Complement

XXXII – Breathing & Everything
(Part D)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This must be my lucky night!"

Faith turned around slowly to face the vampire who was stupid enough to think that he had actually snuck up behind her. She had known he was there, following her through the cemetery, sneaking from tombstone to tombstone since she had walked through the cemetery gates. She also knew that four of his cronies flanked her, two on each side. She sensed these things, after all she was a Slayer.

She let her Slaying bag, slide off her shoulder to the ground and then folded her arms casually across her chest. She ignored the tall well-muscled, sandy-haired, boyishly handsome, though poorly dressed vampire in front of her and looked at her Slaying partner with a cocky grin.

"So..." she drawled out in a hush. "What do you think, should I tell him I already know what he's flapping his gums about and spoil his fun? Or should I humor him and let him tell me what he's talkin' 'bout and get his last jollies before I turn him into dust? What'da ya think Furball?"

Dusk looked up at his Dark Slayer, he cocked his head to one side as if he actually understood what she was saying and was considering how he should answer her. Like Faith, he too ignored the vampire and his undead friends, and just like Faith, he had known the vampires were tracking them. The Slayers with the help of Lily had trained him well. He may only be a puppy still, but he knew better than to make a move on the evil creatures that roamed the night or attack them unless one of the Slayers gave him a signal or they were attacked first. He stared up at his Dark Slayer for a few seconds longer then turned towards the vampire. He sprawled out on the ground, crossed his front paws and waited; he knew his Dark Slayer would understand what his answer was.

Faith chuckled at Dusk's actions; it looked like he was in the mood to play too. She needed it, she had been feeling a little frustrated the past two weeks. She finally looked at the vampire, who was staring back at her arrogantly, his stance also casual. Then again, it was easy to appear confident and cocky when you thought you had the upper hand.

"Wanna tell me what you're talkin' 'bout or are ya gonna try and stare me and Furball here to death?"

'Come on, come on. Surprise me! Doubt it's gonna happen, but you never know... Let's see, my guess is... it's his lucky night 'cause once you've...'

"Rumor has it... once you've tasted a Slayer, you never wanna go back. And tonight's my lucky night 'cause I'm gonna find out if the rumor is true," the vampire boasted.

'I knew it! Score one for me! Yay me! And another stupid one is gonna bite the dust! Just once, it would be nice to hear an original line. I'd pay big to hear one. I would! Friggin' idiot! I hate stupid vampires, no challenge with the stupid ones!'

"There's just one problem with that. My girlfriend, well... she's kinda a little picky about other people or in your case non-people-demony-vampire types tasting me. She likes to be the only one. Ya know? She's kinda possessive like that, if you know what I mean. If you want though I can call her on my cell and you could ask her if the rumor is true." Faith just stared at the vampire and waited for him to make his move.

The vampire looked the Dark Slayer up and down. She was hot, and she was cocky, he liked that. Maybe he wouldn't kill her so fast, maybe he would play with her for a little while first. It certainly would help his rep to be able to brag that he not only drained the Slayer dry but he had also fucked her as well. The plans he had for the Slayer took a completely new turn. Besides he had heard rumors about the Slayer, heard that at one time she had been Angelus' fuck-toy, that she wore his mark, so fucking a vampire wouldn't be new to her.

He was too stupid to know that he had the wrong Slayer or for that matter that there were two Slayers, not one, he thought it was just a rumor put out by the Watchers Council to scare vampires. It would of course, definitely make his undead life easier if she went along with his plans for her and maybe if she were any good, he would keep her around for a while before draining her. His facial features changed slightly, his mouth curving up slightly, flirtatiously, it was a look that when he was alive had gotten plenty of women into his bed. Then again, when he was alive he hadn't really cared whether they wanted to join him in bed or not and that was one thing about him that hadn't changed.

"You know you're kind of cute for a Slayer." His tone was flirtatious, he smiled turning on what in his mind, was the charm. "This is going to be more fun then I first thought."

"Funny, I was just thinkin' the same thing myself." Faith flirted right back and watched as the vampire smiled again at her. The idiot vamp actually thought he was charming her with his phony smile. She was only playing along with him in order to buy herself some time. Her senses more focused on the vampires hiding, trying to get a fix on exactly where they were so she would be ready for them when they came at her. The vamp winked at her and she almost choked on the laughter that tried to escape from his sad attempt at charming her.

