3:34am.

Still no Bat. 

Faith was beginning to doubt the information she had been given.  She made a mental note to beat on that gang leader she got the information from later, if she saw him again.

She kicked a can along the street in frustration.

'God, no wonder most people think he's a myth…It's been hours and I haven't-' A pistol-wielding mugger halted Faith's line of thought.

"Alright, gimme your goods, bitch" The mugger smiled.

Silence filled the air for what seemed like an eternity. 

"C'mon lady, I don't wanna hurt ya, just give me your shit and I'll be on my way."

Faith's hand shot to her head as she grunted in disgust.

"I hate this town…this the FIFTH time tonight!"

The Mugger looked perplexed.  "Well, if you don't have any cash, I can think of other uses fer ya."

"Oh, no, I still have cash. I'm just trying to figure out how many of you assholes I have to lay out on the street before you bastards get the point!"

"What-" The mugger's sentence was cut off by an attack.  But it didn't come from the Slayer. 

Faith stepped back startled as a mass of darkness leapt from the shadows and tackled the mugger.  The mugger was out cold before he hit the ground. The shadow seemed to morph into a figure, a figure with a distinct insignia on its chest.

'It's him' Faith concluded. 'That's the Batman'

Batman stood over the unconscious criminal like a hawk would its prey.  He turned to look for the girl he had saved, she cracked him a left hook to the gut.  The blow sent him staggering back several feet before he fell on his back. Batman was surprised to say the least.  This girl, half a foot, and more than one hundred pounds smaller than him, had somehow knocked him off his feat.

"Come on! I've been looking for you all night! And THIS is the kind of fight you put up!" Faith taunted. "I'm disappointed!"

Batman said nothing, but prepared for battle.

Faith charged again, attacking the caped crusader in a blur. Batman was beside himself with puzzlement.  This girl had great strength and deadly, if flawed fighting style.  The question as to how this happened would have to wait for now. He looked at the flaws in her style, and quickly took advantage of them.  He grabbed one of her wild punch and threw her into the side of a brick building with a resounding thud.

Batman hid his amazement, and slight amusement, as the girl shrugged off the blow.

"It'll take a lot more than that to put a Slayer down, Bat." Faith growled before she made a lung at him again.  Batman leapt into the air, but Faith managed to grab onto his cape and pull him back to earth.  Both landed and rolled into a pile of garbage bags left on the street, they formed an undignified heap on the ground.  A hodgepodge of fabric, sweat trash and limbs. 

A dense fog began to seep from the heap.  By the time Faith freed herself, both the fog, and the Batman were gone. 

"Ah…man. Now I have to spend another day in this hellhole. Damnit!" Faith kicked the brick building, creating a sizable hole in the structure. "I hate this town."

Faith felt the energy coursing through her. The buzz she carried over from the hunt.  She had not felt it since she had been in jail.  Now that it had returned, she was riding high on the feeling, and looking for a way to subdue it. She used to do one of two things: one of which she didn't want to mess with for a long while. She doubted she could keep in control for long if she didn't have a release soon. But she had to at least try.  Another part of her test began.

"Aw, shit."

*

Alfred Pennyworth placed the tray holding Bruce's breakfast at his side near the computer he was working on.  Alfred glanced at the screen for a moment and noticed the image of a young, dark haired girl.

"Looking for a date for the re-opening of the Gotham City Museum, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked in monotone.

"Alfred, have you ever heard of a 'Slayer'?"

"Why yes, I believe I have: If I remember the verses correctly: 'In every generation there is a Chosen One, She alone has the power to fight the vampires, the Demons, and the forces of Darkness, she is the Slayer. When one Slayer dies, another is called to take their place.'  Rather brutish and violent myth if you ask me" said Alfred.

"Myths can rarely crack ribs, Alfred"

"A Slayer?"

"That's what she called herself. And she seemed to have the power to back up that claim."

"I wonder why she would attack you? Even with your personality, you're still human – Well, at least sometimes."

There was a small moment of silence as the jibe sunk in before Bruce continued.

"For her, being human doesn't seem to be a problem. In 1998, she turned herself in and confessed several accounts of assault, one account of involuntary manslaughter, and two accounts of first degree murder."

"My word, Sir.  She mustn't have been much more than seventeen when she turned herself in"

"She was.  What's odd is that the main piece of evidence brought against her was her own confessions. Little corroboration evidence could be found."

"Since she turned herself in like that, its odd to see her back on the street so soon…"

"Maybe she doesn't want to be."

