TITLE: Learning Curve

AUTHOR: Blue Shoe 22

RATING: PG

SPOILERS: General for all of Buffy up to 'The Gift' and maybe some for first and second season Angel.

SUMMARY: After his return form Pylea and the news of Buffy's death Gunn witnesses the reactions of those around him and he has to wonder – who is Buffy?

CHAPTER 5

The Runaway

Why aren't you at work?

Yeah, he creeps me out.

He had a girlfriend? As in a human girlfriend?

Stop…stop. Did you say Buffy?

Oh God. She's dead.

She's the whole reason I'm here.

I came to L.A from Sunnydale - yeah, where Cordelia's from. I knew I recognised him – Angel. I must have seen him hanging around a dozen times or something.

She saved my life.

Yeah, I know it sounds corny but it's true. It was few years ago. My parents were fighting all the time and I was just…I don't know, rebelling, finding release, but I joined this vampire club.

I know it was stupid. We all wore black and hung around watching vampire movies. I must have read Dracula about fifty times. I can't believe how stupid we were. Living in Sunnydale we all knew that stuff was out there but we didn't want to belive in the reality of it. We romanticised it, called them 'the lonely ones' and stuff like that.

Then one day this guy invited some vampires to our club house slash basement thing. He had a deal with them; give them the Slayer, they'd turn him and screw the rest of us.

And she was there, telling us what you become when you're turned into a vampire, how it wasn't you, just a demon in your body but we didn't care. We were excited.

Then they came.

I was so scared. I was going to die. One of them, the leader, had me by the neck and Buffy, she grabbed his girlfriend and threatened to stake her if he didn't let us go. We all got out and I don't know what happened after that.

I ran away to L.A and she saved me again. You remember a couple of years ago when people were disappearing off the streets and there were heaps of old people showing up? She was here, a runaway like me, working in this dingy little burger place and calling herself Anne. When she found out what was going on we went to this place to stop it.

It was hell. Turns out that all the homeless kids taken off the streets were being used as slaves and in that…place, a hundred years passed and it was only a day in the normal world. We saved them though and she let me be Anne.

It's not right that she's gone. It's just…wrong. People like her shouldn't die. She's the reason I set up the shelter. When she accepted her responsibilities, no matter how heavy they were, I knew, somewhere inside of me, that there was something I could do. I couldn't save the world from demons but I could save parts of it. Every little bit counts and one small act of kindness or selflessness can change a persons life.

I should know.