A/N: Just so you guys are aware, this story will have explicit sexual material in future chapters. I figured I would warn you for those who frown on that sort of thing, so you can just stop reading before it gets to that point. Also, pretty damn sure I've lost the point of the story I was trying to remake and kinda spun off into an entirely different world. Oh well xD Once again, thanks for the reviews! (EDIT, cause I forgot...) Oh and I know some of you are expressing interest in Alice. She was never supposed to be more than just someone Faith plays with for a couple nights, and she's also the product of a crossover, so I didn't want to give too much away without actually *making* it a crossover, because that's not the point of this story. But for those of you interested, the characters real name is Parker, and she's from TNT's show Leverage.

CHAPTER EIGHT

When Faith wakes up, she has the vague sense that someone is staring at her. She yawns, rolling over, and mumbles sleepily, "Stop staring at my tits." Not even realizing who in actuality was staring at her while she was naked and… on the floor? Why the hell was she on the floor? Did she drink that much last… night…?

The realization of what went on hit her like a truck in the face going fuckin' seventy five and yeah, she was definitely awake now. But she didn't move, didn't even open her eyes. She just froze. She could still feel Buffy looking down at her from where she sat on her bed. What is she looking at, exactly? She's vaguely aware that she slept on her back, pretty sprawled out, and the blanket she brought on the floor? Not exactly covering much. Or fuckin' anything. Christ.

She's not embarrassed. Not really. Naked's naked and whatever. But she did feel a bit vulnerable suddenly.

She expected Buffy to get angry at her stupid little comment, tell her she's being an arrogant asshole and that she needs to get up so they can finish their brawl, but all Buffy said was, "Sorry. I wasn't. You're just…" cue Faith opening her eyes at her soft voice, the way she said it, sounded so much like she was going to tell her she was— "bruised," Buffy finishes, and Faith makes a face. Well, that figured. Buffy would never call her beautiful.

She doesn't even think she'd call herself beautiful in the morning though either, to be fair.

"Yeah, well," Faith says, her early morning voice coming out husky and scratchy as she tries to sit up. She winces though. Damn, one of her ribs was fractured. "That happens when you get your ass kicked," she mumbles, trying not to put too much pressure on that side. She finally looks over at Buffy, noticing that she wasn't up to par either. "You don't look too hot yourself," Faith tells her, noticing a large, angry bruise on the left side of her face.

"It'll heal."

"Yeah, I know that," Faith responds. Come tomorrow they won't have a mark on them. Slayer healing was good for something, at least. "So I don't know why you're getting' all emo on me as you look at the damage."

"I'm not," Buffy says quickly, lifting her legs up to fold them underneath her. "I just… was saying." But she's looking at her in almost… guilt? That couldn't be right. Faith needed to wake the hell up.

"Yeah, well, great then," Faith says as she gets up, not even caring anymore that Buffy has seen her naked more times in the last week than she ever had in her entire life. Her little vulnerable moment had passed, and now she just really needed to clean herself up. Buffy didn't seem to even care about the nakedness either, though probably because that was at the bottom of the list of their problems at the moment. "I'm gonna shower."

Buffy doesn't say anything, Faith can feel her eyes on her the entire time she makes her way into the bathroom. She closes the door behind her and sighs softly, turning to look at herself in the mirror. Oh, ouch. Bad idea. Now that she could see the damage, everything hurt a whole lot worse. She bites her tongue lightly as she turns on the water for the shower, trying not to think about last night, but it was the only thing that would allow itself into her brain.

She was surprised to find Buffy even there in the morning. After everything that happened, the last thing she expected was for Buffy to just sit there and stare at her come morning. Maybe a kick in the gut, the word "bitch" falling from her lips would be more along the lines of appropriate. But nothing is ever black and white with them anymore. Was it ever? Nothing made sense; this maybe least of all.

Faith steps under the hot spray and closes the shower curtain. The water beating on her didn't do anything for her soreness, but she felt dirty and she needed to fix that. She closes her eyes and runs her fingers though her long dark hair and just tries to relax, but that definitely didn't happen when she hears a knock on the bathroom door.

