Faith pulled Buffy along as they walked through the streets of a city long gone. Some of the buildings were still standing, but most were simply piles of rubble. She kept looking around and behind them, expecting something—anything—to pop out from the darkest shadows. They'd been walking for what felt like hours at the very least and with no way to tell how long had actually passed it might as well have been days. Buffy slowed down, tugging on Faith's hand until she let go.

"I can't walk any further, Faith."

"Gotta keep goin', B. Gotta find somewhere safe."

"Where?" Buffy asked, groaning as she walked over to the nearest building and leaned against the wall. "Where are we even going, Faith? We've been walking for so long and..."

Faith sighed as she stood in front of Buffy and gently tucked her now wild and slightly wavy hair behind her ears. "I don't know, B. Just know we gotta find somewhere safe. Kinda fuckin' worried about the whole water and food sitch too."

"We're going to die here, aren't we?"

"No," she said as she shook her head and brushed away the tears that had fallen from Buffy's eyes with her thumbs. "Not gonna die here, B. I'm not gonna let that happen. Now come on, we have to keep moving."

Buffy groaned as she pushed herself off the wall and they began to walk down the street littered with dirt, papers, and debris from the buildings that had fallen or burnt out. Faith could feel the beads of sweat rolling down her back, down her cleavage and down the back of her neck in time to each step that she took. She stopped briefly to rip the sleeves from her t-shirt and tucked the fabric in the back pocket of her jeans. It wasn't any kind of relief, but she wasn't about to walk around nearly naked when she had no idea just what was out there watching them.

She thought back to when they'd laid out on the rocks, their clothes and hair drying quickly in the heat. Buffy was scared and she didn't think she'd stopped trembling for more than a minute. They'd eventually left the beach, headed for the path that led through a patch of dead trees and to the edge of the forgotten and lost city.

They spotted the dead end in the street just ahead and Faith looked around for another way, grabbing onto Buffy's hand as she headed left.

"Faith, I really need to stop," Buffy sighed as she stopped walking and tried to take a few deep breaths. "God, it is way too hot here."

"Bet Hell is hotter," Faith muttered under her breath as she stopped walking, her eyes constantly darting around them, waiting for whatever it was she just knew was following them, watching them. "How long do ya figure till Willow and Giles find a way to get us home?"

"I don't know."

"Come on," Faith said as she motioned for her to follow her to the only stable looking building they'd passed. "What do ya think? Should we check it out?"

"It looks like someone lives here," Buffy said as she looked at the entrance. Unlike the crumbled and neglected ruins that comprised the other buildings, this one looked like it was actually being maintained. "We should keep going."

"Nah," Faith said as she opened the door. "I'm checking it out. You comin' with, B?"

"Stop," Buffy whispered as she grabbed onto Faith's arm before she could walk inside. "Don't you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Shh," she said as she placed a finger over Faith's lips. "Someone or something is in there."

"Prob'ly just a rat or somethin'," Faith shrugged as she walked inside the dark building.

From the looks of things it was a warehouse of some sort and the front room had apparently once been an office—a broken desk was prominent in the room with a heavy steel door behind that. Faith waited for Buffy to follow her inside before she closed the exterior door. Buffy looked around the small room before walking over to a filing cabinet that lay on its side. It was considerably cooler inside compared to outside, yet it was still hot and Faith could still feel the beads of sweat rolling down her back slowly.

"Faith," Buffy whispered as she knelt next to the filing cabinet and pulled out a picture from among the piles of paper. "We might not be in our world, but it looks like this used to be a part of our world."

"Huh," she said as she barely cast a look at the picture Buffy held in her hands. "I'm checkin' the rest of this place out. You gonna stay here?"

"No," Buffy replied. She allowed the picture to drop back on top of the papers and followed Faith over to the heavy steel door. "What if there's something on the other side?"

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know—a demon or something else hellish? We don't have any weapons."

"Got our fists and our strength and speed. Pretty sure we can fight whatever bad guy is hiding out there with our bare hands, B."

"We don't even know what could be here, Faith. This isn't like it is in our world."

"No shit. I got eyes, Twinkie. It's pretty fuckin' obvious things aren't the same as they are in our world. For one thing," she sighed as she turned to face her, "have you noticed the total lack of sunlight or even a fucking breeze? It's like we're trapped in some kind of fucked up bubble or somethin'."

