DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Buffy The Vampire Slayer stuff belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Warner Brothers. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. All other characters that appear belong to me. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for private use only and must include this copyright notice and disclaimer. There is some subtext in this story. If this kind of stuff is not legal where you live, if you're under 18 or if you don't like the notion of two women being in love, then you should read no further. This story is a sequel to Secrets of the Heart.

One
By Kristjan Brezovnik

When Faith first saw the white mannequin-like demons, she knew they would be trouble and she was right. She attacked them immediately, but they were good fighters and she couldn't harm them. She did notice though that the longer she fought them the slower they got. The problem was, however, that the longer she fought them the slower she got as well. So when the demons finally decided to run, Faith let them and then followed them from a distance.

She had a feeling that the demons would go underground, into the sewer, and she was right, they did. She followed them into the tunnels, making sure that she was far enough behind them so they didn't hear her yet close enough for her to hear them.

When the footsteps finally stopped, she stopped and listened. The demons appeared to have reached their destination and were either convinced they were safe or they were waiting for her. She slowly moved on again, hoping the demons' hearing wasn't more acute than hers.

She soon reached the room she believed was the demons' destination. She stopped and quickly peeked around the corner, ready to run. But there was no one there. She looked again, longer this time, but the result was the same, no demons. She entered the room and looked around, but she saw no exit. She wondered if the demons had continued down the corridor, but she didn't think it was likely since she didn't hear them. Which meant that somewhere in the room was a way for them do hide. She looked around, but the only thing that even remotely resembled some sort of portal was a strange pool full of some white liquid which suspiciously reminded Faith of the demons. She went closer and sniffed at it, but it didn't emit any smell. She looked around it, but there was no evidence that the demons had been anywhere near it. For that matter, there wasn't any evidence that the demons were ever in the room. Still, her instincts told her that the demons must have gone into the pool.

She shook her head, thought about what to do for a few moments and decided to leave and tell Giles about it.

During the main break the next day, when she was about to go look for Lara and Raelee, Faith saw Monique stride purposefully across the courtyard, obviously way beyond pissed. Faith followed her, curious to see such murderous look in her eyes.

She soon noticed the small group of boys who were all from rich families. She stepped faster, hoping to hear what Monique would say.

"You son of a bitch!" Monique said and hit one of the boys, James, across the face.

"Hey, what's the matter with you, bitch?" the boy responded and pushed her away.

Faith ran the last couple of meters and helped Monique get up.

"Monique?" she asked.

Monique looked at her.

"The bastard raped Renee."

"What?!"

Faith looked at James with a look that promised a slow death.

"I did no such thing," James objected. "I don't know what she told you, but she's responsible for whatever happened to her."

"You…" Monique said and wanted to attack him again, but Faith stopped her. "Let go of me."

"No. Come."

Faith dragged Monique away from James.

"I'm gonna kill him," Monique said.

"You'll do no such thing," Faith said and stopped her. "Look at me," she ordered and Monique did. "I'm gonna take care of him, okay?"

"You? Why?" Monique asked, surprised and confused.

"Because more than I hate rapists I hate the rapists who get away because they're rich. Okay?"

Monique stared at her for a few moments.

"Okay," she then agreed.

"Good. You tell Renee to press charges against him and I'll make sure he turns himself in."

"How?" Monique asked, puzzled.

Faith grinned.

"You'll see. But first, I need to know some details."

After school, Faith spent some time with Cordelia and then they went to Giles to find out if there was anything new on the demons. There wasn't, so they spent some time helping Willow and Xander with research. Faith knew Willow was still trying to get over Oz and she wanted to comfort her somehow, but she didn't feel like she was close enough to her to do that. She decided to let Buffy take care of the job. When the sun set, Faith left on patrol and to find a suitable vampire to help her scare the hell out of James.

She didn't have to search for long. A lone vampire caught in the act tried to fight back, but was overwhelmed by Faith, who straddled her, holding her stake over the vampire's heart.

The vampire gasped, expecting the end, but when nothing happened, she looked at Faith, confused.

"Do you want to live?" Faith asked.

The vampire kept staring at her, confused.

"Yes," she finally said.

"Tell you what, I'll let you live if you do me a favor."

The vampire stared at her, not quite believing her.

"What favor?"

Faith grinned.

"You have to scare the hell out of someone."

The vampire frowned.

"That's it?"

Faith nodded.

"Yep. You think you're up to it?"

The vampire grinned.

"Yes."

