E-mail:  ka18008@attbi.com

Rating:  PG-13

Lingo:  Some Bostonian lingo, some slang, some swears

Violence:  very minor

Spoilers:  3^rd Season

"Rise and shine." Her watcher announced, as she walked in and opened all the drapes and curtains.

"Ughhh… what are you trying to do, torture me?" Faith, who had done a lot of thinking that night, hadn't got a lot of sleep in, and was really tired. She usually slept in everyday.

"Come on, get up. I have the whole day planned. A nice slow run along the Charles River to wake us up, or wake you up anyway, then back here for a hearty breakfast. After that, we can rest a little while our bodies start digesting, and in that time, I can answer any slayer questions you may have, and tell you more about being a slayer. Then, more training. We'll work on your punches, kicks, and other techniques. Then, after lunch, training with simple weapons, and another run. That should be good for today- I don't want to overwork you. We may not even get to the extra run at the end, but we'll see." Her watcher sounded really excited about all that, so excited that it made Faith smile and get up. After she splashed some cool water on her face and put on some sweats, they jogged for a couple of hours (or at least Faith did- her watcher started walking after about an hour), then went back to the apartment.

"So, Faith, what are you in the mood for? Eggs and toast? Waffles?" Her watcher seemed so full of life that Faith started to get a little excited too. This was the day that she'd experience first-hand what the rest of her life would be like, and she was anxious to find out.

"Yum… waffles. Can I have some Belgian Waffles, oh, and some coffee- sugar, no cream." If there was anything Faith loved, it was Belgian Waffles. It had been so long since she'd had some, that she was craving them big time.

"I'm sorry, but there is no coffee in this apartment. I do not want you to drink coffee- its full of caffeine and will just get you pumped for a while, then your body will crash. No, have some juice instead. Or, if you'd like, I can boil a pot of tea-"

"No thanks, I'll stick with the juice." Faith interrupted. As she watched her waffles being prepared, Faith sat down and poured herself a tall glass of orange juice- she figured 'hey, what the hell… I'll follow her rules as long as I can still kick some ass.' Plus, she was starving! After they finished breakfast and her watcher cleared the table of the dirty dishes,

Faith made herself comfortable on the comfy sofa and waited for her watcher to come and sit down with her.

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"Alright Faith, I know that we just met yesterday, and I had introduced to you a whole new world. I'm sure you were bound to have questions, and, although I've told you some things about slaying, I know I haven't answered them all. So, if you would just state your questions one at a time, I'll try to answer them as best as I can."

"Ok, first of all, I wanna know this. How was I picked as a slayer? I mean, like you said, there are only 2 chosen ones in the world, and I want to know how one was me." Faith questioned, desperately wanting the answer to a question that had been floating in her mind the night before.

"Slayers are chosen randomly- from all four corners of the earth. You being chosen is merely a needle in a haystack." She answered. "However, there is a certain time that slayers are activated."

"Wait a minute, I don't understand." Faith looked as confused as she felt, and she wanted answers now.

"You see, Faith, listen to me for a couple of minutes, alright? The original prophecy states that 'Into each generation, a Slayer is born. One girl, in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the strength and skill to stop the spread of evil...' But, recently, we have had to change that prophecy. You see, there is only a new slayer once the old slayer has died, so there is only one. But, Buffy Summers faced the master, and he killed her-"

"But I thought you said that Buffy Summers was currently the other slayer alive and kickin'." Faith cut in.

"You didn't let me finish. She drowned, and was revived, and then she killed the master. For that minute she was dead, a slayer named Kendra was activated. So, there are 2 slayers now. But, unfortunately, Kendra was killed by a vampire named Drusilla early yesterday morning, and that was when you were activated." Her watcher tried to explain to Faith.

"So, basically what your saying is that Buffy died, was revived, defied prophecy, then this Kendra person died so I was called?" Faith wanted to understand why she was who she was, and she thought that she finally found the answer.

"Yes, that is correct. Now, what's your next question?"

