A/N: The idea for this story occurred to me and I just couldn't shake it. So now, I'm inflicting it on you. I think this is fairly close to canon. I have NOT read season 8 yet, so canon as far as seasons 1-7 for BtVS and seasons 1-5 of Angel. If I have erred egregiously and made a horrible faux pas with canon through season 7, please let me know. If I am creating some sort of faux pas in regard to season 8…well…I'm sorry. I'm sort of pretending like that doesn't exist right now. Anyhow, I always thought it was interesting that they touched on the creation of the slayers and the story of the First Slayer, but they never really explored what that would mean in regards to the current slayer. According to Joss, the girl's got some demon in her. What does that mean? How will that affect her? What happens when she's lived longer than any other slayer on record?

Birthdays had gotten slightly better over the years, but thirty was such an unpleasant number to consider. Buffy eyed herself in the mirror and frowned. She didn't really look any older. Her face was smooth and unlined. She was still able to take any and all challengers. That was the thing about young slayers in training. They all thought they were big and bad ass and figured that it should be easy to take someone as old as the slayer. Faith told her that that's what they called her and she figured it was probably true. She and Faith were the only two who had been called the old way, and she was the first. All of the slayers in training seemed to be friendly with Faith, but they always held back from Buffy.

No matter how hard the trainees tried there was something a little extra that she had that gave her that little edge. She'd never really talked to anyone about it. Firstly, as a commander she did not want her soldiers to think that they were lacking in any way. Secondly, she did not want the council any more involved in her life than it needed to be. Thirdly, she didn't want anyone to treat her any differently. There was a knock at the door and Buffy went to answer it.

"Giles?" Buffy was surprised, but cautiously pleased. She hadn't seen Giles in months and she had missed him.

"Erm, yes. Buffy, I need to speak with you about an urgent matter," Giles nervously adjusted his glasses.

"Would that be the urgent matter of my birthday?" Buffy asked tartly. She highly doubted it. Couldn't she ever catch a break? How many apocalypses could a girl save the world from, anyway?

"Erm, yes actually. I have come to speak to you about your birthday." Giles looked very uncomfortable. Buffy frowned slightly, but she moved away from the door to allow Giles entrance. She shut the door behind him and turned to face him.

"What's going on Giles? You have guilty face."

"Are we alone?" Giles glanced around the house and then looked at Buffy inquiringly.

"Yeah. It's just me. Dawn got her own place." Buffy didn't currently have a boyfriend. They were difficult to manage at the best of times, and most of them could not deal with slayer strength and slayer stamina. In fact, Buffy had long ago come to the conclusion that she just couldn't date 'normal' people. They were too vulnerable and too fragile. In addition, they usually couldn't handle the fact that she could take very good care of herself, thank you very much. Her abnormal boyfriends had all been glad that she could cover her own ass and help watch their backs. No use complaining about that now she told herself sternly.

"Buffy, there's something about you and your aging."

My aging?" Buffy's voice rose angrily. "What about my aging? I don't have any wrinkles or crow's feet or anything! What a horrible thing to come tell someone on their thirtieth birthday!"

"No, Buffy, you don't understand. You aren't aging. That's the problem. I've tried and tried to figure it out. I've studied every text about the early slayers I could find. I think it has to do with the fact that the first slayer was infused with demon essence, or to be more exact the heart, the soul and the spirit of a demon."

"Wait…are you saying I'm not getting old and that it's because I've got demon inside of me?" Buffy's voice rose sharply.

"Erm, Buffy, you knew about that. Remember your discovery of the origin of the Slayers?"

"Ugh, yes. Those guys were major creeps." Buffy sighed and flopped down on her couch. Why did Giles always have to be right? She had known about the origin of the first slayer. It had all just been so awful and creepy that she had pushed into a corner of her mind. Buffy was truly gifted when it came to compartmentalizing, and it had come in very handy upon occasion. So she had demon inside of her?

"Giles, does that mean I'm part demon?" Buffy's voice was quiet and only someone who knew her as well as Giles did could discern the trace of fear.

