Title: Faith, Knife, Murder

Name: Raven Morbisk

Feedback: Whatever_who_cares@msn.com

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything... If I did I wouldn't be writing about them, I'd be making films =)

Fandom: Buffy, the Vampire Slayer/CSI: Miami

Pairing: Buffy/Faith

Rating: NC-17 for language and minor torture.

Summary: Faith's knife is found on a crime scene with her fingerprints all over it.

A/N: Warning, character death.

Chapter One

“A lot of blood.” Calleigh commented taking pictures of a female body in a hotel bedroom. The body seemed to be moved around or she had been crawling around to get away from her attacker.

“Whoever killed her didn’t want to be disturbed.” Alexx said looking over the body. She wondered what possessed people to be so cold towards others.

“What makes you say that?” Calleigh asked lowering her camera. She hunched over the body where Alexx pointed at a clean cut in her neck.

“He cut her vocal cords.” She replied with a small sigh “He made it last, didn’t he?” she asked the body. “Such a beautiful girl, gutted like an animal.”

“Alexx, what’s that?” The blonde CSI asked as she pointing at a small puncture in the body’s upper arm. There were no other punctures so she wasn’t a drug addict and there were also no syringes found in the room.

“It looks like a needle entrance.” She answered taking a closer look then showed the arm to Calleigh for a photo.

“I’ll have to run tests to see if she’s injected with something.” Calleigh said and looked up at the entrance of the hotel room.

Lt. Horatio Caine stared into the room where three of his CSI agents where processing the scene. Just outside the door, sitting against the wall a young woman was crying, she was the one who found the body.

“Miss? My name is Horatio Caine. Can you tell me what happened?” Horatio questioned cautiously. He hunched in front of the young woman and looked for her eyes. The girl in question looked up, seeing a friendly face waiting for her. She wiped her tears with the hem of her shirt.

“I was gone for two hours, just two little hours. She wanted me to go sightseeing.” She croaked out, she could feel unshed tears still brimming behind her eyes. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.” She ran a hand through her long brown hair, feeling fresh tears making their way down her cheeks.

“I know.” His voice was gentle, caring. Horatio waited patiently for her to continue. The brunette took a deep breath, trying to steady her emotions but it didn’t help.

“I found her when I came back, she was just lying there.” She hit her head against the wall and stared at the ceiling “I told her it was a bad idea to take a flight earlier, but no she desperately wanted to surprise her girlfriend. We don’t even know her new apartment yet.”

“Horatio.” They both looked up seeing a Latino standing in the doorway. He tried not to look at the brunette on the floor.

“Excuse me.” Horatio gave a small smile and stood up, facing the Latino.

“Eric, what is it?” He asked, placing his hands on his hips. Eric eyed the brunette and motioned for Horatio to follow him.

“There’s no signs of a robbery present, there doesn’t seem to be anything taken.” He said when they were out of earshot. “In her suitcase was over three thousand dollars. And we found this under the body.” He pulled out a fantasy-like knife in a plastic bag covered in blood.

“That is a very odd knife.” Horatio frowned slightly.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“Y’know, I try to stay away from cops and all but this place is actually kinda nice.” Faith spoke when a blonde agent entered the interrogation room holding a file.

“I like it, too.” She smiled looking outside then turned to the brunette at the table. “My name is Calleigh Duquesne.” She said sitting down across Faith.

“Where are you from?” Faith asked curiously. She found the drawl of the blonde CSI very attractive but that wasn’t the reason she asked, she just tried to make small talk so maybe they’d just let her go already.

“Louisiana, why?” Calleigh tried to keep her voice neutral but she couldn’t help but smiling at Faith’s appreciative smile directed at the blonde.

“I like your accent.” Faith replied and cocked her head a little to the side. “If I was single and, y’know, not here I’d definitely show you a good time.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Now Calleigh wasn’t hiding her smile. She wasn’t new to being flirted with but getting hit on by a female suspect was something she hadn’t came across yet.

“Is this because of those speeding tickets? ‘Cause if it is, my dog ate ‘em.” Faith grinned. She didn’t have a dog but just because the place was nice didn’t mean she liked this place.

“Miss Lehane,” Calleigh began but was interrupted by the brunette in front of her.

“Faith.” The brunette stated clearly. She didn’t like to be called by her surname, it reminded her too much of her parents.

“Faith,” Calleigh corrected “does this look familiar to you?” She slid a picture of a blade towards Faith who looked at it then casually slid it back.

“Yeah, that’s mine. I lost it a few nights ago.” She shrugged. She tried to be as cool as possible. She was scared that they were opening her old case again, maybe sending her back to jail.

“You lost it?” The blonde questioned surprised causing Faith to grin. That couldn’t be right, there were only one set of prints on the knife they found and they were all Faith’s.

“Yeah, I was out for a stroll and I saw a mugging goin’ on so I decided to help the girl.” She slumped in her chair and gave a slight shrug “When I got back to my apartment, the knife was gone.”

“You carry your knife around?” The blonde asked. Faith kicked herself in the head mentally; there were laws against carrying a knife like hers around. She never thought about the legal issues regarding her knife mainly because she only took it with her on patrol.

“Yeah but I don’t use it;” that simple white lie seemed to please Calleigh Duquesne but didn’t entirely convince her “it was a gift from someone, a reminder.”

“A reminder for what?” Calleigh got a little more comfortable in her chair. They were getting somewhere now it seemed.

“Bad times, really bad times.” Faith just said not looking away from Calleigh’s green eyes. She was still trying to redeem herself; she didn’t need this cop to tell her what she did.

“Like murder for example.” Calleigh smiled lightly at the anger that flared up in the brunette’s eyes. Her ghost of a smile faded though when Faith looked away from the blonde eyes cast downwards.

“Yeah, that.” Faith responded, her voice barely above a whisper. She turned back to Calleigh, mask back in place.

“See, I’m having trouble with something.” Calleigh spoke with a hint of confusion but it was hard to read her neutral expression.

“What?” Faith asked indifferently. She knew what was coming; she knew the moment this blonde asked the tiniest hint about her past.

“You confessed to two murders but after barely three years you’re a free woman.” Calleigh responded calmly. She noticed Faith sat up straighter in her chair after hearing the word ‘free’.

“Guess the judge liked me.” She simple said giving Calleigh her trademark grin. Calleigh smiled slightly and turned to her papers.

“Only the judge in question gave you twenty years.” She looked back at Faith but couldn’t read the brunette. Either she was an excellent actress or the girl learned the hard way how to hide what she’s feeling.

“So?” Faith merely shrugged at Calleigh. The judge actually very much disliked her but that didn’t matter anymore. Thanks to the wonderful hacking skills of a certain redhead she had been released for good behavior, even though the earliest she could’ve gotten out was after ten years.

“So Faith, I have reason to believe you broke out of jail and that you somehow changed your sentence.” The blonde CSI responded. Faith snorted at the idea of her changing her sentence herself. When she ever got behind a computer it was either for emailing purposes or for research. The latter wasn’t that often, she couldn’t sit down for too long so in stead of doing research she usually spent her time training the girls.

