"Hey Buffy." She said as she brushed a strand of her red hair away from her face. Buffy plopped the magazine down on her bedside table, and got up.

"Hey Willow. What brings you to my currently unpleasant bedroom?"

"Just the fact that I was bored outta my mind, and Oz is in a hairy mood tonight." She sat down at Buffy's desk and picked up her diary. "Ooh, the passage to the heart. Mind if I read the last entry?"

"What's the date on it?" Buffy didn't want her reading anything too personal.

Willow opened it up and looked. "July 3rd."

Buffy sat down on the bed. "Sure, read it." She didn't think there was anything in there that she didn't want Willow to know.

Willow grinned and read aloud.

"Hey, Buffy!" Buffy dove at Willow and grabbed her diary. "Sorry, too personal." Willow nodded to show her understanding. But she had managed to get a glimpse at the next few words in Buffy's diary, before she had snatched it away. It had read I'm talking about a certain long-haired brunette, who seems to love leather... That one sentence could only leave one thought in the hacker's head. Buffy was in love with...Faith.

No, she must have read something wrong. How could Buffy like a useless piece of garbage, who gets a thrill out of killing people, and hurting her friends? Plus, she's in a coma. It's just impossible.

"Buffy?" Willow had to figure it out.

"Yeah?" Buffy was reading her magazine again.

"I kinda got a glimpse at a little more in your diary than you think I did." Willow paused. "Do you like Faith?"

Buffy looked at her watch. "Wow, Willow it's almost midnight. You better get home."

"Buffy." Willow wouldn't let this go.

Buffy sighed. "Look Will. We'll talk about it another time alright?"

"Fine. But we have to."

"Alright. But you better get going. Come on, I'll walk you home." Buffy started to get up.

"No, it's all right Buffy. You just get some sleep. You've been quite busy lately." Willow got up and headed out the door. "I'll see ya tomorrow?"

Buffy nodded. "Okay."

Willow walked out and shut the door behind her. Buffy sighed, and plopped back down on her bed. Why the hell did she let Willow read her diary? Now she knew the truth, and Buffy surely didn't want to admit to Willow that she was in love with Faith. Willow hated Faith's guts. Buffy got up and headed to the bathroom. She turned on the tap in the bathtub and ran warm water. She was just starting to take off her top when she heard a knock on the door.

"Honey? Are you in there?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, mom."

"Well, you have a guest." Buffy made an annoyed sigh, and opened the door. Her mom was smiling sweetly, as she moved out of the way. When Buffy saw who it was, her eyes widened, and she practically pounced onto them.

"Whoa, B. Settle down girlfriend." They both fell to the ground. Faith was still weak from quite a few days in a coma, but she didn't want to admit it to Buffy.

"Faith! Oh my god, you're alive!" Buffy got up and reached her hand out to help Faith. Faith took it and Buffy pulled her up. "Umm, mom? Could you excuse us?"

"Oh, of course honey." Joyce gave Buffy a quick peck on the head, and headed downstairs. Once she was out of view, Buffy turned back to Faith.

"I'm so happy you're alive! And I'm really sorry for everything I've done."

Faith looked at her hands as she fiddled with them. "Buffy. There's something really important I have to tell you." She took Buffy's arm, and led her into Buffy's room and shut the door behind them.
"What is it, Faith?" They had both sat down on the bed.

"It's just...I'm in...." Faith was struggling. She scratched her ear, and then focused her eyes on Buffy's. "I have feelings for you, Buffy."

Buffy wanted to believe that Faith loved her, but she wasn't sure that was what Faith had meant. "So...you mean, I'm your friend? Or what?"

"Yeah, friend. That's it." Faith answered quickly, and let her eyes wander the room.

Buffy sighed. "I don't get what's so important about that. I don't mean to be rude or anything, but was that really hard to say?"

"Actually it was, B. I've had a tough past, as you know. And you were the first person to actually ditch a Chem test to hang with me." Faith smiled at the memory.