She didn't say anything, but it didn't matter because Buffy had already opened it. Faith hears it click behind her and can see the blurred outline of the woman through her clear, but intensely fuzzy shower curtain, and she asks in a tired, but cocky voice, "Miss seeing me naked already?" It was just one of those things she needed to say, was so automatic, but there wasn't enough effort behind her words.

Buffy lets the comment pass though, too tired to banter. "Look, can we just… forget yesterday ever happened? All of it?" Buffy asks in a soft voice as she leans against the sink. Faith bites on her tongue lightly and doesn't say anything for a long time.

The water was pounding on the base of the porcelain tub and the steam from the heat was getting thick in the air, making Faith's head a bit cloudy. Just forget it ever happened? They can't do that. Not that she wouldn't love to just make everything go the hell away, but you can't just keep pushing shit like that out of your head.

And it's never going to stop. Everything. All of it. It's just going to keep happening over and over again. They were like oil and water when they are together, and it just tears her apart inside because she loves a woman who she can never get along with. It's so bipolar. When they were good everything was perfect and when they were bad everything was hell in a fuckin' fruit basket.

And it was never, ever going to change.

"Faith?" Buffy asks, since she's been silent.

"Think I'm gonna go away for awhile, B," Faith says finally, her voice cracking a bit. She runs the shampoo through her hair and tries to even out her voice. "Y'know, just head out. Find more slayers maybe. Send them your way."

There's another long stretch of silence after that, and Faith can see Buffy through the curtain, sigh and lean her head back against the wall. "You don't have to leave."

"Yeah, I do," Faith says, trying not to let the sadness that was bubbling in the pit of her stomach force its way up her throat. She purses her lips and grabs the soap instead, just trying to focus on washing.

"Look, we fight, alright?" Buffy says suddenly, and it makes Faith knit her eyebrows together in confusion as to why Buffy seems gung-ho about trying to keep her here. She never missed a chance to throw her out the front door. "We fight and we tear each other to little pieces but it never lasts. Okay? It doesn't… it doesn't last because we're supposed to be together." That makes Faith freeze, and she holds her breath. But she lets it out in disappointment once Buffy continues, "We're supposed to be working together to kick evil's ass and help the next generation of Slayers become the most amazing force for good the world has ever seen."

Buffy was on a roll, on one of her little speeches but it didn't matter. Or maybe it did, but it still wasn't washing away the hurt and the pain and making her feel like all of this is really worth it. Like her sanity is worth it. "When did you get all pro-us?" Faith asks, maybe a little spitefully.

Buffy sighs, a bit in agitation. "Look, I'm not trying to be a martyr." Faith scoffs. "I know I have a bit of a complex, okay?" Buffy snaps, but it's light. "Whatever. But like you said, there are thousands of Slayers in the world now and for some reason I can only feel you. It's always been just you. So don't you think that means something? Don't you think that means we're supposed to be together, side by side, whatever, fighting the good fight? We're not kids anymore, Faith. We have to learn to put aside our issues and deal and just do what we're meant to do, as a team."

"So then what?" Faith asks sharply, throwing the soap down and turning to look at Buffy's outline through the curtain. "We just continue to ride this merry go round just cause the world needs us in the same room even if we can barely stand it? Is that it?"

"We're fine in the same room together as long as you stop bringing whores around," Buffy snaps in irritation at Faith's tone.

"Alice is not a whore!"

"Oh, Alice now, is it? Surprised you even got her name," Buffy retorts, but then stops, trying to be the bigger person, like always. "Stop. Wait. Just… forget it. We can't fight over this." But Faith has always hated Buffy's I'm-more-mature-than-you-are act, and she whips open the shower curtain to stare down at her.

"Why do you even care who I sleep with?!" she exclaims loudly.

But Buffy acts like she's assaulted by the sight of Faith naked and puts up her hands in front of her face. "Jesus, Faith!"

"Oh, now you care? This morning you were eyeing me up for god knows how long."

