She grinned as she wandered around.

"Hey Buffy, can I get some too, you guys look so cool in them, just one pair please?"

"Go ahead Daybreak, they're on me anyways, grab a few."

"Yay! Thanks Faith."

"Come on B, you and me too."

The girls left twenty minutes later each with three new pairs of pants. They took their time wandering from store to store.  They had lunch and continued shopping.  They each got new jeans and shoes and boots, new shirts, underwear, tanks and even pj's.  They all of course got some cute stuff to wear if they went out again.  They even bought stuff for Xander, Willow and Kennedy that they thought they would like.  The four of them were loaded down with bags as they headed back to the car.  They somehow managed to cram everything into the jeep and make it home.

CHAPTER 4

When the girls arrived home, they brought everything inside and began making dinner.  Buffy was in her room putting her and Faith's clothes away.  She emptied out two of her four dresser drawers and rearranged her closet to give Faith room to keep her stuff.  She could hear the faint sound of Kennedy and Willow arguing in the room down the hall.  As she was finishing with the clothes, she heard a door slam and Kennedy fumed down the hall and went downstairs.  She heard the back door slam as she was walking down the stairs.  Buffy found Faith in the kitchen making dinner and she walked up behind her and slipped her arms around Faith's waist.

"Hey good lookin'"

"Hey, what's up with Kenny?"

"I don't know, I think she had a fight with Will."

"Man, those two need to give it a rest already."

"Are you gonna go talk to her?"

"Yeah, I'll let her cool off for a bit."

"Anything I can do to help with dinner?"

Faith bit back a laugh.

"You can set the table."

"Okay."

After setting the table, Buffy went upstairs to Willow's room and knocked softly at the door.

"Will?"

"I just want to be alone Buffy."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well dinner will be ready in a few minutes, you want me to bring you something?"

"No thanks, I'm gonna lie down for a while."

"Okay, just let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks."

Buffy frowned as she walked back downstairs.  The rest of the group filed in and they had a nice quiet dinner.  Faith noticed that Kennedy never came back inside.  She put her dishes in the sink for Buffy to put away.  (That's fair, I cook, and B can clean up.)  She found Kennedy sitting on the back steps smoking a cigarette.  Faith wandered over and took a seat next to her.

"Can I bum a smoke?"

Kennedy nodded and held out the pack to Faith.  She lit it and inhaled deeply, she held the smoke in for a few seconds, savoring the taste.

"Man, no matter how long you quit for, the first one back always tastes so good."

Kennedy remained silent and stared up at the sky.  Faith allowed a few minutes to pass without speaking until she got an idea.

"Hey, ya wanna get out of here for a while?"

"What did ya have in mind?"

"The Bronze?  We can blow off some steam."

"Yeah, that would be good."

Faith finished her smoke and put the butt in an empty can.  She stood up and began walking back to the house.

"So, we'll leave in 20 minutes?"

"Yeah...thanks Faith."

Faith smiled and walked back into the house.  Her grin widened as she saw Dawn and Dylan doing the dishes singing and dancing along with the radio.  She smirked as she thought of what Buffy must have bribed the two younger girls with to do the dishes.  She walked upstairs and into Buffy's bedroom and saw that the blonde was getting things together for her shower.

"Hey."

Buffy looked up and smiled deviously at Faith.

"Hi, just getting ready to shower, wanna join me?"

Faith's face fell and she even pouted slightly.

"Dammit, I told Kenny we'd go out to the Bronze in like twenty minutes."

"You can still go to the bronze, it's just a shower."

"You know as well as I do, if we take a shower it will be a whole hell of a lot longer than twenty minutes."

The two slayers shared a smile, but Buffy turned on the pout.

"No, don't use the pout, not fair.  She needs to blow off some steam.  We won't be gone long though, so maybe we can play when I get home?"

"Fine...maybe I'll just wait on the shower til you get back."

"That sounds like an excellent plan."

Suddenly Buffy's eyes got wide as she remembered the gift she got for Faith at the mall.

"Oh, before I forget, I got you something."

Faith smiled as Buffy pulled open a drawer in her dresser and grabbed a black box.  She handed it to Faith with a shy smile.

"What's this?"

"Open it and see silly."

Faith grinned as she pulled the top open on the box.  Her eyes welled with tears slightly as she saw the contents.  Inside the box was a white gold ring that was strung on a chain that matched.  She picked up the ring and noticed that it was engraved.

The Chosen Two, yours forever, B

"This is awesome, B, thank you."

She leaned in and kissed Buffy.  The blonde went back to her drawer and pulled out another chain that had a matching ring.

"I got one for me too.  So we can both have one.  Although, mine doesn't say 'love you, B'.  I think that would be a little narcissistic"

Faith smiled as Buffy clasped the chain around her own neck and took Faith's and did the same for her.

"I love it, thank you."

"Just something to make you think of me."

"Sorry B, but I don't need a reason, I'm always thinking about you."

"So sweet Faithy, now you better get going.  Be good, and be careful and hurry back, I need my Faith time."

Faith smiled and kissed Buffy lightly before grabbing her jacket and heading out the door.

She found Kennedy lingering around the front door as she bounded down the stairs.

"Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

The two made it to the Bronze and walked inside dodging bodies the whole way in.  They somehow managed to find a table and dumped their jackets and headed for the bar.  The bartender was too busy staring at their breasts to bother asking for I.D.  They each got a beer and headed for the dance floor.  They were both swept into the beat and barely noticed the group of guys lingering around waiting to dance with either girl.

After ignoring just about every guy in the club for an hour they made their way back up to the bar.  Two very good-looking guys intercepted them on the way and asked if they could buy them a drink.  Faith smiled.

"Sure, Corona for me, Smirnoff Ice for her."  Faith said as the two wandered back to the table as the guys went to the bar.  The younger girl shot her a look saying 'what are you doing?'  Faith answered with her own saying 'relax.'  Kennedy sat on one of the stools and Faith remained standing, dancing in place a bit.  A few minutes later the guys returned and handed the drinks over.  They each took their drinks and Faith grabbed Kennedy by the front of her jeans and tugged her to her feet.

"Thanks."  Faith said as she pulled the younger girl towards the dance floor.  The guys stood at the table looking confused.

"Hey!"  Faith turned as one of the guys yelled.

"What?  You asked if you could buy us a drink, you did, I said thanks, and we go out separate ways...besides, I'm with her."  The two smiled sweetly at the guys and Kennedy allowed Faith to lead her back to the dance floor. Faith smirked as the two guys walked away looking pretty pissed.  The two girls returned to their dancing, still laughing at the guys.  They danced for a while longer until Kennedy started to feel funny.  The two had pretty much chugged the drinks they received, but she knew she wasn't drunk.  Her vision got a little fuzzy and she was having problems staying upright.  Faith took one look at her and led her back to the table.  She held on to Kennedy with one hand and grabbed the two jackets with the other.  Faith barely managed to get Kennedy out the door before she fell over.

"Kenny, come on, get up."

"I can't Faith, I can't see, what the hell is going on?"  Kennedy's voice was laced with fear.

Faith slipped her jacket on and helped Kennedy put hers on.  She grabbed the girl held her up so they could make it down the street.  They had been walking a few minutes when suddenly Faith started to feel funny.  Kennedy was almost comatose and barely walking and they both spilled on the pavement as Faith lost her footing and fell.  She noticed Kennedy wasn't moving as she struggled to pull herself to her knees.  Faith brought a hand to her face and rubbed her eyes furiously and tried to focus.

"Kenny."

Faith began to panic as her voice was seriously slurred and she barely recognized it as her own.  She began a battle with her brain, struggling to keep her eyes open.  She lifted her arm and it felt like it weighed four hundred pounds.  She managed to crawl a few feet closer to Kennedy before she collapsed and it all went black.

A moment later, two guys stepped out of the shadows and grinned at the two girls.  One was blonde and he was dressed in jeans and a white dress shirt, the other had dark hair and was dressed the same, but had a black shirt on.

"Now see, if they had just stuck around after we gave them those drinks we could have been spared the big dramatic exit."

The dark haired guy walked over to Faith and kicked her squarely in the ribs making sure she was out.

"How much time do we have before she wakes up?"

"Thirty minutes, give or take."

"Should we have a little fun with this one before we go?"  The blonde smiled at his buddy as he walked to Kennedy and picked her up.  His friend picked Faith up and they made their way to an alley nearby.  They dropped Faith at the back of the alley and both turned their attention to Kennedy.