“Look at me; do I look like someone who’s got the money or the resources to change my sentence?” She questioned gesturing to her appearance. The dark Denim, heavy black boots and white tank top combined with her long brown hair down her shoulders, immensely made up eyelids and dark shades on top of her head didn’t exactly make her seem like your run-off-the-mill genius.

“Looks can be deceiving, Faith.” Detective Duquesne gave her a faint smile “When you see me, would you really think I’m an excellent CSI specialized in firearms and ballistics?” Faith laughed animatedly at the blonde.

“Really?” She asked receiving a nod from the CSI “Nice, maybe I need to rethink my relationship if there are women like you out there.” She winked at Calleigh then turned serious. “If this is about that particular part of my past I’m going to want my lawyer.”

“For a self-defense teacher from Cleveland you do go a long way for recruiting new people, don’t you?” Faith suppressed her smirk at Calleigh for changing the subject so suddenly. It confused her however that it didn’t seem to be about her past conviction.

“I pay my taxes; you don’t need to know anything else about my job.” Faith replied casually. She began tapping her feet up and down not liking to sit still for so long. Calleigh mistook her action as nervousness however and she smiled to herself.

“We know you work at a Private School in Cleveland,” Calleigh said before giving her full attention to the brunette “but I wonder what kind of school it is if they position one of their teachers here in Miami.”

“Like you said, it’s a Private School.” Faith all but snapped at the blonde CSI. She rolled her eyes, took a look outside and stood up. “Are we done?” When Calleigh shook her head she sat back down.

“Miss Lehane,” Faith growled silently but kept quiet “have you ever seen this woman?” Calleigh slid a picture of the body they had found this morning to the brunette. Faith laughed quietly looking at the picture of a blonde woman receiving a confused expression from Calleigh “What’s so funny?”

“This woman, she looks a lot like-” Her eyes fell on a faint scar in the woman on the picture’s neck. She subconsciously raised her hand to her mirror scar and looked up in awaiting green eyes.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“Such a shame.” Alexx said quietly looking over the body on her examination table. She was just adding the final touches on her official report when Tim Speedle entered the room carrying a folder.

“Hey Alexx, did you find the cause of death?” He asked looking over the blonde with a grim expression. As a CSI one could get used to murders like this one but he wasn’t used to it yet and he hoped on one hand he would never get used to it.

“Yes, but it’s strange.” Alexx motioned Tim to come closer “She was stabbed once in her left heart chamber that killed her almost instantly but you see these other wounds.” She pointed to five stabbing wounds in the abdomen “The sister said she was gone for two hours but some of these wound look a like a day old.”

“You wanna know something else that’s strange?” Speed pulled out a paper from the file he was holding and showed it to Alexx “Tox screen shows that she was injected with some kind of organic compound that should’ve killed her instantaneously.”

“What do you mean?” Alexx read the piece of paper, confusion readable on her features. She handed the piece of paper back to Tim.

“The amount of muscles relaxants and adrenaline suppressors that was injected is too much for a human body to handle.” Tim explained frowning. He had never come across a case like this. The compound could’ve knocked out an elephant but somehow this woman survived the injection.

“What happened to you, honey?”

Chapter Two

“Bullshit.” Faith slid the picture back barely holding her anger inside. This was just a coincidence; there were a lot of people with doubles. They probably figured out somehow that Faith knew her and now they bring in a dead body that looked like the woman she knows.

“Excuse me?” Calleigh wasn’t expecting this. She had expected indifference, dismissal or even lies but not denial. The entire time Faith had been in the same room Calleigh saw indifference, a small moment of anger and amusement but the look Faith had in her eyes when she recognized the woman on the photo was pure shock.

“That’s not B.” Faith stated clearly. She knew it couldn’t be the same blonde that was packing her things and waiting for a plane along with her sister. They wouldn’t take a plane early; they needed their time to get their things together, a lot of time.

“I assume you know this woman?” Calleigh questioned though she figured that Faith did indeed know her. Faith let out a laugh that all too soon turned bitter.

“No, I don’t because that” she nodded to the picture still lying on the table “is not her.” She stared at Calleigh, daring her to say otherwise.

“You’re saying that this isn’t Buffy Anne Summers?” The blonde CSI showed Faith more pictures; each from a different angle but Faith just shoved them all back, getting angrier by the second.

“Of course it’s not her.” The brunette said through gritted teeth then took a deep breath to calm her temper “She’s too smart to get herself killed.” She leant back in her chair and gave a slight shrug “Besides, she’s in Cleveland with her sister packing their things.”

“Her sister, Dawn Summers?” Calleigh asked reading the name from her file “She’s the one that found Buffy.” Calleigh flinched a little in surprise when Faith jumped up from her seat.

“Shut up, I swear to God, just shut up.” She glared at Calleigh who was keeping her face as neutral as possible “This is all a joke, isn’t it?” Faith started pacing, occasionally glancing around her.

“I can assure you-” Detective Duquesne started but jumped away from her seat when Faith grabbed the table and smashed it to the ground before pacing again. Calleigh sighed relieved when her fellow CSI entered the room.

“What’s going on?” Speedle asked concerned. Calleigh shook her head with a shrug when Faith turned her attention back at them.

“Who the hell are you? You’re in on it, too right?” She directed her question to the newly entered CSI. “Bring out the cameras B, this ain’t funny no more.” She began to laugh and look around her, waiting for someone to come out and tell her it was all a hoax.

“There are no cameras-” Tim cautiously closer to Faith trying not to look at the smashed steel table on the floor.

“Shut up, did the old Council put you up to this?” Giles had told them rumors about some of the old council had survived. Faith feared that they were going to finish the job they had before she went to jail. “No, wait B put you up to this herself? To make me prove myself, right?” She grabbed Tim by his throat growling when he approached the Slayer too close. Tim was taken by surprise but what confused him were the yellow flashes in Faith’s eyes.

“Officers.” Calleigh bellowed but Faith’s hand on Tim’s throat was gone as fast as it came. She slumped to the floor pulling Speedle down with her and cried softly.

“Don’t let it be my baby.” She pleaded to no one in particular. Tim put his arms around the brunette and subtly shook his head at the policemen that had entered the room. A few seconds later Faith pulled away and jumped to her feet leaving an even more confused Tim on the floor. “I need a phone, I need to call Giles.” She murmured then stopped and looked at Calleigh “Dawn, where is she?”

“Faith-” Calleigh took a small step back when Faith took a step forwards. Faith frowned at the blonde’s action but noted that Calleigh didn’t respond to her question.

“Where is Dawn?” She repeated her question, anger growing again in the pit of her stomach. It wasn’t hard to see because Tim was already in between Faith and Calleigh.

“Calm down, Miss Lehane.” He said calmly. There it was again, those yellow flashes. Calleigh gave a soft tap on his shoulder before moving to stand beside him, not that pleased with the offered protection. Appreciative but not pleased.

“She doesn’t like to be called by her last name.” Calleigh said getting a grateful look from Faith. Tim nodded not missing the predatory look Faith had. She reminded him of one of those vicious animals he would see on the Discovery Channel.

“Okay, Faith, just calm down.” He corrected. Faith took a step back not taking her eyes off of the two CSI’s in front of her. She turned in her place and slowly walked to the window. She rested her forehead against the glass and took a deep breath.

