Buffy fiddled with the earphones on her lap, trying to undo the thousands of knots that had found their way into the cord. She was apprehensive about using airplane earphones, no telling where those things had been, but she would welcome any sort of distraction at this point. Willow's close proximity on their flight to New York was starting to affect her greatly. She was, much to her chagrin, beginning to experience the second portion of Faith's "hungry and horny" philosophy. So she tried to keep busy with the headphones, not wanting Willow, or anyone else for that matter, to notice her obvious discomfort and ask her about it. So while Willow sat calmly next to her watching "The Grudge", she thought about anything and everything not related to Willow Rosenberg.
"Hey B, what ya doing."
Buffy jumped at the sudden intrusion, being so lost in her world of non-Willow related thoughts that she had completely forgotten about Faith and Tara sitting right behind them. It hadn't taken much to convince Faith to join them; after all she was always itching for the fight. Willow and Buffy made it clear that they had their eyes on her, and Faith made it clear that she knew she would have to earn their forgiveness. But after her loyalty during the battle with The First in Sunnydale, they could hardly pass up the chance to ask her to help again.
Tara had also taken little convincing. After helping Willow with the enhanced slayer power spell that had allowed them to defeat the First, Tara's powers had strengthened. She was becoming quite the witch, and more importantly, very in-control of her power. Buffy didn't think Willow noticed it, but she was almost positive that Tara was developing a crush on Faith. Deciding not to call the kettle black, however, she hadn't talked to Faith or Tara about it. Turning back to face Faith, she gave her a weak smile.
"I'm just trying to get the knots out of these headphones, F. I forgot mine."
At this Faith started laughing uncontrollably, earning herself many stares. Tara looked over at her and shook her head, returning to her book. Willow, to Buffy's relief, remained oblivious.
"Shhh, SHHH Faith! Faith shut up, people are staring. Why are you laughing?"p Coming down from her tirade of giggles, Faith managed to squeek out, "The things you do to keep your eyes off of Red."
Buffy's face promptly turned the same color at Faith's remark. She noticed out of the corner of her eye, dispite her attempt to hide it, that Tara's smile had taken a slight upward turn. Sandwiching herself in the empty seat between the slayer and the Wicca, Buffy did her best to keep control of the situation.
"How did you know? Am I that obvious?"
Still laughing Faith calmed down enough to address Buffy's panicked question.
"Slayer connection, gotta love it B. Everything you do is magnified ten times. When you're scared, I can feel it. When you're lonely, I can feel it. When you're nervousy-fidgity, I know Red's around." Faith chuckled, winking in Buffy's direction. "As for this one over here," Faith jerked her thumb towards Tara, who quickly pretended to be engulfed in her book and not the conversation, "you'll have to ask her."
Knowing she had been busted, Tara gave up on her book and turned to face Buffy.
"It's in your aura, Buffy. People's aura's generally stay the same, except when they are overcome by extreme emotion. And that happens every time you are around Re-- I mean Willow," Tara finished, glaring at Faith.
"What can I say, I rub off on many people," Faith laughed.
Buffy, extremely embarassed about being caught, covered her face with her hands.
"What do I do now? I mean, from the first moment that I met her, I knew that I loved her. But I've never been able to tell her, you know? Always being in the middle of impending apocolypses, it seems."
Faith, showing her usually absent softer side, settled farther in her chair and sighed.
"That, I don't think either of us can answer," she said, looking at Tara, who agreed. "You're just going to have to find the right time and place. And soon girlfriend," Faith said, reverting to her silly state, "because you feel like you're about to pop!"
Promptly swatting Faith and glaring at Tara for the giggles she was currently emitting, Buffy climbed out from between the two and settled back in her seat. She tried to ignore Faith and Tara, who were still in a state of laughter. Sending them another pattented Buffy glare, she turned her attention back to the knots. Seeing that her best friend was back, Willow removed her headphones.
"What was that all about?"
Turning red, Buffy was at a loss for words, and searched quickly for a coverup.
"Nothing, Faith was just... helping me with these," Buffy lied, showing Willow the headphones. "You never told me," She continued, trying to change the subject, "What did Giles say when you called?"
Waving her hand over the headphones, Willow quickly ridded the cord of the offending knots. Upon recieving a look from Buffy, she quickly defended herself. "I only use it in safe situations, honest. I've finally got control of it." Buffy nodded at the statement, satisfied with the explaination. "He said that he would join us in New York," Willow continued. "He was afraid of this; he had a feeling that we hadn't completely taken care of The First. Looks like he was right," Willow offered. "He said to just keep researching until he gets there, and to contact the detective we spoke with as soon as possible." Willow sighed, looking out the window then back at Buffy. "Looks like we have another apocolypse on our hands."
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