Buffy

Buffy had just finished putting her clothes away when she realized it had been a few minutes since she'd seen Faith. She could feel that Faith was still in the house and that she was feeling pretty happy. Smiling to herself, she went to search her out.

She found Faith in the kitchen, in the midst of a hug with her mother. A fairly unusual sight. Faith and her mother got along really well, but she had never seen Faith give her affection so openly to her mother before.

"Are you all settled back in your room?" Joyce said once she saw her standing there.

"Yes... settled." Buffy looked nervously between the two women.

"Good." Her mom replied. Buffy didn't miss her eyes darting over to Faith. She suddenly became a little unsure of what they might have been talking about and her mother's reaction to it.

"Is everything OK down here?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, everything is fine. Faith and I were just talking."

"About?" Buffy struggled to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

"We were just talking about how I should move out." Faith answered, and Buffy had to fight hard not to lose her mind.

"What do you mean? You can't move out!"

"It's for the best, B. We already decided."

"You can't just... But..." Buffy took a deep breath and centered herself. Since she had learned of the impact her emotions could have on Faith, she was very careful not to react to things until she fully understood what was happening.

She looked at the two women, noting the mischievous glint in both their eyes. Faith had a small sideways smile, and Buffy could tell through their connection that she was happy. If her mom had decided to kick Faith out all of a sudden, Faith would not be happy.

She put her hands on her hips and glared at them, trying to keep up the illusion that she was falling for their trick. "Where are you moving to exactly?"

"You'll see." Faith grinned and ran past her.

Buffy shook her head and laughed at the sound of Faith running up the stairs. "She's moving into my room, isn't she?" Buffy asked her mother.

"It's for the best, don't you think? I was getting tired of finding you two cuddled up on the couch."

Buffy blushed a little. There were many nights after slaying when neither of them had even a hint of injury. It was too awkward for either of them to ask the other to stay in their room under the pretense of healing, so they would just crash on the couch.

"You know that it's different now though, right? We're..."

Joyce held up her hand to stop Buffy from explaining further. "I really don't need any details, but yes. I know."

"And you're really OK with all this?" Even though her mom knew how she felt about Faith, she was still worried about upsetting her mother. Now even more so, that their time together is likely going to be a lot shorter than she thought.

Joyce hugged Buffy, "yes, I'm really OK with it. You two have to deal with so much. You need to find all the happiness you can." Buffy appreciated her mother's words, along with her not adding the 'for as long as you can' part. Having Faith in her life meant both of their chances of living were much higher, but they still were very unlikely to die of old age.

"Thanks, mom." Buffy leaned into the hug and relaxed. "I'm going to go see what she's doing up there."

Buffy stood in the doorway, watching Faith move around the room as she put her clothes away. Faith's happiness was buzzing through her. Buffy hadn't had much time to adjust to the memories of the original timeline. As she watched Faith now, she decided none of that mattered. All the mistakes either of them made then, led to evil overtaking the earth. She wasn't going to question getting a chance to prevent the way things had turned out before.

She loved the confidence that Faith was showing, there wasn't even a hint of fear or indecision in her emotions. She definitely didn't always love Faith's confidence. When they had first met, it was one of the things she found most annoying. But now she had a much better understanding of the other slayer. Since the killing of the deputy mayor, she had watched Faith transform herself.

Faith was now a person who would do anything for the people she cared about. Instead of pretending like she didn't care about anything, she was totally open with everyone. Frequently telling them in a variety of ways that she cared about them.

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and stepped into the room.

"That wasn't nice, making me think you were leaving." She tried to pretend like she was angry, even though Faith would know she wasn't.

Faith turned to her and grinned, "I knew you wouldn't fall for it."

Buffy was mesmerized by Faith's grin and moved closer. Wrapping her in a hug and leaning her head on Faith's shoulder. She smiled as Faith squeezed her tight. They stood in the room and held each other, letting their emotions flow freely.

Even though their lives were not going to be easy. They fully had each other now. Neither had to hold back their feelings for each other, and Faith no longer had to be afraid of what would happen if Buffy knew her secret. Buffy hadn't even realized how much Faith's fear had been impacting her. It had been a minor drain on both of them, and now it was gone.