"Yeah, well...I like you too, Faith. I don't know what it is, but there's something about you that makes me feel...happy." Buffy stood up. "Wanna get a hot chocolate or something? I don't really feel like sleeping."

"We could go slaying." Faith grinned.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? It's too bad that you're not allowed." Buffy said, as she started to head towards the door.

"So? How's breaking the rules ever gotten us in trouble?" Faith looked down as she remembered when she had killed the deputy mayor. "Right. The whole 'bad girls' thing."

"Forget it, Faith. Let's just start fresh. Okay?" Buffy held out her hand.

Faith looked around the room as if searching for an answer. She finally sighed and shook Buffy's hand. "Alright."

"Good. Now let's get that hot chocolate." Buffy opened her bedroom door and they both walked to the front door. "Hey mom! We're just going down the street to grab a drink. I'll be back soon."

"Alright, honey. Don't let the vampires bite."

Buffy rolled her eyes, and they headed towards the coffee shop. "It's not far, about 3 blocks down the street."

"Alright, B. Hey, I'm just wondering, has college started yet?" Faith wanted to keep up with Buffy's life if she was going to be her friend.

"Umm, next week. To tell you the truth, I'm kinda scared. I just don't know what to expect." Buffy shivered and did up her jacket. "I mean, it's college. It's quite a thought."

"Yeah, I know. Or I understand. But I'm here for you, Buffy. If anything ever goes wrong, I'm here." Faith smiled at Buffy.

"Wow, Faith. I've never seen this side of you before."

"Yeah, well...I guess I just want our friendship to work out this time." Faith looked down at her feet as she said it.

"Faith. Look at me." Faith looked up a little, but let her eyes focus elsewhere. "Faith. Please, look me in the eye."

Faith did as she was told. Buffy could see all the pain and sorrow in her eyes, and suddenly she grabbed Faith, and held her in a tight embrace. Faith tensed a little, but then relaxed. As she held Faith, she could feel all the pain drain out of her.

As soon as Buffy let go, Faith sighed a relaxed sigh, and smiled at Buffy. "What -- what was that for?"

"For you, just because you're you."

Faith laughed a little. "Well, thanks. You wanna get that hot chocolate now? I actually don't have a craving anymore."

"Yeah, me neither. So, I guess I'll be heading home." Buffy scratched her head. "Umm, you wanna -- stay at my place?"

"Nah, it's alright. I kinda miss that junk motel." Faith grinned.

"You sure?" Buffy wanted whatever was best for Faith.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Alright. Well, then I'll see ya. And take care of yourself." Buffy gave Faith a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"I've been doing that for my whole life."

"Right, okay. Then keep it up." Buffy turned around and headed back towards her house. Then she turned around. "Wait! You need some money or anything?"

"Nah, I'm alright, B. Really." Buffy kept her position. Faith sighed. "Well, I could use a couple of bucks, I guess."

Buffy smiled. "Alright." She walked back to Faith, and handed her a twenty dollar bill. "I'll give you more later. But just use that for now, it's all I got on me."

"It's plenty, thanks a lot Buffy. You're the bestest friend I've ever had."

"There's no such word as bestest." Buffy grinned. "See ya, Faith." She turned around and started to walk home.

"Hey hot stuff." Buffy looked around to see who had said it, but couldn't see anyone, so continued walking.

"I said, hey hot stuff." A young guy, about 20 years old, stepped out from the shadows. He grinned. "So? You gonna answer me?"

"What do you want from me?" Buffy wasn't scared, because she could kick this guy's ass any day, but she really wasn't in the mood.

He laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you or take advantage of you or anything. I've just seen you around, and I wanna get to know you." He removed his hand from his pocket and held it out. "I'm Soda."

Buffy held in a laugh. "Soda? As in the drink?"

"Yeah. I actually like the name. You can laugh, it doesn't matter, cause most people do."

