I think we all know that I own absolutely nothing. Apologies: I don't have a very good grip on these people's particular speaking styles yet. Which means there are going to be several painful lines in the process of learning. Sorry.

"Buffy, I think we need to talk."

Buffy turned with the casual grace the imbued her ever movement, her blonde hair cascading about her. When she saw Xander she flashed him that winning, cheerleading smile that still made his knees weak. "What's up Xand? Good news maybe?"

"Have the 'we need to talk' phrase ever been used before good news? Ever? Well not this time. I am the bearer of bad new from the big bad gone toothless."

"Spike had something to say? Is he all right?" The Slayer's face tightened slightly in worry.

"No, nothing like that. I saw him this morning, he was about to go to sleep I think. He said that there was news of a new vamp in town, the kind that makes the other things that go 'bump' in the night quiver in their big leather boots."

"Really? That isn't happening often, they seem to be coming from the ground most recently. Maybe I'll go and talk to him. Thanks Xand."

"No big. It's all part of my big important position in this little group, the guy who talks a lot." He smiled at her and continued towards the kitchen to get himself coffee.

Buffy turned and made her way towards the house's basement, the sounds of the potentials waking up all around her. She opened the door and made her way down the stairs, her eyes struggling to adjust to the sudden darkness.

"Morning Buffy. I was just settlin' down to sleep. What can I do for you?" The blond vamp's distinctive accent seemed loud and awkward in the darkness.

"I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about this new vampire in town before you conked out. If it isn't too much trouble; otherwise I'll just go back upstairs and let you sleep."

"No trouble at all Slayer, go ahead and turn on the lights, you're uncomfortable. Still don't trust me?"

"I had them take that chip out of your head didn't I Spike?" She flipped the switch, the soft light from the hanging lamp searing her eyes. Spike was sitting up in his bed, eyes narrowed against the invasive light.

"Right. Don't know all that much about him. No one would tell me much of anything specific. Seemed to me though that the vamps were more scared of him than anyone else. I'm thinkin that we may have a new head vamp in this town Buffy, a right bad bloke if I'm hearin it right. I'll go an' hunt him tonight, I can find anything that kind of scary in this town. Night Slayer." He nodded casually and slid back into his bed, eyes closing.

Buffy stood for a moment, examining once more the pale countenance of this strange, beautiful vampire, knowing full well that he was aware of her presence. If nothing else, she finally felt that she could trust him fully and completely. She had made the right choice, taking the chip out of his head; she could see that on his face as he drifted off to sleep. Not fully understanding how she felt about him, Buffy turned and head back up the stairs, switching the lights off as she did.

"So G-man, do you think this was really a good idea? I mean it's a dangerous time, and well, I'm a construction and you're a British librarian. Do you really think we should be patrolling?" Xander and Giles walked through the passive darkness of one of the man cemeteries in Sunnydale, weapons in hand; painfully aware of every minute sound in the area.

"Buffy has been looking tired lately and I feel that taking a day off from her duties would do her some good."

"Yeah, but shouldn't you have told her that she didn't need to go out tonight? She's probably out somewhere right now you know. If you did one thing as her Watcher, you made sure she understood that duty thing."

"Perhaps, but perhaps just her not running into anything will help her recover her strength."

"Oh, so we're pretty much supposed to attract all of the bloodsuckers in the area? Dammit Giles, why didn't you tell me you wanted me to die, I would have brought steak sauce."

Before he could reply, a resounding crash behind them caused them both to jump. A black mass flailed through the air, crashing into Xander and knocking him to the ground. "Giles! Get it off of me! I didn't mean the sauce joke literally!" he screamed just before the thing shrieked once and burst into dust. "Oh, hey, a vampire. Imagine that. Thanks Giles."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but that wasn't me." There was another crash and this time they saw a veritable explosion stone debris as a gravestone seemed to shatter apart. A whirring sound filled the air and a group of dark figures spun into view, fighting furiously.

"Looks like the Slayer came out to play anyway Giles. I'm telling you you should have told her earlier."

