Oh my alkaseltzer plus! It's finally up! Its actually been finished a while I just kept forgetting. sorry! anyways, hope you like it. review please?
Arguing. That's the first thing that registers in Faith's mind when she slowly regains consciousness thought this time around. The distinct sound of two raised and angry voices, both on opposing sides, both trying to drive home a point. The first voice she distinctly makes out is her lifeline. Angel. He was angry but at what she couldn't figure out.
"No!" that shriek. She recognizes it as Cordelia Chase. Apparently Angel is trying to ask her to do something that she feels is out of the question. Whatever it may be, it's causing them to get loud and in turn giving Faith a headache.
"They've been goin at it for about forty five minutes." Faith hears. Her eyes snap to her left at the window where Amanda is casually leaning looking outside.
"Why?" Faith croaks out. Her throat and mouth are still dry. Hearing Faith's voice causes Amanda to move over and get her some water.
"Angel wants Cordelia to come with us, to keep an eye on us since he can't, and she doesn't want to 'be involved with a psycho who tried to kill her classmates'. Her words, not mine." Amanda replies. Faith drinks the water greedily before what Amanda just said dawns on her. Swallowing several times, she clears her throat.
"C-could you go get Fang for me?" she asks. Nodding her head, Amanda makes sure Faith is comfortable before rushing out the room. Murmurs are heard as Amanda addresses Angel then shortly later Angel, Amanda and much to Faith's discomfort, Cordelia, pour in. Clearing her throat and looking around the room her eyes focus on the wall.
"Look, I wa-" she's cut off by Angel.
"I don't want apologies or excuses Faith. I want to know what the hell you were thinking!" he practically roars. Looking at him in what was close to shock at such a reaction, she swallows and glances at Cordelia quickly. Angel gets the hint and turns to Cordelia slightly.
"Cordelia, could you and Amanda wait outside?" he asks softly.
"What? Oh hell no, you want me to live with her. There is no way I'm missing this explanation." Cordelia retorts glaring at Faith who wont meet her eyes.
"Cordelia...." Angel trails off. He gives her a pointed look causing her to throw her hands up.
"Fine, don't let me in on the secret of the insane. Just don't expect me to live with her." she says.
"Y'know I really don't think I'd be able to live with you for more than a day before goin back to prison." Faith snaps tired of Cordelia's attitude.
"Angel you should really neuter you're dog." Cordelia says dryly.
"Fuck you, Cordelia. I'd rather get stuck in a hell dimension than be stuck with you longer than I have to. Get outta my hospital room." Faith growls. Cordelia stares her down for a few long seconds. "Get the fuck out!" Faith bellows causing everyone in the room, including, Cordelia to jump a little. There was a certain tone behind the words that they hadn't heard in a long time coming from Faith. Hate. Feeling a shiver run through her, Amanda turns back to the window. Glaring at the bed ridden woman a moment longer, Cordelia turns on her heel and stalks out of the room. Sighing unnecessarily, Angel turns to Faith.
"Faith..." he starts in a worried tone.
"What Liam?" she snaps back at him. Drawing back at the tone, Angel hides the hurt he feels. Ouch. He thinks. Blinking quickly, Faith looks sorry. "Sorry Fang I just.... she pissed me off and I just..." she tries to explain.
"I don't want to talk about Cordelia right now. I want to talk about you. What was going through your head?" he asks glancing at Amanda quickly.
"Don't even think about kicking me outta here. I'm not budging." Amanda says without turning around.
"I was.... I wanted to make them stop. They just kept tellin' me I wasn't worth it.....that I deserved to hurt cus I had hurt people so much....and I wanted them to stop." she explains with a confused look. Frowning in confusion himself, Angel scratch his chin.
"Make who stop Faith?" he asks slowly.
"The vo- oh god I've gone crazy!" she says with wide eyes and a panicked look. Angel figures it may have been comical if Faith wasn't absolutely petrified.
"Nah, you're not crazy. You're inner voices just got the better of you." Amanda says casually facing Faith. "You do, however, have some serious self-esteem issues. Which is strange because I remember Xander saying you were so arrogant or something or other a-" Faith cuts her off.
