The cemetery is quiet as I walk slowly past the endless graves, old and new, my eyes darting around, hoping for some action tonight to take my mind off everything that's going on. The truth, though, and I'll only admit it to myself in my head, is that I can't sit in the same room as Faith without thinking about what happened between us down in the cave. We do need to talk things out, but I still don't know where to start. What happened down there just created a bigger problem and more tension between us than there ever has been before.

"Deep in thought?" Faith asks, nearly making me jump out of my skin since I didn't even hear her walk up behind me. "Gonna take that as a yes," she laughs. I shake my head and try not to look all freaked out. "Figured I'd find you here."

"I needed to get out of the house," I say, stating the obvious.

"Hear you on that," she agrees as she pulls out a pack of cigarettes from the front pocket of her jean jacket and lights one. "So, we're gonna talk, aren't we? Should I start or do you wanna go on a bitch parade and tell me how everything that happened between us tonight shouldn't have happened?"

"It definitely shouldn't have happened," blurts out of my mouth. I suck in a deep breath. "It did happen, though, and I don't know how I feel about this, Faith. This is the last thing I need to worry about when we have Falken to deal with."

"And we're dealing with him, B. Bummed tonight's mission didn't go as planned, huh?"

"A little," I say, letting out a short laugh as I stare at her. "Then again, nothing ever goes according to plan when you're around."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Faith asks angrily as she narrows her eyes at me. "You trying to tell me that I fuck everything up?"

"No. You do act first and think later though. Walking into that building was careless and you-"

"Maybe so," she interrupts, "but you followed me without a second thought." I open my mouth to retort, then snap it shut again as I realize she has a point. "You know what I keep trying to figure out?"

I shrug in resignation. I know she's turning this conversation right around. It's what she does and it's why it is so hard for us to have a decent, civilized conversation together. She doesn't say anything, though, just takes a long drag of her cigarette and starts to walk away. She takes a few steps before she looks back at me and I sigh softly as I follow her over to the bench a couple feet away. She sits down and waits until I sit down next to her before she turns and looks at me.

"I keep trying to figure out why you're with her," she says finally and I look away from her and stare up at the nearly full moon in the sky. "Sure she's cute and all, but...I dunno, ain't she kinda young for you, B?"

"She's two years younger than me, Faith."

"Right. Forgot about that. Funny how I think I know all you guys and it turns out I know jack squat."

"You are never around," I point out as I turn to look at her. "Sure you're around when we need you, but you never have taken the time to be around us when we aren't out on patrol or researching."

"I do my own thing, got my own life," she says as she shrugs. I watch her as she takes a long drag of her cigarette before she looks over at me. "She your second in command 'cause you're fucking her?"

"No," I reply through gritted teeth, knowing she's trying to rile me up. "She's my second in command because she's a good fighter and she thinks before she acts."

"Unlike me."

"Unlike you," I laugh softly and she just shakes her head. "Does it bother you?"

"What part? The fact you two are fucking or the fact that she's your second in command and I ain't?"

"Both."

"What do you fuckin' think, B?"

"I don't know, you tell me, F."

"Yeah, it bothers me," she says softly. "Don't know why. Didn't bother me 'till I walked in on you two. Gotta tell you, though, that's the last thing I ever thought I'd see."

"You haven't said anything to Kennedy, have you?"

"Nah, B. Ain't my place to say anything. She might be my friend, but it ain't like I'm gonna go blab to her that you and Satsu been fucking each other for three years. How'd that happen anyway?"

"It's a long story."

"Got nothing but time right now, B. Place is deader than usual tonight. Hit me," she says, then takes one last drag of her cigarette and flicks it to the ground. "Let me guess," she speaks again before I can say a word. "You two were out on patrol, started feeling the hungry and the horny and decided, hey let's deal with the horny part together. Am I right or am I right?"

I ignore the fact her voice is laced with sarcasm. I know she's really not okay with the fact that I'm with Satsu, nor is she okay with the fact that Satsu is my second in command. Looks like we're going to talk about this whether I like it or not, even if I'm not really in the mood to go into all the details. Short of pissing Faith off royally by blowing her off I don't see how I can avoid it.

"It just happened," I say as I shrug my shoulders. "It wasn't like we planned for anything to happen that night or anything."

"Never saw it coming, did you?"

"No. Definitely not."

"Always happens that way," she replies and she lights another cigarette before she looks over at me. I see that hungry look in her eyes, a look I haven't seen her have in years. "What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Being with a woman, B. Keep up."

"Haven't you ever been with another woman before?"

