Deeper

Faith lay on the cool morning grass, her head on Buffy's chest, who ran her fingers through her brown locks. They lay in silent contentment as the sun rose, appropriately, over Sunnydale.

"Am I dead?"

The blonde slayer tilted her head, confused. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I think this might be heaven."

"Wow, look at big bad Faith, going all girly on me."

"I'm serious."

Buffy kissed the top of her head. "You're not dead."

"Yeah, I suppose… Should have guessed, it'll be all fire and brimstone where I'm heading."

"You're not going to hell."

"Why, because I'm so good and pure?"

"No. Because you'd kick the devil's ass, that's why."

"You think I couldn't kick God's ass?"

"You couldn't even kick my ass!"

"I could. I'd kick your ass right now if I wasn't more interested in biting it."

"Romantic. Remind me why you don't write Valentine's cards for a living?"

"Hey, it's not my fault B, you just got such a tasty…" Faith saw the other girl's raised eyebrows. "… personality?"

"Better."

Faith kisses her. There's no build-up, no waiting, she just wants to kiss her and she does. Buffy lets relents control of her mouth and enjoys the many different ways tongues can interact. She feels specks of something hitting her chest, and breaks the kiss to look down. Faith's arms are outstretched and her hands are cupped. Tiny pieces of sand are flittering through her fingers and lightly coating her chest.

"Buffy…" she whispers.

"Faith?"

"Buffy."

*

"Buffy!"

The blonde awoke with a jolt, taking in the vague image of Willow and Xander standing opposite her, and realised she had fallen asleep at the kitchen table.

"So, Buff, are you joining us back in the land of the living? We have cookies here."

"Say what now?"

"You were of the sleeping nature." Willow explained.

"How did you guys get in?"

"Front door was open." Xander explained. "Which, in Sunnydale, is more or less akin to suicide."

Buffy's head started to clear, and she remembered last night. She'd more or less ran home from an uneventful patrol and, desperate for sleep, swallowed god knows how many pills and collapsed in the nearest chair.

"We just stopped by because Giles said wanted to see you about a big scary thing. And Xander lied, we don't have cookies."

"Great. Demons and no cookies. My best morning ever."

"Actually Buffy, it's gone 12:00…"

"God, do you have to correct everything!?" she snapped at a visibly shocked Willow.

Xander broke the uncomfortable silence. "Well, I've learned that a tired slayer is not a happy slayer. Come on Will, lets go." The two stood up and made their way to the door.

"Look, I'm sorry."

"It's OK. You're just cranky, and I forgive crankiness. That's what friends are for."

"I'll walk with you. Then I guess I gotta go see Giles about this demon-y thing."

*

"…looked through the Watcher diaries and various other sources, and I'm afraid I can't find a thing. This seems to be either a very elusive or very rare species of Demon…"

Buffy stared intently at absolutely nothing, oblivious to the ex-librarian's speech. All she could see in her mind's eye were brunette locks, tantalising curves hugged by leather and eyes - big, brilliant eyes that she could melt in.

"… doesn't seem to be a vampire, although its methods of attacks are similar, it could just be a particularly…"

Eyes that could hypnotise. Lips that could burn. A chest that heaved like…

"… should patrol the area tonight. Buffy. BUFFY!"

"…the sea…"

"What?"

"Huh?"

"You were daydreaming, weren't you?"

"No. I heard everything. You were telling me to the patrol…. the sea?"

Giles took off his glasses and sat down, rubbing his eyes.

"Buffy, I realise that it's been difficult for you recently, but the demon threat doesn't stop with the Mayor dead. You need to have your wits about you, this may be a very tough demon to defeat."

"Absolutely. And I have all my wits. I'm all wit-ed up."

Giles gazed sympathetically at his slayer.

"You know, if there's anything on your mind, you can talk to me. I may not be your parent, but I'm always here to support you if you need it."

"I'm fine."

"There isn't anything?"

"Nope. Absolutely nothing."

*

Buffy made her excuses and left for home. She watched some TV, but there was nothing on. She made lunch, then realised she wasn't hungry. She looked at the clock. 2:18. Nothing to do all day, and Mom was away buying art. Nobody was going to need her awake for a while. She grabbed a glass of water and the bottle of stolen pills. She swung her head back and swallowed several, washing them down quickly. She curled up on the sofa and slipped into blissful sleep.

*

"Close your eyes."

Faith did exactly as she was told. She breathed in the deep sea air. It smelled of Buffy. She spread her arms and waited.

"Now… fall."

She let her balance give way and her body fall back. She waited for the catch… and felt thin air. She kept falling, her body tumbling off the face of the cliff and down towards the ground, where she knew the sand would feel like concrete when she hit it. She fell so far, and further still, waiting for an end, waiting to crumble like paper. Whipping downwards through the wind, she fell and fell, and hit… soft arms and skin. She collapsed backwards into Buffy's clutches.

"It's OK. I've got you."

"Almost too late."

"I was watching you the whole time."

Faith stood up and opened her eyes. They were in her apartment. And, she suddenly realised, stark naked.

"Bit racy for ya, isn't it B? Guess you're not as innocent as you look."

"How do you know this is my dream?"

"Touché."

They paced towards each other, each craving the other's touch. Their bodies became closer, and closer, and…. stopped. Both felt cold glass on their skin, and realised that there was a wall between them. Faith stared at Buffy, confused.

"What… I don't understand."

"It's always gonna be there."

"I don't want it to."

"I know."

