Something that occurred my mind after watching an old clip from Lucifer. Consider this an AU of Season 6-7, where Faith is released from prison on early parole and rejoins the Scoobies and Tara is alive, because, damn Whedon and Kennedy who?

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffyverse.

Buffy and Faith were dancing in the Bronze to the music, having fun before they approached the bar.

"Just like old times, huh?" Faith said.

"Yeah." Buffy said as they drank.. "I missed this. Letting loose and not worrying about the Slayer duties." They looked at each other with understanding and a mix of regret. "I'm sorry for how things had gone down between us. I wish I'd listened to Angel. I know that you've changed now."

Faith nodded. "To be fair, you had every right to be angry at me. And I was done escaping what had I done. But like Angel said, we have to forgive ourselves for what happened and try to be better."

"Guess it's time for a fresh start, is it?" Buffy asked.

"Guess so." Faith said as they clinked their glasses before drinking their shots as Faith turned to Buffy with a smirk. "How many can you take?"

"Is that a challenge, Faith?" Buffy asked, smirking.

"Afraid, B.?" Faith asked and Buffy drinking another shot was a response to her as they started their drinking contest, until Buffy consumed so much alcohol that everything became a blur to her.

"I can't believe Riley was so stupid he would cheat on you with vampire whores!" Faith said, laughing as they staggered to Buffy's house.

"And when Angel returned to Sunnydale after that mess with us in L.A., Riley wouldn't leave the room when I wanted to talk with Angel alone, so we left the room, leaving Riley alone in there!" Buffy said as both girls laughed hysterically, entering the house.

"So he got even more pathetic than I'd met him!" Faith said as they staggered to the living room and then made their way to Buffy's bedroom.

"I love you, Faith…" Buffy blurted out as she kissed Faith out of the sudden.

"Oh…" Faith pulled away, while she was flattered, she knew Buffy was too drunk to think clearly, while Faith clearly had higher tolerance for alcohol than her. "B."

"You understand me maybe better than Angel and Spike do…" Buffy said, about to take off her top, when she felt her stomach twirling and everything cut to black.

Buffy stirred and moaned softly as she felt the sunlight on her face before she felt the warmth on her body. More importantly, she felt someone snuggling towards her and her arms wrapped across someone else and she could tell just by the shape under the sheet that it was another girl with her in bed before she felt the sheet and the warmth of the body on her bare skin to make her realize they were both naked.

Faith turned around, smiling at Buffy, who looked mortified, with her eyes wide and in utter shock and embarrassment. "Hey, B."

"Oh, my God… oh, my God!" Buffy exclaimed.

"B., relax. Just calm down." Faith said as Buffy got up, covering her front with the sheet and using her hand to shield her eyes from Faith's nudity.

Buffy looked around to see her clothes and underwear scattered around the floor as she blushed in utter embarrassment, while smelling the stench of alcohol as well. "No. No, no, no, no, no, this didn't happen. No! What have I done? Oh, God!" She ran her hand across her face, while Faith laughed in amusement.

"I wonder if you'd scream that if someone was shagging you in bed." Faith cracked and Buffy's face turned redder than before, but not in embarrassment but now with rage.

"Oh, I'm gonna—"

"Buffy! Are you awake?" Tara called out as she went upstairs, her voice heard through the door.

"Yeah! Just give me a minute!" Buffy exclaimed quickly before turning to Faith. "Get out. Now."

"Well, if you insist…" Faith smirked as she got up from the bed and much to Buffy's shock, she jumped out of the window, not even bothering to get dressed, exiting the house butt naked as Buffy groaned before she still smelled the alcohol and looked into the laundry basket and groaned again, recognizing the shreds of clothing as Faith's, with vomit and stench of alcohol all over it and Buffy sat down, running her hands across her face, completely mortified. Oh, my God, what have I done?

After taking a quick shower and putting on new clothes, while throwing away the remnants of Faith's clothing and putting her clothes from the previous night into the washing machine, Buffy was eating breakfast with Dawn, Willow and Tara, trying to put on a straight face, even though they could tell Buffy was on edge, no matter how much she was trying to act casually.

"Did something happen, Buffy?" Willow asked.

"Weird night." Buffy said. It wasn't really a lie but Buffy didn't want to go into details.

Before they could ask for details, Xander entered, looking weirded out. "Hey, has anyone seen Faith this morning?" He asked.

"No." Buffy said quickly as she ate a giant chunk of cereals.

"Why?" Willow asked.

"Because I might have seen her running butt naked down the garden few houses away from here." Xander said and Buffy almost choked on her bite and coughed, while Willow, Tara and Dawn immediately looked uncomfortable.

"What?" Buffy demanded, trying to act shocked.

"Oh." Willow, Tara and Dawn said at once.

"Guess her one-night stand got wilder than usual this time." Buffy said, wanting to quickly put the topic to the end.

"Yeah, that sounds like Faith." Xander said before he noticed the breakfast. "Oh, is it roasted bacon? Nice!" He sat down, joining the breakfast and Buffy relaxed, glad she did not have to think about this topic anymore.

