Faith Healing

by Sibling

Copyright © 2003

sibfanfic@verizon.net

Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Buffy & Co. belong to Hellgod Joss Whedon and his minions, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, etc.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse /mysticmuse.net
You can use it, but please let me know first.
Feedback: Much welcomed.
Spoilers: Season 7.
Author's Note: This is Porn-With-Plot (at least, a little bit).
Pairing: Faith/Xander

Summary: Eight months after Chosen, Xander is injured on patrol with Faith, and she decides to nurse him back to health – in her own unique way.

Principle 1: Cleanliness

"You know, you don't have to do this, Faith."

Xander couldn't actually see the Slayer, since she was behind him, pushing his wheelchair down the hospital corridor, but from the tone of her answer, he was sure she was making a face at him. "Xander, both your arms are broken, plus one leg, and you're still groggy from that concussion."

He held up his plaster-clad arms. "Hello, I know this! And I know I'm still gettin' used to the whole no-depth-perception and literal-blind-side thing –"

"So someone's got to look after you for the next few weeks or so, Xan. And since you got hurt pulling me out of that cave-in in the first place –"

"That still doesn't mean you have to play nursemaid for me. Giles was telling me a couple days ago he was thinking of using Council funds to hire a professional nurse to help me out."

"Yeah, but the doctor told him you've got to stay off that ankle for at least a week, or it won't heal right. We all got together yesterday – Giles, Red, Dawnie, B, and me – and we decided we don't trust you not to try to walk around on it, so you'll need someone strong enough to help you around the house, including carrying you from room to room if they have to. That meant one of us Slayers, and I volunteered.

"'Sides, Giles said as long as I'm takin' care of you, I don't hafta go out on patrol," she finished triumphantly.

"So, this is all just an excuse to get a break from the Slaying, then?" Xander said, feeling somewhat disappointed.

The wheelchair stopped for a moment, and suddenly Faith's lips were just millimeters away from his ear. "That, and the chance to have you all to myself for two whole weeks," she murmured.

As the chair started rolling again, two distinct sets of memories were suddenly fighting for control of Xander's brain.

The first was of a naked, grinning Faith, writhing on top of him and moaning in pleasure. It had been almost five years since that night, but all of Xander's sense memories were still vivid: Faith's smoky voice barely heard over the squeaking of the bedsprings, the taste of sweat on her skin, the exquisite torture of her muscles squeezing him tightly as he came inside her...

Except for the part where she'd dumped him out on the street in his underwear, a guy probably couldn't ask for a better first time.

But there was another, very similar memory. One where Faith was on top of him, grinding her crotch against his...and her hand was clenched around his throat, and her grinning face was the last thing he saw as the room started to go dark...

Yeah, he knew Faith had changed – he'd fought alongside her several times in the past year or so, and he had risked his life to save her from that cave-in – but still, the idea of being alone and helpless with her for a couple of weeks was enough to give him the screaming heebie-jeebies.

Then his guilty conscience kicked in. Even Willow's gotten to be friends with Faith, and Wills was the one who really hated her back in the day, even before she went bad. The least you owe Faith is a chance to prove she's trustworthy.


"Oh, darling, what a wonderful way to start our honeymoon!" he exclaimed with a grin as Faith carried him over the threshold of his house.

The Slayer smirked back at him. "I can think of a better way to start things off."

Xander swallowed heavily. The look Faith had given him was a lot more intense than the teasing glances and remarks she'd thrown his way in the car, but he guessed she'd been holding back since Giles (the only one of them who could handle English city traffic) had been in the front seat. Now that they were alone...

"Ahh...so, um, what now?" he stammered as Faith set him down in a chair.

Faith leaned close to him, made a loud sniffing noise, and wrinkled her nose. "I'm thinking bath, Xan-man. You stink."

Xander held up his plaster-covered arms. "And just how am I supposed to get in the tub with these on?"

Faith's smirk got even wider. "Xander, I'm surprised at you. Haven't you ever heard of a nurse giving her patient a sponge-bath?"

And then she stepped back, and took off the long coat she'd been wearing all this time.

And Xander's eyes just about popped out of his head.

Underneath the coat, Faith was wearing a nurse's uniform. Not a *hospital* uniform, mind you – this thing was probably designed for strip clubs and porno movies. A short white skirt showed off Faith's long legs, sheathed in white stockings, and the zipper on the front of her top was pulled almost down to her navel, exposing lots and lots of cleavage...and proving that Faith still didn't like to wear bras.

This wasn't a tease, it was an all-out frontal assault.

Emphasis, Xander thought, as he tried to tear his eyes away from Faith's chest, on the word "frontal."

"Well, Xander? Ready to get wet?"

There was still a little part of Xander that was scared of Faith. But he was still a guy, and the most drop-dead sexy girl he'd ever known was just throwing herself at him.

He was putty in her hands.

Well, mostly.

He nodded dumbly, and Faith grinned. "Good boy." She slid her hands under him – giving his butt a gentle squeeze for good measure – and picked him up again. "Me and Giles stopped by here yesterday to set up a few things, including a waterproof stool in the bathtub," she explained as she carried him into the bathroom.

"You mean Giles knows about this...sponge-bath thing?"

"Uh-huh. And he told me, very specifically, that your bones are still healing, and I should be very careful and gentle with you." She brought her face closer, until they were practically rubbing noses. "I'm gonna show you just how gentle I can be, Xander. Even though you probably think I don't even know the meaning of the word."

There's a bizarre combination of excitement and calm that settles over a guy when he knows that sex is both imminent and inevitable. Xander knew right then and there that not only was Faith going to screw his brains out, he wasn't going to do a thing to try to stop it.

First of all – hey, guy here, drop-dead sexy girl there, why the hell would he wanna stop it?

But there was something more now. He'd always assumed Faith had only one speed when it came to sex – or anything else, for that matter: full-throttle.

The idea of "gentle Faith"...it was impossible and fascinating at the same time.

It was also awakening thoughts and feelings he thought he'd buried forever five years ago.

While all this was going through his head, Faith set him down on the edge of the tub, and started undressing him. To his surprise, though, she was toning down the seduction, unbuttoning his shirt – they had gotten him some extra-extra-large shirts so he could get the sleeves past his casts – and unzipping his pants in a very business-like way.

She must have noticed his reaction, because as she worked his shirt down over his arms, she said to him, "I'd take some time and really enjoy myself, Xan, but you really do stink. Didn't they wash you at all in that hospital?"

Xander had to swallow a couple of times to get his voice to work, but he did have an answer for her. "Well...actually, a nurse did offer me a sponge-bath last night, but she didn't look anything like you, Faith. First of all, she was about sixty years old –" he paused to give her time to chuckle, which she did, "-- and second, she must've weighed over three hundred pounds."

Faith howled with laughter as she worked off his pants, but stopped when she started on his underwear. "Mmmm...wouldn't want you to think I was laughing at this, now, would I?" she murmured as she gave his naked body an appreciative look. She leaned closer to give the head of his cock a caress. It jumped in response.

She grinned up at him. "Soon, Xander. Real soon. But let me get you cleaned up first."

He couldn't help letting out a puppy-like whine of disappointment, but he let Faith guide him over to the stool, where she proceeded to wash him thoroughly from head to toe.

