CHAPTER NINE

When Faith steps into Wolfram & Hart's little workout center for the suits, she's not surprised to see most of the new slayers already in there. The one she did notice over all the rest however was Kennedy, who was lying back on the weight bench, lifting. Faith cocks an eyebrow and strides over to her, coming up behind her and looking down at her suddenly.

"Hi there, K," she says, in a voice too chirpy to ever signify anything good.

The sudden intrusion of Faith in her line of vision startles Kennedy, and her grip slackens and the barbell almost falls on her. Faith shoots out her hands just in time to help her hold it up, before it all came crashing down on her chest. "Jesus," Kennedy exclaims as Faith helps her put it back up. She sits up as she holds her chest, looking at the older girl. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Then she looks Faith over and notices her bruises, "Damn, what happened to you?"

"Something that's a whole lot better than what's about to happen to you," Faith tells her, then takes her by her elbow, forcing her to her feet, dragging her over to a corner. Kennedy yelps in surprise.

"Hey! What are you—?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Faith snaps at her once she's basically thrown her into a semi-private space. "Do you just wake up in the morning and decide, 'hey, since I'm official leader of the lesbians, I need to make sure no one else can join my little exclusive club'?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kennedy asks, her face masked in annoyance.

"My life is fuckin' hard enough without you spreading shit around!" Faith exclaims. "What? Do you think it's funny?"

"No, hey, whoa, hold on," Kennedy says, putting her hands up in defense and stepping away a bit. "That's not how that went down, I swear. I thought it was cute, what's going on with you two."

Faith puts her hands on her hips, a scowl on her face. "So wait, let me guess; you were the kid who ripped the heads off their Barbie dolls? 'It's cute so I must destroy'?"

"Pfft, and you weren't? Besides, Barbie isn't cute, she's freaking hot for being a doll," Kennedy retorts. But when she realized that wasn't helping the situation she backtracks. "No, what I meant was that I told Willow, that was it, I swear. I think someone overheard me and just… well you've played the game 'telephone', haven't you?"

Faith cocks and eyebrow, but says nothing.

"I didn't mean for it to…" Kennedy sighs, leaning against the wall. "I'm sorry. Did she completely freak out?"

"You mean you didn't hear our fight last night?" Faith asks doubtfully. She's sure the whole damn building heard it. But Kennedy shakes her head.

"Willow soundproofed our room; nothing in or out. That's what happened to your face?"

"My face doesn't matter right now, it'll heal," Faith says, sighing. She crosses her arms across her chest and looks away from her to focus on all the girls training.

"What happened last night?" Kennedy asks, carefully.

"Nothing," Faith says, shrugging. "Just, you know, the usual. I bring a chick back to mine and Buffy freaks the hell out on me. We fight and somehow she ends up passed out in my fuckin' bed and watches me take a damn shower this morning." Kennedy raises her eyebrows, and Faith looks over at her. "It's not like it sounds."

Kennedy chuckles a little, "Don't know how else that could sound."

"I slept on the floor."

"Ouch," Kennedy says, wincing a bit, "She kicked you out of your own bed? That's cold."

"No, she fell asleep there and I didn't want to end up kicking her in the middle of the night so I opted for plan B," Faith explains, though has no idea why she's even bothering. Maybe it's because it's nice to have someone to finally talk to about this, even if Kennedy tends to get under her skin. "I just don't sleep with people much. Or ever. I'm pretty sure my body would lash out against it."

"Aw," Kennedy coos, and Faith flips her off. She laughs, "Hey, it's sweet. I give you lesbian points for that." Faith rolls her eyes. "But what I don't understand," she continues, cocking her head to the side to look at Faith intently. "Is why you don't just ask her out."

"Buffy's straight," Faith tells her, like she should have figured that much out by herself.

"Sorry, but your gaydar must be all off, cause mine goes haywire whenever she's around." A pause, "And especially…" Kennedy goes on slowly, playing with her tongue ring for a moment. Faith swears she talks like this for dramatic effect. "When she's around… you."

