Buffy and Faith hid on either side of the basement door in silence. Buffy hated putting her friends in danger, but they all agreed this was the safest way to capture Not-Faith without anyone getting hurt. This plan should catch her with enough surprise to prevent her from calling for reinforcements.

As they stood there waiting, Buffy's mind kept drifting back to last night and most of the current day. Being with Faith was the most incredible experience of her life. Every moment reassured her that she was right to have sent Angel away. Sure, things with Angel had been passionate. He was a tender and caring lover, but Faith was something else entirely.

Even though they were vastly different people, they saw each other in a way that no one else could see them. It was an unspoken connection that could not possibly be explained to someone who wasn't a slayer. They had to balance the razor-thin edge between living a normal human existence while also being prepared to die at any given moment. Even though Angel should have understood who Buffy really was, he never would be able to. Not the way Faith did.

He would always put her above the mission. She knew Faith would never do that, and she would never do that to Faith. They'd do anything to keep each other safe, but it wasn't quite the same. It was a distinction Buffy intrinsically understood but couldn't put words to. Every time Faith touched her or even looked at her, she felt it and knew that Faith felt it too.

Buffy really hoped that they could get this ordeal over with so that she'd be able to be alone with Faith again. Of course, thinking about their next time had Buffy wondering how that was going to work. Would Faith move in with her? Or maybe her mother would allow her to move in with Faith? She was eighteen now, so she could do whatever she wanted. Then she was flooded with insecurities. She had no way of knowing if Faith would even want to live with her.

She had finally adjusted to sleeping without Faith, but that didn't mean she liked it. She knew things couldn't be like they were when they were traveling through the portals. Buffy had school and her family. She wouldn't be able to just hang out with Faith all day.

Plus, Faith wouldn't want that anyway. Faith had just basically got out of prison - she'd probably want some time to enjoy her freedom. Buffy didn't even want to ask. She didn't want Faith to think she was insecure - even if she was. Faith had been through so much worse than she had - everything that happened next would have to be on Faith's terms.

The more Buffy thought about it, the more she knew how hard things were going to be. Faith wouldn't tell her how she felt about anything, and Buffy would be too terrified to ask. It would just be replicating everything that had gone wrong before. Buffy was determined to be stronger this time, though. She knew Faith at least liked her this time, so now she wouldn't let it bother her.

The fact that her heart was racing and the ringing in her ears was starting to make it hard to think was proving everything she was trying to convince herself of as being a lie.

Faith was having a very similar conversation with herself. Luckily for both of them, she came to a very different conclusion.

"Hey, B," Faith whispered, and Buffy looked up, hoping that the tears brimming her eyes would not be visible in the faint light. "You OK?"

Buffy couldn't quite meet Faith's eyes, but she nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. I just want to get this over with."

"Tell me what's going on." Faith was doing her best not to panic. She had no experience with trying to comfort someone. Buffy was clearly in distress, and Faith couldn't help but think it was her fault somehow. But she was doing her best to stay calm until she knew if there was something to freak out about.

"Well..." Buffy trailed off for a moment, hoping she could think of something minor that Faith would buy. Then she grunted in annoyance with herself. How much suffering had she endured because she didn't tell Faith what she was thinking? "After this is over... what's going to happen?"

Faith instantly took Buffy's meaning, and she stiffened. Faith rarely took the time to think about what was going to happen 'after' anything. "I guess we'll need to figure that out. Do you think... will your mom be cool with us..." Faith wasn't exactly sure how to end that question. She hadn't even considered what Joyce would think of their relationship.

"I'm not sure how she's going to react." Buffy admitted, "but I am eighteen. If she doesn't approve - I can just move out."

"You would do that? You would..." Faith's brain froze as the implication set in. She wasn't sure how long she stood there with her mouth open before she realized that Buffy had moved closer.

"Without a doubt - if she doesn't approve of us, then I would move out. I really don't think it will come to that." Buffy bit her lip for a second. "Do you want to live with me?"

"Would you move in with me?" Faith asked at the same time Buffy started talking, and they both laughed.

"I don't know." Buffy grinned and wrapped her arms around Faith's shoulders. "Your apartment is kind of small - we'd have to share a bed."

Faith laughed and pulled Buffy close by her waist. "You are such a..." Faith snapped her mouth shut at Buffy's raised eyebrow. "I mean... you're so cute?"

Buffy laughed herself, not at all minding that Faith was almost definitely about to call her something less flattering. "Good save."

