Disclaimers in the first Chapter.

Chapter 5

The same night.
Xander's Place
Sunnydale Ca.

Cordelia had taken Faith up to her room while he was on the phone with Giles, and now the dark-haired Slayer was standing there looking at him, her hands on her hips, and a look of anger on her face.

Xander hung up the phone and turned to confront her.

"What is it now, Faith?" he asked, irritation easily recognizable in his tone.

"What is all of my stuff doing up in that room?"

Xander sighed, it was just not his night.

"I went back to your place when you were in the hospital, and moved all of your stuff into storage. I thought that you would eventually come out of the coma, and you might like to have your belongings. Even though you tried to kill me, Faith, I don't believe you would have gone through with it even if Angel hadn't stopped you. I knew you were confused, hurt, and angry, but I didn't believe that you would have gone through with it."

"When I told you that we had a connection, I didn't mean the fact that we had sex, I meant the connection that a similar childhood gave us."

"Oh," Faith answered weakly, her anger diffused by the vampyre's answer.

"Yea, anyway, I brought all of your stuff here when I moved in. When I found out that you were out of the hospital, I set up a room for you, because I was hoping to get you back on our side. If not, well, I could have just given it to the Salvation Army."

Faith started to go back upstairs, but paused and turned to the two Vampyres.

"Thanks, Xan. You too, Cordelia. For everything," she said softly.

Xander locked up the house and then joined Cordy as they headed upstairs.

Cordelia went in and took a shower, wanting to remove the dust of the vampires she had dusted that night, and Xander went out on the deck to think.

When Cordelia finished her shower, she could feel his presence, but saw he wasn't on the deck, so she pulled a robe on and went to look for him. She found him in his favorite place, sitting on the roof, just below the peak.

She was further surprised to find him smoking a cigarette.

"What's up with the stinky burning thing there?" she asked.

"Just an old bad habit, Cor, something I don't think any of you knew about. I've been smoking for years, usually only when I get really stressed about something. This is the first I've had since getting back to Sunnydale, though."

"That worried about seeing Joyce, huh?" she asked. Proving she did know him well.

"You could say that."

"Well, give me one. Always wanted to see what it was like, and since it can't kill me, I guess now would be a good time. And you can tell me what's bugging you."

Xander fished the pack out and handed her one, then held the lighter for her.

The two smoked in silence for a few minutes, before Cordelia disturbed the quiet.

"It is kind of relaxing. So, tell me what's up."

"Not much. It's just that Joyce became more of a mother to me than my own mom. During the summer that Buffy was gone, I used to stop by to see how she and Dawn were holding up, and we used to talk. She got me to open up about my parents and home life, and even offered to let me move in with them. She helped me to understand a lot of the summer school work that I had to do so that I would be able to graduate with the rest of you. She was someone that I could talk to, someone that listened to me and didn't judge me. She helped a lot."

Xander turned and looked Cordy straight in the eye.

"She also helped me to understand more about you, and why we had so many problems with our relationship. She explained about what she thought you were feeling about us, and how your popularity could be affected. She helped me to let go of you. Not that I ever completely did, but I did get rid of the anger and resentment I felt. I was finally able to move on."

The two lovers looked at each other, finally making peace with their past, understanding why things were different now, and how their immaturity had torn them apart.

They ground their cigarettes our and flew back into the house together.

-----~~~~~-----

Faith was the first one up, and she took a few minutes to realize where she was.

Then the events of the past few days flashed into her mind, and she lay there, quietly wondering what was going to happen next. Xander and Cordelia were some kind of old breed of Vamps. They were ones that made those she was familiar with look like weak, insignificant bugs.

She had gone to see Joyce, to say goodbye; well, not in person, but in her own mind. Then she was going to go out and find some bad guys she didn't have a chance against, fight them and get herself killed, to end the evil essence that was Faith Williams, murderer.

Then the two of them had shown up before she could leave - Cordelia making like she was going to drain her, and scaring her so badly that she would never forget that feeling.

And Xander! Green-gold eyes glowing, and making her pour out her soul to him, all the time in control, and scaring her worse than the cheerleader.

She sat up shaking her head, and headed for the shower.

