"So you not only got the guy's name, but you got away with your life?" Joe Dawson sounded fairly incredulous the following day as Buffy and Methos collectively explained what they knew about the immortal/vampire Alexander Klossen.

"He wanted Methos to tell me about the dead girl." Buffy said grimly. "But he also wants us to know that he's not afraid of us, and that he can take any one of us out at any time. Not only is he strong, but he's got the psychological advantage."

"Yea, well pardon me if I don't find that a comfort." Joe muttered. He shook his head. "I still can't believe he didn't take your head. Man, you are one lucky sonofabitch, you know that?"

"You're forgetting that he thinks I'm Adam Pierson, a relatively young immortal." Methos said with a shrug. "If he knew who I really was, he'd have taken my head in a heartbeat. He may have a psychological advantage, but I have a better one."

"What's that?" Buffy asked curiously. Methos grinned.

"Cowardice."

"Yea, well I think you're getting lax in your old age," Joe said, nodding in Buffy's direction. Methos waved a dismissive hand.

"She can be trusted Joe."

Buffy watched the look that passed between Methos and Joe and knew that the secret of his identity was one he did not share lightly. She felt incredibly privileged that he had been willing to risk it where she was concerned and vowed to do her best not to let him down. The night before had been difficult. It wasn't something she wanted to experience ever again, but something else had transpired that night. Something that was almost comforting.

She still felt the pain of killing Angel every second that she breathed, but it didn't seem to suffocate her the same way that it had before she told him. When she looked at him, she saw she wasn't alone and it made it a little bit easier to bear. She couldn't go back to Sunnydale, and she wasn't sure that if she did fight she wouldn't lose, but at least she had Methos in her corner. He believed in her, and he didn't think she was a monster. Whatever else happened, that meant something to her.

"So what was this guy's name then?" Joe was asking as he pulled out a laptop from behind the bar.

"Klossen," Methos supplied. "Alexander Klossen."

"What are you doing?" Buffy wondered.

"Checking the Watcher's database to see if Klossen is in here. We don't know what vampire turned him, but we could possibly find out something about the immortal he was before the change."

"That's the part I don't get," Buffy interrupted. Methos had told her before getting to Joe's that Klossen had somehow managed to combine both the vampire's essence and his immortal one, needing only her blood and quickening to complete a deadly triad. However, she had a feeling that he had been holding out on her with some of the information and hoped that Joe wouldn't think to spare her. "I mean, you said that immortal blood was poisonous to vampires. So if that's true, how did a vampire manage to turn Klossen? It would be suicide wouldn't it? Speaking from experience let me tell you that they aren't the least bit altruistic and unless they have bleached blonde hair, they won't under any circumstances give up their lives for someone else's."

"As far as I can tell, whatever vampire turned him didn't." Joe replied. "There's an ancient ritual that a vampire can perform that will allow their own sort of…personality to be transferred and merged with the immortal. I'm pretty sure that's what happened. Basically there's two of them inside and if they end up draining you Anne…"

"Three." She answered heavily, understanding all too fully the implications. Looking back to Joe who was still at the computer, she frowned. "And you're sure you can find Klossen in that database? Shouldn't we be looking at some books or something?"

"We made the database to get rid of the books." Joe told her. "And not without difficulty either, let me tell you. The books were too bulky."

"Never thought I'd hear a watcher say that," she murmured thinking of Giles and wondering when she too had developed his mistrust of computers. Maybe it was the fact that it was the elderly Joe Dawson behind the screen and not Willow that was making her uneasy.

"I take it this means you'll fight this guy when we have the proper information on him?" Joe was saying. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked back at the watcher. He was staring at her intently and she couldn't help but shrink back slightly.

"I…I guess." She finally told him.

"You're going to need more commitment than that." Duncan MacLeod said from behind as the door swung closed behind him. She noticed that Richie Ryan, the kid she had met in the bar before walked beside him.

"Back off Mac," Methos told his friend in a warning tone. Buffy shook her head and touched Methos' shoulder lightly.

"It's OK," she told him. "I get what Duncan's saying. And I might not be at full slayer commitment yet, but I'm aiming for it OK?"

