Disclaimer: BtVS and Angel are owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and UPN and the WB respectively. L.A Law belongs to Steven Bochco (I think) I make no money off this.

Thanks to Laurwen Aredhel for the comments, and everyone else who reviewed.

Yes, I know it's over emotional for Faith, but I figured she's done a lot of thinking in prison, and is working on being more open with people. That and about half the story would have been in italics if I'd kept her as quiet about her feelings as she was in the show.

Anything in italics is thought.

Constructive criticism always welcome.

On to the story.

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Faith sat in her cell, waiting. She didn't know what she was waiting for but she knew something was going to happen soon. She'd been having Slayer dreams again recently, nothing very clear, sometimes she was in Sunnyvale, sometimes in LA with Angel. Sometimes she didn't know where she was, but she was free and she was fighting. She knew that she was fighting for the right side again too. The darkness was a part of her now, it would always be there, but she recognised it and knew how to beat it. She wouldn't be seduced by it again.

Willow and Wesley appeared in her dreams a lot. She didn't know why. Sometimes they appeared as herself, when she was falling into darkness, other times she would see them in their everyday lives, but somehow twisted, as if they had been infected by evil, as she had. Willow seemed the darker of the two, but Wesley was catching up fast. She thought it might have something to do with how badly she had treated them both, showing that if they had given in to evil instead of her they could have done just as much damage as she did, or a whole lot more. Being a Slayer didn't make her a special target for evil, she had just been weak, easily manipulated.

She didn't understand and without Giles, or Wesley there to help her interpret, she didn't figure she was going to.

Dreams weren't the only thing swirling in Faiths mind that night. Above all else was her appeal. She hadn't told Angel about it. He'd been gone when it had all begun, on his retreat, grieving for Buffy. When he came back she decided not to tell him about it. Part of her worried he would think she hadn't suffered enough and she shouldn't get out yet. Another part didn't want to tell him in case she lost the appeal, and didn't get out.

Back in August of the previous year, the Watchers Council had sent someone to see her. She'd known Buffy had died. No one told her, but she had known. She felt Buffy's soul leaving the earth, and realised she was the only Slayer now. It was a very lonely feeling. She figured that was why Angel hadn't been to see her in a couple of months, and she understood. The love the vampire carried for the lost Slayer was something she couldn't comprehend, but envied it none the less.

The representative the council sent treated her with a mixture of terror, awe condescendtion and disgust. Faith still wasn't sure how he'd pulled off such a combo, but he had. Maybe it was a British thing.

He had explained to her that while the Council abhord what she had done, she was the only living Slayer at the moment, and she needed to be out there fighting, not rotting in a jail cell. When Faith asked him why they didn't just kill her and activate the next Slayer, her visitor, who had introduced himself as John Cunningham, at least had the grace to blush.

'You must understand Faith, that in the current climate we need an experienced Slayer out there. The forces of evil have been on the advance recently and must be fought by those best qualified. The death of Miss Summers means that that person is you.' Faith was quite shocked by this. The last three times she had seen anyone from the council who wasn't Giles or Wesley, they had tried to kidnap or kill her. Now they wanted her back on the team. Weird. 'A new Slayer now would most likely get killed before she could begin to reach her full potential. She wouldn't be able to defeat whatever evil she was up against, and may well end up exacerbating the situation. You on the other hand have a proven record of beating whatever you go up against, with the exception of Miss Summers and' he sniffed 'the vampire Angelus'

'Angel' Faith snarled, leaning towards him.

Cunningham jumped in his seat. Until then, Faith had not lived up to his image of the rogue Slayer. She hadn't welcomed him with open arms, but she hadn't thrown him to the floor and threatened to 'pop his head like a grape' either which, considering her previous dealings with his employers, wouldn't have surprised him at all. The Councils wet works teams were notoriously good at what they did, meaning they were a bunch of nasty bastards. He doubted she had many fond memories of them. Her reaction to his mention of Angelus was the first time she had shown any emotion at all though. What was it about this vampire, he wondered, that inspired such loyalty from the Slayers? Even Kendra, much more a watchers' Slayer than either Buffy or Faith, hadn't killed him when she had had the chance.

Faith noticed the fear that played across his face at her sudden move, and the curiosity. She understood both. He obviously knew what she had done, and had every reason to fear her. As a member of the Council he knew all about Angel's history, and Angelus's. Like many people, he couldn't separate the two, and so couldn't understand how a Slayer, particularly this Slayer, could care about him.

Faith sat back in her seat and tried to calm herself. 'Look' she said, her loyalty to Angel forcing her past her current apathy towards almost everything 'Angel's one of the good guys now. You can even ask the Powers That Be' At Cunningham's disbelieving look, she heaved a sigh 'Put it this way. If it wasn't for Angel you wouldn't be here asking me to join the fight again. I'd either be dead, or leading this "evil advance" you've got going on, so leave Angel out of this.' she paused, suddenly weary. 'Anyway, why don't you get to the point? You didn't come here to talk about Angel, and I can't see any reason for talking to me. In case you hadn't noticed I'm in jail for murder. I can't just walk out of here any time I choose without having to fight my way past a whole lot of guards, something I am not prepared to do.'

'We know that Faith' Cunningham replied, relieved that she seemed to have calmed down again. 'We also know that you pled guilty to all the charges laid against you, and refused representation.' He leant forwards across the table 'we've had access to your psychiatric reviews since you were sent here.' Faith scowled, not liking the idea of the Council knowing about her sessions with the shrink and the councillor. They were private. She was finally learning to speak of the past, a heavily edited version of what she'd done and why she'd done it. To know that the organisation that had tried to kill her knew all about her inner most fears and feelings left her feeling vulnerable, exposed. She hissed angrily.

'Now Faith, think about this' Cunningham continued quickly, not liking the anger spreading over her face 'How could the Council in all conscience offer you the opportunity to become an active Slayer again without first scrutinising your mental stability?'

Faith subsided into her chair. She wasn't happy about it, but she supposed after everything she had done she wasn't really in any position to complain.

