A/N: this beginning of this chapter's a bit on the heavy side of T, probably closer to M but since it's only a portion of a chapter, I don't think it's enough to make me change the rating of the whole fic. You guys have been warned. Also, thanks to everybody who reviewed the last chapter, especially Wildly Obsessed who is a lot responsible for me getting this chapter finally out, hope this makes your summer just a little bit more enjoyable.And if you're waiting for ch. 15 of FSTW, I'm working on it, I'll hopefully have it out soon (like in the next ten days). Now go read and review!

Previously in the last chapter:

What am I going to tell her? Buffy wondered to herself. She decided she would know when she found her. Buffy walked into the cemetery. Everything was strangely quiet and there was no sign of any demon or vampire activity. Faith must have taken care of them all, Buffy thought with a grim smile. She walked around the cemetery listening carefully for any sound. After walking around for a couple of minutes, she started to sense that somebody was following her. Buffy tensed up, getting ready to get into slayer mode if she had too. She took a deep breath and whirled around, her stake ready in her hand………………….

Only to find Angel standing there.

And he didn't look too happy.

CH. 4: Reunion

"Angel!" Buffy gasped delightedly. She launched herself at him without a second thought. She was so surprised and excited to see him she completely missed the look on his face. "Oh my god, I can't believe you're here! Why are you here? It doesn't matter. So much has been going on here, you wouldn't believe!" she babbled. "Oh, and I have sooo much to tell you! I'm so incredibly happy and excited and relieved that you're back." She frowned, leaning back so she could look him in the face "But that doesn't mean that you're forgiven for leaving in the first place. Far from it, buddy." She shook a finger at him. "In fact, I think that you're way overdue for-" She trailed off. "Why do you have that look on your face and –Angel, are you sniffing me?"

"You have his scent on you," he said accusingly. "I thought maybe, just maybe they were lying but no. Why, Buffy?" He asked gripping her arms in a hold that would've been extremely painful had she not been the slayer.

For a second she thought he was talking about Riley but then she remembered that she hadn't been with Riley for over a week. "Okay Angel, you've totally lost me," she said, breaking out of his grip easily and taking a step back. "What are you talking about?"

Even in the dark, she could see his eyes flash angrily which indicated how extremely ticked off he was. It was strange considering the fact that he usually didn't get that angry often.

"Don't try and lie to me, Buffy. I know you too well," He said walking towards her menacingly as she took another involuntary step back. It was a little frightening and more than a little exciting, not that she'd ever admit that. It wasn't often that Angel lost his hold on his tightly leashed control in front of her. "God, you even smell like those horrible cigarettes he's always smoking." He added his lip curling up in disgust.

That brought her up short. Cigarettes? The only person she knew who smoked was- "Spike? What's he got to with this?" Buffy said, now more confused than ever. Then it hit her. "You think me and Spike are together?" she screeched, jabbing a finger at him.

"I know you're together so don't even try to deny it," he paused, some of his anger evaporating as an idea occurred to him. "Buffy, is this your way of getting back at me for leaving?"

There was nothing he could've said or done to make Buffy angrier. As a result, she did the first thing that came to mind. She slapped him, like any self respecting woman would when's she's been insulted. "So this about you, huh?" she said bitingly. "What am I saying?" she slapped her palm across her forehead. "Everything's about you. Well guess what, Angel? Not this time. Even if I am 'with' Spike, it's none of your goddamn business."

"Like hell it isn't," he growled roughly, pining her against the nearest tree.

"Oh really? How? You're the one who decided to walk away, remember?" Buffy said, trying to push him away. In the end, she resorted to elbowing him in the stomach. He lurched back and she pulled free from his grip.

"So you can have the chance to lead a normal life. Why can't you see that I did it for you?" he asked, frustrated.

"And why can't you see that should've been my choice to make!" Buffy shouted. "It's my life. If I wanted to go home now and screw Spike six ways from Sunday- oomph" She never got to finish her sentence. Angel had grabbed her and crushed his mouth to hers and was kissing her with enough force to bruise her lips. At first she struggled against him but then she gave up. She'd be lying if she said that she didn't want this. It was rough and hot with just enough pain to excite the slayer part of her. She sank to the ground pulling him along with her. They immediately began to fight to be on top. Eventually Angel won and he pinned her hands above her head.

