Chapter 21
The teakettle shrieked loudly on the gas range. Faith removed the boiling water from the stovetop and carefully poured the scalding liquid into two ceramic mugs. She dipped a teabag into each of the cups and transported them to the small table in the center of her eat-in kitchen.
"Thanks," Buffy smiled, gratefully taking the steaming cup of tea.
Faith sat down across from the smaller slayer. She watched Buffy cup the ceramic mug between her hands and gingerly blow across the top of her tea. Barely visible wisps of steam curled in the air.
After punching Faith in the face, the shock and the jolt of pain had vaulted the Boston girl back to Cleveland. Buffy had followed soon afterwards once she removed the chair from blocking the door to their room. Before willing herself back to the Cleveland hospital, she'd hopped into the empty bed. The hospital staff would have a mystery once they discovered the bodies in the room had changed beds, but that wasn't Buffy's problem anymore.
The two slayers had returned to Cleveland just in time; Willow was about to relieve Faith of her Buffy-watching duties. When the two regained consciousness, the redheaded woman was just outside the door.
Things were still tense between the slayers and the free-wheeling witch. Neither woman was ready to totally forgive the redhead for re-writing history, but Willow eagerly agreed to rework the Slayer History curriculum with both Buffy and Faith's help.
After a little research, Willow found a remedy to make sure Faith and Buffy wouldn't keep slipping from one reality to the next. Using the heart of the demon whose venom had caused all the chaos, she had made a potion to help cement the slayers to this world. She suggested brewing it with tea to make the mixture more palpable.
Now that the two slayers had returned to Faith's apartment, the two had nothing left to do but ingest the potion and talk about what had happened. Neither woman, however, seemed ready to breach the topic of Idea Number One.
Faith toyed with the paper square at the end of the tea bag. "Will you tell me about her?"
Buffy looked up from her own mug. "You mean…the other you?"
Faith nodded and met Buffy's gaze. "I'm just curious is all."
"Uh, well," the blonde began, not sure what to say or where to start. "She looks exactly like you."
Faith smirked. "Caught that much."
"And she worked at the hospital where I was."
"Like a doctor or something?" Faith asked. She watched the blonde slayer over the rim of her cup as she took a tentative sip of the hot beverage.
"No…she just…" Buffy furrowed her forehead. "I don't know what her title was exactly. She hung out with me. We played board games. We talked." The elder slayer sighed and looked down into her mug of tea. "She was the only one at that place who didn't treat me like I was crazy. I guess that was part of the attraction," Buffy mused aloud.
"And you and her…you know," Faith wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Buffy nodded, surprised that she wasn't blushing. "In the asylum and then at her apartment when she helped me escape," she confirmed.
"Dang, Blondie," the Boston girl laughed, not unkindly. "Lookit you gettin' your inter-dimensional groove on."
Buffy shrugged, her thin shoulders rising and falling. "I felt…connected to her," she confessed. "She was your clone, so there was that. But it just was easy to be around her."
"Is that why you kissed me in prison?" Faith asked. Buffy's gaze blazed into her own, forcing Faith to drop her eyes down to her hands.
"No." Buffy shook her head. "I wasn't pretending, if that's what you're insinuating. And I was very much aware that it was you, and not her."
Faith could tell that the blonde's mood had perceptibly darkened. "What's wrong?" the brunette asked, worried she had said the wrong thing.
"It's just…" Buffy started and then sighed frustratedly, "is it crazy that I'm upset to find out she had a boyfriend all this time? I feel like I was the Other Woman," she laughed at herself. "Or like a dirty mistress."
Faith smiled gently at the other woman. "Not crazy at all, B," she murmured. Nothing about you is crazy."
"Thanks for that," the blonde returned appreciatively. She took another careful sip of her hot tea. It didn't taste entirely unpleasant, but she certainly didn't want to do this again – kind of a mixture of mint tea and seaweed.
In their joint silence, Faith self-consciously felt over her features, stopping at her nose. She could almost feel the ghost of pain from where she remembered being hit in the face. But since Buffy hadn't really punched her, just her doppelganger, her face was unmarred.
"What do you think is gonna happen to her when she wakes up?" the Bostonian asked.
"I honestly don't know," Buffy sighed. "It'll take her a while to heal, I'm sure. And maybe she'll never really physically recover," she added. "I think if Dr. Primrose had intended on charging her with kidnapping or aiding a patient escaping, there would have been police guards outside of the room. Maybe they'll just let her leave," she noted hopefully.
Faith nodded, and looked back down at the mug of tea in her hands. "Maybe," she repeated quietly.
"My head is full of thoughts," Buffy complained aloud. "If that other world is really just an alternate dimension and not a figment of my imagination, does that mean we all have doppelgangers? And could I have another twin in yet another dimension? And how come the alternate version of me has to be crazy and a single mom?" She made a frustrated noise. "It's not fair; I'm not used to all this thinking," the blonde complained.
