Rone-go-bone-a-sikki long-o Hnh!
A-rikki-tikki, tookie-tookie bong-o Nh!
N-go-go-n-a pooka-pooka-Bazooka
Way down in the Congo!
I'm gonna take you to my bungalow
In the Jungle-o
We gonna make banana love
You'll sing a high C
Up in the swingin' tree
When we make banana love
The room was in and uproar. Dawn and Willow were shouting Buffy's name and Giles and Xander were shouting Faith's name.
Finally, Xander could be heard over the din. "Shut up!! SHUT UP!! I STILL HAVE AUDIO!! I STILL HAVE AUDIO!! EVERYBODY… SHUT… UP!"
When the room quieted down, Xander's tight, controlled voice pierced the room. "Turn it up," he said, pressing the earpiece tightly to his ear.
Buffy's unmistakable voice could be heard. "…people. Faith mean! Faith hurt people. Faith hurt Buffy!" There were some rustling noises and the sound of Faith groaning. "Faith bad! Faith very bad!"
Giles looked up. "Why is that familiar? Why does that sound familiar?" He turned to look at Xander and Willow. They had similar looks of frantic concentration as they struggled to remember. Why was that so damn familiar?
The rest of the room remained silent as they watched the original Scooby Gang fall into a pacing rhythm, accompanied by the audio of Buffy mumbling. "Buffy strong!... Buffy hurt Faith!... Faith sleeping?"
Willow suddenly shouted, "Parker bad!" and Giles and Xander snapped their heads around to stare at the witch.
"The beer!!!" added Xander practically dancing on his toes with suppressed excitement.
"Cave-Buffy!" Giles put in his two cents.
A frantic conversation between the three of them followed as they tried to remind and remember the details of Buffy's tragic college beer experience.
"It was that bloody bartender…"
"His brother was a warlock…"
"She stayed good!! She's just stupid!..."
Dawn shouted at the trio, "What the hell is going on! What's wrong with Buffy?"
The three stopped talking and looked sheepishly at Buffy's little sister. Then Xander stepped forward and spoke. "When Buffy was in college I tended bar at the pub on campus. For a couple of nights, I accidentally served her some tainted beer that turned her into a grunting, knuckle-dragging cave-slayer."
"How come I never heard about this?" asked the indignant sister.
They all exchanged looks until Willow finally said, "I think it was just an embarrassing night for all of us. We didn't plan on keeping it secret… we just kinda… never told anyone."
Xander brought everyone back to the present. "How the hell did she get a hold of enough cave-Buffy-beer to change… in the goddamned Amazon jungle?"
"And it has apparently been of longer duration. As I recall, her last encounter lasted only a couple of days," mused Giles. He glanced up at the black screen. "Buffy doesn't seem to harming Faith at the moment. How long can you monitor the… uh…"
"The audio?" finished Xander.
"Yes, yes. The audio."
"Well, without the video, there's probably about three more hours of battery time left on her sat-phone."
Everyone was silent as they listened to the shufflings and rustlings on the other end. Every once in a while they could hear a cryptic, "Faith bad," or "Faith stay."
Dawn finally clapped her hands twice. "Okay people! It's time for the Scooby Gang research team to get into action! What do we need to find out?"
Willow gave herself a shake. "Xander, tell me everything you remember about that beer and that bartender…"
Faith woke up with her face in the dirt. Her eyes opened sluggishly and she groaned at the loud pounding in her skull. Lifting her aching head, she looked around. She was still in the cave but Buffy was nowhere to be seen.
Her hands were bound behind her back. Tightly. She pulled against them but couldn't get enough leverage to break them. It was then she realized that her feet were tied to her wrists. She flexed her legs, hoping to break her bindings, also to no avail.
"Goddammit!" she shouted into the cave.
She heard a tiny, tinny voice. "Faith?"
She looked around as best she could in her prone position. "Faith? Are you okay?" It was Xander's voice. Her eyes fell upon her earpiece lying a few feet away. "Faith? can you hear me?"
