| Part Five - Anything for a good nights sleep Willow had run after Faith as soon as she took off. Faith wasn�t running in any particular direction she was just running. under normal circumstances there would be no way Willow could have caught a slayer but Faith was running blindly and it was not too long before she stumbled and fell. Willow turned the corner into the dank alleyway Faith had run into and found her on her knees huddled against a rusty dumpster. Faith�s forehead was pressed almost painfully hard against metal. Willow could see her muscles knotted with tension and her fingers gripped the dumpster so hard it�s side was buckled under them. Willow realised once again that Faith wasn�t any normal person. She could express her rage and guilt in ways that would be impossible for a mere mortal. Nevertheless Willow placed her hand on Faith�s shoulder and pulled her round to face her. Faith turned almost limply. Willow could see that her eyes were on the verge of tears and she could see the shame and hopelessness in them. Faith didn�t say a word until Willow tried to move closer. She placed her palm on the wiccan�s chest and held her away. �Is Buffy going to be alright?� �Of course it�s just a little wound. She�s had far worse.� Faith didn�t answer straight away but looked away and fiddled with the stake still clutched in one hand. �It was my fault.� �No it wasn�t.� �I know what happened, Red.� Willow grabbed the slayer�s face and forced her to look at her. �You couldn�t kill. That is nothing to be ashamed of.. I mean personally I have no problem with killing vampires but...� �It was just.... Buffy threw him and I pulled back my arm and it was so like how it was when I killed Finch. I was half certain that I heard Buffy shout stop and I kind of froze and next thing I knew the vamp was past me and on Buffy.� �It�s understandable. It�s good. It shows that you really have changed.� �It shows I�m useless. There is one thing I can do and now I can�t even do that and I almost got Buffy killed finding out.� �Faith, there�s nothing I can say that will make it all better. All I can say is that running away is not going to solve it. You�ve tried running away and it doesn�t work. Remember in the dream, you would still be asleep if you hadn�t stopped running.� �Maybe that would have been better.� �Maybe it would have been easier but it wouldn�t have been better. God knows what would have happened when you eventually woke up. Now are you going to sit in a dirty alleyway wallowing in guilt or are you going to come with me?� She put on a stern expression and held out her hand. Faith gripped almost hard enough to hurt and they got to their feet. Willow kept hold of her hand as they turned to walk back. * * * * * Willow felt Faith tense up before she saw anything. They were on a dark road and all Willow could see were threatening shadows. Then Collins stepped from the darkness. Faith immediately stepped in front of Willow. Collins held a pistol with a long silencer in one hand. Faith glanced around quickly and saw that Weatherby and Smith had appeared around them. They also held silenced guns. Neither girl had met them before but they didn�t have any doubt as to who they were. Weatherby spoke first. �Not interrupting anything were we?� Faith gave him a hard stare. �You�re not taking me anywhere.� �At least we agree on something.� Collins� face was expressionless but Willow thought that she could see concern in his eyes when he looked at her. �By order of the Watchers council of Britain I hereby sentence you to execution.� �What? You�re going to kill her. What happened to you being the good guys?� �Needs must as the devil drives Ms Rosenberg.� Faith moved like quicksilver, She disarmed Collins with a kick and had grabbed and thrown him at Weatherby before the other two had a chance to move. Smith got two shots off. One missed, one caught Faith in the top of the shoulder. There was a spray of blood but Faith barely noticed. She knocked his gun away and punched him. He blocked the blow and tried to hit her back. Willow could see he was highly trained but Faith was a slayer. He had no chance. Weatherby slid out from under Collins� prone form and picked up his gun. Faith had his back to him. He aimed the gun but he had forgotten about Willow. The wiccan was too far away to do anything physically but she saw him and saw that Faith was too far away to get to him in time so she pulled out a pouch of sand from her bag and tossed it at him as she chanted. �Illium riccum saterium est� She never finished the incantation. Quick as she was, Weatherby was quicker. As she started chanting he swung his gun round to point at her and Willow saw a flash and felt something hot and hard slam into her body. She started to fall but it seemed to happen so slowly. The last thing that she saw was the blurred figure of a dark haired girl above her. She reached out her hand. �Faith . . . � * * * * * Willow opened her eyes and saw Buffy leaning over her with concern etched across her face. She looked around and realised she was in hospital. There was a drip in her arm and there was a dull throbbing pain coming from her stomach. She thought for a moment. �I don�t like waking up in hospitals.� Buffy smiled. �How are you feeling?� �A bit ooky but I think I�ll live. I will live won�t I?� Buffy nodded. �Do you remember what happened?� �I was following Faith, she was guilty about letting you get hurt.� Willows eyes glanced to where Buffy had been stabbed. Buffy pulled her top down slightly to show her the wound. It had already closed and pretty soon there wouldn�t even be a scar there. Willow was glad Buffy was fine but couldn�t help but realise that she must have been unconscious for at least a day. �I got her to come back with me but then we were attacked by those three council guys. Oh god, Buffy, they were there to kill Faith. She fought back and she was winning but this one guy was about to shoot her in the back so I started to do a spell and then I guess he shot me. What happened to Faith? Is she alright?