A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, things have been crazee (well, crazier) downunder ;-)

Chapter 6: Misunderstandings

Int: Sunnydale General Hospital

Faith was fidgeting, shifting her weight from leg to leg as she stood beside Willow watching the emergency surgeons try to save the life of the girl they had found out on the highway. She was obviously very uncomfortable with being back at this hospital yet again. Willow threw occasional, understanding glances toward the twitchy Slayer; the poor girl looked as if she might bolt any second.

Finally, Faith broke the tense silence, "You sure she's one of us? She doesn't look like much now. Not a potential slayer, I mean."

Willow sighed and continued to watch the flurry of activity that was happening behind the glass, "Don't know, seems to fit though. We'll know more when she regains consciousness."

Faith gave a disbelieving chuckle, "IF she regains consciousness," she turned to the witch, "girl's been gutted like a catfish."

Willow nodded sadly, "Yeah."

Faith watched the procedure for a little while more until finally she couldn't stand it; she had to get out of the hospital. The memories she had of this place were too painful, she needed air. She turned to Willow, "Look, Will, I NEED to get out of here." Her voice a desperate plea, "I have to go blow off some steam, ya know." She cocked her head as she smirked at the witch.

Willow blew out a deep breath; she had already called Dawn, looking for Buffy, so she knew the blonde Slayer was out patrolling. She sighed as she saw how agitated Faith was, "What if you bump into Buffy? I, ah, I don't think meeting her alone is the best idea right now." Willow was all kinds of nervous as she watched the dark Slayer scowl.

"Willow, please tell me you told B I was coming." Faith's tone was desperate.

Willow couldn't make eye contact with Faith, "Well, um…"

Faith stared at the witch incredulous, "Great, just fucking awesome." She absently ran a hand through her hair.

"She'll be happy you came, Faith," Willow said, trying to ease the tension, "…she's just…well, you know how stubborn Buffy can be."

Faith scoffed at the witch, "We didn't exactly part on the best of terms last time we were in the same room," Faith looked around, "in this actual hospital," Her voice dripping with disdain, "story of our lives…" she mumbled under her breath. She looked up at the witch, "Look, I can't stay here any longer, I've spent way too much time in this hospital." She sighed, "If we bump into each other I guess we'll just deal," Faith grinned at the witch, "I mean seriously, what's the worse that could happen?" she tried to regain some of her bravado, hoping it would hide the gut wrenching fear coursing through her being right now.

Willow just looked at Faith with a nauseated smile on her face.

"Don't answer that." Faith said quickly, frowning as images of knives flashed briefly through her mind; she saw how worried the witch looked, "I'll be fine, Will." Faith smirked, "I'll see ya later." She called out after her as she stalked towards the exit.

Ext: Cemetery in Sunnydale

Faith's movements were stealthy, almost cat-like as she made her way through the cemetery, senses on high alert to any demon activity that may be taking place. She was also concentrating on her Slayer connection with Buffy, hoping it would at least give her a heads up before she bumped in to the blonde Slayer. To say Faith was nervous would be an understatement, her guts felt like they were twisting in knots and she had an overwhelming feeling of nausea. The fear and guilt she was feeling were suddenly forgotten as she saw a young woman running in the distance, a vampire in hot pursuit. Faith took off running and made it to the pair just in time to pull the vampire off the fallen woman.

"Whatcha wanna do to her, vamp?" she circled the vampire like prey, "Huh? Something like this?" she punched him, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Spike regained his footing and looked the leering Slayer up and down, "Nice punch you got there. Lemme guess. Leather pants; nice right cross, doe eyes, holier-than-thou glower...you must be the other Slayer…Faith, right?"

Faith grinned psychotically at him, "Oh, goodie. I'm famous."

"Pretty, dark hair, likes to kill things…" Spike watched Faith's expression darken, "Not likely to forget…" he is suddenly flying through the air again, only stopping when he connects hard with a headstone. He shakes his head, not quiet able to comprehend the speed and power of that attack, "Bit of a misunderstanding here. I'm…" he starts, trying to stand but Faith interrupts him.

"Spike? Yeah, we've met before." She nods as she stalks up to him.

