*****

Faith knew there was a vampire in the club as soon as she entered. She could feel it, the dull pressure at the back of her head, almost like the beginnings of a migraine, but migraines don't set your heart racing with anticipation. She sighed resignedly.

Almost a year she had been on the move, always sticking to small towns and back roads, more often than not sleeping under the stars, avoiding all human contact. Almost a year of soul searching and training, to the point where she felt she could be around people again without the need to kill each and every one of them. Almost a year without killing anything. Not even demons. And on her first night of her joining society there's a vampire.

"Typical." she muttered under her breath, dark eyes scanning the club. Whoever it was, they blended perfectly. Which meant they were either really old, or really young. Faith sent up a quick prayer that it was really young, realising at the same time that she'd decided to kill it. It was either that or let it kill someone. And that, Faith realised, was as bad as killing them yourself.

Keeping on eye on the surroundings she sidled up to the bar, mentally calculating how much money she had to spend, how long she should make it last, and how long it was likely to. She realised as she waited at the bar, that the meagre amount she had wasn't going to last long, so she might as well enjoy herself. With that in mind she ordered a Jack Daniels and a beer, giving the guy serving her a look that just dared him to ask for id. She knew she was underage, she knew she looked it, and she didn't want the hassle. Thankfully he just served her quickly and quietly, glancing once or twice behind her.

Once she had paid she turned around, trying to see what he had been glancing at. All she could see was a table in the corner, with two good looking women and one extremely hunky guy sitting around, talking and laughing together. The women were so alike they had to be sisters. Shrugging, she figured one of them must be the owner or something. Downing her JD in one easy swallow, she picked up her beer and started to circulate, mind once more on eliminating the vampire.

Sipping her beer slowly, she managed to eliminate most people from a single glance. Apparently crosses were in this year, she thought, grinning. And since most were in the form of necklaces feeding must be a bitch for the vamps. Completing a circuit of the club she chose a spot at the bar closest to the dance floor, so she could observe the groovers and relax. Unconsciously her eyes were drawn to a blonde who was throwing herself into the music.

As Faith continued to watch her, she realised that no matter how enthusiastically you danced, some people just weren't made for dancing. But the huge smile on her face that made her look absolutely breathtaking showed that at least she was having fun. And the longer Faith watched her, the more she became aware of just how long she had gone without genuine human contact. The last time had been with beefstick. . . Shaking her head she put that out of her mind, and instead tried to concentrate on finding the vampire so she could stake him and then have some fun.

* * *

Piper and Prue watched Phoebe on the dance floor, wondering if she knew just how a bad of a dancer she was.

"She seems to have gotten over Cole, don't you think?" Piper said, bemused.

"At last. I thought I was going to go nuts watching her brood all the time." Prue said, sounding half relieved, half annoyed. Piper shot her a look, and Prue realised how bad that must have sounded, and mentally chided herself. She'd had a long day trying to shoot a new rock band, who had made it their mission in life to drive her nuts, and now she was taking it out on her sisters. Piper apparently realised this, and softened her look.

"Were they really that bad?" She asked as Leo came back carrying drinks for everyone. Prue just nodded as Leo squeezed in next to Piper.

"You have no idea. I felt like throttling each and every one of them. I nearly did too." Piper just laughed, ignoring the look Prue shot her. After a second she shrugged, and turned back to watch Phoebe. As she watched her, she realised she wasn't the only one watching. She nudged Piper, who was gazing at Leo adoringly in the way that all newly weds do.

"Looks like she has a fan." Piper followed Prue's gaze to the bar, where a tall, thin brunette was watching Phoebe dance, an amused expression on her face. Piper laughed.

"Looks like she's impressed by Phoebe's dancing." Prue grinned, thinking the same thing.

"Think she's in one of Phoebe's classes?" Prue snorted. The brunette didn't look like a student, leaning against the bar, knocking back a shot with practised ease. The way she was eyeing the dancers, with a cool calculating look on her face made Prue wonder if she was a cop, albeit a very young one.

"Somehow I can't picture her in a classroom." put in Leo wryly. He opened his mouth to continue, but stopped abruptly. When he cast a look heavenward and sighed, Prue knew that he was about to ditch them for the evening. "Sorry." He apologised to his wife. "Duty calls." He gave her a quick kiss goodbye before getting up and heading to the office where he could orb out unobserved. Prue smiled good-naturedly at Piper when she looked forlornly at Leo's back.

"Looks like it's just us three us this evening." Piper nodded glumly, before grabbing Prue's hand and dragging her to the dancefloor.

* * *

After a long half hour, Faith had narrowed down her list of suspects to three. Unfortunately she hadn't been able to get close enough to any of them to confirm or deny her suspicions. She had managed to observe the blonde on the dancefloor though. She could safely say that she didn't have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, and from the looks she occasionally gave Faith when she caught her staring, she was up for it.

Unfortunately Faith couldn't just go up to her and start talking, because she was busy, and was slowly getting more and more pissed off. She had now come to the conclusion that it was an old vampire she was hunting, purely because he, or she, had escaped her this long.

As she went up to the bar to get another beer she caught a lucky break. The blonde squeezed in next to her. Since she had nothing better to do, and since the blonde was practically sharing the same spot as her because the bar was so crowded, she decided to say hi.

"Hey. How ya doin?" The blonde looked at her, and smiled that wide charming smile of hers.

"Great. This is a good night, dontcha think?" she asked cheerfully. Faith shrugged.

"Wouldn't know. My first night here. Liking it so far though." The blonde grinned.

"Well that's good. I'd hate for you to be having a boring time." Before she answered, she gave the bartender her order. Another JD with a beer for chaser. Since that took the last of her money she didn't offer to buy the blonde a drink, although she wished she could.

