Faith's POV

I can't believe this is happening. It's way too soon, but I don't care.

Holding her in my arms, feeling her respond to my touch - I've been waiting for this since we met, and I didn't even know it. I can feel and sense everything around me more clearly. I can even sense her again. If I close my eyes, I can still see her energy floating in front of me.

She tells me she wants me more than she had words for, and I get that - I have no words either, only burning fiery desire. Only a need that cannot possibly be denied. I know this is right. It is what we were meant to have. All my fears and doubts melt away. There is only her. Only Buffy. I've never done this before, never with a woman, and never with anyone I cared about. It's so completely different. It's not just our bodies that are connecting. Our hearts, our souls, and our slayers are calling to each other.

I want to feel all of her and for her to feel all of me. I want to know that we are one. Everything either of us has ever done was to lead up to this moment so that we could have this feeling. I'm gripping her with all that I have. On a regular person, it would leave nasty bruises. I'm not sure she'll even notice. There is nothing violent or aggressive in our actions. The walls and the furniture might disagree.

I carry her away from the wall to the bed. I kiss her with all that I have, our tongues fighting for power, neither finding the edge. Both glad to submit and fight for domination at the same time. Clothes are torn off and discarded without a thought. My hands make their way over every possible inch of her flesh. Loving the sensation, knowing that this is the ultimate right and wrong at the same time. Relinquishing any sanity to how good it feels to touch and be touched by her.

She gets the upper hand, flipping me onto my back, nipping delightfully at my neck. I feel my body give in to her, everything that I have is hers, and she takes it. I let her have control for several long minutes, letting my body revel in her touches. I decide it's my turn again, and I

push her off me. She growls as we fight for dominance. It doesn't take much for her to give in to me, and I continue to love her with every part of myself.

I'm able to let go entirely. My desires completely control me. We pull and rip at each other in a way no other earthly being could tolerate. For us, though, it's bliss. It's magic. Our touches simultaneously hurt and soothe. All these years of pent-up emotions are exploding out of us.

She's calling my name. It's a name that I never thought about before, but it seems to hold so much meaning now. As I caress, lick, and thrust my way into hearing it screamed over and over. Nothing means more to me now than hearing her call my name in complete ecstasy. Just as I know, I'll be screaming her name the same way once I let her have her turn.

I'm not even fully aware of what we're doing. My body is reacting to hers. It knows exactly what she needs, and it gives it to her. It should be terrifying, but I won't let the tiny voice in my head that's scared of everything good have any power over me anymore.

I'm lying on my back and she's wrapped around me like a blanket. Our bodies are slick with sweat, our fingers intertwined, resting on my stomach. I'm replaying the events of the last hour, wondering when we'll have time to do it again. Her voice brings me out of my delirium.

"You broke another door." She smiles and nestles her face into my neck.

"I do seem to have a problem with that." I grin and squeeze her.

"Faith? Buffy?" I hear Giles' voice call from downstairs, and I groan. Forced back into reality. We have to get going.

"We'll be down soon." I attempt to sit up and roll away, but she won't let me. "We have to go." She mumbles something incomprehensible into my neck. Instead of arguing, I wrap my arms around her and lift her as I stand. "We can go like this if you want to. You know I don't mind public nudity."

She giggles, and then her eyes go wide with fear. "Shit."

"What? Are you OK? You're not…" freaking out about what we just did? I don't finish my question out loud, afraid that if I ask it, she'll be offended, and it would erase the most incredible hour of my life.

"Giles."

"What about him?" I'm relieved and confused that she's worried about Giles and not me.

"Why is he here?"

"They tricked him… shit." We should have realized this sooner. I was so caught up in her that I wasn't thinking about the danger we're in. She slides off me to stand, but her arms are still around my neck, her head resting on my shoulder.

"So now, what do we do? Why could they possibly want him to be with us?"

"Maybe since they know his plan? But no, they would have known that we would have realized it was a trick." My mind is racing. I feel guilty for being so wrapped up in my need for her that I didn't notice this problem sooner.

"The fake call from Willow was trying to get you to go with him. But the plan then was to fly." She huffs in frustration as neither of us can figure out what they're trying to do.

