The Three of Us

My apologies, I thought I would write a sequel, but it turned out to be a continuation. Please enjoy the continuing saga of our three girls.

Reviews and Feedback are more than welcome. (Big Hint!)

This Chapter is beta free. Please disregard all gramma tickle errors and mastikes.

Last time I checked none of these Characters belonged to me!
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Faith quietly sat in the back booth of the Espresso Pump. Her blank stare not registering the traffic and people going past the windows. Her mind had turned in on itself, running at a thousand miles an hour, with no outward indication she was even breathing.

“Hey,” Buffy plopped Faith’s coffee down in front of her as she slid into the booth beside the brunette. Faith’s head jerked and she blinked at the interruption.

“So, Space Girl,” Cordy put her coffee down on the table and sat delicately at the end of the booth. “Where were you?”

Faith shrugged, “Just thinkin’.”

“Must’ve been some thoughts, you didn’t even hear us when we called you.” Cordelia was putting some napkins down on the table. “You didn’t hurt yourself did you?”

“Didn’t you smell the smoke?” Buffy smirked. “I thought the fire alarm was going to go off.”

“Har dee har, har,” Faith drawled. “I don’t think I can handle all this hilarity, like how old are you guys? Six?”

“No,” Cordelia smiled, “We just don’t want to say anything you won’t understand.”

“Ah,” Faith nodded, “That makes it so much clearer.” She picked up her coffee and took a sip. “Thanks, B, but ya forgot the sugar.”

“That’s probably why we were yelling at you,” Cordelia answered. She dumped half a dozen packets on the table, “So we brought you these.” She punctuated the statement by tossing a stir stick on the table top.

“Don’t thank me,” Buffy broke in. “Cordy bought the coffee.”

Faith lifted her cup and toasted Cordy with it, “Thanks Queen C.”

“Just don’t get used to it.”

Faith smiled and nodded, “No problem.” The girls sat for a few moments, sipping their drinks, and looking away from each other. The seconds ticked by, the silence becoming more uncomfortable with each movement of the clock. Faith sighed, “So?” she asked quietly. The other two girl’s heads snapped around to focus on her. They blinked at her owlishly. She dropped her head with a slight smirk, “I hate this shit,” she mumbled. She looked back up at the two staring at her, “So, Cordelia, how’d ya sleep last night?”

The brunette’s eyes widened, then narrowed, she looked at her inquisitor for a moment, “Not well.”

“Me either,” Faith nodded. Buffy shook her head in agreement. “How much sleep did ya get? I only got an hour and a half.”

“That’s all I got,” Buffy spoke up. “After I woke up, I talked to my mom for the rest of the night,” she glanced at Faith.

Cordelia’s eyes travelled back and forth between the two slayers. They watched the fight behind her eyes before she spoke. “That’s about all I got,” she glanced away for a moment. “I didn’t have anybody to talk to, so the rest of the night was pretty restless.”

“Before we ran into you in the hallway...” Buffy started.

“You mean tried to kill me,” Cordy interrupted.

“Trust me,” the blond glared at her, “If we were trying to kill you, somebody else would have had to buy coffee.”

A short laugh burst out of Faith, “Man. I didn’t think ya could do scary.” She used her fingers to put air quotes around ‘scary’. “But that’s got me shakin’ in my boots.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” Buffy sneered at her. “You are such a laugh; I don’t know what we did before you got here.”

Faith smiled at the blond, “I ain’t got any idea either.” She turned back to Cordelia, “Me and B, know we shared part of the dream we had. At least a different part from what you remember. I’m wonderin’ if we shared the entire thing, or just parts.”

Cordelia shrugged, “I guess that means we’re going to have to tell each other what happened.”

The two slayers nodded, “Did your dream have anybody named Ichiro in it?” Buffy asked.

“Yeah,” she replied. “That little Japanese guy, I remember that. Did you really know him?” she asked Faith.

The brunette slayer swallowed, “Yeah.” She paused for a moment, “Yeah, I did know him. Pretty much like the dream said.”

