Saturday mornings had become the only time Faith was able to use the training room alone. Bright and early, an hour before the sun rose, she found herself down there punching the bag in time to the driving hard rock music that blared over the sound system Xander had installed. Punch, punch, jab, kick and repeat. She found herself so lost in her rhythm she hadn't even heard Buffy come in the training room. She did feel the small hairs on the back of her neck stand up slightly as Buffy actually approached her, though, and she punched the bag one last time before she spun around and wrapped her arms around her.

"Morning," Buffy laughed as Faith leaned in for a kiss only to find herself being pushed away. "You're all sweaty, Faith."

"Ya never complained about that before."

"No," she laughed again as she watched Faith pick up the water bottle off the floor and down the contents in one go. "I never complained before because we were getting all sweaty together."

"Well, don't let me stop ya," Faith chuckled as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"I am so not in the mood to train right now and besides," Buffy said as she walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her, no longer seeming to care how sweaty Faith was. "I was wondering where you went off to so early this morning. I thought I felt you get out of bed."

"Always come down here this early."

"Do you?"

"Only time I get the room to myself without those annoying brats around."

"They all can't be that bad."

"Oh yeah?" Faith asked as she raised an eyebrow at that. "You ain't been around in the last three weeks, B. Spend two hours with 'em in here and you'll wanna pull your hair out."

"I completely agree," Kennedy said as she walked into the training room with Satsu close behind her. "They are all fucking annoying. I wonder if we can ask Giles for some time off and let him and the other Watchers deal with training them."

"Not gonna happen, Ken," Faith said with a smirk as Buffy dropped her arms from around her and went to sit on the bench along the wall. "You know he's all 'train the girls, patrol according to the schedule and behave yourselves' these days."

"I miss having an actual social life!" Kennedy whined as she and Satsu sat down on the mats and began stretching out. "Don't you miss it, Faith?"

"Got enough of a social life with B and you guys to keep me satisfied. Besides, it's Saturday night. None of us has to be out on patrol tonight. You know what that means."

"What does it mean?" Buffy asked as Faith sat on the bench next to her.

"Goin' out dancing, of course."

"But of course," Buffy laughed as she grabbed onto Faith's hand and intertwined their fingers. "Gives me a reason to wear one of my new pairs of shoes."

"Of course it does, but it ain't like ya need a place to go to wear 'em."

"This is very true."

Kennedy laughed at Buffy, who then shot the younger slayer a look that made Faith chuckle under her breath. She missed this, just being around Buffy and Kennedy, even being around Satsu and acting like they were nothing but a bunch of normal twenty-somethings just hanging out on a Saturday morning. Faith couldn't take her eyes off of Buffy and it seemed like Buffy couldn't stop looking at her either. Her body was aching to continue with training, though, since she hadn't had enough of it that morning and she hated denying her body a full-fledged workout. After sharing a brief kiss with Buffy, she joined Satsu and Kennedy on the mats and began to stretch out, feeling her muscles burn in appreciation.

She barely even noticed that Buffy had left and come back wearing her sweats and one of her tank tops. It wasn't until Satsu and Kennedy began sparring that Buffy suddenly pulled her to the far side of the mats and teasingly threw a lazy punch her way. She saw the sparkle in Buffy's eyes and that was all she needed to start what she knew would be a long hour of sparring together. She just hoped it wouldn't get out of hand since they weren't exactly alone and the younger Slayers would be coming in to start their morning training soon. After a few kicks and punches were exchanged, and blocked, Buffy had her pinned to the mats, her lips mere inches from her own.

"Damn, B. Thought you bein' away for three weeks woulda made ya soft."

"Never," she whispered before stealing a kiss. "I will never go soft."

"Unless I do this," Faith responded as she pulled her down for a deep, scorching kiss, no longer caring that Satsu and Kennedy had stopped sparring and were watching them. Buffy moaned softly and Faith used that moment to flip her over. "See, ya went soft."

"Bitch."

"I may be a bitch, but I'm your bitch."

"Never forget it."

"Aren't they just so sweet?" Kennedy said aloud, her voice just dripping with sarcasm. "Seriously, you two are just...you are so sweet and cute it makes me want to puke."

