Risen

Chapter 6...

I guess the Watchers decided it wasn't worth losin' who knows how many Slayers in this small cave just to take down one Slaypire and a rogue Slayer, 'cause not even ten minutes after Red and Xan went back, they were all gone, leavin' Angel, Oz, Dawn, Buffy and me in the cave. But this caused a problem.

"We can't travel by day anymore." I realise.

"What?" Oz asks.

"We don't have Red anymore. No superwitch means no rain cloud. No rain cloud means no protection from sunlight for Buffy. And last I checked, Angel only has one sunscreen amulet. So we can't go by day anymore. Once we leave the cave, the Watchers are gonna come down on us. We need a way out that doesn't involve dyin'."

"Fuck." Buffy groans, leanin' her head back against the wall.

"Here." I look to Angel, and see him holdin' his ring out for Buffy.

"What?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Take it. You need it more than I do right now."

"Angel, what are you doin'?" I ask.

"Buffy is the priority right now. If she's not protected from sunlight, we can't go by day, and that's going to slow us down. So, the logical thing to do would be to give her the ring. The Gem of Amara can protect a vampire from dying. It'll keep the sun from burning her up. You can travel straight through the daytime now. Get to the nearest Soulkeeper. Get Buffy back. Then stay away from the Watchers. Even with her soul, they'll kill her. I'll find a way to survive without it. I can pretend Buffy overpowered me for the amulet. I'll leave a pile of dust on the ground, make the Watchers think I'm dead. Make them think Buffy took my ring and killed me for it, then you all left. When they're gone, I'll sneak out in the night."

"Angel, you can't do that." I say.

"Sure I can. It's my amulet. I'm giving it back to Buffy. Like I said, she's more important."

"You heard the man." Buffy jumps down and grabs the ring. She slides it on her finger and whips out her stake. For some reason, she kept her stake when she turned. She plunges the stake ino her own heart and gasps. "Shit!" She screams, but doesn't disintegrate.

"Hurt?" I ask sarcastically.

"Yes!" She screams again as she pulls the stake out. "But at least I'm not dead. God, I remember the pain I was in the last time I got staked." Buffy chuckles "Somehow, this time hurt worse."

"Wait a minute... What do you mean the last time? You've been staked before?" I ask.

"Oh yeah, you weren't there. Yeah, I got clumsy one night and a vamp got a hold of my stake. Stabbed me in the gut with it. I almost died. I think it was a Tuesday." She shrugs it off like it was nothin'. I wish I'd known.

"Well... That's just great. My fuckin' girlfriend gets staked, and no one tells me." I growl.

"Um... Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're not my girlfriend. Never have been, and probably never will be." Buffy says with a smirk.

"Fuck. You know what I mean."

"No. Would that be 'the love of my life' or 'the girl of my dreams'?" Buffy taunts.

"That's just great." I reply. "Make fun of me all you want, B. I don't give a crap."

"You know... considering the fact that I'm not actually 'Buffy' in your eyes, you don't seem to have any problems using your nickname for her on me." Buffy points out.

I mentally slap myself. It's just... lately, she's been seemin' more and more like Buffy. The real Buffy. She's not actin' like a regular old vamp. Sure, she still sneaks in a few comments now and then about wantin' someone to eat, but the way she teases... It's like that dance we danced around each other for all those years. Just barely avoidin' acknowledgin' what was happenin' between us. The love we felt for each other. The passion. The passion we'd mistaken for hate, but was really the exact opposite.

And it's makin' it very hard to keep seein' her as a vampire and not Buffy.

"Yeah, well, it's your fuckin' mask. It's just 'cause you look like her." I try to rationalize it.

"You sure it's not because of what happened between us about a week ago?" She asks, and I freeze. Everyone's lookin' at me like I'm crazy.

"Nothin' happened." I explain. "I had to keep an eye on her, and she just decided to get herself off on the audience."

"You watched her?" Dawn sounds disgusted. Then again, this is her older sister we're talkin' about. Or... was. This was her sister.