"So, Buffy, who was the lucky guy tonight?" Dawn asked and Buffy spat out her orange juice.

"What… how did you—"

"Your room smelled with so much booze and the noises in the bedroom made it obvious that you had someone there." Dawn said as everyone widened their eyes as they looked at her. "I didn't hear anything rough but it was obvious Buffy had someone there. I heard talking mostly."

Buffy took a breath. "Honestly, I don't remember almost anything from last night. It was all a blur and he left before I woke up anyway, just a one-nighter."

"What was he like in the—" Dawn shut up suddenly, when Buffy glared at her and stepped on her foot.

"Say another word and you better start sleeping with one eye open." Buffy growled and Dawn chuckled nervously.

"Ah, you'll find someone nice soon, as long as it's not another vamp—" Xander shut up as everyone shot him glares, not in mood for his bigotry.

"Well, if Buffy was with Faith, I think they'd be good together." Willow pointed out and Buffy almost choked on her breakfast again. "I'm serious. Come on, we know she has changed for the better and you two got a nice vibe and you can be a good influence for each other."

"Maybe…" Buffy considered.

"Well, if you were more open to girls, I think it's not a bad idea." Tara noted and Buffy had to admit she had a point, when they noticed Xander desperately wanting to avert his eyes away from Buffy again.

"Excuse me, I gotta go!" Xander said, mortified and it was clear to everyone that he was thinking about Buffy naked again as they chuckled and shook their heads at his antics.

Later, Buffy was at the Bronze, against her better judgement after the previous night but she decided to stick to non-alcoholic beverage this time before she turned to see Faith.

"Hey, B." Faith said and Buffy blushed.

"Look, Faith, about last night, it was a mistake. I was wasted and not thinking clearly and… look… this didn't happen and it will never happen again." Buffy said quickly.

"We actually didn't do anything." Faith said, much to Buffy's surprise as she widened her eyes in shock.

"What? But… so… we didn't… do… that?" Buffy asked hesitantly, blushing.

"No." Faith said, chuckling and enjoying Buffy's embarrassed reaction. "Usually I wouldn't mind going for it but I wasn't gonna take advantage of you, when you were drunk. I tried to turn you down but you wouldn't listen because of how wasted you were and then you threw up all over my clothes before you passed out in the bed, so I ditched it all and… well, I wanted to see your face, once you woke up with us both naked in your bed. Really, you should've seen yourself, when you woke up."

If jaw could drop to the floor, that's exactly how Buffy would react as she let out a scoff of disbelief and Faith laughed before Buffy pounded her in the shoulder. "Faith Lehane, you mischievous skank! You're lucky I like you."

Faith laughed as Buffy overcame her embarrassment. "But honestly, B., under different circumstances, I would've liked to see us together. I mean, there are times, when I wonder…" She trailed off as Buffy could see the flicker of a longing look with care and hint of vulnerability in Faith's eyes and Buffy had to admit, there were times when they could relate to each other and if Buffy had not been with Angel and Spike at that point, she might have tried something with Faith too. But right now, they both had too much baggage between them to start something.

"Well, it would be a lie if I said that it never crossed my mind that we could try something together." Buffy admitted and Faith raised her eyebrows with a flicker of hope in her eyes now. "But… I'm not ready."

Faith nodded. "I get it. Look, B., when you're sure about your feelings, you know how to find me. But…"

Before Buffy could ask 'But what?', next thing she knew, Faith grabbed her by the back of her head and pull her in for a kiss, catching Buffy off-guard. At first, Buffy wanted to pull away but then, as she let the kiss sink in, she relaxed and enjoyed it as she held Faith by her cheeks, both of them enjoying the taste of each other's lips and the sensation they were feeling at the moment before they pulled away from each other.

"So…" Faith trailed off.

"I…" Buffy blushed as she took a breath. "I liked it. Honestly. But… look, Faith, I like you but I'm not ready for this."

Faith nodded in understanding. They probably would not have lasted in the long term anyway but Faith was glad that Buffy was at least open to the option. "Guess I'll see you around."

They pulled each other in for a friendly hug before Faith turned around. "See you, B."

"Goodbye, Faith." Buffy said, watching Faith leave. Part of her would always love Angel but she knew by now that they just weren't good for each other anymore and she wanted to care about Spike, but he was not making it easy for her and as for Faith… as much as she cared about her, she wasn't ready to take that kind of step with her yet but at some point she might.

Poor Buffy, ha!

As much as I like Buffy/Faith, I'd see it happen under a bit different circumstances, since at that point I'm not sure if either one of them would actually go for each other but I think they'd be more open to it and then it would depend whether Buffy would want Spike more than her but Buffy/Spike is OTP for me, with Buffy/Faith behind it and Buffy/Satsu at the third place.

So, what do you guys think?

Please review and let me know if you have enjoyed this one-shot.

With regards

Bl4ckHunter