"Shut up Xander, that isn't Buffy." The librarian stepped to the side quickly, dodging another flying vamp.

"Sure it is. No one else I've ever met puts the hurt to the evil like that. I mean look at that."

The two rushed forward to help whoever was fighting the vampires. But as soon as they reached the mob, a second group of vampires materialized out of the darkness, careening headlong into the fray. "You know Giles, maybe we should just let them fight. They seem to be enjoying themselves."

A burst of light split the night, throwing the two humans to their knees and scattering the vamps. The light faded as quickly as it had appeared and half a dozen vampires burst apart. A moment later, the remaining vamps scattered, disappearing into the night like ghosts, their screams of rage and pain echoing.

"What the Hell was that! Was that sunlight?" Xander exclaimed, climbing to his feet and watching the vamps disappear into the night.

"Ya, I guess you could say that. How you guys doing? Ok? My name's Logan."

Giles strode forward and extended a hand to the young man stepping from the shadows and wiping dust from his clothes. "This is Xander, and I am Giles. Pleasure to meet you. May I ask exactly why you are out here fighting vampires?"

"Uh, I don't really know how to answer that. I guess they're evil and I kinda have nothing better to be doing. You could say that it's my chosen profession. How about you two?"

"Buffy, there's someone here who I think you should meet," Giles commented from a chair as soon as the blond Slayer walked into her house.

"Really?" She walked into the living room and smiled at the boy of sixteen or so lounging on the couch. "Hi, name's Buffy. Are you a student? Because I usually don't see students outside of school hours- but if you really need to talk well I guess I can-."

"He's not a student Buffy, he's a demon hunter. A rather proficient one from what I saw."

"Yeah Buff. We saw him make almost a dozen vamps just go 'poof'. It was awesome."

The boy on the couch just smiled and stood up. "You're the Slayer right? I've heard a whole lot about you. You're kind of like Shaq for kids like me."

The kid was about 5'9'' with wild brown hair and strange, amber eyes. He looked like an average kid and his voice was still boyishly charming. "Uh thanks for the comparison to a big sweaty man, but I get what you mean. And how do you know that?" The boy smiled again, the confident, roguish smile of a man much older than he was.

"Angel told me about you, when I was in LA. He's actually the one who sent me here. Said you guys could use some help with things."

"You know Angel? At the risk of sounding like I use the word a lot; how?"

"Well that's a twist, he knows soul-boy," Xander added from the kitchen where he was mixing coffee and yawning widely.

"I was tracking a vampire, a big nasty ugly one, and it led me to LA. Turned out Angel was waiting for it so he could kill it, and we hooked up. But we didn't get the thing and he said that it was most likely coming here. He's really a strange bird ya know. How do you guys know him?"

"Oh-boy, don't get started on that. It's a really long story." Xander walked back into the living room, handing out mugs of coffee to everyone. "So what's with this vamp you're hunting? Sounds like a bad ass. Did you kill him tonight by any chance?"

"Naw, I haven't found him yet. But he's really not a nice guy, even by vampire standards. I'm pretty sure he's crazy. He chows on demons for one thing, thinks it makes him stronger. Angel's theory is that he came here to kill the Slayer. I guess that would be you." His eyes turned to Buffy, and she was captivated by the piercing intelligence in them.

"No big deal. Everything seems to be trying to kill me these days. And I've fought vampires before. Several hundred actually."

"That's what I thought when I started hunting him, that it'd be no problem. But apparently he isn't a normal vampire. Angel said he was one of the oldest, meaning he's a little different from the more human vampires today. Apparently the sun doesn't mind him, and he doesn't need an invite to come and play. But you don't need to worry about it Slayer, I'll take care of him. I've been tracking the bastard for too long to let someone else have the pleasure or killing him."

"Sure you don't want some help? I have to patrol anyway," Buffy offered, reaching to put on a coat.

"If you want, I'd love the company." Logan stood up and nodded towards to Xander and Giles. "Was nice meeting you two. Maybe I'll see ya around some night."

"So you're what, a sixteen year old demon hunter? How'd that happen?"

