Buffy found herself a chair and sat down facing Faith's bed. She could hardly believe the situation Faith had put her in. It was totally unfair.
'Calm down' Buffy thought to herself, 'Perspective. Let's be objective. Faith. Mortal enemy. Arch-nemesis as Giles might say. Killed people. Threatened friends and family, tried to kill Angel. Tried to steal my life. Slept with Riley.' That was a lot on the negative side. 'Saved my life on numerous occasions. Saved my friends and family and the entire world more than once. Told me how to stop the Mayor, even after I stabbed her.' That was a fair amount on the positive side, the only problem was that the negative stuff was a lot more personal. It all came down to trust. Buffy couldn't bring herself to trust Faith.
But with Faith determined to kill herself, the question became should Faith die because she couldn't be trusted.
Buffy stood up with a sigh. It was just like Faith to put her in a position like this. She needed to speak to someone. Angel was out straight away. He believed everybody deserved another chance as a matter of principal. She needed someone who understood what it was to be one of Faith's victims, not someone who understood Faith.
Standing quietly, Buffy walked back into the corridor to find a payphone, hoping Faith wouldn't wake up while she wasn't there. Buffy wasn't sure what her final answer would be, but she didn't want Faith jumping to conclusions.
Once she'd located the phone, she quickly dialled Willow.
"Hi Willow, it's me."
"Buffy! Is everything alright, you just disappeared without telling anyone and Giles is gone too and no-one knew where you'd gone because you didn't tell anyone where you were going and where have you gone, are you alright?"
"Breathe Will, I'm fine. I got called to LA for an emergency."
"What's wrong? Is it Angel? Can I help?"
"It was Faith."
There was silence from the other end of the phone while Willow digested that piece of news. After a minute she spoke in a subdued voice, "What happened?"
"The police let her go. All the charges have been dropped. She's free."
"Don't worry. We'll find her, and you'll stop her."
"That's not a problem Will. She's not running this time."
"What happened?"
"She said she gave herself up for me, and now they've dropped the charges, she wanted to know what else she had to do to make things right."
"So you told her to walk under a bus I hope."
"No," Buffy's voice cracked a little. "I told her to go away and never come back. She decided to walk in front of a truck herself."
"Faith what?"
"As soon as I told her I didn't want to see her again, she just walked away and in front of traffic. I'm here with her in hospital now."
To say the least Willow was surprised. "Is she alright?" She was also astonished to find she cared.
"They're keeping her here for observation, but I think so. I was talking to her earlier."
"What's her story?"
"She said she didn't want to go on if I wouldn't give her a chance to make things right."
"Great," Willow groaned. "So we can add suicidal to her psyche-profile as well. What are you going to do?"
"I've no idea. That's sort of why I phoned you."
"Right, okay, let's see. What are the options? Well she's obviously still not the most balanced person, psychiatric care, have her committed?"
"NO!" Buffy was surprised at the vehemence of her own response. "I mean... I'm sorry Will. But you know what'll happen there. She's a Slayer - we spend our lives believing in demons, vampires, werewolves and magic. They won't even try to help. Besides, if Faith really wants to do something, she'll do it. They wouldn't know what to do with her."
"What about the Watchers Council, maybe they've got someone who could help?" Willow asked, but even she didn't think that was viable.
"No way. They just want to put the next Slayer in motion. Faith's my responsibility, I'm not going to let the Council kill her."
"So if it came to it, you'd do it?"
"What?"
"You know, kill her?"
"Me?"
Willow spoke softly. "You nearly did it before."
"I had to," Buffy exclaimed defensively. "I didn't want to."
"And now?"
"You don't get it Will. Since I've been here, all she's done is ask for another chance to do things right. It's not the same as when you're trying to stop her hurting people. Besides it's not as if we need to do anything. She'll do it herself if I don't let her back into my life."
"Can you forgive her?"
"No, she hurt too many people I care about."
"I know you can't now, but do you think you'll ever be able to? I mean, the way you talked about her when she woke up from the coma...?"
"That was before."
Willow was silent for a minute.
"What are you thinking?" Buffy asked finally.
Willow took a deep breath before answering.
"Well it just seemed to me that you were all ready to forgive her for everything she did while working for the Mayor, but you can't forgive her for sleeping with Riley."
"It's not that. She stole my life."
"Well technically she swapped it for hers."
"Why are you defending her so much. You hate her."
"I did, but if she's really changed... I mean, she did save my life before. If she really has given up, and you know... really will kill herself, this is our last chance as well."
"But what if it's all a lie. What if she's just playing and kills someone else? Do you want to take that risk? How can we?"
