A/N: Again, thanks for all the awesome reviews guys ;-)

Chapter 5: Roads Converge

Int: Willow's Car

Faith stared out the side window, watching the scenery flash past as Willow drove towards Sunnydale. They'd been traveling for about 45 minutes now, neither one of them knowing what to say. Faith could feel the power rolling off the witch in waves, it was a bit disconcerting as this was the women who had almost killed her not so long ago. She sensed the change in the redhead though, she wasn't angry and vengeful; she was more calm, at peace with her power. That was the only reason Faith was sitting less than 2 feet away from the Wicca.

She heard Willow let out a deep sigh, it startled her a little as she had been so deep in thought.

"Sorry." Willow glanced at the Slayer apologetically, she could sense the tension and unease coming from Faith; she was sitting hunched up in the seat, trying to get as far away from the witch as possible.

Faith just shrugged and looked at the witch, her expression unreadable, before continuing to stare out the window.

"You hungry?" Once again Faith started, the silence broken. She was starting to get annoyed with herself for being so jumpy.

"Yeah, actually, I am a little." She said, this time smiling apologetically at the witch.

Willow nodded and pulled into the first gas station she saw. Faith got out of the car and stretched, her muscles protesting against the action, making her wince.

Willow started heading for the diner, she threw the dark Slayer a glance, taking in the pained expression on her face, "You ok?" She asked, concerned, the Slayer was still badly injured.

Faith threw her a dark look, What do you care? She wanted to snap, but she stopped herself, she nodded instead, "Yeah, 5x5." She brushed her hand through her hair as she headed towards the diner.

Willow rolled her eyes as she watched the Slayer stride ahead of her and into the diner. What does that even mean? Were her exasperated thoughts as she followed Faith through the door.

Int: Roadside Diner

They sat facing each other in a booth, not looking at each other, the uncomfortable silence descending over them once again. Faith fiddled and poked at her fries with her fork, silently wishing the floor would open up and swallow her whole.

Willow watched the Slayer with amusement, "I'm glad you're here to foil their evil plan to take over your plate." Willow finally said, unable to restrain herself.

Faith raised an eyebrow and scowled at the witch, "What…" she looked at the mangled fries on her plate, "…oh." She put her fork down and sat back against the vinyl seat, arms folded, staring at the witch.

Willow felt a little uncomfortable under the intense gaze of the Slayer, she dropped her gaze, "That was a good thing you did for Angel." She said softly, looking up and smiling at the Slayer.

"Yeah, well, that's what you do when your friends are in trouble, you help them." Faith said, a small amount of hostility in her voice. The double meaning in that sentence was not lost upon Willow. Faith continued to glare at the witch, trying to intimidate her.

"Yeah." Willow said softly, staring at the half eaten burger on her plate, she looked up at Faith again; this time there were tears in her eyes, threatening to spill. Faith was a little taken aback and she stopped glaring angrily at the witch, her expression softened and she frowned, confused.

"Faith, I…" Willow had to force herself to look the Slayer in the eye, "I'm so sorry." She said, tears starting to stream down her face. Faith shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the emotion pouring from Willow, her hard exterior softened as she stared at the red head for a while longer, trying to put the words together in her head. There was no way she could let the witch accept all the blame for her actions.

She took a deep breathe and leant forward towards the witch, "It's ok, Will, I pretty much deserved it anyway." Faith leant back again, flashing back to how she had hit Willow in the Mayor's library. It nauseated her to think of how far she would have taken it had the Mayor not intervened; she hated herself for how she abused her power back then.

Willow looked up at the Slayer, horrified, "No, Faith, no-one could ever deserve what I did to you." Willow looked at Faith, pain evident in her expression, "I tried to kill you, and I nearly succeeded at that, and…" she paused, looking away from the Slayer, "…I enjoyed it…I wanted to see you in pain, wanted you to suffer, wanted you to pay for what you did to us, to Buffy…I was evil." She said softly, her gut wrenching as she finally acknowledged that fact to herself.

"And when I held a knife to your throat, Will, what would you call that? It sure as hell wasn't puppies and kittens?" Faith said, staring intently at the Witch.

"Yes, but, you weren't evil, Faith…"

Faith had to choke back her laughter as she stared incredulously at the witch, "Um, Willow, what page were you on…"

"Hear me out." Willow said, looking at the Slayer, imploring her to listen.

