A/N: Same chapter, just made some minor adjustments to fix a small continuity error.

Chapter 1

Wesley arrived at the hospital just as Buffy was regaining consciousness, he saw that Giles, Willow, and Xander were with her and so he went to check on the other slayer in the adjoining room. He slowly approached the bruised, comatose Bostonian, "I'm so sorry, Faith. I told her not to come after you...maybe we should have filled the others in on the plan after all."

"What plan?" Asked a tired voice, Wesley turned to see Buffy standing at the foot of Faith's bed, along with the rest of the Scooby Gang.

"Think about it Buffy, why do you think it was so easy to retrieve the Box of Gavroc in order to get Willow back from the Mayor, for that matter, Willow, why do you think that you had enough time to read through the Books of Ascension? How come every time the Mayor had us nearly beaten, we managed to get away. Why did Faith not kill any of us considering all the opportunuties she had?"

"Dear Lord!" Giles exclaimed.

"You mean...Faith was..." Xander trailed of in disbelief.

"She was spying on the Mayor?" Willow asked.

Wesley nodded, watching Buffy's reaction to the new information. "It was her idea to keep the information from the rest of you. She was supposed to go to Angel's mansion to give him several pints of her blood, which she had been collecting ever since the May had told her to use the poison on him. I guess you got to her apartment before she could leave. She was supposed to meet us at the library after that, along with any last minute info she found."

"Why did she fight me then? Why not just tell me, show me the proof?" Buffy asked.

"Because despite my efforts at counseling her, she still feels the need to punish herself for accidently killing Allen Finch."

Buffy nodded in understanding then bent down and kissed Faith on the forehead, "Good work slayer, it's time for you to rest and let us handle the fight for now."

"We should leave someone to watch over her...to be here for her in case she wakes up." Willow said.

"I'll have mom come here, give her full disclosure on what's been happening and have her here for Faith."

"Good idea, that's probably the only way she would agree to be anywhere other than the graduation." Giles stated.

"Let's go, we can help Faith after the fight is over." Buffy said as she turned to leave the room.

Several months later, after a couple trippy dreams, Faith came out of her coma and slowly took in her surroundings, she was in an empty hospital room and it was late at night. Slowly, she climbed out of bed and shuffled into the hall where she came face to face with a nurse making her rounds, "Oh! Miss Lehane you startled me!" Said the nurse with a smile.

"Where am I?" Faith asked.

"You're at Sunnydale Memorial, in the long term care wing. I'm glad to see that you're awake, you really shouldn't be up until the doctor has had a chance to look at you."

"Yeah, sure, but first, do you think I could get something to eat? I'm starving."

"Sure, I'll page the doctor, ask him what you can have to eat, then I'll call Mrs. Summers and let her know you're awake."

"Wait, Mrs. S? What happened to Wesley?"

"Mr. Pryce is still listed on your emergency information, but he is no longer in town, so he had Mrs. Summers put down as the primary emergency contact...she has been here practically every day for the last eight months."

"Eight months!? Shit! I was out for a while, huh?"

"Yes, ma'am, you were, but I imagine you'll be able to leave soon."

Initially, all the doctor allowed Faith to have was jello, but after a few moments, he cleared her to have whatever she wanted while he ran his tests. So when Joyce Summers, accompanied by Rupert Giles arrived, they found Faith propped up in her hospital bed, methodically demolishing a heavily piled down tray of hospital food. "Hiya Mrs. S, G-man." She said after swallowing a mouthful of steak. "I'm gonna guess two things; first, that we won and the Mayor is no more, and second, Wesley told you everything."

"Correct on both counts, Faith, and don't call me G-man."

"I'm glad that you're finally awake dear, we were starting to get worried."

"Yeah, I'm telling you though, it doesn't feel like I was out for that long...a week I might give ya, but eight months? Fuck me!"

"I know it seems unbelievable, but as long as you're okay...that's what matters. The other kids are excited to see you, I told them to give you some time to make sure you are really ok before thay all rushed in and bombarded you." Joyce said

"So they're all ok? All the Scoobies made it through the fight?"

"Yes," Giles answered, "Although, Cordelia, Angel, and Wesley went to LA and set up shop there, but we gained a new member, a witch that Willow and Buffy met at UC Sunnydale, her name is Tara."

"Cool." Faith said as she continued to work away at the mountain of food before her. "So, on a slightly different topic, what happened to all my stuff?"

Giles shifted uncomfortably at the question, "Well, it turns out that the Mayor never suspected you to be a spy, so, as part of his will, he left the apartment to you, along with several other things that have since been placed inside your apartment...everything else was seized by the city."

By the time Joyce had to leave for work, Faith had been cleared to leave the hospital. Giles drove the slayer to her apartment so she could change. "Do you want to go through any of this stuff?" Asked the watcher.

