A/N: No Turtles in this chapter. I could write about them goofing off in their home but I didn't think it was enough. Will have them in the next though. And do try to review, I like reviews.

Trials and Turtlelations

"Remember the three key words for any Slayer: Preparation... preparation... preparation.
That's one word three times."
- Wesley and Buffy.

New York, at night
Faith was looking at the house angrily. It didn't have anything to do with the weather, it was a little cold and damp from the slight drizzle earlier but it wasn't uncomfortable even on the rooftop she was standing on. Nor had it anything to do with the house itself. Faith was simply still shimmering from the encounter earlier that day with the local coven. 'Bunch of stuck-up bitches!', she ranted internally.

She had tried to dress in something that at least approached proper as she just didn't have the clothes to pull of respectable or fancy. And fancy was exactly where she was, the door had actually been opened by an honest to God butler. Apparently the New York Coven was not above using their skills for gain or flaunting it. Which left her ill at ease in the swanky digs she was waiting in now. She wasn't wearing leather pants or anything like that but she vaguely felt like she should have put on a dress.

That only lasted for a moment before she shook it off. She was who she was, dammit, and she wouldn't pretend otherwise. If these witches were going to judge her on her looks only then screw 'em. So when a middle-aged woman finally came, Faith shook her hand with a smile and didn't even voice the comment that was on the tip of her tongue, 'better late then never.'

But the woman's, she had introduced herself as Mrs. Vanderen, words soured the smile in no time. She didn't waste time with talking about the weather and got straight down to business. "We have discussed Mr. Vishe's request amongst ourselves," She started. "And after careful deliberations we have unanimously decided to deny your request."

"What the fuck for?" Faith had been unable to prevent those words from leaving her mouth. "What do you people got against protecting people?"

Vanderen actually pulled up her nose as she looked Faith up and down. The words accompanying that move were even more denigrating. "Our objections are not with your stated goal, Miss Lehane, but with your organization and the… people it chooses to employ. Granted, the old Council did not always hold itself to its own lofty standards when accepting new members, your own Mr. Vishe comes to mind.

"But we refuse to have any association with people such as yourself. You murdered several people while working for that warlock Wilkins. After that you continued to go against your calling by taking a two-year vacation in a LA jail. Only after you got bored did you break out and finally start being an actual Vampire Slayer. You are an absolute disgrace to your lineage and it has had some bad apples in the past."

Faith's earlier words had been born out of surprise, but now she was pissed. She tried to keep a lid on her temper though. "So you're telling me you don't give a damn if this city goes to hell even if you could have done something just because you don't want to work with me? You've been sniffing too much of your herbs or what? Besides, the new Council trusts me enough to send me here. So why can't you?"

The woman's smile was derisive. "Ah yes, the new 'Council'. Lead by a rebellious Slayer whose life span has been lengthened by dark magic on several occasions and an ex-demon worshiper who was fired from the Old Council. Miss Rosenburg, your main and apparently only witch, is even more notorious. There wasn't a magic user in the world that didn't feel her little dive into the dark side. If Miss Summers had finally done her job for once she would be dead instead of running around free and unsupervised. And complementing this deplorable trio is a one-eyed carpenter with no useful skills and who almost married a vengeance demon. The only reason he is on your new 'Council' is because he is their high school friend."

The disparaging words left Faith fuming but she wisely kept her mouth shut. Because if she did open her mouth it would start with cursing and probably end in Faith strangling the bitch. Mrs. Vanderen spoke up, apparently not noticing Faith's anger. "You may report to your Council that we do not want anything to do with them now or in the future. Don't call us and we won't call you." She got up and left without even saying goodbye.

Faith took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She had let Vishe email Cleveland about the local Coven's hostility and had kept the precise insults to herself. Instead, after finishing up that day's training of the girls she had gone out patrolling. She had finished that patrol earlier then normal on account of her leaving the house while it was still light outside. But instead of going home she came here.

Vishe had located the third girl, a sixteen year old, which meant Faith had to approach this one differently. She could go around the parents but that was plan B. Plan A however, was still vague and Faith had hoped inspiration would hit her if she saw where Petra Stone lived. So far it hadn't helped. The house was dark on the account that everybody inside was asleep. At least, Faith thought they were when she saw the front door opening and watched Petra sneak off.

Faith tilted her head towards the sky muttering, "Would it be too much to ask if the girl is just sneaking off to boink her 24-year old biker boyfriend?" There was no answer and Faith had the sinking feeling that it was too much to ask. But she didn't waste any more time and followed Petra on the rooftops.

And so they traveled, with Petra on the street and Faith leaping from rooftop to rooftop. But then Petra suddenly crossed the street and Faith froze thinking she was busted. So focused had she been on following Petra that she had missed the vampires that seemed to be Petra's target. But not anymore and she hurried to the edge of the roof to see if the girl needed help.

