Claudia never showed up at the Reserve Station.

No matter how much they searched, on foot or by hacking into the NYPD forensic database, no trace of her or the two Oranak vampires she'd been left to face were ever found. After four days Xander and Ariel sadly called off the hunt, but Faith did not. And she never would...

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Commander Sisko rose, interrupting Jean-Luc Picard, "In the meantime, I'll do the job I've been ordered to do to the best of my ability, sir!"

"This scene still gives me chills." muttered an enraptured Xander as he fisted a handfull of popcorn from the bowl perched on his knees.

Ariel's head was nestled on his shoulder and she mumbled in agreement. They slumped on an old Chesterfield couch he'd found in an alley, while five meters before them a sixty-three inch Fujitsu Plasmavision television glowed from it's unceremonious perch upon a wooden sawhorse. On the perfect letterboxed screen, Sisko was now in Odo's Security Office, bargaining with Quark.

"You need to build an AV room to hang this in." remarked Ariel as she reached for a blue slurpy she'd set on the couch's wobbly armrest.

"Uh-huh, yeah. And with room for a Space Invaders arcade game. Yeah, and maybe a pool table."

"Oh, I suck at pool."

"All the better then, we'll play for clothes."

"You wish. Hey, wanna make-out?"

His eye swiveled from the frustrated Ferengi to her comely face, as plasma shadows danced across her cheeks and forehead in chromatic swirls, "How dare you desecrate the holy sanctity of Deep Space Nine by suggesting we engage in sexual relations during the premiere showing of the pilot. On DVD no less."

"You can call me Dax if you like."

The popcorn bowl flew high as he tackled her to the cushions.

Nine blocks away...

The bus rumbled in neutral behind them as the two siblings stared across at each other sullenly. Faith finally gave in and spoke, "So you sure you won't stay? We've got plenty of room."

"I'm not livin in a subway station, no offense."

"Some taken." Faith scowled, "But you're really going back to Dad?" her brow furrowed, "Really?"

"He's not the way he was anymore, sis, he's changed."

"Yeah right. Sure he is."

"He is." and Hope frowned, "People can change, Faith, they really can. Look at you."

The older Slayer frowned down at her feet, "Yeah, well, maybe. But still..."

"It was what happened to Mom." Hope said slowly, her eyes growing hard, "After I...after she was gone, he stopped drinking. He's different, you should come back and visit sometime. He wants to see you."

"I dunno. It would be weird..."

"It's your choice."

The bus honked it's horn and both of them looked round in anoyment, "Just a damn minute!" they yelled in unison and the driver winced back.

"Are ya gonna be okay?" asked Hope, "You're still limping." she swallowed, "I thought you were dead when I woke up to all those people screaming around us on the basketball court."

"We Slayers are pretty tough to kill, despite what some people might tell ya."

"That's right!" and Hope grinned, "I'm strong like you now, so you don't have to worry about Dad. Even if he wanted to, I could knock him flat, just like you did at the bar."

Faith gaped at her, "He-He told you what I did? No way?"

"Heh, he laughs about it now. You really should come visit us, sis."

"Hmmm, maybe I will. But you better go, or the bus to Boston is going to leave without you. You got enough cash?"

"You gave me a thousand bucks, Faith, more then enough to get rid of that stupid Initiative tat." then she grinned, "But maybe another five-"

Faith pushed her forward, "Get outa here, before I kick your ass."

"You mean before I kick yours. Later, Slayer." and Hope jogged forward and pounded up the steps. The door whizzed shut behind her and a moment later the bus pulled out of the station.

Faith stood under the beams of the setting sun and watched it vanish around the corner...

The cement slab slid into the wall and Faith stepped through into the Reserve Station. Xander looked up from the couch wide-eyed, then rolled off of Ariel and stood, "Heh, didn't think you'd be returning so soon."

"You two really need to get a room." she moved to the corner they'd designated for weapons storage and began digging for stakes.

"And we will, soon as I can get the lumber to build one."

Ariel smoothed down her shirt and climbed free of the couch. She raised a flaxen eyebrow and pushed the wavy hair out of her eyes, hooked it over her ears, "So...you guys are staying?"

Faith and Xander looked at her curiously. The Slayer frowned, "What do you mean? Staying where? Here in the Station? Of course we are. After giving up two thirds of the fifty G's to you guys I sure ain't springin for another cheesy hotel room."

