A/N: A reviewer mentioned that Riley was really OOC and didn't like him last chapter. Just wondering if anyone else felt the same? Probably do need to tone it down he was kind of 2-dimensional in the only big scene he's been in. In my defense I needed someone to play the 'throw Faith to the wolves' card and I thought Riley would be best for it. Anyway here is the next chapter, hope you enjoy.

And I would like to say, thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed! :D

0000

Buffy woke up and slowly opened her eyes. She blinked at the harsh sunlight shining in her face. It took her sleep addled brain a few moments to realize she was in her own bed at her house. Her whole body ached and she felt sluggish and gummy. The blonde didn't remember how she had ended up sleeping in her room in her house. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what had happened.

The last thing she remembered she had been patrolling in Restfield. She had decided to trust that Faith was making a real attempt at redemption and resigned herself that her sister Slayer was out of her life for good. Buffy remembered thinking that she needed to leave all that behind and focus on the here and now with Riley. Then she had gone to finish her sweep of the cemetery.

Then nothing. She had no memory of anything that happened afterwards.

As much as Buffy wanted to know what happened what she really wanted right then was to go back to sleep. However her bladder was telling her she really needed to get up and take care of business. When Buffy pulled the covers back she realized she was wearing one of her old sets of pajamas. God how out of it had she been if someone had brought her to her house and then changed her without her noticing?

Starting to feel a little wigged Buffy stood up. Her legs were more than a little wobbly as she walked to the bathroom. Once inside she used the toilet before washing her hands and face. When she looked at herself in the mirror she got quite the fright.

Her face was thinner. She touched her face with her hands and poked her cheeks as if somehow that would explain what she was seeing. Buffy had always been a slim girl but when you see yourself in the mirror everyday it's easy to see big changes. Her cheekbones stood out more and the softness of her face was somewhat more angular. She pinched her butt and her thighs and found they seemed to be a little smaller. A cold fist gripped her inside. How long had she been out of commission if she was noticeably thinner than before?

Buffy's first panicked thought was that she had been in a coma. A suspicion arose in her mind. Was this like some kind of revenge coma? Had Faith busted out of prison and somehow come back for a tit for tat?

Buffy shook her head. She wouldn't put it beyond the dark Slayer but she couldn't jump to any conclusions. She had to find out what was going on.

With a resolve to find out what was going on Buffy headed down the stairs. Hopefully somebody was around who could explain why she didn't remember anything and looked like she had spent a month being over enthusiastic at Jenny Craig. To her surprise and relief her old Watcher was sitting on kitchen table sipping tea and reading the paper.

"Giles!" said Buffy with relief.

The British man looked up at her and his eyes widened. "Buffy!" he exclaimed, quickly setting his tea down and getting up. He quickly walked over to her and pulled her in to a hug. Giles let go rather quickly, seemly embarrassed by his outburst of affection. "My word, are… are you feeling all right Buffy? We've all be quite worried about you."

"I feel fine mostly," said Buffy a little confused by Giles's uncharacteristic display of affection, "it must have been pretty bad if you're suddenly giving out spontaneous hugs, huh?" said Buffy with a tiny smile.

Giles takes off his glasses and begins to clean them. A nervous habit of his. "Yes it was rather bad Buffy. You gave us all quite a scare. How much do you remember?"

Buffy desperately wanted to hear the answers to what had happened but she realized she was also starving. Deciding she needed to grab something fast so she could sit and talk to Giles she went about grabbing cereal and milk. "Actually not much. I was out at night patrolling in Restfield. And then Woosh! I wake up in my bed looking more like Kate Moss. Not even a tiny scrap of memory of anything in between. What's up with that?" said Buffy glibly, though on the inside she was making quite the effort to stay calm until she got some answers. Another thought occurred to her, "Where is everyone?" she asked.

Giles chose to field the easier question first. "Your mother is at work. Everyone has been run quite ragged since you were injured. After it became clear you would… that you were out of danger I persuaded everyone they should go home and recuperate. I volunteered to stay and keep an eye on you while your mother was away."

Buffy could tell by Giles's tone of voice that he was unhappy about something. The blonde finished getting all she needed for breakfast and sat on the table across from Giles. "Ok," said Buffy as she poured herself cereal, anxiety starting to rise inside of her, "so… what happened Giles?" she asked her voice losing some of its cool.

