A/n: Just wanted to thank everyone that has left a review/fav it really does inspire! I enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you like it as much as I liked writing it! xoxo

Chapter 8:

Saffron was sat on a stone grave in the most recent crypt that Spike had found to stay in during the day. She was wearing black jeans and one of her usual t-shirts with a red shirt hanging around her shoulders loosely. She had borrowed it from Spike as the crypt was very cold, she had had visible goose bumps which he noticed and had quickly thrown the shirt to her which she had taken gratefully. Spike and Saffron had started spending more time together and little gestures like that had started to feel normal to them both. Spike liked seeing her wearing his shirt and Saffron was enjoying wearing it. Spike had finally admitted to himself that he felt for her, but he didn't want to say anything to scare her off and lose the moments they shared together. He was busy mixing drinks with his back to her as she shuffled her tarot cards.

"Spike, there better not be alcohol in there. It's 10 a.m. and I have class and a shift at the store later"

"All part of the birthday celebrations, pet" he smirked.

"My Birthday's not for a few days and it's not a big deal" She shrugged, genuinely not bothered about her upcoming birthday apart from the fact that she didn't have to hear Buffy use her younger age against her in arguments.

"Don't give it all that modesty bollocks, love. You should celebrate, you only live once and all that"

"Or I could just find a handsome vampire to help me come back a second time" She winked playfully but he didn't look convinced.

"You deserve something good, shouldn't be all about the Slayer all the time" He shrugged and turned away from her again and Saffron paused to watch him, he had never seemed that sincere before and it made her heart skip a beat.

"Candles, cake, a demon crashing the party. A proper Sunnydale knees up. Can't wait" She joked which made Spike smile fondly. "Thank you, Spike" She said after a comfortable silence.

"What for?" He looked confused and he almost knocked over one of the glasses that he had been filling up

"For, um, letting me hang out here with you. All the emotions they- they seem more manageable here" She continued feeling a bit embarrassed at her revelation. In fact, she barely felt Spike's emotions unless she was in physical contact with him and that wasn't often. Spending time with him gave her a blissful feeling that she couldn't describe, and the feeling was one hundred percent her own.

She turned back to her pack of cards and decided to do herself a two-card spread, asking only for guidance for the near future. She chose her cards and lay them flat on the cold stone. The star. This is a major arcana she knew that. She tried to listen for the meaning that often came into her head, but only one word kept being whispered over and over. Faith. She didn't understand, she had always had faith in the cards, and she didn't know why the word was so urgently circling her mind. She had also picked out the seven of swords. This indicated deception or an individual getting away with something and they should not be trusted. Saffron looked at the cards, she had never had anything that had puzzled her so much. She had finally decided that she may have faith in someone's deception and chose to be cautious for the next few days, hoping the worst it could be was a surprise party held at the Bronze.

xoxoxo

Saffron had joined the others at Giles', it had been a few weeks since Saff had found out about Adam and Riley was still in the infirmary at the Initiative. Buffy was worried sick and despite Saff's many calls to Graham where he had assured them both Riley was being looked after, this didn't convince either of the girls.

"Still no word about Riley?"

"They keep telling me that he's fine. That's all they'll say" Buffy shrugged.

"Maybe they're telling the truth" Willow said unconvincingly.

"As much as I like being with Graham, his loyalty will always be Initiative first, Girlfriend's strange friends second" Saffron sighed, cursing the Initiative.

"Hey, who's strange?" Xander put his hand on his chest acting hurt at what Saffron said which made her roll her eyes fondly and smile. Buffy decided that enough was enough, she needed to get Riley out of there. She was going through the plan of action when she was suddenly interrupted.

