Witness by The Rainbow Writers

Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, Giles, Dawn, Spike and all other characters who have appeared in the syndicated series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, together with the names, titles and back story are the sole copyright property of Joss Whedon, Fox and Mutant Enemy. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fan fiction. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the authors. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Please contact the authors for permission to reproduce this story on any other fan fiction site.
Distribution: The Rainbow Writer's Homepage: http://www.therainbowwriters.com/
Mystic Muse: http://mysticmuse.net
Spoilers: Season 6.
Feedback: All feedback is welcome.
Pairing: Willow/Other

Summary: Willow struggles with her rehabilitation in England.

Buffy crossed and re-crossed her legs as she perched on the edge of the sofa, glancing from her watch to the clock on the on the mantelpiece and then back to her watch. Dawn's had an eleven o'clock deadline and it was ten minutes to, though the Slayer had been there in a similar position since ten o'clock.

"You say that like I'm a paranoid parent." Buffy snapped slightly as she took the drink.

"No, I was trying to be reassuring." Faith laughed lightly at the aggression. "Maybe you need to go do a few rounds with Mr. Dummy to work that edge off B. I can keep front door watch."

"Edge? What edge?" Buffy shook her head. "I have no edge, I am utterly edgeless."

"Yes girl, you are so edgeless, you are a razor." Faith leaned back and laughed. "Now relax, you're allowed to be on edge. Your very hot baby sister has gone out on her first real date, edge is a given."

"Hot? Hot? Did you just call Dawn hot?" Buffy looked at her horrified. "Oh God it was that skirt wasn't it, I knew I should have banned it."

"Yes your sister is hot, no the skirt was fine, if you had of banned it she just would have wanted to wear it more." Faith laughed again. "She's sixteen Buffy, she's got to test the waters a bit."

"But does she have to test them now? Couldn't she have waited a year or so, maybe twenty?" Buffy frowned comically.

"She's doing it just to piss you off, flaunting those new breasts and hips." Faith winked at the blonde.

"I know what you're trying to do." Buffy eyed the other Slayer. "And don't, I know I'm being over protective and all of that, and then I think, what if, what if this Ryan, is her Angel." She sighed. "The one that makes the difference."

"He could be. He might not be." Faith shrugged looking out the window. "Either way B at some point Little D's got to fly on her own you know. Just she's lucky, she's got you there to patch her up if she falls."

"But it also makes you learn." Faith smiled. "I mean no one can do this for her."

"I just wish I'd talked to her about this, about everything." Buffy frowned again and pushed herself into the back of the sofa.

"I…who the hell am I to give advice to Dawn?" Buffy sighed and shook her head. "I know you've seen me use and be used, oh and nearly raped, but are you sure Ryan's the type to treat you right?" She mocked herself bitterly.

"Why don't you try a little gray there B?" Faith tucked her legs up; pulling up the long joggers she was wearing to expose her lower legs. "Maybe something like, I know you've seen me in some bad relationships and that's why I want to be here for you to talk to, anytime sorta thing. Mostly she's just going to need you to be there B, there when she's fucked up on her own and she needs help. The real shit doesn't start 'cause we fuck up, it starts because we feel like we have no one to turn to. We both know that."

"Rosie is great but she's not going to be very good to talk to about sex." Faith laughed. "B, this isn't your job as Dawn's psuedo mother, this is your job as her sister."

"When did you grow up?" She asked softly looking at Faith possibly for the first time without malice or resentment.

"I don't know, scary isn't it?" Faith smiled at her contemplating things. "Though I still love cartoons and candy." Her mouth changed into a grin.

"Are you going to be okay in the basement? If you're here for a long time do you want us to, you know decorate it or something?" Buffy offered glancing at Faith's smile, which in turn made her smile softly.

"Rosie was already making some noises in that direction." Faith laughed again. "I'm not high maintenance you know that, but a bed instead of a cot might be nice. Hey a futon would be cool, and then I have a couch and a bed."

"We can go shopping whenever you like, thanks to Mrs. Lauder and Giles I have a healthy bank balance for once." Buffy replied. "Though if you'd rather I didn't tag along you could go on your own or with Dawn even."

"The three of us could go." Faith conceded easily. "Give it a really good bouncing test." She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Make sure the springs are good." Faith smiled. "Dawn and Ryan might want to use it." She poked her foot out into the Slayer's thigh.

"Not in this house!" Buffy squeaked before laughing loudly at herself. "Though…" She grew serious again. "You can do whatever you like in it, you know that don't you? I mean, I know you Faith I know what you need and like to do sometimes."

"B, how about we make an agreement?" Faith looked at her seriously. "Neither of us bring anyone home here unless we're serious about them? That way Dawn won't get any wild ideas."

"Sounds like a good idea." Buffy nodded. "Though on my track record she'd either turn out a whore or a nun."

"Hey we don't even want to excavate what she'd be on mine." Faith made the comment and then looked out the window a bit shadowed. "Defiantly need to have the safe sex talk." She added somberly.

"Yeah but it's not something you ever want her to get wrong." Faith pushed up. "I'm hungry; you want a leftover roast sandwich?"

Dawn pushed open the front door and moved into the hallway, she turned as she closed the door giving a brief wave. Pulling off her jacket she hung it and her purse up on the rack.

Buffy pushed up off the couch and stood anxiously her hazel eyes tracking up and down her sister's body.

"Are you okay? Did anything bad happen? Do you want to talk about it?" She reeled off her first three questions without breathing.

"I'm fine, no it was a good night…and wow you're way too high strung to talk to." Dawn stepped back giving her sister a confused look. "Did you drink five espresso coffees again?"

"Four." Buffy frowned. "Are you sure you're okay?" She couldn't stop herself asking as she attempted to take on a more casual stance.

"The movie was horrible, but Ryan was doing these cute dialogue additions so it made it bearable." Dawn moved in and flopped on the couch. "But then Doug and Rebecca ditched us to go to this party but I knew you'd freak so I told him I couldn't go and he was so cool about it and stayed with me." She smiled. "Oh look he won me something at the skeet ball arcade." She held up a small glow in the dark plastic frog. "We had ice cream and then he drove me home. I was sorta shocked when he didn't turn into a vamp or a demon or something, so we're going to go out to coffee tomorrow."

"Oh." Buffy felt herself a little stalled. "So he was nice and you had an okay time?" She clarified again.

"Yeah." The teenager smiled. "So why was everyone making such a big deal about going on a 'date'?" She shook her head. "I mean movie, games, ice cream, a quickie in the back of his dad's car and home by eleven." She kept a straight face.

"A quickie?" Buffy's face went a shade of purple. "Oh no wait," She tried to breathe evenly. "Is that what this generation call a kiss?"

"Buffy the definition of quickie hasn't changed." Dawn stood up in a huff and moved to the kitchen. "Did Rose save me leftovers?"

"Yes…that is no wait a minute young lady, I have a right to know if you and Ryan…Well I just have rights!" Buffy hurried after her.

"Rights to know what? Buffy don't be a perv." Dawn rolled her eyes. "Is Faith still up?"

"She's working out in her room." Buffy answered quickly. "And I am not a perv! I want to know about my baby sister and her date."

"Do you really think I would sleep with a boy on the first date?" The teenager turned to stare at her. "I am so not a slut."

"No, no it's just…" Buffy defended. "You were the one that mentioned quickies." She pointed at Dawn.

"It was a joke, you had freaked out face." Dawn pointed out opening up a soda as she put the small plate of food in the microwave. "No sex…he was a gentleman."

"I'm sorry Dawn." She apologized. "It's just…" She moved closer to the teenager trying to fight against the wall of anger and protection she had around herself. "You're my sister, I was worried." She took a breath and reached out to rest a hand briefly on Dawn's arm. "I love you."

