The Protectors au. February 20th, 1999. Faith Lehane's 18th birthday.

Two men stood in the Sunnydale High School library. They were having a rather loud discussion. Two other men stood nearby.

"It is a barbaric exercise in cruelty."

"It is a time honored tradition. The Tento de Cruciamentum has long been a rite of passage for all Slayers who reach the age of 18. She will be given the test and you will administer the cruciamentum drug."

"I categorically refuse."

"Very well then, you leave us no choice." A dart hit Rupert Giles in the neck. He had time to say, "you bastard," and he was unconscious.

At the same time a man knocked on Faith's apartment door. When she opened it, he introduced himself to her. "Hello, Miss Lehane. My name is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, I am with the Watchers Council. As of today, I am your new Watcher."

"What are you talking about, where's G?"

"If you are referring to Rupert Giles, his employment with the Council has been terminated."

"Why?"

"I did not ask. I was directed to relocate to Sunnydale and assume the position as your Watcher." As he was speaking another dart hit Faith. The knock out drug in it, was much stronger than the one used on Rupert Giles. Consequently, Faith fell unconscious just as quickly. Once down, a shot was administered to her.

When Faith woke up, she was in a small room. There was a small TV/VCR combo in front of her, there was a note on it that said, press play. She pressed the play button. As soon as it turned on, she saw a bound and gagged Giles and a voice said, "You are currently without your powers as a Slayer, Miss Lehane. There is a vampire nearby. Stop the vampire and save Rupert Giles. Fail and you will both die."

Faith stepped out of the room, though the nearby window she could see a rocky hillside. She had no idea where she was, but she knew one thing. The others would come for them. She just needed to buy time. If there really was a vampire, though, she would also need a weapon. Faith went out of the door of the building she was in, trying to get a sense of where she was and something she could use as a weapon.

The rocks on the hillside gave her an idea. X's Uncle Rory had given them all survival lessons. It had mostly been a relaxation exercise, something to get their minds off constantly fighting vampires. But the information had also been important to know in case they got caught anywhere. Eyeing the rocks around her, Faith picked up two of them. She gathered some leaves together on top of a rock and began to rap the two rocks against each other. A few minutes later and she had sparks. She carefully fed them some leaves and gently blew until she had a flame. She pulled her t-shirt off and wrapped it around a branch and held it to the flame. It would have to do.

Xander entered the library looking for Giles. Someone he didn't recognize was there instead. "Excuse me, have seen you Giles?"

The man rather pompously said. "No, I have not. I am waiting to see him myself."

Xander nodded and said. "Thank you." And left.

He immediately went to his locker and pulled out a walky. "All call, assemble. Repeat, all call, assemble. Parking lot." And left to meet everyone in the parking lot. It didn't take long for everyone to get there. The Pack, Jesse, Willow and Jenny Calendar that is, but no Giles or Faith though.

"We have a problem. I went to the library looking for Giles. The was a man I didn't recognize. He's English. I asked if he'd seen Giles and he lied and said he hadn't. Giles' scent was in the library, I followed it to the parking lot. Then it disappeared. Giles appears to be missing and Faith hasn't responded to the all call. They probably put Giles in a car. Willow can you hack the traffic cameras, see if you can get an idea of where they may have taken him?"

"Sure, no problem." She answered and pulled out her laptop. She headed inside to the computer lab to get an internet connection.

Xander then said. "Faith was at home, last I heard. Tor, you and Heidi go check out her place. Report back a.s.a.p."

"On it, boss." The two got in Tor's car and headed off.

"The rest of us are going to gear up, in case we need to move in a hurry."

Willow reported she had managed to follow a car on the cameras that went out of town and turned right onto Higgins Road. The only thing on Higgins Road was an old miners cabin. Kids liked to play out there sometimes.

Tor and Heidi reported that Faith wasn't at home, but had found a man's scent was in the hall by her door. He'd stood there long enough for the scent to linger, worse, there'd been a scent of deceit and a chemical scent they didn't recognize. It was looking like Faith had been taken too.

Xander sent Jenny, Jesse and Willow to hole up in Jenny's classroom with a walky, while he and the Pack went hunting. They headed out to Higgins Road by car, stopping several miles away and making their way on foot the rest of the way.

Faith began a careful search of the area, listening to the sounds around her. It was when they went silent that she knew, there was a predator nearby. She eased around an outcropping and saw the vamp. Weirdly, it was trying to break the rope tied around its hands. 'Now who would tie up a vampire?' She thought. She quickly lit it up and reduced it to dust. 'Now to find, G.' She thought.