Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters. Just having some harmless fun.

Timeline: Is messed up. So here is what did and didn't happen in my mind. The Glory story did happen, Buffy was resurrected. Willow did go evil for a while. Joyce did die. Buffy did have relations with Spike. However, Tara did not die. Anya and Xander did not split up. Spike did not stay in Sunnydale after Buffy told him it was over.

Note: Its been ages since I updated this and I admit I have major writers block with his story. The words just aren't flowing. But I promised myself I would complete this thing. So this will have to do. Hopefully I'll get the next few chapters out fairly quickly. As always, apologies if this sucks.

"You hear that?" Xander asked his comrades.

The Scooby gang had spent the last hour sitting under the dining room table, in a sheltered corner of the room. As the two witches began to lose strength, the shield had become unstable and the gang were forced to take extra cover.

"Hear what?" Anya was first to ask the question.

"Exactly", Xander replied as he clambered out from under the makeshift shelter.

Anya, Dawn and Giles followed suit and as they stretched out their aching limbs and took stock of their surroundings; Xander's point quickly became apparent. For the first time in ages, there was silence.

"The storm", Dawn said delightedly, "Its stopped!"

"And not a moment too soon", Giles added, glancing over that the two Wicca's. It seemed they were about ready to drop.

Giles made his way over to Willow to break her from her trance while the others began to tidy up some of the mess strewn all over the room. Very few ornaments had made it through the storm in tact, but some of the larger furniture looked salvageable.

"So you were deceiving us before," Anya said in her with her usual directness.

Xander, who had been watching Giles help Willow and Tara over to the couch, turned to his girlfriend in confusion.

"What?" He asked, already sensing that he probably didn't want to know.

Anya fixed him with an accusatory glare, "You knew the storm had stopped, but instead of telling us, you made us listen for something that wasn't there."

"An'", Xander began, exasperated, "That was my way of telling you it had stopped."

"Well then why didn't you just say "hey everyone, the storm is over"? Anya asked as she roughly hung a picture back up on the wall. It hung heavily to the left, but she didn't seem to notice."Clearly you said that to confuse the ex-demons among the group."

It never failed to amaze Xander at how quickly he could lose control of his conversations with Anya. He was now at a complete loss for words.

"Anya," He floundered, " I didn't mean to - I mean…Sometimes people say things that-"

"There you go again, patronising me! Speaking to me like I'm some sort of child!"

Anya's arms began flailing emphatically as she paced the room. It was clear to all that she was gearing up for a rant, the flat tone of her voice began to raise an octave or two with every passing second. Soon she'd be a shrill, animated bundle of indignation. Xander was doomed to endure the onslaught, however Giles was not and he wasted no time in making a silent exit.

Standing in the remnants of the Summer's kitchen, Giles searched the cupboards for some unbroken cups. He could still distinctly hear the familiar sounds of Xander and Anya bickering in the other room. This wasn't the first time Xander had had to deal with one of Anya's bizarre and irrational complaints and he was sure it wouldn't be the last. But though their constant altercations were usually more than a little irritating; today it was oddly comforting to hear. The house was a wreck, the town was all but destroyed, there was an apocalypse on its way and yet amidst all the chaos it was nice to know that some things continued as normal.

With the tea made and a handful of chipped mugs arranged neatly on a battered tray, Giles re-entered the living room. He set down the tea down on the table they had been previously sat under and was just in time to witness Xander and Anya's ritual make-up kiss. Perfect moment to clean one's glasses…

Faith couldn't believe the scene that stretched out before her. Sunnydale was completely trashed. The car made its way along the broken roads, Buffy taking extra care to avoid the various piles of rubble and debris, and on all sides there were demolished houses and abandoned streets. It was like something out of a disaster movie. Everything from family homes to large warehouses had been reduced to charred, empty shells and as far as eye could see there was blackened concrete and the odd furls of smoke rising from still-burning areas.

"So you're sayin' that one demon did all of this?" Faith asked, still slightly shocked at what she saw.

"Uh-huh", Buffy nodded, "Just the one".

"Damn!"

Buffy almost smiled a little at that response, Faith had never been big with the words, yet that never seemed to stop her from getting her point across.

It wasn't long before Buffy made it to what was left of her house. She stopped the car, locked the parking brake and took a breath. She knew that beyond the front door was a group of friends who loved and adored her. In fact, so great was their love that they actually managed to bring her back from death.

She could almost feel the life draining from her as she remembered the wonderful things she had experienced when she was 'dead' and the horrific shock of waking up in that damn coffin. Life since that night hadn't been the same. Though her friends did their best to help, the constant responsibilities of being a slayer and older sister to Dawn was proving to be too much. Their love was suffocating, nothing felt right. Part of her wished she could just give up the fight and watch the world burn. She was sick of constantly saving the day, what was so great about this place anyway?

