Chapter Four

After leaving Willow's house, Faith tried to catch another nap at her motel room. The nap was interrupted too soon, by her aching head as well as someone pounding on her door. "Chill a minute!" Faith shouted as she splashed off her face and put something on.

Faith opened the door and met Buffy's fist to the mouth. Not thinking, she retaliated with a punch of her own, which sent Buffy into the door across the hall. "What the fuck is your problem B?"

"My problem is you Faith!" Buffy hissed as she picked herself up. "What the hell did you do to Wills? You spend the better part of our patrol time flirting with me and now Wills? What the hell did you do to her?"

"Not a damn thing B, why don't you go talk to her." Faith said then wondered if Willow was now doing the blame game and had talked with Buffy.

"Faith if you slept with her and plan to toss her aside like a piece of trash I swear I will kill you!" Buffy shouted as she closed Faith's door in effort to get some privacy.

"I never forced Red to do anything B; I know you think pretty low of me but I didn't think you would think that low." Buffy was surprised at Faith's downcast look. She expected an all out war, not this. "What did or did not happen between Red and I was consensual and Red knows I'm not getting overly involved. So take your self righteous attitude and fuck off!"

"Faith I'm sorry, I just," Buffy put out her hand in an apologetic gesture.

"Go B, just go! If you're so worried about Red, why don't you fix it! Is that the real problem B? Are you upset cause I can admit my sexuality?"

Buffy looked at Faith with shock on her face. It hit her at that moment, she knew she cared for Willow but had always kept it in the back of her mind. She loved Angel though and knew she could never hurt him like that. "Faith, I don't know what's got you so angry all the time but if you would relax a little, you would see people care about you!" Buffy turned and stormed out of the room angry that Faith saw through her.

"Go figure, stupid stupid Faith!" The slayer said aloud as she kicked her door. "The one person you think you might be able to open up to shuns you and treats you like a psychological experiment and wants the one who wants you." Faith pulled a bottle of booze out of her jacket and tipped it to her lips. She had decided that Willow would want Buffy in no time at all and she would be free and clear of them all.

-- - - - - -

Xander and Buffy sat at a run of the mill eatery having burgers for lunch. "I'm concerned about Will too," Xander added. He and Buffy had been discussing what was up with Willow and Faith. "I think we need to have a pal night, we need to encourage her to get back with Oz and stay away from Faith."

"I couldn't agree more but we have to be cautious as to how we go about it. Faith is a good slayer but good relationship material she is not. Now I have a plan but you just need to work with me on it." Buffy said with confidence in her voice. She knew just how to stop Faith from ruining Willow's life but hoped it didn't ruin her own in the process.

"I'm in," Xander said with a smile as his new friend Anya walked in. "I'm supposed to show her around Sunnydale, she's a great dancer and a lot of laughs." Xander smiled at the vengeance demon who sat down beside him.

"Yes I am and very loyal too," Anya smiled back at the two long-time friends.

"That's great," Buffy said as she shrugged off a slayer vibe. "Xan, as I was saying, just tell Will I'm acting strange and you think I've split with Angel. I've got to go fill him in." Buffy excused herself from the table with a smile.

"We're going to get Will away from Faith, that's the other slayer." Xander explained to Anya.

"You mean that's thee chosen slayer, her energy and slayer vibe is way stronger than that of your friend Buffy." Anya said in a matter of fact tone.

"No An, you see Faith is only a slayer cause Buff died and I brought her back. Buff is still top dog." Xander explained with confidence in his voice.

Anya grinned and laughed. "That's not how it works Xander. Buffy has the slayer powers yes I agree. Faith has the energy, the drive and zeal to slay. This makes her thee chosen one. She has the demon of the slayer, which is a necessity in destroying or at least fighting off the most evil being of them all. The one that was, is and always will be. The first evil."

"One doesn't have to have that to be the best slayer," Xander argued being unwilling to believe Anya was right.

"Is that so? Buffy also has one more minus in her slayer book; she is selfish, Faith may be in some areas but on a different level." Xander merely hung his head, as he knew deep down that his new lady was correct. "Faith, she would kill Angel in an instant, she wouldn't regard him as a better demon then myself because she cared and wanted to change the rules." Anya stood and took Xander's hand in hers. "Let's go see some real sites rather than Sunnydale, vengeance demon style."

-- - - - - - - -

Everyone was gathered at the Bronze that night for a back to school celebration. Willow sat alone and watched Faith dancing with some guy. Her heart ached but she kept trying to tell herself Faith was doing this to push her away. "Hey Will," Buffy said with a smile. "Did you talk to Xan?"

"Yes he told me that you split with Angel?" Willow asked in wonderment as to why that happened.

"Well, I realized something about myself and I couldn't hide it any more." Buffy said as she eyed Faith on the dance floor.

"What's that?" Willow asked as Faith kissed the guy she was with aggressively. "I'm sorry Buff I have to go."

