Chapter Eleven

The west wing of the castle had been sealed off just six months prior, formally used as extra space, dorms for girls that were no longer there. Faith followed Dawn through a maze of corridors and stairwells to get there and once they reached the sealed door, she recognized it, not from having been there before, but from the dream. It sent chills down her spine just remembering that dream, that nightmare, but she shook it off, knowing she'd have to keep it together now more than ever before.

"Wait," Faith said as she stopped Dawn from removing the heavy piece of wood that sealed the doors. "Don't touch anything."

"What-"

"Tracker," Faith reminded her. "If Satsu has been coming in here and we know she's got to be every day if she wants to keep Buffy alive, she'll have left behind signs. Some will be obvious, some not."

"What kind of signs?" Dawn asked curiously as she held her flashlight in her hand, watching as Faith inspected the wood that laid across the middle of the double doors. "What kind of things are we looking for here, Faith?"

Faith ran a finger over the wood, noticing a fine layer of dust along some of it, handprints along other parts. Lifting it slowly, she removed it from the anchors and placed it to the side. Already having been informed that the electricity had been cut from the west wing when it had been sealed off, Faith opened the doors slowly, the hinges creaking slightly under the weight of the heavy wood.

Faith pulled out her lighter as Dawn shone the flashlight inside the dark corridor and she spotted a torch hanging on the wall. She could smell the fluid around the end and it smelled fresh. She could even faintly smell the fumes it left behind when it had been lit. Grabbing it from the holder on the wall, she lit it and stepped inside, holding out her arm to stop Dawn from walking ahead of her.

"Faith, what are you doing?"

"Look, I know you wanna find Buffy as soon as possible, but this wing is huge, isn't it?" Faith asked and Dawn just nodded her head slowly. "Finding out the exact spot to activate the portal is gonna be like looking for a needle in a haystack. We gotta be sure before we use it."

"So, we're looking for what then?"

"Like footsteps in the fine dust that's covering the floor," Faith said as she lowered the torch to the floor, revealing a few sets of footsteps going both ways. "Why'd you guys seal this part of the castle off anyway?"

"I already told you, there were other slayers here and they stayed in these rooms. When they were relocated, we didn't have any use for it anymore."

"And that happened when, exactly?"

"I don't know what difference that makes."

"Dawn," Faith said firmly. "It makes a world of a difference. When did you seal this off?"

"In May, I think."

"A few months after Jessie released the demons," Faith mused and she took a step inside the dark corridor. "Call me crazy, but it seems like it's more than just a coincidence that it's been sealed off just a few months after the demons were released."

Dawn scratched at her arm, the light of her flashlight shaking slightly as she held it pointing down to the floor. "Some of the girls kept reporting weird things happening in here. I don't know, we never thought much of it. Old castle, lots of history behind it and a possibility that it could be haunted. Or maybe just drafty and the girls were just scared over nothing. Either way, we didn't need it anymore and didn't think it was worth putting the time or effort into upgrading it."

"What kind of weird things?" Faith asked her. "Dawn?"

"Whispers in the middle of the night, some of the girls were having nightmares that had them waking up screaming. We thought it was just slayer dreams that were scaring them, that maybe they couldn't handle some of them as well as others could."

Faith groaned and ran a hand through her hair. "And nobody thought to think about looking into any of this? What are you people, stupid or something?"

"There is a lot more going on around here that we have to worry about," Dawn said defensively. "After a while, the girls stopped reporting those incidents and when they left, it was sealed off. End of story."

"Gonna take a wild guess here and say that Satsu was one of the girls who stayed here before it was sealed off?"

"Yeah, but-"

"This chick might be way off the charts crazy, but she ain't stupid, Dawn. If she lived in this part of the castle, chances are she knows this entire wing inside and out."

"So, what are you saying?"

"Watch your back," Faith replied and she turned to look down the dark corridor.

"Watch my back? What are you-"

"Dawn? Shut up. Just stay close and behind me."

