Chapter Nine

Kennedy had spent the entire night wandering around the castle. After her argument with Willow she had stormed off and found her way to the basement, where Xander had set up most of their training equipment for the time being. She spent a good couple of hours punching away at the bag, taking out all of her frustrations.

It didn't help, at least not as much as she had wanted it to. Instead it just wound her up more. She knew that the fight she had with Willow was just the beginning. She could feel her relationship with the witch slipping away since the fall of Sunnydale. She had found herself wanting to learn more about her calling as a slayer, and even though she hadn't meant to, she had let her girlfriend take a back seat.

Her mind was wandering with these thoughts as she made her way back up the stairs and to the kitchen early the next morning. She was hoping that by going as early as she was, that no one would find her there and try to talk to her. But when she walked in the room, she found that she wasn't the only one that had the same idea.

"Oh, hey… couldn't sleep?" Dawn asked from where she was sitting at the counter. Kennedy shrugged her shoulders and pulled out the seat next to her friend. "Me either."

"How was the slumber party last night?" Kennedy asked, in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

"There wasn't one. Faith was mysteriously missing last night so everyone used that as an excuse for a good night sleep in a bed," Dawn explained. "Heard you fighting with Willow last night… want to talk about it?"

"No," Kennedy replied quickly. She let a moment of silence wash over them before she took a breath and attempted to change the subject. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"I don't know, I think it was that patrol last night. It really got to me… seeing those girls like that. I mean, I know that Buffy has always been a slayer, but I guess I never realized that being a slayer meant you would see things like that."

"At least we were able to save them," Kennedy responded, standing from the seat and moving toward the refrigerator to look for something to eat. She scanned with her eyes but didn't see anything promising inside. She closed it and leaned back on the door. "But, yeah, it was awful," she said a little more quietly.

Before Dawn had a chance to respond, Vi and Rona entered the kitchen, whispering and giggling amongst themselves, almost oblivious to the others in the room.

"Morning," Dawn said cheerfully, with a smile on her face when she saw her two friends. Seeing them together just confirmed her suspicions that there was a lot more going on between them than friendship.

"Oh… hey. We didn't expect to see anyone up this early," Vi said as she shrugged Rona's arm off from around her waist. Kennedy and Dawn glanced at each other and laughed out loud.

"Chill out you two… we know that you are getting down and dirty with each other… you don't have to hide it from us," Kennedy said, finding an apple in a bowl next to the fridge and taking a bite of it.

"You… you do?" Vi asked, obviously surprised.

"Oh thank God! I wasn't sure I was going to be able to hide it much longer," Rona said, sighing in relief. Dawn smiled back at them.

"I'm happy for you guys! You seem happy together," she said as they made their way into the room more, Rona instantly wrapping her arm around Vi's waist again. They took seats across the counter from Dawn, while Kennedy jumped up onto the counter between them, still chewing away at her apple.

"What were you guys talking about when we came in?" Vi asked.

"Last night… how horrible it was seeing those girls in that sort of shape," Kennedy responded.

"Oh I know! I couldn't get their faces out of my head when I was trying to fall asleep last night!" Vi exclaimed. Rona reached out with her hand and rubbed her back lightly.

"Is that what it is always going to be like here? Vamps that are perverted and disgusting?" Rona asked the group.

"I sure hope not," Dawn answered.


Buffy opened her eyes and let them adjust to the bright morning light. She didn't even have to look over to her right to know that the soft, rhythmic breathing that was next to her was Faith.

Buffy smiled when she remembered last night. Faith had been different than she had expected, considering all she ever talked about was sex. But that was the old Faith… this Faith was one that understood Buffy wasn't quite ready to take that next step. Instead, she had settled for some heavy duty kissage and even agreed to stay and cuddle with the blonde. It was unexpected to say the least, but definitely a night she would never forget.

Faith twitched slightly as she woke up with Buffy in her arms, shaking Buffy from her thoughts.

"Mmmm… morning," Faith muttered into the blonde hair next to her, with her eyes still closed. She couldn't believe that she had stayed the night with Buffy… in her bed… kissing her until they fell asleep. It was like a dream come true.

