So … yeah another new story. In my defense though, this one has been sitting on my computer for months and because I didn't know how to end it, I just didn't post it. That, and I made several rewrites every chance I could. I sort of know how I'm going to end it, but it's going to take input from you guys. :) I know this story has been done more times than I can count, but hopefully this one stands out a little bit more than the others.

Anyways, I hope you like it.

This is probably the longest chapter I've written so far.

Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine. Boo hoo.

Chapter One:

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

The unanswered question hung in the air as Buffy and each of her accomplices stared into the large crater that was once Sunnydale. 'It's really gone…' Buffy thought as the stinging in her eyes began. She was going to cry for what they had lost, justifiably so. After all, with the destruction, came the loss of many things: her house, her pictures, her belongings, her mom's grave, her city…

The tears stopped abruptly however, as she started to actually remember her time in Sunnydale. As the various scenes cascaded through her mind, a small smile found its way on the corners of her mouth. Random memories flooded her mind, some good, some bad: the first day of school, meeting Xander and Willow for the first time, Angel, times when they all went to the Bronze together, slaying with Faith, diving into the portal to save Dawn, being brought back to life, Willow losing Tara, Willow coming back after having turned evil, meeting the potentials, saying goodbye to Spike…

They had lost a lot of important people in the final battle … Anya; it was going to take Xander a while to recover the loss of her, especially after finally getting her back. She hesitantly glanced over to her carpenter friend and wasn't surprised to find the same sad smile on his lips. Buffy knew that he was holding in his tears to be strong for everyone else. Xander was funny like that. Instead, he would be the rock for everyone else, and maybe even crack a joke or two.

They had also lost many young girls, girls who weren't even legal to drink yet, let alone fully taste life; girls whose names Buffy couldn't even recall at the moment. And Spike … She had told him that she loved him, and even then she didn't know if she truly did, but in that moment it was something she knew he needed to hear. It seemed like a small favor to him for sacrificing his life. Buffy didn't want to think of what would've happened if he hadn't; although that didn't stop the tiny voice inside her from saying, 'You'd lose'. In truth, she was going to miss him deeply and the support he gave her.

As she continued to gaze at Sunnydale, Buffy couldn't help but feel somewhat lost. She knew what they won outweighed what they had lost (they did save the world after all). Still… Buffy wondered what she was supposed to do with her life. Where was her place in the world now that there were slayers awakening all over the world? She wasn't the only chosen one anymore… chosen two, she reminded herself guiltily.

With that thought in mind, Buffy decided to steal a glance at Faith, who, like everyone else, was also looking at Sunnydale thoughtfully. A smile that she couldn't fight formed as she looked at the brunette. She was proud of the other slayer, Faith had actually stuck by them and fought till the end. Of course Buffy was surprised by that, she expected the girl to run like she usually did when things got tough, but she didn't. She would have to thank her. Maybe they could even reestablish their friendship … if there had been one in the first place. Buffy was still sketchy on the details of their relationship. Always had been, and she probably always would be.

A voice suddenly pulled her out of her thoughts. "Hey! Sorry to break up the trip down memory lane and all, but we've still got some injuries on the bus here!" One of the girls yelled from several feet behind her. It was probably Kennedy. She always had a knack for getting on the blonde's nerves.

"Guess we have to get moving at some point huh?" Xander voiced from the back.

"Guess so…" Willow agreed sadly.

After a few minutes, Buffy heard the soft shuffle of feet moving behind her as her friends left for the bus. Question was where they would go from there…

There was a reason why Buffy hadn't answered Dawn's question, because she didn't even know the answer herself. She could only hope that Cleveland wasn't on their list of destinations. After all, she just finished closing a Hellmouth, she sure as hell wasn't keen on the idea of closing another one anytime soon. Not without going on a much needed vacation. Paris or maybe even England sounded perfectly logical to her. And shopping, lots and lots of shopping was a must.

"Crazy to think about huh?" Buffy had known that Faith was still next to her, she could feel the other girl's presence, so she wasn't startled to hear the brunette's voice. It was strange, but Buffy couldn't really feel the other slayers presence as boldly as she felt Faith's. She would have to ask Willow why that was later. The brunette then appeared next to her and gazed into the large hole thoughtfully as she continued, "All that history an' everything … gone."

Buffy didn't know if she was talking about Sunnydale's history or theirs. Either way, the blonde could hear a trace of hope in the other girl's voice as she spoke, almost as she if were wishing they were okay. Buffy wasn't so sure about that herself, after all, their history was one for the books.

