No POV:

Buffy slowly got off of the ground, shaking slightly. She looked around at the others, waiting for someone to say something. Her eyes finally locked on Faith, who was getting up from the table and not looking at anyone. She sat down in one of the chairs at the table and pulled her feet up underneath her, still not looking up.

Faith's movement seemed to release everyone from the temporary trance they were in. Dawn began picking up books that had fallen on the floor as everyone regained their seats.

"Are you alright?" Fred asked Faith, reaching out to touch her arm. Faith didn't look at her and just jerked away, discouraging anyone else from trying to help her.

"Ok, what the HELL was that?" Cordelia asked, looking around at everyone.

"Um," Buffy cleared her throat. "I don't know. I felt like my body was taken over… like I was just reciting lines. The thing is, though, I felt the emotions, too. I felt all of the pain, and anger, and need to destroy. It was scary."

"Buffy, was it like when we were taken over by those ghosts in the school?" Angel asked.

"Sort of. The emotion that night felt kinda different, though. Less intense… which is strange, considering what happened. No, but I felt then like I was just feeling someone else's emotions. This thing just now, I felt like it WAS me."

"Well, Faith was obviously not playing herself, but you were Buffy. Faith, can you tell us what that interaction was? It seems very familiar."

Faith just looked at him and stayed silent. She then looked back down at her hands.

"It should seem familiar," Xander said, speaking for the first time. "Considering you were all around when that happened to me." His tone was bitter and sarcastic. Xander had obviously been greatly affected by what they'd seen.

"Good Lord," Giles muttered.

"Oh my God, that was what happened when you went to Faith's motel room that night?" Willow asked, horrified.

"Glad to see you remember," he responded.

"Xander, you can hardly blame us for not recognizing it. Faith could've had many instances where she strangled someone, and you never told anyone what happened that night. Every time we asked, you said you didn't want to share. Remember?"

Faith continued to stare down at the ground, trying to ignore Willow's words and the way she was being talked about as if she wasn't there.

"Xander, I was Faith? What I did… she did that to you?" Buffy asked quietly, her voice still shaking.

"Yeah," he mumbled, looking around at anything but the people watching him.

"Was that the exact interaction, Xander?" Wesley asked, taking a pen out and writing something on the pad in front of him.

"Every word and every move. Some things were a little different, though. The table wasn't there. That was her bed… And there was more stuff before where those two started. Wasn't important, though. Just small talk before the strangling." He glanced at Faith, who didn't even notice.

"Faith, it's really rather important that you speak to us. Did you have a similar experience to Buffy's?"

Faith finally looked up at Giles, her eyes worried and upset. "Yeah, same thing."

"Ok," Angel said, noticing Faith's discomfort and trying to steer the conversation away from her. "So we have the basics… now we need to figure out why that just happened. I mean, what's the point in bringing up four year old events? Let's get to work. We should put the Cordy thing on hold for now. I think this situation is taking priority."

The group seemed to agree, beginning to discuss things among themselves. Wesley got up to go find books that might be useful. Kennedy, quickly becoming bored, left to go train in the basement. When Wesley arrived with the books, the group began searching through them and discussing possible reasons for the recent events.

Faith's POV:

The group buzzed around, talking about what could've just happened. I'll tell you what the fuck just happened. I did something sick, cruel, and horrible years ago, and that was just thrown back in my face.

Everything. Every goddamn feeling of fear, lust, disgust, and everything else that he felt… I felt it too. I WAS Xander.

The part that's so horrible is that I KNOW now. Before, I could kid myself into thinking that he really did want to help me, but most of his motivation came from him wanting to get into my pants again. That's just how guys are. Now I know that that wasn't his motivation. He liked me. He wanted to date me. He wanted a relationship. The kind where I was his girlfriend and loved him. It was genuine and pure, and I twisted it into some kind of sick thing. The kind of sick things that exist in my life. He saw how desperate I was for help… he wanted to save me. And I exploited his feeling and weaknesses. I used him.

You see, that night he was also remembering our night together. He remembered how amazing he thought I was… how much he liked me. Then he remembered me dumping him out on his ass. He had that feeling that I remember having the many times that happened to me before I started doing the dumping myself. The feeling of being empty, dirty, and used.

