Prologue: Slayers on a Plane

Faith nudged the woman seated beside her. "What do you think is up with that guy?"

She nodded in the direction of a man seated in the exit row. He had the porthole-sized window drawn shut and one hand played solitaire on his phone while the other gripped at the overhead compartment lid. His jaw worked erratically around a piece of gum. He looked the picture of a nervous flyer, except one thing – he wore a commercial pilot uniform.

Buffy gripped onto her armrests tighter; the chair squeaked from the stress. "Oh God," she mumbled forlornly. "We're going to die."

Faith chuckled. She reached in the pouch in front of her knees and pulled out a water bottle. "No. We're fine," she reassured the blonde.

Buffy eyeballed her girlfriend. "How can you be so sure?"

Faith uncapped the water bottle and took a small sip. "Because that dude's not flying the plane."

The plane bounced a little with turbulence, but it quickly settled down. Faith appraised her nervous partner. Buffy's eyes were shut tight and she wore a grimace on her face. Faith could swear she heard the other woman humming "I Love Paris," beneath her breath.

"Why did you insist on coming if you're such a bad flyer?"

Buffy opened one eye. "And miss Dawn's graduation? No way."

"I'm sure she would have understood."

Buffy shook her head emphatically. "I can't miss this. It's too important."

"Why don't you write in your Belly Book?" Faith gently suggested. "It might calm you down."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Right. Because journaling about the changes my body's going through is just the thing to calm me down."

"Well at least your belly button's not an outtie yet," Faith pointed out with a smirk. "Although, to be honest, I can hardly wait for that."

Buffy looked horrified. "Why would you ever wish that on me?"

Faith beamed. "Cause you'd be like a Thanksgiving turkey with that little red thermometer. I'd know when you were done."

Buffy blinked. "Is this you trying to make me feel better? Because you really suck at it."

Faith chuckled good naturedly. She pressed the button on her armrest and reclined her seat as far back as it would go, which admittedly wasn't a lot. "I'm gonna take a nap," she informed the other woman. "Wake me up when we get there."

Faith tucked her ear buds into her ears and turned on her iPod. She sighed contentedly and closed her eyes. She was sure it wouldn't take too long for her to fall asleep. With Buffy too pregnant to patrol, she'd taken on the responsibilities of protecting the Cleveland Hellmouth, which resulted in late nights and not a lot of sleep.

Her rest was short-lived, however, when a blast of recycled air burst in her face. She opened her eyes to see Buffy fiddling with the overhead knobs and buttons. Faith frowned. "Remind me to tranq you the next time we're on a flight together."

Buffy frowned guiltily and placed her hands in her lap. She trapped her anxious fingers between her thighs. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Faith pulled her ear buds out and flashed her partner a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, babe. I think it's cute you're so nervous." She leaned over the armrest that separated them, and pressed her lips against Buffy's cheek, close to her ear.

Buffy couldn't help herself. She quietly sighed and her tightened shoulders relaxed.

Faith leaned back and cocked an eyebrow at the girl. "Really? It was that easy?"

Buffy shrugged. "Okay. So maybe you don't completely suck at helping me relax."

The smile on Faith's lips curled into a leer. "I know a way to really relax you…"

Buffy snorted loudly. "Right. Like my belly could ever fit into one of these tiny airplane bathrooms, let alone the both of us."

Faith leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes again. "Don't say I never offered."

Buffy inconspicuously observed her girlfriend, taking advantage of Faith's eyes being closed. She envied how practically nothing seemed to rattle Faith – not even traveling across country in a flying death tube.

When it was clear Faith was serious about taking that nap, Buffy sighed heavily and pulled her spiral-bound book out of the carry-on bag she'd stored under the seat in front of her. Faith had bought the Belly Book for her soon after they'd moved in together. And although she hated anything resembling homework, Buffy had diligently recorded her thoughts in the book throughout her pregnancy.

As a college drop-out, she didn't have many accomplishments she could point to, minus saving the world half a dozen times, but she considered her longevity as a slayer and now the impending birth of a baby as a pretty decent legacy. Although she'd tried to hide her pregnancy in its beginnings, now, with just a few months left to gestate, she was excited and proud to be pregnant. She'd even taken a break from slaying for the safety of her unborn child. It had taken a few weeks for her skin to stop crawling, but now she was better adjusted to letting Faith pick up the slack.

