For the last two months, Faith and Buffy had established an understanding of sorts regarding their patrols of Sunnydale at night. Some weeks they'd trade off every other night. Sometimes they'd both go out together, and after a while of instilling fear and/or death into the demon populace, they might take a night off to just relax a bit.

Earlier tonight, Buffy had taken off to patrol alone, without consulting Faith, and she could guess why. Not content to ignore the issue, Faith set out to seek out Buffy and try to sort things out. She tried not to exhaust herself in pursuit, but she didn't want Buffy to run away. She had sang that repeatedly the other night, so why couldn't Buffy listen to her?

It was just after ten o'clock when Faith caught up to her sister slayer, who stopped in her tracks when she heard Faith approach. "What do you want?" Buffy asked coldly.

"What do I want?!" Faith asked incredulously. "What I want is to talk about the other night. Between everything that we all sang, and what happened after… We kissed, Buffy. And it wasn't one of us leaning into the other, we were both going for it. So don't shut me out now, okay?"

Buffy laughed humorlessly and turned around to look at Faith. "Of course not. I'm not allowed to try and forget something that happened because of a demon or a spell or whatever. It wasn't real, Faith. It didn't mean anything."

"Really?" Faith said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't buy that for a second. That kiss… That wasn't nothing. That was you aching for something, and you chose to ache for me. And after what I sang… Don't you dare pretend that was nothing, B."

Buffy threw up her arms in the air and let them fall back down to her sides. "Fine. You're right, Faith. It wasn't nothing, but I don't know what it was. And as for what you sang… I don't believe it. I think you tricked yourself into thinking that's what you believe, but you don't love me, Faith. After everything that's happened between us… How can you expect me to believe that?"

"I never thought you would believe me!" Faith half-yelled. "Nobody would. I think you'd all rather believe that Xander did nothing wrong than believe that I feel what I feel. And it's not like I planned on telling anyone, y'know? The demon made us sing our deepest, darkest secrets, right? The ones we were too afraid to tell anyone, right?"

Buffy just shrugged. "I told you mine."

"Yeah, you did. And I remember how desperate you were for no one else to know. Not even Giles. And I kept my word, B. Trust me, if I could go back and stop all of those secrets from being spilled, I would. But I can't. What I'm not sure about is what your deal is with me? Is it with how I feel, or is it with how you feel? Is it because you're not into girls, or is it just me?"

Buffy turned her face to the side, no longer looking Faith in the eye. "I don't know. Whatever I feel for you, Faith… There's something there, but I don't know what it is. You got me out of the ground, and you kept my secret, and you set me up to never need money again, and I'm grateful for all of that. But that's not necessarily love, Faith."

"Then what was that kiss last night, B?" Faith asked with newfound determination. "It was just like the best of times before it all went south, back when I first arrived. We were the Chosen Two. Unstoppable forces for good. We could do no wrong, and we fought like we were one, sexy, badass machine. Don't pretend that some of that didn't spark inside of you last night. We're both slayers, B. We get each other like no one else, don't we?"

Before Buffy could respond, a snarl drew both slayers' attention. A group of five vampires had taken their heated talk as an opportunity to surround Buffy and Faith.

Buffy, bless her, smirked at the newcomers. "I'm sorry, but this is a private conversation. Talkus interruptus is a big no-no. Do I have that right, Faith?"

Faith smiled a predatory grin. This was territory where they could cut loose together, no strings attached. "I think you're spot-on, B."

The fight was joined, and the two slayers fell into an easy rhythm that came to them both like riding a bike. It might have been some time, but some things never faded. Back-to-back, in sync with one another, the two slayers made dust of the five vampires in less than a minute.

Faith was panting with her twin desires for food and sex that came after a good kill. Damn, but it had been a while, and this slaying felt good. Looking up at Buffy, she saw the blonde slayer panting lightly, and her eyes twinkled with similar desire.

Before she knew it, Faith found herself tackled to the ground as Buffy's lips locked with her own, smothering her in lustful affection. Faith had only allowed one other person to be on top of her during sex, but Buffy could ride her anytime she wanted as far as Faith was concerned. Their arguments about love and emotion and anything logical were lost in the heat of the moment as Buffy and Faith both surrendered themselves to their baser instincts.

