A/N: Onward!
Willow looked up as Buffy walked into the kitchen looking particularly sleepy one morning. The redhead looked concerned as she flipped the pancake she was cooking. Buffy felt her tummy growl at the wonderful smell of breakfast.
"Morning Buffy" Willow said softly. "Sleep okay?"
Buffy shrugged and took a pancake from the high pile of breakfasty goodness. She really couldn't remember the last time she had a really good night's sleep.
"More Angel dreams?" Willow asked. Of all the people in her life, Willow was the only one who knew of her late night fantasies that seemed more real than they were. The two friends often exchanged their relationship woes over pancakes and sometimes ice cream for breakfast.
"As usual" Buffy admitted. "I don't know Wil. Isn't it kind of pathetic that I'm still dreaming about a man that I haven't dated in years?"
"Not as pathetic as me wondering what ever happened to the only person I loved as much as Tara" Willow shrugged. Both girls sighed at the same time and bit into their pancakes.
"Hey chicks!" came Faith's voice from the doorway. She walked in the room looking like she was ready for a night of clubbing in her leather pants and halter top. Her smoky makeup and perfect hair made Buffy, who had yet to think about a shower, groan.
"What's got you two down today?" Faith asked. Willow and Buffy shrugged and Faith rolled her eyes at them. "Let me guess. Willow, you are having another one of your 'what if' mornings and are wondering whatever happened that Oz fellow."
Willow blushed as Faith revealed exactly what was on her mind. "Well, you know sometimes I can't help but think. Especially around this time of month." Willow saw the disturbed looks on the slayer's faces and shook her head quickly. "The full moon, I mean."
Faith smiled. "Right." She turned to Buffy and smirked. "And you B? You are still a hopeless romantic that gave her heart away when she was seventeen and can't get it back. "
"I can so" Buffy said indignantly. She turned away from Faith and finished her pancake.
"Right" Faith said disbelievingly. "And I'm in love with Xander."
"Are you?" Willow asked, excited about the juicy information while Buffy giggled.
"Ew. No" Faith said. "I'm saying that I don't believe little miss liar over here." Faith leaned on the deep wood of the kitchen island and shrugged her shoulders. "You gotta get over it B. Move on."
"I'm not even going to go there Faith" Buffy frowned.
"She has tried to Faith!" Willow defended. "She dated Riley, Parker, Spike, that guy in Rome, that guy she met at the coffee shop. Although he turned out to be a demon."
"All excellent examples Willow, please keep depressing me!" Buffy said, putting her head on the table and covering her ears.
"I just meant that you have moved on" Willow tried to do damage control.
"Oh who are we kidding!" Buffy wailed. "I am a failure at love. I'm holding onto a relationship that was doomed from the start and I can't move on!"
Faith watched as Willow and Buffy hugged out their misery and slowly backed out of the room. Once in the hall, her back hit an object that gave an audible "oomph".
"Easy pet" said a smooth voice in her ear. "What did you do to those two basket cases this early?"
Faith turned and flashed Spike a smile. "Oh you know me. Bringing up everyone's personal demons before the morning news comes on!"
Spike smirked at his favorite troublemaker. "Well good. Hopefully Red and the Slayer keep to themselves for the day so we can all skip the training."
"I think I will give the girls the day off," Faith agreed. "give them time to chat it out."
"Good idea" Spike agreed. "I have to take a little trip downtown today. Care to come?"
Faith shrugged. "I guess I have nothing better to do. Where are we going?"
Spike turned to her and lifted an eyebrow. "Why to see an old friend of ours. Meet me in the tunnel after you tell the girls to go off on their own today."
Buffy and Willow emerged from the kitchen sometime later and frowned at the lack of activity that was going on around them. Buffy looked around and grabbed on of the young slayers by the arm. Her name was Yuki. A shy girl from Japan, but a absolute terror with a stake. Buffy remembered being very impressed with the girl when they had first found her.
"Hey Yuki where is everyone?" Buffy asked. The girl dropped her gaze as she usually did and Buffy smiled, lifting the girl's chin up to look at her.
"Faith and Spike had to leave and they gave us the day off." she said softly.
"What?" Buffy said in surprise. That was unlike Spike and Faith. Where had they gone? What was happening? Why didn't they tell her?
"Relax Buffy" came a perky voice from the stairway. The Slayer looked up to see her sister walking down the stairs with a stack of books in her hands. Buffy thanked Yuki and sent her off to do whatever she was doing before she had been stopped.
"What's going on?" Willow asked as Dawn walked up to them. The younger girl smiled and handed Willow a few of her books.
"Spike had to go downtown to see someone and Faith went with. Before she left, Faith told the girls to take a personal day but not go to far and that tomorrow they would have a hard challenge so get prepared." Dawn reported. "She told me you and Willow were having one of those days."
"One of what?" Buffy asked, crossing her arms over her petite frame.
"You know," Dawn smiled, "one of those I-miss-Angel-and/or-Oz days."
Both friends looked scandalized that Faith was telling everyone this and Dawn laughed. "Anyway, so why don't you guys take the day of too! I have to looked through these volumes Giles sent me so why not help?"
At hearing her ex-watchers name, Buffy scoffed. Dawn rolled her eyes and sighed. "Buffy are you ever going to make up with Giles?"
"I don't know." the Slayer frowned, "has hell frozen over yet? Because last time I checked, it was still a fiery pit of betrayal and bitter English know-it-all-ness."
Dawn sighed again. She was constantly torn over the rift between her sister and her mentor. The two still wouldn't speak to each other and often put Dawn in the middle of everything. "Well he said to tell you hello anyway. So are you guys going to help me or not?"
Meanwhile, two people had just emerged from the tunnels in downtown Los Angeles to find themselves in the basement of a very large building. The blonde turned to offer the slayer a hand out of the tunnel and she took it much to his surprise. He had a feeling if anyone else were around she would have tried to cut his hand off.
"Man that was a funky smelling tunnel!" Faith commented, still holding onto Spike's hand. The two had formed an unlikely friendship over the years that even they didn't understand sometimes.
"I'll remember to bring the air freshener next time love" Spike commented. "Come on, our friend is probably just waking up."
Faith followed Spike as he led her up various stairs and hallways in a normal looking apartment building to the casual observer. To her trained eyes, Faith noticed various unusual things about the building. The tempered windows that didn't allow sun rays to penetrate the building, the various patched parts of the walls that were likely the result of plenty of fights, and the tacky seventies decor were just a few. Spike stopped at a particular door and knocked. Faith heard the shuffling of heavy boots and the door opened.
"Morning Peaches!" Spike said cheerfully.
Faith smiled nervously at the moody looking vampire that was glaring at them. "Hey Big A. What's up?"
Faith didn't get her answer. Instead, she and Spike got a door closing in their faces.
A/N: So what do you think? Hmm..what is going on? This is a little AU with the whole Spike and Faith and all, but more will be explained next chapter promise! Let's see why Buffy and Giles aren't talking. More about Angel and Spike and how everyone got to be where they are next chapter. (Sigh...Bangel rocks Eric. Just so you know)