"Jealous?" Faith asked as she got up from Buffy and helped her to her feet. "I can recall a few times I've walked in here and you and Satsu are on the mats fucking like lust bunnies."

Satsu blushed a deep red and Kennedy just smirked proudly. Buffy only smacked Faith across the arm hard for bringing it up without a care in the world and she looked over at Kennedy, flashing an equally smug grin her way. Faith eyed Buffy up and down, wanting nothing more than to continue their sparring session, but as a few of the younger girls started to come into the training room she knew that going all out with Buffy was out of the question now.

For an hour they sparred together, holding themselves back and showing some of the younger girls a few moves that would come in handy if they found themselves cornered by a few vampires. By the time the training room was packed, Buffy was done with training and she kept looking at Faith, trying to urge her to come back up to the apartment with her. They managed to slip out of there as Giles, Bryce, and two other Watchers came in to check on the girls and start with their daily training schedule. Kennedy and Satsu weren't that far behind them and they all laughed as they ran up the stairs, dodging a few of the girls who were late for training and trying to run down the stairs without falling.

"What time ya wanna head out later?" Faith asked Kennedy as they headed down the hallway together, Buffy and Satsu trailing a little bit behind them. "I was thinkin' nine would be good, give us plenty of time to get into the club and dance for a couple hours."

"Nine is good."

"Do ya know if Xander and Dawn are gonna come with?"

"No clue. They've been spending a lot of time alone these days," Kennedy said quietly and she looked back at Buffy for a second. "You know what a horn dog Xander is. He missed Dawn like crazy the last couple of weeks so I imagine he's going to want to do nothing but spend a few days locked in a bedroom with her."

"Can't blame him. All I wanna do with B too."

They both laughed and went into their apartments. Buffy followed Faith about half a minute later with a look in her eyes that showed she was clearly pissed. Faith didn't ask her what was wrong as she stripped out of her sweaty clothes on the way to the bathroom. She half-expected Buffy to be right there behind her, but she went right for the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her. Faith sighed out as she turned on the water in the shower and waited for it to heat up before stepping in.

Buffy had been in a weird mood since the night before and rather than question it, Faith knew she had to just let that mood of Buffy's run its course without her making it any worse by saying something to her about it. She had a quick shower, grabbed her robe, and slipped it on as she walked out of the bathroom. Buffy was no longer in the bedroom now and she saw her standing at the stove cooking scrambled eggs with the radio on. She was humming along to the song playing and Faith smiled as she stepped up behind her and wrapped her arms around her.

"Hungry?" Buffy asked as she turned her head a little to look at her.

"I'm always hungry, B."

"Just thought I'd ask."

"Hmm," Faith murmured as she trailed her lips over the side of her neck and up to her ear. "Smells fucking delicious, babe."

"It's just scrambled eggs."

"I know," Faith laughed as she slipped her hands under the hem of Buffy's shirt and smoothed her palms over her stomach. "You are talking to the chick that can't even make scrambled eggs without burning them or herself."

"You can cook, you're just impatient sometimes."

Faith laughed as she waited for Buffy to put the eggs on two plates and turn off the stove before she spun her around and captured her lips in a deep, passionate kiss. Even though she was completely starved, and the rumbling in her stomach was evidence of that, she needed Buffy. She needed to kiss her, to touch her, to lick her, to feel her flush against her. Three weeks was far too long and the night before hadn't been enough to satisfy that itch she'd felt growing in the three weeks Buffy had been gone. Before she could start to pull Buffy away from the stove, Buffy broke away from the kiss and shook her head no.

"I'm hungry," she said pointedly before running her hands over Faith's stomach as it rumbled again. "And I know you are too, so let's just eat, okay?"

"Fine," Faith muttered under her breath, pouting as Buffy turned to grab both plates and a couple forks and headed over to the table. "Soon as we finish eating..."

"You want to eat me?" Buffy quipped, and Faith smirked as she ran her tongue over her lips sensually, eliciting a small moan from Buffy in response. "I missed this."

"This?" Faith asked as she sat down at the table and shoved a few forkfuls of eggs into her mouth.

"Just being...us. I missed it."