When she was done drying herself, she stood in front of the full length mirror in the room, and examined her nude form. All the curves were still there, but more subdued, her ribs showing when she raised her arms. She had probably lost about ten to fifteen pounds while in the coma.

She finally dressed, wearing something more subdued than she normally would, taking Xander's advice to tone it down seriously. She headed downstairs to the kitchen, hoping that there would be some food there.

Opening the refrigerator, she found mostly green bottles with Raven's Cellar labels that she assumed were blood, and some pre-packaged dinners, all ready to be micro-waved. She opened one and nuked it; then, when she was that, she heated another.

While she ate, she kept thinking about everything that had happened, realizing that she was being given a second chance here, and vowed to herself not to mess it up.

She was nearly done eating when she felt a presence behind her, and was startled when Cordelia spoke.

"Morning, Faith."

Wheeling around, she saw Xander's girlfriend, and grabbed her chest.

"Damn, C! Don't do that! I ain't used to you guys being all stealthy like that. You just about made me wet myself."

Cordelia smirked and pulled out a bottle of blood. She poured two cups and, warmed one in the microwave.

"Better get used to it - Xander is even better than me at sneaking around. I don't know how many times he has scared the shit out of me, just coming out of nowhere," she laughed.

Cordy sat down at the table across from the Slayer and looked at her. To Faith, it was as if the Vampyre was examining her like she was a bug under someone's microscope.

"Don't make him regret helping you, Faith," Cordelia stated flatly. "Xander thinks that there is something in you worth saving, and if you go bad, he will kill you. And that would tear him up inside.

"But if I can get to you first, I * will * save him the grief, and I would not feel bad about it, at all."

"Don't worry, I won't let him down," Faith replied softly.

"You better not, because I won't be nearly as fast or as gentle as Xander would."

Faith found she was unable to meet the other woman's gaze, and looked back down at her plate.

"Trying to put the fear of 'Queen C' into her, huh, Cor?" Xander asked from the doorway.

The two dark haired women looked up to see Xander standing in the doorway, dressed all in dark colors and arms crossed over his chest.

"See what I mean?" Cordelia tossed over her shoulder at the Slayer as she got out of her chair and greeted her love.

Xander warmed the cup of blood that was waiting for him, and then sat at the table between the two women.

"You ready for this?" he asked looking into Faith's eyes.

"No, not really. But I will do my best," she replied, trying to sound brave.

"You have to realize, Faith, that you have caused problems for everyone. You threatened both Willow and Joyce, and pretty much terrorized the rest of them. It won't be easy to deal with, but you do HAVE to apologize to all of them. If you want to explain to them, you can, but that is up to you."

He paused to take a drink from his cup.

"Acceptance by them will be a long hard process. Joyce will probably be first to accept you, then likely Giles. Buffy will be next, then Willow will be the last. As far as Oz goes, who knows what he ever thinks? But he will hold out until Willow accepts you."

The three sat at the table talking about everything that had gone on while Faith was in her coma. Both Xander and Cordy had more blood, more than they usually would, since they wanted to be full while in the presence of several humans. Both had full control of themselves, but if things got tense, or even ugly, they wanted to be sure.

-----~~~~~-----

1630 Revello Drive
Sunnydale, Ca

The Black Stealth pulled into the driveway, and parked behind Joyce's Green Cherokee.

Xander, Cordelia, and finally Faith got out of the sleek sports car and walked to the front door.

Buffy had heard them pull in and was waiting at the door. She didn't say a word, and stepped back from the door. She looked surprised when both Xander and Cordy walked in without being invited.

Faith followed, painfully aware of the glare she was receiving from Buffy.

When she got in the living room, she was aware of the glares she was receiving from all but Joyce and Giles. The Watcher's face was a stony mask, unreadable to anyone.

The three new arrivals went into the living room of the house. Xander greeted Joyce politely, and handed her a bottle of Raven's Cellar Merlot wine.

"From my grandfather's cellars. It is a very good vintage, and it really is plain wine," Xander explained.

The three outsiders then sat on the couch on the opposite side of the room from everyone. They were all feeling very uncomfortable under the gazes of their gathered friends.

Xander sighed, and then spoke.