"Did you sleep alright?" Buffy asked as she moved in Faith's arms so she could look at the dark slayer as her eyes opened for the first time that morning. Faith smiled brightly when her eyes met Buffy's, causing Buffy's smile to grow even larger than it already was.

"Slept like a baby," Faith responded, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on Buffy's lips. Faith wasn't sure exactly where they were going with this whole thing, but she had made the decision last night as she watched Buffy sleep in her arms that she was going to do everything in her power to make things work between them.

"I'm glad," Buffy giggled and leaned forward, kissing Faith once more. Her kiss was deeper and more passionate and Faith knew right then and there that Buffy was feeling the exact same way.

Before the kiss could turn into much more, Buffy's cell started to ring from the night stand next to her bed.

"You should answer it," Faith said as she pulled back from the kiss and tucked a stray strand of hair behind the blonde slayer's ear.

"I don't wanna," Buffy pouted as the phone continued to ring. Faith chuckled at the pout and leaned forward, kissing her once more before nodding her head toward the ringing phone. "Ahhh… fine!" Buffy exclaimed as she rolled over and grabbed the phone, flipping it open. "Hello?"

"Hello Buffy, just calling to check in," Angel said from the other line. Buffy mouthed to Faith that it was Angel and Faith smiled, placing one last kiss on Buffy's forehead before pushing the covers back and standing up. She smiled warmly and mouthed that she was going to get them coffee before exiting the room and making her way down the hall toward the kitchen.

"Hi Angel, how are things going?"

"So far so good, we have already sent one slayer to you that we found, did she make it?"

"Yeah, she was here just when we arrived… she's already fitting right in," Buffy explained, even though she wasn't quite sure she was telling the truth. She hadn't really spent a lot of time with the new slayers, especially the new girl that had just arrived.

"Good to hear that, we have come across several others and will be sending over four more as soon as Giles has the funds wired to us," Angel explained.

"Okay… is that why you called, because don't get me wrong, I love that you are keeping us in the loop and everything but it's kind of early for a business call," Buffy said, wondering if there was a more important reason for his call.

"I guess I just wanted to check in with you, see how you are now with the move and everything," Angel explained.

"Things are… good… great actually," Buffy explained as she thought about the woman who she had just spent the night in bed with.

"You sound happy, I'm glad."

"I am happy… I feel like things are finally going to go right in my life this time," Buffy said.

"I miss you," Angel said, practically in a whisper. Buffy felt a tightness in her chest as she listened to him brood from thousands of miles away.

"Angel…" she started.

"Look, I know that we didn't really talk about… us, and that me leaving may have made it impossible for there to ever be an us…"

"There is no us… not anymore," Buffy interrupted.

"Not right now, I know that… but there is always someday," Angel replied, sounding more hopeful than Buffy would have liked.

"Look… it's early, and I really don't want to get into this right now," Buffy said as she stood from the bed and started to pace around her room. She wasn't ready to tell him what was going on with her and Faith… she wasn't even quite sure she knew what was going on. All she knew is that she had feelings for the dark slayer, and she probably had for some time now. She needed a little bit more time to figure out exactly what was going on in her own head before she tried to explain it to Angel.

"I get it… I just wanted to say hello and give you an update. Could you have Giles get in touch with either Spike or myself as soon as possible so I can make arrangements for the girls we have found?" Angel asked, quickly picking up on her hesitance to talk with him.

"I will tell him as soon as I see him," Buffy responded, thankful that Angel was going to cut the conversation short. "Oh and Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"I did NOT date Spike! If I find out you are telling and more of those girls that I dated you both, it won't be pretty," Buffy said in the most serious tone she could find. She heard Angel chuckle on the other end of the phone.

"I'll mention it to Spike," Angel replied, still chuckling.

"Thank you… take care of yourself Angel."

"Will do… goodbye," Angel replied before hanging up the telephone.