"I guess we better get dressed and try to find out if he knows anything." I hate both parts of my suggestion.

"It's a good thing you kept your plan secret. Will it still work?" I still kinda can't believe that she hasn't demanded to know what my plan is.

"I think so," I'm worried, though. We'll be more vulnerable to instant death with my plan, but it doesn't seem like they want us dead.

If we're dead, they can't use us against the rest of the slayers.

Buffy's POV

I bounce down the stairs carrying my bags. I've never felt anything close to this in my entire life. Everything is humming. The world seems brighter. I can sense Faith again too, which is incredible. I hadn't even realized how much I missed our connection until I felt it again.

Ever since the spell, I hadn't been able to feel her at all, but I was too annoyed with life to talk to her about it when she tried. Now her energy is bright and pulsing. It's far stronger than it ever was before.

I watch her as she comes down the stairs carrying her bags. Our eyes are locked, and I know she's having all the same thoughts I am.

I am worried about why Giles is here. There must be some reason they wanted him with us. Or maybe they wanted us to send him away again. I want to believe that he isn't knowingly involved in any of this, but that doesn't mean it's safe to have him near us. If we send him away, they could capture him and try to use him against us. But wouldn't they have done that already? Argh.

I don't want to deal with reality. I don't want to move to Cleveland or spend who knows how many hours cramped in a car with Giles. All I want is to go back upstairs with her. Giles knocks me out of my fantasies.

"Are you two ready to go?" He asks cautiously, not wanting to be too pushy but clearly running out of patience.

"Ready as we'll ever be, I guess," I answer, still staring at Faith.

"Are you going to share your plan?" Giles asks.

"Nah, you'll see soon enough." She looks slightly more annoyed than I would like. She probably feels guilty for not thinking something was up with Giles sooner. I have the same guilt, but I wouldn't take back the past hour for anything.

We head outside, and I don't see the car she was supposedly trading the bike for. She grins at my confusion and heads towards Giles' rental car. We throw our bags in the trunk, and I climb into the back. I'm pleased that she follows me. Giles grimaces and falls into the driver's seat. "Care to tell me where we're going?"

Instead of answering, she leans between the seats and enters an address in the GPS. As she settles back down to her seat, she reaches across to hold my hand and stares out the window. I wish I knew what she was thinking or that we could talk freely. Not knowing if Giles is evil or that there might be a listening device in the car, we opt to stay silent.

The destination is a little over an hour away. It's an address I don't recognize. Though that isn't very surprising. I frown a little, remembering how little I know of what she's been doing all this time. She sees my frown and wipes it away with a gentle kiss. We drive for about 40 minutes, "stop here." She calls to Giles, and he looks concerned but does as she asks. Pulling over to the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

"What's going on? Why are we stopping here?" Giles asks, and I roll my eyes. He still seems to think he's our watcher and that we're meant to follow his orders.

"We're going to go for a little walk." She smiles and climbs out of the car. "You too, G," she calls over her shoulder when Giles doesn't immediately react. "Leave your phone."

We walk about 200 yards into the woods when she finally stops. I stay quiet, trying to sense if anything is lurking in the woods that might be listening.

"What's this all about?" Giles asks, finally seeming to run out of patience.

"What exactly did I say to you when I called?"

"I thought that wasn't you?" I'm back to wanting to punch his smug face. He claimed to have some awareness of what he's done to me, but I guess that doesn't mean he's not still going to be his usual arrogant self.

"It wasn't, but we're trying to figure out why they might have wanted you with us," I answer, hoping to keep things civil.

He frowns, "Truthfully, it was a text message. It said to return to the house that you would travel with me willingly."

"Was there ever a plan for you to fly back?" I ask, still trying to piece this together.

"That was our initial intention. It only changed to driving when the text message reminded me of Faith's fugitive status."

All this time, I had forgotten about that. Faith should have been far away from California, but she stayed with me, risking getting caught again. From the tight look on her face, I can tell that she hadn't forgotten.

