Roman Holiday
by VixenRaign
Rating: R

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING, not even the title of the Fic, it's bprrowed from an old movie with the 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' woman in it. All BtVS and AtS characters belong to Joss and his cronies, along with WB, Fox, UPN, and anyone else that might have a crack at them. The name Dorian Grey belongs to someone who's not me and whom I don't know.
Warning: Un-Beta'd! And! Shameless Pimping of the fabulous country of Italy… just so's ya know.
Spoilers: All of BtVS and AtS up to 5.19. I changed the name of the Immortal to the name of the original Immortal; Dorian Grey.
Dedication: To the wonderful Dallas for her birth-day, this is for you, as LTFF seems to have died on me. Hope this doesn't fall too short of your liking, though it might not be Birds Of Prey. =)

+1=2+

CHAPTER ONE: Wet. Sweat. Heat.

Faith hated planes. She didn't like flying; that's why she always bused it places. But sometimes, you have to fly. Taking a bus to Rome from home would have been difficult, to say the least. 'Home,' she thought to herself as she pulled her rolling carry-on down the center of the plane, 'What the fuck is home anymore?'. She's seen the world these past few months, and most of what she'd seen of it wasn't terribly pleasant. As she cleared the door of the aircraft and the woman said something to her in Italian, the air coming from the out-side of the air-port hit her like a wall.

It was HOT. Very hot, a lot hotter than she ever would have expected it to be in late May. She'd never been it Italy before, all she'd seen of European summers was England. Hell, Canada was hotter in summer than England, Iceland too, probably. But this? This she hadn't expected. Now suddenly finding herself trudging through an air-port with almost no signs in English, she began to worry. Following an American family through the air-port who seemed to know their way, she was quickly lead to customs.

The lady behind the small desk was clean-looking, crisp and smiling. 'This definitely isn't an American Customs office.' Faith told herself. The woman smiled, said Bonjurno, and asked to see her Passport. Faith begrudgingly took it out and showed the woman, who typed in some things and saw the disgusted look on Faith's face.

"Do not worry," she said kindly, speaking very good English but with a deep Italian accent, "I have seen much, much worse. Besides, you'war beautiful – multo bella!" she said chuckling kindly and smiling at the brunette. 'Is she hitting on me?' she wondered, but shook it off as the woman asked her a question.

"You are here in pleasure, or business?" she asked, flipping through her records to check for anything that might need her to deport the woman. Faith worried about Willow's thoroughness of altering her records, and grunted.

"Business." Again, the woman chuckled as she stamped Faith's passport.

"Yes, well, be sure to have pleasure with your business." She handed the small blue booklet back to Faith. "Enjoy your stay in Rome; the City Without Age." The woman even shook her hand. Faith smiled back and put her passport away, pulling her bag over to the next station to be rummaged through.

After the woman at the next station simply laughed upon seeing the stake in her bag and her bottles of Holy Water, she realized this was no America. The woman told her she was 4 years too late, and again, Faith was confused.

"For the Opening Of The Doors!" she said excitedly as she gently squeezed her toiletries bag, "You will have to another 21 years for that, Donna." Faith looked confused.

"My name's Faith." She said solidly as the woman even refolded her clothes for her and put everything back as she'd found it, still smiling and laughing.

"No, no ,no – Donna. It means, Madam, yes? Miss, in English? Va bene?" Faith thought she understood, but what the fuck did 'Va Bene' mean? Faith just nodded, a little skeptic, and pulled her bag off the table to leave. "Ciao!" she woman called as the next woman came to her table. Faith followed a bunch of missionaries out of the smoldering air-port until she saw the exit doors for herself. Once the sliding doors opened, and Faith realized the terminals had been air-conditioned, she nearly started crying.

"Note to self," she whispered to herself as she got in line for a taxi, "Leather pants in Rome – Bad Idea." As she waited a TV screen behind one of the desks in the terminal told the news of the day in about 20 languages. When the English version came around she read what she cared about. There were several small traffic-jams along some of the streets of the city, and for the 37th summer in a row, the post-force was on strike, so most local letters would take a week to deliver and international ones might take up to a month due to the shortage of workers. And, to top it all off, it was 95-degrees of dry heat; no humidity. It was like baking in a brick oven.

A bunch of kind Russian boys saw how hot Faith was and offered her their cab, which she took gratefully, all the boys behind her smiling and waving at her as she left. She leaned back in the cab as the man started down the street, enjoying the freezing-cold inside the cab. The man said something to her in Italian, she assumed asking here where she wanted to go, and so Faith started digging through her purse.

"Uh, Via Dell'Orso," she said, though very American she realized as the man smiled at her in the mirror, "Near there – uhh . . . Pizza Nay-vo-nah, I think that says." She'd butchered it, she knew, but she'd never had to read anything in Italian before. The man repeated it a few times as he navigated them out of the air-port, probably trying to get her to say it right, but right then she didn't care. She was a leather-crusted-jet-lagged-ignornate-American, and right then she didn't give a shit.

"Ayh! Donna Bella!" the man said as she honked the horn, "Via Dell'Orso." He said simply. Faith nodded, and looked at the price of the cab ride. She had NO idea what it was worth in dollars, but it seemed pretty cheep in Euros. Handing him some money, the man gave her change, and when she tried to tip, he simply raised a finger and said,

"Repeato; 'Pee-ah-tza, Nah-Voe-Nah'. Sei?" Faith smiled and repeated it perfectly. He smiled, "Ah, bellicimo! Now – you never lost, eh?" Faith nodded, and thanked the man. She got her stuff and stepped onto the curb. The cab took off honking, the man waving back to her. Faith just smiled. She may not understand a word of what these people were saying most of the time but – DAMN! They sure were nice!

"435 Via Dell'Orso…" she said slowly, looking at the mailboxes, "Where you at?" she mumbled. Realizing she had to walk about a block, she started walking. In front of Cafés there were elegantly dressed waiters like out of some cartoons, little mustaches and toweled arms included. But, in front of the church was an old, walnut-looking woman dressed in shawls and hugging a baby to while babbling in Italian while two shoeless children danced for coins on the steps. She watched as a priest came out and asked them to leave, and none-too-gently. He called them Gypsies, and all Faith could think was 'That's not kind of Gypsy Demi Moore played in that Disney movie, that's for damn sure.'

As she came upon the apartment of 435, and saw a boy run out with a back-pack on his back, she quickly caught the door. Inside, marked on the post-box, was 'Summers', CC. Making her way up to the third floor, and looking for the door marked CC, she soon found it unlocked, and even slightly open. Taking a deep breath and running a hand through her hair to try and fit what the heat was doing to it, wiping at her brow with her arm to rid it of the sweat that'd appeared there with her short walk in the heat, she tried to prepare for what she was about to do. She knocked.

"Carlo! I'm coming!" Came Dawn's voice laughing but impatient. Faith frowned but pushed the door open to reveal herself. "Carlo – just wait! The bus won't leave without us, so chill-out! – " then the girl looked up. Wow. She'd grown. She must have been a good couple inches taller than Faith now even. Long-N-Lean as ever, but as ever, in Faith's eyes, Buffy's kid sis. "Oh My God!" She yelled excitedly as she charged Faith for a hug. Faith chuckled and hugged her back.

"Hey Kiddo; surprised?"

"Yeah! What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, taking her hand and pulling it like she had when she was younger. "I thought you were back in the US again? Working with the Counsel mostly?" Faith nodded, and just as she was about to elaborate, she saw that Dawn was in the middle of packing a suitcase about twice the size of hers.

"Going somewhere?" Faith asked, and Dawn's face made a number of expressions in succession. First it was shock, then sadness, then she bit her lip and glanced from her bag to Faith and back again. "You not running away are you?" the girl just laughed and went back to hurriedly shoving things in her bag.

"Not really. I signed up for this class a few months ago; Art Restoration Training; and we're going to Florence for two weeks to work on some of the art there." She suddenly looked up, her expression sad, "You're not gonna be here when I get back, are you?" she sounded really disappointed, but Faith nodded.

"Yeah, only here for 5 days, kiddo. Wish I could spend some time with you though, when do you leave?" Dawn quickly zipped the thing up and pulled it behind her as she stood in front of Faith.

"The bus was supposed to leave 5 minutes ago. I think Carlo is asking them to wait." She said all of it slowly, though her body- language seemed like she was in a rush to leave. It was obvious she wanted to stay but she knew she had to leave. 'Been there' Faith thought. "I want you to call me when I get back, alright? I feel like I haven't spoken to you in ages . . ." she had that look again, like she was trying to convince herself of something, going or staying, and right now she was trapped in the middle. "I wish I could stay . . ." she said, apologetically.

"You are *NOT* staying!" came a voice from the next room as the shower stopped. "This trip has been all you've talked about for the past *month* and I won't listen to you talk about how much you wished you'd gone for the next month as well." At that, Buffy walked in, wrapped in nothing but a towel, her hands in her hair, trying to dry it. The only thing the blonde seemed surprised about what who Dawn was talking to, though the idea of Faith being in Rome let alone in her house seemed to be no shock at all. She turned to Dawn.

"Go, have a great time, I'll call you later after dinner." Dawn nodded, gave Faith a short hug, and then sped out the door, slamming it behind her. Buffy crossed her arms high over her chest and simply waited. For what, Faith wasn't sure, and didn't really care. It seemed that Italian Towels were considerable smaller than American ones. They looked good on Buffy. "So?" the blonde finally asked.

"So, By Order of The New Watchers Counsel of England, I have been sent here to review – "

"I know why you're here Faith." She said flatly, almost bored. "I'm head Slayer of the Counsel, and as such privy to more information that even you. Like, for example, your title at the counsel. Special Operations and Situations Advisor. 'S.W.A.T. Slayer', right?" Faith nodded, and Buffy continued, her face hard and her voice bored. "And you're here to review my recent relationships and activities that the Counsel has concerns with." Again, she nodded. Buffy sighed, and sat on her couch, legs tucked up under her. "Alright, just so we're clear." Faith sat down on the couch opposite and looked at the blonde. You could take the Slayer off the Hellmouth, but a part of it will stay with her, that's for sure.

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the standard review consist of a trip through the ether care of Willow-Air-International, and three days spent examining and interviewing the subject?" Faith nodded. "Then why did your file say you'd be FLYING in and why are you gonna be here for FIVE days?" Faith just sort of smiled and chuckled.

"I hate flying." She said casually, "I hate flying in planes but compared to flying through the ether, I'll take British-Airways any day! Besides." She said a little more gruffly, "I've had a few rough assignments recently. I thought maybe you could show me a good time… once we get some of this business out of the way." Buffy just shook her head, but slowly – ever so slowly – Faith noticed her expression change to a smile. Though it was obvious that Buffy didn't want it there.

"Alright. I think I could be up for that." Faith smirked, wondering if Buffy was agreeing to both sides of Faith double-entendre. "So, what have you been up to?" Buffy asked, sounding mildly interested.

"Well, my last assignment nearly killed me. Literally. I had been sent to Israel to pick up two new slayers. And, as fate would have it – in the story of my life – they both lived on the West bank. Well, I've got one, and I'm trying to find my contact in the Israeli military to show me where the other one is. And, of course, the other one is Palestinian. I've got two girls, 14 and 16, opposite sides of a war that's been raging for over 50 years, in many cases dating back hundreds of years long before that, and they're both bickering in languages I can't understand." Faith sighed. Buffy smiled and asked what happened next.

"Well, we get to a section on the Gaza Strip so we can get picked up and taken out of there, and the older one, the Israeli, starts speaking to me in English. She tells me it isn't safe here, like I don't already know this, and then she starts calling the other girl names, saying mean things, and the other girl starts hitting her, and then they get into this fight just as our car arrives to take us out of there. Then, out of nowhere, fighting breaks out – and the girls are *still* fighting! Guns going off everywhere, and they're still yelling and bickering. It was a lot easier keeping the girls separated when they weren't as strong as us, that's for damn sure. Lucky we got them back to England."

"Have you heard from Mona and Avera since?" Faith looked at her confused.

"The two girls? Mona, the Palestinian, Avera, the Israeli?" Faith felt sort of stupid, she didn't realize Buffy had read that file, knew the story already. She shook her head.

"Nah, haven't talk to them since the boat-ride to England."

"They must have sent you, about, 20 E-Mails." Faith looked up.

"Why?"

"Wanted to thank you . . . you do know that Mona speaks English, right? She just doesn't trust Westerners."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And, it would seem, that Lesbianism amongst super-heroes isn't just an American thing." She said pointedly. Faith's eyes bugged at that.

"You Gotta be Kidding me!"

