Thanks for all the amazing reviews! Keep them coming. And a big shout out to my beta Rylee, who is an avid Buffy/Spike 'shipper but goes through hell to beta this story anyway. And on to the story...

Creed

Chapter 4

"My God," Buffy whispered in horror, struggling to stay upright under the unconscious girl's weight. She dropped to her knees and laid the brunette's prone body on the floor. With a quick examination of Faith's injuries, Buffy discovered a deep gash in her abdomen where blood was streaming profusely.

Cursing loudly she ran to the mirror in the bathroom and opened it, extracting the first aid kit. She hurried back to Faith's side and rummaged through the box, pulling out a tube of ointment and gauze. Attempting to staunch the flow of blood with her hand, she tore the bandage with her teeth and wrapped it over the wound. Quickly attending to Faith's cuts and bruises, Buffy's fears began to abate as Faith's enhanced healing began to take over.

Gingerly running her hands over Faith's body she checked for any broken bones. As her hand passed over a rather large and bruised bump in the Slayer's shoulder, Buffy winced. She knew that a dislocated collarbone was not a nice experience, and silently apologised for what she was about to do. She held Faith's arm tightly in her grasp. With one sharp pull, the bone popped back into place, and she knew Faith's shoulder would be extremely sore for the next few days. She half-dragged Faith's body across the floor, Buffy grunted with effort as she lifted her body onto the bed. She rested against the wall and, sinking to the floor, pulled her knees to her chest to rest her head.

Who, or what, could have inflicted this on Faith? She couldn't understand how they managed to get inside a secured jail, surrounded by high-tech security systems and patrolling guards, let alone manage to land a blow on the aggressive brunette. Buffy considered the possibility of Faith's fellow inmates ganging up on her, but she knew Faith would have established her unusual strength and low tolerance for others trying to off her in the first few days behind bars. It just didn't add up.

Buffy watched as Faith's chest rose and fell with her shallow breathing. Over the next nine hours until sunset, she saw that the bruises and cuts that lacerated her body were healing faster, but the deep gash and bruised shoulder were stubbornly remaining. Boredom became an issue after a while, but she dared not leave Faith alone. Without realizing it she began her ritual series of tai chi poses, almost immediately feeling the benefits of the relaxing stretches. Her breathing became labored far quicker than she had anticipated and she tried to ignore the reasons why. She knew, but she wasn't about to admit that she couldn't even execute a gentle exercise like tai chi.

"Never did have the patience for that."

Buffy spun around and saw Faith gazing at her from the bed; one eye forced shut by the abating bruise.

"You're awake," she confirmed in surprise.

"Yeah," she said, struggling upright and wincing. "Though I wish I wasn't."

Buffy smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed, relieved that Faith's injuries weren't as bad as she thought.

"Who-or what- did this to you?" she asked worriedly.

Faith's face darkened and she scowled, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Buffy's forehead creased as she frowned. "Try me."

The brunette sighed and rested her head against the headboard.

"The Council," she said. "I should've known. Since you ain't the Slayer anymore, B, and I'm in jail, they needed some way of getting another one."

"God," Buffy breathed as it all came together. "Of course!"

Faith shot her a funny look. "You believe me?"

She snorted. "Why wouldn't I? The bastards would do anything to ensure a Slayer in their control. They withheld information on Glory..." Her voice caught in her throat at the mention of the hell god. "They're more evil than half the vampires I've staked."

"Yeah? Never liked 'em much myself," Faith admitted with a smirk. "Never expected an outright attack, though. Right in the middle of the exercise yard, in front of all the guards and prisoners."

"How'd you escape?"

"I didn't spend all those months sitting on my ass, B. Exercising was the only way to release that pent-up energy I got in that place. When they attacked, I'll admit it got me by surprise. But after warming up I did some serious ass-kickin'," she said, smiling at the memory. "I managed to get my hand cuffs off with one of their knives and used one of the lackeys to jump the wall. I just kept running and saw this outside the motel." Faith dipped her hand into her pocket and retrieved a familiar earring. Buffy's hand shot up to her ear and found that one of her earrings was missing.

"Didn't take much time in deciding where to go," Faith said with a shrug. "You can call the police if you 'wanna."

Buffy stared at her, realizing in shock that Faith still believed that Buffy hated her. After all that had happened she had never told Faith that she had forgiven the brunette for her betrayal all those years ago. God, did Faith even forgive her for thrusting that knife in her stomach? She didn't know, and the thought that the brunette hated her made her bite her lip nervously.

Maybe this had all been a mistake. She had heeded Angel's advice and come to Los Angeles to speak to Faith, but what if the Slayer couldn't help her? Buffy didn't even know what she was looking for, or what she wanted to find out. All she had known in Sunnydale that night was that she needed to be with someone who knew what being the Slayer meant. And Faith had been the only one who knew. Had she been too hasty in her decision to leave her friends and seek consolation from someone who had hurt her, and vice versa?

She remembered her friends' worried reaction when she had told them of her plans. They had exchanged skeptical glances, but she hadn't cared at that point. She only wanted to know, to see if being the Slayer determined who she was. Giles and the Scoobies had been adamant in their belief that she should forget about it, to live a normal life. But she knew she couldn't, wouldn't live a normal life.

It was ironic, really. Only a week ago, when she had discovered Dawn's blood was the only way to close the inter-dimensional portal, she had been willing to quit if it came to that. But like everything else in her life, this choice had been thrust upon her and she was forced to deal with it. Even if she wanted it back. After all these years, she was simply Buffy. She was a nice, normal girl like she had always wanted to be and suddenly she couldn't stand the thought of it.

She shook her head slowly, "No, Faith. I'm not going to call to the police. Despite what you may think, I don't want another Slayer called any time soon."

Faith's nodded, but her eyes were uncertain. "Thanks B."

"No problem," she smiled and stood from the bed. "I don't think the Tweed Team will be searching for you in this part of town, so I want you to rest up."

"Sure thing, Mom," Faith said sarcastically, instantly regretting her comment as Buffy's face fell. "Oh, shit B, I'm sorry, I forgot..."

"Nah, it's okay," Buffy said, forcing herself to smile, "Don't worry about it." She walked over to the small bar fridge and retrieved a bottle of water. Handing it to Faith, she said, "Here. I'll go grab some food from the café down the road. What do you want?"

"Hmmm, a hamburger would be great. Been far too long since I've had some real food!" she grinned enthusiastically.

"Okay."

" And maybe some fries, and I have a craving for ice-cream. Chocolate chip, and some popcorn. Oh, Oh, and there's this new chocolate bar that I just gotta try..."

To Be Continued...

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