Choices
by Izzy
Rating: NC-17

Disclaimer: Don't own them. No money being made. :(
Spoilers: Possibly soon to come, as this fic is set around season 6.
Author's Notes: Just hope you like it! :) AU/Buffy crossover. AU Buffy and Faith are married and have a daughter named Beth. Buffy set after season 6. Spike gets his chip taken out and goes after Buffy. Faith meanwhile gets out of prison and is staying with Angel. (NB: Tara isn't dead, she's in a coma, and Willow is taking antidepressants to help her cope. So nothing after the shooting concerning 'evil' Willow happened here.)
Feedback: If you want, I don't mind.

+1=2=3=4=5=6=7=8=9=10+

PART ONE

AU.

Sitting at the bay window in her bedroom Buffy gazed out at the torrents of rain falling against the glass. As she wiped at the tear that slipped down her cheek she turned away from the outside world and sat down in the same chair she'd been sitting in since the previous day. The day had been particularly tiring. They still had no idea where Faith and Beth had been taken.

She hated just sitting around feeling helpless, but she didn't have much of a choice. It was either this or running around town getting hysterical and generally helping no one. Especially the two who really needed her to be strong right now.

When they had been sucked into the portal she had almost lost it like the time Glory had taken her sister. Instead she had simply cried for over two hours in her best friend's lap, and after she'd woken up from a restless sleep she had demanded that they start researching a way to get them back.

Resting her head back she began thinking about her time spent with Faith; desperately trying to retain some hope and happiness.

< 7 years previously:
Buffy and Faith went to school together. At Hemery, in LA. They hung out in different circles but knew each other fairly well. They even sat next to each other in some classes.

Buffy was on the cheerleading squad and Faith was on the gymnastics team, so they saw each other quite regularly in the gym. Buffy was considered to be one of the most popular girls in school, while Faith had a rep for being a trouble maker, and was often seen with the bikers that came through the neighbourhood from time to time.

They were hanging out in the gym after school one day, doing stretches and practicing moves. They were chatting about the next school dance that was coming up. While Buffy was excited about arranging decorations and picking out a dress, while Faith was trying to tell her how pointless the whole thing was, and that there were more important things to worry about than a dance.

"Like what? Greasing your Ninja for the third time this week." Buffy said with a disgusted look. "How can you stand to get so dirty?"

"If you think greasing my bike gets you dirty you should try mud wrestling."

Buffy looked horrified but intrigued at the same time. "You've mud wrestled?"

"Hell yeah! It's fun, you should try it B. Loosen you up a bit."

"I am loose!" Faith gave her an incredulous look and laughed. "I am."

"B, if you were any more uptight you could get a diamond from a lump of coal if it were shoved up your ass."

"Eww, gross Faith."

"See what I mean?"

Buffy slapped Faith's arm and went about practicing the routine they were going to use for the next basketball match. Faith just grinned at her before leaping up onto a balance beam and flowing easily into a cartwheel followed by a back-flip. She was the best gymnast on the team but no matter how much the coach begged her she refused to join in with the competitions.

After a few more routine movements Faith was bored and decided to watch Buffy practice instead. While she could admit to herself that she had a bit of a crush on the blonde she wasn't about to get her hopes up about Buffy returning those feelings. She liked just being friends with her, and didn't want to ruin what they had.

When they weren't around their own friends they could be themselves. They both had reputations to uphold, but those reputations were built on acting and lies, and knowing the right people. They were comfortable with being themselves when they were alone like this. Faith would often flirt, and Buffy would giggle and play it off, but they never felt uncomfortable with it, it was just the way they were.

Faith traced Buffy's outline with an imaginary pencil in her mind. She loved to watch her move when she was practicing. The way her muscles moved under her skin, the rise and fall of her chest and the golden locks of hair that stuck to her face with perspiration.

Buffy could feel Faith's eyes on her, watching her every movement and tracing the contours of her body. When she and Faith had first started hanging out she had thought it was odd. Not odd because Faith was so obviously checking her out, ('cause it was no secret around campus that the brunette had no sexual preferences). However, it was odd that she liked the way the gymnast looked at her. She wasn't even worried or shocked now when she felt those feelings of arousal building in the pit of her stomach.

At first she had freaked. When she had passed Faith in the hall one day the brunette had given her a look that needed no interpretation and as a result she had felt a rush of energy shoot down towards her core. Quickly excusing herself from her friends she had gone to the bathroom to cool down, and for the rest of the day she had avoided the dark girl.

Not that that had helped her much. She had still spent the day thinking about her. Faith had caught up to her in the gym after their last class had finished and had been none the wiser of Buffy's behaviour throughout the day. So Buffy hadn't said anything about it and soon forgot that she'd ever been worried.

As Buffy was finishing up her routine, neither of them had noticed when a greying middle-aged man entered the gym and began watching the blonde from the sidelines. When Buffy pulled up out of her last move she looked straight at Faith and gave her a bright smile, which was returned eagerly. Both girls jumped when the man coughed, and Faith's eyes narrowed at him for the interruption. Buffy was the first to speak.

"Were you looking for someone?"

"I was looking for you actually." He said in a distinctly British accent.

Faith didn't like this guy already. He looked as if he knew something they didn't, and it made her feel slightly worried. She hated that feeling and unconsciously began growling in the back of her throat.

Buffy smiled inwardly at Faith's behaviour. She was being protective and it was cute. Focusing her attention back on the stranger she asked, "Why, am I in trouble or something? 'Cause if I am, I didn't do it."

"No you're not in trouble, I am. I'm years late, you should have been taught, prepared. I wasn't certain until just now that it was you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that I've been searching everywhere for you Buffy."

"Why?"

"I am here to show you your birthright."

"My birthright. What's that, like a trust fund or something?" She said her interest piqued.

"I think it will be easier for you to understand this birthright... if I show it to you. So you'll come with me now... to the graveyard." He said evenly.

Faith broke in at this point. "Wait a minute. Her trust fund is at the grave yard. You expect us to believe that? What a load of crap." She folded her arms across her chest in annoyance.

Buffy joined in. "You're like one of those skanky old men who attacks little girls and stuff, right? Well forget you!" She went to turn away, but stopped when he spoke again.

"My name is Merrick, and you have been chosen Buffy."

"Chosen to go to the graveyard. Well why don't you just take the first runner up, ok?"

"You must come to the grave yard with me now, while there is still time."

"Time to do what?" Faith asked.

"Time to stop the killing; to stop the vampires."

"Alright let me get this straight, ok? You want me to go to the graveyard with you, because I'm the chosen one, and there are vampires?"

"Yes."

Faith scoffed, she couldn't believe this guy, and she figured he must have escaped from the nuthouse or something.

"Does Elvis talk to you; does he tell you to do things? Do you see spots?"

Faith could barely hold in her laughter at Buffy's comments.

"Spots, yes of course. That's your proof. You bare the mark, of the coven." He went to show her where about the mark should be, but was stopped as the brunette grabbed his arm.

"Hey! Watch the hands buddy!" She scolded.

Buffy smiled at Faith before going back to the conversation. "You mean that big old hairy mole?" He nodded. "Eww, I had that thing removed. Besides, you knowing about my big old mole doesn't prove anything. Except, that it's way past medication time for you buddy. So why don't you just stay away from me, ok?"

Faith smirked at the look on the guy's face as they began to walk away. He sighed and rubbed his finger and thumb over the bridge of his nose.

"Do you ever have dreams that you're someone else?"

"Everyone does."

"Someone in the past; someone real. A maid-yard peasant girl perhaps, or an Indian princess, or a slave."

She looked curiously at him. "I was a slave."

"In Virginia."

"I dunno. There was like this big farm or something. There's one where there are these knights, and I am a..." She looked at him expectantly.

"A servant girl, a bar maid."

"Oh my God. I never told anybody about this." Faith looked slightly disappointed, which Buffy noticed. "I was going to though." She said quickly, which made the brunette smile.

"There's this one where there's this man, I think he's a man, he's in my dreams some times. I'm fighting him, always fighting him. But he's so strong."

"His name is Lothos."

"How did you know all this?"

"Because it is your birthright and I am part of it. You are the chosen one Buffy. You alone must stand against the darkness and the forces of evil. You are the slayer." He paused to gage their reactions. Both had an eyebrow raised adjacent to their hairlines but were patiently waiting for him to continue. "I come from a long line of watchers, who work to aid the slayer in her quest. So I am here to train you to fight evil. You'll come with me to the grave yard and I will show you?" He looked Buffy in the eye as he said this, and she couldn't help feeling that he was telling the truth, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.

"Sure, whatever." She paused for a moment to consider her decision. Then looking towards Faith and, getting her consent she continued. "But Faith is coming with me. Just to be safe."

Merrick began to protest but Faith broke in. "If I don't go, then she ain't goin'. You got that?" He didn't look like he liked the idea but her voice booked no resistance so he simply nodded in reply. "Good. Come on B, we still gotta finish that project Ms. Wayland gave us."

Buffy hooked her arm through Faith's and walked away with her, while Merrick headed off in the opposite direction. >

Buffy hardly recognized the girl she was back then. Everything at that time had been so trivial and... normal. A word she hadn't used to describe her life in such a long time. Snapping out of her thoughts, Buffy got up and decided to go downstairs and check out how the research was progressing.

The house was bigger than her mum's. They had gotten a place near the collage campus so they wouldn't have to go far to attend classes.

Faith's estranged Grandparents had left her their life savings in their will, which, (providing she didn't go nuts with it) would last her for a substantial amount of time.

They had made sure that the house had enough room for a training area as well as the basics, and it also had a conservatory on the back which faced west, so they could watch the sunset before patrol. There were four bedrooms; one for the slayers, one for Willow, who had moved in with them, and two spare rooms. They hadn't foreseen the addition of a baby to the household, but were mighty glad for the extra space when the unexpected happened.

Right now Willow, Anya, Xander and Amy were sitting at the dining table hidden behind a variety of books and computers, with a stack of books taking up residence at the centre of the table. They all looked up as the slayer entered the room.

"Any luck?" She asked hopefully.

The Wicca/Hacker smiled sadly and shook her head. "But we've still got a lot of stuff to go through. We could use an extra pair of eyes if you feel like joining us."

Buffy took a seat at the table in between the red head and Xander, and picking up a book she replied. "Might as well. I need something to get my mind away from thinking too much. Besides, the rain was getting kinda boring, it just keeps coming straight down, no change what so ever." She ran a hand through her hair and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. 'Getting her family back.'

*****

Sunnydale. 'Real' world.

As the humming in the air subsided, the brunette stood up, lifting the small child in her arms as she did so. The child was clutching at her neck and shaking slightly with fear. Faith tightened her embrace around the small girl and attempted to calm her down by making conversation.

"That was some storm, huh kiddo?" She looked around her trying to get a grip on her surroundings.

"Is it over?" The girl asked in a small voice.

"Yeah it's gone now. Nothing to worry about, I got ya."

"Where are we? Where are all the people?"

"Well. We're still in good ol' Sunnydale; we're still near where the Bronze used to be. It's getting dark, so everyone's probably at home eating their dinner. And little children your age should be tucked up in bed by now." She tickled the girl, making her giggle and paused to look around again. "So, I think we'd better head home, don't you sugar?" Beth nodded her head vigorously and rested her it back on Faith's shoulder.

The dark slayer set off cautiously, scanning the area for any sign of danger. Something didn't seem right to her but she couldn't put her finger on it. However, she could still feel the presence of the blonde slayer not too far away, so she was at least grateful for that.

*****

Sitting on the steps of the 'Magic Box' an hour later Faith was at a loss. She had gone to the house she, Buffy and Willow had called home for the past two years, but had found and elderly couple with three grandchildren living there instead.

Next she had decided to try the 'Magic Box', 'cause that's where they had planned to meet after they had defeated the demon. Only she had found it locked and the lights were turned off. Her key didn't even fit any of the locks. She was convinced that something was seriously wrong now, but was trying to keep calm for the kid's sake.

Getting up she decided to try one last place before giving in and getting a room for the night. Readjusting the sleeping infant in her arms she began walking in the direction of her mother in-law's house.

A little while later she was standing at the front door negotiating whether to ring the bell now or to wait until the morning when Mrs. S wouldn't be pissed off at her for waking her in the middle of the night. Or whoever else might be living there. Deciding that this was an extreme situation and considering the fact that her wife could be in there too she braved it and rang the bell.

It didn't take long before she heard footsteps on the stairs and the latch being pulled across the door to prevent whoever the late caller was from just barging in. As the door opened a crack Faith could clearly make out that the person behind it was Dawn, her sister in-law.

"Hey DW." She greeted relieved.

"Faith?" Dawn was surprised to see the other slayer at the door, having heard that she was still in prison, not to mention the fact that Faith appeared to be carrying a small child.

"Yeah. You gonna let me in, or do I gotta stand out here all night?"

Dawn closed the door so she could slide the chain back, and after hesitating for a moment longer opened the door again and stepped aside to let the brunette in.

