Two weeks had passed and Buffy, since she had nowhere else to go, had been staying some at Angel's and some at Mimi's. Today was one of the days she was staying with Mimi. Since Buffy didn't have any documents that say she was born in the US or this dimension, it was hard for her to get a job. Mimi had managed to talk to the manager of the Cat Scratch Club and was able to get Buffy on as one of the waitresses. They had made an agreement that he wouldn't pay her, but she could keep all the tips that she earned. She worked every night and by the end of the week had made 300 dollars. She, Mimi, and Angel had gone shopping to get her a few clothes. They had spent the remains of the money on lunch. Buffy had spent the night at Mimi's the previous night and was getting ready for her morning workout. She was coming out as a blonde man with glasses and carrying a camera came in. Neither was paying any attention and they bumped into each other. They both began to stammer an apology at the same time.

"I'm sorr---" They both chuckled at that.

"I'm Buffy. Buffy Summers. You live in the loft apartment on the top floor right?"

"Yeah, I'm Mark Cohen. You live in this building?" He asked surprised.

"Sort of. I sometimes stay with Mimi Marquez." Buffy received a blank look. "She's the dancer from the Cat Scratch Club that lives below you."

Comprehension dawned on his face and he nodded and smiled.

"I was just about to do my morning run. It was nice meeting you Mark."

"You too." Mark watched as she shuffled by and stepped outside and began to stretch.

Mark found himself mesmerized by her actions. He quickly took his camera and began taping her warm up. When she was warmed up she turned toward him and waved before starting her morning jog.

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It was on this jog when Buffy ran into the last thing she had ever wanted to see. She had been jogging through the park when she noticed she was being followed. She sped up her pace and the man was still behind her. It was the first time since she had been in New York that her Slayer senses picked up something demonic. Jogging out of the park and into an alley, she made herself as invisible as possible and waited for the short little demon man in human form. She didn't have to wait long as the little man ran into the alley. With her Slayer reflexes Buffy soon had the man jacked up against a wall.

"Who are you and why are you following me?" She asked. Something looked very familiar about this man.

"You don't recognize me do you Slayer?" Buffy looked at the man she had jacked up against the wall and it came to her just who this was. She then proceeded to hit him in the nose.

"Whistler."

"Ow Slayer! What was that for?" He said as he held to stop the blood that was gushing out of it.

"For not telling me everything about the whole Angel situation. What are you doing here? Are Dawn and the others all right?"

"Your sister is fine. She's being taken care of by your watcher."

"What about the other Scoobies, Faith, and the slayers?"

Willow, Xander, Andrew, Faith and Robin are fine. You lost Anya, Spike, and a few of the Slayers."

Buffy was relieved to hear that her friends were okay. She was also saddened to hear that they had lost a few of the new slayers.

"What do you want Whistler?"

"I'm just here to give you a heads up. Your life is your own now. You are being given your reward to be able to live a life without the fear of demons and vampires."

"Why here? Why not some paradise dimension where I can be sipping a drink from a little pink umbrella?"

"Well that wasn't our choice Slayer. It took the Powers two weeks to find where you have gone, but destiny had made it clear that yours in our dimension is done."

"What about here? What does destiny have in store me?"

"She wouldn't tell us, but told me to assure you that you will play a very important part here. Inside you is the cure."

"What do you mean inside me is the cure?

"Sorry Slayer, I don't know. That's all Destiny told me. I've got to go Slayer." He began to walk out of the alley.

"Hey, how about my documents proving I'm alive?"

"All ready taken care of." He said as he reached the entrance and disappeared.

Buffy didn't know what to do or say. She continued on her going about five miles before returning to Mimi's. Upon entering her room she found the necessary documents sitting on her dresser.

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Christmas Eve had finally arrived and Buffy was preparing to go to work. She had stayed with Angel that day and the two had been showing each other some dance moves. Now it was almost nine and she had to be at work at nine-thirty. She quickly hurried to get dress. She had come out with Angel when the power had been shut off which had soon caused a commotion. Buffy watched with fascination as renters dropped fiery pieces of paper. A green Range Rover pulled to a stop and Angel had told Buffy that that was the landlord. After the commotion had died down Buffy had returned to the apartment and Angel wanted to stay on the street to try and earn some money. She had only been in the apartment ten minutes when Angel returned helping a struggling black man who looked like he had gotten the crap beat out of him.

"What happened?" Buffy rushed over to help Angel get the man to the couch.

"He got mugged in the alleyway across the street." Angel told her.

"Lay him down on the couch. Can you go get the First-Aid kit from the bathroom while I make sure nothing is broken?" Angel nodded and ran toward bathroom. "Let me know if anything really hurts. I'm just going to probe to see if anything is broken. By the way I'm Buffy."

"Collins." He gasped out as Buffy hit a particular tender spot. Angel returned with the huge First-Aid kit glad that Buffy had taken the initiative to buy it. Two minutes later Buffy finished her examination.

"Looks like, they were going for maximum pain minimum damage. Nothing's broken and your cuts aren't too deep. Think you can handle getting him cleaned up?" Angel nodded. "Good. Collin's it was nice to meet you wish it would have been under better circumstances. I've gotta go or I'm going to be late. I'll stay with Mimi tonight and meet you at the Life Support meeting."

"Okay just remember not to attack the customers when they grab at you."

Buffy rolled her eyes before nodding and grabbing her bag. She sprinted for the door with only five minutes to get to work.

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