DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Angel and Buffy The Vampire Slayer stuff belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Warner Brothers. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. All other characters that appear belong to me. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for private use only and must include this copyright notice and disclaimer. There is some subtext in this story. If this kind of stuff is not legal where you live, if you're under 18 or if you don't like the notion of two women being in love, then you should find something else to read. This story is a Buffy/Angel crossover and is set at the end of the Angel episode Sanctuary. It is a companion piece to Who Am I?

Who Are We?
By Kristjan Brezovnik

Two girls lay in a dark alley, covered with trash. One was blond and the other was brunette. They were both unconscious. The brunette was the first to wake up and she moaned as she registered pain. She slowly sat up and looked around, puzzled. Her whole body hurt like hell and she wondered what the hell had happened to her. She noticed the blond girl lying next to her. She stared at her. In spite of the dirt and the blood, the blonde looked gorgeous. She hesitated for a moment and then slowly shook her. The blonde didn't respond and the brunette got worried. She checked the blonde's pulse and was relieved when she saw that she was still alive. She turned her on her back and shook her again.

"Hey, wake up," she said and shook her again.

The blonde finally moaned and the brunette heaved a sigh of relief. The blonde slowly opened her eyes.

"Hey," the brunette said and smiled at her.

The blonde moaned.

"What happened?" she asked and tried to sit.

"I don't know," the brunette said and helped her.

The blonde looked around.

"Where are we?"

"Don't know. I just woke up a minute ago."

The blonde looked at her.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Who are you?"

"I…" The brunette trailed off as she realized she didn't know. "I don't know. You?"

The blonde opened her mouth and then closed it again.

"I don't know."

The brunette chuckled.

"Is there something you find funny?" the blonde asked.

"Sorry," the brunette said, smiling sheepishly. "But we don't know who we are, where we are and what happened to us." She thought for a moment. "Got any ID on you?" she asked and then started to search her own pockets.

"No," the blonde said when she was done searching her pockets. "Just some money."

"I don't even have that," the brunette said.

The blonde looked around.

"So now what do we do?"

The brunette shrugged.

"I don't know. Get some place to sleep?"

The blonde looked at her money.

"We'll need to get a job. This will be barely for one night."

"Yes." The brunette thought for a moment. "So what do I call you?"

The blonde frowned.

"I don't know." She thought for a moment. "Cindy?"

"Fine by me. And you can call me Annika."

"Annika?" the blonde, Cindy, asked, puzzled.

The brunette, Annika, shrugged.

"Don't know, it just keeps popping up in my head."

"Oh."

"Come on, Cindy, let's get us a place for the night," Annika said.

She got up and offered Cindy her hand. Cindy took it.

"You look a mess," Cindy observed.

Annika looked at herself and then at Cindy.

"You're no better yourself."

"We need to get a shower and some fresh clothes."

"We don't have money for clothes. Hell, we don't even have money for food."

Annika frowned.

"Let's find a youth center, or whatever they're called. I'm sure they'll help us there."

"Okay."

"Let's go."

They left the alley, still holding hands, but neither moved to break the contact.

"Kate, listen to me," Angel said. "I really don't know where Faith is. She should've been here already. And I'm worried because Buffy hasn't shown either."

"Who's Buffy?"

"My… The other Slayer. Look, could you at least look around the building? Last I saw them, they were on the roof being shot at."

Kate glared at him.

"I still can't believe you harbored a criminal."

"She needed help, Kate. She came so far she wanted me to kill her. I couldn't just turn her over to the police, it would've destroyed whatever trust she had in me. And I know she wants to change. But right now she's scared. She has Buffy, the police and Wolfram & Hart assassins after her."

"Wolfram & Hart?" Kate asked, interested.

"They hired her to kill me and when she didn't, they sent another assassin to kill her."

"And when that didn't work, they came to me," Kate said thoughtfully. "Damn." She looked at Angel. "Alright, I'll look around." She paused for a moment. "And I'll have you moved to another cell."

Angel nodded.

"Thank you."

"How do you feel?" Annika asked Cindy as they lay in adjacent beds.

