Title:Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")
Author:lilyme
Summary:Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?
Pairing:A slayer and a Witch (OR – two people much more similar than expected)
Rating: PG-13 to R
Disclaimer:I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Parts of the dialogue taken from "Bad Girls". No infringement intended!
Schedule:"What's that supposed to mean?" you might ask. It means, I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the time because of…what do you call this again…oh, right, "life"! ;)
Thanks to: My betas Wil-Lehane- and K (she goes by many names)
Dedication:To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers).


CHAPTER FOUR -- RED'S FAITH

Willow flinched as the stake made contact with the metallic surface of the dumpster; the hard thump echoed through the mild winter air.

The bluntend of the stake was sticking out of the waste receptacle, just inches away from the man's shoulder. The shock had rendered him unable to move. He simply stared ahead of him.

Faith wasn't much better for it. She was breathing heavily, the hand that had held the stake just seconds before was trembling violently.

If asked Faith probably couldn't say what had made her missher anticipated goal. It hadn't been the fact that Willow had been pushing her arm – the witch was physically not nearly strong enough to hinder her. Maybe it had been the edge of panic in the redhead's voice. Only now, it dawned on her what she almost would have done. She noticed the (hu)man's ragged and shallow breathing, his terrified look.

Willow walked up behind her and put her hand on the slayer's upper arm, pulling on it to get Faith to face her.

She succeeded after a few seconds and Faith turned around. "I didn't know," she said in a distant and almost childlike-sounding voice. Her mind was still trying to comprehend.

Willow took her hand, searched the slayer's eyes and whispered a reassuring "It's okay," both to the slayer and to herself. Faith merely nodded and Willow squeezed the hand a little, noticing the surprising softness of it.

But that was not important right now. The girl in front of her was shaking, on the verge of a shock herself.

Buffy had pushed past them and was now crouching in front of the man. "Are you okay?" she asked him. "Are you hurt?"

The reply came haggardlyand faint"N-No, I-I'm fine," he stuttered and tried to get up. Buffy pulled him to his feet.

Faith faced him, her trembling hadn't stopped completely yet, but thankfully Willow seemed to have a soothing effect on her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't even realize..."

"I-It's okay," the man tried to smile. "And I should apologize. I-I should have found another way to get in contact with you," he addressed the two slayers, "but..."

"Wait, what?" Buffy asked, curious and confused about the reason he had been looking for them.

Willow finally recognized him. "I know you. You are Allan Finch, the deputy mayor."

"Y-Yes, that's right," he relied, still stuttering a little, "And I-I have very important information for the slayers."

"What is it?" Buffy wanted to know.

"I'd rather not discuss it here," he indicated that they were outdoors, where someone could walk in on them any second. "Could we go somewhere...?"

"No problem," Buffy turned to Willow and Faith. "I'll take him to the library. I think, Giles might be there, researching stuff..." She looked briefly at her unusually-yet-understandably quiet fellow slayer, "Faith…can you take Will home?"

The question was actually more directed at the redhead, whom she now fixed with a meaningful look that held the underlying plea 'Can you take care of her?' Willow nodded silently.

The brunette slayer absentmindedly muttered, "Yeah, no problem, Buffy". The use of the blonde slayers full name showed that Faith was still not her old self again.

"We'll raid the warehouse tomorrow, okay? I think we're good for now," Buffy said over her shoulder, already on her way. Finch was not leaving her side.

"Okay," Faith replied.

"Bye, Buffy. Take care, Mr. Finch," Willow got out before her friend and the deputy mayor were out of sight.

"Bye, guys," Buffy said and rounded the corner, quickly followed by Finch.

Willow and Faith were still standing in the alley near the warehouse. Both realized at the same time that the witch was still holding the slayers hand, but neither of them did anything about it.


The twosome slowly started to walk in the direction that Buffy and Finch had just gone.

They didn't talk for several minutes; Faith was lost in her thoughts.

After a while, Willow broke the silence with a squeeze on the slayer's hand. "You okay?"

Redundant question, of course, since she knew that Faith wasn't really…but at least a way to start a conversation.

Faith nodded and slowed her walk. "Um-hm. It's just…a weird night," she said, letting go off the redhead's hand to hug herself. She was looking down at the ground, retreating into herself.