"Not right now." Faith replied as she walked out of the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing her typical tight jeans, black tank top combo, that thanks to the time she spent in a coma, was not as skin tight as she usually preferred, "I wanna go see the gang...and I think I need to work on getting back into fighting shape again too, cause right now, I'm not even sure I could take on a freshly risen vamp."

"Don't worry about that right now, we'll all help you get back into shape, but don't worry about vamps, or patrolling until you are ready. Now, shall we go see the others? Joyce and I kept them in the dark about your release from the hospital, so it should be a big surprise."

"Sure thing, let's roll, G-man." Faith replied, smirking as she said the nickname that Giles hated, the Brit just rolled his eyes and sighed as he led the way out to his car.

Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of a building in downtown Sunnydale. "The Magic Box? You need supplies, or somethin' G?" Faith asked.

"No, nothing like that, the former owner fled town after the battle at the high school, so Anya and I bought it...it's where we all meet now."

"Huh! Never had ya pegged as the business man type...but then again, this ain't no normal business. Well, guess we should get all the hugging and tears and all that shit outta the way." Said the brunette as she pushed the door open, causing a bell to chime.

A familiar voice behind the cash register called out, "Welcome to the Magic Box! Please spend you're money and then...oh, it's you...I thought you were someone worth my time."

"Anya! You're not supposed to talk to people like that!" Xander chimed in from the basement where he was looking for inventory so he could restock the shelves.

"Fine! It's good that you didn't die, Faith!" Anya said in a falsely happy voice.

At Anya's words, there was a pause, then the sound of feet rushing up the stairs and at a large round table, Buffy, Willow, Oz, and some tall, well-built guy who Faith did not recognize all suddenly looked up, their eyes focusing instantly on the dark slayer. Before Faith could decide whether she was in danger, or if they were happy to see her, she was tackled to ground by a blur of long, red hair, hugging her tightly. "Yo, Red, if you really wanna be this close with me, I got a nice comfy bed back at my apartment." Faith said in the huskiest tone she could manage.

Willow immediately stood back to her feet, blushing profusely as Buffy helped her fellow slayer up before wrapping her in a less violent, but still enthusiastic hug. "Welcome back to the land of the awake!" Xander exclaimed as he gave the Bostonian a brief side-hug, knowing that any more than that might make Anya jealous.

Oz simply walked up and bumped fists with Faith and gave a quick, "Sup?"

"Hey guys, it's good to be back...I think." Faith said with a chuckle.

"Oh, by the way, this is Riley. He knows about everything and he's even with a military unit that specializes in demon hunting...Or "hst's" as they call them, and the shy girl in the corner, avoiding all the commotion, that's Tara." Buffy pointed out, introducing the two strangers to Faith.

"Hey, Red, I know Wes explained everything to y'all, but I still wanna apologize about the knife to your throat...and the punch." Faith quietly said, looking at the ground.

Willow put her arm around Faith's shoulders, "It's alright, you didn't cut me with the knife, so that's fine, and since my jaw wasn't broken from your punch, I know you were holding back...so there's nothing to forgive."

Over the next few hours, the Scoobies relayed everything from the battle with the Mayor to the current point in time. Eventually Buffy, Riley, Willow, and Oz went back to their studying, Xander left briefly to check on his construction crew as they shut down the job site for the day, while Giles and Anya took inventory after closing. Faith wandered around the store for a bit, then walked over to Tara, who she found sitting on a cushion, reading an ancient looking book. "What're ya readin?" She asked as she sat nearby.

Tara started, nearly dropping the book. She glanced at Faith, then blushed, looking toward the ground and letting her long, blonde hair cascade over her face, "It's n-n-n-nothing special, I'm j-just re-reading some books so I c-c-can teach Willow. She's a lot m-more powerful than me but-but has no real training." Tara answered, failing to minimize her stutter.

"That's cool." Faith said with a smile, "Magic is something that I have learned to be grateful for, even if I don't understand it. Are you from Sunnyhell?" She asked.

Tara shook her head, "I'm from Portland, in Oregon."

"So, what made you pack up and move here?" Tara got a panicked look in her eyes at Faith's question, "Hey, don't worry, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. Trust me, I understand keeping some secrets about your past."

Tara looked at Faith a bit more intently after that, even going so far as to brush her hair out of the way. "Your aura looks a lot better than it did when I saw you at the hospital...I-I-I work for Mrs. Summers from time to time, and one day we were coming back from buying a couple p-paintings at an LA exhibit. Anyway, your aura, which is a kind of m-m-ma-magical glow around every l-living thing, but only a select few people can see, it was all fractured and swirling...the c-colors were mixing. I was pretty worried because the only other t-t-time I had seen an aura like that was on my m-m-mom just hours before she died. I did a couple spells only to discover that there wasn't anything medically that was killing you, but then, I saw it...I caught a glimpse of your d-dream, I d-didn't see much, just that it was dark, evil, and was totally terrifying to you, e-e-enough so that your heart was beginning to-to-to fail. I-I was able to pull you out of that dream and placed a w-ward around your mind after that." Tara said, before averting her eyes once again and blushing, it had been a long time since she had last spoken so much in one go.

