Denver, CO – July 1980

Willow's shriek drew the attention of everyone in the room. She flushed as red as her hair, but still kept her head up defiantly. Quickly, her friends gathered around to see what she had found.

"Okay, we've got good news, bad news, more good news, and more bad news," Willow announced. The Scoobies waited expectantly. "Good news the first: I found the slayer Called after Buffy. Bad news? She was killed four days ago by a master vamp. Good news part two: I found her successor. The bad news with that is she's currently living in New York, and is apparently a vigilante crime-fighter."

"Could be worse. What's her name?"

"Cassandra Cain. Apparently she was already a great martial artist until a few weeks ago, when some psychic scrambled her brain so she could speak."

"Well in that case, we might want to keep you and Giles away from her. She might have some lingering dislike of psychic abilities if she was upset at the loss of her skills. Joe and I can go talk to her. Maybe offer her a place with us?"

"Buffy," Joe countered, "The Council will be tracking her down soon, if they haven't already. It might not be wise to get involved with her life. As it stands you're lucky they haven't tried to kill you."

"Why would they try to kill her?" George asked.

"She's no longer the Chosen One. She's, at best, a spare. The slayer line no longer goes through her. It is now carried by Miss Cain. As such, they may see no reason to keep her around."

"Except that my parents would probably hunt them down and sue them so far into the dirt that their grandkids will still be paying the fees. It's kinda nice to have a full set of caring parents this time around."

"Back to the actual topic," Willow interrupted. "We don't have to invite her to join us. It might even make more sense for her to be elsewhere, just in case. But we should still try to contact her, just to let her know she has a support network. That way, if she ever needs backup, she knows she can always call us, but if she'd rather go solo we won't be in her way."

"Solo in the sense of the only slayer in the area, not the only person fighting, right?" Xander questioned. "Because you should really let her know that having any kind of backup is better than nothing."

"Yes Xander. That will come up in conversation. Now if you'll all excuse me, I need to go pack."

-=-

"Gloomy city. Check out the gargoyles on all the buildings," Buffy commented, walking backward down the dimly lit streets. Joe glanced up and snorted.

"They're hardly on every building, Buffy. And it's possible that this city looks 'gloomy' because we have yet to see it in full daylight."

"Assuming daylight ever touches this place."

"That's a rather dark thought from you."

"Yeah, I know. I'm not sure why, but this place reminds me of something. And whatever the something is, it's both amusing and extremely… dark."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. It's just… this place reminds me of something I saw… or read about… or possibly was told about in high school in Sunnydale... which might be why I'm having so much trouble remembering. It has been over seventy years since I stepped foot in that town."

"If this city bothers you so much, we should try to find Miss Cain quickly so we can return home."

"How do you suggest we do that? Stand in the streets and scream her name? Ooh! Wills said she was some kind of vigilante. Attack me!"

"What?!"

"It would make more sense to anyone stumbling onto the fight that the larger man was winning against the tiny blonde. Attack me. I'll start screaming for help, and that's when our new friend comes running in to save me."

"Have you forgotten that we want this girl to trust us? If we meet her under false circumstances, that will be rather difficult. Also, what do you propose we do if the police should manage to arrive first?"

"Oh… right. Okay, I guess I didn't think that one through. How about -" Buffy was interrupted by the arrival of a group of vampires. As she plunged her stake into the chest of the first one, she saw a small black-haired girl jump into the fight. She fought beautifully, but seemed confused when her opponents continued fighting after receiving a boot to the gut. Buffy yelled at her to catch, and threw a stake in her direction. The girl grabbed it, and then started to use it as a dagger, slashing at the vampires with it.

"Plunge it into the heart!" Joe called out to her. The girl's eyes widened and she shook her head. "They're not human. I promise. You must stick it through the heart."

Buffy fought her way closer to the girl, dusting every vampire she came into contact with. The girl finally thrust the stake forward, and watched with shock and a satisfied gleam as the last vampire exploded into dust before her eyes.

"What were those things?"

"Ah, that depends. What's your name?" Buffy asked. Joe rolled his eyes.

"Why do you want to know?"

"We're in town looking for a specific girl; you seem to match the rough description we have of her, and I wanted to make sure you really are her before I go and ruin the life of some regular girl."

"Why do you want to find the girl?"

"We'd like to offer help and a support network if she needs it. Name please?"

The girl sighed. "Cassie Cain."

"Perfect. I'm Buffy Bradley. This is Joe Saied. We've been looking for you. Those were vampires - evil, soulless creatures inhabiting corpses."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Well, I'm sure you noticed that you're suddenly stronger and faster than you've ever been. You've been Chosen as the newest Slayer. Congrats and welcome to the club."

Cassie led the duo to a small café as Buffy and Joe explained the history of the Slayer, what she might expect from the watchers, and their willingness to stay in contact with her. When they were finished, Cassie leaned back and tried to absorb everything they had told her.

"Cassie? There is one last thing. It's pretty important. Right up there with the first rule."

"First rule?"

"Of slaying. Don't die."

"Oh… odd rule."

"Not really," Buffy responded. "After a while most slayers end up with a death wish. That or they sacrifice themselves for the 'greater good'. You can do more alive than you can dead. It's important to remember that. Now, for that last thing - you need a solid support network. You need people who know what you are, that you trust to watch your back and help out in a fight. Those people will pull you out of some pretty tough situations, and they remind you of why you're fighting."

"I've got a few people like that."

"Then you're already a step up from most slayers. Make sure to include them in any meetings with your watcher. The watcher will want you to be a solitary hunter, but you're not made that way."

"Thank you."

"No prob. Did you want us to stick around for awhile; help you settle in?"

"Thanks, but I think I'll be alright."

"Okay. Here's a list of numbers you can reach me and my friends at if you ever need to talk to someone who's been there. Or if you ever just wanna chat."

The trio continued to chat for awhile, but went their separate ways as dawn broke over the city.

-=-

Dawn sighed as she shifted the bag at her shoulder. Her last class of the day was over and she was starting her walk home, desperately wishing her family was with her. She smirked at the irony of it all. Last time she was in college she just wanted everyone to go away for awhile; to leave her in peace. Now, here she was with all the peace in the world, and all she wanted was to have her family back with her.

She decided that her homesickness was reaching dangerous levels when she looked up and felt her heart stop. Across the road was a young man. Normally, it wouldn't be something all that exciting. But this man looked just like Andrew. She knew it wasn't likely, but with her desire to be around the familiar so strong, she decided to risk it.

"Andrew!" She yelled. The sandy-blond man paused, but didn't turn around. "Andrew Wells!" she tried again. This time he turned so quickly that she worried about whiplash. His blue eyes were wide with shock, hope, and excitement. He ran across the street to her, car horns blaring around him. He stopped within two feet of her and let his eyes rake across her figure. Tears filled the expressive orbs as he took a deep breath.

"Dawnie?" he whispered. She nodded silently, and grin forming on her face. "Dawnie! I thought I would never see you again!" He wrapped his arms around her in a bone-crushing hug. She wiggled in his embrace until her arms were free, then she wrapped them around his neck.

"We've missed you so much!"

"We?"

"The rest of us found each other about ten years ago. We… well they live in Denver, Colorado. Where have you been?"

"Oregon. Dawn I've missed all of you so badly."

"Wait until I tell the others that I've found you. I'd bet you anything they'll all want to fly out here to see you. Willow tried a locator spell on you every week for nearly three years, but it never worked. It just seemed to make the curtains catch on fire."