Title: Passing Time
Author: Lowdeen
Disclaimer: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, and Mutant Enemy. The story contains love between two women, so if such things offend you, don't read it and upset yourself.
Spoilers:Up to and including the fourth season
Author's Notes: I thought I could take a break from writing but the Twilight Zone Marathon convinced me otherwise so the following is what formed in my fevered brain. (No connection to my previous series)
Rating: R

Her name was Faith. Surnames are irrelevant to this particular story so I won't burden you with unnecessary details. She was eighteen but had  tried suicide once already by provoking someone who had every right to want her dead. For reasons not entirely in her control, it didn't go nearly as well as planned. Lustrous brown hair framed a face that easily turned heads from both genders. A slight quirk of the eyebrow or a wickedly inviting smile were usually the only assets she needed to reel anyone in. Her slim, tapered body concealed a raw strength that couldn't be measured in terms of muscle or sinew but an intangible something that would be regarded in some circles as supernatural. But none of these basic tenets from her hard lived life were basic anymore. At least not to her, for you see, Faith no longer recalled these facts. Aside from her name, she had absolutely no recollection or memory from her past. In point of fact, as far as she was concerned, she had no past.

Under normal circumstances, this situation would disconcert anyone but that didn't even take into consideration where she was at the moment. Wandering down a long dusty road that was well and truly in the middle of nowhere, Faith had absolutely no idea how she came to be here or where exactly here was. She continued walking not because she knew her destination but simply because there wasn't much else she could do. Faith walked for what seemed like miles on end without so much as passing another human being and aside from regularly spaced telephone poles breaking up the monotony, there were no indications of civilization. The landscape was nothing more than flat land covered liberally by dry brown grass that came up to her knees. As Faith continued trekking through the bruised road that stood out like a scar against its surroundings, she thanked herself or whoever had decided to dress her in a white tank top that day. The black jeans though, she could've done without. She eventually came upon a signpost that told her she was now entering "Sayersville." That was it. No mention of what state it was in, the population size or any other pertinent information. Just the words, "You are now entering Sayersville." Unable to control her frustration, Faith struck out with a tightly balled fist that smashed the pathetically terse sign into several good sized chunks of firewood. When the realization of what she just did drifted through, she attributed her phenomenal strength to the age and state of the sign. So deluded, she walked into the edges of town a few minutes later.

Weathered homes that had seen better days lined the road as tiny yards abutted each other. Rundown American cars could be seen in several of the driveways but what struck Faith first like a fastball to the head was the complete absence of any of the town's residents. None of the neighborhood's rugrats were outside idling the summer day away as demanded by the rituals of youth. Nobody was around. There were no sounds other than the rustling from the trees and the chirping of some birds. Faith walked up to the first house on her left and knocked loudly, rattled by the lack of any human activity. She pounded until the door almost gave way but no one answered. Bounding over to the adjacent house, she did the same thing and received exactly the same response which was to say, squat.

Faith knocked on several houses before giving up and venting a full throated yell that bordered close to hysteria. Was everyone at church or something? This thought calmed her somewhat. Maybe they were gathered for some kind of town meeting. Thus assured that the world hadn't gone crazy or her for that matter, she made her way into the heart of town which wasn't very far from where she was since it didn't seem to be a very big hub of civilization. On a good day and if she were feeling in a charitable mood, she'd call it dinky. At the moment, if asked, she'd refer to it as two-bit. Rounding a corner, she spotted a diner at the far right of the street. Faith broke out into a run. Now she was getting somewhere. There had to be someone in this joint but as she rushed into the establishment, she was greeted with the gut wrenching sight of no one. Not one patron or waitress or short order cook. A soft country refrain floated into her ears from the jukebox nearby as she slumped over onto one of the stools at the counter. Digging the heels of her hands into her closed eyes, Faith tried desperately to remember what had happened to her to bring her to this God forsaken place.

Since freaking out at that moment wouldn't be the brightest idea in the world, she decided to occupy herself momentarily by getting something to eat behind the counter. Faith couldn't remember the last time she had eaten or even what she liked to eat but that didn't deter her from grabbing a plate and a huge slice of chocolate cake. After wolfing down the sizeable portion, she poured herself a cup of coffee which someone had thoughtfully left brewing in its pot, giving her hope that whoever had brewed it was still close by. If the residents of Sayersville wanted to play hide and seek, she'd just have to try harder to find them, Faith thought with growing determination. Leaving the little diner, she wandered around the rest of the town, passing a hardware store, a grocery store, and a small movie theater without running into anyone.

By the time she arrived at the other end of town, she was seriously starting to suspect that, for some reason or another, its inhabitants had chosen that particular day to abandon it. What other explanation could there be. She had searched high and low, finding no signs of life, not even of the small pet variety and she'd started to get even more weirded out because it looked like the residents had all left en masse in the middle of whatever activity they were engaged in at the time. Hence she found TV's that were left on, laundry in baskets waiting to be hung, half-drunken iced tea pitchers that still had water droplets condensing on the glasses. Faith sat down wearily on the step of someone's porch, watching as the summer sun slowly made its descent below the horizon. It was a beautiful sight entirely lost on the lone figure who gazed on the fiery display with an expression filled with despair.

The sudden ringing coming from inside the house snapped her from her reverie and nearly made her jump two feet in the air at the same time. Rushing to the front door, she was not surprised to find it unlocked. The yokels around here seemed to have a problem with locking up. So much the better for her. The ringing grated on her nerves after nearly a whole day spent in serene silence. Faith eagerly picked up the telephone that looked as if it dated back to the Carter administration and greeted the caller with an overly loud "Hello?" Adjusting her tone, she tried again, this time in a much softer voice but she still received no answer in response. They hadn't hung up, that much Faith knew for damn sure because she didn't hear a dial tone.

"Look whoever this is. I need help all right? This sounds crazy but I think I have amnesia or something and there's like nobody in this goddamn town....Hello? I know you're there, I can hear you breathing!" This was a blatant bluff since she really couldn't hear anything at all but she needed the bastard to answer. Unfortunately, the only sound she winded up hearing after a sufficiently pregnant pause was the dial tone as whoever was on the other end of the line hung up.

