A brunette woman in her late thirties to early forties stalked through the halls of Los Angeles General. She wore a scowl as she made her way past the rooms, doctors, and patients. One doctor stepped in front of her with a clipboard and a glare,
"Annie, you promised to stay in your room." the doctor sighed.
"Yeah, well that was before I realized I didn't have cable. What do ya expect a woman to do 'round here?!" she said, thick Boston accent on display. The doctor sighed. "Look Doc, I'm not gonna sit around like a lump when there's nothin' wrong with me." she said. The doctor smiled.
"I know Annie, but you could at least try and pretend to follow doctors directions. Do I need to get nurse Jenny to come in and put something in your IV to put you out?" he asks running a hand through his salt and pepper hair.
"Why? It's not like I'm botherin anybody. All I'm doin' is takin a stroll, checkin' out the scenery." she says with her arms wide. The doctor eyes her.
"No getting into anything." he says sternly.
"Who? Me?" she asks innocently.
"Yes you. If I have to drag you off another security guard, we're gonna have a problem, understood?" he asks.
"He was comin' on to ME!" she protests.
"Understood?" he asks not paying her protests any attention. Waving a dismissive hand she nods.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna go make some new friends. Seems like a party." she says sarcastically walking away.
"I mean it Annie!" the doctor calls out. She gives him the finger. He shakes his head, that woman is somethin else. He thinks with a smile.
--
Annie walked through the halls with a bored expression and a calm exterior. Gee, this place is jumpin' with excitement, she thought with an eye-roll. She turned the corner and bumped into a younger brunette woman.
"Sorry," she said reaching down to help the woman up.
"No problem. It's my fault for tryina break outta here so quick," the brunette joked. Annie smiled and looked up into the younger woman's face. Her smile fell as she studied her. The young brunette had to be around twenty or twenty one with an olive skin tone. She glanced up at Annie and offered her a small smile. White teeth stood out past pale lips and dimples caught her attention. This young woman was eerily familiar. And now, she was looking at Annie as if she had grown a second head. Finally snapping out of her daze, Annie smiled.
"No worries, I'm tryina break out myself before they start tryina feed me again. Someone should tell them just cos it's healthy doesn't mean it has to be tasteless." she joked back. The younger woman smiled again.
"Yeah, you'd think they'd give us real food instead cardboard." she said lightly.
"I know!" Annie said with a slight chuckle. The two women stood there for a moment until Annie spoke again, "I'm sorry, you look so familiar." she said. The younger woman tilted her head to the side with a furrowed brow. Annie tried to remember where she'd seen it before.
"Faith!" a doctor panted, "You're... not...sup-" wheeze "supposed to be outta the room!" he said, almost falling over trying to catch his breath. Faith shrugged.
"I told you to tie her up before you opened the door." another young brunette with blue eyes rounded the corner calmly. Faith stuck her tongue out at the younger woman. Annie watches in amusement.
"Damn Doc, all your patients give you a work out this good?" she asks. Faith smirks at Annie and turns back to 'Doc'.
"No, just you two! You're my worst patients! I swear you act like you're related!" he says jokingly. Faith chuckles and follows Amanda and the doctor back to her room. They miss the look that flashes over Annie's features.
--
Faith sat on the edge of her bed with a bored expression. The idiot doctor still wouldn't release her! She felt fine, Amanda said she looked fine, she didn't see why she was still her. Pouting, she started to swing her legs back and forth.
"I've seen pouts like that before. Lemme guess, you gotta stay a few extra days?" a voice asked from her doorway. She glanced up and noticed the same woman she'd bumped into earlier. Something about the woman put her at ease while at the same time put her on edge. It was confusing. She nodded, wrapping her arms around herself.
"Uh, yeah." she said somewhat awkwardly. The woman nodded but stayed where she was.
"I'm Annie, by the way." the woman said. Faith nodded.
"Faith." Annie nodded at her.
"Nice name." she acknowledged. Faith nodded and shifted a bit. She motioned for the woman to come in. Annie came in and grabbed the chair that Cordelia had taken last night. She pulled it away from Faith a bit, as if she knew that the younger woman would want space.
"So whatcha in for?" she asked after straddling the chair. Faith smiled,'
"You make it sound like we're in jail," she said, her eyes clouding.
"From what I hear it isn't that bad but the food on the other hand...." Annie trailed off.
"Bar fight," Faith lied. "You?" she asked.
"Husband fight." she says. Faith shows her confusion. "My husband's fist got into a fight with my body," Annie elaborates.
