DISCLAIMER:All of the characters appearing in this story belong to the WB. Star Wars is not mine and the lyrics are from "Grey Sky Morning" by Vertical Horizon. Remember that the original movie is owned by 20th Century Fox.

RATING: PG-13, here is a key to all the possible relationships I put in here, but none are actually featured, but all are implied. (Buffy/Spike, Buffy/Pike, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Oz, Willow/Angel, Willow/Jeremy, Anya/Xander, Faith/Xander, Cordelia/Doyle, Cordelia/Angel, Cordelia/Oz, Drusilla/Spike, Harmony/Spike, Jenny/Giles,)

BACKGROUND: Takes place over a two week period starting a few days after Apocalypse How? This part happens three days after Spike left Sunnydale. Assume several things about Buffy at Hemery High: As per the original novelization, she and Pike go to Las Vegas at the end. As per Joss, she burns down the gym to stop the vampires. As per the movie, most other events did happen.

There is a side of Las Vegas the tourists never see. Past the Strip and the glitzy casinos, it is there. It's a place where the lights don't touch, a place of endless housing developments, each looking suspiciously the same. Here is where the people who can't afford the vacation package live. Moves to Vegas that are supposed to be temporary can last forever. Some people move out, some disappear, and some die.

This particular street was deserted, no surprise considering the aforementioned condition of the neighborhood. As the twilight approached, it was strangely still. Eerie, in fact, for not a dog barked and no one on the block stirred from their homes.

The homes were too quiet, almost as if no one was alive. Perhaps something was in them after all, awakening with the night. A rising malevolence was there, targeted on a certain brownstone situated in the middle of the street. It was time when only the foolish would dare venture out alone in the open street.

A black De Soto drove up and parked on the curb. Turning off the engine, a pale blonde man stepped out, alone. He removed a small piece of paper to compare house numbers. That brownstone was the place.

With unhurried steps, he went up the sidewalk to the porch and knocked three times on the front door. From behind the door, he heard a scuffle of some type. While he waited, the man calmly surveyed the scene around him. Someone had thoroughly thrashed this place: the yard was torn up and the boarded over windows were painted black. This was not the place to hang around after dark, and more than anyone, he was well aware of the danger closing on the house at break-neck speed. He hoped this would be fast.

The door opened a crack, and two eyes peered out. "What do you want?" a masculine voice asked.

"You Pike?" a British accent answered.

"Might be. Why are you here?" The eyes asked warily.

"I've been sent by a mutual friend. You may recognize her," the man flashed a photo at the eyes. It was a gorgeous blonde girl who had a slightly sad expression. "You gonna be polite and invite me in?"

"Prove she sent you." The voice replied, making no motion to let the man enter.

"Her note says for me to say, 'We have a problem. I have a bag full of solutions.'" The man produced a wooden stake from his sleeve. "Good enough, mate?"

"Come in," The door moved barely enough for the man to enter.

As the man entered, the door closed behind him, and he was faced with what could have been seen as a vampire's worst nightmare. Stakes, crosses, explosives, sacred objects, and garlic littered nearly every surface.

"I'd say you are a tad superstitious, Pike," the man offered the young cross-wearing man who stepped out from behind the door.

Pike nodded, replacing his cross inside his shirt, "You could say that." He judged his guest critically. How could Buffy have sent someone who appeared to be slightly younger than his own twenty-two years? He prayed there was some real weaponry beneath his guest's long black trenchcoat.

"I'd wager you are pinned in this house as well. Looks like they kept trying to come in. Who'd you stake to piss them off so bad?"

"Their sire," Pike acknowledged that Buffy had sent him someone with at least some vampire know-how.

"Bad break there, kid. And no doubt they figured out that they didn't like having an apprentice Slayer on their hands," The man shrugged, examining Pike with his blue eyes.

*Kid?* "So she sent you to help me?" Pike walked toward the kitchen. "You want something to drink?"

"No," the man said not leaving the front room.

"You sure?" Pike offered again, "I've got holy water and milk."

"I don't need to drink. Anything."

Pike paused with his head in the refrigerator and took a deep breath. "Okay, you don't want anything." He drew a stake, which had been a ruler in its previous life, from the depths of the fruits and vegetables drawer. "I guess I don't want anything, either." Shoving the stake in his back jean's pocket, Pike walked back to the front room, finding his guest had not moved from his place by the door.

"Nice place you have here," The man jerked his head toward the crosses nailed to the boarded up windows.

"Discourages party crashers," Pike told him.

"Uninvited guests can show up at such inopportune times," The man said with some experience.

Extending his hand, Pike decided to greet his guest properly, "I should introduce myself. I'm Pike, formerly of Hemery High, Los Angeles."