"Keep that in mind next time ya wanna get gone for a little while."

Buffy nodded slowly, her eyes falling to her plate as she sighed heavily. "You know I needed to get away for a little while after what you had to do to Angel."

"I know, B. Was just making a point."

"I miss him."

"I do too."

"I kept having these dreams while I was in Italy," she said softly, still keeping her eyes on her plate as she pushed her food around. "I kept dreaming that everything was okay. That he never...and that you never had to...and then I'd wake up and I'd know that it isn't a dream, that it really happened and that I'll never see him again. I keep thinking that I should've known something was off about him. I should've seen it, Faith, and I didn't."

"B, don't be so fuckin' hard on yourself. None of us saw it."

Faith saw the few tears slide down her cheeks and she resisted that urge to reach out and wipe them away for her. She ate the rest of her scrambled eggs, only looking up at Buffy every time she heard her sniffle as she tried to stop the tears. She knew she had to let Buffy let it out without interfering, but it broke her heart to see Buffy like this and all she wanted to do was make it better somehow. She finished off her plateful of eggs and sat back, sighing in contentment that her stomach as now pretty much full and satisfied.

She waited for Buffy to finish before clearing the table and putting the dishes in the sink. She kept looking back over at Buffy as she filled the sink with warm, soapy water and she saw that Buffy had a distant look in her eyes as she just stared blankly ahead. She knew exactly how she felt when it came to Angel; she'd felt the same way in the last three weeks herself. It was like a hole, a void that couldn't be filled. Angel had been her salvation, he'd been the one who set her on her path to redemption and there'd been moments when she thought she'd fall off that path now that he was gone, that without him she'd lose all hope of ever fully redeeming herself.

Everything would get back to normal, but one thing she knew for certain these days was that it would take time. The only thing she didn't know was how much time it would actually take for not just her, but for Buffy to get over and accept that Angel was truly gone now. It did cut her a little deep to know that Buffy was falling apart because of him, especially now that they were together, but she always knew how Buffy felt about Angel. That was her first real love, a love that was deep, and it was a type of love that wouldn't go away easily or quickly, and most certainly not in these few short weeks since his final death.

Faith knew how Buffy felt about her; she knew that Buffy loved her. It was something she just didn't question anymore. She could feel it and see it every time they just looked at each other, but that pain from Angel being gone was there now too. It tore her up inside knowing that even with a lot of time to heal, that pain would never quite go away. It'd always be there because she had been the one that killed Angel. If it had been anyone else, she knew it wouldn't be quite that way whenever Buffy looked at her.

"Hey," Faith said softly as she walked over to Buffy before leaning down to kiss the top of her head gently. "You okay, babe?"

"Tired."

"You wanna go back to bed for a little while?"

"No," she sighed as she shook her head. "I just...I don't even know anymore."

Faith pulled her up from the chair and wrapped her arms around her. "B, it's okay. I know how you feel right now. Don't forget I can feel everything you feel."

"Still?"

"Crazy, ain't it?" Faith laughed as she shook her head and lifted her hands to wipe away the tears that started to fall from Buffy's eyes. "Tell me how I can make it better, B. Fuckin' can't stand to see ya like this."

Buffy said nothing as she pulled Faith in for a kiss. It was soft and tender at first until she plunged her tongue into Faith's mouth and began to walk her backwards towards the bedroom. Faith could tell from the intensity of the kiss that Buffy was trying to push all her other feelings and thoughts down so she'd forget about everything. Faith could feel her whole body react to the intensity of the kiss and to the feel of Buffy's hands roaming furiously over her body as they made their way to the bedroom.

The instant Buffy had the belt to her robe untied, Faith shrugged it off and began tugging at Buffy's clothes, determined to get her naked as fast as she could. Buffy kept pushing her hands away and she broke away from the kiss with a growl and nearly ripped her shirt off. When their lips met again, it was almost bruising and Buffy grabbed her wrists and held them away from her as she forced Faith down on the bed. She pulled back from the kiss as she raked her nails down across Faith's breasts and stomach, leaving light scratch marks in their wake. She stood at the foot of the bed and slid out of her shorts with a sly smile across her lips.

