Buffy's POV

After the disaster that was supposed to be my post-coital snuggles, Faith and I dress quickly. I grabbed the first thing in sight which happened to be a pair of pink pajamas and a cut-off UC Sunnydale hoody that I slide over my top. Hey! It gets drafty in here, so I keep it close. But this was so not how I was planning to spend my first time after with her. There was supposed to be snuggling. And kissing. And definitely more with the love making.

Plus, I can't help but think about the look on her face before we were interrupted. She looked scared and so vulnerable. I'm almost positive she was about to tell me that she loved me. The only thing that would've made the night more perfect is if she had. I want to bring it up but the moment seems ruined now and I want her to say it on her own accord, not because I'm reminding her that she was going to. Or maybe she wasn't and this is just me being hopeful and thinking that she was. I guess time will tell.

My eyes dart to her as I lean against my dresser with my arms folded and watch her sitting on the bed and sliding on her boots. My body is still buzzing and I know I probably look like a love sick fool right now. But I can't help the smile and the blush that creeps up over my neck, warming my face as I think about what we just did. It was amazing. Like nothing I've ever experienced. And that's really saying something. She was everything I imagined she would be. But the surprising thing was she was all those things at once. Soft. Gentle. Passionate. Rough. Commanding. Just thinking about it sets my body on fire. I want her again.

She catches my eye and she winks at me, causing me to smile even more. She gives me a smile of her own, one filled with pearly whites and adorable dimples and I can't help but melt a little. After she's done she sighs. Yeah I know, time to get down to business. She looks to me again with those dark, soulful eyes. "C'mere," she tells me and her husky voice is thick and full of want. I can't help the shiver that runs through my body at her request. But I don't hesitate. I push myself off the dresser and walk the short distance, stopping in front of her to stand between her legs.

She chuckles as she tugs at the string on my pajama bottom. "Is this the normal meeting wear around here now? Because ya know no one is going to take you seriously if you go into speech mode when you're wearing this, right?" She now has an adorable grin plastered on her face.

I swat at her hands for making fun of my attire and what I'm sure is a crack at my speech giving tendencies and she laughs. "Hey, it was the first thing I saw and much more convenient than having to search for all my clothes you so carelessly took off and tossed away earlier." Her mouth drops open and her eye brows raise as she feigns shock.

"Hey now, if I recall correctly, you were the one doing all the undressing," she says with a smirk and it makes me blush because she's right. But it's not like I had a choice! She kept asking if I was sure and I felt the only way to convey the sureness that was me was to be action girl and get us both naked as quick as possible. And even though I know I wasn't as confident and sure as I portrayed, being here with her now and feeling so at ease, I know it was all worth it. She was worth it.

"Nope. You're totally recalling it wrong," I tell her teasingly. She brings her arms up, pulling me closer and wraps her arms around me, laying her head against my belly.

"Mmmm," I hear her moan with a sigh. "Okay babe, if you say so." I drape an arm over her shoulders and I run my fingers through her thick, silky hair. She moans again, squeezing tighter and turns her head and nuzzles her nose against me.

I wrap my arms around her head and kiss the top of it. I let out a sigh of my own as I lay my head on top of hers. "We should probably get going. Whatever it is the gang needs, it seems like it's important, Xander said something about wolves."

"It fucking better be important. Barging in on us the way they did," she says against my stomach. I chuckle slightly at her. But she's right. This better be an apocalypsey end of the world type thing going on that would cause them to interrupt my perfect night. Damn. I probably just jinxed it and evil is plotting to end the world. Again. "But you're right," she says as she lifts her head, making me remove mine away from her and look down at her. "I guess we better get going." I lean down and kiss her. It was only meant to be a little chaste kiss. But she grabs the back of my head and all things chasteness are removed from my mind when she slides her tongue in my mouth.

My eyes close shut and I willingly give up my tongue to her while moaning into her mouth. She answers back with a moan of her own as her fingers knead my scalp. Kissing her is so addictive. I really can't get enough of it. My body automatically responds to the heat I feel radiating from her body and I move to straddle her, never breaking the kiss we're locked in. I press fully into her, feeling her hot body and the delicious tingles I only feel with her all over me. My arms are wrapped tightly around her neck and her hands are gripping my hips trying to bring my heat closer to hers. I just know my bruises are going to have bruises.

