AN: Okay, just a quick warning, it's a little jumpy in the beginning but it gets better as you read. Things start to make more sense as well.

Summer Residence

"So you've got all your stuff?" Joyce asked as she watched Buffy pack the last box into the car.

Buffy looked at all the boxes looking for anything she might have missed. "Yeah, I believe so" She said letting out a sigh of relieve. Everything was packed and ready to go to UC Sunnydale. Her home for the next 2 years or 4 depending on how everything went.

"Okay" Joyce looked at Buffy with a smile, so proud of her daughter. "I'm gonna miss you"

Buffy turned to face her mother giving her a big hug. "I'm gonna miss you too Mom,"

Joyce pulled away from her to look at her as she wiped away her tears. "If you need anything don't hesitate to call or even stop by,"

"I won't Mom," Buffy gave her one last hug before getting in the car with Willow to head off to the campus to unpack and go to Orientation.

3 weeks later…

Faith was sitting in the corner as she always was. Mute with no movement, wrapped in a straight jacket. She had woken up a month after the Mayor's Accession with no relocation of who she was. Only the knowledge of her name given by her medical file and the scars that were on her body. Some were almost unnoticeable by the human eye such as cigarette burns on her arms, along with some other shallow cuts in various places. Those were old scars, more then a year old. The most noticeable and newest scar was from the knife wound on her abdomen. That one was still healing, but it was clear it would leave a scar in the end. She also had a tattoo she couldn't explain. but every time she looked at it, or even touched it she got a feeling of fear,pain, and some sort of anger she couldn't explain.

She heard the door open, and one of the many nurses walked in with a plate full of food. "Hi Faith, how are you feeling today?" She knew right away that this nurse's name was Sally Renyolds. She was one of the only nurses that treated Faith like an actual human being and not just a patient. Talking to her and actually asking her what she wanted to do. It was nice and Faith appreciated it but she didn't like showing her emotions. Faith didn't answer her. "Doctor McNally is scheduling some testing for you," Still Faith didn't answer. She had been put through so much testing it didn't phase her anymore.

Doctors had done everything they could think of to regain Faith's memory, but still nothing. They were convinced the only way her memories would come back was if she was around others that she knew, but no one knew of anyone to call. The Mayor was dead, the media spinning it that Wilkins and all the others that died that day, died as heroes getting the others out, after an anonymous student planted a bomb in the high school. Anything that made more sense then a giant snake demon feasting on people. "He's going to check your aptitude, so we can figure out how much schooling you've had, so you can possibly get out of here," Faith continued to just sit there, only moving slightly to adjust the jacket a little. Sally sighed as she placed the plate on the side table peeling the plastic covering from it. She looked over at the teenager with a look of concern. "Why'd they put you back in the jacket?" Sally asked sitting next to Faith.

Faith didn't know what had set her off, she had just snapped. "I just kept beating her," The image of the blonde girl that had got in her face during Rec time was still in her brain and she remembered just pounding her till the orderlies restrained her. She didn't even remember what the blonde had said, she just knew it had set her off. The blonde was now in the medical wing in critical condition and Faith was placed in the straight jacket to protect herself and others according to the doctors.

"Why?" Sally asked trying to understand the girl more. She had been assigned to Faith a while ago and she still was working on understanding the girl. "Did she say something or do something?" People didn't just beat people for no reason. Everyone had a reason, even if that reason was only apparent to the person doing the beating.

"I don't remember," Faith actually turned to look at Sally now. Sally could see fear and confusion on her face even though she tired to hide it. It was the first time Faith had shown any sign of emotion.

Sally cautiously placed a hand on Faith's shoulder before removing it quickly remembering she didn't like to be touched. "It's okay Faith. I'll talk to the doctors, see if I can get you out of jacket, maybe out of this facility as soon as possible," After a few moments, Sally finally stood and left the room.

A few hours later Sally finally caught up with Dr. McNally on his way to the cafeteria. "Morning Doctor," She said trying to be polite as they entered the dinning area.

"Morning Sally," He grabbed a tray, starting to add some form of breakfast to it. "Can I help you with something?"

She didn't want to come off as forward, but she didn't want to disrupt him during breakfast. "I wanted to discuss with you case number, 1738,"

The doctor thought for a moment as he reached for a blueberry muffin. "You mean, Faith?"

"Yes, Faith. As you know Mayor Wilkins assigned me to her personally to insure that everything medically possible would be done, and with his passing and with her not getting any better I'd like to discuss with you her rehabilitation into the world considering I'm her guardian now,"

"I'm not to sure that is such a wise decision at this time," Dr. McNally looked at Sally's face. "Did you not hear about yesterday's incident? She almost killed someone yesterday and it took more then 3 orderlies to restrain her,"

Sally nodded her head at Mr. McNally. "I did, but that only proves that her being in this environment isn't good for her," She sat down across from the doctor as he ate his breakfast trying to convince him to release Faith into her care for several hours till he finally agreed if her aptitude test went well.

UC Sunnydale

A few days later…

"Have you found out who your new roommate yet?" Willow asked sitting across from Buffy at the coffee shop. After finding out Kathy was a demon last week she had put in a request to have Willow be her new roommate, but someone else had already taken the spot. A new girl that hadn't arrived yet, that was under special circumstances that they wouldn't disclose to her.