The former Watcher took a deep breath before launching in to it. "That night you were attacked by a rare species of demon called a Fjord demon while out on patrol. Your arm was mauled during your fight with the demon. You came to my door that night because of your injuries. They were quite serious and required tending to but were not in any way life threatening. However shortly after you arrived you collapsed and lost consciousness,"

The tweed loving man took a moment to sip more tea while he slowed enough to allow Buffy to digest what she was being told. The girl had a thoughtful and troubled expression on her face as she listened. "It turned out the demon had infected you with a powerful poison. It made you lose consciousness and gave you an unnaturally high fever. This put us in a difficult position as this particular poison has no known cure. Tara and Willow cast a spell to slow down the effects of the poison. Until a… solution was found you spent a total of twelve days unconscious while you were poisoned. This is the thirteenth day."

Buffy just stared at Giles while the man paused to let the blonde Slayer process all of this. She guessed thirteen days of not really eating explained why she was somewhat thinner though they had probably gotten at least something down her throat. As her hunger demanded she dug into her cereal enthusiastically but her mind was on what Giles had just told her. It wasn't the end of the world she guessed but it was still a lot to wrap her head around. It was all very disorienting. She was also in so much deep crap in all of her classes. Buffy winced at the thought of how much of a mess that was going to be. It was possible she might even have to withdraw from some of her classes after missing this much time.

Then the thought occurred to her, "So do I need to get out there and find this demon?" she asked.

Giles looked surprised at the question. "Oh no, no I don't think so. You killed the demon the night it attacked you. And I very much doubt that there are any more like it in Sunnydale."

"Oh, well that's good. So was it just a random demon attack?"

Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them. "I don't believe so no. The demon that attacked you would not have been in Sunnydale under any normal circumstances. It was a creature of animal intelligence that is only naturally found in frigid arctic climates. There is no way a creature such at that would have just wandered in to Sunnydale. Something or someone must have brought it here."

It did seem farfetched that a demon who liked the North Pole and Alaska as living space would take a wrong left turn and end up in California. Buffy made a face. "Are we thinking big bad? Because we haven't finished dealing with that freaky Adam thing yet. Or do you think he could have had something to do with this?"

Giles looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure Buffy but it seems unlikely. It would take a lot of resources to find and capture such a creature even for the Initiative. Then to simply let it loose on Sunnydale? It doesn't seem like any kind of logical course of action. There are easier ways for Adam to acquire minions. For now however everything has been quiet on the Adam front."

There was a drawn out silence in which Buffy took the time refill her cereal bowl. Buffy looked at Giles while the man went back to his tea. There was something he wasn't telling her. By how he spoke and how he looked Buffy could tell something was weighing heavily on her Watcher's mind.

"Well at least I didn't end up in an eight month coma," Buffy joked lamely, and wincing a little at the poor taste of her joke as soon as it came out of her mouth. She'd sort of been thinking it and it had sounded better in her head.

Apparently it was the wrong thing to say as Giles's features grew tight and his mouth set in a hard line. His whole body was tense as he went to pour himself more tea.

"Giles? What's wrong? There's something you're not telling me. What's going on? Spill it," said Buffy in her 'I will not take no for an answer' voice.

The former Watcher looked at Buffy with a pained expression before giving the girl a small nod. The man took a deep breath and seemed to take forever to gather his thoughts. It was starting to make Buffy anxious, this was not typical Giles-like behavior. Just as she was thinking of reaching across the table and shaking some answers out of him he spoke.

"When I told you before the poison you were infected with has no known cure I meant. No one seemed to know how to counteract the poison and we had not had much success in coming up with a solution. It was Willow who came up with a way to help you. In their desperation to help you Willow along with Xander and Riley did something incredibly foolish and dangerous while keeping it hidden from everybody. It was dangerous, morally bankrupt and involved the usage of dark magics. The height of idiocy, they-" Giles had to stop himself and take a moment to regain his calm. "I'm sorry Buffy. I'm glad to have you back, I truly am. But I am extremely cross at their actions. Especially Willow. I really thought she was the smart one of the group."

