The Slayer of New Gotham

by magicmumu

Rumors of strange happenings brings Faith to a city called New Gotham, where she finds she's not just dealing with vampires. Birds of Prey TV crossover. Femslash warning.

1. Chapter 1

The Slayer of New Gotham

By Erin Griffin

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Rating: R - sexual content and language

Pairing: Dinah/Faith, among others (Birds of Prey/Buffy the Vampire Slayer crossover)

Disclaimer: The book mentioned within is an actual book called Accidental Love, but I forgot who it is by. I don't own that, either. I was broke when I saw it in the store I was in, so I didn't get a copy. Choking on Stardust is an original story that I was working on, and I am hoping that it will someday become a published bit of writing. The Birds of Prey characters belong to the WB people, and the Buffy people belong to Joss Whedon. All other characters used to belong to me until I traded them in for a stamp of a kitty cat...

Spoilers: All Birds of Prey episodes, just to be on the safe side, and just about all of the episodes for Buffy. Also, most of the information I have on Faith I got from other fanfiction, so it might be wrong.

Summary: Hmm... metahumans Dinah can handle, but vampires?

Author's Note: Okay, I am writing this for Bardly, who wanted to make my life a little bit difficult by giving me a crossover to work with, and she wanted a Dinah/Faith paired fic. (Love ya'.) So, here it is, Bardly. Thank you everyone who participated. Everyone who emailed me had the right answer for my riddle (FRUIT). Good job you guys. I will have to find a harder one for you writers and lurkers. You're too smart.

Author's note #2: There are a lot of things going on in this story, and I hope it doesn't get too confusing. There are a lot of happenings in Underground Gotham. If there is an actual map of the Underground then I totally didn't see it. You will know somewhat where they are by what building is above the character(s) in the Underground. Also, I don't care if in the show, Faith has taken many elevators before. She's still afraid of them, because I said so, damn it. Don't ask me why I thought that would be fitting for her to be afraid of, but she needed a physical, not just mental/emotional fear to make her seem that much cooler.

Author's Note #3: I used a quote from the finale in here. I might get sued... I might not, as no one from the WB reads these things. Or not... I dunno... I forgot where I had used it, though. Maybe you can tell me. Uhmm... You can tell near the end here that I am a Tara fan, lol. Me no like Kennedy muches, so uh, a tad bit Kennedy bashing here. Don't like, don't read. The Sunnydale stuff happened in August, then the New Gotham stuff happened in the following February instead of the other way around.

Extra Warning: There is character rebirth. You have been warned... ;)

Sometimes I wonder if my feet would ever get tired of wandering, but I know by now that it never will. I wandered from Boston to Sunnydale to find my destiny. Boy, did I ever find it; I just didn't know it would involve a mayor, jail, redemption from a vampire, and the awakening of hundreds of Slayers. I miss B an' Dawn. Buffy decided she wanted Dawn to be grounded- no more ex-Key demon fighting, so she stuck her in a school where Dawn's new Slayer friend Georgia attended while I trained the new Slayer in the afternoons. After a while, though, they both wanted to stay. They are living near Chicago, which is where our paths separated. The rest of the Scoobies- Willow, Xander, Giles, Kennedy, the remaining Potentials (now slayers themselves), and Andrew- decided to continue the search for more Slayers. I decided I wasn't going to join them when they had asked me to. To tell the truth, at the time I was jealous. Being Slayers was the only thing that no one but me and B had. We were Slayer Sisters, the Chosen Two. Now I am a part of a Chosen Two-Hundred-So-Far.

I'm over that now. I figure there may be more of us, but Buffy and are the best at what we do, and that is just fine with me. I have never been good at anything but screwing everything up, making all the things my mother ever said about me true. So now I am on my own again, wandering to wherever I get the tug to go, and slay a few vamps along the way. This method somehow got me to Albany New York, where I am reading the newspaper at a cafe. When I had hopped the bus to go to New York, I figured the tall buildings (great for hiding in shadow), busy people (too busy to give you a second glance, a third judgment), and busy night life would be just my style. There has got to be loads of night time slaying action there, and with the rumors of freaky happenings going on, it seems to be a place to at least visit.

I look through the obituaries to read about who has died, and then I look at the articles. I see that one of the articles is about a murder in a smaller city called New Gotham. There were victims of many different crimes reporting that their attacker had been stopped by some shadowed angel, yet still one body was found with the usual wholes in the neck. "Whack jobs." I mutter when I see that. Supposedly, there are abnormal people there all the time getting arrested. If that doesn't spell out a demon gathering, I don't know what will.

So now I am on yet another bus, headed a good 6 or 7 hours east to New Gotham. Part of me (a very small part, mind you, and I am talking microscopic) feels scared, and I want to turn back, but then I think 'Who is there to go back to?' I don't want to go back to Chicago with Buffy and Dawn as much as I love and miss them both. I want to be... Actually, I don't know what I truly want. I guess I am afraid to want anything anymore in fear of finally getting it, then having it taken away... or my doing something to make it somehow go away. So I stay in my seat, sitting next to a fairly nice woman except for the fact that she's breathing, and in front of some 12 year old boy who doesn't know the meaning of 'Please stop kicking my seat' (or rather 'Stop it, punk, or your face is going to get a makeover!' He still didn't stop because he knew it was an empty threat), and I think about maybe starting a new life back in Boston or possibly even in New York after I find out what is going on in New Gotham. All I know now is that a slight shiver keeps traveling through my body, telling me I am alright for now, that there's something more than this. Something is going to be different there in New Gotham at least, I can feel it.

Dinah

The air isn't as cold as I was told it would be by Freaky Fred, the weather guy on the channel 12 news tonight. He lied to me, or maybe this is just a lesson to never listen to someone who goes by Freaky Fred to begin with. Either way, I am feeling quite warm in the jacket I am wearing as I walk side by side with Helena. She looks as chic as ever, as if she had walked out of a beauty magazine and said, "Hey, I wanna be a superhero now." She is ready for a good fight tonight. She was telling me earlier about some jerks who now come to the bar often and they are rowdier than her normal crowd. Also, she had come to the Clocktower the night before, bleeding and looking very angry, which only meant she was in a fight and didn't win. If she had come home bloody and she'd won, she would tease me by putting her bloody body part in my face and watch me go from either horrified to disgusted, or from horrified to worried to disgusted. Also, she would be grinning from ear to ear as she has Barbara fuss over her wounds, which she almost always claims 'is nothing'.

The look of frustration that was on her face the night before is in her face now as she walks with me, and at first we are silent. "I still don't see why you wanted me to come along on sweeps. I mean, on any other night I would be thrilled, but... Those metas you fought seemed... almost enhanced, and they all seem to fight the same. It is as if they have the same power. Barbara said that isn't possible." Helena seems to shake from her thoughts (most likely the many ways she would seek her revenge on those whom she'd fought the night before), and she looks at me. Her eyes are fierce and I fight the urge to cower. Her gaze softens a little bit.

"You need to get out more, Dinah. Barbara's worried about you. Alfred's worried about you. I'm worried about you. You stay in the Clocktower when you aren't in school, you don't call Gabby anymore unless you dream that she is in trouble, and you're being pushed way too hard in the training room." All this is true. I know it. We all know it. I think even Gabby on some level knows that after what has been known to me as 'her invasion', everything has been different. (I'm sure she just thinks that it's because Mr. Brixton was my favorite teacher other than Barbara, and I wasn't even in his class. She probably thinks I am grieving for him, and that is true as well.) My grades went up, but only slightly due to less distractions during school, and I know I am becoming obsessed about being better at the whole meta lifestyle, making sure that 'her invasion' will NOT happen again as long as I am alive and there to stop it. I don't mind it when Helena pushes me harder in the training room, in fact, the harder she pushes, the better I feel after each session. I know I sometimes push her just as hard when she feels she wants us to quit for the day.

"I go on walks around the city after dinner. I DO get out of the Clocktower," I say in my own defense. Helena looks at me.

"Yes, but you are always alone now."

"I know. I'm sorry. I am not sure if there is anything I can do at the moment to help you, I mean you fought just one of these metas last night and still he easily got away."

"Not EASILY. He bled... I think. Made him whimper in pain a few times, though. That was fun."

"Yet he still got away, Helena." I stress.

"Which is why I need you here with me tonight to help fight. That bugger won't stay down, but if you are mad enough, I'm sure you can... I dunno, throw garbage cans at him, tie him up with a power line, or... something." She finishes with a shrug. I look at her and my mind wanders a bit. Helena stops walking, and I do as well. I stare at the ground for a split second. "Dinah? Tell me what's on your mind." This startles me, since those are not words that come out of Helena's mouth often if at all. I would expect them from Barbara in a heartbeat, but Helena? I'm sure that is why I decide to answer her truthfully.

"I-I'm afraid." I say, ashamed to admit that after all that I had seen and gone through in the last few months I have lived with my new family, that I am afraid of a few metahumans. "We've been in situations we almost couldn't handle before-"

"Almost, Dinah. Almost."

"I don't want this to be an almost. I don't want to wonder if this 'almost' will truly be it." Helena drapes her arm across my shoulder and hugs me to her.

"You are a fighter. You have proved that time and time again. You seem to have always survived these things. If you feel this an almost is a miss, it is a miss, and you survive it. You want to know what I think?"

"What?" I ask, curious. Helena's voice had become lighter after her little speech, almost mischievous, and I can't help but wonder what is going through that brain of hers.

"I think these metas just need to be whooped a few times. Even if they don't stay down, maybe we can whoop them together as a team, and maybe they will know who this city belongs to. So, what do you say? You in for a good fight?" I nod, feeling better. "Come on. We'll split up for now, we might find them faster. I will be overhead, and you see what you can find down here on ground level. Be careful, Kid." For a few seconds I had hope, but all hope deflated. I had hoped that Helena and I would bond, and for a while there, we did. I thought we would be equal in fighting, but then again, it will always be the same. I am still 'Junior Super Girl' or worse yet, 'Kid'. I nod again, pretending the nickname doesn't bother me, and Helena's arm leaves my shoulder, and she disappears, showing off her elegant features as she jumps from rooftop to rooftop in search of bad guys.

I am left on the ground, walking in no specific direction, almost waiting to be captured or something. I am sort of bait, and the capturers don't find out that their move was a bad one until I am in the middle of beating them down (or watching Helena do it). Works like a charm. I walk down 5 or 6 blocks, heading towards the worst part of town where Helena had fought the meta the night before. As the heat of the night (barely cooled by a small wind) finally forces me to take off my jacket and wrap it around my waist, I start to feel as if I am being watched, then as I start walking again, I feel as if I am being followed. "Oracle. Oracle, you there?" I whisper to the air.

I am here, Dinah. Comes a reply, which makes me feel safer.

"I think I've got company. You better tell Helena to get here."

She says she's on her way. I nod, but I know she can't see it.

"Thanks." I whisper. I walk about, still feeling the presence behind me, but I never see anything when I look back. This is starting to scare me, since I have never had the feeling of being 'hunted' before. Now I know how Helena's victims feel before she beats them down. It is a creepy feeling, not sure when I'll be attacked, but knowing that it will be at any second. I round another corner when strong hands grab me, rip me from the ground, and throws me against the nearest wall. It is too dark to see what my captor looks like, but he feels like he isn't too much bigger than me. He smells as if he has been sleeping in a morgue. I hear footsteps and the smell gets slightly stronger.

"I'll tell you, James. These people have the best tasting blood. It's almost s'good as Slayer blood," says the voice in front of me, which is slightly gruff. It is the voice of my captor.

"How would you know, Derek? Have you ever HAD Slayer blood?"

"Well... Nuh, but I know a friend o' our sire was the one who had killed a Slayer or two in his days. William the Bloody. Never EVER wanna cross that one, I tell you," the first voice replies.

"So who gets the first bite of this freak? I'm hungry." Hungry? Bite? Who are these people? Were these some of those teens I have heard about that had rituals in the woods and called themselves 'Lords of Darkness'? Fear is almost rippling through me now. They somehow know that I am meta. Perhaps one of them have the power of sensing that in me. Either way, I am uncomfortable. Maybe this was a bad idea. I struggle in this man's hold, only to feel pressure against my ribs. It is hard to breathe. My captor is strong, and I can imagine now why it was so hard for Helena to keep the upper hand on the meta she'd fought the night before.

"I caught 'er. She's mine first."

"Hurry up then, and don't hog i' all. It took you a good part of the noyght just to catch her." It was hard to tell where these men were from. It sounded as if they spent a good amount of time in both England and Australia. The two accents were mixed somehow.

"It would have taken less time if you weren't such a bleedin' coward!"

"I'm not a coward!"

"You ran from that guy who can throw knives and that tyke who turned into a tree." Derek growled.

"His branches looked a little too sharp for my liking." What the hell are they talking about? Had they tried to 'bite' other people? I decided I've have enough. Gathering courage, I concentrate on the rock the sidewalk behind him and it flew to my captor's head. He jerks forward, then turns around. When he isn't looking, I kick him in the shins, forcing him to let go of me. The second guy, 'Jake', looks like he wants to run away as well, but he also wants to prove to 'Derek' that he isn't the coward he claimed he is. He advances on me, ready for a fight. I plan to give him a good one.

Faith

I cautiously step off of the bus, cracking anything that would make noise as I try to get rid of the stiffness that invaded my body, and look around, hoisting my backpack over my shoulder. New York looks nothing like I'd imagined it would. I thought I'd see lights or bars on every corner and maybe a Chippendale's or Deja Vu strip club down the street. Instead I see a Starbucks on one corner and an internet cafe down the street to my right. Along the sidewalk are various shops selling everything from collectibles to cheese to computer bits to hand me down clothing, but mostly I see three coffee shops in my line of vision. It was then that a weird thought enters my mind, 'Do demons drink coffee?' I'm sure some types do, but I'm not going to hang out all day in a coffee shop to find out.

