Buffy's week passed by like any other. She went in to open up The Magic Box every morning for her Dad and did the books and then meet with clients in the afternoon. Then, depending on what time she wrapped up her last client she would swing by one of the take out places on Main and then stop by the shop to help her Dad shut down. More often than not, they would lock up and sit around eating and listening to records, Rupert telling the tamer of his band stories. Then she would head home to her Mom and curl up on the couch, watching whatever documentary Joyce had recorded from the History Channel until she either fell asleep with the popcorn/ice cream bowl on her lap, or got up to get ready for her set.

She had an arrangement with The Bronze, she performed Monday and Tuesdays and then closed out the week on Thursdays and Fridays. She never wanted to play on Saturdays, she never felt like it suited her style. She fit in much better with the after work crowd, the college students that were tired of the coffee shop and were out too late for the mall. It was a win/win, Buffy didn't have to cater to a more drunken crowd, and The Bronze had a draw during the slow nights.

It was Saturday morning and she had been laying in bed for hours, staring at the ceiling, replaying her set from the night before in her mind. This was her routine, she had never been a big sleeper. Since she had been a little girl she had run off of 5 or less hours a night and never felt the worse for it. She would come home from a set and lay in bed, sleeping on and off, waking when something from her performance caused her to stir. She could here weekend morning sounds coming from the kitchen downstairs and turned away from the ceiling to check the time.

10:24 AM

She was due at the Dojo in just over an hour.

Twenty minutes later she was bounding down the stairs, freshly showered and wearing her favorite white tank and gray yoga pants. She pulled her hair into a sloppy half bun while making her way to the kitchen, sliding onto the bar stool beside her 'little' sister and batting her eyes at her mom across the island.

"There are eggs for 3, right?" She asked, her eyes big.

"Dork." Dawn 'coughed' around her fist.

Buffy poked her sister in her side and smiled when her mom rolled her eyes and sat a plate full of scrambled eggs and toasts in front of her. They all ate in a somewhat comfortable silence. This was their ritual. Even with Dawn being basically out of the house, they all still had breakfast together every weekend morning.

"So, what are you girls up to this weekend?" Joyce asked, holding her coffee up to her mouth and blowing the steam away.

Dawn, as usual answered first. "I'm going to some festival thing with Janice tonight in L.A. Then I have a macro-something or other essay that's due by Friday that I'm going to work on tomorrow." She said most of this with her words smothered by ketchup covered eggs. No matter that she was now 5'11 and looked like a model, she still acted like a kid when with her mom and sister.

Buffy snorted at her sister and shrugged around her toast. "I'm not sure actually. I am pretty free after class. Faith is trying to get me to go to the Bronze tonight. Some touring band is in town that she is dying to see. Apparently she saw them in Boston a few years back and they're pretty badass. But I'm kind of Bronzed out for the moment." Buffy walked over to the sink, washing her crumbs away and bent down to open the dishwasher and put her plate and silverware away.

"A touring band? From L.A?" Her mom asked as she poured herself more coffee and glared at Dawn, who had just dropped her fork for the third time.

"Um, nah, I actually think their from overseas. France, or London maybe? I dunno, somewhere with accents I'm sure. You know Faith and accents. I might go, it would be nice to see something other than the Dingoes for once. We'll see." She wiped her hands on a dish towel that hung from the oven and walked over to kiss her mom's cheek and walked by Dawn to pull her hair.

"I'm heading to class. I'll text you later to let you know if I won't be back tonight." Buffy said as she grabbed her gym bag off the back of the bar stool where it hung most days. "Don't die." She mouthed to her sister and mimed a kiss to her mom as she headed out of the back door.

11:26 AM

Walking into 'Chosen' was always one of the highlights to Buffy's week.

She had been there when Faith first opened the doors, and had been teaching a class every Saturday since then. She had been here when it started as a tiny little dojo that was infrequently attended by soccer moms that wanted to look like Hilary Swank and quickly stopped coming when they realized that they actually have to sweat. There monthly dues did help to grow the place though. In the last three years it had grown into a very respectable martial arts studio and defense center. That was owned by a woman.

Faith couldn't be more proud of that fact.

She had come from Boston to California when she was 19. All she seemed to do there was get into trouble. She had grown up in foster care and had been in and out of jail since she was 13. She had a really rough time of it, so when she finally served the last day of her parole for beating the hell out of some guy that assaulted one of her foster sisters she had caught the first bus leaving the east coast. She stopped a few places along the way, working small under the table jobs to pay her way. It had taken her almost 6 months to get to L.A and when she did she realized that she would get into just as much trouble there as in Boston. So she tried her luck one last time and caught the first bus leaving L.A. That bus landed her in Sunnydale. Lucky for her Giles had just bought the Magic Box and desperately needed someone to help him set it up and get things up and running while he finished out his contract with UCLA. He offered her room and board with a small stipend for her keeping an eye on the place during the week and then paid her an hourly wage for her helping him acquiring inventory on the weekend. She wasn't an expert on vintage books and music by any means, but she wasn't afraid of hard work and had the strength of 3 guys her age, so she was very helpful to the cause. She also learned quickly, which came in handy for the both of them, as he taught her the ends and outs of running a small business.

She lived in the tiny office/turned apartment in the back of the store, past the stock room. During her off time, which was most of the week, Giles allowed her to turn the unused stock room into a training room. She ate dinner most night at the Summer's household, since Dawn was busy with her friends and school work, and Buffy was living in L.A and going to school, Joyce adored the company. So she used her unneeded stipend to pay for training equipment to fill the stock room. After about a year of her work the room was finished. Yoga mats lined the floor, punching bags hung in the corner, and there was even a wall to wall mirror and free weights.

Buffy and Faith quickly bonded during Buffy's downtime from school. Most of her friends were away at school, having chose to go out state and while Buffy had music as a mental release, she found training to lift that fear of being to weak to defend herself. Together the girls honed their skills and cemented their friendship. By the time Buffy finished college and starting looking to open her practice Faith has saved enough money to open a business of her own. When Faith asked Buffy to donate her services to victims of abuse on the weekends Buffy didn't even have to think about it. So every Saturday afternoon at noon Buffy taught a self defense course for all ages, anyone who had been affected by some sort of physical or sexual abuse. She knew better than anyone that learning the skills to protect yourself went a long way in the healing process.

"Sup, B." Faith said, her smirk reaching her eyes. She was doing her morning checks, making sure all of the equipment was ready for the days classes. She ran her pen down the sheet attached to her clipboard, and looked up at Buffy through her lashes. "You're not bailing on the band tonight, right? I really need a night out. As do you my uptight princess."

Buffy laughed, "I don't know. You and some out of town guys could get me into trouble."

"I'll take that as a yes." Faith yelled behind her as she walked over to turn on the lights and overhead music.