Author's Note: Well… I'm sorry. That's where I'd like to start - because I started this chapter maybe (shit) 2 years ago? And it was permanently deleted when booted this story off their site until I took it down to an R rating. So there was a stigma attached to writing this Fic. But I finally tracked down a copy of what I'd started with, finished it, and am now posting it in the fleeting hopes that someone, somewhere might still remember it/like it. I give credit to Pat Kelly for putting the idea of finishing/continuing it back in my head, with her story "Summer In Neptune", part of the "Between Seacrest and Ravello" Series. Thank you. And I hope it doesn't suck.

Warning! This chapter contains Adult content. It has homosexual themes and sensuality between consenting, sober adults. If this offends you, or is inappropriate for someone your age (?), please do not read. Thank you.

Written June 2004 – Monday, November 13th, 2006

( UnForeseen Events )

"I feel like I don't know what's going on with me! It's never happened before; it's just...all of a sudden...and I can't figure out why."

"It's okay, this sort of thing is normal; it happens all the time."

"Not to me!" She sighed suddenly, running a rough hand through her hair, completely frustrated. "It's not normal, and it's not okay. This has to be a fluke, it has to be a mistake."

"There's nothing wrong with it, it happens to people at this age all the time." She said, comfortingly, unable to help the small smile that played across her lips. "And it is okay, and normal. I don't get what you're so upset about, I can't think of anyone who'd really mind here."

"You don't understand; this isn't me. I feel like something is possessing me! Like some kind of evil, not-me-thing, is taking over my body and my mind and I can't control it! I don't like girls!" She yelled, and Buffy's face became stern.

"Has anyone bitten you, or thrown herbs at you lately?" the girl across her desk looked at her for a second, as though trying to decide if it was a joke or if the Guidance counselor (of all people) had gone crazy. "I'll take that as a no." The girl nodded slowly, and Buffy smiled again, albeit bemusedly. "Now, please, explain to me again what happened. I think there's something you're not telling me." The girl shifted in her seat slightly, and looked up at her again for a second.

"Okay," she sighed, looking around the small cubical, trying to find something of interest. "We were all in the locker-room after gym, and we were changing, and we were just talking...and all of us were talking about little things; what we wanted to do this week-end, and just, all of a sudden...my best friend Jamie took off her shirt, and she was just in a sports bra, and...I was staring at her. Like, at her chest." She finished in a whisper, and shuffled her feet on the floor.

"It's okay to look, there's nothing wrong with it. Curiosity – "

"This wasn't looking, Ms. Summers," She said, sounding completely self- loathing, "I was checking her out, I might even go so far as to say I was ogling her... god!" she yelled suddenly, causing Buffy to jump a bit, "She's my best friend! She and I have known each other for almost 16 years! What would she do if she...if she knew I had been looking at her?" The younger girl signed and put her head into her hands.

"It's okay. There's nothing wrong with it. And I know that for a fact, not because I read it in the Guidance Counselor's Handbook." The girl didn't even seem to hear her. "Hey!" the girl sat up quickly, looking around, and Buffy grinned, "You came her for Guidance, so why not listen?" the girl smiled apologetically, and the blonde continued. "If this is really the first time this has happened, then it could be a fluke. But I don't think you'd be here if you didn't think it could be something more than that." The girl's eyes softened.

"When I was a senior in High-School, pretty much the same thing happened to me. But like you, I freaked out. I shut it out, told myself that it was gross, and wrong, and disgusting, and I wouldn't have any part of it. But no matter how much I tried, the feelings were still there. And every time I was near this one girl, they just rose up." Buffy chuckled, and sat back a little. "As this girl and I got closer, I started to accept what I was going through a bit more, but then...she did something really bad, and somewhere in my mind that equated to my feelings for her being just as terrible."

"What'd she do?" The girl asked, sounding interested all of a sudden.

"Something not worth repeating, and I pushed her away. It was a really bad idea too, because it was the opposite of what I should have done. She needed someone that wasn't afraid of being close to her, no matter what she was, or did, or said...and I was too afraid to be that person. And there was no one else, so...she and I lost touch, she went off and did some bad stuff, and in the end; she found what she needed in an ex-boyfriend of mine. God, I have never been so insanely jealous in my life as I was when I found out."

"She dated you're ex-boyfriend?" the girl sounded shocked, and Buffy shook her head sadly.

"No. Worse. He was able to be that person she needed. The person that refused to let her fall into her self. I was so angry because that should have been me. Not only did I want to be that person, but I know in retrospect that I should have been. I still wouldn't accept why I felt the way I did, but I was confronted with it a few days later."

"What happened?" the girl asked, sitting up, really listening now.

"My best friend told me she had been seeing someone and hadn't told me. More than that; it was a girl." Buffy chuckled darkly, and shook her head. "It was then that I realized my conspiracy theory was flawed. My best friend was the nicest, most well behaved and mannered person I'd ever known, and still have ever known. Straight-A student, an amazing best friend, and the most honest and trustworthy person you could ever meet...and I realized that if she could fall in love with a woman, then the flaw couldn't be in that. It was in me. My up-bringing."

"Were your parents pissed when you told them?" The girl asked, obviously this was something she'd been really worried about.

"I haven't spoken to my father in years, and my mother has been dead for just as long." She said sadly, "I Never told them. It wasn't a common thing. I had been particularly interested in only that one girl, but as time went on I found myself checking out the odd woman in a crowd." Buffy chuckled, "I regret it though, I wish I had been open with them, because now I'll probably never have that chance. My mom would have had a mini- freak out, and my dad would have pretended as if nothing had happened, and after some times had passed they would have just accepted it. They might have even indulged me in it, given enough time to adjust. That's just the way they were."

"Does anyone know? Did you ever tell anyone?"