Despite the frustrating foreplayus interruptus, Xander had to admit that the sponge-bath itself felt wonderful. He and Anya had taken showers and baths together, but the goal had always been sexplay, not cleanliness, and the feel of Faith's hands gliding over him, sudsing up his body and then rinsing it off again, was both exciting and relaxing at the same time.

And she was as gentle as she'd promised. Her hands caressed muscles aching from two weeks of inaction and passed gently over half-healed bruises and abrasions, and the only time he yelped was when she paused in mid-wash to give his erection a squeeze.

When she finally got around to shampooing his hair, he let out a contented little "Mmmmmmrr," and he almost let himself drift off into a light doze.

But then, as she rinsed the shampoo out, he heard her murmur, "Mm, I can tell you liked that. You're gonna like what comes next even more."

All at once, his eyes snapped open, and his cock jumped from half-staff to a full salute.

Faith came out from behind him, and turned off the water. Then she turned, and gave him a look he could only describe as "hungry."

"Ready for your first dose of sexual healin', Xan?"

He opened his mouth, but nothing would come out but a strangled, "Ung-hung."

She chuckled, and then slowly, deliberately, pulled the zipper on her jacket the rest of the way down.

Xander took a moment to thank the Lord that although both his arms were in casts, the one on his left arm left his hand and fingers free. Of its own will, it started rising into the air, reaching toward the dark-haired sex goddess in front of him.

She grinned. "You wanna touch me, Xan?" she asked, her voice even smokier than usual.

"Gyesh." Xander cleared his throat. "Yes. I want to touch you, Faith."

She took a step forward, so his hand slid through the open front of her top, landing right in the center of her cleavage. Then she rolled her shoulders up and down and side-to-side, giving his fingers a full guided tour of her breasts – which, if anything, felt even more wonderful than they had five years ago.

"You like the way I feel, don't you, Xan?"

"Yes – oh, dear Lord, yes."

She caught his hand, and brought it up to her mouth, kissing the fingers one by one...and then she slid his index finger inside her mouth.

Xander's brain went foom right then and there.

She sucked his finger, and licked all around the tip...and then she stopped suddenly, and grinned at him. "Y'know, Xan, I'm enjoying all this foreplay stuff a lot, but you look like you're just about ready to explode." She looked down at his cock, which was pointing straight up at her. "Why don't I do something about that?"

She shrugged her top off, then reached behind her to unzip her skirt. It fell away, leaving her dressed only in her stockings and a matching white garter belt.

At this point, the old Faith would've probably leaped on top of him like a gymnast mounting the pommel horse. Instead, she simply swung one leg over Xander's lap so she was straddling him, then settled herself down onto his lap, his erection resting against her belly.

She reached down to caress it, smiling for a moment, and then she looked up, and Xander was shocked to see tears in her eyes.

She was biting her lip, and her brow was furrowed, and with her hand still stroking him up and down, it was hard for Xander to put two thoughts together. But eventually, he got it.

She was trying to say with her body what she couldn't bring herself to put into words.

Please trust me.

Please forgive me.

So he strained upwards, and did something he'd been wanting to do for a long, long time.

He kissed her.

Not the kind of hard, lip-mashing, porno-prelude kiss they'd engaged in five years ago. He kissed her as gently as she'd just washed him, his one good hand caressing her back while his lips and tongue caressed her lower lip. She mewled deep in her throat, then opened her mouth to let him in.

He entered for only a moment, just barely brushing her tongue with his own, thinking, Faith's not the only one around here who can tease.

Then he pulled back from the kiss, looked right into Faith's eyes, and said, "I trust you."

There was no sex or tease in the smile Faith gave him then. But it was the most beautiful thing he'd seen all day.

That was his last clear thought for some time, because the next thing Faith did was to lift herself up, and guide him towards her wet opening. With aching slowness, she slid down his length, melting Xander's brain into lust-happy goo.

As she settled herself into his lap again, Faith hummmmed low in her throat, and rocked her hips back and forth. "Ooo, Xander, your shoulders aren't the only things that've filled out in the last few years," she murmured.

She gave his cock a few squeezes with her muscles, and then began a kind of rippling internal dick-massage, murmuring, "And I've been exercising more than just my arms and legs. Amazin' the kind of thing you can find in a prison library if you look hard enough. I could make you come harder than you've ever come in your life, without moving an inch.

"But I want to move, Xan. I want to touch you. I want...I want you to touch me."

She began rocking back and forth on him, and Xander, the words I want you to touch me still echoing in his brain, leaned forward to kiss her breasts – which turned out to be a lot harder than he'd ever imagined. It had been months since he'd had sex – and years since he'd had sex with anyone but Anya – and he wasn't going to last much longer. Meanwhile, her breasts kept bouncing up and down, avoiding his lunges as if taunting his clumsiness, and her movements were driving him crazy...

Faith must've noticed his predicament, because she stopped moving long enough for him to capture one of her nipples between his lips. Then she started up again, and Xander only had time for a few nibbles and sucks on his prize before he felt his cock start to pulse. And then his brain exploded with colors as Faith's muscles pulsed right back, milking him until he felt like he was shooting every drop of moisture in his body into her.

When he came to his senses, he was leaning into her body, panting heavily. He looked up, and saw her smiling down at him. "Sorry," he gasped. "Guess I don't have much staying power these days."

She chuckled. "No problem, Xan. I've got the perfect exercise program to get you back into shape."


Principle 2: Diet

"Wakey, wakey, Xander! Time for all good little patients to get their butts outta bed and have their breakfast!"

Xander groaned, and started to roll over in bed. Then he groaned again, as his body went one way and his right arm – encased from bicep to fingertip in a plaster cast – was left behind, wrenching his shoulder slightly. He muttered several choice words – some of them bits of weird languages he'd picked up in his eight-year-long association with Buffy and Giles – and blinked his eyes, trying to get them to open.

Wait...was that Faith's voice calling me to breakfast?

Xander's eyes shot open, and sure enough, Faith was standing by the side of his bed, hands on her hips and giving him a mock glare.

Slowly, the events of the previous day started coming back to him: Faith wheeling him out of the hospital. Giving him a relaxing sponge-bath – in the hottest little nurse uniform he'd ever seen. Stripping down and riding him to an all-too-quick orgasm. Washing him again, more quickly, to get the sweat – and other sticky fluids – off. Putting him to bed for an afternoon nap. Ordering in Indian food for dinner – Xander often grumbled at the lack of good Chinese take-out in England, but the Indian food you got here almost made up for it.

. . . Oh, yeah. And then there was that huge smile on her face when he'd told her he trusted her.

Xander had never seen a smile like that on Faith. He'd seen her lusty leers and her sardonic smirks – and even her teeth-baring, murderous battle-grins – but never an open, honest smile.

It warmed him and scared him at the same time. When a girl smiles at you like that...

"C'mon, lazybones! You've been in bed almost twelve hours, and I've got stuff on the stove that's gonna burn if you don't get yer ass in gear!"

His train of thought completely derailed, Xander grumbled back, "Okay, okay. Just help me get the covers off – and since we've got the chair, I'm using it."

They'd come to an agreement during that second sponge-bath. Xander was not going to put up with Faith carrying him around from room to room like a little baby. So he'd asked Faith to call Giles and arrange for a wheelchair that he could use around the house.