"So you come here a lot, I take it." It was more of a statement than a question, and Faith was rewarded when the blonde nodded.

"My sister owns the place." Faith hiked an eyebrow. She's not related to the ones at the table is she? The blonde extended a hand. "Names Phoebe by the way." Faith took the offered hand in a firm grip, smiled at Phoebe.

"Faith." They stayed that way, holding each others hands, smiling warmly at each other for a moment, before the bartender came back with Faith's order, and she realised she needed her hand back to pay the man. Phoebe blushed as Faith withdrew her hand and paid the man, and blushed even harder when Faith wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at her before downing her shot. God, she's even cute when she blushes Faith thought to herself.

And right before Faith could say anything to the blonde someone brushed past her. A jolt went through Faith as she realised the person walking past, one of her suspects, was cold. Way to cold to be human. And as he passed, arm around a young woman, he turned back, and looked at Faith. He grinned, winked, and carried on. All Faith could do was follow his progress as he made his way to the stairs that led out of the club.

"Do you want to dance Faith?" Phoebe's voice jolted her out of the trance she was in, and she stared at Phoebe blankly for a second. Phoebe was watching her expectantly. Shit! She cursed Phoebe's timing. As much as she wanted to forget about the vampire currently leaving the club, and just dance with Phoebe, she knew she couldn't.

"Sorry Phoebe, I have to go. I'll be back soon, I promise." She stammered out, trying not to notice the flicker of disappointment that crossed Phoebe's face as she said it. Realising she still had a full bottle of beer, she shoved it towards her. "Here. Have this." As Phoebe took the bottle, on reflex, their fingers touched. Phoebe tensed up, closing her eyes. Faith was already leaving, and barely noticed the shocked look on the blonde's face.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you, you bastard." Faith muttered under her breath, pushing her way through the crowd of people that seemed a lot bigger than it had a second ago. When she reached the top of the stairs she glanced back down into the club, and saw Phoebe talking with the two women she had spotted earlier. She was worked up about something. Frowning, Faith wondered what, but put it to the back of her mind. She had more important things to worry about.

* * *

Phoebe waited expectantly for Faith's answer, expecting it to be yes, given that she was the one who had started the conversation, and she was the one she had spied watching her dance earlier. So when Faith stared at her blankly, she felt that something had just snatched away what had looked like a good time. And when Faith said she had to go, she couldn't help but feel disappointed, and she knew that Faith saw it, because suddenly she shoved her beer at her.

Purely on reflex, Phoebe accepted it. When Faith's fingers brushed her own, she froze, and closed her eyes. Images barraged her, her mind sorting them into something that almost made sense.

***

A figure, shrouded in shadows, standing above an injured girl. It was Faith, curled up in pain, blood covering most of her face. A sword, runes inscribed on the blade, coming down to stab her.***

When she came back a second later, she realised she had a problem. One, Faith was in trouble. Two, Faith was gone.

"Oh shit." She turned around to look for Faith, and instead found Prue and Piper, both right there with slightly surprised looks on their faces.

"Did you see where she went?" Phoebe asked, still looking around, but coming up blank. Now her sisters looked confused.

"Who?" ventured Prue.

"The girl I was talking to just a second ago." she said, exasperated. "Did you see where she went?"

"Uh, I think she went in the direction of the stairs." Phoebe immediately looked up, just in time to catch Faith pushing past some guy and leaving the club. She cursed soundly, not noticing the looks her sisters gave her. Without a second thought she put the beer down and started pushing her way to the stairs. All she could think about was the image of Faith, curled up in pain, about to die. She desperately hoped that it wasn't any time in the near future.

Once she got outside, she stood in the middle of the parking lot and looked around, trying to guess where Faith had gone. Hearing a scream she set off, praying it wasn't Faith.

* * *

Faith stood in the middle of the car park, using all of her senses to get a fix on the vampire. Hearing the muffled sounds of a struggle, she crept up to the alley they were coming from as fast as she could. Peeking round she saw the vampire, in full fang face, standing over his victim, who was kneeling in front of him, head down. As Faith watched she saw him draw a knife out from his sleeve, and hold it up high. He started chanting in Latin, and for the first time Faith wished she knew Latin.

"Is exhaurire cruor ex innocentia, et tenebrae voluntas invasi tellus."

Having heard enough Faith stepped fully into the alley, revealing herself.

"Don't you know Latin's a dead language? Oh right, I guess you wouldn't." The vampire paused in his recitation, and growled when he saw who it was.

"Slayer." He lowered the knife, and grabbed his victim by the shoulder, propelling her into the side of a dumpster, head first. She dropped like a stone, and Faith prayed she wasn't dead. "How nice to meet you." Faith continued to walk forward, exuding confidence she didn't really feel.

"Can't really say the same about you." She shrugged in mock apology. He was at least half a head taller than her, and had maybe thirty pounds on her. Oh well, she'd faced tougher odds and come out smiling.

"I suppose not." He looked like he was going to keep talking, but Faith wasn't really in the mood for drawn out conversation. Her nerves where stretched to breaking, and adrenaline was coursing through her veins.

"Not really wanting to establish a meaningful dialogue here. Lets just throw down." And before he had a chance to respond she charged, shoulder lowered. She hit him square on, and felt him grunt, but absorb the impact, only reeling back a couple of steps before spinning around and tossing her away, using her own momentum to drive her to the ground.

Fuck. He was smooth. Instantly leaping to her feet she spun round, fists raised. He merely grinned at her, which set Faith's blood boiling, and tried to cut her with the knife she'd forgotten he still held. She jumped back, not quite dodging the blade, but managed to roundhouse him in the side, forcing him off balance, and causing him to drop the blade.