'Yep, bona-fide idiot... Like I'd ever with someone wearing an 'I'm so sexy' t-shirt... Eww! Idiot, idiot, idiot! What a pathetic loser!'

"Maybe your friends might want to come out and join the party too. The more the merrier I always say..." Faith smirked as she saw a little bit of the confidence drain out of the vampire. "Why don't you ask them to join us..." After a second of the vamp staring at her stupidly, she held up her hand to halt him from calling out to them. "Wait! You knowt? Wt? Why don't ya let me call them? Come out, come out, wherever you are, it's time to play!" She called out in a sing-song voice to the vampires still in hiding.

The vampire, using his own convoluted logic, concluded that she couldn't know about his drinking buddies hiding behind the tombstones. The way he saw it, if she did know about them, why would she have let them follow her and why would she be standing there so casually? It didn't matter anyway, she may be the Slayer but she was just a little slip of a girl and the five of them, he was confident, could take her down with ease. Hell, she was so tiny he had no doubt he could take her down himself. He totally ignored the puppy who was growling low at him, it would be easy enough to do away with.

The vampire's arrogant smile turned into a leer as he ran his tongue vulgarly over his fangs, cutting it on their sharp points. A grimace of pain crossed his face and he snarled low when he saw the raven-haired Slayer smirk at him and stifle a laugh. If he didn't know better he would have sworn that the black puppy with the glowing blue eyes was laughing at him too. The bitch wouldn't be laughing long, he thought, so let her laugh now, soon he would be making her beg, of that he had not a shred of doubt.

"When I'm finished with you, I'll be sure to give your girlfriend a call to let her know just how good all of you taste..." He told her in a deep voice, his leer growing a little larger.

"That won't be necessary," came a new voice from behind him. "'Sides you're never going to find out what she tastes like. She's right; I am very possessive that way. If you know what I mean..."

The vampire spun towards the voice behind him shouting at the same time for his companions to come out of hiding.

"GIZ!"

"S.O.!!!" Buffy yelled back as she ran towards the talkative vampire. She jumped into the air, doing the Xena move Faith had taught her. She flipped over the top of the vampire, smacking him hard on the back of the head as she passed him. She landed gracefully on her feet behind the surprised vampire. She sprinted quickly over to Faith and stopped right in front of her. "Hi baby..." She leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on Faith lips, acting for all the world as if there weren't five vampires charging towards them, two from each side and one from behind her. She looked down at Dusk, "Hey Furball."

Dusk barked his greeting back at his Light Slayer, wagging his tail. He was overjoyed to see her and he knew his Dark Slayer was too. As far as he was concerned, all was right in his world now.

"What are you doing here B?" Faith asked her as she flicked out her right hand and threw a stake without even looking. Both she and Buffy smiled when they heard the familiar poof as the vampire she had flung the stake at turned to dust.

"Figured I'd keep you company. Esp..." This time it was Buffy who flicked out her right hand, threw a stake without looking and dusted a vamp, annoyed she didn't get to finish what she was saying.

Without a word, the Slayers turned around so they were back-to-back and Dusk rose up to his four paws. Buffy faced off against the vampire who had been behind her, Faith against the one to her left and Dusk against the one to Faith's right.

Faith blocked the blow that was coming towards her head. She brought her knee up and caught the vampire in his midsection doubling him over. With her hands clasped together into a fist, she brought them down hitting the vampire with a blow to the back of the neck. Absently she wonder as he fell on his face if he was going to try and bite her Doc's like that other idiot vamp had all those years ago. The thought made her laugh aloud.

"What's so funny Fai???"

"Tell you later B..." Faith caught the vampire under his chin with an uppercut just as he had almost regained his footing. It lifted him all the way up and off his feet, she reached behind her and grabbed a stake out of her waistband and dusted him while he was still in the air. "Woo-fuckin-hoo! Love that sound!"

She twirled around to see how Dusk was faring just in time to see a vampire grab him around the neck. She started laughing again when she heard the vampire howl in pain, as his hand was pierced by the small wooden spiked studs soaked in holy water that were on Dusk's collar. She laughed again when she heard Dusk bark out his own laughter when the vampire dropped him like a hot tamale. She tossed the stake in her hand high up into the air, caught it mid-flight on its way down and sent it sailing at the vampire at the speed-of-light.

