Chapter 8: Romantic Traffic

"Satsu! Your sword!" Faith raises her hand, and instinctively catches the handle. In one movement, she grips the blade and brings it down across the chest of her enemy. She rolls to the left, throwing the sword back to Satsu with an easy sweep of her arm.

OK, where did I drop it? Faith's eyes scan the ground, looking intently for… Ah, there you are. She takes a good grip on the scythe. Her scythe.

"Vi, are all the kids un-napped? Are we clear?" She talks into the headset.

"All clear, Boss. We're good to go." Vi's voice crackles into her ear.

Oh yeah.

And she stands up straight. In the middle of this battle, Faith is a beacon.

"OK, ladies. Stop playing around and start taking these freaks out! I don't wanna miss Taggart." She looks around. Satsu's team is attacking in force, slicing and dicing. Kennedy is leading her group against two of the giant slimy bastards. Faith catches her eye. Grins and holds up four fingers. Kennedy visibly frowns, and holds up two.

Faith laughs, and blows her a kiss. Spins the scythe in her hand, like a baton.

And turns to stare down the giant beastie looming above her.

"Hey, are you in charge of this little get together? Cos I think you're out of munchies." And with that, Faith leaps up, scythe raised above her head. Faith is powerful. Relentless. She ducks under the flying tentacles, slashing as she flies around. Working her way toward the head. She gets smacked back by a stray flailing limb. She rolls into the ground, using the momentum to get back up. She's not fazed.

She speeds past the creature, ducking through and under the attacks. Gets behind the thing. She uses her weapon like a pickaxe, leaping up and ramming it into the back of the demon, using it to climb up the body. She reaches the head, the eyes. Faith is grinning as she rams the stake end of the weapon into the creature's eyes. Flips the scythe around and hacks off the head with the sharp powerful blade. The creature starts to fall, and Faith leaps away, landing in a low crouch on the hard concrete floor. Her eyes quickly scope the room. The girls are still fighting. And they're winning.

But one of Satsu's girls, across the cavernous room, is pinned between a demon and the wall. Nowhere to run, no room to fight. That's no good.

The creature wraps tentacles around the girl, choking her. Raising her up, squeezing her life away.

Faith calls on the remaining strength in her muscles. She dashes at full speed over to the girl. Dodging the battles around her. Careful not to get in anyone's way. She's a blur, ducking and weaving. She's got to get there.

She's going to be too late. She's not going to be good enough…

She springs up off the floor. Fifteen feet, maybe more. Her boots hit the wall, and she springboards off, tucking her arms in and allowing the momentum to spin her around. Her kick lands exactly where she intended, smashing into the eyes of the giant demon. It flails in pain, releasing its grip on the newbie slayer. Faith lands in between her girl and the monster.

"Pick on someone your own size!" Faith thrusts the blade deep into the chest, again and again. And it falls.

It's quiet. Faith can only hear herself breathing. She turns and offers her hand to the girl cowering on the ground.

"That was… amazing!" The young slayer looks up at Faith, admiration in her eyes.

"Really? I thought it was kind of a tired line…" Faith smirks, helping the girl up. She looks around, to see that the battle is over. She does a quick head count.

Everyone's still standing.

"OK! What's say we get outta here? This party's hitting ten kinds of suck!" Faith breaks the silence. "Kenn, get Xander on the horn. Tell him that it's mission accomplished." Winks at Kennedy. "And just so you know, that makes six for me."

Faith leans up against the wall. Wipes the sheen from her forehead.

I didn't lose anyone…

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Faith collapses on the bed. She's just had a few shots of J.D., and she's buzzing. After that kind of fight, she needs to feel the burn in the back of the throat. And it helps her sleep.

She pulls the covers over her aching body. Rests there awhile. Slowly rolls over on her side.

Face to face with Buffy.

Buffy smiles sweetly. "I've missed you." Raises a hand to brush the dark locks away from Faith's face.

