It was dark outside. Faith couldn't tell if the moon was full or new or hiding behind a cloud or anything. What little light there was came from a nearby streetlamp. The alleyway was dark and full of litter, but none of that mattered right now.

All that mattered was the wreck of a car in front of her. As carefully and as quickly as she could, Faith helped Dawn out of the passenger seat and over to a nearby fence where she sat her down. Dawn was bleeding, only the blood wasn't the dull red that one would expect. Her blood wasn't even liquid, but some strange sort of green light that pierced the darkness of the night with ease.

Faith couldn't tell what she was saying, but she could tell what she was feeling. She was worried for Dawn. She was grateful to Spike for showing her how to find her sister. And she was livid and furious at Willow for dragging Dawn into such a dangerous situation and getting drunk on magic at the wheel of a motor vehicle.

She and Dawn and Spike began to walk away, and Willow broke down in tears behind them. Faith felt no pity for those anguished cries as she walked away. She wanted to get as far away from the person who had hurt her sister as she possibly could.

And then Faith heard some distinct words through all the clamor of emotions. She heard Willow cry out three words.

"I need help!"

The words repeated themselves over and over again. And then Faith felt herself detach from her own body, and now that she was looking at herself, she saw that it wasn't her body at all, but Buffy's. Buffy embraced her friend, and the tears of agony streaming from Willow's face told a tale of tragedy and remorse, and Faith understood that finally, the witch had found a price she was unwilling to pay. It wasn't the suicidal breakdown that Faith herself had suffered, but if Willow was begging for help like this, then she had a chance.

Faith circled the two friends, entwined in their embrace, and while Willow's tears told a story of a woman who might yet have a chance, on the other side, Buffy's eyes told a far more frightening tale. There was a mote of anger there for the one person she couldn't help but feel protective of. But aside from that tiny bit of indignant anger, Buffy's gaze was dead. It saw nothing, felt nothing, understood nothing.

And then those hazel eyes flickered, almost imperceptibly, to look straight at Faith Lehane.

Faith's eyes opened immediately, her breathing heavy, and she pulled herself up and looked around, trying to remember where she was. She had been watching the house while Buffy and the gang were out. Faith had gotten back to the house to find nobody at home, so she had decided to stay up and keep a lookout. Alas, somehow she had fallen asleep and had a dream that was more than just a dream.

Whatever Faith had dreamed just now had actually happened, and she knew that she had to do something to make the house ready for whenever everyone got home. Faith thought about getting some snacks out for a moment, but then kicked herself mentally for being so stupid. People were tired and injured. They'd want to rest.

Hurrying upstairs, Faith went into Dawn's room and looked at her bed. The sheets were sprawled outward as if Dawn had just woken up. Basically no change from this morning. Faith decided to make the bed properly, if only to give Lil D a bit more comfort. Her first watcher, Diana Dormer, hadn't been quite as stuffily British as Giles or Wesley, but she'd taught Faith a few things that she'd mostly gone on to ignore. One of those was that a well-made bed could offer an easier rest, which would make it easier to slay once the next evening came around.

Mayor Wilkins had been the same, only he'd been more about proper tidiness than anything practical. Still, Faith had been desperate to please the guy, so she'd done as he'd asked. More than that, however, as Faith smoothed the sheets and tucked the excess bits under the mattress, she felt a strong sense of déjà vu. Faith had made this exact same bed before with Buffy's help. Only it had been some sort of dream while she was still in a coma.

There was something about that dream. Words were coming back to her. "Lil' sis coming." "So much to do before she gets here." It was so confusing. Lil sis had always been here, so why was Faith remembering a Slayer Dream – she felt the capital letters in her thoughts – that implied that Dawn had just come along sometime after Faith had woken up from that coma?

Regardless of all that, the bed was made just as Faith heard the front door open. Rushing out of Dawn's room and down the stairs, Faith saw Buffy helping Dawn inside, with Willow hobbling afterwards, her face wet with tears. Just outside the door was Spike, who seemed satisfied with whatever help he may have provided as he turned and left for who-knows-where. Faith's eyes fell on Dawn, battered and bloodied, and she felt a surge of anger well up inside of her towards Willow. Yes, Willow had needed this to happen, but Faith couldn't help how she felt about Dawn. The kid was the closest thing to family that Faith had and she wasn't about to…

Wait a sec… Family? Lil D? When did I start thinking of her like that? What the hell is going on?! There was something about Dawn that Faith didn't understand. There were a ton of unanswered questions that Faith was only now coming to realize that she had to ask. For now, though, she'd try to put all of that aside and do what she could to help. "I made your bed, Dawn," Faith said quietly. "It should be a bit more comfortable. Easier to rest in, ya know?"