"Well you're 'gaydar' is broken then," Faith says, mocking the word.

"Hey, come on, seriously," Kennedy says, tapping her on the arm. "Ask Willow, I know these things."

"Well tell me this then," Faith says, rounding on her, arms still crossed. "If you knew Buffy was into the girly-lovin' from the minute you met her, why didn't you try to fuck her before you made camp with Red?"

Kennedy laughs, "Because she's bossy, annoying, arrogant, a know-it-all—" Faith glares at her, and Kennedy stops her list that seemed like it was gonna go on for quite awhile. She changes to, "She's too much like me, okay? I'm a brat. We clash. Besides, she's still half in the closet and I don't have much patience. But you? You guys fit. You might be cocky, but when she's around you lie down like a rug for her."

"Excuse me?"

"Hey, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. It is what it is. Besides," she goes on, arching an eyebrow. "The only woman she's ever going to go for is you."

"Seriously, what kind of crack are you smoking?"

Kennedy laughs and shrugs. "Hey, you can believe me or not, but my advice? If you want her, just take her. There isn't anyone stopping you but yourself." She gives her one last pointed look before walking off, back to the weight bench.

Right, sure, because it's just that easy. Whatever.

Faith sighs, leaning against the wall as she watches everyone around her. They were all so happy; the threats over, big bad is gone. If only they knew an apocalypse comes around about once a year.

But yeah, they had time to have fun. The next evil ain't scheduled to make an appearance until November (according to some ancient prophecy Fred was rambling on about as she passed her in the hallway), and maybe she should just chill out and just… try, for once. Passion and all that, right? It had to mean something. Hell, even Buffy continuously being around her when she's naked had to mean something.

But there's still that nagging doubt in the back of her mind that she can't shake. Even if Buffy does have some tiny little part of her that's into chicks, why the hell would she want her? She's sexy and all, she ain't stupid on that front, but with all the past? It doesn't make sense why Faith is love with her, let alone Buffy's maybe-but-probably-not attraction to her.

As if on some kind of cue, Buffy walks into the gym. She spots Faith in the corner and comes over, smirking. "Thought you were here to work out, not ogle the girls."

"Who says I'm not working out right now?" Faith retorts with this grin that should have let Buffy know that she shouldn't ask. But it didn't.

"Working out what?"

Faith cocks her head and smirks, "Something you can't see."

"Oh, gross," Buffy says, but laughs a little. Then she apparently thinks she can bring it all to the conversation because she says, "But seeing as how much you have sex, you probably need to tighten that back up."

"Ouch," Faith says, but it's all in good humor. "As opposed to you? I probably wouldn't even be able to squeeze my pinkie in."

"Hey, I have sex!" Buffy retorts, loud enough for some people to stare, but she wasn't paying attention. "It's just been a little while, that's all." Faith laughs a little and she narrows her eyes, hitting her with the back of her hand. "Come on, let's work out the rest of your body."

"Aren't you scared it's going to lead to me wanting to see you naked again?" Faith asks, slightly in a huff, but she follows her to the mats anyway, stretching out her arms. She tried not to notice how everyone was staring at them. Seeing both of them bruised and beaten and probably hearing the cause of it last night, was probably making them wonder why the hell they were even talking in the first place.

Buffy smirks, tongue in cheek as she turns around. "You said it takes two to tango. So let's just try not to do that dance." Faith raises her eyebrows.

"You're taking some of the blame? Wait, wait," she says, and mockingly puts her fingers to her pulse. "Am I still breathing?"

"Shut up," Buffy says, but laughs a little, stepping back into a defense stance. "Let's do this."

"Hey, watch my right side. You fractured a rib last night," Faith tells her, but gets into position anyway. Being injured wasn't going to stop them.

"Fine. You sprained my wrist pretty badly too," Buffy admits, but Faith looks at her skeptically.

"What, did you hurt it when it collided with my face?"