Cindy turned to her side, facing Annika.

"I'm scared."

Annika sighed.

"Me too."

"Who do you think we are? Sisters?"

Annika thought about it.

"No, I don't think so."

"You think we knew each other?"

"Probably."

"What do you think happened to us?"

"Well, we didn't get raped. Maybe someone beat us."

"Why?"

"Don't know."

"We could have fallen."

"From where? The roof? We'd be dead."

There was silence for a while.

"Where shall we look for a job tomorrow?"

"Don't know. We could try getting a job as waitresses."

"You think they'd take both of us?"

"I don't know."

"I hope they would. I don't feel like going around LA alone. I mean, I don't exactly know you, but I feel like… I don't know, like we're friends."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Annika said and smiled in the darkness.

"Any luck?" Willow asked when she, Tara, Xander, Anya and Giles came to LA a couple of days later.

"No," Cordelia said.

"Where's Angel?"

"He's working with Kate."

"Kate?"

"Detective Lockley."

"Oh."

"What can we do?" Xander asked.

"Split in pairs and search the city," Giles said.

"It's a big city to get lost in," Cordelia pointed out.

"We have to start somewhere."

"Fine. You go and I'll hold the fort."

They didn't find anything and Willow and Tara had to return to college for the week, but they promised to return the next weekend. Cindy and Annika, on the other hand, got a job as waitresses in a small but decent pub. They were lucky. The owner only wanted one, but when neither wanted to take the job alone, he decided to take both.

As they were returning to the shelter after work several days later, they heard screams. They didn't hesitate and they both started to run toward the source. They didn't stop when they saw that a group of tough-looking men was beating two young women. They crashed the party, beating up the men, throwing them around like they were little children. After a few bones got broken and a couple of noses severely bled, the men ran away.

Cindy and Annika then looked at one another, surprised.

"What the hell?" Annika said.

One of the women moaned, and the girls looked at them.

"You okay?" Annika asked and helped the woman sit.

The woman looked around.

"Christy!" she said, a worried look on her face.

"She's still alive," Cindy said after checking Christy's pulse.

The woman took Christy's head in her lap, crying, and kissed her on the forehead.

"How about we get you to a hospital," Annika said.

The woman looked at her and nodded. Cindy then picked up Christy and looked at Annika, surprised by her own strength. Annika then helped the woman up.

"What's your name?" she asked her as she supported her.

"Angie," the woman said and moaned.

"Who were they?"

"I don't know."

"What did they want?"

"Nothing."

"Then why did they attack you?" Annika asked, puzzled.

"Because we are lovers."

Annika glanced at Cindy, surprised.

"Oh."

"Thank you," Angie said just before the doctors took her and Christy away.

Cindy and Annika smiled.

"You're welcome," Cindy said.

They stared after the women until they were gone.

"You think… we could've been lovers?" Cindy then asked and looked at Annika, blushing.

Annika looked at her.

"I don't know. I think so." She smiled. "Would you like that?"

Cindy's blush deepened.

"Yes," she said quietly.

Annika's smile widened.

"There's no reason we can't be," she said and offered her her hand.

Cindy hesitated for a moment and then took it, smiling. Then she took a deep breath.

"You realize what we did was really stupid?"

Annika grinned.

"Yeah. But I felt like I had to do it."

"Yeah, me to."

"And how the hell could we beat the shit out of those guys? I mean, did you see how big they were? And we just threw them around like they were empty sacks."

Cindy smiled.

"Yeah. Looks like we're very strong."

"Cool. At least nobody can beat us like that."

"Somebody has," Cindy pointed out.

"Maybe. We don't know what happened."

"Yeah. Oh look, there's a cop."

"You think he's here for Angie and Christy?"

"Let's find out."

"What do we tell him?"

"The truth. We beat the shit out of much bigger guys."

"And he's gonna believe it?" Annika asked skeptically.

Cindy shrugged.

"We know karate."

Annika chuckled.

"Yeah."

"We got something," Angel reported the next day when he came back to his office.

"What?" Cordelia asked.

"Two women got beaten up by gay bashers and were rescued by two girls. One was blond and the other brunette. The names don't match, but it's a lead."

