Rating: umm...I'm thinking along the lines of PG...in the meantime. Who knows what the future might bring:).
Disclaimer: nope, last time I checked, nothing was mine.
Spoilers: well...better safe than sorry: everything up to the end of season 3 can be spoilery.
Synopsis: I have a strange drive to rewrite season 3 of BtVS. I just don't seem to like the way it ended...beats me why. Anyway, so despite the fact that the original plan was to begin with "Helpless" (that's around the time everything really started getting screwed up B/A-wise), as you can see, plan's changed and I'm going to start with "Anne". If you expect to find in this series events/quotes from the original season....I seriously mean it - I'll try my hardest keeping them to the very minimum. But all in all - it's probably a yet another attempt to end the season on a more "positive" B/A level. See how it goes:).
Pairing: the conventional ships: B/A, W/O, C/X. If I decide to torture any/all of them, you'll be the first to know:).
Distribution: ask first.
Feedback: please, yes, please.

Where do I put the shame?
It feels like a broken toy
I can't play with anymore
Where do I put the hate?
To a pixilated screen
I can't watch anymore

- Vast, "Here"

When Faith tried to open her eyes, her head started reeling and aching, until she almost preferred to keep them shut. She brought one hand to her forehead, pressing it against the throbbing pain. Finally, it began to lessen, at least a little bit, and she managed to open her eyes.

The room was dark and vague, and the only light in it was very dim, thought she could descry a slit of bright sunlight between the heavy black curtains. She propped herself up on her elbows, noticing for the first time that her right shoulder was patched up and still hurting, and blinked a few times, in attempt to clear her vision. Finally, she looked around the room, until her eyes rested on a couple standing together in a faraway corner. Faith let out a groan of silent annoyance and rolled her eyes.

Buffy sipped from her cup of coffee, leaning her shoulder against the wall. "She should wake up any minute now," she whispered.

Her boyfriend grabbed the mug from her hands and gulped from the warm liquid, not saying anything.

She eyed him for a moment. "I thought you didn't drink coffee," she took the mug back from him, smiling impishly though she wasn't at all in the mood.

"Caffeine makes me jittery. It's a little late for that as it is," he muttered. After not being able to escape her prodding gaze any longer, Angel added with a groan, "when I saw that arrow flying towards you…and I knew I wouldn't get there in time, I…"

Buffy stopped him with a gentle hand on his arm. He sighed and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"That should be the least of our concerns right now," the Slayer remarked, then suddenly looked up at him, "speaking of it though, I never really asked…how *did* you see it?"

"What?"

"The arrow. It was so dark and you were so far way even *I* didn't see you…" her inquisitive expression changed into a knowing grin, "is that another…vampire thing?"

Angel chuckled, wrapping one arm around the Slayer's shoulders and pulling her close. "Yeah. *Another* vampire thing. Although right now, I wanna find out what the Hell is going on and why the Mayor wants you dead, and not discuss my supernatural abilities."

"First, we still don't know that arrow was meant for me," the blonde observed, sipping from her drink again. "Second…well, I can scramble a few reasons, just because it's you," she smiled.

"Good, at least one of us finds it funny," he groaned.

"I don't think it's funny," she protested, then put her cup down on a nearby table and took the vampire's hands in hers. "You're just so incredibly sweet when you're worried about me," she smiled, rising on her tiptoes. "You deserve a kiss," she whispered, just before their lips met.

Just when the vampire wrapped his arms around her, eagerly accepting her offer, they were interrupted.

"Can't the two of you stay in the same room for one *second* and keep your hands *off* each other?!" they heard Faith's irritated moan coming from the bed.

"Oh look, honey, she's awake," Buffy smirked playfully, breaking her kiss with Angel and inclining her forehead on his. "Faith..." she turned to the other Slayer.

"Yeah, I know my name. What I *don't* know is what the Hell am I doing here, with you two?"

Buffy sighed, and started towards the bed, with Angel in tow. "Well, we could leave you lying in that alley and wait till you bled to death, the first part was actually Cordy's idea," she mentioned with a gesture of her hand. "But the final verdict was against it. Angel carried you here," she took the vampire's hand, gesticulating at him with her head. "He also pulled out the arrow. You should be fine now."

"Arrow…" the brunette whispered, appearing somewhat thrown for a second, as she looked down on her shoulder, the events of last night catching up with her. "Why?" she looked up at the couple.

Buffy knew instantly what she was referring to. "We don't leave our people behind to bleed in an alley," she replied gravely.

"I'm not your people," Faith grumbled, climbing out of bed. "What is this?" she looked down at the shirt she was wearing as she sat up.

"It's mine," the blonde explained. "Yours was soaked with blood, I didn't want it to stain our bed," she grinned, slightly leaning back on Angel's chest and folding her arms in anticipation.

