Title: Five by Five

Summary: Faith's long lost twin sister Hope has come to Rome in search of her sister. When two sisters meet everything seems to brighten but does something supernatural threaten to end this new reunion of sisters? And the question of whether Hope is a Potential is overpowering but will she bow down to the ways of the slayer?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for Hope and most of the plot of Faith's past. I've also borrowed the concept of being able to put Ultra Violet light into bullets from Underworld, Hope being the big guns girl cos she isn't a slayer(or doesn't think she is) but still battles evil. Her weapons provider is based on the vamp weapon guy in Underworld.

Author Notes: Hope is a character based on a less bad girl version of Faith and Selene from Underworld. Might be another character in the mix there somewhere but she's basically original. Also she isn't really like Faith so don't expect to get another Faith. Though I would love that...

Chapter 1: Hollywood

Buffy found herself backed against one of the crypt walls in the cemetery. Six vampires bared their teeth in front of her, two were on top of the wall behind her and there was probably a couple more lurking around somewhere. All she was holding was a crossbow with no arrows. Not really all that helpful. Buffy looked around for something, anything. But she was trapped. She dropped the crossbow knowing that that could only slow her down if it didn't have any arrows.

She was annoyed at herself. For once a bunch of vampires were organised enough and had enough numbers to corner her. Buffy had been able to stake three until one of them managed to kick the stake out of her hands. It was probably twenty feet or so away. And for once twenty feet seemed to stretch on forever. Talk about seeing your life flash before your eyes.

Then Buffy heard soft footfalls behind the gang of vampires. Either it was their leader or someone else who was about to try and kill them. It walked with the confidence and stealthiness of a hunter. Someone about to go in for the kill. She looked around at the vamps and saw that they were just about ready to pounce on her. Then she saw a silhouette of the figure behind them. Lean, tall, moving with the gracefulness of an experienced fighter and... The figure was female.

Buffy opened her mouth to warn her but one of the vamps covered it quickly, not wanting Buffy to scare away another meal. Sure it was no slayer but it was a meal nevertheless. The more the merrier. Of course this group of vamps didn't know what was about to hit them.

"Do you guys always go for the blondes? Come on, that is soo Hollywood." The voice that rang out through the night was laced with sarcasm and derision (and it was in English which made Buffy slightly happier). All of the vamp's attention shifted to the girl as she stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the full moon. She had dark hair which was slightly wavy and ran like a river down from her head to just past her shoulders. She was tanned and looked like she belonged on a beach, not here in a cemetery threatening vampires.

She sported a smirk and dark eyes which had this certain mischievousness in them. In a second Buffy thought of Faith, the girl looked like Faith but she didn't. Her actual appearance wasn't like Faith (what with the tanned beach goer look), but her posture, her eyes, her hair and her smirk all rang true. As they turned the girl held a hand to her mouth and did mock innocent little girl,

"Oops, I forgot. You're not guys are you?" The vamps growled and one of them ran towards her. She dropped the mock innocent little girl voice and continued with a half gleeful half ready for action tone and a big grin on her face, "You're vampires."

Then she said in a calm tone to Buffy,

"Keep cool miss. Everything's gonna be fine." She smiled dangerously, "Just fine."

Quicker than lightning she whipped out two guns from under her leather duster on either side, the holsters positioned with the handles at the bottom of her ribs and the muzzles at her hips, and began rapidly firing shots at the vampires. In a second all of the vamps in front of Buffy collapsed into fire sparks and then dust. A millisecond later the two above her turned to fire sparks and then dust.

The girl let the clips slide out of the guns and onto the ground before reloading them quickly with clips that were situated at her waist, ready to be loaded into the guns. She did so with an ease that was so smooth that it astounded Buffy. She always associated guns as being the opposite of smooth. And as not being able to dust vamps.

The girl now stood completely still, all grins and mischievous looks on her face erased. She was in a position that looked like a martial arts position... with guns! She was listening hard to her surroundings and closed her eyes, shutting out all external stimuli but sound. Concentrating on the smallest noise, the snap of a twig, the rustling of a leaf, a footfall. Anything.

Then, she whirled around suddenly, long leather coat billowing behind her and fired once with each gun off into the distance in a deeply shaded area where you wouldn't even be able to see your own nose if you were standing there because it was so dark. The two twin shots that she'd fired were met with two classic 'poof's of a vamp (or two) being dusted.

Buffy walked behind her slowly, caution being the key element, and the girl whirled around, guns first. Buffy looked at the guns in her face and then back at the girl. Something else that this girl and Faith had in common was going into something fists, or guns, first. The girl looked at her like she was seeing her properly for the first time (which she was) and then dropped the weapons and stepped backwards off the curb. She fell from the unexpectedness of there being a curb. She lay on the road and began crawling backwards with such a frightened look in her big dark eyes that Buffy wondered why she was so afraid of her.

"P-P-Please d-don't hurt me." The girl begged and Buffy's eyes widened. This girl who had eradicated nine vamps just a second ago with no problem was scared of her. Even though she was taller than the short blonde and had the bad ass attitude, that Faith had no problem carrying, she was afraid of Buffy. Buffy reached out to give her a hand to help her up and the girl flinched. Now that made Buffy really concerned. It was as if the girl expected Buffy to hit her.

"Do I know you?" It was possible that the girl was a vampire but Buffy doubted it. Why would she be killing other vampires and helping a human? Angel and Spike came to mind as she thought of that and she pushed those thoughts away. She would've sensed if this girl was a vamp. Then again Buffy had no idea when it came to Angel, so caution was still the key element, not matter how much the girl stuttered. The girl did her version of a combination of a wince and a smirk.

"No, but I know you. W-Well, not really but I know enough."

"Enough?" Buffy was seriously puzzled. Call it an attack of dumb (bleached) blonde.

"Do you know Faith?" The girl asked with such innocence in her voice that Buffy would probably refer back to later. Now was time for confusion. Mass and utter confusion.

"Faith?" Buffy's eyes widened slightly at the mention of her fellow slayer's name. How did this strange girl lying on the ground in front of her know her? "How do you know Faith?"

The girl looked up at Buffy with big eyes full of fear and apprehension before mumbling softly into her chest,

"She's my twin sister."

TBC (Hopefully sooner rather than later)