Chapter – 10

Faith looked around the small one bedroom apartment she was renting. It was still a little hard for her to believe that she actually had a place of her own. Over the last few years she had become absolutely certain that she would spend the rest of her life moving from motel to motel and even squatting when cash was low. She had never envisioned she'd have a place to hang her hat. A place she'd call home.

Her life had changed drastically the moment she had set foot in this town. Her sense of self, of self-worth and what she had to offer becoming clearer as the days and weeks passed. She had been drowning before and didn't even know it. She had been merely existing, not seeing, not living and not giving. Isolating herself from everyone and everything, thinking it was the only way she could redeem herself for her past deeds.

She realized now how wrong she had been. Redeeming herself wasn't only going to be accomplished by being just the Slayer, she needed to be part of the world and she needed to actually live, to have a life. She came to understand that the small things counted too.

Things like giving someone a shoulder to cry on, lending a helping hand to someone in need. Being there to help ease someone's loneliness, for no other reason other than it was right and not because you were looking for something in return. Everyday human kindness, compassion, loyalty, trust, friendship, family, perhaps even love, they too were part of redeeming herself, of finding redemption.

Faith finally owned up to the fact that she had been running from place to place hoping that the mere act of doing what she had been born to do, as a Slayer, would give her the redemption she sought. It was part of it, but it wasn't all of it and that alone would never be enough.

That was how she had found herself here, in this apartment, within three days of Giles wiring money into her account. A lot more money than her weekly salary, he gave her extra he said, just in case something came up or the Council Funds continued to remain dry and she was unable to reach him.

Trick had helped her find the apartment, insisting, in fact, that she was better off in an apartment rather than a motel since it looked like she might be here a while. He was after all much older and wiser than she, so he knew these things or so he said and Faith hadn't the heart to argue with him. No one had been more surprised than her when she had actually signed a year lease instead of doing a month to month. Bo and Kenzi had insisted that she didn't need to leave, that she was welcome to stay with them at the Clubhouse, but she would hear none of it. It wasn't that she didn't want to, because she did, amongst a host of other reasons, she just knew that it wasn't what either Bo or she needed right.

There were too many unanswered questions in both their lives. Her staying with them, staying with Bo and pulling a U-Haul move would only add more confusion to the mix. Because that's exactly what it would have been. The attraction between her and Bo was too strong. Neither of them thought for a minute that Faith would be sleeping anywhere else besides Bo's bed and sleeping would be the least of what they'd be doing.

This was her first place, first apartment. Her first real chance at making things right, of truly walking that path of redemption. Since she was fourteen, except for those few months with her first Watcher, she had been running and living in either motels or squatting in some abandoned building. This was, as far as she was concerned, the first place she could ever call home. Granted it wasn't a mansion, there was only a bed, a small table with two chairs, a sofa and a lounge chair, but still, it was hers. It felt good; in fact it felt great, and with that thought in mind Faith drifted off to sleep.

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'God save the queen - She ain't no human being - There is no future - In England's dreaming - Don't be told what you want - Don't be told what you need - There's no future, no future, No future for you'

"What the…" Phone… Giles… phone… where the hell is my phone? She dove for her cell on the floor and hit answer at the same time she hit the floor with a bone jarring impact. "Fuck me sideways…"

"Yes, um… well…"

"Sorry..." Faith chuckled, she knew without having to see him that Giles was beet-red and furiously cleaning his glasses. "What's up G?"

"If you don't mind before I fill you in on the progress we've made I'd like to bring Willow and Kennedy in on the call."

Faith's relationship with Giles had improved since their conversation a few weeks ago. It seemed to be back to where it was prior to him rejoining the Scooby Gang. She had yet to ask him why things had changed so much when he returned to the fold and honestly she already knew it was directly related to Buffy. Buffy just didn't trust her and sometimes Faith wondered if she ever would or if she ever had. But that wasn't the only reason; she had contributed to the deterioration of their relationship. She had pulled back from Giles, figuring it would hurt less when he abandoned her for the Scoobs and Faith had been sure that he would do exactly that. In a way she had forced her expectations to become reality, leaving Giles at a loss on how to regain her trust.

"Sure."