"No, I mean in New York."

Xander frowned, "Why would we leave?"

"Um, because the Initiative is packed up and gone, Ethan Rayne is dust, and the Calyx is buried under the seventeen metric tons of cement it took to fill in the Time's Square crater. Guys, your mission is over. Don't you remember, you came here to find me, 'cause you thought I was a Slayer. Well, I'm not, so..."

"So?" asked Faith.

Ariel fought not to let her voice shake, she'd been dreading bringing this up but it wasn't like she had a choice, "So...shouldn't you be getting back home, or something? To that Giles guy, and Buffy?"

"Why would we do that?" asked Xander, "This is our home. Haven't you noticed?"

She blushed nervously and looked away, "I dunno. I just thought-"

He caught her chin and turned her back to face him, smiled, "You thought wrong. We aren't going nowhere, this is where we belong now, this is where we're needed. You think Rayne and your mom were the only ones out there looking to raise hell in the Big Apple? Jeez, Ari, the trouble is only starting, trust me."

"S-So you're going to stay?" she asked, her eyes wet.

"Yeah, we're staying. This city needs us. And I need you."

She grinned and hugged him tight. He returned the embrace and Faith rolled her eyes.

"Oh jeez, I think I'm gonna hurl. Look, Ariel, come on, we're going on Patrol."

The blonde broke from Xander reluctantly and wiped at her eyes, "Patrol? What's that?"

"It's part of a Slayer's duty. I'm supposed to go out every night and survey the local graveyards for vampire activity."

Ariel gaped, "What, all of them? Do you know how many cemetaries New York has? Maybe hundreds."

Faith twirled a stake in either hand and jammed them into her belt, "Then we'd better get started."

"Okay!" and Ariel jogged off and dug in the weapons heap for an axe. Faith looked to Xander, "You coming?"

"Nah," he shook his head, "I'm bushed, gonna head off to bed. But I want a full report in the morning."

"Yes, boss." Faith snapped up a rude salute.

He frowned as Ariel hustled past him toward the door, pulling on her jacket, "Later, babe! Wish us luck!" and she vanished through.

Faith headed after her, then paused for a second, "Oh right, almost forgot." and she dug in her pocket, "I stopped by the Plaza Hotel on the way back to see if they ever found any of our stuff, but all they could locate was this letter." she pulled a battered envelope free and set it on the card table, "It's got your name on it, so lucky you." then she was gone.

Xander stared across the Station at the manilla rectangle. His gaze darkened and he fidgeted for a long moment. "Yeah, lucky me..." but he gave in and went to it.

He picked it up and studied the writing, instantly recognizing the penmanship. The heart dotting the 'I' in 'Harris' was a dead giveaway. In a way, he'd sort of hoped it had been lost permanently while they were off in the other reality, but so much for [i]that[/i] easy way out. Angel had gone to alot of trouble to deliver it though, and it was only a letter after all, how dangerous could it be?

"Lots..." he muttered, I don't think she ever really forgave me, and now she's gone and she never will.

"Oh well." he broke the seal and tore it open, dug inside and pulled out the single sheet of paper within. The page was off-white now and water had leaked in to spot it here and there, but the hand-written message was fully intact, and he slowly sat down on milk crate and spread it over his knees.

Dear Xander, it read in Cordelia Chase's florid and over-blown script which he remembered so well from lots of notes stuck into lockers during the short but turbulent highschool courtship.

If you are reading this then I am already dead. Hey, isn't that SUCH a cliché? How lame do I sound in this, I mean wow! I always hated overly-hokey mellowdramatic movies, and now guess what, I'm living starring in one.

Or, I was starring in one. I guess if my life is a movie the credits have started to role and this letter I'm writing to you is one of those final wrap-uppyscenes they stick at the end as sort of a final teaser for those few really dedicated movie geeks who linger in the theatre until the rest of the normal sane people are gone, just on the very slight chance there might be just a little bit more to the story then was generally thought.

And if I was going to have a moment like that, which I guess, yeah, I am right now, then I wish you were here with me to share it, Xander Harris. Because I'm really, really scared...

And he chewed his lip as his shoulders slumped, and after taking a deep breath to hold back his emotions as best he could, Xander continued to read the epitaph of the first woman he had ever truly loved, if only for a brief moment in time...

The End of Slayers: Three of a Kind...