Not waiting for further objections, Faith slid open the heavy steel door and they both cautiously made their way into the nearly dark warehouse. At the far corner there was a single candle burning and they both stopped when they heard sounds of footsteps coming from the loft to their right. Faith held her breath as the figure of a woman came down the rickety stairs and approached them slowly. She could feel Buffy tense up next to her almost as if she was expecting the worst.

The woman was barely taller than Faith. Her clothes were well worn and even in the faintest of light she could see the bags under the woman's brown eyes and the grey that streaked her wildly unruly brown hair. The woman looked them up and down and clutched the long sword Faith finally noticed she had in her right hand.

"Who are you?" The woman asked, her voice hoarse as if she hadn't spoken for a long time. "What're you doing here? You are trespassing."

"I..." Buffy started to speak, already stumbling over her words as she looked over at Faith then back at the woman. "I'm Buffy. This is Faith."

"What are you?" The woman asked as she pulled out a silver lighter from her pocket and lit it, leaning towards them to get a better look at them. "Humans?"

"Slay—" Faith started, her words cutting off abruptly as Buffy nudged an elbow hard into her side. "Yeah, humans. What are you?"

"Human. I am Jacqueline, or I once was before I was sent here. How did you get here? Magic?"

"Portal," Faith replied, "inside the Cleveland Hellmouth."

"Cleveland? Ah," she sighed as she turned and began to walk towards the candlelight, motioning for them to follow her. "It seems as if it moves. In all the years I've been here I've wondered just that."

Buffy and Faith just exchanged a look as they followed the woman across the empty floor and came to a stop by a metal table on which the candle rested. Faith wasn't sure how to feel about this woman. Something just faintly felt familiar about her and she was trying so hard not to listen to her gut instincts seeing how wrong she'd been before one too many times. She and Buffy stood side by side, watching as the woman pulled open a wooden trap door in the floor and disappeared down it.

"What the hell? Do you really think she's human?" Buffy whispered as she leaned into Faith a little.

"Looks like one, sounds like one, walks like one."

"So she must be one?"

"Guess so," Faith shrugged. "Then again you never know with some things that crawl around. Like vamps. If we weren't Slayers and didn't know how to pick 'em out of a crowd, we wouldn't fuckin' know they're vamps, right?"

"If she isn't human...then what?"

"Fight her?"

"What other choice would we have?"

"Dunno, B. She seems...nice."

"I don't know about nice, but—"

Buffy stopped when the woman came back up with a jug of what looked like water. She placed it on the table, walked to the metal shelves along the wall, and pulled off two glasses. She looked at the two of them and chuckled softly, a sound that was so eerily familiar to Faith that it made her shudder slightly. There was something about this woman—and she couldn't figure out just what—that made her feel more comfortable than she'd ever been around any other stranger.

"Please sit," she said as she motioned to the crates placed by the table. "It's warm today. I'm sure you two could use a glass of water or two. I don't have anything else. Gotta stock up when it rains and those times are few and far between."

"You live here?" Faith asked as she sat down on the longest crate and watched as Buffy walked over to sit down next to her.

"Unfortunately."

"How long ya been here for?"

"Not sure. It's hard to keep track of time here. There was a man here I met when I first came here. He'd been here for what he believed had been a very long time. He told me that time is different here. Sometimes it moves forward, sometimes it stands still, and there are times when it moves backwards."

"Are there any others?"

"None that I've come across. You two are the first I've seen in a long time," she smiled at them as she poured some water in each of the glasses. "I barely leave this place, even during the shifts."

"Shifts?" Buffy asked as she reached for the glass closest to her.

"The man, he wasn't really...human, but the soul of one. His name was Henry. He told me this place shifts from Hellmouth to Hellmouth over time. Everything I know about this world I've learned from him and from exploring. That is," she said, pausing as she pulled up the tattered hem of her skirt to reveal a very mangled right leg, "before the accident. I can't get around too easily."

"Jacqueline—"

"Jackie, call me Jackie," she said softly to Buffy as she placed the jug of water back down on the table.

"What are these shifts like?"

"Very violent. Most of the building change and others appear. This place, however," she said as she motioned around them, "has always stayed intact. When the sky turns from orange to purple, you must be prepared for what feels much stronger than the strongest earthquakes there are on earth—in your world. It's how the accident happened. I wasn't aware the shift was coming."

Faith grabbed her glass of water and brought it to her lips, nearly downing the entire glass as soon as the warm water hit her parched lips. Jackie and Buffy talked quietly with Jackie asking Buffy questions about the world she'd been forced out of. She was listening to them talk, but her thoughts were elsewhere as soon as Buffy placed her hand on her left thigh. It felt like electricity each time Buffy stroked her fingers idly and it made her feel more alive than she'd ever felt before. Buffy's touch had never quite been like that before—although there had always been a slight spark, their connection that reached out for one another, it was never so intense.