Buffy opened the spiral-bound book and looked at the next section – Food Cravings. She bit on the end of her pen and thought. She'd never really craved specific foods before her pregnancy – food was Faith territory, not hers. If anything, her strongest urges revealed themselves after a particularly violent slay, but instead of devouring a whole pizza, she typically devoured Faith instead.

A few of their more…adventurous post-patrol trysts played through her head, and she squirmed in her seat at the memories. When had it gotten so warm in the airplane cabin? she wondered. She closed her Belly Book, now thoroughly distracted from her original task, and returned it to the seat pouch in front of her.

She hazarded another look in the direction of her girlfriend. Faith's head was tipped back and her mouth was slightly agape in sleep. Over the incessant roar of the jet engines outside, Buffy could just make out Faith's even breaths.

Buffy wetted her lips as she admired the plump, parted lips and just the tip of pink tongue. Her gaze traveled down the long column of unblemished neck. She knew the barely-there scar on the other side with the same familiarity as her own. She'd spent countless hours sucking and kissing and biting the area if only to reassure herself that Faith was hers, and no one else's. Neck gave way to collarbone that was on display in the opening of Faith's v-neck top. The carved bones created an almost directional arrow, urging Buffy's attention lower to the swell of well-proportioned breasts that rose and fell beneath her top.

Buffy didn't consider herself a boob-girl. In fact Faith had labeled her an ass girl from the start. Buffy could hardly deny that she privately ogled her girlfriend's backside whenever given the opportunity. But that didn't mean she didn't fully appreciate Faith's shapely breasts – just barely more than a handful, olive toned even in the dead of Cleveland winter, and capped with dusty-rose nipples that were quick to tighten and harden from her attentions.

"And you're sure you're not interested in joining the Mile High Club?"

Buffy jerked her lascivious stare away from Faith's chest and raised her gaze to meet the brunette's amused face.

"I thought I saw a stain on your shirt," Buffy blurted out.

Faith flicked her eyes down to her clean shirt and then back to Buffy's flushed features. "Uh huh," she deadpanned. She stretched her long arms above her head and her back arched off her chair as she roused herself from sleep.

Traitors to her sanity, Buffy's eyes were once again drawn to Faith's chest and the newly revealed sliver of skin at the bottom hem of her shirt.

"Maybe next time we have to travel across the country we take the train."

Buffy wrinkled her nose. "Train? Do they still have those?"

Faith chuckled. "Don't knock it. I think it could be really fun. Everything just kinda slows down. You're not confined to a seatbelt, chair, and nonexistent leg room; there's a dining car where you can get food whenever you want, not at the whim of a flight attendant; and instead of a monotonous view of blue sky and the tops of clouds, you really get the chance to see America."

Buffy smiled. She rested her hand on Faith's thigh and rubbed small circles with the pad of her thumb. "That does sound nice," she admitted.

"Plus, if we do it up right," Faith noted with a waggle of her eyebrows, "we can get a sleeper car and have all the train sex we want."

Buffy stilled her thumb and lightly slapped her girlfriend's leg. "You're horrible," she chided. She couldn't help the smile that made it to her lips, however.

Faith grinned widely, displaying her deep dimples. She leaned across the armrest until her lips brushed against Buffy's jaw line, near her ear. "I bet a moving train vibrates just right." She slowly drawled out the final two words.

Buffy snapped her eyes shut. It had definitely gotten warmer in the plane. She squeezed her thighs together, a movement not lost on her girlfriend.

Faith's mouth moved along Buffy's neck – warm, wet, and yet just barely there. Her lips delicately fluttered against the sensitive skin like a butterfly's wings against fragile flower petals.

"Faith," Buffy quietly sighed. She didn't know if she should stop her partner now or beg for more. Did the Mile High Club count if you never left your seat?

"What is it, baby?" Faith innocently and quietly breathed into her skin. "You need something?"

Buffy bit down on her lower lip and sucked it into her mouth. Faith had a nasty habit of not playing fair. How could she expect her to….in public…on a plane?

"You could always press the Call button if you need something, B," Faith murmured, undeterred. "I'm sure our flight attendant would be more than eager to help out if there's something you need."