The worst, though, was feeling his fear while I choked him. How scared he was for his life. It makes me sick to my stomach knowing that I made someone feel that way. I can't believe that I used to get off on that kind of fear. The knowledge that I held the power over life and death. Thank God I don't want that power anymore. That'd be like giving a four year old the power to drop A-Bombs.

The entire time I was strangling the life out of him, the dumbass kept thinking how beautiful he thought I was. Like I was the fucking Angel of Death, or some shit. I don't know whether to be flattered of worried about his sanity.

I look over at him, but he doesn't notice. His hands are folded with his chin resting on them, and his good eye is looking off at some unknown spot. He looks lost in thought, which I can't really blame him for. He's been living with his memories of that night for years, and now he's been reminded of them. I don't want to hurt him anymore. I have to fix this. Now that I understand what he felt, maybe he'll be more willing to accept what I have to say.

"Xander?" He looks up at me. Along with every fucking person at the table. God, can't a girl do anything without everyone getting all up in her ass about it?

"Yeah?" His voice sounds rough. Strangled.

"Can I talk to you a minute?" I motion my head over to the office.

He seems reluctant for about .02 seconds, then nods his head and gets up to follow me. We walk into Angel's office, where Angel and Cordy are chatting. Or more like having a passionate, tear-jerking conversation. Huh. I didn't even notice they were gone. I can't really bring myself to care about them, though.

"Get out." My tone holds no room for argument.

Angel looks ready to disagree with this, but then he sees Xander behind me and changes his mind. They leave, and as I go to close the door behind them, I notice Buffy looking at us jealously. Is she actually jealous of the freak-show that is 'me and Xander'? She shouldn't be. Me and her have a worse one going on.

Xander sits down in a chair across from the desk, and I lean myself up against the edge of said desk. We sit silently, and just when I'm about to break the silence, Xander beats me to it.

"So you felt everything, huh?"

"Yeah," I say quietly, looking at the floor. That's a fuckin awesome rug.

"So, what? You're gonna make fun of me now for being so weak? So scared? Gonna fuck around with my head a little?"

"No," I say, shocked. Is that what he honestly thinks of me? "Xander, I have felt guilty about that night for years. Going to prison gave me a lot of time to think about what I've done, and doing what I did to you is pretty high up on my list of regrets. So when I came back, I never apologized cause, I mean, how do you apologize for something like that? 'Gee, sorry I took your virginity and then threw you out before you had a chance to even start breathing normally again. Oh, and also, sorry about throwing your offer of friendship in you face and trying to strangle you to death.'"

Xander just looks at me while I try and get myself together. I got a little worked up there. I can feel myself holding back tears. Christ, what is up with me and the fucking tears? I'm an emotional basket-case right now. Ok, breathe, and keep going.

"I never knew, though, how much you felt… I couldn't understand. I do now. I felt your fear, your sympathy, everything. And I know now that you NEED me to apologize. It doesn't matter whether you want it because now I know that you need it." Yep, the tears are in full force now. "The only way either of us can live with this is if I say it. I'm sorry, Xander. I'm sorry. Please, please forgive me."

Xander looks down at the floor, thinking. Like he's considering his choices. He looks up at me again and studies my face. I think he's searching to see how sincere I am. I'm about as fucking sincere as you can get, Xan.

I guess he finds something, cause then he gets up and walks over to me. He stops right in front of me and I look up into his one eye. His face is soft as he raises one hand up to tuck a piece of hair behind my ear.

"I forgive you," he whispers, then puts his hands back in his pockets. "It's gonna take time for me to trust you again, but for what it's worth, I forgive you."

I feel a huge smile spreading across my face. I feel like a giant burden has been lifted from me. "It's worth a lot."

He looks at me thoughtfully and smirks. "You should smile more often. It makes you look even prettier." Then he turns and leaves the office, closing the door behind him.

I take a minute to wipe the tears from my cheeks. Once I'm put together again, I walk out of the office to find everyone staring at me.

"What the fuck are you looking at?"

Everyone looks back down except for Xander. He smirks at me, so I give him the finger. He rolls his eyes and then looks back down at his book. I notice B watching, so I smirk at her and lick my lips. I'm starting to feel like my old self again. B gets a pissed look on her face and then turns to talk to Giles. Yeah, fuck you too, B.