"I told my best friend, and she didn't even seem surprised." Buffy chuckled, "She'd seen the way I looked at the one girl and put things together for her self." The student nodded, and the bell for Lunch rang out through the halls. "Oh, you'd better got going. I'm sure your friends were wondering why you skipped out on Biology." The girl smiled and nodded as Buffy signed an excuse note. She held it out, and as the girl went to take it she grabbed it back again. "Promise me we'll talk again?" she asked, with a playful threat. The girl laughed and nodded, taking the note.

"Bye Ms. Summers!" the girl called as she left the cubical. Buffy chuckled, finding the topic of the day humorous… Considering the recent events? Buffy took the page of notes she'd made and stuck it in a new file, writing the girls name, 'Socrata Jones' on a fresh file. Putting it in her filing drawer and sitting up again, her heart nearly jumped into her throat when she saw who was standing at the entrance to her cubical.

"Hey there Ms. Summers," Faith said coolly, pushing off the barrier, "How did I know you were going to be working through your lunch?" Buffy chuckled nervously and nodded, not knowing what to say. "Predicting it would happen; I made you a lunch," Faith said, holding up a brown paper bag, "And figured I'd check in on you to make sure you ate." Buffy looked from the lunch to Faith and back again.

"You made me a lunch?" Buffy dead panned. Faith nodded, and put the bag on the woman's desk.

"Yup. Some left-over fried-chicken, a little bag of gold-fish, can of Cola, and what's left of the cookies." She said, smoothly moving to sit in the blonde's lap, enjoying the way Buffy's eyes bugged as she settled in.

"What's left of the cookies?" Buffy asked, not entirely sure what else to say. Faith nodded, opening the bag and setting out the food for her.

"Yeah, that's the other reason why I'm here." She said, wadding up the brown bag and tossing it into the trash. "There's no food left in the house. I think I cleaned the fridge out while I made your lunch. So I'm also here to pick up the keys to the Jeep so we can go grocery shopping." Faith smiled, and tucked a piece of hair behind the older woman's ear. Buffy cleared her throat, and gulped slightly, distracted by their close proximity to each other.

"Who's we?" Faith smiled at this, holding out her hand, flexing her index finger a little. Buffy opened her top desk drawer and pulled out her set of keys. Handing them to the brunette, she watched as she then got up and walked to the edge of the cubical.

"Hey Ken!" she said loudly. Just then Kennedy stood up from where she must have been sitting in the waiting area, and took the keys. She gave a short wave to Buffy and then walked out of the main Office. "Willow went ahead with the money and she's meeting us there. The three of us couldn't carry the amount of food needed, so we had to get a car. Xander is a work, and the Taurus probably isn't enough to carry everything we'd need anyways so…"

"Don't worry about it." Buffy said, smiling at the brunette's slight ramble. "I'll walk home, and Dawn and the potentials will go together since I can't give them a ride with out a car." Buffy quickly wrote down a quick note she'd post on the outside of her cubical later.

"Alright, but make sure you go straight to the house," Faith said seriously, "You and I have plans to go over; we need to get ready for tonight." Buffy nodded.

"Don't worry, Willow explained to me what's going on while you were talking to Spike. For some reason she was under the impression that we'd thought the plans up together." The both laughed slightly though for different reasons. "Is there anything else you need?" Buffy asked, wanting to make sure nothing had been left out. Faith looked to the ceiling, taking a second to think.

"Nope, just one last thing then I'll leave you to your lunch."

"What's that?" Buffy asked, sitting back in her seat. Faith smiled almost predatorily, the way she used to, and walked towards the blonde; gently taking the older woman's face into her surprisingly soft and gentle hand. The Slayers kissed with a slow passion; silent, yet expressive, telling that Faith expected many more of these to fallow, and the blonde was floored in turn. As the brunette slowly broke away, she left a slightly spaced Buffy in her wake. Once the older woman had cleared her slightly clouded vision, she saw that the girl from before was standing at her door again. This time, the student was smiling slightly.

"One of the few women among the crowd?" She asked playfully. Buffy licked her lips, the apples of her cheeks burning red with embarrassment.

"Actually, that was her." She said quietly.

" 'Her' who?" Buffy looked at her sideways, albeit pointedly.

"The diamond in the rough." She chuckled slightly as she said it, unable to think of why. The girl's jaw almost dropped, but she smiled.

"You and she are together now?" She asked, a hint of hope heard in her voice. Buffy took a moment to think it over, and the only answer she could give was:

"Not Yet." The girl then retrieved the coat she'd left behind, and said her goodbyes again. Leaving Buffy with her thoughts and no distractions, she ate her lunch in silence, wishing that a student would come in needing her advice. But no one came. When 2:30 rolled around, Buffy packed up her bag and got ready to go. Posting her little note to Dawn on the side of her Cubical, she said good-bye to Robin Wood and headed out of the school.

As she walked home she couldn't help the feeling of anticipation that hit her. Deciding that she was far too anxious to get home, she decided to make a stop first; do something to take her mind off 'plotting' with Faith. She stopped into the Espresso Pump for some coffee, and as she drank it on the way home she realized that perhaps coffee might not be the best thing. I'm already really restless, she thought, and I'm about to be sitting for a couple of hours filing things...why did I think I needed caffeine?

When she saw her house, and noticed Faith sitting on the steps of the porch, she tried to look as if nothing was amiss. But when she saw that Faith had a cigarette in her mouth she couldn't help it. She ran over and pulled the thing out of her mouth and threw it on the ground. Faith flinched, apparently having not seen Buffy.

"Hey B, I was wondering when you were gonna get here." She said calmly, un-moved by Buffy's violent reaction, "But did you really have to ruin my quitting cigarette?" she asked, pointing to the un-lit and now broken cigarette on the walkway.

"What?" Buffy asked, confused.

"It's something that I learned from a book in prison," she said, getting up and heading inside, "You keep cigarettes on you, and when you want one, you put one in your mouth, and you have to leave it un-lit. You're allowed to have them, but you're not allowed to smoke them. You'll want to light them, and smoke them, but when you don't let yourself pretty soon you'll not even want the un-lit ones. Worked last time I quit, so I figured it'd work again." Buffy slowly followed Faith inside, not quite sure how that kind of plan would work, but hey, if she said it did.