She sighed. "Yeah, I can hear ya."
"Are you okay?" he repeated.
"Well, I'm concussed and I'm hogtied face-first on the fuckin' ground. Which leaves me at the mercy of rogue-Buffy sporting a nasty grudge! I'm fuckin' dandy! How's your day goin'?" With masterful effort, she managed to keep the tears of fear from choking her voice. The last thing she wanted was pity from the high and mighty Buffy groupies.
"I've some good news," he said weakly. "Buffy's hasn't gone rogue."
"Oh yeah?" she snorted.
"You were right before. She's sorta gone native."
"Whatta ya mean, `sorta?'"
"She's under some kind of spell that has regressed her to a more primitive state of mind."
Faith rolled her eyes. "God! You sound just like a watcher! Can you dumb it down for me a little bit?"
She heard him chuckle faintly. "Well, the last time this happened to her, I called her Cave-Slayer."
"The last time this happened to her? May I just ask again, what the hell kinda show're you people runnin' here!?"
"Yeah, well, here's the bad news…"
"Oh fuck," she muttered.
"We know what happened to her, we just don't know how it happened. Yet."
She sighed again, blowing a little cloud of dust from the cave floor. "I changed my mind. I'm not gonna do this mission. I wanna go home and go to the nearest bar and drink a toast to Buffy the Cave-Slayer. Twelve times." She could feel tears of self-pity threatening to make themselves known.
Giles' voice came on. "Faith, I don't think Buffy's going cause you any serious damage…"
"Tell that to my achin' head!" she interjected.
"Yes, well I see your point. Be that as it may, you've been unconscious for the better part of twenty minutes and she hasn't done anything more than tie you up. I think that says something significant. She may not have gone rogue, exactly, but you have been dealing with unstable girls for a year now." Faith could practically see the determined look of pride and unwavering support in his eyes. Tears prickled again. "Use your wits. Use your intuition. You can and will prevail, Faith. We'll be working tirelessly on this end."
"Ok watcher-man. I'm your go-to-girl. I'm on it." She paused. "I know things are going to hell when one of your inspirational speeches actually inspires me."
He chuckled. "Cheeky."
"It's the cutest part of me and you know it."
She heard a rustling from outside the cave. "Shit. I think she's comin' back. Look, Giles, if I don't make it through this, will you pay my bar tab?"
"I don't know if the Council's funds are equipped for that kind of sum."
"Cheeky."
The cave darkened once again as Buffy appeared in the entrance. Faith turned her head to look at the wild slayer. She was carrying Faith's bag. She was silent when she entered and Faith watched her warily. Buffy went to the back of the cave and dropped the bag. She gazed at her captive for a few moments before she squatted down and opened the bag. It was then that Faith noticed Buffy's attire. She was wearing a loincloth similar to the guide and translator. It covered her front but not her backside. It was held by a strip of hide only slightly thicker than string. As Buffy squatted over her bag, Faith got an excellent view of her lithe, tan body.
Her feet and toes gripped the ground to keep herself stabilized, her ankles and calves flexed the tiniest bit as she rummaged through Faith's bag, her thighs and calves were pressed together in the squatting position and the graceful curve of her buttocks and back drew Faith's eyes as she took in every visible inch of healthy flesh. Yep. Faith's eyes hugged every curve and line, took in each minute detail of flawless skin. Up the ribs to the mysterious globe of her breast hidden partly by the gloom of the cave and the position of her body. Faith's fascinated eyes followed a path up Buffy's arm and neck and jaw. And by the time she'd gotten to Buffy's face, she found herself looking directly into Buffy's hazel eyes.
Faith felt a hot flush of embarrassment blaze up her neck and cheeks but she couldn't drag her gaze away from Buffy's. They were locked together for a few hot, uncomfortable moments until Buffy turned back to her task of going through Faith's bag.
