Authors Note: A story written by me (Mollzy) and my sister.

Summary: AU Post Chosen Oz settles down in San Fransisco to try and figure out what he's supposed to be doing. He runs into a not-so-familiar face in a similar position.

The fresh aroma of newly ground coffee filled the small café in San Francisco, California. Being reminded all to much of his college days in Sunnydale, Oz set down his mug and turned towards the TV newscast.

"2005. Today marks the 2 year anniversary of the mysterious collapse of Sunnydale, California. Even after all this time people are still searching for lost relatives and loved ones, now presumed dead."

Oz turned away with a smirk. "Good ol' Sunnydale," he mumbled to himself, "Always knew it'd go out with a bang."

"Tell me about it. Ever been?" A tall black haired girl in her mid-twenties asked conversationally. She slid into the chair beside him without asking.

"Lived there, I'm Oz." he took a sip of his coffee and regarded her silently.

"Kennedy," she replied, "I was lucky enough to see it through to the end. Pretty much moved there days before it happened. Crazy stuff, huh?"

"You could say that."

"You wouldn't believe the… myths I've heard about that town. Vampires, demons, even the occasional apocalypse." Kennedy smiled at him mischievously, laughing at her own joke.

"Explains a lot," Oz replied casually. Kennedy stared him down suspiciously.

"You don't believe it do you? I mean vampires, monsters, maybe an occasional slayer." Oz, slightly shocked, raised his eyebrows.

"Slayer, huh? Interesting choice of words."

"How interesting?" she retorted, crossing her arms.

"Know any?" he questioned.

"So you do think it's real." Kennedy responded.

"I only know what I've seen," he laughed, "I knew this great girl, Buffy, she was big on the myths."

"You know Buffy!?" Kennedy said, a little too loud. She looked around quickly to see if she'd been heard.

"I could ask the same. You're looking at a retired Scooby."

"Scooby? She asked, "Like the dog?" He laughed at her confused expression.

"Just something Xander came up with. The highschool gang, him, me, Buffy, Giles, Cordy, and Will." He smiled at the memory.

"Willow? You knew her? She's the reason I left. We just broke up. My fault really, but that's all in the past."

"Small world. I dated her too! I mean before she was gay." They looked at each other a moment before laughing.

"So watcha doing here in San Fran?" Kennedy asked curiously.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. For now it's just me and my guitar. Speaking of which, I'm up now." He stood and made his way towards the stage as the sun began to set.

"Wait a sec," Kennedy said, "call me sometime. It's nice to have a friend in town." She scrawled a number on a napkin, handing it to him. He just smiled and climbed up onto the stage. He had a passion for music. Oz thought he had moved on from his 3-chord band days. He actually felt he sounded good, not great, but good enough.

The doors swung open, sending the little bell into a frenzy. An immediate chill ran over both Oz and Kennedy as the dark man sat down. He looked frustrated and upset and well, completely dead. Vampire. Oz had seen (and smelled) enough of them to know. Even so, when he jumped off stage after his song, Kennedy felt the need to inform him of this. Before they could approach him he stormed away, seeming fidgety, slamming the glass doors behind him. Kennedy ran after him without a word, Oz right behind her.

"Do you know what your doing?" Oz questioned.

"Know what I'm doing?" Kennedy scoffed, "I was born to do this. You may be a retired Scooby, but I'm a slayer." Oz stopped in his tracks.

"Wait… but for a slayer to be called, one has to die."

"Not anymore. You're livin' old school man. This isn't the 90s. There are thousands of us now." With a shrug, he continued following her. Before long they reached the cemetery and cautiously entered. They could see the vampire pacing by a crumbling gravestone.

"I know what you are," Kennedy said fiercely, pulling a stake out of her sleeve.

"What's that?" he scoffed, near tears, "A failure, loser? Letdown works too. "

"I was thinking vampire, but I'm pretty sure your both." Kennedy stated snidely.

"What happened to you, man?" Oz asked at the same time.

"As if I could even call myself a vampire," the vampire blubbered. "My un-life sucks. Literally."

Kennedy looked at the vampire, dumbfounded.

"Can you stop the tears? It's making the staking thing a lot more… embarrassing."

"It can't be that bad." Oz consoled the vampire.

"What?! Are you…. Comforting him? Taking sides with the demon. He's a monster!" Kennedy asked in outrage.

"Monster is a kind of offensive term." He responded.

"What would you prefer, soulless demon, evil thing?"

"Undead American?" he threw in.

"Oh please. Like I need to be politically correct with the demon. I don't care if I 'offend' the monster. It's just that, a monster. We stake them, they die, the end."

"Well now I'm offended." Oz said almost jokingly. She stared in confusion, the vampire watching with renewed interest.

"Werewolf." He said.

"That's different you have a soul, you can be good. Go make nice-nice with all the other demons, I'm staking him." Kennedy said, advancing towards the depressed vampire.

"Just give me one minute." Oz requested. She sighed in agreement, rolling her eyes and dropping the stake. She walked away with a scowl on her face.

"You don't have to leave." Oz said, mildly surprised at her narrow-mindedness. She really didn't seem like Willow's type.

Kennedy looked back, "It's late, I'm tired, you can handle the staking." She walked away quietly.

"I call you tomorrow!" Oz yelled quickly, afraid of losing his only friend in town. Kennedy didn't respond.

"Who's she? Girlfriend?" the vampire sniffled, "I'm never gonna have a girlfriend. Everyone hates me!" At this he began to cry again. Oz looked around uncomfortably before awkwardly patting him on the back.

"She's not much into… men. We have a friend in common." The vampire looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

"I used to have friends… then I killed them! I feel so guilty."

"Guilty?" Oz asked, confused and a little alarmed. He sat down on the bench.

"Yeah, I know right! I guess this is my punishment. I didn't really want to but my sire insisted. I'm such a loser!"

"I thought vampires didn't feel remorse." Oz said blankly.

"See! I told you I'm a failure. I can't even make a decent vampire. The girls all think I've gone soft. The guys too for that matter!"

"This is a good thing. It doesn't mean you're a freak, just… special."

"Special is just a slang word for freak! I knew you though I was weird!" He burst into tears again. Oz began to wonder if he would ever stop crying.

"No, no, no." Oz said, "I knew a vampire once, who never wanted to hurt a soul. In fact, he tried to save the world. More than once."

"Really?" the vampire mumbled, " You're not just saying that?"

"Would I lie to you? You know demons just a word. It doesn't define who we are. If you work for it, you can help people, almost fit into that world."

"W-Would you help me?" he said, "You're a werewolf right? It's the full moon and you look normal. You seem to have this monster thing under control."

"I'm not going to lie, it's hard. But you can do it." Oz encouraged him.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Positive." Suddenly Oz understood. People weren't the only ones who needed saving.

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