Faith was pretty sure anything else she said now would dig herself deeper into trouble. Luckily for her, Buffy cut off whatever she might say with a kiss. A kiss that was turning into something inappropriate for the setting. Buffy pushed Faith up against the wall, and Faith's hands slid up from Buffy's waist under her shirt. Just as she was about to pull the garment off - voices could be heard approaching.

"To be continued." Buffy pecked Faith's lips once more and returned to her position on the other side of the entrance.

"Thank you so much for this, Faith." Cordelia could be heard saying as the basement door was being opened. The slayers held their positions to let Cordelia pass by, then they launched their attack.

A rope was looped around Not-Faith - pinning her arms to her side. Buffy quickly and aggressively stuffed a rag in her mouth and added duct tape to keep it in place. The whole process took less than five seconds.

"Nicely done," Cordelia said and turned back towards the stairs. "Well - are you coming? Grab that." Cordelia pointed to a keg a few feet away.

"What? No fucking way." Faith said and crossed her arms over her chest. Faith realizes now how distracted she had been when they were discussing the plan.

"You have to," Buffy lamented - hating the idea just as much as Faith did. "We don't know who else is involved."

Not-Faith chuckled from under her gag, and Buffy very nearly punched her out.

"If you want to stay conscious - I suggest you keep your fucking mouth shut." Faith threatened before Buffy had the chance to.

Not-Faith had the good sense to be appropriately terrified by this threat. Considering everything she had done to the two slayers, she should count herself lucky that they hadn't already killed her.

Faith didn't want to go to the party, but she thought it would be tolerable with Buffy at her side. She sighed loudly but finally accepted her fate. "You're not coming?" She asked when she realized Buffy wasn't following her.

"We can't leave her alone, and I can't go up there anyway." Buffy pointed out.

"B..." Faith started but knew that there was no way around it. "I'll come down to check on you as much as I can."

Buffy nodded but had to look away before Faith left. She was very pleasantly surprised when she was being spun around, and Faith was gently kissing her.

"We'll get through this." Faith offered her a cocky grin before heading out of the basement with the keg in hand.

Once they were alone, Buffy focused her attention on the evil version of Faith tied to a chair. Not-Faith was looking up at her with pure hate in her eyes, and Buffy could only hold eye contact for a few seconds.

"What is wrong with you?" She couldn't help but ask.

Not-Faith rolled her eyes and grunted through her gag.

Buffy sighed and moved away - there was no chance she was going to remove that gag. She wished she'd thought to bring a book or something to keep her entertained. Without her Faith here, there was nothing to distract her from the lively sounds of the party her friends were having without her.

Faith dropped into the sewer and followed the tunnels back to where she had been held hostage. She just hoped her assumption about there being a way into city hall was correct.

She was tense but ready. It all came down to this. If she could get the information they needed, that might make up for everything else she had done wrong.

Buffy said she didn't blame her for the torment she had been through. That didn't matter to Faith. Everything Buffy had been through was Faith's fault, and nothing could change that. Stopping the Mayor was the first step in making it up to her.

The City Hall building was empty and quiet, but she knew he would be there. He had to be - or Buffy might never forgive her for taking off this way. Part of her knew that it wasn't the right move to ditch Buffy in the basement without saying anything about her plan. But she also knew that Buffy never would have let her do this.

And she had to do this.

"Come in!" The Mayor's cheery voice called from the other side of the door, and Faith took a centering breath before opening it. "Faith!" He welcomed her with a grin that made her wince.

"Hey, Boss." Faith moved only slightly into the office. The idea had been to come here and do some recon, maybe take the Mayor out if he wasn't human. Getting immediately trapped in his office wasn't part of the plan. She left the door open and leaned against the door frame.

"Did we have a meeting that I forgot about? Not that I'm not happy to see you." He smiled at her, and Faith genuinely believed him. The Mayor might be a monster, but he did have feelings.

"Nah," Faith said casually. "I'm just wicked bored. I was hoping there was something I could do."

The Mayor grinned at her. "You are a spirited girl."

"Yeah - that's me. Spirited." Faith said with derision. "Don't you have someone for me to kill or something? This dimension is so lame, and hanging out with those losers is making me crazy."

The Mayor grinned again and leaned back in his chair. He steepled his fingers and thought about it. "I'm sorry, we're too close and have gone through too much trouble to get you here."

Faith blew out an annoyed breath but kept quiet. Not sensing any other beings in the area, she felt confident enough to move further into the room. She looked around the space casually, trying to appear bored and not at all interested in what she was looking at.

