Yes, it's time for this story to come to a close. Thanks to everyone that has stuck by, giving awesome reviews, it's been greatly appreciated. :)

I'm currently working through some ideas in my head for the next story, possibly a one-shot. Not sure when it will be out though.

And -- I'd like to apologize for the delay in getting this chapter finished. Writer's block has really been kicking my ass the past few days. But thanks to the season 1 release of Dollhouse on DVD, I've gotten my Dushku fix, and inspiration has struck! So... ta-daaa?

CHAPTER 12

The next night we decided it was about time to take the little slayers out for a patrol. Giles and the other Watcher dudes wanted to train 'em some more, but it's about time they got into the action. They were all excited about it, wanted to go out right when the sun set. Took awhile to convince 'em that if we went out so early people would see us, it would look weird. I already had one run in with a cop, I don't want another.

"Where are they? You guys said there's tons of them..." One of 'em complained as we headed down the streets near one of the bigger cemeteries.

"Yeah there's a real shitload out - ow!" Buffy had slapped me in the shoulder. "Sorry." She's been givin' me grief for my 'potty mouth' (yeah I'm not kiddin', she said 'potty mouth', who the hell talks like that?) recently so I've been tryin' to cut back on the cussin' in front of the girls. It hasn't been easy. "We'll come across some soon. Don'tcha got that little warnin' tingle goin' through ya, tellin' ya the evil is nearby?" They just shrugged. "Well you'll start to be able to determine what the inner Slayer is tellin' ya after awhile."

"I - I think there's something telling me to turn left?" One of the shy girls piped up, while fiddlin' around with her stake. I nodded, and Buffy gave her an encouragin' smile.

"That's good, it does feel like there's something up ahead." The girl blushed. Damn, I gotta remember her. Help make her a little less fidgety and shit. We turned the corner and my slayer sense immediately flared up as somethin' stepped out from the shadows.

"What's this? A buffet?" And we've found our first big ugly of the night. "I don't know what to start with..." I stepped forward, blockin' off the girls from him in case he decided to try somethin' stupid. "Oooo it looks like we've got a volunteer." His face vamped out and he took a step forward, like he was tryin' to scare me off. I scoffed and turned to the side to look back at the girls.

"Who calls dibs?" All the girls just looked back and forth between each other, like they were testin' bravery or some shit. Buffy was startin' to get a little nervous as nobody spoke up.

"Not a whole lot of time, girls!" I held up my hand to show her the stake I had ready, and gave her a little smile. I could sense that she relaxed a little.

"I - I could t - try..." The shy girl mumbled. The vamp licked his lips, like he approved of that idea.

"You sure?" I asked, not lookin' at her since I was now focusin' entirely on the vamp.

"S - somebody has to..." She stepped up beside me, stake in hand, and put on her brave face. She looked up at me and I could tell she was scared, so I gave her a nod and a smile.

"Alright, go for it. I'll be here if ya need me." I stepped back a little and Buffy ran up to my side, lookin' frightened as the shy girl stood before the vamp.

"What are you doing?? She doesn't look like she's ready for this!" Buffy whispered. I shrugged, not takin' my eye off the action before me as the shy girl tossed a nervous punch.

"Well what am I supposed to do, tell her no? She needs the confidence boost."

"He could really hurt her!" Just as she said that the vamp kicked her square in the ribs, makin' her fly back a few feet on to the ground. He looked over at us to make sure we weren't gonna gang up on him (the dude's smart - well, he doesn't seem to realize how suspicious it is that we're standin' there not botherin' to help our friend, but at least he seems smart enough to keep an eye on us) and jumped out at her. "Faith!!"

"She's cool, let her get back on her feet."

"Faith!" Shit she's all pinned down now. If he makes a move for the neck i'll have to - Goddammit!!! I ran over and was just about to pull him off, but once my hand made contact with his shoulder he exploded into a poof of dust. I jumped back, surprised, and then shot Buffy a smug grin.

"Told ya she was cool." I brought a hand down to help the young girl get back up on her feet, and noticed she was shakin' like crazy, but still had a little smile on her face.