Buffy was getting more than a little freaked. She could count on one hand with fingers to spare how many times Giles had been upset enough to even go on a mini rant like that. "What did they do Giles?" asked Buffy with some trepidation.

Giles gave Buffy a look as if deciding how to word it, and in the end just came out and told it bluntly. "We couldn't remove the poison without killing you so Willow figured out if you moved the poison to something with an identical essence it would not hurt you. You essence is that of the Slayer. So keeping it a secret from everyone those three went down to L.A., drugged and kidnapped Faith out of prison, and dragged her back up here in the boot of their car. They snuck Faith's unconscious body up to where you were and Willow performed dark magics to syphon the poison from you and give it to Faith."

Buffy looked at her mentor in openmouthed disbelief. "What!?" she shrieked at him.

"It's true I'm afraid. And Willow refuses to accept that she'd done anything wrong. The bloody twit," said Giles, the last part mostly to himself.

Buffy made a few vaguely speech-like noises before something intelligible came out of her mouth. "Is-is Faith ok?" asked Buffy who was surprised at how concerned she sounded.

Giles paused and took a deep breath. "I'm afraid not. The poison is very strong and as I said there is no known cure. If the literature is correct she will only live for another day or two. I'm so sorry Buffy," said Giles, suddenly sounding very tired.

Buffy mind couldn't believe it. Faith was like a ball of energy and passion given flesh. She couldn't just be lying somewhere unconscious waiting to die. Waiting to die at the hands of her friends. The blonde Slayer had to see for herself.

"Where is she?" asked Buffy, her voice sounding hoarse to her.

"Still at my apartment. That's where you were while you were unconscious. We thought it best to leave her there while we brought you here."

"Ok," said Buffy already moving to put away what she had eaten for breakfast and put the dishes in the sink, "I want to go over there right now. Who's staying with her?"

Giles looked guilty at her question. "Erm, no one at the moment. She won't-won't be regaining consciousness Buffy. We didn't feel it was necessary."

Buffy spun on Giles, feeling fury well up inside her. "Not necessary? Not necessary? You tell me she's on her deathbed and no one is even staying with her? God, no wonder she wanted to kill us all!" she shouted before giving Giles a lingering dirty look and heading up the stairs to her room.

Buffy yanked out jeans, underwear and a tank top from her drawers and after having a short debate with herself took them all into the bathroom. A very quick shower later she was dressed and headed back down the stairs. She was tempted to head out the door without a word and walk to Giles's place but she knew it would be faster if he drove her there. Buffy was still feeling mad at Giles and pretty much everyone in the scoobies but right then she was more concerned with the idea of Faith being alone right now.

When Buffy made it back to the kitchen she found Giles just finishing washing the teapot and cup he was using.

"Well, we gonna go or what?" said Buffy with her arms crossed, waiting for him expectantly.

Giles nodded with a distressed and resigned look on his face. "Sure thing Buffy," he said grabbing his keys.

The ride to Giles's apartment was a quiet one and it gave Buffy time to think. The Slayer was glad Giles didn't speak because she was in a really bad mood now and needed time to put her thoughts together. What her friends did was wrong. It was just wrong. She had no idea why any of them thought this was the right thing to do. What the hell were her friends thinking? No not all her friends. Giles said they had gone behind the other's backs to do this. Riley, Xander and Willow. She never thought her two best friends were capable of something like this. And Riley. What was she supposed to think? She knew he loved her and that he totally hated Faith after what had happened in the bodyswap fiasco and learning about most of their history together. But that didn't make it ok. In fact maybe it made it even worse.

Then there was Faith. There was always another surprise when it came it Faith, it never failed. Even though this completely wasn't her fault she couldn't help but feel just a small bit of resentment for the other girl. It's like Faith's sole purpose in life was to swoop in and complicate Buffy's. To turn her head around and leave her reeling and confused and mad and just overall feeling like poop. Even while she was in a coma Faith had bothered Buffy because she felt responsible, not really cramping her in her day to day life but it had still been a nagging discomfort of guilt and worry that seemed to hang out on just the outskirts of her everyday worries.

And just when she was going to jail and Buffy thought she'd be getting some closure to that chapter of her life her own friends had brought the brunette Slayer back to Sunnydale. And now Buffy had to once again deal with the confused mess that was her relationship with Faith.

