FF: RoL II: Revelations and Realizations 17a by Alex P.

[keeper444@xxxxxxxxx]

Hi Y'all,
Hope everyone is having an acceptable week and that there someone out
there that isn't bored to tears by this story yet. 

As you can see this is another two parter, the second half will be on
it's way later today. It just seems that as I approach the end of this
book there are things about the characters that must be said before we
move on with the story and into the third book. Is it me, or does this
series seem to be growing beyond all control? 

Ah...well, I just hope that one or two of y'all are still interested.
Here it is, please, enjoy.
TTFN

Later
Alex
---------------------------
Full disclaimers can be found with part 1 at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow/message/8661 
------------------------
Or, Find the entire "Higher Power" and "Return of Legends" series, from
the beginning, at the "Hand of Chaos" archives at:
http://dreamwater.net/handchaos/new.html
------------------------
As always all the characters from BtVS belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant
Enemy, et al, and are used without permission. Not copyright
infringement is intended and no profit of an kind is being made with
this story.
All other characters are all mine and should not be used without my
permission. K?
-----------------------
Also a big thanks to Cheryl Hill for beta reading the warped and
demented ramblings of my sick and twisted mind, and turning into
something worth reading. She's doing the best she can with what I've
given her to work with. Thanks you did a fabulous job as always.
+++++++++++++++++
Revelations and Realizations 17a
by: Alex P.
+++++++++++++++++
Faith sat in the darkened room that she shared with her new lover, her
elbows were braced on her knees and she was holding her head in her
hands. All that could be seen of her beloved Cordelia, was a lump
beneath
the blankets that covered their joined hospital beds. 

A smile came to her face when she recalled how her beloved Cordelia took
charge and ordered the orderlies to move their beds together and to 
make sure they stayed that way. It was burned into her brain as she 
easily recalled how her lover had stood there with her hands on her 
hips looking every bit like a perturbed Queen, ordering the men to
position the 
rooms sparse furniture, as if she owned the hospital.
**************
"I said to put that stupid table over by the window." Cordelia had 
said haughtily, her eyes flashing with her impatience. "I can't 
believe you people work here and can't even figure out where the 
window is. Duh!!! It's the big hole in the wall where the light comes 
in during the day."
*************
Faith remembered how one of the men looked as if he was about to say
something to her Cordy, but when his eyes fell on the dark deadly eyes
of the Slayer, he had a change of heart and silently followed the
slender young woman's instructions.

<>I always knew my Cordy was talented and beautiful<> the dark Slayer
thought, as she looked over the sleeping form of her lover, smiling<> 
but who knew she was a closet dockworker. I don't think I've even 
heard drunken sailors use some of the language my baby did with those 
poor orderlies. Ah well what my Cordy wants, my Cordy gets.<>

"My Cordy" Faith whispered reverently, as if the very name was a 
prayer "this is the best thing to ever happen. I can't believe she's 
my Cordy."

Hearing her lover mumble something in her sleep, Faith stopped talking
aloud, and went back to her thoughts. It had been almost a week since
Faith had awakened from her coma, of over 4 years. 

The entire time was spent with her soulmate, the days were spent going
for room to room in the almost endless maze of Sunnydale Memorial's
hallways, in search of some room where they were poked and prodded,
examined and probed, as the hospital staff tried to find a logical
explanation for a miracle, performed by a Goddess.

Even though they both knew it was a waste of time, neither young 
woman seemed to be bothered by it. They just went where they were 
told to, and strolled through the halls hand in hand, enjoying each 
other's company. The only time either of them expressed an opinion, 
was when one of the younger nurses made some snide comment about 
their kind, as she roughly jabbed a large bore needle into Cordelia's 
arm, causing her to cry out in pain. Before anyone could react, the 
offending nurse found herself lifted by her throat and slammed into a 
wall, by an enraged Slayer.
*********************
"Tell ya' what, BITCH," Faith snarled at the terrified woman "I don't
gave a damn how you feel about us, or any other group of people, but 
if you intentionally harm my Cordy again, or cause her another moments 
discomfort, I will snap your scrawny neck like a twig, and rid this 
world of one more bigoted idiot. Do you understand me, bitch?"

