Author's Note: So this is an insane enterprise on my part. I've been meaning to combine my two favorite fandoms, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars, for a while now and finally caved.

Some of the characters, plots will unravels chapter by chapter. But here's the gist. [And, NO, YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE WATCHED BUFFY to get this fic.]

Much of the backstory of season one is similar except for:

1) Veronica's the slayer.

2) Lilly's still dead, but she was murdered by a vampire, not Aaron. All of the fallout for Keith's career, marriage, etc, is the same. Except now Veronica knows exactly what killed Lilly.

3) No Duncan. I thought about writing him into this fic, but it was just a bit much. Instead, I have the Kane's moving him after the fallout of Lilly's death.

4) No Watcher in the strict sense. Again, there's really not a male role model on this show outside of Keith that I think would be worthy of giving that much plot space, too. But, I'll address the training needs, etc. Hopefully in a way that makes sense.

Anyway, please send feedback. And, no, this is not the normal begging (although, of course, authors love feedback!), I'm just curious to see if this fic is compelling to anyone before I submit it all. I have it all mapped out, but don't want to invest myself completely until I get some feedback. So, let me know. Expect pretty much weekly updates, if there's an audience.

Here goes nothing!

Prologue

Veronica was not surprised that Neptune was the Hellmouth. Before she'd battled vampires, demons, and witches, she'd encountered enough of Neptune's '09ers, PCHers, and bitches to know that Neptune was the worst place on earth.

Would Veronica Mars please report to the principal's office?

Snickers broke across Mr. Wu's physics class as the teacher faltered from his lesson, sighed, and turned a tired look at Veronica. She batted her eyelashes at him and tapped her cheek with a sing-song voice. "You think this is about my perfect attendance?"

"Moorehead's office. Now"

He pointed his chalk between her and the door and she stood with a sigh.

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill."

There was a familiar chorus of chuckles, murmurs, and, right by the door, there was Logan Echolls, resident jackass, sending her off with a 'salute.'

"Admit it," Veronica said, leaning in the doorway, "You missed me, didn't you?"

Principal Moorehead offered her a deep, long suffering sigh. "Veronica," he mumbled.

Then he titled his head, gesturing to the corner of the office, where Sheriff Lamb was propped up against a cabinet, watching her like a hawk.

Veronica's lips thinned.

Here we go again, she thought, taking a seat.

She tilted an imaginary cap to him. "Deputy."

"It's Sheriff now.…You know that job your hack dad used to have?"

Her jaw clenched and he knew he'd struck a chord as he strutted forward, hand on his holster.

Veronica scowled at him as he stood across from her.

"So what am I being accused of now?" she asked. "Dog napping; forest fires..." she flashed a dazzling smile, "My killer wit?"

"You were identified, by a reliable source…"

Narc, she thought, Probably Wanda…

"As being in contact with Christie Johnson and Jack Bower, right before their respective attack and disappearance last week."

Veronica snorted. "Christie Johnson? Jack Bower?" You do know those are 09ers right? That they wouldn't be caught anywhere near me with a ten foot pole?"

"So, you're telling me it was just a coincidence that you keep popping up on the scene of all these crimes?"

No, for probably the first time ever in Sheriff Lamb's "illustrious" career, he was right. It was not a coincidence that she kept showing up at these crimes. It was kind of literally her job description to be at the scene of vampire attacks, beheadings and the like. In this particular case, she'd saved an unconscious Christie from becoming Jack's vampire snack. But, there was no way in hell she was letting Lamb know that.

Instead, she slipped on her best poker face. "Yup, you got me. I'm a serial killer." She held up her wrists as if to be handcuffed. "Book me, Danno."

Sheriff Lamb's eyes narrowed into slits. "You think you're so cute, don't you? But trust me, one day I'm gonna figure out what you're up to, Mars…'and you're little dog, too'."

She sent him a sarcastic laugh, which he did not return, before he left the room. When the door was shut behind her, she turned back to Principal Moorehead. "May I be excused now? We were just getting to Newton's law."

"Honey," Keith called as he opened the front door, "I'm home."

"And just in time for pot roast!" Veronica chirped.

"Pot roast" was actually a Stover's dinner, not-so-fresh from the oven, but, hey, beggars couldn't' be choosers, could they?

Keith smirked, loosening the collar of his shirt as they met in the kitchen. The space still felt cramped. On her better days, Veronica just felt grateful to have one loving, working parent, grateful that her dad had been able to land on his feet and land an agency , grateful that, heck, they had a roof over their heads and what not. On her not so great days, which were often, she couldn't help but miss a real, full house, with her mother. Her mother who had disappeared months ago.

She pushed the thought away and lifted up a plate of lukewarm chicken and potatoes, grinning. "Tada."

Keith made jazz hands and skipped over to the counter, dragging a smile out of her lips.

"That's smells delicious."

"Don't lie."

"That smells passable."

"That's the magic word."

She smirked at him and pushed the plate over in front of him. With a sigh, Keith took a seat at the kitchen island. He reached up and rubbed the top of her head, like she was five years old, which was annoying and not-at-all annoying at the same time, before looking up at her.