"Nope. Giles' been telling me they've been going at it like Spring- Slayer-Bunnies without the confusion of why their mating isn't resulting in reproduction." Faith's eyes remained wide, though they suddenly closed when she burst out laughing at Giles' comment.

"Regular Romeo and Juliet of the West Bank, huh?" she said, still laughing. Buffy joined in, but stopped before Faith. And silence took over. There they sat, opposite people, on opposite white couches, looking at each other in the empty room and only the sound of the bustling city out the window as distraction and the ceiling fan turned silently over-head pushing the hot air around the room.

"I assume you have a few questions to ask me?" Buffy said. Faith nodded, and took a folder out of the front pocket of her rolling bag. She opened it, flipped through it until she found a yellow legal-pad page.

"Yeah, so, this will mark the official start of your evaluation." She said reading from the sheet above, "Alright, some of the topics Willow and Giles asked me to cover were about a man by the name of," Faith squinted, and looked back up at Buffy. "'The Immortal'?" Buffy nodded. Faith'd heard of him, he was supposed to be some kind of sex and finance legend in the super-natural world.

He was also considered Evil by the counsel. Though, truth be told, he might as well have been right on the line. He did as much good as he did bad. Faith though the main reason the Counsel had opposition to him was his attachment to Angel, Wolfram & Hart, and his recent relationship with Buffy. Or, at least, that was the idea Faith had cooked up on the plane after a few drinks.

"So, uh, you had been explicitly told not to have liaisons with this man, and you did anyway. Is that correct?" Buffy nodded.

"Yes, that's true." Faith sort of smiled at the page on her lap and continued.

"It says that you lived with him temporarily, or that you would spend significant time with each-other in both your homes, is this correct?" Buffy nodded. "Did you sleep with him?" Faith asked. Buffy raised an eye-brow.

"Is that one of Giles' questions?" Buffy asked, doubting it.

"No, but I'm sure it's what everyone wants to know." Faith said smiling a little, "Besides; Are You Showing Signs Of Resistance To My Interview?" she asked as though reading from a manual. Buffy just shook her head.

"Yeah. I slept with him. A number of times." Faith's eyes widened in surprise to Buffy's indiscreet answer.

"How was it?" Faith asked, sounding interested now. Buffy just looked at her, un-phased. "Well?" She insisted.

"He was good." She said flatly. Faith made a face, tilting her head to the side. "Alright, he was incredible. In fact, he was too good." At this, Buffy sounded very annoyed.

"Uhhh, 'Too Good'?" she asked, sounding skeptical, "Trust me B, there ain't no such thing." Buffy looked at her suddenly.

"Yeah? You say that after you've slept with him!" she sounded up- set.

"What? He break-up with you and now no one else is up to par?" Faith joked. Buffy leaned her head in her hands, elbows resting on her bare legs.

"Not Exactly." She said tiredly. "Keep this out of your report?" she asked, catching Faith's eye with one of hers. Faith nodded, and Buffy sighed deeply. "He was . . . TOO Satisfying." She said slowly.

"What does that mean, B, I still don't get it."

"It MEANS," she said harshly, "I hated sleeping with him. We'd have sex, I'd orgasm, and then . . . Nothing."

"What 'Nothing'?"

"I mean *nothing*, Faith. Nothing. Sex would be the furthest thing from my mind. I'd be in bed with this hansom, funny, rich, kind, immortal sexual god, and . . . I felt no attraction anymore. I would be SO satisfied, that I wouldn't want sex anymore. The first time it happened, I felt so awkward and out of place that I . . . I went slaying."

"You went Slaying?" Faith asked, trying to figure this all out.

"Yeah! You know, to work out whatever was going on. So I went, I Slayed, I even had a drink, and Nothing! No post-slay 'need', nothing. Even Slaying and drinking didn't fix it. when I got back, he was there waiting for me, looking all expectant, and he tried to seduce me and . . . I let him. I lied. I said I wanted him, I slept with him, and I was – Again! – left un-wanting when it was over." Buffy groaned and sighed. "By our next date a few days over, it had worn off, but this same cycle repeated over and over again through our entire relationship. So I left him. I think he knew what was going on; he was a pretty smart guy."

"Wow. . . ." Was all Faith could think of saying. Buffy picked her head up, as if to say, 'don't ask', so Faith didn't. She looked back at her page and asked the next question.

"Uh, okay, what about the man you attacked a few weeks ago?" she asked, catching Buffy's eyes, "True, he was a little more than human, but you still attacked him until he was taken to ICU. Any explanations?"

"He was spying on me." Buffy said defensively, sounding a bit like her old-old-self again, "He was hired by Angel to watch me, and I was sick of him getting in my way, following me, going to where I worked, asking people about me, asking demons and vampires if they'd seen me . . . Dorian pointed him out to me. He'd noticed him before I had."

"Who's Dorian?" Faith asked quickly.

"Dorian? Dorian Grey? The Immortal. That's his name. People just call him The Immortal because, well – names self-explanatory." Faith nodded, indicating for her to continue. "So, when I saw him sitting in the same café as I was having lunch in, watching me like some cheesy PI from an old radio-show, I just lost it. when I approached him, he started running. I was just going to confront him, tell him I knew who he was and what he was doing, but he just took off running, so I got even more pissed off – I chased after him!"

"But how did you end up breaking half his ribs and crushing his spleen?" Faith asked as gently as she could. Buffy glared at her, but continued.

"I chased him until he tried to get into his apartment. He needed to unlock it, and I slammed him against his door; bare in mind a lot harder than I intended, and it sort broke a few of his ribs – "

"Eight. It broke eight of them, B." Buffy waved it off like she didn't care.

"But what really got me was that he was trying to play it off like he didn't do anything wrong, that he didn't know who I was, or why was running after him . . . I lost it, and I punched him a few times – he took a few shots at me too, just to be fair – and then I knocked him out with his door and called an ambulance for him." Faith just stared at her like she'd never seen her before. "What? I could have just left him there?!" Now it was Faith's turn to shake her head.

"Okay, I'mma do you a favor," Faith said taking a note on the page next to the question, "I'mma try and explain that to Willow and Giles in a way that DOESN'T make you sound like a crazy-person."

"Appreciate it," Buffy said quietly. Faith kept writing until she heard Buffy let out a short laugh. "But are you sure you're the best person to do that?" At that Buffy had a throw pillow to the face before she could stop it. But she just laughed harder.

"Ah, shut-up Blondie!" Faith said, throwing more Pillows. Buffy just kept laughing until she got up, holding her towel tightly to her and heading back to her room in the back.

"Faith, pick up the Pillows. I'm going to get dresses, then we're heading out to dinner." Faith barely registered what she said. It seemed that the towel had moved during her sitting and had been hiked up so much Faith could make out the curve of her ass at the bottom of the towel. But as soon as the door closed behind the blonde, she was back to earth.

"But what about the interview?!" she called, "We still have questions!" Buffy poked her head out the door again,

"You have three days to ask them, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"And you haven't had dinner yet, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"Then we'll go eat, then you can ask me when we get back from Slaying." The door closed again, and she looked out the window. Without even realizing it, night had fallen. Looking at her double- time digital watch, she saw that it was past nine at night. The late spring-night that sneaks up on you, she'd forgotten.

"B! It's Nine O'clock! What places will still be open for dinner?" she called, and out walked Buffy in a summer dress that she couldn't figure out how she'd gotten into so quickly. It was light blue with small green ivy and flowers crawling all over it. She looked stunning in it. She also wore strapy sandals that wound around her legs like ballet shoes. 'How is she gonna Slay in those, let alone walk on all this cobble-stone?'

"Years of practice." Buffy said quietly to her silent question. "Dinner in Italy usually doesn't start until 10 or 11, so we'll be pretty alone in the restaurants, minus the tourists. Also, it's usually two or three hours long, with lost of wine and coffee, so it's a daily event." Faith's eyes bugged. "You get used to it," she said passively though she couldn't help her smile. "Get changed and we'll head out."

"Change into what? One of those?" Faith asked skeptically, pointing at Buffy's dress.

"Cotton pants and a tank-top, I know you have those." When Faith came back out of the bathroom, she was in a thin pair of jeans, her boots, and a tank-top that was so small Buffy wondered if they'd let her wear that on the same *block* as a church. "Alright. Let's go."

After a bit of walking, three of four blocks, they come to a large court-yard, about two-blocks long, with a fancy church on one side and an elaborate fountain in front of it. There were merchants all over the open-center of it, shops and restaurants up and down both ends of it. The while linens that made up the hundreds of table- clothes and over-hangs, aprons and umbrellas, with the shades of blue from the sky and the fountain, candle and gas-lights giving the entire plaza a warm glow . . . Faith was actually taken away by how pretty it looked. She hadn't even noticed that she'd stopped walking.

"Faith, come on," Buffy said, taking her hand and pulling her along a little, "Let's get you some food." They walked up to the café next to the large church, with a great view of the fountain, and instantly one of those waiters Faith had thought looked funny walked up to Buffy and kissed her cheeks.

"Ahh! Bella! Bella!" he said happily, "Donna Bella, so good to see you, so healthy!" he said, sitting them right away in a table along the square. "I will get your wine, sei?" and he was off.

"Come here often?" Faith joked. Buffy just said 'something like that', and looked back at Faith. "Where *is* here, by the way, and why does he think your name is Donna Bella? – come to think of it; bunch of people called me that too!" Buffy laughed as Faith looked confused, taking in the café and the children getting their faces painted near by.

"Donna just means woman or girl, and Bella means Beautiful. Italian men call everyone that in Italy, you'll get used to it. It's a compliment, them trying to be nice." Faith looked over her Menu, trying to hide her slight blush, "And where we are is the Piazza Navona."

"Piazza Navona!" Faith said excitedly, I've heard of that; the Cabby from the air-port taught me how to say it today in exchange for his tip." Buffy chuckled and smiled as the waiter came back with her wine.

"Let me guess; you suck at speaking Italian?" Faith nodded, and the man poured them both a glass of white wine. "Grazi Mariano." She said, drinking a bit of it slowly.

"Ah, Elizabetta! Who is this ragazza abbastanza?" Buffy laughed a bit and smiled at the man as Faith looked at him, slightly offended 'What did this freak call me?!'

"Mariano, this is my friend Faith, from Boston." He shook her hand and kissed it. while he was bent over doing that she asked what he'd called her. "He called you a very attractive woman, pretty much." Buffy summarized.

"Sei, sei. From bow-stain – " it took him a few tried to say Boston, but he just couldn't seem to do it, so Buffy put him out of his misery and just said East Coast. "Ah, yes, East-Coast, yes. Very cold, sei?" Faith just smiled and nodded. He gave them some menus and left them again.

"He sure is friendly." Faith said. Buffy nodded.

"He's one of my bosses. I work as a waitress when I need to pay for extra little expenses here and there, since this is so close to the house I tend to work any later shifts they might have here." She sipped her wine again, "They love having American waitresses; makes ordering from English-speakers go a lot faster." Buffy chuckled at something, and Faith wanted to know what.

"What's so funny?"

"Well, I kind of like being The American Waitress. Americans always love to ask me where I'm from, what I'm doing here, leave huge tips . . . but it's more fun to pretend to be Italian, trying to speak English with a Texan accent." Faith gave a slight surprised laugh as she was half way through a gulp of her wine.

"And how do you pull that off?"

"Throw in some Italian here and there, speak in slightly broken English with a Texan accent, and use lots of little words to describe things." Buffy smiled evilly. "Americans always compliment me on my English-speaking skills when I do that, telling them I learned to speak 'American' at 'Take-Sase State Universly'." She said in what must have been her 'Italian-Texan' accent. Faith nearly cried laughing at it, and the idea of Buffy taking orders like that.

About two hours later, when night had really fallen, Italians had started their dinners, and Faith and Buffy had just finished theirs, the coffee arrived. They had finished a bottle of wine. Two glasses for Buffy . . . the rest was in Faith. Buffy had ordered a desert Latta, and Faith was having a Caffe il Grappa. In other words, a shot of espresso with a shot of sugar-flavored 80-proof vodka. This should be interesting.

"So Faith," Buffy asked, glad for Faith slight inebriation, "Why are you here?" she asked. Faith looked at her blankly, her eyes blinking at different speeds. She realized she'd have to elaborate. "Why do you feel like you need a vacation? And why here?" You were in Boston before this, Willow told me. I thought that was your vacation for the summer?" Faith chuckled darkly into her coffee as she sipped it.