Faith entered the Bronze, not quite sure why she was there all by herself, but she walked inside all the same. Buffy and Tara were dancing, but not together. The same music was playing as when the demon was forcing – or maybe allowing – Buffy to try to dance herself to death. The slayer and the witch were each dancing frantically, with their hands held above their bodies, and their arms twitched occasionally.

Faith walked closer between the two of them and saw that Buffy and Tara were both dangling from strings wrapped around their wrists and ankles. Looking past the two women up to the stage, Faith drew her knife – the same one that Buffy had once gutted her with – and walked up on stage to slay the demon that had to be sitting there.

But there was no demon. There was only Willow, gesturing with the fingers on one hand to play with the strings on her puppets, and a martini glass in the other hand as she lounged as if on a throne. Instead of olives, however, a small brown plant dangled from the glass.

"They say suffering builds character," Willow said idly. "But I've never believed that. Suffering takes away from what they should be, so they'll dance a while longer. I just have to let them dance all the pain away, you see?"

Faith tried to strike out with her knife, to slay this horrible puppet master, only to find her hand tethered to a string of its own. A string bound her other hand, and Faith was soon hanging from a ceiling that she couldn't see.

"The show must go on, Faith, don't you see?" Willow taunted her. "And there's so much about you that could be better. And you have to be better than what you are if you ever want Buffy to love you at all. But I wouldn't worry about that. You see, you're part of Buffy's suffering, so she has to dance you away. Let's add one more string into the mix."

A thin string that might as well have been a flexible tire iron wound its way around Faith's throat, and it rose up higher into the air, choking the life out of Faith as she watched on helplessly. Below her, Buffy and Tara burst into flames. The fire spread throughout the Bronze as the sound of Willow's laughter echoed in her ears, Faith felt the fire catch up to her feet, and then her waist, and before long, she was screaming as she was forced into the fire and forced to let it burn. Faith cried out in pain and agony.

And then, Faith was awake. She was in her own bed, in the former guest room that was now her own in Buffy's house. Faith checked her various joints as well as her neck for any sign of any sort of binding. Once content that she was safe, Faith quickly dressed herself and called out for Buffy and Tara. Nobody answered, so Faith did a quick search of the house to see if anyone was around but out of earshot.

A quick pass through the kitchen and a glance at the clock on the microwave told Faith that she had slept in. It was already after noon. Faith paused and took a deep breath, and something didn't smell right as she inhaled. There was a faint hint of smoke coming from the living area, and Faith stepped carefully inside and saw a fire burning in the fireplace.

More importantly, a single branch of a specific plant was burning. It was the same plant that was in Willow's glass in her dream, and it was also the same plant that she'd seen in The Magic Box in a book describing something to help with spells involving forgetting and mind control. If her dream was correct, then Willow was doing something to Buffy and Tara right now.

Faith stomped down quickly on the burning plant and hissed as she felt the sole of her foot come away burnt. Damn, but she hadn't quite put her boots on yet. Another glance revealed a bag full of more branches of the same plant just off to the side of where the other branch had been burning. Faith stashed the bag in one of her jacket's inner pockets and ran upstairs to put on some socks and some boots. Everyone was probably at The Magic Box right now, so that's where Faith would go.

Just to be safe, Faith stocked up on some knives and a few wooden stakes. Whether they'd be of any help, she didn't know. But Buffy, Tara, and quite possibly many others were in danger from someone they trusted implicitly. Willow, if they're under your spell, and if I wake them up, you'd better hope they get to you before I do.

By the time Faith got to the door of The Magic Box, she could already hear a commotion from inside. Various people were obviously upset about something, and Faith had an idea why. Still, better to play it safe. Faith knocked three times on the door as loud as she could without breaking the glass. She thought about entering then and there, but decided to wait and see if anyone would come to the door. If anyone did, that would give Faith a bit of information as to where things stood.

It was Anya who eventually opened the door. "Oh, good. Come on in, Faith. Maybe you can help jog Buffy's memory."

"Faith?!" Buffy shouted from further in the store. "What is she doing here? Shouldn't she be in prison?"

Faith felt her heart sink. Buffy had forgotten everything about Faith since she'd come back from the dead. Maybe even earlier. "Don't worry, B. Not here to cause trouble. Anya says there's a lot of stuff you can't remember? Did I get that right?"

"Try 'nothing since she jumped to save Dawn's life last summer,'" Xander said from a seat at a table between some bookshelves.

