The hallways here on the second floor were always brightly lit. It was hard to tell what time it was until you found one of the few clocks. Faith always knew where the sun was in the sky, or how long it would be until it rose; that was one of the minor Slayer powers that didn't seem very flashy, but could still come in very handy. She looked down at where Kira was walking beside her.

"What time did you say the nurses changed shifts?"

The girl rubbed at her nose. At Faith's urging she'd eaten one bowl of Raspberry jello, but she had been a little sulky ever since. Finally she looked up.

"Six, I think. But sometimes the ones from before go around and check things before that, to make sure everything is okay. Sometimes."

The Slayer nodded. It was around four-thirty now, so they should still have a little time before they needed to head back up. She wasn't ready to let anyone know that she was awake and aware, so she would play coma-girl for just a little longer. She led the way down another hallway, then paused at an unmarked door. Trying the handle proved that it wasn't locked, so she pulled it open and slipped inside. Behind her, Kira looked a little shocked.

"Where are we going?"

Faith glanced around the room before turning back to look at her.

"I have no idea. There's some things I'll need if I'm gonna get out of here, and this looks like the place to get 'em. Come on." The girl slowly stepped inside, and the Slayer pulled the door shut behind her. "Great. Now, let's see what's in here." The room they were standing in held only a table and some chairs that faced a big whiteboard. Faith put her head next to the door on the far side, listening intently. Her senses were not as far below par as her muscles were, but they were not a hundred percent, either. Still, hearing what was on the other side of a door was easy. She pushed open that one, and looked out into a smaller hallway. Many doors, none of them marked to indicate what lay behind them. Kira grabbed onto her hand, and she gave it a little squeeze before leading the way down the hall. Her sensitive nose picked up a strong chemical stink, and a peek through the first door confirmed it. Small plastic drums marked 'x-ray film developer' and with warning signs were stacked along the walls. She was about to try the next one down the line when she heard something. Footsteps on this carpet were very quiet, but she'd been listening for just that sound. Someone was about to turn the corner down the hall, and she had only a second to react. Snatching up Kira in one arm, she pushed the door open and jumped through. She shut the door behind her as fast as she could without slamming it, then held it closed, just in case the person had seen her and tried to follow.

Whoever it was walked past without slowing, and she took a breath, only then realizing that she had been holding it. Setting Kira down, she turned to survey the room in which they found themselves.

"Beauty. This is exactly what I was looking for."

It was a locker room, with several dozen of the full-sized type lining the walls. Some of them had padlocks on the doors, but most of them didn't. She started at one end and began going through the ones that would open. The little girl stood in the center of the room and watched her for a minute before going to the other end and opening a locker. That brought Faith up short.

"Ah, Kira?" She waited until the girl looked around the open door at her before going on. "You don't have to do anything. I mean, I'm glad you're keeping me company and everything, and getting me into the kitchen was great, but you don't need to help me steal stuff. I'm starting to feel funny about you and me. It's like I'm corrupting you or something." Kira just looked at her, and she had to glance away from those deep, serious eyes. "You're a good kid. I don't think you want to end up being like me when you grow up."

The girl's expression didn't change, but when she answered it was as if she were the adult trying to explain something to a child.

"Faith, I'm not going to live long enough to grow up and be a bad person, remember?" The Slayer swallowed painfully at that. She had forgotten, for a while, and it hurt her to realize again what a burden the girl had to live with. Kira turned back to the locker she was investigating. "It's okay. If I can't get well and go home, then I want to help you do it. That's better than just sitting in my room by myself."

Well, shit. What could you say to that? She went back to looking for what she needed.

Five minutes later she had a pair of jeans that fit better than the ones they'd gotten from upstairs, a windbreaker , and most importantly, a pair of real shoes. She finished tying the laces and stood up, bouncing up and down a few times to make sure they fit. Neither of them had found any cash, but that was to be expected. Doubtless there were wallets and purses inside some of the locked ones, but she wasn't up to ripping off padlocks just yet. She bundled the stuff they had found inside the jacket and tucked it under her arm before holding her hand out to Kira.

"Okay, that's a start. Let's get out of here before somebody shows."

It took them only a few minutes to retrace their steps and reach the fifth floor. Everything seemed quiet, and just as they had left it. In her room, Faith stripped off her clothes and donned the drab (and not very concealing) hospital gown that they the nurses had begun dressing her in. Looking at the pile of things she had gathered, it occurred to her that she did not have a suitable place to hide them until they were needed. Kira followed her gaze.

"I can keep them for you, if you want." She looked up at the taller girl and smiled mischievously. "I know places to put them where nobody would ever look."

