First, I couldn't help but get a kick out of the total amount of review I had after the last chapter: 69.

Second, enjoy and review this chapter please.

They turned, and they saw her, standing there, face comprised of something close to shock and anger. Confusion, and most definitely terror.

"Faith?" Angel voiced his concern through one word.

Her name.

"I was in jail." She replied, eyes not quite focusing on any of them, almost looking up at the ceiling as if she was speaking to herself, trying to assure that yes indeed, what she was speaking was the truth.

Silence.

Something Xander Harris couldn't stand much of. His nervousness forced him to say something

"Yep. You, Faith, in jail, with the bars of steel and stuff." He shut his mouth when the others shot him a quick glance to quiet down.

"I hurt people." She said softly.

They wondered if she remembered, but most likely she was only repeating what had been said. They felt a bit foolish; they should've known she could hear them. She still had her Slayer senses.

"I killed people." She stared down at her hands, almost as if to inspect them. They were nice hands; smooth yet calloused, petite but strong, pale but fair. Could she see that they were the hands of a killer? And then the Scoobies had to wonder; were they the hands of a killer?

Then her eyes went up to meet Angel's, as if begging for a rebuttal. Something to tell her that it was for something else. Theft, a gang fight, drug abuse...anything else.

"Yes." He replied cautiously, trying to tell her with his eyes that she was still his friend, someone he cared about, that what she did was in the past...

They couldn't tell what Faith was thinking.

Not that they ever could anyway, but a lot less than they did not even an half and hour ago. It was like watching someone die in front of them. The confusion and everything else sucked away, leaving only her stony eyes, her soft almost kind lips losing it's kindness, losing it's softness, her face, a little pink with the flush of action and emotion when she awoke, disappearing into the pale flesh.

But when Buffy glanced at Tara, who was studying Faith closely, she saw the other blonde bite on her lips and her brows furrow in deep concern. Her eyes shifted back to Faith, who was boring holes into a spot on the wall behind them. Buffy couldn't help but see the way the incredibly thinned-down brunette seemed to sway, as if she might collapse any moment. Her Slayer healing had been doing its work, but it was not a miracle worker, it just sped up the process. The blonde Slayer wondered briefly if she should reach out to keep her from falling. Angel also noticed, and he stepped forward, keeping his voice gentle, wanting to steady her with a sturdy hand.

"Faith-"

"How many?" Her eyes met his again, now sparking with an intensity they recognized distinctly. She took a step closer, nearly stumbling, but managing to stay up. Her hands were back down at her sides, trembling as they clenched into tight fists.

"How many did I kill?"

"Faith, it's all in the past-"

"Just tell me." It wasn't a scream, or a shout. But you could hear the thunder before the storm, ready to break out into an all out vicious hurricane.

"Two." Buffy cut in as softly, partially wanting to stare down at the ground when Faith turned to look at her, but she knew that treating her like an frightened animal would probably push her over the edge. Faith wasn't stupid; she was a Slayer. She knew all the tricks. Or at least, she should know all of them. Most of them came by instinct.

So Buffy caught her gaze firmly.

She saw the brief flicker of fear and something else before the clouds shrouded them again.

"Why did I do it?" The calmness frightened them a hell of a lot more than the anger Faith used to intimidate them with did. This just made it so much creepier.

Of course, Xander's fear, Willow's jealousy, and Buffy's jaded anger would do nothing to help. And as they told themselves they had to watch it, they just couldn't. Faith had been on their shitlist for longer than they'd even knew she was playing them false, several of them the wrong reasons, but it was there. It was ready to barge forth, now that she couldn't do anything in return.

"Why?" Buffy nearly spat it, the red-hot that came with the idea of Faith and what she'd done flashing in front of her eyes, her fists also forming at her sides, but lifting up slightly as though she might actually come out and deck the girl right in the face.

"That's actually a really good question, Faith. You know, we've always wondered the same thing..." Willow came in with a obviously falsely cheery voice, smiling as her eyes shot daggers at the brunette before them all. Who fucking cared if she looked worse for the wear and was in a hospital gown? She had gone off the deep end; and nearly took Buffy with her. And that was not acceptable.

"But we came to the conclusion that you're just a knife-happy psychopath." Xander ended it for them all, normally comical eyes hardening with his growth from boy to man, his heart angry with her and her quick steal of his innocence.

They expected one of either two things to happen:

One, they were mostly ready for her to be frightened again. To be scared and pushing back up against the wall again. There was something unusually satisfying for them to see Faith so helpless. They didn't notice it before through the shock and first impression pity. But now that their brains had been able to absorb the fact that this was Faith, it was easy to feel nothing other than hate for her. It was easy to want her to feel fear at seeing them again.

Two, on the offchance that she was too angry to be scared, they tensed in case she decided to lunge and kill them all on the spot. It was a subconscious reaction to potential danger.

What did happen, however, just surprised them.

They did not expect Giles to shake his head in disapproval.

They did not expect Anya to look away with a snort of disgust.

They did not expect Dawn to glare with condescendment.

They did not expect Cordelia to be so shocked.

They did not expect Tara to quickly drop Willow's hand, as though it burned.

They did not expect Angel's face to twist into such anger.

They did not expect Faith to actually collapse.

And they certainly did not expect Spike to be the one to catch her.

"S'alright, pet, I've got you." He murmured, hoisting her up as her legs seemed to refuse to work. It was easy enough, she weighed very little, looking nearly emaciated.

"Let me go." She said. There was no malice behind the words, it was almost like she was politely asking him.

He glanced down at her in surprise, as she stared at her unresponsive feet, as if she expected them to work in any minute now.

"Let me go, please."

Oh, there was the politeness.

"I'm not going to bloody let you fall down!" He retorted loudly, continuing to support her. She began to pull away, trying to throw him off, struggling to get away.

