The first thing Faith noticed when she opened her eyes was that Buffy was no longer there with her. The second thing was that the TV was on and Andrew, Dawn, and the three other Slayers were sitting around the living room watching it as they either sipped coffee or ate a bowl of cereal. She stretched out lazily, yawning as Dawn looked over at her for a split second before turning her attention back to the TV, which was currently showing a news segment. She sat up slowly, watching as they showed video footage of what looked like a battlefield in the middle of a war—only the 'battlefield' was in a small cemetery just a few miles west of the city.

"What's goin' on?" Faith asked, but nobody answered as they kept their eyes on the TV. "This happen a lot since we been gone or what?"

"Shh!" Andrew hissed loudly as the newscaster began to speak again.

"Fourteen have perished in the latest mass murder, the fifth in the last week alone. The police have yet to determine..."

Faith was up and already heading for the kitchen, unable to stomach what she was seeing and hearing on the TV. She was somewhat relieved to find the kitchen empty and the coffeepot half-full. She grabbed a mug and poured the first cup of coffee she'd had in what felt like forever. Just the smell of it made her mouth water. She could still clearly hear the newscaster talking on the TV, but over it, just faintly, she could hear Buffy's voice coming from the basement as she talked quietly with Angel. She tried to listen to what they were saying, barely able to pick up actual words. She let out a frustrated sigh as she picked up her mug and walked closer to the basement door, opening it just a crack and wondering if she should just walk away as soon as she heard Angel say her name.

"How can you be in love with Faith?"

"I just am, Angel."

"It's the spell...the barrier spell and Julie...she's done this to you."

"No," Buffy said, the anger very clear in her voice. "This started when we left Sunnydale, when we stopped in that town for a few nights before we drove up here. You told me when I called you to let you know we all were okay to give her a chance and I did! I really did and you know something? I saw a different side to her and something just...clicked."

"It doesn't make any sense, Buffy! I know I have absolutely no right to tell you what to do with your life or who you can or cannot be with, but it's Faith. Faith."

Faith clenched her teeth together, wanting to go down there and punch Angel in the face for the disgust he had in his voice when he said her name. She knew he hadn't shown his true feelings towards their relationship and she wanted to know why he couldn't have just come out and said it to her instead of Buffy. She took a sip of her coffee, still listening as they continued to talk.

"It isn't just what we feel now that's changed our relationship," Buffy said quietly. "I don't even know how to put it into words, but the way I feel about her is something I've never felt before. I was so scared at first to tell her; to talk to her about it, but then things just sort of fell into place. Angel, you have no idea how she makes me feel. I don't mean feel like actual feelings, but she touches me in places nobody else ever has."

"Like your soul?"

"Yes. And for once can you drop the whole jealous ex-boyfriend act? I really thought that was over."

"It is," Angel said with a short laugh. "I'm just trying to understand this. I don't want to see you hurt her."

"Me? Why would I hurt her? Angel, I love her. I would never hurt her."

"You may think that now—"

"No," Buffy cut him off and Faith heard her as she began to pace across the floor, breathing heavily as if she was trying not to break down and cry. "Look, I don't even care what you think about my relationship with Faith. It is what it is and nothing you say is going to make me change my mind or make me feel any differently about her. I know we have a rocky past, but we're past that now."

"Just like that?"

"It's a little more complicated than that," Buffy sighed as she paused for a moment and Faith found herself leaning more into the door to hear her more clearly. "We talked while we were in that dimension. We completely laid everything out on the line between us. Well," Buffy let out a sharp laugh and Faith heard her continue pacing, "almost everything."

Faith nearly jumped when Kennedy walked in through the back door and closed it loudly behind her. She placed a set of keys on the counter and removed her sunglasses, raising an eyebrow at Faith as she strolled casually over to the coffeemaker.

"You know, eavesdropping always makes things worse," Kennedy said as she reached for a mug and poured herself a cup of coffee. "Let me guess, Buffy and Angel are still down there talking about you and Buffy's relationship. Am I right or am I right?"

"Yeah. How long they been down there?"

"Early. I'm talking way before the ass crack of dawn early."

