The Three of Us

This Chapter is unbeta'd, please excuse any errors.
Reviews are welcome.
'Still Haven't Found What I'm looking for' belongs to U2
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The silence stretched for a few minutes as each of the girls examined their own thoughts. “Hey, Queen C,” Faith finally spoke. “What’s it like livin’ with a ghost?”

“Not to bad.” she smiled. “He rattles around sometimes, if I upset him, but mostly he’s pretty quiet. He’ll make noise if I’ve overslept to wake me up. Did he leave you a message?” Buffy and Faith looked at her.

“No,” Buffy answered shaking her head. “How would he do that?”

“I put some of those magnetic letters on the fridge for him to move around. Usually for yes or no he flicks the light on in the living room.”

“Umm, about that,” Buffy looked down at the table, “before we left, I asked him if we looked okay. The uhh, bulb exploded.” She sheepishly looked up at Cordelia and shrugged.

Cordelia raised an eyebrow, “Really? I guess the two of you overwhelmed him. He was about 16 when he died.”

“Does he wander around the apartment or does he kinda stay in one room?” Faith asked. It was Buffy’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

“He wanders around the apartment. Why?”

Faith started to laugh as Buffy turned beet red.

“What?” Cordelia asked.

“We umm, definitely overwhelmed him then.” Buffy said as she elbowed a still laughing Faith.

Cordelia’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do in my apartment?”

Buffy blushed again, as Faith broke out laughing again. “We umm, took a, uhh, shower, together.”

“Oh?” Cordelia said. Then her eyebrows shot up, “OHH!” She poked Faith, “You better not have hurt my ghost.” Faith cracked up again and Cordelia started to laugh as well. Buffy just turned redder. Some patrons of the club had started to look at the group and wonder what all the laughing was about. Another demon had stepped to the stage, and was starting to sing ‘My Way’. Even Buffy had to giggle a little at the irony. Petrov appeared at the end of the table and the girls ordered another round.

“The good news, I guess,” Cordelia spoke softly, “Is someone in the apartment is getting a little action. Too bad it’s the ghost.” The girls smiled at her.

“Come on,” Faith spoke up first. “The way you look, they must be lined up around the block!”

“No,” Cordy answered with a wistful look in her eyes. “There are a lot of slimy creatures in this town, and not all of them are demons.”

“Do ya want me to scare somethin’ up for ya while I’m here?” Faith offered.

“Thanks but no,” Cordelia seemed subdued, “I’m okay where I am for now.”

“Okay, but let me know if you change your mind, ‘cause it won’t take me long!”

Cordelia smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s nice to know you’ll look out for me Faith.”

“We both will Cordy.” Buffy answered.

“Well right now you can watch me go to the washroom, perverts.” Faith and Buffy shook their heads as she left the booth. They both watched her walk away. Buffy sidled up to Faith and nibbled on her ear.

“What are you thinking?”

Faith sighed, “I wanna go back to the apartment and peel your clothes off with my teeth. I also wanna know what’s goin’ on with Queen C. Somethin’ ain’t right.”

“I agree with you, what should we do?”

“Dunno,” Faith looked at her girlfriend, “She seems okay, but I don’t think she’s showin’ us all her cards.”

“You think she’s hiding something?”

“I know she’s hidin’ something, and I might know what it is.”

“What?” Buffy asked as she ran her fingers along Faith’s arm.

Faith shook her head, “She’ll tell us when she’s ready. That connection thing will let her tell us.”

“When did you become all Crypto-Girl?”

Faith looked at her girlfriend and kissed her lightly. “It’s serious, trust me on this okay?”

Buffy looked at Faith and could see the care for her and Cordelia there. “I trust you Faith. She’ll tell us when she’s ready.”

Petrov appeared at the end of the table again, and dropped off the third round. He was shortly followed by Lorne. “Where’s Cordy?” he looked around.

“Little girls room,” Faith answered “Why?”

“Hmm? Oh, right.” Lorne seemed distracted. “I’ll wait till she gets back.” He just stood at the end of the table and fidgeted.

“Is everythin’ okay?” Faith asked. You’re startin’ to make me nervous.”

“Oh,” he replied, “I’m sorry; this is hard for me as well.”

Cordelia arrived back at the booth and put her hand on Lorne’s arm. “Are you okay?”

He smiled warmly at her. “Just a little confused is all. Now that you’re back, we can talk about it.” He ushered Cordelia into the booth and followed her. He clasped his hands together on the table and looked at them. “I think I’ve figured out what it is, but I need you to sing again.” Buffy and Faith groaned, and he held up his hand to stop the protests. “Please let me finish. I need the three of you to sing, together.”

“Why?” Cordelia asked for the three of them. They all waited expectantly for him to answer.

He shrugged, “I’ll know if I was right when you sing. Either way, I’ll explain it when you’re done. That’s a promise, Okay?”

The girls looked at each other and nodded. “Ain’t like we got much of a choice, is it?” Faith stared hard at the empath.

“I know and I’m sorry, but I will explain. I promise.”

Faith eyed him up with a steely glare. Cordelia put her hand on Faith’s arm, “If I trust anyone to keep his word it’s Lorne.”