Fifteen minutes later, the two walked out of the alley with Faith in tow in the blonde's arms.  Neither man noticed the ring that dropped off the chain around Faith's neck as they turned out of the alley.  They made their way to the cemetery nearby and waked to a crypt near the front.  They walked down the stairs and the dark haired guy pushed the lid off the concrete gave and lifted himself inside.  He turned as the blonde handed Faith to him and hopped over the side.  He pulled the lid closed above him as the two made their way down the steps.  Faith began to stir slightly as they made their way through the dark corridors.  They finally came to a large cavern and hurried through the gate.  They walked into a brightly lit room and placed Faith on what appeared to be a hospital bed.  A man in a white lab coat walked in and smiled.  The two guys stripped Faith down and threw a blanket over her.  Next they began to secure restraints on her arms and legs.  As soon as she was restrained, they left and the doctor took over.  He pulled her arm over top of the blanket and prepared to put an I.V. in, once that was finished, he attached a heart monitor and placed a pulse-ox on her finger.  As he was taking her blood pressure a huge demon walked into the room.

"She's still out?"  It asked.

"Yes, she seems to be fine, I'm about to take the first round of blood."

"How much do they need to be revived?"

"Eight pints should get them started.  I can take four from her now and four in an hour.  As a slayer, her blood will regenerate much faster.  Four hours after that I'll repeat the process."

"Good, we don't have much time, so get as much as you can from her."

"I won't sleep until we are finished."

"Good, make sure to let me know when you are about to perform the transfusion."

"I will."

The demon left the room and the doctor turned back to Faith.  She began to stir and he knew she would come to soon.  He attached a tube to her I.V. and began draining her blood.  Once he had four pints, he removed the tube and turned her I.V. on 100 percent.  He took the blood into another room and placed it in a cooler.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy was pacing nervously in the living room when Willow walked down the stairs.  The redhead could see that the slayer was worried about something.

"Buffy?"

The blonde jumped slightly at the sound of her voice.  She gave Willow a nervous smile and continued to pace the room.

"What's going on?"

"Faith isn't home yet, her and Kennedy went out and she said she wouldn't be late, but they aren't home yet, I just have a bad feeling."

"Do you know where they went?"  Willow's voice held a slight edge.

"No, although they probably went to the Bronze, where else is there?"

"Do you think they went patrolling for a while after?"

"I doubt it.Giles told all of us that there won't be much out there to kill with Maltag hanging around."

"Do you want to go over there, just to make sure they're okay?"

"Yeah, we should.  I wanted to give them time to talk and stuff, but I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong."

"I'm sure they're fine Buffy, but if you have a feeling, we should check it out, just to make sure."

"Okay.  Let's go."

The two girls grabbed their jackets and struggled not to run to the car.  Each girl trying to remain calm for the other.  Willow jumped in the driver seat and as soon as Buffy was in she sped off towards the club.  They both leapt from the car and ran inside.  They split up and each made their way through the club to the back and made another sweep back to the front.

"I didn't see them Buffy."  Willow was starting to panic.

"Me either."

"What do we do?"

"Let's look outside, they might have trailed a stray through the alleys out front."

The two ran for the front and began checking the alleyways one by one.  Buffy was about to turn right down an alley when something caught her eye.  She jogged up to the object and a gasp escaped her lips as she realized what it was.  Willow ran up behind her and looked at the object Buffy held.

"What is it Buffy?"

Buffy's chin quivered slightly as she struggled not to cry.

"I gave this to Faith earlier."

Willow's eyebrows furrowed together as she thought.

"Maybe she dropped it?"

"It was on a chain around her neck."

Before Willow could respond, Buffy made her way down the alley where they found the ring.  She began to run as she saw the silhouette of a girl at the end of the alley.  She stopped abruptly at the scene in front of her.  Kennedy was sprawled out on the ground with her clothes hastily thrown on top of her.  She had bruises on her neck and face and blood was flowing freely through a gash on her forehead.  She turned and yelled to Willow before the redhead could make it close enough to see that it was her girlfriend.

"Willow, go now, call 911!"

"What is it Buffy?"

"Go Willow, please, you have to hurry."

