I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of Joss' brilliant ideas, but Logan is all mine.

AN: so...I have more of this written, but i don't know how well I like it, so please give feedback

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"Listen boy, it would be in your best interest if you left," snarled a rather buff vampire.

I smirked and continued to stand between the vampires and the girl I was rescuing. "I could say the same to you."

All three vampires start laughing, but I don't care. They are the ones who are in over their heads. "Now you're just stupid. Ain't no boy can best me."

"Prove it." I am told I'm a lot like my mother. I suppose it is situations like this that prove it. With a speed the demons weren't expecting, I threw one of my concealed wooden knives. It pierced the leader's heart and dust flew everywhere. His friends looked stupefied as I withdrew my second knife. I got into a fighting stance and gave them a wink. They ran.

"Cowards," I muttered as I retrieved my knife, blowing off the dust.

The blonde I rescued was coming out of her shock, "Did that really just happen?"

"Yes. And now I am going to go home, I suggest you do the same," without another word I walked past her.

I know what you are thinking, I could have been nicer to the traumatized girl, but she was being stupid, walking around at night by herself. I don't do the hero thing to meet people. I do the hero thing because I feel like I owe it to my mother. She's by far the best person I have ever known. She did the right things for no other reason than they were the right things to do. Now a lot of people are like that, I hope I can be, but I've never really been tested.

I see my home ahead, Slayer Headquarters. Growing up in a building dedicated to training girls how to fight can be interesting. Especially when it is your mom running the place and able to kick everyone's ass. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. In seventeen years I have seen far more than the large majority of people see. My mother ran an organization dedicated to saving the world, and she did introduce me to that world. She didn't travel much, she didn't have to, but when she did she would take me, so I got to see the world that she held so dear. I have to say that I am one of the most cultured teenagers you will ever meet. Not only do I know about many different countries and their customs, I know about the different customs of different demon races.

I don't have a father. As far as I know there is no plausible way that I could have been conceived. Mother wasn't sexually active for eight months before she discovered she was two months pregnant. But, we live in a world of magic, not miracles, so she accepted that there were supernatural powers at work. But she didn't raise me by herself. I have a large family; only Dawn is related by blood. She takes being an aunt very seriously, and does everything she can to spoil me. Xander has always been like a big brother to me, the one who talked to me about guy stuff. The other dominant male figure in my life has been Giles. Since he was like a father to my mother it only makes sense that he would be a grandfather to me. Willow is a big part of my life, but she wasn't always. When I was little she was often traveling the world, but over the past four years she has been spending the vast majority of her time here in Rome. And in those four years we have grown close. She is the most parent-like of my extended family. However, out of all of the people to help raise me, with the exception of my mother, Faith is my favorite. She is always honest with me when I have a question. She also was the one person who always thought the concept of babying me was stupid.

But it goes beyond that with Faith. Part of my love for her is how my mom acted when she was around. People told me the way they used to treat each other, but I never witnessed any hostility. Rather, when Faith was around mom was more relaxed, more fun. Mom said that it was because Faith is the only other person in the entire world, for the rest of time, to understand what it means to be called. It is also Faith who convinced my mother that I should be taught how to fight, that I needed to be trained. And she is the one person I know I can confide in no matter what. But she lives in Cleveland now, and although I call her from time to time when I need to talk, it is becoming less and less frequent.

Four years ago a curse claimed the life of my mother. Willow was in China, and by the time she got here, the curse couldn't be removed. But Willow tried, for two months she kept mom alive trying to find a cure. Then one-day mom called me in to tell me that it was her time. I was thirteen and I haven't cried since that day. I think it is because I used up all of my tears. From that moment on Willow hardly ever left, I know it is out of guilt. Faith took over as the leader, but when a crisis in Cleveland arose she left. I think staying here was too hard for her. She left Rona in charge. Kennedy was pretty pissed about that, but Faith told her it was because she wanted her to keep traveling and helping where it is needed the most. Faith still gets the final word in all major decisions, but Rona runs the Academy, as it has come to be known.

"Hey squirt!" calls Xander as I enter the courtyard.

"How many times have I told you that you don't need to wait up for me?" I demand, rolling my eyes.

Xander just smiles at me, "What makes you think that's what I am doing, Logan? Maybe I've got a date."

I snort, "A date?"

"It could happen," he defended.

"Andrew gets more action than you do."

"That's a low blow," he whines. He looks at his watch, "It's almost midnight."

I groan, "Mom stayed out way later than this when she was in school, and so did you sometimes."

I know his answer before he even speaks, "But there weren't nearly 1,000 Slayers when your mom was in high school. And we lived on a Hellmouth. And, she still got in trouble by her mother."