"Okay, I hate to point this out to you, but Buffy and Faith hate one another and there's no way in hell they would be saving anyone together."

"We don't know what happened."

Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"Do you have the location?"

"Yes."

"So, how do you feel about groping in an alley?" Cindy asked a couple of days later as they walked home from work, hand in hand.

Annika laughed.

"Don't you think it's a bit too public?"

"Scared?" Cindy teased her.

"No, just checking you're okay with it."

"So you're up for it?"

"Any time."

They walked up an alley and Cindy suddenly pressed Annika to the wall. Annika screamed, surprised, and then laughed.

"Ooh, like to be on top, ha?" she then said, smiling.

Cindy smiled.

"Not really," she said and kissed her.

Annika responded and then suddenly reversed their positions.

Willow and Tara were walking around the streets, looking for Buffy and Faith. It was weekend again and they had come to LA to help with the search.

"You know, I'm getting really scared," Willow said.

"I'm sure they're both okay," Tara said.

"I'm not worried about Faith, I'm worried about Buffy. Who knows what Faith did to her."

"Maybe she didn't do anything. If they were helping those two women together, then perhaps they're not enemies anymore."

"Ha, fat chance…" She trailed off as she heard a scream. "Where did that come from?"

"That alley," Tara said and pointed.

They took their stakes and ran to the alley.

"Buffy!" Willow said, surprised, when she saw Faith and Buffy kissing.

She assumed that Faith was forcing Buffy and she concentrated. A moment later, Faith went flying.

Cindy didn't mind the reversed positions. She was about to wrap her legs around Annika, when Annika suddenly went flying away.

"Annika!" she screamed, surprised and worried when Annika crashed into the opposite wall. She looked toward the mouth of the alley and saw two girls, a redhead and a blonde, and she had a feeling that they were responsible for Annika being thrown down the alley, even though she had no idea how they did it.

"Fuck off, you crazy bitches!" she yelled and ran to Annika. She cradled her in her arms. "Annika?" she said worried, and caressed her. "Annika, talk to me."

Annika moaned and slowly opened her eyes.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, but we better get away from here. Come on."

She helped Annika up and they quickly left deeper into the alley.

Willow was surprised. Crazy bitches? What was wrong with Buffy? Why didn't she recognize her? And why was she calling Faith Annika and why was she worried about her?

"What just happened?" she asked and looked at Tara as they watched Buffy and Faith disappear down the alley.

"I don't know."

"They were Buffy and Faith, right?"

"Yes."

"So what am I missing?"

"I don't know."

"Let's follow them."

"Are you okay?" Cindy asked when she and Annika got back to the shelter.

"My head hurts," Annika said and rubbed her head. "What exactly happened? One moment I was kissing you and the next I was flying away from you."

"I don't know. There were to girls, a redhead and a blonde. I think they had something to do with it."

"Oh."

"I think you better lay down and rest. Do you need a cold compression?"

Annika shook her head.

"No." She looked at Cindy. "Stay with me?"

Cindy smiled.

"Always," she said and gave her a kiss. "Now rest."

"We almost had them," Willow said as she and Tara returned to Angel's office after they lost track of Buffy and Faith.

"Really?" Giles asked.

"Yeah. But they're strange."

"How?"

"Well," she said and hesitated, blushing, "they were kissing."

"Kissing?" Xander said, interested, and got rewarded by a punch in the ribs by Anya.

"You're mine," she said.

"Yes," Willow said. "And when I threw Faith away, Buffy called us crazy bitches. It was like she didn't recognize us. And she called Faith Annika and she looked really concerned about her."

"Annika was one of the girls who helped those women," Angel said, looking at Cordelia.

"So you were right. So what? Stranger things have happened," she said and glanced at Xander.

"So what do we do now?" Anya asked.

"We go look again tomorrow," Willow said.

Annika woke up in the middle of the night with a muffled scream. Cindy, who was cuddled up to her, woke up as well.

"Annika?" she said worried.

Annika looked at her and stared at her for a few moments, puzzled.

"B?"

"What?"