Suddenly she felt uncomfortable around Willow. After all, she was supposed to be the big protector, not the little redhead. "God knows what would have happened if you hadn't been there. I might have actually killed...," she broke off.

The wicca didn't like what she saw in front of her. The near-accident had shocked her herself and she knew that it must be even worse for the slayer. But she didn't want Faith to put up barriers around her, to torture herself with her thoughts. So she tried to think of a way to get Faith's mind off this thing.

Looking at Faith's distressed expression, she started, "Faith, I know what you must be feeling…well, not exactly know know, since I've…," she stopped, before a babble could occur, since she felt that this was one of the last things that the brunette needed right now, "but punishing yourself is not gonna help any...,"

Faith was looking up again, her eyes shimmer with tears that threatened to spill. She hadn't noticed Willow's almost-babble, honestly.

"It didn't happen. That's the important thing. Remember that, okay?" the redhead insisted and tried to take Faith's hand again. Surprisingly, she succeeded. "Don't tortureyourself with the 'what ifs'. I'm not saying that a thing like this will never happen again," a tear ran down Faith's face at this words and Willow fought to control her own emotions, "but I doubt it. I trust your instinct with this. Not just your slayer instincts - your human instincts."

This earned her a little smile from the slayer, who was proud and almost happy that someone acknowledged her not only as a slayer, but also as a person. Willow seemed to understand her in a way that she didn't think was possible. "Thanks."

Willow tentatively lifted her hand to the slayer's face and wiped the tear from the soft skin of the slayer's cheek.

Faith let this affectionate behavior happen; right now, she probably would have let Willow do just about anything with her.

The caress ended far too quickly for Faith's taste, though she couldn't really say why. The redhead gave her an encouraging smile and slayer nodded, indicating that she was feeling a little better.

Willow got a hold of the brunette's arm, motioning her to move. "Come on, we have somewhere to be."

Faith actually laughed at this and shoved her Willow-free hand into her pants pocket. "Right. B's not gonna be happy if I don't bring you home safe and sound."

"Actually, I had something else in mind," she said as they crossed the street.

"And what's that?" Faith asked curious.

"Aren't you hungry?" Willow grinned and lead her to a nearby restaurant.


The term 'restaurant' was actually too much of a compliment for the place the two entered now. It was dimly lit and only few occupants sat around here and there. The floorwas well wornthe wallpaper already peeling off the wall here and there. A jukebox was standing near the entrance, but no music was coming out of it.

Faith and Willow found a table in far corner, where they had more privacy. The tablecloth was not the cleanest; a few stains seemed to have survived the many washings Salt and peppershakers accompanied an unlit, yellowish-white candle.

An elderly looking waitress came up to their table. Like this place, she had seen better days already. "What can I do for you?" she asked in a monotone and slightly annoyed voice.

Willow looked up from her menu"I'll have some French fries and my friend here would like a big plate of ribs, right?"

Faith looked a little befuddled. "How...Oh, yeah," she stammered in the waitress's direction, "Ribs with chili sauce for me."

"And two cokes, please," Willow added.

The waitress scribbled the orders down on her notepad, "You got it," and headed towards the kitchen.

Faith braced her elbow on the table; her chin was cradled in her palm. She fixed Willow with a pensive stare as this one shrugged off her jacket. "Um, you know what I'm gonna ask you…," Faith started and wondered, how close an attention the redhead had paid to her earlier.

"You mentioned the ribs before, okay? You have slayer hearing, I've got my memory," Willow attempted to joke and noticed that she had accomplished her task when Faith gave her a grin…which was not as dimpled as Willow knew it could be, but a grin nonetheless. "And I know this place is not the prettiest, but they have the best ribs in town."

"You really know what a slayer needs," Faith remarked.

Score, one way to cheer up a slayer.

Inspecting the place, Faith had an idea. "But some ambience would be nice, yeah?" With that, she slid off the bench, where she had been sitting on Willow's right side, and went over to the music box.

Willow watched, interested and also relieved that Faith seemed to be over the near accident… at least somewhat.

