New Summary: BTVS/HP. Once again everything in Faith's life has been shot to hell. She's wanted by both the FBI and Watcher's Council & for the first time in her life she doesn't have a backup plan. By a twist of fate, she's offered a solution to her problems by the family she never knew she had.

A/N: Well, here's chapter five at last. Hope you enjoy it. And thanks to everybody who reviewed. It means so much to me that you guys take the time to tell me what you think. IMPORTANT: One more thing, I'm not sure if I mentioned this in previous chapters or not, but as far as the HP verse is concerned, I'm only taking complete cannon up to GoF. I'll acknowledge some of the stuff that happened in OotP, especially the fight in the end of the book and the fact that all the death eaters who were there were rounded up ('cept for Bella). But I'm ignoring the fact that Sirius died, and most of the really pratty stuff Draco does in the book. I honestly really don't want to think up ways to explain why the heck he is such an immature idiot in that book. This doesn't mean I'm going to turn him into a muggle and peace loving angel, which btw, I've seen some people do and it's scary. I think his character is much more complex than that and I'll try to work within the lines J.K created for him, at least some of them. As for HPB, I don't think I'm going to use any of the things that happened in it.

Previously in the last chapter:

"Talk to your family, Faith. Give them a chance." Buffy said softly.

"Don't go there, B," Faith said just as softly. "Don't go there."

"Why not, Faith?" Buffy asked. "Considering everything that's been going on here, this sounds like the best deal you've gotten in ages, so for once forget your pride and just take it."

"And then what?" Faith asked.

"I don't know but I know the only way to answer that question is to meet them."

Faith was silent. Deep down inside, she knew that she had already made her decision the minute she finished reading the letter.

CH. 5: House of Black

The House of Black had been standing for centuries. It had seen some of the worst wars, leaders, even natural disasters yet it still stood. The years went by and much changed but the House of Black and all it stood for remained the same. At least that had been the way it was before ownership fell into the hands of one Sirius Black. In the past the House of Black had been used as the center of operations for many an operation, most of them heinous, but as the previous Blacks used to say that was just a matter of opinion. However, now for the first time the House of Black was being used to promote good. It was being used to help others whether they were pureblood or not. As a result of one of those acts of goodness, the House of Black had gained two new occupants that because of circumstances nobody would've expected in a million years.

"Draco!"

Narcissa Black (she'd gone back to her maiden name after her divorce had been finalized), waited a beat before knocking on the attic door again. "Draco, what are you doing in there?" she asked impatiently. "For heaven's sake, we're going to be late and what kind of impression is that going to make on the poor child?"

Narcissa stepped away from the door just moments before it was wrenched open. "Poor child?" Draco repeated coming out of the room. He haphazardly tied back his too long silver blond hair with a piece of twine. "Mum, she's practically a grown woman."

"It's just an expression, Draco." Narcissa said, absently waving his comment aside as she tugged at the front of her dress. She was not used to muggle clothing. "Do I look muggle enough in this dress?"

"Yes, mother." Draco said, not bothering to look up from where he was tying his shoes.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware you had eyes in the back of your head, Draco." She said sarcastically which just went to show how nervous she really was, since she hardly ever did sarcasm. As her husband, now ex-husband, (a fact she was still getting used to) loved to tell her, sarcasm wasn't very becoming on her.

Draco sighed as he straightened up. "You look beautiful, Mum. You always do to me," He said tenderly cupping her cheek.

"Oh honey," Narcissa said as she took the moment to lean against him. It was moments like this that melted her heart and reassured her that she hadn't done too badly by her son. She hadn't done her best but at least she hadn't failed him either.

"You're putting too much of your energy into this, mum." Draco said seriously. "It's not really your problem."

Narcissa looked up at her son. "Draco, she's my late best friend's daughter, she's my goddaughter and she's related to me by blood from her dad's side. Furthermore, until a couple of months ago, I was the only living person who knew she existed." She explained. "So it's very much my problem. And besides Sirius has done so much for us lately, I want to- no, I need to do this one thing for him."

As if on cue, Sirius called, "Breakfast's ready!"

Draco threw his mother an accusing look. "I thought you said he wasn't going up at this hour."

Narcissa gave her son a thoroughly exasperated look in return. "You can't lock yourself in your room- a room which may I remind you, he provided- every time he's around. Which may I also remind you is a lot, considering the fact that this is his house."

"Mum, look I get the fact that he did a lot for you, I really do-" Draco began.

"No, Draco you really don't," Narcissa broke in. "When Lucius got sent to Azkaban last year and the world found out that he was a Death Eater, everybody wanted nothing more than to see me either go with him or die. Never mind the fact that I wasn't a Death Eater myself, in their eyes I was just as guilty of every horrendous act just because I was married to one. And in a way they're right."