"I love you too." Dawn looked down at Buffy's hand and then back into hazel eyes. "Did anything bad happen here tonight?" She asked with quiet alarm.

"No, I just wanted to wait up till you got in." Almost like a cornered rabbit Buffy backed up out of the teenager's personal space.

"That's sweet." Dawn pursued her a little and while Buffy was still close enough she hugged her. "I had a good night." She commented again as she held on.

"Good." Buffy rubbed Dawn's back for a moment. "Bed time for me then, I have an early start in the morning." She pulled back well out of reach.

"Good luck with your course selection." Dawn smiled as the microwave beeped and she pulled out the plate. She waited until she heard her sister's footsteps in her room before she grabbed her drink and headed down into the basement. "Faith?" She questioned half way down.

"Right here Little D." Faith called from her place. She was hung upside down over one of the roof bracers, her hands clasped behind her head doing sit-ups. "How was the hot date?"

"Mmmm okay." She moved over and sat down on the cot cradling the food in her lap. "Buffy went up to bed." She pointed out biting into one of the homemade tacos. "Can I talk to you about something?" She questioned a little apprehensively.

"Sure." Faith flicked backwards from her place, landing on her feet close to the teenager. "Shoot." She stole a taco before sitting up on a backing crate.

"Well…" Dawn leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath. "Okay so…" She tried again. "You're with a guy…" She stopped herself. "God I sound so lame."

"No you don't." Faith said around a mouthful of the snack. "You're with a guy…" She prompted, waving the taco shell in Dawn's direction for her to continue.

"You're with a guy and it's been a great time…" The teenager tried to get the words out. "Then he takes you home and…well…nothing." She frowned.

"He shook my hand." Dawn rolled her eyes and fell sideways to land her head on the pillow. "You can tell me, I'm the most un-sexy girl on earth right?"

"Dawn you're hot." Faith shook her head, "He was probably just trying to do the right thing, you know be all gentlemanly and shit. Believe me he's probably parked somewhere right now having to take care of himself cause of hot you."

"I know so." Faith nodded. "Dawn you're probably on of those girls that most people in high school wanna date, he's just probably stunned that you said yes to him." The Slayer let her leg knock against the crate she was sat on. "And if he'd have done more than shake your hand, he probably knew he couldn't have stopped embarrassing things arising." She smirked.

"Cool." Dawn smiled feeling a lot better. "We're supposed to go to coffee tomorrow, should I make the first move?"

"Depends if you want to, just because he's a guy and you're a girl doesn't mean you have to get it on." Faith pointed out.

"He got it on with his last girlfriend, or at least that's the rumor." Dawn filled her in. "I don't want to seem frigid because I won't."

"D." Faith pushed down from the crate and moved over. "What he did or didn't do with his last girl means shit." She stated clearly. "You do what you wanna do, you wanna stick your tongue down his throat, go for it, but if you do anything else, remember be smart about it." She added seriously.

"No I mean protection Dawn." Faith made herself clearer. "Don't take any shit from him, from anyone about how it'll feel better if you don't use any and that kind of bull."

"Oh, protection." The teenager clued in. "I…I didn't know if I should go on the pill too." She added sheepishly.

"The pill?" The dark Slayer's eyebrow rose. "Okay, run back with me a minute, tonight you went on your first proper hot date, and tomorrow you want to go on the pill?"

"It is if you planning to be having sex a lot and don't want the patter of baby feet yeah, but you're sixteen D, what's the rush to bang all the juniors at high school?" Faith asked with a frown.

"I'm not in a rush." Dawn shook her head. "I just…I thought it would make people see me as an adult instead of treating me like a stupid kid all the time." She admitted softly.

"Having sex does not make you an adult Dawn." Faith shook her head. "All it means is that you done what more or less every human being in the world has done by the time they're thirty." She stated. "Don't get me wrong D, I think I get it, I mean you know I'd done the nasty by your age, and believe me, it wasn't anything I'd opt to keep if I had to have all but ten memories erased."

"Hell no." Faith underlined. "It was rushed, messy and fucking painful." The dark Slayer was honest.

"Who was your first?" The teenager asked the question softly hoping that Faith wouldn't get mad.

"Mace." Faith shrugged, "He was a head of the gang I wanted to hang with, and he was four years older than me and still didn't know where to stick it."

"Okay," Faith took a slight breath and paced over to sit next to Dawn on the bed. "If they let you help them out, you got a better chance of getting it right first time." She explained. "It's not like the movies D, there's no soft music and cool dim lights. You've had the talks at school right?" She checked before continuing.

"Of course." Dawn nodded. "I know all the…mechanics." She admitted. "I've just never…well…not done much past first base."

"First base is fine, there's a lot to be said for first base." Faith tried to underline. "D I'm not saying you shouldn't have sex with this guy Ryan, I'm just saying do it for the right reasons, and at the right time and with the right precautions. There's too much shit out there to take risks kid."

"Anytime D." Faith shrugged. "B and I should have most of the answers to your questions, though hers might be prettier." She laughed.

"I can't talk to Buffy about this stuff." Dawn shook her head adamantly. "She just freaks out and then threatens to kill whoever I'm talking about. She can be a real psycho."

"B's not a psycho." Faith shook her head. "You're just her baby sister, she wants to make sure nothing hurts you, and that includes boys."

"I know, it's just I need someone to talk to. Not someone who's going to freak out about what I'm saying." Dawn explained. "If I say sex she gets this weird tick."

"Then count me in as an ear." Faith grinned. "Want me to have a word with B, see if I can turn the heat down?"

"Hey the worst that could happen is that she tells me to shut my mouth and hates me for a while, and it's not like I've not lived with that before." Faith shrugged.

"She doesn't hate you anymore." Dawn said sadly. "She doesn't seem to feel much of anything."

"She's had a tough ride D." Faith reached out and put her hand over Dawn's shoulder. "You all have, and hey I can take her flack." She squeezed lightly.

Willow carried the small bright red watering can around the house, topping up each of the plants as she had a short chat with each of them encouraging them to grow up big and strong.

"Ru, did you want to go to the store and get fresh bread for lunch?" She called up the stairs to the other witch.

"In here baby." Ruth's voice replied from the lounge. "We could go to the bakery and get some if you'd like, but first, come sit with me." The dark haired witch patted the couch beside her.

"Okay." Willow moved over and rested the watering can on the table as she sat down.

"How are you feeling today?" Ruth asked, knowing the answer but wanting Willow to be the one to tell her. In the house she had taken to only wearing the smart choker and they had picked up a little carry case that her gloves and cuffs fitted into perfectly. This neat compact box was on the floor by the side of the couch with a pair of black boots and a black scarf.

"Good, it's sunny and my meditation was great." Willow smiled. "We should go on a picnic."

"So what did you want to talk about?" The redhead questioned leaning into the cushions.

Ruth watched as Willow settled more breathing through her nose slightly staggered.

"Because I think you need to." Ruth replied pulling her legs up to rest close to her on the couch, she leaned her head forward onto her knees.

"Talk what about exactly?" She reached down and fiddled with the strings on her shorts.

"Lo…" Ruth took a breath and looked at her lover. "You need to go see the grave."

"Ohhhh…" Willow pushed up to stand and paced away. "No, no…not today." She shook her head.

"Because…Because…" She wrapped her arms around herself and circled the couch. "I haven't got anything to wear."

"Flowers…I didn't order any and I wouldn't want just Saturday morning leftovers." The redhead moved back towards the stairs. "No, it's not a good day."

"Okay." She shook her head softly. "Well Faith and Buffy are arriving to take me soon, do you want anything before I go get ready?"

"No I meant there are plans, there are plans and you didn't tell me." Willow looked at her a bit hurt. "Big plans."

