A/N Hay all sorry its been so long I got a new job (yeah!) and have found my self a proof reader (double yeah!) any way hope you all like this instalment and if you do review it's not just for me anymore you have to let my proof reader know she's doing a good job 

Kane sat in the living room of the flat he shared with Faith. His legs were crossed and he had a ring of red sand around him. He was chanting in an ancient language and bright lights seemed to encompass him as they swirled in erratic patterns. Then, all of a sudden, his head snapped back and his eyes began to glow. Slowly the light in his eyes and the lights around him faded, leaving the once strong and valiant watcher crying on the floor.

Faith woke in unfamiliar surroundings. She checked herself for puncture wounds and, more importantly, a pulse, and was relieved to find herself with pulse but without wounds. She then took note of her surroundings. She was lying in a larger than normal bed in what looked to be a room in a stately home. Slowly, the memories of the night past came back to her and a dark smile spread slowly across her face. She looked to her side and saw the sleeping form she expected. Xander lay there perfectly still encased in the motionless sleep of the vampire. She watched him, mesmerised by how peaceful and motionless he was. He looked dead, which was perfectly true, but the full impact of how peaceful he could look without life struck her harder than any physical blow a vampire had ever dealt her. She watched him, lost in her musings, until she realised with a start what she was actually contemplating. She was embracing the idea of her own death. Too freaked out for rational thought, she got up, threw on her clothes and ran out the mansion and in to the light of day.

Buffy watched the fleeing form of Faith running from the mansion. She knew what was going on in the girl's head, she could almost feel the change in her. This made her happy. Soon they would be free from the threat of Kakistos, and Xander would finally be happy. Well, happier.

Willow walked up behind Buffy and had to squint for several seconds until her eyes adjusted to the bright harsh light of day. She put her arm around Buffy and she leaned back in to the gentle embrace.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Willow whispered in her ear.

"Just looking forward to when all this is over."

"I hear you there." Willow said as she nuzzled Buffy's neck. "And it will be soon, you know that, you can feel the change on the wind as much as I can." She then kissed her lover, her mistress, and most importantly, her wife's neck. Buffy let the shudder of excitement flow through her before she spoke again.

"She'll make a good companion for him, wont she?" she said as Willow continued to stroke her, but now in a more companionate way. Willow loved this about her; even as a vampire Buffys priorities and insecurities were still firmly focused on her friends and loved ones.

"Yes she will you know that as well as I do. And god is she going to love the freedom he gives her." Buffy turned round and kissed Willow passionately on the lips.

"How is it you always know the right thing to say to me?" Buffy asked as she laid her head on Willow's shoulder and started to lick the redhead's neck.

"Mmmmm" Willow let out before she could focus enough to answer. "I guess telling the truth is always the best policy."

"Well then, on that note, get into bed, that's what I truly want you to do."

Xander woke up as he heard his room door close. He shot up and looked beside him, Faith was missing. He was suddenly confronted with a huge feeling of loss which he felt somewhere deep inside him. A year ago he would have said it was in his soul but now he didn't have a clue where this emotion was coming from. He sat in his bed for a while and tried to work this feeling out before realising that the two people who could answer all his questions were just upstairs in their room. And if he knew them half as well as he thought he did, they would be up.

He walked up to their door and knocked. A lower vampire was never supposed to knock on their master's door but this was different. Buffy may be his mistress, but this wasn't your average vamp group, it was more of a democracy, and in the end they were friends first. So he knocked on the door and waited for a reply

"Just a sec Xand." Willow shouted, he then heard some very loud moans from Buffy then a quick shriek before Willow shouted again. "You can come in now."

He opened the door and found his two best friends lying in bed together. He knew they were naked under the thin black material of their sheets as they were slightly transparent. He stood mesmerised by the beautiful vision in front of him before being brought back into the real world by Buffy's coughs and Willow's giggling.

"Ehh, yeah, right, what I came here for… sorry for interrupting you two by the way." he babbled out still unable to bring his eyes to meet theirs. Willow just kept giggling and looking at Buffy who just shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"What is it we can do you for?" Buffy asked but she already had a good idea what it was he was going to ask.