Annika looked around and then back at Cindy. She started to back off.

"Annika, what's wrong?"

Annika gulped and looked at her. She hesitated for a moment, not sure whether she should tell the truth.

"I remembered," she finally said and looked down.

A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it, surprised that she was crying.

"Really?" Cindy said, excited, and Annika nodded. "Who are we?"

Annika gulped.

"Your name is Buffy and mine is Faith." She paused for a moment. "And we are enemies."

Buffy's face fell.

"Why?"

Faith tried not to sob.

"I betrayed you and your friends, even tried to kill you. I poisoned you first boyfriend, held your mom hostage and slept with your second boyfriend."

Buffy stared at her, shocked. Enemies. She didn't want to be enemies with Annika. Faith, she corrected herself.

"I'll take you to your friends tomorrow," Faith said, "they'll tell you everything."

Buffy gulped, realizing she was losing Faith. Sure, Faith had hurt her in the past, but the past couple of weeks was like heaven, for both of them. She didn't want it to end.

"Not everything," she said and Faith looked at her, puzzled. "They can't tell me your side of the story. Why you did what you did."

Faith looked away, ashamed. She wanted to be with Buffy, but she had hurt her enough already, she didn't want to add more pain.

"Let them tell you their version first," she said. "And then, if you're still willing to listen, I'll tell you mine."

"You promise?"

Faith hesitated for a moment.

"I promise."

Buffy wanted to hug her, but Faith backed away.

"Don't. I hurt you enough already."

"You're not hurting me," Buffy said, puzzled.

"You won't feel the same after your memory returns."

Buffy stared at her for a few moments and then sighed and went to her own bed. She wondered if she and Faith would still be together after she regained her memory. She hoped so, she didn't want to lose Faith.

Faith lay back and curled up like a fetus. She felt like crying, but she had enough control to only sob. She hoped Buffy wouldn't hear, but she did.

"You ready?" Faith asked Buffy in the morning, avoiding her eyes.

Buffy stared at her sadly.

"Yes."

"Then let's go."

Buffy followed Faith. She wanted to take her hand, but Faith pulled hers away. Buffy felt hurt, but she understood that Faith was scared, so she didn't push.

When they got to Angel's building, Faith faced Buffy.

"Buffy."

"Yes?"

Faith gulped.

"I'm sorry. For everything."

Buffy stared at her for a few moments and then nodded.

Faith took a deep breath and then entered.

"Faith!" Xander said, surprised, when Faith entered. "Buffy!" he said, excited, when he saw Buffy.

He wanted to hug her, but he changed his mind because Faith was too close to her.

The entire Scooby Gang started to surround them and Buffy noticed the hateful looks they were giving Faith.

"Buffy!" Willow said, excited, and hugged her, regardless of Faith. "Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"

Buffy recognized her as one of the girls who attacked them the previous night. She noticed that the blonde was also there.

"I'm fine," she said, not recognizing anyone.

"What happened?" Angel asked.

Buffy looked at Faith, who gulped when everyone looked at her.

"We were running from the Council guys and we fell off the roof. We lost our memory. I regained mine yesterday after someone threw me against the wall." She looked at Willow. "I'm guessing it was you."

Willow nodded.

"Yes. I thought you were hurting Buffy," she said and blushed.

Faith nodded.

"She still doesn't remember," she said.

Everyone looked at Buffy, who felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Can't we try hypnosis or something?" Cordelia asked and everyone looked at her. "What?"

"That's an excellent idea," Giles said. "Buffy, come here."

Buffy gulped.

"I'm not sure I wanna remember," she said, glancing at Faith, who was pale in the face.

"You have to," Faith said and gulped. "You can trust him."

Buffy looked at Giles and sighed.

"Okay."

"Good. Everybody out," Giles ordered. "Buffy, you sit here."

"Do you need my help?" Wesley asked.

"No, thank you," Giles said.

Wesley nodded and left.

Faith stared at Buffy anxiously, but when Buffy looked at her, she quickly looked away and left.