"Don't turn this back on me, and yeah, been with another woman before. Got urges to satisfy and sometimes all I need is a soft body and a woman's touch."

"It's...nice," I say with a slight smile. "Very nice actually. And I cannot believe we're actually talking about this right now."

"I'd say it's a good start to a friendship if you ask me," she laughs and nudges me with her shoulder. "Not gonna ask for any intimate details here, but she do it for you or do you feel like there's something missing?"

I blink and wonder how the hell she knows how I feel sometimes. Maybe Faith and I are a lot more alike than I care to admit. I let out a soft sigh as I turn to look back up at the moon, wondering how I can even answer that question.

"I'll take that as a no," she says after a couple of minutes. "S'okay though, B. Gotta take what you can get when you can get it."

"I guess so."

"What happened between us down there, B?"

"I don't know," I say honestly. "I've been trying to figure it out all night."

"How's that working out?"

"It's not."

"At least we're on the same page for once," Faith muses. I lock eyes with her and we remain that way for a good couple of minutes without saying a word. "Ken was right though. Always been a boatload of sexual tension between us and what happened tonight ain't gonna make it any easier."

"When did she say that?"

"On the walk home earlier."

I roll my eyes. Despite how easy this conversation seems to be going, I'm growing frustrated and restless as the seconds tick by. I stand up and start walking, reaching for the stake in my back pocket only a few moments later as I feel that ever familiar buzz that lets me know there's a vampire near. I look back at Faith and she already has her stake in her hand and is looking around for the vampire we both know is close by. She motions for me to go the opposite way and she takes off running the way we'd come.

I watch her as she circles around and flushes the vampire out from the shadows of the trees. He looks frightened as he takes off towards me and I grin, ready for a fight. He comes to a stop a few feet in front of me, practically wetting himself in fear, and I smile at him-I still love it when a vampire is afraid of little old me.

"Slayer," he squeaks as he starts to back up but Faith is right there and grabs a hold of him. "Slayers," he corrects himself and looks around as if he's looking for another vampire, or ten, to come back him up. "Hardly seems like a fair fight with two against one."

"Nobody ever said it had to be fair, buddy," Faith chuckles as she keeps a hold on him. "All yours if you want him, B."

"Gee thanks, Faith."

"Thought you could use a bit of action, blow off some tension," she smirks and the vampire just looks at me in confusion. "What? It's true, ain't it?"

"Look, I'm sure we can work something out that doesn't involve you fighting me," the vampire says as he struggles to get out of Faith's vice-like grip. "I wasn't doing anything wrong."

"You're on our territory," Faith states as she winks at me. "Just you being here is wrong all by itself. Ain't that right, B?"

"Right," I smirk as I slowly approach the vampire. "What do you say we make this quick?"

"I can't talk my way out of this, can I?"

I look at Faith and we both laugh. She shoves the vampire towards me and I start off easily, throwing a right hook to its face which staggers it back a couple of steps. Faith comes in, more than willing to take over. I watch in amusement as she knocks him around a little until I realize this vampire isn't fighting back. They always fight back. Something is definitely off and the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I realize this vampire is just the bait.

"Faith," I say, distracting her from beating the vampire to a bloody pulp. "Just dust him."

"Why? We was having fun, weren't we, buddy?" Faith asks. She lifts the vampire to its feet and stares into its face but he moans as his head rolls back. Faith laughs, then stakes him before he even says a word. "What's up, B? Couldn't even let me have a bit of fun there?"

"It's a trap," I say in a hushed whisper. "He wasn't fighting back. Don't you find that strange and rather suspicious?"

"Shit," she says under her breath. Sure enough, we both turn to see a group of vampires headed our way. They are carrying weapons, mostly swords and baseball bats from what I can see. "We're outnumbered, B."

"No kidding, Faith."

"What do you wanna do?"

"Run?"

"Sounds like a plan. Let's get the hell outta here," she replies, and before the words are even finished I'm sprinting for all I'm worth with Faith right behind me.

We run out of the cemetery and through the quiet streets, not stopping and not looking back until we reach the house. The doors are locked and there's no time for me to dig out my key from my pocket. Faith is already one step ahead of me, climbing up the vines that grow up the side of the house and to my bedroom window. I look back and see the group of vampires getting closer before I follow her as quickly as I can. She's already inside by the time I make it up there and she grabs onto my hand, pulls me in, and slams the window shut behind me.