“This can’t be happening.” She started talking as she looked out the window, staring at the outside world. “What happened to her?” She asked not looking in their direction.

“She was stabbed by your knife.” Calleigh replied but still no reaction from Faith. “Your fingerprints are all over it.” Faith whipped her head around so fast it would’ve caused a whiplash.

“And you think…” The looks on their faces said enough. It was all about the evidence “No way.” She stated and grabbed her fallen chair. “Sorry ‘bout the table by the way.” She shrugged.

“Can you tell me where you were between 10a.m. and noon?” Calleigh asked. Both her and Tim noticed the sudden change of attitude, she was back to being indifferent.

“Is she okay?” Faith asked seemingly not having heard the question. “Dawn. She’s not hurt?” She clarified not getting an answer.

“No, she’s fine.” Speed answered with a smile. Faith let out a minor breath of relief. “But Faith, we need you to tell me where you were between 10a.m. and noon.”

“I was looking for a girl for our Private School;” she answered without hesitating. It was the truth only when she found her the cops took her away “I needed to get that over with so I could spend the whole day tomorrow with B and Dawn.”

“Can anyone verify that?” Calleigh asked hoping for the brunette that someone could. She didn’t believe Faith was the killer even though she had killed in the past.

“I don’t know, I don’t think so.” Faith frowned trying to think if anyone saw her. “Where,” She took a deep breath and reinstated her mask “where did it happen?”

“The Conrad.” Tim responded. They could both see the wheels turning in Faith’s head. The room went quiet for a few moments. They had other questions to ask Faith but they waited for Faith to maybe give some information she mighty come up with.

“Did she get injected with somethin’?” Faith suddenly asked out of the blue catching the CSI agents by surprise.

“Excuse me?” Calleigh asked confused.

“You’re saying she got stabbed, right?” Both Speedle and Calleigh nodded “B knows how to disarm anyone. She kicks ass like nothin’ you’ve ever seen so just tell me, did she get injected with some kind of a drug?”

“Yes, actually.” Speed replied frowning “With something called Cruciamentum, a very dangerous mix of relaxants” He looked at Calleigh who just shrugged in response, not knowing how Faith knew either “How did you know?”

“I need to go.” Faith stood up and made her way to the door.

“Faith, you’re a suspect. You can’t just leave.” Tim called out. Faith stopped walking and turned to them with a raised eyebrow.

“Instead of trying to stop me from leaving you might wanna find the asshole who did this to my baby fast, ‘cause if I find him first he’s dead.” She all but growled and walked out the door. Calleigh and Speed went after her but less than two minutes later Faith was nowhere to be seen.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“Damn, that woman sure works out.” Speed was in the break room with Alexx, rubbing his throat. He had just told her what happened during interrogation.

“Let me take a look.” Alexx suggested. Tim tilted his head a little up “Ouch, it’s already bruising.” Alexx gingerly touched the bluish skin.

“Speed, what happened?” Horatio questioned as he entered the room. He had just come back for the DNA results when he walked passed the break room looking for Speed or Calleigh.

“The suspect went a little crazy.” Tim replied with a grim smile. “She left, it was kinda hard to stop her, even follow her.” He cast his eyes a little more downward. It was a stupid mistake, losing track of the suspect.

“She’s a convicted killer and you let her walk out of here?” Horatio Caine asked raising his voice just a little. He turned his attention to the forgotten paper in his hand.

“H, I don’t think she did it. She went ballistic when she heard the girl was dead. Plus the victim was raped. Faith’s not the cuddliest person but I don’t think she’d rape her girlfriend.” Speed really didn’t think Faith killed Buffy. It was obvious enough Faith could kill Buffy but not under these circumstances.

“Maybe you’re right.” The older CSI agreed softly and handed the piece of paper to Tim. “Look at this.”

“The skin tissue under her nails?” He asked getting a nod from his superior “Wait, isn’t this-”

“Murder and taste in women aren’t the only things they have in common it seems.” Horatio stated and left the break room with Tim behind him.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“Miss Lehane.” A voice came from behind her. She turned around and faced a friendly looking cop with shades in his hands.

“Stop calling me that, I hate that name.” Faith turned back around. She didn’t think they’d find her here but then again, she didn’t think she’d lose her girlfriend to a human killer neither.

“My apologies.” He said. It wasn’t hard to find Faith. Dawn had told him that she was probably on the roof of her apartment building, something about on a roof being the first time Faith almost died. Horatio figured it was metaphorical.

“What do you want? You found something else? Like a hair or something? So you can just put my ass back in jail?” Faith asked the older CSI agent when he sat on the ledge next to her with Faith’s legs dangling over the edge as opposed to Horatio who kept his feet on the roof “Look, if you’re not gonna talk then take a walk ‘cause I’m busy.”

“Faith, we did find something. Do you mind turning around, some might think you are going to jump.” This got Faith’s attention. She looked at Horatio but made no other motion to remove herself from the ledge. “Buffy put up quite a struggle.”

“I wasn’t going to jump, just like I knew my girl would never go down without a fight.” She smiled to herself and looked at the sky. “Even in her senior year when we fought it was deadly, y’know.” Again Horatio thought it was metaphorical, though the truth behind her words were hard to mistake “If she wasn’t there to kick my ass I’d still be on the run for you cops.”

“You go back a few years, don’t you?” He couldn’t help but smile a little at Faith’s chuckle. She nodded with a small smile before turning serious.

“What did ya find?” She asked him. She hoped they found something that could help her narrow down her own personal suspects. She had already called Giles and asked her everything he knew about Cruciamentum and how to get it.

“Buffy was raped,” He said carefully. He could see the rage in the brunette’s eyes but when she spoke it wasn’t angry.

“Unless I got somethin’ dangling down there that I don’t even know ‘bout, I’m not your man.” Faith shrugged feeling tears prickling in the back of her eyes.

“Yes but I need to ask you one thing.” Horatio wasn’t sure how Faith would handle the next question but he had Speed waiting just inside the building.

“What?”

“Do you know where your father is?” Bang, Faith felt like being hit with a hammer.

Chapter Three

She was standing in the cold morgue where they kept her lover. The CSI that brought her here said it was against the rules but he thought she should have one last moment. That was ten minutes ago, Faith hadn’t moved since Tim left her alone. She stared at the body of the blonde on the table. Finally she slowly walked over to her dead lover and stroked her forehead.

“Hey baby, it’s me.” She whispered with a small smile. “I’m so sorry; I didn’t know he was goin’ to follow me here.” Slowly but surely tears started making their way down her cheeks. “Why didn’t you just stay in Cleveland? Dozens of Slayers to protect you; or you could have just let me know you were coming sooner, I could’ve stopped him.” Faith let out a bitter chuckle and shook her head “No, can’t keep making excuses, I should’ve told you about him. But you would’ve probably gone after him.” With shaking hands she traced Buffy’s features “The Chosen One, the oldest living Slayer killed by a Council reject.” Her hands trembled as the tears fell more rapidly.

“Faith, we’re gonna have to go.” The voice of the CSI was heard behind her. She nodded, not knowing whether he could see it or nor. She leant in to Buffy’s body and placed a bittersweet kiss on the blonde’s lips.

