On a dark night, in a fairly well-lit street a young man was out walking alone. His eyes scatted about uneasily as he walked, as if he knew he was being watched. About 5ft10, the male looked as though he couldn't have been any older than 20, with bleach blonde hair, dark eyes and a large leather jacket. Picking up his pace almost instinctively, as though he knew he was being followed by something threatening. His mind cast back to earlier events that had occurred that night in the house he had not too long ago left behind.

"Spike! Get off me!"

He leapt backwards off the struggling blonde he had pinned down on the bathroom floor. Shaken, the girl readjusted her robe that had become slightly undone at the front, never taking her wild eyes off her attacker. The man just looked back, his eyes showing no sign of remorse for what he almost done. The pair stayed like that for a few minutes, neither moving nor speaking until:

"And you wonder why I can never love you!"

The girl's words were full of hate and bitterness, her eyes full of disgust as she let them bore into the man who had tried to force himself upon her.

The young man was now long clear from the street and running through the graveyard. There was no doubting it; he was being chased by someone, being hunted, like he had hunted so many people in his prime. He knew the signs, the sensations, and the sheer pleasure that came from the hunt. The smell of fear, the taste in the air of bloodlust, these things were rampant this night. However, for once, he wasn't the one that was doing the hunting. These signs were all being betrayed by his body. And whatever was chasing the man could detect these signs as well. In desperation, the male threw himself at a crypt door, knocking it clear off the hinges and he scrambled for the furthest away corner. This didn't save him as he had so foolishly hoped, as his pursuer came racing into the crypt just seconds behind him. He looked up to see the face of his hunter and was shocked by who it was, for it was nothing other than a mere girl. She looked roughly around 5ft7, had very dark brown and unruly hair, dark piercing eyes and slightly bronzed skin. On her right arm was a tribal tattoo which stood out very distinctly against her skin.

"Bloody hell!" the guy shouted after a few seconds, "I thought the slayer was on my tail! Not some bloody little girl looking for a good time!" He stood up and waved his arms around emphatically as he said this, but the brunette could only smirk at his attitude. His words were spoken in a very proper English accent which made him stand out quite a bit in contrast to the Californian town he was in.

"A good time? Fang boy, if I wanted a good time," she replied in an almost taunting way, "I could go to the Bronze and find a real man. And with regards to the slayer, are you completely dead or did you just forget that there's more than one slayer in the world." The man's face by now had changed from its usual handsomeness to something altogether more animal-like. His forehead had become thickened; his eyes bright yellow and his teeth had become elongated and sharpened. The brunette had a very coy look in her eye; she knew she was going to enjoy this. The two started to battle, but every time the man tried to hit the woman, he felt a sharp and burning pain shoot straight through his head. The fight didn't last very long before the brunette had the guy pinned face down on the ground.

"I thought Buffy had made sure you'd been locked away for a very long time," he gasped, trying to ignore the bitter taste of his own blood in his mouth. The girl lowered herself down so her mouth was right beside her prey's ear.

"B didn't put me away, soul boy persuaded me to do it," she whispered aggressively, "and funny thing is, when you repent for long enough in the big house, they let you out on parole. B doesn't know I'm back in town, or that I've been back for weeks now. Also she doesn't know that I've been helping her out financially, or that she'll never have to worry about money ever again thanks to me. Next thing she won't know is how I'm gonna put you down like the mongrel you are!" She grabbed his hair and yanked it back hard.

"Why do you bother helping out Blondie if she's never going to know it's you?" he growled, "Sounds to me, Faith, that you're just jealous that I got to Buffy first. I got to have a good number of shots with the main slayer and she'll only ever look at you as a threat and danger to her…." He never got to finish his sentence as Faith ripped his head off. She dusted the ashes off her and whispered:

"Well at least you'll never be able to harass her or her family again, Spike."

