@anunquietgraveā {buffy} gets a Season 4 starter
She slid the IV needle out of her hand with a disgust and betrayal- Faith Lehane had had enough of people stabbing things into her for a whole lifetime.
The hospital wing was cold and empty, practically turned into a storage closet where the girl had lain forgotten. No telling what day it was, or what year. She barely felt alive, muscles aching from disuse and skin paled from lack of sunlight. Her blood was ice in her veins, but Faith, for what little it was worth, was awake and walking.
She quickly stole the clothes of an unfortunate woman who had wandered too far into this near-abandoned floor of Sunnydale General and made off into the night. Even in waking, flashes of her endless nightmares- it had been nearly a year submerged in dark sleep- played out behind Faiths eyes. Buffy at every turn. Taking what little Faith had left and cutting it to ribbons. She wasnāt sure if the exhaustion in her legs was their lack of use or the endless running. Her parched throat, dehydration or the effort of screaming to a deaf world. The cold night air hit her sharp like curved silver in the stomach, and Faith shivered, pulling the stolen cardigan around her more tightly as she exited the hospital and scampered off into the moonlight.
Once a Slayer, always a Slayer, even in her sorry state. No matter how badly Buffy wanted to sever that bond, there was no denying that she and Faith shared something deep, primal. It boiled in the blood and filled the lungs with electric air. So, Faith would wait. And Buffy would come. Blondie always had to be the big strong hero, triumphing over evil.
And where else would her fellow Slayer go to stalk the restless undead than the cemetery? She pictured green grass parted with a shiny new grave, just for her- Faith Lehane, dead girl walking. Yeah, sheād fit right in. Except her nightmares always ended with Buffy in the bottom of the grave, buried and gone and Faith, for one, welcomed the scent of the tangy, sour earth beneath her fingernails.
