She should've known when the dreams began that something bad was going to happen. They always did. Wherever Alex showed up, trouble was bound to follow. Or maybe that was just if Faith was there in general. But things had been going great this past month. Why was this happening now? She thought Alex only showed up when Faith was feeling alone. That certainly wasn't the problem now. Faith was rarely alone, not physically, emotionally, or mentally. She had the Scooby crew since the destruction of Sunnydale.

Most of all, she had Buffy, though she wasn't sure why the blonde Slayer hadn't walked away, yet. Faith had only brought her trouble since the day they met. If Buffy Summers was looking for Heaven, it sure as hell wasn't Faith Lehane, but if the Chosen One didn't plan to leave now, the Dark Slayer would never let her go no matter how bad things got.

Faith ran her fingers into waves of dark brown hair, staring into the mirror. Her eyes felt heavy with exhaustion and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. She kind of hadn't. The nightmares were recurring, especially the last week or so. They were all so simple. They weren't like the last ones that had involved Alex. Those had been real, had told a true story, almost like a biopic in her head. These ones were just her and the small girl, arguing. Alex constantly yelling.

Faith glanced to the side of the mirror, catching sight of that blue Wizard of Oz dress with its white apron and a pair of Mary Janes. Faith groaned as if she were ill, gripping the sink tightly. She had to be hallucinating. Why did this crap happen to her? Why hadn't Buffy been the one haunted by Artemia or an imaginary friend? Oh, that's right. She wasn't as fucked up as the Dark Slayer. Faith had had so many negative things happen in her life which had caused quite a few mistakes on her part. She had had no family to comfort and nurture her. The complete opposite had happened to Buffy as she matured in life. That's why Artemia had possessed Faith and not Buffy. Buffy didn't have the same anger and rage Faith did.

"You're replacing me," the child behind her complained. Faith groaned, despising this whole situation. This had been the argument in her dreams. How much more could she take of this?

"I'm not replacing you, Alex. You're an imaginary friend, remember? Whether Killian – Kenny – K – whatever brought you out of my dreams or not, you are imaginary and you have not been in my life for the past five years," Faith said sternly, slowly. She looked back at her. "Buffy is real and is certainly much more than a friend. I can't replace the imaginary with what's real especially when the relationships are completely different."

"You like her more," Alex whined. Faith made a mental note never to have children. She'd tell Buffy later.

Faith turned completely around, leaning back against the counter. Her hands gripped it a bit more loosely this time.

"Alex, you have to understand, first off, I'm twenty-three years-old. I'm too old for an imaginary friend. Second off, Buffy is my girlfriend. I like her better than a bunch of people. In fact, I like her better than everyone. I'm supposed to. Third off, you are my former imaginary friend and I do love you. You're more family than my own parents were. You were there when I was all alone and needed a friend. I appreciate that. But like I said, I'm an adult. It's time I grow up."

Wait a minute? Was she talking to an imaginary friend? Okay, this was out of control. Sure, she had done it when she was about seventeen or eighteen, but now was the time to stop. There was no way Alex was here. In fact, she wasn't even sure this was the same Alex from five years ago. Maybe it wasn't even the one from her childhood. Now she was confusing herself.

"It's not fair!" Alex exclaimed, stomping her foot. Faith waved a hand nonchalantly, pushing herself off of the sink. She walked past the child, going to the door.

"Yeah, yeah," Faith murmured. Her headache was growing. She opened the door that led to the bedroom she now shared with Buffy. This was only a temporary living arrangement for the master Slayers. Giles had this nutso idea of starting up a Slayer Academy of sorts. Faith supposed it made sense, but couldn't she and Buffy take a break? Buffy had been at this for seven, almost eight years. Faith had been doing this for almost six years with a few extracurricular activities to go with it. Buffy always said that they needed to be the ones to teach the girls to survive, though. But anyway, Cleveland was only one location they were setting up in. They had four more in mind at the moment: Italy, Japan, New York, and Scotland. The main Scooby crew would be going to Scotland.

As Faith entered the bedroom from their bathroom, her blonde lover entered from the hallway. She looked tired and rundown. Long night of slaying could do that to a girl, especially when you had to teach at the same time.

"Thanks for your help out there," Buffy said sarcastically, taking off her jacket. Her arms were sore and she paused, wincing for a moment, before finishing the job and tossing the jacket onto their bed. She'd feel better in the morning. Slayer healing was a godsend.

Faith looked at her, confused for a moment.

"Wha-" She checked the clock, reading the glowing green 3:00. Had she really been in the bathroom that long? She could've sworn she spent fifteen minutes in there. It was midnight when she'd gone in to get rid of her headache. Her eyes returned to Buffy, apology clear in her eyes. "B, I am so sorry. I had this massive headache. I didn't realize three hours had gone by."

"How do you not realize three hours has gone by? That's a pretty long lapse of time, Faith."

Faith winced a bit. The anger and irritation was still clear in Buffy's voice. She knew now that it was going to be one of those nights. The night where one of them was hot tempered and an argument over absolutely nothing was inevitable. Faith knew she should have walked away right then. She sighed, blinking, before she planned to tell Buffy she was leaving the room for a while.

When she opened them again, her back was to the door leading to the hallway. The room was a bit trashed, a few pictures scattered to the ground. It hadn't been that way a few seconds ago, but on other nights, it usually meant the fight was becoming volatile. But Faith always had to wonder what screaming and trashing a room really dissolved, but the thought never changed her behavior.

Buffy was standing a few inches away, Faith's hand raised in preparation to hit her.

The Dark Slayer released a stunned breath, her eyes moving toward her hand. She felt her face relax from a look of rage to one of absolute worry. Buffy looked stunned, angry, and prepared to fight back if necessary.

Faith backed away from Buffy slowly, hand lowering. This couldn't be happening again. What the hell was going on? She hadn't had a blackout like this since she was seventeen.

She turned to the door and opened it, leaving the room, leaving the house, leaving Cleveland. There was only one place that had the answer to her question, the only place she'd ever sworn never to return.