As the slayers walked into the waiting area of Sunnydale General, they were immediately greeted by Xander. The black-haired man had bags under his eyes, which showed that he hadn't been keeping too well all night and day. His left arm was in a sling and plaster and he looked like he was in desperate need of a bath. However, that could wait for he grabbed the slayers in a big hug with his good arm. Faith was unsure of what to make of this, as her and Xander hadn't been too close as friends before with the past between them. Buffy gave her arm a gentle stroke though, which let her know that everything was fine between them.
"So, how are my favourite slayer gals?" Xander asked, chipper as usual, "Good to see you on your feet again, Faith. The lying down, bleeding everywhere may be a good look for some, but guys usually go for women that look like they still have a pulse." Buffy dissolved in a fit of laughter at this comment and at Faith's response of raising an eyebrow and not looking particularly amused.
"Who said it was a guy I was trying to impress, Xan-Man," Faith replied curtly, "How's your gal doing? Where are Red and Blondie?" She quickly asked these questions before either Buffy or Xander could ask her about her comment of impressing someone. Buffy had to give the brunette her dues; she knew how to deflect the conversation topic away from herself impressively.
"Anya's fine, she's resting although she keeps insisting on being let out of here," Xander replied, "me and her have been talking and we're gonna see about giving our relationship another shot. Guess it takes a near death experience for both parties for them to make up and get over their differences, eh? I'm gonna thank Willow for it later, once I've got my head around the fact of her almost killing us. She's in Tara's room just now, talking things over with her recently awoken and no longer sleeping Beauty."
"That's great about you and Anya, Xander," Buffy said genuinely, "you guys are totally meant for each other. What room are Willow and Tara in? Faith and I were hoping to see them and check up on how they're both doing." Faith couldn't help but notice the longing tone in Buffy's voice as she told Xander that she thought he and Anya were meant for each other. She also could've sworn that she saw the blonde glance briefly at her when she said that. For a moment, both sets of hazel eyes met and electricity passed between them. Soon enough, B, I'll let you know how I feel about you. She was brought out of her thoughts by Xander's reply.
"They're in the second room down the hall," he said, pointing to the corridor he was meaning, "I'm gonna go check on Anya, maybe catch a nap on a chair in her room." The slayers hugged their friend and left him to go and see someone they were both anxious to see and also afraid of seeing: Willow.
As they walked into the hospital room, Faith grabbed tightly onto Buffy's arm as a wave of fear hit her. She wasn't used to being scared of anything in her life, except for the thought of Buffy dying and not being in her life. However, now she was genuinely terrified of being in the same room as the powerful witch. She could only relax slightly as she once more felt Buffy's hand rub up and down her arm in a comforting way. The sight that greeted the slayers was a tragic one, which seemed terribly poignant to Faith. The redhead was lying on the hospital bed, sobbing loudly into her girlfriend's shoulder.
"I-I tried to kill them, Tara," her mumbles could just be made out, "H-how can I possibly face them now? I almost killed the s-slayers, the ones chosen to defend the world against its big bads. N-not to mention the t-terrible torture I made them s-suffer." Tara spotted the girls standing in the doorway and nodded them in with her head.
"Sweetie, I know you weren't yourself," Tara whispered into Willow's ear, "if I thought you'd been taken from me, I would've done the same thing you did. I think you should talk to Buffy and Faith about what happened, I'm sure they don't hate you and will forgive you in time."
"Yeah, Red, I mean, I've tried to kill you guys lots of times," Faith's voice made Willow jump and she turned sharply to make eye contact with the dark slayer. The witch's eyes were green once more, though they had a look of terrible guilt and shame in them. Her face was flushed due to her heavy crying and became more guilt ridden as she took in the conditions of her best friend and the dark slayer. An awkward silence stretched out in the small hospital room, during which time Faith limped over to a chair beside Tara's bed, feeling exhaustion and pain tugging from her stomach wound.
"Will, why don't you come for a walk with me?" Buffy suggested, desperate to break the silence, "You look like you could use a coffee anyway. Faith will stay here and keep Tara company for you. We need some alone best friend time as well." Willow approached her best friend slowly, not quite believing it to be true. When she was standing just in front of Buffy, though, she couldn't hold back on her already fraught emotions and grabbed the slayer in a bear hug. Buffy held her tightly and slowly walked the witch out of the room. Faith and Tara looked at each other slightly uneasily after the other two girls had left the room.
"So, you're healing well, Blondie," Faith said nervously. Tara nodded and then reached out and took one of Faith's hands in her own. The brunette could feel the magic flowing through the witch's body just from their hands touching and it made her uneasy.
