Chapter Three

Willow is wandering the streets aimlessly wondering where to look for Faith. She knows she has to find her before Buffy does or the fall out could be fatal. Willow's concentration is on how to help Faith control her tough side and replace it with her more soft side, which she had seen a few times. The mention of Buffy's name, always lit a spark on this tougher side but Willow didn't see the harm in wishing for something that would, in all reality, never happen.

She didn't know why she was so captivated with Faith's looks, persona and eyes but she was. After all, she had tried to kill most of them not so long ago. Something kept drawing her to the slayer though and she knew that she had to help her. She felt as if this were her last chance at true happiness. A happiness she once thought she'd have with Oz. The nagging realization within her that she was attracted to girls along with his love for music forced a mutual separation.

Suddenly, Adam lunges at her from out of the still night. "Nowhere to run," he says speaking in a methodic tone.

Willow looks up at Adam with fear in her eyes, as she realizes that he is going to kill her. Her fears get to hide once more however, as Spike comes racing up on his motorcycle and crashes into the monster. "Hurry up Red," Spike shouts and jerks Willow onto the bike. He speeds off as quickly as he can knowing that Adam will soon be in hot pursuit.

Spike had put a good dent in the big monster with his blast from the motorcycle but it wasn't enough. Adam quickly gets up and fires off a round of explosives from one of his weapons. The two dive off the bike just a fraction of a second before it explodes. "This way," Spike says, diving into an opening that led down into the sewers, a place the Scoobies had come to know so well.

"Spike every second I'm here is a second lost in finding Faith. Buffy and the others have decided that handing her over to the initiative is a better place for her than jail." Willow blurts out, as they race through the sewer.

"That's because the rest of the world is beneath them Red," he says, as he climbs up through the sewer. "I've got Faith out of site and will get you to her."

- - - - - - -

Faith is sitting in a Crypt, which doesn't look too bad. There was even a TV, and some snacks. Vampires still had a taste for the finer pleasantries of human life after all, even if it didn't keep them alive. There was a nice twin sized bed with clean sheets even. "Fucking vampires live better than I do," she mumbles, as Spike dives in with Willow.

"You're safe for now, if you shag change the sheets. I'll see if I can find what the slayer is up to," he grins cockily leaving the women alone.

"Faith," Willow looks at her with panic in her eyes still feeling the trauma of having her life almost ended. "Adam, he almost got me."

"It seems B and the gang are more concerned with me than some freak show who is trying to kill all of Sunnyhell huh." Faith says looking the Redhead over. "We'll all be okay Red." Faith pulls Willow into her arms and kisses her gently. "I need to get my record cleared somehow first then I can help you deal with this thing called Adam."

"Adam probably has the most sophisticated equipment but he can't be trusted; I'd guess inside the initiative would be the next best bet. I'm not sure I could hack into it without being caught. It would take time to get your records clear," Faith kisses her again stopping the babbling.

"Ya know Red, I have trusted very few people, but my gut tells me to trust you. I wish I would've done that a long time ago because part of me doesn't think I deserve to have my record cleaned up. I murdered people. But then the other part of me knows the first one was a mistake. If I wasn't to stupid to let someone help me, the rest wouldn't have happened. I felt in my heart that it would have been different if B had done what I did. Wes and the gang would've bent over backwards to help her out ya know? But they wanted to send me up the river like I didn't matter." Faith's eyes go cold for a minute as she's speaking.

Willow listens intently to Faith's every word knowing she probably hadn't opened up this much in ages, if ever. A warm feeling of comfort began to work its way into Willow's heart. She had a sense of happiness to have someone confide in her like this. As quickly as that nice feeling arrived, a pang of guilt began to surface. She was one of those whom were ready to sell Faith out and knew Faith was right in that Buffy would have been dealt with far differently had she been the one to have staked the mayor's assistant. She put her resolve face on deciding she would help Faith at all cost by clearing her record. "I'm glad you trust me Faith and I am truly sorry about how I acted towards you before," Willow says, as their kissing grows more intense.

"Don't sweat it Red, it's history, this is the present." Faith begins massaging Willow's lower back as she kisses her. "So does this still count as a grave red?"

"Um," Willow blushes slightly. "Well," she looks into Faith's smiling eyes, realizing she'd never seen them look happy before this very moment.

"Naw Red, I've never done anything at the perfect time before and I want to at least give you that much." She moves onto the bed pulling Willow next to her. "Peroxide-man will be here just before dawn to wake us and we've got a lot of things to do so we should get some sleep."

Willow lay in Faith's arms drifting off to sleep, feeling euphoria as if nothing could touch the high she had at this moment. Who would have thought it would be with Faith, certainly not Willow. The feeling that they were the only two in existence with no worries of what tomorrow would bring began to encompass the redhead as both women slept peacefully. She truly was finding out what love was in the arms of the dark slayer with Oz now being the furthest thing from her mind.