"Fucker!" She yelled, slamming the receiver down with enough force to crack the plastic. She tried to tell herself to calm down but it seemed like everyone was conspiring to give her a mental breakdown. Picking up the receiver again after a few moments, she was glad it hadn't broken entirely. She really had to watch it she thought to herself, objects in this town were more fragile than they appeared. Dialing the operator, she waited through nearly forty rings before resignedly hanging up. There goes that brilliant idea she thought walking back out to the porch. By that time, it had grown considerably darker and the lamp posts sporadically lining the street were on. She tried to cheer herself up by reasoning it was only this town that was devoid of human life. The rest of the world wasn't like this freak inducing place. In fact, the more she thought on it, the more she saw the need to get her butt away from this place. As fast as possible. And since Faith didn't see any other form of transportation handy, she used her legs to carry her out of the deserted town.

Passing by the eerily dark houses standing like mute sentinels on either side of the street, a cold shiver ran down the back of her neck signaling either one of two things. One, that it was all starting to get to her or two, someone was watching her. Actually, it was probably a combination of both scenarios. She was positive someone or something was boring a hole in her head. The feeling was too strong to ignore but that didn't mean she was going to stick around to "investigate" her mysterious stalker. Breaking into a dead run, Faith didn't stop until she was well out of the town limits. Unaccountably, she found herself not at all winded or sweaty by her improvised escape but shrugged it off as a product of her good health. She must have been a marathon runner or something, that was all. The important thing though was that she was out of that creepy, little town and already feeling better for it. The mood didn't last long however since before she could take one more step forward, someone else stepped out from behind a knarled tree a few feet ahead, blocking her intended path.

She wasn't entirely sure how to react but the startled yelp she just emitted wasn't on her top five list. She'd just come out of a town where she'd spent an entire afternoon trying to find someone, anyone and the minute she leaves said town, someone finds her. Looking closely in the dim moonlight at the person in front of her, she made out straight blonde hair that reached past the shoulders, a slim, petite figure clothed in, of all things, a pastel dress. She didn't know why that fact made her want to break out in chuckles but she suppressed the urge with a supreme effort of will. It didn't look like this girl could be dangerous so Faith relaxed somewhat, trying to appear non-threatening herself.

"Hi. Maybe you can help me. I was just in that town back there and--"

"I know." The blonde cut her off before Faith could finish and continued speaking in a clipped tone. "Do you know who you are?"

"Kind of a strange question to ask a total stranger, don't you think?" Faith tried to ask it jokingly, all the while gauging the other girl's reaction. What she saw dismayed her as the already cold expression on her face grew even more so with a harder edge. Faith haltingly asked, "Do you know? Who I am?"

"Yeah." That single word, filled with such loathing and bitterness, seemed to surprise both of them and as Faith watched with growing trepidation, the blonde looked away as if to compose herself. "I know who you are." The statement was uttered so softly that Faith took an involuntarily step forward before being stopped dead in her tracks by the withering gaze thrown her way. "And don't think for a second I'll forget."

"Who are you?" Asked Faith more confused than ever by the cryptic responses. "Did I...What did I do to you?" For she was sure now there had to have been some kind of history between them for the blonde to dredge up this kind of hostility. But she was the only person Faith had seen for far too long and had the added bonus of knowing her past which helped her swallow the remarks while ignoring the harsh taste for the most part.

"What didn't you do?" She asked in the same tone but Faith was spared the necessity to answer when the blonde abruptly turned around and started heading down the road, away from Sayersville. Not really sure what else to do and not wanting to part company with this person just yet despite the attitude, Faith followed at a relatively safe distance. To say that she was confused wouldn't describe the half of what she was feeling. But as she continued to trail after the other figure, frustration clambered onto the stage and refused to get off. After several minutes stewing in the unfairness of all the shit that came down on her, for no good reason as far as she could discern, she ran ahead and stopped right in front of ...damn, she still didn't even know her name. "Look, I have no idea what I did to you. I don't even know who I am and if you could just tell me something...anything. Can we start off with the simple stuff like names. My name's Faith, that's about all I remember. And yours would be..."

It seemed from the continued silence that the blonde wouldn't answer but eventually "Buffy" made it past her lips.

****

When the news came down to the perpetually demon infested town of Sunnydale, California, its unofficially sanctioned protector and all around superhero cum college student was not happy. And she chose to break a few objects and bash a few others to show her utter lack of happiness to the entire world or whoever was unlucky enough to be around at the time. The unlucky witnesses to her tantrum happened to be her best friend Willow and her watcher Giles. And if the Brit didn't approve of her display, at least he could understand it. Having just been told that the state judicial system deemed it right to release your worse enemy with nary a slap on the wrist in the form of community service and mandatory visits to the psychologist could put a damper on anyone's day. But did she really need to smash half his tea set to show her discontent, he thought looking sadly at the broken china.

The blonde gave a sheepishly repentant look at the destruction she had wrought but she hadn't finished ranting yet. Not by a long shot; there was much ranting still left in her.

"How could they do this?! She KILLED two people, emphasis on the kill. And what do they do?" It wasn't entirely clear what Buffy meant by "they". Maybe it was the judge or the jury or the lawyers. Heck, maybe it was everybody and everything rolled into one big morass of goo but the vehemence behind her voice and the wild-eyed nature of her expression made it clear that she thought "they" must all walk around with their heads up their asses 24/7. "They let her go, that's what they do!" She announced grandly as if her two spectators hadn't already heard.

"I know Buffy. It's...an unfortunate state of affairs but let's not lose our heads over it. I'm sure she's not the same Faith that left Sunnydale. She did turn herself in to the authorities, after all. Maybe we should have more faith in her, no pun intended."

Buffy shot him a look like he'd suddenly sprouted an extra head which he might as well have in her opinion for suggesting such a ludicrous idea. "Giles, tell me you're joking and what I heard was all in my head. You can't possibly believe that...Look, she had her chance. Over and over again, I gave her second chances and everytime, I get screwed over for it. This time will be no different only I'm not going to give her that chance. We'll do things my way." And Giles knew not to argue because no amount of talk would dissuade her from her intended plan.