"Faith," I pant as I pull away from her. She only brings a hand to the back of my head pushing my mouth back against hers. Oh God. I kiss her deeply again and it feels like we're trying to devour each other. Her hand is gripping my hair, holding me in place and mine are roaming all over her neck and back. I can't get enough.

However, circumstances see that I do as I hear shuffling outside of the door and it snaps me out of the trance I'm in. I pull back again and she lets out a little cute whimpering sound. I smile and lean in placing a quick kiss on her lips. "Faith, baby." I release the embrace I have on her and bring my hands down to wrestle with hers that are tightly wrapped around me. "We really need to go."

She groans and lets her arms release the tight grip she has on me. "Right," she sighs heavily, "duty calls." I slowly slide off her lap and stand with her following. She looks around eyeing her jacket and duffle bag. She moves over to the items and slides her jacket on and slings her bag over her shoulder. My heart clenches as I'm bitch slapped back to the reality that she's leaving me soon. Looks like the night would've been ruined anyway.

Walking over to me, her eyes dart to my neck and she tugs my sweatshirt down a little. "That's starting to bruise pretty good," she says as she runs her fingers over the bite mark on my neck. It's now hers.

"It'll heal," I tell her and run my hand under hers and over it. And it will. But the implication of what it now means will always be there and I can't help the shiver that runs over me at knowing that I'm hers. It makes me want to do the same. My eyes dart to her neck to look at the healed ridged mark. The one that was made when she decided to sacrifice herself for the greater good. It matches my own. Or at least it did until she decided to turn mine all kindsa rainbowy colors.

This is all kinda funny really. She fought so hard against me sacrificing her to Angel to save his life and then she goes and gives herself up willingly to do so. With a lifelong reminder to boot. Okay, so maybe not ha ha funny. But funny in the sense that I tried to kill her for him and now all I can think of is sending him back to hell for marking my girl. I reach out and run my fingertips over it. I feel her shiver. I look up into her dark eyes and they tell me she knows exactly what I'm thinking right now.

She slides her hand up my arm and to my hand, removing it and leans in kissing me softly. "Later," she whispers as her lips brush across mine. I nod knowing what she means and knowing that we really don't have time for a round two. As we get ready to leave, she reaches out and adjusts my hoodie, covering the bruise. It's probably a good idea to hide it. The last thing I need is questions asked on the how's and why's. Imagine trying to explain getting ravished by a horny slayer. Not that everyone couldn't figure it out, seeing as we had our very own live audience.

Walking out, she surprises me again and reaches out and grabs my hand, intertwining our fingers. I glance down at our hands and I can't help but smile at her. Who knew Faith was the handholding type? She's definitely been full of surprises since she came back into my life. And they've all been nothing short of amazing. It feels like all of the badness we've gone through never happened. Or it did happen but now it doesn't matter because we're finally where we're supposed to be. Together.

I can't help the smirk that appears as I watch her watching me out of the corner of her eye as we descend the staircase and head towards the command center. "C'mon B, knock it off," she says feigning annoyance. "Don't go branding me whipped just yet." She tugs my arm a little, indicating our joined hands. "I just don't wanna get lost in this huge ass castle." A small smile is pulling at her lips which causes me to smile too, because the truth of the matter is that if every time with her is like it was the first time, then it's me who's in danger of being the one that is whipped. And I have a feeling that it will be. Oh this should be fun!

"Okay, no talk of whippage," I tell her as we come to a stop of front of the door to our destination and give her a kiss on the lips. "Not yet." I wink releasing her hand and enter the room. I chuckle at the grumbling I hear from her as she follows me inside. The room is bustling with activity as Faith and I walk in. It seems everyone has a story to tell. I look around to see that most of Alpha Team is here, along with Xander's control room crew.

"Buffy!" Xander exclaims as I walk further into the room. Everyone quiets down and looks towards me as I march over to the dais where Xander and Willow are standing. Willow gives me a weak smile and my eyes dart to the bloody rag in her hand. "You came!" Xander squeaks as he pushes himself away from the control panel and his eye goes wide and so do both of mine. "Oh! No. I mean here, with us. Not, you know." He gestures frantically with his hands. And yes. I do know. But that still didn't stop my mind from going where his just ventured to as well. Because yes, I certainly did. More than I ever imagined I could. I fight back the smile threatening to break out at the thought of what just took place between Faith and I less than an hour ago. "Not that I expected you not to with impending doom lingering, but…"

"Xander," I warn as I see his face flush as his eye darts over to Faith. I know where he's going and I know what he's thinking. This is Xander after all and I saw the way he looked at her when he walked in. Seeing her like that probably dredged up a few memories for him that I'm going to pretend never happened, because that was almost seven years ago. Certainly he can't still be holding on to that. But then again, she was his first and I can attest to those 'mad skills' she always bragged about. When this is done he and I are definitely going to have to talk about him keeping his eye on his own slayer.