"What are you doing up so early then?"

"I had to get out of here for awhile," Kennedy replied and she motioned for Faith to follow her out into the backyard so they could talk privately. "Things have changed around here. A lot."

"No shit," Faith said, placing her mug on the picnic table as she sat down. "Somethin' goin' on between you and that cute little Asian chick?"

"Satsu? No," Kennedy said quickly. "Nothing is going on. We're just friends."

"I've heard that line before," Faith chuckled as she watched Kennedy sit down across from her and nervously fidget with the handle on her mug. "Things aren't goin' too good with you and Willow anymore, huh?"

"How do you know that?"

"Gut feelin' and the fact that you two avoided each other last night. What's goin' on, Ken?"

Kennedy looked at Faith, a mass of perplexed emotions flashing over her face as she tried to stop the tears. Whatever it was, Faith knew it was tearing her up inside and this was her chance to really be Kennedy's friend and listen to whatever it was she wanted to say to her.

"Ken? Come on, it's me. Tell me what's goin' on."

"I'm having...feelings for Satsu," she whispered. "And I feel things around her I never feel with Will. Kind of wondering if it's a Slayer thing, because of the connection we all have. I feel it with you guys, but with her it's...different."

"Ya get that down-low tingle if she just looks at ya?"

"Yeah," Kennedy laughed and she shook her head. "But it's a different kind of...tingle than the normal one, you know what I mean?"

"Sure do, Ken. Feel it around B all the time. Hell, I can feel it whenever she's talkin' about me and I'm not even near her," she chuckled as she paused to take a sip of her coffee. "What about you and Will? You guys lose that spark?"

"Yeah."

"You two try to work it out?"

"Tried, yeah, but with you two gone there was a lot of stress. I don't think that helped."

"What about with Satsu?"

"Uh," Kennedy laughed nervously as she looked up at the house for a moment. "The feelings are kind of mutual. More so on her part. God, I can't believe I'm talking to you about this."

"Ain't like I'm gonna go shoot my mouth off and announce it to the world that you're havin' those down-low tingles for a girl who ain't your girl."

"It is driving me insane, Faith! I don't even know what to do. What is the right thing to do?"

"Askin' the wrong chick, Ken."

"This is just as bad as trying to deal with the fact that Dawn and Xander are..."

"Dawn and Xander are what?" Faith asked, raising an eyebrow when Kennedy groaned and shook her head no. "What? Ken, tell me. Dawnie and Xander are what?"

"Uh, together? Sort of? They've been...you know, making out when they think nobody is looking."

Faith burst out laughing, the tears stinging her eyes as she tried to stop. "Are ya fuckin' kidding me? Dawnie and Xander? Oh fuck, that's classic. B is gonna flip."

"Which is exactly why you can't tell her," Kennedy said as she too tried to stop laughing. "God, everything is so messed up now, isn't it? I mean you two come back as juiced up Slayers, everyone's relationships are taking a turn for the worse," her eyes turned upward thoughtfully, "or the better; depends on how you look at it, I guess—and Angel is downstairs grilling Buffy about her feelings for you. It's times like this when I kind of wish we were dealing with another apocalypse."

"Ya just jinxed it, Ken."

"Shit," she laughed. "Whatever, bring on the worst!" Kennedy shouted to the sky and Faith just shook her head and sipped her coffee, trying not to laugh again.

"You should know better than to tempt the Fates," Willow said as she walked over to them, smiling as she sat down next to Kennedy. "Giles want you to go inside in a bit, Faith. Something about testing to see how much strength you and Buffy have now. He's downstairs talking to Angel and Buffy now, said to give him about ten minutes."

"Great," Faith sighed as she finished the rest of her coffee, unable to look away from Willow and Kennedy.

Willow looked completely oblivious to the way Kennedy was feeling. She almost felt bad for Willow because she knew, from what Buffy had told her that it was hard for her to move on after Tara had died and she knew that Willow had found something in Kennedy that was pretty close to what she'd had with Tara. She left the two of them there alone, shooting Kennedy a look that basically said for her to try to talk to Willow about where they stood on their relationship.

