Spike was picking himself up out of the rubble. His knee didn't seem to be working right, but nothing seemed badly broken. A noise from above made him look up, and he saw Faith and Doc plunge out of the sky and crash through the roof of the warehouse Glory had used as her base that night.
"GILES! GET OVER HERE NOW!" Spike began limping as fast as he could toward the warehouse entrance.
Bursting inside, he saw Doc crawling out from under Faith's broken form. For the first time that night, Spike's demonic visage came forth. Snatching up an axe dropped by some minion earlier in the fight, he leapt onto the struggling demon and began hacking him to pieces. "Fucking DIE, you traitorous, murdering son of a..."
Giles and the others arrived to find Spike, covered in Doc's sticky, blue blood, flinging down the axe as he ran to Faith. "Giles, she's still breathing!"
"Don't move her!" Giles yelled as he ran over. Spike looked at him as if he were mad.
"We've got to get her to a hospital, you pillock! Buffy, tell him!" Spike replied as Buffy and Dawn appeared in the doorway.
Giles reached down and grabbed Spike by the collar. "Listen to me! If we try to move her ourselves, we'll probably kill her! Anya, find a phone and call an ambulance." Anya was gone before he finished speaking. "Willow, Dawn, do what you can for Faith. Everyone else, start getting the dead out of sight. Spike, you can clear up... that." He gestured at the remains of Doc.
Buffy's eyes lingered on the battered Slayer before she turned and led the way out of the warehouse. As they went, Tara asked, "What about the crazy people?"
Buffy, her mind occupied with the events of the night, didn't seem to hear her, so it was Xander who answered. "They all seemed to start drifting off after Glory went down."
Inside the warehouse, Dawn knelt beside Willow as she tried to assess Faith's injuries. "Is she going to die?"
"I don't know." Willow answered without looking up. "She's breathing, and her pulse is okay, but the knife's punctured her lung. She's got a blown pupil too, so there's probably some bleeding inside the skull."
Dawn began to cry again, silently.
This is all my fault.
Anya ran back in, panting hard. "Ambulance... on the way..." She collapsed on a pile of sacks, wheezing.
The ER doors banged open. Buffy, who'd insisted on riding with Faith, was right on the heels of the paramedics as Faith was wheeled into the trauma room. One of the nurses cut her off. "Ma'am, you have to give us room to work."
"But..." Buffy watched helplessly as Faith was hooked up to monitors and IV's.
"Please, just let the help her. We're going to need some details... What's her name?"
"Uh... Faith." Buffy shook her head, trying to clear it.
"Last name?"
"I don't know. It never came up."
"You're not family then?"
"She doesn't have family on this coast. Boston, maybe."
The nurse frowned at that. "Okay. Is she allergic to any medication?"
When the rest of the gang arrived, barely fifteen minutes later, the interrogation was over, and Buffy was sitting in the waiting area, staring blankly into space.
"Buffy? Buffy?" Xander shook her shoulder gently. When she looked round he asked, "How bad is it?"
"They haven't said. Where's Dawn?"
Dawn sat down beside her sister. "I'm right here." She took Buffy's hand and squeezed gently. The others took seats nearby. Silence hung over them for a few minutes, then the trauma room doors opened, and Faith was being wheeled to the elevators. Buffy sprang up. "What's happening?"
One of the doctors answered. "We're moving her to surgery. Third floor."
Everyone headed for the stairs, except Buffy. "You guys go, I have to make a call."
Six hours later, Buffy and Giles were alone in the surgical waiting room. Spike had finally agreed to go back to his crypt and give his injuries some rest. The others had taken Tara and Dawn back to the Summers house; Dawn had almost collapsed from exhaustion and emotional overload, and Tara was feeling shaky as well - the exertion of the spell she had done with Willow, clearing the way to the tower, had been a little too much so soon after everything else that had happened to her.
"It was supposed to be me."
Buffy's quiet statement broke the silence that had settled over them. Giles turned to her in shock. "What do you mean?"
Buffy kept her eyes on the far wall. "It was supposed to be me, not Faith. I understand now."
"Buffy-"
"When we did that quest, the spirit told me that death was my gift, remember? I was supposed to die tonight. My death to give Dawn life. Faith wasn't supposed to be there. Now she's going to die, and it should be me..." Buffy looked up at her Watcher, her eyes laden with unshed tears.
Giles got out of his chair and knelt in from of her, taking her hand in his. "No-one forced her to do what she did, she made the choice. Would you rather it had been you? Would you prefer for Dawn to lose her sister as well as her mother? Faith isn't dead yet, and that means there's a chance she'll pull through. You of all people know how tough she is..." He tailed off as Buffy burst into tears.
"Buffy, listen to me. Someone or something warned Faith about what would happen tonight. It sounds to me like she was meant to be there. We both know how difficult prophecies can be to understand. If you remember, it was foretold that you would die facing the Master, but here you are."
"I did die." Buffy sobbed. "If I hadn't, Faith wouldn't even be here. If I hadn't fallen for Angel's diversion, Kendra wouldn't have died, and Faith wouldn't be dying now. Everyone around me dies or leaves, Giles. Jenny, Kendra, Angel, Cordy, Oz, Riley, Mom... I can't take it any more."
"I'm still here. Xander and Willow aren't going anywhere. You're not alone, Buffy." Giles didn't hear Buffy's whispered reply.
"I'm always alone."
It was mid-afternoon when an exhausted surgeon walked through the doors of the operating room. Willow and Xander had returned to the hospital hours before, Anya having volunteered to watch over Dawn and Tara. Buffy was dozing fitfully on Willow's shoulder, and Willow's head was nodding. Xander and Giles were staying awake thanks to a steady supply of appalling coffee and, in Giles case, the dull ache of the spear-wound in his stomach. No-one had spoken for over an hour. Both men jumped slightly when they heard the doors open. Xander gently shook Buffy and Willow awake as Giles stood up. "Doctor?"
"Are you the family?"
Giles shook his head slightly. "We're... old friends. Faith doesn't have any family near here. Please, how is she?"
