FIC: Thanatos Kai Nous (1/2)

THANATOS KAI NOUS

The sun's heat was stifling, even though the trees blocked out almost any notice of blue sky that held it. A lone bird squawked from high above; the only other sounds to be heard were two people's breaths. Deep within the jungle,they seemed to meld into the wild environment as if they were part of it. If it weren't for the shorts, tank tops and sneakers they wore, anybody who happened to see them probably wouldn't be able to tell they were human.

The lesser species of the jungle sure couldn't tell, nor did they care. But the animals had stayed away; something was telling them to be afraid. And the two people were separated, making them hard to track. Sweat dripping down their foreheads, faces covered in dirt, clothes seemingly attached to their bodies and hair matted down, they moved stealthily, senses and reflexes honed. Under normal circumstances they would've felt extremely uncomfortable, but they were focused. Here, all traces of identity were forgotten.

When they had first let go it had been a frightening experience, but there was something very simplistic, very unburdening about shedding the higher processes of their evolved brains. They were on equal footing with the restof nature, and with each other. The older, maneuvering on the ground, could feel that she was getting closer and closer to the younger.

A crunch mixed with a soft squishing noise, feeling the pebbles and muddied earth underneath her sneaker. Hopping over a stone and a fallen branch effortlessly, she dropped down into a crouch, hitting a puddle left behind from the previous night's rainfall. Digging her fingers into the ground, she could smell the scent of the trees, the bark...her. Inching forward silently, knowing the end was near, she looked upward and listened.

The younger was scaling branches a few hundred yards ahead, as easily asher quadruped ancestors did. Reaching the canopy, she sat, ready to spring. Eyes zeroing in on her other, she waited for the right moment to pounce. The other was coming nearer, and they found each other without even needing to see, but their eyes locked anyway. It was now a matter of who was going to be able to strike first. The chase was over. It was time for the confrontation part ofthe hunt.

But they were both instantly distracted, and their heads turned toward an area of bushes. There was movement in them. Something was challenging. The older slipped out of her sneakers, and stood tensed and barefoot. Going to investigate, her other waited to get confirmation on the threat. Making herway to the bushes, the older stayed low and peered through. She was met by eyesmuch more animal than her own.

She jumped back as the black panther revealed itself and growled. Instead of fear she felt an intense and overwhelming desire to show the creature whichone of them was the better hunter. It didn't attack, but circled her, studied her as it had been doing for the past hour. It licked its jaws in a way meant to intimidate, and just as it hurled itself forward, the younger vaulted from the tree and landed on the intruder's back.

The panther was sprawled on the ground, but within a few seconds it madeher pay for not taking the opportunity to get a hold. The younger went flying, back first, into a large stone when the panther launched itself up with an incredible amount of strength. The older got in the way of its offensive and kicked mud into its eyes. It howled and swiped blindly at her, and she narrowly dodgedits paws while pulling her other up off the ground and breaking into a run.

They had to reach the cave. Had to reach the...the older tripped, twisting her ankle, and before she knew it, a heavy paw was crushing her throat. Relaxing her body, letting the tension leave, this was it, she was sure of it.

But it wasn't.

The younger grabbed the panther's tail angrily, and as it turned to faceher, it cut the side of her face with its claws. She retaliated with an uppercutthat would've shattered a human jaw, and punched its skull so hard she could hear bone break. Redness soaked the fur around the jaw, but still it came, not willing to lose the fight. The scent of blood gave the older an almost feral thrill, and a boost of energy. Ignoring her injury, she continued to the cave, knowing her other was following.

Inside, amidst the dark shade, she reached up into the small alcove and retrieved the book. She opened to the final page, and waited. The younger appeared at her side, and was silently told to go first. Placing her hand on the page, she vanished. Seeing the panther entering the cave, she was next. Thebook thudded to the floor of the cave, and as the animal reached the man-made object, it tore the pages to shreds with its claws, in one last act of desperation.

After a few moments, it laid itself down, and waited for its slow death to end.

It had lost.

***

Falling to the mat, Buffy blinked, momentarily forgetting where and who she was. It was all coming back. She had linked through the book back to the training room of her Magic Box, and she hurt like hell. Most of the pain was coming from her ankle, however. Faith, who was sitting next to her, tossed her the towel, and she promptly bit down on it and allowed a stream of foul language to emerge from her mouth.

"We're back, Giles!" The brunette yelled, her head throbbing and her face stinging. "Bring the kit in here, will ya?"

Buffy removed the towel, wiped her face, noticed the blood on it and remembered Faith had been cut. "How bad did he get you?"

"Not as bad as I got him." Faith answered, hissing as she touched for marred flesh.

The amount of blood on her hands was staggering to her, meaning past and present. She knew she had doomed the animal, ended its life. But it was self-defense that time, and she was protecting her partner. They both had a shot, and the panther wasn't fast enough. She might not have been able to use this explanation here, the human world, but there they were playing by the law of the jungle. Kill or be killed, and they came out on top. Still, now thatit was over, the blood caused guilt and remorse rear their ugly heads.

