A/N: Went on kinda long on this one--let's say I was inspired. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, hoarded, read, and considered!

"Is this what it's supposed to look like?"

Faith couldn't help her question. Buffy lay across a cot in the basement where Faith had set her down. She was still unconscious, but turning and murmuring now, her face creased as if she were in pain. Faith stood a little off to the side, largely ignored after the initial wary glance from Anya and the scowl from Dawn. Nobody'd clued her in on the spell, but the Scoobs all seemed to know the plan. All she could do was watch. Which was pretty frustrating, really.

"You said this would make her better!" There was a question in that, too, and the dark slayer was beginning to wish she'd asked more questions earlier. Tossing and turning didn't seem like better. But the redhead sure wasn't going to fill her in now, in the middle of her casting.

"Is she okay? Will?" Even Xander was beginning to doubt. The two witches kept chanting.

He shifted his eyes from the increasingly restless Buffy to Willow, who was standing over, with circles around her eyes that betrayed the exhaustion of keeping Buffy unconscious for so long. Even with Tara's help, and even though they'd started the spell not five minutes after Faith and Willow had burst through the door at 3 am., cradling the slayer. Xander thought she was as near the breaking point as the first time she'd tried this spell, when it was a different vampire they were dealing with.

Between the redhead and Buffy and Tara and the still-dark Orb of Thesulah in front of them, nobody could tell him anything. The only person who'd seen the spell work once was Buffy, and she wasn't in any position to share.

Dawn wanted to believe, sitting next to Buffy, but her eyes were wide and worried as she tried to keep the hair out of her sister's face.

Despite her soothing, the blonde slayer struggled on the bed, her back bowing now as the spell tried to course its way through her, into her. Faith looked as though she was about to leap across the bed and strangle Willow, held back only by her confusion as to whether Buffy's pain was one of those good hurts. Maybe this is what getting better looked like. She didn't know. The blonde glistened with sweat as she writhed under the chant, a cry escaping her lips. Maybe it wasn't worth it.

Tara, too, was glancing down now at Buffy's struggling form, then back over to Willow, who was still chanting as though she would make the spell work by will alone. Tara's voice faltered and dropped away from the chant. "Willow, I don't think this is..." But the redhead wasn't listening to her. Buffy cried out again. Reaching out her mind, Tara washed her senses gently over Buffy, trying to calm the still unconscious girl, but then seeing something else.

"Willow, stop!!" When Willow didn't stop, Tara clamped a hand over her girlfriend's mouth, knowing it might be even more dangerous to let her go on. Once Faith saw Tara's hand, she dashed in, figuring that the blonde witch had proved her instincts were right. In a rush, she pulled Willow off her feet and over into the wall. The force of hitting that wall effectively stopped her chant mid-Latin.

"You were gonna make her better!"

Anya screamed. "Murderer on the loose! Every woman for herself!" She dashed halfway up the basement stairs, stopping only to reach back to drag Xander after her. But he was pulling the other way, straining towards Faith. In a jerk, he got away from Anya and grabbed the dark slayer by the shoulders, hauling her back. She almost hit him, but Dawn grabbed her hand just as she cocked it.

Shaken, Willow managed to croak out "That's what I was trying to do until you—!"

Tara's voice cut her off. "Willow, Buffy still has a soul!"

"What?" The shouts from Willow, Xander, and Dawn filled the room. Faith just looked confused.

"Well, duh!" Then the light dawned. "Oh shit! Were y'all trying to do that thing like with Angel?" Everyone looked over at her, but she just stared back at Willow. "You just said you were gonna make her better!" Willow could only sputter. Tara asked the question for all of them.

"You knew?"

"Yeah, I fuckin' knew!" She pointed an angry finger at the redhead. "I thought she knew!"

Willow found her voice. "Me!? How was I supposed to know? I just came up and saw you holding on to her and her biting your neck...what was I supposed to think?"

Tara crossed her arms over her chest. "You didn't make sure? Willow, we could've..."

With a shrug, Faith got free of Xander and Dawn. "Why would I be holding on to her if I thought she didn't have a soul?"

"You have a crush on her, so I thought—"

Faith opened her mouth in shock, then shut it, then opened it again to fire back. But she was cut off by Dawn, who was looking at her like she had two heads.

"You have a crush on my sister?"

Faith turned, but was preempted again, this time by Xander. "Why didn't you let Willow know Buffy was still in there?" The dark slayer whirled back around to face him.

"'Cause I didn't think I fuckin' had to! Jesus! Red told me she could make Buffy better, and she's all down with the witch fu these days so how am I supposed to have known she was gonna try soul cursing? Sue me for thinkin' she knew what she was doing!"

Tara glanced sharply over at Willow. "What sort of 'witch fu'?"

Willow stayed with Faith. "I do know what I'm doing! If I'd just had all the information..."

Anya had ventured a little of the way back down the stairway. "Yes, but since you didn't have it, we could've actually succeeded in taking Buffy's soul away. And then Dawn would've had to slay..."

"Will all of you just shut up!"

Somewhere in the middle of everything, Willow had lost that thread of control keeping Buffy unconscious. They all turned to find the slayer in a ball on the cot, but now with her hands at her head, looking as though a truck had just run over her.

There was a collective shout of "Buffy!" and then a mass movement towards her side. Seeing the onslaught, the blonde shrank against the wall, hands out.