"I stopped for coffee," Buffy stated as Faith sat down at the dining room table, and saw that Faith smiled slightly when she nodded. "That's what took me."

"I know," she said pointing to the coffee cup Buffy still had with her, "it shows. Even though I'd asked you to come right home." She said the last part with a playful edge, to which Buffy just shrugged. "Most of the girls went out to the movies, they should be back at around four or so. They said they might stop and rent some videos if they could find the time. But don't worry," She said quickly, "I told them they had to be back before dark." Buffy smiled and nodded.

"I'll get what we need, be right back." She said, jogging up to her room. There on her desk was her organizer and a Christmas cookie tin. Grabbing a pen and a pad of paper as well, Buffy made her way back down-stairs. When she got back she was surprised to find two glasses in front of Faith, and the brunette pushed one her way as she sipped her own. Buffy lifted it, and sniffed it, the ice clanking slightly.

"Don't worry," Faith said, licking her lips, "It's diet. I figured you guys were Pepsi drinkers." Buffy smiled slightly and sat down herself. Faith was at the head of the table, Buffy to the side, facing the kitchen door. "What did ya get?" Faith asked, pulling the materials in front of her. Buffy took back the Organizer protectively, and opened it. Faith saw that although it was split up into letters, there were just blank pages instead for room for phones numbers. She turned to 'P' and there was a long list of names, taking up about two and a half of the little pages.

"The names." She said, "In the order they arrived." Faith picked up the cookie tin, and shook it slightly, a look of confusion on her face. "Open it." Faith shrugged, and when she did she found it was full of almost mug-shot Polaroids of all the potentials with their names underneath. "In case I recognize one of them by face but can't match it with a name. Not prettiest pictures, but it helps. Never been to good at remembering things like that."

"Got ya." Faith said looking them over, trying to remember specifics about the ones she'd worked with. "Now, what do we do? I think it's agreed that Spike will get a smaller group, of those that need the most work, and they're going someplace quiet, right?" Buffy nodded, and leaned forward onto the table to look over the pictures with Faith. "Now, here are the five that I think we should send with Spike..." she said, setting five of the pictures into a pile.

"No, see, I think she's pretty good," Buffy said as she picked up the picture, "Uh...Samantha! Yeah, she's got this thing, I dunno what I'd call it, but she's never picked up a sward before but she'd be good with one. She's a ballet dancer, so she's got the grace and finesse of a pretty swift fighter. I say give her a chance. But the rest I agree with. Let's put ..." Buffy sorted through the pile and pulled out one of the mousy red-head that reminded Faith of a younger Willow, "She's exactly what we should spend to spike. She's not gone on patrol even remotely recently. She never goes unless it's required of her." Faith nodded, and saw that Buffy was pretty much lying on the table to see the pictures.

"Here B," Faith offered, picking up all the remainder of the photos and getting up. She pushed Buffy back gently and sat down in her lap. The blonde chuckled silently, and tried to hold in a smile at the brunette's forward behavior. "This'll just make it easier." She said, and so they worked like that, Faith in her lap, sorting through photos, and putting them into piles. There were 47 Potentials, and in the end it was going to be 18 with Giles and Willow, 12 with Faith, 12 with Buffy, from worse to best, and the five for Spike were going to be those that needed the most basic of work.

"Come on," Buffy said tapping the side of Faith's legs on her own, "Get up. I'm going to wash these, I'll be right back." She said, indicating the now empty soda glasses. She took them into the kitchen, rinsing them out. While Buffy was at the sink, and couldn't see Faith, the brunette pulled the organizer over to her and opened it. Turning it to 'F', she sifted through a page or two about furniture repair and fire-arm stores until she read her name.

'Make peace with Faith before dying permanently' was one of the items on the list. Faith almost laughed except that it was too close to her to find funny. So, Faith thought, she did want to patch things up. 'Apologize' was on there too, along with 'Be Polite' and 'Be honest with her'. There were little checks next to some of them, and there were more examples as the list went on, but she didn't have the time to read them. As Buffy headed for the higher cabinets, she slid the organizer back over to where it'd been before, and looked in on the little blonde from her seat.

As she had to reach, stretch and stand on her tip-toes, Buffy felt eyes on her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that Faith was watching from her chair, smiling. Buffy felt her cheeks flush, and she reached a final time to put the glasses away. Dusting her slightly wet hands on the jeans, she walked back into the room, where Faith was still smiling and Buffy's face was still a little pink.

Buffy sat down in Faith's seat from Earlier, and looked down at the piles again. She cleared her throat and picked up the pile for Willow and Giles' set obviously trying to distract herself. Faith chuckled, got up, and approached Buffy again. She took the pictures out of the blonde's hands and tossed them back onto the table. Throwing a leg over Buffy's she now sat straddling the blonde's waist, and was thoroughly enjoying the look of surprise of the older woman's face.

Faith's smile slowly crept up the side of her face into a smirk. But it didn't have the effect it used to have on the blonde. Instead of distracting or menacing, she found it...comforting. Maybe it's because she'd learned so much more about the girl these past three days – yes Buffy, she told herself, it had only been three days – but she doubted it. She had the odd feeling that it was the smirk that'd changed, not them. There was softness in those brown eyes she'd never seen before, and a childish dimple on the younger girl's cheek. This had never quite happened before.

Buffy couldn't help herself. She smiled back, though it was unconsciously, and raised a hand to push the girl's hair behind her ears needlessly. Taking in every detail of this face, this woman, this warrior with a gentleness that most would find shocking...she slowly let a sigh out through her nose, calmly blown away. Running a hand down the pale, olive skin of her cheek, Buffy couldn't help noticing that she was leaning forward. But more than that, she couldn't stop herself, even if she'd wanted to. But she didn't want to stop; not at all.