****

"Are you sure this is wise?" Giles asked yet again. And yet again, Buffy had to put on the false bravado she'd employed so often over the years. In the constant battle against monsters who could be stronger, faster or more cunning than you, every bit of confidence helps even if it's manufactured. In this particular case, the monster went by the name of Faith and even though they were pretty much on par in terms of skill, Buffy still found herself desperately trying to fit into the suit of armor that, for some reason, felt more like a burden than the protection she so craved. This was the right thing to do she reassured herself again and again. So what if the guilt seemed to hang like a pall over her conscience...she'd get over it.

"Buffy, are you all right?" Giles asked with a hint of concern when she failed to answer.

"What? I'm fine," she snapped, immediately regretting her tone of voice. "I'm sorry Giles. But I know this is what needs to be done. It's for the best. Willow and Tara have already zapped her memory clean and put her outside a town called Sayersville. I'm going there right now. If Riley shows up looking for me, can you just tell him I'll be back soon?"

"Yes, of course. But Buffy, what do you intend to do with Faith now?"

She hesitated before speaking because she didn't know herself. "I'll play it by ear but the main thing is I'll be able to keep an eye on her at all times." At least she hoped that would be the case. When Faith had still been in that coma, Buffy had secretly wished that when the other slayer woke up, she would do so with no memory of the past, thus giving them a clean slate to start over. It was a selfish wish, yes but had it been true, it would've made things so much easier to deal with. Now that Faith was out again, Buffy had another chance to fulfill her wish and she did so. Whether it was the right thing to do or not, she honestly couldn't say. It seemed, with Faith, she never could.

****

The slayer found herself outside the edge of town shortly after dusk had settled trying to decide whether to go in or not but her decision was made for her by the approach of the lone figure walking towards her location. Taken aback by the imminent meeting that would take place, Buffy did something that would've been considered comical if not for the graveness of the situation. She hid behind a tree alongside the road. Why exactly was she hiding? This was her idea after all and meeting up with Faith was going to be in the plan somewhere along the way. It was just more sudden than she'd anticipated. For some reason, Faith got under her skin like nobody ever did but after taking a calming breath, Buffy stepped away from her hiding place, directly in front of a very startled slayer. The moment she laid eyes on the brunette, she could feel the bitterness rushing to the fore. Unable and unwilling to stop the emotion, Buffy let it carry her through her first meeting with Faith since LA.

Perhaps not the best attitude to adopt, it was nevertheless what her instincts demanded. The conversation went by in a blur as she concentrated more on Faith's appearance than to the actual words spoken between them. The younger girl was looking none the worse from her short stint in the pen. Aside from a few dirty smudges on her clothes and body, she looked exactly as Buffy remembered and that included the pleading look in her eyes. That look tugged at something she didn't want to analyze any further so she turned around and headed back up the road, having no doubt that the other girl would follow. Faith didn't disappoint, trailing after her and keeping silent for the first few minutes. Buffy could feel her fuming even when she couldn't see her face so she wasn't surprised when Faith suddenly jogged up to her and demanded to know what was going on. Maybe demanded wasn't the right word, persuaded described it more aptly. So Buffy relented and gave her name to the expectantly waiting girl.

****

"Buffy"

At first Faith thought she was being played for the fool but when the other girl didn't laugh, she thought better of it. Whoever would name their kid Buffy was a real sadistic individual indeed. Maybe it was short for something. At least, she hoped it was short for something. "Good," Faith said, nodding her head in what she hoped was an encouraging manner. "Good. Now we're getting somewhere. So...Buffy, about that town back there--"

"We don't have time for this." She interrupted before Faith could get the words out. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt but don't even think about taking advantage. We're doing this my way."

Faith was sorely tempted to argue the point but choked down her retort, not wishing to alienate her companion any further. "Fine, your way it is."

"Fine." They each tried to stare the other down with neither having much success. This was great Buffy thought sarcastically. They'd barely been together for half an hour and they'd already fallen back into the same old rut. Not an encouraging note to start on but she honestly had no idea what else to do. On the one hand, she had to make it clear who was in charge and on the other hand...On the other hand, she didn't want them to start down the same path that had proved so disastrous in the past. "This isn't getting us anywhere is it?" She asked, her expression softening ever so slightly.

Faith couldn't help but agree wholeheartedly with the assessment. "Whatever you've got against me, let's just try to put that aside for now, okay? There's something real freaky about that town I just came from."

"What about it?"

"For one thing, I just spent the entire day there without seeing anyone. Not one person, not one dog or cat or anything. And the weirdest thing about it is that it looks like it was abandoned right before I got there. Coffee was still brewing, clothes were still in the washer, all kinds of weird shit like that. So, do you know anything about it?"

Buffy's confused frown indicated this was the first time she'd been made aware of the situation and the slayer immediately switched to business mode which was second nature by now. And because her business happened to be slaying made her just that much more qualified to investigate this mystery. Allowing Faith to lead her back into town, she couldn't deny that it did creep her out. The empty houses and lack of life weren't situations she was used to. Usually by now, a couple of vamps would've come out of the woodwork and provided her with some diversion but the only things that popped out were innocuous shadows.

"You see what I'm saying?" Faith asked, breaking the silence. "And it's been like this all day."

Buffy glanced around the empty street murmuring in agreement. Could Willow's spell have done this by accident? If so, it was imperative that she contact her friend and relay this strange turn of events. "Let me call a friend of mine. She might be able to help."

Faith caught her arm before she could head into one of the houses. "The phones might not work either. I tried calling the operator today and got nothing."

"Let's try anyway." Buffy said, pulling the other girl along. She pushed open the front door of the nearest house which had conveniently been left slightly ajar and it opened with a sufficiently ominous creaking. "If this were some horror movie, there'd probably be some psycho freak with a knife or something waiting for us to walk in so he can slaughter us in an over the top gruesome display of carnage."

"That's the right attitude, B," Faith said, keeping her full attention on the dark interior. "Nothing like a good outlook to see you through the tough situations in life."

Buffy whipped her head around to stare unbelievingly at the other girl. "What did you just call me?"

"What?"

Only one person had ever addressed her like that and hearing it all of a sudden caused her no amount of disquiet. She realized Faith probably didn't understand the painful memories that had been dredged up by that single letter uttered so casually. "It's nothing. Just...reminded me of something. Can you get the lights?" Buffy tried the phone after Faith tracked down the light switch and, true to form, wasn't able to reach anybody. "We'll have to get out of this town. We can't do anything here."