“That’s good enough for me.” Buffy spoke up. Faith nodded without taking her eyes off Lorne.

“She can be pretty scary, can’t she?” he asked Buffy.

The blond beamed, “That’s my girl!”

“You’ll be up after the next song, and thank you for doing this. I’ll see you afterwards.” He bowed as he stood from the table then drifted off into the club.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Buffy asked Cordelia. She just shook her head with a slightly worried look in her eyes.

“We have a bigger problem.” Faith said in a very serious tone. Cordelia and Buffy both looked around the room for danger.

“What?” Buffy asked.

Faith was very still, “What’re we gonna sing?”

Buffy and Cordelia each hit her in a shoulder as she broke out in a grin. “Well it’s important! I ain’t singin’ no namby-pamby crap.”

“What do you call namby-pamby crap?” Cordelia asked.

“Britney Spears, and that shit. You know,” Faith used her fingers to quote, “that ‘pop’ crap.”

“Well we’re not singing the stuff you were thrashing around on stage to.” Buffy added her two cents.

Faith smiled, “That’s fair. I saw a song when I was up there that could be a lotta fun. It’s an old up tempo blues number. It’s called ‘Hey Bartender’.”

“Blues?” Cordelia and Buffy answered together. “You can’t expect us to sing blues!” Buffy yelped. “I’m not old enough to sing the Blues.”

“You’ve been through enough though.” Cordelia was smiling at her.

“That’s true,” Buffy sighed, “Doesn’t mean I want to sing them.”

“Look,” Faith interrupted, “We’ll go up, listen to the music and look at the words. If we can do it we will, if not, we pick somethin’ else. Okay?”

“What about the DJ?” Cordelia asked.

Faith laughed, “When he sees me and B headin’ that way, he won’t get out of his chair.”

Cordelia and Buffy chuckled at Faith. “I knew I brought you two along for a reason.” Cordelia laughed.

“Somebody’s got to keep those guys inline. We don’t want’em running amok.” Faith answered back.

“Did Giles teach you that word?” Cordelia smiled.

“Nah,” Faith replied as she started to shuffle Buffy out of the booth. “Got it off a beer coaster.”

The three girls were smiling as they walked towards the stage. There was a smattering of applause as a vampire finished singing ‘Knock on Wood’. The emcee took the mike back from the vamp and looked at the approaching women. He sighed as he looked at the paper in his hand. “A round of applause for Buffy, Faith, and Cordelia.” He made a beeline right for his chair. Faith flipped through the book until she found the song. She pointed it out to the emcee and told him they wanted to listen to it first. Cordelia and Buffy each took a turn with the headset to hear the tune, while they watched the words scroll by. After a minute or so, Faith looked at each of them. “So, wadda ya think?”
Cordelia looked at Buffy, “I don’t understand some of the lyrics.”

“Yeah,” Buffy agreed, “They seem inappropriate.”

Faith nodded. “That’s cause when the song was written, those words had different meanings. He’s talkin’ about playin’ a horn.”

“When did you get so smart?” Buffy put her hand on Faith’s arm and smiled. Faith leaned forward and gave her a light kiss. “Blues, baby, is the daddy of Rock and Roll.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes and faked gagging. “Anymore sweetness and I’ll be in a diabetic coma. Can we get on with this?”

Buffy gave her a light push. “Yes, Queen C, we’ll get a move on.”

“Okay, if you ain’t comfortable, we can sing somethin’ else.” Faith said as she started flipping through the book again.

“Hey,” Cordelia put her hand out to stop Faith on a page. “What about this one? I’ve always liked it.”

Buffy and Faith looked at the song she indicated. “I’m okay with it.” Faith looked at her. Buffy nodded, “Me too.”

Faith looked at the DJ who was pouting in his chair. She shrugged and set up the sound board. She handed a mike to the other girls and picked one up for herself. “Let’s go.”
They moved onto the stage, Faith pushed play and the song started:

I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you

I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire

I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running

You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Of my shame
You know I believed it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...

Lorne was standing at the bar when the girls started to sing. His head snapped around to stare at them for a few seconds before he put his head in his hands and started to stagger. Petrov grabbed him and held him up. “What’s wrong boss?” he worriedly looked to the stage. Lorne hung onto his arm and leaned into him. “Help me to my office please. I’ll be okay.”

“You sure?” Petrov asked nervously, “Should I get’em to stop?”

“No, no,” Lorne wheezed, “I’m alright. I just need to lie down.”

“Whatever you say boss.” He started to guide him to the office. Lorne stopped him when they got into the quiet of the hallway. “Tell the girls, I’m tied up. Don’t worry them, okay? I just need to rest a bit. Comp them on everything, food, drinks, whatever. Just don’t upset them.”

“I’ll do that.” Petrov was helping him towards the office again. “Just get better okay?” Lorne nodded. When they got to the office, he collapsed on the couch. “Hand me some water, please.” Petrov pulled a bottle out of the mini fridge and handed it to him. “Now go,” he said, “and don’t upset them. I’ll be out shortly.” Petrov nodded and closed the door quietly behind him.

He returned to the bar as the girls were finishing the song. He got another round of drinks for them and headed for the booth. He got there just after they settled into the seats with Faith between Buffy and Cordelia.

