Author's Notes: So this isn't the next instalment of Not My Generation, I know. Don't think I've abandoned that story because I haven't; I've just had a bit of writer's block. In the meantime this AU concept has been rattling around in my head and hopefully it will be able to stand by itself just as NMG has. Always appreciate feedback, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Apart from the monsters I invent. They're all mine.

A.U (Alternate Universe) Set after season 3 where Faith killed Finch but never turned evil and aided Buffy in the fight against the Mayor.

Cemetery Blues

"So...you ready?" Faith asked, her words echoing loudly as she fixed her companion with a hard, challenging stare.

"Oh, I was born ready." Buffy bit back as she matched her opponent's gaze with equal intensity, ignoring the perspiration accumulating on her forehead. Faith's eyes flickered down momentarily then narrowed menacingly across to Buffy.

"Do you..." she paused dramatically, "...have any fours?"

"Go fish." Buffy declared with a big, smug smile on her face as she watched Faith stubbornly pick a card from the deck. She tugged casually at the hem of her strappy top in hopes of warding off some of the stifling heat.

"Do you have any Js?" Buffy inquired enthusiastically. The incredulous look engraved on her friend's features told Buffy she had said something incredibly stupid.

"...jokers?" She guessed with a hopeful but uncertain smile. Faith growled in frustration, throwing her cards into the air. "Hey! This was your idea you know. I wanted to play Texas hold 'em." Buffy complained lamely as she idly shuffled her cards.

"You can't play poker, B. You flipped out and accused me of cheating." Faith breathed exasperatedly as she banged her head against the tombstone behind her.

"I didn't flip." Buffy huffed petulantly. "I just don't get how an ace can be the highest and lowest card at the same time!"

"And like I said last week, I didn't make the rules."

Buffy let out a tremendous sigh and directed the flow of air upwards in an attempt her to stave off the heat that caused her bangs to cling to her skin like threads of glue.

"This is ridiculous." Buffy whined as her hair proceeded to fall back against her face. "This place is dead. No pun intended." She added at Faith's amused smirk.

"It's been a quiet couple of weeks I'll give you that." Faith added in a low voice as she stared up at the cloudless, starry heavens.

"That would explain why we have the time to...well, do anything we like." Buffy realised as she gestured with the pack of playing cards. "I guess we wore out the neighbourhood." She sounded almost dejected by the lack of attention from the denizens of hell.

"And yet here I sit on-" Faith turned to view her chosen headstone, "-Mary Evans, spending it in a graveyard." She quipped drolly, fanning her face with a hand of cards. Her declining love affair with leather had been catalysed by the incredible heat wave that had settled over Sunnydale for the better part of a month. Wearing the least constrictive clothing possible had replaced Faith's daily ritual of looking promiscuous. To Buffy, it felt almost perverse to see Faith sitting before her in a thin-strapped, summer top and frilly, patterned skirt that ended just below her knees. Even the boots were gone—replaced by sandals—it wasn't like they'd needed to do any vigorous kicking lately. Buffy realised her glazed expression gave the impression she was gawking at her brunette counterpart and she tore her eyes away quickly; coughing in embarrassment. Faith was fortunately stargazing again and hadn't noticed the peculiar behaviour.

"I'm sweaty. And so are the cards." Buffy announced with slight disgust. "Since it's another bumpless night I say we call it quits."

Despite the dissatisfaction of the eventless evening, Faith nodded in agreement and rose from the dry bed of grass and leaves.

"Maybe we should go on strike." Faith mused as she stretched with a yawn. "Ya know, like, form a union or somethin'. Demand at least one supernatural confrontation a fortnight."

"What exactly would that achieve?" Buffy pointed out as she put the deck of playing cards away in her bag, along with a stake that hadn't seen the inside of a vampire's chest cavity in far too long.

"Big fat nothin'." Faith shrugged honestly as she took tentative steps with legs that hadn't seen any form of exercise in the last four hours. "But at least I could spend my evenings with an electric fan and an ice bath."

Buffy's brow crinkled in bemusement at the image conjured by Faith's words before following her fellow slayer. They travelled in silence between endless rows of the granite and marble stone; Faith hopping over the odd headstone that got in interrupted her path.

"Least you won't have anything to distract you from the wild, sorority parties you'll know doubt be inviting me too." Faith beamed widely with a tenacious glint in her eye. Buffy rolled her eyes at the teasing brunette.

"Rrrright. Because when you think of a college education you think free alcohol."

"Don't forget gettin' free and loose with a couple of frat boys." Faith wriggled her eyebrows and grinned; unabashed by her implications.