"We have? I don't think we…" he stops as the wind is knocked out of him by Faith's kick to his torso, "Bloody hell! What're you doing? I'm on your side."

"Yeah? Maybe you haven't heard. I've reformed." She punches Spike again, enjoying herself now.

"So have I." Spike punches Faith in the face, "I reformed way before you did." They exchange blows, neither one of them gaining the upper hand.

"Stop…" Spike hits Faith hard, "hitting…" he punches her again, "…me! We're on the same side!"

Faith stopped and looked at the blonde vampire incredulous, "Please. You think I'm stupid?"

"Well, yeah." Spike grinned at the Slayer, enjoying baiting her.

Faith scowled, "You were attacking that girl." Once again she laid in to Spike, punching him.

Faith was too busy fighting with Spike to notice the familiar tingling that should have alerted her to Buffy's presence. She pulled her hand back, about to hit Spike again when her arm was grabbed in a very strong grip. Before Faith knew what was happening a fist connected with her cheekbone with a sickening crunch, sending her sprawling face first into the floor.

Faith lay there stunned for a second; long enough to feel that Buffy was close very close. She spat some blood on the ground and gingerly stood up, turning around to face the blonde Slayer.

Buffy's body language changed dramatically as she too suddenly realized who it was; that the tingling she'd been feeling was real. She didn't relax her fighting stance though, after all, Faith had been attacking Spike. She glowered at the dark Slayer, not too sure what emotion she was feeling upon seeing her again.

"Hey, B." it came out so softly, so resignedly.

Buffy continued to glare at Faith, still unsure of how to react, she let her instincts take over, and when that concerned Faith, that usually led to fighting. She stalked up to the brunette, getting right in to her personal space. Faith held her ground, she was a little intimidated by the small Slayer, but she wasn't going to back down or run away again. She could sense the anger and disappointment pouring off the blonde; she opened her mouth to speak but Buffy beat her to it.

"You are the most reckless, thoughtless, self-centered, ugh…" Buffy caught a glimpse of the fresh scar on Faith's neck and her anger took over; she punched Faith in the face again, this time hitting her in the nose. Faith stumbled backwards, her head snapping back with the momentum of the blow. She regained her footing and grabbed her nose, blood streaming down her face. Fuck, that just healed. She thought as she tried to focus on Buffy through the tears welling in her eyes.

Faith was just able to make out Buffy standing close to Spike, checking him over to make sure he was alright. She took a step forward, her vision clearing, frowning as she took in the interaction between the two, "Are you protecting vampires? Are you the bad slayer now? Am I the good slayer now?" Faith was genuinely confused as she scowled at them both.

"He's with me. He has a soul." Buffy was short with the dark haired Slayer.

Faith was shocked, not expecting that answer, "So he's like Angel?"

Spike jumped in and scowled at Faith, "I am nothing like Angel."

"He fights on my side." Buffy said shrugging, staring deep into Faith's eyes, "Which is more than I can say for some of us." Satisfaction washed over her as she saw the pain in the brunette's eyes.

Faith glared at Spike, trying to brush off Buffy's hurtful comment, "Yeah, well if he's so good, what's he doing chasing down defenseless…"

The young woman that Spike had been chasing suddenly jumped up and tackled Faith to the ground.

Buffy pointed to the vampire, "That's one of the bad guys."

Faith quickly regained her footing, "Damn, you should make them wear a sign or something." She traded blows with the vamp, toying with her a little as she scanned around for a stake. When she was close enough to Buffy she reached into the blonde's back pocket, causing the Slayer to flinch at the tingling sensation the small contact caused, she grabbed a stake and then she finished the fight with the vamp.

"Angel's dull as a table lamp. And we have very different coloring." Spike said, pouting.

Faith raised her eyebrow as she looked at the vampire, "Riight." she smirked and then turned her attention back to Buffy, "So, I heard there was another big bad in town, that you might need some help." She smiled at the blonde, a genuine smile, not her characteristic smirk.

Buffy just stared at the other Slayer, disbelieving, "I don't need help from reckless, drug addicted, suicidal Slayers, thank you very much."