“Okay,” Buffy was watching the dark slayer. “Let’s go back and start at the beginning.” She furrowed her brow and stared at Faith. “I think we need to get this all out.” Faith wrapped her hands around her mug, and stared at it. Buffy looked across the table at Cordelia, then back to Faith. “I think,” she spoke softly; “We need to get this all out in the open. Cordy and I know a lot about each other, so it’s not going to be that hard on us,” she gently laid a hand on Faith’s arm. She could feel the warm tingle at the touch. “I know it’s going to be really hard on you, because you don’t usually let people in, do you?”

Faith stared at the mug and her head slowly moved side to side. “It’s just better that way,” she mumbled.

“Not this time,” Cordelia answered. “If we’re going to...” she looked at the two slayers, “Explore, I guess.” She let out a sigh, “If we’re going to find out what the hell this is, we need to be honest with each other. Trust me when I tell you this could be just as hard on me as it is on you.”

Faith snorted and looked up at the brunette, “I highly doubt that.”

Cordelia flashed a brilliant smile, “There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”

Faith groaned and dropped her head, “I, s’pose.” She exhaled a large breath and looked at the two girls, “How far back do ya wanna go?”

Buffy was resting her head on her left hand; her right was lazily drawing circles on Faith’s arm. “Probably best to start with who you are and where you’re from.”

Cordelia was watching Buffy’s hand on Faith’s arm, “Buffy, what are you doing?”

“Huh?” the blond sat up and blinked at her.

“What are you doing with Faith’s arm?”

“Oh,” Buffy snatched her hand away and a light pink tinge started to creep into her cheeks. “Umm, nothing?” Faith smirked while she watched the blond squirm.

“Nice try,” Cordelia stared at her. “Let’s try that again, shall we?” Buffy lowered her head, the redness in her cheeks growing. Faith sat back with a smile and crossed her arms. “Don’t get too cocky, we’re not done with you yet,” Cordelia hadn’t taken her eyes off of Buffy.

The blond sheepishly looked up at the questioning brunette, “In the dream, remember the feeling when we touched each other?”

“Oh, yeah,” Faith was grinning, “Do I remember that!”

Buffy’s hand shot out and smacked the girl on the arm, “Not that way!” Her cheeks were crimson now, “The feeling when we held hands, or touched each other on the arm!”

“Ignore her,” Cordelia smiled at the blond. “I remember that, why?”

“Because it really does feel nice,” the blond whispered.

Cordelia looked to Faith for a moment before returning to the blond. “You two have known each other for how long? And you’re just figuring this out now?”

“Well,” Buffy glanced up at her, “We’ve known each other for about six months.” Faith nodded. Buffy quickly looked at Faith’s smirking face before continuing. “We could sort of sense each other before, but we never noticed any tingly stuff when we touched, until this morning.”

“So you think this had something to do with the dream?” the cheerleader asked.

Buffy shrugged and looked at Faith again, “Faith thinks it may have something to do with us touching without trying to kill each other.”

Cordelia tilted her head, “I don’t get it.”

Faith leaned forward, “What she’s tryin’ ta say is, until this mornin’, most of the physical contact was us fightin’ or sparrin’.” She sighed, “There wasn’t a lot of hand holdin’ or quiet walks in the moonlight together.”

Buffy giggled, “You can say that again.”

“Okay,” Cordelia nodded in understanding, “What changed?”

“I think,” Buffy started, “Because of the dream, we had a slightly less confrontational attitude toward each other.”

“Yeah,” Faith broke in, “We decided on our own to behave a little different, and that’s when we noticed it.” She leaned forward slightly and lowered her voice, “It may have always been there, cuz we could always feel each other when we got close.”

“We just had too many walls up,” Buffy added. “The biggest difference this morning was we let some of them down.” Faith nodded in agreement.

Cordelia bit her bottom lip, “Yeah,” she paused. “That makes sense, sort of.” She turned and focused on Faith, “Back to you.”

