"It, uh, could've been worse." Damn. That sounded so lame, I almost bit my own tongue off trying to push it out. I glanced over at Buffy who was still frozen to the spot, her eyes fixed on the car, or what was left of it. If there was a vehicular heaven, her dad's sweet ride was definitely there right now. The hubcabs were gone. So were the wheels, the radio, the doors, the hood, the engine. The only thing left that hadn't been pried off was the license plate which had been how the police were able to identify it in the first place. Even the damn hood ornament was gone. What pathetic fuck would take a hood ornament anyway?

"Faith?" I looked over at her again, grimacing at the hollow tone of her voice. "Please tell me this is some awful nightmare and that I'm going to wake up any minute."

I gave her a sympathetic look but kept my mouth shut. She closed her eyes and groaned low in her throat. That's when I happened to catch the deskjock cop behind her checking out her ass. I gave him a hard look once his eyes dipped back up and I moved closer to Buffy, wrapping an arm around her waist, giving him a silent warning that he'd better not do anything more than look. Buffy rested her head on my shoulder then turned her face, nuzzling into my neck as if searching for comfort.

"C'mon. Let's get out of here," I said, rubbing a hand soothingly across her back. She nodded her head and we followed the cop back upstairs where we were supposed to fill out some paperwork. "I'll be right back," I said, letting her take care of that as I wandered a couple of doors away where I thought I'd seen a soda machine. Instead of finding a coke though, I came face to ratfink face with a sleazebag that I thought I'd seen the last of two years ago.

He sat on a wooden bench and if you didn't know better, you'd think he was lounging in the park, enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon by how relaxed he looked. The handcuffs kinda burst the bubble to that illusion though. He had on a black leather jacket, dusty black jeans, and a white turning to gray T-shirt --- all well-worn, all making him look like the perfect image of a wannabe James Dean. He'd filled out some since the last time I'd seen him, his hair a little shaggier, a five o'clock shadow showing around his jaw, and his eyes still the same electric blue that'd made me fall for him when I was younger and dumber.

"Faith," he said, a smile starting to spread across his face as he cocked his head to the side to look up at me. "Long time no see, baby."

"Fuck you, asshole," I snarled back. It only made his smile wider. I knew it would.

"What's with the grouchy greeting? You act like I killed your old man or something. Don't you remember the good times me and you had?"

My hands fisted at my sides, wanting to punch a hole in the smug bastard's face. "The only thing I remember is that you tried to pimp me out to your friends, Troy. I'm not that stupid little girl who followed you around like a dog anymore. I'm not your fucking whore, you sick shit."

"Faith?" I looked down the hall and saw Buffy walking towards us, a concerned expression on her face.

"Who's the schoolgirl? I bet she's a wild one in bed." I turned and lifted him up by the front of his collar. I saw the fear the instant it entered his eyes and grinned, enjoying it, enjoying the power.

"I'll cut off your fucking dick and stuff it down your throat if you come near me or her," I hissed in his ear, making sure that my voice was low enough so that only he would hear me. I shoved him back down, hard enough to make him smack the back of his head against the concrete wall. Walking towards Buffy and cutting her off with a hard look before she could ask, I took her arm and led her back to the front of the station. When we were outside, she stopped, refusing to move. She remained silent until I finally looked up at her. I was dreading the words coming out of her mouth before she even said them.

"Faith, who was he?"

I blew out a frustrated breath, breaking into a half grimace, half grin. Of course she'd want to know. "A prick," I said, looking her in the eye and making sure she knew I was dead serious about that.

"Faith..."

I rubbed a hand across my face. "What do you want me to say, B? He's a fucking asshole who I thought I was in love with before I grew a brain." I shook my head, still not believing how gullible I'd been, falling for a creep like him. "Can we not talk about him please? He was a bad mistake and talking about him makes me sick." I took her hand, silently pleading that she'd give me a little room on the subject.

"Sure. It's just that..." Her eyes wandered back to the police station and then back to me again. "He's forgotten," she simply said. Just like that. Forgotten. I wish I could forget so easily.

