December 1998 -- Cleveland, Ohio
"Miss Summers, you have no business disappearing for days on end without informing me beforehand," Nigel complained, traipsing after Buffy as she walked through his apartment.
"Yeah, well, you have no business walking into my hotel room uninvited," she replied.
"I-I assure you, I tried reaching you. If I'd known you'd be...making love...."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I wasn't making love."
The boy she'd picked up at the club panted as he pounded into her. "God, baby, you're so beautiful. Baby, won't you smile for me? Bet you have a gorgeous smile, even with the scar. C'mon baby...."
"Fine, then, in flagrante delicto. My point is," Nigel continued, "I made an utter arse of myself in front of another Watcher today. Rupert Giles, from the Sunnydale outpost, called. I had to tell him I didn't know where my Slayer was."
"And that's my problem how?"
Nigel sighed and crossed his arms. "I honestly have no idea why Mister Wyndam-Pryce thought so highly of you. What happened to the bright, kind, obedient girl he described in his journals?"
"She's dead," Buffy whispered, hand flying to the cross around her neck.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing. So what did that guy on the phone want, anyway?"
"Ah, yes. Well, I need you to pack your bags. I'll be driving you to the airport in an hour. There's apparently a situation in Sunnydale that needs your attention."
The airport. Fun. In the past eight months, Buffy had been in more airports than the other sixteen years of her life. Buffy and Nigel were always on the move. There was always some new, foreign evil to kill, a new city to make safer. Always some new boy to pick up at a club and fuck until she forgot who she was.
It was still better than staying in New York, where every street and building reminded her of....
No. Feelings got in the way. She'd made that mistake the first time. She never would again.
"Fine, let's go."
***
Sunnydale, California
She'd found Rupert Giles flat on his back, getting thrashed by a few vampires. After she'd gotten rid of them, he'd wrenched himself into a standing position again and led her over to his car.
"Well, I must say, it's quite an honor to meet you, Miss Summers. It's not often that an outpost Watcher gets to meet the active Slayer."
"Uh huh." She kept her eyes on the empty streets flying past the window.
"Did Nigel tell you anything about the situation here?"
"Yeah. Hellmouth."
"That's right. Well, a couple years ago, the barrier separating hell from earth became punctured. Slowly, demons -- vampires, mostly -- began to take over the town."
"That sucks," Buffy said, flatly.
"Er, yes."
She didn't know what this guy wanted or expected from her. She was a Slayer. She killed things. Nothing more, nothing less. She didn't get all excited over it or anything.
Not anymore.
***
As soon as they were back in his apartment, Giles went straight for his books. He dragged them halfway up his stairs and remained crouched there, mumbling to himself.
Finally, he jumped up and started babbling about reversing wishes and power centers. Buffy did her best to ignore him. Walking instead to his bar, she picked up a bottle of scotch. Scotch had always been Wesley's favorite. Giles continued talking about this demon woman.
"Why don't I just put a stake through her heart?" Buffy suggested.
"Slayer, how many of my kind would you say you've killed in the past couple years, using one of these?"
"She's not a vampire," Giles replied patiently, as if explaining to a child.
Right. She was a child. She was a child who'd seen more horrors than this Watcher wannabe in this little town could ever hope to see.
"Well, you'd be surprised how many things that'll kill."
"Haven't you ever wondered what it feels like ripping through you?"
The scent of scotch flooded her senses, bringing back unwelcome, happy memories of the month Wesley had lived with her. The way he'd have a small tumbler of scotch every few nights before going to bed. The way his lips would curve into a small smile when she walked in the room....
Buffy quickly put the stopper back on the bottle, hoping it would put a stop to the memories, too.
When she turned around, she was confronted with a much more unsettling sight. The Watcher, Giles...he looked so hopeful. So optimistic. Who had a right to be that optimistic?
"World is what it is. We fight. We die. Wishing doesn't change that."
Giles stared at her. "I have to believe in a better world."
"Go ahead. I have to live in this one."
She managed to half tune him out again as she polished her boots, but suddenly, one word caught her attention.
"The Master sent his most vicious disciples to kill her. Now, she, she must have posed some threat to him," Giles said.
"The Master?"
"Um, supreme vampire around these parts. He, he lives on the outskirts of town in an old club."
Buffy couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"You know where he lives, and no one's ever tried to take him out?"
She clenched and unclenched her fists. Buffy had risked her life and Wesley's to eliminate a bloodthirsty killer, stop him from preying on innocent people. Meanwhile, these idiots knew right where their big daddy vamp was set up, and instead of doing anything about it, Jeeves was sitting here chatting about power centers.
"People have tried."
Buffy sighed. "Well, point the way. I might as well do some good while I'm in this town."
Giles gave her a patently Wesley expression of reproach that chilled her to the bone. He even sounded like Wesley when he said, "You can't just walk in there and--"
"Look," Buffy interrupted, "you wanna stay here and play make-believe, fine. I'm not gonna be any help to you anyway. There's only one thing I'm good at."
"At least let's muster some kind of force."
More people I can get killed.
"I don't play well with others. Now, I'm gonna ask you this once, and then I'm gonna get testy. Where's this club?"
Giles closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's across town. I can drive you."
"I'll walk."
"Fine. Just take Main Street to the end. You won't be able to miss The Bronze. Just...follow the trail of bodies."
"Got it."
As she headed towards the door, she felt his hand settle on her shoulder. She flinched and looked back at him. The sincere concern in his eyes made her ill. Buffy turned back to the door.
"Please, be careful," Giles said.
"Yeah. Careful." Buffy lightly traced the cross hanging around her neck, then opened the door and stepped outside into the waning night.
She didn't know whether to blame the scent of the scotch or something else, but the sun creeping over the horizon reminded her of the morning after, with Wesley. His warm arms around her, the way the sun had filled her room.
This was the first sunrise she'd seen since that morning. Buffy closed her eyes for a moment, and she could almost feel the sun's warmth pulling at her, trying to draw her close. She wanted to reach out, give in to the warmth, but she had a job to do.
One way or another, the Master's reign was gonna end. She didn't care how it had to happen. Buffy opened her eyes, steeled her shoulders, and started walking to the club.
The sun would have to wait.
Author's Notes: Some dialogue from this section came from the Marti Noxon-penned episode "The Wish." My eternal thanks to little_bit for holding my hand every step of the way, and to Dionne, Catlimere, DragonKatGal, The Awesome Possum, Tygerlily, and everyone else who sent just wonderful, sweet feedback along the way. And to anyone who's stuck through this fic to the end. Though I make no promise that it will be done anytime soon, stay tuned for an alternate ending eventually.