Twice Chosen

by DragonWriter17

Copyright © 2006

DragonWriter17@aol.com

Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All of the materials borrowed from Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Joss Whedon and to the entities and companies associated with their creation. I have borrowed them for creative and entertainment purposes only. No compensation has been or ever shall be received for the writing below. No copyright infringement is intended.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse: http://mysticmuse.net
Forever Faith: http://mysticmuse.net/faith
Cyber Lair: http://www.geocities.com/dragonwriter17/
If you are interested in posting my story on your site, please contact me first for permission.
Feedback: Yes, but only if it's of the non-flamey variety.
Spoilers: BtVS Season 3's Faith, Hope, and Trick.
Author's Notes: The first chapter of this story was originally written for Lilly as part of the Watchers Auction for WriterCon 2006. Lilly and I had been chatting for some time about a possible Buffy/Faith story idea of mine which basically rewrote Season 3 to put the two slayers together ('cause, hey, Fuffy is hot!). When Lilly won me at the auction, she said that I could use that same story to fulfill the bid. So this is the continuation of that story. It's a short update designed to just finish up where the first part left off. In other words, it is basically a rehash of the ending of "Faith, Hope and Trick" with some small revisions, but it does include at least one major change: Angel does not return after Buffy leaves her Claddagh ring at the mansion.
Pairing: Buffy/Faith

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3    Part 4    Part 5    Part 6    Part 7    Part 8    Part 9    Part 10    Part 11    Part 12    Part 13

Part 1

Faith froze. Though she could hear Buffy fighting near her, her eyes were fixed on the figure approaching her. Kakistos!

"Faith! Don't die!" she heard Buffy yell to her.

She turned just in time to catch the crowbar Buffy had thrown to her. She raised it to strike, but Kakistos was too fast and too strong. He punched her hard, knocking her into a row of wooden beams leaning against the warehouse wall. Both Faith and the beams went tumbling to the floor.

As Kakistos drew near, Faith scrambled back against the wall, cowering in fear, her mind overcome by the reality of the nightmare before her. She screamed "no" as the vampire jerked her off the floor by her shirt, but any further outcries were stifled as Kakistos began mercilessly pummeling her face. With a final, massive punch, he made her see stars, and she barely felt the floor as she slammed into it.

When she came to, Faith saw Kakistos looming over a dazed Buffy.

"I guess you need a bigger stake, Slayer!" she heard Kakistos say to the blonde.

In a blur of action, Faith grabbed one of the wooden beams near her, leapt to her feet, and shoved its broken end into Kakistos's body, dusting him instantly.

The next thing Faith knew, Buffy was beside her. They were breathing hard as they grimly looked down at the vampire's ashen remains.

"You hungry?" Buffy asked flatly.

"Starved," Faith answered in the same tone.

Then they both headed out of the warehouse.

A short time later, Buffy and Faith were at a late-night diner, with a table full of food before them: several hamburgers, with the works; three large orders of fries, one of which was topped with chili and cheese; two side salads heaping with dressing and croutons; and a couple of chocolate shakes.

Faith watched Buffy take an especially large bite out of her second cheeseburger. Then she gave a small laugh. "Glad to see your whole post-slayage-nonfat-yogurt thing was a buncha crap."

Buffy laughed too as she finished chewing. "If my friends knew how much I really ate, they would die. They have no clue how much it takes to keep a slayer running."

"Bet your mom has a cow every time she adds up the grocery bills, huh?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm sure she thought I had an eating disorder till she found out I was the slayer. Now she understands." Buffy got a confused look. "At least I think she understands."

"Your mom seems cool."

"I guess," Buffy said. "She's thrilled beyond words about you being here. I think she thinks I can retire or something."

Faith was silent a moment. Then she asked, "And what do you think?"

"About retiring?"

"No," Faith said, lowering her gaze to her hands. "About me being here."

Buffy ducked her head and thought then looked back up with a smirk. "You're a pain sometimes," she said, which caused Faith to look up too and flash a grin. "But I have to admit…I like the idea of there being another slayer here." Buffy's light tone vanished. "It's like…I'm not so alone anymore. There's somebody out there that knows – really knows – what I'm going through, what it's like. You know?"

Faith looked back at Buffy as if she did indeed know exactly what the other slayer was talking about. She didn't allow the serious expression to remain long, though. Instead, she laughed and leaned back in the booth, resting both arms on the back of the seat. "That's us," she said with a broad smile. "The Chosen Two."

Buffy smiled back, but the somewhat somber mood descended once again, and the two slayers remained silent. They picked at their food and took a few drinks of their shakes. After a few minutes, Buffy asked softly, "What will you do now?"

"Not go back home, that's for sure," Faith replied. "It totally sucks." Faith gave what she hoped was a nonchalant shrug. "Watcher's dead. Can't go back to her place." Just for a second, Faith allowed a deep sadness to show on her face, then it was gone. "She mighta been an uptight Brit like Giles, but at least she got me outta that hellhole called home." Faith flashed an impish grin at Buffy. "Maybe I'll just stay here and give you a run for your money for Slayer of the Year."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Give me a pain in the neck is more like it," she teased.

With the mood lightened, the two slayers returned to their eating with gusto and soon finished off their meal.

Buffy and Faith came out of the diner with satisfied looks on their faces. They both looked refreshed and rejuvenated by their meal. They stood outside, not quite knowing what to do next.

"So…what do you wanna do now?" Faith asked.

Buffy looked around. "It's kinda late," she said. "I should probably go home."

Faith scoffed loudly. "It's way too early for that," she said. "Come on, I know where we can go." She started walking down the sidewalk, and Buffy went along. "It's this cool bar I found. Really rocks. Way cooler than the Bronze."

Buffy stopped walking. "A bar bar? As in we're-too-young-to-get-in bar?"

"Ah, don't worry about that," Faith assured her. "I can get us in."

Buffy hesitated. "I don't know…"

"Oh come on," Faith persuaded. "We slayed the bad guy, we deserve to celebrate!"

Buffy looked unconvinced at first, but she was eventually swayed by Faith's insistent and utterly irresistible smile. "Okay," she said with confidence. "You're right. We saved the day. A little fun is definitely in order."

At that, the two of them headed down the street, ready to party.

A couple of hours later, Faith and Buffy were in the bar, heating up the dance floor. They danced with half a dozen different guys and put on a show dancing with each other. They never paid for a single drink the entire time. After they finally grew tried, they headed for the exit, much to the dismay of most of the patrons.

As Buffy came out of the bar, she giggled and swayed a bit on her feet. Faith followed, seemingly as steady as she could be.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into drinking alcohol," Buffy said, the rhythm of her words slightly off. "How did you get it anyway? How come we didn't get carded or something?"

Faith just gave her an I-have-my-ways smile.

Buffy grinned and pointed accusingly at Faith. "You let me get drunk."

Faith smirked but shrugged innocently. "Hey, how was I supposed to know you couldn't hold your liquor, B? 'Sides, you needed to loosen up."

Buffy put on worried look. "Oh…Giles will be so ashamed of me." She didn't sound particularly repentant.

"Only if you tell him," Faith pointed out.

"Well I guess I won't tell him then, will I?" Buffy announced as she gave Faith's arm a goofy poke.

Faith grabbed Buffy's hand and swung her around in a sort of dance move before pulling her close. She released Buffy's hand then put her own hands firmly at Buffy's waist. Buffy laughed and rested her arms on Faith's.

Faith caught Buffy's eyes and said, "Stick with me. I'll show you how to have a good time."

Buffy just giggled.

Faith tightened her grip on Buffy, running her hand along the blonde's back. She leaned closer, letting her gaze drop to Buffy's mouth for a moment before meeting her eyes once again. "Yeah…I bet there's a lot I can show you…"

"Yeah…" Buffy said, leaning unconsciously forward until her lips were just inches away from Faith's. "I bet there is…"

They stood there, practically frozen – glances darting from eyes to lips and back again, breaths growing heavy and husky – until Buffy slowly closed her eyes.

At that, Faith blinked. And blinked again. Then she cleared her throat and put a little space between herself and her fellow slayer.

Buffy opened her eyes. She seemed a little confused until Faith put on a sparkling smile and teasingly linked her arm in Buffy's.

"Come on, let me get you home, Little Miss Tipsy," Faith said.

Buffy's momentary confusion was gone, and she snickered. "But it's your fault I'm tipsy."

"Yeah, yeah," Faith said as she led the drunken slayer away from the bar.

Once Faith had gotten Buffy safely home and in her room, she slipped back down the stairs and out the front door. She walked down the sidewalk but stopped when she reached the curb. She looked back at the house, gazing up to the second floor.

For a moment, her expression was troubled – sparks of happiness tinged with longing, followed by flashes of fear and doubt. She frowned and looked away.

Without another glance at the house, Faith strode away.

Early the next morning, Buffy lay a bit sprawled in her bed. The covers were slightly askew, and she turned her head from side to side, clearly dreaming.

In her mind, she was with Faith again, outside the bar. Faith was holding her. She was laughing at something Faith had said, but when she stopped, she found herself just inches away from the dark slayer. She could feel the other woman's breath on her face, the heat rising between them, and although she tried to keep her gaze on Faith's eyes, she was drawn repeatedly to the slayer's full, red lips. Before she knew it, they were kissing.

Hungrily, desperately…

Arms pulling tighter and tighter…

Open mouths, tongues exploring…

Hands caressing backs and necks then tangling in hair…

Fingers aching to roam elsewhere, not enough skin…

Yes, touch me there, for god's sake don't stop, don't –

With a gasp, Buffy awakened from her dream, snapping to an upright position. Her chest was heaving, and sweat covered her body. She glanced around the room in a panic as if she were unsure how she even got there. Her right hand went to her heart, and she left it there until she finally got her breathing under control.

She looked out her window, her brow furrowed deep in thought. She lifted her hand to her lips and gently touched them with her fingertips.

Was it real? Did it happen?

Buffy didn't know. She quickly dropped her hand.

But when her thoughts returned to the details of the dream, she found her heart racing once again.

Part 2

With her heart still racing from her dream about Faith, Buffy jumped out of bed. Instantly, a wave of dizziness hit her, and a sharp pain hammered its way into her brain. She grimaced and closed her eyes, tilting her head down and resting it against her palm.

When she opened her eyes, she noticed what she was wearing. She was still in the same clothes from the night before, but she wasn't wearing her shoes. She glanced around the room and found them sitting right beside her closet. She didn't remember putting them there.

"God…how much did I drink last night?" she groaned to herself.

Just then her alarm went off, blaring loudly. Buffy grimaced again as the shrill noise seemed to be intensified a hundred times. She quickly shut off the alarm. Then she trudged away in the direction of the bathroom to get ready for school.

Later that day, in the Sunnydale High School library, Buffy was meeting with Giles and Willow. Buffy was sitting on the long table while Willow sat in one of the table's chairs. Giles stood nearby, holding a stack of papers.

"The Council has approved our request," Giles informed them. "Faith is to stay here indefinitely. I'm to look after you both until a new watcher is assigned."

"Good," Buffy said. "She really came through in the end." Buffy paused and made a sympathetic frown as she recalled the previous night's events. Then she shook off the memory and turned back to Giles. "She had a lot to deal with, but she did it. She got it behind her."

"I'm glad to hear it," Giles said.

Buffy slid off the table. When her feet hit the floor, another sharp pain invaded her skull. She groaned a bit and made a face.

"Are you all right?" Giles asked.

"Yeah…it's just the hangover." Buffy's head shot up as she realized what she had just said. Giles was looking at her curiously. Willow was too. Buffy started backpedaling. "Uh, you know…the, um, the post-battle, feel-all-the-bruises-the-next-day thing." She gave a quick laugh. "I-I-I'm just assuming it's similar to a hangover because, as an under-aged non-drinking teenager, I would know nothing about hangovers."

While Willow smirked behind Buffy, Giles merely stared at her intently. When she didn't drop her innocent look, he chose not to say anything. Instead, he cleared his throat and turned his attention to his papers.

"I wanted to talk with you about Acathla again," he said in a serious voice while sifting through his pages.

Buffy's entire demeanor changed. Her face fell, and a deep sadness entered her eyes. She directed her gaze to the floor and didn't speak.

"I wanted to ask you about – " the watcher continued.

"Angel was cured," Buffy said softly, interrupting Giles.

Giles instantly looked up. "I'm sorry?" he said, not sure he heard correctly.

Buffy met his eyes. "When I killed him, Angel was cured." Then she turned to her friend. "Your spell worked at the last minute, Will."

Willow looked on in shock as Buffy went on.