The man reached forward and shook, "I hoped so."

Pike blinked a few times. Not only was his visitor's hand cold, he had the uneasy feeling of being stared at through his skin. Recovering his composure, he said, "I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I didn't give it."

"Oh," Pike tried to remain calm, casually reaching into his back pocket for that stake. "You would be-"

"I think you figured it out for yourself," the man eyed Pike's change of position, "And I wouldn't do that if I were you. I'd hate to have come all this way just to kill you."

Freezing where he was, Pike said slowly, "You're not going to kill me? You are a vampire, right?"

"Well, I am, and I do. Kill people that is. Kinda my raison d'etre, but not everyone." The man smiled, "I kill you, and the Slayer's gonna hand me my spleen on a stake."

"You have to be for real. That's her all the way. The chosen guy and all that stuff," Pike lowered his hands and looked at the vampire sharply, "Why are you here, helping me?"

"Actually, I'm here to make you an offer you can't refuse," The vampire morphed to and then from his demonic face. "Though if you do refuse, I still have to rescue you."

"An offer?" Pike was horrified with the implied choice of becoming a vampire.

"Not that offer." The vampire explained. "It's a job offer." He glanced behind him at the door. "I'm supposed to be friendly and helpful, but there are about fifteen vampires forming a bon voyage party on your lawn, so I need to get chopping."

"How do you know?"

"I don't have time to explain," He threw a look over his shoulder, "Get off my car! Don't you dare touch my stereo." The man refocused on Pike, "Back to that offer."

"Sure, what do you want?"

"It's not what I want. It's what the Slayer wants. It's kinda like this. Really, it's exactly like this: you have two choices. I rescue you, and you do nothing for repayment afterwards. Or I rescue you and you come with me to help the Slayer prevent the coming apocalypse."

Pike swallowed, "You said 'apocalypse,' right?"

"Got that right, mate."

"And that's all. Do nothing or help Buffy save the world?"

The man crinkled his brow, "Basically, except the part where by helping save the world you face pain, torture, death, maiming. You know, all the fun stuff."

"I'm in."

"What?" The man seemed a bit surprised by that. "You don't want to hear more details, like the odds or opposing teams? I know I would."

"It won't matter. If Buffy needs me, I'll go." And that was from the heart.

"This could easily be a very elaborate trick played by a sadistic demon to lure you out of your house. Sure you trust me?"

"If she trusted you, I will too."

"Last chance, mate. I meant that sadistic demon part. No matter what happens, you'll have to go with it."

"I make it." Pike saw the look on the vampire's face and wondered what he'd gotten himself into.

"Can't say I didn't warn you," The man shrugged. "Hold still. This should hurt." His arms shot out and gripped Pike's throat. Without any preamble, the man buried a pair of sharp, pointed fangs into Pike's jugular.

White-hot pain erupted as Pike felt the tortured wrench of blood being drained from his body. It was like a floodgate opening, letting everything flow from Pike and into the feeding vampire. His instincts were screaming at him to struggle to fight, but his body refused to respond. The world swam, and Pike honestly believed he was going to die.

Then the pain stopped. Pike stared at the vampire, who had removed his teeth from Pike's skin. His lips were blood red (duh), and oddly enough, his hand was cut, his blood mixing with some of Pike's on the floor. The vampire tensed for a moment, and Pike's vision pinwheeled. He staggered while the vampire said, "Yep. Looks good. Nice stunned prey look. Keep it up and you might make it through this alive."

The vampire swung Pike up in his arms, carrying Pike in front of his chest without any visible effort whatsoever. Kicking the door off its hinges, the man watched in satisfaction as the crowd of vampires oustide scattered briefly.

Pike was barely able to see through the fog in his head, but there were certainly more than ten vampires on the lawn. They were vamped out, hissing at Pike's captor, standing directly between the house and the car.

"That's ours," A brunette Pike vaguely recognized as his next-door neighbor whined.

"This doesn't look like it. In fact," The blonde vampire pressed the holes in Pike's neck, getting some of the blood and licking it off his fingers with obvious glee. "I think I've pretty much claimed this meal."

"He killed our sire," Another growled.

"Boo hoo. I can't tell you how much I don't care." Pike's vampire bit out. "I promised a friend of mine that we'd dine on her ex-boyfriends."

Panic boiled up in Pike. Was it possible? Could Buffy have been a vampire and this was all a trick by a sadistic demon? He tried to move, but the unforgiving hands kept him still.

"We claimed him as ours before you ever came here. He's ours to kill," a female said as the rest of the vampires began to circle the porch steps.