Right away, my Slayer senses start going haywire, but where the vamps are is a mystery, as I can't quite tell. The strongest pull was straight ahead of me, so I start trotting in that direction After a couple of minutes, I stop dead in my tracks (no pun intended). Even thought my eyes can adjust to the dark, there is something about this place that seems even more in shadows, and that sends a small shiver down my spine. There is a fury of fighting, and the blur of movement almost stops my heart. It's her! Blonde hair, nice body, and graceful moves, including the one where a Dumpster flies from out of nowhere and lands on the vamp closest to her... Well, that is certainly new, but with Buffy, who knows, she could have picked up some magic in the 3 months we have been apart. I want to run to her, but I am frozen to the ground. She seems to be holding her own for a little while, but a good kick seems to knock her to the ground for a second, and she hesitates in getting up. Her coat, which was up until then wrapped around her waist, falls to the ground, but she doesn't seem to care.

Then she turns around. It isn't Buffy. Now that I have a closer look, I am not sure why I would believe she was. Sure, this girl is blonde, but her hair is lighter than Buffy's and she is about 4 inches taller. Damn, could she fight though. I haven't seen anyone who fought like that since Buffy. Sure, this girl's moves are often miscalculated, but it is apparent that she had done her homework. She knows what she is doing. So who is she? A new Slayer perhaps? Does that mean that Willow has made her way here already and that the rest are near somewhere? No, the last I heard, she was headed to Seattle. Lots of major activity in the downtown area was reported last I heard, and so she went in hopes of finding a Slayer there to keep things under control. So again, who is she?

"Oracle, I REALLY need Huntress' help right about now," the girl shouts. Faintly, from somewhere near her (almost as if she is on the phone, yet there is nothing in this girl's hands), I hear a reply.

More metas cornered her on the roof above you. These seem like the average meta, as she is taking care of herself up there, but she wants me to tell you that you are doing a good job on your own, just hold on for a few more minutes. So, the only clue about her is that she works with a woman named Huntress. Obviously, that can't be her real name, but then, I know a girl named Willow. Something tells me though, that she only uses this name at night, so I wonder what this girl goes by at night. She also works with a woman named Oracle, an older woman it sounds like. Nicknames are given to a person for a reason. I was the Dark Slayer for a good reason... the Psycho Slayer... also for a good reason... An Oracle is someone who sees... everything, so maybe she is the eyes of this city. She sees what goes on in the city, and tells Huntress and Dinah where to go and help them out. Huntress... Well, that sounds self explanatory.

"I don't think I can hold them" *SMACK* "off that long. I am already tiring out."

Just hold on, Dinah. She'll be there to help you shortly. Dinah... sounds ordinary to me. You'd think people who hide behind nicknames would go by something like Night... Guy or something more original. I slip my hand into my right leather pocket and feel a tingle of anticipation as my fingers slowly run over the smooth wood I'd carved just the day before yesterday. I see one of the vamps sneak up on this 'Dinah' girl. He's about to hit her with something metal. I rush past her and shove her to the ground. Actually, I move her out of the way. I forgot about my Slayer strength and she falls to the ground at the force of my shove.

"Hey-" she yelps, rolling and quickly regaining her balance. I ignore her cry of protest and stare down the vampire with a grin upon my face while I can see the other girl look at me with a look of confusion on hers. I turn and take my backpack off, using it to beat the vampire, but nothing is more effective than my fist.

Dinah? Are you alright? I hear. I take my stake out of my pocket and show off a little for this girl, twirling the wood between my fingers expertly as a way to tell her I have been doing this a while. Dinah shakes her head as if she can't believe her eyes.

"What a pretty stick you've got there, little girl." the vamp says with a slight sneer.

"It'd look even prettier lodged in your chest." I say, faking innocence. The girl seems to realize what's going on, or at least she knows that I am about to attack. I attack first as I almost always do. The vampire that was buried in a pile of trash from the trash can a moment ago dramatically groans with each attempt to get up. He sees me and freezes, which gives me more quality time with is buddy, whom looks at him as well, and shouts at him.

"JAMES!! You get the blonde, I will handle this one."

"D-Derek? Do-Do you know who that is?"

"Should I?" Derek asks, annoyed that James has even bothered to speak.

"She's the Sl-Slayer. O-Or one of them." James says nervously.

"WHAT?!"

"Well, the stake kind of sets her apart, but that is definitely a Slayer. One of the Chosen T-Two. My friend's sire was dusted by her back home." I smirk at that one. I try to think of who his friend's sire could have been, but then I think 'So many vamps so little time. Who can keep track?'

"Who-"

"If I told you my name, I'd have to kill you." I say as I punch Derek in the nose. He looks as if he wants to say 'No fair', but he doesn't, which is lucky for him, for if he had said it, I would have staked him faster. We have a good fight; I'm winning of course. Dinah and Jeff are just standing there, too shocked or scared to move. I hear the familiar sound of leather, and the vamp I'm fighting disappears before I realize what's going on. Another woman, a year or two older than me, is now beating Derek.

"Remember me?" She snarls. She has the look of a predator, and I know that this is the 'Huntress' Dinah was calling for. She has the same look on her face that I get when I know I am going to enjoy something after being denied for so long. I had that look on my face when I staked my first vamp after escaping from prison. This Huntress is the better fighter of the pair, and she fought with smooth moves and quick reflexes. She knew where she wanted her opponent, and she knew how to get them there. It is apparent Dinah learned what she knows from her, and from the looks of it, Dinah still has a lot to learn (and I bet she is eager to do so).

I decide after a minute or two that playtime is over, even though I know I can fight with them all night. I doubt I can say the same for the newcomers, though the 'Huntress' looks as if she is having fun and can spend a considerable amount of time kicking the vampire's ass. The stake in my hand seems to be calling for that vamp's heart. I raise my hand and aim for the vamp's heart, but when I move my hand to plunge it, my hand slips off of the stake and I feel a sliver enter my pinky. I look at my now empty hand before looking up, sucking on my little finger. The stake is suspended in midair.

Dinah

'What the Hell is going on? Who is this girl?' I wonder as this new brunette watches with growing agitation as the vamps speak of her being a- a Slayer. A new term in the book of witchcraft? Is this girl supposed to be a dark version of whomever they are supposed to be? And if that is so, why is she beating them up, helping me? Before I can truly comprehend what a Slayer could be, I see that she's taken out a stick and was running towards the pale men. Interesting weapon, but a weapon none the less. I am stunned though, that she can move so quickly and fight off these men with a few quick moves. After a couple of minutes, Helena helps her out, and it is fun watching Helena beat people up when they deserve it, as mean as that sounds. After a moment of fighting, though, this new fighter raises her stick into the air and I know she is going to use it to kill the man Helena is fighting. I quickly use my mind to stop the stick in her hand from going into to the other man. I stopped it in midair in my panic, even though I had meant to take it from her. Oh well, I did what I wanted to do, even if it was in a different way.

"What are you doing?!" the longer haired brunette asks angrily.

"I don't know who you are, what they think you are, or where you come from, but we don't kill." I tell her boldly as I sweep my hand in Helena's direction. This new girl's eyes shoot daggers at me. She scoffs.

"Well, that won't be a problem. They're already dead!" At this, the shock of her words make me lose control of her stick, and it drops to the ground. She picks up the stick with a glare on her eyes. I look at Helena for a split second, and see that she is watching this girl very closely, seeing if she is going to make any move. She does, too fast for Helena to stop her. The stick goes into that Derek man's heart, and he looks stunned. "By the way," she says gruffly, "the name's Faith." Instead of falling to the ground dead as I expect he would, he vanishes into a pile of foul smelling dust. I watch as the small winds blow the dust away, leaving behind no evidence that a man named Derek was ever there. She turns to stare at both Helena and myself, then twirls towards the other man, James. I forgot he was even here. At the moment, he is trying to sneak away. "Ah ah ah..." Faith says as if the vamp was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, "Everybody gets a turn." She throws the stick at this man as if she was using a throwing knife, and James too, turns to dust when it gets him in the back directly behind his heart.

Huntress saunters over to me, and places a hand on my left shoulder. "You okay?" she asks. I only continue to stare at this 'Faith' girl, who slips a backpack over her shoulder.

"Y-Yeah." I say, looking up at Helena to show I was telling the truth. She searches my eyes to see if I am lying, as I knew she would, and seems to approve. She nods, but does not back away as if she wants to hide me from Faith's view. "Hey, what kind of name is Faith? I mean-"

"I dunno, what kind of name is 'Dinah'?" Faith retorts, putting her stick back into her pocket. She does not look at me.

"What she means," Helena says through gritted teeth, "is why you chose that as an alias."

"It's no alias," she replies in a curt manner, "That is my name." I nod slightly as if to silently tell her I understand, even though I don't believe that Faith is her actual name.

"What were those men?" I ask her. She looks at me then, but there is no glare. There is a look of disbelief on her face instead, as if she was secretly wondering if I am stupid.

"You've got to be kidding me. You mean the stake to the heart isn't a big tip off?" I search my brain to see what could possibly be described in that manner, only to remember movies like Dracula that I used to watch with Helena before Harley Quinn's attack on the Clocktower.

"Vampires? You're trying to tell me that what you just -er- vanquished were VAMPIRES?" I ask, my disbelief matching hers.

"Well," she counters, "what did you think they were? Something tells me that you were expecting something else, and it isn't of the cuddly kitten variety." I raise an eyebrow. She is smarter than she looks, I will give her that credit.

"You have no idea." Helena mutters, bringing me back to the conversation at hand when her grip on my shoulder tightens.

"I assure you you're wrong," is all Faith says, but it is enough to make Helena's hold on my shoulder turn into a death grip. I struggle out of it, not meaning to let out a small squeak of pain.

"Shit, sorry Kid." She says. My eyebrows twitch as I fight my frown.

"S'okay. You're stronger than me, and you keep forgetting that, s'all." I murmur. I can tell that both Helena and Faith heard me. I look down, then I remember that Faith had saved me only moments before, and though I wasn't sure what to say to her, a bit of gratitude is the best way to start a conversation. I look up at Faith and struggle to keep eye contact. "Well, uh, thank you for uh...-"

"Slay. I slay vampires, hence my title." she says coldly. 'So much for that.' I think bitterly. I look up at Helena, who gives me a look that says 'Want me to beat her up for you? I will do that you know...' I put my arm out to half heartedly hold her back. As if my scrawny hand alone could ever keep Helena back, even if I was putting any strength behind it, but it does. She doesn't move, but her body's stiff and ready to attack if necessary.

"Right." I say. I sigh, look at Helena, and say, "I think I'll head back. I doubt there are anymore of them, and if there are, we know now what to do." Helena nods, then truly sees me since the appearance of Faith. I can see that she wants to go let out more frustration, and I would bet all of the Wayne fortune if I owned it that she is more than likely going to antagonize her victim first. If she, for whatever reason doesn't catch anyone, then she would more than likely go to Barbara and give her a full report on Faith. Helena knows that I would more than likely try to talk to Faith, and I can tell she wants none of that. At this point, she hates Faith. Helena is the soul protector of this city, and I respect that. I just help out from time to time if my homework is done and I have been a good little Poptart all week. That is how it has been the last month and a half since 'her invasion'.

Helena winks at me, giving me a look I know so well. This is the look she gives to the would-be victims after she mysteriously leaves, jumping the roofs right in front of their eyes. I see that she is on her way back to the Clocktower. By the time I get there, I will have to tell Barbara my side of the story, and I know I am in for a long night as Barbara, all seeing and all knowing, will want details as she figures out this new mystery of vampires and a slayer. Or two... James had mentioned that Faith is one of a 'Chosen Two', whatever that refers to. I guess we'll find out, and by 'we', I mean Barbara within 20 minutes, I'm sure.

When I cannot see Helena anymore, I walk three steps closer to Faith, who moves back, and bend down to grab my jacket. Actually, it is Helena's jacket, but so far I have not gotten yelled at for having it. At least it didn't get ripped or blood-stained. It only got that dust on it, and I hope that comes out in the washing machine with a little Febreeze or some of that Oxycleaner wannabe stuff Alfred uses. Flipping the jacket over my shoulder, I head back to the Clocktower, taking the long way even though Faith stood in the street alone and didn't even move. It hardly looked like she was breathing before I left her standing there. All the way home, I make sure I cannot hear footsteps. I hear none. I am alone.

Faith

I thought there would be more questions about Slayers and vampires from that girl Dinah, but she just turns and walks away without another word after she got her friend Huntress to go. She knows that this place, like Sunnydale, is no place for a girl to go walking alone, but she knows where she is going, and can probably get just about anywhere blindfolded. She proved that she can hold her own. Part of me wants to find her and ask her a bunch of questions about how the Dumpster had flown, or how my stake had just stopped in midair; both things I know were somehow her doing. Is she a witch? She'd be pretty powerful if she is, but if she fights like that, I'd have to guess that she's been around like this for a long time, meaning she'd used magic often. This cannot be so, since Dinah doesn't look to be more than 18 years of age. Someone her age would have worn herself out or killed herself with that much magic by now, and she seems to be going strong in that; it is just her fighting that needs work. Besides that, Willow, the Council, or some other witch would have sensed that much magic being used and would have gone to investigate where it was coming from and see if she was a friend or foe. Plus, I didn't hear her mutter any spell to make my stake freeze like that. It is as if she stopped it with a thought.

So what is she? Demon? No. I don't think she's a demon, otherwise my Slayer senses would have still gone strong after the vamps were staked. Not all demons are bad, anyway. What else could she be? I know both she and her friend aren't quite human. They seem to be something... more. I mean, the Huntress had slits for pupils like a cat. Letting my mind wander, I walk in the other direction from where Dinah had gone a few minutes before. I was feeling foolish just standing there in the middle of a darkened street. I hope to find a few more vamps, but I know that it is hopeless. The dull tingle inside me told me that there were vamps somewhere, but I don't know where they are. Not knowing anything about this city, I let my feet wander to keep up with my mind. New Gotham is nothing like Sunnydale, where most of the vampires I dust used to be that hot guy I flirted with in the Bronze just the night before I stake him. And speaking of which, I'd just about kill for something to eat, and with the... let's say 'side effects' of slaying, that could go two ways. I walk around this new city for the rest of the night.

