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.

Distant Elephants by Kiara

10- BUT THEY REFUSED TO GIVE IN…

When Faith got back into the house, everyone stared at her in silence for a moment. Seth was the first to speak.

"So they were really vampires?"

"Yeah. They wouldn't usually come to this area and when they find out that it's me here not some kid of a slayer with no idea how to protect herself they should stop."

"Should?" Seth yelped. He didn't really fancy the idea of walking home from school one day and being jumped by a group of demons.

"Will. They will stop." She corrected hurriedly.

"What do they want?"

Faith hesitated, but saw no point in lying. There was really only one realistic explanation anyway. "To kill me."

"Oh." Sandy said, his eyes boggling.

"Look, I'm sorry they came here. It might be better if I left for a while, let you get used to it and then we can talk."

"No," Kirsten protested. "Sandy and I know what you do. We have talked about it and Xander explained a lot."

"Where is Xander? Is he okay?" Sandy asked noticing his absence for the first time.

"He's fine, just checking there's nothing else out there." Faith said dismissively. As she waved her arm, Kirsten noticed the blood on Faith's shoulder.

"You're hurt."

"Not really, it's already started heeling."

Kirsten ignored her and chivvied the slayer upstairs to the bathroom to clean up her cuts, despite constant assurances that she was fine. The last time she had seen her daughter was when she was a small child, she had never been as needy as Seth was at that age, but she had still looked to her mother to make things better. Although Kirsten could see that Faith didn't really need her anymore, there was a little part of her who only saw Faith as that little girl she used to be.

"Where's Faith?" Xander asked when he came in a moment later.

"She's with Kirsten. Cleaning up her cuts."

Xander nodded. "Do you mind if I use your phone? I should really call this in."

"Of course." Sandy murmured, still not really believing what he'd seen.

It was Buffy that picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Buff, it's Xander."

The slayer on the other end of the phone audibly perked up. "Hey Xander. How's Faith?"

"She's fine. Did Giles fill you in on the situation here?" Xander asked getting straight to the point. "We were attacked tonight, yes we're fine. But I don't think this will be the last attack and we may need some help."

There was a pause. "I take it Faith doesn't know about this."

"Not yet."

He heard Buffy sigh down the line. "She won't take it well. You know how she is about her independence, she hates having to be backed up."

"I think she needs it." Xander said firmly. Shortly after the battle with the First, Giles had organized some backup for Faith. She had told him in no uncertain terms to stop meddling and that she could look after herself. Even with all the extra help available now, Faith was still very much a solo-slayer.

"Then I'll be there. I'll bring a couple of slayers." Buffy promised.

"Thanks."

"Angel's visiting too." She added. Xander could hear the smirk in her voice. "I know you'd love to see him."

"Great." Xander said sarcastically. The relationship between him and Angel was just one of those things. He didn't hate him, he'd even gone with Buffy and the slayers to L.A. when Wolfram and Hart had taken off the kid gloves to bail him out, but they would never get along. It was the same with Spike; they couldn't help but bicker, it was in their natures.

When Xander went back to the kitchen, Faith and Kirsten were already there.

"Is everything okay?" Faith asked, seeing his serious look.

"It will be. Buffy's coming here with a couple of slayers to help us out."

She looked hurt. "You called for backup? Without asking me first?"

"I'm a watcher, Faith. That's my job."

"I'm the slayer; it's my job to take them out." She hissed back.

Xander stood his ground. "They'll be here tomorrow afternoon."

"Whatever." Faith stalked out of the door and into the night.

When Xander turned around, he was almost surprised to see the Cohen's standing there. He'd forgotten about them and he'd be willing to bet Faith had too.

"What was that all about?"

He paused, thinking how best to explain the situation. "Faith doesn't like working with the other slayers, she fights better alone. I've requested some extra man power so she's not best pleased right now."

"Aren't you going to go after her?"

"Not in this mood, I prefer my limbs attached thank you very much." Xander said attempting at humour to lighten the mood. He was rewarded by small smiles from her parents. "She'll calm down soon."

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Ryan was on his way back to the pool house when he saw her over the fence at the back of the garden down the bottom of what used to be the Cooper's driveway. He looked down and then back at the pool house, making his decision.

