I crouch low in the dirt, scoping out the front entrance. Spike waves a little from the side of the building to get my attention and points at the door, holding up two fingers. The less Bringers we have to fight at a time, the better. I nod, and glance back at my team.

"Kennedy and Rona--you guys back up Spike's team." They nod, creeping along the dirt closer to their target.

If things go according to plan, the Bringers will rush to defend the attack, giving Amanda and I enough time to find whatever we're looking for. Spike and the other girls will keep them busy as long as possible, hopefully without casualties.

Spike and I make some complicated signals back and forth, mostly for show, so the girls think we have the first clue what we're doing. Maybe he's not that bad after all.

Whatever. I can barely blink before they're up and running, taking the Bringers by surprise. Amanda instinctively begins to stand, but I push down on her arm. "Wait."

She chews on her thumbnail a little, whispering. "I feel shaky and weird.. Like I want to.. I don't know."

"Jump into the fray and start kicking some ass?"

She thinks about it, then nods. "Basically."

"Welcome to Slayerhood. But not tonight. Let them take care of the drones. We're going straight into the hive."

Amanda stares at the girls fighting as the other Bringers hear the commotion and abandon their posts. "You know.. we learned in Bio that the queen bee's stinger isn't barbed, like regular bees. So it doesn't tear off."

"So?" I ask distractedly, getting ready to make my move.

"So she can just sting you over and over again without dying."

"It's a good thing I hate metaphors, or I'd be worried right now." I stand up and take off into the now-abandoned front door, with Amanda hot on my heels.

As she runs behind me through the winery, she calls out, "That was an analogy, not a metaphor!"

"Now, see? This is exactly why I'm against educating women." I skid to a stop in front of a tall, foreboding man wearing a clerical collar. Amanda crashes into me and looks at him in fear. "Give woman a fish, and she eats for a day. Teach her to think," he shrugs, smiling a little. "She starts wanting more fish than she's truly entitled to."

"Caleb," Amanda whispers so helpfully behind me.

"Thanks. I got that, actually."

He never breaks eye contact. "Now I believe you girls have come here to take what's not rightfully yours. The Lord, in all His infinite wisdom, laid some rules down long ago. One of them referring to not stealing. Yet here you be, seeking to take what don't belong to you, just like Eve in the garden."

"I never was much for Genesis," I retort. "Too many rules."

Caleb laughs like we're not standing in a life or death face-off, and it sends chills down my spine. "I took you for a Matthew fan, myself. 'Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself..' Seems to fit, being as you're the real Slayer's very own Judas, aren't you? Trying to make up for what's already done."

"What can I say? I'm an optimist." Amanda nudges my arm and glances behind him, where there's a hole torn in the concrete floor. He's standing directly in front of it, as if to shield it from our view. "What are you keeping in there, your altar boys?"

He frowns. "You hold your tongue when you speak to your betters, or I'll cut it out."

I open my mouth to respond, but I'm cut off when the melee from outside suddenly crashes through the side door, a tangle of girls and Spike, and two remaining Bringers exploding into the room. Caleb moves toward the fray and I run as fast as I can, jumping into the hole and hoping like hell that the bottom isn't too far away.

I hit the floor on my feet and look around quickly. About ten Bringers are working with tools, chopping away at a stone block into which a huge axe is wedged.

"Bingo," I breathe.

The Bringers look up, their eyeless faces seeming even eerier than before, and move towards me almost as one. "You guys wouldn't wanna attack me one at a time, would you?" I launch a kick at one of their heads as they rush me. "Didn't think so!"

Several weights behind me hit the ground and I keep my fingers crossed that it's the girls, and not more Bringers.

Everything becomes a blur of fists and weapons, and I get into the zone, fighting wildly. Hitting everything that moves and making my way slowly towards the axe. I try to ignore a few shrieks of pain behind me and focus on getting it so we can get out of here.

I grab the handle of the axe and in one motion lift it effortlessly out of the stone, clutch it tight, and swing it at the Bringers. I decapitate three of them without even trying before going after the others.

I finish them off and stand there, breathing heavily and glancing around. "Let's go!" I call up through the hole, but no response comes. Amanda, Kennedy, and Vi are bruised and bleeding a few feet away.

"What about the others?" Vi asks. She's nursing her left arm, which is twisted at such an incredibly angle that I can't even believe it's still attatched.

