Author: Lucinda

similar to the series, with chances of violence and moderate sexuality

main characters: Riley, Faith

Faith and Second Chances 19: Tending the Wounds

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Distribution: Wic, Paula, Cat - anyone else ask first.

Set in season 4, just after the body switching has been reversed.

Riley paced along the hospital hallway, trying to sort out his reactions. Part of him wanted to be appalled at what had happened. Faith had stalked through the auditorium, killing every downed hostile that she found with no sign of hesitation or remorse. It looked so easy for her. Just... a swipe of one of those knives, and there was more death. Another part was horrified at what had been on the stage. Not just the blasted bits of Adam, but Forrest, altered so that he had demon parts sewn onto him, in horrible transplants.

Those files had been full of things like that. Details of how it could be accomplished, procedures and drugs to smooth the process, a list of what organs it was simpler to replace and what ones were too much trouble to change. The files had been horrible, damning Maggie Walsh to whatever hell she had wound up in. It hurt to know that she'd been doing that to them, to the very people that she'd promised to watch over and lead.

As chilling as it had been to see her walking through and leaving death, he knew that those same demons would only have killed his soldiers, killed civilians if they'd survived. She had saved them, saved so many more people by her actions. By that measure, he should be thinking of her as a hero.

Soldiers had died, and more of them had been wounded. He didn't trust the remaining Initiative doctors and scientists not to be following some sort of personal plan, or the same plan that had resulted in Adam, had stolen Forrest's body and altered it. If that body had awakened, would his friend have been in there, trapped in a nightmarish existence, or would there have been something dark and evil looking out of part of his friend's face?

Adam was destroyed, and between the soldiers and Faith, his pack of followers had been removed. Sunnydale was safer, though not safe. There would be more hostiles, more vampires, but without a leader they would be less effective. There would still need to be a bit of cleaning up, and a few good sweeps of the old industrial section and the older graveyards as well. Unfortunately, that would be the easy portion. There was still the confusion left in the Initiative. Who would be in charge now that Walsh was gone? Would the project be closed, and if so, what would happen to the soldiers?

Many of the soldiers were expected to make full recoveries, given enough time. Some would even be able to leave the hospital tomorrow. There were just a few that were still in unstable condition, their fates uncertain. All because of one woman with delusions of grandeur, a scientist wanting to play God and create life from death. The fact that so many of them were still alive to recover could be partially credited to Faith. If not for her walk of death, killing any hostile that had still been twitching, more of the soldiers would have died, as well as some of the rescue personnel.

Faith was a killer. But she had only been killing to protect. Looking at the rooms where his unit rested, wounded and medicated, it occurred to him that he would have killed, even had the foes been human, to protect his men. Could he fault Faith for having the same protectiveness for her people? Not if he wanted to be able to face himself in the mirror, though it did sound like she'd made a few bad judgments about who the right people were. The mess with the Mayor that Buffy had mentioned had been Buffy's senior year, when Buffy was eighteen. Was Faith the same age as Buffy? Older? Younger?

He should be glad that Faith was sorting herself out, figuring out what her mistakes were. Figuring out how to avoid them in the future. Aching, he made his way towards the room where Faith was supposed to be resting. Her leg had been gashed open, and he'd been amazed that she had been able to walk on it, let alone deal out death like that tot eh fallen hostiles.

Slowly, he walked to the door, leaning in to look at her. Faith looked almost fragile, her hair contrasting to the pillow. Fragile and young. "Faith?"

"Hey there, soldier boy." Her voice was soft, and she blinked at him. "How bad was it?"

"They had to put about thirty stitches in your leg. You've got bruises everywhere, they're worried about a concussion..."

"I didn't mean me. I meant everybody else. How many aren't going out again, how bad were the rest wounded." Faith interrupted him, and then her voice softened a little. "I know I'll be okay in a while, it just hurts right now."

"Everybody that was still alive when the medics got to us will stay that way. We lost four men." Riley paused, considering what he'd managed to learn. "I don't know how complete the recoveries will be. Some of the guys looked like they'd been hurt pretty bad, they might have taken permanent damage."

"Hunting demons and vamps will scar you up, inside and out." Faith closed her eyes, and wiped at her face. Had that been a tear glimmering on her cheek? "I guess it's better than getting killed."

"You could have been killed helping us." He wasn't certain what to say. 'Thanks' sounded inadequate, and part of him wanted to tell her 'don't ever put yourself in danger like that again', which he suspected would get him hurt.

"Beats spending the weekend watching weird sci-fi." Faith shrugged, trying to act casual.

