Class Reunion, Hellmouth Style

Author: Tim Knight

Title: Class Reunion, Hellmouth Style

Copyright: January 2003
Rating: PG-13 (Language, Fight Scenes, Allusion to Unpleasant Events)

Spoilers:
Buffy: Season 2 until Phases.
Highlander: Season 5 until Season finale.
Chronicles of Wanderer: Various fics set from December of 1998 to February of 1999.

Keywords: Buffy/ Highlander.

Summary: One of the Scoobies' classmates has gone into a new line of work, but has undergone some… changes.

Legalese:
All characters except those noted below with their respective rights, properties and copyrights are the property of their respective creators, authors, owners, producers and agencies. These characters are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended or meant, and no money will be made from this story. This story may be copied in its entirety, and may be distributed as long as all copyright information remains.

The characters of Steve St. Wolf, Frank Iverson, Marc Le Chevalier, and the Knights of the Order of the Grail are property of Steve Pantovich, as is the universe in which this story takes place. Steve can be contacted at steve711@concentric.net.

Author's Notes: This story takes place the first week of March 1999, after Wishes and Desires.

Dedications:
First, to Steve "Grand High Poobah" Pantovich, who lets us have our fun in his universe.
Second, to Jack "Calendar Man" Caynon, who gives people enjoyment with his own writing skills and improves upon my writing.
Third, to Erica "The Grey Ghost" Marr and Anne "The Awesome Aussie" Parnell, who both said this idea was worth doing. Thank them as much as me for writing it!

Class Reunion, Hellmouth Style

Part 1: The Vampire Hunter With No Name
(Causes The Scooby Gang Sleepless Nights)

Sunnydale High Library
Sunnydale High School
Sunnydale, California
2 March 1999

Giles looked up from the book he was reading when Willow and Xander walked in, looking glum. He sighed and pulled off his glasses. "No luck, I take it," he said dryly.

"No luck, G-Man." Xander glanced at Willow, allowing her to take up the thread.

The redhead turned her green eyes onto him and said, "We checked with Willy and our other usual sources. They don't have any idea who this new hunter is in town. Whoever he or she is, they're playing it quiet…" Her pale face scrunched up in confusion. "Well, as quiet as someone blowing vampires up and leaving their brains scrambled can be, that is."

"I see," he sighed. "And Xander…don't call me that," he snapped. The last two weeks had heralded the arrival of a new hunter on the Hellmouth, who apparently was unaware of the fact that the team had more than established a peaceful turn of events over the past three… <My God, has it already been that long?> He marked the page and closed his book before looking at them. "How is it that someone who uses such ‘loud' methods of vampire hunting manages to leave no trace of their passage from the scenes of their activities?"

"Scrambled brains, remember? It could be some kind of magic," Willow guessed with her teenage enthusiasm.

"Or a Jedi Mind Trick," Xander joked.

He gave the boy a glare and shook his head. He should be used to Xander's antics by now. "All right. Any rumors at all?"

"Well, since there aren't many survivors, what we have is limited." Willow sat on the Watcher's lap, leaned forward, and gave him a tender peck on the lips. Then her pixie-like face broke into an adorable little pout. "They say the hunter's pretty short, thin, and uses magic if the hardware doesn't take them all out. One of them said something about a glowing sword, but I'm not sure how well to take that."

"Why?" Giles asked, squirming a bit under the pressure of her leather-encased rear pressing against his groin. "Anything we have to go on is more than we started with."

"Well, the vampire did get a Vulcan lobotomy, Giles," Xander admitted. When Giles cocked an eyebrow, the young man just shrugged.

"God help me," he muttered. He tapped his index finger on the book and nodded as he thought about a course of action. "Well, keep up your surveillance and hopefully we'll catch this hunter in the act. However, be very careful. I don't want any of you risking yourselves."

"Okay, Gilesy," Willow said, although the Watcher could detect the offense in her tone that said, We're more than capable of taking care of ourselves.

"Be careful. Hopefully, we'll soon find out just what this hunter is doing on the Hellmouth, or what he or she wants."

"Maybe it's a rebel soldier from the future, come back to alter the past to prevent his post-apocalyptic future from coming to pass by making sure that the mother of the Slayer of his time isn't killed by the big, hulking Austrian vahm-piiire with the Mister Universe physique?" Xander suggested with a smile.

"Or hey, maybe it's a half-human warrior from another dimension seeking out her relatives in this reality as part of a prophecy," Willow said, joining in what was obviously a vain attempt to humor him.

"Oh, like that hasn't happened before," a sour voice sighed from the doorway. Giles smiled as Buffy strode into the library, her blonde hair framing that beautiful face with only one "imperfection" that she didn't make bones about. She walked up to the desk and pulled out her katana, setting it down and breaking out the polish from its hiding space. "No luck on my end either, Giles," she sighed with frustration. "You know, I'm really getting tired of this."

"What? Someone coming into your town, killing all the vamps she can, and crashing what you see as your party?" Xander asked, prompting a smirk from Willow.

He couldn't help but chuckle when Buffy shot him a glare. "Yes," she said irritably. She started polishing her sword and shrugged. "I mean, it's almost like that cowboy in The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, the one Clint Eastwood played." She looked at Xander. "What's his name again?"

"He doesn't have one, Buffy. That's the point." He put his hands up in a "Don't kill me" gesture when she spitted him with a glare. "Hey, I don't write the movies, I just watch them."

"Point," she said with a nod. Then she shot an annoyed glare at Willow. "And you…I don't even wanna know why you're giving my Watcher a lap dance!"

As Willow stuck her tongue out in response to Buffy's jibe, Giles tried to turn the conversation back to things he wanted to discuss. "Very well, Buffy. What about the others? Have they had any luck in finding any information about our mysterious visitor, let alone his or her identity?"

"Nada. Oz and Amy both came up empty. Jenny's trying contacts she has, but whoever's channeling me doesn't stick around for people to thank him." Her face scrunched up, highlighting her pug nose. "Actually, it seems our hunter likes to take them out before they have a chance to go after people."

"Preemptive strikes," Giles and Xander said at the same time. They shared a nod and Giles turned back to Buffy. "How about the others? Any word?"

"I wish," the Immortal Slayer groaned, sounding more like a teenager than a powerful warrior. Giles found it refreshing. "My boyfriend hasn't had any more luck. Even his usual intimidation factor isn't helping. The others are doing their best, but still, we can't leave patrolling out, because we'll miss something if we do."

"I agree, Buffy," the next Earl of Leicester agreed. "Well, perhaps you should get home. I'm sure that some of us can handle patrols for the rest of the night. You've been pushing yourself too hard again. Take one night off."

For once, Buffy didn't argue. "Okay. Never argue with your Watcher," she said with a tired smile. "I'll see you in the morning, Giles." She made her sword disappear and started for the doors. "Night, guys!"

"Night, Buffy," Willow called after her.

Giles picked the book up, scooted Willow off his lap with a pat, and replaced it on the shelf. There weren't any prophecies that demanded the Slayerettes' attention tonight, so he was going to go out and help on patrol.

"Shall we go see if any vampires need a good thrashing?" he asked Willow and Xander.

"Sure," Xander said with a smile. "But first you need to look the part."

Giles turned around and uttered a confused, "Excuse me?"

"Oh come on, G-Man!" Xander shared a look with Willow, who rolled her eyes. "We saw those pictures in your scrapbook. You wore a leather jacket with the best of them. So I went out and picked one up for you."

"You did what?" he asked in disbelief.

"Picked you up a leather jacket. It's not like you can always go patrolling in tweed, you know. Who knows, maybe you'll even pick up some hottie and make Jenny jealous."

Once again, Rupert Giles dismally wondered what cosmic plan needed him to be conned into working with American teenagers.

*****

Weatherly Park
Sunnydale, California
2 March 1999

The vampire squirmed as the short, trim form pulled out a glowing sword and took out three of his buddies with quick ass strikes. He'd heard about the new player in town but hadn't taken the warnings seriously. After all, the Slayers were bad enough; so how bad could a skinny thing like this be in comparison?

Of course, that was before that skinny thing had pulled out a gun and put a couple rounds into his kneecaps. He knew without a doubt that he was going to die.

Only this time, there wouldn't be any coming back to enjoy the nightlife.