But you won't have to deal with it for long a small voice said in her head. Buffy pushed away the stray thought. She couldn't accept Faith was going to die. Not until she saw her. Buffy half expected the other girl to be sitting up waiting for her, ready to mock her for her stupidity before they tried to beat each other senseless again. Faith wouldn't just die to some underhanded stunt like this.

When they arrived at Giles's apartment Buffy was out the passenger side door before the car had even stopped. She power walked to the door as fast as she could and let herself in using her key.

Ok Faith let's see if I'm going to have to do some butt kicking today, thought Buffy as she walked in to the apartment. A quick scan of the bottom floor of the apartment revealed a messy place but no rouge Slayers. She checked the downstairs coat closet and the kitchen just to be sure.

Ok, thought Buffy nervously, I guess she might be upstairs.

The blonde felt her stomach flip flop as she walked up the stairs taking them slower than she really had to. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she reached the top of the stairs and looked at the closed door that led to Giles's bedroom. Buffy walked over and gently opened the door.

Faith was laying under a blanket, her eyes closed and her expression somehow not entirely peaceful. Sweat covered her brow and the blonde thought the other girl looked paler than she had ever seen her.

"Faith?" called out Buffy still standing in the doorway.

There was no response from the other girl. The blonde bit her lip anxiously before walking over to the side of the bed.

"Faith," the blonde repeated louder, loud enough to wake just about anyone. Buffy tried to keep down the unpleasant surge of panic.

"Faith! Wake up!" the blonde said louder while grabbing the girl's arm and shaking her none too gently. Buffy watched closely as Faith's eyes didn't even flicker and her body didn't even twitch. Under Buffy's hand Faith's arm was hot like she had a high fever.

Somehow the Faith not responding at all left the blonde Slayer feeling deeply disturbed. Her insides turned to ice and a deep pain in her heart began as what Giles had told her began to feel real.

"No, don't die on me you bitch. I hate you but you're not supposed to die," said the blonde before she felt tears start to swell up in her eyes. On impulse Buffy reached down and put the other Slayer's hand in her own squeezing it hard. She sat on the edge of the bed with her side barely touching Faith's. The blonde looked down at the face of her sister Slayer and felt a whole swell of different and confusing emotions rising up inside her.

The blonde reached out tentatively and brushed the back of her fingers gently against Faith's cheek. At that moment Buffy realized that whatever their seriously messed up relationship was it had affected her more deeply than she had let herself admit before. Buffy realized that if Faith died some part of her heart would die too, sort of the same as if Willow, Xander or Angel died. She wouldn't be as devastated as if one of those other three died. But she would feel deeply and painfully the loss just the same.

Yes she still held a grudge against the brunette the size of Texas and still thought she needed jail or something like it to straighten her out. Yes she was still hurt and angry and if the other girl was awake she'd probably still be cold to her, yell at her and punch her in the face. But goddammit for some reason she still cared about what happened to crazy Faith. The blonde couldn't just let her die like this.

Buffy let the tears fall freely from her face as she looked down at the pale, unmoving form of Faith. The blonde Slayer was not a quitter but she knew everyone had been looking for the cure for this poison for almost two weeks. At any moment she would go down stairs and demand of Giles that they find some way to help Faith. But the blonde knew it would probably be a futile gesture since she knew her friends would have already tried everything they could think of to find an answer.

The blonde Slayer realized she couldn't just sit there and cry. She had to get up and do something even if all she wanted to do was sit next to Faith and feel sorry for herself and for everything that had happened between them. On impulse Buffy leaned down on the unconscious brunette and wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug. Buffy couldn't imagine hugging a conscious Faith and didn't know why she was doing this except that maybe when she was unconscious it was somehow safe to show she cared.

"I'll do what I can. Just don't give up, ok? Don't go dying on me. I'm not going to forgive you if you do," whispered the blonde into Faith's ear.

Buffy disentangled herself and stood up. From what she knew the chances of helping Faith were slim. That didn't mean she wasn't going to try though.

The blonde wanted to tell Faith that everything would be fine but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Not when she didn't quite believe it herself. Drying any remaining tears Buffy turned and went back downstairs to look for answers.