"OK, so first, they knew you planned to fly, but then they changed to wanting us to drive." She says, running her fingers through her hair in exasperation.

"Maybe if you told me more of what was going on, I could be of more assistance."

"Maybe you should shut your face." I jump between them, putting my hands on Faith's shoulders and pushing her away before she can do something she regrets.

"Faith, we have to figure this out. Attacking Giles isn't going to help us."

"Unless he's in on it! Then it might help a lot."

"You can't possibly believe that I would be involved in anything that might hurt the slayer line!"

"Screw this. We're never going to know what their plan is. You get yourself to Cleveland, and I'll get us there. Then we don't have to worry about trusting each other." She reaches for my hand and drags me further into the woods.

"Faith? Where are we going?" I look back to see Giles standing there with his hands on his hips. He looks furious. Somehow I can't manage to care.

"To visit a friend." Her speed picks up, and I'm forced to keep pace. We run for thirty minutes without stopping. Finally, I see a large house through the trees. She stops, and we catch our breath. There is a clear perimeter to the property, with armed guards patrolling. I sense only humans in the area, which calms me slightly.

"What is this place?"

"I told you, a friend." I'm confused at how cold she's suddenly being. I can't remember the last time she snapped at me when I didn't deserve it.

"Faith?" I squeeze her hand to get her attention.

"What?" She snaps again and then sighs. "Sorry, I really didn't want you to know about this."

"Afraid I'll be upset that you've been hanging out with criminals?" I grin at her, hoping she'll see that I'm not going to give her a hard time about this.

"What? How did you…"

"I'm not quite as dumb as I look," I grin and pull her close.

"So you're not mad?"

I'm hurt that she doesn't trust me enough to tell me everything, but I also don't think I've done anything to earn that trust yet. All I've done since I've known her was to judge her. "No, of course not. I'm sure you had good reasons."

"It's not like with the mayor, I swear. I never hurt anyone."

"Faith, I never thought that for a second. I trust you."

Faith's POV

She says my name again. She says she trusts me, and I believe her. Her arms are wrapped around me, and I lean my forehead against hers. Breathing in her scent, feeling her warmth. I want to pull her back into the woods, but there isn't time. Besides, if this goes the way I hope, we'll have some time to ourselves soon enough.

"Let's get this over with. Follow my lead." I drag her to the compound and wait for the guard to pass. I nod to her, and we leap over the wall, landing silently on the other side. We wind our way to the back patio. There are sounds of a party, no guards visible, but I know they're there. I hold my hands out from my body, showing that they are empty. I motion for B to do the same.

We slowly approach. Luckily, he sees me right away and sends a silent signal to his guards. He motions his head towards the house, and we make our way in that direction.

"Things didn't quite work out the way you'd hoped?" He grins.

"Not quite. I still want to do what we planned. Just need another way to get there."

"Your bike is out front." I look over to B, and she shudders but nods.

"Perfect. Thanks for everything." I shake his hand. "We're even now."

"No, I don't think we'll ever be even. I'll be here for anything you need." He smiles, and I nod. He's always been so kind and welcoming, but I never let myself get too close. I couldn't risk falling into whatever shady business he's into.

We walk around to the front of the house to see the bike waiting for us, I climb on, and B follows. She wraps herself around me, and I take off down the driveway. Forty minutes later, we pull up to our destination. It's a small commuter airport, and I can tell by how her jaw dropped that this was not what she was expecting.

We get settled on the plane in silence. I'm nervous that something could still go wrong, but I'm trying not to show it. I recognize the pilots, and I know they're loyal guys. The plane is small. There are only twenty seats, but their big comfy ones that recline. I pick a window seat, and she takes the one next to me.

"I should probably explain."

"Only if you want to." I can tell the curiosity is getting to her, but I'm really telling her because I don't like the idea of keeping secrets from her. I don't want to hide any part of myself, even the parts I'm not proud of.

"I was out on patrol when we first got here, and I stumbled across his compound. I had been following the scent of something. I wasn't sure what it was. At least ten of these giant horned demons had broken through the wall, attacking his guards. All they had to defend themselves were guns, and that wasn't doing anything."