His three buds fell to that magic sword and the person put it back, making it disappear under that cool ass leather jacket. When the hand came back out, it was holding a ball of metal that gleamed silver in the moonlight. It freaked the vampire out because his first instinct told him that it was one of those Swiss Army Baseballs that that grave digging Tall Man used in Montana, the ones that flew through the air faster than Nolan Ryan's fastball.

It also freaked him out because if this had been the Slayers or one of their buds, they would've killed him and been done with it. Apparently, he wasn't going to get off that easily. "Who the Hell are you?"

The hunter stopped and chuckled. "I'm the best there is at what I do." The ball came forward and a beam shot out, hitting the vamp between the eyes.

"But what I do isn't very nice."

*****

Nothing.

There hadn't been a single, damned bit of useful information in what passed for that vampire's brain. With a sigh, the ball went back into its usual place amongst the tools of the trade.

A slow, careful glance scanned the immediate area, only to reveal no more vampires in the area that could be immediately seen.

With the spin of a boot heel and the whisper of leather on skin, the disappointed hunter walked into the night, quiet and brooding.

*****

Part 2: "Damsels" In "Distress" They're Not
(A Twist To The Tradition)

Sunnydale Cemetery
Sunnydale, California
4 March 1999

Buffy froze when she heard the faint traces of a scuffle in the distance. She strained her hearing to the utmost, hoping that she wouldn't be too late to help someone in need.

Determining which way she had to go, the Chosen One burst into action, sprinting in the direction of the high-pitched shouts. Despite her short stature, the Slayer covered the ground quickly due to her gifts. Inwardly, she cursed that she and her partner had split up upon entering the cemetery.

"We can cover more ground," she huffed and puffed, pushing herself to her utmost speed. "We can get done quicker and move onto the next part of our patrol, he says. Oooo, I'm gonna kill him."

She altered her course to round a crypt and spotted the cluster of people she was searching for. She slowed down when a flash of light, accompanied by the faint crackle of electricity, sent two vamps flying back. While it caused the other four demons to pause a bit, it wasn't enough to make them run. They started moving forward, but their slight delay was more than enough time for the Slayer to charge into them and aid their opponent.

Buffy drew her sword and executed a flawless cross cut across the back of a vampire's neck, the blade easily cutting all the way through and severing his head from the rest of his body. As the three standing vampires reacted, she launched a perfect back punch that spun a second vamp's jaw around.

Her rescuee surprised her by not panicking completely. He stuttered through some kind of incantation and Buffy felt some relief; magic equaled artillery in her book. However, the effect was less than spectacular.

Dead branches and small rocks sitting on the ground began flying up and uncontrollably attacked the five vampires she and the other were faced with. However, some of the rocks poking out eyeballs or hitting temples, not to mention impromptu wooden stakes poking out of various parts of vampires' bodies, wasn't as pathetic as her instincts had first believed.

Especially when one lucky shot pierced a vampire's heart, evening the odds a little more.

The hard to impress California girl nodded in approval. "Nice. Got anything more up your sleeve?"

"Uhh, not really," he admitted to her. "I used most of my energy practicing."

She sighed. She so didn't want him to elaborate. "A Slayer's work is never done," she muttered and brandished her sword. One vampire, looking like the Timothy Burton version of an undead porcupine, fell to her katana with one swipe. She turned to take out another just as her tardy boyfriend arrived on the scene to help out.

He tore into the vampires with a vengeance, punching and kicking with a fury borne of the vampires daring to attack his girlfriend. It was times like this that she found it hard to stay irritated with him because he was so in love with her it hurt.

<Okay, I'll forgive him,> she sighed in defeat. It was hard to stay angry with someone who knew what her life was like. She moved in and kicked another vampire in the stomach before slicing his head off with an upper cut swing of her blade.

In only a few seconds, the two wiped out the sextet of undead and turned to see if the object of their rescue attempt was okay or in need of medical assistance.

It took a few seconds for Buffy to get over the contrast caused by the kid's clothing and body. He was dressed a lot like her boyfriend liked to dress, or so she thought; black turtleneck sweater, black jeans, boots, and a black trench coat lay on the ground. But the kid was…

<Oh just say it,> she sighed to herself. < He's a geek.>

The short, skinny guy, about her own real age, seemed to understand her thoughts. "Sorry," he said. "Like I said, I was just practicing."

"Practicing what?" she asked, looking at the various instruments lying about the ground. She gave him points for neatness and the orderly way things were laid out, as well as for the obvious care he gave them. "Okay. Whatever it is you do, you take good care of your stuff."

He perked up at her approval. "Thanks." He turned and started packing stuff up, looking sheepish. Buffy wondered if it was because a girl had rescued him. She noticed one of his tools as he picked it up.

"What's that?" she asked curiously. The more she learned about magic, the more she'd understand what Jenny, Willow, and Amy were talking about a quarter of the time.

"My magic bone," he said proudly. He looked at her and she could see the unabashed pride in his eyes.

"It's your big, magic bone," she said woodenly, just knowing her jaw was open at the way that sounded.

He paused and blushed as much as she had to be. "Uh, yeah." He put it away and Buffy suddenly realized she knew this kid! "Hey, you're… Jonathan, right?"

He blinked at her use of his name. "You know who I am?"

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked, surprised at his wonder.

"Well," he said, sounding every bit the geeky guy he looked, "you're you, you know? You're…"

She sighed. "What? Blonde, popular, attractive?"

"The Slayer," he countered with a shrug. When she stared at him, he averted his eyes and continued packing up his equipment.

"Is there anyone in this town that doesn't think being the Slayer makes me Superwoman?" she asked him point blank.

He looked at her, seeming offended. "There's no Superwoman. It's either Supergirl or Wonder Woman, or maybe Power Girl from Justice League Europe…"

"Don't mention Power Girl," she said harshly. He winced and she felt an old ache in her heart. "Sorry. Bad memories when it comes to her."

"Sorry."

She tried to change the subject back to his magic… tools. "So Jonathan, what were you doing out here? Practicing witchcraft?"

"Oh please." He stood up and defensively put his bag of equipment under his arm. "You don't know the difference between witches and mages by now?" He must have seen how her eyes narrowed at his question, because he shrank back again. "Sorry."

"Don't be. I'm not Magic Girl. But you should know better than to be out here at night. We're on a Hellmouth," she reminded him. "I hate to ask this, because I'm not being mean here, but are you crazy?"

"Well, it's just…"

She felt a trace of worry. <Don't tell me this is for some bad reason. I thought you were a smart kid… >

"I can't practice in the house," he admitted. "My mom doesn't like this kind of stuff."

Buffy couldn't help it; she knew she was staring at him in shock over a simple answer. "Let me get this straight. You're out here practicing magic because you're not allowed to do it in the house?"

"Well, yeah," he confessed, sounding like a meek little kid.

Her boyfriend started snickering and Buffy shot him a look that threatened him with an extremely painful death. "Do you mind!" she barked.

"Sorry," Angel snickered, not bothering with attempting to sound sincere. "But it sounds so… normal."

Buffy thought about it and looked back at Jonathan, who also seemed to consider that. <A teenage Merlin wannabe sneaks out of the house to practice magic because his mom won't let him do it at home.>

They started laughing too and just couldn't stop for several minutes. Buffy was the first one to stop, trying to remember Giles' numerous lectures to the witches on the responsibility of their powers. But for some reason, she just couldn't get serious enough to deliver the lecture to him.

<So I'll let Giles do it.> Still having a grin tugging at her lips, Buffy asked, "I got a question for you, Jonathan. Just how strong are you at this magic thing?"

He looked defensive again. "Uhm, well, I think I'm a little less powerful than Willow at this point, but I've really been careful with what spells I actually try out. I haven't used any chaos magic, because I know that way might lead to funny stuff, but it eventually gets someone's ass kicked."

"Okay. So if you were fully charged up, you could hold your own or work with a team?" Buffy reasoned, hoping the answer was in the affirmative.

Angel, standing next to her, nodded with approval. Jonathan seemed extremely stunned by her question. "Are you asking me to join your team?" he asked, sounding very, very surprised.

"No," she quickly answered, before she thought about how he might construe that answer. "I'm not really the one to ask, Jonathan. I thought I'd take you to Giles and maybe get him to teach you about this wizardy stuff. If he wants to offer you a spot, hey, the more the merrier."

"Wow." He just stared at her like she was the Second Coming. She hated that about these Sunnydale guys, even three months after the Master had been killed. A look of rapture came over his face and she was about to give him the old spiel about her being a normal Slayer when he said, "This is so like New X-Men, when Charles Xavier goes around the world, asking mutants to join up to rescue the original X-Men!"

