Paige, Lorne and Faith
Paige had been trying to heal Faith's stomach for 2 days straight. She was slowly getting there, but it was taking so long.
"Why isn't this working, Lorne?"
"Because it didn't happen out here, it happened in her mind... but you will be able to heal it. It's just going to take some time. Faith, in her mind, has to accept she's being healed, she has to accept that she deserves it."
***
Real Faith was tired. She was lying on the ground, unable to move.
*Give up! You can't win because I'm always here, no matter how hard you try to forget! You can't beat me because you know I'm right. You know how good the darkness tastes. Come on, just taste it again.*
*I can't...* Real Faith clutched her stomach in pain. She took her hands away and they were covered in blood. *Why, why am I still bleeding, shouldn't I be dead?*
*You should be... I don't know why you're not. I'm guessing that healer friend of yours is slowly healing your wound. Look, just accept this, and everything will be ok. You know it's the right thing. If you accept it, then you go back to the real world, and everything's peachy. Once we're back, we can hand in Dawn and then we'll be at Glory's right hand. Just like we shoulda been with the Boss, before Buffy and the Superfriends interfered.*
Real Faith slowly got to her feet. Once she was up. she touched her stomach gingerly and winced in pain, but she noticed that it didn't hurt as much. *It's not going to happen.*
*Really? It doesn't really matter coz once you die here, it's over. The body can't survive without a spirit inside it. And when you're gone, who's to stop me from taking over? Think about it, I can kill your friends, specially that new boy you've been hanging out with.*
*Then kill me! If that's the solution, do it, go on!*
Astral Faith fell silent.
*You can't, can you? I figured it out... you need me around coz you can't kill me yourself. Otherwise, you woulda done it already! But Paige is healing me on the outside, and so it doesn't matter what you do to me! You need me to accept it, you can't force that outta me.*
*No. You're wrong.*
*Then go on! Kill me! If I'm the one thing stopping you, do it, kill me!*
Astral Faith didn't move and Real Faith stepped over to her, pulled the knife out of her hands and stabbed Astral Faith in her stomach.
*You can't kill me, but you know what? I can kill you...*
Zac
"How is she?" Zac asked, walking into Faith's hospital room.
It had been the first chance he had to come visit all day, and he was feeling rather anxious about her.
Paige and Lorne
Paige smiled triumphantly. "I'm going to take it as a sign of goodness, coz I just managed to heal her stomach. She should be alright for now... we'll leave you alone. Call if something happens."
Lorne and Paige left the room, leaving Zac alone.
Zac
Zac sat by Faith. He took her hand and stroked her hair.
"Hey, Faithy," he said. "Things are looking up now. Paige healed your stomach."
He sighed.
"I wish you would wake up," he said. "I miss you. And not just because you're such an awesome lover."
Zac paused, then he leaned over and kissed her.
Faith
Faith watched as her astral self fell to the ground, dead. She felt herself being drawn back to her body and heard Zac talking.
She coughed and opened her eyes.
"Zac?"
Zac
"Faith!" Zac exclaimed. "You're awake!"
He awkwardly gave her a hug.
"Hey, the sleeping beauty thing did work... well... the second time anyway..."
Faith
Faith smiled weakly. "I'm awake... although still in a considerable amount of pain."
She entwined her fingers with his. "Thanks for being my Prince Charming."
"Wait, what's the date today?"
Zac
"Aww, that's no good," Zac sympathised. "Well, at least you're conscious now. And didn't I tell you I was charming?"
He grinned at her.
"It's the 13th," then he added reproachfully: "Y'know, if you wanted to cancel our date, you should have just said so."
Faith
Faith smiled and beckoned for him to come closer. When he did, she kissed him gently.
"Guess I shoulda believed you then."
She weakly raised her arm and brushed her hair away from her eyes and her hand fell to her cheek where the cut had been.
"Well, Paige did a good job of healing me. And just for the record, I was fighting as hard as I could to get out in time."
Zac
Zac kissed her again and smiled.
"I know you were, Faithy," he said. "And hey, there are other Saturdays. This once for instance? If you're out by then?"
Faith
"I should be out by then, after all, Paige pretty much healed me." She paused, teasingly. "Well, I don't know, what if I get into another coma?"
Faith shuddered at that thought, even though she'd been joking. "I do not fancy being lost again. So yes, this Staurday sounds perfect."
Zac
"Great," Zac smiled, opting not to pay any attention to her ill fated joke. "Dang, I missed you."
Faith
"I missed you too, Zachary." She grinned at him again, feeling her strength coming back slowly. Yeah, she could be out by tomorrow, and if they didn't let her, she was just going to walk out.