"Did you have any weapons?" Her eyes are locked on mine as I speak. It's weird to have her pay attention to me so openly. In the past, she would always appear disinterested when I told stories, only joining in to say something mean. Those memories still sting, but they give me something to compare to. I know she's different now, and I want to believe who she is now is who she was always meant to be. It's who she could have been if I hadn't screwed everything up.

"Only my trusty stake, I had to improvise. I took out the first demon by sneaking up and snapping its neck. I broke off one of its horns to use against its buddies."

"I would have liked to have seen that."

"It was actually wicked gross. The bullets didn't hurt them much but did make a lot of oozing wounds. I was covered in this yellow slime by the end of it." She frowns, I'm sure regretting that she wasn't by my side and helping me. "Hey, it was no big. They didn't even get a hit on me. Too big, dumb, and slow. After that, I came back a few other times, helped train his guys, and showed them things they could do if demons attacked again. Silvio was so grateful that he promised to help me anytime I needed it."

Buffy furrows her brow in thought for a second. "Silvio? Wait. Did you ever see him do anything criminal?"

"No, not exactly." What is she getting at? I did my best to stay away from anything illegal. Not because I didn't want to end up back in jail, but because I wanted to be good.

I wanted to make the right decisions for myself.

"Maybe we're both as dumb as we look."

"What?"

"I thought I recognized him. He's not a criminal at all. He's just this super-rich recluse."

I take out my phone and do a quick search. There are tons of articles on this guy. He's some kind of humanitarian that helps people all over the world.

"Wow, OK. So that's a huge relief." I feel extra dumb now. I've been guilty about helping him when I didn't have to be. "I never asked him what his deal was. I just figured he was a mafia boss or something. What kind of non-criminal has armed guards everywhere?"

"A super paranoid billionaire, I guess."

We're in the air now. I didn't even notice when the plane took off. She's undone her seatbelt and is stretching in her seat. My eyes track her, entranced by her movements, her shirt rising up, exposing her stomach. "How long is this flight?" She asks, moving from her seat to mine, undoing my belt and wrapping herself around me.

"About four hours, I think."

"So, we have four hours to ourselves?" My breath catches in my throat as she slides her hand under my shirt. Any thoughts of using this time to talk about anything else are gone.

Buffy's POV

What has she done to me?

I moan and lean into her. I can't believe how amazing she feels. No matter where she touches, the contact surges through my entire body. I cannot get enough of it. I think by her responses that it's the same for her.

I have a moment of dread where I worry about what will happen when we land. My worries are washed away as she nips and licks at the soft flesh of my neck.

Things are different this time, the fire and passion are there, but it's not nearly as explosive, which is probably a good thing since we're on an airplane. There is no rush, giving us time to explore each other fully. Though the confines of the airplane seats do make things a little challenging.

We land four short hours later. The time passed way too quickly and even though we probably should have - we didn't spend any of the time discussing what was going to happen next.

I want to ask Faith about it now, but her eyes are closed. I don't think she's asleep, but I also don't want to disrupt whatever she's thinking about.

My stomach is tied in knots as I think about what we're about to do. I'm freaking out about how everyone will react, playing the scenarios repeatedly in my head. I know the new slayers like Faith more than they ever liked me. How are they going to feel about me being there? On top of that, what will they think about Faith and I being together?

Are we even together? We never talked about it.

I know she's not big on relationships. Up until this second, I didn't even think about it. Maybe we should have spent a few minutes on the flight talking. And now it occurs to me that this is exactly why we didn't talk. If we did - we might have to discuss 'us.'

I'm not even sure which of us would have wanted to avoid that discussion more.

"You're shaking." Faith comments to me as we walk off the plane.

My entire body is clenched, my teeth grinding painfully. I take a deep breath and try to calm myself.

It doesn't work. "Just... nervous."

She smiles and squeezes my hand. "Just because a bunch of crazy vampires and demons are after us is no reason to be nervous."

"Like I'd ever be nervous about that." I stick my tongue out, and she laughs. "Demons and vampires I can handle. It's all the slayers I'm worried about."

"Don't worry, B. I'll take care of you."