He slowly pushed the covers down with his left hand, while Faith took care of the right side of the bed. Then he rolled – more carefully this time – onto his less-injured left side, letting Faith get her arms under him so she could lift him out of bed and into the chair.

As Faith pushed him into the kitchen, Xander finally smelled what she had on the stove. "Ham and eggs?" he asked eagerly.

"Western omelette," she corrected proudly.

Xander's eyes widened. "Wow," he said, as he sniffed the air again, his mouth watering. "I didn't know you could really cook, Faith."

She threw another mock glare over her shoulder at him as she headed for the stove. "Xander, I was livin' on my own three years before I became the Slayer – of course I can cook. I'm no gourmet chef, but I can whip an egg's ass any day of the week."

As she grabbed a spatula and deposited a huge omelette on his plate, Xander commented wryly, "Looks more like four or five eggs to me, Faith."

"Hey, the doctor said you need plenty of calcium and protein. So, you're gonna get a lot of eggs and cheese for breakfast, and you're gonna have yogurt with your sandwich at lunchtime."

Xander scowled. "Yogurt! Yogurt! I hate yogurt! Even with strawberries!"

Faith crossed her arms. "You're no Dark Helmet, Xan, and you'll eat yogurt 'till it comes out your ears if that's what it takes to get you healed up."

Xander grinned as she recognized his Spaceballs reference...and then suddenly his grin got even bigger. "Know what else has lots of protein and calcium? Pepperoni pizza!"

Faith just rolled her eyes at him and sat down to eat her own breakfast.


Faith's omelette was excellent, and that – plus the fact that Xander was starving – gave him all the encouragement he needed to devour every last bit, along with some toast and orange juice.

After he was done, though, he rubbed his stomach and said, "We'd better take it easy with my other meals, Faith, or you won't need a wheelchair to roll me around this place."

Faith, finishing off her own breakfast, smirked at him. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Xan."

"Why not?"

Her smirk got even more wicked. "Remember what I said about having an exercise program for ya?" She got up out of her chair, and Xander gulped audibly as she came over to him and started wheeling him out of the kitchen.

"Um...Faith? Is...uh...is this such a good idea, I mean, um, right after eating?"

He heard her chuckle. "Xan, there's nothing I'd like more than to bounce you around the bed for a few hours, but as you said, we need to start building up your endurance a bit before we do anymore of that.

"Besides," she said, she trailing a fingertip down the back of his neck and making him shiver, "I'm still hungry."

Once again, Xander found himself half-paralyzed with sheer lust. Faith was as direct as Anya had been, in her own way, but Anya had never quite gotten the hang of teasing, while Faith had a Ph.D. in the subject.

And then Faith was lifting him up, and Xander realized they were already back in the bedroom, and he was on the bed and Faith was tugging his boxers down, and he just had to say something before he lost all power of speech--

"Why are you doing this, Faith?"

Faith paused. Her position, crouched on top of him, reminded Xander suddenly of a predatory animal – a panther or tiger, maybe – about to take the first bite out of something it had trapped. "You always interrupt a girl when she's about to suck your dick, Xander?" she purred.

"Gyugh," he moaned. Focus, dammit, focus! He took a couple of deep breaths, and said, "Faith, if you're doing this because of the cave-in, saving you and all I mean, taking care of me while I recover is plenty. This, ah..." He looked down at her, poised over him, and said, "This goes a little above and beyond the call of duty, y'know?"

"You askin' me if I'm fuckin' you 'cause I feel guilty, Xan?" she growled.

"Well...um." He swallowed heavily. "I, uh...I just don't want you doing anything you don't...want to do."

She stared at him for a long moment. And to his surprise, her eyes softened. "Maybe I'm taking care of you out of guilt, Xan. But I'm fuckin' you 'cause I want to. Now, can I get back to what I was doin'?"

Xander couldn't make his mouth work, so he just nodded.

Then he groaned, as Faith leaned down and gave him

one

l o n g

s l o w

lick.

And then another.

And another.

Oh, yeah, she's definitely channeling some kind of cat right now, some part of Xander's mind burbled. Faith was only using her tongue on him – first licking up and down his entire length, then placing little kitty-licks around the shaft just below the head...

Xander was in guy-heaven, no doubt about that. He let his head fall back onto the pillow, luxuriating in the feel of Faith's tongue stroking him over and over again, knowing that this would be over all too soon, and...

Suddenly, Faith was pinching the head of his cock firmly, and the blissful feeling abruptly retreated as Xander let out an embarrassingly un-manly squawk.

Faith grinned up at him. "I told you I was gonna work on your endurance, Xan. I'm gonna keep gettin' you close, then stoppin' you cold." She winked at him. "If I wanted to, I could keep you going like this all day."

Xander's eyes bugged out, and he couldn't help whining like a frightened puppy.

She only chuckled at him. "I said 'if I wanted to,' Xan. I'll let you come...in a while. When I'm ready."

And so began the most wonderful torture Xander had ever been exposed to. For almost two hours, Faith used nearly every oral technique he'd ever heard of on him – and a few he'd never imagined were possible. She stroked him while just barely sucking on the head, then deep-throated him until he thought she was trying to eat him alive, dick-first. She even kitty-licked him again several times, since she could tell he liked it so much.

But every time he thought he was about to come, he felt those fingers pinching him off again, like a finger held under his nose to keep him from sneezing.

If it had been a sneeze Faith was holding back, Xander was sure it would've blown the house down.

Somewhere along the way, he'd gotten his voice back, and he started babbling every little thought that came to his head. He praised Faith's technique like a medieval monk extolling God's virtues. He said she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever known. He said the sight of her lips wrapped around him was the most incredibly sexy sight he'd ever seen. He begged, he pleaded with her, said anything he could think of to get her to let him come.

And then finally, she did.

He didn't know if it was anything he'd said, or if she just decided to have mercy on him, but she finally let one of her deep-throat sessions go on just a little bit longer. He felt his whole body tremble, and he waited for the inevitable pinching feeling, but it never came.

He came, and he shouted with relief as his cock twitched, and pulsed, and then shot the first load of semen right down Faith's throat.

It went on much longer than Xander had ever thought possible; later on, he was sure it was the closest a guy could ever come to a woman having a multiple orgasm – oh, how he envied them that!

At the time, all he knew was that he was coming and coming, and Faith was hungrily gulping him down without missing a drop.

Finally, he was left panting and gasping on the bed, his heart pounding, wondering if it was possible for a man to be sucked to death.

And thinking that, as a way to go, it didn't sound all that bad.

Faith's wicked chuckle brought him back to himself. "Well, Xan? You ready to live up to your promise?"

He blinked, and shook his head to clear the lust-haze out of his brain. "Promise? Uh..."

She grinned at him. "You said if I let you come, you'd eat my pussy till I begged for mercy." She waggled her eyebrows at him. "Think you're up to it, toyboy?"

As sexy as he still found her, her smug confidence finally pushed him over the edge. Okay, that's it! Maybe Faith can fuck and suck me silly, but I'm still the guy an 1100-year-old former demon described as a Viking in the sack!

And if there's one thing I learned after three years with Ahn, it was how to give amazing head.