"No, they're not," Draco disagreed.

"They are but I made my choice, and I have to live with the consequences and I'm more than willing to do that. Anyway, that's not the point. As part of their investigation, the Ministry seized everything your father owned and froze his bank accounts. I was left homeless, penniless, with little more than the clothes on my back."

"There's no reason to rehash the past, I know all this." Draco said. Even a year later, the wound was still fresh. He dealt with it in his own way and rarely liked to bring it up. Not because he was in denial, but because he could see how much it all still hurt his mother.

"There's a difference between knowing and understanding," Narcissa replied. "I know you know this but I don't think you understand. Despite everything that happened in the past, Sirius took me in, he gave me a home, he stood by my side when nobody else was willing too. You cant' deny that he's done a lot for you too. Where do you think I got the money to keep you in school?"

Draco shook his head. "Anything's he's done for me is because of you. If you weren't around, he'd most likely to throw me to the dogs. Can't say I blame him cos there's really not a lot of love on my side either. Either way, it's just a couple of more months before my eighteenth birthday. I'm finally going to be able to access the trust fund Granddad left me and the first thing I'm going to do is pay him back in full. For everything, and he'll never see me again. But for now, the best solution is just to stay out of each other's way."

Narcissa sighed inwardly, he still didn't get it. Some things were priceless and could never be repaid. She debated whether or not she should keep trying to explain it but in the end she decided against it.

"Unfortunately for you, that's just not possible at the moment." Narcissa said firmly.

"Mum," Draco groaned.

"Don't you mum me." Narcissa said in a no nonsense voice. "You are going to go downstairs and you are going to be cordial if it kills you. Or else."

"Or else what?" Draco challenged.

"Or else you won't see your broomstick for a month." Narcissa threatened before she turned around and made her way downstairs. It was a bit harsh considering flying was one of the few things that seemed to give her son peace of mind these days but it was the only way she knew she'd be able to get him downstairs.

"Good morning," Narcissa said as she entered the kitchen. Even though she felt like a nervous wreck, she was determined to be cheerful.

"Well, it's definitely morning. Whether it's going to be a good one that's still up in the air." Sirius replied. He was sitting at the table with a cup in his hand. "Tea?"

Narcissa stared at him. "You made tea?" she asked just to be sure.

"So?" Sirius said defensively.

"Sirius you hate making tea." Narcissa pointed out. "Understandable, since you can never quite get it right."

"Well, I was up and there was no tea since you were still sleeping, I figured I'd give it a try." Sirius explained.

"That wouldn't have been a problem if you had a house elf," Draco said from his place in the doorway.

Sirius's shoulders stiffened slightly before he forced himself to be lax. "Tried that but as I'm sure you know, it didn't work out too well." He said evenly looking the boy straight in the eye.

Draco returned the gaze steadily. Before things could get out of hand, Narcissa intervened. "So why are you up so early, Sirius?" she asked.

Sirius reluctantly tore his gaze away from Draco's to Narcissa. "Couldn't sleep, for obvious reasons. I know I've had a couple of months to adjust to the fact that I have daughter and I thought I was doing fine but now that we've actually found her, I realized I have to face the fact that I'm actually going to meet her. Soon."

"With any luck soon will be in a couple of hours," Draco said, purposely aggravating Sirius.

Narcissa shot him a look. "It's okay to be nervous. If it makes you feel any better, I'm a nervous wreck too," she offered.

"No, that does not make me feel better. Now if you had said that you were confident that everything was going to go well, that might've made me feel better." Sirius said, gripping his cup. "I don't know, Cissa. What if we screw this up? What if we're just making a huge mistake? What if she's just agreeing to meet with you out of courtesy and doesn't want to have anything to do with us, with me?"

"You know, you still have the option of backing out now." Draco said, leaning against the counter. "Forget this all ever happened. She'll go on with her life and you'll go on with yours- not that you really have one- but you get the gist."

"You're not helping, Draco," Narcissa told him. She tilted her head towards the doorway, indicating he should leave the room, which he thankfully did.

Narcissa turned her full attention to Sirius as she thought about what to say. For once it was her turn to say the right things. It was her turn to offer a supporting hand. "Look Sirius, we've spent the past couple of months doing nothing but search for her, for Faith. And we always knew that once we found her the logical step was going to be to meet her. Now let's just take her out of the equation for a second and focus on you. Do you want to meet her?"

"More than anything," Sirius said without hesitation. "She's my kid, Cissa. But there are so many other factors and people to consider. Like Harry, especially Harry. She's his sister."

"His half sister," Narcissa corrected.

"Exactly. How am I ever going to explain it to him?" Sirius said, frustrated.

"By telling him the truth. You went out with Lily before James ever did-"

"And during that period, I shagged her and she got pregnant?" Sirius finished.