“I love you, B and I’ll love you again in another lifetime.” She whispered and wiped her tears before turning to Speedle with a gratified expression. He simply smiled in response and led her out.

“Wasn’t that the victim’s lover?” Erik asked looking over his shoulder at the retreating form of the slender brunette in tow with Tim Speedle. “Did she just come from the morgue?” He directed his question to his superior, Horatio, who was still watching the two leave.

“Yes, since every record of where Joe Lehane might be living is a fake Speed had an idea that could lead us to her killer.” Horatio replied. Erik Delko stared openmouthed at his mentor, shock written across his face.

“What? Traumatize the poor girl so she kills her father?” Erik questioned dumbfounded before realizing what the plan entailed “And leading us to him.” Horatio smiled and tapped his nose before taking off.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“Faith, what the hell is going on?” Willow asked when the door to Faith’s apartment opened. Faith looked shocked to see them but just stared at the four people in the hallway. “First you call Giles and ask him all about the drug the Council used on Slayers then you just hang up without a word?”

“Faith, answer the question.” Giles pressed. Faith didn’t reply she stepped aside to let them in. She was very surprised to see Willow, Xander, Giles and Kennedy in Miami so soon but figured Willow pulled some magic to get them here faster.

“Dawn?” Kennedy frowned seeing the just awoken girl on the couch. Xander rushed over to the young Summers woman as she started crying when seeing the four people that had entered the living room.

“What’s wrong?” He asked but Dawn didn’t respond. She moved closer in the man’s arms, needing the never-ending comfort Xander provided.

“Where’s Buffy?” Willow started looking around the apartment and calling out for the blonde Slayer. They all stared expectantly at Faith but she was too busy trying to blend in her wall. When Willow entered the living room again she was starting to get a little panicked.

“Willow…” Faith’s voice rasped. For a full minute the whole room went eerily quiet, even Dawn’s crying had stopped. Nobody said a word but just hearing Faith use Willow’s name they were scared to move, even breathe.

“She’s-” Kennedy tried to start not really knowing what to say but Xander cut in with a hopeful expression.

“In the hospital, right?” He looked around with a chuckle “She got attacked by a big scary demon and because she got injected with the Slayer drug it knocked her in the hospital but you killed it, didn’t you Faith?” Xander and Faith locked eyes but the Slayer didn’t say anything “You killed it because it attacked your girlfriend,” he emphasized the last word and continued through gritted teeth “the girl you promised to protect.” A simple shake of her head had the room gasping for air.

“Bitch.” Before anyone realized what happened Faith was being held up against the wall with invisible restraints by Willow. “I never should’ve trusted you enough to be with her.” Her hair was pitch-black accompanied by the blackness of her eyes matched the sheer power she held on Faith’s chest pressed against the wall.

“Dear Lord, Willow let her down.” Giles wanted to rush over to Faith’s aid but Faith shook her head at the old Englishman. Kennedy tried to grab Willow’s hand but the witch just pushed her away with ease.

“You’re right, Blackie. Even the cops think I did it but what good’s it gonna do you if you kill your best friend’s lover?” Faith groaned when Willow tightened her hold on her chest. Willow wouldn’t kill her now, not while Buffy’s killer was still out there. Faith knew this for sure, Willow was angry with her now but not angry enough to kill her now.

“She’s dead, what would she care?” Willow replied mentally slamming the Slayer’s head to the wall. “She’s dead because you asked her to come here.” The black-haired witch said through gritted teeth.

“Willow, please stop, Faith had nothing to do with it.” Dawn pleaded from her seat on the couch but Willow just ignored the younger Summers woman.

“Yeah, she is” Faith croaked out “but no one ever said that she can’t be watching you.” Seconds crept silently. The only sound was the sound of Dawn sobbing against Xander’s chest. Willow took her hold off of Faith causing the brunette to fall to the floor wit a loud thud. She crawled to her feet and stepped up to Willow who judging by her still black appearance had yet to calm down.

“I get that you blame me but I didn’t kill her.” Willow was shooting daggers (figuratively speaking) at the brunette but Faith didn’t back down. They stood almost nose to nose just staring at each other.

“What happened?” Kennedy probed. It was well known that she and Buffy didn’t usually get along but when it came to respect Buffy had quite a lot coming from Kennedy. “Why didn’t you call?”

“I’m sorry.” Dawn sobbed in Xander’s arms. Those simple words earned her the full attention of everyone in the room.

“Dawn, why are you apologizing?” Giles asked the young brunette. His eyes were tearful; he refrained from crying so far.

“I should’ve called when I found her.” Silent pity filled the room hearing that Dawn was the one who found her sister “She was just lying there, blood everywhere and her eyes wide open.” Dawn told them. Giles couldn’t hide his tears any longer; he mumbled a ‘Dear Lord’ and sat down on the armchair next to Dawn. “I don’t even remember calling 911.”

“Willow, sweetie, please try and calm down.” Kennedy’s voice shook as she spoke to her trembling with anger girlfriend. The power Willow radiated was making it hard to breathe in the room, everyone could feel it.

“Red, get off your goddamn high, you’re not killing anyone.” Faith all but shouted to get the witch’s attention.

“Shut up, Faith.” Willow spat, her eyes boring in Faith’s.

“No, you shut up. You of all people should know what it feels like when a freakin’ human kills the girl you-” Faith swallowed hard and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she could see lost sorrow in Willow’s eyes at the mention of Tara. “This is my fight. That’s why I didn’t call you.”

“Faith, you can’t expect us to let you go and kill whoever killed Buffy, it doesn’t work that way.” Xander spoke up tightening is arms around Dawn.

“No? What about the big bad witch here? She looks like she’s gon’ kill just about everyone right about now.” The fury in her voice was evident. She didn’t understand why they were objecting, they just lost their friend, lover, sister, daughter.

“Faith-” Giles’ voice was weak, almost reluctant to get into this discussion. He understood what she was feeling, he felt it too when Angelus killed Jenny.

“You don’t get it, do you? This is my fight, he’s after me.” Faith interrupted “He killed my girl with my knife; he stabbed and gutted her, after he sliced her throat.” She raged trying to get the picture through. It was working because by now even the black-eyed witch was falling into tears, her hair flickering between red and black “He fucking raped her.” Her voice was crackling. It seemed surreal but she said it out loud and it hurt her more than she imagined. “He didn’t just want her dead, he wanted her to suffer.”

“What do you mean with your knife?” Xander asked through the tears that were streaming down his face. He felt the anger boiling inside and was already half on board with Faith.

“The one the Mayor gave me, that B held onto ‘til she gave it back when we started dating.” Faith replied eyes cast downwards. She saw the wounds in the morgue; she knew he was after her.

“How can you be sure that he is after you?” Giles questioned wiping his eyes. Faith wasn’t one to put others in danger anymore, she was very careful about her relationship with Buffy.

“Because he sliced her open with the same knife, the same spot,” she moved her finger over the shirt clad part where she still had a faint remembrance of a scar “where she stabbed me.”

“That would mean you know him or he at least knows you and your past with Buffy.” Giles stated standing up and began pacing just a little trying to think of someone who that could be.

“Yeah, he should.” Faith replied with a small sneer detectable “He used to work for the Council but got sacked when they found out he was visiting me in jail without permission.” Faith saw the wheels turning in the old Watcher’s head, of course he would know, he knew everything.