"Right," he says as his eye shifts from Faith to me, and back to Faith again. "Faith." Xander clears his throat and gives a curt nod in her direction.

"X-man," she acknowledges with a smirk but doesn't say anything more.

"Ah," he says and motions to the bag she has lying on the floor. "Is this the part where you 'get gone'." He motions with his hands in those annoying air quotes.

"Xander!" Will and I both yell.

"What!" He looks over to us and shrugs and motions back to the bag. "There's a bag. And this is Faith! It's what she does, right?" Okay so maybe it's not exactly what I thought, maybe it's more a feeling of ill-will that has him so riled up at my girlfriend. I take a step towards him ready to chastise him about his rudeness and about how now is not the time for his pettiness but I'm stopped as I hear a chuckle from Faith.

"It's okay B," she says as she steps on the dais and saunters towards Xander, stopping inches from him and causing him to stumble backwards. She cocks her hip and leans on the control panel. "Xan's probably just pissed cause I got to nail ya first. Not that he has a chance anyway. I mean if it hasn't happened with you guys living in such close quarters after all this time, then it ain't hap'n cap'n. But trust me babe," she looks over to me with a little wry smile, "if it's ever crossed ya mind, that's definitely seven minutes ya don't want to be wasting." She then turns back to look at a red-faced Xander. "Or maybe it's cause he never got to be on top and was a little wounded that you were, B…whaddya think, Xan?" She reaches out and slaps him hard on the back. He stumbles forward a little from the force and adjusts his eye-patch as he splutters to find something to say.

"Faith!" I scold, snapping my head towards her. It was bad enough that we were caught with the sudden case of nudity, but the last thing I need right now is everyone gossiping about my relationship with her and certainly not about whether or not Xander is envious over it.

"What?" She feigns innocence with a shrug and slightly furrowed brows as she leans more against the panel. If I wasn't so annoyed at both her and Xander at the moment, I'd probably kiss her for the cuteness of it. But the fact remains that we need to get down to business. And we needed to do it fifteen minutes ago. Evil waits for no slayer. And this one needs to figure out just what the hell is going on. I'll deal with those two later.

Ignoring the uncomfortable silence that suddenly enveloped the room, I press forward. "Where's Dawn?" I ask, needing to know that my sister is okay. Even though she's the size of the empire state building and could probably crush us all under her big toe, I still worry.

"She's down by the lake. She's fine, a little confused about um…what she saw earlier, but she's okay," Willow informs me. Leave it to Dawnie to hone in on the fact that I was getting my girly loving on instead of a pack of wolves running around picking a fight. I wonder if they'll charge extra for therapy because of her size. I nod and give Will a small smile to say thanks for checking on her. Dawn and my relationship has been a bit strained for a while now, so I'm glad that she at least has Willow to confide in. But now that I know she's okay, it's time to find out what took place here tonight.

"Okay, can anyone tell me what happened?" I cross my arms over my chest and look around. Yes. I'm sporting my authoritative stand, which says I mean business. What I'm wearing does nothing to deter the seriousness of the stance! No one says anything right away. Funny that, when I walked in everyone seemed to have a story to tell now I have to hire a mind reader.

And as if things didn't seem out of control enough, further derailing me getting an answer to my question, in walks Andrew, wearing a long night shirt and night cap. "Oh hey all," he says drowsily with a little wave of his hand and stumbles further into the room.

"Andy, are you alright?" Will asks as she stands a little shakily. That blow to the head must've really did a number on her.

"Oh I'm okay," he says with a dismissive wave. "It's the Dramamine that's making me wobbly. It has me seeing things too; I thought I saw wolves in the hallway earlier. I'll just take a lower dose next time, or just take a first class flight." He smiles faintly at Willow before his gaze falls on me. "Oh hey Buffy," he smiles at me as he wobbles forward slightly. "Looks like we're the only ones that got the memo for the sleepover," he says as he points to his hat. "I have to say though girlfriend, the Kelly Kapowski look went out with the 90's."

I hear Faith chuckle. "Told ya," she says under her breath. I roll my eyes and briefly look down at my cut off hoodie. Why is he here anyway?