Faith nodded reluctantly.

"Okay. But don't get caught. I'll need another few days before I'm ready to go. There has to be somewhere in this place where I can work out a little. I got tired just climbing those stairs." She sat down on the bed and rubbed her hands along her thighs. She still had a lot of her muscle mass, maybe even most of it. But months of laying motionless (and yeah, nearly dying) had really taken a toll on her. She needed to get some exercise and work the kinks out, and that wasn't something she could do in her room, or anywhere else she had seen tonight. Kira looked like she was thinking, but no answer was forthcoming. Faith lay back in her bed and positioned the IV tubes and sheets back roughly where they should have been. So far nobody had made the jump to thinking that she was pulling them out herself, and that was just fine with her. If everyone would just cooperate and stay stupid a little longer, this Slayer would be long gone. She looked at the girl standing beside the bed.

"Thanks for helping me tonight, Kira."

The child nodded and smiled.

"It was fun. I'll see you later?" She looked suddenly concerned. "You won't leave without telling me, will you?"

That might be the best way, actually.

"No, I won't leave for a while yet. I'll tell you before I do head out." Probably. She would have to think about it. Kira had relaxed visibly at her words, and turned to head back to her own room.

"Okay then. Goodnight Faith."

"Goodnight."

* * * * *

6:20 pm
August 4, 1999

He stepped back from the young man laying on the bed, watching the monitors closely. His vital signs had been low, but stable, following the demon attack that had led to his being brought here. The Twisted Man smiled bitterly. The doctors hadn't called it a demon, of course, and neither had the paramedics. 'Animal attacks' were all too common in Sunnydale, though strangely the vicious animals were seldom if ever located. The savage mauling this man had sustained was nothing unusual to the trauma team at Sunnydale general. The victim would survive, thanks to the prompt medical attention he had received; and the fact that the 'animal' had been driven off by a mysterious blonde girl before it could finish him.

At least, the victim should survive. The Twisted Man watched as the vital signs dropped slowly in response to what he had just done. He had decided to change his methods slightly. Waiting until the dark taint inside him built to such an intensity that he could no longer bear it was leading to problems. At that point, it was too often lethal to his victims, and the person died after he had drained the corruption into them. It had happened several times now, and certain members of the hospital staff were growing suspicious. So now he was trying something new. Instead of cleansing himself only every two weeks or so, he was doing it every few days. It increased the risk of detection slightly, but it also meant that the darkness was less lethal to those he chose as vessels. The last two he had used had survived easily, though one girl seemed to have been driven somewhat insane by the experience.

No matter. Insanity was nothing that could be traced back to him, and she was alive, at least. The problem that persisted was that anyone he used had to already be flawed, in some way. A healthy person would almost certainly be able to survive the process, but a healthy person was beyond his power. The desperately ill, or critically injured were what he needed, but those same people were often pushed over the brink by the supernatural poison that he shed into their bodies. Like this young man in front of him. The vitals were still dropping, and the nurse was due back any time. He sighed, and then turned away. There had to be a way to do this without revealing himself. With a demon-hunter making this town her home, he had to be more discreet.

Perhaps if he only used children.... There was a certain danger of the victims being in close proximity to him, but that would matter only if they failed to survive. The young were often more resilient than adults, maybe the smaller dosages (he smiled to himself at the term he habitually used) would be something they could tolerate. He resolved to give it a try.

Doctor Darrian Malloy stuffed his hands into his pockets and wandered back to the pediatric department, to finish his shift.

* * * * *

Faith was drifting just below consciousness, watching herself dream. A girl was there, someone she had never seen before, with red hair and strange, dark eyes. An odd feeling came over her when she saw this woman, a prickling sense of danger. She had never had so many odd dreams before. Maybe getting her head crunched in the fall had knocked something loose up there. Or just broken something, who could tell? She was wondering what kind of threat this unimposing red-haired person could pose when something happening to her body penetrated her awareness. Muzzily, she roused slightly, reaching out to the senses that dealt with the world around her, instead of the one within her. Sound, scent, taste, touch, they resolved themselves even as she came half-awake. There was someone there, in the room with her, and her face was hurting?

Another stinging slap was delivered to the side of her face, and Faith came the rest of the way awake in a hurry.

What the hell?

"Becky! Stop hitting her!"

A man's voice, and he was standing a few feet away. Who then--

"She's the one, Paul! She's the one who killed him!"

A woman, her voice hysterical. It sounded like she was standing right over the head of the bed, too. Faith felt her heartbeat come faster; her limbs tingle as her combat responses took hold. She deliberately calmed herself. Not yet, she wasn't ready to move yet. If she gave herself away, things could go really wrong, really fast. Wait. Wait it out.