She could hear Giles and Angel talking in the basement as she walked inside and closed the back door. She had barely accomplished that when Buffy jumped into her arms, wrapped her legs around her waist, and was kissing her furiously. Not one to question why she was being kissed—or completely devoured—like that, she kissed her back just as hard, stumbling a little as she moved to press Buffy up against the wall. She could feel Buffy's heat on her stomach and it only caused her to press into her harder and kiss her deeper. She moved her hand between them, cupping Buffy's sex over her denim shorts and causing the blonde slayer to pull back from the kiss as she let out a soft whimpering moan.

"Morning to you too, Faith."

"Hey," she smirked, trailing her fingers up to the top of Buffy's shorts as she slid down to stand on her own feet. "Feel like ditchin' Giles and Angel and findin' the fun with me upstairs?"

"As much as I want to," Buffy groaned softly as she pulled Faith's hand away before she could unbutton her shorts, "we can't. You know we can't. We need to find out just how much strength we have now and learn how to control it. I don't want to unintentionally hurt you or anyone else."

"Heard ya talkin' to Angel before," Faith said, making no effort to move away as she kept Buffy pressed up against the wall. "He's havin' a hard time dealin' with the fact you and me are together, ain't he?"

"He doesn't understand how after two months I can feel like this for you. I had to remind him that one of those two months was spent in another dimension and that we spent nearly every minute there together. Honestly," Buffy sighed as she ran her hands slowly up Faith's arms, "I think being there made me fall in love with you faster."

"That a good thing or a bad thing, B?"

"A good thing, I think. He's just...he's more worried about you, Faith. He thinks you're still emotionally unstable."

"Well, he's not wrong."

Buffy pouted as she gently cupped Faith's face with both her hands. "Even if you are emotionally unstable, it doesn't change anything."

"No? What about when I completely fuckin' lose it and hightail it outta here? What then? Is it gonna change everything then, B, or are ya still gonna love me even after I break your heart?"

She had no idea why she spat those words out, why they felt so bitter as they rolled past her tongue. Buffy just stared at her, her face almost expressionless as she stroked her fingers lightly over Faith's jaw before dropping her hands to her shoulders. Buffy was at loss for words and so was Faith. She pushed herself away from Buffy, grabbed her mug, and went to pour herself another cup.

"Always fuck everything up," she muttered under her breath as she poured the last of the coffee from the pot into her mug. She felt Buffy step up behind her but she didn't reach out to touch her. Faith just turned around and stared at her, cocking her head slightly to the side as she tried to read the many emotions flickering across her face and in her eyes. "What?"

"What about what you said last night?" Buffy asked quietly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"What part?"

"About never letting me go."

"B, what I was sayin' there was just a 'what if', ya know? It ain't like it's really gonna happen," Faith said softly, forcing a smile when Buffy looked away and bit her lower lip, looking like she was about to cry. "Kinda overheard you and Angel before. It's messed me up. Don't listen to me."

"I don't care what Angel says," Buffy said softly. Faith put her mug of coffee down before wrapping her arms around the blonde and pulling her in close. "He's just...he's jealous, that's all it is. I knew this would happen. I knew him coming back here was..."

"What, B?" Faith asked softly, studying her face as she furrowed her brow and let out a soft, short sigh. "Okay, we won't talk about it if ya don't wanna, but just cos we're not gonna talk about it now doesn't mean we never will. Shit," she sighed as she held onto her tightly, not wanting to let go, "ain't nothin' gonna make me change the way I feel about you either, B. Nothing."

"Better not," Buffy chuckled as she pulled back from the tight embrace and planted a light kiss on Faith's lips. "I mean it, Faith. I finally found something completely amazing with you and if you think for one minute that I'll ever let you walk away from this, from us, then you're even more crazy than Jackie is."

"Well she is my mother, y'know—how's that sayin' go? Like mother like daughter, or whatever?"

"It's always gonna be like this, isn't it?" Buffy asked, smiling when Faith just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "We're always going to be back and forth, like we got some kind of angst switch inside of us, aren't we?"