"Good. Oh, one other thing. In case you run out on me, I'll find you and then I'll kill you very slowly. Got that?"

The vampire nodded and Faith got up. The vampire followed suit, but backed off a couple of steps just in case.

"So, who do you want me to scare?" she asked.

"A boy."

"Why?"

"He raped… a friend of mine. He's at the Bronze right now and I'll show him to you later."

"Okay. Do you have anything specific in mind?"

Faith thought for a moment and then grinned.

"Oh yeah. And I'll even let you drink some of his blood to make sure he understands just how much his life is worth. Or isn't."

Faith told the vampire her plan and then they went to the Bronze. Faith entered first and the vampire followed her a couple of minutes later. Faith maneuvered aimlessly around the Bronze until the vampire came in. Then she slowly went to James, making sure he didn't see her. She pointed at him and the vampire nodded. Faith then left the Bronze, hid in a side alley and waited for the vampire and James to show up. She didn't have to wait long.

The vampire seductively led James into the alley, deep enough that he wouldn't be easily heard if he screamed.

"So, you want a quickie," James said, grinning.

The vampire smiled seductively and then suddenly morphed into her game face.

"No, I want to eat you," she said and James screamed, terrified.

He tried to back off and run away, but the vampire pinned him to the wall, running her tongue across her exposed fangs.

"What… What…"

"I'm a vampire, in case you were wondering, and I have a healthy appetite for young men such as yourself."

"No, please… I have money, I…"

The vampire laughed.

"I'm not interested in money, I'm interested in you," she said and sank her fangs into him and started to drink his blood.

"No!"

"Though…" the vampire started when she stopped drinking his blood for a moment, but she stopped when she saw that his pants were wet. "My, you're not very brave, are you? You meet a little old me and you wet your pants." She shook her head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. But, anyway, where was I? Ah, yes. You can survive only one way."

"What?" James asked eagerly.

"By surrendering to the police and admitting you raped Renee."

"What? But… No, no, wait, I'll do it!" he screamed when the vampire lowered her head to sink her fangs into her neck again.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Yes!"

"Okay. But if you lie," the vampire grinned evilly, "I'll find you and then I'll slowly eat you while you're still alive. Do you understand?"

James nodded fervently.

"Yes."

"Good. Now, be a good boy and go straight to the police. I'll be watching. Go."

She let James go and James immediately started to run while the vampire laughed. She ran after him and suddenly appeared in front of the startled James.

"I'm watching," she said, grinning, when James looked at her, his eyes wide from fear.

She let him go and looked around for Faith, who was slowly walking toward her.

"Nice show," Faith said. "You can go now. Though, if you have the time, you can check up where he went. I'll be at the Bronze."

The vampire nodded and left and Faith returned to the Bronze.

The next day, Monique came to Faith.

"I don't know what you did, but James turned himself in," she reported.

"I'm glad to hear it. How's Renee?"

"She's still shaken up."

"Is she home or in the hospital?"

"Home."

"Well, tell her…" She thought for a moment. "No, nothing. Just be there for her."

Monique raised her eyebrows, surprised that Faith cared, even though they were more not-quite-enemies than friends.

"I will," she said.

"Good. I'll see you."

"Okay."

In the evening, Faith and Cordelia went to the movies. Although Faith knew what danger the demons posed, she decided to spend the evening with Cordelia. After all, Cordelia didn't come home very often and they both wanted to spend as much time together as possible. And besides, they still needed to find out how to kill the demons.

While they were amusing themselves, Buffy, Willow and Xander helped Giles find out something about the demons.

"I got them!" Willow finally announced. "Oh."

"What?" Buffy asked.

"Did Faith mention a strange pool?"

"Yes."

"We better not fall into it. I'll see if I can find a spell to get us out, in case one of us falls in."

When the movie ended, Faith and Cordelia decided to go for a short walk in the park before going to bed. In the park, they ran across Raelee and Lara, who were obviously on a date.

"Hey, lovebirds," Faith said with a smile and both girls turned, startled, and blushed.

"Hi," Raelee said.

"You two on a date?"

Raelee nodded.

"Yes."

"You shouldn't be out here alone, too many undead."

"We were just heading back."

"Uh-oh," Lara said.

The other three girls followed her gaze.

"What are those?" Raelee asked and gripped Lara's hand tighter.

"Bad news," Faith said and took her stake.

"Are they vampires?"

"I wish. I suggest you run."

"I'm not going anywhere," Cordelia said firmly.

Faith knew it would be pointless to argue with her.

"Give them Giles' number," she said and charged.