Buffy continued to pace around the room for a solid five minutes before she set the phone down on the bed. She had just had the most wonderful night… the best she had in a long time. She knew that things were moving fast between her and Faith and that thought alone made her nervous. Buffy made the decision right then and there that she would have to talk to Willow about what was happening… if anyone would understand it would be her.

So she threw on some sweatpants and a tank top and made her way down the hall to Willow's room, hoping to find the red-haired witch in there alone. Buffy lifted her hand to knock on the door but before she could she heard soft sobbing coming from inside the room.

"Will? Are you alright?" Buffy asked softly from outside the closed door. She heard Willow sniffle but there was no response from her best friend. Buffy took it upon herself to turn the handle then, noticing it was unlocked and made her way slowing into the room.

She found Willow sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed with her hands covering her face. Her red hair was a mess and by the number of tissues balled up at her feet, Buffy could tell she had been crying for some time. She closed the door and made her way to her best friends side instantly.

"What happened Will? Talk to me," Buffy urged as she wrapped her arms around Willow and pulled her close. Willow began to cry even more at the feeling of Buffy's arms around her. She couldn't bring herself to stop crying long enough to explain to Buffy just what had happened last night. "Willow?"

Willow finally managed to calm herself enough after a good couple of minutes of hard crying and wipe her tears from her cheeks. She took the tissue that Buffy offered her and wiped her nose, balling it up and adding it to the pile that she had spent the night creating.

"I think Kennedy and I are over," Willow said in a squeaky tone, sounding more like a child who had lost her puppy than a woman who was having relationship troubles. "I knew that things would be different but I never thought it would be like this."

"I don't understand, I mean I know you two haven't been spending a lot of time together but I thought that was just because you were both so busy," Buffy questioned and stated all at one.

"I don't really know what it is, but something is different between us. We got in this huge argument last night and she stormed out of here… she didn't come back," Willow explained, sniffling once more and grabbing yet another tissue to wipe her nose.

"Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to talk to her?" Buffy offered.

"No!" Willow responded quickly. "I need to talk with her myself… see if we can work this out or not first." Buffy nodded not convinced.

"I'm sorry Wills… I know you care about her…"

"I do care about her… and I know she cares about me. Which makes this even more confusing!" Willow stopped to think about the fight they had last night and tears pooled in her eyes once again. "She implied that I won't understand because I'm not a slayer," Willow finished.

Buffy heard the words come out of Willow's mouth and held her breath. She remembered having a conversation similar to that with Willow before… and it didn't end well. Buffy didn't want to go back down the road with the red-haired witch.

"They had patrol last night… did something happen?" Buffy asked, suddenly wondering if that was the reason Kennedy was so out of sorts.

"She mentioned it had been a rough one, but she said everyone was fine… no one got injured," Willow said quietly.

Buffy was relieved to hear that her team had made it back safely. She had gone out with them at first to keep an eye on them but found herself distracted when Faith cornered her in one of the many dark cemeteries and started a hot and heavy make out session with her. As soon as things got too heated, they made their way back to the castle and stayed there the rest of the night.

"I should go check in with them and see what happened… I'll let you know if I find out anything that might help you," Buffy said, standing from her spot. She didn't want to leave Willow there by herself, but she knew that she had to check in. Willow smiled at her and even though it was forced, Buffy could tell that she had helped just by being there and being a shoulder to lean on.

"Thanks Buffy, I feel a little better now, and I think I will just take a hot shower," Willow said as she too stood from the floor.

"If you need anything, anything at all, come find me and we'll talk, okay?"

"Okay," Willow said as she hugged Buffy one more time. Buffy hugged her back tightly and silently hoped that Willow and Kennedy would work everything out. Buffy knew it was hard for Willow to get into a relationship after Tara, and as much as she had been hesitant about her friend dating the young potential slayer when their relationship first started, she saw how much it helped Willow. She wasn't sure how Willow would take losing another lover.

But she didn't say anything, she merely plastered a smile on her face and walked out the door, heading down the hallway and down the many stairs, making her way to the kitchen. She could tell by the tingle in her spine that Faith was there as she got closer and her stomach started to flutter at the thought of the dark slayer.