In the outer office, everyone was staring at her, but she ignored them and stared out the window. She wanted to run away, but she had promised Buffy that she would tell her her side of the story, if she still wanted to hear it. She sighed. Hell, she would do anything to make it up to Buffy. Having Buffy's love and then losing it was just about the worst punishment she could think of. She felt like crying, but she did her best not to.

When Giles finally came out, everyone wanted to rush in, but Giles told them to wait until Buffy recovered from shock. While no one was looking, Faith sneaked out. She never cried, but right now, she needed to cry, badly, and she didn't want any witnesses.

"Where's Faith?" Xander asked, the first one to notice Faith's absence.

"She ran away," Willow said.

"Well what did you expect?" Cordelia said.

"Do we go look for her?" Anya asked.

"Yes," Giles said. "I'll tell Buffy."

Everybody left and Giles went back to Buffy.

"Buffy?"

Buffy looked at him.

"Faith has disappeared."

Buffy suddenly felt worried. Sure, she had her memory back, but she also retained the memories of the past couple of weeks, and she found she missed Faith, in spite of all the pain that she had caused in the past.

"She's still here," she said. "She promised to tell me her side of the story," she said, finding it strange that she believed that.

She got up and went to the outer office. She thought about where Faith could have gone and she remembered the alley. She went there, but she could see nothing. She listened and heard sobs. She slowly approached the source. She couldn't see anyone, but she guessed that Faith had covered herself with some cardboard. She kneeled beside Faith and slowly removed the cardboard.

Faith looked at her and she could see that Faith had been crying. She stared at her and then caressed her. Faith jerked at the touch and Buffy remembered that they needed to talk.

"I want to hear your side of the story."

Faith stared at her for a few moments and then sat up and wiped her tears.

Buffy felt Giles' presence near by. She looked at him and waved at him to go away. Giles nodded and left. Buffy then looked at Faith, who hugged her knees.

"There's no hurry," she told her. "When you're ready."

Faith took a deep breath and thought about the past.

"You wanna know the whole story or just the parts that include you?" she finally asked.

"I'd like to know the whole story," Buffy said.

She hesitated for a moment and then sat beside her.

Faith sighed.

"My dad left when I was little and my mom was an alcoholic. When I got old enough to take care of myself, I spent most of my time on the streets, until I was called. My Watcher took me in, gave me a new purpose in life. It was the first time I was needed, but I failed her. The things he did to her…" She trailed off to compose herself. "I ran away and I came here. I was hoping that with two Slayers in town, Kakistos would stay away. And when he came, I was scared and I wanted to run away again, but you stopped me." She took a deep breath. "After that things started running smoothly." She hesitated for a moment. "I was attracted to you, but you didn't seem to get my innuendoes. And then you were dating that Scott guy, I think, and then Angel came back. I was jealous of him and I was just looking for an excuse to kill him. And that Post woman, she played me for a fool. I knew she was a bitch, but she was my Watcher and I didn't want to fail her like I failed my first Watcher. And you took Angel's side and that just ticked me off." She paused for a moment to compose herself again. "I knew I didn't stand a chance with Angel around, but you seemed to be interested in me, so I kept hoping. But every time something came up and we were never together." She paused for a moment. "And then I killed Finch." She gulped. "I was so scared, but instead of dealing, I pushed it away. I didn't want the responsibility and I blamed you. Xander tried to talk to me, but I was so freaked out I wanted to kill him just to prove to myself that it was no big deal. Angel started talking some sense to me, but then Wes screwed up when he kidnapped me. After that I just wanted to get the hell out of there. But then you came after me." She sighed. "Everybody thought I was a bad girl, so I decided to prove them right. And the Mayor, he knew how to play me. He made me feel wanted. It was like I had a family again. I was so screwed up I didn't even ask questions when he asked me to kill that professor, I just did it to please him." She gulped. "But every time we met, I felt like something was missing. I knew I couldn't have your love, so I wanted to have your hate. I knew poisoning Angel would freak you out and I knew you'd come for me." She thought for a moment. "I guess I was hoping you'd put me out of my misery, but you didn't." She sighed. "And then I woke up. Eight months! I walked around Sunnydale and nothing had changed, life went on. And then I found out you had a new boyfriend and it really pissed me off. I mean, you nearly killed me over Angel and now you had someone else." She took a couple of deep breaths to calm again. "The Mayor left me a gift and I stole your body." She thought for a moment. "It was strange, being needed and loved. And your mom, even after I held her hostage, she was still worried about me." She sighed. "And then there was Riley. I slept with him because I wondered what he had that I didn't." She paused for a moment. "This was the first time I made love to someone and stayed the night afterwards. It freaked me out." She took another deep breath. "I wanted to leave Sunnydale, go somewhere where nobody knew me and start over. But when I found out about those vamps, I just couldn't leave, after all, I was a hero and the people there needed me. So I went back. And when I saw you in my body, I just freaked out. You, my body, represented everything that I hated. But then I was back in it again and I knew I wasn't a hero." She sighed. "I ran away and I ended up in LA. I didn't really care what happened next, until those lawyers hired me to kill Angel. I didn't really care which one of us ended up dead, but when he lived through my first attack, I was hoping it would be me. And the longer he refused to come after me, the more I wanted him to kill me. I was so pissed off I tortured Wesley, but he still refused to kill me. Then I just stopped caring." She stopped and wiped her tears. "Angel slowly started talking some sense to me and I finally decided it was time I stopped running and started dealing. But then those lawyers sent an assassin to kill me and I killed him. His blood was red and it really freaked me out, reminded me of Finch. Angel was only trying to console me when you came in. When I saw you there, I knew I wanted to make it up to you. I didn't want to come between you and Angel. I wanted to turn myself in and Angel said I could go to a friend of his, some detective chick, Kate. But then those Council guys came and we fell off the roof."

