A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything from the episodes being referenced is Joss's. He owns it all. Lucky guy.

The Missing Half

Chapter 22 – Good to Bad, Bad to Worse

(Buffy's POV)

'Who the Hell are you?' Those words echo in my head, and shock sets into my system once again. She doesn't know who I am? Why can't we ever get a rest! It's always one goddamned thing after another.

(Faith's POV)

This sucks. I wake up in a hospital bed with the headache from hell, not knowing how I got here, who this blonde chick is, and who I am.

Confusion sucks. Hospitals suck. Headaches suck. And not knowing who I am sucks it BIG TIME.

A small cough pulls me out of my self-pity. It's the doctor.

"As I was saying...there's been some complications."

Complications? From what?

The doctor continues, "It seems that some of the head trauma produced a bout of amnesia. To put it simply, her limbic system has been temporarily damaged. The severity of her injury wasn't too great; therefore the memory loss should be over within a few days. Little things here and there may jog her memory, get it back a little quicker."

What is it with doctors and big words?

The blonde holding my hand looks up at the doctor. "Thank you. When can she come home?"

Come home? Do I live with her?

"Well, she should be ready to leave later today. There's not much more we can do for her here. She just needs to heal now. I'll see about getting you her release forms as soon as possible."

The doctor tipped his head at us and left the room.

That leaves me and Blondie here. She's not saying anything…she seems to be pretty lost in her thoughts.

"So." I simply say. "Wanna fill me in on who I am?"

(Buffy' POV)

Do I wanna fill her in? Oh God, if only it were that easy. I mean, how do you tell someone, "Well, you killed a couple of guys, tried to kill a few more, almost stole my life, and went to prison"?

You don't.

I can't. I can't tell her about what she did. It's not her now, she's changed.

If I knew I could spare her even just a few days without living with the guilt of her troubled past I would.

So I am.

"So am I like a lawyer? Bartender? Construction worker? Oh wait don't tell me, I'm like Wonder Woman right? Fighting evil and looking good."

She doesn't know how right she is.

"Yep, that's us," I respond. "Hot chicks with super powers."

(Faith's POV)

Is she kidding?

"Are you playing me?" I feel myself asking. I'm almost positive she'll say yes.

"No." Ok.

"Did you mean to say yes? Cuz I can imagine how you could get the two confused, ya know? Yes…no…sound pretty similar, yeah?"

Blondie just chuckles. Damn, if I wasn't so freaked out at the moment, I might have a chance to stop and notice just how hot this chick is.

"So, let me get this straight, we're…ok nevermind, I still have no clue what the hell is goin on."

"Alright, so super heroes. That's us. We fight bad guys—"

"Yo Blondie, I'm confused, not two years old. Set me straight."

"Ok, so…me and you? We're like these heroes that not a lot of people know about. We kill…vampires…and demons. We're Slayers."

Ok. Vampires? Sure. What kind of idiot does she think—

FLASH

A white burst of light invades my vision and I see me and Blondie talking.

"We're Slayers girlfriend, the chosen two."

FLASH

Whoa that was weird. What was that? A memory maybe? So this vampire thing, I guess who I am believes in it. Whatever.

"Alright…Slayers. I can do that. So is that what landed me here, all decked out in sexy hospital-wear?"

Blondie nods slowly. "Got yourself kidnapped."

She tries to joke about it, but there's guilt in her eyes.

I change the subject, for some reason, I don't like making this girl feel bad…

"Sorry, I forgot my manners in all of this memory loss. Wanna tell me your name?"

She looks like a sledgehammer hit her, I guess me not knowing her isn't her favorite thing.

"I'm Buffy…" She looks like she wants to say more. "I'm a...you're…a…I'm your…" she struggles to find the words. Buffy reaches out and gingerly strokes the side of my face with her hand—

Damn. Now that's a tingle I can get used to. Her touch ignites my body into a flaming ball of some serious passion.

"You're my girlfriend." I finish her stuttered statement.

Her eyes light up when I say this. I just made somebody a happy little camper.

"Yeah. We've known each other for a while now. We had kind of a rocky past…" she trails off, clearly lost in her memory. "But it's better know. And I'm going to take care of you," she finishes, clearly all determined and stuff. Way cute.

