March 3rd, 2004
Faith was staring out the window of the Greyhound Bus as she read the rather large and incredibly brightly colored sign that said, "Haddonfield Welcomes You". Welcome, it'd been a long time since Faith had felt that and she couldn't be happier to be some place that might actually welcome her despite her past. Haddonfield, Illinois is supposed to be a nice quiet place with very little going on, or at least that's what Faith had been told, when she was looking for a place to retire to. Faith watched as the large passenger bus slowed down and came to a stop at the local bus station. Stretching, after an extended trip from Los Angles, Faith stood up, walked to the front of the bus then proceeded down the stairs clutching a small carry-on bag as she looked at the place that was to be her new hometown. From the information that she'd gathered while researching for a place to live the town was smaller than Sunnydale, but not by much. In the late afternoon the streets were not flooded with cars and people hurrying to get home or to work. The town was quiet, but from the signs of teens moving about appeared to have some life to it. Best of all, this quiet little town appeared to have no supernatural baddies about.
Yeap, life is good.
That was the single thought in Faith's head as she moved to the bus's storage compartment to acquire her duffle bag. The male driver, a rather slender man in his late twenties with chocolate colored eyes and dark brown hair to match, gave Faith a broad smile as she claimed her bag. The brunette slayer gave him a grin and a wink then took off to find a place to call home. Faith stopped at the local 7-11, bought a newspaper and proceeded to walk up and down the streets of Haddonfield for the next few hours looking at the neighborhoods where the apartments, rooms or house that were for rent were located.
By the time her stomach told her it was time for dinner she had pretty much figured out the layout of the town and all the shortcuts around the main area. Faith then made her way to a mom & pop diner that looked good when she was out and about. The waitress that seated Faith, an older rather stern looking woman, gave her the once over and was not impressed by the girls tough exterior decked out in trashy clothes. Faith, not even looking at a menu, ordered a hamburger, fries and a sprite. The woman took her order and since the diner wasn't that busy the dark haired former slayer received her food quickly and proceeded to chow down. Looking about Faith realized that the few people in the diner were looking at her as if she was a little green Martian here to take over the earth. Not wanting to cause a scene Faith quickly finished her food, paid the check left the stern looking waitress a generous tip (considering she hadn't been that accommodating) and departed.
As she made her way to the local Holiday Inn Faith vividly remembered informing Buffy, Giles and Robin Wood that she no longer had a desire to be an active slayer. She explained at after loosing Cordy, the events during the battle in the Hellmouth, coupled with her inner demons, she needed to get out and get a clearer perspective. While the trio that represented the Watchers Council were shocked by the young woman's request they neither argued nor tried to dissuade her from leaving. All three were well versed in Faith's history and for her to request to be allowed to leave their ranks they knew nothing would change her mind. Buffy and Robin wished her well; Giles gave the young woman a rather large sum of money, some words of encouragement and a surprisingly large hug. Faith relished the affection and wished them all the best and instruction that should the ever absolutely need her to give her a call.
~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~
The town was very nice and almost eerily quiet as she moved through the now dimly lit sky, since it was still winter the sun set about four o'clock here. Faith's was strolling down Bellmont Avenue about to turn the corner when her slayer-sense suddenly went off much to her discuss. The brunette, hoping it was just her nerves acclimating to a new town, just ignored it for a minute until she heard a stone being kicked behind her. Knowing that her instincts were never wrong Faith, using her peripheral vision noticed that three large figures were following not to far behind her.
Faith, not wanting her pursuers to change targets to someone that might not be able to handle them, increased her stride and seeing a rather abandoned looking building ahead of her decided to head there so should the figures be something that the everyday person wouldn't understand would go unnoticed. When she was mere feet from the doorway Faith darted into the building, dropped her duffle bag and ran up the flight of stairs as voices began calling out to her.
"Come'n out girlie..." One of the figures called out.
"We won't hurt you." A second voice said. The snicker was oh so obvious.
"Very much." The final figure announced.
Finding safety in the shadows of a nearby room Faith tossed her bag and watched as it landed with an audible thud. The men that had been about to check the basement of the building heard the thump and let loose a series of loud growling sounds. With that little nature call made Faith's knew for a fact that the three fellows following her were vampires. The trio darted up the stairs and into the room that she'd tossed the bag into. The dunces began looking around for her as if they'd expected her to simply be cowering in a corner begging them not to hurt her.
"Hey, where'd she go?" one asked in an annoyingly high tone of voice.