"All right! Bulls-eye! That's Slayers' four, vamps zero!"

Dusk trotted back over to his Dark Slayer and they both turned around to watch Buffy in action.

"What ya doin' B?"

The vampire realized belatedly that it wasn't a rumor, there really were two Slayers. He didn't give a shit though, the blonde was even smaller than the other one. He was dimwitted enough to believe, even after he had watched them take out four of his buddies with little or no effort that he could take them both down.

"Figured I'd get in a little sparring, S.O." Buffy answered as she hit the vamp with a right cross. She easily blocked his counter punch, gut punched him back and then hit him with a Knife-Edge-kick that sent him flying a few feet. "Only he's not nearly as good as you baby, then again no one is. Hell, even Furball is better than him."

The vampire was seeing red as he picked himself up from the ground. He'd show this little blonde-haired bitch just how good he was. It was time to stop fooling around and get down to some serious Slayer ass kicking. He was going to take the little blonde-haired Slayer down and then he was going to make her watch as he played with her dark-haired girlfriend. He was going to make both of these bitches beg him to kill them before he was through with them.

If the vampire had been smart, he would have turned tail and run for his un-life all the way back to the East Coast where he had so recently come from. Since he wasn't, he growled, snarled, bared his teeth at Buffy and thenrgedrged right at her.

'Oh yeah he's got the IQ of a clump of dirt this one! B's so gonna kick his dumb ass!'

Buffy waited for the vampire to reach her. She hit him with a series of left and right crosses, most of which he barely managed to block. She was hitting him so hard and so fast, it was actually her punches after the first ten or so that were still keeping him on his feet. She hit him with one last full-out right cross that spun him completely around. Once he was facing her again, he dropped to his knees swaying, totally out of it. Buffy was pretty damn sure at this point he didn't even know he was a vampire anymore.

Buffy moved in close to the stunned vampire. She looked down at him with a smug smile. She leaned down until she was at eye level with him, she waited for him to focus on her and whispered conspiratorially to him, "By the way the rumor is..." Buffy trailed off, smiled again at the vamp, then dusted him. "...true," she told the dust particles floating around her.

"So the rumor is true eh, B?" Faith asked as she walked up to Buffy and faced her.

Dusk just sprawled out on the ground again and made himself comfortable. It was playtime now, he knew, for his Dark and Light Slayers. Though it had been a while since they had played and he knew that it was making his Dark Slayer very cranky and grumpy. Even more so lately than usual, especially since the Light Slayer hadn't been Slaying with them for a long time. She was cranky too, but it was a different kind of cranky then how both his Slayers got when they didn't play after Slaying. Humans were strange. Even so, he really hoped they would play tonight; he didn't like it when his Dark or Light Slayer were like this.

"Why don't you tell me if it's true F..." Buffy ran her fingers down Faith's arm, purring at the feel of Faith's muscles twitching under them.

Faith didn't answer Buffy, instead she pulled Buffy close to her, leaned down and captured the drop of sweat that was slowly making its way down Buffy's throat with her tongue. She followed the column of Buffy's throat up to under her chin, continuing until she reached her mouth. She traced along Buffy's lips, placing soft little kisses and sneaking tastes. Teasing Buffy, teasing herself, she finally whispered against Buffy's mouth, "You're right B, the rumor is true, but then I already knew that."

"Good answer S.O.," Buffy whispered back against Faith's lips then caught those same lips up in a ravenous kiss that left both Slayers' knees weak.

Faith took a step back from Buffy after their kiss ended her whole body trembling.

"You never told me what you were doing here B." Her voice, when she finally managed to find it again after their kiss, was husky, low and shaky. It had been almost two weeks since Buffy had kissed her like that and their kiss had put her on total overload and overdrive. Her pulse was racing and her heart was slamming up against her ribcage trying to get out. Every cell in her body was focused on the throbbing ache between her legs that had been and still was a part of every second of her life the last two weeks. "I thought you'd be home studying for finals."

