I was following Buffy towards the back door, cursing myself for giving such fucked up advice. But it wasn't even the advice that was bad, cause in any other town, you wouldn't be worrying about getting picked up by a vamp. We were halfway to the door when skateboarder guy, I think his name was Xander, walks up to us.

"Xander," Buffy said. "Do you have any idea where Willow could have gone?"

"She's not here?" He asked, truly surprised.

"No, she took off with some guy."

"Wait, let me guess. Are you going to tell me he's a vampire?" He asked with a smirk. I saw Buffy freeze at the question. Shaking out of it, she dragged Xander out the back door.

Pushing Xander up against a wall as soon as we left the inside of the Bronze, she asked, "Okay, who sent out the memo?"

"I overheard you and the librarian talking today," he said, smoothing down his clothes. "Are you guys serious about that demon stuff?"

"I'm serious about finding Willow before she gets hurt," Buffy said, impatiently. "So if you know where she could be, tell me...now." It turned out that Xander didn't really know shit so we ended up just going around to the nearest cemeteries, hoping we'd run into Red and her vamp boytoy. Shit, if anything happens to her because of me and my stupid mouth, I'm going to *so* fucking kick that vamp's ass. I was still busy blaming myself and getting angrier the farther we walked when I felt Buffy's hand on my arm.

I turned at her, ready to shake her off but she just looked at me in that way she had as we kept walking and it was enough for the anger to fade away. Then, all of a sudden, her head whipped around and she took off through the cemetery we were walking through. I raced after her with Xander at my heels and pretty soon, I spotted what had set her off. Near some big tomb which was bigger than some bedrooms I've slept in, Willow and another guy I didn't know were being pushed around by two vampires. One girl and one guy. Buffy had already leaped into the middle of the get together and was already kicking some undead ass by the time we got there.

I pulled Willow away from the girl vamp and shoved Red back towards Xander. I got in a quick punch at the blonde before she came back sporting full game face and backhanded me in the jaw which hurt like hell but I ignored the pain and dropped down to sweep her legs out from under her. I got the stake out from the waistband of my pants --- still hadn't gotten that holster yet --- and climbed on top of her, trying to push the stake down into her heart. Now you gotta understand, a vampire's about as strong as ten men. So if they don't want you to stab them in the heart, you're not gonna stab them in the heart. But it never even came down to that cause something grabbed me from behind and threw me into the side of a grave like I was a rag doll. That something turned out to be this massive, ugly vamp who had appeared out of nowhere.

He went right after Buffy and started beating her around, not as bad as me but still... My shoulder was killing me where it'd hit against the stone and I couldn't get up fast enough to back her up. Luckily, Red distracted him enough so that Buffy started dishing out some pain of her own. The vamps disappeared as soon as it looked like they were gonna lose.

I walked over to the two of them as Xander made his own way over. "Hey Red, you okay?" I asked, quickly looking her over for any injuries.

"I'm fine," she said. Then, looking towards Buffy, she asked, "Did that guy you were fighting with turn into dust?"

Buffy tried bullshitting her way out of it but she wasn't a very good liar. So she ended up spilling the big Slayer secret which was another bad, added on top of not having been able to stop those vamps from taking off with that other guy.

"We have to tell Giles," Buffy said, her eyes falling to the ground. "I have to tell him how the secret isn't so secret anymore. Better he hear it from me."

We decided to tell him in the morning since it was really late already and we had no idea where the man lived. We didn't really have anything major to report anyway. The guy they'd taken was probably vamp chow by now and that thing about the Harvest didn't seem like it was going to happen tonight. So Xander ended up walking Willow home while Buffy and me walked them halfway before we split up to go our separate ways.

As we're walking down the street, Buffy wound her arm through mine and asked, "Are you all right? I saw that vamp toss you pretty hard."

"Don't remind me," I groaned, painfully rotating my right shoulder. And that was on top of the pain in my jaw from that wicked backhand. "I think I'm going to need some serious icing tonight."

And then I heard her say something that totally confused the hell out of me.

"I'm sorry."

I looked over at her but her head was down, staring at the ground. "What? B, what are you sorry about? If it weren't for you, we would've all been killed tonight." She was starting to shake her head but before she could beat herself up anymore, I stopped her right there in the middle of the street and tipped her chin up with my hand so I could look her in the eyes. "Is this because of that guy?" She bit her lip and then nodded ever so slightly. "You couldn't have done anything more--"

"But I'm the Slayer," she said, interrupting me. "I should've been on top of things, I should've been able to beat those vamps, I should've--"

"You should've been able to beat them back one handed and blindfolded too, right?" I asked, interrupting her this time. "Hell, you're the Slayer, you should've just shot laser beams from your eyes and scorched them to death."