She nodded for him to continue 'as I've said, from your psychiatric evaluations we feel you are now ready to carry out your duties as the Slayer. Having studied your criminal record and the events leading up to your being sent here, the Council feels we have excellent grounds for appeal to get you released, and have engaged the services of a prominent LA law firm in this matter.'

Her head came up sharply, her eyes hard on Cunningham 'what law firm? It better not be Wolfram & Hart!'

Cunningham was somewhat taken aback by this sudden vehement reaction. He knew a lot of people disliked lawyers, but her behaviour was somewhat extreme, even when taking that into account. 'No, the firm is called Kuzak, Serfwentez & Van Owen. They've been around for about 10 years and are very well respected. Before that all three of the partners worked for MacKenzie Brackman, one of the oldest and most respected law firms in the city. They have a very good reputation.'

Trust me, doesn't mean much.' Faith muttered, but then motioned for him to continue.

'Michael Kuzak, the senior partner, has agreed to represent you. He's already looked at the evidence and says he'll be able to get you out of jail as soon as they can get your case into court. You might even get an apology.'

Faith looked at him questioningly 'Mr Kuzak is unaware of your special ..gifts. The physical evidence proves you couldn't possibly have committed the murders or the assaults. How could a 5'3" girl ram a wooden stake into the heart of a young, fit man, with enough force to punch a hole in his breastbone, but fast enough not to shatter it? Similarly, there was no physical evidence of you having been in a fight when you were arrested. If you had beaten people up the way they claim you did, surely your knuckles at least would show some bruising? Your guilt over your treatment of your best friend, which was mentioned in passing during your confession, meant you felt a need to be punished, hence your refusal of counsel, when continuing psychiatric evaluations prove that you were mentally unstable at the time and severely depressed, to the point of suicide even. You should have been tried as a minor and given counselling before any decisions about locking you up were made. Instead, over zealous assistant district attorneys decided to make an example of you, a girl the system had let down time and again, and threw the book at you.'

'That's the defence we're going to use. Pretty convincing I think.'

'It's very convincing. It almost has me believing it. There's only one problem. I'm guilty. All those things they accused me of, I copped to them because it was right. I did all those things and now I'm getting what I deserve. I don't deserve to get let out of here, to run around free, whilst so many of the people I hurt are still having to deal with it, whilst Buffy is lying in the ground, dead because she had to fight a hell God by herself whilst there was another Slayer in jail because of how badly she had screwed up, instead of there helping her like she should have been!!' Faith's indignation grew with every word. Who did this guy think he was? Coming here and telling her how they were going to prove her innocent and make everything okay!? Couldn't he see things would never be okay again? She was doing penance, working towards her redemption. Getting out now would be giving up on that.

Cunningham looked at her, dead in the eye 'and is it fair that the whole world suffers because there isn't an active Slayer at the moment?' Faith looked startled 'You have to understand Faith, when Miss Summers died, no new Slayer was called. The Slayer to follow Miss Summers had already been activated, Kendra, and you followed her. Whatever it is that a Slayer dieing does to call the next Slayer, apparently it only works once. Coming back from the dead doesn't recharge that particular battery.'

Faith sat back, shocked. So she was it huh? She thought back over all the things she had done, good and bad. Maybe this was her chance after all. Instead of sitting on her arse, rotting, she had to get back out there. She would fight and maybe die, but that was what being a Slayer meant. She had fought before, saved the world even. She would do it again.

She straightened in her chair. To Cunningham, it was as if the spirit of the first Slayer had entered her again, giving her back her purpose. She nodded to him 'Okay. I'm in. What do I have to do?'

'In simplest terms, what you're told.' Faith raised an eyebrow 'The Council will get in touch with further instructions, but the basic rule is do what your lawyer tells you. Kuzak has an excellent reputation, if he tells you to wear pretty dresses and behave like the demure, scared child you're not, you do it. The wheels of justice turn slowly, and we need you out there as soon as possible. Whatever he tells you to do, you do. He's the expert, and we would prefer if at all possible that Mr Kuzak does not find out what you truly are. Your identity is supposed to be secret remember.'

'Okay, I can handle that.'

Looking back, Faith hadn't realised just how long her appeal would take. Almost a year. It would have really sucked if she had been innocent, she mused. She was surprised it had gotten this far. After Buffy had been brought back she thought the Council would drop her like a hot brick, leaving her to rot. Either that or they would have her killed now, seeing as there was again an experienced Slayer. She could fight the immediate battles, and the new Slayer would have time to get up to speed before she had to face any real Big Bads and still be the Councils pet. To her surprise, neither had happened. She realised some time later that the Council didn't know Buffy was back. Faith supposed that wasn't really a shock, no one had told her, again. She had felt Buffy return, felt some very powerful magicks at work, but she couldn't explain it. It was all just Slayer senses telling her stuff no one else knew. Buffy had never got on well with the Council, she probably wasn't going to announce to them she was back so they could annoy her all over again. Faith figured it was in everyone's best interest if she kept her mouth shut.

Angel started visiting again. He apologised for not coming to see her in so long, but Faith reassured him that she understood. She hugged the secret of her appeal to herself, and when Angel confirmed that Buffy was back, she hugged it a little tighter. His visits became less frequent. Faith decided she must be on her way to being a better person because she wasn't really mad. When Angel had told her about Connor, she had been delighted for him, she'd even cried a little. Neither of them ever mentioned that again. It gave her some hope. Angel had been given this great gift, maybe a reward? for all his had work. Maybe one day, if she worked hard enough at her redemption, maybe she would be given someone to love too. When Angel told her about Wesley giving Connor to Holtz, and Holtz taking Connor to the Kurtogh, Faith had truly feared for him, and what he might become. Although she was angry with Wes, she could never hate him. She had caused him too much pain to ever feel able to judge him. And now Connor was back. Angel told her he knew it would be hard work, earning his trust and his love, but then if anyone understood hard work, it was Angel.