"You mentioned battling vampires, but I also thought I heard you say battling other 'forces of darkness' as well… care to explain? What are all these demons and things, and how will I know how to fight them?" Faith was determined to be the best at this whole 'slaying' gig, so she felt she needed to know everything about it.

"Ahhh… yes. You see, Faith, there are not only vampires, but there are other demons as well. It is a slayer's duty to protect the world from all demons. And that is another reason why I must train you well- different demons are all killed differently."

"What do you mean, differently? And does Buffy have to kill demons other than vampires as well?" Faith was very curious about Buffy Summers- there was another person in the world that was like her- a slayer.

"Why, of course! Hmmm… I think that the most exciting one that I have heard was when she killed The Judge with a rocket launcher, but most demons can be killed by other means. What I mean by that is that they don't all have to be killed with a stake through its heart. Do you have any more questions?"

"Rocket launcher, uh? I'll hafta remember that." Faith was intrigued- she wondered what sorts of weapons she could get her hands on. "Hmmm… I don't think you can answer my other questions- they're sorta, how can I put this, about me. I want to know how I will turn out because of all this slaying, how I'll be able to deal with everything in the future, that sort of thing. Not exactly the stuff you can answer."

"No, I guess not, but if you ever think of anything, do not hesitate to ask." Then she decided to change the subject. "I suppose it's time to start you on your daily training. Help me move all the furniture over there."

"Sure." As they pushed the couch over to the side of the room, Faith could feel her strength even more. It was like everything was lighter, and she found she could move most things rather easily, which was good because her skinny watcher was not too strong. For the next few hours, Faith learned about each weapon and what kinds of demons they killed. She was totally bored stiff, but she wanted to be ready so next time she could kick the demon's ass, and not the other way around. By the end of the day, she felt pumped and ready for a full night of hunting, but her watcher felt differently.

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"What do you mean, I can't hunt yet?" Faith was feeling very distressed- she had trained all day and was expecting to hunt all night and practice her newly-found skills, but her watcher had just told her that she was to go to sleep early and expect a day "quite like this one" tomorrow. "Who are you, my mother? I'm telling you that I want to go on a hunt tonight, and I don't care if you want me to or not."

"No, Faith. Listen to me now- you're still new at this, and I don't want you to get hurt. I'm only doing this for your safety, please be aware of that." Her watcher replied. "Now, I know that I'm not your mother, but I am here to guide you- to teach you how to face the forces of darkness. I know I cannot tell you what to do, but as your watcher I'd advise you not to hunt tonight, simply because tomorrow will resemble today, only more so. Instead of waking up at 6am, you will wake up at 5am so you can do an extra hour of running in the morning. So, I'd suggest you have a good night's rest, so you will be pumped up tomorrow, and then we'll see about going on nightly hunts. I promise you Faith- after you're finished with your basic training this first week, you can patrol every night, or I should say you will patrol every night, and we'll only have maybe 2 hours of training per day."

"Ya know, I usually don't take orders, in fact, I'm usually the one dishin' the orders, but I guess that as long as you can promise me I can go on patrol tomorrow night as well as any night after, I'll stay in tonight. Now I don't want you to think you have some kind of control over me cuz you don't, but I am kinda beat… and hungry. Ya got any food around here?"

"Actually, I was thinking of taking you out for a late dinner. I've been dying to try this Italian restaurant, and besides- it'll be a kind of a celebration dinner for making it through the first day of training."

"Alright, I'm in." Faith replied. As her watcher called the restaurant to make reservations, Faith started to move the furniture back into place. Then, as she strode into her room to grab her jacket, images flashed in her mind. It passed very quickly, like a flash of lightning before a rain shower. It was like a shock, a vision of blood, and vampires and the damp streets of Boston all at the same time, then like a signal jolting her back into reality one last image- Kenny. She jumped, and her heart skipped a beat as she stared into space with widened eyes. 'What the hell was that?' She questioned in her mind. As she heard her watcher call her, she shook off the terrifying visions and walked out.