Faith stared at Buffy in utter disbelief, Drug addicted? Suicidal? What…? And then she realized with a sinking feeling that Buffy had most likely felt her little Orpheus trip into hell with Angel, and the blonde Slayer had obviously misinterpreted the feelings, "B, listen, I can explain…" she trailed off, the blazing anger in the blonde's eyes stunning her into silence.

"Save it, Faith, go back to whatever little junkie hole you crawled out of. I don't need your help, never have, never will!" And with that she turned her back on the stunned brunette and walked away with Spike following closely. He threw occasional cautious glances over his shoulder, not fully trusting that the dark Slayer wouldn't come after them with a knife.

Faith watched them go, her heart ached with grief, she didn't want Buffy thinking she was some useless drug addicted junkie. She hung her head and turned to leave in the opposite direction.

Ext: Revello drive

Buffy was storming down the street towards her home as if her life depended on it. Spike was trotting to keep up with the angry Slayer. They hadn't said a word to each other after their encounter with Faith in the graveyard. He could sense the emotions pouring off the Slayer, if he didn't know any better he would have sworn she had just had her heart broken by someone.

"You sure showed that bitch…" Spike tried to strike up a conversation. Buffy didn't even acknowledge that the vampire had spoken. Not to be dissuaded so easily Spike continued, "I mean, who does she think she is? Coming back to town after all she did here…" he trailed off, still not getting any response from the blonde Slayer.

He grabbed Buffy's arm in an attempt to get her to stop and talk to him, Buffy didn't look at him as she shrugged his hand off her arm and continued to walk home in silence. The pace had slowed down a bit and Spike was now walking comfortably beside the Slayer.

"Look, Buffy, something is obviously bothering you…" Spike tried again to make contact with the Slayer, "What is going on between you and Faith?" saying the dark Slayer's name got a response from the blonde, maybe not what Spike was hoping for, but at this point any reaction from the blonde was welcome. Buffy had stopped walking and was standing on the sidewalk, staring ahead into the darkness, clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides. I knew it! Spike thought triumphantly, stopping beside the Slayer. He looked at the blonde, his expression serious, "If you need her gone, Buffy, just say the word and she's history."

Buffy slowly turned to face Spike, her eyes red and bloodshot from unshed tears. Spike frowned, not expecting to see her looking so sad. Buffy glared at the vampire, "Shut up, Spike." She hissed, "This does not concern you." And with that she stormed ahead again, nearly at her destination.

Ext: Cemetery in Sunnydale

She didn't mean it; she couldn't have meant what she said, not after what Willow told me at the diner. Faith was walking absently between all the headstones, deep in thought, not really paying attention to where she was going. Her chest ached, it felt like she had been stabbed in the heart and Buffy had just twisted the blade.

'Time was, I thought humans existed just to hurt each other.' Angel's words invaded her thoughts as she went over the encounter with Buffy. She smiled sardonically, shaking her head, thinking of her history with the blonde Slayer. 'I found out that there are other types of people. People who genuinely wanted to do right. And they make mistakes. And they fall down.' Faith slowed down; finally taking those words she had scoffed at all those years ago to heart. 'But they keep caring. Keep trying. If you can trust us, Faith, this can all change. You don't have to disappear into the darkness.' Realization hit her; she stopped dead in her tracks. Angel had been talking about Buffy; he had known all along how they felt about each other.

Her gaze fell on the headstone before her; it bore a name very familiar to her. She gingerly knelt before the stone and traced her fingers reverently along the grooves of the name engraved there. A tear escaped and fell down her cheek as she was overwhelmed with remorse and regret for what she did.

"I am so sorry I never got a chance to apologize to you in person, Mrs. S." she said sadly, tracing the J in 'Joyce'.

Int: Summer's Residence

Buffy threw the door to her house open and walked in, startling Giles and Dawn who were sitting at the dining room table. She glared at Giles briefly before turning to Dawn who had come up beside her, a worried expression on her face.

"Willow has been calling, she's at the hospital with a girl, a potential, she's hurt bad." Dawn says quickly, sensing the anger pouring off her sister.

Buffy frowned and then turned on her heels, pushing past Spike who was lurking in the doorway, and headed for Sunnydale General.