Faith blinked, before her eyes went wide, “Unh, sure,” she started to get nervous. Buffy reached over and touched her arm again, Faith was surprised at the calming effect it had. She glanced at the blond, then the brunette. She closed her eyes and blew out a breath, “The beginning huh?” She looked down at Buffy’s hand resting on her arm and covered it with her own for a moment. She looked up, “I was born in Boston,” she wrapped her hands around her mug again, and stared at it. “I don’t remember a lot about my dad. He left when I was three. My mom turned into an alcoholic junkie, and I ran when I was eleven.”

“The scar on your shoulder?” Cordelia asked softly.

Faith glanced up quickly, “Yeah,” she looked back down to the table, “Ya could say it was my ninth birthday present.”

“We’re sorry, Faith,” Buffy said quietly and gently squeezed her arm.

“Faith shook her head, she looked at the blond with a small smile on her face, “It’s not yer fault, I checked.” Buffy and Cordelia smiled back at her. Faith sighed, “I did take off when I was eleven, and I been on the run since.”

“Are you staying in a crypt?” Cordelia asked.

Faith’s head slowly swung back and forth, “Not recently, I got a room in a cheap ass motel.” She looked up at the brunette, “I have used ‘em when I been travellin’ and if I been short o’ cash.”

“That will probably change,” Buffy said quietly. The two girls looked at her. “I told you I spent the night talking to my mother about a lot of things didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” Faith’s brow was furrowed, “But I don’t remember that comin’ up.”

Buffy just smirked, “Probably because we haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“When will we get there?” the dark slayer asked.

“When we do,” the blond was still smirking.

Faith rolled her eyes, and looked at Cordelia, “She always like this?”

Cordelia shrugged, “I’m not sure.” Cordelia leaned forward and rested her arms on the table, “About your watcher...”

Faith nodded, a small frown appeared as she looked down to the tabletop again. She didn’t say anything, just staring at the empty sugar packets in front of her. A small sigh escaped her lips, “Her name was Rose,” she spoke softly. “She was my watcher for about 5 hours, tops.” She looked up and stared out the front of the coffee shop, not seeing anything but the images in her mind. “I thought she was freakin’ insane, when she started yakkin’ at me.” A faint smile appeared on her lips, “She started tellin’ me about vamps and shit, I didn’t believe a word.” She glanced at the two girls, “It was dusk, she dragged me down an alley, I got no idea why I went with her. I’d had some dreams, about somethin’ like this, so I guess that’s why. She points out a guy draggin’ somebody away, hands me a stake and tells me to go do him. I chase after him and jump him, we start fightin’ and bam, I slip the stake into his heart and poof, he’s gone. I was so fuckin’ jazzed; I thought I was bullet proof.” She slowly shook her head, “We find another one and follow him into a warehouse...” A tear starts to show in the corner of her eye, her hand comes up and wipes it away, “That’s when we met Kakistos.” She doesn’t say anything for a few moments; the other two just sit there watching, waiting for her to continue.

Buffy looked at Cordelia, seeing the concern in her eyes, “It wasn’t your fault Faith,” she said softly.

Faith’s head snapped up, her nostrils flaring, anger in her eyes, “I shoulda done somethin’,” she hissed. “I shouldn’t a just run.”

“You did what you had to do to survive,” Cordelia’s voice had an edge to it. “You did what she told you to do. She sacrificed herself so you could live.” She glared at the dark slayer, “Ask Giles if he would give his life for either one of you. I know he would.”

Buffy glanced at the cheerleader, before turning back to Faith, “I really hate to say this, but she’s right.” Cordelia arched an eyebrow. “Because I said that she’s gonna be hell to live with for the next while.”

“You’ll pay for that, blondie,” Cordelia growled at her.

“Yow, now that’s how ya do scary,” Faith had a small smile on her face. “Thanks,” she said softly, “Let’s just call it a work in progress, k?”

“So,” Cordelia started, “This, Kakisoff guy or whatever its name is, what happened to him?”