"Angst switch?" Faith laughed as she leaned back against the counter, pulling Buffy with her. "If ya say so, B. Wonder if I can find it," she smirked as she ran her hands from Buffy's waist to cup her ass. "Getting warmer?"

"Getting there," Buffy replied, biting back the laugh as a moan slipped out.

"Ahem," Giles said as he appeared in the kitchen, hovering by the basement door. "If you two can manage to keep your hands off of each other for more than five minutes, I'd like to start with those endurance tests as soon as possible."

Faith dropped her hands from Buffy's ass, smirking as she leaned back against the counter and reached for her mug of coffee. Buffy couldn't fight the blush and she couldn't quite bring herself to turn and look at Giles much less answer him. Giles looked slightly amused—a little mortified and embarrassed as well—for having caught them the way he just had. Faith quickly gulped the last of her coffee and grabbed onto Buffy's hand, forcing her to follow along to the basement with Giles.

After nearly the entire day training in the basement and going through a few of Giles' 'endurance' tests, Faith collapsed on the mats covering the basement floor, completely exhausted. Angel had watched from where he sat on the stool in the far corner of the basement, not saying a single word to any of them in the seven and a half hours they'd been down there.

They were definitely strong, that was a given, and their bodies had apparently developed an armour of sorts. Nothing broke the skin—not even the scythe, sharp as it was. Giles was beyond himself and had Willow and the others going through every book they could get their hands on to find out more about Buffy and Faith's sudden immortality and to try and find out how long it would last. They didn't seem to have any problem controlling their strength either, which made Giles very relieved that they didn't have to worry about accidentally hurting Kennedy or the other Slayers if they chose to spar with them.

"So, G," Faith said from where she laid on the mats, "we going out on patrol tonight?"

"I believe so, yes. We can better test your strength that way."

"There are also the mass murders that have happened. We should look into that," Angel said as Buffy sat down on the mats near Faith and let out a heavy, exhausted sigh. "Everything points to demons. If it were vampires, there'd be neck wounds and no blood."

"I've already spoken with Perry," Giles said as he leaned against the workbench. "He and the others are already looking into it. We'll be meeting with them shortly before sunset."

"Are we done?" Buffy asked, stifling a yawn as she stretched out. "I could seriously use a shower and a nap before patrol."

"We are done, yes," Giles nodded. "A nap may be wise. It will be a rather long night for the both of you."

"Shoulda thought about that 'fore ya put us through a whole fuckin' day of this shit," Faith muttered quietly under her breath as she got up from the mats and followed Buffy to the stairs.

She could feel Angel's eyes on both of them and didn't even have to look over at him to know he was brooding in his corner. It was all he'd done all day while Giles had put them through round after round of tests and pitted them against each other in sparring, trying to determine if their speed and accuracy had improved as well. She smirked as she followed Buffy up the stairs, her eyes falling to her ass, the tight denim shorts clinging to her in all the right places. She could still feel Angel's eyes on them and she could only roll her eyes as Buffy opened the basement door, but stopped and turned to face her.

"What are you thinking?"

"About what, B?"

She let out a soft sigh as they walked out of the basement and into the empty kitchen. "About all of this? We just spent the entire day training and testing our strength and I got to say," she paused as she walked over to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water, "I'm a little bit scared."

"Why're ya scared, B?"

"Because! We have this strength that's ten times what we've ever had, probably more, and it's scary to know just how strong we really are now."

"Okay," Faith said slowly as Buffy handed her a bottle of water. "Still don't get it. If anything, you should be pumped up about this. Ain't nothing out there can touch us now, B."

"That's what scares me. We're going to go out there with that mindset and it's going to give us reason to be careless."

"Nah," Faith said as she shook her head. "Ain't gonna make me wanna be careless and I know it ain't gonna for you either. What're ya really scared about, B?"

"Everything. Being this strong is going to change everything, Faith."

"Don't really understand why. I mean," Faith said, sighing as she leaned against the counter and stared over at Buffy as she stood a few feet away, "we don't have to let it change anything—includin' us."

