A/N: Ok so I hate episode chapters, but I always intended to explore their connection more fully during Chosen, so hope I did alright. And you all are lucky I got this chapter written because I've been watching Grey's Anatomy from the beginning and it's a new obsession. Oh last note I'll be out of town next weekend so it'll probably be a couple weeks before the next.

Chapter 24

It wasn't until long after the car was out of sight before Buffy and Faith finally made their way back inside. They were both feeling the loss of their daughter and silently made their way upstairs to their room, neither wanting to bother talking to anyone. They wanted to get this battle over with so that they could get their little girl back. It hadn't even been an hour and already they were feeling the loss.

Wordlessly, they both kicked off their shoes and crawled into their side of the bed, not bothering to change. It didn't seem to matter. They both laid on their backs, staring at the ceiling, not bothering to say what was on their mind. Both thinking of the next day and what awaited down in the Hellmouth.

"Hey, B?" Faith asked quietly, breaking the silence. Buffy rolled to her side to look at Faith, who followed her lead and did the same. "I still haven't figured anything out, but without Nevaeh here between us it just feels so…" Faith trailed off, not sure where she was going with that.

"It's ok, I get what you mean," Buffy assured her, knowing what Faith was feeling because she was feeling it too. The blonde cuddled closer, pulling Faith into her arms. "Shh, let's just get some sleep ok?" Not knowing what was going to happen tomorrow, they both needed that connection to each other.

Buffy placed a gentle kiss to Faith's forehead, rubbing her back soothingly as she often did with their daughter to get her to sleep. The younger girl's eyes slowly closed as she drifted off to sleep. Long after she was in dream land Buffy watched her, knowing she was the one she could love for the rest of her life.

The next morning Robin led them into the school, pointing off areas in the building that needed to be protected.

"Ok, Kennedy, you go with Willow, help her through the spell." Buffy directed. "Anybody want to go with Andrew?" she asked, not wanting to leave the cowardly boy by himself to protect the north hall alone.

"I'll go." Amanda offered, not really liking the idea of heading down into anything with the name Hell attached to it.

"Alright. The rest of you, follow Faith and Angel to the basement." Xander followed with some bathroom advice, but nobody paid him much attention, focused instead on the battle at hand. The four original Scoobies stood around, trying to decide if this was a moment to say goodbye, but not wanting to, knowing what it would mean. Instead they made idol conversation, speaking volumes without really saying anything important.

When Buffy made it down into the basement, she found the potentials circled around the seal waiting for her.

"You first, B," Faith said, offering Buffy the knife, who took it easily.

"Ok, but first," the blonde replied back, watching Faith turn to see what she was going to say next. Instead of saying anything, Buffy leaned in placing a kiss on Faith's lips. Caught unaware, the Dark Slayer just let her counterpart do her thing, loving the feel, and opened her mouth just enough to let the blonde take the kiss deeper. Neither noticed all the potentials smiling at them. Pulling back, Buffy hugged her close, putting her lips close to Faith's ear. "Just wanted to remind you that I love you, so take care of yourself down there."

"You too, B. Vaeh needs us both."

Buffy just nodded, knowing they weren't just going into this fight for the world. They were going down there to fight for the right to have more time with their daughter. And when it was all over, maybe they could finally be the family they were meant to be.

The seal opened and they all headed down inside, unprepared for the sight of all the ubervamps that awaited them in the canyon below. The power began to flow through each of the potentials, and suddenly this battle was looking like it could be won.

"Buffy! Catch!" Kennedy yelled, throwing her the Scythe. The blonde began to fight with a vengeance. Feeling more powerful than she'd ever felt before.

Buffy watched as some of the vamps made their way up the stairs and out into the school. The blonde, using her General Buffy voice to lay down her orders. "Keep the line together. Drive them to the edge. We cannot let them…" a pain to the gut cut her words short. Looking down she noticed a sword through her stomach from behind. The pain so intense she fell to the floor.

Faith, several feet away, and fighting her own battle, felt Buffy go down through their connection. Knocking the vamp she was fighting down, turned to find the blonde, hoping she was ok. "Buffy!" Faith yelled, running to the downed Slayer.

"Hold the line." Buffy held out the Scythe for Faith to take.

The blonde was hurt pretty badly. Both girls knew it, but they also knew what they had to do. The fight had to go on, even if Faith's instincts were telling her to grab the other girl and run as far as she could away from all of this. She could take care of Buffy later, when the battle was won. She just hoped she was still alive by then. But, by handing her the Scythe they both knew what that could mean.