Buffy, Tara and Willow had been virtual crazed lunatics the last two weeks as they studied for their finals. Faith couldn't imagine, hell she didn't want to imagine what it was going to be like next year when all four of them were in school. She felt sorry for Dawn already. She, Dawn and Dusk had pretty much spent the last two weeks hiding from the blond-haired Slayer and the Wicca's. They had tiptoed around the house, bowing, scraping and catering to every whim and still that hadn't been enough. None of them could seem to do anything right and Dusk had taken to hiding under any piece of furniture he could fit beneath whenever Buffy or the Wicca's entered a room he was in. By the middle of the second week, Faith had considered moving her, Dawn and Dusk into the garage, just to get away from the crazy people that they were suddenly sharing the Mansion with.

Faith had been doing all the Slaying alone the last two weeks. She was one extremely frustrated Slayer, she had found out very early the week before not to even hint at making love. She had also learned to block any lust-filled thoughts, hell, any kind of thoughts that had to do with making love period, from reaching Buffy through their bond too. She was lucky most days if Buffy even gave her a kiss in the morning, let alone anything more. She couldn't count the number of cold showers she had taken and she most definitely took a very long one after getting back from Slaying each night.

While she might be a more controlled, precise, kick-ass wicked Slayer, Buffy's total equal on that front now, one thing still hadn't changed for her. Faith still loved Slaying with every fiber of her being. She still thought that being called was one of the best things to have happened to her in her fucked up past... and Slaying absolutely, positively still made her enormously, incredibly, exceedingly, hungry and horny. And the kiss that Buffy had just given her certainly hadn't done anything to help the two weeks of pent-up desire, passion and outright lust she was feeling.

As crude as it sounded even in her own head, the only thing she could think about right now was how much she just wanted Buffy to slam her up against the nearest tree, crypt, tombstone, whatever and fuck her brains out until she cried uncle or passed out. Slow, passionate, gentle just wasn't going to cut it right now, that would come later after the edge had been taken off. Hard and fast was what she needed after all the Slaying she had been doing alone and most assuredly after sleeping in the same bed with a naked Buffy and not making love once over those two weeks.

And even hard and fast Faith knew was, for them, still making love, because Buffy had been right. They didn't fuck, they made love no matter how fast or slow, because all of it was an expression of their love for each other. And that love was in every touch, whether gentle, rough or hurried, every kiss, whether slow, sensual, hard, demanding or forceful, it was in every sigh, in every word, in every breath. It was impossible for it not to be and Faith wouldn't have it any other way.

Faith didn't say anything though and she kept her thoughts, feelings out of their bond. She was a little afraid of misjudging Buffy's mood, especially after living with the crazy woman that had inhabited her mate's body for the last two weeks. As much as she wanted Buffy to touch her, as much as she wanted to touch Buffy, she wasn't going to risk making another move until after exams were over. She would just let Buffy lead them wherever this playful kissing and touching took them, which if the last two weeks were any indication wouldn't be much further. She would just have to settle for an extra-extra-extra long, ice-cold shower and then stuffing her face when she got home tonight.

Buffy looked at Faith with a sly grin on her face. She didn't need their bond to know what Faith was feeling. It was coming off her in a tidal-wave of heat and lust. Buffy could feel it with everything she was, it was making her sweat, her knees weak, and she was just about melting into a puddle. They had been together long enough for her to know exactly what Slaying did to Faith and even had they only been together for a day she would still know, because Slaying did the same exact thing to her. Faith, right now, was a volcano, ready to erupt at the slightest touch and Buffy had every intention of stoking, soothing and quenching that fire tonight.

She intended to repay Faith for how horrible she had been to her the last two weeks. Repay Faith for how considerate, thoughtful and understanding she had been. Faith had bent over backwards to help her with everything and anything she could. She had listened when Buffy went on a rampage about how she couldn't do this, should just quit now and spare herself and everyone else from her failure. How she wasn't any good at school, never was, never could be. Faith had just quietly encouraged her, pushed her to study, helped her to study; made sure she had eaten and slept. Not only had Faith taken care of her, but she had seen to Willow and Tara's needs as well.

"I just needed a small break from all the studying." Buffy shrugged her shoulders, she was beevilevil she knew. She wanted to surprise Faith and get a feel for when she was going to get home; she had plans for her Dark Slayer tonight. And if things went the way she wanted, those plans would extend into all day tomorrow and hopefully into the day after. "And I, you know, kinda miss you a little..." She smiled impishly at Faith.

"We, me and the Furball kinda miss you too." Faith's response came out slightly above a whisper.

