Eighteen

SOLITAIRE

A few minutes later, Buffy knelt naked in the dark in front of Faith in her bedroom, with her head in Faith’s lap. The room was lit by candlelight. It was a scented candle; the room smelled like cinnamon. Faith sat naked on the edge of the bed, and stroked Buffy’s hair.

“It was hard on you, seeing Angel,” Faith said.

Buffy nodded.

“It’s okay that you still love him,” Faith said.

“Do you still love Evan?” Buffy said.

“Yeah. But I want to be with you.”

“I want to be with you too,” Buffy said. “Looks like we’re a matched set.” She looked down at Faith’s ankles and feet. “We better get you back into your bandages.”

“Things are a pain in the ass.”

“Just for tonight. Tomorrow, as long as you still look good, we can take all that stuff off, okay?

“Yeah.”

Buffy smiled up at Faith, and opened Faith’s legs. She gave her pussy a little kiss.

“You’re such a bad girl,” Faith said. “What am I gonna do about you?”

“Spank my bum, maybe,” Buffy said, and smiled. “But first we’ll do some other fun stuff.”

“Remember how I always wanted you to spank me?” Faith said.

“You still want me to?” Buffy said, and kissed Faith’s knees.

“Yeah. Not tonight, but...”

“That’s a conversation we need to have,” Buffy said, and caressed Faith’s cheek. “Faith...the stuff your Mom did to you. I just...I don’t want you to think...”

“I know,” Faith said. “It’s not like that, Buffy. If you do that with me, it’ll just be, y’know, playin’ around. It won’t be like...I don’t think...you gotta hurt me to love me.”

Buffy stood up, and leaned over. She took Faith’s head in her hands, and tilted it up, and looked down into her eyes.

“I’ll never hurt you, Faith,” Buffy said. “All I’ll ever do is love you.”

Faith nodded. Buffy hugged her, and Faith rested her head against her breasts.

They were quiet for awhile, and still.

“Does my baby wanna be back with momma now?” Buffy whispered. “Does she wanna be my cub again?”

“Yeah but...not yet,” Faith whispered. “I kinda...like how tonight’s been.”

Buffy looked down at her and smiled.

“You mean how you’ve totally made me your bitch all night?” Buffy said.

They giggled.

“Nice change of pace,” Faith said. “You look real pretty on your knees.”

Buffy knelt down in front of Faith, and took her foot in her hand, and kissed it, and held it against her cheek.

“Like this, baby?” Buffy whispered. “You want me like this?”

“Yeah,” Faith said, and caressed her hair. “Not all the time, but...it’s been fun, today.”

“Not complaining down here,” Buffy whispered. “Let’s get you back into your bandages, baby. And then you can do whatever you want to me.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Faith said.

Buffy got up and walked to the bureau. Faith watched her move, watched how she bounced on the balls of her feet when she walked; she moved with grace and in absolute silence like a cat. Faith traced Buffy’s naked body with her eyes as Buffy glided across the rug, her feet never seeming to touch it: a perfect predator. The muscles in Buffy’s legs were thick and strong. They flexed, as Buffy bent a little and opened the top drawer of her bureau, looking for the things Faith needed.

“You’re looking at me,” Buffy said. “I can feel your eyes on me.”

“I’m always looking at you,” Faith said.

Buffy stretched out and bent all the way over against the top of the bureau, pushing off of it with her arms fully extended. She arched her back and stretched her legs behind her like a cat. She looked over her shoulder at Faith, and smiled.

“See anything good?” Buffy purred.

“You’re a bad girl,” Faith said. “You’re bad, I can tell.”

“I might need another spanking,” Buffy said, and took bandages and rubbing alcohol and cotton balls and an icepack out of the top drawer. Then she bent all the way over, sticking her ass out, and opened the bottom drawer.

“You better get that pretty little ass back here,” Faith said. “You’re a bad girl. Teasing me like this.”

Buffy took the dildo out of the bottom drawer, and turned around, and smiled. She held it up, and gave the head of it a little lick.

“So teach me a lesson,” Buffy said.

She came back to Faith, and knelt in front of her again.

She took Faith’s left ankle in her hand, and kissed it.

“This should be the last time with the icepack,” Buffy said. “We’ll keep the pressure bandage on until morning, and if there’s no swelling that’s it for the bandage too, okay?

“Yeah,” Faith said, looking up at the ceiling. The glow-in-the-dark stars were very bright. “Gonna have to jazz up those stars.”

“Sure, baby,” Buffy said, and put the pressure bandage and the icepack on Faith’s ankle. “The kisses are working. My baby’s healing right up.”

“It’s definitely the kisses,” Faith said.

Buffy took Faith’s right arm in her hand, and kissed it, from the tips of Faith’s fingers all the way up to the shoulder. She wrapped an icepack around the elbow, and taped bandages over that. “How’s the arm?” she said.

“Feels good as new. I can like, stretch it out all the way now.”

“Okay, well Giles said there’s still some damage and he knows this stuff, so go easy with it for another day.”

“You sayin’ I shouldn’t spank you so hard?” Faith said, and raised her eyebrow. “Might get my arm all tired?”

Buffy licked Faith’s neck, and put her mouth to her ear.

“You can spank me as hard as you want,” Buffy whispered, and giggled.

“Such a bad girl,” Faith said, shaking her head.

“Mmm-hmm,” Buffy said. “Lie back on the bed, baby. I’m gonna clean your stomach.”

Faith moved herself back on the bed and laid down. Buffy picked up the rubbing alcohol and the cotton balls, and laid beside her, and kissed her. She kissed Faith’s breasts, and then her stomach, and looked at the wound there.

“I love my appointments with Doctor Buffy,” Faith said.

“I’m gonna have to give your pussy a special checkup later, baby,” Buffy said. “But first let’s clean your tummy.”

She opened the bottle of rubbing alcohol, poured some onto the cotton ball, and gently glided it across the gash on Faith’s stomach. It was a long, light pink scab now.

“This okay?” Buffy said. “Doesn’t hurt?”

“Nah, feels okay,” Faith said.

Buffy finished cleaning the wound, and then she wrapped a bandage around it and taped it in place.

“All better,” Buffy said.

Faith nodded, and kissed Buffy’s hand.

“I wanna suck your dick, baby,” Buffy said.

“You do?” Faith said.

“Yeah,” Buffy said. “Sit up on the bed.” Faith sat on the edge of the bed again, and Buffy knelt in front of her. She put the dildo on Faith, sliding it up her legs and buckling it in place.

