DISCLAIMER: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.
SUMMARY: the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.
RATING: PG-13 for language.
TIMELINE: Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews- there are only so many time you can see 'go write' in a review before you actually start writing, hence the early update.
Distant Elephants by Kiara
6- BUT THEY NEVER STOPPED FIGHTING…
"I'm Faith."
For the first time in his life, Sandy Cohen fainted.
Faith darted forward, making the use of her slayer speed and strength to catch her father in her arms. She lowered them to the floor with a gentle thud.
"Well, I think he remembers you." Xander said dryly. "Know I know where you get the fall-asleep-when-things-get-tough gene from."
"What do we do now?" Faith said urgently, totally ignoring his comments.
"I don't know," Xander whispered back. "I wasn't exactly expecting him to pass out the moment he saw you, Faith!"
"Oh my God!"
Faith whipped her head around and came face to face with her mother for the first time in years.
Kirsten stood there, staring at the girl kneeling on the floor next to her unconscious husband, feeling torn between disbelief, uncertainty and joy. "Is it…"
Faith opened her mouth to confirm the half-question, but no sound came out. Xander shuffled on his feet, wishing for the umpteenth time that week to know what to say to make things right. But he couldn't.
Sandy started to stir. He sat up, looking into the nervous eyes that were so like his own. "Faith?"
She nodded, unable to say anything more.
He let out a short laugh. "Whatever happened to you?" He asked before pulling her towards him in a bone crushing hug.
Xander smiled at the reunion. Sandy let go of Faith after a minute and she turned to where her mother was still frozen to the spot.
"Mom?" It was a single word, but it had a big effect on Kirsten. She rushed forward and embraced Faith.
"I can't believe it. I can't believe it." She muttered.
Seth came out into the hall only to see his mother crying and hugging a girl he had never seen before. "Dad? What's going on?"
Faith stepped back next to Xander and wiped the tears from her face embarrassed.
"Seth, this is your sister." Sandy said.
Seth looked at the brunette standing next to his mother in confusion. "What?"
"Go upstairs Seth, Ryan." Kirsten turned to her sons in the doorway. "It's okay; we'll talk to you later."
Seth looked at his parents and the two people he'd never seen before…sister? But his mother was using a tone that there was no point arguing with. He looked to Ryan behind him who looked just as confused as he felt. "We'll be in the pool house."
The four people left in the hall stood around awkwardly. Now what?
Sandy cleared his throat. "Shall we go and sit down?"
Faith grabbed Xander's hand and pulled him along, letting him know that she didn't want him to leave just yet. When they sat down Kirsten gave them a pointed look.
Faith got the hint. "Oh right. This is Xander; he's a good friend. He kinda convinced me to come here."
"Hello Xander, it's nice to meet you." Kirsten said in a falsely cheerful voice while Sandy opted for a nod and a smile.
Neither knew what to say, how to act. Should they try to act normal? What was normal? Kirsten managed to resist the temptation to pinch herself, this wasn't a dream, it was really happening. Sandy couldn't help but stare. How had he missed it? The only difference in the way Faith looked was that she had gotten older; he should have recognised her.
It was an effort for Faith to sit still under her parents' scrutiny. She'd give anything to know what they were thinking, for this awkward silence to be over and for them to just tell her it was okay, that they loved her and wanted her to stay.
"What happened?" Sandy asked, getting straight to the point as usual.
"Sandy!" Kirsten scolded; the last thing she wanted to do was scare her away again. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"She disappeared for more than ten years, Kirsten. We thought she'd been kidnapped. I want to know where my daughter's been for the last ten years, what's wrong with that?" Sandy hissed, though not unkindly.
Faith stepped in; he had a right to ask his questions. "No, it's okay, really. I didn't want to leave, but I wasn't really given much choice. That day, when I was walking home from school, the Watchers Council jumped me and pulled me into their car. They told me that I was a potential slayer and took me to live with another family whilst I got trained."
She stopped for a breath and was immediately bombarded by questions from her parents.
"The Watchers Council?" "Who are potential slayers?" "Trained for what?"
"I'm not great at explaining things. Xander, you took the watcher training. You tell it."
Xander took a deep breath to begin the traditional watchers spiel. "Into each generation the slayer is born. She will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of evil. The slayer acts under the guidance of her watcher who will train her until she is ready to fight. There are currently seventy four slayers in the world. Faith is the second longest serving slayer and one of the best the world has ever seen."
The Cohen's just stared at him. "You're kidding, right?"
