Disclaimer: don't own it. The stuff, I mean. Not the idea. I own that.

Teaser: getting lost in Basin City… not a good idea, even for the Slayer

Spoilers: post Chosen (7.22) and pre-Marv's story of the "Sin City" movie

Just Passing Threw

Buffy Summers was discovering that—while, yes, the savior of the world—she seemed to have no directional skills whatsoever.

After driving around for close to two hours and not finding the airport she was supposed to take to Europe she dug around her bag for her cellphone in the passenger's seat. Good thing Dawn had decided to finish her high school out in L.A. or her younger sister would be panicking right now.

She punched the numbers into her cellphone and was disappointed in getting Giles's answering machine. "Can't you be home for once?" she said in her receiver. "Listen, I'm stuck on some back road and I have no clue where the hell I am. And, I—"

Her line went off and she cursed, looking down at the tiny phone that demanded to be recharged. She tossed it into the back seat in disgust. Her rented car was running low on gas too…

"Shit," she said passionately and then her eyes narrowed as they zeroed in on a tiny, green road sign.

BasinCity…

Why did that leave a bad, tingling feeling in the pit of her stomach? She was sure she had heard of the name before. But where?

It didn't matter. A city meant shops and bars and stuff. That meant phones. That meant another chance to call Giles or maybe Xander even or—please, God, no—Angel. After all, L.A. wasn't that far from here, was it? Buffy really had no clue.

The next fifteen minutes of her life was spent avoiding eye contact with anyone on the streets and thinking a very Giles-like thought: good Lord…

Growing up in L.A., Buffy was almost sure she had seen the epitome of urban decay. But driving through Basin City… her eyes were opened up to a whole new world. Buffy eyed the decaying buildings, and graffiti-ed cars, and suspicious looking guys in dark clothes.

"Hellmouth?" she wondered out loud and then shook her head. If Basin City was a Hellmouth Giles would have mentioned it. After all, he couldn't stop talking about that big, new threat that was Cleveland. "Forget it. Just find a bar or something."

That was easier said then done. Buffy had no doubt she could handle herself in the city, but she didn't want to go looking for trouble. Which, she found, was pretty hard not to do. All she wanted was a damned phone…

Cursing again, she decided that no matter what she did, she wasn't going to find a decent looking bar in this Basin City and stopped at the next one she saw on the cluttered streets. This one was glowing with lights, at least, and looked a little inviting. Not much, but it was something.

The name said it was called Kadie's.

As she stepped out of the car, she eyed it. Would it even be there when she got back? She was sure there were one or two guys in dark corners eyeing it greedily. Buffy sighed and locked it up, praying.

Buffy walked into the bar—which was nothing like the Bronze—and took her in surroundings, like her Slayer instincts told her to. There were several shady characters at tables in the back and several more unfriendly looking tough guys at the long bench of the bar.

The cargo and leather she was wearing probably wasn't the best way to blend in.

There was a pretty, young teenage girl dancing a near-illegal dance up on the bar's stage, blonde hair sticking to her head from sweat. Buffy had a strange—and really creepy—image of Dawn doing the same thing.

Let's get this over with, Buffy thought and really wanted out.

A friendly looking waitress in a ridiculously short skirt bounced over to her. Her face was pretty and fresh. Buffy almost sighed with relief. Friendly. Friendly is good. "Hey, honey, can I help you?"

"I'm lost," Buffy said, feeling lame. "Totally, utterly, completely lost. And my cellphone's shot. Can I borrow a phone?"

"Sure picked a city to get lost in," the waitress drawled while lowering a tray onto her dainty hips. "It's in the back, near the bathroom."

"Thanks… um… Miss…?"

"Shellie," the blonde answered.

"Yeah, thanks. I owe you one." Actually, Buffy considered, since she stopped the First she and the woman were probably even now.

But she didn't say that and Shellie walked over, bringing a drink over to one of the shady characters Buffy had noticed in the back. An attractive, dark-haired man with a neutral look on his face. Shellie gave him a suggestive wink.

Ah… a kindred spirit, Buffy thought wearily, smiling. She was always drawn to the bad types too… especially if they were vampires.

Shaking her head, she strode behind the bar and caught the eye of one of the tough guys sitting at the bar. He was probably the toughest. And ugliest. He stared at Buffy as if she wasn't real. The Slayer really couldn't blame him. Here she was—small, blonde, and preppy—in the drudges of the worst city around.

She smiled at him and thought: you should see me at a graveyard. He looked away, surprised, and she grabbed the phone in the darkness of the small hallway.

Giles was home this time. "Buffy, good Lord! Do you have any idea how much I was worried about you?"

"Sorry. Guess saving the world doesn't automatically make me a good driver," Buffy admitted with a hush-hush sound. "Listen, could you come and pick me up? I'm in Basin City and I have no idea where I am."

"Basin City? Buffy, how on earth did you end up in bloody Basin City?"

"Like I said, not a good driver." Buffy glanced around her shoulder to make sure no one was listening to her. No one was. No one cared. "I was thinking Giles. I've been here for about a half an hour, maybe, and my Slayer senses are all abuzz. Are you this isn't—?"

"A Hellmouth?" Giles finished for her and Buffy nodded, even if he couldn't see it. "Positive. I did careful research as well, after I saw the mortality rate down there. It's just a bad city."

"Okay, but that doesn't mean there aren't vamps afoot," Buffy muttered as she watched two of them stroll into the bar. "I think they have Buffadar, something. Every time I stop for gas or food I end up fighting these guys."

"Buffy, what—"

"I'll call you back. Duty calls." She hung up and slowly approached the side of the bar. Then she cursed when she realized she left her Scythe back in the car. No one better steal that.

"We're looking for someone," vamp number uno was saying to the silenced crowd. "A girl. She's the Slayer and she's in our territory. Thought we show her the rules."

"Ah, come on guys," Buffy drawled as she came up from the side of the bar. Big, Tall, and Scarred had already gotten up from his seat. At least a chair was available now. Good for breaking and making of the sharp objects. "I was just passing through."

The vamps wheeled around and lunged. Buffy rose to meet them, gripping the Big Guy's chair and smashing it into usable stakes.

And then everything turned into an all out supernatural fistfight. Shady characters and tough guys and strippers and barmaids alike were helping Buffy out. If it weren't all so creepy, she'd been touched.

Another fifteen minutes later, Buffy was getting into her car with directions to the highway and a list of names. The ones that helped her, just in case she ever found herself back in Basin City. Not that she planned to be. She didn't tell them that.

Marv, Dwight, Nancy, and Shellie. Those she'd remember, even down in Europe.

No one in the bar asked for explanations. No one wanted to know why the guys had burst to dusts when Buffy had given them proper stakes through the heart. And honestly? She didn't offer. Giles would be pissed off as it was.

Before driving away, she stuck her head out the window. "Guys?" she said, noticing them still standing in front of the bar, making sure she got the hell out of their city. "Guns are nice, but not so good with the killing of vampires." A lot of guys in the bar hadn't seemed to get that.

Then she gunned and the engine and rode off into the night, never to return again.

Until Giles discovered it really was a Hellmouth, actually.

Notes: you know, my brother has a bunch of these graphic novels, but I've never read them. I'm more of a manga girl myself. But I did like the movie, even though I was dragged from my room kicking and screaming. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe I'll check out the comics?