Willow gave her a worried look as she turned suddenly and ran off in the other direction.

~~~~~~~~

Faith awoke feeling heavy.  She felt like her arms and legs weighed a ton.  She tried to open her eyes but the light was almost blinding.  She groaned loudly as she struggled to move her arms.  She opened her eyes as little as possible and tried to take in her surroundings, but her vision was still foggy.  She gave up and drifted back off to sleep.  An hour later she heard two voices.  She opened her eyes again and while her vision was still cloudy, she could make out two bodies standing nearby.  One was twice the size of the other.  She groaned and the two voices stopped abruptly and the bodies moved closer.  She could make out the shorter figure to be a man in a white coat and the larger appeared to be a demon.

"Slayer, you're awake."  The demon hissed.

Faith tried to respond, but her mouth wouldn't make out the words her brain was sending.  The only sound that escaped her lips was another groan.  She heard the demon yelling something in a language she couldn't understand.  Suddenly another demon came into the room and the two appeared to be having a conversation.  After a minute, the man and the first demon left the room.  Faith gasped as what felt like fire spread through her stomach.  She looked down and saw the demon dragging a claw through her skin.  He retracted his claws and punched her in the stomach.  The demon continued to beat Faith until she fell back into unconsciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy tried not to panic wondering where Faith was.  She turned her attention to the girl before her.  She reached and grabbed Kennedy's jacket and pulled it on the girl and buttoned it up around her.  She took the shirt from the ground and ripped it into strips.  She folded one strip and put pressure on the wound on her head and used the other strips to keep it in place.  She took off the hooded sweatshirt she was wearing and draped it over the girl's lower body to offer more covering.  She heard Willow approaching as she was checking Kennedy's pulse.

"Kennedy!"

Willow immediately collapsed on her knees next to the girl.

"Did you call an ambulance?"

"Yes, it should be here any minute.  Buffy, what happened?"

"I don't know Willow, but she's bleeding pretty bad.  Take your hand and put pressure on her head.  She has a pretty strong pulse."

"What happened to her clothes?  Oh no...what if she was."

"No, Willow, don't think about it, we need to get her to the hospital fast, we can figure out what happened after that.  Run to the end of the alley and wait for the paramedics to get here."

Willow nodded and ran to the end of the alley.  She flagged down the ambulance when it arrived.  Two paramedics, one male and one female, ran down the alley with a stretcher.

"What happened?"

"We don't know, we came down here and found her just like this."

"Do you know her?"

"We're friends."

"Okay, we'll take care of her don't worry."

The male paramedic began to get her blood pressure as the female took her pulse.  They did a quick exam and loaded her onto the stretcher.

"Can I go with her?"  Willow asked.

"Sure, let's go."

Buffy ran back to the front of the Bronze and jumped in her car to follow the ambulance.  Inside the ambulance, the female paramedic removed the bandages from Kennedy's head and put some gauze in its place then she secured it with tape.  She took Kennedy's arm and started an I.V.  She put a blood pressure cuff on her other arm and hit a button on the machine so it would start.  When she was finished, she got Kennedy's personal information from Willow.

Ten minutes later, they pulled into the hospital and wheeled her inside.  Willow watched as they transferred her to a bed and the paramedics gave the doctor a quick report.  The female paramedic smiled and squeezed Willow's shoulder gently as she left.

"Are you family?"

"No, she's my girlfriend."

The doctor nodded and Willow figured it was okay if she stayed.

"Do you know if she was raped?"

Willow's eyes widened significantly as she pondered the question.

"When I found her she was in the alley and her clothes where covering her up, so she might have been."

The two turned as Buffy walked deeper into the room.

"Are you a friend of hers?"

"Yes, I found her."

"Well, if that's the case, I'm going to have to ask you both to leave so I can perform a rape kit, just to be sure."

Willow began to protest but Buffy pulled her out of the room.

"Willow, I need you to do a location spell to find Faith, we still don't know where she is."

"Oh no, Buffy, I almost forgot about her with everything with Kennedy.  I can do the spell, but I don't want Kenny to be here alone when she wakes up."

"Okay, I'll call Xander to come over here and we can head home to do the spell."

"Okay, let's go."

Buffy ran to the pay phones in the lobby and briefly explained the situation to Xander and he agreed to come down.  The two girls jumped in the jeep and headed home.  They flew through the front door barely acknowledging the two younger girls asking too many questions.  They went to Willows room and Buffy paced as the redhead did the spell.

"I'm getting something faint, I think she's in the cemetery."

"Which one?"

"Restfield.  Close to the entrance.  Are there any crypts in that area?"

"Yeah, I know of one.  Okay, I'm gonna go get her."

"Are you sure you should go alone?"

"I won't be, Dylan is coming with me.  You take the car and go back to Kennedy.  Maybe you can take Dawn with you so she isn't here alone."

"Okay, you and Dylan be careful."

"You guys too."

Willow grabbed Dawn on her way out trying to answer all of the questions the teen was asking.  Buffy ran to the basement and threw the lid of the weapon chest open.  She grabbed weapons for herself and Dylan and ran back up the steps.  She found Dylan standing at the front door waiting.

"What's going on?"

"Come on, I'll explain along the way."

The two blondes ran out the door and down the street as Buffy explained as much as she knew about the situation.

Xander was pacing around the waiting room of the hospital sipping his coffee when a nurse appeared.

"Are you with the young woman who was brought in earlier?"

"Kennedy?  Yes, I am."

"Come with me."

Xander followed the nurse into the emergency room and she stopped in front of a room with a 3 on the door.

"Is she awake?"

"Not yet, we found traces of Ruhipnol in her blood and it usually takes 12 hours for it to wear off.  We are going to keep her overnight and keep an eye on her.  You can go in though."

"Thank you."

Xander walked into the room and felt his anger rise when he saw the younger girl.  She had stitches in her forehead and her left eye was a dark purple color and it was swollen Her lip was swollen and she had several small bruises on her neck.  The muscles in his jaw twitched as he clenched his teeth, trying not to lose it.  While he wasn't really close to Kennedy he knew that Willow cared a lot about her and he was disgusted at the thought of Kennedy and Faith getting attacked.  He pushed his emotion aside and pulled a chair up to the side of the bed and waited patiently as he drank his coffee.

Thirty minutes later Willow and Dawn arrived at the hospital.  They ran into the room and scared Xander who was sleeping lightly in the chair next to the bed.

"Sorry Xander."

"No problem, just startled me."

"How is she?"

"She hasn't woken up yet, how about Dawn and I go find a doctor for you."

"Thanks."

Willow sat in the chair next to the bed and she took Kennedy's hand in both of hers as tears silently slipped down her cheeks.

Faith awoke with a start and she looked around wildly.  Her vision had cleared up and she could see she was in what appeared to be a hospital room.   (No, not a hospital room, I'm in a cave.  A cave?  How the hell did I get here and what the hell is going on?)  She tried to lift her arms but she realized she was bound to the table.  She moved her legs and found they were bound as well.  She looked at her arms and saw that she had an I.V. in her right arm and she had wires attached to her chest.

"Hey!  What the hell is going on?"  She screamed at the top of her lungs.  An older man walked into the room.  He had a white lab coat on and his hair was dark and he was slightly balding.

"Oh, good you're awake."

"What the hell is going on?"

Suddenly a large demon entered the room, he looked like an Ubervamp but bigger and uglier.  He had a grin plastered to his face.  Faith immediately recognized him from the slayer dream she and Buffy shared.  It was Maltag.

"Don't worry slayer, we just need your blood."

"What the hell for?"

"Have you ever wondered what would happen if you took the blood of a slayer and put it in a vampire?"

Faith remained silent as she thought about the outcome.  She suddenly realized what would happen and her features hardened.  His grin widened as he watched her realize what he was doing.

"That's right, not only would they have a vampire's strength, but a slayer's as well.  You have already supplied us with the blood to revive one vampire, and there are only more to come."  He turned to the doctor.  "Keep an eye on
her, I'll be gone for an hour making preparations for my rise."

The doctor nodded as Maltag left the room.

Buffy had explained most of the situation to Dylan as they ran towards the cemetery.  Buffy could feel Faith nearby as they approached the gates.  As they ran through the gates, Buffy stopped suddenly and closed her eyes.  She focused all her energy on feeling Faith and she stood for a minute before opening her eyes.  She scanned her surroundings until her gaze fell on a nearby crypt.

"She's in there."

Dylan nodded as they ran to the crypt.  Buffy swung the door open and looked around.

"Are you sure she's in here?"

"Yeah, look for a hidden door or some kind of a passageway."

The two searched the room until Dylan swung the top of the grave off and saw the stairs leading down below.

"Remember Dylan, we're just going to get Faith, we aren't going after Maltag.  If we see him, we run.  We just need to get Faith out."

"I know, I got it, get in, get out.  Don't worry."

The two hopped into the grave and descended the steps.  Buffy led the way as she could sense that Faith was close.  They weaved through the narrow corridors lit by torches hung on the wall.  As they got closer they could hear Faith screaming at someone and as they reached the mouth of the cavern, they stopped and looked around.  The cavern ceiling was probably fifty feet up and the room was shaped like a dome.  Torch light swayed as a breeze swept through from one of the other corridors.  Directly across from where they were, they saw a demon exit the room that Buffy recognized as Maltag.  She nudged Dylan and nodded in his direction.  Dylan followed her gaze and took in the sight of the disgusting looking creature leaving the room.  She nodded at Buffy and suddenly something caught her eye.  She could see what appeared to be a human man in the room, he was holing a syringe and she caught sight of dark wavy hair.  Dylan nudged Buffy who was looking around trying to sense if anything was close.  Buffy looked where Dylan was pointing and she too saw the top of Faith's head bobbing around wildly.  They watched as the man moved away from the doorway and they decided to make their move.  The two blondes sprinted across the cavern and stopped just inside the door.  The man, who they decided was a doctor, had just finished giving Faith an injection and she was thrashing around yelling at him.  He looked up suddenly when he noticed the two girls in the doorway.  He had barely opened his mouth when Dylan clocked him right across the face with a right hook.  He was knocked unconscious instantly.  Faith stopped thrashing as soon as she saw Buffy and Dylan.  Buffy looked at her and could tell that she was given something to knock her out.  Her eyelids began to droop and she struggled to keep them open.

"B."

"Shh, Faithy, relax, just go to sleep baby, you're safe now."

~~~~~~

Willow sat holding Kennedy's hand crying silently when she heard a knock on the door.  She turned while wiping her tears away and saw a doctor at the door.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Kelly."  The blonde woman held out her hand to Willow.

"Hi, I'm Willow, Kennedy's girlfriend.  Is she going to be okay?"

"Well, we found traces of Ruhipnol in her blood-"

"The date rape drug?"

"Yes, that's why she's still asleep."

"Was she."

"I'm afraid she was raped, and unfortunately we found semen from two different men."  Willow brought a hand to her face and wiped the tears from her eyes.  Her chin quivered as she struggled to keep herself under control.

"We had to put some stitches in her head, she got fifteen in all.  We did a CAT scan and that came back clear.  We also gave her an emergency contraceptive, so there is no chance for pregnancy."

"What about STD's?"

"We have some pretty potent antibiotics running through her right now, they should take care of anything that would show up in the next few days.  We did an HIV test and it came back negative, but she will have to come back in six months to make sure it hasn't shown up.  Before she leaves I'm going to prescribe a mild sedative to help her sleep.  It looks worse than it is.  It's mostly bumps and bruises."

Willow nodded silently.  The doctor handed her a card.

"It's a crisis line, she can call if she needs to.  I'll get you set up with information about support groups before she leaves."

"Thank you."

The doctor smiled sadly at Willow and left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Faith smiled at Buffy and closed her eyes.  Dylan began undoing the restraints as Buffy pulled the heart monitor pads off Faith's chest.  She was glad Faith fell back asleep as she pulled the I.V. needle out of her arm; she knew it would hurt later.  She pulled the rest of the wires off her and wrapped her in the blanket that was covering her.  She noticed the blanket had some fairly large blood spots.  She gathered Faith in her arms and the two girls made their way back to the corridor they came through.  Buffy felt her spidey senses go off and she panicked briefly.

"Dylan, vamp up ahead."

Dylan nodded and pulled the stake out of the waist of her jeans.  She charged forward and bowled the vamp over.  The vampire, while surprised, used Dylan's momentum to roll the tiny blonde over on her back.  Dylan grunted as she slugged the vamp square in the face, she smiled as she heard the sound of bones crunching.  The vamp recoiled slightly and whimpered like a dog.  Dylan rolled herself back on top and quickly thrust the stake through its heart and watched as he burst into dust.

"Come on let's go."  Buffy began to run down the corridor with Dylan close behind, watching their backs.  They reached the steps and got to the top as quickly as they could.  The two sprinted out of the crypt and ran home as quickly as they could.  Dylan stayed close to Buffy until they reached Revello Drive, when they got there, she sprinted ahead and made it to the house in seconds.  She pushed the door open and ran to the phone.  She called Giles and explained the situation and he told her he would be over shortly.  She hung up the phone and ran upstairs to the bathroom.  She grabbed a pile of towels and the first aid kit.  She heard Buffy run through the door as she was laying the towels out on the bed.

"I called Giles and he's on his way over."

"Good, thanks.  Here give me a hand."