"What the hell are you talkin bout kid?" she asks. Angel silently watches their interaction and how quickly Faith calmed down. I don't think she even realizes it. He thinks with a small smile. I used to be her big brother.... he thinks sadly. He remembers that Faith really looked up to him. Then he thinks about what he's thinking. Its not like she still doesn't. And she's not leavin me or anything. She's just got somebody else to count on now. He thinks happily. Faith turns back to him and watches as the emotions play over his face. Tilting her head to the side a little she reaches over and grabs his larger hand. Blinking, he focuses his eyes on Faith and squeezes her hand.
"I'm not goin nowhere Fang. And if I do, I know I need to check in. I just can't move on while I'm here." she whispers. He smiles in understanding.
"That's why I left Sunnydale in the first place. I couldn't move on with the past constantly in my face." he whispers. Nodding, Faith offers him a tight smile.
"You don't need to have Queen Bitch babysit us, Angel. We'll be fine, it was.... it wont happen again." she promises sincerely. He smiles at her, his eyes holding a hint of something in them,
"I trust you, Faith. I just want somewhere there in case you get hurt..... I don't want...." he trails off. He stops talking and shakes his head. "I'm gonna go talk to Cordy for a minute, you guys handle whatever you need to." he says motioning towards Amanda. Nodding as he leaves, Faith turns her eyes to Amanda. She scratches her cheek for a moment before taking a deep breath.
"C-could you thank Andy for me?" she asks in a low whisper. Amanda smiles.
"I've got an idea on how you could thank him for saving your life...." she trails off. Faith whimpers. Uh oh. What did I just get into?! She internally asks. Soon, she'll find out.
--
Angel smiles at the sight of Cordelia pacing outside of Faith's room. He wasn't really sure why Cordelia acted the way she did around Faith but he was going to find out. Removing his smile, he stepped in her line of vision. She stops pacing and looks at him.
"Cordelia, what's wrong with you?" he asks gently. She rolls her eyes.
"There's nothing wrong with me, you should ask your psyc-" he cuts her off.
"Don't. Cut the crap and tell me what's going on? I understand that you hate her, or really dislike her for what she did, but you aren't exactly a nun yourself." he says. She sighs.
"Angel, I never tried to kill my friends." she says as if she's said this over and over again. He nods.
"True, but when you think about things, neither did she." he says casually. She raises an eyebrow.
"Uh, hello. Were you living, or un-living, in the same Sunnydale that I was? With the same Faith and the same Buffy and all that?" she asks. He nods.
"Yep, but I'm also seeing things that you don't want to. Like the fact that while Buffy and the gang were friends, Faith wasn't really a part of that. I'll admit, they tried, a little. Like she tried, a little, but nobody really tried enough. Everybody's to blame on that." he explains. She sighs and sits down heavily.
"I wanna hate her, for what she did Angel but.... I can't. Like you said, I wasn't exactly little Bo peep myself but I never did anything as bad as what she did. And even though I should, even though she deserves it, I can't hate her." she says. "I mean, I don't forgive her, and I'm pretty pissed off that she hurt everybody I care about on some level, but I just.... I dunno." she explains further. Nodding, he kneels in front of his friend.
"Why...why don't you talk to her? Try and see how she sees things and then maybe...maybe this wont weigh on your mind so much." he offers. She looks like she wants to protest but decides against it.
"Alright, but don't expect me to trust her. Or enjoy this." she says standing.
"I wouldn't dare think that." Angel says rolling his eyes. "Go. It might help." he says motioning towards Faith's door. Steeling herself, she pushes the door open.
--
Cordelia watches as Faith rolls her eyes when she enters the room. Why does she hate me? It's not like I tried to kill her and all her friends. She thinks to herself. Faith, on the other hand, was just wondering if she really deserved the punishment of dealing with Cordelia right now.
"What?" Faith asks after watching Cordelia eye her up and down.
"I need to some answers." Cordelia replies.
"Encyclopedia, dictionary, Guinness book, all good resources." Faith retorts.
"From you and why you did what you did." Cordelia elaborates. She watches as the emotions play over Faith's face.
"Alright, but you're not gonna like it." Faith says. Cordelia nods and sits, waiting for Faith's explanation....