"What? Didn't you know? It's all the rage now days. Actually it was the usual thing that brings people to the demon killing. You know, the thing where the demons kill off your family and you, being a young stupid boy, think that you can get revenge. That happened about two years ago, when I was fifteen."

"Oh. I'm. sorry."

The two of them were walking through yet another one of the cemeteries. The moon was full and cast an eerie, half-glow over everything, giving it a dream-like quality.

"Thanks. But you move on, you know? Anyway, I got kicked out of school after my grades completely wiped, and I've just been traveling around since."

"No offense, but you're in awfully good shape for a homeless kid."

He laughed, his eyes seemed to brighten even more and his pale skin gained some measure of color. "Yeah, you're right. But I'm not poor. The reason I'm still fighting demons after two years is I'm a bit of a technology freak. I make cash selling a drug I made to kids." Buffy's eyes widened and he laughed again, shaking his head. "Not that kind of drug. It's just basically a replacement for concentrated caffeine. You take a few tablets the night before a big test and you can cram for as long as you want. And there are no side effects."

"Sounds good. So do you have any idea where this vamp will be staying?"

"Not exactly. I don't know if he's just going to try and kill you or if he's going to get someone to do it for him."

"Well, that's comforting. But if he wants my power wouldn't he want to kill me himself."

"Oh. right. See, I'm just a teenager, not good with the common sense." They walked in silence for a few minutes, and every so often Buffy found herself turning to snatch a look at the boy. He seemed so young, but the way he talked, the things he said sounded familiar. And she already felt comfortable around him; something in his eyes had put her at ease from the first time he looked at her.

"Hey look, I think I found a clue." His voice pulled her from her thoughts and she glanced towards him. He was smiling dryly, his eyes suddenly cold and hard. Across from them stood the vampire they were looking for, a massive man in old black robes feeding hungrily on what looked to be another vampire. "Did ya miss me big guy?" Logan extended a hand and a long, military knife thunked into his palm.

The vampire snarled and tossed aside its meal. With a scream of rage, it launched itself forward, arms outstretched as if to embrace Logan. The young man stepped forward, planting his right knee into the beast's chest at the same time as his left fist smashed into it's skull, stopping it dead and sending it to the ground with a thud. It jumped to its feet and lashed out, kicking the young man in the chest. Logan flew a good eight feet through the air before he was stopped by an ancient mausoleum.

With a wicked, inhuman grin the thing turned to face the Slayer, it's small eyes hungry. "Good to meet you ugly. Do you know who I am? The Slayer. Pretty neat huh?" She jumped into the air and planted a solid kick in the vamp's chest, but it simply took a few steps back and shrugged, rushing towards her again. Her fist met its face and she whipped an elbow into his neck, but it seemed not to feel the blows, reaching out and lifting her off the ground with both hands.

There was a quick slicing sound and she felt the earth return to her feet, demon blood gushing onto her. The vampire screamed and bent to pick up it's severed hand, receiving instead several crunching blows to the face from Buffy's boot. It toppled backward with another cry and jumped back up holding its hand. For a moment it stared at them, measuring them up it seemed. And then it turned and disappeared into the night.

Logan appeared by her side, dusting himself off and bending to retrieve his knife from the ground. "See, he isn't exactly a nice guy. You're amazing by the way, I've heard stories and all but, well, wow!"

"That was some vamp. I can see why you haven't killed him yet. I really don't think you should take him alone."

"You're probably right. He's getting stronger. I guess the whole drink the blood of the powerful things is working out for him. Looks like I'll need more weapons."

"Weapons. We have lots of those. Part of the whole Slayer thing. You want to come and pick some up before you go home? Where are you staying anyway?"

"An old mansion at the edge of town. Looked like no one had been living in it for a while, so I thought I'd stay there. Why the funny face? Is it haunted or something?"

"What? Oh, uh, no it isn't. Tell you what, why don't I come by tomorrow at sunset and we can try and get this thing again."

"Sounds good to me. Till tomorrow then." He smiled at her and walked off, fading into the night silently.