YELLOW BRICK ROAD

By: Lisette (lisette@chaletian.co.uk)

Rating: PG-13 so far - might change later on.

Distribution: Want, take, have. Just e-mail me first.

Summary: Faith is released from prison - but there's a catch.

Feedback: God, please.

Angel, Buffy, the whole lot, belong to JW, Mutant Enemy, and anyone else who officially owns them. I don't. Big surprise.

Okay, a few notes. Firstly, I haven't seen any of season 3 yet, though I know vaguely what happens. So, definitely after "Billy", and Fred and Gunn are getting with the happy, but "WITW" never happened.

Song is the same one as in "Sing Something Simple".

I would really really like to thank everyone who has taken the trouble to review this story - it's always a source of major excitement for me to go on-line and discover a new review! In particular-
Syn: Wow! I really like you story "Scars", and am now feeling v. groovy and cool at the thought of being inspiring. Hoorah!
Diane: I live for your reviews! Thank you so much for bothering to review each chapter, it's so cool! On the subject of English/American, I concede the "chauffeur chap" wasn't right, and when I go back and correct my assorted typos etc I will change it, "Spoilt" and "apologise" are the English version, though, and so I'll stick with them. The one that always gets me, though, is "pants". Cause "leather pants" sounds much better than "leather trousers", but for me "pants" are men's underwear, so that's kind of weird. Hmm, anyway, I'll stop rambling now...

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Chapter Thirty-Seven - Back to Normal

After a few hours sleep, Faith was preparing to return to the hospital. Eschewing her more traditional garb, she was wearing jeans and the same UCLA sweater she had worn on the first night at the hospital. If asked, she couldn't say why she kept wearing it; it just seemed right. She finished brushing her hair, then grabbed her bag and Wesley's copy of The Chronicles of Brother Anselm, and headed out, only to find that the hotel foyer had been invaded by a crowd of screaming, leaping lunatics.

On closer inspection, it turned out to be Cordelia, Fred and Gunn.

She paused at the foot of the sweeping staircase, until Cordelia caught sight of her and ran over.

"He's awake, he's awake!" she practically carolled. "Angel rang; he's going to be all right!" Faith stared at her blankly for a moment, then a smile spread slowly across her face. Cordelia grinned back, unashamedly crying, then she abandoned all pretence of control and flung her arms round the other girl. "He's going to be okay!" she screeched again, and Faith didn't even care that she had nearly been deafened. Cordelia released her, and went back to hugging Gunn. "Everything's going to back to normal now!" and she favoured Fred with another damp smile.

Back to normal.

The words echoed through Faith's mind, and she took an awkward step back. Normal was Angel Investigations. Normal was bickering with Cordy and organising filing cabinets.

Normal wasn't Faith.

Normal wasn't being stabbed almost to death.

Normal wasn't lying there, bleeding, with no one knowing what to do.

She backed away further, then turned and ran back upstairs. She was almost to her room, when she ran into someone. Lorne. Green-assed demon who could read auras. She stared at him in confusion for a moment, then remembered. Connor. The baby was back at the Hyperion now, and since Angel was at the hospital, Lorne had volunteered - or perhaps it was more a case of having been volunteered - for babysitting duties. She made to go past, then stopped, hesitated. Lorne looked at her for a moment, then his gaze sharpened. Faith took a deep breath, then:

And when you look in my eyes
Please know my heart is in your hands
It's nothing that I understand, but when in your arms
You have complete power over me
So be gentle if you please, 'cause
Your hands are in my hair, but my heart is in your teeth
And it makes me want to make you near me always

"You are at a crossroads, aren't you?" Faith said nothing, but the sheen in her eyes (not to mention the pretty strong vibes coming off her) was enough to tell all Lorne he needed to know. "Follow your heart, angel-face. That's all you have to do." He smiled at her, then walked away, down the stairs to the foyer, where Faith could still hear the others.

"Follow your heart." She knew what she wanted, but was that really following her heart? Or was her heart telling her what her head knew but didn't want to acknowledge? Faith entered her room, and closed the door behind her. Sitting on her bed, she pulled The Chronicles out, and stared at the leather-bound book. Eventually, she placed it on the bedside table. A knock sounded at the door, and she jumped.

"Faith, it's me." Cordelia's voice came through the door. "We're heading down to the hospital. You coming?" Faith took a deep breath, then exhaled shakily.

"Sure, I-I'll be right with you. Don't bother waiting - I'll catch up at the hospital."

"Okay, sure." Cordelia walked away, and Faith waited until the sound of her footsteps had died away completely.

Then she opened her bag and started to pack. In between the tears, she comforted herself that this was the right thing to do. Everything was back to normal now.

She didn't belong in normal.

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Okay, I could be really mean and leave you hanging, but I'm nice, so I won't. This isn't the end - there's another chapter coming soon, and then (three cheers please) I start on the sequel which will hopefully advance all the relationships concerned as well as tie up a lot of loose ends.