Faith: The Series (Pilot Episode)

Author: Kristina Laine

Summary: In the aftermath of the destruction of Sunnydale, the members of The Scooby Gang and Angel Inc. unite to rescue one of their own. During the mission, a new team unites to fight the forces of darkness and take back the night.

Rating: PG-13

Type: Action/Adventure/Mystery

Ships: Faith/Xander (primarily), Buffy/Xander (reference only), Dawn/Connor (cause its inevitable), and Angel/Cordelia.

Warnings: Like my other stories, this will have a somewhat dark undertone. I know, again, but as my bio says I can't write happy. However, it will not in any way touch the levels of darkness in which That Was Then, This Is Reality has. That was purely a catharsis piece for me. This is more action than angsty and I swear that people will have more fun this time around.

Authors Notes: I always wanted to do Faith centric spin-off and this is the first in a virtual series (pilot episode) in which that will happen. I kinda let this story go after a while and my recent work with virtual series with other authors kinda rekindled my love and desire to finish this baby.

ONTO THE STORY

Chapter One: A New Beginning

Rain poured down in buckets.

It had been for the last few days. Considering this was San Francisco, and not the almost always warm world of Sunnyhell, it was something to get used to. Right now though, the incessant downpour was the least of Xander Harris' problems. In the months since leaving Sunnydale, he and his fellowship have spent their time chasing one evil fiend to the next in the hopes of squashing the rise of a new order since the fall of The Hellmouth.

They had headed to Vegas first with the intention of having some fun, which they did for about a month. Then they discovered that one of the casino owners was actually a chaos demon that was sacrificing hookers to please the lower being that was ensuring that no one ever won the big jackpot. Thus starting their mission to ferret out the last of the demonic threats. He soon learned that the other remaining members of the chosen few would follow his footsteps. Spreading across the globe in order to attack the remaining threads of evil.

Their current assignment took them to San Francisco where, a nest of vampires on their way up in the world were rumored to be up to something rather nasty. They had spent three weeks working intel. Getting to know their habits, the inner workings of their organization and most importantly, where they liked to hang out. One such place was an old warehouse right off of Fisherman's Wharf. They had hit it right before sunset, had taken them by surprise, took many of them out within the first hour. Those that remained took off unto the streets, with the three of them in hot pursuit. Xander had spotted two heading for the docks. One met its death when it tripped on fisherman's nets and was then greeted by his crossbow bolt. The other had taken into one of the ferry boats heading out towards Alcatraz. Xander had followed. He had began to search deck by deck as the boat inched along. He had to find and stake the fiend before it reached the rock land mass where a bunch of school children were coming off an overnight field trip of the old prison.

He worked from the bottom of the ferry to the top. Settling on the upper deck, he began to traipse his way thru the compartments, searching for where a vampire could hide from the fast approaching dawn. He had been tracking this vamp almost the entire night. He was tired. Cold. And hoping that Faith and Dawn were okay on their own. He hated having to leave them behind, however as he learned quickly when it comes between taking down the evil fiend, or waiting for the girls to catch up, it would be the fiend every time. He also knew that they could handle themselves. He was proud of how capable his girls had become in the months that followed the final fight. Or so many of them thought.

When the Hellmouth and Sunnydale had been destroyed, they had thought that their lives would go back to normal. Back to the way it used to be. However, soon enough, they would all learn that life could never go back to the way it was. That they couldn't just sit idly by while small pockets of evil could possibly be plotting the next uprising. So they settled to continue on. All of them. Just not together. It was decided that they could cover more ground if they split into groups. Each taking a section of the world and doing what they could to protect it. Xander had never been one for traveling, so he decided to stay in the US. Immediately Faith and Dawn would be staying with him. Its not like they had much of a choice. Ever since he and Dawn unwittingly helped Faith escape from prison, the three had been joined at the hip, and as far as any of them cared, they would stay that way.

As he crept from room to room, his mind kept wandering back to his final days in Sunnydale. The last time he was together with The Scoobs. Things had been so rough. So intense. They hardly had any time to enjoy themselves. He thought when it was all over, that they would have one big 'We Saved The World' party. Things didn't happen that way. When it was all said and done, they went about their separate ways without so much as an acknowledgment of the feat they had just accomplished. Seven years of friendship and not so much as a goodbye. It would be months before he would hear from anyone again, and that was only to acknowledge his suggestion about taking on what evil remained in the world.

Now he was on a ship in San Francisco hunting down vampires, and not a Scooby in sight. As he reached the final compartment, Xander paused. This had to be it. There was no other place for this vampire to go. He gripped the handle on his crossbow as he swung the door open. To his surprise, there wasn't a vampire in the room. There was something completely different.

"What the -- " Xander said before pain filled his head sending him crashing to the floor.

As his vision began to blur he could see a figure standing over him. And as darkness overtook him, he swore he recognized who it was.