“We didn’t order another round, did we?” Buffy asked.

“Nope.” Faith piped up, while Cordy just shook her head.

“Compliments of Lorne.” Petrov said as he placed the drinks on the table. Holding the tray in front of him like a shield, he continued. “Lorne’s busy at the moment, he’ll get to you as soon as he can. Meanwhile, he’s asked me to tell you that your tab is complimentary for the night.” He smiled weakly at the girls. “Will there be anything else?”

Cordelia said “Not now thanks.”

“Damn!” Faith exclaimed, “We musta been great.” She threw an arm around each of the other girls. “Maybe we should go pro?”

The two girls smiled and leaned into Faith. “Despite the free drinks, I don’t think we should give up our day jobs.” Cordelia retorted.

“I’m with her.” Buffy smiled at the two of them. She looked between the two smiling girls. ‘They seem to be getting pretty cosy with each other.’ she thought. ‘I like it, and I never thought I’d ever want to get this close to Cordy. Huh, it really is an interesting night.'

“Hey B,” Faith nudged her as she moved to pick up her drink. “You were driftin’ there, where’d you go?”

“Just lost in thought. So what do we toast this time?” she asked.

“To the three of us.” Cordelia raised her glass.

“I can do that.” Faith raised hers.

“Sounds good to me too.” Buffy chipped in. The three raised their glasses and toasted each other. The conversation flowed freely after that. They talked about Sunnydale, made fun of Xander, and clapped occasionally for a decent singer. Their favourite so far was the demon that did ‘Only the Lonely’. “Not us!” Faith had yelled. The three seemed to enjoy touching each other while they talked. Just casual contact, touching a hand or an arm, occasionally leaning into one another. Faith had gone to the washroom and when she came back, she slid in next to Cordelia, who moved next to Buffy. Faith smiled at her girlfriend, “Her turn for the middle,” she lowered her voice, “We’re sharing.” Then she exaggerated a large wink. Buffy and Cordelia both broke out in a fit of giggles.

“She’s so subtle,” Cordelia said, “Do you have trouble understanding her meaning?” another round of giggles broke out. Faith saw Cordelia look toward the door of the club and freeze. It was only a moment, but the smile fell and she could see fear in her eyes. Faith glanced at the door, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. By the time she looked back, the smile was there, but there was a subdued look in her eyes.
Faith put her hand over Cordelia’s and leaned into her. “You’re safe here Cordelia.” she whispered. Buffy raised an eyebrow to Faith, who shook her head slightly.

‘Something’s up,’ Buffy thought, ‘It concerns Cordy, I could feel the change in her mood, but I don’t sense any danger.’ Buffy took a quick look around the club to check. ‘It scares her, but it’s not obvious. Faith was right.’ She reached out and covered Cordelia’s other hand. “You are very safe here Cordy.”

Cordelia looked at both girls, then lowered her head. In a soft voice she said, “Thank you, it means a lot.”

“That’s what friends are for.” Faith assured her with a gentle squeeze of her hand.

“Okay,” Cordelia squared her shoulders, “enough of the diabetic moments, let’s have some fun.” The conversation picked up again, and they were having as much fun as before. Faith and Buffy could see Cordelia’s eyes flit to another part of the club occasionally. They kept checking but didn’t see anything wrong.

Buffy was talking to Cordy about Snyder, and Faith let her eyes drift to where Cordelia would look. ‘It ain’t somethin’, it’s someone, who’s upset her. I ain’t seen anybody out there throwin’ looks our way, but I’ll find the creep.’ She turned back just in time to smile at the punch line of the story. As they relaxed into a comfortable silence Lorne appeared at the end of the table.

He gave a slight bow, “Please accept my humble apologies. I was detained briefly and you now have my full attention. He smiled and slid into the booth.

“You alright?” Faith asked.

“Perfectly fine,” was the response, “Why?”

“ ’Cause you look pale, even for a green guy. Are you one of those chameleons?”
Buffy and Cordelia tried to hide their laughter, but were doing a poor job.

Lorne smiled at Faith, “No, I’m not. I am not changing colours.”

“Okay.” Faith shrugged. “So what’s the deal, are you gonna explain things now?”

“That’s why I’m here.” He took a sip of his Sea Breeze, and settled himself. “Where to start.” He tapped his lips with his finger for a second. “Okay,” he placed his hands in front of him and cocked his head. “Cordelia, do you remember when you sang for me?”

She furrowed her brow, “Is this a test? Because it was a while ago.”

He smiled, “I know, that’s why I’m asking. When I talked to you afterwards, I told you what I saw, but I couldn’t see all of it. Do you remember?”

“Yes, now I remember,” she nodded, “You said it’s like a piece of it was missing. Like I just didn’t exist after that.” Buffy’s and Faith’s eyes widened at that comment.

“You didn’t exist?” Buffy queried.

“No,” Cordelia answered, “He couldn’t see past a point in my life. He didn’t see my death, it just stopped.” She laughed a little. “Angel wouldn’t let me go anywhere for a week after that. Do YOU know how hard it is to go to the bathroom with Wesley and Gunn standing outside the stall?” The two slayers cracked up laughing. Buffy had tears streaming down her face. After they settled down, Lorne continued.