The doctor hesitated for a moment, then said, "We were able to deal with the bleeding in her skull and patch the hole in her lung, but she's taken a serious head trauma and lost a lot of blood, not to mention having a bunch of broken bones. The puncture wound in her shoulder was a pretty easy fix, that shouldn't case any problems, but the rest... If she wakes up in the next forty-eight hours, I think she'll pull through. If not, there's really no way to tell what will happen. We're moving her to ICU, I'll have one of the nurses show you the way." The doctor disappeared in search of a shower and some sleep, and a young nurse led the four of them away.
They found Faith in a corner of the ICU. Her head was swathed in bandages; her skin seemed unnaturally pale except where it had been scraped raw by the fall. Her left arm was in a cast from the elbow almost to the fingertips and bound up in a sling to immobilise the shoulder. The outline of another cast covering her right leg was visible through under the sheets. They could only guess what injuries were covered by the sheets and thin hospital gown. The only sign of life was the almost imperceptible rise and fall of her chest. Buffy took one look at her and burst into tears.
"Can we stay with her?" Giles asked the nurse, unconsciously whispering.
"Yes, but I think you could all use some rest. Whatever happens, she won't wake up for a few hours after the surgery. You should get some sleep and come back in this evening."
"But-" Buffy began to protest, but Giles interrupted her.
"Buffy, Dawn needs you. I'll stay here and call if anything happens."
Xander put his arm around Buffy's shoulders and gently walked her out, followed by Willow.
Tara met them at the door of the Summer's house. Willow immediately flung her arms around her girlfriend, reassuring herself that the woman she loved was really back. Tara hugged her back with equal fervour before turning to Buffy and Xander. "How's Faith?"
Buffy answered. "She came out of surgery about a half hour ago. She's in pretty bad shape, but the doctor's say she has a chance. Is Dawn...?"
Anya appeared behind Tara. "She's in her room, she said she wanted to be alone for a while."
"I'd better go see her..." Buffy said as she turned toward the stairs. Xander and Anya greeted each other with an unusually chaste kiss, then Xander turned to his best friend and her girlfriend. "It's really good to have you back, Tara."
Buffy knocked gently on the door of Dawn's bedroom. Not getting a response she knocked again, and then quietly opened the door.
Dawn was sitting motionless on her bed, staring at the opposite wall. She was still wearing the dress Glory had put on her for the ritual. She didn't move when Buffy sat down next to her and took her hand, she simply asked, "Is she dead?"
"No, Dawnie, she's not dead. She's hurt really bad, but she's strong. I think she'll be okay." The lie slipped easily from Buffy's lips: she was still sure that she would lose someone else close to her. Hope seemed to have died in Buffy Summers.
"I told you..." The words caught in Dawn's throat as tears fell again from her red-rimmed eyes. "I told you I was evil. I must be..."
Buffy seized Dawn by the shoulders and turned the young girl to face her. "This is not your fault, Dawn! You're the victim in this! I don't care what the Key was, or what it was made to do, that all changed when those monks made you. My sister didn't cause any of this. You want to blame someone, blame Glory! Blame those bastard Knights! Blame the people who wanted to hurt you." Buffy gently pulled her into a hug.
"But it all started after I arrived!" Dawn sobbed against Buffy's shoulder. "Glory came, and Riley left, and Mom died. It's all me!"
"Dawn! You think it's because of you that Mom died? How can you even think that?"
"Oh come on, Buffy! She was never sick, then the big blob of energy turns up, and suddenly she has a brain tumour? You think that's a coincidence?"
"We don't know when the tumour started, Dawn." Buffy whispered, the pain of losing her mother suddenly fresh again. "It could have been ages ago. You remember when she last had a CAT scan?"
"Yeah, it was..." Dawn trailed off, realizing she hadn't really been there at the time.
"It was when she was in the hospital after Darla attacked her." Buffy finished for her. "More than four years ago. The doctors told her it was probably there for months before she felt the symptoms. Before you were sent to us."
"But what if..."
"No what ifs, Dawn. Mom wasn't your fault. Tara wasn't your fault. Giles wasn't your fault. Faith wasn't your fault." She was mine...
Everyone ended up sleeping at the Summers' house, returning to the hospital that night. Spike was already there; he had arrived at sunset, sending the exhausted Giles home for the night, and was sitting with Faith when the gang arrived. In spite of Buffy's best efforts, Dawn insisted on seeing Faith. Buffy expected her sister would break down in tears, but Dawn was feeling too emotionally numb by this point. The hospital would only allow two people to stay in the ICU with Faith, so Spike took her out to the waiting area, along with Xander, Anya and Tara, while Buffy and Willow sat by Faith's bed.
"Will, I..." Buffy began to ask the question she'd been wanting to ask all day, but couldn't quite make the words come out.
Willow looked up at her. "What's the matter, Buffy?"
Buffy's expression somehow managed to combine hope and guilt. "I need you to do something for me, but I don't think you're going to want to." Willow didn't respond, she just waited patiently until Buffy spoke again. "I'm worried someone's going to recognise Faith and call the cops. Is there something you and Tara can do, a spell or something, to hide her?"
"I don't know, I mean maybe, but Buffy..." Willow paused for a moment. "You just want to let her walk after what she did to us?"
"I know, Will, but she saved Dawn's life last night, not to mention the world. Shouldn't that count for something?"
"It does, Buffy. It counts for a lot, but she killed people, remember, human people. She murdered that geologist, not to mention helping the Mayor try to eat our whole graduating class."
"None of which would have happened if whoever decides these things hadn't chosen her to follow Kendra." Buffy's voice was almost pleading. "Look, I'm not saying we hide her forever, just long enough for her recover." Or die in peace...
Willow could feel her resolve weakening. "Tara told me she was planning to go back to jail once we finished with Glory. Does it matter if the cops find her here?"
"Yes, it does. She should get some credit for it, not just get caught because she was hurt before she could turn herself in." Buffy reached over and took her friend's hand. "I just want to give her some peace, Will. I think she's earned that much."
Willow's desire to help her friend finally won out over her lingering hatred of Faith. "I'll talk to Tara. If she agrees, we'll look for something. Okay?"
"Thanks, Will."
A watch rotation was soon decided and everyone except Buffy and Spike headed off again; Willow and Tara staying over at the house with Dawn while Xander and Anya returned to his apartment. So Buffy watched Faith, looking for some sign of improvement, while Spike watched Buffy. For a long time neither of them spoke.