"You saved my life." Buffy told her with a delayed look of shock that said, 'I almost got my throat crushed.' Like she could read the other slayer's thoughts, she was saying it was okay. "My life was saved by you. 'Thanks' seems very lame."

Faith smiled. "Hey, you watch my back, I watch yours. Don't gotta say anything."

She had already said enough.

Buffy remembered her pain. "There's people in enormous amounts of pain here, Giles! Step on it!" She whimpered. "Why do we go there again?"

"Cause we told the G-man we needed more of a challenge so he went and talked to his chum." The brunette tried a British accent on that last word, which made the blonde snicker.

"No more challenges. I'll stick with the more clean, less deadly training routine." She muttered. "And how many people does Giles know, anyway? Firstit's a guy who writes magic books...what's next? The ghost of Fat Elvis?"

"Why not the young one? Talk about low down tickle..."

Buffy glared. "You didn't say that last part. And if he is a ghost, that's like Hell on Earth."

"No, B, Sunnydale is Hell on Earth." Faith smirked.

"If he's damned to haunt and do all that other ghost stuff, he wasn't allowed to come back and be good looking, that's all I'm saying."

"Got a point, but we could be off the mark. Who says he isn't still alive?"

Buffy shook her head, and Faith laughed. They continued to wait, and as the minutes passed, they both slipped into heavy thought mode. Buffy could take comfort in the fact that in dying the way she did, her mother was at rest. It had been her time, whether she liked it or not. Her 'almost death' experience in the jungle wasn't so scary at the time, but now she couldn't believe what she'd nearly done. She found herself having to justify why she continued to go there, to beat back the reason she wanted to ignore.

"I keep thinking if I let the slayer part of me out," Buffy began saying, "if I don't fight it and let it know that I know it exists, it'll start workingwith me instead of against me. But I feel like I shut down in that place, and it takes over. That's not what I'm going for. I don't want to lose myself."

"Maybe it needs to figure out that the Scoobs are your allies, that they aren't a threat to your survival. When they go on patrol with us, you should try it. Letting go in that jungle was good for awhile, but isolation only gets you so far. You have no reason to be 'you' there. Am I makin' sense?"

Buffy nodded slowly. "Why are you doing it?"

"You mean besides trying to get us so damn in tune we're unstoppable?" Faith grinned.

"Yeah, besides that."

"If my dark side comes from whatever makes us, ya know, what we are, I wanna turn that in the right direction. And even if it doesn't, the slayer in me might focus it. Get it down so it knows who the bad guys are, and who the good guys are." She got quiet. "It's gotta see the line so it doesn't make me cross it again."

Buffy slowly used her hands to push herself over to Faith, and was goingto kiss her, but Giles finally decided to show up.

"I'm sorry. There was a customer out front who wanted to exchange her wolfsbane for a Neothan idol, and I tried to explain to her that we only exchange an item if the new item is the same price as the old one. Well, the idol was considerably more expensive, and not even in the same class as the wolfsbane. She just now stormed out, and I must say, I won't mind missing out on her business."

The slayers stared.

"Good Lord," He said, shocked, "you look horrible."

"Thanks for that." Buffy said sarcastically.

"How about you start patching, huh?" Faith asked.

"Before infection sets in and limbs have to be chopped off."

***

Two weeks had gone by since Angel's visit, and that was how Buffy was keeping track of time now. By judging the time between events. She couldn't tell anyone exactly what month, what day of the week or what date it was, but she could generally figure out that it had been a month since her mother died. She also knew she had to pay the phone bill by tomorrow and that it had been a day since she twisted her ankle. Which was pretty much okay, except that the bruise was still obvious under the tape Giles had put around it.

Looking at her feet, she remembered that she needed new sneakers. Her legs were propped up on the sofa; Willow had made her swear to ice the bruised area for fifteen-minute intervals. Though she could actually walk on it, because Slayer healing worked wonders. The door was opening. Her classes must have ended for the day. Hurriedly, she grabbed the ice pack off the coffee table and put it over her ankle. The redhead walked in with a smile.

"How's my Buffy-shaped patient today?" Willow asked.

"Ready to be released."

"We'll just see about that. Let Dr. Willow have a look see." She took the pack off, and touched the tape gingerly. "Minimal or severe ankle ouchies?"

"Minimal."

"You barely made 'Wrinkly Pain Face', so I'll believe you." She nodded. "How long did you have the pack on for when I came in?"

"Uh, thirteen minutes?"

"Really? Cause your skin doesn't feel very chilly." Buffy smiled sheepishly, and Willow looked ready to scold her. "This is why us doctors get sued so much. Our patients don't listen to our instructions. It's malpatient not malpractice." She appeared genuinely angry.