Faith gave her a long look, as if trying to decide whether she was serious or not, then just shook her head. She stood up, grimacing from the pain in her shoulder, and ran a hand through her hair.

"Leaving so soon?" the blonde peered at her.

Faith sharply turned her head at the couple. "I have nothing to do here."

"I think the least you can do is supply a few answers, but I guess that's your call," Buffy retorted.

"Who was it aimed for?" Angel finally spoke, his dark brown eyes fixed on the Slayer. She had saved his lover's life, in spite of everything she had done before…it only confused him more. He didn't know where to place her, how to judge her. He didn't like to be in that position of helplessness against his enemies. And was she even his enemy anymore?…

"What?" she frowned, as though having no idea what he was talking about.

"Who was the arrow for? Was it me, or was it Buffy?"

Faith regarded him seriously for a spell, then rolled her eyes, figuring since it had failed (since she caused it to fail, but she preferred not to go there), there was no point in hiding the Mayor's plan from them anymore. "For both of you," she replied.

"One arrow for both of us?" Buffy arched a brow skeptically.

The younger Slayer sighed. "For whoever of you two I would manage to get there first. It didn't matter to the boss which one of you he got, either way, he'd have *you* out of the picture."

"You *brought* me there?!" Buffy couldn't believe it.

"What did you think, I came to the Bronze, knowing you all would be there, because I missed the small-talk?"

Buffy just looked away, while Angel took charge on the conversation at once. "What did you mean by having Buffy out of the picture?" he questioned. "What was the Mayor trying to achieve here?"

"My boss has a plan," she grinned, "you two screwed with him one too many times, he's tired of having the two of you in his way, and frankly, I'm not so happy about it either. But not to hurt your feelings, hon, your girl is a much larger pain in the boss' ass than you are. So, it was either I bring her there, which was more likely, and she goes. If that doesn't work, it's plan B, which is you, since he was also counting on the possibility of you not letting her go by herself, or whatever." She stopped, looking at the Slayer and vampire and trying to guess their thoughts. "That's why his weapon of choice was a *wooden* arrow. So it's either he bags you, or her, it wasn't really the point," she shrugged, her orbs twinkling with a derisive grin, turning to Buffy, "Who knows, in the worst case, I would have left a hole in your honey even deeper than you did…or…probably not."

The blonde flinched, inhaling a deep breath, and the vampire soothingly put his hands on her shoulders, kissing her crown gently.

She gulped, averting her eyes from Faith.

Angel finally spoke, "You're lying."

Faith gave him a look that confused them both. "Excuse me?"

"That's not all."

"Oh, really?" she folded her arms on her chest, challenging him with her gaze. She'd sure like to know what he was talking about now.

"The arrow was poisoned," the vampire said. "I could smell the poison on it."

Faith eyed him carefully for a moment, then instinctively attempted to move her arm. Other than the pain of an already healing wound, she didn't feel anything. "I think that's just a little far fetched, Angel, even for you. The Mayor wouldn't…"

"Maybe he forgot to mention it," Buffy smirked.

"Well, then I think something's wrong with *me*, cuz I don't feel very *poisoned* today," Faith snapped. As much as she hated the truth in it, the couple was right. And *she* had been lied to. And there was nothing she hated more than that. There were no talks of poisoning anyone when she had agreed to do the job.

"And it isn't going to change," the three turned to Giles' voice, as the former Watcher strode into the bedroom. "It wasn't meant for you. N-nor…nor for Buffy."

"Giles?" the blonde prompted him to go on.

"Willow and I have just finished examining the arrow, you were right, Angel, it is poisoned," he looked at the vampire. "We identified the substance as 'Killer of the Dead'. It was meant for you."

"What?!" Buffy impulsively clutched Angel's arm.

The Englishman glanced at the brunette Slayer, who seemed just as confused as the blonde. She genuinely had no idea what it was all about. "It is an ancient poison," he began to explain," the only one in the world capable of killing a vampire. The only cure to this poison is the blood of the Slayer. Which is why it will have no effect on you whatsoever, or on Buffy. Angel, however, if he were merely scratched with that arrow, would have been dying by now, or even dead."

"Buffy," Angel restrained his girlfriend just as she was about to make half a step towards the brunette Slayer, who darted back that very moment. He wouldn't have done it normally. And she wasn't scared of Buffy. She was more scared of the fact there was so much more to her job than she was told she was going to do. She wasn't sure if she would have agreed to it, had she known everything.

"Buffy," he pulled her back again, and walked her towards the entrance to the room.

Faith watched the two of them exchange several words, in which the body language conveyed the vampire was trying to calm the Slayer down and convince her to do something she was obviously reluctant to do. After several moments, Buffy nodded, and after a brief kiss from her boyfriend, left the room.