She could see the frustration in Buffy's eyes as she scoffed lightly. She knew the conversation wasn't going to end well since they obviously were in two very different places when it came to how they felt about their newfound strength. Faith loved the feel of the power flowing through her body and it made her feel slightly high, as if it were a drug to her. Buffy wasn't comfortable knowing just how much strength she possessed now and it showed in every way. She'd seen it all day and she'd seen how Buffy had come close to tears more than a dozen times in the last couple of hours.

They didn't continue with the conversation as they headed upstairs. Buffy went right for the bathroom, closing and locking the door and dashing Faith's hopes that they could shower together before getting a few hours of sleep. She groaned softly as she walked to her room and found Jackie sitting on the bed staring blankly at the window. She looked lost, afraid, and she was shivering slightly as Faith hovered in the doorway. There was so much she wanted to say to Jackie, so much she wanted to ask, to know, but with Jackie in the state of mind that she was, she knew she couldn't say much of anything at all.

Everyone in the house had been so curious about Jackie too. Giles had bombarded her with too many questions, yet as overwhelmed as she'd been, she answered every single one of them with patience. Faith knew that Willow had done some research, trying to find out if Jackie was indeed her mother. She'd found records from a small clinic in Boston where Faith had been born and she'd found Faith's birth certificate that listed a Jacqueline Lehane as her mother and a John Lehane as her father. She remembered her mother—the woman she was raised by—telling her that her father was dead and before Willow had found her birth certificate she hadn't even known his name. It put her whole life into a different perspective especially after having learned what she had from Jackie before. That orphaned feeling she'd felt for so long and fought not to feel was nearly gone, just remnants of it still lingering there.

"Oh, hello, Faith."

"Hey," she nodded, smiling a little over at Jackie as she got up from the bed slowly. "Ya settlin' in here okay?"

"Best as can be expected. The world isn't as it was when I left."

"No shit," Faith chuckled softly as she leaned against the doorframe. "Do ya need anything?"

"No," Jackie said as she shook her head slowly. "The girls took me out today to shop for clothes."

"How'd ya make out?"

"That Dawn is rather feisty," Jackie smirked as she picked up the empty coffee mug off the dresser. "She's much like Buffy, only not. She talks a lot too, couldn't get a word in with her. But everyone has been wonderful, truly wonderful. I am very grateful to be welcomed into this family of yours, Faith."

"Wouldn't want it to be any other way, Jackie."

Jackie smiled and threw her arms around Faith unexpectedly. "I'm so glad I've got my baby girl back in my life. You've turned out to be an amazing young woman despite all you've gone through to get here and," she smiled as she pulled back from the hug, "you've got a great girlfriend in Buffy."

"Uh thanks," Faith laughed uneasily as Jackie walked out of the bedroom and headed down the stairs.

Faith just walked into the room and went through the drawers, hoping to find some of her clothes that she'd left there before, but none of the clothes in the dresser were hers. She groaned in frustration as she walked out to the hallway and pulled out a clean towel from the linen closet just as Buffy walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her still wet body. Faith let out an appreciative growl as she walked past Buffy and reached out to playfully slap her on the ass. Buffy didn't even turn to look at her, choosing instead to flip her off as she walked into her bedroom.

Faith chuckled quietly as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. The room was still steamy from Buffy's shower and she quickly stripped out of her clothes and turned the water on, planning to have a rather quick shower before joining Buffy in her room for a nap. The almost too hot water felt like heaven as it cascaded over her body. She could faintly hear the laughter coming from the living room and the sound of Kennedy yelling at Andrew as she told him to stop being such a pervert. She laughed to herself as she quickly showered and once she'd rinsed the last of the soap from her body, she shut the water off and stepped out.

Buffy was still in her towel when she walked into her room and she stood by the door, making sure it was closed, as she watched her rub lotion on her legs. The sight was mesmerizing, mouth watering, and she couldn't quite seem to move from where she stood as she watched her. Buffy was purposely moving her hands over her legs slower now that she knew Faith was watching her. The playful, flirty smile on her face proved that much and Faith tried to stay back as long as she could, but as soon as Buffy 'innocently' dropped her towel, she moved over to the bed, dropping her own towel as she wrapped her arms around her lighter counterpart. Before Faith could even kiss her, Buffy put a hand to her lips and shook her head no.

