Buffy wasn't sure what to think. The Mayor had helped them jump dimensions before, so it seemed possible that he was telling the truth. "Do you mean just out of this dimension - or actually back to where we belong?"
"We have technology that can read your signatures and send you back to where you started. You'll have to be very careful, though."
"Careful of what?" Buffy knew she was too visibly excited by what the General was offering them, but she didn't care. If he had a way to end this nightmare - she had to know more.
"Well, there is the matter of timing." The General looks off into the distance and then shakes his head a little. "Time travel is tricky business." He says with a chuckle, and Buffy is reminded of their encounter with Willow. Faith seemed to know more about this than she did, so she hopes they'll have a chance to talk about it alone at some point.
"We'll speak more tomorrow." The General had guided them towards a room and motioned them to enter, "I assume you're at least staying the night."
Buffy looked at Faith, but once again - Faith's expression was blank. She didn't really like that she was speaking for them both, but Faith didn't seem to be in a talkative mood, and they couldn't exactly discuss the situation in front of everyone.
"Yes, we'll spend the night." Buffy finally says, and Faith still didn't react.
The Mayor grinned and clasped his hands together. "That is wonderful news. Please feel free to freshen up, and we'll have food delivered to your room shortly. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask."
"B, what the fuck." Faith hissed as soon as the door shut behind them.
"What did you want me to do?" Buffy was so frustrated. She really couldn't deal with Faith yelling at her when she completely refused to help.
"I don't know. How about not trapping us with whoever the fuck these people are?!" Faith was both yelling and whispering.
Buffy was exhausted, and she laid down on one of the beds and curled into a ball facing away from Faith. She just didn't have the energy to deal with Faith and her chaotic mood swings. They were maybe being offered a way home - she should be excited about that, but she wasn't excited at all.
Faith sighed loudly and sat on the opposite bed and watched Buffy curl tighter into herself. "I'm sorry for being such a bitch."
"It's fine. I get it." Buffy didn't get anything, but she also didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to listen to Faith berating her for making a decision when Faith was giving her no feedback at all. Not to mention the fact that they easily could have gotten away from these people if Faith hadn't stubbornly continued to walk on a broken ankle.
Faith was quiet for a few minutes. "No, you don't."
Buffy didn't know what that meant, but she was too tired to ask questions.
"She... I told her stuff. I told her about slayers. I told her... about the portal stone." Faith was beyond embarrassed and was expecting Buffy to yell at her. Yelling was the last thing Buffy was planning on doing, and just like anytime Faith was willing to actually talk to her - Buffy gave Faith her full attention.
"Is that what happened..." Buffy sat up and motioned towards Faith's ankle, and that was clearly the wrong guess. Faith huffed loudly and stomped off towards the door. "Where are you going?"
Faith just barely stopped herself from leaving the room. "That wasn't why."
"OK. I'm sorry, please sit." Faith was wearing an air cast now, so it should be fine for her to walk on it - still, the doctor recommended she put as little weight on her ankle as possible.
"I don't need to be babied!" Faith roared. It took all her strength to resist shoving Buffy away. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she just didn't know how to control herself. She didn't want to be like this. She just didn't know how to be any other way.
"I know that you don't." Buffy carefully approached Faith and managed to get her to sit. Buffy wanted to say more, but she just didn't know what to say to prove to Faith that she truly cared about her.
"She threatened to hurt you. I caved instantly." Faith was thoroughly embarrassed and didn't know how to handle it. She had never been in a situation where she cared about someone else.
Buffy couldn't stop the grin that formed at this confession. She also couldn't help but draw some conclusions as to why threatening her would have worked as torture for Faith. "I would have done the same thing." Buffy easily admitted.
Faith scoffed and rolled her eyes as if this was the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard. Buffy really started to wonder about Faith's life before Sunnydale. Had she really never had a friend before? Or anyone that she'd cared about?
This wasn't the time for a heart-to-heart. Not that Buffy was under the delusion that Faith was suddenly going to open up to her. What they needed now was for Faith to calm down and start thinking rationally.
"It's a common torture technique. People are much more willing to take pain on themselves - rather than knowing someone else is being hurt. Even if it's a stranger." Buffy wasn't entirely sure this was true, but she thought Faith needed to hear it.
"Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense." Faith frowned and looked down at her hands. What Buffy said did make her feel a little less embarrassed, even if she still didn't believe that Buffy would have done the same thing. "So, what's the play here?"
"I'm not really sure. Maybe if they send Xander, we can try to get some info out of him. Otherwise - I think we just have to wait and see."
Faith heaved in a big breath. "Look... I won't... I won't fuck this up for you."
"What does that mean?"
"I just... I'll cooperate with whatever so they can get you home."
"Faith..." Buffy started but the door opened before Buffy could finish her sentence.
Xander and another soldier entered the room without a knock and placed two trays of food on the table. Buffy was desperate for them to leave so they could finish their conversation, but she also wanted to see if Xander might answer some of her questions.
"Hey, Xander?" Buffy asked, and he practically snapped to attention.
"Ma'am?" He asked, which made Faith laugh, and Buffy had to resist smacking her.
"Can you tell us anything about what's going on here?"
He tilted his head at her, clearly not understanding the question.
"Are you in the Army or something?" Faith added helpfully and began shoveling food from the tray into her mouth.
"Army? No, ma'am." Xander didn't seem to understand what the word Army meant.
"Stop with the ma'am stuff," Buffy added and motioned for Xander to sit with them. "You can call me Buffy and her Faith."
Xander looked around the room, confirming their suspicions that they were being monitored. "I'd rather not if that's OK, ma'am."
"Fine." Buffy conceded and took a few bites of food. "So what is this place then? Some kind of military compound?"
"Military?" His face scrunched up again. It was clear that this line of questioning wasn't going to work. This world must have different words for whatever this place might be, and Xander wasn't giving them anything to work with.
"What's up with Queen Bitch? Are you guys trying to shut her down?" Faith motioned her eyes upward, and this finally seemed to register with him.
Xander motioned to his sleeve that had just one stripe on it. "They don't tell me much, really. I've only been here a few weeks."
"But the boys must talk, right?" Faith grinned conspiratorially, and Xander grinned. He was definitely falling for Faith's charm.
"Sure, they talk." Then he looked around the room again and leaned forward. "From what I hear, something big is supposed to be happening soon."
"Any idea of what?" Faith cleared her tray and was eyeing the food that Buffy had just been moving around on hers.
"No, not really. But... it has something to do with you two."
"Private Harris." The door burst open, and Riley was standing there. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"
Xander had jumped to his feet - practically knocking his chair over. "Sir, yes, sir." Then he was out of the room.
"Shit, B." Faith whispered. She wasn't sure how she didn't see it sooner. "Don't you recognize him?"
Buffy squinted at the large man and then frowned. There was no way this wasn't going to interfere with her plans to get closer to Faith.
"I understand that you have a lot of questions. I can assure you that no one but the General will have answers. I would appreciate it if you didn't waste my soldier's time." He sneered at Faith and then left the room.
Faith immediately started laughing. "He's so charming. No wonder why you married him."
"Faith," Buffy warned, but honestly, she had no idea what threat to even make. Instead of saying anything, she pushed her tray of barely-eaten food towards Faith and began searching their room. There was a closet full of military clothing that looked like it would fit them, a small bathroom, and pretty much nothing else.
She tried to open the door to the hallway and was not surprised that it was locked. Faith repressed her urge to point out what a mess Buffy had gotten them into. There was still a chance that this was going to be their way home, and Faith meant it when she said she'd cooperate.
Buffy wasn't sure how long it'd been since she got a full night of sleep, since there was nothing else to do - she decided to try that now.
"You want us to do what?" Buffy and Faith were in some kind of training center surrounded by glass walls with people in white coats watching them.
They hadn't seen the General yet. They were talking to the head researcher of whatever this place was.
The woman sighed loudly and motioned between Buffy and Faith. "As we understand it, you are only able to travel between dimensions together." Buffy nodded, and she continued. "So we need to collect your signature when you are..."
"I think she wants us to fight, B." Faith added, trying to contain her amusement at Buffy's confusion.
"Fight? But... why?" Buffy did her best to play up her valley-girl demeanor.
"She just explained, come on." Faith rolled her eyes, wondering why Buffy was going full blonde today.
