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-Part 1-
 

Year, 2016

Willow smiled as the small, private plane landed in Sunnydale. She reached
over and squeezed Angel's hand. Then the red-head glanced at the blonde girl
beside her. The three of them stood up and grabbed their stuff from the
overhead conpartment.

They left the plane and stepped out into the night air. Willow breathed a
sigh of relief as her feet touched solid ground. She felt Angel take her
hand as they walked into the airport.

"Willow! Angel!" they heard Giles yell. The three of them looked around to
see the Watcher walking toward them. He and Willow hugged.

The red-head couldn't believe how much her life had changed. She and Angel
were married now, which the Council had disapproved of, of course. Plus,
Willow had been a Watcher for nearly sixteen years. She was a school teacher
by day, and a Watcher by night. She'd worked with Giles most of that time;
the girl with her and Angel was her first official Slayer.

"This is Shannon," Willow said, nodding toward the girl. She and Angel had
brought Shannon back to Sunnydale after Council training. She would be
moving in with them. . .Willow and Angel being her guardians.

"Mr. Giles," the girl said. "I've heard a lot about you from Willow and
Angel. I hope I can spend some time talking to you; I'd love to hear about
the things you've seen."

"Of course we can talk, Shannon," Giles replied, smiling at the new Slayer.
"You're welcome at my house anytime." Giles had never met a Slayer who held
such respect for an older Watcher. 'Most of them just don't care' he
thought. 'But Shannon's different'

Shannon turned to Willow and smiled. Her parents had both been killed by
vampires the night she'd been called. Actually they'd been turned and
Shannon had been forced to stake them. 'But Willow's a good substitute' she
thought. The two of them had spent a lot of time bonding while training
together in England. "So what are the guys in Sunnydale like?" she asked.

Willow laughed. "That's the Shannon I know," she replied. "I'm sure you
won't have any problems meeting guys here." The blonde girl didn't want to
go to school; so Giles had offered to home school her. She knew she'd have
to find another way to make friends.

"You just have to be careful, Shannon," Angel said. "A lot of the guys here
seem innocent, but then turn out to be demons or something." He smiled at
Shannon; she was like a daughter to him now.

"Like you?" Shannon asked jokingly. Needless to say, she hadn't been
thrilled to learn that one of her guardians was a vampire after her parents'
deaths. 'But Angel's cool' she thought. 'For a vampire'

The three of them got their luggage and then Giles drove them to their new
home. Willow smiled when she saw Buffy and Xander sitting on the front
steps. Giles dropped them off and then left.

"Will," Buffy said when saw her best friend. The two girls hugged. Willow
felt something tug at her shirt and looked down to see Xander Jr. smiling at
her. She picked him up while Buffy and Angel hugged.

She walked over and kissed Xander's cheek. "Hey, Xand," Willow said. No
matter what happened, Xander would always be her oldest friend. The three of
them had worked things out sixteen years ago. Willow put her arm around
Shannon, who was quiet. "This is Shannon," she said.

Buffy smiled at the new Slayer. The two of them shook hands, a Slayer's bond
already formed between them. "Hi, Buffy," she said.

Shannon glanced at her watch to see that she still had time for a quick
sweep of Sunnydale. "I'm going to patrol," she said, looking at Willow and
Angel. The two of them nodded, knowing better than to argue with the Slayer.
 
 
 
 
 

Ryker sighed as he walked through the park. 'Most people my age hang out at
the movies. Or the Bronze. But I hang out in the dark' he thought. Not that
he'd trade it for anything, though.

He'd been a demon-hunter for a year now. His calling should have happened on
his sixteenth birthday, but the evil on the Hellmouth had become so bad that
the Oracles had called him at fifteen.

He sat on a park bench and twirled the stake in his hand. Not only had Ryker
found out he was a demon-hunter, but he'd found out that his parents were
demons. '*Had* been demons' he corrected himself. But they were still his
parents and he loved them both.

That's when he heard a rustling nearby. 'Vampires' he thought. He could
sense them. Ryker hopped off the table and hurried toward the noise. He
stopped when he reached a clearing and saw a girl fighting off some
vampires. She had one under control, but a second one was quickly gaining
ground.

Ryker knew he had to help the girl. "There's another behind you!" he yelled.
He kicked the vampire in the face and watched as it stumbled backwards. It
came at him again, but Ryker kicked the vampire's feet out from under it. He
and Shannon both staked the vampires at the same time.

The demon-hunter stood up and dusted himself off. He turned to the girl.
"Are you ok?" he asked. Ryker wondered for a second if she was the Slayer.
'Who else would know how to fight vampires like that?' he wondered.

"Fine," she replied, catching her breath. "Thanks for saving me. And by the
way, who are you?" Shannon wanted to know who this boy was. . .he obviously
knew about Sunnydale's night life. 'Well he's not a girl, so he can't be a
Slayer' she thought with a grin.

"I'm Ryker," he replied, extending his hand. The girl shook it, introducing
herself as Shannon. His heart beat sped up as he looked into her eyes. He
wanted to know more about her.

"Can I treat you to a mocha or something?" Shannon asked. "You know, for
saving my life and all." The truth was, she was intrigued by this guy and
wanted to know more. 'He's cute' Shannon thought, looking at him.

Ryker glanced at his watch. "Sure," he replied. "I still have fourty-five
minutes before I have to be home." He and Shannon left the park, both lost
in their own thoughts. Both wanted to know what the other was, but didn't
know how to ask.

"So you're a racing fan?" Shannon asked, breaking the silence. She'd noticed
the Nascar jacket he had on. 'If he is, then at least we have one thing in
common' she thought.

He nodded as they reached the coffee shop. "Yeah, I am," Ryker replied,
holding the door for Shannon. "My parents hate it. . .they think it's stupid
to watch a bunch of cars go around a track. Are you a fan?"

Shannon nodded. "My dad and I used to watch the races all the time," she
said. "That was before. . .he died." She and Ryker ordered their food and
then got a table. 'Please don't let him ask about how they died' she
thought. Shannon wasn't ready to get into the details.

"I'm sorry," Ryker said. "So is that why you're here?" He decided not to ask
many questions because he could tell that Shannon didn't want to talk about
it. Not that he blamed her; Ryker couldn't imagine losing his parents.

The two teenagers talked for over two hours, while their parents waited for
them to come home. Anya and Spike waited up for Ryker while Willow and Angel
waited for Shannon. Both sets of parents thinking the worst.
 

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