I reached out a hand, brushing back a lock of blond hair that'd fallen across her face and cupped her cheek in my palm. She stepped into me, wrapping me up in a tight hug while my own arms automatically folded around her. But I couldn't get him out of my mind, couldn't burn his face from my brain. And thinking about him while I was with Buffy made me feel so dirty that I broke away from the comfort she offered because I didn't ever want to feel that way with her.

"So you got the paperwork filled out?" I mumbled, looking away so she couldn't see the disgust in my eyes.

"Yeah." She cleared her throat. The kind where you don't really need to but you do it anyway because it was too uncomfortable not to. "Starting now, I have less than a day before facing the firing squad," she said with a wry grin.

"Will you feel better if I buy you lunch?"

"One last meal?" She grinned, genuinely this time. "Wouldn't miss it."

We started walking down the street. It was only after a couple of steps that our hands seemed to naturally find each other, our fingers tangling, twining. We spent the rest of the afternoon pretending that everything was all right. Buffy pretended like she wasn't about to be grounded for the rest of her life and I pretended like I'd never met Troy. Easier said than done but we managed. I think we did pretty well too. Had some fun, had some laughs...what more could you ask for?

Oh right.

As soon as we walked into the house and closed the door behind us, I looped an arm around Buffy's waist, pulling her back and hugging her from behind. Now it was perfect.

She let out a sigh and relaxed into my chest. "I wish we could stay like this forever," she whispered, tipping her head back to rest against my shoulder.

"Who says we won't?" I brushed my lips down the span of her neck, feeling the flutter of her pulse.

"No one --- but no one knows yet either."

I stopped, suddenly getting a nervous sensation in the pit of my stomach. "Is that a problem?" I tried making the question sound like it was no big deal but it sounded strained anyway.

She didn't say anything for a long moment. "I thought...I don't know." She shook her head. "Don't you want them to know about us?"

I turned her around cause I wanted to see her. I wanted to know exactly what she was thinking. The truth was, I hadn't really thought about it until she'd bought it up. Hadn't had the the time. But there wasn't that much to think about when you came right down to it. "This is between you and me, B. If people know about us, that's fine. If they don't, that's fine too cause the only thing that matters is what we feel for each other."

"But my mom, Giles, Willow..."

"What about them?" I was starting to get irritated now. "How come it always comes down to what other people think? Who gives a flying fuck? Life's too damn short for all this crap. You should know that more than anyone."

"What are you saying? You just want to ignore it?"

I gave her a look like 'why not'?

"It doesn't work that way, Faith. These people are our families, our friends. They're not strangers."

I walked away, her words fading or maybe she just stopped talking. Didn't really matter. I walked into the kitchen, reaching into the fridge to get some OJ.

"What is this about anyway?" I asked after taking a big gulp, knowing she had followed me in, knowing she was right behind me. "You want them to know? Fine, we'll tell them. We'll do whatever you want. Will that make you happy?"

"Why are you so mad?" She asked in a soft voice.

All the breath was knocked out of me then. No more anger or irritation in the face of one simple question asked by someone who I never wanted to upset. "I'm not mad," I said just as softly, turning around and putting down the carton of juice near the sink. "I guess I just don't want to think about it cause I already know how they're going to take the news. I'm sorry, B. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"What do you mean you know? Faith, what do you think's going to happen?"

I smirked, leaning back against the counter. "I can see it now, B. Everybody would freak out. Then after the yelling and the same questions being asked over and over, they'll say it's all a phase --- something you'll grow out of. Oh, but hey, then they'll start to realize this isn't a phase for skanky little Faith. She's just fucked up like that. Shoulda seen it from the start, really. What were we thinking? And who ends up getting her ass shipped off and labeled a 'problem'? Give ya one guess."

"That's not going to happen."

I smiled, mostly at how much I wanted to believe her but I had more experience in the shit hitting the fan than she did. "Only thing different this time around is that I'm gonna hate it. I'm gonna hate leaving." Even thinking about leaving Buffy put a sharp pain in my chest like someone was squeezing my heart. This was a new experience for me and not one I was liking all that much.

"You're not going to leave, Faith," she said again with an urgent intensity burning in her eyes and taking my hands in a strong grip.