"I'm sorry." It was after midnight when Spike finally broke the silence. Buffy looked up at him in surprise - truthfully, he'd been so quiet she'd almost forgotten he was there. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she realized what he'd said. "For what?"
"For this." He waved his hand over Faith's unconscious form. "I should've been able to beat that bastard myself. I should've made sure he was dead the first time. If Faith hadn't followed me..." Spike screwed his eyes shut, not wanting to think about what that would have meant. Buffy wanted to say something comforting, knowing how bad she felt when a self-perceived failure got someone hurt. She remembered standing with Giles by Jenny Calendar's grave ("I wish I could have killed him for you... for her..."), but some part of her did blame Spike for this. She knew it wasn't fair, but the angry voice at the back of her mind kept repeating, he promised to protect Dawn, and he failed. Not trusting herself to speak, she reached out and took his hand. They sat like that for a long time.
Xander and Anya came by to relieve them a little before dawn, giving Spike time to get back to his crypt safely. Willow and Tara took over in the early afternoon, and Buffy returned that night, this time with Giles. She'd asked Spike to watch over Dawn that night, allowing Willow and Tara some time alone together, and he'd readily agreed - they were both a little uncomfortable together after the previous night. Through it all, Faith remained in a condition described by the doctors as "serious but stable".
In the small hours of the morning, Buffy was returning to Faith's bedside from the bathroom when she saw a familiar figure at the nurses' station asking where Faith was.
"Angel?"
Chapter 5: Dreams and Visitations
"Angel?"
A moment later she was running into his arms. The vampire just had time to brace himself before impact. Buffy hugged him ferociously before stepping back a pace. "Where were you? I kept calling, and I just got the machine..." In spite of the circumstances, Buffy couldn't help smiling at the sight of her ex.
"I know, I'm sorry. We were... uh... out of town, on a case. "Angel wasn't going to try explaining about Pylea in public. "We got back a few hours ago, and Cordy found your messages." In spite of her smile, he could see that Buffy had been through the wringer recently. "How are you doing?"
Buffy let out a little laugh. "I wish I knew..." She took Angel's hand. "Come on, I'll take you to see Faith."
Giles rose from his chair as Angel came in. Their greeting was civil but a little awkward; the matter of Jenny Calendar's death and Giles' torture still hung between them, in spite of their best efforts. Both were quick to return their focus to Faith.
Angel had known from Buffy's phone calls that Faith was in bad shape, but seeing her was still a shock. In the near-silence of the ICU, he could hear her heart beating steadily, but he knew that was only part of the picture. The last time Faith had been in this situation, she had stayed unconscious for eight months. There was no telling how long it would be this time. "Has there been any change?"
Giles shook his head. "The doctor came by to check on her while you were away, Buffy. He told me that Faith's vital signs are stable, she's just unconscious. If her condition hasn't deteriorated by morning, they're going to move her to a regular room. There's nothing more they can do, we just have to wait."
"Buffy, what the hell's been happening here?" Angel asked, keeping his voice low to avoid the possibility of the nurses overhearing.
Buffy was silent for a moment before replying. "Really long story."
Giles rose from his chair, saying "I'll leave the two of you alone..." but Buffy interrupted him.
"Actually, I'd kinda like to get some air." She turned to Angel. "Feel up to a patrol?"
Angel scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Giles. "My cell phone number. Call me if anything happens?"
Willow lay gasping for breath, her eyes glittering and unfocussed, as Tara moved to snuggle in beside her. They had gone to Willow's house after Buffy and Giles had relieved them at the hospital at sunset - their dorm room was missing a wall after Glory's visit. The only thing on their minds had been rest, to recover from the physical and emotional strain of the previous few days, but once the two witches had settled into bed they had found they couldn't keep their hands off each other, in spite of one of Tara's being in a cast. If Willow had been thinking clearly, her psychology studies would have told her that sex was a normal life-affirming response to a dangerous and traumatic situation, but Tara's efforts had virtually reduced her mind to the "fire bad, tree pretty" level.
Tara placed a soft kiss on her girlfriend's cheek and couldn't help but giggle at her glazed expression - the combination of codeine for her broken hand and the endorphins flooding her bloodstream after hours of sex had left Tara feeling slightly intoxicated.
Willow turned to her, a slightly indignant expression on her face. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, I-I'm sorry sweetie, it's just... you looked so spaced out!" Tara replied before giggling again.
Willow managed to pout for a whole two seconds before laughing herself. "Well you know who's fault that was, don't you?" she said, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend. She leaned over and kissed Tara gently, then lifted her head again, her expression suddenly serious. "I love you, Tara. I can't remember the last time I said that..."
Tara silenced her with a swift kiss and said "I love you too, Willow. And you don't need to say it. You saved me, you brought me back." She wiped away the tear trembling at the corner of Willow's eye. "That doesn't mean it's not nice to hear," she finished with a smile.
Willow smiled softly and laid her head on the pillow again. "We should probably get some sleep now."
Tara's only response was a sleepy "Mmhmm..."
"This feels weird."
Angel turned his head to Buffy and looked at her carefully. "What does?"
"Patrolling. With you." Buffy stopped and leaned against a gravestone. "I thought it would be like back in high school, but it's not."
"It's been two years, Buffy. We're not the same people we were then."
Buffy laughed bitterly. "You got that right..."
Angel perched himself on the next gravestone along. "Why didn't you tell me what was happening? Didn't you think I'd help you?"
Buffy was slightly taken aback by not completely disguised look of hurt on Angel's face. "I know you would, but we promised to keep our distance, remember? Besides, it didn't seem necessary. I mean, I knew Glory was dangerous, but we seemed to be dealing. Even when Faith showed up, I though we could handle it. Then it all just blew up... God, it's been less than three days since Tara was attacked! It was all so sudden..."
"I wish I could have been here for you."
"Sounds to me like you've had some stuff of your own going on." Buffy looked over at him. "They really made Cordy queen? She must've loved that."
Angel laughed quietly. "You have no idea. Except the part where they were going to kill her, of course."
Buffy looked at her watch. "It'll be dawn soon. We should get back to the hospital. You got anywhere to stay?"
