CHAPTER FIFTEEN: FAITH
Giles carried Buffy up to Wesley's apartment and laid her out on Wesley's bed. She hadn't woken up for the entire trip to LA and Giles was beginning to worry even more about her. Their window was slowly closing, and Giles knew that if they didn't hurry, they would lose her forever. And it would be entirely his fault.
Cordy sat beside Buffy, a wet cloth in her hands, patting the Slayer's forehead even though the fever wouldn't break until Giles had completed all of the spells and rituals. It was the only thing that Cordy could do however, and it made her feel more useful to do so. Dawn was just sitting beside her sister, holding Buffy's hand.
"Only one of us should leave her, Giles," Wesley said.
Giles nodded, agreeing with Wesley. Buffy seemed to be restless unless either he or Wesley was in the room with her, and having them both go to the prison to get Faith to agree to this wouldn't the best of ideas.
"Perhaps I should go," Giles said. "There's not nearly as much bad blood between she and I."
Wesley looked vaguely relieved by the suggestion and agreed to it promptly.
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"Perkins," a voice called from outside her cell. "You got a visitor."
Faith looked up curiously. She hadn't had a visitor since Angel had come to tell her about Buffy's death, and that had been over a year ago. She couldn't imagine who it could possibly be, though she suspected it to be the same brooding vampire. Why he would visit her now was a mystery to her though.
She walked into the visitors room and was completely taken aback to see Giles sitting at a table with his hands folded neatly ion top of the wood. She hesitated before walking towards him and taking a seat opposite him.
"Giles. What are you doing here?" she asked.
He gave her a tight smile and swallowed nervously. If Faith didn't agree to this, he didn't know what they would do.
"We need your help," he said.
Faith looked at him curiously. "With what? I'm not much good to anyone in here."
"Actually, you don't even need to leave in order to help us," he said.
"I don't get it," she said in confusion.
"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I'm not explaining myself very well. Buffy's incredibly sick at the moment and-"
"Wait! B's alive?!" she asked.
Giles eyes widened in shock. He had assumed that the young woman had either never been told of Buffy's death or had been told that Buffy was indeed back.
"Yes, she…Willow and the others they…they brought her back," Giles explained.
"Shit," Faith breathed quietly. "That's pretty heavy. Angel never told me that she was back."
"I'm afraid it didn't really occur to us either," Giles said apologetically. "We were rather…concerned by her return."
"Is she okay?" Faith asked.
Giles was shocked to hear genuine concern in Faith's voice. Perhaps Wesley had been right about Faith wanting to make things alright between Buffy and herself. And if that was the case, then chances were that Faith would agree to this enjoining spell.
"From the actual resurrection itself, she's alright. Her…illness is something entirely different."
"Alright…so…you need my help," she said. "What do I gotta do?"
"It's an enjoining spell," he explained. "Basically, it lends someone your strength for a short amount of time."
"This sounds serious," Faith commented, worry stretched over her face. "How bad is it?"
"Extremely. As in, if we don't perform this spell in the next twenty-four hours, she could die. Again," Giles said.
"Whatever I gotta do, I'll do it," she said.
Giles smiled. "I was hoping you would say that."
"Has B agreed to this?" Faith asked suddenly.
His smiled suddenly vanished. "She uh…she hasn't been conscious for the last few hours. She has no idea of what we're planning to do."
"What exactly are you planning on doing here?" she asked.
"It's several spells actually," he explained. "The enjoining one, to give Buffy the strength she needs. She needs to complete a small ritual to restore my guardianship over her, and then I need to renew my Watcher's oaths to her."
"Shit," Faith said again. "What's doing all this?"
Giles went a little bit red at the question. "Uh, essentially, we broke the bond of Watcher and Slayer, first with a ritual transferring my guardianship, then when she passed away and again when I, uh…left."
Faith's eyes went wide. "You left?! How could you leave?"
"That seems to be the same question that everyone keeps asking me," Giles said.
"Yeah, cos we never thought you'd be dumb enough to go. She's in love with you," Faith said angrily.
"And that seems to be the other thing that everyone keeps telling me," Giles quipped.
Faith glared at her former Watcher. "Look, I'll do this spell on one condition."
"What's that?" he asked.
He expected her to say that she anted her parole date pushed forward, or that she was to be out of prison immediately. Her answer shocked him.
"That you don't go back to merry old England unless you're taking her and D on a vacation," Faith said.
Giles smiled at that and nodded. "Trust me, nothing could get me to leave again."
"You better not," she replied. "So…what do I hafta do?"
"Basically, we need you to begin meditating half an hour after I leave," Giles explained. "You probably won't feel anything for the first few minutes, but you'll know when it hits you. Try to do it on the bed, because once the enjoining works, you'll fall into a deep sleep. You'll only be able to wake when we cast off the spell."
"How long will it go for?" she asked.
"An hour, possibly two. You'll feel drained when you wake up, but you're strength will return to you about ten minutes after you awaken," he explained.
Faith nodded and stood up. "I suppose we should get cracking then," she said.
Giles too stood and gave her a smile. "Thank you for doing this," he said.
Faith just nodded and gave him the tiniest of smiles. "It's for B, right? I got a lot to make up for where she's concerned. Maybe I can start earning my forgiveness."
Giles just nodded and watched as Faith walked away.
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He left the prison and went back to Wesley, surprised to see that the spell had already been set up by Cordy who was now making tea in the kitchen.
"Hey Giles. How'd it go?" she asked.
"Surprisingly well," he replied. He took the cup of tea that she was offering and sipped it, surprised to find that it wasn't entirely horrible as he had been expecting. "She's agreed to help us."
"That's wonderful," Wesley said, coming out of the bedroom.
Giles looked up as he heard Wesley enter the room.
"Any change?" he asked.
"She was calling for you," Wesley replied sadly.
Giles sighed and went into the bedroom, kneeling beside Buffy and stroking her forehead gently. She nuzzled into his touch and sighed in contentment. Dawn smiled as she saw the expression of love come over her sister's face. It had been a long time since Buffy had looked like that. Dawn could only hope that she saw that look on Buffy's face a lot more.
"We're going to make it better luv. I promise," he whispered. He bent over and kissed her forehead gently. He went to move away, but after a second of hesitation, he bent down once more and placed his lips on her, kissing her gently.
He stood and picked his Slayer up, taking her into the living room. He lay her on the couch and seated himself in the centre of the protective circle that Cordy had prepared.
"Let's do this," he said.
Wesley nodded and knelt outside the circle, ready to take over when necessary. Cordy and Dawn lit the candles around the circle and Giles began chanting.