"You're not...really a doctor, Will." The slayer said cautiously.

"Sure, not when I'm awake, but I will be soon. Very soon."

"Uh...huh." Buffy was frightened, so she backed away from pursuing that any further. "Am I free?"

The hacker sighed. "I suppose. And cause you have the Rosenberg Medical F.I.P., you don't have to pay a single cent."

"F.I.P?"

"Friend Insurance Plan." Willow smiled.

"This is me relieved." Buffy smirked. "The less bills, the better."

"Are you handling everything okay? House-wise and everything?"

"I guess..." She shrugged. "I haven't gotten any of those warning or foreclosing envelopes in the mail yet."

"Don't wanna get those." Willow shook her head. "Just as long as you're not stressed out."

"Oh, I'm stressed out, just not over money. But who knows? In a week or two maybe." She paused. "Enough about me, what have you been up to?"

"Tara and I had a 'Ten Months Closer to Our One Year Anniversary' dinnerlast night."

Buffy smiled. "Did you go out to eat?" Willow nodded. "It doesn't...bother you?"

"It did, cause people staring usually makes for an unfun dinner. But it never bothered Tara, and I decided to get with the program. There's nothing wrongwith us, why shouldn't we eat at a nice restaurant?"

"Good for you." She smiled again. That made her want to let everyone know, to get rid of some unnecessary weight. "I should call Faith. See how she's doing."

"She's up and moveable." Willow said. "I stopped by Giles' before I came here."

"Willow, have you been taking care of her too?"

"I told her how to take care of herself while we were on opposite sides of the living room, so in a distant and safe way, yes."

"Little by little?"

"Little by little." The wicca promised. "I do think she did the right thing, though. Nasty old cat got what he deserved."

***

'I've this creeping
Suspicion that things here are not as they seem
Reassure me
Why do I feel as if I'm in too deep?

'Now I've been praying
For some way to show them
I'm not what they see
Yes, I have done wrong
But what I did I thought needed be done
I swear'

Sitting in the Bronze next to her girlfriend, Faith had to smile despite everything else weighing down on her. Buffy had been there for her, just like she said she would be when they were back on that island. That felt like a long time ago, considering she had technically still been in jail then. Now she was sitting in the remodeled club that actually looked half-decent, and her fantasy had become reality. Buffy was hers, she was Buffy's, and they had lip locked several amazing times.

Every single one gave her such a charge, a feeling that could only be described as mushy (which she wasn't used to), that she had to wonder what the sex would be like. She had changed, but some things never would. The visuals in her mind increased her body heat astronomically, and her partner looked over at her and blushed, trying to hide it from the two members of the group sitting with them. But all that, all she was feeling, brought her to a decision. She was ready. Ready to let her in on everything.

'Unholy day
If I leave now I might get away
Oh, but this weighs on me
As heavy as stone and as blue as I go

'I was just wondering if you'd come along
To hold up my head when my head won't hold on
I'll do the same if the same's what you want
But if notI'll go
I will go alone'

Faith had been to four sessions with the shrink, and they were going well. The guy didn't push; he waited for her to say whatever she felt like saying. He did make a comment on the rage she seemed to have inside her, but she was making steady progress. Yet talking to someone in such an impersonal setting, especially when that someone probably didn't give a flying...who could careless about her mental health, was getting stale.

She wanted Buffy there to tell her those things. About the past. She wanted her to see that she trusted her, that she appreciated her. She needed to level the field, because she was confident enough in one area at least. Confidentin the Chosen Two and what they had formed. Faith didn't think it would chase Buffy away. Now if she could just get her voice to work so she could ask her if she'd come to the next one.

'I'm a long way
From that fool's mistake
And now forever pay
No, run
I will run and I'll be ok

'I was just wondering if you'd come along
To hold up my head when my head won't hold on
I'll do the same if the same's what you want
But if notI'll go
I will go alone'

There was something holding her back, though. A vibe she had been getting from her partner ever since they returned from the jungle, and it was not agood vibe, not at all. She couldn't shake it.

"Faith, come in, Faith." Xander was trying to get her attention. "Song'snot danceable, I know, but that's no excuse for you sitting here and developinga disgusting habit like this."

"Wanna run that by us again?" Buffy asked, seeing the same perplexed look on Faith's face that was on hers.

"Thinking." He made a gagging noise. "Bad for the health."

"Should try it." The brunette smirked. "Might find some intelligence in there."

"I'll find it when I wanna find it." He said, thinking that was some kind of comeback.

"She's right." Anya agreed. "The only thing the human race has going forthem is the gray matter inside their skulls, and they don't use them. Don't be like the rest of your species. That would make you..."

"A moron." Buffy suggested.

"I woulda said..." Faith whispered, and the other slayer giggled.

"All right, I'll think." Xander surrendered. "But I hold you all responsible for any negative consequences. Like my head blowing up."

"There's this vein in his head, when we're having -" Anya began.