This would be the first time anyone else would be in on a call with Giles. He had informed her that he would be enlisting Willow's help with researching this possible prophesy and also with finding a way to track and pinpoint the Slayers turned vamps. Kennedy would be running recon if they did manage to pinpoint the location of the Slayer vamps.

Faith could only assume if Giles was bringing them into the call that they had finally made some headway on both fronts, and Faith was anxious to get the ball rolling. She was tired of laying low, it wasn't her style, but she had agreed to wait at Giles behest until they knew what they were dealing with.

It was during her second conversation with Giles that he had, in a very subtle way, told her to keep using whatever it was she was using to keep herself off of Willow's 'Slayer GPS'. Letting her know definitively that Buffy was trying to bring her back to Cleveland whether she wanted to come or not. He had also implied that it was Willow herself who had given him that tidbit of information and that she wasn't happy about that particular assignment from the Slayer in charge.

It was that call that finally convinced Faith she had completely misjudged Giles. This time around she was determined to keep the lines of communication open between them, to ask rather than jump to conclusions. It also made her realize that this distance between her and the rest of the Scoobs was partially her fault as well. She had done nothing to foster a friendship with them over the years and they had just followed her lead. Buffy, well… she was a whole different story.

"Hiya Faith, how are you?"

"Good Red… um… Willow… you?"

"Red's fine, in fact, always did like the nickname." Willow laughed. "And I'm good."

"You don't call, write, text, email…"

"Trust-Fund! How you be girl?"

"Good, good… Not as good as you or so I heard, I'm just sorry I missed it when your frie…"

Giles coughed cutting off Kennedy, he knew by the glint in her eyes exactly where she was going. "Yes, now that the pleasantries are over, perhaps we can get down to the business at hand." It was his watcher voice. But the smile on his face which both Willow and Kennedy could see and Faith heard in his voice belied the sternness of his tone.

"Call me later, we'll catch up."

"I just might do that Trust-Fund." She always did like Kennedy, and she was glad that Willow and Kennedy were still together. They both deserved something solid, something good in their lives. The fact that Willow could be happy and find love, gave Faith hope that maybe someday she could too. "The floor is yours, G."

"Both Willow and I have been researching to see if there is indeed a prophesy regarding an army of Slayer-vampires. While neither of us have found the actual prophesy itself, we have found references in various books and on the internet that seem to indicate that there is in fact a prophesy of sorts.

"From what we found so far this prophesy seems to be quite old. Older than anything we've come across before. If I were to guess I would say it dates back to the time when the First Slayer was created. In fact everything we've found thus far points to the Shadow Men, the First Slayer, the Guardians, the creation of the Slayer and the Scythe. Though the Scythe seems to be referenced in quite a bit of what we have found as a Triptych but by the description we believe that it's the same weapon..."

"We think the council was lying about how the Slayer was created." Willow rushed out, cutting Giles off, she took a deep breath and continued at a slower pace. "And we don't think that it's truly a prophesy but rather more a promise made by whomever the Shadow Men stole the power from. Nor do we think the Slayer was created from a demon, demon-y type..."

"Well, color me surprise… not." Faith couldn't contain her sarcasm. With the exception of her first Watcher, Giles and Wesley, she had never trusted Watchers or their Council. They had never given her reason to.

"I would like to say it came as a surprise to me, but I'm afraid that it didn't. I always felt they were hiding something and I imagine that only the highest echelon of the Watchers Council was privy to the true secret of the creation of the Slayer. I am afraid however with the death of all but a few of us; we may never know the full truth. In either case we do have enough information to believe that something is coming. Whether prophesy or promise it will come to fruition."

"So what's the next step G?"

"We'll continue to research, which brings me to our immediate problem."

"The Slayer-vamps..." Faith already knew they were out there, she could feel them, just like she could feel all the other Slayers. With Trick's help she had been learning how to distinguish, isolate and follow the link to not just the Slayer-Vamps but the other Slayers as well. She had yet to talk to Giles about this new development and she knew it was a conversation they needed to have sooner rather than later.

"Yep and not to pat my own back or anything, I figured out how to track them just like I can the Slayers. Unlike some people I know, but that's all good, 'cause really finding them right now is more important than um, anyone or anything else… and that's about it… and yeah…"

"You're babbling babe."