"I was about to take him out, and, um…something went through him…and he was Angel again. H-H-He didn't remember anything that he'd done. He just held me. Um, but i-i-it was…it was too late, and I…I had to. So I-I-I told him that I loved him…and I kissed him…and I killed him."

Tears were shining in Buffy's eyes. She looked at the floor again while Giles and Willow remained silent. When she had recovered enough, she looked back up.

"I don't know if that helps with your spell or not, Giles."

Giles pulled off his glasses. "Uh, y-y-yes, I, um, I believe it will."

Willow stood up and walked around the table and touched Buffy's arm. "I'm sorry."

Buffy gave them a small smile. "It's okay. I've been holding on to that for so long. Felt good to get it out." Buffy pushed her hands into her pockets and rocked on her feet a bit. "So…have you guys seen Faith today?"

Giles and Willow both shook their heads. Buffy looked a little disappointed.

"Oh, well, I guess I'll just catch her later then," Buffy said. "I, um, I should really get to class."

After giving two quick waves, Buffy hurried from the library. Willow watched her friend go then caught Giles before he could return to his office.

"Giles, I know you don't like me playing with mystical forces," Willow told him, "but I can really help with this binding spell."

Giles sighed and said, "There is no spell."

As the watcher headed for his office, Willow finally realized what Giles had done: he had created the story of the binding spell in order to force Buffy to admit what had really happened. Willow glanced at the door once again, a worried expression on her face.

As Buffy headed down the hallway between classes, she kept her head down and wasn't really paying much attention to where she was going. As a result, she bumped into someone coming out his classroom. When she looked up to apologize, she was surprised to find Scott Hope standing in front of her.

"Oh," she said. "Scott." She gave him a smile.

"Uh, hello," Scott replied flatly as he pulled on his backpack.

"I'm, uh, I'm glad I ran into you, actually," Buffy said awkwardly.

"Oh. Why?"

"I, um…I wanted to explain, if I could."

As Buffy and Scott were talking, Faith came down the hallway. They didn't see her, but she saw them. She stopped and ducked behind a corner to watch.

Buffy kept her gaze on her hands. "There was someone a while ago, and, uh, the ring sort of confused me." She looked back up. "But I liked what you said about friendship. I liked it a lot. And Buster Keaton. Big fun. And I'm capable of big fun, even though there's no earthly way you could possibly know that about me." Buffy got a little embarrassed. "Wow. If I knew I was gonna go on this long, I probably would've brought some water," she muttered. She let out a deep breath and went on. "What I'm trying to say is…if you would still like to go to the film festival – and I would understand it if you didn't – I'd pretty much love to go with you."

Scott looked around uncomfortably. "Uh…ahem…I don't know, Buffy. I'm…I'm really gonna have to think about this."

Buffy seemed a little hurt but nodded in understanding. Scott started to walk away, went a few steps, then stopped and came right back with a grin on his face.

"Okay, you know what? I thought about it, and I'm in," Scott said, widening his grin. "When do you want to go?"

Buffy returned his smile. "Oh, well, I'm booked for tonight, but after that I'm good."

The two beamed happily at one another.

Down the hall, Faith frowned. She watched Buffy with a mixture of sad longing and miffed jealousy.

Just then, Buffy happened to turn in Faith's direction. For the merest of seconds, they locked eyes, and Buffy caught the expression in Faith's eyes. Before she had time to wonder what was up, however, she saw Faith turn and walk away.

Later that day, shortly after sunset, Buffy returned to Angel's mansion. She slipped in to the great room where Acathla had stood and where she had sacrificed Angel to save the world. She looked down at the floor and began to cry. She slowly crouched down and looked at her Claddagh ring, which she held in her hand.

"Good-bye," she said softly.

Then she placed the ring on the floor. She stared at it for a long moment before standing back up and walking away.

After leaving Angel's mansion, Buffy headed for the cemetery to meet Faith for patrolling. When she arrived, she saw Faith sitting on a headstone. Buffy paused for a moment and took a deep breath. Then she made her way over to Faith.

"Hey," she said. "Been waiting long?"

Faith shrugged. "Nah, ten minutes or so."

"I, um, I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to you at school…"

"No prob," Faith said nonchalantly as she stood up. "Had to talk to Giles anyway."

Both of them were quiet for a long moment. They looked at the ground and their hands but only fleetingly at each other.

Finally, Faith put on a forced smile and gestured for them to begin patrol. Once they had started walking, she said, "You seemed pretty chummy with Scott. Are you two going out?"

"Um…yeah," Buffy replied. "We are. Tomorrow. Some kinda film fest."

"Good. Good for you," Faith said flatly, trying to hide her disappointment. "He's a cutie," she commented.

"Yeah, he is," Buffy agreed. "A-A-And he's nice, too."

Once again, the conversation lulled, and the two stole awkward glances at each other.

After a full minute of silence, Buffy spoke. "So…has your hangover been as bad as mine?" She cast a rueful grin in Faith's direction. "My head's been killing me all day."

Faith chuckled. "You gotta learn how to drink, girlfriend!" she teased, giving Buffy a body nudge.

Buffy nudged back, pretending to ignore how her heart leapt at the innocent use of the word 'girlfriend'. "No thank you," she said firmly. Then she put on a cavewoman voice. "Booze bad, make Buffy's head go boom."

Faith gave a big laugh, with her wide smile in full-dimpled form, and Buffy couldn't help but notice how beautiful the dark slayer was. It was several seconds later before she realized she'd been staring. Faith was staring back, with an expression of slight amusement in her eyes. Buffy cleared her throat and looked ahead.

"So…we, um, we had a lot of fun last night, huh?" Buffy asked. "'Cause, um, I can't exactly remember everything that happened."

"Ohhhh yeahhhh," Faith said with confidence. "We definitely had a lot of fun."

Buffy worriedly cut her eyes toward Faith. "How much fun?"

Faith grinned. "Don't worry, B. Nothin' happened that'll land ya on the front page of the Sunnydale scandal sheet."

Buffy laughed, even though she didn't appear to be particularly reassured. Then her face took on a look of gratitude. "Thanks for bringing me home," she said sincerely. Her expression immediately changed to worry and she stopped walking. "It was you that brought me home, right?"

Faith merely smiled and kept walking. Then she turned to face Buffy. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she said teasingly before turning back around and striding quickly away.

Buffy raised her hand with her index finger up. "Ummm…yes, please…" she said. But Faith didn't answer; she just laughed and continued walking. "Faith!" Buffy said with a bit of a whine before hurrying to follow the other slayer.

Part 3

It was late at night, about a week after Kakistos, and Willow was "Oz sitting" in the high school library. It was some time after midnight when Xander came in to do the last shift. Willow was giving Xander the run-down on watching Oz.

"…he's more manageable tonight and on the third night. Tomorrow night, the total full moon, that's when he's a real wolfer." Willow reached across the table for something. "But in case there's trouble…there won't be, but if…" She held up the tranquilizer gun.

Xander took it from her and slipped his finger into the trigger guard. "Sleepy time," he said. "Gotcha."

"Thanks again for doing this," Willow said. "I wouldn't have asked, but I have this test and…"

"No big," Xander said. "You can count on me. I got my coffee, magazines. Figured I'd read, maybe run the stairs over there a little bit. I'm good."

Willow didn't look happy with the way Xander was waving the gun around, so she eased it out of his hands and set it aside. Then she made her good-byes and headed out.

After Willow had left, Xander climbed onto the long table, put a book under his head for a pillow, and settled in for a nap. In the locked cage, Oz let out a loud growl.

At the same time, Faith and Buffy were in one of the local cemeteries, strolling through on patrol. While Buffy carefully scanned a nearby row of graves, Faith had her eyes on Buffy. She watched the blonde intently until Buffy suddenly turned to face her.

"So…" Faith said, putting on a smirk and pretending that she hadn't been staring, "…you ever catch kids doing the diddy out here?"

"No," Buffy replied. "There's a smooch spot up by the woods. That's usually where kids go."

"Yeah? Bet you and Scott have been up there kicking the gearshift." Faith grinned as if she were teasing, but behind the façade, she didn't want to hear a confirmation from Buffy.

Buffy gave Faith a look. "Hardly," she said. "Only been on a few dates."

Faith forced herself to go on, to press a little further, all with a big smile on her face. "But you like him," she said. "And when you think about him, you get that good, down-low tickle, right?"

"No, not really," Buffy said, shaking her head. "I mean, I like him. It's just a little early for—" When Buffy realized what Faith might have meant, she stopped and gave Faith the eye. "Wait…how low?"

"You tell me," Faith said, more seriously than she intended. She covered by giving Buffy a playful nudge and another grin.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "How about not?"

The two slayers walked along in silence for a time until Buffy spoke up once again.

"He asked me to the homecoming dance," Buffy announced.

Faith nodded and tried not to frown. "Good. Good for you."

Buffy could feel the awkwardness of the conversation, but wasn't sure why it was happening. "A-A-Are you going to the dance?" she asked.

Faith didn't answer immediately; instead, she kicked the ground with her feet. Yeah, right, she thought to herself. Me in some fancy dress. Faith pushed the thoughts aside and looked up at Buffy. She shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Nah…school dance…way too tame."

Buffy seemed a little disappointed at the news, but quickly covered it up. "Well, tame or not, it'll be fun to go, especially with Scott. He's nice, and he's funny…"

"And quite a muffin," Faith added. If you like the wimpy, sensitive type, she thought to herself.

"Blueberry…with that crunchy, munchy stuff on top," Buffy confirmed. "But my most favorite thing so far…is that he doesn't seem to be any kind of hell beast."

"All men are beasts, Buffy."

Buffy was surprised by Faith's statement. "Okay, I was hoping to not get that cynical till I was at least forty."

"It's not cynical," Faith replied. "It's realistic. Every guy has beast in him. I don't care how sensitive they act. They're all still just in it for the chase."

Buffy reluctantly nodded, forced to agree that Faith might have a point.

Elsewhere in town, in a wooded area, a boy ran through the bushes in a panic. From behind him came the sounds of a creature growling and breathing heavily. The boy attempted to look back, but ended up tripping over a branch.

When he hit the ground, he rolled onto his back and tried to push himself away with his feet. It was too late. The creature was upon him. He screamed loudly before the creature attacked and dragged him away.

The next day at school, Willow and Oz and Buffy crossed paths with Scott and his two friends, Debbie and Pete. When the group stopped to talk, Buffy noticed that Debbie was holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Those are pretty flowers," Buffy commented.

"Thanks," Debbie said. "Pete brought them for me." She smiled happily at her boyfriend.

"Yeah," Pete said, smiling. "Well, I-I-I'm sure Scott does that kind of stuff for you, too, Buffy."

"Oh well, we're not up to flowers," Scott interjected. Then he turned to Buffy. "Are we? Up to flowers? Did I miss flowers?"

"No, we are pre-posy," she reassured him. "Definitely." As Scott gave a relieved nod, Buffy suddenly grabbed his watch. "What time is it? I have to go see Mr. Platt today."

"Platt? The school counselor?" Debbie asked.

"I get to convince him that I'm 'Little Miss Stable' so I can stay in school," Buffy explained.

"Platt creeps me out," Debbie said disgustedly. "I would totally quit going, but I'm flunking senior bio, and my teacher says I have 'success issues'." She gave an unconcerned giggle.

"Senior bio?" Oz said. "I kinda aced that final."

"And how did you do that?" Willow needled playfully. "Oh, right. You showed up."

Oz grinned at Willow's jibe, then turned to Debbie. "If you want my notes, they're yours."

"Thanks!" Debbie said with a grateful smile. "That'd be great!"

"Well, let me find 'em, and I'll give you a call," Oz said. "We can meet sometime tomorrow."

"Super!" Debbie said. Just then the bell rang.

"We'd better go," Buffy said to Willow and Oz. Then she turned to Scott. "I'll see you."

"Yep," he said. Then the two of them shared a quick kiss.

Buffy turned and headed into the building. After giving a final wave, Oz followed Willow inside. Scott sighed and gave his friends a contented look.

Meanwhile, in the library office, Xander and Giles were looking in alarm at an article in the local paper.

"We need to recheck every possible exit avenue," Giles said, heading into the main area of the library.

Xander followed anxiously after. "I'm telling you, it's a waste of time. I was here all night."

As the two headed for the book cage, Willow and Oz came into the library. Giles and Xander stopped in place, a startled look on their faces.

"Right. It's good to see you," Giles said to the couple, forcing a smile. "Um, no need to panic."

"Just a thought," Oz told Giles, "poker: not your game."

