Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow

Previously:

"No, I'm afraid not," Cordelia replied, pulling back out onto the road. "We're going to Sunnydale."

"What's in Sunnydale?" Lucian asked, settling back in his seat. He found himself becoming more and more comfortable around Cordelia. Though they had just met, he felt like he had known her for a long time.

Cordelia smiled grimly before answering. "Hell."

Chapter Two:

"Want any help?" Faith asked, from her seat on a tombstone watching Buffy take on two vampires. "Cuz it looks like you're struggling a bit there."

"I'm not struggling," Buffy ground out, kicking one of the vampires in the groin as the other grabbed her from behind. Flipping him over her back, she shoved a stake through his heart. "See? I'm kickin' ass," she said triumphantly.

"Whatever you say," Faith said, smirking as the remaining vampire swept Buffy's feet out from under her. Buffy landed with an audible groan and Faith decided enough was enough. "Okay, big guy. How about takin' on someone your own size?" Faith said, sauntering up to the snarling vampire.

Ducking as it punched wildly, Faith jabbed her knee into the vampire's midsection. "See, I'm not so keen on you beatin' on my girl," Faith said, punching the vampire in the face. It stumbled backwards and flipped over a tombstone, landing in a heap. "So, I'm thinkin' I'll have to teach you a lesson, you know, as an example for all the others," Faith said, grinning wildly as she drove her stake through the vampire's heart.

"Help me up?" Buffy said, leaning up on her elbows and watching as Faith dispatched the last vampire.

"Sure," Faith said, tucking her stake into the waistband of her low-slung leather pants. Walking over to Buffy, she reached her hand out, but Buffy had other plans. Pulling Faith down, Buffy smiled as her wife clumsily fell on top of her.

"This is better," Buffy murmured, running her hand through Faith's long, dark hair as she leaned in and captured her lips with her own. Faith moaned deeply into Buffy's mouth, feeling every cell in her body heating up. Her hands started roaming of their own accord and Buffy thrust her tongue into Faith's mouth, exploring every inch.

Faith broke away, panting for air, and rested her forehead against Buffy's. "You know," she said, her voice raspy from desire, "I think the world's safe from evil for now. Wanna go home?"

"Yeah," Buffy said eagerly. "Let's get outta here."

Grabbing Buffy's hand, Faith pulled Buffy to her feet. "Kara supposed to be home tonight?" Faith asked as they began walking out of the cemetery.

"Lucky for us...no," Buffy said, slipping her hand into Faith's. "She and Kennedy are at the Bronze." Both Faith and Buffy always felt a bit odd about fooling around when Kara was home. But they would much rather be living with Kara and Kennedy than with Buffy's mom.

"Excellent," Faith said, lacing her fingers around Buffy's hand. "You know, I gotta say, I'm diggin' the married life," Faith said, nudging Buffy's arm with her shoulder and smiling down at her.

"Yeah, me too," Buffy said, smiling warmly up at Faith and planting a quick kiss on her lips. "And you know," Buffy said with a mischievous smile, "I think we have some whipped cream in the fridge."

..........................................

Cordelia sighed and ran a hand through her wind tossed hair. "Okay, so I probably should have checked the gas gauge before I took the car," she said as she and Lucian started walking down the road. "But then, I was slightly in a panic."

"It's okay," Lucian said, smiling over at her. "I don't mind walking."

"It's not that far, anyway," Cordelia said. "We're almost there. In fact," she said, squinting her eyes, "that should be the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign just up ahead."

"So why are we heading to Sunnydale again?" Lucian asked. Though he appreciated all of Cordelia's help, he still had no idea who he was, who she was, or why Cordelia was so convinced that he wasn't safe in Los Angeles.

"We have to find someone there," Cordelia answered. Digging through her purse, she finally located her cell phone. "I promise I'll explain everything once we get there," Cordelia vowed again, punching in Giles's telephone number.

"Hey, Giles, it's Cordelia," she said into the phone. "Look, I have a small problem. Can you pick me up?" She asked. After a few minutes of wrangling, she finally convinced Giles to pick her and Lucian up at the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign.

"Who's Giles?" Lucian asked, running a hand over his head. "I really think I used to have hair," he muttered to himself.

"Giles is an old friend of mine...and by old, I mean old. He's like fifty," Cordelia said, watching Lucian out of the corner of her eye. "I think it looks good."

"What?" Lucian asked, looking over at her.

"Your hair...shaved liked that. It looks good," Cordelia complimented, mentally reminding herself that falling for the fallen Power would not be the best of ideas.

Lucian grinned and looked back down at the road in embarrassment. "Thanks," he muttered, just loud enough for Cordelia to hear.

"Giles will be here soon. Then we can focus on locating this chick Kara, who they told me to go find," Cordelia said, sitting down on the ground next to the sign.

"Who are they?" Lucian asked, sitting next to her.

Cordelia looked over at him and sighed. "Well, the Powers that Be," she said. Lucian's head snapped up.

"Powers that Be?" He repeated. For some reason, that phrase sounded incredibly familiar to him. "Why do I know that?"

"Lucian...," Cordelia said, turning to face him and grabbing his hands with hers. "You are one."

.......................................

"Yeah?" Kara asked, answering her phone. Looking over at Kennedy, she grabbed her hand, and pulled her over toward the entrance of the Bronze. "We'll be right there," Kara said, hanging up the phone.

"What's going on?" Kennedy yelled over the music.

"Giles called. He wants us to meet him at his apartment in a half hour," Kara said, stepping out into the fresh, night air.

"What for?"

"He's picking up a couple of people who apparently are looking for me," Kara said, shrugging her shoulder. "I don't know why though."

"It was getting kinda crowded in there anyway," Kennedy said, motioning back toward the Bronze.

"Yeah," Kara said, lacing her fingers through Kennedy's. Looking up at the moon, she couldn't help but wonder why Cordelia was looking for her. She remembered Spike telling her about Sunnydale's former resident bitch, how she had been gifted with visions from the Powers that Be. Apparently, Cordelia had someone with her, someone who she told Giles was of incredible power. Kara had a feeling that because of this person, things in Sunnydale were going to change for the worse.