She could feel everything Buffy was feeling much stronger than she had before. It had been building over the last couple of days, becoming stronger without her realizing it. She'd gotten so used to feeling Buffy—to really feeling her—that she had hardly noticed where the line ended between her own feelings and Buffy's.

She closed her eyes, just for a moment, and she could almost see just the faintest bit of the others inside of the house, of Willow sobbing uncontrollably by the front door as Kennedy held her close. Buffy gave her leg a gentle squeeze and she opened her eyes, blinking away the sudden tears that sprang up seemingly out of nowhere.

"Are you tired?"

"Exhausted," Faith nodded.

"There is a mattress up in the loft," Jackie said as she pointed over towards it. "Or if you wish you two can take the one over there."

She pointed to a small closed off corner with a tattered sheet hanging over in the doorway. Buffy just grabbed onto Faith's hand, thanking Jackie for the water and for a safe place to sleep and pulled Faith towards the stairs that led up to the loft.

"You really tired, B, or were ya just tired of answerin' all her questions?" Faith whispered as they walked up the stairs together.

"A little of both," Buffy replied quietly as they made their way over towards the bare mattress by the boarded up window. "Who knew falling through a portal in a Hellmouth to a world like this would take so much out of you?"

"Spent a hella long time in that nasty-ass water and then what with all the walking…" Faith replied with a roll of her eyes as she sat down on the mattress and slipped off her boots. "I could really use a shower right about now too."

"Does it look like there's running water here?"

"No. And ya don't gotta be so fuckin' sarcastic, B."

"Look, I'm not exactly thrilled we're stuck here either."

Buffy sat down next to her, pulling off her boots slowly as she stared ahead in the darkness. Faith was about to move to the middle of the mattress when Buffy stopped her. Before Faith could take a breath, Buffy's lips were on hers. If Buffy's touch had been electrifying, a kiss was ten times as much. Faith's whole body was buzzing and she had to pull back from the kiss to catch her breath.

"Hate to say it," Faith whispered softly as she relished in the feel of Buffy's fingers over the back of her neck for a moment, "but I don't think we should..."

"What? I can't kiss you now?"

"It won't just be kissing, B. After the other night, I kiss you and I can't stop. Not really a fan of havin' an audience listenin' in either."

"We'll be quiet," Buffy whispered, pulling Faith with her as she laid back on the bed.

"B, you are kidding me, right? You couldn't be quiet if your life depended on it."

"Why do you have to be such an ass?"

"Far as I remember, you like my ass," Faith winked as she hovered over Buffy, their bodies barely touching. Even though it was far too warm to be too close, Faith just planted a light kiss on her lips and moved to lay down next to her. "Sometimes I think of how it is between us and I can't even remember what it felt like before."

"But that's a good thing, right?"

"I think—yes," she smiled as she ran her fingers over Buffy's stomach and reached for her hand. "You are really getting to me, B. Every second I'm with you I..."

"You what?"

Faith shrugged, not knowing where the sappy, sentimental side of her came from. It felt so weird to be able to easily convey her emotions to Buffy now. Weird because it was easy, like she'd always been able to let down her walls and just say the words she never knew how to say before—to anyone. She knew Buffy was going through the same thing with her. She knew Buffy well enough to know that being in love was hard for her. She didn't need to hear the words from Buffy; she could feel it and see it every time Buffy just looked at her now.

"Faith, talk to me," Buffy whispered. "Stop thinking and just talk to me."

"Every second I'm with you, I feel different. A good different. It used to scare me, y'know before everything went bad the last time, but I'm not lettin' it scare me this time."

"It's scary?"

"Buffy, it's not like that," Faith sighed as she let go of her hand and rolled onto her back. "It's how you make me feel and that used to scare me cos I never thought I could feel that way 'bout someone else."

"Like how, Faith?"

"Ya really want me to say it, B? Ya want me to tell you that I'm fucking falling in love with you?"

"You—oh. You are?"

Faith chuckled softly as she watched Buffy blink a couple of times before she turned to look up at the ceiling. She felt more nervous with each second that ticked by as Buffy remained silent. She couldn't read what she was thinking, she had a mask over her emotions and it felt like she'd slammed a door shut on her. Buffy turned to look at her after a moment and breathed in slowly as she stared into her eyes.

"How long?"

"What?"