He pulled his mouth away from hers long enough to ask "Who do you belong to?"

"Wha?" Buffy said incoherently. Her mind had gone completely blank.

Angel leaned down to give her a punishing kiss, finishing with a not so painless nip to her bottom lip. "Who do you belong to?" he growled again.

"You," Buffy sighed. The slayer part of her didn't want to give in without a fight but at the moment she didn't really care.

Angel nodded, satisfied. "Don't you ever forget that." He said.

Their coupling was hard, fast, and furious and Buffy loved every single second of it. That is, until they were done and the implication of their actions settled in.

"Oh my god," she said, pushing him off her. "Angel no!"

"It's a little too late for that, babe," Angel said with a satisfied grin.

"Angel!" Buffy wailed. "The Curse!"

Angel immediately stopped grinning. "Shit," he swore. How could he have forgotten? After all they had gone through the first time around. "Buffy, I'm so sorry." He whispered.

"Not again, I can't go through that again," Buffy said on the verge of tears.

Angel didn't really hear her. He was waiting for that tingling sensation that would signal the start of his soul leaving. He didn't remember it taking so long last time but just in case…. "Buffy, you have to leave, right now."

"But Angel," Buffy began to protest.

"Now," Angel snarled.

Buffy turned around and started to quickly walk away. When she was about twenty feet away she turned back to look at Angel. "Angel?" she called a little fearfully.

Angel looked up. "I'm still me," he reassured her.

"Is it supposed to take this long?" she asked.

"It didn't last time," Angel said, also a bit puzzled.

"Do you think maybe," Buffy started hopefully.

Angel shook his head, although he had been wondering the same thing. "The curse is clear, one moment of happiness and I lose my soul." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he started to mull over them. "Unless," The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. The clause the gypsies had put on his soul was a happiness clause. While what he and Buffy had just done had certainly been satisfying, it wasn't like their first time which had been filled with love and yes, happiness. This had been more of a power struggle and a need to claim, and in his case mark, each other. "I'm not sure," he began. "But I don't think the clause applies to what we just did."

Buffy, who had hesitantly began to move towards him, stopped in her place. "Why?" she asked, confused. "It applied last time, why wouldn't it apply now?"

Angel tried hard not to grin at her confused expression and innocent question as he tried to think of a way of to answer her without offending her.

"Well, since we were both caught up in the heat of the moment there really wasn't time for us-me to feel the happiness." He said carefully.

Buffy didn't looked convinced. She was convinced that he wasn't Angelus but she didn't believe that the reason for it was that simple.

Angel sighed. It sounded good to him and for now it was enough. "If it'll make you feel better we can ask Giles about it." He offered.

Buffy blanched. "No!" she said vehemently. "You are not going to mention it this – this – whatever just happened here to Giles."

"Whatever just happened here, Buff?" Angel repeated. That certainly stung. "We made love, that's what happened."

Buffy laughed harshly. "Okay, I know that I don't have as much experience as you do but I I'm damn sure that there's no way a tumble in the grass can be called making love." She said.

"It does when two people love each other." Angel said angrily.

"Uh uh, no way. There's no way you're going to get me to touch that subject." Buffy said shaking her head.

"Why not?" Angel asked.

"Because it's the same old song and dance and for once I'm not going to get caught up in it. I already have way too much on my plate. Speaking of which, I really need to head back to Giles. So why don't I go on my way and you go on yours?"

Angel grinned and shook his head. "No can do Buffy. See I have to head over to Giles too and I have feeling that I'm about add a whole lot more to your plate."

It wasn't working. Faith scowled at the now warm beer bottle in her hand. She had been in here for over an hour and not only was she not drunk; the whole idea had sort of lost its appeal. So now she was sitting here in the middle of night being plagued by thoughts that she wanted nothing to do with. At that moment, the Bronze's door opened, and some army boys walked in. Faith checked them out in the mirror above the bar. The one in the middle wasn't so bad, she mused, if you went for the all American boy type, which she didn't. He caught her gaze and grinned at her. But I can make an exception for tonight, She said, answering with her own inviting grin. Anything to distract her from her thoughts.

