Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)
Fortunately, all that had happened to Riley was that he couldn't keep up with Faith, and after realising it was useless to try, had called a Taxi, which dropped him off at the house just seconds before Willow's car pulled into the driveway.
"How is she?" he asked, concerned, after realising that Buffy and Faith were in the car.
"Well, she actually seems fine" said Faith, getting out of the car glancing at her girlfriend. She was beginning to think that maybe Buffy was right about the sting having a different effect on slayers. Yeah, that was it, it took more than a little poison to get her girl down. Riley's expression seemed to say differently.
"They always seem fine at first" he frowned. "But then all of a sudden they..." He was cut off by Buffy's groan as she got out of the car, grabbing onto the roof for support.
"I feel really dizzy.." she mumbled. She let go of the roof and almost toppled, but Faith rushed to catch her, instantly worried by the sight of her girlfriend's deathly pale skin. "M-maybe you should pick me up now."
"Yeah, sure" Faith nodded, scooping the blonde into her arms and heading towards the house with Riley and Willow close behind. "It's okay B, I've got ya, you're gonna be okay."
--
"Oh god, what happened?" cried Tara, running over as Faith carried a very sick looking Buffy inside. She was holding a red faced Lily in her arms, only just having got her to stop crying. Sophie had gone back to bed, but whether or not she was actually asleep was debatable.
"Just a little sting, sis" said Faith, sounding as though she was trying to convince herself just as much as Tara. "We'll get it fixed up soon, won't we B?"
"Mmhmm." Buffy's barely audible mumble did nothing to lessen Tara's concern.
"See?" Faith forced a smile. "Nothin' to worry about." Tara gazed worriedly after her adopted sister as she climbed upstairs, turning to Willow when she and Riley came inside.
"Buffy doesn't look so good.."
"One of the demons poisoned her" Willow explained. "If it's as bad as Riley says we have to get on with the research straight away if we want to save her. Can you call everyone and tell them?"
"Yeah, of course" Tara nodded, rushing off to grab the phone.
--
After Faith had carried her upstairs and halfway down the hall to their bedroom, Buffy retched horribly, vomiting all over herself and her sister slayer.
"Sorry" she said weakly.
"It's fine, B" Faith replied, though her tough front was starting to crumble a little now. She clutched her shivering girlfriend closer to her chest. "A little bit of spew never hurt anybody. We can clean it up." She carried Buffy into their room and gently sat her on the edge of the bed, then helped her change into a clean pair of pyjamas. "See B? This is just like when you helped me after that time I got shot with the tranquiliser. I was fine the next mornin', you're gonna be okay too B, I know ya will." The Dark Slayer tucked Buffy up snugly under the blankets, changed into her own pyjamas, then quickly took the soiled clothes to the laundry and grabbed a bucket in case her girlfriend needed to be sick again. She returned to the room and sat the bucket beside the bed, before snuggling in beside her girl, trying to ignore the way that the warmth was already beginning to drain away from her skin. "You're gonna be okay Buffy" Faith whispered, kissing her girlfriend's hair. "You have to be."