"Not big plans." Ruth shook her head. "We're going to check the tree and change the flowers and maybe do a little weeding."

"Today, tomorrow, next week." Ruth's voice dropped as she walked to the stairs dropping gently to her knees below her lover. "There is never going to be a good day to do this, so the question I had to ask myself was, why not today."

"No she's not." Ruth agreed. "But it's one of the places that you're afraid of."

"No, you didn't." Ruth pressed herself closer, and moved her hands to pull Willow's down.

"No." Ruth shook her head. "I know that you loved her the most and the best that she had ever, ever been loved. I know that her life was taken by a senseless accident, and that it left you broken and lost. I know that you tried everything to get her back and that when you couldn't you lost the part of yourself that was hers, the part that she had nurtured and the part that you had worked together to make beautiful. But I also know that you stopped, you looked around and you knew you were lost, you emptied yourself and you then fought to rebuild all the beauty that there had ever been." Ruth did her best to keep eye contact with her lover. "And I know that she is proud of every brush stroke you make to create the masterpiece that is you."

"She wants you to see the tree. Both of her Willows are beautiful apparently." Ruth nodded.

Faith put the car into park in the empty space in the relatively empty lot and looked at Buffy beside her not daring to really say anything. The ominous silence the whole way had been stifling and even when she'd just tried to light a cigarette the hard piercing glare she'd gotten from the blonde had almost stung.

Trying not to tap her fingers on the steering wheel she watched two minutes roll by on the clock radio.

"Why don't I get the gardening stuff and shit out of the trunk?" Faith blurted out suddenly. "Yeah great idea." She bailed out before anyone could say anything else.

"You ready Will?" She asked her voice seeming impossibly loud in the relatively small space of the car.

"I don't know." The redhead's voice was small and her eyes hadn't risen from looking at her shoes. "I…it rained yesterday maybe I should have worn boots." She squeezed Ruth's hand tighter in both of hers.

"You can borrow mine." Ruth said instantly glancing down at her trusted black boots. "If you need to, I think it's probably dried out enough that shoes are okay, don't you think Buffy?" She flicked navy eyes up at the Slayer.

"Oh yeah definitely." Buffy nodded a little too enthusiastically as she let down the window and stuck her head out of it. "It's not wet out there is it Faith?" She called in a hushed tone.

"No, it's fine." Faith looked at her wondering why B was acting like she was on crack.

"See fine, like I thought." Buffy ducked her head back in and wound the window up.

"Want me to stay here?" Ruth asked moving her other hand over Willow's upper one, her thumb rubbing lightly over the redhead's knuckles.

"No, you go." Willow shook her head. "I just need…I don't know." She admitted pulling her hands away from Ruth.

"I'll go and help Faith with the things." Ruth nodded gently. "Buffy, why don't you come take my place." She eased the door open and eased out as Buffy scrambled to get out before realizing her safety belt was still fastened. Cursing herself internally the Slayer released it and then got out moving round to the door that Ruth held open for her. Smiling slightly the raven haired witch relinquished her hold on the door and slid round to where Faith was stood near the trunk.

"Nice dress." She glanced at Willow. "I didn't really see it before." She added lamely.

"Ruth picked it." The monotone answer came back though Willow didn't even glance up.

"Okay so I know why Willow is upset, but can you fill me in on why B's acting like she's on crack?" Faith swung the shovel over her shoulder.

Ruth turned to the other Slayer, her focus shifting from watching the two of them through the large back window to Faith.

"You don't have to baby sit me." Willow turned a little towards the other end of the car away from the Slayer.

"I'm…" Buffy glanced quickly out of the window looking for someone, anyone to come and save her. "I'm not." She turned back to look at the back of the front seat. "Ruth's not wearing her gloves I noticed."

"She has them in her pocket in case." Willow filled in. "Do you like them?" She questioned somewhat inanely.

"So you talk to dead people, does Tara blame B?" Faith asked the poignant question.

"Tara doesn't blame anyone." Ruth shook her head. "Where she is now, she has seen the whole plan, and she knows all the things that we only guess at." She glanced at Faith. "Tara will always love Willow, as Willow will always love Tara but at least one of them understands that for them forever didn't mean earthly time."

"Deep." Faith nodded. "So why aren't you wearing your gear? I'd have thought this sorta place would be annoying central for you."

"It is." Ruth nodded briefly. "Though from this distance it's more like background noise than anything else." She glanced up at the distant lines of headstones. "I didn't want to dumb anything down; I want to be aware of what Lo, what everyone, needs." She explained.

"It's about five feet." Buffy replied. "Dawn planted daisies around its base, and there's the rose bush you planted too obviously, and Xander's here more or less one a week to put fresh flowers in the puppet-eye crystal that we had turned into a vase."

"Dolls eye." Willow looked up and the Slayer instantly correcting her. "Dolls eye crystal, it was her grandmothers."

"I don't have cool powers but I think B's going down in flames." Faith motioned through the back window to the Slayer running her hand over her hair looking panicked and Willow's mask like expression.

"I think you might be right." Ruth nodded sadly. "Who do you want to rescue?" She looked up at Faith.

"I think we should leave them." The dark Slayer held out a bucket of smaller tools to the witch.

"I don't know…" Ruth looked down at the small bucket in her hand and then suddenly flicked her head up and round to look behind them. As she did there came a short squeak of spinning tires and a dark green Corolla drove off down the main street.

"What?" Faith went into an instant ready stance and held the shovel like a deadly weapon, as only she could.

"I…" Ruth stared out at the now empty road and then slowly turned back. "Nothing." She shivered. "I just felt…" She stopped again.

"Unfortunately my spider sometimes gets flies and eagles a little confused." Ruth didn't mean to consciously step back from Faith but as the back of the knee hit the car's bumper making it jolt she realized she was doing just that.

"You should just go with them." Willow sunk her head lower making the bland comment at Buffy.

"I don't know if they've got everything ready." Buffy shrugged when the car lurched just the tiniest bit forward. The Slayer turned to look out of the window to see Faith step back and Ruth lean down to rub the back of her leg. "I think Ruth's trying to dent the car." She tried the lame line.

"Ru?" Willow pushed out the door and moved over to where the other witch was. "Are you okay?"

"Lo…yes, I just…" She glanced at the car and then at Faith willing her to say something witty or at least distracting to answer the redhead.

"There was a butterfly, she's such a softy trying to get out of its way." The dark Slayer cringed at her own bad cover. "I should get crack head out of the car." She moved over to Buffy's door.

"Hi angel." Ruth stood up straight and moved over to Willow lifting her hand towards her cheek.

"We don't have to do anymore than we already have." Ruth whispered. "Faith's already said that she and Buffy can do the whole clearing and tidying thing."

"I want to see the tree." Willow whispered back and her body shook a little. "Just the tree." She clarified.

"Do you want Buffy to walk you there?" Ruth asked desperately wanting to step forward and hold the other woman, but Willow's emotions and thoughts were too mixed and chaotic for her to pin point on whether or not it would be appropriate for her to do so.

"No." Willow shook her head. "Take me." She reached down and put her hand into Ruth's. "I can't do this without you."

Ruth reached over and closed her other hand over Willow's sandwiching it lightly in warmth.

"This way." She took a small step to the side, not advancing until Willow made the equivalent step.

"Come on B, we got work to do." Faith handed the pail to the blonde and urged her to start walking; she doubted that Ruth knew the way and Willow didn't look coherent enough to map a discovery voyage to the bathroom in her own house right now.

"Ruth will get her going; we don't need to be staring at her." The dark Slayer took her own initiative and looped her arm into Buffy's dragging her slightly towards the gate.

It was almost with the group motion that Willow finally unglued her feet from the concrete paving and began slow baby steps to follow the two Slayers.

