Chapter One

Their laughter was still ongoing as they walked through the front gates of the castle. Faith didn't even care that her last pair of leathers had been ruined from landing butt first in the mud. They cut across the courtyard and entered through the kitchen doors, their laughter fading when they found Giles and Willow sitting at the kitchen table that was piled high with books from the library.

"Let me guess," Giles said, smiling warmly as he looked over at Buffy and Faith. "Mud demon?"

"Something like that," Buffy replied. "When did you get here? I thought you were staying in London for another week? Did Dawn come back with you?"

"One question at a time, Buffy. Schedules changed and I've dealt with the new Watcher's Council and set up an efficient training module. Dawn is here-"

"Where is she?" Buffy cut him off, already making her way towards the elevator at the far end of the kitchen. "Is she in her room?"

Giles nodded and turned to Faith, smirking as she tried to wipe the drying mud from her pants. Faith rolled her eyes as she walked to the fridge and opened the door. She grabbed a cold bottle of water and opened it as she shut the door with her foot. She downed the entire bottle quickly and let out a sigh as she placed the empty bottle down on the counter.

"How are things, Faith?"

"Peachy, G."

"Anything noteworthy happen on patrol tonight?"

"Other than the newbies taking out seven vamps with crossbows? Nah," Faith replied and she held up a hand before Giles could say a word. "I know I wasn't supposed to train them with "advanced" weapons just yet, but these girls got skills and they proved it tonight."

"I was only going to say that I trust your judgement when it comes to the girls," Giles said calmly and he closed the book that was open in front of him. "It may be for the best if the training is slightly accelerated from here on out. We can never be too prepared for whatever will come next."

"You think there's somethin' brewing?"

"There is always a possibility that there is, yes."

"Any idea just what?"

"Nothing as of this moment."

Faith grabbed another bottle of water out of the fridge and headed out of the kitchen and through the main training room to the stairs at the front of the castle. She took them two at a time up to the third floor and went straight to her room. She closed the heavy wooden door behind her, making sure the lock was latched. She flipped on her stereo, Iron Maiden blaring throughout the room as she stripped out of her clothes and headed for her bathroom.

Her room was her sanctuary and she'd made it home the second day they'd all moved into the castle. Nobody else ever set foot inside her room, which most of the time looked like a bomb had gone off with all the clothes strewn over the furniture and the floor and even more spilling out of the modest sized wardrobe she had. She turned on the water in the shower, listening to the beat of the music that drowned out her thoughts completely. The castle walls were thick, so thick that even with Slayer hearing, none of them could hear beyond them. It's what made her feel secluded in her room and it's what made it feel more like hers. Never in her life had she had a room to truly call her own and now that she did, there were a few fleeting moments when she thought it'd all be taken from her.

After a quick shower, she dressed in only a pair of black boi shorts and a white tank, flopped down on her unmade bed, and grabbed the journal she'd been keeping since they arrived in Scotland off the nightstand and flipped to a fresh page. It had been Giles' idea for all of them to keep a rather detailed account of their lives there in Scotland. For the most part, her journal was only of key events, never of her thoughts. She quickly wrote down the events of patrol, the entry barely half a page by the time she was done. She placed the journal back on the nightstand and rolled onto her back, closing her eyes and letting the music once again drown out her thoughts.

She barely heard the pounding on her door over the driving heavy metal and she groaned as she got up from the bed and flipped off the music before opening the door. She cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow at Buffy as she stood there in the hallway with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What's up, B?"

"Didn't you hear me knocking for the last five minutes?"

"Sure. Just thought if I ignored it, you'd go away," Faith joked as she stood in the opening of the doorway, blocking Buffy's view from her room. "Seriously, what's up?"

Buffy didn't answer her as she pushed the door open, her jaw dropping as she looked over the mess in Faith's room. "I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"Don't you ever clean up after yourself?"

"Sure," Faith shrugged, not bothering to stop Buffy as she stepped into the room. "Do it when I feel like it."

"Which is never from the look of things in here," Buffy said with moderate disgust. "I actually just came here to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Can you at least put some clothes on?"