Faith’s eyes widened, Buffy could feel fear creeping into their connection. Faith glanced at the blond, then quickly back to the cheerleader, before looking away. “Umm,” she paused, “Yeah, unh, about that.” She chewed on her bottom lip, “Uh, not really uh,” she shifted around in her seat, “Yeah, can we umm, skip this?”

‘Faith,” Buffy spoke calmly, “Just spit it out. Is he dead?”

Faith looked at her, Buffy could see the fear in her eyes now, “Umm, no?"
Buffy watched her for a minute, “We’re going to have to tell Giles about this aren’t we?” Faith looked down at the table, then slowly nodded her head. “Hey,” Buffy said softly, she put her finger under the dark slayers chin and lifted it so she could see her eyes, “Its okay.” She glanced at Cordelia, “We’re not gonna get angry, we just want you to tell us.” She pulled away from her and sat back. Cordelia watched Faith’s eyes as she nodded her consent.

Faith pulled her hands under the table and rubbed her thighs, “Okay,” she mumbled, she glanced around the coffee shop, before settling on the two girls with her. “In the dream, I was followin’ him right?” The other two glanced at each other before nodding yes. “Yeah well, it didn’t quite happen that way.” Faith took a deep breath, “I ain’t been chasin’ him. It’s more like him chasin’ me.”

Buffy and Cordelia exchanged looks, “And?” the blond asked.

Faith sucked in her bottom lip, “I cut him.” She took another deep breath, “Before he killed Rose, I got lucky and slashed him across the eye with my knife.” She dragged her finger from her forehead to her cheek as she said it. “That really pissed him off. He use ta be a pretty boy. Not anymore.” She looked down at the hands in her lap, “He swore vengeance on me, and I been runnin’ ever since.” Her voice grew smaller as she spoke.

Buffy reached down and took her hand in hers, “Tell us what we need to know, Faith.” She rubbed her thumb along the back of the dark slayers hand.

Faith looked down at their entwined hands, and gently squeezed it; “In the short time I was with Rose, she told me about you.” a small smile crept across her face. “She told me about this little blond slayer in California that was kickin’ ass and takin’ names. She told me I wasn’t alone, that if I ever needed help, I could ask you.” She looked into the hazel eyes watching her. “I need your help, B,” she whispered.

Buffy went wide eyed, “You need my help?” she paused, “Why would you need my help?”
Faith’s shoulders sagged and she pulled her hand away from Buffy. Cordelia could see the girl starting to come apart. Her foot slashed out and connected with Buffy’s shin. “Jesus, Cordy!” the blond yelped, she was staring wide eyed at the brunette.

“It takes more courage to ask for help when you look like you don’t need it, than it does to blunder around in the darkness alone.” She was staring pointedly at the blond.

“Huh?” she furrowed her brow for a second. Cordelia jerked her head at Faith, “Shit!” the blond mumbled. “I’m sorry Faith,” she grabbed her hand again. “Look at me, Faith,” she waited till the dark slayer looked up, “I’m sorry,” she paused. “It caught me by surprise, I’ll help you, and so will the rest of us.”

“We’ll all do what we need to do,” Cordelia added, “Including me.”

Buffy watched the slayer’s head drop down to her chest, “Faith,” she said softly, “I’m honoured that you can ask me for help. I don’t think any less of you; in fact I respect you more because I know how hard it is for me to ask for help.” Faith’s head slowly came up, Buffy could see the sadness in her eyes. “Oh, Faith,” she reached out and cupped the brunette’s cheek, “We’ll deal with this together.” She felt Faith nod into the palm of her hand. “Now, where do we find this fucker, and how do we kill him?” Buffy was thrilled to see a small spark of life appear in the dark girl’s eyes.

“I’m sure we’ll know when he gets here,” Faith looked at both girls, “Thank you.” she said softly. She waited a moment, “He’s old, been around a long time.” She was sounding more confident, “He ain’t got hands anymore, they’ve grown into cloven hooves. I’ve never seen him do magic, but I think he was tryin’ to learn.” She bit her bottom lip as she thought, “We’ll know he’s close when Mr. Trick shows up.”

“Who’s he?” Cordelia asked.