"How long have you been falling in...love with me? And you aren't just saying this because we're stuck here, are you?" Buffy asked, her lower lip trembling slightly as she spoke.

"No and I don't know how long it's been, B. Maybe since the day I first saw you. It's kinda hard to tell, honestly. All I know is those feelings started coming back once we got to Cleveland."

"So, you're in love with me?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"No," Buffy smiled as she leaned in to kiss her, stopping short just before their lips met. "I just never thought that we could...feel this way about each other. And I kind of think it's a little crazy we're lying here talking about it when we should be more worried about the fact that hello, we're stuck in a world between worlds with no way out unless Willow and Giles figure out how to get us home."

"Well, the way I look at it, we never do things the conventional way, do we?"

"No," Buffy laughed as she slid her arm around Faith and pulled her in closer. "And Faith?"

"Yeah, B?"

"I am too. Falling in love with you, I mean."

Faith's heart was beating too quickly now as she stared deeply into Buffy's eyes. She wished they were alone, back home and in her bed at the apartment. Her whole body ached to take Buffy, to rip her clothes off, to feel her body flush against her own. Her clothes were sticking to her and the heat was getting to her. The heat from Buffy's body pressed into her own was scorching.

"You are right, though," Buffy whispered as she trailed her hand down Faith's back and slipped it under her shirt, raking her nails over her skin. "It is a little scary. It always is in the beginning, but it's not like I'm some kind of expert on this kind of stuff."

"I'm not either. Don't really know anything at all, actually."

"It doesn't matter."

Faith smiled a little as she felt her eyelids growing heavy. The heat, the darkness, the fight they'd just been through—not to mention being sucked through the portal to end up here in the first place—was beginning to take a toll on her body. They shared one last, soft kiss before moving away from each other, it being much too hot to even simply hold each other as they slept. Faith just closed her eyes and focused on the sounds of Buffy's soft breaths as she fell asleep.

Several times while they slept they were awakened by slight rumblings and the sounds of Jackie mumbling to herself in her sleep. By the fourth rumbling, Buffy curled up against Faith's side, her fingertips tracing over her tattoo in random, soft patterns. Faith dozed on and off, finding it nearly impossible to fall into a deep sleep with the heat and the rumblings that seemed to get a little more intense and a few seconds longer each time. They both jumped off the mattress when Jackie ran up the stairs.

"The big one is coming. Come now, we'll go underground and wait for it to pass. As soon as the rain comes, it's over," she said quickly as she motioned for them to follow her. They slipped on their boots and followed the woman down to the trap door by the table where they climbed down the stairs into what looked to be a bomb shelter. "If the building shifts, we'll still be safe."

"Jackie, how often does this happen?" Buffy asked as she slipped her hand into Faith's in the darkness.

"There's enough time between the shifts to sleep almost five times," Jackie said as she lit a candle and sat down on the crate by the ladder. "That is if you try to sleep regularly. These shifts last for hours."

"So, we just stay down here and wait for it to stop?" Faith asked as she and Buffy sat down on the cot along the far wall. "Great."

"It isn't the ground that shakes but the air around you. We're safe down here," Jackie muttered as she picked up a piece of wood and a knife and slowly began carving into it.

Faith just moved back on the cot and leaned up against the wall. She tried not to let the hopelessness take her over, create that fear and despair she hated feeling. She relaxed when Buffy sat back next to her and leaned her head against her shoulder as she stifled a yawn. She couldn't be so close to Buffy without having to touch her, to slip her arm around her and just hold her. The more minutes that passed the more painful it became not to do just that.

"What about you two?" Jackie said as she stopped carving her knife. "Are you two...what's the word…" she paused as she thought for a moment, "lovers? Is that the right way to say it?"

"Lovers?" Buffy laughed, not moving an inch from Faith's side. "Does it matter?"

"I was curious. You two seem close and not just with this," Jackie laughed as she motioned to their position. "It's been a long time for me to know love and I can feel it coming off of both of you. It's powerful and it is deep."

Faith smiled a little as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the smooth steel wall. For her to hear a complete stranger say something like that to her, it gave her a warm feeling in her very soul since she knew deep down how true those words really were. She wondered how different things could have been if she'd just allowed herself to feel Buffy, not just Buffy herself, but her very soul. It could have changed her, stopped her from doing all the things she'd done she still regretted to that very moment.

Even as they'd gotten closer over the last few weeks, she didn't quite feel so...whole then. With everything that had happened with Julie and the others, it still hadn't stopped her from letting down the walls she'd built around her heart to let Buffy in.