"Get the fuck off me!" She pulled herself away, and managed, with her Slayer strength, also knocked him over as well as she grabbed for the doorway.

Spike cursed as he stood back up, brushing himself off.

"I...I'm sorry...I didn't...I didn't mean..."

"Didn't mean to what, knock him over?" Buffy asked coldly, forgetting for a moment that Faith had no idea she was a Slayer.

"Spike, are you okay?"

He didn't spare her a glance as he looked on with concern.

"You should stop worrying about the ones that don't need help."

"Yea, Buffy, maybe you should stop being a bitch over an accident. Over something she didn't know about." Came Cordelia's voice, sharp now after her initial shock. Her eyes bore into Buffy's, one of the only two people who had been present at another accident. One that had ended in death. And jumpstarted a betrayal that they couldn't forget.

Buffy caught the meaning in the taller brunette's eyes, seeing the goad, seeing the blame lying just for her.

"It might've been an accident, but it still hurt people. Buffy's job is to stop it." Willow jumped in to defend her best friend.

Cordelia couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"It's my job too, little miss obvious, but it's also our job to save people, not condemn them. God, you guys are dense."

"Don't defend me, Cordy." Faith was about to fall any second now, but her unwavering gaze kept them at bay. At least, the ones who wanted to help her.

"I killed two people. How can you defend me?" Her voice shook with the emotion of someone who didn't realize they'd blood on their hands until they woke up, which was essentially where she was now.

"One of them was an accident, Faith." It struck Angel that all the work he had done with Faith, all the progress they had made before the hospitalization...

Boom. Gone. Back to square zero.

It made him feel unbelievably weary.

"And how the fuck do you know that, Angel? Were you there? I killed them, whoever they were, I killed them, with these fucking hands..." She looked like she was near hysteria, her knuckles were white, gripping the steel so tight, it literally bent into the shape of her fingers.

Giles thanked the Powers she didn't notice.

"Faith, it was a complete accident, you didn't know that he wasn't a..." Cordelia trailed off, stopping herself before she could even begin.

"You thought the bloody sod was going to hurt you." Spike saved the day.

"You saying it was self-defense?" The tone of her voice should've been red flag enough, but they didn't catch it.

"Yes." Angel shot Spike a grateful look, something nobody ever imagined could happen. Spike just nodded in return.

"So why, on my record, does it say murder two, 25 to life?" They never could imagine anybody else having so cold a voice.

Angel cursed himself for not realizing that the files were hanging off the end of the bed with a clipboard. She must've read through it all, and the conversation they'd all participated in had just confirmed it.

"Faith-"

"You say I killed two men. And the records say it was murder. Mindless, senseless fucking murder. Two men, with no families, for no reason."

"You panicked, Faith. You took the body-"

"Weighted it and dumped it in the river. I read it. And the second guy, I just left him in his own miserable fucking blood. And I took nothing. Just killed him. Maybe your buddy's right." She looked straight at Xander, who visibly flinched at the strength behind her gaze.

"I am a fucking psycho."

"No." It was Anya who spoke this time, as rationally as she normally spoke, picking at her nails as she did.

"You clearly aren't and weren't psychotic. You were simply doing your job."

Faith almost looked horrified, but she looked a little more confused than so.

"I killed people as a job?!"

"No, you just had a powerful boss. I can relate."

"What, you kill people, too?" Faith asked sarcastically.

"Thousands, but I specialized in vengeful torture." Anya replied without missing a beat.

Faith couldn't stop the disbelieving laugh that tore from her aching throat. She did not know these people. Not really. Perhaps in a different life, a different time, not even two days ago. But for now, everything was different. Everything had changed in her life, and for some very obvious reasons, she could not help but believe that the change had all been for the bad. There was nobody that she knew, and the worst part was that she did not know who she was. Her only sources these people who either supporters or haters, people who weren't even family. She could feel the anger bubbling from deep inside and something in her mind recognized it.

And it felt so good.

It crashed over, drowning the confusion, the emptiness, and more importantly, drowning the fear.

"You know, they don't have a lot to say about me, but the police files sure make a fuckload more sense than your bullshit story." She moved to go back in, feeling more steady on her feet, but before she slammed the door in their face, she turned around.

"Where are my parents?"

Silence.

Of course they weren't in the records. There were no files on her before Sunnydale. The only reason they had her name and date of birth was because she gave it to the cops when she turned herself in. So she couldn't have read it. It wasn't there to read.

Buffy glanced at Angel, who glanced right back at her, both hoping the other had some sort of information. Both being the only two who had ever gotten close enough to Faith without being burned for a little while...

The anger in her eyes spazzed between the sudden confusion. Then it was back to anger.

"Well? I'm still human, I have parents."

Silence.

"...right?" The hysteria beneath it all made her voice crack slightly, and Angel moved quickly to hold onto her.

"Faith..."

She laughed nervously, almost as if this was just a big joke. She looked up into his eyes, begging for him to answer the simple question.

"Angel, come on, stop fucking with me. Where the fuck is my family?"

What could he say?

"I...we don't know, Faith."

We don't know, Faith.

Nobody knows, Faith.

Who the fuck are you, Faith?

Answer me, Faith!

And the reality of it all struck her hard, made her hurt, made it tougher for her to breathe. They didn't know, the files didn't know, she didn't know...When she woke up, there was nothing waiting for her. Nothing except blood on her hands, fear of these people, and the hate of perfect strangers. Sure, Faith had no idea who anybody was, she didn't know where she was, she didn't know much about anything at the moment, and even worse, she had no fucking idea about who in the hell she was, but that wasn't the problem anymore. The inlying problem of everything she was feeling was this:

Nobody really knew who she was.