Dawn looked at Faith with blue eyes full of tears of sadness and pain. "You knew what happened?! And you just stayed here?!"

Faith sighed. "I had a dream. The important kind. I think I saw the aftermath. Car accident, right? Willow was high on something or other at the wheel?"

Judging by the sudden burst of sobbing from Willow, Faith guessed that she'd hit the mark on the head. Turning back to look at Dawn, Faith said, "Look, if I could've been there to help, I would have been. And I'm sorry I wasn't. But I made your bed so that you can rest just a little bit easier. About the least I could do, and I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

Dawn nodded. "Right. Sorry, Faith. It's just…"

"No need to explain, D," Faith said. "Just get some rest, okay?"

Dawn just nodded again, silently this time, and let Buffy help her up the stairs. As they passed by Faith, Buffy mouthed a silent 'thank you' at Faith.

Faith watched Buffy and Dawn head upstairs before turning her gaze back to Willow. The witch was seated on the sofa, slumping forward, looking utterly miserable. A small, nagging little voice in the back of Faith's mind was whispering to her. "Rub it in, Faith. Show her just what she's become. Don't let her forget that she's become you at your worst. It will eat her up until there's nothing left of her, and then you'll finally be even."

Faith wished that she could banish that voice in the back of her head to whatever evil place it had come from. Alas, Faith realized after a moment that it was an evil thought born of her own darker impulses. Once upon a time, she wouldn't have just listened to that voice, but she'd go back to it, looking for more, even worse things to say and do to put Willow down. And despite that Faith knew it was wrong, part of her wanted to rub it in. Willow had been so high and mighty and confident that she knew what was best. She'd felt as if she'd been standing on high over the rest of the world, and now she'd come plummeting back down to earth.

And that was why Faith couldn't listen to that voice. Not when she'd been exactly where Willow was now. Not when she'd gotten unconditional help when she'd hit rock bottom. If she were to kick Willow while she was down, then Faith would be the worst sort of person that she'd encountered in her life. She'd be just another abuser, and that wasn't her anymore.

So Faith sat down next to Willow on her right and said nothing for a few moments. Faith had to think about what she was going to say first. Angel had been there for her when she'd been at her lowest, but he'd had centuries of life and undeath of experience in dealing with the frailty of human emotions. Faith wasn't anywhere near such expertise or understanding, but she'd do the best she could.

"So," Faith began, careful to keep her voice neutral. "I heard this thing once. The Rule of Holes, I think it was called. 'When you're in a hole, stop digging.' Sounds simple enough, but the problem is that you don't always know you're even in a hole until you've dug yourself so deep that you… I dunno. That you dig some loose bit of rock and you're not digging anymore, but falling into a pit beneath that hole, and the landing hurts so much that you look up and think, 'When did I get into that hole? How did I dig myself so deep and not even see it?' This making any sense at all to you, Willow?"

Strangely enough, Faith wasn't surprised that Willow didn't lash out at her. She remembered her own breakdown, and how numb she felt in its immediate wake. Willow nodded just a bit, looking too weak to do much more. "Tara tried… She tried to warn me. And Giles. And you. And I knew better than them. I didn't just ithink/I that I knew better than my lover and my best teacher. I was so sure of myself. I was so sure that I knew best, and I drove them away. Tara, Giles, and now Buffy and Dawn. I don't even know if Xander will forgive me after what I did to Dawn tonight. I don't know if I can forgive myself, and I don't know if I even should."

This next part was going to be harder. "I don't know that this is what you want to hear, Willow, but I want you to take it from someone who's been where you are. The Rule of Holes needs you to understand that you're in a hole. And the first step really sucks. That fall where you hit rock bottom and you realize how deep you've dug yourself… That's the first step to getting out of the hole. And you already took the second step. You asked for help. Well, more like begged for it. Even at my lowest, I never asked for help. I got help, but I wasn't ready for it. I tried to drive it away because I didn't think I deserved it, and I didn't feel like I'd have anything waiting for me if I managed to get 'better,' whatever that means."

Faith was afraid that Willow might snap and wonder how Faith knew what had happened in that dark street where the car had crashed, but Willow still seemed a bit too numb to focus on that particular detail. "So, you see yourself in the hole. You ask for help. What do you do next?" Willow asked softly, her eyes fixed downward at the floor.

