Chapter 1

Faith dropped out of the freight car hesitantly. "Good ol' Sunny D, Hasn't changed in four years."

She was nervous. She could feel it deep within her bones. Faith strapped the book bag that held all of he belongings, onto her back and headed reluctantly down the street. What the fuck am I doing here? She thought to herself. The truth of the matter was she had nowhere else to go. There was no one. It was true that Buffy hatred her, but at least she felt something. "B's gonna kill me." Faith mused as she turned down Revello drive. There was the house. It once seemed so homey and inviting now all it did was fill Faith with and overwhelming since of impending doom.

She crept quietly onto the porch. Willow and Dawn were sitting on the couch watching late night TV. "She must be patrolling." Faith whispered as she crouched down to the floor. She knew her chances with Willow or Dawn were slim to none.

It seemed like hours before Faith heard the light tap of someone hopping up the porch steps. It was Buffy. Faith stood slowly. Buffy spun quickly in her direction and instinctively drew a stake.

"Who's there? C'mon I staked 13 of you guys tonight. I gotta tell you the forces of darkness have me running on overload."

"Chill Buffy it's me." Faith said stepping into the slight stream of light that crept out of the living room window shade. Buffy stared dumbfounded.

"I don't retract my previous statement."

Faith shook her head. "No B that's not it. I'm not here to hurt you…" Faith shuffled her feet and seemed to sink back into the porch before she looked at Buffy. "…You… you're all I have left…" Her voice trailed off into a desperate sigh.

There was sincerity in Faith's eyes that even Buffy couldn't ignore. "Faith I tried to kill you, and vice versa and I'm all you have left? Are you wading in the shallow end of the friend pool nowadays?"

"Buffy…" Faith stopped and turned her head away. If it weren't for Buffy's slayer sight she would have missed the tear. "Please…I didn't know where else to go and I…"

"You what?" Buffy asked defensively.

"I missed you. Don't ask why, but I did. You were the only person that ever really…"

"…Cared." Buffy finished her sentence. Somehow Buffy knew, in that moment, that Faith had changed. It was like she could sense the good.

"C…Come in." Buffy opened the door. Faith entered cautiously.

"Oh hi Faith." Willow sighed without thinking. She then jumped to her feet. "Faith! Prison! Why are you not there?!" Willow began to stutter.

"Chill Red. I got paroled."

"Faith is here to…to get some help." Buffy explained, giving Willow a glance to make it clear that it was not up for discussion. Willow nodded and shooed Dawn upstairs.

The slayers seated themselves on the couch "So did Angel send you?" Buffy questioned.

"Um...no, he doesn't know that I'm out and I don't want him to. L.A seemed kinda apocalyptic and I'm a little rusty. I don't want him to worry."

"Yeah, there's a big bad." Buffy slumped back into the couch. "There's always a big bad…soooo, what have you been up to?"

"Incarceration, you?"

"Dead."

Faith smiled. "I think you win."

Buffy stood. "Listen Faith I'm really beat. Is the sofa ok to crash on?"

"Yeah B. I've been sleeping on a 2-inch thick mattress and the woman in the next cell snored. It'll be heaven."

"Not quite." Buffy said handing her a blanket and pillow out of the cabinet.

"I ah… I'll be just upstairs if you need me." Buffy shifted awkwardly before going to her room. Faith was asleep within minutes, feeling safe for the fist time in years.

Buffy awoke to soft whimpers coming from down stairs. The clock read 5:37 AM. "Damn did Dawn get a puppy that I don't know about?" She huffed while descending the steps.

It was Faith.

She was tossing and turning wildly on the couch. In the moonlight Buffy could see that she was drenched in sweat. "Stop! … No please…" Buffy crouched beside the terrified girl and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Faith…faith wake up…" The younger slayer jerked upward, her eyes frantically searching for something familiar.

"Buffy?"

"It's me Faith. It's Buffy calm down." She felt as if she were holding a wild animal that would run if she made the wrong move.

"You were having a nightmare. Do you remember?"

"Yeah I…" Faith looked down at her shaking hand.

"Faith are you ok?"

"5 by 5 B, no big. They just seem so real sometimes."

"Sometimes? You have them a lot?"

"I guess…" Faith looked down at her hands ashamed.

"I can't believe I'm fucking shaking this much." Buffy placed a delicate hand under Faith's chin and looked her in the eyes.

"It's ok. Why don't you come up stairs and sleep so I can keep an eye on you."

Faith shook her head in agreement and followed Buffy to her room. Buffy could feel her still trembling as she crawled into the other side of the bed.

"Faith?"

"Yeah B?"

"Do you want me to hold you until you go to sleep?" Faith didn't answer she just scooted up next to Buffy. The trembling stopped as soon as Buffy wrapped the younger girl in her arms. "See? You're ok."

Buffy could hear the doubt in her own voice. She didn't know what was wrong with her sister slayer, all she knew was that she was ashamed that she hadn't taken the time to find out sooner. She could change that now. Faith was here with her, they had a chance at a fresh start and Buffy was going to make sure that they got it.