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The Mojave Desert is beautiful; especially when the sun is setting. Raven sat thinking as she watched the sun drop beneath the horizon.
Raven was now the Slayer; the newest in a long line of chosen girls. Two weeks had passed since Raven first met the fallen angel, Gabriel. She had changed a lot in those two weeks. She was faster and stronger. Her friends even noticed the change. They didn’t mind though. What they, and Raven herself did mind was the fact that she was never there anymore. She had been so busy with Gabe and her training.
Raven was used to loneliness. Her house was always empty. There was Nancy, the maid, but she always had things to do around the house. Her father had left years ago, and her sister, Rahne, was on some extended trip with their mother. Even though she had spent so much time with Gabe, he was still a stranger. Raven’s friends were like family to her, and she missed them.
Raven realized that she was no longer comfortable in the desert. Not since her fight with Faith. She kept thinking that any moment, Faith would reappear and attack her again. Leave her for dead, again.
The sound of engines forced Raven from her reverie. It was just a rumbling in the distance at first. As it drew closer, she was able to distinguish the sound. Motorcycles. Then headlights began to shine in the distance, and her hunch was confirmed.
Raven stood motionless for a moment, trying to think. That was her greatest weakness. When she got nervous, she couldn’t think straight. Until she could get the cobwebs cleared away, her best bet was to hide.
She watched the motorcycles approach, hoping that they were just a gang of Hell’s Angels out for ride. But something in her blood was humming, and she knew that these were no mere humans.
Vampires. She thought. Great. Only two weeks of training and already I’m facing my mortal enemy. Where the hell is that angel when I need him?
The motorcycles had stopped. She quickly counted six bikes and seven vampires.
"Slayer!" the apparent leader yelled out. "We know you’re here."
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," another one of them called.
I guess I really should fight them. Raven thought to herself.
"I can sense her," a female vampire said as she hopped off the back of the leader’s bike. "She’s behind that rock. There."
Ooo. Outted. Raven thought. She stood up and smiled nervously. "Hi. I don’t suppose we could really just postpone this until I’m a little more ready. I wouldn’t want you to not have a challenge in killing a Slayer and all."
"Frankly, Slayer," the leader began, "we don’t care how we kill you just so long as we kill you. It’s not like it’s a sport or anything."
"Oh. And here I thought you all got points for creativity."
"Get her!" the female vampire yelled.
Raven's eyes widened as one by one the vampires got off of their bikes. As they rushed her, the Slayer instincts kicked in. She punched the two closest to her and then jumped over the head of another, landing right next to the leader’s bike. Hopping on, she started the engine and reached in her jacket for the stake that Gabe had given her. She proceeded to run down the vampires, each in turn, sticking them with Mr. Pointy and watching them poof. She had dusted four before the rest of the pack even had a chance to react.
Raven dodged in and out as the remaining three, including the female, mounted bikes and began the dangerous dance of trying to make her crash. As she passed the leader, she thrust her stake at his heart. She missed, and he grabbed the stake from her, tossing it high into the air and too far away for her to ever retrieve it.
Damn. Raven thought. Now what am I gonna use?
She noticed the saddle bags on what was now her bike. A long wooden Louisville Slugger was poking out of the left one. She pulled it out and made for her hiding rock, shattering the bat against its surface as she passed. Now it was not only a sharp pointed stick, but a long, sharp pointed stick. She circled around, dusted the remaining three vampires with relative ease, and made for home.


