Chapter 4

"The entire friggin' booby gang has lost their minds!" Faith spoke, staring up at the adults, who had surrounded her and Buffy, both of whom were still looking like five-year-olds. And already, having only been at Giles' place for about half an hour, Faith was starting to accept the fact that it was never going to change! Ever! Especially since everybody around them was acting like a bunch of weirdoes on crack!

"Don't call them the booby gang," Buffy replied defensively, shrinking back slightly as Xander leant closer to coo at her. By doing that, she accidentally backed into Willow's legs. The redhead instantly grinned.

"See, she likes me more than you! Aren't you a smart little baby! Who's a smart little baby?" Willow's hands moved towards her. Buffy, afraid of another round of cheek pinching, squealed and hid herself behind Faith.

"Really brave of you, B. Your Slayer courage is impressive," Faith mocked her, tapping her small foot against the floor, while glaring at Willow and Xander.

"Seriously, why the fuck can't they be like her? That blonde chick over there..."

"Anya," Buffy helpfully added.

"Yeah, Anya," Faith nodded, tugging on her dragon T-shirt. "At least she's not acting like a fuckin' mental patient."

The small blonde smiled at the sight of the ex-vengeance demon, who was happily humming, sitting as far as possible from the two mini slayers and flipping through the channels of the big soap box Giles called his TV.

"You are so cute," Willow grinned toothily at the children. "Really, really cute."

"Yeah, we get that," Faith snapped. "So, moving on..."

"They really are adorable," Tara agreed, also smiling, but less largely than Willow was.

"Wait, who was she again?" Faith glanced at Buffy, who had given up and sat onto the ground with a thud.

"Tara, Willow's witch friend," she replied. Faith nodded, absorbing the information.

"So, what," she sat down next to Buffy, while gesturing at Tara, Willow and Xander, who was now making stupid faces at them. "We we're brought here just so we could vomit at 'em?"

Snorting, her blonde nemesis slash companion shook her head.

"At least we're not stuck with the weirdness that is those two," she tilted her head towards Giles and the fake versions of themselves. The Faith and Buffy, who looked normal and all adult-y, compared to them. But the real Buffy and Faith knew that they were fake, since well, they were the real Buffy and Faith, even if they were small on the moment. Duh.

Also the fake Faith and Buffy happened to do things, weird things, which real Buffy and Faith never ever would do. I.e – make out.

"I think they're doing something important," Buffy continued. Indeed, the two fake slayers and Giles seemed to be having a fierce conversation, which included a lot of gesturing from all of them. "Maybe once they get over with it, we might get back to normal."

"Maybe and might," Faith pondered the choice of words the blonde had used. "I see you're finally seeing the beautiful reality of ours."

"Yeah, I'm seeing stuff alright," Buffy frowned as Xander rolled his eyes a lot and made rather horrendous movements with his tongue. "Starting to wish I didn't though."

"That would make two of us," Faith replied, closing her eyes to keep herself from getting traumatized for life. "I mean, are they so daft they can't take a hint at all? We're nowhere fuckin' near to smiling because they're acting like big brainless baboons on crack."

A small giggle escaped the other child. "Big brainless baboons on crack. That's a good one."

"B!"

"What?" The blonde looked at Faith, who gestured at Xander, who was now grinning widely, thinking he still got the funny touch. Willow was still smiling at them, but luckily she had decided to back off a bit with Tara, leaving only Xander looming over the children. He however continued being 'funny'.

As she looked up at one of her closest friends, Buffy could only think of one thing to say. She gave Faith a guilty look and spoke,

"Oops?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," A voice could suddenly be heard. All attention was turned to adult Faith, who walked into the area of the living room. "We get it."

"Still, you can't say we didn't do anything," Buffy, the fake one, protested. "I mean I got them clothes and ... and we fed them and stuff."

Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You were supposed to try and communicate with them. What did you do last night?"

Faith – The Evil not Slayer but Demon – coughed. "We were training."

"Really? Well, good. Then you can take care of this nest of slime demons right now, while Willow tries to help the small ones," Giles answered.

Faith's face fell. "Slime demons?"

"Giles," Buffy begun.

"Off you go then," Giles waved towards the door.

"Fine," Buffy's nose was wrinkled in disgust. "But if any of those slime demons explode anywhere near me..."