"Ladies! Man it's great to see you!" He interrupted his girlfriend when he saw the witches coming over with cups.

"You're only happy to see us cause we're refreshment delivery girls." Willow pouted.

"That's so very not true. I enjoy the pleasure of your company over any liquid." He stopped. "But seeing as you -"

"Here." The redhead grumbled, handing him a cup. "Don't choke or anything."

Buffy raised her hand. "Me too please?"

"Yeah, I'll take one." Faith accepted a cup from the blonde wicca. "Thanks, Tar."

Tara smiled.

'I go a long way
To bury the past for I don't want to pay
Oh, how I wish this
To turn back the clock and do over again

'I was just wondering if you'd come along
To hold up my head when my head won't hold on
I'll do the same if the same's what you want
But if notI'll go
I will go alone'

"B, can I talk to you?" Faith said after a few minutes, setting her drink down and getting up.

She had to get this done.

The petite slayer nodded and followed her partner into the bathroom.

"What's up?"

Faith coughed. "Yesterday..."

"Hmm mm..." She was clueless as to what Faith was driving at. 'Yesterday' was a broad topic.

"When we talked about why we both kept goin' into that jungle..."

"What's wrong, Faith?"

"That was gonna be my question, and I hope everything's five by five..."

"Just say it."

Faith took a deep breath. "You haven't been cutting loose cause you're trying to punch your own ticket, right?" She paused, looking for a reaction. "Do you really not wanna lose yourself, or are doin' it so you don't care if you get taken out?"

"Why would you ask -?"

"Cause I've been gettin' this weird..." She sighed. "It's been throwing me off that you didn't put up much of a fight with the panther. You could've, but you just laid there and took it."

Buffy opened her mouth to retort, but then closed it. That hesitation was all Faith needed to see, because she backed her up against the sink, and brought their mouths and tongues in contact with each other. She ran her hands through the brownish-blonde hair, and Buffy was so overwhelmed, she had to reach her hands back and grasp the sink. A minute or so later, Faith pulled away slowly, and stared at her girlfriend who was opening her eyes back up.

"How could I not want to live after that?"

"Damn right." Faith said seriously. "I love you, but ya try and bail on us, and you don't wanna know what I'll do." She studied her, and saw there was an understanding. "Now, got another question."

'I need so
To stay in your arms, see you smile, hold you close
And it weighs on me
As heavy as stone and a bone chilling cold
I was just wondering if you'd come along
Tell me you will'

Tara backed away from the bathroom door, her suspicions happily confirmed.

***

Glory removed her hands from the now insane woman's head, and fell back onto her bed with an exhausted sigh, closing her eyes. It was very depressing when she couldn't even enjoy draining someone of their life force anymore. Her daily activities were getting to be the same, day in and day out. Get brought some unsuspecting breakfast victim, shop, lunch victim, read the new magazines that came in the mail and drain the mailman if she felt like it, wait for Ben toget off work and then shower...dull.

Except this woman wasn't supposed to simply be a re-energizer, she was supposed to serve a purpose. Which failed. A key. One, lousy key. Was that too much to ask? And now she had the Knights of Byzantium trying to stop her efforts. She really didn't need their stubborn devotion to their "cause" getting in her way. The whiny slayer and her friends were bad enough.

"Dreg!" She bellowed.

The sniveling minion appeared in the doorway. "Yes, your Milk Chocolatiness?"

"She's going to start to drool soon." The god looked at him expectantly. "Hello? Get her out of here?"

"Oh, of course. Right away, your Smooth Hand-creaminess."

He scampered into the room, took hold of the mumbling woman by both her hands, and began dragging her from the room.

"I'm a butterfly...my wings...my wings tell a story...flap, flap...flap, flap..." The once person rambled.

Glory sat up. "No sweetie, as pitiful as it is, you're a human. And obviously, incompetence is a common trait of your whole miserable species."She threw her hands up in the air. "I don't get it; I'm at a complete loss here. If she had just gone in that pathetic shop and brought me that damn idol, a simple task if you ask me, I would've let her keep her sanity." She thought. "Probably." After a pause, she continued. "But no, she couldn't even do that." She wanted to scream. "That's the last time I waste an hour of my day kidnapping someone off the street and making them do my bidding. It's way too much work on my part, and crying is such a turn off." She made a disgusted noise.

"If I may ask, Oh Melted Buttery One," Dreg was huffing, the woman halfway out, "why did you not just give her the appropriate currency to purchase the item?"

"Do you have a hundred and fifty dollars hiding in your flea-infested robe? Cause there's no way in hell I'm going to inflate Neothan's ego. It's bad enough I'm reduced to chanting to get his attention, and I'm not sinking any lower. Besides, if that watcher knew the quality of the wolfsbane he sells; I wouldn't be as stressed and, " She massaged her neck, "tense as I am right now. Because he under-priced it, I suffer." She pouted, running her hands through her blond locks. "Is that fair?"

