Author's Notes: So I have to admit I'm twisting season 8 around so much it probably isn't canon (not even slightly really) to say the least. I just had to fix the Satsu thing cos that whole thing irks me *shudders* It should've been Faith and this is my way of making it just that :) Also, the chapters will be slightly shorter than what I normally write, just giving out a fair warning here and I didn't think it was too fair to post a short prologue without posting the first chapter as soon as I finished writing it


Faith couldn't stop staring at her reflection in the mirror, but the sounds of the demons breaking in the church window's pulled her out of the trance she was in and she looked around the storage room, looking for a quick and easy exit. It was just her luck there was no quick and easy exit aside from the door she'd walked through, or fell through. She was still trying to figure it all out and being hung up on by Giles had really pissed her off.

With no time to worry about the little details of the change she'd gone through, she burst open the door and took off running. There was no way she was fighting the demons, not when she was horribly outnumbered and there was no way Giles was sending help when he didn't even recognize her over the phone. She was in this alone and she had to get back to the castle in one piece and try to explain to Giles what had happened.

The rain had let up a little and in the new body she wasn't so sure of every step she took. It felt the same yet different than her own and she couldn't help but remember back to the day she had done the body swap with Buffy. This didn't feel quite the same. Didn't work quite the same way either.

"This is all her fault," Faith muttered as she made her way back to the castle. "Last time I ever fucking do her a favour."

She groaned out angrily as she let herself in the back door and headed straight up to her room. It was late and she was glad there was nobody awake. She couldn't deal with the questions or any of it until she'd talked to Giles. She barely reached her door when she felt a pair of strong hands jerk her back and spin her around.

"Who are you?" Buffy asked, looking her up and down. "How did you get in here?"

"I, uh..." Faith smirked when she realized Buffy really had no idea it was really her. She could have fun with this, in more ways than one. "New Slayer."

"Name?"

Faith panicked. She probably should have thought about this ahead of time, then again she hadn't even thought about using this new disguise as an advantage.

"Oh forget about it," Buffy muttered as she grabbed onto her arm and pulled her towards the stairs. "You can deal with Giles, if you haven't already. And that room you were about to go in is already occupied."

"I must have gotten lost," Faith said softly, trying as hard as she could to keep the laughter from coming out.

"It's a big place. I even find myself getting lost, but you won't have to worry about that. Someone will always find you and point you in the right direction."

"Uh, thanks."

Faith stood outside Giles' office and watched as Buffy walked off without giving her a second look. She shrugged and knocked on the door, entering before Giles even answered her.

"Can I help you?"

"G, it's me."

"I do not know who this 'me' is," he replied tiredly as she approached the desk he sat behind.

"Giles, it's me, Faith."

"Ha ha, very funny. Joke is on me."

Faith sighed as she slammed her fists down on the cluttered desk. "I'm serious, Giles. Whatever the hell happened in that church did something to me and I want to know how the fuck I can get my own body back!"

He blinked several times before he burst out into laughter, shaking his head as he leaned back in his chair and stared up at her. Once the laughter had subsided, he took another long hard look at her. The only thing that was still her was the clothes she wore, clothes that were much too big and felt out of place.

"If you are in fact Faith..."

"What do you want me to tell you, G? I go to that church, looking for whatever mystical shit Buffy found out was there and I fall through the roof while I am on the phone with you looking for an easy way out. I go investigate this light in some room and I start fucking falling into what looked like a cave. Someone or something was speaking to me too, something about changing for the greater good. How the fuck is changing me into someone else is for the greater good!"

"What was said, do you remember?"

"All I remember was what I told you and then whoever brought me there and changed me into this," Faith said angrily as she gestured to her body. "They told me it's to help Buffy. How the hell this helps her doesn't make any fucking sense!"

"Calm down," Giles said softly as he slid his glasses off and blinked a couple of times. "I need you to remember everything that was said to you. I think that the Powers that Be are interfering with fate."

"Fate! They said something about fate and something about love too."

"I need you to calm down and remember exactly what they told you."

"Been kind of freaking out here since it happened, G. I think I'm gonna need a drink or ten to calm myself down."

"Definitely Faith," he mumbled under his breath as he stood up and reached for a book on the shelf behind him. "I've read recently of a prophecy I was not certain would happen. There was no date, no specific origins. I'm going to need a few minutes to sort this out. You know where the Scotch is."

Faith chuckled as she headed for the short bookcase on the far wall and pulled out the bottle of Scotch from its usual place behind the dictionary. "I never understood why you hide it behind the dictionary, G."