Although Faith never raised her voice above her initial growl, the
pinned nurse had no doubt what so ever, that this deceptively powerful
dark eyed, young woman meant each and every word, and that she would 
not hesitate for an instant, to follow through on her threat.

Since the pressure on her throat wouldn't allow the frightened woman 
to speak, she nodded her head vigorously. Pleased that she had gotten 
her point across, Faith released her hold on the nurse's throat, and 
let her drop to the floor. The nurse's legs were unable to hold her 
up, so the gasping woman fell in a heap on the floor.

"Don't you touch me again, you Dyke!!" the nurse gasped outraged at 
the treatment she'd just received "I'm going to have your ass 
arrested and thrown in jail...how dare you touch a decent citizen!"

"I doubt if anyone has ever mistaken you for anything decent, 
Samuels," a low menacing voice said from the doorway.

Both women looked over to see Dr. Cheryl O'Bryan leaning on the 
doorway, her arms folded across her chest, her anger at what she'd 
just witnessed clearly written over her face. Her expressive green 
eyes glaring daggers at the nurse sitting on the floor.

"I....I...I," Faith stammered unable to get her thoughts together.

Taking advantage of the young Slayer's inability to defend herself 
right away, the nurse tried to cut her off, and blame everything on 
the two young patients.

"Doctor! AM I glad to see you." the nurse cried in mock fright
"this...this woman tried to strangle me for no reason. She just 
grabbed me by the throat, and lifted me off the floor. She's crazy, I 
tell you! You should lock her up on the psych ward! People like her 
shouldn't be allowed near decent people like us."

The nurse's diatribe would have continued if she hadn't been 
interrupted by a deceptively calm doctor whose Irish was up.

"There you go again nurse Samuels." Cheryl purred 
venomously, "Comparing yourself to decent people. Now Ms. Spencer, 
why did you have your nurse pinned to the wall by her throat?"

Faith was shocked at first, no one had ever asked for her side of the
story before, well except for her Cordy, it took her a moment to
answer.

"She said something bad to my Cordy then hurt her," Faith said simply,
then waited to see if Cordelia's opinion of this doctor was right.

"I see, and what did she say Faith?" the doctor asked, judging by what
she'd over heard, Cheryl had a good idea of what was said to the
volatile young woman's girlfriend.

"She said something about being exposed to our kind, and all our
diseases," Faith explained, her voice carrying an innocence that the
doctor found to be endearing, and entirely believable "then she jammed
that big needle into Cordy's arm, and made her cry."

Feeling that was all the explanation she needed to give, Faith stood
there silently waiting for the doctor's next comment. By the young 
dark eyed woman's defensive stance, Cheryl knew she'd better weigh 
her words carefully, if she wanted to maintain any kind of 
doctor/patient relationship with either Faith or Cordelia.

"I see, and you felt that you needed to defend her." Cheryl stated, 
wanting to get Faith's state of mind "Am I right?"

Faith nodded silently, not feeling like talking anymore.

"She's lying!" the nurse shouted, "I did no such thing. 
Her "girlfriend" has been whining all day. I didn't do anything 
wrong, then this dyke laid her hands on me, and I'm going to have the 
bitch arrested!"

"You will have no one arrested, Nurse Samuels," Cheryl snarled, sick 
and tired of the woman's narrow minded attitudes, "I plan on 
reporting this incident to your supervisor, and I guarantee that if 
you are even allowed to keep your job at this hospital, you will 
NEVER work with me or in my department again. I think that since I am 
the department head, I won't have any problems changing your 
schedule. Now GET OUT!"

Cheryl glared at the disheveled nurse as the woman got up off the 
floor and headed for the door.

"I get it now," Nurse Samuels grumbled as she brushed by Dr. O'Bryan
indignantly, trying to salvage her wounded pride, "You're probably one
of them yourself, that kind always sticks together. I can't believe 
they even let these stinking queers in here."

Cheryl stopped the woman by grabbing her by the upper arm hard enough 
to leave bruises.

"First of all my sexuality is none of your business, you ignorant 
cow." The doctor growled softly so only she and Nurse Samuels could 
hear. "Second of all, I imagine my boyfriend might disagree with you. 
One more thing Nurse Samuels, if I ever hear that kind of filthy tripe
spewing from your mouth in this hospital again, I'll see to it you are
fired instantly, and if I ever hear of you practicing your kind of
prejudice-motivated, selective medicine again, I will see to it your
nursing license is revoked, and you will never work in the medical 
field again. Is that CLEAR?"