"What's the deal, Giles?" Willow asked worriedly.

Giles began to pace nervously. "Now, uh, bear in mind, uh, most likely, there, there, there is no deal," he said, glancing at Xander briefly, "but um, if, if, if there was a deal, then it, um, would concern murder…last night. A male student was, was found i-i-in the woods."

"Which student?" Willow asked.

"Jeff Orkin," Giles answered.

"Jeff? He was…" Oz began. He looked over at Xander, who just looked down at the floor. "I knew him," Oz finished.

"I'm afraid he was, he was, um, terribly mauled," Giles said. "Now, uh, much as I hate to think it, i-i-it could be the handiwork of, of…"

"Me," Oz said.

Willow touched Oz gently, concern in her voice. "Wolf you, not you you."

"But it's not," Xander insisted. "Not wolf you, not you you. The room was secured, the gate was locked…" He headed into the cage to prove his point. "…and the window was unbreakable, and…open!" He rushed out of the cage, pointing at the still-open window.

"Oh, God…" Willow said.

Giles and Oz went into the cage to see for themselves.

"Not to freak," Xander said. "I rested my eyes now and then. That's all."

Willow shot a look of betrayal in Xander's direction. Giles and Oz came out of the cage. Oz just stared into space as if contemplating the serious implications of these events. Giles strode directly over to Xander.

"How long…exactly…did you rest your eyes for?" Giles demanded with a glare.

"A little now, uh, a little then," Xander said. "But I never heard Oz leave, and he was here in the morning when I, um…when I…"

"Woke up?!" Giles supplied angrily.

"You could put it that way if you want to, Mr. Technical," Xander said defensively.

Oz walked over to Willow and gazed at her sadly. She took his hand to comfort him. He looked at Giles imploringly.

Meanwhile, Buffy went inside the office of the school counselor, Mr. Platt. She closed the door behind herself and stepped up to the desk. Mr. Platt was sitting in his chair, facing away from the door, looking out his open window, smoking a cigarette.

"Two o'clock. Miss Summers," Mr. Platt said without turning around.

Buffy pasted on a smile. "Buffy Summers, reporting for sanity," she said cheerily.

Buffy's smile faded when Platt didn't laugh or even turn around. Instead, he just blew out a huge cloud of cigarette smoke.

"Look," Buffy said in a serious voice, "I know that I have to do this, and I-I-I'll cooperate, and I'll look at your ink blots and everything, but…I don't wanna talk about my life or my childhood or…anything, for that matter, actually. And, uh…I don't wanna be friends here."

"We're not going to be friends," Mr. Platt said, finally turning around. He gave Buffy a smile. "You have friends already…I hope. Friends are a good thing." He took one last drag on his cigarette and then crushed it into the ash tray. "They like you, agree with you, tell you what you want to hear." He pulled a can of air sanitizer from his desk drawer. "That's not what you need right now. What you need is a trained, not too crazy professional who will always give you his honest opinion."

While Platt sprayed the air around himself, Buffy didn't say anything. She just looked at him oddly and waited.

"Which I offer," the counselor finished. He met Buffy's eyes and then gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat."

While Platt returned the can to his desk drawer, Buffy sat down in the chair. "Not too crazy?" Buffy commented. "Those are your credentials?"

Mr. Platt grinned, got up, and came around his desk to sit in front of Buffy. "Look, Buffy, any person—grownup, shrink, pope—any person who claims to be totally sane is either lying or not very bright. I mean, everyone has problems. Everybody has demons, right?"

Buffy glanced away and stared at her hands. "Got to say I'm with you on that."

"Excellent," Platt said. "So, the hope I bring you is: demons can be fought." Buffy looked up at him in surprise as he went on. "People can change. You can change." He paused a moment and then said, "Now. Your turn. Let's start with why you ran away."

Buffy began to fidget. "That's a long story."

Platt shrugged. "Bore me."

Buffy once again pasted on a smile. "You know, I'm…I'm really over it. I-I-I'm moving on, I feel good, I'm…I'm even dating someone new."

"All good things," Platt noted. "But still…you're bringing me in at the end of the movie."

"I was dating someone," Buffy answered awkwardly. "Uh, i-i-it ended badly. My mom and I were fighting, and I…kinda freaked."

"Well, tell me more about this guy. The 'Bad Ending' guy."

For a long moment, Buffy didn't say anything. Then she let out a deep breath and looked down at her hands again. "He was my first…I loved him, and then he—"

"—changed?"

Buffy looked up at him, surprised that he filled in the blank so perfectly. "Yeah," was all she could say.

"He got mean."

"Yes."

"And you didn't stop loving him," Platt said. "In fact, you still love him now, don't you?"

Buffy stared in shock for a time. Then she finally admitted, "A part of me does." When Platt simply waited for her to go on, she said, "But he's gone now. A-A-And it's over. I'm ready to move on."

Platt stared at Buffy intently, trying to read her. Buffy wouldn't meet his gaze for more than a second or two at a time. When Buffy didn't crumble under his stare, he leaned back in his chair and said, "Glad to hear it."

After her session with Mr. Platt, Buffy made her way into the school library. There she found Giles pacing nervously. Willow, Oz, Xander, and Cordelia were sitting on the steps looking worried. Buffy set her bag on the table and approached the gloomy group.

"I'm afraid to ask," the slayer said, steeling herself.

"Oz ate someone last night," Cordelia announced.

"He did not!" Willow instantly denied, giving Cordelia a glare.

Xander tried to smooth over the situation. "Oz does not eat people. It's more…werewolf play. You know, I bat you around a little bit, like a cat toy. I have harmless, wolf fun. Is it Oz's fault that, you know, side effect, people get cut to ribbons, and maybe then he'll take a little nibble and…I'm not helping, am I?"

"No," Giles told him before turning to Buffy. "Oz may have gotten out of his cage last night."

"Or maybe there's a…another werewolf roaming the woods," Oz said with hope-filled eyes.

"Perhaps," Giles said. "Perhaps it's something else entirely."

"It's okay," Buffy said. "We'll work together, and we'll figure this out."

Giles thought a moment then began doling out the plan of action, albeit somewhat hesitantly. "Buffy, uh, you, uh, patrol the woods. Uh, the others, um, check out the morgue. I have some research materials at home I need to look up, and Oz…" Giles looked up at the clock.

Oz followed the watcher's eyes, and when he realized it was close to sunset, he sighed and headed for his cage.

Buffy moved closer to Giles and tilted her head slightly toward Oz. Giles leaned over and whispered, "I'll call Faith and have her watch him tonight." Buffy gave a nod of approval.

While Willow, Xander, and Cordelia were breaking and entering at the morgue, Buffy checked out the woods where Jeff Orkin had been attacked. Buffy spent several hours patrolling that area and others, but she found nothing that could explain the vicious attack. Having come up empty, Buffy decided to return to the school library.

In the library, werewolf Oz growled and paced in his cage. Faith paid no mind as she danced to the loud music blaring in the headphones of her portable CD player. When she felt a tap on her shoulder, Faith instinctively spun around and landed a swinging backhanded punch to the person behind her. She ripped off her CD player and headphones, pulled out her stake, threw the person to the floor, and raised her stake—ready for the kill. Then Faith realized who it was.

"Oh! Buffy!" Faith said, surprised. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

Buffy groaned but gave a smidgen of a smile. "Uh, bleeding internally, but I'll live."

"God, I'm sorry," Faith said. Then she shrugged in the direction of the CD player lying nearby. "I guess I didn't hear you."

"Figured as much," Buffy said.

As Faith put away her stake and moved aside, Buffy sat up. After Faith helped her to her feet, Buffy shook her head a little dizzily. Faith steadied the blonde with a hand on her hip and another under her forearm.

"Damn, that's quite a punch you've got," Buffy said, rotating her jaw a bit.

Faith touched Buffy's cheek and looked deeply into her eyes, trying to gauge her steadiness. "Are you sure you're okay?"

The two locked eyes, their hearts thudding in their chests. After a long stare, Faith let her gaze drift to Buffy's mouth, and she gently brushed Buffy's cheek with her thumb. When she brought her eyes back to Buffy's, she found the blonde still staring. Then, as they had done before, on the night of Kakistos, the two slayers began to move almost imperceptibly closer to one another…until Buffy finally looked away and cleared her throat.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Really," she said, backing out of Faith's arms.

The briefest moment of confusion and hurt flashed in Faith's eyes, but then she just stuffed her hands into her back pockets and gave a nonchalant shrug.

"So…what're you doing here?" Faith asked. "Find something on patrol?"

"Oh, um, no," Buffy said, wringing her hands nervously. "Woods patrol was a total strikeout. No sign of any maul-y type beasties. So…I figured I'd come give you the rest of the night off."

"Get out of jail free, huh?" Faith noted. "How come? You know you could just go home and get some sleep."

"I-I-I don't think I could sleep. Figured I'd, uh, cram for my French test."

"That's cool," Faith admitted. "I was going kinda crazy in here, but I can get in a

few stakings before sunrise." She smiled and handed the cage keys to Buffy, ignoring the spark of attraction she felt when their hands touched.

As Faith headed for the door, Buffy followed the slayer with her eyes, a worried expression on her face. She called out her name. When the brunette turned around, Buffy said seriously, "Be careful, okay?"

Faith grinned widely and held out her arms. "You know me, B…"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Exactly. Hence the 'be careful'."

Faith just laughed and gave Buffy a wink. Then she left the room.

After Faith had gone, Buffy turned away from the door, let out a deep breath, and hugged herself. Her brow furrowed as she sank into heavy thought. It took only a few seconds before she turned back around and looked longingly at the library door.

After leaving the library, Faith walked quickly away, a serious expression on her face. She stopped at the water fountain and took a long drink. When she was done, she wiped her mouth and slowly turned back toward the library entrance.

What are you doing? she asked herself. This girl's got 'mistake' written all over her. You two are actually getting along…like real friends even. Don't screw that up.

Faith gave a big sigh and let her head drop back against her shoulders. She looked at the ceiling briefly, then shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. She let her breath out gradually and lifted her head. Then, without another glance at the library, she strode away.

The next morning, Giles came into the library carrying a cup of coffee. He first checked the book cage and found Oz safely transformed into his human self. Giles unlocked the cage and headed over to where he saw Buffy asleep in a chair, her French book lying open in her lap. As he sipped his coffee, Buffy slowly woke up and looked up at him.

"Hey," she said in greeting.

"Hmm, hello," Giles replied, taking another sip of his coffee.

Just then, they heard the doors open, and when they turned to look, they saw Willow coming in with a box of donuts. Willow looked at Buffy curiously.

"I thought Faith was on duty," Willow said.

"Oh…change of plans," Buffy said.

Willow held up the box of donuts. "Glazed or cake?" She gave a goofy grin. "It's fun to watch them make them. They use this spritzy thing, and they drop the batter into this—"

"Couldn't sleep, huh?" Buffy cut in.

Willow sighed in affirmation. "I've been at Mister Donut since the TV did that snowy thing."

Behind Willow, a half-dressed Oz came out of the cage.

"How come you're the Wakey Girl?" Willow asked Buffy. "I mean, this time, it's not your boyfriend who's the cold-blooded…"

Willow trailed off when she saw Buffy's eyes widen. Still slipping on his shirt, Oz walked up next to Willow.

"…Jelly donut?" she said with extra cheeriness as she held out the box to her boyfriend.

Oz ignored the donuts. "Everything all right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Buffy told him. Then she turned to Willow. "Uh, what happened with the inspection of the body?"

Willow kept up her fake smile and stayed on the topic of donuts. "Anyone? They're yummy delicious!"

"Willow, come on," Buffy prompted. "Was it a werewolf?"

Willow's smile disappeared, and she set the box down on the table. Then she forced herself to say, "I-I-It wasn't conclusive."

Oz looked down at the floor, and Buffy glanced at Giles worriedly.

Later that day, Buffy was coming out of the cafeteria line. On her tray was a plate containing various flavors of Jell-O and nothing else. She scanned the area for a place to sit and saw Scott waving to her from the other side of the room. She smiled and headed that way, where Scott sat with Debbie and Pete. She put her tray on the table and sat down.

Scott frowned at what was on her plate. "Hey, uh, I can't back you on that lunch. Nutritional demerits."

Buffy looked down at her plate. "My stomach doesn't want hard food today." She pointed at the green Jell-O. "But there's fruit in it."

"Those are marshmallows," Scott whispered.

"Oh."

Pete and Debbie looked at Buffy strangely, but she just sighed.

"I'm…I'm really out of it today," she tried to explain. "I didn't sleep well last night."