"Oh, uh, sorry." Faith offered awkwardly. Annie shrugged.
"It's OK, he fell down a flight of stairs." she said. Faith eyed the woman and Annie started to feel a little unsettled. "I wasn't just gonna sit back and let him put his hands on me. No way no how. Just cos some woman can't or don't fight back doesn't mean I wont." she said. Faith just smiled at her.
--
Cordelia Chase walked through the hospital halls calmly. She didn't have any anger in her stride as she moved towards Faith's room. Last night, they had gotten a lot in the open.
--
Cordelia sat down in the chair beside Faith's bed and threw the food on her stomach.
"Eat up before the nurse comes." she said plainly. She watched as Faith sat up quickly and tore into the burger and fries she had. Finally with that finished off, she turned to the soda off to the side and glanced back in the bag.
"Ohh, pie." Faith said excitedly. Cordelia almost laughed at Faith's enthusiasm.
"It's apple," she threw out, watching with curiosity as Faith's chewing slowed down and she stared ahead with furrowed brows. "Angel said it was your favorite so... uh, I-" finally Faith's eyes settled on her, her expression unreadable.
"You bought me apple pie just cos Fang said it was my favorite?" she asked with a slightly arched brow. Cordelia huffed.
"Well yes. I was hoping it'd be a peace offering but if you do-" she said reaching for the pie.
"Don't touch a woman's pie! What's wrong with you?!" Faith hissed. "It's sacred." Faith said. Cordelia blinked and Amanda choked on her drink trying not to laugh at Faith's expression. Cordelia held up her hands in surrender and sat back, turning to the news on the tv. "I did it cos I was mad." Faith said out of nowhere.
"Huh?" Cordelia asked.
"The shit back when we were kids, I did it cos I was mad. At everything. I felt like, everywhere I turned, I couldn't catch a break, y'know?" she said.
"But that wasn't our fault." Cordelia said, not angrily but not calmly either. Faith shrugged.
"I know that now, then, I thought it was. I genuinely thought that I was... I don't know, doin' what was right for me. I guess since Bo- Richard offered me somethin that I had just lost, I jumped at it." she said. Amanda watched on in silence.
"What'd he offer you? A chance to get back at everybody who cared for you? A chance to do whatever and not worry about consequences?" Cordelia's voice was hard and angry now.
"Yeah. There was that. But it was also a chance to come out top dog. I was first in somebody's book. I grew up being put second or sometimes last until I met my watcher and she put me first. She always had my best at heart. Then she was gone and I was back to bein' second best. I was a back up slayer and all that and he offered me a chance to be first again." she continued, now looking Cordelia in the eye. "It was a good feeling. The power and adrenaline weren't half bad either." she said with a sad smirk.
"What did that have to do with us? I still don't get why you hurt us, you're friends." Cordelia said.
"Yeah ya do," Faith sighed. "You guys weren't my friends but that's Ok, not like I was Mary Poppins to you guys either. But you guys, you had meetings and shit without me. You only called me when ya needed man power." she said, not angry.
"That's not....completely true." Cordelia replied.
"It felt like it. And yeah, it is. I had started to trust B but... me and her both fucked that up. And you guys, the Scoobs, I know ya really didn't like me." Faith said matter-of-factly.
"So you're blaming us?" Cordelia asked. Faith nodded.
"In a manner of speaking; yes. You guys are almost as guilty as I am. Don't think you hold none of it. I admit, most of it's on me, but in order for this to work, I need you to own up a little too." Faith said not at all fazed by Cordelia's glare.
"Fine, I admit I didn't treat you.... I wasn't your welcoming committee bu-" Faith cut her off.
"That's all I needed to hear." she said with a smile. "Thanks for the pie." she said as an after thought. Cordelia knew they had officially called a truce in that moment.
--
By the time she reached Faith's room however, she was annoyed with the younger woman. She burst through the door, completely ignoring the woman in the chair,
"Faith! Why do you feel you have to torment Doctor Miles?" she asks, hands on her hips.
"Its fun." Faith says simply.
"It was funny." Amanda piped up. Cordelia glared at both of them.
"You two, just don't...." she trailed off.
"Hey, I'm not a part of it. She's the little demon." Amanda said pointing at Faith.
"Am not!" Faith said indignantly.
"Are too!" Amanda replied. Oh yeah, they are sooo mature, she thought with a smile as the two continued to bicker. Annie watched the entire exchange from her seat.