The vampire that had spoken turned and saw one of his friends suddenly squeal, then exploded into a pile of dust as a wooden dart feel from the spot where the vampire's un-beating heart once was. Seeing their friend's assassin, one of the vampires jumped at Faith hoping to tackle her to the ground and make an entrée out of her. He watched as Faith dropped her pistol like crossbow, reached out, caught him in mid-air and threw him out of a second floor window.
The last remaining vampire was extremely perplexed by the skills and strength of someone that looked like an easy kill just ten minutes ago. He actually took the time to question it as Faith looked dumbfounded at him. No longer caring to wait to see if the vamp's friend was getting up any time soon Faith withdrew a stake that she always kept on her person "just in case". It was then that that realization dawned on the dense vampire...
"Yer... yer a slayer." The vampire uttered as he looked about ready to urinate on himself.
"And you're dust." Faith replied. The vampire, not wanting that to happen, retreated down the stairs and around the corner only to see a sword blade swing at him and suddenly loose his head. Faith had seen the blade from the stair well and heard the customary scream and the after effect of the vampire being turned to dust but did not want to be around to find out who the sword belonged to. Drawing a sharp bowie knife from her bag she quietly ascended the stairs to the third floor. Faith's eyes, while not as sharp as good as a vamp's at nighttime, were darting around trying to find any unfamiliar shape in the darkness. Knife securely griped and ready to slice and dice Faith moved ready to carve anything or anyone that would do her harm.
I'm retired, and I'll be damned if I let anything stand in the way of that. She thought.
As much as she'd like to have mumbled it she didn't want anything with enhanced hearing zeroing in on her position.
Faith had taken two more steps before she heard then felt someone's leg suddenly knock her off her footing. The person in the room had executed an extremely quick and silent footsweep and Faith found herself falling on her back. Faith reversed the grip on her knife, rolled with the move, turning her fall into a flip, and landed one knee up one on the ground. She reached out and grabbed the person who was now directly in front of her. Knife at the ready, Faith was seconds away from putting the blade through her assailant's neck.
Before she could do this she heard two metal sounds similar to springs snapping into place. The lights of the room she was in then came on and Faith could see not only the two wrist mounted knives inches from her own throat, but the person who was wielding them.
"Hello Sis." The now visible form of Dawn Summers sarcastically announced.
Faith was staring out the window of the Greyhound Bus as she read the rather large and incredibly brightly colored sign that said, "Haddonfield Welcomes You". Welcome, it'd been a long time since Faith had felt that and she couldn't be happier to be some place that might actually welcome her despite her past. Haddonfield, Illinois is supposed to be a nice quiet place with very little going on, or at least that's what Faith had been told, when she was looking for a place to retire to. Faith watched as the large passenger bus slowed down and came to a stop at the local bus station. Stretching, after an extended trip from Los Angles, Faith stood up, walked to the front of the bus then proceeded down the stairs clutching a small carry-on bag as she looked at the place that was to be her new hometown. From the information that she'd gathered while researching for a place to live the town was smaller than Sunnydale, but not by much. In the late afternoon the streets were not flooded with cars and people hurrying to get home or to work. The town was quiet, but from the signs of teens moving about appeared to have some life to it. Best of all, this quiet little town appeared to have no supernatural baddies about.
Yeap, life is good.
That was the single thought in Faith's head as she moved to the bus's storage compartment to acquire her duffle bag. The male driver, a rather slender man in his late twenties with chocolate colored eyes and dark brown hair to match, gave Faith a broad smile as she claimed her bag. The brunette slayer gave him a grin and a wink then took off to find a place to call home. Faith stopped at the local 7-11, bought a newspaper and proceeded to walk up and down the streets of Haddonfield for the next few hours looking at the neighborhoods where the apartments, rooms or house that were for rent were located.
By the time her stomach told her it was time for dinner she had pretty much figured out the layout of the town and all the shortcuts around the main area. Faith then made her way to a mom & pop diner that looked good when she was out and about. The waitress that seated Faith, an older rather stern looking woman, gave her the once over and was not impressed by the girls tough exterior decked out in trashy clothes. Faith, not even looking at a menu, ordered a hamburger, fries and a sprite. The woman took her order and since the diner wasn't that busy the dark haired former slayer received her food quickly and proceeded to chow down. Looking about Faith realized that the few people in the diner were looking at her as if she was a little green Martian here to take over the earth. Not wanting to cause a scene Faith quickly finished her food, paid the check left the stern looking waitress a generous tip (considering she hadn't been that accommodating) and departed.