Cordelia quickly gave the two younger girls instructions and then joined Faith. Although she wasn't nearly as good a fighter as Faith, she still provided enough distraction that Faith managed to score some direct hits. That is until one of the demons whacked her on the head and knocked her out.

That made Faith extremely pissed and she doubled her efforts, especially since she couldn't leave now, not with Cordelia out cold. But the demons obviously started to realize that they were losing more energy than they would gain if they would kill Faith. They decided to cut their losses and while five of them distracted Faith, the sixth picked up Cordelia.

"Oh no, you don't," Faith said and followed the demon.

But the demons followed her and kept distracting her. The fight lasted until they got to the demons' lair. By that time Cordelia had woken up and she started to fight the demon. But then it was already too late and the demon threw her into the pool. Cordelia screamed. Faith somersaulted over the demons and grabbed her hand. But something was pulling Cordelia into the pool and the fact that Faith had to keep the demons at bay didn't help at all. Finally, the demons managed to push Faith into the pool and then followed her themselves.

When Raelee and Lara brought Buffy and the gang to the site of the fight, Faith and Cordelia were gone.

"You think they got away?" Willow asked.

"I hope so," Buffy said.

"No," Lara said and everyone looked at her. "That way," she added and pointed into the direction in which the demons went.

"How do you know?" Buffy asked.

Lara shrugged and stepped closer to Raelee.

"Isn't the demons' lair somewhere in that direction?" Willow asked.

Buffy thought.

"Yeah, I think so. Let's go."

They went into the direction Lara had pointed. Buffy quickly noticed that Lara seemed to know where she was going and she let her take the lead. Lara felt a bit awkward being in charge, but Raelee's closeness calmed her down a bit.

"You sure this is it?" Xander asked when they got to the lair.

Lara shrugged.

"There's the pool," Willow said.

"And where are the demons? It's awfully quiet here."

"They're in the pool."

"Isn't it a bit small?"

"It's not just a pool, it's a gate to their realm."

"Guys," Buffy said, staring into the pool.

"This is not good, is it?" Raelee said when she came to the pool.

"No."

"Is that Faith or Cordelia?" Xander asked.

"Both. They're merging with the environment," Giles explained.

"Can you save them?" Buffy asked Willow.

"I hope so. Giles."

Giles took his bag and took out a book. He gave it to Willow and while she browsed through it, he took out the stuff she needed for the spell.

"Okay," Willow said after going over the spell once again. "I'm ready. If any demon tries to come out, whack it on the head. And be ready to grab Faith and Cordelia. Okay?"

Everyone nodded and stepped in position. Raelee and Lara stepped aside and watched how the Scooby Gang moved as a team and how they acted like it was just another day on the job. It probably was, if the rumors they'd heard about Buffy were true.

Willow took a deep breath and started to chant the spell. The pool started to boil and soon a demon started to come out. Buffy quickly acted and gave it a couple of kicks in the head. The head disappeared. More followed, but Buffy kept them at bay with Xander's help.

Raelee and Lara both noticed when Willow's demeanor suddenly changed. One moment it looked like she was in control and the next like someone else took over. The speed of chanting increased and soon it looked like Willow's lips were merely trembling, not chanting the spell. They suspected it was not the original spell when Willow stopped throwing stuff into the pool.

Finally the demons stopped appearing and soon a girl started to come out. Everyone was confused, because although they didn't know the girl, she was somehow familiar. Buffy quickly pulled her out and laid her on the ground. Giles took off her jacked and covered the naked girl.

Willow kept chanting. The boiling stopped and the pure white started to became darker and darker, until it was completely black. Willow continued to chant until the pool suddenly disappeared in an explosion of light. She stopped and Buffy quickly grabbed her before she collapsed.

"You okay?" Buffy asked her.

Willow nodded.

"Just a bit tired."

"Em, I hate to interrupt, but what about Faith and Cordelia?" Xander asked.

"That's them," Willow said and pointed at the girl they had rescued from the pool.

"What do you mean?" Xander asked, confused.

"They merged."

Faith/Cordelia moaned and opened her eyes. She looked around, confused, and sat up.

"Wow," she said.

"Faith? Cordelia?" Buffy asked.

Faith/Cordelia looked at her.

"We're both here," she said.

"Can you get them apart?" Xander asked Willow.

"Yes, I just need…"

"No!" Faith/Cordelia said.

"What?" Buffy asked.

"I wanna stay as I am."