"Faith..." Riley shook his head, trying to figure out how she could be so casual.

She shook her head, pulling herself into a sitting position. "Look, I'm a Slayer. Maybe not the best there's ever been, maybe not even the best this decade, but I can't change it. I can't not be a Slayer; I can't ignore the demons and vamps. If I don't look for them, they'll look for me."

"That's dangerous. Especially if you don't have good backup." Riley protested.

"Hell, why do you think most Slayers last less than a year?" Faith snarled. "Of course it's dangerous. Live fast, fight hard, and die young."

Riley gasped, unable to even put words to the feeling that spread inside him at her pronouncement. A year? A year was good?

He must have made a sound, because her glare softened a little. "It's not my idea, it was never my idea. Fate just tapped me on the shoulder, sucker punched me with this, and I have to deal with it. Right up until I die, and when that happens, it'll probably be messy and painful. It's just... Thanks to you, when that happens, I'll be fighting on the right side."

"A year..." Riley finally managed, collapsing to sit on the end of the bed. "That's it?"

"Some don't even make it that long. Not counting my coma, I don't think I'm doing too bad now. I got a bit off the right path for a while, but I'm doing better." Faith muttered.

"How long will you be here?" Riley looked at her, noticing that they hadn't even put an IV into her arm. "I mean, in the hospital."

"They wanted to keep me overnight, and then they said I could leave when I could walk out the door under my own power." Faith shrugged, and grinned at him "I guess that means I can go now, if I wanted."

"What?" Riley couldn't have heard that right. He knew that he couldn't have heard her say she could leave now. "Thirty stitches in your leg. A concussion. Bruises everywhere, maybe along your spine. All that, and you think you could just walk out of here? A hospital is the safest place for you, Faith."

"Wrong. A hospital is public domain, Riley. Open to anybody in need of help. Unfortunately, that opens it up to a few more. Any vamp could just walk right into the building, right into any room except maybe the chapel, and the only thing to stand in their way is the hospital staff. Most just don't think of it." She shivered, and her eyes took on a glazed, haunted look. "They could just walk right in and try to finish you off. It's happened before."

"Public..." Riley faltered at the implications of her words. "What do you mean, it's happened before?"

"Penny showed me some of the older Watcher's journals. There have been a few occasions when a Slayer got hurt real bad, and their Watcher took her to the hospital. Five got killed when something went after them in the hospital." Faith hesitated, and then looked at him, whispering, "My first month as a Slayer, there was this pack of nasty little demons... I can't even remember what kind now. About waist high little lizards with big teeth. They looked like something out of Jurassic Park, and they ripped us up something awful. A vamp came right into the emergency room, white coat, scrubs, stethoscope... the whole get up. He tried to eat Penny, and I had to cut his head off with a scalpel."

"Oh my God..." Riley shook his head, imagining how horrible that would feel. "If you're sure, I can give you a lift back to Steve's."

"Yeah. I just don't feel safe here." Faith tried to smile. "That and you can lose time in places like this. A lot of time."

"If you can walk, I'll get you out of here." Riley offered, and stood up.

Her movements were slow, lacking her usual grace, but Faith slid from the bed, standing up. Her face was paler than normal, and her eyes seemed much brighter. "Okay, I'm standing. I want out of here."

Riley moved beside her, ready to catch her if she fell, but letting her walk. She signed herself out, the last name an illegible scrawl that apparently satisfied the person at the desk, and promised to take her medicines.

As he drove away from the hospital, pretending that he didn't hear Faith hissing at each bump in the road, Riley wondered what would happen to him and the other soldiers of the Initiative. A corner of his mind decided that Faith probably wouldn't be the only person starting over in the near future.

Glancing at her, he said, "I hope I can still be there to help you in the future. They're going to have to do something, after this, and I don't know where I'll end up."

Faith shrugged. "Maybe I can go with you. There's nothing left for me in Sunnydale, no reason to stay."

"I can't become the focus of your life." The words were soft.

"I didn't ask you to." Faith winked at him. "Not that you'd be bad company on a cold night, but I was sort of hoping more for someone to help keep me on the side of helping people. I can find some guy to hop in the sack with me anywhere. Someone who cares what happens is a lot harder to find."

Riley didn't want to think too much about why the idea of Faith hopping into bed with some random guy bothered him. She was attractive, but she'd done terrible things, killed people. He didn't want to be her boyfriend. He wasn't even sure if he could help keep her focused on the straight and narrow.

But there was a tiny part of him that wished he could be her boyfriend.

End Faith & Second Chances 19: Tending the Wounds.