After knowing Faith and her mannerisms for almost a year, it amazed Buffy just how easily the younger slayer could make her blush. Luckily the lack of light and the flush across her cheeks caused by the insane temperature masked Buffy's embarrassment.

"You nervous?" Faith asked sincerely.

"A little I guess." Buffy shrugged noncommittally as she avoided looking at Faith. "Here's the thing. Vampires, demons and the end of the world—I breeze. Books, a social life and the crushing inferiority complex that comes with learning—I start to hyperventilate."

"Ah, you'll be fine, B." Faith elbowed the blonde jovially. "Beats workin' a dead end job that's for sure. A degree in—anything—starts to look good after a few weeks."

"No one forced you to get a job, Faith." Buffy laughed warmly.

"Yeah I know. Just didn't seem right moochin' off your mom like that." Faith shrugged dismissively, suddenly appearing very shy as she occupied her hands by playing with her stake.

"You do realise your rent ends up coming to me in a roundabout way, right? You might as well just pay me upfront." Buffy stated cheekily, feigning a look of innocence.

"I'm not gonna even tell you what image that conjured for me." Faith snickered with a shrewd glance in Buffy's direction. "Besides," She added, "If I make enough money I could get my own place. Then you wouldn't have to break the bathroom door off its hinges every time I beat you to the shower." Faith narrowed hey eyes accusingly at the other slayer.

"That only happened—like—one time!" Buffy defended indignantly.

"Well, either way, it'd be nice to have my own home sweet home—one that doesn't smell like a gas station bathroom or prostitutes." Faith mused darkly, referring to her unhappy history with cheap motels.

Buffy chewed her lip, hesitant to speak her mind before she caved and added, "Faith, about that. You know you're welcome to—"

"Oh wow!" Faith erupted suddenly as a rare and unexpected rush of cool air flowed past the two girls. "Did you feel that?"

"Uh huh. The wind." Buffy nodded, unimpressed and irritated at being cut off mid-sentence. "Sometimes it even changes direction, but I hear that causes facial paralysis."

"Oh god, this is heaven." Faith ignored Buffy as she basked in the blast of cold air, arms wide open as if she were trying to embrace it like a loved one.

"Jeez, man up, East Coast!" Buffy snorted as she shoved Faith playfully in the side. Caught off balance in her moment of ecstasy, Faith plummeted sideways to the ground.

"Uncool, B." Faith sulked as she sprung back up on her feet and brushed herself off. "You know one of these days you'll have to pick on someone your own size and when that happens—"

Buffy, who had been in the process of forming a clever retort, watched as Faith's face froze as a series of expressions contorted it. At first her brow knitted together in a look of extreme apprehension. This was followed instantaneously by one of growing fear as her eyes widened noticeably, before narrowing in bewilderment. Buffy watched as Faith slowly mouthed the words, 'what the fuck'.

"What?" Buffy asked alarmed by the stiff, alert posture of her friend that had struck without warning, "Faith, what is it?"

"I thought I saw—" Faith cut off abruptly as she took a sudden step forward as if trying to get a closer look at something; her eyes squinting through the dark.

"Faith, stop it you're freaking me out!" Buffy whispered frantically, unaware she was even doing so. She strained her eyes to try and catch a glimpse of whatever it was that had Faith's attention. Eventually Faith's body returned to a comfortable stance and she exhaled slowly. Her eyes were still fixated on a spot some distance away.

"I thought I saw something." She said after gulping dryly. Her voice betrayed her forced calm—she was clearly afraid. "Near that crypt." Faith pointed to an area where, after a moment of adjusting her eyes, Buffy saw the bowing branches of a Weeping Willow resting beside an unremarkable crypt and several headstones, one topped with a praying angel that towered over the others.

"Well let's go check it out then!" Buffy said with a hint of excitement. However, as she began to move towards the crypt she was stopped by Faith's sudden grip on her shoulder.

"Wait!" Faith cried out in a manner that, if Buffy didn't know any better, revealed a sense of genuine fear. The slayer shot her companion a weird look.

"Are you...scared?" Buffy tested, careful not to sound too accusing.

"No!" Faith snapped so quickly that her body language shifted from one portraying all the signs of unease and fright, to one of indignation at an attack on her pride. Before Buffy could react her flustered friend was striding purposefully across the grounds to the origin of her unknown sighting. Buffy caught up at a jogging pace and joined Faith in searching the immediate area.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Buffy asked curiously after examining the inside of the mausoleum and finding nothing but cobwebs and the remains of its owner. When Faith didn't reply she realised the younger girl was off in her own little world. Buffy whistled and Faith's head shot up.

"Uh, I don't know. I didn't get a great look at it. It was quick. There...and then I blinked..." She continued to stare at a spot beside an anonymous tombstone. "It was on the short side if that helps. No taller than one of these." She gestured toward the gravestones.