Whatever happened next, they'd have each other to rely on.

It was the first day of her first college class, and Buffy was excited. Everything in her life was perfect. Except of course for the destiny and the sense of impending doom that followed her around everywhere she went. She could definitely do without those things. Everything else was exactly how she wanted it. She had love, friends, and family, and a belief that there was hope that she could have a happy and normal-ish life.

Buffy was sitting with Willow in the front row, and they were both getting their materials ready for Psych 101. She was still getting used to being able to feel Willow's energy, their close proximity strengthening the feeling. The connection they now shared was helping her deal with her memories of dark Willow. It had only been a few days since her memory was returned, and she sometimes had flashes of her friend with black eyes, but it was beginning to bother her less.

Whenever it started to get to her, she would just remind herself of Faith and how amazing she was now. She and Faith had talked a lot since her memories returned. Buffy still held guilt for how things had happened the first time around, but she was so happy with how they went this time, that the guilt was fading quickly. She was certain that this was how things were supposed to turn out. It felt completely right to her, unlike her memories of how things happened the first time.

She was daydreaming about Faith when she felt a nudge from Willow. "Are you going to be able to stop thinking about Faith long enough to learn something today?" Willow smiled at her, there was no snark or any hint of malice towards Faith in her joking accusation. Faith had managed to forgive Willow for not telling her about the Deputy Mayor sooner. They still weren't exactly best friends, but there was no tension between them.

"I'm not sure. I'm going to at least try. You'll let me copy your notes?" Buffy grinned back, and Willow stuck out her tongue. "Wait, how did you know I was thinking about Faith?" They hadn't had a chance to discuss the changes between the four of them. Buffy couldn't feel Willow or Tara the same way she felt Faith, but she wasn't sure how it was for them.

Willow giggled at her, "it's kinda obvious."

"That's all though right… you can't actually tell what I'm thinking or feeling?"

"No." Willow shook her head, "I've gotten a little better at reading auras, but it takes a lot of concentration. I only have a basic idea of what I'm seeing means though."

Buffy breathed out a sigh of relief. She really didn't like the idea of Willow knowing what she was thinking about. Not just about Faith, but it might force her to reveal things she doesn't want to about what she remembers from the original timeline.

She stiffened slightly when Riley entered. She had known he was a student here but didn't expect him to be in any of her classes. He stayed up near the front of the class and offered her a shy smile. She politely smiled back and returned her attention to her class material.

The professor entered the room, and Buffy suddenly felt violently ill. The professor was talking, but Buffy couldn't hear anything she was saying. All she could do was focus on the inky blackness crawling all over the woman. She let out a small shriek, Willow was reaching for her and asking what was wrong, but Buffy couldn't answer.

The professor's attention was now on Buffy, and she could see that blackness reaching towards her, almost as if it was sniffing for her. She shrieked and ran out of the room, dragging Willow with her. Having the feeling that they were both in danger by being near the evil surrounding the professor, even if she hadn't yet made any sense of what she had seen.

Willow tried to resist being pulled from the room, but she was no match for Buffy's panic and strength.

When the Keepers had given her their magical item, she hadn't thought about what to expect. She had assumed it would be similar to what she had seen in Willow's aura with Tara's help. A darkness surrounding her and trying to push its way in, it was disturbing, but it did not affect her physically. What she saw with the professor was entirely different. It was inside her, crawling around, burrowing through every part of the woman. Buffy had been fighting evil for years, but she had never seen or felt anything that affected her like this.

Willow was by her side and asking her questions, but Buffy couldn't explain what was wrong. She could feel the comforting response from Faith, which calmed her slightly. Only when she could feel Faith finally getting closer does she start to feel any hope that she might be able to deal with what she'd seen.

As soon as Faith was visible, Buffy ran to her and hugged her tightly. She clutched desperately at the other slayer, it took her several moments of Faith's contact before she was able to speak.

"Where's Tara?" She asked once she could form words. She didn't want to have to explain twice what she saw, and she knew they would all need to be part of what happened next.

"She'll be here soon," Willow answered.

"C'mon. Let's go sit down." Faith guided Buffy to a couch in the common area while they waited for Tara.