So she waited, staring at the ceiling of her cell. Her cellmate was a newbie, she'd been sent down less than a month ago. Terry, that was her name, had heard of Faiths' rep as soon as she had been marched in the door. As long as you didn't bother Faith, and didn't pick on any of the weak ones in front of her, she didn't bother you. And you didn't want Faith to bother with you. So Terry kept quiet and Faith stayed content.

She had to be in court tomorrow. Her day of reckoning had arrived. Michael said she should be let out immediately and that it was a travesty that she was being kept in now. It was almost a forgone conclusion that her conviction would be quashed. Added to the mountain of physical evidence they had, was the fact that the detective leading the investigation had been 'chucked off the force cos she was a basket case' was Michael's description. Detective Kate Lockley. Ex-detective Kate Lockley now. Angel said she was doing much better, although Faith didn't mention that to Michael. He had been Michael since about a week into her appeal. The only person she'd ever been able to call 'Sir' without sneering was the Mayor. Mr Kuzak made him sound too much like an old geezer, and being who she was, Faith had told him that. He had suggested Michael, as it was his name. If he was going to call her Faith, she may as well call him Michael he said. So she did.

She remembered her first meeting with her lawyer. Her first impressions had been of competence, and confidence. She'd judged him to be in his late forties, wavy brown hair with a hint of grey at the temples, melting brown eyes and a strong chin with a sexy dent in it. She'd been in an all female prison for over a year now, and girls had just never done it for her. This guy really got her motor running. Unfortunately, Cunningham was there to chaperone so she had to behave. She had a feeling he'd been expecting her reaction, and he had spent fifteen minutes before the interview with Michael telling her how she must behave herself, and how lucky she was that Michael had taken her case. She was really hoping to get lucky.

After the first half hour of Cunningham jumping on everything she tried to say, Michael chucked him out of the interview room. Told him Faith was his client now, and he'd send Cunningham a progress report when he had time. Cunningham tried to splutter something about remembering who paid his bills, but Michael reminded him that it was he, Cunningham and his organisation, who wanted Faith out of jail. They were paying for the best. They would only get the best if they let him do his job. Faith decided there and then that she liked him, and would do her best to trust him.

As time passed, she discovered that he liked her too. Not in the way she'd been hoping, but he liked her as a person, and she didn't have enough friends to start turning them away. It was a bit like being with the Mayor again, having a father figure to care about her again. Of course, Michael wasn't obsessive / compulsive about germs and didn't tell her to kill people, but he cared. It was comforting. It made it difficult for Faith to lie to him at times. He was so genuinely outraged by the way she had been treated, not just her conviction, but her placement in foster homes, and then the system losing track of her completely. That, of course, was when she had been called as a Slayer, and had hooked up with her first watcher, Linda. Linda was dead now. Faith had watched as she was murdered by Kokistos. She tried not to think of it too much. Still, Michael was talking about public apologies and compensation. A public apology would bring her way too much publicity. Wolfram & Hart, amongst her many enemies would see it and come gunning for her. Actually, Wolfram & Hart might just try and get her sent back to jail, but Michael would fight that. Faith didn't want Michael in danger, especially because he had tried to help her. She wouldn't feel comfortable taking compensation either, it would feel to much like blood money, getting paid for all the wrong she had done. On the other hand, maybe she could give the money to Angel, and they could use it to fight evil. She was planning on asking Angel for a job when (if) she got out. She knew that idea might cause some problems for Cordelia, and Wes if Angel ever forgave him.

She'd cross that bridge when she came to it she decided.

So now she lay in the dark, waiting for her day in court. Dawn was coming, she could tell. The vampires and the demons would be going home to bed, full from whatever innocent they had devoured this night. Maybe tomorrow night she would be out there, hunting the monsters.

She stared at the ceiling, she could just make it out in the darkness, and she willed time to go faster, so the waiting would be over.

When the bell rang for morning inspection, Faith climbed off her top bunk. She hadn't slept a wink, but then, as a Slayer she'd never needed much sleep. Two or three hours a night was a max, and she could quite happily go three days without any.

Terry timidly put a hand on her arm 'Good luck'

'Thanks' Faith looked at her, really looked for the first time. She saw the fear in Terry's eyes. One thing Faith had never felt in here was fear of violence. She hated being locked up, but she'd never feared a good fight. She was built for fighting. After a couple of throw downs in the yard, everyone had realised Faith was pretty much indestructible. The occasional transfer would try and make a name for herself, but even that stopped after everyone saw her catch the knife Loopie Martinez threw at her head and then lift her 250lb bulk off the ground with just one hand at her throat, without even breaking a sweat. Yeah, the people here knew Faith was different. They didn't talk about it though. It was all part of the code. She realised now she should have done more to help people, protect the weaker ones. Sure this was prison, and they were all guilty of something, but there were degrees of guilt and innocence. She new that better than anyone. Damn. This helping people thing was harder than it sounded.

She looked back at Terry 'If you need any help, ya' know, when you get out, look me up. You'll be able to contact me through Angel Investigations.assuming I get out' Faith laughed at the end, trying for a joke. It was pretty weak, and Terry didn't seem to know what to say, but she smiled shyly and nodded her head.

As first steps went, it hadn't been to painful Faith decided.

The guards came for her then. She had to get changed into a dress, pretty and innocent looking. Michael had had one of the partners at his law firm pick it out for her. It wasn't as flowery and flowing as the one the Mayor had given her, for which she would be eternally grateful. More fitted, it could have been worn under a suit or to a dinner party. Wouldn't Xander have a fit if he saw her now! The thought occurred to her out of nowhere, and made her smile. Michael chose that moment to walk into the interview room she was waiting in. He looked her up and down 'What do you think Gracy?' he asked the distinguished blonde who came in behind him. She was beautiful, Faith thought, that kind of cool, unflustered beauty that she herself would never be able to pull off.

'Classy, cool, responsible. Grace Van Owen' she said, holding out her hand to Faith. Faith, having wondered who this woman was, made the connection as she reached to shake 'You're one of the partners in Michaels' law firm. Nice to meet you' A thought suddenly occurred to her 'There aren't any problems are there? You're not backing out on me are you!' The last came out sounding like more of a threat than she'd intended. She smiled weakly to try and cover it, but Michael just smiled, used to her temperament by now. He understood it was fear of betrayal, and experience, that made her jump to the worst conclusion. 'No one's backing out Faith. I asked Grace to come because I want her to sit as second chair today.'