"How do you know that?" I almost begged her to tell me something, even if some part of my brain screamed at me that she was going to tell me nothing but lies.

"I know it because I love you. I never knew I could feel like this about *anyone*. It's feels like I'm burning up every time I'm with you. Like I'm one of those shooting stars that blaze up in the sky. And when I'm not with you, all I can think about is the time when I can be with you again." She smiled, cocking her head to look at me like I was something precious, something beautiful. "I don't care if everybody disapproves. Where you go, I go."

I swallowed hard at her words, along with the look in her eyes which told me I could trust her. "I don't think that's a promise you're ready to make, B."

She leaned in, pressing her lips to mine. "Let me be the judge of that, Faith."

****

"I think maybe you should sit down for this, dad." He looked over at me with a wary expression on his face as if he were expecting to be hit but just didn't know when it was coming. His suitcase wasn't even unpacked yet, he'd walked in the door not five minutes ago and now he was being asked to sit down...I didn't know whether to feel more for him or for me for having to tell him.

"Honey, is something wrong?" He asked, taking a seat on the recliner and loosening the knot on his tie.

I took a deep breath, getting ready to spill everything but before I could get a word in, Faith stepped from behind me and started talking. At first, I didn't even know what she was saying but then it became too clear.

"I'm sorry Mr. Summers," Faith said. "Your car got stolen and stripped because I wouldn't listen to Buffy and I took it out for a drive two nights ago. She tried to stop me but I was acting stupid. I reported it to the cops and they found it the next day but everything valuable on it was gone."

"Faith, what are you doing?" I hissed, taking a hold of her arm. But she wouldn't even look at me.

"B, stop," she said, her eyes downcast. "Stop trying to cover for me. This is all my fault and I'm not going to let you lie for me. Not this time."

"No, dad. This isn't...that isn't what happened." Dad wiped a hand across his eyes like he was really tired. "Dad."

"This isn't the first thing I wanted to hear when I walked through the door," he said, running a hand though his hair in a weary sign of exactly how tired he was feeling. "Look, Faith. I don't really know you as well as Joyce or Buffy might but this still comes as a...complete surprise to me. I'm sure you thought you had a very good reason to do this but for the life of me, I can't deal with this right now." He stood up, barely glancing at either one of us. "I'm going to call Joyce. Maybe it would be better if..." He let out a sigh and started up the stairs, snagging his suitcase on the way. And I heard him mutter something about hoping his insurance covered it but that wasn't what I was focusing on anymore.

"Why did you do that?" I asked, spinning Faith around so we were finally facing each other.

Her eyes were still focused somewhere off to my right. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Faith, stop joking about it. I'm being serious here."

"So am I, B," she said, her eyes coming up to flick across my face. "But I won't let you take the heat for this one."

"You planned it all along?"

She smirked. "Trust me. I'm used to being seen as a screw up but you're not. This is nothing to me, B." When I tried to object again, she quickly placed a finger across my lips. "It's done. Hey, but at least this vacation wasn't a total waste." She grinned happily at me as if every problem revolving around us was nothing but smoke, inconsequential and weightless.

"No, it wasn't," I agreed, feeling myself getting lost in her liquid brown eyes. Those same eyes turned and looked upstairs and when they were sure my dad was no where in sight, Faith brushed her lips across mine in a tender gesture that made me realize again the depth of her feelings towards me. Nobody saw this side of her except me and I suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to protect this sweet, vulnerable girl in front of me who, to the rest of the world, might as well have never existed.

My dad came down a couple of minutes later and basically told us to pack our bags because we were going back to Sunnydale in the morning. He told me I could stay if I wanted but there was no way I would, not without Faith.

"I understand, Buffy," he said, giving me a weary grin. "I do but I just wish this trip could have turned out differently."

"Me too, dad."

We made promises to 'do it again sometime' but the words all sounded hollow. Not entirely lies but not entirely the truth either. I didn't want to leave like this. Before I'd even come to LA, I had the whole summer planned out but nothing had gone according to plan. We were supposed to spend time together, have fun. Instead, we'd barely spent a whole day in each other's company and the vacation was being aborted not even halfway through. But Faith was right. It hadn't been a total waste because she and I had finally admitted how we felt about each other. And, so what if it'd taken a ton of liquor, the aftereffects of a near death experience and a stolen car for it to happen? The important thing was that it had happened.