Buffy turned her attention to the slayer beside her, studying how scrunched up her face had suddenly become from how deep in thought she was. Buffy doubted she'd ever seen the girl so thoughtful. The sight caused her to smile. Faith noticed the other girl's silence and sensed Buffy's eyes on her, so she turned to her and saw the smile on the blonde's lips.

"What?" Faith asked as she started feeling her face "Some dirt on me or somethin?"

"No." Buffy said as she shook her head, her smile widening "It's just … you really came through for me, us I should say."

Faith shrugged, trying not to let the impact of her words show on her face, although Buffy knew that she was just masking how she really felt. "No problem B. Knew it was either savin' the world or ya know, watchin' some shitty flick in the pen. Figured, I dunno… maybe this choice would earn me some brownie points in the end?" Once Faith finished, Buffy nodded and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Only Faith could play it off like she was picking between eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a grilled cheese.

Faith turned around to leave, but before she did she said in a low voice, "But uh thanks… That means a lot, comin' from you." And then she started to walk away, leaving Buffy to finally realize that the younger girl had indeed changed, at least enough to say 'thank you'. She gave one last look at "Sunnydale" and followed Faith onto the bus.

"Right then." Giles said as the two of them entered the bus as if he had been waiting for them. Turning to Buffy, he asked, rather breathlessly, "What is our next course of action?"

There was tension, still, between the two of them. Buffy knew that it wasn't going to take saving the world the resolve everything, but damn did it help.

Buffy took a minute to look into the potential's, scratch that, slayer's eyes, and then at her friends. She thought she was done giving orders, and for a second she was somewhat disappointed that it was all up to her again. Yeah, a vacation was high up on her list of priorities at the moment.

Andrew raised his hand and started to stand up before anyone could stop him. "I'm in favor of maybe stopping at a local diner or something. See, I didn't know that the battle would be taking place during lunch, so I really haven't had anything since breakfast, I mean I would have had a delicious Hot Pocket before we left but someone decided that post-it notes with a person's name on it meant that it was a free for-"

"Hey motor-mouth, why don't you sit tight and let the big kids decide huh?" Faith asked from the front of the bus, while staring him down. Andrew merely narrowed his eyes at her before he sat back down. He was after all, still bitter about his Hot Pockets being taken from him. Buffy had to listen to him go on numerous times about how Faith stole his food, in truth she found it to be a little funny. In some small ways, Faith would never change, and it was oddly comforting.

Buffy shook her head, finding the situation to be entertaining, before having to snap back into 'commander mode'. "Well, I think you'll all agree that some of us need a hospital." She announced from the head of the bus and directed her eyes at Principal Wood in particular "Or at least some place where we can rest up. Slayer healing should be kicking in for most of you. So, I think that's our best choice right now, and then we'll go from there." She knew it was a small start, but at least it was just that, a start. Besides, she was tired, hungry … and something else that would have Faith forever making fun of her if she found out. That's when it hit her, if she herself was feeling the case of the double H's (and badly at that), she had no idea how Faith was even able to stand. She almost laughed out loud at the thought.

"What about you B?" The brunette whispered from beside the blonde and for a brief moment Buffy thought she had said something about it out loud. But then she saw Faith indicating the half-hidden bloodstain on her shirt. Buffy had almost forgotten that she was stabbed, but for some reason, Faith hadn't. It was a shallow wound, only because the sword was so thin, but it still hurt like hell when she got it. Buffy then remembered how Faith had run to her after she had been stabbed and the look of concern in her eyes before she hesitated in grabbing the scythe.

"Slayer healing." Buffy replied, brushing off the subject, although she could still see a faint trace of concern etched on the young girl's features, Buffy was glad to know that she cared. Faith nodded slowly, still not believing the blonde slayer, and then walked a few rows back to take a seat next to Principal Wood, who still didn't look too good.

Buffy found a seat across from Giles, who insisted on driving. She was about to make a crack about driving on the right side of the road, but even she was too exhausted for jokes at the moment.

"There's bound to be something farther up." Giles said as he started the bus, although it sounded like he was trying to convince even himself. Buffy looked down the long stretch of road and felt something drop in her stomach. "Doubt it." She muttered. She really didn't want to be trapped for days on a bus. Eventually someone was going to have to go to the bath-

"I have to pee!" A girl shouted from the back, within seconds several girls repeated the statement. Buffy sighed, "Figures."

"Did no one take my bathroom speech seriously?" Xander asked no one in particular, although his voice was drowned out by all the girls proclaiming their need to find the nearest bathroom and how they were 'no way in hell, about to pee in the bushes'.