Grace smiled warmly 'Think of it as making sure all your bases are covered. There shouldn't really be any need for Michael to say anything today, the judge should just make his decision, but you know what it's like..'

'As soon as you relax something tries to bite you in the ass?' Faith calmed down again. 'Sorry, guess I'm kind of tense.'

'Don't worry Faith. Gracey here used to be a judge, and was known as a fairly strict one. If Judge Carter sees her backing you, because he knows Gracey wouldn't take second chair if she didn't back you 100%, it might add just that little bit more weight to the case.'

'Not that your case isn't already weighty' Grace added hurriedly, 'but a little extra is never going to hurt.'

Faith smiled at her properly then, and Grace got a glimpse of why Michael had come to care so much about this young woman. Life hadn't been fair on her.

'Lets go then' Michael said. 'There are a few things I want to go over with you on the way to the court house, so I'll be in the van with you. We'll meet Grace there, okay?'

'Okay'

The guards nodded as Faith was lead out. For people in their job, it was tantamount to throwing their arms around her and weeping. The guards knew that Faith had made their job a lot easier, keeping order in the prison, and she could have made it a lot harder. Things were going to change with her gone.

Both Michael and Grace noticed. Michael had become used to the guards' treatment of Faith, but Grace was shocked. She had never seen an inmate, particularly a murder convict treated in that way, even if she was on her way to appeal.

During the ride to the courthouse, Michael did his best to reassure Faith, explaining what he thought would happen, and because he knew she liked to be prepared for the worst, what he didn't think would happen but was possible. Faith appreciated his efforts, but couldn't tell him how much she feared Wolfram & Hart were going to show up and wreck everything. She'd been careful, refusing Michaels suggestions on publicity, but even so.. They were a demon law firm. Was there anything they didn't know? All she could do now was hope for the best and if the time came, protect Michael.

Outside the courtroom, Grace and a very good looking Hispanic man, whom Grace introduced as Victor Sifwentez, waited for them. He smiled as he shook Faiths' hand 'After all the things Mikey told us about you, I had to be here.'

'Mikey' Faith raised an eyebrow.

'Let's get inside, shall we' Michael ignored the comment completely and led Faith to the door. He paused, taking her by the shoulders so he could look her straight in the eye. 'We're going to win this. I'm going to get you out of there.' He promised. 'You just need to have a little..faith. I care about you and I'm not going to let them send you back there, not one more day.'

Faith looked away, tears burning in her eyes. She didn't deserve this kind of devotion. 'I know you do.' She struggled against the urge to ay something flippant, anything to decrease the tension, but held it back. Michael didn't deserve anything but her greatest admiration. The only way she could see to pay back his kindness, his support and belief, was to win this appeal, and start to fight again. She raised her head, and looked him in the eye 'lets do it.'

As Victor opened the door, Faith braced herself, certain she was going to see Lindsay or Lilah, or whatever the one she had beaten the crap out of was called, waiting for her, ready to crush her hopes and send her back. But there was no one. Just a few law students taking notes, and what looked like a couple of office workers looking for somewhere different to have their lunch. Michael took her arm, leading her to her seat, with Grace standing close on the other side. She saw the judge nod at Grace while she stood waiting for the instruction to sit. After that it was all a blur until -'Defendant is found not guilty. All convictions are hereby quashed with the apologies of the California judicial system.' Crack! The gavel came down. Faith realised she was standing again, and she was staring at the judge, not believing it was real. 'You're free to go Miss' the judge spoke directly to her, smiling. Faith just nodded, dazed, and then Michael had his arms around her, and Grace too, and Faith was crying. She hadn't cried like this since the night she had begged Angel to kill her she realised. She had come along way since then, and she would keep going.

Eventually she stopped crying and Michael helped mop her up with his handkerchief. When they got outside the courtroom, he hugged her again, and then holding her face in his hands, pressed an exuberant kiss to her forehead. 'We did it Faith. You're free. You can do anything you want now. What do you want to do? You can pick anything!' He seemed so pleased, so excited, and so did Grace and Victor. Faith found it infectious.

'What I really wanna do is..eat! Prison food sucks, I want a steak and a burger and Chinese. God, anything but that crap that I've been eating!'

'Let's go out to dinner then. All four of us, my treat. A celebration dinner just for you.'

Her guilt tried to kick in, but then she realised she couldn't rain on Michael's parade. He was so pleased for her. He had, from his point of view at least, righted a great wrong, and he really cared about her, and she really wanted some decent food!! 'Five by five. Let's eat.'

Three hours later, even Faith couldn't eat anymore. She'd stuffed herself on steak and new potatos, lasagne, smoked salmon and the best chocolate fudge Sunday ever for dessert. Grace stared at her 'where do you put it all?!' she exclaimed 'I swear, if I ate that much, I'd explode!'

Faith grinned in reply 'It's all in the metabolism. Besides, you try prison food for two years..' She trailed off.

'Faith,' Michael began 'I know a terrible thing was done to you, and you have every right to your emotions, but you have to try and move on. You've lost two years of your life and that's a tradgdy, but to lose more because you can't get past your anger and hate. that would be far worse. I've come to care about you a great deal over the last year Faith. We've discussed this,' he indicated himself, Grace and Victor, 'and we'd like to offer you a job. It'd just be filing and stuff at first, but you're quick and you're smart. We'd be prepared to fund you if you wanted to go to College. I helped get you out of there Faith, now let me help you get your life going again.'

Faith just stared at him, lost for words, unable to name the emotions churning inside her. She knew that in the old days, she would have thrown the offer back in their faces, sneering at their weakness, wondering what they wanted from her, and more than anything, she would have refused it because she wanted it so badly. She could taste it. If people gave you something you wanted so badly, there were strings, they could take it away from you, and then the pain would come back, and it would be even worse. Better to say no now, and not have to deal with the pain later. Part of her still wanted to react like that. But, she reminded herself, she had changed.