"Just don't tell Mr. Platt you have insomnia," Debbie warned. "He'll make you start a dream journal."

"Oh, what's that? Like a Barbie thing?" Pete joked. "Dear Dream Journal, how come Ken hasn't come around since he got that earring?"

Debbie giggled. "I never did it. He's a quack."

"I kinda liked him," Buffy offered.

"Really?" Debbie said. "I guess, I guess he's kinda funny and stuff. It's just…sometimes I just don't like the things he says."

Pete's eyes narrowed for the briefest of seconds, and he clenched his jaw tightly as he looked at Debbie. Then, as quickly as it had come, the expression was gone. None of the others noticed his change.

"Oh, he definitely marches to the beat of his own drummer," Buffy noted. "A-A-Actually, I think he makes his own drums."

"Well, my mom says that therapy can be completely helpful," Scott said.

"Yeah, but your mom has the wattage of a Zippo lighter, Scott," Pete quipped. Once again, Debbie giggled away.

Scott took the jibe good-naturedly and turned to Buffy. "I hope you realize I don't actually know these people," he told her. "It's just…I thought you would like me better if I had friends, so I hired them."

Buffy gave him a weak smile. Then he turned to face her completely.

"So…I, uh, I wanted to tell you that you look great today. But now I wanna raise that to amazing because you didn't sleep well."

Buffy smiled a bit awkwardly. "Uh…that's really sweet. Um…" She trailed off when she saw Faith pass by the cafeteria entrance. She stared at the doorway for a full second or two before turning back to Scott. "…and I-I-I wish I didn't have to, but I just remembered that I do, so…uhhh…I'll see you later." Then Buffy stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and walked away, leaving her uneaten Jell-O behind.

"Uh, yeah," Scott said, slightly confused. He and Debbie and Pete followed Buffy with their eyes as she headed for the door.

"Check out Scotty," Pete teased. "Liking the manic-depressive chick."

Scott shot a glare at his friend.

Buffy hurried down the hallway until she caught up with Faith. Then she called out the slayer's name. When Faith turned around, the two of them stopped and stepped out of the crowd to talk.

"Hey," Buffy said with a sincere but slightly hesitant smile.

Faith returned the smile. "Hey yourself."

"So…how'd it go last night?" Buffy asked. "Find any action?"

"I can always find action when I want it," Faith said suggestively, grinning widely.

Buffy couldn't help but blush. "Of the vampire variety," she added pointedly, though not loud enough for any of the passing students to hear.

"Hey, you're the one with those inclinations, not me," Faith teased.

"Shut up," Buffy said with a grin, reaching her hand forward to give Faith a playful poke in the side.

Faith laughed and flinched at the same time, but swiftly caught Buffy's hand in hers before the poke could actually be administered. The two slayers instantly felt what seemed to be a faint electrical charge pass between them, and they froze in place, still smiling but without releasing each other's hand. This time it was Faith who pulled away first.

"Gotta be faster'n that, B," she said, making a dramatic show of letting Buffy's hand go. At Buffy's eye roll, she added in answer to the earlier question, "It was pretty slow. Got one vamp near the Manchester crypt. That's about it."

"Good!" Buffy said, nodding a bit more than was really necessary. Then she stopped and shook her head instead. "I mean, not good for you 'cause I know you wanted to get with the slaying, but good in the sense that things in general, I mean, as a whole, um, were a little less, well, demon-y." Buffy cringed inside at her stupid babbling.

Faith gave her a smirk. "If you say so."

After that, there was a long moment of awkward silence as the two slayers shifted nervously in place. Finally, Buffy spoke.

"Well, I should probably get to class," Buffy said.

"Yeah, you should."

"Catch you later?"

"If you're lucky," Faith replied with a wink as she backed away and then turned and headed for the library.

Buffy laughed and watched her go, unconsciously resting her hand over her heart. When she turned to head off to class, she was still smiling.

As Faith walked down the hallway, she worked the fingers in her hand. It still tingled from the spark of Buffy's touch.

When she got to the library entrance, she stopped and looked curiously at her hand. As she lightly drew the fingertips of her other hand across her palm, she immediately thought of Buffy, and her heart began to beat faster.

After a moment of daydreaming, Faith scoffed disgustedly and dropped her hands back to her sides.

"Don't be so stupid," she chided herself. Then she went inside the library.

Later that afternoon, in English class, Buffy sat quietly in the back, doodling in her journal. The teacher had given them a writing assignment, but Buffy couldn't concentrate on it. She looked at the page full of silly doodles and sighed. She turned to a fresh page and set her pen at the first line.

She wanted to write down what she was feeling, but the thought of actually recording it on paper was terrifying. To write it down would make it real, make it an undeniable admission, and she wasn't sure she was ready to do that. She gave a low, frustrated growl and forced herself to begin anyway.

Something's happening to me, she wrote. Something I don't understand. Something that really scares me.

Buffy paused, her pen tip hovering over the paper. She took a deep breath and started writing again.

RIIIIIINNNNGGG!!!

The sound of the bell made Buffy jump in her seat. She looked down at what she had written, slight alarm in her eyes. Faintly in the background she heard her English teacher telling the class to finish their journal entry for homework. With a heavy sigh, she closed her journal and gathered her books.

Meanwhile, as students moved between classes, Pete and Debbie slipped into a rarely-used hallway near a supply room.

"Debbie, come on," Pete said. "Just for a minute."

He grabbed Debbie's hands and tried to nudge her against the wall, but she pulled away, giggling coyly.

"No, I can't," she insisted though not convincingly. "I have to meet a friend."

He pulled her back to him by both wrists. "So you'll be late but happy."

He kissed her, pulling her inside the dark supply room with him. Once inside they kissed passionately until Pete broke off the embrace and backed away toward a shelf behind him.

Debbie reached out and stopped him. "No, no. Let's stay here."

"Relax, Debbie," Pete said. "What's wrong with you today?"

They kissed once again. Then he noticed an empty jar on the shelf. All that's left in it is the last few drops of a fluorescent fluid.

"What is that?" Pete asked.

"Nothing," Debbie said, turning his face to hers and kissing him again. "Nothing. Kiss me."

"No," Pete said as he pulled away. "Debbie, you did not drink that, did you?"

"Drink it?" Debbie said with a nervous giggle. "You know I didn't."

Pete looked at his girlfriend intently. "What's going on?"

Debbie's giddiness faded, and she looked back at him nervously.

In the counseling office, Buffy reported for her appointment with Mr. Platt. She took a deep breath and went inside, closing the door behind herself. She found the counselor turned away again, looking out his open window, his signature cigarette held between his fingers.

"Two o'clock," she announced. "Buffy Summers, right?"

He didn't say anything in reply, which was okay by her because she really didn't want him to. She reached out toward him in a cease-and-desist gesture.

"You don't have to say anything," she told him. "I'll get right to it." She began pacing behind her chair, looking at the floor. "To be honest, I really didn't know what I was going to talk about today, but I've been thinking about what we talked about…a-a-about moving on?" She looked up with cautious hope in her eyes. "I think…I think I might be ready."

Once again, Platt didn't answer, but Buffy didn't seem to notice. She dropped her gaze to her hands. "A few months ago, it was like, 'I'll never love again.' It just…hurt too much." A deep frown came over her face.

Buffy looked back up and began to walk again, this time with a more brightened expression. "But now…I've met someone. Someone who really seems to care about me, someone who…"

Buffy trailed off when she noticed Mr. Platt's hand. The cigarette in it was burned all the way down to the filter, yet the ashes were still hanging there, never having been tapped off. She rushed to his chair.

She found Mr. Platt dead, his face and body severely mauled by a sharp-clawed beast.

Meanwhile, back in the supply room, Pete was seething with anger. He snatched up the empty jar and thrust it toward Debbie.

"So the bottle just jumped out of the cabinet and spilled on its own?"

Debbie shook her head. "O-O-Of course not. I-I-I was trying to get rid of it."

"You were trying to get rid of it?"

"To help you. You know how you get."

"How I get?" Pete demanded. Then he grabbed Debbie by her arms, causing her to whimper in fright. "I get the way I get because of you, Debbie! You and your stupid…grating…VOICE!!!"

Pete gave a roar of pain as his neck muscles tensed and then thickened and his veins began to bulge out. He jerked his head back and forth, whipping it around violently, as Debbie watched in terror. He screamed a final time then looked at Debbie with rage in his eyes, his transformation now complete. Pete shook Debbie hard.

"You're the reason I started the formulas in the first place: to be the man you wanted!" Pete growled. "And you pay me back how? By whoring around with other guys and taunting me!"

"No! I don't!" Debbie insisted through her frightened sobs. "I don't even look!"

Pete let her go and then immediately backhanded her across the face, knocking her to the floor. She touched her face in shock but still stood back up to face him. Pete closed in.

"Is that something your shrink taught you, Debbie? Huh? Huh? To share? To communicate? To piss me off?!!"

He hit her again. When she hit the floor this time, she stayed down and merely cowered at his feet.

"Well, guess what?" Pete told her. "Even he's not going to listen to your pathetic ramblings anymore. I'm all you've got, Debbie. Do you hear me? I'm all you've got!!!"

A short time later, Buffy and Giles and Willow and Faith were discussing the school counselor's unfortunate death.

"The attack on Mr. Platt was especially brutal," Giles said. "A 'slice and dice' I believe the coroner called it. Thankfully, though, he did confirm that Platt was killed shortly before Buffy found him."

"Which means that he was killed during the day," Faith supplied.

"Yes!" Willow cried out, raising her fist in elation. When she realized the others were giving her horrified looks, she lowered her hand. "Sorry. I got…I've just been…it's horrible, horrible."

"It's okay, Will," Buffy assured her. "We're all glad Oz is off the hook."

"Indeed," Giles said before checking his watch. "Shouldn't he be here by now? The sun will set at 5:30."

Meanwhile, Oz was standing on the quad waiting, holding a folder of notes in his hands. He looked around one last time then started to head for the library. Debbie caught him just as he was about to leave.

"Sorry, I'm late," she said, smiling. "Did you bring the notes?"

Despite her attempts to hide it, Oz noticed her black eye. "Yeah…um…you okay?" He held out the folder.

Debbie laughed and took the notes. "What? Oh, yeah…I'm such a klutz. I, um, I…"

"Fell down?" Oz prompted. "And hit your…eye?"

From around the corner, Pete watched the exchange intently.

Debbie laughed again. "Door knob," she lamely supplied. "Um…thanks."

As Debbie turned to go, Oz stopped her with his hand. "Hey, um, if you wanna talk…"

Debbie instantly shook her head and gave him a fake smile. "Thanks again for the notes." At that, she hurried away.

"Yeah…" Oz said worriedly.

Then he looked up at the sky and quickly headed for the library. From his hiding place, Pete turned around and stalked off.

Back in the library, Giles was continuing the discussion about the creature that attacked Mr. Platt.

"Our task now," he said, "is to determine what sort of killer we are dealing with. Clearly, we're looking for a depraved, sadistic animal."

"Present," Oz chimed in as he came in.

Willow smiled broadly, jumped to her feet, and ran to him, pushing Giles aside in her eagerness to reach him.

"Hey, I may be a cold-blooded jelly donut," he deadpanned, "but my timing is impeccable."

"But you aren't!" Willow told him excitedly. "I-I-It's a kill-in-the-day monster! A hundred percent for sure."

Oz smiled in relief. "Okay."

"Uh, I wish we had time to celebrate properly," Giles interjected. "However, we have two victims: Jeff Orkin and now Platt. Perhaps there is something they had in common."

"Missing internal organs?" Faith suggested.

"Besides that," Giles replied.

"Debbie," Oz announced. When the others looked at him expectantly, he said, "Well, victim number one, Jeff. He was in jazz band with us. They used to horse around."

"And Debbie knew Platt, too," Buffy added. "She was seeing him and was way vocal about not having love for the guy."

"Now add this and stir," Oz said. "I just saw Debbie a minute ago sporting a nasty black eye."

"Okay, so pretend Debbie wanted Platt dead," Willow offered. "Maybe he fought back."

Buffy shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I'm thinking Pete may be the one doling out the punishment."

"We should find them both immediately," Giles ordered.

"Well, Debbie was in the quad a few minutes ago," Oz said.

"All right then," Giles said, "we'll split up. Um, Faith, you and I will team up. Willow, stick with Buffy."

Willow gave her boyfriend a saddened look and then followed the others out.

"And I'll…go lock myself in the cage," Oz said.

Moments later, Buffy and Willow found Debbie in the girls' locker room. She was looking in the mirror, applying makeup, in an attempt to hide her black eye.