"Humans never appreciate the value of things." He smiled.

"Hey, who's the God around here and who's the minion? Only I get to trash the lesser beings."

"I'm lower than canine droppings, Wondrous Glory."

He had stopped his task to grovel.

"Why isn't she out of here yet? And...oh yeah, why wasn't I told about the slayer's mother sooner? I could've taken advantage of that in lots of fun ways, but her guard's back up. Which is why I need to go and do something more difficult. I hate it when things are difficult."

"Don't be upset..."

Before he knew it, Glory was touching his face and smiling.

"Upset? I'm not upset." She shook her head. "Believe me, you'll know when I'm upset." She grabbed his chin. "I'm tired of playing by the rules of this crappy world. I wanna play by mine. So here's what you'll do for me. Get. That. Idol. I don't care how; die if you gotta, but after it's in my hands."

"I would gladly lay down my-my life to serve you."

"I know you would, Dreggy, I know." She smiled again, running her finger along his prominent nose. "Such a good, expendable minion."

"Expenda -?"

"Now listen carefully. I want it by tonight. If I don't...well, let's not think about that. Are you okay with this? Do you understand everything? Cause I don't feel like repeating it."

"Your words are as clear as your magnificent eyes with which you -"

She slapped his cheek. "Go fetch."

"But -"

Glory grabbed the woman by her shirt, and tossed her into the far wall of the next room.

"Better?"

***

Dawn emerged from the school building, walked to Xander's car, and triednot to groan.

"Hey, Dawnster." He greeted.

"What fun facts did you learn today?" Anya said, a little too chipper.

"Where's Buffy?" The young Summers asked.

"Faith asked her to go to her...the place where she gets..." He wasn't sure how to say it.

"Therapy to help her not go crazy again?" She smirked. "I'm fourteen, not six."

He looked embarrassed. "Yeah, so it's just us today." She got in the backseat and put her bag on the floor. It figured. "Just three, wild, fun-seeking people out on the town." He started driving. "Wanna go anywhere? Ooh! Pitch-N'-Putt?"

"I've seen children going into a place that has large machines with buttons and sticks on them, which they use to destroy pictures on a screen. But first they put coins inside. Sometimes there's sweating. That looks like it mightbe enjoyable." Anya said.

"You mean the arcade?" Dawn asked.

"That's what it's called?" The ex-demon looked disappointed for some reason.

"Boys play in arcades. Not girls."

"Well maybe they should. Gender separation makes no sense to me. After all, you're eventually going to have physical contact with one another anyway, and if you sweat by pushing buttons and handling sticks now, it's good practice for later." She thought. "Unless you're gay." They were staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing, An." Xander shook his head. "My girlfriend. Gotta love her."

'Says who?'

"Can you drop me off at Christy's? She's having a sleepover, but everyone's going over now and I *really* wanna go." Dawn begged.

"I'd kinda be treading on big sister territory, wouldn't I?" He asked hesitantly. "If it was up to me...but Buffy should really make that call. You can wait till she gets back and ask her then, can't ya? They won't be long."

She sighed. "You know she won't let me go cause she's way too paranoid. Glory doesn't even know, and like, any other god would've figured it out already.She doesn't scare me."

"Buffy's overprotective of all of us, Dawn, we know how you feel, but you've got an evil Hell god searching for you, slow on the uptake or not."

"She hurt him. Very easily. I didn't like it." Anya frowned.

Xander smiled at her caring. "But besides that, she's your guardian. You would've asked -" He looked at the girl's sad eyes through the rearview mirror, and spoke softly. "You would've asked your mom, right?"

"She's not my mother. You can't be somebody's sister and then be their mother at the same time. It doesn't work."

"I don't think she's trying to take her pla -" Anya tried.

She took a deep breath. "Look, Kristy's parents are wicked rich, and they probably have one of those really expensive alarm systems."

"I'm sure if you tell all this to Buffy she'll let you go. And you've got our support." Xander said. "Uh...did you say 'wicked'?"

Dawn got shy. "O-only cause Buffy has Faith over the house like *all* the time. And that's another thing. She's *so* into Faith that she probably wouldn't be able to hear me ask anything. Why do you think she's where she is now?"

"To help -"

"I mean, Faith's awesome -"

"Hold it. Back the Faith train up." He said. "What do you mean, 'into'?"

"They're like Willow and Tara. But they haven't started the daily sex yet." Anya said. "I can't understand why not."

"Eww." The brunette said.

His face was paralyzed with shock.

"Didn't you know that?"

"They're totally in love. And the dumb thing is they don't think they're obvious about it. Um...duh?"

"They're obvious?" Xander asked, his voice squeaking.

Whew, he was at a red light. That was a relief.

***

"Time's up." The doctor said quietly.

