They stepped through the portal together and stood still as they took in their surroundings. They were in what appeared to be a very nicely appointed trailer. There were flowers and gift baskets everywhere. The furniture looked very expensive, and there was a full kitchen.
Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, Faith began snacking on the various food items. None of the wrapped snacks were at all recognizable, but she stuffed anything she thought might survive into the backpack.
"I'm going to peek outside." All of the windows were completely blacked out, so the only way to see was to open the door. Buffy stuck her head out and was surprised to see a young man with a clipboard and a headset.
"Did you need something, Mrs. Lehane?" He asked as soon as she opened the door.
"What? No… um… no thank you." She quickly pulled the door shut and took a deep breath in preparation for Faith laughing at her for being married.
"What's up?" Faith asked.
"I must be married again," Buffy said as she looked at the trailer with new eyes, trying to get a feel for who she might be married to. "He called me Mrs. Lehane."
Faith coughed and made choking sounds. Buffy was completely confused by this reaction but relieved that Faith wasn't making fun of her for once. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah… five by five. But we should probably get out of here. You don't want to have to play nice with whoever you're married to."
Buffy scrunched her face. "Good point." Then she looked at the door and frowned. "Not sure how we can sneak past that guy."
"Just tell him to go get you something."
Buffy smiled, "good idea." Buffy cracked the door open again, and just as she was about to say something, she caught sight of herself walking towards the trailer. She quickly closed the door again and looked for a place to hide.
"No, I'm fine. Thank you, Charlie." Buffy heard her voice on the other side of the door and panicked further.
"Um, hi," Buffy said when her double entered. Buffy snuck a peek at the portal stone and frowned when it wasn't glowing at all.
"Who are you, and why do you look like me?" This new Buffy snapped her gum repeatedly and had the look of someone who might not be too bright or was maybe on a lot of drugs.
"It's hard to explain. We're not really from here… we're just trying to find a way home. Can you get us past that guy outside?" Buffy pleaded with the girl and hoped to find a way to end this encounter as quietly as possible.
The new Buffy hadn't noticed Faith, but her eyes widened and then narrowed when she did. "You look weird. And why do you have a tattoo on your arm?" She pointed accusatorily at Faith's right bicep.
"We're not who you think. Can you help us?" Buffy tried to get the ditzy version of herself focused.
"Sure, whatever." She continued to snap her gum and turned around to stick her head out the door. She said something, which Buffy couldn't quite decipher. Unexpectedly, the door opened all the way, and Alter-Buffy backed away into the trailer. Buffy was very surprised to see a copy of Faith enter the trailer.
"What's going on here?"
"They say they're not from here - I was gonna go get them some help."
Alter-Faith tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, "sure, OK. I'll go with you."
"We'll be right back. Stay here." The copies exited the trailer, shutting the door behind them.
"That was so weird," Buffy commented as she looked around the trailer.
"No kidding." Faith laughed and reached for one of the many magazines littering the table. "Never imagined any version of you could swing that way."
"What? What are you talking about - swing what way?"
Faith laughed even harder, "come on. You didn't see how they were together? Those chicks are totally fuckin'."
"No… no." Buffy stuttered out, making Faith chuckle. "But I thought I - she was married?" Buffy was confused for a multitude of reasons. Did this mean that nothing happened been Faith and B-plus? Or maybe she misread the entire thing, and Faith was never attracted to her?
Buffy was pretty sure it wasn't the time to be thinking about anyone's sexual orientation.
"Holy shit." Faith held up the cover to the magazine she was holding. "Told ya."
The main picture clearly showed their doppelgangers holding hands and walking down the beach. Several smaller inset pictures showed much more intimate shots, along with photos from a very extravagant wedding.
Buffy's mouth hung open, and she snatched the magazine out of Faith's hands. Before she could even start to figure out how to respond, the door was opening, Alter-Faith and Alter-Buffy were entering the trailer.
Alter-Faith grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and sat down on the couch. Alter-Buffy dropped comfortably in her lap, arm draped over Alter-Faith's shoulders.
Buffy took another look at the stone, dismayed and confused that it wasn't charging. She really should have thought to ask Giles
more about how to get it to charge faster.