Ruth couldn't help it. She just couldn't take her eyes off the intricate carving of warm caring eyes, soft yet pronounced features and endearing half smile that looked at her from the right hand side of the blue marble book shaped headstone that marked the site of Tara's grave. The truly stunning representation must have taken care and an attention to detail that literally took Ruth's breath away.

On the left hand side of the monument was a Wiccan star and the young woman's details, Her full name, her birthday, the date of her death and the simple phrase. "My everything"

It stood centrally in a overly large plot of land, whose edges were marked with a small white chain-link fence. Directly behind the headstone was a weeping willow tree. The small delicate tree looked almost cold and naked in its leafless winter form. Though the bright spray of canary yellow roses that were carefully placed in a carved crystal holder next to the stone gave it a warmth of color and love.

Faith had hovered around the edge watching as Ruth and Willow finally approached close enough to be near the fencing.

"Do you like it?" Willow hadn't looked up but she could see from her downward glance where Ruth was looking.

"It's beautiful." Ruth replied, her voice hushed almost reverent. "She is beautiful."

"She is." Willow whispered her voice getting thicker. "She used to hide behind her hair, her family had told her she was ugly…but she is beautiful." Her voice cracked as her eyes came up without her wanting them to and she came to see the haunting eyes of Tara looking at her from the stone. The glance was all it took to reduce Willow into thick sobs as she looked away again.

Ruth felt the sudden and intense flare of Willow's pain, anguish and heartache to such a point that it actually hurt.

From her place close to Faith, Buffy watched and heard her best friend's heart breaking and instantly made a hurried movement forward to go to her. Her feet moving before she knew it, Buffy was at Willow's side in an instant.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She wrapped her arms around the redhead without thinking and held on tightly.

Faith watched saddened by the heavy emotion as Willow clung back onto the blonde with one hand. She would have looked away but she saw a flash of anguish pass of Ruth's face and she knew instantly it wasn't something good.

Making her way around the barrier, she slipped Ruth's hand out of Willow's, letting the redhead hug Buffy while she pulled Ruth a few feet away.

"Okay missy, gloves for you." She fished them out of Ruth's pocket and a little roughly managed to get them on the dark haired witch's hands. "Where are your cuffs?"

"The house." Ruth's eyes narrowed as she battled with trying to keep focused. "I wanted to do this, to be strong for her." She explained trying not to lean against the strong Slayer.

"Then stay back for a moment and calm down." Faith nodded. "You need to focus a bit."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you Will, I'm sorry that I let you down, I'm sorry I let Tara die." Buffy sobbed her voice coming out hard and fast as she clung tightly to the small redhead. "Oh God Will I am so sorry."

"It was me." Willow sobbed back holding onto Buffy. "I should have known, I should have protected you both…but I didn't…I let her die and then I tried to kill you." She wailed more.

"No, no." Buffy shook her head holding tighter. "You couldn't have known it wasn't your place to protect her, it was mine. Tara told me once, that the only life she had ever had was the one that she had with you. You made her live Will, you didn't make her die."

"She said that?" Willow's grief was sidetracked for a moment as she pulled back to look into her best friend's swollen eyes.

"When I told her about the Spike thing..." Buffy clarified. "She told me how much she loved you and that you had given her the most precious thing in the world the day that you had told her that you loved her." Buffy pushed some of the tears off her cheek with her palm.

"I did love her, I do love her." Willow sniffled again and reached out slowly to put her hand on Buffy's arm. "It's not your fault; there was nothing you could do." She stopped for a moment. "When we brought you back…when everything was so uncertain, Tara heard me say that I was sorry I'd brought you back because it was causing you so much pain, but she wasn't." The redhead shook her head softly. "Not because she wanted you to hurt Buffy but she said she couldn't imagine the world without you in it, fighting and striving to make it a better place. She said it was one of the most selfish things she had ever thought but she wasn't going to take it back, you were alive and though I know she didn't agree with the magic she never wanted you anywhere but here."

"I miss her." She whispered, this time silent tears slid down her cheeks. "I miss her smile, her laughter, her wisdom, I miss the way she made you laugh." Buffy turned back to Willow holding her tightly again. "Oh God Willow." She sobbed. "I would give anything to not have to be here with you right now, for this not to be real, but I know that it doesn't matter what I give or how much I want it, I can't give it to you."

"Buffy…" Willow held the Slayer tighter than she knew probably any normal person could take. "I only want one thing from you." She whispered into the Slayer's ear. "I know you want to give her back to me, I want that too but we can't have that. What I want is my best friend, I miss her so much but I miss you too. I hate the way we've shut each other out, how we can't talk anymore and I know that Tara would hate to see us like this." She breathed in smelling the familiar hint of Tommy Girl and baby powder that was always on the Slayer.

"How can you want me when I let you down so badly?" Buffy shook her head against Willow gently as she felt her walls of protection crumbling.

"Because I let you down too, because I didn't help you be stronger, because I need you in my life." Willow whispered her voice thick with falling tears again. "Because I love you best friend of me."

"I love you too." Buffy was almost surprised that the words didn't choke in her throat or stop her heart.

"Buffy needs you." Ruth turned and looked at Faith and then looked back at the still sobbing pair.

"You take care of Red, I'll take care of B." Faith nodded assuming that was what the witch had been getting at.

All Faith could do was nod as she breeched the barrier of the gravesite and went to dig up some of the weeds. Thinking no one was noticing she bent down at the side and made a sign of a cross before she actually reached in front of the headstone to pluck out one of the spent dandelion shoots.

Willow hadn't felt this utterly exhausted in months, not since those first few weeks at the Manor when she'd been dehydrated, undernourished and racked by the backlash of her magical overload. She was glad that she had Ruth's strong body to lean back on in their place under the tree. The dark witch's strong arms around her stomach reminded her that she wasn't falling or being swallowed up by the cruel world.

Nearby Buffy was sitting, her hand entwined with Willow's just needing that small amount of contact with her best friend to chase away her own demons.

The dark Slayer had been the only one who hadn't seemed to still. While everyone had fallen apart, regained some control and fallen apart again, she had busied herself cleaning up all the weeds, trimming down the grass around the headstone and settling the new flowers into place. She'd even did a bit of pruning on the tree in order to ready it for the upcoming spring.

Now however she seemed content to pace back four steps across the bottom of the gravesite and then take a turn in two steps before she paced back four steps and repeated the turn. Her lips were moving though she knew that no one could hear what she was saying as she played with the necklace in her right hand.

"We shouldn't be out much longer precious, it's going to get damp." Ruth leaned her head lightly on Willow's shoulder and whispered the soft words into her ear.

"Wow how did it get so late?" Buffy realized that her best friend and Ruth were talking about moving.

"I don't know." The redhead shook her head at the Slayer. "Maybe we should get some food for the Slayers tummies on the way home." She turned slightly to look at Ruth.

"Sounds like a good idea," Ruth nodded. "Are you ready to go Faith." She asked softly looking up at the Slayer.

"Yeah almost done." She commented stopping with her back turned before she tucked away the necklace. "You guys want me to carry you, you look mighty comfy." She smiled at Ruth when she turned back.

"How you doing angel?" Ruth stroked her hand over Willow's hair checking her opinion on Faith's offer.

"Thank you for the offer." Ruth let Willow right herself before pushing up brushing down the backs of her dark jeans.

"I'll get the tools." Faith went to collect them. "Unless B wants me to carry her?" She looked at the blonde who still hadn't stood up.

"I…maybe I'll just start patrol from here." Buffy didn't move as she gave her reply, her focus still on the grass.

"Really?" Faith looked at the still bright sky. "You sure you don't want to eat?"

"I'm not really hungry, you get the girls home, the caves North of here always need checking, and I'm not often up this way in the right light." Buffy nodded.