He grinned right back at Faith. "Think you're up to it, Faith?"

She grinned hugely. "Oooh, a challenge!" She stood up and yanked her pants down, kicking them off in seconds and then jumping back onto the bed. She scooted over until her head was on the pillow next to Xander's, and looked over at him eagerly. "Ready whenever you are, studpuppy."

He returned her grin.

Faith didn't know what was going to hit her.

Unfortunately, as Xander tried to reposition himself between Faith's legs, he quickly began to wonder if he'd be able to follow through with his promise/threat. In so many little ways – and a few big ways – oral sex involved arms, hands, and fingers. And right now, Xander's right arm was completely immobilized below the shoulder, including all five fingers. His left hand and fingers were free, but the elbow was frozen in place, making his movements somewhat iffy...

"Whatsa' matter, Xan? Need a hand or two?" Faith said with a sardonic grin.

Xander grit his teeth and swore he was gonna get her for that. But finally, combining an embarrassing impression of an inchworm with some careful rolling, he managed to get himself in place.

After reaching his goal, he just looked up at her for a moment or two, enjoying the view. Faith had taken advantage of all the time he took thrashing around on the bed to take off the rest of her clothes, and his hands – even the one inside a cast – twitched as he stared at her body. He would love to be able to stroke her breasts and pinch her nipples while he ate her, but even with his left hand free, he'd be afraid of hitting her with the cast. And he was determined that pain would never be a part of this thing that was happening between him and Faith.

When I'm free of these things...he swore to himself.

Then he got down to business.

Faith groaned loudly as he lunged at her pussy. She'd probably expected him to start off with a few soft, slow licks, but her taunting had put him in the mood for a full-on attack.

Lick, lick, lick. Xander was a disciple of Sam Kinison when it came to oral sex. The basic tenet was: keep licking, no matter what. "Lick up and down, side to side, in and out, just keep moving your tongue. Lick the fuckin' alphabet if you don't know what else to do! One day, guys, you'll remember this advice, and you'll thank your Uncle Sammy!"

Thank you, Uncle Sammy, Xander thought to himself with a grin. With a little experience, he'd refined the "alphabet method" a bit, learning which "letters" got the best results, which curves and spirals to lengthen and emphasize.

Faith was shivering through her first orgasm by the time he finished "R."

He waited until her panting was just beginning to slow down, then struck with his secret weapon: the Xander Tongue-Thrust.

Most guys could poke their tongues an inch out of their mouths at most. But even before he'd learned of any practical use for it, Xander had been able to stick his tongue out an inch and a half. In Sunnydale High, he had often amused (or grossed out) his classmates by licking the end of his nose.

After years of enthusiastically exercising his talent with Anya, he was able to stick out a full two inches of tongue.

Faith's head shot up and her eyes rolled back as he pushed his tongue deep into her pussy. It wasn't necessarily "deep" by finger or cock standards, but by timing his thrusts just right with Faith's orgasm, Xander was quickly able to push her over into a second, even stronger orgasm.

He was tempted to try for the Triple Crown by nipping her clit, but decided that using your teeth on a Slayer without warning was a good way to get staked.

So he settled for more licking, with an occasional suck on her clit. The results weren't quite as quick, but he was able to make Faith come a third time before he had to come up for air.

As he rested, he glanced at Faith and grinned. She was flushed and panting, and there was a blissful smile on her face.

She noticed him grinning at her, and murmured, "Jesus H. Christ, Xan...Anyone ever tell you you got a tongue like a fuckin' snake?"

Xander couldn't keep the smugness out of his voice. "It's been said on occasion."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm not exactly beggin' for mercy, but I would like to take a breather." She got up, tossing him a couple of tissues from a box at the side of the bed. "Why don't you rest up for a bit while I'll take a shower and get lunch started? You've probably worked up a hell of an appetite."

He repeated his inchworm impression to get his head back on the pillows, and watched her walk towards the bathroom. "I wonder...how much calcium and protein can I get from eating you on a regular basis, Faith?"

She threw a smirk over her shoulder. "I may be delicious but I'm not nutritious, Xan. You're still eating the yogurt."

"Damn."


Xander was woken up from a sweet, sexy dream by an even sweeter reality – Faith was sucking him yet again.

At his moan, Faith looked up for a moment. "Sorry, but you just looked so tasty lying here. And you had this great big hard-on," she said, giving him a little squeeze, "that I didn't want to go to waste." Then she went back to sucking him, and it wasn't very long before he was shooting into her mouth again.

She licked him clean, then said brightly, "Okay, Xan, I've eaten – now it's *your* lunchtime!"

He groaned as he rolled over to let Faith put him in the chair again. "You know, Faith, there's a name for supernatural women who suck the life out of their men."

"That's why they call 'em suck-u-bi, Xan," she chuckled.

He had to laugh at that, but he had one more question for her as he was rolled into the kitchen. "Tell me something. If this is your idea of nursing me back to health, why the hell would I ever want to get better?"

Oh, that got me one of those big grins.

Then Faith leaned close and said, "'Cause I'm gonna keep reminding you of all the nasty, wonderful things you're gonna be able to do to me when you're strong enough to get on top."

Xander was suddenly sure that the grin on his face was just as big as the one on Faith's.


Principle 3: Letting Go of the Past

They were just finishing lunch when the phone rang.

Ri-i--ing. Ri-i--ing. Ri-i--

"Hello, Xander Harris' residence, Nurse Faith speaking," Faith said, giving him a wink.

Xander couldn't help grinning back at her. Wonder when she's gonna put that costume on again?

"Hey, Red! How's tricks? Yeah, he's right here, I'll put him on."

Xander was grinning hugely as Faith passed the phone to him – it had been a while since he'd talked to Willow for more than a few minutes at a time. His witchy friend was even busier than Giles these days: locating all the new Slayers, searching computers all over the world for copies – or even fragments – of books that had been lost in the destruction of the old Council's headquarters, and generally striking a balance between "good-old-Willow" and "bad-ass-Wicca."

And somehow, she and Faith had become fast friends.

"Hey, Will, how are ya?"

"A lot better than you, buster, that's for sure. Which is kinda the reason I'm calling. Up for a visit from your favorite witch and Watcher-in-training?"

"Huh? I mean, I know you work for the Council, but since when did Giles sign you up for the training program?"

"Not me, silly, Dawnie. I mean, I'm the witch, she's the WIT." Willow giggled a little at her own joke before going on. "She was out on assignment when you got hurt, and she's spent the last week or so complaining that they're keeping her too busy to see you."

"Um, lemme check." He put his hand over the phone to talk to Faith. "You up to playing hostess for Willow and Dawn if they come for a visit?"

Faith grimaced. She got along with Willow now, but Dawn was another story. "I guess. Tell 'em to wait until I can bathe you, though – you still have that just-been-fucked look."

Xander choked a bit on that, then went back to the phone. "I, uh, kinda need to get cleaned up, but if you come by around two-thirty or three, that would be great."

"Okay. See you then." Click.


Faith grumbled all through the sponge-bath. Xander suspected it wasn't just about the upcoming visit; this washing thing probably got to her as much as it did to him, and they couldn't spare the time for some "good clean fun."