All of my clothes had been neatly packed away when there was a soft knock on my door and after a moment, Faith poked her head in.

"Hey, all packed?" She asked, looking over at my suitcases.

"Yep. Everything in its right place and all that."

"Cool." She sat down on the edge of my bed and I immediately went over, sitting across her lap as she loosely wrapped me up in her arms. "B, you know your mom better than anyone, right? What do you think she'll be like on the punishment front?"

"The worse thing I've ever done was burn down the gym and you know what she did after that."

"Yeah, that reminds me. Aren't you *still* grounded?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow.

I leveled a stare at her and muttered, "I'd rather not think about it, thanks." She gave me an apologetic grin. "But are you sure about this Faith? You can still tell them the truth..."

"No, B. Don't worry about it. I'll be fine." Her words were supposed to comfort me and I did feel relieved which only made me feel more guilty than I already did. She was taking the rap for me...which sounds funny even when I say it in my own head. But the point was, she was going to get punished for something I did. "Hey," she said softly, touching my cheek with the tips of her fingers. "You all right? You got a spaced out expression there."

"I was just wondering how Willow and Xander were enjoying their vacations," I said, not voicing what I was really thinking. Faith just smiled at me and said nothing.

At an ungodly hour the next morning, the alarm clock sounded and after a quick and awkward good-bye to my dad, Faith and I boarded a cab to the bus station. We actually got there right on time so we didn't have to sit around and wait which was great because otherwise, I think we would have fallen asleep on the benches and missed the bus. As it was, we fell asleep *on* the bus and I didn't wake up until we were just entering Sunnydale. My head was pillowed on Faith's shoulder and even through the dirty windows, I could see it was going to be a great day, weatherwise anyway.

"Faith," I muttered, nudging her gently in the stomach. "Faith, we're almost there." She moaned but other than that, didn't react. I sighed and rested my head back on her shoulder since it didn't seem like she was going to wake up until she felt like it. On the short way over to the bus depot, I had time to think and brood over the fact that when we got back home, we couldn't be as physical with each other as we'd gotten used to anymore. It was almost as if my body was naturally attracted to Faith and sometimes, I found my hands wandering to places where, if my mom were to see, she'd definitely have a few questions about.

Faith was still leery about what would happen if we were to come out about our relationship and I had to agree that right now wouldn't be the very best time to do so. But I wanted to touch her, I wanted to kiss her, I wanted everyone to know that I loved her because she was my girlfriend and not being able to do that was going to be pure hell.

When we climbed off the bus fifteen minutes later, mom was already there waiting for us with a stony expression on her face. I knew it was bad then. Whenever she was very upset like I knew she'd be now, she would get that cool, intense look on her face. It was like the calm before the storm and I flinched just thinking about how much destruction and damage the storm would bring this time around. She waited for us to get the bags but didn't say a word to us in the meantime.

As soon as we got back to the house, mom said, "Buffy, why don't you go unpack. I'd like to talk to Faith alone."

"But mom --" She cut me off with a look that could've given Medusa a run for her money. I caught Faith's eye, trying to give her some level of comfort. She gave me a wan smile back before I got my stuff and climbed up the stairs as slowly as I could possibly get away with. But I still couldn't catch any of the conversation that went on between them. Several times as I was pacing back and forth in my room, I felt like running downstairs and telling my mom that I was the one that lost the car.

Around the two hundredth time I'd walked across my room, I heard the muffled sound of footsteps coming up the stairs and then the door to Faith's room opening and closing. At least it was over now. I opened up my door, torn between seeing Faith right away and going downstairs to see mom. But it was probably a good idea to give Faith some time alone for a little while at least so I went downstairs. Mom was sitting on the couch, her head in her hands.

"Mom?"

One eye peeked out and then her head rose as she gave me a tired rendition of a smile. "Buffy, what is it?"

"You all right?" I moved closer.

