Slaying was nothing like before. It had become this burden, like a black rain cloud hanging over them.
"Faith, behind you!" Buffy yelped, with her back to her, Faith reached over to Buffy for the stake and jerked it out of her hand. "Can I barrow that?" One blow to the heart and the vampire turned into ashes and Faith jerked the stake back out. "Thanks B, couldn't have done it without you." Buffy started to brush the dust off of her clothes, but soon stopped. "Why do I even bother, right. It'll stay in forever." A smile was exchanged. "Pretty calm night, huh?" Buffy crossed her arms and nodded. "Look, I love being in your presence, really, I do. But I need to get some shut eye, I did the whole good-Slayer-stake-vamp thing." No smart ass comment, no nothing. "Okay."
They parted ways.
Faith opened the door to her sleazy motel room. It was dark and cold. She was hungry and all alone; 'The faster I go to bed, the faster I will fall asleep and the faster my hunger will disappear.' The second she pulled the worn out blanket over herself, there was a knock on the door. "Go away!" She yelled. "Please, I don't have anywhere else to go. It's raining. Faith, please." It was Buffy, again.
Faith dragged herself out of bed, covers around her and opened the door for her. "Thank you." Then she went back to bed and gestured for Buffy to take the other side of it. "No hogging the covers, or you're dead." She warned her, Buffy gulped and crept down beside her.
It wasn't like they hadn't shared a bed before. "I really appr…" Faith put a finger over her mouth. "No talk, sleep." She said and turned her back on her.
It was nearly 1AM and Tara had been waiting for hours, for Faith to call her, for Faith to at least hint that an apology was on its way.
"What time is it?" Buffy asked as she leaned over Faith to check the alarm clock. Faith's body tingled. "Are you going to get that, or what?" Realizing that the ringing wasn't coming from her ears, she answered the phone. "Better be good." She said in her raspy voice. "It's me, I'm sorry. I wanted to hear your voice and also, what the hell?" Faith sighed loudly, Buffy turned her back to give her some well deserved privacy. "Look, it's late and I'm really tied." Buffy let out a yawn. "Is somebody there?"
Tara felt ashamed for asking, considering the time and all. She didn't want to be nosy. "Uh yeah, Buffy's here. She needed a place to crash, so I offered her my crib for the night. I let her have the bed, I'm sleeping on the couch. Is that good enough for you?" She never wanted to make her cry, but it was all she could do to het her off her back. "Yeah, see you tomorrow." She hung up before Faith had the chance to tell her the truth.
"Why do you like to her?" Buffy asked, still not facing Faith. "I don't mean to. Sometimes I feel like that's all I can do to get her to trust me. She doesn't, like me being with you. Forget it, okay, can we sleep now?"
Faith could feel the warm breeze through the window and got up to close it. The night was still young and she felt she could do more good out there, protecting her own kind, than cooped up inside, with Buffy. The only reason she had let Buffy is, was because she hated to see her so down. She couldn't stand the look on her face, even in her sleep she was wearing it. The look of the saddest girl in the world, no longer a superwoman. She had to get out, while she still could.
Faith lit a cigarette and leaned out the window. "Hey, get up. There are vamps out there just waiting for us to steal their hearts away. Come on."