It is about 7:30 according to the New Gotham Clocktower when I make a turn towards the diner I had passed sometime around 2 AM. I am ready for breakfast. I can see it clearly in my head: 2 stacks of pancakes, 10 slices of bacon, a large plate of hash browns, some sausage, about a quart of maple syrup, and a gallon of orange juice. I check my mouth to see if I am drooling as my eyes glaze over at the thought of food. My lips are dry, reminding me how thirsty I am. I hear voices, teenagers going to the high school there on the street I am on. Part of my mind clicks on, thinking about Dinah, and I wonder briefly if she goes to this high school, New Gotham High. As if I summoned her, I hear a voice I know I heard the night before. That voice that belonged to that woman who calls herself 'Oracle'. Actually, Dinah was the only one who called her that. Part of me wants to see what she looks like.

"I'll see you after school, Dinah." I hear her say. Is she her mother? A mother/daughter team by night? I doubt it. It wouldn't explain Huntress. She looks nothing like Dinah, so I know they aren't sisters, and the way Dinah looked at her suggested otherwise as well. I look for a place to hide. I walk casually next to one of the girls walking into the tall building, fitting in with the scenery, then I stop by the door and slip behind the bush that decorates the front entrance of the high school. At this view, I can see the blonde from the night before, though instead of wearing jeans and a t-shirt under a fake leather jacket like she did the night before, she is wearing a pair of black stretch pants, and a pink t-shirt that says 'Angel' on it. The 'G' has horns that holds up the tilted halo. Over her shoulder with two fingers, she holds her denim jacket.

The woman in front of her isn't older than 35, this I know. She could not be Dinah's mother. She looks nothing like her. She could be an aunt of hers, but I doubt that, too. If I hadn't ruled out the fact that Dinah could be a Slayer as well, I would have guessed that this woman is Dinah's watcher, but as I knew, she is no such thing, as Dinah didn't even know that vampires existed. What they fight is a whole other breed of evil.

Her hair is a dark red, and her eyes are green behind a thin framed pair of glasses, which she takes off before she examines Dinah. I see that she is in a wheelchair, which seemed to run on newer technology. The buttons were different, instead of a steering stick as my grandmother had a few years ago, long before I ran away. Perhaps wherever she works now she is pretty rich. How else is she to afford that wheelchair? Certainly not on a teachers' salary.

I realized then that Oracle had called the blonde 'Dinah'. That is her real name, otherwise she would not have said it in front of all these people. "You have enough for lunch the rest of this week?" she asks.

"Yeah, I've got enough, Barbara, for the rest of the week. And next week." Dinah says, adding in the part about next week after a short pause to think about it. Barbara. Oracle looks like she can be a 'Barbara'. I wonder what she does during the day, and how she's related to Dinah and her night life. Dinah starts to walk towards the steps, towards me. Just when I am about to move away, I see Barbara reach out and take Dinah's arm quickly, telling me that she has been trained for that fluid movement. She might have also had a history of fighting whatever Dinah and Huntress now fight. It might even be the reason she is in the wheelchair now. Whatever happened to her must have been a good few years ago. Barbara's voice brings me out of my thoughts of what could have put her in that chair, and why it made me angry to think of anyone doing that to her. She seems like a nice person, but I don't know her. 'You don't know her, Faith, or any of them, so why are you getting attached to them? This will only be a repeat of what happened Sunnydale.' I think.

"Wait," Her voice is filled with an authority that would make even the scariest of vamps stop in their tracks. Though her voice is hard, her face is soft, and I know there is no reason for Dinah to be afraid of this woman, in fact, I am sure Dinah trusts her with everything she has, even if she has a couple of things behind her eyes that she doesn't share with her. "Do you know if Helena is coming over tonight? Did she mention anything to you?" Helena. That could only be the Huntress from last night. This is starting to come together a little more for me, but I have to find out more, and from the looks of it, I will only get anything out of Dinah. Barbara has never seen me before, and Helena only looks at me as if I ran over her cat. Thinking back, I understand now why Dinah had asked me what kind of alias Faith is. She was wondering how my name had related to what I do, but I wasn't lying to her when I said that it wasn't an alias. I don't think Dinah believed me, though. Dinah turns to look at Barbara, and the older woman's hand leaves her arm slowly.

"She's working at the Dark Horse tonight. She told me that there's a new crowd of guys that come in and make all kinds of noise. She calls them wusses because they always want wine. She hates them and wishes they would just leave, but Lennard tells her to grin and bare it. If she comes over at all it won't be until after midnight." Dinah says.

"Right," Barbara replies, as if she had also been told that, but had forgotten. I don't think she is the type to forget anything, even if she desperately wanted to. "Well, we have to figure out..." Her voice lowers, and though the people around them can't hear her, I can still hear her as if she is talking at her normal volume. "what's going on and who that 'Faith' is." At my name, I try to move even more behind the bush.

"She seems good." Dinah says automatically, which surprises me.

"Quinn seemed good at the time too, didn't she?" is all Barbara says at first, getting Dinah to quiet immediately. "We can't take anymore chances. We need to do another check on her, but I doubt the search will get us any closer than last night. There was no one that matched the description you gave me. I think she was erased from the system." 'Thanks, Willow.' I think. "She must be running from something. Anyway," She looks at her watch, then at the Clocktower for the time. "we will talk about this later." Dinah leans down and places a kiss on Barbara's forehead, earning a fond smile from the older woman. Even if this woman is not Dinah's mother, it is apparent that Dinah respects her, and loves her as one. Even though she lives the night life she lives, she is probably safe, as this woman would not let anything hurt her.

"Bye Barbara."

"Bye Dinah." Dinah walked up the steps and I dodged out of view. She turns, as if she felt my presence, but she looks back at Barbara, who is entering the building on a ramp that seems to have been built less than 5 years ago. I am about to emerge from the bush and talk to Dinah when another blonde almost skips up to her first. 'Shit!' I think. 'More of them? Is she in a large team of these people? If so, where was she last night? What can she do?'

"Hey Dinah."

"Hey Gabby." The new girl had curly blonde hair and blue eyes that had 'filled with innocence' written within them. She wasn't like Dinah, who had straightened blonde hair and blue eyes with a hint of something dark within them. I calm down, knowing somehow that this Gabby was not important to Dinah's night life. "Did you tape COPS last night?"

"Yep. Told you I would." she says, rummaging through her backpack and taking out a video tape labeled 'COPS and Voyager'. "Like it says, I taped Voyager on it as well since you told me once you used to watch that show before you came here. So, there's my side of the deal."

"Alright, alright. Here's the receipt for the order. You just have to go downtown and get it after school." she says, holding out a piece of printer paper with what looks like numbers and titles on it.

"Thank you. You know I would not have had you look up those books for me if-"

"You and you mother didn't live on the same planet. I know she would freak if she caught you looking for lesbian romances online." Dinah nods slightly as Gabby blushed with a hint of guilt on her face, then the two of them walk into class. I know I cannot separate her from the other girl without someone getting suspicious or without a scene, so I stay where I am. From inside, I can hear a giggle and whispers.

"Hey Zipper Girl!" Someone calls to them. I don't know who it was for, but it is Gabby who answers the call.

"Shove it, Jamie!" The doors behind her close and almost all noise cease within as the bell rings, signaling the start of yet another school day.

"I've gotta find out about this girl. If she is going to do a search on me, then I will do the same, only I've got somewhere to start at least. All she's got is a first name. I have a first name, and school records. That should give me a little more. I will have the upper hand. But first I need food." I mutter to myself, thinking out loud. I look up at the Clocktower. Its hands say it is 7:46. "Breakfast time."

Dinah

School. Compared to everything else in my life, school seems to be the most irrelevant. I mean, sure I need it for something to do during the day, but I just can't concentrate on my work anymore. At first, I used my school work as part of my outlet for my rage, but now I have no desire to do any of it. I haven't told Helena or Barbara any of this, of course. I just pretend I care. I would rather be at the Delphi looking for Faith. I need to know why we haven't heard of these vampires existing outside of books and movies before now. Part of me knows that they have to be real. I saw them turn to dust, and I know that metahumans can't do that, unless that one meta has that power... So far we haven't encountered one that can, so it is a possibility. But there were two of them, and they didn't look alike, so they can't be twins with that power. I have no choice now but to believe that those were vampires, or if not vampires, something else not even human at all.

I listen as Gabby breaks a rule and turns around to talk to me about one of the books I had ordered online for her. It all jumbles together. It is the same thing. I pretend that I care. It seems exhausting pretending I care about the book, about the assignment that was just handed out, about anything inside this building's walls. I nod and focus back on the plot of this book she had read once on the internet, and her reaction when she found out it had been published about a year later. The story actually seemed good, about a woman who drives home drunk and runs over this younger woman named Rose. She takes Rose home and takes care of her to avoid getting arrested, and they fall in love as Rose heals on the outside and the other woman, named Veronica, I think, heals on the inside. Gabby had originally found the story on a site called A Room Of Their Own, a place that has many lesbian stories that are novel sized.

My disinterest in my daily 'normal' life is a lasting effect of Harley's attack on us. In wanting to train hard to prevent it from happening again, I have stepped a little more into the meta lifestyle, my world. A world that Gabby does not know about... a world that, to keep her safe, she CAN'T know about. It's a world I can't let her into, for that is a mistake that Barbara had made, a mistake that cost a life. For this reason, it is hard for me to talk to Gabby about the ordinary, and I know that I look down on her because she is just human. Sometimes I wonder if I am jealous of the fact that she is 'just human', or if I feel higher than her on the food chain for being metahuman. Either way, it isn't fair to Gabby, for she can't help either situation, nor can I. It makes me feel badly when I do it, but I look at her sometimes and it makes me angry that I can't just say 'Guess who Helena and I met last night? She slayed a couple of vampires that we thought were metahumans.' and have her say 'Seriously? Did you get a few good punches in first, though?' You know, have an actual conversation about it.

"So, is there a sequel?" I ask, trying to get more into it. Gabby is still my best friend. I am not going to abandon her because she isn't like me. I'm not. If I keep doing that, I will be living in a lonely world, and I am outside of it as it is, and Gabby is the one person who takes my hand and pulls me back in, if only for the seven and a half hours in the school day that I see her.

"To this one? Not that I know of. There is a sequel to Love's Journey Through Frominot, the one about two sorceress' going through this other world together trying to get back home. I think it is called Return to Frominot. If the first one is good, I will get the second one to see what else happens." I nod. I had spaced out when she had told me about the other book. In total, Gabby had me search for 5 books, two of which she had already read, and the other three she had seen the summaries to and wanted to read. Our teacher, Mr. Callaway, stares at me, and I make a motion for Gabby to turn around. She knows that the teacher was looking at her back, and she rolls her eyes, emitting a small grunt as she turns in her chair. Yay, class has officially begun... Whoo joy...

Faith

With a stomach full of food, and a bottle of water in my backpack, which also held a couple more stakes and the clothes I wore the night before (I changed in the diner's restroom; I am now wearing a black T-shirt that says "...and WHEN was the wizard going to get back to you about that brain?" in blue print, a pair of jeans and no coat, as it is in my backpack), I am ready to do a little research on Dinah, and maybe learn a little bit about Barbara and Helena in the process. Maybe I can look up her records to see who she really is. But then again, Willow is a bookworm and all the teachers who had her loved her. No one would have ever guessed that she almost destroyed the world with her magic after Tara died. And you learn early on that nothing is ever what it seems, and I am sure Dinah has learned that lesson at least on one occasion. Perhaps, though, I can get a last name, fake or otherwise, and maybe I can at least know how to get a hold of her. It's a start. A small start, but a start. I still have the upper hand. I take out a scrunchy that belonged to Buffy. She had given it to me as a way to remember her. As if I could ever forget her. It still has her sent. I put my hair up with it. I had once put my hair up to keep it out of my eyes while I trained Dawn and Georgia, and Dawn had said I looked like I went to her school, younger, more naive.

I can hear inside the classrooms as I walk past them. "... hope you did your reading this lovely Friday morning, otherwise, you have homework over the weekend." There is a small chorus of groans as I walk away from classroom 103, walking towards room 105.

"Joseph? Megan? Tiffany... R.?" I hear a tiny voice say 'Here', before I near room 107 and 109, a joined classroom with two teachers inside.

"... to remind you that headphones are not allowed in my classroom or they WILL be confiscated and given to my son for his birthday." I walk away, and walk up one of the stairs before I hear some voices in the boys' bathroom.

"Yeah, and then he ran away with that girl in his arms when I told him I had to get home before the sun rose or my mother would kill me. He looked scared when I said that and ran away, just like that. I bet he did something to that girl. At least one of us got laid-"

"Are you lost?" The voice startles me, making me lose the conversation that the boys were having. I jerk towards the voice. It is Barbara who spoke. Having not seen me, but heard the description of me, she may not know who I am, and probably thinks I am new. I try to keep my voice from going lower and deadly (a defense mechanism) as I answer her.

"Um, can you tell me where the office is? I have been looking for about 5 minutes."

"Oh, you just walked by it. Are you new?" Barbara asks, watching me closely. If she is half as observant as Willow, she would see that I don't have very much in my bag, not enough to even pass for school supplies, and the shape of my bag has a ball shape than the flattened shape as it would if I had a notebook in it.

"Yeah, I transferred over here. My mom travels alot. I probably won't be here very long." I say, pretending to be nervous, and some of it isn't an act. I am getting fidgety under her gaze. I don't think I'm going to pull this off. She finally looks away.

"Must be tough." she says casually, as if there isn't much sympathy in those words at all.

"Not really. Not after you've done it a few times. You get used to it, but when I go to college in a couple of years, I will feel a little more grounded." I say, looking around and shrugging. I know this can't go on for much longer, but I have to keep this up if I want to get past her and get to Dinah's records. "So, are you a student here?" I ask, knowing the answer is 'no'. She looks startled, then starts to laugh.

"Me? Not for many years. I work here. I teach in that classroom there." She points down the hall a little ways. "I'll show you where the office is to get your transcript, since I see you don't have one now, and you if you have any questions, you can come to me if you want to." I nod.

"Thank you, Mrs..." I pause, leaving it open for Barbara to introduce herself. She looks at me and closes her eyes as if to mentally call herself a spaz. I smile weakly. I know this is an act as well. She is not a very good actress, though I give her points for effort.

