Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, sorry I took so long to update. Again. If its any consolation is a long(ish) part. I hope you like it.
Previously:
It was time to work out what was going on. Taking a deep breath Buffy crossed the small distance to the bed and placed her hand on the brunettes shoulder. "Faith?"
-------
The brunette stiffened and rolled over, her hands shooting out and grabbing Buffy's wrists. "What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded, her knuckles going white as she tightened her grip.
"I-I just want to talk," Buffy stammered as she struggled to twist free. She could feel the bones in her thin wrists creaking under the unyielding pressure of the brunettes hold. "Please," she whispered, her green eyes staring imploringly into Faith's wild brown ones.
There was an agonizingly long pause as they stared each other down. "You're not who I think you are," Faith said finally, sounding like she'd been rehearsing the words in her head. Slowly she loosened her grip, letting her hands drop back to the bed.
Pulling back Buffy resisted the urge to rub her throbbing wrists. Even without slayer strength Faith was strong. The brunette was still staring at her apprehensively, waiting for her to speak. Buffy took a deep breath, steeling herself. She had to do this now. "Who do you think I am?" she asked softly.
The brunette let out a harsh chuckle. "Not really your business is it? I mean, you're just some nosy whack job who—"
"You called me B." Buffy interrupted.
Faith's body language changed, and she sat back further on the bed, staring at the blonde in front of her suspiciously. "So?" she asked, her voice wavering slightly.
"That's your nickname for me."
Faith's face became a mask of forced indifference. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do," Buffy's voice rose as the confusion and doubt she'd been struggling with since she'd run into the brunette in the hallway threatened to overwhelm her. "You do! You're Faith the vampire slayer, you came to Sunnydale after your watcher was killed and you were in a coma for eight months after I-I stabbed you and we switched bod—"
"Shut up!" Faith practically yelled, half climbing, half falling out of her bed before stumbling into the corner farthest away from her visitor.
"I'm right aren't I," Buffy said as she moved towards the other girl. "There was a demon right? It got you with its stinger thing? Then you ended up here."
Screwing her eyes shut Faith slowly sank to the ground. Running a trembling hand through her hair she rocked her head back, hitting gently it against the peeling wall. "Fuck."
Buffy crouched down, staring at the dark haired girl in front of her. Her heart and mind were racing. It was confirmed now, this wasn't reality and now she and Faith we're trapped here. Both of the slayers were out of commission. That couldn't be good, for them or the world. "We have to get out of here," she said. The younger slayer didn't respond. "Faith?"
Slowly the brunette turned her head towards Buffy and opened her eyes. Then she spoke, her voice barley above a whisper. "No."
The response caught the blonde slayer off guard. "What?"
"No." Faith's voice was more confident now.
"Faith, this isn't reality, you know it isn't," Buffy said urgently as she reached out and grabbed Faith's arm. "Come on."
"Let go of me," Faith growled as she wrenched it back.
"Hey!" An orderly had appeared at the doorway and was staring worriedly at the two girls crouched in the corner. "Is everything okay in here?"
"Five by five," Faith answered coolly as she stood up, stretching lazily. "She's just leavin."
"Faith…" Buffy said weakly as she stared up at the other girl, surprised to feel tears prickling in her eyes. She didn't need Faith to break out of here, or to help her find her way back to the real world. But without her, she was alone.
The brunette slayer caught the blonde's gaze, her eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and guilt. "I'm not a killer here B," she whispered. "I'm sorry."
-------
The phone was ringing, and Dawn Summers was ignoring it. She was sitting at the kitchen table, glaring into a bowl of cereal. It was her dinner. Nothing else had been prepared because everyone was too busy fawning over Buffy. She was still the center of everyone's universe, even after what she did.
There was a soft click and then a whirring sound as the answering machine turned on. The sound of the short, pre-recorded message filled the room, followed by a loud beep.