"We don't know for sure that she's the one. That guy you found, we don't know for sure that he worked for Wilkens. He would have told you anything for the money you offered." He paused, and then continued in a softer tone. "Whoever killed your father, and the other officers, that night, they had to be hell on wheels. Those SWAT guys are real tough hombres. This girl... just look at her. You think She could have ripped up your dad like that?"

Ah. The SWAT guys. Faith remembered them. A few days before graduation, some of Sunnydale's boys in blue had put together the pieces. They had figured out who had been doing the dirty work for the Mayor, and since they couldn't kill him, they had come after her. That fight had been sweet. Whatshisname here was right, too; they hadn't been all that bad. For humans. Just thinking about it made her feel all warm and tingly.

Somebody, the girl, probably, put their hands in Faith's hair, to either side of her head. Gripping her like that, they shook her head as they spoke, so close that their breath brushed over her eyelids.

Ouch. She quelled the urge to snarl and lash out. Becky, huh? And the daughter of one of the men she'd killed that night. That was enough for her to find this girl later, show her just what dear old dad had felt, in those last few minutes. Oh, Becky was screaming into her face now. Joy.

"Because she's a girl? You think she's good-looking? That she's too CUTE to have killed them?!"

Well, she didn't like to brag, but it was true. She was babelicious and she knew it.

"You should know better than anybody that it doesn't matter what someone looks like! You were at graduation; you helped that Angel guy fight those, things!" She was half-screaming, now, but she was doing it back over her shoulder at the guy, so at least Faith didn't have to smell it. "If the Mayor was really a giant snake, who knows what she really is!"

Really annoyed? Really tired of listening to your boo-hoo bullshit? Becky was luckier than she knew. If she had showed up a couple of days from now, when Faith was ready to skip town, she'd really have had something to cry about.

"Come on, let her go." She heard him move closer, heard the sound of cloth on cloth. Aw, he was giving his girl a hug. "If it really was her, then somebody already got her for you. Look at her; she's not going to hurt anybody else."

Mmm hmm. Yep, just keep thinking that. Though if little Becky didn't get her hands out of Faith's hair by the time she counted to ten....

"Come on, Becky. Let go. Just let go."

...Three, Four, Five....

The hands released her, and Faith suppressed a grunt as her head dropped back onto the pillow.

"Y-you're right... it's just that, dad was so brave, trying to stop that monster and everything. He knew, he KNEW that something was going on, but nobody else would believe him! And when he finally found a way to convince the other men in his squad, and they found out that Wilkens owned the Chief of Police--"

They were walking away now, and Faith forced herself to relax. Still, she was a little scared. What if that psycho-bitch had walked in with a knife? Or a gun? It could have happened, and she would never even have woken up before getting blown away. That was a chilling thought.

The guy was making reassuring noises at his girl.

"There there, 'sokay. He was brave, and they did the best they could, trying to stop him. And he would have been proud to see you at graduation, standing up to that snake, and those demon-guys. He would have been proud."

The girl sighed.

"I guess so. I just wish miss 'Faith Wilkens' here could have seen it, too. I wish she could have seen her 'dad' get what was coming to him."

Faith's eyes were still closed, but she suddenly saw white. Fury blazed through her, and it was all she could to keep hold of herself, to keep from exploding up out of the bed and taking the little bitch by the throat.

"Come on, babe. Let's go home."

A moment later, and they were gone. Faith took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. Yeah, they were gone. She blinked, looking down at herself. The IV was only in one arm, today, but it was double-taped. The nurses must be getting tired of having to reinsert them every time she pulled them out and got up. She noticed that she was clenching her fists so hard that the muscles in her forearms were bunched up, shifting the needle and letting a trickle of blood flow down her arm. She forced herself to relax, and the blood stopped in a few seconds as the flesh around the needle healed back.

She stared at the ceiling.

Well. This had certainly shown that she was too vulnerable, laying here. Time to move like she had a purpose. It would be nice to hang around a while longer and get into decent shape before she left, but that was looking riskier than just leaving. She had been hoping to go back and break into some more lockers, maybe find somebody's wallet with some cash and credit cards, but that was something she could do out on the street. She could hitch a ride out of town; mug whoever picked her up, and be long gone before anyone was the wiser. All she really needed was to decide on where she was going. She was thinking of somewhere up north, where there were fewer demons and more stupid locals she could push around. A nice, backwater place, at least for a while.

A place where Buffy would never find her.

Her mind was wandering around and around, trying to come up with a destination, when she was startled to realize that what was bothering her most was the thought of telling Kira goodbye.

* * * * *