"Yeah right… well Faith took off and I think I'm feeling rejected or something. Its weird I thought this sort of feeling was removed with the soul?"

Willow stopped giggling and looked at him, with that sympathetic sisterly look she always had ready just for him.

"It's that romantic vamp thing in you Xand." Buffy said matter of factly as if it were the easiest answer in the world.

"Romantic vamp thing?" Xander repeated sceptically.

"Yeah Spike explained it to me. You know how Giles and Angel used to tell us if we were turned we stop being who we were and the demon takes over? Well that's all shit. We're still the same, you know this, just now we're free of the constraints we put on ourselves and society put on us. The fact you felt rejected is simply because your still you all be it a much faster, stronger, funnier, need I go on?" Buffy looked him straight in the eye with a smile on her face that told him she wasn't patronising him as she said all this but that she couldn't quite think of a better way of saying it. And that smile itself told him she was right. It was a Buffy smile, a real Buffy smile.

"You still look upset. Want to snuggle with us?" Willow asked. "Just no trying to play with my wife, you don't want to get me mad." She said with a grin as she pointed to the sword that sat in the corner of the room.

"Yeah, I think I need that." he answered now able to make full eye contact again. Buffy lifted the sheets and patted the space in between her self and Willow. Xander moved in to it and the three cuddled and fell asleep for the rest of the day, just enjoying the feeling of closeness between them all.

Faith returned to her flat and found it both empty and trashed. There were spell supplies on the living room floor and some of Kane's books were lying face up and open all over the place. Faith tried to find what it was that Kane had been researching but it was all in languages that she couldn't read. There were also some crystals dotted about the living room that she couldn't remember seeing before but then she realised that's what Kane had said he had picked up on his last trip to LA. She knew that though the place looked trashed, it was just the results of one of his late night research parties. She had no idea where he was now but she was guessing he was probably at the magic supply shop, as the spell even to her untrained eye looked like it had been left unfinished. Still, not wanting to let her mind wander she started to clean the place up like she had done when her mother had had a party where she had been an unwilling participant. She didn't want to think back to the things she had been coerced in to doing. She finished arranging the books so that they didn't lose there place but were more neatly arranged and she made a good effort not to disturb the magic things in the centre of the room. Once that was done she felt calmer but knew from experience that the feeling would not last long if she didn't do some thing else so she started to make herself a cup of tea, and went into her room and retrieved the book she was reading at the moment. She then sat down with both and started to read. She wouldn't normally have been reading a book like Lord of the Rings given that she had fought more than one thing that was described in the books but there was still something enthralling about the way the story was told that had her hooked. At heart she was a Star Wars girl and even though she would never admit it to any one the X-wing series of books was one of her favourites. Just as she was coming to the end of The Fellowship she heard Kane's keys in the door. She put the book down and went to the kitchen to make another cup of tea for her watcher.

"Hey Kane." she shouted as he stepped through the door, there was a slight delay and then she heard his reply.

"Hey."

He came into their small kitchen and smiled at her half heartedly. "So what you get up to last night? After you called and weren't back by eleven I started to worry." he said pointing towards the magic things in the centre of the floor.

"Eh, yeah, sorry I crashed out at Xander's." she said shrugging as if that was all there was to it but she could tell by the look on his face that he didn't believe her. Kane could tell she wasn't going to explain herself so nothing further was said on the subject for the time being. She gave him his cup of tea and they both sat down. Faith was picking up her book when Kane spoke again.

"We need to start you on some new training." he said, looking her in the eye. She shrugged to hide the spark of excitement she felt at getting to learn more about her powers. "I'm going to teach you about crystals."

Buffy had decided that tonight, she was going to do the rounds with Faith. There had been very little contact between the two of them but after how much she had accidentally hurt Xander, Buffy felt that now was the time to bring Faith round to her way of thinking. She knew that the other slayer was more on their side than she would like to admit to herself, which was why she had left so hastily that morning. All Buffy wanted was to let her know that she was safe with them. Safer than she was with the Council. So, tonight she would talk to her, slayer-to-slayer, like she'd rehearsed.