Faith slipped inside and headed straight for the couch in the living room. After laying Beth down on the cushions and covering her with her coat, she turned back to Dawn.

"So, where's B?"

"She's on patrol. She should be back soon." After a short pause she added. "You're not back to hurt her again, are you?"

Faith was stunned by the younger girl's question and simply stared at her for a minute before answering.

"What would make you think I'd hurt B. I've never hurt her, and I never will. I promised you that years ago. Remember?" Thinking of her last words as a rhetorical question she didn't expect Dawn to answer in the way she did.

"How can you say that? You've done nothing but hurt her in the past. I shouldn't even have let you in, she's so gonna kill me." Dawn's last words were accompanied by a nervous glance at the door to check that said person hadn't appeared yet. "In fact I think you should go. I don't think she'd take too kindly to you being here."

Faith was stunned. Her, hurt Buffy. It wasn't possible. She'd never do it. She'd never even contemplated the fact that she could hurt Buffy.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the infant stirred and sat up. Upon realizing where she was the girl leapt up out of her seat and ran towards the young brunette, embracing her legs in a giant hug. After almost knocking her down with the hug, the girl then began jumping up and down with excitement. Before long she stopped suddenly and began tugging on Dawn's trousers.

"Aunty Dawn, I need to go to the bafroom, real bad."

Dawn simply stared at Faith dumbfounded. 'Aunty Dawn', she kept repeating the phrase over and over in her head. If she was the kid's aunt then that must mean that...No, it wasn't possible. She'd have noticed if Buffy had had a child.

"H... how?"

Faith could see that the blonde slayer's sister was shocked by this news so she offered her some advice.

"You'd better take her to the toilet or she's gonna ruin your carpet." Dawn just kept staring at her. "Unless you want me to take her?"

The young brunette snapped out of her thoughts and noticed that the kid was practically yanking on her clothes now. "No it's ok, I'll do it. You just stay here."

Faith gave her an exaggerated smile. "I won't move a muscle."

Dawn quickly picked up the youngster and carried her upstairs, while Faith slumped on the couch and buried her head in her hands, trying to figure out what had happened to them.

'How could this happen? Where the hell was she and how was she supposed to get back home?' It occurred to her that she must be in some sort of alternative universe. The fact that the Faith that lived here had hurt Buffy in some way disturbed her slightly, but she tried to remain positive by remembering all the good times her and B had had together. Like their first kiss.

< 1994. Buffy's bedroom, in LA.
Faith winced for the third time as Buffy tried to clean the wound on her upper arm. She had insisted on going on patrol with the slayer 'to watch her back'. Buffy had tried to refuse but was beaten down by the dejected look on the brunette's face. 'And I thought I could pout' thought the blonde.

Faith noticed the concerned look on her friend's face and knew immediately what it meant.

"B, I'll be ok. It was just a scratch. No biggie."

"No biggie! Faith there's a gash on your arm as deep as the 'Grand Canyon'. Don't try acting tough with me, 'cause it won't work." She paused as she carried on cleaning the wound. "I shouldn't have let you come; it's too dangerous out there."

"Precisely why I came in the first place. I'm not letting you go out there on your own."

"I'm the slayer, it's my job. You shouldn't have to risk your life for me."

"Oh, but you're allowed to risk your life for me, and the rest of the world." Faith said as more of a statement than a question.

Buffy finished wrapping Faith's arm and looked her in the eye. "I just don't like seeing you get hurt."

"What, and I like seeing you get hurt?"

"Supernatural healing, remember?"

"I know you've got these slayer powers, but they don't make you invincible Buffy. Look, I can help by distracting the vamps so you can pummel them. If I have to risk a few cuts here and there to keep you alive and kicking ass, then that's what I'm gonna do. And there's nothing that you can say to me that'll make me change my mind."

Buffy nodded and looked the other girl in the eye. "Why are you doing this for me? You barely know me. We've been friends for what... all of two months?"

Faith raised her good arm and tucked a strand of hair behind the slayer's ear. "'Cause I care about ya B. Out of all of my friends you're the one I've known the shortest time, and yet you know me better than any of them. I don't have to act around you, and you never make me feel uncomfortable. And I bet I know you better than any of your 'sheep'." She stopped caressing the blonde's face and added. "Plus, you know you're a total hottie."

The blonde laughed and turning away started cleaning up the first aid equipment. "Ok so I can't make you stay at home when I go on patrol, but you'd better start training with me so you'll be able to handle yourself when we're out." Changing the subject she continued. "Are you going to the dance next month?"

Faith smiled at the change of subject, and while watching the blonde with interest she answered. "Nah. I'd only get bored. Besides, there's no one I'd want to ask."

Buffy seemed disappointed at that, and looking directly at Faith she gave her a curious look. "No one at all?"

The brunette smirked. 'You asked for this B.' "Well, there is this one girl, but I don't think she'd accept."

The slayer sat back down next to her friend. "What makes you think that?" She said in all seriousness.

Faith frowned. She hadn't been expecting that answer. She momentarily wondered if Buffy was playing her, but the look in the other girl's eyes assured her that she wasn't.

"Aren't you going with Geoff?"

Buffy smiled then scoffed. "I am so over him. We should have broken up ages ago; the whole thing was just for the image. Well that and he wanted to get into my pants."

"Why didn't you tell me? We could have celebrated."

She laughed. "I was just waiting for the right time to bring it up... Faith?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you go to the dance with me?"

"What about that guy, the one with the fish name you thought was cute?"

"Pike?" Faith nodded. "He's ok. But I don't want him. Faith, please go to the dance with me. Don't make me go all butch on you."

"Well, since you put it so nicely, how could I resist?" She gave the blonde a bright smile, and noticed for the first time that they seemed to be gravitating towards each other.

"Good." Buffy smiled too.

The smile faltered as she moved closer to the brunette, hesitating for a moment to gage Faith reaction. She could clearly see the passion and anticipation in her eyes and closing the gap Buffy pressed her lips lightly against Faith's. After a short moment, both savouring the feel of lips pressed against lips, Faith opened her mouth and ran her tongue across Buffy's lip. The blonde responded by wrapping her mouth around Faith's bottom lip, and after sucking on it for a few seconds, let it slide back out. After repeating the process on the brunette's top lip she allowed Faith's tongue entrance to her mouth.

Faith's hands were now on the blonde's hips, and Buffy moved hers up to tangle in dark brown locks of hair. Moaning slightly as their tongues duelled Buffy pulled Faith's head closer, tightening the embrace. After a couple of minutes, both finding the need to breath they pulled back slightly, but kept their arms around one another.

Faith opened her eyes and looked straight into Buffy's. "Wow!"

"Yeah. I'd say that about sums it up." They began to move back in before Faith spoke again.

"Does this mean you're my girlfriend?" Buffy answered by kissing her again with more passion. After breaking off again Faith continued. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes! Now shut up and kiss me."

"I thought I'd be the butch one." Buffy growled. "You're insatiable you know that?" Before Buffy could answer Faith caught her lips in another bruising kiss, making all thoughts of a come back fly out of the blonde's head. >

Bringing herself back to the present Faith sensed someone at the door then heard a key in the lock.

*****

Stepping into her hallway Buffy sensed the presence of someone nearby. Tensing her body for a fight she turned to her left and looked straight into the eyes of her sister slayer, who was standing in front of the couch in her living room.

The dark slayer's eyes seemed to look right through to her soul and they drew her closer like a magnet. She stopped when she was just two feet from the brunette. "Faith." She whispered and lifted her hand to touch the other girl, just to make sure she wasn't imagining her.

Her mind was racing. She kept telling herself that the girl in front of her had tried to kill her and her friends more than once in the past, but she couldn't bring herself to hate Faith at this moment. Truth was that she had missed slaying with her. Patrolling with her friends was ok but she missed the synchronicity that she had with the other slayer.

As Buffy reached out to touch her, Faith noticed for the first time the smell of fresh blood. Looking down at the blonde's arm she noticed a large gash on her forearm, and looking across she could see that whatever had done it had caught her abdomen at the same time.

Concern sweeping across her face she reached out to touch the wound on her arm. "Are you ok B? What happened?"

Looking down at her wound she cursed as she realized that her cut had reopened and was bleeding again. 'Spike is so gonna pay for this. I liked this top.'

"It's nothing, just some vamp got lucky."

Faith was about to reply when Dawn came back down carrying Beth in her arms, who was practically asleep again. Faith noticed that the front of Dawn's t-shirt was wet and gave her a questioning look.

"She decided she wanted to play with the taps while I was trying to wash her hands." Dawn looked annoyed but there was a hint of amusement in her eyes as well. She handed Beth to Faith and turned towards her sister as she realizing her presence, not noticing Buffy's injury as she had covered it up. "Hey Buffy. Erm, I let Faith in if that's ok, 'cause, well, the kid looked kinda cold. I wouldn't normally, you know that... I'm gonna go back to bed, what with tomorrow being a school day an' all... Bye." Dawn backed away from her sister for fear that she'd get told off for letting Faith in. She gave Buffy a sheepish smile and headed off up the stairs.

"I should've warned her about that. She likes playing with the taps." Faith cradled the girl as she drifted off not realizing Buffy was standing in the room. Seeing the curious look on the other slayer's face Faith began to explain what she had concluded since being there. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing here right?"

Buffy nodded and added. "I was also wondering how come you're not in jail anymore. What did you do? Break out?"

Faith shook off the shock of Buffy's question, and continued. "Actually I don't know why I'm here. I'm not from this world; at least I don't think so." Buffy raised an eyebrow and was about to speak when Faith held her hand up for her to stop. "Wait. Let me just finish what I've got to say." The blonde closed her mouth and nodded. "I'll just tell you the basics of how I think I came to be here... Red and Amy found a spell to defeat a demon that'd managed to take Beth while we'd been gone. You and I had tried to fight it, but it was pretty fit so we enlisted their help. The spell involved sending the demon to a hell dimension by opening a portal. We tracked it and kept it busy while they performed the spell. You told me to get Beth while the spell was being performed. The kid and I musta got caught by some stray magic or something, 'cause the next thing I know is this huge storm comes and when it went we were here. Or rather, near the Bronze."

"So you came here to look for me. Or the other Buffy." She looked sceptical as she said this.

"No, well yes... I went to our place first, but some old couple is living there, and no one was at the magic shop, so then I came here, hoping that at the very least your mum would be here." She said with all innocence, and noticing the sad look on Buffy's face she frowned. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. You'll understand if this is hard to believe. I'm gonna call Angel just to make sure."

"What's he gotta do with it?" Faith's voice held a jealous edge, which the blonde picked up on.

"He should know whether you're still in the pen or not. Ok?"

"Sure, give dead-boy a ring." She turned towards Beth and began stroking her head as Buffy walked towards the phone. It was still very early morning so Buffy was sure Angel wouldn't be too mad at her for calling.

Hitting speed dial she waited for someone to pick up at the other end. After a few rings someone picked up.

*Angel investigations, we help the hopeless.* It was Cordelia.

"Cordelia. It's Buffy, is Angel here?"

*Do you realize what time it is? Never mind I'll just get him.*

Buffy pulled the phone away from her ear as Cordelia shouted to Angel in the background. She heard Cordelia telling Angel who was on the phone, and then Angel picked up the phone.

*Buffy?* Angel said, sounding worried.

"Erm, hi Angel. I'm sorry to bug you this late, but I need to ask you something."

*Er sure, what is it?*

"Do you know if Faith's still in jail?"

Angel paused for a while, and Buffy almost thought he'd hung up when he spoke again.

*Why do you want to know?*

"Does it matter?" She said a little testily, and then reconsidered her question. "Faith's here with me. She claims to have been brought here from another dimension or something, so I was checking up with you to see if her story checked out."

*Oh. Well, no she's not in jail Buffy. She got out a few weeks ago.* Buffy frowned and turned towards where Faith was still stroking the infants head, a small smile on her lips. She couldn't believe the brunette had lied to her again, and that she'd almost believed her. *Buffy? Buffy!?* Angel's voice broke into her thoughts.

"What?"

*As I was saying. She got out a few weeks ago and she's staying here. She's been helping us out with some cases. So if you've got her there as well, then she's probably telling the truth. If you want I can do some research here. Do you know what spell brought her here?*

Realizing that she'd been a bit hasty she answered him calmly. "No. But she can tell you what she told me. I'll just go get her, hold on."

She walked back into the living room from the hall. "Faith, can you talk to Angel, and tell him what you told me. He's gonna see if he can get any info for you."

Faith looked surprised but shook it off and walked into the hall. She told Angel what had happened, and he said he'd see what they could find.

Hanging up the phone sat back on the couch with Buffy and Beth.

"So. What did he say?"

"Not much. Just that he'd look into it. It's weird talking to someone on the phone when you know your 'other worldly double' is somewhere there in the background. I can't wait to get home."

Buffy looked curiously at her. "What's your world like?"

"Pretty much the same as this, only certain circumstances are different."

"Like what? Tell me how we met."

