They’re more than twenty miles from home after a late night patrol when they hear a vague, dull thudding over the sound of the music in the car. Buffy thinks maybe the bass is up too high and turns it down, but the sound persists and that’s when Faith sighs and starts to pull the car over.

“What’s that noise? And what are you doing?” Buffy asks.

“We’ve got a flat tire, B. Gotta pull over and fix it.”

Buffy scrunches up her face. “Don’t we have triple-A for that kind of thing?”

Faith chuckles and shakes her head, “We’re in the middle of nowhere at stupid o’clock. It’ll be quicker if we just do it ourselves. C’mon, help me out. I got this.”

Faith opens her door and easily slides out before closing it quietly after herself. Buffy remains in the car, watching Faith walk around back and open up the trunk to fetch the spare.

“If you’ve got this, why exactly do I have to help?” she asks.

“Uh, because you’re a hot chick with superpowers?” Faith replies loud enough for Buffy to hear.

Buffy sighs and checks out her reflection in the rearview mirror. “Hot chicks shouldn’t have to change tires,” she mumbles under her breath, then opens her door and slips out. She joins Faith on the other side of the car and puts her hands on her hips as she scouts out the situation.

“So, jack or iron?” Faith asks.

Buffy looks at her and furrows her brow. “Humwhat now?”

“Car jack or tire iron. You get to pick which one you wanna be cos someone took them out of the trunk to make room for her bags on her latest shopping adventure.”

That someone happens to have been Buffy who scowls at the memory of removing the items and tossing them into bushes near the front porch. Seriously though, when does anyone ever actually need a car jack?

“Well in that case I pick car jack. No way am I gonna mess up my nails.”

“Fair enough, ya big girl,” Faith replies. She gets down on her knees next to the deflated tire and pops the hub cap off, then grunts as she starts to twist the metal nuts one by one until they’re loose but not off. Thank god for slayer strength. When she’s ready to take them the rest of the way off, she looks up at Buffy and gives her a dazzling smile. “You’re up, jack.”

Buffy nods and reluctantly steps over to the car, resting her back against it and sliding down until her knees are bent. When she straightens up, she grabs the car by the frame and easily lifts it with her until it’s almost a foot off the ground.

“Good?” she asks.

“Yup, just like that,” Faith replies.

Buffy hears Faith spinning the nuts the rest of the way out and placing them into the hub cap, then feels the car gently shift as the old tire is pulled off and the new one is slid on. She’s so distracted by what she and Faith are doing that she doesn’t realize another car has pulled up until a bright light is shining in her eyes.

As she sees the cop watching them with wide eyes, she realizes that it’s too late to pretend that she is not, in fact, holding up a car like it’s nothing. Clearing her throat to get his attention, she plasters on a huge smile when he looks up at her.

“Evening, officer. We’re all set here but you might want to check the road a mile back or so for a big spikey metal thing. I’m pretty sure that’s what did the damage and it’d be a real shame if the same thing happens to another passerby.”

The cop is absolutely speechless and, instead of sticking around, he nods his head and politely thanks her for the information before speeding off into the night.

“Hey B?” Faith replies calmly, her voice muffled by the wheel well.

“Uh-huh?”

“Gonna sex you so much when we get home for not droppin’ the car on my head just then.”

Buffy grins and lifts the car just a little bit higher.