FIC: Faith Wayne (5/?)

"Mr. Harris, it's Bruce Wayne, I'd like to arrange another meeting between myself, you, and Ms. Lehane."

"Yes sir," Xander replied. "Is about funding?"

"No," there was the briefest of hesitation, "it's of a more personal nature."

Xander raised an eyebrow at the billionaire's cryptic tone as he stared at his cell and struggled to decipher what Wayne was talking about. He'd heard of the playboy's roaming eye and struggled to combat the urge to hunt him down and introduce him to his shovel, but if Faith was what he was after, why would he want him there? Xander really didn't see sex as a spectator sport. "Give me a second," Xander tapped at his keyboard for a second, peering at his diary. "I'm busy today, how about seven o'clock this evening?"

"Excellent, see you then."

"Mr. Wayne here, Xander."

"Yeah," Xander shot him a considering look before glancing towards his companion. "Thanks Freddy, close the door behind you. Mr. Wayne, please sit down."

"Thank you, and please it's Bruce." It was only thanks to years of iron discipline that he managed to keep his expression calm as he took a seat.

"Why ya called us here, Bruce?" Faith favoured him with an impudent smile that had his own lips tugging up in response.

Except then he remembered why he was here and there was nothing funny in that. "Ms. Lehane," he'd rehearsed this conversation a hundred times last night and today, but now it was here, he found himself doubting every word. "I recognise your accent as East Coast, Boston perhaps?" The moment the puzzled woman nodded, he continued. "Is your mother Eliza Lehane?"

"What the hell is this?" Faith growled, eyes flickering from confusion to the angry wariness of a cornered animal. "This Is Your Life?"

"I'll take that as a yes," Bruce continued. "Faith, what is your birth-date?"

"Thinkin' of getting' me a present are ya?" the Slayer joked even as disquiet filled her luminous eyes. "'Cause a new Harley would be off the hook."

"It's June 30th 1982," Xander replied.

"Oh god, then it might be true." Bruce pretended to double-up as if the news he already knew was like a body-blow.

Faith and Xander exchanged puzzled looks. "What might be true?" Xander asked.

"I knew I recognised your surname," Bruce explained with a look towards the curvy brunette. "I rescued your mother from a gang in October '81, we were intimate afterwards."

Faith's curved lips opened and closed several times before she managed to get any sound out. "You're sayin' you might be my dad?" The probable Slayer let out a near-high hysterical laugh. "Even if you did sleep with my mom one night in October, that's an one in thirty-one chance, 'cause my mom, she got around."

"We were together for three nights, so technically it's an one in ten chance."

"Damn," Faith shook her head. "You were a long-term one for my mom."

"Nevertheless," Bruce continued manfully on, "I would be remiss in my responsibilities if I didn't do a DNA test."

Faith snorted. "Seriously? What's the point, it's like twenty-four years too late."

"Perhaps I can make it up to you."

The moment the words were out, the mirth left the brunette's eyes to be replaced with an implacable darkness. "Make it up to me?" the Slayer grated. "How do you figure making it up to me, all the times my mom used me as a punch-bag, all the men who figured access to mom equalled access to me-."

"Faith," the softly toned interruption came from Xander, "he didn't know."

Faith glowered at him with an intensity that would have made him buckle but for his experiences with the likes of the Joker, Bane, and the others but finally the Slayer nodded before slouching back into her chair. "'Pose not."

"How do you wish to handle this?" Xander asked into the tense silence.

Bruce had prepared for this question. "I have a number of labs, I could submit DNA samples to anyone of them for comparison under assumed names-."

Faith's eyes narrowed. "Make it up to me, but make sure no-one finds out 'bout your dirty lil secret?"

"No," Bruce shook his head. He realised the touchy Slayer would need very careful handling. "I'm more than happy to announce all this, but I thought you'd want time to get used to it before it came out to the press."

"Yeah," Faith nodded stiffly. "I guess."

The moment they'd finished discussing the DNA test, Mr. Wayne got up and excused himself. Faith turned to him as the door clicked shut behind the billionaire. "Me related to Gotham's second most famous citizen?" Faith snorted and shook her head. "Gotta be bullshit, right?"