Buffy took his hand and shook it. "I'm not laughing. I like it too. But I'm Buffy. Another unusual name."

"I like it. So, where you heading to Buffy?"

"I was just going home, I was going to go to the coffee shop, but decided not to."

"Cuz you were goin' by yourself?"

"No, I was going with a friend, but she went home."

"I see. So, you wanna go with me instead?" He grinned. Buffy saw that his teeth were perfect, and he had good clothes on, so he couldn't have been from the streets.

"Umm...I don't know. I mean, I'd love to, but if you're planning on doing anything to me, just skip it. Cause I'd kick your ass."

Soda started cracking up. "Heheh...you really think you could kick my ass?"

"If I were you, I'd drop the subject right now."

"Okay, okay. Geez. So? You wanna go get that -" Buffy looked up when she heard him stop talking.

"Oh Soda! Hold on!" Buffy pulled Soda out of the vampire's arms and kicked the vamp in the stomach. "You tryin' to hurt my friend?" She punched him twice in the face. "Not a good idea." Buffy jumped on a nearby crate and did a spin-kick off, and hit the vamp in the head. He fell to the ground and Buffy pinned him, and staked him. She looked at Soda, to see him staring at her in awe.

"Wow, umm...Buffy. You really can kick a guys ass. But umm, where the hell did he go?" Buffy sighed. She would have to tell another person about the supernatural. "Okay, Soda. He was a vampire. I'm a slayer. I kill vamps. I stake them, and they turn to dust. Easy as that."

Soda continued staring at her.

"Okay, you're never gonna believe that, so I'll just leave you here to think about it." Buffy waved at Soda, and he kept his stance, and raised his arm slowly to wave.

Buffy continued walking down the street, she was only about a block away from home. When she got home, she went right to her room, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Will? What's up? I was bored, so I phoned."

"Oh, hey Buffy. I'm only studying."

"Okay, cool." Buffy twisted her hair around her finger. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"What did you promise that we'd talk about?" Willow grinned to herself.

"Oh. Umm...yeah. Faith, right?"

"Yep. And, begin. What are your feelings for her?"

"She's a friend. She's nice."

"She tried to kill your boyfriend, Buffy."

Buffy paused. "Yeah, but she's changed."

"How can you tell? She's in a coma, remember?"

"Right. Coma."

Willow sighed. "She's out of it, isn't she, Buffy?"

Buffy grimaced. "Yeah. She is."

"Why didn't you tell me?! Buffy, I'm your best friend!"

"Will! Take a chill pill. Geez, I just found out earlier tonight."

"Well, still. You should have told me."

"We had a lot of catching up to do. Or...she did, cause she was in a coma, so there's nothing for me to catch up on. Listen Will. We're friends, okay? You're going to have to accept that. But don't worry, cause YOU'LL always be my best friend."

Willow smiled. "Okay, Buffy. I better get back to studying though. So, I'll see you later?"

"Tomorrow. And what are you doing studying at..." Buffy looked at her clock. "...2am?!"

"I can't sleep."

"Well, you're lucky it's Saturday."

"Yeah, I guess. Bye Buffy."

"Bye Will." Buffy hung up the phone, and walked to her dresser. She pulled out her PJ's, and got ready for bed. She was just about to hop in, when she decided that she should give Faith a call to make sure she was alright. She hoped she was in the same motel room as before.

"Yeah." Buffy heard Faith's voice on the other side of the line.

"Hey, Faith. It's Buffy." Buffy heard shuffling, like Faith was focusing her attention more. "Hey B. What's botherin' ya?"

"I'm just phoning to make sure you got to the motel safely."

Faith cackled. "Yeah, I'm all good, B. Thanks."

Buffy smiled. "That's good. Well I guess that --" Buffy stopped when she heard more noises on the other end. "Faith? What's wrong?"

"Come on, bitch." Buffy heard the voices.

