She did it again. She had run out on them, her, again. This time, however, she at least was still within the city limits. Faith sat at the bar in a pub, thinking about her current location, and how she ended up there in the middle of the day. In the last two years, she had run several times; as if she had the right to come and go as she pleased. Those early disappearing acts had a tendency to last a week or so. Buffy understood what provoked them, and never made too much of a fuss over them, knowing Faith needed the time away. Faith could not make the same claim for the rest of the Scoobies. However, after the second or third time she took off, Buffy must have said something to her friends, who had become the blonde's family, because none of them came down on her when Faith returned. Since then Faith had worked on shortening the length of time she would be gone for. Then decreasing the frequency of when she ran. Eventually, Faith had managed to stay within the confines of the small Scottish town.
Like every other time, Faith had run off because of Buffy. The blonde never meant to make her run. It would just happen, and never for any good reason, or because of a fight. The senior slayers had not fought with each other in years. This time, like so many of the other times, Faith had gotten fed up with the older slayer's behavior. Most often that conduct included endless ramblings of a night out with some guy. Today's provocation was Buffy's prolonged dejected attitude. After two days, Faith had gotten sick of it. On her way out of the door, the brunette vaguely remembered saying something that was more than likely rude.
It had been a good hour and a half since Faith had pushed her way through the front door of the pub. She had not been seated long, before a young blonde joined her. The girl had been talking incessantly about herself, not that the slayer was paying any attention. Faith just sat there, poring shot after shot of scotch down her throat. She needed to be at least somewhat drunk before she could attempt to pick this girl up, no matter how willing the girl was. Until she reached that point, Faith would continue to inwardly sulk and rebuke herself for losing her temper, yet again.
All of a sudden, the flood of words from her companion's mouth came to a halt. She seamed to be focused on the person that just walked through the door. Without needing to look up, Faith was able to guess who it was. She had been able to sense the other chosen slayer, even during the first year she had arrived in Sunnydale. Since those days, her and the blonde had developed and intense bond, made stronger by having their souls united.
The union had taken place shortly after they had closed the Sunnydale hellmouth, while they were staying in LA. Giles and Wesley had found perhaps the oldest prophesy ever made. It told of how the Shadow Men cut the soul of the first slayer in half to continue the slayer progeny: one girl called at any given time; until the last two slayers were called. They would each contain half of the original slayer's soul, and reign together; "souls united for eternity." From them a new generation of Slayer would be raised. There had been a short discussion concerning Kendra; ending with the fact that she had not truly been called. The slayer powers that should have gone straight to Faith had, instead been diverted into Kendra, by Traves and the senior members of the counsel.
"You're gettin' good at this, B." The dark haired woman said dryly.
"You're making me good at it." The blonde's reply came just as dryly. Buffy would always give the hotheaded slayer time to cool off, before going out, and bringing her back. "Are you ready to come home yet?"
"You really want me to, after what I said?" The question was meant to gage just how much shit Faith had gotten herself into. The response she received started with a light scoff.
"You really have no idea what you shouted as you left, do you?"
"You caught me." Faith turned her head to look at the shorter woman. "How bad was it?"
"As far as you and insults go? It hardly registered." Buffy tried to repress a small smile, before acknowledging the younger woman's current attempt at substitution. "This one's not bad, Fay, but eventually, you and I both know that the accent will get on your nerves."
The brunette only shrugged. "How long do you think this one will actually last? One maybe two nights? Three at best, given that she doesn't talk?"
"What, I'm not even allowed that anymore?" Faith was incredulous and hurt.
"You come with a lot of baggage, Faith, and not just the emotional kind. Do you really think she could handle any of it?"
"Why are you making this more difficult?"
"You know what it is you really want; what you need. And we both know that there is only one place you can get that."
"Yeah, too bad I ain't gettin' it there either!" The statement was emphasized with a last shot being downed and the glass hitting the counter top. "We may as well be fucking married, for all the good it does me!" There were tears in both slayers' eyes. Their connection made it more difficult to keep a level head when emotions got involved. "Damn it… Fuck, B, I'm sorry… I didn't…"
"No, you're right. I'm not being fair to you." The older slayer sounded broken. "I just… Faith I really need to talk to you…"
"Okay." Faith rose from the stool she was sitting on. The two women made a move towards a seemingly secluded corner of the small bar. Shoving her hands into the back pockets of her genes, Faith turned to face the blonde. "What's up?"
"I'm late… Three days…" With just four small, words Faith went from feeling justified to feeling like the biggest ass.
"Shit, B, are you sure?" For any other women, three days would not be much, but to them it was full on red alert. They both had a twenty-five day cycle, and nothing broke it, ever. "Are you sure you didn't just miss count, or something?"
"I'm quite sure, Faith. It should have been twenty-five days, three days ago."
"How do you think? It's not like you've been seein' anyone."
"My best guess? The spell last month…"
"You mean the one with Dawnie?" Faith's eyebrows knit together.
Another thing they discovered while staying in LA was more about the order of monks that created Dawn Summers. The spell they used had two parts to it, and the monks only did the first. That half let them control just how old Dawn would appear; it also had the unfortunate side effect of lasting only ten years. The second component provided a full life, from birth through old age and death. Both steps required DNA from two donors. It had been well established that the monks had fashioned Dawn from the flesh and blood of the Slayer, what they failed to make clear was that they used Buffy's blood and Faith's flesh.