“My problem was I’d never had anything like that happen before, or since.” He took another drink. Placing it back on the coaster, he adjusted it so it was centered. “That is, until tonight.”

All three girls stared at him. Faith’s eyes were narrowing, and Buffy was starting to tense. Cordelia reached out slowly and placed a hand on each of the slayers. “Hold up girls, he can’t tell us anything if he’s dead.”

Buffy looked at her, “You pick now to do the voice of reason thing?” Faith and Cordy smiled. Buffy turned to Lorne “Continue.”

He ran a nervous hand through his hair, then fidgeted a little. “Well, when Faith started to sing, the same thing happened. You can understand my predicament, I thought I was losing my touch. That’s why I was so flustered when she sat down.” He quickly glanced around the club to see if anyone was listening. “If word got out, I’d be out of business in no time.” He sat back in the booth and sighed. “So I had two people, friends, whom I couldn’t read. So I thought I’d read Buffy then figure out what was with Faith.” The girls nodded in unison. They were trying to figure out what was going on. He’d been talking for several minutes but hadn’t really said anything. “Try to imagine my surprise when Buffy starts to sing, and the same thing happens. Now its three friends I can’t read!” He grabbed his drink and finished it. He waved Petrov over and ordered another one. “Girls?” he asked. Buffy and Faith ordered another one, but Cordelia passed. “I don’t have slayer metabolism to work it off.”

After Petrov left, Lorne started up again. “That’s why I left. I thought I’d lost it. All I could see was an empty club full of cobwebs and me talking to myself in the corner.”

Faith leaned into Cordelia and whispered, “He’s quite the drama queen ain’t he.” She smacked Faith in the shoulder. “This is serious!” she whispered back.

Lorne kept on talking. “I went back to the office and thought about it and that’s when I decided to see what happens when the three of you sang.” At this point he beamed at the three girls.

“And?” Faith queried. The other two were leaning forward, looking at Lorne.

“I could see! All of it! It was wonderful! I was so happy!” He was waving his hands around in celebration. Buffy grabbed an arm and pulled it down.

“Try to imagine how thrilled I am for you. What about us?”

Lorne blinked, “Right, I’m sorry. Where are my manners?” He settled back down in the seat and picked up his drink. He quickly put the empty glass down, and looked at the crowd, “Where’s Petrov?” he mumbled. The girls stared at him for a second.

“It’s good those things come with a straw,” Faith spoke quietly, “You should keep it. You’ll be able to use it for meals in a minute.” Lorne’s eyes widened rapidly as the words of the dark slayer sank in.

“No trouble, no trouble at all.” he squeaked. He cleared his throat, “As I was saying, I could see it all. It was incredibly powerful, and overwhelming. When you started to sing, it was this, huge powerful wall of energy. It felt like a truck. Petrov had to help me to the office and I had to lie down.” He looked down and gently shook his head.

“Was it that bad?” Buffy asked quietly, looking to Cordelia, then to Faith.

He looked up and smiled at the three girls, “Gads no! It kicked me, but I’ve never felt that much peace or love in my life!” Petrov arrived at the table again, dropped off the drinks with a smile at Lorne and left.

Cordelia smiled nervously, “What did you see?”

“A lot, really, I had trouble making most of it out. It just came too fast. What I did see, was the three of you together for a long time. You were all very old and happy together. There seemed to be children, but I couldn’t tell whose they were. They did seem to belong to you though. There was a male presence, but it was in the background. It seemed to be a positive influence, but didn’t play a major role. There were a couple of dark spots. One of them is actually fairly close.” His brow was furrowed and he had a very worried look on his face. The girls had almost stopped breathing while they waited. He looked up and a small smile came to his face. “Sorry, I was trying to see more. I can’t tell who, but one of you will be in danger. Two are close, one is far. But the three of you come through it closer than you were before. After that it seems fairly smooth for several years.” He stopped, and picked up his drink. “Here’s to a terrific life, well three terrific lives. It seems the three of you are destined to be together for a long time.”

“That’s it?” Faith asked. “You saw us together after a long time? Are we just friends or what?”

Lorne looked at her with a sad smile. “My dear Faith, I saw what I saw, and I told you. I can’t tell you all the details, like I said, it was just too much. What I can clarify is this. When the three of you sang individually, parts of your soul were missing. When you sang together, I could read you as one. It isn’t easy in this life for one to find their soul mate. It is impossible to find two, and beyond that to find them at the same time!” He watched the girls as his words sunk in. As their expressions changed with comprehension, a satisfied grin crept across his face. “I have a question.” he said slowly. “Because of the force of what I saw, the three of you wouldn’t happen to be virgins would you?”

Faith broke out in hysterics, Buffy blushed and Cordelia just looked down at the table.

“Not for a long, long, time!” Faith gasped out. A bright red Buffy just shook her head no. Lorne looked at Cordelia and waited.

Cordelia just stared at the table. Faith quieted down and looked quizzically at Buffy then to Cordelia. “Cordy?” Lorne asked.

A small frightened voice exited Cordelia, “Do demons count?”

Faith put her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter, While Buffy stared in shock.
“Cordy,” Buffy had started to smile, “I didn’t know you swung that way.”

