Europe
September 2005

Faith could feel the wind coming up over the side of the building on her back, reminding her that she was a steadily moving object that was traversing closer and closer to the edge, over which there was only gravity to pull her down through space. She shoved the large, thick demon back with all her might, throwing him a few yards and giving him a solid kick in the jaw; but he was right back up and coming at her again, and she had to swiftly duck to avoid the sword that came flying at her head. Once closer to the gravel, she swung her leg out to knock him over, and he fell with a hard thud. He was back up before she could make any other move, and she was again reduced to dodging and avoiding his wild swings.

After what felt like the hundredth time of ducking down, she sprang up suddenly and used all her force to throw him backwards in one thrust from both her hands, sending him flying. As he got up and she advanced on him, she could immediately see that he was not happy. A horrible grimace marred his face as he stood tall and came toward her, and before she could react he had hefted his giant fist up underneath her chin, and she was sailling back towards the edge again. She hit the ground hard, feeling pain radiate through her back, and she grit her teeth and popped swiftly up, swinging viciously at his face.

"You – mother – fucker – " She was once more being pushed back in the heat of the fight, and more than slightly annoyed.

Her anger spilling over, her face contorted in rage and she began pummeling him with anything she could; fists, feet, an iron pipe that she wrenched out of something - she didn't care what - and her attacker was momentarily stunned. But it wasn't enough.

She felt him grab her forcibly, and the next thing she knew her feet were no longer in contact with anything; she could see the tops of buildings and fire escapes flying swiftly up as she went down, everything in her view blurred as she rushed toward the ground. A doubly healed over scar on her midsection began burning with something she had never felt before. God damn these fucking roofs.

They were sitting atop the hill that nestled itself around the Hollywood sign.
"So this is what it feels like, huh? On top of the world?"
She smiled slightly. "Not exactly."

"Sometimes I wish I could fly. Go wherever I wanted, you know? No one could catch me. I'd be free." I wish I could fly away from all the shit we put inside us.

Falling is faster than flying.


The first thing she registered was that she was alive. Okay so far. Not like this hadn't happened before. She could deal… Though she really was growing exceedingly tired of rooftops. After clearing the haziness from her mind, she blinked her eyes a few times and brought herself back to reality. She took in her surroundings warily, sliding up to a sitting position on the dark couch beneath her.

She was in an apartment, sparsely filled but decently-sized from what she could see. Her only light source was a few scattered lamps; outside the window she could see that it was still nighttime, so she hadn't been unconscious for long. She stretched out her limbs, checking herself for any serious wounds, but there were none besides those from the battle on the roof, and they were already healing. Fucking Grohlds were relentless. She hated demons. She took a deep breath, then pushed off the blanket that had been over her. At least whoever took her in didn't take off her clothes to 'make her more comfortable' or any bullshit like that.

She slowly stood, looking around, the Slayer in her fully expecting someone to jump out from the shadows and try to kill her again. She figured she would never be able to relax. But this was life. Maybe some nice humbly old woman had decided it was her night to be a good samaritan. Faith was fully aware of herself. Whoever had picked her up definitely had the better chance of being on the male spectrum.

She walked leisurely around the living room, looking out the large windows to try and get a feel of where she might be. But she didn't know this city that well, and so she saw just what she expected to see. She was near some more buildings and dumpsters. Ah well. As long as she was in here she might as well take the opportunity to explore.

She fiddled with some little round thing on the table in front of her, then checked out the TV. It was a massive flat screen. There were a few pictures hanging on the walls that she couldn't make out, and the furniture was all very dark, much of it what appeared to be leather. Most of the things in the room looked new, or at least nice. There were a few bookshelves along the furthest wall, some with weird statues on the top. She couldn't make out any of the titles.

"You're up," a surprised - and yes, distinctly male - voice said from across the room, behind her. She spun around.

A casually dressed young man had appeared from somewhere else in the apartment with a washcloth in his hand. If Faith had guessed his age she would put him close to hers. He had a sort of lopsided smile as he spoke. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah…" She made it a rule – as she should – to be hesitant of anyone, whether they had scales or not. Especially if they took her in for no reason. That was the way the world - her world - worked. "Five by five."

He gave a small, amused laugh. "Interesting lingo. Can I use it some time?"

Her tone and face were casual, but her eyes were covertly looking him over and paying close attention as he moved and spoke for anything that might be amiss or awry. "Sorry, I got dibs."