She looked at Angel, whose face was just as blank as hers.

*****

Sunnydale High Library
Sunnydale High School
Sunnydale, California
4 March 1999

Buffy held the door open for Jonathan, who seemed really curious but nervous about walking into the library that the team used as their headquarters. She wondered if he was going to make yet another comic book reference.

"You know, I remember the days when I thought this was just a library," he said, putting his stuff on the table. She watched him look at the Slayerettes who were already here and look some of them over. "Hey, guys," he said, obviously recognizing some of them.

"Jonathan?" Amy said, perking up at the sight of magical implements.

Harmony also seemed surprised. "You're the guy we've been looking for?" the second Chosen One asked.

"Uh, come again?" he asked, staring at Harmony's ample bosom. Buffy could tell that the guy had a crush on her, but then again a lot of guys liked the one time queen of the In Crowd.

"I found Jono here at Cemetery number one, getting attacked. He held his own long enough for me and Angel to take them out." Buffy smiled at Giles, who seemed very interested in the coming explanation. <Book Guy really needs a life.> "Turns out he's been practicing magic on the qt for a couple years now."

She saw how Amy perked up even more, while Jenny eyed both Jonathan and his big bone with a critical eye. Giles stood up from his desk and asked, "Mister… Levinson, isn't it?" Jonathan nodded, seeming to be slightly worried about being under Giles' microscope.

He started asking some questions about Jonathan and his practices before any more introductions could be made. <Geez, Giles, give the kid a chance to breathe!> she snapped, futilely.

Her Watcher asked what seemed to be a jillion questions only to be impressed with the way the kid she'd seen picked on as a class nerd answered them with a confidence that she'd never thought he possessed.

Finally, it was Jenny who interrupted. "Rupert, give the boy a break. He obviously has some skill and discipline."

She was the only one who could get away with that, Buffy noted with a smile. "Yeah, Giles. It's not like you're Merlin, you know."

He glared at her for making light of this at first, but relaxed a bit when he realized that like him, Jonathan had to start somewhere. <And it's better if we know about him rather than him starting some spell or ritual he can't stop.> The last thing she wanted was someone getting the idea of becoming some type of evil genius pain in her ass.

"Yes, well… Mister Levinson, just how do you plan on furthering what powers you've already come into?" he asked, asking the question that Jenny and Amy might have on their minds too. "Have you thought about obtaining a teacher?"

"I thought about looking, but I never thought I'd be good enough to ask you guys. I mean, you're the Hellmouth version of the Avengers or the Justice League," he said sheepishly.

Giles looked at her, so she had to translate Comicspeak into something resembling his form of English. "He didn't think he'd be good or powerful enough to help us."

The librarian walked forward and stood up straight. "Mister Levinson… Jonathan, we started out as a band of normal men and women who fought the good fight because it had to be done. We lost many people. Since Buffy came to town, we've become larger and yes, we've become more powerful. But one thing we will never be is unwilling to accept help or offer it to someone with a desire to be special."

"Even if he has a whacked sense of humor," Harmony noted from the side.

"Harmony!" Buffy snapped at her friend.

"I was talking more about Xander," she said sweetly, winking at Jonathan. "Besides, you let me join the club." While it seemed like half of the kids at Sunnydale High knew Buffy was the Slayer, the knowledge of Harmony's being Chosen as well wasn't as wide spread (being known more amongst the police thanks to Ceirdwyn in the case of a vamp emergency). "If you can put up with me, I don't think he could be any worse."

"Thanks. I think," Jonathan said with a goofy look in his eyes.

Buffy saw that Harmony missed it, because she just shrugged. She looked back to Giles and said, "So how about it, Giles? You willing to actually teach a student instead of just working with books?"

She just smiled innocently at his look of impatience. He sighed and turned to Jonathan. "Well, Jonathan, if you'll meet with me during school hours tomorrow, we can talk about arranging lessons and how you might be eased into the routine of patrolling and the like."

"Thanks," he said, standing tall… er. "And thanks for letting me join up."

"Don't think it's going to be easy," Amy said with flashing blue eyes. "It's dangerous and you could get hurt, Jono. But we won't turn down the help. You know, you didn't have to try to impress us with the fireworks you've been setting off the last few nights."

Jonathan looked confused. "Uh… fireworks?" He turned to her and asked, "Buffy, what is she talking about?"

Buffy stiffened and she felt a sinking feeling coming to her stomach. "Uhm, haven't you been taking out big bunches of vamps the last few nights? Scrambling their brains and covering your tracks?"

Jonathan shook his head, confirming what that sinking feeling was telling her. "Sorry. I'm not the Shadow."

*****

Future Site of Hammersmith Park
Sunnydale, California
4 March 1999

"Xander, we have to help her!" Willow hissed.

"Will, remember; she's a vamp hunter and we're vampires. Let's see how well she handles herself first," her boyfriend told her.

It didn't sit well with Willow, but there was more than one reason for that. Besides the fact that the short girl was surrounded by eight vampires who didn't have the benefit of having souls, the girl with the magic effect obscuring her face was "encased" in black leather.

Her jeans were especially form fitting and if there was anything Willow could appreciate, it was the human body encased in leather. She forced her hormonal instincts to the background, allowing those of the huntress to come forth and observe the battle that was taking shape out in the open.

*****

The fighter wasn't impressed with the vampires that thought they were ambushing her. No, these were the typical Hellmouth types who didn't think beyond getting their next meal. Cunning she could deal with when it wasn't backed up by normal or higher intelligence.

Intelligence like hers. That's why she'd used the magic at her disposal to break into the National Guard Armory here in Sunnydale her second night here. While she didn't wonder too much about why the vampires didn't do the same (probably to avoid the attention the government would then give Sunnydale), she could care less about the US military coming here.

<In fact, it would probably make my job easier.> Who knew; if the government knew about vampires, maybe they could help her. <Or perhaps not.>

The woman smiled tightly behind the veil of obscuring that her elven magic gave her, keeping the vampires from knowing what she really looked like or knowing what her voice really sounded like.

"I suppose it would be too much to ask you to just give up now," she said neutrally, one hand aiming an H&K Spec Ops 45 while the other worked something in her pocket. "You just let me do what I need to do, and I'll make it nice and painless."

"I don't think so, bitch," one of the vamps snarled at her. Yes, he was way too confident for his own good. "We're gonna bleed you real slow, bitch."

"Somehow, I don't think you'll be able to stop me," she said easily. Some of the demons looked uncomfortable with her confidence, but the two in front were way too eager to bite into her. <Sorry, but I'm not into that for obvious reasons.> A cold trace of anger and fear lingered in her soul but she pushed it aside. She had things to find out.

"Sorry baby, but guns don't work on vampires," the "leader" scoffed at her.

"I know." <Oh come on! With a perfect set up line like that?!?> Without warning, she pulled the trigger and sent a Magnum Load into the vampire's cranium, the report assaulting her hearing. With an ease born of months of training, the young woman promptly shifted her aim and fired again, sending an identical bullet into another vampire. She felt her eyes narrow in satisfaction at the way the vampires reacted to bits of hair, skull fragments, and brain matter peppering their bodies. With a cold, emotionless voice meant to fool them, she finished, "That's why I carry bullets."

The vampires tried to overcome their shock, but she didn't give them the chance. One of them shouted, "You can't shoot all of us, Missy!"

"No, probably not."

She pulled her right hand out of her pocket and let her attackers see what she held there. Most of them had probably watched military movies in the past, as she saw their eyes recognize the grenade for what it was. Of course, it probably added to the intimidation factor, the innocent way she let the pin dangle from her index finger.

"Heads up," she said, easily tossing the weapon into the middle of the pack. More than one looked at her like she was suicidal, since she was well within the blast radius. She just waved at them with her free hand before the world exploded around her.

*****

Twenty seconds later, she walked away, calmly brushing bits of white phosphorous off of her coat as if it were dryer lint. Not for the first time, she thought about the enchantments placed on her outfit long ago.

Satisfied that the night was still young, and that she had more than enough time to perhaps find a vampire with the needed knowledge in its mind, she headed off in search of more targets.

*****

"If I wasn't so freaked out by that," Willow said slowly, "I might be hot and bothered right about now."

"I'm turned on," Xander said. Willow just knew that if they were still alive, he'd be breathing hard.

She gave her boyfriend a cocked auburn eyebrow. "Xander, she's a total stranger!"