“Why would he visit you?” Kennedy asked confused. She heard the stories about Faith thus not understanding why anyone wanted to visit her, especially not someone from the Council that wanted Faith dead.

“Joseph Lehane, he’s your father.” Giles answered before Faith could. He had heard about him but never thought Faith had contact with him, she never spoke of him.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

They were standing in the hallway of an old rundown apartment building that looked like it could collapse any minute now. Faith had ordered Xander to stay at her place with Dawn. He’d been very upset with her decision because Buffy was his best friend, too but Faith didn’t want anyone else to get involved more than they already were. If something went wrong Dawn would still have Xander.

“Don’t let anyone in. I don’t care if they’re cops or fucking rodents, don’t let them in.” Faith said clearly to Kennedy and Giles. At first the Watcher was very much against her idea but he didn’t care anymore, this man killed his surrogate daughter.

Faith gave Willow a nod and the witch blew the door wide open, smirking evilly as she floated in the room. The man inside jerked up from his chair and tried to reach for his gun but Willow already held the man in the air with her magic. She hid her shock at how much his eyes resembled the brunette behind her.

“Faith.” For some reason the man’s voice sounded relieved instead of scared. Willow turned her head to the side when Faith came to stand beside her, anger burning in her eyes. Faith just laughed all the hope in the man’s eyes away.

“Long time no see, daddy.” She said with mocking sweetness.

Chapter 4

Across the street four CSI’s had just watched Faith enter the building with three other people, two women and an older man. They had followed the four people from Faith’s apartment using another car than the Hummer, to avoid suspicion.

“Before we burst in guns blazing, are we sure this is where Joe Lehane is?” Horatio asked his agents. He wasn’t about to burst in and intrude on a private remembering ceremony and so making impossible for Faith to let them follow her anymore.

“Positive, I recognized one of the women from a picture in our victim’s wallet.” Calleigh replied with a positive nod of her head. “If they are even half as vengeful as Faith they’d gladly join in the carnage.”

“The sister isn’t present.” Speedle pointed out. He wasn’t sure why Horatio just didn’t burst in there. People are most likely to get their own revenge and Faith entered the rundown building with three others.

“Faith could want to protect Dawn from a horrific scene.” Erik said as a way of an explanation.  He could relate to that, he wouldn’t want Marisol witnessing things he saw everyday. A second later a loud crash was heard from inside the building.

“Let’s go.” Horatio said pulling out his gun.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“Killed any women lately?” Faith asked casually. Willow pushed the man down on his chair focusing on keeping him down without him being able to move. He looked so much like Faith, the eyes, the wavy brown hair; even his figure was lean and muscled. He dressed like her, too, from his white tank top down to the leather boots and denims.

“Faith, what-” Joe didn’t know what to think, his daughter was here but she didn’t seem happy to see him at all. As a matter of fact, she looked like she was ready to kill.

“Buffy.” Willow growled, her black eyes staring cold at the man on the chair. She was fighting for not hurting the man just yet. Faith said that they needed to make sure it was him who killed Buffy. There was no doubt he raped her and he’d no doubt get pain for that.

“The Slayer?” He questioned “Faith, honey, I did that for you.” Willow turned to look at Faith but she was just as confused about what he said as the witch was. “I just gave what she had coming for almost killing you, getting you thrown in jail.”

“Wait, let me get this straight,” Faith chuckled sourly “you killed B because one” she held up her thumb “she put me in a coma because I poisoned her boyfriend” her index finger followed “and two, because she wanted me somewhere where I couldn’t hurt, kill, anymore people? Your fucking bosses wanted me dead.” She came at him with a single punch, earning her a mouthful of blood spit on the floor just in front of her boots.

“You’re a Slayer, Faith, a powerful and beautiful supernatural creature.” He spoke with so much awe it made Faith roll her eyes. She didn’t get what was so important about it anymore; there were dozens, hundreds of Slayers “There’s nothing that can stop you but you gave that all up to please that little bitch.”

“No, because I was killing people.” Faith snapped angrily. Joe couldn’t help but smile pitifully at his daughter. In the old days of the Council, way before his time, killing humans wasn’t such a big shock as long as they had a very good reason for it. He never did understand the Council’s decision to want one of their most raw Slayers dead. Faith lived for the kill, that was how the Slayer was supposed to be.

“You always wanted some kind of appraisal, recognition for your actions.” Joe smiled a smile that came pretty close to loving. “That Summers girl never gave you any of that.”

“You never gave me any of that.” Faith replied resentfully clenching her fists tightly. “And now you wanna act like a real father?” She asked with a cynical chuckle “By using my knife with my prints on them and having the cops come after me?”

“So you’ve hired a witch to kill me because I killed a woman that tried to kill you?” Joe questioned raising an eyebrow at the unbelievable scene in front of him. He didn’t see the boot coming until it already broke his nose.

“I loved her, asshole.” She all but screamed throwing in another punch. “You killed my girl.” She hissed shocking Joe with this revelation. “About the witch,” Faith straightened herself and nodded to the witch standing perfectly still “don’t you recognize her? I tried to kill her back when I worked for the Mayor.” He waited for him to say anything but the recognition wasn’t there yet “No? Take a good look, she’s all black and veins now but normally she’s such a sweet little redhead.” She threw a favorable smile at Willow that made the former redhead smirk at the Slayer.

“Rosenberg.” Joseph Lehane snarled with disdain. He looked the witch up and down “The hacking witch of the Slayer.” Willow smirked slightly at his words.

“Surprising, isn’t it? You see, dad,” Faith spat the last word “even if I didn’t come after you, you still pissed off the scariest witch I’ve ever seen.” Faith couldn’t help but shoot her trademark grin at the man she’d seen less than a year’s worth of time over her twenty-five years of life. “She’s actually the one that found you, even through your magical shield you set up to keep hidden from the cops.”

“Can I hurt him now?” Willow asked blatantly like he was something to play with. Joe’s eyes grew wide and prayed for Faith to deny her query. He heard what this witch tried to do and did to the last person who tried to kill her best friend but ended up killing the witch’s lover.

“Knock yourself out, Blackie, we heard enough.” Faith crossed her arms and watched as Willow shot blue and black colored streams from her hands at the man bound invisibly on the chair.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

On the first floor the four CSI’s that had entered the building were kicking in all the doors to see where Faith could’ve been when they heard loud screaming coming from above them.

“It’s coming from the third floor.” Speedle pointed out. They all stormed up the stairs only to find the older man and one of the women that came with Faith standing in the hallway.

“Miami Dade Police.” Horatio called out. The older man gave him a friendly smile, seemingly not bothered by the screams that came from the apartment.

“Can I help you?” He asked with a British accent. The woman standing next to him faced the four CSI’s with her arms crossed staring at them defiantly. Speedle saw something familiar in the brunette’s eyes; the predatory animal energy flowed off of her like it did with Faith.

“You need to get out of the way now.” Erik said firmly keeping his gun out in front of. Judging from the screams insides the apartment there was no way that these two people weren’t armed if they were there to block the entrance.

“I’m afraid we can’t do that.” The older man replied again with the friendly smile. The four agents looked at him like he was insane. How could he be so calm and smiling with those loud cries of pain?