"Boston? A vacation?" she asked skeptically. "Went there to see my family. And let me tell you, the parts where they live were almost as bad as Gaza. My Dad's pretty deep in hawk, pawned half the shit in his house to keep drinking, and he's too deep into that to work anymore . . . worst part is I know he'd drink until it left him on the streets and then he'd do it until he was in the grave." She laughed bitterly, drank some more, and sighed. "Besides. I hear there are some things to see in Rome that you can't find anywhere else." She was looking right at Buffy as she said this, but the blonde still didn't get it.

"Alright then. I'll show you tomorrow afternoon, alright? I have to waitress in the morning – filling in for a friend." Faith just smirked, her smile creeping up the left side of her face until her dimples showed.

"I'd like that." She said, crossing her legs under the table, her calf running against the blonde's. Buffy just shook her head and waved Mariano for the check.

"If you're at the footsy-stage, we'd better get you in bed quick." Faith smiled as they both got up.

"I like the sound of that!" she said happily. Buffy kissed the waiter's cheeks in goodbye, who then did the same to Faith who started laughing loudly.

"Scusi Faith," she said to the waiter, "Multo Bevuto." She said, making a drinking motion with her hand. The man winked and wished them good night.

"What did you say to him about me B?" Faith asked as Buffy took her by the hand and lead her through the large and now bustling square back to the apartment.

"I told him you were single." She lied, which got her a hard sock to her arm. It was a lot better than trying to tell Faith she was drunk. She tried to that once when they were younger, at the Bronze . . . Faith would have none of it. It often ended with someone getting hurt; usually Faith trying to prove she could Slay like this. On the way out, Faith noticed little to nothing of many pretty features of the plaza.

In a dark alley, not a block from the apartment, Buffy heard something following them. It was a step and a clink, perfectly in time with each-other, and the soft swish of a cape. As the breeze caught up with them, the subtle smell of dry, stale death caught her nose. It was a smell she knew. One she knew was not safe to have around with Faith as drunk as she was. Leaning Faith against a wall, she asked the girl for the stake tucked into the back belt-loop of her pants.

"Why you want my stake? What's going on?" she asked, still leaning, a little woozy from the high dose of caffeine mixed with the strong spirit of the liquor. But Buffy didn't answer. She just spun around and looked down the long and winding street behind them.

Then Faith heard it too. The click, step, click, step as it came closer. As she took in a deep breath the smell hit her Slayer senses and instantly her body tensed. This was Death stalking them, old Death. It was a Vampire. Then suddenly, when it sounded like it was right upon them, it stopped. Then, it was right in front of them. Having jumped from the roof-tops above their heads, a vampire that looked like it'd walked right off the set of 'Interview With The Vampire' stood not two feet from Buffy.

"Good evening Elizabetta." The old Italian Vampire said. He wore a full black cape, a black and white suit and shirt, a blood-red tie, and a straight cane with a round silver top. Faith pushed herself from the wall, faltered slightly, and Buffy pushed her back against it without looking back. "Ah, you have a new companion?" he asked kindly, "And so soon after Dorian? He will be hurt that you could replace him so quickly."

"She's Family, *Paul*." She said solidly, spitting his name like a bad taste from her mouth as she raised her stake. "Killing her would be welcoming a world of pain you don't want." The Vampire's human face scowled disgustedly.

"I am Paulo De'Morte," he said swellingly, arrogantly, "I was feeding from the necks of your ancestors before your prophecies were even written."

"Oh Shut-Up!" Buffy said, sounding tired and un-caring about his bull-shit. "Your mother was an accused witch during the inquisition and your father was a horny priest that couldn't keep it to himself. As soon as you were born they killed your mom, and to cover it up your dad said you were a child of the Devil. You were tortured from birth, and fed to other creatures they studied . . . and you haven't killed a Slayer yet. So stuff it, *Paul*."

"My Name is Paulo De'Morte – "

"Yeah? You and every other Vamp this side of Germany." She raised her fist and the stake. She was done talking, that much was obvious. Faith may have been drunk, but she knew when Buffy'd pissed someone; she wore the look on Paulo's face a lot. He lifted his cane, and suddenly it was a sword. Both Buffy and Faith thought "… should have seen that coming."

"It will be an honor for you and your companion to be my first." He growled, though his face remained human-like, the scowling smile etched deep into his cheeks.

"Hate to break it to you, but you've already died once . . . Sure you wanna die again?" Faith smiled, leaning against the wall a little still, she liked Buffy's quips. Without warning though, the fighting started. At first it mostly consisted of Paulo wilding swinging at her with his sword, and Buffy dipping, diving, and twisting her body so as not to get hit. It was really cool to watch, if you're Faith, and Drunk, otherwise it'd be pretty scary.

Then, when Buffy 'Limbo'd' under a swipe that would have cut her in half, she dropped into a double-kick to his stomach, unbalancing him, and they both fell to the ground. Faith rushed over to help, but was stopped. Buffy'd flipped off of her back and grabbed Faith by her shoulders.

"Faith! Stop! Fighting like this will only get us both hurt or killed!"

"But you can't take him alone!" Faith rationalized. Just as she was about to reply they heard Paulo laughing behind them.

"Ah, it would seem that she does not have much faith in you, Elizabetta. Perhaps you should listen to her, eh?" Buffy actually growled. Like, *really* growled. Her lip drew and the animalistic rumble seemed to bubble up from her throat . . . Faith was a little shocked. Okay, and a little turned on to, she rationalized to herself, but that was… Whoa.

"Don't you touch her!" Came her quiet warning as she stood in front of Faith protectively. He advanced again, touching his sword to the bottom of Buffy's chin. Hitting the sides flatly with her palms in two separate directions had the sword flying out of his hand and into hers before Paulo could figure out why his hand was empty. Buffy only gave him a second to realize the tables had turn before she started attacking.

And, wouldn't you know it, that dopey cape had a practical use rather than just Role Playing potential. He was actually using it to catch the sword as he mimicked Buffy in her swerving and twisting. But all the swishing and stabbing was annoying her, so the next time he caught her sword she used all her Slayer strength, and pulled the sword up. The Cape was shredded, and Paulo's arm fell to the cobbled street with a thud. Now it was Buffy's sword at his dead throat, him quickly backing away, holding his now empty shoulder socket.

"Now get out of my city and off my streets, *Paul*, before you lose your head." He quickly changed into his demon-face to scream a loud growl at her before trotting off into the night. Buffy casually walked over to the arm, still bleeding lightly, and picked it up, walking over to Faith against her wall again. "Ready for bed yet?" Faith smirked a little, but looked to the ground before her eye catching the still randomly spurting arm.

"Souvenir?" Faith joked. Buffy just shrugged and led them the rest of the way down the street to the apartment.

"He'll mostly bleed to death, or get killed off by some other night- creature in the state he's in. If the arm still exists as more than death in the morning, then we'll know if he's alive." As they stood in front of the *huge* door to get into the apartment ('Why are all the doors here so friggin' huge?' Faith wondered absently), Buffy tossed the arm lightly so that it landed on the balcony out her window and she did trail blood through the stairwell again.

Once they got inside, Faith plopped down on the couch, stretching out, making herself comfortable, watching Buffy as she got a large glass roasting pan out of her small kitchen and put the arm in it, resting on the balcony again so as to keep the stench of Death out of the living room. When Buffy tiredly plopped down on the couch next to her, eyes closed, running a hand through her hair, Faith smiled and moved closer.

"It's been a weird night." Buffy mumbled, "Even for me." Faith started rubbing her back gently, watching her. The blonde took in a long and slow breath, breathing it out about as quickly. She did this a few times, sighing with each breath out.

"Feeling better?" Faith asked, chuckling a bit. Buffy shook her head, but kept her eyes close, indulging in Faith's touch. When Faith leaned forward and kissed her, it seemed perfectly logical to the brunette. She wanted to kiss her, she wasn't doing anything better at the moment, and Buffy said she wasn't feeling particularly fabulous at the moment… made sense! Kisses always make you feel a little better in some way, and Faith knew that this kiss would make her feel loads better; she'd been waiting over two years for this!

Now, although the action made sense to Faith, she was more than just slightly shocked when the blonde allowed herself to be kisses. She was even more surprised when Buffy even raised a hand to her cheek and kissed her back gently. And suddenly, Faith was somewhere else. Whether it was the drink, the feel of the small, soft lips against hers after all this time of yearning, or the sudden heat passing in her blood at the contact between them; it moved her. Raising her hands to either of Buffy's cheeks, she kissed her slowly, deeply, wanting more of this feeling; it was the best tension she'd felt since the Final Battle for Sunnydale, the most calming and relaxing wave of lust in her life.

"B . . ." She moaned, the feel of the soft and shy tongue against her taking her breath away, making her see stars behind her closed eye-lids. The soft breaths, coming in slow sighs against her lips as they kissed, the smell of warn sweet wine and honey; a new smell. She remembered a time when all the blonde smelled like was expensive perfume and dirt, vampire dust and smokeless California air. She liked this better; a whole lot better, tasting her breath from her lips and the way it brought a small strangled moan from her throat.

She felt Buffy's weight shift under hers, and Faith moved to sit over her lap. The long, wild tendrils of hair, now naturally blond from the heat of the Italian sun, seemed so smooth and priceless in her hands. The small hands at her hips, holding her lightly, with their deadly but delicate fingers tickling her where her shirt had ridden up and exposed her stomach. God! It felt like fire was burning in her belly, warming everything; her skin, the blood in her vanes, the air in her lungs . . . She knew; this must be a Slayer thing. And as Faith moved her hand to the blonde's bare thigh, slowly gliding up Buffy's leg until she hit the hem of her summer-dress, she started feeling faint.

"Alright, that's it," Buffy said business like, gently but quickly lifting the brunette right off her lap and on to the couch where she'd been sitting before the kiss, "Yeah; you're drunk." She said, getting up and straightening out the now slightly wrinkled fabric of her clothes.

"What?" Faith asked, really confused. Not to mention disappointed. And Aroused… What the hell just happened?! Buffy looked at her sympathetically.

"Drunk kissing I get, been there; hell Spike unliving proof of those kinds of bad choices. But I draw the line at drunk Sex these days." She put a gentle hand on the younger woman's shoulder, "Trust me Faith, you'll be happier for it in the morning." She highly doubted it.

"B, no, wait – "

"Faith, really. It's fine; I've kissed girls before, it's no big deal." She said, trying to comfort her, when in reality it sort of disappointed the brunette… She'd kinda liked the thought that she would be Buffy's first time. In fact, she was taken a little off guard when she said that and forgot the main argument she was trying to make.

"You have?" she asked suddenly, "Who?" Buffy blushed a bit and smiled regretfully.

"In many ways Italian social-culture is a lot further along that American. I go to clubs pretty frequently, and I've been the drunk girl latching on to the first pretty face that'll have me. . . doesn't mean I'm proud of it." she shook her head as it to rid herself of something, some thought, and straightened up again. "The point is Faith; I'm fine. Get some sleep, I'll get you blanket and things." And she trotted out of the room. Faith realized she was panting. She could feel her cheeks tingling with the pre-feelings of hyperventilation. WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!

When the blonde returned she had a blanket, a down-pillow, a soup- pot, a glass of water and a bottle of Advil. She pulled all the cushions off the back of Faith's couch, stacking them on the floor, Faith silently watching as she set the bedding on the end, and put the water, pills and saucepan on the coffee-table. Faith'd gotten her breathing under control, but she was NOT in a good mood.

"Alright, take the pills and drink all the water now, before the headache arrives so by the time it gets to you the painkillers will have kicked in." She said as though explaining to someone who was ignorant, "The pan is in case you wake up in the night and don't think you're gonna make it to the bathroom in time. That's not to say it's a substitute; try and use the toilet if you can because I'm not going to clean it out for you tomorrow." She then turned to leave again, but Faith caught her arm.

"No, B, you don't understand," she said urgently, wishing she hadn't had so much to drink – wishing she hadn't had suck a reaction to Buffy's touch – sobering but at the same time still on some kind of high from the night's events, "I love you, Buffy." She said quietly, trying to say it like she meant it, knowing that she did. Buffy just smiled wryly and patted her head.

"I know Faith, I love you too." She said it as though to a slow child, and walked towards her room again, but Faith called to her.

"No B! I *mean* it! Really!" She said, needing the blond to understand. Buffy just sighed, now sounding a little tired.

"Yeah. I know. I rock – I kick ass – I'm a God – and you love me. Now go to sleep." She turned towards her room and added in a whisper, "… they always love you when they're drunk… let's see if she still 'Loves Me' tomorrow." She sounded very doubtful. Closing the door, Faith was left alone again.