Faith let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "You take the help. You listen to the people that you didn't listen to before when you were digging yourself into that hole. And you keep checking yourself so that you don't pick up the shovel and start digging again. And if you ever do start to dig, and you see yourself doing it, then you bring yourself back and stop. And if you can't do it on your own, then you ask for help, and then you take the help. If the hole is big enough, and if you've fallen down it once before, then it's a little easier to recognize if you ever start down that way again. Not saying it'll always be obvious, and there'll be a little voice telling you that this one, tiny little step doesn't really count. You gotta tell that voice to shove it, and you gotta listen to the other voices. The ones that care about you and want to see you get better, even if you think you don't deserve it, and even if you don't see a better future in sight."

Faith sighed and looked up. "And if you're very, very lucky, then maybe you'll believe, some day, that you can do enough good to make up for all the nasty stuff you did. If you're lucky, you'll believe people when they say that they forgive you. If you're lucky, you may even be able to forgive yourself."

Willow then did something that Faith didn't expect. She looked up from the floor and straight at Faith. "You haven't been very lucky, have you Faith?"

Smiling without humor or mirth, Faith shook her head. "No, Willow. I haven't been that lucky. For your sake, for Buffy and Dawn's sake… For Tara's sake, I hope you have better luck than I've had. And there's one very important thing to remember, Willow. This is maybe the most important thing about coming back from the brink that you need to always, ialways/i remember: You can't make anything up to anyone if you're dead. So when you're alone in the dark, and you think that everyone will be better off without you, you shut those thoughts out right away, do you hear me?"

Willow nodded rapidly, looking a tad bit afraid. "Goddess, I've been so stupid," she said, her voice cracking. "After all I've done… Oh, Tara, baby!" Willow gasped out as she began to sob.

Faith felt as if she was an intruder in a private sanctum that she had no right being in, but she felt she had to speak up all the same. "She still loves you. You know that, right?"

Willow looked back at Faith with flushed cheeks wet with tears. "Why? How can she still… After everything that's happened?!"

"Being in love," Faith began, struggling with her own emotions now as she tried to focus on helping Willow. "Being in love is painful. You ache for the person you love so much that it hurts, and when they do something that hurts you, they don't stop loving you. They may wonder why you did it, and they may feel sad, but that ache in the chest… It just gets deeper. And it's strange, because you'd think an ache would be painful. But this is a different kind of hurt. It's the kind that makes you want to do anything to put that ache aside for a moment, and that only comes with being with the person you're in love with. You hurt Tara, and you've been hurting yourself without even realizing it. If I were Tara, I would be scared for you, hoping like hell that you'd come to your senses and do what you had to in order to make things right. The two of you… I dunno how you feel about her, but it's clear that you're everything to Tara. She probably doesn't feel… Complete, I guess? She doesn't feel complete without you in her life, if I were to guess."

Willow nodded. "I miss her. Like a part of me is missing. The most important part." Willow looked Faith in the eye again. "When did you learn so much about being in… Oh. Right. Your song."

Faith nodded. "What, you thought that somehow I could keep a secret with that demon doing his thing? Or you just couldn't bring yourself to believe that the Faith you knew could feel that way?"

Willow looked at Faith again, this time more appraisingly. Faith let the witch take the measure of her. "You're not the Faith I knew," she said at last. "Not anymore, and not for a while, are you?"

In another situation, Faith might laugh out loud that Willow was only just now realizing this, but she forced herself not to laugh. She allowed herself a small smile, however. "I hope like hell I'm not. And if I really have changed… If I've learned from hitting my own rock bottom, and if you can accept that, then maybe you can let me help you get back on the right track. Sound good?"

"I… I don't know," Willow said hesitantly. "Part of me doesn't want to trust you. But you came down to talk to me. A-and listen to me. And you said that part of getting out of a hole is taking help where it's offered right? A-and you sound like you've been in that hole before, so you probably know what you're talking about. So, I'll try. I'll try to take your help. I don't know that it'll be easy for me, but I want to make things right. I don't think I've ever wanted something more in my life."

Faith nodded and got up from her seat. "Get some rest, Red. Sleep in late and take your time to think about everything. Buffy and Dawn will still be pissed, but you've been friends for so long… They'll want to help you, but they'll also need some time and space. This'll take a while, and it'll hurt. And you may not ever be a hundred percent what you were before."

Willow looked up at Faith. "If I were a hundred percent what I was before, I would be the same person who got stuck in that hole. Even if it hurts, I don't want that."

Faith smiled. "I'm not an expert, but I think you're taking the right steps. You've got a chance, Red. Don't waste it."

Willow just nodded silently on the couch as Faith went back upstairs to check on Buffy and Dawn before she turned in for the night. On the inside, Faith was grinning like an idiot. It would hurt Tara like hell to hear what had happened, but it might also give her the hope she'd been looking for. Her girl had a chance, and Faith was going to do whatever it took to make sure that chance wasn't squandered.