Dylan helped Buffy get Faith on the bed and she pulled the first aid kit up next to her.  Dylan stepped back and looked uncomfortable for a moment.

"You don't need my help for this do you?  It would be a little weird for me."

"No, sorry, I didn't think about it, why don't you wait for Giles downstairs and explain everything to him when he gets here.  I'll come down when I'm done."

Dylan smiled gratefully and closed the door behind her as she left.  Buffy peeled the now blood-soaked blanket back from Faith's body and gasped at what she saw.  She had bruises scattered all over her body and a deep wound was bleeding freely.  It began about two inches to the left of her navel and continued horizontally to her hipbone.  She reached for the gauze pads and stacked a few of them together.  She placed them over the gash and taped them up quickly.  She knew they would need stitches.  Faith had a few minor cuts that she cleaned and covered.  Buffy went to the dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas and dressed Faith and slid her under the blankets.  She dropped a quick kiss on Faith's head and made her way downstairs.  She spoke briefly with Giles and he made his way upstairs as the two blondes followed him.  He pulled his supplies out of the first aid kit and lifted the bottom of her shirt.  He pulled Buffy's bandage off and began to stitch Faith up.  When Giles was finished he and Dylan retreated downstairs and Buffy stayed with Faith.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later, Kennedy woke up groggily.  She struggled to open her eyes and she felt something grasp her hand.  She struggled to free her hand when she heard a voice.

"Kenny, it's me, Willow."

Kennedy calmed immediately as she followed the voice.  She could make out the outline of Willow's body, but her eyes refused to focus.  She opened her mouth to speak, but only a croak escaped her throat.

"Relax sweetie, just go back to sleep.  You're in the hospital, you're safe."

Kennedy struggled to speak again and this time she managed to form a single word.

"Faith?"

"Buffy is taking care of Faith, don't worry baby.  Just rest, okay?"

Kennedy nodded slightly and drifted back to sleep.  Willow turned at a light knock on the door.  Dawn and Xander stood in the doorway.  Dawn had tears in her eyes and Willow reached out and the young girl practically ran to her arms.  The girl sobbed into Willow's shoulder and she held her close.

"It's okay Dawnie, Kenny and Faith are going to be fine."

"I know, I was just scared."

"I know honey, I was too."

"Is it okay if I stay here with you?"

"Yeah, it's okay, she probably won't be awake for a while, but you can stay if you want."

"Hey Wills, I think I'm gonna head home, but call me when she's ready to come home and I'll come back to get you guys."

Willow nodded and Xander placed a kiss on both girls' heads and left.  A few minutes later Dawn went to get coffee and Willow stayed at Kennedy's bedside.

CHAPTER 5

A nurse at the hospital was nice enough to roll a cot into the room Kennedy was staying in.  Willow offered it to Dawn quickly, who gratefully accepted it and curled up and fell asleep within minutes.  Willow remained awake and stayed seated next to the bed holding Kennedy's hand.  Around midnight the young potential began to stir.  Her eyelids fluttered slightly and Willow gripped her hand and stood close as the girl woke up.  Kennedy awoke fully and looked around wildly until her gaze fell on Willow.  The brunette calmed noticeably, but still seemed on edge.  Willow brought her free hand to Kennedy's face and brushed a few errant strands of hair away.  Kennedy cleared her throat a few times and licked her lips.

"Can I have some water?"  She managed to croak out lightly.

Willow nodded and poured a cup of water from the container sitting near the sink.  She helped the younger girl sit up slightly and held the cup to her lips.

"Just little sips, you don't want to get sick."

Kennedy took a few small sips of water just to wet her throat and eased herself back on the bed.

"What happened?"

"You don't remember anything?"

Kennedy shook her head and furrowed her brows in thought trying to remember anything.  Willow took her hand again, hoping desperately that the fear in her eyes and her tear-stained cheeks wouldn't give her away.

"We were dancing and suddenly I started to feel dizzy and I remember Faith helping me out of the Bronze, but after that, I'm drawing a blank."

"You were drugged Kenny."

Kennedy's gaze shot up to meet Willow's and the brunette searched her eyes intently.

"No.oh my God.those guys."  Kennedy's eyes fell to the bed.

"What guys?"

"These two guys offered to buy us a drink and they did and then we blew them off.  They seemed kinda pissed, but they were staring at us all night like they were waiting for something."

"Do you remember what they looked like?"

"Yeah kinda."

"You're probably going to have to talk to the police tomorrow Ken."

Kennedy again searched the redhead's eyes and finally noticed something off.

"What's up Red.there's something you're not telling me."

Willow sat silently for a moment before lifting Kennedy's hand to her mouth and kissing her fingers gently.

"The doctors found Ruhipnol in your system and they said you were raped...by two different guys."

Kennedy sat in stunned silence and Willow felt her chin quiver once again.  She did her best to push her emotions aside to be strong for the younger girl.

"H-how did I g-get here?"  Kennedy's eyes welled up slightly but she blinked the tears away.

"Buffy found you outside the Bronze in an alley, she was worried because you guys had been gone so long, so we came to find you."

Kennedy just nodded silently as Willow kissed her hand again.

Rain was falling steadily outside as Buffy sat at the window with her arm propped up on the sill, chin in hand.  The moonlight spilled through the open window and the warm spring air rushed in.  She sat deeply inhaling the cleansing breeze of rain soaked air.  The sound was almost hypnotizing as she sat thinking about the events bestowed upon them tonight.  Kennedy was in the hospital; both she and Faith had been drugged.  Willow had called to tell her that Dawn was asleep on a cot in Kenny's room.  She didn't want to leaved Faith alone, so she sat at her window seat and allowed the serenity of the rain pouring down to engulf her in a trance-like state.  A light knock at the door suddenly jarred her out of her thoughts.  She turned as Dylan edged the door open and peeked her head inside.

"Buffy?"

Buffy smiled a sweet smile at the girl and waved her in.  Buffy's face fell as she noticed light tear stains on her cheeks.  She opened her arms to the girl who rushed over and buried her face in Buffy's neck.  Buffy pulled Dylan down so she was sitting in her lap and slowly rubbed light circles on her back with one hand as the other ran through the wavy, blonde locks, calming her.  Buffy suddenly felt a swell of maternity rise within her.

"It's okay Dylan, she's going to be fine."

"I know, just seeing her in that place and watching her get stitched up...do you think they did anything else to her?"

Buffy furrowed her brow and thought for a moment.

"I...I don't know, I wonder if we should have taken her to the hospital.  Is Giles still here?"

The young girl just nodded into Buffy's shoulder.  Buffy patted Dylan's leg in a sign for her to stand up.  As they stood, Buffy wrapped an arm around her shoulders and leaned in and kissed the top of her head.

"Let's go talk to Giles, he'll know what to do."

After talking to Giles, Buffy returned to Faith and gently scooped her up.  She carried the girl downstairs and out the door that Dylan closed behind them.  She pulled Faith into the backseat of Giles' car with her as Dylan hopped in the front.  They took off towards Sunnydale Memorial as Buffy called Xander to tell him what was going on; he agreed to meet them there.  She hung up the phone and turned her attention back to Faith who had light beads of sweat tracing her forehead.  Buffy kissed the girl lightly just as they pulled up to the hospital.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xander arrived at the hospital just as they were getting Faith settled into her room.  He found Buffy, Giles and Dylan in the waiting room and they told him the doctors had to run some tests so they had been ushered out of the room.  Buffy was pacing back and forth wringing her hands together, muttering obscenities under her breath.  Dylan sat close to tears thinking about her mom having to go through all this.  Xander sat down next to the girl and patted her knee lightly.

"Ya wanna go grab something to eat Dylan?"

"Sure...unless Mo-, sorry Buffy, you want me to stay?"

Buffy smiled at the girl and shook her head.

"No, you guys go ahead, I'm gonna go check on Kenny and see how Willow and Dawn are holding up."

"Giles, do you want to come along?"  Xander asked the watcher.

"I could use a cup of coffee myself."

Dylan and Xander rose and as they passed Buffy, the older blonde reached for her daughter's hand and pulled her into a hug.  She lightly kissed the side of her head and they both headed off in separate directions.  Buffy turned back in time to see Xander wrap an arm around the young girl's shoulders and watched as she smiled up at him in thanks.  She smiled at the sight and turned back to search for her friends and sister.

Buffy found Kennedy's room and pushed the door open quietly.  She smiled to herself as she saw Dawn curled up in a ball on a cot and Kennedy sleeping soundly with one hand enclosed in both of Willow's.  Willow turned at the sound of the door and saw Buffy taking in the scene before her.

"Hey Will, how is she?"  Buffy whispered.