Narcissa winced. "When you put it that way, it doesn't sound so good." She admitted.

"He'll take hard because he holds James and Lily, especially Lily, on such a high pedestal. He'll hate me for it too."

"Just for a while, just until he adjusts." Narcissa comforted.

"But that's the thing." Sirius told her. "All he ever seems to do is adjust to things that people throw at him, things that are beyond his control. I know how much he hates it and I don't want to do that to him."

"It's beyond your control too." She replied. "Nobody's to blame here. Not you, not Lily, certainly not the child you made together."

Sirius nodded slowly. "You're right." He said.

"Well, I'm right on this," she said. "Does this mean that I can go now?"

"Maybe I should go with you and meet her now." Sirius said suddenly.

"Are you really ready to do that?" Narcissa countered.

Sirius thought about it for a second before shaking his head. "No, not really," he said with a grin.

"In that case let's just stick with the original plan. Draco and I will meet her. We'll offer her the opportunity to come back with us. If that doesn't work out, we'll work out something else. Okay?" she said.

"Alright but get out of here before I change my mind," he said.

Narcissa smiled. "Done," she said, squeezing his shoulder before she left the room. "Try not to worry too much."

She went to the living room where Draco was sprawled on the couch.

"So are we still going?" He asked her.

"We're going." She said, taking some floo powder from a jar on the mantle. "Here, take some and remember it's Sunnydale Bookshop not bookstore. Would you like to go first?"

"Actually I'd like to not go at all," Draco replied looking at the sooty fireplace with a grimace. "but I'm pretty sure you'd tell me that's not an option."

"Smart boy. I'll go first." she answered. She threw a handful of the green powder into the fireplace and when the fire turned green, she stepped inside, called, "Sunnydale Bookshop," and was gone

With one last disgusted look towards the fireplace, Draco followed his mother's lead and disappeared too.

888888888

"Okay, please don't tell me that you all are planning to go with me," Faith asked when she came out of the bathroom and found B, Red, and Harris sitting on the couch expectantly.

"Alright," Buffy said cheerfully.

"B," Faith said warningly.

"C'mon just think of us as your moral support group." Buffy said cheekily.

"Get real," Faith snorted. "The only reason you're going is to make sure that I go which just for the record really isn't much of a guarantee. I'm not sure why lil' Red Riding Hood and Captain Spaz here are tagging along though."

Willow ignored the jibe. "I thought it would be interesting to meet an actual witch," she said with a shrug.

"And I have nothing better to do," Xander said.

"Aren't you supposed to be babysitting Spike?" Faith asked, not that she thought Spike needed babysitting.

"He's sleeping," Xander replied. "He seems to do that a lot during the day."

"Maybe because he's a vampire," Faith said giving him a 'duh' look.

"Hate to break it to you F, but short of bodily harm there's no way you can stop us from going," Buffy said still cheerful.

"Bodily harm's sounding pretty good right about now," Faith said, rubbing a hand over her eyes. She didn't need this right now. She was tired (she hadn't gotten much sleep for obvious reasons) and nervous as hell which annoyed her to no end. So on top of things, she was irritable. If there was one thing she hated it was not being in control of her feelings. "You know what, whatever, it's a free country, do what you want, just stay the hell out of my way." With that she strolled out the door knowing for sure they would follow. And they didn't disappoint.

They were almost out of the apartment building when Xander spoke. "Earlier when you said Captain Spaz, did you mean me?" he asked curiously.

"Unbelievable," Faith muttered. That had to be a record. She'd insulted him minutes ago and he was just noticing now. Louder she said, "Shut it, Harris."

"What?" Xander asked. "I'm just asking."

Faith whirled around. "Listen Harris, if you know what's good for your health you'll shut the fuck up, now."

They started walking in the direction of the park. Luckily Harris had gotten the hint. Unluckily, B and Red had decided to become all chatty.

"So what do you think they're going to be like?" Willow asked tentatively.

"Haven't thought about." Faith lied. It was all she'd thought about last night.

"By the way, who's they?" Buffy asked curiously. At Faith's blank look she clarified, "who are you supposed to be meeting?"

Faith shrugged. "I guess the lady who wrote the letter." She said.

"Not your dad?" Willow asked.

Dad. The word alone caused her emotions to riot. Anger, resentment, anticipation, a little fear, mostly of the unknown, and a foreign emotion she refused to name. "I prefer the term sperm donor," Faith said acidly. "And that's not even for sure yet. For all I know this could be the next episode on some hidden camera show."

"You know it's not," Buffy said quietly.

"At the moment I don't know anything," Faith said honestly.

They were silent for the rest of the walk. Before Faith knew it, they were standing in front of Sunnydale Park. Buffy and Co. went inside and immediately started fighting over swings but Faith remained frozen just outside the park.