“I guess you could call him his advance guy,” Faith answered. “He shows up and starts gettin’ things organized for Kakistos.” She glanced at Buffy, “Willy’ll know when he gets into town.”

Buffy nodded, “Spike can talk to him about that.”

“Yeah,” Faith sighed. “About two weeks after he shows up, Kakistos makes his entrance.” She looked at the blond, “He’s really tough, he ain’t gonna be easy to kill.”

Buffy smiled warmly, “Not when he comes up against the Chosen Two.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes, “God, is that corny. Really, it is.” Her eyes moved back and forth between the two Slayers, “Are you going to get little matching outfits, with capes and booties?”

Faith smiled, “That might be kinda cool.”

“Only if they’re tasteful,” Buffy joined in, “Did you want one Cordy?”

“I’ll pass,” she sighed. “Thanks anyways,” a fake smile appeared on her face. The two slayers chuckled. “Faith,” she turned, a serious look on her face. “That bit you told us in the dream, when we were in the apartment in the afternoon...” her voice trailed off. Faith pulled her hands into her lap, and stared at the table. “Was,” Cordelia started, “Is... is it true?”

The two girls watched the dark slayer sitting there, waiting for her to answer. “Why?” was so quiet, they almost missed it. Buffy reached out to the dark one, but she pulled away. Buffy dropped her hand to the table and left it reaching toward Faith.

Cordelia drew in a shaky breath, “I’m just trying to learn who you are and how you got here.” Faith nodded, but didn’t say anything. Cordelia glanced at Buffy, who just shrugged, “Faith,” she said quietly, “You don’t have to answer.”

The dark haired girl brought her hands up to her face and rubbed her eyes. She lifted her head, her red rimmed eyes, burning a hole through Cordelia, “Yeah,” rolled out of her throat in a flat monotone. She snorted, “That part it gets right.”

Cordelia’s eyes narrowed as she leaned forward. Buffy could see the resolve burning right back at Faith, “The other thing it got right then, is what I said after you told us.” She looked at Faith, “You do remember what I said, don’t you?” Faith lowered her head and nodded. “Good,” she sat back, “I want you to remember that.”

“Same goes for me,” Buffy spoke. “We’re here for you Faith, you’re one of us now.”

“Great,” Faith sighed. “The rent on ‘our’ motel room is due at the end of the week.”

Buffy laughed and put her hand on the dark slayer’s shoulder. She smiled, a bright light dancing in her eyes, “We’ll talk about that.”

Faith stared at her, “That’s twice now, what’s goin’ on, B?”

“Yeah,” Cordelia chimed in, “What are you talking about?”

Buffy beamed at the two of them, “I can’t say right now, we’ll just have to wait.”

Faith looked at Cordelia, “I’ll hold her, you slap her till she tells us.”

“Sounds good to me,” Cordelia glared at the blond.

Buffy slipped to the edge of the seat, “I’m not worried about outrunning Cordy, you on the other hand,” she looked at Faith. “That could be a bit of a challenge.” She glanced at the clock, “Holy geez, its 10:30!”

“So?” Faith asked.

Buffy’s cheeks started to turn red, “I’m just surprised is all. I didn’t think we’d been here that long.”

Faith shrugged, Cordelia looked down at her empty glass, “Anybody else want another one?”

“Thanks Queen C,” Faith pushed her mug toward the girl. “That’s nice of ya,” she smiled warmly.

A slight pink tinge appeared in the brunette’s cheeks, “I told you not to get used to it,” she growled.

Buffy laughed, “We won’t, but thank you anyways.” Cordelia was mumbling to herself as she walked to the counter. The blond turned to the dark slayer, “How you holding up?”

Faith sighed, and rubbed her temples, “This sharin’ is a bitch.” She looked at Buffy, “How come I’m the only one sharin’ shit?”

Buffy smiled, “You’re the one we want to learn about. Don’t worry, the two of us will have our turn.”

“Feel free to jump in at any time,” Faith smirked. Buffy was glad to see it reappear. “Don’t let me hold ya back or nuthin’.”

