TITLE: In The Slayer's Shadow 
AUTHOR: Ragna (WritingGoddess@aol.com, RaverRagna@excite.com) 
RATING: PG 
CLASSIFICATION: AU. Dawn/Faith friendship, future Faith/Xander. 
SUMMARY: What if Dawn had been around in season 3, and had an impact 
on Faith's life?
SPOILERS: Set after "Lovers Walk" but before "Amends."
DISTRIBUTION: Any sites with my fic up; you all have unspoken permission. 
I write it, you can post it. Everyone else just keep my name on it and 
let me know. 
DISCLAIMER: If you don't recognize it, chances are it's my own creation. 
If you do, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Kazui Sandollar, FOX and the WB 
own it or them. Various friends of mine are holding characters hostage. 
You may see them by appointment only. 
FEEDBACK: Sorry I'm not home right now I'm walking in the spiderwebs 
so leave a message and I'll call you back...in other words, I want it. 
Don't care if it's onlist or not, but I prefer offlist since I have 
quite a few lists on No Mail. 
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Goddess, I think this is my first YGTS? fic in at least 
three months. It's an answer to challenge # 167. This is a two part 
challenge, part one taking place in season three. This fic's sequel, 
"Out Of The Shadow," will be part two of the challenge and takes place 
in season 5.

~*~*~

"See, this new Slayer, Faith, she's..." Buffy began, talking to her 
Mom.

"She's different?" Joyce replied.

Buffy nodded. "Really rough. I mean, she's okay, I guess. But she 
craves a lot of attention."

"Mom!" Dawn yelled from the kitchen. "I need help with dinner!"

"Sort of like Dawn," Buffy muttered, watching her Mom get up and head 
into the kitchen. "Stupid little sister, getting all the attention..."

She picked up the phone, dialing one of the five familiar numbers she 
knew. "Giles? You know, I'm in the mood for some training this 
afternoon."

"I'm glad you called. I need to speak with both you and Faith about an 
important matter. Do you know where she is?"

"I'm not her keeper. Ask Xander...he seems to keep close tabs on her." 
She crossed her arms and cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder.

"Well..." There was a pause and the sound of a door closing in the 
background, and Giles came back on the line. "Never mind. Faith has 
just arrived. Why don't you come down to the library and train a bit 
while I explain this situation with the Mayor."

"Fine, let me just tell my Mom." She paused. "Oh, no. Wait a second. 
Mom's got a showing tonight, and I was supposed to baby-sit Dawn." She 
let out a sigh. "I can't come."

"I understand. I'll inform Faith tonight and have her patrol."

"Fine." Buffy hung up, stretching her arms out in front of her. "I hate 
having a little sister..."

***

The knock on the door startled Dawn. Buffy was in the back yard, 
beating the crap out of a punching bag. Dawn wasn't really supposed to 
know what the word crap meant, but she did. Her Mom and Buffy didn't 
understand that she was old enough to be responsible for herself and to 
say adult words.

There was another knock on the door, and Dawn decided to answer it 
herself. She was smart: she knew to look through the hole in the door 
to see if she knew who was there. And unless she was 100% sure it was 
a human on the other side, she wouldn't let them in.

Of course, that didn't mean they couldn't be an evil wizard or a 
Jehovah's witness or something.

"Hey, B! Are you in there?"

"B? Who's That?" Dawn said before she realized she was speaking.

"Buffy. Fellow Slayer. Who's that."

Dawn got up and went to the door. "I'm Dawn."

"The annoying little brat," Buffy said, slamming the door leading into 
the house from the backyard behind her. "How'd you find out where I 
live?"

"Xander gave me directions. Can you open up? There's vamps watching the 
place and I hate having them all at my back."

"Fine." Buffy moved none too gently past Dawn to the door, opening it.

Dawn got a good look at the new Slayer. She was a little taller than 
Buffy, with black hair and dark make-up. And leather pants...Buffy had 
a few pairs, but they didn't fit as well as Faith's. Dawn thought all 
she needed was a leather duster and dark shades and she'd look like a 
character out of those ads for The Matrix she saw on TV all the time.

"Who's the munchkin?" Faith asked, looking at Dawn.

"My little sister, Dawn. Dawn, this is Faith."

Faith nodded to Dawn. "Look, something came up. Giles needs you at the 
library."

"I can't leave Dawn alone." She looked at Faith. "Why didn't he call?"

"Line was busy."

Buffy turned to Dawn. "Why were you online?"

"School report." Dawn looked right into Buffy's eyes. "I'm old enough to 
stay here by myself."

"No, you're not." Buffy turned back to Faith. "Is everyone at the 
library?"

Faith nodded. "Even that stuffed shirt Wesley. And everyone's busy." 
She paused. "The vamp's patrolling right now, so I got sent as baby-
sitting detail. If that's okay with you."

"His name is Angel," Buffy said, clenching her fists. She still didn't 
completely forgive Faith for trying to kill him, but she'd have to give 
this woman a chance. Now was a good time to start.

"Sorry. Anyway, here." Faith handed Buffy her stake. "Anything I need 
to know about Dawn?"

"Bedtime's ten." Buffy grabbed her jacket from the coat rack by the 
door. She turned to Dawn and added, "Get offline long enough for me to 
call when I get to the library."

Dawn saluted Buffy, but her sister had already turned her back on the 
two and was headed out the door.

"Bedtime's ten," Dawn said in a higher voice, mocking Buffy.

Faith laughed, a smile crossing her face. "I take it you two aren't 
all lovey dovey about each other."

"Mom says we're the poster children for sibling rivalry," Dawn said, 
walking back to the computer and saving her files.

"Always wished I'd had a brother or sister."

"Funny. I always wished I didn't."

Faith shrugged, still smiling. "You always want what you don't have."

Dawn nodded, shutting down the computer. "So..."

"Well, it's nine o'clock. Since B said you had to stay offline, what 
do you want to do?" Faith sat down on the couch.

Dawn shrugged. "I guess watch TV or something."

"Good idea." Faith grabbed the remote and turned it to Cinemax. "Mind 
if we watch Grosse Pointe Blank? I'm a big John Cusack fan."

"I'm not supposed to watch rated R movies," Dawn said as the film's 
rating flashed on the screen."

"I won't tell if you won't."

"Deal."

***

When Buffy returned home, Faith was asleep on the couch. A blanket was
pulled over her, and the TV was on, MTV playing some hard rock videos.

Joyce was in the kitchen. "Buffy? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Mom. It's me." She set down the books that were her share of 
research.

"I met Faith."

"I can tell."

"She's nice."

Buffy shrugged, walking into the kitchen and heading straight to the 
fridge.

"She was telling me about her old Watcher, and the one they just sent. 
Why aren't you so open about the Slayer stuff?"

"I don't know." She pulled out a gallon of milk. "I'm sorry I left Dawn."

"It's okay. Faith seems extremely responsible." She smiled. "And I think 
she's a little fond of her."

"You mean someone actually likes Dawn?"

Joyce nodded, handing Buffy a glass. "I think they have a lot in common."

"Like what?"

"Well...they both feel alone. And they're both different. And...Buffy, 
they're both living under your shadow. Dawn because she's your little 
sister and Faith because she's the other Slayer. And that's got to be 
hard."

"They don't live in my shadow," Buffy said. She took a huge gulp of 
milk.

Joyce nodded, returning to making Dawn's lunch for the next day. "Okay."