A/N: Hey guys...so I finally managed to get an update out ;-) Thankyou sooo much for all the wonderful reviews and for your patience with me during the last few slow updates. I only have 55 days left until I'm not a VIT (veterinarian in training) but fully qualified so I am going to have to put this fic on hold until them...but, as I promised before, I WILL finish this fic...my wonderful beta and friend, CBscifiJUNKY, and I are gonna have a fun time plotting out the rest of the story once I get this damn degree behind me, so watch this space ;-)

Chapter 8: You Always Hurt the Ones You Love

Int: Summer's Residence

Buffy kept stealing occasional glances at the front door as she sat in the living room waiting for everyone to assemble for the meeting. She was concerned about Faith; worried that the Slayer had run again; and who would blame her after the way Buffy had treated her outside the Bronze.

Willow frowned as she watched her friend's behaviour, she had been given a brief run down of the situation but she didn't know details. She quickly kissed Kennedy on the forehead before moving across the living room to go and sit with her best friend.

"Is everything alright, Buffy?"

Buffy tore her gaze away from the front door, "Yeah…I mean, well…" she scrunched up her forehead and looked at her friend sadly before dropping her head into her hands in frustration, she blew out a long breath, "not really."

Willow gently rubbed Buffy's back, trying to comfort the distressed Slayer, "She'll be OK," She said gently, "just give her some time." Willow couldn't suppress a chuckle, "This is Faith we're talking about, she's almost as stubborn as you are."

Buffy's head shot up and she glared briefly at the witch before smiling sadly, "I messed up again, Will." Her voice breaking as she tried to hold back the tears. She allowed herself to be drawn into Willow's comforting embrace, snuggling into her best friend's shoulder.

Buffy suddenly sat up out of Willow's embrace; she glanced towards the door again as she got to her feet.

"What is it?" Willow sensed the urgency in the blonde Slayer, "Is it an Über vamp?"

Buffy shook her head as a relieved smile graced her face, "No," she looked back towards her friend, "she's back." She said simply as she went to the door and looked through the side window. She saw Faith sitting alone on the porch, the dark Slayer was staring absently into the darkness, a cigarette hanging limply from her fingers. A wave of guilt washed over Buffy as she saw Faith's bruised cheek; the bruise she had put there. She shook her head and sighed as she started thinking about her past with Faith; when had things started to go so terribly wrong?

Buffy was startled out of her thoughts when she heard Faith give a sarcastic chuckle as she engaged in conversation with Robin. When did he get here? Buffy was mentally kicking herself for being so absorbed in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed his arrival.

Ext: Porch, Summer's Residence

"Looks like someone banged you up pretty well."

Faith sighed, "Yeah. Cops. Mostly."

"Mostly?" Robin frowned at the dark Slayer.

"Yeah," Faith pointed to her cheek, "This one's from someone who just thinks she's a cop. It's my favorite of all my current bruises."

Robin chuckled as he sat down, "So someone who thinks she's a cop, huh? You gonna have to, like...ice her now or something like that?"

Faith looked at the principal and smirked, "I'm not gonna kill her. Wanted to, but didn't. By the way, bully for me since no one else said it."

"For what? For not killing Buffy?"

Faith sighed resignedly, "It's this new thing I'm tryin'."

Robin grinned at Faith, "She told me about you."

"Believe every word." Faith continued to smoke her cigarette and absently stare into the darkness.

"So what changed? I mean... why didn't you fight back?"

Faith sighed, "Other things matter more."

"I think you're worried about her."

Faith had to suppress a laugh as she looked at Robin with utter disbelief, "I think you need to brush up on your Buffy and Faith history."

"All right, if you say so. But I read people pretty well. It's a thing I do."

Faith shook her head and laughed as she continued to stare down the dark street, "Whatever…" she trailed off.

Robin folded his arms and stared intently at the dark Slayer, "I think you care about her, and I'm not talking about in that 'she's my friend' kind of way." His gaze was daring the stunned brunette to disagree.

"What?" Faith's eyebrows were raised, "Have you even been a part of our conversation these last 5 minutes?" she chuckled disbelievingly.

Robin smirked and nodded at the Slayer, "I think you are both just hiding your feelings, too afraid to let them show."

"You have it so wrong," Faith was glaring at the Principal.

"Do I really?" he stared her down, "What are you so afraid of, Faith?" he paused, seeing all the emotions flashing in her eyes, the pain and regret that burdened her each and every day, "What is it? Afraid of losing control?" he continued to stare intently at the Slayer. And there it was, fear, such a raw and powerful emotion, he saw it in her eyes, "You're afraid of rejection." He said softly, smiling sadly at the Slayer.