Faith bowed her head in exhaustion, sighing in the process. It was as if they all chose the exact same moment to flap their mouths, leaving Faith to believe that they might be the most annoying group of girls yet, prison be damned. Finally she could take it no longer, so she raised herself a little and said, "Well, looks like you're all goin' to have to hold it in like the big bad slayers that ya are. Think you're up for the challenge?" She dared them all, hoping that it'd be enough for them to keep their traps shut. She knew that normally it wasn't up to her to make the kids simmer down, but she had a headache and really wasn't in the mood for a bus load of complaining teens.

"Whatever" several of the girls replied some while rolling their eyes and even one said, "I could so take her". Buffy knew that a few years ago, Faith might've taken that moment to retort, or fight back, now, she merely smiled and shook her head while scooting herself closer to Robin. Buffy didn't know if it was because she missed being close to someone or what, but she felt a pang of jealousy at watching her former nemesis get all snuggly with the ex-principal.

Shrugging it off, Buffy pressed her back against her seat and started to gaze outside and all the nothingness that passed. Road, more road, dirt, a rock, some bushes and oh a bird! That was about as exciting it got as far as scenery went. After getting tired of counting how many rocks there were in the road, her eyes started to roam around the bus. Her eyes once again rested on Faith, or rather a reversed version of Faith, seeing as Buffy was looking in the rearview mirror. Faith was chuckling lightly at something Robin was saying, although his lips looked like they were barely moving. 'He doesn't look so hot', Buffy thought, wondering how long it'd be before they could get him to the hospital. Jealousy once again coursed through her as she could see Faith's dimples peek through. It had her wondering when the last time she made the brunette laugh was.

'What is wrong with me?' Buffy shook her head fiercely, trying to get herself out of the reverie that Faith had suddenly put her in. Just a couple of days ago she was punching the dark slayer in the face and wishing she were back in prison, now she wanted nothing more than to make her laugh? It didn't make sense. Maybe it was because she finally saw that Faith was truly reformed, or maybe it was because she missed Spike more than she thought. Either way, it was a little unsettling.

Suddenly her eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. Not even trying to keep them up, she succumbed into the darkness.

--

Meanwhile, Faith glanced up just in time to see Buffy's eyes close. She smiled inwardly thinking about how exhausted the other girl might be, how exhausted she herself was and also, how incredibly horny she was. Although looking at the man next to her, she knew there was no chance in hell she'd be scratching that itch anytime soon. She'd just have to settle for fidgeting in her seat a little while longer. She then wondered if Buffy would finally admit to having the double H's. The thought caused her to chuckle slightly.

They had done it, saved the world. Of course no one has a clue as to how close they were to actually going down in flames, but to hell with it, Faith thought, she had actually done a good thing in her life. What had she told Buffy? Oh yeah, all about the good deeds these days. Faith only hoped that it was enough to redeem herself in the eyes of the blonde slayer and the rest of the Scooby gang.

It seemed that Robin and Buffy took it upon themselves to fall asleep at the same time. She suddenly felt him grow a little heavier against her shoulder, and a couple of seconds later, his head rested peacefully next to hers. It felt strange to admit, but this was the closest she'd been to anyone in years, if ever. It was a small act of intimacy, something that most people took for granted, but Faith appreciated it for all it was worth. Of course it wasn't exactly the person she wanted to be close with…

The thought caused her to look up at the slumbering blonde, who she'd offer her shoulder to any day of the week. 'No,' Faith thought, 'B will never feel that way about ya, it's just not in the cards'. She and the other slayer were either at each other's throats verbally, or strangling each other's throats literally. Of course any type of physical contact with the blonde was enough to get Faith riled up. It had always been that way, that being one of the reasons why she provoked the other slayer so often.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she found that Robin's weight was getting a little too heavy for her liking. She tried to ease some of his weight off her a little, but it was no use, after each push he seemed to land harder on her.

"Hey, lighten up a little will ya?" She whispered to him. Something didn't feel right, and it certainly didn't look right either. Peering down at Robin, Faith saw him slowly start to fall forward, until finally his head connected with the seat in front of them.

Jumping back a little in her seat, Faith said, "Come on big guy, that's enough surprises for one day alright?" her voice cracking a little. This time however, his eyes didn't open and there was no way in hell he was about to say 'surprise' anytime soon. He remained planted with his head resting against the seat in front of them.

"Giles…" Faith managed, her voice too low to get the attention of the Britain driving the bus. Finally, she stood up, catching the attention of some of the girls behind her. "Giles…" She tried again, this time a little louder, but still his eyes remained focused on the road ahead.

Only when a girl behind her screamed did he react by slamming on the breaks, catching everyone on the bus's attention along with it. Faith held onto two seats beside her to keep from falling as the bus screeched to a halt.