“Sir, I’m going to ask you nicely, please move or we’ll have you under arrest for obstructing-” Horatio began but was interrupted by the smaller brunette.

“Yeah, yeah, yada, yada.” She said trivializing with a roll of her eyes. “You’re not coming through here, not without, uhm…” She snapped her fingers turning to the older man for help.

“A warrant.” He filled in.

“Yeah, that.” She grinned and turned back to the CSI’s.

“This building has been declared uninhabitable meaning that whatever goes on in here, we don’t need a warrant for entering this apartment.” Calleigh told them clearly taking a step closer.

“You’re going to need a hospital or a coffin if you go through this door.” Kennedy replied the tone of her voice indicating that she wasn’t exaggerating.

“Is that a threat?” Horatio Caine questioned narrowing his eyes. The brunette rolled her eyes again and shook her head.

“No, it’s just a fair warning.” She answered. Erik had inched closer and was now in reach of her arms. He grabbed one arm and tried to twist it on her back but Kennedy pulled her arm back with ease and shoved him away, causing him to slide almost ten feet down the hall. “Warned you.” She smirked and got into fighting stance.

“Xander, what are you doing here?” The older man asked to someone that had just come up the stairs. Horatio pointed his gun at the young man with the eye patch while Calleigh and Speedle still had their guns pointed at the two other people, more at the brunette because of her stance.

“Dawn’s gone,” Xander said sounding panicked. “I went to grab something to drink and when I came back she was gone.” He ran his hands through his hair nervously. “She’s gotta be here, Giles, I know it.”

“And you believe she’s here?” Horatio asked the young man, he nodded not knowing what to do, he had to watch Dawn, that was all he had to do and he blew it. “That’s not possible, other than you and us no one entered this building.”

“She’s Willow’s student, she’s able to get in.” Giles sighed and glanced at the door behind him, hoping whatever went on in there wasn’t enough to traumatize Dawn.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

Faith just stood by and watched the man she knew was her father cry out in pain, begging for Willow to stop but she wasn’t listening to his screams. She picked up the voices of the cops she was arrested by with her sensitive Slayer hearing.

“Hey Blackie, I’m gon’ see if Giles wants to let the Ripper out while I deal with the cops, okay?” Willow just gave her a short nod. Faith made her way to the door but quickly turned back around when she heard Willow yelling.

“Dawn, what are you doing here?” From there on the room seemed to go in slow motion. The surprise shocked Willow that she dropped all magical bounds just enough for Joe to get loose. Faith saw him standing up and stretch out his hand to Willow. The Slayer used her speed and pulled Willow out of the way just as green streams came from Joe’s hand hitting Faith square in the chest knocking her through the wall behind her into the hallway.

“Son of a bitch.” Faith growled and jumped up getting back in the room totally forgetting about the seven people she landed in between standing just outside the apartment.

Willow had recovered quickly, shielding her and Dawn from his attacks. She could tell that he was using borrowed magic and that it was draining him fast. She could see a crack in the shield every time she hit his shield. She didn’t expect the audience however. The cops were coming in the room with their guns pointed at Joe Lehane not believing what they were seeing. They all realized it too late when Joe stretched out his arm as his last magical resort and suddenly had Calleigh in front of him with her own gun pointed at her head.

“Faith, don’t you see? I did everything for you, so you could be free like you were supposed to be.” Joe shouted pleadingly. “Kick me and your brains are splattered across the room.” He hissed in Calleigh’s ear feeling her shift a little.

“Can I kill him?” Willow asked a little too loudly. She could feel Kennedy’s disbelief of her asking that question so plainly. Giles placed his hand on Willow’s shoulder; she looked at him and saw him shaking his head.

“Ya can’t risk killing Calleigh.” Faith replied almost inaudible over the shouts of the other cops. They were all shouting at Joe to let the blonde detective go, that killing a cop wasn’t the way to go.

“A little head implosion, then? It’ll go slow and it won’t hurt her but she might get her pretty white blouse covered in blood. There is a chance she could get shot if it’s too slow but that’s just a simple risk.” Willow offered again sounding just a little too hopeful but pouted when Faith shook her head firmly. “Can I at least throw him out the window?” Faith stared at the window behind her father and looked around the room searching for something.

“We can’t kill these cops, they’re good cops.” Dawn said sounding weak and ashamed for putting the blonde in danger. She should’ve stayed at the apartment with Xander.

“Can you get the gun away from his head long enough for me to get Calleigh away from him?” Faith asked Willow in a hushed tone but loud enough for the witch to hear. Willow frowned slightly but nodded. Slowly but surely Joe’s hand began to twist in the opposite direction of Calleigh’s head. Using her full Slayer speed Faith rushed forward, faster than the human eye can register, pulled Joe away from the blonde Detective and hurtled with him through the window.

“Faith!” The older Slayer heard several voices screaming her name as she fell three stories down with her father. Somehow she managed to turn them around in the air and she landed half on top of the man as they both crashed with a slam in a rusted through car. She felt more than a few bones break when she landed but crawled up as much as she could and ended up straddling the unconscious body that was Joe’s.

“I hate you.” She began punching him fiercely as tears streamed down her face “You fucking asshole.” She screamed “I loved B, she meant everything to me.” She kept punching him over and over again even when his face wasn’t recognizable anymore. She didn’t register when arms tried to pull her off of Joe. She kept punching until she was finally pulled away by Kennedy, the only one with enough strength to pull a Slayer away.

“She wasn’t supposed to die like this.” Faith sobbed in Kennedy’s arms not registering that she was being held, she just cried and clung to the younger Slayer.

Chapter 5

Faith was lying in the hospital; she had been here since they arrested her after she beat the body of her father. She had broken her leg in three different places and also two ribs plus a couple of bruised ones. Manslaughter. That was what they first came up with. They wanted to just make it murder but due to circumstances they decided on voluntary manslaughter.

“You saved my life.” Calleigh’s voice came from the door. Faith turned her head around to face the blonde CSI. “I don’t know how you did it but you saved my life, risking yours in the process.” She entered the room completely and stood at the end of Faith’s bed.

“Looks like it.” Faith answered with the smallest of shrugs she could muster at the moment. She wished her Slayer healing could just work a little faster. She had been cooped up in this hospital bed for three days now.

“Why’d you do it?” Calleigh asked curiously. Faith noted the CSI was different when she wasn’t working, she seemed more relaxed. They had given, ordered actually, Calleigh to take a few days off to get herself back together.

“I don’t know.” Faith winced slightly as she tried to sit up “I couldn’t let him kill another woman, y’know.” She replied after she was a little more comfortable. “You probably got some guy waiting for you at home just lovin’ you but if my dad put a bullet through your head, he’d just feel the same way I do,” Faith stared out the window before turning back to the CSI “and that’s not somethin’ I recommend.” She gave the blonde a wry smile.

“You care a lot more about people than you let on.” Detective Duquesne smiled sympathetically. When she first met the brunette she seemed indifferent to the world but witnessing first hand how Faith was in a dangerous or painful situation opened her eyes.

“Don’t tell anyone.” Faith grinned smugly and winked at the CSI. Before she arrived in Sunnydale Faith wasn’t the most caring person but the more she spent with the Scoobies and the mini-Slayers, the more she began to care and love.