"Damn, you're fuckin' sexy, B."

Buffy laughed softly, running her hands over her body as she stepped out of her shorts and kicked them off to the side. She unclasped her bra and slid it off slowly and Faith couldn't help but lick over her lips hungrily as she watched her. She stood before her in only her white panties, ones that barely covered anything at all. Faith blinked a few times as she waited for Buffy to shed her panties and join her in bed, watching intently as the blonde slayer ever so slowly ran her hands down her stomach before hooking her thumbs along the top of her panties and beginning to pull them down.

"I think you're drooling," Buffy smirked as she reached out and wiped the corners of Faith's mouth.

"Can't blame me when I got a fuckin' goddess standing in front of me lookin' sexy as fuck."

Faith pulled Buffy down for a kiss, but let her stay standing at the foot of the bed in front of her. She ran the tip of her tongue down across her breasts slowly, looking up to see Buffy's eyes slide shut as her lips wrapped around a semi-hard nipple. She licked and nipped her way down her stomach, grabbing onto her hips and spinning her around so she was lying down on the bed before she reached her bellybutton. She let Buffy move up the bed a little before she began to kiss up the inside of her left thigh as she spread her legs open slowly. Her mouth was already watering by the time she reached her pussy and took a tentative lick, trying not to smirk as Buffy raised her hips and bit back a moan.

Faith was in no mood to take things slow, and from the way Buffy was squirming as she blew warm air over her already soaking pussy, she knew she wasn't in any position to complain about her almost literally diving in face first. Oh, what she wouldn't give to hear Buffy tell her to lick her cunt. Faith never had worked up the courage to try dirty talk in bed with Buffy, though. It was what she used to do with those nameless people she randomly slept with and she wanted to keep that part of her life as far behind her as she could. Still, there were times like this that she surely did miss it.

She was teasing Buffy with every small lick, with every slight flick of her clit she made with either her tongue or her fingers, and she was loving every reaction she was getting from her. From the whimpering moans to the gasps and the silent pleading to stop teasing her, it turned her on to no end and the ache between her legs grew with every rapid beat of her heart. Buffy gripped onto her head, her fingers intertwining in her hair and she pulled her in closer, clearly unable to take the teasing Faith was unleashing on her for much longer.

She missed this—she missed the slight aggressiveness Buffy showed at times and she missed the way Buffy tasted, the way her body would react to every kiss and every touch. She missed Buffy, all of her, and she hadn't had enough time the night before to show her just how much she did. Not being one to deny her woman pleasure she was obviously seeking out, she spread her folds with her fingers and latched her lips around her clit and sucked hard. She shifted slightly to get a little more comfortable and when she couldn't, she pulled Buffy down to the edge of the bed as she knelt on the floor and draped Buffy's legs over her shoulders.

Buffy was moaning almost constantly as Faith slid a finger deep inside of her and rubbed against her g-spot, sucking and licking at her clit at a pace she knew would have Buffy coming in minutes. She didn't plan to stop after she came either. She planned to keep going until her jaw and tongue were too sore to continue, or at least until Buffy physically forced her to stop.

"Fuck, B...never can get over how fuckin' delicious ya taste," she moaned softly before she slid her finger out and quickly replaced it with her tongue.

"Faith..." Buffy gasped as she spread her legs wider, sliding them off of Faith's shoulders and allowing her more room to plunge her tongue in deeper. "Oh god, Faith..."

Faith's lips and chin were covered in Buffy's secretions as she continued to fuck her with her tongue. She moved her thumb over her clit, rubbing fast circles over it as she felt Buffy's pussy pull her tongue in as the first waves of her orgasm began to wash over her. She pulled her tongue out and sucked at her hole as she came hard and fast and she swore she felt herself have a tiny ripple of her own orgasm as she sucked Buffy dry. She gave her a minute, barely, to recover before she plunged her tongue back inside her hole, feeling her quiver and tense up as she continued to fuck her with her tongue.

Buffy was pulling on her hair and she pulled back, gasping for breath as she looked up at her. the only thoughts that ran through her mind was how sexy she thought Buffy looked in her post-orgasm glow with her body covered in a light sheen of sweat and her lips parted slightly as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Baby," Buffy breathed out as her eyes slid shut. "Come here."

