Buffy came to consciousness slowly. She smelled smoke and felt heat. Willow was kneeling by her side.

"Buffy, wake up!" Willow was crying. "Buffy, you need to wake up now!"

"Faith?" She couldn't feel her. "I can't feel her any more," she said dully.

"She's alive, but we can't move her. You need to get up."

Buffy sat up and put her palms in either side of her head to keep it from splitting open. Her whole body throbbed with pain. "Where's Faith?"

"She's trapped. Pinned beneath the truck. We can't move it and the building is on fire."

Buffy staggered to her feet and looked around. She saw Giles and Xander huddled over Faith. Faith was lying next to the truck. The truck had fallen on its side from the force of the blast. As Buffy got closer, she could see that Faith's left arm was under the truck.

"Oh God," whispered Buffy. Ignoring the throbbing agony in her head, she ran to her.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to chew my arm off, B," she joked weakly.

"How much time do we have, do you think?" she asked Giles.

"A few minutes, probably less, until the smoke gets too thick."

"Well, it's too heavy for my arms. If I can get under it, I might be able lift it enough with my legs."

"Try under the cab," suggested Xander. Buffy walked to the front of the truck. The cab was smaller than the back. Hope shivered down her spine.

"I can definitely fit under there," she said as she lay down on her back and wriggled under the cab. "It's just a question of strength." She was talking to herself. "Do I have enough to get this monster off the ground?" She bent her knees and braced the feet up against the cab.

She took a few deep breaths and PUSHED. Her muscles bunched and strained, to no avail. The truck didn't budge.

She took a few more deep breaths and prayed. She clenched her teeth and pressed her hands into the concrete. Still nothing. Her legs relaxed a little as she cried tears of frustration.

Flaming pieces of the building were starting to fall down around them. Smoke was burning a path down her throat.

"C'mon, Buffy," she muttered to herself. "You can do this."

She didn't see Willow creep in and kneel next to Faith and whisper into her ear.

Throwing her arm over her nose and mouth, she took another deep breath and pushed. She strained and prayed and clenched her teeth and yelled. "yyyaaaAAARRRGGGHHH!!!"

She felt the truck move a little and her burning, quivering muscles almost gave out. But something was different. She felt extra strength coursing through her and the truck actually lifted, a fraction of an inch, an inch, two inches, getting easier now, a foot, two feet. Until Buffy's legs were extended to their full length.

She heard Willow say, "Gently. Don't distract her. Ok, stop. Don't talk to her, don't try to drag her outside. Just wait."

Then Willow was at her side. "Ok, Buffy. Faith is out from under the truck. Let it down gently."

Buffy breathed and slowly lowered her legs. How did it suddenly get so easy?

Once the truck was safely down and the weight of it no longer on her legs, Buffy looked at Willow in confusion. "I think I'm gonna pass out now," she said, and knew no more.

The smoke was choking her. She coughed and her left arm exploded in agony. She cried out.

"Faith!" said Willow, alarmed. "Are you ok?"

"Define ok," she shot back.

"Not dead."

"Then, yeah I'm ok."

"Can you walk?"

"Prob'bly. Unless something happened to my legs that I don't know about." Willow laughed. She didn't know that Faith was completely serious. I guess my legs are ok. "How's Buffy?"

"Xander and Giles are carrying her out now. She kinda fainted. I think she's ok. We have to get out of here."

Willow grabbed Faith's good arm and helped her stand. All the jostling sent electric pain sizzling up and down Faith's left arm. She gritted her teeth and wobbled on her feet. With Willow at her side, she headed for the door.

As they emerged from the burning building they heard sirens approaching.

Faith went immediately to Buffy's side. She looked kinda bad, covered with blood and small scratches, but she had small smile on her face as she slept. "Where are the Council guys?" asked Faith to anyone who may have heard her.

"Looks like they may have skedaddled for now," answered Xander.

When the fire trucks and paramedics arrived, the afternoon became blurry with confusing activity. Buffy and Faith were soon surrounded by paramedics. They reminded Faith of bees hovering around the honeycomb. Firm but gentle hands were splinting her arm as an official sounding voice spoke into a radio.

"It looks pretty serious ... multiple fractures."

Faith listened to Buffy's busy bees. "A concussion, definitely, and a laceration on her scalp along with multiple scrapes and contusions. ... Yeah. We're gonna load ‘em up."