Buffy removed one arm from Faith's waist so she could wipe her tears away. The younger slayer turned so she could see her, and wordlessly asked if they could get up off the couch. She relented, removing her other arm and freeing the Bostonian. Buffy thought she was prepared for anything that was going to be said, but she wasn't. Not at all. How Faith could have lived through that...she knew now how her darkness got its start. They both knew it.

"Next week? Same bat time, same bat channel?" Faith asked.

He nodded with a smile. "Good session today."

She gave him a quick wave and exited the room. When she realized she was left, Buffy stood.

"It was nice to meet you. I'm glad you're helping her."

"No, I believe it's your being here that helped her more than I have in the past few weeks." The doctor said in response. "I know it may be hard to hear, but if you could make a regular habit of coming..."

"I'll...I'll try." She promised. "I want to."

"And also, feel free to speak. About whatever might be on your mind. It's Faith's time here, but I get the impression that the two of you are more intertwined than most. It would be to your benefit as well as hers, and sometimes it's healthy to -"

Was she that easy to figure out?

"Thanks for the offer." Buffy cut him off as politely as she could, and walked into the small waiting area, wanting to talk to her girlfriend, but saw her talking with someone already. "Faith?"

"B, this is Emily Ashton." The brunette introduced them. "Em, this is B."

"Hi." The older slayer said, shaking her hand.

"She wanted to talk to the doc and check up on how the brain sucks are goin'." Faith smirked.

Emily shook her head with a grin. "It's great to finally see you in person, Buffy. Heard a lot."

"From?" Buffy asked, looking at the other slayer questioningly.

"There's a whole bunch of people who have an interest in what you do." That made her slightly uncomfortable. "Don't worry, most of it's extremely positive."

"Oh...that's...yay me." She smiled weakly.

Emily's eyes widened as if she had just realized something. "Damn, I'm being very rude, aren't I?" She turned sympathetic. "I was sorry to hear about your mother. She was admired and respected more than you know, and she's...I just wish you the best."

"Thank you." Buffy cleared her throat, and felt Faith's hand on her back. "Thanks."

The young woman could pick up on the uneasiness.

"Well, I'm sure we've all got places to be, and I don't wanna keep you. Take care of each other, and hey, see if you can get her to start thinking about contributing to the economy." Emily winked.

"A job? Giles is actually looking for an extra person to do inventory atthe shop." She looked in Faith's direction with raised eyebrows. "Which you knew."

"I thought you were gonna do that." Faith said evasively.

"Uh huh, before I just found out you were looking for a place to work. I've already got a cash flow, you don't."

"Yeah, but I don't have..." Faith trailed off, steering her towards the door. "We'll talk about this later."

"Okay, then let's talk about...um...you having a nickname for your *parole* officer?" Buffy whispered. "Like you're close pals or something?"

"So? I'm trying not to give people the automatic 'back the hell off' vibe; I'm trying this friendliness thing. That a problem?"

"Yes! I mean...no."

"And I told you she's tied in with the bigger picture. Last thing I wanna do is rub her the wrong way." Buffy shot her a look. "Too late to scratch thatfrom the record?"

"You know the answer to that." The shorter slayer nearly growled. After the briefest of pauses, where they realized she was not only being jealous, butalso marking her territory, the conversation went on, ignoring the fact that the animalistic side had come out. "How come you didn't tell me she was attractive?"

"You think she's attractive?" Faith grinned. "Why B, are you scopin' out other chicks besides me?"

"Don't turn this around..."

***

The slayers arrived at the Magic Box, where Xander was sitting at the table and zoning out, Anya and Willow were behind the counter, Tara was doing Tarot, and Giles was trying to get a sale. Their "debate" had ended for the time being, which was a good thing, because Dawn came running up to them.

"Can I please, please, please, *please* go to Christy's sleepover?" Buffy's younger sister pleaded. "I packed. I have clothes, toothpaste, my toothbrush, and I swear we won't go wandering all over town being irresponsible and teenager-like. The crack house is closed tonight, anyway."

"Dawn!"

Faith had to cover her mouth to stop her laughter. She received a glare.

"What're you lookin' at me for? I didn't teach her that." Buffy sighed. "Let her go. She'll hang, have fun. Nothing wrong with that."

"Can you guarantee that you'll be safe?" Buffy asked.

"Safe like high security bank vault safe." Dawn nodded. "You know, the ones that scan your eyes?" Her sister stared. "Her parents have an alarm system,and they're gonna be there. Ask Xander."

All three girls turned in Xander's direction, and he noticed a few seconds later.

"Huh?" Dawn gave him a 'don't let me down look', and cleared her throat."Oh. I'll make sure she gets there. Door to door service. No sweat."

"See?"

As Buffy was thinking about it, a question popped into Xander's head.

"Does Giles know?"

"Do I know what?" Giles asked, handing the new customer her bag with a smile. "Please come again."

"Cause I'm usually the last one to know about these things."

"What things?" Willow asked, not looking up from the text she was perusing.

"New relationship type things."