"Faith?" Buffy asked questioningly coming back to the entrance.

"I can't." Faith said feeling the first waves of hysteria rise in her throat.

"Yes you can," Buffy said firmly.

Faith shook her head frantically. "No, no I can't." she said.

It was a first, Buffy realized. This was the first time she'd ever seen Faith actually nervous. The first time Faith had actually cared enough about something to even think about being nervous. Even when she had killed that man, she'd been a bit shocked but she hadn't seemed to really worry about what it would mean. Buffy knew she had to get Faith to snap out of it somehow. She paused for a second to wonder about the irony of the situation. So much had changed in the past couple of months but some things like her weird, completely screwed up relationship with Faith remained the same. Half the time she wasn't even sure if she liked the girl but she still wanted to help her.

Buffy put a hand on her hip. "Excuse me? This is coming from the girl who's faced numerous demons and vampires with nothing but the stake in her hand? C'mon what's happened to your famous or infamous 'My world, my rules, take it or leave it' 'tude? What happened to 'want, take, have'? You want this?"

"It's not that easy, B," Faith replied.

But Buffy refused to give up. "Do you want this?" she repeated.

Faith sighed. "Yeah," she admitted.

"Then all you have to do is take it. Work at hard enough and you just might be able to keep it." Buffy said.

Faith took another deep breath. Buffy was right (she'd agonize over the fact that she'd just admitted the blonde midget was right about something, even if it was only to herself, later). She had to get her cool back. She was Faith, she could handle this. "Want, take, have," She whispered almost to herself.

"Okay," Faith nodded confidently after another couple of seconds. "I'm ready. Let's do this."

"Are you guys coming or not?" Harris called.

"We're coming," Buffy called back. "We are coming, right?"

"Yeah," Faith assured her. They made their way over to where Willow and Xander were. Just before they were within hearing distance, Faith stopped Buffy. "Just for the record, let's keep what happened back there just between us. Kay?" she said.

Buffy shook her head. Trust the almighty Faith to see showing any emotion other than aloofness as a weakness. "What's one more secret between two slayers?" Buffy said with a shrug.

"Good," Faith said.

"Hey," Xander said motioning them over. "I think we've found your folks." He told Faith.

"What? Where?" Faith said starting to scan the surrounding areas.

"Don't do that," Willow admonished. "They'll notice you."

"I'm gonna have to meet them anyway so I don't think it makes much of difference if they notice me now or later," Faith said, still searching the park.

"Yes it does if you want to get the chance to scope them out first," Willow said.

Immediately Faith stopped. "Good point," she conceded.

"So what do they look like?" Buffy asked curiously.

"See for yourself," Willow said with a grin. "Not you Faith, they're sort of behind you so it would be really obvious if you turned around." She added.

Faith growled, frustrated.

"Okay are we talking about the blonde lady and her kid?" Buffy asked turning to be causal as she looked in the direction Willow had directed her in.

"Yeah," Willow answered.

"What makes you think that's them?" Faith interjected.

"I don't think," Willow said. "I'm pretty sure that's them."

"Why?" Faith asked impatiently.

"Hello? I've lived in Sunnydale my whole life and it's a really small town so I know an out of towner when I see one. And there's enough crazy stories about Sunnydale to keep everyone who doesn't have a reason to be here, out. They have a reason to be here. So it's most likely them." Willow deduced.

Buffy let out a low whistle. "If that's them, then I think you just hit the jackpot, Faith. They look like they're loaded with money."

Money? That wasn't something Faith had considered. "Explain." She said.

"Their clothes, for starters." Buffy replied.

"You think so?" Xander asked. "I mean sure the kid's dressed a little too dressy but maybe he just doesn't like jeans and sneakers."

"Define dressy," Faith asked tersely. She hoped it wasn't too dressy, because the only people who dressed dressy for everyday affairs were people who were rolling in it. And if that was the case, then she was out. Rich people were so not her style.

"It's more like dressy causal. Kind of preppy, actually. Dress shirt rolled up at the elbows, slacks and let's just say he's not wearing Nikes." Buffy said studying the boy. "And how does that make him rich?" Xander wanted to know.

"It's more than the clothes, Xan, it's how they're wearing them," Buffy explained. "It's the air about them. Especially the kid."

"Yeah," Willow agreed. "It's like he's arrogant because he knows he's got a reason to be but at the same time it's so ingrained in him he doesn't notice."

"He's kind of cute actually," Buffy said.