“I won’t.” Calleigh winked back “I hope your trial goes well.”

“Thanks.” Faith replied with a thankful smile. “I’ll see you later, Louisiana.” She said when Calleigh made her way to the door.

“I’m sure you will, Faith.” Calleigh replied and left the room. Faith closed her eyes, letting the memories of her and Buffy flow through her mind.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

She was sitting in her room in Cleveland, recuperating from a hellish training with the Psycho Slayer they had retrieved a few months ago. They assured her that she was getting better but when up against another Slayer the girl still went nuts.

“Hey stranger.” Faith turned around when hearing an all too familiar voice coming from her door. She couldn’t help but grin at the person standing in the doorway.

“B, what are you doin’ back already? I thought you weren’t coming back for at least a few months.” Faith stood up from her bed, the soreness in her muscles almost completely forgotten.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too but I got tired of doing nothing.” Buffy shrugged and entered the room fully. “Especially when I heard Angel and Spike were almost stalking me.” The frustration was clear in her voice.

“Yeah, I heard ‘bout that.” Faith chuckled. “Guess they didn’t really dig your choice, huh?” She laughed when Buffy just rolled her eyes at that statement. “Isn’t your Immortal boytoy gonna miss ya?”

“Him? Oh, maybe.” The blonde gave another shrug and began to wander through the brunette’s room. “It wasn’t like I was in love with him or anything, I mean come on,” She turned to Faith with an incredulous frown “another vampire?”

“I thought I was gonna have a stroke from laughing when I heard you were seeing another vamp.” Faith laughed heartily. She had missed Buffy, though she wasn’t going to admit to the blonde.

“You wanna go somewhere? Let the baby Slayers patrol?” Buffy suddenly asked out of nowhere. Faith frowned for a second but nodded. The new Slayers could handle things themselves for just one night.

“Yeah sure.” Faith replied and took a jacket from her closet before following Buffy out the door.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“Faith’s a good person.” Dawn replied when the prosecutor asked her how best to describe Faith Lehane “She’s practically a sister to me. She’d protect me from anything.”

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“You brutally beat him until he was barely recognizable.” The prosecutor was verbally attacking her but Faith remained calm. Her lawyer had told her they’d try to get her angry.

“After he was dead.” She replied coldly staring right in his eyes. When autopsy was finished they discovered that Joseph Lehane had died on impact with the car. Her lawyer was trying to get her off with Assault and Battery.

“Yes, but you didn’t know that at the time.” He stated. It was his job to get her to be proven guilty but even he had his doubts. This woman shouldn’t be on trial, she should’ve gotten a medal for not only saving Detective Duquesne but also for taking a rapist and killer from the streets, her own father.

“I lost it when I saw him lying there. He took her away from us, from me.” Her voice raised a notch but she took a deep breath and steadied herself.

“He was your father.” He said staring right back at the brunette.

“Only by blood.” She said casually “I had to take care of myself; he never did anything for me.” In her mind though she kept repeating his last words to her ‘I did everything for you’.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“She almost died saving Detective Duquesne.” Horatio Caine was on the stands and he was sticking up for Faith. He didn’t know what he saw happening in that room but with everything that went on Faith still risked her own life. She could’ve waited, doing nothing and maybe they had lost Calleigh. Anyone could see Joe was unstable, who knows what else he could’ve done.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“Faith, what happened between you and Robin?” Buffy asked as they lay on the hood of Faith’s car staring at the sky. They did this often; a couple of times each week they would give total control over the other Slayers to Kennedy and Rona while they took a night for themselves.

“It wasn’t right anymore.” Faith replied indifferently. She had broken up with Robin after two years just a few days ago. It was her longest, and only, relationship but she couldn’t do it anymore.

“What do you mean?” Buffy turned on her side, propping her head on her elbow to get a better look at Faith. The brunette sighed softly and closed her eyes for a moment.

“I wasn’t being fair to him.” She finally said and turned her head to face Buffy “I wanted him to be someone he wasn’t.” She explained. She directed her gaze back at the star filled sky as a comfortable silence settled between them.

“I’m glad you stayed here, Faith.” Buffy eventually said and shifted her position so she was staring at the sky as well. “Instead of going back to jail, I mean.”

“Yeah, jail wasn’t doing any good to my complexion, y’know.” She let out a chuckle at Buffy’s snort “TL-lights inside, a few hours on the outside court for just working out.” She shrugged “I think I like it better here.” Faith added thoughtfully.

“That’ll keep you motivated to stay out of trouble.” The blonde Slayer replied trying to sound stern. Faith laughed and smacked the blonde’s thigh playfully.

“No, I mean here,” she gestured with her hands to their surroundings “away from those hoppin’, bubblin’ cheerful kiddie Slayers.” Faith sat up with mock hurt covering her features when Buffy started laughing “I’m serious, Giles says there’s never a stupid question but these girls,” She sighed deeply “they’re fucking nosy idiots.”

“You’re just making that up because you love spending time with me.” Buffy taunted suppressing her grin at Faith’s dumbfounded expression.

“What? No, that’s-”

“You love those girls, Faith.” Buffy pulled Faith back down “And it’s okay, I love spending time with you too.”

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“What exactly happened in there, Officer Speedle?” This time it was Speedle who was called to the stand.

“I’m not sure actually.” Tim frowned trying to recollect what happened “We were standing in the hallway when Faith came crashing through the apartment wall and just got back in there.” He replied truthfully.

“Ms. Lehane you mean?” The prosecutor asked curious as to why this officer called the defendant by her first name.

“Yes but she doesn’t like her last name, and I can’t blame her.” Speedle answered sending a subtle glance towards Faith.

“Fair enough, what did you see inside the apartment?” The prosecutor continued.

“I don’t know,” Tim frowned again and tried to explain what he saw “it looked like a laser show with Faith trying to dodge these green lightening streams coming from Joseph Lehane’s hands then before I knew it he had Calleigh with her gun at her head.” The prosecutor wasn’t the only one who looked at least mildly confused by this answer.

“Did Mr. Lehane look injured?” The prosecutor left the previous answer to what is was for now. A very confusing mystery.

“His face was pretty bloody and he looked like he had a broken nose but other than that, nothing physically even though he could barely stand up straight from the pain.” Speed answered truthfully. The prosecutor only asked if Joe looked injured at that moment. He told the room what he saw, what they found during the autopsy was another thing. His organs were almost melted and fried; it was amazing that he even lived to take Calleigh hostage.

“What did Ms. Lehane do?”

“Again, I’m not sure. We were trying to talk to Mr. Lehane and then Faith took him with her through the window.”

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“I love you, B.” Faith whispered softly stroking the blonde’s hair. It didn’t take long for her to figure out Buffy was the one she wanted to be with. She always had some kind of infatuation for the blonde but one night she had fallen asleep during a movie night with Buffy and her nightmares about her past roared their ugly little heads. She woke up crying and being held by Buffy, that’s when she knew she was in love with Buffy.