So instead Faith just took it, and nodded her head. Wishing she had more time to say all the things she wanted to say. Instead she of letting sadness take over, she let the anger fill her, turning and swinging at one vamp after another, killing the creatures who had done so much damage already.

The anger wasn't enough as the ubervamps surrounded her, now seeing her as the biggest threat to them. She managed to pass the Scythe off before being pinned to the ground. She could feel Buffy getting weaker, and it was as if she too was losing power. Their connection ran deeper than either of them realized. It seemed as if maybe neither of them was going to make it out of this one.

Buffy watched from the ground as people around her, people she cared about, fell to the ground dead. Worried herself that she wouldn't be able to get back up and see her daughter again. And if it wasn't enough, the First had to come and taunt her like it was some game, dressed as herself.

But when it was all over and it asked her what she wanted, it was all the kick she needed to find the strength to get back up. "I want you… to get out of my face."

No sooner was she up, than Rona passed the Scythe back to her. Feeling that power flow through her she went back to battle, swinging fast and harder than she ever had before.

A sense of power washed over Faith who was still buried in vamps. She could feel as Buffy stood up, and it gave her the strength to get herself back up. Knocking them away she swung her feet, throwing herself back into a fighting stance, and went back to what she did best, kicking ass.

A bright light shot up through to the sky from the amulet around Angel's neck. The light stretched out through the room, annihilating every single ubervamp. Buffy ran to stand by Angel as the room began to shake, the girls made their way up heading out as fast as possible.

Faith yelled for Buffy to get out, but the blonde stayed, trying to convince Angel that it was done that they could leave now. The broody vamp would have none of that. Feeling as if he was finally doing something he was chosen for.

"She loves you, you know." Angel just told her instead.

"What?" Buffy whispered, not following.

"Faith. She loves you. Probably always has."

"I'm sorry…" Buffy tried to apologize, knowing he'd seen them kiss earlier and knowing how he still felt about her.

"No. It's alright. It makes sense, you and her. Take care of each other."

Buffy touched him gently, remember all the things she loved about him, but then ran for the stairs, wanting to get back to Faith.

The school was already collapsing and sinking into the ground as she made her way up to the top of the building and onto the roof. In the distance she could see the bus, and ran and jumped from building to building, finally landing on top of the bus.

They stopped at the edges of Sunnydale and took a moment to take note of what they'd accomplished that day. The rest of the drive to LA was quiet. Everyone just letting them take it all in, the battle, the people that were no longer with them, the potentials and Robin who died on the bus. Buffy and Faith sat in the back seat, cuddled together, their hands entwined. Faith knew that first chance they were alone, the two needed to have a talk.

As soon as the two entered the Hyperion, a two year old bundle of joy came squealing towards them. "Mommy, Mama!"

"Hey baby, miss us?" Faith asked, scooping the bundle up, knowing Buffy was still probably hurting from her injury. She gave the girl a kiss and hug, leaning her over towards Buffy so she could do the same.

"Did you have fun with Aunt Tara and Aunt Anya?" the blonde asked her daughter.

"Uh huh," the tot nodded her head vigorously. "Missed you."

"We missed you too, kiddo," Faith assured her, hugging her again, breathing in her fresh baby scent.

"Where's Angel?" Fred asked carefully having been watching the exchange from the desk. They waited until all of the LA crew was in the room before they told them of Angel's death. They were sad of course, but they understood he died a hero.

Giles helped Fred assign the girls all a room in the hotel. "We'll just take one room, G-man," Faith told the Watcher when he started to give them their separete rooms. "It'll be better for Nevaeh, strange place and all."

"Of course," Giles conceded in his British way.

Buffy smiled, glad Faith still wanted to share a room with her even if it was just for Nevaeh's sake. There was hope, for them she was sure of it. She just had to give Faith whatever time she needed, but they'd be together one day. She just had to be patient.

After all those months of dozens of girls all being cooped up in a tiny house, it was weird to have so much space. And Buffy was going to enjoy every last second of that space. They'd still need to decide what to do next, but for now it was nice just to get to rest.

The Chosen Two made their way upstairs with their daughter to find their room. Angel, over time had been fixing up many of the rooms and this one was one he'd seemed to take pretty great care of.

"I wanna take a shower, but don't have anything to change into." Faith grunted, landing on the bed with Nevaeh on top of her.