Faith somewhat nodded as she followed after Ruth and Willow to the car and tucked the tools in the trunk.

"She's going to start patrol from here." Faith filled in glancing at Ruth. "How about I go help her and we'll swing by your place later for leftovers?"

"Sounds like a plan." Ruth nodded. "Thank you for being with us today." She added looking into deep brown eyes.

"My pleasure." Faith smiled. "Be careful you two." She closed the trunk and backtracked to find Buffy.

Buffy was sat in exactly the same place when Faith returned to Tara's resting place.

"She's got that cute English chauffeur." Faith picked up a blade of grass threading it between her fingers.

"But doesn't she need to be looked after too?" Buffy glanced over her shoulder, watching as Ruth smartly reversed out of the parking space and pulled round in a smooth move and out of the car park. "Apparently not." She looked back.

"I think Cookie had herself built up to be the strong one today and she did great." Faith watched the move too. "And note to self when we're in a bind we should let her drive the getaway car."

"She did." Buffy nodded. "Though I didn't do the supporting best friend thing too well." She pushed up from her place and briefly buffed the brass plaque on the trees trunk.

"Thanks for all the tidying." Buffy looked at the neat and tidy plot. "It looks great…good, as good as it can be."

"Anya got one of her friends to make it." Buffy replied. "One of the human ones." She clarified.

"Either way it's gorgeous." Faith finally pushed up. "B, you know its okay to feel like shit, its okay to be upset."

"Tara was." Buffy frowned not commenting on Faith's other words. She glanced to wards the distant tree line. "Well I'd better get started." She brushed off her butt and began to walk away.

"I'd rather stay together, it's been quiet lately. You know how you get that feeling something is brewing?" Faith stretched her arms up.

For a moment Faith could tell the blonde was torn, press on regardless or stop and have to be honest.

"B…look it's you and me and a few trees." Faith moved around in front of her. "You're so wound up you're going to pop a gasket soon."

"I…" Buffy felt her feet come to a stop; she turned and looked at Faith. "I don't think I can do this." She whispered.

"You can." Faith assured her. "You started before, with Willow just you're overwhelming sense of duty and pride gets in the way. B, you can't hurt me, you can say anything, do anything, it doesn't leave this spot if you don't want it to."

"It's just I feel like I'm running at a hundred miles an hour all the time, and even then I'm only catching up with my shadow." Buffy sighed heavily. "I…" She was stopped as the cell phone in her pocket vibrated and sent cords of 'I will survive' into the still air. Jumping as if she had been physically hit Buffy's hand shoved into her pocket and pulled out the phone. Flipping it open she saw that the number was the house.

"Buffy? It's Mrs. Lauder dear, I was just wondering when you and Faith might be home, Dawn is getting quite hungry you see." The older woman's gentle voice requested softly.

"Oh." Buffy seemed deflated as the alarm was cancelled, "Er, go ahead and cook, Faith and I are just doing a quick cave recon."

"I'll do something that won't spoil by the time you two get in." Rose happily complied.

Buffy grunted some kind of closing phrase before flicking the phone closed and slipping it back into her pocket.

"Hold on." Faith pulled it out and hit a few buttons to put it on silence. "No more interruptions…running…million miles…shadow…go." She encouraged.

Buffy looked at Faith a little blankly like she had no clue what the dark haired woman was talking about.

"B, Red isn't the only one who lost someone that day." Faith reminded her. "And from what I heard if you told Blondie about Spike then you must have trusted her, I'm sure she knew how amazing it was to get Buffy Summers trust."

"Tara thought everything was amazing, she thought the fact that we talked to her was amazing, it took her forever to accept that we loved her not because she was Willow's girlfriend, but because she was Tara." Buffy pushed a hand into her pocket. "It's easy to say this maybe, but she was the perfect choice for Will, I trusted her with Willow's life and safety, and had I not been to blind or stupid I would have seen my best friend's trouble before it got so far that Tara had to leave." The Slayer sighed hard. "If they'd not have spilt up, they'd not have gotten back together, and she wouldn't have been in the room, in that place at that time." The blonde's small hand balled into a tight fist.

"You didn't kill her B, no matter what you did or didn't do you didn't pull the trigger." Faith contradicted softly.

"I know I didn't kill her." Buffy snapped back her eyes blazing. "But I didn't save her."

"How could you? You were lying in a pool of your own blood." The dark Slayer reminded her. "You weren't in a position to save her B, neither was Willow."

"But I should have been, I should have been able to save her, save Willow, damn it I've saved the world enough times, can't I for once save my best friend? Something useful." Buffy growled.

"Not everything you do to save her had to be with a stake or a sword Buffy." Faith shook her head. "Today, coming here with her, crying, showing her you give a Goddamn about her grief and your own…that's saving her from the dark bits of her soul that want to crawl up and consume her. Willow could end the world, she could protect herself from anything…what she can't do some days is get out of bed because she feels so lost. She doesn't need you to protect her B, she needs you to love her and guide her."

"I do love her." Buffy frowned hard. "But I can't guide her, I can't guide myself." The Slayer's voice choked up again.

"I don't mean plot her a twenty year road map, I mean remind her it's okay to be scared, remind her its okay to just be sometimes." Faith tried to get her to understand. "This isn't about being the best at it B, it's just about being her best friend. Laughing together, crying together, hell getting drunk together, whatever it takes to make her see and make you see that neither of you are dead."

"Once again life reminds me I'm not so much alive as a slave to the undead." Buffy took a ready stance and searched the tree line with tear filled eyes that she desperately tried to blink free of tears.

"No, life reminds us that a moment of peace is like dropping the soap in the shower, you're begging for trouble." Faith did a quick turn trying to pinpoint where the growl was coming from. "It's in there." She pointed to the dark cave opening. "Do you want to hang back while I flush?"

"No, if it's big it'll need two of us." Buffy shook her head and rubbed her hands on the pant legs. "I'm so not dressed for this.

"Okay how about we make a lot of noise and lure it out?" Faith picked up a rock and judged the weight in her hand.

Faith let hers go and it bounced against the rock face above the opening sending sand and gravel down onto the ground. Another large growl made Buffy throw hers as well and then they heard a loud roar.

"Get ready for it B." Faith flexed her hands as she waited. For a moment the mouth of the cave remained a dark secret until in a split second white tusks reflected in the dimming sunlight and leaping out on oversized legs and arms the demon owner of the growl appeared.

It moved like a cat, shifting its weight from front legs to back it leaped to the left towards Buffy. For that reason Faith barely had a chance to be shocked by its gray fleshy folds of skin that went taut as it stretched out its speckled body for each movement. Digging her boots into the dirt she took a leap of her own timing her distance so she could tackle the creature mid stride before it got to the blonde.

Buffy had frozen waiting for the approach and was off guard when Faith hit the creature and the two of them rolled sideways for a moment. The reflexes on the demon were amazing as its leg bent both ways allowing it to propel itself upright almost instantly while Faith was left prone.

Immediately Buffy moved in, knowing punches were ineffective due to its low center of gravity she concentrated on landing a firm kick to what she knew was its face due to a large mouth. She then kicked at the joint of one leg, obviously causing the creature discomfort as it leapt a little away.

"What the fuck is that?" Faith pushed up and brushed herself off as they both watched it track around them in a circle waiting to strike.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like it." Buffy found herself back to back with the dark Slayer.

"Well its dead whatever it is." Faith threw a kick as it tried to approach, knocking it back to its perimeter again.

"How are we going to kill it? Unless you have a weapon tucked somewhere I don't want to know about." Buffy spun out with a kick to knock it back from her as it moved.

"Next time it comes at me you go for the trees, there has to be a branch or something." Faith tried to formulate a plan.