Unperturbed, the man replied, "I guess I wasn't clear enough. Let me resort to English." His voice hardened, "I don't give a damn what little vengeance ceremony you where hoping for." He shook his head, softening his voice, "Ask yourselves some questions. A) If you couldn't get into this kid, and I could, I must be extremely powerful. And B) If I'm that powerful, do you really want to mess with me?"

"We said that is ours," the brunette said as the vampires drew closer. "We're going to take it." The group growled threateningly at the two and started to converge on them.

"I doubt that very much," The blonde's tone changed significantly. All heads, including Pike's jerked up to look at him. The air was inexplicably alive with a new type of dangerous tension. His eyes were very hard, and his voice was deadly serious. The vampire seemed to grow with his anger, dwarfing the opposition with a menacing shadow. Something older and darker than anything Pike had ever heard continued on, "Don't make me hurt you. Or better yet, keep it up so I can." The entire assembly took three steps backward.

"That's better. See. It didn't hurt, did it?" He took several steps toward his car, and the other vampires cowered back. He opened the door, stashing Pike in the passenger side, getting in himself, and starting the car. No vampire moved to stop him; they were too afraid.

The vampire began to drive away from the block. The neighborhood faded into the distance as they moved into safer, lighted territory.

Pike stared at his unlikely savior. He couldn't have seen what he'd seen. One vampire had faced down fifteen and walked way completely unscathed with a live human. "Who are you?" Pike asked, a wave of dizziness crashing over him.

They whizzed by a stoplight, and the man eyed Pike doubtfully, "Are you current on your vampiric lore?"

"Not really. I do keep some contact with other hunters in a few places."

"Much as I'd like to scare you to death, I'll attempt low-key." He sighed, "Try to think of me as William."

Pike searched his brain for a way the name would help him identify the vampire. Nothing came to mind. "I don't recognize it."

"Probably better that way."

"So, William, how did you do that? You made all those vampires back off." Pike honestly wanted an explanation.

And he wasn't going to get one. "Just chalk it up as part of being a master."

Pike gave him a quizzical look, "What's a master?"

"You've been fighting evil for four years, and you don't know that?" William seemed surprised but then relaxed, "Or on the other hand, you may have never met one. That sire you staked had to have been someone's minion."

"How do you know?" Pike wondered what he had been missing.

"Cause if it had been a master, you'd be dead."

That reminded Pike of someone in his past. "Wait. I do remember meeting a vampire called 'Master.'"

"Yeah?" William didn't take him seriously. "Who?"

"Lothos."

William's facial expression changed in surprise. "You met Lothos, and you're still here? You must have bigger balls than I thought. Did you run?"

"I tackled him."

"Really dumb."

"I got that feeling, but Buffy staked him."

Turning a corner, William whistled low, "I didn't know that was the first master the Slayer did in." He thought for a second, "Where was Amilyn? I thought they were a team."

"Lefty? She staked him too," Pike shrugged, touching his neck gingerly. "But he was missing his left arm."

"Was he? How'd she do that?"

"She didn't. I did. I ripped it off."

The vampire hit the brakes, barely stopping at a red light. "Hold it. You, a puny human, tackled Lothos and ripped off his right hand man's left hand, and you still don't know what a master is?"

"No, though I do think this could be bad."

The light changed to green, and they started off again. "All right. I'll make this easy on you. I'll skip some stuff, but you know football - or soccer as they call it here."

"Soccer? Yes, I know it."

"Anyone can kick a ball and say they're a player. That's nothing, but only the biggest, strongest, fastest, meanest blokes ever get to the pros. See what I'm getting at?"

"You masters are like a vampire pro bowl. Hard work and practice is gonna get you there."

"Not quite. Only super-exceptional people like myself become masters. The others end up as fledglings or minions, real easy targets for the Slayer. They are a dime a dozen, stupid and slow. But masters, rare as we are, are strong enough to take on the Slayer. Even she has trouble taking us out."

"You also need a good sire. If you're sire's a master, there is a chance you'll make it in the big leagues. It's not a guarantee, but you'll never be a master if you're sire wasn't." William hesitated. "There is only one other way to become a master, if you're sire isn't."

"How's that?"

"Kill a slayer."

Pike held his breath for a long moment, "And you said you were a master."

"Relax. I'm a master cause of my sire. I'm a whole four sires down from the true master himself."

That relieved Pike. "So you never killed a slayer."

The relief didn't last long. "I never said that." William reached into the glove compartment and handed Pike some white gauze. "Put this on your neck. The bleeding's almost quit."

"Why are you having me cover it up?"

"Because you're making me hungry," William growled. Pike put on the gauze without further argument.

