It took far too long for Buffy to meet up with Giles and Willow. Faith never stirred. As the Citroen jerked to a stop in front of her, the blonde carefully settled her bundle across the back seat. Scrambling into the crowded front seat with Willow, Buffy kept her gaze locked onto the unconscious girl behind her.
"Head for the Mansion, Giles," she ordered.
"I'm afraid her injuries might be too severe for that." The older man took a corner too sharply, and Faith moaned as she rolled across the seat.
The blonde waited until the injured girl quieted before replying. "No, Giles. We won't be able to keep her safe at the hospital. If we can get her to Angel's, the Mayor will have a bit more trouble getting to her. Angel can guard her at night. One of us can take the day shift."
Always the student, Willow piped up, "What about school?"
"Will, we have three days til we graduate. I don't think they'll fail us if we miss some classes." Buffy glanced back at Faith again. She was still out. Reaching down the link, the Slayer flinched. Lots of pain there. Frowning, Buffy considered the emotion. She didn't think all of the pain came from the other girl's injuries.
A few more minutes passed before they wheeled up to the large Mansion that Angel called home. "Will, see if Angel's in. I could use his help with Faith." They climbed out of the small car and Buffy kept her senses fully extended. Only one vampire popped on the radar. Good. She didn't think the Mayor would expect them to bring the brunette here. "Giles, I'm going to stay here tonight. Can you let Mom know what happened? I'll be by there in the morning to get ready for school."
"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Giles' cultured voice asked. "You seem certain that Faith is back on our side, but perhaps she is working both sides of the fence."
"We've been over this before." Buffy was impatient. "In fact, you were the one who suggested I go to Faith to get information on the Box." She glared at her former Watcher. "Why can't you trust me? She's on our side. Hell, look at her, Giles! The Mayor sent his vamps after her because she helped Will."
Giles looked down. "Yes. It does seem the logical explanation. Faith has fooled us before, though." He took off his glasses and cleaned them with a rag he pulled from his pocket. "I will stop at your house and speak with Joyce."
"Good." Buffy felt Angel approaching. "OK, Giles. Help me get her out of the car. Angel's on his way." Pushing and pulling at the brunette, they managed to get her out of the vehicle and leaning against the shorter Slayer.
"Buffy, Giles, what happened?" the tall vampire asked. He moved to pick up the injured Slayer.
"I'll explain," Buffy said. "Giles, go ahead and take Will home and talk to Mom. I'll meet you in the library before school tomorrow. We can work on a schedule for guard duty and do that research we didn't get to tonight."
"If you want, I can take the shift tomorrow," Willow offered hesitantly. "If you can get me some of the stuff on the Ascension, I'll just sit with Faith and research."
Smiling in relief, Buffy grabbed the taller girl in a crushing hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She pulled away. "Great. Let's get her settled in for the night, Angel."
The vampire retreated to the courtyard entrance of his home. "Thanks again, guys. I'll see you in the morning." Buffy trotted after her boyfriend.
Faith bit back a groan and opened her eyes. Dim light stabbed at her and she dropped her lids. Peering between her lashes, the brunette Slayer saw a tangled mop of blonde resting next to her hip. Carefully, she levered herself up until she leaned against the wall behind her head. Angel's, she thought to herself. Then the person sitting beside her must be…"B?"
The blonde head snapped up and tired hazel eyes blinked sleepily. "Faith?" More life lit the eyes. "Faith!" Buffy smiled and grabbed the brunette's hand.
"B, how the hell did I get here?" Faith tried to keep the panic from her voice.
Buffy felt the panic and hurried to reassure her companion. "We found you in the alley behind the movie theatre. Some vamp was kicking the snot out of you." For some reason, the blonde Slayer didn't want the other girl to know about the connection between them.
"Yeah. He got the drop on me." Faith looked away from Buffy. Fuck. What do I do now? They have to know I ain't working for the Mayor anymore. Bitterness followed that thought. She had nowhere to go now. She'd betrayed the Scoobies and her Boss. She didn't belong in Sunnydale.
"The Mayor wasn't real happy with you helping Will, was he?" Buffy questioned gently.
Instead of answering, Faith drew back, refusing to meet the probing hazel eyes.
"Hey, come on." The blonde gently shook the hand she held. "You saved her and you got us some information."
"Yeah, well, as Red pointed out, it's too late." Faith pulled her hand away.
Buffy looked closely at the other girl. This was the longest conversation they'd ever had. Well, the longest talk that hadn't revolved around Slaying or guys. "Too late for what?"
The blonde Slayer felt the reluctance in Faith's next action. Brown eyes left off staring at the blanket and locked with hers. "Too late to be a Scooby."