Now they were both on the same playing field the fight turned into a brawl. She got in some good shots, clocking him once in the face, before he used his superior height and reach to his advantage. As he double combo'd her, she realised he was a boxer. Unfortunately this was right before the right hook to the side of her head that felt like a sledgehammer. She dropped to the ground, seeing stars.

As she lay wheezing, she heard him pick up his knife. Shit. First night back in the real world and some pussy lays you out without breaking a sweat, she berated herself. You didn't even save the innocent, she realised belatedly, expecting at any moment to feel either fangs or a knife. To her surprise she felt neither. When she opened her eyes she saw him standing over his earlier victim, who screamed ear piercingly loud. At least she's not dead. The vampire said something to her, but Faith couldn't hear what, even with slayer hearing.

The vampire left, pulling himself up into a fire escape, and presumably from there to the roof. Faith didn't notice, she was too busy crawling over to the girl by the dumpster.

"Are you okay?" She croaked out. The girl, eyes wide with fear, just stared at Faith. It was then she realised her nose was bleeding, and that blood covered her mouth and chin. "Are you okay?" She asked again, more forcefully. The pain in her head was lessening, leaving her with several other, smaller aches to concentrate on. After a second she realised the girl wasn't going to answer her.

"Faith!" A voice called out, sounding panicked. Faith jerked upright to see who it was, ignoring the protests her body made. It was Phoebe.

"Phoebe?" What was she doing out here? "What are you doing out here?" She demanded. Phoebe opened her mouth to answer, but her sisters arrived just behind her, flanking her protectively. I must have hit my head harder than I thought. And the world made such sense five minutes ago, she thought wistfully.

* * *

Phoebe rounded the corner, and felt her stomach lurch when she saw Faith kneeling over someone. Blood covered her mouth and chin, and she could see a nasty bruise already starting to form on the side of her face.

"Are you okay?" Faith asked someone, and when she shifted Phoebe could see a young woman under her, frozen. Faith asked the question again, and Phoebe found her own voice.

"Faith!" Faith immediately leapt up and stared in Phoebe's direction. A confused look crossed her face.

"Phoebe?" Phoebe could hear someone crossing the car park. "What are you doing out here?" She was about to answer when her sisters arrived and stood on either side of Phoebe, flanking her. What are they doing out here? wondered Phoebe, but before she could ask, Prue saw the girl lying on the ground, still staring at Faith, fear evident in her eyes. Phoebe almost groaned when she realised how this must look.

"What did you do to her?" she demanded angrily. Damn, wasn't making assumptions her job?

"I didn't do anything." Faith said, surprise in her voice. Nonetheless, she backed away slightly, towards the back of the alley. Phoebe saw Prue's jaw tighten, and knew that she didn't believe Faith. The injured girl was now backing away from Faith, fear still evident in her eyes. When Faith moved forward to help her, the girl screamed again, and that was it. Prue sent her flying. A full fifteen feet to the end of the alley, where she collided with the wall, with an audible thump.

"PRUE NO!" she shouted, but it was too late. Faith collapsed onto the ground in a messy heap, and didn't move. Without thinking, and ignoring her sisters, Phoebe ran to her, desperate to find out how much damage her sister had done to Faith.

Kneeling down next to the young woman, she was surprised to find that Faith was still mostly conscious, and moaning softly. She frowned. By all rights Faith should be out cold, for a good couple of hours at least. Shaking it off she looked back at her sisters, who had confused expressions on their faces.

"Piper call an ambulance." she appealed to the more level-headed sister. Looking at both victims, she nodded, and ran back to the club. Prue stood uncertainly, then approached Phoebe, who shook her head. "Help the other one." She said, turning her attention back to Faith. Still not sure about the situation, Prue nonetheless did as told.

* * *

Piper came back a few minutes later with a bouncer and a first aid box.

"The ambulance is on it's way." she said, surveying the scene. Prue was tending to the young woman at the front of the alley. She didn't look to bad, so she told the bouncer, some new guy called Rick, to help Prue, then headed to the back of the alley to help Phoebe. The brunette was sitting up, or trying to anyway. Piper immediately tried to stop her.

"Hey you shouldn't be moving." she exclaimed, throwing a reproachful look at her younger sister, who shrugged. The girl muttered something darkly and stood up. She swayed slightly, and Phoebe, now standing behind her, put a hand on her back to steady her. For a second the girl leaned into the touch, then she pulled herself away and looked hard at Piper.

"Thanks for all your help." Piper flinched at the sarcastic tone she used. "But I gotta motor." Before anyone could say anything, she turned and leaped onto the dumpster behind her, and from there over the fence to the next alley.

"Faith wait!" Piper watched, stunned, as she tried to follow the brunette. She stopped on top of the dumpster, and watched as Faith walked away without stopping. Piper shook her head, wondering how her sister knew the woman as she dejectedly dropped back to the alley. To her surprise Phoebe turned and stalked towards Prue, eyes flashing angrily.

"I hope you're satisfied Prue. You just sent our innocent running away. She's probably scared we want to hurt her." Piper felt the beginnings of another headache coming on. Prue met Phoebe halfway, looking equally unimpressed.

"Are you trying to tell me she wasn't responsible for hurting her?" she asked.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to say Prue." Phoebe retorted.

"Then what the hell was she doing out here, covered in blood?" Prue asked.

"I don't know. You threw her into a wall before I could ask!" Piper stepped in to calm everyone down.

"Okay, why don't we all just calm down here." Shooting looks at both of her sisters, she waited until they both looked a little less homicidal before carrying on. "Okay, Phoebe, why did you call Faith our innocent?" Phoebe's expression changed from angry to worried in an instant.

