Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except the characters that I create. This goes for all chapters.
Rated R for violence and anything else.
Thanks for all of the great reviews. Now let me answer a few questions. To keep right side up, yes Xander is going to get physical training but he want do any of that hyena stuff anymore. But wait until you see what I do when the halloween episode comes around. It's going to change Xander's life forever.
Also to Kcoll2003, what Kendra was doing wasn't out of arrogance. Even though I didn't put it in the fanfic, basically what happened was the vampire population was getting out of control in Jamaica, so the council decided that Kendra could handle it. Thanks to Mr. Zabuto she was a trained martial artist, so they should have been able to defend themselves.
Besides it's not like the council cared about the potentials.
anyway on with the next chapter.
Chapter 1
Two days later
The funeral ceremony was short and simple for Buffy. Giles and even the police decided to lie to Joyce, Buffy's mom. They told her that Buffy was caught in the cross fire from rival gangs on PCP. They just thought that it would be easier that way.
Joyce, however was still heartbroken over the loss of her daughter. Counting her losses, right after the funeral she moved back to L.A.
The rest of the scooby gang took the death of Buffy differently. Giles was completely devastated. He had failed. In his heart of hearts he knew this day would come. But how can you be prepared for such things.
Buffy and him would alway's argue with each other, but he had to admit, she was growing on him. In many ways he felt like Buffy was more like a daughter to him. Lowering his head at the thought of his greastest failure he watched as they lowered Buffy's casket lower into the ground.
-
Xander watched as they began to lower Buffy's casket into the earth. Even though he tried to be strong for Willow, he couldn't stop the tears from falling from his eyes. God why couldn't I just have been there a little sooner? Maybe I could have stopped all of this? He shook his head ruefully at that thought.
'It didn't matter how fast I got there, I couldn't do a damn thing.' Then his thoughts went to Angel. 'That bastard. He's a vampire and if he wasn't such a damn coward he could have helped Buffy kill the Master and she would still be alive.'
'No, I can't blame everything on the guy, even though I hate him. Plus with both of them gone their's no one to defend the hellmouth.' He chanced a glance up at Giles to see how he was holding up. His heart almost broke as he saw the older man, obviously fighting his own personal demons and grief.
'Maybe I'll talk to Giles later. I'm going to need someone to train me.' He was broke out of his dark reverie as Willow squeezed his hand tightly. Looking down at her he saw that she was crying. At that moment something inside of Xander broke. He silently promised himself that no matter what he would protect his best friend.
'Yeah I'm definately talking to the G-man tomorrow. I already lost Jesse and now Buffy, but I'll be damned if I lose Willow too.' with that thought he held onto Willow tighter. Now was not the time for war, it was just time for grieving.
-
Willow was heart broken, because she lost her new bestfriend. Looking up at Xander she walked up closer to him and leaned on him for support. All her life she idly wondered why so many of her friends died.
Beyond popular belief Willow and Xander had plenty of friends growing up, but most of them died mysteriously or just went missing. But there was alway's Jesse, Xander, and herself. Looking down at Buffy's casket she knew then why her friends didn't make it.
As she squeezed Xander's hand hard, just to make sure that he was still there, she was surprised that he squeezed her's back just as hard. Looking up at him she stared at his face. For once in his life he didn't look goofy, he had a look of determination and down right anger written on his face.
Promising herself that she would talk to him about that later, she leaned up against him in a form of a hug. As the two friends stood there holding each other, they watched as they started piling dirt on Buffy's casket. They had to remind themselves why they were here. They were saying goodbye to a friend.
Three days later
"Yes....yes Mister Travers I understand. Goodbye to you to sir." Zabuto said as he hung up the phone. Even though Kendra had her new found power, Zabuto still wanted to get a few things confirmed by the council.
It was a harsh reality but Miss Buffy Summers was dead. His heart ached at that thought. It was always young girls that died fighting against the darkness. But that was life. The life of a Slayer. To fight to the bitter end.