She shrugged and rubbed two fingers across that spot on her right temple which, to me, always indicated that she was near the end of her rope. "Buffy...Faith told me what happened. I think she was trying to do it in as few words as possible." She pinned me with that patented gaze that I think all mothers learn, designed specifically to extract information by exploiting mountains of guilt built up since childhood. "Now, I want to hear it from you."

If I lied now, not only would I be lying to my mother but in some way, I'd be betraying Faith too although it was essentially her idea to begin with. This was just too unbelievably 'fucked up' as Faith would say. "There's not really much to say," I mumbled, unable to meet her eyes. "I'm sure you got pretty much the whole version from Faith."

She didn't say anything in answer to my response and I risked looking up to find that she had a faraway expression on her face. "Mom?" I called out softly, not all that enthusiastic about breaking her away from whatever trance she was in. When I got her attention back again, I began pleading Faith's case. "I know she's sorry for what she's done. Please don't be too hard on her."

She nodded but wouldn't say anything more on the subject. Instead, she suggested rather pointedly that I go back to my room until she called us down for lunch and, by then, I was more than ready to run. When I reached the top of the stairs, the thought of going into my own room seemed as distasteful a thought as eating lunch. Instead, I walked right into Faith's bedroom and couldn't help the little grin that popped onto my face as I saw her sprawled on her bed. And, somehow, even in that utterly relaxed position, she still managed to look sexy as hell.

****

Hard as it is to believe, being grounded wasn't something I was used to. For one thing, before I got adopted, nobody really cared what I did as long as I kept them in the dark about it. I think we all bought into that whole philosophy about ignorance being bliss. But now, that was all out the window cause I had people who actually thought that what I did with my life was important and worth knowing. So being grounded wasn't too bad. Just really boring cause, basically, I wasn't allowed to do shit.

We'd been back for two weeks and I'd been cooped up for each and every one of those fourteen days. Shit but that tends to wear on you especially when there's nothing good to see on TV besides some goofy ass soap opera. Even Jerry Springer was starting to get retarded. I mean, you'd think the guests would use that one brain they share between them and figure out that they're acting like total white trash whores which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't act so surprised every time their girlfriend/boyfriend/whatever told them they were sleeping with their best friend(s)/relative/hooker.

And because I was grounded, I couldn't just go out and find the fun whenever the hell I felt like it. I'd barely even seen Xander and Willow since I got back which sucked big cause I kinda missed them. Not like I'd ever say it though cause I'm what most people would call emotionally fucked up. And it was getting real tired pushing Buffy to go out with them instead of spending all her free time cooped up in the house with me. It wasn't like I didn't want her around. It was just that I didn't want her sharing the punishment with me when she didn't have to. It made me feel guilty and I hated feeling guilty.

Cause if I really wanted to, I could've gone out. It wasn't like mom was there to check up on me every minute of every day to make sure that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. But there was that guilt thing again, making me stay the line --- even I didn't believe it sometimes. When had I become responsible? You'd think I would've noticed the change especially since it was me doing all the changing.

Anyway, the only times I went out was for a jog in the morning and an occasional patrol at night. I'd convinced myself it was all business but the truth was, not only was killing vamps my sacred duty as a Slayer but it was fun too. Added bonus if you ask me. It's kinda like a power rush. You're holding someone's life in your hands and you can either let them go or kill them and since they're evil, not much of a brain teaser there y'know. I keep telling myself it's not supposed to be so much fun cause it's life and death, either mine or theirs but shit...I guess I just like my job. At least I ain't gonna be one of those disgruntled workers you read about who go to work and shoot up their co-workers cause they feel that's the only way to get on the 11 o'clock news. Not like I have a lot of coworkers to begin with cause it's all Buffy. Always will be if I have anything to do with it.

I shook myself out of the rambling daydream. Damn but I've been having them way too often since coming back to Sunny D. There's just something about this town that makes me want to retreat into my mind and not come out until next year. Thankfully, I hear the lock turning on the front door and I know that Buffy's home and at least, I'll have someone to share the boredom with.

"Faith?"