He shrugged, looking back at her with that patented Xander smile. "Will, she's a perfect stranger who's petite, encased in skintight leather, and carries toys that make things go boom."

Willow blinked and thought about that, turning back to the scene and replaying the woman's actions in her mind. A playful smile tugged at her lips.

"There goes the fear."

*****

Part 3: Open Door Policy
(What Is This? Old Home Week In The Wishverse?!?)

Future Site of Hammersmith Park
Sunnydale, California
4 March 1999

"Come on," Xander told her, "let's tail Rambette and see where she's headed."

Willow nodded, a little less confident than Xander about this situation. "Okay, but keep in mind, you can see she's got some strong magic and firepower on her. We need to be really careful."

"Is she a witch?" Xander asked, halting himself from taking off after the woman.

"I don't think so," the vampiress answered, not as certain about her growing mystical abilities as Amy was of hers. Her fiery red hair fanned out as she shook her head. "But someone's given her a lot of spells to protect her." She let her witch-green eyes scan the area, trying to find any other dangers lurking about. "It's clear in this part of the park. So let's go."

With a stealth borne of undeath, Xander and Willow disappeared into the shadows before them.

*****

Her necklace tingled against her chest as the two vampires came inside a hundred yards again. She smiled to herself; these two were smarter than the batch she'd just dealt with.

What had her smiling though, was that this pair still had their souls. she asked herself. It was intriguing, not the least of which was because they hated the soulless breeds even more than she did. <But they weren't willing to risk getting flame broiled like a Whopper. Should I find out why they're following me or just shake them off my butt?>

Before she could plan her course of action, that mystical tingling increased five fold. Feeling like it would spread to her breasts. The only problem was that the eight pack waiting in ambush for her were the soulless types.

Them, she might have a use for.

Surreptitiously reaching for the magical sword hidden at her hip, she hoped that one of the bloodsuckers would have something more in their minds than blood and sex.

Just as she pulled the glowing blade, the vampires jumped out of the brush, apparently guessing that their ambush was not going to snare this little fish.

Predictably, they roared and charged without any thought or strategy. The woman took the barest of instances to select her first target. She nimbly dodged to the right and swung her blade into the undead's gut, cutting through his clothes and stomach muscles like a steak knife through moist tender loin.

The comparison made her think new imagery might be appropriate. But as vampire innards spilled across the grass, the swordswoman turned to meet another's rush. She sidestepped the attack and sliced backhand across her right thigh. The hunter took advantage of the demon's stumble and decapitated her, adding even more fertilizing grave ash to the future park's lawn.

However, the precious seconds that she took to kill the woman left the other six enough time to complete surrounding her. She belatedly wished she'd thought to pack another incendiary grenade, but there wasn't time to cry over spilled milk.

<Note to self. Next time you steal from the military, carry the Army toys with you!> She didn't have time to pull her gun, but then, maybe she wouldn't have to.

Two roars sounded through the night air, as her two trackers became her cavalry.

She saw the look of shock on the soulless' faces as a petite, leather-clad red blur barreled into a big, burly football type. Taking advantage of the confusion, the swordswoman lunged and eviscerated two vampires with one slice. <Use your movements to maximum effect!>

She flashed her eyes around to take stock of her situation. Three vampires trying to pull their guts back in, one dusted, and two occupied with her party crashers. That left two unattended, and they now seemed more interested in running than in partying. In fact, they were downright terrified.

"Hasta la vista, baby."

One cut, one vamp gone. A familiar, sick-sounding CRACK heralded the breaking of a neck while some chanting and the smell of ozone meant that one of her temporary partners was a mage.

<Great. As is one of them being an Enforcer or Camarilla isn't bad enough.>

Out of the original eight in the group that had attacked her, all that remained was the one young guy who'd already figured out that he wasn't getting out of this in any way, shape, or form, by the bleak look in his eyes.

As the soul-capable vampires finished their business, the woman decided to ask the vampire a quick question. "How long ago were you turned?"

The demon seemed a bit confused by the question, but she answered. "A-about a y-year and a h-half ag-go."

"Ever turned anyone?"

He shook his head jerkily. "N-no! I swear I haven't!"

<Too bad.> She ran him through and the elven power in her sword acted on the animus holding this corpse together. She felt sorry for the guy; if not for the vampires in Sunnydale, he might be going to college right now. "I hope you find some peace."

A tired female sigh from behind her and a tantalizingly familiar voice said, "He'll find it. Ted was a good guy when he was alive."

She just nodded and decided to see where she stood with the souled ones. She turned around to ask the female who she belonged to but froze when she saw the dreaded demon face of a soulless one less than five feet from her.

Without conscious thought, the hunter reached forward and grabbed the dead girl by the throat. Past experience and personal feelings overrode what her necklace told her and the strange feeling of familiarity she felt.

Pivoting her hips, she threw the vampire girl down and reared back to drive her sword home. Still conscious of her partner, the fighter shouted, "Don't even THINK it!!!" However, she kept her eyes firmly fixed on the flying spell caster at her mercy. She growled, "You have five seconds to explain!"

"W-wait!" the male shouted. She didn't spare him a glance, because he couldn't react before she carved out his girlfriend's throat. <Oh God, they're an item.> "Don't hurt her! She has her soul, like I do!"

"That's the first thing you're going to tell me about," she demanded harshly. This was something that might be of use to her. "Then you can explain who a soulless breed vampire has powers reserved for Kindred or other types."

The panicked look on the redhead's face increased. "It's kinda… complicated. It's gonna take longer than five seconds."

She let her lips curl upward sarcastically. "Fine. Ten seconds."

"Damn it, we just saved your life!" her boy toy shouted angrily.

She didn't give an inch, but she wanted information. "Talk."

"Some witches restored our souls," the girl vampire blurted out hurriedly, "it's technically a curse but we're helping some friends fight other vamps. We're a team!"

The woman felt more conflict in her heart. The babbling was so achingly familiar… A sudden inspiration hit her. "Change back." When the demon squinted its game face questioningly, she rolled her eyes under the mask created by the obscuring spell. "Change back to your normal face."

The vampire blinked but complied, probably because doing so would buy her a few more seconds. Her face morphed and smoothed out, showing her what the girl had looked like in life. It was then that she spied the clincher.

The face, not to mention the small Star of David on her chest, left no doubt as to who she was preparing to skewer. She felt her sword arm fall away and she released the girl's throat. She stared at the witch-green eyes, milky pale skin, and red hair that jump-started the memories that could no longer be ignored. This soulless vampiress with a soul was…

"WILLOW?!?"

Willow Rosenberg blinked several times as it penetrated that they knew each other. The hunter helped Willow to her feet sheepishly and concentrated, canceling the magic that blurred her features and voice.

*****

Willow's confusion only lasted as long as whatever magic covered the girl's face remained active. She watched it ripple as the girl who'd pointed a sword at her stared back, showing her and Xander her true face. Her perfect memory easily provided a name to the face, bringing forth images of high fashions, air headed debutantes, and chemistry labs.

Even though she couldn't reconcile the rivaling mental pictures of a spoiled bitch from her freshman year with the living, leather-sheathed warrior before her, there was no denying who she was looking at.

"ALISON?!?" she babbled.

There was no doubt about it. She was still as petite as ever, even more so than Willow herself. But even more than Ali's small frame, the waist-length brown-black hair and intelligent blue eyes confirmed Alison Jarman's identity.

"Oh my God…" Willow walked forward, still somewhat in disbelief. Alison's dark eyes flared with suspicion so she stopped. Willow muttered, "It's been… geez, almost…"

"Three, four years," her one-time classmate said without any emotions, especially the disdain Alison had once had for her and Xander.

Xander said, "Then the Master's goons didn't get you."

Ali's face scrunched up in confusion, the name lost on her. "The who?"

"We'll take that as a yes," her lover dryly stated.

The short girl turned toward Xander, who'd shifted back to his normal face. She apparently recognized him and looked at both of them, probably comparing their faces to what she remembered. Their ex-schoolmate looked at them several times before quietly saying, "Looks like I'm not the only one with a long story."

Willow and Xander looked at each other and shared the same thought. <Understatement much?>

Willow decided to try and take the first step. She held her hands up to show she wasn't going to do anything to Alison. "Alison, we've been looking for you since you arrived and started doing part of our jobs for us. And I know you probably don't trust us, and we know why, and we can't really blame you."

