Faith watched as the battered old De Sotto drove out of sight. Before running her hands down her sides to make sure that her clothing was straight, And walking into the opened door of the restaurant.

She walked over to where a waiter was standing to greet the clientele and said,

"I'm meant to be meeting someone here at eight,"

She looked at her watch it was nearly quarter past, the waiter looked at a piece of card in front of him, which contained a table plan and said,

"Name?"

"Lupin, Remus Lupin."

He searched the table card for a couple more moments and said

"Certainly madam, this way please you partner for this evening has already arrived, would you like me to take you coat?"

She took off her jacket and handed it to the waiter who had pulled a chair out for her from the table at which Remus was sitting. Once she was seated the waiter walked off and left them alone. Faith smiled nervously at Remus who returned it with one of his own.

"Hi"

"Hey Faith."

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, Faith took a sip out of the glass of water that the waiter had poured for her and Remus fiddled with his menu.

"So um, you're my mom's brother then?

Remus grinned and said

"Yeah I guess that makes you my niece, I don't know if anyone's ever told you this but you look very much like you mother."

Faith smiled and said

"No, no ones ever told me that. But then again after she died the people who cared for me never knew my Mom any way so they wouldn't have been able to spot a resemblance."

Remus looked saddened for a moment before saying,

"When the letters stopped, I didn't want to give up hope that she had just moved on with her life and forgotten about me. I thought that as long as she was alive the idea that she had forgotten about me wouldn't matter so much."

"She never forgot about you, she used to tell me stories about you, I was very small though and she never really said your name that I can remember. But she always talked about her brother about how much she had loved him. She always got this sad look in her eyes whenever she talked about you it was like she blamed herself for something which happened to you, but she never told me what."

"Anna was with me when I was bitten, she was walking me home from a friends house through a wooded copse close to our home when the beast jumped out and attacked us, she managed to ward it off with some defence spells she had learnt in school, holding me behind her while she fought it. I was only about six at the time, but while she was fighting one, another one came from behind us and it managed to bite me, she pulled me away above her head but it managed to catch me any way. There was a lot of blood so she ran I've no idea how she managed to out run them but she did. Carrying me in her arms, she never stopped until we got home. She slammed the kitchen door behind us and collapsed on the floor me still in her arms."

Faith looked tear eyed at the story, so that was what her mom had felt guilty about, that was the wrong she had felt she had done her brother,

"Did you ever blame her?"

"Not for a moment, she did everything she could to get us both out of there, more than could have been expected of her like I said I was only six. Well she was twelve years old, it was a miracle that she managed to get us out of there, I don't know if you've ever gone against a wolf but they're strong powerful and clever. I never ever blamed her for what happened, it was because of her that I was still alive. She blamed herself though, and I tried to tell her that I didn't blame or hate her but I never truly convinced her. She used to stay with me throughout my transformations when I was younger and she was home from school, my father would give her the Deruce tonic to drink while she sat with me. It was a protective barrier under her skin that prevented me from cutting her in any way."

The waiter reappeared at the table and said

"Are we ready to order yet or would you like some more time?"

Remus looked at Faith quickly and said

"I think we're ready"

Faith nodded so he carried on saying,

"I'll have a vegetarian lasagne"

"Spaghetti bolognaise, and a side order of garlic bread and a rocket salad."

Faith said smiling at the waiter watching until he had left them before turning to Remus and saying,

"I hope you don't mind but oversized appetite comes with the whole slayer packages, I'm not even going to begin telling you how much the food bill in our house is."

Remus laughed and said,

"How many people do you live with then?"

"Well the house we live in is provided by the Watchers council, Each house has a few council executives and an experienced slayer living on the premises to offer any advice during the training of the new recruits or just to talk them about their destinies. At the moment there are four training slayers living with me, Minnie and Susana who are seventeen, Louise whose fifteen and Katie whose only eleven, she's one of the youngest in training we've got at the moment. Then there's me obviously and Xander and Spike who are the council people, if you can call them that. Troublemakers more the term normally used to describe them. Quite a little group we are but it's hell at meal times. Between Susana's vegetarianism, Louise being lactose in tolerant and Spike's blood, God knows how we manage to have a meal each night. And I'm moaning a little too much considering this is the first time we've talked."

Faith broke off with a sheepish grin, and Remus said

"Don't be silly, I want to get to know you, to be part of your life and meet your friends. And you look so happy when you talk about them, that talking about them can't be a bad thing."

Faith smiled and said,

"So your friends, I don't know anything about them, I met some of them the other but we didn't really talk that much, what are they like?"