"In here," I respond, smiling as I see her coming into view at the entrance of the living room. But before she can even come in, there's a loud knock on the front door. She turns to me with a quizzical expression on her face and turns right back around to answer it. A minute later, she comes back with two people following behind her. It was a woman and a man but my attention wasn't so much on the guy as riveted on this woman who looked so fucking familiar that it sucked the breath right out of me like some goddamn vacuum cleaner had been turned on in my chest. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a long ponytail. Her face was lightly made up but still beautiful in an exotic sort of way which still showed through despite the little wrinkles and crow's feet she was getting.

"Faith?" It comes out half question, half exclamation. This stranger, looking at me with these big brown eyes and a tentative smile starts taking baby steps towards me and then her bottom lip starts quivering and the next thing you know she's bawling her eyes out, grabbing me and using me like a giant handkerchief as she buries her face in my chest. I look over the top of her head at Buffy, barely able to stop from freaking out. Then I hear the woman muttering something and it finally gets through to my brain that what she's saying over and over again was "My baby." Whose baby? What baby? I'm the baby?

She finally pulls away enough to hold my face in between her hands, staring at me with tears streaking down her cheeks. And all I can do is stare blankly back.

"You--you don't know who I am," she almost whispers, her right hand gently brushing my hair back. Her eyes start to cloud over again as more tears leak out.

"Should I?" I take her hands in mine and push them away. This was really starting to freak me out. A complete fucking stranger was crying in my arms and she looked like she hadn't even begun to tap the waterworks. I look over at Buffy again but she was just standing there with her eyes darting back and forth between me and the woman. "B," I say, snapping my fingers and carefully trying to move away without making any sudden movements. But I couldn't even get a foot away before the woman pulls me back, looking at me with such intensity that I almost couldn't meet her eyes. That's when Buffy walks next to me, resting her hand on my arm. The woman standing in front of me doesn't even seem to notice as her eyes search mine...for what, I'm not sure.

"Faith," she says again. "Faith, it's me...your mother."

I suck down a deep breath, trying to fight down the nausea that's already turning my stomach around. I look at her looking at me and all I can do is push her away as hard as I can. She would've fallen, maybe even hurt herself if the man behind her hadn't caught her.

"Faith ---" she starts to say again, a stunned expression on her face.

"You're not my mother!" I shouted, hearing the blood thrumming in my ears. "My mother is dead so unless you're a fucking ghost, you're not her!"

She looked like she was going to cry again but instead she suddenly got this hard look in her eyes and it was almost like I was staring at a different person. It threw me for a second and then I didn't have time to think about it as she started speaking again, this time in a measured, even tone of voice. "That's a lie. You've been told lies all your life but I'm standing right here in front of you. I know you remember me, Faith. I saw it the moment I walked into this room." She paused, probably waiting for me to say something but I couldn't. I didn't know what to say. My brain was running in circles trying to catch its own tail.

The man behind her then stepped forward with a supposedly reassuring smile plastered on his skeezy mug. "I'm sure this is all a lot to absorb coming as it is but there's really no other way around it." I eyed him, in his thousand dollar suit, perfectly cut sandy hair, and fake sympathetic expression which screamed 'trust me' and I knew he was a lawyer --- a good one by the looks of it. "Sara really is your mother. If you want proof, we can get you birth certificates, social security cards, pictures of the two of you together with your father..." He quirked an eyebrow, studying me like I was some sort of puzzle. "There's really no doubt about it. The physical appearance itself is startling to say the least."

"No." I shake my head. "This can't be true." But the words coming out of my mouth sound hollow to my ears.

She steps up to me and her expression softens again. "But it is," she says and almost makes as if to touch me again but I step backwards, nearly bumping into the couch. "Faith, my little baby." And she starts choking up, her hand wiping away the wetness from her cheeks. "I never wanted to leave you...I'm so sorry baby."

"Wh--what do you want?" Buffy asks. It's almost like she doesn't even realize she's doing it but she's putting herself between me and them.

My mother or whoever the crazy fuck was peels her eyes away from me, giving Buffy a quick look. But before she can say anything, smarmy lawyer guy smoothly cuts in. "We should really sit down and talk about this, preferably over some coffee. It's really a pretty long story. I know this must come as a shock to you, Faith but I think you'd want to hear it."

