Sorry for being gone for so long but i wanted to do this story right and somehow i just had no idea what to do with it. If some of you are still reading this, thank you for your patience and here is another chapter. I have written up to chapter four already so if anyone is interested, review and let me know. I'll post the others shortly then. For now, enjoy!

Last time:

"I'm coming back for you kiddo."

That's when it all went black.

I woke up with a pounding head ache. I could feel something heavy on top of my chest and I peered out under my eyelashes. I saw a flash of dark hair sprawled out on me and a pair of arms wrapped tight. I couldn't move in fear of waking said sleeping person up. I recognized the smell of roses anywhere.

It left me puzzled. When had I been transported back to LA headquarters? I opened my eyes fully and waited for them to adjust to the little lighting there was in the room. I glanced down to see Cordy laying contently asleep on the flowery duvet. I snickered as I saw a little drool at the corner of her mouth and a soft gentle snore coming from her made me hug her before I propped myself up straight against the head board. I was surprisingly not at LA headquarters, in fact it had seemed I hadn't left the Summer residence at all. I wondered how Cordy had gotten her of course. It seemed so weird to have her back with me, in Sunnydale no less.

I strained my ears and used my slayer hearing to pick up a conversation I heard going on in the kitchen underneath the room.

"Angel, tell me what did you find?"

It was unmistakingly Buffy and her voice sounded too shrill for my liking.

"Stop brooding dammit and tell me!"

I hadn't ever heard Buffy yell at angel before. I wondered what she was talking about. Another apocalypse maybe?

"Don't tell me we made her go through that without it having any use at all!"

I heard some low mumbling and I figured Angel had answered her questions with a negative answer because next thing I know she's exploding.

"WE MADE HER GO THROUGH THE MOST HORRIBLE MEMORIES ANYONE COULD EVER HAD FOR NOTHING?"

The shouting stirred Cordy from her sleep.

I smiled down at her sadly, remembering what had transpired before I passed out. Tears gathered themselves but I refused to let them fall. I watched Cordy wake up through a blurry vision. Before I even had the chance to say good morning her thumb wiped away a stray tear that had been dripping down my cheek none the less.

"Don't cry Slayer."

Her tone was affectionate and teasing, like our friendship had always been. Ever since Angel helped me redeem myself and I helped me break my way out of prison I'd been a part of the gang. I loved them all and for once they loved me back. I became a part of the family and I treasured that feeling. When I became sick, they did all they could to help me but there was only one witch strong enough to perform the memory spell I had been the subject of. I needed to sift through the memories for one reason only. I needed to find a relative. Quite soon actually. I was sick, as I mentioned before but it was no demon, no spell, it was nothing magical really. I had kidney troubles and I needed a transplant. And no one I knew matched.

To say the Scoobies were apprehensive of helping me was an understatement. The feeling was mutual. I had screamed at Angel and begged and pleaded. I was not going back to Sunnydale. Alas, two weeks later that was exactly the place I was headed.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you Faye."

I looked down at her. Her eyes were sad. I didn't like it.

"I hate that you had to go through with it all alone."

I scoffed at that.

"'Was hardly alone Cordy."

She looked up in surprise.

"Something went wrong I guess. Scoobies went in there with me."

She gasped in surprise and tightened her hold.

"They saw it?"

"Yeah."

It was quiet after that. She rubbed my arms through the fabric of my long sleeved t-shirt.

"I'm so sorry."

I shrugged.

" Wasn't like you coulda done something 'bout it Cordy. They didn't want that to happen but shit needed to be done yeah?"

She shook her head angrily.

"I'm still going to give Willow a piece of my mind Faye and there is nothing you can say that will stop me."

I laughed gently.

"I know better than to mess with you babes."

"Damn right."

I heard more shouting downstairs and tried to block it out.

"Why is Buffy shouting so hard this time?"

I shrugged again.

"Doesn't seem like it helped."

"What do you mean?"

I sighed heavily.

"They didn't find nothing."

Cordy pulled away in surprise and looked at me mouth agape.

"Nothing?"

"Nope."

"So basically you had to go through all of that, I might add, for nothing?"

"Was a long shot C. We didn't know if it would help or not. It's shit but yeah."

Cordelia pulled away and rose to her feet, her hands angrily placed upon her hips. Her stance suggested she was ready to chop someone's head off. I only hoped it wasn't willow. She might be a wicked witch but she was no match for an angry Cordelia.

She sighed and ran her hands through her messy hair before she stormed out of my room, slamming the bedroom door. I heard her stomp down the stairs and Buffy's voice rung out immediately after.

"CORDELIA CHASE! Will you not stomp so loud? You'll wake the house up!"

"Shut up Summers. Your shouting did that already."

All I heard after that was mumbling. I was hardly able to determine when Angel was whispering and when Cordelia was. Instead I focused on the soft footsteps coming up the stairs. I wondered if Dawn was coming up to visit me. She had started doing that ever since the first night I slept in her old parents' bedroom. She'd apologized for her friends behavior, especially her sisters. I had shrugged it away and opened my arms up so that she could crawl under the covers with me. I'd always wanted a little sister.

But it wasn't Dawn's nerdy face I saw peeking through the door opening. It was a blonde, cute head with hazel eyes shining even in the almost dark room.