"Okay, we are all here. So what did you want to discuss?"

Buffy jumped to her feet and glared at him.

"Why are you protecting her Xander? She's killed people!" she demanded.

"I am not protecting her Buffy," he replied softly. "I am helping her find her way back."

"That's not an answer. You're just avoiding the issue. I want to know why you are protecting her. She's evil, and she has killed people, Xander! She needs to be turned over to the council, to be tried for her crime," Buffy shouted.

Xander turned and looked at Giles, pinning the Englishman with his gaze.

"Giles, if we turn Faith over to the Council, what will happen?" he asked.

"She would be taken to England and tried for murder. The verdict is automatic, and she would then be put to death," Giles answered.

"So, even if it was accidental, she would be killed?" Xander asked again.

"Even so, she would still be tried, and then put to death. The Council is very harsh on anything that causes the death of a human. Even if it was accidental."

"So, if you were to report to the Council, that Buffy failed to hunt down and destroy Angelus when he was loose, thus causing several humans to die, what would happen?" Xander questioned.

Giles and Buffy glanced at each other.

"Tell the truth here, Giles. A person's life is at stake," he pointed out.

"She would be taken to England and tried for gross incompetence, and being an accessory to murder," Giles said reluctantly.

"So, in the eyes of the Council, Buffy would be just as guilty of murder as Faith is. Now, I am just guessing here, but it would seem to me that Giles was possibly a little creative with his reports that he was sending to the Council," Xander said sarcastically.

All at once, everyone broke into excited chatter, all speaking at once. Xander sat back and tried to catch what everyone was saying.

Buffy was the loudest, demanding to know why she was being placed in the same category as Faith.

"Everyone shut up!" Cordelia screamed.

The silence was sudden, and surprising. When everyone was sitting back down, although glaring at him, Xander spoke.

"Joyce, I can understand your anger, and it is justified. What has happened has been far more than anything a young girl should ever have to go through. But it is not fair for everyone to attack Faith for what she did, and hold Buffy blameless. She was the one who threw Finch toward Faith."

Buffy interrupted. "But * I * didn't kill anyone!" she said angrily.

"No Buffy, you didn't. But you did let Angelus run free to do whatever he wanted, and made no effort to track him down and stake him," Xander said softly.

"But I loved him!" she whispered in reply.

"So that makes it right?" he asked. "Look, Buffy, I am not saying that what you did was really that wrong. I can understand that it was more than you could deal with, but what happened with Faith was just as wrong."

He noted the confused looks on their faces, and continued.

"Okay, Look. When Faith showed up here, she had just turned seventeen, a year younger than you, Buffy. And yet, all we ever did was compare her to you. No one asked where she was living, how she was expected to pay for anything or support herself, why she wasn't in school, or even asked anything about her life. We made her feel like Buffy's backup, just a spare Slayer."

He looked into everyone's eyes and tried to make them understand.

"We spent so much time comparing her to you, that we never tried to know her, never learned about her past, what she liked to do, or what she felt about anything. Plain and simple, we used her for what we wanted, and ignored her for the rest of the time."

"I never really thought about it that way..." Giles started.

"Xander, it's okay, It didn't…" Faith started to say.

"No, Faith, it's not alright, and it is my fault more than anything else. I saw the signs, and I ignored them. I should have paid more attention to you than I did, but I had other things on my mind at the time. It is no excuse, but I am sorry, Faith."

"As I am," said Giles. "I was concerned with my Slayer, and totally neglected you. I should have been more concerned for your welfare, and your well being. And to my utter shame, I must confess that I never took the time to look at you as an individual, but only as a Slayer. I should have never have treated you as I did, and my comparing you to Buffy was inexcusable. Faith, I am sorry."

Willow just glared at the dark Slayer, not saying anything. She was more than likely still angry about her sleeping with Xander. And it would take time for her to accept things.

Oz, as always, wore an inscrutable expression his face.

Joyce glanced at Faith sadly, and gave her a thin lipped smile. She would come around, though it would take time to get over Faith holding a knife on her.

Buffy just sat there, looking at the three visitors.

