Faith came out of the bathroom and climbed on the bed beside Sam.
"It's just occurred to me," she began, leaning in to kiss his neck. "That you didn't get your present."
Sam
"What present?" Sam looked confused.
Faith
"Birthday, duh."
Faith grinned slightly.
"Sorta... died. That wasn't your present, by the way."
Sam
"You know, unless we're talking about sex here, it's only a birthday," Sam shrugged.
"It's not that big of a deal."
Faith
"I know," Faith smiled.
"But still... I wanted to get you something."
Sam
"So you did..." Sam smiled knowingly.
Faith
"I thought maybe no sex for your birthday this year," Faith teased.
She reached down on the floor beside the bed, where her bag was, and pulled out a wrapped up box.
Sam
"Oooh, a literal present," Sam looked surprised.
Faith
Faith nodded, and slipped off his lap so he could open it.
"I know, I'm more than enough, but I felt like you'd been a good boy this year," she teased.
Sam
Sam gave her a condescending look.
He sat up a little and opened the box.
"Wow," his eyebrows rose, lifting the engraved pistol into his right hand.
"Where did you get this...?"
Faith
"I have connections," Faith grinned.
"Do you like it?"
Sam
"Like it?" Sam hadn't taken his eyes off it.
"I hate it. No, that's a lie. I love it."
He grinned.
Faith
Faith grinned again.
"Good. And damn straight you love it. I designed the engravings, after all."
Sam
"Really?" Sam's eyes lit up a little and he studied the markings a little closer.
"Wait..." he paused on a lower part of the handle, "...is that one of your tattoos?"
Faith
Faith nodded.
"It's the outer part of this one," she said, indicating the tattoo on her arm. "Everything I design has a special meaning to me, and I thought it kind of fit in with the theme."
Sam
"It does. It's amazing. Thankyou," Sam leant over to kiss her.
"But it does make me wonder how I'm supposed to top it come your birthday," he mused.
Faith
Faith laughed and kissed him again.
"You don't have to top it. Sex and dinner is just fine for me."
Sam
"Well, that would have been fin for me too, but you had to go and do one better didn't you?" Sam teased.
Faith
Faith pressed her nose against his.
"Ah, but you went and gave me this," she held her hand up slightly. "for my last birthday."
Sam
"Then maybe I'll propose for the next one," Sam joked.
"Or maybe I'll buy you a pony. All of your own."
Faith
"Ooh, please can I have a pony?" Faith played along.
"I'd feed her and brush her everyday and I'd call her Princess Sparkle."
Sam
"I'll see what I can do," Sam promised, putting his arm around her and using his fingers to spin the pistol.
He kissed her forehead.
Faith
Faith grinned.
"You want to shoot tin cans so you can use it?" she teased.
Sam
"I'm sure I'll find something to use it on by the end of the week," Sam mused.
"We've already got Dean scouring the papers for jobs. I think he's going a little stir crazy."
Faith
"Yeah," Faith agreed.
"I'm ready to beat the crap out of something."
Sam
"You and me both," Sam mused.
"I'd like to get a hold of some demons right about now."
Faith
"I've gotta step up my training with Jasper, I think," Faith said, leaning across for a kiss.
"To avoid another death at the hands of one of those new vamps."
Sam
"Not necessarily 'step up', just learn a few new techniques," Sam shrugged.
Faith
"Maybe," Faith shrugged.
"I should probably explain to them what happened, although Alice probably already knows."
Sam
"Couldn't hurt for you to share your side of the story," Sam pointed out.
Faith
"True."
Faith gave him a sly smile.
"So... seeing as I went and died on your birthday, I should probably make it up to you, right?"
Sam
"I believe so," Sam pretended to think about it.
"It was kind of a downer."
Faith
Faith grinned, and moved in to kiss him.
"Oh, poor Sam."
Sam
"Yeah. Poor me," Sam grinned, kissing her back.