Buffy's eyes immediately snapped open at the reminder of where they were. Their stewardess was only a few rows away, handing out complimentary beverages to the passengers seated in front of them. Buffy felt a strong hand squeeze her knee and then travel north.

"Faith." Buffy said her girlfriend's name again, this time in a warning tone.

Ignoring Buffy, Faith moved her hand further up. Buffy clamped her thighs together, pinning Faith's hand in place. Buffy looked worriedly between the hand still wiggling between the vice grip of her inner thighs and the beverage cart rolling steadily closer.

When she relaxed her leg muscles just for a moment, Faith's hand shot between her thighs and connected hard against her yoga pants-covered sex. Buffy's breath hitched in her throat, and Faith's eyes widened when she felt the damp heat radiating from her girlfriend's core. Something resembling a growl rattled in the back of her throat.

The squeak of wheels in need of lubrication came louder as the airplane hostess rolled closer still.

Faith cupped Buffy's pussy through her pants and pressed the heel of her palm hard against her, pulling a strangled whimper from the blonde. Buffy drew in a sharp breath when Faith's dexterous hand slipped beneath the waistband of her stretchy pants and immediately found her clit. She rubbed the sensitive nub in small circles with the tip of her middle finger.

Buffy clamped down on Faith's wrist. She made a quiet, pathetic noise, but she couldn't tell if she was begging the other girl to stop or begging her for more.

With her free hand, Faith unlatched the knobs that held their seat trays in an upright position. With gravity on their side, the trays noisily fell down, covering both of their laps and shielding them from the view of the flight attendant.

"Would you care for something to drink?" the cheerful woman implored, setting two square napkins down on the seat trays.

"Diet Coke or whatever you've got," Faith said smoothly.

Buffy coughed sharply when Faith wiggled the fingers still inside the front of her pants.

"And you, ma'am?" the attendant asked after setting down a small plastic cup in front of Faith.

Buffy was convinced her face was flushed red and her eyes were bulging. She felt Faith's fingers move again against her, hard and determined. "N-n-nothing," she stammered out, not trusting her own voice and wanting the flight attendant to move on to the next passengers as quickly as possible.

Faith continued to slip along her folds. Buffy couldn't believe how impossibly wet she was, and Faith had barely really touched her.

Buffy stared at the muscles of Faith's forearm as they flexed and twitched as she continued her determined ministrations. She knew her girlfriend. She wouldn't stop until she'd made her cum.

Buffy, too close to cumming to care about airplane propriety, spread her legs as far as her narrow seat would allow.

"That's my girl," Faith murmured her approval.

Buffy felt a solid finger separate her folds and slip inside. She bit back a moan, disguising the noise as a short cough.

Faith twisted slightly in her seat, not stopping.

Buffy gripped onto the tray table as if needing something to stabilize her. She bit down hard on her lower lip and her breath sounded haggard as she breathed in and out of her nose. When the initial wave of her orgasm washed over her, her body slumped forward.

Faith's hand stilled and she slipped out of Buffy's yoga pants. She bought her fingers up to her mouth and licked at the tips, grinning with satisfaction. Then she stretched her arms above her head and yawned. "Nap time," she announced, almost cheerfully.

Buffy stared incredulously at her girlfriend. "Are you…are you serious?" she hissed.

Faith downed her small soda in one, long gulp before returning both their trays to the upright position. "My pants are too tight for you to return the favor. So I might as well catch up on sleep." She wiggled around in her chair, tipped her head back, and closed her eyes.

Buffy stared at her girlfriend's face for a few moments, still in disbelief about what had just happened and that Faith could so easily fall back asleep afterward. She'd just have to chalk this up to yet another thing that made Faith so unique.

Too wired for a nap herself, Buffy stared out the small airplane window and gazed at the tops of the clouds. Outside, the sun was hot and it warmed her through the thick plexiglass. The windows were blemished with cloudy water spots, and she wondered how often airplanes got washed, if at all. Maybe they just scheduled the particularly dirty planes to fly through Seattle.

Buffy squinted at a small imperfection on the window. She ran her finger over the glass, trying to determine if the line was a smudge or a crack and on which side of the glass it was. She tapped her fingers against the glass and her eyes widened as the crack turned into a spider web of cracks.

