Only two chapters for Faith, before I move onto Divergence…

Thank you to Fred for pointing out the mistakes, I'm not going to worry about the Jesse bit now as this part of the story is now complete. To all who have reviewed a big thank you for your support. To all those who haven't, well thank you for sticking with it anyway. Divergence will be posted in a few days.

Twice Lucky

Faith Manages

Chapter 2: Union

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Before

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

The blue-skinned demon jumped high up in the air and crashed down onto the limo, obliterating the vampires inside. Kakistos survived - barely - the Master vampire crawling out, only to have his heart ripped out. The demon looked down at the ashes and then back to them, then strolled over and looked each person over.

"Half–breed." Angel nodded at the insult, but didn't say anything; now wasn't really the time. The Demon didn't waste time either, ripping open another portal and, without any preamble, grabbed each person and threw them through it.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Now

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Faith was standing in the shower when he joined her, flashing her a grin. "We want to conserve water."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Five by five, Xan." Something flickered across his face… "You said about trusting me... When are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

She looked at him through the downpour of water - he didn't look happy about answering, but sighed anyway. "Fine, it all started during the summer you arrived."

She listened; listened for the first time in years, with her ears open, as he told her of the Watcher she lost; the rest she gained and then lost in a storm of fury and anger; of the innocent lives she took, one by accident and the others' on purpose. She listened as he described the night he lost his virginity to her, which explained how he knew what she wanted. She listened as he told her of the second time, as her fingers wrapped around his neck and squeezed.

She heard the whole story and, when he was done, neither washed and both stood there watching each other's reactions. She took him in her arms and they made love again, showered, washed the story off themselves and got dressed.

"Well, that explains the funny looks." Xander flashed Faith a grin.

"Sorry, some memories are harder to get rid of," Faith sighed and wrapped her arm around him.

"Hopefully, I'm making up for that."

Xander's grin said enough. "As long as you don't mind me adding a few more ladies to our little pack."

"Not at all," she smiled and tied her hair back. "As long as they don't mind sharing you, I'm cool."

They met Wesley upstairs, who was also being tailed by Illyria - the blue-skinned demon quiet, as always. The group met Giles at his house where, sitting on the sofa with her arms folded and a very unladylike scowl on her face, was Kendra.

Giles made introductions to the small group - naturally, Wesley and Kendra hit it off and were chatting like old friends - and went and made coffee and tea with a scowl as he listened to Wesley comparing notes on various demons and different breeds of werewolf.

Xander didn't even bother and switched the TV on, the girls joining him. Even Illyria found it more interesting, as the demon cocked her head and narrowed her eyes on the offending box.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Okay, Ted, I'd like you to make Giles a cup of tea." The robot looked at Giles and then at the fridge and did as ordered. It did everything perfectly. Willow had managed to crack the coding, put it back together and had even got it to fix itself.

"Bloody brilliant."

Willow beamed at the compliment. "His basement is still in tact. I got Ted to take me there and show me around; he's got a whole life, drivers' licence and even a passport."

"Do we know how?"

"Yes," Willow nodded, and sat down; the robot came and stood next to her. "Every time he wakes up, he adjusts to his new surroundings; he's been doing this since the 40s."

"Do we know who created him?"

She shook her head negatively. "No, no idea, that part of his memory was wiped."

"Pity…" Giles scratched his chin as he looked at the remarkably life-like machine.

"I don't understand." Kendra walked down the stairs and saw the machine, Ted, standing like a silent guardian. "Why do we not simply kill 'im?"

"Because, Kendra, he's useful. He already has an identity that might prove helpful later on." Kendra shrugged her shoulders and took a seat.

They left the building and went back to Xander's place, where Faith and Buffy were waiting. Xander couldn't be seen - Giles did ask and was told that he had gone out. Buffy shrugged her shoulders, as she still hadn't forgiven Xander for his remark earlier that month.

The three Slayers pitted themselves against each other. They lashed out; Faith, the more aggressive of the two, while Buffy was creative. Faith used her legs, Buffy her fists and Kendra a mixture of the two. It was like watching a dance - a dance where bruises were exchanged.

When it was over, three very sweaty teenagers were chatting like old friends. The vampires, Giles decided with a grin, weren't going to know what hit them.

They compared weapons, stakes, swords and crossbows. They tried out some of the new gear that Willow was creating and tore through the vampires who were stupid enough to come out that night. Not even Spike dared fight them; the bleach-blonde vampire had tried and almost ended up staked.

"T'ey are not very strong, deese vampires."

Buffy chuckled and threw a stake with a long, thin, sharp end at a running vampire. "Nope." The stake hit him straight through the back and punctured his heart, causing the creature to burst into dust.

"Not very bright, either."

Buffy grinned at Faith's remark. They hunted the rest of the night without incidence and left when dawn started rising.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

"They work well together…"

Xander nodded silently as he watched the girls enjoying each other and chatting casually as they beat the vampires senseless.

Illyria narrowed her blue eyes at him and otherwise remained silent. Xander reminded her a lot of the Wesley of her timeline: older and bitter; crushed by the loss of life and the woman he loved; offended by her very presence.

This time, while he wasn't offended by her presence, he was crushed by a lost love, older and bitter. If Illyria could've sighed, she would have.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Faith went back to Xander's as dawn started creeping over the horizon. He was there waiting for her, as she knew he would be. He took her in his arms and planted a kiss on her full lips. She growled slightly and started tugging at his clothes.

"Not here…" He took her to the bedroom.

When they were finished, they both were lying on their backs, staring at the ceiling. "Buffy's going to her father's soon, so it's up to you and Kendra to play nice and keep the vampires busy."

She looked at him.

"What happened last time?"

"We got our asses handed to us…" Faith winced and nodded. They seemed to do a lot of that.

"So, what's next on the agenda?"

Xander pulled her body closer to his and snuggled. "We deal with a demon from Giles's past."

The thing was, Faith didn't know if he meant figuratively or literally.