As their foreheads gently touched, the tips of their noses tickling the other's, their eyes were caught in each other. Buffy licked her lips quickly, silently, and Faith felt her warm sweet breath on her face. As the brunette watched the blonde's eyes close slowly, and felt her lean in that extra inch to kiss her, Faith pulled away. When the eyes opened again, more quickly, worry and surprise evident in them, the younger girl looked back. Buffy nodded, understanding, and kissed her and her eyes slipped closed again.

Faith's breath was taken away. Buffy wasn't just kissing her because she could, she was kissing her because she wanted to. Her lips were firm, soft, and gentle. The brunette wanted them to simply devour her, but Buffy wouldn't let them. She wanted to slowly consume her; to enjoy this slow seduction. The younger girl's want for more was not unsatisfied, however; the blonde was simply taking her time, letting her lips and tongue slowly explore the wanting and warm mouth attached to hers.

Faith gently drew her hands up and down the older girl's back, enjoying the smoothness she felt, even through the shirt. She wasn't wearing a bar, and the fact that there was simply a layer of fabric between her and her prize caused Faith's arousal to spike.

Unfortunately, she was not given the chance to act on it. Both girls heard the latch on the front door being opened, and the two sprang apart. They'd moved so fast so as to not to be caught kissing that Buffy nearly landed seat-down on the floor of the dining room. The potentials were back early from the movie, along with Dawn, Amanda and a few others. They walked into the living room, completely ignorant of what they'd interrupted. Buffy cleared her throat, as she ran a hand through her hair.

The girls entering the house paid no attention to her or Faith, simply keeping up their conversation and heading into the living room, talking. Faith smiled wryly at her, and walked into the kitchen with a smirk far more in the fashion of her younger self than before.

Buffy leaned on the door-jam, and listened to the younger girls' yammering. They were talking about the movie they'd seen. It was some horror movie, with a terrible cast, bad acting, but beautiful people in it, getting killed off one by one. They talked about the predictable deaths, the unbelievable killers; how they lacked motive and yet killed. They sounded like normal kids, talking about things that would be important if they were anything less than Potentials.

"But my favorite movie, regardless of time or knowledge, has gotta be 'The Lost Boys'; no question." One girl said, causing the rest of the room to chuckle. "I know, not only is it very 80s, but it's also a movie about Vampires that can fly."

"That's nothing too out-of-the-ordinary." Buffy said from the doorway, making all of them turn, "I knew a few Vamps back in LA that could levitate a bit. You do come across them now and again. Just not any here in Sunnydale. Well, there was Dracula, sort of, but that was the whole turning to mist thing..." She stopped to look over the shocked faces of her crowd, and smiled slightly. Even with all the training they'd had since they arrived, there was so little they knew about they're enemies.

"Alright then," she said suddenly, overly jovial as she turned back out of the room, "Don't forget that we have intensive training tonight!" she called over she shoulder heading into the kitchen to find Faith making herself a sandwich. "Uh, Faith, I'm going to go take a shower, maybe do some stretches before we take the girls out so... I'll be upstairs if you need me." The brunette smiled, and nodded. It was a knowing smile, she was obviously still pleased about the kiss they'd shared earlier, but there was no hint of embarrassment there at all. This caused the blonde to grin slightly as well.

"Alright." Faith said simply, "Maybe I'll join you for those stretches." She said it completely straight faced, but Buffy had an idea that she meant it as an innuendo. Buffy felt the tips of her ears redden, but slowly turned and left...still smirking, though Faith didn't see it.

( Run For Your Money )

Faith never got to do those stretches. While Buffy took her shower, Faith had fallen asleep on Buffy's bed waiting for her to finish. She woke up covered in a throw-blanket and with the blinds drawn for the evening sun. After getting up and looking out the window, Faith sighed and grabbed her packet of cigarettes, heading for the yard below. The girls were inside, eating the dinner that Andrew had made, of which Faith grabbed two plates of as she headed into the back yard.

On the small back deck was a chair, where Faith chose to sit and have her dinner. Buffy was sitting on the dewed grass with her back to the brunette, seemingly unknowing it was her, or perhaps not noticing anyone was there at all. She had her legs out in a V in front of her, leaning down and grabbing her feet, counting to 25, then switching, then doing another set. Faith finished her turkey and stuffing, setting the plate aside, and desperately wanting a cigarette. Popping one into her mouth, and thanking the good lord she didn't have a lighter while she was cursing 'em for it at the same time.

As Buffy got up, and stood with her legs spread out in a V again, leaning down to place her hands flat on the grass between her legs, Faith took in a long shaky drag from her un-lit smoke. Buffy winked at her, up-side-down from between her legs, and counted to twenty five again. Faith was so shocked when the next drag she took from her cigarette contained smoke that she started chocking on it.

"Sorry Seconds," Spike said almost rudely, "Thought that was what you were waiting for." Faith glared up at him as he advanced on Buffy, her back turned. She turn around though, eyes sharp, looking right past the almost marching Vampire. Walking right past him, looking annoyed, Spike sputtered at being unnoticed.

"Faith!" She yelled, standing between the brunette's legs as she sat severely crouched in the deck chair. "I thought I smelled smoke…" She almost growled. Taking the cigarette right from between the younger girls lips she put it between her own and took a long drag herself. Spike's jaw dropped so far he worried it would fall from his skull. Faith's eyes just sort of glazed over as she was suddenly struck with the thought of what it would be like to be the filter right now...As the blonde lifted up her shoe and smashed the offending 'coffin nail' into the soul of her boot, the yard was silent. Buffy held out her hand, and Faith instantly handed over the rest of the pack.

"No More Cigarettes!" she said loudly and evenly, "I smell one more speck of tobacco on your breath and you can find a new bed to sleep in; is that clear?" Faith smiled and nodded. Buffy smiled back and crushed the pack in her tight little fist. "Good… you brought me diner?" Faith nodded and handed her the plate. Buffy sat on the younger girls lap and started eating, a little hungrily. Spike huffed and went back inside, obviously unable to stand the displays of affection between to the two women.