"Our manager is on his way. He will be able to help you get to wherever you need to go." Alter-Buffy commented while running her fingers absentmindedly through Alter-Faith's hair. "Do either of you need anything while we wait?"
Buffy and Faith were mesmerized by their behavior, and it took Buffy a moment to realize they were asked a question. "Water would be nice."
Alter-Buffy nodded her head in the direction of the fridge, and Buffy took the hint and grabbed water for both of them.
"Nice try," Alter-Faith said and leaned forward a bit. "Those are the best looking fake soul marks I've ever seen."
"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked.
"Your soul marks." Alter-Faith rolled her eyes and held up her left arm - showing a small and intricate design tattooed on her wrist.
Buffy and Faith each looked at their own wrists in confusion.
"What the fuck?" Faith hissed as she looked at the tattoo and tried vigorously to rub it off.
"Explain what these are." Buffy finally said. Something about the mark was unsettling her greatly.
"You really don't know? That's impossible." Alter-Faith said with a scoff.
"We're not from your world. We don't know anything about this." Buffy was starting to panic, and she couldn't figure out why.
"I don't see how it can hurt to explain it to them," Alter-Buffy said after a moment. Then she turned her attention to the slayers. "Not everyone is lucky enough to have a mark. But if you do - if you meet someone with an identical mark - it means you're soul mates. It doesn't always mean a romantic connection - it just means that your lives will be intertwined."
Faith furrowed her brow as she examined her mark closer. "Why do you think ours are fake?"
"Please." Alter-Faith scowled, "there's no other explanation for who you are or why you're here."
That did not clear anything up at all for the slayers. Though it did make Faith wonder about what this help that was on the way.
A knock at the door prevented them from asking any follow-up questions.
"Giles!" Buffy was shocked and took a step towards this dimension's version of her watcher. He grimaced and held his hand out - halting her before she could get close.
"What is going on here?" He demanded with very un-Giles-like aggression.
"I still think they're clones," Alter-Buffy said and snapped her gum. Buffy was pretty sure she was going to murder her if she had to listen to that for another minute.
"We're not clones. I doubt you'd believe us. Can you just help us get out of here?" Faith asked, starting to get very agitated at being trapped in this trailer.
"Of course, the car is waiting just outside," Giles said and spared a glance at Alter-Buffy and Alter-Faith, shaking his head.
Buffy and Faith were grateful to get out of the confines of the trailer and back out into the light - even if it was only a short trip to the awaiting car. Giles opened the town car's back door with very darkly tinted windows, and they both climbed in.
It only took a few moments to navigate the compound and make his way onto the streets. Buffy stared out the window, hoping to see something she recognized.
The only thing either of them recognized was their own faces plastered everywhere. Between window displays and giant billboards - at least one of them appeared on every street.
The partition was up between them and the driver, but Buffy wasn't sure if it was safe to talk. Not that they really needed to keep anything secret.
"Where do you think he's taking us?" Faith finally asked.
"I have no idea. I don't recognize any of this."
"Getting a bad feeling." Faith whispered, and Buffy nodded.
When the car slowed for a stoplight, both slayers attempted to open their door, only to find that they were locked. They were reasonably sure they could break the glass, but they were still in a crowded area and were worried about being recognized.
The longer they drove, the more nervous the slayers became. It was now too dark outside to see where they might be. They thought this might mean they were far enough from populated areas that they wouldn't be spotted, but the car never stopped or slowed, which might have given them the chance to escape.
When the car finally stopped, the slayers tensed and waited for Giles to exit the vehicle. They heard two car doors slam shut, and they waited in silence. They sat back-to-back, ready to defend themselves from either side.
They heard the diesel engine of some kind of heavy machinery starting up. Then the limo began to rock as it was lifted into the air and dropped not at all gently back to the ground.
Without discussion, they both spun around and kicked with all their strength at the rear window. The glass pushed out in one piece, but before they could crawl through - dirt was falling into the opening. As soon as things appeared to settle, they moved quickly, launching themselves up and out of the way of another large bucket full of dirt that was intended to bury them.
They hadn't yet been spotted. It was pitch dark, and the only light came from the construction equipment being used to bury the limo. In silence, they chose a direction and ran as fast as possible away from this nightmare version of Giles.