By now, she was pulling things out and examining and smelling them briefly before tossing them onto her own nest of clothes. Faith blushed again as Buffy pulled out a couple of pairs of panties and sniffed them deeply and carefully. When she got to Faith's toiletries, she was more curious. She made a face as she sniffed the deodorant and tossed it over her shoulder. The toothpaste and cherry chapstick, however, were eaten. She seemed to like the toothpaste better and sat down to savor it.
After a few minutes of silence Giles' voice could be heard. "Faith? Are you still okay?" Buffy's head jerked toward the sound.
"Yeah, man, I'm fine. She's just going through my bag and eating my chapstick and toothpaste," she reassured her watcher while she kept her eyes on the cave-slayer. Buffy's head was tilting as she listened to the earpiece. She put the toothpaste aside and shuffled on her knuckles and feet towards the small bit of technology.
Faith said, "Say something, Giles. Buffy is listening."
"Really?" Buffy picked up the little black piece of plastic and brought it close to her face. Her head jerked with surprise when Giles said, loudly and clearly, "Hello Buffy." Faith chuckled at Buffy's behavior and smiled even broader when Giles said, "Be nice to Faith, now. She's only trying to help you."
Buffy carefully sniffed the earpiece and few times and then looked at Faith with lowered brows of concentration. Faith kept her features relaxed even as her heart started to hammer in her chest. Buffy had a determined look about her as she shifted closer and closer to Faith.
Faith's skin itched and tingled under Buffy's gaze. She forced herself to relax as Buffy kneeled close. She rested her cheek on the cold floor of the cave and waited for Buffy to make her move. Buffy's hand braced itself next to her face and Faith dimly observed every crack and crevice of the graceful hand that had delivered so much pain and death. She could detect Buffy bending down but was still a little startled when she heard and felt Buffy delicately sniff her ear. She squeezed her eyes shut as her skin erupted into gooseflesh.
Buffy took another sniff, deeper and closer than the first. Faith could actually feel the cave-slayer nuzzle into the soft hair around her ear. Lust raged over the surface of her skin and heated her belly like a furnace. She managed to swallow the wild groan that threatened to escape but she couldn't suppress the shudder that rippled through her.
Then she felt Buffy's other hand delve into the hair on the back of her head and grip a fistful of it. She remained gentle but firm as she twisted Faith's head a bit and buried her nose into the fragrant, dark tresses. She took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth, blowing humid air across Faith's scalp.
This time a small shuddery moan broke away from Faith and hot tears squeezed out of her eyes. And when Buffy purrrred in her ear, Faith got wet.
"Mmmmmmm. Faith smell nice."
"Jesus," Faith panted. The only times Buffy had ever been this close to Faith was to inflict pain and humiliation. Faith was at a complete loss as to what to do or how to react to this new treatment. And her body's strong response had her confused, flustered, and some other nameless emotions she had no intention of exploring.
Keeping her hand securely wrapped in Faith's hair, Buffy moved over Faith, straddling her hips. She leaned down until Faith could feel her smooth belly pressed against her bound hands. Unable to stop herself, Faith opened her hands and let her palms and fingers experience the silky skin of Buffy's stomach. When she undulated slowly on her, Buffy leaned over nuzzled the hair and skin of Faith's nape.
Faith was now completely lost in a haze of lust, her hands moving as much as they could in their limited fashion, reveling in the friction and marveling at the heat of Buffy's skin. Buffy continued to explore the skin at Faith's neck. When she spoke, the low, husky tone made Faith shiver. "Faith be good?"
When Buffy resumed her exploration, skimming the skin, Faith practically babbled, "Yeah, yeah. I'll be good. You bet, B." Her voice breathy and desperate.
Buffy then opened her mouth wide and set her teeth onto the junction between Faith's neck and shoulder. Faith bucked underneath her as a spasm deep in her belly threatened to send her over the edge. Buffy sucked on the spot a little and then she let go and murmured, "Buffy make Faith be good," and bit her again.