Remus looked thoughtful for a moment and said,

"Well Molly is very mothering as you may have noticed. She adopts people into her care and is exceptionally fierce if you get on her bad side; I suppose you would have to be with seven children. Arthur works for the ministry he is totally obsessed with everything non-magical. If he manages to corner you I'm sure he'll be drilling you on the uses of everyday useless items such as rubber ducks."

He looked around them quickly before carrying on,

"Sirius was one of my best friends from school along with Harry's parents and a man named Peter. There are others who I'm sure that you'll meet in time. Dumbledore I expect will be most anxious to meet you. He taught your mother as well as myself at school, in fact I think he has basically taught everyone in school. He's presently teaching Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny."

Faith smiled she knew he was holding something back but decided not to push it, so she changed the subject by asking,

"So now you've told me bout your friends, I'm kind of curious about how you and red met?"

Remus looked slightly bemused at the question and said,

"Well, for the last couple of years I've worked at a Boarding school in Scotland, Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry to be exact. I'm the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher there, well apart from three days a month. Willow teaches Wandless Magic there as well. She started working there roughly at the same time as me, so we kind of stuck together for a while. I had worked there before so I knew how things worked, but it was nice having a friend and so we just kind of clung to each other and it went from there."

"That's sweet, obviously a guy's version of what happened, but sweet none the less."

Faith said with a grin. The food arrived at this point so the two of them began to eat. While they were eating Remus asked,

"What about you, do you have anyone special in your life at the moment?"

"Not really."

"So there's no one whom I have to have a talk with then about your honour and how if they hurt you in any way they'd have the patriarch of the Lupin family to deal with?"

Faith laughed and said

"If you must know I have quite a few people defending my honour as it is."

Lupin laughed and said,

"I'm glad you've got good friends, everyone needs some."

Faith bit into some of her garlic bread and looked round at the restaurant before smiling back at Remus and saying,

"I never used to think so, I used to think that I was fine on my own that needing people was weak. After Mom died, I had no one. So I was just moved round every couple of weeks to different foster homes. Anyone who would have me really, didn't really give much lea way to build up close bonds. I was bout fifteen when I was called, by that time I was basically out of control. Dropped out of school, drinking, going out every night doing the stupidest things I could think and anything for a laugh. My first watcher her name was Madeline Smith, she became my family and I guess while I was with her, I was stable for a while. She built up this whole system for me. Training and basic academic studies in moderation to going out and partying She arranged it so that I would have fun but in exchange I had to work for the time I spent having fun first. It's cause of her that I at least have a couple of qualifications. She would come out with me in the nights while I was patrolling and always make sure that there was a hot meal ready for us when we got home. She gave me a room in her own home, it was great, it was like having a home again."

Faith looked down at her plate in silence again,

"What happened to her?"

Remus asked, knowing deep down that there wasn't a good ending to this story, there couldn't be. But needing all the same to know what the ending was, so that he could start to understand what it was his niece had gone through so that he could somehow start to make it up to her now.

"It was just after my seventeenth birthday, we were out patrolling and some Vamps jumped us a couple of blocks away from home, they were bout a dozen of them. I managed to keep on top of them but Maddie being there was distracting me, I couldn't concentrate with her there. I needed her to be safe. So I told her to run for it back to the house. There were only bout five left at that point and I could handle them so she did, only problem was that's what they'd been expecting so there was another dozen waiting for her round the block. I killed all of them and started running home to make sure that she was ok. I had just turned the block when I saw her. They tied her to two bikes, and were gutting her. She was still alive when the bikes ripped her in half. I'll never forget her scream. She caught my eyes just before she died and... she was afraid, so afraid it was like her soul was screaming out to me. I wanted to help her. But I couldn't move. Then when they'd finished, when she was dead they saw me, and they laughed. I turned and I ran, I don't know how I got home, but I did. I packed my bag and left at dawn."

Remus was in shock, he couldn't believe the horrors she had been forced to deal with, first to find her mother lying dead. Then to watch the woman who she had considered family being tortured and murdered so brutally in front of her, it was horrific.

"I went to Sunnydale then, Maddie had told me that was where the other slayer was stationed."

She took a sip of her water and Remus cleared his throat saying,

"I'm sorry Faith."

"It's ok, it happened a long time ago. She's in a better place now."

Remus nodded and said

"I'm sorry that she died, and I'm sorry that you've had to live this life, none of us knew about you. Anna never said she'd a daughter. We didn't even know that she had died; she just stopped writing one day. If we had of known then you would not have had to grow up like that, you'd have had a proper family caring for you."