Willow released Kennedy's hand and stood, stretching a bit.  She motioned for her friend to follow her out of the room.

"Buffy, what are you doing here, what about Faith?"

"We decided to bring Faith here, just in case something happened to her that we don't know about."

"Oh...Kennedy is okay, I told her what happened.  She told me she remembers two guys at the Bronze who bought the two of them drinks and the doctor said she found traces of Ruhipnol in her blood.  Chances are Faith has it in her system as well."

"I can't even process all this right now...if someone hurt her, I will kill them.  After everything she went through when she was younger...if I find out somebody did something to her, I'll make Angelus look like the damn tooth fairy."

"Well, I've been doing some thinking since I've been here and I have two theories."  Willow met Buffy's eyes and the blonde nodded for her to continue.  Willow looked around at the people nearby and began to lead Buffy down the hall until they were outside.  They sat down on a bench nearby and Buffy, surprisingly to Willow, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one.

"Since when do you smoke?"

"Since now, well actually last night, these are Faith's, it actually helps me chill.  So what are you theories?"

"Well, the way I see it, this happened for one of two reasons.  One, these two stupid bastards saw Faith and Kenny at the bronze and decided to drug them and have their way with them.  But that doesn't really wash because they left Kenny in the alley and took Faith...what happened with her anyways?"

"She was in a crypt in the cemetery like you said.  We went down these steps in the crypt and there was this whole underground lair thing and she was down there.  We saw Maltag leaving this room that Faith was in with this doctor guy.  She had tubes and stuff hooked up to her, Dylan knocked the doc out and we grabbed her and ran.  He had given her an injection of something to knock her out.  But, finish your theory."

"Well, either those guys drugged them, attacked them and left them, or drugged them, attacked them and took Faith underground and they work for Maltag.  Or, come to think of it, it could have been somebody else completely who was supposed to deliver Faith to Maltag.  Those guys just made it a bit easier for them.  So the other question is what did they want with Faith?"

"It's most likely slayer related, he probably wanted to kill her to weaken our side for the fight."

"Well, that doesn't make sense Buffy, why would they have a doctor looking after her?"

"Hmm, maybe he wanted to turn her?"

"Maybe, we'll just have to wait and talk to both of them in the morning.  We'll figure this out."

"Yeah, you're right...come on, let's get back in there...you don't know how tempted I am to get Spike up here and snag a scent off them.  He could hunt them down and I could kill them."

"I'm not so sure I would disagree with you on that one.  Maybe not the killing part, but I wouldn't mind getting my hands on them."

"We could always have Xander go get him."

The two girls locked gazes and truly thought about what they were saying.  Both knew emotion was fogging their brains and they knew if they did, in fact, get their hands on the two who did this, it had the potential to turn deadly.

"We could always get him to just find the guys, we can just help the police investigation along."  Willow said finally.

"The police will only work if these guys are actually human, what if they're demons in human form?"

"The doctor told me that they found semen from two men on Kenny."

Willow's gaze fell to the floor.

"Oh."

Buffy pulled her best friend into a hug and they both struggled not to cry.  She stood and held a hand out to the redhead and they made their way back inside.  Outside Kenny's room, Buffy gave Willow a hug as she went inside the room as the blonde headed off to find the rest of the group.  Buffy noticed Dylan and Xander giggling as they each devoured a bag of chips and Giles watched amusedly while sipping his coffee.

"Hey Xand, can I talk to you?"

Xander gave another smile to the younger blonde and walked over to Buffy.  The two talked briefly before Xander headed out of the hospital.  Buffy approached the remaining two and sat next to her daughter, throwing her arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Hey Giles, you don't have to stay, I know its late.  We'll be fine."

"Right yes, I trust you'll call me in the morning and let me know how things are?"

"After tonight I figured we can all relax tomorrow and spend Saturday going over the final game plan before the big showdown."

"Yes, I agree, rest would be good for everyone involved."

Buffy stood and walked Giles to the exit and hugged him briefly as he left sending a small wave at Dylan.  Buffy walked back to the younger girl and held out her hand.  Dylan took her hand and they headed off to find Faith.

"Come on shortie, let's go find your momma."

"I'm not short."  Dylan pouted slightly.

Buffy sent her a hip check and smiled.

"Hey its about time I had somebody shorter than me to pick on."

They managed to get a cot for Dylan set up in Faith's room the young girl fell asleep quickly.  Some time later, Buffy turned as she heard the door open and saw Spike walk in.  The two locked gazes and nodded slightly.  No words were needed.  Spike leaned over the slumbering slayer and inhaled deeply.  The tight muscles in his jaw clenched and it looked to Buffy like they were threatening to pop out of his cheek.  He stood upright and sent another nod at Buffy before exiting the room.  Xander walked in the room as Spike was leaving and she sent him a smile thanking him.  He spent the night alternating between the two rooms.  The next morning, the not-too-baffled-with the accelerated healing power-doctors discharged both girls after they each talked to the police.  They did find traces of the date-rape drug in Faith's system; they also found a very potent dose of morphine.  Buffy felt unbelievably relieved to find out that the two men had not raped Faith.  They couldn't do much about the descriptions they gave to the police...two regular looking guys, no tattoos, no piercings, nothing really.   The slayer and the potential woke way too early and began insisting that they be released.  Finally the doctors complied at around 6 that morning.  When they left, Buffy, Faith, Dawn and Dylan piled in the jeep, and Xander, Willow and Kennedy piled in Xander's car.  When they got home Faith insisted that she was fine and kissed Buffy and ordered her to go to bed.  Kennedy was found doing the same to Willow.  Xander retreated to his 'apartment' in the basement and instantly fell asleep.  Both Dawn and Dylan stayed up, having slept a fair amount in the hospital.  The two youngest girls plopped down on the couch to watch cartoons as Faith made her way outside for a smoke.  It was still fairly early in the morning and a light mist played its way through the backyard as Faith sat on the steps.  She pulled her pack out of her jacket and noticed more than a few cigarettes were gone.

Damn, B musta picked up my habit.  She thought to herself.  Faith pulled one out and held it between her teeth as she searched for her lighter.  She turned as she heard the door shut behind her and watched as Kennedy took the seat next to her.  Faith held out the pack to the younger brunette and watched as a bloodied-knuckled hand plucked a smoke from the pack.  Kennedy held out a light for Faith, who dipped her head slightly to catch the flame.

Faith inhaled deeply and blew the smoke out her pursed lips.

"How ya feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a garbage truck, damn some slayer healing would be nice right now."

"Sorry kid, I've gotta call the score even for now...I may have the healing, but you just got dumped in the alley, that bastard demon in the cave really had his way with me."

"Yeah, well the two pricks who drugged us apparently had their way with me."

Faith straightened at that comment.  She sent a confused glance to the potential signaling she had no idea what went down.  Kennedy's features saddened as she took another drag from her cigarette.  She stared at a spot in the grass and shuddered at Willow's confession rang in her ears. They said you were raped...by two different guys.  She closed her eyes and her chin quivered slightly.  Faith reached over and put a reassuring hand on her forearm.  The two brunettes locked gazes for a moment and the realization hit Faith like a ton of bricks.  The slayer's gaze hardened and suddenly she had her game face on.

Oh shit, I've released Faith's inner psycho.  Kennedy began to panic slightly as she watched emotions dance over Faith's features.  First it was anger...then rage...then...empathy???.then back to rage.  Faith suddenly stood and flicked her cigarette into the grass.  Kennedy noticed Faith's hands curled up into fists so tight, her knuckles were turning white.

"Faith."  Kennedy's voice came out a mixture of question and uncertainty.

"Son of a...damn pricks...dammit...shit!"  Faith turned on her heel and marched back into the house.  Kennedy threw her cigarette and ran after Faith.  The slayer, still dressed in her pajamas, stormed into the living room and threw a weapons chest open and began digging inside.  The two youngest girls watched Faith, both girls' concern growing.  Dylan and Kennedy tried to reason with Faith, who would either ignore both of them or grunt in response.  Dawn slipped upstairs to Buffy's room and roused the fair slayer from her sleep.

"Buffy, you better get downstairs, Faith is looking...a little too Faith-like."

"Faith-like?"

Dawn gave her sister the look.  Buffy realized the meaning immediately and flew out of bed and to the top of the stairs just as Faith was about to open the door.  The dark slayer (looking pretty dark at the moment, by the way, save for the baby blue pj's she was doting.)  held a silver dagger in her left hand.

"Faith!"

The brunette stopped short and sent a glance the fair slayer's way, before turning back to the door.

"Faith wait!  Don't do this!"

"Sorry B, payback's a bitch, and this is one bitch they'll be sorry they messed with."