"Fine by me. After you." Faith made an exaggerated bow that somehow irked and amused the blonde at the same time. She tried to put on a stern expression but couldn't quite succeed in the face of the younger girl's now chastened look. "I'm growing on you, aren't I?" The brunette couldn't help but ask as she followed in the other girl's wake.

"Like a fungus," Buffy replied, continuing to make her way out of town. The animosity she felt for Faith was still there but it was getting harder and harder for her to maintain it the longer she spent in the other's company. Maybe it was just as well. A blank slate was exactly what she was searching for when she thought up this plan and a blank slate was exactly what she had to work with.

They walked in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts until Buffy suddenly fell down, followed shortly by Faith who had been a step or two behind her.

"What was that?" Buffy asked jumping up immediately.

"I don't know, I think I walked into something," Faith replied, getting up more slowly. She extended her arms out in front of her, and sure enough, could feel resistance even though, if what her eyes told her were true, there wasn't anything in front of her. "Can you feel that?" She asked incredulously.

Buffy imitated her actions and felt something smooth against her palm. Sliding her hand sideways in the hope that it was just that particular place which was blocked off, she walked a couple of steps to her right only to feel the obstruction still in front of her. Faith walked the other way, occasionally poking and kicking to no avail. Whatever it was refused to give or break. She walked back to the blonde who had a sizeable pebble in her hand. Trying to toss it over as high as she could to measure the extent of the barrier, Buffy discovered some rather bad news. The rock was hurled at least thirty feet in the air but still bounced off the invisible surface to land back on their side.

Buffy glanced over at Faith who had a stunned expression on her face. "Come on. We'll see how far this thing stretches."

By the end of the night, they had ascertained two things. The "Wall" as they so termed it, stretched all the way around the town and there was no way to get through. They tried smashing, bashing, and battering with no luck. Finally, an exhausted and bewildered Faith dropped down inelegantly on the ground, resting her back against the Wall. At least it was good for something, she thought ruefully. She could tell Buffy was about to open her mouth, probably to chastise her but instead, the older girl dropped down next to her with a weary sigh. They both watched in captivated silence as the sun made its slow journey above the horizon, signaling the dawn of a new day.

It was Faith who broke the silence first. "We're trapped aren't we?" She asked, afraid of the answer.

Buffy looked over at a girl more accustomed to donning the tough girl act for most of her life but who now wore an expression of openness and vulnerability that made her want to reach over and comfort her.

"For awhile...but my friends know where I am so don't worry. They'll get us out of here."

Faith let a small smile play at the corners of her lips before abruptly changing topics. "Tell me about yourself?"

"What do you want to know?" Buffy carefully asked.

"Anything," she said with a shrug, bringing her knees to her chest and settling in.

Faith was about the last person on earth to whom Buffy thought she'd be relating her life story but that was exactly what she ended up doing. And by the time she was finished, Faith ended up knowing more about her than she ever had before. Buffy didn't even gloss over the slayer aspect although she did neglect to add the fact that the brunette was one herself.

"Well, aren't you going to say something?" The blonde asked after her revelation.

"Like what?" Faith teasingly grinned.

"About what I just said," Buffy replied in a mock exasperated tone.

"Considering what I've just been through, and seeing as it's only day one, I think I can deal with your superhero, slayer of demons status."

Buffy scrutinized her closely before Faith relented and said in all seriousness, "I believe you. I don't really know why I believe you but it sounds...right. Do you know what I mean?"

The blonde nodded slowly, unsure how to take this news. Was Faith remembering and if so, how would it affect the plan. She really should have listened when Willow laid out the details of the spell but it was too late now to do anything about it. "Enough talking for now. I think it's time to get some rest. I'm sure you must be as tired as I am. We passed a nice enough house back there. Let's get some sleep." She helped Faith up, a simple enough gesture that nonetheless showed the dramatic change in their relationship that had developed in only a few short hours. When she first set eyes on Faith earlier in the day, Buffy had been dubious they could even co-exist in the same space. Now, although they weren't the best of friends, they were at least warming up to each other.

****

The bed was large, the pillows were soft, the blankets were comfy. By all counts, she should have been asleep but Faith couldn't have been farther from that desired state as she rearranged her body yet again. She had tossed and turned since settling into bed almost an hour before. Her mind just wouldn't quiet down. Despite what she'd told Buffy, the new information did surprise her more than she let on. And even though, in the end, she didn't doubt the veracity of the statements, she wasn't entirely comfortable with them either. In addition to absorbing the truly freaky happenstances that had occurred already, she now had to deal with the fact that her new companion was some sort of super monster hunter. This didn't even include pondering the question of why Buffy had been so hostile to her when they first met. As far as she was concerned, that had been their first and only meeting but they obviously had a history, and a bitter one at that. Why couldn't she remember anything? What had happened between them to elicit that response? And strangely enough, the answers mattered to her not because she was hot to know her own life story but because she wanted things to be okay between Buffy and herself. She didn't know why that was so important to her, only that it was. It was certainly a strange sensation to know without a doubt what you wanted and not know why.

****

In the bedroom next to Faith's, Buffy was equally awake, listening to the restless frustrations next door. She had her own questions keeping her from slumber, not the least of which was why she was trapped in this town and trapped so completely with Faith of all people.. Hardly what she'd had in mind when she woke up that morning but surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. For one thing, Faith wasn't acting like the psychopathic murderer she once was. In fact, she was downright likeable which was a disquieting thought in and of itself. She heard the squeaking of bedsprings in the adjacent room followed by the soft patter of footsteps that stopped right outside her door. She expected Faith to do something, either to come in or to move on but she did neither. Finally, after several minutes had passed, Buffy called out "Faith?"

"...Yeah?"

"You want to come in?"

"Yeah, sure. If you insist," she flippantly remarked, pushing the door open. She stood there awkwardly for a moment until Buffy scooted over and invited her to sit down.

"I couldn't get to sleep," Faith said in way of explanation for her visit. "I hope I'm not bothering you."