"I hadn't thought that far ahead. I could always go to the mansion..."
"If you want, you could stay at my place. There's a bed set up in the basement, Faith was sleeping there. It's not much, but it's pretty much sun proof."
Angel smiled gently. "Sounds great. It'll be good to see Dawn again..." He trailed off, remembering. "I've never met her, have I?"
Buffy shook her head ruefully. "Takes a bit of getting used to."
The branches rustled gently in the warm summer breeze. Faith stood silent, her eyes closed, soaking up the warmth and the mingled scents of the woodland.
"I think one of us is supposed to be in there."
Faith turned at the sound of the voice, her eyes snapping open. Buffy was standing a few yards away, gazing down into an open grave. Her outfit chilled Faith's blood: black leather jacket, black t-shirt, red leather pants - the same clothes she had worn the night they fought at Faith's apartment. Looking down at herself, Faith realised she was wearing her clothes from that night too. The scar on her stomach began to throb slightly.
"We in my head or yours?" Faith asked, trying to control her fear as she walked over to stand beside her.
"Isn't that my line?" Buffy smiled weakly for a moment, then her face became solemn again. "This is here for a reason."
"You think? So we don't even rate a headstone..." Faith snorted in disgust. "How come these scenes always star you and an open grave? You think the PTB're trying to tell me something?"
"I don't think it's here for you, Faith." Buffy said sadly. "I think I've out-stayed my welcome. I'm not supposed to be here any more. You were right, Sunnydale is supposed to be your town." She took a step toward the edge of the grave, and Faith grabbed her arm.
"Don't even think it, B! I didn't do all this just to let you go now!"
"Please stop calling me that..." Buffy tried to step forward again, but Faith pulled her back. "Faith, this is how it's supposed to be. You're the Chosen One now..."
"I DON'T WANT TO BE THE CHOSEN ONE!" Faith screamed, spinning Buffy around to face her. "I'm not like you, I can't do it alone..." Buffy wrenched her arms free of Faith's grip and pushed the younger girl away. Faith stumbled and fell to the ground.
"The Slayer is always alone, Faith. That's how it's always been, ever since-"
"Fuck that! Who cares how it's always been?" Faith scrambled to her feet, her eyes widening in shock. In the brief moment she'd lost sight of Buffy as she fell, Buffy's outfit had changed; instead of the clothes from their pre-graduation battle, she was wearing a long, almost funereal black dress. Behind her, Faith could see that a headstone had appeared at the other end of the grave.
Buffy Anne Summers
1981-2001
Beloved Sister, Devoted Friend
She Saved The World A Lot
"We can't fight our nature, Faith. Take care of the world, okay?" Buffy stepped backward over the edge of the grave. Faith darted forward and grabbed her wrist, but couldn't keep her balance against their combined momentum and they both tumbled in...
Buffy snapped awake, her eyes darting around as she tried to get her bearings. Realising she was in her bedroom, she sat up slowly, trying to calm the pounding of her heart. She looked over at the clock: 12:42 pm. She'd been asleep for barely four hours. She'd been looking forward to getting Angel settled and being in bed soon after sunrise. In retrospect, she should have foreseen the complication...
Spike. In her house. Alone with her sister. Angel hadn't been pleased by that revelation, and Spike wasn't happy about the object of his affections having her ex as a house guest. There had been a lot of glowering and muttered threats before she finally got Spike out of the door and Angel into the basement. The confrontation had woken Dawn from a night of fitful sleep, and she hadn't felt like going back to bed, so the sisters had shared an early breakfast before Buffy headed upstairs. Once in her bed, however, Buffy had been unable to settle, tossing and turning for hours until exhaustion overcame her.
As her heart-rate returned to normal, Buffy slipped out of bed and headed for the shower. She tried to put the images from her dream out of her mind as she washed off the sheen of sweat it had caused. The sweat washed away easily; the residual disquiet was more persistent.
Buffy's sense on unease only grew as she went downstairs. There was no sign of Dawn. Her bedroom door had been wide open, showing a clearly empty room, but she wasn't in the living room or kitchen. Buffy was about to start calling Dawn's name when the slightly ajar basement door caught her eye. She found Dawn sitting on the camp bed with Angel, talking quietly. Dawn was smiling for the first time in days, and started giggling as she saw Buffy.
"You two getting acquainted?" Buffy asked, wondering what had her sister so amused.
Dawn's giggles burst into full-fledged laughter as she said, "Angel sang Barry Manilow!"
"Can we please stop dwelling on that?" Angel pleaded, without much hope - he'd been trying unsuccessfully to get Dawn off the topic for nearly an hour.
Buffy did her best, but within seconds she was laughing harder than she had when she heard about Harmony and her "minions". As much as he wanted to feel put upon, Angel was glad to hear the two Summers girls laughing; he had a feeling that there hadn't been much laughter in the house recently.
Eventually, lack of air forced an end to Buffy's laughter, but she still couldn't look at the vampire with a straight face. "I'm sorry, Angel, but I really needed that."
"Well, as long as my public humiliation was in a good cause..." Angel said, smiling fondly. Buffy was about to ask for details when they all heard the phone start to ring. Buffy ran up the stairs and into the kitchen, snatching the phone from its cradle on the wall.
"Hello?"
"Buffy, it's Tara. She's awake!"
Chapter 6: Two By Four
"Buffy, it's Tara. She's awake!"
For a moment Buffy just stared at the phone, not quite comprehending what she'd heard. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dawn appear at the basement door, her expression questioning. Shaking herself out of her daze, Buffy replied, "We're on our way."
As Buffy hung up, Dawn walked slowly toward her, afraid to ask what the news was. Buffy stepped forward to meet her sister and wrapped her arms around her. "She's awake, Dawnie. She's okay..." Neither realized they were crying.
*A few minutes earlier*
"Can you still smell smoke?" Willow asked, sniffing the air.
Tara concentrated for a moment, then replied, "Maybe a little, but only because I know it's there."
"All that smoke, just from burning a few herbs..." Willow muttered.
"Do you think we used enough Lethe's Bramble?"
"I hope so, I didn't want to use too much and give everyone in the hospital amnesia." Willow's nose wrinkled slightly as she sniffed again.