Buffy frowned again in mock confusion. She really didn't like this, but she didn't know how to convey that to Faith. "Each other?"
That question seemed to get the researchers all excited, and they were chattering to each other and scribbling things on their clipboards.
"We're more about fighting vamps, ya know?" Faith finally seemed to catch on to why Buffy was being so weird and hoped this was the right thing to say.
"Oh yes, I suppose that will work just as well. Please wait here."
"Wait - how about some weapons?" Buffy asked before the researcher could leave the room.
A section of the wall slid to the side, and a wide array of weapons were available.
"Wicked." Faith ran over and quickly grabbed several stakes and threw a few to Buffy without thinking. She also grabbed a few daggers and slid them into her sleeves - hoping she'd be able to sneak them out of this training area.
There was a buzzing sound, and a door slid open behind them.
Faith almost groaned in disappointment when there was only one.
"He looks tough," Buffy said, and Faith couldn't contain her frown as she finally understood what Buffy was doing. The slayers did their best to take their time with the vampire, but after 15 minutes of playing with him - Buffy could no longer take it, and she took him out.
The buzzer immediately went off, and now there were two vampires. "Shit." Faith hissed, guessing how this game was going to go.
As they played with the next two vampires, Buffy kept most of her attention on the people watching them. It became very apparent that they were primarily interested in what Faith was doing.
She started getting in Faith's way - even taking on a few hits to disrupt Faith's flow.
"B, what the fuck?" Faith hissed, she knew this was some twisted game, but she wanted to slay.
"It must be your ankle," Buffy says and shoves Faith out of the way, hard enough so she actually falls. "It's making you clumsy."
Faith grits her teeth but stays on the ground. Though, she wonders if Buffy's plan is really the best idea if these people will help them get back.
Buffy manages to take out the two vampires and is not surprised when there is not another wave of attackers.
Faith was disappointed when she couldn't keep any of the weapons she had hidden in various places.
They manage to play up Faith's injury for two more days before the plan falls apart. Several scans of Faith's ankle show that there is no sign of any kind of injury, and the cast is taken away.
Immediately after visiting the clinic, the slayers are brought back to the training room. The door opens, and ten vampires file out.
Buffy tries to take on most of them herself, but these vampires were clearly trained and told to focus on Faith.
As soon as the first batch of five was down, another ten vampires filed in. There was no choice - they had to change their tactics.
Buffy still tried to take on more, but it was clear this wasn't going to work. If they were going to survive this test - they had to go full slayer and work in sync.
Faith lost count of how many vampires had filed in when the final vampire dusted. She had completely fallen into slaying with Buffy. She wasn't even tired and was kinda disappointed when the door didn't open to reveal more enemies.
They were promptly led back to their room and locked inside. Buffy considered trying to explain why she had been trying to downplay Faith's skill as a slayer, but there was no point now. They almost certainly gathered whatever information they were looking for.
Otherwise, the testing would not have ended.
It has been four days since they were tested. They had silently adopted a watch plan so that someone was always awake.
Each approved of this plan since it meant they were rarely awake at the same time. Buffy liked this plan because she didn't think it was safe to talk freely, and she was pretty sure she'd go crazy if they were left with nothing to do but talk when they couldn't.
Faith was relieved because she was falling deeper and deeper with every conversation. They needed to get home and away from each other before she did something stupid.
Of course, watching Buffy while she slept and imagining what it might be like to crawl into bed next to her wasn't exactly the best plan. Still, there was literally nothing else to do in this room. There were only so many push-ups a slayer could do.
"B, wake up." Faith was gently shaking Buffy awake. "Someone is coming."
Buffy nodded and sat up. She could hear whatever it was too. The door burst open with four people she'd never seen before.
There wasn't much that they could do to prepare for whatever was coming. They stood on either side of the door and waited. The door exploded inward, but no one fully entered the room.
"She's in here." They moved forward, clearly intending to separate Buffy from Faith.
Buffy pushed the man closest to her back into the hallway. "You are not splitting us up."
The man looked annoyed and rubbed his chest where Buffy had pushed him. She kept herself between them and Faith. The four men were suddenly parting, and Willow appeared in the doorway.
"It really is you!" Willow moved forward and wrapped Buffy in a hug. "I can't believe it!" Then she leaned in with the clear intention of kissing Buffy.
