A/N: Sorry for the wait everyone! Don't kill me, please! Here's another chapter, and I hope it's to your liking. Sorry again for the wait!

The Missing Half

Chapter 28 – What Drowning Does

(Buffy's POV)

My mouth hangs open…not in the same way that Faith's is. You see, my open mouth is not pressing against some women's lips, while my hands rest on her chest. Her very naked chest.

I feel a deep sadness bubble up in my stomach, making it's way up my throat and out of my mouth. But the sob suppresses itself when I actually stop to think.

Something's wrong. W-R-O-N-G. Wrong. Faith would not be smooching with some woman she's known for less than an hour. She loves me. LOVES me. Faith has made it clear. And my God I love her too. SO much.

I instantly feel guilty as my "Something is wrong" theory confirms itself. Faith takes her lips off of Davie's and pumps her chest a few times.

Alright, so, that looks kinda like CPR.

And it worked. As Faith checks for breathing, Davie expels a lungful of water and immediately starts coughing. Color returns to her cheeks and her eyes open.

Faith looks back at me, a huge expression of relief on her face. Then she turns back to Davie, grabs a towel off the shelf and allows Davie to cover herself.

"Are you ok Davie?" Faith asks, concernedly.

Davie shakes her head slowly. "Yep, never been better. I mean, I almost died an' all. Had water in my lungs. An' just spit it all out. I'm fantastic."

I walk up to Faith and Davie and kneel down to get eye level with her. "I know how that is. Believe me I do. As in, been there done that. The icky feeling in your stomach will pass."

Faith looks a little uncomfortable for a moment. She stood up and walked from the room after giving Davie a slight pat on the shoulder and smiling at her.

"Are you going to be alright?" I inquire of my new fellow slayer.

"Yeah, but once I'm all clean an' fresh, I need to talk t' you girls," Davie says quietly.

A flash of worry crosses my face and Davie catches it. "It's nothing terrible," she adds. "Go after her, I think you need each other right now. I'll be fine." To prove her point, Davie stands up and walks carefully back to the tub. "If you don't mind, I'm gunna get wet an' wild…I'll be down in a bit."

I smile, exit the bathroom, and make my way to Faith.

(Faith's POV)

Damn. And damn! That was positively a very scary moment in my life. Poor Davie...if she had been absolutely alone...

She seems ok though, a little shaken up, but already sarcastic again. But B…when she mentioned her prior dealing with drowning…I can't help but let my mind travel.

I hate that she died. That she had to be killed by the Master to kill him. I wish she didn't have to live with that on her shoulders. But at the same time…if she hadn't been killed, where would I be? In Boston still. And I would probably have never met her.

Speak of the devil. B enters my room and sits on the bed next to me, placing a pillow under her back to support herself.

"So Miss Faith. Something is not ok in there right now," B points out as she touches my head.

"It's nothing B, just thinking and stuff. Kinda freaked still. I mean with Beefstick and the gun, then Davie and her passing out thing and then…ahhh nevermind. Just stupid stuff. Worthless, no big deal. Nada. Nothing going on in my head. And please, shut me up."

B smiles sadly and grabs my hand with hers. "Faith. Talk to me. Stop hiding behind a wall of babble. Something is up. And I'm not going to let it go. And don't even try to fight me. I bite."

I chuckle softly. "You know whatB? You suck. You suck so bad. And as much as I'd like for you to bite me—"

"Oh I bet you would," B states sadistically.

"— As much as I'd like for you to bite me," I continue, "Aaah what the Hell. So listen up and here it goes. I was just thinking—"

"That's never good," B butts in again. I swat ather playfully and continue.

"I was thinking about how if things had gone differently, if I would have ever met you. If you hadn't died. If Drusilla was never around to kill Kendra. If I never became a slayer. If I was still stuck in Boston, with a lowlife father, a dead mother, and nobody who cared. If my watcher never came for me. If she hadn't been killed. And if I hadn't run away to Sunnydale."

I stop for a moment and chew my lip, wondering what my mouth was going to spill out next. "B, if I had never met you, my life would have fallen apart. Granted it kinda did for a little while, what with me killing Finch and the volcanologist and all. But still, indirectly, you helped me pick the pieces up with that mess too. And now I'm here with you. Living the dream. Happier than I would have thought was possible." I choke for a second. A tear threatening to make an appearance.