"Buffy..." Faith talked into the receiver. "Please help. They're taking me...away. Help please."

"Put the phone down, bitch!"

Buffy hung up the phone, and ran downstairs and out the door. She sprinted all the way to the motel. When she got there, she went straight to Faith's room.

"Faith? Are -- are you here?" Buffy was shaking cause she was so worried. She walked up to the door, which was left open, and looked inside Faith's room. Defiantly a struggle. Tons of signs. Broken lamp, holes in the walls, and...a dead man lying in the middle of the floor.

Buffy ran to the body and examined it. It looked human, so the abductors were probably all humans. Buffy looked around for more clues. Phone lying on the floor, and a note on the wall.Buffy walked over to it and read it.

"For whoever reads this...

Your bitch friend here has caused us some trouble, so we're going to kill her. Easy as that. Just don't try to find us, cuz you'll be sorry."

Buffy ran out of the room, not knowing what to do.

********

Buffy burst into Giles' house, without even asking. "Giles! You gotta help! They've - they've got Faith." Buffy was shaking.

Giles looked confused. "Buffy you've had a bad dream. Faith is in hospital, remember?"

"No! She's out of her coma. She came to visit me last night, and then she went home, and they've taken her! Giles, we have to do something."

Giles took off his glasses, and cleaned them on his shirt, as he does when he is thinking. "Buffy, Faith is bad. If we help her, who knows what she'll do."

"Giles, you have to trust me. She's not like that anymore. I guess being in a coma gave her a taste of reality, and what she was doing. Please Giles. We have to help."

Giles sighed, and put his glasses back on. "All right Buffy. Do you know who kidnapped her?"

"I don't know. There were lots of clues at her motel. A dead guy, who looked human, and a note on the wall. It said something about them taking her, cause she's caused them some trouble, and that we shouldn't try to save her."

Giles thought for a second. "Umm, do you know what this dead guy looked like?"

"Yeah, his hair was shaved in the shape of an eagle or something. And he was wearing all white."

Giles turned around and got a few books. He flipped through the pages and suddenly stopped on one. "Buffy. Here."

Buffy hurried over to Giles' side, and looked at the book.

"Here's a picture of a man with the exact description that you just gave me. The text reads 'The Thandies are a tribe of half-man, half-demons. They usually thrive on the hearts of humans, and tend to live on the outer wings of towns.'"

Buffy looked up at Giles. "The Thandies? What kind of name is that?"

"Buffy, if we want to help Faith, we can't think about that. But I have to admit, it is a little...funny."

"Well, we know they live just outside of Sunnydale. And they want to eat Faith's heart. Gee, we've gotten really far."

"Buffy, there's no time for sarcasm. We'll have to begin our search."

Just then, Willow burst in through the open door. "Giles! Buffy! They've taken Oz!"

"Who has?" Giles looked seriously at Willow.

"These guys. They had a weird design on their heads. And they were wearing all white."

"Oh, yes. They took Faith too." Giles flipped to the next page in the book. "Buffy, it has a picture of the demon in full-form."

Buffy hurried over again. "Oh god. Actual size is 8 feet. And look at it's ugly skin. Yuck attack."

"We'll have to hurry. Willow, go on my computer and try to find some information about them. Buffy, go get Xander."

"Right away, boss." Buffy ran out the door.

Faith woke up to the sound of a fire roaring. She quickly stood up and looked around to see where the fire was. When she realized that it was coming from a fireplace, she rolled her eyes.

"Hey! Anybody here?" She looked around the old room, which was nicely lit, but had only a chair and a fireplace. Looks like they're treating me okay before my death.

She yelled louder. "I said, Hey! Anybody here?!" She waited for an answer, but when she got none, she plopped down on the soft chair. Buffy heard me on the phone. She'll have to help me. What if she doesn't want to? I did cause her all that trouble.