Buffy didn't miss the longing in Faith's eyes, she felt it too. Both their longing was about more then just not making love in the last two weeks. They both missed spending time together talking, holding hands, holding each other, cuddling on the sofa, being silly, goofy, taking those few minutes in the morning to just be together before the rest of the world intruded. What they really both missed the most was the simple, ordinary things that made up their daily life together.

Buffy smiled softly up at the Dark Slayer and clasped her hand with her own, "Come on, walk me back to my car."

Faith just nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak; they began walking in comfortable silence, pausing only long enough for Faith to pick up her Slaying bag. Both were quietly reflecting on the last few months, how things had changed for them, how they had grown, how their relationship had become stronger, how it had become just simply more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy had decided, at Faith's gentle urging, though Dawn and the Wicca's had also added their two cents worth, to go back to school for the winter semester, rather than wait for the summer. Willow and Tara had moved into the Mansion the first week of January after the Summers' house had been sold. Their moving in had helped to alleviate some of the financial burden on the two Slayers. The rent had enabled Buffy to change her work schedule to be just a little bit more than part-time and allowed her to concentrate on getting back into the swing of being in school.

Faith after three weeks of Buffy's subtle pushing, along with the added pushes from the rest of the household had finally gone down to the center to meet with Sharon about the job working with the troubled teens. Faith and Sharon had clicked from the start and Sharon had instantly seen beneath Faith's bad girl attitude. Their initial meeting had lasted over two hours and Faith had been as close to totally honest with Sharon as she could be. She had been surprised at how comfortable she was with Sharon immediately and found that it was easy to talk to her. She had told Sharon about her abusive past, her short stint in jail, had given her sketchy details about what had happened to she and Buffy over the last few months and then had told her what it was that she wanted from her life. She told Sharon about her desire to help other young men and women not to make the same mistakes that she had.

By the end of the meeting, Sharon had offered to give Faith a chance on a part-time trial basis for one month. She wanted to make sure that this was what Faith really wanted to do and to see how the kids took to her. On the Monday of the third week of January, Faith began to work three days a week at the center. She had kept her fulltime job down at the loading docks, changing her hours to accommodate her schedule at the center. By her second day at the center, Faith knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was what she wanted to do with her life. She had taken to working with the kids like a fish to water.

She loved it, her own abusive and trouble past gave her an insight to the teens as well as an insight into her own self. It was extremely hard work and quite frustrating at times trying to get through the all too familiar walls that the more troubled of the kids had erected -- but when she was able to, it made all the hard work and frustration much more than worth the effort. At the end of her trial month, Sharon had offered her a fulltime position as an assistant youth councilor and Faith had taken the job without a second of hesitation.

From the very first day she had started working at the center, Faith had begun to find a new sense of self, her confidence, self-worth had been growing ever since in leaps and bounds, and she, herself, as a person continued to grown in leaps and bounds too. For the first time in her life, Faith felt like if she suddenly stopped being a Slayer tomorrow, she would still have something worthwhile to offer the world in general. Faith had in a sense, with this job, working with the kids, found her true calling.

Before either of them knew it Buffy's twenty-first birthday was upon them. Faith, being the hidden romantic at heart that she was, decided to take Buffy to the 'family' restaurant and club that they had gone to on their first real date. She had even gone so far as to wear the same outfit she had worn that night. They had a nice long romantic dinner together. Faith had arranged for them to sit at the same exact table and have the same waiter as the first time. Buffy had been surprised even further when the familiar strands of the slow song they had first danced to began and the DJ dedicated the song; "To B from F I love you. Thank you for teaching me how to Breathe." This time it was Faith who gently pulled Buffy out to the dance floor to slow dance.

After they had returned to their table when the music had gone from slow and sensual to fast and hard, Faith handed Buffy a small wrapped box. Inside the box was a wide pewter Celtic Placket Wrist Cuff. The wrist cuff was actually six hand-pierced and engraved panels welded together. The original design of the bracelet dated back to the ninth or tenth century AD. The six engraved panels consisted of a Stag, a Thistle, the Eternal Knot, a Griffin, an Oak Tree, a Plant Abstract, and the final panel was an image that was simply there to balance the Plant Abstract and to signify things of the heart. Together the six panels represented fertility, abundance, regeneration, courage, protection, strength, spiritual growth, wisdom, watchfulness, fidelity and endurance. Buffy had put the wrist cuff on immediately after reading the small card that told of the history of the Celtic Placket, since that night she very rarely, if ever, took it off.