00000

Even though it was the middle of the day Spike sat at Willy's bar throwing down a pint. Spike didn't use to come to Willy's that often before. Sure it was a nice enough place if you ignored the stench of vomit and unwashed bodies along with the years of built up grime in every corner. But there was one other reason that he found himself at Willy's so often these days.

Here there were actual "people" that he could hurt. That he could kill. If he wanted to. Getting drunk helped him feel better too.

It gave Spike some solace that he could turn on the ugly demon chap next to him and not be crippled by blinding pain. Still it didn't change facts. What those damnable initiative blokes had done by sticking a chip in his head had essentially ruined his life.

"Hey, I heard a Fjord got the Slayer. You hear about that?" said a demon next to Spike talking to his buddy on the other side. This got Spike's attention. The Slayer hadn't been seen for a while was the scuttlebug. He didn't know what a Fjord demon was but he was going to buy the thing a round of drinks if it did kill the Slayer.

"Naw, there was a Fjord in town. But I heard the Slayer killed it," answered demon number two.

"So did it bite the Slayer?" asked demon number one.

"No idea. But it's going on two weeks since she's been seen. It's starting to look like maybe the Fjord did take a chunk outta the blonde."

"Well it's no big frigging deal. If she is dead they'll have a new Slayer here by the end of the month. Slayers are like a damn murderous phoenix, no matter how many you kill another one just like it shows up a bit later to keep on making life in the Hellmouth interesting."

Spike hadn't realized it had been quite that long since Buffy was last seen. Some part of him felt definite pleasure at hearing of her demise while another part of him... well if anyone was going to kill that particular blonde Slayer it should have been him. It would somehow be damn depressing if she was really dead.

"How did a Fjord get here anyway? Never heard of one in the lower 48. Or most of Canada for that matter," demon number two continued.

"They say he brought it here for a job," said demon one ominously.

"Eh? Who brought it?"

"You know. Him. Figured the Fjord would give it away," said the other demon gesturing wildly.

"Oh... OH. Wow. That guy came to visit our little town? Damn."

"Rumor says he was hired to kill the Slayer. Plus you know what they say, he never gives up and always finishes the job. Scary SOB that one. Makes me think twice about staying in town. Collateral damage can be intense, and I don't want to be another demon statistic."

"Well if the Slayer is dead he won't be coming back."

"And if she isn't?"

"Damn, you know the answer to that. He'll be back. And probably looking to attack with interest."

"Excuse me," said Spike for the first time interrupting the gossiping demons, "who is this bloke you two keep going on about? If he's got such a hard on for the Slayer maybe I should buy the guy a drink."

The two demons looked at him resentfully for butting into their conversation, but knowing Spike's reputation the two wisely decided to just humor the vampire and play ball.

"Beastmaster, vamp. That's who," the one Spike had designated 'demon one' said.

"Beastmaster hugh? Well he doesn't get any points for originality. So what's the deal on this 'Beastmater' fellow anyway?" asked Spike.

"He's old," began demon two, "real old. Rumor has it he was there when Rome was still a shitty town no better then all it's neighbors and saw it rise to all it's glory."

"Guy's a legend in demon circles," said demon one, the gossip in him starting to get animated, "never went for all that end of the world stuff. Been something of a mercenary forever. Spends most of his time hunting in jungles or mountains unless you can find him and offer him something valuable enough. Then he'll do a job for you."

"They call him 'Beastmaster' because he can control creatures with an animal level intellect, including demons. Not only is he insanely strong but he'll sic his pet monsters on you too. And everyone knows Beastmaster gets the job done."

"He never fails," agreed demon one, nodding his head.

Spike was silent for a few moments as he sipped his beer. Nothing that lived that long was to be underestimated. Creatures had to be extremely strong, clever and more than a bit lucky to live for thousands of years in the big bad dog-eat-dog world out there.

"So the rumor is this guy was paid to kill the Slayer," said Spike.

"That's right. It only makes sense. Some vamps I talked to swore they saw a big demon with the Fjord. Next thing you know the Fjord attacks the Slayer. Who else would be friendly with one of those things? My money is on the Beastmaster."

"Could be something else that was controlling that demon," said Spike, "wouldn't be the first time," he said, mind suddenly going to the Initiative.