"I really did not expect the bond to be so strong between them." Then he chuckled as Faith seethed. "You did a fine job of breaking the blonde one. Master-full work. Now I'm afraid you'll just have to sit tight for a few more days."

Faith huffed slightly and crossed her arms over her chest. As she surveyed the room, she noticed an open box that she was drawn to. Without asking, she lifted the ornate dagger up to inspect it closely.

"Tsk, tsk. You know you have no affinity for weapons. You better put that down before you hurt yourself." The Mayor was suddenly right next to her and guided the weapon back into its felt-lined box. "It's a shame none of our efforts to train you panned out."

Faith sneered and considered showing him exactly how skilled she could be with that dagger.

"Faith? Is everything still in order?" His fatherly tone was hard to ignore and pulled her out of her thoughts. Faith hated that she could easily see herself falling in league with this monster. The way he talked to her was so different from how the watchers did. They never praised her or told her that she was important. They never even looked at her. Even her first watcher had been like that.

All Diana ever did was look at her like she expected to be disappointed. Not the Mayor, though. He looked at her with hope and affection. And not the creepy kind of affection Faith had often experienced from older men. Faith pushed those thoughts away and reminded herself that he had orchestrated the division between Buffy and her friends. He was the reason behind that sadness in Buffy's eyes.

That was the only thing that mattered.

"Yeah, Boss." Faith managed to turn her anger back into just being annoyed about being bored.

The Mayor crossed the room to face her. "You are the critical piece here. We will need offerings to keep the portal open. I chose you specifically for this task - I know you will make me proud." He placed his hands on her shoulders, and she couldn't help but feel how much he cared about Not-Faith.

"You can count on me, Boss. Your offerings will be all lined up." Faith tried not to frown at the mention of a portal. She had hoped she'd never see another one, but at least they had gained some information.

"And the blonde slayer?" He released her shoulders and moved to lean against his desk.

Here was the tricky part. "Well, that's the thing..." She wanted to fish for information without making it seem like some part of the plan was failing.

The Mayor raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue.

"I've been hearing reports that she's been seen with a couple of her friends." Faith's original idea had been to offer to take Buffy out, but she figured there was no way that he'd OK that. "I just wanna be sure there's nothing she can do to fuck things up for you."

"Language!" He snapped at her, and she winced, almost jumping back a step.

"Sorry, Boss." Her head hung low, and her stomach knotted in a way it hadn't since she was five years old. Even though it would probably help for him to see her looking chastised, she just couldn't allow that, so she turned her attention back to the knife. Focusing on the ornate weapon helped keep her on task.

The Mayor sighed loudly and rested his hands on her shoulders from behind. "Sorry for snapping at you. We've just gone through so much trouble to find the right dimension and the right combination of slayers."

Faith found this information interesting - that meant it wasn't just about Not-Faith. Somehow she and Buffy were involved in the plan.

"Is there anything I can do?" She hated the earnestness in her voice. As she said the words - she actually meant them. She wanted to help the Mayor accomplish his goals no matter what.

He released her shoulders and walked over to a cabinet. Trying not to be too obvious, she tried to peer in when he opened it. It wasn't possible to see around him, but she could see a vivid green light emanating all around him.

After only a few moments, he closed the doors and turned to face her again. His demeanor had shifted, but Faith could tell he was trying to hide it. His toothy smile was a little less convincing, and Faith knew she was in trouble.

"Now, Firecracker." He put his hands on her shoulders once again. Faith's body instantly reacted to the nickname and the touch. Her father had called her that. It was one of the few things she remembered about him. Thinking of her father raked at her insides, and she had to fight to get back into the moment. She couldn't break down now - Buffy was counting on her. "I thought you said you had everything under control."

"I did... do... I mean, I do. I just wanted to know for sure what to worry about. Might make it easier to keep her from fu... messing things up." Faith stumbled over her words, and it wasn't for show. This was the most terrifying moment of Faith's life, and that was saying a lot.

He squeezed her shoulders just a little too hard, but Faith didn't let it show. The longer he loomed over her, the bigger he seemed and the smaller she felt. It took all her self-control not to drop down and beg him for forgiveness.

The door opened behind her, and Faith had to resist whipping around to see who it might be.

"Finally," the Mayor said as he released Faith's shoulders and took a step back. "What took you so long?"

"She was feistier than I expected." The sound of Faith's own voice from the doorway sprung Faith into action.

