Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or any of it's characters.

A/N: This idea just hit me and I couldn't help myself. As usual, I'm getting myself in over my head, but heh, I hope you guys enjoy it. This isn't my first attempt at a Buffy/Faith story, but I think this one will stick. Let me know what you guys think and if I should continue it.

Slayers

Prologue

Rupert Giles knelt before his charge, clasped his hands on both of her shoulders, and looked over the rim of his glasses into her deep brown eyes. He spoke firmly, but kindly.

'Listen to me, Faith. No matter what happens, you keep this door locked after I leave. You don't answer it. You don't open the curtains. You sit in the corner by the lamp and you read. Do not turn on the lights. Do not turn on the TV. Make this place look empty. No one can know you're here, do you understand?'

Faith bit her lip as she looked into her adoptive Father's eyes. 'But I can fight. You trained me. I'm going with you.'

Giles shook his head. 'No, dear. You're not ready.'

'I'm Fourteen!' Faith persisted stubbornly, trying to look tough.

'Exactly. You're not old enough for this fight. Not yet.'

Faith looked down, chewing on her bottom lip agitatedly.

'I know how you feel, Faith,' Giles went on. 'But I don't know what I'm going to find here. This new Slayer, she probably has no idea what is going on. If the Shadows have found her, things could get messy. I can't be worrying about you at the same time. I'm not ready for you to be in this fight. Do you understand?'

Faith nodded, holding back tears. 'Yes,' she whispered.

'Good,' Giles replied, relief flooding his features. He stroked Faith's cheek gently, and then stood. 'I'll be back soon. I promise.'

Giles had his hand on the door when Faith spoke again. 'You better.'

Giles turned to look at his daughter. He smiled. 'Remember what I said.'

Faith held up her book as her answer, and then Giles was gone, locking the motel room door behind him. Faith took a deep breath, and then went to sit in the corner of the room, curling her legs up underneath her. She opened the book, but cast one look back at the door, her fear written plain on her face.

(-)

Giles crouched outside of the new Slayer's house. He could see the light on inside the upstairs window, but the rest of the house appeared dark. Glancing up and down the street, he found no sign of anything out of the ordinary. It appeared to be a regular suburb, with whites picket fences, green hedges, and makeshift swings dangling from trees. He could see no out of place vehicles or ominous signs. Still, Giles had been doing this for many years now, and he was nothing if not cautious.

He needed to get inside quickly, convince the new Slayer of his good intentions, and get her to safety before anything had a chance to go wrong. It was no easy task, but Giles was used to it. Nothing was easy these days. Not since the Shadows appeared twelve years ago.

As for the new Slayer, she was an Unknown. Most Potentials were tracked from birth and recruited by the Watcher's Council to be trained for their potential destiny. However, some of them, those designated as Unknowns, slipped through the cracks and only became known once they were Called.

The young lady inside the house across the street was one such Unknown. Her name was Rebecca Layden, and if Giles couldn't get to her in time, she would be killed by the Shadows before she could even embrace her Calling, like so many before her.

Feeling as if he couldn't waste anymore time, Giles emerged from him cover and began to walk inconspicuously towards the house across the street. He kept his head still, but his eyes darted back and forth, looking for any motion from his peripheral vision. He kept one hand in his jacket pocket, said hand gripping a sharp, wooden stake. His other hand he kept free, in case he needed to reach for any of the other weapons he had stashed on his person, be that a potion from his belt, or the tranquilliser gun he had stuck in the back of his jeans.

The moon cast it's glow down on him as he made a quick dash around the side of the house. He peered in windows as he moved around to the back, but all was dark inside, which was not unusual for this time of night. He found the back door ajar, and suddenly his blood ran cold. He grabbed a flashlight from his belt and turned it on, stake now held out before him as he slowly crept into the house.

The light revealed to him a normal looking kitchen, but he wasn't reassured. He kept the light moving, searching every corner as he made his way through the kitchen and into the hall. Something glittered on the floor and he froze. He moved his light back, and caught sight of several shards of glass. They rested in a pool of dark, congealing blood.