Buffy reached out and squeezed the girl’s shoulder, “You’re not holding me back at all.” She smiled, “I just haven’t found anything to jump on yet.”

A leering grin appeared on Faith’s face, “I thought you found plenty to jump on in the dream.”

“Faith!” Buffy yelped and started swatting the still grinning girl. Faith leaned back laughing and brought her hands up to protect herself. “It’s not funny!” the blushing blond was still swinging away at the brunette.

“Honestly!” Cordelia glowered from the end of the table, “I go away for two minutes and you make a spectacle of yourselves.” She looked from the blushing blond to the grinning brunette, “What happened?”

“Miss Gutter-brain here was insinuating that I liked jumping all over both of you in the dream,” Buffy huffed and crossed her arms. Faith straightened up on the seat, still smiling.

“She does have a point Buffy,” Cordelia stated as a matter of fact. Buffy’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. “Don’t look so surprised,” Cordelia continued, “All three of us were all over each other.”

“But-but-but...” Buffy looked like a fish out of water, her mouth opening and closing.

“Cut it out, you sound like an out of tune Harley,” Cordelia pushed a mug across the table to Faith. “It was a dream Buffy, nobody actually did anything,” she put the empty tray on another table. The two watched as she settled into her seat again. “I have a question,” she looked at both of them, “How accurate is this thing? Is it the gospel truth? Or is it just a possibility?” The two slayers shrugged and didn’t say anything. Cordelia’s eyes narrowed and traversed the two girls, “Somebody better answer me,” she growled.

Buffy glanced at Faith with a pleading look in her eyes. The dark slayer sighed, and slumped into the seat. “Fine,” she grumbled. She pursed her lips and looked at the brunette, “We ain’t shared a lotta dreams,” she spoke quietly; Cordelia was hanging on every word. “The ones we have shared, were kinda like premonitions,” she paused, “It’s like the main gist of the dream would actually happen, part of it was a possibility, and part of it would be fluff.”

Cordelia blinked, “Speak English please.”

“We think it’s trying to tell us something,” Buffy joined in. “But we have to figure out what and why.”

Cordelia’s eyes widened, “So some, all, or none of this might happen?” she asked incredulously. “I spent twelve bucks on coffee for nothing?”

“You did get to spend time with us,” Faith smiled, Cordelia shot her a glare. “Yow,” the brunette looked at the cheerleader. “See, B, that’s how ya do scary.” Cordelia’s eyes narrowed, “Okay,” Faith put her hands out in front of her. “We ain’t finished yet Queen C, so just bear with us. We got a bunch of stuff to hash out, and it’ll help if you participate.”

“It’s not going to get my money back,” Cordelia snorted.

“Look,” Faith leaned toward the brunette, “If it makes ya feel any better, I’ll get the next one, k?” Cordelia nodded before crossing her arms and glaring at both slayers. Faith, watched as she slowly settled back into the seat, still giving them the evil eye. “Gotta admit, C,” Faith smiled, “Yer good.” She leaned toward Buffy, keeping her eyes on the cheerleader. “See, B,” she said in a stage whisper, “She’s actually scarin’ me!”

The blond giggled and Cordelia rolled her eyes, “Just get on with it,” she snapped.

Faith nodded, she took a breath, and glanced at the blond, “So,” she started slowly, “This, is what I been thinkin’.” She clutched her hands together so they wouldn’t shake. “Like I said, most dreams we shared were kinda centered on one incident. There’d be some other possibilities, kinda like alternative endings, and then there’d be stuff that was just filler.”

“What do you mean filler?” Cordelia asked.

Faith shrugged, “Guys with cheeses, showin’ up in the dream. No real bearing on any of the events, just some guy with cheese.”

Buffy giggled, “I remember him.” She kept a small smile on her face.

“Gettin’ back to my point,” Faith was glowering at Buffy, “This one didn’t seem like that to me.”

“What do you mean?” It was Buffy’s turn to look serious.

Faith sighed, “I really hate this shit,” she mumbled. “It didn’t have any fluff, everything in it was serious. There weren’t no comic relief, ya know?”