When Tara finally arrived, Buffy tried to explain what she saw. She had already taken off the ear cuff and toyed with the idea of destroying it. She never wanted to see anything like that again. Now that she had time to calm, she realized that she couldn't destroy it. It was her duty to fight the evil she saw, no matter how hard it was going to be. She saw first hand what the First was capable of. She had to fight it.

"I've never seen or felt anything like that. The darkness was everywhere. I could feel it trying to reach into me." She took a deep breath and looked at her friends. "We have to stop her."

"Let's go." Faith said, jumping up.

"I don't think it will be that easy. Riley works with her. Which means she might be part of the Initiative." Buffy was nervous about how to handle this situation without revealing too much, neither of them had explained to anyone else about the Initiative. Buffy hadn't even told anyone else that she had her memories restored.

Faith growled, "those fuckers."

"What is the Initiative?" Willow asked.

"Do you remember those men in uniform that rescued Faith on her birthday?" Willow nodded, "they were part of the Initiative. We don't know that much about them, other than where their compound is and that they hunt demons and experiment on them." Buffy finished, and Faith growled again.

"They didn't rescue me from shit that night." Faith commented, shaking her head.

"They pulled you out of the house and took you to the hospital," Buffy argued back.

"Yeah, except if it wasn't for them, I never would have needed to go to the hospital." Faith was pacing now, anger flowing from her. "I had just killed the second of those demons Wes trapped with me. I was standing there, catching my breath when the walls started coming down. I'm pretty sure they zapped me with their stupid guns too."

Buffy frowned, a little annoyed that Faith had never bothered to tell her this before. She rubbed her temples and tried to focus on what mattered. "Ok, so we stop them. I didn't see any sign of evil in Riley, so maybe he'll help us."

"How the hell are we going to explain all this?" Faith asks, waving her hands in frustration.

"He must know something about the supernatural world. We'll just have to convince him."

"Excuse me, are you OK?" The four women hadn't noticed Riley approaching. "I'm Riley, Professor Walsh's TA. She asked me to come to check on you." Riley was staring at Buffy, who laughed and shook her head when she felt the irritation from Faith at his presence.

They hadn't exactly come up with a plan, but she knew they had to act fast. The darkness saw her, if the Professor was part of the Initiative, they could be in real danger. "No, I'm not OK. I… we need your help."

"What? Help with what?" Riley asked, looking a little concerned.

"Are we really going to have this discussion out here?" Faith asked.

"We have to do it now. She saw Willow and me. She might have the whole Initiative to use against us."

Riley let out a small squeal and tried to back away. Faith was behind him in an instant, pushing him back towards the group. Riley turned and finally saw Faith, his posture stiffened further as he found himself surrounded.

"Umm… I have to go." He tried to get past Faith again.

"No, you really have to stay." Faith none too gently grabbed him and pushed him closer to the group.

"Look, we know who you are. Sort of… we know things about the Initiative, but we're the good guys. You are actually working for the bad guys." Buffy approaches him calmly. "We don't have time to prove anything to you. We just need your help. No one is going to get hurt. We just need a few minutes alone with Professor Walsh."

"What… are you going to do to her?"

Buffy frowned, not knowing what was going to happen. The Keepers were pretty vague about how it all worked, and they hadn't had any time to talk about it.

"Umm... Buffy?" Willow asks nervously.

Buffy whirls around to note that the once vacant common area is now filling up with faces she recognizes. Men trying very hard not to look like they are part of a secret army that fights demons. She sighed heavily before sliding the ear cuff back on. She closed her eyes for a moment, preparing herself for what might happen. She held her breath when she opened them, exhaling a huge sigh of relief that none of the soldiers were infected.

"Don't you think it's a little weird that your boss called in her army to check on a girl who was sick in class?" Buffy asks, turning her attention back to Riley.

He didn't answer, but he did hold up a hand at the team of soldiers slowly surrounding them. Classes began to empty, and the area filled with students, no one seems to notice the slayers, witches, and soldiers standing stock still as they are surrounded.

"B, we should get out of here while we can."

Buffy looks back at Riley, taking a chance that the secret area Willow had used was the same one Professor Walsh would be using now. "She's up to something. Look into 314."

