Thank you for reading!
In the library that night, Willow sat and listened to the story of an almost-redeemed Faith taken by the Watchers' Council, and she wondered what it was that everyone else saw in the other Slayer that she didn't … or what she saw that the others were blind to. Because she didn't care if Faith were taken away, or if she were redeemed. And she didn't believe Faith could be redeemed, or that she wanted to be.
But she knew those thoughts would hurt Buffy, and in a different way Giles, and now apparently Xander and Angel, too, in their own ways, so she kept them to herself.
"It was the new Watcher," Angel was saying. "He had a couple of guys helping him."
"Then he figured it out?" Willow asked. She hadn't known the new Watcher was privy to the secret of who had killed the deputy mayor. Maybe he was smarter than they all gave him credit for.
Giles sighed with exasperation. "Which means that Faith will be soon on her way back to England to face the Watchers' Council."
Willow knew Giles hadn't had the best experiences with the Council recently, but weren't situations like this pretty much what it existed for?
"And then what?" Buffy asked. She looked exhausted; Faith had really put her through the wringer the last few days.
"Most likely, they'll lock her away for a good long while."
"So we head them off at the airport and stop them," Buffy said with determination.
Willow couldn't take it any more. Why should they go to so much effort for a girl who didn't care a thing about any of them? But she didn't want her bitterness to show, and she was afraid it would be her bitterness speaking. Carefully, she said, "Can I—I'm just wondering … Why?"
Buffy turned to look at her, not following Willow's thoughts.
Not wanting to hurt her friend, Willow continued, still carefully. "I'm not the most objective, I know. I kind of have an issue with Faith … sharing my people." She didn't look at Xander, and she was grateful that Oz wasn't here, so that he didn't misinterpret—or correctly interpret, she really wasn't sure—her unhappiness over Faith and Xander. "But she murdered someone and accused Buffy. Then she hurt Xander." The marks on his throat made Willow want to hurt Faith back, with magic, or her bare hands, whatever she could use. "I hate to say it, but maybe she belongs behind bars."
Giles couldn't think of anything to say to that. His eyes dropped, and Willow felt badly, because he seemed to feel Faith's issues were his fault, when they were really something she had brought with her when she came to Sunnydale.
Buffy said wearily, "She's out of control, I know. But Angel was getting somewhere with her. She was opening up. If we could just stop Wesley—"
Willow's impatience with Buffy insisting there was good somewhere in Faith's black heart was cut off along with Buffy's words by Wesley's own entrance.
"That's no longer an issue," he said.
"You let her get away?" Buffy's voice dripped with contempt. Willow almost felt bad for the new Watcher.
There was a fresh bruise on the side of Wesley's face. "'Let' wouldn't be the way I'd phrase it, but … yes. She escaped." He looked ashamed of himself. Giles rolled his eyes.
Angel said, "Good work. First you terrorize her, then you put her back on the streets."
"That was hardly my plan," Wesley protested. "I was trying to save her."
"But you didn't! You probably destroyed her!"
"Buffy," Giles said quietly, but with authority. "That's enough," he added more softly.
Willow could see that Buffy wanted to argue, but Giles was right; Wesley had tried to do the right thing as he understood it, got himself in over his head, and failed. There was nothing to do now but clean up his mess and go try to save Faith from herself. Again.
"Better find her before she does any more damage," Buffy muttered. She got up, picking up her coat, giving them all her marching orders. Xander and Willow were assigned Faith's 'haunts', and dutifully they started the rounds. Willow had never wanted less to be with Xander, and never wanted more to just go home and forget about all of this dark side of Sunnydale and her role in protecting people from it. To think, she could be a normal girl, doing homework, instead of helping in this fool's errand.