Faith smiled and said

"I know, but I've a got a family now. I'm not saying that I don't want to be part of your family, of Mom's family cause I do. But I just want you to know that I may have had some bad times but I've also gained so much from fighting the good fight, that you shouldn't feel sorry about me ok? It took me a long time to realise what I had and what I could have. But I know now, and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

They ate in silence for a whiled and Remus said,

"There's more isn't there? There's more that you're not telling me about you past?"

Faith looked at him for a moment and said,

"Yeah there's more."

"You don't have to talk about it now if you don't want."

Remus said, Faith nodded but said

"Nah, it's better if it's all in the open, I killed a man. When I was eighteen, I thought he was a vampire. It wasn't until the second my stake pierced his heart that I realised my mistake. There was blood everywhere. We left him there then, but later I went back and tried to hide the body by throwing it into the sea. It was found though and there were inquiries bout B, the other slayer and me. We were the main suspects. Mayor knew all bout us and such. I didn't think I could do anything worse than kill that guy, but what I did afterwards was worse. I knew that they were getting close to figuring out which of us it was. So I decided that I wasn't going to go down for killing the slime ball. I went to her watcher Giles, and told him that it was Buffy who had killed him. I thought he'd believed me, but he hadn't and little did I know my new watcher Wesley had heard everything too. Next thing I know I'm being carted away by the council's psychotic unit. I got away though and made the biggest mistake of my life. I joined the bad guys fighting against my previous friends. Although I use that term loosely, I tried hurting them in every way I knew how. Turning back Angel to haunt Buffy and I tried to kill Will, only the bosses orders stopped me from going through with it. He was the reason for it of course the reason I became bad. It's not some sordid love affair or anything. The relationship that we had was more like father and daughter. He loved me and looked after me. Anything I wanted I got in exchange for certain chores he needed done. Collecting stuff from the airport. Assassinations etc. it all came to a stand still with Angel. B loved him and although she cared bout me as a sister slayer there was no choice in her mind it was him. I'd poisoned him under orders. The only cure being blood of a slayer so she was determined to feed me to him. We fought, nearly killed each other. I was in the comma for a long time. Eighteen months I think. By that time the mayor was long dead and I was on my own again. He'd left me one last present though. A body switching device, I thought yes you know, this is my chance I can finally ruin Buffy's life in the same way she ruined mine, make her realise what it's like to loose every one you love and then be shunned as second best in the only thing that's yours, the only thing your good at. Her friends worked it out though and switched us back. I left for LA then and a big fight between me Angel and Buffy took place. I was so shocked when he took my side. That someone had chosen me again that I realised I could trust him. He knew what it was like, he told me the only way I could justify my crime and begin my road to redemption was to pay for my crime. I handed myself in at the nearest police station. There was still a warrant for my arrest so they sent me to prison. Had a life sentence but the powers of good needed me for one last fight so I was busted out. Sorted things out and made up for the mistakes I had made. And have been fighting the good fight ever since. I'm sorry if I'm a disappointment or a shock to you. If you were expecting a good girl, well that just isn't me. I've done stupid stuff but I'm making my peace as best as I can."

Remus shocked at what she had just disclosed said

"I'm proud that I have a niece who knows her mind, who's made mistakes but is humble enough to try to make amends, we all make mistakes. But it's not our pasts that determine who we are; it's the future and what we choose to make of it. So I'm not disappointed with my niece, in fact I think I'm proud to bursting point. And I know for a fact that Anna would be too."

Faith felt tears falling down her cheeks, her mom would be proud of her... she had never been able to know that before now. No one had known her mom to be able to say that and mean it. She hadn't even known what her mom would have wanted for her. But now here was someone who knew her mom and he said that she would have been proud of her.

Remus watched Faith and the smile of pure joy, which had crossed her face, and knew that he had done well. He'd been so nervous about meeting her tonight about how things would go. He'd almost not come himself. But he was glad he had now. He looked at his watch, it was getting late and they had finished their meal.

"Are you ready to leave now? It's just the waiters keep giving us murderous looks, I think they want to close up soon."

Faith looked round the restaurant and saw that all the other people who had once occupied the tables had left. So she nodded and Remus beckoned to the waiter to bring their coats, he paid and they left.

A/N someone asked about pairing's and whether it was going to be Faith/ Xander. I'm not really sure at the moment who Faith is going to be paired with in all honesty. I'm intending this story to be part of a trilogy, so they're maybe a couple of relationships to go through before finding the one. The interaction I wrote between her and Xander was written with the idea that they had history. I don't know whether that history will later transform into a relationship who knows? But there are a couple of others who I've got in mind at the moment for Faith, so try to have an open mind.