Faith groaned softly and placed a light kiss over her clit before crawling up over her body and planting an equally light kiss upon her lips. "Had enough already, B?"

"No I..."

"Mm?"

"I think..." she gasped out as Faith gently cupped her pussy and teased her hole with her middle finger. "I think it's my turn."

"We take turns now, B?" Faith asked, grinning as she raised an eyebrow at her. "Just waitin' for ya to get all dom on me again, babe."

"Oh you like it when I do, don't you?"

"Fuck yeah I do," she laughed as Buffy rolled her eyes and didn't make a move. "What, not feelin' up to it today, B?"

"Of course I am..."

"But?"

"But I...jesus, Faith. You don't realize what you do to me when you..."

"Lick ya? Fuck ya with my tongue?"

"Yes..." Buffy trailed off, stifling a moan as Faith slid a solitary finger inside of her, still teasing her.

She tucked Faith's damp hair behind her ears before pulling her in for a deep kiss, raising her hips in time to the finger slowly fucking her. Faith was waiting for her to touch her, to make her come too. Her orgasm just bubbling just under the surface, aching to spill over and come out hard and fast, just like always, but Buffy was holding herself back, focused only on the pleasure she was receiving and nothing else. Faith didn't want to have to beg her to touch her; she knew she would once she came down from her high.

She groaned softly against Buffy's lips as the blonde trailed her nails down her back roughly. Buffy slid her thigh in between Faith's legs and pulled her down, eliciting a moan from both of them as Faith plunged a second finger inside her. Buffy could hardly keep herself under control, her hips rising and falling with every movement of Faith's fingers. The friction from Buffy's strong thigh firmly pressing and sliding against her pussy was almost enough to get her off and she could feel the tension and frustration building inside of her. It caused her to slide a third finger inside of Buffy.

"Oh fuck," Buffy cried out as she pulled back from her lips. She moved a hand between them and deftly slid a finger over Faith's wet slit before easily sliding a finger inside of her. "Harder."

"Harder?" Faith questioned, feeling a little dazed by the intensity she was feeling coming off of Buffy. "Are ya sure, babe?"

Buffy just pulled her down for a hard kiss, their tongues dancing furiously as they fucked each other hard and fast. Faith knew she'd be sore if she kept it up, but she quickly pushed that thought to the back of her mind as Buffy slid a second and then a third finger deep inside of her, filling her and making her shudder in pure ecstasy. She rode her hand, her hips bucking wildly as she struggled to keep up with the pace Buffy was setting between them.

Faith parted from the kiss, her lips still brushing against Buffy's as she gasped out for breath, feeling her orgasm begin to flood through her entire body. Buffy was holding hers back, waiting so they could come together just as she usually tried to do. Tried and failed. It's not as if Faith ever cared or thought it mattered even if it was that much more intense for them to come together. She growled when she heard someone knock on the door and then kissed Buffy to keep her from yelling out at whoever was there.

"Why can't we ever be left alone?" Buffy whispered in annoyance as she pulled back from the kiss.

"Beats me, B. Nobody seems to know the meaning of privacy around here."

"I kind of wish that we were still in that place. At least there we could be together and Jackie was pretty considerate about leaving us alone."

"I kinda wish we were too sometimes. Everything seemed so much fuckin' simpler there. We come back and everything is all fucked up and why the hell are we even talkin' about this now?"

Faith kissed her yet again, trying to push back their short talk and just get back to feeling where she'd been mere minutes before. It wasn't very often that Buffy would start talking right before they both came and she hated it when she did since it seemed harder to get back to that point. Faith fucked her fingers harder in and out of Buffy, feeling her do the same right back until it bordered that fine line between pain and pleasure.

Faith could barely hold herself over Buffy as her arm began to shake. She moved to lie next to her, not once slowing her fingers and not even breaking away from their kiss. Buffy seemed to take that as her cue to be on top and she was instantly hovering over Faith, fucking her harder and deeper, grinding the palm of her hand into her clit with every other hard thrust of her fingers. She could only faintly hear voices out in the hallway as the knocking on the door resumed, but she let them fade away just like everything else as she broke away from the kiss and stared deeply into Buffy's eyes.