Oh great. The hospital. The throbbing in her arm and the fact that it felt fifty times its usual size, Faith silently resigned her self to another hospital trip. Then she remembered the nurse she punched out. She hung her head. I just hope they gave her some time off.

More blurred activity as the two slayers were bundled into ambulances and driven to the hospital.

Buffy was pacing the hall while the rest of the gang waited in the waiting room. Faith had been in surgery for over six hours.

The police had come and gone. Giles claimed Faith as his daughter and had given the doctors permission to operate.

"Mr. Giles?" A weary doctor was standing in the doorway of the waiting room.

"Yes? How is she?"

"Well, her arm was broken in several places. Almost shattered. Surgery went very well, though. The pieces of bone were big enough that it could be put back together almost like a jigsaw puzzle. She'll have a bunch of pins and screws holding everything together but it should heal enough to get probably seventy-five to eighty percent use back."

"Is she awake? Can we see her?"

"Surprisingly, she is awake enough for visitors. Usually it takes an hour or more to recover from the anesthesia but she came out of it pretty quickly."

"Giles? I need to see her," insisted Buffy. Giles raised a questioning brow to the doctor.

"She's been already asking for somebody named Buffy," said the doctor with an indulgent smile. He gestured for them to follow him and he led the way down the hall to the recovery room.

When he walked in he said, "Faith, there's somebody here to see you."

"Buffy!" Buffy rushed to her good side and gently embraced her. Faith returned the hug as best she could with one arm.

"When can she come home?" asked Giles watching the two slayers. He saw a single tear slide down Buffy's cheek.

"Considering the severity of the injury, I'd like to keep her overnight. We'll check on her progress tomorrow." Giles and the good doctor continued with their discussion and Buffy tuned them out.

She pulled back and gazed at Faith. She looked so small against the white sheets. As she caressed her face she murmured, "I thought I'd lost you. I couldn't stand it if-."

"Shh," whispered Faith. "There's no way we could ever be beaten by a bunch of pansy-assed wanna-be watchers." Her finger traced the scratches and fading bruises on Buffy's face.

Giles came to Faith's bedside. "I've arranged for Buffy to stay here with you tonight in case the Council tries for you again."

"Thanks," said Faith in a subdued voice.

"You're welcome, Faith." He took off his glasses and cleaned them. "I do expect you to recover enough to be released tomorrow. So no fighting and get plenty of rest. Understood?"

"Ok." She gave him a druggy grin as her eyes struggled to stay open.

Buffy followed Giles out of the room. "What do you think The Council will do?"

"I'm not sure. They won't take kindly to this show of aggression."

"Show of aggression?! They used explosives and were going to erase Faith's brain! And what with the whole taser and darts and waving guns around, and-and..." She trailed off.

"Yes, I know, Buffy. But they don't see it that way. Faith is a rogue slayer and you refuse to have anything to do with the Council. They want their slayer. And I'm afraid of the lengths they may go to get her."

Buffy sighed as she pressed her hand to her forehead. "How long am I going to have to fight with them? Will they go as far as trying to kill Faith? Activate a new slayer?"

"It's a possibility we cannot ignore."

"Crap."

Giles smiled. "Yes, I believe that is an accurate assessment of the situation."

"Well I don't know what the hell to do. I mean I can beat up more bad guys but they'll just send more. OOOooo!!! What I really want to do is pound Travers head against the wall until it gets kinda squishy. He's the one who told that toady to go ahead with the whole brainwash-y thingy."

"Really? Travers gave the order?"

"Yeah. Why? Is that important?"

"It could be. There are a few things, little things, that have been bothering me about this whole...exchange, you could say." He was silent for a few moments while Buffy stared at him impatiently.

"Well? I'm not gettin' any younger here, Giles."

"Hm? Oh. Yes. The lack of police involvement is one. They took our statements and then, that was it. No arrests. And the media has reported this as an accidental fire with no arson implicated. At first, I thought the Council might be covering their tracks so they could take it to the next step. And to my mind, that was," he cleared his throat, "activating a new slayer."

"But now?"

"I think Travers is covering himself."

"Why?"

"Well. If Faith were arrested for arson, the Council could very easily claim guardianship and have her institutionalized and drugged and have her moved to England."

Buffy paled. "Really?" her voice small and frightened. "They can do that?"

"Oh yes. Quite easily."

"Ok. Travers. You're still gonna have to explain it to me."