"Probably, you have a pretty hard head," Buffy jokes, and then they start to circle each other.

All of the new slayers gathered around to watch their dance. And it was a dance with them this time. They put aside their ego's for once and just used each other to train, letting them feel each other through their connection rather than watch each other with their eyes. It was fluid and it was probably damn near beautiful by the way the onlookers whispered among themselves. And as usual, Buffy did end up on top, but Faith realized that maybe it isn't that bad being on bottom after all.

About a week went by and no drama commenced except for a few heated arguments here and there, but it was doable. Actually, it was more along the lines of fuckin' fantastic seeing as how they usually are. But they spent more time together, hung out, trained some of the newbies once they were well enough, and shit was kind of… it was kind of alright. More than alright.

But more than anything else, Buffy had seemed to accept how they were. And not just with the screaming and the angst, but she's been… playful, lately, Faith supposes is the word. She's basically flirting with her, though Faith is sure she'll never see it that way. She just thinks it's a joke, that they're having fun. And they are, it is fun. But it was more than that. Buffy might be kidding with all her innuendos and winks but Faith isn't, and she wonders if Buffy knows that.

Sometimes she thinks she does.

"Come on, night out, what do you say?" Buffy says, appearing in Faith's doorway suddenly. The door had been fixed by now, but Faith usually just kept it open since Buffy seems to be barging through it now-a-days anyway. Faith turns around.

"Just me and you? You asking me on a date, B?" Faith asks with a hint of a smirk, and maybe a little hope in her voice. Only a little.

Buffy rolls her eyes. "No, I meant all of us. The world didn't end; we should celebrate. At least now that everyone is able to." That makes Faith raise her eyebrows.

"You're advocating fun now? Thought that now everyone was better you'd be working them double shifts like at the Mickey D's."

"Hey, I know how to have fun," Buffy retorts, but Faith still looks skeptical. "I do! I'll prove it to you," she says, walking into her room and closing the door behind her. That makes Faith back up a little instinctively, half wondering if her having fun means that she's gonna do something sexual just to screw with her. The look in her eyes made her wonder, anyway.

Buffy stops in front of her though and holds out her hands in offering. "Dress me."

"What?"

"You heard me. I know you hate what I wear, so I'm going to let you have your fun tonight." Faith smirks and Buffy rolls her eyes, "Not in that way, moron. But really. Just this once, I'll be your Barbie." That puts a twinkle in Faith's eye and she darts off to her closet.

Buffy stands there patiently as Faith picks out the perfect outfit, and when Faith comes back with it, she makes a face. "No," Faith says quickly. "Remember, you told me I could."

"I didn't mean dress me in barely anything," Buffy says looking at her choice of clothing warily. Faith rolls her eyes. Please, if she was going to dress her in nothing she would be in nothing. Literally. Faith smirks at that mental image, and it was Buffy's turn to roll her eyes, like she knew what she was thinking.

"Come on, just try this on," Faith says after she snaps herself out of it, handing her the shirt first. Buffy takes it hesitantly, giving Faith one last look of distaste before she strips off her shirt. She goes to put the one Faith gave her on but Faith shakes her head, "You're gonna have to lose the bra, seriously."

Buffy makes a face, then an overdramatic sigh as she turns around so her back is facing Faith as she unhooks her bra. "Hey," Faith says, complaining a little. "You've seen me naked and I can't even see you topless? How is that fair?"

Buffy laughed. "The world isn't fair, Faith. Live with it," she says as she slides the tiny halter over her head. "Besides, when you see me naked it won't be like this." Then she freezes, realizing what she just said. So does Faith. "I didn't mean that how it sounded," Buffy says quickly, not turning around.

Faith tries to think of some witty comeback so they can just laugh it off, but nothing comes to mind. All she can think about is how that did completely sound like Buffy was planning on having sex with her at some point. And she can think of nothing to say back to that. At all.

She's pretty sure her brain just broke.