"I wasn't eyeing up anything!" Buffy defends, still with her hands over her eyes. "But it's hard to not look at someone who's spread out on the floor naked!" That makes Faith stop, and Buffy too apparently, after she realized how that sounded. They look at each other for a long time, Buffy's face turning a bit pink, before Faith closed the curtain again roughly.

"So you were looking."

"Yes, fine. I looked. Okay? Are you happy now? Jesus. That doesn't mean I'm gay, but you were just THERE," Buffy spits out in a defensive rush. Faith can see her cross her arms through the curtain. Her face is probably as bright as a tomato.

But it makes Faith smile a little to herself, despite how that revelation came about. She clicks her tongue a bit and smirks as she asks "Did you like it?"

"FAITH!"

Faith snorts a little, knowing she'd get that reaction. But she's serious a minute after as she washes the rest of her hair. "…You never answered my question. About why you care."

"Yeah, well, you never answered mine either," Buffy responds, still defensive. Faith looks confused.

"What question?"

"You…" Buffy starts, then sighs a little as she bites on her lower lip softly, as if wondering if she should even ask. "You never told me why it was always about me."

Faith freezes for a second, then runs her hands through her hair slowly as she tries to breathe a little more regularly. "Thought you already answered that question," she says slowly. "Because of destiny, or some other crap."

"That's why we feel each other. The connection. Whatever it is," Buffy tells her, and Faith watches her cross over to stand at the edge of the tub, leaning back against the wall softly. Faith catches Buffy's gaze as she looks at her through the little slit that the curtain didn't cover. "So tell me why everything else is always about me," she asks softly.

Faith is not going to answer that.

"Two minutes ago you were bitching cause you had to see me naked and now you're peeking through the curtain?" Faith avoids, cocking an eyebrow at the older slayer.

"You see this?" Buffy says, pointing two fingers back and forth at them at eye level. "This is me looking at your face. So answer my question."

"You just totally dismiss privacy, don't you?"

"Like you care," Buffy retorts. Then softer asks, "Just… answer me, please?"

But that frustrates Faith, and she picks up the loofa, turns around so her back is facing her and keeps washing her body. "Look, it doesn't even matter, so just fuckin' drop it. Seriously."

"Faith…"

"I mean it, B!" Faith exclaims, turning around to face her, her face etched in annoyance. Anger, really, though it just came out of freaking nowhere. She was feeling too exposed, and it had nothing to do with her being naked. "So just fuckin' drop it and stop staring at me or drop your fuckin' clothes and get in here, I don't give a fuck but just shut up about it and stop standing there playing twenty questions with me!"

Buffy blinks at that and Faith wants to slap herself in the face. Alright, that was not supposed to come out sounding like… that. "How did we get from you answering a question to me getting naked?" she asks, like Faith just said she wanted to recite the Bill of Rights.

"I don't know, I'm just fuckin' pissed," Faith spits out, throwing the loofa at the shower wall. Buffy raises her eyebrows.

"See, this is why things almost happen when we spar. You get angry and it makes you want to see me naked," Buffy says, but it's in amusement.

"Just get the fuck out of my bathroom, Buffy."

"Hey, I was just kidding…"

"Well ha, ha. Funny. Just get out," Faith snaps at her, taking the shower curtain and pulling it further to obstruct her view of her. Buffy sighs, but doesn't move.

"It was a joke."

"You're hilarious," Faith says sarcastically, but shakes her head and closes her eyes as she lets the stream of water hit her face. Fuck. This was ridiculous. "Just fuck off, okay?"

"HEY," Buffy says, ripping the curtain open to face her again, staring her in the eyes. "I wasn't trying to shit on you for it, I was just trying to make light of it. But it's the truth, isn't it?" she asks in an angry voice that has way too much cocky arrogance to be coming out of her mouth.

"Yeah," Faith spits out, taking a step towards her. "Fine. You want to take that win? Whatever. But you forget Princess; it takes two to tango." She licks her bottom lip, but her scowl of annoyance is still present. She scoffs a little as she gets in her face, "And I only get this close because you let me get this close."