I don't remember if I actually said yes to his idea but before I knew it, we were all sitting in the living room with assorted drinks in front of us like some perverted dream of a Norman Rockwell painting. I was on the recliner and Buffy sat on the arm, lending me support by just being close by. The other two were on the sofa. We'd been sitting like that for a couple of minutes. The only sounds around the house were the soft ticking of the clock and an occasional sip being taken. When that...woman, Sara finally started talking, I almost dropped the can of coke in my hand cause my nerves were pulled so tight, I was on the edge of snapping.

"I was seventeen when I had you." Her head was down, staring into the coffee mug which she had a death grip on. "I met your father and..." She shrugged in weary acceptance. "We fell in love. He was so different from anyone else I'd met in my life --- so attentive, so loving, full of enthusiasm for life." I couldn't help smiling at the memory of my father. To me, he was all that and much more. Nothing could ever take those memories from me. "But as much as I loved him, I hated what he turned out to be. It started out small. Just a little betting on the side during the weekends on the games. Small time stuff --- 10, 20 dollars. Then it became a hundred dollars, two, three. Then he started spending more money than we had, more money than we could have made in a year, five years. But by the time I began noticing, it was too late."

"Yeah, he died," I interrupted harshly. I didn't need her telling me about that cause I'd lived through it. Still did every fucking night. "Now why don't you turn your Mother Goose storytelling ways onto why you disappeared. If you didn't die, why did you abandon me?" The last two words came out about as hard as I'd felt during all those times when I got teased for being an orphan, having absolutely nobody in the world I could call my blood.

"I didn't," she says, her bottom lip quivering. I give her a smirk that showed her exactly what I thought about it but she didn't miss a beat. "I had a mental breakdown. After I lost your father, I was left all alone with a small child. There was no money, I had debts to pay off, I didn't even have a job...I couldn't cope anymore. When one of those men forced his way into the house demanding his money, I had no choice. If I didn't stop him, he would've killed me. I don't remember what happened after that but they say I killed him and they sent me to this hospital. Whenever I asked them about you, they wouldn't tell me anything."

"Sara's rights as a mother were stomped on," Lawyer guy added, taking her hand in a pseudo-empathetic way. "And when they finally let her out, she was coldly informed that her daughter has been under the misconception that she's been dead all these years."

"And who the hell are you and what do you have to do with any of this?" I narrowed my eyes at him, fed up with his greasy attitude.

"Faith, this is Howard," Sara butts in. "He helped me find you. Actually..." A wide smile began spreading across her face, the first genuinely happy smile I'd seen her give since she'd walked through the door. "That's the other big shock I've got for you."

I quirked an eyebrow at her and murmured, "Like this wasn't enough of a shocker. Well, don't keep me waiting 'mom'. Let's hear your uber sedative-worthy news."

Her smile falters only slightly before she forges ahead like I hadn't said anything. "I've met someone and we're going to get married." She paused dramatically, probably to let the news sink its claws into my brain.

"Congratulations," I said in a deadpan monotone.

"You're going to be very happy living with us from now on. I promise you, Faith, I'll make everything up to you."

"Wait. Hold the fuck up!" I jump up and so does Buffy. "Please tell me I didn't hear you right. Live with you? What are you still brain dead? Did I say I wanted to live with you? Hell, up till today, I didn't even know you were still alive and anyway, I've got a family already. I don't want to go anywhere with you."

Her whole face falls but her voice as she continues to speak is rock steady. "You're my baby, Faith. Even though you might not believe it now, I'm doing what's best for you and us being together is what's best for you. We're going to be a family again, Faith...a family." The light blazing in her eyes makes me wonder if those guys in white labcoats didn't let her out too early.

****

This wasn't fair.

It was the total opposite definition of fair and if I wasn't so angry right now, I'd dredge up the word from my brain and say it out loud. "They can't make you do this," I said to Faith's back as I paced back and forth across the width of her room.

"It's already done," came the soft response.

"Would you please stop packing?" I asked, stopping in the middle of the room in a huff.

"I could but what's the point?"

I went over to her and forcibly took the shirt she was folding from her hands. "I can't believe you're just going. You sound like you've given up."