"I had a premonition in the club, when we touched." Even Prue looked concerned now. Piper continued her questioning.

"What did you see?" Phoebe thought for a second, organising her thoughts.

"Faith, on the ground in a lot of pain. Someone or something was standing above her holding a sword, about to kill her." Shit. Piper wished Leo was here to help.

"Did you see what was standing above her?" she asked the next logical question. Phoebe shook her head.

"No, it was hidden in shadows. Also, the sword had these runes inscribed on the blade. Looked very ritualistic." she said, face contorting in concentration.

"What kind of runes?" Prue asked, apparently all business now. Phoebe shook her head.

"I'm not sure, I didn't recognise any of them." Piper let out an exasperated sigh.

"Well, that's something to work on. Phoebe, go back to the manor, look up swords and runes in the book." Phoebe nodded, and Piper turned to Prue. "Prue, you go with the girl to the hospital, see if you can find out from her what happened here." Prue nodded as well.

"What are you going to do?" Phoebe asked. Piper rolled her eyes, wondering why Phoebe could be so smart one second, and so incredibly dense the next.

"I have to stay at the club and look after that new band that's performing tonight. I can't leave any of my usual staff to do it can I?" she asked sarcastically. Phoebe just nodded, nonplussed. "Alright, lets get going."

* * *

Sunrise found Faith siting in a 24 hour diner, nursing a cup of coffee that she had no way of paying for. After running away from the club around midnight, she'd wandered the streets of San Francisco until the early hours of the morning. It wasn't a patrol, although she did stake a couple of vampires that tried to make her a snack. Just before five she finally gave in to the protests her body was making, and when she found the diner she had gratefully lurched in, exhausted and in pain.

Ignoring whatever it was the waitress had said to her, she had headed to bathrooms to clean up. Even after removing the blood and dirt from her face and hands, she was a mess. Her nose had already healed, but the bruise on the side of her face was going to take a couple of days to clear up. She had a long gash on her arm from the knife, and her shoulder throbbed like a son of a bitch.

Her hair was lank, and she realised that she had gone far to long without sleep, because the circles round her eyes looked like mammoth black eyes. Her outfit was trashed and she couldn't change it, because at the moment it was all she owned.

Shaking her head at herself, she had taken a seat at the back, facing the front, and ordered a cup of coffee, that the waitress kindly came by to refill every half hour. She'd given up trying to engage Faith in conversation. Faith was only barely aware of her surroundings, because Faith was brooding.

She'd had her ass handed to her. Twice. First by a vampire who didn't even have the decency to care enough to kill her. She was the slayer for christ's sake! Vampires were supposed to dream about killing her! But this one obviously didn't know that.

And then by the sisters. Or at least by the one called Prue. What the fuck was up with that? She hadn't even seen it coming, she just tried to help someone, and then she was flying through the air.

And that was really embarrassing. She couldn't even defend herself against humans! Okay. Faith wasn't brooding. She was feeling damn sorry for herself. And despite the fact that the sisters so obviously hated her guts, she kept thinking back to Phoebe, smiling at her, asking her to dance. And worrying about her. That was new. Someone cared about her. Someone not evil. And the thing that really threw Faith was that she had liked it. Was she really that desperate to have a friend that she latches on to the first person who doesn't hate her guts?

Pushing that question down, she thought back to the vampire. He was Trouble. With a capital T. The guy was obviously up to something nasty. Unfortunately she couldn't go and report to her watcher about the nights events, and have him research it for her, because she didn't know where he was. Assuming he was still alive. Not that he'd help her anyway. So that left Faith with a problem. She couldn't ignore the problem and move onto a new city, because - and she was turning into Buffy as she thought this - it was wrong. And running never solved her problems before, and dammit, she wasn't going to run now.

Okay. So what to do. What to do. Faith sighed audibly. She needed help. And the only people who could give it to her plainly didn't trust her as far as they could throw her. And she really didn't like them. Especially not Prue. Faith really hated her. She grinned absently imagining all the things she could do to her. Then she thought of Phoebe, and the grin became an all out smile.

Maybe there was someone who could help her. If she could convince Phoebe that she didn't attack that girl, and that she just wanted to try and stop the real bad guy here, then maybe they could work together. And as Faith decided that, she realised that she had a new problem. How on earth was she going to find her? Shit. Things were a lot simpler when she didn't care.

*****
Part 2:

By sunrise, Phoebe had gone through the entire Book, but had come up empty. The only lead she had was a vague reference to a 'sword of darkness'. The description detailed an ancient sword with part of an incantation written down it's length. Not much, but it was better than nothing.

Sighing, she closed the Book, and dropped her head into her hands. A headache had slowly sneaked up on her, and now it felt like Prue's obnoxious rock group had taken up residence in her skull.

"Phoebe." A door slammed, and she dimly registered that Prue was home. Glancing at the clock she saw that it was just past 5 am. Hope she's as tired as I am, Phoebe thought to herself snidely, before calling out.

"Prue, in the kitchen." A tired Prue appeared in the kitchen, smiling wearily when she smelled the pot of freshly brewed coffee.

"Ah, I could kill for some decent coffee." Phoebe handed her a cup.

"Just do it quietly." she asked. Prue raised an eyebrow, then apparently took in her appearance for the first time. Her disappointment must have been obvious, because Prue gave Phoebe her 'sympathetic' look.

"I take it you didn't find anything in the Book." It wasn't really a question.

"Just a small section on something called the 'sword of darkness'. It's not really even worth mentioning." Prue frowned. Phoebe had been unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She was too tired and too worried to be chirpy, and she didn't give a damn what Prue thought of that. It was her damn fault anyway for jumping to conclusions.