"But you aren't my mother, father, or any other blood relative!" I shout. Did I mention how easily I get upset? I hate it when people treat me like something that needs to be protected. I'm nearly as strong as a Slayer, and I can beat a decent percentage of them in a fight. "I am seventeen years old, why are you still treating me like a child?"

Xander walks over to me, "Perhaps when you start showing me some respect. Willow, Dawn and I have been taking care of you for the last four years, yet you refuse to acknowledge we make the rules."

I stood toe to toe with him, "I'll start showing you respect when you find out who killed my mother."

He gets this pained expression on his face, but he doesn't budge. I don't either. I don't back down, especially on this issue. Willow was never able to trace the spell back to its caster; only able to come to the conclusion the person was in the United States when it happened. Shortly after mother gave in and let death claim her for a third time, a sharp rise in demonic activity around the world occurred. So naturally, we had to spend all of the resources that are at our command on other issues. It pisses me off. I am positive that the two are connected, but everyone tells me that I am just trying to find an excuse to hunt down the perpetrator. That isn't even close to being true. What better excuse do I need than they killed my mother? She deserved to die fighting, doing the only thing she was ever able to do, but instead she died from a curse cast by a guy thousands of miles away.

"I am going to go to bed," I tell him and push past.

I enter the ancient building and try to be as quiet as possible; I really don't wan to run into any more people. But, fate decides that I shouldn't be so lucky. I am fifteen feet away from the door to my room when Willow comes around the corner.

"Logan, there you are. We were wondering if you had run away."

I look at the redhead and force a smile, "I was just out patrolling."

"You have been doing that a lot lately. You know, that is what we have Slayers for."

She is smiling at me, and I know that she knows I am in a bad mood and exactly why. "I like patrolling."

"Do you want to talk?" she looks at me pleadingly.

"I don't feel like fighting with you too, so I think that I am just going to go to bed." She nods her head and watches me as I enter my room.

I like my room. It fits my personality completely. It is filled with random weapons that I have collected over the years. My walls are painted a dark blue and are littered with posters from movies and bands. Two large windows face the west, the setting sun. I have a fairly nice entertainment system; I listen to a lot of rock and punk music. A giant bookshelf that is full of random works of literature as well as basic spell books (I am not very good at magic but I try anyway) sits in the corner. And above my bed is a shelf with an obsidian sword laying on it. The sword was my mother's, a gift from an African tribe that she saved. I was with her when it happened, and the tribe gave me a single knife so I didn't feel left out. I carry that with me at all times.

I turn on my radio and throw myself onto my bed, burying my head in my pillow. I want to apologize to Xander, but I won't until morning. I don't want to leave my room. I like being alone, being able to think without worrying about trying to interact with others. Right now my thoughts are on my mother, and the bastard who assassinated her. I want nothing more than to kill the villain, to avenge my mother's death. But I am stuck in Rome, and running away from a nearly all-powerful witch is not an easy thing to accomplish. I wouldn't get within five hundred feet of the airport before she discovered what I was attempting, and who knows what she would do once that happened. Probably strike me down with a bolt of lightening or something.

If only I could find some way to go to America. That is the only lead that we have, so the only place to start. I could go around to all of the different contacts that mom had there, and see if I could dig anything up. It would be better than not trying anything, even if I couldn't find anything. At least I would know that I was putting forth an effort to catch the culprit. But there is no way in Hell that Willow would let me leave Rome to track down a powerful spell caster. Unless…

I spring from my bed and grab my cell phone. I dial the number that I know by heart and wait breathlessly. After two long rings the other end picks up.

"What do you want Summers?"

"I want to come and stay with you for the summer," I say a little too desperately.

"Why? Don't get me wrong kid, I love you to death and it would be cool if you came to Cleveland for the summer, but where did this come from?"

"Faith, I need to get away for a little while. I can't stay here much longer; I think that I am going insane. You can understand that, can't you?" I pray that she will by my half-truth.

"I do understand, but I can tell that you aren't sharing everything." 'Shit' "But I am guessing that if you could openly discuss why you are wanting to come here so bad you wouldn't be needing to come here. So listen, I will call Willow in a few hours and tell her that I want you to come here for a couple of months, since I haven't seen you in two years. She will be less suspicious if I am the one to bring it up."

"Thank you Faith, you're the best," I smile, hope filling me up.

"Damn strait. Now, get off the phone before someone hears you. I will call you soon."

"Bye Faith."

"And Logan,"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me that when you come here, you will tell me whatever it is you are planning on doing. I may not be the prime example of a person who did the smart thing, but you need to tell someone what is going on in your head, otherwise you will be completely isolated, and trust me, it sucks."

"I promise."

"Good, now get some sleep, it has to be at least midnight there."

"Thanks."

"Later."

I lay down in my bed and smile, maybe things will work out after all.