Nurse Samuels knew she had met her match, and pushed her luck way too
far. Her supervisor had already reprimanded her before, for the way 
she treated certain patients, and for preaching her narrow-minded 
rhetoric around the hospital. She had been warned several times to 
keep her personal views away from the hospital, and now she knew, she 
was on the razor's edge of being fired. 
She nodded her understanding, and with her shoulders slumped in 
defeat, silently slinking from the examination room.

Once the nurse was gone Cheryl turned her attention to the still tense
Slayer. Cheryl could see that while she had made some points with the
naturally suspicious young woman, for defending them from the nurse,
she could also tell she was a long way from trusted completely. 

Hoping to ease both women's fears, she gave them her brightest
professional smile, and walked to the still sobbing Cordelia. She 
could feel her ire rising all over again when she saw the massive 
bruising on the slim woman's arm, where the nurse had jammed the 
needle into the woman's vein, and most likely all the way through it, 
more than once. 

The young woman hissed in pain when the doctor held the arm so that 
she could examine the damage, out of the corner of her eye she saw a 
quick movement, and heard a low menacing growl. 
Looking up she saw 
Faith hovering over them, her hands become tight fists, her dark eyes 
narrowed in anger, clearly upset at her lover's discomfort. 

"Sorry," Cheryl said softly, trying to calm both women. "I need to 
see how much damage that cow did, before your friend came to your 
rescue. I'm sorry I left you here with her. I had no idea that she 
was a phobe."

Cordelia gave a surprised look at the supposedly straight doctor, when 
she used slang for someone that was homophobic, wondering where she 
picked it up.

"Hey I'm straight not narrow." Cheryl told her as if reading her mind.
"I have never had problems with who someone loves, and I am a member 
in good standing of PFLAG. My brother and his partner Jimmy talked me 
into joining. He more or less told me to put up or shut up. So...I 
put up. I haven't missed a "Pride" parade yet."

She was rewarded by a quiet chuckle from Faith, and a brilliant smile
from Cordelia. While she was talking to them, Cheryl was closely
examining Cordelia's arm, and she wasn't happy with what she was 
seeing. 

Judging by the nasty bruise Cordy's vein was probably blown by the
nurse's inept and unconscionable behavior. There was a serious 
hematoma forming, making Cheryl wonder if she should be doing a 
complete blood work up on her young patient, the bruising was far 
worse than her injury called for.

"Damn her," Cheryl snarled under her breath. Feeling a shadow cross 
over her Cheryl looked up and saw Faith standing next to her friend 
again, and trying to comfort her. "This has got to hurt badly, Ms. 
Chase, I am so sorry that you were exposed to such unprofessional 
behavior. If you wish to find another treatment facility I will 
gladly recommend one, or to seek some kind of legal redress I am more 
than happy to give a statement on your behalf"

"Don't bother doctor," Cordelia said softly "just see to it that 
neither of us have to see that "woman" again, and I'll be happy. Now, 
may Faith and I return to our room, I really don't feel very well." 

"Yes of course," the doctor agreed, wanting the woman to get to bed as
quickly as possible, "I just ask that you wait long enough for me to 
get a wheelchair. I'm worried at the amount of bruising, and your 
colour is off. Are you feeling dizzy or sick to your stomach?"

"No, not really." Cordelia answered her voice sounding weak. "Maybe a
little light headed, but nothing serious."

"Uh huh, I think you do need to get some rest, young lady." Cheryl
looked up at Faith, and saw the panic lurking just beneath the 
surface, she knew she needed to include the Slayer in her mate's care 
somehow. "Ms Spencer, I want you to be sure she stays in bed, and 
that she eats. I want to do a complete blood work up on you, Ms. 
Chase, I don't think it's anything too serious, but you shouldn't 
have bruised so badly from that wound, and I'd like to find the 
reason for it. I promise that this time, I will be the one taking 
specimens and I am known for my gentle technique, or so I'm told. I just
want to be 
on the safe side."