B takes that moment to cut in. "Faith. You listen now. You are my soulmate. It's as simple as that. If the past didn't go down like it did, I think we would have found each other anyway. We were meant for each other. One thing in our lives would have led to the other and we would be together. Things happened the way they did for a reason. So we could be in love. So we would find each other. So we could kiss."

B chose that moment to lean in and kiss me softly. Her hold on my hand tightened and her other hand sought purchase in the sheets of the bed. My hand found it's way up the back her shirt and stroked her shoulder's softly while my other hand grabbed B's head and gently ran it's fingers through her silky blonde tresses. We fell back against the pillows, still kissing, and lay on our sides. Our legs tangled up and our feet rubbed against each other. The kiss grew deeper, and everything disappeared but B and me. I lost myself in her.


After a good ten minutes of passion smoochies, I came back to reality, slightly dazed and wanting more. But if we didn't quit now, it might never stop until we had no lips left for future kissing. Ok eeew.

I brush B's hair behind one of her perfect ears and look into her green eyes. "I wish that your death wasn't the cause of our meeting each other." I whisper sincerely.

B gaze doesn't waver from my eyes as she whispers back to me.

"I would die a thousand deaths if it meant I got to be with you."

What perfection. Sitting here. Staring. At her. My girl. Nothing could ever ruin this moment—

BAM! Something crashes into our wall at lighting speed followed by another bang and a squeal of pain. B and I shoot off the bed and peer around the corner. The fight is ready in both of us.

As we look around the corner, our raised fists drop down to our sides. We're not going to be fighting Dawn anytime soon.

(Dawn's POV)

Ow ow ow ow! Ok so that was dumb. Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!

Buffy and Faith stand over me with an amused glare evident on their faces. Buffy actually looks ready to burst into laughter. She hiccups as she suppresses a giggle. I can only imagine how pathetic and retarded I look. Sitting on the floor, holding my pinkie toe in one both hands, having just slammed it into the wall beside Faith's room.

Buffy finally relents and erupts into laughter. I look at her, anger burning in my eyes. That stupid ogre. She is getting a piece of my mind. A big piece.

I open my mouth and prepare to rant. "I-I-I ARGH! And you…you're a big…UGH!"

Well that went well.

Faith locks eyes with Buffy. "Hey B, I thought Squirt learned how to talk, like what, a decade ago or so?"

Buffy's mouth quirks up into another smile. "Yeah we also taught her how to walk, but apparently she has trouble with that too."

The stupid slayers give each other a high five and start laughing again.

I stay in my spot on the ground, trying to will the pain out of my little toe. "Yeah I'm just fine…I mean I only smacked my foot into a wall going about three trillion miles an hour. I mean, who needs sympathy or medical attention anyway? Certainty not me. You guys are superheroes and all. You know how to deal with pain. And I'm the sister of a superhero…so that makes me what? The sister of a superhero! NOT A SUPERHERO! As in my tolerance for pain isn't that high! So…OUCH! And OW! Help me you mindless dummies!"

Yay. Points for me. I put those dense losers in their rightful places. Sure did. I would pat myself on the back if I wasn't currently holding my poor toe in agony. Faith and Buffy's faces flicker with concern for a whole three seconds.

Wait…what? Three seconds that's all I get? I hate these slayers! I gather up all of my strength and stand up, putting all my weight on my uninjured foot.

"Screw you guys, I'm going to my room."

I hobble down the hallway, doing my best to exaggerate my limp to get the sympathy I deserve. I hear the patter of their feet as they scramble to catch up. I smile in victory, but the smile fades when I feel four strong arms lift me off the floor. The two lovebirds have scooped me up and run down the stairs. I don't even contemplate demanding that they set me down because they never listen to me anyway. Jerks.

We reach the kitchen and the two numskulls plop me into one of the chairs.

They start reaching into the cabinet and freezer and pulling sweets off the shelves.

Ok, talk about a complete turnaround.

So Buffy plops down a box of cookies in front of me, and Faith comes to the table carrying the ice cream container, a bowl, and chocolate chips. She starts scooping ice cream into the bowl as Buffy crumbles cookies into it.

"That's better," I say, satisfied with their actions.

