Faith once again found herself summoned to the Scooby meeting. This time she was more upset than bored. It had been a week since the attacks and Tara was just starting to recover. The magic running through her, gripping her, had been more than the blonde had been able to handle. If it hadn't come through Red, the dark slayer didn't think her sister would have survived.

What upset Faith the most though was the fact that Tara went to work the next day even though she could barely move. The Scoobies had asked her to do something none of them had understood, and her sister had to pay the price. From what Faith had heard, Willow hadn't suffered anything that a nights rest couldn't fix.

Sometimes life wasn't fair and she hated it, Faith thought as she stopped to take out a passing vamp. With the exception of G and Mrs. S they were all kids. What kind of fucked up society forced kids to live on the fringes of society and fight creatures that most didn't even believe existed.

The dark slayer looked up at the looming school, a place she was starting to dread. She punched the wall trying to relieve some of her frustrations before walking into the building. What kind of freak built a high school over the mouth to hell anyway? Faith tried hard not to think about the disappointment she would see on everyone's face. She knew that they only wanted to see her sister and it ashamed the girl to admit that she was upset by that. None of the Scoobies had shown any interest in her, but they all gushed over her sister whom they had only met for a night.

Faith had told her older sister that the gang wanted to meet and get to know her, but the witch wanted none of it. She was very adamant about remaining as a support system for Faith and only Faith. Plus the whole dark magic taking over her body and nearly killing a young girl had really freaked the blonde witch out. She needed time to process everything that happened and to let their interest fade.

"What's up G-man? We got another big bad to beat this week?" Faith asked as she walked into the room.

"Ah, Faith, so nice of you to join us. No we don't have another prophesy this time, but I thought it best to address some issues raised during the last one." Giles told her while cleaning his glasses.

"Uh, I didn't know there were any issues," Faith said confused, "I mean we got the bad guy and no one died. Isn't that a big win, or am I missing something?"

"We decided that we didn't know enough about you." Buffy said before pointing to a seat, "Why don't you sit so we can know you better."

Willow looked behind the dark girl who was slowly becoming frustrated, "Is your sister coming? We'd like to get to know her better too."

"Whatever. I don't need this. I'm gonna bounce and patrol. Call me when you got something real." Faith said as she turned right around and left the high school.

'I can't say I didn't see this coming,' Faith thought as she moved towards the first graveyard of the night. 'I'm gonna tell T told ya so when I get home. She thinks too much of people, but I know how it really goes. How she managed to stay so sweet is beyond me.'

Faith moved quickly through the thirteen graveyards that Sunnydale housed. She used her senses to look for demons to help the patrol go by faster. The dark slayer wanted to make it home to cook her sister a nice breakfast before she went to work. There were more vamps out than normal, but it wasn't anything that Faith couldn't handle. She even managed to take out a group of six with only bruises that would be healed by the next night.

"Fuck," Faith said as the smell of burning bacon hit her, "Hope T doesn't mind eating extra crispy bacon today."

"Do you need some help sweetie?" a gentle voice from the doorway asked.

Faith looked over and grinned at her sister, "Naw, I got it T. Just got distracted with the toast and overcooked the bacon. Why don't you dig in, I made all of your favorites."

Tara let out an amused snort, "Why do I feel like you're buttering me up for something."

"Wellll," Faith dragged out as Tara grabbed some food, "I did see this really awesome knife at the hunting store a couple of days ago. It's a couple hundred, and I know we don't got it but I was hopin' we could save up for it. My other one is getting really worn out."

"Okay sweetie. I'll look over the budget today and see where we can get the money from. It might be a couple weeks but we'll get it for you. You've been doing so much patrolling lately. You deserve to have something nice to help you."

"Thank T." Faith said sitting down to eat her breakfast, "I also talked to the guys down at the docks. They didn't want to let me do any unloading, but I convinced them I was what they were looking for. It ain't legit or anything, but it's some more money coming in."

Tara reached out and stroked her sister's arm, "Thank you sweetie. I know you want to do more around here. As long as it doesn't affect your patrolling or your downtime then I'm okay with it. But if it gets too much for you, you can stop. We're doing okay."