Giles was soon to follow, leaving only Angel behind.

"Just you and me now, Faith," the vampire observed, sitting down on the bed.

"Swell," she smirked, nodding. "Now, how about I *go* and it'll be just you?" she started towards the exit.

"That was well planned, I gotta say," Angel started speaking, knowing it would be enough to make her stop. It was.

She turned around, looking directly at him.

He returned her a completely natural gaze. "He didn't tell you what was going on, which means he still knew you were fresh, that you might change your mind, so he took care of that little detail. Now, for the case he wouldn't be able to hit Buffy, he made sure she wouldn't be in the state to oppose him, or to stop whatever he's planning, when I'm dying, if he left me dying, and so it would seem, without a cure."

"Is that so?" Faith approached him, smiling. "It didn't take your brains that long to find the *cure*, did it? So I don't think you'd be *dying* for too long."

"Yeah, that too," Angel didn't even try to disagree. "He got that covered, too."

"Sure," the brunette shrugged. "He probably counted on little Buff here to feed herself to you, and that way, he'd get two lovebirds with one stone."

"True," Angel nodded, completely disregarding her choice of words. "I don't doubt for a second she would feed herself to me." He inhaled a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. "I also know I would be in a state unable to resist her. So he got us there. But I also know something else," he looked up at the brunette. "Your boss got you, too. Yes, Buffy would feed herself to me, I have no doubt about that. But *before* she would be pushed with her back to the wall, she would go after the person who did this to me, a person who *also* holds the cure to the poison. And she wouldn't hesitate to take that cure. How do I know that? Because being in her place…that's what I would do. And I'm sure your boss considered that possibility."

Faith just looked at him. She couldn't do anything but. His words were too painfully true. She had left their group, feeling betrayed, underestimated, outcast, and most importantly – scared. And she had joined another, hoping, in vain, the story wouldn't repeat itself. But it still had.

"You saved her life, Faith," Angel spoke again, this time, his voice was softer and quiet, as he was looking into his lap instead of her. "You didn't know about the poison, but you knew about the arrow. You knew what was going to happen, you knew you had brought her there to die. Why did you stop it?" he looked up.

"I don't know," she found herself saying. After a spell of silence, she spoke again, "I just…did."

"Because you knew it was the right thing to do?" he prompted.

"Don't make out of me something I'm not!" she huffed.

"With all the respect, I don't think I'm the one doing that right now," he remarked pointedly.

"No, you're wasting my time, that's what you're doing," she started away again.

"We're willing to give you another chance, Faith."

She stopped, again, turning around.

"No one is gonna keep you here against your will," Angel went on evenly. "But people are willing to give you a chance, if you take it, now, more than ever."

"I don't think your girlfriend would agree," the brunette simpered.

"Buffy is upset now. She's feeling betrayed, you can hardly blame her, mostly because of-"

"What I was gonna do to you?"

"You didn't know there was poison involved, and she knows that. Give her time to calm down and trust you again. No one's believed in you the way she has all that time. No one."

"Nice to know," she muttered.

"That's not what I meant." Angel sounded a bit more assertive this time, as if his patience with the brunette finally started slipping away. "I think it's about time you stopped turning everyone against you and hearing only what you wanna hear. People want to help you!" he stood up. "I'm trying to get through to you, *yes*, mostly for Buffy than for myself, but for myself, too. Whether you like it or not, but you're important to these people, and you're important to the fight we're all fighting. But you don't listen to me! You insist on being…whatever the Hell you're trying to be, even if it's *not* you! You don't even understand it, but you're still *fighting* against the evil you think that already consumed you!"

"I'm not fighting against anything!" Faith objected. "I choose to do what I want, and I do it!"

"Try choosing harder! Giving up isn't the right way, Faith, the hard way is the right way! Making your friends your enemies isn't the right way either! Nobody will keep you here, I repeat. You're free to go anytime," he gestured at the door. "I can't do anything about that, and nor can Buffy. But she's still here for you, she'll still believe in you, until you won't give her another choice, until the last minute. My advice to you…don't wait that long."

"I don't know where I belong anymore," she whispered to herself, not knowing what else to say. "I don't know what I want."

"You do know what you want," the vampire corrected her gently. "But you don't know where you belong. That's why I'm giving *you* the chance to find out."

"How noble of you," she grimaced.

Angel rolled his eyes. "Why don't you try to work with me here for one minute, okay? You want so much to have control over your life, so I'm giving you that. You choose. Go...take your time, do whatever you want," he motioned towards the door again. "I can't stop you. I can just hope you don't stray again, for Buffy's sake."

She opened her mouth to reply something, but ultimately, just settled on looking at him. After a couple of minutes, she turned around, and stormed out of the room.

Go to the next story First of Many Nights

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