"We need to get some sleep, Faith."

"But—"

"And I'm not particularly fond of being caught. There isn't even a lock on the door," she continued without missing a beat and winked as she pulled Faith down with her on the bed.

"Didn't stop ya when we were—"

"Because I knew Jackie wouldn't purposely walk in on us, or even accidentally. She's so considerate like that and unfortunately," she whispered as Faith settled between her legs and was instantly grinding into her. She let out a quiet moan, momentarily forgetting what she was going to say as she stared deeply into Faith's eyes. "Unfortunately, nobody in this house is considerate like that."

"So, we'll be quiet and they'll think we're sleeping," Faith whispered as she leaned in, stopping before their lips touched. "And once we finish patrol tonight, we are going to the apartment. Ain't no way in hell I'm sleepin' on the couch again."

Buffy just nodded her head as she bit her lip to quiet the moan that slipped out anyway. She gripped onto Faith's ass, grinding her harder into her pussy as she spread her legs a little more. Their skin was still damp from the showers they'd taken, but with the heat in the room and the heat between them, a thin sheen of sweat coated their bodies in mere seconds. Faith wouldn't let Buffy kiss her, opting on staring into her eyes as she fucked her hard and slow. Right when Buffy was on the verge of her climax, Faith captured her lips in a fierce and hot kiss, both of them moaning as Buffy came hard, Faith coming just a few seconds later. It was always like that between them when they just got right to it, fucking not being the right word for what they shared. Making love and despite the quickness, it was as intense as an orgasm that took five minutes to build up.

Buffy wrapped her legs around Faith's waist, keeping her right where she was as she deepened the kiss even more so. Faith checked out for a moment as fantasies of buying a strap-on and fucking Buffy for hours filled her head. Buffy pulled back from the kiss with a soft laugh as she stroked her fingers over Faith's cheeks. Faith took that moment to really get into the moment, to stare into her eyes and see the love in them that filled her in ways she never thought she could be filled. Buffy had seriously done a number on her. She was constantly feeling like a big pile of mush and the old Faith would have laughed and called her a pussy, but she just didn't care anymore.

"You really can't understand the word 'no', can you?" Buffy asked, laughing softly as she released her legs from around Faith so she could move to lie next to her.

"Ya never said the word 'no', B."

"Could've sworn that I did. I did say we needed to get some sleep though," she countered and groaned softly as she tried to pull the sheets over them. "That's pretty much a no right there."

"No it ain't. Doesn't matter now," Faith said softly as she let Buffy turn around so her back was to her front before she wrapped an arm around her. "Ain't nothin' better than gettin' in a nap after some fuckin' hot fucking."

"We really should...focus on everything rather than each other all the time."

"Ya complainin', B?"

"No, I'm just saying, we can't be careless because all we want to do is..."

"Fuck?" Faith offered when Buffy didn't finish saying what she was going to say. "I get it, B. No big deal. Can't blame me for wantin' ya all the time though."

Buffy chuckled softly, the vibrations shooting through Faith's body like lightning. Faith felt her relax and she closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of Buffy's still damp hair, her freshly washed skin, and the smell that was distinctly Buffy. She was sweating, the sheets were drenched, and she knew if she pulled back the covers, Buffy would likely kick her ass. She knew without having to be told that Buffy felt more comfortable like this—covered and sweating worse than the devil's ass crack in the hottest spot in Hell rather than taking a chance of someone coming in and catching them lying on the bed, completely naked and holding each other.

At least after today they wouldn't have to worry about that so much. Faith was determined to get Buffy to come with her to the apartment. They might have already discussed Buffy moving in with her, but saying it was one thing, doing it was completely something else all together. She felt Buffy lean back into her some more, grinding her ass into her pussy and it took all of her self-control not to fuck her again when she knew they really needed to get a couple hours of sleep. They did have a very, very long night ahead of them, after all.

Priorities. She liked to believe she had them. Sometimes.

"What the hell is this?" Buffy asked with slight disgust as she held up the outfit Andrew had handed her. "Do you really expect me to wear this?"

