2.

How can one man make such a mess in one small office that had no paperwork?

Why were takeout containers still even a thing?

And why were there clothes? Why were there dirty clothes in his office?

Buffy had so many questions as she sat in Pike's chair, bent over boxes on the floor, grumbling over his discarded clothes and trash. It wasn't that Pike's office was dirty, it was just messy. He treated it like he lived in it, which he did not, Buffy had seen his apartment and this was very much not it.

"Excuse me, hi, I'm…"

Buffy straightened up when she heard a new voice in the room and was not pleased to meet the very pleased smile of Jim Kirk.

Jim was looking for Pike. That was the goal. He hadn't expected to walk right into his mystery woman. What a fortunate twist of fate. He hadn't seen her since they day he arrived at Starfleet and every flash of blonde hair made him take a second look with no luck…until today.

"Yes?" Buffy asked, eyebrows raised expectantly.

He hadn't said anything. He just stood there like he'd found a shiny penny on the ground – if he knew what a penny was.

"Jim Kirk," he said by way of introduction as he walked towards her.

"Uh-huh," she acknowledged flippantly. "And what is Jim Kirk doing in this office?"

"Waiting for the beautiful girl in front of me to tell me her name."

Smooth. Buffy could acquiesce that much. But just that much.

Jim smiled, waiting for her to finally give him a name to her face. But she said nothing. She looked like she'd heard the line a million times over and was not at all impressed. She raised her eyebrows, made a subtle tsk and gently pushed herself back from the desk. And his charming smile turned to rapt confusion.

Buffy bent down to retrieve her bag and slung the strap over her head.

"Pike should be here soon," was her response, rising from her seat and walking around him. "If you feel like waiting."

Jim turned to face her as she made her way to the door. "And what makes you think I'm looking for Captain Pike?"

"Because you're in his office," she replied dryly over her shoulder.

Right. Slightly embarrassed but undeterred, Jim didn't let his opportunity slip. "Are you at least going to tell me your name before you leave?"

"No," she said firmly without turning back.

"How about a drink?"

"No."

Strike after strike after strike. Jim plopped into a chair and smiled to himself. The girl was definitely not going to make it easy. He didn't want to scare her off, but he wasn't ready to writer her off either just yet. They had at least one year on campus together, he was sure of that much, one year of chances he was looking forward to taking. If he could only get her name…

Buffy didn't know why he bugged her so much. She hadn't seen Jim since he arrived at Starfleet. She hadn't thought about him at all, but the moment she saw his face something wigged her nerves. It wasn't a bad wig, just an annoying one. By the way he hit on her, and that girl at the bar, she knew he was a womanizer, gigolo, player, or whatever the term was. He had one thing on his mind and it was not friendship. Still, she had met other womanizers, gigolos, players or whatever and they never rattled her nerves this much. Maybe she was just hungry. She had skipped lunch while cleaning Pike's office and maybe it was her stomach overriding her patience.

The possibility still egged her mind when she came across Pike's path on her way to the stairs.

"Kirk's in your office," she warned him.

"What's he want?"

"Didn't say. Don't care," she replied with a shrug.

Pike raised a skeptical eyebrow. "He must have said something. He's not exactly shy."

Buffy rolled her eyes, giving in. "He did ask for my name."

"And did you give it to him?" he teased.

"No."

Of course not. How could he think of such a thing. "Did you finish cleaning up?"

"Yeah, mostly, left some stuff in boxes, and I have to ask. Why do you have dirty clothes in there? I mean what are you do –" A sudden thought came to her mind. A very much unwelcomed one that gave her the icks. Adults eating band candy kind of icks. "You know what? I don't wanna know. Blegh. Bye."

Shaking her head to erase the icky thoughts, Buffy walked down the hallway that would lead to much nicer things that would distract her like burgers and cookie dough ice cream.

Pike ignored her obviously wrong ideas of why there were dirty clothes in his office and began walking backwards to said office.

"Where you headed now?" he asked.

"Food and then maybe a lobotomy!"

Pike smiled as he watched her leave. Ever since she had known about his existence, Buffy seemed so irritated by Jim, and Pike found it amusing. He had never seen someone get to Buffy like Kirk seemed to by just existing. Sure, Buffy wasn't the friendliest of people. She was overly guarded and too busy to form proper friendships, but she wasn't dismissive or impatient. She was kind, caring and even had the casual classmate she could a call a friend, but when it came to Jim, something just strummed her the wrong way. Pike found it intriguing as no one else, besides himself, could get past the extremely hard stoic shell she placed around herself, not yet…but if Jim had the ability to affect her by his presence alone, maybe one day…

"Kirk," he greeted as he strolled over to his desk and sat down.

Snapping out of his daydreaming, Jim sat up in attention. "Hi, sir."

"What can I help you with?"

"Well, the girl that was just in here –"

"No."

Okay, then. Jim smiled politely and moved on to discuss the academic reason he had sought Pike for in the first place.

