There. I just added a substantial addition to that last bit. ANY feedback would be useful at this point.

Hopefully I'll get the last bit of Desperate Times done this weekend so I can post in various places. It's been a long time since a Career Change segment has seen public light of day

Plei, that was gorgeous.

Yes, definitely.

Huh? New stuff from Plei?

Where, goddamnit?

just the stuff from last night, I assume.

Boy, are they late.

Dudes! We already cleaned the car upholstery! Where were you?

Hear ye, hear ye! New fic!

Spoilery for Buffy S7, to (approximately) "Bring on the Night"; for Angel it's spoilery through "Calvary" and then goes AU (because I was Jossed, damn it).

HELP! I need a title!!!! I cannot think of one. Elena gave me some good suggestions, that I will post at the end. But nothing is clicking.

**************

The training session was boring all the potentials, Buffy knew. Their punches and kicks were rote at best, and half-hearted on Vi's part. She turned her back to hide her scowl of frustration. How to motivate them? If she sent them into a cemetery alone, the first group of vampires that came along would drain the girls before they could even scream.

Without turning, Buffy said, "Half of you will be dead by next week."

The girls stopped. "Wh...what?" Vi dropped the stake she was holding, her face turning ashen.

"I mean it." Buffy faced them, her mouth set in a thin line. "I know this training is boring, doing the same thing day after day. But it's something you have to do. If I sent you on patrol alone every night this week, only half of you would be standing here in seven days.

"You're not ready to patrol. You're not ready to fight. But you can be. These drills are the types of moves you'll need against vamps and demons. And I promise you, if you put some effort into it, you'll get ready.

"Now." She put her hands on her hips, trying to make the same stern expression Giles always had when she wanted to skip training to go to the mall with Willow. "Start over. Do it hard. Do it right."

The girls began sparring again, throwing and blocking punches, dodging and kicking. Kennedy and Rona squared off in the corner, circling each other, looking for an opening. Rona's sudden right hook sent Kennedy flying across the length of the basement.

Everyone froze.

"Rona, how did you do that?" Vi's eyes were wide with awe.

"I...I didn't do anything! We were just training, like we always did...Oh my God, did I hurt you?" Rona ran over to Kennedy, who was lying on her back, dazed.

"No, I'm okay...I think. Nothing's broken." Kennedy's eyes focused on Rona. "How did you do that?"

Buffy hurried to Kennedy's side, checking for injuries. "She seems fine, you guys. Let's take a break, okay? Everybody head upstairs."

Rona and Molly helped Kennedy to her feet, Rona apologizing repeatedly, while Vi wondered again about Rona's inexplicably increased strength and speed.

Except it wasn't inexplicable to Buffy. She knew that power intimately, sharing body and soul and breath with it for seven years. She didn't need a seer's vision to confirm what she knew in an instant, the moment Rona's punch connected. But Buffy knew the others would need more confirmation than just the quickening in her veins at Rona's irrevocably altered nature, so she followed the girls upstairs to ask Willow to call the coven's seer.

~ ~ ~

It is certain, the seer had said, a new Slayer has been called from among you. Your next moves will determine the fate of the final battle, so proceed cautiously. Rona leaned against the doorframe during the phone call, the same girl who had arrived in Sunnydale two months earlier - baggy overalls, no-nonsense attitude with a willingness to learn - but with a subtle difference. A new awareness in her eyes, a slightly surer gait.

"But here's the thing," Rona asked, "how can I be the Slayer when Buffy didn't die? She's standing right here, looking pretty healthy." Buffy paced the length of the living room as the potentials looked to her to allay their confusion. Most looked relieved at not being chosen, although Vi looked panic-stricken and Kennedy appeared stoic and distant, her shoulders twisted away from Willow.

"Maybe she's a manifestation of the First," Andrew suggested, shrinking back when Buffy glared at him. "Well, we don't know - somebody touch her to be sure!" Buffy scowled, but Xander grabbed her elbow as she walked past him.

"Yup. Genuine Bufster," Xander said.

Kennedy spoke up. "So how did this happen? Is it a mistake?"

Buffy, Willow, and Xander were silent for a moment. Then Willow said, "No. It's no mistake."

When Willow didn't say anything further, Kennedy asked, "Care to enlighten us?"