"Hey B?" Faith asked as the littler woman consumed her dinner. "Why'd you let me sleep? You knew I wanted to warm-up with you." Faith said quietly, almost whispering in her other Slayer's ear. Buffy just kept eating, a one-sided, happy little smirk coming out across her lips. When Faith waited only to receive no response, she kissed the blonde's temple, taking hold of her fork. Buffy just chuckled.

"Because," The True Slayer said smiling, "You look like a innocent little child when you sleep...wasn't about to ruin one of the rare moments when you look like that." Faith grinned back, no sure how to react to a compliment like that.

"Wow B, that's… really sweet." She then laughed a little nervously, "Or possibly reason to believe you're a pedophile." Buffy gave the brunette a Slayers version of a playful elbow in the stomach at that comment, but couldn't keep in a short belly laugh. Faith just sat looking at the prize in her lap while Buffy pushed the food around on her plate, still smiling slightly to herself. With a quick glance into the now empty kitchen Faith realized that it was verging on night.

"Come on B; I'll get your plate, you get the lists of names and assemble the 'Avengers'." Buffy nodded, and got up.

As Faith went into the kitchen and started washing she encountered Andrew scrubbing a basting ban, randomly stopping at intervals to sing clips from Ricky Martins songs into the scrubbing brush as he hummed and cleaned. Trying to get out of his way as fast as possible, and doing her best not to laugh at his odd manor and state of being, she headed out to the front lawn where everyone was gathered, and – for what Faith realized must be the first time in months – the house was totally empty. After asking the potentials to gather on the lawn the Scoobies, Dawn, and Faith stood proudly and seriously on the porch.

"Alright, listen up." Buffy said in that serious General Patton sort of way, "As all of you know and were warned; tonight is intensive training night. All will participate. You will be divided into groups based upon the specific training we feel you need and all of you will go to graveyards and hot spots of dark activity based upon you're level of readiness. Listen for your name, and line up in front of your group leader." Buffy, Faith, Spike, Giles and Willow all fanned themselves along the porch each with a small chest or bag of weapons at their feet.

The lists were run through, all of them, and the girls headed towards their 'Team Captains' for the night. But as she looked into the crowd as it was all over, and saw Kennedy not only looking confused but also very annoyed, she realized something. Buffy hadn't called her name. Heading over to the blonde before the younger brunette could get to her, Faith pointed this out.

"I know," Buffy said almost silently, "She's going to go with Willow." Faith's eye bugged.

"What?" Faith said back quietly, glancing at the girl waiting at the foot of the small steps. "B, she heard what you said, she's not gonna buy it! She's too smart and she knows she's too good for that." She leaned in a bit closer, "Don't you think training her properly is a little more important that your best-friends love life?" Buffy just chuckled.

"Faith, this is training." She said looking her dead in the eye but smiling, "Trust me, there are thing she can learn from Willow that I could never teach her." The double meaning wasn't lost on Faith; so much that she felt the tips of her ears prick in a blush. "Now don't worry, I've got a plan and I can handle this." And with that she casually walked past Faith, down the steps and right past Kennedy as she started addressing her group.

"Um, Buffy," Kennedy said interrupting her, "I wasn't assigned to a group." She said, sounding a little nervous and a little sour. Buffy looked over her list for a second, and looked back up at the girl.

"Yes you were, you're with Willow." She said simply, as though she'd said it before and it was Kennedy's fault she didn't pay attention. Kennedy's eyes darkened, realizing that this had something to do with her recently terminated relationship with the redhead. Who, consequently, had been standing with her group next to Buffy's on the lawn and had over-heard, not looking too pleased about it either – her face white and a little scared looking.

"With all due respect, I much rather go with Faith." She said flatly, as though saying 'I'm not really giving you a choice.'. Buffy got right in her face, looking angry, and spoke harshly but in a whisper.

"You don't have a choice in this, Roth, so I guess 'going with Faith' isn't really an option now is it?" Kennedy looked about ready to blow, but faster than the girl had ever seen in her life a hand shot out and grabbed her arm pulling her aside a bit. "Now listen up, okay, because I didn't want to say this in front of Willow's group, but they're the kids with an attitude problem. This is an experiment in internal leadership, and I picked you because you're the best we've got, okay? So if you want to throw that back in my face, just say the word..." Buffy growled threateningly, "You'll stay home to read the books with Dawn and Anya, and I'll pick a new girl to be my Sergeant."

Ooh, Buffy had her good! If there was one thing anyone knew about Kennedy it was that she liked being in charge, and quite possibly the only thing she liked more than that was being a slayer. Being told by Buffy that she was the best and was going to be specially treated for it was like getting a commendation, now the only question was; was it worth it to her to spend a little time with Willow?

"Alright Willow's group, let's move it!" she called, reaching into the bag at the red-head's feet and pulling out a long-sword. Coming up she met eyes with Willow momentarily who gave a short smile. As though caught off guard in her good luck, Kennedy smiled back, and headed west to Whispering Glades cemetery. The other girls, not being stupid, quickly fell in line, Giles and Willow at the rear. Faith walked up behind Buffy and placed a hand on her shoulder. As the girl turned around, she was not shocked to see her smiling widely.

"You're evil." Faith stated, though she too was also grinning, "You're just straight up evil." The older woman just shrugged as if to say 'tell me something I don't know', and tossed and ax onto her shoulder jauntily. "Man, good story too. You had her marked to a T... You were planning that the whole time, weren't you?" Faith suddenly realized.

"I don't know what you're talking about Faith," Buffy said airily, "It was a simple mistake, could have happened to anyone." And winked. Faith just chuckled deeply and grabbed a set of daggers.

"Hey, My group! Line up! We're out of here!" and marched off on their long walk to the woods by the caves.