The four women quickly retreat, getting swept up in the swarm of other students, believing the soldiers will not attack them in such a public place.

Buffy paces frantically in Giles' apartment. Her mind reeling as they tried to come up with a plan that won't get them trapped in the Initiative. They had been in there for three hours, Buffy refusing to let any of them leave until they figured out how they were going to stop the Professor. They had spoken to the Keepers who were of no help, only telling them that they had everything they needed to succeed.

Giles was in contact with the council, but as of yet hadn't found any useful information about the organization.

"She probably has office hours," Tara suggests.

Buffy turns to look at her, completely confused.

"You said it was just her. So we get her alone in her office and hopefully figure out whatever it is we're supposed to do." Willow adds cheerfully.

"She's not going to let any of us get close to her. She... it saw me. It knew who I was, I could feel it." Buffy shudders at the horrifying memory.

A knock at the door makes them all jump. They stare in silence for several long minutes before the knocking becomes more insistent. With a growl, Faith pulls the door open, grabbing for whoever is there without looking and pulling them into the room.

"Woah…" Riley gasped as he was flung into the wall by Faith.

"How the hell did you find us?" As far as Buffy knew he shouldn't have any way of knowing they would be here.

Riley held up the folder he was carrying.

"What is that?" Buffy asked, taking a step closer to him.

Riley shuffled nervously, "There wasn't much that I understood in that room you mentioned, but I did find this folder."

"Let me see that." Willow motions for the folder and Riley hands it to her. "I can't believe this!" Willow's eyes widen as she flips through it. "They have information on all of us."

"How is this possible?" Buffy asks, pacing around the room.

"Wesley." Willow hisses.

"You have Wesley?" Buffy shoves Riley against the wall. Buffy is a little surprised at how much effort it takes to hold Riley still, a small boost from Faith is enough to keep him in place though.

"I'm not sure have is the right word. He's not a prisoner."

"Giles!" Buffy screams for her Watcher as she backs away from Riley. "Did you know Wesley was awake?"

"I hadn't heard anything. The hospital was to call me if his status changed."

"We hid him. The hospital wouldn't have called," Riley explains.

Buffy began pacing again, "what's the order for us? Are you supposed to capture us?" One of the more crazy ideas was to let themselves get captured, believing they could escape if they needed to. There were many problems with that plan, including the likelihood that they would be split up.

Riley shakes his head, "the order is… kill on sight."

"For all of us?"

"Actually, just you."

"Wow, I feel so special." Buffy shakes her head and starts pacing again. "Is that normal? Orders to kill humans?"

"Um… Wesley was a lot less than honest when he explained who you are." Willow motions to the folder, "he told them you were both demons. It says Tara and I are low-level witches who practice dark magic."

"Why did he have to wake up from his coma!?" Buffy growled before taking a deep breath. "Why are you helping us if you think we are demons?"

Riley frowns and looks at his feet, "I didn't exactly read everything in that folder, I just grabbed it."

"Still, your boss ordered a hit on me," Buffy questioned.

"I just... Umm… I thought you needed help." Riley shuffled nervously.

"Yeah, right. You think she's cute and if you helped her maybe she'd get with you. You can admit it." Faith leans against the wall with a scowl on her face.

"What? No… I mean… I saw her around campus a few times… but…" Riley stammers while Buffy shakes her head at Faith's outburst.

"Well, whatever your reason. Nobody here is a demon or at all evil. We are vampire slayers, that's why we're so strong. We were chosen to fight vampires and demons. Unlike your organization, which seems to enjoy capturing and experimenting on them." She looked over at Faith, who was still annoyed. She considered for a moment taking advantage of Riley's possible feelings for her. She wasn't entirely sure he was going to cooperate with them. But as ridiculous as it was to her that Faith could possibly be jealous of Riley, she wasn't going to do anything that might make those feelings worse.

Grinning, she walked up to her and pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her. Pulsing her through the slayer connection, letting her know that there was no one else she was interested in. Faith relaxed into the contact and sighed happily.

Riley made a small choking sound and cleared his throat, "I've never heard of vampire slayers… but you don't seem evil." He started towards the door, "I need to get back."