"You're not bothering me. What's the matter?" Buffy propped her head up one hand as she rested on her side, looking at Faith's dark silhouette lean against the headboard. She observed a momentary droop to the other girl's head as she replied "I've just got too many things running through my mind and it feels like I'm walking through smoke, you know. I look behind me and I see nothing. I look ahead of me and I see nothing."

"Faith...it's going to be all right."

"How do you know that?" She asked plaintively, craving reassurance.

Buffy was sorely tempted to spill the beans and tell the girl that the person responsible for her current state was lying in the bed next to her but something held her tongue. Instead of the truth, a reassurance rolled from her lips. "I just do. You have to trust me."

"But I do, B. I do," Faith stated emphatically, moving to lie down on her side so that she was facing Buffy. "I'm just afraid you don't trust me."

"Faith..." And that's when Buffy found herself reaching over and wrapping the other girl up in a hug. Faith tensed at the first touch but it only took her a few seconds to lose herself in the strength and warmth awaiting her in those arms. The blonde slayer held her charge even after the steady breathing indicated she had fallen asleep. What had she gotten herself into? That had been the perfect opportunity to explain what she had done and why but the words just refused to come out. What was she afraid of? Pulling the sleeping girl in even more closely, she breathed deeply, absorbing Faith's scent. Before drifting off, she vowed to tell the brunette the whole truth when the next opportunity presented itself.

****

Faith was the first to wake up, prodded from sleep by the early rays of the morning sun streaming through the window on the opposite side of the room. She found herself in the unfamiliar situation of being held in someone else's arms but of course, it was only a foreign sensation because she couldn't recall any other time she'd woken up wrapped in a loose hug. Maybe this happened to her alot, who knew? But she had a distinct feeling that if it did, it never involved the girl sleeping peacefully next to her. A shame really she thought wistfully. This would be a perfect way to wake up each morning. She spent the next several minutes just soaking up the pleasurable atmosphere and it was her stomach that finally persuaded her to engage in other, more mundane activities. Not wanting to disturb the blonde, she slowly extricated herself from her grasp, amazed at her own limberness and agility. Even so, it still took a painstaking few minutes to completely free herself. Once that was done, she moved over to the other room to retrieve her pants and shoes.

****

Buffy woke up when the sun's rays found her, right between the eyes. Grumbling a few words better off not mentioned, she petulantly tossed the covers over her head, burrowing into the soft retreat she'd built around herself. It took her a few groggy moments but she finally noticed that something was missing. On further thought, she amended that to someone. Tossing the covers off her head, she squinted her eyes from the room's brightness and confirmed that, yes, Faith was gone. She wasn't sure whether to castigate herself for ever falling for the brunette's innocent, doe eyed act or whether to believe that the other girl had just gone off for something mundane like breakfast. Torn between these two warring factions of her mind, she quickly dressed and went in search of the missing girl.

****

Faith was just about to dig into the large pile of pancakes, eggs and bacon on the various plates laid out in front of her when the door to the diner swung open to reveal an agitated slayer.

"Great timing," she said by way of greeting. "You're just in time for breakfast. Come on, grab a few more plates and we'll finish this bad boy up in no time."

Buffy just stood there for a moment, gathering her composure. "I missed you this morning." She thought about that statement for a second before hurriedly amending it. "I mean, cause you weren't there and...I thought you would be there but you weren't. You're here, but you know that already--"

"It's way too early in the morning for me to try and decipher what you just said, B so I'm not even gonna try. Come on, the food's getting cold." Faith walked out from behind the counter, beckoning the blonde over to one of the stools.

"When did you learn how to cook?" Buffy asked, sitting down.

"Beats me but isn't it great that I can?" And the blonde couldn't agree more as she started putting away the food along with copious amounts of coffee at an astonishing rate surpassed only by the girl sitting next to her.

"You know, this isn't so bad," Faith pointed out in between inhaling strips of bacon. "We can cook ourselves anything we want and not even have to pay for it."

Buffy grunted in way of reply as she continued shoveling forkfuls of eggs into her mouth. So the feeding frenzy continued until every dish lay bare and every stomach was duly satisfied.

"So you missed me, huh?" Faith asked suddenly, causing Buffy to whip her head around so fast, she almost suffered a neck injury. It seemed that the extent of her vocabulary had also been reduced to monosyllabic mutterings punctuated now and again by a hand gesture since that was the only things coming out of her mouth. Thankfully, Faith stepped in before she turned completely into a puddle of unintelligible goo. "Cause I didn't mean to alarm you, I just couldn't control my stomach. Either I went with it or it was gonna go without me....What did you think had happened to me?" She asked looking earnestly in the slayer's eyes.

Buffy was ashamed of the suspicions she had harbored at Faith's initial disappearance but it wasn't like they were totally unfounded either. Based on the other girl's track record and the fact she still hadn't ascertained how much Faith remembered or if she remembered at all, Buffy decided to handle the question with kid gloves. "I don't know. That's why I was worried."

"For me or by me?" Faith asked still studying her companion with a serious gaze.

"Both. If you want to know the truth, I--"

The sudden shrill ringing of the phone interrupted their conversation causing both women to look up with a jolt. They both turned to the phone hanging on the wall, each staring with astonished expressions etched on their faces. Buffy finally shook herself out of her paralysis and walked over, picking up the phone mid-ring.

"...Hello?" She looked over at Faith who was slowly walking towards her. "Hello? Is anybody there?" She was about to shrug at Faith's questioning look but a sound on the other end of the line stopped her cold. It almost sounded as if a rather heavy book had just been dropped on a wooden table.

"Get out." A low and guttural voice issued forth from the receiver. "Get out now."

"We'd love to but this town seems intent on keeping us here. If you have any suggestions on exactly how we can 'get out', I'd love to hear them." Buffy's retort seemed to go over the head of whoever she was talking to because he just kept on talking as if she hadn't ever opened her mouth. "You shouldn't be here. I won't let you be here."

The sudden click of the dial tone ended the conversation for good, prompting her to slowly hang up.

"Well, what did he say?" Faith eagerly asked.

"Something along the lines of get out or I'll throw you out."

"Doesn't he know that 'out' is where we'd like to be too?"

"Didn't seem to register with him." The mood had dipped to somber silence all of a sudden as they each mulled over the ramifications of the mysterious caller's warning/threat.

"Well, I'm not worried," Faith declared confidently after a few moments.