"C'mon, B, let's motorvate, before you say something wro-o-ong," The brunette slayer nudged the blonde one, quickly stepping away after it, as if anticipating a hit. Buffy merely grinned and raised her eyebrow.

"Jumpy much?"

Faith narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to say something. Then she changed her mind and closed it, snaking a hand around the blonde's waist instead. "C'mon, we have to get out of here, before G-man get's all Britishly pissed with us and does that clucking noise again."

"Point taken," Buffy grinned. "Bye guys."

A round of byes could be heard as the couple left the house. A indignified cry from Giles could be heard a moment later. "I do not do a clucking noise!"

"Um, yeah, you do, G-man," Xander patted the old man's shoulder compassionately.

"I do not," Giles looked at Willow for support. The redheaded witch smiled guiltily.

"Well, you see, I was kinda the one who discovered the meaning of the clucking noise in the first place, so yeah, I do too think you do the clucking noise." All this was said very fast.

"Fine," Giles huffed. "Let's just try that translation spell."

"Finally," The little brunette kid on the floor sighed happily. Both of the mini slayers had surveyed the scene carefully, only managing to get a bit more confused. Do demons slay demons? Or were they pretending?

Anyhow, they didn't have a lot of time to ponder about this, because Willow once again crouched down to their level, smiling. Tara joined her side and together they put some kind of a crystal between the two girls.

"Okay, I know I've been gone for a long time, but has Red like... advanced from her floating pencils phase?" Faith looked warily at the blonde next to her. "'Cause not that I'm afraid or anything, but should she be casting spells at us?"

"Oh, Willow's way past floating stuff," Buffy smiled reassuringly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she spoke. "I totally trust her and her magic."

The brunette in her little jeans and black t-shirt didn't look very convinced as the redhead begun to chant. Buffy smiled again, as she stepped closer and slid her hand into the small brunette's.

Surprised, Faith's eyebrow arched slightly as she looked at their joined hands. Buffy however was too busy looking at the two witches nearby to notice.

"It'll be okay," she spoke, totally convinced. "I trust her completely."

XxXxXxXxXx

"WAAAAH!" Buffy ran as fast as her tiny feet allowed, hiding behind the armchair nearby. "Don't let her come near me!"

She warily peeked out to see if her best friend was still trying to get her.

It was horrible. So far they hadn't done any progress. NONE! The only results of the constant witchcraft were horrible. Not only had Buffy been turned into a piglet, given freakishly big feet and turned pink all over, but she had also been totally bald for a whole minute! BALD!

And while Buffy had found Faith's baldness completely hilarious, her own hairless situation was nowhere near as funny. So as soon as Willow reversed the latest spell, the Mini Slayers escaped for their lives.

She loved her best friend dearly, but enough was enough!

Faith, ducking behind the big stack of books nearby, suddenly peeked out so she could give the blonde an evil eye.

"You completely trust her, huh?" She hissed, not looking very happy.

Buffy scowled, but remained quiet.

Giles, cleaning his glasses, survived as a tiny brunette head peeked over his ancient tomes, giving all of the adults a not so friendly look. Actually, Giles would have been quite intimidated by the look, hadn't the girl giving it be so adorable.

"Well, that didn't work," Willow pointed out the obvious. "Maybe another one?"

"Will, no offence, but," Xander tried gently, "Maybe you should, um, try a different approach?"

"What?" The redhead asked, .

"He's hinting that your magical help sucks," Anya helpfully spoke, not looking away from the TV.

A little snigger could be heard from the big stacks of books nearby.

"My magic does not suck!" Willow objected. "It's just not working! I mean, it should work and those spells, they were just translation spells, but they do wrong things. And ... and it's not my fault they don't work, because they should! Shouldn't they?" She looked at Tara. "Right? I'm using the spells right, aren't I?"

The blonde witch smiled, as she placed a comforting hand on Willow's back. "Yes. You're doing everything great."

Willow smiled back at her. Xander cleared his throat.

"Will, nobody doubts your mojo or anything. I'm just saying that maybe you should like, take a break or something, 'cause the midgets are, um, slightly scared."

"Fucking freaked is more like it, isn't it, B?" Faith rolled her eyes. She turned to look towards the blonde slayer and then noticed an important fact. Buffy was not behind the couch anymore.

"B?" She looked around, ignoring the adults for the time being. "B, where the..."

"Hey."

