This Is How It Goes

"Well, gee, everything just clears up when you put it like that," Buffy said sarcastically. "I have a radical notion. How about we pretend that I know what I want for a second, and you stop being a stubborn dumbass." She put her hand out on Faith's arm, felt muscles trembling underneath skin.

There was pure silence for several moments, Faith's eyes flicking around the alley and finally landing on Buffy's gentle, searching ones. She could see, actually see her cracking. That faГade was crumbling with Buffy's touch, with the insistent questions.

Faith's jaw was working. "I — I don't how this works. I don't know what you want from me, and I don't know if I can give it to you," she said in an uneven voice.

"I have faith in you," Buffy said, trying to keep her face straight.

Faith stared at her for several moments. "That was the lamest thing you've ever said," she said, almost disbelievingly.

Buffy shrugged. "Can't argue with that, but as far as tension-breakers go, that one was beyond divine." She slid her hand down hesitantly and grasped Faith's, lacing their fingers together. A surge of tentative happiness expanded inside of her as Faith didn't move away, contrasting dramatically with the bitter anger she had been experiencing just moments ago.

Faith glanced down at their clasped hands. "You aren't expecting me to get you heart-shaped chocolates and play the romantic sap, are you? 'Cause that just isn't happening."

Buffy rolled her eyes, her heart soaring from the implication of Faith's statement. "I'd probably die from shock. And not the nice, drowning, suffocating death either. The bad kind."

Faith looked at her, still uncertain. "Don't expect too much from me, B. I ain't the most reliable person ever."

"Faith, we officially stopped being screwing buddies like 30 seconds ago. I think we should give it a little more time before I write you off as bad girlfriend material," Buffy said flatly, raising an eyebrow at her.

Faith just stared at her. Her face was changing from anxiety to a type of scrutinizing wonder. Buffy put her hand on Faith's cheek, thumb stroking her cheekbone gently. Faith inhaled deeply.

"No pressure, okay? We're just what we were before all that unpleasant drama happened, except with more monogamy. And possibly more snuggling. And maybe even sheets."

Faith smirked at her, and Buffy grinned at the familiar cockiness of it. "You gettin' tired of all the graveyard fucks?"

Buffy started walking, hand still laced with Faith's. "Now, I know this is gonna make your already giganamous head even larger, but those little sessions of ours pretty much blew my mind. And my central nervous system. So, no, definitely not writing off satisfying the post-slayage horniness." Faith was grinning unabashedly at her pronouncement. "But, I say we take a chance on the power of mattresses and pillows. I've heard they can be nice."

"I knew you were gonna be high-maintenance, princess," Faith said, giving her a lopsided smile that made Buffy's heart melt into an amorphous blob.

She couldn't believe how this conversation had progressed. Just minutes ago they had been screaming at each other. Now they were — what? Girlfriends? Lovers? Buffy didn't really care. The two girls walked back into the club.

Chapter 13: Important Slayer Missions

Author's Notes:

Buffy entered the library the next afternoon to find Willow, Xander, Giles, and Faith sitting at the table, the latter slouched in her patented "I'm too hot to care about good posture" position. Buffy grinned, feeling as if her entire body had suddenly turned into a brightly decorated Christmas tree. She sat down next to Faith and reached for her hand underneath the table. Faith looked at her, eyes incongruously soft in the arrogance of her expression, and squeezed her hand gently. Buffy's skeleton almost liquefied.

Willow had been watching them furtively, trying to hide her face behind the computer. When Buffy caught her eye, smiling, Willow positively beamed.

"Did you find something useful, Willow?" Giles asked, glancing at her expression.

"What?" Willow asked, startled. "Oh, uh, no, not yet. Still working on the Mayor's security systems."

"You seem inordinately happy at the lack of success," Giles said, frowning.

"Oh, um." Willow smiled weakly. "I just love a challenge, you know me."

Xander had been looking at Faith and Buffy with a slightly dazed expression. He blinked and shook his head violently at the sound of voices, saying loudly, "Buffy! When did you get here? So good to see you!"

Everyone stared at him. Buffy gave him a dirty look, apparently working out where his brain had just been.

"Yes, well, if everyone's finished acting exceedingly odd, I believe we should begin discussing what progress we've made," Giles said firmly.

"Which isn't really that much," Willow said, grimacing.

"Not completely true, my red-headed hacking fiend," Xander began. "Oz and I went to the public records building and found some blueprints for city hall."