After some jeers from his buddies, the all American boy sauntered up to the bar and took the seat next to her.

"Took you long enough," Faith said taking a long pull from her beer bottle.

'Yeah?" he said, turning to look at her.

She turned to face him too. "Yeah, it's been what? five minutes since you walked in and you're just coming over now?" Faith said with a flirtatious smile. When she was in the mood, she could flirt with the best of them.

He laughed and introduced himself. "Riley."

She nodded, even though she was pretty sure she wouldn't remember his name tomorrow morning. "Faith."

"Pretty name for a pretty girl." He commented.

Faith resisted the urge to roll her eyes and tell him that he seriously needed some new lines. "Thanks, you're not so bad yourself." She said, slowly checking him out.

"Oh," he said raising an eyebrow. He leaned closer until they were almost nose to nose. "Well, why don't come over to my place and I'll show how good or bad I can be?"

Faith didn't even pretend to consider the offer. She drained her bottle, slapped some money on the table (money that she had filched from Willow), and jumped off the stool. "Let's go," she said giving him a predatory look.

He looked a little surprised that she gave in so quickly. The look he gave his friends as they walked out the door showed that he thought she was easy but Faith really didn't care, it wasn't like she was going to see him again after this. And besides, it wasn't like her opinion of him was very high either. But he was male, he was young and he looked like he knew how to make a girl forget her problems and for now that was enough. It was enough.

"Let me get this straight, you're saying that there's this whole other world- a world run by and filled with people with magical abilities - that we don't know about?" Willow asked Angel for what had to be the sixtieth time.

If vampires were able to get headaches, he'd have a migraine by now, Angel thought. Willow was a sweet girl but she could be so annoying at times. That said, she was actually the least of his problems. Not only was he under the same roof with two of the people on his most hated list (Harris and Spike), but Buffy was pissed at him for being the bearer of bad news. It wasn't like it was his fault, but since he was the one who told her about it she was blaming him. At least, he was getting a break now that she had turned her fury onto Giles.

"So you're saying that you never really saw a reason to inform me of the wizarding world, even though as a slayer I have a right to know?" Buffy inquired doing her best to look merely confused instead of enraged.

Giles sighed. "It's a bit more complicated than that, Buffy." He said.

"Oh?" she said raising an eyebrow. "In that case, why don't you explain it to me?"

"The Ministries of Magic- they're the ones that run the wizarding world- and the Council have never really been on good terms. Simply put, they don't mix well. The wizarding world feels as if they don't really need the slayer considering they have magic and all. In return, their problems are too much for any one slayer to handle. So by an unspoken agreement, they agreed to stay out of each others businesses a long time ago. Eventually, the council decided there was no reason for the watchers to inform their slayers of the wizarding world and vice versa. In the end, they've both become something of a myth to each other. To be completely honest, it never crossed my mind to tell you. I never thought a situation like this would ever arise." He finished with a shrug.

"Great," Buffy said, rubbing her temple. "I'm supposed to go save the day for a bunch of people who think I'm nothing more than a myth."

"You just have to play the aggravated hero, don't you slayer?" Spike said with a snort of disgust. "All they asked you to do was sit in on one bloody meeting."

"And we all know what that's going to lead to." Buffy said glaring at him. "And where's this Order of the Fox located, anyway?"

"Order of the Phoenix," Angel supplied.

This time he was the one she glared at.

"From what I've heard, only those in the Order know the location," Giles said, looking at Angel for confirmation.
Angel nodded.

"Well, do we know somebody who's in the Order?" Buffy asked.

Angel cleared his throat. "Actually, I'm in the Order." He admitted.

"Someone give this boy an award. First we take over Wolfram and Hart, now we're joining Orders. You're becoming a regular old upstanding citizen, aren't you?" Spike chortled.

"Why the hell hasn't anybody staked him yet?" Angel demanded.

"Believe me, I'm thinking about it." Buffy mumbled, massaging her temples. "Okay, Xander can you please, please, please, take Spike to your place?" She asked.