"Out! Everyone just get out!" They all pulled up short, Willow staggering a little as Dawn ran into the back of her.

"But Buffy...do you still...I mean, are you...?" The redhead tried her luck, her voice tired but hopeful.

Buffy sighed, staying pressed still against the wall. Softer this time. "Yes, it's me. But, please, leave."

Xander, Dawn, Anya, and Tara all slowly climbed the stairs. Willow and Faith tried to stand their ground.

"Please."

Faith opened her mouth, then shut it again into a hard, hurt line. Willow took at step forward, but her face crumpled as Buffy slowly shook her head. As the rejected two walked up the stairs, they each took a little comfort in the fact that the other wasn't allowed to stay either. And they carried that comfort with them, small as it was, into the mid-morning.

When Buffy emerged, the house was dim with the early evening and quiet. She could hear the breathing of sleep from upstairs where Willow, Tara, and Dawn had all collapsed from the strain of that morning. And she could feel the other slayer in the living room. Faith had pushed aside the pillows and sprawled on one end of the couch.

The blonde slayer stood, looking down at the sleeping girl, at the lack of care on her face, the openness of her expression. She wondered what she was dreaming of. This time, Buffy didn't know.

"Like what you see?"

Faith's voice startled her gaze away from where it had slid down to the still-fresh wound on the dark slayer's neck. Looking back up, Buffy saw that Faith's eyes were open and dark, watching her.

"No!" The first was just a little too fervent, so she went on. "No, I just was..." She didn't know how to finish it.

"No big. Just not used to someone sneaking up on me" A wry smile. "Prison makes you jumpy like that."

Buffy could feel Faith throwing prison in between them. A reminder of why she was there. But Buffy decided not to rise to it. Faith again cut off her thoughts, sitting up slightly on one elbow, her face closed and careful now that she was awake.

"So, B, to what do I owe the honor of this visit?"

Buffy's eyes slid down again to what she'd done, and her hand went out to it almost without her knowing. "I guess I stopped..."

"Red stopped ya." Faith felt the older girl's fingertips brush across her neck and fought to keep her eyes from closing.

"But are you...are you okay?"

"5 x 5." The blonde slayer stayed where she was and those fingertips stayed where they were. Faith wondered if she was even aware of them. She saw Buffy's gaze shift up to her lips, and she wondered whether she was aware of that either. Faith was aware of both. She strained to keep her voice light, flip. "Was there somethin' else you needed, B? 'Cause you were all 'get out' earlier and now, just when I try to catch a little sleep..."

Buffy snapped into the moment and jerked away her hand. If that's the way she wanted it... Faith rolled over again on her side, her eyes into the back of the couch, body rigid. And, for a moment, she thought the older girl would leave so she could breathe again.

But then she heard her voice, hoarse, still behind her. "I just wanted to say thanks." A pause. "I know you didn't have to come." Another pause. "Hell, I probably wouldn't have."

Faith snorted at that. "'Course you woulda. You're the good one, remember." They'd certainly never let Faith forget it.

"Not anymore."

At that, Faith jumped up, pressing into the other girl's space. Her face was tight, angry. "You think this makes you bad? You think bein' a vamp who couldn't even suck until somebody made her makes you bad?" In a flash, the anger turned mocking. "'Less you wanna be bad." She cocked her head at the other girl. "Maybe you wanna play that game 'cause it's more fun than the one they're playin' here."

She saw the blonde swallow hard, backing up. Faith followed her, still pushing, pitching her voice a little lower. "Maybe you figure Faith's just the one to play with." She saw the blonde's eyes fall on her lips again as her back hit the basement door. She'd thought as much. With just a little more...

"That why you kissed me in your dream?" Faith ran a finger along the waistband of Buffy's jeans, feeling the space between that band and the blonde's stomach as the other girl sucked in.

"Faith!" It was almost a low moan.

"Yeah, I'm always what you want me to be." And, with that, she pressed forward, capturing the other girl's willing mouth. In the back of her mind, Faith knew she was playing with fire. Or with a vampire. Or with her own emotions. But, feeling Buffy's groan as she slid her hand upward under the shirt, and her own groan answering as her fingers found the silky fabric and that promising shape, she didn't care.

Pinned against the door, Buffy fumbled, getting her own hands under Faith's shirt, skating over that scar she knew so well. She felt the younger slayer arch into her hands, felt the tantalizing heat of her. And if Buffy had been still alive, there would've been breath on Faith's neck as she kissed down the other girl's throat. But now it was just her lips, trembling against that skin, skirting the dangerous pulse point where she knew blood was throbbing.

Until Faith bent in to catch that mouth again, biting a little at Buffy's lower lip as she reached around to unhook, with one practiced hand, the bra so that she could have her hands on those breasts themselves, the smooth skin of them, the little nipples standing erect under her fingertips. As she bent in to take one in her mouth, Buffy let out a small cry and reached a hand back to the doorknob behind her.

Spike came in just after they turned to face that door, struggling to get it open with their hands still on each other. He saw the brunette slayer reach around, taking Buffy's breast in one hand, sliding the other down towards the front of Buffy's jeans, and then inside them as the blonde slayer leaned back into Faith. He saw Faith pull that hand slowly out again, Buffy moaning at the tease and at the kisses on the back of her neck. He saw Faith open that door to the dark stairs down.

And he left, throwing the packets of blood he'd brought across the room to hit the living room wall and slide down, heavily, to the floor.