She knew that there were still issues that would have to be worked out between them. She also realized that everything that Xander had accused her of was true. She had neglected her duties because of Angel, and it had cost Giles the love of his life. Jenny Calendar's death hit him pretty hard, as did Angelus' torturing him. He was the one she had hurt the most, acting the way she did, and he was the one she owed an apology to.

"Xander," Buffy started. "How do you know Faith won't cross the line again?"

"When we first encountered her, Cordy grabbed her, and made like she was going to feed from her. That scared her badly, and then I hit her with the whammy - that's what we call our ability to hypnotize humans. While I had her under my control, I asked what she was doing. She told me that she had come to say goodbye, before going off to get herself killed."

Giles, Joyce and Buffy looked surprised.

"Before I left with her, I was completely certain that she regretted everything that had happened, and would do anything to take back what she had done. I knew what she was thinking and feeling, so I knew she was telling the truth," Xander explained.

Joyce, seeing how tense things were, decided to create a distraction.

"So, Xander, what is so different about you compared to the vampires that usually are around here?" she asked.

"Quite a bit," he stated, pausing for a moment to consider the best way to explain to them about him and his family.

"Okay, look guys, what I am about to tell you HAS to stay in this room, and is just between us. My father and grandfather had to stick their necks out a good bit to get me the okay to tell you guys about us. The Enforcers were not happy about it, but agreed when I told them that you could be trusted, but you can be sure that they will be watching you," Xander started.

"Giles, I know you can keep a secret, but this cannot get back to the Council, for ANY reason."

"You have my word, Xander," Giles agreed.

"Part of the reason I finally got the okay was that I told them about the Cruciamentum, and what happened when you went against the Council, and that seemed to make then understand a little better," the brunet explained.

With that said, he launched into the explanation, giving the background on what he was, and the differences between his family, and the soulless vampires that they found around Sunnydale. He explained about how he never lost his soul, and how his breed of vampires lived in communities that had well defined rules about contact with humans.

"But, Xander, I can feel that you are a vampire. It is almost exactly the same as what I am used to feeling with the other vampires that I deal with," Buffy told him, somewhat sarcastically.

"That is only because we learn to control our presence early in our training. Otherwise, anyone with any sort of sensitivity to magic would be able to feel that we were different, and that would attract the wrong sort of attention."

"What specifically do you mean, Xander?" asked Giles.

"We have the ability to mask our presence, not allowing it to be felt by others unless we want them to. Sometimes it can be an advantage, since the soulless vampires seem to feel uncontrollable fear when they feel our presence," Xander explained.

"Here let me show you what I mean. You, Buffy, Willow and Oz should be able to feel it. Joyce will feel it as well, but it will be different that what the rest of you will notice. Is Dawn here? Because if she is, she might be able to feel it as well, and it might startle her."

"She's at Chrissy's tonight," Joyce answered.

With that, Xander sat up straighter and seemed to relax. His eyes changed from their normal brown to a green gold color and his fangs dropped.

Joyce, the only one in the room with no magical ability or talent felt only a strong desire to flee from the room. She felt fear, dread, and a feeling of hopelessness.

Giles, with only a remnant of the mage talent he had once possessed, felt the same things, but also felt immense power radiating from the young man he had thought of as the son he would never have.

Faith felt the same thing as she had the night before, and was ready for it this time, and kept a straight face, showing no emotion or reaction.

Buffy freaked out, jumping out of her seat and standing in the center of the room, looking wildly about. Her Slayer sense was going crazy, and she felt an unaccustomed fear and dread. The feeling of raw power almost overwhelmed her.

Willow, too, felt fear and dread wash over her, and then the feeling of power hit her and she was awash in several different emotions, fear, desire and lust being the foremost. She had never felt such power before, and she reveled in it.

Oz felt the power wash over him, but his face only changed slightly, revealing only to those that knew him that they had any effect on him at all. His sense of smell detected Willow's arousal, and his lips tightened, the only visible sign of his jealousy.

Cordelia also noticed the scent from Willow, and she gave the young witch a look, telling her that she had noticed, but showed no other reaction.

Xander reeled his presence back in and looked around the room, gauging the reactions of his friends.

"Good Lord!" Giles exclaimed, rubbing his glasses furiously, as if trying to put a whole new polish on them.