After scanning over the titles, Faith put a coin in the jukebox and pressed one of the many buttons. Ambience, uh-huh. Even if only for a couple of minutes.

A for Willow unfamiliar, but pleasant song sounded through the restaurant. The slayer came back to the table and fished a lighter out of her pocket as she got back in her seat. The waitress had brought the drinks to the table already. Faith lit the candle with one quick movement. "There. That's better."

"Nice. This is kind of..." Willow stopped, letting the not-so-gloomy-anymore atmosphere a single candle and a little music could provide get to her, "...romantic..."

The redhead cringed immediately, I didn't just say that. Oh, man, yesterday I called her 'cute' and now this…

Faith raised her eyebrows with a smirk. "Doesn't take much to get you in the mood, huh?"

she nudged Willow with her finger as this one turned slightly red.

You're so getting yourself into trouble here, Rosenberg. Faith doesn't even see you like this. Too bad you can't say the same thing about yourself. Things would be simpler...things with Oz and...why is she looking at me like that?

Faith had leaned back in her seat, her arms resting on the table, and was eyeingthe redhead. A smile was playing around her lips.

It's kinda funny to watch her thinkin'. That little frown, her lips moving as if she's talking to herself, and the way she's burning a hole in the table with her stare. Makes you wanna be inside that little head and see what's going on in there. She's cute, alright. No reason to deny that…Oh, okay...now her stare is burning a hole into me...

"What?"

"What?" they asked at the same time. Faith laughed and even Willow, despite her confusing thoughts, managed a little smile.

"Just wondered if there's actually a time when you're notthinking about things?" the slayer replied.

"I don't know. I don't...think so," Willow frowned; this and her comment earned her another chuckle from Faith.

The waitress came back with a big plate full of ribs and an a little smaller one with fries. Faith's eyes sparkled upon seeing the abundance of delicious food.

"There you go. That's 8.45 total," the woman informed them in the same monotone voice and put the bill on the table.

"Thanks," the friends replied and Faith immediately started on her meal. Civilized...well, as civilized as a hungry slayer can be. The cutlery wasgetting neglected; you don't need that if you have ten agile fingers.

Willow was more conservative at first and ate her fries with a fork.

They ate in silence for a while. Faith occasionally stole a fry or two from Willow's plate and offered the redhead some of her ribs in return.

The slayer decided to start a new topic. "So, how'd that test of yours go?"

"Hard to say, my mind was busy thinking about...," Willow risked a short glance at Faith, who herself was busy - gnawing on a rib, that is, "other things..."

The slayer put the remains of the rib down and picked up another one, her plate was almost empty by now. "Tell me," she mumbled and looked at the redhead questioningly.

When Willow didn't respond for several seconds, just fidgeted around and avoided eye contact with her, Faith back-paddled. "Okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." The slayer was a little disappointed. She had thought that some sort friendship was forming between them. Talk to each other about everything. That's what friends are supposed to do, right? I mean, not that I know. I've rarely have been friends with anyone...

Willow felt bad. She couldn't tell Faith the real reason, but she didn't want to lie to her either. For one thing, her lying abilities weren't all that great...And for another you don't lie to your friends. Rule numbero uno in the friendship handbook.

"It's not that...," Willow mollified "It's complicated..."

"Maybe another time?" Faith asked hopeful.

"Of course," Willow replied, relieved that the matter was dropped for now, but not letting it show. Hope we don't get back to this topic any time soon. I don't think she'll back off this quickly then...

"Wonder what B'll get in her test, though," Faith switched the focus, "Think she's mad at me for dragging her out of class?"

Willow shrugged. "I don't know. But I don't think it will affect her grade curve that much."

Two seconds later, Willow noticed that her last sentence was rather double-entendre-y.

"Oh! I didn't mean it like that! Her grades aren't this bad so that an F wouldn't affect her final grade or anything, but...," the redhead blabbered on and on, gesturing wildly with her fork, "...it was a small test. Not that important, you know?" Right, only that important that Willow felt the need to do something to make up for her own test result…

"Right," Faith grinned again, amused by the trademark Willow-babble. This one blushed yet again and distracted herself with consuming the remaining parts of her meal.