"You said masters could take on slayers. How come they seem to work alone? I'm mean; you're alone, and between Lothos and Amilyn as a team, they almost took out Buffy." Pike contemplated out loud.

"Masters, we like our power. We like to be in charge. Taking orders really sucks, and you almost have to follow your sire's orders, no matter what they are, for absolutely anything." There was some definite bitterness in William's tone, and Pike shuddered to guess what some of the orders entailed.

"If it's so bad, then why do masters make other masters to share the power," Pike tried for a different topic.

"I'll take new analogies for 1000, Alex. Here's the deal. Think of an army. You've got a general, some lieutenants, and a bunch of foot soldiers. The general's the master, the lieutenants his master children, and the foot soldiers are the minions." He shrugged, "The master can't personally control all of his foot soldiers, so he makes masters he can control to work the troops. Plus, the fledges are so dumb, you need a another master to get some intelligent conversation."

"But, I'm guessing that this isn't very fun for the lieutenants."

"Again, it sucks. You're on your sire's beck and call, even if he's the prick of the bloody litter."

"So the lieutenants try to seize power?" Pike questioned the vampire speculatively, "What did you do?"

William laughed, "Which time? Killed a master once by shoving him in the sun. Tried to do my own sire in a time or two." He shook his head, "Now that bastard, he's almost unkillable. I tried to drain him once. Another time I beat him with a crowbar, but he made it. Hell, he even survived an all day torture session."

"Does this mean you never made any other masters?" Pike had this feeling that William didn't like the idea of sharing power, even with his own children.

"Mate, since I killed the Annoying One, I'm probably the youngest master on the planet. I'm in no hurry to cause my own problems." He considered the subject, "Frankly, I always had Dru, so I was never inclined to make anyone. Well, except-"

"Who?" Pike really wanted to hear this.

"The Slayer. One time I had her, and I thought about it. I really did."

Apparently William and Buffy were usually not friends. Then why was William here? Instead of voicing that concern, Pike asked, "Why didn't you?"

"Other than the spell breaking and getting my ass stupendously kicked? Nobody, not my sire, not me, not Lothos, not even the Master, would ever make a slayer a vampire."

"Why not?"

"First off, slayers give us problems while human. Imagine them with the added vampire punch. Then there's that whole thing were lieutenants tend to overthrow their sires. Add on the fact that if she hated you in life, who's to say if her opinion will change in death? Never forget the 'one dies and another is called.' No master wants to be hunted by the slayer and a vampired slayer." William was making a bunch of gestures for emphasis. "Any bloke with half a brain knows how to deal with a slayer. Kill 'em. I say that as the current undead record holder."

Worry hit Pike, "How many have you killed?"

"Until recently, there was a contest going between two of us. I had two, and Dru had one. Not much of a contest."

Chilled by the turn in the conversation, Pike said, "So what happened to Dru? Did she pass you?"

"No, she passed on, stuck at one. She had this terrible 'accident' when someone put a piece of wood in her heart. Tough to recover from that."

"The record is at two? From what I'd heard from Buffy, I thought it would be higher." Pike remembered when she had told him about the dreams of previous slayers' lives.

"It was. Lothos had about a hundred, since he killed a few every decade. However, consider who is the Slayer now. She really cut a swath through the old masters with more than me. She got Amilyn, Lothos, the Master, his vessel. Trick doesn't count since that other Slayer got him."

That was news to Pike. "What other Slayer? I thought there was only one, and Buffy was it."

"You two don't talk much do you?"

"I haven't spoken to her since she left. She sent me her email address right after. I moved about eight times since then." Pike explained, "I had to keep moving around the city so the vamps couldn't catch up with me."

"Then you need to hear this. There are two Slayers since she died for a little while. One of her friends brought her back, but the next girl had already been tapped. Dru killed that new one, so the one after that got called too."

"If there are two slayers, how can you guys be having an evil problem?"

"Do you even know where she lives?" Pike shook his head. "I didn't think so. Her mum, Joyce, picked a lovely town, Sunnydale, center of white suburbia."

"Sounds nice."

"It's also square in the center of el Boca de Inferno, the Hellmouth. Attracts evil faster than virgins."

Now there was a word picture. "Is that why you came?" Pike hazarded.

"I came basically for Dru. Didn't expect to find a Slayer infestation there. Glad I wasn't around when there were two working Slayers."

"Do you mean one of them isn't working?"

"She's in a coma."

"Did you?" The question came out of Pike's mouth on its own.

"No. Remember my policy. Kill 'em." William pulled into the Mirage parking lot. "The person that put the other Slayer in a coma was Buffy. She shoved a knife in Faith's gut."