Buffy stopped at the entryway of the kitchen at the sound of Faith's raspy voice. She listened to the conversation that she had come in the middle of.

"Jeez, sounds pretty bad. Anything unusual about these vamps? You know, different from others you've faced?" Faith asked the group of girls who were sitting at the counter munching on cereal.

They had just brought her up to speed about their patrol the night before, and how awful it had been to see those girls raped and tortured like that.

"Seemed like normal vamps to me," Kennedy said after swallowing a mouthful of Captain Crunch. "Nothing stuck out as peculiar."

"It was just so disturbing… seeing what they had done to those girls," Vi said quietly from her seat.

"That's the shitty part about this job… seeing all the death and destruction night after night. Sometimes it gets to you, ya know? Those girls are lucky you were there to save them last night," Faith said, sounding much wiser than Buffy or any of the others had ever remembered her to sound. "But that's the life of a slayer."

"I knew that being a slayer came with consequences, I guess I just didn't know all the awful things that Buffy saw night after night. Makes me feel bad that I was always so hard on her for not taking me with her when I was younger," Dawn said.

"She was just trying to protect you Squirt. She knew you could look after yourself fighting wise, but it's the other stuff she was trying to shield you from. You're her sister… she loves you," Faith explained and Dawn nodded and smiled.

Dawn watched as Faith continued to talk to Kennedy, Vi and Rona about being a slayer and couldn't help but think something was different about her this morning. She had known Faith for a long time… longer than any of the other new slayers. Faith was never this open and talkative to people. But before Dawn could ponder the situation more, Andrew came walking in shuffling his feet through the side door of the kitchen.

"Morning Andy… what do you say about making us some food?" Faith asked as kindly as she could. He looked up, a little surprised that she was asking him instead of just telling him and cocked his head to the side at her question.

"You mean I have a choice?" he asked.

"Actually, no you don't, but I thought I would make it sound like you did," Faith said with a smile. The girls chuckled with her and Andrew rolled his eyes as he made his way to where the pans were kept in the cabinet.

"And here I thought I would be the first one up and get to watch cartoons," he muttered to himself.

"Cheer up Andy… this is your job as a watcher, looking out for us slayers," Kennedy remarked as she flung her arm around his shoulders. He looked up and managed to catch Dawn's eye before quickly looking away.

"Fine," he said quickly. "I can whip up some pancakes and eggs if that's alright?" he asked no one in particular. Kennedy watched him as he started to get the ingredients he needed from the refrigerator and cabinets. He was acting different than usual, not his normal geeky self.

She turned back to look at the other for help, but noticed that Vi and Rona were already out of the kitchen and Dawn was standing with her back against the wall. Their eyes met and Dawn merely shrugged her shoulders. Kennedy removed her arm from Andrew's shoulders and exited out the same door that Andrew had previously come out of, off to find Vi and Rona… anything to keep herself from running into Willow alone.

Dawn knew that as soon as Kennedy left she and Andrew would be alone. Their kiss the night before had taken them both by surprise, and she knew that was what was bothering the young man as he worked diligently away in the kitchen that morning. She sucked in a breath and made her way over to him, careful not to get too close.

"I didn't tell anyone," Andrew blurted out before Dawn had a chance to say anything.

"Oh… well, good."

Dawn was a little thrown by his quick comment and she decided it might be best if she gathered her thoughts before she tried to talk to him about the situation any more. She turned to leave out the same door Kennedy had but before she could she heard Andrew's voice once more.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asked. Dawn spun around on her toes with a element of surprise smeared across her face. "I mean… if you don't want to that's fine too," Andrew said, turning back to the bowl he was mixing in.

"Look Andrew…" Dawn began. The watcher junior turned to look at her when she started to talk and she could see nothing but hope and desire flash in his eyes. She was in way over her head now. "Just because we kissed doesn't mean that we have to date," Dawn explained, trying her best not to hurt his feelings. She didn't want things to be weird between them… mostly because she couldn't risk him getting upset and telling anyone about what had happened.

