Greg Bell walked briskly through the empty parking lot, cursing himself for parking so far away. Although he loved his job, he was finding that too often he was working well past sundown. Greg wasn't an idiot. He knew Sunnydale after dark was not a safe place. Too many times he read in the paper, or saw on the news, yet another person who "mysteriously vanished." The cases always remained unsolved, as if the Sunnydale Police Department turned a blind eye to them. He wondered what was in the water in this town that made people forget so easily.
He was almost to his car when he heard footsteps behind him. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, peering into the darkness, seeing nothing but the empty office building. He shook his head, mumbled something about needing more sleep, and turned to continue his walk to his car, only to come face to face with someone. No…something.
Greg dropped his briefcase and backed away from the creature. It looked like a person… but their face…he gasped out loud at the creature's deformed features. The thing snarled at him and Greg saw a mouthful of fangs.
The vampire stalked towards Greg, who tried to back away in horror, but he tripped over his feet and fell flat on his back, scraping his elbow in the process. The vampire sniffed the air and smiled, smelling the blood coming from the wound. The vamp crouched over Greg and bared his fangs. Greg was about to scream out, knowing this was the end of his life, when the vampire was suddenly thrown off him and landed about four feet away with a thud.
Greg looked up in shock at a petite blonde girl, who couldn't be over 20 years old. He watched in awe and she beat down the creature that was easily twice her size. After a few more punches and kicks, she whipped out a wooden stake and stabbed it into the vampire's chest. Greg's mouth dropped open as the thing exploded in a cloud of dust.
Silence hung in the air as the girl brushed the dust off her clothes and then walked over to where Greg was still on the ground. He stared at her, mouth agape, not believing what he just saw.
"You okay?" Buffy asked as she extended her hand down to him. Greg stared at it for a second before grabbing it and letting her easily pull him up to a standing position.
"I…uh…yeah I think so…" Greg stammered. He looked down at his scraped elbow and saw a small amount of blood through the torn shirt.
Buffy inspected it and said, "It's not too deep, just wash it good when you get home. Maybe put some antibiotic ointment on it."
Greg barely heard her. "Was that a…a vam-vampire?" he asked. Buffy reluctantly nodded yes. No use in hiding it now. "And you're a…" he continued, not quite sure how to finish that sentence.
"Vampire Slayer," Buffy said. "It's kind of my job. Or more of a calling, really," she added.
"Oh," Greg said, still stunned. "Okay." He reached down to pick up his briefcase and walked towards his car. Buffy followed him, making sure he got in and locked the doors.
Before driving off, Greg rolled down the window and said, "Thank you."
Buffy smiled and said, "Get home safe." She watched him pull out of the parking lot before continuing the evening's patrol.
"Well it sounds like you really like your Psychology class, Buffy," Joyce said as she looked over her grocery list and pulled the appropriate items off the shelf. "Maybe you should think of it as an option for your major."
"I like the material, it's just that the professor is a real bitch," Buffy said as she absentmindedly pushed the grocery cart behind her mother. Joyce gave her daughter a look at her use of language and Buffy rolled her eyes. "Sorry. But it's true. And the TA keeps giving me the lusty eye." Joyce raised her eyebrows at Buffy who added, "Don't you dare tell Angel. I don't want my Psych TA showing up with a black eye on Monday. Oh! Grab the Double Stuffed Oreo's!"
Joyce gave her daughter a look again and said, "You know Buffy, you're living on your own now. You can grocery shop yourself."
Buffy sighed in frustration and said, "But they're right there!"
"Fine," Joyce said, adding the package to the cart. Buffy smiled to herself and continued to push the cart down the aisle.
They were rounding the corner to go down the next aisle when a middle-aged man nearly bumped his cart into theirs.
"Sorry," the man said. He then looked up and said, "Oh, hi!"
Buffy stared at him a little confused before recognizing him as the man she saved the other night from a vampire. "Oh hey, how's the elbow?"