The next morning, the sun rose over the house that Spike had left the previous night. It was almost serene in the morning glow and, unknown to the residents, was being watched from a tree across the street. Faith had maintained her vigil all night, keeping her eyes open for any signs of Buffy, just to let her know that the blonde was doing all right. All of the months spent in prison had seen the dark slayer think of very little except for the slayer that lived on Revello Drive. She had felt it when Buffy died, she knew instinctively what had happened and it had killed her inside to think of that happening. She also sensed when Buffy had been resurrected from the dead, the feelings of loss and uncertainty that the blonde had felt at being brought back from heaven. Faith had made it her mission to get free of prison and her painful past, in order to help the woman she loved and her family in any way that she could. It was by a mixture of cunning and sheer luck that Faith had managed to keep such a low profile so close to Buffy. The blonde slayer had not once caught onto the presence of the dark slayer, which was the way Faith liked it. Given the choice between a confrontation and living in the shadows as an observer, the brunette knew which one she preferred. A loud shout suddenly caught her attention and she leapt down from her tree and raced around the back of the house.

"You think you can just get away with that! Think again!" the raised voice came from a young man that Faith didn't recognise at all and before she could process everything, the guy began shooting at random as he ran away. A stray bullet went into Buffy's shoulder, as Faith noticed her and Xander standing in the back garden. Before she could react to advance forward, though, the dark slayer heard a cry that stopped her in her tracks and made her look up at the top window of the house.

"TARA!"

The slayer leapt from the bushes where she'd managed to hide quickly before watching her love get hurt. Showing her amazing agility and completely disregarding her previous stealthy approach, Faith grabbed onto the side of the house and scrabbled up to the window to what had been Joyce's bedroom to Faith's recollection. Hanging from her hands only, the brunette looked into the room and saw Willow with her girlfriend, Tara, lying on the floor unconscious. The bullet hole in the window just above Faith's head told her what had happened. The change that occurred in the redhead, though, shook the dark slayer to the core. Her eyes went dark, the air surrounding the witch sparked with an unnatural and malevolent energy. Just when Faith felt she couldn't keep her grip any longer, Willow cast the bedroom door open and walked purposefully out into the hallway. Faith used her last ounce of strength to throw herself through the bedroom window. She landed beside the prone body of the blonde that Willow had just been sitting so grief-stricken over a few seconds before. Faith felt desperately for a pulse, praying that the redhead wouldn't have to live without the love of her life. Just when she was ready for giving up hope, though, Faith felt a faint pulse beneath her fingers.

"Come on, Blondie," she whispered, "you can't die and leave Red all alone. Don't you know, she needs you more than ever right now?" The slayer went to work immediately. She tore off a piece of her own top and held it tightly against the bleeding wound that was on Tara's shoulder. Looking frantically around the room, Faith managed to clock a small bottle of water sitting on a dresser. Once she was happy that the wound had stopped bleeding so heavily, the young woman quickly reached over for the bottle and then soaked Tara's lips. The blonde regained consciousness, although Faith could tell she was very weak.

"W….Willow?" she whispered, only to feel Faith's fingers on her lips.

"No, Blondie, she's out just now," Faith replied gently, "I'm gonna get you to the hospital, then get Red to your bedside." Xander wandered around to the front of the house as the paramedics wheeled Buffy on her stretcher to the waiting ambulance. As fate would have it, as Xander got to this point, Faith came out of the front door with Tara in her arms.

"WHOA! Psycho slayer here to kill us all!" he exclaimed, "Um, why are you holding Tara? Willow just came down not too long ago and said she was dead." Faith gently lay Tara down on an empty stretcher that the paramedics had gotten out for her. After speaking to the paramedics briefly about the condition of the witch, the brunette turned back to Xander.

"Long story, just so you know, I'm not here to cause badness," she replied patiently, "Tara's not dead, I managed to save her life, though just barely. You should go to the hospital with them; I have to track down Red. She's got some wicked energy going on right now. I'm worried that she might kill the guy that hurt her girl." Before Xander could object, Faith had set off at a fast run in the direction she could tell Willow had gone.