Buffy just stared at her oldest friend, not sure what to make of the level of power that she had felt come from him. Even the Master had not affected her like Xander did. She was both afraid of him, and in awe.

Joyce looked at the rest of her visitors and sighed.

"Well, that was different. Certainly not something that I would like to feel again anytime soon," she said.

Willow stayed silent, a reddish hue on her cheeks. Both Xander and Buffy noticed that Oz was watching her carefully out of the corner of his eye.

"If you think that was impressive, you should try hanging around my grandfather. He tells me that I feel like I am about seven to eight hundred years old. He is almost two thousand years old, and when he lets it all hang out I just want to head for the hills," Xander tried to joke, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Tell me more of this 'Community' that you mentioned before Xander," Giles suggested, trying to get them at least speaking again.

"Well, I know Toronto best, so I will use that as an example. The usual communities exist in most of the larger cities, mainly to be near places where they can acquire expired blood obtained from blood banks. Toronto's community consists of about forty of our kind of Vampyre. LA has between eighty and a hundred," he explained.

"The communities are led by an Elder; in Toronto, that is my grandfather. There are usually about four or five enforcers out of that number, Vampyres whose job it is to control the number of humans who know about us, and to prevent any of our kind from indiscriminately feeding from humans. Those that do, are dealt with swiftly and severely."

"What do you mean, Xander?" Asked Joyce.

"They are destroyed, as quickly as possible. The same thing goes for anyone who 'brings across' someone without a very good reason. The community does not want to attract attention to itself, and that includes adding members to the community."

"And Cordelia?" asked Joyce.

"I couldn't get a decent job when I was in LA without compromising my morals," Cordelia explained as everyone turned their attention to her. "I found myself torn between leaving there and returning back here, or trying to get a part in a movie or TV show that required me to sleep with someone, so I returned. The bus broke down on the way, and we spent several hours on the side of the road, waiting for it to get fixed. As a result, I got home after dark. By that time, I was tired, and not thinking straight, so I headed to my father's apartment on foot, since I didn't even have cab fare."

She noticed that everyone was paying attention to her, as she continued.

"I was about halfway there when four vamps confronted me. I tried to hit one with my suitcase and run for it, but got nowhere. He grabbed me, and bit into my neck. The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was Xander's face over my attacker's shoulder. When I awoke the next day, I was hungrier than anyone could ever imagine. Xander handed me a couple of bottles of blood, and after I drank enough so that I could think straight and realized what I was now, I tried to beat the crap out of him. He held me, and made me understand that we were different from other vamps, and then, finally, he got through to me."

She looked at Xander, as if asking permission to go on.

He nodded his head slightly to her, and she continued.

"Xander began my training the next evening, starting with the blood kiss."

"Ewwww, that just sounds wrong!" Willow exclaimed. Then she looked around at everyone and apologized. "Sorry."

The 'Blood Kiss" is something special, shared by only our type of vampire," Cordelia explained, looking quickly at Xander to verify this.

He nodded his agreement and she continued.

"It is only shared by a vampyre and the person who brings them across, or by their immediate family members. It is used mainly to train new vampires, and it is rarely shared by anyone not in the family. It is extremely intimate, and passes knowledge to the two who share it. As a result, I have the memories from Xander, his father, and his grandfather."

Cordelia saw the look that quickly passed over Willow's face, realizing that the young witch understood what she was saying.

"With it, I learned that Xander still regretted our breakup, and I * knew * that he was still in love with me. I also learned about his fear that the Enforcers would destroy the both of us. Normally, a vampire waits until they are over a hundred years old before they even think of bringing someone across," she finished.

"The *unwritten* rule about bringing someone across is usually because of control," Xander broke in, to explain. "Usually, it takes that long to be able to control a childé. I never even thought about it when I did it, but, after I gave it some thought, I was worried about what might happen because of it. I *never* stopped loving Cordelia, and when I saw her dying, all I could think of was saving her."

"So why didn't the, um, Enforcers do anything?" Giles asked, interest plainly showing in his manner.