"Shit." She muttered, feeling the beginnings of her buzz coming down with Buffy's last words for the night. She reached for the water and the pills, and took them both quickly. Punching her pillow roughly, throwing it against one arm of the couch, she slammed her head against it as she pulled the blanket over her. Things were not going well at all. Staring out the open window on to the balcony, the arm- roasting pan all but forgotten, the sky above the opposite rooftops was already turning from purple to blue off in the distance. And without even realizing it, Faith fell a sleep.

CHAPTER TWO: Sights, Tastes, and Feelings

The night was already becoming light, and Faith woke with pains in her stomach. She had to pee, badly. It seemed that all the drinking had taken its revenge. Getting up slowly, she felt a little unbalanced from the aftermath of the drinks she’d had. She was thankful for her Slayer healing; the sick-feeling wouldn’t last long. Quietly padding her way to the bathroom attached to the Blonde’s room, she did her best not to wake the older girl.

When Faith came back out, indenting to head for bed, she found her self immobilized by the sight of the blonde as she slept. To most people, the sight would have been pretty simple; monotonous and uninteresting.

She slept with her arms wrap around the pillow under her head, a simple white tank top covering her bronzed shoulders, eyes closed and body still as her even breathing was the only noise in the room. She was sleeping, and peacefully.

After the time she’d spent in the Summers’ house at what had to its worst, she knew this had to be one of the most welcome things to Buffy. Something she would never miss about Sunnydale. At least here, she could sleep.

Faith smiled, sadly, though she doubted anyone would know the difference even if they could see it in the dim-light of Buffy’s room. She thought about what had happened before she was put to bed. The kisses; they had been everything she’d imagined them to be and then some.

Sure, it wasn’t that whimsical kind of love like you’d hear about in Fairy-Tales where they fall in love the first time they set eyes on each-other.. the first time Buffy set eyes on her, Faith knew perfectly well that the blonde didn’t like her one bit. She wished she could say the same, but she was too curiously fascinated by the prospect of hanging out with another Slayer to really be bothered by her up-tight and prissy attitude.

Nah, Faith had realized she was in love with Buffy after a lot of therapy. She’d originally been sent for possible post-traumatic-stress, and violent-tendencies (which were often self-destructive). She’s had a break-through with her slightly desensitized prison therapist about nine months before she’d broken out of prison to help the Fang Gang. She’d been talking to the doctor, telling him ‘how she felt’ about the little blonde.

They’d been working on this topic for about seven sessions already after he’d noticed that the woman’s name came up in almost every talk they had anyway. And just as her doctor asked her to analyze some feeling she’d had even further, for what must have been the thousandth time, she snapped. Snidely asking him “Oh yeah? What do you think I feel about her?!” He just looked at her, sighed, and took a note on his pad of paper (no doubt saying she was trying resist treatment again), and replied,

“I think you feel a great deal for her, but particularly love.”

To say Faith thought long and hard on that comment before responding could not have been more un-Faith-like. In fact, the doctor was surprised her brain had enough time to fire neurons in the fraction of a second it took her to break his nose. She remembered she’d never been more offended in her life! It took three guards and a needle of who-knows-what to tear her off and drag her into isolation. Truth be told, she barely had enough time to realize the doctors meaning before she jumped the man, but Solitary gave her plenty of time for thinking.

Genetically, Faith and drugs didn’t mix. Both her and her father tended to have pretty violent reactions to strong mixtures; part of why she was so scared of the dentist when she was young; Novocain used to make her whole head go numb. And ever since she’d become a Slayer it had only become worse. So when the doctors gave her drugs like these, not only did she pass-out but she passed out for days, her dreams often terribly frightening and consisting of some of her worst memories. She slept for nearly two days, at least - as far as she could tell.

When she woke up, she still had three days left in the dark room to her self. Leaning against the cold, rough wall, probably painted the same dull yellow-white color every other surface was in prison, she was left to mull over what the doctor had said. But this time, she thought about it differently; as if to say ‘If I did love her, how would these memories be different?’

The next three days had their highs and lows, as this was the sole thought during her visit to Solitary. She realized that at first, all she felt was annoyance for Buffy.. until she realized that simply being a Slayer gave Buffy reason enough to like her, even if they disagreed about just about everything else. When she’d been confronted by Buffy about Khakistos, and when she realized Buffy knew she’d lied to her it was then that the blonde wanted to help her the most – knew that Faith was like her sometimes; afraid. And in the end, almost died trying to help her slay the vampire.

That was when things had really changed, she realized. When she staggered out of the cold dark cell after her five-day-stint, hobbling to the shower on weak legs from sitting and laying down for too long, she said nothing. Even the guards noticed her adjustment; no smart-remarks, she didn’t even try and stretch her muscles. As they watched her take her shower and led her back to the cell, all the officers exchanged glances. They knew Faith was not a prisoner to be taken lightly.. But here she was, almost Zombie-like.

She simply stood under the water, eyes closed, the tears running down her cheeks invisible to the drops already making their way to her chin and down the drain. She went back to her cell and sat quietly, still thinking about every thing that’d happened between Buffy and herself – there was a lot to think about. She’d lost all Yard-privileges for a month, and wrote a letter to her Therapist asking him to reconsider their sessions. She told him she wanted to ask him a few questions about his last ‘diagnosis’.

Offering to be detained during sessions and even have a guard present, eventually the doctor agreed. To say that there was a distinct transformation in Faith after that would not do justice to the turn-around Faith’d had. When asked why by her Doctor, who was still slightly mistrusting of her even after his nose healed, he was shocked by her answer. “I got a Girl to talk to on the out-side. Don’t wanna disappoint her again . . . I think we’re both pretty sick of that by now.”

Faith smirked as she looked down at Buffy while she slept, early morning light starting to make its way into the room. She looked at the clock as she realized she’d been just standing there for almost 20 minutes, lost in thought. Taking one last deep breath in, she made a decision. It had taken her a lot of time to come to the realization that she loved Buffy, and when she finally told her, she didn’t even bother to consider if she meant it. ‘It's time for another change,’ she decided, ‘I guess I’ll have to make sure she can tell I was saying it of my own free will.’

She silently walked back to her couch, settling lightly on it. Feeling her stomach gurgle slightly, Faith winced. No More Grappa! she swore to her self. She decided there would be no more getting drunk in foreign countries; it was bad enough when it happened to her in the US. Leaning her head back against the back of the couch and closing her eyes, she tried to prepare herself for what was sure to be a weird couple of days.

While in the Summers house before the End of Sunnydale, she’d allowed herself to indulge a little in being honest with Buffy. She’d have to do more than indulge; not an easy transition. Last time she tried to open up to Buffy, out on that porch when Buffy’d been excommunicated from her own house, she’d panicked and latched on to Wood in a desperate attempt to lick her wounds. Man, she thought, that relationship got way out of hand. She silently chuckled to herself, not even noticing she was nodding off to sleep. She didn’t even hear the shower in the next room start.

*****

Faith woke again with a start, and a yelp. Sitting up suddenly when she’d heard a clatter nearby, she’d moved her neck. Having slept with her neck at that odd angle had left it stiff and sore. Closing her eyes and muttering to herself, she heard familiar giggles. Slowly opening her eyes again, she leaned forward to see Buffy standing in her small kitchenette with the glass roasting pan.

“Sleep well?” she asked, looking pleased with herself. Faith flipped her off, grinning sourly. She reeled it back in, remembering what she’d agreed she needed to do now. Buffy must have noticed the sheepish look on her face because she walked over to the brunette and ruffled her hair affectionately. She slapped the blonde’s hand away.

“Stop it,” she grunted, rubbing her stiff neck. “What happened to the arm?”

“Dust.” Buffy stated, pointing vaguely to the roasting pan, “Guess that means the rest of him is too. Must have bled to death, judging by the amount of blood in the pan.” She trailed off, looking at her slightly blood-stained porch as though simply trying to figure out how to get a wine stain out of white carpet.

“Soap and club-soda should do the trick. If that still doesn’t work, work in a little baking-soda and it should come right out.” Faith stated dryly, cracking her neck loudly.

“Alright, but go take a shower. Then get dressed in something good for walking in the heat.” Faith sighed, doing as she was told. A few minutes later when she came back, Buffy had to hold in a laugh. The younger woman had to be wearing the oddest array of clothes she’d ever seen. She wore long, chunky cargo-shorts, motorcycle boots with no socks, and a t-shirt that was about the same size as the tank-top she wore the night before. Drying her hair, Faith looked at her as if to say ‘What did I do now?’

“Faith, it’s going to be hot out! It’s nearly noon!” she said, allowing herself a few laughs, “Can’t you just wear a skirt? For once in your life?” she asked good-naturedly, even offering to lend Faith one of hers. The brunette made a face and looked like she could think of nothing worse. “Come on Faith, you’re going to get heat-stroke! And they don’t look that bad; I’m sure I could find one you’d look cute in.”

“I don’t like the breeze.” She said sounding un-settled.

“If you’re worried about the wind lifting it up I can find you one that won’t? It can even be tight and form-fitting like the rest of your clothes?” she said playfully, but Faith looked at the floor.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she mumbled, “I meant the breeze” she said, pointing her finger towards the ceiling but lowing her hand. Buffy’s eyes widened when she finally got what she was saying.

“Oh. . . . Well, Faith it’s not that bad. Besides, underpants really – ”

“I didn’t bring any.” She interjected quietly.

“You didn’t . . . ?” she said slowly. Faith just gave her a hard look. “Why?”

“Because.” She said simply, tossing her used towel onto the couch where Buffy had folded her blankets and stacked her pillows, “All my ‘Form Fitting’ pants would have panty-lines, so I didn’t bring any with me.. I wouldn’t need them.”

“You know, you can remedy that by wearing seamless-underpants or thongs.” Faith made a face again.

“Thongs? They’re so trashy.”

“You know what else is considered trashy?” she said smiling, “Too much leather and overly tight clothes.” Again, Buffy received the brunette’s hard look, but it did nothing to stop her slight giggles. She simply shrugged. “Alright. Stick with that, but you’re gonna get hot.”

“Are you kidding, I’m already hot!” she said flirtatiously, “Caliente!” she said with a small shake of her behind. Buffy just shook her head, a look Faith didn’t recognize to match her half-grin.

“Multo Caldo indeed.” She said as she grabbed her purse and headed to the door. Faith frowned.

“Cold? Shit, you’re lying – I look damn good in this!” Buffy just shook her head again, and held the door for Faith.

“Just walk, Faith.” She said, gently shoving the girl forward. They walked a few blocks before the younger girl had to wipe her brow. It was hot, really hot, and she needed something to drink. As if reading her mind, Buffy turned in to a small corner store, and greeted the man inside in Italian. While she ordered something from the small coffee bar, Faith looked around. Finding a cooler, she grabbed an awkwardly shaped bottle of water.

Turning to look back to where Buffy was, she saw that the blonde was having a conversation with the older Italian man that had made her drink. They were both standing there, looking at her, obviously speaking about her, which was more than just a little unnerving.

The man then said something to Buffy that Faith couldn’t understand, but it caused Buffy to look indignant and slap the man’s shoulder as he laughed. Faith chuckled. Heading over to the small counter with her drink, she saw the large array of cigarettes on the wall. Some were as little as 2,50 Euros a pack. You’d have to be dumb not to know that was a good deal.

“Can I have this,” she said holding up the bottle in her hand, “And a pack of Luckys, filtered.” The man smiled and handed her the pack and a box of wooden matches. Asking for four Euros, Faith paid the man. She didn’t even see Buffy come to stand next to her until the small hand picked up her fresh pack.

‘Excuse me?!’ was all Buffy’s look could have said, visibly unhappy with Faith’s purchase. Faith just shrugged.

“What?” she said, defending herself, “These would cost more than six dollars in Boston or New York! This is the best deal I’ve heard in years! I’mma buy a bunch of cartons before I head back to England.” She said confidently.

“Well, you sure will fit in here.” She said sarcastically.

“Hey, B, I’ll smoke on the balcony – or not at all in your apartment if you want?” Buffy just chuckled.

“Faith, the air in this country is so thick with smoke, my apartment smells like it anyways. Besides, every guest I’ve ever had there smokes. So that’s not the problem; I just don’t understand why you’d want to.” Faith just shrugged. Truth be told, she’d really started in prison; gave her something to do.

“Alright, well, as long as it doesn’t piss you off too much.” The blonde tossed a Euro coin on the counter and they left, Buffy giving the coffee vender one last short glare as they left. They walked a few more blocks, Faith sipping from her funny-shaped-water-bottle and her Luckys burning until they rounded a corner and Faith saw a sign for a McDonalds.