� Buffy avoided her eyes but said. �You�ve got to get some rest now.� She started to get up but Willow grabbed her arm. The movement jarred her wound and she immediately let go with a grimace. Buffy looked down at her sadly. Willow tried to give her a resolved look. �Faith disappeared. She waited until the ambulance came for you and then took off. We�re trying to find her now.� �Please, Buffy. You�ve got to find her. She probably feels guilty about me being shot but it wasn�t her fault. Just find her and tell her I need her to come back.� Buffy didn�t reply but nodded and started to leave again but Willow knew Buffy too well for that. �There�s something else. Something you�re not telling me.� Buffy seemed almost angry at Willow for forcing her hand. The anger was only there for a moment, instantly replaced by sadness at having to deliver bad news. �Yes. There is something else. I don�t think that Faith took off because you were shot. The police came to question Giles because one of the Watcher agents had Giles address on him. That�s how we knew that you were injured.� �Were they arrested?� �The watcher agents? Two of them were. They were carrying silenced guns and you had been shot so they were arrested. The third couldn�t be arrested.� �Why not?� �Because Faith killed him.� Willow could tell that Buffy didn�t condemn Faith for the death. She even got the feeling that Buffy was glad the council agent had died but both knew that it didn�t matter how justified the death was. Now all they could do was wait to see how Faith would react to it. * * * * * It was dark when Willow woke again. She knew immediately that she wasn�t alone and turned her head to see Faith sitting by the bed. Willow couldn�t see her very well in the darkness. �Faith?� �I�m here, Red.� Willow reached out and grasped Faith�s hand. It felt good to hold onto it. She hesitated for a moment and then brought Faith�s hand to her lips and kissed it. The slayer pulled her hand back with a jerk. �Don�t do that.� �I�m sorry. I thought... I don�t know what I thought.� �No, I... I liked it. It just makes it harder to do what I have to do� Willow�s insides chilled at Faith�s words. There was resignation and despair in the tone. �What do you mean?� �I�m guessing you already know what happened in the alley.� �It�s not important.� �Of course it is. I saw that bastard shoot you and I couldn�t contain the rage in me. I had killed him before I knew what I was doing.� �You were acting out of self defence. You were fighting three men with guns. There isn�t a jury in the land that wouldn�t let you off.� �It doesn�t matter. I could have subdued them without killing them and I didn�t. I couldn�t control myself.� �You�re passionate. You can learn control.� �I can�t cope with it, Red. I can�t live with what I�ve done. Maybe I can learn not to kill people but that hardly makes up for what I�ve done.� �You make that up in other ways. Fighting evil, helping people.� �I�m going to turn myself in to the police.� Willow almost sat bolt upright but Faith�s hand shot out and held her still. Willow was amazed at how tenderly Faith held her down considering the slayer complained about lack of control. �Don�t move, you might hurt yourself more.� �You can�t do that. They�ll kill you.� �I can take care of myself. I don�t think that there is anyone who would be worried. They would have known that the mayor was close lipped about that sort of thing and if they are that cautious then they would probably think it�s more dangerous to piss off a slayer. I�ll be fine.� �But, you can�t go. I need you.� Tears started running down Willow�s face. She hadn�t realised how close she had been getting to Faith. She couldn�t stand to lose her so soon. Faith wiped the tears off Willow�s cheeks so gently she just brushed the skin. �This is the way it has to be, Red. If I just carry on then all the pain I caused, all the deaths. They�re gonna eat at me. If that happens then not even you�ll be able to save me.� Willow knew that this was probably true but she needed Faith, she wanted Faith. She had suppressed her feelings about Buffy and then Faith but she was through suppressing her emotions. �Faith, I�ve been inside your head. I�ve seen everything you�ve been through, everything you�ve done and I love you. Please don�t leave me.� �You love me?� Faith�s voice was quiet. �Yes. I love you. The thought of you leaving is too painful for me not to love you.� Faith leaned over and kissed her. Willow felt Faith�s lips soft and warm and then her tongue, hot and sensual inside her mouth. Willow moaned with desire and even the throbbing pain in her gut couldn�t stop her feeling indescribably turned on by the promise in the kiss. She reached out to touch the slayer. Her fingers running over the worn leather of her pants and the rough cotton of her top. She slipped her fingers under the t-shirt to touch the girls smooth skin. Willow�s eyes were shut as she drank in the sensations of Faith kissing her, touching her. Then Faith moved back and when Willow opened her eyes the slayer was gone. Epilogue Faith stepped out into the prison courtyard. She was wearing her own clothes again for the first time in what seemed like forever. She walked slowly towards the gates savouring the wind in her hair and the sun on her face. She felt free. She had been trapped long before she went to prison. Trapped by family or circumstances, trapped by sacred duty and her own anger. Finally trapped by guilt and then by her own choice trapped by prison walls. Now she was free, figuratively, literally free. She would still fight. She had a duty and she wouldn�t give up on that but it was her choice. The guard let her out with a smile. They were glad to see you go when they didn�t think you�d be back. Faith scanned the area and saw the redhead leaning against the side of a car. She started to hurry. She could finally look forward to the coming days. There was work to be done. There was evil to be fought and to be atoned for. There was destiny to fulfil and apocalypses to be prevented. And there was Willow. The End Fanfic Home |