I point the axe at Kennedy and Amanda. "Boost me up. Hurry." They rush over and brace their hands against their knees, allowing me to step up, and then boost me back through the hole.

I scramble into the storage room and skid to a stop. Spike's laying unconscious in a huge puddle of what I hope is red wine. Caridad's mangled corpse is in the corner, and I look up in anger as Caleb tosses Rona's body aside.

I grip the handle tighter and move towards him. "I can't even believe how much I'm gonna kill you."

"'And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom..' And they will know the glory, every one of them. You can kill me," he pauses, laughing in that creepy way. "Well, you can try. But there are more, always will be. You can't defeat it. You can't even concieve of its power, little girl."

I move fast, swinging the axe and slicing his head clean off with an angry yell. I stand there for a few moments afterwards, breathing heavily and fighting back tears of guilt and exhaustion.

There's a hand on my shoulder, and I glance up to see Spike, his face bruised and cut. "You got what we came here for."

"Yeah," I respond softly, glancing at the bodies on the floor, and the scared girls climbing out of the floor in varying states of injury. "But at what cost?"

"Slayer does what a Slayer's gotta do. What no one else can," he says simply, reaching over to help Vi out.

I shoulder the axe and start out the door, the girls staggering behind me and Spike bringing up the rear. As soon as we're a few yards away, he stops and lights a cigarette. He flips his Zippo again and tosses it in the door of the vineyard, where it ignites the spilled wine immediately.

Silently, each lost in our own thoughts, we start home.

I shower quickly, standing under the hot water and scraping my nails over my skin until I feel slightly less dirty. If this is the kind of shit Buffy goes through all the time, making impossible choices that lead to people getting killed..

Well, I suddenly find myself a lot less jealous of her than I used to be.

I sigh heavily and turn off the shower, grabbing a towel and drying myself off. I bask in the quiet of the bathroom for a minute until I hear a commotion in the hallway that sounds an awful lot like a pissed-off Buffy.

I kick it into high gear, pulling on a clean change of clothes and bursting out of the bathroom into the hall, where Willow's trying to cajole Buffy into taking another dose. Buffy, however, is not even a little interested, and looks pretty pissed about it.

"Hey," I call out quietly. Buffy looks up and wrinkles her nose, slapping the bottle out of Willow's hand and hightailing it into her bedroom. I hold up my hand to stop Willow from following. "It's okay. I got it."

She frowns, getting that parental look on her face. "You need to get some sleep, Faith."

I shrug. "I'm a machine. I'll be fine."

"Even machines need to recharge! Or have its tank filled.. or something," she trails off as I go into Buffy's room.

"Find out about the Scythe!" I call to her, closing the door and turning to face Buffy, who's sitting on the floor next to the bed. "I'm getting pretty good at this being the boss thing."

I sit down on the bed, which I already know is a mistake. As soon as my ass hits the mattress, I feel like sinking into it and passing out completely. Buffy watches me quietly as I weave a little.

"I'm real sorry about the medicine, B." Maybe talking will keep me awake. "I just had some stuff to get done, yunno? And I didn't want you to be scared or hurt yourself or something. On the upside, you'll probably never sneeze again."

She tilts her head and taps my knee. "What?" She sighs with frustration and stands up, putting her hand on my shoulder and pushing me back onto the bed. "I'm gonna fall asleep, B.."

She growls a little and holds my chest against the bed until I stop resisting. "Gotta keep an eye on you, though. How do I know you're gonna stay here and not get into trouble?"

Buffy crawls onto the bed next to me and curls into a ball at my side, tucking her hands under her face and looking at me questioningly. I let out a sigh, giving in. "'Kay.. maybe just for a minute."

She shifts suddenly, resting her head on my shoulder and her hand on my chest protectively. This is definitely new, but it feels really nice. "I've never cuddled before, you know. Hope you're not gonna kick my ass for this later."

She watches me as I wrap my arm around her shoulders, placing my hand on her back. She's warm, and I relax a little under her. If this is what cuddling is, I've been missing out. I can feel her heartbeat very faintly, and the steady rhythm is comforting.

Buffy moves her hand down a little, resting her palm on my breast. I swallow hard, trying to ignore it, because it's totally innocent. But it's been a really long time since anybody's touched me, and it doesn't feel totally innocent.

