Disclaimer: I do not now nor have I ever owned any parts or parcels of 'Buffy: the Vampire Slayer', though I do envy Josh Whedon and Mutant Enemy for it. Le~sigh.

Author's Note: This is an edit and reposting of a chapter. With corrected punctuation and etc. Haha. The chapter has also grown far larger and longer than it was before.

Beta: Myself… may you all have mercy on my soul.

Plot: Released from jail on good behavior, Faith struggles to obtain both a job and a better life. However, an odd dream and a chance encounter with Angel turns the former baddie's tracks back towards SunnyDale. Something is not the same…

Story Title: Pivot

Author: MachaBadb

Chapter: Many Unhappy Returns

Many Unhappy Returns

Never thought I'd be back here. Not since the last time. Never in a million years. Part of Faith wanted to hide from the events of her sad past. She had once been a not so bad person, fighting the good fight. Sure, her life had not been the best before her first trip to SunnyDale. In truth, her life had been a nightmare… having to deal with a mother who was either filling her mouth with cigarette smoke or alcohol, her father not being around and what she did remember of the man… it made her glad he was gone. Her mother was also, blissfully deceased and she would never have to see the woman again or hear anymore words of condemnation. If I thought long enough, I'd say fine… It's all five by five and none of this is fully my fault. Of course, thinking like that had gotten her in more trouble than not. After her awakening, life with Dormer had been very good and even now, she felt unexpected moisture flood her eyes as she thought of her first watcher. With Dormer, she had her first taste of home. The woman was the first one to truly show any sort of feeling for Faith. She had even begun to think of the Watcher as her mother. She certainly dished out enough pride for achievements and concern for Faith's welfare. Dormer was protective as hell…

Kakistos had stolen that from her. She'd had warmth once… had tried to grab onto it with both hands and never let go. To her credit, Faith had instinctively begun closing off parts of herself that were too vulnerable. It was dangerous for her to have feelings for anyone, wasn't it? Her sole friend was her, herself and no one else. Born to be bad, or at least being prone to get into trouble, it was not in the least hard for Faith to fall into bad habits. Alcohol had been her bestest buddy. She knew that Gin and Rum were her friends and whenever she was down, good old Jack would be there to catch her fall.

Of course, this behavior only served her for so long…until she made her way to SunnyDale. Back then, she had claimed to have a watcher off somewhere else. She had said many things that were either half truths or outright lies. Best of all though, she had met someone who would leave a permanent impression on her. Miss Buffy Anne Summers. Even now and despite her task ahead, a faint smirk crossed her lips.

Focusing on the present, Faith was careful to access her surroundings. She walked alone down a lonely stretch of road, as she often had in the past. Ever so often, she heard the faint hiss of tires on the ground as one vehicle after the next would pass. Back in Boston, cars stopped sometimes when the drivers saw people walking like she was. Especially in this kind of weather. The thin straps of a burgundy backpack rested on her shoulders. The afternoon sky was growing dark with storm clouds. Soon, she knew they would part, if only to release a torrential deluge on anything and everything foolish enough to be outside. Her smirk widened a bit. Like me… Slowly at first, a single drop landed on the ground before her. One multiplied quickly and soon, she was debating the value of even trying to keep her head covered. Only a gray hoodie sweatshirt kept her protected from the pouring rain. In her haste to travel along this old beaten path, Faith had not taken time to consider how the weather might be. Nor had she cared enough to even pack properly.

Her dark eyes were focusing solely on the ground before her, watching nike clad feet taking one step after the other. Her mind began wandering over part of the reason she was even heading this way. Faith had lost track of time and space after the first bizarre dream. Her first week out of prison found her sleeping in the park on one of the benches. Trying to shrug off her nightmare as a strange quirk, she had struggled to enjoy her change in venue. Knowing that with little education, her chances at ever getting a decent job were slim, she sought out things that did fall under her peculiar skill set. Naturally, she found herself outside of a club soon thereafter and applying for a position. Bouncer. The manager had laughed at her but hired her anyway. Faith had proved herself. The tenders there enjoyed her company, even if she didn't say much. In fact, most of the people who worked there did not even know her real first name. She had applied under the guise of Evangeline Terrance. Life was good though and money even better as a decent chunk of Faith's pay was under the table.

