Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

"So" said Buffy, after Riley had told his story. "Let me see if I've got everything. There's a type of demon that carries an extremely lethal poison sting in it's tail that your scientists have never found any antidote for. A tribe of said demons is heading towards Cleveland as we speak. You and Sam were sent to intercept and exterminate them, but Sam was called off on another mission before you got here. By your calculations the demons should start flooding in tomorrow night, and you need my help to deal with them."

"Yeah, that's about the gist of it" said Riley.

"Well that shouldn't be any problem" said Buffy. "With Faith helping as well.."

"Faith?" Riley interrupted, frowning. "Really?"

"Yes" said Buffy. "She's the best demon fighter I know."

"Maybe, but from what you've told me before she could also be pretty dangerous. And there's no denying that you once hated this girl. Are you sure we can trust her?"

"I never hated Faith, not really" said Buffy, beginning to feel a little awkward now, and also kind of annoyed. Riley was trying to give advice on a subject he did not understand, in an area where he really had no right to give it. "Her turning on us was just as much our fault as it was hers. And.."

"That doesn't answer my question" Riley cut Buffy off before she could finish. "Are you really sure.."

"I think I know whether not I can trust my own girlfriend Riley!" the slayer snapped. There it was. The cat was out of the bag. Riley sat in shocked silence for a moment, but when Buffy stood up to leave, he stopped her.

"Forgive me if I'm being out of line here, but if I remember right the whole sleeping with the enemy thing didn't work out so well the last time you tried it."

"Faith is not the enemy" Buffy turned to face her ex, resisting the very strong urge to haul off and punch him. "We'll help you get rid of the demons, but after that I don't think we'll have anything more to say to each other." Riley frowned as he watched the slayer march off upstairs, then turned to Willow, who had been listening in on the conversation.

"Doesn't any of this worry you?" he asked. Willow did feel a little sorry for Riley, as the information he had just heard must have been a shock, and from the look on his face he seemed quite confident that she was going to agree with him. Once upon a time, she probably would have. But not anymore.

"Look, what Buffy had with Spike couldn't even hold a candle to what she has with Faith" Willow explained. "And, for all intents and purposes, Faith's kinda my sister-in-law now. She's family, and we Scoobies stand by our family."

--

When Buffy entered her bedroom, the sight she found made all her anger melt away. Faith had changed into the motorbiking teddy bear pyjamas Buffy had given her just before they started dating, and a book lay open on her lap. Sophie was curled up against the Dark slayer's side, sleeping.

"Hey" Buffy smiled.

"Hey" Faith replied quietly as she looked up. "So, what does Soldier boy want?"

"He needs us to help him get rid of this gang of demons that he says are due to hit town tomorrow night" Buffy explained, sitting down by Faith's other side. "But when I said you should come he started asking all these questions, like he didn't think we should trust you."

"I guess you can't really blame the guy after what happened the last time we met.." said Faith.

"I guess.. even so, I pretty much told him in the nicest way possible to shove it" Buffy grinned, giving Faith a kiss on the cheek. "No-one badmouths my girl."