“Hey, B!” she said excitedly, “Can we go in to the McDs?” Buffy looked at her like she wasn’t sure if she was kidding. She wasn’t.

“Faith, you’re in a country famous for its delicious and unique food, and you want McDonalds?” she asked incredulously. Faith rolled her eyes but nodded. “Why?” Buffy asked, not sure she wanted to know.

“Because, in every country I go, I eat at one. They have some of the best maps you can find in some places, and they mark all the McD’s in the city; so if you stay near one, it’s easy to find your way home with the map.” Buffy seemed surprised that she actually had a good argument. “Besides! I had a Lamb-Burger in one when I was in Israel, I wanna see what they have in Italian meals that they don’t have in the US.” Buffy just laughed and nodded, waving her down the street.

Buffy was shocked Faith even stopped to notice the famous 2,000-year-old building across the street from her. Faith turned to look back at her, slightly wide-eyed. She looked from the building, to the McDonalds across the street, and back to the impending building. She back tracked back to Buffy and turned to ask her.

“I’mma go out on a limb here and guess that’s what we came here to see?” Buffy nodded. “. . . Why isn’t in a museum?” she asked, a little confused as to why it was just out there and exposed like that. Buffy just chuckled.

“What? Build a building around a building? They don’t do that in Rome; it’s part of the city. People congregate here anyways. Besides, the building’s still in use.” Now, that DID shock Faith. Suddenly she was a lot less interest in McDonalds as the blonde started walking towards the large domed structure.

“What is it?” Faith asked, surprised when she reached out to touch one of the giant pillars and she wasn’t smashed down by a security guard instantly.

“This is the Pantheon. A temple built in the first century AD, turned into a church about 600 years later . . . some Christians claimed to be plagued by Demons when they walked by it, so they were given permission to disband it and turn it into ‘A House For God’. But that’s not the really cool part about it.” she said tugging the girl inside. Once indoors, Faith’s eyes widened.

All around there were beautiful paintings, a perfectly round dome as a ceiling, marble sculptures, and when Faith looked to the top she saw – there was a hole in the roof. Again, a perfect circle, in the exact center of the dome. She looked around and realize that the hole provided the only light in the temple. Buffy told her it was called “the Oculus”, which made the structural integrity of the whole dome work.

“So,” Faith said slowly, smiling at the blonde next to her – it was obvious the blonde had been here dozens of times, yet she still looked around as though fascinated. “Come here often?” she said playfully. Buffy just nudged her, smirking.

“Only a lot.” She said laughing.

“This your favorite place, or something?” she asked, genuinely curious. Buffy shook her head. “Where’s that?” she asked, but Buffy didn’t say anything so Faith tried again, “B, where’s your favorite place in the city?”

“I’ll show you another day. I think you’d like it.” she said quietly, moving to stand in the ring of light cast on the floor. Faith joined her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. They both smiled. “Ready to get that Big Mac?” she asked smiling up at the hole in the roof. Faith nodded.

After lunch, they did some more walking, saw a few more smaller, local sights as they made their way back to the apartment once it had gotten dark. All the while Buffy seemed to know loads of little details about everything they passed whether it was a building, a fountain, or a even the designs of the buildings. Although Faith was interested, she was more fascinated by how Buffy knew all this rather than the facts themselves.

“B, why the fuck do you know this?” she asked laughing as Buffy told her a funny story about a large set of doors they passed. Buffy just shrugged. “What? Did you read every travel book you could find before you got here or something?”

“Nah, before I knew enough Italian to be a waitress, I was an English-speaking tour-guide for Hotels with lots of American and Japanese tourists. But first I had to go on just about every tour I could find to learn everything I’d have to teach the people I dragged around the city. Like her,” she said, pointing to a rather severe woman walking along, blowing a whistle and holding an umbrella as high in the air as she could reach. Both girls chuckled at the sight. “Your arms get really tired, even if you are a Slayer.”

They had dinner, they even had drinks – Buffy did, Faith didn’t. And Buffy even joined her in a cigarette . . . which she choked on and then swore to never try again. Faith was not shocked when she asked her for another an hour later as they went home, having seen Faith blow a perfect smoke ring. It took nearly a quarter of a pack, but she finally got it down.

Faith was tired, dead tired, the day of walking in the hot sun had worn her out – heck, even eating seemed to wear her out! As she and Buffy settled in to watch some crazy Indian soap-opera on Mute, trying to figure out what was going on, Faith leaned back, and slowly fell asleep to the noise of the occasional mumbling from the blonde, usually “What the f-.. Huh?!”

Mission-status: Failure. At least, for that day it had been. She’d been flirty, she’d been nice, she’d even been caught checking out the blonde’s butt, but still the Littlest Slayer that Could seemed completely ignorant. And probably worst of all, the subject of the night before hadn’t even come up once, which was what she had been expecting. She thought it might be easier to break the ice. No luck. It hadn’t come up once . . . dammit. And she was getting sick of it.

So when Faith woke up a few hours later, still on Buffy’s bed, it took her brain a few seconds to catch up. She was fully dressed, leaning back against the pillows pressed to the head-board. Her side of the bed was still made, a blanket thrown over Faith with delicate care, pulled all the way up to her shoulders. On the other half of the bed Buffy slept soundly under the covers, curled up facing the edge of the bed, still gripping the pillow under her head. All that’s missing is her sucking her thumb, Faith thought to herself.

As she watched the older woman, she was no longer angry that Buffy was choosing to ignore what’d happened the night before. She looked even more beautiful than she had the night before. One of her little white tank-top’s traps was slipping off her dark bronzed shoulder, showing the heavy contrast between the fabric and her smooth porcelain-like skin. Reaching out without thinking, she ran her fingertips over the smooth and warm shoulder poking out from the thin covers.

The way Buffy stirred made Faith realize just how out-of-bounds her doing this was. Shocking her back into reality, she realized that if Buffy woke up and found her, touching her so affectionately, she’d have a number of questions to answer to. And although she wanted to tell Buffy how she felt, she was not sure this would have been the best way to get the ball rolling. “Yes, Buffy, I like touching you while you’re sleeping. That’s when it’s best; when you don’t know I’m doing it and you can’t stop me. And – oh! – by the way; I’m in love with you.” No. That wouldn’t work.

“B?” Faith asked gently, changing her light touches on the blonde’s shoulder into a gentle grip as she tried to shake her awake. “B, wake up. Come on, wake-up.” Buffy’s eyes blinked open, and she rolled over lightly.

“What’s the matter?” Buffy asked, nearly fully awake, a slightly worried look on her face.

“B,” Faith said gently, but her face was starting to harden with resolve. “You know I didn’t drink tonight, right?” Buffy’s brows knitted and she nodded, “Well . . . I still love you.” She said as though answering some deeper question. She moved her hand to gently run the backs of her knuckles down the pink cheek of this powerful woman, both in strength and in Faith’s heart. Buffy did not look as pleased. She knocked Faith’s hand away from her face and scowled a little.

“You can never be wrong, can you?” she asked sounding annoyed. “You can never be less than correct, can you? Your pride is going to get you killed one day, you know that Faith?!” now she was really confused.

“B, what are you talking about? I just – ”

“I know what you just did Faith, and I don’t think it’s funny, and I don’t appreciate it,” she angrily pulled herself up so that she was now level with the brunette, “I hate it when you do this!” she fumed. “You say something, you’re proven wrong, and you’ll do whatever it takes to prove that in some way you were in the right or it wasn’t your fault. Well, you know what Faith? You should have let it go, I knew it wasn’t you’re fault for saying that – you were drunk! Faith, I’ve said some pretty dumb thing when I was passed-five.” She looked like she was about to break something. Faith didn’t know what to do.

“B, look, I’m telling you.”

“You’re telling me you love me, Faith!” she almost yelled, “I know you may not take that too seriously, but I do! Those words mean a lot to me, I don’t take them lightly and the fact that you’re just throwing them around like it's nothing upsets me.” She looked so disappointed Faith felt a small pang of guilt in her chest, “Faith please just stop. If this is a pride thing then just know that all this pushing isn’t going to make me think any better of you, it makes me think less . . . but if you’re doing this just to make you feel better, then there’s proof enough that you’re really lying.”

With that the look of Disgust on the blonde’s face made Faith feel so empty inside. It was pointed at her, and that alone made her feel like whatever made her feel whole and alive had slowly dissolved to nothing. True, she knew the look was pointed at her because the older woman didn’t understand, but still. She was so set on not believing her, she wondered how she would get Buffy to understand that this was how she really felt. Maybe she never would.

“Buffy.” Faith said, looking down at her lap, stammering slightly as she tried to figure out what to say, “I’m . . . I guess I’m sorry I upset you.” Faith finished lamely. Not sure how to continue, she just decided to shut her mouth and keep quiet. No sooner had she decided to do that did Buffy raise a petite hand to her cheek, a small and sad smile to her lips.

“I know you are Faith.” She said simply. Running her hand down until her fingertips ran down her chin, she sighed, “Go to sleep Faith. Tomorrow’s going to be ever hotter. I’ll try and keep things slow and simple, but still try and rest.” Faith re-positioned herself on the bed, rearranging her slightly squashed pillows so that she could lay flat, as Buffy followed suit. But this time as she laid down facing Faith, the brunette felt like it would be a long time before she fell into sleep.

The next morning started a bit later than Faith had expected. Buffy had brought her a very strong coffee with foamed milk to start her off. The little cherry and chocolate pastry didn't hurt either. They sat in Buffy's kitchen, nearly silent, both eating their breakfast. Buffy was having a strange smelling tea with a bit of milk and what looked like a chocolate filled pastry in the shape of a clam. when Faith told her what it looked like, she told her just to try and it shut the brunette up ... right after Buffy shot her down after asking if she could have the rest of it.

When Buffy went to change in her room and came out with a small stack of clothes for Faith, both girls were surprised. Buffy was surprised that Faith actually put them on without a fight, and that Faith actually didn't hate them enough not to wear them.

It consisted of a thin red tank-top and a pair of white-khaki shorts. granted that both these garments belonged to Buffy meant there were a little small and a little tight on Faith and you could see her black bra through the fabric. Suddenly the blonde realized why she didn't hate them. she'd also talked Faith into borrowing a pair of underpants to wear under them. She'd agreed, but Buffy still wasn't sure if she'd actually done it...

Once out-side Buffy called them over a cab, which they hopped into and Buffy gave the instruction. If Faith had to guess what she'd said, she thought they were headed into the Spanish Quarter, but it was quite different actually. It didn't look much different, except for the fact that it seemed like it had been modernized a bit. Buffy stopped them out-side what looked like a house, or possibly the entrance into a small business, but once they walked through the walls stopped being carved marble, and became old, like clay, and there was a smell.

"B..." Faith asked wearily, slightly recognizing the looming smell "Why does it smell like death in here?" Buffy just put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled a little.

"I can't think of anyone who'd appreciate this more than you. Everyone I've told about this can't quite grasp it or they run out of here nearly puking." Faith raised an eye brow. "Trust me Faith, Spike told me about this place years ago, said this was something any Slayer in Rome had to see. So that includes you," she added smiling widely.

As they passed through a dark brown burlap curtain there was a small group of people inside. The smell was stronger, and their heightened Slayer senses picked up on the fact that this was old death, but the smell was not super-natural, this was human death. As Faith moved forward to try and look at some of the things sold in the small room, she realized this was some kind of church. They sold rosary beads and wooden cross necklaces ranging it sizes from very small and delicately carved to 80s-rapper-fashion-feu-pah.

"NO!" a man yelled at her as she tried to pass him, "Not Free! NOT FREE!" he yelled, sounding very annoyed. he'd grabbed Faith's arm, which had slightly shocked the brunette. she nodded as if to say 'Yeah, I know, this is a store, you have to pay for it.' She removed his hand and rubbed her arm lightly. He'd had a tight grip, and it sort of shocked her.

Buffy stepped up next to her and handed the man a five-Euro note and linked arms with Faith. The man then smiled widely, a large fake grin spread over his face. His teeth were darkly yellowed, with hints of green that made Faith wonder if this man had ever even seen a toothbrush before in his life. But considering the younger girl had been in Italy for three days now and this was the first less than kind person she'd encountered, that was still a huge stack in the plus column.

"Technically, it is free, but they need money in order to keep the exhibit running. The man, he deals with a lot of rude people, but still... he's a jerk, he's like that to everyone." With that she led Faith through a small door off to the side with iron grating along the side of the passageway. Not more than three feet into the little tunnel and Faith's eyes bugged almost out of her head.