She hesitated going any further, because it was still so hard, dealing with how most people treated her and Xander. The treatment she'd gotten when she was alive because of her Jewish beliefs paled in comparison. Strangely enough, it was the Jewish community in Sunnydale that had accepted her back into the fold once the truth had been made known about her and her soul.

*****

Sensing Will's discomfort, Xander added his two cents. "Look Ali, it's a long story and I'm pretty sure you don't want us to bore you with the details. So short version, we got turned, we were very, very bad, and a few months ago we had some witches put the Whammy on us, brought us out of Heaven, and stuck our souls back in these bodies."

He shrugged and decided to try and lower her suspicions if that was even possible. "Now, I'd like to think the fact that you haven't vamp-ki-bobbed us yet is a good sign. But if it helps any, Jarman, we're the same people we were when alive. I can't prove it to you, but that's the way it is."

Alison just held that glowing sword off to the side, not making a move. She looked at them both again and finally looked unconvinced. "Funny. If you're the same people you were when you were alive, then you were probably the best dressed geeks in town."

"Hey!" he and Willow both snapped before picking up the twinkle in Alison's eyes.

<So she's not totally Rambo,> he thought. But she'd certainly gone through some changes. <Hell, anyone who can stand at ground zero of a napalm grenade and not twitch…> "Uh, quick question; how'd you drop the willy peter and not get the suntan to end all suntans?"

"Magic," she said flippantly. Before Xander could get on her case, she put her sword away and folded her arms. "Look Xander, I've been gone a long time, and I've been through a lot of shit. So give me a break, okay? I just got home a few nights ago and I'm still trying to catch up on the last three plus years of whatever the heck went on here."

"That's even more complicated than the soul thing," he retorted. Hey, he just couldn't help it.

"Alison, what happened to you? The last time anyone saw you, it was just after your parents died. I remember seeing you run off…"

*****

Alison took a deep breath through her nostrils. Those two nights were the last things she wanted to talk about. It was what had started everything. But still, it was better than having no one to talk to…

"I'll assume you can guess how they died, right? Given what I've been doing in my spare time this week," she said carefully. She quickly added, "But don't think I'm on a ‘kill them all and let God sort ‘em out' gig, because I'm not. My… friends helped me see that was the dumbest route I could take."

"Then why, Alison?" Willow asked her.

Still trying to figure out the strange contradictions in the vampire that had been the favorite recipient of her cruelty when she'd been a real jackass, Ali told her the truth. "It happened to my Mom and Dad. It w… would've happened to me if I hadn't gotten lucky." She shook her head, some of her locks coming loose. "I'll do whatever it takes to prevent it from happening to anyone else. Getting killed or…" She stared at them for an uncomfortable second, but they nodded in agreement. That caught her off guard.

"Been there, Ali," Xander Harris said, "been there and done that. That is, the whole guilt trip thing."

She didn't want to think about what they might be going through, human souls fighting demonic impulses. So she just decided not to step on those metaphorical toes. She focused her eyes on Willow and asked, "So what now? Now that you know about me?"

Willow actually smiled at her and Alison couldn't help but swear that the woman was checking her out… "We want you to meet our team. That is, if you're willing to."

That wasn't what she'd expected to hear. But still, she felt intrigued to a point. "More souled soulless?" she asked, half-joking and not sure she wanted to find out.

"Just one," Xander chuckled, much to Ali's annoyance. "But he's taken. And his girlfriend doesn't share her toys with others."

"Unlike our girlfriend," Willow added cheerfully.

At that second, Alison realized just how much being turned had changed Rosenberg and Harris, although she wondered if it had instead only brought out hidden things about them. <Like them being attracted to each other. It was so obvious Willow had the hots for him…> And actually, he didn't look so dorky in that leather jacket…

<Down girl! He just admitted to sharing her and himself with another woman!> Alison sighed and shook her head. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?"

"Well, I'd think you'd have every vampire hunter's dream of meeting the Slayer," Xander added, enjoying her discomfort way too much.

She steeled herself and wondered just what kind of group she might be meeting if it involved three vampires who worked with the Slayer. And she still needed to know more about what had happened over her absence, which had in fact been longer than it seemed to her.

She nodded to them and they both grinned, but in different ways. Xander's was the goofy, easy-going way she remembered, while Willow's was somewhat… wicked and sensuous.

<Great…just great,> she groaned.

*****

Part 4: Old Friends Reunite Under Really Unusual Circumstances
(That Library Just Keeps Getting More And More Crowded)

Sunnydale High Library
Sunnydale High School
Sunnydale, California
4 March 1999

Alison carefully walked in when the vampires that had helped her out held the doors open. She didn't know what to expect other than the one thing that Willow and Xander had let slip. The thing was, she didn't know how she was going to react.

She felt a lump in her throat and decided to hope for the best. <Then again, if what they told me is true, then nothing is the same…>

She scanned the library and her blue eyes fell on what she was preoccupied with. The people inside, a larger number than she'd expected, all looked up from whatever they were doing to see who'd just walked in. And there it was.

The longhaired blonde girl stared at her for a few seconds, as if she couldn't believe what she'd seen. But her face lit up into a big smile and she came around, eyes shining with unbelievable belief.

"ALI?!?" Harmony Kendall shrieked, throwing her arms around her body and giving her a big hug, although Ali could easily tell she was holding back. "My God, you're alive!!!"

"Yeah," she said, not comfortable with her actions. Still, it did feel good to know that one person she'd cared about had survived the long years of darkness Willow and Xander had brought her up to speed on.

Harmony pulled back and searched her face. "Ali, I…" She looked past her and asked, "You told her."

"Nope," Xander's voice said. Ali could've sworn that he sounded caring. The guy she used to think was a geek cared. "We only told her you were okay. We figured you'd want to tell her the rest."

"The rest of what?" Alison asked, her eyes furrowing.

"Uh well…" She stepped back and sighed. "They told you what's been happening since after you left?"

"Yeah. Including that whole wish thing made by Cordy." She was still trying to make heads or tails of it, but her time away had taught her a few things. One of those was not to dismiss anything at first sight. "Way I see it, I was one of the lucky ones." When Harm's face looked at her incredulously, Ali reminded her, "Harm, I left a year or so before this all went down. What happened to my parents and me would've happened regardless. I can't cry about that."

"Well, there's more, at least about me and…" She stopped and looked at some decent looking older guy in a tweed coat. "Giles?"

The man took his glasses off and nodded reassuringly. Alison's first thought was, <What the Heck is Harmony doing hunting vampires?>

Harmony turned back to her and seemed to steel herself. "Okay, I know it's gonna sound way out there, but here it is, Ali. I'm the Slayer." She paused for a second. "The new Slayer. Or…"

<Oh my God…> Ali almost laughed out loud. Here she thought she was going to have the explaining to do, and all of a sudden one of her former Airhead buddies was telling her she was the Chosen One. Of course she believed it; no one in their right mind just claimed to be the Slayer, especially in a town crawling with vampires!

Her jaw set a bit and she nodded in agreement. "How long?" she asked.

"Uhm, best guess, around three months. It was a month or so before we figured it out." Harmony nodded her head at a chair, indicating she should sit down. Alison stifled her caution about the others and did as her old friend asked. Maybe, just maybe she wouldn't have to start over again with a life…

"Okay, Willow and Xander…" She paused, still trying to get used to the changes they'd undergone during her absence. Not the vampire thing, she got that. But their attitudes… "Okay, I'm going to be up front about it." She stared at them and they both seemed hurt. It made her want to kick herself. "I've learned and done a lot since my parents got killed and I like to think I'm not as self-absorbed or bitchy or holier than thou than I was when I was a freshman here, but… I'm straight, okay? I don't care what your orientation is, but it's going to take some getting used to. I know it's not fair, especially since I'm going on who you were when you guys were freshmen like me, but…" She sighed and shook her head. "So much for being open-minded huh?"

"It'll be okay," Harmony chuckled softly. Ali glared at her a bit, but her former partner in the Popular Clique just shrugged. "Hey, I had to get used to them changing sides because of this whole soul and alternate reality thing, then the whole ‘I'm the new Slayer' thing, and it's been a weird ride." She looked at the two teen vampires and Ali couldn't help but see that look of friendship she hadn't truly had in her former life. "But we're friends, Ali. And I'm happy about that. Just give it time."