She looked at me for a couple of seconds, just looked at me with an unbearably sad expression in her eyes. I had a momentary glimpse of exactly what this was doing to her and I hated myself for making it any worse than it already was by bitching about something that neither one of us could change. Half worked out thoughts of running away had been discussed almost desperately throughout the last two days as we laid together in bed during the night but it was clear. There was nothing we could do. We were the Slayers, two of the most powerful women on the face of the earth and there was nothing we could do against the legal system.

"B," Faith said, calling my attention back. She ran her fingers lightly down my cheek, stopping briefly to trace my bottom lip with her thumb before turning back to the bag on her bed.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, hugging her side to my chest and resting my head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know how hard this must be for you." I heard her letting out a small sigh. "I just love you so much and the thought of us not being together..." I stuttered over the last couple of words. 'Not being together'. I couldn't even imagine it without feeling my heart constrict painfully.

"How old am I, B?"

My head rose up at the unexpected question. "What? You're sixteen."

"Right, and I'll be seventeen in a couple more days. After that it's only another year before I'm eighteen."

"And they can't tell you what to do anymore," I said, finally realizing what she was trying to tell me.

"That's the plan." She turned around in my arms and wrapped her own over my shoulders. "Look, B. There's nothing else we can get away with. Believe me, if there was anything, I'd have done it by now. I don't want to leave you, B. But --"

"I know," I said. "I know."

"So you think you can wait for a year?" Her expression told me I didn't have to. That she wouldn't hold it against me if a year was too long a time for me to wait for her to come back. But it was about time I set her straight about what I thought about that particular option.

"If I had to, I'd wait forever."

She smiled almost shyly as if she couldn't quite bring herself to believe what I said but then eventually, she seemed to accept it and leaning in, she brought her lips to mine and kissed me. It was a desperate kiss, one that was shared by two people who knew their time together was slowly ticking away. But underneath all that, there was always the promise, the hope that there would be an 'us' somehow or another. And it was that which I sought now, almost frantically in my haste.

She let me take control. Allowed me to touch her wherever I wanted and when she pulled away, I saw that she had her eyes screwed tightly shut. I placed feather light kisses across her lips which were a bit swollen from our previous go. Eventually, she opened her eyes which were watery and so full of pain that I ached to put an end to it. She turned away without another word, going back to packing her bag which was almost full already.

"You mind if I just leave the trophy here?" She asked, pulling the zipper closed. "It's kinda too much hardware to be lugging around. And, anyway, I'll be back soon." I almost lost it right there, my eyes straying to the trophy sitting on the floor which Faith had won a couple of months ago from her first meet. "It'll be all right, B," she said, picking up the bag from her bed and walking towards the door. "See me out?" She gave me a weak smile, her hand poised on the doorknob.

We walked downstairs and the mood between us was almost like we were in mourning. Maybe we were. It certainly felt like an appropriate situation for black attire. Mom came up to us and gave Faith a big hug and I could hear her trying to choke down the sobs. She'd tried everything she could but Sara and Howard had already beaten us by five steps in the legal department. Her adoption papers were revoked and there was nothing she could do about it.

"I'm going to miss you, Faith," she said, separating enough to look at her.

"Thank you," Faith said and, for the first time I heard her voice cracking over the words. "Thanks for everything, mom."

We walked outside where a car was already parked with a driver I didn't recognize standing beside it. He took the bag from Faith's hand without even being asked and put it in the trunk. Faith turned to me one last time and grabbed me, hugging me to her as hard as she could and whispered "I love you" into my ear. The tears were rolling down my cheeks with abandon by the time she broke away and got into the car's back seat.

I watched the car pull away with mom's arm wrapped protectively around my shoulders. "It'll be all right, Buffy," she said, inadvertently echoing Faith's earlier words. "I'm sure after she gets settled down, she'll call..." I watched until the car turned a corner and disappeared from view. I turned to mom and she pulled me into a hug.

But it didn't make me feel better. I knew nothing would until Faith was back again.

All I had to do was wait a year.

She'd promised that she'd come back to me and I knew she'd keep her word.

End