"So, where do you think I place my hands?" Xander asked.

"Well, I'd say head's a solid bet for one."

Xander nodded. "And the other?"

Oz glanced at Faith's chest.

"Not a chance," Xander said, following Oz's eyes.

"No?"

Xander shook his head. "I don't want those three girls in here beating me to death with their shoes."

"About that," Oz said.

"Nothing's going on, man."

"What?"

"I saw the look you gave Buffy when I reassured Willow, and it doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

"I know you guys aren't doing anything. I wasn't worried about that."

"What is it, then?"

"Why is Willow bugged about you sleeping with Faith?"

"Oh, that. Remember the Sisters of Jhe thing?"

"Yeah."

"That night, and don't take this the wrong way, Willow told me she loved me. She only meant it in a 'you're my best friend' way, but with all the. . . stuff that had gone on, it took a lot for her to say that."

"Okay. I get that."

"That's the night Faith and I. . ."

Oz raised his eyebrow. "Wow."

"Yup."

"Got it. Two hands on the head?"

"I'm thinking yeah."

Oz nodded.

Xander placed one hand on each side of Faith's head and concentrated. A white glow emanated from his hands, and covered her body completely. Xander leaned against the bed as the white glow intensified. Oz moved over to Xander and steadied him. After another few seconds, there was a bright white flash, and Xander collapsed.

"Buffy!" Oz yelled.

Buffy and Willow rushed in and saw Oz doing his best to hold the taller man up. Buffy grabbed Xander and took him into the hall, where she lowered him gently into a chair.

Xander groaned, and Buffy gave him a quick kiss. Xander opened his eyes and smiled at her. Buffy tousled his hair then turned to Cordelia. "Watch him," she said. "I need to see about Faith now."

Oz and Willow were standing in the room, watching Faith's monitors.

"There's more brain activity," Oz said, pointing at one of the screens.

"Which means what?" Buffy asked, looking over at Faith's still form.

"Don't know," he said. "I'm guessing we shouldn't leave her alone, though."

Buffy nodded. "What happened?"

"He put his hands on her head, and she got covered in this white glow. It got brighter, and he stumbled, so I grabbed him to hold him up. Then there was a flash. . . and he fell."

"Probably wore him out," Willow said.

"Yeah," Buffy said. "He's awake, though."

"And I'll be fine," Xander said from the doorway, where he was being held up by Cordelia.

"He threatened to walk over here by himself," Cordelia explained.

"It's okay, Cordy," Buffy said, smiling at her boyfriend. "Where's Giles?"

"Went to get water and a nurse to have Xander checked out," Cordelia said.

Buffy nodded. "Okay, well then I say we clear out again, except for Oz and Xander. . . Xan, sweetie, I'll bring you a chair."

Xander nodded and leaned up against the wall until Buffy brought a chair in for him. He sat down and kissed her. "Thank you," he said.

Buffy grinned at him and left the room.

"You know, Oz, you could get a chair, too," Xander said.

"It's certainly an idea."

"And not without merit, either."

Willow walked in at that point with another chair. "Thought you might wanna sit too," she told Oz.

Xander grinned at her as Oz gave her a hug and she left.

"Wonder how long we'll have to wait before she wakes up," Xander said.

Oz shrugged.

They sat there, waiting. A few minutes later, a nurse came in and inspected Xander. She ordered him to get some rest, but declared him otherwise healthy. Xander thanked her and she left. Giles soon came in with some water for Xander, coffee for Oz and some snacks for the two of them to share.

They sat.

And they waited.

Xander fell asleep in his chair, and Oz sat, thinking.

Xander woke up after about half an hour after inadvertently smacking his head on the wall behind him.

They sat more.

They waited more.

Then Faith groaned.

Xander and Oz got up and slowly walked to Faith's bedside. Faith was slowly moving her head, and her eyes were fluttering. They stood there and watched as, ever so slowly, Faith awoke from her coma.

"You ever watch Willow wake up?" Oz asked, as Faith was still not quite out of it.

"A couple times, when we were younger," Xander said, smiling at the memory.

"It sure is something."

Xander nodded. "She still smack her lips right before her eyes pop open?"