Then she smiled up at Faith, and took it in her mouth, and began sucking on it. Buffy held the dildo in her hand as she sucked it, but Faith took her hand off of it, and Buffy rested her hands on Faith’s knees instead.

“That’s it, honey,” Faith said. “Just your mouth. Just like that.”

Buffy nodded, and looked up into Faith’s eyes, as she sucked on the dildo.

After awhile, she took Faith’s hand, and brought it to her hair. Faith took Buffy’s hair in her hand, and controlled her, moving her mouth up and down along the dildo. Faith felt her pussy getting wet, as she watched Buffy with the dildo in her mouth...as she controlled her.

After another moment Buffy wasn’t moving her head anymore; Faith was pulling Buffy’s head back and forth along the dildo by her hair, and thrusting her hips out to fuck Buffy’s mouth. Faith moaned; she realized she could come this way. Thrusting her hips out, and controlling Buffy by her hair, and seeing Buffy with the dildo in her mouth...she realized it could make her come.

“Why...are you doing this, honey?” Faith said, and let Buffy’s hair go. “You look... real pretty doing it, but...”

Buffy took the dildo out of her mouth, and licked it all the way up the shaft, and smiled.

“Because I love your big dick, baby,” Buffy said, and giggled.

Faith raised her eyebrow.

“How about...I’m working on my technique,” Buffy said, as she licked the dildo up one side and down the other. “You like me on my knees like this, right?”

Buffy kissed Faith on the lips, and then kissed the tip of the dildo.

“You like me with your dick in my mouth, baby?” Buffy purred.

“Yeah,” Faith said. “You look real pretty like this...with it in your mouth. It turns me on, but...you always look pretty to me, honey. And I don’t want you doing stuff you don’t want to do.”

“I want to. I wanna get it all nice and wet for when you fuck me with it, baby,” Buffy whispered, and started sucking it again.

“You want to do that again?” Faith said.

Buffy nodded, with the dildo in her mouth.

“You’re throwin’ me some brainteasers here, beautiful,” Faith said, and took the dildo out of Buffy’s mouth, and caressed her cheek. Buffy practically lunged at her, throwing her arms around Faith and kissing her again, and sucking on her tongue.

Faith moaned again, as Buffy sucked on her tongue. Buffy took her time doing it. After awhile Buffy moved her left hand down to the dildo, and started jerking it off.

“Will you come if I give you a handjob, baby?” Buffy whispered, and giggled. “I hope you’re not one of those guys who comes too fast. I need it long and hard tonight.”

“Believe me, I got plenty of gas in the tank,” Faith said, and kissed Buffy’s neck, and caressed her breasts.

“So is my technique improving at all?” Buffy said, and got back down on her knees, and kissed the tip of the dildo again.

“Still using your teeth a little,” Faith said. “But I like how you’re mixing it up with the licking.”

“You know, this dildo can like, squirt stuff. It said that on the box. There’s some way to like, load it up with whatever liquid you want, and then like, if you squeeze the balls? It squirts.”

“Seriously?”

“The Orgasmatron can do everything.”

“This thing’s called the Orgasmatron?”

They giggled.

“Yup,” Buffy said, and started jerking the dildo off again. “It’s gonna live up to its name in a minute when you fuck me with it.”

Buffy started sucking on it again.

“No teeth this time,” Faith said. “You’re learning.”

“Next time we’ll load it up,” Buffy whispered. “So you can come in my mouth, baby.”

Buffy went back to sucking the dildo, and looked up into Faith’s eyes, and smiled.

Faith was pretty sure she knew what Buffy was doing. But she knew Buffy needed to do it...so she went along with it.

After another minute with the dildo in her mouth, Buffy got up, and knelt above Faith’s lap.

“You wanna do it this way, honey?” Faith said. “You wanna sit in my lap?”

“Yeah,” Buffy said. “I’ve never done it this way.”

“You’ll like it, beautiful. It hits your little button just right.”

Buffy nodded, and slowly lowered herself onto the dildo.

“Is it okay?” Faith said.

“Yeah,” Buffy said, as she closed her eyes, and slowly took it inside her. “It...feels good.”

“Slow, honey,” Faith whispered, and put her hand around Buffy’s waist, and slowed her down as she took the dildo inside her. “Slow. Start from halfway in, okay? Don’t hurt yourself.”

Buffy nodded, and slowly started moving up and down on the top half of the dildo. She closed her eyes, and began breathing deeply.

“Hurt?” Faith said. She kept her arm around Buffy’s waist, making sure she went slow.

“No,” Buffy said. “It’s like...a pressure. Doesn’t hurt exactly. It’s just ...stretching me out.”

“Go slow, honey,” Faith said. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Buffy said, and kissed her, and slowly fucked the dildo. After another moment it was all inside her.

“Okay...yeah,” Buffy whispered. “Yeah. It feels good now.” She started fucking the dildo a little faster, moving all the way up, and all the way down.

“Wait,” Faith said, and put her arms around Buffy, and held her still.

Faith kissed her.

“I don’t want you to think about coming, okay, honey?” Faith said. “I’m gonna handle that for you. I’m gonna make my girl come, okay? All I want you to do is relax, and enjoy yourself. Sound like a plan?”

“Okay,” Buffy said.

“I want you to do what I say,” Faith said, and took Buffy’s hair in her hand, and looped it around her fist, and held her still. “Are you gonna be a good girl for me? Are you gonna do what I say?”

“Yeah...yeah,” Buffy murmured.

Faith kissed Buffy’s neck, where the wound was...the wound she had made.

“Say it,” Faith whispered. “Whisper it in my ear.”

“I’m gonna be a good girl for you,” Buffy whispered in her ear, as Faith put her hand around her waist, and started moving her up and down on the dildo again. “I’m gonna do what you say.”

“I love you,” Faith whispered.

“I love you too,” Buffy whispered.

Faith kissed her, as Buffy slowly moved up and down on the dildo, and began to moan.

“Just look in my eyes, beautiful,” Faith said. “Look in my eyes, and don’t look away.”

Buffy nodded, and looked at her. Faith looked back.

They fucked.

Buffy moved on the dildo, slowly. She liked the feel of it; the steady pressure against the walls of her pussy, stretching her out. It went deep into her; in this position it went deeper than it had before.

Faith put both of her hands on Buffy’s ass now, and pulled her toward her, moving her back and forth on top of the dildo, as Buffy moved up and down along its shaft. Buffy threw her head back, and shuddered.

“We’re hittin’ your little button just right now, honey,” Faith said.

