A/N: For those who tried to guess, the thing that was different in last chapter was for the first time I wrote a scene that didn't involve Buffy or Faith, but felt it necessary to show some of the research being done without them there.

Also sorry for the lack of update last week. I had a busy week, both my days off I did something. I'm also suffering a bit of writers block at the moment.

Chap. 10: The Prophecy- February 05

"Oh, dear lord," Giles exclaimed upon hearing the translation of the prophecy. A part of him had hoped with the others that this all was just some misunderstanding, or something. After all, they had yet to actually come across this Tarzar. But now it seems as if this isn't so.

"I think that's the least vague prophecy we've come across, and yet it still doesn't leave us much information," Willow stated, as she wrote the translation out on a blank piece of paper in her notebook, circling the three key parts.

Body shall be pierced leaving her cold

Her power will become his

He will rule all

Willow studied the first part, reading it over and over again. "I think the first question we need answered is why do we think this is talking about Faith? There are Slayers all over the world?"

"Well from our side of things, as far as we know, Faith is the only one having nightmares," Dawn pointed out.

"Yes, so from that we can assume it was intended for Faith, but why would Tarzar or other demons assume that?" Willow asked, making them all pause to think.

"It is possible, since this prophecy is quite old, that at the time some factors were not a part of it, such as empowering all the Slayers. Maybe whoever foretold this, did not see that coming," Giles tried to reason.

"But still, why Faith? Even without all the other girls, there is still two."

"I'm not sure. We believe the Slayer line now runs through Nevaeh, but maybe it has something to do with that. The belief that Faith holds the line."

"Well that could answer the next question then. It isn't the power of the Slayer he needs, but the power of the line?" Dawn finishes, unsure that she's on the right track.

"Quite right," Giles agrees.

"So that leaves the last part, who does he want to rule?" Kennedy asks.

"That I'm not sure, its use of the world 'all' could mean a great many things. All of a certain species, all of a dimension, even all dimensions."

"Well that's shit," Kennedy spat out, after Giles was finished talking.

"Let's worry about stopping him, then we won't have to worry about that last part," Willow advised, before Giles could reprimand the young Slayer. "Anya, did your contacts have any idea where he was, or how we could find him?" she asked, acknowledging the other woman for the first time since she'd told them of the prophecy.

"There didn't seem to be much information on him. Some weren't even sure he existed. The one's who did know of him made it sound like he was high class, so it didn't sound like we'd find him hiding in the sewers."

"A high class demon, huh?" Faith spoke, startling everyone.

The research team had been so deep in brain storming, none of them had noticed just when the Dark Slayer had entered the room. They all turned to study her, wondering how much of their conversation she'd heard. They hadn't yet gotten around to discussing just what to tell the Chosen Two about what they'd found out.

"So we talking fancy cave, or high rise apartment?" Faith asked, moving more fully into the room, now that they were all aware of her presence.

"I'm not sure," Anya hesitantly answered.

Willow tried to cover up the notebook on the desk in front of her as the brunette made her way closer, but she wasn't subtle enough. Faith saw what she was trying to do, and moved Willow's hands, picking up the notebook, she studied it for a minute.

"This the prophecy, huh? So it's true, I'm meant to die." She said it so emotionlessly that nobody knew what to think. Actually, it reminded Giles and Willow far too much of the old Faith.

"Faith," Willow started.

"Nah, it's cool, Red," Faith tried to wave her off. "I'm slowly coming around to the idea. Obviously I don't want to die, but if that's what's in the cards for me, then I'll deal. Slayers don't usually live this long anyway right?" she finished, trying to sound like she was okay with it, but everyone could hear the truth in her voice.

"We'll figure this out, Faith," the Witch tried to reassure her. "Maybe you should just stick to the compound until we do."

"Screw that," Faith burst out. She might have changed a lot over the years, mostly thanks to prison and being forced to stay in one place for a long time, but she still needed to get out and slay. Being confined to the compound would surely start to make her feel closed in, and would feel too much like she was back in a cell.

"Faith, I think Willow's right," Giles tried.

"Look, I get what you're saying, and I won't go out as much, but I'm still gonna take the girls out and slay. I'll just keep a low profile, I promise."

