Patrolling a Cemetery
Denver, Colorado – December 1975
The wind whistled shrilly through snow-laden branches, and the tip of a nearly full moon was barely visible over dark clouds. Buffy gripped her stake tighter and fought off a shiver. It was nights like this that made her miss Sunnydale. Trying to patrol through shin-high snow was uncomfortable at best; a fatal hindrance at worst. The dark clouds moved, briefly uncovering the bright moon, and Buffy had to squint when the light reflected off the snow. She heard the crunching sound of footsteps coming from her right and threw the stake. She heard it imbed itself in a tree just as she opened her eyes.
Saied Jhossep was standing beside the tree, his heart not more than six inches from the quivering stake. She could see his wide, frightened eyes through the scarf, hat, and ear muffs he had insisted on wearing. Even after four months he still hadn't learned that she preferred to warn her victims before the kill. He thought she was trying to show off when he caught her at it, but she believed it gave the baddies a chance to state their intentions. Clem was proof enough that not all demons needed to be slayed.
"Relax, Joe, I purposely aimed to your left."
"Miss Bradley, you need to learn not to show off quite so often. When you know an enemy is approaching, you should always attack! Do not wait for it to attack you."
"By that logic, you're dead," Buffy pointed out.
Jhossep heaved the sigh of a man whose patience had been tested to his limits. "I said when an enemy is approaching, Miss Bradley."
"I heard you just fine."
"Then you still believe me to be your enemy?"
"You were sent by the Council to keep me in line, and to keep Giles out of my life. You'll be the enemy until you grow a pair and stop being the Council's little lap dog."
"Miss Bradley!"
"That's another thing. My name is Buffy. It's short and easy to remember. Try using it sometime."
"Then perhaps you should use my proper name and title."
"You haven't earned it yet."
"And how would I earn it?" he asked rudely. "By allowing your friends to patrol with you? To watch as you let them die because you don't take your calling seriously enough?"
"Watch what you say, Jhossep," Buffy warned, a dark fire burning behind her eyes. She had learned with Merrick, and later with Jesse, what happened when she tried to shirk her duties. She was tired of losing friends to the evil living in the world. And now this new, full of himself Watcher was trying to use a friend's possible death to control her. She took a step toward him, conscious of the fact that he stepped away as she did so, but was forced to turn her attention elsewhere when she heard the scream.
"I bet that's the first time you've been grateful for a demon," she murmured darkly. She turned and ran in the direction she heard the screams come from, not bothering to look back to see if Jhossep was following. She knew he was.
Buffy reached the demon just as it pulled a woman's head from her body. She watched in disgust as it placed the head in a pouch in the thing's chest. The sight of the demon bending over to eat the body finally forced her out of her shock. She didn't bother to say anything, having mostly grown out of her punning when she was in her forties and fifties, she just ran at the demon. She pulled a sword from the sheath on her back and swung it at the creature.
On the other side of a mausoleum, Jhossep paused to catch his breath. He stood just as a second and third demon appeared in front of him. Jhossep was unable to hold in a small shriek of terror at seeing the two large, snake-headed beasts bearing down on him. He fumbled open the bag he was carrying and tried to grab at the daggers he knew were inside. Just as the first one reached him, a crossbow bolt appeared in the thing's two-foot-long neck, right at the juncture between neck and shoulders. Jhossep looked to his left and saw Xander Monroe running out of the small grove of trees, swinging an axe over his head. Xander swung the axe in a wide arc, catching the final demon just under the jaw and decapitating it. Then, Xander calmly turned around and headed back into the trees, reappearing a moment later with a crossbow.
"Wha- what are you doing here, Mr. Monroe?" Jhossep questioned in a voice slightly more squeaky and breathy than normal. Xander flashed a quick grin at him.
"I never let Buffy go on a patrol by herself. The chances of her surviving the night are not in her favor."
"She's not alone. I'm here with her." Xander raised a single eyebrow and looked the watcher over, as if visually assessing his abilities, and finding them lacking. Jhossep found himself unnerved by the ancient, knowing gaze in those quick brown eyes.
"Her odds only drop with a pure Council Man at her back. You people are only good for your political skills. No, if I want to see Buffy survive, I'm not leaving her life in the hands of anyone I have known for less than forty years."
"Mr. Monroe, you're only sixteen," Jhossep pointed out, flustered. Xander gave him a mysterious, knowing smile.
Before a response could be made, Buffy rounded the corner and saw them talking. "Hey Xan! What are you doing here?"
"Just looking out for my bestest Slayer," Xander answered goofily. He wrapped an arm around the girl's slender shoulders and the duo started walking toward the cemetery exit. Jhossep remained rooted to his spot for a few moments longer, wondering what had just happened, and how the young man had changed his personality so quickly.