"Well, maybe Leo knows something about it." Prue offered, then suddenly looked around. "Where is he anyway?"

"Oh, still gone. Must be a pretty big problem they have him working on." Rubbing her temples in a poor attempt to relieve the pain, she sighed again. "How's the girl?"

"Her names Alexia, and she's okay. Mild concussion. Doctors are keeping her in overnight for observation, but they plan to release her this morning." Prue looked at her watch. "In a couple of hours I guess." Phoebe summoned up a small grin.

"So did she say anything about the attack?" Prue immediately looked away, and sipped her coffee. Phoebe's eyes narrowed as she watched her sister carefully avoid meeting her eyes.

"Actually, yes she did." She paused, and glanced at Phoebe, who was watching her closely, then looked away again. What is wrong with her? she thought to herself, confused. "She said that the man she left with dragged her into the alley and attacked her. She was saved by a young woman, who scared him away." Oh thank god, Phoebe thought to herself, relieved. She hadn't really believed that Faith had attacked the woman, but at least now she could convince her sisters of the same.

"Did she say anything else?"

"Actually yes. When he first dragged her into the alley, he chanted something in a foreign language, and later on, just before he left, he said something to her about his master being disappointed." Prue stopped, and bit her lip, a sure sign that she was worried about something. Phoebe noticed this, and felt that her sister was holding something back.

"Is that all she said?" she asked pointedly, raising her eyebrows when Prue looked at her.

"Well, she also said that after the fight he looked different."

"Different how?" Phoebe asked, frowning, not sure where this was going.

"Well, she said that he looked deformed. And she swears that when she leaned in close she saw fangs." Fangs? Phoebe did a double take.

"She didn't say that to the police did she?" Prue was quick to reassure her.

"No. I managed to convince her that she was in shock, not seeing straight, and that it was a trick of the light."

"And she bought that?" Phoebe asked, incredulous. That story was paper thin.

"I think she was hoping someone would convince her that she imagined it." Phoebe nodded, understanding now.

"Ah." Prue smiled wryly.

"Ah indeed." Phoebe shook her head, suddenly feeling a lot better than she had ten minutes ago.

* * *

Faith looked up at the Halliwell house in awe. It was huge. Like, really fucking huge. After persuading some guy to pay for her coffee around nine, she'd had a brainstorm about how to find Phoebe. It was pretty obvious really. She had told Faith that her sister owned the club. She knew two of their names. So after going back to the area around the club, and asking the people she found there, she had discovered that the club was owned by one Piper Halliwell.

Cute. So P3 was named after the sisters. It was so corny she had to laugh. So after finding out the name, she'd checked in the phone book, found a Prue Halliwell, the only one in the book, and went to the address listed. And her first reaction when she saw the place was to whistle appreciatively.

Only now, she had to decide if she actually wanted to go in. After all, they did hate her. She had the bruises to prove that. And now she was here, she wasn't sure if she could face going inside. Okay, so she needed their help if she wanted to figure out what was going on. And sure, she couldn't do that by herself, but there had to be a better way than risking life and limb.

Sighing, she realised that she had nothing better to do, so she went up the path and knocked on the door. And hoped it wasn't Prue who answered. She was rewarded when a few minutes later when the door swung open to reveal Phoebe, looking exhausted, dressed in baggy sweats and surprised. Suddenly speechless Faith tried to think of something to say.

"Hi." It wasn't the most eloquent thing she could have said, but it worked. Especially when she coupled it with a tentative smile. That broke the shock Phoebe was in, because she smiled back, and visibly relaxed.

"Hey." she returned softly. And then they stood there, both gazing at each other, not saying anything. It was possible that they might have stood there all day, since Faith was suddenly not feeling exhausted or stiff, but a car backfired down the street, breaking the spell. Faith coughed lightly, looking away, suddenly struggling to remember why she was there.

"Do you want to come in?" She looked up, to see Phoebe standing slightly aside, just as shy as she was. Nodding, mouth oddly dry, she entered the house. As she crossed the threshold, she felt a slight tingle of power, and glanced around surreptitiously, wondering what had caused it. Seeing nothing, she put the matter to the back of her mind, and faced Phoebe again, who was looking her over, concern clearly written on her face.

"How are you?" she asked. Faith shrugged.

"Five by five." Shrugging, she tried not to wince as her shoulder protested the movement. She must have succeeded, because Phoebe said nothing. She was glad that she had cleaned up and 'borrowed' a shirt before turning up on the Halliwell's doorstop. A noise from somewhere in back drew Phoebe's attention, and she turned to Faith, a sudden smile on her face.

"Come on. Might as well say hi to my sisters." Phoebe pulled Faith into the kitchen, where two sets of shocked eyes swung round. Faith felt about two feet tall under their gaze, but stood tall, and coldly returned the looks, fixing Prue with a particularly cold stare.

"Hi." Piper ventured a greeting somewhat nervously. Faith looked over to her, reminded herself of the reason she was there, and forced herself to relax. She didn't feel any real sense of danger from anyone here anyway. Forcing a smile, she returned the greeting.

"Hi." Phoebe poured a fresh cup of coffee, and handed in to Faith, indicating that she should sit down.

"Didn't expect to see you today. Here." Piper said, pretending to be casual. Faith smiled to herself as she sipped the coffee, enjoying the better than she was used to taste.

"I wanted to ask something." Phoebe sat next to her, touching her arm gently.

"What?" Glancing at Prue, who was hiding in the far corner, Faith spoke.

"Now, don't throw me into a wall or anything, but I was wondering how the girl was." Everyone in the room flushed, and Prue looked away, apparently unable to meet her eyes.