“Except for the smut,” Cordelia smirked.

“No,” Faith shook her head, “Even that was serious.”

“Really?” Cordelia seemed surprised.

“Yeah,” Faith replied. “Even when we fooled around there was a part of it that revealed us to the other two.”

“You can say that again,” Buffy grinned, causing Cordelia to laugh.

Faith rolled her eyes, “The one time I try to be serious...” She smiled and shook her head. The other two waited while Faith took a sip from her mug. “Let’s look at this from a different direction, shall we?” The two nodded, “Okay,” Faith paused again to collect her thoughts. “B,” she started. There was a nervous tinge to her voice, “When’s yer birthday?”

The blond’s eyes narrowed and glared at her, “Why?”

Faith rubbed her sweaty palms on her jeans, “Is it your eighteenth?”

“Yes,” was icily spit at the brunette.

“K,” Faith responded, Cordy just watched the two of them. “Have you ever heard of the Cruciamentum?” Faith’s voice trailed off.

Buffy sighed, and dropped her gaze to the table, “No,” she said quietly. The three of them sat there for a moment, lost in the background noise of the coffee shop.

“Who do we talk to about that?” Cordelia asked. Two heads snapped around to stare at her. “Well, somebody’s got to do something.”

“Umm,” Faith glanced at the blond, “I’m pretty sure we can’t talk to Giles about it. I don’t see that bein’ too productive.” Buffy’s shoulders sagged at the comment. “Sorry, B,” Faith reached over and touched her shoulder gently, “But I’m pretty sure we’re not s’posed to know about it. I’m worried about what the Council might do if they find out we know about it.” Buffy slowly turned her head t look at her. “I’m pretty sure you don’t wanna have to go through that,” Faith said quietly. “I know I ain’t lookin’ forward to it.”

“What other options are there?” Cordy asked. There’s got to be something we can do?” She paused for a second, “What about Willow?”

The two slayers looked at her, “What about her?” Buffy’s voice was small.

Cordelia shrugged, “Can she do some research into it?”

“Research what?” Faith asked.

Cordelia shrugged, “The reasons behind it, what exactly it is, how they take your powers away, that sort of thing.”

“Makes sense,” Faith nodded. “If they use a serum or a magic spell for that, maybe she can find an antidote or somethin’.” The other two nodded in response. “And that leads to another question,” a small smirk had appeared on Faith’s face, “Who the hell is Tara?”

Buffy and Cordelia glanced at each other for a second. Turning back to Faith, Buffy spoke up, “Haven’t a clue.”

“How do you think she’s going to take it when she finds out she’s switched sides?” Faith grinned.

Cordelia’s eyes were ablaze, “Can I tell her? She’ll be stuttering for weeks!”

Faith and Buffy both chuckled, “In as much as that would be fun,” Buffy glanced at the dark slayer, “I don’t think we should say anything.”

“Why not, B?” Faith was still grinning, “Queen C’s right. She’d be all kinds of jumpy. It’d be a real hoot.”

Buffy smiled at her, “Yeah, it would. But then we’d have to tell her all about the rest of the dream and our parts in it.”

“Good point,” Faith’s smile dropped away.

“Spoil sport,” Cordelia huffed. “Just when I thought I had something to put her into her place.”

Buffy smiled, “It’s okay Cordy, you still scare the crap out of her. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Is it just me,” Faith changed the subject again, “Or did the dream seem to hop around a bit?”

The two girls looked at her with furrowed brows. “What are you talking about?” Cordelia demanded.

Faith glanced at both of them, before looking out to the street, “I don’t think it followed a time line.”

“Huh?” Buffy answered.

“I mean,” Faith started slowly, “The Cruciamentum is your eighteenth, right?” The two girls nodded. “Before that, when we went to L.A., we all seemed older. Willow and Tara also seemed to be a couple years older.”

“But that’s the way it happened in the dream,” Cordelia stated.