Faith stared at the witch a bit longer before finally backing off, "Ok." She sat back again, folded her arms across her chest and listened to Willow.

"You were confused, you were bad even, but evil…" Willow paused, she looked into Faith's eyes, watching the Slayer shift uncomfortably under her gaze, "I don't believe for a second that I would be sitting here having this conversation with you if you truly were evil, Faith." Willow held up her hand to silence the Slayer who had been about to speak. Faith just pouted and continued to glare at Willow, "If you had truly wanted me, any of us, dead, we would be pushing up daisies right now, because you're a Slayer, Faith, you have so much power…" Willow stopped, she could see cracks appearing in Faith's hard exterior, could see the vulnerable girl beneath the tough shell.

Willow continued, she needed to get all of this off her chest, and she knew that Faith needed to hear it so she would stop punishing herself.

"When we were fighting, in the magic shop…" Willow had to pause to recompose herself, it still hurt to talk about it, "…at the Pagan temple…" she leant forward towards Faith, "I could feel you, Faith, your thoughts, even your emotions when we touched."

"I remember…" Faith said softly, also not enjoying the trip down memory lane.

Willow smiled softly at the Slayer, "I felt anger, confusion, and hate inside you, but not once did I feel that you were or could ever be truly evil."

Faith had stopped glaring at Willow, she was now picking at a spot on the table, unsure of how to deal with all the emotions going through her at the moment.

Willow stretched across the table and placed her hand reassuringly on top of the Slayer's, "I also felt the remorse you have for what you did back then…" Willow paused, "I can feel it now, Faith."

Faith glanced up at the witch, slightly freaked out. She pulled her hand out of Willow's grasp and frowned at the witch, she opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself, she just nodded slightly, her expression sad.

"Faith, I know you love Buffy…" Faith's head whipped up as she heard Willow say that, she was taking it too far now, "Whoa, Red, hold up there…"

"Don't even deny it…" Willow paused, smiling at the Slayer, "…she feels the same way you know!"

Faith just stared at the witch incredulously, she didn't know how to respond so she did what she does best, she changed the topic, "I did deserve a bit of the beating you gave me." She smirked at the witch.

Willow shook her head and grinned back at the Slayer, "Yeah, I guess you did." She said, slowly standing up, "We should get going, don't want to travel too late."

Faith stayed in her seat a second, the realization that she was heading back to Sunnydale hit her hard; she looked up at Willow, fear etched in her features.

Willow sat back down, "I know how you feel." She looked at Faith, watching the conflict of emotions play across the dark Slayer's face, "I was terrified about going back, worried that they wouldn't accept me, that they would shun me."

Faith nodded, "But they did, right? Accept you? Because you're Willow, you're their friend." Faith shook her head, "I was never a part of your little group." She spat out.

Willow nodded, "That's true, but you could be." She raised a questioning eyebrow at Faith, "Giles told me, back in England, that he couldn't guarantee that I'd be welcomed back to Sunnydale with open arms; the same as I can't guarantee it for you. But know this, even though you may not be wanted, you are needed there Faith, and not just because of the impending apocalypse…" she looked intently at the dark Slayer, "Buffy needs you." She said simply.

Faith raised her eyebrows at that comment but didn't have a comeback. She sighed and stood up, following Willow to the car.

Willow turned to her once they were inside the car, "You have at least 1 friend in Sunnydale." She said, smiling warmly at the Slayer as she started the car.

Int: Willows Car, Outskirts of Sunnydale

Willow and Faith continued their journey in silence, but this time it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. They had come to an understanding; they had both been to a dark place and this common ground forged a bond between the two young women. They would, neither of them, forget nor really forgive what had transpired between them in the past, but they were both ready to move on and form a new friendship.

Faith's feelings of apprehension about returning to Sunnydale were quickly dashed when someone fell out of the pick-up truck in front of them and rolled across the road.

Willow slammed on the breaks, skidding to a stop in the middle of the dark highway. She got out of the car and rushed to the girl lying in the road.

"Are you OK? Can you hear me?" Willow rolled the girl over, "Can you talk?" she glanced up at Faith who slowly made her way to the pair, "This girl's bleeding badly. We have to get her to the hospital." She says desperately.

Faith just nodded knowingly and than stared down the dark road, unfazed, "Yep. Guess I'm back in Sunnydale."