"My name's Ms. Gordon, but most students just end up calling me Barbara anyway, so you can call me either."

"I'm Nina. Nina Carmichael." I say, using my mother's maiden name for a last name, and the name of my favorite 'Just Shoot Me' character as a first name. I extend my hand to shake hers and she takes it; it was very firm. I pretended it hurt. "Wow, my father always used to say that it was good to have a firm handshake." I say with a smile. "So, uh, where is the office at? I need to hurry, I have a class in 10 minutes. Mom had car trouble, and I know I already missed my first period. I have no clue what it is, anyway." Barbara nods, then motions for me to follow her, and I do. We stop in front of a door that I must not have seen on my way in. It even has the word OFFICE on the top of the doorway in ugly yellow paint. "Don't I feel dumb." I say. If Barbara was watching me closely, waiting for a wrong move to give me away, I think I just made it, but to my surprise, she says nothing for a second.

"Happens to the best of us." she says. "Come to my room if you need anything. Don't hesitate to ask, okay?" She says. I nod and she wheels away. That was odd. I know for sure she saw right through me. I can see it in her eyes that she did. I slowly walk into the office, where I see a guy at the front desk who is in serious need of acne cleanser. Badly. I smile shyly at him, anyway. I hear that Barbara's chair has gotten further away, but she isn't going to the classroom she said she works in. It sounds as if she is going towards the elevator that goes to the 2nd floor. Is she going to go get Dinah? Will she tell her about seeing me, and possibly her suspicions of me? If she definitely did know that I was the girl Dinah had described to her the night before, why didn't she just stop me? I know that she has the ability to do that even with her disability to walk.

And if she just let me go, is she waiting for me to take the files first? That doesn't sound like the move of someone who is all seeing all knowing like an Oracle, unless she has something else up her sleeve. Or, I hope, she doesn't even know who I am and did, in fact, think I am a new girl here, a theory I highly doubt. Either way, I better hurry up and get out before she does find out who I really am, and... I dunno. I don't want to think about the consequences. I won't wait around to find out.

I realize then that the boy is looking at me expectantly, and has asked me a question. "I'm sorry, I am a lot more tired than I thought I was. What was it that you said?" I ask in the same voice I used to talk to Barbara. The boy was taking the time I was spending staring into space as I thought of the teacher to stare at my breasts. I roll my eyes, but let him look, knowing that this is the most (and best) he's gonna get for a long time. When I had asked him the question, he looks up, and blushes.

"Uh, I asked if you needed something." he repeats.

"I am a TA for-" I look around, making a sweep of the room, hoping to see a hint of some teacher's name. Somewhere in the back where a woman was on the phone, I hear the name 'Mike Callaway' roll off of her tongue as she requests to see Fred Green so he can take his medication, as he had forgotten to do so earlier. "Mr. Callaway. He asked me to get the school records for Dinah." I realize then that not knowing her last name, this idea might not work. I hope upon everything that this will work.

"Last name?" the boy asks. 'Shit!'

"How many girls named Dinah could possibly go to this school?" I ask, more to myself than to the teen in front of me.

"Eh... right. Dinah Redmond. I have 5th period with her. Strange one, she is, but I s'pose she's nice." he says as he goes to retrieve her file. A minute or so later, he is back. "Here ya go, Dinah Redmond." He places the folder in front of me, and I pick it up. "Are you new here?"

"Yeah, just got here a week or so ago." I say.

"How come I haven't seen you around before?"

"I guess we just run in different circles." I shrug. "Anyway, I better go before I get in trouble for taking so long. See you around." I say. 'Or not.' I think. He nods.

"Bye." I walk out of the office, looking around cautiously to see if anyone is around, but no one is, which is a surprise, since I am sure the first period would have been over by now. I hurry silently down the hall and slip into the girls' bathroom, and rush to a stall as soon as I know no one else is in the room. I sit on the toilet in the second stall (the first having no door at all, as if it had been recently ripped off, its hinges going with it) and open the folder, which seems rather small.

The first thing I see is a school photo, most recent, for it looks no different from the face I saw this morning. It looks almost as if Dinah was faking her smile at the time, silently begging the photographer to 'just hurry up'. She looks nice none the less, though, wearing a black sweater vest with a white shirt underneath it. I move the photo aside after finding nothing out of the norm about it (it wasn't altered digitally like I have seen Willow do to some of the Slayers that had records of violence in their schools, and some that had even gone to jail once or twice for assault), and see her school records from Opal, Missuri. Where the hellmouth is that? It seems she used to be a below average student, and there were even some notes from the school councilor saying that she lies about some things to make her feel better about things, like having no friends. 'She speaks of imaginary women, whom she claims she will someday find, to help her cope with the lack of friends around her, and the possible abuse she has at home.' was what was written on one report. There was one other, from the middle school in Opal which has a record of her getting into a fight because she told an older boy that he was raped by his father, and the boy got angry and hit her. From the records, she was suspended for spreading lies.

She hasn't been here in New Gotham High for very long, but it seems that she is under the care of a B. Gordon, whom I know is Barbara. There is a phone number for where to call her. There was also an address, but something tells me she doesn't actually live there. Looking at her records here in New Gotham High, she seems to get better grades, mostly B's and C's, but lately, she has been getting them raised from what it says on her most recent report card, which was given out almost 3 weeks ago. She is now almost an A average student.

Dinah hasn't joined any clubs or extra curricular activities, but her English teacher had submitted a poem she had written to the school's newspaper. The poem is called Fallen Hero, and my guess would be that the title explains it all. That was written over a month ago.

Her grades, a mention of a someone named Quinn, the poem... Something happened to this trio of night hunters, and it wasn't good, in fact, it nearly destroyed them. What was it? Is that why they are so suspicious of me? I know I deserve it now, with me sneaking around on their turf, slaying vamps like it is a normal occurrence to the rest of the world as well as just me. I know that if one of them had come to Sunnydale, Boston, or even LA, strolling around looking for... whatever it is they deal with, I am sure I wouldn't waste anytime figuring out who they are and why the heck they are in my territory.

I am just about to look over the personal information again to memorize the address and/or phone number when the door to the bathroom opens. I quickly move my feet upwards to block the door so no one can enter, and maybe if someone just does a quick sweep to see if anyone's in here, they won't see my legs. It seems as if whomever has come in does just that, then I hear the wisp of clothing as this person moves a body part. Then I hear the familiar whir of Barbara Gordon's wheelchair and I know it can only mean one thing: Barbara and Dinah are in here, and I have no way to escape without being seen.

'Shit, shit shit!' I curse silently, feeling my hands start to slightly shake. I cannot explain my fear of these people or this place. Actually, I think I am afraid of this Barbara person. I know she is the Oracle for a reason, and I am afraid she will just look at me and see... everything, whether she wants to or not. Or maybe it is the fact that I was never really afraid before because I had Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies helping me out before my betrayal and after my redemption. Between that time, though, I wasn't scared either. I knew I was a Slayer, and that life sucks and then I die way before my time, fuck the consequences.

So why do I care now? I am still a Slayer... Life still sucks.... I'm still gonna die before my time, so why am I scared now? Is it because I am alone for the first time in almost a year? If I mess up, I am the only one at fault. I am on my own and I am the only one to ensure my safety, and even that will never be possible because of the constant threat of vampires and possibly the threat of whatever this trio fights night after night. Maybe that is why I am scared. Though I know more about them than they know about me, they know what is out there more than I do. They know what roams around in this city as well as just vamps.

"There is no one in the stalls. We're clear. So what's up?" Dinah asks.

"There is no records of a woman named Faith in New Gotham. That is no surprise. I checked everything, buses, trains, everything. She got here with cash, and maybe not a lot of it. She could be running from something." This isn't new information, as Barbara has said this earlier before Dinah and Gabby had entered the school together.

"Other than the whole vampire slaying thing, she didn't leave any other clues as to who she is." Dinah says in almost a whine.

"Well, did she have any accents?"

"She didn't. She just sounds like one of those women you see in movies on the Oxygen channel who just bust out of jail and are out for revenge... Not that I stay up WAY past my bedtime watchin' those, or anything." she covers up quickly. There is a slight pause. I think Barbara is giving her some sort of look that says 'Yeah right'.

"Maybe I can check the penal system and try to find her." Another pause. "Look Dinah, I think she is here. In the high school. I think she is doing the same thing we are trying to do. She's trying to get information on you. How she found out you go here, I don't know. She might have just guessed because of your looks that you aren't old enough to be out every night fighting metahumans." Metahumans? What the hell?

"I doubt it, Barbara. Something tells me that if we can't find her thus far, then I don't think we'll find her at all." There was a small pause. "Why do I get the feeling that you're laughing at me on the inside?" Dinah asks, and I hear a slight giggle from Barbara. I must admit that it is a pretty sound.

"You said 'thus far'."

"Yup, you're getting to me. I actually did my vocabulary homework for this month and decided I like the word 'thus'." she says. "Hey," Dinah says as if she just thought of something. "Do you think we are looking in the wrong places?"

"Where do you think we should be looking?"

"We're trying to find where she's from. If she's running from something, or maybe even TO something, then we should start there. She's here now. Let's say that vampires do exist, because I am still not too sure-"

"Why? Why is it so hard to believe?" Barbara's question surprises me. Actually, the question itself doesn't surprise me, it is the person who says it. I would find Barbara to be someone who believes what she sees. She hasn't seen any vamps, so why should she believe in them? "I mean," she continues, "you've fought people who walk through walls, turned into water, and spat acid. Hell, your crime fighting partner has catlike abilities, and vampires are hard to believe?" 'Spit acid? Is this what metahumans do?'

"So, let's say they ARE real," Dinah continues, "they will be doing... vampire stuff... the blood sucking thing. Find where they are, we find where she is. Look up some of the weird deaths that just seem odd the last few days. The wholes in the neck or something, or a disappearance of people who could have been turned into vampires." Barbara seems to think this over. Dinah must know a lot about vampires, even if it is by reading too much Anne Rice, and even some of that isn't true. It surprises me that she knows where I would be.

"Alright. I'll check the morgues and all that to see if anything is going amiss. I shall do that during lunch-"

"Can I eat lunch with you today?" Dinah asks quickly.

"You can eat lunch with me whenever your popular daytime schedule has room to squeeze me in."

"I'm sorry I-"

"I'm kidding, Dinah. I am glad your life isn't always about THE life. I'm glad you aren't making the same mistake I did." she says quietly. "I will look forward to spending some time with you during lunch. Now go, get back to class before you're late for second period."

"I'll be getting to class in a minute. I have to go." she says. Something tells me that Barbara doesn't believe that, but she leaves anyway. I hear the whirring of her wheelchair faintly as the door closes, and I wonder if I have time to escape before Dinah leaves, but I doubt it. There are footsteps, and then they stop right in front of my stall. 'Oh no, oh crap.' I panic. "You can come out now, you pervert." Dinah says with disgust. 'What? Pervert?' I think to myself.

The door jerks towards me, and I know she is trying to get in. Suddenly, the door swings out towards her, breaking off of the hinges. My feet fall to the floor and my whole body jerks forward with the loss of support in my legs. She sees me and her eyes widen. She wants to scream, I can tell, but she doesn't. "I-I thought you were a guy. Tim Ross likes to hide in the girls' bathroom stalls to see what girls talk about, that sicko." She says in a rush. Then she calms, looking me up and down, her eyes landing on the files on my lap. Her eyes narrow, and she looks angry now. "What are you doing with my file?" I know she knows the answer to that question. I stand up and she backs away. She is scared of me, which is funny, since I am kind of scared of her. I mean, she did that to a door, and she didn't even touch it. But something within me becomes cocky, the 'old Faith' comes back a little. I just stare at her with this knowledge of her fear, and use it as a crutch to keep my own chin up.

"Same as you, I s'pose. Research." I turn towards the sinks, and walk to the mirror. I see her take a step or two behind me, but she stops before she can get too close. "I know who you are, where you live, where you go to school, but I don't know what you are." I say a little coolly, masking the small tremble I feel.

"I am human, just like you... or maybe not like you." She says in the same tone. I think I hit a nerve with the words 'what you are'.

"Yikes, retract the claws... Or is that to be said to Helena- Oops, I mean, Huntress..." That was going a little too far, I know, but bringing her down brought me up, an old defense which was always my best offence. Dinah tenses. She isn't going to say anything back, maybe because she can't think of anything clever to say, as not knowing about me gives her no ammo against me. It is then I realize this is not fair, and I am returning to old ways. "Look, I am sorry for that. I hadn't wanted to get into this when I came here. I just wanted to know a few answers and find out who you are, how you moved that Dumpster last night, and why you do what you do... who you fight against every night. That's all. I know you have questions about me, too, but the main thing is, I have seen a lot of things out of the ordinary in my life, but I have no clue where you fit into the things I know. You are unlike the things I'm used to."

"You've got that right." Dinah says a little bitterly. "You know a whole lot about me already. I know nothing about you. That is enough. Go back to wherever you came from." she says. I don't know what I was expecting. I wasn't expecting a full detailed report about her, but I wasn't expecting her rejection like that. Maybe a few questions of her own, since her trio seems so into finding me, but she just turns around and pretends that she doesn't care about anything. I know that she does, though. She cares a lot.

"Look," I say, walking towards her. She concentrates, and I can't move my feet.

"Stay away from me, you hear me? Stay away from my family. Whatever you came here for, forget it."

"I'd be lying if I told you I didn't come here for something. I came here to slay vampires. That is what I do. But when I got on the bus to get here, I felt there was something here. I can't explain it, but... Have you ever gotten the feeling that once you go somewhere or do something, things will be alright?" I ask. She stares me down, but a flicker of recognition crosses her eyes.

"This place has that effect on people, despite the people that go bump, clank, or whatever in the night." she states slowly.

"I helped you get rid of those vampires which you thought were something-humans, right?

"Metahumans. We are called metahumans, Faith." she says wearily, placing emphasis on my name.

"Well, I know that vamps don't travel alone most times. Someone's got a pack around here, and they've moved in. I'll do what I have to do, and I'll be gone for good. We don't even have to cross paths whiles I'm here. Can I just ask you one question?"

"You can ask. Don't mean I'll answer." Dinah says in a lower tone that I never thought could come from a girl like her.