She watched the two and she saw some signs of relief that it wasn't their undead state that she had issues with. "Sorry guys. Like I said, I don't have any problems with how someone lives their life, as long as they don't hurt others. I'm just trying to…"

"Measure me against the geek I was," Willow finished, shrugging uncaringly. "That's dealable. I can still hack with the best of them."

Ali let a smile form. "Okay. Thanks." She turned to the guy that Harmony called Giles. "Let me guess. You're Harmony's Watcher?"

"Yes, indeed," he said easily. Alison wondered if he heard the not too friendly tone in her voice; she'd heard from her friends what most Watchers were like towards their Slayers. "I'm also the Watcher for Buffy here." He indicated the other blonde woman in the room, the one whose attitude screamed, "SLAYER." "I've been assigned as her Watcher because she is a native of Sunnydale and I was here for two years before Buffy arrived or Harmony was Chosen, fighting vampires myself with the aid of a few others."

"Can we make intros before we get into a History lesson we already gave her?" Xander asked jokingly. Alison fought the urge to smile at the crack. <Yes, underneath it all he's the same Harris.>

Harmony smiled and looked at her, as if asking for her okay. Alison nodded and she started pointing people out. "You remember Willow and Xander, and from what they say you got the basic 411 about what's gone down since you left." Alison nodded; it hadn't been a pleasant thing to find out. If she'd been here those two years, she might've… <Don't think about it now. You have other things to do this instant.>

Harmony indicated the other Slayer and the vampire standing next to her. She felt herself heating up a bit; Xander might be cute, but Mister Billowy Coat Brooding King of Pain here was gorgeous! "Buffy Summers, the Slayer before me and her boyfriend, Angel. He's got the same soul deal going as Willow and Xander, so he's cool and he's got a good fashion sense."

"Hey!" Xander protested.

<Apparently Willow thinks her own fashion sense is good. Then again, I'm wearing leather, so who am I to argue,> she mused with a smirk. "Pleased to meet you."

Angel nodded but didn't react otherwise. Buffy nodded and Alison could read in her eyes that she was as dedicated to taking out soulless vampires as she was. Harmony moved on to two boys, a skinny redhead and a big type like that shit Percy. "That's Oz Green and Larry Blaisdell. They're an item, so don't waste your time dreaming about either one."

"No problem, believe me," she hastily replied. She saw the way Larry's eyes narrowed a bit and she hoped he wouldn't make an issue of it. "I remember them. Hey guys."

"Ali…behave!" Harmony scolded her, also reading her attitude. She waved a hand at the one teenager she didn't know, a redheaded girl with short hair. "That's Amy Madison, her Mom owns the Magic Shop here in town. She's a witch, just moved here from Colorado a couple months ago."

"Hey," Amy said kindly, and Alison sighed internally as the witch was checking her out just like Willow had. If there was any doubt as to who Xander and Willow were dating, it was gone now. "Nice to meet you."

"Thanks," the young woman returned, giving the woman a careful smile. "Nice to know Harmony has some ‘artillery' to back up the hand to hand."

"That's me," she proudly chirped with shining blue eyes.

Harmony tapped her on the shoulder and indicated the two present adults. "That's Giles, my Watcher and the school librarian. The lady's Miss Calendar, the computer teacher and another witch. We're missing Catherine, Karen, and Arthur. Karen's a Sunnydale detective, she's on duty right now. Arthur's sort of her partner even though he's not a cop, he's like a consultant on supernatural stuff."

"Another Watcher?" she guessed, thinking that maybe she could work with these people if they had contacts on the police force. <It would mean less secrecy on my part.>

It was the Giles guy who answered. "Actually, he's, well…"

"Let me guess. Souled vampire?" she said, rolling her eyes. <Maybe it's the new ‘in' thing for the undead…>

"King Arthur," Harmony corrected her, smiling widely. Ali stared at her and her friend-turned-Slayer shrugged. "I know, I was like the same way. You get used to it living here."

"Yeah, tell me about it," she said glumly. It was living here that had destroyed her old life. She looked around and saw the various looks of sympathy that showed most of them understood how she felt about losing her parents. Still, she decided to get down to business. She turned to Harmony's Watcher and asked, "So shall we lay our cards on the table, Mister Giles? I think I can safely figure out what it is you and the others do, so you've probably got a number of questions for me, right?"

"Yes, Miss…"

"Alison or Ali. Either or," she said with a shrug.

"Very well, Alison. Since you're a Sunnydale native and cognizant of the supernatural goings on around the Hellmouth, my first question will be, why have you returned?" He seemed really determined to get the answer to that question, but before she could respond, he followed it up with questions number two and three. "Also, where did you get your training from, and what is it that you're doing to wipe the memories from vampires rather than simply killing them?"

She supposed she should have expected those ones. < Okay, simplicity time.> She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. She propped her boots on the table and said, "Not to sound cryptic or anything, but the answers to your first two questions are pretty much linked together."

The other Slayer, Buffy, sarcastically muttered, "So stop sounding cryptic and answer the man's questions."

She eyed the girl and was surprised to see a bit of herself in the woman. She smirked and asked, "Do you mind if I do it without the comments from the peanut gallery, then?"

The tension level shot up and Alison wondered if maybe she'd pushed the envelope too far, too soon. Instead, Buffy glared at her for a few seconds before softening a bit. "Sure," she finally said.

"Anyway," she said, getting back to the not-so-third degree, "Cliff's Notes version. Freshman year, I had a crush on a guy named Percy and I'm one of the airheads like Harmony used to be…"

"Hey!" Alison just arched an eyebrow at her and Harmony groaned. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't remind me."

<She has changed…> She decided to take things a bit more seriously because of that little knowledge. She sat straight up and folded her hands on the table. "One day, Percy, me, and my best friend blow off school to go see a movie. That night we go our separate ways and the next day, I find out Marisa's dead. Later, Percy shows up and wants to make out. So we're necking and he starts going too far. I tell him to stop and that's when he vamps out." She froze and restrained herself from reflexively thinking about healed wounds. She looked at Harmony, who'd probably already put two and two together. "My folks get home and Percy kills them. I ran off… the last thing I heard my Dad say was that Percy wasn't getting me."

"The police thought she'd been involved," Willow continued. Alison turned to face her just like everyone else. "Of course, when they actually did some forensics, it was obvious that someone…" The corset wearing teen hesitated and shared a sympathetic glance with her. "That Percy had been there and they started to investigate."

"Except that I didn't wait," she went on. She looked at Buffy, who shared that look. <Did she lose her Mom or Dad?> she wondered. "The very next night, I went out and looked for that bastard and almost got myself killed doing it. I woke up two days later in the hospital. Turned out someone had called 911 and got me to the hospital before I died."

She paused and glanced at Harmony, who bowed her head as they both remembered what had happened next. "So I get back to school and people are talking about how I'm an orphan. The social workers show up to talk to me about getting placed somewhere if they can't find any other family. I booked and ran home, packing stuff up so I could run away. It was while digging through my parents' stuff that I found some stuff…" She hesitated and sighed. "I found out some things about family in France. So I hopped a plane using Mom's credit card and started digging around over there."

The redhead not wearing something out of a porno film asked, "Is this where you got that elven magic?"

Alison supposed it was a mark of how long she'd been grown up that she didn't take offense to the witch "peeking" and seeing what she was carrying in terms of enchantments. "Oh yeah. My digging around got the attention of some Unseelie elves and they decided to shanghai me and take me Underhill as a new slave or something. Some Bright Court elves stopped them and once they heard my story, they took me in and started training me in Vamps 101; not just how to take them, but also the different types. Heck, I've even met some of the good guy types."

"And you left them to come home?" Xander asked in surprise.

She wondered how her meeting elves was being taken at face value, since for all they knew, she could be blowing smoke up their butts. But still… "I couldn't see myself staying Underhill for eternity and one of their Seers said I had to come home to deal with some issues I still have. I wanted to fight vampires, and the Seer told me that to deal with those issues and make a difference, that ‘where it all began' was the place to find the end of that part of my life."

"Standard cryptic type stuff," Amy said, sounding unimpressed. "Sounds like the destiny spell I cast that brought me here."

"Then you know how frustrating it can be. They outfitted me with some things and here I am. I thought I'd be helping people out by killing the vampires and trying to get information from them, like on who was in charge or where their nests are, but that was before Willow and Xander told me what's happened since I left."

"That is understandable, of course." The Watcher took his glasses off and cleaned them before setting them back on. "So you're not looking for revenge for what happened to your family, Alison?"