The girls showed up around quarter-to-three. Dawn embarrassed Xander a little by making a big scene, rushing over to him and giving him a big hug, and making a fuss over how he was feeling, how he was eating, and so forth.

"I'm okay, Dawn, really," Xander protested. "Faith's been taking good care of me."

Dawn's eyes narrowed, and she turned to glare at Faith, who returned the look with interest. "I'll just bet she has."

Willow frowned a bit, but pretended to ignore the whole scene as she came over to give Xander a hug too.

They chatted for a bit, catching up on news, and then Willow said, "Really, Xander, how are you doing?"

He shrugged – or the next best thing, at least. "I just gotta remember to watch out for those 'Beware of Falling Rocks' signs."

Willow made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob, and said, "Xander! You...you...oh!" She hugged him again, more fiercely. "Do you have any idea how crazy with worry we were? If it hadn't been for Faith..." She gave the Slayer a fond look, who suddenly looked nervous.

"If it hadn't been for Faith, what?" Xander asked, confused.

Willow's eyes opened wide. "She didn't tell you?"

Faith's expression became even more troubled. "Red, don't--"

"He has a right to know, Faith! You saved his life!"

Xander, totally bewildered at this point, looked back and forth between them, and said, "Will one of you just tell me what's going on?"

Willow put on her "resolve face" and turned it full-force on Faith. "Are you gonna tell him, or am I?"

Faith was shifting from foot to foot, as if getting ready to run. "I...Dammit, Red, I can't. It's too hard for me to think about that night, y'know?"

Willow nodded, then turned back to Xander. "After the cave-in, Faith dug you out – according to Giles, she was screaming and crying the whole time – then picked you up and carried you to the car. Giles had to stop her from taking the car and leaving him to walk back to civilization.

"At the hospital, the doctors looked at you and..." Willow paused and bit her lip. Xander noticed that Faith had left the room, while Dawn was listening as intently as he was. "Xander, they said you were in a coma. They only gave you a forty percent chance of ever waking up again."

"What?"

Willow nodded sadly. "You were really messed up – not just the arms and the leg, but broken ribs, internal bleeding, and a skull fracture." She glanced over, just noticing now that Faith wasn't there, and shook her head. "Faith...I guess she went a little berserk or something, 'cause she pulled a knife in the ER, and made them set up a transfusion."

"A...what?"

"She made them rig up a tube, right from her vein to yours. She kept saying, 'Slayer blood, it saved me, it can save him too.' And she wouldn't let them stop it, even after she gave you more blood than she should have. They were only able to get the knife away from her when she passed out."

"How..." Xander swallowed. "How much blood did she give me?"

"The doctors figure it was a little over three pints."

Holy shit, Xander thought. One of the little facts you picked up in a town infested with vampires is that it only took losing four pints of blood to kill someone. Granted, Faith was a lot tougher than the average person, but still, she'd done the medical equivalent of taking a bullet for him.

"The amazing thing is, it worked, kinda." Willow's expression told Xander she was partly in "book-girl" mode. "Giles says they've tried doing Slayer blood transfusions before, but the Slayer powers never kicked in before. We think it was the direct transfer, rather than being stored in bags or something, that made the difference. Even so, the accelerated healing only lasted a day or so, and only worked on your life-threatening injuries...but it definitely saved your life, Xander."

"Will..." Xander's mind had gone fuzzy with the effort of trying to process this. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Giles bribed the ER staff not to say anything to anyone and not to press charges, and we...well, we all figured the news should wait until you got out of the hospital. I'm pretty sure Giles told Faith to tell you about it."

She stopped, studied his face. "Xander...there's something going on between you and Faith, isn't there?"

"'Something' is as good a word as any, Will."

Dawn snorted, then walked away.

Xander glanced at her retreating back, then continued. "God knows I've always been attracted to Faith, but she's always intimidated me, too, y'know? Up until yesterday, I figured she was happy with the way things were – we hadn't really talked about what happened back in the bad old days, but we worked together on occasion, and generally got along okay. Now...I dunno. I..."

He shrugged helplessly, frustrated at not being able to explain his feelings, even to his oldest bestest friend. "Even before you told me all this, I've been thinking about how much she's really changed...now, I wish I was out of this damn wheelchair so I could run after her and hug her and..."

"Forgive her?" Willow finished.

He nodded. "More than that...I don't know how to explain it."

"I think I understand. Remember, I was there in L.A. when she did the same kind of thing for Angel. She nearly killed herself bringing Angelus in, because she felt she owed it to Angel to save him the way he saved her. It was...it was the kind of thing Buffy would've done. I couldn't not forgive her, not after seeing what she did...the kind of person she's become."

Xander nodded. "So you won't mind if..."

"If you've been sleeping with her?" Willow asked wryly.

He only gave an embarrassed cough.

"You never were any good at keeping secrets, Xander. When you said Faith had been taking good care of you, you had that look on your face."

"What look?"

Willow smirked. "Your 'I've been gettin' lucky' look. Why do you think Dawnie's sulking? She's had a crush on you since before she grew boobies." She rolled her eyes. "She might say she still hates Faith for going bad, but I think she's just always been jealous that Faith got to you before she did."

"So were you."

"I wasn't jealous of Faith. I was mad at you," she said, emphasizing the last word with a poke to his chest, "for sleeping with someone you weren't in love with and who didn't love you."

"And you're saying didn't want to claw her eyes out?"

Willow blushed, and held out her hand, her index finger a quarter-inch from her thumb. "Well, just a little bit."

"And now?"

"Do you love her?"

Xander grinned. "Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you before I told her."

Willow swatted him. "Some best friend you are."


Faith avoided him until Willow and Dawn had left. When she finally showed up, she looked sullen. "She shouldn't have told you."

"She was right, Faith; I did have the right to know."

Faith shrugged. "So, now what? You gonna make a big weepy scene and tell me all's forgiven?"

Her attitude shocked Xander. "Don't you want to be forgiven?"

"This isn't a goddamn balance sheet, Xander. I didn't save your life – or take care of you, or fuck you, for that matter – because I wanted you to forgive me."

"What if I want to forgive you?" He took a deep breath while Faith stood frozen in shock. "If it weren't for you, Faith, I'd be dead...or doing a damn good imitation of a Brussels sprout. Why can't I just say, as far as I'm concerned, you've paid your debt for that time when you tried to choke me?

"I'm not forgiving you for the stuff you did to anyone else, like Buffy or Willow – that's between you and them. But hell, if I can forgive Willow for going all Freddy Krueger on me when she was hopped-up on magic, or Buffy for trying to feed us all to that demon whose name sounded like a barf attack..." He shrugged. "Call it 'temporary insanity.' Call it 'time off for good behavior.' Hell, behavior doesn't get much better than life-saving in my book."

Faith shook her head. "Damn...sounds like I missed a few stories from the 'dale." She walked over to Xander and knelt down next to his chair, putting them eye to eye. "You really ready to wipe the slate clean, Xander?"

Xander grimaced, suddenly reminded of Willow's screwed-up amnesia spell. "You can't erase memories, Faith. But you can make new ones."

Faith's eyes suddenly glittered with dark, mischievous fire. "Got anything in mind?"