She closed her eyes and waited, trying desperately to regain her composure.

Buffy, who had quietly listened, felt she understood Faith better now. Faith always ran instead of dealing. And the Post woman's betrayal and then Wesley's betrayal didn't help her. She wondered if things would've been different, if Angel hadn't returned. Or if he had returned later. Would she have noticed Faith's come-ons? And if she had, would she have become Faith's girlfriend? She didn't know. But she now also knew that there was another side to Faith, a caring and loving side. What Faith had done to her still hurt her, but she wanted to give Faith a second chance, she didn't want to lose what they had these past couple of weeks. She sighed and looked at Faith, noticing she was scared.

"Faith?"

Faith opened her eyes and looked at her.

"What do you want?" Buffy asked.

Faith frowned.

"Make it up to you."

"Beside that. Do you want to be with me?"

"Be with you?"

"Yes, you know, like we were these past couple of weeks."

Faith stared at Buffy, surprised.

"You still want to be with me?"

"Yes, Faith."

Faith gulped.

"Why?"

"Because I now know that there is another side to you. And I know that you regret what you've done. I'm not saying everything's forgiven and forgotten, but I want to be with you, make things right. I don't want to lose you, Faith."

Tears came to Faith's eyes, but she quickly wiped them.

"I don't wanna hurt you again, Buffy," she said.

"I know. But this isn't about you hurting me, it's about what you want. I already told you what I want."

Faith gulped, hesitating.

"I wanna be with you," she finally said quietly and looked down.

Buffy smiled and took Faith's hand, causing Faith to look up.

"It's not going to be easy, but whatever happens, I'll be there for you."

Faith swallowed hard.

"Thank you."

Buffy smiled and sighed, relieved.

"How about we go in now and see what we can do about getting the police off your back."

"I don't wanna run, Buffy."

"I know. But the world needs you, I need you, and you can't help anyone if you're in jail. You can't make it up to anyone if you're there. And yes, I know, I said I wanted you in jail, but I was angry then. But jail's the easy way out and you said you didn't want to run. So how about you face those you hurt?"

Faith gulped and her eyes became wet again.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"I know. But I'll be there."

Faith stared at Buffy for a few moments and then nodded, deciding she could trust Buffy. Buffy smiled and got up. She offered her her hand and Faith accepted it. Faith took a deep breath to calm down.

"Ready to face the world?" Buffy asked.

Faith looked at her.

"Yes."

The End