There was no use arguing with her. Slayers tended to be more than stubborn. Their only chance was if Buffy could talk some sense into her, but as they were both equally stubborn, that wasn't likely to happen.

"Now who's gonna tell Buffy?" Dawn asked, causing everyone to look around at everyone else.

"Don't worry brat, I'll tell her," Faith responded. "Really, I will," she told the room, when she realized they were giving her looks like they didn't believe her.

~BF~

Buffy took it better than she thought, or so Faith was hoping. Her wife hadn't said a word since she'd finished telling her about the prophecy. Instead the blonde sat there on their couch, staring off into space.

Buffy closed her mind off, trying to block out the words, not letting them enter her brain. Her eyes began to rove around the room. In the corner of the room sat Nevaeh's toy box, arms of dolls and other things keeping the top from completely closing.

Next to it sat the Lego cabin the little girl and Faith had put together yesterday. Her girls were so proud that they'd finally finished it. It was two stories tall and even had a sturdy floor for the second floor, with the cutest little purple roof. Faith had wanted to run out and buy superglue so they'd never have to work that hard again.

Her eyes continued to move, finding the blanket and pillow still down on the floor where they'd left it last night. The two women had curled together in front of the fireplace long after their daughter had been sent to bed. Gentle kissing and touching had eventually led to very gentle love making right there on the floor.

Staring straight at the mantle, she looked to the far left first, seeing the photo of Nevaeh asleep in Buffy's old bassinet, only a couple of days after she appeared on her doorstep. Next to that was the one Buffy had taken of her asleep on the couch, from when Joyce had given her a camera for her birthday. Her first trip to the beach, her first birthday, one of her and Buffy smiling at the camera, one of Faith tickling her when she'd finally been busted out of jail, the one of all three of them in their leather jackets.

She lingered on the one they'd placed their only a few weeks ago, it was on Buffy's birthday. The blonde had made it clear that all she wanted for her birthday was to spend the day with her two favorite girls, so that's what they'd done. They left for the weekend, just driving wherever they wanted, stopping when one wanted to. The picture showed the three of them, faces close together as they all licked their ice cream cones. That weekend was right up there with the best days of her life, only beaten by the day a curly-haired baby showed up on her doorstep and her wedding day.

"I'm so glad Willow was able to magically transport that photo album I gave you out of the prison. I hate that we lost all her other pictures when Sunnydale collapsed," Buffy finally spoke, not even looking at Faith.

Faith floundered for a minute, unsure how to respond to that. She'd just told her wife that she was in fact prophesied to die, and the other woman, when she finally does talk, talks about pictures? The old Faith would have seen that as a sign that it didn't affect Buffy.

Thankfully, the new Faith knew that this was a defense mechanism. "B… Buffy," she almost whispered, taking Buffy's chin in her hand, guiding her to look her in the eye. "Baby, I know you're scared. I am too. But we gotta talk about this. There's a very real possibility I'm not going to make it out of this one."

"NO! I refuse to accept that!" Buffy yelled, making Faith really glad she'd thought to get Vaeh out of the house before she approached the blonde.

Faith slid closer, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl. "I know you do. But that doesn't change the fact it might happen."

"No it won't. You'll just stay in the house 'til this threat is gone. That'll work, either he'll give up or the junior Slayers will get him. Yes, that'll work," she finished with confidence.

"Baby, that's not going to work."

"Yes it will."

"No, honey it won't. I can't just hide away in here. If he's as dangerous as Giles seems to think he is, well I'd never forgive myself if something happened to the SITs and I wasn't there to help them. Especially knowing they were out there to protect me."

The tears began to fall down Buffy's cheeks. "I don't think I can live without you. Not anymore," she sniffled.

Faith gave her a sad smile, wiping the tears with her thumbs and placed a tender kiss to her lips. "You would, because Nevaeh will need you." Reaching down, she placed a gentle hand on her wife's stomach, "And for the other baby we hopefully made the other day."

"I hope we did too," Buffy said softly, she couldn't bear the thought of losing Faith, but at least she'd have a piece of her in Vaeh and their possible baby.