"Not by choice!" I protest. "It was my job to make sure she didn't try to escape, and that meant not even blinkin' around her!"

"Okay, that's true. She didn't choose to watch me. She just couldn't control herself. Her body acted before she could think." Buffy's smirkin' now. Big time.

And again, everyone's lookin' at me. Angel's gaze is sympathetic, like he definitely understands how I felt. That pisses me off. Dawn is still lookin' at me like some vile creature from the Black fuckin' Lagoon. And Oz is just lookin' at me, his expression unreadable.

And Buffy... well... you can imagine how she's lookin' at me. Contempt. Pure contempt. She's enjoyin' puttin' me in the spotlight and watchin' me squirm. Seems she and I have switched places. Usually, I'm the one gettin' off on makin' her uncomfortable.

"Would you just shut up?" I growl. "Come on, we don't have time for this shit! So what if I watched her fuck herself? Not like I actually fucked her." I turn away and start for the mough of the cave.

"Faith, wait." Angel says. "We should wait until tomorrow morning. They'll be expecting us to leave tonight, but they'll be watching us until then just to be sure. If you leave tomorrow morning, they'll all be tired from watching us that they won't be able to keep up, plus you'll be able to surprize them by leaving in broad daylight."

I sigh. "Fine." I turn back around and walk back into the cave. Looks like it's gonna be another long night of fun.

...

"God, I'm bored!" Buffy complains for the thousandth time.

"What do you want me to do about it?" I ask for the thousandth time. I already know what her answer is.

"You could take me to the deepest part of this cave and make me scream in pleasure." She replies. Even the thousandth time she says this has me gettin' hot and bothered.

But still, for the thousandth time, I reply, "Not gonna happen."

This time, though, she carries it further.

"Fine. Then let's all play a game." Buffy hops down from the rock she's sittin' on and grabs me by the wrist, draggin' me to the center of the cave.

"Game?" Dawn asks. "What game?" Apparently, we're all so bored we're willin' to play a game with a vampire.

"Truth or Dare." Buffy suggests.

"No thanks." Angel says from where he stands by the mouth of the den.

"Sure, why not?" Oz says, then sits down across from Dawn. Buffy has me sit down, then she sits down across from me.

"I'll go first." Buffy says.

"No way. You start, and all hell's gonna break loose." I say. "Dawn, you start." I figure Dawn's the most innocent out of all of us. She might keep it tame for a little bit, anyway.

Buffy pouts, but doesn't say anythin'. God, that pout makes me wanna kiss her.

"Okay." Dawn's oblivious. "Um... Faith. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth." I say. Really not ready to go into darin' yet. Not with B... the vampire right across from me.

"Have you and Buffy ever had sex?" Dawn's eyes narrowed.

Should I tell her? She asked the question. Supposed to tell the truth. Then again, if I lie, Buffy'll tell her the truth, anyway.

"No. We've never been together. Though I wish we had. Before this all happened, I mean."

Dawn looked to Buffy in confirmation, and I notice she's lookin' at the ground. Buffy, I mean, not Dawn. Buffy nods slightly, confirmin' what I said.

"Oz. Truth or Dare?" I ask.

"Truth." Apparently, he's thinkin' the same thing I am.

"You still have it for Red?"

He chuckles. "No. I'm over her. She's not for me anymore, I get that. She's into girls now." He doesn't really seem sad about it. He actually sounds happy for her, considerin' she just got her girlfriend back. The one she never got over.

"Anyway, Dawn, Truth or Dare?" He asks.

"Screw that, I'm going for it. Dare. What you got, Moony?" Dawn jokes, and Oz seems to share some joke with her. I just raise my eyebrow.

"'Moony'?" I ask.

"From Harry Potter." Dawn says, like that explains everything.

"Oh. Right. Silly me." I say sarcastically.

"There was a werewolf character in Harry Potter. Professor Remus Lupin. He was a member of this little gang of pranksters called the Marauders when he was still in school. His nickname then was Moony." Oz explains.