Faith blocked his way before he could escape, "tell us where our good friend Wesley is."

"He's in the Initiative."

"What level? What room?" She squeezed his arm a little, grinning at his grimace.

"It doesn't matter. You can't get in there."

Faith laughed, "how about you let me worry about that. Where is he?"

"Hospital wing, 3rd level."

Faith smiled and released her grip and opened the door to shove him out. "Wait!" Buffy grabbed for Riley and brought him back in.

"B? We don't need his help." Faith insisted.

"But we do. As much fun as it sounds to go down there and beat everyone up, that isn't going to get us what we need. If the Initiative is some government thing, they'll keep coming for us. We have to get the program shut down."

"They have orders to kill you." Faith whispered, pulling Buffy further away from the group. "I won't risk losing you."

"I am completely in favor of no one getting killed." Buffy agreed, "but if we can't get her to cancel the order, they might never stop coming after me."

Faith rolled her eyes, not at all hiding her exasperation, "fine. Let's come up with a real plan."

It took almost two hours, but they did finally come up with a basic plan.

The four women, Riley, and two other soldiers made their way through the tunnels, with Faith in the lead. Faith occasionally paused and even had to backtrack a few times, but eventually, they stood in front of a large metal door.

As soon as they approached the door, a gate behind them slammed shut. Buffy tensed as she sensed movement in the shadows.

"What the hell are those things!?" One of the soldiers asked in horror.

Creatures that looked vaguely human stumbled forward, awful keening sounds emanating from them.

"Paul? I thought you were dead?" Riley asks, his voice shaking as the figure closest to him came more into sight. The creature had parts of a human face, but the rest of his body was a mishmash of different types of demon skin. Buffy was fighting not to retch at what she was seeing.

"Pretty sure he is dead." Faith commented before shoving away the creature closest to her.

Riley lowered his weapon at Paul, "I don't know what's going on, but stay back!" The creature ambling towards him did not stop, and Riley fired. Paul shook and made a horrid screeching noise, but did not stop. The smell of burnt flesh filled the cavern as the electricity pulsed through the creature.

"B?" Faith looked back at Buffy for guidance, but Buffy had no idea what to do.

"These things are not alive - not human," Tara said with a shaky voice.

"You're sure?" Faith asked, and at Tara's nod, Faith brought forth a sword and took out the thing in front of her. She continued to tear through the abominations while the rest watched on in silence.

Once there was no more movement, she stopped and sighed, willing her weapon away. Buffy moved to her side and comforted her. "They weren't human," Buffy whispered to her, knowing the conflict Faith would be feeling at having to kill a human. Faith nodded and leaned into Buffy's comfort before they turned their attention to the massive door before them.

The men moved to attempt to slide the door open, after a few moments of their futile attempts, the slayers approached the door to help. It slid open with loud protest as the locking mechanism on the inside was twisted and forced out of the way.

The room on the other side contained several metal tables that looked to be set up for experiments. There were diagrams and illustrations showing images of plans for human/demon hybrids. A few of the images even contained names of the soldiers that were designated for these experiments. The horror of what they had seen in the previous room now explained.

Riley was shaking as he focused on one in particular. Putting his hand over his heart and frowning heavily. "She put a chip inside me." His voice was filled with agony, and Buffy felt terrible for the soldier. She had no idea what they were going to find down here, she was counting on it being something damming enough to get the program stopped, but this was far worse than she had expected.

"Gather everything you can, this is more than enough to get the program shut down," Riley called to the other soldiers, and they moved quickly.

"We have to find the professor still." Buffy motioned to her friends and moved further into the compound. The next room was the one she was dreading seeing the most. The metal exam tables Willow had used for her and Tara were still in the room. She frowned and leaned into Faith's comfort. Neither said anything, not wanting to explain why this room might be upsetting.

There was a small hallway that would lead them to the official area that was supposed to be room 314. When they had initially come through here, it had been hidden by Willow's magic. Now their path was blocked by another metal door. Buffy and Faith dismantled this door just as easily as the previous one. Stepping into the room and surprising Professor Walsh and a man in a lab coat.