"Er, ok. Well, I moved to LA with my folks when I was fourteen. Our English teacher Ms. Wayland asked you to show me around, so I guess that's how we met. I was there when Merrick told you about the calling. Then I moved back to Boston 'cause my dad got a new job. Our car was hit on the way from the airport to our new place it killed my parents instantly." She heard a gasp from Buffy, and turned to look at her. "It's ok; I've come to terms with it... Anyway, I didn't know of any other family members that could take me in, so they put me into foster care. They wouldn't let me call you so I couldn't let you know what had happened. By the time I did manage to call, you had already moved to Sunny D. It wasn't until I became a slayer that I got to see you again. My watcher didn't want me to meet up with you, but when she was killed I couldn't think of anything else to do. You were kinda pissed off at first 'cause you thought I'd just forgotten about you, but we soon made up."

"Wow, that's quite different to what happened here. I never even knew you 'till we were slayers, and even then we didn't get all that close. We were both pretty closed off to one another. I guess we both had issues and chose to hide them. What about..." She said, gesturing towards the girl.

"That's Beth. She's my daughter. She's gonna be four next month, so I hope we can get home before then. B's gonna be pissed if she misses it."

"Do you know who the father is?" Faith nodded, and after waiting for an answer and not getting it Buffy asked who it was.

"You sure you wanna know?"

"Yeah, why? It's not Xander or someone like that is it?"

Faith laughed. "No. Like I'd sleep with him." Buffy didn't comment. "You."

"Me what?"

"You. You're the father."

*****

Meanwhile, in AU.

"What do you mean you can't find them!?" Buffy yelled, piercing everyone's eardrums that were closest to her. Each of them backed off a few inches.

They had found a location spell, and because of Faith's status as a slayer they were optimistic that they would be able to get her location thus finding Beth as well. Willow was exhausted from the spell, which had been ongoing for the best part of two hours. The spell was simple enough, but even she had her limits. She had double checked every alternative dimension within the limits that the two could have been sent and she had come up with nothing.

"Buffy, calm down. Willow's doing the best she can. This just means that they're not in a demon dimension like we originally thought. The only thing I can think of now is that she must have been pulled into and alternative reality by the spell's energy."

Buffy looked at the dark haired witch dumbfounded. "Huh?"

Willow intervened for Amy at this point, having got some of her strength back. "You know that time my evil vamp twin was pulled here?" Buffy nodded her head. "It's kinda like that, only it would be a different universe than that one. There's a better chance that they're safe in another universe than a demon dimension. Most things will be the same, such as the people and places, to a certain extent anyway; it's mainly circumstances that change. The Buffy and Faith that are there will be slayers too, so it's likely that someone will recognize our Faith. Faith and Beth will have landed at exactly the same place they were taken from, so our chances of finding them are better, it's just that the spell to bring them back is more complicated and will require more time and energy."

Buffy relaxed a little after hearing this. It would take longer to get her wife and child back, but in the meantime they were probably quite safe. Their doubles would be able to help Faith if she needed it, so she allowed herself to relax a little.

"I'm sorry Will. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, it's just that I'm scared for them, and for me. What if we can never get them back? I could lose them forever and I don't think I could carry on without them. It's only been two days and I miss them like crazy. It's Beth's birthday in a couple of weeks. I could miss my only daughter's fourth birthday. I don't want to let that happen."

She sat down on the floor and, sinking her head down into her hands, she started crying again. It didn't last that long this time though. She had been trying to get a grip on her emotions because she knew that she wasn't helping, and was only taking up time they needed for researching.

Standing back up again and wiping the tears from her face she sat back down at the table and opened another book. "So, tell me what I'm looking for."

*****

The blonde slayer was dreaming again. She was reliving the first time she had lost Faith, and then their reunion a couple of years later, in her mind.

< "You think I like this? It's not the first, or even the second time I've had to move because my dad got a new job. I really thought he was gonna stick at this one. Otherwise I'd have never let myself get involved with anyone."

Faith's parents had dropped a bomb on her that morning by telling her that they were going to move back to Boston, because her father had decided to change careers again. She was not only pissed off by this but she was sad because she was going to have to leave Buffy.

"Do you regret it? Getting involved with me?" Buffy was on the verge of tears.

Faith moved closer to the blonde and put her arms around her, kissing her lightly on the head as she did so. "Of course not B." She sighed. "You're the best thing that's happened to me, you know that? I've never felt this way about anyone before." She pulled back to look Buffy in the eye, and ran her finger tips down her cheek. She leaned in and kissed the slayer softly. When she pulled back Buffy could see the tears in the brunette's eyes. "I'm sorry B, there's nothing I can do. I'll call you as soon as we get there, ok? I'll try and visit in the summer. Or I'll ask if you can come up to stay with me. We'll work it all out, you'll see."

*****

More than two years later.

Giles was in his office in the school library reading a book while taking a much needed break. Things were beginning to get back to normal again after Buffy's running away to LA. After the zombie incident at the slayer's home they had sat down and had a little heart to heart with the group so everyone could get their feelings out in the open. The atmosphere had been much more relaxed after that.

The Watcher was brought away from his book by someone calling his name from the entrance to the library. Putting down the novel and his tea, he walked out of his office and was met by a young brunette wearing tight jeans, a white t-shirt, biker boots, and a leather jacket. He immediately deducted that she wasn't a student come looking for a book.

"May I help you?" He enquired.

"You Rupert Giles?" She asked with a thick Bostonian accent and an added flick of the head.

He nodded and she extended her hand to him. "I'm Faith. The new slayer."

He became suddenly more interested. "Oh. Well, um, it's very nice to meet you Faith. What brings you to Sunnydale?"

He noticed that she became sad for a moment but it quickly passed. "Came to meet the infamous Buffy, what else?"

Giles smiled. "Yes, quite. Did you come alone or did your watcher accompany you? Who is your watcher by the way?"

"Geez, I didn't expect such an inquiry. Her name was Sarah Mannors."

The Watcher became more curious at her use of the past tense. "Was?"

She looked him in the eye briefly before looking away and jumping up to sit on the table. "You know I had this whole story worked out so nobody would have to find out, but I guess it's inevitable that you're gonna find out eventually." She took a deep breath. "I came alone. Vamps got her a coupla weeks ago. She's dead."

Giles took off his glasses and began cleaning them before putting them back on. And then put a hand on the brunette's back hoping to offer her some comfort. "I'm sorry for your loss Faith. I understand how hard it must be to admit what happened, but we Watchers know the consequences of our work and sometimes tragic things happen which we cannot stop. No matter how much we may want to."

He paused for a moment then sat down at the table and motioned for the slayer to do the same. "Usually it's the slayer that dies first. We are trained vigorously about the dangers of becoming too attached to the slayers we train, but I haven't met a watcher yet who wasn't deeply upset by the death of their slayer."

He took his glasses off to clean them again. "When I discovered the prophesy that Buffy was going to die I tried desperately to disprove it. And then when she was prepared to face her destiny I tried to stop her, wanting to go in her place... She knocked me out, and went anyway." He smiled, and looked Faith directly in the eye. "You're welcome to stay under my care for as long as you wish Faith. I must say it will be interesting to see how two slayers trained together could function as a unit."

"Thanks G-man... Speaking of Buffy, do you have any idea what time she'll get here?"

He looked at his watch, which told him that it was close to lunch time. "Um, she should be coming to see me before she goes for lunch, so she shouldn't be too long. You're welcome to wait... In fact we could make use of this time, and you could show me which weapons you've been trained in so far."

"Cool. Show me what you've got, and I'll tell you what I've used."

*****

There were several pieces of ancient weaponry laid out on the table in the middle of the library. The librarian was obviously not worried about any unknown student or faculty member walking in. Giles was assessing the dark slayer's sword techniques when the door opened, and laughter could be heard as Buffy and Willow walked in, followed closely by Xander, Cordelia and Oz. They were already half way in before they noticed Faith, and Buffy stopped dead in her tracks when she did, causing Xander to almost collide with her.

"Faith," the blonde said after a moment of silent staring.

"Hey B. D'ya miss me?"

Faith was nervous. After all, the girl she had fallen for more than two years previously and hadn't spoken to since leaving was standing directly in front of her, doing a great imitation of a fish needing water.

Getting a hold of herself Buffy closed her mouth. Suddenly overcome with anger at the girl who she had trusted with her heart, and who she thought had betrayed her. She strode purposefully up to the brunette, and harshly slapped her across the cheek.

Faith was taken aback. "Whoa B. What the hell was that for?"

"You leave with hardly any notice, you don't call me for more than two years, and then you just show up out of the blue!! And you have the nerve to ask me what's wrong! Why'd you come here Faith, did you just want to screw with my head again?"

Everyone was shocked at the outburst and all eyes turned on Faith, waiting for her answer. Only the witch among them knew what they were arguing about, and she was looking critically at the dark girl.

"No! I never wanted to screw with your head. B, can we go somewhere else so I can explain it to you."

Buffy was feeling defensive and didn't want to give in, so she was stubborn. "No I think I'll stay right here thank-you."

"Fine. Then I'll just tell everyone, including anybody that might walk in here, all the gory details of just why you're so upset." She didn't think that Buffy would have told them all about their relationship so she played the blackmail card.

The blonde slayer's jaw was set firmly and she was pouting slightly because she knew the other slayer had caught her out. "Giles, can we use your office for a while?"

The Watcher shook himself out of his state of bewilderment. "Of course, just don't touch anything. I've been cataloguing so all my papers are in a specific order."

His words fell on deaf ears, as both slayers' minds were elsewhere. As they entered the small room the blonde slayer began to wish that she had chosen elsewhere to go, that way she could put some distance between herself and the brunette. As it was the only two chairs that could fit in the room were placed directly next to one another. She sighed as she took a seat and motioned to Faith to do the same.

Faith sat facing Buffy, who was looking anywhere in the room but at the other girl. Buffy could feel those deep brown eyes staring intently at her; she felt like they were looking right into her soul. How was it that only Faith could do that to her? She sat fidgeting and getting increasingly uncomfortable as the silence dragged on.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Talk already." She was getting impatient.

Faith sighed. "B... Buffy, look at me." The blonde continued to stare at her hands. Faith scooted her chair closer. "Buffy, please."

She looked up at Faith and gazed into her eyes. She marvelled at how they could seem so sincere; even now when she had convinced herself that all they had ever done was lie to her.

Faith took hold of the ex-cheerleader's hands and cupped them in her own, relieved that she did not back away from her.

"Buffy, I never wanted to hurt you. You have to believe that... I've wanted to call you every day for the past two years."

"Then why didn't you?" She sounded hurt more than angry now, and Faith could see tears welling up in her eyes.

The brunette looked down for a moment to gather her thoughts. "B, I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, 'cause this just isn't the place, so just bare with me, please." Buffy nodded. "When we got off the plane in Boston my dad hired a courtesy car to drive us home. We were driving down the freeway when a drunk driver crashed into us from the side. I was knocked out, and when I woke up I was in the hospital..." She paused, this was the hard part. "My folks... they're dead Buffy... Doctors said they died instantly in the crash."

She paused to run a shaky hand through her hair, and looked up at the other girl, who was crying silently. Also feeling rather guilty for her outburst earlier.

"I...I'm sorry, I..."

"B, don't apologies. You didn't know; it's not your fault." She lifted a hand to brush away the tears from the blonde's face and rested it on her cheek for a moment before cupping her hands again.

"The first thing I wanted to do was to call you, but they wouldn't let me. They kept saying that as soon as I'd got settled into care then I'd be able to call you. If I'd known it was gonna take so fuckin' long I'd have snuck out and used a pay phone... Anyway, by the time they found me a place to go you had already moved. The people living in your old place didn't know your new number, so I didn't know what to do. I'm really sorry B; I wish I'd thought more about it. It wouldn't have taken much to sneak out..."

Buffy withdrew a hand from Faith's strong hold and put a finger to her lips, effectively silencing her.

"Shhh, don't. You did what you could at the time. Under the circumstances, it's no wonder you didn't think more about it. I hate myself for thinking the worst, but I just couldn't take it any more... It was easier to think the worst and try and hate you than constantly worrying about what might have happened to prevent you from keeping your promise... I've missed you so much Faith. I tried to move on like they told me, but barely a day's gone by when I haven't thought about you."

"Me too B. I missed you like crazy. I dreamt about holding you again and kissing you. Hell I fantasized about seeing you around every corner, just wanting to see your smile again."

They were looking directly at one another again, seeing straight into each other's souls. Buffy touched the brunette's cheek and wiped a stray tear away with her thumb.

"There's more, isn't there?"

The dark slayer lowered her head, ashamed, and fixated her eyes on her hands. "Yeah. There's more. I...I can't talk about it right now, not here."

Buffy stroked her hair away from her face. "It's ok, you don't have to. Tell me when you're ready to. Ok?"

Faith smiled and looked back up at the other slayer. "Yeah, when I'm ready. Like in ten years from now." She smirked and laughed half-heartedly.