"Fair enough." Duncan answered, staring at her curiously. She knew the others were all wondering what had affected her change in attitude. She wasn't sure what to tell them. She didn't want them to know the details of why she left. Only Methos could fully understand what she had done. She couldn't bear to tell the story again, especially when they wouldn't understand. Still, she knew if she was ever going to stop running and start fresh she would have to be at least somewhat honest. It seemed partial truths were the way to go.

"Oh, and for the record, my name is Buffy Summers."

"Buffy?" Richie pronounced the name and made a funny face as he did so. She glared at him, and he backed off.

"So what made you change your mind?" Duncan was asking her. There was the hard question. Buffy wasn't sure what to tell them. Stealing a look in Methos' direction, she took a deep breath.

"Look, to be honest, I don't want to talk about it." She gestured towards Methos. "When Methos came in and told me about the dead girl and I saw how badly Klossen had beat him I kinda wigged OK? Let's just leave it at that."

"The great and powerful Methos taken down twice!" Richie snickered to himself. "That must do wonders for your self esteem old man. Pretty soon you're gonna start needing Viagra just to get your sword up."

"One more crack from you kid and you'll really see what my sword can do." Methos growled.

"I'm confused, was that a homoerotic pass at me, or were you threatening bodily harm?" Richie's voice was puzzled, but still joking. Methos sighed and grabbed the kid by his ear until he cried uncle. Buffy watched the interplay and suddenly missed the Scooby gang more than ever. Richie's antics reminded her fiercely of Xander and Methos' responses, oddly of Cordelia, but that could just have been Richie's homoerotic comment talking.

She missed them desperately but was starting to feel more and more that her absence could only be better for them. With her gone, they could live normal lives. Maybe Giles could even find someone again. It had been her fault that Jenny was killed. Her relationship with Angel had led to his change and ultimately her death. Maybe without her they could find some peace. And maybe someday she would learn to joke around with this group of people with the same ease that she had done so with her old friends.

"Hey I found Klossen!" Joe exclaimed, turning the screen of the laptop to face them.

"What does it say?" Buffy was stuck behind Duncan and Methos, both of which were far taller than her and blocking her view.

"All bad news I'm afraid." Duncan replied. "He's killed a lot of immortals and from all watcher accounts up until now, he's pretty psychotic."

"An evil psychotic immortal," Methos mused. "It's a wonder you haven't run into him before Mac."

"Funny." Duncan said dryly.

"So…what do we do now?" Buffy wondered. "I mean, looking him up is fine and well. We did, and now we have Klossen's greatest hits in front of us, but that still doesn't get us any closer to figuring out how to beat him. This whole database find is seeming pretty square-one-y to me."

"She's right." Methos agreed. "What about Klossen's watcher, Joe? You think you could get a hold of him and maybe ask him some questions about where our boy has been or what he's planning? I mean surely the council must know by now what this guy has become."

"That's a good point." Joe said with a nod. "I'll put in a call to headquarters."

"Great, but what do we do in the meantime?" Buffy asked anxiously. "He said more would die, and I don't know about you, but standing around in this bar doesn't seem to be the safest place to be holed up. I mean, he could come in here at any time without an invitation and challenge me and I'm nowhere near ready to face him."

"He can come in, but he can't take your head." Methos assured her. "Immortals can't fight on holy ground."

"I know you love beer man, but not everybody is gonna consider Joe's holy ground." Richie put in. Methos rolled his eyes.

"Joe had the place blessed by a priest this morning Richie." He retorted. "We're holy ground all right. I just don't know why he didn't do it the second he became Mac's watcher. I mean, he's an evil immortal magnet."

"I guess that's why I hang around you," Duncan replied smoothly. Methos looked slightly surprised at Duncan's response, but recovered quickly.

"Touche."

"OK, fine, I'm in church land." She looked towards the others, trying not to let them see her worry. "I still don't know how to fight."

"I believe that's why Methos called me." Duncan said as he slowly pulled his dragonhead katana from wherever it was that he kept it. "Are you ready to begin training then?"