Knowing she had set herself up for ridicule, Buffy's head snapped up to glare at the brunette. "Watch it," she warned her sister-Slayer.
Faith laughed and held up both hands as a sign of retreat. "I'd never insult your intelligence, girlfriend. Especially now that you're basically back to full slayer-stretch," she added with a wink. "This face is too pretty to keep getting punched."
Buffy stood from the table, her chair legs squeaking as they slid along the marble floor. Faith's eyebrows rose along with the smaller slayer. "Going somewhere?" the brunette asked the other slayer.
"I was thinking that we should go to bed," Buffy proposed.
Faith glanced at the clock over her stovetop. It was barely 4 o'clock. "You're tired?" she questioned.
A sly smile crept onto Buffy's lips. "I said we should go to bed, not go to sleep," she noted.
Faith nearly spilled the remaining contents of her cup of tea. "What?"
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Buffy mused, "but that tea we just drank is supposed to ground us," Buffy pointed out pragmatically. "We should…test it, and make sure Willow's spell actually works."
Faith stood up. "No, you're not wrong." She allowed herself the gluttonous pleasure of looking at Buffy's tight figure. Even in her current outfit of sweatpants and tank top, the Chosen One looked delectable.
Buffy held out her hand. "Well?" she asked, her eyebrows rising up expectantly.
Faith took Buffy's hand and pulled the other girl towards her. Buffy stumbled forward, catching herself when her body slammed, not unpleasantly, into the taller slayer's body.
Faith held the smaller slayer at arm's length and stared hard at Buffy. "I ain't gonna be some replacement," she stated gruffly.
"You're not her. And she's not you. The only thing you have in common, is, uh…"
Buffy blushed.
Faith smirked. "A smokin' body, right?" she finished for the blonde.
"Kind of."
"That's good enough for me," Faith grinned. She paused and regarded the lithe blonde. "And you're sure about this?"
Buffy nodded. "I'm sure."
Faith's grin widened. "Then get ready, B. Cause you're about to be devoured."
Faith leaned over Buffy and brought her mouth down to meet the blonde's lips.
Buffy pulled away momentarily. "Bedroom?" she asked in a slightly breathless voice.
"Can't wait."
Faith's hands went to Buffy's sides, and she abruptly lifted the smaller girl up on the kitchen counter. Buffy released a small, surprised noise, which quickly turned to a quiet moan. The Bostonian's mouth went to Buffy's neck while her hands stayed firm on the blonde's hips, pinning her to the countertop. The Boston slayer sucked on Buffy's neck. She scraped her teeth against her pressure point, causing the blonde woman to slightly buck her hips off the counter.
Faith grinned into the smaller woman's skin. Buffy had teased her ruthlessly in the hospital, unwittingly or not, and now Faith was finally getting her opportunity. Her hands released their hold on Buffy's hips and instead wandered up the front of her tight tank top.
Buffy wore no bra beneath her casual top, allowing the brunette's hands to travel freely and unencumbered. The smaller slayer's pert breasts filled the taller woman's hands. Faith could feel Buffy's hardening nipples rubbing against her palms. Buffy's breath was ragged in Faith's ear as the brunette firmly pulled and pinched at her jutting nipples. Shocks of sharp pain kept her on edge as the Boston woman unmercifully handled her sensitive breasts.
"Lift your ass for me," Faith breathed in her lover's ear.
Buffy immediately obeyed the command, lifting her backside off the countertop. Effortlessly, Faith grabbed the elastic waistband of Buffy's sweatpants and pulled the pants down her hips and legs, leaving the blonde slayer naked from the waist down. Faith hunched over slightly to bury her face between Buffy's thighs. The Californian squeaked, surprised by Faith's directness. Soon she was grabbing onto the brunette's unruly locks, however, when the Boston-born slayer's tongue made initial contact with her clit.
Buffy squirmed on the countertop. Faith's hands left her breasts and returned to her hipbones. She firmly held onto the smaller woman, keeping her in place. The blonde had no choice but to let the younger slayer control the pace.
The Californian gasped when she felt Faith's finger tentatively press at the base of her pussy. Buffy moaned as Faith slowly inched her finger the full length of her slit. The dangerous brunette stood to full height again and grinned lasciviously. She continued to stroke along Buffy's naked slit, pulling more and more arousal from her.
"I can't wait to be inside you," Faith purred.
Buffy grabbed the taller slayer by the shoulders and pulled her to her. Their mouths crashed together again, and Faith's fingers continued to glide over the blonde's leaking slit. Encouraging the brunette, Buffy moved her hips on Faith's hand. Her arousal leaked down the insides of her thighs and onto Faith's hand as well.