"No wait Will," Buffy put her hand on Willow's arm. "I realized why seeing Faith flirt with you upset me. I know you enjoy spending time with her and all but I know deep down there could be nothing there so it was wrong of me to get upset." Buffy had thought it over as to which girl she should play on to split them up forever. Seeing as she really did care for Willow, she chose to play Faith. She just couldn't trick Willow in such a way and was afraid Willow wasn't really gay. She loved Angel and knew that once she played Faith, she would go back to him. If he would have her that is as he was very upset.

As Faith and her guy pal headed for the door Buffy spoke again not paying attention that Faith was looking at Willow. "The reason I got so upset is because I like Faith. Now I'm not sure if it is a slayer bond or something more so I had to call it off with Angel to be sure." Buffy said with confidence in her voice. There was no turning back now; the plan was in full swing.

Willow's heart broke inside, she knew Faith flirted a lot with Buffy and now it was over for her. She now knew what Faith must have felt like being shoved aside so many times by the gang. Though her heart was breaking, Willow kept a straight look on her face. "Then go after her I guess." She stood from the table and headed for the bathroom.

- - - - - - -

Buffy stood and turned towards the door as Angel, Xander and Anya sat watching. Anya's face contorted briefly into Anyanka then back to Anya. Xander was sure his cover was blown but quickly found out that Angel knew. "You can fight it Anya, I have for many years. You seem like a good person underneath," he touched the demon's hand. "You feel her pain don't you?"

"Yes," was all Anya said as she looked between the two men. "I don't know what's happening to me but I don't want to cause pain any more but feel the need to help Willow with my demonic skills as I have done this for way too long."

"Xander, go check on Will," Angel said as he stood. "I'll take your friend with me and you drop over later to fill us in. Anya, I will help you fight it if you like and will be glad to help Xander understand how to help you." Angel offered with sincerity in his voice as the others stood.

"It will be a huge task as D has control of my soul." Anya added as the two walked out leaving Xander to search for his friend.

"Will," he called as he entered the hall that housed the bathrooms and a storage area. "Don't make me come in the women's room looking for you because you know I'll do it." Xander said as he pushed open the door to the ladies room. "Will?" He queried softly as he listened for any sort of noise.

"Go away Xander," Willow said in between sobs.

Xander's heart broke for his friend. He knew that he had made a huge mistake going along with Buffy's plan but couldn't back out now. "Look, I saw Faith with that Guy Will. You have Oz, he loves you and…" Willow burst out of the stall with tears and anger in her eyes.

"It's not Oz, I don't want Oz Xander. I know where my heart is and I'm so angry that I stupidly allowed it to go there. Buffy wants the one I want and I know, before the night is over, Buffy will have her."

Xander put his arms around his sobbing friend and wiped the tears from her eyes. He felt so guilty at what he had agreed to with Buffy but knew telling Willow wouldn't be a good thing. He knew she would turn on him as well, more so than she might Buffy because he was her best friend. He mentally kicked himself time and time again as he held his heartbroken friend. "I'm here for you Will and who knows, in time you might see that Oz is good for you."

-- - - - - -

Buffy stood in the bushes and watched Faith in a heavy make out session with some guy. She tried to form in her mind, how she was going to be able to let Faith do some of the things too her that she was doing to the guy. Truthfully, she had no interest at all in Faith in that way but was determined to go through with it.

The guy's pants had a noticeable bulge in them as Faith kissed him all over. He began to moan in pleasure as Faith rubbed the bulging area from outside his pants. She felt someone watching them and hoped to god that it wasn't Willow. She wanted Willow to see how she didn't care but didn't want her to torment herself. The fling she was planning too have with this guy was partly to release her own stress and make herself forget what she was really feeling. "Hang tight for a sec," she said and moved away from the guy who could barely stand due to the pulsing in his veins.

She turned and walked a small distance to see Buffy moving down the street. "B?" Faith called and was certain she was here to fight over Willow.

"I came to talk to you for a minute but see you're busy." Buffy replied.

"Is this about Red?" Faith asked wanting to know how Willow was doing.

"No, it's about me Faith." Buffy turned towards the slayer. "Can we go somewhere else?"

"Kinda busy here B," Faith motioned towards the guy who was still panting.

"Faith, I split up with Angel," Buffy said in hopes that would get the slayer's attention.

"Why is that a concern of mine?" Faith asked nonchalantly.

"I split up with him because I realized that I liked you Faith." Buffy said relieved to have the big part of her plan out of the way. "This morning when we argued, you thought it was because I wanted Willow. That's not the case at all Faith. I thought about it for quite awhile and realized you are the one I want."

Faith stood motionless for a couple of minutes. Night after night, she would dream of this event. Now that it was here, she didn't know what to do. She had made plans to put space between her and both women. She wanted to protect her emotions but now she had the opportunity to have one of them, the one she wanted from day one. She looked at Buffy who was moving closer to her then Willow crossed her mind. Faith was shocked that she wasn't jumping at the chance to kiss, touch and be with Buffy but knew now that Willow was the one she wanted. She didn't know when things changed but they had. She realized that what she felt for Buffy was the slayer bond. 'Here's your shot slayer, be with Buffy and you will push Willow away. That was part of your plan to begin with in order to push them both away.'