"Yeah, we'll have to go out and get some clothes. Thank goodness I thought to put my driver's license and debit card in my pocket. Surprised it stayed in though through all that." As the thoughts of all they'd lost came into her mind, Buffy's tears began to fall.

"Hey, B, what's wrong?" the brunette asked, seeing the tears.

"We lost everything, clothes, pictures, my home. All of Nevaeh's baby pictures, gone." Buffy cried harder now. She'd miss her pictures with her mom too, but it was Vaeh's baby pictures that hit her the hardest.

"Vaeh, go get your backpack for Mama," Faith whispered. The tot ran off and grabbed her Little Mermaid backpack and brought it back to Faith. The younger pulled something out of the pack, before going over to sit by Buffy. "We didn't lose them all," she told the crying girl, showing her the picture of the three of them in leather jackets. "See."

"But how?" Buffy asked, having missed the exchange between the other two.

"I packed it with her, in case something happened to one or both of us. At least she'd still have some memories," Faith just shrugged. "There's a couple more in there, one of you and her when she was a baby, and one of me and her that Christmas in the prison. Which I never saw a camera, so how you did that one I don't know."

"It's my secret." The blonde smiled widely, "Thanks, Faith."

"You're welcome. Now let's go see what we can do about getting some clothes so I can get out of these ones covered in dust."

Fred lent Buffy a pair of sweats so that she wouldn't have to go out in her blood covered clothes, and the two girls took their daughter and started walking. They were told there was a mall just a couple blocks down the street.

"You hold one of our hands the whole time, understand?" Buffy asked the little girl, as they entered the three story mall. The curly-haired girl nodded her head and grabbed onto both their hands. The three of them walked from store to store looking very much like the family they were.

Several people had noticed how the tot called to both of them as her mother and commented on how cute she was and what a cute little family, or a cute couple they were. Buffy would smile and say thanks, watching Faith the whole time to see her reaction. The brunette seemed to be just as proud about it as she was though.

When they tried to pass the toy store, Vaeh would have none of that and pulled them both inside. It was then they both noticed that the girl was stronger than she had been before. They both exchanged looks that said they forgot the Scythe spell might affect her too even though she already had Slayer powers. Now wasn't the time to discuss it though.

"Well, she does need new toys now too," Faith shrugged, as the journeyed through the store. They left the mall with plenty of clothes to last awhile and toys to entertain the tot for awhile.

"B, we need to talk," Faith said quietly to Buffy that night after Nevaeh had fallen asleep in the middle of the king size bed they would be sharing. The Californian just nodded her head following Faith over to the couch across the room. She waited, letting Faith take this where she wanted it to go.

"I um… I've been doing a lot of thinking and so I guess I just…" she wasn't good at this feelings thing.

Buffy took her hand, "It's ok, just take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

"Ok well, we haven't really talked about our past, or even mentioned it. I just… I'm sorry, ok? I know I pulled a lot of shit and I hurt you but I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. I forgave you for that stuff a long time ago. You're not that person anymore, I know that. I'm sorry I didn't try to help you more. We were both messed up kids who saw far too much of the world. We both made mistakes. It's all forgotten, alright?"

Faith nodded her head, glad to have that out of the way. "I's cool, I mean the you not helpin' me thing. I wouldn't let ya anyway. Was too messed up," the Bostonian admitted honestly.

She took a deep breath before going on. "Today, I didn't see you but I felt you, when you got stabbed. It's like our powers are connected to each other. When you go weaker I felt like I was losing some of my strength. And when you got up, I felt a surge come back through me. It made me realize something."

She checked to make sure the blonde was still listening. "We're connected, and I don't just think it's the Slayer thing. I think it's more than that. And it's something I've always felt. I've just been scared to admit it. And that worries me even more, because there's not a lot I'm scared of."

"What I'm saying I guess is that, I love you too," Faith huffed out quickly.

Buffy's smile was a mile wide as those words filled her ears. "Oh, Faith. I love you so much. I don't know when it started, but I know I do."

The two sat there, staring at each other, speaking though no words were spoken, before claiming each other with their mouths. Buffy was the first to open up, letting Faith's tongue claim her own. They found themselves sprawled out along the couch making out like they never had before.

Faith was the first to pull back before things could go too far. "It's been so long."

"For me too," Buffy admitted.

"But I want to do this right. I don't want to screw it up. And, well, it's new for both of us," she stopped, making sure Buffy agreed this was new for her too. "So I want to take it slow."

"I can do slow, slow is good," Buffy said easily. Just so deliriously happy that Faith was hers now. Nothing else mattered.