"Well," he continued slowly, gathering his thoughts. "Faith going rogue, you quitting the Council, and Wesley's poor performance as a Watcher have all happened while Quentin Travers has been in charge. Coupled with the fact that there are now two slayers, which is completely unprecedented in the entire history of the Council, means it is dealing with more upheaval than it ever has. And seeing as how the Council has been around since before mankind has even been recording history, that is saying quite a lot."

"Still not getting the whole Travers thing."

"Yes, I was just getting to that. Rogue Faith, you quitting, and poor Wesley mean that the Council may think that Travers is not handling these new developments very well."

"You think the Council might be getting rid of Travers?" queried Buffy in an awed whisper.

"Well, a quiet, early retirement, anyway."

"So Travers might be trying to get his house in order, so to speak."

"Precisely. This could be a break for us."

"First a rogue slayer and now a rogue head-of-Council. Not seeing the good here, Giles."

"If we alert the Council of Travers' actions," he started, "and we show that Faith is no longer rogue and under our control, the Council just might call off the dogs so to speak."

Buffy was silent as she pondered. "Looks like you have some phone calls to make."

"Looks like." He leveled a stern gaze at Buffy. "Travers' may have his men try again tonight. Be on alert."

Buffy swallowed and nodded, her eyes wide and determined.

"And try not to kill any of them. I don't want to have to explain that to the Council."

Buffy sat in Faith's room close to the door, sipping coffee, Faith's steady breathing a soothing balm to her jangled nerves. I really hope they try something. I so want to kick some Council ass.

Every once in a while she would close her eyes and feel for Faith. She was sleeping the sleep of the highly drugged. Buffy smiled affectionately at her new lover and wondered at the circumstances that brought her to this spot in her life.

She heard footsteps from the stairwell. She sat up, all her senses on alert.

They crept down the corridor towards Faith's room. God! A herd of elephants makes less noise!

"Visiting hours are over, guys," quipped Buffy. They started and spun around. "Unless you're not planning on visiting. Are you planning on staying? I did promise Quentin broken bones. I always keep my promises." Buffy smiled a chilling smile.

The next morning brought sunlight and cheerful friends. Xander brought fresh coffee and doughnuts. Giles said a brief greeting and pulled Buffy out to report on Council happenings. Willow stood by Faith's bed and watched her.

When Xander left to listen in on Buffy's and Giles' conversation Faith eyed Willow nervously. Finally she could stand it no longer.

"Willow, I owe you an apo-,"

"I've been doing some thinking," she interrupted casually. Faith closed her mouth and waited for her to continue. "You've done a lot of bad things to me and to my friends and to the world. When Buffy beat you up and nearly killed you I was glad. I've never been glad about some one else's pain before. You were a truly scary person, Faith. It wasn't your strength or slayer abilities that made you so scary. It was the fact that you were a friend. You were close to us, hung out with us. And then I really started to think about our friendship."

After a few moments of silence, Faith opened her mouth to speak but Willow continued. "We were never friends. I was jealous of your connection, your slayer connection, with Buffy. When you accidentally killed that guy, I was glad that you'd screwed up so badly because that meant I'd have Buffy back again.

"And when I saw you killing all those vampires when you were all primitive, I was scared. I mean, angry Faith is a frightening thing to behold but a primitive, angry Faith? I thought for sure you were going to kill Buffy that night. But instead, you saved her. You were so gentle, I didn't know what to think.

"So I've come to this conclusion. When you were brought down to your most basic primitive self, your first instinct was to rescue and protect. And you rescued and protected your worst enemy and my best friend. I was wrong about you. You're not evil, you're just a little lost." Faith blushed but said nothing.

Willow took a deep breath. "I'm not afraid of you anymore. And I'm sorry for the way I treated you last year."

"Wow, Will. I've never heard you say so much all at once before." Faith dropped her eyes. "I'm sorry too, about hurting you ‘n' stuff."

Willow smiled. "It's ok. Not ok, ok. Just don't do that again, ok." She frowned. "Sometimes I wonder if I give people headaches when I talk."

Faith smiled at the red head. "I give people headaches when I punch ‘em."

"See? Something we have in common. We're bonding already."

"You sure are weird, Red."

"At least I'm not psycho, Looney."

They smiled at each other.

Buffy walked in and raised her eyebrows at the sight of Faith and Willow smiling at each other. "Did I miss something?"