"Fair enough. You are metahuman. What is a metahuman? Is it anything like a witch? Demon?"

"You mean witches exist, too?"

"Yeah. Have a friend named Willow who did some bad ass spells in her days. She's Helena's age." If I keep talking, and keep her interest, maybe things will settle down. I don't know where exactly she got the idea that I wanted to hurt her or her family, but I don't want to hurt anyone except for a few vampires as I pass through. Whomever this Quinn character is, she sure has messed things up for everyone. "She's real smart, too. Probably would be fast friends with Ms. Gordon." I say.

"I'll tell you what. You tell me what a Slayer is, what they do, and I will tell you about metahumans." Dinah says after a long silence. I nod. That sounds fair. I am actually surprised she offered even that after the little outburst less than a minutes before. I move my feet and I find I am unstuck, but I do not move towards her.

"Alright. There used to be only one Slayer. That was B- er Buffy. Buffy Summers. A Chosen girl who is called after the Slayer before her dies. This new girl gains abilities that are more, faster, better than a regular human being so she can fight off evil that walks this earth. God, I think Giles has rubbed off on me." I say. "Anyway, Buffy had died, but only for a couple of minutes or so, but that was still just enough time to call for another Slayer."

"You?" Dinah asks.

"Actually, a girl named Kendra. I do not know her, I never met her. Buffy spoke highly of her though, and the Scoobies loved her, too. From what they tell me of her, I would have liked taunting her for a reaction, just like I used to do to Buffy. When Kendra died, I was called. So then there were two of us. Buffy and me. The Chosen Two." Dinah nods as if she understood something, probably the explanation of the Chosen Two title that James had given me the night before. "A lot of bullshit happened between us, I betrayed her, went a little mad, then walked the long path of redemption with the creature that I was trained to kill, a vampire named Angel. He helped me out a lot while I was in jail, and convinced me to go back to Sunnydale where-"

"Sunnydale? That town that caved in 6 months ago?" Dinah asks.

"Yeah." I raise my hand slowly, pretending to be guilty. "Sorry about that. I went back there to help Buffy with the Potentials. They were to be Slayers when Buffy or I died during the battle we were fighting. We never did. Willow had saved us, did a spell that made all potentials into actual Slayers, and helped us win. Now there are Potentials everywhere, untrained who are now Slayers, hunters."

"So, you are faster, stronger than actual humans." she states as if to get it all right in her mind.

"Yes."

"So, are you looking for other Slayers, these ex-Potentials?" Dinah asks. I shake my head.

"No. Willow does, but I don't." I say. She nods again, trying to fit things together in her mind. "So-" the bell rings and she looks up at the ceiling, where the sound was coming from.

"Look, I better go. I'm late for class as it is. I-I want to talk to you. I have my end of the deal to fulfill, too. Do you have a place I can meet you at?" I shake my head.

"Haven't checked into any hotels yet, but I was looking at the one next to that Clocktower. I like being in the shadow of tall buildings."

"Yeah, so does Helena. Better for capturing whomever she's after." Dinah says in a softer voice.

"You can meet me outside that building then after you are finished here. We can talk then. Just do me a favor and leave this between me an' you for now. I dunno, that Barbara makes me pretty antsy." I admit. Dinah nods.

"Yeah, and if Helena found out what you know and that I am talking to you now, things could get ugly even though I know you can handle her." Dinah hikes her backpack over her shoulder, and I walk to the stall, and pick up my own.

"So it's a date then." I say. She nods and walks out of the bathroom, and I follow her until I get to the door to the main sidewalk in front of the school. "Oh, Dinah." The blonde turns to look at me with a look of curiosity and a small hint of fear. "Two things. I know what it is like to have your world torn apart in one fell swoop." 'Why did I just say that?' "Also, I recommend the book Choking on Stardust for your friend." I say, speaking of a book that Willow had read from cover to cover so many times that she wore its spine. Never read it myself, but I heard from both Kennedy, Willow and even Andrew that it is a good novel. Dinah nods, then continues her trek to her classroom. Part of my mind wonders if she will actually keep it between the two of us for now, or if she is headed straight for Barbara right now to tell her where I am.

'I have to put some trust in her now.' I think, walking out the door, down the steps, and onto the sidewalk. The Slayer senses are dull, but still bugging me. It is making me crazy, but right now, I have no clue what to do about it. I hope to find out soon, and something tells me that these people are the ones to go to ask for help. I don't know this city like they do, so their knowledge and my Slayer strength might be what will get this city back to its normal state, whatever that may be like. My heart felt a slight weight in it as it thought of being apart of something again, if only for a couple of days.

I break into a run and sprint towards the Clocktower, where there was that hotel across the street. I get there in about 12 minutes, and slow to a walk when entering the building. Checking in is easy; I just give the font desk clerk the cash and my ID with just the name Faith on it, then he gives me my key, not really even looking at my card. Now I am sitting on the bed, bored.

Dinah

That has got to be the second weirdest conversation I have ever had (the weirdest conversation being with Helena about the speed of dark when she was drunk and I was bored one afternoon about a week after Frosty died). I wish I had more time to talk to her. Slayers, witches, Potentials, and vampires, oh my! When I see Faith again, I am going to ask her if Big Foot and the Loch Ness monster exist, too. No, I won't do that. I get the feeling that she risked a lot just to find out who I am, and to tell me where she will be takes a lot of trust that I haven't even earned from her. I am not going to give her a reason to feel she can't trust me. She knows more about these vampires than we do, even if she tried to explain to me what is going on in her world. So why is she telling me these things? Doesn't she know that I could easily turn her into Arkham, or if I dig deep enough, I could get her in a world of trouble? I'm sure she's probably killed someone, or was linked to some murder or disappearance of the people killed by the vampires... I wouldn't do that, though. Maybe that is why. She knows I wouldn't do that. So far she hasn't given me a reason to do something that drastic. I wonder as I walk into my second period classroom what Faith is up to, and if she is out hunting those vampires now.

No, they would lurk at night, or at least, that is how it is in the movies. They lurk at night and grab their victim (mostly female) and bite them if they haven't seduced them first. So, if they hate sunlight, and they lurk at night, where would they be during the day? Somewhere else darkened? Like- Oh Shit! They'd be in Underground Gotham, where there is no sunlight, and if they can just walk about underneath the city and can emerge from any place into another building's shadow... Maybe it was actually vampires causing trouble in the Dark Horse Bar. If they wanted to be spotted, they would have made their move by now, but I don't feel comfortable knowing that Helena is right there living above these creatures at night when she isn't serving their wine.

I walk slowly into the classroom, where Ms. Allen looks up from the overhead projector, and only stares at me. "Well, I am glad you have decided to grace us with your presence. Please take your seat. You're holding up the class, Miss Redmond."

"I-I'm sorry." I say. 'Bitch.' I sit down in my seat next to where Tim Ross sits. He's absent today. I let myself get lost in thought. I want to tell Barbara that I found out where Faith is, but I sorta promised not to, besides, I wonder what she would tell me with just me being there. She might hold in some facts if the others were with me.

These thoughts continue to bother me throughout the morning until lunch time. I get a Pepsi, a bag of Cheetos, and a bag of M&M's before I walk down the hall, and into the main building where Barbara's classroom is. "Hey Dinah. Are you alright?" she asks when I enter. I shrug, placing the candy in front of my guardian. "So this is what you get with your lunch money." Barbara says.

"Hey, if you don't want it..." I say, slowly reaching for the yellow package. Barbara slaps my hand and grabs the M&M's, holding it to her.

"No. Mine." She says playfully.

"And you're supposed to be the mature one of our trio."

"No, I'm the smart one. Alfred's the mature one." Barbara uses her teeth to open the package. "Damn, I'm hungry today." she murmurs, eyeing my chips and soda.

"Uh uh. Mine." I say in the same tone as she had used seconds before. "What's with the Helena impersonation?" Barbara shrugs, but then seems her normal self when she looks at me. Actually, she doesn't just look at me. She watches me, calculating each move as I even think about making them. This is new. She doesn't normally stare at people when she observes them, at least, she's not this obvious.

"What did she say?"

"Who?" I ask.

"Faith, or should I say 'Nina Carmichael'. Her presence was very strong in the bathroom, not to mention the scent of that hand soap." She shudders slightly at the thought of the cheap, foul smelling soap.

"I didn't know the scent of the soap bothered you while we were in there." I say slowly, thinking things over. What is going on today?

"I didn't either. Don't change the subject. You're not as slick as you think you are. What did she say?"

"Nothing. She ran off after you left. She just barely made it out the window." I say. Barbara knows I am lying. 'It's for a good reason.' I think to her. The plea seems to show in my eyes, because she turns the chair towards me more and looks at me again.

"You promise to tell me in a couple of days when I'm sure we will meet her again?" I nod. "And you promise to stay on comms.? Even if I can't hear what you are saying, I can still get a reading on how you are."

"You mean where I am." I say. Barbara sighs. "All I can say is that I will not be long, but Barbara, I want you to contact Helena."

I'm right here, Kid. What's going on? I jump. I glare at the wall after my heart beat returns to normal.

"I want you to be careful. The vampires are hiding in Underground Gotham, o-or I think they are. I have a strong instinct feeling that they are there, and I don't like it. I know that one of the entry/exit ways for the Underground is right there by the Dark Horse Bar." I don't mean to say the last sentence, and cover my mouth with wide eyes. Barbara looks startled.

"How do you know?" Barbara asks. I don't want to tell her that every once in awhile I sort of do a patrol around those areas to see if Harley Quinn has any goons hiding out there. They don't know that I have gained a couple of connections through Gibson there. Only two, but still, if anything is going on down there, I will know about it... that is, if they aren't dead. I wouldn't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case, since I haven't heard from them since a week before I saw the documentary on the mystery of Sunnydale about 3 weeks ago. I will have to contact Mary Jacobson and Brian Hampton tonight after I talk to Faith.

To Barbara I say, "I'll tell you later." Another lie, for now. I am hoping she will forget it. I know she won't, but I am hoping to avoid my eventual punishment from both Barbara and Helena as long as possible. I find it hard to look Barbara in the eyes now. "Just.... Helena be careful, okay?"

Hey, you're forgetting who you're talking to, Dinah. I'll be fine. Thank you. She says the last part quietly, and my heart melts a little bit. I shouldn't be keeping things from them, but I have to keep a couple of them. They want to keep me safe, but they don't know that my seeing Faith this afternoon will keep them safe, or at least help me believe that I am protecting them. I don't know... I just know that I feel I have to do this for them, and I will tell them about it later. They will know about both Mary and Brian... after I know for sure that they're dead or alive. I say nothing more, and Barbara is talking to her about being on guard anyway. I nod in my agreement, but when she turns off the comms., there's nothing but silence for a minute.

"You WILL tell me what is up with you soon, but I will forget it for now if you let me have some of your chips." I stare at her. I hand her the chips with an eyebrow raised.

"Would you like my pop to go with it?" I ask sarcastically. Her look says 'yes please', but her hands say 'now'. She takes the pop off of the desk I had set it on and starts to drink it. Actually, she gulps it. I look at the clock on the wall. Three more hours of this bullcrap and I can go see Faith and see if we are in any further danger from these vampires. "I'm gonna go. I was already late for 2nd period. I don't want to piss off Gerret."

"Language, Dinah." I try not to roll my eyes.

"I'll talk to you later."

As I walk out of the classroom, I hear Barbara call, "Thanks for lunch Dinah" in her laughing voice. I resist the urge to say something back, and walk on, up the stairs to Physics.

Faith

Damn it, she's late. She better get here soon. I will not wait forever. I pace, wondering silently of something has happened to her along the way. Part of me wants to go find her to see if she is in danger, but the other part of me just figures that she was held up in a conversation with Gabby or Barbara. I hear footsteps, and then I see her. "Hi. I'm sorry I'm late." she says, walking slower as she nears me. I want to tell her that I won't hurt her, but I know she wouldn't believe me anyway, so it is no use. I just shrug my shoulders as if I wasn't waiting for the last 20 minutes almost wracked with worry.

"It's five by five." I say in almost a mutter.

"Five by Five? What does that mean?" I say nothing, but I give her a grin that says 'Wouldn't you like to know?'. I motion for her to follow me, and the two of us walk inside the hotel, up the stairs to my room on the second floor. Elevators make me feel claustrophobic. Dinah doesn't seem to mind that we have taken the stairs to my room. This room is better than anything I could have afforded in Sunnydale. It isn't the best, but then, I wouldn't feel comfortable in a big fancy hotel anyway. I sit down on the chair which has my backpack draped over its back, and Dinah stands for a second more before slowly lowering herself to sit on the edge of my bed. The silence makes Dinah start to fidget. It isn't my intention to make her feel uncomfortable, but I do not know where to start. "So... Again, what are metahumans, and why was Barbara talking about people spitting acid?" Dinah seems relieved that I broke the silence, and that she didn't have to.

"Metahumans are people with an added... part of themselves that gives them powers beyond anything so called normal people can comprehend. Don't ask why some people are metahumans or even what makes them so, because if Barbara doesn't know, then I don't know. I just thought it had something to do with genetics, since my mother was metahuman, and so was Helena's." Dinah says.

"So, can many people spit acid?"

"No. As far as I know, it is rare for two metahumans to have the same power. I am a touch telepath and telekinetic. No one else has these powers. Same with Helena. No one else has her powers."

"What is Helena's power? Jumping high?"

"That is part of it. She has catlike abilities, night vision, better agility, quicker movements, stronger hits. All that."

"Is Barbara meta... human?"

"No. She is quote unquote, 'normal'. She is human." Dinah says. I nod, though I still feel confused.

"These metahumans are what you fight every night?"

"No. We are vigilantes; we fight crime in general, but metahumans play a big role in that, since metas are hated by the general public, therefore cast away. There is alot of anger within most of them, and they take it out on the city and the innocent people within."

"Okay." I say, staring at the floor. "I want to ask you another question."

"Same rules apply. You can ask, but I am not necessarily gonna answer it."

"I know, I know. I heard the name 'Quinn'." I can see muscles tense up. I know right then that I had made a wrong move.