( Innuendo and Illusions )

By the time Faith had gotten back to the house with her Potentials, they had been out for almost five hours. Close to midnight and all thoroughly exhausted, they were pleased to see Buffy's group walking up from the other end of the block. Smiling at one another the two Slayers, leading their groups back in wrapped their arms around one another and sighed. No one had died. And they had beat Willow and Giles' group back, so there was a good chance there would still be some food left in the fridge for them to eat.

"What's the news?" Buffy asked as she entered the house.

"No new info on the First." Dawn said sadly, still pouring over the books Giles had brought with him, "Spike's group came back after only a few hours, they're all passed out upstairs. Andrew got most of the laundry done and is folding clothes with Xander. They're just waiting for some of the other girls to get back so they can go back to Xander's and get some sleep."

"So besides being quick like a freak, how is Captain Peroxide? How'd his ladies do?" Faith asked, letting her loose hold on Buffy drop as the blonde settled into a chair next to Dawn with a sigh.

"Fine." He said from the shadows in the hall between the kitchen and the living room. "You underestimated them. They killed three vamps with little fuss and no injury and I spent the next hour and a half trying to drum up some more trouble to keep them occupied." He took a drag from his lit cigarette and looked at the floor. "When they realized that's what I was doing they started to look disheartened. Brought them back here, put 'em to bed."

"Thanks Spike." Buffy said, rubbing her neck, tiredly. Walking up behind her, he reached to rub it for her. When Faith realized this she tensed and resisted the urge to pull the daggers from her belt. But she knew she didn't need to. As soon as Buffy felt his cold skin touching hers she jumped, sitting up in her chair and frowning at him.

"Your hands are freezing." She chastised, which Faith knew was only an excuse, to explain why she was so shocked by his touch. "Scared the crap out of me." She mumbled, glancing at Faith and catching her eye. They looked at each other in silent understanding before both looking away.

"Sounds like your guys' Potential did alright," Dawn noted, leaning so as to look into the kitchen. "They're certainly eating like they're okay." Both women nodded.

"Yeah, only minor cuts and bruises. We did run into a few Harbingers though." At that Buffy looked up suddenly. "I took care of them. They're fine." Faith assured her counterpart.

"How many?"

"Four. We just made like to circle-the-wagons, all our backs facing inwards and took 'em out." Buffy sat up intently at this.

"They took care of them?

"Nah, I did, but they kept their cool really well. Kept it together and were able to keep one or two of them busy while I handled the others before dealing with them." The blonde looked down at the surface o the table, deep in thought.

"What?" Faith asked, worried.

"Faith we didn't encounter an Harbingers." She said, looking up finally. "We had Vamps crawling out of ever crevice but that was it. A few demons, but all basic hell-mouthy fare." Buffy looked at her, her seriousness unparalleled. "Where in the woods did they attack you?"

"Uhh," Faith said, thinking, not entirely sure. They'd been wondering around for a while, walked past that old, wooden building then… Poof! Like they appeared out of nowhere. In fact, Faith wasn't even sure where they were in the woods when it happened – she'd been all over those woods in her younger Slaying years and had never seen that hut before. Dawn rolled out a map of Sunnydale, indicating the woods. Buffy leaned in waiting for Faith to indicate. She couldn't tell.

"I have no idea where we were." She admitted, and Spike could be heard scoffing. "We were past the caves and deeper in. You could tell there was a lot less foot-traffic around there, bushes and shrubs everywhere."

"Anything that could narrow it down?" Buffy sounded disappointed. This was probably their best lead for figuring out where the hell these guys were coming from, where the First's base of operations was.

"There was a house of some kind." Faith added quickly, stuttering a little, "I-I'd never seen it before. I knew those woods pretty well back in the day." Buffy nodded, thinking. "It was sort of big. I think it may have had one of those uh…" Faith spun her index finger in the air for a few seconds, Buffy waiting for her elaboration, "The spinning wheels that churns water?" she asked. Buffy shrugged.

"Was there anyone else around?" she asked, trying to get more clues.

"No. But there was a light on when we first walked passed it. But then the lights were off once the bringer had dispersed." Buffy's eyes lit up at this. "… You think that's where they were waiting to ambush us?" Faith guessed.

"I think that's where they came from before they attacked you, yes." Buffy nodded, pleased. "Do you think you could lead me back there if I asked you to?"

"Definitely." Faith agreed. The blonde smiled.

"Good work, Slayer." She praised softly. He brunette smiled somewhat shyly back at her. Spike could be heard slinking further into the house, away from them. They continued to look at one another, unaware of the fact that Dawn was taking note of this somewhat unusual interaction. Then suddenly hey both broke eye contact at the same time and turned to look at the door. Dawn heard nothing.

"Here come the rest." Buffy said, still looking at the open door facing the quiet street. She turned to address Faith as she got out of her chair. "Faith, I'm going to go take a shower and go to bed. Let me know if there's anything serious?" She nodded as Buffy walked around the table and headed for the stairs. She paused at the foot of them. "And Faith?" she asked, a little more quietly. Faith walked over to her. Buffy smiled somewhat sweetly at her, not hiding the fact that her gaze was drawn to the younger girl's lips.

"This whole thing was your plan, Faith," she praised quietly, "And you did a good job. Divvy up the results and let me know how it went when you come to bed." Faith smiled and nodded. The blonde then turned on her heel and climbed the steps.

"Bullocks." Spike muttered from the back porch, just as the rest of the gang spilled into the house.

( Anticipation )

Willow and Giles had had a bit more trouble than Faith, Buffy or Spike. They'd not encountered Harbingers, but apparently Giles hadn't gotten the Memo about Kennedy being the newly appointed go-between for Slayer and Potentials. Due to this, and the fact that, indeed, a good few of the girls on this largest group had attitude/fear issues, there was not nearly enough coordination or discipline. This led to a few minor injuries.

