"B, down!"
Buffy didn't hesitate for an instant before she dropped to the ground. A nanosecond later, a sword whooshed over her, cutting through the air almost silently before colliding with a solid mass. The decapitated head of a demon landed on the ground in front of Buffy with a dull thud, splattering thick purple blood everywhere.
Buffy was back on her feet almost immediately. "Thanks for the warning," she said, shaking her head and reaching up to wipe a streak of the demon's sticky blood off her cheek.
"No problem," Faith said, grinning back at her. Then she gestured over Buffy's shoulder with her eyes. "Rac'i'kta demon."
Buffy spun on her heels, swinging her ax in an arc as she turned. The demon let out a high-pitched squeal as the weapon collided with its chest. Then it promptly exploded.
Neither Slayer said a word for several seconds.
"Was it supposed to do that?" Buffy asked weakly, her face scrunched into an uncertain look as she reached up to wipe away yet more demon slime and chunks of skin that were covering her face. She didn't even want to see the rest of her.
Faith made a disgusted sound as she stepped up beside Buffy, smeared with just as much slime and parts.
"Like I said, Rac'i'kta demon," she said, annoyance clear in her voice. "The slimy stuff inside of them doesn't react well with air. All it takes is a paper cut and BOOM!"
Buffy raised an eyebrow. "How did you know that?" she asked.
A large glop of slime slid from her hair and started a slow slide down her face. "And why the hell didn't you warn me before I took a swing at it?"
Faith shrugged. "Thought you knew."
"I bet you did," Buffy grumbled, glancing around to make sure there weren't any more demons or vampires lurking around in the shadows. "That still doesn't tell me how you knew about it."
Faith followed suit, her gaze shifting over the surroundings.
"Looks like the fight's over," she said. "We better get back before Giles or Willow decides to send out a search party."
Buffy rolled her eyes at Faith's back when the other Slayer turned and started to walk off. "Would it kill you to answer my question?"
Faith kept walking.
Buffy sighed and began to follow, jogging a little to catch up. "You're not even going in the right direction," she protested.
"Thought we'd take the long way," Faith said with a shrug. "Unless you're just raging to walk through downtown London covered in green slime and demon puree."
Buffy rolled her eyes again, but she didn't argue as they continued walking side by side.
After a few minutes of walking in silence, Faith let out a quiet chuckle.
"I ran into a Rac'i'kta about two weeks after I became a Slayer. One of my first non-vamp kills."
"What?" Buffy turned toward her.
"That's how I knew they explode," Faith replied, not even glancing over at Buffy. "My Watcher was none too thrilled when I showed up at his place covered in evil snot."
The hint of a smile played over Buffy's features. "I can think of a couple of other Watchers who aren't going to be very happy when we show up covered it in either."
Faith laughed. "So can I," she agreed.
----------
"Oh my god." Andrew stood in the doorway and stared at them with a wide-eyed look of horror. "What happened to you?"
Buffy and Faith glanced at each other, and both of them let out a sigh. "Rac'i'kta demon," they said together as they moved past him.
He kept staring. "Aren't those the ones that explode?" he asked tentatively after a few seconds had passed.
"The one and the same," Faith said with a wink over her shoulder.
Buffy ignored them. "Aren't you supposed to be in Rome with Dawn, trying to convince people that it's actually me shacked up with . . . what's-his-name."
"The Immortal," Andrew replied, a hint of embarrassment slowly creeping into his voice. "And you'll have to talk to your sister about that."
Buffy stopped short and rounded on him, a suspicious look on her face. "What did you do?"
"Nothing!" he yelped, a little too quickly.
Faith raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?" she repeated.
"Well, nothing much," Andrew amended sheepishly. "How was I supposed to know she was dating. . . ."
He quickly trailed off.
"Dating?" Buffy focused her gaze on him and took a step forward. "Dating who?"
Andrew shot Faith a desperate look, and she laughed. "Come on, B," she said, dropping her arm around Buffy's shoulder and steering her toward the stairs. "You promised not to butt into little sis's personal life, remember?"
"I was talking about college, not dating!" Buffy hissed back.
"Um, maybe the two of you should wait here a second," Andrew said hesitantly, flinching when both of them turned to glare at him. "Giles should be down in a second, and I don't think. . ."