Spike watched her leave and then turned to face Dawn and Giles, "Had a little run in with Faith at the cemetery." He shrugged, and headed for the basement, not relishing the idea of hanging out with the Watcher any longer than necessary.

"Faith?" Dawn exclaimed after the retreating vampire. Giles just took his glasses off and began to clean them, a small smile gracing his lips.

Spike stopped briefly, "Yeah, Faith, psycho Slayer." He snarled.

"She's not psycho!" Dawn tried to defend but it fell on deaf ears as Spike had already descended into the basement.

Int: Sunnydale General Hospital

Willow saw Buffy walk in to the emergency room; she could feel the fury pouring off the Slayer. She rolled her eyes, Great, just great Faith, what did you do? Willow walked up to the blonde, she had her back turned, scanning around the waiting room.

"Buffy." Willow gently placed her hand on her friend's shoulder.

Buffy wheeled around and glared at the witch, "You brought Faith back with you." She snarled, glaring daggers at the witch.

Willow wasn't intimidated by the Slayer, "Not right now, Buffy, we're in a hospital." She frowned at her friend.

Buffy sighed, combing her fingers through her hair, calming herself, "How is the girl?" she asked resignedly.

"She's awake; she asked to talk to you." Willow started to head in the direction of the ICU, encouraging Buffy to follow her.

After talking to the potential, and learning about Caleb, Buffy turned to Willow, "We need to talk, now." She gestured for the witch to follow her outside.

Willow starts once they are out on the sidewalk, "Buffy, I know you and Faith didn't part on the best of terms, but seriously, I didn't realize you held this much anger and hostility towards her."

"Things have changed, Will." It pained Buffy to talk about it; she still had strong feelings for the dark Slayer.

"Why? What changed, Buffy? You love her, she loves you, you need her here!"

Buffy looked sadly at the witch, "She obviously doesn't love me enough." She said, fighting the lump in her throat as she said that. She took in Willow's confused expression and told the witch about Faith being high on drugs and reckless while fighting vamps, "She's obviously unstable and doesn't give a damn about anyone but herself, Will."

Willow looked at Buffy in horror, the words sinking in as she realized what Buffy was implying, "Buffy…" she looked at the Slayer, fear in the pit of her stomach, "It's not what you think…" and she told Buffy about how Faith had selflessly saved Angel.

Buffy looked pale and nauseated as she listened to Willow, regret for her actions and fear for the dark Slayer replacing her anger, "Oh Will, I…I said some horrible things to her." Buffy said, putting her hand over her mouth, fighting the urge to burst into tears.

"We have to find her." Willow said, desperation in her voice.

"How?" Buffy trailed after the witch, "She could be anywhere by now."

"Locator spell." Willow called over her shoulder, already heading back to the house.

Ext: Cemetery in Sunnydale

Faith was still sitting at Joyce's grave; she was just staring at the ground, grief stricken. She was so preoccupied that she didn't hear the rustle behind her until it was too late. She caught movement coming from her side out of the corner of her eye but she didn't react fast enough so the blow to her head still hurt like hell when it connected. She rolled forward to get out of range quickly and with one fluid motion she gracefully leapt to her feet and turned to face her attackers. She frowned when she recognized them; they were dressed the same as the monks who had attacked her back in LA. Bringers? She remembered what Willow had told her about the First and its minions.

She smirked at them, confident in her ability to fend them off. She had managed well enough in the alley after all. Her confident smirk turned to a small gulp of fear when she realized she was surrounded by at least 15 of them; they had started moving towards her out of the shadows. Faith swallowed back the fear, refusing to allow it to overwhelm her. She shrugged and dived right in to the nearest Bringer, smashing her fist into his face, sending him flying backwards away from her. At least I'll go out with a fight. She thought as she smashed her elbow into the Bringer sneaking up on her right side.

She had managed to take out 6 of them before they finally gained the upper hand and she was forced to the ground, trying to block all the kicks and punches raining down on her body. Their attack was brutal. Faith tried valiantly to recover but there were too many of them, and she wasn't yet at full strength after her fights with The Beast and Angelus. A well timed kick to her head sent her flying back a few feet, her vision blurring, darkness threatened to overwhelm her. She was vaguely aware of a Bringer with a knife descending upon her, aiming for her heart when he was hit full force from the side, his attacker rolling along the ground with him. Faith watched with some amusement as the rest of them went flying through the air, away from her. She sat up a little, taking in a sharp breath as her ribs protested against the movement. Relief filled her as she saw Willow standing 10 feet away, sending the Bringers flying through the air with flicks of her wrist.