As she gripped the steering wheel a reckless thought entered her head. What if she switched the engine back on and just drove away? Drove until the gas tank was empty and then ran until her legs gave out. But even as she thought it, she knew she couldn't do it. She had a job to do.

"So, we going in?" Faith questioned. And on getting no reply, added, "Or we could just sit out here and brood…"

Buffy looked at Faith. She seemed so very relaxed even now and for some reason she couldn't explain, this annoyed her. Irritation at her passenger's calm bravado soon began to replace her previous depression at returning. She unhooked her seat belt.

"Lets go."

The car doors opened simultaneously and both women stepped out. Faith eyed Buffy as they walked up to the front door. The two had spoken little on the journey here, perhaps partly due to the fact that neither had gotten a good nights sleep. Faith was sure that the nightmare she had endured had been shared with Buffy, but she hadn't dared to bring it up. It became just another unspoken thing between them.

Though conversation had been at the minimum, Faith had noticed that the closer they had gotten to Sunnydale, the more reserved the blonde had become. In fact her entire body seemed to become more drawn and she noticed tension lines where they had previously been none. And now after witnessing Buffy's slightly wobbly moment back in the parked car, she wondered just what she had got herself mixed up in. She supposed there was going to be some tense times ahead. Compared to that, an evil super-demon sounded like cake.

Faith remembered how Buffy and her friends used to be. In the old days, after a few days separation, she was sure Willow would have greeted her best friend with an enthusiastic hug. There would have been smiles all around and humorous banter exchanged. But it seemed those days were long gone. As she stepped through the front door behind Buffy, there was no warm welcome. They were instead met with a kind of awkward tension as Giles, Xander and Willow stood together in front of them.

"Were back." Buffy stated.

"It's good to see you made it in one piece," Giles noticed the faded bruises on Buffy, a result of their vampire encounter, "Was there trouble?"

Buffy shrugged, "Nothing a stake to the heart didn't fix."

Faith looked sidelong at Buffy and noticed a tiny smile creep on to her face. What was more interesting was Giles's reaction. It was a mixture of concern and cautious delight at the very subtle wisecrack. Clearly it didn't happen very often these days.

Willow then stepped forward to give Buffy a rough hug, "Glad your back, Buffy".

The hug was returned almost mechanically. Both women's forced behaviour didn't slip by Faith notice. Nor did Xander's upbeat greeting that seemed slightly too loud. Man, these guys were uptight. What the hell had happened to them all?

"And Faith, its good to see you again. Thank you for coming." All eyes turned to her as Giles acknowledged her presence.

Faith offered up what she hoped was a confident smile, "Well it was this or watching Glitter for the millionth time."

She was relieved to see that earn some smiles, albeit small ones. The group lingered in the hallway a moment longer, but it seemed nobody could find any more words. Fortunately rescue came in the form of Dawn and Tara tramping down the stairs, each armed with a broom and looking harassed.

"If Anya calls me a 'little kid' one more time I swear I'll - "

Tara's soft voice broke in gently, "I know she can be…difficult, Dawn, but you know she doesn't mean to upset you."

"What's she doing now?" Xander asked, as he glanced up the stairs.

Tara looked up and noticed the group for the first time, she offered an apologetic smile, "N-Nothing really, she's just getting a little over zealous with the cleaning upstairs."

Dawn glared, "She's ordering us about. And she keeps talking to me like I'm five years old!"

Faith eyed the young teenager in mild amusement. Though the kid was obviously growing up, she still retained her bratty attitude. She couldn't help it, despite her determination to behave herself, the comment left her lips before she could think, "Check it out, the brat's all woman sized."

Dawn's eyes narrowed in hatred. She stared at Faith, infuriated to see the usual cocky, I-don't-give-a-shit smirk plastered on her face. She tried to think of a poisonous insult to shoot back, but her efforts were thwarted by a pair of peace-keeping witches.

"Y'know its been a long day, " Willow broke in hurriedly, "Maybe you could help me and Tara out in the kitchen."

Dawn reluctantly allowed herself to be steered away and out of the hall. But she swore to herself this wasn't over. She hated Faith for all the pain she had caused. She also remembered the flames of jealousy she had felt as a child, seeing how much Buffy had enjoyed the other slayer's company. She had never been allowed to go on patrols or see vampires, Buffy had had such a cool job, but Dawn hadn't been a part of it. Faith had been though. She spent a lot of time with her sister before things between them turned sour. But things were different now. Dawn wasn't some dumb kid, and Faith had better watch out.

The rest of the group finally started moving. Xander went off to locate his girlfriend, Buffy went to shower, and Giles was left to get Faith 'settled in', as he put it. Faith hoped that the night would hold some answers as to exactly why she was here…