"I hide it there because nobody bothers with the dictionary."

"Except me when you all tend to use big words in your reports that I don't understand," she muttered as she popped the top off the bottle and looked around for a glass. "This a new bottle? Smells different than the last one."

"Yes, I believe it is," Giles replied without glancing up from the book open on the desk in front of him.

"Giles?" Willow asked as she opened the door and quickly closed it behind her. "Have you heard from Faith? Has she come back yet or do I need to go and...oh hello."

"Hey Red."

"Giles?"

"That is Faith," he muttered as he continued reading from the book, furiously flipping through each page until he found the right one.

"Nice joke, Giles."

"I believe it is not a joke," he said as he looked up at Willow. "That is indeed Faith."

"Doesn't look like her."

"Look a little harder, Red."

"Has the same attitude though," Willow laughed. "Wow, how did something like this happen?"

"Beats me," Faith shrugged as she gave up on finding a glass and took a swig from the bottle when Giles wasn't looking. "I go looking for some mystical energy or whatever the fuck Buffy sent me looking for, stumble upon a nasty nest of demons just outside of the church and well...keeping things short here; I walked outta there looking like this."

"Have you decided on a name?" Giles asked before Willow had a chance to say anything more. "Because unfortunately for you, it looks like this is the prophecy I had mentioned earlier. It won't come undone until you have done what you are needed for. There are no specifics, but it does mention..."

"Mention what?" Willow asked as she walked over and took a look at the page he was reading.

"Love," Giles chuckled as he closed the book. "Hardly a prophecy to worry ourselves over, to say the least."

"Love?" Faith asked, shocked despite the fact she'd already been told this by the Powers that Be. "Don't you think I should have been changed into a guy? Cos hello, Buffy isn't into chicks!"

"As I said before, have you decided on a name, Faith? Because according to the prophecy nobody should know about this change aside from yourself and now that Willow and I both know..."

"What he's trying to say," Willow chuckled as she shook her head. "You need to come up with something to call your new self. We can't exactly go around calling you Faith until you change back."

"I'm drawing blanks here. You two are supposed to be the brains here, not me!"

"Well, you look like you could be Japanese," Willow mused as she studied Faith, unable to wipe the smirk off of her face. "What do you think, Giles?"

"Satsu!" Faith burst out, saying the first thing that came to her mind. "What?"

"Could work," Willow said with a shrug. "Kind of just rolls off your tongue."

Faith took another swig of the Scotch and put it back on the shelf as Giles and Willow started laughing. "What the hell is so funny? Cos I am not fucking finding this funny!"

"Rolls off your tongue," Willow laughed as she held her sides. "Oh god, this is too much. This is like finding out my best friend is gay before she even knows she is. Actually, that is exactly what this is!"

"Wait, what?!"

"Giles, do you care to explain or shall I?"

"Feel free. I do not feel rather comfortable talking about this."

"But you're laughing about it!" Faith pointed out. "What the hell have I gotten myself into?"

"It seems that the Powers that Be have connected you two, but because of your past and the fact you cannot see past it, you have to win her love by being masked as someone else."

Faith blinked. Giles coughed. Willow just stared straight at her.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope. This is a true love, fate, destiny, soul-mate thing."

"And me being someone else is gonna make Buffy realize she's in love with me how exactly?"

"That's the mystery about it all, we don't know and I do not believe we will until the prophecy has been fulfilled," Giles replied as he picked up the book and placed it back on the shelf. "Now, we'll discuss this again in the morning. It is late and I know for a fact that you have not slept in three days, Faith."

"Don't you mean 'Satsu'?" Willow snickered as she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but it's funny!"

"Whatever. Where am I gonna sleep? Buffy kind of stopped me from going into my room and made me come down here."

"You will sleep in the spare guest room down the hall. It isn't what you are used to and unfortunately, that's the only room available. I'll see what I can do about you getting back into your own room seeing how Faith is 'mysteriously' out of action at the moment."

"Whatever, G. I've slept in worse."

Faith left the two of them and headed for the spare room only ever used for the odd visitor. Not like they ever had any visitors. The castle was strictly off limits to outsiders. If you weren't a Slayer, a witch, Dawn or a member of the newly reformed Council, you never made it past the front doors. It had never stopped Faith before from bringing home the occasional one-night stand she'd pick up in a pub in town. She'd gotten caught once or twice by Buffy, but nothing was ever said between the two other than Buffy telling her she better not get caught by anyone else. She was thankful she reached the guest room without having run into Buffy or anyone else. She'd been through enough as it was and she needed some serious downtime to sleep and to think about what the hell she was going to do to get this prophecy over and done with so she could go back to being herself.