Man this thing is so weird for me. It's like, I can remember plots of movies, the history of Europe, the lines in a song…but the plot to my life, my own history, and the lines in the song of my life is a big o' ball of good ol' nothingness.

I'm scared.

I mean, from what Buffy tells me, I'm like a super hero. So nothin' should scare me right? This does. I'm scared, tired, and beyond frustrated.

At least I've got Buffy.

(Dawn's POV)

Faith's hurt.

She's lost her memory.

I'm freaking out. Majorly.

I wanna stomp my feet and cry. It's not fair! Buffy finally got something, something that made her go yay with happiness! And once again it does the whole "POOF! Just teasing you thing."

Ok, so yeah. Faith will get her memories back. But in the meantime, Buffy's gotta sit there, trying to help her remember things that kinda suck.

Like how Faith went all psycho-stab-happy on innocent people. And then how Buffy turned the knife on her.

Buffy's my big sister. And as annoying as she can be sometimes, I love her. To see her hurting, that cuts me deep. Especially when it's Faith.

Faith.

To me, she's an enigma. Even when she was supposedly "evil" she still talked to me. She was this complete bad ass, talking to a little kid. She could be wearing her trademark skank-ware, and then talk about which guy in Backstreet Boys was the hottest.

When Buffy was off with Angel, Faith would make a trip around to my house, just to keep me company. She made me feel so special. I cared about her in almost the same way I did for Buffy.

When it went bad, I was confused. But I never hated her. If she asked, I would have forgiven her in a heartbeat.

And I did.

Faith.

You better get your memory back soon. Or you're gunna pay Hell at the hands of this little teenybopper.

………………….

(Faith's POV)

So, Buffy's been filling me in on my past for the last few hours, telling me about the slaying gig, the battle stories and things we've faced in the past. It's really weird hearing all this, knowing that you lived through all this, but feeling like you're hearing about it for the first time.

It's strange though, its like Buffy isn't telling me everything. She'll start sayin' something, stop, and completely change the subject. I try not to let it bother me, I mean, she's probably just sparing me the story of some embarrassing moment I suffered through. It's probably nothin' big.

I hope.

"We did all that?" I asked. "We did all that, and lived?"

Buffy nods proudly. "That and so much more."

"Cool," I simply state. "This slayer thing? Sounds like a wicked good career to me. Do I like it?"

"You loved it. You always told me how slaying made you all—

FLASH

I'm at a club, surrounded by people I don't know, except Buffy.

"God, I could eat a horse. Isn't it crazy how slayin' just always makes you hungry and horny?" I hear myself say.

Everyone at the table looks at us awkwardly.

"Well... Sometimes I-I crave a nonfat yogurt afterwards." Buffy weakly answers.

FLASH

Another memory.

I'm sitting at a dinner table and Buffy's there. A middle aged woman sits at the table with us, dishing out food.

As she puts down a bowl of food, she turns to me and says, "So you're a Slayer, too. Isn't that interesting! Do you like it?"

I can't control my mouth, but hear myself say, "God, I love it!"

Buffy speaks up next. "Uh, mom?" she says, asking for the bowl of food.

The woman, who I now realize is Buffy's mother waves her off and continues on. "Uh, just a second, honey. You know, Buffy never talks that way. Why do you love it?"

Once again, my mouth moves against my will. "Well, when I'm fighting, it's like the whole world goes away and I only know one thing: that I'm gonna win and they're gonna lose. I like that feelin'."

Buffy speaks up again, "Well, sure. Beats that dead feeling you get when they win and you lose."

I snort inside my head, but the "Faith" who's body I'm in says, "I don't let that kind of negative thinking in."

FLASH

I think we're underground somewhere. A crypt? Sewers maybe?

I'm breathing heavily, having just got done with a fight.

I turn to Buffy, who's looking a little on the wet side. "Tell me you don't get off on this!"

Buffy grins wickedly. "It didn't suck."

FLASH

Back to reality.

"Faith…FAITH!" Buffy's calling to me, waving her hand in front of my face. I blink a few times trying to clear my head, and get used to the brightness of reality.

"Yeah Buffy, I'm here. Just remembering stuff I guess. Damn that was a head rush."