"Hey." He walked towards her. As he got closer he noticed that she was smoking a cigarette and flashed back to his first night in Newport when he'd done the same thing. That was when he met Marissa.

"Hey kid."

They stood there in silence for a while. Ryan didn't mind, he'd never really been a big speaker. Eventually he felt he ought to say something.

"So does that happen a lot?"

Faith didn't say anything as she stamped out her cigarette. "Sometimes it seems like it never fucking stops."

He wasn't offended by the language, there was worse in Chino, but he was a surprised by it. In Newport, the adults generally minded their language around him. "Your friend's pretty worried about you."

"Xander? He knows I can look after myself. Or maybe not." She added remembering the argument which had her storming out of the house in the first place.

"You did a pretty good job of it today from what I saw."

Faith shrugged. "Vampires aren't so tough. They're just the everyday crap. For me anyway. And I'm guessing it's not exactly a new thing for you."

"You could say that." He said evasively.

"Just did. When did you get bit?"

"A couple of years ago when I went to L.A. with my brother. I thought I was going crazy when it attacked me." He recalled with a small smile. It was both comforting and terrifying to know that he hadn't been insane.

"What happened?"

"This guy pulled him off me. He was freaky strong. I ran back to the place we were staying."

"Good move. At least you aren't denying it or freaking out like my Mom and Dad."

"They'll come round." Ryan smirked. "And Seth thought it was better than playstation."

"Yeah, well Seth's one of a kind."

"He's certainly that. He's not like the other rich kids. The one's you just wanna punch." Ryan said thinking back to his first year in Newport.

"Ah yes, them. So you don't punch them then?"

"I'm trying this new thing where I don't hit people." Ryan said as an explanation.

Faith laughed. "Yeah, me too. How's that working out for ya?"

"So far, it's pretty good. It keeps the Cohen's happy."

"What's the story there? Why are you staying here?"

"They didn't tell you?" Ryan said surprised, he'd have expected Sandy to explain why there was a strange guy living with her family.

"Sure I know the story, but there's got to be some reason why you're here. What about your parents?"

"Dad's in jail, so is my brother. God knows where my Mom is. The parents I had before I came here weren't up to much."

Faith nodded sadly. "Mine neither. But now we're here."

"We are. We're lucky." Ryan said in a rare moment of sharing.

Faith thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I guess we are."

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"Julie, no, I'm sorry, we can't." Kirsten said into the phone, trying to speak over her mother-in-law. "Julie?"

"Who was that?"

"Julie." Kirsten looked sheepishly at Sandy. "I think I may have just agreed to have Marissa for the week."

Sandy blinked. "Here? But what about Faith?"

"I know, I know. She asked for help with something and after the whole porno debacle just I thought she could use a friend. Her and my Dad are going to Europe to lay low for a week. They're dropping Marissa off now."

Sandy briefly consider calling up Julie to tell her that they couldn't take her daughter for the week, but knew that if he did that Marissa would be the one to suffer. He sighed. "I'll tell Ryan to move out of the pool house."

Ryan had reacted in his usual way when Sandy had told him about Marissa staying; silently with one look saying everything.

"I spoke to Faith." He revealed suddenly as Sandy turned to leave the pool house.

Sandy was silent for a moment. "Really? How'd that work out?"

"It was good. Something happened didn't it?"

Sandy was silent again, mentally deliberating what to tell Ryan. He'd never agreed with lying to his kids, but the truth wasn't necessarily something they always needed to hear. "Yes."

"I thought so." Ryan said, not asking anymore questions (which Sandy was grateful for). "She gets stuff that no one else in Newport does."

"You've got a lot in common. You've both been through some… difficult times, and now you're part of this family."

Ryan offered him one of his rare smiles as his zipped up the bag in which he had been putting some of his clothed that he would need whilst Marissa was using the pool house. "Done."

When they were back in the house, Xander was still sitting at the kitchen table waiting for Faith to return. He hadn't told Sandy or Kirsten that he knew Faith was down the bottom of their driveway as he could see the smoke curling up into the night air. He just told them that he knew she would return to the house when she was ready.

"You going somewhere?" Xander asked, seeing the bag.

"Just in with Seth for a few days. Marissa's staying in the pool house."