"That was amazing!" I patted her on the back in congratulations and gave her a little wink.

"See guys, it ain't too hard. Long as you got the stake in your hand you got the advantage. And like I showed some of ya before, even if you lose the stake you can easily take control of the situation." They all nodded, and I almost expected 'em to say 'yes Miss Faith' like we were in a real school or somethin'. It's weird bein' a teacher.

"Excellent job, Chelsea." Buffy smiled, bringin' the girl back to the group as they all congratulated her. Damn, I didn't know her name. Am I not payin' enough attention or somethin'? Ah well, I know it now. And it looks like she's the cool kid in the group now, so that's one problem solved. No more shy girl.

"So then, let's motorvate. I feel some more vamps up ahead, can't let 'em go free!" Everyone nodded at me, clearly gettin' all excited at the thought of stakin' somethin' themselves. Buffy walked up to me and sighed.

"I'm going to let this one go because things ended up for the good. Just... Be more cautious next time?" She pleaded, makin' me feel all guilty. Goddammit she's too good at this.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. I'm all over it." Wait... Did I even do somethin' wrong? I don't remember anymore, not after that sexy look she's givin' me. She's so got me trained like a little puppy dog. I looked over and noticed the girls were giggling at me. What the shit? Oh, this so will not end well for them. I opened my mouth to say somethin' - well, to yell somethin' - but before I could get a word out Buffy tugged my face down for a kiss. I was all confused for a second, but once she stuck her tongue out I was so into it. Before things could get too far she pulled back, makin' me growl at her.

"Be nice to them." She warned. What the fuck? Oh that's right, I was gonna yell at the mini slayers. How does she distract me so easy?? Oh... 'Cause she's so fucken hot. That's right.

"Sure thing, B." I winked and strutted off, tryin' to keep some amount of control over the situation, though I figure it's probably a lost cause. At least she let me do it, take the lead and all, choosin' to just follow behind with all the little slayers. I think she was watchin' my ass...

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EPILOGUE

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So now it's been a year since the move to Cleveland, and the whole Watchers council thing has been built up. It actually happened pretty fast, I dunno how they did it. So me and Buffy got a huge place right out near the headquarters (that's what they call it, I always thought it was kinda fucken weird, like a spy organization or whatever) and have had to show up every morning like a couple a teachers to hold training sessions with the girls. More and more have showed up every day, it's like a never ending thing. I tried to learn all the names, but the more that came the harder it got, so by now I've just given up. At least the girls started to catch on nice and fast. They're cool to patrol on their own, but Giles makes 'em go out in groups anyways, "just to be cautious".

And now that things are all five by five on this hellmouth, he's startin' to look into settin' up more council buildings around the world to control the other hellmouths out there. I didn't know there was so many, like if you pulled out a map and pointed to any random spot odds are there's a hellmouth there. What the hell's up with that? Like there ain't enough evil out there? Goddamn...

Willow joined up with some coven, after that big spell she cast for all the slayers she was buzzin' with energy or somethin'. It was only a few months before she and Kennedy just shipped out, I haven't heard much from them since. I think they're in Switzerland or somethin' now, in some place that doesn't have phones or some shit. They've just been sendin' letters.

I think Dawn has finally lightened up to me. We're not buds or anythin' but hey, at least she don't hate me or nothin'. She's more alright with the thought of me and Buffy bein' together, it doesn't piss her off as much. Guess that's because I've been on damn good behavior and all, I haven't fucked anythin' up since I threw the hissy fit once realizin' I love her. I'm totally pussy whipped by now, and my girl knows it.

"Faaiiiith...." Buffy called out in a sing song voice. I squeezed my eyes shut nice and tight and rolled over so my face was covered by the pillows. "Faith wake up, you promised you'd come with me to have breakfast with the gang before we start our training session..." I could hear the pout in her voice, and it started to wear me down.