"Erm, I'm afraid so. We can't be sure how great a part, but it has obvious beneficial side effects for the slayers."

"Wait, does this mean all of the girls will have this problem when they get older?"

"I'm not sure. You are the oldest slayer on record. Most of them die before their twenty-first birthday. It may be that the girls exhibit similar side effects as they approach their later years." Giles was still nervous, still twitchy. Buffy frowned. There was something he hadn't told her yet. He still looked incredibly guilty.

"But you don't think so. You think I'm special?" Giles gave her a sad, sweet smile. He had always thought that Buffy was special. He had made tremendous sacrifices for her, sacrifices he would never tell her about because she did not need to carry that burden with all of the others.

"I do rather think you're special. It may be because you are the only living slayer who was chosen in the old manner. I'm not counting Faith because you were alive when she was called. Whatever it is, it's stronger in you. That I know without a doubt."

"So what?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"So…I don't age. So what? Why are you in major crisis mode?"

Giles sighed heavily. He paced for a moment, then took out his glasses and cleaned them.

"I am the only one who's really figured this out. I worry about what might happen when the Watcher's Council finds out. I have nightmares about that actually," Giles confessed this last so quietly that anyone else might not have heard him.

Buffy stared at him for a few minutes. She really looked at Giles. He had aged greatly in the fourteen years that she had known him. She realized that Giles was fragile, human. She'd never considered him that way. He'd always been a mentor, a father figure. Her watcher. He had guided her, helped to shape her into the woman she'd become. Giles had offered support, comfort, and understanding when she had needed it the most. Now, Buffy realized that he could die. She had had to consider it in the past, but Giles was an amazing individual and he had overcome all obstacles in his path. No…Giles was here now because he wanted her to be safe if he died. She knew it deep within her, and with that knowledge came an understanding that Giles loved her as much as she had always loved him. He was trying to protect her, to save her.

"I see." Buffy said slowly.

"Do you? In five years, in ten, what happens when the council really looks at you and you still haven't changed? You are in great danger, Buffy."

"What do you want me to do?" Buffy asked simply. Giles realized that she believed him completely and that she was placing her trust in him.

"You need to leave. Well, to be honest, you must vanish without a trace. I have money and some suggestions for you in here. I would wait a month or two after I leave. I don't want anyone to connect my visit to your disappearance. Buffy, no one can know about this. Not Willow, not Xander, not Dawn."

Buffy stared at the wall. His words reverberated in her head for several moments. No one could know? She knew that made sense. She knew that was the only way it could work. Tears started to roll down her cheeks. She had to leave everyone.

"Will you look after her?" They both knew who she meant.

"Dawn is a big girl, now, Buffy. She will be fine." Buffy glared at him. "Fine! Yes, I will look after her. I promise."

"Okay then. After I read your file, I'm supposed to destroy it, right? I feel like a damn spy." She muttered in irritation. Giles hid a smile. He knew that she had acquiesced and he felt better for the first time in months. His slayer would be safe.

Buffy found that it was difficult to pack without looking like you were packing. She was trying to figure out what to take with her when she left. What weapons should she take? What mementos should she take with her of this life? Hell, half of her mementos were weapons. She was definitely taking Mr. Pointy with her. There wasn't a single time she had used it without thinking of Kendra. There were the special knives that were a gift from Xander. She sighed and knelt in front of her "chest of death" as Dawn liked to call it. There were too many memories. How could she leave? How could she not? She had vacillated back and forth for two months. She knew Giles was biting his nails to the quick. She also knew that there was no choice.

When she heard the rapid knocking, she almost thought it might be Giles telling her to shake a tail feather. It was therefore with some reluctance that Buffy went to answer the door. She was shocked to find Spike standing on her doorstep. In the sunlight. She just stared at him for several moments, blinking.

"Hey, Buff, how's it going?" He pushed passed her and walked into her house. She turned and stared at him in shock.

"Spike?"

"Well, yeah, who did you think it was?"

"What the hell is going on?"

"I Shansu'ed don't you know. I always knew it would be me, right?"

"You did what?" Buffy wondered if she were having some sort of insane dream.