Faith almost jumped into the air, as someone tugged on her t-shirt. Of course, she'd never admit it, but Buffy had scared the hell out of her.

"What?" She turned around, so she could look at the blonde.

Buffy was staring at her shoes, her hands behind her back. Her legs were crossed slightly and there seemed to be a pink hue to her cheeks.

Buffy looked at her, before looking down again.

"I need to pee."

A moment of slience.

"Oookay."

Buffy looked at her, annoyed. "I really have to go."

Faith, unable to see the problem, asked.

"What? Do you need me to hold your hand or something?"

The blonde shifted from one foot to another.

"I can't reach the hook thingy to lock the door."

Faith gestured for her to continue.

"Not a mind reader here, B. Whatcha want?"

Buffy tucked a strand of hair behind her ear again. Faith was starting to recognize it as a sign or nervousness. Or it was just a crappy habit. One out of the two.

"Stand in front of the door," the blonde spoke, looking at her hopefully.

"You're serious?" Faith asked.

"Yeah, I don't want Xander walking in or something!" Buffy exclaimed. "Please?"

Faith pursed her lips, before smirking. "Well... I might consider it. What'll I get?"

Buffy shifted a bit again, crossing her legs and tugging on her shirt. "Anything. Just c'mon."

"You're in luck, B. Anything just about covers my payment," Faith smirked at the obvious discomfort of the blonde. "Show me the way."

XxXxXxXxXx

Xander shook his head. "Okay, that doesn't make any sense."

"Actually it does," Willow grinned at Tara. "It makes perfect sense! They're only kids and they understand English perfectly, but they speak another language. Small children don't usually speak two languages, do they?"

"I think you might be onto something," Giles nodded.

Xander pondered the subject, still not understanding anything. "O-kay, you smart people theorize here, while I go visit the big boys' room."

He made his way towards the bathroom and reached out to pull the handle, when suddenly someone stopped him. A little hand was clutching his big one. He looked at the tiny girl, who was looking up at him with big brown doe eyes and holding onto his hand.

He smiled at her. "Uncle Xander can't play now. He needs to go to the bathroom."

He tried to remove the girl's hand, but the girl's grip was rather strong.

"Let go now. Okay?" He tried to pry the fingers off. The little girl shook her head. Then she frowned and rubbed her stomach slightly. Xander understood.

"Do you want to eat?"

She nodded.

"I'll get you something, but before that, I really need to go to the bathroom."

He tried to open the door again, but that only managed to make the girl tighten her grip and frown even more.

"Okay, okay, please let go?" Xander raised his arm higher, hoping that the girl would let go. To his horror, the girl simply hung few inches off the ground, grasping his arm with her one hand and doing something with her other hand.

Xander stared. Was she doing the big L on the forehead? She was!

Xander blinked. Then he shook his hand. "Let go!"

The girl responded by shaking her head again.

"I need to go to the bathroom!" Xander whined, as he placed the small child onto the floor again. Of course she didn't release the hold on his arm. "Okay. I'll just..." He reached for the handle with his other hand, just to have the girl grab it with her own hand.

With no effort the little girl, even though Xander's hands were twice in the size of hers, brought the hands together and kept them so, grinning at him the whole time.

Xander was freaked. Like seriously freaked. The word demonic spawn Faith had mentioned a while ago flashed in his mind like a big warning sign. How was this little teeny-tiny girl so powerful? And why the heck was she torturing his bladder for?

"Please," Xander tried to get his hands free. "C'mon kid, let me go." When the little girl didn't even notice and kept holding on, Xander did something very manly.

"Willow! Anya! HELP!"

The words had barely left his mouth, when suddenly he heard a flush. A moment later the door opened and around the same time his hands were released.

Buffy's eyebrow rose at the strange sight in front of her. Xander was kneeling in front of little Faith, who had her hands clasped over his. But the brunette released them quickly, turning towards her.

"Finally," she spoke, smirking. "I thought that you fell into it or something."

"What's going on here?" Buffy asked, looking at Xander, who looked seriously crept out for some reason as he stood up, keeping his eyes on the two kids. "Faith, what did you do to him?"

The smirk on Faith's face disappeared. Of course, she did something.

"Why do I even bother." She turned around walking away and leaving the questioning blonde behind. "Waste of my friggin' time..."

Just then Willow rushed into the hallway. Seeing only Xander and the blonde girl, she frowned.