"Don't wanna wake up..." I pleaded, pullin' the covers up over my head. She sighed and pulled them back down. I groaned and rolled over, finally forcin' my eyes open. "Goddammit... I knew that fuckin' promise would come back to bite me in the ass." I looked over at the clock and groaned again once I noticed the time. Five in the mornin'! She wants me up at five in the fuckengoddamn mornin'! "Fuck, B! Is there even anywhere open this early?" She just pouted again and I let out a sigh of defeat. "Sorry. Ya know I'm always cranky in the mornin'. Why do we gotta be up so early anyways?"

"Because Giles said there's another group of new girls that came in last night, so we have to start our session earlier than normal. We have to leave for breakfast soon or else we won't have any time." I sat up and stretched, tryin' to will my body awake though it was of no use.

"Ya know I'm blamin' you for keepin' me up all last night."

"Me??"

"Yeah! I was gonna go to bed early, but then ya just had to show off that new red lace lengerie set ya picked up the other day." She blushed and tossed some clothes at me.

"Fine. Just get dressed or we'll be late..."

"Nag, nag, nag..." I mumbled, and she tossed some kinda garment right at my face. I pulled it off and smirked at her. You're lucky you're so damn hot, Buffy.

"Ladies and gents, I have a special announcement to make!" Xander shouted once we were all done with breakfast. He stood up with his half empty glass of juice, and gestured over to his girlfriend Alice (She's one of the slayers that came to the council a few months back. He was like a lovesick little puppy, practically stalkin' her for awhile until he finally convinced her to go out with him, and I guess she's into dorks 'cause they've been inseperable ever since) and she stood beside him. "Well, we both do."

"What, ya guys finally gonna shack up?" Everyone turned to stare at me, not surprised that I'd say it but still pretty annoyed. Buffy just rolled her eyes and stuck her hand over my mouth to shut me up. I licked her hand and she pulled it back, surprised. I winked at her, and Xander cleared his throat.

"Sorry, Xan. Go ahead." She smiled, before turnin' to shoot me a warnin' stare. I shrugged.

"Eh... Well, now that the moment has passed." He grinned. Alice rolled her eyes and held her hand up, revealin' a nice big diamond on her ring finger.

"We're shacking up." I laughed and held my glass up to them.

"It's about time." Everyone got up and started to make with the hugs and congratulations, and the girls all fawned over the ring. Especially Buffy. Damn it Xander, now I gotta get her one! I walked up and shook his hand, givin' a little nod. "Congrats, man. But if Buffy gets on my ass about buyin' her a ring of her own, its your ass."

"Noted. And, eh, i'll be keeping a very close on my ass from now on."

"Faith, look how pretty it is!" Xander flinched and brought his hands down to his ass, like he was tryin' to protect it from me. I pointed a finger at him threateningly before turnin' to look at my girl.

"You like it?" I asked, bringin' an arm out to wrap around her shoulder.

"Not the color, but it's so big and shiny..." She pouted. Yep. I need to get her one now.

"Well if ya want one so bad, you can get one." Her eyes lit up, and I couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face. She's so cute when she's excited. "After we're done with the training we can stop by a jewelry store, pick a nice one out for ya." She wrapped me up in a bone crunching hug that I knew would take more than just a few minutes to heal up right. When she pulled back she picked up her own glass of juice and lifted it up, makin' everyone look at her.

"Everyone, there's something that I want to do." What the fuck? What's she doin'?

"Uh... B.... What are ya doin'...." She took a deep breath, reachin' down to pull somethin' out of her pocket before lookin' up at me.

"Faith..." She held up a little black box and got down on one knee as everybody gasped. I nearly fainted - yeah, fainted, she brings out the weirdest shit from me. "We've been together for over a year now, and this is something I've wanted to do almost since the very beginning. I guess I only just got the courage to do it now..." I noticed her hand was shakin' as she opened to box to reveal a big ass engagement ring. "Will you marry me?"

Dun dun dunnnn!!! HAHA I know, I'm the biggest asshole, huh?

Well I decided to end it this way for a reason - it's open (well, as open as can be with all that I dished out) so you can decide for yourself what you want to happen. Just go with it. ;)