The blonde raised a hand and pressed it against the glass. The other slayer mimicked the movement, raising her own hand to press the same place, like she was measuring their hands. Her fingers stroked the clear surface, begging for Buffy's hand, her skin, her touch. Buffy choked back a sob.

"I need you, Faith."

"You have me."

"No… I need you closer. I can't touch you. I can't feel my hand on yours. But I need you so bad. I…"

"Shh… you don't have to say it, B."

"No, I need you to know. I… Faith, I…"

A crash and a deafening ring from the side of the room. An hourglass crashed to the floor and the cacophonous alarm rang through Buffy's head as the room turned to black.

*

The slayer sat straight up, gasping. She looked at the clock on the wall. 7:21. She realised where the sound was coming from - the phone was ringing. She ignored it and ran towards the kitchen. She needed Faith now. She grabbed the little bottle, opened the lid and shook it into her hand. Nothing. She shook harder, and still nothing came out. Looking inside, she found nothing. They were all gone.

"No… I need more…" she ran up to the bathroom and ripped open the cupboard, scrambling for something, anything. Paracetamol, bandages, cough drops - nothing to help her sleep. Giving up to the irritating, persisting sound, she picked up the phone.

"What?" she spoke into the receiver.

"Buffy, is that you?" It was Giles.

"Giles. Yeah, it's me… what did you need?"

"I've worked it out, it's one of the Vashnera."

"I'm sorry."

"The demon. It's a Vashnera. They're incredibly rare, but not too hard to kill."

"Great. So I'll go out and fight this Vishnu guy. Was that all?"

"No, you need to be careful, Buffy. The thing about the Vashnera is that they're hypnotic creatures. They send their victims to sleep before feeding on them, you need to be careful. Just be aware of its spell, and try to actively resist it. The rest should go pretty smoothly."

"Hypnosis. Got it."

*

She crept through the sewers, a knife in her hand and a stake tucked inside her belt in case of any unexpected visitors. She kept telling herself, she had to stay awake. No matter how much she wanted to dream, she had to stay awake. Her job was to slay the demon, not to take a nap while it snacked on her organs. She had to stay awake.

Turning a corner, she saw something she'd never seen before - it was about 5 foot, man-shaped, deep purple scales with streaks of shining black fur down its back. She guessed it was the Vashnera.

"Hey Sleepy-head." The demon turned around and saw her. "It's way past your bedtime."

She went straight in and kicked it in the face, spinning around to punch it in the gut and then the face. It fell back against the wall. Buffy advanced on it, knife in hand. Then it raised its hand, palm outstretched, and Buffy saw something so tempting. She didn't know what it was, but she wanted it. She wanted to fall into it and never get up.

"Fall into me…"

No! She had to stay awake. She was not going to be a demon's Happy Meal.

"Rest in me…"

Sleep beckoned her. She fell to her knees.

"Deeper…."

"No…"

"Feel the night…"

"NO!"

"…But I need ya, B."

She looked up in shock. Faith was kneeling in front of her, where the demon was just a second ago.

"Faith…"

"Don't you want me?"

"Yes, of course I do."

"Then come to me. Just sleep…"

"I can't."

"Shh… I need you. Sleep with me. Just close your eyes."

"Yes…"

"That's it…. Just sleep."

Buffy was asleep before she hit the floor.

*

"Back already?"

Faith smiled as Buffy walked towards her.

"I missed you."

"Don't you need to be somewhere?"

"Nope. I need to be here."

She reached out a hand and tried to stroke the younger slayer's face, but an invisible barrier stopped her just millimetres from her face.

"B…"

"Faith, I need to talk to you…"

"B, your neck!"

"It's not important."

"Buffy, look at your neck!"

She looked down and saw a river of blood falling from her throat down her chest.

"I know."

"B, you need to stop this."

"I came here for you…"

"Yeah, but you need to leave, now! You're going to die!"

"But I need to be with you."

"And I need you to live! Wake up! Wake up, B, WAKE UP NOW!"

*

Buffy's eyes saw the roof of the sewers as they opened, and as they looked down saw a demon feeding on her neck. She threw him off, and scrambled around for her knife. She could barely think. The demon used his chance to kick her in the face. She fell to the floor, too weak to move. The Vashnera loomed over her, waiting for the kill. This was it, she thought. She was going to die in a sewer, soaked in her own blood and other people's waste. The demon lowered his head to resume feeding. Summoning the last of her strength she moved her hand around, searching for a weapon, and her fingers felt something cold and metal - her knife! Before its teeth could reach her neck, she slashed the knife through the air and across its neck. It howled, then fell backwards. Dead.

She sat up, shakily. Her head swam and ached. She swallowed back a sob, then gave up and let herself cry. She knew what she had to do.

*

The room was cold when she walked into it. She made a mental note to tell the nurses to make it warmer for her before she left. She walked over to the bed, and sat in the chair that hadn't moved since she first sat in it on the night of graduation.

"Faith, there's no easy way to say this. I… I don't think we should see each other any more. I mean, I know this isn't exactly seeing each other. I'm not even sure what this is. It's just… it's dangerous. It's too dangerous for us to be together, even when you're in a coma. And even if I could handle the danger…. I can't handle seeing you like this. There's so many things I want to do but we can never… I can't let you hold my hand. I can't kiss you and know that you can feel it. We can't even wake up together. And I can't sit here and let myself fall deeper in love with you, when you can't even move." Her tears wetted the slayer's pillow as she leant in to kiss her cheek. "Goodbye, Faith…"

*

"… goodbye."

Faith watched as Buffy stood up and walked towards the door, helpless to do anything about it. She took in one last memory of the love of her life, standing at the doorway of her room.

And then she was gone.