One girl had sprained her ankle, another two had sprained their wrists and one had a pretty bad scrape on her arm that would probably need a gauze wrap. It seemed as though Willow and Kenney had gotten along well enough in the interim though. Kennedy had seen more of Willow in action, who'd fallen back on her years of Scooby Slaying experience and had been dual wielding cross and stake and taken out two vamps herself. Needless to say the younger girl was impressed that someone – with normal, human strength and coordination – could handle herself so well. "I learned from the best." was all she said, smiling shyly.

The girls fed themselves, set out their sleeping bags and turned on one of the movies they'd rented that afternoon with the volume off and subtitles on so that it would be easier for them to fall asleep. Faith couldn't sleep, though. She was too nervous. There was something terrifying about the prospect of walking up those stairs and climbing into that bed next to Buffy.

It was the way Buffy had looked at her before taking her shower, the blonde admitting to the H&H Theory finally, the kisses they'd shared that day and the way they'd woken up together the past two mornings. It felt like anything could happen. While she felt like these feelings were out of her control, she knew what she did with them wasn't. She knew what she wanted to happen, what she wanted to do… but she had no idea where it would lead. The potential of the situation frightened her. For all she knew she could fall into bed next to Buffy and tomorrow would be more of the same… or it could be infinitely better, and thus infinitely worse.

"Hey." She heard from the doorway to the kitchen. Glancing behind her, she watched as Kenney walked onto the back porch, sitting on the top step and looked curiously up at her fellow brunette.

"Eve'nin." Faith muttered back, flicking lint off her jeans, no looking at the younger girl.

"So… Your idea, or hers?"

"Hers." Faith answered, disinterestedly. "She knows you're the best, Ken. But you're not as good as you think. That's her problem." When she finally looked at the younger woman she saw that she looked miffed. "You think you're a Slayer, and while you may be the closest of any of the girls – you still aren't at our level. You will be though. Someday, you will be. Just not until I, and probably someone else die." Kennedy got an evil look in her eye, and that just made Faith chuckle.

"What?"

"Ken, that's just it. You couldn't take me. That's where the line is, and that's your problem. You're so consumed by what you can do, you think you can do anything. You can't see that line. And that's why Buffy gets so frustrated with you. Because she needs you, and with the way you're acting she can see you're going to John Wayne a bad situation and get yourself killed." She said it so strait faced that the younger brunette was unsettled by it.

"Then, because she doesn't have someone as good as you to rely on, to help her lead, more girls are gonna get killed. And while you and the other girls may think she doesn't care about you, she does. She just doesn't want to get attached to you all to the point that she loses sight of the fact that trying to save everyone is the fasted way to get even more people killed." Kennedy looked down and thought about it. Faith was probably right, but she didn't want to admit it.

"So why aren't you upstairs getting lucky?" she asked, changing the subject. Faith just chuckled darkly at the other girl's words, though.

"You got the wrong idea there, Cowboy."

"Oh do I?" she challenged, "So that wasn't Buffy I saw sitting on your lap right before we all headed out?"

"No, it was." She admitted, just saying it aloud making a smirk possess her lips.

"And?" Kennedy prodded. "You have yet to explain where I'm wrong here."

"She's not ready."

"She's not ready?" Kennedy asked pointedly, "You sure you're not projecting there, 'Cowboy'? Because if the way she's been looking and actin' since you stepped foot in this house is any indication… she's been waiting for it for a while. Not to mention the fact that – boy, does she need it!"

"Hey!" Faith snapped quickly. Kennedy just smirked.

"Tell me I'm wrong." Faith was silent. "See? I'm not lying."

"She hasn't been waiting for anything." Faith said, voice tired. But Kennedy knew she wasn't really tired. Just depressed. She obviously had idea what was waiting for her upstairs. "Especially nothing from me."

"Faith." Kennedy said solidly. "Shut the fuck up, go shower, and get into bed with that lady. I'm pretty sure she'll tell you exactly what she needs." She smirked and Faith stood up, paused in the door.

"Lemme ask you one thing."

"What, Faith?"

"Why, Ms. Know-It-All, Ms. Insight and Understanding, if you're so wise; why the hell would you let one little slip-up effect your pride so much if there's so much to be proud of?" she turned her head to look at Kennedy, who's face was turned away. "If your pride were based on anything other that a delicate stream of hot-air, you're get back in that bed and show that woman that what she may not be used to, well…" Faith smirked and chuckled when the girl's face turned towards her, insulted but intrigued, "That what she's been missing out on, might just be what she's been looking for." Both girls smirked as Faith walked deeper into the house.

( New Heights )

Faith stood in the dark living room, crowds of passed out girls around her feet, as she stood with a hand of the banister. Her gaze was fixed on light pouring down to the stairs' landing from the hall. She spent what felt like a long time there. And while it was probably longer than was intended, and definitely longer than was necessary, the only thing she could say to herself that would get her up those stairs was, well… that she stank. And that even if she didn't sleep in Buffy's bed, she still needed to shower. When she was done with that, then she'd figure out the next step.

But the moment the warm water hit her skin, she was gone. Like getting hit by a Mac truck of sleepiness, she knew that – if for no other reason that it was the closest bed – she would be sleeping next to her fellow Slayer that night. She was now too tired to avoid it. As she climbed out of the shower, she left her clothes scattered over the bathroom floor, loosely wrapped herself in a towel, and opened the connecting door into the master bedroom.

"Jesus!" Buffy gasped suddenly at seeing Faith in the doorway. "You frightened me. I couldn't think who would be taking a shower this – " Then the blonde looked at the clock and noticed the actual hour. It was nearly sun-up. "Faith! Why were you up so late?" she asked, sitting up, clutching the sheet to her. Her tone was worried, concerned, and a little bit of guilt crept in with the brunette's feeling of complete and utter exhaustion. She closed the door to the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bed next to Buffy, no longer able to stand.