"Normally this is the part where I'd say do I have to, but I can tell this is serious-"

"Good for you," Angel said, interrupting Xander. "Now take Billy Idol here and get out."

"For the last time, it was my look first, he just happened to make it famous." Spike whined as he got up and made his way to the door.

"Keep telling yourself that," Angel said, getting up to open the door. "And you, make sure he doesn't eat anybody." This was directed to Xander.

"Oh didn't we tell you?" Buffy said, suddenly grinning impishly. "Spike's been neutered, he can't hurt anybody."

"You don't say," Angel remarked, mesmerized by her smile. She really ought to smile more often, he thought to himself. But then again there wasn't much to smile about in her life. "How did that happen?"

Buffy swallowed when she noticed the look Angel was giving her. Immediately all thoughts flew from her head.

"Okay, umm sorry to interrupt the moment and all that," Willow said a bit nervously. "But we have some serious issues to work out."

And just like that the spell was broken, and they were all brought back to reality. At least Buffy was. She had to keep reminding herself that what was over was over. The only reason Angel was here was because of business and what had happened in the woods didn't mean anything. Yeah right, said a small part of her, admit it you still love him. Buffy shook her head, now was not the time for such thoughts. "I'm sorry did you say something?" she asked, directing the question to Angel.

"Yeah, how did Spike get neutered? Did it have something to do with that military base you guys were telling me about?" Angel said.

Willow nodded. "The Initiative. He was one of their experiments. We're not exactly sure what it's for yet but it's something big." She added anticipating his question.

"Speaking of which, that's what I'm supposed to be working on right now. So let's get this over with so I can get back to that." Buffy said. It was time for no-nonsense Buffy. She was all business now.

"Angel, I know we've been over this but I'm still not sure what is required of Buffy-" Giles started.

"Buffy's not sure what's required of her either." she quipped.

Giles gave her a long suffering look. "As I was saying, do you mind going over well, just about everything?"

"And this time could we start from the beginning?" Willow asked, her pen poised to take notes.

Angel sighed. "Why not?" he said, sitting down next to Buffy on the couch and trying to look casual about it at the same time. From the way she stiffened and the disapproving look Giles gave him, it didn't go unnoticed.

"This all pretty much started a little over thirty years ago. Before that, the wizarding world was and had been at peace for the past couple of centuries." Angel began.

"So what was so special about that the 70's, besides the bell bottoms and the high tops?" Buffy interrupted.

Angel smirked. Typical Buffy, couldn't stay still or quiet for more than a minute. "I'm getting to that." He answered. "The wizarding world used to be a pretty small community. Wizards and witches were scattered all over the world but even so they weren't that much in number. But as people started noticing, the numbers of wizards and witches were growing. The problem was they weren't all purebloods."

"pure-what?" Willow asked.

"Purebloods, meaning that both their parents weren't magical. Although that was to be expected considering the small number of witches and wizards." Angel said.

"So?" Buffy promoted, not seeing the problem.

"I can answer that one," Giles said. "You see Buffy, to some people that wasn't a problem at all. But to others, who measured self-worth by how far back you could trace your lineage, it was a big problem. They didn't consider these other wizards and witches, half-bloods, they called them, to be equal to them."

"Prejudice." Willow said.

"Exactly." Angel said.

"Figures," Buffy remarked. "No matter where you go, you can't escape it."

"Well, they didn't have it the worse. All over the world, the number of witches and wizards that were born to non-magical parents was also increasing. And you can just imagine how some of those stuck up snobs reacted to that." Angel said.

"Not good, huh?" Buffy said.

"Not at all. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't like that this was the first time this was happening but for some reason it was getting the most attention during this time. The worst came when an English wizard started rallying people to openly stand against everyone that wasn't pureblood and to cleanse the wizarding world by getting rid of them."

"English?" Buffy frowned. "You mean Giles' people? Wait when you say get rid of, you mean kill, right?"

When Angel gravely nodded, Willow exclaimed, "But that's so wrong. Why would anyone want to do that?"

"I don't know why but I know they did. Voldemort, that was the name the wizard chose for himself, gathered a lot of followers. Some because they agreed with him, a lot because they feared him. And he was somebody to be feared; he had more power than just about all the wizards. Granted, most of it came from the Dark Arts, but it was power nonetheless."

