This was the first trip to New York that had absolutely nothing to do with slaying demons or vampires or any other monster. Magic was ended in a spectacular display of … chaos, that somehow ended up with the good guys wining. It also meant the activated slayers were now regular girls, most of them with a grudge.

How were they supposed to go back to being 'normal' when they'd been given a taste of being extraordinary?

So Buffy became a target for all those girls that wanted the Slayer power.

And Faith?

The damage to her body took a while for her slayer healing to mend. But she did and then she decided part of her 'path back to the good side' was to protect The Slayer. They were the last two, the only Slayers who'd been Called…

"Thanks again."

Xander just shrugged a shoulder and glanced down at the girl keeping pace beside him. She looked much younger than she actually was and her choice of outfit wasn't helping; a cute frilly t-shirt paired with red denim short overalls. But it was her hair that got Xander calling her 'princess'. He grinned and flicked at her princess Leah buns. "Thank me later. When you're so bored you'll want to jump out the nearest window."

"Omg, you're drama." She laughed and nudged him with her shoulder as she gave a little hop into his side.

"Hey, I'm just saying you won't be happy you insisted on coming along." He'd warned her, said it was all boring NWC stuff that even Buffy didn't want to sit through. Which is why Faith was taking the hit and suffering through the endless meetings that week.

"It's New York." She said it like that was all the answer needed. What she didn't say was that the answers she was looking for where here. Questions she couldn't ask her Dad or Grandfather, they wouldn't have the answers anyway.

'But he'll know.'

What was a few hours of NWC meetings when there was the rest of the day to track him down and maybe meet... it was the meeting part she tried not to think about. That was going to be awkward, no matter how she tried to word it, there was just no way of introducing herself that didn't sound ... weird.

"Hi, I'm your old buddy's great granddaughter. What's up?"

Or "I'm Prÿce Barnes. Yup, Bucky's my ta-ta. So, mind if I ask you some questions?"

Nope, that wasn't gonna work. And then she'd have to translate her beaner slang. She almost rolled her eyes, only she wasn't alone and didn't need to have Xander questioning her.

"So," Xander stopped before they could get out of the secure area of the airport.

Prÿce looked up at him, waiting. She perked her eyebrows at him when he just kept fidgeting. "Are we gonna be killing something…?"

"No!" Xander hiss whispered as he glanced around them to make sure they weren't going to set off some kind of alarm. "How many times are you going to pull that?" he huffed with annoyance, glaring at her smiling face.

Prÿce gave a shrug. "Quien sabe, I still find it funny."

Xander just drew a breath and narrowed his eyes on her. "Maybe I shouldn't tell you-."

"Ooh!" Prÿce gave a little hop as she straightened to her full 5'2", excited and curious. "Now you gotta spill, because I will hound you mercilessly until I get it out of you and there's nowhere you can hide that I will not find and drag you out of." She winked. "You know its true. Spill."

Xander grimaced. "Oh I'm gonna… nope," he shook his head. "No I'm really not gonna feel sorry for him." He kinda grinned at the thought of 'sicking' Prÿce on Wes.

"Who?" Prÿce's brow furrowed and she took another step closer to Xander.

"Your…uh, great? Cousin. I think." Xander frowned as he turned and started walking again as he tried to figure out the relationship.

"Que?" Prÿce followed after him, a pace behind as she tried to figure out what he'd said.

"Pulled your family tree." Xander said in as breezy a tone as he could muster while trying to sneak a glance at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Family tree?" Prÿce caught up to him and grabbed his arm.

"Are you gonna repeat everything I say?" Xander rolled his eyes with a sigh as he turned his head to glance down at her.

"Dude," Prÿce warned. "Do not mess with me right now." She tightened her grip on his arm and Xander was well aware that had she still been imbued with the Slayer power, his poor bones would be splintering. "Family tree, spill it."

"You said your Mom came looking and found the old council. Then …Bringers…" he made the yuk face he tried to use to cover when he was reminded of those he'd lost and didn't want to show it.

