This Is How It Goes

Her hand inside Buffy's pants wasted no time on preliminaries, dipping in to spread wetness and then moving higher, rubbing her clit in firm circles. Buffy's hips bucked and Faith pushed inside her, sliding in effortlessly. She curled up, fingers stroking and caressing, rubbing against areas that made Buffy bite everything in reach to try to silence herself. Faith began moving in and out in deliberate, unhurried strokes, her thumb circling Buffy's clit in a painstakingly slow manner. Buffy grabbed wildly for something to support herself, and found one of her hands clutching the top of a mop as if she were hanging on for dear life, and the other gripping Faith's ass as the other Slayer rolled her hips forward with each movement. Her body was shuddering each time Faith's fingers and hips thrust forward, and she was frantically trying to suppress the high-pitched moans coming from her mouth.

Faith moved her head forward, sliding her cheek against Buffy's in a slow, sensual friction. Her mouth was centimeters from Buffy's ear as she began talking softly.

"God, I missed this," she whispered, her voice low, sweet, sliding across Buffy's ear like molasses. Buffy shivered and swallowed a moan. "You have no idea how much."

Buffy whimpered at Faith's words, feeling them feed the fire between her thighs. Faith, breathing hard along with Buffy's shaky gasps, seemed to realize the amount of noise they were making and lowered her mouth to Buffy's, tongues sliding in. Buffy kissed her hungrily, moaning into her mouth, and felt that familiar heat curling in the pit of her stomach.

Her hips rolled with each rhythmic movement of Faith's hands as they thrust faster, harder, and the heat grew, spreading from her stomach outwards. Faith cupped her breast, gently rolled the nipple covered by bra fabric through her fingers, and it pushed Buffy to happy territory. Her orgasm surged through her, crashing on her, and Buffy shuddered as she came, finding her broken moan smothered by Faith's mouth.

They stayed wrapped around each other for several moments, waiting as their breathing slowed and their hearts stopped thumping wildly. Faith slid her hands from inside Buffy's shirt and pants and began re-buttoning the other Slayer's jeans, smiling softly. Buffy released the mop handle, which was not so much a handle now as splintered pieces of wood, and inhaled deeply.

"I'd call that recon mission a complete success," Faith said quietly, looking at Buffy through hooded, shining eyes.

Buffy cupped Faith's face with her hands, kissed her slowly and thoroughly, and then pulled back, her face flushed, her eyes glittering.

"If I could feel my limbs right now, I would beat your ass," Buffy said, glaring at her with a small smile.

Faith arched an eyebrow. "You really think we've reached the spanking phase of our relationship, B?"

"No, I've think we've reached the `no more sex in public places while people who want us dead are two feet away' phase," Buffy answered, continuing to glare.

"Don't think I'm familiar with that one. Sounds wicked boring."

Buffy snorted and rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Mrs. Knievel."

Buffy pressed her ear to the door, listening closely. "Looks like they went back inside the office." She turned to Faith thoughtfully. "I'm thinking that was the Mayor and one of his human flunkies. At least we got some valuable information out of this little excursion."

Buffy put her hand on the doorknob but Faith coughed meaningfully, inclining her head. Buffy snapped her head down, flushed, and quickly yanked her zipper up. Blushing furiously, she opened the door quietly and leaned her head out. Seeing no one coming, the two Slayers padded down the carpeted hall and crept out the side door.

Chapter 14: Strange Interactions

Author's Notes: Slightly smaller chapter here. Needed to take care of a few things before delving into major plot stuff. Which will happen shortly.

"A dark ritual?" Giles asked, looking interested.

"Yup," Buffy nodded.

"Did you hear anything else about this ritual?" he said, brow furrowed.

"Just that it was fragile. And materials were being prepared. They weren't being very forthcoming with the information," Buffy said, shrugging.

They were in the library the next day after school, discussing the mission. Willow was still behind the computer, and Xander had a biology book open in front of him which he was effectively ignoring.

"They also were talkin' about some vamp named Skinner. Who apparently needs better social skills," Faith contributed, periodically nudging Buffy's leg with her own thigh under the table.

Giles looked at her strangely. "The Mayor's kind of, uh, eccentric," Buffy added helpfully. "Complaining about vamp hygiene and manners. But, our genius theory was right. He was talking about Skinner and his crew rounding up all the Sunnydale vampires."

Giles inhaled deeply. "It's good we know that. And also rather frightening that one person has the resources and manpower to do that." He glanced at the two Slayers again. "Is that all the information you were able to gather?"

