She was glad that Wesley had packed a change of clothes for her because the other occupants of the bus probably wouldn't have taken too kindly to someone wearing a state issued prison uniform joining them for the two hour trip. As it was they gave her a wide berth, probably had something to do with her battered appearance and the way she would mutter seemingly to herself every so often. While she wasn't currently in possession of her usual super powers years of living on the streets had left her with survival skills and she had managed to steal enough money for the fare.

Of course she wasn't alone on the trip they made sure of that. Taunting her over and over, whispering words in her ears that had been thrown at her years before.

"You apologise to her and she will beat you to death Faithy. You're a loser, she said so herself, why would she help you?"

"She will, she will, she will," she muttered to herself covering her ears with her hands. The old couple who had ventured closest to her moved further up the bus as they heard her agitated whispers.

Sunnydale wasn't as different as she thought it would be. The last time she was here it had proven to be her downfall and this time around she was counting on it being her salvation. The bus station still was dimly lit and smelled like a garbage tip. The whole town still made the base of her spine tingle letting her know that evil was all around.

The years of torture had taught her that it was always safer to follow instructions and without even realising it they had whispered directions into her ear and lead her to the spot where it had all began to crumble. When realisation finally hit her she felt her knees wobble and buckle beneath her and she collapsed to the ground landing hard causing a few of her old wounds to reopen. Closer to the ground it was like she could smell the death that emanated from the wall in front of her and he was there, looking exactly like he had that day.

"Do you remember this night Faithy? Remember how it felt when you plunged that stake deep into my heart? Remember what it felt like to have my blood dripping from your fingertips? Remember the way she looked at you after?"

She couldn't help the bile that rose in her throat and she gagged as her senses were assaulted with the phantom smell of blood. It was all over her, her hands were stained and she scrubbed them furiously against the hard concrete ground to try and rid them of her mistakes. Her own blood mixed with the ghostly reminders and she screamed in frustration as pain both mental and physical reverberated down her spine.

"Look at yourself, you're disgusting, you're a killer Faithy and you'll never be anything else."

She had to get away from this place it was suffocating her, the memories as well as their presence was making it hard to breathe. She shook her head to try and make him go away but when she opened her eyes he was still there, his sickening gray skin looking more ghostly in the pale moonlight.

"Leave me alone," she screamed, her pleading echoing down through the darkened alleyway.

"You think that I want to be here? You think that I want to spend my afterlife looking into the eyes of my killer? You think I want to look at the worthless and pathetic creature that you are? But it's what you deserve, you have to pay for what you've done, you deserve to suffer just like you made me suffer when you brutally slammed your stake into my heart."

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," she cried a tear leaking out from the corner of her eye.

"You're sorry, I've heard that before, you think that makes up for what you did. You haven't seen anything yet kid. Don't go too far, I'll be seeing you."

Despite his warning of being back later more tears fell in relief that she was finally alone in the darkened alley. Placing her hands down to push herself back up she couldn't stop herself from throwing up the contents of her stomach as she tried to support her body weight on her red raw hands. Groaning she used the wall behind her to help her stand and leaned back against it drawing in deep breaths as she tried to calm her pounding heart.

Finally able to steady herself she stumbled slightly as she pushed away from the wall and made her way back onto the streets. If the residents of Sunnydale found it strange that a girl in her condition was stumbling down the road they didn't take too much notice most of them were scurrying towards home trying to escape the rain that had begun to fall. If she had been in a better state of mind she may have laughed at the irony but as it was she didn't even bother to push the wet strands of hair that fell into her face.

Turning onto the familiar street she swayed as the familiar tingling of her Slayer connection intensified tenfold, the buzzing in her spine almost blocking out any other pain she had been feeling. Her feet almost stopped working as the fear of what that familiar house would hold for her but the fear of what they would do to her if she didn't out won any other fear she had so she continued on.

When she passed that familiar mailbox she stopped when she saw a figure illuminated by the house lights behind her. From the familiar stance and the way her whole body seemed to warm there was no mistaking who it was that stood in the doorway. She couldn't stop the intense relief that flooded through her as she stumbled closer, the figure in the doorway seeming happy enough to let her be the one to make the first move. Stopping just in front of her, she took a moment to look up at the girl in front of her who she hadn't seen in four years. She looked different, almost hardened but there was still that something there, that quality that was inherently hers.

"Buffy," she said before the pure exhaustion and four years of hell caught up with her and she was pitching forward and welcoming the oncoming darkness.