From the foot of the bed, Faith watched the two sleeping forms; trying to find similarities between herself and her new brother. For the life of her she could find nothing that would give away to anyone that the two were siblings. Eyes? Blue to her brown. Hair? Both had a lot but his was coal black with grey sprinkled through while her own was more of a chestnut; she had heard one of the slayerettes say that once. He was definitely taller than her, but then again she was no giant herself. Once she had discovered her calling, Faith had always figured that slayers were all petite so they could get out of the way easily. That thought had been proven correct when she met Buffy but when all the slayerettes came out of the wood work, her theory had been shot to hell. Faith would definitely say that Sam was easy on the eyes and that he took care of himself, so maybe the good looks came from their shared father but she just didn't take after said father. She knew that what Buffy and Robin had told her was true, once her stubbornness had subsided, all the dates added up. The paperwork that Angel had sent definitely helped convince her. But she still couldn't see it.
"I take after my mother's father" he stated, his eyes still closed, his arm still wrapped around Willow's middle.
"Huh. Really? Do I look like him?"
"Dad?" Sam asked turning his head and holding her gaze. "You have his eyes and his mouth."
"What was he like" she whispered as she sat on the foot of the bed.
"Apparently he was a cheat" Sam answered as he tried to disengage himself from his sleeping companion. By the time he had raised himself against the head board, Willow had changed sides and had her head resting in his lap, one hand resting close to her mouth. "Other than that, he was a good man. Great lawyer, loving father, good friend, so-so husband and he was also a Watcher, whatever the hell that is."
"It means he was a Giles" Faith whispered back, her eyes locked on her fingers in her lap.
"So Dad had a band of teenage and twenty-something girls fighting evil?"
"I don't think so" she laughed as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I think we might have always been a special case. See, the way the story goes is that there is one girl in the entire world, one in each generation that saves the world."
"So how come there are so many of you now?"
"B took the dirt nap and Kendra was called, B came back to life. Kendra was killed by Dru and I was called. Giles started taking care of all of us, kinda like we were his. When I left and Angel talked me into seeking true forgiveness, Giles still kept in touch with me. Not sure if the others even know that. Eventually, I was needed to help put Angelus back into Angel, so I broke out with Wes. Willow and I helped out the LA branch and when we were done, we returned to Sunnydale. When were up against The First, Will worked her mojo and took mine and B's powers and shared it will all the potential slayers in the world. Kicked The First's ass and here we are."
"Broke out of where?"
"Los Angeles County Women's Correctional Facility."
"You are an escaped convict?"
"Sorta" she replied. "The governor said I didn't have to go back as long as I never came back. So whenever we are needed in the great state of California, Buffy usually goes. Over the past few years our main bases in the US has been Cleveland and Boston. Most everyone is in Scotland, hanging outing out in a castle or fighting the fight 'across the pond' as Giles would say."
"He seems like a good man" Sam observed.
"Giles is the best. I have given him plenty of trouble and then there is the trouble from everyone else and he has never given up on any of us. Even when I tried to kill B or when Willow tried to destroy the world; Giles was always there to rein us in."
"You tried to kill Buffy?"
"Yeah, but we are good now…mostly" Faith answered waving her hand through to air at the insignificance of the past.
"And Willow tried to destroy the world?"
"Yep, but don't hold it against her. She is really a good girl. Don't tell her but she has always been one of my favorites. The way she can handle magic is just amazing! She has gotten better then Giles and is right up there with the head mistress...lady…witch…whatever; the head of her coven. She is a real bad ass with the mojo."
"What about you" Sam questioned. He had heard her talk about her friends and while she had said some things about herself, it had always been negative.
"What about me?"
"What do you do within the group?"
"That's easy" she replied with a grin. "I kick ass. Give me the bad boys and I take care of them."
"That's not what I mean" he stated smiling softly. "Within my group of friends, we always take the same roll whenever there is a crisis, whether it is work or personal. What is your role?"
"I told you." Faith bristled slightly. She knew what he was driving at but she wasn't ready to get all brotherly with him. "I kick the ass; I'm the ass kicker."
"I think you are a bit of a peace maker as well as an ass kicker. I think you are also a bit of a protector. I think you take on the secondary role whenever person who normally fills those shoes is unable to."
"I'm not following you brother."