The ex-cheerleader smiled with relief and joy for the return of the dark slayer, but inwardly wept for the time they had spent apart. She pulled Faith into a tight embrace, and held her as they both cried into each other's shoulders.

*****

Giles moved away from the door, having confirmed the suspensions in his mind. Remembering Buffy's behaviour when she first arrived in Sunnydale, and since Faith had arrived, he surmised that the slayer's relationship went deeper than they wanted anyone to know. Now, watching them cry on one another's shoulders, he felt happy for them. Happy that they had finally come together again. Happy that they could perhaps find joy that was previously lacking; at least for Buffy he knew it had been.

Even when she was with Angel he knew that there was something missing. Watching the two girls now, he could conclude what that something was. He walked back over to where the others were waiting.

"I think you should all go on to lunch. I don't think Buffy is going to be joining you today. It seems like they have a lot to catch up on, so it wouldn't be worth waiting."

Xander was about to object but Willow cut in. "As long as Buffy's ok. If she comes out tell her we'll be in our usual spot on the grass."

"Sure, I'll do that." The watcher assured her, and she dragged her friend out with her; their respective partners following. >

PART TWO

‘Real’ World.

In the Summers’ home two slayers sat silently staring at one another. The brunette was wondering if she’d said too much, and was wishing she could take it back. Whereas the blonde was simply stunned, debating whether she should believe the other girl or not.

“I… I…” Buffy stuttered, not knowing what to say or where to start.

“I’m sorry B. I shouldn’t have said anything. But really it’s not even you, it my Buffy who’s the father, not you… So just forget I said anything.”

Gathering her thoughts the other slayer got up from her seat and started pacing, trying to get the shock out of her system. She began to ask questions. “So, we’re…” She moved her finger back and forth between the two of them in a gesture meant to replace words. She had to remind herself that she was talking about her double, and not her self. She was also trying not to get angry. Anger was a reflex of fear, and at that moment she was scared shitless of the ramifications of this information. “You know?” Faith nodded. “How serious is it? Well it must be pretty serious if you’ve got a kid. How long have you been together?”

“Well there was the two years when I was stuck in Boston, and we had a rough patch when dead-boy came back from hell, then there was the coma. Technically we were still together then, but couldn’t talk to one another. So I’d say about, four and a half, coming up to five years; all together.”

Buffy sat down with a sigh, and ran a hand through her hair. “Wow. I wish I could manage to keep a relationship together for that long. Or even have a relationship where it doesn’t end in them becoming evil would be nice.”

Faith laughed. “Come on B, you must’ve had others since dead-boy, ones that weren’t vamps.” Buffy looked at the floor, avoiding eye contact with Faith. “You gotta be kidding me. Who?”

Buffy fidgeted for a moment, “Spike.”

Faith was shocked. “You dated Spike?”

“Well, not dated exactly. Just… had sex with.” Buffy kept her eyes on the floor, not wanting to see the disgust that she was sure would be in the brunette’s eyes.

Faith closed her eyes and willed herself not to get angry; reminding herself that this was not the same person she fell in love with. She figured that there must have been a reason for Buffy to have sex with a vampire, one that didn’t have a soul anyway.

“Why… why did you have sex with Spike?”

“It’s a really long story.” She really didn’t want to do this. She had tried to put it in the past, and not think about that particular mistake.

“B, I understand what it’s like to need to, just feel. But you could get any guy you want, so why choose Spike? I’m not trying to judge you, I just want to understand that much.”

Buffy believed she was sincere, and that she wouldn’t judge, she still had a hard time talking about it, but she wanted to give it a go.

“Ok. When my friends resurrected me…” she was interrupted.

“Whoa, time out. Resurrected? You died, again?”

“Yeah, when fighting Glory. The portal had opened and I had to jump to save Dawn. You mean I didn’t die in your world?”

“No, we got to Dawn before the ritual started. That Doc guy gave us the slip for a moment, to get to the tower while we fought Glory. Willow warned us that someone was getting close to Dawn, and Spike tried to fight him but got thrown off the tower for his efforts,” she tried not to sound too bitter when talking about Spike. He had after all helped them out a whole lot, “so I went up after him and returned the favour.”

Buffy took her time digesting this, and then shook herself out of it; trying not to think too much about the ‘what ifs’. “When they brought me back, it was like there was nothing left inside of me. It was like I couldn’t feel, nothing was getting through. Spike was… he made me feel something, when I was with him, for a little while I could feel. I hated myself for being with him. For ages I felt dirty; nothing I could do, no matter how many showers I took could wash away the shame I felt.” She was feeling that tightening inside her chest again when she thought about it.

Faith sensed her anguish and moved closer to comfort her. Putting an arm around her shoulder she rubbed her back soothing the blonde slayer; encouraging her to let go of her emotions. As soon as she started sobbing she couldn’t stop. Faith held her tightly as her body was wracked with sobs; knowing that she had probably been keeping this in for a long time.

As the tears subsided Buffy became uncomfortable and backed away from Faith. The brunette was disappointed but tried not to show it, giving the blonde her space.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that…”

“B you don’t have to apologies, sometimes you just gotta let go. It’s not healthy to keep it all in.”

“Yeah, well. Thanks, but I’m ok.”

“Sure, whatever.” She decided not to push her and changed the subject. “Do you mind if I use the ‘Magic Box’ resources, so I can find a way to get home.”

Buffy wiped her eyes once more, shaking off her brief retreat into the abyss. “Sure. I’ll take you there in the morning, and we can get started on the research.” She took another look at Faith before she got up. “I’m gonna get a couple of hours sleep before we head out. You’re welcome to stay. I can get you a blanket if you want.”

“Um, yeah sure. Thanks. Is it alright if I get a drink?”

“Help yourself. You know where everything is?” Faith nodded. “Ok then.” She turned and ascended the stairs.

After wrapping Beth up in the blanket the other slayer had brought her, Faith sat down in the chair opposite her and watched her sleep, rethinking everything that had happened since she had arrived in this universe; especially all that she had learned about this new Buffy.

She had noticed that there was a tenseness in her that she hadn’t seen in her Buffy. After what Dawn had told her about her double she half expected Buffy to attack her, much less end up crying on her shoulder. Learning about her and Buffy’s doubles from this world was making her head spin a little.

They were so different, but a lot alike at the same time.

*****

Laying in her bed the blonde slayer was finding it hard to fall asleep. Walking in to find the other slayer in her house had been less of a shock than she would’ve expected. She had felt her presence as she had got closer to home, coming back from patrol. Thinking that she must be imagining it, she tried to push it to the back of her mind; like she had done any other time she felt herself beginning to think about *her*.

She now knew that, in some other universe she and Faith were a couple, and that her Faith had been let out of prison and was now working for one of her ex’s. The multitude of thoughts that were rotating around her head was making it impossible for her to sleep.

Wondering if she could have had what Buffy had in the other world. Wondering whether things could have been different if she’d only admitted her feelings. Wondering what ‘her’ Faith was doing, thinking; whether she still wanted to apologise for what went down in the past. Contemplating whether she was ready to accept her apology.

True, she had missed having the dark slayer around, but the past was still looming like a dark cloud over her head; making her doubt her own judgment when it came to her sister slayer. Their relationship had been so turbulent over the years that she hardly knew how she was supposed to act around her when they inevitably met again.

Should she forgive and forget? Accept that mistakes had been made; both by she and Faith.

Deciding that she would at least try to talk to Faith about everything that had gone on, and would go from there depending on what the outcome was; she drifted off into a light sleep.

*****

Glancing at the clock for the fifth time Faith sighed. It was nearly seven o’clock. She hadn’t been able to get to sleep all night. Having too much to think about (and getting caught up in the small mannerisms Beth displayed while sleeping); she couldn’t bring herself to rest properly.

Getting up out of her seat she took a quick look around and soon found what she was looking for. Picking up her fellow slayer’s keys (firstly locating the ‘Magic Box’ key), she lifted Beth up into her arms, and making sure not to wake her; she ascended the stairs to Buffy’s bedroom.

Entering the room she approached the bed to ascertain whether the slayer was asleep or not. Seeing that Buffy was sleeping peacefully she decided not to wake her. Finding a pen and paper, she scribbled down a note; telling her that she’d borrowed her keys and had gone to the magic shop, having not being able to sleep, and that she’d see her when she got there.

A while later she had reached the ‘Magic Box’. Repositioning Beth in her arms she tried the door and was surprised to find it open. She glanced up when she heard the bell ring; announcing her arrival. And her eyes met with the shop’s owner’s upon entering.

Anya jumped up, ready to attend a customer, despite the fact that the shop was supposed to be closed.

“Do you need help in purchasing any items?”

“No thanks, An. Just came to use your books for research.”

Anya looked puzzled. “Do I know you?”

Faith extended her free hand to the ex-demon. “I’m Faith. I asked Buffy if I could use your books and she said it was ok. Probably should’ve asked you though, seeing as it’s your place.” She walked over to the table and placed the child down; covering her with her coat. “You see, I’m not supposed to be here. Some how I got sucked into this universe from my own, and I wanna find a way to get back.”

Anya seemed to accept that and began pulling books out on portals and alternate universes. “Well these should help you get started.” She placed a pile of large texts on the table and returned to her place behind the counter.

Beth woke up to the noise and looked up at the slayer with sleepy eyes. After sitting up she lowered herself into a chair next to Faith.

“Where are we?” She asked, not yet having gathered her surroundings.

“We’re at the ‘Magic Box’ sweetie.” Faith picked up a pen and some paper off the table and handed them to Beth. “Here you go. This is to keep you occupied.”

“What shall I draw?”

The brunette thought for a moment. “Draw something to give to ‘daddy’ when we get home.”

The girl giggled; having always found the way Faith teased Buffy about being a ‘father’, really funny. “Like what?”

“I dunno. Think about what your favourite thing in the world is, and draw that.”

She watched as the girl picked up the pen in her fist and thought about what to draw. The dark slayer slumped back in her chair and unenthusiastically picked up the first book.

“I could do with having Red here to help me go through all this.” She said to no one in particular.

Just then the training room door opened and in walked Xander.

“Well I think that’s fixed that. As long as the Bufster keeps her demon friends out of here in future it should all be fine.” He leaned up against the counter after putting his tool kit down. Facing Anya he added. “But I think we all know how unlikely that’ll be.” He then noticed that there was somebody else in the room. Turning to the ex-demon he whispered. “Who’s that?”

Still not having mastered tact she answered loud enough for anyone to hear. “She said Buffy sent her here to use the books.”

“Thank-you Anya. Did you happen to notice that I was whispering? It tends to indicate that you should whisper back.” He replied, still in a hushed tone.

“I heard you anyway Xand. Slayers have excellent hearing, you know that? Hey if you haven’t got anything else to do you could help me out here.” She turned towards him smiling. A smile which faded as soon as she noticed the look of horror on his face. “You ok? You look paler than normal.” She said; expressing genuine concern.

“Faith. How did you… What do you want? And what did you do to Buffy?” He said with a renewed sense of bravery, spurred on by anger and hatred for the dark slayer.

Realizing why he was scared of her she resisted an urge to make a come back about never having hurt Buffy; at least not intentionally. Turning back to her books she calmly answered him.

“Buffy’s fine Xander. I didn’t want to wake her up, so I borrowed her keys and left her a note. She should be here soon. As to what I want. Well, I just wanna find a way to get home, an’ I’m hopin’ the answer will be in one of these books.”

“Get home. Why are you looking through magic books? Can’t you just buy a plane ticket, or hop on the train?”

“Not when my home is in another universe I can’t.” She then went on to explain to him how she had come to be there, and that she was from an alternative universe. Needless to say he was sceptical.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

She sighed and turned to Beth, who had stopped her activities to watch the conversation.

“Beth, what happens to liars?”

She thought about it for a moment. “They don’t get desert?”

“Correct, and I like desert so I couldn’t be lying, could I?” The girl shook her head vigorously, sporting a huge grin.

“That’s it? That’s your confirmation? That you wouldn’t risk missing desert.”

“Yep. That’s it.”

Xander was speechless as he stared at the back of the slayer’s head, thinking that she had gone crazy. Or, crazier than he already thought she was. Before he could say more, the blonde slayer chose that moment to join them.

She singled out Faith straight away. “Found anything yet?”

The brunette looked at her and shook her head. “I might have done though if Xander would let me get on with it, and maybe help out a little.” Her voice was relieved and held an air of humour to it so that Buffy would know she was joking.

Xander gave her a confused and slightly angry look, which she responded to by silently telling him that they would talk about it later. He accepted and went about his normal business, while carefully eyeing the brunette for any unusual behaviour.

As soon as she heard Buffy speak, Beth slid off her seat, with her half finished drawing in her hand. Faith and Buffy exchanged a worried look as Beth grew more and more excited.

Buffy obliged the little girl by picking her up, and then putting her on her lap as she sat down at the table.