"Close, babe?" Faith asked softly, gasping as her orgasm began to take flight deep inside of her. "I'm so close, B."

"Mm, me too, baby."

Faith slowed her thrusts, burying her fingers inside of her and stroked Buffy's g-spot, watching as he eyes rolled back and she let out a rather feral moan as she let herself go. She reluctantly took her fingers out and pulled Buffy's hand away. She ran her hands down Buffy's back as she settled between her legs and they rode out their orgasm, every roll of their hips grinding their pussies into each other's and drawing out a rather intense orgasm.

Faith kept her arms wrapped around Buffy, needing to feel her flush against her, needing to feel her heart beating almost in time with her own, needing just to hold her, ride out what felt like the most intense orgasm she'd had since before Buffy had taken off for three long, lonely weeks. She felt like she was floating in a daze and she'd nearly forgotten there was someone at the door until the knocking became louder and clearer than it had been before.

"Fuckin' ignore 'em, B. They'll go away," she groaned as she held onto Buffy to keep her from getting up.

"It could be important, Faith."

"So? Don't think anything is more important to me right now than bein' right here with you."

Buffy sighed, sliding down Faith's body a little bit and laying her head down on her chest as she played with the ends of her still-damp hair. Every breath she took danced across Faith's skin, over her breasts and over the semi-hard nipple that was just aching for attention. She was very aware of every inch of her body and every inch of her body just wanted to be devoured and worshipped by Buffy. Nobody had ever been able to touch her quite the way Buffy did and nobody had ever made her feel the way Buffy did either. She had to wonder if it was because they were in love with each other, truly and deeply in love, or if it was because it was Buffy that she was with that made her feel that way.

"Faith? Buffy? I know you're in there!" Xander yelled out as the knocking on the door turned into pounding. "Don't make me use my spare key!"

"He has a key?" Buffy asked as she lifted her head to look at Faith. "Since when does he have a key?"

"It's a master key. Opens every door in this place. I got one too."

"Oh. Why do I get the feeling I missed way too much being away for three weeks?"

"Cos ya did?"

Faith didn't mean for it to come out sounding so bitter, but with Xander interrupting their alone time she couldn't help it. Before Buffy could say anything back she pulled her in for another kiss, hoping if they didn't answer that Xander would leave them alone and whatever he wanted them so urgently for could wait just a little while longer. A whole day longer. When Buffy ended the kiss far too soon for her liking and got off the bed, she groaned as she leaned up on her elbows to watch as the blonde grabbed some clean clothes and quickly got dressed.

"Y'know, the whole point of us being here was to have our time together," Faith muttered under her breath. "Everything went and fucking changed on us."

"So what do you want to do about that, Faith?"

"Who knows," she shrugged. "Could always go back to the house or find another place nearby."

"You really want to do that?"

"Course I do, B. I wanna be with you, I wanna have our time together without anyone fuckin' interrupting us. I know you want it too, B. This is never gonna end as long as we're here."

"We're needed here."

"Wish ya woulda figured that out before ya took off for three fuckin' weeks."

"Can we not do this right now?" Buffy asked, her voice trembling as Faith got out of bed and quickly threw on some clothes, skipping a bra and panties since she just couldn't be bothered. "I really don't like fighting and arguing with you, Faith."

"Like I do?"

"It's not supposed to be like this," Buffy sighed. "We just..."

"I know," Faith said as she stopped her from walking out of the bedroom. "I'm sorry."

"I tried to get us back to the way it was before...before...and it's not that easy," she said quietly as she took in a few deep breaths and quickly wiped away the tears that began to fall. "It's still going to take some time for us to get back there, Faith."

"I know that, B. Don't worry about it. We'll get there."

"Will we?"

"Sure," she said with a smile that surprisingly didn't feel forced despite the situation they now found themselves in. "Look at all the shit we got over, together and on our own. This is nothing compared to the shit we've been through in the past."