Buffy's eyes light up at the mention of my memories. "So? What was it! What did you remember?"

I don't know how to answer. Buffy told me about her life before, not just our slaying past. She told me how her mom died.

"Something about being hungry and horny. And some other post-fight stuff. And…well, I was eating dinner. With you and…uh your mom." I finish quietly.

Buffy's eyes move downcast at first, but then she lifts her head and meets my gaze. "Tell me," she says.

"We were talking about slaying, she asked me how I liked it, I explained the rush it gave me. She liked my response." I grinned at the memory of her mom's approving smile when I told her my feelings on killing the undead. Buffy smiled too.

"Mom liked you," she said, "Even after…" she trailed off, carefully choosing her words. "Even after things got rough."

I want to know what it is she isn't telling me, but I know better than to push her. I don't want to make her mad.

But curiosity is getting the better of me. "Buffy…what hap—"

I'm cut off by the sound of a light knock, then the creaking of the door opening. The doctor stepped into the room, holding some papers in his hand.

"Hey Doc, hope those are my release forms ya got there."

"They certainly are Faith. You just have to sign here and you're free to go."

I quickly grab the pen he's offering me and scribble down my signature.

"And that's all," the doctor says. "Feel better."

"Thanks Doc," I say gratefully, then shake his hand. Buffy mimics my actions and says her goodbye. He turns and leaves.

But we're not left alone for long, cuz a middle-aged man dressed in tweed comes in a moment later.

"Here you are Buffy, I brought some clothes for Faith…I'll just let her dress…and…" he makes a move to leave, trying to get away before I strip off my hospital gown.

"Hey!" I call out to him, trying to get his attention before he leaves. "Wanna tell me who you are, you handsome stud?" I wink at him. I already know who he is, I just wanna mess around with him a bit, have some fun. Buffy told me about him, how he's my unofficial Watcher. Buffy tells me he's been knocked unconscious more times than she can count.

"Oh sorry," he says, awkwardly as he extends his hand and I shake it. "Giles, Rupert Giles."

FLASH

I'm in a library and surrounded by unfamiliar faces.

Once again I'm in my body, but unable to control it.

Buffy speaks up and points to Giles. "Um, maybe I should introduce you again. Faith, this is Giles."

Willow smiles slightly.

"I see him. If I'd've known they came that young and cute, I would've requested a transfer." I respond. HA. And double HA. Seems like this Faith liked to play around too.

Buffy gets this mega grossed out face and says, "Raise your hand if 'ew'."

That's my girl.

FLASH

Ooh boy. That was a good one. I like these memories. They're givin' me a good laugh.

Giles looks at me strangely. "Well, uh, I'll just…I'll just be going now," he stutters out, then exits the room.

Buffy hands me the bundle of clothes Giles brought and turns around, offering me the privacy to change. I move to take off my lovely hospital gown, but the room spins and I let out a small moan.

Buffy's by my side in an instant. "Faith, are you ok?"

"Yeah," I answer. "Dizzy. Do you think, you could, umm, help me?" I ask. This getting changed thing is gunna be a major bitch.

"Of course," she responds. She proceeds to gently untie my gown at the back and the thin material falls forward. Buffy quickly reaches from behind and straps a lacy black bra on me.

"Nice fit," I joke.

She stops for a moment and gently traces her finger along my back. It stings a little, the morphine is wearing out and my body is starting to feel all pin and needly like. But her touch is really soothing…

I turn my body so I am facing her, now that I'm covered again. Buffy picks up the tank top Giles left and carefully placed it over my head, being as gentle as she can. As the cloth glides over my ribs, a small hiss escapes from my mouth.

"Sorry," Buffy whispers into my ear. "Do you think you can get the pants on?" she asks.

"Yeah, I think," I respond, a little disappointed that Buffy's done playing dress-up with me.

I grab the sweat pants and slide them over my sore legs.

When the process is over, I gingerly stand up and nearly collapse as my legs buckle from underneath me. But Buffy's there to catch me.

"I've got you," she says lovingly. She pulls me up into a tight embrace, supporting my weight, and hugging me gently. "I was so worried," she whispered into my ear again.

FLASH

Back down memory lane again I guess. This time Buffy and I are kissing each other outside in the snow. We fall over as the kiss deepens, and then Buffy rolls me over in the snow.

