Title: A Lifetime Apart, An Eternity Together 4

Rating: PG 13 for now

Author: Specks

Disclaimer: James Cameron, Fox, Joss Whedon and all those network people that make the show possible own these characters.

Synopsis: Max takes Buffy's Cladaugh ring. nuff said.

Pairings: M/L

Spoilers: Season 1 DA and up to mid season 6 BTVS.

Author's Notes #1: I'd like to thank Nina, you're the best as always. All the suggestions you gave me really worked.. Thanks!!! Oh yeah I hope you feel better.

Author's notes #2. Thank you to all the nice people that sent me feedback. Carmelia, Lily, Jezzie, Beth, Karen-Tenou,DarkAngel, Angel Spaz, margaret,Ginger,angel451, x5-599-girl,Eryne,hay25, sailorspitsh, x- Lander,Tha Char, Maeve Tyr Namid, Matt, CyberAngelOne,Feynor,and rosie.

Author's Note#3: Special thanks to Kit my sentece producer(my penguin), and Cathy my dialogue guru.

Feedback: Yes! I crave feedback, should I continue? Any ideas would be welcome as well. Pleas e-mail me at slete130@netzero.net

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The sun sank below the horizon as the creatures of the night stirred from their slumber and ventured out into the darkness. Seattle became a different city at the rising of the full moon. The people that roamed the streets seemed of a different breed than those of the day.

Drug dealers and prostitutes conducted business openly, and the young scurried to and fro. Some with things to accomplish and others with no clue at all as to where they were headed. In the cover of the shadows predators of all kinds prowled, ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness.

Buffy was no different from any other predator as she jogged along the darkened streets, waiting for her prey. She was bristling for a fight, especially after the kind of day she had. Not being a morning person, Buffy had been understandably grumpy when the early morning meeting with her tracker had turned up nothing useful. All he'd been able to dig up on Max was a couple of charges in theft and her address. Nothing a half way decent hacker wouldn't have been able to find. And that had only been the beginning of her hellish day.

Then Adam had dropped to tell her in his oh so casual way that a contract had been taken out on Logan's head...literally. It seems whoever delivered the head of Eyes Only would receive a bounty of 6 million dollars, a hefty sum in this day and age. All of that combined with an entire afternoon wasted on a closed mouthed informant made up one angry and annoyed slayer. It was unfortunate for the vampires in the vicinity that Buffy decided to channel all of her anger and frustration into the Hunt. So far she'd already bagged two unwary vampires but she still hummed with pent up energy.

Buffy sincerely wished the idiotic lot of vampires following her would attack already. The stench of raw sewage and festering fruit reached Buffy's nose as she turned into an empty alleyway. The vamps needed a bit of encouragement, and since the alley was secluded and dark Buffy figured they would be right at home. She was getting tired of this cat and mouse game, she wanted a fight..now. No sooner was the thought completed when the three stalker vampires came out into the open.

They all had the uniformed gang look; black leather, piercing, and tattoos. The words 'Hell Hounds' was tattooed on one's arm, while another had on a dirty, tattered bandanna with the same logo on it. The third ugly was actually pretty young looking, but Buffy could sense that he was the eldest. Strength radiated off of him, he wasn't old by vampiric standards, but it was clear he was the leader . She would have to be careful around this one. The three hoodlum vamps approached her growling and revealing their game faces, hoping to frighten the fight out of her. Of course they had no idea who they were dealing with...

"Finally!", Buffy cried, throwing up her hands, "I thought you guys were gonna take all night!"

The vampires were befuddled, she was prey wasn't she suppose to run away? The confusion stopped them cold as they tried to figure out what was wrong with this picture.

"You know," she continued flippantly, wagging her finger at them, "you guys are the worst stalkers ever! I had to stop twice!" She held up two fingers and pointed them at the vampires, accentuating her statement, "Count them twice! To make sure you didn't lose me! What kind of morons are you?"

Buffy's last insult seemed bring them out of their state of shock as all three charged at her, abandoning their first attempt to frighten her. That plan was clearly not working out, so they settled for good old fashion violence. Their plan was just fine with Buffy for she quickly dropped into fighting stance ready for the upcoming fight.

Deciding to take out the tattooed one first, Buffy quickly flipped onto her back, grabbed him by the shoulders, and used his momentum to send him sailing over her head. He crashed unceremoniously into the dumpster of the alley, launching a half head of cabbage into the air on impact. The cabbage landed a minute later with a wet plop on the knocked out vampire's head. Buffy would have thought the display comical had she not been so busy with the fallen vamp's partners.