Faith could hardly believe the stuff coming out of her mouth and yet she meant every last word of it. Buffy just smiled sweetly at her and pulled her in for a deep kiss that made her weak in the knees. It made her forget far too easily about the words they'd just exchanged and it made her drown out the sound of Xander still pounding on the door. She pulled back when she heard the key slide into the lock and they both rolled their eyes before walking out of the bedroom just as Xander was letting himself inside.

"Where's the fuckin' fire?" Faith asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Urgent meeting."

"We take weekends off, Xand."

"Not when there are problems with a few of the girls," he replied as he motioned for them both to follow him. "Oh and sorry for...you know, bothering you two."

"Better be fuckin' sorry," Faith muttered under her breath as they walked out of the apartment and followed him down the hallway towards the stairs. "So what's the big problem with the girls? They fightin' again?"

Xander nodded as they walked down the first few flights of stairs. She knew he wouldn't explain since it wasn't up to him to do just that. They didn't say anything else as they walked down to where Giles' office was and found themselves in the middle of a rather heated fight between Carmen and one of the younger girls, Jessie. Faith pulled Carmen away from her and shoved her halfway across the room. It hadn't been the first time the two of them had gotten into it. They were both short fuses who did not get along what so ever and she was getting tired of playing referee when it came to them.

Giles cleared his throat and pointed to the couch along the one wall. Jessie reluctantly sat down and Faith made sure Carmen sat on the other end before she placed herself in between them. Buffy and Xander just stood by the doorway watching as the little scene unfolded before them.

"What's the big fuckin' problem this time?" Faith asked as she looked at Carmen then over at Jessie. "I thought you two were gonna grow the fuck up and leave each other alone?"

"She started it," Jessie said under her breath. "It isn't my fault she's a stupid bitch!"

"We were sparring," Carmen said calmly. "I didn't start anything. She is the one who threw that punch that nearly knocked me out! I was only retaliating in self-defence."

"Girls," Giles said sternly as he stood in front of them and motioned for Faith to move from the couch. "I do not know what is going on between you two."

"I hate her," they both responded at the same time and it caused Faith to burst out laughing as she joined Buffy by the door.

"You know the rules here. You both know that you cannot be fighting amongst yourselves when you should be training. If you cannot focus on your training you'll put your lives and anyone else that is around you in danger when you are out on patrol. I cannot stress how important it is for the two of you to set your differences aside."

"This is gettin' old, ain't it, Giles?" Faith asked as she leaned against the doorframe. He shot her a glare that warned her to keep her mouth shut and to let him deal for the time being. "Sorry."

"Why are we even here?" Buffy asked her softly as Giles talked to both of the girls quietly. "Are we here in case they decide to try to kill each other?"

"Yeah," Faith nodded as she casually slipped her arm around Buffy's waist and pulled her in close to her side. "That and I bet Giles is gonna want to talk to us after about how to deal with 'em. I swear Carmen has been nothin' but a pain in all our asses since she got here."

"She has," Xander said under his breath and he and Faith both chuckled softly. "You know who those two remind me of?"

"Us?" Faith asked as she leaned in and kissed Buffy lightly on the cheek. "Definitely reminds you of us way back when, huh?"

Buffy raised an eyebrow in slight amusement as Jessie and Carmen kept shooting each other death glares while Giles continued to try to talk them down. She was barely paying any attention when Giles turned to them. She knew he was asking them for a favour, most likely to keep an eye on the two girls to make sure they really didn't try to kill each other, but she was too engrossed in watching Buffy and her reaction to the whole situation they were being put in the middle of. Buffy really had missed a lot in the last three weeks and it'd take a little while for her to get used to the way things really were around there.

"Faith? Did you hear a word I said?" Giles asked tiredly, letting out a pained sigh as he took in Faith's guilty look. "I want you and Buffy to take those two out on patrol tonight and yes," he said as he held up his hand before Faith could protest, "I know you have requested weekends off, but this situation needs to be dealt with."

She let out a dejected sigh, knowing their night out was definitely out of the picture now. She shook her head as she dropped her arm around from Buffy and tried not to show her disappointment and anger that they would have to deal with Jessie and Carmen instead of living what could resemble a semi-normal life that night. It was just the way things were right now. She really hoped they wouldn't always be that way, now more than ever.