"What happened? Why did you call for help?"

Buffy chose to ignore her friends' conversation for the moment, as she sighed loudly, almost slapping herself over the head. Why the hell did she always say the wrong things around Faith?

She passed Willow and Xander and entered the living room, searching for Faith, who was nowhere to be seen. But unluckily for the brunette, Buffy still had her slayer radar and as always, Faith was on it, pinging like crazy.

Buffy tucked her hair behind her ear, as she approached the bookcase near the wall. And as her inner Slayer had predicted, Faith was there, sitting in the small crevice between the bookcase and the wall, her elbows on top of her knees.

"Faith...?" Buffy spoke hesitantly.

The brunette looked up.

"What now? If you want me to give ya a boost so you could reach the cookie jar, you can go and shove..."

"No, it's nothing like that," Buffy interrupted. She sighed once again. "Listen, I didn't mean it like an accusation earlier and I... I..."

"Oh don't tell me," Faith spoke, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Is Buffy Summer apologizing to good ol' me yet again? Oh goody."

Buffy's jaw squared slightly.

"I just want to talk..."

"I've told ya once and I'll tell you again." Faith looked up, locking her eyes with Buffy's as she drawled out slowly. "I - don't - care."

Faith exhaled, her eyes moving to something on the opposite wall. She then added quietly,

"Who were we trying to kid here, huh? You and I, we'll never get along. We might have a laugh or two, but for you I will always be a murderer and you'll always be," she paused, her gaze moving to the blonde in front of her. "Buffy Summers – the fabulous superhero, who just happens to have a stick up her ass."

For a moment the two Slayers just were quiet, their eyes locked onto each others', both deep in thought. Then Buffy softly stated,

"I'm not giving up."

"What is wrong with you? Buffy, can't you just get the point? Us being all buddy-buddy is not going to happen. Ever. Did your brain decrease along with your body or something?"

"Wouldn't rule it out," Buffy nodded solemnly, a small half-smile on her lips. She then spoke, seriousness in her voice. "Faith, we gave up once before and d'ya remember how that turn out?" Unconsciously, Faith moved her hand over her stomach. "I don't want to screw everything up again."

"It wasn't you who did the screwing up." Faith's tone was neutral, her face showing no emotions, but something flashed through her eyes as she spoke.

"Partly it was. Oh and a big part was Wesley's fault too – stupid British peanut brain."

Faith didn't answer, but Buffy could've sworn that she saw a glimmer of a smirk.

"We can't start over," the brunette stated.

"Says who?" Buffy retorted. "In my opinion we kinda already did."

"This is going to take hell of a work... and time."

"Which I happen to have," the blonde grinned, seeing the wheels turning in the brunette's head. She crouched down to her level. "Faith, we've been through a lot more then most people in the world. I think we can handle a little work."

She paused. "Why are you hiding between the wall and the bookcase in the first place?"

The brunette smirked. "I heard Giles and Blondie speaking. Willow wants to try more spells on us."

The look of horror on Buffy's face made Faith laugh softly. She scooted towards the wall.

"C'mon, there's room."

Buffy looked around. Giles and Tara hadn't noticed them and Willow was probably still with Xander in the hallway. After considering her options, she quickly slid into the crevice next to Faith.

"So, what did happen in the hallway?" Buffy asked after a moment, bumping her shoulder against Faith's. "Xander looked like someone had forbidden sex or something."

Faith chuckled.

"I think I might've overdone the whole stop Xander from entering the bathroom thing," she explained. "Went a little overboard and stuff... though, it was totally worth it. He honestly looked scared of me." She gestured at herself. "This little version of me."

Buffy smirked.

"Yeah, that's Xander alright." She spoke, leaning against the wall, looking upwards. "Ya know, a part of me thinks that this sitch with you and me stuck here..." she looked to her left just as Faith turned her head towards her. "Maybe this isn't all that bad."

"Kids? Where are the kids?" Willow's voice rang over the room. "I got magic to do!"

"Damn it, B," Faith hissed, as she slid farther into the corner, trying to disappear. "You jinxed it!"

XxXxXxXxXx

A/N – Yay! The plot thickens. Actually, I'm not sure if it does, but I've always liked saying it ^^ Geek, I am! But thanks for reading it. All comments, recommendiations, critics are waited in the Review or PM form.

Thanks guys,
Love Daz