Faith nodded. "All right, then. And nobody else is affected? No other gaps in memory with anyone else? Not you, Xander? Not Giles? Not Tara?"

"Not as far as we can tell," Tara said from beside Willow, leaning against the counter. "But then again, if we were missing memories, we wouldn't exactly know it. What do you think, Willow? A demon, or a spell? If it only went after Buffy… Do you guys know any witches or warlocks with a grudge against Buffy?"

"Not that I can recall," Giles said as he took off his glasses to clean them with a handkerchief. "Of course, if this is a coordinated attack, then perhaps whomever or whatever did this erased our memories of any such grudge."

"Huh," Faith said, wondering how best to go about bringing everyone onto the right track. "So, maybe this is nothing, but when I woke up, I thought I smelled something downstairs. That's your downstairs, B. You let me move into your guest room a couple of months back. You said something about how maybe if you'd done that when I first arrived, maybe I wouldn't have gone to the dark side. Sound like something you might've thought about in the past?"

To Faith's relief, Buffy nodded. "Actually, yes. Okay, so you're here to help, Faith. Still strange, but okay. Go on."

"Thanks, B. So, I smell something, and in the fireplace is a tiny little plant burning. Not a houseplant or anything. Looked like some sort of spell ingredient, at least I think it is. Also made an appearance in a dream I had last night, so I'm thinking not a coincidence."

"Very possibly not," Giles said as he leaned forward. "Perhaps your connection to the slayer lineage gave you a touch of foresight into what it is we're facing, Faith."

Faith nodded. "That's what I thought. There was a bag of the stuff just left by the fireplace, not burning. I put out the fire, and here's the rest of the stuff." Faith retrieved the bag of brown branches from her pocket and tossed it to Anya. "Recognize that from your inventory?"

"Oh, yes!" Anya said, her eyes lighting up. "Lethe's Bramble. Not a lot of call for it, at least not from the clients we tend to cater to, as mind control and forgetting aren't things that we…. Oh." Anya looked at the bag of Lethe's Bramble again. "And you said this was in Buffy's house? And someone was burning a branch of it? Oh, that's not good."

"What's not good, An?" Xander asked.

Anya looked at Buffy. "Lethe's Bramble can be used to augment a number of spells, and these can vary in scope from forgetting one bad day to planting suggestions in someone else's mind to erasing large swathes of memory, which could be done with a Tabula Rasa spell. You'd also need to be pretty close to the target, hence Buffy's fireplace. These spells tend to work best when used in close proximity to the target of the spell, or at least close to an object or a place that's closely tied to them."

"Like my home," Buffy said in understanding. "Okay, so help me out here. How did some evil master of magic get into my house and perform a spell without anyone noticing? Willow, Tara, you're the witches. Neither of you picked up on any of this?"

Faith looked to the two witches, specifically at Willow, who was fidgeting with something in one of her pockets. "I… I dunno, Buffy," Willow said. "I didn't notice anything, but I don't know who we're dealing with. O-or what! Probably a what."

"I'm not so sure about that, baby," Tara said. "This sounds like a spell targeted specifically at Buffy. And getting into the house… Dawn, did you see anyone around the house last night? Any strangers who didn't belong?"

"No," Dawn said quietly. "I didn't see anybody. And that's what scares me. Who or what could sneak into our home and get away with something like this?" Dawn's eyes widened as she turned back to Faith. "You said you had a dream. Was there anything more to it?"

"Yeah, there was," Faith said. "In the dream, I walked into the Bronze, and I saw two people dancing like mad like when the music demon that Xander summoned came to town. Buffy was one of them, and the other was you, Tara," Faith said as she turned to look at the blonde witch.

"Me? Are you sure?" Tara asked carefully.

"Very sure. Dreams like this don't come often, but they stick with you. And you two weren't just dancing, but you were being made to dance. You were on strings, like puppets, and someone was making you dance."

Before anyone could make a move to stop her, Faith plunged her hand into the pocket that Willow was fiddling with, grabbed onto something smooth, and came away holding a black crystal glowing green from the inside. "Now, what do we have here, little miss puppet master?"

The shop fell silent as every pair of eyes in the room fell upon Willow, whose own gaze darted from face to face as shame and horror fell across her face.

"Tara," Faith asked without looking away from Willow, "if this thing I'm holding is part of the spell, what do we do to it to break the spell?"