"If she didn't babble Trust-Fund, I'd have to wonder if it was really Red."

"Ain't that the truth!"

"Does she babble all the time?" Faith asked in a low husky voice so Kennedy would get her meaning.

"She sure does, especially when she's…"

"You two are really funny, would be even funnier as toads."

"Rather be a rabbit, rabbits are cute."

"Panther… wicked hot, sexy, sleek…"

"Oh good Lord, that will be quite enough! Willow please proceed…"

Willow gave Giles a sympathetic look before she continued, "Anyway… I've been tracking them. There seems to be two groups, a smaller group that's heading towards us in Cleveland. We think they're coming after the Scythe. The other group Giles believes is heading in the general direction of where you found Gina and crew."

"How many Red?"

"All total, ninety-eight. Twenty heading our way the rest heading in the same direction that Gina was…"

"Fuck!"

"Faith!"

"Sorry G. I get why they would be going to Cleveland, but why would they be coming this way?"

"If what Gina implied about turning you was in fact the truth, we believe they're coming for you because the Slayer line runs through you. Imagine the power you would wield if you were turned and had possession of the Scythe." Giles told her softly his voice laced with fear for her and it surprised her though at this point in their relationship it shouldn't have. If she wasn't sure before, Faith was now, Giles truly cared for her.

Faith knew somewhere in the back of his mind Giles was thinking about the conversation they had so long ago about how she felt connected to all the other Slayers. How they seemed to 'feed' her powers. She'd make The First look like a newborn compared to her. Especially now since she knew that she did tap into that power and that she could tap into it at will.

"I'd put a knife through my heart before I'd let that happen." Not one of them doubted she would if it came to that.

"That ain't gonna happen. I got your back no matter what." Kennedy meant it, and knew that Faith knew she meant it too. No matter how much distance there was between them. How much they seemed to have lost touch with each other over the last few years, she would always have Faith's back. She felt connected to Faith in a way she didn't feel connected to any of the other Slayers, it was just as simple as that.

"I do as well Faith, no matter what. And I'll do everything in my power to make sure it doesn't come to that."

Faith was surprised by the sincerity in Willow's voice. She had misjudged her too it seemed.

"I know you will Red and thanks, means a lot… oh and you too Trust-Fund."

"Sure, sure… Now that the share and care hour is over let me fill you in on what I've been doing."

"Oh you mean you're more than a pretty face and bed warmer Trust-Fund?"

"Wouldn't you like to know..."

"Not really, 'sides I think Red'd turn us into toads… and green is so not my color."

"LADIES!"

"No need to yell Giles…" Kennedy gave him a thousand watt smile which surprisingly enough he returned. "Anyway, did some recon on these S.V.'s. For the kids in the back of the bus that stands for Slayer-Vamps. We wanted to see if we could get any more intel on who their leader is. Giles told me not to take them out unless they were trying to turn someone or feeding, neither of which they did. Well… that's not exactly true… they did feed but it seems these S.V.'s are feeding on regular, everyday garden variety vamps. So I didn't feel the need to stop them."

"Looks like they're doing our job for us, I can't help but wonder why though."

"Me either, then again I suppose they're trying to stay off our radar. Obviously they know about us. I'm gonna go ahead and guess after you took out Gina and crew they're playing it safe hoping we don't know about the rest of them. In any case we have Slayers spying on all the groups of S.V.'s. From their reports these other groups are keeping with the plan of feeding on regular vamps and they haven't tried to turn any other Slayers or anyone else for that matter. At this point we think they may have created their army or at least for now they've shifted their priority to the Scythe and you.

"And we don't think their leader is with any of the groups we're tracking. So their leader is either not a S.V. or she's cloaking herself somehow from Willow, kinda like you are."

"KENNEDY!" Willow smacked Kennedy in the back of the head and gave her a 'you're in so much trouble' face.

Kennedy chose to ignore Willow, "Come on Will, you honestly think she doesn't know that we know?"

"Not the point missy! I told you about being asked by… trying to pinpoint Faith's location and not being able to find her in confidence. You know as my lover, not as head Wicca to Slayer. You can be such a blabber mouth sometimes!" Willow fumed, completely ignoring the fact that she had just blurted out that she was indeed trying to trace Faith's location and that she was having no luck in that department.