"Absolutely not." She hoped she could make it as clear with them as she had with the kid vamps. "Percy killed my parents and nearly killed me. I hear that Amy here killed him. All said and done. Like I said, I have other issues to work out, ghosts from the past and all that. I also want to make a difference, as dorky as it sounds. The thing is, I can do it by fighting back."

She didn't know what to make of the nods of approval she got from a few of the people there, including the lady teacher and the guy calling himself Angel. She felt a slight schoolgirl burst of giddiness at the approval but shut it down. She didn't need approval to do what she had to do.

"As for my magic, it's pretty simple." She stood up and removed her coat, exposing the turtleneck sweater underneath. "The coat's been enforced with just about every standard defensive magic the Seelie can put on it. Resistance to various elements and energies, like fire. Protection from almost any type of hostile magic you can name. It's even got this obscuring spell that responds to my commands, to blur my features so my face isn't seen by any vampires that escape. That's also why I scramble their brains, so my identity remains a secret."

"But it doesn't protect you from physical attacks or weapons made of iron," the witch said. That cinched it; she had to have some experience with the Folk.

"As for punches or kicks, no it doesn't." She glanced at Willow and Xander and gave them a faked "glare." "Don't start with the catty comments about taking it all off. I have something on underneath."

She turned away, ignoring the "disappointed" looks they sent her. Privately, she was smiling inside. She then pulled off her sweater, revealing the skintight elven plate covering her torso and arms down to the wrists. "This," she cited, "on the other hand, can stop a demon's punch, keep it from hurting me, and leave the demon with cracked knuckles at the least."

"Chicks in Chain Mail," Xander's voice sounded cheerfully. "That's even kinkier than leather."

<Oh Jesus Christ…> She tried to ignore him and go on. "But again, ferrous materials like bullets will go right through. So I've been lucky so far, not coming up against vampires with guns."

"Yeah, most vamps are stuck in whatever century they were turned in," Buffy noted, glancing at her boyfriend as she did. Alison wondered just how old he was.

"I know, but trust me, there are exceptions." The prodigal Sunnydalite pulled out the sword she carried and held it up for the witches' inspection. "Basic elven silver sword. Can cut through almost anything not carrying Death Metal like nobody's business, including vampires or demons. But I'm not stupid enough to use it if I scope out the vamps carrying blades. That's when I fall back on mundane weapons. I'm willing to use either."

"How accomplished are you at these forms of combat?" Giles asked her, staring at her intently.

"I'm good enough to deal with your average, less than ten year old vampire and survive," she said with a shrug. She thought about the training she'd gotten Underhill and in the mortal plane from the elves and their human friends. "I'm no Musketeer or samurai sword master, and I don't pretend to be. But I'm good enough to take on two or three unarmed vampires without any trouble. Give me a steel, nonmagical sword, I could probably handle a single vampire with a similar weapon, one on one." She hesitated before glancing at the floor. "Believe me, I know how mortal I am. That's one thing I don't let myself forget."

"I see…" She looked up at the Englishman and it struck her that he seemed to actually care. That put him head and shoulders above most Watchers she'd heard tales about. As she put her sweater back on, she saw him glance at Harmony.

The woman looked to Harm, who seemed to know what he was silently asking her. She grinned, nodded, and looked at her, hope shining in her blue eyes. "Ali, do you…"

"What?" Was she about to ask what she thought she was about to ask her.

"Would you consider joining up," the other Slayer spelled it out. Alison looked at her in doubt, and Buffy returned her stare for several seconds. She eventually shrugged. "Hey, you've got some experience in this gig. Makes sense to ask you if you want to hang with us instead of going it alone."

It did make sense. And she found herself wanting the camaraderie that she hadn't had since leaving France. But still, she had things she needed to deal with. So she finally, and reluctantly, answered, "I don't know. I mean, everything's so different from what I expected, even when I didn't know what to expect." She threw her coat back on and put her sword away. "I need to get more used to the situation here before I make any long term decisions. I will stay in touch and check in, but…" She looked at Harmony, who looked disappointed that she wasn't jumping at the chance. "I have things to deal with that I think I should deal with alone. At least until I know whether or not I can deal with them alone."

She turned to the Watcher and said, "Is it all right if we at least keep each other up to date with what we're doing? That way if either of us needs some backup, it's just a phone call away."

"Yes, of course," the man said, sounding surprised yet pleased that she was keeping her options open.

<If I do end up needing your help dealing with this, then you're the first person I'd look up.> She looked at the others and said, "Thanks for the invitation. I'll be in touch." She glanced at Willow and Xander as she stepped by them. "Maybe we can get together and talk about old times, huh? I know I was a bitch back then, but still… it's nice to know that some of the people I knew are still around. What do you think?"

Willow perked up and gave her another sultry smile. "Only if you wear that or something else as nice."

Alison rolled her eyes but allowed herself a short laugh. "Don't push your luck, geek girl."

She walked out, that smile still on her face.

*****

Harmony suddenly stood up and Buffy cocked an eyebrow. Her fellow Slayer turned to her and said, "Let me talk to her, guys. Maybe I can change her mind."

"She didn't exactly turn us down, Harmony," Jenny offered kindly.

The Immortal nodded but still wondered about something she'd felt about this Alison girl. "Look Harm, I know you'd like to have your old pal join up. Between us, I like the idea of adding someone who knows what she's doing, too. But don't push her too hard, it might close the door on her. Just remind her she's got the options on the table, okay?"

Harmony didn't look thrilled by that, but she had a good head on her shoulders. It made Buffy wonder how she'd ever acted like a ditz. "Okay. I'll tell her."

She turned and rushed out, hoping to catch the new girl in town before she got out the doors.

Buffy, on the other hand, was very curious about that strange chill she got when looking at Alison. It reminded her of when she'd seen those people last month, Jarod and Andrea…

<Hmmm. I wonder what her thing is…> The Immortal licked her lips and decided to get Ceirdwyn to be here the next time they talked with Alison.

*****

She didn't get far before she heard Harmony's voice calling her. She stopped and sighed; she didn't want to argue with the one person who was a friend in her first time in Sunnydale. But she still acknowledged that Harm was her friend and turned around. "What is it, Harm?" she asked as the Slayer came up to her, looking somewhat frantic.

"Ali, please reconsider," she pleaded, looking quite disturbed about her initial refusal. Harmony glanced back at the library and said, "Look, I know you and I have both changed a lot in four years. I can guess what you went through because of vampires. I've been through it for three years. But…" She looked back at her, worry shining in her eyes. "Is it because of Willow, Xander, and Angel?"

Ali bristled at the insinuation. "No, Harm, it isn't." She folded her arms, not in defiance, but in defensiveness. She glanced at the floor of the hallway and muttered, "Harmony, I'll be up front with you. There are things I can't discuss, not yet, because I have issues I need to deal with. I don't want to join a team if it's going to interfere with what I have to do."

"We could help you, Ali," her former partner in fashion said hopefully. She gripped Ali's shoulder, although all she felt was some pressure against her armor. "If there's one thing I don't like, it's someone being alone. I especially don't want someone I just found out made it through that living Hell of the last three years to go through it."

"I…" The eighteen year old stopped from outright refusing to give in, but she still wondered what would happen if her issues came out into the open. Then again, Willow and Xander had issues with the soul-in-a-vampire-body thing and they were still friends with both Slayers and dating a living witch. <This is almost sounding like a supernatural soap opera created by that guy who wrote the last Aliens movie…>

She shook her head and realized that to an extent, she did want to join this team. Still, she wondered whether it was wise or not. <Of course, if something happens to me, they'd have to know…> "You know there were a few things I didn't tell your friends, right?"

"I figured. But we all have some secrets," Harmony said, drawing an amused eyebrow from her. The taller blonde said, "Well, Amy and her Mom don't talk about where they come from, mostly because they don't trust Giles' buddies. It's from some old deal they had, don't ask me. Willow and Xander don't talk much about some of the things they did before getting their souls back, although I know Willow's happier because her Rabbi let her come back to their temple, so she's got someone to talk to. Even Buffy doesn't talk much about what she was like before coming here; she lost her Mom and it really changed her until last winter."

"I know how that goes," Alison said. She still felt some pain over her parents' deaths, but she'd moved except for the one thing that tied her to Sunnydale. But she decided to make a start on bridging her two lives here and now. She mumbled, "They weren't my real parents, Harm."