In the hospital, Buffy lay on the verge of death. The occasional beep on the monitor was growing less and less frequent and Xander could only look on in desperation, unable to stop it. As the doctors were preparing to give up, their machines began to go haywire. A black-haired, black-eyed young woman walked into the emergency room and cast all of the medical staff out of the room as well as Xander. Faith was in hot pursuit, but she could only look on as Willow removed the bullet from Buffy's shoulder with her magic and then healed the wound completely. Immediately, the blonde slayer's vital signs began to improve. The dark slayer would've been lying if she'd said that her heart hadn't leapt at the sound of the monitor getting more frequent. At least she knew Buffy was going to recover, though her main concern was Willow. As the witch came out of the door she had entered through, Faith blocked her path.

"Hey Red, looks like you're packing some serious firepower there," Faith taunted with her usual smirk, "Fancy having a go with a slayer?" Willow raised a hand and sent the arrogant slayer flying across the corridor and landing on her butt.

"You don't concern me, F," she replied airily, "I'm after the bastard who killed Tara and almost killed Buffy. You still want a piece of me after I get him, then come right ahead. But for now, you're nothing to me." Before Faith could respond, Willow was gone as fast as she had appeared. The slayer felt herself being lifted unsteadily to her feet by Xander. She turned around and met his gaze uncertainly.

"I've never seen Will so grief-stricken before," he whispered nervously, "Do you think you can stop her before she kills Warren?" Faith shook herself from the man's grasp and dusted herself down.

"Dunno, she seems pretty determined to skin this monkey alive," she replied, looking straight ahead, "Perhaps she'll soften when she finds out that Blondie's still alive. By the looks of it, that's the only thing that can save her from herself. You stay with Buffy, I'll hunt down Red. It's no biggy if I die, right? I'm Faith after all, psycho slayer as you put it earlier." Before Xander could respond, Faith was gone, running again after Willow.

As the day wore on, Faith ended up grabbing a hold of a car from someone to try and keep track of Willow. She followed stories of a crazy girl across Sunnydale and outside of the town limits. She found the mutilated corpse of the warlock, Rack, and wasn't in the least bit sorry for his suffering. Stories of his evil power had reached the slayer in her prison cell and in her short time back in Sunnydale, Faith had seen what the warlock's power had done to Willow and ultimately to Dawn, who had been injured as a result one night. Every place that Faith stopped at which had seen Willow's power, she made sure to leave a note for Buffy, whom she knew to be not far behind. Eventually, though, she had gotten to a point and found she couldn't go any further. Something was inevitably stopping her from leaving Sunnydale. The more she put her foot down on the accelerator, the less distance she was covering. She was stuck like this when Buffy and Xander came along on her trail.

"So, looks like you're completely stuck, Faith," Buffy's soft voice completely caught Faith unaware and she jumped and hit her head off the car roof.

"Dammit, B, don't scare me like that!" Faith cursed softly while rubbing the sore spot on her head.

"Weren't expecting me, huh, F?" Buffy replied, "How long have you been in town, huh? And why have you been stalking me and my friends all that time without saying anything?" The gentle tone had taken on an edge of aggression and this unnerved Faith a good bit. She'd been expecting it, but it still hurt to be treated like this.

"I've been back about 8 weeks now, just keeping a low profile," she replied softly, "I've been keeping a small eye on you mainly, making sure things were going all right for you. So you know, you don't have to worry about Spike coming along and harassing you anymore. I took care of that sonofabitch last night, with my bare hands."

"Yeah, I'm all for a party marking this occasion," Xander piped up, "I'm so glad that creep's nothing but a pile of cigar debris now!" The look on Buffy's face was incomprehensible to Faith. She was finally free of Spike, after all this time.

"We'll talk more about this later," she said to Faith, "right now; we have one super power witch to find."

"Judging from reports, Red should be in the woods just over the border," the brunette replied, "I can't get there, I think she's put up some sort of barrier spell to keep me from catching her. You guys might be able to reach her better than me anyway." Xander smiled gratefully at the dark slayer before going back to his car. Buffy smiled with what appeared to be love at Faith, but the brunette figured that couldn't be right. Why would Buffy ever look at her with love? The blonde slayer bent down slightly, gave the other woman's hand a gentle squeeze and then went to the car where Xander was waiting.