"Eat up," the two slayers say in unison. They sit down next to me and start to make goo-goo eyes at each other. Blech.

"Hey guys. I'm trying to eat here. Save the mental sex for later!"

Buffy whips her head towards me with a disbelieving look of shock. Faith shakes her head and laughs.

"I love you kid," Faith states in approval.

I shove my face with more ice cream and only look up from my bowl when I sense another presence in the room. I look up and see a curly blonde haired, slightly wet female glancing in my direction.

The blonde stares at me and says, "An' who's this little lovely?" My mouth hangs open in shock. Who is this woman and where did she come from? I open my mouth in surprise, unable to comprehend this woman's presence. IS she dangerous? Hello! Buffy, Faith! Time to kick some butt!

Just when I am about to have a major flip out, the woman walks over to me and grabs one of my hands in hers.

"I'm Davie, slayer number three. I'm 'ere to fight the baddies and save lil' cuties like you."

Oh she thinks I'm a cutie! It's great to FINALLY get some appreciation around here.

Davie looks over at Buffy and Faith with her bright blue eyes. "Isn't she adorable guys? Especially with that smudge of ice cream on 'er face." Davie winks at them and they laugh like huge goons. Which they SO are.

I groan, wipe the dribble of ice cream off my face, and choose to ignore their evil banter. Because I am the bigger one here. Always have been. I am the real grownup, that's me…so mature I can –

CRAP! I quick glance to my watch tells me that I am five minutes late to my appointment with the TV. I hastily run to the couch and flip on my favorite cartoon.

(Faith's POV)

So after Little D rushes out to the TV room, us three slayers are left to chat amongst ourselves.

Davie motions for us to sit down at the table and we do.

"So guys...that was umm intense back there. In the bathroom," Davie begins.

"Are you ok? What happened anyway?" B questions. "You said there was something you needed to tell us."

Davie clears her throat. "Right-o. So here's the thing, I didn't really slip in the bathroom. I mean I did, but not because I'm a klutz." Davie pauses and looks uncomfortable for the first time since she arrived here. "Slaying isn't my only occupation. I'm a seer too." She stops and waits for our reactions.

Whoa. Now that's not what I was expecting.

B pipes up first. "Ok, so you have visions and stuff. I can deal."

I wait for Davie to perk up. I don't know why she was so worried about us accepting that aspect of her.

However, her face stays solemn. "That's not the bad part. The vision I had made me slip, I drowned momentarily, even though Faith saved me. I died guys."

WHAT! No, but, but…. "Davie I saved you though. I mean, you only stopped breathing for a few seconds!"

Davie shakes her head sadly. "If I know my slayer history, Buffy was only incapacitated for a few seconds as well."

B nods in agreement. "I wasn't out long, but it was long enough."

I'm confused still. "Ok still not seeing the bad here. I mean this means we get a new slayer right? As much as dying sucks, itdoes have itsperks."

B smiles my way, having remembered our earlier conversation. She grasps my hand under the table and squeezes it briefly. I look over at Davie, and surprisingly, her expression is still unhappy.

"You didn't see what I saw," she says quietly.

"Davie, what did you see in your vision?" B asks apprehensively.

Davie hesitates a moment, then replies. "I saw the new slayer, and let's just say she's not exactly playing on our side."

(No one's POV)

A young Hispanic woman enters the mouth of a cavern deep under the ground of Baja California. After a few minutes of walking through the curves of the cave, she pulls a small pocket-knife from her pants and slices a small slit in her palm, letting the blood drip into a small bowl hidden by shadows and sharp rocks.

After the bowl collects a small amount of the sticky red substance, a deep rumbling is heard from a few yards away. The Hispanic woman walks briskly and confidently to the shifting rock and pushes through, effectively pushing the rock out of her way.

She takes a few steps inside and kneels on the ground in front of an ancient looking throne.

"Speak," a deep voice calmly asks.

The woman lifts her head, a dark gleam apparent in her eyes.

"Sir, my names is Savanna. The death of a slayer has called me forth. Asa slayer, my strength and abilities are yours. I am for you, Lord Aldinach."

A/N: Well, it's been a while; I hope I still got it in me. Review it please! I hope people are still reading this story. Let me know if you are and what you think of it! It is greatly appreciated!