Two minutes later the plates are emptied. Willow put her fork down and Faith wiped off her fingers on a napkin

"That was good!" The slayer announced and patted her stomach. Willow smiled at her and Faith noticed it…but also a little bit of chili sauce that was smeared on Willow cheek, close to the left corner of her mouth.

Without thinking, Faith scooted a little closer to Willow and leaned over. She put her hand on the witch's thigh for support. Willow squeaked startled, not knowing what the slayer was planning.

"Sorry," Faith mollified, but didn't move her hand. "It's just…you've got something on your...," she wiped the sauce off with her finger and Willow closed her eyes for a fraction of a second; Faith observed this, surprised. Remembering last night's encounter at the Bronze, she put 1 ½ and 2 together.

Experimentally, she held her finger to Willow's lips, almost putting some of the sauce on them. Willow's mind was on overload, she couldn't believe what was happening. She opened her mouth, intending to lick the sauce of Faith's digit….yeah, her brain apparently really wasn't all there…

But Faith had other ideas. Just when Willow's tongue was about to make contact with her finger, she retracted it and licked it clean herself.

Willow's eyes followed her movements, like hypnotized. Unknowingly she pouted when Faith's finger didn't touch her lips.

The slayer's eyes jumped to Willow's lips and back to those big green eyes that were focused on her. She thought for a second and moved in even closer to the redhead. She cupped her cheek and locked eyes with the redhead. Willow leaned into her touch and closed her eyes slightly.

Faith was so close now that their noses were almost touching. She hesitated, because she was not a hundred per cent sure if she was reading the signs right.

She looked into Willow's eyes, asking her for permission. Or waiting for a sign of rejection. She touched the ruby lips with her thumb and saw that Willow's eyes were fixed on her own mouth.

Taking this as a good sign, the slayer closed the marginal gap between them and kissed the witch. It was only a soft and short kiss, barely two seconds long, but it left them both wanting more.

The slayer tried again and still felt no resistance from the redhead. She put an arm on Willow's waist and pulled her closer. Not that Willow was complaining about this...although her subconsciousness told her to.

As the kiss progressed, their bodies moved closer together, Willow touching Faith's shoulder hesitantly. As always, she couldn't stop thinking.

Oh, God, what am I doing? What is she doing?! I'm still with Oz! Oz, Oz...

Faith grazed her bottom lip with her teeth and sucked it into her mouth. Willow moaned.

...Oz has never kissed me like that...No, we can't do this. I need to...

Willow moved her hands to Faith's face with the intension to pull herself away from the slayer...but apparently her body had other ideas. She wrapped her arms around Faith's neck and deepened the kiss.

Faith was pleased withthe redhead's eagerness and let her own hands wander over the other girl's body. She tugged on the hem of Willow's red sweater and moved her hands underneath, caressing the soft and warm flesh of her small back. Her right hand moved higher on her back, while the other one glid to her tummy. She found an especially ticklish spot right above Willow's belly button.

Willow pulled away eventually, mostly to catch her breath. But that was not the only reason.

"Faith, stop...," she grabbed Faith's left arm and removed it from her stomach. Sitting half-naked in a little pleasant restaurant wasn't exactly one of her favorites.

"Right, sorry. I thought we…you wanted...," Faith was disappointed – had she misread the signs after all…? "I didn't mean to..." I didn't mean it like that. No, wait…I did. I want…

"No! No! I didn't mean it like that!" Willow pacified, a little embarrassed,"I...this is nice and all, and I really like it... and you, obviously…and I want this...," what is it that we're doing exactly? That was almost un-harmless kissing …AND touching, "at least I think so, but don't you think we should...I mean, could we go somewhere...not that this isn't good, I mean, with the candle and the music and all, but we should go somewhere more…private..."

Faith kissed her again, briefly, just to stop the (adorable) babble. Yeah, I want her. "Okay. Come on, then. We'll go somewhere 'private'." Willow obliged quickly and took her jacket, pulled out a 10 dollar bill and put it on the table, before Faith could drag her out of the restaurant.

Oh, God…I think we're really gonna do… 'this'…?

to be continued...


Again, thanks for your reviews, guys! You rock!

Oh, and for next week...better bring a cup of coffee or two. That chapter is gonna be a bit longer... ;)