Faith focused on the footsteps on the floor, barely visible but she could see them. She moved slowly, watching for a pattern to emerge. The one thing she noticed after they walked a few feet down the dark, damp and dusty corridor was the fact that one set of footsteps had definitely been reused, almost to each exact step, dozens of times over.

Noticing a gap in one set of footprints, Faith cautiously stepped on the empty space in front of her. The stone beneath her boot creaked and if she wasn't a slayer, she wouldn't have heard it. Grabbing Dawn quickly, she pulled her back as an arrow whizzed through the air straight to where they'd just been standing. She let go of Dawn as it hit the wall and clattered to the floor.

"Oh my god! She has this place rigged!" Dawn gasped. "You almost killed us, Faith!"

"Dawn?" Faith groaned as she let go of her. "Just shut up, will you?"

"If you tell me to shut up one more time I'll-" Dawn stepped back away from her and Faith nearly tackled her to the ground as another arrowed whizzed towards her head.

"Maybe you oughta go back and wait?" Faith said sharply as she shoved Dawn towards the entrance to the wing. "Don't argue with me, Dawn. If you end up getting yourself killed and when I find Buffy, she'll kill me."

Dawn slowly made her way back to the doorway and shined the flashlight down the corridor. Faith turned her focus back to the footsteps on the floor and continued on. There were a few doors that were shut, others that were open. The trail of footsteps sometimes went into the rooms with the doors that were open, but they were old, dust covering over them, making them nearly virtually invisible to anyone who didn't know what they were looking for.

Faith continued on, careful of where she stepped. When she spotted the footprints, several sets of them going off in one direction and two going in another the opposite way, she stopped and looked a little closer. She couldn't make a mistake by going the wrong way. Satsu could have the false lead rigged to the point where even she couldn't save herself. She took in her surroundings, looking at the walls, the few paintings that hung, the location of the doors and she closed her eyes, remembering the little details from that nightmare.

She had been shown what she'd seen for a reason. It wasn't just a figment of her imagination, it had been real. It had been a clue. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and took a left, moving slowly but surely down the dark corridor. After taking another left, she came to a dead end and the device in her pocket started humming quietly.

Faith placed the torch in the holder on the wall and pulled the device and the knife out. The device had a small red light on the top edge. She didn't know if she had only one chance at activating a portal. She couldn't afford to make any mistakes and yet, her gut feeling told her she was in the right place and that Buffy was so close and so far away, separated by magic that was keeping her hidden away.

"Here goes nothing," she said under her breath as she held down the lighted button.

The room around her begin to spin, to blur and she gripped on to the device and the knife tightly. She closed her eyes, feeling dizzy and felt her body become almost weightless for a moment. When she felt her feet firmly on the floor again and the device stopped humming in her hand, she opened her eyes and found herself in a dark room.

Faith gave herself a moment to allow her eyes to adjust and the queasy feeling in her stomach to settle. She slipped the device back into her pocket and pulled out her lighter.

"Buffy?" She said quietly as she looked around the room.

She could see Buffy laying on a small bed, chains shackled to her wrists and attached to the wall. To her left on the small table was the remains of a candle and she lit it, encasing the small room with a soft light.

"Buffy?" Faith said again as she walked over to the bed. "B? You all right?"

"Faith?" Buffy murmured weakly as she opened her eyes to look at her.

Faith gripped on to the chains where they connected to the wall and pulled hard. She felt them give, just a little, and she was relieved they weren't obviously reinforced by magic.

"It's useless," Buffy said weakly. "Believe me, I've tried."

"I'll get ya outta here, B."

"I thought you'd never find me."

Faith grunted as she pulled hard on the chains and after a few times, they came out of the wall. She moved to where the chains were shackled to her wrists and she gently ran her fingers over the rough skin, feeling the scars from countless hours of her struggling to free herself. It took her a few times before she could get the bolts undone and she tossed the shackles to the floor, her hands shaking a little and she wasn't sure why.