"SHIT, B!" Faith almost yelled, 'causing the rude old man to yell at her in Italian, no doubt cursing, "What the fuck is this?!" that just made Buffy laugh as she watched the play of emotions on the brunette's face. Her upper lip curled in disgust and her eye brows knitted. her nose curled slightly from realizing what the smell was, and Buffy just watched.

They had entered a chapel of the Padres Cappucco, the sign over the small alter had said so.

"The whole church is like this." Buffy said quietly, "They're called 'the white hatted fathers'. They're how Cappuccinos got their name. because they wore brown robes with small white hats under their hoods. But, the problem was, they had lots of brothers and many members, but so little room and even less money. they didn't have enough space to burry their dead and to build private chapels to worship in, not to mention money they'd need to decorate them. So, they killed three birds with one stone..."

The small room, which couldn't have been larger than ten feet by fifteen, had a dirt floor with several crosses inserted into the ground, and a large grate in front of it to keep the visitors from disturbing the long sleeping monks. But the disturbing part was, the monks weren't buried. But that wasn't all. the bodies had been taken apart, and the pieces were used to create designs and patterns on the floor, walls, ceiling.

Even the alter was made entirely of Dead Monk Parts. The legs of the table made of Femur bones and the table top of rows of spinal column and shoulder-blades. They'd turned the walls into shelves where the bodies of some whole monks rested in open air. The ornate Fixtures around the back wall were made by stacking skulls and arm and leg bones, almost like Log Cabin play-sets. The whole things was more than just a little disturbing.

"...Sweet." Faith said slowly, a wicked smile creeping up the side of her face. Buffy chuckled and smiled, to which Faith ruffled the blonde's hair. "Well, you sure picked the right girl to come here with," she said. Buffy nodded and pulled her to see the next room. There were four in total, all of which had their own unique kind of weirdness.

The last room was Faith's favorite. On the ceiling there was the body of either a very small monk, or possibly a child, symbolizing the Angel Of Death, complete with scales and Scythe made of legs, shoulder-blades and finger bones. On their way out, Faith bought a set of post-cards from the rude man. He wagged his finger at her and growled something in Italian, to which Faith turned to Buffy for a translation.

"He basically said that if you swear in a church you're gonna be damned to hell forever." She explained walking a little ways up the block. Faith just scoffed.

"Please, if I'm going to Hell, it'll be for much worse than swearing in church." They both just laughed, and kept walking.

"You up for a late lunch?" Buffy said, checking her watch and seeing that it was about 2:00.

"B, when have you ever known me NOT to be hungry? Honestly. there's just hungry, and extra hungry." Buffy smiled and kept walking up the small curving hill.

"I just thought that maybe after that you might not be too eager to eat," she defended laughing.

"Please!" Faith dismissed, "Nothing has ever made me lose my appetite to date. But there are things that make me want food. Two things in particular, in fact..." she said, tapering off into a flirtatious tone. Buffy looked at her through the corner of her eye, a slight smirk in place.

"Well, the entire Scooby-Gang knows what one of those things are, my self included... do I even want to ask what the other is?" Faith just grinned more and shoved her hands into the pockets of her shorts.

"That's all a vicious circle. Slaying makes me hungry and horny, Eating gets me a little hot if the foods good enough, and makes me antsy, so it makes me want to use up my energy either Slaying or fucking... all those feelings just feed on each-other." She noticed that Buffy had stopped walking, staring at her in humor and disbelief, shaking her head slightly.

"You're the queen of temperance, Faith, you know that?" Faith looked at her confused. "Plato and Socrates would have been proud, oh Philosopher Queen." Buffy said going into a deep, fake bow.

"What the fuck are you blabbering on about?" Faith asked, trying to catch up as the blonde started walking again. Buffy just chuckled and started walking backwards so she could talk to the girl more directly.

"Plato and Socrates designed a plan for a Utopia in which there were these people that ran the state called Philosopher Kings. They had to have certain qualities in order to become good rulers, that they had been honing and perfecting all their lives. There were four, I don't remember what all of them were, but what they valued more than anything was Temperance." Faith's eyebrows climbed slightly. Buffy reads philosophy? Faith wondered, since when did that happen?

"What do you mean by temperance?"

"It means... self sacrificing, but more than that. It means you do things in moderation, especially things that you may want to do, but you already know will yield bad results." Faith just scoffed.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that. B, does that sound like me at all? When have I ever lived in moderation, or done things I don't want to?" Buffy just looked at her sympathetically.

"I know. But they say that it help makes a more complete, happier person."

"How could not doing what you want make you a happier person."

"Because when you do everything your will wants when it tells you to, soon you become a slave to your wants... you'll lose self-control. Someone who can control their desires is a happier person on the whole, even if it means they have to give up what they want sometimes." Just as Faith was about to respond with the highly witty and deep response of 'Oh yeah? Well that's bull-shit!' she saw the sign above the door that Buffy was holding open for her with a grin.

"Hard Rock Cafe!" she said happily, looking up at the unmistakable sign, "Oh, Yes!" she said heading inside quickly. Turning to face Buffy suddenly, she had a sudden thought. "What ever happened to all your righteousness about how I'm in Italy, I should be eating Italian food 'cause blah blah blah?"

"Hey, I love American food. in fact, hanging out with you has made me realize I actually really miss it." The expression on the blonde's face changed slightly to something Faith couldn't quite pin down to a word. "Whatta ya think? Burger... fries... maybe a beer, what do you say?" Faith's smile slowly sank into a honest grin at realizing there was something here; Buffy was asking her something. She didn't know what it was, but she wanted it.

"Yeah. Sure, that sounds... pretty nice." They nodded, and a woman took them to a table. As they ate they talked about a lot of little things, traded stories about vampires they'd killed, places they'd been to or visited.

Faith was surprised that Buffy actually did have a beer with her lunch. Faith had one too, deciding that one would be fine, it wouldn't make her drunk, and Buffy would know it. There was something about the whole thing that made Faith so calm, like it was the most natural thing in the world, like they were old friends instead of old enemies. But then a grin came to her face as she remembered that before they were ever enemies, they were friends.

After eating their lunch and paying the bill they made their way back out-side and back down the hill, towards the church they'd just left and further down a little ways. As they walked they didn't say much but both seemed perfectly alright with it. A number of time their hands brushed as they walked along together, and each time Faith had the urge to just take Buffy's hand into hers. She wasn't sure why, it was a fairly simple and polite form of showing affections, and it was entirely not her style, but she still wanted to.

"What was the last movie you saw, Faith?" Buffy asked. The brunette thought about it, curious.

"I dunno. why do you ask?" Buffy had just stopped and shrugged, a mysterious smile to her lips. "Uh... Spiderman 2 I think."

"I haven't seen that one. Granted I saw the first one under protest, Xander asking Willow and I to go with him 'cause he didn't want to be the only person there over the age of eleven." Buffy took her hand this time and led her through a pair of doors. Suddenly Faith found herself in the lobby of movie theater. It was quickly becoming obvious that nothing here was what it seemed.

"Would you mind seeing it again?" Buffy asked, still holding her hand, "I haven't seen it, and it's really funny watching movies in other languages," she said, as a way of enticement. That's when Faith saw that all the adds for the films were in Italian. "Think you can explain the parts I don't get to me?" she asked. Faith thought about it for a second, then smiled, nodding.

"So, if the movie gonna be in Italian?" Faith asked as they walked towards the box-office.

"Yeah, with german sub-titles," she looked at the times of the films and stood on her tip-toes to see over a man's shoulder. "They play movies in english one week-end every month. But they're usually older films, more famous ones. I saw Silence Of The Lambs here last month. I love that film." When they got up to the counter Buffy bought their tickets for them, and then started to head back out of the theater again, to which Faith simply followed.

"Faith, our movie doesn't start for another hour, so we have some time to kill. I thought maybe you'd like to go next-door and check in with Willow, or Giles?" she said, offering. "Also, I'd kind of like to check my E-mail too; we don't have internet at the house." Faith just nodded and followed her, showing her how InternetTrain worked.

"I'll give you some privacy," she said, walking further back into the store, picking a computer towards the back." Faith sat down and signed in to MSN Messenger. almost instantly she got a note from Willow.

RedWitch81: Faith, where is your report?

SWAT1Slayer: I'm working on it. I'm also on vacation, remember?

RedWitch81: Yeah, Faith, after you're done with the report!

SWAT1Slayer: Why not both at once? besides, don't you think that if I make nice she's more likely to tell me things?

RedWitch81: Faith, your report was due today. I Still want it on my desk by the end of today; is that clear?

SWAT1Slayer: yeah, it's crystal clear, but it's not gonna happen. I haven't even finished the interview.

RedWitch81: WHAT?! Faith, if I don't have the paper on my desk by the time your 5 days are up, I'm tele-porting you here to give your report in person, is that clear?

SWAT1Slayer: yes mother...

They continued on like that for a while, Willow asking her questions and Faith giving minimal answers. she told her Dawn was fine, on a school trip in Florence, she told her that Buffy was no longer seeing the Immortal and it was her doing. she told her what she'd seen so far and what they'd done. It was pretty obvious that Willow was jealous.

She'd never been to Italy before, and she'd always wanted to go -- that was no Scooby-secret. It also seemed that she was more than just a bit jealous of what Faith and Buffy had been up to. it was obvious that Willow was missing Buffy, even if she loved living with Kennedy and life in Rio.

Faith said she ought to take some time off and see the sights for herself, that it seemed like just the place for Willow to vacation. Willow brushed it off, saying Kennedy hated Italian food (and Buffy), and she didn't think it'd be polite to go on a vacation without her girl-friend. Faith just told her not to completely reject the idea, keep her options open.

A little while later Faith felt a tap on her shoulder, to find Buffy standing behind her, saying she'd finished and she'd be having a coffee at the bar in the front of the little cafe. Faith nodded saying she was almost done, quickly telling Willow good bye and signing off before the redhead could get a word in, she pulled her little card out of the computer and tucked it into her wallet.

Since the blonde had paid for the tickets, Faith decided she'd buy them their food at the movies. Buffy sure would be a cheap date, Faith thought as she looked at the older girl's water and small pop-corn, I dunno how she can eat so little... Faith herself had gotten red-vines and a large pop-corn/soda combo that even came with a free toy. It was a little plastic sling-shot the broke the third time Faith tried to use it, flinging popcorn at Buffy. They both laughed about it.

Stepping into the theater they saw that it was almost empty. The only people in there were a german couple, sitting in the far back and chatting about something they both couldn't understand. Other than that, only three people, singles, sitting in random spots in the tiny little theater. Sitting down towards the screen, they settled in.

Once the movie started, Faith couldn't stop laughing at the dubbing they'd done on the movie. Every time someone talked, she'd bust a gut laughing. Buffy would shove her a little, but also giggle herself. All the men's voices were smokey and deep, and all the women had high voices and all sounded exactly the same. They were having a lot of fun.

Once the action started to lull, and it got into the mushy introspective scenes that every super-hero movie gets, Faith started to get a little bored. She knew the gist of it, but she couldn't understand the words this time around. Looking at Buffy she saw that she was actually watching it. Yeah, Faith thought, 'cause she understands it. Admiring the concentrating look on the blonde's face, an idea came to the younger girl's mind. A sly and playful grin marring the brunette's lips, she gave a deep, fake yawn and stretched her arms high over her head.

Buffy only glanced in her direction, but the small twitch of a smile on her face wasn't missed by Faith even in the dark of the room. As she let her arm fall over the back of Buffy's chair, she smiled to herself, thinking that Buffy would give her a look and slap her arm away, giving ample distraction until the action bits picked up again. No such luck.

"Slick moves Faith," Buffy said quietly, still watching the movie, "Xander teach you that one?" Faith gasped in mock out-rage.

"Yes! Why?" she said playfully. They both just chuckled, and then went back to watching the film. Without even realizing it, Faith's really had slipped down off the back of the seat, and on to Buffy's shoulders.

When she'd realized it'd happened, and she looked to see if the older girl had noticed, it seemed that she hadn't. She still just sat there, watching, a small smile on her face. Seeing no reason to move it, she just left it there. As the huge action scene started and they seemed to settle in to the movie again, little else breeching their consciousness, both of them realized how comfortable they were.

It struck Faith as kind of odd that as they did these small things that were supposed to be sort of awkward when shared the first time, that they came off quite easily. their first kisses a few nights ago, sharing lunch or dinner, going to the movies, even sitting quietly together over breakfast and the morning paper. Faith had expected more resistance. But then she remembered; Buffy refused to believe her when she told her that she'd loved her. That's more than enough resistance, I think, Faith decided.

"What the hell?" Faith asked as the lights suddenly came on and the movie stopped right in the middle of the film. "What are they doing?" Faith asked Buffy.