"I got clothes on, B," Faith chuckled and she walked over to the bed and sat down. "What'd you want to talk to me about? If this is about the girls-"

"What gave you the right to train them before they're supposed to be trained?"

"Giles doesn't seem to think there's a problem with me accelerating their training," Faith shot out, crossing her arms over her chest heavily and she watched Buffy toe a pile of dirty clothes away from the door. "Besides, you and I both know they ain't trained enough to deal with something major. Face it, B, we're treating them like babies, we're coddling them. We need to make them see just what being a Slayer really is. Don't know why you get your granny-panties in such a twist."

"I do not wear granny-panties!"

Faith laughed as Buffy's face turned red, mostly in anger, embarrassment and moderate amusement. She loved teasing Buffy especially when they were about to come to a disagreement over the girls, which was usually the only thing they fought about lately. Knowing just how to push Buffy's buttons, she leaned forward on the bed and salaciously licked over her lips.

"Prove it."

"Faith!" Buffy looked flabbergasted and her face reddened even more when Faith burst out laughing. "God, can't you ever be serious about anything?"

"Just don't wanna fight with you tonight, that's all," she shrugged. "And I was bein' serious."

"Ugh, you are impossible sometimes!"

"Of course I am."

"Arrogant and cocky."

"Pretty sure they mean the same thing, B."

"Not when it comes to you!" Buffy laughed and she finally eased up on her stiff, uptight attitude that she'd slipped into the moment Faith had opened the door. "Your room is absolutely disgusting."

"I like it just the way it is."

"I don't get how you can live like this."

"Easy," Faith replied and she reclined back on the bed and stared over at Buffy. "Hey, if it bothers you so much, by all means," she said, waving a hand around the room, "clean it for me."

"I would, but..."

"But what?"

"I'm afraid of what's living under those dirty clothes," Buffy smirked and ducked out of the way of the pillow Faith flung at her. "We'll talk about training protocol in the morning. I'm going to call a meeting with everyone now that Giles and Dawn are back. Make sure you're down in the training room before nine."

"Nine? In the morning?" Faith gagged and grabbed the pillow when Buffy flung it back at her. "That's practically the ass crack of dawn!"

"Make sure you're there before nine, Faith. I mean it. We've got to set an example for the girls and it's hard to do that when you make up your own rules and don't get out of bed until after noon every day."

"Fine, I'll be there around nine."

"Before nine."

"Whatever, B. Night." Faith rolled her eyes as Buffy slipped out of the room and shut the door behind her.

They'd been like this since about a month after they'd arrived in Scotland. Spending countless of hours together a day, alone, sometimes with Willow and Kennedy, had resulted in them gradually growing closer. She wasn't as close with Buffy as she was with Kennedy though, and she had a strange feeling that their friendship would be forever stalled between the lines of good friends and best friends. She didn't fall in line for Buffy the way the others did and she knew how much that drove Buffy insane that she lived by her own rules and not anyone else's. She'd only followed them after Sunnydale because she knew she needed a purpose in life and Giles had been the one to convince her that helping them train the younger Slayers would be a good place to start.

Faith got up to latch the door shut and she flipped off the lights, stumbling over the mess of clothes and boots on the floor on the way back over to the bed. Every once in awhile she thought about how she'd ended up where she was and why she chose to go on with them instead of going with her gut instinct to go back to jail where she belonged. It was all Giles, followed by the others-even Buffy-that had convinced her she could do far greater good there with them than locked away in a cell doing twenty-five to life.

There were days she was grateful she'd been convinced to go on with the Scoobs and help them start the Slayer Organization and then there were those few fleeting days, moments rather, that she always doubted whether she made the right decision or not. They had been right though. She could do and has done far greater good there with them than she ever would've sitting in a cell, wasting her life as a Slayer. Besides, she never would've become one of them if she'd gone back to prison and every day she was thankful that Buffy and the Scoobies had welcomed her into their tight little circle and treated her as one of them.

Faith knew she'd been through a lot of personal changes since they left Sunnydale. Her attitude towards life had changed, matured, but not enough that it changed her from who she really was. Her attitude wasn't bitter or angry anymore. She wasn't self-destructive and hell bent on torturing those around her. Those days had long since passed and she knew it'd take a lot for that part of her to come back. She wasn't living her life alone anymore. She had Buffy, Kennedy, Giles, and the others now. And they were a family, or at least as close to a family that she'd ever had.