After two hours of hard running, they saw lights in the distance. They did not slow their pace until they were close enough to identify the source of those lights. There were two flickering street lamps, just barely illuminating a gas station that looked like it had been out of service for decades.
"Should we hide out here?" Buffy asked, but Faith shook her head.
"Let's look around a little more," Faith said as she continued walking.
It didn't take much longer until they came upon another structure. This one was a motel, in just as bad shape as the gas station. Faith followed Buffy to the back of the building. Buffy picked a room at random and ripped down the board that had been covering the door. Inside were two twin beds and not much else. Everything was coated in dust, but the bedding appeared to be in decent enough shape.
They entered the room, and Faith did her best to lean the board against the opening. Hoping that it wouldn't be obvious that it had been disturbed.
Buffy pulled out the crystal and tried to gauge how much more time they would need until they could open another portal. It was barely glowing at all, and she started to dread how long they might be stuck in this completely insane world.
They had experienced a lot in barely a day. Things had been so frantic that she hadn't really had a chance to think about how she felt about any of it. Mostly she just wanted to put it all behind her. None of what they'd seen was real to them. But she couldn't help but be a little affected by it.
"Maybe by morning - we'll be able to hop out of here" Buffy held up the crystal for Faith to see its faint glow. Faith nodded and moved to one of the beds. Once she stripped off the blanket, they were both relieved to see reasonably clean sheets and pillows.
Buffy poked around in a few of the drawers. She wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for. Maybe a magazine or something else that might help to pass the time. She wasn't tired and didn't really want to spend the night alone with her thoughts. Unfortunately, she didn't find anything. All the drawers were empty - there wasn't even a bible.
Faith had already set herself up on one of the beds. She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling with her fingers interlaced over her stomach. Buffy tried not to sigh as she pulled the blanket off the other bed and laid down herself. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with some kind of distraction.
Buffy's thoughts kept drifting to what they had so far experienced in this dimension. She found herself getting more irritated and worked up and had no idea why or how to do anything about it. She convinced herself that she just needed to slay. She had almost found the nerve to ask if Faith would be willing to spar - when Faith broke the silence.
"Hey, B." Faith ran her fingers over the tattoo on her wrist lightly and smiled.
"Yeah?"
It took Faith another moment to figure out exactly what she wanted to ask. "What did you think about them?"
Buffy sighed and sat up, pulling her knees in close to her chest. Something irritated her about seeing the alternate version of them so in love, and she wasn't sure what it was. Instead of voicing her irritation, she just shrugged.
"Does it wig you out that they're gay?"
Buffy frowned and shook her head after thinking about it for a moment. "No, that didn't bother me." She almost wanted that to be the problem. At least then, she'd understand why she was so upset.
Faith was looking at the tattoo again, and Buffy tried not to scowl.
"It must be nice."
"What must be nice?"
"I don't know… just..." Then Faith pushed out a breath, "forget it."
"No, come on. Say what you were thinking." Buffy was thoroughly agitated now and couldn't control her reaction.
Faith's eyes shot to her, "why is this pissing you off so much?"
"Why is it making you so happy? You know it's not us, and it's never going to be!"
Faith's eyes widened, and Buffy instantly regretted her words. A large amount of that regret was because she wanted exactly what they had, and she feared that she had just ruined any chance of making it happen.
"I'm sorry, I… don't know why I said that…."
"Don't sweat it, B. I know no one will ever feel that way about me - never mind you." Faith shook her head and tried to relax back into bed. "It was just nice to see that there was some version of me out there that someone was happy to be with. That's all."
It was also upsetting buffy to no end that Faith thought so little of herself. If Buffy wasn't so agitated, it might have occurred to her to tell Faith that.
Buffy rolled over on her side, facing away from Faith. She stared at the strange image that was apparently permanently emblazoned on her wrist. "Angel." She finally said and squeezed her eyes shut tight, not wanting to let the tears run freely.
"Seeing them made you miss him?"
Buffy quickly shook her head. "No. I didn't realize it until now. This symbol… he has a tattoo on his back that looks just like this."
Faith gasped. It now started to make sense why Buffy was so upset. Faith wanted to say something to make Buffy feel better. She could point out how the rules in that world don't even apply to them - but she didn't know how to do the comforting thing. Instead, she looked at her own wrist again and frowned.
