Dear old Dad…

"You all know why you're hear, so we'll do without the pleasantries." Fury didn't even look up as the last of the team members sat down, "24 hours ago we discovered that Faith Lehane, aka Slayer, has been working for a secret organization known as 'The Watchers Council'. So far, all our attempts to penetrate their security have failed, though S.T.R.I.K.E. are continuing their investigations."

"We got any idea what she wanted?" Scarlet Witch asked as she leaned back in her seat, "Have this Watchers Council made any demands? Speaking as a former terrorist, I can tell you that there will be demands."

"There has been no contact from the Watchers Council so far. S.T.R.I.K.E. has their London base of operations under close observation, as we have the school in Cleveland where Faith worked before joining us. So far, all our attempts to get an undercover operative inside have failed…"

A S.H.I.E.L.D. communications technician interrupted Fury, "This just arrived from Langley, Sir."

"Thank you Johnson." Fury took the offered file and waited until the man had left before opening it, "At Captain America's suggestion, I had a background check done on all of Faith's know acquaintances. Some of them appear to have extensive files…"

"Excuse me General, but I can have no further part in this." Everyone looked round to see Tony Stark stand, "I simply can not be party to anything that could harm my daughter. I will find Faith, on my own, and ask her what is going on."

The room was silent for a moment, and then another chair was pushed back.

"I also can not be involved." Natasha shook her head, "I am truly sorry Nicolas, but I am with Tony on this: we know Faith better than any of you, and she is no traitor."

"I followed your lead on Thor, and I have to live with that." Tony stopped just before he reached the door, "You hurt my daughter, and I will dedicate what ever remains of my life to destroying you."

None of the others could meet their eye as Iron Man and Black Widow left.

"Maybe this is the plan all along?" Hawkeye asked, "Divide and conquer?"

"It's something to look into." Fury nodded, "Right now I need the rest of you to stay on-base: Faith has to poke her head out of whatever hole she'd in sometime, and I want you ready to go on a moments notice."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Faith typed her personal identification code into the lock, getting it right on the third attempt. The door from the sewer opened into the basement of a Watchers Council safe house on the lower east side. She knew that inside she'd find clothes, food, medicine, weapons, and money, everything she'd need to get out of the city alive.

Almost every city in the world with an active Slayer or Watcher had at lest one such safe house, one of the many reforms Buffy had implemented when she'd taken over de-facto control of the Council. Giles may have been its titular head, but everyone knew that Buffy was calling a lot of the shots.

Slipping out of her grime covered clothes, Faith made her way into the kitchen, the cold tile floor massaging her sour feet. She opened the refrigerator and searched inside for something to drink.

"Now there's something you don't see every day!" A voice chuckled from the shadows.

Faith reacted instinctively: grabbing the dagger hidden inside the refrigerator door, she flung it at the nearest chair.

"Ouch!" The voice protested, "That was a little too close for comfort…"

"What the?" Faith reached for the lights and flipped the switch, "Xander!"

"Only just…" Xander looked at the knife that had missed his head my millimetres, "little flighty, aren't we?"

Faith put her hands on her hips and looked at the young man sitting in the armchair: a lifetime on the Hellmouth had left Alexander Harris, different. No one could have seen all he had seen, lived through what he had done, and come out unscathed. The patch over his missing eye was the most obvious sign, but the limitless sea of burning emotion that was clear visible in his remaining eye showed him to be older than his years.

The change had been subtle over the years, culminating with Anya's death almost two years ago, when Sunnydale had collapsed into the Hellmouth.

"What are you doing here?" The Slayer asked, her expression warming on seeing a friendly face.

"Right now, I'm looking at a very attractive woman in her underwear, and having flashbacks to our legendary time together." Xander laughed, throwing a dressing gown to his friend, "Giles decided you might need a little backup, so pulled me out of Africa. Willow and Kennedy are on standby in Brazil if we need any more help."

"Several thousand active Slayer around the world, and Giles sent you?" Faith asked as she slipped into the gown, tying the cord tightly around her waist, "gee, he sure knows how to make a girl feel wanted."

"You'd rather he sent Andrew?"

"Point taken. So, what sort of bag-of-tricks you carrying?"

"Just my regular field-Watchers kit: stakes, knives, axe, crossbow…"

TBC