“Your eyes...are so beautiful, baby,” Buffy said, as she looked into Faith’s eyes again. “When they reflect the light...they’re golden. They’ve been...golden all night.”

“I feel...balanced, sorta,” Faith said, and kept moving Buffy back and forth along the dildo, stretching Buffy’s pussy out around it and working it against her clit, as Buffy went on fucking it, moving up and down, faster now. “I feel...like I’m me, all of me, for the first time.”

“You’re...my lion,” Buffy whispered, and kissed her.

After a few minutes they started moving faster. Buffy moaned with every breath now. She looked into Faith’s golden eyes, and they held her fast. Faith smiled, and kissed her.

“You’re hypnotizing me, baby,” Buffy moaned, and smiled.

Faith moved Buffy faster across the dildo, and watched the powerful muscles in Buffy’s thighs flexing as she took every inch of the dildo inside her. A little stifled scream erupted out of Buffy, and she shut her eyes, and threw her head back. But Faith took her by the hair, and brought her head forward, and looked her in the eyes again.

The dildo didn’t hurt Buffy at all now. It felt perfect...it fit her just right. She felt like her pussy was tingling inside. She was so wet she was dripping onto Faith’s lap. She held on tight to Faith as Faith fucked her; she ran her fingers over Faith’s shoulders, and through her hair.

“Baby...!” Buffy whimpered. She breathed in quick little gasps now, and her lower lip began to quiver.

Buffy started to squeal. Faith moved her even faster across the dildo; the bed was moving back and forth with them now, and creaking so loud Faith was worried it might break.

Buffy started screaming, and her body began to tremble. Faith held her by the hair with one hand and looked into her eyes, while she kept moving her back and forth on the dildo with the other.

“That’s my girl,” Faith whispered. “That’s my girl.”

Faith felt Buffy’s orgasm building; she felt Buffy’s body quaking around the dildo. She kissed her. Buffy’s eyes filled up with tears.

“I love you,” Faith whispered.

Buffy threw her head back and shrieked as she came; the sound carried. Faith smiled. Angel was a vampire and Faith knew he could hear everything they were doing anyway, but she liked the fact that Buffy was being loud...she wanted him to know just how loud she could make Buffy scream. She wanted him to know Buffy belonged to her, now.

Buffy hugged Faith as she came, with all her strength. Faith felt Buffy’s body shaking, and heard Buffy sobbing in her ear.

“Can you let it go now, honey?” Faith whispered.

Buffy nodded her head, and cried.

Faith turned Buffy toward her, so she could see her face. The dildo was still inside Buffy. Buffy didn’t move.

“We’ve both been inside you now,” Faith said. She whispered it. She didn’t want Angel to hear this. This moment was just for them. “Me and him. You came for me, honey, just like you came for him. You don’t have to prove anything to me, okay? I know you love me. Can you let it go now? Can you stop trying to prove it?”

“I’m your girl,” Buffy whispered.

“You’re my girl, honey,” Faith whispered, and kissed her tears away.

“I’ll always come for you,” Buffy whispered. “Only for you. You’re the only one who will ever be inside me. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Faith whispered back. “And I understand you did what you had to do tonight, Buffy. I understand you needed to do this. But from now on? I don’t want you doing stuff you don’t want to do, okay?”

Buffy nodded.

“I don’t want you sucking on the dildo anymore,” Faith whispered. “I know you don’t want to, so I don’t want you doing it. Okay?”

“I don’t...I don’t hate it or anything,” Buffy whispered, and sniffled, as Faith held her, and caressed her hair. “I don’t mind it, it’s just...I don’t know. Guess it’s not really my thing.”

“That’s why I don’t want you doing it.”

“But I like...I like being on my knees for you. I like...how it makes me feel all sorta...girly.”

“You can be on your knees when you kiss my kitty if you want, honey. I know you like kissing my kitty. I just want you only doing stuff you like to do.”

“I like...how, when you wear it? You’re kind of...y’know...in control of me. I like that feeling, when I have the dildo in my mouth. I mean, the actual sucking on it is kinda boring but...I like how I feel when I’m looking up at you, with it in my mouth. I like the look in your eyes, when you’re looking back down at me, and we both know you’re in control. Um...okay, I’m a big huge pervert.”

Faith smiled.

“You’re my girl,” Faith whispered. “That’s all you are. You want to give me a blowjob sometimes, you can, okay, beautiful? But only because you’re in the mood to do it, not because like, you just wanna do it for me. You do plenty of stuff I love already. Okay?”

“Okay,” Buffy whispered.

Buffy got up off the dildo. Faith picked her up, and laid her down on the bed. She took the dildo off, and set it aside, and took Buffy in her arms. Buffy curled up against Faith’s breasts.

“You like it like this, honey?” Faith said. “You like me being the momma?”

Buffy nodded, and kissed Faith’s breasts.

“But I know my baby likes it even more when I’m the momma,” Buffy said. “I’m gonna start taking care of my baby again soon.”

“Not yet,” Faith said. “I’m gonna take care of you for awhile.”

Buffy nodded, and rubbed her feet against Faith’s, and smiled.

“We gotta jazz up those stars,” Faith said, as she looked up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, shining bright now in the dark room.

“Jazz them up how?” Buffy said.

“Rearrange ’em.”

“They can’t be rearranged.”

“Why not?”

“They’re perfectly astronomically correct.”

“They’re perfectly astronomically correct?”

“I spent a lot of time getting them just right. All the stars and stuff, the constellations? They’re set up the way you’d see them in the sky at night.”

“We could make them look cooler.”

“But...they’re perfectly astronomically correct already. If we rearrange them they won’t be perfectly astronomically correct anymore.”

“I think we should have a discussion about this,” Faith said, and moved herself down the bed. “I think we should have like, a reasonable debate, and really examine the issue on its merits,” she added, as she moved down between Buffy’s legs, and smiled up at her. Buffy giggled.

“Yeah?” Buffy said, as Faith gently opened her legs.

“Yeah,” Faith said, and gave Buffy a kiss between them. “I think we should rearrange those stars and create our own constellations. Cool constellations. And then we could give them all cool names too.”

Buffy moaned.

“But...they wouldn’t be correct anymore,” Buffy said, as Faith began licking her, and her pussy started becoming wet. “They’re...supposed to be... correct. They’re...perfectly...astronomically...”

“That’s your problem, lover,” Faith said, and inserted a finger into Buffy’s pussy, as Buffy gasped, and began to squirm around on the bed. “You’re always worried about being perfectly astronomically correct. You need to learn how to be astronomically incorrect sometimes.”