“Mommy told me to draw you a picture for when we get home. I drawed you a sunshine,” (which came out more like ‘shunsine’) “and a house with fields around it. I was gonna draw a donkey in a field but I didn’t have a chance yet, and they’re really hard to draw.”

The slayers exchanged another glance, and Faith made a decision to tell her daughter, in sugar coated terms, the truth about where they were.

“Beth. Do you remember when we talked to you about our jobs?”

“Yeah.” She said, wondering what the point was.

“Well. Where we live is just one of the realities that exist. Yesterday, when we were in that storm, it transported me and you to another reality.”

Beth didn’t really understand, so Faith and Buffy proceeded to explain how alternate realities worked, and how they were trying to find a way for them to get back home. By the time they had explained the situation a couple more times she had understood the gist of it.

“So. You’re not my mommy?” She asked Buffy.

Anya pitched in at this point. “This is like that show, ‘Jerry Springer’. I’m expecting a large woman, with an attitude to match, to come walking in here, bleeping, at any moment.”

“An, honey, they don’t actually bleep, it’s just done to cover up the swearing.” Then remembering what the girl said he said, “Wait a minute. I thought she was Faith’s kid, not Buffy’s.”

Buffy looked awkwardly at Faith before answering him. “Um. In her world,” she pointed to AU Faith, “she and my double are a couple, and they have a kid, which is Beth.”

“So you and Faith are…?”

“In another world, yeah.” Buffy said quickly.

“But not in this world?”

“No.”

He seemed relieved at that, but Faith didn’t like what he was saying.

“What’s so wrong with that? So what if they were like that, what’s it gotta do with you?” She was getting angry, and Buffy decided she didn’t want a show down in the middle of the magic shop.

“Ok, just calm down. He didn’t mean anything by it.”

Xander scoffed. “At least it would never happen here, right Buff?” All eyes turned on her.

She hesitated, her anger building. Not wanting to lie, but not wanting to cause any more trouble either.

“Well?” He was becoming impatient.

She was getting annoyed by his accusing stares, forgetting about not wanting a show down she lashed out with feelings she’d long kept inside. “Well what Xander? You want me to tell you that I liked her when she first came here. That I wish I hadn’t been so naïve about my feelings, and just told her before she went over the edge.” She was on her feet now, walking towards him, and Faith was staring at her in awe. “Do you want me to tell you how much it hurt when you slept with her? Huh?... ANSWER ME!” Xander had backed off, and was looking very afraid at this point.

“B? B!” Buffy turned to her with unshed tears in her eyes. “Come on, this isn’t doing any of us any good. Why don’t you just grab a book for now, and we can talk about this later?”

She wiped at her eyes furiously. “Sure, whatever.”

*****

AU, Sunnydale. Two days later.

Buffy was dreaming, again. It seemed like the only thing she’d been doing while she was getting any sleep was dreaming about all the things in the past; the good and the bad.

< They were lying on her bed, wrapped up in one another. They had only been back an hour and they were already cuddling together like nothing had happened. However, there was a tension between them that had never been there before.

Buffy’s mom had greeted Faith with more gusto than ever before; perhaps thinking that she would be able to keep her little girl out of trouble, being as the trouble had started after she’d left, or so it had seemed to Buffy’s mother.

They desperately needed to talk. So many things had changed since they’d been apart that neither one knew where to start. Their feelings for one another had not faded over time, but they were finding it hard to talk about their individual experiences with other people; not wanting to hurt the other’s feelings.

Not being able to handle it any more, Faith broke the silence. “Red mentioned that you’d been away for a while; that you ran away to LA.” She paused, slowly stroking the blonde hair. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Turning over, and nestling her head in the crook of Faith’s neck she replied. “No.”

The brunette laughed. “Come on B. Quit being a baby.”

Buffy countered. “You go first.”

Faith wasn’t buying it. “Nu huh. I asked first, so you have to go.” She said, relieved that she had time to stall.

The blonde paused, trying to organize her thoughts. “They think I left because of Angel… Part of it was because of him, but that wasn’t the most of it.”

Faith waited patiently for her to continue. Buffy sat up and leant back against Faith chest. “I felt lost. I cared for him, and in the end I had to kill him.” She paused again, knowing she was going to have to tell the whole story for it to make any sense to the brunette. “I didn’t know at first, but it turned out that he was a vampire. I was still waiting for your call when I first met him. I knew he liked me. When I decided that you probably weren’t going to call I used him to get back at you, in my mind… But I grew to like him, and respected him. He was supposed to be my rebound guy, but it turns out that I never really got over you. I couldn’t be with him without thinking of you, and it drove me crazy. I wanted to be over you, I wanted to hate you, but inside I couldn’t let it happen. I missed you too much to just move on so quickly.”

Faith noticed that Buffy was clinging to her tighter than normal; but decided to ignore it, and the feeling of guilt inside of her.

“The others thought that he was the one I was so lost about. They didn’t have a clue. I told Willow about us, but even she thought I was in love with him. I wanted to feel you again, so I went to LA; to all the places we had been to together. I felt guilty about sending him to hell; I still do. But you were the one I wanted, and I didn’t want to tell him that, or anyone else.”

They lay there for hours talking about what had happened to them while they were apart. Buffy relaying the rest of her story, and Faith talked about her less than savoury past. Buffy was surprised by the number of guys the brunette had been with, but was more understanding as she continued telling her story.

“I was so fucked up. They kept coming and eventually I gave up trying to fight. It always ended in me getting hurt even more. I just wanted it to be over, so I lay still, hoping each time that it’d be quick.” They were both crying by this point.

Faith’s tears were silently running down her cheeks, but Buffy’s were coming in small sobs and were directed into the brunette’s ample chest. She didn’t want to hear any more, but she knew that Faith had to get it all out.

“When I was called things were different. I had the power, and I knew they couldn’t make me any more. I… I slept with other guys, always being on top, overpowering them, making myself feel like I was in control for once. It was never about the sex, it was all about power and control. I’d been denied that before, so I wanted to reassure myself that I had power, and that they couldn’t make me do anything anymore…” She was trembling at this point. She had been so sure that Buffy would reject her after hearing this, but knew that the blonde had a right to know how worthless she was. She pulled out of the warm embrace and stood up awkwardly, expecting the worst. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this B, but you have a right to know. Now you can see how pathetic I really am. I’m sure there are plenty of guys, and girls who’d love to get with you, so you can just forget about me.”

By this point the blonde was off the bed and standing not too far away from the brunette.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Swearing always seemed to get Faith’s attention. “You think I’d want to leave you because some bastards thought they could use you and get away with it? Did you not listen to a word I said earlier? In two years I haven’t stopped thinking about you. That’s not going to stop.” She was standing directly in front of her now, and placed her fingers underneath her chin to lift her head so their eyes met. “I love you. I didn’t know it before, but I do now. I love you Faith, and nothing you say to me is going to change that.”

Silencing any protests that were going to come out, Buffy pressed their lips together and wrapped her hand around Faith’s neck. Not having the presence of mind to argue, Faith responded with eagerness, grateful for having not been rejected. As their tongues guided one another, all thoughts of leaving were gone from the dark slayer’s mind. She still had doubts about what would happen between them, but for the moment she was content to just feel. >

Coming out from the dream, Buffy realized that someone was calling her name. Even after learning that Faith and Beth were not in some hell dimension, but were in fact in another version of Sunnydale, her worry hadn’t decreased a whole lot. There were still plenty of things in S’dale that could be a threat to them, and she hated the fact that she couldn’t be there to help them.

Honing in on the voice that was calling her from her slumber, she recognized it as Willow’s. Immediately wondering whether they had found the spell they needed to get her girls back, she opened her eyes quickly, and located her best friend sitting on one side of her bed.

“Will? Did you find anything?” Her voice was hopeful, but she was trying not to be too hopeful.

“We haven’t found anything to get them back yet, although we think we’re getting closer.” Buffy’s face dropped visibly. “There is something else though…”

She paused wondering whether she should tell the slayer or not. If the spell worked then it might be able to put the blonde’s mind at rest. However, it could also increase her worry, therefore making things worse for her. The red head realized then that the slayer had a right to know either way.

Buffy sat up almost dreading the words that were going to come out of the witch, lest they bring more bad news. Nervously she asked. “What is it Will?”

“You know how you and Faith can sometimes share dreams?” Buffy nodded. “Well we found a spell that would enable you to do something similar, but through the walls separating the realities.”

Buffy began to get excited. “So I’d be able to talk to her?”

“In theory, yes.” Willow tried to stop her from getting her hopes up too high. “Buffy, for the spell to work you both have to be asleep at the same time. Now, we know that alternate realities are on the same time scale, so that makes it a bit easier. However, we have no way of knowing when she’ll be asleep. I’ll take a guess and say she’s probably sleeping about as much as you are.”

The slayer frowned at this; she definitely hadn’t been sleeping well the past couple of days, so she knew that Faith couldn’t have been either. Still she didn’t want to pass up this opportunity. Guessing that the most likely time that Faith would be asleep would be between three am, and four she relayed this info to Willow.

Agreeing with her best friend she explained the details of the spell. “There’s not much for you to do. Amy and I’ll mix the potion and you have to drink it before going to sleep. Then, when we feel the time is right we’ll cast the spell and you should be projected into Faith’s mind. There, you should be able to communicate as you normally do in your dreams.”

After explaining a few more details and relaying some cautions, all they had to do was wait until night.

After downing the potion, (which tasted surprisingly good) Buffy slipped into bed and tried hard to fall asleep. Thanks to a few nights of hardly sleeping at all, she soon drifted off. Then at about three thirty a.m. Willow and Amy cast the spell.

Through her sub conscious she could just about hear the chanting, but even after about ten minutes nothing happened. She was beginning to lost hope when suddenly the scenery around her began to change. At first everything went dark, and then slowly a light began to appear directly in front of her. As it got bigger she could see that she was in a cell, with bars on all sides, and outside the bars on each side was just sand, stretching for miles.

At the far ‘wall’ of the cell was a sink, to the left of it was a toilet and then to the right of her was a set of bunk beds. At first glance both bunks looked empty, but she soon noticed that the bottom bunk was occupied; it was just the sunken mattress that made it look empty. Moving towards the figure she sat down next to it and cautiously pulled back the covers. Relieved that it was in fact Faith, she pulled it down further.

Stroking back the strands of hair from her forehead she leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips, and pulled back to look into sleepy eyes.

“Hey sweetie, did you miss me?” She smiled warmly, meaning to comfort, but was surprised when Faith sat up suddenly and backed up against the wall. “Faith, what’s wrong?”

“B? What are you doing here?” She looked around and then realized that she was dreaming and not in prison. “Wait, what are you doing in my head?”

“Willow found a spell so I could talk to you and make sure you were alright. I was going mad worrying about what might be happening to you and Beth.”

“Who’s Beth?”

Buffy looked worried, wondering if Faith had suffered some kind of head injury when she suddenly realized what was going on. This wasn’t her Faith; it was the Faith that belonged in this world.

“Oh, great I got the wrong one. She must not be asleep yet. Damn!”

Getting the idea Faith then spoke. “You’re looking for the other me, aren’t you?” Buffy nodded. “Well she ain’t here that’s for sure. She’s down in Sunnyhell with the other B. I’d show you but they don’t like me much down there.”

The blonde was intrigued. “Why not?”

Faith shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “I fucked up big time. Story of my life really. In the end I went to jail. Don’t think B will ever forgive me; she probably wouldn’t even spit on me if I was on fire.”

“Don’t be so sure about that. Just keep trying; I’m sure she’ll come round.” She was trying to comfort this new Faith. “So what do you know about the other you?”

“Angel spoke to her. Said she was trying to find a way to get home, and for the time being she and some kid were going to bunk at B’s place.”

“So they’re ok then?”

“Far as I know they’re fine. Why’re you so worried? Slayers can take care of themselves.”

“Well excuse me for worrying about my wife and daughter. I didn’t know that was frowned upon in this reality.” She added with a little bit of sarcasm, inwardly relieved about the news of their safety.

Faith on the other hand was having a hard time taking in this information. Though, she thought, it made the way the other slayer had woken her up more understandable. “Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Wife and daughter? How the fuck did that happen?”

“Well, when she got pregnant, we had a baby, and a couple of years later we got married. Now they’ve been sucked into an alternate reality/universe and I want them back.”

Faith was trying not to imagine herself as Buffy’s wife, knowing that those thoughts would inevitably get her nowhere. “So while me and B in this world were fighting to the death, in some other world we were making with the smooches. That’s just fucked up.”

“Why were you fighting?” The blonde slayer was feeling a little scared by this, hoping she and her Faith didn’t have this to come.

The brunette shrugged. “Lots of reasons really. We kept secrets from one another, and I suppose we didn’t make enough of an effort to get to know each other, so when I killed Finch everything went to hell. B abandoned me, and I went of the rails and sided with a demon wanna be who wanted to kill the entire town.