"I'm being serious," she said, bumping me in the stomach.

"I'm being serious too y'know," I said, bumping her right back. "You can't save everybody, B. But I know you do your best every time you go out there. So if you ask me, you have nothing to beat yourself up about. We're going to find those vamps again and when we do, we're going to dust them." I smiled at her and then added as an afterthought, "But right now, I really do need that ice so d'ya think we can go?"

Buffy let out a soft laugh as she took my arm again. "You always know how to lift my sorry butt off the ground," she said, walking me down the street again. "How do you do that?"

"It's a gift I don't like to flaunt in front of others," I said with a smirk. Buffy laughed. I love the way she laughs. It always seems to make me happier just hearing it. Especially if it's just her and me like it is now. Nobody else but the two of us together.

When we got home, mom was kind of pissed cause we were a few minutes late but I told her I fell down the stairs so she was all worried and maternal after that and just thankful that I was all right. She went to sleep a little afterwards and I was up in my bedroom reading a gaming magazine when Buffy came in holding an ice pack.

"You're a goddess, B," I said, reaching for the pack. "Thanks." I plopped it onto my shoulder and let out a soft hiss of relief. Buffy crawled over me, lying down on her side next to me. She'd changed into her cute pajamas with the rabbits on them and I couldn't help checking out how nice she looked in the outfit.

"I hate that you get hurt like this," she said after a minute.

I smiled, turning my head to see her looking at me. "Hey, I chose to do this, didn't I? And anyway, I'd feel ten times worse than this if you're out there every night all by yourself without any backup. At least I know that I'm doing everything I can to keep you safe."

She placed a hand on top of my belly, drawing imaginary designs with her fingertips. "I just don't want anything to ever happen to you. Not ever Faith."

"Nothing will," I said with all the confidence I could muster up at twelve at night. "Cause you're there to watch my back, just like I'll be watching yours."

She pulled closer to me, a contented smile floating across her face. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" She asked. I was kinda surprised that she'd want to but even more so cause the question was being asked so shyly.

"Uh, yeah, sure B," I said grinning widely and trying to loosen her up. "You know you can use me as your cuddly pillow anytime you like."

She grinned back and pulled herself even closer until she was almost lying on top of me. I reached over and switched off the light, adjusting the icepack on my shoulder so I wouldn't have to keep holding onto it. Unlike the night before which seemed like it would never end, on this night, I went to sleep with no problems at all and the only time I woke up was when the alarm sounded the next morning. I reached out an arm and slapped it on the clock until the annoying ringing stopped.

I was just going to get up when I noticed that I couldn't. Buffy was wrapped around me like a blanket and I just laid there for a minute, enjoying how nice it was to be held like that. I finally let out a sigh and began trying to unwrap myself which never works cause Buffy just holds on tighter whenever I try. So eventually, I had to wake her up. I'd wanted to give her a few extra minutes but the bathroom was calling to me, especially the porcelain toilet god which everyone worships at at one time or another.

After we got through the whole routine of getting up, washing, changing, eating breakfast, and getting to school, the first thing we did was head towards the library. Xander and Red were already there, trying to grill the G-man into giving them some information and, by the looks of it, they weren't getting much out of the old guy.

"It's all right, Giles," Buffy said. "They know what's going on...They were sort of with me last night when I staked a vamp and Xander overheard us yesterday when we were talking about the Slayer thing so I don't think trying to hide it from them now is going to work too well." I swore I could see G-man break out into a sweat at those words but Buffy wasn't even done yet. "And the vamps took someone with them...before I could stop them."

"Did you see where they went?" Giles asked, looking around at everybody.

I shook my head, "No, they just kinda disappeared. One second they're there. And then, gone."

"I'm guessing they went underground," Buffy said. "They didn't run or we would've seen them. And I didn't hear a car."

Xander started frowning in confusion. "I thought vampires flew --- you know, in movies, they do this whole turning into a bat thing..."

"No," Giles answered shortly. But before he could launch into some long winded lecture on vampire misconceptions in popular culture, Buffy cut him off.

"Do you know anything about the Harvest?" When Giles just stared at her all confused, she impatiently explained what the 'special' vampire from last night had told her. "He said we had to prepare for the Harvest. Do you think the vamps I fought yesterday had anything to do with it? They were both really strong. Much stronger than your average newbie."