For a moment, Faith thinks she wants her to. But she pulls away with a tired groan. Buffy looks sad.

Faith rolls away from the girl in her bed. "Go 'way. You're not real."

A delicate hand lightly touches her shoulder. Starts to caress her arm. She feels a body cuddle up behind her. Feels breath on her neck. Hears the shift of covers, the creak of the bed.

"It's important"

Feels a soft mouth kissing her neck. An arm circling her waist. Slipping under the hem of her tank. Faith lets a quiet sigh escape her lips.

"You need to find me. We need to be together." Buffy's breath on her neck. Her hand brushing gently against her stomach. Faith should stop Buffy's lips from tickling her neck. Should stop Buffy's hands from gently exploring. "Please… I've been gone for…"

"Six months, three weeks, two days, and…" Faith squints at the clock. "Thirteen hours." She lets her head fall back to her pillow, hugging it tightly.

"You have to bring me home."

"You say that every night." Faith grumbles into her pillow. "Leemeealone." Faith lazily waves her free arm around, trying to slap away Dream Buffy's arms.

I'm not really here, remember?" Buffy breathes into her ear. "This isn't real..."

But Faith definitely feels the arms around her, the breath and tongue at her ear. These slayer dreams are way realistic after the spell thingie. Tortuously real.

Faith groans, turning her body to face Dream Buffy. Wants to meet those green eyes.

And she wakes up alone.

"Damn." She gets out of bed, lighting a cigarette. She throws on her jeans, and walks to her open window.

***********************************************

Kennedy walks back to her room. She's just checked in with her team, making sure they'd had their cuts and scrapes tended to. She rubs her shoulder, feeling the muscles, feeling them knitting.

She opens her door, and before it even closes behind her she's pulling her shirt up over her head. Kicking off her boots and her jeans. She just needs a quick shower.

She steps under the hot water, leaning back, letting it fall on her hair and her face. She carefully scrubs away the grime and spew from the evening's battle. Feels her muscles relaxing. Starts to feel a little bit… Ahhh! Cold! Very cold!

She turns off the shower, and reaches out for her towel. She walks back into her room, drying her hair as she walks naked to the bed. The bed on which Faith is sitting.

"Hey Junior. There was nothing on TV, so I thought I'd catch the show." Faith leans back, taking it in.

Kennedy walks to the bed, dropping her towel on the floor. Straddles Faith, and kisses her deeply. Faith's hands run up and down Kennedy's naked back, settling just below the hips. She pulls the girl down on top of her. Kisses her mouth, her ear, her neck. Breathes in the familiar scent of Kennedy's shampoo. Feels the softness of her skin.

Kennedy pulls Faith's hair gently, guiding those lips to her naked breasts. Pulls Faith's shirt up and over her head. Throws it on the floor. She rocks against Faith's jeans, moaning softly. Faith nips and kisses Kennedy's nipples, tugging gently at them as she moves her hand down between Kennedy's legs. Feels her own body react as Kennedy's whispered groan tickles her ear.

Kennedy runs her hands down and lightly flicks a hard nipple. Moves to undo Faith's jeans. Faith covers those hands with her own, moving them gently but decisively back up to her shoulders.

"No, Kenn. Not yet." And covers Kennedy's mouth, exploring with her tongue. She flips the young slayer onto her back, and lays half beside and half on top of the naked girl. Her fingers move again to the sweet depths between Kennedy's legs. Moves her body closer. Watches Kennedy's face. Slips her thumb back and forth lightly, while moving steadily inside her. Murmurs softly into her ear, little words of encouragement. Things she knows Kennedy likes to hear.

Kennedy's hands stop pulling at the sheets and are suddenly wrapped around Faith's neck, pulling her closer and tighter. Faith feels the trembling move through the girl's body like an earthquake, starting from the centre and moving out in spasmic waves. She likes to feel Kennedy shuddering against her. It sends a satisfying chill through her own body.