"She's okay." Phoebe finally answered, just when Faith was convinced they had all lost the ability to speak. Heaving a sigh of relief, she sat back in the chair. That had been her biggest worry. She had run through the moment when he had shoved her into the dumpster so many times that morning, that she had practically convinced herself she had to be badly injured.

"Good." she murmured to herself. A ghost of a smile appeared, before she shook her head. Sentimental fool, she chastised herself. Ignoring the looks that were shot towards Prue, she looked around the kitchen, noting a few incongruous elements. Like the rack full of fresh herbs and other ingredients not normally found in the modern kitchen. Or the charms hung above the doorway. A glimmer of understanding appeared in Faith's eyes.

"Is that the only reason you came here this morning?" Piper asked knowingly. Faith looked back to the sisters, who were all waiting for her answer. Looking directly at Phoebe, she answered.

"No, it's not."

* * *

Phoebe felt a little shiver of excitement when Faith answered her sister, looking directly at her. She looked away, and tried to gather her thoughts. Putting her sudden inability to think straight on her exhaustion, she absently drained her coffee while listening to the conversation going on around her.

"So why else are you here?" Prue asked, finally speaking to Faith. A slight pause before Faith answered, and when she did, her voice was unsure.

"I have a problem that I think you can help me with." Phoebe held her breath, as she was sure her sisters were doing, as they waited for Faith to continue. "The attack last night, it wasn't random. I think that there will be more, and I want to try and stop that from happening." Faith continued, voice growing bolder as she relaxed.

Phoebe glanced at her sisters, catching their eyes. She wanted to be the one handling this. Couldn't risk one of them sending her running again, she thought to herself, ignoring the little inner voice that told her she just wanted to be the one Faith was concentrating on. Pushing the traitorous voice down, she carried on the questioning. She had to find out how much Faith knew about her situation, and what she knew about the sisters.

"What makes you think it wasn't random?" Faith smiled.

"Call it a gut feeling." Faith answered.

"Well that's helpful." Prue snorted from the corner. Faith just shrugged.

"Well it's not like I've got any proof. He didn't exactly stick around to tell me his plans. I just got this sense that it wasn't the first attack, or the last." Hmm. First reference to the attacker. Lets follow this, see if she can id him for us.

"Do you know what the attacker was?" Phoebe realised her slip as soon as she'd spoken, but Faith didn't pick up on it. She was to busy laughing. While it was one heck of a sight, to see Faith laughing, looking about five years younger and a whole lot more innocent, Phoebe wondered what she had said that was so funny. Looking to Piper for help, she just shrugged. She didn't know either.

"What's so funny?" She asked, baffled. Faith stopped laughing, managing to contain another snort as she saw the baffled faces surrounding her.

"Sorry. It was just. . . You're asking me if I know what a vampire is?" She laughed again, more softly than before.

"Vampire?" Surely she's joking. Faith glanced up at her. Phoebe guessed that her emotions were playing all over her face again, because Faith frowned ever so slightly.

"Yeah. Vampire." She glanced at the sisters, then back at Phoebe. "You do know about vampires don't you?" Phoebe shook her head, and Faith whistled.

"Why is it so funny?" Piper asked from the corner, sharp as always. Phoebe hadn't even picked up on that, her attention having been grabbed by the word vampire.

"Because. I'm the slayer." Faith stated, with no small amount of pride.

"What's a slayer?" Phoebe asked. Faith sighed, and looked around the kitchen.

"I don't believe this." she muttered under her breath. "Okay, you want the whole story or the cliff notes version?" she asked, glancing around the room. As one, the sisters decided. Phoebe spoke.

"The whole story." Faith sighed, finished her coffee and paused, before starting.

"Okay. How does it go?" she muttered to herself. "Oh yeah." she took a deep breath, and looked around the room. "In every generation there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer."

* * *

Prue listened to the slayers story, feeling like a bigger fool every minute. Here was this kid, chosen to fight demons, and doing a job of it too, and she had thrown her into a wall. Okay, so it was a little mix-up that could have happened to anyone. But no, it hadn't happened to anyone, it had happened to Prue.

She was never going to live it down. Shaking her head, she decided that now was a good a time as any to apologise.

"Faith." Faith turned to her, face blank although her eyes were wary. She didn't trust Prue, that much was obvious. "I'm sorry for throwing you into the wall." Since Phoebe had told her they were witches, she might as well own up to the responsibility. For a second, she wasn't sure what the response was going to be. Faith then nodded slowly.

"S'cool. I might have done the same thing." Prue heaved a sigh of relief that she wasn't holding a grudge, until the slayers look darkened. "Try it again and I'll break your arm." she added, before grinning. Prue stared at her, not entirely sure if she was joking or not. Her grin and light hearted tone said joke, but the look in her eyes said that she was serious. Shaking her head, she decided not to find out.

"So how can we help you?" Faith shrugged.

"Ah, I'm not exactly sure. I thought, maybe I could talk to Alexia at the hospital, see what she can tell me.

"Well, you can skip talking to Alexia. Even if she's still at the hospital, I doubt she'll say anything to you." Piper said.

"Why?" Faith frowned, obviously not happy at that news.

"We talked to her this morning. She didn't really have a lot of information that could help you."

"Well, what did she say?" Faith asked, sounding exasperated.

"She just confirmed what you said. He pulled her into the alley, then forced her to her knees. He was chanting in a foreign language-"

"Latin."

"-when you came along and interrupted him. She doesn't really remember much after that, except for when he spoke to her before he left." Prue carried on as if Faith hadn't interrupted her. Faith perked up.

"What did he say to her?" Prue struggled to remember the slightly hysterical woman's exact words.

"Something about his master being disappointed."

