Starting Over

Episode 1

Last Season on Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

            Buffy defeated the First Evil for good, with the help of her friends, the potentials, and a mystical weapon. Spike died in the Hellmouth during the battle. The amulet that he was wearing closed the Hellmouth in Sunnydale and completely destroyed the entire town. The gang, minus Buffy, escaped the collapsing town on a school bus. Giles and Wood were acting very strange and refused to let Buffy catch up. Buffy escaped Sunnydale in a car.

Unknown Location:

            Buffy was now driving along through the desert. She had to find civilization soon. She was hungry and needed rest. She had the radio cranked and the windows down. As she sped along, all she could think about were her friends and of the person she lost.

            After driving for a day, she finally came upon a small town. It was like one of those old Western towns in the movies. She parked the car and got out. She walked around. The town seemed deserted.

            There was something very strange and disturbing about this place. She searched the whole town, but couldn't find anyone at all. She had finally reached the far edge of town and stopped to rest for a while.

            While she sat, the sun began to set. She could feel the evil radiating from this small, old Western town now. And she didn't like that feeling. She began to get fearful. She didn't want to face another evil. She was through being a slayer. She had already made the ultimate sacrifice.

            As the sun continued to set, she hurriedly returned to her car. She did not want to get stuck in this town after dark. It was now a race against time. She had to get out of there before she ran into anything.

            That's when a small band of vampires emerged from one the buildings. They all wore cowboy hats and looked like cowbows. She had no clue that they were vampires at first, but quickly realized it as the stood in her path.

            "Well look what we have here," the first one said.

            "It seems to be a little lost girly," the second put in.

            "Oh it has been a while since we had fresh human blood," said the third.

            "Yes, it has," the first agreed.

            The three vampires began to approach Buffy. She stopped and began to look for an alternate escape. She found none. It looked like she had to fight.

            "This will be such an easy kill," the second vampire said.

            The three slowly began circling Buffy, preparing for the kill. They were clearly hungry. They had revealed their fangs and their brows were pushed up. They snarled as they closed in on her. Buffy glanced around, looking for anything that she could use for a stake. She noticed the railing of the salon was made of wood.

            The second vampire lunged at her, while the other two continued circling. Buffy stepped calmly out of the way. The vampire landed face first in the dirt. The third ran at her, fangs bared. She tripped him, causing him to hit the ground. She grabbed the first vampire, when it ran at her, and tossed it into the wooden railing. It exploded into thousands of splinters.

            She bent down to pick up a broke piece of wood as the three vampires came to their senses and attacked once again. As the first one charged her, she gave it a roundhouse kick to the face, breaking its nose. She threw him away and stood ready to face the remaining two. It was a standoff. Buffy was on one side, while the other two vampires were on the other.

Salt Lake City, Utah:

            The gang had left Los Angeles the previous day. Giles had informed Angel that Buffy had died during the battle. Unfortunately, Willow had told Angel that Giles and Wood had let her die.

"Buffy died in the battle," Giles informed Angel, "She showed great courage and leadership."

            "I see," Angel replied, solemnly "At least she died a hero. I'm going to miss her. I just wish I was there when she died."

            Giles had gone into the Wolfram and Hart building that Angel had come to own. He had brought Willow in with him. They were inside Angel's office, Giles telling everything that had happened.

            "Enough!" Willow shouted, finally snapping, "I can't take this anymore!"

            "What's wrong, Willow?" Angel questioned.

            "Buffy didn't die in battle," Willow informed, "She died when the town collapsed. And Giles let her die. He wouldn't allow her to catch up to our bus. He betrayed her."

            "You lied to me?" Angel asked the former Watcher, calmly.

           "Angel, you have to understand," Giles said, "It was for our own good. If we had stopped to let her catch up, we all would have died. The collapsing town would have swallowed us all up."

            "That's beside the point, Giles," Angel said, his voice filling with anger, "You let her die after she saved all your lives, after she saved the world. She was there, protecting you for many years and this is how you repay her, by letting her die? You disgust me!"

           Giles didn't know what to say. He couldn't believe that Willow had opened her mouth and revealed the truth. He was angry with her.

            "Get out of my office!" Angel shouted, furiously, "Get out of this city!"

Willow remembered his words all too clearly. She knew that they all deserved that. They deserved getting yelled at by Angel. They also deserved much more than just yelling.