Faith struggled to her feet, fighting against the pain in her body and the pounding in her head that was threatening to overwhelm her, "Thanks, Will." Her voice was soft, broken, filled with sadness.

Willow's heart went out to the bruised Slayer; she looked so despondent, all hope gone. The Witch could see in Faith's expression how betrayed she was feeling, how deep Buffy's cruel words had hurt her. She closed the distance between herself and the Slayer, "Are you OK?" she asked, concern in her voice and expression.

"Yeah, 5 by 5." She said unconvincingly, suddenly aware of how strong Buffy's presence was, she could feel the slight humming that was their Slayer bond. Faith followed Willow's gaze, she sighed resignedly and turned to face the Slayer standing behind her.

Buffy was standing a few feet away, she had finished off the Bringer she tackled and after making sure that Willow's spell had sorted out the others, she turned to go and face the dark Slayer. She was saddened by Faith's appearance, she was bruised and bloodied, not all of the blood from the fight with the Bringers Buffy realized, guilt washing over her. Faith's shoulders were slumped; she was so dejected and broken. Buffy wanted to run up to her and grab her in her arms and beg for her forgiveness, but she knew Faith and she realized that would be the quickest way to send the Slayer running. Instead, she just stood there, trying to appear unthreatening.

"I'm so…." Buffy stopped herself, saying sorry to Faith right now was probably not the right approach, she tried again, "I know what you did for Angel…" she stared into Faith's eyes, so much sadness was reflected back at her, "Thank you." She said softly, gratitude in her expression.

Faith just nodded slightly, she drew herself up to her full height, running a hand through her hair, glancing at the cemetery exit in the distance.

Oh god, she's going to run! The thought of losing Faith right now terrified the blonde Slayer, "Please stay, Faith…we need…" Buffy caught Willow's eye, the witch was standing behind Faith smiling, nodding her head encouragingly. Buffy tilted her head and looked desperately at the dark Slayer; "I need you…" she trailed off, finally admitting that she needed help.

Faith was stunned, she stared incredulously at the blonde, she had not expected this turn around. Faith narrowed her eyes as she scowled at the Slayer, "What happened to, 'I don't need your help, never have, never will!'?" Damned if she was going to make this easy for the other Slayer.

Buffy stood before the dark Slayer, shifting her weight uncomfortably. A twinge of annoyance at the other Slayer building up inside her, seriously, how was she to know that Faith was doing something good back in LA. Buffy's stubborn streak won the internal battle going on inside her, "You've never given me a reason in the past to believe in you; to ask for your help." She blurted out, instantly regretting it the moment the harsh words left her lips. She saw the flash of anger and pain go through Faith's eyes, then the dark Slayer just turned on her heels and started to walk away. Buffy couldn't move, she was frozen to the ground watching the retreating form with regret.

"Buffy…" Willow was now standing beside her friend, "…are you just going to let her leave?"

Buffy snapped out of her trance, "Wha…" she looked at Willow, fear in her eyes, "…no, I…" she took off running after Faith. When Buffy reached the other girl she grabbed her hand to stop her walking, it had been on instinct, she hadn't thought about the consequences an action like that might have. Faith stopped suddenly in her tracks and glared down at the hand that was holding hers in a vice-like grip. Her gaze followed the arm until she was looking into Buffy's worried face. Buffy didn't let go of Faith's hand, she couldn't, the sensations she was feeling from the small contact she had with the dark Slayer were so powerful, it almost took her breath away. She took it as a positive sign that Faith hadn't wrenched her hand out of her grip, "I was out of line." She looked imploringly at the dark Slayer, "Please, I want to try and work things out." She held Faith's intense gaze, the brunette seemed to be searching deep, almost staring into Buffy's soul.

Faith pulled her hand out of Buffy's, the action wasn't angry, more resigned, "Fine…" She said softly, "I'll stay."