Author's Note: Thanks to everyone that reviewed and I hope you enjoy this update :) Also, thanks once again to Electra for beta'ing. :D

Chapter 11

Buffy could feel the wooden arm of the chair start to crack and give way to the pressure she was applying to it. She paid it no mind though. All her attention was focused on Willow.

No no no no no…

Don't stop…

Please don't stop…

Don't stop…

Don't stop Willow…

Please Will…

Don't give up…

Please… the desperate pleas silently screamed in her head.

They were pointless though; futile cries that had no impact on the events unfolding.

Willow had been going at it for hours.

Her strained sweat-drenched face showed she was tired. The trembling of her mumbling lips proved she was exhausted. She didn't have anything left in her to go any further. Dig any deeper. Push any harder. Try any more.

And as she slumped witlessly in the chair, her breaths coming in short, harsh pants, Buffy knew Willow had given up. And worse of all she knew deep inside that she was unsuccessful.

For several long minutes, no sound except Willow's loud breathing pierced the room while she rested her head on the back of her chair.

Giles looked on, perched helplessly on the edge of his seat and eager to lend assistance when given the permission from Willow that it was safe to move.

Buffy simply closed her eyes. Hopeless and defeated, the tears silently fell. She would assist if needed but for right now she needed this small time to herself. She needed to begin to force herself to accept what she'd denied for too long now.

"I-I'm so-sorry."

Willow's weakly whispered apology reached Buffy's ears. She said it to no one in particular but Buffy knew it was meant for her.

Opening her eyes to see Willow raise a shaky hand to push aside wet strands clinging to her face, Buffy gave a small smile to let Willow know that no apologies were needed.

They had been right. And she was wrong. The person still laying unconscious on the bed next to Willow, sleeping through another spell induced slumber, was not who Buffy thought she was.

Rachael wasn't Faith.

In some tiny way, despite the painful pill to swallow, Buffy was glad that at the very least meeting Rachael had given her the chance to come to grips with her feelings for Faith. It was time to have that talk with herself. Face the music so to speak as her 'five by five conscience' suggested no more than a few days ago. It was time to really accept what Faith meant to her and what she could now never have.

"N…noo," Willow struggled to sit up but her feeble arms caved to the pressure of her body's weight and she fell back in the chair.

"Y-you donn't un-underst…" she mumbled, trying to get up again.

Not caring anymore about interrupting the spell Willow had cast until she gave the signal that it was safe, Giles sprang to his feet. It was clear to him that all the residual effect of the magic was over anyway.

"Oh for Godsake Willow, keep still. You could hurt yourself," he ordered, rushing over and gently pushing her lethargic body back down.

"But Giles," she softly tried.

"No. No talking. You must recover first," he insisted, kneeling at her side to stare into her half-closed drowsy eyes.

"Mind invasion is strenuous enough without the extra care we took and the prolonged time you spent in there. So, stop being stubborn like someone we know and rest properly. We can talk later," he gently wiped her forehead with his pocket handkerchief and then dabbed at the small amount of blood slowly draining from her nose.

Offering a little smile of agreement, particularly on the stubborn part, Willow closed her heavy eyes. Her head ached and her brain felt full and swollen as if it strained to stay in the confines of her cranium.

It was all lingering effects from the spell she'd used. The feelings would naturally fade in time just like all the images and secrets she'd gathered during her mind-walk.

Knowing it was never right to be privy to someone's intimate thoughts and details — especially without their full agreement — Willow mumbled a few words to help nature along and allow her mind to begin purging itself of most of the images as she gave into the pull of sleep. She'd remember the important facts to relay to Giles and Buffy later and that was all that mattered.

Satisfied that Willow was now resting comfortably, Giles re-pocketed the crimson-spotted cloth and stood up, turning to his other charge. "Buffy, I suggest we leave them alone to rest for awhile. I'm sure they'll be fine."

"You can go if you want. I'm staying," she informed, not removing her fixed gaze from the bed.

Giles sighed softly. It would be a waste of time trying to convince her otherwise. Walking over, "I'll be downstairs if you need me," he tenderly patted her shoulder before making his way towards the door.

Stepping out, he came face to face with a barrage of questions from a very frustrated, anxious brunette.

"Where's Rachael? Is she alright? What are you people doing to her? I want to see her!" Mike tried to spy around the door that was quickly closed in his face.

"Rachael is fine," Giles calmly said. "She's sleeping now but you can see her later. How did you get up here anyway?" he asked with a frown.

"I'm sorry Mr. Giles," Andrew stood up from his seated position on the floor. "But he kept insisting he only wanted to be near her and I didn't see the harm in that. But I did advise him we'd have to be super quiet as not to disturb you. It was ok to come up, right?"

"Yes, it was alright Andrew," Giles said, overlooking the potentially horrid outcome a blunder of their disturbing Willow could have caused.

Andrew had grown into a fine young man over the last couple of years and had become such an asset to the whole team that Giles avoided damaging his fragile self-confidence as much as possible. Besides, he took enough berating from all the others already.

"Let's just head down for a spot of tea," he said and when Andrew grimaced, he quickly added "or something else refreshing. They're going to need a little time to quietly rest," he turned the two men towards the stairs.

"But what about Buffy?" Andrew curiously asked, glancing over Giles' arm, back at the door for the blonde slayer.

"Erm… well she has to rest also," Giles spluttered out when Mike's steps slowed down to a hesitant claw.

"Oh? I didn't know she was parrraghhh!" Andrew yelped, cringing in pain.

"Well, you don't know everything," Giles released the crushing pressure he'd applied to the boney shoulders. "So now that we have that sorted out, shall we proceed, gentlemen?" Giles asked with a bright smile.