"Am I really worth all that?" Riley smiled tightly and Saffron felt the pain like she was being stabbed repeatedly as he walked past her to meet Buffy in an embrace. She doubled over from her seat on Giles' sofa and rubbed her side to try and get rid of the pain, knowing that it was useless until she was out of Riley's immediate vicinity. Riley apologised to the group for acting strange back when the rest of them had stormed the Initiative and listened as the others told him that it was okay, Saff nodded along with them as she didn't feel the need to say anything considering she hadn't actually been there. Saffron appreciated the way Riley was supporting Buffy despite his role in the Initiative, and her mind turned to Graham as she knew that he would have never done this for her. She was starting to warm up to Riley, despite her initial caution around him.

A phone call interrupted their conversation which had turned to Riley agreeing to pass on information he found out about Adam from the Initiative so they could defeat him. Buffy answered the phone and was silent for a while as she took in the information that was being passed along on the other end of the phone. Saffron could feel Buffy starting to worry as the conversation carried on. She thanked whoever was on the other end and put the phone back down quickly, before turning to the rest of the room to break the bad news to them all. The others had been silent throughout the call, they didn't need empathic abilities to tell that Buffy was concerned about what she had heard on the phone.

"It's Faith" Buffy paused, looking around the room to meet Saff's eyes, "She's awake. She beat someone up, took her clothing, and disappeared out of the hospital. No one knows where she is" Saff rolled her eyes and walked over shakily, her side still throbbing, to stand next to Buffy. Saff had never gotten along with Faith even before she had gone to the dark side. She hadn't liked how she seemed to take up all of Buffy's time and she had felt pushed away. Plus, the others used to compare her and Faith and pointed out a few similarities, to both of their annoyance, but the extent of the similarity was that they were both brunette and both appeared confident and could be described as having a biting attitude at times. Saff was always inherently kind despite her manner though and her intentions were pure, which she reminded everyone, differed from Faith. This comparison had always pissed Saffron off and made her despise Faith more than she already had. She silently swore at the universe for being so literal with the cards she had drawn earlier on. Fucking Faith.

"Oh great, I've really missed Evil Barbie: Slayer edition" Saff groaned, "Does she come with the murderous revenge or is that sold separately this year?"

"Wait, why is she Barbie?" Buffy got side-tracked by her cousin's statement.

"Evil Barbie, Buff. You're good Barbie" She patted her head softly in mock reassurance as Buffy rolled her eyes and started to discuss the best way to deal with Faith. Lots of scenarios were discussed and Saff cheered when Willow suggested beating the crap out of her. None of them knew that Faith had been watching them all intently from outside as they discussed the best plan of action. She had scowled as Saffron had cheered and stalked off into the night, her mind on making them all pay for what they had done to her and the mayor. The Scoobies, still oblivious that Faith had been watching them, went their separate ways and agreed to start the hunt for Faith as soon as possible. Buffy began to explain everything that went on with Faith to Riley as they walked hand in hand through the streets and back to her dorm.

xoxoxo

Saffron was walking back through the college campus after her Creative Writing 101 course that she had taken as a minor. The sun was shining and she was in a pleasant mood despite the recent revelation that Faith was back. She had decided that Faith would probably stick to the shadows so she, and the others, were safe for now. She had her hair in a high bun, that she had quickly tied up out of her face as she had wanted to take more time perfecting the opening paragraph of the story that they had been challenged to write for the class that morning. She was wearing fake leather trousers and an old band t-shirt that she had found in the back of her wardrobe and thrown on before she headed out of the door. She was on her way to her shift at the second-hand bookstore, but she had decided to walk slowly and enjoy the good weather not caring what her miserable manager was going to say if she was late.

"Well, if it isn't my sappy English twin" Faith jeered as she stepped out of the shadows and into Saffron's path, alluding to the similarity people had always mentioned, "Missed me, Saffy P? Who are we kidding, course you did. Who else are you going to steal your style from?"

"Hey Faithless, haven't you heard? The evil slayer bit was so last season" She shrugged, "You're looking a bit tired, perhaps you should go back to that long nap?"

"Brave, considering B isn't here to hide behind" She laughed, seemingly enjoying the back and forth.

