DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Buffy The Vampire Slayer stuff belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Warner Brothers. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. All other characters that appear belong to me. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for private use only and must include this copyright notice and disclaimer. There is some subtext in this story. If this kind of stuff is not legal where you live, if you're under 18 or if you don't like the notion of two women being in love, then you should find something else to read. This story is set at the end of the Buffy episode Who Are You. A snippet.

A Cry For Help
By Kristjan Brezovnik

Faith stared at the door, unable to move. She didn't want to run anymore, but she didn't know what to do. And she wanted to make it right, she wanted to make it up. But she didn't know how. She wanted Buffy to tell her what to do, but Buffy was too angry at her. The only person she though might help her was Buffy's mom. So she had gathered the courage, jumped off the cargo train and walked back here, dirty, bloody, scared. But now the courage left her. She didn't dare ring the bell, yet she didn't want to run away either. So she stood there, waiting. For something.

Then the door suddenly opened and Faith nearly jumped. She stared at Joyce and Joyce stared back and it was a tie as to who was more scared. Faith's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

"Faith," Joyce spoke first.

She noticed Faith's condition and she saw the hell in Faith's eyes.

"H-Help… me," Faith finally managed to say and tears started to roll down her cheeks. "P-Please."

Joyce stared at the Slayer, surprised. It wasn't so long ago that she was threatening to kill Buffy. And then she stole Buffy's body and lived in her house. And now she dared to come back and ask for help? But then from what Buffy had told her, Faith was always tough, or psychotic, never… like a child. A hurt child. For a moment she thought that Faith was pretending, Buffy had told her Faith was a good actress, but she didn't know why Faith would pretend, she didn't need to. Not to mention that the look in Faith's eyes spoke volumes.

She hesitated for a moment and then stepped aside, but Faith didn't move. Joyce was confused, but she quickly realized that Faith was too scared to do anything by herself. She sighed. She took Faith's hand and led Faith into the house. Faith followed her like a drone. Joyce led her to the sofa and then sat on a chair, but Faith continued to stand.

"You can sit down," Joyce said.

Faith's mouth opened and closed like she wanted to say something, but no sound came out. She was fidgeting with her fingers.

Joyce got up to get Faith to sit down, but then Buffy came in.

"Mom, I'm going…" She trailed off when she saw Faith. "Faith!"

She immediately attacked her.

"Buffy, no!" Joyce called, but it was too late.

Buffy rammed Faith with such strength that Faith passed out when she hit the wall.

"Buffy!" Joyce called worried, when Buffy let go of Faith and Faith fell to the floor.

Buffy turned to her mom.

"Mom, are you okay?" she asked, worried.

"I'm fine, honey."

Buffy looked back at Faith.

"She sure has the nerve. Call the cops, I'll watch her."

"Buffy, she came here for help."

Buffy looked at her mom, puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

Joyce sighed.

"She came here and asked for help. She's scared."

Buffy glanced at the unconscious Faith.

"She should be."

"I want to at least talk to her first."

Buffy frowned.

"Why?" she asked, puzzled. "She's crazy."

"Crazy people don't come asking for help."

"I don't trust her, Mom."

"That's why I want you near while I talk to her."

Buffy hesitated, anything but pleased at the prospect of talking to Faith. Just the sight of Faith was making her angry. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Fine," she said.

"Help me put her on the sofa."

Buffy picked up Faith and dumped her on the sofa.

"Buffy," Joyce chided her.

Buffy looked at her.

"I'll go cancel my plans," she said and went to the phone.

Faith woke up with a scream. Buffy stared at her, surprised, as Faith cuddled up. She looked so vulnerable. Then Faith suddenly realized where she was and she sat up. Their eyes met and Buffy could see fear in Faith's eyes.

"B," Faith finally spoke and quickly got up.

Buffy was immediately ready to fight.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked angrily.

"I… I…"

"You sure have the nerve, after all you did to me."

Faith's fear passed and her self-protection instincts kicked in.

"And you're Miss Goody Two Shoes," she said and moved a bit closer. "Like you never screwed up. But hey, you're Buffy, the good Slayer, a bit of crying and all is forgiven. Well sorry I don't mach your high standards, we're not all so fucking perfect!"

"I never killed anyone."

"Lucky fucking you!" Faith screamed and pushed Buffy. "And if you had, all you'd have to do is shed some tears and you'd be forgiven. But not me. Oh no, Faith is a bad girl, she's a killer, a murderer, a psychopathic slut!" she screamed and tried to push her again, but this time Buffy defended herself and a fight ensued.

"I knew you hadn't changed," Buffy said angrily and took the knife she had with her just in case.

"You don't know me, B! To you, I was just a spare Slayer, nothing more," Faith said as she pummeled on Buffy. "And to think that I loved you," she added quietly and attacked even more fiercely.

Buffy heard Faith's last words thanks to her Slayer hearing and she was so surprised she could barely defend herself. Faith loved her? How… What… When… Why didn't she notice?