She lays down in the bed, still holding Kennedy tightly. She places a soft kiss on the girl's forehead. Strokes her arms, her belly. Kennedy still wrapped around her. Her head still tucked into Faith's shoulder.

They lie together a while.

Until Faith feels Kennedy's hand moving down to her waistband.

"Now? Can I?" Kennedy looks up at her with soft brown eyes, and Faith can't say no.

When they're finally spent, they collapse with bodies entwined. Both needing the lie. Both shattered and desperate to feel something other than the ache, the intense loss. And for this moment's peace, they reach for each other night after night.

***********************************************

Buffy stands at the big open window, looking out on the darkened street. Amsterdam. Rainy, but warm enough. She can maybe stay here for a while. Maybe try out some of those brown cafés… It's not like I was in college long enough to do any experimenting…

Buffy quickly gets ready and goes outside, ready to explore this new world. She even has pamphlets.

She walks along the canal, reading about Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum, and all sorts of places that tourists go. It'd be kind of exciting, if she hadn't done exactly this in Milan, Venice, Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Brussels, and about a hundred other important and breathtakingly beautiful cities. Maybe she'd go out in the day, see some sights, do some shopping…

Buffy likes the way this city is laid out. Like a spider web, all coming from the centre. Easy to get around. And water everywhere. All reflecting the lights on the canals and bridges. So pretty. And who knew about fries with mayo? Yum!

The sun hasn't come up yet, but the black sky is turning steel grey. Buffy starts to feel… something nearby. It's not vampy though. Maybe demony? No, it's more familiar, and definitely more frightening…

"Ah hell!" And Buffy starts to run. Runs out of the alleyway, through the criss-crossed streets, over bridges that light up the water. Just away.

"Dammit! How did she find me?" Buffy splashes through a puddle, dodging the bicycles and cars in the streets. Feeling the tingle grow stronger and stronger. Feeling her tears build up, and then mix with the rain on her face. Won't look behind her. Can't look.

She runs along a canal, ducking down the steps to the thin path along the water. Under bridges. Back up steps leading down the street. She turns into a small market square. And stops.

Faith is standing there, except not. She's kinda see-through; the rain doesn't seem to quite hit her skin. But she's there, leaning against a sculpture, grinning.

"Unh?" Buffy stares through Faith's shoulder. Can't look her in the eye.

"Hey, B. Bad time?" Faith reaches out, and Buffy steps back. "We gotta have a chat, you and me."

"But you're not here. Right? I mean unless you're… a ghost, which would mean that you're dead, and you NOT dead."

"Right. I'm not dead." Faith moves away from the sculpture, and the metal shimmers behind the translucence of her skin. "And I'm not here. Well, sorta not ALL here."

"How did you find me?" Buffy backs up, pushing her rain-soaked hair out of her rain-soaked face.

"I can always find you. If I look. Before it was like, if you were in the neighborhood, I could tell." Faith keeps moving toward Buffy. "Now, it's like GPS. I open up, and I just know where you are, what you're doing. Know what you're wearing…" Faith trails off, letting her leer finish the sentence for her.

"But I'm awake! Slayer dreams are... for sleepytime. And I'm awake. I am awake, right?" Buffy pinches herself on the arm. "Ow!"

"Yep, welcome to HiDef SlayerVision. Will got us a serious upgrade. You should take it for a test drive, B…" Faith grins. "And you know what's cool? I don't even know that I'm here right now…"

Buffy is so very confused.

"Look, my body… is otherwise engaged." Faith waggles her eyebrows. "So I get to go play without supervision… And so here I am."

"Oh, Faith's… You're…" Buffy blushes slightly red. "So what does this mean?"

"It means, Buffy, that you can't run away from me." Faith smiles. "Not anymore."

Buffy looks a bit pale. Stares up at Faith's see-through smile. Can't look her in the eye, even now.

I can try. She turns, and sprints down the quiet street.

Goodbye Amsterdam.