"Dunno. Wasn't tired until I got into the shower." She muttered. Trying to hold the towel up by tucking the ends under her arms. She turned to look at Buffy and noticed something. The older girl was doing a similar thing with the bed sheets. "B…" Faith said slowly, drawing out the letter hesitantly, "What are you sleeping in?" she asked. If it weren't for a Slayer's innately improved sense of sight in the dark, she would have missed the fact that Buffy was blushing.

"Nothing, why?"

"Nothing meaning nothing special, or nothing meaning nothing nothing?" Buffy tugged the sheet a little higher.

"Not nothing." She said quietly. Faith now felt slightly more awake.

"You're naked?" she asked, somewhat unsure, though not at all bothered by that idea. Quite the opposite, really.

"No." Buffy protested, though weakly. "I have underwear on." She insisted.

"Not much." Faith pointed out. Buffy blushed darker.

"Sorry." She muttered. Faith shook her head and turned to face Buffy on the bed.

"You really shouldn't be." She whispered and leaned in to kiss her. The blonde responded slowly, a little tentative, and careful. She was still as a statue except for her lips, and even, shallow breaths. Faith reached out, her hands holding the older woman just below her arms, and leaned her back into the pillows. The sheet dropped away and Faith saw that Buffy was indeed naked from the waist up. She grinned, kissing her more deeply, and let the towel fall to her hips. She leaned down next to the older girl, letting her fingers caress her soon to be Lover's scalp, down her neck, over her delicate collarbones, and over a small, soft breast.

Buffy gasped at the sensation, finally coming out of her trance somewhat, and looked down, watching the hand that gently ran over her small, tan nipple. The fingertips continued to tease, to lightly brush over the sensitive bud, hardening it further. Faith kissed the girl's cheek as Buffy watched, the blonde was somewhat amazed by this turn of events. She realized she shouldn't be so shocked. Wasn't this what she'd wanted? What she still wanted? Wasn't this why she'd gone to bed, mostly naked? It was. So why was she still so nervous?

For the same reason Faith was: the unknown. What would happen tomorrow? Or the next day? Would this distract them from the impending apocalypse? Would their devotion to one another result in Potentials dying? Did they even care at this point? How dangerous could a relationship between them get? How much good could it do? Could they ever truly get over the past enough to have a substantial future? Was that even what they wanted?

But as their bodies guided them further, it also showed them that right now none of that mattered. That was for their brains to sort of tomorrow. Right now, there were other things at hand. Buffy turned her wide, shining eyes to look at Faith as she took the girl's breast in her palm, her thumb caressing it's tip, and her eyes consuming the blonde's every thought.

"Hey." Faith whispered into the dark.

"I missed you." Buffy whispered before leaning in to kiss her Slayer, her Lover, her partner and past, no longer scared or worried and sighing at the feeling of their lips meeting one more time. She needed Faith right now. She needed her strength and her trust and her body to make it through this. She wasn't sure if she was talking about tonight or the rest of their fight with the First, but she wouldn't have been shocked if it were true for both. So she wrapped an arm around the girl's neck and kissed her deeply, letting the feeling of her bare chest and Faith's wash over her like a baptism, a fresh start, like a new beginning which this was.

The younger of the two pulled back only briefly, nuzzling the peak of the blonde's breast with the tip of her nose while she tried to catch her breath. This was new for Faith. She wasn't used to being so evenly pitted. Especially when going so slowly. But perhaps being so meticulous in her every kiss, touch and word was part of it. The effort was enormous, and definitely worth it. Half lying on top of the smaller woman, she noticed their breathing was perfectly even. As Buffy breathed in, she exhaled, allowing their bodies to connect and touch almost more than humanly possible. The intimacy of it was somewhat frightening to Faith.

"Buffy?" She asked slowly, looking back up into her eyes. Buffy gazed back, a little nervous. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting." Buffy shook her head, running a hand over the brunette's slightly damp hair, telling her she didn't care. "Would you mind if we continued this in the morning?" she asked quietly, staring at her partner's lips. "I want to be awake enough to appreciate what I'm being a part of." Buffy smiled a little and nodded. She laid her head down on the blonde's shoulder and sighed, exhausted and content. Too tired to move – literally.

And when she felt Buffy's hands moving down her body, as much as she enjoyed it, she made no move to stop them. She couldn't. And she had the feeling that, if she could have, she probably would have encouraged them. She felt the Slayer's small hands pushing the towel the rest of the way off her body. Faith, not one to usually be self-conscious of her figure, felt shockingly naked and exposed. But she was still too tired to even open her eyes. Then she felt herself being gently moved away from Buffy, which made her feel even more vulnerable and bare, until the other woman's arms curled around her middle again, bringing her naked body flush to her Lover's.

She felt her hot skin pressing into the warmth of Buffy's curves and could feel herself redden all over. She knew, with the prone way she was laying, any minute now the blonde would know just how relaxed and satisfied she felt lying in the woman's arms. She could feel it on her thighs already and hoped that Buffy would understand. One of Buffy's hands caressed the curve of the small of her back, lulling her deeper into a state of In Between. Somewhere trapped amid dreaming and feeling, not sure if the moan that sounded almost like a gentle purring came from her throat or her lover's but knowing it resulted is the blonde's back arching beneath her before the blonde slipped a leg between the brunette's.

The wetness there was now obvious and their embrace now the most intimate they'd ever known, and never before had Faith wanted so badly to either more or faint because whatever, wherever she was simply too much for her senses to handle. Slayer senses be damned. But as Buffy softly grasped her hips and kissed her lips, pressing Faith deeper into her leg -- still the purring whirred on from somewhere

Faith got her wish: She fainted. But not before marking their bodies with her helplessness, her wantonness, her complete submission to whatever had taken place between her and the Slayer tonight. A soft, desperate dry escaped her lips, lost in the mouth of her lover as she came and then again was lost. The body beneath her own relaxed, and bowed, allowing the brunette to sink infinitely deeper still. The last thing she remembered that night was Buffy kissing her neck before she was consumed by the blackness.

( To Be Continued... )

-VixenRaign-