But her death wasn't in vain, she helped to bring down Lotho's and The Master. Two of the most oldest and dangerous vampires in existence.
"I just hope my girl can make a difference." Zabuto muttered to himself.
"What was dat, sir?" Kendra asked, snapping Zabuto out of his musings.
"Oh, I said that was the council." Zabuto smoothly lied. "They said that after we bring down the local vampire population, they want us to immediately report to Sunnydale."
"Sunnydale, why do we have to go dare?" she asked.
" It's the hellmouth. The Coven warned the council and told them that in the coming years the hellmouth will start to flare with power...."
"And dat's going to bring alot of demons." Kendra finished for him.
"Exactly." Zabuto said with a bit of pride in his voice. He had trained Kendra well.
"Well it's best that we get ready for patrol." Zabuto said as he stood to his feet and grabbed a short sword. "The faster we take down the local vampires, the faster we can report to Sunnydale."
With that said Kendra stood up and grabbed an axe. Twirling it in her hands she idly wondered why vampires would go to a place called Sunnydale.
In the slums of L.A.
A bum slowly shuffled into a darkened alley. Dazed and hungry he falls down to his knees. Seeing a rat on top of a dumpster he quickly lunges for it. As the rat squirms in his hands for freedom the bum lowers his fangs into the rat, sucking it dry.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen." a new york accented voice said out of the darkness. As the bum looked up he saw a short man with tacky clothes step out of the shadows.
Dropping the corpse of the rat, the bum stands to his feet and pushes the newcomer up against a wall.
"You said that I could save her!" the bum growled, still holding on to the now rapidly sweating man.
"No Angel, I didn't say that you could save her. I told you that you could help Buffy and she could get you started on your destiny."
"Well that didn't work out to well did it Whistler?" Angel asked with full of sarcasm in his voice as he let Whistler go.
"If it means anything to you I'm sorry. But let's be honest here, the prophesy said that she was meant to die. There was nothing you could have done."
"Why are you even here Whistler?" Angel asked as he began to pace around. "Did you come here to remind me how much I failed?"
"No I came to put you back on your destiny."
Before Angel could retort with a bitter reply about destiny, a girls scream was heard in the distance. Totally ignoring the knowing smirk on Whistler's face, Angel ran out of the alley and in the direction of the scream.
Whistler watched the retreating form of Angel as he ran out of the alley, with a smile on his face. Looking up to the heavens he mouthed the words "Thank you" and then he vanished into thin air.
Even though the scream sounded like it came from far away, it was only about a block. As Angel stopped by an old abandoned warehouse he saw a bunch of teenagers fighting off a group of vampires.
As he was about to turn and leave, sick to death of the whole destiny thing, he spotted a black girl huddled on the ground with a vampire looming over her. For a moment in his mind he thought about Buffy. 'What if that was how it was for Buffy? All alone and without hope.'
His decision made, he jumped in the path of the vampire and punched it in the face. The vampire looked back up at Angel, totally unfazed by the punch.
"You'll have to do better then that." the vamp announced as he started to fight Angel back. Even though Angel was a good fighter he was weak from not having enough blood. Losing hope quickly because the vamp was getting the better of him, Angel looks over his shoulder and see's an old beat up truck.
Using the rest of his vampiric strength, Angel lifts the vampire up by his neck and throws him all of ten feet where he is impaled on a large wooden stake mounted on the truck.
"Are you ok?" Angel asks the girl on the ground as he slowly approaches her.
"Alonna!" a black youth cries out as he see's his sister on the ground with a bum standing over her.
"Get the hell away from my sister!" the youth growls as he crouches down to see if she's alright. His gang came up behind him to see what the commotion was about.
"He....he saved me." she said simply as her brother helped her to her feet. Biting down his pride, the youth turned back around and stared at the stranger for a second.
"Thanks for saving my little sis, dog." he said as he extended his hand. "My name is Gunn."
TBC.......