"How's it going, kiddo?"

"Just 'super."

She gave him two thumbs up, to really sell it. Keith's eyes narrowed.

"Something happen at school again?"

"Oh, no? That wonderland?" She hummed as she pushed some potatoes around on her plate, "There were only two slurs left on the locker today and I was only called to the principal's office once."

Keith sighed. "Lamb, huh?"

"Yup de doodle doo. Apparently someone saw me last week at the diner. Thought I was pretty discreet. But, you know, pulling a vampire off my neck can be a wee bit distracting."

Keith's look was strained. She often tried to use humor to deflect from the fact that she, his 17 year old daughter, was nightly battling the forces of darkness. But, alas, it never seemed to work. He'd long ago stopped trying to fight her on this, and in deed, after they discovered her calling, had even helped with her training, and so on. But that didn't mean he was ready to joke about it. Veronica knew this, and immediately dropped her smirk.

"It was a piece of cake. really. I don't think the vamp was more than a few hours old, if even."

"Yeah." Keith sighed. "Jack's parents are still stopping by the station every few hours, hoping there'll be news."

Neither of them were eating now, both utensils still on their plates as they looked down. Just because death seemed to follow around the Mars like white on rice, didn't mean they had to like it. They just…coped, or something.

"Well, at least Christie's okay," Veronica said with an one armed shrug. "I mean, yeah, she's a bitch-she launched a spit ball at me the other weak, but you, know…the cost of being a super hero. "

Keith nodded slightly, silent. Then after a moment and with another sigh, he reached down and pressed a newspaper in front of her.

She did a little jimmy. "Please tell me our stocks are climbing."

That earned her a real, genuine smile as he shook his head.

"More 'animal attacks' around that café you guys hang out at."

Veronica's eyes slid over the article as she took it from. "Animal control really needs to pick up the slack."

"Eh." Keith gave a wry grunt.

Veronica started ticking things off on her fingers. "Bite marks. Check. Unexplained blood loss. Check. Smells like a vamp, look likes a vamp, probably a vamp." She gave a wry smile. "I'm on it."

"I have to check on this case, but I can meet you around—"

"Dad—" she said. Her voice was firm, but kind. "This isn't my first vampire rodeo, okay? I've got all the backup I need."

She lifted a stake from the counter and flashed him a grin.

The Hut had always been a been a bit of anomaly in Neptune. Outside of Neptune High, there were few establishments in which 09ers and 02ers alike were likely to be spotted. But the Hut had amazing coffee, surprisingly low prices, and zero parental supervision. So there were often a mix of people there at all hours.

A mix of people who didn't include Veronica nonetheless. If she wanted more time to be riduclued in front of her peers, she'd have signed up for the pep squad or something.

But a big bad was a big bad and even she wasn't annoyed enough by her peers to let one of them be eaten.

So she'd slipped an outfit just a step above her usual jeans and tee, pulled back her hair, and arrived at the Hut.

Maybe no one will notice me, she prayed.

"Veronica Mars?"

Madison Sinclair looked like she'd seen a badly dressed ghost. "Are you…lost or something?"

A chorus of incredulous looks greeted her as Madison and her posse stared at the blonde.

"What?" Veronica said. "You mean this isn't the zoo?" She glanced around at the assortment of howling and gyrating jocks. "Sure could have fooled me..."

"Well there are their fair share of bitches here, aren't there?"

Madison smirked and damnit, that was a good one, but she didn't have time to trade barbs with her least favorite bimbo. She had a vamp to stake out.

She waved a tired hand between them. "Mm, well this has been fun, but let's not and say we did? Kay? Kay."

Madison bristled, but did not put up a fight as she headed further into the cafe.

It was karaoke night, she noted with a grimace, which meant the shrieking rendition of "Timber" was probably only the tip of the iceberg. She shook off her disgust and started scanning the crowd. If her time hunting vampires had taught he anything it was that even though they may look like your average idiotic teenager, there were usually some familiar tells. Like misplaced wardrobe. Or out of date dance moves. She just had to spot one-

"Oomph."

Her cheek smacked squarely into the plane of someone's chest and she was the Slayer, damnit, this shouldn't happen to her anymore.

"Sorry—oh, never mind, it's just you," she finished with eye roll, because it was Logan freakin Echolls.

Logan touched his chest, where her cheek had been, and stroked. "Now, Ronnie…"

She hated when he called her that. 'Ronnie' had been an endearment for him alone when they were close friends, and they'd stopped being that months ago, yet he hadn't stopped using it.

"…If you wanted to be close to me, all you had to do was ask."

"Oh, well then…pretty, pretty please?"

She puckered her lips into an air kiss for him.

Dick, who had suddenly appeared like some stupid cartoon character next to them snickered and it took all Veronica had in her not to stake him. She couldn't stand Dick. Mostly because he was, well, a dick. But, also because he'd apparently made it his life mission to try and replace Duncan's spot as Logan's BFF since the Kanes had moved. Duncan couldn't be replaced, even if Logan had seemed to forget that in the last few weeks, and it irked her.