With the new information, all three young women demanded an alternate solution, one that allowed Dawn to remain as she was, and gave her a full life. It took two years, but with the continued help from Wesley and the Coven at Dover, Willow and Giles came through for them. They had preformed the new spell almost three weeks ago. The three women held hands as Willow transferred life-essence from the slayers into Dawn, as it would have happened, if Dawn had been born in a natural manner. When the spell came to a close the younger Summers sister broke contact with the slayers two seconds too soon. It now seemed as if that was a long enough time for a little of Faith's life-essence to make its way into Buffy.
"Yeah, that one." Buffy responded.
"Damn… Have I mentioned that I'm sorry?"
"Yeah…" The blonde seemed to hesitate. Faith knew, what the blonde wasn't asking.
"Let me get my jacket, and close out my tab. Then we can go home."
The walk back to their house was no worse than walking anywhere in Sunnydale. After getting the school set up, and having classes start, the Scoobies found it necessary to have their own homes just beyond the school grounds. It had seemed logical that Faith would live with Buffy and Dawn. The year previous the small house seemed cramped with all three women living in it, but the past few weeks with Dawn in college, it provided the Chosen Two with a comfortable amount of privacy. Buffy led them past their own driveway and on towards the mansion used as the UK Slayer Academy. Once in the enormous house, the slayers made their way through the labyrinth-like corridors to Willow's office.
"I see that you found her." The redhead observed from her large chair, as the two slayers waked through her office door. That was just before she saw the stricken look on both women's faces. "What is it? What's wrong?"
The Wicca was close to going on one of her stammering rants. With teary eyes Buffy quickly explained the predicament she and Faith found themselves in. Much of the conversation was a repeat of what had been said in the pub. It also explained why Faith seemed to be hovering that little bit closer to the blonde. Willow rose from her seat, and walked around her desk to where her best friend stood. Before invading the eldest slayer's personal space, Willow asked for permission. She placed a gentle hand low on Buffy's abdomen, and focused her energy. Pulling her hand back, the witch met the blonde's eyes.
"There's life." She restated what the slayers already knew. "Buffy, you're pregnant."
Worried green eyes found the same expression mirrored in Faith's darker ones. The look was all it took for the dark haired woman to pull the smaller one into an embrace meant to offer comfort. With a soft sigh, Buffy let her forehead rest against Faith's shoulder, as the other woman dug her fingers deeply into golden hair. "Unless you tell me otherwise, I ain't going anywhere." Faith spoke softly. She felt the other slayer nod her head; it was the only response Buffy seemed to be capable of. Both women tightened the embrace for a moment, before pulling away from each other, just as Giles walked through the door. The aging watcher carried a manila folder in his hands.
"Ah, Faith, there you are." The man spoke, upon seeing the dark haired slayer. "The Council wishes you to go to Argentina, to find, and bring back a newly located slayer. Your flight leaves at ten tomorrow morning from Heathrow."
"No." The protest came quietly, taking the watcher by surprise.
"I… Buffy? The Council asked specifically for Faith."
"Sorry, Giles." Faith cut in. "But you heard the Slayer. She says, 'No,' I ain't going."
Giles turned to Willow, silently imploring her help. At the same moment Buffy exited the office. With a sigh, Willow pulled out her cell phone, and called Kennedy. By the time she clicked her phone shut, Kennedy was packing her bags, in order to take Faith's place. Faith herself had taken off in search of the blonde. The sounds of Giles demanding an explanation from Willow echoed after the Slayer.
After five minutes of winding through corridors and ducking down side passages, Faith found the other slayer sitting in a secluded corner of the immense library. Buffy's feet were pulled up on the window seat, knees tucked beneath her chin. She stared fixedly out the window, as fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. Reaching out, the brunette gently wiped the tears away with a tender hand, as she lowered herself to Buffy's level. Hazel eyes gazed into amber eyes, with a lost expression.
"You ain't in this alone, Buffy." Faith spoke with sincere conviction, before sliding onto the seat, behind the blonde. She wrapped her arms around Buffy, holding her close, lips pressed to the blonde's temple. "I'm going to be here for you, every step of the way. We're the Chosen Two, B, we've got this. Everything's, gunna be just fine. I swear it."
"How can you be so sure?" There was a lost hollowness in Buffy's question. The smaller slayer turned to look at her counterpart. "This is one thing we have never faced, Faith. There's no margin for error in this. It's not just us, who will be effected, when we screw this up -'
"Whoa, hey, take a breath, B." Faith ran her fingers through Buffy's hair. "No one ever said we're going to fuck up. Look, I sort of kept an eye on all the neighbor's rug rats, back in Southey. You know, did my best to keep them out of trouble, till their parents sobered up or got home. After food and cloths, it wasn't too hard…" She shrugged. "And you seemed to have done just fine with Dawn."
"Dawn was practically an adult, when Mom died. Plus I had help." Buffy countered.
"And we got each other, and the Scoobies. Not to mention all the friggin minnie slayers." The Bostonian cracked a half smile, and kissed Buffy's cheek, letting her lips linger. Shifting slightly, Buffy settled against the taller woman. Her nosed brushed the side of Faith's neck, as the brunette's arms tightened around Buffy's shoulders.
The months past quickly, between training the new slayers, morning sickness, doctor's appointments, and the renovations made to Buffy and Faith's home. They had Xander build an extension to their family room, above which, they added an extra room as a nursery. Over the months the Chosen Two continued to grow ever closer. The first time Buffy got morning sickness, was in the middle of the night. Faith vacated her room, in favor of crashing on Buffy's floor. It provided a faster response time to the blonde's retching. Latter, that very same night, Faith elevated herself to the mattress, her arms wrapped around Buffy's shaky form.