“It wasn’t my choice!” a furious Cordelia turned on the blonde.

Buffy and Faith both stopped laughing, and looked at Cordelia. Faith’s head slowly turned to where Cordelia had been looking all night. “Its here.” she said in a low voice. She turned to face Cordelia. “Which one?”

Lorne’s and Buffy’s eyes followed Faith’s but couldn’t see what she was talking about.
“You don’t understand!” Cordelia snapped at Faith.

“I do Cordelia. Perfectly.” Faith’s tone was flat and emotionless. She reached out and took the ex-cheerleaders hand in both of her own. She waited until Cordelia’s eyes met hers. “I know exactly what you’re goin’ through. I need you to tell me which one it is. Then you won’t have to worry about it ever again.”

Cordelia could feel Faith’s strength holding her up. She looked into Faith’s eyes and saw the understanding and caring. Buffy and Lorne looked between the two, but didn’t interrupt. Faith watched the indecision in Cordelia’s eyes.

“He’ll never hurt anyone again.” Faith said very quietly.

Cordelia sighed, and looked down at the table. When she looked back up to Faith, there was pain in her eyes. In a small voice she said, “He said if I told someone, he would kill them while I watched, then he would kill me.” Buffy looked a little confused for a moment. Her eyes widened as comprehension set in.

Faith smiled gently, “He doesn’t know you have friends like us.” She pointed to herself and Buffy. “He knows you can’t go to the cops, so it’s up to us to look after it. He will hurt someone else Cordy. We have to stop him.”

Lorne started to speak, but Buffy put a hand out to stop him. The most important thing in the world was the tenuous connection between Faith and Cordy.

“I d-don’t know.” Cordy whispered. Faith brought Cordelia’s hand to her mouth and gently kissed the back of it.

“Did you hear what Lorne said earlier?” Faith asked. Cordelia nodded. “The three of us are soul mates. That means we love each other and protect each other. We’re there in good times and bad. We support each other. We’re here for you Cordelia, I can help you get through this, but I can also stop it from happenin’ to anyone else. It’s my job.” Cordelia nodded slowly, still looking at the table. Faith peeked at Buffy, who nodded and smiled her agreement with Faith. A look of relief passed through Faith’s eyes. ‘This is really fuckin’ weird. But I gotta get her to trust me. B agrees with what I’ve said so far, so I’m on the right track. C’mon Queen C, do what’s right.’ she thought to herself.

“He grabbed me,” Cordelia said quietly. Faith and Buffy only heard her because of their slayer hearing. “I said no, and I fought back, but he just laughed. He said I didn’t mean it when I said no. He likes it when they struggle. Don’t let him hurt anyone else Faith.” Tears were running down Buffy and Faith’s cheeks. Faith pulled both of Cordelia’s hands to her and kissed them gently. She cleared her throat as she looked into Cordelia’s eyes.

“I promise.” Faith looked at Buffy, then back to Cordelia. “Buffy agrees with me, nobody or nothin’ hurts our girl and gets away with it.”

“She’s right Cordy, we’re going to look after you. You’re safe with us. You won’t be going through it alone.” Buffy added in a whisper. Cordelia looked to each of the slayers.

“Thanks,” she smiled weakly, “I do feel safer with you here.”

“What’s going...” Lorne started to ask, but Buffy just shushed him into silence.

“Cordelia,” Faith spoke, “All you have to do is tell me which one.”

Cordelia looked into the crowd, then back to Faith. She looked into Cordelia’s eyes while they waited for her to speak. A flicker of resolve appeared in her eyes, then it started to grow, and anger appeared around the edges. “He’s over there,” she indicated with her head. “The Vahrall demon...”

“The dream!” Buffy yelped.

“What dream?” Faith’s eyes furrowed and Cordelia looked down at the table again.

“The dream I had about Cordelia last week involved Vahrall demons. Is that when it happened?”

Cordelia shook her head no.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Buffy reached out and put her arm around Cordelia. “You should have told me.”

Cordelia looked at Buffy with tears in her eyes, “I couldn’t, and I believed what he told me. I couldn’t put you in danger like that.”

Buffy leaned forward and kissed the tears away. “I understand Cordy, I’m not mad at you. We’re here to help you now. You have to remember you’re not alone. You have the two of us, and like Faith said, nobody hurts our girl.”

Cordelia smiled weakly at the two slayers. “I believe you both. He’s the one in the green shirt with the orange tie and black pants.”

Faith dropped Cordelia’s hands and slid out of the Booth. She had taken two steps, “Faith!” Buffy yelled loudly. A number of patrons looked in their direction. Faith had come to a dead stop. Her knuckles were white peaks on the edge of her balled fists. Buffy could see the muscles in her back and legs twitching in fury, the veins in her neck pulsing with anger. Patrons of the bar could feel the rage coming off the slayer. Watching her they slowly started to back away. “Wait for me.” she said as she pushed Lorne out onto the floor. Standing up she grabbed him with one hand and tossed him back onto the seat. She put her finger in his face, “You stay with her until I say so.” He just nodded mutely at the anger in her voice and slid next to Cordelia. “I’ll be right here.” he squeaked. Buffy turned and stood next to Faith. “We can’t kill him in here, we have to get him outside.”