"Um..." Buffy stammered while backing away and tried to ignore the hurt and confused look on Willow's face.
"I don't understand... you said nothing would keep us apart - not even death." Willow was pouting, and Buffy's heart was breaking.
"I'm really sorry, Will. But the Buffy you knew... that's not me."
Willow's eyes darted over to Faith with a scowl. "I suppose she has nothing to do with this?"
"Will, please." Buffy was trying to keep Willow's attention focused on her. "We're not the people you think you know."
Willow pushed out a breath and wiped away a tear. "I know... Giles told me... I just... I wanted..." Then she gathered herself. "We don't have time for this now. Let's go."
"Wait. Faith is coming with us." Buffy started to panic as she was pulled out of the room, and Faith was being forced to stay in the room by men with guns.
"No, she is not." Willow adamantly shook her head. "Now come on, we don't have much of a window here."
"If she's not coming, then neither am I." Buffy fought her way back into the room and stood next to Faith.
"You don't understand - you just don't remember what happened. All of this is her fault." Willow was practically howling and trying to drag Buffy out of the room.
"B, maybe you should just go with them."
"What? What are you talking about? I'm not leaving you here alone." Buffy really needed someone to stop being completely insane.
"Window is closing, boss." A voice from the hallway called, and Willow again tried to pull Buffy out of the room. Buffy had made her way to Faith and latched onto her wrist.
"Fine. She can come." Willow finally acquiesced, and Buffy was relieved, but Faith clearly wasn't.
"Are you sure we should go with them?" Faith asked, and Buffy grunted in frustration. "B, come on. They said they can get you home." Buffy hated that Faith kept saying 'you instead of 'we.' To Buffy, this meant that Faith was still planning to leave as soon as they got back. Buffy couldn't think about that right now.
"I know, but... Willow and Giles probably can too. Please?" Buffy tugged on Faith's arm, but she wouldn't move. "You know this place has a bad vibe."
Faith pushed out a breath, "fine."
"Damn it." Buffy hissed as she opened her eyes and realized Faith wasn't with her. It seemed like she was in some kind of tent, and she took a moment to get her bearings.
She didn't remember exactly what happened, but she must have been knocked out. It would explain the memory loss and the pounding headache.
"Giles, I don't understand. Why can't she remember?" Willow was practically crying, and Buffy's heart broke for her all over again. She felt guilty about snooping on their conversation, but they were kind of loud just outside the entrance to her tent.
"You may have to accept that she is telling the truth. We have had many reports that...". Giles sounded almost as sad as Willow did.
Willow huffed loudly, cutting him off. "I know about the reports. I just... I want her back."
The tent flap opened, and Willow entered. Buffy knew Willow was hurting, so she restrained herself from immediately asking where Faith was. Willow sighed and sat on the cot opposite Buffy's. "Sorry about knocking you out."
Buffy wasn't quite willing to accept the apology until she knew that Faith was safe. Fighting could be heard outside of the tent, and Buffy was outside in a flash.
"Where is B!?" Faith was roaring as she bulldozed everyone who went anywhere near her. If her hands weren't bound behind her back, she likely would have caused even more damage.
"I'm here. It's OK." Buffy said and slowly approached Faith, who immediately calmed down. At least it didn't look like she had been injured any further by these people.
"Nice friends you've made here, B." Faith grumbled as Buffy unshackled her hands. "Are you sure they'll help you get home?"
"Stop saying that!" Buffy had been teetering on the edge, and she couldn't take it another second. "We are going home together. And not because we have to but because that's what I want! I want you there with me! Do you understand?"
Faith looked around nervously. Everyone was staring at them. "Uh. Yeah, B. I get it. Sorry."
Buffy felt like a jerk for yelling at Faith, but she just couldn't take it anymore. She held the shackles in her hand and briefly considered tethering them together so Faith couldn't runoff. Instead, she dropped them on the ground and stomped off towards Giles. Hoping, but not checking to see if Faith followed her.
Giles led them into a large tent and motioned for them to sit.
Buffy answered all his questions and described the portal stone that they had previous used to hop dimensions without emotion.
Faith sat silently next to her, not really sure where to go from here. She was embarrassed that Buffy had called her out in front of everyone, but she was even more upset at how upset Buffy clearly was. The last thing Faith was trying to do was hurt Buffy.