"It's intermission. There's a five minute break in the middle of the movie so you can get more food or go to the bathroom." Buffy chuckled, "Only American films don't have intermissions, it seems." Faith wasn't so quick to agree, but it seemed like a good idea. They both sat there with no movie to distract them, Faith's arm over Buffy's shoulder, and the brunette couldn't think of anything to say.

"So," Buffy started, a little slow, "What the hell is going on?" she asked, chuckling. "I have no idea what's going on, except Spiderman seems to be sick and that doctor guy is going crazy and robbing banks." Faith smiled and laughed, explaining it to Buffy. Just as she finished the lights turned back off and she was shushed by someone a few rows back.

"Ah - you Shush!" she yelled back. Buffy slapped the hand on her shoulder lightly, and but held it in her own. Faith was a little surprised, but didn't mind. they stayed like that for the rest of the film until the younger girl felt a weight on her shoulder. Buffy's head had fallen there, her eyes a little droopy, but determined to stay open. Faith watched her from then on, only looked at the screen every few minutes when there was a loud crash or an explosion. Buffy never fell asleep, but she didn't lift her head either.

The film ended, and people got up, and the two Slayers grabbed their stuff and headed out. They kept walking down the road a ways, at Buffy's lead, down the hill until they saw a large opening down at the bottom; a plaza with a large set of steps. There was a large fountain at its base where they stood and church at the stop of the huge set of stairs.

"La Scalanata Di'Spania." Buffy said, taking Faith's hand in hers, pulling towards the fountain, "The Spanish Steps. That Building at the top of the stairs used to be the Spanish Embassy back a couple of hundred years ago, before they turned it into a hotel. They paid for the building of the steps, and slowly this became a place for commerce. Slowly over the years this place became the place for high end stores and expensive shopping. Prada, Gucci, Dolce & Gabana, all those kinda stores can be found down here. Many of them are several stories tall and have glass elevators inside so you can look at the clothes as you change floors." That made Faith laugh.

Around the fountain were many small children, and also a good deal of adults. it was pretty easy to tell who was a tourist and who was a native. All the tourists were standing around in groups, taking pictures, chugging down bottles of water, wearing dopey touristy hats, saying things like "Me Tiamo Roma!" Meanwhile the natives were sitting IN the fountain, drinking straight out of it, and making funny faces in the back-ground of people's photos.

Buffy pulled her right to the edge of the fountain and put her hands into the cool water. It looked so beautiful, such a perfect light shade of blue, contrasting with the white plaster, marble, and alabaster of the fountain. Buffy patted her wet hands onto the back of her neck, closing her eyes and sighing contentedly as it cooled her. Even in the early evening it was hot, and Faith was quick to follow suit.

"You want to wonder a little, see if there's anything you'd like to buy?" Buffy asked, after taking a sip of the water. Faith made a face.

"I'm really not a Gucci kinda girl, B." Faith said, leaning down to take a sip herself. Before the water touched her lips, slayer-fast reflexes stopped her. Looking up at Buffy, who's hand clutched her wrists, she shook her head.

"I wouldn't do that unless you want intestinal flu," she warned. Faith un-cupped her hands and stood up again, making a whole different face. "Sorry, but you have to build up a tolerance for the water here. True, since they started renovating all the fountains in the city they've cleaned the water up a lot, but still not a good idea... Americans don't have the stomach for it, it seems."

"Thanks for the warning. I only have two days left... wouldn't want to spend them sick." Buffy nodded. "Besides, we still have to finish the interview... I get a threat from Willow." Buffy smiled sadly and nodded.

"Yeah, maybe we should get back to the apartment a little early to get more of that done..." she said trailing off. Faith nodded, wiping her wet hands on her shorts. "Why don't we meander for a while, look at a couple shops, see if there's anything to interest you, and then we can have an early dinner before heading back. Sound good?"

"Sure, I could be up for that." They walked down the road a little ways, passing a myriad of shops, not all of which had high-end designer label. They passed a Monte Blonk store, a store that had-made leather bound books that were guaranteed to last at least 150 years. Then they hit a few stores that were a little more to Faith's taste.

She bought fish-net tank-tops in a few colors, a few pairs of shorts for her to wear so that she didn't have to borrow Buffy's anymore, and a new pair of leather pants, which were dirt cheap.

"They're from Florence, that's why." Buffy explains as she she advised Faith not to try and wear those pants while still in Rome.

"What does were they're made have to do with how much they cost?" the brunette asked as she paid for her shopping with her Counsel credit-card. "How do I say thank you?" she asked Buffy quietly.

"Gratzi." Buffy said quickly as Faith repeated it to the attendant. "And it's because Florence is famous for a few key things. It's home to what is expected to be about 70 of renaissance art, amazing food - most notable beef, and lastly leather. They're famous for their tanning and leather work. Have been for hundreds of years." Faith nodded, chuckling.

"I'm guess the beef and leather thing go hand in hand?" Buffy just smiled and and shook her head. "Sounds like my kind of town." Faith said, adjusting her bags as they made their way back towards the steps. It was already starting to get dark, but just mildly. They made their way back a few streets before Buffy took Faith by the elbow and led her down a small side ally.

"Where does this lead?" she asked playfully. Buffy just smiled up at her sweetly. Faith was almost positive she was flirting with her. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, she followed without question. As they walked along for a block Faith suddenly saw what the blonde must have been looking for.

Where as most of the buildings around here were fairly modern, made of metal and plaster and concrete, there was one shop along the narrow street that stuck out like a sore thumb. It was a little wooden hovel of a shop, as though everything else was simply made to build around it seamlessly. In the slowly dimming light on the street, the ward orange light coming from the windows of the shop was welcoming and gave it a home-like feel.

Buffy took her free hand and lead her under the small green and white striped oning, they looked over the menu. Faith could read very little of it, so for the most part she pointed and Buffy told her what it was. Just as Buffy was telling the younger girl that she had to try the summer vegetable risotto, there was a loud, deep, booming voice echoing in the little ally.

"Ah! Signoras!" it was a large rather portly man with a thick mustache standing at the entrance to the restaurant's doors, and he was smiling broadly at them, "Booffy! What are you doing here?" he asked her happily kissing both her cheeks as the other waiter had, though this one seemed better at English, "Where is the little one, I miss her so much, did she leave for that trip?" Buffy laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, Anton she did. she'll be back soon, ready for more of your amazing bread-sticks." They both laughed and he hugged her. "Oh! Anton, this is my good friend Faith, she's visiting me for a few days." He smiled and looked her over in mock seriousness. Faith looked back confidently.

"I like dees one!" he declared, "She ees fiery inside! She has an Italian spirit." She had, cuffing her on the back pretty hard, but then again she was a Slayer. Faith smiled and thanked the man, then turned to smirk at Buffy. "I will get you menus, and bread-sticks, you ladies seet out-side; eet'sa wonderful night."

"Are you sure? we could sit in-side?" Buffy offered.

"No! I insist! Sit, please!" he said happily as he walked off. They both sat down at a small table with a red and white plaid table-clothe. Faith pulled out her half empty pack of Luckys and lit one.

"Man, this shit is straight out of Lady & The Tramp, B, this is sick," she said laughing and taking a drag. "That guy's pretty cool though... I take it you and Little'D come down here a lot?" Buffy smiled calmly and nodded.

"Dawn loves that book-store I showed you. She wants to be a watcher someday, so she's been writing down everything having to do with Slaying lately. She even stays up late to interview me after patrols some times..." Buffy chuckled and leaned back in her chair, just looking at Faith quietly. Faith looked back, not saying anything, unaware that slowly a grin crept up the corners of her mouth.

"So Faith..." Buffy started, but never finished as just then Anton popped back up with a basket of warm bread-sticks and a small dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

"Enjoy, my piccoli tesori." Buffy laughed where as Faith looked confused. "What weell you have?" Buffy then took off in a huge wave of ordering, after every item Anton would then say Va Bene. At one point Buffy smiled slyly, asking the man to come closer and whispered something in his ear, to which the man smiled wildly and burst into laughter and started cheering.

"Benisimo! Benissimo! Bravo Bravo!" and he quickly jogged off to get whatever it was that they'd ordered.

"What did he call us? and what exactly did you say to him?" Faith asked suspiciously.

"He called us 'Darling Little Ones', and I asked him to get you a nice white wine to go with your risotto, and a small bottle of Vino Rosso to split."

"Uh, B, I'm not so much a wine kind of girl..." she said wearily, not wanting to be rude and just tell her she didn't want it.

"Just try it, if you don't like it, I'll buy you as many beers or shots of Grappa as you want," she said smiling. Faith just blanched slightly at the mention of the 'G-Word'.

"No More Grappa," she vowed, "That stuff side-swiped me. Besides, after the first night... not so sure than drinking is high on my list of things to do." Buffy nodded, but didn't look away like Faith had expected her to.

"That's fine. Drink as much as you like, but I would highly recommend the Vino Rosso." They sat and talked for a while, simple little things, eating their soft bread-sticks, dipping them in the sauce and exchanging stories. Once their food and wine arrived, there was very little talking, but it was a happy and comfortable silence. Just as they'd finished their meals and had ordered desert coffees a group of musician showed up and asked them if they'd like them to play a song for them.

Faith asked them to play a bunch of songs they didn't know or couldn't play on their instruments. Finally she conceded and asked asked them to play an Italian love song. Oddly enough, they played the song from Lady & The Tramp, which caused both girls too crack up laughing as they listened. The few other customers that'd joined them in the patio of the resteraunt were mostly American as well and knew the song as well. One man, which a surprisingly good voice, even started singing along.

"All we're missing is the Spaghetti!" Faith said chortling. Buffy almost hunched over laughing. When they finished, everyone clapped and Buffy handed him a 5Euro note, and he moved on to the other customers. Faith smiled, glad that she had had those two glasses of wine, it was just enough to warm her tummy and keep her relaxed when Buffy's leg brushed hers under the table.

"B, how much wine did you have?" she asked playfully, trying to imitate her a little. Buffy just snorted, and recovered.

"About as much as you, maybe a half a glass more," she defended.

"Well if you're at the footsy-stage we'd better get you in bed - quick!" Faith said repeating the blonde's words from the night before.

"It's not the drink, Faith," Buffy assured her, "I think it's just in the air tonight. Look -" she said, pointing over to the other people in the street and at tables nearby. Everyone was paired off, most of them were nestled close, leaning over the table or holding hands. "Love... I think it's an Italian thing." Faith just sort of smiled and admired all the happy people and their others.

"When in Rome" she whispered to herself. Looking down at the table-clothe, she reached across the table and tentatively took Buffy's hand in her own. The small treblings of her fingers must not have been lost on the blonde, because she held it firmly in her own. Once she felt the small thumb run gently along the back of her hand, she knew she had to look up.

"Hey." Buffy whispered, a small smile creeping up the side of her left cheek. Taking Faith's hand and running the back of its fingers against her cheek, she smiled a little more. They didn't even notice Anton standing next to them with their coffee until he cleared his throat. Their eyes snapping up to look at him, he had a smug look on his face.

"Ahh yes, a good friend I see, a berry berry good friend," he teased, and left the coffee.

"Anton!" Buffy said indignantly but still laughing.

"Che Cosa, Regatsa? I like her! 'Tough-Stuff', eh?" he said happily as he walked off again. Faith was more than just a little surprised that she was blushing.

"Uhhh, what just happened?" she asked. Buffy smiled sheepishly.

"We got caught. He thinks we're cute and funny, but I have a feeling he's going to be telling Dawny about this at some point," she said, voice effected by the laughter she was trying to hold in. "And he thinks you're butch."

"What?!" she asked indignant. "I am not butch! I'm just... not... Femme-y." Buffy just patted her hand with her free one and put on a sarcastically sympathetic face. "Shut-up B!" she said dipping her fingers into her ice-water and flicking it at the blonde, who laughed but recovered in time to cover her face with one of the menus.

"All right, all right! I wasn't the one who said it!"

"Yeah yeah yeah..." just then music started up near by, the sound of it drifting through the streets and ally-ways until it reached the ears of the Slayers and the people sitting near by. "What's that?"

"Oh, that's The Gathering, or Il Gruppo. At night teenagers gather at the base of the Spanish Steps and sing, play american music. It's lots of fun, a bunch of American students hang out there."

"Sounds like a party!" Faith said excitedly. Quickly gulping down her amazingly strong coffee and waving her arm to ask Buffy to do the same, Buffy just laughed.