Tara was looking at Willow with horror, as if unable to comprehend what was going on. "Break it. The crystal, I mean," Tara said as her voice broke.

Faith didn't smile. She wanted to rub this in Willow's face, but Tara had been nothing but decent to Faith with little reason to be, and this was probably going to hurt Tara perhaps more than Buffy, so Faith merely dropped the crystal to the floor and crushed it beneath the heel of her boot.

Faith felt a rush of energy and looked as both Buffy and Tara blinked back whatever fog the spell had over their minds, and then looks of indignation, anger, and hurt crossed their faces.

Willow could only look at her girlfriend, whose mind she had violated without much care. "Tara, baby?" she eked out.

Tara, for her part, retreated slowly away from Willow. "I'm sorry, everyone," she said as she raced to the front door and fled into town.

Willow moved to follow, but Faith stepped into her path. "No, Red. I think you've done enough."

Faith turned to the rest of the assembled Scoobies and glared at each of them. "Now I want to ask you all a question. What would you do to someone who toyed with your memories if it wasn't Willow here? What would you do to someone who summoned a demon that caused a bunch of deaths if it wasn't Xander over here? What would you do to someone who killed someone completely by accident if it wasn't… Oh, wait. I already know the answer to that one."

Faith looked straight at Buffy now. "I don't wanna tell you how to live your life, B. I'm not perfect, but at least I'm owning up to my mistakes now. Have any of you even talked to Xander at all about summoning that demon? Are you gonna call out Willow for violating your memories?" And now Faith turned to Giles. "Or is judgment something you save for people who don't go to high school and whose lives are already crap to begin with?"

Faith was vaguely aware that she was letting her anger take over, but she couldn't really find it in her to give a damn at the moment. "You all think about that for a while. I'm gonna go get some fresh air. Things don't quite smell right in here at the moment, y'know?"

So saying, Faith turned on her heel and stormed out of The Magic Box. She decided to head back to 1630 Revello Drive for the time being. If Tara had gone back there, she might need someone to talk to. Faith wasn't sure if she was the right kind of person for the job, but she and Tara had both been honest with each other so far, and that had to count for something.

Part of Faith knew it was a low, cruel thing to think, but she was glad that she wasn't the only person in Buffy's life who was royally screwed up. Maybe, if they all actually cared enough, they might figure out that being a decent person in hard times wasn't actually so easy. Faith could only hope for so much as she walked back home as fast as her legs would carry her.

Faith used her key to unlock the front door of 1630 Revello Drive and listened as carefully as she could for any signs of anyone else in the house. Something that sounded like crying, however faint, was coming from upstairs. Faith had a guess as to who it was, and she headed upstairs to the master bedroom, then knocked on the closed door.

Faith heard sniffling and other attempts to stifle tears on the other side. "Who is it?" Tara's voice asked, with no small amount of hesitation audible.

"It's Faith," the Slayer answered. "Do you… Ah, hell, I dunno what I'm doing. I just… Do you need to talk or anything? You could do with someone better than me, but I don't know where to find them without going back to… Well, you know."

The door opened to reveal Tara, her cheeks wet with tears, gesturing for Faith to come in. Faith entered and watched as Tara closed the door and fell back onto the bed, holding her head in her hands. "How could she do this to me? How could she do this iagain?/i"

Faith thought she had an idea. "Power and control," Faith said after a moment. "When you have power, you can make things better for yourself than they are. So you take control, and if you're not careful, you miss all the warning signs that you're doing something wrong and stupid, and before you know it, you're begging for death when the pain of it all finally catches up to you."

Tara looked up and into Faith's eyes. "I thought she loved me for me. I never thought she'd violate my mind like that. Especially after what Glory did to me."

Faith resisted the urge to look away. "I'm sorry, Tara, but all I know about Glory is that Buffy died to stop her, and that she has something to with Dawn, and that last bit's just me guessing. What did she do you?"

Tara inhaled long enough to hold back a stream of tears. "She fed upon people, but not like a vampire. Vampires feed on blood. Glory fed on people's sanity. Including mine. After she stuck her fingers into my skull… I was trapped in a dark room, with the way out so close, but every time I remembered the way, the shrieking would begin again, and I'd lose my way in the darkness, and the worst part was knowing that I could get out, but that I never would. And she told me this to my face just before she did it. It was a threat, and I didn't give in. So she… She…"

"Hey now, Tara. Come back, okay? You're not there, anymore. You're free, you hear me? You're not stuck in there. Look at me!" Faith shouted.