"But…

"No!" Faith/Cordelia said and got up. She wanted to run, but Buffy stopped her. "No! Let me go!" she demanded and pushed Buffy away.

Buffy quickly recovered and ran after her. She quickly caught up with her. Faith/Cordelia attacked her, but she was still weak from the merging and Buffy quickly knocked her out. She caught her in her arms before she could hit the ground and then carried her back to the group.

"Do you do this every day?" Raelee asked Xander as they waited for Willow to gather her strength again.

"Demons? No. We usually do vampires. Demons are for special occasions."

"Oh." She thought. "And the Mayor? We, em, we heard rumors that he was a monster."

"Yep. Turned into a giant snake-like demon. We blew him up."

"Wow."

"Okay, I'm ready," Willow finally announced.

Faith/Cordelia suddenly found herself in Cordelia's room. She was naked. She gasped when something suddenly happened inside her. She took a step forward, but at the same time, she took a step backwards. She looked at her body, confused, and saw that it was different, yet familiar.

"Faith!"

Faith turned.

"Cordelia!"

They wanted to hug, but they went right through one another. They turned around, confused.

"What happened?" Cordelia asked and slowly reached toward Faith.

Faith did the same, but when their fingers were supposed to touch, they passed right through.

"I think it's because we're one," Faith said.

"Oh. I don't like it. I want to be able to touch you."

"Me too," Faith agreed. "I mean, I like the way it feels to be you, but… I don't know, it makes me feel lonely."

"Yes," Cordelia said and sighed. "I hope they get us apart."

"Yeah. I…"

Both gasped when Willow started to chant again. They fell to their knees in pain. The pain wasn't physical, but they felt like they were being torn apart. Fortunately, the pain was of short duration and it soon stopped.

"I feel… different," Faith said.

"Yeah," Cordelia agreed. "But I still feel you. It's not quite the same as before."

"Yeah, you're right, I can feel you too."

She hesitated for a moment and then reached toward Cordelia. Cordelia did the same and their fingers soon touched and interlaced. They both smiled and hugged.

"I missed that," Cordelia said.

"Me too."

"Let's go to bed, I wanna feel your body, feel you."

Faith didn't argue. They went to the bed, lay down and hugged.

When Willow was done, Faith and Cordelia lay on the ground, naked. Buffy covered Cordelia with Giles' jacked and used her own to cover Faith.

"Some other time…" Xander trailed of thoughtfully and both Buffy and Willow gave him angry glances. "What?"

He received no answer.

"Willow, you and Xander escort Raelee and Lara home. Giles and I will take Cordelia and Faith home."

"Okay," Xander said and looked at Willow. "Will?"

"Just a moment," Willow said and got up. She took a few deep breaths. "Okay."

Buffy picked up Faith and Giles Cordelia.

"Cordelia! Faith!" Mrs Chase said, worried and surprised, when she saw Giles and Buffy carrying the naked bodies of her daughter and her daughter's girlfriend. "What happened?"

"They were… attacked," Buffy said. "They should be okay by morning. Where do we put them?"

"This way," Mrs Chase said and led the way to Cordelia's room. "Put them on the bed."

"Both?" Giles asked.

"Yes. They'd want to be together when the wake up."

Giles and Buffy laid the two unconscious girls on the bed and Mrs Chase covered them. When she was about to leave the room, she heard noise. She turned and was surprised when she saw that Faith and Cordelia were hugging. She stared at them for a while, then smiled and left.

Cordelia was the first to wake up. She opened her eyes and smiled when she saw the still sleeping Faith. She caressed her and kissed her. Faith's eyes fluttered open a few moments later. She was confused for a moment, but when she saw Cordelia's eyes, she responded to the kiss and they shared a long, passionate kiss.

"I love you," Faith said when they stopped kissing.

"I love you too," Cordelia said and caressed Faith again.

They stared at each other for a few moments and then hugged even tighter.

"I had no idea," Cordelia said after a while.

"What do you mean?" Faith asked, puzzled.

"Abuot you, about what a difficult life you've had. And just how much I mean to you."

Faith smiled.

"And I had no idea how much I mean to you," she said. "Or how different you can really be from your everyday appearance."

Cordelia smiled.

"I guess there's a lot of things we didn't know about each other."

"Yeah. Looks like not knowing is not an issue anymore."

Cordelia laughed.

"Looks like it, yes."

When Mrs Chase came to check up on them about ten minutes later, they were still hugging.

"Cordelia?" she asked quietly when she entered the room.

Cordelia and Faith opened their eyes.