"So we're hunting for Creepy the dwarf." Buffy paused in frowning thought. "Saying that out loud was a lot less funny than I thought it would be."

A loud rustling caused both girls to spin around in a defensive pose. Something was moving noisily through the branches of the neighbouring tree. Buffy exchanged a wordless command to Faith and she nodded back. The elder slayer edged closer to the trunk of the tree; it's low hanging foliage brushing against her head and shoulders. Looking up into the dark mass of branches Buffy dared anything to pounce down on her at that moment.

She took a deep breath, prepared herself, and then lashed out with a powerful kick that shook the tree violently, sending leaves and twigs cascading down to earth as a loud, shrieking cry signalled the departure of the tree's inhabitant. Faith watched it land heavily upon the head of the stone angel, cawing angrily down at both of them. Buffy's giggle broke the silence.

"Pretty sure ravens aren't listed in the 'tide of evil' part of our contract." Buffy joked despite the unreadable expression etched on Faith.

Faith hadn't seen a raven. She was positive she hadn't seen a raven. What she'd witnessed had barely reflected the meagre moonlight that highlighted every other surface across the vast graveyard. It had stood out like an inky blotch on iridescent, white paper. A shadow darker than every other in close vicinity. But the more she regarded the crow as it pruned its feathers haughtily atop the carved angel's head, the more Faith doubted herself. It was possible her mind was now inventing enemies where there were none to appease her slayer instincts. Relenting to fatigue, frustration and dehydration, Faith turned to her disappointed friend with a thin smile.

"Guess my eyes are playin' tricks on me..." Faith concluded. "Sorry if I got you all riled up there, Buff."

"It's fine." Buffy's long, wistful sigh said otherwise. "This way I miss out on unfun mortal wounds and scrapes. It's wrong that I'm nostalgic, isn't it?"

Faith was still drawn to the same anonymous tombstone where she thought she'd seen something wholly unfriendly. She eventually turned to her fellow slayer and shrugged.

"I can't exactly be Judge Judy. Apparently I miss killing things so much I'm seein' mirages, so I guess we're both pretty F-ed in the head." She confessed awkwardly as they headed back on their previous course.

"I don't think they work at night." Buffy pointed out unhelpfully. Faith's hard, impatient look demonstrated how easily she could be agitated in the current weather. "Fineeee." Buffy sighed, "Point taken. We're both jonesing for a dose of demon abuse." She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully and wondered aloud, "Maybe we could fight regular criminals." Her eyes lit up as this new strategy dawned on her.

"Nice idea 'cept for the part where the police already do that and get paid." Faith said as she twirled her stake restlessly in one hand. Buffy opened her mouth to speak then frowned.

"It worries me when even you spot things I don't notice." Buffy admitted with seemingly genuine concern. She narrowly avoided the fist aimed at her and was assaulted by a crude hand gesture instead.

As the pair found the familiar gravel path that led to the cemetery's wrought iron gate, where looming gargoyles perched menacingly on each pillar, an unknown force caused them to shudder internally and unexpectedly. They both felt something that neither had experienced for an entire week—an overpowering, unequivocal sensation that spread from the pit of their gut through to every extremity—causing a tightness of the chest and a raising of hair on the back of the neck that created the instinctive impulse to look over one's shoulder.

Buffy and Faith turned simultaneously, peering back into the charnel shadows of the immense graveyard. The grounds seemed suddenly very quiet as the pair trained their ears for any sign of a threat. A look was exchanged in silence until finally Buffy cracked a smile.

"See, you're even getting me spooked now!" she chastised playfully, succeeding in defusing the tension that rested in Faith's dark features.

"Crazy heat and a no slay make Faith a paranoid schizophrenic." Faith pouted as the heat and frustration now utterly conquered her will to stay in this place of dead people a moment longer.

"Come on, Jack." Buffy coaxed in a soothing tone as she guided Faith with one arm on her back. "Let's get you back to the mansion before you freeze. Well, in this case, melt."

"That's what the J's stand for by the way." Faith explained. She rested her head on Buffy's shoulder, stifling a yawn as they walked out onto the sidewalk of a well-lit, empty street.

"Really? Huh. So do the K's stand for like...Karl?" Faith let out a groan of despair and feigned sobbing. "I'm kidding!"

Buffy and Faith continued their journey home —conversing on topics concerning the possibility of an ice cream shop being open at such a late hour, and if there was a national demonic holiday they weren't aware of.

They had already forgotten the unmistakable look of terror on Faith's face for that split second back at the cemetery.

They were oblivious to the lingering sense that they were being watched.