Tara nearly jumped at Faith's raised voice. "Thank you, Faith. The memories aren't usually so strong that I can't handle them. But Willow… She got me out of there. And then she went back in and changed little bits of me to fit her liking. And the scariest thing is that she thinks she's doing the right thing. She believes that using magic to do anything is justified so long as it gets her what she wants. The consequences don't seem to matter. Like with bringing Buffy back."

Tara inhaled and then let out a deep breath through her mouth. "So she tried to 'fix' Buffy as well this time. The worst part is that I understand why she would do such things, and part of me even sympathizes with those reasons. I can't help it, Faith, but I still love her! What can I do about any of this?"

Faith listened to Tara's woes, and too much of it felt frighteningly familiar, with just enough variance to make their experiences unique to themselves. "You should get out while you can," Faith said, careful to maintain eye contact. "I never thought I'd say it, but Red's the abusive party in this abusive relationship you have. I was kept locked away, and I only escaped when I got my slayer powers. Nobody's holding you prisoner, and since I think Buffy's probably too blindly loyal to force Willow out of her home, you may need to find someplace safe. Don't get me wrong, I'd pitch your case to B if she let me, but this is her house, and I don't see her siding with you over Willow, no matter how much you're in the right."

Tara burst into tears halfway through Faith's explanation of what she would do. "I thought I'd escaped. I thought Willow had rescued me from… But she just-"

"Hey now, Tara. Willow does love you, I'd bet a lot of the money I have now on it. She just has the ability to cross lines that she couldn't before, and she hasn't learned not to. At least, I hope that's what it is. For what it's worth, I'll try to convince Buffy to force Willow out so you can stay. And if I can't do that, then whatever help you need with affording a place to stay… Well, you've been nothing but decent to me since forever, so that puts you one up on most everyone I've ever met. I've got your back if you need it, okay?"

Tara nodded slowly. "Thank you, Faith. I don't know how much help I think I could accept and keep a clean conscience, but a friend would be nice to have. A friend who I can be honest with and who, so far, has been entirely honest with me."

Faith couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm sorry, but nobody's ever called me a friend before. It's always something more or something less. But hey, I'll give it a shot. And for what it's worth… I'm sorry for anything I did that might've split you two apart. I wanted to hurt Willow for what she did to me, but I was so focused on that, I didn't really care when you got caught up in it. So that's on me. I dunno that there's anything else I can do about that, other than to say that I screwed up and did stuff that I shouldn't have done."

Tara nodded in understanding. "I know, Faith. And for what it's worth, you had nothing to do with me needing to get some distance from Willow. But I appreciate your honesty and your willingness to own up to your mistakes. I just hope that if you are there for me, as a friend, that Willow doesn't look at it and see something that isn't there. N-no offense intended, Faith. It isn't that you aren't beautiful. Well, gorgeous. But-"

Faith was laughing out loud now. "Oh, no. Don't even go there, Tara. You and Red got something special, and I'm not looking to get in the way. And hell, I know I'm hot. As for what I see in you… You're damned fine woman, Tara, but not one I'm looking for. Well, you heard what I sang, I'm guessing?"

"I did hear it, Faith," Tara said quietly. "What will you do if Buffy doesn't return your feelings?"

Faith sighed. "Probably the same thing I've been doing since I got out of prison. Be there for her, be crazy in love with her, and stay as close as I can without messing things up. I'm just scared about one thing, though."

"What's that?" Tara asked.

Faith sighed and smiled weakly. "No matter what happens, no matter what Buffy might say or do, I don't think I could ever get out. I don't think I'd ever want to. Even if a friend told me what I just told you, I don't think I could get out, even if it was best for everyone."

Tara returned the weak smile. "You do know why I need help to get out, don't you? You love her that much?"

Faith looked up to the sky, wondering if any angels from Buffy's heaven were looking down on them now. "Always have, always will. Wouldn't change that if I could. Would you?"

Tara was silent, but Faith understood perfectly. They were both no more than love-struck fools who might need the other's help from time to time. Faith knew she'd be there for Tara if she could be, but if Tara ever tried to pull Faith away from Buffy, Faith just knew she'd resist so hard that she'd probably end up back in prison if it came to that.

"Being in love sucks like hell," Faith decided. "And I wouldn't ever give it up, no matter what."