Faith stabbed a piece of egg a little more aggressively than needed, "I know we're doing okay, I just wish you didn't have to work so hard. You're only eighteen; you shouldn't have to work so fucking hard so we can scrape by. You should be at college learnin' and shit."

"Oh Faith," Tara said as she got up and pulled her younger sister into a tight hug, "All I've wanted from the day you were born was to give you somewhere you wanted to come home to. As long as I do that I don't need a degree or anything. I'm happy working and practicing my magic."

Faith buried her head in the older girl's stomach, "I'll always want to come home to you. I love you."

The day drug on as Faith waited for her first shift at the dock to start. Tara had been pretty adamant that Faith shouldn't work when they first arrived in Sunnydale, but the slayer had been wearing her down until she caved. Faith hated that she wasn't able to do more than she did. Yeah she was the slayer and one of two girls that stood between the world and its destruction, but she should be able to pull in some money. Besides Faith had too much energy and not a lot to do with it.

Faith stretched as she finally left the dock. She'd only been there for a couple of hours but they had worked her pretty hard. All of the other guys were impressed about how much she could handle, though the slayer was sure to keep it in a realistic range.

Three hours later Faith scrubbed her hands over her face before heading out to do her rounds before heading home. Buffy was slated to patrol that night, but Faith never took the night off. She needed to take out all the vamps that she could before heading home. She couldn't sleep at night knowing that people were being attacked, without trying to help. Not that she would tell anyone, she did have a reputation she wanted to maintain.

As Faith walked quickly through the cemeteries, she started noticing something strange. She didn't feel the normal buzzing in her senses that meant demons. No matter how many she killed that buzz was always there, and suddenly it was gone. The further Faith walked the more the situation creeped her out, until she felt something faint just to the left of her.

Faith took off at a run following the pull. When she finally saw what was pulling her she nearly threw up. Buffy was in the middle of a fucking mob of vampires desperately trying to stay alive. Faith wasted only a few seconds in shock before she jumped in the fray. She was able to take out a dozen vampires before the others noticed that she'd even joined the fight. Taking out as many as she could Faith fought her way to her sister slayer's side. She needed to protect the exhausted girl before she got killed.

It was like a switch was flipped when Faith arrived. The tides of the battle changed and the two girls were now standing on the victorious side. Twenty minutes later a very battered blonde collapsed on the ground. Faith had staked the last vampire and the girls stared around them at the swirling masses of dust that covered everything around them.

"You okay B? Shit was pretty heavy when I got here?"

"Yeah I'll live, but I think Mom will kill me." Buffy rasped out.

Faith finally looked down at Buffy and what she saw brought that nauseous feeling back. The girl was beaten bloody and Faith couldn't help gag a little at the sight of the broken arm sticking out through the skin.

The dark slayer reached down and gently picked the battered girl up, "Shh, I'll be gentle. Let's get you to mine so Tara can check you out. She can't heal you entirely but the girl is magic when it comes to patchin up cuts and bruises."

Buffy never responded seeing as she had passed out from pain when Faith lifted her off the ground.

It only took moments for Faith to run home, even with Buffy's added weight. It may have not been the best thing for the poor girl, but the dark slayer didn't normally deal with the whole caring for others thing. She burst through the door thankful to find Tara reading on the couch.

"T, we got a problem here. B's hurt pretty bad and I don't know if her slayer can heal her."

Tara reacted immediately, "Put her on the bed, I'll get my things. I'm sure she's going to be just fine sweetie."

Faith looked down at the unconscious blood stained slayer as she laid her out on the bed. She wasn't sure Buffy could recover from these wounds, but if anyone could help her, it would be Tara.

Tara barreled into the room carrying an assortment of herbs and candles. "Could you get the books I laid out? I'm not sure if I'll need them, but I'd like to have them close, just in case."

As Faith ran off to get the books, Tara took her first look at Buffy. It wasn't a pretty sight. The girl's right arm was fractured and was broken through the skin, a quick prodding established that several ribs were broken, and it didn't appear as if there was any patch of skin left unmarred.