"You think?" Willow asked doubtfully. "He's all broody and scowly and just-"

"Forget this, I'm turning around." Faith interrupted already spinning around. She immediately spotted them. If she hadn't been so nervous earlier she would've zeroed in on them just because they looked so out of place. She tried to get a feel on them while being as objective as possible. She could definitely see the resemblance between the two and concluded for herself that the woman was the kid's mother. The 'kid' was probably in his late teens, maybe her own age or a little younger. Buffy had been right; they reeked of upper class. Despite it, the lady, Narcissa, she corrected herself, looked normal enough. She was pacing, every now and then wringing her hands. She was nervous, Faith figured out with relief. It suddenly made her more human, more approachable. As for the kid, Willow had hit the nail on the head. The only emotion she could read on his face was boredom. Suddenly Narcissa looked up and locked eyes with Faith. Her shock and surprise was palpable as she reached blindly for her son to steady herself.

"Well, it's showtime," Faith muttered to herself. She forced herself to relax and start walking towards them. She stopped about five feet away from them.

"Hey," She said, not able to think of anything else to say.

"Faith?" the woman asked.

"Narcissa?" Faith asked back.

The woman nodded.

"Then yeah I'm Faith." Faith answered.

The woman nodded again, seemingly at loss for words. Faith remained quiet too, mostly because she also had no idea what to say in a situation like this.

"Are those your friends?" Narcissa asked politely gesturing behind Faith.

Faith looked over her shoulder to see the Scooby gang right behind her. She groaned out loud, this was awkward enough already. The last thing she needed was an audience.

"Believe me, they are not my friends," Faith said darkly.

Narcissa looked uncertainly at the scoobies.

"We're not her friends," Xander said trying to assure the woman.

"They're more like my prison wardens," Faith said throwing Buffy a murderous glance.

"Well, if you insist," Narcissa said, still uncertain.

It was then Faith noticed the accent. "Holy crap, you're- you're British?" she said.

"Talk about power of observation," the kid muttered under his breath.

So the kid had an attitude problem, Faith noted. That made her get over her shock damn quick. "I'm sorry, kid." She said coolly. "You say something?"

"Faith," Buffy said warningly. She'd heard the kid too.

"Not to you," He said just as coolly.

"Really?" Faith said with a not very pleasant smile. "Cos that's not the way I heard it, kiddo."

"Then you should have your hearing checked, don't you think?" He drawled, appearing not to care about the feral look Faith was giving him.

She'd barely met the kid and already she didn't like him. "Listen," she stopped short as she realized she didn't know his name. "What's your name? I'm getting kind tired of calling you kid."

The 'kid' remark seemed to raise his hackles. "Malfoy," he said. "Draco Malfoy."

Faith couldn't help but snicker. The way he introduced his name.

The boy, Draco, raised an eyebrow. "You have a problem with my name?" he asked, straightening up.

"Naw," Faith said, still grinning. "Just the way you said it. Very Bond like. Of course it helps that you got accent. And the eyebrow, nice touch. Is there some kind of James Bond 101 class you can take to learn these things?"

"Who the bloody hell is James Bond?" Draco asked, clearly not appreciating the fact that he was being likened to him.

"You don't know James Bond?" Xander asked, shocked. "Everybody knows James Bond! You know, 007? The name's Bond, James Bond?" Xander added doing his best Bond impression.

"Can't say I've met him," Draco said acidly.

That got Faith started all over again, this time Buffy joined in. Willow looked nervously at the boy. The irritated look on his face said he didn't like being the butt of their joke.

"He's not real," Willow said trying to explain. "He's a fictional character."

Draco nodded curtly, saying her understood but still didn't like the fact that he was being laughed at. When Faith and Buffy stopped laughing, another awkward settled over the group.

"So the land of tweed," Buffy said finally. "Who'd thunk it?"

When nobody responded, Faith gave Buffy a look that said to give her a moment alone. Buffy nodded and motioning for Willow and Xander to follow, walked away.

"Okay," Faith said, taking charge. "We've gotten the fact that I'm Faith and you're Narcissa. You wrote me a letter and I replied. Now let's figure out if I'm the person you're looking for."

"You are," Narcissa said firmly.

"There's no guarantee," Faith said shaking her head. The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. First act of defense, denial. Old habits died hard and still she continued. "So you're friend gave up her kid for adoption some 19 years ago. So I'm adopted and I'm 19. It doesn't prove anything."

"You don't get it," Draco spoke up.

"Well, why don't explain it to me?" Faith said as sweetly as she could, which wasn't very sweet since even she could hear the venom in her voice.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Genetics don't lie," he said simply. "All a person has to do is look at you and they'll be able to tell you're a Black."

"Black?" Faith repeated.

"The family name," Narcissa explained.

"Well, aren't you a Black?" Faith asked. When she nodded, Faith said, "You don't look anything like me."

"I take after my mother," Narcissa said. "But you look exactly like my sister, Bella and everyone knows she got the classic Black looks in the family."