"Morning," Cordelia said and Faith murmured something. "How come you're home?"

Mrs Chase hesitated for a moment.

"Well, you were hurt and I… well, I wanted to be here when you'd wake up."

"Oh," Cordelia said. She liked it. "Thanks."

Mrs Chase smiled.

"How are you?"

"We're fine."

"Are you sure? Buffy said you were attacked."

Cordelia hesitated for a moment.

"Yes."

"What did they do to you?"

"It's a long story."

"Do you know who it was?"

"Yes, but somehow I don't think the police would believe it."

"What do you mean?" Mrs Chase asked, confused.

Cordelia thought about how to put it, but Faith saved her.

"I'm sure you're aware that strange things are happening in Sunnydale," she said after she turned around.

"Yes," Mrs Chase said, still confused.

"Well, one of them happened to us. And believe me, I know from experience, the police usually only writes a report and forgets about it."

"Oh," Mrs Chase said. She was still as confused as before, but she decided not to inquire any further, sometimes it was better not to know. "When will you get up?"

Faith looked back at Cordelia.

"I think we'll lie for a while," Cordelia said.

"Okay."

Mrs Chase left and Faith turned back to Cordelia.

"Why don't we just spend the entire day in bed?" she suggested.

Cordelia smiled.

"I wouldn't mind, but I'm kinda hungry."

"We can have breakfast in bed," Faith insisted and Cordelia laughed.

"Good idea. But somehow I don't think Mom would appreciate it. I mean, she did stay home because of me."

"Yeah, I guess so," Faith agreed. "Okay, how about another hour?"

"Deal," Cordelia said and Faith gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

Buffy came by an hour later.

"Hello, Buffy."

"Hello, Mrs Chase. I came to check up on Cordelia and Faith."

"They're fine. They're just taking a shower."

"Oh," Buffy said. "Oh," she added when she realized that Mrs Chase meant that they were taking the shower together and that she knew about it.

"Do you want to wait for them?"

"Yes."

"Then come on in."

Buffy entered and Mrs Chase went upstairs.

"Hey, B," Faith said when she and Cordelia came downstairs, hand in hand. "What brings you around?"

"You two. How are you?"

"We're fine," Cordelia said. "Thanks for getting us apart."

"You don't mind?" Buffy asked, surprised.

"No. At first we wanted to stay together like one, but after you knocked us out, we… well, we realized that… em…"

"We would be lonely," Faith finished for her.

"Yeah," Cordelia agreed.

"Oh. Good. Any aftereffects?"

"Just that we feel even closer to one another than we did before," Cordelia said and gently squeezed Faith's hand.

"That's good," Buffy said and smiled.

"Yeah," Faith agreed. "Oh, listen, I was thinking. How about we tell Raelee and Lara what is going on around here? I mean, they've seen the demons and they know I fight vampires. And besides, Raelee is good with languages and she could help with research and Lara is good with chemistry and biology and she could help Willow mix her stuff for the spells."

Buffy thought about it.

"I'll ask Willow and Giles. I'll call you later."

"Okay."

"Good. Oh, does, em, does your mother know you two are a couple?"

"Yes," Cordelia said.

"How'd she find out?"

"She saw us kissing. She wanted to know why and I told her."

"How'd she take it?"

"She was a bit confused, but then she accepted it."

"That's good."

"Yes."

"Well, I'll call you later."

"Okay."

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Buffy left and Faith and Cordelia went to the kitchen, where Maria was just finishing their breakfast.

"Good morning," she greeted them with a smile. "I hope you're hungry."

"Starving," Faith said.

"And horny?" Cordelia asked with a smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Faith asked, confused.

"Oh, I just remembered Xander."

"Xander… Oh," Faith said and blushed.

"He wasn't even that bad," Cordelia mused. "Cosidering that you nearly scared him to death."

Faith blushed even deeper.

"I… Em... Well..."

"It's okay," Cordelia calmed her and kissed her on the nose. "I think it was his first time," she then mused and Faith blushed even deeper. "Okay, I'll stop now," Cordelia said with a grin.

"Thank you."

In the afternoon, Raelee and Lara came.

"Hi, we just came to check up on you," Raelee said. "How are you?"

"Great, thanks," Cordelia said.

"Good. Em, do these things happen often?"

Faith smiled.

"Every day. Tell you what, why don't you come here in the evening and we'll go to Giles' house. You'll meet the gang and we'll tell you everything there."

"Okay."

"Come around eight," Cordelia said.

"We will."

"Good. See you in the evening."