Buffy took a sip of her coffee before answering her. "Not yet. She's suppose to arrive tomorrow, but who knows. Maybe she won't show, or maybe she'll change her mind. If you'd like you can stay in my room till she arrives tomorrow. We can meet her together," They both were curious about who this new arrival was. They had both gone to the admission's office to see if they could get the new girl transferred to Willow's room and Willow transferred to Buffy's, but they were only allowed to do that if the new girl agreed so they'd have to wait.

Willow smiled at her friend. "Thanks, I need somewhere quiet to study tonight for Professor Walsh's psych test," She took a sip of her coffee as well licking the foam from her top lip.

"There's a test tomorrow?" Buffy groaned not remembering the professor mentioning a test. "I totally spaced," Of course Willow had remembered. Her mocha coffee had suddenly lost it's appeal. She hadn't tests. She never did well, or at least she felt like she never did. School always came second in her life due to the slaying, and studying was never easy when battling the forces of darkness.

"I can help you study tonight, after your patrol if you want," Willow offered. "I can meet you in your dorm ,"

Smiling, Buffy picked up her coffee cup feeling hopeful. "Yeah, I'll do a quick sweep around the campus, and then meet you in the dorm around 9,"

The next morning...

Faith and Sally pulled up to a building with a sign in front of it reading University of California Sunnydale. Getting out of the car, she looked around at everyone and felt like an outsider, like she didn't belong. It was strange though, cause she also got this weird tingling feeling. The feeling was very weak, but it was there and she couldn't explain it but it felt familiar somehow. She started to follow Sally as she started to walk toward the campus. "I don't understand, why Sunnydale?," Faith had no idea how the nurse had even gotten her out of the facility, yet lone, get her enrolled in the local college. Granted she had passed the entrance exam and they allowed her in due to Sally's recommendation and her being somehow connected to the Mayor, but it was still weird to her. The school was also, apparently going to be understanding about her medical problem of not being able to remember anything personal, as long as Sally was willing to be called if there were any problems.

Sally was flipping through the paperwork in her hands, trying to read all of it as they got closer to the door. "Because, you were found in Sunnydale, Mayor Wilkins was the Mayor of Sunnydale, so it stands to reason Sunnydale is a key to helping you get your memory back," Hearing it like that, it made sense to Faith, but that still didn't mean she was happy about going to school.

"It's just..what am I going to tell people? I don't remember anything," Faith explained as Sally opened the door and they stepped inside. None of this seemed like a good idea. Specially considering when she was in the facility she was away from people, able to block them out. Being here, in the school, she could hear distant conversations, she could see things from far way. In the facility she just cracked it up to her being locked up for so long that she was imagining things, but the more she was in the real world the more she had to admit that she was different.

"You don't have to tell them anything," She told the young woman. "That's the beauty of college, no one knows anyone," Sally entered the admission's office with Faith and headed up to the counter waving to the chair in the room for Faith to take a seat. Taking it, she sat there taking a deep breath in and out. She felt out of her element, if that was possible for a girl that didn't know anything about herself. She watched as Sally was taken into another room to speak with someone. Curious, Faith closed her eyes focusing on Sally and whoever she was talking to, trying to eavesdrop on them, but Faith wasn't able to focus on just them so she gave up.

She looked around the office becoming bored so she decided to check out the hall. Walking out, she bumped into a man who quickly caught Faith's eyes as attractive. He was tall, dark and handsome, something Faith apparently found appealing in the opposite sex. "Oh I'm sorry," He said as they both go to study each other. "My fault," The guy gives her a flirty smile as their eyes meet.

"No, blame's on me too," She smiles back at him. If this guy and others like him went to this school it couldn't be all that bad. He fixes his backpack that is on his shoulder.

"I'm Parker," He says offering his hand to her.

"Faith," She shakes his hand before they both place them back at their sides.

Before Faith had a chance to say anything else, Sally was coming out of the office. "Come on Faith, we have to go find Stevenson Hall"

"Kay," Faith just smiled at the boy as Sally and her left. She felt like she was a little girl experiencing her first crush. It was odd considering she must of had boyfriends before, but she couldn't remember any of them. She couldn't even remember what a kiss felt like. As they walked to Stevenson Faith became more aware of the fact she didn't know anything personal about her life. For all she knew Faith wasn't even her real name. Looking at Sally, she seemed to have more paperwork then before and was speed-read and walking at the same time. "Do you honestly think that coming here will regain my memory?"

"Yes, I do" She didn't even look up from the papers as they walked. Faith took that as a "Don't disturb me" tone, so she just looked around at all the other college students getting s sense of how they acted. How they moved. As they got closer to Stevenson the tingling feeling only got stronger. It was strange, but oddly enough it didn't feel wrong. They arrived at the stairs and Sally stopped, causing Faith to automatically stop. "Alright, this is were your dorm is, number 214," She began to hand papers to Faith. "Here is your class schedule and all the belongs we found at the Mayor Wilkins' apartment that looked like they could be yours will be here by the end of the night. Any questions?"

"Wait? You're not coming with me?" Faith asked feeling a small hint of panic behind the mask she was trying to hold up.

"No, I'll be back tonight to check on you, I have to go finish a couple things," Sally told Faith, but for some reason Faith got a different feeling from her then she usually had. She suddenly felt very cautious of Sally's actions, more defensive, like Sally was going to backstab her or something. It didn't make any sense to Faith, but she felt like she should trust her gut and be cautious around the woman.

"..Kay…I'll see ya latter then," Faith said as she walked up the Stevenson Hall stairs into the building.