"The Marissa?"

Ryan sighed. Seth had filled Xander in on the rather long story of his relationship with Marissa. "Yes."

"Well it's a good job there's nothing going on then." Xander said with a smirk. He liked being the older and wiser person in the room. It didn't happen all that often in Cleveland.

"Caleb and Julie are dropping her off anytime now."

"Caleb is Kirsten's dad right? Shall I go and get Faith?"

Sandy nodded. "If you know where she is. She doesn't have to see him yet, lord knows I wouldn't wish the gruesome twosome on anyone, but she can choose whether it be sooner or later."

"I'll go and get her then." Xander said with a sigh. He just hoped she wouldn't hit him too hard.

In the end, it hadn't gone nearly as bad as Xander had feared. Faith had been pretty pissed off at the way he 'went over her head', but the latest developments in her family situation had put everything into perspective.

By the time they went back into the house, Julie and Caleb had arrived. Julie was standing in the kitchen with Sandy as they walked in. She immediately stopped talking and stared. It was obvious she knew who she was.

"Faith, it's so good to have you back hope." She said and although her voice was dripping with sincerity she still seemed fake.

"Thanks."

"It must have been horrible for you, I really can't imagine-"

Sandy noticed Faith had stiffened, the calming hand Xander had placed on her arm didn't escape his attention either; so he interrupted the babbling newpsie. "Julie used to be our next door neighbour. She was married to Jimmy; Marissa and Kaitlin's mom, do you remember?"

"Right, of course. It's great to see you again." Faith said falsely, but the woman didn't seem to pick up on it.

Kirsten called from the living room. "Faith?"

"Coming." Faith responded slightly unsteadily as Xander nudged her forward and smiled encouragingly.

"So what happened to your eye?" Julie asked the moment Faith stepped out of the room.

"Car accident. Very nasty." He replied shortly. He was not getting a great vibe off this woman.

"I see. And you've known Faith for how long? So tragic, that poor girl…"

Xander was saved from having to answer by her mobile phone ringing.

"Hello, Julie Cooper-Nichol? No, how did you get this number…" She lifted a hand in what was meant to be an apologetic gesture and headed for the privacy of the garden.

Sandy shook her head as Julie disappeared outside. "That's my mother-in-law the porn star." Sandy laughed at the look Xander gave him. "Many, many years ago, don't worry. They're going to Paris to escape the gossip. Don't tell Ryan or Seth and definitely not Marissa."

Xander gaped a few times. And he thought rich people were boring and quite Giles-ish. "Sure."

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Caleb sat down slowly as the news sunk in. "And you are sure it's her? We all thought she was dead."

"I never believed that. And yes, it's definitely her. You can tell by just looking at her, you'll see."

"It couldn't help to be certain, a DNA test maybe. Her story was in all the papers, anyone could have decided to-"

"Dad! I have never been surer of anything in my life." Kirsten whispered, hearing the door open and Julie's exclamation. "She's coming."

Caleb said nothing; he just fixed his eyes on the back of the brunette he could make out through the crack in the door, barely daring to hope that it could be true. He'd seen what loosing Faith had done to his daughter, and the way it had dimmed his son-in-law hadn't passed him by either; in fact, it had affected the whole community in some way. For a very short amount of time, Newport Beach had been united in the fear for the life of a lost little girl and the fear that something like this could happen to any one of them. Devastation could strike no matter how much you earned, no matter how perfect everything seemed, and no black tie charity event would fix it.

Kirsten called her. "Faith?"

His heart skipped a beat as there was a pause. Let it be true…

"Coming."

At the first glance, Caleb knew that what Kirsten told him was true. His granddaughter was back. Her face was so much like Kirsten's at that age and her mother's before her, but her eyes were pure Sandy.

"Faith." He breathed. It wasn't a question, but she answered it from where she was standing awkwardly anyway.

"Yes."

"My God…" He walked over to her and just looked for a while. He reached out to stroke her hair as he had done on brief occasion when she was younger and oh so slowly placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Welcome home."

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I know that only the last couple of pages were Gruesome Twosome, but there was lots of plot stuff that needed to go in. Please Review!

Next Chapter: Enter Scoobies, enter vampires!