“Osiris! Release her!” Willow roared, the black energy around her crackling with power and intent.

“Release her!” Tara echoed, her white magic flowing in a steady stream around her.

The two witches’ powers met over the open casket with the body they had once known as Faith’s staring through empty sockets to the stars. Willow had originally planned to do the spell above the burial site, but Spike had reminded them that the body would awaken wherever it was originally, so the grave was opened and disrespected. Not that Spike cared about things like that, but he knew that the others were less than pleased.

“Osiris!” Willow cried, the explosion of power lighting them all up. Even Spike, with his enhanced vision, could see only her body’s skeleton, two black lights the lone indication of the witch’s eyes. “Release her!”

The casket before them shook, and the desiccated body was abruptly renewed into the dark Slayer, her eyes wide and afraid.

The magic died down, retreating into its four initiators. “Did it work?” Anya demanded, squinting at Faith.

“It worked!” Willow said excitedly. “She’s okay!”

“But will I ever play piano again?” Faith asked, grinning as she sat up.

“Faith!” Willow shrieked, launching herself at her best friend.

“Faith,” Tara murmured, awed.

“Slayer,” Spike grinned.

Faith rubbed her ears. “Man, you guys are loud!”

“Loud?” Anya said doubtfully. “I know hell dimensions as well as any vengeance demon, and they’re not usually on the quiet side.”

“Hell? Seriously?” Faith pouted. “You guys think so little of me that you assumed I’d go to hell?”

“Oh, g-god,” Tara whispered, horrified. “Y-you were in heaven?”

Faith shrugged. “Don’t really know. But I was safe, and I was warm, and I was finished and content. I think I was in heaven.”

Willow’s eyes returned to their natural green in shock. Tara was crying openly, and even Anya seemed perturbed. Spike waited. He knew Faith.

She shook her head. “And it was so. Damned. Boring! If that’s eternity, I’d rather take hell!” She grinned at their gaping mouths. “What? You thought that I’d be happy content? I’m Faith! I love the fight! Why couldn’t I have gone to Valhalla or something?”

“I can arrange that!” Anya said excitedly. “I know a man who-“

“Wait.” Faith held up a hand. “Where’s Dawn?”

Spike answered that one. “I asked Xander to keep her company at the house. I didn’t want her here in case things got nasty.”

“Oh, you good little vampire you,” Faith yanked him to her and gave him a rough kiss, her tongue attacking his and her teeth nipping at his lower lip to draw blood. “Things are gonna get really nasty.”

Spike parted from her, leering. “Didn’t mean that kind of nasty. But who am I to argue with the Slayer?” He rose, pulling her up beside him. “But Dawn’s worried. So sister first, then nastiness.”

Faith pouted. “I swear you like my sister more than me.”

Spike gave her a look. “I have very a different relationship with you than I do with her.” It was true. Since Faith and Spike had first become involved, Dawn had been a pet project of Spike’s. He’d taken her under his wing and treated her like a little sister when her real sister was too busy slaying baddies. Spike sometimes wondered why he’d been given memories of caring for Dawn for so long. He suspected that it was because he was the only one who really would. Faith tried, but she couldn’t afford to make Dawn her focus. Though she did come through when it really mattered, on that tower, Spike conceded. Willow, with her damned superiority complex, barely acknowledged Dawn anymore, unless if she needed her. Tara tried, but Dawn was far too tough for her. Something about losing your mother at such a young age and traipsing through the country while slaying demons with your sister will do that. And Anya had no interest in children, so Xander by association usually avoided Faith’s sister. Dawn was easily accepted during Scooby meetings and research sessions, but when it came to hanging out with her or “babysitting” (which they never dared to call it around her), Spike was often the only one who volunteered, and Giles was the only one they could rope into it when Spike couldn’t. But Dawn was Spike’s girl, and everyone knew it. Purely platonically, of course.