"I don't know about you, but I'm feeling five-by-fucking-five" She mimicked Faith in a fake American accent as she glowered back at her. Saffron was starting to panic as she could feel a slow rage bubbling inside of her, she knew it was from Faith. She also knew that this couldn't mean anything good for her.

"You've got balls, kid" She ruffled Saff's hair, "But I've got this" She smiled, brandishing an ornate knife that she had bought the previous night and inspected it in the light. She quickly shoved Saffron into the nearest wall and held the knife close to her neck. "Call it an early Birthday present"

"Aw, you remembered" Saffron retorted sounding a lot braver than she felt, as the tip of the blade was now touching her neck as she spoke.

"B took away mine, so I'm taking hers-" Faith was cut off by a roundhouse kick from the very Slayer she had just been talking about. Buffy and Willow had spotted Saff and Faith and the panic from the college students around them as they had spotted the knife at her throat. They had run over quickly as Saff was in danger, she had been so scared that she hadn't seen them come up behind Faith but she was grateful that they had.

"Sorry not today, perhaps you should try again later" Buffy said forcefully as they started fighting back and forth.

"Or you know, don't come back at all" Saffron called over with her hand around her throat as Willow crouched next to her checking if she was okay. Buffy and Faith traded insults and punches as a police car pulled up near them. The siren had startled Saffron as it had reminded her of all the sirens all of those years ago in England. She hated that sound. Willow swung her backpack at Faith which made Saff smile despite herself from where she was still crouching on the floor, still recovering from having a knife at her throat. The officers started to get out of the car and Faith started to run off, beating them up on their way. Buffy ran after her but stopped as realised that she had lost her.

xoxoxo

The alley was dark and smelled horrible, Saffron had been stood in the shadows out of earshot as Spike spoke to someone in a low whisper. She hadn't been to this side of Sunnydale before and the dark alleys and seedy looking bars fascinated her. She wasn't too bothered about what the meeting was about, Spike had suggested that they went for a walk so he could see a man about a kitten, or something. She decided that she didn't want to know, ignorance was bliss when Spike was involved, she had discovered. She thought about what Graham or the others would think about her being at this part of the town, accompanying a vampire to a meet in an alley, and decided she probably shouldn't think about their reactions. Spike sauntered back over to where Saff was stood as the small, scaly man he had met with scurried off in the opposite direction, she had her hands in the pockets of her blue denim jacket as she smiled at him.

He took out a packet of smokes from his duster and put one between his lips and then offered her the pack. She took one out and kept it between her two fingers, her light blue fingernails caught the light from the flame that came from Spike lighting up his cigarette as she waited to use it herself, having misplaced hers again. He stuck his hand out towards her and clicked the silver metal lighter to fire it up again nearer to her and she leaned in slowly, putting the end between her lips and inhaling to light up her cigarette. It was as if time had paused. They had both maintained eye contact throughout this, neither of them wanted to break it first as she straightened up and inhaled the smoke.

"So, this Faith, she's bad news?" He broke the silence eventually, weighing up his feelings towards this new slayer.

"Only if I don't want to be sliced and diced, I guess" She shrugged.

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much, Honeysuckle. I'm here ain't I?" He smiled with a macho arrogance as he took another drag from his cigarette.

"Yeah I feel so safe with you here to glare at her to death" She smiled over-sweetly at him, knowing he wouldn't like being reminded that he couldn't hurt slayers.

"Watch it, pet. You're one headache away from being a tasty meal yourself" He pointed at her sternly before returning to his cigarette. She just smiled at him and inhaled the thick smoke from her own cigarette. He started to shift a little bit awkwardly after that, checking his pocket and looking like he wanted to say something. She looked up at him with a slight frown of confusion painted on her features as she was about to ask what he was doing but she got interrupted.

"SP? And… Spike?" Xander questioned, his eyes looking between the two, not able to comprehend how the pair ended up in an alley together both smoking cigarettes. He blinked, was this a weird dream? She sidestepped away from him quickly, which had disappointed Spike.