"Probably, it was mostly due to the influence of my father and grandfather. They are both well known and respected throughout the communities of the world. Also because, according to them, I feel a lot older than I actually am to others of our kind. Grandfather thinks that's probably due to growing up in the vicinity of the Hellmouth. I do know that they were watching us very closely the whole time," Xander explained. "At the first sign of any problem, we would both have been eliminated."

"So why have we never run across any of your kind before, Xander?" Buffy asked, still feeling uncomfortable about her friend.

"Because of you, Buff," Xander replied.

"They know about Buffy?" Joyce asked, worried for her daughter.

"Not Buffy in particular, but they do know about the Slayer. The community is aware of them, and tries to avoid them. Plus, we are not comfortable around the soulless breeds; they have caused too much attention in the past."

"They know about the Slayers?" Giles inquired.

"Yeah, they do, Giles, and, in fact, they have even helped them in the past, if they could do so without being noticed. My father helped out a Slayer in Italy back in the twenties, kept her from being ambushed," Xander replied.

"But why?" Giles asked.

"Because they fight the vampires who would not care if the truth were to come out. The community wants things kept quiet, and we hate the soulless kind."

Before Giles could ask another question, Xander asked one himself.

"Giles, is the Council sending someone after Faith?"

"I'm afraid so. Wesley notified them of Faith's crossing the line, and now that she has awakened, they will be sending someone to retrieve her, and take her back to trial," Giles sighed.

"Well, for now, we'll keep her out of sight as much as possible. Maybe we can convince them that she left town," Xander said, thinking out loud more than anything else.

"And we will all keep quiet about her as well," said Joyce, looking at Buffy, Willow and Oz with her 'Mom' look.

"Yeah." "Right." and "Uh huh." The three teens agreed.

"Of course," Giles also agreed. "But the Council may look for you as well, Xander," the Watcher pointed out. "It won't be that hard to locate you."

"Don't be too sure about that Giles," Xander grinned. "Since I returned, some things have changed. We have someone in the 'Community' that arranges things for us, like untraceable identities, and my house was bought under one of those ID's. The car is also registered under that. Plus, I haven't stopped by to see my parents either, and have no plan to. I doubt they will be able to track me if I don't want them to," he explained.

"Don't sell them short, Xander," Giles warned the brunet Scooby. "They are all former SAS veterans, and are not only chosen for their combat skills, but for their knowledge of special operations as well. They will be very hard to avoid."

"I will be careful, Giles, but Aristotle is very good at what he does, and he doesn't leave traces," Xander sighed, looking around the room and seeing the slightly dazed expressions on everyone's faces.

"Look guys, I can tell that you are all surprised and a little uncomfortable will all of this, so we will take off, and leave you to yourselves. When you are feeling a little more comfortable and want to talk more, let me know. Giles can contact me, and pass any messages along. And Joyce, say "hi" to Dawn for me."

"I will, Xander," she agreed.

Xander stood, walked over to Giles and offered his hand which Giles shook without hesitation. He had thought to offer the same to Joyce, but she was already standing and hugged him before he could react. She then embraced both Cordelia and Faith, showing that she didn't resent the young vampire woman, and forgave Faith.

"Take care, all of you," was all she said.

"Buff, Wills, Oz. You guys take it easy out there. If you need me, you know how to get in touch with me, just let Giles know," Xander said as he turned and opened the door.

"B," started Faith. "I know you won't believe me, but I am sorry. For everything."

Buffy looked at the younger Slayer and smiled slightly.

"Thanks, Faith. I do believe you, and I'm pretty sure that in time we might be able to be friends."

Cordelia, although she had never really been close friends with any of them, made sure that she said goodbye to each person. She made sure that Giles and Joyce were aware that she cared for them.

As the door closed behind them, Joyce turned to her remaining guests and sighed.

"That went very well, don't you think!" she said sarcastically.

"Indeed," agreed Giles with weary sigh.

"Well, it has given me a lot to think about," Buffy commented. "I guess I need to rethink the way I handled things, both personally and when it comes to slaying.

Willow and Oz were both whispering furiously to each other, ignoring everyone else.

As the two vampyres and the formerly renegade Slayer drove home, a private jet was approaching LAX International Airport. It carried a watcher, and eight men, all tough and determined looking.

Sunnydale was going to get very interesting, very soon.

TBC