Mike nodded reluctantly and continued walking. He couldn't put his finger on what was wrong with these people, but the sooner he and Rachael were out of here the better.

*****

"Buff," Willow gently shook her shoulders as not to startle her.

"Hmm?" Buffy groggily mumbled from where her head lay buried against a warm neck surrounded by a curtain of soft brown hair.

While waiting for Willow to wake up, she'd decided against all rational judgment to indulge in a long buried secret desire to lay next to Faith. Rachael would have blasted her out the park if she ever found out, but the sleeping female's quiet, even breathing proved she'd be none the wiser so Buffy took the risk and had crept into bed next to her.

Never in Buffy's wildest dreams had she ever imagined it would feel so heavenly being pressed against Rachael's warm body. It felt like home. She hadn't wanted the feeling of contentment to stop. It was like she was finally where she belonged. Finally where she was meant to be in her life, wrapped securely around this body.

But, sadly knowing that it was all an illusion, Buffy knew it had to end. She'd just never meant to stay curled up next to the brunette so long, nor had she ever intended to fall into such a deep blissful sleep.

It had felt fantastic and made Buffy's heart argue with her mind that it wasn't quite ready to believe that this wasn't Faith. That it wasn't quite ready to let go of the brunette just yet.

Still holding on to that thought, Buffy — in her half drowsy state — allowed her lips to lightly brush against the soft skin, her stomach fluttering at the contact, and inhaled its enticing fragrance.

God she loved how Faith smelt. Always did.

No matter what soap or other body sprays she'd used, there was always something uniquely Faith. During their sparring sessions when she'd gotten too close, it always made Buffy want to wrap herself in the brunette like a soft wooly blanket on a cold night.

It was powerful desires like those that had scared the crap out of her back then and made her want to keep Faith at arms length. It was a pity she realized she'd never succumbed to any of her desires. They could have both have been in a perfectly different place than where they were now. Which was, Faith dead and gone and Buffy now finally having to accept the fact that she'd never be able to share the love she knew could have existed between the two of them.

Brows creasing as she was reminded of the fact that this was not Faith, Buffy disentangled herself.

Pushing up, she opened bleary eyes to stare straight into sad green eyes quietly observing her.

"Will? Why so sad?"

Watching her friend unwrap herself and fully sit up, Willow swallowed the heartbreaking sadness she felt for her. "Not sad Buffy, just tired," she told a necessary white lie. The time for truth would come soon enough. "Giles wants to see us downstairs."

"Ok," Buffy stood up. "What about?" She pointed meaningfully back to the bed.

"She'll be out for another hour or so," Willow informed her and started towards the door.

Buffy stole a glance at the clock by the nightstand. She'd been sleeping longer than she'd realized. Following behind Willow, she noticed that even the Wicca looked freshly showered and changed.

"So we're going to go through what you found in Rachael's head?" Buffy asked as they descended the steps.

"Sort of," Willow answered vaguely, keeping her head straight. She didn't want to look at the confusing frown of her friend's face. "Giles also wants to go over the arrangements he's made for their departure," she quickly threw out. She suppressed a sigh of relief at Buffy's soft 'oh ok' and her decision not to question Willow further as to what she'd discovered during the spell.

Buffy recovered with ease as her steps faltered when Willow mentioned Rachael and Mike's departure plans. Even knowing it wasn't Faith it was still going to be hard saying goodbye. Sure Rachael had irritated her to no end… but so had Faith. They both appeared to share the same charm and traits she seemed to be hopelessly drawn to and secretly found appealing. This was not going to be easy.

The two friends fell into an uncustomary silence as they continued the remainder of their short journey to Giles' office.

Knocking on the door, Buffy entered.

"Buffy, Willow, sit please," Giles looked up from the manuscript he'd been staring at vacantly for the last two hours. Its contents were important in helping them find the scythe but he couldn't bring himself to focus on the words. No amount of random dips into his hidden stash of Scotch helped to calm his nerve to handle the matter he now had to undertake.

"So what's the sitch?" Buffy asked looking from Giles to Willow after a long stretch of uncomfortable quiet settled in the office.

Clearing his throat and trying not to fiddle with his glasses, Giles finally built up the courage and took in the appearance of his slayer.

Buffy'd suffered so much through the years; had gone through so much. More than any person he knew would have been able to handle. Yet she always came out on top somehow. But despite her strength, he had seen so many fragile moments from her. And, when even he doubted she would bounce back, she always did. He hoped this was one of those times. He hoped beyond anything that she would overcome what he was about to say and that it wouldn't be the proverbial final straw in her young life.

"It seems we have an unexpected situation on our hands," Giles started. "Apparently when Willow was in the mind of Rac-, well conducting her spell, she encountered a block."

"What does he mean by a block?" Buffy asked turning to Willow.

Resolving herself, Willow faced her friend. "When I was looking around in her head, everything seemed normal and pointed to the fact that Rachael was not Faith. Everything added up just like she was telling us. Then I decided to dig a little deeper because I wanted to make absolutely sure, especially after the spell that brought her here. As I dug a little deeper, I noticed a layer of memory clouding. It's like a rune used to block the flow of past memories," she quickly explained.

Astounded, Buffy turned fully to face her. "Wait, you're trying to tell me that someone's been screwing around in Rachael's head? Playing around with her memories?"

"It's a little more complicated than that Buffy," Giles explained.

"How complicated?" She looked at him.

"Complicated as in Rachael is really Faith," Willow anxiously rushed out.

End of Chapter 11

TBC…

A.N: Remember to review :)