Author's Note: Who's right? Who's wrong? What would you have done?

Faith's POV

I step off the train and look around.

Good old Sunny D, home of the best apocalypse known to man.

I take a big whiff of the air at the train station and cough at how clean the air is in this small town.

It's not like the air in L.A., or back home in Boston. Less people means less pollution I guess. Well, I should probably start heading toward the hospital. I don't know how long I'm gonna be in town so it doesn't really make sense for me to get a room at my usual motel just yet. I've got the money if I need to, the money the mayor left me is keeping me nice and comfortable. I wish I could thank him for that somehow.

I look around the outdoor station at the people moving around me.

Where the heck was the passenger pick up area again? I haven't been here since the first time I came to Sunnydale.

I notice most of the passengers are all heading a certain way so I follow until I see a passenger pick up sign.

They usually have random cabs out waiting for people.

I walk out into a circular driveway and search for a cab.

Oh, there's one I think.

I start towards it.

"Faith?"

Giles?

I turn around to see him standing next to his car.

"Giles?"

He gives me a look that kinda reminds me of the one Angel gives me when he's wondering what I'm thinking.

What is it with old people and that look?

"What are you doing here?"

"Angel called and told me you were on your way and I came to pick you up."

Oh...

"Does that mean...?"

"Buffy has no idea you are here."

"Well, I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather not get a lecture. I know what I did was wrong, and it eats me up inside every day that I couldn't find some way to stop it from happening. But it did happen, and I didn't have any choice but to do what I did. I know that, and I don't need other people telling me that because they feel the need to put me down for what I did. I'll get my own ride thank you very much."

I turn to the cab again.

"Do you really believe that is what will happen if you let me drive you to the hospital?"

I stop and face him.

"I have been in contact with Angel for some time now. I was well aware that you were staying with him and if I felt animosity toward you I could've at the very least asked him not to speak to you on the subjects he and I discussed."

True...

"I guess."

"Right then..."

He turns to his car and opens the door for me on the passenger side.

"Shall we go then?"

I look around the pick up area and pretend like I'm thinking it over.

"Sure why not..."

I go up to the car and get in. As soon as I'm semi-comfortable he shuts the door and goes over to the driver's side, getting in. He turns the ignition and pulls out of the train station. We drive down the street and head to the hospital a couple miles away. I look over at him as he drives.

"So, isn't not telling Buffy kinda dangerous? I'm sure she won't be all that happy to see me."

"True, but if she knew you were coming she would do everything in her power to stop you from getting here. Now that you're here she..."

"Will do everything she can to get me to leave."

He pauses for a moment.

"That is the most likely outcome, yes."

Another moment of pause passes.

"Would it keep you from your goal here?"

"Seeing and talking to Joyce... not a chance. She means too much to me to let Buffy stand in my way. Joyce is like I always hoped my own mother would be to me. She asked me here to see her, and not even her pissed off daughter is going to keep me from it. Not forever anyway."

He doesn't say anything.

"So, if you knew I was staying with Angel, why didn't you stop talking to him?"

He turns the corner before answering.

"Because I wanted you to know..."

Oh...

"You did?"

"Faith, I've been a Watcher for a long time, most of my life in fact. One of the first things I was taught, and told to teach my charge is to put your own feelings aside for the good of the world."

I watch him as he continues driving and talking.

"I cared for Dawn, the same as I care for Buffy or Xander and even Anya to an extent. I cared for Dawn the same way I care for you. I wanted Dawn to survive, I wanted everything to work out for the best, but as a Watcher I had come to accept that she might not, long before Glory took Dawn."

"I guess Buffy never learned that lesson."

"Not as such, no. Buffy has always seen things with her heart. She trusts her heart to tell her right from wrong, even when she is confused about what her heart thinks she should do. It's something that she has always been able to trust, and from her perspective there isn't any reason to change that. She feels what you did was wrong in her heart, and she's not wrong about that. But being a slayer means sometimes you have to go with what your head tells you, instead of your heart. I have come to resolve my feelings towards your actions that day, as I can tell that you have as well. Buffy has yet to do that, and I suspect that she refuses to because of your past connection."

We pull up to the hospital and he stops.

"I'll park the car, you go on ahead."

I look at him and something about his gaze is comforting.

I guess he's right. I'm glad I'm not the only one in this town that understands why I did what I did.

"Thanks for the ride."

He just smiles at me. I smile back and readjust the strap on my shoulder. I get out of the car and he drives out into the parking lot to look for a spot. I turn to the door and go inside.

Buffy's POV

God I don't know what I'm gonna do. I talked to my mom a minute ago. She's dealing with it better than I am. It's like she just accepted the fact that she could die. How can she do that? I don't know how to get through the next minute let alone the next few weeks of her treatment. What the hell am I gonna do? How can I spend any time with her without breaking into tears? I can't do this.

Someone sits down next to me and hands me a coffee. I look up to see Xander sitting next to me with concern.

"Thanks."

He just smiles at me. I hold the cup in my hands and feel how warm it is.

Faith brought me coffee once, when we were waiting for news about Dawn after she cut herself.

The image of Faith smiling flashes through my head and I feel like burning myself with the coffee in my hands.

Fucking bitch...

"You okay?"

I look at him and see the look of concern turn to one of sympathy. I take a deep breath.

"Um, no... no I don't think I am. I don't know that I ever will be if my mom doesn't make it through this."

"She'll make it through, as long as you are there for her."

I take a deeper breath, my head dropping to stare at my coffee again.

"How can I be there for her if all I do when I'm around her is break into tears?"

"It tells her you care, which gives her a reason to keep fighting."

I close my eyes and just sit there for a minute.

"I guess. I... I don't want her to die."

"Neither do I B, neither do I."

I look up and Faith is standing there.