The name Bella rang a bell, (no pun intended) Faith tried to think of where she heard it before but couldn't. "I'm still not convinced." She said.

"Maybe it's because you don't want to be convinced," Draco said quietly.

Faith ignored him.

"Well, other than having you actually meet your dad and see for yourself the resemblance I don't know how else to get you to believe me." Narcissa said, twisting her hands helplessly.

Somewhat reluctantly, Draco spoke up. "Didn't she- Lily, leave anything with her when she gave her up?" he asked.

"Wait, she did, we did," Narcissa said, her tone belaying her excitement. "I don't know if you still have it. A necklace. It was a family heirloom that belonged to Lily. She'd gotten from her mum who got it from her mum and so on."

That got Faith's attention. "A necklace? How'd it look?" she asked trying to remain calm.

"It was actually a locket. It was gold but it was on a silver chain because the original chain had broken years ago," Narcissa described.

"Was it in the shape of a heart?" Faith asked hesitantly.

"Yes!"

Faith nodded. "And did it have an engraving on the back?" she asked, testing her.

That seemed to take some of the air out of Narcissa's excitement. "No, no it didn't have any engravings. Well, it did have one inside but the locket's clasp was jammed so you couldn't see it." Narcissa said. "Do you know what I'm talking about?"

She did and Faith had yet to figure out if that was a good thing or if it was bad. She vaguely remembered seeing a heart shaped locket in her mother's jewelry box. The only reason she remembered was her mother had told her that when she was old enough it would belong to her. Of course, that was during one of her mother's clean spells and god knew those never lasted long. The minute she went back to using, the locket disappeared with everything else that had value, sold to a little pawn shop on the corner of the street to support her mother's habit.

Slowly Faith nodded. "Well, looks like I'm your girl." She said, not knowing what else to say. "Where do we go from here?"

Narcissa started to answer but Faith quickly zoned her out as all of her slayer senses went on alert. She glanced over to where Buffy was sitting on a park bench not too far away. Buffy nodded, signaling she'd felt the first signs of danger too. Simultaneously, they honed in on two beefy men walking briskly towards Faith. Buffy started to stand up but Faith gave her a warning look that said to let her try and handle it.

"Do you know those blokes?" Draco asked gesturing to the two men.

"Not yet," Faith said. "How about you guys give me a minute alone with them?"

"Are you sure?" Narcissa asked worriedly glancing to the men. "They don't look very friendly."

"Hey I specialize in dealing with unfriendly folks." Faith said with a grin. "Don't worry about me. Just let me deal with them on my own."

"If you insist," Narcissa said still a bit unsure. "Come on Draco."

"Do I have too?" Draco asked. "They look like they want to beat you into a bloody pulp and I don't want to miss that."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid," Faith said. "But if anybody's going to get beat to a 'bloody pulp', it's them."

Draco looked dubiously at the two men then at Faith. "Right," he drawled.

"Wanna bet?" Faith challenged.

Before Draco could say anything, his mother spoke up. "Let's go, Draco," Narcissa told him anxiously, already walking away, as the men approached Faith.

"Faith?" one the men asked.

"Yeah?" she returned, not seeing a point in denying her identity.

"You've been summoned by the Watcher's Council," he said, his words short and clipped.

"So?" Faith said airily, filing the fact that they were from the Watcher's Council not the FBI away.

The other man shook his head. "You're presence is required in front of the Watcher's Council, today sooner than tomorrow." He said his words distinct as if that would make her understand better.

"Sorry, I got some things I need care of over here," Faith said spacing her words like he had, deliberately mocking him. "I just don't think it would be possible."

The man's face hardened even more if it was possible. He looked like he had been expecting her refusal and from the look he shared with the other man, anticipating it? "I figured you'd say something like that," he growled.

"Then why'd you ask in the first place?' Faith asked.

"It's called procedure," the guy replied. "So one last time, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

"Do you have to ask?" Faith said a split second before she crouched into a fighting stance.

"So be it," he said, satisfaction ringing in his voice and with that he charged. Faith easily sidestepped him. So he wanted to fight her even though, or maybe because, he knew she was the Slayer. That thought alone made her cautious. The Watcher's Council wouldn't have sent him and his buddy if they didn't think they were capable of taking her down. Watching the other man out of the corner of her eye, she decided that he would be more of the challenge. Unlike his overeager partner, he was standing still, watching her, studying her. She felt a delicious shiver go up her spine. It had been such a long time since she'd a real fight. A nothing held back, sweating, panting, fighting for your life kind of fight. Maybe it was a bit suicidal but she was more than looking forward to it. She gave him a slow, steady 'come and get big guy' type of smile.