She had no bank account and did not want to risk the calamity if she tried to deposit her paychecks in one, so it was usually just cash. Her boss was smart enough to not question much of his employee and even moreso to know not to cheat her. For all her faults, counting was not amongst one of her weaknesses. Faith knew exactly what she was to be paid per hour and was usually accurate down to the last few pennies. Of course, good things had to come to an end. Of course, she was not allowed to have a decent life. The nightmares continued, each one resulting in her waking up screaming and soaked with sweat. One of them had even caused her to soil herself. Disgusted with herself, Faith had showered and headed outside for a smoke. The dark haired woman did not spend much time focused on her love of cancer sticks because as soon as she stepped outside, her nerves went on high alert. Something or someone was there. A vampire… Her mind had whispered and before either of them were ready, she was already sprawled on his chest, a piece of wood held over his chest. Her eyes widened… It was Angel…

And now… Back to good ole Sunny D. Her mind griped. Faith was uncertain of what she would do differently this time around. She pulled her hands out of the pockets of her black jeans, focusing her gaze skyward. Through the ongoing gloom, she followed an invisible path, knowing how to get into SunnyDale by memory now. She had certainly spent plenty of time running to and from the place, violence and mayhem forefront in her mind. Back then, the dark slayer been so single-track minded, carving a path of death and destruction and uncaring as to whom was left in its wake. In the ensuing chaos, Faith managed to alienate the only other person who had seemed to understand what it was like. Buffy… Her mind whispered, reverently, her smirk faltering. Buffy… her sister slayer. Buffy and Faith alone knew what it was like. To be a Slayer. There was no The Slayer. There could be no single slayer, not with the two of them alive at the same time. Ever since Buffy's first supposed 'death', there had been a second. As Slayers, they knew what it felt like to have other people depend on you…to need you. Faith had been one of those people first. Just one of the gang, fighting the baddies of the night. Now all that had changed.

"Superfriends wouldn't want to be near me again. Unless it was to kill me or have me back in prison." Grudgingly she figured considering her circumstances, that it would be one of the best things they could do to her. She was a danger still. Even though she was rehabilitated and even though she had passed her anger management courses with flying colors, it was still there. She paused in mid step and looked down at her hands. To the casual outsider, they looked perfectly clean, but she knew differently. Her hands would always be stained red with the blood of the innocent. It had all started with Deputy Finch. Okay, so maybe not all of the innocent blood was innocent. It still did not excuse her killing a human. She should have stopped it then and turned herself in, but she was unable to. Fear warred with honor in those dark days. Faith let fear win instead and chose to completely deny that the murder had even happened. Denial always made a problem disappear didn't it? She could not fully claim it had not happened though. Buffy had been there and seen it all. Buffy had wanted her to come clean, but Faith had refused to even speak of it. To her, it was slowly becoming an experience much like her life right after the loss of Dormer. Faith wanted to press on, acting as if she knew nothing, but after a while… Buffy's words began to slowly sink in. The easy camaraderie they had shared was slowly coming undone. And Faith was beginning to think that maybe she should turn herself in. Then the Council came after her, slinging accusations and handcuffs without much explanation and all bets were off. It was true that she had killed the man, but she was not the thoughtless deliverer of slaughter she was seen as. Escaping had been easy enough and left her more enraged than not. Then her whole relationship with the Mayor began…

The Mayor had been a peculiar man. All saccharine smiles and he reminded one of warm, fresh American apple pie. While Faith was around him, she could not help think that Mayor Wilkins must have been born a long time ago….longer than he led on. She nearly laughed at few times over his gentle chiding when she would make a mistake. Despite that, he was a father figure that for a while she had been sorely lacking in. He seemed to only have her best interest at heart, and maybe because of that, Faith had swept the fact he did wrong under the carpet. He really was evil, but even now, thinking of the man caused a faint twinge in her chest. The Scoobies and Buffy had annihilated the man thoroughly. Richard Wilkins was an evil man, an evil beast…yet he had cared for Faith. She was almost understandably upset. Of course, then Buffy had come after her, the result being a knife sticking out of Faith's gut.