Faith made her move for the door again as Buffy flew down the steps.  Halfway down she stopped.

"Faith!  They're human!"

Faith froze in her tracks.  She stood motionless, still clutching the dagger.  The dark slayer turned her head slowly to look at Buffy, who was now inching down the steps.  Buffy knew they were toeing the line again.  She saw the look in Faith's eye and recognized it instantly.  The look from the dreams she was plagued with after Finch.  She knew this was tricky ground to be walking on, even after all this time.

"They may be human B, but they aren't innocents this time around."

"Faith, please, baby don't do this, don't go back...please."

The pleading in Buffy's voice wasn't lost on Faith, but she felt an instinctual swell in the pit of her stomach that could rarely be ignored.  The hunt...the kill...evil dies...she kills the evil walking amongst them.  Buffy...can't lose Buffy...they deserve to have their hearts ripped out...dammit Buffy.

Buffy finally made it to the bottom of the steps.  She stood directly in front of Faith and managed to grasp the other slayers gaze.  She held tight.

"I have to B."

"No, Faith, you don't."

"THEY RAPED KENNEDY!"

"I know!  And they deserve to have their lungs ripped out and their testicles removed painfully, but...we can't."  Buffy's eyes fell to the floor for a moment before looking back to Faith, whose own gaze had softened slightly. 

"You can't."

Faith stood, blinking, she dropped the dagger and clenched and un-clenched her fists several times.

Buffy saw the tears in Faith's eyes and noticed her chin quiver slightly through the anger etched on her features.  She reached out and took Faith's hand.  Buffy was brought back to the vision of Faith's past and felt her own anger swell.  Tears began to form in Buffy's eyes as well.

"I know it hurts baby, but please don't leave me again."  Buffy choked on a small sob as her tears slipped down her cheeks.  Faith finally buckled and pulled Buffy into a hug as the two cried.

"Dammit B, I'm sorry."

"Shh, it's okay sweetie...it's okay.  You stayed with me this time, it's okay."

Dylan, Dawn and Kennedy, who saw the whole development, remained silent as they left the room and headed for the kitchen.  Willow stood at the top of the steps; she had seen only the tail end of the fun.  The two slayers screaming at each other didn't take long to wake her; she just sat in bed for a minute trying to figure out what had happened.  Once she knew everything was okay with Faith, she headed back to bed.

Dylan and Dawn sat on one side of the island in the kitchen each devouring cereal as Kennedy sat silently sipping coffee.  The two younger girls exchanged a glance.

"Are you...okay Kennedy?"  Dawn gave the potential a small, unsure smile.

"I'll be fine.I guess under the circumstances I should feel kinda lucky."

"Lucky?  I don't get it."  Dylan looked confused.

"Well, the way I see it, if I had to go through what I went through, at least...I don't have to remember it.  A lot of people are haunted when they go through it; I won't be, not that badly anyways.  I mean, I know that it happened, but I think I would feel completely violated if I actually remembered exactly what was done to me...does that make sense?"

The two girls thought deeply for a few minutes and each nodded.  Dawn heard a knock at the door and peeked her head around the corner to see a smoldering blanket barge through the door.  She stood at the doorway and managed to pick up fragments of the conversation Buffy was having with Spike.

".so you found them."

".damn scent all over town, but I tracked them down.  They're holed up downtown."

".definitely human? Are you..."

".tested them, the chip buzzed, I got a bloody head sizzle."

"What is Spike doing here?"  Kennedy snapped Dawn out of her eavesdropping and headed towards the door.

Both Buffy and Spike caught sight of her and ended the conversation quickly.   The vampire hooded himself again and pulled the door open.  Just as he was about to make a mad-dash, Buffy grabbed his arm.  He turned back.

"You hungry Spike?"

He looked at her questioningly until she raised her eyebrows slightly.

"You know I can't."

"You're a very resourceful guy when you want to be."

They exchanged a look and Spike went running out the door.

"What was that all about?"

"Just trading some info for some blood...the boy's gotta eat."

Buffy smiled tightly as she watched Spike hop into a sewer opening nearby.  She shut the door and headed back upstairs where Faith had been lying down since their little blow up.  Buffy crawled into bed with Faith and wrapped her arms around the brunette's middle.  She couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt in the pit of her stomach.

I just gave Spike permission to eat those two guys.  What am I thinking?

Yeah, the two guys who drugged your girlfriend and delivered her to a demon to do God knows what.  The two guys who raped and beat your best friend's girlfriend.  Screw them.

But still, I had it out with Faith for her wanting to do exactly what I am allowing Spike to do.

You knew Faith would do it, no hesitation...what Spike does with your permission is up to him.

True and its not like Spike will be the one to actually kill them if they do get killed, he can't do it, it will probably end up frying his brain...can he eat humans that are already dead?

Who cares...all I did was let him know that I wouldn't interfere if he wanted to take care of those two pricks.

Right...let it go, its out of your hands now anyways...it's Faithy time, don't let her go, give her some love.

Buffy shook off the guilt and held Faith tightly dropping a light kiss on her temple.  Faith smiled and kept her eyes closed.  She simply reveled in Buffy's embrace as she felt the blonde slayer relax and eventually drift back to sleep.

About an hour later Faith slipped quietly from Buffy's bed and eased the door shut as she left the room.  She heard the sounds of the shower running as she went downstairs.  Faith found the D twins sprawled out on the couch looking bored.

Its only 9 a.m. and these two are already bored...its gonna be a long day.

"Is this the best you two could come up with?"

"We don't really have too many options here Faith."

"You have your license don't you Daybreak?"

"Yeah, but Buffy won't let me take the car."

"Well if we ruin it, I'll just buy her a new one, come on, let's go get some entertainment."

Faith moved towards the door but stopped as she noticed the two girls looking at her funny.

"What?"

"You might want to change first."  Dylan pointed to her pj's and smirked.

Faith rolled her eyes and ran upstairs to change.  A few minutes later she returned and they headed out the door.  They made it to the mall slowly, but surely and Dawn barely got the car in the parking space.  The piled out and wandered into the mall.  The first stop was a video store.  They wandered up and down the aisles and picked out about thirty DVD's.  They left that store and headed next to the video game store.  Faith picked out a PlayStation 2, a Game Cube and an Xbox.  They bought roughly twenty games and Faith insisted that they have every accessory the store had.  She bought extra memory cars, wireless controllers and every thing else she could.  Before they left the mall, arms full of bags, they made one last stop.  They headed into one of the larger department stores and went to the seasonal department.  The two girls were flabbergasted when they found out Faith wanted to buy a pool.  She picked the biggest aboveground pool she could find and paid a huge price to ensue it would be delivered later that morning.  Feeling satisfied, she led the two girls back to the car and smiled as they squealed in excitement about the pool.

The three girls arrived home around 10:30 and began dragging bags and boxes into the living room.  Faith took her time setting the game systems up and just as she was finishing they heard a knock at the door.  The D twins began playing games as Faith kept an eye on the guys installing the pool.  They finished around noon and Faith made sure they received a huge tip.  She rolled her eyes at them as she saw them checking out her ass.  The dark slayer grinned as she turned and looked at the pool.  She sauntered over and dipped her hand in the water, testing the temperature.

B's gonna love this.  She thought with a smile.  She heard the back door and turned and saw Kennedy gaping at the pool.  Faith smirked.

"Where did this come from?"

"We went shopping this morning."

"I noticed Dawn and Dylan playing with all the stuff in the living room, but a pool?  I didn't know you could just buy them and have them delivered same-day."

"Money talks...anyways, how ya feelin'?"

"I don't really wanna talk about it right now...if that's okay."

Faith smiled sadly at the girl as she took her usual smoking seat and lit a cigarette.

"No prob Ken, but if you do want to talk...I...know what its like."

Kennedy smiled as she sat next to the slayer and lit a cigarette of her own.

"So what happened to you last night?"

Faith rolled her eyes and began telling Kennedy about her night.

Around two that afternoon, Buffy was woken up by the sounds of Dawn shrieking.  She threw the blankets off the bed and raced downstairs.  She heard similar sounds from the backyard and threw the door open violently.  She was shocked, to say the least, to find Faith in a swimming pool tossing Dawn and Dylan in the air and laughing as they squealed before they hit the water.  Kennedy was sprawled out in her bikini on a chair near the pool watching them.  Buffy stood and surveyed the scene for a few minutes until Willow appeared behind her.  The redhead peered over Buffy's shoulder and a faint gasp escaped her lips.

"When did we get a pool?"

Buffy shook her head.

"I don't know."