"Is that it, she couldn't remember anything else?" Faith pressed.

"No that was it. He just leaned over, licked her forehead and told her his master was going to be disappointed at missing out on her blood." Prue said, that particular detail just coming back to her now.

"He licked her forehead?" Phoebe asked, screwing up her face in distaste. "Eww." Faith grinned, and put a hand on her arm, briefly squeezing it, before turning back to Prue.

"Well, it's not much, but it's better than nothing." She looked around the room. "So what do you think we should do now?" she asked, suddenly looking distinctly bashful.

"Don't you have any ideas? I thought you were the slayer?" Piper asked, eyebrow arched.

"Hey, I just kill things. I don't come up with the plans. That's what-" Abruptly Faith cut herself off, jaw snapping shut. Prue raised her eyebrow at the unexpected sight, before Faith shook her head, eyes dark and swirling with emotion. "That's what I need you guys for." she continued more quietly, not meeting anyone's eyes, obviously not saying what she was going to say before. Prue filed that away for thought, then put her logical mind to work, and came up with a plan.

* * *

Faith could barely concentrate as Prue outlined her plan. She was still berating herself for almost mentioning watchers. She had glossed over that whole part of being a slayer because it would have led to far too many questions that Faith didn't want to answer.

She didn't even want to think about it, but now, of course, she couldn't stop. She was wondering what had happened to Wesley, if he had made it through the ascension. She hoped he had. He was a dork, and majorly annoying, but she didn't want him dead. Well, not any more at least.

With a sigh, not even pretending to concentrate, she wondered where he was, what he was doing. Was he in England, sipping tea and talking with equally anal retentive friends, assuming the man actually had any. Or was he still in America? Nah, he had to be in England. Otherwise he would have been in Sunnydale with the rest of the scoobs. Her mind probably would have drifted onto more painful subjects, but a voice finally broke into her musings.

"Faith?" Blinking, she looked up, and tried to figure out why they were all staring at her.

"Huh?" Phoebe grinned ever so slightly, hiding it behind a hand as she pretended to cough. Faith narrowed her eyes, knowing that she was being laughed at.

"What do you think of the plan?" Shit, there was a plan? When did that happen? Hoping no-one had noticed she hadn't actually been listening she nodded her head. Why were they looking for her opinion anyway? No-one ever asked her what she thought of the plan, they just told her what to do, and she did it.

"Mmm-hmm." A careful non-committal noise. Phoebe was still smirking, but thankfully her sisters accepted it.

"Okay, let's get started." With that Prue and Piper left the kitchen, leaving Phoebe and Faith by themselves.

"You have no idea what the plan is, do you?" Phoebe asked, looking smug. For some reason Faith started to blush, and she just glared at Phoebe. "I didn't think you were listening to Prue. You had this little thing going on with your mouth." She explained. Faith frowned.

"What little thing with my mouth?" she asked, currently unaware of anything wrong with her mouth.

"You sort of, screwed it up every so often. And one time, you snorted under your breath." Phoebe said, eyes glued to Faith's lips. Faith enjoyed the attention. Probably snorted when I thought of Wesley with friends, she mused to herself. "So what were you thinking about?" Phoebe asked, startling Faith.

"Nothing really. So what's the plan?" She could tell from the look in Phoebe's eyes that it wasn't the most subtle subject change ever, but she answered Faith anyway.

"Well, Prue had to go to work, or her boss might fire her, he's a bit of an asshole like that, so she can't do much this morning. Piper is going to get the tapes for last night, and the previous week." Phoebe stood up, and Faith followed suit. "And that takes us to our part of the plan. Going through the tapes for any sign of our vampire."

"So what do we do until Piper comes back with the tapes?" Faith wondered aloud, her mind throwing up a few options that she might have followed through on were it not for the fact that she was injured and really didn't the witches to find out.

"Well, I'm going to go on the net and see if I can find out anything about the 'sword of darkness'." The what? Faith tried to remember when that had been brought up, and concluded that she had missed more than she'd previously thought.

"Why?" Phoebe, who was in the process of leaving the kitchen froze in her tracks, causing Faith to nearly walk into her back. Confused by the reaction, she gently spun Phoebe around, who regarded her with a pale, guilty expression.

"I uh, forgot to tell you." An eyebrow raised, and she waited for the rest, wondering what was so bad. "The reason I came running out after you." Oh, that hadn't occurred to her at all. Everything had happened so fast, she had forgotten to ask Phoebe about it. "I had a premonition of you in the club." Faith wrinkled her eyebrows, thinking back to the club. She remembered the moment when she had shoved the beer at her.

"Was it when I gave you my beer?" Phoebe nodded, and Faith crowed. Score one for slayer instincts. "So what did you see? Me dying or something?" She meant it as a joke, not seriously thinking it could be true, but shocked blue eyes flew up from studying the floor to look at her own eyes, she knew that was indeed what she had seen. Sucking in a deep breath, she took a step back.

"Damn."

* * *

Phoebe watched as realisation dawned in the slayers deep brown eyes, and cursed herself, and her sisters, for completely forgetting about the premonition. How the fuck do you forget something that important? she asked herself. Faith took a step back, paling ever so slightly.

"Damn." If she hadn't been standing right there Phoebe wouldn't have heard the soft exclamation. Phoebe couldn't think of anything to say or do, so she stood there, frozen to the spot, and watched as Faith fought to get her emotions back under control. The confusion was written all over her face. After a long minute, Faith shook her head, and grinned.

"Well Phoebe, it's not like that doesn't happen to me almost every night." It was a weak statement, and they both knew it. Her heart ached for the fragile young woman in front of her, and she wondered why Faith was even trying to be stoic about it. Faith shook her head, and grinned. "It's going to take a lot more than a single vamp to off me anyway." she said, sounding damn near convincing.

