More Than Who We Are: Part Two
by Calie Johnston
Disclaimer: "Buffy" belongs to Joss Whedon. "Name" belongs to the Goo Goo Dolls.


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Part Two

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Nicole smiled as she sipped her Coke through a straw.

She really is very pretty, Jordan thought whimsically. Rarely was he at all attracted to anybody, but she was definitely pretty, and from the little while he had known her, nice - if quiet - as well. He found himself growing more and more curious about what had driven her to such an extreme, running away (from what?), especially here, to Los Angeles. She wasn't the type that Jordan usually saw coming through here, she had nice clothes, clean hair, not starving - although she was, no doubt, extremely thin. Her appearance gave the impression of either a middle-class city kid or a suburbanite, but her eyes especially made her hard to categorize. Jordan, however, was fairly laid-back, and didn't care all that much about categorizing people. Actually, he rather preferred people that couldn't be; it was more interesting that way. Something about her, though, she looked haunted, almost. She had a kind of far-away look that almost frightened him. He looked up at her again. "So where are you headed?" he asked.

He saw a flash of suspicion and uncertainty in her eyes, but she replied nonetheless. "LA. I used to live there. With the kind of luck I have, I'll die there."

Jordan grinned. "Convenient. Star Wars, y'know. 'Return of the Jedi'. Good movie."

Nicole gave him a half-smile and rolled her eyes. "So how about you?"

"Mmm...you ever heard the song 'Hand In My Pocket'? See, that's me. I'm oxymoron-guy. I figure everything'll be okay in the end, so I'm gonna live. I'm working to get enough money so I can get the hell out of here, go to New York or something."

She looked at him, a little bit sad. "You sound just like a friend of mine. Same story, pretty much. Kind of what I'm doing now, minus the everything'll-be-all-right part."

"You miss him."

Nicole paused. "Yeah. I do. More than I would've thought." She did, too. Xander was trustworthy, could always make them laugh (or just stare blankly), and she knew that he would die for any of them. There weren't many more qualities you could look for in a friend. She missed everyone, Willow, Oz, Giles, even Cordelia, who had, in spite of her general bitchiness, had proven herself time and again. She supposed she missed her mom, but that was...different. They had never had the best relationship, and whatever they used to have had been pretty much disintegrated. Changing the subject abruptly, she questioned, "So how are you getting money for your trip?"

Smiling wryly, Jordan answered, "Gas station. Classy place."

Nicole stifled a snort. "Yes, very..."

He sighed. "Sorry if Randy was hassling you."

"Don't be, I'm pretty used to it."

"Not surprising," he remarked. At the taken-aback look on her face, he laughed. "Not a come-on!" he promised. Jordan also wasn't surprised that she had interpreted it as such. She had the ditzy-blonde-airhead look going (although not the matching attitude in the slightest), which had probably prompted many such comments. "Okay, now you don't have to answer this, but I'm a little curious - have you done this before? Left?"

Nicole moved the salad around with her fork for a moment before she answered. "Yeah. I have. Which is why, considering the not-fun time I had last time, I'm still surprised I'm doing this again. The bad thing is that it's almost - well, not as bad - the same reason that I left last time. Same guy." She found herself surprised that she was telling him all that - it certainly wasn't his business...

"Boyfriend?" When she nodded, he went on, although he was nervous that what he was about to say would make her leave. "He's probably a great guy - hell, you're going out with him, or were, whichever it is - but um...if he's messed you up bad enough to make you run away - twice - then why are you still with him?"

"Because I love him."

He let out a deep breath, glad that he hadn't scared her off. "Good answer." He paused. "If it means anything...I hope he comes back to you."

She smiled sadly. "Me too."

By the time they left the restaurant, the sun was setting, casting an orange glow across the almost-deserted streets. Buffy found herself wondering if none of these people went out after dark. Hell, people went out after dark in Sunnydale, and this town wasn't even on a Hellmouth.

"Nicole-" Jordan started.

"Hmm?" She asked idly, her mind elsewhere.

"I was thinking, if you're here overnight - which, judging by the time, you might be - you could stay on the couch in my apartment. Which is also not a come-on," he said with a slight chuckle.

Hesitation.

She inhaled deeply, obviously reluctant to accept the offer, but not seeing any other options. "Just tonight," she said finally.

Jordan grinned and led her towards his apartment.


* * *
Xander pressed his nose up against the window, exhaling and then drawing a smiley face in the mist his breath had created. He watched, bored, as the picture faded, leaving only a streak on the glass. As cool as this trip had originally sounded, it had proven a lonely and at times boring way to 'find' oneself. Not that he had lost himself...literally, anyway. Although he had been planning for a while to take a road trip, he had left earlier than planned, just to get away from Sunnyhell. All his buds were doing the 'extreme emotion' thing, and it was bugging him much. Will and Oz were super-happy and super-involved with each other. Buffy was doing her brooding thing, and you couldn't even hold a conversation with her, she was so upset. And Cordy - who Xander could now call a friend, or at least something close to it - had left for LA. It also seemed that with the supreme shortage of demons and the like, he wouldn't be needed...at all. So he took off. The first week or so, it had been immensely cool. After that, though...the excitement wore off quickly. So now, here he was, on the road again, this time towards Sunnydale. He figured he'd maybe spend a while in LA, see how Cordy was doing, all that jazz.

"Los Angeles," called the bus driver.

Xander grabbed his backpack and headed off the bus.


* * *
They were only five minutes from Jordan's apartment when Buffy's Slayer senses awakened. "Damn..." she muttered under her breath.

"What is it?"

She turned to glance at him. "Jordan. When I say, I need you to run. Okay?"

A little frightened now, he nodded.

"Good." She paused and whirled around. "Now RUN!"

Jordan turned and ran - when somebody told him to run, he wasn't one to ignore it. Watching from some distance away, he was surprised - to say the least - to see her battling this...this thing...it looked almost human, but its face...he shivered. He wondered if she had taken martial arts classes - she must have, the creature was much taller and heavier than her - yet she was beating him, and it didn't even look like she was exerting herself. It looked like she was used to this. Strange.

Buffy kicked him hard in the stomach, and held her stake out in front of her. "You ran into me on a *really* bad night," she snarled. "And you're really, really pissing me off."

"Slayer..." the vampire hissed.

"Gee, do y'think?" As he struggled to get up, she kicked him again, and held the stake right above his heart. "However, nobody else is even going to know I'm here. I came here to get *away* from you and all your vampy friends, and I intend to keep it that way." Buffy brought her arm back, then shoved the stake into his heart and watched as he exploded into dust.

Thirty feet away, Jordan was standing with his mouth and eyes wide open.

Sighing, she brushed off her pants and walked over to Jordan. Offering a weak smile, she told him, "Gangs on PCP?"

This was going to be a long night.


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