All, of course, for Angel's sake. The man was a vampire and had terrorized all of the Scoobs at one point or another… and yet he still managed to have preferential treatment over her. How sick was that? A vampire being treated better than a slayer. Waking up alone in that hospital room after months in a coma had been one of the most upsetting events of her life, even with seeing her first watcher killed and being used by the second. A muscle in her jaw twitched even now, thinking about Post. If she had any inkling back then of anything… But then again, wasn't had Faith's problem?

Realization had hit her then or what she thought had to be it, whilst lying in that hospital bed. A voice in her head had returned, telling her that none of them had cared. Of course, for a brief period everyone always had. After a while though…all good things for her came to an end. People who claimed to care about her turned out to be liars, people she admired were twisted in some way and she was the same for it. Watchers did not truly care for her…Not with Buffy around. They had their slayer and all she had been was the result of a mistake. Anger had been a close friend of hers for a long time then, and she used it to get payback. Her attempt, as always, blew up in her face. I was a fool. A complete fuck up. Ma would be so proud. She began to wonder why Angel hadn't killed her when presented with the opportunity so many times in the past. She'd given him ample reason to hate her, what with all the attempts to stake him. Shaking her head, she tried to dislodge her downward spiraling thoughts. When her mind traveled down that road, it was hard to drag herself back up.

No, she didn't want to think any more about her mother or her failings more than she needed to. A wet strand of dark hair stuck to her face, the hood miserably losing its battle against the rain. She did not care. Faith's wayward thoughts wandered back to the last dream she'd had. There was Buffy, of course, fighting for all she was worth and then everything around her began to speed up. The Dark Slayer's mind followed Buffy as the blonde made a dizzying run up twisted stairs to the top of some strange construct. She saw this brown haired girl that she didn't remember ever seeing, who seemed hurt, and an old man who was obviously behind it. The man made a trip over the side of the building with a careless shove from the slayer. She said something; spoke a few words to the young girl. Without warning, time slowed to a crawl as Buffy turned and started to run. Seeing that bright light was where the dream often ended.

Dark eyes found themselves once more focused on the slick ground. She really had no clue what it meant and was starting to get the feeling that she would not like the answer. Whatever it was, though…She was going to find out soon. She looked up as she passed a sign.

Welcome To SunnyDale

That Night…

Motels are funny things, she mused, staring at the walls with their old, peeling paint. At least the bathroom had been in slightly better condition. The paint still looked fresh; though she was sure it had not been that shade of green before. Still, there was barely any space between the toilet and what passed for a bathtub. Despite being able to pay for more, she had fallen back on old habits. She wasn't humorous enough, or financially conscious to even call it a 'money saving' venture. She knew she would need time to figure out the cause behind these odd dreams and find Buffy and… Faith knew that she was not supposed to announce her presence to the Scoobies either. This was for her own peace of mind, more than for the sake of necessity. Dingy, filthy and rat-infested holes in the wall were places that the former baddie was used to. In SunnyDale, one could not even pay enough for a peace of mind. Vampires or demons would cause damage no matter how much you paid for it…so why should Faith even try for better? Besides, places with as much anonymity as possible were her best bet since she did not want to immediately announce her presence.