"Aren't you even a little concerned?" Phoebe asked. Faith shook her head.

"Nope. I've nearly died so many times now I don't even bother keeping count." Phoebe shook her head, not quite able to reconcile how easy Faith brushed off her premonition, considering how hard it had affected her. They stood in silence for a little while longer, and Phoebe took a long hard look at the young woman in front of her.

Last night she would have guessed that Faith was in her early twenties. The clothes make-up and attitude made her seem old. But looking at her now, tired, worn out and wearing a ragged blue shirt three sizes too big, Phoebe wouldn't dare hazard a guess, except to say, younger than she let on.

Looking at the clock, she realised that they had a good three or four hours to kill before her sister came home with the tapes. She took another look at the slayer, who was staring out of the window, jaw clenched. Saw the exhaustion there.

"Since we have a few hours to kill, what would you say to a shower and breakfast?" she asked finally. Troubled brown eyes swung back to look down into blue.

"What?"

"You can get cleaned up, I'll lend you some of my clothes while we wash yours, and I'll cook you breakfast. Or an early lunch." Faith still looked unsure, and Phoebe rolled her eyes at her stubbornness. "Look, you can't do anything right now anyway. There's only one computer in the house, and Piper wont be back for at least three hours, so you might as well." Slowly, Faith nodded, and Phoebe grinned in victory.

* * *

Faith saw the victorious grin on Phoebe's face, but let herself be pulled along anyway. She didn't have the wits about her to protest. And she could do with a shower. She was willing to bet that theirs wasn't old, cold or just as likely to issue brown sludge as water.

"I'm not sure if I have much that will fit you, but I'm sure I can find something." Faith was directed into a large bathroom, bigger and better furnished than some motel rooms she'd been in. "Just put your clothes in the hamper. I'll bring mine through in a minute."

"Sure." Faith wasn't used to this kind of hospitality, but that was no reason to turn down a shower and free breakfast.

It was better than she'd had for a long time. Life on the road was hard, and it was often a choice between eating and having a roof over her head. Trying to get by without going back to her old 'want take have' motto was a lot harder than she'd thought, and though she'd slipped once or twice, again this morning to get a 'new' shirt, for the most part she'd stuck to it. She was slowly working her way towards redemption, and it was doubtful that anyone from Sunnydale would have recognised, or believed, the Faith that shrugged, and headed to the shower.

After a long shower, where Faith nearly fell asleep standing up, and dressing in clothes that really didn't fit her, she headed downstairs. The first thing she saw was Phoebe, sitting at a table in front of her laptop. Her face was set in concentration, and she was absently chewing on a pen. Cute little glasses balanced on the tip of her nose just made her seem more adorable than before. Faith stood and stared, unashamedly drinking in the sight, until finally Phoebe looked up. Smiling, she continued down the stairs.

* * *

Phoebe looked up, and her breath hitched in her throat. Faith had pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail, but a few strands hung loose, framing her thin face. The clothes Phoebe had lent her didn't fit very well. The green combats hung off Faith, and the t-shirt was too small, leaving most of her midriff bare, and emphasising her cleavage. For a long moment all Phoebe could do was stare at the vision that was Faith, before she reluctantly tore her gaze away to try and get herself under control.

She was torn between pouncing on the brunette right there and ripping off the tight t-shirt, or dragging her upstairs for another, longer shower. The girl was undeniably hot, and she struggled to get her breathing under control. She really wanted to rip that t-shirt off though. "You clean up pretty good." was all she said.

"Thanks." Faith sauntered down the stairs, and it was only when she turned slightly that Phoebe caught sight of the gash on her arm.

"What is that?" she asked, jumping up to look at it. Faith waved her away.

"Nothing. It'll be healed by tomorrow." Phoebe shot her a sceptical look. She wasn't an expert, but it looked like it needed stitches. Faith saw the look, and sighed. "Slayer healing. Trust me, I'll be okay." Phoebe shook her head, outright not believing her for a second. Faith looked down at her, nibbling her lower lip thoughtfully. Phoebe resisted the urge to lean over and nibble it for her.

"Well, I could use a bandage to keep it clean." Phoebe took what was being offered, and proceeded to wrap the slayers arm in gauze. From there she found another long gash on her shoulder, which apparently Faith hadn't noticed, so she wrapped that as well. It was also a great excuse to get Faith to take off her t-shirt.

After that, somehow getting her libido back under control, she insisted on making something to eat. She'd noticed how thin Faith was once her shirt was off, so she made piles of bacon and waffles instead of just the scrambled eggs and coffee she had been planning on. After watching Faith inhale her food, somewhat surprised at the amount she managed to put away, Phoebe moved them to the living room to relax.

Her search on the internet had turned up nothing useful, just a vague etching that confirmed it was the sword from her premonition, along with a confusing passage that neither she nor Faith could make any sense of. She hoped that Leo might make something of it, and idly wondered how to introduce him to Faith.

She turned around to ask Faith if she knew any white lighters, but when she did she saw that Faith had fallen asleep, clutching a cushion with one hand to herself, in front of her body like a shield. Phoebe smiled at the sight, and quietly pulled a blanket over her, tucking it in around her. Faith had obviously been exhausted by the nights events.

Phoebe however, despite not having slept in thirty hours, was full of energy, and wouldn't have been able to sleep even if she wanted to. She realised that she was still leaning over Faith, and that her hand was caressing the slayers cheek. Impulsively, she leaned over and kissed Faith on the forehead, before straightening up and heading towards the kitchen to phone her sisters, hoping that their day was more productive.

*****