She had to tread carefully. Buffy instinctively knew the other girl wasn't ready for complete forgiveness. The brunette ached with guilt. "Faith…It won't be easy." She paused, hunting for words. "I don't know how quickly the gang will be to forgive and forget. But, Will offered to come and be with you during the day tomorrow." She smiled. "And you know how much she hates to miss class."
It was the right thing to say. The scared brown eyes warmed with laughter. "Fuck, yeah. Red's kinda weird that way."
Buffy leaned back and stretched. "You feeling OK? I think you took a pretty good shot to the head."
"Doing OK, B. Bit fuzzy around the edges, but Slayer healing's on the job." The younger girl fell silent, staring moodily into space.
The older Slayer propped her chin on her hands next to Faith's legs. She wanted to know what the other girl was feeling, but it didn't seem fair to keep using the link. Yawning, Buffy looked up. "Hey, you need anything? I'm a bit hungry and can grab something for you while I'm up."
"Nah. I'm good." She was lying, and Buffy knew it. The blonde waited a long minute, but the other girl stayed silent.
"I'll be back in a few. Just call out if you need me."
"Sure." Faith seemed to pull in on herself.
Sighing, Buffy wandered off in search of a late night snack. The blonde kept a light touch on her link with the injured Slayer. Not enough to pry, but she wanted to know if Faith bolted while she was gone. Angel's kitchen was a massive space that rang with emptiness. The only part of the area in working order contained a refrigerator, a microwave, and a hot plate. The hot plate was Buffy's. Yanking open the door, Buffy peered at the various containers of blood, looking for real food. Only old take out and a bag of brown lettuce met her requirements.
She stepped back and closed the door. She 'looked' for Angel with her Slayer senses. Her boyfriend was out in the courtyard. Brooding, I'm sure she commented to herself. She followed his aura and found him, as expected, leaning against the courtyard wall, staring moodily at the moon. "Anything new up there?" she asked.
He smiled slightly. "Just the usual. How's Faith?" He pulled her in front of him and wrapped his arms around her. Leaning back against his muscled frame, the Slayer thought about the events of the past few days.
"She's coping, not well, I might add. Will said a few things at City Hall and she's depressed."
"I can talk to her if you want." His cool breath caresses Buffy's cheek and she shivered. "We were connecting before Wes showed up that night."
Without thinking about the strength of her reaction, the Slayer said, "No! I don't think Faith is really up to any heart to hearts right now," she explained, moderating her tone. She pulled out of the embrace and wandered back into the barren courtyard. "She's fragile, Angel. I don't think she can take much more."
"She made her choices, Buffy; now she has to learn to live with the consequences." Angel's offhand comment irritated the blonde.
She whirled around and glared at the demon. "Oh, for God's sake, Angel, stop with the moralistic crap. So she made some bad choices. She nearly got killed trying to make up for it. You all need to cut her some slack."
Angel stared at her without speaking. Finally, he straightened to his full height. "Buffy, you can't treat this like she just hurt your feelings or ruined your favorite blouse. She went, all on her own, to the Mayor. She chose to align herself with evil."
"We sent her there, Angel. After Finch died, we all stopped trying to help. All we did was say crap like: 'It will be OK' or 'Let's talk about it.' We never really helped her deal." Buffy paced the courtyard. "Why didn't we ever tell Wes to fuck off? Or have Willow get rid of the evidence?"
Shocked at her vehement defense of the brunette Slayer, the vampire backed off. "Maybe I should take off for a bit, do a sweep of the cemeteries." Pressing a perfunctory kiss on her cheek, he stalked away from the Mansion.
Buffy stood in the courtyard, staring after the departing vampire. Deep inside, she knew he had a valid point, but she needed to protect the younger Slayer. The emotions that bled through their link broke her heart. She shook her head at all the heavy thinking, and returned to the kitchen.
Despite Faith's refusal, the blonde knew the other girl had to be starving. She may have lost the fight in the alley, but the adrenaline from the fight probably had her hungry for any kind of food. Ignoring the empty fridge, she pawed through a couple of cabinets and found some bags of microwaveable popcorn. Praying she didn't blow the bags up with her limited culinary skills, she tossed them into the microwave and waited.
For once, her prayers were answered. Carrying the non-smoking bags carefully into the main room, Buffy hoped Faith would be cooperative. Force feeding another Slayer didn't sound like great entertainment. "Found some popcorn. There's enough for two," she announced cheerily.
She was sure Faith would make a snide comment, but her stomach growled, halting the refusal. Smirking, the blonde opened one of the bags and dropped it in the brunette's lap. "Eat up. I think I even managed to get it cooked right."
"Thanks, B." The words tumbled out, barely audible.
Before Buffy could answer, a new voice rang out. "Hello, girls. I thought I'd stop in to see how the patient is doing."