It's two o'clock in the morning and I'm deciding to post yet ANOTHER story! Gah. Somebody stop me... I've had this idea for a while and I've been writing it on and off again for a couple of months. I just wasn't happy with the way it was flowing. I think that if I commit though and finally post it, it'll force me to find the proper way to write this story. And I'm thinking that you guys can help me.

Anywho, I hope you like it and there will be more to come later. Please review and tell me what I'm doing right/wrong/ or if you just want to tell me that you want some cake and ice cream. I don't care. Something is better than nothing. :D

Disclaimer: I own nothing, apart from my little devil of a cat and a few bucks in my wallet.

Chapter One:

"Yeah Buffy, what are we going to do now?"

Five years had passed. Five years … and too many months to even admit to. At the time, Buffy hadn't known how to respond to the question her sister had asked, so she didn't. And instead of waiting around for an answer, they all returned to the bus and drove towards their new destination.

The bus ride had been filled with silence for the most part; some of the potentials took it upon themselves to break that however. But mostly they were all just wondering silently what they were each going to do.

Now, Buffy sat alone in her overly-large office, thinking about the people she hadn't seen in more years than she could remember. They each started to drift apart after Sunnydale had crashed, and eventually went their separate ways.

Buffy smiled sadly as she picked up a picture that captured six of the people who had helped save the world: herself, Dawn, Giles, Xander, Willow, and Faith, who had insisted on not being in the picture.

Buffy's smile widened when she thought back onto how she had to practically drag Faith into taking a picture with them. Buffy was glad that she did because it was the only picture she had of all of them together. The other various pictures Buffy had were ones they had taken on the bus; most were of them fooling around. She was thankful that Andrew was weird enough to bring a disposable camera to an apocalypse, although she would never tell him that.

The picture sitting on her desk was taken on the day they closed up the Hellmouth. You didn't have to look closely to see dirt and grime covering their clothes and faces; but they were smiling faces, all of them, even Faith had decided to break out in the dimpled-grin that Buffy secretly loved to see. She hadn't heard from the dark slayer in years, five to be exact, but who was counting?

They had all gotten so wrapped up in their own lives. Willow was off saving the world, using one computer at a time to do so, Xander had taken Dawn on a trip around the US for vacation, Giles was back in England, reconstructing a new and improved Council, Buffy found herself sitting on top of another Hellmouth in Cleveland (after all, the slayer work was never done for her), and Faith … Faith was a question mark just like always.

Of course Buffy had made no attempt to even contact the brunette or many of her other friends for that matter, but she could only imagine that Faith wanted to stay off their radar screen after saving the world. Especially since Giles had made a few phone calls to get rid of her criminal history. They all thought that she deserved a second chance.

--

Flashback

After having just finished a semi-victorious meal at a hole-in-the-wall diner, Buffy found herself alone with Faith outside; the others were still enjoying their food inside. Buffy couldn't help but notice that the air between them was awkward; after all, they weren't necessarily on the best of terms, but they weren't on the worst either. They both had just saved the world, so for once in their lives they were on equal ground.

Buffy found the tension to be unbearable, so she was the first one to speak. "What do you plan on doing now?" She asked hesitantly as she watched Faith take a drag of her cigarette, a habit that Buffy could have gone without when it came to the brunette.

After blowing out some smoke in the other direction, Faith answered, "Don't know," and shrugged her shoulders. But despite her answer she looked thoughtful, like she had something in mind but didn't want to share it with Buffy.

Buffy nodded. She expected that exact answer from Faith. What she didn't expect, was to feel hurt by the idea that Faith might actually know where she wanted to go, but didn't want to share it with her.

After a few seconds, Faith snubbed out her cigarette and asked, "What about you B? You've got slayers all over the world now, think it's time to throw in the towel?"

Buffy shrugged herself at that. "Probably could now, but I shouldn't. Someone needs to train these girls, help them understand." It was something Buffy had thought about the entire bus ride. New slayers meant new problems, ones that automatically were directed at her to fix. The vicious cycle never ended.

Now it was Faith's turn to nod. "No better person than you to fill in those shoes. Me? I'd prolly lead them to the local bar or somethin. But ya never know…" She said with a smirk and a second later Buffy couldn't help but notice a far off look in the brunette's eyes, one that looked almost hopeful.

There was an awkward silence that reached the two as Buffy looked at Faith questionably. After a few seconds, Faith had almost a sad smile on her face as she said, "Do me a favor, take care of yourself Buffy." And then she walked away, leaving Buffy even more confused than before.

--

Buffy didn't realize it then, but in a roundabout way, Faith was asking if she could tag along. She understood that now, and wished she could have realized it then. Maybe then, Buffy wouldn't be so bored with Faith by her side. 'The way it should have been all those years ago…' Buffy thought sadly. After all, the girl did have a knack for creating some fun.

But it wasn't like she couldn't have contacted Faith at any moment in the past five years and ask if the brunette wanted to come up to Cleveland, it was just, things came up, problems arose and in the end, she had a lot to deal with: life, work, life, and work were pretty much the core of her troubles.

But she wanted to see Faith, as weird as that sounded. She didn't know why or how the idea even came up, but it was there, and now she was determined to see if the brunette was okay and maybe even if they were okay.

Buffy gently placed the picture back on her desk and picked up her phone. It was time to make a call, one that she should've made years ago. After a few seconds of dial tone, she heard a soft, "Willow Rosenberg's office, Willow speaking."

Buffy smiled at that. God did she ever miss that voice. "Will, it's me."

"Buffy! How are you? I haven't from you in-"

Buffy cringed and cut her friend off before she could be reminded of how long it's been. "A long time, I know, and I'm sorry about that. But uh…" Buffy hesitated. How was she supposed to tell her friend, whom she hasn't spoken to in months, that she called because she needed a favor?

"You still there?" Willow's humorous voice asked through the receiver. Even after a few years of being apart, Willow was still her joking-self and that oddly made Buffy feel guiltier.

"Yeah, I am Wills, it's just…" Buffy bit down on her lip.

"You need a favor, well how can I be of service?" Willow asked, showing no signs of hostility.

Buffy's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"I am your best friend after all."

Buffy smiled. "Yes you are, and you just got a whole lot best-ier in the last two seconds. I kind of need you to…" Now here came the even harder part: asking her best friend to find someone who once held a knife to her neck.

"As much as I'm enjoying a conversation with you Buff, I kind of have things to do this week." Willow joked, knowing that if she didn't get Buffy to spit out what she was trying to say soon, then they'd be on the phone forever; although that didn't look too bad, considering the long absence from actually talking to her best friend.

Buffy laughed and took a deep breath. "I kind of need you to locate Faith for me." She half-whispered the last part. "Not because I think she's a threat or anythin-"

She was surprised to found that Willow was actually laughing on the other end. "Sure, when do you need to know?"

"Wait, you're not mad?"

"What, that you want to find someone that wanted us all dead once? Not at all. We had a talk on the way into Sunnydale and then again after the Hellmouth, she's changed."

Buffy smiled, she was glad to see that her best friend agreed with her on that. "Yeah, she has."

A mischievous smile played on Willow's lips, knowing Buffy couldn't see her, as she said, "So I'll just e-mail you her location once I can pinpoint where she is."

"Thanks Will, you're the best."

"I know. And B-buffy?" Willow asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Next time try not to wait so-"

"Long to call. I got it. Sorry about that." Buffy replied sheepishly.

"Good. Alright, talk to you later?"

"Promise. Bye." And then Buffy hung up the phone, feeling ten times better than she was a few minutes ago.

----

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