"Yeah. They went back into the Mayor's office after that and we, uh, couldn't hear them anymore," Buffy said, trying to keep her voice steady while blushing violently.

Giles didn't appear to notice Buffy's discomfort, but Willow leaned out from behind the computer and smirked at her. Buffy looked at the ceiling, avoiding her eyes and actively praying for her face to regain its normal coloring.

"So, what's it all mean?" Xander asked theatrically, flipping randomly through his biology textbook and thankfully not aware of Buffy's embarrassment.

Giles sighed. "Unfortunately, we don't have the larger picture yet. We know the Mayor's setting up for something, rounding up the vampires to increase his control over Sunnydale, and preparing for some dark ritual. We don't know why, though. We don't know what his ultimate plan is." He took off his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Angel," Buffy said suddenly, and Faith snapped her head around. "Uh, he said he would go through the seedy demon places, see if he could scare up any info." She hesitantly glanced at Faith and saw the other Slayer's eyes narrowing, her mouth tight.

Giles raised his eyebrows. "Yes, I had forgotten. Why don't you go talk to him, Buffy, see if he can't fill in some of the glaring blanks."

"I'll take Faith," Buffy said, and Faith looked at her, startled.

"Uh, why the hell would you do that, B?" Faith asked, confused.

"He, um — he wants to meet you," Buffy said in a quiet voice. Faith snorted and mumbled a "dead bastard" under her breath which Buffy heard clearly. She kicked Faith under the table.

Giles was looking between them, wearing a lost expression. "I'm going to assume I don't want to know about whatever strange interactions just occurred."

Buffy smiled at him innocently, got up from the table and grasped Faith's hand, pulling her up roughly. "We'll come back with more info, Giles," Buffy said, and began walking towards the door, still dragging a glaring Faith.

~ — ~ — ~

"I'm just sayin', if my stake happens to come out and accidentally plunges itself into his chest, it ain't my fault," Faith said tightly. They were walking that evening in the cemetery near Angel's mansion.

Buffy rolled her eyes, gave Faith a sideways glower. "I'd say stop the pissing contest before it starts, but only one of you has the equipment for that anyway. Stop being difficult."

Faith stopped walking suddenly. Buffy glanced back, startled, and turned to face her. Faith's face seemed to be working with some unknown emotion. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again.

"This — this guy — he loved you, screwed you, and then tried to kill you. Those are three pretty solid reasons why I shouldn't feel extra fuzzy towards him," Faith said, her face and voice intense.

Buffy froze, shocked. "Oh, my God," she whispered, and held a hand to her mouth. "You're jealous," she said loudly and inappropriately happily.

Faith recoiled, scrunched her face up. "What?" She snorted contemptuously. "No, I'm not. He's a goddamn vampire, B. I — I'm supposed to hate him. Comes with the super powers."

Buffy continued to smirk. "This isn't about you being a Slayer, Faith. This is about you being a jealous girlfriend."

Faith snorted again, but it was weaker this time. She didn't say anything for several moments, just glaring at Buffy.

"What if I am, huh? It's your fault, blondie. Fucking with my emotional stability," she said angrily, but her eyes and mouth were soft.

Buffy shrugged innocently. "What can I say? I'm an emotion-wrecker. Sort of like a home-wrecker, but more complicated." She walked over to Faith, smiling softly. "It's really kind of endearing, you being all protective."

Buffy cupped one of Faith's cheeks, stroking gently, and the other Slayer's face softened further. Buffy leaned in and kissed her, and Faith responded. It was soft, tender, and then Faith slid her tongue in and it became slightly less gentle. Hands tangled up in hair, bodies pressed together tightly. When Buffy pulled away, they were both breathing heavily and her head was spinning.

"Uh, what were we doing?" Buffy asked, a little dazed.

Faith appeared to think about it. "Havin' a nice, civil visit with your vampire ex-boyfriend. Who may or may not be a pile of dust in about ten seconds."

"Oh, that," Buffy said, then frowned as she registered what Faith had just said. "No staking. Or biting. Those are two rules I'm pretty firmly enforcing."

"I'm okay with the first one, but I gotta disagree with the second. Biting's part of my sexual vocab," Faith said, smirking.

Buffy rolled her eyes affectionately. "I think the collection of hickies on my neck can attest to that," she said, and grabbed Faith's hand as they began walking towards the mansion again.