"That probably wouldn't be a good thing." Tara agreed. Suddenly, she grabbed Willow's arm. "Look!" She pointed excitedly at Faith.
Willow looked over and saw why Tara had become so excited. The wounded Slayer was slowly flexing the fingers of her right hand, the one that wasn't in a plaster cast. A few moments later, her eyelids fluttered briefly, then slowly opened.
Faith blinked several times, trying to focus, before she looked around the room. It took her a moment to spot the two witches sitting by the window. "Hey," she said, her voice weak and slightly slurred. "Did we win?"
"Well, the world didn't end, so yeah," Willow replied, her voice slightly distant as she tried to hide the ambiguity of her feelings at seeing Faith regain consciousness. Tara just smiled shyly and waved her cast.
Faith suddenly jerked up off the pillow, trying to sit upright. "What about B? Is she okay?" The memory of the dreams she'd had, of seeing the gang weeping over Buffy's body, ran over and over in her mind. They won in the dream, but she still died...
Tara smiled reassuringly. "Everyone's fine. I-I mean, we were all upset about you getting hurt, but now you're awake..."
Faith subsided onto the pillow, relief washing over her face. As she lay down again, she finally noticed the casts and bandages covering her. "This looks like it should hurt..."
"There's morphine in the IV," Willow said, pointing at the line running into Faith's arm.
"Oh. So that's why I sound hammered. It's good." Faith's old crooked smile appeared for the first time since her arrival weeks before, then disappeared again. "How long was I out this time?"
"Uh, not sure. What month is it?" Willow asked Tara, unable to resist having a little fun at Faith's expense.
"Willow!" Tara gave her girlfriend a playful slap on the arm.
"Sorry, I couldn't help it." Willow smiled unrepentantly before turning back to Faith. "It's been two days."
"I'd better go tell the nurse you're awake." Tara turned toward the door.
"Can you call Buffy, too?" Willow asked. "I think one of us should stay..."
"Sure, sweetie." Tara kissed Willow briefly and left the room.
As soon as the door closed, Willow's face hardened. "I want to know what you're planning, Faith."
Faith's eyes, which had been drifting closed, opened again. "Uh, planning?"
"What're you going to do now that we've beaten Glory?"
"Well, I'm guessing sooner or later, someone here'll recognize me and call the cops, so-"
Willow cut her off, shaking her head. "No, they won't."
It took a moment for what Willow had said to register in Faith's morphine-clouded mind, then confusion registered on her face. "Huh?"
"Tara and I did a spell. No-one's going to call the cops."
Faith's eyes widened in surprise. "You did that for me?"
"I did it for Buffy. She asked me to hide you for a while, while you recover."
"Oh." Disappointment flickered across Faith's face for a moment. Why the hell would Red do anything for me? Damn it, Faith, quit feeling sorry for yourself! "Well, thanks. I'd rather not be healing up in the prison infirmary."
Willow arched an eyebrow. "What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing, it's just..." Faith paused for a moment, wondering how best to explain. "Back when I first went inside, a few people tried to play "pick on the new girl". I put a couple in the infirmary, and everyone's left me alone since, but if I'm laid up like this they might try to settle some scores..." And I've had enough knives in me to last a lifetime...
Willow's eyes narrowed. "Get back to the point, Faith. What are you going to do?"
"Go back, I guess." But I don't want to... No, I have to.
"Okay, then." Willow sat down again, the stern expression on her face softening somewhat. After a moment, the door opened, and one of the doctors came in to take a look at Faith. He had just finished when Tara returned.
"I called everyone, they're on their way." Tara perched herself on the end of the bed.
Faith smiled weakly at her. "Careful, Blondie, you keep this up and I'm gonna start thinking people like me!" Tara returned the smile shyly. Neither of them saw Willow's eyes narrow.
When Buffy and Dawn got to Faith's hospital room, Giles had already arrived and was waiting with Willow and Tara. The bed was empty.
"What's happened? Where is she?" Buffy asked, panicked.
Giles answered, his voice soothing. "It's all right, Buffy. The doctor took her up for a CT scan a few minutes ago. She'll be back soon."
Buffy visibly relaxed, as did Dawn. The two sisters sat down on the edge of the bed to wait. After a moment, Buffy asked, "Any luck finding a spell?"
Willow smiled slightly. "Found it and cast it. It was pretty easy, really; we'd already looked into using it once before."
"W-we found it a while ago, when we were looking for some way to hide Dawn from...," Tara said, breaking off before she uttered Glory's name. "It sorta masks the person it's cast upon, makes people see what they expect to see. I-I mean, we'll all still see Faith 'cause we know her, but the staff here should just see her as a patient. If a cop saw her we might have a problem, 'cause watching for escaped prisoners is sorta their job, but..."
"We never cast it on Dawn because Glory had already seen her and didn't know she was the Key, so we didn't think it would help - it doesn't work against mystical senses so anything that could sense the Key would still know it was her." Willow finished, babbling slightly.
"Thank you, both of you." Buffy said, smiling at the two witches.
Giles cleared his throat. "Buffy, what are you doing? I know we kept Faith hidden before, but she has done what she came here to do..."
"I know, Giles." Buffy sighed. "I just want her to have a chance to get well again, before the cuffs go back on." Giles looked at her curiously for a moment, but remained silent.
Xander and Anya arrived a few minutes later, and soon after that, the group decided to wait outside in the corridor "where the chairs live", as Xander put it. Half an hour passed, then an hour. Xander was returning from fetching coffee when the elevator doors opened, and Faith was wheeled out, looking tired but a little more alert than before.
Buffy and Dawn ran to meet her, Dawn practically pouncing onto the gurney to hug Faith. Buffy's greeting was more restrained; she simply squeezed Faith's uninjured hand once and smiled.
A nurse quickly returned Faith to her room, while a doctor with "Michael Wilson M.D." embroidered on his lab coat gathered the waiting Scoobies. "I'm sure you're all anxious to talk to Faith, but what she needs most at the moment is rest. Don't get me wrong, it's great that you've all been watching over her while she was unconscious, but now she's awake I don't want her getting disturbed too often. No more twenty-four hour vigils, okay?"
"She's going to be all right, isn't she?" Buffy asked anxiously.