"He and I were never like that. Most of the time when I saw him, that meant the world was in some kind of danger." Buffy rolled onto her back. "And now…. Now seeing him is just so uncomfortable."
"A rough sitch." Faith comments, this is the most intense conversation she's ever been part of, and she has no idea how she's supposed to act. The subject of Angel makes her antsy, and she really regrets starting this conversation.
"Yeah." Buffy breathes out heavily. "I think when we get back… I am just going to tell him it's over. We're just tormenting ourselves and maybe what we had isn't even as real as it seemed."
Faith didn't really know how to reply to that, so she just closed her eyes and tried to quiet her mind.
"Hey, Faith?"
Faith tried not to sigh. She had hoped Buffy had fallen asleep by this point. "What's up?"
Buffy hesitated. After all this time together, she had learned when Faith just wanted to be left alone. But Faith was actually talking to her. Buffy couldn't pass up this opportunity. "What did you think of B-plus?"
"She was OK, I guess." Faith shrugged, not able to make any sense of why Buffy would be asking.
"I mean… did you like her?"
Faith spared a glance in Buffy's direction. She couldn't believe Buffy was asking her about B-plus. Faith had done her best to stop thinking about any of the dimensions as soon as they left.
"You don't have to tell me. Guess it doesn't matter. I was just wondering." Buffy hoped she didn't sound as pathetic as she felt.
"You know how it is, B." Faith wasn't entirely sure why she decided to answer Buffy's question - nor why she told the truth. "Chick dig scars."
Buffy laughed at this, more than a little relieved that Faith hadn't just ignored her. Once they drifted back into silence, Buffy chewed on her lip as she wrestled with asking what she really wanted to ask. "What about me?" Her voice was barely a whisper. As soon as she said it, she wished she hadn't.
Faith managed not to react immediately. "You don't have to worry, B. I know how you feel about me."
Buffy sat up in alarm. "I wasn't asking because I was worried."
"Then why the fuck did you ask?" Faith growled, starting to really regret being honest with Buffy about anything.
Buffy frowned at the rage in Faith's voice. All she wanted to do now was find a way to recover. "Because… I… thought maybe if you liked her, then there might be a chance you liked me too."
Faith turned away from Buffy, sitting on the edge of her bed and trying really hard not to lose control. She was so focused on freaking out that she couldn't actually hear any of what Buffy was saying.
"I saw how you were with her, and I thought maybe we...".
Before Buffy could finish, Faith had jumped to her feet and stormed out of the room.
Buffy frowned heavily and curled into a ball. She had never hated herself more than she did at this moment. Faith was finally being friendly towards her, and Buffy had ruined it. She couldn't even be sure that Faith was going to come back.
Buffy awoke with a start. Faith was sitting on the bed across from her and staring into space.
"Let's go." Faith said as soon as she realized Buffy was awake.
Buffy forced herself to be fully awake as she quickly put her shoes back on and followed Faith outside. She took a moment to check the crystal and frowned when it was only about half charged. That means they likely had another day of waiting before they'd be able to leave.
Buffy wanted to question why they were going anywhere right now. But then she'd realized it'd been at least a day since either of them had eaten anything other than snack food.
They had been walking for thirty minutes in silence, and Buffy was pretty sure she was going to lose her mind. She wasn't even paying attention to where they were going or anything around them. Her eyes were focused on the ground as she followed Faith from a few paces back.
When Faith stopped abruptly, it took Buffy a moment to realize it. She just barely avoided crashing into her. Buffy saw the town in the distance and was relieved when it looked like it wasn't abandoned. Faith started walking again, and Buffy followed her.
When they are about halfway to the town, Buffy decided she had to try to fix things.
"Faith?" Faith grunted but did not say anything. "Can we please forget about what I said last night? Can't we go back to the way things were?"
"Whatever you want, B." Faith said with no emotion, and Buffy had to fight to blink back the tears.
"What about what you want?" Buffy forced herself to ask.
"I just wanna get out of here." Faith replied and then picked up the pace. It was pointless since she couldn't actually put any distance between them.
All Faith really wanted to do was run. Run as far as possible from Buffy and the swarm of feelings that wouldn't go away no matter how hard she tried to bury them.
"Right, OK," Buffy said and then stopped keeping up with Faith. She let separation between them grow to twenty feet or so before she matched Faith's speed again.