"It's lightweight Kevlar and it is black so it's...stealthy," Andrew replied, keeping his voice steady even though he looked like he was on the verge of tears. "I made each one especially for all of you. Do you know how hard it was for me to get the size right when I had nothing but vague memories and clothes of yours to go by? It took me nearly a day to make this for you, Buffy!"

Faith tried not to laugh at the look on Buffy's face. She was completely not into the idea of wearing what Andrew called 'Slayer Gear'. She lost it when Buffy groaned almost painfully as Kennedy and the other Slayers came into the living room dressed in their gear.

"I'm not wearing this," Buffy said as she shoved it at Andrew. "Besides, I don't need any kind of protection. At least not right now."

"Buffy...we're a team," Kennedy said through clenched teeth. Faith could tell she too was trying so hard not to laugh at Buffy's reaction to this. "It's just an outfit and they're actually surprisingly comfortable! Even Perry and Marshall are wearing them."

Faith grabbed hers and headed upstairs with Buffy hot on her heels. She knew Buffy was a little pissed off, but she couldn't help but laugh when Buffy practically shoved her into her bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her. Faith just watched as Buffy balled up the shirt and the pants and threw them across the room.

"What's the big deal, B?"

"This is not how we do things around here!"

"Maybe not, but shit," Faith said calmly as she tossed her clothes to the bed and wrapped her arms around Buffy, "it's just a fuckin' outfit, B. It ain't the end of the world. Besides maybe Andy is right—they'd be stealthy, not to mention sexy."

"He never said sexy."

"I know. I did."

"Good. Because if I ever hear those words coming out of his mouth..."

"Major ew," Faith chuckled and let out a soft sigh of relief as Buffy relaxed a little bit. "Come on, just try it on. Andy put a lot of work into this."

"How do you know that?"

"Just look at 'em, B. You can just tell he slaved over 'em to make 'em perfect."

Buffy groaned, clearly annoyed, but watched as Faith stripped out of her clothes and pulled on the Kevlar outfit. It fit like a glove, surprisingly, and it was comfortable, light. Almost as if it was a second skin. She turned around and caught Buffy checking her out, then walked over to where Buffy had thrown hers and laid it out on the bed as she sat down. She motioned for Buffy to strip, smirking as Buffy pouted and shook her head no. After a few minutes of a rather intense staring contest, Buffy gave in, stripped out of her clothes, and quickly pulled on the outfit.

"Damn," Faith said softly, her eyes drinking in Buffy as she looked her up and down. "Definitely sexy, B. Don't know why you were complainin'."

"Just shut up, Faith."

She chuckled as she watched Buffy walk over to the mirror that hung on the closet door and check herself out. She rolled her eyes at Faith before she walked out of the bedroom, flipping off the light as she did and leaving Faith sitting there on the bed in the dark. She just shook her head, got up, and joined the others down in the hallway as they gathered a couple of weapons and discussed where they would go on patrol. Kennedy and Satsu were going to sweep the cemetery nearby, Carmen and Amber were going to go meet up with Perry and Marshall and do a sweep in the neighbourhood near the Hellmouth. Buffy and Faith were going to go to the cemetery with Angel to see if they could pick up on any clues in relation to the mass murder that had happened.

If it were up to Faith, she'd be joining the others instead of playing detective with Buffy and Angel, but it wasn't up to her. It never would be. She was no leader and apparently Buffy wasn't either. As Giles had said before Andrew brought out the 'Slayer Gear' outfits, every decision made was made by everyone, not just whoever thought they were in charge. Nobody was in charge, although Faith knew that Giles was trying to have a little more pull over the rest of them. It'd be interesting to find out just how long Buffy would take it before she put her foot down. If anyone could stand up to Giles and tell him that enough was enough, it was Buffy.

She, Angel, and Buffy were the last to leave the house and they walked in complete silence, Angel ahead of them and Buffy next to her. She tried to keep focused, but she had a burst of adrenaline surge through her body as soon as she felt a couple of vampires nearby. From the look in Buffy's eyes, she felt them too, and they took off, ditching Angel as they went to do what they did best. Slay.