She wasn't a totally different person though. 'Why? Why would you do that for me?'

'Because you've had a rough ride. A lot of bad things have been done to you that should never have been allow-'

Faith cut Michael off with swipe of her hand. 'Don't make me out to be some saint Michael.' She recognised the emotion now. It was guilt. These people had gone out of their way to help her, and she didn't deserve it. They had believed in her, and she had lied to them. 'I did some pretty terrible things, and I deserved to be in there. I never tried to get the world sucked into hell, but I wouldn't have tried to stop it if someone else did.' Michael, Grace and Victor exchanged meaningful glances. They didn't believe her, and she would never, could never tell them the truth about what she was. It would put them in too much danger, but at the same time she couldn't handle the sympathetic, compassionate glances they all kept shooting her. They thought she was so brave and stoic, not being angry at the system that had screwed her, hording her misplaced and amplified guilt over her treatment of her old friend. She seemed to remember that comment from court. She hated the lies that stood between them. 'If the circumstances hadn't changed, I'd still be in there now, like I'm should be.' She took a deep breath, calming herself 'please don't think I'm not grateful for everything you've done for me. You've been wonderful, more than I ever thought was possible, but there's stuff I've gotta do now. Some of it's to make up for what I did before, but mostly it's just doing what I was meant to do. What I was born for. I'll never forget what you've done for me, and if you're ever in trouble, the weird kind anyway, please call me. You'll be able to contact me through Angel Investigations I hope.' When Michael moved to interrupt again, she placed a gentle hand on his arm. 'This is what I have to do.' She said simply.

'Whatever you want to do Faith, we'll support you in any way we can.' Grace smiled at her gently. 'But you have to promise that you'll keep in touch, and you'll let us know if there's ever anything you need help with.' Michael and Victor nodded in agreement.

'Thank you. Thank you so much. I promise I'll keep in touch, and actually, there is something you could do for me now.'

'Anything you need Faith' Michael smiled at her, letting her know he wasn't offended by her rejection of their offer.

'Can I have that pencil? The wooden one.' They all just looked at her, bemused. 'It's a comfort thing' she explained hastily, 'just in case I need to leave someone a note. Are we ready to go?'

'Sure. Do you have somewhere to go tonight Faith, because if you want, you could stay with me or Gracey for a few days whilst you get used to life again.'

Faith smiled at Michaels' offer How can he be a cute, rich lawyer and still be that nice? It shouldn't be possible! 'I'm five by five, thanks though. I've got a friend I can crash with. He owns a hotel, so there'll be loads of room. I'll just walk you guys to your car and then head on over there.'

'Well come on then girl, at least let us give you a ride over there. We want to know where we can find you if we need you!' She was about to refuse Victors' offer, when she saw the look that passed between them. They thought she was lying, that she didn't have any place to go, but was too proud to admit it. The fact that no one had turned up at her appeal did lend credence to the theory that she didn't have anyone out there willing to take her in.

'Sure that'd be great.' She grinned, and started walking down the now darkened street towards the car, which was parked in a little ally off to the side. Shit, shouldn't have eaten as much. We stayed way to long in there. Now it's past sundown, still, it's a pretty busy street. Hopefully we can get to the car before - suddenly, Faiths spider sense went haywire - too late.

'Get in the car!' she yelled, trying to get between the three lawyers and the two vamps that had appeared in the ally. She heard a gasp behind her, and turning sideways and taking a couple of steps back, saw that a third vamp had Gracey, his arm wrapped around her throat from behind, pulling her head back and exposing her jugular to his fangs.

'Wolfram & Hart has a proposition for you Slayer' the one holding Gracey spoke. 'Come back and work for us, and everything can be the way it was. We used to do a lot of business with Mayor Wilkins you know. It'll be just like a family reunion' He jerked Gracey's head back further, knicking her skin with his fang, and causing a trickle of blood to run down her neck. Gracey let out a strangled gasp, but managed to stay still. She sensed that the thing holding her would take great delight in hurting her more if she struggled. 'What'll it be Slayer? You're gonna be needing new representation in the very near future. Why not let the people who understand true nature look after you?'

'Let them go! Just let them go and I'll come with you.' Faith actually had no intention of going with the vamps. She was playing for time, frantically running through scenarios in her head. She knew she could take out the two vamps who had come out of the ally without too much trouble, but if she attacked them, the one holding Gracey would doubtless bite her, and keep her as a hostage. Going for him would be trickier, but even if she could get him, the other two would go for Michael and Victor. 'Michael, Victor, I want you to get in the car -'

'Take one step and your friend's dead before she hits the ground.' He licked the blood that was sliding down Gracey's neck. 'No games Slayer, we know who you are and what you've done. The Special Projects Director wants you unharmed, but Wolfram and Hart doesn't like people steeling their clients! So if you want your friends to walk away from this, you do exactly what we -' A look of amazement crossed the vampires' face, before he exploded into dust.

'Heard you were getting out today. Thought they might have heard too.' Kate Lockley stepped out from behind Gracey, a stake held in her right hand. She nodded her head 'behind you'

Slightly confused by Kate's attitude, being willing to take it at face value for now, Faith grinned 'Thanks,' As she turned to face the two remaining vamps, her grin turned feral. Until that moment, they had been unsure what to do. Their leader had impressed upon them how important it was to get Faith for Wolfram & Hart, and just how much of a bad idea it was to disappoint the law firm. On the other hand, their leader was dead, and they were faced with the infamous Dark Slayer. 'Gonna make me chase you boys?' Faith purred. The two vamps looked at each other and ran. 'Oh goody. It's been a long time since I've had a proper workout.' Taking three steps, Faith launched herself at the fleeing vampires. She landed on the shoulders of one, causing him to crash into his companion, all three of them landing in a heap on the floor.