"Andrew, the castle was just attacked," I inform him. "You said something about wolves in the hallway?" I quickly try to get things back to what we're really here for.

"Oh well yes, I thought I saw one running amuck and coming straight for me, so to be on the safe side I hide in the closet until I thought it was safe or until I stopped swooning, whichever came first."

"Ooh!" Xander perks up. "Did you see Buffy in there, because apparently she just came out as well." Okay. Xander is one more crack away from standing in a soup line somewhere, because I've had just about enough of him and this whole spectacle. What the hell am I running here, an army or a summer camp? I notice Faith pushing herself off of the control panel, about to step into Xander's personal space again. Obviously she's had enough as well. Before I can say anything Andrew pipes in again.

"Oh, Faith," Andrew says, apparently just noticing her. "Didn't see you standing there."

"Andrew." Faith backs off and gives a curt nod to him but still she's glaring at Xander.

"It's so good to see you here...amongst friends," he starts, "because that means you didn't have anything to do with this attack and gone all evil again." Faith's glare is now turned on Andrew. "I mean, you haven't, right?"

I sigh heavily and run a hand over my face. "Okay, is there anyone in here who has something productive to say about what the hell happened here tonight?" I see Xander raise his hand. "And I do mean the attack on the castle." He puts it down and leans against the control panel.

"Ma'am?" It's Satsu that finally speaks up. "We were doing a perimeter check when the attack happened. They used bees as sort of a smoke screen and then they came in from the west end, down by the moors…"

"That's where Xander and I first observed them a few days ago," Renee adds in as she walks over and stands next to Xander who just nods in confirmation and smiles a little at her. He turns his attention back to the control panel and starts punching in a few keys while keeping a wary eye on Faith.

"They seemed to know exactly where they were going and what they were looking for," Satsu continues as some of the others sitting around her nod their heads in agreement. "There was a pack of them and they used what I now know was a diversion tactic. While most of them stayed on ground to engage in combat, a few headed straight towards the castle and the others headed straight for the armory." She drops her head dejectedly and I know I'm not going to like what she says next. "They took the scythe."

My face registers shock. "The scythe scythe?" Satsu nods. "My scythe?" Again with the nodding. Great. They took my favorite slaying accessory. This really pisses me off. I'm all for share and share alike but they could've at least asked! The answer would've definitely been a negative. But still.

"After they took it, they just stopped fighting and left," Satsu finishes.

I sigh heavily and squeeze my eyes shut while rubbing my temples. Faith steps in front of me and places a hand on my arm causing me to open my eyes. Her face is laced with concerned and her brown eyes are compassionate. "You okay?" she asks softly and I nod giving her what I hope is a reassuring smile. She seems to accept that and goes back to take up her position against the control panel.

"Do we know how they got in; I thought we had the barrier in place?" I look to Willow because she has a protective barrier around the property; it was put in place after Amy got in.

"It was Amy again," Willow says. And speak of the devil. "She attacked me from behind. Her magic signature is different somehow so I wasn't able to detect her until it was too late."

"Yeah but how was she able to?" It's Faith that asks the question that's pulling at my brain. "G always dotes on ya Red, about how powerful you've become." I can see Willow blush slightly at the unexpected words of praise. "How is it that she bested one of the best?" Faith asks.

"I…I'm not sure." Willow's expression turns sorrowful now, she's probably thinking that she's let us all down.

"No one's blaming ya Red." Faith must've noticed the changed in her demeanor as well.

"I know, it's just that she felt different somehow." Will frowns slightly going into think mode. "Like she's juiced up or something."

"Like on bad magic?" Xander asks. I think we all need to know whether or not we need to be prepared if we have another black haired, veiny witch on our hands.

"Oh boy, this certainly seems like I picked the wrong time to show up. The last time I was around a witch with a bad case of magic, I was almost flame-broiled alive."

We all give Andrew a scolding look. Really? Why the hell is he here!

"Buff, here's some surveillance from the attack." Xander interrupts the forthcoming assault on Andrew and I walk over and stand in front of the monitor. Some of the others also move forward to take a glimpse at the footage. But it's Faith I'm most aware of as I feel her move in behind me and place a hand on my hip. It seems she doesn't care about whether people know about us and seeing as most of my family knows about it, neither do I. If she wants to get all clingy then I'm definitely not going to protest. It'll make my clinginess look inconspicuous. I lean back against her as I watch the monitor intently.