No POV:

The group quietly sat researching, each person taking a chance to sigh in frustration as they found nothing. Buffy sighed loudly and slammed her book down on the table. A few people looked up at her, but quickly lost interest and went back to their books. Buffy sighed again and got up, walking over to the wall. No one seemed to notice, though, except for Faith, who looked up at Buffy suspiciously. She looked at Buffy's eyes, and saw them flash gold. Before Faith could tell the group, her eyes flashed similarly, but she didn't get up from her seat. Angel, who had been reading his book at the counter in front of the office, turned around as his eyes flashed also. He walked up to Buffy, who was leaning against the wall with her hands behind her back, and got right in her face.

"Morning, sleepyhead. You know what I just can't believe? All of our time together and we never tried chains." Angel began walking away with his back to Buffy. The group looked up at him, and then glanced around at each other. "Well, can't dwell on the past, especially with the future we have ahead."

"Oh God, they're doing it again," Andrew said, whimpering in his seat and moving back as far as he could.

"Alright. We've seen that we are unable to intervene. Everyone just pay attention to what they say. It may be important." Giles said, moving to the edge of his seat and watch Buffy and Angel closely.

"Bondage looks good on you, B. The outfit's all wrong, but, hey!" Faith suddenly said, surprising the group that didn't realize she was part of the current re-enactment.

"You don't know what you're doing," Buffy said quietly, staring at Faith.

"Really? Weird, because something about all this just feels so right. Maybe it's one of those unhappy childhood things. See, when I was a kid I used to beg my mom for a dog. Didn't matter what kind. I just wanted, you know, something to love." Faith had gotten up from her seat and moved toward Angel. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and kissed him passionately. Buffy looked away from them, pain in her eyes. "A dog's all I wanted. Well, that and toys." A small table appeared next to Faith, and when she lifted the cloth off the top, knives and different instruments for torture were revealed. Faith picked up one of the instruments and played with it, not looking up at Buffy. "But mom was so busy, you know, enjoying the drinking and passing out parts of life, that I never really got what I wanted, until now." She smiled and moved toward Buffy.

"Shit, they've got weapons," Xander said worriedly.

"This is that night at the mansion when Faith was fooled into thinking Angelus had returned. No one was injured that night. It's alright," Giles responded calmly.

"How is this alright!" Willow exclaimed. "This is very far from alright!"

"Will you all just SHUT UP?" Dawn yelled. "We need to listen."

"Faith, listen to me very closely. Angel's a killer. When he's done with me, he'll turn on you," Buffy said.

"She's right. I probably will," Angel added from the side, smirking.

Faith looked at Angel and then looked back at Buffy curiously. "Yeah? Huh. Guess we'll just have to keep you around for a while then." Faith moved toward Buffy until their faces were inches apart. "Before we get started, I just want you to know, if you're a screamer, feel free."

"Why, Faith? What's in it for you?" Buffy asked sadly, the sound of tears catching in her throat evident.

"What isn't? You know, I come to Sunnydale. I'm the Slayer. I do my job kicking ass better than anyone. What do I hear about everywhere I go? Buffy. So I slay, I behave, I do the good little girl routine. And who's everybody thank? Buffy."

"That's not my fault."

"Everybody always asks, 'Why can't you be more like Buffy?'" Faith's voice began rising as she stepped back a little from Buffy. "But did anyone ever ask if you could be more like me?"

"I know I didn't," Angel said. Faith looked back and glared at him, then looked back at Buffy.

"You get the Watcher. You get the mom. You get the little Scooby gang. What do I get? Jack squat." She shoved Buffy against the wall and then moved back over to Angel. "This is supposed to be my town!"

"Faith, listen to me!" Buffy yelled.

"Why? So you can impart some special Buffy wisdom, that it? Do you think you're better than me? Do you? Say it, you think you're better than me."

"I am. Always have been."

"Um, maybe you didn't notice. Angel's with me," Faith said, getting close to him and putting her arm around his waist.

"And how did you get him, Faith? Magic? Cast some sort of spell? Cause in the real world, Angel would never touch you and we both know it."

Faith quickly moved to Buffy and viscously backhanded her in the face.

"You had to tie me up to beat me," Buffy continued. "There's a word for people like you, Faith. Loser."