Faith didn't know how to respond, she was totally not expecting a perfect stranger to be able to read her so well. She just stared at him, stunned into silence, her mouth agape as she took in his words. She was disturbed out of her reverie as a car pulled into the driveway, "Xander's home." She said with relief.

Int: Summer's Residence

Buffy slowly closed the curtain, a little shocked at the conversation she had just overheard. She quickly moved back into the living room as Faith and Robin entered the house followed closely by Xander and Anya.

She waited for everyone to settle after greeting Xander before starting the meeting, "Look, I know what you're thinking, but I had a visit at the school today from Caleb."

Faith's head snapped up as she heard this, it felt like someone had punched her in the gut and they were now slowly squeezing her heart.

"Buffy, why didn't you…" Dawn took a step towards her sister, concern in her expression.

Buffy interrupted her, "I'm fine. I mean, it wasn't fun, but I'm fine. I'm better than fine. I—I figured something out. He kept making all this noise about the school."

Faith was distracted as the horrible, sickening realization washed over her. She had felt Buffy's distress, but more importantly, she had ignored it. She leant against the wall, her legs feeling weak all of a sudden. "I'm so sorry." It came out so softly, only Buffy heard the comment.

She stopped mid-speech to face the dark Slayer, "What? Did you say something?" She frowned.

Faith gulped and shook her head, "Its nothing." she looked up, prepared to face the blonde Slayer, to try and explain to her why she had ignored their bond, but Buffy had already turned away to address her audience once again.

"They're protecting the vineyard or something at the vineyard. I say it's their power, and I say it's time we go in and take it away from them."

Faith regained her composure and stared disbelievingly at the blonde Slayer, "Or, in the alternative, how 'bout...we don't? I mean, it's a neat theory, B, but I'm not going back in that place, not without proof, and neither should you and neither should they."

Buffy turned and glared at Faith, her cold gaze piercing right to the core of the dark Slayer. Out of everyone there she thought Faith would be the one to understand why they needed to do this; she thought the other Slayer would have her back. Buffy was a little surprised at how much it hurt that Faith was questioning her. Her glare softened a bit as she looked at her counterpart; for a brief moment everyone else in the room was forgotten as she thought about pulling the other Slayer close into her embrace, reassuring her that she didn't need to fear being rejected. But then Faith's worried frown brought her back from that brief daydream; and that's when she realized that the other Slayer didn't trust her to make the big decisions anymore either; everyone was against her, they'd all stopped believing in her. The hurt and anger that coursed through Buffy needed an outlet; she needed someone to unleash all her anger and frustrations on to. It was an easy choice, really; who better to direct your anger at than the one person who had been the target from the beginning. You always hurt the ones you love. The thought flitted briefly through Buffy's mind as her expression turned cold once again.

"Didn't you come here to fight?" she spat out at the Slayer, satisfied as she saw the hurt flash across the dark Slayer's face.

No, B, I came here for you. Faith sighed, the hostility the blonde had just shown her hurt to the bone, "Listen, we're fighters, all of us, but you gotta give me something to fight, something real." She looked sadly at Buffy, begging the blonde to see reason.

Faith looked at the floor as the blonde turned her back on her to continue the heated debate with the rest of the gang. She was still beating herself up over ignoring the bond she had with the other Slayer; Buffy could have died, and it would have been her fault for not reacting. They're right about me, I am a fuck up. She shook her head and continued to stare at her boots

"Because I'm The Slayer." Buffy threw a brief look in Faith's direction. She could feel the turmoil; the sadness pouring off the other Slayer. In some twisted way it made Buffy happy that she had that effect on Faith.

Faith was snapped out of her train of thought by Buffy's comment; it hurt her to hear the blonde speak like that. It reaffirmed how much she obviously cared about the other, less important Slayer in the room. Faith scowled at Buffy's back, the high and mighty attitude seriously getting on her nerves.

"And isn't Faith a slayer, too?"

Faith was caught off guard at Rona's comment, "What? Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm not in charge chick. I think B here needs to just...chill out for a little bit, take a siesta or something. But I'm not the one you want." She continued to glare at the blonde, the hurt she was feeling shining bright in her eyes.

"Maybe we need a vote... to see who wants Faith to have a turn in charge." Kennedy piped up.

"No." Buffy said sternly, "No, you don't get to vote until I've had my chance to pal around, you know, get everybody drunk. See, I didn't get this was a popularity contest. I should have equal time to bake them cookies, braid their hair…"

"Learn their names?" Faith looked intently at the blonde Slayer.