The whole situation didn't make any sense to her and she kept the lights off and headed for the small bed and laid down. What the hell did she have to do with leading Buffy onto the right path to true love? She scoffed as she closed her eyes, fighting off the sleep she'd longed so desperately to come for the past couple of days. Buffy had her running around constantly, going out on solo patrols or training the newer girls and she hadn't had the chance to sit down and unwind just yet. She didn't love Buffy. She knew the Powers that Be surely had her mixed up with someone else, possibly with another Slayer. She convinced herself before she started to feel the gentle pull of sleep that it was just a big misunderstanding and that Giles and Willow would have it all sorted out in the morning.

Her dreams never came, instead she found herself encased in never-ending darkness until the first rays of the new morning sunlight shone through the small windows. Feeling as if she hadn't slept at all, she got up from the bed and looked down at her clothes. She needed clothes that were going to fit her if she was going to deal with this whole situation. She waited there in the room until she'd heard everyone head down the stairs for the morning training sessions before she went through each of the younger Slayers' rooms until she found clothes that fit her. She made a quick stop in her room, grabbing her smokes, her favourite knife and she stopped to look at herself in the mirror and really took a long hard minute to check her 'new' self out.

"Not bad," she said under her breath as she examined the soft features of her face. "Could be better, could be worse. Then again I could be myself. Guess now is the wrong time to be too picky about it."

Faith shrugged and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her and quickly made her way to the stairs. A couple of the younger Slayers ran past her, laughing over the fact they were late for training. Faith couldn't hold back her smirk as she ditched the stuff in the guest room before she followed them down to the training room. She had to blend in. Her instincts were telling her to take the ball and roll with it and try to make the best out of the situation. She was a Slayer, a damn good one at that and she never came across a situation she couldn't handle.

Buffy looked over at her as soon as she'd joined the group in the middle of the training room. She instructed the girls to being warming up and she walked right up to Faith with a smile upon her face.

"Did you make out okay last night?"

"I did. Giles was a big help."

"Good, I'm glad. What is your name by the way?"

"Satsu. I was a little...nervous meeting you last night like that. I didn't expect to meet you right away."

"Understandable," Buffy laughed as she held out her hand. "Nice to meet you. Any questions about the training schedule or anything else you can always come and ask me. My door is always open."

Faith chuckled and nodded as she pulled her hand away and stood there and watched as Buffy looked at her for a split second longer than she'd ever looked at her before she walked away. She couldn't help but think about what she knew so far of this supposed prophecy. She was supposed to lead Buffy down the right path of true love and she was going to be doing it trapped in a body of a random girl who definitely had nothing against the real her.

She slipped out of the training room, knowing she had to talk with Willow and Giles before she got too comfortable playing in her new role as Satsu. She found them in Giles office, as expected, looking over dozens of books and exchanging notes.

"What's the what?" Faith asked as she closed the door and took a seat on the comfortable red leather couch near the window. "Figure out how to fix this? Change me back?"

"You have to complete the prophecy. It is the only way."

"So what, I gotta like, fuck Buffy senseless and poof, I'll be me again? Say the word. I'll have this done before the day is over."

Giles' face went red as Willow stifled back her laughter. Faith rolled her eyes as she leaned back on the couch and waited for what she knew was a rather awkward situation for both of them.

"I'm thinking there'll be some of that involved," Willow said softly and she shook her head as she tried to stop laughing. "But no, Faith. You have to get her to realize that she loves you and despite it not being you, this is what it's going to take. She has to be with another before she can see what's really there in front of her own eyes."

"What the hell kind of prophecy is this if all it's doing is making Buffy realize she's gay and wanting to get with the girly loving? This makes no fucking sense! Giles..."

"Not all prophecy's are about death and the end of the world," Giles said pointedly. "But it is the simplest ones that prove to be far more complex. As for the reason of this prophecy, we have been researching and so far have come up with nothing."

"Great. You realize how pathetic this whole situation is?" Faith huffed out as she closed her eyes. "Why does the weird shit happen to me? It never used to happen to me! This whole god damn place is cursed!"

The three of them let out a sigh as silence filled the room. Faith knew she was in a situation she had no control over and no matter how good of a Slayer she was, nothing could prepare her for what she was about to dive into. She knew now she had absolutely no choice whether she liked it or not.