Petra didn't quip or even say anything. She just gave a flying kick to the head of the skinny one, sending him flying away from the homeless guy they had been feeding on. Which left the fat one, the contrast of his mocha skin and his yellow eyes made the latter seem to glow. Growling it carelessly dropped its meal and then moved surprisingly fast. He shrugged off the kick to the side and his own right punch went in unopposed.

Petra staggered back but kept her wits and ducked the follow up. Her counter-attack was a series of quick blows to the vampire's stomach. It clearly felt them and now it was the vampire's turn to stagger back. Petra now reached inside her jacket to pull out her stake and finish the fight. Only it was a really small one and it looked kinda like a… no it was a fucking pencil. And she missed the heart, the vamp was screaming up storm while clutching the 'stake'. Only problem with that was that Petra was still clutching it and was now stuck as well.

She was trying to let go but the vamp was holding it and her hands in a death grip. Worse, the skinny vampire was finally coming to and Petra wouldn't be able to defend herself now. Faith's eyes flew around trying to find the fastest way down, she needed something to break the fall a bit. Suddenly she had it, it had been right in front of her.

She took a deep breath before leaping off the roof, an impish impulse making her yell "Geronimo!" on her way down. She landed feet first on the shoulders of the fat vampire that had just stopped screaming. The impact caused the vampire to topple over taking Petra with him. Faith herself rolled on before fluidly rising to her feet. Petra was still scrambling backwards, the pencil forgotten, when Faith stood over the vamp. Wasting no time she plucked the pencil out of its chest to get a clean shot with her own stake.

One vampire dusted she focused her attention on the other vamp who was looking wide-eyed at her. Drawing her left arm holding the pencil back, she let the small piece of wood fly with all her strength. It went straight into his heart and actually managed to penetrate too. So now the two girls were alone in the alley. Petra broke the silence, "What are you?"

Foot headquarters
Shredder sat in his throne as he observed the trials. The four vampires he had started out with had finally outlived their usefulness and were now providing him with some amusement. He had told them he would allow them to become full members of the Foot if they killed their opponent. Only problem was that their opponents were armed, while they were not.

Shredder watched with satisfaction has his men took out the older but incompetent vampires. The first three had been short affairs, not lasting beyond the first exchange of blows. Now the real fight was up, the one that should provide a little more spectacle. The most competent of the four against a Foot ninja armed with a short staff sharpened on both ends so it could kill a vampire.

The two vampires were alone on the mats, the other ninja's standing far enough back to give them plenty of room. Unsurprising it was the armed vampire that took to the offensive. He launched a series of blows that would have seriously hurt a human, but he wasn't fighting one. The casually dressed vampire, Timo was his name, blocked some and dodged others before retaliating with a leg sweep.

The Foot ninja jumped over it but was too late to avoid the follow-up kick to the head and he staggered back. But Timo got too confident as he tried to take advantage. A blow of the staff against his side and then his head stopped his advance, but Timo managed to dodge the thrust aimed for his heart that came after by dropping to the mat and rolling away.

Both fighters stood still as the assessed their opponent, then Timo flew into action. Closing the distance before the ninja could step back and use the superior range his weapon gave him. But Timo didn't go for his person, he went for the staff. A struggle ensued as both vampires tried to wrench it out of the hands of the other. The forces involved were too much for the mere wooden weapon and with a resounding crack it broke into three pieces.

The ninja still held the middle part but Timo now had two long stakes; the advantage was his and he ruthlessly made use of it. The ninja tucked the piece of wood he had into his left hand as he blocked Timo's attack. It was a combination of kicks and stabs that were dangerous more because of the power behind them than their technique. Timo then took a step back looking for an opening, but the Ninja had been waiting for that.

He quickly followed and delivered a devastating sidekick. At least, it would have been devastating if Timo hadn't reacted on reflex, jamming the stake held in his left and into the offending leg. A pained yelp shot across the hall, followed up by a string of curses as the ninja cradled his left leg. Now it was Timo's turn to dash forward sensing that victory and survival were at hand.

But the ninja wasn't standing still and ducked to pull out the make-shift stake. Timo had aimed for his heart but only hit air before he tripped over the kneeling vampire. Timo had actually tried to jump over him at the last second but he was simply too late. Timo flew through the air and he dropped the stake so he could use his hands to break his fall. It was unnecessary but such instincts were hard to loose.

Normally this was just a little annoying but this time it was fatal as the stake didn't land flat on the mat but its splintered end fell right into the groove between two mats. It would still have fallen over after that if not for Timo's body. It fell right onto the still standing stake, the sharpened end penetrating the body and going straight through the heart.

Nobody spoke as the limping ninja got up, staring at where his opponent had inadvertently staked himself. Finally, Shredder's voice cut through the silence, barely leashed anger permeating every letter. "Incompetent." Everybody turned to a now standing Shredder including the ninja that had just fought but he had barely turned or he gave a startled grunt. A stake was now stuck in his chest and Shredder's arm was returning to his side, the throwing motion so quick it had been a blur even to the vampires.

