Say you will, say you will, give me one more chance
At least give me time to change your mind
It always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance…
Fleetwood Mac
 
CHAPTER ONE
 
“What do you mean ‘There’s a new sheriff in town?’ You guys are the sheriff, remember?” Buffy put her hands on her hips and glared around the room, noting for the first time how beat up the Cleveland slayers were.  “Is this why you called me here?” She gestured at the sulky-looking girls, a couple of which were trying to hide their casts and bandages.
 
“I didn’t want to,” Vi said, “but I was outvoted.”
 
Buffy turned her gaze on the only experienced slayer she knew. “Want to bring me up to speed, then?”
 
Vi sighed. “Okay, I haven’t seen him yet, but there’s a vamp out there who’s been killing demons and beating up every slayer he comes across. He tells them.... Becky, tell her what he told you.”
 
Becky squirmed and tried to hide behind her hair as she mumbled, “He told me I was going to get myself killed... and to go back and tell my boss I shouldn’t be on my own yet.” She raised her eyes to Buffy’s. “But I swear, until I fought him, I’ve never had any trouble. I’ve dusted lots of vamps!”
 
Buffy frowned at her. “He didn’t try to kill you?”
 
Becky shook her head, her hair swinging back and forth in front of her face.  “No,” she whispered. “He just knocked me out. When I came to, he was sitting on me and growling.  He shook me and yelled at me, and then he told me to “get my arse home”.
 
Buffy gave a little start. “He said ‘arse’?”
 
Becky nodded. “Yeah, Vi had to tell me it meant ‘ass’. Didn’t matter, I got the message loud and clear.”
 
“You didn’t know—“ Buffy stopped, reminding herself that many of the girls looking at her so earnestly were only in their early teens.  If she looked at them through less judgmental eyes, she had to admit that they seemed very young to be facing death every night.  She sighed and shook her head.  “Okay, so he sent you home to lick your wounds.  What about the rest of you?”
 
An angry-looking older brunette in the back of the room raised her hand.  “The son-of-a-bitch broke my arm. I would have had him if he hadn’t done that. My stake was on its way to his heart when he blocked it.” She seemed thoroughly offended that the vamp in question hadn’t accepted his fate as she’d expected him to.  Buffy couldn’t resist an eye roll, which she noticed Vi duplicating.
 
“Uh, were you under the impression that vampires don’t fight back?”
 
There was a lot of muttering around the room, before one of the other girls with a cast on her arm spoke up.  “Most of the vamps we find are still shaking off the dirt. They’re pretty easy pickings. The only things we really have to worry about are demons, but they don’t usually bother us much.”
 
“Are they ‘bothering’ anyone else?” Buffy asked. “You know, like the people you’re supposed to be protecting?”   She glared around the room, then back at Vi who looked mortified.
 
“They’re really better than this, Buffy,” she said, adding her glare to Buffy’s. “I know they act silly sometimes, but they try hard. They’ve just never had to go up against anything as tough as this vamp.”
 
“Okay. So, we’ve got an older, more experienced vampire in the area and he’s kicking your butts, but also taking out demons.  What I don’t get is why he hasn’t killed any of you yet. Slayer blood is like chocolate vitamins to vampires. It gives them lots of energy and tastes good too.”
 
She leaned against the big table in the middle of the room. “How about we go around the room and each one of you who’s met this vamp tells me what happened. I want to know everything – what’s he look like, how does he fight, what are his weaknesses, his strengths, what did he say to you? Everything.  Let’s start with you.” She pointed to the dark-haired slayer who’d been so angry at being defeated.
 
The girl swallowed hard, then lifted her chin.  “He’s not real tall, but he’s strong and very fast.  He doesn’t... I didn’t notice any weaknesses,” she admitted. “It felt like he was just playing with me. Even when I had the stake out, now that I think about it. He was laughing at me.”
 
“And did he say anything to you before he let you go?”
 
