Disclaimer: I hold no claim toward the Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Highlander universes whatsoever. I simply love their characters and couldn't get this story out of my head.
Author's Note: This is a revamped version of my old story, Through the Ages. The prologue hasn't changed much, but coming chapters will be vastly different than the original.
The setting is at the very end of Highlander's season one and at the beginning of season two of Buffy right after Some Assembly Required. I know the years don't exactly match up, but let's pretend Highlander was set in the mid 90s for the purposes of this fic.
It was the first quiet evening since school began three weeks ago. Giles didn't know what it was about the first weeks of school that brought vampires out in droves; it was just another reason he hated the back-to-school season as much as Buffy and the others. The children had gone to The Bronze to spend the evening gyrating to the noise they called music, and he was enjoying an evening out with the Miss Calendar.
He'd taken her to the only decent restaurant in the wretched little town, and they were making their way back to his apartment. Giles caught sight of a young woman being followed across the street, and he was hit with the overwhelming sense their quiet evening was at an end. She seemed no more aware of her stalker than Jenny was of his sudden tension as she sipped the excessively sweetened and overpriced coffee she'd insisted on getting. However, Jenny was apparently more aware than she seemed. She stiffened and motioned toward the young woman when her stalker pounced.
Giles heard her call his name as he sprinted toward the two shadows fading into the dark recesses of an alley, and Jenny's footfalls sounded quietly behind him moments later as she raced to keep pace. Unfortunately, they arrived as woman's body fell. The vampire looked down at her body for a moment before raising his distorted visage to leer mockingly at his new victims, apparently reveling in a "high" obtained through his feeding.
Giles moved in front of Jenny as he retrieved a stake and cross from the inside pocket of his jacket and tossed Jenny the cross. The fledgling moved to pounce, but pulled up short, clutching his sides and stumbling back against a dumpster. Giles gaped, amazed and paralyzed, watching as the vampire screamed in pain before exploding into dust.
"What just happened?" Jenny asked. Her mocha, forgotten and dropped, rolled across the pavement.
"I have my suspicions, but I'm not sure," Giles answered. He jumped involuntarily and moved closer to Jenny, effectually blocking her body with his own, as the dead young woman sprang back to life with a gasping start.
She slowly got to her feet and dusted herself off without seeming to notice her witnesses. A grimace marred her face, and she heaved a disappointed sigh when she saw the bloodstains on her collar. Giles watched as she shook shoulder length, black curls in a familiar sort of way and could have swore he heard her mumble something about, "Bloody messy fledglings."
By then, Jenny had recovered enough from the shock of witnessing something even stranger than the usual goings on of Sunnydale enough to sputter a bit, and the sound caught the other woman's attention. She turned toward her would be saviors, looking nervous. Her posture relaxed and a slow smile graced her lips when she turned brilliant green eyes on Giles.
"Hello Rupert," she said. "It's been a long time."
"Elizabeth?"