It almost didn't feel real, that she was there and that she had found Buffy. But it was real and there she was, weak but alive. Faith ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get her hands to stop shaking so much.

"It was-"

"Satsu, yeah I know, B. Your friends are dealing with her right now," she replied and she sat on the edge of the bed. "You all right?"

"Been better," Buffy replied, a small smile curling over her lips. She raised a hand and placed it on Faith's cheek. It made her gasp, not at the fact that Buffy was touching her, but that she felt so cold. "You saved me."

"Not quite yet. Gotta get you outta here first."

It was heartbreaking to see Buffy in the state that she was. Dirty, weak, obviously malnourished from the way her clothes just hung from her frail, tiny body. Knowing she'd be too weak, too slow to move on her own, Faith sheathed the knife into her belt and picked Buffy up from the bed and held her in her arms, cradling her against her body as she walked away from the bed and over to the spot where she'd appeared in the room.

"Hey," Buffy whispered as she looked up at Faith.

"Hey, B. I'm gonna get ya outta here just hold-"

Buffy shook her head and pulled her in for a soft, lingering kiss before she could say another word. Her lips were dry and barely touching her own, but all Faith could think about was the fact that Buffy was kissing her. She pulled back reluctantly and stared down into Buffy's eyes, searching for something, for what she wasn't sure.

"Hold on as tight as you can," she whispered to her as she fumbled through her pocket for the device. "I'm gonna get you home. Hold on, B."

Buffy nodded and wrapped her arms around Faith's neck a little tighter. She was so light and Faith could just feel how weak she really was. The state that she was in, it didn't surprise her though it worried her. Buffy was fading, fast and Faith knew she had to get her out of there sooner rather than later. Holding on to her, she hit the button the device and stared down into Buffy's eyes as the room around them began to spin.

Faith held Buffy's gaze and she couldn't help but smile down at her. She found her and she'd be safe now. As Faith felt her feet firmly on the ground, not realizing she'd felt weightless for a few moments, Buffy opened her mouth as if to say something, but her eyes rolled back, her grip around Faith's neck went slack and her head lolled back.

"Buffy?" Faith said quietly as she shifted her in her arms. "Buffy? Wake up."

Faith felt a wave of panic wash over her. She moved a hand to Buffy's wrist and she felt a pulse, faint, but it was there. Breathing out heavily, she knew she had to get Buffy out of there, but she couldn't carry her and carry the torch at the same time. Calling out for Dawn wasn't an option and she didn't want Dawn getting herself hurt or killed by any of the traps that Satsu had set in there. Taking a deep breath, she started the walk back down the corridor, the light from the torch fading the further she got.

Faith's stomach dropped when she heard the click as she stepped on a loose stone on the floor. She barely got out of the way of a flying arrow and she bit her lower lip, wincing in pain. The arrow had sliced her left thigh, just an inch more and it'd be right through her leg. She could feel the blood soaking her jeans quickly and she didn't need to see it, just feel it, to know it was bad. Turning the corner, she could see the light from Dawn's flashlight and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"Dawn!" Faith called out. "Shine in down here would ya?"

"Buffy?" Dawn said quietly, it coming out in a whimper but Faith still heard it. "You found her?"

"I need some light down here now, Dawn!"

Moving quickly, Faith managed to backtrack her way to where Dawn was waiting without setting off anymore of Satsu's traps. Dawn looked tearful as she saw Buffy in Faith's arms, unconscious and it quickly turned to a look of alarm, of concern.

"You're hurt."

"Barely missed getting shot by an arrow. We gotta get her to the med unit now."

"Faith, you-just let me call someone. You're hurt bad."

"I'm fine, now just lead the way would ya, Dawn?" Faith said through gritted teeth as she shifted Buffy in her arms to make sure she had a good hold on her. "Dawn?"

"I know a shortcut."

"Better not involve some kind of portal or other magic," Faith muttered under her breath as she followed Dawn down the corridor to the stairs they'd taken to get up there.