"Buffy? Are you there? It's Angel…"
Dawn looked up sharply. There was yet another person Buffy had left behind. Anger bubbling to the surface she reached out and snatched up the phone. "Buffy can't talk right now, she's busy enjoying an alternate dimension where none of us exist," she snapped, her voice shaking. There was silence at the end of the line then the vampire began to speak again, quickly and urgently. Dawn frowned. "How did you …Faith?... So both of them?... Oka—." The teenager was cut off by the dial tone. Frowning, she slowly placed the phone down on the table.
"Who was that?"
Dawn turned to see Willow standing in the doorway. "It was Angel. Someone's after the slayers."
-------
Faith lay in her bed, staring at the tiny, barred window opposite her. The institution was a lot like prison in many ways, the surroundings and schedules, as well as the fact she couldn't leave voluntarily. But that would change. She would attend therapy sessions and do whatever the doctors wanted her to do so she could be discharged. Then, she would get to live a normal life, something she never thought she would get to do. The brunette could remember the relief she had felt when she first found herself sitting in an office, where a doctor was calmly and patiently explaining her situation to her. What he was saying was just logical. It had been easy to sever ties from the other world. Apart from Angel she had nobody. Things had been going well until Buffy had shown up. She'd wanted to believe the doctors clean cut explanation for her presence, but she couldn't, and when the slayer had turned up again in her room, everything had been confirmed. The last few years of her life hadn't just been a horrible nightmare. This had been too good to be true. Still she didn't want to go back. She couldn't. This was a second chance, even if it was in a demon dimension.
There was a scuffling sound and Faith stiffened. Rolling over she scanned the darkened room. There was a slight movement in the corner and Faith could just make out a tiny, huddled form crouched in the shadows. "B?"
"I left them in the basement with the demon," Buffy whispered hoarsely. "I killed them."
Hesitantly the brunette climbed off the bed, confusion and curiosity suppressing any anger about the blonde's second unwelcome visit. "Who?" She asked as she squatted down in front of the other slayer.
"Willow, Xander, Tara… my sister. I murdered them," Buffy lurched forward onto her hands and made a gagging sound.
Faith closed her eyes for a moment as the reality of Buffy's words sank in. The blonde was now almost lying on the floor, her loud uneven breathing punctuated by the occasional sob. Out in the hallway Faith could hear the sound of footsteps growing closer. The brunette hesitated, her eyes darting between the doorway and the girl on the floor. Making a split second decision she clamped her hand over the slayers mouth, heaving her off the floor and onto the bed. Buffy let out a muffled moan of protest and wriggled a bit as Faith climbed up behind her, positioning herself so that her body shielded Buffy from view. The door creaked open and the beam of a torch danced across the room. There were a few moments of tense silence, and Faith tightened her hand around Buffy's mouth, running her thumb gently over her cheek in an attempt to silently calm her. If the blonde made a sound now, it would be Faith who'd end up in trouble. Finally there was soft click as the door was pulled shut again. The brown eyed slayer waited, slowly counting to ten before releasing her hold on Buffy. Shifting away awkwardly she stared at her fellow slayer, unsure of what to do next. "Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked. Buffy didn't respond. She was lying limply on her side, not having moved since Faith had let her go. "Guess not," the younger slayer muttered as she sat up.
At the movement Buffy looked around sharply. "Faith?"
"Yea?"
"Don't go." She whispered.
"Got nowhere else to be," the brunette forced a smile. This was surreal. Buffy was reaching out to her. There was a time when she would have gotten a kick out of this, seeing saint Buffy alone and fallen from grace. She would have exploited the situation, taken the opportunity to tear the usually strong blonde down. But she couldn't. Faith was jolted from her thoughts as she felt Buffy reach out and pull her back down again. The brunette raised her eyebrow's in question but Buffy ignored her, instead huddling close and closing her eyes. Faith was tense. Her cynical side was screaming at her to face reality, Buffy wouldn't be doing this if her Scooby's we're still around, she was the last choice, the bottom of the barrel. But she couldn't bring herself to push the blonde slayer away. Letting out a sight she let her eyes drift back to the grated window. This was going to be a long night.
To Be Continued?