"Why's that?" The blonde asked, amused at the cocksure attitude her companion was sporting.

Faith grinned as if the answer were so obvious, it was standing right in front of them...which it was, in a way. "I have you and you're used to beating up the bad guys and saving the innocent, right?"

"So, I'm like some kind of human shield to you?"

The brunette gently chided her with a barely suppressed chuckle, "Slayer shield my petite friend. Slayer shield. Worth a dozen human ones any day."

Buffy threw a soft punch at Faith's arm which made the other girl throw up her own hands in quick surrender. "Save that for the baddies slugger. How would it look to your adoring public if you beat up a poor, defenseless girl?"

"It's a good thing there is no public around here, adoring or otherwise now isn't it?"

Faith swiveled her head in an exaggerated fashion from left to right in an effort to search out said public which made Buffy burst out in a fit of laughter, in turn prompting Faith to beam broadly at a job well done. If that didn't alleviate the tension, nothing would.

****

"Tell me again why she picked this town?" Riley asked, squinting into the brightly lit horizon.

Willow spoke up as she trailed behind Giles and Riley. "It was pretty arbitrary. Buffy did the whole closing her eyes and pointing at a map procedure of picking. She said the main thing was, it was out in the middle of nowhere so in case the spell didn't work properly, there was less of a chance of anyone getting hurt."

Riley glanced back with a frown creasing his features. "But what about the townspeople? They could be hurt."

"I...We...didn't think of that possibility," Willow stammered with a look on her face like she had been totally taken by surprise,

"She should have told me," he continued, turning back around. "Why didn't she tell me?"

Giles cleared his throat like he was so prone to doing during awkward moments but he didn't answer Riley's question. The best he could come up with was that Buffy didn't want to see the young man get hurt in case anything went wrong but Riley didn't seem all that receptive to explanations right then even though he was the one to pose the question in the first place. Since Buffy had failed to call in last night to apprise them of the situation as had been agreed upon before she'd left, the little group of three were currently headed towards Sayersville. Riley was told what happened on the way there and he'd been pissed off ever since. Who knew what that rogue slayer had done to his girlfriend, he thought angrily. If he had gone with her, at least he could have watched her back but instead, he'd been left out of the loop as if he were a mewling, little boy who couldn't take care of himself, let alone protect Buffy. The resentment and outrage ate at him all the way to the town's limits where they ran across a shattered sign causing all three to shudder and mentally prepare for the worse.

****

Buffy stopped short as soon as they stepped out of the diner.

"What's the matter?" Faith asked.

"Do you hear that?" She cocked her head, intently listening for the sound to repeat itself. Faith followed suit, straining to hear as well. She was about to say no, she didn't hear anything when something did catch her attention. It sounded like raised voices that were too far away to decipher. "That way," Buffy said, catching Faith's hand in her own and running towards the source of the disturbance.

Faith eventually caught sight of people in the distance doing, what seemed to her like a miming performance. That perception was probably due to the invisible Wall they had their palms pressed against but, even from here, she could tell that the angry and shocked expressions on their faces weren't due to the barrier. As she and Buffy closed the distance between them, she could tell those expressions were caused solely by her presence. Faith's suspicions were confirmed soon enough when one of them, the red headed girl, shouted angrily at her. "What did you do?" followed moments later by a more concerned, "Buffy, are you all right? What did she do to you?" Faith wasn't sure if they were selectively blind or just chose to ignore the fact that she was as trapped as their friend and holding her hand to boot.

"Willow, Faith didn't do anything to me. I don't know what happened but we both got trapped in here. I think there's an outside possibility that your spell might have something to do with it. The entire town's residents have disappeared as well so I need you guys to go back to Sunnydale and do some research. Anything you can come up with on deserted towns, invisible force fields, and stuff like that."

"I'm not just going to leave you here," Riley protested, looking pointedly in Faith's direction.

"And I don't want you to leave but you won't be much help to me here."

In the end, Riley agreed to go back even though he didn't look too happy about the decision.

"Willow, I need to speak to you alone for a minute." Buffy released Faith's hand which she had still been holding absently up until then. Giving the brunette a reassuring smile, she moved off to the side to talk in private with the red headed witch, leaving Faith to awkwardly stand there, an unwilling subject of the wary glances thrown her way by the remaining two men in the group.

"Buffy, are you sure you're going to be all right by yourself?" Willow asked as soon as they were more or less alone.

"I think so. There's been some creep calling on the phone threatening us to get out of this town but aside from that, everything's been quiet. I need to ask you about that spell though. Do you think Faith can remember anything from her past because she's started to call me B again and I don't know if she does remember and she's just not telling me or if it's just a coincidence."

Willow thought about the question for a second before responding in the negative. "She can't remember anything Buffy. That was the whole point of the spell. The only way she can get her memory back is if I reverse it. Only then will she regain her old memories in addition to her new ones."

"Okay, I just needed to clear that up."

"So she hasn't been giving you any trouble?" Willow asked in an almost disappointed tone of voice.

The slayer looked at her friend closely before replying. "No, she's actually been pretty good company so far."

It had been a couple of minutes since Buffy and the other girl had wandered off and Faith was starting to think that it was the longest few minutes in recorded history. She didn't appreciate the cold , suspicious looks cast her way by the two guys on the other side of the Wall. What was their problem anyway she thought, staring down the older one with the glasses. From what she could tell, it might very well be their fault she and Buffy were stuck in this ghost town in the first place and they were looking at her as if she was the source of every problem in the world. She was about to tell them off when Buffy walked back towards her and, for some odd reason, she didn't see the need to vent anymore. She was starting to believe that her blonde friend had a calming effect on her. How else to explain the sudden mellowing out?

"It's decided then," Buffy declared, standing in front of the group. "You'll go back and...we'll stay here. On second thought, that's not much of a decision, that's more like a forced non-choice."

"Do be careful Buffy. We still don't have a clear idea of what we're dealing with here," Giles warned before stepping aside to let Riley say his good-byes.

A small smile appeared on Buffy's face that mirrored Riley's own as the two of them moved as close to each other as possible considering they really couldn't touch one another.

"I'm going to be back as soon as I can," he said. The promise etched in his eyes as well as his words were good as gold.

