A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews. It means a lot. Sorry this took a little long getting out. I was out of town for a few days, and when I got back our internet was messed up.

Chapter 3

The entire household is sitting in the dinning room flipping through pages of books hundreds of years old. I'm not really reading anything on the pages, all I'm worried about is whether or not it looks like I'm reading them.

Even if I wanted to research, how could I? All I can think about is Faith and what's going on with us. I'm not gonna lie and say that I hate it, it's actually the total opposite. I love how she makes me feel. Sure, the sex with Spike was good, but Faith takes it to an entirely different level.

But I really can't be thinking about this right now. According to Willow's sources the chanting vampires and the ancient evil are connected, and it's only a matter of time before they accomplish their goal of bringing it back into reality.

That's about all we know, so now we're all sitting here trying to figure out who this big bad is and how we can stop him from coming back. Of course it's not as easy as that. Most of our plans don't work out the first time around, and I'm sure that'll be the same with this guy.

I look up from my book after having finally given up trying to read it and see Faith sitting across the table from me. She's not even trying to hide the fact she's not researching, what with her head on the table and her eyes closed.

I can't believe she fell asleep! This is supposed to be awake time full of helpful researching and information gathering. I can't really blame her, though. We had stayed up most of last night doing other awake time stuff, but with totally different outcomes. I'm actually kind of mad I didn't think of taking a nap myself, but I know Willow would be mad, and we can't have that.

"Ah-ha!" Xander exclaims, jumping out of his chair.

And in an instant Faith is also standing, grasping her unused book like a weapon and looking around the room for the attacker. Xander's victory yell is momentarily forgotten as we all stare at the girl.

"What the hell, Captain Hook?" I can't help but grin at her defensiveness. She hates when she looks stupid, but I think she looks cute. Did I really just put the words cute and Faith into the same sentence? My God, maybe this sex stuff should end if I'm thinking things like that.

"I think I found something," Xander answers in an almost hushed tone. He doesn't even try to pretend Faith's almost attack didn't scare the hell out of him.

"Then can you say that like a normal person instead of screaming and jumping around?"

"Says the crazy lady who thinks a book is gonna do a lot of damage." Sometimes I like Kennedy, especially when she is making jokes at Faith's expense because then Faith glares. I really like it when Faith glares.

"Whatever, just tell us what you found." A chuckle almost escapes my throat as I watch her shake her head and sit down. She sends the glare over in my direction, and all I do is grin, causing her to shake her head again. At least she's kinda smiling, now, and if there's one thing I like more than a Faith glare, it's a Faith smile.

She really should let people see it more often, but now my mind is wondering to all the times she smiled last night, and I miss half of what Xander says.

"...chant to resurrect their leader. Strength in numbers is a plus, so you'll never see less than six. It also says...Oh, wait." And that's exactly what we do...but no one knows what we're waiting for. I guess we're waiting for him to finish reading the page, and that probably takes a little longer with only one eye. "Nevermind. I probably should have read that all the way through before I got excited like that."

"Why? What's it say?" Faith asks and leans over to grab the book. " 'If you see them, call the cops as quickly as possible since they are, in fact, not demons, but bikers with a special interest in the dark magics.' Really, Xander? This says they go around trying to bring their gang leader back to life. What do you want us to do? Go around and slash all their bike tires, maybe get into a few bar fights?"

"Hey, you would have jumped to the same conclusion as me if you had read 'Hell's Devils'. We've dealt with demon bikers before, and at least I'm participating in the research. You're over there dreaming about who knows what," Faith takes her eyes off him for a quick second to throw a smirk over in my direction. I wonder what she was dreaming about, maybe she'll tell me later. Oh, or show me. Showing me would be way better.

"Yeah, and we both came up with the same amount of information, which is none."

I actually feel a little bad for all the young ones sitting around the table. They have to witness these kind of arguments at least once a day. This one seems a little civil, though, which is an upgrade over Faith and Kennedy rolling around on the ground, fighting over which kind of cereal we should buy.

"Do you think we can take a break? All this reading is making my eyes sore." That's Rachel, and she's around Kennedy's age. Faith hates her, especially when she talks. No one really knows why, but the two of them just don't get along.

Her glare is back, and it's not so sexy this time. It's actually kind of scary, but Rachel doesn't flinch. It looks like she's about to speak again, and I know if she does the argument won't be so civil anymore.

"Yeah, a break sounds good. Can you help me outside with something, Faith?"

She looks at me and the glare weakens some. I'm glad because the last thing we need is for a fight to break out. We both stand and head for the door. It's not lost on me how much distance she keeps between us. It's like she knows that I may not be able to control myself if she gets too close, and that was the thing I feared most when I started these games with her.

"I don't wanna hear it, B. She knows I don't like her, but it's like she's too stupid to leave me alone."

We're standing right in front of the still open door, and I know she's talking just loud enough for Rachel to hear.

"All she said was she thought we should take a break. What's wrong with that?" I ask her as I steer her away from the door.

"Nothing. It's the fact that she opened her mouth to begin with."

I can't help but smile, but I don't think Faith likes that too much, "It's not funny, B. How many times have you heard me say, 'Don't touch the TV while the Sox are playing and I'm out slaying,' maybe a hundred times or more."

I'm confused, and I'm almost certain that it's written clear as day on my face, but a "Huh?" escapes nonetheless.

"You and me were out on patrol, and I had the game set to record, but that bitch watched some MTV reality crap, instead. I missed the game, B. I haven't missed one since I've been out of prison."