Faith went on licking Buffy’s pussy, moving her long tongue up and down, and making sure to pay attention to Buffy’s clit. Buffy’s little button was hard and red now.

“Incorrect?” Buffy whispered, and rubbed her feet across Faith’s shoulders.

“Mmm-hmm,” Faith whispered, and began sucking on Buffy’s clit now, as she fucked her with her finger. Buffy moved her hips up and began thrusting against Faith’s finger, moaning with every thrust.

“We’re gonna make our own stars, honey,” Faith whispered. “Our own constellations. Maybe throw in a nebula too.”

“Nebulas?” Buffy moaned. “Do you like...watch Star Trek?”

“I don’t watch Star Trek,” Faith said, and stuck her tongue in Buffy’s pussy, and began stroking her clit.

“Bet...you’ve seen every episode,” Buffy whispered, and smiled. “I bet you’re a Trekkie. I bet...you go to the conventions, and like, wear Spock ears.”

Faith took Buffy’s foot in her hand, and gave her big toe a playful little bite. Buffy yelped, and giggled.

“You’re a Trekkie!” Buffy said, still giggling. “You’re a total Trekkie. I bet you and Xander have like, secret Star Trek conversations.”

“Someone’s bum’s getting a spanking in a minute,” Faith said, and raised her eyebrow, and went back to licking Buffy’s pussy.

“Don’t make promises you’re not gonna keep, baby,” Buffy said. “Besides, we can’t have nebulas.”

“Sure we can. We’ll put a bunch of the stars together, call it like, the Pretty Lil’ Pussy Nebula.”

“Nebulas aren’t stars, that’s...constellations. Nebulas are like...big huge clouds of...gas and dust.”

“So?”

“So I don’t...have glowy stuff...that looks like gas,” Buffy murmured, and closed her eyes, as Faith began sucking on her clit again. I just have stars. We... can’t have nebulas.”

“Sure we can,” Faith said, and began fucking Buffy with her finger again. “Already told you. Throw some stars together, call it the Pretty Lil’ Pussy Nebula. Maybe the Buffy’s Gonna Get Her Bum Spanked Nebula.”

“But...it won’t be a nebula.”

“It’s a nebula if we say it’s a nebula.”

“It...is?” Buffy gasped, as she felt her orgasm building in her.

“Yup,” Faith said.

“Okay,” Buffy murmured, and came. She kicked her legs out over Faith’s shoulders, and Faith moved herself on top of her at the same time, making her curl up into a ball. Faith kissed Buffy as she screamed, and held her hands, as she tore through the bedsheets with her fingernails. Faith moved her body against Buffy’s, gently fucking her, as Buffy’s orgasm crashed through her like a wave; they rode it out together.

Breathless, her heart pounding, Buffy looked up into Faith’s eyes.

“You’re my girl,” Faith said.

Buffy nodded, and hugged her.

Faith smiled down at her, as Buffy remained curled up in a ball, with her legs over Faith’s shoulders. Their pussies were jammed together; they were wet. Buffy could smell Faith’s pussy scent, and feel her heart beating against her.

“I think someone wants to boink me with that dildo again,” Buffy said.

“How come everyone says ‘boink’ now?” Faith said.

“Willow started it. Now everyone says it. Even Angel said it a couple of times.” Buffy caressed Faith’s ass, and drew her closer. “You wanna boink me with your big dick, baby?” she whispered, and licked Faith’s neck. “You wanna fuck me with it, baby? You can fuck me with it whenever you want. Every day if you want.”

Buffy’s breath was warm against Faith’s ear. Her scent was strong: jasmine. Faith felt herself getting wet again.

Faith shook her head.

“You’re my gay girl,” Faith said. “My gay girl doesn’t really want that. I don’t want you doing stuff you don’t want to do, okay?”

“It’s not like I didn’t have fun with it just now, y’know,” Buffy said. “Um, obviously. I like your finger better but...the dildo might still be fun once in awhile. Maybe when I’ve been bad.” She giggled. “Maybe after a spanking.”

“You’re my kinky girl too, huh honey?” Faith said, and kissed her.

Buffy blushed, and nodded.

“Only for you,” Buffy whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Faith said, and kissed her, and rolled off of her. Buffy curled up against Faith’s breasts again, and Faith held her in her arms.

“I can see why you like this so much, being all curled up on my boobs,” Buffy said. “It’s nice. Especially since you have the best boobs in the world.”

“We can be this way whenever you want, honey,” Faith said, and kissed her forehead.

“For awhile,” Buffy said.

Buffy rubbed her feet against Faith’s, and snuggled up closer against her breasts. “Sleepy,” she said. “I’m a sleepy Slayer.”

“Go to sleep, beautiful,” Faith said.

“I might be a cuddle monster too,” Buffy said.

“I’m gonna defeat you,” Faith whispered, and held her tight.

Buffy smiled, and closed her eyes.

The night went on. Eventually, the house became quiet.

Angel sat at the kitchen table, playing solitaire.

He had been playing all night. It was almost three in the morning now.

He knew Faith was standing behind him, leaning on the stove. But Angel didn’t initiate conversations.

He waited. He could wait.

The Scarlet Letter was on the table beside him. And a glass of blood.

And a bottle of Rolling Rock beer. To annoy Xander.

He laid out his cards. Seven stacks, aces up top. Faith smelled fruity, like a peach. With a hint of muskiness underneath. She smelled like Buffy too. Angel had no moves.

He drew a card.

The queen of hearts.

There was nowhere to put it. He had no black kings. He discarded it.

He was good at waiting. He had waited almost a century in a hell dimension. Waiting for a few minutes at a kitchen table was peanuts. The fact that he didn’t know if the Slayer standing behind him was planning on killing him just made it interesting.

He drew the ace of spades, and put it up top.

Angel waited. He could wait.

He wondered if Faith would kill him. His back was turned and she was a Slayer. He knew she had her stake with her; he smelled the wood. From what Buffy had told him, Faith was good. A better fighter than Buffy. Aikido. Maybe she was good enough to kill him, even if his back wasn’t turned. Angel wondered if he would let Faith kill him.

He drew the two of hearts, and discarded it.

He frowned. Having to discard deuces was never good. It could mess the whole game up.

He had been playing this game for a hundred and twenty years now and all it ever did was annoy him. He wondered, sometimes, why he played it.

He drew the ten of spades, put it beneath a red jack, and moved the nine of diamonds beneath the ten. It opened a new stack. He flipped the first card. It was the king of spades. The queen of hearts would have worked perfectly with it.

But the queen of hearts had already come and gone...he had lost her.