"Who's -?" Anya looked at Buffy and Faith. "Right. Them. It's not your fault, you're just not that perceptive."

"Thanks." Xander said sarcastically.

"Us?" Buffy asked innocently. When the person who had been browsing leftthe store, all eyes were on the two slayers, and they stood, frozen. It was several minutes before Buffy sucked it up, and decided to deal with it. "Giles knew before we did. That's why he set us up."

"I did not." The older man defended himself. "I merely had an avenue provided for you, and you chose to take it. If I had told you everything, what my motive was, would you have gone?"

"Probably not." She admitted.

"And aren't you glad you did?"

"Yeah. Most of the time." Faith glared and she just smiled sweetly.

"Who didn't know about me and B?" Xander started to raise his hand. "Besides the Xan-man."

No one's hands went up. That came as a shock.

"You knew, Red?"

"Kinda for awhile." Willow paused. "But I was pretending it was only my imagination. Then Tara saw you...and denial land threw me out."

"Saw us?" Buffy looked at the blonde witch. "Where? When?"

"A-at the Bronze. In the b-bathroom." Tara explained shyly. "I'm sorry. W-willow made me."

The redhead gasped.

"Well, our secrecy skills need work."

"*Our* secrecy skills?" Faith asked incredulously.

"Don't start." Buffy smirked. "Short and to the point. We're together; we want this." The brunette slayer rested her arms on her partner's shoulders. "It's completely mutual, we're happy, and I hope you're all okay with it." She was focusing on Willow. "If not, then -"

"Wait. You didn't tell *anybody* and they all still knew?" Xander asked. Faith nodded, and he sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Think there's a class I could take for this stuff?"

"Can we get back to me now?" Dawn asked, frustrated. "Seeing as this huge revelation wasn't one, and turned out to be really lame?"

The door to the shop opened just as she finished her question, and Dreg and another minion walked through it. Buffy saw them, and she and Faith got in front of Dawn.

"Get out before we throw you out." Buffy told them.

"I'm afraid we cannot. The Holy Glorificus requires an item from this establishment. We have come to ask that you give it to us." Dreg spoke.

"You do realize we could kick your asses, right?" Faith asked. "All of us?"

The rest of the gang had gotten up to stand by the slayers.

"We took that into consideration." They revealed the guns they were holding in their hands. "We do not wish to make this unpleasant, but are prepared to do so."

"What do you want?" Giles asked.

"The Idol of Neothan." The Englishman looked at the two girls. "Please decide quickly. She does not like to be kept waiting."

Buffy glanced at her partner, then nodded. It was too risky to do anything else.

"I'll get it for you." Giles told Dreg.

"Not necessary. If you'll point out the idol's location to Wret, he shall be most happy to retrieve it." He did, and the minion walked over cautiously to the indicated shelf, and snatched it. The two minions then backed out. "Her Supreme Brightness thanks you for your cooperation. I'm sure she will make your deaths...quite interesting when the time comes."

***

"Okay, what do we know about Neothan?" Buffy asked the group, minus Xander, who was currently chauffeuring her sister.

She had decided that Dawn could go to her friend's, and that it was a good idea, considering Glory was reminding them she was still around.

"The name is Greek. And the statue was hand-crafted in Middle Ages." Giles said, looking at a piece of paper. "According to this file that was in the Federal Express package when I received it."

"You don't know anything else about it?"

"I recognize it. I'm sure it's in one of my volumes." He replied, embarrassed. She put her hands on her hips. "I sell these pieces, and ones similar, on a daily basis. Most people purchase them because they look interesting; it never occurred to me that Glory would ever have need of..."

"It's times like these I wonder if you've become too much of a capitalist. The American kind. Cause I'll tell you right now, we suck. Mindless spending machines." She said. "A part of me hoped when I made Quentin give you your job back you'd become tweedy again and worship the Crown Jewels."

Giles' face was expressionless. "I'll begin researching."

She looked guilty. "Sorry. I just get all twitchy when it comes to Glory." She swayed back and forth, giving him her puppy dog eyes. "You love me."

Giles shook his head, smiling, as he went to grab some books.

"I'll help." Willow volunteered.

"Me too." Tara added.

"Try and be fast?" Buffy asked.

"Any particular speed?" Her watcher asked sarcastically.

She narrowed her eyes. "I'm shutting up." Heading over to Faith, who was standing by the door, she sighed. "You've gotta stop me when I get like that."

"I had to see how you were gonna get yourself outta the hole, B." Faith grinned at her. "Not too bad. Seen worse. Points for the 'two year old, don't be mad at me cause I'm cute' tactic."

"Are you saying I'm immature?" The older slayer gave her a grin.

The younger shook her head, stepping close to her partner. "No, you're *all* grown up. Definitely matured nicely." Buffy blushed, and the two witches watching, did the same thing. "So what do we do while they're reading the words? She's gotta want that thing for some sort of ritual, right? That's all the Big E uses old junk for. The Boss always..."