Halfway down the winding stairs, Faith felt Buffy stir in her arms. She breathed out a sigh of relief as Buffy wrapped her arms around her neck again and moaned quietly against her neck. She could feel Buffy straining to hold on to her, but she was weak, far too weak. Fading away. Faith could feel a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong with Buffy and it wasn't just because she'd been locked away, practically starving to death. There was something more happening here and she knew Satsu had to have done something to her to keep her as weak as she was.

"Dawn, where the hell is this shortcut?" Faith asked, realizing they were going back the same way they'd come earlier. "Dawn?"

"Now it's my turn to tell you to shut up," Dawn snapped and she stopped in the middle of the corridor. "There's a door somewhere, it leads to a tunnel that ends up on the other end of the castle, near the med unit."

"Hate to break it to ya, but there's no doors here, Dawn."

"By the tapestry," Buffy murmured quietly. "The blue one."

"The what?" Faith asked as she looked down at her.

"What'd she say?"

"Something about a tapestry, the blue one, hell if I know what that even means."

"How could I have forgotten?" Dawn rushed back down the corridor and let out a laugh as she pressed the wall and the hidden door opened. "Well? Come on, Faith!"

"Faith?" Buffy whispered, her breath tickling her neck. "What-where are-"

"Shh, it's okay, B."

Faith inhaled sharply, ignoring the pain in her left thigh as she followed Dawn into the narrow tunnel. She'd barely taken a few steps before the hidden door slid shut behind her. She focused on the light coming from Dawn's flashlight, dodging out of the way of the few cobwebs that hung from the ceiling to the walls.

Faith walked faster when she felt Buffy's body go slack again. She was fading in and out and Faith was worried that if she passed out again, she might not just wake up like she had before.

"How close are we?" Faith asked, her voice bouncing off the tunnel walls.

"Exit is just up ahead," Dawn replied without looking back at her.

"How'd you find this tunnel anyway?"

"When we first got here, we did a lot of exploring," Dawn replied and she slowed down and turned to look at Faith and then down at Buffy. "She found this tunnel by accident. Xander came up with the stupid idea of playing hide and seek with no rules other than if more than an hour passed and you weren't found, you'd have to show yourself. Stupid, I know."

"Sounds like you guys must've been wicked bored to play a kids game like that," Faith chuckled softly. "Hide and seek? What are you, twelve?"

"No, I'm eighteen. Besides, playing hide and seek with a bunch of slayers? A lot harder than it looks like."

"Ooh, look out, Dawnie's a big bad grown-ass woman now playing hide and seek with a bunch of slayers."

"Faith?" Dawn said, stifling her own laughter. "Maybe now isn't such a good time to be talking and we should just make with the moving and getting you and Buffy to the med unit now?"

"I'm fine," Faith said. "Just a scratch."

"Have you even looked at your leg?" Dawn asked her and she came to a stop. "You're bleeding profusely, half your jeans are soaked in blood and I'm pretty sure you're leaving a perfect trail of it behind you too. You need stitches."

"Whatever. Just get us out of here, will ya?"

Dawn fumbled with her flashlight as she felt along the wall. Faith tried to keep most of her weight off her throbbing left leg while keeping a firm hold on Buffy. Dawn pulled a small lever barely visible on the wall and a door creaked open slowly, dust falling from around the doorway. Following Dawn out into the brightly lit corridor, they were in the med unit in a matter of minutes.

"Place her on the bed," one of the doctor's said quickly as she motioned to a few girls Faith recognized as slayers to help. "Gina, take her over to the next bed and get her leg looked at. It looks bad."

"Faith?" Dawn said as she watched Faith just stand there holding Buffy in her arms. "You can put her down now. We need Dr. Haines to do her job."

"Faith, it's all right. She's safe here," Dr. Haines said soothingly. "I'll take care of you and what I need for you to do is place her down on the bed and get yourself looked after."

She could feel Buffy start to stir as she stepped towards the empty hospital bed and as she lowered Buffy down, she felt her grip her neck, almost as if she didn't want to let go.