She had picked up the knife and was poised to throw it before the last word was even out of Not-Faith's mouth. Only the look in Buffy's eyes and the slightest of headshakes stopped her from delivering the killing blow. Faith's first thought was that Buffy didn't believe she could take Not-Faith out, but she quickly dismissed it.

There must be something else going on. Faith still held the knife, ready to move at a moment's notice, but she opted to trust Buffy and wait to see how things played out.

Buffy was gagged, and her wrists were bound behind her back. Faith eyed her curiously for a moment. Even from here, Faith was pretty sure that Buffy could have escaped those bindings any time she wanted to.

"What are you waiting for." The Mayor said, and Faith wasn't sure which one of them he was talking to. It made no sense that he would be talking to her, but the words were practically whispered in her ear.

Buffy whimpered from across the room. Not-Faith had a dagger of her own - this one was pressed into Buffy's neck. A fine line of blood slid down Buffy's neck and slowly ran down her chest to disappear under her shirt.

"Are you really going to let her get away with that?" The Mayor's voice was once again in her ear, and the fury in Faith's mind quieted. "Look what she's done to your precious little girlfriend."

There was no doubt now, the Mayor was trying to get her to kill Not-Faith.

"Hey, what are you whispering about over there?" Not-Faith poked her head out from behind Buffy with narrowed eyes.

Faith looked down at the knife in her hand and tried to decide on the next move. She placed the knife reverently back into its box, fully intent on taking it after this was all over.

"Bossman wants me to kill you." Faith kept her eyes on Buffy as she spoke. The relief in Buffy's eyes was unmistakable. So whatever was going on here, she wasn't going to be able to kill the other version of herself.

The Mayor next to her grunted in annoyance. "Don't believe a word she says. You know you're my right hand." He was very clearly irritated, and Faith found it amusing. Everything she had thought she had felt from the Mayor towards Not-Faith was a lie. He hated the evil slayer almost as much as she did. That helped her break the spell she had been under.

Any desire she might have had to please him was gone.

Buffy whimpered again, and the flow of blood on her neck increased. "I suggest you drop that knife right fucking now. Maybe I won't kill you - but I can make you wish I had."

Not-Faith didn't release Buffy, but she did move the knife away.

"What are you doing?" The Mayor whispered again. "You know you can make that throw. Are you really going to let her doubts stop you from doing what you need to do?"

"B doesn't doubt me." Faith growled out as she spun around and shoved the Mayor into the wall.

"Hey!" Not-Faith shouted and moved away enough for Buffy to spin around and jump through her restrained hands.

Now that her hands were in front of her, she ripped her gag away and disarmed Not-Faith.

"Shit." Not-Faith gasped and backed away with her hands raised. "Look - we can work this out."

The Mayor let out a loud groan of disappointment. "I cannot believe how worthless you are!"

Faith initially thought he was talking to her, but when Not-Faith launched herself across the room, she realized where the comment was directed.

"I am not worthless!" Not-Faith screamed as she clawed at the Mayor's face.

"Yes, you are." He grabbed her hands and restrained her. "All this planning, and it was ruined by you and your inability to do even the most basic things."

Not-Faith screeched and changed her tactics. She jumped straight up, using his grip on her wrists to help support the move. He didn't have time to figure out what she was doing before she was able to drive both her feet into his chest - launching him away from her and through the window.

"Holy shit." Faith hissed and ran to see his landing. The Mayor's body had been impaled on the metal fence just below. Blood spurted out of his mouth briefly as he struggled to free himself. Faith watched him with confusion until his body finally stilled and fell limp.

"Let me go!" Not-Faith was struggling to get past Buffy and out of the office. Buffy's hands were still bound, but she had no trouble preventing her escape.

Faith approached from behind and was able to put the enraged slayer into a sleeper hold.

"What the hell happened? How did you let her take you?" Faith asked as she removed the chains binding Buffy's hands together.

Buffy pushed out a breath of embarrassment. "Wesley called - he has my mother."

"Fuck." Faith hissed and pulled Buffy into a hug. "Do you know where they are?"

"I have no idea."

"OK, let's get this asshole chained up and go get Joyce back." Faith slides her new knife into her jacket, then picks Not-Faith up and slings her over her shoulder.

"Wait a minute," Buffy says, and from the angry tone, Faith can guess what is going to happen next. "Why... why did you do this?"