"I'm so sorry sweetie. This is going to hurt. I know you're out of it now, and hopefully you're going to stay that way."

"Can ya fix her T? I know I complain about her all the time, but this gig wouldn't be the same without B."

"I'm going to try my best, but I'm going to need your help. I need you to come hold her while I set her bones. That should help her slayer healing to heal them faster."

Faith wordlessly moved to Buffy's other side and held her hands out for Tara to put them where they were needed. The tough girl flinched as she saw the broken bones in Buffy's body slowly start to move. Tara was quietly chanting in Latin. Five excruciatingly painful to watch minutes later the bones were back in their proper places, and Buffy hadn't even stirred once.

Faith let go of Buffy as Tara started to grind some of the herbs she had brought with her. "I'm going to make a little paste to put on her worst wounds. Could you take her shirt off? Her stomach and chest seemed to bear the brunt of the attack."

"Do you think she's going to be okay? She didn't even wake up when you shoved her arm back in her skin."

Tara reached over and touched Faith reassuringly. "I think she's going to be fine. She's just in a lot of pain and her body shut down to deal with it. Why don't you go and call Giles. I don't think this was just a random thing. If you hadn't got there she'd be dead."

Faith took a deep breath, "Okay. I think I'll go see him instead. He's probably going to want to come here and that way he'd have some protection."

Tara sighed, "Just be careful. If you feel anything big, I want you to get to someone's house as fast as possible. We can't have you and Buffy injured, that would not be good. I hope Mr. Giles can figure out what's going on."

Faith got up and kissed Tara's forehead, "I'll text you when I get there. I'm not taking any chances."

Faith sent out her promised text as she was knocking on Giles door. Things were still strange in Sunnydale. Her senses had been quiet once again. It made her want to check on Buffy.

"Hey G-man, we got a problem."

"Oh, um, yes. Come in"

Faith strode in and started to pace, "I went patrolling tonight cause hell I don't have anything to do in the morning, thought I'd help B out. But it was all crazy, I didn't feel any vamps or demons. Nothing, it was like my senses were turned off. Then I felt a small pull so I ran to it and B was getting her ass kicked. I mean there had to be 40 vamps and no tellin how many she dusted before I got there. Anyway, I jumped in and we managed to dust em all, but B was banged up pretty bad. I took her back to T, and she's got her mostly patched up. They did a real number on her."

"Oh dear. I had a suspicion that something like this would happen. I wanted to wait until I had confirmation from an old colleague, but this appears be to be a sort of confirmation."

"Bottom line G-man?"

"Well, yes, it seems as if we weren't able to fully stop the ritual last week. We did prevent the hell mouth from opening but something was able to escape. From what I've read, the being would have possessed one of the people present. They would then lurk in the background, while the victim was completely unaware. We'll have to gather everyone up and figure this out. Allow me to gather the things we need tonight and then we can meet tomorrow at Buffy's house. You bring Buffy and your sister, and I'll gather Xander and Willow."

"Can do G-man. Tara'll probably look into it and will bring stuff. I'm pretty sure it isn't her, so I'll get her to bring some stuff to lock us in until we figure it out."

"Besides her being your sister, what makes you think she isn't possessed?"

"We're close. I'd notice if she were, and she'd notice if I were. Since I haven't heard nothing about it I'll assume it isn't me cause I know it isn't her."

"Yes, well, hopefully you know best. Be careful on your way home."

"Will do."

Faith quickly made her way home. All she could think about was Tara going all evil like trying to sacrifice lil' S. She just knew that all the others would blame her. Giles didn't seem to, and that was something to think about. Maybe he knew something that would get T off the hook.

"T we have a problem." Faith yelled as soon as she opened the door. The wonderful smell of hamburgers filled the air. Tara was not in the kitchen or living room, so Faith grabbed some food and headed to her room. The sight that met her eyes was a good one indeed. Buffy was sitting up eating and chatting away with Tara.

"Hey."

"Faith," Buffy exclaimed, "I'm glad you're okay. Tara was just telling me how I got here and what you did for me. Thank you."