"It's okay, B. You're safe now," she whispered and she felt Buffy's lips brush against her neck, kissing her softly before Buffy finally let go.

"Faith?" Gina called out from a bed across the room. "Come on, let's get you out of those pants and stitch that leg up."

"Hey, if you wanted to get me outta my pants, all you had to do is say so," Faith winked as she hobbled over to where Gina was waiting. "Alright, Doc, do what you gotta do."

"I'm not a doctor," Gina replied as she helped Faith get out of her bloody jeans and had her lay on the bed. "I'm a nurse, kind of. Dr. Haines has been training me and a few of the girls. It comes in handy when we're out on patrol, you know?"

"Sure," Faith nodded and she turned her head to look over at where Buffy was, but the curtain was drawn around her bed and a few slayers rushed in behind it carrying a few medical supplies. Turning back to look at Gina as she prepped the needle, she sucked in a deep breath as the needle sunk deep in her skin near her wound. "What's that?"

"Little something to help numb the pain."

"I'm a slayer. Don't need none of that. Just stitch me up and I'll be on my way."

"You haven't changed, have you?" Gina laughed as she pulled the syringe out and laid it on the tray next to her. "And you totally don't even remember who I am either, right?"

Faith shook her head. "There's a lot of you. Kind of hard to remember some if I've only met ya once before."

"Here I thought you'd remember your first," Gina chuckled and she started stitching the large wound on Faith's thigh. "I guess we're all the same to you after all."

"My first?" Faith scrunched her face and tried to think hard about who Gina was. She'd found a lot of young slayers, the troubled ones, the ones who were out of control and on the brink of self-destruction. "Uh, Miami?"

"Not even close."

"Atlanta?" Faith asked and Gina shook her head no. "New York?"

"No, not even the right continent," Gina laughed again. "I'm not American."

"You're really gonna make me try and guess? Cos when I first started the gig with Giles, he had me running all over the place. Those days are pretty blurred together."

"Buenos Aires. You were looking for someone else and you just happened to find me, self-destructing and drinking away my sorrows in the same bar you were in. I recall you being pretty smashed, so I'll let it slide."

"Right. Barely remember being there for that long."

"You weren't. Two days at most I think. Found the girl you were looking for, put us both on a plane to Scotland and you were gone off somewhere else."

"You don't sound Argentine."

"I went to high school in Miami, so technically you were right when you guessed Miami."

Faith couldn't help but roll her eyes and laugh. She looked down as Gina turned around and pulled the gloves off and admired her handiwork. "I gotta hand it to you, your bedside manner? Definitely better than most doctors and nurses I've had to deal with. Didn't even feel ya stitch me up."

"Well no, you wouldn't have. I numbed the area, remember?"

"And I told ya I could take the pain, remember?" Faith winked, her flirty joking attitude just another mask to hide how worried she was about Buffy.

Faith sat just outside the med unit, listening as the doctor gave the slayers in there instructions on what they were going to do with Buffy next. From what Faith could hear, they were putting her through a series of tests and she'd been sitting out there for the better part of an hour. The whole thing was making her feel sick. The doctor had no idea what was wrong with Buffy exactly or why it was taking her body so long to respond to what should've been a quick treatment for dehydration when it came to a slayer.

Her fingers itched for a cigarette, but she didn't want to go too far. She wanted to make sure that Buffy was okay and that she was on her way to recovery. She wanted nothing more than to get her hands on Satsu again, to really make her pay for what she'd done to Buffy, but Satsu was out of her hands, locked up and the others would deal with her in whatever way they had planned.

Clenching her fists, Faith rose from the chair she was sitting in and started to pace near the med unit door. Inside a war was raging and she was fighting a losing battle. The one thing on her mind, aside from being worried about Buffy and seeing red every time she so much as thought about Satsu, she was thinking about how Buffy had kissed her before she had gotten her out of that room, that prison.