Faith slowly turned to look at her girlfriend. The rage already starting to dissipate. “Tease him?” she spoke quietly, “Get him so excited he can’t think straight, then tell him who we are and what’s goin’ ta happen? Then we’ll meet him outside.”

“And you said you couldn’t do plans.” Buffy smiled at her. “Your knapsack?”

A wide smile crossed Faith’s face. “Change of clothes for both of us, and Mr. Pointy.”
It was Buffy’s turn to smile. “You do care about me.”

“I care about both of you.” Faith said and turned to where the demon was sitting. Buffy was staring at the side of her head. ‘I think she’s talking about me and Cordelia. I don’t know what I did to deserve the two of them, but it makes me very happy.’ Buffy thought.

“Business?” Faith said quietly.

Buffy touched her arm and smiled, “Let’s go knock’em dead.”

Faith groaned. “I don’t know why I bother.” She said with a sigh. The two girls started to move through the crowd. They slowly headed to the table where the demon was sitting.
“There’s four of ‘em.” Faith said quietly. “I’ll sit next to him and you stand beside him. That’ll isolate him from his friends.”

Buffy nodded, “We’ll tell them they can fuck off if they want to live.” Faith’s eyebrows shot up.

“B!” she smiled, “I am wearin’ off on you.”

“You wish.”

The girls slowed as they approached the table. They had attracted some appreciative glances as they walked through the club, including the Vahrall demon they were aiming for. As Faith walked behind him, she dragged her hand across his shoulders. “We’d like to talk to you, if ya don’t mind?” She’d dropped her voice into a slow smoky drawl. The demon had craned his neck to watch her as she passed behind him. His head snapped around as Buffy leaned on his shoulder and bent down. His eyes widened and he grinned at the suggestive view of her cleavage.

“We’ve been looking for someone to play with.” Buffy smiled as she whispered in his ear. Faith sitting in the chair next to him had draped an arm around his shoulders and covered his left arm with hers. She leaned towards him, “We need someone that can look after both of us.” The Demon was grinning from ear to ear now and chuckling at his friends. They were staring at him like he was a god. Two of the hottest women in the club were hanging all over him, and he hadn’t moved. He looked at Buffy, then to Faith, his sharp teeth glinting in the lights of the club.

“You’ve certainly come to the right guy.”

“We’re not sure yet,” Buffy licked her lips slowly, “See sometimes, we like to play a little rough.”

“Yeah,” Faith spoke up, “We like a little pain.”

The demon’s friends were rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. He laughed at them, “See, you show them who is boss and they come running.”

Buffy was running her hand up the back of his neck, towards the top of his head. “Our friend over there said you liked it like that, and we wondered if you could handle us both?” His friends were watching in amazement as the scene played out in front of them.

The demon leaned forward a little to see around Buffy, “Which friend?”

Buffy turned a little, so she was standing beside him, and gave a small nod to Faith. “The one in the booth at the back, next to Lorne.”

He stared through the crowd for a second, “Ah,” he said leaning back. “I remember her, yes she did scream a lot.” He was absolutely beaming, his sexual prowess was on display for all his friends to see, it was such a great day... Buffy’s hand at the top of his head grabbed a handful of skin, pulled his head back and then slammed it into the table. Faith pinned his arm to the table with one hand, and pulled his wrist back to the breaking point.

“See,” Faith’s voice was dripping icicles, “That’s the problem, she was screamin’ ‘NO’. That didn’t seem to bother ya.”

“It does however,” Buffy spoke harshly, “Bother us. And we’re going to do something about it.”

Faith looked at the other demons at the table who had backed away and were trying to figure out what was going on. “Your ‘friend’ raped a friend of ours.” she spit out the words at them. “If you don’t want to die, you won’t interfere.” The demons looked between the three still at the table.

“Where are my manners?” Buffy said sarcastically. She pulled the demons head off the table where she had it pinned. She grabbed his jaw and squeezed hard. The pain was bringing tears to his eyes. She pulled his head around and up, so she could look him in the eyes. His neck cracked as she twisted it. “I’m Buffy,” she pushed his jaw down and around, banging his head off the table on the way by, so he was staring at Faith. “And that’s Faith.” With a quick tug she snapped his head back up, then slammed it back onto the table. He grunted with the pain. “We. Are. The. Slayers.” She looked at the demon’s three friends, “Any questions?” There was a collective intake of breath from the entire bar. Patrons who had been watching what was going on started to quickly get out of the way. Buffy bashed his head onto the table again. Faith stood while still holding his arm and wrist, he was sweating from the pain. “Lorne said we can’t kill you in here. We’ll be waitin’ outside.” With a quick push, the sound of his wrist snapping echoed through the bar.

The two girls headed up the stair to the coat check. “Knapsack and duster.” ordered Faith.

The girl looked at her nervously, “Do you have your tag?” she squeaked out. Faith glared at her. “Right, I remember.” She handed them both over to Faith. There was a washroom across the hall and the two girls ran in to change.

In the bar, the Vahrall demon was looking at his broken wrist, trying to deal with his pounding headache. His three friends were standing there quietly staring at him. “The four of us should beat them handily.” he muttered. The three demons looked back and forth between themselves. “Maybe, but not tonight.” one spoke up.