Only he didn't come and get it but his partner sure did. After he had fallen in his attempt to charge at her, she'd stopped paying attention. Big mistake, she thought as he came ramming into her from behind. Because he was weighed a hundred pounds more than she did and she because she hadn't been expecting it, he knocked her over, face first. She barely managed to avoid landing on her face, instead planting her hands to break her fall at the last minute. It was a futile move since the 'rhino' as she had dubbed him, landed on her.

"Oomph," Faith said, getting a face full of dirt as her hands collapsed. "Okay maybe I underestimated you." Maybe? She'd definitely underestimated him. He'd obviously sized her up and realized that when it came to agility she'd top him, so he decided to use his weight.

"This was almost too easy," the rhino said smugly. He sat back on his heels and roughly twisted her hands behind her back.

"Ya think so?" Faith asked right before rearing her head back so it connected squarely with his nose. She heard the cartilage give away with a satisfying crunch and smiled. Like she had expected, he immediately let go of her hands to gingerly cup his nose all the while moaning.

Faith got up. "I got admit, I'm disappointed. I expected more of you," she said shaking her head. When he made a move to get up, she pushed him, hard and for an extra good measure, she kicked him in the balls. The sound he made was too high pitched to call a yell.

"One down, one more to go," she said, admiring her handiwork.

Just then she felt more than heard Buffy's warning cry. Faith turned around quickly enough to see Buffy kick something that looked like a gun out the other guy's hand. He didn't even pause and returned her kick with a punch that landed solidly on the side of her face. Buffy stumbled backwards but she regained her footing soon enough. He didn't even wait for her to recover before she aimed another punch at her, this time her stomach. But Buffy was prepared for him this time, she caught his meaty fist in her hand.

"Bet you weren't expecting that, were you?" she said with big, mean, slayer grin. She used her other hand to backhand punch him before kicking him in the side.

"I'd appreciate it if you saved some for me, B!" Faith called.

Buffy turned around to give Faith a quick grin, and in that split second the tables turned. Rhino number 2 used her distraction against her and before she knew it he'd kicked out her legs from under her. He used one leg to keep her pinned to the ground.

Faith was already running towards Buffy when she spotted the gun that Rhino no. 2 had been carrying. Without a second thought, she picked it up, aimed, fired and hit the rhino square in the leg with a dart.

"You, you," he had a second to growl before his eyes rolled back and he collapse on the ground. Buffy moved from under, narrowly escaping being crushed.

"Who'd thunk?" Faith said examining the gun look a like thing. "It's a tranquilizer. A heck of a lot smaller than most tranquilizers I've seen."

"Yeah but it packs a whole lot more punch," Buffy said coming over to look at the gun. "Check out what it did to the giant. Knocked him out in 0.2 seconds flat."

"That settles it," Faith decided. "I'm keeping it."

"Faith," Buffy said warningly.

"Hey finders keepers, losers weepers and all that shit," Faith said with a grin as she tucked the gun into her waistband of her jeans.

"That is so 1st grade," Buffy said, rolling her eyes.

Willow and Xander came over.

"That was certainly refreshing to watch," Xander said cheerfully. "It's been a while since somebody really got beat up around here."

"Bloodthirsty, much?" Willow asked.

Xander put up his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, I wasn't the one doing the beating." He said.

At that moment Narcissa and Draco chose to come over. Narcissa looked like she wanted to say something but she didn't know what.

"I think I speak for both me and my mother, when I ask what the bloody hell was that?" Draco said, he appeared to be in shock.

"Glad you didn't take me up on my bet, aren't ya Slick?" Faith said.

Draco snorted. "Hardly," he said. "If it wasn't for her-" he pointed at Buffy. "You'd be done."

Buffy puffed with pride.

"Oh please," Faith said, waving his comment aside. "I would've managed on my own. Besides, I saved her ass too."

"I would've managed on my own," Buffy parroted.

Narcissa spoke up. "I don't know exactly how to phrase this but what we just saw that wasn't normal, was it?" she asked hesitantly.

Buffy looked at Faith as if to ask how much they should tell her.

"They're from the wizarding world, B." Faith said with a shrug. "It won't be that much of a shock."

Both Narcissa and Draco gaped at her. Draco was the first to recover. "You know about the wizarding world?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Learned about it recently," Buffy said. "Like yesterday. We saw the owl and just connected the dots."

Narcissa nodded still not understanding.

Faith sighed. "The thing is we're Slayers." She said.

If it was possible that seemed to shock them even more. "Slayers?" Draco said in a hushed voice. "The Slayer. Wait- there can only be one Slayer at a time. How's this possible?"

"It's a long story," Buffy hedged.

"She died for a couple of minutes but was brought back. Another slayer was called, she died. I was called," Faith explained.

"Apparently not that long." Buffy said staring hard at Faith.