"Just us bonding," said Willow. "So what's the plan for the day?"

"Doc says we can take her home as long as we don't let her operate heavy machinery or play rugby or anything like that. And you have to ride in the wheelchair."

"No, no, no, no. I'm not ridin' in no goddamn wheelchair." Faith's eyes were wide and horrified.

Buffy leaned down and kissed her lightly on the mouth. "Yes you will. It's to keep you from falling on your face while you're looped up on pain meds."

Faith frowned and her lower lip stuck out a bit while Willow looked on amazed. "Wow Buffy. You made her pout."

Giles and the Council decided Faith should stay with him while she recovered. After Giles' report, the Council took Quentin Travers into custody, stripped him of his Head-of-Council status and called off the "Faith retrieval" mission. A group of watchers would be arriving in a few days time to observe and interview Faith and the Scooby Gang.

Buffy and Xander helped Giles set up Faith's room while Willow and Faith played a vicious game of gin rummy. Which meant a lot of swearing from Faith and smug indulgent smiles from Willow.

When the room was ready, Buffy flopped down on the couch beside Willow. "Who's winning?" she asked. Faith grunted.

"Me," said Willow cheerfully. "I'm kicking slayer ass."

"I blame the drugs," said Faith grumpily.

"You go right ahead, if that makes you feel better," said Willow unable to stop herself from taunting the now-tamed rogue slayer.

"Yeah, well, enjoy your victory while you can, Firebird. I was trained by a highly British, genuine old lady to play the meanest game of gin rummy this side of the Atlantic. When I'm recovered, you are so gonna get your ass kicked."

"Your empty threats don't frighten me, slayer. Bring it on."

"Oh, I'll bring it. That and a whole six-pack of whoop-ass."

"Gin."

"Dammit!"

Buffy watched them play for a little while. Giles joined them with a book in hand.

"Giles? When I was trying to lift the truck I felt an extra surge of strength."

"Ah yes. Actually, I'm not the person to ask, this time. You'll want to direct your questions to Willow and Faith." He opened his book and began to read.

"Willow? What happened? Did you do something?"

"It was the spell. The close connection spell. At the end of the chant when we cast the spell there was a surge of magic. I knew the spell had been successful. I could feel it. More than successful. And when you were trying to lift the truck I thought that maybe Faith could share her strength with you, using the spell."

"How-?" ventured Buffy, at a loss for words.

"The nice thing about slayers is they've been trained to get into a trance-like state. Even when in excruciating pain. I talked her through it as best I could. Faith did the rest."

Buffy stared at her friend. "You amaze me sometimes, both of you," she said, her voice filled with awe.

Willow blushed. "Well, the reason the spell was so successful was because of your feelings for Faith."

Faith stared at Buffy who met her gaze solemnly. Willow continued, "And the reason Faith was able to share her strength with you is because of the intensity and depth of feeling that she has for you." Faith flushed a deep red but didn't break eye contact with Buffy. "Combined with the fact that you're both slayers made for a very strong connection. I wouldn't be surprised if the effects of the spell last for a long, long time. Weeks, months, possibly even years."

Giles spoke up. "When the spell was cast by identical twins, it turned out to be permanent."

This comment sparked a conversation between Giles and Willow about the ramifications blah blah blah magic blah blah blah consequences, and so on. Buffy got up and sat next to Faith. They leaned their shoulders together while the two smart people rambled on.

When Giles brought up training schedules and slayer lesson plans, Willow and Xander fled in horror leaving Buffy and a drowsy Faith sitting on the couch. While Giles talked, Faith curled up on the couch, put her head in Buffy's lap, and fell into an exhausted sleep.

Buffy stroked her hair and watched her while she slept, barely listening to her watcher.

"I don't think she realizes what she's up against," Buffy said finally with a worried frown.

"No, I don't expect she does. She's young. The consequences of her actions haven't quite caught up with her yet. I applaud your loyalty, Buffy, but you and Faith have a hard road ahead."

"I can't desert her again, Giles. I don't know what's going to happen and it scares me. She seems so damaged at times. What if I can't handle it? What if I let her down again?"

"You're not alone in this Buffy. We'll figure it out together. I'm of the optimistic opinion that if we can handle an apocalypse or three, we should be able to help Faith. The difference is, this time ‘round, she may actually accept our help."

Buffy continued to stroke her hair while Faith slept a dreamless sleep.

The End