Xander grinned back at her. "Well, I'd like to do the whole dinner-and-a-movie thing with you, but considering the circumstances..." He gestured with his plaster-encased arms. "I'm open to suggestions."

He saw something click in Faith's eyes, then she jumped up and dashed into the kitchen. He heard her talking on the phone for a few minutes, though he couldn't make out the words.

She came back in the room, looking like the cat who ate the canary. The thought made Xander want to flap his arms and go "Tweet, tweet." Instead he just said, "Well?"

"I just called a place that'll deliver pizza and videos. So dinner-and-a-movie is taken care of. After that..." She grinned. "We make some memories that'll blow our minds."


The pizza was pepperoni-and-onion and the movie was Young Frankenstein – one of Xander's all-time favorites. Xander was willing to bet Faith called a certain red-headed witch before calling the video place.

As the end credits began to roll, Faith hit the stop button and said, "I don't know about you, but all that honeymoon stuff is givin' me ideas." She smirked over at him. "Think you could make me go 'Woof,' Xander?"

Xander immediately responded with a yummy-sound. "MMMmmmm!"

Faith laughed as she scooped him up and carried him to the bedroom. "Some monster." As she laid him down on the bed, though, she gave his crotch a little squeeze and said, "Now that's my kind of monster."

Clothes were removed as fast as they could be, considering the circumstances, and soon Faith was leaning over Xander so he could kiss her breasts. She hummed thoatily and held his head close.

This is nice, Xander thought. But not exactly mind-blowing. What can I do for Faith – for me too, for that matter – to really make this special?

Faith murmured in surprise as he suddenly rolled onto his side, pulling her onto the bed next to him. "What're you doin', Xan?"

"Maybe I can't get on top yet, Faith," he explained with a grin. "But I want to be able to really see your face this time."

Looking slightly confused, she let him guide her, until they were lying side by side and face to face, his leg in a cast resting at the bottom of a pile of entwined limbs.

Not only did the position preclude the kind of hard-and-fast pace Faith was probably used to, Xander was pretty sure she didn't let too many guys get on top – which meant she wasn't used to lots of close eye contact and such during sex.

He was looking right into her eyes as he slid into her, his face so close he practically inhaled her first gasp.

As he slowly stroked in and out of her, she hummed and moaned, and he could feel her wriggle impatiently, trying to speed things up. He stubbornly kept things at a slow, even pace, and even slowed down a bit as he ran his fingers through her hair and caressed her cheek.

"Faith," he murmured, staring into her dark brown eyes, "do guys often tell you you're beautiful?"

She bit her lip, moaning slightly on his next stroke, and shook her head. "Uh-uh. Sexy...hot...babe-a-licious. Whatever. Not beautiful. Sometimes a guy'll yell 'Hey Beautiful!' but he'd yell, 'Hey Sweet Cheeks!' the same way."

"Beautiful's a special word, Faith. They say beauty's only skin deep, but they're wrong. Sexy...that's only skin deep. Beauty's something you have to have inside, as well as outside.

"You're beautiful, Faith."

"Ahhhhhhh!" she cried, and he felt her clench around him. To his delight, she didn't close her eyes, but kept them wide open, and he got to see the incredible wonder in her eyes as she came for him.

"Jesus...fucking...Christ," she gasped, as she came back to herself. She took hold of his hand, and held it to her chest, between her breasts. He could feel her heart pounding madly. "I think you just made my freakin' heart come, Xander..." She looked at him, looking almost frightened. "What the hell are you doing to me?"

"Making love to you," he answered breathily; his own orgasm wasn't far away.

She shook her head. "You can't...you couldn't love me, Xander."

"I think I could, if you let me." He took a deep breath. "I...I want to love you, Faith. I want to make you happy."

She bit her lip, and he could see the beginnings of tears sparkling in her eyes. She looked more unsure of herself than he'd ever seen her. She almost looked younger than when he first met her, five years ago in Sunnydale. He moved his arm to her back, gently pulled her closer, and kissed her again.

They rocked together for a few moments, joined above and below, and moaned into each other's mouths as he came inside her, triggering another orgasm for her as well.

Xander remembered another saying, something about the sweetest kisses coming through tears. He wasn't entirely sure about that, but he knew that the kisses he shared with Faith then were sweeter than any he'd experienced in a long, long time.

He pulled back, and Faith looked at him, still seeming unsure of herself. "What now?" she whispered.

"Now, we do what I wanted to do five years ago, Faith. We enjoy the afterglow. We sleep here, together. And you're gonna be here when I wake up in the morning."

"And then?"

He laughed. "We'll figure that out in the morning."


Faith Healing - Principle 4: Mutual Care

Xander had woken up next to the same girl for a year and a half, then spent the next year and a half sleeping alone again. Considering this, it was amazing-but-true that the moment he woke up, he knew where he was, and whose head was pillowed on his chest – and whose warm, naked, not very heavy, and surprisingly soft body was curled up against his.

He looked down at her, and was surprised at the rush of warm, tender feelings that rolled through him. All the time, in a hundred different ways – her walk, her talk, her expressions – Faith was constantly telling people what she was: Slayer, wild gal, streetwise ex-con, all-around tough chick.

Right now, she just looked like a lovely, lonely little girl, barely out of her teens, who was badly in need of someone to love the hell out of her.

But almost as if she could sense him staring at her, even while asleep, she chose that moment to stir and yawn. "Mmmrrrrm," she purred sleepily. Then lifted her head to look up at him with a lazy smile. "Hey. A girl could get used to this, y'know?"

"So could a guy."

She chuckled. "Didn't know you swung that way, Xan."

She reached down to give him a squeeze – and grinned at what she found. Even if Xander wasn't prone to morning wood, waking up next to a warm, soft, and very naked girl would certainly do it. "Oooh, guess I oughta take advantage of this while I can, huh?" Without giving him a chance to reply, she sat up, swung her leg over, and sank down onto him.

He groaned loudly, and reached for her as she started to move on top of him – only remembering just then that both his arms were still in casts. He sighed in frustration, the sigh quickly turning into a chuckle. "God, Faith, you're incredible," he said, looking up at her. "You're awake for, what, thirty seconds, and already you're screwing my brains out. Too bad all nurses can't be like you; any guy in the world would give an arm and a leg to be where I am...or two arms and a leg, in this case."

She smirked at him, and shook her head. "Jeez, you really like to talk when you fuck, don't you, Xander?"

"Well, I like using my mouth," he fired back with a grin. "If you don't want me to talk, you could come down here and--MMMPPH!" he gurgled into Faith's mouth as she lowered her face to his.

Now this is more like it, he thought as his tongue darted into her mouth, penetrating her above as well as below. Faith countered by sucking gently on it, then bobbing her head as if giving his tongue a blowjob, all the while continuing to ride him. The effect was mind-blowing – or was it mind-sucking? All Xander knew was that he couldn't think, just feel.

After a few minutes of reinventing the French Kiss, Faith broke contact and backed away far enough to look down at him. Her eyes were full of the usual fiery lust, but there was something softer there as well. "You really mean what you said last night, Xan?" she asked, slowing down her pace a little.

"Ahmm..." She was really making a habit of doing this, melting his brain and then asking him difficult questions. Then again, asking him his name would be a difficult question right now. He struggled to think, and asked, "That I could love you?"