Now, she found herself once again in one of the cheapest motel rooms in SunnyDale. At twenty dollars a night, the room cost a little more than her old room had. Of course, all of the dings and stains probably were behind the discounted price. Faith felt just a little sick then, thinking about the sad situations she had been forced into just to survive. This room was mostly clean though…but it was so small. She tried not to focus too much on her other 'other' room. This wasn't close to the living space she had been given by the Mayor. That place had been so lavish, almost too large for her. Ever seeking affection and craving attention, the brunette had easily given in to the comforts offered. It was-had been home. After stepping into the motel room, she had dropped her pack next to the door, peeled off her hoodie along with a black t-shirt that clung to her skin and dropped them on the floor. It seemed as safe a spot as any, considering the location. Was it possible that there were more creepy crawlies on the floor when compared to the bed itself? Likely to have more past stains. She just hoped that there were no strange smells coming from the uncomfortable looking surface. Making sure to lock the door, for a moment she pressed her hands and forehead to the aged wood.

Already, she was missing her old apartment, which was small but not nearly as tiny as this. Faith had kept the place clean easily too. She'd just moved in when the slayer dreams began. Stepping back from the door, she stared at it. Luckily, the landlord had believed her story of a family emergency and had not charged her for breaking her lease early. Luck… Hers had changed after she had escaped this dump of a town and now she was back again. Son of a bitch… She bit her bottom lip.

Due to how she had lived, hopping from one place to other and living in the smallest of places…running from the law and other forms of trouble, her worldly possessions were not many. It was good because it was easy to get away… far too easy to pack her life up and move. This was also bad, reminding her that she did not at all resemble any kind of permanence. It seemed like Faith would always be running from something… or someone. That wasn't a sure fired way for anyone to continue living, but she had done so insofar, hadn't she? Clenching and unclenching her fists, Faith tried not to think of her limited chances if she had to keep doing this. Swallowing hard, she backed up until the backs of her knees hit bed. With a sigh, she sat on the hard mattress, clad in her bra and jeans, and threw herself back on the bed. Both hands rested over her eyes, her palms pressing into her cheeks. Faith inhaled slowly and deeply, fighting the urge to shake her head and pull her own hair. Frustration was painful for her and inactivity even more so. This continued for a few moments until she dragged her hands down the sides of her face. Bored…I'm bored! A few hours back in SunnyDale and she already wanted to leave again. This would not do. She wasn't content to just idly twiddle her thumbs either. She had been and still was a woman of action.

Maybe I can find something to slay… Slowly coming to a decision, she sat up and hopped off the bed, walking over to her backpack. She dug through the pack, moving around items and removing a few things before pulling out a wooden stake. Weighing the solid wood in one hand, she considered again, carefully. If she went outside, there was a definite risk of exposing herself. If she stayed inside tonight, there was a bigger risk she would die of boredom. Faith prayed there was a beastie in need of killing. Even if not, patrolling was a good way to pass the time. The alternative did not appeal nearly as much as it had in the past. Strange…time in prison and suddenly going out and drinking had lost its charm. Half smiling, Faith pulled her sodden shirt on…struggling only a little with the willful fabric, unlocked the door and headed outside.

In The Graveyard…

She was feeling pretty good. Two vamps already dusted and she had only been out for half an hour. It was a situation that she could not call anything other than peculiar. So very strange and almost as if the population had jumped since she'd been away. With Buffy around, the dark-haired slayer doubted that should have been the case. B's slacking. She toyed with the idea of locating her sister slayer and teasing her about it, an impish grin briefly curving her lips upwards. Recollecting past reactions to seeing her however made Faith slowly begin to sober. Buffy would not like the idea of doing anything with her, let alone talking. The last time she remembered seeing Buffy, the blonde had tried to kill her. To be fair though, she had done the exact same thing on many different occasions. Still… Buffy slacking… it somehow didn't seem right.