Before Buffy had even finished the last sentence, Giles was already pulling books out and laying them down in front of her. One after another after another. These weren't just ordinary books either, these things were books on steroids. I felt kinda sorry for Buffy cause her jaw was practically on the floor when Giles said she was supposed to look through them and try picking out the vamps from last night. Mug shots of a who's who going back hundreds of years.

"Faith, what are you doing?" She asks when I sit down and start leafing through the first book.

I smirk at the puzzled expression on her face. "B, you weren't the only one to see those vamps last night." She gave me that soft smile and I knew that it was going to be worth the pain of two blurred eyes. Red and Xander took their own cues and sat down too, each taking a book without a word. G-man went into his stacks, muttering something about finding out about the Harvest.

It was about an hour later while I was rubbing my eyes for the twentieth time that Buffy finally spotted one of the vamps from the run-in. Turns out that the girl's named Darla and, get this, she's a couple hundred years old. Now that's what I call well-preserved. So like Buffy suspected, these weren't lightweights we were messing around with.

When Buffy and me left the library with Xander, Willow and Giles were each in their own worlds. Giles was nose deep in his books and Red was on the computer, each trying to find out as much as they could about the Harvest. So far, not much. And they figured out fast enough that the three of us weren't made for sitting still and doing the research thing so we'd been sent off to class. The trade-off was pretty much even if you asked me.

"This is great y'know," Xander said with a grin. "In some small way, I'm helping to save people from demons and vampires and--"

"And you want to announce that to the whole school?" Buffy asked, smirking. We were walking down an empty hallway but you could never tell who was listening. Xander should know about that more than anybody.

"Sorry," he said with a sheepish grin. "But it's just so cool."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself so much." Buffy stopped and looked at him, a serious expression entering her face. "But Xander, remember what we're dealing with here. They're dangerous creatures and if you're even an inch off your game, you're going to die...And you don't deal with them, I deal with them. I'm the Slayer."

"Yeah but, I'm sure even Slayers need help." He glanced quickly over at me and I knew what he was thinking. How come I get to help and Buffy doesn't jump all over me about it. So before anybody could say anything, I wrapped an arm around Buffy's shoulders.

"Don't sweat it X. B knows that If she tried to leave me behind, I'd just go after her anyway." I smiled over at Buffy who had this exasperated look on her face. "Isn't that right, B?" She just pushed off of me, walking ahead and shaking her head.

"Are you sure you're sisters?" I heard Xander asking as I walked after Buffy.

****

"So let me just get this straight," I said, pulling up to sit on the edge of the table. I noticed the disapproval in Giles' face but it wasn't like I was the only one on the table. Faith was almost sprawled on the top of it with a towel covering her face. "This Harvest is supposed to happen tonight?" Giles and Willow had just given us a report on what their research had come up with. Apparently some really old vampire was planning to break out of his magical prison by sending one of his minions out to suck as much blood as he could. I didn't know the specifics but that wasn't my job. My job was to find the 'vessel' and take him out.

"Now, all we have to figure out is where they're going to attack," Giles continued.

"And I kill the vamp with the funky symbol on his head and the crisis is over." I brought up my legs, sitting Indian style on the table next to Faith's head.

"They'll be at the Bronze," Xander stated with absolute certainty. "You said the vessel will need to feed as much as he can, right? What decent vampire worth his salt could resist all that young, fresh meat crammed into one place?"

"All right," I said nodding slowly. "We'll go to the Bronze tonight. You guys are in charge of getting everybody out if it comes to that and Faith and me will stop the vampires." Once everybody had agreed, all we had to do for the rest of the day was wait. And Giles, being the tweed wearing Watcher he was, proposed the perfect way to the pass the time. He opened up the book cage and began pulling out this bag full of weapons and I groaned, knowing he'd expect me to train now. Glancing down next to me, I reached out one hand and lifted up a corner of the towel, uncovering part of Faith's face. "You alive under there?" I asked her with a frown.

Her hair had still been damp from the shower when she'd walked into the library and promptly walked over to the table, laying herself out. I think she grunted a hello to everyone before throwing that towel over her face and then spent the time Giles was explaining everything lying there like the dead.

"Twenty friggin laps," the voice under the towel said very slowly and very clearly. I replaced the edge of the towel, letting her get back to whatever it was she was doing.

Xander and Willow were standing over the weapon's bag commenting on how exactly some of the weapons were supposed to be used. Willow picked up a small mace, poking a finger at one of the sharp points sticking up around the head.

"This looks pretty simple," she said, turning it around in her hand. "You swing it back and forth and hope it hits something...it's kinda heavy."