The footage is of some of the slayers fighting against the wolves. Even though they're big and bulky, they're fast and my girls are having a hard time keeping up with them. Xander switches to another view and it's more of the same, slayers fighting against wolves but as the fight continues you can see Amy flying off with my scythe in hand. And as Satsu stated, as soon as it's well secured and stolen, the wolves stop their attack. They slowly back away while viciously snarling and then scamper off.

"Yo, rewind that," Faith instructs and I can't help but wonder what it is that has caught her eye. Xander presses a button and the attack begins to replay in reverse. "Stop," Faith tells him as she walks towards the monitor and I immediately miss her hand on me and the warmth of her body. Now is so not the time for this. "Here." She points at something on the screen and Xander zooms in on it. "Play," she instructs Xander again. As the footage begins to roll again, in the background you can see a lone wolf off by himself. He isn't engaging in combat, it seems as if he's overlooking the whole attack and once Amy has the scythe and is flying off with it, the wolf lets out a howl, halting the others in their attack and tears out of there.

"The Alpha," Faith says as she turns back to the group. "I guess the scythe is what they came for."

"Yeah, which means they must know about the spell," I say as I continue to stare at the monitor, watching the aftermath of the attack.

"So now what?" Xander asks the inevitable.

I'm brought out of my trance and my eyes instantly find Faith's. Her gaze is so intense that I have to hurriedly look away so I don't get lost in it. "Well..." I clear my throat. "Faith and I were talking earlier." I get a few disbelieving looks at this. I guess from the state we were found in, us actually talking does seem farfetched. "They've had a lot of vamp activity in Cleveland, which generally wouldn't be a big deal seeing as it's on a Hellmouth, but they've been nesting and feeding more openly, so I think right now we need to get on the horn to see if any of our other squads have been under attack. I like to think that no news is good news, but with the type of magic Amy is using it's possible they've been disabled somehow." I see everyone nodding in agreement. "Xander?"

"We're on it Buff," he tells me and I see Renee pressing a few buttons on the panel and then activating her Bluetooth with Xander soon following her actions.

I look to Faith about to ask her to see if she could find out what the sitch is with Cleveland, and as if on cue I see her fumbling with something in her jacket; she pulls out her cellphone and looks at the screen. "It's G," she tells me as she lifts her head in my direction. I nod and watch as she heads out to talk with my former mentor. I can't help but watch as she leaves. The tight leather pants show off her perfectly toned ass and I can't wait until I'm able to grasp it both hand while she's…

"I'll be in the magic room," Will says as she stands, effectively breaking my train of thought. She gives me a sheepish smile as if she knows what I'm thinking. In fact, she probably does. I'll just add the whole no reading my mind to the growing list of don'ts that are quickly adding up where Faith is concerned. "I'm going to try to get a bead on what kind of magic Amy is using and contact the coven about getting a stronger barrier in place."

"Okay good, are you going to be okay?" I ask, indicating the wound on the back of her head.

"Oh, I'm fine Buffy…healing spell," she says with a smile while pointing to the back of her head and she heads out.

"Satsu?" I turn to look at her and the rest of the girls in the room.

"Ma'am?" She straightens and waits for her orders.

"I need for you and all the girls that engaged any of the werewolves to go to the infirmary and have a thorough physical."

"But ma'am we're all fine, no one was seriously injured" she says as she turns to look at the girls and they all look to each other and nod.

"That wasn't a request." I make sure to make eye contact with all of them. "You may not have been seriously injured but a bite, even the tiniest one, from a werewolf can lead to all kindsa of trouble and the last thing I need to worry about is buying the cute little t-shirts and studded collars for my new pets on a full moon." They all nod and file out of the room.

I turn around getting ready to go find Faith only to come face to face with Andrew. "Hey Buffy." He gives me a little wave. "I'm still here, what do you need me to do?"

I look at him thoughtfully. "Well, you can start off by telling me why you're here."

"Oh just doing a little jet-setting via your resident Wicca, thought I'd come and take a tour of casa de Slayer of Vampyres."

I shake my head slightly at him. "Well while you're racking up on the frequent flier miles, your team could be under attack. So I suggest you make with the contacting to see if everything is as it should be."

"Done," he says.

"What?"