Faith stabbed the knife in her hand into the wall behind Buffy, missing Buffy's head by inches. "Uh huh. You're just trying to make me mad so I'll kill you." Buffy eyed Faith up and down as she got closer into Buffy's space. "I'm too smart for that. Stick around." She roughly grabbed Buffy's jaw and then moved back over to the small table.

"For what? Your boss's lame Ascenscion? Like I couldn't stop it."

Faith laughed. "You can't"

"I will."

"Keep dreaming. No one can stop the Ascenscion. Mayor's got it wired, B. He built this town for demons to feed on and come graduation day, he's getting paid. And I'll be sitting at his right hand." Faith looked thoughtful for a minute. "Assuming he has hands after the transformation. I'm not too clear on that part. And all your little lame ass friends are going to be Kibbles'N'Bits. Think about that when your boyfriends cutting into you." Faith used the knife in her hand to make cutting motions, grinning at Buffy.

"I never knew you had so much rage in you," Buffy said quietly.

"What can I say? I'm the world's best actor," Faith said, grinning.

"Second best," Angel responded, his voice low and dangerous.

Faith suddenly got a confused look on her face and looked at Angel, then back at Buffy.

"Graduation day. You think we missed anything?" Buffy asked smugly.

"I think we know everything she knows," Angel said, smirking.

"May I say something?" Buffy asked. Faith turned to look at Buffy, who pulled her hands from behind her back and wiggled her fingers. "Psych!"

The rage in Faith was apparent through her expression and voice as she looked back and forth between Buffy and Angel. "You played me. You played me!" she yelled.

Faith grabbed Angel and threw him to the side, then blocked on of Buffy's hits. The two fought, Faith getting in a couple punches. Buffy rolled to the table and grabbed a knife as Faith also moved to the table. Buffy tried to sweep Faith's feet out from under her, but Faith just jumped over her leg and landed kneeling on the floor. Both stopped moving when they each had a knife at each other's throats.

"What are you gonna do, B?" Faith asked, breathing heavily. "Kill me? You become me. You're not ready for that." Faith then quickly moved forward and kissed Buffy's forehead. "Yet." She then turned and ran to the entrance of the Hyperion. Faith collapsed, though, before she got to the steps. Buffy slumped down on the floor, and Angel swayed and leaned against the counter wall for support.

Faith's POV:

The group's sitting around the research table, some continuing to look through books and others discussing my latest fuck up. I feel like I need to hit something.

"Well, is it safe to say that those were the exact exchanges from that night? And you were each playing yourselves?" Giles asks, jotting down notes. He's sipping tea and acting like this whole thing's really not that fucking bad. Don't kid yourself, G-Man.

"Yeah," Buffy says quietly. She looks more freaked out than the last time. Which makes sense, cause I'm more freaked out than the last time. Fuck, I REALLY need to hit something. "I was me. Same thing as last time. Felt everything I did that night." You and me both, babe. I still feel it.

"Well, thankfully, no one was hurt. I am worried, however. While this particular re-enactment may not have ended violently, if this continues, there is a chance that a future one will be violent. In some of our own interactions with Faith from that time, people have been seriously injured. Faith, for instance, was stabbed. What if the next one is re-enacting that particular occasion? When the ghosts in Sunnydale High School played out their last night, the people possessed by the ghosts were actually killed by the weapons that appeared."

Great, just what I need now. Another stab wound. Everyone's looking at me like I'm about to pounce on someone. Jesus, give me a little credit, would you? They all still think I'm a psycho, and these little time-warps aren't helping any. I grab the thick stake sitting in front of me and start fiddling with it, trying to distract myself. I don't want to listen. I don't want to hear what they think of me… of what I've done.

"Our main priority right now should be figuring out who's causing this, so we can stop them before something bad happens," Red says, stating the obvious.

"Faith, is there anyone who might want to mess with you?" Angel asks me.

"Why are we assuming that someone wants to get back at ME?" I ask, feeling pretty defensive.

"Well, Faith" Willow says condescendingly, "I think it's safe to say that we're seeing examples of YOUR psychotic tendencies. That suggests it has to do with you, and not us." Ok, I don't want to hit SOMETHING. I want to hit HER. I squeeze the stake harder, moving it furiously between my hands.

