The Missing Half

Chapter 2- A Not so Warm Welcome

A couple of days later, Faith made it to Sunnydale. She had taken a bus from LA as soon as she was released. So here she was. It was dark, and she was patrolling the familiar cemeteries. Patrolling where her and Buffy had back then. Before everything blew to Hell. She remember fighting side by side, there with Buffy. The Chosen Two. They were so synchronized---

A shrill scream cut through the night air, pulling Faith from her memories. She ran towards the source and saw a teenaged girl trying to fight off three vampires. Faith quickly staked the first vampire and turned around to push the girl away from the grasps of the other two. She flung her fist into the face of the nearest vampire, turned and kicked the other in his chest. It had been so long since she'd done this. But things were different, no more beating a vamp into a bloody pulp. Punch, kick, thrust, poof. Both vamps were gone in seconds.

Faith walked over to the girl. "Are you ok?" she asked her. The girl shook her head. She saw no visible wounds; the girl appeared to just be shaken. "Alright then, go on home, be safe." This was new too. Faith never expressed her concern for the potential victim's before. The girl threw her arms around Faith and thanked her quietly. Then she turned and ran home.

'Well, there's something different' Faith thought to herself. 'That felt good…I'm doing it…I really am changing---'

Faith was once again pulled from her thoughts as something slammed into her back tackling her to the ground. The person rolled her over and punched her hard in the jaw. Faith's vision cleared just enough to see that her silent attacker was her. It was Buffy.

Buffy was doing her routine patrol, looking for a fight. Then she heard it, a scream somewhere deeper in the cemetery. She sprinted to the site and saw another figure jumping into the fray, quickly dusting the three vamps holding a young girl.

The figure checked on the girl, and the girl nodded, hugged the figure, and ran away. As Buffy neared the girl's savoir, she saw who it was. She saw who it was and a rage boiled up inside of her. Faith. Faith was back. She continued her sprint and tackled Faith to the ground, rolled her over, and punched her. Faith raised her arms to defend herself, saw who it was and put her arms down. Buffy let Faith get up off the ground and waited to hear her story.

"Hey B, nice to see you again" Faith said as she got up, rubbing her jaw where the bruising had already started to show up. "Well, I'm here to help."

Buffy stood there, a fire burning in her eyes. "WHAT! No. You're not here. 'Cause there is no way you could possibly be that stupid to think that you'd be welcome back here. Not after everything you've done. Not after you've threatened to take away everything I care about. Not now."

"Well, B, I guess I'm stupid because I'm back. But look I uh, I'm different know. I've changed. I'm not the same." With that, Buffy exploded. Once again she jumped on Faith and tackled her. On the ground, she straddled her and punched her again and again and again. Faith felt a furry of blows raining down on her. Her cheekbone, her mouth, her temple. Buffy picked Faith up and pushed her into a gravestone where Faith hit her head as she fell to the ground. Buffy stood over Faith and kicked her in the ribs a few times. The breath left Faith's lungs and her chest burned.

Buffy stood over Faith screaming at her "Fight back! C'mon you coward fight!" Faith just lay there taking it. She had no intention of hurting Buffy. It was the last thing she wanted to do.

"I won't. I'm not gunna hurt ya B," Faith responded quietly. With those words, Buffy crumpled to the ground, softly beating on Faith's stomach, sobbing.

Buffy couldn't believe that she had just let herself lose control like that. She couldn't believe Faith wouldn't fight her back. Everything hit her at once. Her mother's death. Riley leaving her. Dropping out of college. And then this woman comes back, this woman who caused her so much pain before. She just came back into her life and changed it. WHY? Why did she have to come back?

She sat there sobbing, and she didn't even realize that Faith had propped herself up and wrapped her in a hug. Buffy felt safe there---wait! What was she thinking? This was Faith! Buffy moved out of her embrace and looked into Faith's face. Faith's lip was split and bleeding, her cheek and jaw bruised. She had a small gash on her forehead where her head collided with the gravestone. Her breathing was coming in quick and painful gasps.

She couldn't believe she had just done that to her.

Faith didn't know what was going on. One moment Buffy was beating Faith, and the next she was sobbing. So Faith did something she never would have done before. She put her arms around Buffy, ignoring the sharp pain in her ribs where she was sure Buffy had bruised her ribs.

Then Buffy pulled away and looked at Faith. She asked the question Faith knew she would. "Why? Why are you here Faith?"

Faith explained what Cordelia had seen and that she really did want to help. Buffy looked at her, disbelieving and then stood up. She then did the unthinkable. She offered her hand to Faith and helped her up.

"C'mon Faith, let's get you to my house so I can clean you up. We can discuss this there." Faith stood there shocked.

Buffy started walking to her house and Faith followed close behind in silence.