"All right, so…" He put the washcloth down on the table. "How do you like the place?" He gestured around with his hands.

She shrugged. "Well I don't know, haven't really gotten to see much of it yet. Just woke up." She gave a grin that didn't go past her mouth.

"You sure you're okay? No bloody battle wounds that I overlooked or anything?" He sounded genuinely concerned for her well-being; almost completely non-creepy. If Faith had met him under other circumstances, she might have even written him off as a gentle dork.

"Yeah, I'm cool. Don't worry about it." She paused, remembering she still had no idea who this man was, or how exactly she came to be in his apartment. "So who are you?"

"Oh, right," he said, seeming to have forgotten normal people introduced themselves. "I'm Dean." He smiled. "You don't - have to tell me your name, if you don't want to, I mean I get the whole keep-your-identity-a-secret-fight-evil thing." Faith was briefly reminded of Superman.

Her posture noticeably stiffened and she gave him a piercing look, crossing her arms. "And why would you say that?" The less he knew, the better; and she had no idea how much he knew already.

His face and voice quickly revealed how intimidated he suddenly was. "Well - I mean, I saw you up on the roof when I was walking outside - well, I heard you, fighting and everything, and I wanted to know what was going on, but I was too caught up in waiting to see if I could catch a glimpse of anything to go up to the roof. So – I waited - I don't really know for what - and then - when you fell, I saw what you were fighting and… I caught you." He paused. "Or at least tried to. We both ended up kind of smushed on the ground." He laughed lightly. "The thing looked down at us for a few seconds and then disappeared."

"What did you see?" she asked evasively, probing for just how much information he might have. She still didn't know who he was; all she had was a name. She didn't want any repercusions because some kid saw a scary monster and saved what he probably thought was some kind of damsel, in his own way. And, if he couldn't be trusted, she didn't want him knowing anything about her.

"Um… Well it definitely didn't look like any human I've ever seen. And when you were fighting it didn't sound like one either. But I couldn't really tell exactly what it was. You were kind of high up."

Her tone evidenced her obvious doubt and suspicion. "...And you still managed to catch me?"

Uneasiness crossed his features momentarily and then disappeared. He grinned timidly. "Well - I did mention that we both got slammed into the ground. I just kind of...broke your fall with my body."

She waited a long moment before answering, unsure of whether to believe him or not. Sure, there were people who would readily accept that there were superhumans and demons and vampires in the world, that magic was real, and that it was all hiding in plain sight right under everyone's nose - but she just didn't think she was that lucky to have found one of those people. You didn't just stumble across them every day. "And it didn't freak you out? Seeing something like that up on the roof in the middle of the city at night?" More of a dry statement than a question.

"Well…research is kind of what I do. You know, supernatural stuff. Been doing it for years. I got really caught up in it after watching a buddy of mine, um….have some bad luck with a demon." He paused for a few seconds. "I've seen a lot of things - though I'm guessing not as much as you."

She cocked an eyebrow. "You'd guess right." Maybe he was telling the truth. How would she know? Though he certainly was not shocked or stunned by the events that had apparently taken place, and that counted for something. Obviously there was some reason he wasn't treating her like some strange sort of supergod or running away frightened for his life.

"Also... I've seen you before, so, you know, I knew you were taking care of the thing, but...you probably don't remember me."

Faith looked hard at his face, scrutinizing him, trying to bring to memory where she could have crossed paths with him before. Had she really? There was something in his eyes that was playing tricks with her.

"I think that with all the research I've done, and what I have access to, I could help you," he continued.

I could help you. Her mind flashed back to a dark alley, rescuing a young man from a demon, refusing his help when he called after her. She had written him off, like she had with so many others – but now? The guy did save her life, after all - though she knew she would've survived the fall. He couldn't be that bad. Maybe he could be useful. Like a big walking encyclopedia of information. She was briefly reminded of Buffy Summers and the people she had who had always taken care of researching and finding, while she did the dirty work. It worked for her. It could work for Faith. She liked getting her hands dirty; someone else could take the time to sit in front of a computer or a book or hunt down some scrap of parchment that was 1,000 years old and important to saving the world. And maybe this was a sign, having met him again. He seemed like a nice enough kid; like the kind that grows on you after a while. And, if it came to it - if he wasn't as useful as he claimed to be or he was some freak evil thing, she could always toss him back out - or get rid of him.

If she wanted to be truthful with herself - which she rarely did - she was getting kind of tired of being alone.

I always did do best on my own…most of the time.