He tightened his grip on the stake and kept moving, light swaying back and forth. More blood led him into the front room, where he froze in horror. Tied to a chair just in front of him, he found the grizzly remains of a middle-aged man. At least, Giles assumed the man to be middle-aged. He couldn't make out much of the man's features, due to the sheer amount of blood and gore covering him.

Taking a deep breath, Giles scanned the room with his light, and found another body, this one of a woman. She was hanging from the ceiling, tied with a noose around her neck to the light fixtures. Giles moved the hand holding the stake to his mouth in revulsion. Her insides spooled out towards the ground.

Feeling sick, Giles moved to the stairs. Was he too late? Had the Slayer already been killed?

He could see the light from upstairs as he climbed. It was coming from a room only a little way down the hall. He stopped at the top of the stairs and scanned both ways with his ray of light. There was no sign of anything, so he moved first towards the lit room. The door was slightly ajar, so he moved his eye to the crack and peered inside.

He could see nothing out of the ordinary, belying the tragedy downstairs. He opened the door slowly, revealing more of the room. The TV was on, but it was muted. Some cartoon played out silently as he edged into the room, turning his flashlight off.

A sob from the corner of the room sounded like a gunshot in the eerie silence. His head snapped to locate the sound, and he found a young teenaged girl huddled in the corner, crying. All caution forgotten, Giles rounded the bed between them and moved to close the distance.

He was almost on top of the girl when he pulled himself up short. It was all-wrong. The death downstairs. The single light on, like a beacon, luring him straight here. The lone girl, waiting for him. Waiting.

She moved so fast. Giles couldn't do anything as she struck, pushing him right in the chest, and sending him flying backwards into the wall. He hit with a crash and fell gasping to his knees. The girl laughed.

'Watcher,' a male voice intoned from the door.

Giles looked up, first at the girl, the Slayer, who was swaying slightly back and forth and grinning, and then over to the door. A Vampire stood in the doorway, his twisted features terrifying to behold.

'Do you remember me?' The Vampire asked casually, his horrific face calm.

Giles did. How could he forget the Vampire that killed his last Slayer? 'I do.' Giles hunched in on himself, acting more hurt than he was, and reached with a hidden hand to grab a potion from his belt.

'This time,' the Vampire began, 'your Slayer… is our Slayer.' For the first time, the Vampire smiled.

Giles narrowed his eyes. How could this be happening? He looked at the girl, the Slayer, Rebecca Layden. She turned her head at him, studying him as if he was a curious animal. For the first time, he noticed her bloody hands, and realisation dawned. Oh God, she had killed those people downstairs, ripped them apart with her bare hands.

'People these days are so rude, don't you think?' There was a moment of silence, as if the Vampire was waiting for a response. 'So,' he announced suddenly, almost jovially, 'before you die, I would like to introduce myself.' He strolled into the room with a cocky gait. 'When you meet the big man upstairs – if he even exists – tell him…' He leant down in front of Giles. 'Tell him, Angelus sent you.'

Angelus chuckled sadistically and straightened up. He turned to the Slayer and said, with a shrug, 'kill him.'

Before she could act, Giles smashed the potion on the ground. Neither the Slayer, nor Angelus, knew what hit them. The light was blinding. Giles, eyes closed, ran for the door, shouldering the stunned Angelus out of the way. He could hear both the Slayer and Angelus yelling behind him as he took the steps two at a time. He didn't look back as he slammed through the front door, breaking it off its hinges.

He ran as fast as his legs could take him, ran right for his car, parked just one block down. He wasn't even sure they were following him. He didn't stop until he got to his car and slammed the door shut behind him. Taking deep, ragged breaths, he started the engine and hit the pedal. Tire screeched as he sped off, high tailing it back to the motel, back to Faith.

It was time to get the hell out of town.

The Slayer, somehow, had been compromised. The Shadows had themselves a new weapon, their weapon, and now, the Watcher's Council was defenceless.