"You make it sound so easy."

She shakes her head and wraps her arms around me. "I don't think it's going to be easy. But I know that we'll get through this together. If things get too hard, just talk to me. OK? You have to talk to me."

I nod my agreement and lean into her hug, resting my head on her shoulder and breathing in her scent. I need to feel her strength to believe that we'll get through this. Now might be a good time to talk, like she just asked me to, but I'm not ready. I'm suddenly afraid that it's not the same for her as it is for me. I want to put finding out off for a bit longer.

"How do we get to the slayer compound?"

A car pulls up as we're discussing our plans, and Andrew hops out. "Buffy!" He runs towards me, and I back away. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Wha..." Now I'm freaking out a little. I remember that he was once evil, and I jumped to a defensive stance. He doesn't seem to notice and wraps me in a big hug.

"It's OK, B. He's just a little overexcited."

"But why is he here?" No one was supposed to know when we were landing.

"I believe he's here to pick me up." Giles approaches, carrying all our bags. With a miserable look on his face. I groan, looking at him.

"Sorry for ditching you in the woods." I offer. It's instinct to apologize, and I instantly want to take it back. I have to do my best to play nice, though. "Thanks for bringing our bags."

"It was a logical decision. I'm glad you made it here safely." His voice is cold, and I get the feeling any progress we might have achieved in healing our relationship has been undone. Once this is over, maybe we can try again. Right now, my focus is on Faith and stopping whatever this evil plot is.

Andrew and Faith bring our bags to the car. I climb into the back seat, and Faith follows me. She keeps her distance and doesn't reach for my hand this time. We really should have tried to talk about what we would do when we got here. I don't know if she's assuming I don't want people to see us together or if she doesn't want anyone to see us. I don't regret how we spent the plane ride, but a few minutes to talk about things might have been a good idea.

I take calming breaths and stare at my hands. Andrew is babbling excitedly about something, but I'm not listening. Faith and Giles are responding to him. I assume someone will let me know if I'm needed in the conversation.

We arrive at the slayer compound, and I'm blown away as we pull up. Momentarily forgetting how terrified I am about what is about to happen. We had to be buzzed in through a gate at the base of the driveway. It wasn't even possible to see the main building from there. When it finally came into sight, I gasped - it was nothing like I expected. It was a mansion with a vast, sprawling yard. I could see a large barn off to one side, the doors open, revealing about twenty slayers training.

The front doors to the main building open, and Willow is standing there, my nerves return, and my entire body is trembling. And not in the delightful way that it was a few hours ago. Faith exits the car without even looking at me, and I fight the panic growing inside. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I know she wouldn't be abandoning me. I will not let myself freak out before we get a chance to talk.

Forcing myself to relax, I climb out of the car and approach the house.

"What is she doing here!?" I hear Kennedy yell as she stalks up to us, her hands balled into fists at her side.

"I told you she was coming," Willow responds with a sigh. She sounds tired and exasperated.

"I thought you were kidding!" Kennedy is waving her hands around frantically.

"Chill, Kennedy. You've got no reason to be upset about B being here." Faith moves between us and tries to calm the angry slayer. I don't know much about Kennedy, other than she had been rich and was always giving me a hard time when we were all living together. She seemed to make Willow happy. It wasn't the same as with Tara, but how could it be?

"Chill? I'm not going to chill! I heard what you said to Willow. It was totally unfair! I know you have to be here, but why does she?" Kennedy is screaming but seems to have enough sense not to actually attack Faith.

"She's part of this too. It affects us all." Faith sounds almost tired - like she's already sick of defending me.

Suddenly, I'm annoyed that they're talking about me as if I'm not standing right here. I go to reach for Faith's hand to pull her away. I change my mind before I manage to touch her, but Kennedy sees what I almost did.

"OH MY GOD!" She screams, rolling her eyes. "Are you serious?" So she read a lot into that almost contact, not that she isn't right, but still.

"What?" Willow looks around, confused.

Kennedy only huffs and runs back towards the barn.