"And nobody tried to stop him?" Willow inquired.

"Oh they did. Alone, they didn't really stand a chance and they were aware of that. That's how the Order came about. Although Voldemort was very powerful, there was one wizard that was his equal, some say even more powerful. And luckily, he was on Voldemort's opposing side. He and some others came up with the idea of the Order of the Phoenix."

"Order of the Phoenix?" Giles said. "Interesting name. Is there a reason behind it?"

"You'd have to ask Albus Dumbledore that. He's the wizard that started the order and he's the one who came up with the name." Angel said.

Giles gaze sharpened. "Dumbledore?" he repeated. "As in the headmaster of Hogwarts?"

Angel nodded, surprised. "You've heard of him?" he asked unnecessarily.

"I've read about him, yes."

Until that moment Buffy and Willow had been watching the exchange quietly.

"Uh, 'scuse my ignorance, but what's Hogwarts?" Buffy asked.

"A wizarding school; I'll tell you more about it later." Angel said. "But let's get back to the Order for now. At the time, their job was mainly to fight the Death Eaters- that's what Voldemort's followers were called- but soon they were given a bigger job, an extremely important job. There was a prophecy-"

"There's always a damn prophecy," Buffy muttered darkly.

"That announced the coming of a boy who would fight Voldemort, who would defeat him or be defeated and it was only with either of their deaths that the other would live." Angel continued.

"Harry Potter," Giles said.

"Yes, Harry Potter." Angel said. "And as Giles demonstrated, the rest of that story is public knowledge. One of the members of the Order betrayed them-"

"Sirius Black?" Giles asked.

"That's the part of the story that's not public knowledge." Angel said, smiling grimly. "It wasn't Sirius, although he did pay the price for it. It was actually Pettigrew, a fact that was just proven a couple of months ago with his capture."

The girls who weren't as familiar with wizarding history as Giles were getting a bit impatient.

"So after this Pettigrew guy betrayed the Order what happened?" Willow asked.

"Well, the Order's job was to protect Harry from Voldemort but because of Pettigrew's betrayal Voldemort found him anyway."

"They failed," Buffy said softly.

Angel shook his head. "No they didn't, not really. Voldemort managed to kill Harry's parents but when he tried to kill Harry, he ended up seriously hurting himself. Because of the Dark Arts, he couldn't die but he wasn't alive either. After that he wasn't seen or heard from for nearly a decade. And it was only about three years ago he started to rise again. This is where you and I come in. The war- and it is a war- is getting worse, and it's going to keep getting worse before it gets better. Both sides are looking for allies, and as of about three months ago I joined the side against Voldemort. When the Order heard that I had ties to the slayer- that would be you- they asked me to talk to you."

"About joining?" Buffy asked, although she was sure she already knew the answer.

Angel nodded. "Voldemort's managed to get a lot of vampires on his side and they would really appreciate your help on that matter." He said.

"Angel, I don't know what to say." Buffy said. "I want to, I really do but I have so much to do right here in Sunnydale. I don't think I can make that kind of commitment right now. I'm willing to help, to attend meetings, you know keep my eyes and ears open, that sort of thing but I'm going to have to pass on the membership."

Angel nodded. "Alright, I'll owl the Order and tell them. They're probably still going to be interested in meeting you."

"That's fine," Buffy assured.

Willow stared at Angel. "What did you say?" she asked. At Angel's confused look, she clarified. "About the owl."

"Ah," Angel said. "It's the wizarding world's method of communication. They send letters with owls, hence the term owl." He explained.

"Oh my god," Willow whispered. "Faith, the owl, how-"

Giles and Angel looked at her, not understanding her babble, but one look at Buffy's awed face showed that she at least understood.

"Oh my god," Buffy exclaimed. "That is too crazy."

"I know," Willow agreed. "Faith is going to freak when she finds out."

"Okay, time out. What's going on and what's this about Faith?" Angel asked. "Matter of fact, where is Faith? I was under the impression she was staying here so why is she not here?"

"Good God in heaven. I'd completely forgotten about Faith." Giles said. Then his eyes narrowed. "Why is she not here?"