"It's tricky, covering a fresh shiner like that," Buffy said as she walked over. "You know what works?"

"What?" Debbie said, putting away her makeup.

"Don't get hit," Buffy said. She pinned Debbie with a stare. "What's going on, Debbie? I'll bet the farm you know."

Debbie shook her head. "You're wrong. I don't know anything."

"I don't have time to play 'I have a secret'," Buffy told her sternly. "People are dying here!"

Debbie looked at Buffy and then at Willow. "It…it's not his fault. I mean, he's not himself when he gets like this."

"You mean Pete," Buffy prompted.

"I-I-It's me. I make him crazy. He-he just does what he does because he loves me too much."

"Pete's not like other guys, is he, Debbie?" Buffy asked knowingly.

When she realized how much Buffy and Willow seemed to know, Debbie got frightened. She grabbed her purse and started to leave. "I-I-I've gotta go."

Buffy grabbed her and stopped her. "You have to talk to us. We can't help you until you do."

"I didn't ask for your help!" Debbie shot back.

"Well, when are you going to?" Willow said. "I mean, if Pete kills you, it'll pretty much be too late."

"Debbie, we're running out of time," Buffy said. "Where can we find him?"

"I-I-I don't know," she answered.

"You're lying," Buffy said.

Debbie tried to take a brave stance. "What if I am? What are you gonna do about it?"

"Wrong question," Willow said as Buffy took Debbie by the arm and pushed her up against the sink in front of the mirror.

"Look at yourself," Buffy said. "Why are you protecting him? Anybody who really loved you couldn't do this to you."

Debbie took a few steps away then turned around to face them. "Would they take him some place?"

"Probably," Buffy said.

Debbie began to cry. "I could never do that to him. I'm his everything!"

"Great," Buffy said disgustedly. "So what…you two live out your Grimm fairy tale? Two people are dead! Who's gonna be next?"

Debbie just shook her head and said nothing.

Back in the library, Oz was alone in the cage, pacing, waiting to change. Just then, the door opened, and Pete walked in. He went right up to the cage.

"Since when do you touch my girl?" Pete said furiously as he grabbed the cage.

"Hey, Pete," Oz said. "This is kind of a bad time."

"Well, I guess you didn't think about that when you put the moves on Debbie!" he accused, rattling the cage door.

Oz glanced briefly at the window before turning back to Pete. "We talked, yeah, but it was move-free."

Pete rattled the cage even harder.

"About this cage?" Oz warned. "When that sun sets…"

"You won't be alive to see it!" Pete promised before stepping back, rage pouring from him.

"I'm serious," Oz said. "Something's gonna happen that you…probably won't believe."

Pete screamed and whipped his head around as he transformed into his violent alter ego. When the change was complete, he looked at Oz with murder in his eyes.

"Or…you might," Oz said simply as he took a step back.

Pete lunged at the cage and seized the door. He yanked at it a few times, and it suddenly broke free. He hurled it aside and roared at Oz. Then he ran into the cage, grabbed Oz, and threw him out the door and onto the floor.

Pete picked Oz up and raised him over his head then slammed him down onto the wooden table. It smashed under the strain of the impact. Pete immediately yanked Oz back up and punched him hard in the face. Then he grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him hard.

"Did you kiss that whore?" Pete snarled. "Huh? Did she like it?"

He lifted Oz again and flung him across the room onto the stairs. When Pete came at him again, Oz raised his leg and kicked him away, sending Pete sliding across the floor. Oz turned and looked at the window again, this time seeing that the sun had set. He looked over at Pete, who was just now getting to his feet.

"Time's up," Oz told him. "Rules change."

Oz morphed into his werewolf form and growled, baring his teeth at Pete. He leaped onto Pete, and they started to wrestle on the floor. When the fight caused them to crash into the stairs, Oz was finally able to snap his jaws around Pete's arm. He bit down hard, making Pete scream out in agony.

In the meantime, Buffy and Willow were leading the traumatized Debbie along the hallway. When they heard Pete's scream, they all took off for the library. Giles and Faith soon joined them from another corridor.

"What was that?" Giles asked as they dashed away.

Seconds later, Buffy and the others burst through the library doors. In a flash, they took in the broken cage and then the two fighting on the stairs. Oz still had his jaws clamped on Pete's arm, but Pete was pummeling Oz with repeated gut punches.

"Get the dart gun!" Giles yelled.

Buffy ran behind the counter and grabbed the tranquilizer gun. "Got it!" she cried out before cocking it and taking aim at Pete.

Just as Buffy pulled the trigger, Debbie shoved Buffy aside. "Pete, watch out!"

The dart sailed past Pete and Oz and embedded in the distant wall.

Oblivious to the whole affair, Pete flipped Oz and slammed him on the floor, making Oz finally release Pete's arm. Now free, Pete dashed from the room via the stacks. Oz, on the other hand, growled and blew right past Buffy and the others and out of the library.

Buffy tossed the rifle to Faith. "You get the wolf!"

"Got it!" Faith said before running out of the library with Willow close behind.

"Wait!" Giles cried out after Faith. "You'll need to reload!" He grabbed a handful of darts from behind the counter and ran after Faith and Willow.

When Buffy went in the opposite direction after Pete, Debbie looked confused about what to do. She looked at the stacks then turned and ran out the main entrance.

At an intersection of hallways, Pete came running through a set of doors, clutching at his wounded arm. He glanced back, knowing that someone was pursuing him. He looked frantically for an escape route and found it in a window high above a bank of lockers. He leaped on top of the lockers and crawled through the small window, leaving streaks of blood on the wall.

Seconds later, Buffy skidded into the intersection. She looked in all directions but didn't see Pete anywhere.

Elsewhere in the building, werewolf Oz came bounding around a corner and ran down the hall. Faith and Willow and Giles were right behind him in hot pursuit.

Meanwhile, in the supply room, Debbie was sitting on the floor, leaning against a crate, waiting for Pete to show up. When he came in, she jumped up and ran to him.

"Pete! You're all right! God, you're all right!"

She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, but he didn't hug her back.

"She almost shot you," Debbie told him. "Did you see? I stopped her."

She pulled out of the hug and looked at Pete.

"You have to leave, get out of Sunnydale," she told him. "She knows."

"And how did she know, Debbie?" Pete said menacingly. "Did you run your big mouth?"

Frightened, Debbie took a step back. "No! She just knew. It seemed like she just knew."

"So you filled in the blanks!" he accused before shoving her to the floor.

"No!" Debbie instantly denied. "No!"

Pete roared and lunged at Debbie. She screamed in terror.

In a nearby hallway, Buffy heard Debbie's scream. She turned and ran in that direction.

In the student lounge, Oz came leaping down the stairs, with Faith right behind him. When Oz stopped by the vending machine, Faith started to rush him, tranq gun in hand.

"Faith! Wait!" Giles shouted, stopping the slayer in her tracks.

"What?!" she demanded impatiently.

"The gun has to be reloaded," Giles said, panting breathlessly, as he and Willow came over.

"Do it," Faith said, tossing the gun to Giles.

When Faith turned back around, Oz jumped her, knocking her to the floor. Willow screamed.

Buffy found her way to the supply room. She listened intently at the door then forced it open. Inside it was dimly-lit and quiet. She slipped in cautiously.

She looked around and soon found Debbie on the floor in the back. She rushed over to check her out. Debbie's neck had bruises and claw marks on it as if she'd been violently strangled, and Buffy couldn't feel a pulse.

"Oh, God…" Buffy said, pulling her hand away.

Just then, Pete grabbed Buffy from behind and threw her across the room and into the stack of crates there. She hit them hard and then rolled onto the floor. Pete smiled cruelly as he closed in on the dazed slayer.

In the lounge, Faith was on the floor with Oz on top of her, trying desperately to keep him from biting her. Nearby, Giles was struggling to get the dart gun reloaded and ready.

"Where's the gun?!" Faith screamed. "Where's the gun?!!!"

Willow ran over and grabbed Oz's tail. "Get off her!" Willow shouted as she tugged him away from Faith. Then she took off down the hall with Oz chasing right after her.

"Get the gun!" Willow cried out as she ran. "Hurry!"

As Faith scrambled to her feet, Giles finally finished loading the gun. He took aim and shot, hitting Oz right in his rear-end. The werewolf yelped, whimpered for a moment, then fell unconscious.

Faith turned to Giles. "You and Willow get wolf-boy back to his cage. I've got to go help Buffy." Giles nodded, and Faith took off.

In the supply room, Buffy was still on the floor by the crates, being kicked mercilessly by Pete.

"You're all…" Kick. "…the same!" Kick. "All…" Kick. "…the…" Kick. "…same!" Kick. Kick. Kick.

When Pete stopped, Buffy groaned and tried to crawl away. Pete picked her up and flung her across the room, where she slammed into the metal rack near Debbie's body, sending bottles and jars crashing to the floor.

Before Buffy could recover, Pete was on her, wrapping his clawed hands tightly around her neck. Buffy pulled uselessly at his fingers as he began to squeeze the life from her. She kicked and pushed and flailed about, but could not shake him away. She reached blindly around herself until her hand found the top of a broken bottle. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, she gripped the glass in her fist and then swung the jagged end directly into Pete's neck.

Pete's eyes went wide, and he gave a wet gurgle as he released Buffy's neck to reach for his own. As Pete's blood began streaming down her arm, Buffy gasped and let go of the bottle. She tried to scoot back, but Pete had her legs pinned. She watched in horror as he reverted to his human self, stared at her in shock and betrayal as he clutched at his cut throat, then collapsed on top of her.

"Oh God, Oh God, Oh God…" Buffy repeated maniacally as she pushed Pete off her body, flipping him onto his back in the process. She scrambled backwards into the corner past Debbie's body. Then she turned away and faced the corner, unable to bear the sight of Pete's bloody form. She pulled her knees against her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around her legs as if she were trying to pull herself into an impenetrable ball. She began to cry and rock in place.

Moments later, Faith rushed in. She saw Pete's body first, a large pool of blood surrounding him amidst the broken bottles and jars.

"Oh God…" Faith whispered before a whimper from the corner drew her attention. "Buffy!"

Faith ran over to the distraught slayer and knelt beside her. She called her name again, but Buffy didn't acknowledge Faith's presence. Faith reached out and stopped Buffy's rocking and slowly made the crying slayer uncurl herself.

Tears were rolling down Buffy's blood-spattered face. She wouldn't meet Faith's eyes. She just shook her head over and over, repeating, "I didn't mean to…I didn't mean to…"

Faith gently turned Buffy's face toward hers so that she could look at the blonde. When Buffy finally met Faith's concerned gaze, she stopped her rant, her body trembling as she grabbed Faith's arms.

"I killed him," Buffy confessed in a quiet and tortured voice. "I…" She didn't finish her statement. Instead, she fell sobbing against Faith's chest.

Not knowing what else to do, Faith wrapped her arms around Buffy and pulled her close. "It'll be okay," Faith whispered, her own eyes filling with tears. "I've got you."

Moments later, Giles arrived on the scene. He came running up just as Faith was leading the traumatized Buffy out of the supply room.

"Good God!" he exclaimed when he saw the two slayers covered in blood. With Faith's arm wrapped around her, Buffy clung to Faith's body; she didn't even seem to register that Giles was there. "Are you girls all right?" he asked frantically.

Faith ignored the question and said, "She had to do it, Giles."

His eyes widened in realization, and he shot a glance at the supply room. Faith grabbed his arm, bringing his attention back to her. She looked her watcher right in the eyes.

"She had to do it," Faith repeated, more slowly this time. "So you call the Council, you do whatever you gotta do, but you make this go away."

The two stared at each other for a long moment before Giles finally nodded in acquiescence. Faith nodded back and said, "I'm taking Buffy home."

As Giles watched Faith lead Buffy away, his shoulders drooped, and he let out a defeated sigh. "Heaven help us," he whispered.

After leaving the high school, Faith walked Buffy home, intentionally keeping them in shadow so that their bloody clothes would be hidden from curious eyes.

Buffy no longer clung to Faith; instead, she walked numbly and silently beside her—her eyes red but vacant. It was as if she had simply turned herself off.

Faith kept her arm protectively around Buffy as they walked, using it to guide her when necessary, but mostly to provide what she hoped was a comforting touch. She could sense the pain radiating from Buffy, but she knew it must be only a fraction of what was really on the inside.

When they got to the Summers home on Revello Drive, Faith saw Joyce's SUV parked in the drive. She glanced at the front windows of the house, but they were dark.

Maybe she went to bed early, Faith hoped.