*

Raven walked into her mansion dirty, slightly bloody, and exhausted.
"Nancy!" Raven called out. After receiving no answer, she added to herself, "Guess she’s gone home."
She was halfway up the stairs when there was a knock at the door. Raven walked slowly to the entryway and peered out the window. There was a young, blonde couple standing on the porch.
No. Make that a young woman and a…vampire. She thought as she looked at them. Odd. She opened the door for them anyway. "Can I help you?"
"Hi. I’m Buffy Summers. We’re looking for Raven or Gabe."
Buffy? So, this must be the other slayer that Gabe told me about. Raven thought.
"I’m Raven." She looked from Buffy to the vampire, whose hair, it was now apparent, was definitely not a natural shade of blonde. "Gabe’s not here."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I think I’d know if Gabe was in my house. I haven’t seen him in days."
"Neither have we. Not since he left to find you."
"You think something happened to him?" Raven asked, the amount of concern she heard in her own voice surprised her.
"Pretty much," Buffy said. "Our friend, Sasha, can't seem to get a hold of him either."
Raven looked at Buffy blankly, not sure what some woman named Sasha would have to do with Gabe.
"Pardon the Slayer," Spike interjected. "She’s a bit concerned. You see, Sasha works for the Powers and knows Gabe pretty intimately. She can usually contact him whenever she sees fit but hasn’t been able to do that for at least a week."
Raven felt an inexplicable jealousy at the vampire’s words. He spoke of Sasha and Gabe as though they were husband and wife. She couldn’t quite put a finger on why this made her so upset. As she was beginning to feel the tears come to her eyes, she noticed a very dim figure walking across her front lawn. She pushed Buffy and Spike out of the way and ran down the steps.
"Gabe!" Raven shouted as she approached the angel. She caught him as his knees buckled. "What the hell happened?"
Buffy ran to Raven’s aid and assisted her in getting Gabe up the stairs and into the house.
"The First...sent a messenger...I killed it but it took a lot out of me. Then I was attacked by a gang of Grishnar demons." Gabe hacked as they laid him on the couch in the living room.
"Raven, do you keep a first aid kit around the house?" Buffy asked.
"Buffy, that’s unnecessary," Gabe started. "A simple glass of water will do."
"I’m on it," Spike said as he left for the kitchen.
Raven looked at Gabe and then down at her feet. He didn’t look good, but his wounds were already starting to heal.
"What did the messenger say?" Buffy asked.
"Just the basic 'I'm so evil' stuff. I trounced the thing but, like I said, I wasted a lot of energy. I’ll be alright though. Just need a little rest and that glass of water."
"Here it is," Spike said, handing over quite a large glass.
As Gabriel drank, the golden light that was contained in his human form began to shine a little brighter with each sip. All of his wounds miraculously healed, and he soon appeared as good as new. His face still showed the fatigue of the ordeal, but physically there was not a wound left on him.
"Can I have that power?" Raven asked.
"You already do, in a way," Buffy answered. "We heal at an accelerated rate. Not as quickly as Gabe but faster than your average bear."
"Yet another similarity between Slayer and Vampire," Spike said, winking at Buffy.
"Speaking of vampire," Raven began, "why are you hanging out with one?"
"Good question," Buffy replied. After searching her brain for an answer which wouldn’t reveal her true feelings, she simply stammered, "Legitimate question."
"Because I can’t fight humans anymore so might as well fight demons," Spike offered. "I start to go a little crazy if I don’t kill something on a regular basis."
"I suppose that is as good an answer as any," Raven stared at the vampire for a moment. He was looking at Buffy as though he were going to kill her at any moment. Apparently, her answer to Raven’s question hadn’t been expected or sufficient. "So, what do we do now?"
"We go to Sunnydale," Gabriel answered quickly.
"Okay, then. Let me just pack a few things and I’ll be ready to go."
Raven left the room and trotted upstairs, leaving Buffy, Spike, and Gabe to sit uncomfortably in the living room.
"I think I’ll go upstairs and make sure she’s alright," Gabriel said after a few tense moments.
"We’ll wait down here," Buffy countered.

*

"Raven?" Gabe asked as he knocked on the door to her bedroom. He didn't hear a reply, but he did hear running water. He opened the door and looked around. He saw a light coming from the bathroom. He walked over to the open door and knocked on it. Raven turned and looked up from what she was doing. She had been washing a cut on her arm.
"Hey Gabe," Raven said with a half-smile. She studied him for a moment.
Gabe motioned to her arm, concern in his eyes.
"Just a little cut. No biggie. I came across some vampires," Raven said, turning to look in the mirror. "Can you believe it? I actually killed my first vampire. More like my first seven vampires. But you were probably watching from afar, weren’t you?"
"No. I was busy with my own demons," Gabriel said, unsure himself if he were referring to the external or internal variety.
"It was so exhilarating. At first, I was a little flustered, but then, I just knew what I had to do and how to do it. Those Slayer instincts must have just kicked in."
"Raven, we need to talk. There is something I haven't told you about me that you need to know," Gabe said looking at her with sad eyes.
"Okay, what is it?" Raven asked as she sat down on the edge of her bed.
"When I first came to Earth, I fell in love with one of my charges. She died....because of my love. She loved another, and I caught them kissing. I ran from the village, and when I came back, a pack of demons had killed them both," Gabe said, sorrow filling his voice.
"I’m sorry. That must’ve been awful," Raven said, feeling that odd twinge of jealousy again. Why is it that every time someone mentions Gabe and another woman, I get all… Shake it off, Raven. This is just stupid.
"If I seem distant to you," Gabe continued, interrupting Raven’s thoughts, "it is because I am afraid of getting too close. To anyone, but particularly, at this moment, to you. There is something special about you, Raven, and I think that I would die if anything happened to you."
Raven stared at Gabe and bit her lip to keep her thoughts to herself. Her heart was beating rapidly, and her palms were getting sweaty. Gabe just stood there staring back at her; neither of them saying a word but seeming to say everything that needed to be said. Then he walked to her and kissed her lightly on the forehead.
That was a mistake. Gabe thought.
If only he had aimed a little lower. Raven thought.
But a wonderful mistake. Gabe pulled away from Raven. "I think we’d better be going. Buffy and Spike are downstairs waiting for us."
Gabe extended his hand and Raven took it in hers. They went downstairs, being sure to retrieve Raven’s suitcase as they left the room, and joined Buffy and Spike in the foyer. The quartet silently left the house, Raven locking the door behind her, and got into the car which Buffy had borrowed from Xander. They rode to Sunnydale in relative silence, none of them having anything of particular importance to say.