"The prophecy of Shansu? The vampire with a soul shall become human? Does any of this sound familiar?"

"The vampire with a soul does what?" Spike had a soul, he'd told her that. She had vaguely heard of the prophecy of Shansu second-hand through Giles. At the time, she hadn't really been paying attention because she'd been up to her armpits in Nyarl demons.

"Shall become human. And here I am, love. Human," Spike smiled at her and flashed his pearly whites. Buffy felt slightly faint. She stared at him and blinked several times.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but why are you here?" A flash of hurt crossed Spike's face and Buffy felt her conscience prick her.

"Well, the Shansu prophecy proves that I'm a good man, right? Angel and me always argued about who would Shansu, cause we knew that whichever of us became human would have a real shot with you. And it's me. I'm human. So I've come to woo you." Spike spoke quickly but earnestly. Buffy blinked again. This could not be happening.

"You've come to woo me? You've come here to pitch woo?" Buffy said the words out loud and they still didn't mean anything. What kind of sick, twisted joke was the universe playing on her?

"Well, yeah, love." Spike was starting to come down from the excitement of the Shansu experience. Buffy was definitely not as excited as he and Angel had sort of thought she would be. In fact, she was frowning at him and she looked sort of unhappy about something.

"Spike…William…why would you, or Angel for that matter, think that being human would prove your goodness? God knows I've met plenty of horrible people and loads of them were human."

"But," Spike began again, his face eager, but Buffy interrupted him.

"Also, why would I come running just because either one of you is human? Don't you realize how vulnerable humans are around me? I've had human boyfriends Spike, it's never worked out. They couldn't handle me and they couldn't handle my duties as slayer. The demons always try to take out the weakest points first. I don't want that to be you. I would feel incredibly guilty if anything ever happened to you." Buffy wrung her hands. She wanted him to understand, to believe everything she was saying. Spike's face twisted bitterly.

"You'd feel guilty? If I died, you'd feel guilty? That's great, ducks, but that wasn't quite what I had in mind. I love you, Buffy Summers. Heart, soul, and guts. With everything inside me, I love you." Spike was laying his soul bare before the woman he loved and he knew it wasn't enough. His mouth tasted of ashes. Maybe it was the bitterness of gall. Whatever it was, it was not the joy of success.

"Spike…William…I'm incredibly honored that you feel that way about me, but I don't feel that way about you. I respect you; I believe that you are a good man. You proved it to me many years ago when you were not even close to human. I would tell you I consider you a friend, but I think I know what you would say to that. I don't know where that leaves us, but that's all I can offer." Buffy was new and improved firm and no-nonsense Buffy. She turned Spike to the door and marched him out of it. Shit shit shit shit shit, she thought to herself. She knew Spike. She knew him very, very well. He was not going to give up without a fight. He would be back soon for round two after a brief sojourn in whatever local bar to drown his sorrows.

That was fine because when Spike returned, she would be gone. She ran upstairs and grabbed her bags from the closet. She had already burned the file of information from Giles. She had the money stashed on her person. She'd carefully and subtly cleaned out her accounts. She paid all her bills and just cashed all her checks for the last two months. She'd also had a small inheritance from when her father passed away. Giles had insisted that she place that in a special off-shore, numbered account for emergency purposes. She wondered if he had seen something like this coming. She grabbed Mr. Pointy and her stuffed pig and crammed them into her bag. She frowned at the house. Okay, house, it's time for me to leave. She felt weird saying good bye to a house, but there was no one else she could say good bye to.

No one noticed the petite blond get on the bus and ride out of town. How freaking familiar is this, she thought as she stared out the window. Here's hoping I don't wind up in Hell again. Buffy felt a stab of fear and mercilessly stomped on it. She was running away again, but this time it was because Giles told her to. He wouldn't be searching for her this time, worrying about whether or not she was alive or dead. Her friends…well, hopefully they would rather have her on the run than used as a lab rat. She wasn't really for sure about that, but she at least would rather not be a lab rat.