            The bus drove silently into Salt Lake City. Everyone was quiet. No one wanted to get attacked by the two older men. Giles rose from his seat and faced everyone. He took off his glasses, cleaning them on his shirt.

            "We are not stopping here," he told them all, after clearing his throat, "Our destination is Haynesville, Louisiana."

            "Where?" Wood questioned.

            "Haynesville is the location of another Hellmouth. We are going to attempt to stop the evil there," Giles answered.

            "Wait a minute," Xander said, standing up, "You're telling me that we're headed to some no where town in Louisiana?"

            "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am," Giles replied

            No one argued with the authority. They had no choice in the matter. Faith was still out of it. She had regained consciousness, but was not prepared to start another argument over leadership.

            "If anyone wants to get something, get it now!" Giles shouted.

            No one got up to leave. They all just sat there, still stunned. They all feared being left behind. Wood closed the bus doors and drove the bus through Salt Lake City and headed southeast.

Unknown Location:

            The first vampire rose to its feet. Buffy was still facing off against the other two, that she didn't even notice him. The vampire charged Buffy and jumped onto her back. She furiously tried flipping him off, but was unsuccessful. This vampire was not about to give up. He finally managed to get her on the ground.

            The other two vamps closed in on her as the first one held her to the ground. Buffy did not fight back. She didn't have the will to go on any longer. The first vampire moved in for the kill. He was hungry; all three of them were. Buffy closed her eyes and prepared for the minor pain of the bite. She could now feel the moist, warm vampire breath on her neck.

            That's when she heard shouting and fighting. She opened her eyes and saw the three vampires fighting off a shadowy figure. She watched in awe as the figure quickly staked all three vampires. The dust blew away in the light desert breeze.

            The figure approached her very cautiously. It held the stake in an attack position, ready to stake her.

            "Who are you?" the figure questioned.

            Buffy didn't answer. She just lay there, staring at the shadowy figure. The features came into view and she realized that it was a man. The man now realized that Buffy was not a threat and slid the stake into his belt. He reached a hand out. She reached up and held on. He carefully pulled her to her feet. They both stared at each other for a few moments.

            "What's a pretty lady like you doing out here?" the man asked, breaking the silence.

            "Oh, it's a long story," Buffy replied, "You wouldn't believe me if I told it to you."

            "I see," he replied.

            Buffy continued eying up the man. He wore dark blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a solid, button-down shirt that was open. He had kind of long, blond hair and blue eyes.

            "What's your name?" he asked.

            "Buffy."

            "Hello Buffy, my name is Axel."

            "It's nice to meet you Axel. If you don't mind me asking, how did you do that?"

            "Do what?"

            "How did you defeat those vampires?"

            "Oh, so you do know about vampires. Well, I am an ordinary guy. I just own a business where I slay vampires."

            "I see. Any particular reason why?"

            "Well ever since I was a little boy, I've heard stories of a mysterious girl that was called to defend the world against evil. You know, this is sort of silly."

            "No it's not. Go on."

            "You sure now?"

            "Yes, I am."

            "Okay, anyways this girl is known as the slayer. I've always wanted to meet her. The only problem is I don't know if the story is true or a myth. Well, I discovered that vampires were real and realized that if the slayer was real that I could meet her by slaying vampires."

            "I see. That's an interesting story you got there."

            "You're a very nice young lady. I should bring you back to my hometown. This abandoned town is very dangerous. It's crawling with vampires at night."

            "Thanks very much, but I couldn't."

            "And why not?"

             "I'm on a mission; I guess that's what you could call it. I'm looking for my friends."

            "I see. I'm sure that you'll run into them somewhere. You sure ain't gonna find them around this old place."

            "Alright Axel, I'll take you up on your offer."

            "Come on now, my van's over this way."

            He and Buffy walked back to where Buffy had parked her car. There, next to hers, was a large gray van. He opened the driver's side door and got in. Buffy got in next to him. He started the vehicle and they sped off into the night.

            "So where's this home town of yours at?" Buffy asked.

            "Haynesville, Louisiana," he replied, "I know it's a long way off, but we should be there in a few days. It's a nice quiet town, I'm sure you'll really enjoy it there."

            Buffy smiled as they drove. She had finally found someone like her, a new friend possibly. She realized now that she had just started over. Her new life had just begun, or what she considered to be her new life.