I close my eyes, trying to relax again, when she starts moving her hand. Not a lot, but enough to get my mind focused on things that have nothing to with sleeping. "B," I whisper. "Please."

She lifts her head, inspecting my face, and traces her fingertips over my breast. I let out a soft moan, wanting to give in so bad it hurts. I let her touch me for a minute longer, trying to ignore the fact that she's staring at me like I'm a science project, then cup my hand over hers, stilling it.

She frowns, tilting her head. "It's not that I don't want it." She furrows her brows and moves her hand a little, rubbing her thumb over my nipple, and I arch my back a little. "Y-you don't even know how much I want it. I just.." I grip her hand harder, pulling it away reluctantly. "You're not you right now. And that's not how I want it."

I gently release her hand and she settles down again, sighing and closing her eyes.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. I don't even know if she really knows what she was doing, and I'll probably kick myself for stopping her later. Especially when we get her back to being herself, and I realize that this was the only shot I had with her. Maybe I'll change my mind then and decide it would have been worth it just to feel her touching me.

She lets out a little grunt and wraps her arm over my torso, and I sigh, closing my eyes.

Sleep comes quickly.

What could only be at most a few hours later, I'm startled out of my sleep by a banging on the door. I quickly disentangle myself from Buffy, who curls up again, never waking up. I pull it open and Dawn's standing there wide-eyed.

"We figured it out."

"And you really think that'll work?" I ask Willow, staring at her hard.

She nods. "If I can work the mojo, that is. And.. it's a-a lot of mojo."

"You can do it," Kennedy says firmly.

I glance up from the papers at Giles. "Giles? What are you thinking?"

He takes his glasses off and rubs his temple. "In the interest of full disclosure, I think it's bloody brilliant."

I glance around at everyone in the room. The Potentials all have hope on their faces, a completely unfamiliar sight these days. Willow looks nervous but determined, Spike's just nodding with approval, and Andrew has a dreamy look on his face.

"It's the most touching thing I've ever heard," he croons. "Creating a whole new race of empowered females. Little girls growing up knowing they have a purpose and a place in the world, knowing they're a part of something greater than themselves."

I actually smile. He's corny, but he's right. This is more than just changing Buffy back, or winning an impossible fight. This is changing the world. Hopefully, for the better.

"Okay," I nod. "We're doing it. Tomorrow, we go to the school and open the seal. Kennedy, you're with me, Buffy, and Willow in the office. If everything goes right, you'll need to make sure Willow's okay."

Spike raises a finger in the air. "Just one question. Got a bunch of school girls and a ragtag group of would-be heroes heading into hell itself. Shouldn't there be at least one qualified Slayer leading the pack?"

Willow shakes her head. "I need Buffy for the spell. I'll have to draw on the extra energy she's got and spread it around to the others using the axe as a catalyst. I can't do that if Faith's not with her."

"Why's that?"

"She's the Guardian. She's been charged with protecting Buffy. If I try to siphon the essence the Shadowmen imbued her with, without the Guardian present, it'll be seen as an attack. It won't work, and there could be some really bad consequences. Like Buffy going insane and killing us all."

"Right," Spike looks sufficiently nervous. "Don't want that."

"Definitely not," Willow agrees.

"Everyone get some sleep tonight. You're gonna need it. We leave at dawn."

"I know why they chose you."

I open one eye from the amazingly comfortable bed I've settled into at the Hyperion, intending to sleep for about a week now that the First is squashed. Buffy's standing in the doorway, looking cleaner that she's been in a week, and more relaxed than I've ever seen her. "What?"

"The Shadowmen. I know why they chose you to be the Guardian." She crosses her arms, nudging the door shut with her foot.

"Yeah? Why's that?" I prop myself up a little on the pillow, not quite sitting up.

Her eyes scan over me slowly, as though she's trying to figure something out. "You'd die for me," she says softly, moving her gaze to my eyes. Daring me to lie.

I shrug instead. "So?"

"So, nothing," she says, her voice a little louder. She's starting to look pissed.

I let out a groan. "B, if you want to fight.. that's fine. But can we do it after I get some sleep? I'm so exhausted I might actually cry right now. So can we just talk about it later?"

"No," she says simply, grabbing an armchair and dragging it over. She sits in it, facing me, and leans forward. "I want to know why."