"How did you get in here!?" The professor shouted and rushed to push a button on the wall. Faith was quicker and blocked her from reaching it. The man backed away, cowering in the corner. Buffy frowned at seeing the evil crawling through the man. It was not nearly to the degree that it was with the professor, but it was enough to make her stomach churn.

"So now what do we do?" Willow asked.

"I have no idea," Buffy replied as she stepped closer to the professor. "It's in both of them."

"We're human. You won't hurt us!" The professor yelled, trying to show confidence, but the fear was obvious in her voice.

"I think… I think we just have to be close to them..." Buffy says, watching the darkness surrounding the man react to her getting closer.

"No! Get away! You can't!" Professor Walsh screeches and attempts to reach the exit, once again finding herself blocked by Faith. She screams as she makes contact with Faith and recoils, launching herself away from the slayer and crashing into the wall.

"Seems like she really didn't like being touched," Buffy observes. Grimacing as she reaches for the scientist who was now closest to her. The man began to twist and thrash, attempting to free himself. The witches and Faith added their own contact, and after only a few seconds, the man started to calm. He was released and dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

Professor Walsh meanwhile and gotten back up off the ground and started to launch herself headfirst at the wall.

"What the hell is she doing?" Faith asked while quickly restraining the woman and preventing her from hurting herself further.

"Don't do this! Kill me instead, please. Kill me!" The woman shrieked, kicking her feet wildly in an attempt to free herself from Faith.

The others moved quickly to add their contact to the woman. She stopped her fighting, and Faith let her drop heavily to the ground. The woman was still shrieking, but Buffy could see that evil no longer infested her.

The Professor slumped over and vomited while continuing to blubber and beg for death. The four women watched on in complete horror. Buffy slid the ear cuff off, silently deciding she was never going to wear it again. Not at all understanding what this woman was going through, but feeling somehow responsible for having caused her pain.

The man had recovered and was attempting to comfort the sobbing professor. Without comment they left the two scientists behind, returning to the soldiers.

"Did you find Professor Walsh?" Riley asked once they saw him again.

"Yeah, we found her. It's done." Faith answered as none of the others were able to find their voice.

"What about Wesley?"

Buffy cringed at the question from Riley. She just couldn't deal with any more today. She hoped Wesley was just misguided and not actually evil, but she didn't have the strength to find out right now.

"Later." Faith replied softly and began to walk with the others to the tunnels.

"Wait." Riley tossed her a pager, "we'll be in touch. I've already radioed everyone to know to leave you all alone. You'll be safe."

Once they were back on campus, the group parted ways, agreeing to meet up later.

Buffy was reeling, this morning, everything was perfect, and now she was filled with dread. Was this what their life was going to be like from now on?

"Why do you think she acted like that?" Buffy asked not able to voice her actual fears.

"I don't know. She did some pretty terrible things."

"I…" Buffy swallowed hard, she had the ear cuff in her hand was looking down at it. Faith closed her hand over Buffy's and shook her head. She took the item and stuffed it into her own pocket. "But.."

"We'll use it again when we need to. For now, we've got other things to take care of." Faith took Buffy's hand and started walking.

"Where are we going?"

Faith grinned, "there was that nest Giles wanted us to clear out tonight. I think it'd be better to do it now."

Buffy frowned for a second and then the slayer in her began to awaken. Taking out a nest of creatures that deserved the death only she and Faith could give them was exactly what she needed right now. It was something she could understand.

With their intense connection and after a summer of slaying together, the pair were an unstoppable force. They had learned how to share their power, drawing from a massive pool of resources whenever they felt they needed it. Their moves synchronized as they tore through the vampires and demons that stalked Sunnydale. For this nest, they decided that they wanted the battle to be a little more challenging.

Each held a single stake as they knocked down the door of the abandoned house. Several vampires were instantly vaporized when the sun hit them, but at least a dozen more scattered into the shadows. The slayers bared their teeth and launched themselves at their nearest victim. They each fought with more fury than they normally would. They let the primal force that was the slayer free within themselves while they fought. They let the anger they each felt and couldn't put words to, be quenched by the brutal battle.