“You didn’t find someone new while I was away, did you?” Faith asked teasingly, but there was an edge to her voice. Faith didn’t like to share. He remembered with a grimace the last time he’d tried a shag while she was away. Those bruises hadn’t healed for weeks, and he was pretty sure that Harmony’s dust was still lining the floor of his DeSoto.

“Wouldn’t have dreamed of it,” he said easily. One thing about Faith- she wasn’t the kind of girl you ever had enough of. And his sexual prowess was nothing to sneer at, either. It was why they’d lasted so long- things never got boring. “So, Rupes is away on some Watcher thing tonight.” Faith and Dawn lived with Giles in a large suburban home funded by the Watcher’s Council. Of course, Faith usually spent the night at his crypt instead. Giles was far too embarrassed to be around Faith or Spike in the mornings, and even Spike had had his fill of taunting the Watcher after the first few times.

“Excellent.” Faith grinned. “My place?”

“Let’s scar Dawn for life, then,” Spike said agreeably.

And they headed out of the cemetery together, followed by their three bemused friends.

--

Anne’s alarm went off at six o’clock AM. She was out the door and on her way to the restaurant at seven. All in all, a normal day.

Kyra’s was a higher class establishment than most of the others in Rileyville, which was why Anne counted it as a step up from Helen’s Kitchen and why most of the businesspeople in the small town frequented it for early morning breakfast specials and doughnuts. Most days, Anne worked in the morning and the early evening, taking off for the quieter lunch shifts. The big tips came in at the busier times, and she struggled to be a model waitress so as not to lose her coveted slots.

Which was why most of the other girls didn’t like her very much. That, and her standoffish attitude. She wasn’t interested in making friends. She wasn’t interesting in making any connections in the town, so that when the inevitable happened and Anne finally either ran or gave up on life, no one would notice.

Once, she had been the “it girl” in her high school. The center of her circle of friends. Someone who made a difference every night.

But that only ended in pain.

“What’ll it be?” she asked the young man seated at her first table of the day, mustering a smile.

He perused the menu. “Just toast for me.”

The British accent startled her, and she studied the man cautiously. “Is that all?”

He paused, pushing his glasses further up his nose. “And juice. Two cups, I have a friend coming.”

Anne relaxed imperceptibly. The man showed no sign of knowing who she was. You’re being paranoid. Not every British man is a… But the tweed, the tweed… “Thank you.” She hurried away from the table quickly, her heart pounding.

When she returned, the man’s companion had joined him, his back to her.

“Toast and juice,” she said, placing it down in front of the first man. She turned to the second. “And for you…”

Her voice trailed off, and she stared blankly at the man who faced her, a sad smile playing at his lips. “Hello, Buffy,” Rupert Giles murmured. “How are you?”

She wanted to run, to flee somewhere far away where Giles would never, ever find her again. But instead, she was rooted to the spot, torn between fear and an emotion she hadn’t felt in so long, it took her a moment to place it.

Relief.

This was it. After three years of hiding, her Watcher had come to drag her back to her duties. And strangely, she was relieved at it, suddenly longed for it with a thirst so intense that she wondered why she had never felt it before. All the time running had left her empty and alone. She never would have willingly returned, never would have been able to find the courage and purpose she had once brimmed over with to make the change back to Slayer. But Giles…he could tell her what to do and lend her his courage by forcing her home. She was ready.

So she smiled a real smile at him and took a seat. “I’ve been better.”

The other man cleared his throat, and Giles gestured to him apologetically. “I’m sorry. This is Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, a former Watcher. He works as a demon hunter now. He helped me find you.”

“Oh.” Anne gave the man a cursory reassessment. Do I know them or do I know them? “So…”

“So.” Giles sighed. “I’ve been searching for you for months.”

“Months?” Anne wondered. Did no one even care that I had left? The thought stung more than it would have during the past few years.