“He said some stuff under his breath, but I don’t think he was talking to me. Something about sending children to do a woman’s job, and stuff like that.” She shrugged apologetically. “My arm hurt really bad, I really wasn’t paying any attention to what he was saying, I just wanted to get away before he killed me.”
 
“Which he didn’t do.”
 
“Well, no. But he followed me! He followed me almost all the way back here. I just kept running and I guess he couldn’t catch me.”
 
“Uh huh,” Buffy grunted in disbelief before turning to another girl. “How about you? What’s your story?”
 
“Uh, I don’t really have one,” she said meekly. “The only time I saw him was when he was fighting with a demon. I was by myself, so I decided it didn’t matter who won, I needed backup. I called Vi, but by the time anybody else got there, the demon was dead and he was gone.”
 
“Okay, so you watched him. You weren’t distracted by fighting or a broken arm. What did you notice? What can you add to what...”—she looked at the dark-haired girl questioningly, and the girl muttered her name— “Rita said?”
 
“Um... I dunno. Really fast? He was a lot smaller than the demon, but he was all over him. And strong. He tore the demon’s head off.”
 
“Fast and strong. We already know that. Kinda comes with the vamp package. How about what he looks like? Does he wear distinctive or out of style clothing? Something that might tell us how old he is? Anything that would stand out if you spotted him from a distance?  Did you get a chance to see his human face? Would you notice him in a crowd? What about hair color? Something unusual like red hair? Or... bleached blond?” She exchanged looks with Vi and shrugged. “It’s not like Billy Idol was the only one to copy Spike’s look; one of them could have got himself turned before he developed better fashion sense.”
 
“No. Regular clothes – jeans, T-shirt, maybe some kind of motorcycle boots? Curly brown hair, but not so curly you’d notice it right away. Not like he had a ‘fro or anything like that.”
 
“So ordinary-looking? And you didn’t see his human face?”
 
All the girls shook their heads.  “He looked like an ugly vamp. Like there was something wrong with his face.  I’m not sure I’d recognize him if he wasn’t in game face,” a girl wearing bandages on her hands said. “He seems pretty ordinary – not real big, not wearing old styles, except for the accent—”
 
“Accent?”
 
“Yeah, he’s Australian or something. He doesn’t sound American.”
 
“What hand does he lead with?” Blank stares greeted her.  “When you’re fighting, what hand does he lead with, and which hand does he hit with the hardest?” Buffy looked at Becky. “He hit you. Which hand did he use? Right or left?”
 
“I didn’t see it coming,” Becky admitted, hanging her head. “We were fighting and then I just... all of a sudden – wham! I was on the ground seeing stars.”
 
Buffy gave an exasperated sigh. “All right, ladies. Take your vitamins, get some rest and heal.  Nobody goes out by herself until we’ve dusted this demon. Got it?”  The girls shifted their eyes to Vi, the nominal leader of their group, but muttered their agreement to Buffy’s order.  Buffy turned to Vi and asked, “Is there somewhere private we can talk?”
 
Vi gestured with her head and led Buffy into a small office near the kitchen. She closed the door and sank into a chair.  “They really are better than this, Buffy.” She repeated her earlier statement. “It’s just that there hasn’t been much going on here since they arrived and this is the first time they’ve gone up against something they can’t handle easily.  I’ll work with them more,” she added.
 
“I’m not blaming you,” Buffy said with a reassuring smile. “We sent these girls out, thinking they were trained and ready to go.  This is good information to take back to the school. We’ll have to make some changes to our training techniques to prepare them better for what kinds of demons and vamps they might come across.”
 
“It’s too bad they can’t spar with one – or watch you spar with him.  You know, how Spike used to work with us? There’s really no substitute for practicing against a master vampire – even if he does have a soul that keeps him from beating you up too bad.”
 
Buffy gave a smile that managed to be sad and proud at the same time. “Yeah, having Spike around helped you girls a lot. Even before you got your powers, you at least knew how fast a vamp can be.” Buffy’s smiled faded. “And we can only hope they never have to face anything like a Turok-han.”
 
Vi shuddered in agreement.
 