FLASH

I snap back to reality. "Now that's the kind of memory they should sell on the Internet."

Buffy giggles, her mind drifting off to try and remember what I had just seen.

"Snow," I clarified. "Me and you, making with the smoochies."

Buffy smiles. "Like this?" she asks, then covers my lips with her own.

Damn. And DAMN. Now that's a kiss.

It ends and we are both panting heavily. I feel the sudden need to get outta here and back home.

Buffy, clearly thinking the same thing wraps her arm around my waist, supporting me.

We slowly make our way for the exit.

When we get to the waiting room, a group of people comes up to greet us.

A teenaged girl, I'm guessing Dawn, comes over and gently hugs me. A man with dark hair walks up, a blonde woman in tow, holding onto his arm.

"Faith," he nods at me. "Glad to see you're awake and of the living." He smiles.

"Thanks," I say, not really sure who he is.

A red head and blonde walk up next. The blonde hugs me a bit nervously and quickly lets go.

The red head merely smiles in my direction.

Buffy notices my confused look. She points to the man and woman. "That's Xander and his girlfriend Anya. Those two, are Willow and Tara." She says pointing to the red head, then the blonde.

"Good to have a face to go with the names," I say to Buffy. She told me a bit about each of them before.

The group makes their way to the hospital exit, and Buffy helps me walk, letting me use her as a grounding base to put some of my weight on.

"Thanks Buffy," I say as we near a car. Xander opens the door for me and Buffy. We get in and Xander walks around to the driver's seat. Anya climbs in next to him.

As the car starts and we pull away from the hospital, Buffy takes my hand in hers and pulls me in close. I rest my weary body on hers and she strokes my hair.

We've only been driving a few minutes, but I'm already almost asleep. I'm relaxing all over Buffy, drifting off when—

FLASH

I'm on a rooftop, the cold night air cutting into my face and arms.

I look over and she Buffy. "What's the matter? All that killing, you afraid to die?"

I'm so confused. My Buffy? What is she doing?

I find myself rolling on the floor, and then snapping handcuffs off my wrists. Ooh handcuffs…isn't Buffy the little kinky one. Then she pulls out a knife.

"That's mine." I hear myself say. Ok…

"You're about to get it back." Buffy replies. I wanna reach out, take the knife from Buffy's hand, and thank her for giving it back for whatever reason she borrowed it.

Then we're hitting each other. What? I pull her close to the edge and we wobble a bit, almost going over the tall building side.

Then it hits me. This isn't playful fun. We're trying to kill each other.

"Man, I'm going to miss this." I say. Oh God what is happening?

Suddenly Buffy lunges forward and stabs the knife into my stomach.

Emotions assault me from every direction, pain, anger, betrayal…it's all rushing at me, muddling into my mind. Overpowering me.

"You did it," I rasp out. In one swift move, I backhand Buffy off the ledge back on to the rooftop. "You killed me."

Shit this hurts. I stumble closer to the edge and peer down to see a truck approaching me.

Am I gunna jump? What the Hell? I wanna step away from the edge, go anywhere but down. Unless its down a flight of stairs and off this rooftop. I just don't wanna take the fast route, as in free falling without a parachute.

"Still won't help your boy, though. Shoulda been there, B, quite a ride." I say through waves of pain.

I let my body fall backwards and I feel myself falling, falling, and still falling.

Then I stop falling.

A flash of incredible pain washes over my battered body.

FLASH

I open my eyes, expecting the pain to leave, but it doesn't.

My head hurts something horrible, so bad I can barely think. I look up at Buffy, at the woman I thought I loved. The woman that stabbed me. I move away from her swiftly and the sudden motion causes Xander to swerve then expertly pull the car off to the side of the road. I immediately fling my car door open and run out.

I scramble away from the car as fast as possible, ignoring the pain in my body. I'm scared. Scared that Buffy is gunna gut me again. I saw the hate in her eyes. I felt the hate in the form of a knife in my stomach.

I gotta get away. Away from the threat.

I gotta get away from the person that nearly killed me.

I gotta get away from Buffy.

A/N: Oh boy. Seems we have some trust issues on our hands. Remember guys, reviewing is the best way to get a new chapter ;)