When Buffy dropped back, Faith breathed a silent sigh of relief. She had felt like she was suffocating with how close Buffy always was. She was so irritated with herself for revealing anything to Buffy last night. They weren't friends. They were merely co-workers that were forced together.
Faith had let herself forget that and let Buffy get too close. Even worse than that, she had wanted her to be close. Faith knew she should be annoyed by constantly having to be around Buffy. But she wasn't annoyed at all. She was well and truly attached to Buffy, and there was no turning back.
Faith had been trying to avoid feeling anything about Buffy since they first met. Getting close to B-plus was meant to help her get over the all-consuming crush she had on Buffy.
It ended up having the opposite effect. No matter how hard she tried - all she could see in B-plus was a crappy knockoff of what she really wanted.
A normal person might be happy to find out that their crush was returning their feelings. But all it meant for Faith was that she'd fall that much harder when they got back.
When they finally did find their dimension - it would all be over. Buffy would go back to her friends, and Faith would go back to her nothing. The only thing she could do now was to try and push Buffy away. It would hurt them both less to do it now.
They had made it to the edge of town. It was a small strip of stores, and several people were milling about. It only took about ten seconds before Faith was recognized.
"Oh my God! You're... you're..." A young girl ran right up to Faith and wrapped her in a hug. "I love all your movies!"
Faith had no idea how to react. She was so worried about not thinking about Buffy - that she hadn't at all prepared herself for this. Buffy had caught up and tried not to laugh at the bizarre scene.
"And you're..." The girl let out a high-pitched squeal when she saw Buffy and reached out, pulling the three of them together in a very awkward hug.
Buffy found the entire thing far less amusing now that she was directly involved. After a few more moments, the girl started to calm down.
"What are you guys doing here?!" The girl was way too excited for Faith's liking, and she really wanted to be rude and tell the girl to fuck off. Before she could do anything, Buffy was by her side and holding her hand.
"Our car broke down. If you can believe that," Buffy said, doing her best to imitate the ditzy tone that alter-Buffy used. "we've been walking for a while, do you know where we can get some food?"
"Oh, sure!" The girl bounced excitedly in front of them. "My mom owns the cafe. Come on!"
Faith scowled and tried to pull her hand out of Buffy's, but Buffy held firm and gave her a pointed look. Faith did her best to remember that they were just pretending and that they would need to keep up appearances.
Faith's whole life was pretending.
"My friends are going to freak!" The girl pulled out her phone and went to snap a selfie that would include the two slayers. Faith reached out too quickly for Buffy to stop her and snatched the phone away.
The girl turned around in shock. "I thought you guys were cool? Everyone always says how nice you are to fans."
Buffy quickly interjected. "We just don't want to attract any attention right now. How about, when we're ready to leave - you can take as many pictures as you want. We'll even sign things for you if you'd like."
"OK, yeah. That makes sense." The girl still seemed skeptical.
"Sorry, kid." Faith handed the phone back. "It's just been a long night, ya know? It'd be awesome to get cleaned up a little before getting our picture taken."
The girl relaxed now that she had her phone back. "We have an apartment above the cafe. I'm sure my mom will let you use it."
"What's your name?" Buffy asked, and the girl blushed.
"Tru." Then she looked in Faith's direction. "My mom really loved that show you were on. She's probably going to ask you a million questions about it."
Faith practically choked at that, but luckily Tru didn't notice. She was busy opening the door to a small and thankfully customer-less cafe.
As soon as they entered, there was a gasp and the sound of a plate smashing to the ground.
"Fuck." Faith hissed under her breath. She had no idea how they were going to last long enough for the crystal to recharge. If this woman started asking her questions about some TV show she'd never seen - they were going to get found out with a quickness.
"Be cool, mom." Tru whispered, "Let them get cleaned up and fed before you start harassing them."
The mom nodded, but her excitement was clear.
"I'm going to take them upstairs." Tru didn't wait for her mother to reply. She just moved to the back of the cafe and motioned for them to follow.
When they made it into the apartment - Tru pointed them towards the bathroom.
Faith dashed for the bathroom, desperate to have a few moments alone to figure out how to keep it together. She was highly dismayed when Buffy followed her.
