A/N In this au Gwendolyn Post showed up nearly four months sooner then in canon and Kakistos isn't going to be showing up at all. In canon he had Mr. Trick to help him navigate in the modern world, including tracking Faith to Sunnydale. In this au Faith dusted Mr. Trick when she activated which means canon is out the window at this point aside from a few episodes that will be upcoming. But first Buffy and Faith are going to meet and Willow and Buffy will be moving slowly along toward an eventual relationship. Hoping I can do it in a believable way, but I think I can use the progression of Willow and Tara's relationship in canon as a guide.
But first Buffy and Faith and two Slayers on the Hellmouth. In canon Buffy didn't tend to do well sharing being the Slayer or the Hellmouth. At least not initially with both of them.
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"So, shape shifters and not demons." Faith grinned at the good looking older man sitting behind a desk. "Well, my senses aren't screaming demon, on the other hand, Mayor's seem to be better looking in Sunnydale than in Boston."
Silence from the four teens and than. "Oh, gross, did she just flirt with my father?!"
"She's not actually interested, Cordy." Alex pointed out. "I'm guessing she's just messing with everyone."
Faith made a face at him. "She said you're taken, let me play, it's fun."
"Not with my father!" Cordelia demanded. "Anyone except my father! Especially not in front of me!"
"Back on topic," Charles grinned, he couldn't help it, Cordelia was tactless, Alex was blunt and Faith was bold. All of them had their reasons and it all stemmed from needing to feel like they had some control over events around them. He could understand. "Yes, shape shifters. Were you ever taught about shape shifters in general?"
"A little. Slayers mostly deal with vampires and occasionally demons. I was told shape shifters exist but most don't prey on humans and not being demons aren't usually something we have to deal with. I wasn't even taught how many kinds there are since they're not something I was expected to deal with. Mostly my Watcher trained me to fight, martial arts and weapons, like swords and crossbows, although I prefer a stake."
"What about modern weapons? Guns, tasers, they're both effective if used correctly."
"I'm too young to carry a gun, I'm not even 18 yet, that'll be the end of December. Tasers were never brought up. I know cops use them."
"Yes, the police officers in Sunnydale are equipped with very strong tasers, especially those that patrol at night. But they hunt, so it's necessary."
"Cool, I'm pretty sure the police in Bean town weren't hunting anything of the undead variety."
"You don't object to normal humans hunting?" Alex asked curiously.
"It's not like I can do it all myself, as long as they know what they're doing and being careful I don't see the issue."
"We wonder what your Watcher said about it?" Jesse asked and all five Wolfbloods smelled the emotions that washed off of Faith, pain, fear and sadness.
"Faith," Aura said softly. "you should know that we're part animal, wolf and like full wolves or dogs, we can smell emotions. Whatever hurt you, we're willing to try to help you deal with it."
"You can smell -."
"It's natural for us, Faith." Charles said gently. "Which is why we're being honest with you about it. So you're aware."
Faith took a jerky breath, she couldn't hide anything from these people and she wanted to run. She squared her shoulders, but she was the Slayer now, if she ran from these people who didn't want to hurt her, how could she be expected to do a Slayer's job?
"My Watcher is dead, she was murdered by a vampire."
"We know." Alex told her. "I overheard Giles, Buffy's Watcher, on the phone. A vampire named Kakistos, right?"
Faith nodded painfully. "Big, ugly and really old. He grabbed Diana, my Watcher, first and I went to try to save her. I didn't know what else to do. He grabbed me too. What he did to her, it was bad." That was the best she could say. It was too hard to think about.
"I understand." Cordelia said gently. "She mattered to you, Aura and I both lost our mothers, mine got sick and Aura's was shot by a hunter. My father was shot then too."
"You're not alone, Faith." Alex assured her. "I meant it when I said we could be friends."
"You can stay in Sunnydale, Faith." Charles assured her. "But you do so with the understanding that you make choices for yourself, not because this Watchers Council tells you to. You hunt when you need to, Buffy feels compelled to, but not everyday. She wears a bullet proof vest, like the police do, because it protects against teeth and claws and is trained to use a taser. We can train you too. We'll arrange for you to be admitted to this year's classes, the school year's just started and you shouldn't have a problem getting caught up. We'll introduce you to the Magic community, other In-betweens, which is a local word for shape shifters and neutral demons, which are demons that don't prey on humans. There are a few."
"And we'll introduce you to Buffy." Alex added. "But tomorrow, because she just found out today that you exist and she's still trying to deal with the fact that she actually died last week, even if it was for just a few minutes."
"Don't blame her, we're supposed to deal with undead, not dead." Faith tried to joke but it fell flat as she understood, Buffy died the same day Faith had activated as the Slayer. The same day Diana died, killed by the undead.