“Okay. So we need a plan. I’m guessing you haven’t seen this guy yet?”
 
Vi shook her head. “Not yet. He’s always one jump ahead of me when I show up with help. He just fades away so fast I can’t even sense him after a few seconds.”
 
“Okay. We’ll give the girls some time to heal, and meanwhile you and I will patrol. If we get lucky, maybe we’ll find him and dust him before he has time to start accumulating minions.  These girls aren’t ready to take out any big nests. Some of them are going to have to build their confidence back up.”
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
“Do you feel that?”  Vi spun around in place, trying to pinpoint the faint tingles that meant ‘vampire’.
 
“I do.” Buffy narrowed her eyes and remained still, seeking the source of the vibes.  “Here we go,” she said unnecessarily as several newly risen vampires approached them. “None of these guys look like our big bad, though.”
 
Vi shook her head. “Nah, they look like ordinary, run-of-the-mill fledges to me. That’s pretty much all we run across anymore.”
 
“Can’t be all that’s out there,” Buffy said, settling into a fighting stance as the hungry vampires picked up speed. “Something is turning all these newbies you guys keep having to dust.  Something you haven’t seen yet.”
 
“Maybe it’s our mystery vamp,” Vi grunted, impaling the first to arrive on her stake. She kicked another away, following him to where she could get him into staking range.
 
“Maybe.” Buffy didn’t even sound like she was breathing hard as she took out the first two to reach her – staking one with each hand. She engaged the remaining one in a fight, tucking her stakes where she could reach them easily.  Enjoying the workout, she played with the tiring vampire until she realized that Vi was waiting for her.  Knocking him down and staking him quickly, she apologized.  “Sorry. It’s been a long time since I had a good workout.”
 
Tucking their stakes away, they continued to stroll through the warm night, catching each other up on their lives since Sunnydale’s collapse.
 
“I heard Spike came back,” Vi ventured. “How is that even possible? I saw that giant hole he made.”
 
Buffy shrugged her shoulders. “Something to do with the amulet. Angel didn’t let us know about it, and that stupid Andrew—” She sighed. “Anyway, he did come back somehow, but he never called anybody, and then Angel pissed off a whole bunch of evil guys and they all got killed fighting a demon army.” She shook her head. “We weren’t really sure about Angel when he took over Wolfram and Hart; we thought maybe he’d lost his soul again. Instead, he was trying to take down this heavy-duty evil from the inside – without bothering to let the Council know so we could send slayers to help with the fight.” Buffy’s voice deepened almost to a growl as she remembered how angry she’d been.  “Not only did we not get to help, but Spike was dust again before I even found out he’d come back.” 
 
“I’m sorry,” Vi said softly. “That must have hurt – losing him twice.”
 
“I’m not sure which bothered me the most, that he didn’t come running to me as soon as he could, or that he let Angel get him killed again.”  Buffy sighed. “Either way, he was just as gone as if his dust had stayed at the bottom of that hole.”  She shook herself and said in a more normal voice, “It doesn’t matter. I’ve had plenty of time to get used to it. It did hurt, but I’m fine now. People die. Especially heroes. It’s what happens. Life goes on.”
 
“Uh huh,” Vi said dubiously. “Well, I don’t want to get used to that. I hope we can find this vamp before he does kill somebody I know.”
 