"Yeah, not fun." Prÿce nodded agreement. There had been a big ol' fight about that at home between her Mom, Dad and Grams.

"Yeah, well, with the old council being blown up… I asked Wes to see if he could find any survivors, at least some info. And …."

"OMG!" Prÿce grabbed his jacket sleeve in both her arms and gave a couple little hops. "You're killing me!"

That statement seemed to grab attention from bystanders and Xander scowled at her. "Quit it! People are gonna think I'm some old pervert trying to sacrifice an innocent child. Which you aren't." he pointed out.

Prÿce scoffed. "So am innocent." She stuck her tongue out at him for good measure.

Xander turned to the crowd of people waiting for loved ones and spotted Wesley hurrying to get through. 'Probably running late.' Xander thought.

"That's him." Xander pointed and watched Prÿce lock in on Wes.

"Dude in the tweed jacket?" she questioned then sort of frowned.

"Wesley!" Xander called and turned to catch the slightly startled expression on his face. "This is Prÿce. Your… niece?"

"My…" Wesley's eyes got rounder but before he could question Xander further he had a petite girl invading his personal space.

"So." Prÿce looked up at Giles younger version, eyeing him up and down.

"Uhm, hello-." Wesley tried to put some space between them by extending his hand but Prÿce suddenly grinned and jumped on him. She had a firm grip for such a tiny thing and Wesley turned a glare on Xander for laughing at how ridiculous he must look being hugged by a perfect stranger.

"She does that a lot." Xander chuckled by way of warning.

btvs

Faith lounged in the window seat of the NWC brownstone. She was not looking forward to the meetings they had scheduled. Everyone was hesitant about working with any government and this time they'd be completely exposed. The Initiative was still a thing, no one was going to tell them it didn't exist because the government wasn't about to let go of that bone just because two Slayers were telling them to. And now that most of the Actives knew there was a place for them with the government, simply because of their stint as Active Slayers… there were quite a few still pissed off about being de-powered. And what was that saying, about a woman scorned…

"What a bitch…" Faith sighed and let her head fall back into the wall. Sometimes this life was more of a headache than it was worth. But then she'd have to remind herself, this was exactly the life she was supposed to have if she wanted to earn her redemption. Lately she wanted to have a little slice of what the norms deemed 'happiness'. "Whatever the hell that is…"

Faith watched as the car pulled up and Xander got out followed by Wes. She smiled seeing the girl that hopped out of the back seat and ran up the front steps. She could hear her voice echo in the house through the door; Slayer hearing…

"Saw you in the window, now meet me half way!" Prÿce called as she hurried up the stairs.

Faith groaned, she didn't want to get out of her comfy corner, which is why Prÿce found her still at the window once she made it to the top.

"OMG!" Prÿce huffed, just slightly out of breath as she stood in the door.

Faith let out a guffaw and pointed. "You look ridiculous." There were a couple fly-way strands of hair all over Prÿce's face and one of her buns was seriously loose.

"You lazy old hag." Prÿce threw the insult then hurried towards the window seat and threw herself on Faith's lap.

"Hag?" Faith still chuckled but she grabbed the loose bun and yanked it completely loose in retaliation.

"Fregado!" Prÿce scowled, wincing at the pulled hair but she made no move to get her revenge. "Your laziness is contagious. I'll beat you up for that later."

Faith gave a bark of laughter and lightly shoved Prÿce to the side. The girl hadn't changed and Faith wondered again what made this one different.

"Man, those are a lot of stairs." Prÿce huffed and got herself into a sitting position with her legs dangling over Faith's. "So, what's up?"

Faith arched a dark eyebrow. "You tell me."