"Why what?"

"Why, suddenly, after years of trying to kill me, you would give your life for me."

That tears it. I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed, staring her down. "I have never tried to kill you! Never!"

"Bullshit," she spits.

"It's not," I snap defensively. "I never did. I did a lot of shitty things to you, but I never, ever tried to kill you. I shot Angel, yeah. I slept with Riley, and I held a knife to Red's throat. But I never tried to kill you."

"You took my body and handed me over to the cops," she cries shrilly. "And by extension, the council. Who would have killed me if I hadn't gotten away!"

I lower my voice, because she's not wrong. "I didn't know it would go down that way. I really didn't. I never would have.." I shake my head, looking away. "I wouldn't have let them cart you away if I knew they were going to kill you."

Buffy sits quietly for a minute, looking at me. "I wouldn't have either. I hope you know that. I wanted to help you. Not kill you."

I nod, looking down at my lap. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." She shifts a little, and looks like she's debating with herself. "I remember everything that happened. I-I thought you should know that."

I swallow hard, my gulp almost audible. "Everything, huh?"

"Yeah," she says softly. "You.. did a lot for me. I'm grateful."

I shrug a little, blushing. "It's.. nothing. It was my job, you know?"

"It wasn't a job and we both know it. Don't play stupid, Faith."

"Why not? I'm good at it." I offer her a grin.

"God," she cries, tossing her hands in the air as she stands up and moves towards the door. "Why did I think you could have a real conversation? Can't you be serious and honest at the same time, even for just a few minutes?"

"I'm sorry," I say quickly, also standing. "I mean it. I'm just really tired and punchy. Come back. Please?"

She sighs heavily and comes back over, sitting on the bed. I sit again as well and turn a little so we're facing each other.

"Look.. no matter what's happened in the past between us, at the end of the day.. I care about you. All that shit I pulled.. it wasn't because I hated you or something. I was so.. I don't know. Scared, and angry. Not at you, just.. at the world in general. You just ended up getting the brunt of it.

"They chose me to be the Guardian because they knew.. I don't know how, but they did.. that I'd die before I let someone hurt you. And--and about what happened, it's really not a big deal."

"It is a big deal. You could've.. taken advantage of me."

I let out a sigh and stare down at my lap, picking at my cuticles nervously. "The thought crossed my mind, I won't lie. But I couldn't. It wouldn't have been you, anyway. You weren't all there. You couldn't have possibly understood what it meant to me, yunno?"

"Hey, Faith?"

"I hope.. all this doesn't make things weird between us. Any weirder than they were before, anyway."

"Faith."

"I'm not gonna be hitting on you or something, just cause I feel the way I do about you. I mean, a person can't help if they love someone, even if they don't want to. Or if the person doesn't want them to."

"Faith!"

"What?" I look up at her, biting my bottom lip nervously.

"I love you, too." She stares back at me expectantly. I open and close my mouth a few times, not really knowing what to do with that information.

"Kiss me, you idiot." I stare at her dumbly, and she leans closer, whispering. "Now would be nice."

I lick my lips quickly and lean in as well, kissing her softly. She sighs and wraps her arm loosely around my neck, and I rest my hands on her sides. We kiss slowly, not deepening it, and it's even better than it was every time I pictured it in my head.

She breaks it gently, resting her forehead against mine. "Okay?" she whispers. I nod quickly, and so does she. "Okay. Good." She pauses. "Can we promise to try not to hurt each other so much this time around?"

"I promise."

"Me, too." And with that she moves, swinging one leg over both of mine and sitting on my lap.

I tilt my head up, kissing her again, deeper this time, and slide my tongue into her mouth. She moans softly, pushing me back on the bed, and stretches her body out along mine.

After a minute, she breaks the kiss again, smiling at me.

I smile back, my lips already kiss-swollen. "What are you grinning about?"

She shrugs. "You."

I laugh lightly, rubbing her side lazily. "You feel even better than I imagined."

"You, too," she whispers, cupping her hand over my breast.

I shiver beneath her, sliding my hands over her body. "That feels better, too.. It's official.. I like real Buffy a lot more than cave Buffy.."

Buffy smirks and leans over, nipping my earlobe playfully before whispering. "Fuck?"

I laugh again and grab her hips, flipping her over. "Definitely."

And we did.

The End