Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and don't earn any money with this and all that jazz.

AN: This is a little plot bunny I just couldn't ignore. Let me know what you think of it!

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„No, no, no, NO!" Buffy's annoyed voice rang out through the training room.

Faith merely rolled her eyes and started mentally counting down from five. As she'd expected, the junior slayer who'd become the focus of Buffy's latest outburst dissolved into tears before she'd reached zero. If the situation hadn't been close to frightening even to her, she probably would've laughed: Here they were, training the newly-called slayers, and she, Faith, rogue slayer and psycho bitch, was the calm and understanding one, while Buffy, golden girl and Ms. Reasonable, was the maniac and the raving bitch.

The Bostonian slayer rubbed her eyes tiredly. It couldn't continue like this. Buffy had chewed out everyone who dared cross her path in any way recently, and the results hadn't been pretty: The junior slayers cowered in fear whenever the senior slayer was close, and the general atmosphere was a rather post-apocalyptic one. Even Faith herself felt her body tense up whenever Buffy entered the room she was in, and while she didn't know what had caused Buffy's behaviour, she definitely knew when it had begun: the day that the Scoobies had split up to get the situation with all the newly-called slayers under control. Andrew had stayed in America with Wood (who she was glad not to be sharing the same continent with, thank you very much), Willow and Kennedy had gone to South America, Xander had travelled to Africa, and Dawn, Buffy and herself had accompanied Giles to the United Kingdom. While Buffy and her were training the junior slayers in Scotland, Giles was rebuilding the Watcher's Council in England with the help of Dawn, who had proven surprisingly helpful in that task.

Faith sighed. Perhaps it really was time she did something. When she saw (and heard) Buffy yelling at yet another baby slayer, she changed adverbs: It was definitely time she did something.

A little over an hour later, Faith stood in her room in front of her phone and took a deep breath. 'The brats better thank me for doing this,' she thought while dialling the number. When a soft, female voice answered the phone, she took another deep breath.

"I need to speak to Xander."

"Who is this?" came the cautious reply.

"Faith. Now get the X-Man on the line!" Great. Much more aggressive than she'd wanted to be, but at least it had the desired effect, as the girl answered her to wait a moment while she got him. The buxom brunette nervously chewed on her lower lip while waiting for Xander. She wasn't sure how he'd react to her calling, but she couldn't imagine he'd be all that happy. During the fight against the First she'd mostly ignored him, focussing on the fight, Buffy, the potentials and Wood instead, and even after the fall of Sunnydale, when things had been less hectic, she hadn't talked to Xander at all.

Why? Because she'd always been better at running away from problems than facing them. And facing Xander was one of the few things she was really, really afraid of. The one-eyed carpenter had been the first male in her life to offer her a true friendship without any strings attached, and what she'd done to him… Well, she had lost quite a bit of sleep over it during her time in prison. It wasn't that she hadn't done worse in her life, but Xander… He was special. Special because she couldn't help but admire what he'd done and what he represented: Without any superpower or supernatural ability, he'd faced demons that even supernatural warriors feared. He threw himself into every fight with everything he had, and when his friends were in danger, his determination was the anchor and the driving force that had helped save the day more than once. He was able to crack a joke in the face of death, and not because he wasn't scared, but because it was what the ones around him needed. He truly was the heart of the Scooby-gang, and his loyalty knew no bounds.

Faith had once been asked about Xander and why he was so important to all the seasoned fighters by several baby slayers. She could still remember her answer: "It's simple. Xander would and will do anything that's necessary." The way she'd said it had left the young slayers wide-eyed and silent. Almost as an afterthought, she'd added: "Oh, and should you ever think of hurting one of Xander's girls, kill him first." She'd meant it, too. In his own way, Xander (in her opinion) might very well be the most dangerous of all the Sunnydale veterans.

His voice brought her out of her musings.

"Faith? What's wrong?" Short and to the point. Not a quality Xander used to be associated with.

"Hey Xand. I think we really need some help here. B's tearing into the baby slayers like you wouldn't believe."

He sighed, and Faith was taken aback by how old he sounded.

"So I've heard. Some of my girls called me and sent e-mails." Of course, she should've known! Several of the slayers Xander had turned up in Africa were here! "How bad is it, really?"

She felt herself growing a little more nervous.

"Bad enough for me to call."

Another sigh on his end of the line.

"Alright, I'll be over as soon as I can." With that, the line went dead.