"So what do I get for being tortured so badly?"
Faith
"Hmmm," Faith pretended to think for a second.
"Well, did you cry? If you cried, I have to make it up to you even more."
Sam
"I was crying on the inside," Sam assured.
"Sorry. The anger meter was way up there though, so technically still upset just on the other end of the scale."
Faith
Faith kissed the tip of his nose.
"You know, one of these days, I'm going to die for real."
Sam
"Not before me you're not," Sam assured.
Faith
"I don't know," Faith shrugged.
"I'd rather go before you."
Sam
"Too bad," Sam shrugged.
"'Cause if you do, I'm bringing you back. You can't escape me that easily."
He smirked.
Faith
Faith grinned slightly.
"Oh really? What if you can't get me back?"
Sam
"Oh I will," Sam assured.
"It's not only demons and angels and long dead relations that can bring people back to life. I'd find a way."
Faith
"Well," Faith said, shrugging.
"You know you could call Willow. She pulled Buffy out of Heaven. So, she could always bring me back."
She paused.
"You really can't do without me, can you?"
Sam
"Tried and failed, so no," Sam mused.
"It's like losing Dean."
Faith
Faith's face softened at that.
"I've never mattered so much before."
Sam
Sam hesitated.
"What about Angel?" he asked.
Faith
"Not to the extent he'd bring me back."
Faith shrugged.
"I'm not his forever. I'm aware of that. Long over it."
Sam
"Tru?" Sam tried again.
Faith
"Different type of love," Faith shrugged.
"She'd let me go. Not in a bad way. But that's what she'd do, if she had to."
Sam
Sam took a deep breath and sighed.
"I know we've never really had this conversation," he said suddenly, "but would you want me to let you go?"
Faith
Faith was quiet for a long moment.
"Honestly, I don't know," she said. "I am tired. But I know there's stuff I have to do here."
Sam
"That's what I figured," Sam shrugged.
"And besides, there's no way on Earth I could take care of Priestly on my own."
Faith
"Did you ever consider not bringing me back?" Faith asked.
She looked him in the eye.
Sam
"No," Sam answered honestly.
"The though never crossed my mind. Why? Does that bother you?"
Faith
Faith shook her head.
"No, just curious."
Sam
Sam hesitated, eyes scanning the ceiling unnervingly.
"It bothers me," he admitted.
Faith
Faith moved back onto Sam's lap, and ran her hands through his hair gently.
"What does?"
Sam
"The things I'm willing to do for... the things I'll do to keep you safe? They scare me sometimes," Sam shrugged, "that's all."
Faith
Faith kissed the end of his nose.
"You don't have to worry about me," she told him. "I know things have been a bit crazy lately..."
Sam
"And crazy is what, every day of our lives?" Sam smirked.
Faith
"Ok, you have a point there," Faith smiled.
She leaned her forehead against his.
"But I'm really working on this 'not dying' thing. Harder than I was working on it before. And Edward is looking out for me in one corner, and Angel in the other, and then I have you and when I get desperate, I have Dean. So... take a load off every once in awhile, ok?"
Sam
"I can't," Sam shook his head.
"I mean, I feel as though I were brought up to be protected, militantly, and now it's almost as if a switch has flipped and it's my turn to do the protecting. And I don't particularly want to turn that off, either."
Faith
Faith ran her hand through his hair gently.
"You know that I'm ok, right? You can rest easy. So... just calm down a little, Jumbo. I'm not gonna go without a fight, at any rate."
Sam
"Well I for one, don't plan to let you go at all," Sam put his other arm around her so he was hugging her to his chest.
Faith
"Well," Faith grinned, deciding to go for the lighter approach.
"That may get difficult when it comes time for me to go to the bathroom."
Sam
"I meant spiritually," Sam smirked.
"Let's not repeat that posessive part of our relationship anytime soon."
Faith
Faith laughed and leaned in for a kiss.
"Yeah, that wasn't fun."