A/N: This is where we start traveling to the AU place, and we won't come back.
Faith woke abruptly, just in time to see the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign go by. The night had lost its hold; the sun would be up soon.
"You talk in your sleep." Willow stated.
The slayer brought her seat back to the upright position, straightened her clothes, and wiped at her mouth to check for drool. "Anything interesting?"
"It was mostly mumbling. But I might've heard the name 'Gunn' once or twice." Willow smiled and glanced over at Faith, who already had her pack of cigarettes in hand.
"Hey, that could mean anything."
"Uh-huh. I think you have time to smoke, so long as you put the window down."
"Thanks." With lightening speed the brunette lit up and took her first drag. The knot that had left her stomach last night had returned in the form of a boulder. It continued to grow as the houses rolling past became increasingly familiar. "Stop the car." She muttered.
"What?" The redhead asked, a touch of fear underlining the word.
"Just… stop the car."
Willow obliged, veering to the right, skimming the passenger side tires along the curb. The slayer opened her door and stumbled out. One hand holding the car for support, the other pulling back her hair, Faith bent over and watched her dropped cigarette smoldering in the grass. The thick smell of it hit, acting as a catalyst. Suddenly her stomach lurched and emptied itself right next to some unsuspecting family's mailbox. Her eyes filled with tears as she gagged, thankful, at least, that she hadn't partaken of Fred's homemade taco fiesta last night.
A sigh of relief escaped her as the tightness in her midsection dissipated, and the knot (boulder) virtually disappeared. She straightened up to see the witch standing beside her, looking concerned, and holding a few napkins out.
"Sorry about that," the slayer mumbled, gratefully taking the napkins and wiping her mouth.
Willow shrugged her shoulders. "Lorne said there might be some after effects from-"
"It's nerves. My first week as a slayer, I threw up every night."
"Really? Huh. Do you need a minute?"
"Nah, I feel better now."
Willow nodded in response, flashing a little smile before getting back in the car. Faith did the same, then sealed the soiled napkins inside the little plastic garbage bag located in the console. She reached into her jacket pocket and fished out a piece of Trident, a purchase Wes had made for her along with the cigarettes. A little smile played on her lips as she watched the houses go by again, and she remembered how odd it had been to ride in the car with her former Watcher. The oddness was due to the fact that he smoked with his right hand, reaching across his body every time he needed to ash. Very distracting.
The thought had barely come and gone, and they were pulling into the driveway behind Joyce's SUV. The last time Faith had been here…
"Ready?" Willow interrupted. They got out of the car and started up the walk. Willow had gone so far as to unlock the front door when a voice called out from behind them.
"Hey, guys." Both girls turned to see Buffy walking toward them, through the grass. She stopped at the bottom of the porch steps. "Will, you must be tired. Why don't you go ahead and crash out for a few hours?" The witch took the hint and nodded, disappearing into the house and closing the door behind her.
Buffy gestured for Faith to follow, and led her out to the end of the driveway. "Will brought you up to speed on the First?"
"Yeah."
"Then you know how serious things are here."
"I've got an idea."
"And you also know that if I wasn't in such desperate need of help, there'd be no way in hell I'd let you come back to Sunnydale, much less sleep under my roof."
The brunette's mouth went dry at the words. "Buffy, I-"
"Don't bother apologizing. Look, two slayers are definitely better than one. But don't expect me to act like everything's okay. I need a fighter, not a friend. If you can't deal with that, you should cut your losses and head back to lock-up."
"I can deal. I'm just here to kick some evil ass." Faith lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, and tried to remember the almost-good feeling she'd had right before leaving LA last night. It wouldn't come.
"Rule number one: if you make if out of this alive, which you probably won't, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. You go straight back to prison."
"It's looking more appealing by the minute."
"Rule number two: if I think for one second that you are a danger to anyone in this house, I won't hesitate to take you out."
"Willow warned me about your pep talks, but damn."
"What did you expect, Faith? I trusted you, and you betrayed me. You wreaked havoc on my life, then came back to do some more damage. You stole my body, slept with my boyfriend, held my mom hostage, then cozied up to Angel and convinced him to take pity on your tortured soul. And while you were off making license plates, I died. Did you know that? I died, and because my friends brought me back, the line of slayers was weakened. So the First decided to take advantage of it and try and kill us all. Do you see where I'm going with this? If you had been here, maybe Willow wouldn't have had to bring me back. Hell, maybe I wouldn't have died in the first place."
Faith turned, momentarily distracted from the tirade as all the lights in the house started to switch on. The faint sound of panicked voices reached her ears, and she turned back to Buffy. The blonde was smiling wickedly. "Guess the jig is up."
"Faith!" Willow was calling her name from inside the house. It sounded far away.
"Just keep in mind that even if she doesn't say it, you know damn well she's thinking it." Buffy continued, smile still wrapped around her lips. "I was a little worried about you coming to town, but this is gonna to be easier than I thought. Not to mention, kinda fun. See ya."
And suddenly Buffy was gone. No puff of smoke, no flash of light. Faith blinked slowly, stupidly, then squinted. Nothing.