"It's stretching coincidence," Xander agreed. "I mean he just happens to turn up here to make a donation, then decides you're his long-lost daughter."

"Yeah," Faith rose and started pacing the suddenly cramped office, claustrophobia threatening to choke her. "I just can't figure what his angle is."

"Of course there's the alternative," Faith looked towards her boy-friend. "I'm totally playing devil's advocate here, but what if he's telling the truth? What if you really are his daughter?"

"Well shit," Faith slumped into one of the office's chairs, the strength suddenly leaving her legs. "That's a hell of a note."

Alfred opened the door for him as he made his way down the steps. "How did it go, sir?"

Bruce grimaced. "About as well as could be expected."

"Ah, that's unfortunate," Alfred hurried over to his driver's seat, "but she agreed to do the test?"

"She agreed," Bruce stared up at the ceiling as the car set off. And then once the test results were in, a whole new raft of problems would present themselves, not least amongst them the attention of his enemies. He could of course attempt to keep Faith secret, but it was his experience that these sort of things usually got out, and anyway, if he tried to keep Faith secret, he suspected that would only further alienate the already wary Slayer.

And if she was indeed the Slayer, she wasn't exactly incapable of protecting herself.

Then there was the question of her criminal past. While her records as a juvenile had been closed, Barbara had been able to break into them, it wasn't beyond the realms of possibility that someone else could do the same. He could of course pre-empt the release by leaking the information himself, but it wasn't his information to leak, and he somehow knew the brunette would react volcanically if he acted without her consent.

Then there was the impact she'd probably have with his relationships with Alfred, Barbara, Dick, and Tim.

Bruce groaned. Life had been so much simpler just a few days ago.

"Jeez, X," Faith licked her lips as they headed towards the darkness-shrouded laboratory, "this is scary shit."

Xander wrapped an arm around and squeezed her shoulder. "It'll be alright."

"Will it though?" Faith shot Xander a worried look. "I mean if the test results are negative, cool. But if they're positive, that's major life-change right there."

"Did you ever wonder?"

"I guess," Faith shrugged, embarrassed to admit to her childhood dreams of having King Arthur riding in, putting her on his horse, and takin' her to Camelot to live with him. "When I was a kid, kinda stopped wondering 'fore I hit ten." By then her mom had shattered any illusions 'bout anyone wantin' a piece of her.

"Well maybe today you'll get some answers."

"If that was meant to be comfortin', really wasn't," Faith said as she sat down on the dimly-illuminated reception area's couch.

"Yeah, I know, I suck."

"Hardly stud," Faith smiled up at her boy-friend as she snuggled into his side, "just glad you're here."

Xander smiled down at her. "Wouldn't be anywhere else."

The two of them looked up as the door buzzed open and Mr. Wayne and a grey-haired man in his seventies who stood unbent despite his years. "Faith, Xander," the billionaire nodded at them both in turn before turning to his companion, "this is Alfred Pennyworth, my butler and friend."

"Ms. Lehane," the elderly man bowed at the waist. "You're even more beautiful than Mr. Wayne said."

"Heh," Faith grinned at the Englishman. "If I get a butler, can mine be as suave as Aflie?"

"I am afraid," the Englishman dipped his head, "I am unique."

"Don't worry 'bout that," Faith's grin widened. "We'll talk wages later."

"Mr. Wayne," an inner door beeped open and a thin, short man with sandy-brown hair parted down the middle and wearing a lab coat hurried out, "I have those results, if you'll come this way?"

Faith's heart thundered as she followed the tech into the laboratory. "What's the news?"

The scientist looked from Wayne to her and then at the desk. "The test results match sir, she's your daughter."

"Holy-," her legs would have buckled under her but for Xander grabbing her by the shoulder and holding her upright.

Xander gulped, looked from her and then to Wayne, then back at the scientist. "How accurate is this test?"

The lab-rat looked mildly affronted that his test had been called into integrity but answered anyway. "Parental testing is the use of genetic fingerprinting to determine whether two individuals have a biological parent-child relationship. A paternity test establishes genetic proof whether a man is the biological father of an individual, and a maternity test establishes whether a woman is the biological mother of an individual. DNA testing is currently the most advanced and accurate technology to determine parentage. In a DNA parentage test, the probability of parentage is 0% when the alleged parent is not biologically related to the child and the probability of paternity typically greater than 99.9% when the alleged parent is biologically related to the child."