Faith instantly dropped Not-Faith onto the ground and reached for Buffy's hands. "I'm so sorry... I just... I needed to fix this. I needed to do something. Please understand"

Buffy frowned and focused on her relief that Faith was OK. She could be mad about this later. "Did you learn anything?"

Faith was relieved that Buffy hadn't pulled her hands away. "A little. First - whatever they're doing has to do with all of us - not just her." Faith kicks out at Not-Faith's slumped form. "Oh!"

Faith reluctantly drops Buffy's hands to move towards the box. "I think this is that Dagon energy, or whatever."

Buffy watches with amazement as the green glow emanates from the box. As she reaches to touch the lid, something strange happens. The light coalesces into a tight ball and moves too quickly to track where it went.

"Well, shit." Faith says as she looks at the now-empty box. "I guess it's good he doesn't have it now, though. Right?"

"Right." Buffy agrees and looks back at Not-Faith.

"B?" Faith's heart is racing as she waits for Buffy to look at her. "Are you... can..." Faith's voice cracks, and she forgets how to breathe.

Buffy pulls her in for a hug and rests Faith's head against her shoulder. "Hey, relax. It's OK. What are you trying to ask?"

Faith clutches onto Buffy and forces her breathing to calm. "Can you forgive me for leaving like I did? Are we..." Breaking up is what she want to ask but can't bring herself to.

She can feel Buffy's quiet sigh of disappointment and prepares herself for the worst. "Of course, I forgive you. I probably would have done the same thing."

Faith can't believe what she's hearing. "Really?"

Buffy chuckles, "yeah, really. Honestly..." Then she stops and shakes her head, trying to get Giles' voice out. "We probably need to figure out a way to make sure we don't keep trying to sacrifice ourselves for the other."

Faith frowns as she tries to make sense of that statement.

Buffy releases her tight grip around Faith and pulls back so she can meet her eyes. "We are so much stronger when we are together. If we keep being reckless in order to keep the other one safe... that's not going to work out for anyone. If something had happened to you today... I can't even deal with that."

Faith finally understood and kissed Buffy's tears away. "You're right, B. I get it. If you had taken off like I had... shit... I'm sorry for putting you through that."

"I forgive you. Just don't do it again." Buffy replies with a wink and kisses Faith to hopefully prove the forgiveness.

"Let's get the hell out of here."

Buffy stops Faith before she can turn away. "I mean it, Faith. We need to be a team. I need to know that you care about your life as much as I do."

Faith swallowed hard as Buffy stared hard into her eyes. "I get it, B. I know this might've seemed reckless, but trust me - I... I won't do anything that might get me killed." Then she put her hands on her hips. "Like say... letting myself get slayer-napped by someone who completely sucks at fighting." She kicked at not-Faith again to emphasize her point.

Buffy realized she had no moral high ground here, and she pushed out a breath. "Yeah - that would be a pretty dumb thing to do." Then she chuckled, "OK, let's get the hell out of here."

Faith grins in relief and throws Not-Faith over her shoulder again. Buffy takes another look around the room before following Faith into the basement of city hall.

Not-Faith was beginning to stir, and Faith swung her body around, so her head clunked loudly into the door frame.

"Hey!" Buffy said and frowned at Faith.

"What's up? Don't tell me..."

Buffy silenced her with a smile and a quick kiss. "I wanted to do that."

Faith laughed, "you can get the next one - OK?"

Once they had Not-Faith hanging by her arms in the cell, they stopped to think about what they would do to get Joyce back. Would he accept Not-Faith in trade? Was that a trade they were even willing to make? She was obviously important for something, but they had no idea what.

Not-Faith began to stir, but neither slayer moved to knock her out again.

"Fuck." The restrained slayer growled and pulled at her bindings. "You better let me out of here right fucking now."

Faith stalked up to her and got right in her face. "Yeah? Or what? Your Boss is dead, and you kinda suck as a slayer - so what are you gonna do?"

Not-Faith's grin was feral, and Buffy winced at it. "Are you sure about that?"

"I'm definitely sure you can't fight for shit."

"Are you sure my boss is dead?" Not-Faith held Faith's stare, and Buffy was starting to really freak out. She had a feeling this wasn't over, and they also really needed to get her mother back.

Buffy placed a gentle hand on Faiths' shoulder, pulling her back. "Where is Wes holding my mother?"

Not-Faith let her eyes drift over to Buffy. "Fuck if I know."

Faith slammed her in the stomach, and Not-Faith let out a loud groan.

After everything Not-Faith did, Buffy was very conflicted about watching this. There was no doubt that Faith had earned the right to beat on Not-Faith - but Buffy was worried about what it might do to her.