"I suppose. But the Beastmaster theory is much more interesting. And hell, it might even be true."

Spike considered this before finishing off his drink and heading down to the basement of Willy's. It kinda bothered him that the Slayer might be dead and that he had nothing to do with it. He'd take the sewers to his crypt and wait for nightfall. He wanted to find out just what the hell had happened to the Slayer.

And what about this rumor of this Beastmaster bloke? Spike knew if something supposedly that big and bad came after you and you had no idea about it chances were pretty good you would end up dead. Even if you were the Slayer. Should he point the beastie in the right direction or try to work some other angle for his benefit?

There was also that ugly as sin Adam. Spike had some idea where he was hiding and had been thinking of going there tonight. But maybe that could wait just a bit. Sunnydale was just beginning to fill up with all sorts of interesting characters.

00000

Buffy had gone downstairs and talked to Giles briefly. Thankfully he hadn't called anyone to tell them that she was awake. The blonde wasn't sure she could face anyone right now. Now was not the time to face Willow or Xander or Riley. Buffy knew they would have words, there would probably be shouting and screaming and probably some crying in the mix. She couldn't deal with that right now. But Buffy needed to talk to a witch she could trust. Someone who would have a better idea of the magic that was used and what options they might have.

Buffy picked up the phone and, after looking it up, dialed Tara's number.

"Hello?" came the voice from the other side.

"Hi Tara. It's Buffy," said the blonde.

There was a surprised pause before a happy Tara spoke, "Buffy! Are you all right? We thought you would be unconscious for at least another day."

Buffy winced when Tara called out her name. If Willow was with Tara she wouldn't be able to hide -er avoid- the redhead now. "I'm fine Tara. Feeling pretty good, considering I've been gone from the world of the living for almost two weeks. Thanks for everything you did by the way, I heard a little about what you had to do to keep that stasis spell up and everything."

"Y-you're welcome. I could never turn my back on something like that. No n-need to thank me," said the witch sincerely.

Despite the situation, Tara's response caused Buffy to crack a small smile. Tara was always such a sweet and giving person. Buffy made a mental note to try to become better friends with the girl. It had become obvious some time ago she was an amazing person on her own, much more than just 'Willow's girlfriend.'

"Well I appreciate it all the same. Is um-, Willow isn't there with you is she?" said Buffy with some apprehension.

There was a pregnant pause. "N-no Willow isn't here. Did you try her dorm room?"

"No!" exclaimed Buffy, "I mean, no I haven't, I kinda didn't want to talk to her right now. I called wanting to talk to you."

"Oh," said Tara, sounding surprised, "w-well ok. How can I help?"

"We-me and Giles-are trying to see find some way to help Faith. Do you think you could come over? I feel like I need to have some options for magic that might be able to help. Maybe you would be able to do the stasis spell again?" asked Buffy hopefully.

There was a pause as Tara thought it over. "We may be able to do that. But we've pushed so hard I don't think we could do as good a job as we did with you. Do you want me to call Willow and ask her to go over?" asked Tara sounding a bit apprehensive.

"No. No don't Tara. I don't think I'd be able to have a civil conversation with her right now, after this crazy stunt she pulled with Faith. I know I'll have to talk to her soon but.. just not right now. Do you think you could come over? Set up the stasis spell and help brainstorm?" asked Buffy hopefully.

"W-well... after working with that spell for so long I should be able to do it on my own at m-more or less the same efficiency as I would with Willow. I'm rested enough now. I can leave in a few minutes."

"Thanks Tara. This means a lot to me," Buffy said honestly.

"N-no problem. I'll be over soon. Bye," said Tara as she hung up the phone.

00000

"Buffy? Something's going on with Faith," said Tara.

The other girl jumped a little at hearing the brunette witch's voice. She had been burying her nose in a book hoping to find something useful while half her mind was distracted elsewhere. Buffy tried not to let her heart sink to her stomach as she vaguely motioned for Tara to continue.

"It's a-actually unexpected. And It's good news. Or well, at least it isn't bad news," said Tara.

Buffy blinked. It wasn't everyday people got unexpected good news on the Hellmouth. She tried not to get carried away at the little flicker of hope she felt in her chest.