The Stone's home, the next day
It was a Saturday and Gavin Stone was enjoying breakfast with his family. He didn't have to work in the hospital today and his wife was off from work too so they was no rush, they had time to actually enjoy the food and the company. His daughter however seemed to have some trouble with that. She was more playing with her cereals than eating them, she looked nervous.

Seeing that caused worry to cast clouds in his mind. His daughter had just been a typical teenager until recently. Loathing school, listening to noise Gavin thought could at best be described as resembling music and boys of course. Something he had prayed she would only start to notice at 18, or even better at 30, but he just hadn't been that lucky. The only thing that had annoyed him about her was her obsession with some singer. A woman called Beyond or something. Petra even went as far as to dye her hair in the same color.

Then things went wrong. Starting a couple of months ago his daughter had begun to have nightmares. Strange ones about girls fighting monsters. But that hadn't been the really weird part. At the same time she had become far stronger, her senses suddenly becoming much sharper. Gavin was a doctor so he had begun looking for an explanation himself. He had examined her, even snuck her into the hospital to do some tests.

And he hadn't found a thing, to all appearances his daughter was in perfect health. He had even accused her of taking drugs but that had proven to be a false accusation too. All it had done was hurt his daughter; it didn't bring him one step closer to finding a cause, let alone a solution. He didn't have a clue to what was happening with her even now. The only positive development was that the nightmares seemed to have stopped and only the physical symptoms remained.

He watched how his daughter took a deep breath, apparently getting ready to say something. 'Here it comes', he thought.

"Mom, Sad, I got to tell you something. I know you won't like it but I just had to do it, you know. The dreams were sending me crawling up the wall, I needed to do something and I did. I am sorry to disappoint you but not that I did, so there it is." And she stopped, looking at her parents expectantly.

The worry intensified but he tried to keep things light and smiled at his wife. He saw the same worry reflected in her eyes but she too kept to levity. "You haven't actually told us what it is, dear. So why don't you start at the beginning and we will work our way up or down from there."

"Oh right," Petra said. "Right, the beginning. Well, you know of those nightmares I had and how nothing seemed to stop them until they stopped and you didn't know why but I do and…" Gavin just gave her a meaningful look. This wasn't like at all. Alright, it was but she usually got herself together after the first rant so she must be really be worried.

"And there I go again," Petra muttered. Then she dropped the bomb. "I've been sneaking out. At night."

Gavin just blinked. His wife had a better response. "How long", she softly asked.

"A few weeks. I just felt this need to go out and find something, I wanted to…hunt." Oh, that sounded ominous. But she wasn't finished. "And still, with everything that happened before, I wasn't ready when I actually found one."

"Found one what?" I urged her on.

"A monster." Oh shit! "A vampire, he attacked me but I fought back. Next thing I know a piece of wood is sticking out of his chest and he just goes poof."

'Oh shit, she's delusional and she might just have hurt someone. Killed someone even! What the hell do I do? How can I make this better?' Those were the thoughts running through Gavin's mind.

Petra, however, kept talking. "Last night things didn't go so well. There were two of them this time and I missed the heart, for some reason they only go poof if you hit the heart. Anyway, that was when that other girl dropped in. She just took 'em out like they were nothing.

"Turns out I'm not alone. There are girls like me, Slayers she called them, and apparently we are supposed to hunt those things. Anyway, she told me she could train me but I had to come clean with you guys first. She didn't want to go behind your backs."

"That's considerate of her." Gavin's wife had managed what he couldn't, keep her calm. But he tried to follow her example. He wasn't sure if questioning the delusions was the right course, he wasn't a psychiatrist. But he just had to try and she how firmly she believed in this fantasy. "She gave you a name?"

"Yep, called herself Faith. Gave me a business card too." That opened up even more frightening possibilities to Gavin. Either she was so far gone that she manufactured evidence for her fantasies and then promptly forgot she had done so or…or she was telling the truth. "Here," and Petra held up a white business card with the initials NWC on it.

Gavin was proud his hand wasn't shaking. The card didn't have a logo or anything but those letters, a phone number and the words 'New York branch' on it. Petra began to talk again. "She said you were going to have questions and that you should call her to set up a meeting. And that I am not a superhero so I still have to go school." She added petulantly.

Gavin exchanged looks with his wife once again. 'Only one way to find out,' Gavin concluded. He went to the phone and dialed in the number. The phone rang twice before it was picked up. It was a man's voice with a New York voice and Gavin actually felt relieved that he didn't get this Faith on the phone. But he still had to make certain.

"Ah, hello. I am Gavin Stone, is there a Faith there?"

"Ah yes, Petra's father. Ehm, Faith is training the girls in the gym right now, give me a moment and I will go fetch her." He almost dropped the phone as the reality of his daughter's confession hit home.

TBC