Faith carefully led Buffy up the walk and to the front door. When they got close, the motion sensor set off the front porch light. Faith froze and listened, but she heard no activity from within the house. Faith quietly tried the door but found it locked. She cursed under her breath, then reluctantly turned to Buffy.

"Buffy?" she asked softly to get the blonde's attention. "We're here, but the door's locked. Do you have your house key?"

Buffy looked confused for a moment. She glanced at the front door and blinked several times as if trying to place it. Then she reached into her pants pocket and fished out her key ring.

When she raised the key to give it to Faith, she saw the blood on her hand. She started shaking and dropped the key. She lifted her other hand and saw the blood on it as well.

"No…" Buffy said, her eyes fixed on the blood. She started to back away, as if she could somehow separate herself from her hands, what they represented, what they caused her to remember.

Faith quickly stopped her retreat with a tug on her arms. Then she put a hand on each side of Buffy's face, gently encouraging her to take her eyes off her bloody hands and to lift them to look at Faith. When she finally did, Faith could see new tears streaming down Buffy's cheeks.

"Everything is gonna be okay," Faith promised her. She held Buffy's gaze until the blonde finally gave her a small nod.

Faith smiled reassuringly at her then pulled her hands away so that she could retrieve the key that Buffy had dropped. Key in hand, Faith quietly opened the front door and led Buffy inside.

Very carefully, Faith helped Buffy upstairs and into the bathroom without alerting Joyce, who could be heard watching television in her bedroom.

Once the two slayers were in the stark white light of the bathroom, the horror of the night's events could be seen more vividly, particularly on Buffy. Her shirt and pants were so soaked with blood that they were still wet and sticky. The smears and spatters on Buffy's face and arms were mostly dried but no less disturbing.

Faith made eye contact with Buffy and said, "I'm gonna go get you some clean clothes. You get out of those and get in the shower, okay?" Once she had gotten a nod out of Buffy, Faith left the room.

As soon as Faith had shut the bathroom door and turned around to cross the hallway, Joyce came out of her bedroom. Faith gave a startled jump but then tried to act nonchalant.

"Hey, Mrs. Summers," she said in greeting.

Joyce's eyes instantly went to the blood covering Faith's shirt. "Oh my God! Where's Buffy?"

"Don't worry, she's fine. She's in the bathroom cleaning up," Faith said. She pointed at her shirt and added, "We kinda had a messy night with the slayage. Damn demons…you think they'd have the decency to bleed elsewhere, ya know?" She gave a light chuckle.

"Buffy's okay, right? You're both okay?" Joyce pressed.

"Oh yeah. Sure. Just the usual bumps and bruises. Same ole, same ole. Be gone by tomorrow probably," Faith assured her.

Joyce visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness!" Joyce reached out and touched Faith's arm. "I am so glad you're here, Faith. I'm so glad that Buffy doesn't have to face all this alone. I may never get used to it, but I feel better knowing that you're here."

"Sure. No problem," Faith said, fidgeting uncomfortably at Joyce's words. She quickly changed the subject. "I'm gonna clean up and stay here…i-i-if that's okay?"

"Of course," Joyce said. "You're welcome any time. There are plenty of towels in the downstairs bath, food in the fridge…just make yourself at home."

"Thanks."

"Well, get some rest, and I'll see you girls in the morning," Joyce said, stepping back into her bedroom.

"Okay. 'Night!"

Once Joyce had shut her bedroom door, Faith let out a long breath. Then she headed for Buffy's room.

Moments later, Faith came out of Buffy's bedroom with a stack of clothes in one arm. She returned to the bathroom door and gave a soft knock. When she didn't get an answer, Faith slipped inside.

She found Buffy still in her bloody clothes, just standing in the middle of the bathroom, hugging herself and crying. Faith put the clothes down on the hamper top and walked over to Buffy.

"What's the matter?" she asked, gently touching the slayer's arm. "Why aren't you in the shower yet?"

Buffy looked at Faith and said in a choked voice, "It hurts."

Faith's eyes widened in alarm, and she grasped both of Buffy's arms. "You're hurt?" she said in a panicked voice. "Where are you hurt? Shit! I should've taken you to the hospital." Then she forced herself to slow down and to calmly ask, "Where does it hurt?"

Buffy let out a small sob and then laid her hand over her heart. Faith relaxed somewhat, realizing that Buffy wasn't referring to a physical injury.

"I…don't understand…why it hurts so much," Buffy said through her sobs. "Even when I killed Angel…it didn't…and I loved him so much…and Pete…I barely…Oh God…" Buffy hugged herself tightly again, doubling over in pain as she cried.

Faith pulled Buffy into her arms and held her and just let her cry, not knowing what else to do. "It's not your fault," she whispered as she stroked Buffy's back. "Not your fault."

A few minutes later, Faith came out of the bathroom, having finally gotten Buffy out of her clothes and into the shower. She was carrying Buffy's bloody garments in one arm. She paused in the hallway and took a moment to just breathe.

"Jesus," Faith muttered, running her free hand through her hair.

Although she was trying to calm herself, it wasn't working. Her mind kept coming back to Pete. You son of a bitch, she thought. You're lucky you're already dead. 'Cause I swear to God if you weren't, I'd kill you myself.

Faith forced herself to let out another long exhale. Then she headed downstairs to use the other shower.

A short time later, Buffy entered her bedroom. She was freshly showered and dressed in the pajamas Faith had brought her. Although she still looked haggard, she looked much better than she had before. She found a damp-haired Faith just then pulling a large sleep shirt over her head and body.

When Faith heard the door, she turned and faced Buffy. "Okay if I borrow this?" she asked, pinching a piece of the shirt and holding it up.

Buffy didn't say anything, but she did nod her permission.

"Cool. Thanks."

After that, the two fell into an awkward silence. Except for fidgeting slightly in place, neither one moved or met the other's gaze. After a long moment, Faith finally walked over and spoke.

"I, um, I put our clothes in the wash downstairs, and, um…I put your key over there, on your dresser," Faith said, pointing in that direction.

Once again, Buffy merely nodded.

"I, um, I saw your mom in the hall," Faith went on. When Buffy's eyes widened in alarm, Faith continued quickly. "I didn't tell her what happened. I just said that we'd had a messy run-in with a demon. Didn't want her freakin' over the blood, ya know?"

Buffy let out a relieved breath and gave Faith a small smile. "Good. Thanks."

After another long silence, Faith cocked her thumb over her shoulder and began backing toward the door. "Well, your mom said I could stay here tonight, so I'm just gonna go downstairs, watch a little TV, and crash on the couch."

Buffy frowned but said, "Okay." When Faith turned around and put her hand on the door knob, Buffy called out her name to stop her. When Faith was facing her once again, Buffy gave her a longer, deeper smile. "Thank you," she said simply.

Faith returned the smile. "Sure. No problem." Faith turned back to the door and started to pull it open.

"Faith!" Buffy called out again, a little more urgently this time, even reaching out toward her with her hand. When Faith once again turned around and looked at her expectantly, Buffy just shook her head and said, "Never mind."

Faith left the doorway and walked back to Buffy, who was busy staring at her hands. "What is it?" she asked her.

Buffy didn't answer at first. She shifted on her feet and wrung her hands, not daring to meet Faith's gaze. Finally, she looked up and said in a softly pleading voice, "Will you…will you stay with me tonight?"

The three seconds it took Faith to answer seemed like an eternity, but then Buffy saw Faith smile and heard her say, "Yeah, sure."

Buffy let out the breath she had been holding, practically laughing in relief. "Thank you," she said.

"I'll get the light," Faith said.

Buffy nodded and headed for her bed. Faith returned to the door, shut it, and then turned off the overhead light. Faith paused a moment to let her eyes adjust to the moonlit room; then she walked over to the bed and got in.

"You better not steal the covers," Faith joked as she settled in, earning a laugh from Buffy.

"Don't worry, I think you're safe," Buffy replied. After a lengthy pause, she said, "Well…good-night."

"'Night."

At that, the two slayers turned on their sides away from one another and tried to go to sleep.

It was after about ten minutes of tense, shallow, wide-awake breathing by both parties that Faith detected a change on Buffy's side of the bed. She felt a slight tremor as Buffy tried her best to cry silently. An involuntary sob soon gave the stricken slayer away. Faith turned over and reached out to touch Buffy's back.

"Hey," she said softly, "it'll be okay."

Buffy instantly rolled over and fell crying against Faith's chest. Faith gave an oomph of surprise and had a momentary flash of panic in her eyes, but then she just wrapped her arms around Buffy and pulled her even closer, gently stroking her hair and whispering reassurances to her. It wasn't long before emotional exhaustion took its toll and Buffy fell asleep, with Faith following shortly after.

The next morning, Buffy was the first to awaken. She blinked her eyes groggily and leaned up a bit. When she was finally able to focus, she immediately realized she was lying in Faith's arms. Her eyes grew wide, but she managed to stifle an impending gasp of shock. She looked around herself, as if trying to figure out how to escape without waking Faith, but it didn't seem possible with the dark slayer's arm firmly around her.

Calm down, calm down, she told herself. Just lie back down a-a-and pretend to be asleep. Let Faith be the one to wake up first and deal with the awkward, yet oddly comforting, slayer snuggle. Buffy's eyes grew wide again. Unless she already woke up first and is waiting on me!

"Oh God…" Buffy said out loud, completely unintentionally. She slammed her mouth shut, but it was too late. Faith's eyes began to flutter open.

"Whaaaat?" Faith said sleepily. Then a split-second later she abruptly sat up, bringing Buffy with her. "What is it?" she asked, grasping Buffy's arms.

"I-I-I…ummm…I was just…because…" Buffy rambled nervously, blushing a deep red. As Faith waited expectantly with true concern in her eyes, Buffy suddenly blurted out, "I drooled on you!"

When Faith looked at her like she was crazy, Buffy meekly pointed at her shoulder, which was indeed rather damp. Faith glanced down and took in the sight. After several long seconds of inspection, Faith laughed. She released Buffy's arms, and the two of them laughed some more, quite heartily.

"I'm really sorry," Buffy squeaked out between laughs.

Faith just shrugged and said, "Hey, it's your shirt."

When their laughter tapered off, though, a somber mood descended, and the two became very quiet. They avoided each other's eyes but didn't move away.

"Guess we should get up," Faith finally said, raking her hand through her mussed hair.

"Yeah, I guess so," Buffy replied.

When Faith turned to go, Buffy reached out and took her hand, stopping her. When Faith turned back around, Buffy looked deeply into her eyes and pulled Faith's hand into both of hers.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "For staying with me," she clarified.

"Don't worry about it," Faith answered just as sincerely. Then she smirked and added, "Drooler!"

Buffy smirked back and turned her eyes to Faith's hair, which she then poked. "Bed head!"

"Slobber bucket!" Faith countered, making a wipe at Buffy's chin.

"Bride of Frankenstein!" Buffy shot back with a big grin.

Unable to devise a snappy comeback fast enough, Faith grumbled and shook her head but was still smiling. "Oh, you're gonna pay for that one, missy!" she told her.

"Is that soooooo…Oh!"

Buffy found herself suddenly flipped onto her back with Faith over her but not on top of her. Faith wasn't holding her down or impeding her movements in any way, so Buffy did not feel threatened or reminded of the previous night's events. In fact, she felt a completely different kind of feeling, one that got her heart to racing. Breathing heavily, she looked up into Faith's dark eyes and simply got lost in them. Faith returned her stare, breathing quite heavily herself.

"I thought you were going to make me pay," Buffy whispered.

"I plan to," Faith whispered back.

Both of them spoke without conviction, their game of mutual teasing completely forgotten in the heat of the moment, but neither made a move…until a knock at the door startled them into a quick separation.

"You girls up yet?" came the voice of Buffy's mother through the door.

Buffy sat up in bed and called back, "Yeah, Mom, we're up."

"I've got breakfast," Joyce continued. "If you hurry, I can drop you off at school."

"Be down in a bit," Buffy assured her.

"Okay," Joyce said before heading downstairs.

Faith and Buffy stole darting glances at each other for a full minute before Faith saw a shadow of sadness pass over Buffy's face.

"School," Buffy said in a small, vulnerable voice. She dropped her gaze to her hands.

Faith watched her for a moment, then announced dramatically, "Forget school. You're staying home today."

Buffy gave a quick smile to show she appreciated the thought, but then she said, "I really shouldn't miss. I'm on thin ice with Snyder as it is."

"Screw Snyder!" Faith said. "You're in no condition to go back there today. You're staying home, and that's final."