"Well what is it Tara?" Buffy said trying not to sound impatient. The other girl seemed to be having problems putting what she wanted to say into words.

"It's her fever. Surprisingly it's not that bad," said Tara.

Buffy was confused by what she was getting at. "I checked her a little while ago Tara. Faith was burning up. Are you saying the fever's gone down?" she asked.

Tara shook her head. "No, I don't think it's been going down. She does have a fever, but it's more or less holding steady at about 105 degrees. You have to understand at your worse your fever was over 150 degrees Buffy. Maybe it was peeling the magic from one person onto the other that weakened it. I don't know. But as long as it holds like this the fever won't kill her, which is how the poison typically kills it's victims."

Buffy mulled this over. It was obviously good news but she didn't know how optimistic or not this should make her. "So what does that mean? Does it mean she'll get over the poison on her own?" asked Buffy cautiously not willing to let her hopes get up too soon.

Tara shook her head. "I have no idea Buffy. The poison isn't just poison, it's magical. In some ways it's sort of similar to a spell with different parts to it. Whatever causes the fever seems to have weakened somehow. But whatever is causing her to remain unconscious hasn't changed, at least not as far as I can tell. She isn't likely to wake up on her own. But at least, for the time being, it doesn't seem like the fever will kill her."

Buffy took a deep breath and let out a big sigh of relief. She'd gotten the story from Tara about how moving the magic poison onto Faith might have weakened the poison. It was good to see that it had actually done so.

There was just one more question she had to ask. One she had been thinking almost from the first time she heard what had been done to Faith.

"Can't you just give me the poison again?" asked Buffy, "I mean if it weakens every time it gets transferred over then it should be even weaker if you pass it to me again right? Besides I'm the one who got poisoned. If anyone should be in a coma from some nasty demon rabies it should be me. Faith shouldn't be in my place like this. Do you think you could transfer it over to me again? I'm sure if it weakened even further I would be able to fight it off," said Buffy. Not that she was sure of any such thing but she couldn't face the guilt of Faith going through what she was going through when it was Buffy who had let a demon take a chunk out of her arm. Besides Buffy had confidence in her own stamina. If it would weaken the poison further she should be the one to try and deal with it. Enemies or not Faith didn't deserve to be going through this.

Tara however gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm afraid we can't do that Buffy. The poison weakened your essence considerably, making more fragile. Think of it right now like you're recovering from a long debilitating illness. If you catch it again it would take a very short time for the poison to finish what it started. Even if it would normally only make you a little sick in the state you are in it would most likely kill you. I'm sorry Buffy but giving you back the poison is just not really an option for the time being. I certainly wouldn't risk it, and I'm pretty sure Willow wouldn't either. I think the one who has the best chance of fighting the poison off right now is Faith," said Tara sadly, clearly not happy with the situation.

Buffy felt dejected and not at all happy with the answer. She got up and started pacing. "What are we going to do Tara? Thanks to me she already spent eight months in a coma. Now because of me again she's stuck in some magical sleep coma? She was trying to make amends Tara. We're not friends, I don't trust her, I don't like her, but she was trying to do the right thing. She doesn't deserve this, this isn't right!" said Buffy in agitation, suddenly having the urge to punch or kick something but not seeing anything suitable to do so to.

Tara gave her a sad tinged smile. "I don't believe that. That you don't like her. I-I mean I've heard all the stories of the things she did. But t-that doesn't mean she'll always be like that. Plus you fought on the same side for a while and she did give you some last minute help against the Mayor. I-It's ok if you don't hate her Buffy," said Tara clearly and sincerely.

Buffy stopped her pacing. None of her friends had ever said anything like that to her. "Y-yeah I guess. That's a big part of why she drives me nuts. She's done awful things over and over again. But then once in a while she'll do something noble or self sacrificing or something. It throws me for a loop and I've never been able to figure out what goes on in that head of hers. I-I want to like her," said Buffy in a small voice. That admission seemed to take something out of her, and she sat down heavily in on one of the chairs, "I just really don't feel like I can trust her."