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"No, I'm telling you, we didn't miss our stop yet." Faith exclaimed, "I'm pretty sure I know my way around here a wicked lot more than you do, so trust me. It's all good."

"If you're sure." Her watcher responded. "I'm just telling you, I get this all confused, these green and red and purple and orange and yellow lines…"

"Haha… yellow? There isn't a Yellow Line…" Faith was laughing- she'd grown up on the T, and didn't find it confusing at all, but after looking at her watcher, she decided to comfort her a little. "I grew up around here, don't worry, it's a lot less confusing when you've been here a while. Besides, all you basically need to know is the Green Line. It runs through this part of Boston. The others will take you out of Boston and around to different towns around here."

"Thank God for that, because I really didn't feature myself learning it all, even if I'm here for 10 years!" Her watcher sighed, feeling relieved. "Oh, you are right, there's the restaurant." They got off at the closest stop, and walked the little ways until they were across the street from the restaurant. Her watcher watched in dismay as a stream of cars passed, none even stopping to let them cross. She spotted a crosswalk to her right, so she started toward it as Faith stopped her.

"What are you doing? The restaurant is right here." Faith said. She waited for one more car to pass, then boldly started to walk across the street, stopping in the middle to let a couple cars pass, then walked further until she reached the sidewalk across the street. All this time her watcher was hurriedly walking fast to keep up with her.

"That was bracing." Her watcher stated. "What were you doing, Faith? You could have gotten us both killed, walking out into heavy traffic like that, when there's a crosswalk just over there!"

"Are you kidding me? That crosswalk is bogus- no one uses crosswalks around here; you just cross the street and hope nobody hits you. That's just the way it is- maybe this isn't how you Brits do it, but you're in Boston now, honey, Jaywalkin' Central." Faith seemed very proud of her Bostonian ways, so her watcher said nothing and walked on. They entered the restaurant and were seated in another 15 minutes. After leisurely eating and talking for almost 2 hours, they finished up and decided to walk off the calories…

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"Did you hear that?" Faith asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"Hear what?" Her watcher replied. They both stopped and listened, but the noise had ceased.

"It was like there was an echo in our footsteps or something, like someone was following us." Faith stopped again to listen. "Whatever, must've been me." They continued walking down the damp street, quickening their pace. A crash sounded behind them and they looked back to see what was the matter. Turning forward again, a dark figure loomed into their path.

"Ahh!" Faith exclaimed. Then she peered closer, and realized who it was. "Jesus Christ Kenny, you scared me! What the hell are you doing?" She waited a few seconds, then started up again. "Hello? Kenny are you deaf? I asked you a question."

"Shut up." He said abruptly, never taking his eyes off Faith. He looked sick- like all the blood had been drained from his body. Her watcher noticed this immediately, Faith as well. Before they could ask if he was alright, he stalked off into a dark alley and his silhouette instantly vanished. Faith gasped.

"That's it! That's the exact vision I saw before!" Faith proclaimed.

"What? You had a vision? And you didn't tell me about it?" Her watcher said with shock. "That is a common sign of slayers when they are first introduced to their abilities and skill."

"I thought it was just supposed to be, like, a bad dream or something."

"It's alright. Perhaps I should have informed you ahead of schedule on any signs of the slayer. What's important now is figuring out what it means… what did you see?"

"Well, it all happened so quickly, right when I was going into my room to get my jacket. Um, there were a lot of, vampires. And it showed the streets of Boston, and then at the very end I saw Kenny, just like he was right here. Different." Said Faith. "I mean, Kenny looked pretty scary tonight, but maybe it's not that. Maybe he's really scared, and I'm meant to help him."

"I don't know Faith." Her watcher argued. "It could be that exactly, but just remember to watch your back. Be careful who you trust."

"I will, but it's Kenny. I know him. Besides, if he really was a evil, wouldn't he have tried to attack me tonight already?" Faith reasoned, hoping she was right. She knew in her heart that she didn't want anything bad to happen to Kenny, even if he was a loser.