"Then it's true?" Faith gasped as she turned her gaze towards the billionaire, caught half-way between elation and a cold-burning rage. Intellectually she knew all the bad things that had happened to her during her childhood weren't his fault, that he hadn't known anything about her. But emotionally….

Faith bit down on her bottom lip, almost hard enough to draw blood, the brief stab of pain enough to derail her growing rage.

They were back in the lobby before she was aware of it. But then she spun to face her father, dark eyes glittering with malice. "Would it have made a difference?" Wayne's mouth opened, but her own rising in volume voice overrode it. "When I was a kid? Would you have cared?" Faith scowled at the billionaire. "Or would you have left me?"

"Miss Lehane," it was Alfred rather than the increasingly pole-axed looking billionaire who spoke. "Mr. Wayne has raised two sterling sons, it is not in his nature to abandon his responsibilities."

"Faith."

She forced herself to calm at the sound of Xander's voice and the feel of his hand on her arm. "Yeah, like whatever." Faith shook her head and started for the doorway.

"We have things to discuss," Bruce said.

Faith waved a contemptuous hand at the billionaire. "Leave me a few mil in your will and we'll call it even."

"I'm not willing to leave it at that."

Faith looked towards the billionaire. "It ain't up to you!"

"Faith," Xander stepped between her and the billionaire, "can we just talk for a minute?" Before she had chance to reply, Xander had hold of her arm and was guiding her to the far side of the lobby. "I thought you said you wanted a dad?"

"That was when I was a kid, I know you've noticed I'm all woman-sized now!" Faith snapped, her anger growing to engulf everyone involved in this whole mess.

"Oh I noticed," Xander dryly replied. "But he's trying, he's reaching out. The least you can do is give him a chance."

"I don't trust him," Faith growled.

Xander grinned down at her. "Half the time you don't trust me."

"True," Faith felt a smile tugging at her own lips. Only Fang could calm her moods like Xan could. "Let's get this done." Faith took a breath and stepped towards the billionaire. "So what do ya wanna do?"

The billionaire looked towards his butler and then towards her. "Ideally, I'd like to keep this in-family, introduce you to my wards and allow us to get to know one another at a sedate pace." Wayne sighed. "Unfortunately given my relative notoriety any attempt would be futile," Faith rolled her eyes, geez all the big words made 'Pops' sound like a windbag Watcher. "So, to avoid the news leaking out, we release it ourselves."

"When?" Xander queried.

"This is a little audacious but I have a charity gala I'm hosting this Saturday night," Wayne replied. "Perhaps we can announce that I have a daughter on Thursday, and that your first public appearance will be at the gala." Wayne smiled wryly. "If nothing else it'll bump ticket sales up."

"You wanna use me as publicity?" Faith's eyes narrowed, her temper building again.

"In a good cause," her father raised a placating hand. "And it gets your reveal dealt in one fell swoop."

"The press are still gonna sniff 'round," Faith took a breath as she looked towards Xander. Xander smiled reassuringly. "Look you might as well know 'fore we start 'bondin''," Faith shook her head, fuck she hated that word, and took a breath, "I ain't 'xactly lilly-white. I've got a record-."

"A record that was expunged at the behest of the British government, for some reason," Faith blinked at the interruption. Wayne smiled slightly. "I investigated your past during the days we were waiting for the DNA results. I can't say I'm overwhelmed, but you're my daughter and nothing will ever change that." Wayne swallowed. "Nor would I want it to."

Faith stared at the man, shocked by his acceptance of her sordid past. "Yeah 'kay," Faith smirked suddenly. "I guess I can do this, but on one-, no two conditions."

Wayne raised an eyebrow. "I can't wait to hear them."

"You add a charity that looks after runaways and or abuse victims to your gala-."

"There's several already on the bill," Wayne interrupted. "And your other condition?"

"You," Faith grimaced, "you buy me a dress."