Buffy grinned for real this time. "A-A-And since when are you the boss of me?" she said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow in Faith's direction.

"Since I got to Sunnydale," Faith explained with mock seriousness. "Thought you'd figured that out by now." Then she gave Buffy a full-dimpled smile and a sparkling wink.

Buffy's heart gave a goofy giggle and then melted. She nearly succumbed to dreamy staring before shaking it off and saying, "Okay on no-school, but you're explaining it to Mom."

Faith gave an unconcerned wave of her hand. "Hey, no prob. Me and Joyce, we go waaaay back. Couple of weeks at least."

A short time later, the two t-shirt-and-sweats-clad teenagers were finishing up breakfast with Mrs. Summers. Joyce took her plate and coffee cup to the sink then came back to Buffy. She ran her hand through her daughter's hair and looked at her worriedly.

"Are you sure you're okay, honey?" she asked. "Maybe I should take you to the doctor."

"I'll be fine, Mom, I promise," Buffy said. "I just need a day of rest."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Summers," Faith added. "I'll keep an eye on her for ya."

Joyce smiled and said, "If you need anything, call me."

"I will," Buffy assured her.

At that, Joyce grabbed her purse and headed for the door. Buffy and Faith sat silently, waiting until they heard Joyce's SUV pull away. Then they gave a sigh of relief.

After washing the few breakfast dishes, Buffy and Faith wandered into the living room.

"So…what now?" Faith asked. "Watch some TV?"

"No," Buffy said in a tired voice. "I think I'll just go back to bed."

"Okay. I'll just hang out down here then."

"You got me out of school, Faith. That's enough," Buffy told her. "You don't have to baby-sit me."

Faith shrugged. "It's not like I got anything better to do." Then she grinned and put her index finger to her chin as if thinking. "Wait, I do have that audience with the Pope." She gave a dismissive wave. "Ah, JP'll understand."

Buffy ignored the lame joke and gave Faith a hopeful glance. "You know what you could do?" She paused briefly then said, "Check in with Giles…see what's going on?"

"Oh, okay. I can do that," Faith said brightly. "I'll just pop over, check in with Jeeves, and be right back." Then she sobered and touched Buffy's arm. "You sure you'll be okay?"

"Yes, Mom," Buffy teased before moving toward the stairs. "There's an extra set of keys by the door. Just take those and then let yourself back in."

"Got it," Faith said. "Be back soon."

A short time later, Willow and Oz and Xander and Cordelia were talking with Giles in the library.

"It's all over school, what happened with Debbie and Pete," Willow said. "Except for the Pete-was-a-monster part."

"Yeah," Oz agreed. "A freshman told me that Pete had eight iced café mochas and just lost it. He and Debbie got into it and just killed each other."

"That's better than the estrogen theory," Willow countered. "I heard he took all of his mother's birth control pills."

"He didn't?" Cordelia said, confused. She turned to Xander. "Pete was a monster?" When Xander nodded, she shook her head and said, "Where have I been?"

"In your special place, Cor," Xander said, "which is why I adore you."

"So…what's the true story?" Cordelia asked. "What happened?"

"Well, we got a hold of Pete's lab books and stuff," Willow said, "and Mr. Science was doing a Jekyll-and-Hyde deal. He was afraid Debbie was gonna leave him, so he mixed this potion to become super macho."

"The only problem was," Giles interjected, "after a while, he didn't need his concoction to become the monster…he did it quite well on his own. He murdered Debbie and then tried to do the same to Buffy."

"So, it was like a real killing? He wasn't under the influence of anything?" Cordelia asked.

"Only himself," Willow said ruefully.

Cordelia frowned in thought. "So…Buffy killed a human."

"Um, well, yes, I-I-I'm afraid she did," Giles answered uneasily.

"No, no, no, she didn't," Xander said in firm denial. "She killed a monster that just happened to look human at the time. Isn't that right, Faith?" he added as an aside when he caught a glimpse of the dark slayer entering the library. As soon as the significance of Faith's arrival clicked in his brain, however, both he and Willow rushed right over.

"Faith!" cried Xander. "How's Buffy?"

"Is she okay?" Willow asked worriedly.

"Was she hurt?" Xander pressed.

"I-I-Is she freaking out?" Willow asked. She turned to Xander. "She's probably freaking out. We should—"

A shrill whistle stopped the anxious rant, and they turned to Faith, who was making a "T" gesture with her hands.

"Time out," Faith said. "Everybody just chill, okay?"

Willow and Xander nodded meekly and returned to their seats.

"How is she?" Giles asked in a calm but serious voice.

"She's fine," Faith said. "Physically, anyway. Other than some nasty bruises, she wasn't seriously hurt."

"And…emotionally?" Giles prodded.

"She was pretty messed up last night," Faith admitted, "but she seemed a lot better this morning. I talked her into staying home from school today. I didn't think she needed to be over here gettin' all reminded of everything."

"Good idea," Willow agreed.

"What about the cops?" Faith asked Giles.

"As far as they're concerned, Pete and Debbie killed one another," Giles answered. "Case closed."

"Good, good," Faith said, relieved. "Buffy can just take her time, get back on her feet, and everything'll be fine."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Giles announced. "Buffy is in more danger now than ever before."

"What?!" Xander exclaimed.

"W-W-What do you mean?" Willow asked, fear in her voice.

"'Slayers aren't supposed to kill humans'," Giles replied. "It's a mantra we watchers teach our slayers, emphasizing it over and over—not just because it's morally wrong to kill another human being, but also because it's literally dangerous to the slayer herself."

"What are you talking about?" Faith demanded.

"The-the power that a slayer possesses…i-i-it's quite dangerous, you see, in the wrong hands," Giles explained. "Imagine if a sociopath had the powers of a slayer…the damage that one girl could do i-i-if she didn't value human life."

"But Buffy is not a sociopath," Oz pointed out.

"Yes, I know," Giles said, "but it doesn't matter. The deed is done, a-a-and the consequences…well, they've already begun, I fear."

"What…Consequences?" Faith asked slowly and emphatically.

Giles let out a deep sigh and went on. "Slayers in the past who have killed humans—and thankfully there have been but a few—they've always had the same ultimate reaction…they lost their minds."

"Are you saying Buffy's gonna go bonkers?" Cordelia asked.

When Giles began to give a rueful nod, Willow became very distressed. "No…no! Not Buffy! She's strong, she'll get through this!" Tears began streaming down Willow's face, and Oz put his arm around her to comfort her.

"What exactly do you mean when you say 'they lost their minds'?" Xander asked.

"Of the ones we have records for, the majority became so despondent, so lost in their own despair, that they…well, they took their own lives," Giles said.

"Oh God…" Xander said.

"And the minority?" Faith asked.

"They became unstable, violently insane, resulting in their having to be locked away," Giles answered. "That was if the Council had been able to take them alive, which didn't happen in most cases." He gave an unhappy sigh. "Even those that were captured didn't last long. They always managed to either kill themselves or get themselves killed."

"You're telling me that all of these slayers died?" Faith said in a harsh tone.

"I'm afraid so," Giles replied. "Most within weeks of making the kill."

"None of them survived?" Faith pressed.

"Well, there was one," Giles said. "In the fourteenth century, if I recall. She managed to pull out of her depression and return to her duties. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, she was killed, by a nest of vampires she was trying to wipe out."

"And you suspect that she may have let herself be killed too," Oz said to Giles.

"The Chronicles don't say that, but, um…it's possible," he admitted.

"A-A-And this is happening because of her slayer powers?!" Xander said angrily. "Because of some stupid, anti-abuse, backlash clause?!!"

"Xander's right," Faith said in a fury. "This should not be happening! She shouldn't be punished for doing her fucking job!! That bastard was trying to kill her!!"

"What do we do?" Willow pleaded. "Giles, what do we do?"

"Well, the first order of business is that Buffy is to be told none of this," he said sternly. "Her awareness of the, um, 'backlash clause,' for lack of a better term, could very well become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If she learns what has happened to the other slayers in the past, she could become convinced that her fate is sealed. And if she reaches that point…"

"…she's lost," Cordelia finished sadly.

"Yes," Giles confirmed. After a brief pause, he went on. "Secondly, Buffy is to be suspended from her slayer duties, effective immed—"

"What?!!" Faith yelled.

"It's only temporary," Giles insisted. "Until she recovers."

"You mean until you and your Council bigwigs figure she's gone wacko so you can lock her up!" Xander accused.

"Look!" Giles shouted, quieting Xander and everyone else. "Buffy is in a very fragile state. Exposing her to any kind of violence could-could trigger a downward spiral that she'll never come back from! Is that what you want?!"

Xander didn't reply; he just looked away. No one else responded either, until Faith spoke up.

"Buffy won't see it that way," Faith said simply. "She'll see the suspension as a punishment, as confirmation that she did something wrong. She already feels bad enough as it is!"

"I'll tell her that it's standard procedure," Giles suggested, "that it's part of a, um, cleansing ritual that the slayer must go through before she's ready to return to duty."

Giles looked at Faith to gauge her opinion, and she nodded. Then he looked over at Xander and Willow for the same reason.

"Okay, that seems reasonable," Willow said. "I-I-I think she'd buy that." Willow turned to Giles and asked, "What else can we do, Giles…to help Buffy?"

"Keep an eye on her without letting her know we are doing so," Giles said. "But most of all…love her, support her, let her know how much you care." Giles smiled and added, "Buffy has something that no other slayer has ever had…she has you." He let his eyes meet those of everyone else in the group as he spoke. "She's not alone…she's not 'one girl in all the world'…not anymore. And surely that will make a difference. It must!"

All of the Scoobies nodded resolutely at that, but behind the determination in their eyes lay a deep, dark fear that nothing they did would make any difference at all.

Part 5

At the school library, Faith and Giles and the others sat brooding for a moment, trying to get their heads around the situation that faced them. Finally, Faith broke the silence.

"I'm going back to check on Buffy," she announced.

"We should go too," Xander said. "Buffy needs us."

"Right," Willow agreed. "She needs her best friends." She turned to Faith. "No offense."

Though the comment truly stung, Faith shrugged it off. "None taken," she said.

"Xander, Willow, I think you should stay here," Giles said, stopping the duo as they prepared to leave.

"What?" Xander protested.

"Why not?" Willow demanded.

"You don't want to rush over there en masse and set off Buffy's suspicions," Giles explained. "She'll wonder why you're hovering over her so."

"Because we care," Willow countered. "There doesn't have to be impending doom in order for us to show we care."

"True," Oz said, "but you skipping school…definitely a diversion from the Great Order of Things."

"You can go over there right after school, both of you," Giles promised. "In the meantime, Faith can keep an eye on Buffy."

After frowning unhappily for several long seconds, Xander and Willow finally nodded their reluctant agreement. At that, Faith rushed from the library.

When Faith got back to the Summers home, she let herself in using the spare set of keys she had borrowed. She found Buffy up and seemingly watching TV in the living room. In actuality, Buffy wasn't paying any attention to it at all. When she saw Faith come in, she quickly wiped the tears from her face and pretended that she hadn't just been crying – which did not go unnoticed by Faith.

"Why aren't you in bed?" Faith asked.

"I tried to go to sleep," Buffy said, "but I just couldn't. Kept thinking about what happened." Her face creased in pain for a moment, but she forced herself to move past it. She looked up at Faith. "What did you find out?"

"Everything's cool," Faith said, joining Buffy on the couch. "Giles fixed it so that the cops think that Pete and Debbie killed each other. There won't be any additional investigation."

Buffy didn't seem relieved by that. "Good. I guess…" She took a deep breath. "I guess it's okay that Debbie gets the blame for something I did…I mean, she's not around to defend herself, so –"

"It's not like that," Faith said, cutting her off. "There's no 'blame' here. What you did was in self-defense, totally justified. You get that, right?"

Buffy gave a small 'maybe' shrug in response.

Faith went on, "Problem is, we can't trust Sunnydale's finest to get that right. We can't afford to have the Slayer locked up or bogged down in the so-called justice system. Okay?"

"Okay," Buffy said, although her tone indicated she was less than convinced.

"Giles wants you to take some time off, though," Faith said, "let me handle patrol for a while."

Buffy nodded gratefully at that suggestion, having no objections to that plan. "Sounds good. Don't think I'm up for patrol, anyway."

"Oh, one more thing," Faith said "Willow and Xander will be by this afternoon. They're worried about you. Or about me watching over you. I think they think I've got you tied down to the bed or something."

Buffy's eyes went wide as her thoughts clearly went a different direction than Faith's had. Faith noticed Buffy's reaction.