The demon stared at the three. “What are you talking about?”

The one that had spoken sighed. “We don’t approve of it at the best of times, because it draws unwanted attention. You raped a friend of the slayers. We’re not going to help with this, you’re on your own.” The three demons turned and headed towards the bar. He looked around and others were backing away like he had leprosy.

“Umm, Garnak?” It was one of his friends. “Umm, that two hundred you owe me?” He nodded. “I’ll uh, take a, uh, cheque?”

The two slayers stepped out of the washroom. “I knew you weren’t wearing any underwear!” Buffy hissed at Faith. She smiled at her, “Sorry to ruin the surprise B. I know you were lookin’ forward to unwrappin’ it yourself.”

Buffy sighed, “That’s not the point Faith. Although that’s one less thing I have to look forward to.” Faith smiled at her and leaned in for a quick kiss.

“Jenna,” Faith said as she tossed her knapsack back to the girl in the coat check. “Did a green guy go by here in a rush? He mighta been holdin’ his wrist.” Jenna just stared at the slayers and shook her head. Faith turned to Buffy, “We can wait outside or we can go get him?”

Buffy thought for a second, “Cordy is still downstairs, let’s go get him.”

“Hold it right there.” Olaf commanded from the door. “You can’t go down there like that. The magic will stop you.”

“But...” Buffy started to speak. Olaf held up his hand to stop her.

“You two wait outside; stand in the alley, one on each side. He will be out shortly. I know what’s going on.” His face broke out into a huge grin. “There are days when I just love my job.” He headed down the stairs into the club. The two Slayers looked at each other and shrugged. They turned and exited the club into the alley.

“Which side ya want B?” Faith asked as they stepped out into the night.

“This sides okay.” She stopped and faced Faith. They instinctively looked around the alley. They could see the street lights at either end glinting dirtily off the garbage bins. A light breeze stirred some papers along the way. Their eyes checked the dirty brick wall across from them and gazed up the fire escapes to check for something lurking in the shadows.

“Wadda ya think he meant when he said that Vahrall demon would be out in a moment?” Faith asked. Her eyes were still checking the alley.

“I guess he’s going to make him leave.” Buffy shrugged her shoulders as she spoke. Faith nodded and the two of them stood there.

They jumped apart when they heard a huge thump on the big door from inside the club. Little bits of dust and grime slowly floated down from the door. The two slayers backed off of the pathway to the door. They stared at it for a second, then flinched with the thump it made a second time. The door slowly opened spilling its light into the alley. They blinked to adjust their eyes and saw Olaf standing back from the door holding the limp Vahrall demon by his shirt and pants. He still had the huge grin on his face. “One of these days, I’m gonna remember to open the door first.” He pulled his arms back and stepped back at the same time. With a mighty heave, the Vahrall demon came flying out the door, and smacked into the wall across the alley from the club. Buffy and Faith watched in amazement as he flew past them. They turned to Olaf with their mouths open.

“I usually hit higher up the wall than that. Have fun and I’ll see you when you get back.” He pulled back into the club and the door closed behind him.

The two Slayers looked at the crumpled form of the demon. “Now what?” Faith asked.

“Wake him up, I guess.” They cautiously approached the crumpled form of the demon. He came up of the ground with a growl and clubbed Buffy on the side of the head with his good arm.

“OOF” she grunted as she landed on her ass. The demon sprinted down the alley past the sprawled slayer.

“You alright?” Faith started towards Buffy.

“I’m ok, go!” Buffy yelled and Faith took off after the demon. Buffy leapt to her feet. ‘Why do they always have to go for my face?’ she thought as she took off after Faith.

The demon ran part way down the alley then jumped up and grabbed onto a fire escape. He hauled himself over the railing and started to climb. Faith chasing him, leapt to the top of a dumpster then jumped to the fire escape. She bent down and pulled the pin to drop the ladder for Buffy. She turned and followed the demon up the building. The demon looked down to see Faith gaining on him, and she felt the ironwork rattle when Buffy started to climb. Faith grinned up at the demon, ‘I’m so gonna kick his ass, for Queen C and for B!’ she thought. The demon disappeared over the parapet of the building. Faith ducked as she got to the top and the demons fist missed the top of her head. She jumped onto the roof, but the demon wasn’t hanging around. He was already sprinting towards the far side. Faith couldn’t see anywhere for him to go, so she started to jog in the same direction. Faith’s eyebrows shot up as the demon stepped to the parapet and leapt off the building at a full run. He cleared the distance between the buildings and landed in a heap on the far side. Buffy got to the roof as Faith started to sprint. Her eyes widened as she realized what Faith was doing.

“Oh god no!” she whispered as she watched.

The demon pushed himself to his knees on the opposite roof. He knew the slayers wouldn’t be able to jump that far. All he had to do now was get back to the ground on the far side and disappear into the night. He got to his feet and turned to laugh at the slayers. To let them know he had beaten them. The only thing he saw when he turned was a ladies issue, size 9, steel shank, combat boot, connect with his chest. Faith smiled as she heard the ‘pop’ of cartilage, and the snap of ribs breaking as her foot drove him back to the roof. She somersaulted off his chest and landed on her feet. She wheeled around and looked at the demon wheezing and gasping for breath on his back. Buffy had reached the edge of the other building and was staring at Faith.