I laugh. There's nothing else I can do. This is almost as bad as the time Faith ate Andrew's last Hot Pocket. "Oh, my God. So that's what you were yelling about that night. Why didn't you just watch the highlights or something?"

"It's the principle of the matter, B. I didn't even look in the paper the next day, and I still don't know if they won or lost."

We're standing by the side of the house, now, and Faith is leaning up against it. I really think it's because if she wasn't, she'd fall to the ground, that's how depressed she looks, but the laughter is still spilling out of me.

"Poor baby, had to miss her game while she was out saving the world. Want me to make it feel better?" I ask as I step closer to her. She doesn't look as sad anymore, but she definitely looks a little angry.

"Quit teasing," and with speed I didn't know she possessed, she has me pressed up against the wall, leaning her weight into me. "I wanna kiss you so bad."

I want her to kiss me so bad, too.

"You can't."

"I bet Jared got to kiss you, and I know you've let everyone else do it. So, tell me, why is it Spike gets to have that part of you, but I can't?"

Because you have everything else. I want to tell her that so bad, but I can't. Spike had every part of me but my heart, the same as Faith. The only difference is, kissing him didn't open me up like I know it would with her. The only one to ever have all of me was Angel, and that all went to hell, literally.

Everything with Faith has been moving so fast that I know if I give into that last little desire there'll be no turning back. With sex I can pretend that's all it is. Just sex, no love making, no tenderness and no feelings. Kissing takes that all away, and the simplest of kiss would make me hers.

"It's not the same."

It's all I can muster. The position of her leg between mine is making it hard for me to come up with anything better, and I really don't want to get into a long rant about the real reason I don't want her to kiss me. It would just make things more complicated than they already are.

She moves away from me, and I instantly miss the warmth of her body on mine. I want to reach out for her, but I don't. Maybe this is how it should be. Maybe this thing should just end before it gets one, or both, of us killed. And I really think that's where it's heading. I can't take my mind off of her, even when we patrol. Even with everyone in the room I still want her, and that makes it very hard to be a slayer.

"You're right. I get you don't feel that way about me, but it kinda sucks, you know? I bet it'd be good, though."

Something tells me that'd it probably be the best, but of course I don't say that. I just watch her walk away, back towards the front of the house.

I swear researching is the worst thing on the planet. Forget about all the Big Bads we've faced, books are the biggest of the bad. I think this thing actually laughed at me after the tenth time reading the same sentence.

"Here it is."

The fact that she says it so nonchalantly makes me angrier than the fact that it was Faith who found it, the girl who had been passed out on the table just a few hours ago.

"You know, with how old and bad he's supposed to be, you'd think he'd have a better name than 'Evil Larry'."

"What? Let me see that," Xander says with almost as much disbelieve in his voice as I feel. There's no way that's right. One of us would have come across it, first. He grabs the book and reads over the passage, and a look of realization crosses his face, "I feel so stupid. I read over his name like an hour ago."

"Maybe you should have rested more because here I am, alert as can be, and finding out all the info."

It's a throwback to the argument they had earlier and Xander knows it. He tosses the book on the table and slouches down in his chair, almost like he's trying to hide from all the stares.

"It's because his name is so long that the original has been lost over time. They believe L-A-R were the first three letters, but everything after that no one is sure about. And, I think you're right, Faith. This seems to be the one we're looking for," Willow pipes up from behind her computer screen before pointing and continuing, "it says here that he will rise in Cleveland 500 years after being killed. I feel stupid, too. A source of mine sent me a rather cryptic message just saying E.L. I thought it just meant el, as in el taco."

"Who was your source?" Again, I wonder why she didn't have these back in Sunnydale.

"A wizard. You wouldn't know him."

"Why would Harry Potter be speaking Spanish?" There are more eye rolls than chuckles as Faith stands up and stretches. I don't do either, I'm too busy watching her shirt ride up. She really does have a nice stomach. She has a nice everything, actually, and I would know considering how many times I've run my hands over it the past few days. See what I mean? Here I am in the middle of a pretty important conversation, and all I'm thinking about is Faith's body. What if this had happened while we were slaying? My head would probably be chopped off, which would really suck because then I wouldn't get to look at her anymore.

"Wizards can speak a variety of different languages, I'll have you know. But, good job on the find. I'll do some more research tonight and give a report in the morning. You guys can call it a night if you want."

I know she's hoping some of us will stay and volunteer to help out, but the only one that does is Kennedy, and that's only because she knows she has to. The rest of us are up and out of the room before Will even finishes the sentence.

We really are a pathetic group. It's a wonder evil doesn't prevail more often.

So, I'm sitting in my room waiting for a certain someone to come by. Deep down I know that she won't be by tonight, but part of me is holding out hope. Back in Sunnydale, Faith let me know about her want, take, have practices, and I'm fairly certain she still lives by those rules, to a certain extent. It must be killing her to want something she can't take or have, I know it's killing me.

I told myself after Angel that I could never be that open with anyone else, again. Maybe that's why I never let Faith get too close, even all those years ago. Something in me must have sensed the road we would have travelled down, the road we're traveling down now.

Just in the couple of days Faith and I have been fooling around, I've felt myself start to fall for her. Maybe I was falling before we had sex, and I was just so far in denial I couldn't see it. There's no escaping it now. No more keeping it buried hoping it'll go away.

I love Faith, and whatever we have going on right now will end horribly.