Unless… Was there some sort of prophecy that no one had told her about? Perhaps some demon's nest that needing to be cleaned out? Maybe xenomorphs had managed to wriggle their way to SunnyD and were busting out of people's chests. No… She lightly shook her head. Even that last one was farfetched. Were it true, people would be far more cautious. Then again, in a town that was run by things that bumped and killed in the dark, its residents were surprisingly complacent. No one objected to anything really. Maybe people were so used to seeing unexplained deaths that they turned a blind eye to it. Or maybe…just maybe it was that the residents really did not care.

Sniffing lightly, the brunette glanced around. She was a little jumpy, but what she would have described as 'H&H' was not quite taking over. Already she was having a small adrenaline surge from the respite from inactivity. In prison, fighting was common, especially if you appeared as fragile as the former bad girl did. OF course, after the first few busted noses and broken ribs, people had been careful around her. While relieved that she would not be stabbed in her sleep, Faith missed the rush. Being a bouncer offered the opportunity to bust up someone, but even there her reputation preceded her. Out here, she did not have to worry about restraining herself. At least not nearly as much. Hearing a noise to her left, Faith ducked down just a little, her body pushing itself into readiness. Whirling towards the sound of lumbering steps, Faith had to take a split second to collect herself. Buffy? Her mind numbly murmured in confusion. Or was it? Faith's eyes narrowed. Something was off. She hadn't gotten that familiar twinge when the other slayer was around. Otherwise, she would not have been nearly as startled.

"Buffy!" She called aloud, hoping to attract the other slayer's attention. The blonde didn't even acknowledged that someone considered an ex-con was there. The blonde's steps were unusually stiff as she walked along, a stake clenched tightly in one hand. She seemed distracted, enough to not notice the two vampires sneaking up on her. Faith did not wait to take time to think about how oddly Buffy was acting and sprinted across the grass. She planted with her right foot and launched herself at the other slayer, tackling her to the ground. "Pay attention!" She yelled into the blonde's face before jumping to her feet and starting after the vampires. Buffy remained prone on the ground, not even blinking as one of the vampires swung at her 'savior'. Unblinking, the brunette caught the fist aimed for her face and thrust the stake home with her other hand. The other vampire was caught with a back kick and knocked to the ground. She crouched over him after he fell, and he too became dust. "Got 'em, B." She announced, looking to Buffy, surprised at the blank stare directed her way. "Buffy?" I didn't tackle her that hard. Taking a few quick steps over to the other slayer, Faith knelt and waved a hand slowly in front of the blonde's face. Nothing. Buffy's eyes weren't even following the path of her hand. The lights are on, but no one's home. She snapped her fingers a couple times, hoping that would work. Suddenly, those green eyes blinked at her…but it was slow. There we-

"Hello! I am Buffy!" The blond slayer chirped in a far too cheery tone…-go? Faith's mind stuttered on after the interruption. Faith waved her hand again in front of Buffy's face. "Who are you?" Was asked in the same voice. Considering this situation, Buffy should have been attacking her. The blond Slayer should have been trying to kill her. A chill ran down Faith's spine. Something was very, very wrong. She didn't see anything recognizable in Buffy's dulled gaze. Had something happened to addle the blonde? An accident? It would have made sense for the Scoobies to alert Faith as soon as such an occurrence had happened, wouldn't it have? Or were they so jaded by her deeds that they did not want to risk her being back here? Suddenly…the buzz from earlier was beginning to wear off. Faith's shoulders drooped slightly at the imagined, if not yet realized, rejection she was sure to receive.

"Faith…It's… It's Faith." The brunette spoke, setting her stake down on the ground and carefully grasping hold of Buffy's arms. "My name is Faith." She dutifully repeated, as if speaking to someone with diminished faculties. "Buffy, you know me!" At the still vacant stare, she started shaking the smaller woman slightly. Faith was trying to be careful, not wanting to spur her former ally into attacking her. "Buffy! It's me! Remember? It's me, Faith. Yunno… killed a guy and went rogue. Turned evil with a demon and tried to kill all your friends!" Hate, she'd expected and even now she waited for the much deserved slap that was meant just for her. Denial was also something that she expected, even more now because of how….diminished Buffy seemed to be. Maybe, Faith even expected to be on the receiving end of a nasty pounding, but to not even be remembered? This was unreal!