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Raelee and Lara came in the evening and they all went to Giles'. The rest of the Scooby Gang was already there.

"Is everybody here?" Faith asked when they entered the living room. "Where's Xander?"

"Right here," Xander said as he came in from the kitchen.

"Oh." She waited until everyone was seated and then started to introduce them. "Well, I guess you've already met Raelee and Lara. Raelee is good with languages and Lara with chemistry and biology. Useful stuff." She turned to Raelee and Lara. "Anyway, Buffy," she said and pointed at the girl in question, "and I are Slayers. With a capital S. Don't ask me how or why or since when, but every generation there is a Slayer called to fight the evil. When she dies, another one is called."

"But Buffy's still alive," Raelee observed.

"Yes," Faith nodded. "But she did die for a few minutes and then another Slayer was called, Kendra. And when she was killed, I was called. So now there are two Slayers."

"Oh."

"Well, anyway, Giles over there is our Watcher, with a capital W. I'm sure you're wondering what that is. Well, he used to belong to an organization called the Watcher's Council. They're supposed to be fighting evil, but they're a bunch of assholes, if you ask me. Anyway, they fired him and Buffy and I quit. So we're like freelancers." She pointed at Willow. "Willow is our resident Wiccan."

"A what?"

"A witch."

"Oh. So she does magic?"

"Not really," Willow said, "I just perform the spells."

"But what you did yesterday was more than just a spell."

"Well, I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Oh."

"Anyway," Faith continued, "there's also Xander, our… em…"

"Our supplier of military equipment," Buffy saved her.

"Yeah. And you've already met Cordelia. There are also Angel and Oz, but they're not around. Angel's a vampire and…"

"A vampire?" Raelee interrupted her, surprised. "I thought you killed vampires."

"Yeah, well, he has a soul. And besides, he used to be Buffy's boyfriend."

Raelee glanced at Buffy.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. It gets weirder. Oz, who used to be Willow's boyfriend, is a werewolf."

"What?"

"Don't ask."

"Weird."

"Yeah."

"Don't forget Anya," Xander said.

"Oh, yeah, Anya, the ex-demon. She's Xander's girlfriend. Or was she?"

"The jury's still out on that," Xander said.

"Oh. Oh, yeah, did I mention that Xander and Cordelia used to be a couple?"

"Okay, they don't need to know all our love affairs," Cordelia said.

Faith grinned.

"Sorry." She looked at Raelee. "That's about it."

"So you fight demons and vampires every day?" Raelee asked.

"No. Buffy and I usually go on patrol in the evening and if we notice that something's wrong we call a powwow and do some research. Sometimes we let others have some fun at kicking the demons or vampires. Wanna join us?"

Raelee looked at Lara, who made the tiniest of nods.

"Okay," Raelee said. "What do we do?"

"Right now, nothing. But when trouble starts brewing, you'll know and then you can help with research."

"Oh. Okay."

"So, anything else you want to know?"

"Yeah, about the Mayor. It's pretty major stuff."

"You can say that again," Xander said.

Faith thought for a few moments and then told them everything, including about her dirty role in the events. She noticed that others were surprised about her honesty, but nobody interrupted her, except to correct some detail or provide information Faith didn't know about.

When Faith and Cordelia returned home, Faith felt relieved.

"You know," she said as they lay together in bed, "I'm glad I told them everything, I needed that."

"What?"

"I needed to say it out loud, to admit it to myself. It was kinda surreal before."

"Do you feel better?"

"No, I feel worse."

"Why?"

"Because now I have accepted it."

"Oh."

"But at least now I can deal with it."

Cordelia smiled.

"That's good."

Faith smiled back.

"Yeah."

"Cordelia?" Faith asked, confused, when she found herself in Cordelia's room.

"Faith?"

The two girls looked at each other, confused.

"How come we're sharing a dream?" Faith asked. "If I'm not mistaken, we're both sleeping in your bed."

"I don't know. Do you mind?"

Faith smiled.

"Are you kidding? I love it!" she said and hugged Cordelia.

"Me too," Cordelia agreed as she hugged her back.

"It must have something to do with our merging," Faith said when they stopped hugging.

"You mean like a part of me is in you and vice versa?"

"Yeah."

"Great! Wait, does that mean we can share dreams every night?"

"I hope so."

"Yes! That means we can be together even when I'm in LA."

"We'll never be apart again."

They stared at each other for a few moments and then shared a passionate kiss.

"I love you, Faith."

"I love you, Cordelia."

The End