Faith stood up and walked to the closed door. She tried to open it and found that it was locked. But the door was light wood, and she could easily kick it down. She lifted her leg and kicked three times at the door. On the third time, it fell to the floor. Outside the room, there were four of the nine guys who had taken her.

"Let me outta here." She said to them.

"We'll tell you what. Once you're dead, we'll let you outta here." They grinned and smirked at her.

"Okay. So who the fuck are you guys? Some kind of gang?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

Faith was getting impatient. "Okay, who's your big demon leader?"

"We all are."

"Oh yeah, you guys are really tough." It was Faith's turn to smirk.

"Hey, you wanna see us in our real form?" One guy moved forward.

"Hey, man. Get back here. We can't do it without the potion, remember?"

The guy who had stepped forward turned around to face the other who had talked. "You idiot. She didn't know that." He punched him in the face. "Next time, get a brain."

Faith kicked the guy in the back, which made him fall into the other guy. She then punched another guy four times in the face, and kicked him hard where it hurts. She turned to the last one. "Now, you gonna tell me how I can get outta this place?"

He shook his head. "No chance in hell, sexy."

"Fine. Your loss." She kicked him in the face, and took his knife from his belt. She slid it into his arm, and he screamed in pain.

"So? Gonna tell me?" He grimaced in pain, and nodded his head. "There's a tunnel to the back of the warehouse. You go down this hallway, then turn left. You'll come to a room, and there's a tiny tunnel on the left side. Go through there and you'll come to the main doors. They should be open. If not, there's a little hatch in the bottom of the door that you can go through."

He looked at her sadly. "Please don't kill me. I never wanted to hurt you."

Faith chuckled. "Fine. But if you tell your buddies that I escaped, I'll make sure that you have the most painful death ever."

He nodded his head quickly. "Okay."

She grinned, kicked the other three guys once more in the head, and walked off down the hallway.

Buffy and Xander walked back to Giles house.

"Buffy, you never told me Faith was awake. She's gonna kill me." Xander said nervously.

"No, she's not."

"Oh really? And why would that be?"

"Because she's changed. And if for some strange reason she did decide to try and kill you, I'd be there to help. I promise." Buffy smiled to herself.

"I just don't think we should trust her yet. I mean, she's a psycho bitch." Buffy glared at him, with anger. "Don't you say that about her."

Xander chuckled and looked away. "It's only true."

Buffy looked at him for a few more seconds, then turned her attention to the house. "We're here." She said opening the door.

They walked in, and Giles was right there, looking at his books, and he stopped for a second to look who was coming in.

"Xander, Buffy. We must find these demons. They might be in the old warehouses at the side of town."

Buffy nodded. "That's what I was thinking."

Giles stood up, and grabbed his coat off the back of the chair. He looked at his watch. "We should be heading off then. It's quite late." He looked confused. "Maybe we should start tomorrow morning. It's 3:30am."

Buffy looked down at her feet. "I know, Giles. The only problem is, it might be too late."

Giles smiled sadly at Buffy. "Let's just get one night's worth of sleep. We'll look tomorrow morning. If we're lucky, some of those guys might be vampires."

Buffy nodded. "Okay. One night. Meet back here at 9:30am tomorrow?"

She glanced around the room.

Everyone nodded. "Good. Then, see ya." She turned around and walked out of the house.

*******

Buffy! It's 10:00. Time to get up!" Giles said as he, Willow, and Xander walked into her room.

Buffy rolled over in her bed, and opened her eyes, slowly. "Giles? What are you doing here so early?"

Giles sighed. "Faith, remember?"

Buffy jumped up out of bed. "Oh, Faith!" She ran to her dresser to find some clothes. She grabbed a pair of pants and a black tanktop. She turned to the others. "Umm, I kinda need to get changed here. You all wanna get out for a second?"

Giles nodded. "Yes, of course." They left Buffy to get changed. When she was done, Buffy grabbed a few stakes, and a couple crossbows that she kept in her room, and got the others.

"Ready to go?" She asked.