The remaining two vampires attacked her simultaneously hoping to gain an advantage over their human quarry. Bandanna boy tried to hold Buffy's arms while the other one attacked, but the tables were turned when Buffy head butted her restrainer and kicked her assailant. She then flipped Bandanna boy onto his back and staked him.

Now there was only one left, the strongest. They circled each other warily looking for weaknesses, the vampire wasn't as stupid as he looked. He'd seen how she'd beaten his partners and knew she wasn't just some normal girl. Deciding enough with the circling, Buffy lashed out with a flurry of blows. She barely registered the minor wounds her opponent was able to land. Slayer healing would take care of that.

"Tell me something," she asked conversationally as she back handed the last vampire, "You this ugly when you were alive?" She punctuated the question with a roundhouse that knocked him flat on his back next to his knocked out buddy. "Cause I didn't see much of difference between your game face and your human face.,"

The vampire was never given a chance to answer as Buffy plunged her stake into his heart. She then did the same service to his buddy. The demons let out one last inhuman scream before they exploded into dust. 'Score one for me and none for you' thought Buffy as she attempted to remove the remains of her quarry from her clothes. She sighed as all of her futile patting did nothing more than cause the dust to rise and her to choke.

'My dry cleaner is gonna have a field day' thought Buffy wryly as she coughed up the dust. That was of the biggest hazards of slaying..it utterly decimated her wardrobe. She was fortunate to have more than enough funds to cover her dry cleaner bills. But damn! It was irritating when you had to explain away all those blood stains.

It was times like these that she thanked her lucky stars she'd invested in European companies. She'd done it for personal reasons, but the results were amazing. After her first death Buffy wanted nothing to do with her old life. So she'd tried to shed all vestiges it, including her birthplace. At the time just being in the US held too many memories and regrets. In hopes of assuaging the loss of her old life, Buffy decided to stay away from those things that would remind her of home. That meant staying away from most American things, including stock.. She had been astounded when her instance of sentimentality paid off . American stocks were devastated after the Pulse, but European stock not only survived, prices had sky rocketed. The result was Buffy ending up a very rich young woman.

Already dreaming of home, unable to imagine anything more heavenly than a hot shower and her soft bed, Buffy checked "patrol" off her mental to-do list and surveyed the mess she'd created with only slight twinge of guilt.

'Oh well, nobody ever said fighting crime was clean', her dust covered coat and sweats were testament to that.

With a mental shrug Buffy headed home. The only evidence of her earlier skirmish; a knocked over trash can and three piles of dust.



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Max worked the lock to Buffy Summer's apartment, eyes narrowed in concentration. She had been monitoring Buffy for a week, trying to get down her schedule; the times she was in her apartment and the times she wasn't. It would not do to have Buffy coming home while Max investigated. She had no desire to be confronted by this intimidating figure just yet.

"Bingo" Max whispered as the door swung open quietly. She paused outside of the luxurious apartment wary of the complex security systems usually associated with flats this expensive. She tensed for a moment as she crossed the threshold, expecting the alarm to trip any minute. But strain as she might, Max was unable to hear any tell tale click of a tripped wire. Letting out a breath she wasn't aware if holding, Max did a quick survey of her surroundings.

In the living room a wide range of things could be found. Buffy seemed to have a cacophony of tastes that somehow blended together to create an air of subtle, approachable elegance. The mantle above the well used fireplace was a good example of that blend; books ranging form Dickens to the latest issue of Cosmo sat neatly on an antique book shelf. Carefully arranged, yet not pretentious. Buffy's range of tastes however was not limited to her book shelf. A big screen TV with a state of the art surround sound system was beautifully integrated into the oak panel walls. While a pair of deadly, artful katanas graced the far wall. As a whole the living room was sparse but expensive, just like the rest of the penthouse. Max definintly had to giver her props for style.

Max did a quick scan of the remaining rooms and found a simple gym with a single punching bag in the corner, and equally sparsely furnished kitchen and bedrooms. A single bed, an antique desk, and a framed sketch of a single rose made up the master chamber. At least that was how it would look to the naked eye, but then Max would not be the thief or the transgenic she was had she not noticed the safe concealed behind the rose.