Buffy turned and glared at Faith; she walked up to the brunette, getting right into her personal space, trying to intimidate the taller girl, "You're just loving this, aren't you?" she spat out with disdain.

Faith frowned and held her ground, not letting the blonde intimidate her, "You have no idea what I'm feeling." Faith stared intently into the blonde's eyes, anger flashing in her own. She was hating this shift in the energy between them, the hostility; she could feel the negative emotions pouring off the blonde.

Buffy glared at the brunette, a malicious glint in her eyes, "Come in here, take everything that I have... You did it before. Did you tell them that? Did you tell them how you used to kill people for fun?" Buffy turned to face the rest of the group, "Hey, you guys think that's nifty?"

Those words cut deep and it took all of Faith's restraint and willpower to not hit the self-riotous blonde right there; she took a deep calming breath, trying to repress the overwhelming surge of emotions she was feeling, "I didn't come here to take anything away from you, but I'm not gonna be your little lapdog, either. I came here to beat the other guy, to do right, however it works. I don't know if I can lead. But the real question is...can you follow?"

The expression in the blonde's eyes tore into Faith; she could see the disbelief and betrayal. She had to resist the overwhelming urge to take the blonde in her arms and tell her it would all be alright. Things moved along very quickly after that and before she knew it, Buffy was grabbing her coat and storming out of the house. It took a second for Faith to react, for the implications of what had just occurred to hit her. She quickly followed the blonde outside.

"Buffy…I…" she paused, what she wanted to say was that she loved the blonde and beg her not to leave. Faith looked at the other Slayer sadly, concerned, "Look, I swear I didn't want it to go this way…"

Buffy stood still, her back to the dark Slayer, "Don't" she snapped, tears streaming down her face.

"I mean it, B, I…"

Buffy turned to face the other Slayer, her face tear streaked, "Don't be afraid to lead them. Whether you wanted it or not, their lives are yours. It's only gonna get harder. Protect them…" she stared intently at Faith, "…but lead them." And with that she spun on her heels and left.

Faith watched the retreating form of the blonde, she felt like her heart had just been ripped from her chest. But she knew the blonde was right, she had to protect them all now. She sadly turned around and went back in to the house.

Int: Buffy's Bedroom

Faith was sitting on Buffy's bed, absently hugging Mr. Gordo as she stared at the opposite wall. The shadows, cast by the flickering flames of the candles she had lit, were mesmerizing and she had been watching them all night, unable to sleep, ever since she managed to get away after trying to calm everyone down when the lights had cut out.

It was with a heavy heart that she went over the evening's events in her mind. As much as Buffy's high and mighty attitude had pissed her off, she couldn't help but wish that the blonde was still there. Faith was afraid to lead these girls into battle, she didn't know if she could do it without Buffy by her side.

Faith could feel the sadness pouring off the blonde, she was so lost, so hurt, so alone. She was about to reach out to her when she heard a commotion downstairs. Anger quickly replaced all feelings of regret she had about Buffy leaving as she heard Spike's voice downstairs.

Int: Kitchen, Summer's Residence

"You know, I think I do, Rupert. You used to be the big man, didn't you? The teacher; all full of wisdom. Now she's surpassed you, and you can't handle it. She has saved your lives again and again…"

Faith paused outside the kitchen, her heart wrenching as she heard the words spoken by the vampire. As much as she hated to admit it, Spike had a point.

"She's died for you. And this is how you thank…"

"Hey. Why don't you take it down a notch or two? The time for speech-giving is over, bat boy." Faith was tired of hearing him give his little speech about Buffy, as far as she was concerned, the less he talked about the blonde, the better.

Spike grinned maliciously as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Oh, is that right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Save your lack of breath." Faith frowned at the vampire, looking him up and down.

Spike just shrugged and punched Faith in the face, "All right."

Faith whipped around to face the vampire, fury blazing in her eyes, "Oh you are so gonna pay for that, blondie." She kicked Spike in the abdomen.

Spike retaliated with another blow to Faith's face; she was unfazed as she countered with a well timed backhand to his face, following up with a kick that sent him flying into the dining room and across the dining room table onto the floor.

"I want…" punch, "..you.." punch, "…gone…" Faith continued to hit the vampire until Giles intervened.

"Enough!" It was sufficient to distract Faith and she went flying off Spike as he aimed a kick at her midsection and leapt to his feet.

"I'll go when Buffy tells me to go, love." He snarled at the dark Slayer, his head snapping back with the momentum of the punch she sent his way.

"I'm sure she only keeps you around out of pity for you; you're pathetic." Faith spat out at the vampire, punching him again.