Buffy's silent for a moment, just staring at her. Blinking a bit as she tries to take all of that in. Finally she says, "Too close." Faith cocks an eyebrow like 'see?' but she shakes her head, "No. You, me, us, too close. Right now. You and the nakedness are way too close."

Faith rolls her eyes and steps back, once again closing the curtain roughly in front of her. "Point proven."

"Why does there have to be a point?" Buffy snaps, running her fingers through her hair in frustration as she walks away. She turns back around as she asks, "Why do you have to always dissect everything?"

"Me?" Faith cries. "You're the one who needs to rationalize everything so you can sleep better at night!" She shivers a bit as she notices the waters starting to get cold. Yeah, she had been in there way too long. "Just hand me a towel, will ya?" she snaps as she turns off the water. A towel is thrown in her general direction but it just hits the curtain and bounces off. "Thanks," Faith says dryly.

She opens the curtain and bends down, grabbing the towel as she steps out of the shower. Buffy's standing against the bathroom door, arms folded across her chest as she stares her down. Faith rolls her eyes again as she stands up straight, wrapping the towel around her.

"Y'know I'm starting to think the only reason you're in here is to get an eye full."

"Why is it always about sex with you?" Buffy asks, clicking her tongue in annoyance. "I mean, can you think of nothing else all day? Honestly."

Faith lets out a little amused laugh as she shakes out her hair. "Yeah, I think about slaying and eating." Buffy rolls her eyes, not finding that funny, but Faith doesn't care. She steps towards her, grasping the door handle, becoming very much in Buffy's face. "Besides," she says in a low voice, looking her in the eyes. She says each word slowly, just trying to make her point, "…It ain't never been about that."

She knew exactly what she was saying, but knew Buffy didn't, which is why it didn't matter. She pulls on the door lightly and Buffy moves out of her way, letting her pass through it. Buffy stands still for a moment, just trying to figure out something to say. Then she turns quickly calling out after her, "Then what is it about?"

Faith smirks, turning around. "Passion, girlfriend… It's always about passion. Anger, hate, love, lust, sadness, all the fuckin' craziness… it all boils down to that, don't it?"

That makes Buffy smile a little as she leans against the doorway, watching her get dressed. "So what?" she says slowly, "You're passionate about me then?" She sounds like she may like the sound of it, and suddenly Faith doesn't feel everything is all bad with the two of them. Because that's what they did, right? They fought, called each other names, made uncalled for sexual innuendos (alright, most of that has always been Faith, but still) and then… there was this.

"You sayin' you ain't?" Faith asks, a bit in challenge as she pulls her tank top over her head and adjusts her sweatpants. Buffy smirks a little and shrugs.

"Alright, fine. I can work with that. We're passionate about each other," she smiles, getting off the doorway and coming over to her. "At least it makes more sense than any other theory I've heard."

Faith cocks an amused eyebrow as she picks up her sneakers, putting them on. "You ain't gonna worry that makes you sound like a great big dyke now, are you?"

"Hey," Buffy says, defensive, "I'm comfortable enough in my sexuality that I can say I'm passionate about another woman." Faith snorts, and she defends, "I am!"

"Uh huh," Faith says in a tone that's filled with doubt, but amusement. "You keep telling yourself that." She smirks and gets up, walking towards the door. Well, uh, half a door, since it was still kicked in. "I'm gonna go work out. You comin'?"

"You just showered."

"You act like I can't take another one after," Faith says, laughing a little. She nods her head towards the door. "You game?"

Buffy purses her lips together in thought for a moment. "You go ahead; I'll meet up with you later."

"Suit yourself," Faith says, shrugging. She leaves Buffy standing in her room, but she also leaves with a big smile on her face. Hell, yeah, they might be a bit fucked up. They might fight and they might want to kill each other, fuckin' destroy everything and make the world all about them and what they're going through.

But agreeing they're passionate about each other? She'll take that. Because passion ain't all bad.

TBC…