"Ok, doctor," Cordelia sighed, her voice still sounding shaky from her
ordeal, "but tomorrow, alright? I don't think I'm up to any more tests
today."

"Of course Ms. Chase," Cheryl said reassuringly "I definitely do not
think you should be doing anything but resting for the remainder of 
the day. In fact I'm going to arrange for a special dinner to be 
brought in, that I'm sure you will like, and I am leaving orders that 
you are not to be disturbed for the rest of the day by any of the 
staff. Just promise me you'll eat as much of your dinner as you can. 
This entire problem might just be a nutritional imbalance."

She turned to the patiently waiting Faith, and directed her next
comments to her. 

"If anyone bothers the two of you tonight for any reason other than
rendering assistance that you ask for," the doctor told the Slayer, as
she handed Faith a business card. "I want you to call me, and I will
take care of it."

"Thank you doctor," Cordelia answered for both herself and her lover.
"We really do appreciate your concern, and that you are going so far 
out of your way for us. We don't really intend to be such a pain, but 
we have some very good reasons for what we do."

"Don't worry about it, Ms. Chase," Cheryl reassured the one time 
actress "I have seen some of what you both are facing and believe me 
I owe you far more than the little I'm doing for you now."

Cordelia was going to say more, but the orderly arrived with the
wheelchair for her. There was a minor battle of wills when the orderly
tried to insist that he take Cordelia to her room, and found himself
confronted by the scariest 5'5" bundle of attitude he'd ever seen.

Cheryl solved the problem before it became one, by telling the orderly
to go on about his duties, and that Cordelia would be keeping the 
chair in her room for a while. Knowing the rumors that were flying 
around the hospital about the "coma couple" and the doctor's own 
reputation for causing big problems, when her orders were not 
followed to the letter, the orderly backed down, instantly 
surrendering the handles of the wheelchair to Faith and leaving 
quickly. 

Something about the way she looked at him, with those cold, hard 
nearly black eyes, made the man very nervous, so he was happy to 
relinquish the position to the young woman. With a grateful smile 
from both women, Cheryl left the two women at the door of their room 
promising they wouldn't be bothered except for the food delivery.
===============
The good doctor had earned several more points with her two newest
patients when the food arrived and it turned out to be all of 
Cordelia's favorite dishes from Lipari's, all specially made and 
delivered by Mr. and Mrs. Lipari themselves.

>From that time on, whenever there were tests to be performed on either
Cordelia or Faith, the doctor was there either closely supervising 
every moment of the tests, or performing them herself. She always 
made sure that both her patients were informed of every part of every 
test, and/or treatment that was performed, and why the tests were 
necessary. 

>From the extensive blood work up on Cordelia they found that she was
seriously anemic, and borderline hypoglycemic, so Cheryl sat down with
them and explained what Cordelia needed in order to deal with the
problems effectively.

Cheryl could tell by the look in Faith's eyes that she had a staunch
ally when it came to Cordelia's health. Every time she was around them
she always came away feeling better about life in general. It was hard
to be around such intense and total love and devotion without it 
giving you a little extra hope that the world wasn't so bad off after 
all. 
===================
It had been a little over a week since the incident with the nurse, and
Faith figured the word got around about the close relationship between,
the Chief of Trauma surgery, and the two young women in room 302, 
because many of the snide remarks, and snotty attitudes she'd noticed 
when she and Cordy had first gotten together, weren't there, at least 
not where they could see. It wasn't anything big, but people that had 
either treated them rudely or ignored them before, were now very 
polite and courteous to them both. 

Of course there were a few like Nurse Samuels, but either they
transferred away from the couple, or Dr. O'Bryan found out, and
permanently barred them from her department. 

True, usually once a patient had survived their surgery, the trauma
department transferred them to another doctor's care, but in special 
cases, a trauma surgeon could take control of a patient, and see to
their 
care until they were ready to go home. 

In fact, since Cheryl was the Head of the Trauma Department, she had the
prerogative to take on a few private patients, if she felt it 
necessary. After a long discussion between Cordelia, Faith, Cheryl, 
and Jeffery, the two physicians had made arrangements with the 
hospital for a small private clinic space in the building. Their idea 
being, that this would give all the Scoobies a personal physician. 
One that understood the true nature of their "special" patients, and 
was able to compensate for the supernatural side of their lives. 