“You stink,” Faith said. “You smell like rotten meat.”

Angel drew the queen of diamonds. He put her beneath the king of spades.

He drew the three of spades, and moved it beneath a red four. He picked up the two of hearts from the discard pile and moved it beneath the three.

“I wanna kill you,” Faith said. “I hate you.”

“Fine, and yourself?” Angel said, without turning around.

He felt Faith, less than two feet away from him now, standing directly behind him. In perfect position to stake him. He wondered if he’d let her.

Only one way to find out, he thought, and drew another card. The eight of hearts. He placed it under a black nine.

Faith placed a photograph of a dead girl under the eight of hearts.

“Elisa Martinez,” Angel said.

Faith placed another dead girl under that one.

“Anne Valencia,” Angel said.

“You know ’em all?” Faith said. “Know all their names?”

“Yeah,” Angel said.

Faith sat down across from Angel in her nightgown, put her stake down on the table, and laid out sixteen more dead girls, all facing him.

Angel looked at eighteen dead girls. Faith looked at Angel.

“Buffy and Will say don’t kill you,” Faith said. “It’s why you’re not dust.”

Angel nodded, still looking down at the dead girls.

“Your hair sucks,” Faith said.

Angel looked up at her, and nearly smiled.

“Believed the rest,” he said. “But now you’re lying.”

Faith smiled, and looked away.

“Shit,” she said. “B said go at you through your hair. Saw right through me, huh? Okay, fine. You got kickass hair. How do you get it to do that?”

“Just does,” Angel said.

“Now who’s makin’ up stories?”

“How are you and Buffy?” Angel said, changing the subject.

“Knew it,” Faith said, smiling again. “You probably use mousse. We’re good. Me and B, we’re good.”

“Do you love her?”

“You get right down to it, huh? Maybe none of your damn business, though, ya think?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Asking anyway.”

She nodded.

“I love her more than anything in the world,” Faith said. “I can’t live without her.”

He nodded.

He looked her in the eyes. She looked back at him.

“Faith,” Angel said. “I want you to take care of her for me.”

“That’s it?” Faith said. “Take care of her? No, ‘she might be with you now but she’ll never forget me ’cuz I rocked her damn world’? No, ‘yeah you got her now but I hit it first’? Hell kinda guy are you?”

“A guy who loves her.”

“I’m gettin’ that. But you killed those eighteen kids and sent Buffy these pics and you fucked Buffy up good. Makes me wanna kill you.” Faith picked up her stake, and twirled it around between her fingers. “Think she’ll believe me if I’m all, ‘Geez, sorry B, my stake slipped’.”

“Might be worth a shot.”

Faith put her stake back down on the table. Angel took a sip of blood.

“Dude, that’s fucking disgusting,” Faith said, grimacing.

“Yeah,” Angel said, and washed it down with a swig of Rolling Rock. “But it’s either this or starve. So what do you want?”

“That Xander’s beer?”

“Yeah.”

“Didn’t he say not to drink ’em?”

“Yeah, but he pisses me off. I like annoying him. What do you want?”

“To kill you. But I can’t. So maybe...to get a sense of you. B loved you. Still does. You got part of her. Pisses me off, y’know? She’s mine and I want all of her.”

“I was born in 1727 in Galway,” Angel said. “My father was a real God-fearing prick, kicked me out of the house. Can’t really say I blame him. I was a drunkard and a womanizer and I never went in for an honest day’s work. My father was real big on an honest day’s work. Plus I had sex with the maid.”

“Scandalous,” Faith said.

“I think my father always wanted to have sex with the maid. I think he was jealous.”

“Thought the dude was all God-fearing?”

“Doesn’t mean he didn’t wanna bang the maid.”

“Guess you got a point. Guys are guys.”

“In 1753 a vampire named Darla turned me. She told me she’d show me the world. She did. She loved me, as much as she could...as much as she was capable of. Darla and I blazed a bloody trail through Europe the likes of which they’d never seen before and haven’t seen since. I’ve killed thirteen-thousand, two-hundred and six people and I remember every single one of their faces. I started with my family.”

“Guess you really didn’t like ol’ Dad.”

“Yeah.”

“Darla’s dead now, right?”

“I killed her.”

“You killed her? Thought B did. Why’d you kill her?”

“She was gonna hurt Buffy.”

Faith nodded.

“You smell a little different from a regular vamp,” Faith said. “Not as bad. There’s the vamp smell but there’s something else too. Can’t put my finger on it.”

“Maybe jasmine,” Angel said. “Got jasmine flowers at my place.”

“Picked up on the flower smell already. No, I think it’s your soul. Makes you different, right down to the scent. You still stink. Just not as bad.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Sure. Where’s Galway?”

“Ireland,” Angel said. “In 1898 I raped, tortured and killed a gypsy girl. Her tribe cursed me by giving me my soul back.”

“Bet that took the fun out of things,” Faith said. “You remember all their faces? Seriously? Every one?”

“Yeah.”

“The stuff with Dru. When was that?”

“1860.”

“Willow’s fucked up too. You fucked her up too, making her remember being in that fucking closet. Making her remember you raping her.”

“Xander doesn’t know, does he?”

“No. Just me and B know the whole story.”

“Willow and Xander are a couple now. Why didn’t she tell him?”

“She tells him and it’s over. Will helpin’ me and B...Xander wouldn’t allow it anymore. Even if we killed you, he still wouldn’t allow it. We’d lose them...we’d lose them both. Will doesn’t want that. So Xander doesn’t know. Can’t ever know either. All he knows is the stuff you said to her in the car, not what you had Dru do to her head. We gotta lie to him now. Thanks a bunch.”

“Yeah,” Angel said.

They looked at each other.

Faith blinked first.

“That was a beautiful painting,” Faith said.

Angel nodded. “Cassie was special,” he said.

“Then she met you.”

“Yeah.”

“So. You got your soul back. Then what?”

“I wandered the world, directionless, suicidal. Took myself out of the fight. I didn’t kill people anymore, but I wasn’t helping either. I was nothing. Life is about picking a side. Even the wrong side. I did hang with the Rat Pack for awhile in the sixties though. Met Elvis a couple times. That was sorta fun.”

“You hung with the Rat Pack? Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, those guys?”

“Yeah, in Vegas. How do you know about them? Didn’t think kids these days were into that stuff.”

“My drunk-ass Mom was into those guys. She had tapes. You met Elvis?”

“Yeah. Before he went downhill.”

“Was he hot?”