"That's great," Buffy said, leaning forward. "Can we go break and enter now?" she asked brightly.

"I still don't think it would be a good idea. We have almost no idea how dangerous the Mayor actually is or what kind of security systems he has operating. He may be a warlock, or have some sort of mystical powers, or even be a demon in human guise. I would prefer to have some more information," Giles said, brow furrowed.

"C'mon, G. We're practically dying of boredom out here," Faith complained. "No vamps, no illegal activities, what're we supposed to do for fun?"

"Yeah," Buffy added, trying to ignore how Faith was moving her thumb in small circles over Buffy's hand. "Slayers are built for action, Giles. Point us and shoot. We promise we won't do anything really super reckless."

"Is that meant to be a comforting statement?" Giles asked dryly. He looked at the two Slayers, one of whom was gazing at him plaintively, the other belligerently.

He sighed. "Very well. You two can do a simple reconnaissance mission at the Mayor's office tonight. Reconnaissance," Giles emphasized. "No fighting, no jumping on unsuspecting vampire employees, just observe."

Faith grinned, looking at Buffy. "Sweet. I'll go get my flamethrower. B, you pick up the grenades."

Giles glared at her. "Just playin'," Faith said, smirking.

~ — ~ — ~

That night found Faith and Buffy walking down normal streets, heading towards city hall. The building had daytime public hours, but it had been closed since evening. They had decided to try your basic lock-picking approach, but wouldn't be averse to window-smashing if it didn't pan out. Faith had confessed to an extensive knowledge of opening locked doors, but would just grin evasively when Buffy asked where she had learned it.

They reached the building, a large, white, intimidating structure, and crept around until they found a side door Xander had discovered on the blueprints. Both Buffy and Faith had examined them, studying where the Mayor's office was and where the exits were. They didn't know how tight security was, or whether there were guards, but they concluded that two Slayers could probably handle it. They reached the door and Faith kneeled down while Buffy peered into the darkness, keeping watch.

Buffy heard a series of scrapes and clicks and Faith stood up, looking pleased with herself.

"Damn, I'm talented," Faith said arrogantly.

"Talented, delinquent, what's the diff?" Buffy asked.

"Hey, can't help that I'm good at opening things," Faith said, smirking naughtily. "Locks, bottles, legs, they all just take a little skill and patience."

"See, now I know you're talking out of your ass, 'cause you don't have a patient cell in your entire body," Buffy whispered, opening the door slightly.

They snuck in quietly, feet padding softly on carpet. It was dark, but there was just enough light to see where they were going. They set off towards the office, senses alert for any noise. They reached a corner and Buffy snuck her head around, drawing it back quickly.

"Guard," she whispered.

"Vamp?"

"Human."

Faith nodded. "You wanna give the guy a love tap, or should I?"

Buffy shrugged. "I'll do it. Need to work on my stealth bomber skills anyways."

She looked around again and saw the guard was glancing in the other direction. Buffy began moving, low and as swiftly as she could without making noise. The guard snapped his head around at the last second, opened his mouth, and abruptly collapsed as Buffy smashed a fist into his face.

"Um, that wasn't as gentle as I wanted it to be," she whispered guiltily as Faith sidled up next to her, both of them looking down at the unconscious guard.

"Well, subtle just isn't your style, B," Faith said. "S'okay. I appreciate a girl who's forward."

Buffy raised an eyebrow, smirked at her. "Why is that not a complete shock to me?"

Faith just grinned, making an "after you" motion with her hand. Buffy started forward again, Faith following. They crept down the hall, moving towards the Mayor's office, which they realized belatedly had lights streaming under the door.

"Working late?" Buffy whispered.

Faith opened her mouth to respond and shut it as they both heard voices and footsteps moving closer. Faith seized Buffy's forearm, grabbed wildly at the doorknob to their left and dragged her into what fortunately happened to be a janitor's closet, closing the door softly after them. Buffy's head brushed against a dirty mop and she pushed it angrily away from her, making far too much noise. Faith squeezed her arm, gave her a "seriously?" look that Buffy could just see in the dark. They stood, inches apart, trying to control their breathing as several people moved by the door.

"You know, these dark rituals are fragile little things. Get a word wrong and suddenly you've got a Relaash demon trying to cut out your kidney. Heck of a clean-up," a voice said.