"God, you're making me so wet," Buffy panted into her talented lover's mouth.
The Bostonian murmured her approval and buried her middle finger into the blonde. Faith cupped the golden-haired woman's sex while her thumb rotated on her slippery clit.
Faith finger-fucked Buffy faster still, while the Chosen One whimpered shamelessly, readily losing herself to the tightening in her stomach and her sex. Faith released a pained noise when she pushed a second finger into the elder slayer. Buffy's sex wrapped tightly around her digits.
"You feel so good," the brunette panted against the Californian's fragrant skin.
Buffy moaned incoherently in reply, concentrating too hard on the feeling between her thighs to complete intelligible syllables.
Faith bent over once again as she continued to piston her two fingers in and out of her lover's tightening sex. She knew the blonde was going to cum soon. She only needed a little push. Faith sucked Buffy's clit into her mouth, and the Californian saw stars.
Buffy's hands went to the back of Faith's head. Her fingers tangled in the brunette's waves and her nails dug into the Boston woman's scalp. She squirmed against the counter, and pulled Faith's face deeper into her as her first orgasm hit her like a semi-truck.
When the pulsing around her digits ceased, Faith eased her saturated fingers out of Buffy's sex. The Chosen One remained slumped on the counter, her thighs still spread apart, but she didn't care.
"Still with me?" the brunette asked, a little concerned for the other slayer's fragile consciousness.
Buffy nodded wordlessly.
"Are you okay?" Faith couldn't help the cocky smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I didn't wear you out, did I?"
"No." Buffy gave the other slayer a tired, but satisfied grin. "And when I've caught my breath, it's my turn."
"I hate to break it to ya, B, but you can't call what we just did a 'turn,'" Faith playfully mocked. "I barely touched you before you went off like a firecracker."
Buffy's lower lip stuck out. "Don't make fun."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Faith chuckled. She ran a tender hand along the golden-haired slayer's cheekbones. "Just makin' sure you know that I'm not done with you yet."
"Damn it."
Faith opened a sleepy eye when she woke to the sound of Buffy quietly cursing. The blonde had knocked a glass of water off the top of Faith's dresser bureau, and its contents had spilled onto the hardwood floors. The Boston girl shifted in bed and the mattress creaked. Buffy froze and her eyes snapped in the direction of the slowly waking slayer.
Faith frowned in confusion. Instead of wearing pajamas, or still being naked, the golden-haired girl was now dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. Not exactly an outfit that screamed she was ready for morning sex.
"Where are you going, B?" the raven-haired slayer rasped, her voice heavy with sleep. She rubbed at her eyes. "I thought I was the one who was supposed to sneak out the morning after."
Buffy's eyes shifted anxiously. "I, ah, have an errand."
Faith sat up slightly in bed and rested her weight on one elbow. "Are you going back to her?"
Buffy dropped her glance. "Just…just for a little bit," she struggled to get out. There was no use lying anymore. "I need to say goodbye."
Faith's features looked concerned. "What if you change your mind? You're in love with her."
Buffy bit her bottom lip. "But I'm…I'm in love with you more."
A small smile played on Faith's dangerous lips. "You should come back to bed," she lured. She pulled back the top sheet, inviting her lover to crawl in next to her still-naked body.
Buffy drank in the view of Faith's painfully addictive figure.
"I'm sorry, Fai." Buffy shook her head. "But I've got to do this."
Faith frowned and pulled the sheets back to their previous position, covering her figure once again. "Couldn't you just do what you have to do here? You don't have to physically leave, right?"
"I thought about that," Buffy admitted. "But I didn't want you to wake up and find me unconscious again."
Faith watched as her partner pulled her hair back into a ponytail. "Promise me you'll come back with your brain intact?"
"I didn't realize you held my brain in such high esteem," Buffy joked nervously.
"You're the complete package," Faith said seriously. "That pink thing rolling around inside your cranium is part of the deal, too."
"I-I should be fine," Buffy said unconvincingly. "If it's just a short visit…it shouldn't hurt."
Faith frowned. "Then at least promise me you're coming back."
Buffy pulled her shoes on and didn't immediately respond.
"I'll see you soon," she finally stated quietly.
Faith watched Buffy slip out of the bedroom they'd shared the previous night. She could hear the blonde's shoes pad against the hardwood floor that ran the length of the hallway. After a small amount of shuffling, she heard the front lock click and the squeak of the door opening. A small sound, like a quiet sigh followed, and then the door shut.
Faith flopped back down onto her pillow and stared at the ceiling. She released a deep, shuddering breath. There was no point going after the elder slayer or trying to stop her; she knew Buffy wouldn't be satisfied until she'd done things her way.
But Faith couldn't help worrying that amongst trying to make everyone else happy, the blonde slayer would lose herself again.
But at least this time the Boston girl knew where to find her.
TBC