"What are you.." She started, but Buffy covered her mouth before she could finish.
"Shhh," Buffy said and took a few paces back. "She is going to think something is wrong."
"Fine." Faith huffed and started the shower. Then she whipped her shirt off without thinking.
Buffy gasped in surprise and then turned away. It was pretty ridiculous considering that she had already seen Faith naked countless times. It seemed different now.
"Are you getting in here?" Faith asked, and Buffy quickly shook her head without turning around. "C'mon, it'll take too long if you don't. Unless you're worried, I'll make a move on you or something."
"I'm not worried." Buffy turned around and raised her voice.
"Then get your scrawny ass in here." Faith left the door slightly open and moved under the spray as she began to wash.
Buffy took another moment to compose herself before slowly removing her clothes. Hoping that maybe if she took long enough, Faith would be done before she was ready to enter the shower.
"Hurry the fuck up." Faith hissed, and Buffy moved faster.
Nothing about this was making any kind of sense. At least she was too confused about Faith's behavior to be worried about Faith seeing her naked. While it's true that Buffy had seen Faith naked on numerous occasions - the reverse had never happened.
Buffy entered the shower and waited for Faith to move out of the way. When she did, Buffy felt like the world had shifted. Faith couldn't hide the emotion in her eyes as she did her best to keep her eyes focused on Buffy's forehead.
"Faith?" Buffy said her name quietly, and Faith winced. "I'm not worried about you making a move on me.".
The implication was clear to Faith. Buffy wanted Faith to make a move more than anything. If it wasn't so evident how petrified Faith was, she would have tried something herself.
Buffy took a step closer and put her hands on Faith's shoulders to gently move her out of the way. Buffy then turned her back to Faith and began the process of washing herself. Neither slayer said a word as they quickly and efficiently showered.
When Buffy turned the water off, she was surprised to see Faith holding a towel out to her.
They each had one clean outfit left in their backpack. Not a word was spoken as they dressed, managed their hair, and applied makeup. When they were both done, Buffy stopped Faith just before she could open the door.
"Faith?"
Faith held her breath while she waited for what would happen next.
"You may not want to hear this, and maybe you won't believe me, but..." Buffy froze as Faith looked her in the eye and took a step closer.
"What, B?" Faith asked far more softly than she wanted to. She knew that if Buffy finished what she wanted to say, one way or another, it would destroy them both.
Buffy reached out and gently caressed Faith's cheek. "I..."
"Mom says your lunch is ready!" Tru shouting from the other side of the door stopped whatever Buffy was planning on saying.
The distraction gave Faith the room she needed to open the door and gain some distance.
Buffy didn't quite know what to make of Faith's reaction. She had been sure moments ago that Faith felt the same way that she did. Now it seemed that maybe she was wrong.
One thing was for sure, Buffy would have to wait for Faith. It wouldn't do any good to scare her away. She had to hope that she'd have enough time to convince Faith that they should be together.
Tru was not at all containing her excitement and seeing the pair re-emerge. Under one arm, she had a box full of magazines, pictures, and other collectibles. With her free hand, she grabbed Buffy's and started for the door back down to the cafe.
The next three hours were the most bizarre and surreal of Faith's life. She didn't have to worry about answering the mother's questions - neither mother nor daughter stopped their excited chatter long enough for either slayer to answer a single question.
After they were fed, they made sure every item in Tru's collection was signed as they listen to praise being heaped on this dimension's version of themselves. Neither of them was particular into celebrities. They could not even begin to fathom the level of hero-worship of two actresses.
There was a commotion in the street, and the slayers knew they were busted. Buffy took a moment to confirm that the stone was ready to use, then she dragged Faith upstairs and into the bathroom.
"Ready?" Buffy asked, wanting to check in with Faith and see if she could get a read on what the other slayer was feeling.
Faith was giving her nothing to work with though, she just nodded and motioned for Buffy to open the portal.
"Are we OK?" Buffy needed things to at least go back to when they were getting along. There was no way to know how many more worlds they would have to go through until they got home.
For all she knew, this would be their last jump, and she'd have no chance at all to convince Faith to stay.
Faith frowned but forced herself to meet Buffy's eyes. "Yeah, B. We're five by five."
Buffy couldn't be sure, but she hoped this meant Faith wasn't closing herself off again.