"Is that what you really think…" he trailed off and smirked at the dark Slayer, he knew he had got to her; he could see the hurt in her eyes as she realized the implications of his comment. He knew how she felt about the blonde Slayer and it would be over his dead body that he'd allow anything to happen between the two Slayers. He punched her and then followed up with a kick, taking advantage of her distracted state of mind. Faith flew hard into the wall and just stood there, stunned.

They glared at each other for a moment before Spike spun around and exited the house.

Faith straightened up and walked past the Scooby's, the potentials and finally Giles, she avoided eye contact with any of them as she headed down the basement stairs, intending to take her frustrations out on the punching bag.

Int: Basement, Summer's residence

Faith finally stopped pounding the bag and leant against it, gently rocking as it swung on its chains. Sweat was pouring off her and her knuckles were bleeding; she had forgone applying padding to her hands in favour of just attacking the bag the moment she got down in to the basement. No-one had come down to bother her; smart move. She glowered, stepping away from the bag.

She sighed deeply, trying to push the rejection she was feeling away. She needed to be strong to lead these girls, she didn't have time to dwell on hers and Buffy's tumultuous relationship; there were bigger things at hand. She slowly walked up the stairs and headed towards the kitchen. She paused before entering, hearing her name mentioned as Anya and Xander talked.

"…Faith is crazy; she's been attacking that punching bag for an hour." She overheard Anya's comment, "And how she lost it before with Spike, girl has some serious anger management issues…"

"He deserved it."

Faith stood there, shocked as she heard Xander come to her defense. She smiled to herself, her heart swelling, maybe there was hope that she and Xander could become friend's one day. She was about to walk in and interrupt them when Xander continued.

"After what that, thing…" he spat the word out, "did to Buffy…" Faith could hear the fury in his voice. "I wish she'd staked him." He said with conviction.

This revelation shocked Faith; she had been under the impression that the Scooby's were OK with Spike.

"Nearly, did to Buffy…" Anya corrected, "He never actually raped her." She said softly, "Thank god."

"That doesn't excuse him." Xander spat.

Faith didn't hear the rest of the conversation, her world had stopped, she couldn't form a coherent thought; an uncontrollable rage was building inside of her, all reason had left only to be replaced with blind fury.

Anya looked up startled as she heard the door slam, "Who was that?"

Xander shrugged and quickly looked out the window; he paled when he saw Faith stalking down the path. Her demeanour and expression reminded him of the 'old Faith', the psychotic Slayer, the murderer who had tried to strangle him. "I think she overheard us." He said sadly, shaking his head.

Ext: Streets of Sunnydale

Faith paused on the sidewalk and reached out to try and sense Buffy; somehow she knew that if she found the blonde Slayer, she would find Spike as well. The thought of the two of them together nauseated her, especially now she knew more about their past. Faith couldn't understand, didn't want to understand, why Buffy had not killed the vampire when he had attacked her. She sighed and took off in the direction she thought Buffy had taken; she was going to destroy the vampire for what he had done.

It didn't take Faith long to stumble upon the house Buffy had crashed at. She could feel the blonde's presence, but more importantly, she could sense the presence of a vampire nearby; she knew it was Spike, her gut instinct was screaming at her that the blonde vampire was nearby.

She looked around and saw a large tree outside what she hoped was the bedroom window to the house. She scaled it easily and peered through the window; what she saw sent fresh waves of fury coursing through her; rage, disappointment, rejection. The pain in her chest was almost too much to bear as she watched Buffy lying curled up in Spike's arms.

Faith was seething, but she stayed put and watched them the whole night; her rage boiling inside of her. She wasn't surprised when Buffy finally woke up and looked around confused; she was sure the blonde was picking up on her emotions. For a moment Faith thought she'd been spotted when Buffy stared out the window and straight at her spot in the tree. It felt as if the blonde's eyes were boring into her; it was very disconcerting and Faith contemplated jumping out of the tree and running; that is, until she saw the tiny smirk grace the blonde's face. It was so subtle but Faith didn't miss it as she watched Buffy write a note and then lean over and kiss the vampire on the forehead before grabbing her jacket and exiting the house.

Faith felt as if Buffy had shoved that knife back in her gut and given it a twist for good measure. Yet, as much as she wanted to direct her rage at the other Slayer, she couldn't do it; no, her anger and hate for the vampire were beginning to overwhelm all of her other emotions.

Faith watched Buffy storm down the pathway, she saw the blonde glance quickly at the tree. Was that a flash of regret she saw cross the Slayer's face? It took all of Faith's strength and willpower not to jump down out of the tree and confront the blonde. No, she scowled once more at the sleeping vampire; she had more pressing matters to attend to.