“I threatened to kill her friends and she ended up stabbing me and putting me in a coma for eight months. When I woke up I was still pissed; stole her body took it for a ride, when she got it back I fled to LA. I tried to kill Angel, and then tried to get him to kill me, but he wouldn’t do it.

“After B showed up and said she wanted me to go to jail I went to the police station and turned myself in for the crimes I’d done. They couldn’t convict me of all of them so they let me out a month ago. I’m staying with Angel now.” What had turned out to be an explanation of her and B’s relationship turned into a full blown story of her life since the ‘accidental murder’.

“Oh.” She said simply, not really knowing what to say. “How are you doing now, do you feel better for having turned yourself in?”

“Actually, yeah.” She said sounding surprised by that. “It gave me time to think, and to figure out why I did the things I did. Had time to try and get her out of my head. I know now that she’s too good for me, so I’m just not going to entertain any ideas about it.”

“I guess my being here isn’t helping much.”

“Helping in one way but not in another. Don’t think you’re gonna get your girl tonight. Probably best if you just go on home. They’ll find something eventually, and when they do she’ll be back before you know it.”

Buffy looked around, not knowing where to go, or how to get out. She just assumed that she would get out when she woke up. She noticed that this Faith was looking at her intently (but not unkindly) with a look that said, ‘just spit it out already’.

“Um, I don’t know how to leave, so can I stay with you?”

Faith looked surprised at her shyness of asking. “I suppose. I ain’t got nothing better to do.”

Buffy smiled brightly and before the brunette could protest she jumped into bed with her and curled up with her arm around her. Sighing, the dark slayer decided to give her a break and relaxed next to the blonde.

“Faith?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you… tell them that I was here, and that I love them and I can’t wait to see them again?” She asked hopefully.

“Yeah, sure. No problem.”

“Thanks. Night.”

“Night.”

While the blonde slayer drifted off into a sleep within sleep, the brunette unconsciously ran her fingers through golden hair, deep in thought about what all this new information meant to her.

She felt scared, jealous, happy and sad all at once. So many conflicting emotions were running through her that she began to get agitated. Eventually she wondered off into a restless, mindless dream, leaving the rest of the world behind (and was grateful for not being in another nightmare).

*****

Waking up the next day, Buffy was disappointed to find the other half of the bed empty, but was feeling better for knowing that Faith and Beth were ok, and for having slept all through the night. After showering she made her way down stairs to fresh brewing coffee and the sounds of quiet talking coming from the kitchen. As she stood in the door way she saw Willow and the blonde girl who she couldn’t remember the name of sitting close together, huddled over a spell book.

Stealthily walking up behind them she peered over their shoulders. “What ya doin’?”

Both Wicca’s jumped at the sound of her voice, and she couldn’t help laughing a little. She then went to investigate the contents of the coffee pot to see if there was enough for a mug yet. Discovering that there was she went about making herself one.

“You look like you’re feeling better this morning. I take it the spell worked.” Her tone was a mix of annoyance, humour and interest.

“Kind of. It didn’t actually take me to my wife, but I got to see the other Faith, and she says that mine is staying with the other me, and Beth is there with her.”

Both Wiccans were confused. “Huh?” Willow said.

“They’re both fine, so I’m feeling a little better, less stressed. The Faith of that world is going to pass on a message I gave her to our Faith so she knows we’re ok.”

“Oh, good.” Then remembering her manners she introduced her friend. “Oh, this is Tara. She’s a really powerful witch, and she’s going to help find a spell to bring them back.”

“I’m not that powerful.” Tara said in almost a whisper.

“Yeah you are, don’t be so modest.”

Buffy held out her hand and shook Tara’s. “So we haven’t met then. That’s good ‘cause I was worried that I didn’t know your name, and I didn’t want to be rude. Well, the more help the better. Whatever brings them back. I’m gonna go in the other room and continue with the research. You two can stay here; you looked pretty comfy before I interrupted.” She said this with a sly smile, Tara blushed and Willow rolled her eyes at her.

Real World: LA.

Faith was pacing in the lobby. She knew that the dream she’d had was a slayer dream, and she wanted to keep her promise to tell her double what her wife had said. ‘Wife’. Shit that sounded weird. They were together, they had a kid; a little girl. She could just imagine what the kid would look like. Her dark hair, B’s cute little nose. Damn she had to stop thinking about this; she was beginning to look like Angel with all the brooding she’d been doing.

“Just do it already, stop being such a wuss. Just call her.” She mumbled to herself as she approached the phone.

Picking up the receiver she dialled Buffy’s number, not questioning how she knew it when she couldn’t remember ever being told it. As it started to ring she immediately panicked. What if Buffy or Dawn picked it up, what would she say? Red was living there too now, what if she picked up; she’d probably curse me down the phone line or something. Before she lost her nerve someone at the other end picked up.

It was quiet, but she could hear breathing. “Hello?” She asked.

*Hi.* A very small and shy voice answered her. At first she thought she’d got the wrong number, and then she heard a voice in the background, her voice to be exact.

*Beth, what have I told you about playing with the phone? Who did you call?* The voice got closer and asked curiously into the phone, *Hello, who’s this?*

She cleared her voice before answering. “It’s Faith. Just thought I’d call; felt like talking to myself. You didn’t hear it ring?”

*Um, no. I think it’s broke or something. Someone’s supposed to be here later to fix it.* She paused awkwardly. *So, did you wanna talk to B?*

“No!” She answered quickly. “I mean, I wanted to talk to you. Weird I know. You’re probably busy so I’ll just jump straight to the point.” She paused dramatically, and to rearrange her thoughts. “I had a dream last night; a slayer dream. You know?”

*Yeah, I’ve had them. What was it about? Impending apocalypse?*

“No, it wasn’t about anything. It was one of those shared dreams, B was there. Erm, your B, from the other world.”

*What, how? What did she say? Is she ok?* She blurted it all out, being worried and curious.

Before she could answer Faith (in LA) heard another voice in the background. It was Buffy. Her heart stopped at the sound of her voice, and she wanted to hang up and pretend none of the past had happened; to hide in her room from everything.

*Faith, what’s wrong?* Her voice was so full of concern. She could almost see the cute little frown on her face.

*It’s, erm, Faith. She had a dream about B, my B. You know a slayer dream, where you’re actually there, talking to one another.*

Buffy was quiet for a minute. *Yeah I know those ones. We’ve had a few… So what was it about?*

Faith heard so carried on before her double could ask anything more.

“She was lookin’ for you. Said you must not have been asleep, ‘cause that’s how she got in my head. She just asked me to pass on a message. She said, ‘she loves you both and can’t wait to see you again’.”

*Oh, well good. Is that all you talked about, you didn’t do anything else?* She asked suspiciously.

“Well, I was gonna just let her go, but she asked to sleep with me; how could I say no?” She could sense the angry silence on the other end, and decided not to push it too far. “Chill twinie. She didn’t know how to get out of my head so I let her fall asleep on the bed… I never knew how peaceful and innocent she looks when she’s sleeping.” The last part was said with a little shyness, which the other Faith could sense.

*Sorry, it’s just…*

“It’s cool. Don’t worry about it. I’d be the same if I had her… Fuck! I can’t do this. I gotta go.” She paused only a moment before hanging up.

“Fuck!” She said before retreating to her room.

Real world: Sunnydale

“What happened?” Buffy asked as Faith hung up.

“She had to go. Said last night B visited her in a slayer dream. She was trying to get to me, but ‘cause I wasn’t asleep, the other Faith was the next thing. She just wanted to pass a message on from B.” She deliberately didn’t say anything about the other Faith watching Buffy’s double sleep.

“Oh. She didn’t say anything about me?”

Faith smirked. “Why, were you hoping she would ask after you?”

“No! She, I, we’re not really speaking to each other. It’s probably best that she didn’t ask about me.”

Faith rolled her eyes. “What a load of shit. You’re both dying to know what the other is doing, but neither has the balls to admit it. My bet is that you’ve been dancing around one another for so long that you don’t know how to make that final step and just tell the each other how you feel.” She walked out of the room, deliberately leaving Buffy alone to think about what she’s said.

Buffy wanted to go after her and argue profusely about the falseness of what she’d just said, but decided not to. Instead she slowly sat down at the table in the kitchen, and rested her head in her hands, trying not to think about the one person she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about since she’d gone from her life.

Now it seemed like, if she wanted, that she could make amends with the other slayer, and perhaps start again; like from before things had got so screwed up.

She guessed the first thing she’s have to do was to decide exactly what she wanted. Before Faith’s double had shown up, Buffy had still been angry at Faith for everything that had happened in the past. However, she couldn’t deny that having Faith around had made her feel happier than she had been in a long time. It took the brunette’s presence to make her realize how much she’d missed her.

PART THREE

Notes: Looking back at part 1 I realised that I made a couple of numerical mistakes, so here they are: 1. Beth is approaching her third, not her fourth birthday. 2. AU Buffy and Faith met, late 1994, not 1995. Um, anything else? No I think that’s it… Oh yeah, thanks to those who have sent me feedback, my ego appreciates it. Any more is very welcome. Other comments or criticisms also, I can’t improve my writing if I don’t know what’s wrong with it. That’s it, enjoy!

Faith was in the training room at the ‘Magic Box’. She had just finished her routine tai chi, and was preparing herself for a gruelling training session. The last few days she had felt like she was slacking off from her training. She had thought that they were on to something earlier in the week, but yesterday they had come to another dead end. She was feeling stressed and needed to workout.

Ideally she would train with Buffy. They could put one another through their paces, and after; well, they had their reasons for making the gym at home soundproof. Last year they had even put an extension on for a bathroom with a double sized walk in shower.

She tested out the punching bag with a few light punches, and then went all out with a rally of punches and kicks. She worked the bag for thirty minutes solid, and hadn’t even broken a sweat when she finally stopped. That half hour was designed to get her frustrations out before moving onto the more demanding parts of her routine.

She hadn’t had a chance to train with this Buffy yet. Most of the time the blonde had the excuse of working, but Faith could tell that Buffy was trying to avoid the situation. She concluded that the blonde just didn’t want to be bringing up any bad memories, so she just left it as it was and tried to make do with training on her own.

*****

The blonde slayer had been back from work for over an hour. She had heard Faith in the training room, but hadn’t dared to go in lest she was asked to join her. She knew that she could really do with the workout, with the extra bonus of testing her moves against another slayer, but she was nervous about it. She’d been slacking off because of having to work etc., so she didn’t think she would be any sort of match for the brunette. She also didn’t want to be thinking about all the times she had fought with Faith. Her Faith.

All sound from the back room had ceased more than ten minutes ago, and the blonde was getting curious about what Faith was doing back there. Deciding that it was safe to go and look, she headed for the back door, and opened it just enough for her to observe the dark slayer.

What she saw wasn’t what she had expected. Faith was in the centre of the room, standing perfectly still, on her hands. Her legs were stretched up high with her feet pointing towards the ceiling. She was in her workout clothes so Buffy could see the clearly cut muscles straining in her arms, legs and stomach.

She also noticed that Faith’s eyes were closed, and there was an air about her that seemed to indicate that the brunette was sleeping. Since that couldn’t be the case, the blonde surmised that she must have put herself in a kind of trance.

*****

Buffy was right, she had put herself into a trance. She needed time to think, so she thought about trying out a new meditation method she and her Buffy had discovered. It was hard concentrating on keeping her balance, and clearing her mind to just let the thoughts come to her at the same time. Right at that moment she was reliving the scene from that morning. Just before the other Faith had called.

~ She hadn’t seen the red headed witch since she’d been there. Buffy hadn’t said much about it but apparently Willow had been taking anti-depressants for almost a year to help her get on with her studies. B had just said that somebody close to Willow had been in a coma for almost a year, and she was having a hard time with it. Because of the amount of time she had spent at the magic shop researching, she had only caught the occasional glimpse of her leaving the house in the morning.

That morning however, she had been early getting up and bumped into Willow in the kitchen as she was getting ready to going to class. Needless to say, the red head hadn’t taken her presence well.

Fortunately, Buffy had heard the noises and had come running, perhaps expecting to find a demon. She had quickly calmed Willow down with a few choice words, and Faith had been given the chance to plead her case.

Rubbing the back of her head Faith gave Buffy a look. “You didn’t tell her?”

Buffy looked sheepish. “Uh, well. I meant to, but I guess I was still adjusting to it myself.” She looked at Willow apologetically.

“Tell me what Buffy? What’s going on, and what is she doing here?”

“Erm, Will, Faith,” she pointed towards the brunette, “is from another reality. They were fighting a demon and she and her daughter got caught by the after effects of the spell and were brought here.” She paused, trying to gage her friend’s reaction. “She’s been here about five days now, most of the time researching at the ‘Magic Box’.”

Willow looked sceptical. “Buffy, do you actually believe all of this? She’s Faith; she’s lying. I’d have thought of all people you would have known not to trust her.”

“I didn’t believe it at first either, but I checked with Angel, and Faith is still in LA. I believe her Will.”