"Faith?"

I smiled at her whisper.

"Faith are you awake?"

It was so child like I found it endearing. Then again I'd always found what Buffy did endearing. I wasn't going to lie, I liked Buffy, I always had.

"Yeah."

I don't know why I whispered, there was no use to it really and I distinctly remembered her shouting downstairs minutes ago.

I felt the bed dipping and I knew she was sitting by my feet as I sat up against the head board, my legs crossed Indian style.

"I'm not going to ask how you're feeling. It seems pointless. The fact that you've been out for three days says enough."

I looked up at her in surprise.

"I was out for three days?"

She nodded.

"Didn't Cordelia tell you?"

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around myself.

"We didn't get to it. She kinda stormed out after hearing you two shouting downstairs."

"You heard that huh?"

She chuckled humorlessly.

"Was pretty hard not to, B."

She looked me straight in the eye, with a look I couldn't identify.

"I guess not."

I looked away feeling goose bumps rising on my skin. Her stare was piercing through ma and I didn't like it. The butterflies turned into a brick and my stomach dropped.

"You don't need to stay B. I'm a big girl I can get up and dressed and packed alone."

I stopped myself from adding, I've always done it alone.

Her face turned from shock to surprise to worry to concern.

"You think you're packing?"

I shrugged my shoulders for what felt like the millionth time today. Judging by the look on her face that hadn't been the right answer. She crawled to me and straddled me before placing her hands on both my cheeks, giving me no choice but to look at her as she spoke slowly but determined to make me see sense.

"You are not leaving Faith. Not until we find you a donor and even then, the only place you'll be going to is the hospital. Do you get that Faith?"

My eyes widened in surprise and I tried to nod but the forceful grip on my head refused to let me do so.

"I'm not letting you go. Neither are the Scoobies. I know we were a little doubtfull when you came to us but I honestly wanted to believe you'd changed. I could tell from the minute I saw you. The way you dressed, the way you acted, talked. It's so mature, so different from when we first met. And I'm not the only one who's noticed it!"

I smiled gently. A part of me was happy that they'd seen the change but still, I wanted to go back home. I wanted Angel to come pick me up and just take me back to the gang. If the spell hadn't helped I doubted we'd ever find a matching donor. If I was dying I wanted it to be on my terms, my way and that did not include Sunnydale.

"I can't let you leave Faith. Not again. I won't let you leave."

She shook her head sadly and pulled her hands away to wipe the tears from her eyes. I quickly pulled her hands away and cradled her in my arms. I had always been a sucker for pretty blondes, but I was an even bigger sucker for crying pretty blondes.

"Shhh."

I rubbed my hand on her back, drawing slow circles trying to calm her down. It was obvious she wasn't just talking about my illness. I figured we had a lot left to talk about.

"It's okay B. I'll be fine. I'll be five by five yeah?"

I didn't know what else to say so I just held her and waited for the sobs to disappear and her breathing to even out.

"But" sob "you" sob "won't be" hiccup "alright".

I smiled sadly, chances were pretty slim for me but I wasn't going to give up so easily. I never had and I never will.

"Hey come on now B, I've been through worse than some bug yeah? And I've got the two best research teams on my side, so you guys will find me a donor any minute now."

It didn't calm her down one bit. She knew as well as I did, there wasn't a donor in sight.

"Come on B, I love to have you in my arms and all but I never pictured you cryin'."

She chuckled at that and the sobs slowly calmed down to an occasional hiccup.

"You imagined holding me like this?"

I blushed profusely at the statement and hummed quietly into her blonde tresses.

"It feels nice."

I smiled against her head.

"Really nice."

I held on a bit tighter and I felt her nuzzle her face in the crook of my neck, sighing happily.

"You should be a pillow."

I looked at her funnily.

"Don't look at me like that."

Her eyes were closed but figured she knew I was looking at her like she'd grown another head.

"You could make a lot of money being a pillow. You're soft."

I laughed at that. I guess it was her way of making light of the conversation.

"Nah B, never been a hugging person."

"But you're hugging me."

"Yeah. But you're different."

"Good different?"

"Yeah B. Good different."

Later that night i heard Cordelia ordering Buffy to call the gang in LA and have them sent over. If they hadn't found anything by now, it was up to them once again to pick up their slack. Buffy had protested but relented in the end not seeing the trouble in having another group of people actively searching for anything that could help them further. As the door cracked open a sheepish looking Dawn had shuffled her way in. I moved to the side, allowing her to cuddle up beside me as i pulled the cover over our bodies.

"B seems to have calmed down again."

I spoke in a whisper now that the shouting downstairs had ended.

"She's been shouting a lot lately. I think Cordelia brings it out in her."

I chuckled at that.

"Yeah Cordy does that to most people i guess."

"She doesn't do taht toy Angel or you."

I shrugged.

"No i guess she doesn't."

I felt Dawn sink deeper into the bed, sleep threatening to take her away any minute now.

"She doesn't do that to me either."

I glanced at her with a puzzled expression but she was already asleep. Worries for another day, I thought as I stored it all away in my mind as sleep whisked me away to a more peaceful state of mind. Sleep now, worries later.

So anyone stil interested?