“This time,” Giles amended, seeing the doubts on her face. “My earlier search was called off when the new Slayer arrived.”

New Slayer. Of course. Kendra had died the same day as Buffy. So Sunnydale had had a Slayer since then, too.

Giles took off his glasses and polished them absent-mindedly. “Unfortunately, Faith passed away several months ago. The newest Slayer has duties elsewhere, in the Congo. Sunnydale needs a Slayer.”

“So you just came here, expecting me to come back as a substitute Slayer?” Anne asked incredulously. “Why would I leave? I’ve got-”

“Anne!” one of the other waitresses called out. “Get your ass back into the kitchen and serve your other customers!”

Anne rose. “Let’s go.”

Wesley stopped to leave the money on the table. And the two Brits and Buffy Summers left the restaurant without looking back.

--

“We are now landing in Los Angeles,” the pilot’s voice announced.

Buffy nudged her companion. “Giles, wake up.”

So far, things hadn’t gone as expected. She had been rushed to her apartment to pack up her meager belongings, then rushed to the airport to board the next flight to LA. Immediately upon boarding, Giles had fallen asleep and not woken yet. He had been reluctant to tell her much about home, only about the threats Faith had defeated.

Faith… It was clear that Giles thought very highly of her. She had defeated the mayor of Sunnydale, (who was apparently evil. Which disturbed Buffy quite a bit), stopped several apocalypses, taken down some evil government organization, and went up against a hellgod and won. The last had been at the cost of her life. She was lively and charming, and embraced her Slayer heritage with a gusto Giles had never seen before, according to the man she had once thought of as her surrogate father. Now he actually was a Slayer’s father of sorts. The Watchers Council had helped Giles gain custody over her and her sister, and they all lived together. Buffy tried not to be too jealous. She’d walked out on him, not the other way around. But hearing about this girl, the perfect Slayer, made Buffy wary. What was she coming home to? She’d barely trained in years. How could she ever measure up to the Slayer Giles had lost?

Buffy was finally able to rouse Giles as the plane landed, and there was an awkward silence between them for a while, during which they gathered their luggage and caught a cab to where Giles’ car was parked.

“This is Wesley’s office,” Giles told her, gesturing at the building in front of them. “He’s usually away on field work, but his secretary is here full time.”

“How do you know him?” Buffy asked curiously.

“He was assigned to be Faith’s Watcher, initially. But she was a bit too much for him to handle.” He smiled at the memory. “Eventually, he was manipulated by the mayor against Faith and made some grievous errors in judgment, and the Watcher’s Council saw fit to fire him and reinstate me as Faith’s Watcher. Since, Wesley has matured quite a bit. Cordelia, too.”

“Cordelia Chase?” Buffy said incredulously. “She and Wesley are…?”

“No, I don’t believe so,” Giles said, pointing out his car. It was small, red and shiny, and Buffy had to stifle a laugh when she saw it. Midlife crisis much? “She’s his secretary.”

“Oh.” Buffy considered the building. “Maybe I should go in and say hello.”

Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them furiously. “That would…not be advisable. She may not be very pleased to see you.”

“Oh.” Buffy felt like a fool. Of course her old friends weren’t going to be happy to see her, not after she had vanished with no real explanations and never returned. She remembered Xander and Willow wistfully, how accepting they had always been of her. It was in Cordelia’s nature to be bitchy. But she couldn’t imagine sweet Willow being more angry than happy to see her… “Right.”

Giles helped her get her things into the car. “Perhaps in time…”

“Perhaps,” Buffy echoed, climbing into the passenger seat. “So, where are we headed? I thought I’d go see my mom first, get that done immediately. It’ll be good to see her again, assuming she lets me in the house.” She resolutely pushed that last memory of her mother out of her head. She was going to be positive now if it killed her.

But Giles stopped loading the trunk and came to sit down next to her. “Buffy, there’s something you need you need to know.”

And then her world fell apart, just a little more.