*

Dawn was approaching. It was time to return to its lair, and avoid the accursed light.  It had fed well that night.  It would rest easily today on a full stomach.  No one seemed to notice as it crawled down into the sewers, surrounded by a mild green hue. 

*

Faith paced all around her small apartment on her unwanted high.  She was frantically trying to control her adrenalin buzz.  She already managed to curb the hunger with a rather large meal, but the buzz remained.  She remembered how she used to handle this: either by screwing something to screw, guy or girl; or killing something.  Unfortunately, things weren't that simple anymore.  The sun was far to high to find something she would allow herself to kill, and this little thing called self-respect kept her from getting off the other way.

She tried working out for hours with little effect.  If she did not get rid of this adrenalin, it would drive her insane.  Her body needed to be comforted, it needed to know it was safe, that the threat had passed: be it by killing that threat, or finding solace and release with another.

That's when she remembered what her first watcher had tried to teach her: meditation.

She folded her legs as she sat on the bed, closed her eyes, and did what little she could remember about the technique.  Breathing deeply, she could feel her body calm down little by little. It was working…but there was something distracting her.  Something itched near her waistline.  She reached back to scratch it, but found something the – something hard.  She picked it off, opened her eyes and look at what she retrieved.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me…"

It was a piece of metal, shaped like a little bat: a tracking device.

Faith heard something move somewhere in her room.  The sun light fading behind the skyscrapers – she had been meditating most of the day. 

"Alright Bat, I know you're in here.  I know you followed me. I mean – c'mon!" she held up the tracer "any idiot can tell that this is yours! I mean, for someone as stealthy as you, you're tracking devices give you away so easily!"

There was a moment of silence; she looked around the room rather frantically – not noticing Batman melt in from the shadows.

"What are you doing in my city?" he said, his voice as cold as liquid nitrogen.

Faith spun around to see him towering over her.  "Wow, you're wicked imposing, Bats…you wouldn't happen to know a vamp named Angel would you, cuz I swear-"

"WHAT are you doing in my city?" Batman asked again, much more forcefully.

"Well, this"

Faith swung wide with a punch.  Nicking Batman in the ear of his costume.  Batman nailed her in the jaw, but her head snapped back as she was generally unfazed.  Batman deflected, and took, a few more blows before striking again with two quick, precise pressure point strikes.   Faith staggered back, surprised.

"That…hurt." She gasped, winded by blows that would have crippled a normal human.

"That was the point." Batman shot back.

Faith charged wildly, Batman countered her directly with a tackle, using his greater mass to his advantage and brought her to the ground.  They rolled across the floor several times as Batman put on a devastating submission hold on the slayer. 

But the hold didn't last very long as Faith broke free and kicked Batman off her, into the closet – breaking the closed door to it into many pieces. 

Both took a little while to recover from their last exchange.

Faith got her bearings a little faster.  As Batman stood up, she grabbed the bed and pinned him against the wall as he exited the closet.  Then, she began to crush him between the wall and the bedpost – the drywall began to crack behind him. Batman was being crushed and suffocation began to set in as Faith put more and more pressure on him.

"What the fuck is all--!" the landlord shouted as he entered the room, his face changed from anger to shock "Oh my God" He quickly scampered out of the room.

That distraction was all he needed.  He reached into his belt and pulled out a batarang.  He swung it at the slayer with a furious speed.  But before it could strike, she caught it. With only one arm on the bed, Batman was able to kick out.  The bed flipped up towards Faith as she ducked and rolled out of the way.  When she stopped, she sent the batarang flying back towards its owner – who caught it as well

"Well, hell" Faith grunted.

Batman returned the batarang to his belt, as he reached down, Faith was already upon him.  He blocked and parried as many blows as he could, until Faith struck Batman square in the jaw. 

He was knocked back to the wall and prepared for the next wave of assault…but it never came.

Faith looked down at her hand and saw red. She had blood on her hands. His blood. Human blood. 

"No…" she staggered back, "No…"

Faith backed away from Batman, slumped against the wall and huddled in a corner.  And in a fetal position, she rocked back and forth. Afraid. 

Batman could here Faith repeat to herself; between shallow, ragged breathes: "I'm not a killer, I'm not a killer…"

"Why did you come here, Faith?"  Batman asked. 

"H-He…he told me you were a demon…Damn it…even when I want to do good…fate screws me over once again…"

"Who sent you?"

"Gee, how many people want you dead that you even have to ask that?"

"A Lot"

Faith gave a rather breathy chuckle. "Well, here's a clue, he holds the highest office in the land, and his first and last initial both start with L"

"Luthor."