"Slayers," Draco said nodding. "A Slayer, Oh I can't wait to see Sirius's reaction," he added with a chortle.

"Draco, shut it," His mother said impatiently still absorbing the information Faith had given her. "So you already know about the wizarding world." She settled on.

Faith nodded warily. "Sort of," she said.

"That's a relief," Narcissa said. "Here I was thinking trying to think of ways to explain it to you that wouldn't make you run away screaming."

"Not a whole lot that can make me scream," Faith said, relieved that Narcissa was relieved. "How about you guys? Not to weirded out by the Slayer thing?"

Narcissa took a moment to ponder through the slang, when she finally understood what Faith was saying she shook her head, "Oh no. I've never met a Slayer but like mostly everybody in the wizarding world we are aware of her existence."

"So it's no biggy?" Faith asked.

"biggy?" Narcissa had to ask.

"Big deal. A problem," Faith clarified.

"Not at all," Narcissa said.

Faith nodded. "Well, either way I don't really do the slaying thing anymore," Faith said.

"You were doing it less then just five minutes ago," Draco pointed out.

"That's mostly because I had to," Faith said. "It was either that or let them take me,"

"Take you?" Draco asked.

"Long story," Faith said. She noticed Buffy's grin and shot her a warning look. Surprisingly, Buffy heeded the warning.

"Are you in some kind of trouble?" Narcissa asked softly.

"Nothing I can't handle," Faith said, ever the smooth operator.

"You sure?" Buffy asked. "Because from where I'm looking you could use the help."

"B," Faith began.

"What? They're you're family," Buffy said. "Let them help you."

"Give us a minute," Faith said thru clenched teeth, dragging Buffy away. "What the fuck do you think you're playing at, B? And don't tell me you're just trying to help. I'm dealing just fine thank you."

"Oh really?" Buffy said, cocking an eyebrow. "Than what were those two goons doing here, huh? And you can be sure they're going to send more, the FBI too. They all know you're here, Faith."

"Then I'll get the hell out of here first thing tomorrow morning," Faith said.

"How?" Buffy retorted. "They're monitoring every way out of this place, the minute you move they'll be on you so fast, your head will spin. But if you take the chance that Narcissa's offering, you'll be out and you'll finally shake them off-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Faith said stopping Buffy in midstream. "What chance? What are you talking about it?"

Buffy sighed. "We overheard her talking to her son. She wants to ask you to go back with them. To England." Buffy said.

And that was probably the biggest shock of the day. "What?" Faith practically screeched.

"Lower your voice," Buffy shushed her.

"She,- I, whoa," Faith said settling down into a park bench.

"Think it through, Faith. You say yes, you get out of Sunnydale and nobody will know. I'm sure they got here by some hocus pocus shit and that's probably how they're going to get out. You'll get to meet your dad and you'll get a whole new lease on life. That's a helluva lot more than anybody gets and more than you deserve." Buffy said.

On one level, Faith got what Buffy was saying. But to go live with these people she barely knew? It boggled her mind. "I don't think so," Faith said.

That's when Buffy just about lost it. "I don't care what you think. This is your way out and it's mine."

"Yours?" Faith asked.

"Yeah, mine. It's about time you got out of my life," Buffy said. "All you've done is be a complete pain since you've gotten out of the coma. I can't do anything because both the Council and the Feds are watching my every move and I'm sick of it. So I'm telling you to get the hell out of my town."

Faith stood up. "You threatening me, B?" she asked stepping close until they were nose to nose.

"You bet your ass." Buffy shot back. "I want you out. I don't care if it's with Narcissa or in handcuffs but I want you out. How is your choice." And with that she walked away.

Well, that was certainly a nice fix. Faith stared at Narcissa and Draco who were being pumped for information by Willow. Could she go and make herself a new life? She doubted it but the thought of going back with Narcissa and Draco was more appealing then her alternatives, like ending up in a dingy cell or dead. "Not much of choice," Faith muttered before heading over to where they were all standing.

"Faith," Narcissa said. "I have something I'd like to ask you. I know that the chances of you saying yes are slim, but I promised your dad I'd try." The fact that she was blabbing showed she was nervous.

"Shoot," Faith said. Thanks to Buffy she knew what she was going to say.

"How would you like to come and stay with us, for a while?" she asked, holding her breath. "It would just be for a while. For as long as you want actually. So you could get to know your dad, but only if you want."

"Narcissa," Faith said, interrupting her.

"Yes?" she asked.

Faith took a deep breath. "Why not?" she said.

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First of all, I'm so sorry if this chapter was strewn with mistakes. I really didn't get a chance to read it over but since my internet is crappy I don't know when I'd be able to put it up so I'm putting it up now. Forgive me. Hope you liked it anyway. Review! Please!

-TDL