Willow shook her head, not wanting to believe it. “No Buffy, she’s deceived you. It’s all part of some big plan. You know Faith. She probably broke out of jail, and now she’s working some big mo-jo so she can use the books at the magic shop and kill us all in our sleep or something.”

Faith stood up suddenly. “I’ve had enough of this. You don’t know anything about me Red. Yeah I get it, you’re still angry for all the tricks she pulled in the past, but from what I’ve heard she was borderline suicidal, and tried to get soul-boy to kill her. No one gets to that point without help from people trying to push you over the edge. If she went through anything like what I went through then I’m not really surprised by what she’s done. If I hadn’t had Buffy and you guys to help me out then I’d have probably gone the same way.

"You know, you can be a real bitch sometimes. I’m beginning to think it wasn’t all dog-boy’s fault you guys broke up. Though if you ask me you weren’t the perfect couple everyone thought you were." She sat back down at the table as she said the last part. She was trying to get her anger back under control again.

Willow’s jaw was set firmly, like she also was holding her anger in, but Buffy looked kind of hurt by Faith’s words, probably having taken them to heart more than the witch had. Faith’s last sentence had just begun to catch up in them.

“What about Oz, he left years ago?”

Faith laughed. “Not where I come from he didn’t. Well he has left, but that was only about a month ago. Best thing if you ask me. I like that blonde witch you’re hanging with much better than him. I told B a little girl action would loosen you up.” Faith stopped smiling when she noticed that Willow had become paler.

“Tara.” Willow said quietly.

“Yeah I guess. What about her? She evil or something, should I be watching out for some weird behaviour when I get back?”

“No, Tara’s good. Last year she was shot, and she hasn’t woken up since. Will goes to the hospital every day to see her. I go as often as I can.” Buffy filled in for the witch who was in no condition to do so herself.

“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. I have a habit of putting my foot in my mouth. I’m actually beginning to like the way it tastes.” She gave them an awkward half smile before getting up and heading out the room. “I really should get going. Got plenty more books to be going through.”

She exited the kitchen, leaving Buffy to comfort her best friend. As she turned into the hall she noticed Beth holding the phone in her hand and talking to someone on the other end. ‘Not again’ she thought as she approached her daughter.

“Beth, what have I told you about playing with the phone? Who did you call?” Picking up she said, “Hello, who’s this?”… ~

Faith’s eyes moved around in her head as she began to think about better things. She didn’t want to have to deal with the things that were going on here. Not many people liked her in this world, and she was beginning to get lonely. Buffy was one of the only people who didn’t look at her like she was going to stab them in the back if they looked away, yet she was never around.

The only time they ever talked was when they were on patrol, and even then all they did was talk about what things were like where she came from, what she did for a living, and what the vampire activity was like in the other Sunnydale. She was starting to think that it was a way for Buffy to hide from her life, and imagine herself in this better world, where she was happier and things seemed easier. Faith knew she was going to have to talk to her about it, because it wasn’t healthy for her to be ignoring her problems. The only thing to do now was to get Buffy to sit down long enough for them to have a proper conversation.

As she thought more about Buffy, she began to think more about home. Her thoughts took her back to the prom.

< Buffy had made her sweat it out for more than a week before she’d asked her to be her date for the prom. Then, while Willow and Buffy had paired up to search for their dresses, Faith had asked Cordelia to help her out with hers.

Cordelia had been mildly surprised at the brunette’s request, but had been happy to help her out. They spent all weekend prior to the dance searching for something for her to wear. She was being really picky. She wanted everything to be perfect because she wanted this night to be extra special. Buffy’s sister was away at camp, and her mum had had to rush off to one of her art conventions, so that left them with the house to themselves for the whole of the week surrounding the date for the prom.

So as soon as she saw the dress in the window of the ‘New Woman’ clothing store, she knew it was the one. Cordelia had been sceptical at first, but had wholeheartedly agreed when Faith had tried it on.

The dress was medium to light blue, which faded into royal blue when you looked at it from a different angle. The dress pushed the wearer up at the chest and the neckline was loose-fitting so it showed off Faith’s ample cleavage. At the back it was cut low and several horizontal strips of fabric decorated it, and held it together. The straps just barely held on to her shoulders, but she knew they were enough to keep it from falling down. The dress came down to caress her feet, but the huge slit up the right side made it feel just a little more daring, which suited Faith fine.

Cordelia had offered to lend her a pair of shoes to wear with any dress she found, so she was happy to find that she just had enough to buy the dress. She had also offered to stash the dress at her house ‘till the night of the prom, so that Buffy wouldn’t be able to sneak a peak.

On the day of the prom, she had left the library early with Cordy to pick up the dress, then she’d taken it home (which was actually Buffy’s house, because she’d been asked to move in there so as not to be living in the flea bag motel). Then she’d gone to help Buffy get rid of the devil dogs that were threatening to ruin the dance. When they were dispatched of she had fled back to the house telling Buffy that she would meet her inside later on.

Buffy had changed in the girls’ locker room, having brought all her supplies with her. As soon as she had greeted her friends and complimented them on their clothing, she’d set up a place by the punch bowl to wait for her date.

She was nervous. She and Faith had been dating for the best part of six months, and while they had their occasional arguments, she had never been happier than she was when she was with her girlfriend.

While it had only been just over half an hour when Faith walked into the hall, she felt like she’d been waiting forever. The gang had come over to get refreshments and were chatting away when she heard the doors open to the right of her. They all faded into the background as the most beautiful woman she’d ever met walked into the room.

Her hair had been straightened but was still slightly wavy. Most of it had been gathered into a clip at the back, and the remaining strands fell naturally about her face. A few of the strands had been curled into ringlets and brought a newfound innocence to her image.

Faith scanned the room before spotting her target over by the punch bowl. Heads turned as she walked further in, approaching Buffy with their gazes firmly locked. As she reached her destination, Faith stopped in front of her girlfriend, and was suddenly overcome with a bout of shyness.

“Is this ok?” She nervously asked.

Buffy was speechless, and as she openly admired Faith she received a subtle nudge in the back, from her best friend.

“Yes! Yes.” She croaked, and then clearing her throat she added in a hushed voice, “God yes.”

Faith blushed, which made Buffy fall in love with her all over again.

“Do you want to dance?” Faith asked.

Buffy smiled brightly and accepted. Faith took Buffy’s hand and led her out onto the dance floor. Quietly she whispered in the blonde’s ear. “By the way B. You look stunning.” This time it was Buffy’s turn to blush.

Keeping their hands linked they heated up the room. Their moves were toned down compared to how they danced in the Bronze after patrol, but they still impressed the other occupants of the dance floor.

They didn’t stop dancing until the music stopped in time for the awards to be given out. Hand still in hand they rejoined their friends by the snack table.

“Welcome back ladies. Does one of you want to help me with the refreshments?” Xander quirked an eyebrow and Faith followed him to the punch bowl.

Willow turned towards her best friend and was met with a dreamy look.

“Well?”

Buffy was confused. “Well what?”

“What do you think? Of Faith. Her outfit.” She clarified further.

“She looks amazing. I’ve never seen her wear a dress before.”

“Yeah, I must say I was surprised when I saw it. I was sceptical, but Cordelia assured me that she looked great in it.”

Buffy was so lost in looking at her girlfriend that she didn’t realize that her next sentence was spoken out loud. “I can’t wait to find out what she looks like without any of it on.”

Willow almost spat her drink out, and had to be helped by a couple of pats on the back from the blonde slayer. “I’m ok. Just wasn’t expecting that.” She looked sheepishly at Buffy. “I’m not tying to insinuate anything, but haven’t you and Faith already… You know.”

This time it was the blonde’s turn to almost choke. “No! I mean it’s not that we haven’t wanted to, but we wanted to wait a while first. We want it to be special, you know?”

Willow nodded. “I just didn’t peg Faith as the patient kind. She does seem awfully promiscuous.”

“Oh there’ve been times when we’ve come close, but we’ve managed to hold it off. It’s even harder when we’re sleeping in rooms that are opposite one another. I think tonight’s the night though.” Buffy said shyly.

Willow stared at her wide eyed. “Really, prom night?”

“Not just because of the prom. Though, the formal wear definitely adds to the specialness of it all. Mom’s on a business trip, and Dawn’s at camp. I don’t think I can hold back any longer, it just feels right.”

Willow gave her an even bigger smile and then hugged her tightly. Just then her name was called out by the awards presenter.

After receiving her award she went back to the safety of her girlfriend's arms.

“Nice umbrella. Were they expecting it to rain?”

Buffy nudged her in the side. “Be nice, I think it’s lovely.”

“I’m just kidding B, it’s great. And what’s more, you totally deserve it. You’re the best you know that?”

She turned in the embrace and planted a light kiss on glossy lips. “One of the best… You’ll always be my best.” She kissed her again for longer this time, and when the kiss ended she led the brunette out onto the dance floor for a slow dance.

With Buffy’s arms around her neck she placed her hands on the blonde’s hips. They swayed gently to the music, oblivious to the people around them. Buffy rested her head on Faith’s shoulder and closed her eyes, simple enjoying the closeness of the other slayer.

When they arrived home that night, both slayers were thinking about the same thing. They were nervous but also eagerly anticipating the events that would shortly follow.

It had been like a silent agreement between them that tonight would be the night they made love for the first time. They were more than ready, and as they approached one another slowly they knew they were doing the right thing.

Buffy cupped Faith’s face in the palm of her hand and leaned in to kiss her gently. She wrapped her other arm around the brunette’s neck but didn’t add any more pressure on her lips. When Faith’s arms came to hold her lightly round the waist; she pulled back to run her tongue slowly over pouty lips.

Faith’s tongue came out to meet Buffy’s and then slowly entered the blonde’s mouth. As the kiss became more passionate their hands began to wonder. The arm that was holding the dark slayer’s neck moved so that fingers could tangle themselves in dark hair, and the other hand started a downward journey across Faith’s neck and over a firm breast.

Faith moaned into her girlfriend’s mouth as she felt delicate fingers brush across her left breast. She felt herself being pushed back gently ‘till she was pressed up against the door of Buffy’s room. She moaned again when Buffy’s hand moved around her back and untied her dress. She reciprocated the action on the blonde’s dress, not once breaking the kiss.

The blonde only broke the kiss when she began raining delicate kisses on Faith’s collar, and her hands pushed the straps off the brunette’s shoulders. She pulled back to watch in amazement as the silky material of the dress allowed it to slide smoothly down her body and land softly at the other girl's feet.

“God Faith, you’re gorgeous.” She racked her eyes over her girlfriend’s exposed body, noticing the characteristic black panties that Faith liked so much.

Faith felt herself become more aroused as the blonde openly admired her near nakedness. Pushing herself away from the door she embraced the blonde once more and kissed and licked her neck as she ran her hands down Buffy’s body effectively ridding her of her dress. Buffy pulled Faith’s head back from her neck and crushed their lips together in a desperate kiss intending to display her increasing need for more intimacy.

Understanding her girlfriend’s need she picked her up, enabling the blonde to wrap her legs around her waist, and walked with her towards the bed. Once there she gently lowered Buffy down onto it and moved herself so their bodies were pressed together one on top of the other.

Buffy’s hair was still pulled up in a loose bun, which Faith got rid of by running her fingers through the silky locks, and pulled Buffy’s head up so that their mouths could once again devour one another. The blonde’s hands moved delicately over her partner's back, and occasionally she dug her nails lightly into soft flesh when Faith would run her fingers over her nipple or squeeze her breast.

Buffy ran her hands down her partner’s back towards her buttocks, where she began pushing away the only material that was left covering the brunette’s body. Taking the hint Faith assisted her and was soon able to throw the offending panties on the floor. Faith then began removing the blonde’s own panties. Once they were both naked the brunette lowered her body once more, now being able to feel the soft tickle of hair on her right thigh.

The dark slayer then began lavishing the golden haired slayer with kisses along her neck and shoulders. She formed a downward pattern and soon became fascinated with Buffy’s breasts as she alternated attention on each one. The blonde moaned and arched her back into the touches of Faith’s hands and mouth, while she ran her hands through the brunette’s hair.

After a while Buffy pulled Faith up for another kiss, this one being longer and more passionate than any they’d had before. Hands once again wondered freely, and when the kiss was broken both slayers were flushed and breathing heavily. The younger slayer looked deeply into the blonde’s eyes, which clearly displayed her need and her love. She kissed her again more softly moaning into her mouth.

“God B, you taste so good. I just can’t get enough of you.”

Faith locked eyes with the other slayer and grinned down at her mischievously. Buffy’s eyes went wide when she realised what the brunette was intending to do. Her only answer was a lengthy groan of anticipation.

This time as Faith rained kisses down her girlfriend’s body she didn’t spend too long on any part of her, heading instead, straight for her target. Buffy’s hips bucked at the first touch of Faith’s tongue upon her. With her hands at her side she clutched the sheets as the brunette began exploring her sex.

Holding the blonde’s hips down with firm hands to keep her from moving too much Faith entered the blonde. Hearing a moan of encouragement from her partner, she began a steady rhythm of thrusts, occasionally pulling out to run her tongue around her clit and sucking on it.