"We still have to get the check, Faith, calm down!" she said, sipping her latta at a sane speed. She waved to Anton, who got the gist and dropped off their check. Leaving a few Euro-notes in the folded bill, they left and headed back towards the Steps. Faith trying to lead the way, following the music and trotting along excitedly.

"Faith, calm down! they do this almost every night! besides, if you wanted to go to a club, we can do that tomorrow night, this is pretty small scale." Faith turned around quickly.

"Club?" she asked, her interest peaked, "Where?" Buffy smiled slyly.

"It's a secret," she said teasingly. "That's the whole point of it. It was made so that only the people who have been there know where it is... it's all by word of mouth. Trust me, you'll love it," she said, letting her arm slip over Faith's shoulder. "Besides, don't you and I have to get home and finish that thing for Willow?" Faith pulled a face, and groaned.

"Ugh, you had to bring that up, didn't you?" she grumbled.

"Come on, we can go and hang out for a few minutes. There's a sub-way station not a hundred feet from there. Come on," she said leading her.

They made their way back into the large square. Cabs were stopping in front of the fountain and people were getting out to gather around the steps. About 100, 150 people were gathered at the base of the stairs and a tall Italian man with a crew cut was strumming a guitar and singing a Beatles song loudly, the rest of the steps chorusing him and dancing around. Street vendors and peddlers were wondering around selling things, Gypsies could be seen trying to steal things from drunken people who were not paying attention to their bags or cameras at all.

They stayed and sang, danced around, swayed and laughed at the drunk people getting their stuff stolen. As Buffy felt a Gypsie try and steal her money out of her pocket she turned around and slammed one home, punching him straight across the chin. He hit the marble steps with a flump, and Buffy reached down to pick up the large, worn back-pack he had with him.

"Anyone missing an Elf 650?" she asked the group loudly, holding up the little camera. People instantly started searching their stuff. "Or a fake Louie Viton wallet?" she started going through the bag and handing people their stuff back. The singing and dancing went on a while longer with the man and his guitar, until a man got out of the cab with a large boom-box, and placed it on the lower landing of the stairs. Everyone started cheering as Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll" started booming through the street.

An Italian boy came up to Buffy and asked her to dance. Buffy turned to look at Faith who suddenly had a deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face. If she asked Buffy not to dance with him, would that be bad? Why did she even have to look at me for conformation? Faith wondered, I mean... We're not... Are we? she suddenly became very nervous, and Buffy turned to tell the boy no.

"Faith, what's wrong? Are you feeling alright?" she asked, having seen Faith go a little pale.

"Yeah. Yeah, B, I'm good. Why didn't you dance with him?" she asked, trying to cover.

"Because I'd rather dance with you," she said, taking the brunette's hand and pulling her towards the fountain and the street where everyone else was dancing. They danced along wildly with everyone else, jumping and singing along with the music. Someone put in a pop mix, and soon people were dancing to what Faith simply called 'That Annoying Justin Timberlake Song'.

It may have been annoying to Faith, but it sure was popular. Just about everyone who wasn't dancing before was dancing now. They filled the street almost entirely, but no one seemed to mind. There weren't any cars trying to get by except for the Cabs that were dropping people off. Other than that it was just the occasional Vespa or scooter passing by, or people renting those little carriages nearby and riding them off into the night.

Buffy and Faith kept dancing, both together and with the people near them. Faith met a boy from Kansas who was in Rome for a scholarship in History and he was so glad that there were so many americans there. She also met a man, about a year older than her who was from Boston, not far from where she'd lived. But he was Italian by blood, and having grown up in the Irish part of Boston (though she wasn't Irish herself) made her a little weary. Old rivalries... she knew they existed for a reason, she just didn't know what that reason was.

It didn't take long for people to start climbing into the fountain itself to dance. It was a very hot night, muggy and wet in the air. People were dancing and splashing, laughing it up and singing along to the booming radio. As soon as Britney Spears' 'I'm a Slave 4 You' started, Buffy too jumped into the fountain, dancing along with some of the more wilder people. At first Faith just laughed as the blonde tried to wave her in, but when she was grabbed from behind by that same, very attractive, Italian boy from before, she found herself both quickly motivated, and very wet.

Almost diving in, she wadded through the three feet of water to where Buffy was. As the blonde did a surprisingly accurate depiction of the Pop-Diva's dancing in the music video Faith was both shocked and more than just a little turned on. The way the fabric of her sun-dress clung to her body and all her curves in what had to be just the right way the brunette had to hold back from just tackling the girl and drowning them both.

Wrapping her arms around Buffy's middle and holding her close, they danced together. The boy standing behind the blonde still tried to find a way into this, but was finding it difficult. Every time he tried to sandwiching her between himself and Faith, Buffy would turn around and start bumping her back against Faith and find himself being ignore entirely. The closeness and intimacy of their dancing seemed to be increasing by the minute.

And although Faith had an affinity for a certain small blonde in particular, she wouldn't say that was her 'type'. So when Christina Agulara's 'Dirty' came on, her first notion was to scoff at it. She thought it was a pretty ridiculous song, made only worse by the delivery of the music-video. But... Uhhhhh ... Watching Buffy dance to it gave her a slightly altered impression of it.

The way Buffy started dancing wildly, twisting and thrusting her hips back against Faith, throwing her arms up and undulating her body to the beat of the music, thrashing and twisting... Buffy was the snake charmer and Faith was the cobra. She couldn't not watch, she couldn't not try and follow her moves, couldn't try and touch her, feel her moving under her fingers.

The feeling of the wet cotton under her fingers, the warmth of Buffy's own skin coming through the cool water made a tickle start in Faith's stomach, heating her breath and and making her think things, impossible things, but they all seemed so real, like she could almost feel them already. If this was a seduction, gods was it ever working. Her hair wet and handing in strings around her face, the way her sopping dress made it so that she could almost see her bra and underpants through the delicate fabric... it was one of the sexiest things she'd ever seen.

And she wasn't the only one aroused. Faith could see the small peaks of the blonde's nipples straightening against the fabric of her clothes. Sure they were both covering in the cool water, but the night was still terribly hot, causing their moist clothes to warm quickly. And Faith was sure that water wasn't the first thing that wetted the blonde's panties that night. At least, she knew it wasn't for her... educated guess.

Stepping closer behind the blonde, wanting so badly to just grab the woman and take her by any means almost irresistible to her now, when all of a sudden - both she and Buffy were submerged at the bottom of the fountain, Buffy landing flat on top of the brunette. Sitting up, wiping water from their faces, Buffy giggled.

"Sorry," she said, still laughing, "I slipped on something at the bottom of the fountain..." she trailed off, pushing some of Faith's hair back behind her ears, looking at her lips, and panting lightly from her dancing and, maybe, something more. Just as Faith was about to lean in to kiss her, finally, something she'd been trying to figure out how to do almost all day, The music stopped at the sound of the S.P.Q.R. Police arriving.

Buffy quickly grabbed Faith's hand and almost everyone made a mad dash to get out of there. It was almost 2am, and on of the nearby hotels must have called the cops on them, Buffy explained as they dashed for the under-ground stop not far off. Dropping a few Euro coins into the stalls and jumping on a train that'd just arrived, they laughed about the whole thing as people gave them looks on the train.

Once they arrived at their stop a few blocks from Via Dell'Orso, the both took of their shoes, their tired feet begging them to. Walking the last block with their arms linked, Buffy leaning her head on Faith's shoulder, they both fell silent. Deep in thought over what had happened in the last 24 hours almost made Faith's head spin. But in a good way, if that's possible. She'd not expected any of it, least of all ending up in a fountain dancing with the blonde. But it seemed fitting in some way. As they made their way into Buffy's apartment both heaved a sigh of relief as the door swung open.

"Ughhhhh" Buffy groaned, pitched herself onto Faith's couch, "Being a hostess is hard," she whined in a child's voice. Faith smiled and sat on the opposite end of the couch, taking Buffy's hands into her lap, rubbing her feet absently. "Mmmm, that's perfect," she sighed, leaning back against the armrest of the couch, her back arching as she stretched her body lightly.

"Why did you ignore Willow and Giles' advice in staying away from Dorian?" Faith asked her calmly. Buffy's eyes popped open, craning her neck to look at the brunette.

"Excuse me?"

"My interview," Faith said, "Just thought I'd get some of it out of the way while you were so open and venerable to me." she said playfully. Buffy's eyes slid shut as she leaned back again, a small smirk on her face.

"Here I thought you would have used the opportunity for a more personal gain..." Oh yeah, Faith thought, she's flirting with me.

"Well, there's always tomorrow right?" Buffy just sighed and wiggled her toes. "So? Why didn't you listen to them?"

"Well, I thought my love life was something that should be up to me," she defended calmly, "If they'd told me they didn't think it was wise for me to date him as a father and a best friend, I might have been more willing to listen; but telling me as my colleagues and as my advisors... it seemed sort of sick. If they thought he wasn't good for me, or right for me, then they could have talked to me as friends, but trying to pull rank on me and saying it was about their jobs rather than their duty to me as loved one... it was a little disturbing." She sounded hurt, which made sense, hearing where she was coming from.

"So yeah, I'll be the first to admit it; part of my dating Dorian was out of spite. But not most of it. Most of it was because he was sexy and sweet and kind and that that sort of old-world charm... which makes sense, since he is very old." At that she laughed a little, and Faith nodded silently, now just lightly tickling the in-step of the blonde's feet, making her giggle. "Stop that!" she laughed.

"But what if they really did believe it? Like, they thought you might be in danger as a Slayer becasue of this guy?" Buffy just shrugged. "B, come on, what if that was why?"

"I'm not stupid you know." Buffy mumbled, "I do know who he is, how he works. I know he takes an interest in things that are usually more than human... Werewolves, Vampires, Slayers. I knew I wasn't his first Slayer, that didn't bother, and the last one came out of it just fine. Once I knew who he was I hit streets, learned all about him. I knew he wasn't a threat... he was nothing but good to me. Even still, he's giving me advice on how to invest for Dawn's College fund." Faith nodded, but kept going.

"But did you ever think that maybe, since everyone's so spread out all over the world, maybe they were just trying their hardest to look out for you, since they can't be there for you if you need if should something happen?" Buffy didn't answer, she just lay there, her breath even and her eyes closed. "... B?" she asked. Leaning over a little, placing a hand over Buffy's, seeing if she was asleep, "B?" she whispered.

"I'm awake Faith," she said quietly, something odd about her tone, like remorse. "No, I didn't think of that." She opened her eyes, blinking a few times, pulling her self up into a sitting position, putting her feet on the ground. "Do you really think that's what they were doing?" she asked, sounding almost hopeful, yet still like remorse. Faith put a comforting arm on her shoulder and rubbed it gently, not saying anything.

"Good night Faith." Buffy said, getting up slowly, reaching down to pick her shoes up off the coffee table where she'd left them. "I'mma go take a shower, you take one when I'm done if you want?" she offered.

"Nah, thanks anyways B; I'll just take one tomorrow morning. I'm a little wiped out."

"I'll go get you your blankets then." Walking in to the other room, Faith sighed deeply and laid back. Stretching her arms over her head, going into a full body pull, she groaned at how good it felt to pop all those joints that were tired but happy. Resting her hands behind her head, looking at the ceiling, she couldn't help the smile that crept over her face. Today had been a really good day.

"Here," she heard Buffy say, tucking a pillow under her head, leaning over her smirking. "You're going to wake up with sore arms too if you sleep like that." She pulled the cushions off the back of the couch and stacked them next to the coffee table. Throwing the blanket over the brunette, she smiled down at her, sitting on the edge of the couch. Pushing some hair off of Faith's face, she smiled at her, and moved to get up, but the younger woman grabbed her arm.

"B, wait..." she started but then fell silent. Buffy looked at her expectantly, sitting down again, waiting. Nothing.

"Yes?" she asked, trying to prompt her to continue.

"I dunno," she said quietly, surprised how much her tone sounded like she was afraid. "I have so many questions... but if it's going to break this little spell... I rather go on not knowing, you know?" she said, not sure she was even making any sense, but Buffy just nodded, her smile falling a little.

"Yeah Faith, I know." She patted Faith's hand gently and got up. "Good night Faith," she said, leaning over to give her a gentle but lingering kiss on her forehead. "Sleep well."

"'Night." Faith said gently. She didn't know what to make any of it, but it didn't seem like a great deal had changed. But if the events of the past few hours were to mean anything at all, it seemed like Faith might have more than a snowball's chance in Hades with the blonde. That fact alone enough to bring a smile to her lips, she smiled and laid back onto her pillow. Falling asleep with a smile on her face for the first time in a long while, the brunette had some amazing dreams, and not a single nightmare.

...to be continued...