Buffy realized, at an exceptionally inopportune time, how small the janitor's closet was, how much heat Faith's body was emitting, and exactly how long it had been since she had felt Faith's hands on her. She could feel warm breath on her face, could reach out just inches and touch her. Her heart was pounding so loudly she was afraid the people outside could hear it. She inhaled shakily and saw Faith staring at her intently, a small, positively evil smirk gracing her features.

"Yes, sir," another voice said, a little sycophantically. "We're making sure all of the materials are prepared."

Faith, looking at her in a way that made Buffy either hyperventilate or stop breathing, put her hands on Buffy hips and tugged firmly, pushing their bodies closer. She leaned in slowly, bringing her mouth centimeters away from Buffy's ear, who shivered. Faith proceeded, and Buffy could feel her smirking, to run her tongue gently up and down Buffy's neck, reaching her ear and sucking on it slightly. Buffy's eyes rolled up into the back of her head, and she bit her lip and let out an undignified squeak.

"That's swell, Allan. And how's the vampire situation coming along?" The first voice paused and the two Slayers heard, or at least vaguely noticed, him stop just outside the door. "Really, I just can't understand how difficult some of them are being. It's like they're being intentionally rude. Being dead doesn't give you the right to forego necessities like manners and hygiene."

"Uh, yes, sir," Allan said uncertainly. "We've almost rounded up all of the vampires in town. There are a couple of groups still giving us trouble, but we sent out Skinner and his, uh, crew to deal with them."

Buffy was quietly having a crisis as the two men talked outside. She wanted to wrap her arms around Faith, pull them closer together, but knew that would just exacerbate matters, so she stood with her fists clenched and trembling and tried to calm her rebellious body.

Faith, continuing her assault on Buffy's neck, moved her hand under Buffy's shirt, sliding up and then down, deliberately avoiding the most erogenous areas. She grazed the bottom of Buffy's bra, moved down, almost slipping under Buffy's pants. Fingertips gliding over heated skin, leaving blazing trails, dancing around Buffy's body like she was an instrument to be played. Feeling fingers just teasing the elastic of her underwear, Buffy let out a quiet, rumbling groan, and Faith continued skating hands and fingernails under her shirt. Buffy felt like she was either going to cry out of frustration or rip all of Faith's clothes off in about five seconds.

"He's an efficient worker, Skinner is. I can appreciate that level of initiative. His people skills need a little work, though," the first voice said, and they both continued walking. There was the sound of large doors opening and then closing, and then muffled voices coming from inside the Mayor's office.

Buffy grabbed Faith's wrists, stopping the agonizing progression of her hands, and glared at her. Faith stared back, trying to keep her face smooth.

"Something wrong, B?" she asked innocently, although the effect was ruined slightly by her arrogant smirk.

"Faith," Buffy began irritably, letting go of Faith's arms. "We're on a mission. An important Slayer mission which does not include making Buffy go insane with sexual frustration. I'm pretty sure I would've noticed if Giles had included that in the instructions."

Faith continued to smirk at her.

"We can't do ... things ... like that when we're on the job," Buffy said, using her sternest professor voice.

"Things like this?" Faith asked with a mischievous grin, leaning forward to resume sucking on Buffy's earlobe. Buffy inhaled sharply, her body responding on its own while her mind stopped working.

"Um, yes?" Buffy squeaked, as Faith moved her head down and gently scraped teeth against Buffy's collarbone, warm hands on her hips.

"Or, like this?" Faith asked, moving her arms around to deftly unbutton Buffy's pants, tug the zipper down, and slip her hand in. They moaned together, as silently as they possibly could, as Faith's fingers slid through wet folds, Buffy's hips surging forward.

"Faith," she said unevenly. She tried to open her mouth again in some pathetic parody of an admonishment, but Faith raised her mouth to Buffy's and kissed her until she was gasping and her legs were buckling.

"Oh, God," Buffy hissed as one of Faith's hands did miraculous things between her legs, and the other slid underneath her shirt and firmly attached itself to one of Buffy's breasts.

"Faith," she said again, her breathless voice doing strange, vibratory fluctuations, "we're ... in a janitor's ... closet ... in city hall."

"Politics is all about who sleeps with who anyway, B," Faith whispered next to her ear, sending another wave of shudders through Buffy's body. "We're just followin' the trend. And unless the next words out of your mouth are, `Faith, please fuck me harder,' you're gonna need to stop talking."