"Faith." She said gently. "Let's just go. She's not going to tell us anything."

"Fine." Faith clearly wasn't done and didn't quite understand why Buffy was protecting the person who caused her so much pain.

They double-checked that Not-Faith was securely chained and gagged.

Then they headed out of the sewers and up into the night. There was certainly a chance that someone would come around and free her, but they didn't have many options. It wouldn't be practical to keep carrying her around, and neither was willing to babysit her.

"Why didn't you let me just kill her?" Faith asked as they made their way back to Cordy's house.

Buffy could tell that Faith was upset, and she understood why. "Dagon."

Faith raised a questioning eyebrow and motioned for Buffy to finish.

"I knew I had heard that somewhere before." Buffy paused, not sure how Faith was going to take what she was about to say. "I didn't want to be a slayer anymore. It looked like you - she, I mean - had Sunnydale under control. So I was planning on leaving Sunnydale after graduation."

"OK?" Faith hoped she didn't sound as upset as she felt. It was impossible not to be a little hurt that Buffy was planning on abandoning her - even though that wasn't at all fair. One thing Faith had learned during her months of torture was patience. So she did her best to wait while Buffy finished.

"One of the things I came across was the Order of Dagon - which is sort of like the keepers of the slayer power." Buffy stopped walking and took a deep calming breath, she wasn't sure if she could say this out loud, but she didn't want to hide anything from Faith.

"I thought Willow said it had to do with dimensions?"

Buffy frowned, "yeah - I don't know. Maybe I misunderstood what I read. We'll need to ask her about it." Buffy was pretty sure she hadn't misunderstood anything, but she couldn't imagine why Willow would lie about it.

Faith knew they couldn't solve the mystery of Dagon themselves, so she went back to their previous topic. She had to understand what Buffy was thinking. "You were going to try and give up your slayer powers?" Faith couldn't keep the shock out of her voice, and Buffy winced in shame. There were no circumstances where Faith could imagine giving up being a slayer.

"Yeah," Buffy sighed out, too terrified to actually look at Faith and see her disappointment. "I thought that would be safer. If I wasn't the slayer - no demons would come after me."

"And did you find a way?" Faith asked, trying her best to keep any judgment out of the question.

"No, not really." Buffy shook her head and tried to get on track. "But I did read a little about Dagon. One of the stories I came across was a thwarted plan to corrupt the slayer line. I don't remember all the details - but basically, if someone were able to flip a slayer to the dark side - it would destroy the slayer magic."

"That's what he was trying to do? Get me to kill her and put an end to slayers?"

"I'm not sure, but I think so. Hopefully, I can remember where I read about it so we can learn more." Buffy was relieved that Faith hadn't freaked out on her.

Faith nodded, and they started walking again. "Why not just have her kill you or me? Wasn't she already corrupted? And the way she took out the Mayor..." Faith trailed off, wincing as she remembered. She hadn't been able to tear herself away as she watched herself lose control as she wailed on the Mayor.

Buffy sighed out, "I don't know. I don't think this over."

"I'll feel better when she's gone." Faith practically growls out. "How are we getting rid of her, and what are we going to do about all your friends?"

"I don't know." Buffy couldn't help but shake her head in frustration. "I don't know what we're going to do about anything."

"Hey," Faith leaned forward and pulled Buffy close. "We'll figure this out."

"Yeah," Buffy instantly felt better now that Faith's arms were around her.

They started walking again, both of their minds racing. Faith knew this wasn't the time - but she had to know what Buffy was planning on doing after graduation. "So, what school did you get accepted to?"

Buffy tried not to smile at how nervous Faith clearly was. "A few places. I was going to go to Northwestern..."

"Oh wow - that's a big deal." Faith couldn't help it - she was impressed. And even though she was devastated that Buffy was leaving Sunnydale, she wasn't going to try and bring Buffy down.

"Yeah," Buffy shrugs. "It turns out being a total social pariah leads to a lot more time to study."

"Oh yeah, guess that makes sense." Faith's voice cracked a little, and Buffy decided to answer the question that Faith was terrified to ask.

"I also got into UC Sunnydale," Buffy says casually and reaches for Faith's hand to tug her closer.

"Oh?"

"Uh-huh." Buffy grins and pulls Faith's body tight to hers.

Faith can't help her smile as she leans in to kiss Buffy. The kiss is brief; they both know they need to get moving to get Joyce back.