Willow had taken Xander out for a few pre killing spree drinks to cheer him up. Spike and Dru were hanging around the mansion, Spike was working out and Dru was performing some spells down in the basement. She had hoped for Willow's help but when she saw how upset Xander was, she didn't through a hissy-fit. As time passed, Spike came into the main room to wait with Buffy, who was beginning to get disconcerted by Faith's absence. Then, just as Buffy was ready to go looking for the young slayer, she stumbled in through the door. She looked like she'd been on the wrong end of a steamroller.

"Faith, what happened? Are you alright?" Buffy said as she stood and ran to the aid of the girl who should be her arch-enemy.

"No, not at all" Faith said weakly as Buffy led her to the couch.

"What happened?" Spike asked, as he got up to get her a drink of water.

"I was walking over here, feeling a bit funky but not thinking much of it, and then all of a sudden, I was jumped by a vamp fresh out the grave. He still had dirt stained funeral clothes on and everything. He hit me and I went flying! We fought and all the time I'm thinking something's wrong, he's not going down half as quickly as he should. Eventually I took him out but not before he'd done this to me. Then I tried out my strength," she said as she held up her hand "a fucking packing crate did this to my hand, I've never not been able to break one with a punch." Faith looked close to tears. Buffy just looked on, feeling helpless. She could physically feel the lack of power coming from the normally intense Faith. Spike looked like he had something on his mind, though Buffy knew not to ask him yet.

"Could be Kakistos trying some new spell on you?" Buffy said trying to reassure the girl.

"Or might be some kind of Slayer flu." Spike tried to joke but both women just looked at him with disdain. "Ok not that then." He mumbled as he handed Faith the glass of water. She took it and drank almost all of it before tilting the glass back away from her mouth.

"Has anything funny happened to you lately." Faith shook her head in response to Buffys question. "Dizziness, Blackouts." Faith's memory suddenly flashed. .

"Yes. Today, Kane was showing me crystals and I thought I nodded off but I've never done that in training before."

"Let me see your arms." Spike was suddenly very serious. Faith rolled up her sleeve to show him. When she met his eye there was a cold, stony glint. The glint people feared.

"Just as I thought, bloody watchers!" Both Girls looked at him for an explanation. He pointed to a small pin prick on her arm. "Crushatis. It's a serum that only the watchers know how to make. It renders a slayer immobile or in lesser quantities relives them of there powers."

"But why would Kane do that to me?" Faith said in shock, looking at both of the Vampires for an explanation. They just shrugged.

"Could be he doesn't like you sleeping with Xander." Spike said and then they saw it, the flash they'd been waiting on, the killer in the slayer only needed a little push now to come to the surface.

"Or maybe he thinks you're not on their team any more." Buffy pushed trying to widen the gap between Faith and those who swore to help her. The 'great' Watchers Council.

"But I'm still fighting the evil. I'm fighting with you guys to defeat it and if they cant understand it." She stopped and looked at them. "He tried to KILL ME! I can't believe it. The bastard was trying to get rid of me without doing it himself! I'll…"
"You'll what Faith? Remember we count you as part of the pack now and that means a lot to us. We're here for you, we'll help you with anything you want."

"You know what Buffy, you may be a soulless killer but I trust you and Xander and shit, even blondie here more than anyone else now. Will you watch my back whilst I do what I have to do?"

"Yes, we will. But don't you want to wait till you're strong again?" The sheer fury burning within Faith's eyes made both Spike and Buffy tense as they were starting to see Faith's full potential The killer in her was about to be released.

"No, I can do it now. Nothing could stop me, not even an army right now." She stood and looked like she was powering up, mentally fighting the poison that was swimming round her body.

"You want to wait on Xander?" Spike asked.

"No time. I need to do this now." She started to go for the door and Spike and Buffy jumped to follow her, desperate to show her they were not lying.