"It's all five by five, but we've got a big problem and it deals with why you got ambushed tonight. G-man thinks a demon escaped during the botched ritual last week. He thinks that it's possessing one of us that were there. I'm saying it ain't T or me or you. I'm also pretty sure it ain't Giles either or he never would have brought it up."

The two blondes looked at each other then back at Faith.

"Yeah, I know. It's pretty crazy, but G-man's got a plan. Everyone who was there last week is going to be at your house tomorrow and we'll figure out who it is. I kinda volunteered you T for a containment spell. We can't have the demon getting lose and away from us, sorry about that."

"It's okay sweetie. I probably would have offered anyway. I need to gather all the things I need and then get some sleep. Come bunk in with me when you're ready. I don't want you sleeping on the couch." Tara gave Faith a pointed look before heading out of the room.

"You're sister is kinda scary and really nice." Buffy whispered while she patted the bed next to her.

Faith sat down chuckling, "Yeah, she has that effect on people. How are you feeling? You're looking a lot better than when I left."

"I'm feeling a lot better. Your sister is a miracle worker. I really thought I was going to die before you got there. Which brings me to ask, why were you there? It was my night to patrol; you should have been at home."

"Well, you see it's like this. I kinda patrol every night. You know cause you go to school and everything and that way you have an easier time and with school and everything. I don't got anything to do during the day and you do so, yeah I patrol every night."

Buffy stared at Faith before softly saying, "Why didn't you tell any of this to us. That's probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me and I didn't even know. I thought the vamps were just scared by two slayers in town. I never realized I was getting some help."

Faith shrugged, "It was nothing, besides I got all this pent up energy and nothing else to use it on than slaying."

"Thank you anyway. I really appreciate it, especially since it saved my life tonight."

"Don't let it go to your head. I'm going to go hit the sack you should too. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be a busy day."

The next day dawned bright and early for those in the know. They were all eager to figure out who the baddie was and save the day again. Those not in the know were rudely awakened and informed of the plans for the day. It was eight in the morning when everyone gathered around the Summer's dining room table for pastries and an explanation.

"First things first," Giles said as he cleaned his glasses, "Were you able to cast your spell?"

"Yes Mr. Giles. No one can enter or leave until I cancel the spell."

"What?" Willow exclaimed, "What is going on?"

"It came to my attention that our success last week was only a partial success. I had begun to suspect that something was amiss based on Buffy's accounts of patrolling. I did further research and called a few friends and that led me to believe that a demon had escaped from the hellmouth and had taken possession of one of us. Buffy's encounter with the vampires last night has led me to conclude I was right. According to Faith, the only demons out last night were concentrated on fighting Buffy. It would take something very powerful to organize the vampires like that."

"Who? You mean one of us is all evil like?" Xander asked looking around at everyone at the table.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. The demon would be able to retreat to the background so that no one would notice and then take control leaving its host completely unaware, or so my research has led me to believe."

"So how do we find out who it is?" Joyce asked worriedly. She had already talked to and worried over Buffy after the girl had come in with the marks barely visible on her face. Buffy had received a stern lecture about not calling her last night. Joyce wanted this finished so she had one less thing to worry about.

"Um, well, I'm not quite sure. This is happening quicker than I expected, and I wasn't able to prepare as much as I wanted to."

Tara shyly ducked her head before speaking up, "I did some searching before I went to bed last night because I knew I had read a spell somewhere that exposed hidden things. I was able to find it and we picked up the things we'll need on the way over this morning. I thought that maybe it would help."

"Yes, that does sound like a viable solution. What is it that we have to do?"

"It's simple really. Everyone just drinks a tea I prepare and it'll make you share hidden things. Normally I wouldn't recommend this as it's actually a slightly dark magic potion and I try and stay away from those, but after what happened to Buffy and what could happen I think it's needed."

"That sounds well enough. Do you need help preparing the tea?"

"No I'm fine."

As Tara got up to head in the kitchen, the others looked around at each other. Each was trying to figure out who had a demon possessing them. Buffy at last asked what was on everyone's mind, "So how are we going to slay them once we find them?"

"I'm not actually sure. I figured we'll be able to research that once we know what we're dealing with."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring." Willow muttered under her breath.