Dr. Wilson smiled gently. "I think she'll be fine. She's already making excellent progress. I'm going to go over her condition with her now, and then you can see her, but only fifteen minutes. She needs to rest today, so anything else will have to wait until tomorrow."
"Got it." Buffy replied, the others nodding and murmuring their agreement.
Wilson nodded once and disappeared into Faith's room. Buffy sat down again and hugged Dawn. "She's going to be okay..."
Everyone sat in silence for the next few minutes, digesting the news, before Dr. Wilson came back out. "You can go in now. Fifteen minutes, remember?" The various nods seemed to satisfy him, and he left them to it.
Faith was back in her bed looking a little shell-shocked when Buffy led the others into the room. Seeing the expression on the other Slayer's face, Buffy immediately went back on alert. As the other six tried to arrange themselves around the bed without crowding it, Buffy perched on the side of the bed. "Faith, what happened?"
Faith gave a wry smile before she answered. "The doc was telling how many bones I broke; I never really thought about how many there are before."
"How are you doing? And if you say 'five by five' I'll break your other arm!" Buffy said, smiling weakly.
Faith laughed briefly, then winced as a jolt of pain penetrated the painkillers in her system. "More like two by four, as in 'hit with a', but I'll live."
"How bad is it?" Dawn asked quietly.
"Ah, I'll be fine, Bite-size. Doc says I'll be here for a few weeks, which means I'll be out in two max with the whole Slayer healing thing." Faith's attempt to laugh off her condition didn't work.
"Please, Faith, I want to know..." Dawn said. How bad did I get you hurt?
Faith sighed once before acquiescing. "The arm took the worst of it. I broke one of the bones in the forearm and a few little ones with big-ass names in my hand. Dislocated the shoulder, too, which messed up the arrow wound again, but there wasn't any real nerve damage so it should heal up fine. I cracked my skull, but they took care of the bleeding, and the swelling's gone down so that's all good." She patted her plastered-up right leg. "Broke my shin in two places and cracked the kneecap, but they'll all heal. Punctured lung's all stitched up. A few ribs got cracked, but nothing serious. Other than that, it's just cuts and bruises, nothing I couldn't have gotten on patrol."
Tears welled in Dawn's eyes as Faith ran through the list. As she finished, Faith looked over at the younger Summers and said as sharply as her tiredness would let her, "Hey! Knock it off, Bite-size! We took on a hell-god and we're all here for the "We Kicked Her Ass" party. Sounds pretty good to me."
Dawn sniffed a little and nodded. Giles put his hand on her shoulder and said to Faith, "We should probably let you get some sleep. Dr. Wilson was quite emphatic about that."
Faith chuckled at that. "Yeah, it's weird. I sleep for two days and wake up wiped, how twisted is that?" Everyone laughed a little awkwardly.
Buffy turned to the others. "I'll catch up, guys, I just want a minute..."
As the door closed, Faith suddenly remembered something. "Hey, is Spike okay? I remember him going off the tower right before me..."
"He's a bit beat up, but still in one piece." Buffy replied. "He twisted his knee pretty badly when he landed but he's in way better shape than you - he hit that big heap of rubble and rolled down the slope, so he didn't just slam into the ground."
Silence reigned for a moment, then Buffy spoke again. "Thank you."
"What for? After what I did to you before, this was the least I could do." Faith's eyes dropped at the mention of their past. "I never thought I'd get a chance to start squaring things with you, B, I had to take it."
"Faith, we are so far past square right now... You saved my sister. She's all I have now."
Faith shook her head slightly. "It's not enough, B. It can't be enough..."
"It is to me." Faith was about to object again, but Buffy touched her finger to the dark girl's lips, silencing her. "I can't forget what you did, and you really shouldn't, but I forgive you."
"Okay." Faith began to smile, but it turned into a yawn halfway through.
Buffy laughed gently. "Sleep. Now. I'll be back tomorrow, and Angel will be by after dark tonight."
Faith perked up at that. "Fang's in town?"
"Yeah, I called him when you were brought in here, but he only got the message last night, and he came straight here."
"Cool! I don't think they'll let me send him a visitor's pass for a while after I get back, y'know."
Buffy nodded slightly and left the drowsy Slayer in peace.
Giles and the others were waiting just down the corridor. Buffy joined them and motioned them into a corner where they wouldn't be overheard. "Giles, can you take Dawn home? I want to run by Spike's crypt and let him know Faith's okay."
Giles ignored Xander's eye-rolling as he replied, "Of course."
Buffy paused for a moment. "I'd like you all to come over tonight, ten o'clock. There's something I need to talk to you all about. Actually, Giles, can we use the Magic Box? I think we could use some space."
"Of course, Buffy." Giles replied, half-suspecting what was on her mind.
"What's up, Buff?" Xander asked. "Spider-sense tingling?"
Buffy shook her head. "Nothing like that. I'll explain tonight." I really don't want to have this argument more than once.
Chapter 7: The Question Before The Court
Spike had just switched on the TV and settled into his battered armchair when the door of his crypt opened, the rusty hinges squeaking. With a sigh, he set down his Bloody Mary (real blood) and turned looked around at the visitor. Seeing Buffy silhouetted against the afternoon sky, he relaxed - he really wasn't in the mood to deal with demons.
"Don't you ever knock?" he asked, more out of habit than genuine annoyance.
Buffy smiled slightly as she closed the door. "How's your leg?"
Spike took a sip of his drink and regarded the injured limb, propped up on a footstool. "Sore, but not as much as yesterday. Should be fine in a day or so."
"Good." Buffy paused for a moment, feeling a little awkward in Spike's company. "Faith's awake."
Spike looked around at her. "She going to be all right, then?"
Buffy nodded. "It'll take a while, but everything's fixable." Buffy hesitated before bringing up the real reason she was there. "Spike, I've asked everyone to meet at the magic shop tonight at ten: there's something I need to talk about and I'd like you to be there."
Spike drained his glass before answering. "All right."
For a moment Buffy thought he was going to say something more, but he kept silent - until she opened the door to leave. "Will Angel be there?"
"Yes, he'll be there."
There was no reply.