“Faith, oh God! Don’t stop.”

The dark slayer continued until she sensed the blonde nearing her peak. Replacing her tongue with her fingers, she moved back up and attacked Buffy’s mouth with her own. Buffy’s left hand came up to grasp the back of Faith’s head and deepened the kiss further. Pulling back, the brunette watched as her partner’s moaning and breathing increased rapidly. Pushing her thumb against Buffy’s clit and trusting harder she took the blonde over the edge, loving the sound of Buffy calling out her name as her orgasm washed over her, and crying out herself as nails were dug into her shoulder.

As she withdrew she rolled away to the side and pulled her girlfriend into a loving embrace, soothing her in the aftermath.

They made love deep into the night, and when they eventually fell asleep it was within each other’s loving arms. >

As she pulled herself out of her trance she realised that she was being watched by the other slayer. Slowly she lowered herself to the floor and lay flat on her back, allowing the blood to return to the other parts of her body. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the blonde came into the room and took a seat on one of the benches.

“That was pretty impressive, how long can you do that for?”

Faith sat up slowly and joined Buffy on the bench. “That’s the first time I’ve done it, and I forgot to keep count, so I dunno.”

Faith paused, staring at the floor and trying to make herself apologise for what she’d said to Buffy that morning.

“Look B, I’m sorry about this morning. I was way out of line saying that. I shouldn’t have just assumed that because me and B are…”

“You were right.” Buffy interrupted.

“Huh?”

Buffy leant her head back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. “When she first arrived here things were just beginning to get back to normal for me. I’d not long got back from LA, where I ran away after sending Angel to hell. My relationship with the gang and everyone I cared about was a bit rocky, so when she swept into town and everyone immediately liked her I was jealous. I tried so hard not to like her during those first couple of days, but I couldn’t help being drawn to her.

“I hate that shit happens when things are just starting to get good. We were just starting to get along really well, then we killed someone and it all went to hell. I was scared so I put up a wall, and I’m guessing she did the same thing. Kind of counter productive really. If we could’ve opened up to one another then maybe we would’ve had a chance.” She sighed.

“After she woke up from the coma I thought we’d have a chance at starting again. I guess spending eight months stuck inside your own head could make it hard to see things objectively.”

“Eight months! That’s a long time, wow.”

“You weren’t in for that long?”

“Wasn’t in a coma at all. B spent two months in a coma after the ascension. Those were the longest two months of my life. Then I had the added bonus of telling her that I was pregnant when she woke up. Wasn’t really sure how she was gonna take it, what with us both being of the female persuasion, but apparently she had been dreaming about it constantly and wasn’t a bit surprised.”

“I still don’t understand how you managed to get pregnant.”

“Neither do we really. When we were talking about it afterwards we both mentioned that that night had seemed to effect us in more ways than one. We felt closer than we ever had before, more in tune with one another. It may be that it was just meant to be, like with Angel and Darla.”

Buffy looked confused. “Huh? What have they got to do with this? Besides, Darla’s dust.”

“Didn’t you know she was brought back?” Buffy shook her head. “Some evil law firm brought her back, human. That crazed vamp Drusilla turned her again, and they killed a bunch of those lawyers from the same firm.”

“They should know better than not to play with fire.”

Faith laughed. “People will never learn B. They like to think they have the power and control. It doesn’t occur to them that they’ll never really have the power and will never have full control either… Anyway, so after she was turned again Angel got all broody, fired Gunn, Wes and Cordy, and tried to kill the double D’s. He couldn’t, almost lost his mind, then went and slept with Darla. He didn’t turn evil again, and that night caused him to have some kind of spiritual awakening. He went back to the LA crew with his tail between his legs and began to work with them again, with Wes as the boss.”

Buffy, while being interested in the story was anxious for Faith to get to the point. “What does this have to do with you and me having a baby? I mean you and…” Buffy blushed at her slip up.

Faith smiled. “Me and B.” Buffy nodded. “Ok, so nine months later Darla turns up on his door step days away from giving birth to his child. They don’t know how it happened, it was just meant to be.”

“How come I didn’t know any of this?” Buffy asked, thinking out loud.

“You guys don’t keep in contact much huh?”

“No. The only time we ever talk is when it’s demon related. Or like when I was brought back. I feel awkward, ‘cause I’m never quite sure if there’s still something there or not. I want things to be comfortable, I want to be friends, but I don’t know how.”

“Do you love him?” Faith asked raising an eyebrow.

“I, uh. I don’t know. Maybe.” She said, with her brow furrowed.

“My B still loves him.” Buffy looked at her, puzzled. “She told me that, in her heart she’ll always love him, but she knows that she’s not IN LOVE with him. She says she doesn’t think she ever was in love with him; he just sort of grew on her. It took me a while to really understand that, but I do now, and I’ve accepted it. She’s in love with me, and I know that, I believe it. I still get jealous occasionally, but it passes. I get to fall asleep and wake up next to her. I trust in what she tells me.” She paused to look directly at Buffy. “It’s ok if you still love him, he’ll always be a part of your life. You just have to decide if you’re still in love with him.”

Buffy thought for a moment, but it didn’t take her too long to come to her answer. “No. I’m not in love with him anymore. I haven’t been for a long time. Not since before I sent him to hell… I’ve only been in love with one other person since then.” She whispered the last part, almost afraid to admit it to herself after such a long time.

Faith stood up and cracked the joints in her shoulders. Turning to Buffy she asked, “Do you want to spar?”

Buffy looked momentarily alarmed, but her expression quickly softened, ‘what the hell’ she thought. “Sure, just let me get warmed up.”

*****

They were circling each other, each waiting for the other to attack. Buffy had been surprised at how easily she had gotten back into the swing of sparing with another slayer. She wasn’t as out of shape as she’d originally thought.

While she knew Faith could have easily out matched her, she felt more confident than she had before. Breathing heavily she went in for the attack.

Faith anticipated the attack, but instead of moving away or blocking she took the hit, and then countered with an attack of her own. They moved around the training room trading blows ‘till they were both exhausted. Buffy backed off and motioned for the brunette to do the same. They stood opposite one another panting, yet neither one had really broken a sweat.

“I think I’ve had enough for now. We could do it again tomorrow though, in the morning before carrying on with the research.” Buffy suggested.

“I’m game B. It’s been weird training on my own for the past week. It feels good to fight a slayer again.”

“Yeah, I didn’t realise that I’d missed it so much. It’s different with you though, you don’t talk so much. It was cute most of the time, but sometimes she just wouldn’t shut up.”

Faith laughed. “Actually, I do talk a lot when I’m sparing at home with B. It gets her worked up and then she pulls this cute little annoyed face. I think it’s kinda sexual too. Most of the time she’ll get so annoyed with it that she’ll give up and kiss me, just to shut me up.” Buffy blushed, which Faith noticed. “Too much information?”

The blonde nodded. “Just a bit.” Attempting to change the subject (and failing miserably) she added, “So what do you normally do after sparing?” As she finished tying the laces on her shoes, she looked up in time to catch Faith’s blush. Catching on to what the brunette was thinking about, Buffy blushed again, and then cleared her throat. “I mean after that.”

“Depends what time of day it is. Most often we’ll pick Beth up from day-care and take her to the park.”

“Well we can pick her up from home and take her to the park.”

Faith smiled. “Better get moving then, gotta shower and get out there way before sundown, and I know how long you take in the shower.” She smirked as Buffy smacked her on the shoulder, and held the door open for her, following her out.

*****

The slayers chatted easily while they watched over the infant at the park. At that moment Faith was pushing Beth on the swing, while Buffy sat on the bench and watched.

She was captivated by the picture of the brunette slayer and her daughter. This was a side of Faith that she had never seen before. Had never taken the opportunity to look for it. Now she was looking, and she could see it all.

Her entire time spent with Faith ran through her mind. Remembering all the good and bad times, she wondered where she had gone wrong. She knew that she couldn’t blame herself for everything, Faith had made her own choices, but she knew she wasn’t blameless either.

She kept thinking that if she’d hung out with her more, talked to her more. Maybe if she’d opened up herself then Faith might have done the same…

“Stop thinking about what mistakes you made; do something good now.” Faith had joined her back on the bench as Beth had gone to play in the sand box.

“Huh?” Buffy hadn’t been paying attention and Faith had snuck up on her.

“You’re thinking about her, right? I mean you’re looking at me, but you have this far away look in your eyes.”

“Yeah I guess I was. What did you say before that?”

“Just that I’m willing to bet that you’re wondering what you did wrong, and now you’re wishing that you had done something different.”

“Well yeah. I was just so selfish. I never stopped to think about what she was going through. I never wondered what she was doing when we weren’t patrolling or training. How could I have been so blind?” Buffy sank her head into her hands and sighed deeply.

Keeping one eye on her daughter, she attempted to council the other slayer through this problem.

“Look B, just snap out of it. So you both made mistakes. Big deal! Everyone does it; you just have to learn how to live with those mistakes. You’re not gonna forget what happened. Best thing to do is to try to forgive and move on, or start again even. But most of all, be honest and don’t keep problems inside, it only makes things worse.”

Buffy, who by this point was staring gob smacked at the dark slayer, closed her mouth and then asked, “Who taught you all that?”

Faith smirked. “Life experience and two years of marriage taught me that.”

After laughing at the brunette Buffy sighed and looked off across the park.

“Angel says she’s changed, and I believe him. She wanted to apologise to me before but I wouldn’t let her. So I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it a chance. It’s the part where we have to talk about what happened before; rehashing it all and taking responsibility for our mistakes, that’s gonna be difficult. I know we have to get past all that if we’re going to move on, ‘cause it’s gonna jump up and bite us in the ass if we don’t.”

“Good for you. As for the relationship stuff: if it’s meant to happen it will. Just go with the flow and don’t try to push it too much. And if it doesn’t happen don’t worry about it, doesn’t mean you can’t be friends.” At that moment Beth came running over and jumped into Faith’s lap. “Well, you ready to go home kiddo?”

“Yeah. Can we get ice-cream on the way back?” The kid asked with innocent eyes.

“Sure, we can stop by B&J’s.” Her daughter rewarded her with a bright smile before skipping off ahead of them.

Buffy smirked, and talked as they walked along after the bouncing, short brunette. “I bet you cave every time she gives you that look.” She smiled at Faith knowingly.

The brunette wore a guilty smile. “Not every time, well most of the time… B’s worse than me!” She said the last part hoping to defend herself just a little.

They picked up a large tub of ice-cream and a movie as well on the way home. The two slayers, Dawn and Beth all had fun watching ‘Toy Story II’, and eating too much ice-cream. The witch had turned down their request to join them, and had sat in her room listening to their laughter, ‘till she had fallen asleep.

The slayers made a short patrol, and then stayed up talking after everybody had gone to bed, eventually joining them in slumber land early into the next morning.

PART 4

Two days later, (a week after the slayer and her daughter had arrived), Faith was deeply engrossed in a book called, ‘Hopping Dimensions’, when a loud crash and a scream came from the back of the ‘Magic Box’. After telling Beth to stay put, she went to investigate. What she found was an angry ex-demon facing off against a bleached blonde vampire.

Buffy had told her that Spike was now evil again, but that he could not get into the magic shop, (or the school or the hospital either for that matter) ‘cause they’d put extra spells around each place to prevent him from entering. So she figured that he must have tried to get in by doing something to Anya.

She also figured that Spike was the one who had given Buffy the wounds she had seen when she had first arrived. Therefore she was feeling up to dishing out some pain to the vampire.

“No, you can’t! You’ll kill me, and then I won’t be able to do all the things I like doing, or want to do in the future. I want to have children some day you know.”

Spike leered at her, not yet noticing the slayer standing just ten feet behind the shop owner.

“Come on pet, you remember what it was like. I promise I won’t kill any of them, just let me have some fun.”

“It’s because I remember what it was like that I won’t invite you in. I know that demons aren’t to be trusted.”

Spike growled as she began to back away. “I could get you any time you know! You’re gonna slip up eventually, and when you do I’ll be waiting!” He stopped screaming at her when she bumped into the brunette slayer. “Well, well, what do we have here?”

“Anya, could you look after Beth for me please?” She asked, but only loud enough for the ex-demon to hear. When Anya was out of sight she turned back to Spike.

He languidly checked out her form. “Mmm, you look like a tasty one. Ever thought about eternal life? All you have to do is invite me in.”

Faith smirked. “I can understand about someone like you thinking I’d taste good. What is it your kind says again?” She paused, pretending to think. “Oh yeah, ‘once you’ve had a slayer, you never wanna go back’.” She laughed slightly at the worried look on his face.

Just then a light went on in his head. “I remember you. You’re the psycho slayer. Criminally insane if I recall rightly.” He observed her form more closely this time. “I don’t mind turning a slayer. Other vamps wouldn’t do it ‘cause they think it’s perverted, but that don’t bother me. How about it love? You can b