"What is that?" Missy asks as she gets to Faith's side and looks at the bottle.
"Look, I don't know what that is, but I don't think her passing out is a good sign," Buffy says in panic-mode.
"Huh?" Faith murmurs from the ground as she looks up at the blurred figures in front of her.
"Hey Faith," Buffy says gently as she cradles her head in her lap. "What happened?" She asks softly.
"Nothing," Faith protests with a grumble as she struggles to get up.
"Bullshit," Missy says as Buffy restrains her from getting up. "Something is obviously going on or else you wouldn't have passed out like that," she reasons.
Faith closes her eyes and relaxes on Buffy's lap for a brief moment before blanching and bolting upright. "Oh shit," she grumbles as she hauls ass towards the bathroom.
Missy and Buffy share a worried expression before getting up and waiting by the restroom. When Faith emerges from the door after, presumably, vomiting, she squints her eyes and looks at them with anxiety. "You want to tell us what's wrong now?" Buffy asks softly.
Faith pauses for a moment then answers, "I need to go and lie down," she evades. To her surprise, they nod and lead her back to her apartment in silence.
Faith is laying down on her couch with her eyes closed while Buffy and Missy are trying to get her to talk to them.
"You're not okay Faith," Buffy says with concern. "Please talk to us," she pleads.
"Miss, Buff, please, not right now. I really am feeling kind of shitty and I do not need you two harpies squawking in my ear right now," she snaps.
"We're concerned Faith. Granted you are not miss-open-with-her-feelings, but this is really serious," Missy retorts.
"You wouldn't know now would you?" Faith asks rhetorically.
Buffy sighs at Faith's behavior, but is suddenly struck with an idea. "I'm going to go use the bathroom," she says as she gets up and Faith just nods.
She walks into the bathroom, turns on the light and closes the door. After she makes sure the door is closed all the way, she opens up Faith's medicine cabinet. Upon looking in she takes a step back and sees bottles of prescription medications. Buffy picks out a random bottle.
"Lithium," she mumbles to herself as she reads out the label. Being careful, she places it back where she found it. "Prozac, Ritalin," she murmurs as she reads them out quietly to herself. "What's wrong with you Faith?" She silently questions. Carefully, she closes the cabinet back up, flushes the toilet for effect and exit's the bathroom.
"How long are you here?" Faith asks almost immediately when Buffy reappears.
She is taken aback by the sudden question. "I don't know. However long I need to be here I guess," she answers hesitantly.
"Hmm," Faith grunts. She sits up to stretch and rub her neck.
Buffy looks at her and sits down, not sure when, if at all, to bring up her discovery. "How bad is it that you can't tell us?" She asks, breeching the subject lightly.
Faith looks over at her with a confused expression. "It's not bad at all and there is no reason to tell you guys because you will make it worse than it is," she says while not looking directly at either of them.
Buffy moves to say something, but Missy cuts her off. "It's okay Faith. If it were really important, then you would tell us, right?" Missy asks.
"Yeah, right," Faith responds, though she does not sound so sure.
"Not so sure anymore are you Faith?" Buffy inquires when she notices Faith's hesitancy.
"You really are making a big deal out of nothing," Faith hedges. "I mean, it really is not that important," she tells them and they sit patiently. Faith sighs. "Fine. The pills you found in my pocket was for migraines," she states.
"Migraines?" Missy asks. "I didn't know slayers could get migraines," she says.
"I got them even before I was called," Faith sighs again. "And…" she begins tentatively, but then stops herself.
"It's okay to tell us Faith," Buffy encourages gently.
Faith lets out a long suffering sigh and hangs her head as if in deep thought. "They required me to see a shrink while I was in prison," she admits softly. "I had to see her once a week at first, but after the first month…" Faith pauses. "She suggested that I see her twice a week instead," she mumbles.
"What happened?" Missy questions.
She lets out a short puff of air, still looking down. "Dr. Spiegel already knew all about my life," she grinds out bitterly, "but she made me rehash everything I'd ever done wrong personally." Faith stares crossly at her hands. "After my third month in prison, she decided that she solved the mystery that was 'Faith Porter'," she snorts derisively.
"What was it?" Buffy inquires hesitantly.
Faith looks up and glances curiously at them both before returning her gaze downwards. "A very complex mixture of many things," she grumbles mockingly. "I was- am- a pathological liar…obviously, I am an upper level anti-social…she referred to me as her favorite sociopath on more than one occasion," Faith smirks at the memory before her face darkens.
"Are you okay?" Missy asks with concern at Faith's dismal state.
"Upon closer examination of my records and statements made to her, she diagnosed me as bipolar," Faith scoffs. "With bouts of depression and/or uncontrollable rage," she finishes scholarly with a smirk to hide her discomfort. Missy and Buffy look at Faith with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Under the scrutiny, Faith's discomfort grows and she nervously clears her throat. "You could say something," she says to them.
With that, Buffy goes up to Faith and hugs her. "I am so sorry Faith. I wish I had known," she tells her.
Faith's mouth hangs open as Buffy pulls away. Catching herself, she closes it but it opens again on its own free will. She shakes her head to clear it out. "I didn't even know. What kind of ass would I have been to expect you to?" She asks. "And what's with the hugging?" She asks scrunching up her nose in confusion.
"Faith," Missy begins, "we love you and we worry about you. That's why we made a big deal out of it. All Buffy and I want is for you to be honest with us," she says reasonably.
"That way history won't repeat itself," Buffy concludes.
Faith sits on the couch and looks up at them. "As much as I appreciate your concern, I think you guys should go now," Faith says after a moment or so of internal deliberation (a.k.a talking to herself).
"Why?" Missy asks cautiously as she looks at the pensive expression on her sister's face.
"I just need to process the events of the last couple of days," she tells them.
"Uh, yeah. Of course Faith," Buffy says. "I'll see you later, right?" She asks before leaving with Missy.
"I couldn't get away from you if I tried Buff," Faith smirks self-deprecatingly. Buffy smiles back.
"Bye Faith," Missy says as she walks out the door with the other Slayer.
Faith sighs as the two leave. She lays back down on the couch and closes her eyes. Laying like that for a couple of minutes, she decides to move to her bed so that she won't wake up with a stiff neck. As she gets up, there is another knock on the door. She mentally slams her head against a wall.
"Coming," she says as she gets to the door and swings it open to reveal Torrance and Courtney. "What are you two doing here?" She asks only slightly rudely.
"Are you for real about the Slayer thing?" Courtney, the Almighty Tactful One asks.
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So I was so long in getting this up. I had writer's block and I just started writing a bunch of other BtVS fic to try and cure it. Maybe I'll put some of it up later, but anyways….