"She's a murderer. She nearly destroyed my family. If I never heard the name Harley Quinn again, it would be too soon." she says darkly. I want to say something, anything. "It is because of her that I am scared of you now. Not scared really. I can see many dark things in your eyes Faith, but I know that things aren't like that anymore." I look up at her. She shrugs at my worried look. "Don't worry, I don't know what exactly you've been through. I have to touch you to see that."

"Maybe you have to see it to know that I am telling the truth when I say I am not out to hurt you, that I just want to slay some damn vampires and move on." I say, my tone somewhat hardened, but mostly in a childlike whine that says 'No, I didn't break that toy, it was broken before I got here.'. Dinah nods, but nothing else is said or done.

"Maybe..."

"Go ahead and do it." I blurt out, almost impatient. I stand up and walk towards her. She stands up as well, and then backs away. We are nose to nose, and what little irritation I was feeling was gone. This is going to get us nowhere. I stare at her, and see she has pretty eyes, lighter than B's, but somehow darker than hers as well. This is a little bit creepy, since B's died and then gone back to the Hellmouth, and nothing can be worse than that, but I am being told differently by the gaze in this woman's eyes. Whether anyone else realizes it or not, I believe that Dinah is a woman, despite her age. She has seen an done more than anyone at age 70 has, and yet here she stands, and if I didn't scare her or make her uncomfortable, I'm sure she would be smiling, as she was this morning in front of her friend. I look down and clear my throat. "You can do whatever will make you feel you can trust me. I know I said that you won't ever see me again if you just let me do what I have to do here, but I think if I get the help of your little team, I can be gone that much faster." Dinah nods.

"I think we need you and you need us. I must warn you that I will see everything. The good and the bad."

"Yeah. I have seen some pretty nasty things in my life. I hope you don't get nightmares." I say inching closer as if not wanting to spook her. She steps into me, so close that I can feel her heartbeat instead of just hearing it pick up pace.

"They're just dreams." she says, her voice lowering to a whisper. "Nothing can be worse than the nightmare we already live in. Besides," She leans in to kiss me, and I meet her half way. I feel as if my head is crowded, yet I easily push that feeling aside as I concentrate on Dinah's lips.

'I've seen some pretty nasty things in my life, too.' I hear faintly. I feel fingers on my neck, so slender, so soft. They are gentle at first, slowly testing the waters and running smoothly on the skin there, then they seem to grip me a little, pushing me towards the blonde a little more as our kiss deepens. 'Helena-' The thought is soft, just barely there, but I still feel it. It is almost a plea, the way she calls for her crime fighting partner, a cry that isn't heard by the one she longs for.

My eyes snap open. I pull away quickly, and I walk quickly to the other end of the room. What the fuck was I thinking? How could I let myself get into this situation? She's a fuckin' minor, for one, and she's in love with someone else. "Did you see what you needed to see?" I say after a few minutes when I know my tone won't reveal anything other than boredom.

"Enough." Dinah says. She's guilty. "Faith, I-"

"Good, so you trust me now, right?"

"Yeah, I do, but the rest of my family won't be so easy to get through."

"I don't care about that right now. We need to find out more about where the vamps are hiding and why they have chosen now to start messing with this place."

"They are hiding Underground-"

Dinah?! Helena needs your help at the Dark Horse. Bring Faith. I know you're with her now. Hurry! It was said so quickly, and I hardly heard it and understood what it meant before Dinah grabs my leather jacket, throws it at me, and starts running out of the hotel room. I am surprised that Dinah can keep up with me so easily as we run. I am not sure where the Dark Horse is, but I am sure that running through an alleyway isn't going to get us there, but I follow Dinah anyway. There is a dead end at the end of the alley, and Dinah makes a sharp turn into the wall, and to my surprise walks through it.

"It's a hologram, Faith. One of the metas at No Man's Land made it to hide some of the secret entrances to the Underground. Take a few steps back, and then walk towards my voice as you look at the wall. You will see what I am talking about." I do as I am told, and I watch the wall as I walk towards it. I see my shadow on the wall, but then I see Dinah inside it, and when I stop, I can see that she is inside someplace that is darkened. I walk towards her and walk through the hologram, and it seems like we are in a dark hallway. In the dark, I see her start walking ahead of me, feeling the walls, then she starts to descend. Stairs. There are stairs. We are walking further into the city, and are entering 'the Underground'. "Shortcut." Dinah says in a murmur. I hear voices, but we seem to walk away from them, and in a diagonal direction under the city streets. We seem to walk only a block and a half in silence before Dinah grabs my sleeve and drags me to the left. We enter what looks like an old elevator. I stop in my tracks. "It won't be long, and it is safe, I promise." I hear Dinah say. I nod and walk into the elevator. She closes the door and presses just a button before we move steadily upwards. I close my eyes, and only open them when we stop moving. I look to see we are in (surprise surprise) another alley, though deep in the alley there is a phone booth, which is what we are standing in.

"What the-"

"Pretty cool, huh? I bet Barbara doesn't even know about these places." She tugs lightly on my sleeve again and we walk out of the booth and towards the main sidewalk before taking a left. Right there was the sign to the Dark Horse Bar. I hear the clatters and crashes inside, and I know that Helena is having a ball. Dinah hears one particular bang, and rushes inside, me trailing behind her. The Dark Horse Bar doesn't smell much different from the Bronze: like rotting flesh, smoke, alcohol, various perfumes and colognes, sweat, and vomit. Ah, memories... "Helena?!" Dinah calls, running towards the scene gathered near the scene of the fight. I'm not sure if the bystanders think that this is some sort of staged show or if they are just plain stupid. Any smart person in Sunnydale would have ran at the first sign of a commotion.

All of the demons are vamped out, and Helena is trying not to show her fear. Since James and Derek had yet to show their game faces the night before, they just looked like normal men. There are 4 vamps rushing towards Helena, and Dinah lifts bottles of alcohol and chucks them at their heads. At least, she does so with her mind. She is trying to get the vamps to pay attention to her, and get their attention away from Helena. I remember doing things like that for Buffy, and she for me. Back when we were the Chosen Two. "Hmm. Looks fun." I say to myself. I had stupidly left my stake in my backpack. I hadn't expected to leave the hotel so quickly. I grab the stool next to me and break it against my knee, shattering it into 3 sharpened pieces. "How convenient." I say sarcastically. "DINAH!" I call to the other girl. She looks up at me. I call her name just as Helena growls obscenities at the vamp Dinah is fighting right before the oldest of us grabs him and start to pound on him. I toss her the stool leg and she catches it. "The heart!" I yell. She nods her understanding. I hit the nearest vamp to me in the nose, and he staggers. He growls angrily, rubbing his nose before hitting me in the face. 'Ow...' I feel anger well up inside me, and I knew I am going to enjoy this. This is my release, and I am only minutes away from freedom, it seems.

I touch my jaw. "Not bad for a newbie." I say, staking him. "But I'm just better." He turns to dust, but I haven't the time to watch it swirl to the floor. I twirl to see Helena backed up against the wall, the vamp she was fighting only centimeters away from biting her neck. I shove the stake in his back, and he turns to dust. Helena coughs.

"That is foul!" She says, dusting herself off. She rushes off to fight the two vampires who are advancing on both her and Dinah.

"Helena!" I call, tossing her the other stool leg. She catches it, snatching it from the air. I pound my heart in a motion to tell her what to do with it. She turns away from me, saying that she has seen vampire movies before. "You're welcome." I say with an eye roll. I watch as Dinah struggles with the same vampire that she was fighting with when we got here, and then she seems to remember what to do with the stake when the vampire is on the ground. She stabs at his chest, but it is too far to the right. He groans, bleeding stolen blood, and she looks up at me quickly before she aims again and it goes into his heart. His eyes widen before he turns to dust. The wood I hold in my hand is taken from me and I turn just in time to see it lodge into the chest of a vamp that was trying to attack me from behind. I turn around again to look at Dinah who had a look of concentration in her eyes. "Thanks, Dinah." She only nods. I take a quick look around, and see that it is silent. Where's Helena?

"Jack ass!" she screams from behind the bar. She jumps up on top of it, dragging the larger vamp with her as if he weighs nothing. She slams him to the bar and holds him with her elbow in his throat. "I just bought this jacket!" She rams the wood in her hand into his heart, and he is just dust on the bar. She covers her mouth with her sleeve, where I see a long rip. Then she surveys the scene and checks to see if we are in any further danger. All three if us try to catch our breath. Actually, Helena and Dinah are winded, I am fine. Naturally.

"Shit!" I hear the hiss from the far back corner of the room, where the emergency exit is, but when I look in that direction, I only see the swish of a trench coat as the door closes behind the figure. I start to walk towards the figure, but my arm is grabbed by Dinah. I wince.

"Faith, you're hurt!"

"It's okay, Dinah." I grunt. "Slayer healing, remember?" Dinah watches my arm, and sees it slowly close. It would be nonexistent within an hour. It wasn't a very large cut. The blood isn't even dripping down my arm. It's as if I nicked myself with a razor blade. She nods at me. I look up at Helena as we all silently wonder what to do or say next. Had Helena and Dinah heard the surprised exclamation as well? It didn't seem like it, even though I know that Helena has advanced hearing. My hearing must be better than hers. I look around again, looking for any clues that the figure might have left behind, but of course, there isn't one.

Everyone report to the Clocktower. I hear in both Helena and Dinah's direction. It's Oracle. 'Even me?' I think to myself, startled. Helena looks me up and down with obvious distaste, and then puts two fingers to her ear.

"Even Faith?" she asks, echoing my own thoughts.

Even Faith. Helena's got a look of surprise on her face, and then she frowns.

"Oracle-"

Dinah thinks she is good, and I trust her judgment, now hurry up and get to the Clocktower. It is then I realize what she had said. The Clocktower! Their operation is right there all along! They are just right across the street from me. I look at the woman mentioned. She has a look of slight surprise and pride on her face. She looks pleased to hear this, as if she, too, wasn't trusted by the other two in the trio. Helena sighs, frustrated, then turns to leave, Dinah and me following after her in silence, trying to ignore the glances we got from the small crowd. I notice as I walk behind Dinah that she breaks the leg in her hand into a smaller sharp piece of wood, then pockets it. Smart girl.

*Someone's POV*

They're not going to be happy with me when I tell them what I know. They looked to me months ago for a new place to hide, a new place to feed. So I found them a place where they'd fit in among the people like they had in Sunnydale, California. I took them to New Gotham. I took them to the Underground, where they could feed and do pretty much whatever they wanted and no one would care, since the legal system is up on the main streets. The Chosen Two would not even know they are here, since they don't know their way under. This place is great. Filled with freaks, so they would have been mostly overlooked if they stayed quiet.

Then He had to be a fool and go against my warning to stay here where no one will get hunted. He had to surface after feeding on one of the freaks, claiming that their blood was almost as heavenly as Slayer's blood. His small clan, His family followed him, as they always do and they caused trouble. I bet that is why she is here now, the Slayer. Why did it have to be the Dark Slayer? She hasn't got a good reputation, which is why many of the vampires, including Him are scared of ever encountering her. I might have been able to temporarily stop the blonde, but Faith? No. She fights with a fury that would leave a man begging for death instead of what she would (and has) put men through. It is up to me to find her and stop her, as that is what He would have wanted. He is not a very nice vampire. No one but a rare few know His true name, and so he goes by Master, Sire or He/Him. I call Him all three at times.

Slowly I enter the Underground through a passage I had found (by 'found' I mean tortured a freak until she squealed out the location) about 2 weeks ago. I walk slowly, letting my eyes get used to the dark. Unlike vampires, it takes me a couple of minutes. Finally, I pick up speed while walking down a long set of stairs, a good 60 of them, I'd counted out of boredom. I walk for two minutes (also calculated out of boredom) and then turn to the door on my right. Right away, I see them. I pull out my wallet and hand Him a $50 bill, what I had stolen from a man that lives near the Gladiatrix. He stands, but remains silent. They go quiet as well. I feel all eyes on me. Finally, he speaks. "Have you come baring good news?" His voice is in a low growl, not unlike that of a large bear if one could speak. I am quiet, refusing to speak, for I have not been given permission to do so." Well?!" He asks, growing already impatient with me. This cannot be a very good sign.

"I am afraid I have not, Sire." I say. At this, they all laugh in howls of amusement, as those around the room find it funny that I call Him 'Sire' when I myself have not been turned, but I will soon prove myself worthy to be his childe, as has my sweet Cierra a few years ago. We will be together again, and this time in immortal life. All I have to do is find a better place within the Underground for them, and He will find me worthy to be in his family, His clan, for He is choosy about who joins him in this afterlife. (He is choosy, wanting nothing but the best of everything in afterlife.) So now I serve him. As His servant, I have no name. He stripped the name I had from me when he made sure I no longer exist outside of this room. He has promised to give me a new name when I am turned, and I look forward to it. Some of them call me Someone, as in 'Someone's got to do it' or 'Someone killed that freak yesterday, not me'.

"Do not make me have to kill you myself." He growls, taking me from my thoughts.

"W-Well, Sire... Two of your kin and three of Thomas' kin were slain today." His eyes widen. Because of His choosiness of his family, it isn't very large, just barely over 10 members throughout the 300 years He's been turned. Most vampires have many more than that, damned near an army of vampires. He doesn't turn anyone unless he feels they are strong or good enough at something to be a part of His family. The exception to that is a small man of about 30 years of age (my age) when he was turned. His named used to be Gregory Smith, but he has been known as Wild Cat for the last 87 years. He became a part of the clan simply because He wanted him. They've been lovers since. Because vampires have no souls, they tend to do what (and who) ever they want to do, so when it came to sex, the gender doesn't matter. I know that He really loves him. I know that He really loves His kin, and I can tell it hurts Him whenever one is dusted. Wild Cat put his hand on His arm, stroking it softly. I am sure that it is because of this slight movement that I owe him my life. A touch from Wild Cat saves more lives than I can count, for it soothes His temper in a heartbeat (for those who have one).

He closes his eyes and then turns to Wild Cat. "I don't know what to do now, My Love. James and Derek were dusted just last night, and now two more are gone. My family... It is wasting away." His eyes seem to burn red when he looks at me next. "Who? Who did this misfortune bestow upon?"