A chuckle came down the phone line.
"Buffy, we go out every night to fight vampires and demons. You're a Slayer, we're the Slayerettes, risk is part of the job."
"So you're saying we should forgive and forget, take Faith's word for it and pretend nothing happened?"
"Of course not. But I think that given time, I could give her a second chance, maybe even forgive her. And if you think you might be able to forgive her... you have to give her a chance now."
Silence reigned again for a moment.
"So," Buffy said slowly. "If I were to bring her back to Sunnydale, you'd help keep things calm, help me get her back on track."
"I'd try. Are you going to bring her back?"
"I don't know yet. I'm going to think on it some more. Thanks Will. I'll phone you later."
"Good luck Buffy."
*******
As Buffy sat back down by Faith's bed, Faith opened her eyes drowsily.
"I thought you'd gone."
"I had to find a phone, they don't let you use mobiles in the hospital."
"Scooby meeting?"
"Not really, just Willow."
"What did Red say?" Buffy could tell Faith was nervous.
"She says I should give you another chance."
Faith's mouth hung open. "You're kidding?"
"No. It surprised me as well. Anyway, you get some more sleep. I'm still thinking."
"Take as long as you want B." Faith said stifling a yawn before she closed her eyes again.
*******
When Faith woke up again, she saw Buffy still hard in thought next to her.
"Look, B. I'm sorry about landing you with this. It's not fair. I was just a bit down. I'm feeling better now, really. I'll go away like you wanted. Try a new life somewhere."
"You're not going to be walking in front of traffic again?"
"No. I'll be fine."
Buffy gave a slight smile. She didn't believe Faith for a minute, but trying to let her off the hook was the first thing Faith had done for her in a long time.
"It's okay Faith. I've actually changed my mind about you going away forever."
"You'll let me come to Sunnydale?" Faith asked hopefully.
"No," Buffy replied gently. Faith's face fell as Buffy continued. "I hope you're being straight with me, but I can't be sure you're not lying. And even if you are telling the truth, I don't know how long this reform kick will last."
"I get it."
"No you don't. I'm going to give you a chance to prove yourself. You were willing to wait for in jail for a chance weren't you, even if it took years?"
Faith nodded.
"All I'm asking for is six months."
"Six months, you got any plans on what do you want me to do?"
"I've had an idea. I'm pretty much stuck covering the Hellmouth, but we both know there's vampires all over the place, not just near my family and friends. You could do the wandering Slayer thing, like in Kung-Fu."
"So I go out and slay by myself for six months without killing anyone and joining up with wannabe demons and then you'll trust me again?"
"That's pretty much the plan, I'll trust you and then we can start again properly. But you don't have to be alone in the meantime," Buffy smiled, reaching into her pocket and handing Faith her mobile phone before continuing.
"Let's be totally clear. I've missed you, and I really want you to be telling the truth so things can be right between us. If it were only me I had to worry about you'd be back in Sunnydale already. But I won't take that risk with the others yet, I need you to stay away from Sunnydale and LA. But you won't be alone. We'll talk whenever you want, and if you find anything that you want a hand with or if anything happens to you... Willow, Giles or me... we'll all be there for you. And I expect Angel would drop everything if you asked him to."
Faith noticed the way Buffy's voice had picked up a bitter edge as she finished. "That still gets to you doesn't it."
"A little. I can't believe he hit me."
"It surprised me too," Faith admitted. "I never thought he'd do that."
"He was right though, I was out of line. I know that."
Faith shook her head. "For getting pissed off at what I've done to you, I'm not seeing the wrong-ness here."
"Threatening to kill you for apologising."
"Don't worry about that. You thought I was lying. At least you let me say it today." Faith grinned, "Anyway I'm gonna apologise again in six months, then you'll know it's for real."
"That's a deal," Buffy nodded with a smile as she stood up. "I've got to be getting back to Sunnydale. Are you going to be okay."
Faith nodded, "Yeah I'll be fine."
"You've got money?"
"Enough to get by."
"Okay, but if you need anything you'll..." Buffy prompted.
Faith smiled "...I call."
Buffy grinned back. "I'll get Giles to find you a town that needs help tomorrow."
"Okay. I'll be out of LA by tomorrow night."
"But back in Sunnydale in six months."
"Absolutely."
Buffy walked to the door, before turning around one last time. "I'll see you again in six months, if not before."
"Yeah. Look after yourself too, B. Remember the rule."
"Don't Die," Buffy nodded. "You sure you're alright with this?"
Faith nodded with a grin. "Five by five."
The End.