"This is all very helpful." Giles gathered up his notes and slid them into a bag.
"Are you going somewhere?" Buffy asked, hoping she was going to have more time to talk to him.
"I'm afraid so. Willow and I are leaving in just a few hours, I'm afraid."
"Oh, OK." Buffy probably should have had questions about this. Like how they were going to help them get back, but she was just too depleted to bother.
"Feel free to make use of this tent." Giles was saying other things, but Buffy wasn't really listening.
"I think they were watching you." Buffy breaks the silence after almost an hour of lying silently on her cot.
Faith wasn't sleeping either, but this was the last thing she expected Buffy to say. Faith rolled to her side, "Why would they do that?"
"I don't exactly know. Something is weird with her." Buffy wished she had a better explanation.
"Sorry, B. I figured you wanted me to sit back... but..."
Buffy sighed, "It's not your fault. There was no choice."
"Um, B?"
"Yeah?"
"We'll get back home soon."
"Yeah." Buffy breathed out, relieved that Faith finally said we. Even if she didn't really mean it.
Faith knew she was disappointing Buffy somehow, and she hated it.
She wanted to make plans and promises, but she just couldn't. She could no longer deny to herself that she wanted to stay close with Buffy when they got home. But the realist in her knew it was never going to happen. It was better to avoid the subject as much as possible.
Faith's only focus was getting Buffy back home. It was the only way to make up for getting her into this mess in the first place.
Buffy wasn't sure how long they'd been at the camp, but she honestly didn't care.
Every day was pretty much the same. They spend most of the day training. Either just with each other or whoever wanted to learn from them.
They'd developed a routine for each meal where Buffy would find them a seat and Faith would grab food for both of them. There was no valid reason for this, as there was never a shortage of places to sit.
But Buffy absolutely loved it. Even though she often ended up waiting at an empty table since whoever she was initially sitting with finished their meal.
They helped out with whatever was needed, but always together. It was surprisingly helpful to have two chicks with superhuman strength.
At night they'd patrol the area and take out any demons or vampires that ventured too close to their camp. Buffy had no idea how close they were to Sunnydale or another major city. She guessed it must be pretty far since they never saw lights in the distance while patrolling.
Buffy's favorite part of the day, though, was the evenings. Anyone that didn't have work to do would sit around the fire. They'd tell stories or play music, none of which Buffy paid attention to.
Most of what Buffy was thinking about during this time was how Faith was sitting right next to her. Not just right next to her, but with her arm slung over Buffy's shoulders.
It has started with Faith's arm just on the backrest, but after only a few days - Faith's arm was wrapped around her for almost the entire time they sat out there.
Buffy did her best not to draw attention to it, but she had been slowly moving closer each night. By this point, cuddling was pretty much the only way to describe what they were doing.
Each night when they finished their patrol, Buffy swore to herself that she'd finally been brave enough to talk to Faith about how she felt - and each night, she chickened out. Eventually, she had to face the fact that she knew she wasn't saying anything because even though they were basically dating, it would end if Buffy brought attention to it.
Even after the night that she was shocked to enter their tent and find only one cot.
"Hey, B." Faith brushed past her and began changing for sleep. "You alright?" Faith asked, proceeding as if nothing was unusual.
"Um, yeah... Just..." Buffy motioned to the one cot and, for a moment, feared that Faith was going to tell her to leave.
"Oh yeah - the kids needed it more than we did." Faith shrugged. "Plus, it's getting colder at night - so ya know."
Buffy didn't know anything. She pretty much never did when it came to Faith. But putting together what Faith said - the implication was clear that they would be sharing this one cot. Deciding that she would just hope her interpretation was correct, she opted not to ask any more questions.
She wasn't quite sure how much longer she could keep doing this to herself. She knew she had completely fallen in love with Faith. But she also knew she couldn't actually acknowledge this. She spent a fair amount of her time wondering what excuse Faith was going to come up with for them needing to kiss. It crossed her mind to suggest playing 'spin the bottle' to one of the other kids in the camp. There were many flaws with this plan - mainly that there was too great a chance that one or the other of them would have to kiss someone else. She wasn't going to take that chance.
