Faith had always been one of those people who could go from being sound asleep to wide awake in a heartbeat. She'd always thought that it was one of her Slayer gifts, not that it really mattered why. Just that it worked, that little quirk had saved her life more than once. Even after she'd been put behind bars.

And she used it now, ruthlessly. It was the absence of sound that had woken her. Life in prison was noisy, not to mention the place smelled, no matter how many times they cleaned the walls and the floor. That familiar chemical reek was missing. And that fact, along with the blessed silence, told her, more emphatically than anything else could, that she was not, in fact, in prison.

Not moving, or giving any sign that she was awake, she tried to figure out exactly where she was. The bed she was lying in was bigger than the cot in her cell, and the sheets were much softer than any she'd slept on in her entire life. Even the silk sheets the Mayor had bought for her hadn't been like this.

The scent of flowers drifted in on a warm breeze, telling her that there were windows in the room. And the amount of light on her eyelids told her that the windows were big. Definitely not prison. There hadn't been any windows in her cell, the only daylight she'd seen since she'd turned herself in had been during her brief daily visits to the exercise yard. And even then, the sunlight had been cold, overshadowed by looming buildings and the knowledge that there was no escape. Not even for a Slayer.

Giving in to the inevitable, Faith opened one eye and jumped in shock. The dark haired man sitting next to her bed just smiled. "Good morning, Faith. Are you feeling better now?"

Faith had vague memories of this man. Racking her brain, she finally remembered. He'd been with Angel and had taken her out of prison, saying something about a Champion and choosing her.

Faith scooted up in the bed, resting against the headboard, watching the man warily, almost jumping again when he laughed. "You don't remember me, do you?"

Faith shrugged, picking at the edge of the sheet covering her. "I'm Ares, God of War." Faith gave him the 'uh huh' look she was famous for. The man, or God, just grinned wider, "I assure you, I am Ares. And as of yesterday, you, Faith, are my Champion and my Sword. Give me your hand."

Faith glared him, 'Do you think I'm stupid?'

Ares cracked up, "No. If you were stupid, you wouldn't be my Champion."

Faith's face went pale with shock and Ares' lost his grin. "Yes. I can hear you quite well, Faith. I'm a God. I can't fix what's wrong with you, but there are others here who can. We just have to wake them up."

Ares surged to his feet, "You must be hungry if Joxer and Xander are anything to go by. They've been eating non-stop since they woke up. You need clothes." Ares glared at the orange coverall Faith was still wearing. "That thing will not do. I'm thinking something in leather."

Faith had no idea that she could do the puppy eyes just as well as Joxer and Xander, but Ares almost staggered at the pleading look. "All right, all right! Fuck, don't look at me like that. Puppy dog eyes, I'm surrounded. Now, I'm guessing that a leather skirt just isn't your style."

Faith almost gagged and Ares grinned, "Didn't think so. How about this?"

A single wave of his hand and Faith found herself on her feet beside the bed. Clean and dressed in leather and silk. She stretched, then swung her right leg straight up with wicked grin. Settling back down on both feet, she brushed her hands down her thighs and looked around for a mirror. Seeing one on the other side of the room, she ran over, she had to see.

Black leather pants, cut the way only a fighter could appreciate, topped by a blood red silk T-shirt. And that was partially covered by a black leather vest. Faith swung her arms, the T-shirt and vest moved with her, not against her. Turning to Ares with a wide smile, she pointed at her bare feet.

Ares nodded, "What would you like?" Then he threw up a hand, "Just think it, Faith, I'll hear you."

'Boots. Steel toe, heavy sole and low heels.'

Ares nodded, "Okay, try that."

Faith bounced in her new black leather boots. These were even better than her Doc Marten's had been. She'd really missed those boots. 'Oh, these just kick ass.'

Ares chuckled and rubbed his hands together, "Let's get you something to eat, then we can talk about weapons. You'll have the Champion's sword of course, but I'm thinking daggers. Several daggers. You never know when you'll need to stab somebody."

It was at that point that Faith decided she'd died and gone to Heaven. Ares just shook his head and threw an arm around Faith's shoulders, leading her out of the room, "Nope, you're very much alive and this is Olympus."

Faith's good mood vanished when they walked into the kitchen and she saw Xander sitting with another dark haired man. Her face went pale and her stomach felt tight. Ares, who'd gotten the whole story from Xander the night before, gently tugged a lock of her hair, "Hey. It's all right, but you two need to clear the air. You'll be working together a lot in the coming months."

Faith thought about running, but that was no longer an option as the man sitting with Xander looked up and saw them standing there. Ares pulled her over to the table and leaned down to give the man a kiss. Reluctantly pulling away, Ares said, "Faith, this is my consort, Joxer. He's also the Titan Typhoon and a member of your family."

Shock almost killed her when Joxer jumped out of his chair and wrapped her in a big hug. "Hi, Faith. It's wonderful to meet you. Are you hungry? We've got tons of food."

Faith peaked at Xander from under lashes and found him looking back at her. They just stared at each other for a minute, then Xander's quirky grin split his face. "Hey, Faith. Cop a squat." Xander shoved out a chair and pulled her down to sit next to him. Faith was still uneasy, but Xander nudged her with his elbow. "It's all good. What's past is just that. The past. We're family. Which is actually kinda bizarre now that I think about it, but we're the only three Titans left, all the others are in Tartarus, we have to stick together."

Ares sat down between Joxer and Faith, grabbing a couple of plates from the stack on the table. "I'm starving. Faith, what do you want to eat? And please don't tell me you're one of the tofu people. That's just disgusting."

Faith looked at the three men grinning at her and felt the knot in her chest loosen a little, 'Tofu is the work of Satan.' Xander and Joxer heard her just as clearly as Ares and cracked up laughing as she reached for the platter of eggs and bacon.

Xander nudged her again, his thoughts clear in her mind, 'It'll be all right, Faith, you'll see.'

For some reason, she believed him.

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