Separated Self

Disclaimer: If I owned them I wouldn't have even bothered writing this.

Rating: Who knows? Faith is involved, so it is at least PG.

Pairing: When I know, you'll know.

Summary: When does reality become fantasy? Is there a difference? Faith isn't so sure.

A/N: I got the title from the song 'Separated Self' by Saliva.

A/N 2: Thoughts are in italics.

"Should've been there B, it was quite a ride," Faith says as she punches Buffy in the face and jumps, landing on the bed of a truck.

Buffy runs to the side of the building and looks down to see Faith being driven away. "You should've been here Faith," she laments to herself, grief-stricken.

Faith is pacing manically as she bites her fingernails. Suddenly she stops, looks up and looks around the room. She sighs and looks back down to resume her pacing and nail biting.

"How long has she been awake?" A woman asks a man in a lab coat as they watch her though a two-sided mirror.

"Only for about twenty minutes. Her brain waves were erratic and then her vitals stopped and then she was awake. She's been pacing and mumbling to herself since," he tells the woman.

"How long until my Faith is back to normal?" The woman sobs.

"We don't know what kind of progress your daughter will make Mrs. Porter, but we assure you, this is a big step for her," he says in comforting tones.

Faith stops again and looks at the mirror. She stops her nail biting activities and walks over to it suspiciously. Cautiously she peers into the mirror and places her hand on the surface as if she was looking, not at herself but, through the glass.

On the other side, the doctor and Mrs. Porter watch her with interest. "Do you think she knows we're here?" She whispers.

"I don't know," is his honest reply.

Faith cocks her head to the side as if she was listening to them. I can break through this. She thinks to herself as she studies the glass. Drawing her arms back, she starts to strike it with both fists. Once. Twice. Three times she does this.

She glances down at her bloodied knuckles and back up to the bloody, but not cracked, mirror with obvious curiosity. "What is she doing?" The woman asks with horror.

"Trying to break through the mirror I think," he replies with shock.

Faith is still studying her hands. She feels the pain, but is confused by it nonetheless. It didn't break. She muses. I haven't hurt like this since Buffy had just st- then it hit her.

"This isn't real!" She yells into the mirror. "This I some kind of Slayer dream isn't it?" She asks as if speaking to a higher power. "You can't fool me," she says into the mirror.

"She's delusional," the doctor murmurs.

"We should help her," the mother concludes as she sees the blood trickling down her daughter's knuckles and fingertips.

"We should be careful. I am going to call the nurse to have a tranquilizer brought over…for everyone's protection," he tells the stricken woman, who simply nods.

Getting irritated with the continually flowing blood she starts to wipe it off on her hospital gown? She looks up and starts to pace again, just now noticing her surroundings.

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So, yes, this is a cliffhanger. What do you think so far?