Prÿce gave an off-hand wave and scoffed. "You don't want to hear about senior yr in some boring old high school in California. Kinda want to blow it up…"

Faith snorted, rolling her eyes. "High school." She'd never really had that experience and now that she was older, she kinda felt a smidge of sadness that she'd missed out on those things that normal girls had. What she liked about Prÿce was that the girl heard all the stories, she'd even asked a couple questions once they'd known each other better, but she didn't put Faith into that 'box' everyone else had for her. Yeah, she'd screwed up, was screwed up, maybe permanently, and people tended to go with that. But Prÿce wasn't like other people.

'I'm not what my Dad thinks or wants me to be. I'm not what my Mom thought I was going to be. I'm certainly nowhere near what my grandmother wanted. I'm just me. My choices… they don't get to limit who I can be. So what you've done… that's not who you are. You're still becoming Faith. And I think the Faith that's my friend is awesome and I love her. So fuck everyone else and their idea of who you are.'

"Ooh, that's one of your secret sex smiles, isn't it?" Prÿce stuck her finger close to Faith's face. "Are you gonna tell me-."

"Nope." Faith shook her head and tried not to laugh at the ridiculous things the girl could say. "You're way too young to be-."

"Dude!" Prÿce threw her hands up. "I'm older than you were!"

"And smarter." Faith nodded in agreement. "So keep it in your pants."

"Can't." Prÿce smirked. "Left them at home." She stuck her tongue out.

btvs

The next day found an equally happy and enthusiastic Prÿce at the breakfast bar already sipping coffee and perched in the corner waiting on the others to come down.

Wesley didn't even notice her when he walked in. He got himself a mug and poured in coffee, stirred in some sugar. He turned with the mug at his lips to take a sip when his eyes landed on Prÿce and she spoke up.

"Morning!" Prÿce pressed her lips together as Wesley let out a pained hiss of breath and shoved his hands as far from his body as possible. "Oopsie…you spilled on yourself. Still hot?" she was doing a great job of not laughing but Wesley's eyes practically shot daggers at her. "So why don't you clean yourself up and I'll just make you another cup?" she set her mug down and hopped off the counter.

He walked out with her soft giggles echoing behind him.

'Patience. She's only here for the week.' He told himself. The ride from the airport had been full of questions, some of which Wesley hadn't been able to answer. She was curious and enthusiastic, wanted to know everything about his side of the tree, as she called it. Wesley had no idea how to get on with the girl. Yes, he'd put up with Buffy and Faith but they were Slayers. This girl was…

"Whatsa matter?" Faith yawned, jaw cracking and scowled.

"Good morning." Wes answered instead.

"You better not have spilled all of it." Faith warned as she started to walk past him, still in her shorts and tank top. "Hate being up this early." She muttered under her breath.

Wesley drew in a breath and continued towards his room. He pulled out a crisps white dress shirt and peeled off the ruined one as he headed into the bathroom to wash off.

When Xander had asked him to look into Prÿce's grandmother, he hadn't really thought too much about what he'd find, after all, the old council and most of the watchers had been blow up or taken out by the First.

Wesley had looked through some old files then dug into the boxes that had been shipped over from the family home. The one burned down by the First…

"Bastard really did try to wipe it all out." He muttered to the mirror. He winced at the slightly irritated skin on his chest was aggravated by the cotton wash rag. He tossed it aside and just patted himself dry and went back to his room to dress.

The box was in the corner and he with a sigh he figured it was best to get it over with. Picking it up, Wes carried the box down to the kitchen where Xander was making pancakes and Faith was surprisingly docile as Prÿce manhandled her dark head of hair.

"I swear," Prÿce scowled. "Parece nido, and its so easy to put a comb through it."

"What for?" Faith tore another chunk of her pancake and stuffed her mouth.

"Como que-, you're being a jerk on purpose."Prÿce leaned around to get a good look at Faith's face.

"Nope," Faith flick her eyes to meet Prÿce. "I'm always a jerk."

"Ugh," Prÿce ignored her and quickly pulled Faith's long hair into a ponytail and then turned it into a messy bun.

"Now you look like a cute jerk." Prÿce gave Faith's back a slight shove and turned to grab herself a plate of pancakes.

