"Cataline!" Faith shouted, catching the girl's attention just before the monster attacked; she dodged, tucking into a roll and landing in front of the older slayer. Faith hauled her to her feet and grabbed her collar.
"What's the rule?" she asked.
"D-don't die," Cataline panted.
"That's right, don't die. Don't fucking die! So you know what? You are not allowed to die! Now get your ass over there and kick some undead monster ass, before I kick yours!" Cataline nodded and Faith released her collar; the girl dropped to one knee and picked up the long sword she had dropped before running back in the direction of the monster she had been fighting.
Faith and Cataline were walking out of the cemetery; Faith had the weapons in a duffel bag thrown over her shoulder and Cataline had her torn shirt wrapped around her arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
"You ok?" Faith asked quietly.
"Fine. I got careless. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. We all mess up once in a while. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, but I kind of freaked out."
"No, you were right. My head wasn't in it; I needed the wake-up call." They walked in silence a little longer.
"Why do you do it?" Faith asked finally.
"Do what?"
"Push yourself so hard; put up with me. You can always go back to Buffy's."
"No I can't. Buffy's amazing, and she's been really great to me, but she can't teach me like you can," Cataline explained, "she sends us out in groups, she trains with us, but her goal is for us to have a normal life."
"And you don't want that?"
"I can't want that," she mumbled.
"And why the hell not?" Faith demanded, leading the way up the stairs to the apartment. Cataline hesitated before answering.
"I've been having these dreams, and they're not slayer dreams 'cause only you and Buffy get those, but they just…they seem so real."
"What's bothering you so much?"
"It's always the same. A woman who looks like me but isn't, she's too old to be me."
"Is it your mom?" Faith asked, unlocking the front door.
"No. I get my looks from my dad. My mom and I look nothing alike. This woman…she's on the ceiling, and she's already dead…and then there's fire everywhere."
"Then what?"
"Then nothing. I always wake up." Cataline sighed, following Faith into the bathroom and grabbing clean bandages.
"You tell anybody else about this?" Faith asked, pulling Cataline's bloody shirt off of her arm and disinfecting the wound; Cataline shook her head. "Why not?"
"It's weird. Weirder than weird."
"You seem to forget that we deal with weird on a regular basis kiddo."