Buffy winced. "She stormed out a couple of hours ago. I was looking for her when Angel found me and I - forgot." She finished lamely.

Forgot, huh? Angel tried to keep the smirk that was lurking around the corners of his mouth off his face. Considering the fact that Buffy was giving him a look so cold it could freeze over hell, he hadn't tried hard enough. Angel gave her an easy smile in return; he was seriously beginning to enjoy her antagonism. The harder she tried to freeze him out, the more he became committed to winning her back.

"Why did she storm out of here?" Giles asked.

"She got a letter," Buffy said in a way of explanation.

"It was delivered by an owl," Willow rushed to add.

At any other time, the looks on Angel and Giles faces would've been comical.

"Do you know what it said?" Angel asked when he was able to speak.

"It was from a friend of her mother's-" Buffy began.

"Her biological mother," Willow jumped in.

"The one who died?" Giles asked, not getting it get.

"No," Faith said, letting the door slam behind her. "You see I never got around to telling you. I'm adopted."

They all turned to look at her.

Faith took advantage of the silence. "I'm ashamed of you all, I never thought you'd stoop so low as to read other people's mail." She chided, in mock disapproval trying to control the anger she felt at seeing them carelessly discuss her life. Lately, it seemed she had absolutely no control of any part of her life and it was quickly driving her to madness.

"We were trying to figure out where you went?" Willow said a bit nervously.

"Speaking of which," Buffy said, standing up. "Where did you go? I looked for you-"

"Apparently not that hard," Faith interrupted. "Sunnydale's on the small side B, not many places to go, unfortunately."

"What did the letter say, Faith?" Giles asked gently.

"None of your damn business," Faith snapped.

"Look Faith, if it's from the wizarding world, it's really important that I know what it says." Angel said urgently.

"It's from the wizarding world and it's personal and that's all I'm saying," Faith said angrily.

"You know about the wizarding world," Buffy said, shocked.

Faith thought fast. "Don't all slayers?" she said, faking puzzlement.

Buffy stared accusingly at Giles. "I thought you said-"

Giles interrupted her, which was very uncharacteristic of him. "There are exceptions to every rule." He said evenly.

Angel looked at Buffy. "What did it say?" he asked softly.

Buffy looked at Faith. "It's up to Faith to decide if she wants to tell you." Buffy said finally.

Angel looked incredulous. "Buffy," he said, his meaning clear in that one word.

"You want to know?" Faith said. "Fine. Long story short, it's from my biological family or at least what's left of them. The gist of it is they've finally decided they want to meet me. Hallelujah and all that." She finished bitterly.

"Isn't that good?" Giles asked.

Faith laughed dryly. "No, yes, I don't know. And you know what I don't care." She said.

Giles was quiet. "The wizarding world gets in touch with the two slayers on the same day. Coincidence?" he asked.

"What do you mean? They got in touch with you?" Faith asked Buffy. "Who? Why?"

"Can I tell her?" Buffy asked Angel.

"Go ahead," Angel said, waving his hand. "She's the slayer too."

"Oh no, no no no," Faith said, shaking her head. "B's the slayer, I'm the one who went rouge, remember? She saves people and I do my best to ruin things for her, ring a bell?"

"Unfortunately," Angel replied.

"Good, keep it in mind." Faith said. "And do not get me involved in any of this save the world bullshit."

"If you insist." Angel said.

"I do," Faith said eyeing him suspiciously.

"Fine," Angel said with a shrug.

"Fine," Faith echoed. "Now where's Spike?"

"Him and Harris are having a sleepover." Angel said with a grin.

"Of all days, he disappears on me when I need him," Faith muttered.

Angel stared at her intently. "You and Spike?" he said slowly.

"Friends, nothing more, nothing less." Faith answered.

"Yeah, I should seen it when I talked to you two earlier," he said. "In a weird demented way it makes sense."

"I sure it does to you," Faith retorted. "Seeing as you're the former king of the weird and demented."

"You talked to her this morning?" Buffy asked Angel.

"Her and Spike," Angel said.

"Uh ha," Buffy said, the wheels in her head turning. "Faith, can I talk to you for a second?" She said dragging her into the closest room which happened to be the sparing room Giles kept for slayer training.