"Angel's just curious. And definitely a little jealous himself," Buffy continued, lacing her fingers with Faith's. "And remember that he's leaving, so there's no need for anything dramatic."

They reached the mansion in another couple of minutes, and Buffy squeezed Faith's hand reassuringly before they went in. As they entered, both of them stopped dead, releasing hands.

"Holy shit," Faith said breathlessly. "I've been here before." She looked at Buffy, shocked. "In the dream."

Buffy nodded, stunned herself. The dream seemed eons ago, but it was suddenly crystal-clear in her mind. "Everything's the same. The marks on the walls," she said, gesturing towards the violent gouges Angel himself had done just over a month ago. "Well, except for the raincoat and the IRS allusions. And the lack of ceiling," she added, looking up.

"Also, I'm not saying creepy-ass, morbid things. But, that dream wasn't exactly a happy announcement of things to come." She looked at Buffy, her face hard and wary.

Buffy looked back at her. "I know. Doesn't mean that's how this -"

"Buffy?"

Buffy snapped her head around and saw Angel standing a little awkwardly, hands in pockets.

"Angel," she said, suddenly remembering why they were here.

He looked at the other Slayer beside her, his face smooth. Buffy grasped the magnitude of them being in the same room. It felt as though two huge and distinctly separate parts of her life were connecting in some bizarre and surrealistic situation. The line between dreaming and reality abruptly felt a little thinner.

"Angel, this is Faith. Faith, Angel," Buffy said, looking back and forth between them a little gleefully, a little anxiously.

"Hey," Faith said shortly, sizing him up. She crossed her arms, giving him her patented arrogantly indifferent glare.

"It's good to finally meet you, Faith," Angel said, his voice warmer than Buffy had expected. The corners of his mouth lifted very slightly.

"Can't say the sa -" Buffy elbowed her hard in the side and Faith swallowed. "Nice to meet you, too," she said, through a tight jaw.

Angel nodded, amused and unsurprised at the less-than-friendly greeting. He looked at Faith intently for several moments before turning to Buffy and saying, "So, what brings you two to the deader side of town?"

Buffy glanced briefly at Faith, making sure she wasn't going to do anything stupid. "We're having trouble gathering info on the Mayor. Wanted to know if you had any more success."

"Yeah, actually. I checked out some of the demon haunts, asked around very politely, and got some similar answers."

Buffy looked at him expectantly. Faith was still glaring.

"You know about the vampire situation, I'm guessing?" Angel asked. Buffy nodded. "Well, apart from that, the demons kept talking about something called the `Ascension.' I don't know what that is, but it sounds like some sort of ritual the Mayor has to perform, or maybe undergoes."

Buffy frowned, and Faith's expression changed for the first time. "You get a bead on when this was supposed to happen?" Faith asked.

Angel shook his head. "I got the impression that it was pretty big, though. Needs a lot of preparation."

Buffy and Faith glanced at each other. "So, hopefully not this afternoon," Buffy said, frowning, and then focused on Angel, looking at him gratefully. "This is really helpful, Angel. Thanks muchly." She turned to Faith. "We should get this info back to Giles ASAP. He'll be happy to have something definite to research."

Buffy began to walk out and abruptly stopped. She paused, thinking furiously. This was big. This was bigger than they thought, and they needed help. Faith looked at her quizzically, and Buffy gave her a reassuring smile before glancing towards Angel.

"Angel, do you think me and Faith could talk for a minute?" He looked taken aback, but then nodded.

Buffy grabbed a surprised Faith's forearm and led her out of the mansion. She turned to her as they reached the cemetery grass.

"I want to ask if you'd be okay with something," Buffy said seriously.

Faith looked at her suspiciously. "I'm thinkin' this isn't about spanking."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I wanted to ask if you'd be okay with Angel staying here longer."

Faith's eyes narrowed. Buffy continued quickly, "He's a good fighter, and I have a feeling we're gonna need serious power. Plus, he's got connections and the whole intimidating bumpy forehead." She gestured at her own brow vaguely.

Faith was still looking at her warily. "Faith, this isn't about us. It's about helping the town," Buffy said firmly. "Angel and I are seriously and definitely over. I need you to be okay with this, for the sake of people that aren't us."

Faith crossed her arms in front of her chest. Buffy waited patiently.

"You're lucky I'm so generous and self-sacrificing," Faith said finally, and Buffy grinned. "Ask him, B. But if he touches you, I'm setting him on fire."