Summary: Although each of these stories is a story within itself, together, they may resemble a popular television show about survivors of plane crash who are connected to a mysterious tropical island. Perhaps they are chapters, in a book called Lust.
Included within these stories are characters from the television shows Xena: Warrior Princess , Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Battlestar Galactica , and The Brady Bunch. Not all of the stories are crossover, but some of them are. I have tried not to corrupt the fandoms too much.
Disclaimers: I do not own these characters, I am just borrowing them for my own amusement and, hopefully, yours. Consensual sexual and romantic relationships between adult women is implied and, at times, explicit. Now that I have your attention, if you are minor or it is illegal for you to read such stories, scram.
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Alt
Teaser: In a post-Sunnydale world, Buffy Summers and Faith Lehane gamble on a new adventure.
The plane lurched forward again. From her first class seat, Buffy's stomach dropped. Her forehead breaking into a cold sweat, she gripped the armrests. Closing her eyes, she tried to convince herself and, more importantly, her companion that she was calm.
30 frightful seconds later, the plane was sailing smoothly.
Buffy slowly opened her eyes and, moving only her eyeballs, looked at her companion, who nonchalantly flipped through a magazine she had found in the seat jacket.
"You know, B, flying is the safest form of travel," Faith said, distracted. "Hey, you think anyone actually buys these things? Look, a 'Personal Cooling System' that goes around your neck."
"Yeah," Buffy said, wiping her forehead. "Weird."
Smacking her dry mouth, Buffy pressed the button for drink service. As she did, the plane hit an air pocket and dropped for several seconds. On one side of her, Buffy gripped Faith's arm, on the other side, she gripped the arm rest.
"Wooo!" Faith exclaimed, echoing the general sentiment of the other passengers, who seemed to be enjoying the ride.
Even under ideal conditions, turbulence was not fun. Today, however, wasn't ideal. Today, Buffy was hungover. Clammy and nauseous, she was reminded that last night had really happened. Not that it had necessarily been bad. In fact, last night was the first time in ages that Buffy had let herself go. Faith was good for that.
After a few more bumps, the plane leveled.
"Sorry," Buffy said, letting go of her death grip on Faith.
"Hey, no bigs."
A flight attendant appeared who was brunette, fit, and had a swagger to her that was screaming to be commanding the plane, rather than passing out drinks in it.
"What can I get you?" she asked, bored.
Staring, Buffy tried to speak but found that she had no saliva.
Faith shook her head.
"Bloody Mary for me," Faith said. "Water for her," nodding toward Buffy.
The flight attendant turned to leave.
"No!" Buffy said, raising her hand.
Faith and the flight attendant looked at Buffy, startled.
In her hand was the armrest. Buffy seemed as surprised as they that she was holding it.
"Oh," Buffy whispered, trying to put it back. "Bumpy flight."
The flight attendant raised her eyebrows.
"Ginger ale please," Buffy said.
"Sure," the flight attendant said, before leaving.
"Wow, B, you're in bad shape," Faith said, leaning in.
The plane dropped again and Buffy winced. Instead of leveling out, the nose tipped downward. When the lights flickered and the pilot ordered everyone to take their seats, Buffy burrowed her head into Faith's shoulder.
Faith, suddenly solemn, put an arm around Buffy.
Although her stomach dropped, Buffy felt safer. At Faith's touch, she remembered last night, at the casino.
xxxx
"Hard six, Stickman," Faith said, placing chips on the table.
Earlier in the week, they had watched Sunnydale implode. After spending a few days in LA, Faith, Buffy, Willow, and Xander had accidentally ended up drunk, the way good friends sometimes do. After tucking in two drunk Scoobies, Faith convinced Buffy to extend the night at a casino in the Southern California desert.
Buffy had never been to a casino before, much less played craps, but that didn't stop her. When it was her turn to roll the dice, she just did what everyone else had done.
"Keep it up, B. Just like last time," Faith said quietly.
Buffy leaned over the oval table, picked up the dice, and tossed them.
Two threes.
The men around the table whooped.
"Yeah!" Faith said, hitting Buffy on the back.
As the dealer passed winning chips around the table, Buffy beamed, swayed, and sucked down the last of her drink.
"How 'bout another drink for Lady Luck, fellas?" Faith said.
Several men eagerly flagged down a waitress and, as Buffy added chips to her collection, both slayers had two drinks apiece on their way.
Looking at her chips, Buffy saw that she had amassed at least $2000.
"Bad luck to count your chips..." Faith said.
"Yeah," Buffy said, eyeing Faith's pile. "I was mostly noticing I have more than you."
Faith rolled her eyes, but laughed.
"The thing about craps," Faith said, "is that we can both win. It's more fun that way."
Faith's brown eyes were bold, yet tinged with sadness.
"More fun than stabbing you," Buffy said.
When Faith's eyes flashed, Buffy wondered if it was still too soon.
"More fun than fucking your boyfriend," Faith said with an arched eyebrow tempered with a smile.
Ouch.
"So. Let's go for it," Faith said, picking up half of her chips and placing them on the table. "8," she told the dealer.
Buffy's eyes widened, yet, before picking up the dice again, she surprised herself.
"8," she said, placing her entire stack of chips on the table.
Faith coughed in surprise.
"You got it," said the dealer, the table buzzing with excitement.
As Buffy reached for the dice, Faith grabbed Buffy's arm and whispered.
"You hit this? Let's get the hell out of here."
Buffy nodded.
"No, really. For a while," Faith whispered. "On the first flight out of LAX tomorrow, I don't know... that starts with an 8."
"Yeah, I'm in," Buffy said, feeling light.
Picking up the dice, Buffy shook them and let them fly.
8.
The crowd cheered and patted Buffy on the back while Faith high-fived the men next to her.
Faith enveloped Buffy in a hug. The volume of the crowd instantly dialed down in Buffy's head at the touch of the other slayer's body. Letting go, she cupped Faith's head and brought her lips to Faith's. Urgent and passionate, Faith went with it as though she had expected it. It wasn't gentle, but between two slayers it wouldn't be.
Much to the chagrin of the other players, Faith and Buffy stepped out of the game, cashed their chips, and rented a room at the casino hotel. They didn't sleep until the next morning in the airport limo, final destination: Australia.