A/N: dedicated to a friend of mine, hope he likes it ;)....oh and yeah, the usual disclaimers apply - duh, they always do!

Hands safely in pockets, he made his way stealthily through Sunnydale, cloaked only by the black silk that was the night sky. Keeping his eyes to the side-walk, he remained anonymous. Just a face in amongst the many faces this town possesed, although most would never live past their 20s. But all this was too trivial for his concern, briefly glancing up, he noted how few vampires there were on the streets. He then linked this fact to the petite blonde who stood at the curb. The Slayer. Taking his chances, he looked up, his face bathed in the silvery blue light of the full moon. He looked her up and down. She was....petite. He reverted his eyes back to the side-walk and continued on to one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries. Strolling through the gates, he could already pick up signs that the Target had come through this way. But there were others. Ignorng their trails, he remembered his instructions. The spokesman for The Order of Retribution had not made any idle threats.
*~Keep the target in mind at all times. Distraction equals fatalities and fatalities lead to failure.~* The voice had been soft but the tone said it all, besides Cal didn't know the meaning of the word "failure" if it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't see him, Cal would've made him eat those words there and then. Looking up he saw what appeared to be a soldier emerge from the bushes ahead, and veer off to his right, obviously intending to ambush him, judging on the others that had now taken their places around him. He tried not to smile as he continued his "stroll" and noted that the soldiers were following him. He heard the muffled voice dishing out orders and decided that maybe now was the right time to do something. He stopped at a bench, and sat down as the miniature army closed in on him. He would wait till they made their move. They did. And it hurt. The leading man took aim an fired what could only be described as a stun gun at him. Cal leapt to his feet, the man was stunned. He'd expected the shock to knock the creature out, he fired again, but this time his target was facing him - and infact approaching. Suddenly realising the charge in his gum had gone, the soldier panicked and resolved to using his fists. As Cal approached, he thrust out his fist, expecting it to hit the creature in the jaw. Stepping aside, Cal caught the now outstretched arm and twisted, causing the man to yelp in pain.

Buffy was in the neighbouring cemetery, reducing a few vamps to the contents of Spike's ashtray. She stood up and brushed the ashes from her trousers and looked around, soldiers from the Initiative were retreating from the next graveyard like rats from a sinking ship. Her instant reaction being to go check it out, she rushed in to see the writhing pile of soldiers that had now assembled on top of Cal. Hesitating, she stared at it for a moment, giving whatever it was underneath all of that a chance to escape.

From underneath the soldiers, Cal was having a ball. Grabbing a stun-gun off the nearest soldier, he turned it around and dealt the man several hard blows to the head. He crouched and performed a swift low-kick, knocking back three of his attackers, it was then she hit him. Satisfied the Initiative were out of the way, Buffy charged at him, stake in hand. Pulling himself to his feet, Cal stepped aside and grabbed her by the waist, throwing her over his shoulder. He glanced down at her, she was completely winded and momentarily disabled so he began to leave, hands in pockets and eyes to the floor.

The Slayer stood, shocked at the creatures strength and speed. She stared off in the direction he left then watched with vague amusement as he came back again and ducked just as his pursuer dived at him, hoping to take his head off. The demon flew straight into Buffy's range and she knocked it back with a high-kick. Cal stood back as she took it down, refusing to step down no matter how many blows to the head she recieved. Then it was over, all finished in a matter of moments. She stood and once again brushed herself down, then turned to look at him. He stood there, completely un-nerved and put his hands back in his pockets. She stared at him,
"And you are?"
He didn't answer. Like hell he was gonna give his details to the Slayer. She glanced him up and down,
"I repeat, you are?"
"None of your business."
His both his voice and body-language suggested predator but he'd made no move to actually *kill* any of those men, just self-defence. Or so she hoped. His accent was English, London to be exact. He sounded like a slightly less arrogant version of Spike. She was surprised when he spoke again, she had expected him to do an Angel and disappear when she blinked.
"But you are the Slayer."
"Last time I checked."
"I'm impressed. You're strong for a Slayer who's so...."
"So what?" she demanded.
"Well, so *short*."
"Well I guess they couldn't be too picky when it came down to appearances."
"I guess you're right."
She turned around as yet another demon lunged at her, this time succeeding in knocking her to the floor. Before she could do anything, it had it's hand on her face and Buffy felt as if her insides were being pulled out through her forehead. Rollin his eyes, Cal came to her aid, grabbing the demon by the scruff of its neck and throwing it into the nearest tree, breaking its neck. Allowing Cal to help her to her feet Buffy raised a hand to rub her temple,
"Woah, talk about suckage! he nearly pulled my insides through my nose."
Cal laughed softly,
"Well, you wouldn't be the first. Last time he did that, I couldn't... " He saw the look on her face, "Don't ask."
She looked at the dead suckage demon,
"Don't tell."
"Okay."
Buffy stared at him for a moment, then realised he was staring right past her. Right past her to....she turned, whatever it was had gone, but he knew it was there. She turned back again. He'd gone. She scowled,
"Oh great. I gotta Angel re-run on my hands."
"I'm nothing like Angelus."
He was behind her, but when she turned to look, he'd gone. She huffed indignantly,
"Men can be so predictable."