"I know you will," she said, looking up into his eyes with absolute trust.

"I love you Buffy."

"I love you too Riley."

Faith watched the display from not too far away but what she saw so far made her want to look away. It wasn't that it was nauseating, which it was, but it was more the fact that Buffy looked real happy and she looked real happy because of someone else. That cheesed her off. _She_ wanted to be the center of Buffy's undivided attention, _she_ wanted to be the one to put that smile on the other girl's face and up until that moment, she had been the one. Her ruminations were cut short when the lovebirds finally finished and all three of them left, leaving Buffy and herself alone once again. There was a bit of silence that followed as Buffy watched the little group leave while Faith watched her watch the little group leave.

"Huh?' The brunette asked, unaware that she had been addressed.

"I said, are you all right?" Buffy reiterated, already sure that she wasn't. The older girl had turned around to find Faith staring intently at her. Somewhat disconcerting in and of itself but what she was really taken by surprise at was the barely concealed desire written across her friend's face.

"As fine as I ever was," she lightly replied. "The better question would be, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

Buffy smiled, relieved that what she saw had to have been a trick of the light. It was too ludicrous to even contemplate otherwise. "I'm sure with our combined brain power, we can come up with something sufficiently fun to pass the time."

The rest of the afternoon passed without incident and as Buffy had promised, it was fun as well. They basically just goofed around the entire day which was fine as far as Faith was concerned. There wasn't anyone else she'd rather goof around with than Buffy, and the longer the time she spent with her friend, the more the bitter taste caused by what she'd witnessed earlier, retreated. The picture of Buffy and Riley together was still in the back of her mind like an uninvited houseguest but it was becoming less intrusive as the hours wore on.

****

They didn't know what time it was since all the clocks in town had enigmatically stopped on 5:25 PM, give or take a few minutes. But since the sun was nearly set, Buffy could safely hazard the guess  that it was late. They found themselves back at the Wall again with Faith lying on her back,  lazily tossing pebbles off the transparent surface while Buffy leaned casually back against the barrier with a questioning look on her face.

"You don't like my skirt?" The blonde asked, the hurt already creeping into her voice.

"No, I mean yes, I mean..." Faith forcefully stopped herself before digging a bigger hole than the one she had already reserved for herself. She honestly didn't know how the subject of their conversation had turned to this particular topic and why it was she couldn't just keep her mouth shut on her friend's clothing tastes. In a fit of desperation, she blurted out, "You look great in anything." Immediately regretting her choice of  words as soon as they flew out of her mouth, Faith wished for nothing but to take them back. Taking in the inscrutable expression on the blonde's face, she begged, "Please stop me before I say anything else."

Buffy didn't answer as she continued to peer closely down at the brunette. "Faith? I'm going to ask you something and I want you to answer me truthfully."

The other girl audibly gulped much to her own chagrin but nodded nonetheless as Buffy kneeled down next to her. The older slayer looked like she had something important on her mind but didn't quite know quite how to voice it. Finally, she seemed to come to some sort of decision. "Do you remember anything past these last two days?"

"No, I don't. Whenever I try, it comes in all fuzzy and distorted like I'm watching a scrambled cable channel or something."

"Have you thought about how you just suddenly forgot everything and lost your memory?"

"I don't know. I just assumed that I had an accident, you know, bumped my head. Isn't that how people get amnesia in Hollywood?"

"Yeah, about that....what if I told you that your memory loss wasn't an accident?"

Faith frowned at Buffy's unusual line of questioning. "What are you saying, B?"

It was Buffy's turn to swallow now. She couldn't keep up the charade anymore; to keep looking into the other girl's eyes knowing what she'd been put through was initiated by a rash decision based on a lingering desire for vengeance. "I don't know how to say this without totally blowing everything apart."

"Just say it." Faith was getting more agitated the more Buffy drew out what she had to say.

"I did it," the blonde stated, wavering between looking directly into Faith's eyes and somewhere over her shoulder. "Actually, I had Willow do it, as a spell. That's why I was worried it hadn't gone right and it had somehow gotten us trapped in this town."

"That's why you were worried," Faith mumbled, eyes glazing over.

"But it turns out that the spell probably wasn't responsible for this," she pointed behind her at the invisible barrier. "Faith, I need you to know that these last two days I've spent with you...I wouldn't trade them for the world." Buffy reached out for the other girl's hand and immediately grew concerned at how cold it was, especially since it was such a warm night.

"I need to...I have to...Don't follow me..." Faith stammered as she quickly scrambled to an upright position. She gave Buffy a cursory glance before walking at a fast clip back into town. The blonde watched the retreating figure for a few hesitating moments before hurriedly getting up and trailing after her.

****

Faith started off walking but somewhere along the way, found herself running as her feet hit the ground propelling her further and further away. In the back of her mind, she wondered why the town seemed a whole lot larger than she remembered but then she didn't really trust her mind anymore. Not after what she'd been told. Turning sharply into an alley, she stopped short in the middle trying to catch her breath which was coming in short and ragged. She slumped to the ground, feeling incredibly tired all of a sudden. In fact, she could barely find the strength to lift her hands to wipe the sweat from her eyes. By now, she could tell that something was seriously awry. She was struggling just to breath and finding it hard to keep her eyes focused. She spent several minutes on the verge of passing out so it wasn't until she heard her name being called that she knew she had company.

"B?" She labored,, trying to push the words out and looking towards the dark shadow walking towards her. "Something's...wrong."

"You finally noticed?" The figure moved to stand right in front of the seated girl and when Faith looked up, all she saw was a blurry, black outline with Buffy's voice. "Took you long enough to figure it out. I would've pegged you for a smarter girl than that."

Faith tried to reach up and touch her friend but got her hand slapped away for the trouble.

"You ran off before I could tell you why I did what I did. There's always an explanation behind everything and you didn't give me a chance to tell you mine...But that's all right, just don't run off again, 'kay?"

Buffy kneeled, bringing her face in close. "You were a bad, bad girl Faith and I think you've figured that out already, didn't you?"

Faith couldn't say a word but her eyes told the whole story as tears threatened to spill over. Buffy was almost straddling her without actually touching and her words were biting into her like bitter cold needles.

"Do you want me to tell you exactly what you did? Do you want me to tell you why I could never love you because of what you did?"