"Oh." Nerds.

"Okay, Oz. Lay it on me." Dawn smirks.

"Okay. I dare you to..." He whispers the rest of the dare in her ear. Even my Slayer hearin' doesn't pick it up, though apparently, B's hearin' has improved enough to hear it, 'cause she looks very amused.

Dawn giggles a bit as she stands up and sneaks up behind Angel. She taps him on the shoulder to get his attention, then surprises him by kissin' him. On the lips.

"What's going on?" Angel asks when she finally pulls away. She shrugs, then swings her hips as she walks back to the group. I think that part was her idea.

"Buffy, Truth or Dare?" Dawn asks.

"Dare." Buffy grins, flashin' her fangs. Remindin' everyone that she's not really Buffy.

"I dare you to kiss Faith." Dawn says evilly, like she didn't even notice.

"Your wish, my command." Buffy keeps grinnin as she crawls over to me, slowly, seductively. She straddles my waist, wrappin her legs around me and squeezin', pressin' into me. My core heats up very quicly as she slowly leans down.

I'm breathin' heavy, and my palms are sweaty. Finally, I feel her lips. But not where I expected them. Not where I wanted them. She turned at the last second and kissed me on the cheek.

"Wha-?" I protest before I can stop myself, and I feel my body whine as Buffy's weight is gone, and she returns to her spot.

I get the point. If I want it, I have to go for it myself. I'm gonna send her a message right back.

And I get my chance now.

"Oh, Faithy... Truth or Dare?" Buffy sing-songs.

"Truth." I reply without hesitatin'. She's surprised. She knew I'd be hopin' she'd dare me to kiss her.

"How badly do you want to kiss me right now?" Buffy fights back.

"Hmm... I'll live without you tuckin' me in." It's not a lie, so I'm not breakin' the rules. I'll live. I just probably won't enjoy it nearly as much.

"Okay." Buffy growls. She's not happy that I turned the tables like that. "Your turn."

"Truth or Dare?" I ask. I don't name a name, but everyone knows it's for B.

"Dare."

"Alright. I dare you to..." I pause for effect, like I'm actually thinkin' about it. I love how she's just sittin' there, waitin' in suspense. No way in hell I'm gonna let her win this tauntin' game. "Say exactly what you're thinkin' right now." I finally finish.

"Fuck you." Buffy growls again. I hear Dawn and Oz laugh. I just smirk. I can tell I'm gettin' her every bit as turned on as I am with my teasin'. Right now, it's like Isaid earlier. It's like we're all just hangin' out with the real Buffy. We're all friends, hangin' out like any other day. Buffy's not dead. We're still tip-toein' around what we're both feelin', what we both know we're feelin'. I can even imagine Red's up in her room havin' some fun with Kennedy. Xander is out blessin' water or somethin' to use as Holy water. But this feels normal. No one's thinkin' about Buffy's new strength or speed or fangs, or thirst for human blood. No one's thinkin' that we've made enemies of the entire Slayer Organization. No one's thinkin' about the army of Watchers and Slayers watchin' the cave for us to leave.

We're all just out campin' and havin' a good time.

"Truth or Dare?" Buffy asks me. It's obvious this game is now just between me and B, but Dawn and Oz don't seem to have a problem with that. They're just watchin' us, probably placin' bets on who breaks first.

"Dare."

"I dare you to kiss me." Buffy says triumphantly.

I smile as I copy her earlier movements. I crawl slowly over to her, swayin' my hips. Hell, I'm turnin' myself on right now. I straddle her waist the way she did mine, and I lean down until my mouth is only an inch away from hers. She's expectin' me to go for her cheek, like she did me, but right here is where I stop copyin' her.

"Once you're actually here, I will." I whisper. Then I stand up and walk away. Away from the group. Away from the gang. I've got to release some tension. That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Not kiss her. The only reason I was able to stop myself was remindin' myself that I wouldn't actually be kissin' her. I'd be kissin' a monster.