We're both panting heavily and gasping for breath as we look out the window at the vampires that are now surrounding the house. I look over at her when I realize I can feel her eyes burning into me. I try to move away from her, unable to stand being so close to her especially after what happened earlier, but she grabs onto my hips and holds me there, her eyes locking with mine as she leans in for a kiss. I can hear the reasonable part of my brain telling me to resist her, to push her back, to put a stop to this, but reasonable brain has all but disappeared. Libido and body are so much stronger right now and I kiss her back, hard.

"Faith...what are we...what are we doing?" I ask, breaking away from her lips, as hard as it is.

"Well, looks like we're kissing, B," she chuckles and it sends shivers through my whole body.

"I realize that," I laugh and I push her away from me, trying to regain whatever is left of my self-control. "But why are we? I mean...we should be talking about this, not..."

"Not wanting to ravish each other like two dogs in heat?" Faith laughs as she wriggles her eyebrows at me. I just scoff and realize that this is the last thing we should be doing right now. Welcome back, reasonable brain. "Oh come on, B. Don't you ever wonder what it'd be like?"

"No," I lie as I look back out the window and down at the vampires that are surrounding the house. "We shouldn't be doing this, Faith. It's wrong. I'm with Satsu and we got what, a dozen or so vampires surrounding the house right now? We need to take them out. Now."

"Stay right here," she says quickly before she nearly runs out of the room. I keep my eyes on the vampires surrounding the house and she comes back a minute later with two crossbows. "Target practice," she smirks. I catch the crossbow she tosses to me on her way to the window. "You comin', B?"

I nod and follow her out the window onto the roof. The first handful of vampires don't even know what's coming as the wooden bolts pierce their hearts and they turn to dust instantly. I find it nearly impossible to focus as I hear Faith breathe heavily in excitement. She loves using the crossbow probably as much as she loves having sex-that's something she told me years ago during a slow night on patrol. I hold back and watch her lick her lips as she aims, my body definitely reacting to her intensity as she squeezes the trigger.

I shake off the stupor I've fallen into and help her dust the last of the vampires. She raises a hand, smirking, and I give her a high five. She then turns to the window and I follow her back inside, feeling on the one hand incredibly drained and yet at the same time I can feel the adrenaline coursing its way almost violently through my body. The last half an hour has been nothing short of crazy, one thing happening after the other and making my head hurt slightly just from thinking about it. I place the crossbow on the floor and close my eyes as I lean against the windowsill. I can feel Faith's eyes on me, and I can hear her heart racing wildly as she moves closer to me.

"It's not so wrong, B," she whispers as I feel her grab onto my hips gently. "I know you're with Satsu, but she can't make you feel the way I know I can. Just give me a chance, B. Gimme this chance to prove to you that you're missing something in your life. Already know I'm the best you'll ever have. Let me prove it to you."

A whimper escapes me as I open my eyes and stare straight into hers. She's really doing a number on me and despite the fact I'm trying not to feel this way, I feel myself falling for her. Hard. I just can't resist her any more, don't want to, it's so easy to give in to her and I kiss her-softly at first, but the kiss quickly gets out of hand the second I feel her tongue slide across my lips, wanting more. I glide my fingers through her soft hair, holding her close as I kiss her deeply and press my body hard into hers. Her hands disappear from my hips only to grip my ass a second later, keeping me from pulling away as she manoeuvres me slowly away from the window and towards the bed.

My head is spinning as we fall back onto the bed and yet I can't stop kissing her, I don't want to stop kissing her. Not yet. I know I should, but the reasonable part of my brain is once again buried under the lust and hormones as Faith's hands slide under my shirt and run up my back slowly. I feel my body shiver and I moan softly into her mouth as her fingers reach the clasp on my bra. Whoa. It feels like we just went from zero to sixty in two seconds flat and it's time to put on the brakes. I pull away from her lips, sighing as I pull her hands out from under my shirt before she can take this as far as I know she will. As soon as I do that I can almost see something inside of her spark and before I know it she's flipped me over and she's on top, now completely in control of the situation and me.

I open my mouth to speak, to tell her to stop, but her lips are on mine in an instant. A moment later she grabs my hands and pins them against the mattress. It sounds like she actually growls as she thrusts her hips hard against mine and a wave of arousal shoots through every inch of my body. She gently bites my lower lip then breaks away and pulls back enough to stare down at me. I see a bit of doubt in her eyes and I can tell she's holding her breath waiting for me to say something. Waiting for me to tell her I want this as much as she does. To tell her this is all right. I inwardly laugh at myself because I'm having trouble forming coherent thoughts right now, much less words.

I thrust my hips up into hers, letting her know how incredibly turned on I am, and the message is sent loud and clear, no words required. I just wish this didn't feel every bit as wrong as it does right.