"Where'd you come from?" Faith asked as she looked over at Jackie. "Originally?"

"Boston. I was—it was a long time ago. I can't really remember too much."

"There's a Hellmouth there?"

"No, I was...running away. Running from my life. That much I can remember," she replied quietly. "I choose to accept the voids so I do not remember that part of my life. Sometimes I see being sent here as a blessing rather than a curse."

"This ain't a blessing," Faith said as she let out a sharp laugh. "Lady, you got things wrong. This isn't reality. This is close to Hell, maybe even some form of it. Have ya looked outside lately?"

"It isn't Hell," Jackie said calmly. "The environment here is like this because of the shifts. It is what I've been told."

"By Henry's soul?" Faith scoffed and she turned to look over at Buffy. "Ya think this could be the same Henry we knew?"

"It's possible," Buffy shrugged. "I mean they were opening the Hellmouth to get Julie's soul back from...here I guess."

Faith just wanted answers, figuring knowing the answers could make being stuck there a little easier to deal with if she knew. She knew that spending god knows how many years in a place like this had affected Jackie. It was apparent in the way she spoke, the way her eyes shifted warily around the room. There was fear in the woman's eyes and Faith knew that she'd seen things here nobody should ever see.

"You two do not trust me, do you?" Jackie asked as she shook her head and continued carving the piece of wood she held firmly in her hand. "When the shift stops, I will show you something that will make you see this place differently."

"How are you going to do that?" Faith asked as Buffy moved off the cot and began to pace the floor slowly as if she was thinking too hard and was trying to figure things out for herself.

"When the shift stops, the souls that have been trapped are shaken free. It's only for a little while, but it is only then will you see what this place is. We'll be safe inside and when the rain that starts just after the shift stops, the cycle continues all over again."

"Oh god," Buffy sighed as she sat back down on the edge of the cot. "We're definitely in Hell."

"Yeah," Faith nodded as she kept her eyes on Jackie who seemed to be ignoring them as she focused on the knife, carving into the wood over and over again.

However long they'd have to stay down there, Faith knew the hours would drag on and on. She just leaned her head back up against the wall and closed her eyes, hoping she'd be able to get a little more sleep. She had to ignore the hunger pangs in her stomach too as Buffy moved back to sit next to her and laid her head on her shoulder. When she slept she could forget all the things that had happened. She never wanted to fall into a peaceful sleep more than she did right then and no matter how hard she did try, the rumblings always woke her before she could.

Somehow she ended up lying down on the cot with Buffy curled up against her side and she opened her eyes to see nothing but darkness. She could hear the soft snores coming from where Jackie was and she let out a soft sigh as she wrapped an arm around Buffy, feeling her smile against her shoulder as she moved closer to her. Buffy leaned in to her and placed a soft kiss on her neck before she moved back down and returned her head to Faith's shoulder. It was little things like holding Buffy that made this whole situation bearable. If she had been there on her own, she wasn't sure how she'd be able to get through each minute without completely losing her mind.

She knew she had to touch Buffy, to hold her, to stay calm and to feel strong despite the apparent fear Buffy was trying to fight inside of her. Buffy was holding that line between their world and this one close to her and if that's what it took, she was never letting go of her if she could help it.

"It's over," Jackie whispered as she lit the candle, waking Faith and Buffy from a light sleep. "It was a quick one this time. It's all over."

"That was a quick one?" Buffy whispered to Faith as they waited for Jackie to climb up the ladder first. "Felt like days."

"I know," Faith nodded. She gave Buffy a small smile as she picked up the candle and watched as the blonde climbed up the ladder slowly. By the time she got up, she noticed how much it'd cooled off from before. "Where'd she go?"

"Outside," Buffy said as she motioned to the small door not too far from them. "It's raining."

Faith placed the candle on the table and grabbed Buffy's hand as she headed for the door. They both came to a stop as they reached the door and saw Jackie scrambling around with buckets to collect the rainwater.

"If you girls want to clean off, you gotta come out here," Jackie called out to them, laughing as she threw her head back and looked up at the sky. "Give me a minute to get washed up then I'll leave you girls to have a little bit of privacy."

Buffy raised an eyebrow as she and Faith looked at each other and backed up inside. "Weird."

"What?" Faith asked as she wrapped her arms around her and smiled. "It's weird cos the woman wants to get clean? Not like there's any running water here to have a nice hot shower."

"Weird because I didn't need to see her almost strip out of her clothes," Buffy replied and it caused Faith to laugh as she backed away from her and pulled her shirt over her head. "What are you doing?"