"We still have one more dose left, maybe we should give it another go tonight, just in case," Faith suggested, placing a kiss on top of the head curled into her shoulder.

"I don't think it works like that."

"Actually, it does, well, it's usually best to try two days before ovulation and the day after." Buffy tilted her head up to give her wife a questioning look. "What? I did some reading on the internet."

"I thought research wasn't your thing?"

Faith just shrugged, "this is different. Look, I never want to leave you, or Nevaeh. But if I must, I want to know that I've done all I can to give you the baby you want."

"The baby we want," Buffy corrected.

"Yes, the baby we want," Faith agreed, leaning in to place a deep kiss on Buffy's lips. "So what do you say?" she asked when they finally pulled apart.

"Before I answer that, can I ask a question?" Faith nodded, giving her the go ahead. "Where IS the child we do have?"

Faith laughed, "noticed that did ya? She's with Willow and Tara. Was supposed to get her when we finished our talk."

"Well then, how about you go take that potion, and I'll call them and check in. Meet you in the bedroom in ten," she finished with a smirk.

"Deal!"

Thankfully, Willow and Tara agreed to keep their girl overnight. She could hear Vaeh's squeal through the phone when Willow asked if she wanted to stay the night. She was so glad her daughter was so happy to stay with her aunts and uncles, and didn't seem to just think her parents were handing her off to someone else when she did.

Heading up the stairs, she wasn't the least bit surprised find that Faith had beaten her up there. She tended to talk far too much when she called Willow, even when it was meant to be a two minute conversation. What did surprise her was that her lover was still fully dressed. That could mean only one thing, tonight was going to be a lot of slow torture for both of them.

Slowly unbuttoning the blouse she had on, Buffy made her way over to the bed with small steps. Two hands on the bed, she eyed Faith up and down with a starving look on her face. As much as they made love, it would never be enough to satisfy either of them. They both craved the connection they felt when they were intimate.

Crawling onto the bed, she slowly made her way across Faith's body, touching and rubbing at every opportunity, until she was directly over top of her, staring down into her eyes.

"Tease," Faith smirked. "And here I thought you were going to finally give me that strip dance."

"Not a chance," Buffy laughed, leaning down to place a kiss on waiting lips. They stayed like that, placing small nips and gentle kisses, as Buffy eased her body down to cover the woman below her. "I love you," she moaned, as Faith kissed her way down to Buffy's neck, sucking the skin between her teeth.

"Love you too, baby," the brunette finally muttered, as Buffy moved to pull Faith's shirt from her body. Her back arched as she gasped as her wife took a breast into her mouth hungrily. A wet tongue circled its way around the aroused nipple, tugging it between her teeth. "So good," Faith huffed.

They finished shedding their clothes slowly, teasing and tormenting as each piece fell away. If this was to be their last night together, they were going to make it count. And if it wasn't, well they'd still enjoy every minute of the wait for release.

Slowly making her way down the blonde's body, Faith placed a kiss at every inch of her journey, learning every curve over again as she did so. When her mouth finally was nearing its destination, she paused to take in the sight before her, secure in the knowledge that she was the only one that had ever made Buffy that wet.

A hand stopped her as she moved to dive in. "No… want you up here with me… together," Buffy finally managed to get out, wanting to hold on to everything she was feeling. Even without Faith touching her, she could feel her everywhere. Their connection had never been as deep as it was right in this moment.

Faith knew exactly what she wanted, and climbed back up to kiss her wife deeply. As they continued to make out, Faith used a free hand to position them so their centers were joined, slowly thrusting.

Buffy broke the kiss at the new sensation of having their bodies connected this way. She met Faith's next gentle thrust with one of her own. Their eyes locked together as the both moved in sync, their breath mingling together as the pleasure built.

No words were needed. Both knew exactly how close the other was, just by sight and by feel. As one would get close, the other would slow, wanting to draw this out as long as possible. It was only when they were in complete harmony did they finally let themselves go, their orgasms taking them higher than they'd ever been before.

When they finally came back down, Faith kissed Buffy deeply, knowing that no matter what happened to her, that everything was going to be okay.