Tara knew Buffy was talking about more than just trusting her not to physically hurting anyone. That part was obviously a big deal but that wasn't all there was to it. The witch wanted to offer Buffy words of comfort but she was hesitant because she felt that maybe somehow that wasn't her place. Instead she said, "I think for now we should think about figuring out more long term arrangements for Faith. I-I don't think she's in any immediate danger at the moment. We'll have more time t-to research, or maybe the poison will dissipate on its own with enough time. I'm not sure how likely that is but it's too early to give up hope."

"Right," said Buffy. "We'll think of something. And we won't stop looking."

"No," said Tara with a soft smile, "we won't."

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That Night

Willow was sitting on the couch of her parent's home (they were on a tour, again), wrapped in a blanket and drinking hot chocolate. She felt like hiding from the world. What she did was supposed to fix everything, yet it somehow felt like she had made a lot of things worse.

Tara wasn't talking to her. She wasn't taking Willow's calls and didn't want to listen to what she had to say. The redhead knew her girlfriend was angry and hurt but in true Tara fashion Willow knew the other girl would never lash out at her. Tara just needed space. What the other girl would decide after she had had her space was gnawing at Willow's insides with worry. Plus its not like she could be mad at Tara. All the things she had said were true. Willow had lied, had gone behind everyone's back to do something she knew they wouldn't approve of, AND she had done dark magic. That Willow hadn't realized how dark it was when she started wasn't really an excuse. She had been poisoning another human being with what was essentially a death sentence. Of course it was dark magic she had been using even if it had not occurred to her that was what she was doing at the time.

Then there was the guilt. After the things Tara had said to her in Giles's apartment a lot of her justifications just sounded lame and petulant. But Willow just couldn't accept that she had been wrong in what she did. She had saved Buffy's life at the cost of a lying, life destroying murderess. How could she be sorry about saving her best friend's life? What else could she have done? It was the right thing to do. Wasn't it?

Even if it was the right thing to do she had probably killed Faith. Tears started flowing down her face, tears of pain and guilt. Willow began to cry in earnest. Suddenly feeling her traditional comfort drink of hot chocolate wasn't enough Willow stood up and went to her parent's liquor cabinet. She found a bottle of something, she didn't even bother to look at the label to see what it was only vaguely noting it was an amber liquid and probably quite high in alcohol. The girl went back to the couch and filled her half empty mug of hot chocolate with the amber alcohol. She took a couple of big sips and made a face at the horrible taste and the burning sensation it produced. It was scotch. Grimacing she took another long drink of her hot chocolate/scotch concoction.

Willow turned on the TV to the weather channel and for the first time in her life decided she was going to drink herself to oblivion. She got up and got ice and coca cola and brought them back to the couch. The redhead was going to drink in front of the tv until she passed out and didn't have to think about this anymore.

Willow was already on her third drink and already feeling decidedly drunk when there was a gentle knocking on the front door. No one really knew she would come here when she was down except Xander or the still unconscious Buffy. Deciding it must be Xander, Willow wrapped herself in a blanket and stumbled to go answer the door.

Not bothering to look in the peephole Willow opened the door. A hand rushed in and grabbed her by the shirt yanking her roughly out of the house. The redhead tried to scream as she found herself being lifted and thrown onto the grass in her front porch. The wet grass almost instantly made her cold in her PJ's. The redhead tried to scramble to her hands and feet when someone threw her on her back. She felt someone bend down over her, grab her by the shirt and pin her to the ground.

Willow looked up for the first time getting a good look at her attacker. She was very confused and suddenly more than a little scared. The man standing above her looked furious, and Willow sensed that he could vamp out at any moment.

"Angel?" she asked in a shaky voice. His gaze pinned her to the ground and she half expected to catch fire at the intensity of his gaze. There was another male figure standing somewhere behind Angel but all of Willow's attention was on the obviously pissed off vampire.

"What-" began the witch again confusedly.

"Willow," he growled at her, "What did you do with her? Where the hell is Faith?"

00000

A/N: So now we have a very pissed off Angel in town. It's nice to know that someone is in Faith's corner. Next chapter we'll find out how Angel figured out the scoobs were the kidnappers, Buffy finally confronting at least some of the misguided scoobs, and the demon-cyborg Adam makes a move and forces the scoobs to rally and try to take care of that mess (will deviate a little bit from the canon).

Please offer me crack (and by crack I mean reviews. And like crack, reviews hyperaccelerate my writing).