Buffy and Pike drove on their motorcycle for what seemed like forever. While at first the cruise was romantic, it quickly became a little impractical. Buffy constantly feared that her outfit would soon be destroyed by the bike, and Pike's oh so careful driving. And even if Buffy wanted to complain, Pike wouldn't be able to hear her over the roar.

Pike was having a more enjoyable time than Buffy was. He was, for once in his life, satisfied with how events in his life turned out.

He had his girl.

He had his bike.

And he saved his high school from a vicious gang of vampires, and lived!

Everything was going right for Pike it seemed. That is, until the amount of gas in his bike began shrinking quicker and quicker as he sped along.

Buffy wasn't too thrilled when they had to pull over.

"You didn't think to fill it beforehand?" Buffy scolded him as he stood, mouth agape, staring at his lifeless bike.

"I didn't think we'd be speeding off in the night together after a full-fledged vampire attack!"

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't put gas in your stupid bike!"

"Hey," Pike glared at her, "This bike has gotten me through a lot-"

"I can't believe this, Pike!" she turned and began stomping in the opposite direction of Pike and his precious motorcycle.

"It has supported me through difficult times!"

"It's not supporting you now!"

"It picked me up when I was down!"

"Why don't you go marry it-oh wait, you can't. You forgot to fill it with gas!"

Pike wore a look on his face of pure betrayal. How could she say such horrible things about his bike? Something that meant so much to Pike! He was about ready to flag a car down and speed away, leaving Buffy to her own means of survival. She was the slayer, she didn't need him to get home. She really didn't need him for anything. He wasn't even sure if they were together romantically. Were they going out, or had the whole "riding off into the night" thing just been for show?

Pike sighed, knowing that he had screwed up, and the last thing he needed was his possible-slayer-girlfriend to be mad at him. He began a light jog over to her, about to call out to her when there was a sudden sound.

A motorcycle?

Could it be that it had magically come back to life?

They both turned around, one confused and the other believing his bike had a life of its own.

Instead, they both saw a strange man, sitting on his own motorcycle, glaring at the both of them.

There was silence between the three people for a few minutes, before the stranger got off of his bike and began to approach the two.

"You're the slayer," he growled, pointing in Buffy's direction.

"Who wants to know?" Buffy went on the defensive immediately, knowing no good could come from such a comment.

The stranger intensified his glare, "You killed Lothos."

"Yeah, I did. Are you looking for the same outcome for yourself?"

"I doubt you'll have as much like," he slid his jacket off his shoulders and tossed it to the side, shoving Pike out of the way as he continued on his path to Buffy, "I was a friend of Lothos. Anyone who dares to hurt a friend of mine is challenging me."

"Look, guy," Buffy was not prepared for another fight, mostly because she was stilled angry at Pike and also because she had dropped her stake while on Pike's motorcycle, "Why don't you take your stupid bike, your ugly jacket, and your shitty attitude, and go on your way? I'm not in the mood."

Pike nearly pissed himself after he heard her comment. Was she insane? This did not look like some random vampire. This guy was the real deal: leather jacket, huge muscles, scary as hell looking. He was essentially every vampire stereotype mixed into one terrifying creature, who happened to be standing in front of them.

The man smiled and stopped walking, snarling as he spoke, "I'm in the mood for slayer blood."

Buffy held her front, but immediately began processing how she and Pike could get out of the situation. Damn, sometimes she wished she knew when to shut up!

Suddenly, the vampire howled in pain as a tree branch went straight through his stomach. Pike had broken one off of the nearby trees on the side of the road and snuck up behind the vampire as he and Buffy had a standoff.

Of course, being Pike, his luck was always on his side and he completely missed the vampire. Pike immediately panicked when the vampire turned around, eyes blood red and filled with anger.

Buffy attempted to jump on his back, but the vampire was too quick for her and knocked her a few feet away without even looking. She tumbled and cried out in pain when she landed on her leg at a strange angle, hearing a few bones crack.

The moment she hit the ground, Pike began running toward her, forgetting about the vampire.

"Buffy! Hang on!"

Buffy looked up in horror as Pike ran over to her, watching a dark shadow quickly catch up to Pike.

"Pike, no!"

Pike screamed and immediately went down. The vampire stood over him, looking down happily at the stake sticking out of Pike's back. Buffy screamed in horror and looked up at the vampire, who was clutching his stomach in pain, but still war a chilling smile.

"I guess we can consider ourselves even, slayer," he walked back to his bike and groaned as he got on. He sped away without another word. Buffy crawled over to Pike, trying to hold back her cries of pain. She flipped him over so he was on his back as gently as she could. He looked up at her, blood pouring from his mouth, his eyes glazed over.

Buffy burst into hysterics, "Pike! Pike, oh God! You'll be okay. I-I know you will be!"

Pike coughed a little, and his hand shakily came up and touched her cheek, "I-I don't think so, babe."

Buffy shook her head excitedly, "No, no you will be! You just-I can't lose you, Pike. I-I already lost Merrick! I can't make it without you!"

Pike smiled, but he was clearly in pain, "You can, Buff. You'll be okay. I always needed you, but you-you don't need anyone to tell you how fucking kick ass you are."

Buffy sniffed, holding Pike's hand, "Pike, seriously, don't-don't say stuff like that, please. I don't want to lose you, okay? So just, don't die, please don't!"

Pike took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "I think I was in love with you," he chuckled softly at Buffy's shocked expression.

Buffy's eyes filled with fresh tears, "Oh, Pike."

"And like, knowing you, and having spent this last-last month with you makes it a little less shitty to go," Pike's smile softened into a peaceful expression, as his eyes closed soon after.

Buffy stared down at Pike, her tears falling on his face as her cries continued.

She looked around her, exasperated and angry. It shouldn't have been Pike. Pike was a good guy.

Buffy should have protected him. What kind of slayer was she? Wasn't she supposed to protect innocent people? But no, she let him die. She didn't deserve the slayer title. She didn't deserve the hero spotlight.

She promised herself she would start over. She would forget about the whole vampire slayer life. She would forget about Pike, Merrick, all her old friends, her old life.

As she looked across the road, she saw a sign that read Welcome to Sunnydale. That's where she would go. She would convince her mother to go with her to Sunnydale. They could start over there together. Buffy would never remember this pain. She promised herself that.

But Buffy always remembered that pain.

And as she stood, looking at the sand filled hole that was once Sunnydale, California, she remembered the pain. She remembered Merrick. She remembered Oliver Pike. And the moment she felt the pain come back, but it didn't hurt as much. It felt like it all had to happen. It felt like they hadn't left her, like they were still there.

The only thing that hurt was not telling Pike she loved him too the night he died.