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Rain fell softly over the cemetary, and Buffy pulled her coat tightly around her shoulders. Stake in hand, she walked carefully over the graves and around tombstones. Her mind was very much elsewhere, on the dark-eyed stranger that had given her a silver-cross. So preoccupied was she that she nearly missed the vampire that jumped out at her from behind the tree. The skirmish was thankfully brief, and ended with a successful staking.
Buffy had just tucked her stake back up her jacket sleeve when a voice spoke to her.
"You shouldn't be out here patrolling alone."
"GOD!" Buffy nearly jumped out of her skin. "Are you trying to kill me, or do you just like sneaking up on poor, distracted Slayers, dropping your pearls of doomy gloomy widown and then leaving?"
Slowly he walked through the gently falling rain towards the young girl. "You really don't like me, do you?"
Buffy sighed as she relaxed. "I don't even know your name. It's not like you've given me much of a reason to."
"Angel."
Her face crinkled. "That's a reason?"
The stranger's face relaxed. "That's a name."
"Your name?"
"Last time I checked."
Guarded look at him. "Buffy."
"Yeah, I know."
Roll of her eyes, and Buffy tucked her stake away completely. "Of course you do. My very own stalker. How..."
"Nice?" Angel supplied.
"Well, I was actually going for something like creepy, sick, and disturbing, but hey. If it floats your boat... stalk away."
"I'm not stalking you, Buffy. I'm just--"
"Knowing my name, following me around, giving me presents, and scaring the crap outta me in the graveyard."
"--trying to make sure you're okay," Angel finished, unruffled.
Buffy held her arms out to the side in obviously fake cheerfulness. "All hunky-dory here, Angel. Go... go find a cheerleader to stalk. Or something."
Angel sighed. He wasn't getting anywhere with the girl. "Tell your Watcher to look for the Prophecy about the Master. He'll know." With that, he disappeared into the shadows.
"An--" She sighed. He'd done it again. "--gel." She'd tell Giles about the Prophecy in the morning. Right now, she just wanted to shower, sleep, and dream about a dark Angel.
The End