By the end of February, they had settled down into almost a routine. In between working, school and Slaying they had somehow managed to find ways to spend more time together. Both making sure they took the time out of their busy schedules to surprise each other, from Faith showing up on the Sunnydale U campus with a picnic lunch to Buffy serving burnt breakfast to Faith in bed. They made sure to do fun things together, like going to the movies or dancing at the Bronze or doing all night Scooby video and pizza parties. And every Sunday, the only full day both had off, they spent together, doing either something alone or with Dawn and the rest of their family.

On the Slaying front, the Chosen Two had truly become a force to be reckoned with. Their implicit trust in each other, the bond they shared and all they had learned and continued to learn from the Immortals had made them more responsible and conscientious. Made them fiercer warriors and Slayers. But in a very real sense it wasn't what they had learned on the Slaying front that made them better Slayers -- it was because of the life they had started to build, create for and with each other within the Immortals domain, and that they had continued to build upon when they returned, that made them better Slayers. Nor did they continue to build this life together alone, they included Dawn in it and the rest of their extended family.

They had made plans for their future together, they thought beyond just today or tomorrow, they no longer woke up wondering if today was the day either or both of them were going to die. With a passion, they both wanted that future that they had never thought they could have and they wanted all their loved ones to have it as well. It was that and their steely determination and strength of will to ensure that they all realized their dreams that made them exceptional at what destiny or fate had chosen as their roles to play in the war against evil. In spite of the fact they were Slayers and that no other Slayer had ever done it, they would ha lif life, they would beat the odds, they would do more than just survive from day to day and they would do it together and with their very extended family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They stopped at the curb in front of Buffy's car, both wondering how they had gotten there so fast. Buffy leaned up against the car and pulled Faith to her. She idly tucked a few stray locks of Faith's hair behind her ear and then ran her hand down the side of Faith's face, both enjoying the familiarity of Buffy's habit.

"Was this the last cemetery for the night?" Buffy asked Faith already knowing that it wasn't.

"I have two more." Faith rested her forehead up against Buffy's. Wanting more than anything just to go home with her, even if it was only to spend time with the crazed-lunatic-student that was currently inhabiting Buffy's body. But neither Faith nor Buffy would shirk their duty as Slayers for their own personal needs.

"I'm glad I took a break to come see you."

"Me too B..."

Buffy leaned up and kissed Faith. It was soft and sweet, but both Slayers would have put it in the top ten list of kisses they had ever shared.

Faith stood at the curb watching until Buffy drove out of sight. She turned and started heading towards her bike, letting out a long heavy sigh, which Dusk echoed a second later.

"You miss her too, eh Furball?" Dusk just whined low in response to her question.

She stopped in front of her bike and just stared vacantly at it for a minute or two, then called over her shoulder, "You can come out now Junior..."

Spike stepped out of the shadows; he had been following her since the beginning of the night at Buffy's request. Or so he told himself that. Deep down he knew that he would have followed either of the Slayers if they were patrolling alone and hadn't asked him to keep them company, it didn't mean he would admit it to them or to himself out loud. He may have a soul now but he was still Spike, after all. But, they were his family now and, like them, he took care of his family.

"Um... well I was just...."

"Following me?"

"As if..."

"Right..." Faith turned around to face Spike.

He looked tired, the last few months since he had gotten his soul bacd bed been hard on him. When the Slayers had returned from the Immortals' domain, Xander had told them that right after the joining ceremony they had found him hiding, curled up into a fetal-ball in his crypt. A delayed reaction to all the guilt, sorrow, remorse, self-disgust and self-loathing over what he had done over the long course of his undead-life as a vampire ripping him apart. He was better now thanks to Angel and to her. They both had been helping Spike through it, she and Angel both understood intimately exactly what it was doing to Spike inside and how it made him feel. She smiled at him. They, she and Spike, were a lot alike. They covered up their internal pain with sarcastic remarks, indifference, bored looks and fake smiles, but just like her, he, neither of them, wanted to hide behind the masks they had worn for so long anymore. And they both knew that sometimes old habits died hard, in both their cases it was their inability to totally let go of the masks they had both worn for so long.