"There was another Slayer - Faith," said Buffy.

"I knew it!" Vi whispered to Molly.

"There have been two Slayers for a while now - for almost as long as I've been the Slayer," Buffy continued. "When I first moved to Sunnydale, I...died in a fight." Rona raised her eyebrows questioningly. "For just a few minutes," Buffy hastened to add. "I drowned, and Xander saved me. But those few minutes were enough to call another Slayer, even though I came back. And ever since then, there have been two Slayers...at least while I've been alive."

"So much for 'one girl in all the world,' " Kennedy said.

"So then, for Rona to be called while you're still here," Molly started.

"...that means Faith died," Xander finished, scowling at the floor.

"Why didn't you tell us about this other Slayer before? She could have helped us when we fought the Turok-Han," Kennedy said.

"Because she was in jail," Buffy replied.

"J...jail?" Vi looked perplexed.

"Yes, sometimes Slayers do bad things," Xander said, as though explaining to a child.

"Faith was a rogue Slayer," Buffy explained. "A Slayer who decided that she'd use her powers to do whatever she wanted, and not work with the Council."

"Didn't you stop working for the Council?" Molly asked.

Buffy stopped pacing, her ponytail still swinging. "Okay, you girls know too much. The point is, Faith went bad. And eventually she went to jail for it. But the last I knew, she was still serving time. Not...that we kept in touch, or anything."

"She must have died in jail," Willow said. "I wonder what happened."

"Me, too. There's no way she could lose a fight," Xander said. "Not with her strength. There's no way she'd be anybody's bi..."

"It doesn't really matter how it happened," Buffy said quickly. "The important thing is, it did. And if we know, you can bet the First knows, too." Rona's expression changed from curious to worried. "So we have to prepare for that. It's going to come after you, Rona, but it's also not going to let up on the rest of you. You're all still potential Slayers, and - I'm sorry, but I have to be honest - if Rona is killed, one of you will be called." Buffy looked each girl in the eye. "We have to keep training. So, why don't you all head back downstairs. Rona, be a little careful with the others until you have a better feel for your strength. I'll be down in a minute."

Alone in the living room, Buffy, Willow, and Xander sat silently for a moment. Then Willow spoke. "What do you think happened? May...maybe a prison riot? Or...she could have choked on a chicken bone."

"A chicken bone?" Xander looked frustrated. "She's the Slayer, Will, not my grandma."

"People choke, Xander, it's a normal thing...okay, maybe not normal, but common...it happens, okay? And it could have happened to her."

Xander didn't appear to really be listening to Willow. "I just...why didn't we know? I mean, why didn't we keep better tabs on her? We should have, that would have been the smart thing to do right?" He looked to Buffy.

"I don't know, Xander. I guess we just forgot about her - I mean, I know I did. I thought she'd be in jail, and out of our lives, forever." She paused. "And, you know, I don't have time to feel sad. Not right now. Maybe another time, I would have been. Another Big Bad, one with some kind of weakness we can fight. But right now, I have girls in the basement to train, and a new Slayer who needs to learn how to use her strength. And you guys need to keep researching."

"We will, Buffy," Willow said. "Just...I didn't expect to feel sad about Faith."

"Will," Buffy said without looking back as she walked to the basement door, "you don't have time either. You can be sad when we defeat the First."

~ ~ ~

Two days later, Faith showed up on the Summers' front porch. Dawn answered the door, gaping in astonishment for a moment. Faith stood back uncertainly on the porch, the full moon hanging low behind her. Then Dawn screamed, slamming the door. The others came running.

"Dawn, what is it? A Bringer?" Buffy grabbed Dawn's arm, quickly checking to see if she was hurt and then scanning the front hall intently.

"Dawnie, are you okay?" Xander held a thick book aloft, brandishing it like an axe.

"Buffy...I...on the porch..." Dawn was shaking, one hand over her mouth.

Willow ran to the living room and peered out the front window. "Oh my God. Faith."

"What?" Buffy opened the door so fast the hinge screws protested loudly.

"Hey, B." Faith attempted a smile. She looked pale, and older than anyone remembered. But then, they were all older. "Look, I...I know you weren't expecting me, but..." Faith took in the looks of shock and horror on everyone's faces. "What?"