Undaunted

Dawn glared over at Faith with distaste. "Right, you're still the same." The teenager crossed her arms in a rather childish manner and offered somewhat of a glare-off contest with the Dark Slayer. There was no way she was going to ever forgive Faith, that much she had decided. Then again, if the rumors she had heard were true... and Angel thought she could be trusted, then what had changed? Perhaps Angel was under some dark demonic influence. That would explain why he would care about Faith's well-being. Any other explanation just didn't make sense. "I'm not gonna ever forgive you!" She blurted, turning to walk out, but Buffy gripped the girl's wrist and pulled her back into the room.

"Dawnie, would you stop it already? I trust Faith," the blond stared into her younger sister's eyes with a renewed sense of seriousness that she hoped the teen would pick up on. Sure, that wasn't the complete truth, but Buffy was, afterall, one of the best self-proclaimed liars. She did not even need Angel around to be able to prove that much.

"B, let her go. It's not like I deserve forgiveness or nothin.' It's gonna be a long while before I get anything like that."

Buffy ignored Faith's comment and continued to glare at her sister, "Dawn, sometimes you have to put the past behind you."

Dawn's eyes moved over to Faith now, and she scanned the seemingly-helpless dark slayer with even more hatred than she had mustered up before. "She tortured me and mum, how can you possibly think that all of a sudden she's all-good now? I don't trust her and I don't want to!" With that, the teen wrenched her arm from Buffy's grip and darted out the door, leaving the hospital.

Buffy rolled her eyes, retreating back to her seat next to Faith's bed and rubbing her temples in agony. Sometimes things like this just made her wish she was not a part of the world anymore. Sure she didn't trust Dawn to up and befriend Faith right away, but if Whistler was right... if they needed her... then they would all have to face the facts. Faith was going to be there, and no possible creature on Earth was going to be able to alter that.

----

"I still have reason to believe we should be back at the hotel, Angel. We can't just turn our shoulders on the situation and hope-"

"No, Wes. This is something I have to do. I don't expect you to understand- you can't. You did, after all, drug her," Angel's voice held a bit of bitter regret while he looked the other way, trying to concentrate on what he was going to do when he got to Sunnydale. Perhaps leaving Los Angeles wasn't even the thing to do right now, with Cordelia's sudden- no, this was right. He could feel it.

"If I hadn't-"

"You'd already be dead," Angel admitted glumly. "Yeah, I get that. Congratulations, you saved the day. Although I don't approve of your method, I guess I would have you to thank. I still don't owe you anything, Wes. I don't think I ever will."

"I never said you did," Wesley replied dryly, keeping his focus on the road now, basking in the depths of welcomed-but-awkward silence. It would remain that way for the rest of the trip as well. Neither vampire nor ex-watcher was much of a conversation starter... let alone a conversation re-starter. Perhaps in this particular incident, silence was, in fact, golden.

---

It was then that she felt it... him. Buffy curiously rose from the seat that she had taken beside Faith's bed and walked to the door. She ignored the confused faces of Giles and Willow while she exited the room, starting down the hall. He came here, she felt him. He had been gone for quite some time, sure, but their bond was still as strong as it had always been. No matter how many times Buffy tried to tell herself she was over Angel, she knew she was only lying to herself.

Then she saw him. He entered the hallway with an air of urgency and importance, his cloak rippling behind him in its signature manner. He was barely even watching where he was going. In fact, if Buffy would have guessed, she probably would have assumed that he were striding so thoughtlessly down the hallway on sheer instinct.

"Angel-" Buffy started, glaring at him in a state of shock. He definitely responded quickly from when Willow had contacted the vampire. He'd gotten here the same night even. Impressive... would he have done the same for her in a similar situation? Somehow, she doubted it. No, Angel probably was just feeling guilty for bringing in Faith in the first place. Or was she just letting the situation get to her? She tried to cool down her thoughts and quell her anger before lashing out at Angel. Of course he would do that for her... if she were dying or in trouble, right?

"Buffy," his tone was hard to depict, but he spoke almost automatically- as if he were some sort of automated being on a mission. "We'll talk. When this is over- I promise," Angel chopped dryly, not even bothering to meet Buffy's eyes. Right now, he had to attend to Faith and by all means, he owed her that much. The faster he got this over with, the sooner he could return to where he was needed. Even Buffy wasn't feeling daring enough to bring any sort of challenge that tone of voice. Angel was seriously focused, and when the guy had his mind made up, he was impossible to sway. He entered the room with Buffy hot on his heels, and he disregarded the others in the room as if they were not even there. In fact, the first thing he did was bark an unfriendly order to the slayer, "Faith, sit up."

Buffy watched in awe, apparently blown away both by Angel's actions and his sudden urgency with Faith. Whatever happened in Los Angeles, she was not so sure she would ever find out, but she did know one thing- it was crucial. Angel was also under alot of stress. She could fathom that much just by looking at him- but she had not dared to bring that to the vampire's attention. He had promised they would talk and she respected his promise. Buffy wanted to think that she had grown up a lot more since her last encounter with Angel, she was not going to be rash and jump to conclusions anymore, no, she would let him tell her his side of the story.

Faith, obviously stunned to see the vampire in her presence, sat up immediately. Whether it was out of blind obedience or she was simply petrified at what the monster was contemplating to do to her, none could tell. She did so, however, without so much as a minuscule argument. Narrowing her eyes, she looked at him with suspicion. She gave him a deadly side-glance and offered in a skeptic tone the name of the last person on Earth she wanted to see right now, "Angelus?"

"No," Angel reached up and grabbed her arm, sliding her sleeve up and inspecting it for the needle mark... where she'd injected the Orpheus. He was distracted then by the open wound on her neck. The spot where he'd bitten her with every intention to drain her completely, yet failed. It was opened again and if he knew slayers- which he liked to think he did- it should have been on the verge of healing faster than that. Just looking at the mark, he was able to tell that it was still his- it wasn't a fresh one. That was what led him to believe something bigger was at play here- something clearly supernatural. It was not for a couple moments that he finally said aloud to anyone in the room that cared to answer him at the time, "What happened?"

"You tried to kill me again," Faith stated clearly. It had all been so vivid- so real, and she gave the truth to him without any hesitation. She closed her eyes, thinking a few moments before adding on, "Said people like us... we don't get second chances."

---
OMG I updated. When I promise people I won't abandon, I won't. Sorry it took so long, my obvious obsession lies with SiA/U right now... so I apologize. Plus, college isn't exactly a walk in the park. Either way, if there's something you wanna see, lemme know. More ideas'll get me back on track perhaps? Other than that, I still have a general idea for the plot hehe. Thanks to those who stuck with me. I love ya!
Yes, short chappie, sorry. I'm braindead and this is kinda filler for the next one. w00t for action. Besides, Wes and Giles in the same room together will prove to be quite interesting... and yes, he IS following along... you'll see.