When there were only 3 left the slayers slowed their assault, much of the anguish from what they had experienced in the Initiative had been wiped away, and they remembered who they were and how good they felt when they were in sync. Each slayer had taken more damage than they normally would during a patrol and they didn't want to take any more.

Faith had transformed her stake into the sword she frequently used when she was fighting. Buffy stood back and watched as Faith made quick work of the remaining creatures.

When they made their way to the Giles' apartment to report in, Willow and Tara were already there.

"Are you two OK?" Giles asked once he took in the disheveled and bloody slayers.

"Yeah, we're good. Just took out that nest." Faith answered, dropping onto the couch while Buffy slid in next to her. "Did they tell you what happened?"

"They did." Giles frowned at them. Buffy could feel his disapproval of their condition. They were rarely even slightly injured when they were slaying together. Now they were covered in bruises, and each had several bloody slashes. Buffy wasn't at all worried about the damage. They had already healed quite a bit just from their closeness on the walk to Giles'.

"We're fine Giles," Buffy answered his disapproving glare, knowing that he was only concerned about them, but not entirely sure she could explain it to him in a way that he would understand.

Giles posture did not seem to change.

"We went to visit the Keepers." Willow chimed in. Buffy smiled gratefully at her for the disruption. "We would have waited for you… but."

"It's OK, Willow. What did they say?" Buffy leaned heavily against Faith, who had her arm wrapped around her.

"They said that we did what we had to do." Willow frowned, looking over at Tara.

"Helpful." Buffy groaned.

"Yeah, I kind of yelled at them a little." Tara offered, "then they said whatever you decided to do was OK. And you would do the right thing when you needed to."

"Cryptic. But comforting, I guess." Buffy shrugged, the information was more than she had expected, but not nearly as much as she would have liked.

The pager Faith had been given began to trill. She hopped up and grabbed the phone, punching in the numbers, "Yeah?" She listened for a few moments before hanging up. "Guess they're shutting everything down. Wes was already gone before Riley could find him." Faith shrugged a little before sitting back down next to Buffy.

"Wesley called about an hour ago." Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his brow. "He apologized and said we'd never hear from him again."

"That doesn't really seem good enough. He tried to kill Faith and then he told some government organization that we were demons! He can't just get away with that!" Buffy was furious, Wesley had almost killed Faith this time, and the first time he ruined her chance at rehabilitation with Angel.

"What would you have me do?" Giles asked in annoyance.

Buffy scowled and crossed her arms over her chest, "the council better not send another watcher here. In fact, I don't ever want to hear from them again." She looked over to Faith for support. Buffy had wanted to quit the council since her 18th birthday. Her restored memories made her even more sure of her decision. She was pretty sure what Faith would think but wasn't going to force anything on her.

"I'm with B on that one."

"They have resources that I do not," Giles argued.

Buffy considered her response. She did mean to slight Giles in any way, she still cared for him and knew how important he was to Faith. "Resources that they'll only ever give us access to when and how they want. They don't care if we live or die, Giles. We have enough power in this room to stop anything. All the council ever does is get in the way." Buffy was tired and didn't want to argue anymore. She stood up and held her hand out to Faith. "You do what you think you need to, Giles. But I mean this completely. They are not to know anything about us." She motioned to indicate Tara and Willow as well.

"I understand Buffy. I promise they don't know anything about you four or the powers any of you possess."

"Good. We're gonna go."

"Wait, please."

They sat back down on the couch and waited while Giles looked at them nervously.

"Is something wrong?" Faith asked. Buffy could feel her nervousness. Faith almost never lets her feel when she was upset or worried about anything. She pushed comfort over their connection and felt Faith relax slightly.

"No, nothing is wrong." Giles finally seemed to calm and settled on the couch across from them. "I just… well… I know it's none of my business what either of you does with your private lives…"

Buffy stiffened as she felt Faith tense up again. Buffy was suddenly very nervous. She hadn't considered what it would mean to Faith if Giles disapproved of them having a relationship. She was used to him not approving of hers, but she knew it would be devastating to Faith. She held her breath as she waited to see what Giles would say.

Giles smiled, "whether you need my approval or not - you have it."

Buffy was blown away by the relief she felt from Faith.

"Thank you, Giles. That means a lot."