Where the money came from for these changes, not many knew. In fact as 
far as most of the hospital knew, it was all courtesy of an generous
anonymous 
benefactor. It wasn't questioned when a trust was set up to provide 
funding for the specialty clinic, the board agreed to sponsor it, 
especially since it didn't cost the hospital anything, even the
insurence was taken care of through the trust.

Faith was glad everything was working out for the nice woman doctor 
that took such good care of them, and the other doctor, who seemed to 
know so much about her supernatural physiology. 

Although, Cordy didn't seem to like him much, Faith actually kind of
liked the quiet dark man. She knew he was somehow involved in the
aborted plot to kill her, before she could awaken, but the way she saw
it, given his
position, and his newness with the group of demon fighters, he wouldn't
have known of all the struggle the others had gone through to save 
Faith from herself, and the people that meant her harm. So when 
Giles, a man he trusted, came to him, and gave him the stilted tale 
about Faith's original confrontation with the group, he would 
naturally believe the man, and would, at least at first, follow his 
instructions. 

Faith tried to explain to her protective mate, that she should give
Jeffery a lot of credit for getting a second opinion from his "special"
friend 
Dr. Cheryl. 

Cordelia reluctantly agreed with her beloved Faith's logic, although 
she still gave him a hard look every time he walked into a room. But
eventually she gave in to Faith, and Jeffery's request to run a few
metaphysical tests on the dark Slayer was granted. He wanted to see 
what effect her prolonged coma had on her Slayer abilities, if any. 

They were all surprised when the tests showed that not only was Faith 
as good as new, she was far better then before. She could react and run
faster than ever, her senses of hearing, sight, and smell were greatly
amplified, 
and incredibility acute, and her senses of touch and taste were off 
the sensitivity scale. Everything that had made Faith such a 
formidable predator, even before her fight with Buffy, was now 
multiplied to an almost ridiculous degree. 
Not to mention, she was much stronger than before. Late one night,
Cordelia and Faith were talking about her suddenly enhanced abilities,
and the two decided that Faith should continue to practice her use
and control of these new abilities, and that when the time came, they
were both sure, the Goddess would explain everything. 

Faith was both impressed and frightened, by Cordelia's seer powers, 
and was incredibly upset, when she learned how painful it was for her 
Cordy to have her visions, but Cordelia told her that ever since the 
night Faith had awakened, the pain from her visions seemed to be 
going away, and now when she was literally struck with a vision, it 
was no more painful than a nagging headache, and that was curable 
with just a couple of aspirin.

Yes it had been a week of a great deal of enlightenment, and Faith had
been eager to learn of all the changes since she'd been in the coma.
Things like the Mayor, and some of the other major events that had 
made a big impact on the Hellmouth and surrounding area, that she had
been told by the Goddess. 

Their patron had wanted to keep Faith apprised of events, so that when
the time came for her to rejoin the fight, she wouldn't be too 
surprised by anything. She had laughed when Cordelia had told her 
that some very powerful forces had to get involved in Buffy and 
Willow's relationship, before they would accept the truth about 
themselves. A truth that everyone that knew the lovestruck pair, had 
already figured out long ago, even Faith had figured out that Willow 
and Buffy belonged together when she'd been one of the Scoobies.

The thing that worried Faith most was Cordelia's story about their
battle with the Demon Countess Hela, and how Hela had escaped from 
them, almost a year ago. She knew there was no way a being like Hela, 
was going to just forget about Buffy and Willow, and she was sure, 
when Cordelia began describing the events that had led up to Buffy and
Willow's sudden trip to Teach tu Dannan, and the attack on Xander and
Cordelia, along with Giles' sudden and bizarre change in behavior, 
almost leading to her murder, would be found to be connected to the 
Countess or at least one of her minions.

Taking into account the history of Slayers and their allies, the
information provided by the Goddess, and Faith's own knowledge of the
powers of darkness, the second Slayer had a suspicion that
the disappearing Countess wasn't that far away. Faith knew
from her lessons from Mayor Wilkins, that Hela was one of the more 
powerful hierarchies of the Demon realms, and her mystical powers 
would be very powerful. Mind control, was one of the higher demons' 
favorite powers, they all seemed to make a game of it. There was no 
doubt in Faith's mind, that Giles was being influenced by some 
outside force, and she felt for sure that this Hela was at the root 
of it all, up to and including the arrival of this Prince of Darkness.