"Well I was hoping you could pick up something more like a tree and hit it with it." The dark Slayer mused. "Before it eats bits of me off that is. Ready?"

"Go." Faith announced as she waited for the creature to strike and ducked down letting it over shoot her a little before she came up under it and literally stopped its leap picking it up and spinning to throw it off into the rock side.

Buffy didn't waste any time as she tore the short twenty yards into the trees and dug up the thickest tree trunk she could swing from the underbrush.

As she turned she wanted to scream out to Faith who made a very rookie mistake and took a long turn around to see where the demon had gotten as they scuffled. When she did it gave the monster the perfect opening as it came into the dark Slayer's blind side and opening its jaws bit down into the large flesh of her thigh.

The large tusks pieced through the flesh and muscle, coming out the other side and sticking for a moment as it waited to see what she was going to do to try and get away.

"KILL IT!" Faith screamed in pain and anger at herself as she reached down, throwing her weight onto the leg and into the creature's body to pin it as she clamped her hand over its head to hold it to her where it couldn't do anymore damage.

Buffy quickly moved forward switching her grip to bring the thick end of the tree trunk up and smashing it down to crush one of the creature's back legs first before she did the same to the second.

"KILL IT!" Faith cried out again as it managed to wretch free from her grasp pulling out its teeth and tossing her into the rocks nearby.

Having raised the log again Buffy had the clear shot to bring it down onto the creature's head, she ground it down with all her strength only satisfied when streams of yellow goo streamed out.

"Faith!" She dropped the log as soon as the creature's blood pooled out around it in a large circle and dashed to the still fallen Slayer.

Faith's body was sprawled over the gray boulders; blood seeping through her pant leg, staining the stone beneath, a small trickle of blood ran from her nose and her lip down into her mass of dark curls.

"No B." Faith objected trying to fight the pain. "Don't touch me." She barked the order as she made herself roll over and clutch at her leg.

"I said don't!" Faith reached out and batted her hand away. "It's…it might be poisonous. It burns." She grimaced again. "Give me your belt and your jacket."

"Faith come on let me see, if it's poison then we need to get a good look at the wound for puncture points around the area." Buffy frowned and scrambled closer putting her hand on the rock directly next to Faith's bleeding leg.

"I said don't fucking touch me." Faith rolled uncomfortably to bat her away again. "Just give me the Goddamn belt and your jacket."

Pushing herself back Buffy quickly stripped off her jacket and unfastened her belt, tossing them in the Slayer's direction.

"Suit yourself." She pushed herself down the boulders and stood by the creature's corpse. "Though what the hell you thought I was gonna do to you heaven alone knows." She turned and began to back track through the trees. "I'm calling Giles on the cell phone, as your watcher you can't really tell him to fuck off."

"NO!" Faith's voice called as she tightened the belt around her upper thigh to stop the bleeding. "You can't…I…get me to Ruth." She suddenly focused on the idea as she tried to wind the jacket around to stop some of the bleeding.

"Ruth?" She barked. "You expect me to drag Willow's empathic girlfriend into the middle of what could be a demon nest just cause of some weird vendetta you've got going against me?"

"B, this is so not about you." Faith lay back panting for breath. "Don't bring her here, help me get to her."

"We shouldn't move you till we've at least got that closed; Giles can be here in minutes to just stitch it." Buffy argued.

"B, you can't phone Giles." Faith looked up trying to clean up her face with her sleeve. "Please just help me get to Ruth." She took a deep breath and pushed herself up with an agonizing groan.

"I might have said it at least a dozen times but you are amazing, brave, and beautiful." Ruth smiled and gently massaged Willow's small toes, reaching back momentarily to squeeze more scented oil onto her finger tips, before replacing the bottle on the coffee table and going back to her massage. "Not to mention wonderful, cute and precious." She continued running her fingers up over Willow's feet. "I'm just…" The phone rang interrupting her, "Just going to answer that." She smiled and removed one of her hands to pick up the receiver. "Hello." She greeted.

"Ruth? It's Buffy, Is Giles there I need him." The Slayer's voice was tight and distracted instantly alarming the sensitive.

"I think he's in his room, Buffy what's wrong?" Ruth relinquished her other hand and wiped it on her jeans.

The redhead instantly pushed up and stared a bit wide eyed wondering what was going on.

"Buffy is that Faith?" Ruth frowned. "Buffy what's happened? Are you hurt? Is Faith hurt?" Ruth's voice dropped lower.

"We got attacked by some leap frog demon thing, it bit her and she's bleeding all over the place but she's being a total bitch and won't let me touch her." Buffy explained turning to growl at Faith to shut up. "She says it might be poisoned so I can't touch her, but it needs stitches."

"It's okay Buffy." Ruth shifted round and pushed up off the couch. "Are you in the woods by the cemetery?" She checked

"Yeah, but the small cliff that leads to the gully. Why don't I drag her to the entrance of the cemetery and you can get Giles to pick us up?" Buffy questioned.

"No." Ruth shook her head. "Give me a few minutes and I'll be with you." She vowed, quickly putting the receiver down and turning to Willow. "Faith's been hurt in the caves." She walked and got the first aid kit from the downstairs bathroom. "ANYA!" She called glancing up at the empty hall.

"Faith's hurt?" Willow's face went pale. "How? We have to get to her." She pushed up off the couch.

"I did and we do." She glanced at both women. "Anya I know it's not easy or pleasant but I need you to zip-zap me to Buffy." She looked at the demon. "I know it's asking a lot, but I can't explain right now." She looked pleadingly at Anya briefly before turning to Willow. "Angel I need Giles to drive the car to the cemetery entrance, and you to be here for when we get back." She pulled down her denim and cord jacket and slipped it on.

"There are no meals or drink service on this flight." Anya laughed as she watched them arguing.

"Precious please." Ruth took soft steps to Willow and cupped her cheeks with her hand. "Trust me, I need you here." She looked deeply into green with soft loving navy.

"Be careful." Willow conceded knowing she had to show some trust. "But you need your cuffs and your gloves." She pointed out.

Ruth nodded softly lowering her hands and reaching to the coffee table picking up the ornate box that the things were kept in.

"I love you too." Willow vowed back. "Make it a smooth trip Anya." She warned the demon.

"I can't believe you phoned." She cursed as she turned her head and spit out some blood that was pooling for her lip. "I ask you one thing and you can't even do that for me."

"You need help, and if you're too stubborn to take that from me then I had no other choice." Buffy bit back.

"I'm not stubborn." Faith shook her head. "I'm trying to protect you." She added angrily as she tried to tie the knot of clothes around her leg tighter.

"One witch to order." Anya greeted with a flourish as she and a rather air- sick looking Ruth arrived near the boulders. "Got to go." She waved with a smile and disappeared again.

Ruth looked at Buffy, instantly bombarded by her anger, fear and worry, and then at Faith met by the same wall of emotions. She began scrambling up the stones towards Faith.

"Cookie." Faith saw the dark haired witch and hunched a little. "It's a blood bath, be careful." She warned but breathed a sigh of relief.

Ruth smiled slightly and flipped the lid off the first aid kit on her belt, pulling on two sets of surgical gloves before ripping open a thick wad of dressing.

"You look like lunch." Ruth frowned slightly even though her comment was light hearted. "Mind if I cut the pants?" She glanced up into pain filled eyes.

"So does it look poisoned?" Buffy came over still angry but needing to know. "Giles might need the teeth ripped out or something to get an antidote."

"I don't think so." Ruth glanced over at her. "Buffy could you run to the entrance I asked Giles to drive here as soon as he could manage."

"Fine." The Slayer huffed and began moving away. "If you yell at Ruth I'm going to bite you myself and I won't be so nice." She growled at the dark Slayer.