“We’ll find him,” Buffy said confidently. “If I have to, I’ll start patrolling alone. He won’t have any idea I’m not some newbie he can play with and make fun of. Not until it’s too late. I’ll get him.”
 
~~~~~~~~~~~
 
It was several nights, and many dead vampires and demons later before Buffy got the opportunity to go out alone. A bout of food poisoning had left half the girls, including Vi, moaning and throwing up. Of those who had not eaten the bad fish, almost all were still sporting casts or bandages, something Buffy found rather strange, but shrugged off.  Buffy played nursemaid for as long as she could stand it, then grabbing a sword and her stakes, she almost ran for the door, pulling a hoody over her head as she did.
 
“I’ll just do a quick patrol and be back in a jiffy,” she said, smothering her guilt.  “See you guys later.”
 
She jogged away from the building, not slowing down until she was sure no one could call her back to clean up more vomit. Not being very familiar with the city, she ended up sticking to the cemeteries she’d visited when patrolling with Vi. Said cemeteries being pretty much empty of anything worth stakes or swords.  She almost laughed with excitement when she walked around the corner of a large mausoleum to find several robed demons involved in some sort of ritual that required tying bleeding humans to a pole. 
 
“Is this a private party, or can anybody play?” Buffy sang out as she decapitated the closest celebrant. She used the edge of her sword to slash through the ropes holding the two victims, instructing them to “Run like your life depends on it” before whirling to meet the remaining large and very angry demons.  It took only a few minutes for them to realize that the smiling, quipping woman facing them down so cheerfully was not one of the novice slayers they’d become accustomed to ignoring unless the slayers were in a group.  They began edging away from the darting point of her sword, and when she had run it through the chest of the tallest demon in charge, the other two turned and ran in different directions.
 
“Damn!” Buffy stood for a half-second, not sure in which direction to go, then shrugged and took off down the path. “I guess one of them gets away no matter what,” she grumbled as she increased her speed.  “Hey you! Slow down. We have a date!” 
 
The demon threw off the robe that was hindering his progress, which drifted over Buffy’s head as he sped up and disappeared into a grove of trees.  By the time she’d slashed her way out of the smelly robe, the demon had vanished leaving Buffy to indulge in some creative swearing.  Once she’d run out of names to call the missing demon, guilt over having been away from her sick sister slayers for so long began to come back, and she started back in the direction of the gate. She pulled her hood back up over her head and wished she’d worn gloves to keep her hands warm.
 
Noises ahead sent her sprinting toward the sounds of combat, only to find the two people she’d released huddled together while a vampire and a smaller, but no less dangerous, demon fought over them.  Buffy shepherded the victims out of the cemetery, making sure they were in a well-lit area with plenty of traffic before she returned to slay the winner of the on-going combat. No sooner had she returned, than the vampire dispatched his opponent and turned to her with a toothy grin. “Time for a lesson, little girl,” he said with a throaty growl.
 
“You got that right, fangface,” she snapped back at him. She plunged the sword into the trunk of a tree for safekeeping and fell into a fighting stance, her hood still shadowing her face, but leaving her eyes clear.  As the girls had reported, the vampire was not big, but very fast and clearly an experienced fighter.  His face seemed not so much ugly as scarred in some way, giving him a slightly grotesque appearance. 
 
His confident grin faded as he waited for Buffy to make the first move. Instead, she just held herself balanced on the balls of her feet and waited for him.  He shrugged. “Have it your way, pet,” he said, snapping a jab to her face. Buffy easily slipped the punch and retaliated with her own one-two combination. She got him with the “one”, but the “two” landed on empty air as he gave her a taste of how quick his reflexes were.
 
They exchanged kicks and punches for several minutes, first one the aggressor, then the other, neither one gaining an advantage.  Buffy resigned herself to a lengthy fight, refusing to admit she was enjoying having an opponent that could match her.  She could see that the vampire was still wearing a smile, although it had gone from a cocky grin to one that seemed like pure joy.  The fight gradually began to be less about killing the opponent, and more about coming out the winner.  Buffy’s stake never left her belt, and the vampire never attempted to bite her, even when they briefly came together occasionally in hand-to-hand tests of strength.
 
It was during one of their hand-to-hand matches that Buffy’s hood fell off, allowing her blond hair to spill out. The vampire, who had temporarily pinned her to the ground, froze, his triumphant grin still in place, his eyes wide as he stared at her. The grin vanished.  “Bloody hell,” he breathed, rolling off and away from her. “Thought I was imaginin’ that scent...” He remained where he’d rolled, lying on his back with his arm over his eyes.
 
Buffy remained where she was, trying to tell herself it was all a coincidence, but there was no denying the recognition that had flared in those golden eyes.
 
“Spike?”