Seemingly as soon as the thought entered her head though, Faith's dark eyes narrowed. This all could be a ploy, some tactic to make her believe she had lost her mind. Or it was a dream. Was it possible that Faith had, up to this point, merely created this scenario out of her own warped nighttime imagination? Was her reality that she was drunk and passed out somewhere? Was she drugged? She bit her bottom lip hard in though, wincing at the pain from her deed. Nope…definitely alive. Though the obvious point that she was awake was that for a good five minutes she tried to imagine up a few barely clad bodies in swimwear, moonlight dancing over their glossy skin.

But of course, THAT was not going to happen. A pity… She thought. She did have some nice ideas for what her dream people would wear.

"I'm the Vampire Slayer." Buffy's cheerful voice broke her inner reverie and snapped her back to present. "I am The Slayer, and I kill vampires." Though more than a little insulted over that comment, Faith did not argue. She was unsure what arguing would do to Buffy. "Yes. Slaying vampires is what I do-"

"Yes, yes I know you kill vampires!" Faith interrupted, annoyed. She understood what being a Slayer entailed. She did not need to be reminded every five seconds. "B, please stop it already! You're starting to scare me!" Faith's enhanced hearing began to pick up a faint whirring noise. It wounded foreign, alien and very mechanical. Quieting, she drew in a deep breath slowly and was uncertain as to where the sound was originating. Faith tried not to focus on the knowledge that the closest source was in front of her. Buffy tilted her head and blinked at her. For a brief instant, Faith assumed that her sister slayer heard the same. "Buff…" She began, muscles tensing again. Something was very wrong. "Are you sick?"

"Where…are…m-my friends?" That was the last thing Faith could have expected to hear. And Buffy's voice…it was so… Faith was alarmed to hear the blonde slayer's voice deepening and slowing down. She did not sound like someone on the edge of passing out but more like something heard when playing a tape at a slower speed. Things were making little to no sense for Faith until she began noticing other things that were not normal. She noted the chill to Buffy's skin. Pressing a hand against the blonde's forehead, Faith drew back… Her hands noted how the surface she just touched did not feel like skin at all. She released her hold on the woman she'd assumed was a former ally and scrambled backwards, her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Buh…you're not Buffy!" But if this isn't Buffy, who the hell is it? What the hell is it? And where is Buffy? Faith doubted that if she asked the silent bot the questions swirling in her mind, she would only find herself the recipient of that eerily cold stare. It did not make sense, none at all. Where was the real Buffy? Was she taking time off or something?

"I think the Buffybot headed this way!" A familiar male voice spoke into the night air. Twitching, Faith scrambled even further away from the… bot… Bot? She got to her feet slowly, seeing Xander a distance away along with a blonde she recognized as his girlfriend. Faith turned and bolted, hiding behind a large stone angel and trying desperately to get her bearings. Thankfully, Faith had the presence of mind to tuck her limbs in closely to her body. She had gotten herself fully out of sight before they had a chance of spotting her. The brunette knew that many strange things happened in SunnyDale, demons…vampires…things that slithered and crawled, but she was certain that Buffy being a robot was not on the list of them. She heard Xander speaking then, and turned her focus to listening to him.

"Yeah she's here," He paused for a moment and then responded as if someone was talking to him. Peeking around the angel cautiously lest she be spotted, Faith watched him kneel in front of the… in front of the robot. Strange, it was still sitting upright mostly, but it was so still. "I think her batteries ran down. Time to recharge her." Faith then heard the blonde's voice.

"Xander…is that a stake?" Noticing her hand was empty, Faith fought the urge to curse audibly. She'd been so surprised, so confused that she had not been thinking clearly.