Michael finally came out of the daze he'd been in and moved forward to help Faith. Kate caught his arm. 'Leave her councillor. You won't be able to help, and you may well get in her way.' Seeing the look of disbelief on his and Victors' faces, she pointed 'look'

Faith and the smaller of the two vampires scrambled to their feet. He took a wild swing, just clipping her jaw. Her head snapped round and then she looked back at him 'that all you got?' she threw a round house, followed up quickly by an outward crescent kick, sending the vampire reeling. With a jump back kick, he crashed into a wall and crumbled to the floor. 'Don't go anywhere suga. I'll be right back.' As she turned back to the larger vampire, she saw he was already on his feet, and charging at her. Accepting his momentum as he hit her, Faith dropped and rolled onto her back. Posting one foot into the fast moving vamps' stomach, she sent him flying over her head, to crash into the wall just next to his friend. Marching over to the undead pile of limbs, Faith grabbed the biggest one by the shoulder and hauled him to his feet. 'I'm sure B would have some clever quip for ya' but I really just want you gone.' Saying that, she drew the pencil she'd gotten from Gracey earlier out of her pocket and rammed it home. She dimly heard Michaels' gasp of dismay, which turned into a yelp as the vamp turned to dust. Grabbing the second vamp, Faith staked him before he had chance to fight back.

Rolling her shoulders, she walked back to the others. 'Damn. Didn't even break a sweat. Those guys were newbies, and weak with it. Wolfram & Hart must be slipping.'

'Don't be too hard on them' Kate replied, smiling. 'The last vampire you fought was Angel. He is a bit different from your everyday blood sucker.' Taking in the stunned faces of the three lawyers, Kate's smile turned mischievous. 'I take it they didn't know?'

'No.' This is not going to be fun. 'Michael, Gracey? Are you okay? He just grazed the skin didn't he?' she stepped closer to examine the wound on Gracey's neck. 'Yeah. It's already stopped bleeding.'

'What the hell just happened?!' The words exploded out of Michael as his head swivelled between Faith and Kate. Victor had wrapped his arms around Gracey, and was hanging on like there was no tomorrow. 'What was that!?'

Seeing that Faith had started to look unsure of herself, Kate stepped forward. 'Councillor, my name is Kate Lockley.'

Michaels' wild eyes locked on Kate. 'You're the one who arrested her. You had Faith sent to jail for crimes she couldn't possibly..' Faith saw it in his eyes, the moment what he had just seen caught up with what he already he knew. His eyes, that had always been so warm and caring, turned cold. 'Explain.'

This is it. This is what I'm going to have to face everyday when people find out what I did. Shit. He cared about me. He cared about me and now he's wondering what to believe. No one said this redemption trip was easy though, so here goes. 'It's kind of a long story, and a lot of it's difficult to believe, even after what you've seen tonight. Shit, this is difficult. I don't even know where to start.'

'What just happened? How about you start with that?' Victor joined the conversation, his arms still tight around Grace. 'Because I gotta tell you, I had one glass of wine with my meal, and that ain't enough for me to start seeing vampires!! That's what those things were, wasn't it? And they seemed to know you Faith. And what the hell have Wolfram & Hart got to do with it? They're one of the oldest, most respected law firms in the city!' He took a breath, and lay his forehead on Gracey's. Angel used to do that, Faith suddenly remembered, with Buffy, after a big fight. Just for comfort, to physically feel that she was still whole.

Faith glanced at Kate, who nodded in support obviously a lot's changed there since we last met. Right now, I'm not going to question it. She looked a Michael, who gazed back implacably, and then over at Victor and Grace, who were still wrapped in each others arms, but now looking at her. She sighed. 'I'm a Vampire Slayer.'

Michael laughed. Faith couldn't decide if the noise came from disbelief or sheer amazement, but she figured that this was going to be a fairly long conversation, and that having it in a dark side street as not the best plan.

'I'm a Vampire Slayer. I promise I'll explain more, but can we please get in the car. This is a dangerous area.'

Victor snorted at this, whilst Michael mumbled sarcastically 'ya think?' Gracey dug in her bag for the car keys, and then bleeped the locks. Once the five of them were settled, with the central locking engaged, Michael once again turned his dispassionate gaze on Faith. 'We're in the car now, so talk.'

'Geez, where's a British guy when you need one.' She took a deep breath, trying to remember how Linda had explained all of this to her that first time, so long ago. 'Okay, the short version is earth didn't start as a paradise, like it says in the bible. The bible is way wrong. It started as hell, or at least, a hell. There are a few hell dimensions. Anyway, demons lived here, humans didn't. Eventually though, people came in, and chucked the demons out. One of the demons bit a human on the way out, mixing their blood, and creating vampires. As long as there have been vamps, there's been a Slayer, a Chosen One, given the speed and strength and yada yada yada to hunt the vampires, and demons, and save the world. I'm a Slayer.' She kept her gaze trained on Michael as she spoke. 'I told you I deserved to be in there.'

Michael blinked, and then asked 'so how much of what you told me before is true? Is any of it?'

'All of it's true. The only bit I lied about was when I was 16 and the system lost track of me. That's when I was called, and living with my first watcher.' Finally, Faith looked away, trying not to get dragged down by the memories of Linda. God, she'd be so disappointed in me. She shook her head. If she's watching, she'll see me change. I'll make her proud again. 'She was murdered, by a vampire, and I moved to Sunnydale. After that, it's pretty much as it says. The first guy I killed, it was an accident. Me and B, we were in a fight, the vamps just kept appearing. He grabbed my arm, B pulled him off and I went in with the stake. I can still hear her yelling, telling me NO, just as the stake goes into his chest. I knew as soon as it went in he was human, but it was already too late. I was scared, I was so scared and so angry. After that, well, they tried to save me, but I was determined to meet the darkness head on. I remember Angel telling me I could never imagine the price for true evil. He was right.'

'Who's B?' Gracey asked softly.