“Girls seemed to think so. He was a naive, confused kid who found all the fame coming all at once a little overwhelming. Not too bright either. But he was big-hearted. Bought all his friends Cadillacs. Bought me a Caddy and we only went drinking a few times. Liked eating peanut butter and bacon sandwiches, God only knows why. He always needed a haircut. I thought you were a lesbian?”

“Shit dude, I’m damned if I know. Think maybe I’m Slayersexual.”

“Anyway. Things went south for me after awhile. There’s just so long you can fill your life up with empty pleasures...just so long you can sit on the sidelines, not picking a side. I wouldn’t let myself drink humans. So I ended up living on the street and eating rats. I’d separated myself so completely from humanity that I had no idea how to live in the twentieth century anymore...how to earn a living. Where to find animal blood. Butcher shops throw pig’s blood away by the gallons and I didn’t know about it. One night in November of 1996, I was lying in an alley, ready to die, when someone found me.”

“You were in an alley?” Faith said.

“Yeah,” Angel said. “And someone found me. She--”

“She...?” Faith said.

“Yeah,” Angel said.

“Gonna ask a weird question. And I’m not gonna say why I’m asking.”

“Uh...okay.”

“This woman who found you...was she white, mid-twenties, brunette, green eyes? Looking back on her now, does she look familiar?”

Angel looked at Faith...searched her eyes.

“No,” he finally said. “She was Asian. Black hair, brown eyes. She was sent by the Powers...the Powers That Be.”

“Who are they?” Faith said.

“Supposedly they’re all like these big supernatural guys who fight for good, try to help people like you and Buffy, send people visions, influence events. Looks to me like they’re all talk.”

“Uh-huh.”

“The woman who found me told me about the next Slayer...a girl named Buffy Summers. About how hard her life was gonna be. About how she could use some help. She said I could stay in the alley or get in the game. I made a choice. We drove out to L.A. and I saw Buffy. I was there, in the backseat of a car with blacked-out windows, watching her, when she became the Slayer.”

“And you decided to help her out.”

“I decided I loved her. So I helped her out. As best I could.”

“Best wasn’t good enough. Mighta been better if you stayed in that alley. Less people dead.”

“Yeah.”

Angel drank some blood, and washed it down with some beer, and looked at her. She looked back at him.

“Someone found me in an alley once,” Faith said. “When I was ready to die. Her name was Becca...Rebecca Greer. She was my Watcher. She took me in, helped me get my shit together, trained me. Took care of me.”

“What happened to her?” Angel said.

“Vamp named Kakistos killed her.”

“Met him once, awhile back. Asshole. Cheats at cards. You kill him?”

“Me and B.”
“Good. It was the best thing for him.”

“Met him way back in the day when you were Angelus, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“You guys hang out, shoot the shit, maybe go rape and kill some innocent girls? K got off on that. You did too I guess.”

“We played cards in a tavern in Warsaw. He cheated so I tried to kill him. He smacked me once and I went flying through a wall. The whole damn place started fighting after that; it was like a barroom brawl in a western, except dubbed in Polish and no one wore those stupid hats. Kakistos was strong as an ox even then. I ended up unconscious and drunk in a ditch, swore bloody revenge on Kakistos and his entire clan, yadda yadda yadda, and forgot about it by the next day. He went back to hunting Slayers after that; I went back to Darla.”

“You’re an okay guy to talk to, Angel. You’re like, charming. Don’t wanna say nice, since you’ve killed thirteen-thousand people. But you’re a good listener. And yeah, you got it goin’ on, I can see how you got in B’s pants, I can see how you’ve always been a player. The listening’s a big part of it. Gals like a guy who listens. You’re not what I expected. Don’t know why I feel all like, comfortable talkin’ to you but I do. Maybe we just click, I don’t know. Maybe like, if our lives were different, we woulda been pals. But our lives aren’t different. And, just bein’ upfront with you? If Will or Buffy ever say it’s okay the first thing I’m gonna do eight o’clock day one is find you and kill you. Because I can’t ever forgive you for what you did to them...for those eighteen girls, and the closet. I love Buffy and you hurt her, hurt her bad. So maybe you’re good again now and you’re gonna help us but I’ll still kill you if I ever get the chance. All I need is for Will and Buffy to give me the okay. They ever do? Soul or no soul, I swear to God I’m going to fucking dust you. Just so we’re clear, GQ.”

“Good to know.”

Faith picked up her stake, collected the photographs from the table, and stood up. She noticed Angel’s book.

“The Scarlet Letter,” she said. “I was reading that too, before I came out here. You like it?”

“Never liked Puritans much,” Angel said. “Hawthorne lays on the metaphor a little thick. Chillingworth reminds me of my father. You?”

“Didn’t get too far into it before Kakistos burned my damn house down. Puritans sure were a trip though. Kinda needed to get over themselves a little.”

“Different time. Not much to look forward to back then. Not in this life.”

“Buffy’s been wearing your ‘A’ for awhile. It’s weighing her down. I’m gonna take it off her. Might take awhile. But I’m gonna get it off her.”

Angel nodded.

“All those girls,” Faith said. “All the stuff you did. It’s killing her, Angel. You’re killing her. Maybe you don’t mean to now. But you still are.”

Angel nodded.

“I won’t let you kill her, Angel,” Faith said. “I’ll kill you first. Even though I told Buffy and Will that I won’t, if you gotta go so Buffy can survive then I’ll kill you.”

Yeah,” Angel said.

“And stop drinkin’ Xander’s beers,” Faith said, and walked away.

Buffy dreamed there was an earthquake in Sunnydale and she was running around trying to find shelter but there was nowhere to go and she kept falling down. But the streets were all made of rubber and cotton candy for some reason so whenever she fell it didn’t hurt. TLC was singing a few feet away from her, and they kept following her around with pillows, and every time Buffy managed to get back up they hit her with the pillows and knocked her back down again and laughed and sang at her some more and everyone on the street applauded. And it was raining peaches.

She opened her eyes. The room was dark. She heard her TLC disc, playing softly. She looked around.

Faith was dancing on the bed.

“Shake your groove thang, B,” Faith said.

“What are you doing?” Buffy said.

“Celebrating,” Faith said, grinning down at her. Faith held her hand out to her. “C’mon honey, come dance with me. Please?”

Buffy yawned, and took Faith’s hand, and stood up on the bed.

“You wanna dance on the bed?” Buffy said.

“Yeah,” Faith said, and put her arms around Buffy’s waist, and swayed with her to the music. “I wanna dance with you.”

“You understand how I’m naked and it’s like whatever time it is in the morning and this is totally goofy?”