Faith noticed Wesley's curious look and ignored it.

"Coffee in the blue mug is yours, Wes." Prÿce called as she headed towards the table with two plates. One of which she set in front of him. "Kinda wanted waffles but Xander's being an ornery old man so we get regular ol' pancakes."

"I don't have to make breakfast at all…" Xander called from his spot at the stove.

"How 'bout some eggs?" Faith called over her shoulder and ignored Prÿce's soft snicker of laughter.

"Don't tell me you still can't make scrambled eggs?" Xander sighed and shook his head.

"I don't like them crunchy." Faith replied.

"Its called, not burning them." Prÿce whispered loudly.

Faith's eyes darted towards Wesley, she could suddenly see herself straddling him as she threatened him with the blowtorch. The memory was so vivid it felt like she'd gotten the wind knocked out of her and Faith pushed away from the table.

Prÿce looked up, brow furrowed, at the sudden change in Faith's mood. She opened her mouth to ask if she felt alright but Faith spoke up first.

"That's enough for me. I'm gonna get ready for these meetings." Faith left them quickly and hurried to her own room.

She was never completely at peace, not with herself and never with her past. Sometimes it was easier to put it aside, kinda forget she'd ever been that… thing. And then there were the flashes of memory, of the things she'd done and people she'd hurt that would suck her in like she was there all over again. Right now, she could still get that faint smell of burned flesh…

Faith quickly jumped into the shower, clothes and all and turned the knob. A spray of freezing cold water hit her in the face. She choked on the shocked inhale of water and coughed, hand moving the knob so the water became tepid. She yanked the band holding her hair up, pulling some of it as she did. Then she peeled off her tank and shorts and stood with hands fisted on the shower tile trying to breathe and pulls herself out of the past.

The sounds of their voices kinda helped to focus her. Faith listened as Prÿce asked about the box and Wesley slid it over to her.

"I found some of these things…" he trailed off not sure how to even explain where they'd come from or even from whom. "I thought you'd like to have them."

"Me?" Prÿce's voice rose in surprise. "So, I get a new relative and presents?" she turned to Xander grinning. "See? Best trip EVER."

Xander snorted a laugh. "He gives you a moldy old box of dust and this is your best trip ever?"

Prÿce mock frowned at him and turned to Wes. "Don't listen to the old turd. He's just jealous."

"Turd?" Xander chuckled. "So not jealous." He said to Wes who still wasn't sure he was comfortable with how easily Prÿce got on with both Faith and Xander.

"Come on." Prÿce pulled on Wesley's shoulder. "You gotta show me what's inside."

Wesley ended up in the living room, the box lid on the floor somewhere, the family tree spread out on the coffee table and pictures of relatives scattered on top.

"Whoa…" Prÿce ran her gaze over all of it. "There's lots of white folk in here." She looked up at Wesley to find him kinda perplexed by her comment. "My other side of the tree has some color in it. Brown. Lots of beaners, well just a few. I mean, the Barnes started out kind of pale and Bucky accidentally added some beans to the mix and then we kinda kept putting more in the tree until Dad fell for Mom and then it got kinda pale again." She stopped suddenly.

It dawned on Wesley that Prÿce was nervous. This bubbly girl had no idea how to get on with him, so treated him like she did Faith or Xander, which had annoyed Wesley. He offered a small smile and pulled out a picture.

"You have the same shape to your mouth and nose…" Wes gave her the picture and Prÿce looked into the face of another female from his tree. It took her a moment to realize she was staring at a young version of her grandmother.

"Diana Prÿce was kind of a legend…" Wesley sat back and smiled.

"…got any stories…" Prÿce smiled and tucked her legs under her as she found a comfortable place on the couch to listen. She liked Wesley's voice, it was the accent, it warmed up his tone and she listened to him talk about Diana the Black Sheep of their family. She dared to walk her own path at a time when women weren't supposed to be anything other than meek and subservient. Even in the Council, with everything they knew about Slayers…

btvs

"You have fun?" Faith called from her perch on the couch as Prÿce tried to sneak in.