"Done." He pulls a device from his nightshirt pocket and waves it at me. "Smartphone," he tells me as if I'm supposed to know what that means. I'm all with the kicking ass and taking names, tech is so not my forte. "I've already made contact with my lieutenant, all is well. Plus, we all have nifty little panic buttons installed so if anyone is in distress, one press of the button.." He points to a button on his phone that is a different color from the rest of the keys. "..and everyone is alerted and the coordinates of the distressed are immediately sent to our GPS." He smiles broadly and then yawns.

"Well okay," I say, rather impressed with Andrew's ingenuity and quick thinking even under the influence. "I guess you need to go sleep off those meds then." Since he seems to have his end covered he gets a break. Plus, annoying as he is, he's proven to be a good leader and I need his head clear for any forthcoming trouble. He nods dutifully before turning to walk away. "Oh and Andrew," I call after him.

"Yes fair one?" He turns back to me.

"Get with Xander at some point about getting all squads set up with those smarty-pants phones," I tell him and he beams and salutes then turns and leaves. I wonder if I can get one in pink.

Now off to find my newly minted girlfriend. As I walk past the dais Xander gives me an enthusiastic thumbs up. I guess that means so far so good with communications from the other squads. Entering the hallway I look around disappointedly, finding Faith nowhere. I know she hasn't left already; her bag is still in the command center. Plus, there's the fact that I would have to hunt her down and kick her ass for pulling a 'get some, get gone' with me.

I head in a direction, ready to search for her and stop abruptly and turn and walk the other way. It's the slayer connection we have that's pulling me toward her. Handy little tool it is. I round a corner to find her leaning against the wall with her head leaning back against it. As I approach her I see that her eyes are closed and her mouth is drawn in a tight line. Guess the phone call didn't go so well.

"Hey," I say softly as I reach out and brush my hand over her arm and then slide it down and grab her hand. She squeezes mine a little and turns her head to look at me. The way she looks at me never ceases to make my heart flutter a little and take my breath away. It's always so intense and full of desire. If I was more aware all those years ago, I'd have known that it's the way she's always looked at me.

"Guess we can send out that memo now," she says and I look at her in confusion. She chuckles but the humor doesn't make it to her eyes. "The evil around the world unites one," she clarifies.

"Did something happen?" I ask as I stand in front of her and she straightens from her leaning position on the wall.

"The school was attacked," she says minimally. Shock registers on my face. I'm almost afraid to ask what exactly happened because even though the few girls at the school are slayers, they're still mostly untrained. I know Giles and Robin can hold their own, but the only seasoned fighting slayer there is Kennedy. "Ken got banged up pretty bad; G has one of the Wiccans from our group working on her as we speak, said she should pull through." Even though I never really liked Kennedy, I don't want to see her hurt. She's a good fighter and an asset to the slayer population, so I don't want to see her down and out, or dead. I know Willow is probably going to freak right the hell out when I tell her this. Especially the part about having another Wicca putting the mojo on her girl.

"None of the juniors were hurt though, Wood managed to get them underground before any real damage could be done." Even though her voice is even and her emotions are in check, her eyes are always so expressive and I can see the turmoil raging behind them as she speaks. It's a fight she wishes she could've been present for.

"Werewolves?" I ask and she scoffs.

"Werewolves and vamps." My eyes bug a little at this. "Yeah, I know," she says, obviously reading my expression. Werewolves and vampires are mortal enemies; it's simply unheard of that they would be working together. It's almost like a Slayer siding with a vampire. Which from experience, I guess means that it's highly likely. But it doesn't mean it's supposed to be! Hey, I can admit when I'm wrong. Even if only to myself.

"This can't be a coincidence," I muse out loud. "And wolves working with vamps? That doesn't make any sense. Does Giles know why they were there? I mean we know what they were looking for here, they came, they saw, they stole. But what could they possibly have been looking for in Cleveland?"

"Don't know B, wasn't there, was here with you," she says in an almost icy tone. It rocks me a little as my eyes shift downward and I release her hand wondering if she regrets being here.

"Look, I'm sorry okay?" she says as she runs a hand roughly through her hair. "But I can't help but think that all of this is my fault." My head snaps up at her statement.

"Faith." I place my hands on both sides of her head and force her to look at me. "Baby this is not your fault okay?" She roughly pushes my hands away from her. Her eyes are fiery and her fists are clenched as she starts to pace.

"Yeah B, it is. If I hadn't shown up, you wouldn't have been distracted and could've stopped them from taking the scythe and I would've been back at home and maybe…"

"Maybe you would've been the one being magically healed right now," I interrupt. "Or worse…dead," I say but it's really not something I want to think about. Even though up until a few weeks ago she's only ever drifted in and out of my life with trying to kill me occasionally, I always knew she was there. I always felt her out there somewhere in the world. Alive. It now makes me wonder what it is she felt when I died. It's something I'll have to remember to ask another time.