The door opened, creaking slightly. Faith stirred, half awake. Her eyes opened blearily, but she came full awake quickly as the moonlight shining through the window revealed the face of her visitor.
"Hey, Fang."
Angel sat down in a chair by the bed. "How're you doing?" His usual stoic expression masked a mixture of pleasure and concern over seeing Faith and worrying about her condition.
"I'm okay. I got a bed, three meals a day, and morphine on demand. What more does a girl need?" Faith smiled slightly. She shifted a little, trying to find a position where she could face Angel more comfortably, and winced as her broken ribs protested.
Even in the semi-darkness, Angel spotted her reaction. "Are you using the morphine?"
"Just enough to let me sleep," she admitted.
"Faith..."
"You ever see someone on a morphine crash?" Faith looked him in the eye, a hint of fear showing on her face. "I have. I'm not gonna put myself through that, 'specially not in solitary."
Angel tried to reassure her. "They wouldn't let you take that much, Faith."
The Slayer just shook her head minutely. "Not gonna take the chance. 'Sides, I'm a Slayer, got the whole high-pain-tolerance thing."
Angel wasn't happy with that, but decided to drop it - he knew how stubborn Faith could be and he didn't want to upset her while she was healing. "You're definitely going back to jail, then?"
Faith just looked up at the ceiling for a moment before answering. "I have to. Still got a lot of time to do, and I don't think my little breakout's gonna go down well with the parole board."
"You could try to hide, maybe go for the border," he suggested.
"No." But... "No. I can't stay out, I'm not ready." Faith tried to fight down the pleading voice in her mind. But I don't want to go back.
"You don't sound too sure of yourself." Angel reached over and took her hand gently.
"I'm sure. When things got bad, I wanted to..." Faith squeezed her eyes tight shut, but a tear still escaped. "I wanted to kill, Angel. When we realized what Ben had done, what he was - did B tell you about him? He was Glory, and he never even tried to warn us... I wanted to cut him open, see his blood pour out..." The tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. Somewhere deep in her heart, she raged at showing such weakness in front of anyone, even Angel.
Unable to hug the crying girl for fear of hurting her, Angel leaned over and gently cradled Faith's cheek with his hand. "I doubt you were the only one, Faith."
Faith looked up at him, her eyes glittering in the moonlight. "It's not the same, Angel. I can't let myself think like that, I can't take the chance, and I still-"
Angel finished for her. "You don't want to go back."
Faith shook her head once. "No, I don't, and that's why I have to."
As ten o'clock approached, Buffy nervously paced the length of the Magic Box. The atmosphere in the shop was already tense, and they were still waiting for Xander and Anya. Spike was sitting on the counter and glaring at Angel, who was seated on the stairs up to the gallery, seemingly lost in thought. Giles, Willow, Tara and Dawn had taken seats around the table and were talking quietly.
It was a couple of minutes after ten when the bell over the door rang, announcing Xander and Anya's arrival. Xander was about to offer some lighthearted greeting when he spotted Angel and Spike. His jaw snapped shut, and he wordlessly took a seat beside Dawn so that he could glower at both vampires without moving his head too much. Anya joined him, her silence displaying an unexpected level of tact.
Everyone looked expectantly at Buffy. She stopped pacing beside the steps to the front of the store and turned to face them, her body held stiffly upright, arms crossed over her chest.
"Thank you for coming, all of you. There's something I need to talk to you all about, and I'd rather get it over with in one go. It's about Faith, what's going to happen to her." Buffy took a deep breath and asked the question. "Do we send her back to jail, or keep her here?"
There was a moment of shocked silence in the room, then Willow spoke. "Buffy, you're not actually suggesting we let Faith stay free, are you?"
"That's exactly what I'm suggesting, Will." Buffy looked over at her, a hint of desperation in her eyes. "Look, I know how you guys feel about her, but I think she's earned another chance."
"I guess life really doesn't mean life any more." Xander said bitterly.
Giles cleared his throat before he spoke up. "Personal feelings aside, Xander does have a point, Buffy. Faith has been convicted of a crime and sentenced accordingly."
"I know, Giles, but what she did here should mean something, shouldn't it?" Buffy cast her eyes over her friends, searching for any sign of support.
Xander shook his head in disbelief. "So, what, she actually does her job for a change, and she can get away with murder?"
"She'll never get away with it." Everyone turned to look at Angel. "She'll be carrying it with her for the rest of her life. They can't do anything in jail that's as bad as what that memory will do to her."
"Oh, big surprise," Xander snapped. "The bloodsucking demon's on the side of the murderer. You want to get in on this too, Bleachboy?" He glared at Spike.
"Xander!" Dawn snapped. "How can you talk about her like this? She saved us all! If she hadn't been there I'd have been sliced open up on that tower!"
No one noticed Spike's face darken. Was I even there? My sodding knee says I was, but no one else seems to remember...
"You got an answer for that, Xander?" Buffy said harshly.
"Look, I'm as happy as anyone that Dawn's safe, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna forget about Faith trying to kill half the people in this room." Xander shoved his chair away from the table and started pacing.
"H-has..." Tara began, her voice faltering. "Has anyone asked Faith what she wants?"
"She doesn't want to go back." Angel replied.
"There's a shock..." Willow muttered sarcastically.
Angel continued, ignoring the redhead's comment, "The thought of being free scares her. She's afraid of what she might do if she's not locked up."
"Okay, Faith is talking sense." Xander observed from the corner, a look of surprise on his face. "Giles, isn't that a sign of the apocalypse?"
Giles just glared at him and said nothing.
Buffy turned to face her friend and asked, "Why are you being like this? Two days ago you were sitting outside the operating room waiting for Faith and now you're acting like she's the enemy again."
"It's a lot easier to be nice about her when she's unconscious, and I don't have to worry about her strangling me again," Xander retorted, his expression angry, and almost hurt.
"Is being in jail helping her?" Tara asked, partly to distract Buffy and Xander from snapping at each other and partly because no one else seemed to be considering it. "I-I mean, can they help her?"
"I doubt it." Buffy replied. "They can't help her deal with being a Slayer, and that's what this is really all about. If she hadn't been a Slayer none of it would have happened, she never would have even come to Sunnydale."
"And you think you can help her?" Giles questioned, his expression neutral.