"Uh," Prÿce froze in the entrance. She tried a nonchalant smile and strode into the living room. "Well, yeah."

"Great." Faith stood up and draped her arm around Prÿce's shoulders leading her up the stairs. "Because Xander has something to tell you in the morning."

Prÿce groaned. "Is he going to 'ground' me?" she eyed Faith who laughed.

"Uh-huh."

"OhmyGod!" Prÿce wiped both hands down her face in frustration. "Ok, I totally get I shouldn't have snuck away and not turned off my cell so you guys couldn't track and trap me before I was done exploring but come on!" she threw her hands up. "Active Slayer, killed the Seed, staked a whole bunch of vamps, got me some demons too and just because I'm no longer juiced up by the Slayer power I'm relegated to girl status?"

"You are a girl." Faith pointed out.

"Dude, you know what I mean! Quit making this a joke." Prÿce stopped at the top of the stairs and faced the Slayer. "This is totally a serious moment and I'm gonna ask you to be an adult."

"Whoa," Faith held both hands up, palms out. "Who are you and what did you to my annoying little beaner friend?"

Prÿce tried but after a moment she laughed. "You totally called me a beaner." She giggled.

"I still don't see why you find that funny." Faith kinda frowned as they headed down the hall to their rooms.

"Cus you said beaner." Prÿce chuckled again and finally sighed. "I'll poke at Xander in the morning and make him laugh and he'll forget to ground me."

"That easy?" Faith shook her head, arms crossing as she let the smile show on her face.

"Uh, you should know." Prÿce waggled her eyebrows and pointed in the direction of the stairs that lead down to the guys floor. "Alright, so are we bunking in my bed or yours?"

"You're a little young for me." Faith deadpanned. "Not to mention a minor…"

"Ugh!" Prÿce rolled her eyes. "All of a sudden…" she waved a hand as if saying that was bull shit. "And hommie don't swing like that."

It was Faith's turn to chuckle. "Go put on your PJ's and get some sleep. We have a full day of meetings tomorrow and I need someone to keep me awake."

"Oh si," Prÿce huffed with pretend offence. "You wont sleep with me but you want to use me." She turned her chin up and headed into her room. "I got feelings you know…" she tossed over her shoulder and heard Faith's amused chuckles.

Once alone, Prÿce pulled off her clothes and jumped into bed where she curled up in the middle and tried to sleep. But her mind kept going over the day she'd spent exploring. She'd walked around Brooklyn trying to picture it the way it had been when Bucky had been alive. She'd tried to imagine them both just walking down the street or hanging out… at a soda shop? She laughed and turned onto her back. She'd spent most of the morning in the museum, studying it all, the pictures and the reels of them. The museum had come alive again with the return of Capt. America and it was kinda packed. But that hadn't ruined the experience. Prÿce had taken a walk to Bucky's old building, happy to see it was still there, in a way. But she hadn't been able to go inside and ask for a tour… she hadn't been ready for that and just standing outside the building had brought up some weird emotions. Prÿce didn't know why she'd felt so sad that her eyes had burned with unshed tears. And it had been the same in the museum, when she saw the reels and Bucky moving around, smiling just… that had been her ta-ta.

'I probably wouldn't have ever met him anyway.' She told herself, because she'd been a surprise arrival. Five years after the last little Barnes had popped out, there she was…

"I can hear you not crying, Prÿce." Faith's voice floated from the door way.

"Cus I'm not crying. Duh." Prÿce retorted. She yanked the covers back and scooted over so Faith had plenty of room. After a moment, Faith sighed like a tired parent giving in and tucked herself into bed next to Prÿce.

"So, what?" Faith huffed. In the next moment she had Prÿce snuggled into her side, her soft voice relating what she'd done all day while they'd worried something had eaten, dismembered, sacrificed, killed or any of the million and one scenarios the Scoobies had lived through.

btvs