"So Junior... me and Furball have to finish patrolling. You feel like tagging along?"

"Well Infant..." Spike started then smiled at the growl Faith gave him at the nickname he had appropriated for his own use from Mars' for her. "I think a little exercise would do me a right bit of good."

Only in Sunnydale would no one pay any attention to the odd sight of a small raven-haired beauty driving an 'Eighty-Six Sportster, with a bleached blonde sort of Billy Idol look alike on the back and a black Siberian Husky puppy, with piercing blue eyes chasing after them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy plopped down on the couch, she had run around the house like a chicken without a head trying to get everything done and then herself showered before Faith got home from Slaying. She had figured she had an hour tops, maybe even less, since Spike would help Faith patrol the last two cemeteries. It seemed so quiet after all the upheaval the last two weeks. Willow and Tara had left a few hours ago for the women's retreat they were spending the next five days at. Crow had picked up Dawn right after dinner; she was going to spend the weekend with his family at their summer home in Laguna Beach.

Dawn and Crow had officially become a couple after Dawn had turned their Happy New Year's kiss into a little bit more than just a chaste peck on the lips. The Slayers' who had been standing by the two teenagers had started laughing out loud at the surprised, comical look on Dawn's face after the kiss. She obviously hadn't planned on it.

Surprising not only themselves but Dawn as well, neither Slayer had a problem with Dawn dating Crow. Oddly enough, they both trusted him. Neither of them would have ever thought that the words trust and seventeen-year-old boy would be in the same sentence. Not to mention in the same sentence with Dawn. The fact still remained that they did trust him. They trusted him not to push Dawn into anything she wasn't ready for, nor did they worry about her safety when she was out with him. While they could both see the wild streak in him, they could also see that he was responsible, gentle, sensitive and that he cared for Dawn a great deal and that Dawn cared a great deal for him as well.

Both Slayers' had a sneaky suspicion that Dawn and Crow were in it for the long haul. They both thought that Dawn had found in Crow the person who fit with her in the same way that they fit together. There was something about Dawn and Crow when they were together that was just simply right.

She was pulled out of her internal musing at the sound of the back door opening. She heard Faith's soft footsteps and the click of Dusk's nails on the marble floor. Before she, Willow and Tara had become the psycho-students-from-hell, Faith would have instinctively found her wherever she was in the house to give her a kiss hello. But Faith had learned the hard way the second night they had started cramming for exams not to even come close to any of them or the living room which had been commandeered as study central when she came in unless one of them called out to her.

For the last two weeks, Faith had just gone directly up the back steps as quietly and quickly as possible, Dusk right on her heels. Nor would Faith call out a greeting unless one of them called out to her first. She would make her way to the master bedroom and a few seconds later the sound of the shower would drift down the stairs to Buffy. After what Buffy knew was a very long cold shower, she would then hear Faith's quiet footsteps going down the hall, then down the back stairs again and into the kitchen through the servant's door, to make herself something to eat. And tonight Buffy knew would be no different. Sure enough, Buffy heard Faith's almost silent footsteps climbing up the back staircase. She felt a twinge of guilt at letting Faith think she was still studying and at letting her take another cold shower. She soothed her guilt a little with the knowledge that she planned on making it up to Faith tonight and hopefully for the rest of the weekend too.

"Faith? Is that you?" Buffy called out from the living room. She heard Faith's footsteps stop abruptly on the stairs.

"Yeah, B, it's me." There were a few beats of silence then Faith called out again, "Did you need me to do something for you B?"

"No... ah thanks... I was just checking." Buffy could feel Faith's presence surrounding her.

Buffy had pretty much closed down the bond between them over the last two weeks. She had found it extremely distracting while she was trying to study, when all she really wanted to do was spend her free time with Faith. Faith, out of consideration for her, had not tried to force or coax Buffy once into opening it up during that time. Tonight though, Buffy, not wanting to give away the surprise she had planned for Faith, had only partially reopened up the bond between tthe the second she had heard the motorcycle pull in the driveway. Even only partially opened, the feelings that had hit her had felt beyond anything she could describe.