Buffy closed the door behind her. "What the hell did you tell Angel when you talked to him?" she asked through clenched.

"I have no clue what you're talking about, B." Faith said looking everywhere except at Buffy.

"That's funny. See when Angel first arrived he had this idea that Spike and I were sleeping together."

"Really?" Faith asked, trying to hide her amusement.

"Yeah and I know it sounds crazy but now that I know you guys talked to him today, I think you had something to do with it." Buffy said.

Faith burst out laughing. "Chill B, it was just a joke," she said. She was still laughing so she had no way of blocking the fist Buffy threw at her. It connected solidly with her shoulder and she staggered backward.

Faith's eyes narrowed. "Wanna fight, huh B?" she said. "That's cool. We're long overdue anyway." And with that she lunged at Buffy catching her by surprise and managing to get sidekick in.

Buffy retaliated with her own kick which Faith neatly ducked. However, she didn't quite manage to duck the elbow Buffy jabbed into her stomach.

"Wanna play dirty, huh?" Faith panted. "Fine with me." She spun around and landed a swinging backhand punch on Buffy's face.

They went on like that for what seemed like hours. Faith was getting tired and from the way Buffy was slouching it seemed like she was too. It was time to go in for the kill, Faith decided. Faking left, she dodged right and aimed a sharp kick to Buffy's side. Unexpectedly, Buffy crouched low and kicked Faith's feet out from under her. Faith landed on the floor with an oomph, as the air was sucked out of her lungs.

"Got to work on your moves, Faith," Buffy said with a broad grin and she turned around to leave.

Still on the ground, Faith gave a solid kick to the back of Buffy's knees, insuring that she went down. "So do you, B." she said with a grin of her own.

They both took a minute to catch their breaths. "Besides, I've been out of commission for a while. Haven't had time to practice."

"Oh please." Buffy said. "Everybody knows you spend most of your time in this room working out."

"Well, except for that," Faith gave in.

There was another moment of silence. "Talk to your family, Faith. Give them a chance." Buffy said softly.

"Don't go there, B," Faith said just as softly. "Don't go there."

"Why not, Faith?" Buffy asked. "Considering everything that's been going on here, this sounds like the best deal you've gotten in ages, so for once forget your pride and just take it."

"And then what?" Faith asked.

"I don't know but I know the only way to answer that question is to meet them."

Faith was silent. Deep down inside, she knew that she had already made her decision the minute she finished reading the letter. But voicing it would make it real, it would make the whole damn thing real and that would just make her vulnerable.

"Besides I wouldn't know how to get in touch with them," she heard herself say.

There was a knock on the door. "Are you guys done in there?" Willow called.

Buffy looked at Faith. "What do you think, are we done?" she asked with a smile.

Faith grinned back. "I don't know, B. You wanna go another round?" she asked. "Cos you know me, I'm down for anything."

"Come on in, Will," Buffy called.

Willow opened the door, expecting the worse. What she didn't expect to find was Buffy and Faith sprawled on the floor grinning at each other. It was almost as if they were back in the days Faith first arrived in Sunnydale and Buffy and Faith had hit it off. They were sharing a moment only they understood because they were the slayers. And no matter what happened, they would always have that bond.

"This just came for you, Faith." Willow said, holding out the owl that had brought Faith's letter earlier. "There's an empty paper tied to it. I think you're supposed to send your reply with it."

"Well that answers your question," Buffy said sitting up.

Faith also sat up, albeit a little uneasily. "Yeah it does," she said shakily. "Do you have a pen?"

Willow wordlessly handed her one and watched as Faith scribbled something on the paper.

"Done," Faith said. When she said that, the owl arched it's wings and flew out the open window, startling Willow.

"Okay, I am never going to get used to that thing," Willow said.

Faith nodded absently but her mind was too busy pondering what she had just done and the ramifications of her actions. One thing was for sure; her life had just taken a whole new turn.

- Well, what do you think? Please, please, please take the time to review and tell me! Be on the lookout for chapter 5, House of Black where we finally get to meet the HP crew, well at least some of them.

Lotsa love,

TDL