"Well from what I have observed, your friend Xander is the peacemaker for the group. It seems that he tries to keep everyone happy and still help out with the ass kicking so to speak. He seems to put himself in harm's way, even though he has no supernatural skills, he sticks his neck out for all of you and tries to keep the seams sewn together whenever they start to ravel. Josh told me how he kept the blonde in check during their brief visit to the Oval." Sam hesitated before continuing, his bright blue eyes holding her dark brown ones. "Your girl Buffy comes across as the leader who makes sure that everyone is getting their jobs done but she is really the protector. That is why she was so ornery in the Oval. Several of her sheep were missing and she had to find them to make sure all was right with her little world. I get the feeling she has lost a lot of people; I believe you all have, but she hasn't handled it as well as the rest of you."
"Her mom" Faith whispered, her own eyes glazing over. "B was ornery huh? Ornery?"
"It's a word my mother used to use. It means…."
"I know what it means. How do you know all of this anyway? You were with the rest of the lost sheep and from what I hear your bro-mance buddy in the other room was pretty upset as well."
"Josh tries to be our protector as well. He and Buffy are alike in that they keep losing people and no matter how they try to stop it, there is nothing they can do. Josh gets pretty ornery from time to time."
"Well what about you? What are you to your group?"
"I suspect that I am much like you" he stated matter of fact.
"Really? You are the ass kicker of your group?"
"Oh no, no; that would have been C.J. when my group wasn't so splintered. C.J. was our protector, our mother hen so to speak. Mess with one of us and it was on and she wouldn't quit until she was satisfied. She was also our peacemaker. Josh tried to be our protector but that was really Toby. Toby was the fierce wolf and the rest of us were the cubs."
"Well what were you?"
"Me? Well, like you, I was and still am the loyalist" Sam answered as he rested a hand on the crown of Willow's head. "Sometimes I think we are the fiercest simply because we tend to leap before looking. I think you tend to jump the gun and then worry about the consequences, which I've been told is something that I do. And it is something our father did. I think that is probably why he became a watcher. My guess is he found some girl that he wanted to save and the next thing he knew, he was a watcher. That is another thing about you and I that we share with our father. We are savers. You probably haven't come into your own yet, but trust me when I say that I see all the same attributes in you that I saw in my father and that have been pointed out about myself. You, my sister…"
"What" Faith questioned a few seconds after he stopped speaking.
"That is something I never thought I would say; my sister" Sam replied, his eyes sparkling as a grin spread across his face. "You, my sister, are a loyal saver and I promise you that the apple did not fall far from the tree."
"What does this rogue slayer want with Sam" Josh asked.
"My guess is that she was with the rest of the group and she will assume that he is involved with all of this somehow. The best thing for us is if she never finds out who his father is...was" Xander replied as he closed his eyes again. Ever since Sam had gone into the bedroom and most of the D.C. group had left, Xander had been playing twenty-one questions with Sam's best friend. Xander felt as though he was back in Scotland listening to the girls chatter on and quite frankly it had made him sleepy and homesick. "What time is Mrs. Bartlett coming back?"
"Eight in the morning" Josh quickly answered and turned his head on the reclining chair to better face Xander. "So you guys just go around all over the world saving it from magical disasters?"
"Not all disasters are magical; I told you about Adam" Xander sighed realizing that he was not going to get any sleep. He turned on his side and was thankfully for the one cushioned soffa. Having slept on many of soffas in his life, Xander was glad he wasn't going to wake up with his ass in yet another crack. "Adam was something that our wonderful government did."
"Yeah, I guess that wasn't the best idea to come out of Washington" Josh agreed. "So what magical powers do you have?"
"Nada."
"What? Nothing? Then why do you do it?"
"Because my friends do and I help my friends" Xander replied fighting sleep. "I'm the watcher."
"I thought Rupert was the watcher."
"Giles is the Watcher but I'm the watcher. I watch over my friends and learn, I'm there for them when magic or special powers cannot help."
"That must suck for you to never get to use super powers or anything."
"No" Xander answered with a quick smile. "It doesn't suck because in the end, I get to stand just out side of the spot light and watch my friends glow. It's enough; most of the time it's enough."
"Don't let him fool you" Spike interrupted from the floor. "One Eye has done a lot for this group without giving it a second thought."
"Awe gee Spike, I really don't need you to trumpet my foils and fumbles."