"Not like that, ya perv," Faith chided, nudging Buffy playfully.

Buffy blushed a bright red and gave an embarrassed laugh.

Faith went on to explain. "Like nursing home abuse or something. I guess 'caregiver' isn't the first thing that comes to mind when they think of me. Or…to my mind, actually."

Buffy smiled reassuringly at Faith. "Well, I know better. You've been very good with the giving of care. And I do appreciate it…very much."

Buffy reached out and clasped Faith's arm, causing the slayer to become a little embarrassed herself. "Well, don't get used to it," she warned. "I got a rep to maintain, you know."

Buffy put on an expression of mock seriousness. "Keep Faith's bad-ass reputation intact. Check."

Faith grinned then glanced about the room. "So…what do you want to do now?"

"TV's a wasteland," Buffy said with a shrug.

"You got a deck o' cards?" Faith asked.

"Sure…in the drawer there," she answered, pointing at the table.

"You know how to play Gin?" Faith asked, retrieving the deck.

"Yeah. It's been a while, though."

"We could go a penny a point," Faith suggested. "Just to make it interesting," she added, raising her eyebrow at Buffy.

Buffy smirked and said, "You're on."

Meanwhile, back at the high school, Willow and Xander sat pouting in the back of their science class. Neither seemed to be concentrating on the teacher's lecture.

"I can't believe Giles wouldn't let us go check on Buffy!" Xander whispered angrily to Willow.

"I know," Willow complained. "Buffy's teetering at the edge of a possible Abyss of Despair, and he sends Faith to watch her!" Willow gave a disgusted huff. "I mean, Faith's got about as much sensitivity as Cordy at the homeless shelter last Christmas."

"Exactly!" Xander agreed instantly. Then he corrected himself. "Wait."

Willow lifted an eyebrow and gave Xander a think-about-it look.

"Right. Good point," he had to admit.

Later that day, Faith and Buffy had abandoned the cards and were now sitting on the couch right next to each other with a photo album spread across both their laps. Several other photo albums, as well as empty soda cans and food wrappers, were resting on the table next to the playing cards.

"Ugh! Don't look at that one!" Buffy said as soon as Faith turned the page of the album. She even covered up the picture with her hand.

"Lemme see," Faith said.

"No, it's stupid," Buffy said, refusing to move her hand.

"Move your hand."

"No."

"Move it."

"Noo…eeee…"

Faith grabbed Buffy's hand, and the two slayers engaged in a mini-battle over photo album dominance. Despite Buffy's squealing denials, Faith won out and was able to see the forbidden picture.

It was of a five-year-old Buffy, standing on a chair pulled up to the kitchen counter. The flour-covered little girl was supposedly "helping" her mother bake a cake, but she seemed to be making more of a mess than anything else. Young Buffy was turned toward the camera and smiling widely…all without her two front teeth.

As Faith examined the picture and began to snicker, Buffy groaned in embarrassment and hid her face behind Faith's shoulder.

"God, I hate that picture," Buffy whined.

"What? It's cute," Faith said. "In a dentally-challenged sort of way."

Buffy pulled away from Faith's shoulder and gave it a smack with her fist. "It's not fair," she said. "I don't have any embarrassing pictures of you to make fun of."

"Be grateful," Faith said. When Buffy looked at her curiously, she added, "Trust me…I wasn't always as stunningly hot as I am today."

"And apparently not as humble either," Buffy teased.

They shared a laugh, and then Faith's attention was drawn to a large photo showing a ten-year-old Buffy gracefully ice skating.

"Hey, you look like you really know what you're doing there," Faith commented.

"Yeah," Buffy said, "I was pretty good." Then she gave a small groan. "Thank God it's not one of my 'Dorothy-do' pictures."

"Dorothy-do?"

"My Dorothy Hamill phase," Buffy said ruefully. "My room in L.A. was pretty much a shrine. Dorothy dolls, Dorothy posters, I even got the Dorothy haircut."

"The Dorothy-do."

"Yep. Thereby securing a place for myself in the geek hall of fame."

Faith laughed.

"I used to go skating all the time," Buffy said. "And then I moved to Sunnydale. Haven't had a lot of time for non-demon-y hobbies since then. Last time I went was…" She trailed off, her expression darkening. "…with Angel." She sighed and said, "It wasn't long before he…"

"…turned evil on you?" Faith finished.

"Yeah," Buffy said sadly. After a long pause, she looked at Faith and asked, "Have you ever…lost someone? Someone you cared about?"

"My mom," Faith replied with a shrug. "No, wait…you said someone I cared about."

Buffy frowned sympathetically, but Faith gave her a don't-bother glance.

"My mother was a drunk, a bitchy drunk," Faith explained. "I'm better off without her."

"What about your watcher?" Buffy pressed but in a gentle voice.

There was a flash of pain in Faith's eyes, but she quickly covered it up. "I…I didn't really know her that long."

"You saw her killed," Buffy said. "How did you get that…image out of your head?" Her brow furrowed as she remembered Pete's bloody death.

"I didn't," Faith answered, thinking of Kakistos' violent murder of her watcher. "I don't think I ever will."

After a long moment of silence, Faith drew their attention back to the photo album.

Several photo albums later, Buffy and Faith were still at it. While Faith was pouring over the photos, Buffy was leaning comfortably against Faith's shoulder. When Faith came across a picture of interest, she pointed to it.

"Hey, what about this one?" she asked. When she didn't get an answer, she looked over and found Buffy sound asleep on her shoulder. She sighed and said with a roll of her eyes, "Great. I guess she'll drool on this shirt too."

Faith closed the photo album and set it aside. Then as gently as she could, she eased Buffy from her shoulder and into her lap. When Buffy stirred momentarily, Faith pulled her hands away and waited, not wanting to do anything that might wake her up. But Buffy merely snuggled more closely against Faith's thigh and quieted once again.

After several long seconds, Faith slowly let out the breath she had been holding. She looked down at Buffy with a deeply concerned expression. She rested her hands on her lap, without touching Buffy, then sighed and looked around the room with a what-do-I-do-now expression. It wasn't long, however, before she brought her eyes back to Buffy.

Almost involuntarily, Faith's hands found their way to Buffy's hair. She tentatively touched the ends that lay on Buffy's shoulder. Soon she was tenderly stroking Buffy's hair, smiling at her with a warm softness in her own eyes.

When Buffy gave a murmur of contentment from her sleep, Faith stopped and yanked back her hand. Pure panic flashed in her eyes, and she looked like she wanted to escape. She grabbed a pillow and began to slide herself out from under Buffy's head, slipping the pillow into the place vacated by her legs. The move worked. As Faith managed to extricate herself, Buffy remained asleep and snuggled into the pillow.

Once free, Faith exhaled in relief. She pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and laid it over Buffy. Then she knelt beside the couch and pushed a strand of Buffy's hair out of her face, letting her fingertips gently touch her cheek. She did it only for a second, though, before frowning and pulling away. Then she got to her feet and headed for the bathroom.

When Faith went in, she shut the door quietly and then turned on the faucet. She kept her gaze on the sink and the running water.

What is the matter with you?! she mentally chided herself. You can't just – She's –

Faith gave a frustrated growl, splashed her face with cold water, and turned off the faucet. After drying off with the towel, she put her hands on the counter and leaned against it, still keeping her eyes on the sink.

Back in the living room, Buffy frowned and shook her head in her sleep as if she were having a bad dream.

"No…" she whimpered as her dream took her somewhere she didn't want to go.

In her mind, she was at the cemetery, standing at Pete's grave. It was night, and she was alone, and she was crying. She stood there without speaking for the longest time, simply unable to form the words.

Finally, she pulled herself together and whispered, "I'm so sorry…" Then she hung her head and turned to go.

Before she could take one step, she ran into someone. When she looked up and saw who it was, she gasped and stumbled back.

A blood-covered Pete glared maliciously at her.

Back in the bathroom, Faith was still leaning against the counter. Finally, she let out a deep, sad sigh.

"She's not like you," she said out loud.

Then she lifted her eyes to her reflection and added, "…and you're not like her."

Faith straightened up and sighed again.

So just stop this…this…whatever it is you're doing, she thought to herself. Just stop it now before –

A scream from Buffy cut off Faith's mental debate, and Faith dashed from the bathroom.

When Faith came running into the living room, she found Buffy frantically trying to untangle herself from the blanket covering her. Faith rushed over.

"Buffy, it's okay," she called out while trying to capture Buffy's flailing arms. When she was finally successful, she held the blonde firmly in her grip and attempted to make eye contact. "It's just a dream," she told her. "Just a dream."

Buffy eventually stopped fighting and met Faith's gaze. Then she burst out crying and just let herself fall slowly forward against Faith's shoulder.

After the briefest of hesitations, Faith ignored the warning her brain was screaming at her and wrapped her arms around the sobbing slayer, pulling her close.

Back at the high school, Giles sat in his office with a pile of books. He had several of them open and stacked on top of one another. He had been taking notes on a legal pad about each slayer in Council history that had killed a human.

There has to be something here, Giles thought. Some small clue, some vestige of hope.

He reviewed the list several times, flipping the pages with increasing frustration. He finally snatched his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

After a moment, he put his glasses back on and opened his desk drawer. He pulled out an address book and turned to the T section. He ran his finger over the name "Travers, Quentin" for several seconds. Then he closed the book and put it back inside his desk drawer.

Back at the Summers home, Buffy had long since stopped crying. Now she simply luxuriated in the sense of warmth and safety she felt in Faith's arms. She let out a breath that was a near-sigh.

Faith gently separated them and gave Buffy a concerned look. "Are you okay now?" she asked.

Buffy met Faith's eyes. "I'm always okay when I'm with you," she whispered.

Buffy dropped her gaze to Faith's cheek, reached out, and cupped it gently. Buffy brought her eyes back to Faith's.

Don't, Faith's internal voice told her. Don't let her do this. Stop her now. But Faith didn't stop her.

Buffy leaned closer, letting her hand move down to Faith's neck. Then ever-so-slowly, Buffy planted a soft kiss on Faith's lips. When Buffy pulled back, she found Faith breathing hard, trembling, but staring intently.

Faith's heart was about to beat out of her chest. Her gaze darted from Buffy's eyes to her mouth and back again a hundred times, a mixture of conflicting emotions flashing across her face.

A worried expression came over Buffy. "Faith? Are you –?"

Buffy's question was cut off when Faith reached up with both hands and pulled Buffy's face to hers, kissing her hungrily. Buffy eagerly returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around Faith. They kissed and kissed again, their hands roaming as the heat rose between them.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Faith grabbed Buffy's arms and pushed her roughly away, holding her at an arm's length with a bruising grip. As the two slayers panted breathlessly, they locked eyes. Buffy's expression was startled and confused. Faith's was shocked and anguished.

Before Buffy could say anything, Faith released the blonde's arms, jumped up from the couch, and began backing away.

Now truly worried, Buffy called out, "Faith? Faith…what's wrong?"

Faith just continued backing away, nearly tripping on the table.

Buffy's worry became total fear. "Faith, please…talk to me," she said. "Oh God…I shouldn't have…I'm sorry…I thought that…"

"I-I-I've gotta go," was all Faith could say as she turned toward the door.

Buffy jumped to her feet, "No! Faith, please!" Tears began streaming down Buffy's cheeks. "Don't go!" she cried. Then she reached out in a pleading gesture. "Please don't leave me!" she wailed.

Faith shut Buffy's pleas out of her mind, snatched open the front door, and dashed out, not even bothering to close the door.

Buffy sank back onto the couch, sobbing uncontrollably.

Faith ran as fast as she could, cursing herself the entire way, running until her breath finally gave out. When she stopped, she found herself in one of the cemeteries. She plopped onto a stone bench.

What did you do?! she accused herself. You shouldn't have let her – And you sure shouldn't have –

"Oh God…this is so fucked up…" she said out loud, dropping her head into her hands.

Just minutes after Faith left, Xander and Willow arrived at Buffy's house. They found the front door wide open and Buffy crying on the couch.

"Buffy!" Willow and Xander both exclaimed before rushing to the slayer and sitting beside her.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Willow asked, touching Buffy's shoulder.

"Faith…l-l-left," Buffy barely got out between sobs before falling into Willow's arms.

"It's okay," Willow said, holding Buffy tightly. "We're here now."

As Buffy cried, Xander put a comforting hand on her back. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted Faith with Buffy!" Xander whispered to Willow urgently.

"How could she do that?" Willow said. "Just leave Buffy when she was so upset?"

"I don't know, but she's not getting another chance – not if I have anything to say about it," Xander promised.

Part 6