She shook her head. "About me...bein' beautiful...y'know, on the inside?"

It should have been impossible for him to think straight, much less talk, but he managed to wheeze, "Yeah, I did."

"And you weren't just talkin' 'bout how the inside of my pussy feels when I'm squeezin' your dick?" she teased him, giving him one nice hard clench to demonstrate.

"Gyuuuuuugh!" Xander cried out, almost losing it right there. Then, panting for breath, and trying to hold on for just a few seconds longer, he groaned, "No, but...they haven't...invented a word...for how good...that feels."

"Gotta love those Slayer muscles," she sighed as she bore down on him again.

Two screaming orgasms and several minutes of cuddling later, Faith asked quietly, "So what about that other thing you said?"

"The loving-you thing? I meant that too."

She sat up and looked at him. "Even knowing about that night in the ER...what I did?"

Okay, now he was really confused. "Faith, you saved my life, how the hell could that be a problem for me?"

"Because I went crazy again." She let her head drop back onto the pillow, and she groaned. "You don't know how hard it was, Xan. I spent three fuckin' years tryin' to get my shit together, make sure I didn't turn into Faith the Psycho Slayer again. But hearin' you were in a coma, that you were probably gonna die...I went completely bugfuck on a bunch of innocent bystanders – shit, docs, of all people. If Giles hadn't been able to bribe them, I'd be back behind bars or in a straightjacket, probably for the rest of my life."

"Faith..." Carefully making sure he didn't bash her with the cast, he reached out with his good hand to stroke her face. "Let me repeat myself: You. Saved. My. Life. It's not like you went berserk and just started breaking things or hurting people for no reason – you just wanted to get them to do something that would've sounded crazy to anyone who doesn't know what a Slayer is."

Faith looked like she was about to protest, but the phone chose that moment to ring. As usual, Faith answered. "Yeah? Oh...yeah. Sure thing, B. Just a sec." She put her hand over the mouthpiece and asked, "B wants to bring some of the girls over to see ya. Same deal as yesterday?"

He nodded.

She returned to the phone. "Around two-thirty? I need to give this lunk a bath and feed him, and he eats even more than I do." She chuckled at something Buffy must've said. "You got that right. Okay, then, two-thirty. Seeya."


As it turned out, Buffy brought a lot more than "some of the girls." In fact, she brought most of the old Sunnydale Potentials – including Vi, Rona, Kennedy, Shannon and Dominique – and Willow as well. All the girls gave him hugs, even the usually surly Rona, and as usual, Xander got a few heebie-jeebies seeing Willow and Vi next to each other. The two sometimes seemed so much alike it was spooky: meek-but-cheerful little redheads who went all kick-ass once they got some power. Luckily, Vi seemed to be avoiding the temptations that came with supernatural power; she was confident, and her mannerisms had gotten sexier and more aggressive, but she was never arrogant or snobbish about her Slayer-ness.

They talked about what was going on, some of the new girls that were showing up – and the not-girls, even. Willow's spell had activated women who were older than any previous Slayer, including several policewomen, a soldier or two, and even one of the surviving Watchers. Buffy in particular seemed rather smug about that last one; she thought it was only right that a few Watchers besides Giles got to see like what it was like "out in the field."

And then the bomb dropped.

"Xander, the girls and I – and Giles, too – have had a talk. We think it's time you stopped going out on patrol."

So that's why the gang's all here, Xander thought. They're ganging up on me.

"Aren't you getting tired of singing that same old tune, Buff?" he snarled. "It didn't do anything for me five years ago, and it sure as hell doesn't sound any better now."

Buffy glared at him. "Xander, this isn't high school in Sunnydale anymore. And it's not just me and our little Scooby Gang against all the demons and vamps in the world; there are hundreds of Slayers now, and more of them are coming in in every day. Heck, I don't go out on patrol much any more, because Giles is running me ragged, training the new girls and helping him get the new Council started."

"Well, that just means the rest of us have to pick up the slack, doesn't it?"

Buffy growled and took a step forward, but Faith stepped in and put a hand on her shoulder. "Give it a rest, B. You tried it your way. Now let me try it mine."

The two Slayers stared at each other for a long moment, then Buffy visibly grit her teeth and took a step back.

Something inside Xander had gone cold at Faith's seeming betrayal, but before he could speak, she turned to face him. "Xan, you're always goin' on about those soldier memories of yours. What would happen if some guy in the Army lost an eye? What would happen if he got hurt the way you did last month? Not like you were when you woke up, but like you were when I carried you into the ER: the arms and the leg, plus a fractured skull with intracranial bleeding, half your ribs broken and the rest cracked, some cracked vertebrae, and a ruptured spleen?"

At some of the other Slayers' surprised glances, Faith grimaced, then shrugged. "I might've gone psycho that night, but I remember every goddamn word those docs said. I wish to hell I could forget."

Xander had gone pale as Faith rattled off the anatomy lesson. He'd known it was bad...but that bad? He was surprised he'd made it as far as the ER.

Then Faith's question registered with him, and the answer came back, tasting like a garbage pizza repeating on him. "He'd be discharged – medical retirement. Or a permanent desk assignment, if he had any experience worth contributing."

He sighed. "So, what is this? Forced medical discharge for the ol' Xan-man? And what am I supposed to do with myself? 'Cause with Willow, Dawn, and the WITs doing the research for you, I can't really see Giles giving me a desk job."

Faith snorted. "Xander, weren't you listening to what B said before? Giles needs people to train the new girls – and the WITs too. B's doin' her part, but we haven't got enough fully-trained Watchers to go around – and most of them are book-guys, not fighters," she added with a snort.

"You, though, Xan...you've spent the past seven years facin' stuff that'd make most of those so-called Slayers crap their pants, and all without super-strength or any of that stuff. If that ain't 'valuable experience,' then I don't know what is."

Buffy nodded, stepping up next to Faith again. "You think I forgot what I told those Watchers back in the Magic Box three years ago, Xan?" she said, her voice a bit softer than it had been earlier. "You'd clocked more field time than all of them combined – and you've clocked a helluva lot more since then."

She slowly came over to Xander, and sat down on the arm of his chair. "Remember that old saying about giving a guy a fish, versus teaching him to fish? It's the same thing with us Slayers, Xan. Sure, you can come out on patrol and save a girl's life one night, but the next night she's gotta go right back out there and risk her life again. But if you can teach a whole bunch of Slayers how to stay alive, instead...it'll make a bigger difference, in the end."

He considered it. Rolled the thought over and over in his head. And came up with the only answer possible. "All right. You win."

The girls grinned in relief.

"On one condition." He pointed at Faith. "You're gonna do the same thing."

Her face twisted into an expression of guilt and dismay. "Xan...I can't, I got stuff to make up for--"

"And when will you be satisfied, huh? When you finally get yourself killed?"

Faith's eyes and mouth were open wide with shock, but she didn't say a thing. Most of the other girls looked the same way.

"Bad enough you pulled that stunt with Angel in L.A., Faith, but this time you went too far. Not that I'm not grateful for you saving my life...but I'd've really felt like crap if I'd woken up and found out you'd killed yourself doing it."

"You were in a coma, Xan--"

"So? I wasn't going anywhere, was I? You could've called in a couple other Slayers, and you could've all donated a pint, instead of you doing it all yourself."