As she made her way to the local Holiday Inn Faith vividly remembered informing Buffy, Giles and Robin Wood that she no longer had a desire to be an active slayer. She explained at after loosing Cordy, the events during the battle in the Hellmouth, coupled with her inner demons, she needed to get out and get a clearer perspective. While the trio that represented the Watchers Council were shocked by the young woman's request they neither argued nor tried to dissuade her from leaving. All three were well versed in Faith's history and for her to request to be allowed to leave their ranks they knew nothing would change her mind. Buffy and Robin wished her well; Giles gave the young woman a rather large sum of money, some words of encouragement and a surprisingly large hug. Faith relished the affection and wished them all the best and instruction that should the ever absolutely need her to give her a call.
~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~
The town was very nice and almost eerily quiet as she moved through the now dimly lit sky, since it was still winter the sun set about four o'clock here. Faith's was strolling down Bellmont Avenue about to turn the corner when her slayer-sense suddenly went off much to her discuss. The brunette, hoping it was just her nerves acclimating to a new town, just ignored it for a minute until she heard a stone being kicked behind her. Knowing that her instincts were never wrong Faith, using her peripheral vision noticed that three large figures were following not to far behind her.
Faith, not wanting her pursuers to change targets to someone that might not be able to handle them, increased her stride and seeing a rather abandoned looking building ahead of her decided to head there so should the figures be something that the everyday person wouldn't understand would go unnoticed. When she was mere feet from the doorway Faith darted into the building, dropped her duffle bag and ran up the flight of stairs as voices began calling out to her.
"Come'n out girlie..." One of the figures called out.
"We won't hurt you." A second voice said. The snicker was oh so obvious.
"Very much." The final figure announced.
Finding safety in the shadows of a nearby room Faith tossed her bag and watched as it landed with an audible thud. The men that had been about to check the basement of the building heard the thump and let loose a series of loud growling sounds. With that little nature call made Faith's knew for a fact that the three fellows following her were vampires. The trio darted up the stairs and into the room that she'd tossed the bag into. The dunces began looking around for her as if they'd expected her to simply be cowering in a corner begging them not to hurt her.
"Hey, where'd she go?" one asked in an annoyingly high tone of voice.
The vampire that had spoken turned and saw one of his friends suddenly squeal, then exploded into a pile of dust as a wooden dart feel from the spot where the vampire's un-beating heart once was. Seeing their friend's assassin, one of the vampires jumped at Faith hoping to tackle her to the ground and make an entrée out of her. He watched as Faith dropped her pistol like crossbow, reached out, caught him in mid-air and threw him out of a second floor window.
The last remaining vampire was extremely perplexed by the skills and strength of someone that looked like an easy kill just ten minutes ago. He actually took the time to question it as Faith looked dumbfounded at him. No longer caring to wait to see if the vamp's friend was getting up any time soon Faith withdrew a stake that she always kept on her person "just in case". It was then that that realization dawned on the dense vampire...
"Yer... yer a slayer." The vampire uttered as he looked about ready to urinate on himself.
"And you're dust." Faith replied. The vampire, not wanting that to happen, retreated down the stairs and around the corner only to see a sword blade swing at him and suddenly loose his head. Faith had seen the blade from the stair well and heard the customary scream and the after effect of the vampire being turned to dust but did not want to be around to find out who the sword belonged to. Drawing a sharp bowie knife from her bag she quietly ascended the stairs to the third floor. Faith's eyes, while not as sharp as good as a vamp's at nighttime, were darting around trying to find any unfamiliar shape in the darkness. Knife securely griped and ready to slice and dice Faith moved ready to carve anything or anyone that would do her harm.
I'm retired, and I'll be damned if I let anything stand in the way of that. She thought.
As much as she'd like to have mumbled it she didn't want anything with enhanced hearing zeroing in on her position.
Faith had taken two more steps before she heard then felt someone's leg suddenly knock her off her footing. The person in the room had executed an extremely quick and silent footsweep and Faith found herself falling on her back. Faith reversed the grip on her knife, rolled with the move, turning her fall into a flip, and landed one knee up one on the ground. She reached out and grabbed the person who was now directly in front of her. Knife at the ready, Faith was seconds away from putting the blade through her assailant's neck.
Before she could do this she heard two metal sounds similar to springs snapping into place. The lights of the room she was in then came on and Faith could see not only the two wrist mounted knives inches from her own throat, but the person who was wielding them.
"Hello Sis." The now visible form of Dawn Summers sarcastically announced.