Faith strolled into the training room on the main floor shortly after eleven. It was empty aside from Buffy working the heavy bag on the other side of the room. She didn't need to see Buffy's face to know she was pissed off and that she was the sole reason Buffy was pissed to begin with. It wasn't the first meeting she'd slept right through and she knew it wouldn't be the last. She knew Buffy knew it too, but some things just never changed between them.

There was only ever one thing they came head to head on and that was how they trained the girls, sometimes over patrol schedules and the fact that Faith usually always missed those early morning meetings even if it wasn't intentional. It wasn't her fault she couldn't wake up early in the morning anymore. Sleep was a luxury she was taking full advantage of since she knew another apocalypse had to be looming in the near future. They'd gone just over fourteen months without anything too major to deal with and that alone was a record.

Thunder rumbled loudly outside as Faith made her way over to one of the treadmills. She pulled her hair back, tying it back loosely with the elastic band she had around her wrist. She turned on the machine and started off with a slow jog, instantly falling into a rhythm that shut her thoughts right off. She was mentally counting down how long it'd take for Buffy to confront her about missing the meeting and she'd barely gotten to twenty before Buffy yanked her off the treadmill.

"Nice, Faith," she said dryly as she turned the machine off. "When I say before nine I don't mean to come down whenever you damn well please!"

"Chill out, B."

"Don't you tell me to "chill out, B," since we go through this every single time, Faith! Is it really that impossible for you to get up before noon?"

"Last I checked, yeah," Faith replied with a soft chuckle and crossed her arms over her chest, watching the anger flicker through Buffy's eyes. "Don't get your granny-panties in a twist, B. You should know by now I don't do mornings."

"We don't all revolve around your schedule," Buffy snapped. "Fall in line, Faith. If you expect this all to work the way it should be, you need to be at the meetings on time!"

"You know," Faith smirked as she let her eyes roam up and down Buffy's body. "You're pretty hot when you're pissed off."

"Shut up."

"Can't even take a compliment? Harsh. Must really have your granny-panties in a twist lately," Faith laughed, winking as Buffy's anger raged inside of her. She knew what was coming next and she was ready, falling into a fight stance as Buffy came at her. "You should know by now I'm always ready for ya, B."

"And you should know by now that teasing me like that only gets me angry," Buffy shot back as they began to circle each other. "And I can take a compliment. I like being complimented, but coming from you? It's hardly ever a genuine compliment."

"You wouldn't know a genuine compliment if it smacked you on the ass," Faith replied and she moved quickly and slapped her across the ass to make her point, ducking out of the way of Buffy's flying fist half a second later.

They always sparred this way when they were alone. Faith teasing her, testing her, pushing her to her limits of control over her anger, always seeing just how far she could take things. Faith always upped the flirting when they sparred, always hoping to catch Buffy off-guard just so she could get the upper hand. For the most part, it worked, but Buffy was quickly becoming immune to her little game she liked to play with her. Living in the castle was boring for the most part and teasing Buffy was one of her few forms of entertainment.

She ducked out of the way of Buffy's sloppy roundhouse kick and she swept her leg around, trying to take Buffy out, but her moves were always seen a second before by Buffy and she groaned when Buffy jumped out of the way. She blocked the right hook, grabbing on to Buffy's hand and tried to get her into a hold. Buffy let out a growl as she flipped Faith over her shoulder, laughing when Faith looked up at her from the floor slightly dazed.

"Can't believe you still use the same moves, B."

"Can't believe you haven't learned any new ones, F."

They continued to circle around each other, both of them faking moves, waiting for an opening. Faith wiggled her eyebrows and blew Buffy a kiss, catching her slightly off guard long enough to get a quick jab to the stomach that sent her stumbling back a couple of steps.

"Low blow," Buffy muttered, quickly recovering from the hard punch. "Really low blow, F."

"Nah, just lucky you still fall for this shit," Faith said with a wink. "Come on, B. What do ya say we go all out here? Itching for a good sparring session, especially since last night was wicked disappointing."