“Sure. You being naked? Even better.”

“Well if I’m dancing naked so are you,” Buffy said, and took Faith’s nightgown off, and tossed it away. Then she knelt down in front of her, and smiled, and pulled her panties down.

“Such a perv,” Faith said, as she stepped out of them.

Buffy nodded, and smiled up at Faith, and gave her pussy a little kiss.

“You just love my lil’ kitty, huh honey?” Faith said. “You can’t get enough of her.”

“I’m addicted, baby,” Buffy whispered, and kissed Faith’s pussy again. “I could eat this pretty peach all day long.”

“Come up here, beautiful,” Faith said, and took Buffy’s hands, and stood her up, and kissed her. “Dance with me.”

Buffy put her arms around Faith’s neck, and they swayed, naked together, in the dark.

“What time is it? It’s still dark out,” Buffy said.

“Who cares?” Faith said. “I brought the champagne up that Xan Man bought me. Drink it with me?”

“Are you trying to get me drunk so you can have your way with me?”

“Hell yeah, girlfriend.”

“Well if we’re gonna be goofy at whatever in the morning it is and dance on the bed I guess we might as well get drunk on champagne too. You ever get drunk before?”

Faith took Buffy’s hand, and spun her around like they were waltzing. Buffy giggled.

“Yeah,” Faith said. “In the bad old days. But I stopped drinking when Becca found me, she doesn’t want me drinking ’til I’m eighteen. I wanted...I wanted the first time drinking again to be with you. You ever drink?”

“Some wine on, um, special occasions,” Buffy said. “I’ve been a little buzzed a few times, but nothing major.”

“Will you drink champagne with me, lover?” Faith said. “Will you help me celebrate?”

“Sure, baby,” Buffy said, as she swayed with Faith to the music. “I’ll celebrate with you. What are we celebrating?”

“Life,” Faith said, and kissed her again. She hopped off the bed, grabbed the Cristal champagne and two glasses from the nightstand, and filled them. She jumped back up onto the bed and handed a glass to Buffy.

“Should we toast?” Buffy said. “Champagne, right? Needs a toast.”

Faith held up her glass. “To the Slayer,” she said. “To Buffy Summers. To my girl.”

Buffy held up her glass.

“To us baby,” Buffy said, and kissed her. “Us.”

They touched glasses, and drank.

“This stuff’s great,” Faith said, as she threw one arm around Buffy’s waist again, and danced with her. “And I’ve had some pretty high-end stuff.”

“Cristal’s expensive,” Buffy said. “My Dad got it once. It was like three-hundred bucks a bottle.”

“Knew Xander overspent.”

“Wanna ask him to take it back? Maybe he kept the receipt.”

“Hell no.”

The song faded out, and a good, fast song came on next.

“C’mon, B, shake that booty,” Faith said, and danced at Buffy like she meant business. Buffy danced right back at her.

“Oh my God,” Buffy said, and started giggling. “It’s like...whatever it is in the morning and I’m drinking champagne and dancing on my bed.” Buffy finished her champagne, snapped her fingers, and concentrated on wiggling her butt at Faith.

Without missing a beat, Faith gulped down the rest of her champagne, shimmied her way down to the nightstand, scooped up the Cristal and poured two more glasses.

Buffy gulped down half of her champagne and backed into Faith, grabbing Faith’s arms and wrapping them around her waist, as she shook her hips and wiggled her butt into her. Then she spun, and threw her arms around Faith’s shoulders, and kissed her.

“Baby?” Buffy said. “This is why I love you so much. Stuff like this. Stuff that only you do. I love you, Faith.”

“I love you too,” Faith said.

They drank their champagne, and danced.

Angel sat at the kitchen table, playing solitaire. He still hadn’t won a hand.

He was looking for a red king. He never had much luck with kings for some reason. Tonight, he hadn’t had much luck with queens either.

He listened to the music coming from Buffy’s room upstairs. He recognized it: he didn’t know the band’s name but he knew it was one of Buffy’s CD’s, one she liked to dance to. She had tried to get him to dance to it once. But you couldn’t waltz to that kind of music. Couldn’t really foxtrot to it either. He looked at his cards. He had no moves and he was down to the last card in the deck. It would have to be a hell of a card to save his hand now.

“Baby?” he heard Buffy say. “This is why I love you so much. Stuff like this. Stuff that only you do. I love you, Faith.”

“I love you too,” he heard Faith say.

Angel got up, went to the refrigerator, got a beer, and sat back down. He drank half of it.

He drew the last card.

The queen of diamonds.

The hand was lost.

He finished his beer, and looked out the window. The night looked black. The streetlights obscured the stars. There were clouds; big, dark gray ones, just barely discernible against the night sky. The clouds were moving quickly, sailing across the sky like galleons, whipped along by the wind.

Buffy and Faith were drinking champagne. He smelled it.

The wind was loud; it whistled, and hammered at the windows. Somewhere down the street, two cats yowled and growled and purred and chased each other. Angel got up and got himself another beer.

He heard Buffy giggle.

He sat back down, and shuffled the deck, and dealt the cards.

The music had changed; Buffy had programmed her CD-changer with a painstakingly detailed playlist during her third glass of champagne and it had only taken her two tries while Faith had her arms around her and kissed her and tickled her. They were back on the bed now, salsa dancing, spinning around each other and kissing and drinking champagne; the bottle was getting low. They both knew that would be a problem soon because they had both come to realize somewhere between glasses two and three that champagne was the best thing ever.

“You are so drunk,” Buffy said, squatting down and shaking her hips in front of Faith, and kissing Faith’s stomach. Faith was laughing; she was ticklish there. Buffy got up, took Faith’s arm, and spun her around. “So drunk,” Buffy said. “Seriously. You’re the drunkest Slayer ever. I might have to call you a cab.”

Buffy wrapped her arms around Faith’s neck, crouched down again, and dipped her. Faith let herself fall as Buffy held her, nearly horizontal. Faith still held the champagne bottle in her hand and she was careful not to let any spill.

“Tell him I wanna be dropped off at my girlfriend’s house,” Faith said, as Buffy brought her back up. Faith lifted her right leg over Buffy’s shoulder.

“Flexible,” Buffy said, finishing her fourth glass, and kissing Faith’s knee. Faith’s bruises were gone. “I bet this girlfriend of yours really loves how flexible you are.”

“No complaints so far,” Faith said. “How do you know how to salsa?”

“Took a couple lessons, went from there. You?”

“Saw a movie, watched it a bunch of times. You and me can dance, B. We can shake our booty. Travolta would love to dance with us.”