"Faith…"

"Shut up, B!" Faith screamed, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. "Come on, finish what you started!" she yelled and grabbed the hand in which Buffy held the knife.

Buffy was surprised by Faith's act and she tried to get her hand free, but Faith's grip was firm. Then Faith surprised her by pulling her toward herself and Buffy knew that if they continued on that course, she would stab Faith. Again. So she dropped the knife and kicked it under the sofa as her fist connected with Faith's stomach. Faith growled, disappointed, and elbowed Buffy in the face. Buffy staggered back and Faith quickly continued her attack.

"What's the matter, B?! Don't you want me dead?" Faith taunted Buffy as they fought. "Remember what I did to you? I stole your body, B, I fucked your boy-toy. I'm a murderer, remember, B? So why the fuck can't you kill me? What would it take, B? Your mom?"

Buffy gulped, worried.

"Mom, go away!" she called to her mother, who was observing the fight, worried.

Joyce nodded and quickly left.

"What's the matter, with you, B? Can't you see I'm bad? I'm fucking evil, B! Didn't your friends make it clear to you? I'm bad, B! I'm bad!" Faith screamed as she half-heartedly pounded on Buffy, who realized that Faith wanted her to kill her. "Come on, B, I'm bad!" Faith screamed and threw herself at Buffy. "I'm bad, I'm bad, I'm bad, B!" she screamed as she grabbed Buffy's shirt. She started to sob. "Just do it, B, just kill me. Please. Kill me," Faith said between the sobs while Buffy stared at her, shocked. "Kill me, Buffy, please. Just… kill me."

Buffy then realized that Faith's conscience finally caught up with her and that Faith was sorry for what she had done. Suddenly she felt relieved, Faith was sorry. She wrapped her hands around her and Faith collapsed to her knees, pulling Buffy with her.

Joyce came back when she heard that the fighting was over. When she saw Faith crying in Buffy's arms, she covered her mouth and cried herself. She had heard most of what Faith had said and she realized she couldn't even imagine what the girl was going through. Or Buffy for that matter, who was also crying.

Faith cried for a while and when she ran out of tears, she quietly sobbed. When she finally fell asleep, exhausted, Buffy continued to hold her for a while before she noticed that Faith was sleeping. She considered what she should do for a few moments and then picked her up and carried her to the sofa. She hesitated for a moment and then sat down and positioned Faith between her legs. Then she lay back and let Faith's head rest on her chest. And then she thought.

When Faith woke up with a gasp, she was a bit confused at first, but then she remembered what had happened before she… fell asleep? She sighed. Then she noticed that she was lying on someone and her senses were telling her who it was. She looked to confirm and her eyes went wide when she saw that she was indeed lying on Buffy. She quickly got up, scared, and sat on the opposite end of the sofa. She pulled her legs to her chest and hugged them, not sure what was going on or what she should do.

Buffy sat up and they stared at one another for a while.

"I'm sorry, Faith," Buffy finally broke the silence.

Faith frowned, confused. Buffy was apologizing? That was definitely not something she expected. Hell, she didn't know what she expected. Was she even in the right reality?

"What…" She cleared her throat. "What for?"

Buffy sighed.

"For ignoring you. You were right, I did think of you as a spare Slayer and I forgot that you weren't just Faith the Slayer, you were also Faith the girl. Talk to me, Faith, I want to understand why you did what you did."

"Why?"

"Because… Because I care, Faith, and I want to help you. You came here for help. I know you expected it from my mom, but I think I can help you better. If you'll let me. So far, nobody knows that you're here, so you're safe. Unless you want to fight, but I doubt that." She hesitated for a moment. "Do you want help, Faith? From me?"

Faith stared at Buffy for a while, confused that Buffy wanted to help her after what she had done to her. Then again, she came here to get help. And yes, she had expected to get it from Buffy's mother, but now Buffy was offering her help. She didn't know why and she was afraid to tell Buffy the truth. But she needed to get it off her mind and she wanted to Buffy to understand, in spite of the fact that she was scared of what Buffy would do. But then again, she had wanted to die not so long ago, so Buffy's reaction would probably be less severe, even though she knew that she probably wouldn't even try to stop Buffy from killing her. She sighed and then looked away, nervous, thinking about what to say.