Buffy rolled her eyes as Faith cracked her knuckles and they both resumed their fight stance. Faith made the first move, trying a backhand punch with her left and quickly moving in for a jab with her right. Buffy blocked both with ease and threw a hard right hook, but only after she faked Faith out with a side kick. It clipped Faith in the jaw, just barely since she tried to duck out of the way, half a second too slow.

"I'll just remind you how boring this almost vampire-vacation was during the next apocalypse, deal?" Buffy said with a smirk Faith wanted nothing more than to slap it off the instant it appeared.

"You do that."

"I will."

"Fine," Faith said stoically, trying to keep a straight face as Buffy burst out laughing. "What?"

"You know," Buffy drawled as she shook out of her fight stance and stared at Faith for a moment. "You're kinda cute when you try to act all pissed off."

"Cute? Cute?" Faith laughed deeply as she clutched her sides. "You're kidding me, right? This," she said as she waved her hands up and down her own body, "is not cute. This is sexy."

Buffy opened and closed her mouth, almost as if she wanted to say something, but was at a loss for words. Faith smirked, knowing she'd gotten to her and she was internally celebrating victory, not seeing the leg sweep until she was flat on her back. Faith flipped back up to her feet and grabbed onto Buffy's wrist, yanking her close and without a second thought, she kissed her. Faith had no idea what had made her kiss Buffy, but in the heat of the moment, it had just happened. The kiss lasted all but five seconds before Buffy roughly pushed her away.

"What the hell are you doing, Faith?"

Trying to play off her sudden nervousness, she shrugged nonchalantly and smirked. "What did it look like, B? Been too long that you forgot what it's like to be kissed?"

"It's not been too long! I kiss people!"

"Yeah? Like who?"

"Like that guy when we were in London and you dragged me to that pub and-"

"That guy was a dog, B. Do I look like a fuckin' dog to you?"

Faith knew she should've seen the punch coming by a mile, yet she allowed Buffy the chance to land it. She groaned as she tumbled back to the floor, her head dizzy, and her jaw shooting sharp pains throughout her face before it went numb from the pain. Kissing Buffy had switched something on inside of her and she knew, without a single doubt, that it'd switched something on inside of Buffy too. Her head was spinning slightly from the punch to her jaw, but when she saw Buffy turn to walk away, she kicked out her legs from under her and scrambled over to pin her to the floor.

"Faith, get off of me."

"No."

"I'm serious!" Buffy squealed as she struggled to get out from under Faith's tight hold. "Get off of me."

Faith ignored her, licking over her lips as she stared down at Buffy. Her face was flushed, her eyes flickering with anger and if she wasn't mistaken, there was a hint of arousal there as well. She leaned forward, her lips just a breath away from Buffy's and she loosened her grip on Buffy's arms, raising a hand to cup her cheek gently. Buffy moved her free hand to the back of Faith's neck, pulling her down that last breath, their lips meeting in a soft yet unsure kiss.

Faith's heart was racing wildly, her blood pumping quickly through her veins, her clit pulsing in time to the beat of her racing her. Nobody had ever got her so worked up with just a kiss and she tried to convince her inner voice that she was only so worked up because she'd just spent a good twenty minutes before sparring with Buffy and not because it was Buffy she had pinned beneath her, kissing her.

She held back for a few seconds more, her lips just barely pressing against Buffy's, waiting for her to push her off and put an end to this. Her whole body buzzed when Buffy tightened her grip on the back of her neck and eased a tongue over her lips. Faith held back the moan she could feel at the back of her throat as she parted her lips and allowed Buffy's tongue to slip over hers. It was the small whimper that escaped past Buffy's lips, vibrating over her own, that pushed her over the edge and she kissed her furiously, deeply, feeling that kiss all over her body. Faith let go of her other arm, so caught up in the kiss that she didn't care if she had Buffy pinned to the floor or not.

Big mistake.

Buffy flipped her over on to her back without breaking the kiss. She straddled her hips, digging her nails in to the back of Faith's neck, kissing her deeper. Faith moved her hands to Buffy's hips, pulling her harder against her, feeling her whole body react to the feel of Buffy's lithe body on top of her. She slipped a hand down the back of Buffy's sweatpants, groaning as Buffy pulled back from the kiss roughly and pushed herself up off of her.