"I think we're just going to pretend I never said that," Buffy says, just trying to say something, and she turns around, grabbing the leather pants Faith had for her. Faith just stands there, stock still, still staring at her. "Faith," Buffy says, snapping in her face. "Earth to Faith. Moving on from that, are you with me?"

"What? Yeah. Sorry," Faith mumbles, trying to get past whatever that just was. "Sorry," she repeats, just to say something. Her brain still wasn't really working.

"You okay?" Buffy asks softly as she looks her over, almost in concern that she maybe did almost break the girl from one simple statement.

This is why she thinks Buffy knows.

She touches her arm lightly, and the sparks that produces is what shakes Faith out of it. "Yeah," she says, looking up at her with a grin. "You know me. Five by five." She nods at the pants. "So you gonna put those on or are you gonna go half naked?" Cue dirty smirk. It makes Buffy smile, since she's obviously okay now. She pinches her arm and Faith yelps in surprise.

"Perv," Buffy retorts, but unbuttons her jeans and pulls them down before putting on the ones designated for her. When she stands up to full height, she bites on her bottom lip a little. "So?"

What was going through Faith's mind was pretty much along the lines of I'd like to rip those fucking things off of you, but she winks and says, "You look hot, B." Buffy smiles, but fidgets with the clothes that were much tighter than what she was used to.

"I probably look like a hooker, don't I?" she asks, but she doesn't seem to be complaining too much.

"Yeah, but a high priced one," Faith jokes and Buffy shoves her playfully.

"Come on, I'm not done. I'm sure you're just dying to make me look like even more of a slut," Buffy jokes as she sits down at Faith's vanity, looking at her through the mirror. Faith grins and walks over to her, starting to fiddle with her hair.

And yes, by the time Buffy was done, she did kind of look like a slut. But she was definitely the sexiest slut Faith had ever seen in her life. Somehow, the woman made slutty clash with beautiful and she was just… gorgeous. Her hair was in loose, messy curls, and the shade of lipstick Faith slapped on her? God. The only thing Faith could think about was licking it off of her.

Which she tried very hard not to think about. Very hard.

"And the finishing touch…" Faith says with a grin as she picks up her cross necklace. She unclasps it and slides it up Buffy's collar bone slowly, maybe a little too slowly if she's to be honest, before clasping it around her neck and lifting her hair out of it. She lets her fingers linger on her skin probably longer than should be allowed, and when she looks into the mirror she catches Buffy's gaze. She's got this weird look on her face that Faith doesn't think she's ever seen before.

"Hey," Buffy says softly, and her hand reaches up to grabs Faith's that was lingering on her shoulder. "Maybe we should… ditch the necklace. I feel like it's just an invitation for baddies to come around and I'd rather the night not get interrupted by bored vampires."

"You think my necklace is cursed?" Faith asks, with mock hurt. But her only focus was on the fact that Buffy was still holding her hand there. Or maybe just holding her hand in general.

Buffy laughs a little, "Just rather not jinx it." She lets Faith's hand go then, sliding her fingertips back down it in a way that if it was any other woman, Faith would understand what it meant. But with Buffy? She second guesses everything, and therefore tends to let little things go right over her head, just like this. So she unclasps the necklace and puts it back on the vanity.

Buffy smiles, standing up. She turns around and loops her arm in hers, "Alright, let's go round up the troops."

"You know they're gonna be mad that you didn't give them time to get ready," Faith points out, trying not to dwell on Buffy's sudden touchy-feeliness.

Maybe she was already drunk?

"I'm going to give them time," Buffy defends, and then shrugs. "Me and you are going to go now though. They can meet us all later."

If Buffy was any other woman, the minute she slipped and said anything about nakedness Faith would have gotten her that way. If Buffy was any other woman, the subtle touches would have already become very obvious touches. If Buffy was any other woman, she'd have been fucking her five ways till Sunday without another thought.

But Buffy wasn't any other woman, so Faith follows her out the door, still too paranoid that she's making these things up in her head to ever really do anything about it.

TBC…