I loved reading this. LOVED reading this. Faith as a faceted person, who has *gasp* read! books! and can put two and two together...it doesn't happen near enough in fanfiction, for me, and you did a beautiful job of it.

I'm far too impatient, when I'm in the grip of a good tale, to leave a review at every chapter when I see that there is more to read, so alas, my memory on the specifics that I liked is fading. The mulitple references, be it pop music, movies, books, or canon literature, were greatly appreciated. You had me reaching for the way-back machine to high school and college when I a) glutted myself on speculative fiction and b) was forced to read "smart stuff" like Lord Tennyson. Light, I can't believe I'd all but forgotten how much I like his writing.

Robin's portrayal didn't totally jive for me, but given my overwhelming like for this story and the human connections that you/Faith forged in it, I can shrug off someone else's interpretation of a character I never really cared all that much for/about. :)

I'm off to the next installment in the series. I'm wicked excited to see where Faith's journey takes her.

I gotta say, wow... good job!!!!

I love the end of this. Perfect. The goodbyes with Abby and Wesley especially were wonderfully accomplished. I can't wait to see what th road holds for Faith next.

Thanks. ;)

Does that mean you're moving on to the next stories in the series? ;) It'll be interesting to see your reaction to "Life is a Road".

You know, it's an interesting aspect that you had Faith read so much in prison and reason the way she does...not at all uncharacteristic though. I never thought she was stupid, merely ignorant of typical education, and she was probably afforded little opportunity to be much else growing up. She is a bright girl, she simply needed time and a motivation to work on it. I also enjoyed Cordy's and her conversation about the blame over Faith being ignored and going bad. I always blamed the Scoobies too, but upon Faith's words, I realized that in fact she's right. they were just kids, younger than I myself am now, and can hardly be expected to have noticed a girl's struggles when they were heavily into their own. it's easy as an outsider to say what they should have done, but real kids in the real world in a situation like that wouldn't have seen it or known what to do either.

Too many people write Faith as stupid and illiterate. I've never really seen that in the episodes she was in.

"I always blamed the Scoobies too, but upon Faith's words, I realized that in fact she's right. they were just kids, younger than I myself am now, and can hardly be expected to have noticed a girl's struggles when they were heavily into their own."

They might have seen it, but know what to do or how to handle it? Probably not. Xander noticed and tried - but at 17, it would have been extraordinary if he'd been able to figure out how to go about it successfully at that stage of things when Faith was already traumatized almost past reaching.

While I don't let Buffy off the hook for her self-absorption and dishonesty, Giles is the one I really hold at fault for the bulk of that season 3 (and season 2) mess: he's the *supposed* adult in the situation, and he's the supposedly professional Watcher. And yet he ignored Faith's obvious issues that came out as early as FH&T, and left her to rot in that motel without apparently making the least effort to see to her upkeep or care. Also, without apparently making the least effort at seeing to her mental health in the wake of watching her Watcher tortured to death in front of her by Kakistos...

Faith was a classic case of untreated PTSD and falling through the cracks, and it continually amazes me how some segments of fandom can wax eloquent on how great a Watcher Giles was throughout the series.

IMO, if Giles was the best the Watcher's Council had to offer, then the only sad thing was that someone didn't blow up the Council with everyone in it long before season 7 - because Giles was a pretty piss poor Watcher and human being, all things considered.

Thanks again for the reviews. ;)

Amazing dream sequence...I also enjoyed the chapter before where Wesley met up with the Blade characters, an odd group but definitely interesting. Thank you for this story.

Thanks. That was lots of fun to write. ;)

And Wes and the Night Stalkers did make for an interesting image, hey? What'll make for a real fun meeting at some point would be Blade and Angel. ;)

I like how Dawn and Faith are interacting; I always thought they had a sort of spark in canon friendshipwise, or that they could have. Dawn has certainly grown and matured. I like how you had her say Buffy is in the mode where she suddenly huffs about Faith knowing what she meant, lol, very Buffy. You have a good handle on all characters. I also enjoy seeing how Faith is starting to grow unsure of who she is as she matures.

I always thought ME missed a bet in not bringing Faith back early in s7 and having her actually interact with the other characters more. You know - the ones she actually had *history* with? As opposed to Woody-sue and Spork....

I always figured that Faith and Dawn would probably have hit it off once they got past that whole "tried to murder my sister" thing. ;) If for no other reason than that Faith wouldn't have any reason to try and coddle Dawn and wrap her in cotton. Plus, Faith is probably fun to hang around with.

That was stupid of Buffy to call her and chew her out like that and not believe Vi and Giles. But it was very Buffyish...I think Faith handled it well considering, she certainly made Buffy speechless lol. I like how she and Abby are developing a relationship.

Stupid yes, but very in character for Buffy, IMO. Especially for late seasons Buffy, and especially given her attitudes towards Faith.

I'm very much enjoying this story so far. I never watched Blade but they seem a good team with Faith. I myself never liked Wood so Im glad she broke up with him, especially for such a reason. Your portrayal of Faith in particular and the others as well is spot on and very likeable of course; her handling of Wood's transgressions and her feelings over Buffy are particularly apt. Looking forward to reading more.

Glad you enjoyed it. And thanks for the review. ;)

Nice bit of work, I have to admit; intriguing exploration of one of my favourite characters- Angel's pretty much my favourite, but Faith's always had that certain edge I've always found appealing-, combined with a dramatic crisis AND an opportunity for her to work with one of my favourite film characters.