Giles clears his throat. "While that might have been phrased better, she does have a point. Faith, can you think of anyone that might hold a grudge against you?"

I don't answer. I hear Red mutter, "Yeah, half of them are in this room." Ok, splinters are now in my fucking hand.

"Um, what about Robin," Buffy says, avoiding looking at me. "Or maybe family members… of Finch or Werth."

The stake snaps in my hands and everyone turns to look at me. They see the stake in my hands and the traces of blood on it and give me wary and cautious looks.

"You know what? FUCK this. I'm not in the mood to talk about all the shit in my past. Carry on without me. I'm gonna go work out."

I don't give anyone a chance to answer and just walk to the stairs that go down to the basement. I stomp down, feeling the anger coursing through me. Reliving that night at the mansion is making me too pissed off. I can still feel the anger from that night. All of my hate for Buffy from that time in my life is mixing with the love and hurt that I have associated with her now. Making me angry at her all over again for the past, and for how she's treating me now. I need to work this out on the punching bag. I'm feeling way too volatile for my own liking.

I sigh in frustration when I see Kennedy's already down here using the punching bag. Why is this bitch always stepping on my fucking feet? I swear to God, everywhere I turn, little wannabe mini-me is there.

"Kennedy, get the fuck out of here. I need to work out."

"Fuck you," she says, not looking up from punching the bag. "I'm not going anywhere. I was here first, and I'm not done. You can wait your turn."

"I'm not leaving here until I get a workout."

"Fine." She stops and looks up at me, a smirk on her lips. "Why don't you spar with me?"

"Please," I snort. "Not gonna happen." Doesn't this dumbass ever learn her lesson?

"What, scared that I'd kick your ass?"

"In your dreams, Twinkie. I'm just worried that the Scooby Gang'll be even more pissed at me than they already are if I wipe the floor with Red's girl-toy."

"Hah! You're old, Faith. You've been a Slayer for a little too long… I think you're off your game."

I narrow my eyes at her. She wants to play? Fine. Can't hold me responsible if I whoop her ass, though.

"Fine, Babe. I'm just warning you, though. I'm not in the best mood right now," I say, taking off my jacket and wrapping my hands.

"I can handle it."

When I'm done with my hands, I turn and start to circle her. I eye her up and down, and she looks so ridiculous it makes me laugh. She doesn't even have a proper stance. What happened to B teaching those girls to fight? This bitch doesn't know anything.
She finally takes a swing at me, but it comes nowhere near hitting me. So not only does she not know how to stand, but she drops her shoulder so I can anticipate her moves. I've changed my mind. It's not funny. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

She takes some more swings at me, but I move out of the way of each of them. We're moving so slowly, you'd think that we were balancing tea cups on our heads. I decide to up this pathetic excuse for sparring and strike out, punching her square in the face and sending her flying back onto the mat.

Kennedy laughs and holds her face as she gets up. "You feeling a little frustrated, Faith? You shouldn't be. Considering the pussy you got last night. I had no idea you'd be so talkative when you were fucking."

I growl and start circling her again. "You heard?"

"Yeah, I heard! Super hearing and all… Plus, you just wouldn't shut up."

"If you knew, why did you let Willow get together that big fucking search party?"

"Cause I thought it'd be funny. Willow would get embarrassed, you guys would get embarrassed, and I'd have a good laugh. Didn't know it'd turn out as good as it did, though." I feel the anger coursing through my body and practically bubbling over. I'm about two seconds from wiping that cocky smirk off of her dopey mug. "I mean, I don't know if you've noticed, but I really don't like you, Faith. You were cool in Sunnydale, but now you're just as much of an insufferable asshole as Buffy."

That's it. I'm not taking shit from this little fuck anymore. I pounce on her, knocking her back to the floor. I punch her in the face, relishing in the feeling of bone crunching under my knuckles.

"Don't you EVER shut up? Listen closely, you little shit. Don't ever talk about Buffy like that again!" I accentuate each word with a brutal punch. Blood starts to cover her puffy and damaged face. My fists are bloody now, too. I give her one final punch for good measure, and then get up and step back a few paces.

"Ever speak to me like that, again," I say, my voice deathly quiet. I can feel some of the rage and jitteriness seeping out. "And I'll kill you."

I give her one last look and walk up the stairs, slamming the door behind me.