"Well thank you for that. I do remember felling really peaceful at one point before I woke up, I'm guessing that it was because of you." Faith smiled at the blonde witch. "Hey, it's getting' kinda late. What'dya say we find out if the others are hungry, then you and I can make a food run?"

Tara's face lit up, "Y-you really want m-me to go with you?"

"Sure thing. One, because I don't know ya very well yet, two, because I doubt Buffy would much like me going anywhere with Mr. General Issue over there, and three...well, because I always like the opportunity to spend time with cute blondes." Faith answered with a wink, causing Tara to blush again.

Faith rose smoothly to her feet, reaching down to offer Tara a hand up, something the witch gladly accepted. The two of them made their way to the large round table, Riley had left some time ago and the college textbooks had slowly been replaced by supernatural research. "Hey guys, I see we've switched into research mode. Anything specific, or just preventive maintenance?"

"There is a potential something, but we aren't sure just yet." Willow answered.

"Coolness, T and I were just thinking about making a food run...hows Chinese sound, my treat?"

"Um, that sounds great...are you sure about paying? Cause we could all pitch in a little." Xander replied.

"Yeah, Xan-man, I got this." Faith said assuring them all, "Chang's is still around, right?"

"Yes, and they should know our usual Scooby order, just add whatever you want to that." Anya chimed in.

"Okay, we'll be back soon then." Faith said as she and Tara made their way out of the shop.

Faith had been prepared to walk the whole way, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that Tara had a car. The dark haired slayer slid into the passenger seat, commenting, "Don't take this the wrong way, T, but I woulda never guessed you were into classic American muscle. This' a Z28, right?"

"Yeah, but instead of the stock engine, I put in a 502 cubic inch, 8.2 liter with the Ram Jet injection system...pushing right around 500 bhp. Along with various modifications to the transmission and drive train, of course...wouldn't want the car torn apart because it can't handle the power of the engine." Tara replied, surprisingly not stuttering even once.

The two young women drove through town, placing their order and sitting at a nearby table while they waited for the food. They engaged in mostly banal chit-chat, when Tara's phone went off, surprising both of them. The blonde witch checked the message, "Buffy wants us to p-p-pick up Dawn on our way back...huh, guess that means she's done with t-track for the day."

"Wow, so the brat took up track? That's cool, guess she's the only one I have yet to see..." Faith said, sounding a bit nervous, she knew Buffy's younger sister had idolized her at one put, but had been the coldest person toward her when she had seemingly switched sides.

Tara picked up on Faith's change in mood. It took her a moment to understand what the problem was, until she recalled a conversation with Buffy, regarding Faith and Dawn, "Don't worry about it, Faith." Said the witch, placing a comforting hand on the dark haired slayer's shoulder, "Dawn c-c-completely understands what actually happened...Willow told m-me that she actually sent Wesley to the ground with just one p-p-punch for even letting you take on that spying mission. She'll just be glad to have her friend back...there'll p-probably be some girlish shrieking on her part too." She said, giving Faith's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Faith smirked, "You're probably right, T. I'm worrying over nuthin...looks like our order's up, let's pay for the food, then go get the Dawnster."

As Tara had predicted, Dawn was ecstatic to see Faith outside the cold, dark hospital room that she had been in for so long. The young teen squealed when she saw the Bostonian and immediately rushed over, crushing the formerly comatose girl in a deceptively strong hug. The rest of the night went as most nights go for the Scooby gang; there was eating, research, and talk of everything from demon killing tactics, spells, even fashion, sports, and movies. As the hour grew late, Dawn fell easily into a habit that had begun when Faith had first arrived in Sunnydale, meaning Faith's lap was being used as a pillow by the sleeping teen, not that the dark slayer noticed, as she herself had fallen asleep with her head laid on Tara's shoulder.

Buffy looked up from one of the ancient tomes when she realized how late it was and smiled when she saw Tara asleep on one of the large cushions that were scattered around the shop. The blonde witch was propped against the wall, her head resting on that of Faith, who was softly snoring away with her head on the blonde girl's shoulder, while Dawn slept soundly, her head cradled in Faith's lap. "Aww! That's so cute!" The slayer exclaimed, "I hate to have to wake them, but it's getting late." As Buffy spoke, there was a brief flash of light, the petite slayer glanced over to see that Willow had taken a picture of the sleeping trio with her phone. "You have got to send me a copy of that Wills." She added in a whisper.

Willow smiled and nodded, "Will do, now let's get them all woke up so we can all get home."