Over the last two weeks, she had still been able to feel Faith through their Soul-Thread, which was part of their bond, but it hadn't been quite the same as when their bond, connection was fully open. She had missed the echoes they shared, missed the feeling of Faith being a part of her deep down inside her soul, she somehow felt not quite complete without the familiar sensation of their shared bond and she had decided at that moment that it was something she would never do again, for any reason.

"Okay, well... I'm gonna take a shower... If you change your mind B, just holler."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Faith made her way back downstairs into the kitchen. Her twenty-minute cold shower had done nothing but remind her even more why she was taking an ice-cold shower in the first place. Then again, Buffy's unexpected appearance at the cemetery certainly hadn't helped either. Right now, she could feel Buffy's presence intensely; it seemed to be wrapped tightly around her, almost as if Buffy were standing right next to her, holding her. The first ten minutes after she got home she kept looking over her shoulder expecting to see Buffy, feeling Buffy's presence this strongly only usually happened when they were in the same room and always when they were touching. She gave up looking over her shoulder though, chalking it up to her imagination and wishful thinking.

She padded down the hallway and into the kitchen, her bare feet hardly making a sound, Furball right behind her. She first filled up Dusk's water bowl then threw him a new rawhide beef-strip which he caught midair. He planted himself on the floor and happily started to gnaw away. She smiled down at him then headed over to the fridge. She opened the door and saw to her delight her favorite food in the whole wide-world sitting right there on the shelf, just waiting for her. Pizza, with extra-extra-and-a-little-more-extra cheese! She grabbed a slice, tossed it in the toaster oven and set the timer. She reached back into the pizza box and grabbed another slice to munch on while she was waiting for the first to heat up.

Silently Buffy stood leaning up against the doorframe to the kitchen watching Faith. She had gotten up from the couch when she heard Faith coming back downstairs. She had quietly made her way over to the other entrance to the kitchen reaching it only a second or two after Faith had entered the kitchen with Dusk. She had given Dusk the hand signal to ignore her presence; it was one they had, until now, only used when they were Slaying. Then she just leaned against the doorframe to let her eyes drink in the sight of her mate.

Faith was wearing a very short cut-off wife beater that with every movement the bottom of her breasts peeked out from under. She also had on her favorite pair of men's black silk boxers with Daffy Duck on them. Faith actually had quite the collection of men's silk boxers, all with some cartoon character or another on them.

Buffy's traced with her eyes the ripple of muscles in Faith's shoulders, arms and legs as she puttered around the kitchen with her back to her. Her eyes lingered on the little indent at the base of Faith's spine, the same one that made Faith's body tremble with desire whenever Buffy touched it.

A knowing smile graced Buffy's face as she watched Faith. She knew exactly what Faith would do once she saw the pizza in the refrigerator that Buffy had picked up on her way home from the cemetery. First, Faith wouut aut a slice in the toaster oven and then she would take another slice from the box to munch on while she waited for the first to heat up. Sure enough, Faith didn't disappoint her. And while Buffy watched Faith do this, she couldn't help wonder how Faith could look so damn adorable, cute, young, sexy, hot and breathtaking all at the same time.

"I don't know Furball, thinkin' even pizza ain't gonna help, don't think twenty pies would help... hell all the food in the world wouldn't help... I just might have to reacquaint myself with my hand again like last week, although that didn't help too much either, was kinda empty, more I don't know..." Faith grumbled under her breath then blushed at what she said, then berated herself for blushing. After all, Furball was just a dog and probably didn't understand what she was saying anyway. Her thoughts drifted back to Buffy as she brought the slice up towards her mouth and she was almost overwhelmed by the desire, the lust, just the thought of Buffy caused to wash over her with the force of a tidal wave.

Dusk might not have understood what the Dark Slayer was saying, but Buffy did. And Buffy, who had been just opening her mouth to let Faith know she was there, found that nothing would come out. In that split second, a few things happened fast and furiously to Buffy. Faith's desires, passion washed over Buffy through their bond and sent her own repressed desire and lust into hyper-drive. Her breathing quickened and the tone of her voice even though she had yet to speak, lowered. And her plans for them for the evening changed as her mind was filled with a billion different images from Faith's words and her thoughts took a decidedly, wicked detour. She decided that a spontaneous appetizer was most definitely in order. Beside as far as Buffy could remember the kitchen was the only room in the Mansion that they hadn't...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Continued in Chapter XXXII – Breathing & Everything (Part E)