I didn't tap it that hard, she silently mused.

She tapped again, experimentally. Instead of cracking further, however, the glass stuck against the tip of her finger like warm caramel and moved wherever she repositioned her finger. Buffy looked over at Faith to see if her girlfriend was witnessing this, too. But Faith's head was tipped backwards, her mouth slightly agape, and her eyes tightly lidded with deep sleep.

Buffy turned back to the small windowpane and pressed her whole hand on the window, her palm flat against the glass. She pushed forward, exerting only a minimal amount of pressure and watched with a mixture of horror and curiosity as the window bowed out like a giant bubble. When Buffy pulled her hand back, the window snapped back to its original shape.

Buffy stared at the palm on her hand. "Well that's not right," she muttered to herself.

She reached across the armrest and shook Faith's arm to wake her. But the brunette wouldn't wake up. Her head lolled forward and a loud snore escaped her lungs. Buffy frowned. Faith was a heavy sleeper, but not that deep.

She looked around at the other passengers within her immediate vicinity. They, like Faith, all appeared to be sleeping, even the formerly anxious pilot seated across the aisle.

Buffy began to panic. Something was wrong. She could feel it.

Even though the seatbelt sign was still illuminated, she unfastened the restraint and stood up. As far as she could see was a sea of unconscious passengers.

"Wake up!" she yelled.

She was only met with a chorus of deep, rumbling snores.

Buffy hurdled over Faith's legs into the center aisle. "Wake up!" she implored again, her voice bordering on desperate, again to no response.

She tried to wake Faith again, shaking her by the arms, rattling her body in its seated position. Faith showed no signs of waking and slumped forward in her chair when Buffy released her hold.

Suddenly, every instinct, every fiber of her being, screamed at her to get off that plane. Right now.

Buffy took off, sprinting down the narrow airplane aisle towards the front of the plane. She had no grandiose delusions of busting into the cockpit and alerting the pilots. For all she knew, they were sleeping too and the plane was going down.

No flight attendants stopped her when she reached the front exit. Without hesitation, she grabbed onto the large-armed release latch and yanked down hard. The metal hatch popped open and she shoved. The cabin door gave way, and she was violently sucked out into the sunny afternoon sky.

Buffy abruptly sat up in bed. Her body was covered with a thin sheen of sweat, yet her skin felt clammy. Two strong arms circled her torso.

"B? Baby? What's wrong?" came Faith's sleep-delirious voice.

"Nothing. Nothing." Buffy sucked in a deep, calming breath. "It was just a dream."

"The airplane one again?" Faith sat up slightly and gave her girlfriend a concerned look.

Buffy bit her lip and nodded.

Faith tightened her embrace and kissed the blonde's temple. "Are you sure you're okay? I know how upset that one makes you."

Buffy nodded. "I'm fine. Just…a little shaken up."

"Think it's a Slayer Dream?"

Buffy raised her shoulders and then let them sag. "I don't know," she said defeatedly. "If it was, wouldn't you be having them, too?"

Faith's features tightened. "Wouldn't be the first time the PTB left me out of the loop."

Now it was Buffy's turn to console her partner. "Don't," she hushed. She brushed a strand of hair away from Faith's face. She couldn't help a small smile; the other woman's face was marred with pillow lines.

"Okay," Faith said glumly, dropping her gaze guiltily.

Buffy sighed. "The dream doesn't make any sense. Why are we on a plane? With Willow's magic, we don't waste our money on airfare anymore. And what graduation are we attending? Dawn goes to college here." She shook her head. "I just wish I knew if this was important or if it's just some crazy pregnancy thing."

"How about we look into it tomorrow morning?" Faith suggested.

"We've got that doctor's appointment."

Faith nodded, remembering. "Okay, then afterwards. We'll get the gang together, order some pizzas, and do some old-fashioned research."

Buffy stuck out her lower lip. "I don't want to be an inconvenience. It could be nothing."

"You're not an inconvenience – you're Buffy," Faith smiled. "Besides. We haven't had any major Evil to avert lately. I'm sure the Scoobs are itchin' for an apocalypse."

Buffy laughed despite the foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach. Or it could be just acid reflux. This pregnancy had not been kind to her body.

"Be careful what you wish for," she admonished.

TBC