Right now though, there's something else I need to know. "Do you regret being with me tonight?" My voice is shaky as I struggle to hold back the tears that are threatening to spill over. I need to know if she somehow thinks what we shared tonight was a mistake. I don't think I can let her leave not knowing. She stops dead in her tracks and looks at me, her expression softening a bit as she steps in front of me and places her hands on the sides of my neck.

"Buffy, I'd skip out on a thousand apocalypses just to spend the night I've had with you," she says stepping even closer bringing our bodies together. I instantly wrap my arms around her waist and lay my head against her shoulder as she wraps hers around my shoulders and buries her head in the side of my neck. We stand like this for several minutes, basking in the warmth and comfort of each other. She finally sighs deeply and her warm breath washes over me and I snuggle closer to her.

"Even if you hadn't shown up here, there's no guarantee that I could've stopped them from taking the scythe. Even Will couldn't handle whatever magic Amy was using and she's the strongest of us all, I probably wouldn't have stood a chance either," I reassure her with my head still lying against her.

"Yeah but I bet you wish you could've jumped right in the fray nonetheless, win or lose."

I lift my head and plant a series of kisses along her collarbone and then up her neck. I feel a shudder run through her. "We're slayers, we'll always want to be in the thick of it. Fighting's what we do best. But I got exactly what I wished for here tonight, and that's you," I tell her letting her know that I have no regrets either about her being here.

I feel her nod a little before she kisses the side of my neck and pulls back to look at me. "G said once the coven gets the school secured and he's sure that all the girls have calmed down, he'll be headed this way. He's estimating to be here in less than 24 hours, give or take." I nod. "So I guess at this point we let the bookworms do all the leg work to find out just what the hell is going on, right?"

"Right," I tell her with a small smile. It's funny how she can go from extreme to calm before I can bat my eyes. But I guess it's better than her going from calm to extreme, I've seen what it's like and ten times out of ten, it doesn't end well. But I love her nonetheless. In all her wild, unpredictable, explosive ways I still love her. And I know that I always will.

She pulls out of my embrace completely and I pout at the loss of contact. She smiles genuinely and leans in and kisses me before she grabs my hand and leads us back in the direction of the command center. "I'll be teleported out of here any minute now, can't have you pulled along with me. Not that I mind, I'm sure I'd enjoy your company much more than Wood's." What? She's still leaving? And Robin is going with her.

"Wait…you're still going?" I look at her confused and stop our movement. We've just been attacked and she's still planning on leaving. I don't even know where the hell she's going!

"Well yeah B, I still have a job to do. Plus, we don't even know what we're up against…or if we're up against anything at all. For all we know, we're dealing with an evil fuck that just wants to add to his weapons collection." I look at her disbelievingly. Okay, now I know even she doesn't believe that all this was just some evil schmuck looking to expand his weaponry with my scythe. "Look, I'll be back before you know it."

"How long?" I ask needing to know how long I have to be without her this time and feeling disappointed that I have to be without her at all. See, already totally whipped.

She shrugs slightly and then walks us the last few steps towards the door. "Don't know, it really all depends on the kid. Could be anywhere between a week to a few months," she says all nonchalantly. Okay we seriously need to talk about a change in job choices for her. "The kid's sister wrote a letter actually laying out how decent the school is…good thing it was before all this shit went down tonight, but hopefully that'll help with reining her in. Then again there's the point of finding her and actually getting her to listen to what I have to say."

"Okay, fine I get that you have a job to do, but you've done these type missions before right? Is it really necessary that Robin go with you?" She turns back and looks at me with an amused expression.

"Well, from what the kid back in Cleveland tells me, her sister has probably fled to Columbia to a group of guerillas they're associated with. Ken was originally supposed to go with me," she says sadly. "But with the circumstances as they are, Wood is taking her place. Besides, if something big is actually going down, it'd be better if I had someone watching my back." She does have a point. But does it have to be an ex-lover doing the watching of such a nice backside? "C'mon B, you're not jealous are you?" She tilts her head to the side and a teasing smirk crosses her lips. Oh yes, very much so.

"Not at all," I lie easily, but she only chuckles and enters the room with me following behind her.