'B. B is Buffy Summers. She's another Slayer, the first person who ever really tried to reach out to me, to be my friend. She's not perfect, she's got her fault's has B. I think that was a lot of my problem. I kept seeing Buffy as perfect; Perfect Mom, perfect friends, perfect Watcher, perfect life. I think if I'd realised her life could suck on occasion, that she's made some fairly major mistakes, I wouldn't have felt the need to beat her at something, even if the only thing I could do better than her was be bad. Turned out I was wrong about that too. She stuck my own knife in me and pushed me off a roof. She put me in that coma. Yeah, B can be bad when she wants to be.' She glanced around the car, saw the astonished looks on the faces of the three lawyers. She grinned at Kate 'I didn't know how much of a kick it can be, telling someone for the first time. I don't think I've ever seen a lawyer speechless before!'

Michael finally managed to get his voice to work again 'She stabbed you and pushed you off a roof, and no one did anything about it? She just got away with it!'

He still cares. He's angry and he's confused, but he still cares. Faith felt a warm glow role through her. 'It's not like I didn't deserve it, I'd just shot her boyfriend with a poison arrow. Besides, they blew the high school the next day, during graduation, and I guess my case just got lost in the shuffle.'

Kate joined in the staring and choking at that revelation 'Blew up the high school!?'

Even Kate looked startled by this revelation. Guess Angel didn't tell her about that one. Faith sighed 'Yeah. Long story. Big demon. It was necessary, trust me. Look guys, unless you wanna be here for a really long time, we don't have time for the history of the Scooby Gang. It's way too long.' As they were all staring at her, speechless, Faith figured she might as well continue. 'When I woke up, it was eight months later, and man was I pissed, so I went after Buffy and all her little friends.'

'You told me about this,' Michael interrupted 'You told me you had a fight with her and took something from her, and then slept with her boyfriend. Is that what really happened?'

'Oh yeah, that's all true. I told you Michael, I didn't lie to you, I just left the weirder bits out. You see, the thing I took from her was her body. The Mayor left me a little surprise, wanted me to go out with a bang I guess.' As Victor raised an eyebrow, Faith hurried to explain, 'The Mayor, Mayor Richard Wilkins of Sunnydale, was the current big bad. He was this psychotic, immortal demon guy who was obsessive compulsive about germs. He planned to become a demon of the first circle on graduation day. First circle demons are always huge, therefore the blowing up of the high school.' She paused, lost in the memories, 'He loved me though. He was crazy and he was a killer, but he loved me like a father. And he thought I was better than Buffy. I would have done anything for him. I knew he was evil, but there he was, telling me I was beautiful, in the way a father should, not the creepy way my step dad used to. He really meant it too. I would have died for him, but I couldn't, because I was in hospital, in a coma, because of Buffy. He became a fist circle demon, and she killed him. I knew he thought of me though, because he left me a tape, and a present. He recorded it after Buffy took me down, the night before graduation. All I had to do was get B to touch this thing whilst I was touching it, and our souls switched bodies. Man what a trip. It was weird though, it's true what they say, about walking in other peoples shoes. Her's weren't as comfortable as I thought they'd be. Anyway, somehow the Council found out I'd woken up, and sent dome dudes after me. Of course, they got Buffy in my body, so while I was doing her toy soldier, the council were trying to kill her because they thought she was me. I don't think she was too happy about it all.'

'Wait a minute, Council? What are The Council?'

'You listen to all that Mikey, and the only thing you question is this Council?' Faith could hear the hysteria rising in Gracey's voice. Really, she's done pretty well to hold it together this long. Most people totally freak after their first vampire attack, she reflected. 'Look Faith, I don't know what those things were, but there's no such thing as magic or vampires or demons. I know you feel guilty about how you treated your friend, but you have to stop making this stuff up to comfort yourself -'

'Comfort myself?! Lady, there is very little that's comforting about my life.' Calm Faith, keep calm. 'Sorry. look, I know it's hard to believe. I know you're all trying to find some way for what you just saw not to be real, but that's not possible. All the stories you heard as a kid, all the monsters you knew were hiding in the darkness but told yourself weren't real. They are. Witches, vampires, werewolves, all that stuff, it's all real.'

'Look' Kate finally decided to join the conversation. 'I know it's hard to believe at first. Hell, I had a vampire standing in front of me, full fangs and yellow eyes, telling me it was true and I still didn't want to believe it. But it is true. All these things are out there, and a lot of them don't think of humans as anything more than their next meal. My father was killed by vampires. When the psychiatrists thought I was going nuts, when I got thrown off the force, it was because I'd finally started seeing the truth. All our lives we're trained on an unconscious level, not to see what's out there. Those who do know, work to keep it hidden. But once you know, you can't ignore it anymore. That's why Faith didn't tell you about any of this Councillor. Not because she didn't trust you, but because she wanted to protect you.'

Michael looked at Faith, and then out the window. Tiredly, he rubbed his hands over his eyes, then back at Faith. 'It's true, isn't? It's all true.' 'Yeah' Please don't hate me, please don't hate me, please don't hate me. I only did it to protect you. 'It's all true. What I've told you is true..and what I was accused of is true.'

'Why Faith? I understand the guilt now, the need to be punished. Why did you let us appeal?'

'Because they needed me' Faith answered with a shrug

'Who needed you?'

'The world.'

Silence greeted her answer. Although Kate had been aware of the battle between mankind and demons for two years, she tended to think of it only in terms of LA. Angel worked pretty much exclusively in L.A, and he was her frame of reference in these things. The lawyers were only just starting to get their heads round the idea that vampires existed. Battling to save the whole world was beyond anything they could conceive at that point.

'Cunningham, the guy who hired you? He works for The Council of Watchers. They're meant to train and assist the Slayers, although it doesn't always work like that. They're the ones paying all the bills. Well, after Buffy died, they figured they needed an active Slayer-'

'Buffy died? But I thought..'

'Buffy was dead for about 4 months, then she got better.' Taking in the goldfish impressions all around, Faith sighed. 'Death isn't always a permanent condition in my world. I'm not really sure how it happened, but there was some wicked powerful magicks flying around.. same as there is now actually. It's the same person too.' Faith fell silent, stretching out her Slayer senses. Subconsciously, she'd been aware of this building up all day, and the day before. She knew there was nothing she could do about it though. Whatever it was, it wasn't for her to handle. She decided to get back to the issue at hand. 'Anyhow, The Council decided they needed an experienced Slayer. The fight is going hard at the moment, and a new Slayer would likely just screw things up, otherwise they'd have killed me and activated the next Slayer. Believe me, it's happened before.' She added, to forestall any questions. 'The Council still don't know that B's back, and I wasn't gonna tell 'em, so they paid the bills and I get to go back to work.'