"Mystic and Sunny." I say, my voice trembling.

"Who did this to them? Answer me now!! Who did this to my children?!"

"The Dark Slayer Faith. She had help, but she told these new people how to kill Sunny." He says nothing, which is more unnerving than when he is yelling and threatening my life. I only stay in this creepy silence.

"I want Someone out there watching the Slayer. I want her.... I want her and whoever she is working with DEAD!!" I nod. "What are you still doing here?!" he barks. "MOVE!!" I jump and hurry out the door, their laughter following me.

Dinah

I stand in silence next to the Delphi monitor system as Helena and Faith have a staring contest. Part of me wants to stand between them, but the other part of me (the stronger part) knows that this is a silent challenge between the most skilled of hunters, and that I am in no position to stop it. I stay where I am, watching, waiting for someone to break, but I know that no one will for a long time. Barbara speaks up after a minute. "How about you give Faith a small tour of the Clocktower, Dinah." she suggests. I nod, hoping that she give Helena a good talking to while we are out of the room. She winks at me, and I know that she will. Whether it changes anything is a totally different thing, but at least Barbara will tell her to chill out.

"So, um... follow me." I say. Faith seems to give Helena a look that says she somehow won before walking with me up the stairs towards where I sleep. We walk a little into the room. "Nothing special here. Just a bed, an alarm clock, my closet with two items of Helena's clothing that I know she'd kill me if she ever found out I had them, a window with the view of a gargoyle's ass, and a Lillix poster. Any questions?" I ramble to her. She looks around quickly, and nods with appreciation at the 4 women hanging over the headboard of my bed.

"Did Helena use to sleep here?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if she crashed here when it was too late or if she was too drunk to make it home. She could have also lived in this room when Barbara and Helena were first brought together a few years ago."

"Her presence still lingers in this room." she says. I nod, then shrug. It is hard finding things to say to Faith since we kissed in her hotel room earlier this afternoon. It is mainly hard because the one thing I want to say to her is that I'm sorry. For everything. For the kiss. For her cruel past, unsure present, and almost nonexistent future. For the monsters, real or otherwise that she has battled over the 21 long years of her life, and those that still haunt her today.

Her biggest demon involved this other Slayer, Buffy. Faith was, and maybe still is, in love with Ms. Summers. All of the darkness that rose from Faith 3 or 4 years ago began when she'd realized this and knew that Buffy would never feel the same for her. She may have told others that she was jealous of Buffy and the things she had, and maybe that was partly true, but only a very small speck of it was. She was torn by the revelation that things were never meant to be between them, and the mayor had come along at the wrong/right time and offered her everything she wanted from Buffy, love, security, guidance... She took it. When she had gotten out of the coma, her rage blinded everything else, including her love for the other Slayer. When she had switched bodies with Buffy, she wanted her to walk in her shoes and maybe feel what she was feeling at the time. She didn't care then that it would change everything between them. She cares now.

I know that Faith wouldn't want my apologies or sympathy, so I say nothing. Faith leans against the doorway to my room, lost in her own thoughts. "So, why do you guys live in a clock?" I decide to make the moment a little lighter, at least for me.

"So Barbara won't be late for anything. She hates that." Faith smiles, and I can't help the small chuckle that escapes me. It was more of relief than amusement. I'm glad that got something out of her.

"I tell ya', if Barbara were gay, she would be Red's soulmate, not Kennedy, the Whiney Slayer Baby. So, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, I guess-so." I say with a shrug. At this point, she could ask me anything and I would tell her, since she sacrificed so much to show me what's inside her.

"What's up with Helena? She keeps looking at me as if I stole her boy toy or something."

"Helena's got the abilities of a cat, remember? Which also means she takes on the traits of a cat as well. You do something to make her happy like, say... stocking the kitchen with her favorite type of cereal or something, she smiles with her eyes in a slight squint rather than with her lips. Cats do that, did you know?" Faith shakes her head. "Yeah, they smile with their eyes like that. You go near something that's hers, she gets territorial. I learned that when I first got here and borrowed one of her sweaters. Since... Her, Helena's gotten more protective of what's hers, as she has so little to protect anymore. Just keep your distance for now, and you won't have to worry about that part of her. If you stick around long enough, she won't see you as a threat to her and she'll come around. I doubt that, but you never know, you might end up liking New Gotham. Anyway, Barbara's probably told her to take a chill pill, and if anyone can get through to Helena, it's Barbara." I want to smack myself. I'm babbling, but Faith doesn't seem to mind it too much. I walk towards Faith and she moves out of the doorway, allowing me to pass her. I walk a few steps, then turn back to look at her. "You wanna see the training room?"

As I expected it would, Faith's whole body seems to perk up at this. "Hell yeah!" she exclaims. I smile at her child-like anticipation. It is almost creepy how both Helena and Faith get excited at the thought of violence and destruction, even if they both don't actually plan on actually doing it. I lead Faith to the training room, where her eyes light up. I bet it is a lot better than the library of Buffy's school before it was destroyed, or more recently, Georgia's back yard. Her eyes scan the punching bag, which has as of late gotten a lot of use out of it from both myself and Helena. Faith walks over to it and touches the large patch of duct tape from when I had hurled a throwing knife at it with my mind. I hadn't even thought about doing that then, and still it happened. It was then that Barbara's words really sunk in. If I really want someone dead, they would be. From then on, I have tried to keep my mind open to just physical movement during training.

I watch Faith inspect the weapons with great interest, muttering 'Nice' here and there. I barely train with them unless I am with Barbara, but the last 2 months, Helena has been my main trainer, and she doesn't like to use weapons to spar. She prefers the hand to hand, powers to powers version of sparring. 'Your powers are the most important weapons you'll ever use out there, Super Kid.' she'd said not long after my mother died, and it has always stayed in my head, though sometimes I still like to spar with staffs with Barbara, who (I found out) only does that after watching a Xena rerun. I smile at the thought. Faith turns to me. "Hey, I've still got a lot of energy left over. How about you an' I have at it? Think of it as a test. I wanna see what you've truly got." Though I must admit that the adrenalin is still flowing through me, I know that I won't be a good person to match Faith. I tell her this fact.

"Um... you're stronger than me. I am no match for you."

"Come on, I promise I'll go easy at first, then slowly raise the bar to your level. Whatta ya' say?"

"Alright. I don't have Slayer strength or Slayer Healing, so try not to get too rough." Faith smiles in a cocky manner as if to say, 'Me? Rough?'. I shrug, then lower to a defensive position on the mat. Faith smiles, takes off her jacket, and then does the same. She jumps at me as if to intimidate me, and it works. She laughs when she sees me jump back, but she isn't expecting my punch, though small it is. She easily dodges it when she realizes it is coming her way, then sends one my way. I block it, and continue to block her moves, which are getting more and more furious by the minute. It felt good to block these moves, and to see the look on Faith's face when she raises the bar higher than she ever thought she'd have to for me, and I know I am still ready for it to raise on me again, though slightly. She sees my slight struggle to keep up with her and she keep things at that pace. Suddenly, I duck under all of her kicks, and do a leg sweep, making her almost lose her balance. She does a small dance to keep herself on her feet, then she stops for a second, staring at me. "Are you alright?" I ask.

" Yeah, five by five. I knew I shouldn't have let your sweet face fool me."

"You don't even know what 'five by five' means, do you? Besides, you're the one who thought I'd be easy to beat, and I know you are actually trying, if only a little, to beat me."

"You brat." Faith says. I am surprised by that. Faith doesn't seem like the older sister type, but she sounds just like she could be just then when she says the word 'brat'. There is a look of mischief on her face as if she's thinking of some sort of revenge. I smile, and I can't help the next sentence that escapes me.

"Yeah? What are YOU," I point at her, wiggling my finger in a juvenile way , "gonna do about it?"

"Hasn't anyone ever told you not to taunt a Slayer?"

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that I don't care if you're a Slayer or not? That this mere metahuman has you breakin' into a sweat, and we haven't even gotten started?" I say. Faith's eyebrows raise, then she jumps towards me and grabs me. I at first think she is going to try to hit me or something, but no, she... tickles me. I start laughing as I squirm in her grasp. Ah, the pains of Slayer strength (or lack thereof).

"You give? You gonna admit that Slayers rule and metahumans drool?" I hadn't heard that saying (or rather, 'girls rule and boys drool') since I was in early middle school, and I laugh at the memory of taunting the boys with that rhyme.

"NEVER!!" I shout triumphantly, wrapping my leg around her calf, just barely getting her to the ground (though I think she let me do it). I fall with her, and I wrestle with her to try to get her back for tickling me. "Let me see if Slayers are ticklish." I start to tickle at her sides, and she starts to laugh. "Ooooh!" I squeal, "Me-thinks they are!"

"Ugh! Grrrr-offa me!"

"What was that?! I couldn't hear you over the howls of laughter." I tease. She pushes me, though I know she could have easily done that a couple of minutes ago, and I fall on the mat, giggling like crazy.

"I SAID, 'Get the fuck offa me'!" she says, pouncing on me and trying to grab at my sides again.

"What the Hell is going on?" The new voice stops us both cold. There, leaning in the doorway, is Helena, and she is steamed. I'm sure the position we are in, my being on the mat and Faith sitting on top of me, straddling my waist and my hands up trying to push her off of me before she started to tickle me isn't going to help the situation already, and I know what Helena is thinking. She is thinking that we are about to kill each other.

"Nothing, Helena." I say. "We were sparring, and-"

"YOU WERE WHAT?!" Helena roars. Okay, maybe that wasn't what she was thinking... Oh... OH! Helena's got a dirty mind. She is no longer leaning against the doorframe anymore, though. She is standing straight now, and I watch in horror as Helena grabs Faith and practically throws her off of me. Faith just barely breaks her fall towards the weapons casing, and starts to walk towards Helena. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." she says in low warning, and Faith stops, dusting herself off. "Dinah!" she barks, "Go change. We're going on sweeps in a couple of hours."

"Helena, I-"

"NOW!" She growls. I jump, and Helena closes her eyes for a second, then opens them again. They are now her familiar catlike slits. "Now, Dinah." She says in a softer, though firm tone. I give Faith an apologetic look, then do as I am told before I get in anymore trouble.

Faith

I watch as Dinah scurries away. When she is out of sight, and out of my hearing range, Helena advances on me. "So, you want to spar, Slayer?" She says through clenched teeth, "You want to get some... aggression out? Why don't you pick on someone who can actually take you? Like me?"

"Down Lassie, we were just having a good time. It was harmless."

"Who's to say anything with you is 'harmless'? Come on Slayer," she hisses, "you want harmless? If you're so great, I'm sure you won't get a scratch." she challenges.

"You're not worth my time, Helena." I say coldly. She freezes, but then relaxes a little bit, knowing now that Dinah told me about her. That I now know her real name.

"Oh? But beating up on the Kid is?"

"Let me give you a bit of advice. If you must call Dinah by some sort of nickname, call her something other than 'Kid'. It hurts her." I find myself saying. I don't know what it is about Dinah, but I feel something more than mere friendship for her, yet I feel I must also watch out for her while I'm here, as if it is my fault she is possibly in danger again. It is almost as if she is a mix of the Summers sisters. I want to kiss her sometimes and tickle her at others, like I felt towards Buffy and Dawn.

"How the Hell would you know?"

"I can see it. If YOU'RE so much better than me, you would have seen her wince every. Sing Time. You call her that."

"You don't know me or her." Helena says.

"I'm just trying to help. Trust me, you need it." I shrug as if it doesn't mean anything to me one way or the other, but in truth, I hate the look Dinah gets every time Helena calls her Kid. It makes me angry. The look of a slightly fallen spirit is there each time, as if it falls a little more every time.

"You? Help me?" Helena snorts. My anger rises to its peak.

"I helped you at the bar didn't I?"

"If I had known they were vampires when they got in, I would have taken care of them by myself."

"You didn't know they were vamps? How could you not know they were vampires?! They were a bunch of pale guys sitting around drinking Marlot!" I say with exasperation in my voice.

"I dunno, I just thought they were really gay!" Helena defends herself, "I don't need you here. I can take care of this city by myself."

"Ha!"

"As if you can do much."

"You know what? If you don't want my help, then fine, but don't speak to me as if I am incapable of doing so."

"Oooh, big words for a Slayer. It appears you CAN read. And here I was thinking that slaying was all you do." she taunts.

"I read people. Much more interesting than Emily Dickinson. And reading behind the mask tells me that you are nothing but a scared little girl."

"ME?! You have the tits to judge me?! Bitch-"

"Oh, and you haven't passed some bullshit judgment on me? You already assumed that I can't read just because I look the way I do. Sure, I dropped out of school, but that doesn't mean I have stopped learning. You don't know jack shit about anything, Helena, so shut your fuckin' trap before you have to eat through a straw for the rest of you life!" I say, my voice raising both in volume and octave in my anger. Her eyes flash a small rainbow of colors, from yellow to aqua to blue to a light violet before darkening to a shaded blue. I swallow the speck of fear. I know my mouth has ran too far, but I am not one who talks and then doesn't walk the walk.

"You don't have the gall..." She doesn't finish that sentence, as I am running towards her. She steps out of the way, but I still swing almost blindly at first, then I start to calculate my moves as I concentrate on getting my moves exact. I don't get to her, though. She is a lot better in person than she seemed when I watched her the night before. A large blow to the abdomen leaves me gasping for breath for a second before I just barely dodge a kick in the face. She is wearing boots, and though I know the cut that would eventually come from those would heal quickly, it would surely hurt in the mean time. I get a quick jab to her stomach, but I think it hurt my elbow more than her stomach. Helena's fist connects with my face, and I know that I'm gonna bruise.

"Lucky shot." I say lightly, though we both know otherwise.

"You... wish." Helena counters. She grabs my shirt and throws me to the mat. I grunt in pain. I roll over and kick her side. She hunches over and I kick her again on her wrists where she holds onto herself. I use this time to get do a backwards summersault to get back on my feet. She's quick in recovering, going now on the attack. This goes on for many more minutes, and I can tell she is wearing down. One large kick sends me against the wall, and with her elbow, she pins me there, like she had pinned the vampire in the bar this afternoon. "Had enough, Slayer?" she snarls.