Right on cue, Giles appeared at the top of the stairs, freezing in shock when he caught sight of the two Slayers standing there. "Good lord."
". . .he'll want you to just go traipsing through the place with demon goo dripping all over," Andrew continued. Then, shaking his head, he shut the front door and leaned against it, obviously not wanting to miss Giles's reaction.
"What on earth happened to the two of you?" Giles asked, his eyes shifting between Faith and Buffy as he hurried down the stairs. "Are either of you injured?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you ever tell me that Rac'i'kta demons explode?" she asked accusingly.
Giles blinked and stopped short as he reached the bottom of the staircase. "What?" he asked, his confusion evident.
Faith gestured toward Buffy and smirked. "She found out the gross and gooey way that it's not a good idea to attack a Rac'i'kta."
"I see," Giles replied slowly, his mouth twisting into a frown. "You really didn't pay the least bit of attention to anything I taught you back in Sunnydale, did you?"
Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Is that a trick question?"
Faith snorted. "You two have at it," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to hit the showers."
"Good idea," Buffy said, shooting Giles a dirty look. "I still say you never told me about Rac'i'kta demons exploding." He just shook his head as she turned around to follow Faith up the stairs. Then his eyes widened.
Giles let out a groan and cleared his throat to catch the Slayers' attention.
"I'm afraid taking a shower might not be possible," he said, clearing his throat to catch the attention of Buffy and Faith. Both women stopped and slowly turned back toward him. "At the moment," he quickly added, when he saw the looks on their faces.
"Why not?" Buffy asked, her eyes narrowing.
He shot them a reassuring smile. "Let's just say it's a very long story."
"I thought it was because you messed up a spell and blew out all of the pipes in the building," Andrew offered helpfully.
Giles shot him an exasperated look. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"
Andrew stared at him blankly for a second before comprehension dawned on his face. He nodded and quickly scampered toward the nearest door.
"Giles, look at me," Faith said, holding out her arms and showing off the slime that was starting to dry into a hard outer shell covering her. "There's no way in hell that I'm going to sit around waiting for some complete loser of a plumber. . ."
"It's Xander," Giles cut in with a cough.
"Like I said," Faith grumbled. "I'm still not waiting for him to fix the showers while this stuff hardens into a second, crusty skin."
"Seconding that," Buffy agreed with a raise of her hand, frowning as she pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Oh god, I think I just broke my hair."
They both stared at him expectantly.
Giles sighed and reluctantly pulled a key out of his pocket. "I'm assuming you know the way to my flat?" he asked tiredly.
----------
The moment they stepped inside Giles's apartment, the door not even completely shut behind them, Faith started stripping off her shirt. "Dibs on the shower."
"No way," Buffy shot back. "I'm covered in gross. There's no way I'm waiting for you."
"Then you're gonna have to join me," Faith said with a sly grin.
She was still wearing her pants and boots, but the only thing covered her top half was a tiny black bra that didn't leave much to the imagination. She reached up and unclasped it, tossing the thin piece of cloth at Buffy before turning and walking straight in to the bathroom.
"It's your call," she called back over her shoulder.
Buffy stared down at the bra in her hands as the sound of running water filled the room. Shaking her head, she finally let it drop to the ground. She frowned when she caught sight of herself in the large mirror that Giles had hanging on the wall. Despite her best efforts to wipe away the worst of the slime, she still looked like a mess.
"Oh, what the hell," she muttered finally. She stripped out of her own clothes, letting them fall to the floor just like Faith had, and reluctantly entered the bathroom.
When she looked up from the floor, she started with a jerk.
Grinning broadly, Faith was leaning against the bathroom wall. Her pants and shoes had finally been discarded, leaving her in the exact same state of nudity as Buffy.
"Took you long enough, " Faith said, eyeing the other woman appreciatively.
Buffy's face reddened. "Don't get any ideas."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Faith replied, still grinning. She took a few steps forward and, before Buffy had time to react, kissed her on the lips.
After a few seconds had passed, Buffy pulled away and shot her a warning look. "This is Giles's place," she pointed out. "He'd kill us."
Faith shrugged. "What Giles doesn't know won't hurt us."
Buffy stared at her for a moment before a slow smile formed on her lips.