Lovely as the Holiday Inn was, Xander was bored. He had no interest in the dodgy film, which, for his delectation and delight was on offer at the reasonable price of $39.99. Nor had he any interest in the contents of his minibar. He grinned as he lay on the bed. Nope, Sunnydale hadn’t changed much. He was feeling twitchier by the minute, so Xander decided to go out on patrol. Even in New York vampires existed, and he had taken pains to ensure that he was capable of looking after himself – and anyone else who might find themselves in trouble. True, if he came upon a group of vampires his odds of survival couldn’t exactly be rated as high, but Xander had learned that quite often vampires didn’t go round in little cliques. The only reason it had seemed that way in his youth was because he had usually been with the slayer. Vampires might be solitary, but they weren’t stupid. Well, some were, but quite a lot weren’t.

Shrugging on his jacket, Xander left the hotel, and strode forth into the night. Clutched in his hand was a cross, and in his inside pocket was a vial of holy water. He was ready and waiting. Crossing town, he entered Hope Cemetery, a favourite feeding ground for vamps, at least in the old days. There was something terribly romantic about this particular cemetery, and it had more visitors than any of the others. Wandering around, Xander head the low murmur of conversation, and headed in that direction. And not a moment too soon.

"What shall we do with this one?" One very large and ugly vampire had a man tossed over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The other, busy hefting a small teenage girl into a wheelbarrow, didn’t reply.

"Seb?" Seb was still arranging the girl, taking a dingy delight in touching her body.

Xander figured he ahd seen enough. The vamps were obviously up to no good – it didn’t take a rocket scientist to work that out – and since there wasn’t anyone else around, it was up to him to play hero. As he got ready to leap into action. Xander wondered briefly where the new slayers were doing their slaying. It seemed highly unlikely that either Buffy or Anna were still alive. It was possible that there hadn’t been a slayer in Sunnydale for quite a while. Which was all to his advantage. It would be easier to deal with the vamps if they weren’t expecting any resistance.

The vamps weren’t expecting any resistance, but not quite for the reason Xander imagined. When the slayer is unconscious in a wheelbarrow, you’re not really anticipating anyone making trouble – at least, not until she wakes up. So when Xander made a flying tackle at Seb, killing him outright with the pointy end of his cross, the other vampire was at a loss for words. As Xander had correctly surmised, Seb was the brains behind their little operation; Large-and-Ugly just provided the brawn. Unintelligent brawn. With his boss gone, he stood there like a lemon, the young man still over his shoulder. Then, seeing Xander making for him, pointy cross in hand, he decided to act like a man – albeit a dead one – and run. He didn’t get far. Vampire he might be, but the Slayer was faster.

Elizabeth had woken up pissed. She didn’t appreciate being knocked out. It tended to get her rather upset. Coming round, she had seen the unknown man standing over one of the vamp’s disappearing remains, then turn towards the big one holding Alex. Fury bubbled up inside her. Alex might be occasionally annoying, but he was her brother, and anyone who messed with him messed with her. The vamp was going to get it.

The vamp got it. No match for the Slayer, he was bowled over like a bowling pin. (Yay – dig the simile!) Straddling him, Elizabeth waved her trusty stake unedr his nose.

"What’s the idea, Ugly? What was the plan this time? Trying to get into the Master’s good books, were you?"

Large-and-Ugly, too stupid to do anything but agree, nodded his head.

"Mm-hmm. And a damned fine plan. Except for one little detail. I don’t like people messing with me or him," and she bent her head to where Alex was lying, still out cold. "So, I figure you deserve to get staked, don’t you?"

Large-and-Ugly agreed eagerly. Then he disappeared in a cloud of ashes. Elizabeth smiled gleefully.

***************

Xander watched the girl slay the vampire. He was less than surprised. In retrospect, it was obvious that she was the Slayer. Why else had the vamps tried to take her away, instead of just feeding on her? He wondered who the man was. Boyfriend? His musings were interrupted when the slayer coughed significantly. He looked up to find her eyeing him warily.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem. Always happy to help. So, how does slaying pay these days?"

Elizabeth looked at the stranger, a little confused. He wasn’t a vamp, or anything. Neither was he a local, although he looked familiar. Actually, he looked very familiar.

"Do I know you?"

The man shook his head. "I don’t think so. I’m from New York," and he stuck out his hand. Elizabeth shook it gingerly.

"It’s lovely to meet you. Really. But why don’t you tell me how you knew who I was?" Xander grinned. The threatening tone in her voice reminded him of Buffy whenever she had been faced with something she didn’t quite know how to handle.

"That was a vampire. You slayed it. Therefore, I concluded that you were the Vampire Slayer."

"You slayed a vampire." Xander shook his head in mock sorrow.

"Slayer, slayer. For shame, girl! Did no one ever quote you the good old "one girl in all the world" motto?"

Elizabeth laughed suddenly. It was a light, merry sound that raised a feeling of recognition in Xander. In fact, now that he looked at her properly she seemed familiar. Very familiar. And Xander realised who she looked like. Oh God. It had to be, didn’t it?

"Osbourne." Elizabeth’s face returned to its previous wary state. "That is your name, isn’t it? Look, I wasn’t the one trying to kill you, you know," he added as the silence grew. "You’re Willow and Oz’s daughter."

"What of it?" Both Xander and Elizabeth jumped at the sound of a third voice. It was Alex, holding his hand to his head, wincing at the pain.

"Who are you?" Xander was curious. There was silence. He was getting bored of the silence. He heaveed a sigh of intese irritation, and cast a look of extreme dislike at the suspicious teenagers. It was time for bed.

"Oh, for Christ’s sake! Alright, I’m going. The mysterious man who so blatantly has wicked plans for you both!"

Elizabeth and Alex watched in bemusement as the dark-haired man walked away, then turned and headed home, Elizabeth deciding that first thing in the morning she was going to mention the incident to her watcher.

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