"Buffy." It's Xander. "We've made contact with all squad leaders worldwide, they've all been attack-less, so that's…"

"Not now Xander." I hold up a hand to him halting his progress report. I'll get to that in a minute. Right now I need to be focusing my attention on my departing girlfriend.

"Uh, okay then," I hear Xander mumble.

I watch as she walks over and grabs her bag and walks back towards me. I don't like this. She's not even gone yet and I miss her already. I wish there was some way I could convince her to stay, but unfortunately we have three other eyes in the room and what I have in mind would be highly inappropriate no matter how much they saw earlier. "You're coming back to me right?" I ask wanting reassurance that what happened wasn't just a one-time deal.

"Only if you want me too," she says a little unsure of the situation too.

I step into her personal space and wrap my arms tightly around her neck. "Of course I do," I tell her and pull back.

"So you really wanna do this huh? The whole me and you thing," she clarifies, but I already know what she meant. "I've got a lot of issues B and what you see isn't half of what you get with me. So if you need to think about this while I'm gone, I understand." She looks so vulnerable and open as she looks into my eyes searching for anything that'll tell her that I don't want this.

It's pointless; she won't find anything of the sort. I want her more than I've wanted anything in my life. I already know she has a lot of issues that she still needs to work out. Believe me I have my own. So I'd be deluding myself to think that she and I being together will magically make them disappear for either of us. I can only hope we can work them out together.

"I've had years to think about this Faith, and believe me when I say I really want too," I assure her. "Because this…" I motion between her and I, "it's true love."

She grins widely at this and leans in and places a lingering kiss on my lips and I wrap my arms around her. She pulls back slightly to look into my eyes. "Well then, if you're sure, wild hellhounds couldn't keep me away." I pull her back to me so I can kiss her again.

I know Xander is gawking, it's what he does best, but right now I can't bring myself to care who's watching us as I slide my tongue past her lips and she acceptingly grants its entrance into her mouth. This could be the last time I kiss her for weeks, so I want to make it good and lasting. Even when air becomes an issue I only pull back slightly before diving right back in to claim her lips again.

It's not until I feel the familiar tug of magic pulling at her that I reluctantly pull back with one last peck on her lips. The pull is stronger now and I feel the hair on the back of my neck and arm rise. Not able to resist, I step closer to her and plant one last kiss on her lips. "I love you," I tell her letting my lips brush softly across hers before I step back. She grins widely at me, those gorgeous dimples on full display. It's the last image I see of her before she dematerializes in front of me.

Even though I knew it was about to happen, I still wasn't prepared for her actually leaving. My heart drops and a few tears stream down my cheeks. The only comfort I have now is the intimate night we shared and her promise to return to me. And I can only hope that she'll be okay and actually keep her promise. I wipe away the tears from my face and take a much needed deep breath to compose myself before I turn around. Head slayer front and center!

"Xander," I say with an even, authoritative tone. I see Renee shaking her head as he fumbles around and snatches up a clipboard and holds it down in front. He really needs to get laid.

"Yeah Buff?" he squeaks out.

"I need all squad leaders assembled here in Scotland as quickly as you can get them here, Giles will also be here soon."

"Giles?" He asks in a boyish, enthusiastic tone. We haven't had much contact with Giles since before the whole Gigi incident, so yeah we all miss him.

"Yes Giles, Xander. The school in Cleveland was attacked as well so we need to put our heads together on this to find out what they know, how they know it and what they plan on doing with what they know."

"Oh goody, it'll be like an extended Scooby meeting!" he says excitedly and I can't help but get a little excited as well at us all getting together again like old times. Granted the situation sucks, but what would a Scooby meeting be without impending doom and drama lurking about. I only wish that Faith was here to join in.

"Oh and Xander?" I call out just as I reach the door.

"Jelly-filled, I know…I'm on it!" he says and I smile at him as I make my exit.

As I walk down the hallway, I make a list of things I need to do now. First, I really need to go shower and change. Then, I need to go find Dawn and tell her what's going on and see for myself that she's okay. This means I need to prepare for the inevitable conversation about Faith and I. Next, there's informing Willow about what's going on with Kennedy.

I know she'll insist on going to her once she finds out, after all, if it were Faith I know I would too. And then I need to go to the infirmary to check on the progress of the physicals and make sure all of the girls are still slayers and not of the canine variety. I need everyone ready and in tip-top shape for whatever it is we're going to be up against.

We all need to be ready for the fight I know is coming.

THE END!