"I know… it's a forbidden love isn't it? Like Anakin and Queen Amadala in Star Wars right?" Andrew asked, the geekiness in him coming back out. Dawn looked at him completely confused. "Or like Romeo and Juliet?"

"Please just don't tell anyone," Dawn muttered as she turned away from him once more and headed toward the exit. She walked out without looking back at him.

"One day I shall make you my queen," Andrew said to no one but himself, before turning back and starting on everyone's breakfast with a smile on his face.


Faith made her way back up the stairs with two cups of coffee in her hands. She had managed to slip out of the kitchen with both of them, without anyone noticing she was holding two and without any questions. The girls had obviously been distracted by the events from the patrol the night before, and it made Faith wonder if they were ready to go on patrols on their own yet.

She entered Buffy's room and pushed the door closed with her right foot.

"Brought you coffee B," Faith said as she set the cup down on the dresser. Buffy approached her, wrapping her arms around Faith's waist and looking up, placing a sweet kiss on the dark slayer's lips. "I could get used to this," Faith said when Buffy pulled back.

"You better get used to it," Buffy said with a giggle, after taking her cup of coffee and settling back on the bed, resting her back on the headboard. Faith stood where she was and sipped her coffee slowly. She couldn't believe in just the short amount of time how things had changed between them. And even though she wasn't quite sure where this was going, she knew that she didn't want it to end.

"I heard you talking to the girls downstairs, something happen on patrol last night?" Buffy asked, shaking Faith out of her thoughts.

"Guess it was a rough one… the vamps had three girls with them, looked like they had beaten and raped them Ken said." Faith filtered the information she had gathered from Kennedy to the golden slayer. Buffy just listened to the details without really saying anything.

"I remember the first patrol I went on like that," Buffy said. Faith popped her eyebrows up, urging Buffy to continue with the story. She walked over the bed and sat next to her while she continued. "I was about 16 at the time, and it bothered me for weeks after. I had gotten used to being a slayer then, but I don't think I had ever understood before that patrol just how important being a slayer was," she finished.

"Saving lives is what we do B… I think the newbies found that out first hand last night," Faith responded.

"I heard you talking to them in the kitchen…" Buffy started. She put her cup of coffee down and took the one out of Faith's hand and set it down next to hers as well. "Hearing you take charge like that and be so understanding about what they were feeling… kind of a turn on," Buffy finished with a huge smile on her face.

"Oh yeah… a turn on huh?" Faith asked as she wiggled her eyebrows and rolled so she was on her side facing the blonde in bed. She pulled at Buffy's hips, pulling her down so her face was in line with her own and leaned in for a soft kiss.

"Everything alright?" Faith asked, when the kiss was finished.

"Of course! Why would you ask me that? Do I seem like something is wrong?" Buffy asked worriedly. Faith chuckled at how defensive the elder slayer had gotten at her question.

"I meant with the vamps B… you know… the phone call."

"Oh yea, it was just Angel checking in. He said they have found some new girls and are going to be sending them here shortly. So looks like pretty soon we are going to get some new houseguests."

"This place is gonna be crawling with all sorts of horny teenaged girls," Faith said as she pulled Buffy even closer to her. Buffy melted into Faith's embrace. She couldn't believe how comfortable she felt laying in Faith's arms. But she knew that she had to get up and start the day. If anything, her phone call from Angel had reminded her just how much work she had to get done.

"As much as I don't want to get up, we have a lot to do today," Buffy said as she stirred a little bit.

"Ugh! I wish we could get a break you know? Just for a couple of days or something," Faith said as she placed a kiss on Buffy's forehead and then sat up from the bed.

"Oh a vacation would be so awesome I agree, but first, we have a school to set up," Buffy said with a smile. "I'm gonna jump in the shower and I'll meet you downstairs." She stood and started to make her way to the door, towel in hand.

"You sure you don't want some company in that shower B?" Faith asked with a smirk on her face and her dimples showing. It took all the self control Buffy had to respond without looking completely flushed.

"Not yet Fai… not quite yet," Buffy responded playfully. She turned back around toward the door then and walked out, not looking back at Faith, but grinning ear to ear.