"Of course it is. You know, Buffy with a stake isn't a strange occurrence." His voice caught on the slayer's name. Dark brows furrowed as Faith noticed his tone. What was going on here exactly? They knew that the thing before them was a robot, but they still referred to 'it' as Buffy.

"She's still holding hers." The blonde replied. Noting sudden silence, Faith carefully edged around the statue and peered at the duo. Xander was kneeling next to the robot, much in the same position she had been in earlier.

"She…carries extras? I don't know Anya." He looked to the blonde, who merely shook her head. "No, Will would have told us if she programmed the bot to carry extras." Anya looked around, surveying the landscape. Unseen by the two, Faith's eyes narrowed. Was it even possible that the safety of this town relied on a robot that was not even bright enough to carry more than one stake at a time? But she did fool you. She reminded herself. That was likely the entire point, to make everything out there assume that it was Buffy who was beating them. Except the thing did not act like Buffy should have.

"Doesn't make sense to me either, Xander. I don't see signs of anyone else."

"That's…" Xander gulped. "That's because there is no one else. Buffy is the only slayer." Wisely, Faith surmised, Anya remained silent. Better not to bring up bad memories. The dark slayer's heart pounded a bit at his words… They had not even thought to come for her. Of course, that made sense, considering what she had done but still… "I'm going to need some help to get the bot back to Will." He was quiet and nodded with finality, looking the robot over carefully, checking for signs of damage. "It's strange… Could have sworn that Willow charged her before patrol tonight." He grunted a little as he pulled one arm over his shoulder and attempted to stand. Seeing his struggle, Anya quickly ran to the other side to assist.

"She is heavier than she looks." The woman lifted one of the arms. "Couldn't Willow have made her lighter than this?" Though she already knew the answer to the question. Anya seemed to at times just ask something just to fill the silence.

"An…don't. Just don't," He looked into the robot's face as he solidly gained his balance. "She's all that we have. And she's no Buffy. The only Buffy who's Buffy is the real one." Faith pulled away from the angel statue, pivoted on her heel and walked away swiftly. If anything else had been said, she didn't catch it. She needed to think. Had Buffy really done it? Had she left SunnyD? She felt saddened, but understood. Buffy had wanted to live a normal life, do things like an average every day girl would. And she figured the blonde slayer had done just that. Just packed up one day and left, because normal and SunnyDale had never gone hand in hand.

In the past, Faith had always thought SunnyDale should have been her place and now it really was. She had also thought that Buffy's entire life should have been her own, but she tried not to focus too much on those dark days, still remembering vividly how much she beat her own body up while spewing how much she hated it. I may not be THE Slayer, but I'm still a slayer. She should have been happy. So why did she not feel like celebrating? The old Faith would have been jumping for joy at the fact. Finally, a town to call her own. But no. Instead she just felt hollow. SunnyDale had never been her home, not truly. It had never belonged to her nor did she think it should now.

Faith did not come from a decent home with two loving parents. She did not have a normal childhood. Faith had proven herself to be as untrustworthy as they came, a murderer. She was a felon, with a violent temper and prone to a nasty mean streak. And currently, she was top pickings. Considering what SunnyDale had before, she felt bad for them, but she would do her best. As if my best was even nearly good enough.

That did not erase the fact that she now knew lives relied on her. And she was Second Best, barely able to take care of herself at times. The thought left a sour taste in her mouth and had she eaten earlier, her meal would have been at her feet.

Faith was going to have to do it. She was going to eventually run into the Superfriends on one of her patrols. She was going to have to explain as well as she could. Faith was also going to pray that she could run far enough if things turned bad.

…To Be Continued…

Author's Additional Note: Whew! Thanks for your patience. It should not take long at all, but each chapter is going to be revised, edited and uploaded again. Again, thanks for your time and thanks for sticking around all these years! ~.