Buffy acts scandalized and more than a little bit betrayed, but Faith knows that it's more a show than anything: Buffy acting the way she's expected to, the way a daughter might when she finds out her father's fooling around with one of her best friends (it's not like she can say anything about the age difference; at least Giles doesn't remember the Industrial Revolution).

Behind her shrill protestations, though, there's something lurking, a light of understanding that tells Faith that Buffy knows that, as dark as their darkest moments were (despair and Spike, vengeance and Tara, insecurity and Anya), none of the rest of them will ever really understand the rebellion and want-take-have that was Ripper, not the way Faith does.

Because it's sneaking a cigarette every once in a while, tattoos that are remnants of younger days, memories of wild friends and loud music and long nights (even if it's also finding the light again and knowing the price of goodness is worth paying and the battle worth fighting).