Harmony stared at her for a second. "What? What do you…"

"I found something in my Dad's stuff, something about how someone named Adelaide had brought me to my Dad…" She stopped and sighed at how much that discovery had changed her life. "Seems my Dad had an affair with an elf lady before meeting Mom. As it so happens, I found out that I was basically adopted, sort of. It hinted that Dad was my real Dad, but with the whole being married thing, this Adelaide left me with my Dad to let me have a ‘real' life in the ‘real' world. So that's why I left, to track down my real mom and figure things out."

"You didn't get along?" Harm asked before remembering her story. "Wait. You found her, right? This Adelaide was your Mom, right? You lived with them for a few years."

"No, I didn't find my real Mom," Alison countered. The warrior turned around and gave Harmony an even look. "What really happened was that Adelaide adopted my real mom when she was a kid. So she was really, well, my Grandmother in a way. My real mom grew up and married another fosterling who died fighting some dark elves. What happened though…" She thought about the sacrifice made by her birth mother and for the first time, told someone outside the Elfhame where the woman had grown up. "She came down with cancer or something and even the elven healers couldn't do anything about it. Since they had some contact with the outside world, she had to option of kemo."

"It didn't work?"

"She didn't take it. It would've killed me."

She watched as Harmony got the point behind that simple statement and her face ran the gauntlet of emotions. Shock, admiration for the woman's willingness to sacrifice herself so that her child would be born, and finally sadness for Ali herself. "How long did she live after you were born?"

"About three or four months our time. Time flows differently Underhill." She quickly added, "Don't ask me to explain, it's too complicated even for someone with a 130 IQ like me. But to make a short story real short, Grandma Adelaide came to Dad and told him I was their child. She told me why she'd lied, to honor my birth mom's last request of finding me a human home, and I'm glad she did what she did. After I was rescued from the Unseelie, we met and had this big reunion. Harmony, I care about her; we get along great, but it was time for me to move on and come back here."

Harmony just nodded; they'd both been through a lot over the last three years and had changed. Alison liked to think it was for the better, although things could still get worse, if she didn't work things out.

"So you won't join up?" Harmony asked, sounding hurt. "We can always use more people, Alison. And you know, I'd like to have someone that I grew up with on the team. Willow and Xander, well, we're friends now, but it's not the same as it would be having you. Because we could talk about the friends we lost, like Cordy."

Alison felt herself being sorely tempted. The things that she could gain by having backup, some of them being people who she knew, really beat the idea of going solo her whole life. She thought about how she'd been going night to night and not trying to settle in somewhere. She had money, thanks to her Grandmother's magical aid. <Of course, I have to cash in those coins every now and then. Maybe they can help with that too… > She stopped short of saying anything, but rather started walking.

"Come on, Harm. I need to think about it," she said, hearing her old friend moving to catch up. "I'm not saying no. I'm not stupid. I just have personal stuff to deal with and I'm worried about how you and your friends will react if they find out. And there's the fact that I usually don't take prisoners when it comes to fighting."

"You have an edge to you. I can see that," Harmony said. Ali turned her head to look at her, but Harmony's eyes were inscrutable. "Buffy has one, Willow and Xander have one because of their little redemption kick, even Giles has one when he's riled up. Heck, it almost makes me think he's got some dark side to him. But most of us have it and we've survived the crap that happened here." She paused a bit before going on and Alison got the suspicion she wasn't the only one holding back until they knew each other better. "Heck, Jarman, I'm not the same person I was six months ago. I welcomed Buffy when she came in and Lysette went back to being a bimbo. I like what I am now and you seem to be comfortable with who you are."

<With who I am, sure. But with who I'm gonna be…> Still, something she'd heard would work as a last resort. <Emphasis on last.> "I am, yeah. I'm doing this so no one else will get killed or turned. Saving the world, that I'm not sure about."

"You get used to it," Harmony said with a giggle. Apparently getting this Slayer duty hadn't made her anything less of a girl who enjoyed making smart alec remarks now and then. "At least you'll think about it, right?"

Alison smiled tiredly and nodded. "Give me a few days, I just might say to hell with it and join up anyway. Like I said, I'm not saying no. It's more like I'm saying, let me decide how I want to go about it. Maybe I can join you guys for patrols part time and ease into your routine. Give me a month or so, I'll…" She stopped at the door leading outside and faced her one-time friend, who she hoped would be her friend again. She was actually looking forward to something more than being a Lone Wolf. <Maybe this is how I'm supposed to deal with it. By having someone to help me out.> "Give me a month, I'll try to hold up my end of things on the team. Okay?"

Glad that it was something, Harmony grinned and nodded. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

On impulse, Alison gave Harmony a quick hug. "I'll look your number up and call you tomorrow. From there, give me a couple days to settle down and we'll talk again."

That being enough for them both for the moment, Alison released her and walked out, feeling a bit better about coming home to the Hellmouth.

*****

Epilogue: Parent/Daughter Talk With A Twist
(Ali Wonders What The Future Might Hold, And With Not So Good Reason)

Oceanview Cemetery
Sunnydale, California
Early hours
5 March 1999

Alison stood a few feet in front of the dual headstones, reading the names and dates on them. It had taken her enough time to muster up the courage to look in on her Mom and Dad, but now that she was here, she wished that they could talk back to her.

"Hi Mom," she started, reading the name Jessica Mace-Jarman. Her eyes flicked to the right, to Andrew Jarman's grave. "Hi, Daddy."

She sighed and her shoulders sagged. "I figure you know what's happened since you saved me from Percy. You know where I've been and what I've been doing with my time. I had to do it, because I just don't want it to happen to anyone else." She looked up at the stars twinkling overhead and wondered, "I wish you could tell me what you think of it, though. Even though being a teenager, I'd probably decide not to listen and keep on fighting. But still, it'd be nice to know that you understand the choices I'm making are the right ones for me."

She decided the Hell with keeping clean and knelt down, coming to an equal height with the letters chiseled into the granite pieces that marked the Jarman resting place. "I met Grandma, Daddy. She and I get along great and I know she wishes I wouldn't do this. But she knows everything and she agrees that I have to do something about what I know." She looked away for a second before turning back. "She did everything she could to find something to help me, but I had to come back here to find out what I need to know. Maybe someone can help me out when it happens, teach me to deal with it. I'll figure it out when the time comes, or hopefully before something bad happens that leaves me really screwed up inside. And I don't mean in the head. Or maybe I do, I don't know."

She stood up and pulled out her sword, giving the grave markers a formal salute. It was the best she could do for now. "I know you'd be proud of me for doing this, fighting the bad guys. Even though I'm risking my life and knowing what's going to happen, I have to do it. I just can't let people go through what you and I went through." She put her sword away let a couple tears flow down her cheeks. "I love you guys. You know that. And while I'm not sure just how long I'm going to be here, I know that someday, I might see you again. But for now, I have this thing I have to do and try to deal with things in between. I hope you'll keep an eye on me and be proud of me. I want you to be."

She started to turn away but stopped halfway around. She glanced back at the graves and added something to her message. "I don't hate Percy anymore, not for what he did. I know it wasn't him. But I'm still angry about it. He took you away from me and…" She stopped and her eyes closed against their will. "I can separate the guy I had a crush on from the demon that took over his body, but I can't separate the fact that Percy would've been willing to do what he did even if he hadn't been turned. I know that much from what I've learned about soulless personalities." She shook her head. "And I still hate the idea of what he did to us. He killed you and almost killed me."

She gathered herself and her courage and gave the stones one final look. "That's why I'm doing this, no matter what happens to me later on. I can do something to keep some people from going through what I'm going through. And when the time comes, I'll be able to know that somebody didn't go through a living Hell because I was able to stop it. No matter what happens to me." She took a deep breath and started walking out. She whispered, "I'll be back in a while, maybe next week. I'm glad to know you're here for me to talk to."

She continued at a brisk pace, hoping to get out before she found any vamps desecrating this cemetery. The last thing she wanted to do now was get into a fight within spitting distance of her parents' graves. As she made progress to the exit, she thought about how joining this team of Harmony, Xander, and Willow's might actually help her out. She still had the fears about what could happen given her choice of "career," but knowing about Xander, Willow, and Angel gave her some thin tendrils of hope.

As she walked through the open gate, she thought about the people on the team she admitted she was eventually going to be a part of. She shivered but still decided to consider the options they presented to her.

She thought about it and even though she wasn't thrilled by the future as she saw it, at least she had the option of warning them ahead of time.