"Maybe. I don't know, but I think we're the only people who can."
Willow looked at Buffy sceptically, "So you're saying she's our responsibility now?"
"Maybe ours." Buffy allowed. "But definitely mine. I mean, I know she made a lot of mistakes, but I could have tried harder. I could have helped her if I hadn't been... distracted." She didn't look at Angel.
Xander came and stood by her, wanting to draw a line under their argument. "Buff, you can't blame yourself for what Faith did. You're the one who stopped her, remember?"
Buffy closed her eyes for a moment as images of that final fight at Faith's apartment flooded her mind. "I remember, Xander, believe me I remember..."
"I hate to break up the moralising," Spike interrupted. "But can we keep Faith around? I mean, are you planning to hide her in the basement permanently, and just wheel her out when there's slaying to be done?"
"Okay, now Spike's talking sense, this is officially the Twilight Zone!" Xander joked as he returned to his seat, trying to lighten the mood.
"I hadn't actually thought that far..." Buffy admitted. "Is there some way we can get the cops to stop looking for her?"
"Bribery often works. "Anya offered.
"It also means giving people lots of money we don't have, Ahn." Xander reminded her.
"Well, screw that."
Spike had a thought. "What about Red? Could you mess with their computers, keep them off our backs that way?"
"Guys, we're not talking about hacking the Sunnydale coroner's office here." Willow replied. Her expression wasn't encouraging. "I'd have to get into the LAPD, the California Department of Corrections, probably some federal databases since she escaped."
"Can you do it?" Buffy asked, her voice almost a whisper.
"Maybe, with a lot of preparation and some magic thrown in. Or I could end up sharing a cell with Faith for the next twenty years."
Buffy's shoulders slumped and she sat down on the steps, defeated.
"What about the Council?" Dawn's question surprised everyone. "I mean, they're always going on about how much pull they have with the government, maybe they can do something?"
Xander's derisive snort left no doubt about his opinion. Anya put her arm around his shoulders and asked, "Do they even know she's escaped?"
"They know." Giles replied. "They were monitoring her, from a distance - I don't think they wanted to chance another confrontation with Angel or Buffy. Quentin Travers contacted me the night Faith arrived here. I told him what had happened and convinced him to leave the matter in our hands."
"Do you think Travers would help?" Buffy asked.
Giles took of his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "We might be able to convince Quentin, but whether he could persuade the rest of the Council..."
"I-I thought Mr. Travers was head of the Council," Tara said, confused.
Shaking his head, Giles replied, "Quentin is in charge of the Operations division. He's responsible for the Slayer, and the various tactical units the Council has scattered around the world. There are three other divisions: Training, Research and Logistics. The Council itself is made up of the four divisional heads and the Chairman - I suppose you could say he's the head of the Council, but there's really no one person in charge."
"But the Council could do it?" Buffy asked, not really interested in the finer points of bureaucracy.
Giles nodded. "Almost certainly. They may be the only people who can, or at least the only ones we have access to. Assuming, of course, we decide to do this. Are you sure you've thought this through, Buffy? If Faith turns on us again, I'm not sure there will be any way we can bring her back."
"I've thought about it, Giles, believe me." Buffy answered. "But what if I die? Can we be sure there'll be another Slayer called? If not, Faith'll be all there is. You want to just leave her in a cell until we need her? We might as well just paint "In case of emergency, break glass" on the prison gates!" She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Giles, I shouldn't be shouting at you..."
"It's all right, Buffy, We've all had a rather trying few days, it's only to be expected that we're all on a short fuse." Giles looked over at the staircase. "Angel, you've been... monitoring... Faith since she was arrested. What do you think?"
"She wants redemption, and she knows she has to earn it. She thinks she can only do that in jail, but I think, in the end, it'll just end up hurting her." Angel took an unnecessary breath, and continued. "She's a Slayer. She knows that there are things in the world that she was chosen to fight. Sooner or later that's going to start gnawing at her. I think the only way she can truly redeem herself is by fulfilling that destiny, and I think it should be here, where she can face her past."
Buffy stood. "So, do we agree? We contact the Council and see if we can make this work?"
Silence reigned for a moment as everyone looked at Willow and Xander. Finally, Xander spoke. "Look, I just want to go on record as saying that I don't like this, but I'll give it a shot."
Anya looked puzzled. "You're not going to argue any more?"
"Ahn, it wouldn't help. Besides, if Buffy and Giles think this can work, then I'm willing to believe them." Xander looked around the group. "Just remember; if this goes wrong, you're all in for a rousing chorus of 'I told you so!' before I bleed to death."
Buffy smiled her thanks before turning to Willow. "How about you, Will?"
Willow frowned and said "Okay. Just as long as we don't have to trust her. Or like her."
"Thanks, guys." Buffy turned to her Watcher. "Giles, make the call."
"I think I'll leave it for a couple of hours, Buffy, it's not much past six in the morning in London." Giles said, looking at his watch. "I doubt Quentin will be more likely to help us if we wake him up."
"Do we tell Faith?" Tara asked.
Buffy shook her head. "Not until we know if we can make it happen or not. I don't want to get her hopes up." Everyone nodded, some more enthusiastically than others. Angel's brow furrowed in thought and Buffy spotted the change immediately. "Something wrong?"
"Maybe. I just thought of a complication, or a possible one. Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Angel stood and walked over to the table. "Willow, if I give you a name could you use it to track down an address on your computer?"
"Yeah, sure." Willow replied, her tone curious, as Angel wrote something in a notebook, tore the page out and handed it to her. She read the name and asked, "Who is this?"
"He's... an old acquaintance from L.A. I think he's in Oklahoma these days. That's where he was heading last time I saw him." Angel walked over to Buffy and gave her a quick hug. "Speaking of L.A., I think I'd better be heading back."
"You sure you can't stay another day or two?" Buffy asked. "I'm sure Faith would like to see you again."
"I'm sure. I left Cordy and Wes babysitting a crazy physicist - don't ask. I should at least drop in before I head for Oklahoma.
Buffy nodded her understanding and walked with him to the door. Angel looked deep into her eyes and whispered, "If you need me, you know I'll be there for you, right?" She smiled at him and nodded. Another brief hug, and he was gone.
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