"I… When I first got here, I… I wanted you to notice me," she then started. "I had just lost my Watcher and I didn't want you to think I was weak. And I really liked you, you know? In spite of the fact that you weren't interested, I wanted to hang out with you, get to know you. I slowly realized that I was in love with you. I knew you had a boyfriend, but I just wanted to be with you. I thought I maybe had a chance after Scott dumped you, but then Angel came back. I knew I didn't stand a chance, but I wanted to be your friend." She paused for a moment. "But then I killed Finch and I was, like, the worst scum. I… I was… scared, I didn't know how to deal. I… I knew you all despised me, so I figured I was gonna be a bad girl. I figured that if I couldn't have your love, I could at least have your hate. And it worked for a while, until you stabbed me and I realized that I was wrong. And the Mayor, he… he loved me. I know he was a bit weird and he wanted to destroy Sunnydale, but he made me feel special and he treated my like I was his daughter." She paused for a moment. "And then I screwed him." She took a deep breath. "And when I woke up from coma, I found out that Angel was gone and you were with someone else and it pissed me off. And the Mayor, he left me a perfect gift. If I couldn't be with you, I would be you." She paused for a moment. "It was weird at first, but then I really got into it. And there was this girl I saved from a vamp, she thanked me. Nobody thanked me before. She made me feel special. I wanted to leave Sunnydale, start over somewhere where nobody knew me, but I couldn't, I was Buffy, the superhero." She sighed. "And then you took that away from me. And I ran." She stopped to wipe the tears that had started flowing down her cheeks without her noticing it. "I wanted to get away, but as I was waiting for the train to leave, I didn't want to run anymore. I… I realized I… I needed help, but I… I didn't have anyone to turn to." She sobbed for a moment and then continued. "Then I remembered your mom. She… She was… worried about me even after I threatened to kill you. She let me in and then you came."

Buffy gulped, realizing the unspoken part of the sentence, that she had ruined everything. She suddenly realized she was crying and she wiped her tears. Then it hit her that perhaps she didn't ruin everything, after all, Faith just opened up to her. She needed to think.

Joyce, who had come to check up on Buffy and Faith from time to time was relieved when she saw Faith talking. She hoped that she and Buffy would work things out between them.

After a while, after she had thought over what Faith had told her, Buffy started to tell Faith the story from her point of view.

"When you came here, I was still recovering. I had killed Angel, I had been wanted for Kendra's murder and my mom threw me out of the house when she found out about me being a Slayer. I ran away and I just wanted to forget. But I couldn't. I was a Slayer and that was it. It took me a while to acknowledge it, but I finally did and I came back. Things were so strained afterwards that I nearly ran away again." She sighed. "After that, I just wanted to have as normal a life as possible. I wanted to have a normal boyfriend and all. And then you came and I you made me feel good. I knew that Scott and I probably weren't meant to be, but I wanted to hang on to what we had, I wanted to be normal." She sighed again. "But he dumped me. And then Angel came back from Hell and I started to feel guilty again and I wanted to find out why he came back." She paused for a moment. "We all saw in you just Faith the Slayer and we forgot about Faith the girl. We didn't realize that you'd maybe like to hang out with us but were afraid to ask. We didn't know you and I guess you were afraid to tell us about you." She thought for a moment. "But you still managed to make me feel good. Every time we were together, it was like… we were more than just a team. You know? But then you killed Finch." Buffy sighed. "I also felt guilty, responsible, I knew what it was like to be accused of murder. I wanted to… I wanted to help you deal, but you put on a mask and I didn't realize that you were too scared to deal." She sighed again. "And then you went to the Mayor and I felt betrayed. I mean, I wanted to be there for you and you went to the Mayor." She paused for a moment. "I realize that you wanted not to be judged and I guess the Mayor didn't judge you. And I didn't know how he made you feel." She sighed. "I wish I could have made you feel like that." She paused for a moment. "I'm sorry I stabbed you, Faith, but I was so angry that you poisoned Angel." She paused again. "I didn't visit you in the hospital because I felt guilty and I wanted to forget. But then you woke up and I realized that I should have visited you. I wanted to clear things up between us, but you were so angry. And then you took Mom hostage and you stole my body and slept with Riley. I was so angry I didn't even think about how it felt to be you, how you must have felt." She sighed. "I want us to be friends again, Faith." She thought for a moment. "No, I want us to be more than friends."

Faith looked at her, surprised.

"Really?"

Buffy nodded and took a deep breath.

"The way you make me feel, the way you still make me feel, not even Angel made me feel like that, I just didn't want to acknowledge it before."

"What about Riley?"

Buffy sighed.

"He's a nice guy and I love him, but he… he just doesn't make me feel the way you do. I mean, I've forgiven Angel and I'm forgiving you, but I don't know if I would have forgiven him for something like that." She thought for a moment. "I'm going to break up with him," she then decided, "but I'll try to do it gently, I don't want to hurt him."

Faith stared at Buffy for a few moments.

"You're gonna break up with him for me?"

Buffy smiled.

"No, for me. Right now, we both have to deal, you more than me. And then we'll see how things turn out. Right now I want to be with you, but I don't want to rush things. Okay?"

Faith nodded.

"Okay."

"Good. Friends?"

Faith smiled.

"Friends."

Buffy spread her arms and Faith flinched, still expecting Buffy to hit her or something. But when Buffy didn't do anything, Faith slowly came closer and let Buffy hug her. She hesitated for a few moments and then hugged Buffy back.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"And thank you," Buffy answered.

The End