"He's deadly serious." Faith said, trying to guess their reactions. Would they believe her? Would her throw her out like Joyce had when she found out about Buffy? Had they known all along or were the watchers lying to her? "I was chosen to protect the world and after I was called when I was sixteen there was only one other slayer so I couldn't turn my back on it. About a year ago the numbers went up which is why I could take the time off to come down here."
"Oh my God, they were telling the truth." Kirsten muttered.
"Who were?"
"Before you vanished, we were contacted by an organisation called the Council. They said what you'd just said. I thought they were joking. We should have let them, then they wouldn't have had to…"
Sandy pulled his wife into him as she trailed off. "We didn't know."
"The Council visited you?"
"They wanted to train you." Sandy said gruffly. "We had no idea they were serious. We told the police when you first went missing, but they still couldn't find you."
"The police answer to the Council. If they wanted Faith hidden then no one would find her; not you, not the police, not even the FBI." Xander said quietly. "But it's not like that anymore. We've taken over the Council so now no one else will be taken from their families."
"So you believe me?" That was Faith's biggest fear. Well, one of them anyway.
"Did you think we wouldn't?"
She shrugged. "You might have wanted a DNA test or something or thrown me in the nut house. I know how it sounds."
Sandy laughed at her bluntness. "Look at you; you haven't changed that much and there had to be a pretty good reason why you never came home."
Tears started pouring down Kirsten's face again. Sandy draped his arm around her shoulders, still staring in wonderment. His brain refused to function properly, there was so much he wanted to say but his mouth couldn't form the words.
"Maybe we should go back to the hotel and you can come back tomorrow." Xander suggested in the silence that followed. They'd established contact, which had proved to be more emotional than he'd thought, so it wouldn't be as hard to go back.
Faith nodded. "Okay. Is that okay, if I come back tomorrow?"
"Of course; I think we could all do with some space to get used to things. But don't think you're getting away that easily, we'll be expecting you tomorrow." Sandy answered for all of them.
Faith nodded again and smiled. "Right then; I'll see you tomorrow."
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"So that went pretty well." Xander said, throwing his jacket down on the chair.
"Hmm." Faith agreed, mirroring his actions.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. I was just thinking how different things would have been if they'd have just let the Council train me when they asked. We might have never had to go through that."
"I bet they're thinking the same thing and beating themselves up over it. They've obviously missed you a lot."
Faith smiled, remembering her family's reaction to seeing her. "Yeah, they haven't forgotten me."
"Did you honestly think they would? You are their daughter and no amount of time will change that."
She felt a familiar wetness on her cheeks. She was crying again. "I've been doing way too much of this lately." She muttered embarrassed. She'd found her family now, was there really any need for this anymore?
"It's okay. Faith, you're going through a lot; I'd be more surprised if you weren't a little overwhelmed. But the worst is over."
"But there's still so much to tell them, so many things that I've done. I'm a murderer."
Xander grabbed her shoulders. "Don't call yourself that. What you did was a long time ago and it wasn't really your fault."
Faith looked down. She hated talking about her past. "There are no excuses for trying to kill you and the others. I can't justify it, I wouldn't try to."
"Don't even start that. Okay, so you can tell them when the time's right, and only if you want to when it comes down to it. It's the past. They won't turn away from you, they love you." He hugged her. "Stop worrying."
She felt him release her. "Why are you so good to me?"
Xander smiled back and stated honestly, "Because you deserve nothing less."
An embarrassed smile crossed the slayer's face that made Xander's smile grow even wider. He liked the new Faith; she had emotions and seemed like an actual human being.
"Thank you," leaning in Faith felt Xander wrap his arms around her body as she snuggled into his chest.
She felt him start to pull away as he always did. She knew why; he wanted to protect her, that's what he'd said. But she wasn't having that any more. She kept hold and looked up, her eyes conveying her feelings. She loved him and she wasn't going to let go. "No."
Xander closed his eyes and savoured the moment, he never wanted to let go of it; it was like one of those freeze frame moments that he'd seen on television so many times. He began to pull away gently, but she stopped him. He looked down into her eyes, they always gave away what she was feeling and now was no exception- "No;" don't go. He stroked her hair gently around her ear revealing her face to him.
Faith could feel butterflies in her stomach as she stared up into Xander's gaze, his arms always made her feel more secure, as if nothing in the world could hurt her. She'd never really taken the time to get to know Xander when she was first in Sunnydale, sure they had spoken occasionally and there was that one 'incident' but now it was hard to imagine him not being a part of her life.
In perfect unison they both leaned in, until their lips met in a long overdue kiss.
They were together. Finally.
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Sappy, huh? Review!
Next chapter (cause I have actual chapter summaries now!): Faith meets Seth and Ryan and explains a few things to her parents.