"God I wish she would calm down." Faith tried to speak as she sucked in air trying not to scream as Ruth pulled the impeded jean material out of the wound.

"She's worried." Ruth said softly as she held the gauze over the wound while she rummaged in the pack for the wipes. Popping the top open she pulled on of the antiseptic sheets out. "This is going to hurt, I'm sorry." She whispered.

"It is but that's not going to cut it." Faith shook her head. "It needs stitching." She grimaced. "If you get a needle and line ready I can do it."

"I know what it needs Faith." Ruth glanced up. "I've stitched myself up more than a few times." She pointed out gently. "But I need it clean and germ free, if this isn't going to cause you infection problems." Ruth worked carefully around the edges of the wound cleaning out hairs and debris of skin and denim.

"You know I don't want to know why you've had to stitch yourself up because I'm either going to have to go crack some heads or have a big conversation with you Cookie." Faith leaned back trying to focus on breathing.

"Book me in for a conversation." Ruth plucked another wipe from the carton and glanced up at Faith's waxy pallor. Picking a clean wipe she leaned up and wiped Faith's face free of blood. "Want me to help with the pain?" She offered looking into the Slayer's eyes.

"Don't you dare, I do not need a Willow ass kicking on top of this." Faith shook her head. "It's fine; I just wish Buffy wouldn't take this so personally."

"What other way can she take it Faith? Here hold this." She relinquished her hold on the wipe on the dark Slayer's face as her lip began to ooze. She made sure the Slayer had a good hold on it before moving down again to continue her work on the leg wound.

"She can take my word for it and know that I'm doing this to protect her." Faith grumbled.

"Take your word for it?" Ruth glanced up briefly as she fished out the suture kit form the pack,. "You might not have noticed Faith but winning Buffy's trust is a little like getting Willow to come here, hard, but so worth the effort. You need to earn it from her, and maybe one way you could do it would be to tell her the truth, tell her what you are protecting her from." As she spoke the dark haired witch reached into her pocket and pulled out a small container of salve that she had slipped there, she ran it lightly over the skin around the nasty laceration.

"I tell her this and she's going to treat me like a leper." Faith pointed out. "I know she won't mean to but she won't be able to help it. She needs me to be invincible."

"Do I treat you like a leper?" Ruth glanced up, prodding the skin she had just numbed, happy when the Slayer didn't flinch.

"No, but that's different." Faith shook her head. "You…you really think I should tell her don't you? Tell all of them?"

"Maybe not all of them but Buffy, yes." Ruth was honest as she began a neat row of stitches. "She needs something from you Faith, something that will show her that you've changed, that you're worthy of a second chance. Something that tells her that you trust her and that she can trust you in turn."

"I'll think about it." Faith moved the wipe up to dab at her nose. "I just…I don't want her to have to think about this. She's got enough to worry about."

"The difference is this is something real to worry about." Ruth pointed out gently, "It's not like some mythical vampire strike or some demon that might just kidnap Dawn next full moon, this is a real life thing, and something that she can help with." She worked diligently and carefully soon closing one of the four main wounds. She set to work on the next.

Faith watched as the redhead circled the bed again agitatedly fluffing pillows and checking that her leg was elevated enough.

"Red, its fine…just…its fine." She tried not to be too aggressive but she really did need Willow to stop darting about. The medication for pain that Giles had given her hadn't put her out or anything but between that and the blood loss she was feeling nauseous.

"Sorry, do you want something to eat? Drink?" Willow questioned holding onto the frame at the foot of the bed.

"No, still working on the apple juice you brought up with you." Faith looked at the large icy glass on the side. "Why don't you go check on your girlie? I might doze off for a bit."

"Oh you're sleepy, Giles said the pills might make you sleepy, you should sleep." Willow nodded and back towards the door. "Wait let me put the lamp on then instead of the overhead." She darted back and flicked it on. "Yell if you need us okay?" She requested before she moved back to flick the overhead off so that the room was more dimly lit.

Reluctantly Willow did finally leave, closing the door behind her and moving down the stairs to the living room.

"She still looks really pale." She commented moving over to curl up with her lover.

"She lost a lot of blood precious." Ruth replied letting Willow settle against her, she stretched her legs round and let the redhead get more comfortable. "Let her bone marrow get onto working over time and she'll be right as rain in no time." Navy eyes never left the TV screen.

"Anything good on?" Willow looked to the screen. "I wonder if the big demon carcass will make the news, it never does even when Buffy kills them right in the middle of Main Street. Speaking of Buffy I wonder where she is, she said she was going to stop by and see how Faith was."

"I think I've worked this show out." Ruth replied. "That guy there gives those three people the answer and they have to come up with the question, ooh, ooh 'What is the Sphinx?'." She waved an arm at the TV.

"I forgot you don't have Jeopardy in England." Willow smiled as the announcer confirmed Ruth's answer. "Do you think she's going to be okay?"

"Faith." Willow rolled her eyes laughing. "Well Buffy too, she seemed upset when she left."

"Who knows." Ruth shrugged lightly. "I mean I know, know but you know empathic confidences and all that, and I don't know, know if they will work it out, either of them…" She stopped taking a breath. "Who knows." She restated.

"I think you're brain is tired baby." Willow turned smiling at her. "It's been a busy day, should we have brew and tuck you up early?"

"I've been here long enough to know the answer to Jeopardy so I think my body's adjusted." Ruth hugged Willow with one arm. "Thank you for trusting me, for letting Anya take me." She dropped her voice slightly as she kissed red hair.

"I admit I was scared." Willow snuggled contently into the dark witch's body. "But I know you wouldn't have gone if you didn't need to, though I'm curious just what thing you're holding over Faith's head that she listens to you without grumbling."

"I'm not holding anything, I'm not like that!" Ruth couldn't help but react defensively.

"Ru, I didn't mean it that way." Willow looked up and frowned. "I meant…I know you're empathic and that but you seem to have this way of talking to her that doesn't involve her getting grated like she does with the rest of us. I meant it as a compliment."

"I think part of that is that we don't have history in the same way as she does with you, she has nothing to prove, nothing to outlive, or live up to." Ruth replied losing her defensive edge. "And I like her." She added.

"She's different." Willow nodded not completely agreeing yet with the like statement. "She's not the same person, prison changed her a lot."

"Doesn't have to have been prison that changed her…" Ruth stopped mid sentence as the short ring of the doorbell resounded through the small house. "It's Dawn." She turned to look at Willow with a frown.

"I'll get it." Willow leaned to kiss her quickly and then moved to the door. "Dawn? Is everything okay?" She opened the door for the teenager.

"Is Faith okay?" Dawn looked up at Willow with large brown eyes. "Buffy just got home and told us what happened, they said Giles brought her here, is it bad?" She frowned.

"It's going to take her a few days to heal." Willow ushered the teenager inside where it was safer. "She's upstairs resting but she's acting like she's fine. She just lost a lot of blood, but you know how stubborn Faith is. She wasn't going to let a demon get the better of her."

"Can I go see her?" Dawn stripped off her heavy jacket and was on the third step by the time she asked the question. "Is she in my room?" She added from the fifth.

"Yes she's in your room, just be careful if she's asleep don't wake her." The redhead smiled softly as Dawn raced up them out of sight. "I think one of the Scoobies has forgiven Faith."

"Ouch, that must'a hurt." Dawn took no notice of Willow's warning and just flung open the bedroom door rushing in and grimacing at Faith's bruised face.

"Oh yeah, I'm telling you don't piss Cookie off when she's stitching you up. That girl has a mean right hook." Faith laughed as Dawn arrived.

"Buffy's pissed at you." Dawn came fully into the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Natural state of being for your sister." Faith nodded though she was slightly dimmed by the news. "Did she get home from patrol okay?"