True, I wish there'd been a bit more Faith/Blade interaction- to say nothing of maybe a meeting between him and Angel; now THAT would have interesting to witness-, but what there was here still managed to be good, to say nothing of how Faith went on to help Abby learn more about her new 'destiny' as a Slayer.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

"True, I wish there'd been a bit more Faith/Blade interaction- to say nothing of maybe a meeting between him and Angel; now THAT would have interesting to witness-"

As much fun as that might have been, it just didn't fit the plot. I thought I was pushing the limits of what I could work in without hitting "kitchen sinkism" as it is without trying to cram in a Blade/Angel meeting this time around. As for Faith/Blade interaction... I'd like to have seen more myself, but it just didn't work out that way in this story.

Ah well. Fodder for future fics. ;)

Thanks.

I like it.

Thanks.

That is a Damn good Faith story. Bravo. And thank you for sharing.

You're welcome and thanks for the review.

WOW!!! GREAT STORY!!! Added as a recommendation.

Love The Dream. Guardians of the Flame is one of my favorite series, too. And Steinman is a great songwriter.

Nice GURPS plug, too.

One complaint: You should have lost the UV laser bat'leth. It *looks* kewl, but the actual supposed workings are idiotic.

Thanks for the review, and glad you enjoyed it. ;) Also, glad to see people are still reading this series and enjoying it.

"One complaint: You should have lost the UV laser bat'leth. It *looks* kewl, but the actual supposed workings are idiotic."

Possibly but it's too late now. Besides - it's the Buffyverse, where a college kid on a relative shoestring budget (Warren Mears) can create an April-bot, a Buffy-bot, and later on a Freeze ray and and Invisibility ray and jet packs. I suspect that a *little* rubber science from the Blade-verse blends in just fine here and feels right at home. ;)

I'll make a deal with you: if you can *convince* me that Buffyverse rubber science in the universe is a go, but Blade-verse rubber science is over the top, I'll rewrite those sections. Gotta say, though - you have an uphill climb on that one.

This story is terrific. I couldn't put it down. It's long and intense and satisfying, and the characterizations were awesome. I love every bit of it.

Thanks. ;) Glad you enjoyed it. Are you moving on to the next one, "Life is a Road"? You might enjoy that as well.

Great story. Very well done. Beautiful pacing. You blended the two very different vampire mythologies skilfully. I didn't recognise all the allies in the dream battle(s) but I spotted quite a few of them (Elric first of all, of course, as he's the most distinctive). I was a little surprised that Seth Gecko (From Dusk Till Dawn) wasn't there!

It's a pity that Part IV of the series is a crossover with 'Supernatural'. I really hate that show and, although I'll happily read crossovers with shows that I don't know anything about if the author is good enough, it's much harder for me to make myself read stories where I have an active dislike for the crossover universe. I'm currently on the verge of giving up reading a crossover with BSG written by one of my favourite writers, who has been a close on-line friend for more than 5 years, because my hatred of the show is outweighing my love of the author. The same is likely to apply to your story, I'm afraid, as I hate 'Supernatural' even more than the abomination that is the modern remake of BSG. I will read anything for love, but I won't read that; no I won't read that.

Thanks. ;) Blending the mythologies was the hard part: BtVS really *doesn't* have a consistent mythos, and I find I'm having to do a lot of patch-and-fill to make the Whedonverse mythology make sense as I go along.

"I was a little surprised that Seth Gecko (From Dusk Till Dawn) wasn't there!"

For Seth Gecko, given the bit with Seth basically enabling his brother's rapist/serial killer tendencies early in the movie, I kinda think that he's someone that wouldn't get much of the Faith love as a "hero".

"It's a pity that Part IV of the series is a crossover with 'Supernatural'. I really hate that show... "

Give "Life is a Road" a chance: it's a LOT less of a Supernatural x-over than it sounds. (The categories for multiple crossovers are hard to pin down here) It started out as one, and then around chapter 8-10 the characters developed minds of their own and it turned into a Faith/Nightheat/Blade x-over on me. The Winchesters do play an important part, especially early in the story, but they are more of a plot hook to get the main characters together and the adventure rolling than they are a plot focus.

I'm kind of with you on that: I made it about two thirds of the way through SPN S1 and decided I really didn't like any of the main characters or the universe. The idea for the story tie in grabbed me though, and wouldn't let go, especially once the secondary plot took hold.

At worst, if you make it to chapter 12+ and still aren't enjoying it, you can bitch me out in comments for wasting your time and no harm done. ;)

One Gold Master Card, same name, issued by Lloyd's

That should say 'issued by LloydsTSB'. Lloyd's would be Lloyd's of London, who don't issue MasterCards.

Very good so far and I'm enjoying it (although I'm handicapped with respect to the Blade part because I got bored a third of the way through Blade: Trinity, gave up, and deleted it from my Sky+ box).

Heh heh heh. I felt the same way on the first Blade movie. If a friend hadn't talked me into giving the sequels a chance, this might never have been written. I actually liked Blade Trinity best of the trilogy; just goes to show that tastes do differ.

"That should say 'issued by LloydsTSB'. Lloyd's would be Lloyd's of London, who don't issue MasterCards." - Speaker

Thanks, duly noted. ;) I'll correct it in my draft version and update it here.