The two made their way outside and Willow made her way over to Kennedy as Buffy walked to the side of the pool only to get partially drenched as Dawn went flying into the water.  Faith caught sight of Buffy as she watched Dawn hit the water and smiled sheepishly when the blonde got soaked.

"Hey B.  Wanna come swimming?"

"Faith, where did this pool come from?"

Faith grinned proudly.

"We got it this morning."

Buffy look confused and shocked and a few other things that Faith couldn't describe.

"Come on B, come swimming with us, it's fun in here."

Suddenly Buffy's face grew concerned.

"Faith come here a minute."

Faith raised her eyebrows and hopped out of the pool.  She followed Buffy up to the deck and stood waiting for an explanation.  Buffy's gaze fell to the brunette's stomach.  The laceration had almost completely healed; Buffy ran
her fingers over the scar tenderly.

"Are you okay Faith?"

Faith reached over and lifted her chin up, forcing Buffy's eyes to meet hers.

"B, I'm fine, slayer healing, it's okay."

"We need to talk about last night."

"Yeah, I know...can we talk in the pool?"

Faith gave Buffy a hopeful grin and Buffy could only laugh.  The blonde leaned in a kissed her lightly and ran her hand through Faith's hair.

"Yeah, we can talk in the pool.  Be right back."

Buffy turned and headed back to her room.  Once she was changed she went back outside.  She walked over to Kennedy who was lounging with her eyes closed.  Buffy cringed slightly at the sight of the bruises on the girl's neck and thighs.

"Kennedy?"

The girl opened her eyes and gave Buffy a small smile.  Buffy sat on the bottom half of the chair when Kennedy moved her legs up.

"Are you okay?"

Kennedy mused silently for a few moments.

"I don't know to be honest.  I haven't really had the chance to wrap my head around everything that happened.  I'm just gonna need some time."

Buffy smiled sadly.

"I know, but we do kinda need to talk about last night a little, we won't go into any details or anything.  Are you okay with that?"

Kennedy sat silently for a moment and sighed.

"Yeah."

Buffy nodded and sat in the chair next to Kennedy and smiled when Faith hopped out of the pool and made her way over.  Buffy leaned back and patted the chair in front of her.  Faith slid into the chair between Buffy's legs and leaned back as the blonde's arms circled around her.

"Ooh, you're cold."  Buffy shivered slightly at the cold water dripping on her from Faith.

"Nah, you're just hot."

Buffy giggled slightly and dropped a kiss on Faith's damp shoulder.  She felt the brunette shiver slightly and she grinned.  Buffy pulled Faith's hair away and placed another kiss on her neck.  Faith closed her eyes and reveled in Buffy's attention.  Willow emerged a minute later and ordered Kennedy up from the chair and sat down pulling the brunette into a similar position.  Willow leaned her cheek against the side of Kennedy's forehead.

"How's your head?"  She asked softly.

"It's fine."

Willow nodded and kissed Kennedy's temple and started playing with her hair.  The two girls told the others of the events that they remembered from the previous night.  Buffy's concern grew when Faith told them about the blood transfusion.

"Blood of a slayer in a vampire would make one hell of a super vamp."

"Yeah, but he only made one, you guys got me before they had enough for more."

"Okay, I have a question, why would that demon slice and dice if they needed to draw blood through your arm, isn't that a waste?"  Kennedy asked.

Willow shook her head.

"No, in a lot of cases, if the wound is deep enough, it won't really bleed.  When your body is injured, it automatically reproduces more blood cells to heal.  It obviously didn't work the way they wanted it to.  Faith, when you were thrashing around on the table, it must have aggravated the wound into opening completely, that's probably why they were keeping you sedated.  They knew that by injuring you, your blood would reproduce quicker."

"Spike found the two guys."  Buffy confessed suddenly.

Three heads turned to her with wide-eyed expressions.

"Buffy, you didn't."  Willow looked at her condemningly.

"He can't do anything anyways Will."

"Wait, what the hell are you two talking about?"  Faith asked as she pulled away from Buffy and turned to her.

"Spike got a scent from you and found them holed up downtown.  They're both human.  He's gonna keep an eye on them until we can point the police in the right direction.  He's gonna take me there tonight and I'm going to give the cops an anonymous tip, so they know where to find them."

"So why did Red get all weird when you mentioned him?"

"Honestly?  We discussed having Spike find these guys so I could kill them."

"But you won't, right?"  Faith gave her a look almost bordering on angry.

"No Faith, I wouldn't do that after what I said to you this morning.  What Spike decides to do is another story, he was pretty livid when he saw you in the hospital."

"But he can't physically hurt them right?"

"No, he can't.  Even if he wanted to, he couldn't kill anybody without it frying his brain.  He won't do anything to them."

Faith nodded and moved back into Buffy's embrace.

"So what's the plan for today?"

"Well, I talked to Giles and he thinks we should rest today after everything that went on last night.  Maybe we can do a light workout, since we've had the last few days off, but I don't want anybody falling asleep tomorrow night.  It's obvious that his whole lair thing is below Restfield, so I'm guessing that's where he's gonna rise.  You guys have everything you need for the spells Will?"

"Yup, we're all set.  Actually, I thought of something else that may be helpful."

"What's that?"

Willow and Kennedy exchanged a look.

"Remember last year when I was all veiny and I did that spell that gave me strength like yours Buffy?"

Buffy gave her friend a concerned look.

"Yeah."

"Well, I was thinking that I could use it on Kennedy so she will have slayer strength.  Or, Giles could do it.  I just figured it would help with the fight."

"I don't know Will."

Willow gave Buffy a small smile and nodded.

"Just think about it, talk to Giles about it.  You guys decide."

Buffy returned the smile and nodded.

"So we know the where and the when, we know what kills him, all we have to do now is make sure we're ready to fight.  So me and Faith are going to concentrate on the Ubervamps and Kenny and Will are gonna take the vamps.  Giles, Xander and Dawn are going to make sure that nobody gets too close to Will while she's casting.  Dylan takes the baddie and we all live happily ever after right?"

The rest of the group laughed as they relaxed and spent the rest of the afternoon lounging.  Giles arrived later for dinner and Buffy pulled him aside.

"Giles, Will told me about the spell."

"Ah, yes."

"Do you think it's a good idea?"

"Well, I think it would certainly help us if Kennedy was given slayer strength, I'm not so sure Willow should be the one doing the spell."

"She said you might be able to do it."

Giles removed his glasses and began cleaning them.

"I can...I will have to channel power from Willow to do it, but in turn, she might not be as strong in the fight.  If we do this, we will have to use just the right amount of power from Willow to allow Kennedy enough power to make it through the fight and still leave Willow enough power to be able to cast the required spells."

"Can you guys pull it off?"

"I suspect between the two of us, we will figure out a way to balance the power."

Buffy sighed, obviously relieved.

"Thanks Giles."

He smiled at her and they headed into the dining room for dinner.  Buffy explained to everyone that Spike got a location on the two attackers and before patrol he was going to show them where they had been hiding.

An hour later, Buffy, Faith, Kennedy, and Dylan left in the jeep to meet Spike at his crypt.  He gave Buffy directions as she drove them downtown to a shabby looking warehouse.  They parked a few blocks away and jumped out.  Spike could still smell them as they circled the building.  Buffy crept around to the back and froze when she heard two voices.  She climbed on top of a few discarded crates and peered in a window.  She saw two guys sitting on a ratty couch drinking.  She hopped down silently and ran back around front where Faith was.  She silently took her hand and pulled her around back.  Once Faith confirmed that those were the guys, Buffy pulled out her cell and called the police.  Buffy and Faith ran back to the group and told them to man the other exit in case the guys decided to bail.  Faith and Dylan ran around the other side and stayed at that exit and Buffy and Kennedy took the other.  Faith heard the two start to panic as they heard the sirens approach.  Suddenly, the door before her flew open and the two came barreling out.  Faith was stunned for a moment as the guys recognized her and they almost made it past her, but Dylan reached out and grabbed both of them by the shits and shoved them up against the building.  She called out to the others and they came running around the building as the police pulled up.  Spike decided to bolt and took off through the woods.  The four girls circled around them not allowing them the opportunity to escape.  They were shoved a few times when they attempted to break free. The police took both men into custody when Buffy explained who they were.

"We were on our way to the Bronze and spotted them, we followed them here and called you guys.  It's a good thing they're drunk, otherwise the four of us, being girls, never would have been able to keep them here." Buffy smiled sweetly at the officer who was shoving the blonde guy into the backseat.  The girls got back in the jeep and followed the police to the station.  After Kennedy and Faith each did a separate line up, they were allowed to leave.  The girls headed back to the cemetery and did a quick patrol.  Between the four of them, they only managed to dust two vamps and decided to head home to get some sleep.  The girls split up and headed for their respective rooms.