"Yup."

"I always thought that was the cutest thing."

Oz nodded. "What does Buffy do?"

Xander shook his head. "I don't know yet. Can't wait to find out, though."

"Oh, what the fuck?" asked a very raspy voice.

Xander looked down and smiled. "Welcome back to the world of the living, Faith."

Oz looked at Faith. "Hey," he said.

Faith looked around. "What the hell? Where am I?"

"Sunnydale General," Xander said. "In a bed."

She glanced up at Xander. "What the hell are you two doing here?"

"We went through the list, and decided that you'd probably have the least animosity towards the two of us when you woke up. Plus, I kind of had to be here."

"So, what, you guys have just been hanging around for a few days?"

Oz and Xander looked at each other, then back at Faith.

"Um. . . well, no. We just came here today," Xander said. "We thought you might like some familiar faces when you woke up. . . even if we have had. . . bad times."

Oz nodded at that.

"What day is it?" Faith asked.

"Tuesday," said Oz.

"So, I've been out, what, like a week? How did you guys know I'd wake up? And why did you care?"

"Well, we woke you up. On purpose. We figured. . . I don't know. You were worth saving."

Faith snorted. "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about, Boytoy."

"Faith, we're here to help," Xander said, sincerely. "Look, you've messed up. You killed some people, and you worked with the Mayor to try to kill us all. But we're willing to look past that to try to help you, if you're willing to work with us. We've got an apocalypse coming, and we could use some back up."

"Fang and B not cuttin' it anymore, you need a murderer backin' you up? You must be in bad."

"Angel's not in the picture anymore. Moved to LA. And Buffy's doing fine. But we could use your help, if you're willing."

Faith closed her eyes and said nothing for a few seconds. Then she lashed out with her leg and kicked Oz in the stomach, while she brought her fist up to punch Xander in the face. He caught her punch with his hand, and held it there, an unimpressed look on his face, his fist and forearm glowing white the whole time.

"You okay, Oz?"

Oz groaned from the floor. "Will be."

Xander looked at Faith, who was staring at him, shocked. "You're weak, Faith. You've been lying in this bed for over three months. And as you might have guessed, from me holding your fist instead of having it in my face, I'm not the same as I used to be."

Xander dropped Faith's hand and let her lean back in the bed. "Let me make something clear to you, Faith. We're willing to give you a second chance, but that doesn't mean we trust you outright. I woke you up, using these new powers I've gained, because we hoped you might want to change. But if you don't. . . if you're intent on killing people and wreaking havoc. . . we can take you down without a problem. I took Angel, I can take you. Buffy did once already, and she's waiting in the hall. It's your play, Faith. What'll it be?"

"Three months?" Faith asked. She looked in Xander's eyes. "You're serious."

"As a heart attack."

"So, what? I get back to health, so little miss perfect can go off and have her own life, is that it? Or are you just going to be throwing me to the dogs on suicide missions and shit like that? Doing the dirty work B don't wanna do? Fuck that, I got enough with Wilkins."

"No, Faith. Buffy's dedicated to the life of the Slayer. And any mission you went on that was hard enough to be considered a 'suicide mission'. . . we'd be right there beside you. And if there was any dirty work Buffy didn't want to do. . . it would fall to me."

Oz groaned as he stood up. "Gonna get a doctor," he said.

Xander nodded. "One for Faith, too."

"What I meant," said Oz.

"Nobody else in here, yet, Oz. Make it clear."

Oz nodded and left the room.

"So, Faith. You have a choice. What do you say?"

"You're nuts, no way will they accept me. Shit, I tried to kill you. Should have just left me to veg where I couldn't have hurt anyone, and you know it."

"Maybe," said Xander. "But we're willing to risk it. And I wouldn't have woken you up if I didn't have their support."

Faith thought about it for a minute. "So how the hell are you getting me out of here?"

Xander grinned. "Did you ever see Star Trek IV?"

* * * * *

"I thought you said we were gonna do some Star Trek shit to get me outta here," Faith said from her hospital bed a few hours later.

"Well, I wanted to," said Xander. "But Giles insisted that since the Mayor's estate had paid all possible hospital bills for a year, we simply check you out and do everything legally."