The other three people in on the conference call all had to wonder if Willow had blurted that all out subconsciously or on purpose in order to warn Faith that Buffy was definitely looking for her. The twinkle in Willow's eyes let both Kennedy and Giles know that her slip wasn't an accident.

"Hello… I'm a blabber mouth… might want to take a look in the mirror…"

"Again, not the point, besides you said it first…"

"And you filled in all the gaps…"

Giles took off his glasses; he swore sometimes they could all be just as exasperating as they were in high school. "Now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag, may we continue?"

Willow and Kennedy gave Giles a sheepish smile and nodded. Though by the casual way he accepted it and the fact that Faith didn't say anything, they had a sneaking feeling that Giles had already warned Faith as was per Willow's first plan.

"Now where were we?" Giles had completely lost his train of thought and it was actually fine. He was glad that both Kennedy and Willow had said what they did. He wanted Faith to know that there was more than just him on her side and that she had, whether she believed it or not, friends here and people that cared about her.

"I know you probably already have a plan Giles, you always do. Before we get into that I'd like to ask a favor."

Whatever was going to happen was going to happen here in Fae-Town. Here in the town Faith now considered home. She was positive of that. Gina and company had been heading in this direction before Faith had caught up to them. So it wasn't just her they were after there was something here they wanted too.

She needed to bring Trick, Bo, and Kenzi up to speed. In fact she was hoping Trick could help with the research, he'd been around a long time he might know something and or have access to material they didn't.

"Ask, whatever you need if it is within my power to do, it's yours."

"I'd like you to send me copies of all the stuff you found in the books and the names of the books too. Also a list of the links for the internet info, and a copy of Gina's diary, got some people here I think might be able to help."

"I'll start on that as soon as we finish up. Is there anything else you need?"

The fact that not one of them asked who these people were that Faith wanted to help or how she knew them spoke volumes to her. They trusted her and it felt damn good. "Nope, that should cover it. Got a pen and a piece of paper I'll give you my address…"

"Go ahead."

"It's 423…"

"WAIT! Um… urgent, have to go now… gonna forget… see no evil; hear no evil… heard nothing… know nothing… Was good talking to you Faith, be careful and we'll talk to you soon. Have to discipline Kennedy for her slip up and oh shit… that just came out wrong. Going now…" Willow grabbed Kennedy and dragged her out the door before Faith got a chance to say goodbye to them.

Willow didn't want to know where Faith really was. Buffy was still obsessed with bring Faith back to Cleveland and honestly Willow didn't agree with her. Eventually she knew they would all have to meet up. This was a war Faith couldn't wage alone and Willow had no intention of letting her wage it alone, though from the sounds of it Faith wasn't alone.

After Buffy had ordered her to track down Faith like she was a rabid animal and not a fellow Slayer, Willow had done a lot of thinking. She was tired of this on-going rancor Buffy had against Faith. It would be one thing if Faith had done anything over the last decade to warrant it, but she hadn't. No matter what she said to Buffy, Willow could not get her to change her mind or sit down with Faith to finally hash this all out. Willow had forgiven Faith a long time ago for everything that had happened. Besides who the hell was she to judge Faith anyway, she had after all, with malice and forethought, flayed a man alive.

Willow regretted how she had treated Faith when she first came to Sunnydale, and she had high hopes that the bonding they had done on the trip from LA to Sunnydale all those years ago would have been the first steps towards friendship. That turned out not to be the case, Faith had pulled away from them after the defeat of The First and Willow let her without a fight, and it too became another thing she regretted. Willow was determined this time around, now that there seemed to be a crack in that proverbial door, so to speak, not to let that happen again.

There had been something in Faith's voice today that Willow had never heard before. Happiness, contentment, confidence and it made her smile. She had only one thought in her head as she dragged Kennedy away; it was about fucking time.

"That was interesting."

"Indeed it was. And Faith, I just want to say thank you for once again giving me your trust. It means a great deal to me."

"Ditto Giles… So anyway… tell me the plan and don't forget to get my address before we hang up…"