Disclaimer: That's it...you heard right! I am now the proud owner of....well, not much really. I guess I own the story idea and the original characters and that's about it....sigh. Ah well, it was a nice dream;)

...........

Bored out of her mind Faith Lehane stared out at the walls of the hotel room.. Come on, Faith, she thought to herself, this is San Fransisco! You should be out there partyin' it up! Normally, she would be. The dark-haired slayer just couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. She was Faith, the rebel without a cause and all that crap, party girl...only not tonight. She and her team had been on the road, hopping from place to place, for six months now. She was tired. The rest of the girls had jetted out by now, reveling in their rare night of freedom. But for some reason she just couldn't get up the enthusiasm to go out and party.

Maybe I'm getting old. She sighed and rolled over on the queen-sized bed, thumping her head on her pillow. This is crazy! I can't just sit here all night. She jumped, scrambling after the phone as it provided a welcome distraction to her night time meanderings into her own sanity or lack there of. Yes,something to do!

"Yo," Faith answered.

"Oh Faith, thank the Goddess," Willow's eternally perky voice bubbled out over the phone. "I was afraid you weren't going to answer."

"What'd ya' need, Red?" the slayer rasped. "Where the hell are you, anyway? I thought you were off on some spirit quest or something."

"I'm near Bangladesh," the witch answered, "In India."

"Good connection," Faith commented.

"Yeah, magick's better than satellite," Willow smirked. "Anyway, I have a bit of a problem."

"What do you need killed, Red?" Faith asked, resigned.

"Huh? Oh no, not that kind of help. Though, thank you...for...the thought, I guess." Willow took a deep breath, audibly dragging herself back on track. "It's...we've had a slayer pop up right near you."

"Who died?" Faith asked grimly, preparing herself.

"See, that's the thing. Nobody died," the red-head was dead serious.

Dubious, she asked, "You sure?"

"Yeah, that whole connection thing, remember?" An unintended consequence of the Activation Spell made Willow aware of all new slayer activations and all slayer deaths. While it made a real useful tool for locating the newbies, it also put a lot of strain on the witch. It wasn't something she liked to talk about.

"Yeah," Faith brushed the topic aside. She didn't really care how it happened anyway. There were better minds than hers that would figure that out. She was more of an action girl anyway. "So you want me to, what, go track the girl down? What about the locals?" Faith referred to the Watchers and slayers assigned to San Francisco.

"I called them already but I'm afraid they're busy tonight. Something to do with the blue moon and C'thra'tok demons."

Faith sighed, given the choice she'd rather deal with the demons. But she had learned to suck it up and deal in the past two years. Rah Rah, go team, Faith snorted. "Alright, Red. I'm not exactly the poster child for recruitment, but I'll go check it out for you. You gotta' place to search?"

"I actually have an address. Google Earth is awesome. It seems she's pretty stable," Willow told her. "Thank you, Faith. I was pretty worried, not to mention curious."

"Cool," Faith wrote down the address on a napkin she'd saved from dinner as Willow dictated it to her.

"Just call me back on this number when you find her?" Willow asked.

"A'right, Red." Faith flipped the phone closed and started getting dressed. At least it's better than sitting around here having a pity party, she grumbled to herself, been doin' too much of that lately. Grabbing the atlas she kept around, she plotted the best course to get to the address Willow had provided her. Finding new slayers was so much easier now that Willow had more control over her powers. No more running around town looking like an idiot while carrying a dowsing rod. Thank God Andrew finally came up with the idea of enchanting compasses. Probably one the smarter things he'd ever done. Now though, the witch seemed to be able to pinpoint the exact location of the slayers down to a few feet. There was something to be said for being connected to the Earth and all Zen like.

Faith slipped on her jacket, grabbed her helmet and the Scythe and walked out the door. Straddling her bike, Faith couldn't help but grin as it rumbled to life beneath her. She loved that feeling. The bike, a Buell 1125CR, was the first purchase she'd made after getting her first paycheck from the Council. She loved it, the feeling of freedom and release she got from riding it. Plus, she knew she looked damn hot on it. Going to the highway, Faith weaved through traffic and made her way to the Berkley area. The damn streets were confusing as hell but luckily she had a slayer's sense of direction. That, and a map.

The neighborhood their mystery slayer lived in was an upscale one. Filled mostly with faculty for the university, made up of trendy townhouses and the old-fashioned painted ladies that San Francisco was infamous for. Huge old trees lined the somewhat cracked sidewalks and one of the lampposts flickered slightly in the dark, needing to be changed. Faith could even see lightning bugs in the yards. It's like being in the fuckin' Midwest or something. Wonder if there are any cows out here?

Counting the numbers on the houses, Faith finally found the one she was looking for, 1512 Old Creek Rd. It was a bit of a newer model townhouse. There was a small gated yard in the front and a ramp as well as stairs that led up to the wooden door. Faith kicked her bike's stand down and pulled off her helmet, shaking out her lustrous dark hair. Wishing deeply,but not out loud that she still smoked, she flipped her leg up over the bike and stood on the sidewalk. The slayer had never done much in the way of normal recruitment. They only brought her in when the girls had issues.

Faith was like the poster child of reformation for the Council. She couldn't complain, at least not too much. It actually felt good to help somebody for a change. To push them away from the path she'd taken and back onto at least the straight, if not so narrow. All of her squad was made up of those types of girls, the ones that had no interest in school, just fighting. One's who didn't quite fit in with the rest of the slayers.

Shaking her head at the nonessential thoughts, Faith walked up the path to the stairs. Somebody must be taking care of the gate, she thought fleetingly, 'cause it didn't squeak at all. She wasn't really worried about her bike or the Scythe. She'd paid off one of the shamans from the Council to put a "no-see-me spell" on the Scythe. It made it much easier to walk around in public with the 2ft something Scythe and all for the low-low price of two bottles of prime Tequila straight from Mexico.

Climbing the stairs Faith knocked on the door, running her hand though her hair in an unconsciously nervous gesture. She cocked a hip and waited for someone to answer. A minute later, when the door opened, and she looked down at the woman who was undoubtedly a slayer according to her senses, Faith was no longer bored but she was definitely confused. The woman was older than her, probably around twenty-five. That was odd in and of itself considering all the newbies called now were under the age of twelve. But there was another problem. Their new slayer was in a wheelchair.

"What the fuck?!" Faith rasped out.

.....................

Author's Note:

Hello again! First off I'd like to thank Whedonist for being my beta once again and for all the wonderful suggestions for this story, like the bike and yes, you were right about the spell thingie.

So, as some of you might have noted, this is a prequal to Empowered. I know you were hoping for a sequal and don't worry, it will happen. But this story kept telling me it wanted to happen first;)