When she realized what she was saying, she immediately trailed off. She bit her lip, holding back her anger; that was directed entirely at herself. Shehad let that go. It was behind her. Then why the hell had she just brought him up?

"You're right. We should go make sure she doesn’t get a chance to do her...ritualing." Buffy continued as if it had never been said.

Faith responded after she took a moment to calm herself. "Know where herdigs are?"

"Not specifically, but she likes fancy places. We could check out -"

"Let's hit it."

"Uh, we'll be back guys." She looked unsure. "Hopefully."

"Watch yourselves." Giles advised.

When they walked out, Tara and Willow looked at one another. Biting her lip, the redhead refocused, and turned to the next page.

***

They combed the swanky side of town, but their internal alarms never went off, and Willy's was conveniently closed for the day, so they couldn't grill him for information. It occurred to them that Glory probably counted on them trying to track her down. If she did, then she wouldn't be calling forth anything from where she normally lived, as that would be too obvious. And then came the realization that they were wasting their time, and that was the way the god wanted it.

"We're just gonna have to deal with whatever she throws at us." Buffy sighed. "If Giles found something, we have a chance."

Faith sat on the curb. "I hate bein' played. She could've done it face to face; that I woulda respected."

("May I say something?" Buffy asked as she pulled her hands free of the chains attached to the mansion wall. "Psych!"

"You played me. You played me!" Faith yelled.)

"So you respected me when Angel and I -?" She sat beside her.

"Why bring that up?" The brunette said softly. "Leave it alone."

"Don't you know where we are?"

Faith turned and looked up. It was her building. The one with her loft. The loft with the roof that they...where it all came to a head. She had led them here, not realizing it.

("You did it." Faith's voice was strained, but she smiled. Pushing the other slayer away. She looked at the knife in her stomach. "You killed me." She got on the low edge of the roof. "Still won't help your boy, though. Shoulda been there, B. Quite a ride.")

"Aren't we ever gonna talk about it?"

"We're five by five, B. We dealt with us."

"With us, not with him and what he had you do. I get that he was good toyou; he gave you what I couldn't cause I was so wrapped up with my own problems.It was hard to tell what was up and what was down."

The younger slayer nodded. She understood, because she had been feeling the same way at the time.

"I knew what he was, I knew it was wrong. But he cared about me. Nobody had ever given a shit about me before him. And if they did, I couldn't tell." They knew what she meant. "When I went there the first time, I don't know what I was...think I was gonna earn his trust and then take him out, make it up to everyone. But he treated me like his daughter, so I did what he wanted to keep getting praise and encouragement. Real twisted, I know, but he was the parent I never had. Too bad he encouraged the wrong part and it all went to hell, huh?"

"Yeah." Buffy said softly. "It is."

"That I hate him for; he needed to be put down."

"And you helped me." Her partner smiled.

"Comas make things wicked clear." Buffy flinched, and again, she had said something without thinking. "I -"

"It's fine." The older slayer said quickly. "Or not. It's one of those things that won't go away, no matter how many times you forgive me."

They sat there thinking for awhile.

"I did respect you. It was clever, smart, well executed. That's why I was drawn to ya. You were the first person to best me, to beat me. Now it goes back and forth, keeps us on our game. Course, while it was goin' on respect was the last thing I felt, but you gotta love hindsight." She got quiet. "About today, going way back on my timeline? Let it stay in that room, okay? I'm talkin' about it there, where I'm supposed to. No reason to rehash it. I had a screwed up childhood, plain and simple."

"Can I say one thing?" Faith looked at her. "I respect you cause you were able to survive that. Whatever your parents put in your head, it's not true. Any of it."

"That's nice to hear, B, but it doesn't erase anything." She stood up and started heading back to the Magic Box.

"I never said it would. Just remember that for me." Buffy said, following her. "I wanna try to explain something."

"Explain what?"

"I wanted to in the bathroom, but I wasn't expecting you to find out, and words weren't coming. I should've, though." She took a deep breath. "I'd...I'd never intentionally go out and say to a vampire, 'Free dinner! Come and getit!' If it happens like it did with the panther, where I'm in a position where I might...that's when I say 'It's over'."

"Shouldn't even cross your mind."

"I know I have a lot to live for, but what I'm afraid of is, that I'll lose that 'a lot' and it'll shrink to 'nothing'. What if my mom was just the first, and it's all downhill from here?" She laughed sadly. "I can't believe I'm trying to help you when I've turned into 'Doom and Gloom Buffy'. We're in the same flawed boat, at least. Somebody told me I've gotta look for the silver lining. Think that's it?"

This wasn't like her at all.

"Speaking of putting things in people's heads...where's this coming from?"

"Spike's an obsessive wacko, but he was right. I've got a death wish."

Faith had stopped. "See what he got. I'll...be by later."

-------

Continued in Part 2....