"It's ok, Faith," Tara reassured, "I'm not going to hurt you with my magic. I want you to know that I owe you m-my life and also want you to know how much I appreciate what you done for Willow. If you h-hadn't stopped her when you did, she would've d-destroyed the world in her grief." Faith shifted uneasily, not familiar with praise and also feeling some magic pass from the witch's body into her own. It eased the pain in her gut and also made her relax more.
"Don't mention it, Tara," Faith replied calmly, "I know how much you mean to Red and I couldn't stand her losing her soulmate like that. I know what it's like to be alone in the world, lost in grief, when you think you've lost who you consider to be the other half of you." Tara said nothing but she could sense the brunette's deeper feelings for Buffy. Unknown to both women, the blonde slayer was standing just outside the door, listening in on their conversation.
"I don't think you've lost that person, Faith," Tara said cryptically, "if you simply tell her how you feel, she may surprise you." Then, the blonde witch whispered an incantation into the air which sent Faith into a restful sleep. As she dozed off, the dark slayer could just hear the footsteps indicating that Buffy and Willow had returned to the room.
A few weeks later found Buffy and Faith in a cemetery patrolling together. Due to her slayer healing powers, the wound on Faith's stomach had healed much faster than if it were on a normal person. She had been anxious to get back to patrolling the cemeteries at night a couple of weeks ago, but Buffy wouldn't let her until she was happy that Faith was fully recovered. In the time since Faith saved Tara, Dawn had moved back into the house after spending a couple of nights over at Janice's house, Giles had bought himself a new house to stay in while in Sunnydale and Anya had told D'Hoffryn that she no longer wished to be a vengeance demon. After he accepted her resignation, Anya moved back in with Xander and they were taking things slowly. Willow had moved in with Tara at her dorm room once the blonde witch had been allowed out of hospital. Things were tense between her and the others, although Buffy had warmed to her slowly and was trying to convince the others to forgive Willow. Faith had made a stronger effort than Xander, Anya or Dawn to make amends with the redhead. She knew what it was like to find a part of yourself that was so dark it chilled you to your very soul. Willow had been relieved that Faith didn't hold any grudges against her for the incident in the Magic Shop. The witch and the slayer had learned a better understanding of each other.
"So, you wanna go out sometime, Faith?" Buffy asked tentatively before attacking a vampire that just leapt out of its grave. Faith stood and leaned against a nearby tree as she watched the blonde work her stuff.
"Sure B, I got nothing planned," Faith replied coolly, "when do you want to invite the Scooby gang over, then?" Buffy quickly clicked on that the other woman thought she wanted to hang out with the others rather than just the two of them. Quickly blocking the vampire's punches and shoving a stake into his heart, Buffy turned to face Faith while dusting herself down.
"No, I was thinking more along the lines of just the two of us," Buffy explained softly, "as in, do you want to go see a movie? Perhaps even go to the Bronze after patrol one night? Then we can just hang out at home just the two of us. You know how Dawn likes to go over to her friend Janice's a lot." The look on Faith's face at this suggestion gave enough indication to Buffy that she liked this idea. 'Get me fresh after patrolling, B, and you'll learn another side of me, hopefully one that you'll like'.
"Sure Buffy, I like the sound of that idea," Faith replied, her voice dipping an octave, "just you and me, in that house, all by ourselves…" she stopped talking and began to zone out. Her mind was playing dirty tricks on her already, though she knew that she wouldn't try anything further than a kiss with Buffy until she knew the other slayer wanted more. Buffy slowly slipped her hand into Faith's and gently gave her a tug, to get her to keep walking through the cemetery. They ended up stopping at Joyce Summers' grave for a few moments.
"You know, mum really liked you," Buffy whispered softly, "she actually liked you more than she liked either Riley or Angel. She always saw you as misunderstood and as another daughter. I think she's looking down on you and is very proud of you right now." As she turned to face Faith, Buffy saw the tears in the dark slayer's eyes. She knew that Faith had always seen Joyce as the mother that she never had and praise like what Buffy had told her meant a lot to her.
"Thanks, B, that means a lot," Faith replied, choked with emotion, "I think we should head back now, huh? Daybreak will be wondering where we are by now, seeing as it's almost sunrise." The blonde looked up into the sky and saw that this was true. The sun was rising slowly into the sky now; the slayers had been talking all night in the cemetery. Walking hand in hand, closer than they had dared to up to this point, the girls left the cemetery.