Andrew walks up behind us and deposits our bags. "Let me show you to your room, Buffy." Oblivious to the scene he walked into, he smiles and leads me into the building. I only hope I don't run into anyone else before I can make it to the security of my room.

The main entry is enormous, with two large staircases framing the space, and there's a hallway with several doors - I assume those are used for offices. This place is four times larger than the mansion Angel squatted in. Thinking of Angel saddens me for a moment. Even though I hadn't thought about him in years, it made me sad now to know that he was gone.

I follow Andrew up four flights of stairs, not listening to his inane babbling, only looking around in awe at this building. Wondering how on earth they can afford it. He leads me to a door and hands me a key. "Thanks, Andrew."

"No problem. You've got your own bathroom, and there is a fully stocked kitchen on the second floor."

I nod to him and enter the room. It's a decent-sized space with a queen-size bed and a large window that overlooks the back of the property. I can see more slayers training in the backyard. There must be at least fifty slayers living here. I find myself shaking again. What was I thinking? I can't be here. It's too much.

I flop face down on the bed and try not to cry. There's a knock at my door, and I sigh as I drag myself up. I was hoping it would be Faith, but I know it's not. She's still downstairs, and I'm unsure what she's doing. Frowning, I open the door to find Willow.

"Hey, can I come in?"

"It is your house." I smile and move so she can enter. "How are you affording all this anyway? It's amazing." I'm less nervous about talking to her face to face than I expected. It could be because she looks so tired and maybe a little scared. It's hard to hold on to all the bad feelings I have when all I want to do is comfort my best friend.

"We took over all the resources for the council, and I may have used a little magic to get a terrific deal on this place." She chuckles, and I smile in return. "I'm sorry about Kennedy. I told her things were better, but she's just… Just Kennedy."

"It's OK. It's what I expected. I'll make sure I stay out of everyone's way until this is over."

She frowns at my response. "If that's really what you want to do, but we could probably use your help."

"We'll see how things go. Hopefully, you can stop whatever this is, and I can go back home soon." I pause, sensing that Faith is heading up the stairs, but she stops before reaching this floor.

The panic is growing again. She said I have to talk to her, but how can I do that if she doesn't want to talk to me?

"Where is Faith's room?"

"She has a place set up on the second floor."

"Oh." That must be where she is now. I have no idea if she's even going to come up here. She has no real reason to. It's not like I'm going to be part of whatever the plan is.

"What's going on with you two?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on." Willow raises her eyebrow with a knowing look. "Something must be going on."

I don't want to have this conversation with her before I have it with Faith. I move away from Willow to stare out the window. "This place is incredible. How much land is there?" I can tell she knows I'm stalling, but I'm not ready to talk about Faith.

"Forty acres. You're not getting out of this that easy. I know we're not close anymore, but I want us to be." Her tone is gentle, and I want to give in to it. I miss having her as a friend and being able to share everything with her. Faith is moving up the stairs again, and I am hopeful she's coming to talk to me.

"I don't know what's going on with us. We haven't talked about it yet. I know Faith doesn't do relationships." My stomach lurches at that last part. What was I thinking? I assumed so many things about what giving into my feelings would mean. For all I know, nothing we've done so far meant anything to her. Find that hard to believe though.

She wouldn't have been waiting around all this time if it didn't mean something.

"Relationships? There's potential for relationships?" Willow's face turns from shock to a smile as she considers what this might mean. So much has changed since we were kids. She hated Faith even more than I did. We were all such dumb jealous children, forced to make adult decisions when we weren't even close to capable.

"I don't know what there's potential for." I do know that things will never be the same. I can't imagine my life without her now. I don't know if I can do casual, though. I just have to hope I'm wrong about what she wants.

"But you want there to be?"

I can't hide my blush or my grin as I nod. Faith has me feeling like a lovesick teenager.

"Do you love her?"

I hear Faith gasp, and she pauses at the top of the stairs. I guess this is my chance to tell her how I feel without having to see her face when she rejects me. She can turn around, and we'll never have to face each other again. Most of me believes there is no way that is what will happen. Most of me is sure she'll run in here as soon as I say it. She'll hold me close, and I'll know she feels the same.