"Okay, that's too much," Buffy said breathlessly as she nervously fidgeted with the hem of her tank top. "What the hell, Faith?"

"At least I know now that you ain't a granny-panties wearing chick," Faith smirked, unmoving from the floor, unable to really feel her entire body since it was buzzing wildly with arousal. "Where you goin'?" She asked when Buffy headed for the doorway that lead to the kitchen. "B?"

"I'm done."

"Done?" Faith questioned as she leaned up on her elbows and watched as Buffy came to a stop just by the doorway and let out a heavy sigh. "Come on, B. We were just getting started!"

"With what? The sparring or the kissing?"

"Little of both," Faith winked as she rose to her feet. She moved quickly to stop Buffy from leaving and rolled her eyes when Buffy avoided looking at her. "What's the what, B? You all weirded out 'cause you kissed me?"

"You kissed me first!"

"What are you, fuckin' twelve, B? Why you so weirded out?"

Buffy sighed. "I am not weirded out! Okay no, maybe I am a little weirded out. Freaking out being the key word here." She sighed again almost as if she was trying to keep herself calm before she finally turned her head to look at Faith. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why'd you kiss me?"

"Why'd you kiss me back?"

"Why are you answering my questions with questions?"

Faith laughed as she took a step forward towards Buffy. "'Cause it's fun seeing ya get that...thong...in a twist." She smirked when Buffy took a step back and she moved quickly to pin her up against the wall next to the doorway. "So tell me, B, what're ya freaking out for?"

"I liked it," Buffy whispered as her eyes averted quickly away from Faith's intense stare. "It's wrong. I can't-we can't-"

Faith silenced her by kissing her hard. It took Buffy a total of three seconds-three long agonizing seconds for Faith-to respond to the kiss. But the kiss didn't last much longer before Faith felt herself being pushed away forcefully and was left stunned as she watched Buffy retreat from the training room.

Buffy had left her head spinning and full of thoughts of why this had happened between them, of why she couldn't get enough of kissing her. It was Buffy. She wasn't supposed to feel this way about her. She wasn't supposed to want her so badly that it hurt.


Buffy slammed her hand against the button to close the elevator doors, her head spinning, and her lips still tingling from that kiss. With Faith. She'd kissed Faith and had allowed it the first time without beating her off. Why was the question she kept asking herself and why did she like it?

"Get a grip," she muttered to herself as the elevator doors closed. "You didn't like it."

Buffy laughed at herself, at that inner voice that was torn between denying how kissing Faith had made her feel and admitting she'd never quite felt a buzz like that from just a kiss. There had definitely been some kind of spark between them that even she couldn't deny. In her mind she came to a Buffy rationalization that it was why she liked it and hadn't stopped Faith from kissing her the second time, as brief as it had been.

She knew that they'd all been through a lot of changes since Sunnydale and that none of them, even her, weren't quite who'd they'd been before. They'd grown together, matured; became better Slayers while training the younger girls with the skills they'd need to survive their world. Her friendship with Faith had grown and she learned to trust Faith just as Faith had learned to trust her and the others. Faith had been the one who had changed the most out of all of them, but sometimes she wondered if it was change or if this was just who Faith really was and that she was no longer hiding it and holding herself back because she'd found a level of acceptance with all of them.

Shaking slightly, Buffy brought the tips of her fingers to her still tingling lips as the elevator came to a stop. She shook off the swarm of feelings and thoughts that were trying to invade her mind as the doors slid open slowly. She let out a sigh of relief to find the third floor quiet. She slipped to her room quickly, shutting the door and making sure the latch was locked behind her.

"From now on you avoid being alone with her," Buffy said to herself, leaning up against the wooden door and closing her eyes as she tried to wipe away the memories and thoughts of Faith kissing her. "Hello, denial, it's Buffy," she laughed as she knew that it hadn't been Faith that had made the first move.

Her thoughts were disrupted by the warning signal that rang loudly throughout the castle. Willow's voice came over the intercom calling everyone to the control room. The alarm rarely ever went off and when it did, it was never a good sign.