"Fine," he said, rubbing it slightly. "Thank you again, for the other night. Somehow 'thank you' doesn't seem like enough."
Buffy waved her hand dismissively and said, "Just doing my job." Joyce looked between them, a confused look on her face. Seeing this, Buffy added, "I saved him from becoming a midnight snack."
"Ah, I see," Joyce said, nodding her head in understanding.
Buffy's phone suddenly rang in her pocket and she pulled it out and looked at the screen. It was Angel. "Sorry, gotta grab this."
She walked further down the aisle she just came from, away from Joyce and Greg and answered the phone. "Hey there."
"Hi, how are you?" Angel responded through the phone.
"Good, just grocery shopping with Mom. How are things with you?" she asked.
"Fine, just wrapping up the paperwork on a case. Can I bring anything to dinner this weekend?"
"No I think we're good. Although Mom does loves that wine and cheese you get from that little Italian shop near your apart-Oh my GOD," Buffy suddenly exclaimed.
"What?" Angel asked, slight nervousness coming through in his voice.
"She is totally flirting with him!" Buffy said loudly, watching Joyce and Greg at the other end of the aisle.
"Huh?"
Seeing that she was getting a few odd looks from other shoppers, she lowered her voice and whispered into the phone, "My MOTHER! We ran into this guy I saved from a vamp the other night, and she is FLIRTING."
Angel let out a snort of laughter and said, "Go Joyce."
Buffy ignored him and continued to watch her mother. "Oh God, she put her hand on his arm…Angel she is touching him!"
"Buffy, relax," Angel told her. "She's alone a lot more now, since you're out of the house. This could be good for her."
"Sure, you said that about Robo-Creep too, and remember how that turned out?" Buffy retorted.
"I'm sure this guy is not a robot, Buffy."
"Whatever," Buffy let out in a huff. Seeing that Greg was walking away to continue shopping, Buffy said to Angel, "I gotta go, I'll see you Friday?"
"See you Friday. Love you," Angel said.
"Love you too," Buffy said before hanging up. She walked down the aisle towards Joyce, who had a goofy grin on her face.
"Um, what was that?" Buffy asked.
"He's coming to dinner on Friday," Joyce said, pushing the cart further down the aisle to finish up her grocery shopping.
Buffy stared at her back, her mouth open slightly, and then followed her down the aisle. "What?! But Angel's coming to dinner Friday!"
"I know," Joyce said. "Consider it a double date."
Buffy scoffed at her mother before saying, "Whatever, as long as he's not a robot."
Friday evening at seven o'clock sharp, Greg rang the doorbell to Joyce Summers' home, bouquet of flowers and bottle of wine in hand. Buffy flung the door open and looked Greg up and down before moving aside to let him cross the threshold.
"Hi Buffy," Greg said in greeting. "These are for your mother," he said, holding up the flowers.
Buffy just took the wine bottle from him and said, "Thanks." Angel came into the foyer from the living room and Buffy said, "Greg, this is Angel, my boyfriend. Angel, this is Greg."
Angel held his hand out politely and shook Greg's. "Nice to meet you," he said.
Joyce came from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "Oh Greg, these are beautiful!" she said, taking the flowers from him. "You can hang your coat there," she said, motioning to the coat rack. "I've got some appetizers in the kitchen, come on in."
Buffy watched Greg warily as he took off his coat. "You're not a robot, are you?" she asked bluntly.
"What?" Greg asked her, confused.
"Buffy, that was one time," Joyce said with a sigh. "It's a long story," she added, looking at Greg apologetically.
"Nope, not a robot," Greg said. "Although I would take a robot over what I saw the other night." He walked toward the kitchen and said, "As long as there's no more vampires around, I think I'll be okay."
Joyce and Buffy looked up at Angel, who just raised his eyebrows. "Um, Greg?" Joyce called after him. "There is one more thing…"