'That's it? You just go back to work. You forget everything that's happened?'

'I know what I did Michael. It's not something I'll ever be able to forget. But right now the Powers need all the help they can get, even if it's me. Fighting's the only thing I've ever been really good at, apart from being bad. I'm built for fighting, and I can help people. I know the road to redemption is long, and it's hard. You have no idea how hard it is, but I'm trying, and I've got people out here who understand, and can help me. I've helped saved the world before. That's gotta count for something?' Faith ended on a desperate sounding plea.

'One thing I don't think you understand Michael.' Kate touched his arm gently, 'for Faith, prison wasn't that hard. In prison, strength counts for everything, and Faith was stronger, faster, more resilient than any ten other people in there. She ruled that prison. The guards were sorry to see her go because she kept everyone in line. She stopped most of the bullying, the casual cruelties that are a part of prison life. I'm sure she hated not having her freedom, but the fact is, if Faith hadn't been sent to prison, she'd probably be dead by now. It's almost unheard of for a Slayer to survive past 25. If she survives her first year or so, her odds go up slightly, but the average Slayer is dead before she's old enough to drink in this country. In prison she faced human foes who couldn't possibly beat her, instead of the demons and monsters she is meant to fight.' Kate took a deep breath, and continued. 'When I arrested Faith, I hated her, and everything she represented. She was part of the same world that had killed my father. I wanted to destroy everything from that world. I hated it. If not for Angel, that hate would have destroyed me, and I'd've killed myself. Angel saved me, and I changed. I did a lot of thinking. One of the things I realised was that Faith being in prison was no good for anyone. I know some of the guards in that prison, and they told me what she was like in there. The life of a Slayer is deadly. They go out and fight the monsters every night. Faith knows what she's up against Michael. She knows that in going through with the appeal, she has pretty much signed her own death warrant. Whether she deserves to die for what she did,' Faith looked down, hunching her shoulders, and Kate laid her hand on her in support. 'That's not our call. But what she's doing now is the right thing. She's facing her past, and the people she hurt. She's doing it to try and save us all. She personally never harmed us, and like she said, she has helped save the world. Maybe if we help her, she can do it again.'

'Wow.Speechless again? Tis must be some kind of record!' Faith joked inanely. She was desperate for Michael to say something, although she feared horribly that he was going to condemn her. At the same time, she couldn't believe the things Kate had just said on her behalf. This is how Angel carries on, she mused, because sometimes you do get through. And they forgive you. A single tear ran down her face as she smiled tremulously at her 'thanks.'

Kate nodded in return. 'I've got faith in you. You don't prove me wrong, or I'll make you regret it.'

'I know.' Faith wasn't offended by this, strangely, it was kind of comforting. She was used to being threatened by authority figures. She understood it a lot better that she did Kate's support.

'You can drop me off at my car if you like. It's getting kind of late, and I'm sure you guys have a lot to think about' Kate said briskly, changing the subject before either she or Faith could be overwhelmed by the emotions they were feeling.

'Wait a second. You can't just drop all that on us and then leave. Are you telling me that I got Faith out of jail so she can die?! That's not going to happen!!'

'No Michael. You got me out of jail so that I can live. How can I work on my redemption when I'm locked in a cage? Being a Slayer means I was meant to die young, but I get to make a difference before I do. I get to live more in my few years than a lot of people do in a lifetime. I screwed up big time Michael. Being out here is the only way I can make it right.' Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. 'Please don't hate me, any of you? Just give me a chance okay? I promise I'll make you proud of me.'

The three lawyers looked at each other. Eventually, Michael spoke. 'This is.wow. I mean. I've just had my entire worldview turned on its head, and I have a feeling we only got the briefest outline. You always told me you were guilty of some really bad things Faith, I never believed you until now. Now I do.' Faith stiffened, waiting for the rejection she was sure was about to come. 'But you saved Gracey's life. How can I hate someone who saves my best friend's life. Your life is something I don't understand. From what you've told us tonight, I think your life would terrify me. I know now isn't the time, but at some point, I'd like you to sit down and tell me all about it. In the meantime, the offer still stands. We're all here for you whenever you need us.'

Some trick of Slayer strength and agility allowed Faith to throw herself at Michael through the gap between the front seats. She hugged him hard, and would have hung on longer if he hadn't started gasping for breath. 'Sorry. Slayer strength can be a bit of a problem when I'm this emotional. Thank you. Thank you so much. Now lets get out of here. You guys need some sleep, and I need to speak to Angel.'

They dropped Kate off at her car and watched her drive away, then Faith directed Michael to the Hyperion Hotel. She'd looked it up on a map when Angel first told her Angel Investigations had moved there.

She hugged Michael, and then Grace and Victor before she got out of the car. 'You might want to invest in some water guns with holy water in them, and a couple of crosses' she warned 'and don't invite anyone in after dark. Vampires can't come in unless they're invited. I know it sounds weird, but pretty soon it'll be second nature.'

'Faith, you've got all our cell numbers, right? And you promise you'll call in a couple of days, just to let us know you're okay?'

'And you'll come and see us soon?'

'And you'll call sooner if you need us?'

'I promise.' She paused. She was still getting used to this being nice to people shit. Not just being nice, but being honest. 'Thank you. I'll never be able to thank you enough for what you've done. Not just getting me out, but trusting me now that you know the truth.'

'Everyone's entitled to a second chance Faith' Michael smiled 'you keep saving the world, we'll call it even.' He couldn't get his head around how this scared little girl was meant to save the world, but somehow, he believed her, and he wanted to help her.

'Deal' Getting out of the car, Faith waved, and then turned, and started towards the Hyperion Hotel, and her redemption.

The end for now.

More soon