Carefully removing the rose sketch, Max discovered an old fashioned tumble lock safe. The metal looked aged but steadfast. With an audible sigh, Max resigned herself to doing it the old fashioned way. Turning the dial slowly she listened intently for the sound of tumblers falling into place. Three clicks later, Max was watched the safe door swing open with a satisfied smirk.

'Oh yeah I've still got it'.

A soundless whistle passed her lips as she took in the contents of the safe. Rubies, safires, and emeralds littered the velvet clad interior. Interesting how diamonds weren't a part of her collection.

'I wonder why. Oh well, not important.'

Rifling through the contents, Max also discovered a jewelery box nestled in the far corner of the safe. Curious she undid the antique clasp and opened the box.

Inside she found an array of rings in all sizes. There was one particularly large safire ring that she could have fenced for five grand easy on the black market. Resisting the temptation to steal it, Max tried to move on. Although her gaze did linger a bit longer on the precious gem.

'Wonder how she got that?' thought Max idly as she continued looking through the contents. One particular ring in the collection stood out from the rest. A simple silver band. It was against her nature to break in and not steal, so deciding Buffy wouldn't miss one ring out of so many, Max pocketed it and moved on.

Half an hour and no clues later, Max regretfully began to close the door of the safe. She'd discovered nothing that would reveal the secrets Buffy Summers held. The whole trip looked like a total bust. She was just about to fully close the safe door, when the light of her flashlight bounced off the inner metal lining. It illuminated a hidden crack she hadn't noticed before. Reaching in Max felt around the edges of the crack and discovered a false bottom. Carefully pulling out the top layer she set it aside and was stunned by what she saw.

"What the hell?!"

Stakes, crosses and ..holy water? Were all crammed into the limited space of the safe. Max didn't have time to process what she'd seen as the ding of the elevator brought her out of the shock. She took that as her cue to leave and hastily rearranged everything to look untouched.

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Buffy arrived at the door of the penthouse tired and exhausted. Throwing her keys on the coffee table she was ready to just plop into bed. Walking like a zombie, Buffy careless threw her coat behind her, unconcerned with where it landed, as long as it was off. A messy trail of clothing followed her as she made her way toward the fridge. She hadn't bothered with the light, slayer vision would compensate for that. She opened the refrigerator door and was just about to reach in for a bottle of water, when a sudden flicker of movement at the corner of her eye alerted her to an intruder.

Immersing herself in the darkness, she moved cautiously tracking her late night visitor. Now in full slayer mode, she was sensitive to even the slightest sound. Whatever was in her apartment was definitely not human. It moved stealthily from wall to wall, eluding her gaze. Then it was gone. As though it had never been, but for the lingering scent of lilac that permeated the air.

Interesting, she remembered that scent form somewhere..but where? Filing the information away for later, Buffy took an inventory of her valuables. Nothing expensive was taken, this made her decidedly nervous. She much preferred a normal everyday robbery than not. Searching thorough her safe she came upon the box that held her dearest treasure. Holding her breath she undid the clasp...

'No! No not the Claddaugh ring.'

Pain, anger and panic suffused her entire being as she beheld the empty box. But after another second contemplating her loss, Buffy's myriad of violent emotions gave way to determination. Whoever did this was gonna have hell to pay. With an iron resolve, she concentrated on the lingering lilac scent, literally following her nose.

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Max walked into Logan's penthouse half expecting him to be home, but since he was not she took the liberty of using his shower. Stepping into the streaming water, Max nearly purred from the pleasure. Aww, hot water such a rare commodity in today's world. Reaching for a the body wash she gave an apreciative sniff. She loved the lilac soap Logan seemed to prefer, it smelled so nice.

'I swear if I didn't know the man, I'd think he was gay.'

Steam billowed out of the bathroom as Max exited with a towel wrapped around her body.

'Logan has a good shower. I should use his shower more often. My hair feels so weird wet. Maybe I should bring a blow dryer next time so WOW!!!'

A foot barely missed her head as she quickly dodged out of harm's way.

Standing, Max looked up just in time to come face to face with one seriously pissed off slayer.

"Give me my ring!"

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"Those who can;do. Those who can't, laugh at those who can do."

~Xander

FEEDBACK!!!!!!!!

Although it may not seem like it, all the feedback I got for this chapter really hurried me along. Trust me this would have been out next month if not for all you guys! So keep it up and I'll keep writing.

Lotsa Love

Specks

PS: I promise Angel is coming I swear!