"Blunt force object," I said, going over and taking the mace from her hand. "Has to be heavy to crush the head or the ribs or..." Looking over at her, there was a squeamish expression on her face. "Maybe we'd better lay off the weapons for awhile. Hey Will," I added. "Thanks for being research girl. You've been a big help especially since Giles refuses to step into the twentieth century." She smiled brightly and went back to doing her thing at the computer in the corner.

"I don't see any reason for me to have to use that blasted machine," Giles griped coming over, adjusting his pads as he talked. "Books have been more than adequate for centuries and there'll be more than adequate for centuries to come."

"All right Giles. You've made your point. Books have the staying power," I said with a smirk. "We won't try to corrupt you anymore." He gave me a long suffering look and then we started with the training which was basically me taking shots at Giles and him saying I was opening up too soon. After about half an hour of this, he backed up, rubbing his arms and wherever else I'd been hitting him and said that maybe it was time for me to practice with the crossbow.

He walked stiffly towards his office. I looked over at the table and saw Xander grinning at me. I wonder if he'd been watching the whole time. Faith was still laid out on the table, her breaths coming in a slow and even rhythm.

"You need any help?" Xander quickly asked, getting up.

"Uh, yeah, could you set the targets up for me?" He almost stumbled on his way to the book cage as I walked back to the table.

Lowering my head until I was right next to Faith's toweled head, I whispered her name. She didn't respond or move an inch so after a couple of seconds, I carefully lifted the towel off her face. Her eyes were closed, her expression totally peaceful. I pushed the towel to the side, letting my fingers trail a soft pattern down one soft, smooth cheek. What am I doing I vaguely wondered. My thumb grazed, barely touching full lips that parted a little wider, feeling the soft exhalation of breath warm on my skin.

"Buffy?" I looked up and saw Xander looking strangely over at me.

"Yeah," I said moving away reluctantly and walking towards where he'd set up the target. "Thanks Xander." I took the crossbow out of his hands and loaded it with an arrow as he walked back to sit at the table. Things remained quiet like that until it was time for us to take off for the Bronze. Giles packed some weapons. I took the crossbow and a few extra arrows. Faith woke up, seeming more refreshed than she'd looked when she first walked into the library. We were as ready as we'd ever be to take down some major bad guys.

We piled into Giles' poor excuse of a car and waited while he tried to start it up. Xander was sitting shotgun. "Do they really pay librarians that little?" He asked when the car still wouldn't start.

"This is a perfectly serviceable vehicle," he stated as he turned the key again. This time, there was a loud booming sound as the car backfired and the engine finally turned over.

"When exactly would that have been true?" Xander joked again. "Back in the '50's?"

Next to me, Willow stifled a giggle as Faith, not being much for diplomacy, snorted out loud. Giles ignored us all as he pulled out of the parking lot. I really hoped the drive over wouldn't be as traumatic as what was about to go down tonight. Although, it was a close call, we made it to the club just when the vampires were muscling the bouncer around out front. Faith hopped out of the car and threw herself against one of them while I shot a crossbow bolt in another one's heart, turning him to dust.

I saw the big vamp from yesterday who had been tossing me and Faith around coming right at me. He also had a symbol painted on his forehead which meant that he was my target. So much the better. I tossed the crossbow at him which he knocked away but that slowed him down just enough so I could move into him and throw him onto the ground. Taking the stake from inside my jacket, I rammed it down but he caught it in his hand just before it entered his chest. So we were deadlocked in that position, me on top and him on the bottom when someone threw some liquid at in his face which made him screech like a baby. I took that as my cue to jam the stake down as hard as I could, turning him into a cloud of dust.

I looked up and saw Willow standing with an empty bottle of holy water in her hands. She had an excited expression on her face as she helped me up. "Thanks Will," I said, giving her a brief smile before going to help Xander and Giles who were finishing off the last of the vamps who weren't smart enough to run yet. It didn't take too long for us to finish the rest of them off. They were mostly newbies anyway, thinking they were invincible and all that. When we were done, I looked around and saw that Faith was still busy...busy pounding on someone struggling beneath her. They were partially under the light thrown off from the bulb on top of the club's door but I couldn't see who she was pounding on until I stepped closer and saw that it was Darla, the blonde from yesterday.

She just kept hitting and hitting, her fists coming down again and again. "Faith," I said, trying to get her attention. She didn't stop. If anything, she just hit harder. "Faith!" I shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders and falling back when she turned around and lashed out at me. She seemed to suddenly realize what she'd done and she froze. Darla was still pinned underneath her but she bucked her hips, throwing Faith off. She would've run away if I hadn't thrown the stake in her back, reducing her to dust.