"You'd like that wouldn't you, Huntress?" I reply, spitting blood from my split lip in her face as I said her code name. Helena raises her hand to send a large blow, but there isn't one. I look down to see Barbara's hand holding Helena's elbow and squeezing it. Helena is wincing, and I fight my smug smile.

"What did we talk about not even an hour ago?" Barbara asks, her voice is sharp, and she isn't very happy.

"Rerrrmgr-ambimmmshink." Helena grumbled in a way that I couldn't even hear her.

"What?"

"We gotta be nice or something..."

"You, to the TV lounge." Barbara says to Helena. The older brunette firmly pushes me against the wall in a huff, and then leaves the training room. I glare after her. "You, follow me." I nod, and walk behind her wheelchair. She slows down to the point where I am walking beside her now. "She hurt you badly? I mean, something that needs to be splinted until Slayer healing fully fixes it?"

"No, just bruises. I will be fine. Since Willow done that spell, my healing's been faster. I will be fine in a couple of hours." I know she doesn't know who Willow is, unless Dinah told her, but I doubt she could have told her all that in the short amount of time she was away.

"I'm sorry about her. She's going through some pretty rough times right now. I think you are just another outlet for her anger, which isn't right."

"I can handle her." I say almost defensively. We enter their kitchen area, and Barbara makes an ice pack. She looks me over, handing me the ice, and I put it to my jaw.

"I know you can." She changes the subject. "Helena always gets hungry after a fight, and I am not sure if you have eaten since you left the hotel. Would you like a sandwich or something?"

"A sandwich would be nice, thank you." I say in a whisper. Barbara nods, and turns to open the fridge, picking out the things that make sandwiches.

"How do you like it?"

"However. Food's food." I say with a shrug. She smiles and gets out mayonnaise. We are silent as she makes two sandwiches, then sets them on a plate and puts a bag of chips next to each of them. Then Dinah and Helena come in a few minutes later, Dinah sits down and joins us, but Helena leaves shortly after, carrying a bag of chips into what I think is the den area. Dinah sits next to me and put a hand on my shoulder in her silent apology. I sort of shrug it off, and begin to eat the sandwich Barbara set in front of me.

"Dinah and Helena are going on a sweep tonight. You can stay here with me and tell me more about vampires. I think I have an idea, but I will need your help in that." I nod.

"Okay." I say meekly. Dinah also nods, though I think she is not really in the mood to go on these sweeps tonight.

"I hope I get an excuse note or something tomorrow..."

"I hope so too." the redhead says. Barbara tells me about some device that she was tinkering with. It had been used to weaken some guy's metapowers, but if she took it apart and got some new parts she could-

"Barbara!" Dinah says loudly, cutting her off. "Technobabble." she says, which is a different version of Willowbabble, as the Scoobies like to call it. Barbara blushes a little bit, scratching her leg. Dinah notices this and looks over at me. I raise an eyebrow.

"Right, sorry. Anyway... Look, you just eat for now, and I will explain it to you later." Barbara says. "You need to rest and let yourself heal." she says. I can only nod, as I have food in my mouth. Barbara leaves, then I lean into Dinah.

"I thought people who are paralyzed cannot feel anything below the waist." I say in a whisper after I swallow the mouthful.

"I thought so, too."

"But she scratched her leg, she's not supposed to feel it itch."

"I think this means something good, but I don't want to jinx it for her by saying anything. Let's just hope this means what I think it means, and not just some nervous twitch." Dinah says. I nod.

"I hope so."

*Someone's POV*

"You... what?" I ask slowly to the man against the wall. He is a member of Ben's clan. He has the biggest family of the 5 families living in Underground Gotham, so it won't do anything to his little army if I just dusted him. His name is Jimmy or something, and he has been following me for the last 2 hours, spying on me, but then I turned the tables on him, and that is how he found himself hanging by his throat. Though he no longer breathes, this still hurts him. I bang him twice against the wall. "You what?!" I repeat, watching his head hit the wall.

"I- I know where you can go." he spits out in his fear. "You know the legend of Batman?"

"How can I not!" I snap. I am getting impatient. I must report to Him within the hour, and I am nowhere near knowing where that Slayer has gone. I know she was in the hotel across from the Clocktower, but then I lost track of her after I left to report that Sunny and Mystic were dusted. I haven't caught sight of her since. I don't know where she is. I have given up for now, and have gone back on my search for the new hideout. I meet up with this moron, and he wants to waste my time with bedtime stories about Batman. Ah, Batman. The people down here still talk about him as if he is going to walk through that door right now and save their sorry asses again, just like old times. They don't know that he got tired of their ungrateful attitude, and just skipped town, leaving his teammates to die.

"W-Well, he had a secret entrance to his hide out, and it was buried with the rest of Underground Gotham. I hear rumors here and there, but I think I know where the Batcave is."

"You are aware of the stake to the heart you will be receiving if you're wrong, aren't you? I have no time for your games, asshole!" I look him up and down. "I am not a cheap man." I tell him, "I will give you all the money I have on me and more to come if you are right, and you will be staked if you are wrong, hear me?"

"Loud and clear." I drop him to the moldy ground. He groans, but quickly regains his footing. "Follow me." I make a jerky movement that tells him to lead the way, and I follow him. We are headed north of the city, near Wayne Manor.

"Why are we going this way?!" I ask, stopping.

"This is where they say it is. You DO want me to show you where it is, don't you?" Jimmy looks confused, but when I start to walk, he turns around and leads the way again. We take a right after a few moments, and then he stops and freezes. There is nothing there but another wall. He stammers. "I-I know it is here. Harry wouldn't l-lie to me about this-" I grab him and throw him against the wall. I am about to stake him, when a whir is heard, and I see some number key there on the wall next to Jimmy's face.

"You have no clue how lucky you are." I growl. I look to see that there are cracks, as if there is a door here. I couldn't see it in the dark. I take out my key ring, and use the mini flashlight to look it over. It IS a door. I start to press a few of the keys on the keypad, but a shock surges through me. I know for sure now. There is something behind it, something important. Possibly the Batcave, possibly something better, a secret entrance to Wayne Manor, a place that has been almost condemned for a few years. Rumor has it that his butler was senile and stayed in the Manor for a year or two after that, convinced that the master of the house would come back, so he stayed and took care of the house until he supposedly died. He was this old guy. Either way, it is empty now, and if I can just get through this door, He will have his hide out, and I will get my reward. I threw Jimmy out of my way.

"I-I have a friend who lives in the Old Gotham bank, and she might know how to get past this door, sir." Jimmy says slowly, as if to indicate that the price will be higher if he went to get her. At this point I am desperate. I need this door open, it is my only obstacle to my goal.

"What do you want?"

"I want one of the Slayers, or a freak. I can't seem to catch them myself, but I want to taste one." He says with a hungry glint in his eyes.

"I'll tell you what, Jimmy. If you can help me get my ultimate reward, I will tell you a secret that will get you to a secret hideout of those freaks. You will feast on them, and never have to go back to feeding on the likes of mere mortals. I know of a vampire who used to be one of them, and she still has her power to find them." I say, thinking of Mary Jacobson, whom I had encountered. She nearly bit me when I first got here, but when I gave her my master's name, she gave me some of her service and showed me where I can find a freak with knowledge of the Underground. More knowledge than what she knew about it.

"Done, and done. She should be in now, but once we get to North Field Boulevard, I cannot go any further with you."

"Why the hell not?!"

"She is human, and she lives in the Old Gotham Bank for a reason. It is located right next to this chick's shop, and there is a protection spell over it. No vampire can enter a 2 block radius of this spell, I'm sorry." He says.

"It isn't your fault. Someone here knows magic, huh? I must find out who this is and pay her a visit. Fine, tell me where to go. I will get there myself. I haven't been to North Field Boulevard." I say to him, my heart feeling lighter now that I am closer to getting my love in my arms. This dream will be a dream no longer, and I will have Cierra in my arms again for the rest of eternity. It is the twisted fairytale I used to tell my niece.

"You just keep going on this road. Take a right when you get to the ruins of Gotham City High School. When you get to North Field Boulevard, you will see a large B, and that is the bank. Ask for Maria McDowell, though she's a bit crazy. She believes her name is Jennifer Calender, so if she doesn't answer to Maria McDowell, call her that. She'll look up and acknowledge you then. I will wait for you here." I nod, then start walking.

As Jimmy says, I take a right at the old high school, where a couple of teenagers are smoking pot, and then I see the large B of the Old Gotham Bank. I start to walk faster. I cautiously walk into the building and step over some of the rotten floor boards and broken tiles and walk to what I think was supposed to be a desk. I knock on a wall. "Hello?! Maria McDowell?!" I call out to her. I hear shuffling.

"No need to yell."

"Maria-" She isn't looking at me, she is reading a text about some demon, which is bookmarked by a newspaper clipping of the caved in city of Sunnydale. I walk up to her, but she still doesn't acknowledge me. "MARIA!" I say. Still nothing. What the hell? Softly, I mutter the names that Jimmy might have told me that she goes by. "Jessie?" Nothing. "Jenny?" She looks up.

"What?"

"I have a friend who told me that you might be able to help me with a certain problem. I need help decoding something. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Who sent you?"

"Jimmy..."

"Radcliff! I told him that I do not serve vampires!"

"If I am a vampire then how come I am here talking to you? There is a protection spell on this street, is there not?" Jenny seems to think things over.

"Well, you're a friend of his, and I don't like him- I don't care if you do, Maria. I don't work with vampires." she says. I frown as this tall strawberry blonde woman looks up and pats her head as if to rid herself of an annoyance. She hears voices. She's nuttier than I thought. I wonder briefly if Jimmy was lying to me, but I don't think so. I know his type. He wants those freaks. If he knows where they hide, he can show that knowledge off to his sire, and he will be the most trusted, and it is like a high ranking within his family. If he knows where they are, he is almost like the second to his sire.

"I see..." I take out my knife and press it to her throat. "I have something that says otherwise. I want you to-" The knife melts in my hand and I am left with nothing.

"That's the advantage to being reborn into a metahuman's body. The disadvantage is the fact that I have to live here." she finishes in a mutter. I feel heat against my skin and back away from her. "I suggest you leave before Maria gets angry." she says. I am confused. She speaks as if she is two people. Jimmy never told me that I would be doing business with a schitzo. I have no choice but to leave. I walk down the street some until I see a small shop that sold knick knacks mostly, and survival kits. It is destroyed now. Right next to it is another small shop, but it seems to be open for business. I walk inside, and hear the bell on the door. There is a woman not older than 25 years old at the desk. She had brown hair and hazel eyes. She is reading a Playboy magazine as if it is the newest Cosmopolitan, but when she sees me, she slowly sets it down as if not wanting to look up from the article she was in the middle of reading. She doesn't look ashamed for having the Playboy in her possession, in fact, she leaves it in plain view. Shannon Dourty is on the cover of it.

"Welcome to Madame Linda's Unique Shop for the Mysterious, how may I help you?"

"What a name." I mutter.

"I didn't name the shop, Madam Linda did. I just own it now, and get to keep all the prophets."

"Where is Madam Linda?"

"She's dead. She died not too long ago from the asbestos in this place, but I am immortal, so it doesn't bother me. So, how can I help you?"

"I want a spell that will open doors."

"You have hands, you can open a door yourself. You did a good job getting into this room." She folds her hands together, then rests her chin elegantly upon them as she peers at me. "Do you mean you want a spell that will open doors to different realms? I can't sell just the one spell, but I can sell you the book. You'll have to keep all those other spells. I give no refunds." I glare at her. I am not sure I like this woman. She is infuriating, but something tells me that she doesn't mean to be most of the time, she just speaks her mind and says what she sees.

"There is a door that I need to open, and it is locked." I try to explain to her.

"Maybe it is locked for a reason, so that you don't get in."

"Yes, but- Do you want my business or not?"

"Yes, I want your money. What kind of door is it?"

"I think it is steel."

"Oh, so you want to blast it open. I can whip up a good potion to throw at the door. That will blow it up." she suggests. I rub my chin and the sharp stubble before I nod thoughtfully.

"How much?"

"How powerful do you need it?"

"Pretty powerful, but I only want the door blown up, not the room itself. I need to get into the room."

"Oooh, I think I came across a potion that will repair the door not long after it blows up. You have a few minutes to keep it open though."

"Are you any good with codes?"

"No. I'm not a redhead." That escapes me. I am not sure what being a redhead has to do with decoding anything.

"Oh." Is all I say. Then, "I'll go with the potion then." I decide.

"Okay, that will be 75 dollars, and if you come back in a couple of hours, I will have it ready for you." I nod, and set the money on the table in front of her. "It was a pleasure taking your money, and please come again."

"Yeah, I'll be back by 8 tonight."

"Yeah, it will be ready by then." I nod and leave the shop, wondering who that woman is. I look back to see she is engrossed into her Playboy again. (AN: You get a cookie if you figured it out before this point.)

Dinah

Helena is silent as we walk down the sidewalk. We are about to split up at our normal spot when she grabs my arm. "Ki- Dinah, I'm sorry for the way I acted today."

"Why are you apologizing to me? Faith's the one with the fat lip." I snap at her. I realize that she didn't call me Kid. I sigh. "You know what, it's fine. Let's get this over with. Faith says she will leave after she's done slaying her vampires here." Helena leans down and kisses me on the cheek.

"Be careful, D." she says.

"I will, Huntress." I tell her. She's never called me 'D' before. Faith once or twice called Buffy's little sister that, but then she was Dawny or Half Pint to her after Sunnydale caved in. I find I like the name 'D', and hope Helena keeps calling me that. Helena jumps to the nearest rooftop, and then she's gone. I wonder what has brought on the change. Did she finally relieve some stress when she fought with Faith? Did Faith say something to her that had hit a nerve? And another thing, what was that with Barbara? It was a small movement she had done, but it could change everything. I have known her for over 9 months and I have never seen Barbara scratch her leg. It could have been a nervous twitch, since I have noticed she is a little edgy around Faith, if not more so than Faith is around her. Something isn't right.

To Be Continued in Section 2