The blade swooped past her, nearly missing her scalp as she ducked down. Straightening back up, Buffy blocked the second sword that came for her neck. The first fighter soon regained her momentum and was about to swing her blade down when Buffy readily put a kick to their chest, sending her back. With a strong swing of her sword, Buffy was able to push back the blade from the second swordsman and he stumbled back.

They had been going at it for nearly an hour. Two swords against one. The sounds of clashing blades and pounded flesh traveled in the room. It wasn't meant to be a private session, but Buffy was still surprised when by the end of it the trio had gathered a bit of an audience.

With their session ticking down to their final minutes, Buffy managed to disarm both her opponents and fought them until they collapsed on the mat. Just because she was holding back, it didn't mean she wasn't going to push their limits. She wouldn't be much of a trainer if she did.

"Next time," Elian, sword number two, managed between breathes, "…just kill me…"

Everything hurt. Elian knew training with Buffy would be hardcore, but this…he should've known better than to have asked her to go all out. He really hated himself right now.

"Same," Karah, sword one, agreed. "Just one quick cut right here," she added, swiping a dark yellow hand across her neck.

"It wasn't that bad," Buffy tried to appease. "And you both did great."

The pair groaned in response and Buffy couldn't help but smile. They were good. Some of the best fighters she had come across. They just needed a little more fire and a little less by the numbers.

"Go back to your rooms and take really long showers," she advised, "sleep for as long as possible and I'll see you in two weeks."

From their place on the ground, Elian and Karah barely managed to wave Buffy off as she headed away from them. And they wondered if they could just sleep where they were, infractions be damned.

Buffy walked to the edge of the practice mat, knelt down and unzipped her bag, ready to pull out a water bottle and a clean towel. The group that had been watching them had dispersed, but one lingered and caught her by surprise.

"Hi!" he greeted, nervous excitement coloring his tone. Buffy didn't exactly jump but there was a twitch of startlement. "Sorry, hi. I'm Sulu. Hikaru Sulu."

Buffy rose up and smiled politely. "Buffy Summers."

There was still that nervous excitement. Sulu had watched her fight before, a few times, and he marveled at her technique. He wanted to approach her before, but nerves kept him from doing anything but watching and waiting – at least until today.

"I was watching you fight and it's…wow. How long have you been training?"

Buffy gave a small smile at the loaded question. "Uh, let's just say too many years."

"I've never seen that kind of sword style before. Everyone's usually so –"

"Robotic?"

"Yeah," he replied amidst a short laugh. "I-I mean I am too, sometimes, with Fencing. But the way you fight it's more…natural – instinctive, I guess is what I'm trying to say. It's different. I like it – I mean it's kinda…I wish I could fight like that."

You need to make friends. Proper friends. Pike's words suddenly came forth in her mind, and despite telling him she had the casual acquaintance he still, albeit gently, pushed her. This was her life now, he said, and she can't keep hiding behind her studying and her books. She can't keep just training on her free time. She needed friends around her own age. True friends that could make her happy, give her a reason to actually live in this new world.

So, with a thumping heart and steeled nerves, Buffy sent out her first true olive branch.

"Okay, I hope this isn't going to make me sound like a complete loser, but I train most days, swords, hand-to-hand, and other stuff, if you ever want to…I-I mean I'm not trying to assume – but if you ever want someone to train with…"

Sulu's elated smile immediately eased all her nerves. "Yeah, yeah, definitely."

And there it was. Buffy was on her way to making an actual friend. Of course, he would be a sparring partner for now, but the possibility was there. Yay, her.

Starfleet Academy and Starfleet Headquarters were heavily protected. Obviously. The area was watched around the clock which made its inhabitants feel relatively safe. The problem, however, was being a vampire slayer who still had her spidey sense on alert.

Vampires were like roaches. They snuck out at night and out of every crevice. They got better at blending over the years. Sometimes they snuck onto campus and hunted the wandering cadet. But it was rare. Killing too many would bring too much attention. Buffy managed to dust four since her arrival at Starfleet. A very small number compared to her previous record.

Tonight, she went past the barriers of protection. It was quite a trek, over half an hour out. But she knew the nightly monsters would be there. Along the empty the paths and groups of trees. Waiting for the occasional jogger or pedestrian to walk by. The monsters would wander away from the bars and restaurants where people were living their ordinary lives. Away from watchful techy eyes. It's where Buffy would wander, too. At least until midnight. She had a test tomorrow she really needed to extra-study for. Who knew engineering would be so difficult?

"Come out, come out wherever you are," she called into the night. She looked down at her watch: 23:56. Well that answers that. "Guess I should call it a night. I mean, good, no one was hurt but…I really could've used the study time."

Buffy looked around her one more time and turned to leave. Of course, that's when she heard the screaming.

She took off and headed east. In between a group of overgrown bushes was a woman, her head forced to the side by another woman and a pair of fangs barely puncturing her skin.

"Vampires," she said aloud, grabbing the pair's attention. "Never respect anybody's time."

And with a stake in her hands, Buffy headed straight into battle.