Most people who met Buffy thought she was a ditzy blonde. Even after she kicked ass and took names in front of them. Maybe it was because she was petite and pretty. Maybe it was because she actually enjoyed shopping and trips to the coffee shop. Regardless, Buffy was actually a pretty smart cookie. One of the first things Buffy did was hunt up a witch who could help her with a spell so that Willow would not be able to use a spell to find her. It was sort of a blocking spell. One that would make Willow's "eyes" slid over her like she wasn't there. She knew that Giles would probably try to subtly tell Willow not to look, but she also knew that Willow wouldn't be able to help looking for her best friend.

It was actually a lot easier to hide than she thought it might be. With so many slayers out there, she didn't stand out anymore. She also didn't have to worry about going out on patrol because she knew they would take care of it. Buffy deliberately settled in a city that had several slayers, but none of them trained by her. They had all been trained by Watchers sent out into the field to look for triggered potentials. They were okay slayers, a little sloppy, but she bit her lips so that she wouldn't complain.

Instead, Buffy became studious to an impressive degree. Giles would have been so proud. She read all the books she could get her hands on. She didn't have access to the Watcher's Council records anymore, but there was an impressive amount written about past Slayers by the demon community. They had a vested interest after all. Buffy had little trouble borrowing books once she proved herself to the local demon community. And by proving herself, she kicked ass and took names.

The thing many people did not understand was that there were good demons and bad demons. The good ones were considered as much prey as humans were by the bad demons. Beat up a lot of bad demons, or kill them flat out, and the good demons will help you any way they can. Buffy sort of built a name for herself as a "discriminating demon hunter". That meant she was smart enough, and decent enough, to leave the harmless demons alone. The good demons in her city considered her their personal champion and began to come to her with their problems. This in and of itself was not exactly desirable to her, but the demon community proved itself to be extremely protective of its personal champion. They denied any knowledge of her existence to the slayers. Eventually, the slayers stopped asking about her and Buffy became a sort of urban legend in the city. This was exactly what she did want, so she tried to take care of "her" demons to the best of her ability.

Buffy had very little interaction with the slayers in her new city because their hours were almost opposite one another. The slayers patrolled at night because their main prey were vampires. Buffy worked mostly during the day because many demons were active in the day time. However, Buffy still worked many nights because some of her clients were nocturnal. She was learning as much as she could about her condition whenever the time presented itself.

A curious thing occurred to Buffy after several years of hiding. The slayers in her city were all different than the ones that had been there originally. Giles was right. They had all died before they turned twenty-one, usually because of some stupid mistake. Some, like Kendra, were ambushed. Some made a little past that, but not many. Buffy started to realize how special Robin had been. How many slayers ever lived long enough to have children? It might be easier than she had thought to stay hidden from the slayers and their Watchers. Especially if they kept dying like this. The new slayers tried to find out about the mysterious demon hunter, but her demons knew which side their toast was buttered on and they denied everything again. Stupid young idiots, they were snotty and rude to the demons they questioned. Had Buffy ever been like that? She probably had been, she decided.

One of the reasons that the good demons liked Buffy so much was that she was polite and courteous to them. She usually knew what species they were and tried to accommodate any peculiar dietary requirements during meetings. She treated them like people, with respect and dignity. Demons don't forget a kindness. Even if you sort of wish that they would. Also Buffy never batted an eyelash despite the physical appearance of the demons that walked through her door. That alone was a novel experience for many demons in their dealings with "humans". Buffy snorted to herself. Not exactly human, was all she'd been able to determine so far. Her face remained perfectly unlined and unwrinkled. She was as flexible and as strong as ever. She still had her slayer strength and stamina.

Buffy found it difficult to date in the demon community. She wasn't attracted to most of the demons. Some were not bad on the eyes, but it was hard to date guys that practically hero worshipped her. She wanted an equal, a partner. Someone who had her back in a fight, but was willing to call her on bull shit. As a result, Buffy's sex life pretty much stayed the same. How pathetic is that? I can't even get laid as a damn demon hunter. It was probably for the best. She needed to stay focused on her work. Geez, she sounded more like Giles every day.