I crouched down to where Faith was still sitting on the ground, a look of absolute revulsion in her eyes. "Faith?" I reached out slowly to cup her face in my hand.

"I'm sorry," she began to say, her voice thick with whatever emotions she was feeling.

"Shhhh...it's all right," I said, going down on my knees in front of her and pulling her into a hug. She held on tight and I could feel her entire body trembling before she suddenly pushed me away and stood up.

I watched, confused by her actions as she walked towards Giles and I heard her ask "So, are we done here?" When Giles said the situation was neutralized for the moment, Faith walked into the Bronze without saying anything else.

"Is she going to be all right?" Willow asked, looking to me. I didn't know what to say to her because I didn't know. It was like Faith hadn't even known where she was when she was hitting Darla. It was almost like she was lashing out for the sake of lashing out at something. Whatever it was, I was going to find out.

"I'll let you know as soon as I do," I said, following Faith into the club. Everybody inside was clueless as to how close they'd come to being vampire chow. They danced and they laughed and they talked and I envied them that innocence that I could no longer afford. It took a few moments for my eyes to find Faith at the bar. I was just going over to her when I felt those spidey senses kicking in and turning back around, I spotted the 'special' vamp from yesterday coming in through the door. I couldn't get that label out of my head and he wasn't really helping me out since he still hadn't told me his name yet. His eyes darted all over the club and I tensed, half expecting him to change into game face and go crazy in here. But he didn't. He only motioned me over to a quiet corner.

"You're tougher than I expected," he said as soon as I followed.

"I guess you saw me waste your buddies outside," I said, still tense. Why am I talking to a vampire anyway? Even if he didn't seem so bad, he was still a vampire and I haven't met one yet who didn't want to kill me.

"They're not my buddies," he said, almost growling it out. "I'd kill them all if I could."

"Why don't you?" I asked, squinting at him through the dim light. He had a black duster on and everything else on him, that I could see at least, was also black. I think he and Faith would get on real well, what with their simple yet bold fashion statements. Thinking of Faith, I looked back to the bar but she wasn't there anymore. He was saying something else but I only caught the tail end of it.

"...watch out. The Master won't be pleased." What? He began to walk away.

"Wait," I said. "I don't even know your name."

Without stopping, he turned his head slightly and said, "Angel." Whoa. That was probably about the worse name you could have if you were a vampire...well, besides Jesus anyway.

Shaking the encounter off, I looked around once again for Faith. When I finally spotted her, I felt my eyes practically popping out of their sockets. She was dancing but that wasn't what was freaking me out. The person she was dancing with was...Cordelia? Since that first day when I'd seen Faith checking out Cordelia's ass, I hadn't even seen the two of them in the same room together. And now they were dancing together? This wasn't even hands off, with a foot in between them dancing. This was every body part coming into contact at least once dancing. I just stood there watching them and thinking that I shouldn't be so angry. But I was. It was the same feeling I'd gotten the last time I'd seen them together, only a lot worse.

I'd told myself that I shouldn't feel like this. Faith can talk to anyone she wants, flirt with anyone she wants, and dance with anyone she wants because she has no reason not to. Why should she care if I'm standing here feeling like I'm about to blow up when *I* didn't even know why I'm feeling this way? I should've just turned around but I couldn't move, I couldn't take my eyes off them even though I wanted to shut it out, burn the whole thing from my brain. I finally broke from my trance when some guy bumped me from the side, spilling half his drink on my clothes.

Shaking off his apologies, I took off for the bathroom, still shaken up from what had just happened. The only good thing about the night turned out to be that the drink I'd been spilled with was only water and not fruit juice or something. After I dried that up some with a paper towel, I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to see if I looked any different, trying to see if what I was feeling was stamped across my face. It wasn't...not really. I looked the same as I always did. It was the same face staring back at me that I'd seen every morning for the last seventeen years or however long it'd been since I'd learned how to use a mirror. But the more I stared, the more I kept flashing back to the two of them outside. Faith and Cordelia. Dancing.

The bathroom door opened and I watched in the mirror as three girls walked in. I was just about to leave because I vaguely remembered them as being part of Cordelia's group and I really didn't need to be around that right then. But what they said caught my attention.

"What is Cordy thinking?" The blonde one almost squealed, disbelieving. "She's dancing...with a girl! And, hello, she's *so* skanky." The other two nodded and agreed like she was some kind of prophet spouting pearls of wisdom. "You think someone slipped something in her drink? You know, I heard this kind of thing happens all..." I slipped out of the room before I had to listen to anything else they had to say because, honestly, if I stayed any longer, I think I would have done omething physically violent to them all.

*****