“I’m gonna steal you away from this girlfriend of yours,” Buffy said. “After I steal the champagne away from you.” The salsa song ended, and a slow song came on next. Buffy let Faith’s leg down, put one hand around Faith’s neck, took the champagne bottle from her with the other, and appraised it. Buffy kissed Faith’s neck, down below her ear, and put her head on Faith’s shoulder.

“Champagne’s getting low,” Buffy said. “A couple glasses left, but...”

“We should save it for Xan Man and Auntie Will,” Faith said, and put her hands on Buffy’s hips, and swayed with her.

Buffy laughed. “Auntie Will,” she said. “She might, y’know, shoot us with lightning if we don’t. And for Christ’s sake, she’s got fire now too. She’s all like, a scary black-eyed wicca lightning girl. What the hell? Doesn’t she know we’re the Slayers?”

“Yup, better save the rest for auntie,” Faith said. “Auntie can kick our asses.”

“But what about us?” Buffy said. “We need champagne! We need it.”

“Uh...so you know how we’re like, in your house, right?” Faith said, and squeezed Buffy’s butt, and swayed with her.

“Yeah?” Buffy said.

“And like, how your Mom has a liquor cabinet?” Faith said. “C’mon B, work with me here.”

“Shit!” Buffy shouted, and laughed. “You’re so drunk you almost made me forget with how like, totally drunk you are. My Mom totally has booze. She totally has so much booze. And she hardly ever drinks it! She’s so, like...like...” Buffy started giggling into her hand. “Um...what was I just saying?”

“How Joyce has booze,” Faith said, laughing. “Jesus, you’re sloshed. Stay here, hon. Practice shakin’ that booty for me. I’ll grab us some booze and be back in two swishes of a...what’s that thing? The thing that swishes?” Faith said, and jumped off the bed like she was storming the beach at Normandy.

“Excuse me, miss naked drunk girl?” Buffy said. Faith turned around. Buffy pointed at her.

“You’re naked and drunk,” Buffy said. “But especially naked.” Buffy had a lot of trouble saying ‘especially’. “If Xander sees you running around the house all like that with that pretty little bubble butt he’ll cry tears of joy and then give us a million dollars. But he can’t see you like that because only I can see you like that. Plus? You’re so drunk.”

“Shit,” Faith said, and looked around for her nightgown and her underwear, and hustled herself into them. It only took her two tries.

“Okay, back in whatever that thing was I said,” Faith said, and ran out of the room as if she was absolutely certain that vampires were hiding in the liquor cabinet. She remembered to shut the door behind her, because no one was allowed to see Buffy naked but her.

“She is so drunk,” Buffy said, and shook her head sadly.

“Okay,” Xander said, yawning, as he walked into the kitchen in his sweatpants and a tee-shirt. Angel was still playing solitaire. There were eleven empty bottles of Rolling Rock beer on the table. The sky outside was gray now; the sun would be up soon. “The world might end and now the vampire is drinking my frigging beer. Awesome. Remember how I said don’t drink my beer?”

“I’ll buy you another case of piss water,” Angel said, and drew a card. The king of clubs. But he didn’t have any room to start a new stack. There was nowhere for it to go. He discarded it.

Xander opened the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. Angel noticed he had a stake in the waistband of his sweatpants, under his tee-shirt.

“Thought you were all about Guinness?” Xander said, and looked down at Angel’s solitaire hand, and drank.

“We talk now?” Angel said, not looking up from his cards. “Is that what you and I do?”

“Nope,” Xander said, and drank his beer. He didn’t leave. He stood there, watching Angel play solitaire.

“I can drink you under the damn table, Harris,” Angel said. “I can put this piss water away all night long.” He drew the three of spades. He placed it over the two of spades up top. He moved the four of spades over that from one of his stacks, and flipped the card that was underneath the four. It was the ten of hearts. Not a damned thing he could do with it.

Xander noticed Angel’s glass of blood was still nearly full.

“Something you want or are you gonna keep bothering me?” Angel said, still not looking at him.

“Bothering you doubles as bothering you and what I want,” Xander said.

“What?” Angel said.

“Yeah, I didn’t really understand that either,” Xander said. “Categorize it under me just not liking you generally.”

“Willow tell you the things I said?”

“Yeah. After the fun-filled visit to your place. She also told me she came close to frying your ass. My favorite part of the story.”

“She should be careful.”

“That a threat?”

“No. She should be careful with the magic. I’ve seen magic swallow people. I’ve seen it turn them inside out.”

Angel drew a card. The queen of spades.

He had no red kings. He’d had no luck with kings or queens tonight. He discarded the queen of spades and drew another card.

The queen of diamonds. She’d been coming up all night. He discarded it.

Angel heard someone rifling through the liquor cabinet in the den. Buffy would have been quieter no matter how drunk she was and Willow wouldn’t have done it at all. That left Faith. He sniffed the air. He smelled peaches. And champagne. He heard her run back up the stairs. Back to Buffy.

“Did you mean those things you said to her?” Xander said, and finished his beer, and got another one. “You better buy me another case of piss water.”

“I meant every word,” Angel said, looking down at his solitaire hand.

“You son of a bitch!” Xander shouted, and pulled out his stake, and lunged at Angel.

Angel didn’t move, or look up.

Xander stopped himself, with his stake less than a foot from Angel’s heart.

“Fuck!” Xander shouted, and walked away.

“Meant them then,” Angel said. “Meant them when I said them. I didn’t have my soul when I said them. Wouldn’t say them now.”

“Motherfucker,” Xander muttered, and sat down across from him, and drank his beer. Angel still didn’t look at him.

Angel got up, went to the refrigerator, and grabbed another beer. He drank the whole beer down, standing with his back turned to Xander in front of the refrigerator. He took out another one. There were four left now. He sat back down at the table and started drinking.

He looked down at his cards. They looked pretty grim. Not many chances to save this hand. He put the odds at about one in three-hundred.

“If I tried to kill you now, would you let me?” Xander said.

“Yeah,” Angel said.

He drew a card. The queen of hearts.

But there was no place for the queen of hearts now...he couldn’t hold onto her.

He let her go.

The sun was coming up. Buffy and Faith slow danced naked on the bed together, and drank champagne, and kissed.

Buffy started to cry.

“Hey, hey...what’s wrong, honey?” Faith said. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just...it’s probably just the champagne,” Buffy said.

Buffy hugged Faith, and brought her close, and held on tight to her.

“Just... dance with me, okay, baby?” Buffy whispered in her ear. “Just dance with me.”

They danced.