"Eh, got it in one." She tried to lighten the mood.  Batman's face remained unmoving, except for the occasional trickle of blood down his jaw line.

"Why did you take the job?"

"Why do you think?" Faith asked, the shock passing from her, turning into anger. "He was holding all the cards, knew what ones to play too…plus, that bastard told me what I wanted to hear…that you were a threat, and this was a chance to…to…make up for some…mistakes…"

"One charge of Involuntary Manslaughter, two charges of Murder, numerous cases of assault, breaking and entering, theft, indecent exposure…"

"That last one's actually a rather funny story…but…I doubt you care." Faith stood back up, regaining her composure. "…God…I should have learned not to trust politicians, but good ol' Faith screws up again…"

She walked over to the Capped Crusader, shaking slightly as he stood as a firm pillar in the gloom of the starless city night.

"Listen…I…I'm sorry." Faith told him as she moved closer to him, seeking some support. "This is g'nna sound weird 'n all, specially since I just tried to kill you and all…but…I…kinda need your help."

"Help?"

"See…one of the threats Lexy pulled was sending me to England…to the Watcher's council."

"Who are they?"

"Tweed covered British guys who keep tabs on Slayers…they usually train, guide, keep an eye out for um…shit like that. Some are cool…but most of them are pretty much stuck in like the twelfth century… I mean, they put B through this test… Cir… Circum… no… Cruciamentum! That's it! They took away her powers and locker her in a room with some real nasty vamp when she turned 18…Course she survived, because you know…it's Buffy."

"Buffy?"

"The other…the real Slayer…"

"I thought there could only be one?"

"Oh, she died…twice already…" Faith kicked the dust on the ground, "She gets all the breaks…" she then took a deep calming breath, "then again…she's earned them… Anyway, the council would just love to get their paws on me…last time they tried, they said something about being put on trail in 'their' court…basically to find a way of 'legalizing' them killing me to get another Slayer who'll they'll be able to control." Faith sighed. "In the end, it's about power…who has it…and what you do with it."

A marked silence stood between them.  Faith noticed a crack in Batman's unflinching stance.

"Looks like you've learned that lesson a long ways back…" Faith said as she reached towards Batman, who jerked himself aside.  Faith withdrew her hand and suddenly felt very awkward.

"Sorry…" she murmured, she too knew what it was like to have old wounds brought to the surface.  The Batman seemed to be little phased after the initial jerk.

"So…why does Lexy want you dead?" Faith asked, returning to her mask of bravado she once used to fool many people.

"Luthor and I had some…dealings in the past." Batman told her, "For one, I managed to foil an attempt of his to frame Bruce Wayne"

"Lex did that?"

Batman nodded.

"You really can't trust politicians…" she said with a small twinge in her voice.

"Secondly, you of course know about some of the…animosity between him and Superman."

"What kind of idiot doesn't…wait…I know the answer to that one…"

"For a while, Luthor had a ring of kryptonite, I relieved him of it."

"So, you stole it from him"

"The First time"

"First time?"

"Flash did it the second"

Faith just gave him an odd look. "Ok, answer-man. Answer this, why would Lex want ME dead?"

"Luthor does not like Meta-humans…and besides…I don't think he wants you dead."

"Huh?"

"He just wants you here, why, I'm not sure yet."

"How can you tell?"

"Luthor is never this direct, he prefers to orchestrate things that will end in his favor."

"…Oh"

Faith then noticed that the Batman's gaze was diverted out the window. When she angled herself to see what he was looking at, she saw a large spotlight reflecting off the clouds with a Bat insignia on it.

"Now that has GOT to be an ego-booster" Faith jested.

Batman ignored the comment.

"So, I take it you're going to go dashing off n' all that…"

"Care to come along?"

Faith arched an eyebrow at this, surprised

"Until I figure out what's going on, I'd prefer to keep an eye on you."

"Don't trust me, eh?" Faith asked, Batman did not respond, "Don't blame ya" She told him.

Batman seemed to be waiting for her to do something.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked

"I'm waiting for you to leave," she told him. He was about to retort when she interrupted him "I'll be following on foot."

"On Foot?"

"Being a slayer doesn't only mean super strength, bats." Faith said as she began to head towards the source of the light, Batman took to the skyline.

Faith slowed down a bit so she could see the Batman in front of her. She found that keeping up with him to be more of a challenge than she thought it would – but not too challenging. The more she learned about Batman, the more she was surprised.

'Wonder what other surprises are in store for me…' she though.

TBC