“Right,” Buffy answered. “We went to L.A. before my eighteenth, but in reality, Cordy’s still here, Will’s hasn’t met Tara yet, and we don’t know when Kakistos is going to get here.”

“Yeah,” Faith nodded, “Provin’ that we still don’t know what’s real, what’s possible and what’s fluff.”

“Do you always have to work this hard?” Cordelia huffed. “Because really, if I have to do this much dream analysis all the time, it’s going to drive me nuts.”

“You and me both,” Faith sniggered.

Buffy looked up at the clock, “Okay,” she looked at Faith, “We need to go.”

“Huh?” the dark slayer looked quizzically at the blonde. “Go where?”

“I’ll tell you when we get there.” Buffy smiled. “Thanks for the mocha’s Cordy, it was nice of you.”

Cordelia blinked, she was so not used to getting the brush off. “What the hell is going on?” she demanded.

“I’m with her,” Faith was glowering at the blond.

Buffy sighed, “This isn’t something we’re going to decide today is it?” The two brunettes shook their heads in response. “So we’re just going to have to see what happens with us and everything else. In the meantime, I’ve got an appointment at noon, and I need to take Faith with me.”

“Appointment?” Faith eyes had bugged out, “What appointment?”

“See?” the blond asked Cordelia as she pointed at the dark slayer. “Now it’s going to be three times as hard to get her to go.”

“You turnin’ me in to the Council?” Faith’s voice had dropped to a low growl.

“No!” Buffy shook her head, “I’m doing no such thing. I’ll tell you when we get there.”

Cordelia watched as the dark slayer thought for a moment, “And if I say I don’t wanna go?”

Buffy sat back and watched the girl for a moment, “It involves somebody buying you lunch.” She played her trump card.

“Hmm,” Faith thought for a moment, “What do I gotta do for this ‘Free Lunch’?” she used her fingers to emphasize the words ‘Free Lunch’.

Buffy smiled, “Just listen. Think you can do that?”

Faith closed her eyes and thought for a few moments, the other two watching her still form. Her dark eyes slowly opened, she glanced at Cordelia, before focusing on Buffy, “The problem with buildin’ trust with someone is, occasionally, ya have to trust ‘em.” The dark girl sighed, and turned to Cordelia, “Looks like I’m goin’ for lunch.”

“It’ll do you good,” Cordelia smiled. She looked at the two girls, “What do we do about this?” Buffy stared at her blankly, and Faith shrugged. “Well I’m not about to do anything that’s going to have me wearing flannel shirts and dungaree’s.”

Buffy’s eyes widened and Faith broke out laughing, “Yer good, C.” Her eyes were bright with mirth, “I don’t think anybody’s gonna jump into anything, although, I think,” she paused and made eye contact with the other two before continuing. “I think,” she lowered her voice, “I’d like to keep those options open.” Her eyes flicked back and forth between Cordelia and Buffy, waiting for a response. The two girls stared round eyed at her, neither one even breathing. Faith waited a few moments more, “No biggie, I’m just sayin’...” her voice trailed off.

“Just because I bought you coffee,” Cordelia was quiet, “Doesn’t mean I want to sleep with you.” She looked at Buffy, “Does it?”

Buffy blinked twice at her before breaking out in a grin, “I don’t know, its Faith, there’s a strong possibility it might.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” Faith stuck her tongue out.

“Eew,” Cordelia sneered and pulled back, “That is so not attractive.” She bit her bottom lip and threw a sly glance at Buffy, “But I seem to remember finding a very good use for it.”

“Cordy!” Buffy blushed.

Faith laughed, “No doubt, whatever happens, will be fun.”

Buffy stood, “Yea, I’m sure. C’mon Faith, we have to go.” She turned to Cordelia, “Thanks Cordy, we’ll see you later this afternoon?”

The brunette looked up at her, “Yeah, it would be nice.”

“Good,” Faith was standing beside the blond. “We’ll just take our time and see what happens, deal?” The other two nodded yes. “Alright,” she pointed toward the door, “Lead on, B.”

Cordelia watched as the two girls exited the coffee shop, ‘Is that my future?’ she asked herself.