A few minutes later Kennedy headed for the shower.  She stood facing the spray leaning heavily on her outstretched arms.  She allowed the spray to hit her face directly for a few moments before turning and reaching for the soap.   She unwrapped the new bar and began lathering her body furiously.  She managed to cover every square inch of her skin, scrubbing wildly, before allowing the scorching water to rinse it off.  She repeated the process three more times and her skin was almost numb when she stepped out of the shower forty-five minutes later.  She wrapped a towel around herself and walked back to her room.  Willow was in bed reading when the girl appeared in the doorway.  The redhead almost gasped at the sight of Kennedy's red, tender skin.

"Kennedy, what did you do?"

The brunette stood in the doorway gazing at the floor.  Willow dropped her book on the floor and approached Kennedy.  As she got near, the brunette reared back slightly.

"No, Kenny, it's just me.  I won't hurt you, I just want to help."

Willow took a few tentative steps closer and took the girl's hand cautiously.  Kennedy's chin quivered slightly as Willow directed her to the bed.  She sat down and stared at the floor as Willow trailed her fingers over her skin lightly.

"I just wanted to feel clean."

Willow felt her heart melt at the broken quality of her voice.

"I think everything just kinda hit me when I got in the shower.  I couldn't stop scrubbing.  I don't feel clean."

"Shh, baby, it's okay.  I'm here.  Does it hurt?"

Kennedy shook her head slightly.  Willow thought for a moment and mumbled something under her breath.  Seconds later a vile of liquid appeared in her hand.  Kennedy looked up at her questioningly.

"It's just a potion, it'll help.  Can I?"

Kennedy nodded.  Willow turned and closed the door and returned and knelt in front of the girl.  She pulled the cork from the bottle and poured the milky solution into the palm of her hand.  She rubbed her hands together and started lathering the fluid onto Kennedy's arm.  She repeated the process on the other arm and took care of her legs.  She raised her eyes to Kennedy's and searched her gaze for a moment.

"Do you want to do the rest or do you want me to?"

Kennedy's eyes were sad as they met Willow's for a moment and she let her gaze fall back to the floor.

"You."

The brunette inched backwards on the bed until she was lying on her back.  She grasped the towel and pulled it open.  Willow felt her stomach tighten as she took in the sight of the girl's skin.  Bruises still marred the skin on her thighs and the endless scrubbing in the shower turned her skin an angry red color.  Willow kept her touches light as she finished applying the lotion to Kennedy.  When she finished, the girl pulled the sheet up over her self and turned on her side facing the middle of the bed.  Willow tossed the discarded towel over the back of a chair and stood at the foot of the bed.

"Do you want me to sleep on the couch tonight?"

Kennedy shook her head.

"I don't want to be alone."

"Do you want me to take the floor?"

"No, stay with me.  Please?"

Willow immediately crawled onto the bed and was lying on her stomach looking at the girl.

"I'll do whatever you want me to do Kennedy, I just don't want to crowd you."

The brunette shook her head and grasped one of Willow's hands.

"I need you close.  I need you to hold me close."

Willow nodded and kissed her forehead lightly before getting out of bed and turning the lights off.  She climbed back in bed and laid on her back, gently pulling Kennedy closer.  Kennedy squeezed in as close as she could and draped her arm around Willow's waist as the redhead's arms wrapped around her tightly.  Willow traced her fingers lightly on Kennedy's healed back and arms.  Kennedy lifted her head and looked into Willows deep green eyes and leaned in for a kiss.  The brunette deepened the kiss quickly until Willow pulled back slightly.

"Kennedy."

The girl looked up to her with an almost pleading look in her eye.

"Willow, I need you tonight.  I need you to make love to me.  I know it might sound weird, but I need something sweet and gentle tonight and you're...pretty much Queen of sweet and gentle."

Willow searched the dark eyes for a moment.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You know I'll do anything for you, but promise me if you get wigged at all, you'll tell me and we'll stop."

Kennedy nodded and her face broke out into a smile that melted Willow's heart every time.  Willow smiled back as she leaned in for another kiss.

Buffy followed Faith into their room and closed the door behind them.  She watched as Faith shrugged out of her denim jacket and she draped it over the back of the desk chair.  Faith sat on the bed and started unlacing her boots and she threw them in the closet when she was done.  She looked up and found Buffy watching her intently.

"What's up B?"

Buffy smiled and Faith felt her chest tighten for a moment.  Faith watched as her gorgeous blonde took a few steps closer to her until she was standing directly in front of her.

"You promised me a shower...feel up to it?"

Faith grinned and reached out and pulled the hem of Buffy's tee up slightly.  She reached in and placed the sweetest kiss on the skin just below her belly button.  Buffy shivered lightly and her knees went a little weak.  She placed her hands on Faith's shoulders for support   Faith dropped a few more 'innocent' kisses on Buffy's stomach before she stood and kissed her sweet lips.  Buffy sighed as she released Faith's lips and licked her lips before smiling deviously.

"Come on Faithy, shower time."

Buffy grabbed Faith's hand and dragged her into the bathroom.  Faith reached to remove her tee when Buffy grabbed her hands.

"Nope, that's my job."

Faith smirked and watched as the little blonde turned the shower on and turn back to face her.  Buffy smiled up at Faith as she slowly began to pull the shirt up Faith's body.  She threw the tee over her shoulder and trailed her hands over the newly exposed skin.  Faith closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.  She shivered slightly under the blonde's touch and when she opened her eyes again, Buffy was staring at her, her hazel eyes dark with desire.  Buffy smirked and reached down and unbuttoned and unzipped Faith's leathers.   She slowly edged them down the brunette's hips until she stepped out of them.  As Buffy crouched in front of the dark slayer she placed a tender kiss on each of her knees.  She allowed her fingers to trace Faith's legs lightly as she stood up again.  She slowly slid the straps of Faith's bra off her shoulders and lightly kissed them both.  She allowed her mouth to travel to the brunette's neck and nipped and sucked briefly.  She felt Faith shiver again and quickly did away with the girl's bra and panties. Buffy was about to yank her own shirt off when Faith stopped her.  The younger girl smirked as she took both of Buffy's hands and held them above her head.  She reached down and slowly pulled the shirt up over her head.  She left the tee trapping Buffy's arms together and the blonde smiled and lowered her arms a bit allowing the shirt to rest behind her head.  Faith slowly traced a finger from Buffy's neck down to the button on her jeans. 

Faith retreated to her knees and placed a few kisses on the blonde's stomach.  She undid the button and slowly, teasingly slid the blonde out of her jeans, trailing kisses down each leg as she did so.  Buffy placed her hands on Faith's shoulders again for support as she stepped out of her jeans.  Faith smirked up at her for a second before reaching in and grabbing the edge Buffy's panties with her teeth.  She used her teeth to pull the fabric down slightly, but grew impatient and quickly discarded them and Buffy's bra.  Faith grinned wickedly as she pulled the trembling blonde in the shower.  As soon as they stepped in, Faith pulled Buffy into a searing kiss.  They wrapped their arms around each other and gently explored each other's mouths.  Tongues battled for control as Faith traced her fingers down the blonde's slender back.  Their slick bodies pressed more hungrily against each other as they kissed, nipped and sucked at the tender flesh before them.  Their hands almost simultaneously dropped to nether regions and each arched slightly at the contact.  They stroked in rhythm, each bringing the other to a blinding orgasm.  The two breathed heavily for a few moments before sharing a loving smile.  Once the hunger for release was taken care of, the two slayers basked in their shower.  Buffy forced Faith to allow her to wash her hair and lather her up.  Faith, of course, totally didn't mind the lathering.  She returned the favor to Buffy, who was quite obviously enjoying it as much as she had.  The slayers spent close to an hour in the shower and they hopped out each pulling a towel around their bodies.  They grabbed at their clothes and quickly made it back to their room.  Faith dropped her towel the second she crossed the threshold of the room and grinned as she hopped in bed.  Buffy stood with her back against the closed door and watched Faith jump into bed.  She gave Faith a sensuous smile and turned out the lights.  She walked slowly to the side of the bed and purposely swayed her hips a bit.  As she took the final few steps to the bed she brought her hand to the towel and let it fall to the ground.

After hours of lovemaking, the Chosen Two laid in bed unable to keep their hands off each other.  Faith propped her head up on her elbow and was constantly running her fingers up and down Buffy's bare back.  Buffy was lying on her side and tracing imaginary patterns on Faith's side and stomach.  Buffy couldn't help but stare into Faith's shining eyes and she couldn't keep her lips to herself.  They grinned through a dozen smoldering kisses until sleep finally overcame them.

TBC...