“I love you, too.” Buffy whispered back. They were lying face-to-face in Faith’s bed after a couple of hours of heavenly lovemaking. Buffy never admitted it to anyone, not even her girlfriend, but the reason she came back from Europe was Faith. Back then, almost three years ago; it wasn’t because she was in love with the brunette but because she missed having the younger Slayer around her. It came gradually, the realization of love.

“Marry me.” Faith thought she was going to regret saying those two words but once they were out she didn’t regret them at all. They felt right to say. Who would’ve known that the woman who almost killed her to save her boyfriend was now the woman Faith wanted to spend the rest of her life with?

“What?” Buffy sat up straight in the brunette’s bed, not quite realizing what she just had said.

“Marry me.” Faith repeated sitting up as well. Now she was starting to regret it just a little. She had no doubt Buffy loved her, though it had taken Buffy quite a while to prove that to Faith. She started regretting it because of her fear for rejection, rejection by the woman she loved.

“Faith,” Buffy sighed tired.

“I’m serious; we’ve been together what, going on two years now?” Buffy nodded with a shrug “I love you; I wanna be with you forever.” Faith took Buffy’s hands in hers and kissed them softly.

“Faith, you don’t trust me enough to tell me everything about your past, how are you supposed to deal with that if we were married?” Buffy replied. She knew there were things Faith didn’t tell her but Buffy just wanted to wait for Faith to be ready to share.

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know when we’re in Miami, away from eavesdroppers, I promise.” Faith leaned forward and gently kissed the blonde’s lips, sealing her promise.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

“On being charged with manslaughter, we the jury find the defendant, Faith Lehane, not guilty.” Faith was suddenly being grabbed from behind by a few pairs of arms in attempt to hug the Slayer. “On being charged with assault and battery,” the whole court room went quiet “we the jury find the defendant, Faith Lehane, guilty and hereby sentence Faith Lehane to six months in prison and eighteen months probation.” Faith turned around and hugged as many of the people that we’re there for her as she could before the bailiff handcuffed her.

“This jury likes you about as much as that judge.” Calleigh commented taking Faith from the bailiff, recalling what Faith said the first time they met.

“What can I say? I’m loveable.” Faith snorted but was grateful for her sentence. She thought that they would’ve given her at least ten years.

“I’ll make sure you can go to your girlfriend’s ceremony.” Calleigh said friendly to the brunette in front of her. Horatio knew people and she’d most definitely volunteer to play Faith’s guard, even though she knew it wouldn’t be necessary.

“Thank you.” Faith spoke so soft that she wasn’t sure if Calleigh heard her but one smile from the blonde told her she had.

Epilogue

Faith walked out of the women’s penitentiary six months after her sentence had been given. Willow had immediately offered to change it, get her out again but Faith denied the offer. She did kill a man and the six months she was sentenced was the least she could do to subdue her conscience, even just a little.

“What’s this? Police escort?” Faith questioned seeing Calleigh Duquesne waiting at the gates. She grinned at the blonde CSI casually leaning against the fence.

“Yes, Ms. Rosenberg and Ms. Summers send their apologies; they couldn’t make it today.” She replied with a bright smile.

“What’s with the stiff attitude?” Faith asked with a little frown. “You only like me when I’m behind glass or somethin’?” She shot Calleigh her trademark grin then tilted her head to the sky, enjoying the sunlight on her face. When the blonde first visited her in jail she was pleasantly surprised. She found that she enjoyed talking to the blonde. Apparently Calleigh did too because she came back every week.

“It’s good to see you, Faith.” Calleigh smiled warmly. She had primarily begun visiting her to figure out what happened exactly that day but Faith would always change the subject without Calleigh noticing too much.

“I know I’m always a pleasure to see.” Faith grinned and shot the CSI a wink. “Feels good to be seen, too. Without my very flattering jumpsuit of course.” Faith cordially moved her hands over her casual clothes.

“I’ll give you a ride home.” Detective Duquesne said and motioned Faith to follow her as she walked to the parking lot.

“Sounds perfect to me.” Faith shrugged then sighed in awe at seeing the Hummer Calleigh was headed “Wicked ride, Louisiana.” She exclaimed grinning widely. They crawled into the large vehicle and were surrounded by a comfortable silence as they drove out of the parking lot and away from the women’s penitentiary.

“How are you feeling, Faith?” Calleigh asked after a few minutes noticing the absentminded brunette in the passenger seat.

“Five by-” Faith snorted softly, stopping herself, and tore her gaze away from the window “I’m good, glad I’m out, y’know.” She shrugged glancing over at Calleigh. Faith understood Calleigh was feeling grateful because the brunette saved her but she had never known anybody being so grateful that six months later they were still being friendly to her.

“Your friends are going to be happy to see you out as well.” The blonde CSI commented smiling softly but keeping her eyes on the road. She pretended to listen to Faith’s instructions for her apartment but the brunette had apparently forgotten that Calleigh already knew where she lived. She was a cop after all.

“I missed them; talking to them once a week behind glass isn’t exactly a social event.” Faith gave a small shrug. Calleigh was edging closer to being too personal but Faith knew she wouldn’t ask about Buffy until Faith brought it up. Calleigh had tried to bring it up one time during one of her visits but Faith had dismissed the subject, making it clear to Calleigh that she didn’t want to talk about Buffy.

“I can imagine that.” The blonde CSI replied nodding understanding. “I heard you had some other visitors as well.” Faith chuckled at the not so subtle prying tone that Calleigh tried, but failed, to hide in her voice.

“Besides you?” Faith asked grinning. Calleigh just rolled her eyes at that. “Yeah, Shades and Speedy visited me a couple of times, too.” Faith had an idea as to why Horatio visited her, he was just that kind of guy to look after people but why Tim visited her was just a guess and that guess told her it had to do with his hormones.

“Shades?” Calleigh questioned confused then laughed jovially “Because of the sunglasses, right.” They finally came to a halt across Faith’s apartment building.

“This is it,” Faith nodded suddenly feeling a little nervous about being back “you wanna come up for a drink or somethin’ or are you like on the clock?” She hoped Calleigh didn’t think any more of it, she just didn’t feel like being alone right now.

“I’ll keep you company.” The blonde replied and shut off her engine. She didn’t need an explanation why Faith wanted her to come up to her apartment; it was obvious enough the woman was feeling a little uneasy.

“There are still things all of us have trouble comprehending from that day.” Calleigh remarked subtly. Faith had asked her to come up with her so she wasn’t getting out of it this time. Or so the CSI hoped.

“I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you.” Faith grinned ascending the last flight of stairs. She had too much excessive energy to take the elevator. “No, it’s like a magician never reveals his secrets. I won’t either.” The brunette shrugged.

“At least tell me how Willow had black hair and two minutes later she had red hair.” Calleigh questioned not liking the feeling she was being kept out of the loop. Faith turned to her and pretended to think about it then just gave the blonde a shrug before opening her apartment door.

“Welcome home, Faith.” Faith froze seeing her friends, some of the Slayers and CSI’s underneath a banner with ‘we missed you, Faith’ written on it.

“Son of a-” She muttered under her breath then turned to Calleigh standing behind her with a smug grin plastered on her face. “You knew, didn’t you?” Calleigh gave a slight shrug and passed the brunette “Bitch.” Faith laughed and playfully, and Slayer strength withholding, smacked the blonde’s CSI’s arm in passing.