Faith felt battered, both physically and mentally. She was beaten, broken and, above all else, tired... so tired. She didn’t have any money on her, having spent what little she had on drinks at the Bronze. She didn’t have anywhere to go; she didn’t know anyone in Sunnydale – even the hospital was probably off-limits as she was still a wanted fugitive.
Almost like on auto-pilot she took a step away from the nightclub door – and another and another. Like a beaten dog she turned in the direction that would lead her back to Revello Drive, more than a mile away.
---===---
‘Why didn’t you ever see me?’ Faith asked as more tears slowly fell to her cheeks. She was glad that the city was empty around her as she looked more like a cripple than a Slayer as she limped slowly in the direction of Revello. ‘I had just lost Diana and desperately yearned for your acceptance, your... love. I felt you the moment you entered the Bronze that night. I felt this pull, like a magnet, to you. I felt it every time we were close. Did you? Did you feel it when we touched and it was so much stronger?’
“God! All that self-pity. Moan, moan, moan, all the time,” a golden voice said just from behind her shoulder. The next second, Buffy was walking beside her.
---===---
“Why this?” Faith asked quietly. “Why me?”
“Sorry, girlfriend,” Buffy shrugged. “This is how it’s gotta be.” She turned to look at Faith’s painful movements. “You don’t look so good.”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
“I guess. Didn’t realize the cops had already done quite a number on you.”
They walked silently for a while.
“Why are you doing this, Faith? You have to know nothing good will come out of going back there.”
“What can I say? Maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment,” Faith tried to shrug but a sudden, sharp pain in her chest made her almost double over.
“Whatever,” Buffy said dismissively.
“Did you...?” Faith started hesitantly. “Did you ever have any feelings for me?”
“No,” Buffy answered immediately. “It was always Angel. Why would have I traded someone like him for a slut bomb like you who spread her legs to half of Sunnydale?”
“Why didn’t you...?”
“Say anything? It was fun... for a while, watching you struggle with your clumsy attempts at being flirty while desperately trying to appear not too skanky. It was fun... until it wasn’t. Then it was just purely irritating. We had quite a few laughs over it at the Scooby meetings.”
“I... I loved you,” Faith whispered, feeling fresh tears make their appearance in the corners of her eyes. ‘No! I won’t cry. Not now, not in front of her.’
“I know. That’s what really made it so amusing.”
“Are you the real Buffy?”
“If you cannot tell, does it really matter?”
“No, I guess it doesn’t. Not anymore,” Faith answered with a resigned sigh.
They walked slowly in silence for a while until Buffy slowed her steps almost unnoticeably. When Faith realized the other Slayer is no longer by her side, she turned around to look. The street was totally empty beside herself.
---===---
Shivering with cold and possibly shock, Faith continued her lonely progression through the empty neighborhoods. Every now and then painful, rocking coughs almost made her black out again. They were accompanied by larger and larger sprays of blood as she got closer to Revello Drive.
Finally standing in the driveway to #1630 Faith watched through heavy eyelids as warm light exited the living room window. She could see some of the Potentials in animated discussions with each other and some of the Scoobies, occasionally laughing at something exceptionally funny. She caught a glimpse of Buffy with her arm held companionably around Willow’s shoulders. Giles passed them and briefly touched the blonde Slayer’s back fondly.
‘G-man and Red – they are both killers but were welcomed back with open arms, no questions asked. Finch was an accident, everyone knew that, but where was the safety net for the secondary Slayer? Even now they still expect me to turn psycho so that they can say with that holier-than-thou attitude, “Ahha! See, we knew it all along. It was just a matter of time.” Red went totally off the deep end and flayed a guy alive. Where was the outrage then? Nowhere - they went all the way to see poor Willow get well again. Me? I went to prison and stayed there of my own free will to seek my atonement. What is the only thing keeping a Slayer in prison? The Slayer herself. Angel was the only one I really wanted to hurt back then and he became the only one who cared enough to visit me. To all of you it was just a relief to see the psycho killer locked away for good, wasn’t it? But when help was needed, it was all, “Hey, come back, Faith! We need you.” And like the fool I am, I did come back. To what? To being ignored again until some extra firepower is needed.’
With a few subdued nods of her head, Faith opened the door and stepped inside the Slayer central.
---===---
The living room went quiet as Faith stood hunched over and holding her chest just inside the front door. ‘All it takes is just one person to show concern. Just one word to show you care...’
She could feel multiple pairs of eyes on her but no-one said anything; no-one approached her. With a sigh she made it to the stairs, and taking them slowly one-by-one, entered the bathroom closing the door behind her. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and stopped in her tracks. Her face was totally unrecognizable under the bruises and the grime. Her chin and shirt were red with blood and her eyes... they belonged to someone who has been to Hell and realized there was no way out of there.
Inch by slow inch she managed to wriggle the jean jacket off her and drop it to the floor. Next were her boots which came off a little easier. She had to use her toes to pinch the legs of her jeans to pull them down little by little until they pooled around her ankles. There was no way she could lift her top off which was probably a mercy since she couldn’t even imagine what her torso would look like.
She waited for a while for the water to turn warm until she slowly and carefully stepped into the shower. She pulled the curtain close and then, her legs couldn’t support her any longer. With an excruciating jolt she hit the bottom of the tub and coughed up a mouthful of blood which quickly mixed with the warm water and spiralled down the drain.
Faith watched the vanishing red stream almost hypnotized until she felt the familiar tingles inside. Buffy was close... and then the latch was released and the door opened.
---===---
‘Did you come to finish the job, B?’ Faith thought fleetingly with mixed sadness and relief as the dark shadow behind the semi-opaque curtain moved closer. ‘I won’t fight you anymore, Buffy. Let your will be done...’
“I’m sorry I hit you,” came the quiet words from the other side of the curtain, totally surprising her.
Faith tried to open her mouth, but no words came out. Just breathing seemed take everything she had left.
“This is the part where you say something, you know,” Buffy’s voice continued after a short pause, this time with a hint of irritation in it.
Faith tried to reach out and pull the curtain aside but she found herself unable to move her hand. Her arms suddenly felt very heavy, even to her Slayer strength. On the other side the curtain, the shadow moved again.
“God, you’re unbelievable, Faith! You just never change, do you? I’m gone!”
‘No, don’t go! I... I forgive you. Please... don’t leave me.’
The door opened and closed, and Faith collapsed totally. She slowly closed her eyes, as a steady stream of red flowed out from between her slightly parted lips.
---===---
“Faith?”
‘That voice...? It can’t be!’
“What’s the matter, Slayer? Cat got your tongue?” the soft voice asked in amusement.
“Diana!” Faith breathed and stood up. She wasn’t feeling any pain as she pulled the curtain out of the way and saw her Watcher leaning against the bathroom door with her customary crooked half-smile on her lips.
“Come here, child,” Diana smiled at her warmly and held out her arms.
No longer caring to hold back her tears Faith practically jumped to Diana’s arms and buried her face in the older woman’s shoulder. “I’ve missed you so much,” she sobbed in relief.
“I know, my love, I know,” Diana soothed her, gently running her hand through Faith’s dark curls. “We are together now and I’ll never leave you again.”
“Promise?” Faith whispered.
“I promise.”
“What happens now?”
“You’ll get to find out, Faith, just like everyone else eventually does.”
---===---
In the living room downstairs, Kennedy gasped and her whole body went rigid as a sudden shock wave went through her. “I... I think I just became the Slayer.”
There was a crash as Buffy dropped a handful of plates to the floor and rushed to the stairs.
“No! No, no, NO!! FAITH!!!”
THE END