"What are you both doing here?" Giles inquired disapprovingly, looking around at the disgusting alleyway.

"Me? Hey, I'm not the one out of place here. And Honeysuckle here is just drawn to the darkness" He smirked cockily and gave them both a look, raising his eyebrows suggestively as Saffron rolled her eyes and went to stand next to the other two.

"That's enough of that" Xander pointed at Spike with a frown, "We've got a rogue slayer on our hands. Real psycho killer, too" Spike faked an interest in this new slayer as he had already been filled in by Saffron and asked if there was anything he could do to help. Xander thought Spike wanted to help, but soon realised that he didn't.

"I'll head out, find this girl, tell her exactly where you are, and watch as she kills you. Can't any one of your damned Scooby club at least try to remember that I hate you all?" He retorted, as Saff mimed to cut it out from where she was stood slightly behind Giles and Xander, which made him smirk even more. "Thanks for the light, honey" he added as he winked and threw one of the disposable lighters she thought she had lost at her and she caught it quickly, muttering "You" in disbelief under her breath so only he could hear as he swaggered away smiling, as if he was out to find Faith.

"Go ahead! You wouldn't even recognise her" Xander called after him.

"Dark hair, this tall, name of Faith, criminally insane? I like this girl already" He turned back and walked backwards his hand at the height Xander had told him Faith was before he walked out of their sight.

"Well, that went well" Saff stated unhelpfully, trying to show that she wasn't dreading their inevitable questions as to why she was here and with Spike.

"What the hell, Saff? What are you doing here?"

"Yes, Saffron, you could have been killed. You really ought to be more, ah, cautious especially as both Faith and Spike have tried to kill you before now"

"Cool it, cats. I was looking for Faith, like everyone else. I think she used to rent a motel room around here somewhere" she replied coolly, "Ran into Spike and he asked for a light. It's like an unspoken rule not to be a dick and let people borrow your lighter" She shrugged as the three of them started to walk through the streets. The two men continued to lecture her on being alone in this part of town and she listened to them without any further complaint, satisfied that they didn't suspect her of having a friendship, of sorts, with Spike.

xoxoxo

Buffy was in front of her, she was running as fast as she could to get to Revello Drive. Saffron was panting, cursing herself for not keeping up her fitness as she rounded the corner and ran, holding the stitch in her side. She eventually got to her Aunt's house, fumbled with the keys to the front door before running up the stairs two at a time and bursting in to see her auntie on the bed and Buffy and Faith fighting on the other side of the room.

"Hi, sweetheart" Joyce smiled at her, pleased that both of her girls had come to her rescue. Saffron started to untie her aunt as Faith and Buffy wildly threw punches at each other. They ended up leaving the room and fighting downstairs.

"Sorry I didn't come sooner, Auntie J" She said sincerely, she had really missed living in this house and she joined Joyce on the bed and gave her a big hug.

"I should get held hostage more often" She laughed as she hugged the girl that she saw as her second daughter tightly.

"Ooo post!" Saff noticed some cards addressed to her and grabbed them quickly.

"I think they're for your birthday, honey" She smiled and stroked Saff's hair as crashing and shouting could be heard from downstairs; Faith and Buffy were continuing their fight. Both women upstairs believed Buffy would win the fight and so they continued to stay out of the way.

"I'll open them tomorrow then, are we still going out for tea?"

"Dinner is booked for the three of us at that new Vegetarian place" She smiled fondly at their tradition they had had since Saffron had moved to Sunnydale. The three of them would go for a family meal every year on her Birthday, which was the main thing that Saffron looked forward to.

They eventually made their way downstairs as the authorities arrived and Faith's body was on the floor. Buffy turned and smiled at them and Saffron felt a strange feeling that she couldn't put her finger on. Joyce asked Buffy if she was okay, and Buffy turned away and muttered,

"Five by five"