"It's a relief," Giles said as he walked up to her and stood at her side, thankfully breaking her out of the thoughts that had been consuming her for the last hour. "It seems that you found her in what was likely just in the knick of time. She doesn't look well, does she?" He asked as he peered into the room and caught sight of Buffy.

"No, she's not."

"She'll mend," Giles replied with a forced smile. "She's always been strong and quite the fighter." He cleared his throat and shook his head. "I will be arranging for a flight back to Cleveland by tomorrow morning-"

"I'm gonna stay," Faith cut him off. "I'm staying."

"You are?" Giles asked, surprised at her choice. "Now that it is all over and Buffy is safe, you are going to stay?"

"Don't let me keep you from leaving, G. You wanna go home, by all means go home," she said and she moved away from the door, unable to bring herself to look through the window at Buffy. "I'll come back when I know she's okay and when I know Satsu is never gonna be able to come near her ever again."

Giles smiled at her before pulling her in for a tight hug. Faith reluctantly hugged him back, finding herself smiling too and she wasn't sure why. When Giles finally stepped back, he was still smiling at her.

"You should tell her how you feel."

"Huh?"

"Buffy. You should tell her how you feel about her, Faith. And please, don't give me that look and play dumb. It's clear as day how you feel about her."

"And how's that?" Faith asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I know you are in love with her," Giles stated simply and held a hand up when she was about to protest. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with how you feel about her, but I believe you should let her know how you feel about her before you decide to leave."

"Not like it's gonna make any difference. She's never gonna love me back."

"I believe you'll be very surprised," he replied with a soft smile. "What you have done for her, the unspeakable measures you've gone through just to find her and return her home, it speaks volumes of who you are, who you've become, Faith."

Faith opened and shut her mouth. Giles had finally done it, he'd finally rendered her speechless. She couldn't talk her way out of this, tell him he was lying even if she wanted to. He was right. She was in love with Buffy and yet, she was still fighting that inside, another raging war she was losing every battle against.

"I'm quite proud of you," Giles said, smiling as she just stared at him. "I have watched you grow up and change into a wonderful young, strong and smart woman. Even when there had been questionable decisions to make, even ones I know you didn't want to make but knew it was the right thing to do, you did it. You proved to me that you are stronger now than you ever were before. I know that when it comes to love, you are quite reluctant, but you needn't be. She'd be quite lucky to be with someone like you."

"Thanks, Giles," Faith said quietly, fighting the urge to cry as he hugged her.

"That being said, I know you've been fighting what you feel when it comes to her and that you have for a very long time. You need to know that you don't need to fight it anymore, Faith. Life is full of surprises and I find that when you accept what is as it is and nothing more, embrace it, the surprises that come are very rewarding in the end."

"As some say, seize the day, live in the moment, carpe diem, etcetera, etcetera," Faith replied, chuckling as Giles nodded his head. Her smile faded as she slumped against the wall near the med unit doors. "The thing is, I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can tell her how I feel. You know me, never been big on the sharing thing."

"Find the right moment and open your heart. You've got nothing to lose."

"Right, you're right, I've got nothing to lose."

"I'll book a ticket you can use at any date to return to Cleveland," Giles said and he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and proceeded to clean his already clean glasses. "When and if you decide to return home, I'd like a phone call so that I can arrange to have someone pick you up from the airport. If you decide not to return, I still want a phone call every now and then."

Faith smiled and threw her arms around him again, nearly crushing him as she held on tight. Giles had become everything in her life, her friend, her Watcher, the father she never had and she loved him for that, for being there for her when he didn't have to be.

She watched him as he walked down the corridor and headed into Willow's office. Wiping away the few tears she finally let fall, she turned to look into the med unit and saw Buffy laying on the bed, IV's in her arm and hands and Dawn at her side. She looked peaceful just resting and Faith felt something stir inside of her she'd never felt before.

And it was the most overwhelming, powerful feeling that filled her, warmed her. And she knew that no matter how hard it was for her to say what she felt, she'd tell Buffy just how she felt about her. One way or another, she would.