"I wasn't thinking straight, Xan, I was just followin' a gut instinct--"

"Which could've killed you, Faith. Which means we've gotta get you and your gut instincts out of the field for a while, if not for good. Besides...there are things you can teach those girls that Buffy can't."

Faith's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "You don't mean--"

"Yeah," Xander insisted. "You can teach them how wrong it is to think they're better than anyone else, just because they're Slayers. How easy it is for them to lose control of themselves, of their power, and lose themselves in the darkness. And how hard it is to claw your way back out again."

Faith looked more distressed than ever at that. He went on. "Yeah, it'll be hard, Faith. There'll be times when you'll wish you were kicking ass in a cemetary instead of telling your life story to a classroom full of Slayers...but doesn't that mean that it's just as good a way to do whatever penance you think you need to do?"

Willow took up the argument then. "He's right, Faith. I've tried to tell those Slayer girls about how easy it is to fall over the edge...but I'm a witch, not a Slayer. They don't really believe the power could get to them like that. Heck, the ones who weren't in Sunnydale don't believe half the stories about the stuff we used to see back there."

Faith looked around the room, until her eyes settled on Buffy. "B...?" she murmured.

Buffy bit her lip, then glanced at Xander, before saying, "Do it, Faith. I wouldn't be any happier than Xander to see you dead."

The dark-haired Slayer's shoulders slumped, and she nodded.


Faith and Buffy didn't say much to each other after that, but Xander noticed that his Slayer-friend was staring at his Slayer-lover a whole lot, and finally he asked for a little privacy so he could talk to Buffy about it.

"Buff...about me and Faith. Is that...are we good?"

She looked down at her shoes for a while without saying anything, and finally nodded. "Yeah, Xander. We're good. It's just...old habits are tough to break, y'know? Especially when I wonder if I'm ever gonna be able to be friends with Faith."

She sighed sadly. "It's like, there's always going to be someone trying to get between us. Gwendolyn Post, the Mayor, the Council, the First, the other Slayers...they've all played us off against each other, and it hurts every single goddamn time! Why can't they just leave us the hell alone?"

Xander was surprised at the sudden fury and hurt in his friend's voice. And they were both surprised at Faith's smoky interjection, "Because we are who we are, B. The Chosen Two."

She smirked a little as they turned to see her standing in the doorway, and then walked up to them. "We may not be the only ones anymore, but we're still the two blue-haired old ladies of the group. And even though I fucked up royally back in SunnyD, with the Mayor, and the body-switch thing, and the bomb--"

"No, Faith," Buffy interrupted. "The other things...well, I don't know what to say about them. I'm not ready to talk about them yet. But I've heard you blame yourself for the bomb thing for months now, and I've had enough. I'd've probably done the exact same thing you did, if I hadn't been obsessing over the vineyard. You just happened to be the one stuck with being in charge at the time."

The two girls stared at each other, using that silent Slayer communion thing that they'd always had. Finally, Xander had to interrupt it. "You know, there's two ways you girls can deal with this. You can ignore each other, like you've been doing for the past several months – and look how much un-fun that's been. Or – and you can feel free to kick my ass if you think this is a dumb idea – you could do what you both so obviously want to do, and become so close that there'd be no way anyone would be able to get between you again."

The two girls turned slowly to look at him, and for a moment, he was struck by the way they were so opposite, and yet so alike. Beautiful, powerful, intense, stubborn, strong on the outside but so vulnerable on the inside...light and dark perfection.

Faith glanced at Buffy. "Let's kick his ass."

Buffy made a face. "Nah. We'll wait till he heals up. Then we kick his ass. It's no fun if they can't run first."

Faith chuckled. "Seriously, B...You think we could do that? Become like, real friends?"

Buffy's eyes flickered a little. "I thought we were...once."

Faith chewed on her lower lip. "Yeah. So did I."

Once again, they stared at each other, each of them unwilling to make the first move. So, of course, it was Xander who reached out and pulled them into a group hug, in which they ended up holding onto each other and murmuring quietly, apologizing for all the lost opportunities, the betrayals, the mistrust...

Watching the two of them, Xander thought he'd never seen a more beautiful sight in his life.

Of course, when they caught him staring at them, he got the Slayer-glare of a lifetime, squared.

"Nu-uh, Xan-man," Faith chided him. "One Slayer per customer. 'Sides, even if you were healthy – and if I were willin' to share you with B – I don't think you could survive a night with both of us."

He winked at her. "Oh, but what a way to go."

He never knew whether Faith's pillow or Buffy's hit him first.


Within a couple of days, Xander and Faith had a routine. Wake-up sex followed by breakfast, followed by more sex, a bath, and then lunch.

Afternoons, though, were kept clear for the sake of possible visitors, and there were a lot of them. Buffy and Giles visited a few times, although both of them were up to their eyeballs in Council business. And, to Xander's surprise and pleasure, Willow came every few days, with or without Dawn in tow.

To Xander's shame, he found himself preferring the latter option, because Dawn was still sulking over his relationship with Faith. When it was just him and Faith and Willow, they could sit down and really talk.

At one point, the subject of Faith's ex came up. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you, 'cause you and Xan look so happy together, but why'd you break up with Wood?" Willow asked. "I mean, he's a good guy, and all..."

Faith grimaced. "Yeah, he is a good guy. A great guy, in fact. But the two of us weren't real good for each other, y'know? We were both too wild, too focused on the vamp-hunting. We kept trying to out-do each other, and getting ourselves in over our heads 'cause neither of us wanted to look like a wuss in front of the other. I think we'd've gotten each other killed if we hadn't broken up first.

"Plus, there's that whole whacked-out thing he has about bein' a Slayer's kid, y'know? First he went out with Buffy, then me...I didn't want to be part of some Odd-Pussy Complex of his."

Willow choked and turned bright red, and even Xander had to hide a grin behind a cough. Greek tragedies weren't really his thing, but thanks to the Talent-less Show of '97, he knew who Oedipus was.

He decided he liked Faith's name better.


Finally, the day came when the casts were due to come off, and Faith came up with a unique way of celebrating Xander's first day of mobility:

"Just name a fantasy, Xan, and it's yours. You can do anything you want with me – or rather, to me," she said with a grin. "I could give you a lapdance that would curl your hair – with all kinds of touching allowed...or I could put on the nurse costume again, I know you really liked that..."

There was a fantasy that popped right into Xander's mind. But it took Faith almost half an hour to get him to admit it, because he liked the way their relationship was developing, and he was worried about screwing things up. But Faith had enthusaistically agreed to try it out, and pretty soon Xander had her over his knee, her pants and underwear down around her knees.

"The Naughty Slayer" was getting a bare-assed spanking, moaning and wailing like a banshee as she wriggled in Xander's lap.

Faith wasn't really used to playing the submissive role, though, so she quickly lost control of herself, broke out of the role-playing, and practically raped Xander, throwing him onto the bed and shredding his clothes before wildly fucking him into the bedsprings.

"Sorry about losin' it like that, Xan," she apologized afterwards. "But I've never been so worked up in my whole life – not even that night in Southie when I slayed three vamps in the buff."

Xander could only groan in response; he was still trying to uncross his eyes.

The End

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