She had no idea how right she was.
================
Faith sat there silently watching her lover sleep, and wondering what
their future would be. Back when she had found out that she was the
second Slayer in Sunnydale and not the only one, as her first watcher
had told her she would be, Faith had been confused and angry. She felt
that TPTB had betrayed her, and that the promise of being the one true
Slayer of her generation, was just another in a long line of lies that
people in authority had been telling her all her life. 

It was that anger and childish jealousy that had eventually led to her
becoming alienated from Buffy and her friends, and the eventual 
turning to Mayor Wilkins and his minions of the Darkness.

No one except for the Goddess really knew how killing the deputy Mayor
had effected her. That all the "I don't care" attitude was all a 
facade, to hide how much she was hurting and how terribly guilty she 
felt for taking that first human life. 

Even now she had nightmares sometimes, all the blood, and that look of
anguish and surprise on his face as he lay there dying, haunted 
Faith's dreams, often making sleep an impossibility. A tear fell from 
her dark eyes, as she thought of all the things she had done at the 
Mayor's bidding; she couldn't talk to anyone about them. 

To Cordelia and the doctors, all that was ancient history, but to 
Faith it was all a fresh raw open wound, which happened just a few 
days ago. In fact her last memory was the elation and pain, when 
Buffy had finally slid the knife into her, leaving Faith with the 
knowledge, that she had done her part, insuring that the Slayer was 
prepared to handle future events. That she had helped Buffy cross 
that line, but without the guilt and remorse, that haunted Faith. 

Because of some of the revelations she'd had while with the Mayor, 
Faith knew Buffy would soon be faced with the fact that some times, 
the big bad evil she had to destroy, would not be a demon or a 
vampire, but it would be all too human, and when the time came, there 
would be no time for the millisecond of hesitation, that Buffy would 
have the first time she was forced to kill an evil human being, but 
after Faith's secret sacrifice, Buffy had made that first kill, yes, 
she had hesitated, there was a time, just before Buffy jammed the 
knife deep into Faith's stomach, that, if Faith had wanted to, she 
could have taken Buffy, but she didn't. 

Only Cordelia and the Goddess knew why Faith had met the Slayer on 
that roof top, and why the dark Slayer had refused to surrender to 
her, or even why she'd had that satisfied smile on her face, when 
Buffy had driven the pretty knife into Faith's body to the hilt. 

In the end Faith had made the ultimate sacrifice in order to aide the
Slayer, just as any other person would that loved and revered the
Slayer, and her friends, and just like someone that wanted to be sure
the one that was to protect the person Faith secretly loved, would be
better able to do that special task. Faith had given everything she 
had to give, for the safety of the slender dark haired woman she 
loved beyond reason. 

Faith had prepared her fellow warrior to face the one situation, that
even Giles hadn't thought to train the Slayer to handle, the 
unavoidable taking of a human life. The fact that Faith didn't die, 
did nothing to lessen the gift she had given freely that night on the 
roof top overlooking the alley, in fact in many ways it made it even 
more precious. 

In the eyes of TPTB, Faith had proven her worth, and had balanced the
scales of justice in her favor. Only the Goddess and TPTB, knew how 
much Faith had actually been aware of while her body slept, only they 
knew how she could feel the agonies her beloved Cordelia had suffered 
out there, in the world without her soulmate. Even in her coma, Faith 
could feel the hopelessness and despair, which had led to Cordelia 
agreeing to marry someone she knew and even liked but didn't love. 

It was this knowledge that had kept Faith awake this night, it was
knowing how close she had come to condemning her soulmate to a long
loveless marriage, and a life of soul rending loneliness and lies.

She heard Cordelia mumble something in her sleep, and saw her becoming
agitated, Faith reached out and stroked Cordelia's long beautifully
silky hair, calming the sleeping seer, and allowing her to dispel the
visions that disrupted her dreams.

"Hush now my love," Faith whispered softly, as her lover drifted back
into her much needed rest. "Your Faith's here baby and you can rest
safely. I'll protect you forever no matter what it costs me."

+++++++++
END 17a 
TBC in 17b
+++++++++