There was no doubt to her that nothing about this was healthy, but there was no one around to judge her, so she just enjoyed it for as long as she possibly could.
It was during one of their campfire cuddling sessions that the end of the good times began.
There was shouting in the distance, and both slayers lept into action without a thought. It wasn't unheard of to have a slaying emergency at this time of night. It was getting darker earlier, and there seemed to be more and more frequent attacks.
They moved as one until they found what was causing the commotion.
"Xander?"
Xander was on his knees with his hands behind his head, surrounded by several camp guards.
Buffy approached him cautiously. "What are you doing here?"
He grinned up at them. "Finally!"
Before either slayer could figure out what that meant, they each had a chance to look at each other and watch in horror as the other was shocked into unconsciousness by unseen foes.
Buffy sat up abruptly and winced at the pain in her head.
"Fuck." Faith woke a moment later, holding her head as well.
"We're back in that compound," Buffy said pointlessly.
"About time you two woke up." There was a screen on the wall with the Mayor's face smiling down at them. "Sorry about knocking you out - but we really didn't have time to explain."
"Explain what?" Buffy asked, and Faith shot her a glare. As if talking to this guy was going to make their situation worse.
"I just wanted to show you there were no hard feelings. I understand you didn't like being all couped up in here."
"So you dragged us back here?" Faith asked, not at all trying to play nice.
The Mayor sat back in his chair and grinned. "Well, I suppose it would look like that's what happened."
"How the fuck else do you explain it?"
"Faith," Buffy whispered a quiet warning, but Faith paid her no attention at all.
"I really hope you're down here." Faith stood up from her bed and approached the monitor.
The Mayor chuckled, "my - you are spirited - aren't you?"
Faith growled and reached back to punch the monitor. Buffy very barely stopped her. "We're trapped in here - remember?"
Faith huffed and pulled away from Buffy. "Whatever."
"Why did you bring us back here?" Buffy did her best to ignore Faith and focus her attention on the screen.
"I promised you a way home."
"OK?" Buffy looked around the room, expecting to see a portal stone somewhere.
"I must warn you - we had to abandon that facility. The area has become rather - unstable. But I'm sure you'll be able to follow our instructions and get yourselves home without trouble." Buffy had no idea what that meant, but the call had been disconnected before she had a chance to ask any questions.
The ground above them shook, and that pointed to him at least not lying about the unstable part. There was an audible click, and it sounded like the door might have unlocked. Faith was out in a flash with Buffy right behind her. The corridor was only lit in one direction, and despite not trusting anything about this - they really had no choice.
"I really don't like this."
Buffy couldn't disagree.
After only a few minutes of walking, the hallway ended and opened into a large open space. The console in the center of the room was the only thing lit, and they slowly approached it.
"Trap?" Faith asked and surveyed the room while Buffy moved closer.
"There's a note," Buffy said and sighed as she read it. "It says it's not a trap."
"Oh, good." Faith rolled her eyes.
"It's telling us how to go home." Buffy sighed. She was beyond conflicted. Getting home had been what she wanted for months now. But she couldn't hope but dread what that was going to mean.
"What do you think?" Faith asked, hoping not to betray her feelings.
"I really don't know. Do we have a choice?" Buffy asked.
The ground shook in answer to Buffy's question.
"Before we do this..." Buffy started and then hesitated.
Faith didn't turn around. They had avoided talking about what would happen when they got back for months. Faith wasn't going to let it happen now.
"If we're about to die..." Buffy couldn't help but be afraid about finally forcing this conversation. A small part of her hoping that they would just land in a different dimension. In which case, talking about this now would ruin things before they had to be ruined.
Faith pasted on her best smile as she turned around. "C'mon, B. You know nothing can kill us."
Buffy couldn't help but match the grin. She reached out to caress Faith's cheek but wimped out at the last moment and touched her shoulder instead. "Yeah, you're right." Buffy felt weak for not saying more. For not pulling Faith closer and showing her exactly how she felt.
The ground shook again, and Buffy knew there wasn't much more time. She promised herself to try harder when they got to the next dimension.
"Let's get the hell out of here, B."
Buffy nodded and followed the instructions on the paper. A pad light up in the center of the room, and they both moved quickly to enter the opening portal.