"Faith, could you come help me carry these cups?" Tara called out from the kitchen several quite minutes later. Buffy and Faith both jumped up from the table to help the blonde witch. Soon every person had a glass of tea in front of them. They all looked apprehensively down at it and glanced around the room to see if anyone was going to drink it.

"Okay, on the count of three everyone drink the tea," Buffy told the others, "One, two, three."

Once the teas were downed, everyone stared at everyone else. They were waiting for something to happen, all except for Tara. She was preparing for what would happen. While Giles hadn't been able to come up with much the witch had been researching what had happened that night since the day after. She was fairly certain she knew what she was dealing with and who.

Five minutes later everyone was starting to get restless. "Nothing's happening," Buffy practically whined as she tried to sit still in her chair. Her ribs were still healing and the cushion she was sitting on didn't help much.

The only people not getting antsy were Tara and the demon. They were patiently waiting. For what, only Tara knew.

It was as if someone had flipped a switch. The lights began to dim and dark cloud began to fill the room with sickly green lightning play over the outer edges. A scream ripped through the room and the group turned to the source. Giles stood causing his chair to fly backwards. A deep guttural scream was being ripped from his throat as he contorted with pain. No one was quite sure how long his screams went on, but eventually Giles dropped to the ground passed out while a tall ghastly figure stood in his place.

"Well dear," the figure said, "I didn't think you'd actually do it. Tell me, how did you figure it out. You haven't seen the man since I possessed him."

Tara laughed, "You were me there for a few seconds that night. It let me see you. There's very few people that you could have possessed and Giles was the only one that made sense. Willow would have been noticeably different because she's never had that kind of darkness in her before, Dawn is too different for you to get your hands in, and Faith is too strong. The others don't have enough magic for you to leech."

"Ha, lucky guess. It doesn't matter. Now that I'm corporal I can do what I wanted, destroy the world!" The demon began to cackle something Faith was sure it meant to sound evil. She just shrugged and threw one of the knives that she always keeps on her. It pierced the demons heart, causing the offensive noise it was making to stop.

"Do you really think that a silly knife would kill me Slayer?"

"No, I just wanted your irritating laugh to stop. You would have thought someone ran a class for evil laughs 'cause you really need one."

Xander started chucking and shrugged when the demon glared at him, "What? She's got a point."

"Moving on. Now that I have all of you here,"

Faith interrupted, "Blah, blah, blah. No one wants to hear your plans. You're obviously not very good at them."

"How am I not good at them? I have you all here right where I want you don't I?"

"I think it's got a point." Joyce quietly pointed out, drawing Dawn closer to her.

"I don't," Tara said confidently as she stood up. "I think that it's messed with the wrong people. How in any dimension did you think you could go up against two slayers and live to tell the tale?"

"Hahaha, two slayers? If you think the blonde one will be of any use you're mistaken. She shouldn't even be here but you two had to go meddle with something that didn't concern you. As for one slayer and a little witch who's afraid of her own power why would I be afraid?"

Buffy grinned and glanced at Faith, "I guess it's a good thing you didn't bring your sister to the Scooby meetings. Now tall, dark, and almost dead has no idea what he's getting into."

"Oh yeah. Tare is a right terror when she puts her mind to it. Got us out of plenty of scraps when we were younger. There's no one I trust more."

"It doesn't matter. Once I deal you pathetic creatures I will take over the, ugh, what is this?" The demon looked down and finally noticed what Faith and Buffy had. The dagger piercing its heart was starting to weep a thick green substance, presumably it's blood.

"What have you done?" It snarled at the smiling Tara.

She shook her head as if disappointed, "You made a mistake that night. When you possessed me I saw you. I felt you. For several minutes I was you. I knew what you wanted and what you'd do when it didn't happen. What I didn't know was how long it would take for you to move. That's where you went wrong. You gave me enough time to research, who you are, what you are, and most importantly how to kill you. Faith if you'd do the honors."

At her command the dark slayer pulled the hidden sword out and lobbed the demons head off. It rolled across the floor finally coming to a stop at the door to the kitchen.

"Well that was anti-climactic," Xander groused as he piled more food on his plate.