“You ok B?” Faith called, still watching the demon.

Buffy sighed in relief. “Yeah, you?” she called back.

“Five by five.” Faith looked up and smiled at her. “You want me to wait for ya?” Buffy looked across the gap and to where the fire escapes were.

“No, give him my ‘love’,” she said sarcastically, “and I’ll meet you at the entrance to the club.” Faith raised her foot and stood on the demons cracked ribs. He screamed in agony.

“That enough ‘love’ for ya B?” Faith smiled.

“Pretty good, but I think he needs a little more.” Buffy turned and started to walk back to the fire escape she had come up on. She smiled as she heard another long scream from the demon followed by a loud, sharp, crack.

Buffy leaned against the wall as she waited for Faith. She stepped out of the shadows as she felt her girlfriend turn into the alley. Faith was striding down the alley, her open duster swirling about her feet. She looked like she was floating. Backlit by the lights from the street, she seemed to be wrapped in a halo. Buffy smiled as Faith approached.

“Do you know how hot you look when you walk like that?” she said as she slid her arms inside the duster and wrapped her girlfriend in a hug.

“No, you’ll have to tell me sometime.” Faith leaned down and kissed Buffy, pulling her in tightly. After a few moments she broke the kiss and leaned back. “How’s your head?” she asked quietly.

Buffy smiled up at her, “Its okay. He just caught me by surprise, that’s all.”

“I’m sorry, I shoulda...” Buffy put her finger on Faith’s lips to quiet her.

“It’s ok, it’s not your fault. We were both surprised.” She kissed Faith gently again.

“C’mon.” she let go of Faith with one arm and they started to walk towards the entrance of the club with an arm around each other.

“Where did you learn to jump like that?” Buffy asked quietly.

“My sensei used to make me jump stalls in the local Wal-mart as part of my trainin’. I can jump further than that, but he was as far as I needed to go.”

“Did you see the look on his face?” Buffy smiled at her.

Faith grinned. “He was definitely not expectin’ my boot.” They reached the door of the club and knocked. It swung open and Olaf smiled at them. He looked around them into the alley, then back to the girls.

“That took longer than I thought.”

Faith shrugged, “He wasn’t quite out yet, so we had to chase him down.”

“Oh!” Olaf looked at them in surprise, “I apologize. I should’ve taken longer to open the door.”

“Not a problem,” Faith said. “We appreciate your help.” She held out a hand and Olaf shook it. Buffy extended hers as well.

“Thank you Olaf.”

“My pleasure.” He closed the door behind the slayers and pointed towards the coat check. The girls smiled and approached Jenna. Buffy shook her head as Faith slid her duster off revealing the black tank top and tight leather pants. “We’ve still got our tag.” she smiled. Buffy handed Jenna her jacket as well. “Just put them on the same hangar.” Jenna hardly noticed Buffy standing beside Faith. Her eyes didn’t leave Faith as she nodded her head. Buffy grabbed Faith’s arm and pulled her towards the stairs. “Come on before you break her.”

“I didn’t do nothin’!” Faith whined.

Buffy smiled at her, “I didn’t say you did.” When the two slayers reached the bottom of the stairs, the patrons at the bottom moved out of their way, then folded back in behind them as they passed. They walked in a bubble of space to the booth in the back. Cordelia and Lorne were talking earnestly and didn’t notice them as they approached. Faith cleared her throat and they looked up at the interruption. A huge smile of relief broke out on Cordelia’s face, and she scrambled to get out of the booth.

She pulled both girls into a hug, “I’m so happy you’re back.” Faith and Buffy wrapped their arms around Cordelia and each other. Faith let go of Cordelia and put her finger under her chin and raised her face.

She looked into her eyes, “You ain’t got nothin’ to worry about Queen C. We’re ok, and we took care of business.” She leaned forward and kissed Cordelia gently, then turned and kissed Buffy. She pulled back and looked at Buffy with a raised eyebrow. Buffy laughed, then turned and kissed Cordelia.

Cordelia had a stunned look on her face. ‘I wasn’t expecting that! Not that I’m complaining. God now what do I do?’ ran through her mind.

“You’re right Cordy,” Buffy spoke up, “She’s as subtle as a flying mallet.” All three girls laughed and pulled back a little from each other. Faith turned to Lorne, “Thanks for waitin’ with her. We appreciate it.”

“Yes, thanks,” Buffy looked at him. “We are grateful you stayed.”

Lorne started to slide out of the booth. “Cordy is a dear friend, and I enjoyed the time I spent with her.” He smiled at the three girls and gently touched Cordelia’s arm as he stood. He gave her a quick hug and whispered in her ear. “Trust yourself and trust them. That’s all you need to do.”

“Ready to go?” Faith asked. Buffy nodded and looked at Cordelia. She had a smirk on her face.

“Seeing as we’re staying at my place, I guess we all have to go together.”

Faith leered at Cordy, “If B and I promise to put on another show, I’m sure Dennis would let us in.”

Cordelia laughed at Buffy’s blush, “He'd be so excited he wouldn't be able to unlock the door."