"She just dropped in to get food and go out again." Dawn shrugged. "I said I had to drop round to a friend to pick up some homework." The teenager leaned over and pulled back the light blanket covering Faith's leg.

"Hey, hey, hey, Slayer healing here." Faith snatched the blanket out of Dawn's reach. "Look but no touching, got it missy." She warned in a serious tone.

"So how you pissed her off this time?" Dawn leaned back against the end of the bed.

"I was bleeding all over the place and she had her new sweater on, I didn't want her to ruin it." Faith gave the cover story she'd been thinking up. "You know how B is, you say one thing to her and she goes right off the deep end. Oh and don't think I'm ignoring the little bait and switch routine missy, you are not supposed to be running around Sunnydale at night by yourself. And that's my rule not just your sister's."

"I wanted to make sure you were okay, and I could hardly tell Buffy that I was coming over here to check on you, I'm sure she'd rather give me permission to have a quickie with Ryan than do that." Dawn huffed.

"You still talking about getting your groove on?" Faith laughed slightly. "You're sister's pissed at me Dawn, she wouldn't want to torture you on purpose. So didn't I get something like sugar filled food here?"

"Oh yeah." Dawn pressed her hand into her jeans pocket and pulled out a packet of gummy lifesavers. "Here you go." She presented them to the Slayer.

"Score." Faith grinned like a child as she tore into them and stuffed three into her mouth at once. "How you doing? How was the coffee date?"

"It was okay," Dawn stopped and took a breath. "Actually it was great, he was all kind and understanding, even when I said that though I was taking our relationship seriously I wasn't about to just go all the way or anything. He asked me to the movies on Wednesday, just the two of us."

"See score one for honesty and self respect." Faith threw her a purple lifesaver. "He might be the one D, but give it some time before you decide. There is lots of stuff you two can do before you go all the way."

"So do you need me to stay here tonight, I can change bandages and clean small nicks and scratches." Dawn lay out on the bed and stole another gum.

"Sure, but Ruth is doing nurse duty so you're out of a job. Unless you want to pop some corn and sneak up a Pepsi for me." Faith grinned. "A very important job."

"But why bother Ruth, I can do it." Dawn sat up again. "Look see," She gently eased back the sleeve of Faith's shirt, "This doesn't look like it was cleaned properly." She moved to examine a small scratch on the Slayer's wrist.

"Dawn…" Faith snatched at the teenager's wrist with her other hand and kept it from going closer to her skin. "I really need you not to touch me right now." She stated clearly.

"No, no I can do this, I've gotten really good, even Buffy says so." Dawn twisted her slim wrist free of the loose grip determined.

"Dawn, you can't." Faith shook her head and tightened her grip. "Please, just do as I say okay?"

"Ow!" Dawn grimaced and stared at Faith. "Why don't you trust me?" She whined. "I thought you could see I've grown up, that I'm not a little girl anymore, and here you are being just like Buffy, I'm not big enough to help, I'm not capable of helping 'cause I don't have the experience."

"That's not what I meant." Faith stared back at her. "God can't anyone understand that I am trying to do this for their own good, that I am trying to be responsible about this and keep everyone safe. I mean I could be careless and reckless but I'm trying not to and all I'm getting is fucking flack. I wish that fucking doctor had never told me the results, then I could have lived in blissful ignorance."

"Doctor?" Dawn's pout turned into a confused frown. "Buffy didn't tell me Ruth had to take you to a doctor."

"I'm not talking about this Dawn." Faith motioned to her leg. "I'm talking…look I just have a good reason why you can't be looking after wounds and shit okay?"

"I do want to know!" Dawn challenged. "I'm sick of being in the dark all the time, being the last one to know."

"I'm HIV positive." Faith spoke the words hardly able to believe she had said them.

"Look you wanted to know, you're not a baby anymore…so there it is. You can't be poking around at bleeding bits of me because I don't want you to get infected. I know small percentage of a chance but I'm not taking that risk with any of you." Faith explained grumpily reaching over to the open kit and pulling out a bandage to put on her arm.

"That's bull." Dawn pulled the Band-Aid out of Faith's grasp and stuck it in her pocket, reaching over to the kit and pulling out some disposable gloves. "I can poke around, I just have to be careful." She pulled them on and dug her hand back in her pocket for the Band-Aid. She gently pulled off the backing and pressed it into place. "And I can do this too." She leaned forward resting her head on Faith's chest and she hugged her lightly. "We've had these classes in school too." She nuzzled under Faith's chin slightly. "I'm sorry." She added not letting go.

"It's not your fault Dawn." Faith objected but then relented bringing her arms around the younger girl. "It's okay if you're not cool with it, I know it's scary."

"Does this feel like I'm un-cool with it?" Dawn challenged though her voice was gentle.

"No." Faith admitted her usually iron façade a little weak. "Thank you." She squeezed Dawn a bit tighter.

"Does Buffy know?" Dawn asked quietly suddenly pulling away. "Is that why she's being a bitch. God she is such an ass." The teenager scowled. "I'm gonna go and set her straight." She pushed back and off the bed.

"No." Faith objected quickly. "She doesn't know, she can't know." She shook her head.

"But…" Dawn felt herself derailed again. "If she doesn't know then why is she behaving like she is?" Dawn scrunched up her nose.

"She's just pissed off because when I got hurt I wouldn't let her near me for obvious reasons." Faith pointed to her leg. "She's just being huffy because I was arguing with her, that's all."

"She's still an ass." Dawn assessed and then eased back down. "Why can't you tell her?" She referred back to Faith's earlier statement. She lay on her side beside the Slayer and looked at her.

"Because…" Faith maneuvered a bit so that she could better see the teenager. "I don't know, a lot of reasons. She's got enough on her plate already, I'm not particularly in the mood to have her point out I brought this on myself. Which I know I did, and which is why you better be careful or I'll skin you alive." She poked Dawn in the side and tickled her.

"Do you know?" Dawn asked laughing but staying serious. "How…" She frowned unsure she should be asking.

"Sometime post coma and pre prison, the doc there did the test and then called for the med records from Sunnydale General." The dark Slayer shrugged. "It wasn't the greatest time in my life Dawnie, I wasn't picky if you know what I mean."

"No." Faith underlined. "Apparently my T-cell count is super high so the doctor is confident I'm fighting it off pretty well. I guess that has something to do with the whole Slayer thing but I'm on some meds to help fight it more."

"Whoa super knowledge girl." Faith couldn't help but grin. "Yeah combo therapy, but this is the second variation. The first made me totally puke if I even smelled food, so they modified it."

"I like to have knowledge." Dawn nodded. "It's something Tara taught me, she always knew stuff, even if sometimes she kept quiet about it so that we all had to find out for ourselves." She explained. "Ruth's a bit like that too isn't she, I mean, she knows doesn't she, which is why you called her?" She made the logical conclusion.

"She knows, when she dream walked with me she found out." The dark Slayer leaned back a little heavier into the pillows. "I couldn't tell your sister by the cave, especially not by the cave and I was bleeding all over the place like a stuffed pig so calling Ruth made sense."

"Next time you can call me." Dawn said proudly watching the Slayer resettle. "Do you need me to go?" She added a little more sensitively.

"No you can stay, but I might get boring and loud when I fall asleep and start snoring on you." Faith yawned slightly.

"I don't want to stay if you'd rather I left, Buffy said I was crowding you when she got home and I started asking questions about how you were and stuff." Dawn frowned slightly.

"You're not crowding me." Faith shook her head. "Why don't you go make yourself some popcorn and get a drink then come back up here, you can watch bad TV while I sleep?"

"Okay cool." Dawn nodded eagerly and pushed up off the bed. "Be right back." She grinned.

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Witness

By The Rainbow Writers

Copyright © 2003

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