"Ready as ever, Buffy!" Willow followed all the others outside. They all got into Giles' van, and Giles drove them to the abandoned warehouses. When they got to them, they all piled out of the van.

"Whew! It sure does stink here!" Buffy squeezed her nose. "Umm, Buffy, it's not the warehouses. Look what you just stepped in." Willow held in her laugh.

Buffy slowly looked down at her shoe. "Yuck! Who would walk their dog around here, anyway? They're probably dead by now with all the demons around here."

"Buffy, just wipe it off, and let's continue." Giles scrunched up his nose.

"Right. That I can do." She wiped her shoe on the ground, until all the dodo was off. "So...which warehouse do we go to first?"

"I think the one that those guys in the white are coming out of should be a good place to start." Xander pointed to one of the warehouses.

"Good point." Buffy ran towards the warehouse, with the others close behind.

******

Faith woke up, and looked around. She was still in the room where she had found Oz.

"Oz-man? You there?"

Oz yawned and sat up. "Yeah I'm here."

"Ready to try and bust outta this place?" Faith started to walk towards the hallway.

Oz got up, and stretched. "Not quite."

Faith sighed and turned around to face Oz. "Oh, come on. I have things to do."

Oz was offended. "Like what?"

"None of your business!" Faith growled at him.

"Fine, whatever." He yawned once more. "Okay, let's go then."

"'~~...Cause I've been waiting to give this gift tonight, I'm down on my knees there's no better time...~~'" Faith sang.

Oz grinned. "Who's that song about?"

Faith blushed. "Oh, nobody. ~~...'It's something to last for as long as you live, tonight I'm gonna give you all my heart can give...~~'" Faith wasn't going to tell Oz that she was singing it about a certain slayer.

"Okay." Oz looked confused, once they were in the hallway. "Which way?"

Let's try going that way, towards my old room. I couldn't get into it last night because they put in a new steel door after I kicked the wooden one down. And those guards are gone. I have no idea where to, though."

"Why did you kick down the door?"

"To get out."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Faith started walking. "Come on."

They walked past the room Faith was in first. After about ten minutes of walking down different hallways, they came to two big doors.

"Ah-ha!" Faith grinned. She pushed the doors open. There was another hallway.

"Dammit!"

******

Buffy came to a small door in the side of the warehouse. She opened it, and standing inside were two guys in the white.She grinned. "Hello, guys."

They turned around, and growled at her.

"So, some of you are vampires." She placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "What a surprise."

One of the vamps swung his arm at her head, but Buffy ducked out of the way. "Oops, too slow!" She kneed him in the stomach, and he doubled over. She turned to the other vamp, and punched him twice in the face, and them spin-kicked him in the back. She pulled out two stakes and turned them both to dust at the same time. "That was too easy." She said placing the stakes back into her belt.

Giles and the others came inside. "That was a good job, Buffy. Well done."

She grinned. "Thanks, Giles."

"Can we get going? I'm kind of concerned about Oz." Willow said, worriedly.

"As am I about Faith." Buffy grinned at Willow, but when she realized what Willow must be thinking, she quickly explained. "Cuz she's a great friend. Yep, fellow slayers sure are great to have around."

"Look."

Buffy and Willow both turned to face Giles. "What?" When Buffy got no answer, she got impatient. "Giles, speak. Now, puppy!"

Xander smirked. "And you can roll over while you're at it."

Giles gave him a stern look, and then turned to Buffy. "It's a map of the warehouses, and the secret passageways. It seems all the warehouses are joined together, and they've built underground floors, as well. About, six are underground."

Buffy's eyes opened wide. "Do I dare ask how many floors there are in total?"

Giles' counted on the tiny map. "Well, there's about nine. And if all the warehouses are joined, we're going to have to spend quite awhile searching."

All four of them turned around when they heard a scream. Buffy turned white. "That - that was Faith. I know it was."

<to be continued>