"I ain't goin' out there in clothes, B. Need to get that nasty feeling off my skin. How else ya expect me to do it?"

The rain was coming down harder now and they both looked away as Jackie ran inside with her wet clothes balled up in her hands. She disappeared inside the small room and Faith got out of the rest of her clothes, waiting for Buffy to follow suit before she pulled her outside with her into the warm and heavy rain. It felt like hours they were out there, trying to get clean, but with nothing but the rain falling, it was hard to get as clean as they both wanted to be.

"I swear when we get home I'm going to spend the entire day in the shower," Buffy muttered as she shivered slightly under Faith's roaming eyes. "A very hot shower," she added as she ran her hands up and down her own arms.

"Right there with ya on that one, B."

They could hear Jackie moving around inside, humming to herself. Faith blinked away the raindrops that fell down her face as she approached Buffy slowly and wrapped her arms around her.

"What are you doing?"

"You're cold?"

"A little."

"Then I'm just tryin' to warm ya up, B," she smirked as Buffy pushed her away. "What? It isn't like she's watching."

"It's not that I..." Buffy trailed off as she shook her head and ran her fingers through her tangled wet hair. "Just forget about it. Let's just get dried off and dressed and see if she has any food."

Faith led the way back inside, picking up their clothes and handing Buffy hers. They dressed quickly out of view from Jackie and joined her by the table where she was making what looked like soup on the small fire she'd built in the hole in the ground.

"Feel any better?" She asked as she looked over at Buffy and Faith. "It's not much, but it does the job," she said when they didn't answer. "The soup?"

"Oh, right," Buffy laughed nervously as she sat down next to Faith on the long crate. "What kind is it?"

"Potato. I have a garden on the roof and unfortunately it is the only thing that grows. It was there when I found this place."

Buffy pulled a face as she looked over at Faith, but they both knew they had no other choice. It was either that or starve. Faith would eat just about anything to keep herself from starving but she knew Buffy wasn't used to having to resort to 'anything' when it came to food. She'd gone through a lot of rough times in her life and she was beginning to look at the situation as one of those 'do all you can do to survive' things. She just gave Buffy a smile as she took the offered bowl from Jackie.

"Just eat it, B."

"It's not so bad if you don't think about it," Jackie said softly as she handed Buffy a bowl. "It'll keep you from starving to death unless you wish to die that way."

Buffy groaned as she took a sniff and pulled another face. Faith just shrugged as she lifted the bowl to her lips and took a sip. Jackie walked around to the other side of the table, humming under her breath as she sat down on the other crate and began sipping the soup from her own bowl. Faith finished hers first, belching loudly as she leaned back a little and placed her hands over her stomach. She smiled a silent thank you to Jackie and watched as Buffy forced herself to finish off hers.

The three of them said nothing even after Jackie got up and headed into the small room off to the side. She still hummed under her breath, breaking through the silence in the vast space. The sound of the thunderous rain had slowed down in the last while and Faith just sat there, shaking slightly, needing a cigarette so badly she felt as if she was going to puke. Buffy reached out for her and after Faith flinched and calmed down, she began to rub her shoulders and work on releasing some of the tension that seemed to settle at the nape of her neck.

"You okay?"

"It'll pass," Faith said under her breath as she turned to look at Buffy. "Prob'ly woulda never started smoking in the first place if I knew the withdrawals were gonna be this fuckin' bad."

"When we get home, you aren't going to start again. Look at it this way; you got a chance to quit since you really don't have any other choice."

"B? I'm more stressed thinkin' about just surviving here than findin' a cigarette or even thinking about quitting."

Buffy sighed as she moved to sit directly behind Faith, wrapping her arms around the brunette as she rested her chin against her shoulder. "We'll be okay, right? No matter what happens here, we'll be okay?"

"Yeah. Hope so."

"Things could be worse," Buffy whispered as she placed a light kiss just below her ear. "Things could be a lot worse than it is now."

Faith knew she was right. They could have been sucked into a Hell dimension instead of being stuck in a world between worlds. Maybe Jackie had been right about looking at this place as a blessing instead of a curse. They still didn't know what this world was really like and what kind of creatures and monsters roamed about here. A part of her wanted to find out, but a bigger part of her just wanted to stay holed up there in the warehouse with Buffy at her side and with a crazy lady who'd been trapped in that world for god knows how long now.

Things definitely could be a lot worse. Faith knew that and she tried not to think of just how much worse things could possibly get from there on out.