"You sound disappointed. I thought you were Joe Lawful."

"Well, me and Willow have been trying to find a chance to run around the hospital with somebody on a gurney since we saw the movie. I thought this would be our best shot."

"Maybe," Faith said. "I think you just wanted another shot to ride my bod."

Xander snorted.

"What, a few months in a hospital and I'm not good enough all of a sudden?"

"Faith, I'm sure you'll make some guy very happy some day. I can guarantee you it will not be me."

"Who said I wanted to make you happy? I'm just lookin' for a little action. You up for it?"

"If he was, he'd have a lot more chances to ride around on a gurney," said Buffy from the doorway.

Xander turned as Buffy walked in the room, inserted herself next to Xander, and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Hey, sweetie," she said.

Xander smiled down at her. "Hey, Buff. They about ready out there?"

"The nurse said five or ten minutes until the paperwork goes through. Oh, and Faith, they're going to want you to come back in about a week for some tests. It's not everyday that three-month-coma patients wake up."

Faith eyed the couple. "So, what, you two shackin' up? Finally got the perfect princess to dig ya, huh Boytoy?"

"Well, that's part of it," Xander said with a slight smile.

"Also, we're soul mates," Buffy said. "That helped it along a little bit."

"Soul mates?" Faith asked. "You mean you were boinking the undead when X here was your one true?" Faith broke down into a fit of laughter. "Damn, B. And I thought I had my life messed up!"

Buffy's face dropped a little, but Xander gave her a reassuring squeeze, a kiss, and his most comforting smile.

Faith rolled her eyes. "Look, whatever. I can dig soul mates. That's serious shit, you know? But, B, you gotta know some hotties who like to get their groove on."

"Well, there is this guy Parker. . ."

"No!" shouted Xander.

Buffy smiled, and Faith looked confused.

"Boytoy, if you're off the market, why don't you want me with this Parker guy?"

"Because he's an ass, and I don't think he's the type of guy you should be looking for."

"It's my body, X. I'll let it have who it wants."

Xander thought for a minute. "Okay. That's your choice. But if you ever meet Parker, drop my name. I think I made kind of an impression on him the last time we met."

Buffy's face turned red as she tried to hold in her laughter.

"What?" Faith asked.

"Nothing," said Xander.

Faith shook her head. "Whatever. So where am I sleeping tonight?"

"Giles's spare room," Xander said. "We also have all the Scooby meetings at his place now, so you won't have far to go for that."

"Wow. Looks like you guys really thought this out. How long were you arguing while I lay here in a coma?"

"We didn't argue for very long, Faith. Two days ago, we talked about it and decided it was worth it, and yesterday I moved out of Giles's to make room for you. This is pretty much as early as we could make it."

"You said you had your powers for a couple months now. Took you that long to think about me? I'm flattered."

"I've had my powers for a few months now, yeah. I've been back in Sunnydale for just over a week, and I had the thought pretty much as soon as I found out I could heal people, which was a day after I got back. I didn't say anything for a few days because I wasn't sure how people would take it. And I was a little preoccupied with this infatuation I had."

"Had?" Buffy asked.

"More than that, now," Xander said, smiling at Buffy. "Was then, too."

Buffy grinned up at him.

"Oh, God," said Faith. "If I'm going to have to put up with this shit, just put me back in the coma."

A young male nurse walked in with a small box, which he placed at the foot of the bed. "Well, it looks like all the paperwork has gone through, miss. Here's all your belongings. You're free to go, but the doctor would like you to come back in soon for some more tests. Her phone number is in there as well."

"Thanks," Xander said. "So we can go as soon as she's ready?"

The nurse nodded. "She's all done on our end."

"Great," Xander said. "Thanks for your help."

The nurse nodded again and walked out of the room.

"Okay, Faith. You get dressed, we'll be right outside."

"Sure thing, Boytoy."

"Could you not call him that?" Buffy asked.

"No prob, B. Now get out of here. You too, lover."

Xander's eyebrow shot up.

"Faith?" Buffy said.

"Yeah?"

"Boytoy's fine."

Faith smirked. "Thought so."

---------

End Chapter 16