Faith immediately jerked her head up at the question, trying to look into the other girl's eyes but it was just too dark and her own eyes still refused to focus.

"Didn't think I knew? I'm not blind, I see the way you look at me. But it isn't going to happen. It wasn't going to happen then and it sure as hell isn't going to happen now. You have no one, Faith. The closest person you ever had was me and now you don't even have that." Buffy rose to her feet, not even deigning to bestow a further glance on the other girl before walking away.

****

Buffy didn't know how she managed it considering the size of the town but the fact was undeniable, she had lost track of the brunette, completely and utterly. She had Faith in her sights before the other girl turned a corner and poof, she was gone, except without the poofing sound. Unable to reconcile the disappearance with the dead end she found at the end of the alley, she called out loudly for her missing friend. She called five or six times without getting any kind of a response. As she was backing slowly out of the alley, Buffy bumped into something behind her and before she knew what had happened, two arms were wrapped securely around her torso.

"Cool it, B. It's only me." The words drifted into her ear, chilling her with its familiarity.

"Faith? What are you doing?"

The low chuckle reverberated through them both and when it finally subsided, Faith pulled her in even closer causing her to squirm painfully in her grasp but the other girl's arms refused to loosen.

"You must have jogged something loose in the old noggin because I remember now. Every little thing. And you know the first thing I'm going to do now that I'm the old me? Come on, guess."

The news came as a shock to her, not only because Willow had sworn that it couldn't possibly happen but she'd grown to think of Faith as a friend again. Her silence prompted her captor to continue talking. "I remember the incredible amount of hatred you carried for me only two days ago. Where did it go honey? I can't believe you fell for my Little Miss Innocent act so completely. What do I have to do? Mutilate some of your friends to get you back on the ball?"

"I'll kill you first," Buffy instantly replied.

"That's it, B. You know what? Since I'm such a good sport, I'll give you first crack." A hard punch delivered to the kidneys dropped Buffy to the ground. "Find me if you can," she said in a sing-song voice.

By the time the blonde slayer struggled to her feet, Faith was gone and a renewed hatred burned inside her own gut.

****

Like the morning before, the sun again made its presence known but, this time, Faith wasn't nearly so comfortable. Instead of being curled up in a comfy bed with the slayer of her dreams, she woke on the hard, cold ground unfurling from the fetal position she'd adopted during the night. Rubbing the kink from her neck and the circulation back into her legs, she tried to recall what had brought her to this undesirable state only to regret the decision an instant later when it all came rushing back. She had to wonder how things could change so drastically within the span of a day. As she picked herself off the ground, she couldn't help but feel the lonliness already starting to set in, more biting than it had been originally when she first wandered into this town. Straightening up and moving out of the alley, she hesitated at its opening. What was she going to do now she thought disconsolately. She still couldn't get out of this stupid town but neither could she stay, not when Buffy was here too. She didn't even want to think about the other girl much less see her and, considering the rather one sided conversation that took place yesterday, the feeling was probably mutual.

Easing out into the street, she tetered on the monumental decision of going either left or right but before she could go anywhere, the sensation of someone watching her returned in full force. It was so strong that the hair along her arms tingled as every last one stood on end. Before she had time to think or analyse the feeling further, her body spun around of its own accord while her arm shot out, snagging something out of the air. She fell back a couple of steps when she realized the sheer magnitude of what she'd just done. The shaft of an arrow was tightly gripped in one white knuckled hand, its point only inches from her body before being caught. Her breath came in shallow gulps as she looked down the street and saw Buffy nocking another arrow, calm as you please. Turning around, she took off at a dead run, letting her feet guide her through the twists and turns of narrow side streets, backyards, and houses. She didn't stop until she tripped over a garden knome that she could've sworn wasn't there a moment before. Hurriedly jumping back to her feet, she leapt over the porch railing and charged through the unlocked front door of one of the many nondescript houses that were in such popular demand in Sayersville. As soon as the door slammed shut behind her, she put her hands on her knees, coughing slightly, her mind racing a mile a minute. She had shot at her---Buffy had shot at her. That single thought circled endlessly around her head, refusing to relinquish its shock value. Only an instinctive need to survive roused her out of that frozen state. Moving deliberately through the house, she wasn't sure what she was looking for until she ran across the rack of knives in the kitchen. If she was going down, someone was going down with her, she grimly thought.

****

Buffy spent that entire night hunting for Faith without any success. But she did run across the house of a former sports enthusiast. Stock full of baseball bats, fishing rods, every sort of ball imaginable, and a professional archery set, it was a verifiable male sanctuary. The archery set was what interested her most though. Taking the bow and a quiver full of arrows, she left the house to continue her search. As she roamed the town, Buffy found that she had to continually focus on her hatred in order to stop her mind from wandering over to the harrowing darkness edging in around the peripheral of her consciousness; that place where anguish waged a war against despondency and neither was giving ground. Again and again, the same question kept rearing its head: how had it happened? Not only how Faith had gotten her memory back but how could she herself have gotten so close to the younger girl again in so short a time? She wanted to bury her head in the ground and forget about everything yet, at the same time, she wanted to bury her fist into Faith's face just to stop the girl from repeating the cycle of violence that had brought them there in the first place. Clutching the bow tighter in her grasp as she spotted movement further up the street, she carefully nocked an arrow and aimed. It could all end here. Faith didn't see her, she was sure of that and if she aimed in the right place...she closed her eyes and let it fly.

By the time she opened them back again, her arrow was caught and Faith was staring at her. But instead of the taunting expression she expected to see, there was nothing but shock. Why was she surprised? It wasn't like they hadn't done this before, trying to kill each other that is. As she tried to figure out Faith's new angle, her body was on auto-pilot, already nocking another arrow, preparing to aim. However, Faith didn't oblige, taking off without a backward glance. Buffy ran after her, picking up the discarded arrow that the other girl had dropped in her haste. She tracked her all the way across town to a house that could only be described as a clone of its neighbors. Jogging up to the front door, she debated whether to go the stealthy route or the more direct one. Not possessing more than a dollop's worth of patience at that particular moment, she kicked in the door and proceeded to enter only to dive out of the way when the business end of a knife hurtled towards her head.

Continued in Part Two