But the thought was thrust aside as Logan reentered her consciousness, tapping his temple as he spoke. "Um, let me think…" He made a dramatic gesture with his hands…."Nope, I'll pass. Haven't had my shots yet."

"Yeah, well, then 'rain check?'"

She sent him a look of faux disappointment as he and Dick walked away. Or maybe just Dick, Veronica realized, when Logan was still loitering beside her a moment later.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked.

"For once, maybe, yes."

Veronica rolled her eyes.

"You can explain to me what the school pariah is doing at the Hut on a Thursday night."

"Ooooh, pariah. That's such a 'big boy' word, did you look it up all by your iddy biddy self?"

She reached up and pinched his cheek. Which was really the only physical contact they allowed each other anymore—taunting—before he smacked it away.

"Seriously, it's like you want people to attack you."

His hands gestured out toward her at the word 'want' and Veronica squinted at him.

"Yeaah, Logan, you got me: this is totally what I want. A Big Mac with a side of social alienation—Could I get a milkshake, too?"

He was about to respond when she saw it. Or rather him. A lanky, way too pale skinned teenager in nineties clothing, leaning against the bar. He was leering at a girl and doing something akin to the Macarena when Veronica thought, "Bingo."

"As much as I'd love to finish our little chat...?" Veronica said, giving his chest a light shove as she pushed past him, "I've got a hot date."

Logan's brows spiked, but she ignored him as she clutched her stake within her bag, and headed towards the mark.

"Oh, that's so funny," Veronica giggled," Tell me another one."

The vamp, named Apollo (because, honestly!?) smirked and Veronica suppressed the urge to vomit as he slipped his arm around her waist. As much as she would have liked to have staked him right there on principle of grossness, they were already nearing the threshold of the Hut, and she kind of had to keep her secret identity a secret and all.

Not that spending the last ten minutes talking up Mr. Blast from the Past was doing wonders from her 'reputation.' She had earned more than a few scornful looks and she didn't even want to begin to imagine what Logan, Dick, and the Beav had been saying about her at the back table.

"Suit up," Dick called out at Apollo as they headed for the exit, and yeah, great, now she could have an idea of what they'd been saying. "You don't know where she's been."

Cassidy and some other guys laughed, and Logan just sent her a sarcastic thumbs up, although his eyes were dark; but she ignored him as they headed outside.

"Just forget about them…"she purred when they were out of ear shot.

Gag, what is he wearing, Old Spice?

"They're just jealous."

"I can see why," Apollo leered.

His hand was on her ass now and she decided that she would not stake him quickly. No, she would make hurt first. Now it was just a matter of some privacy—

"Want to take a short cut through the alley?" he whispered in her ear.

Veronica did not roll her eyes. She did not. No matter how obviously bad of a set up this was.

Do girls really fall for this?

But, then her jaw set as she remembered that yes, at least three girls this month had fallen for this-probably desperate, vulnerable, girls. She slipped on her sweetest smile and followed him around the corner.

"So, what do you say we just cut to the chase and do this the easy way?"

Apollo blinked. "Uh…what?"

"You know, this is usually the part where you pretend that you're not a vampire and I pretend that I actually believe that you're not a vampire before staking you. But, ugh, I dunno, that's just getting all so cliché. A girl needs to mix things up, live a little."

The utter stupor that fell upon his face would have been funny if things weren't about to get ugly.

"Heh…I'm not…I mean, I'm not a vampire….that's crazy."

"Oh, so the hard way then?"

She stepped back and then thrust her momentum forward, shoving her boot into his face. Apollo snarled, his eyes flickering yellow, as he glared back at her.

"What?" she asked, "I thought guys liked it when we played hard to get?"

Apollo reached for her and Veronica reached for her stake when a body appeared, like a blur, knocking the vampire away.

"Logan?" she sputtered.

"Stay the hell away from her!"

Her eyes bugged.

One, because she was still trying to figure out where in the world he'd come from so fast, considering the last time she'd seen him he'd been jeering at her at the exit. Two, because she was taken aback by the raw protectiveness in his voice.

"Logan-" she tried.

But, he ignored her, keeping his body between her and Apollo. "Stay back."

She rolled her eyes, because, of all times for Logan to stop being a psychotic jackass of course he would choose to do it against a vampire.

Idiot, she hissed to herself.

She watched as Apollo vamped out and the blood drained from Logan's face. For a second, she wondered if he might faint or something. Then Logan's eyes darted back to hers, steeling, and he moved to swing at the vamp.

Which was a bad move, because Apollo dodged the swing with ease and grabbed Logan, clutching his throat. The teen hung several inches from the ground and croaked, "R-un" before Apollo threw him against the wall.

Logan's shoulder and face hit the wall with a thwack and Veronica flinched before turning back to Apollo.

"Okay," she said, sliding her stake out, "Now, you pissed me off."

She struck him with another roundhouse his kick, grabbed the back of his grimacing head and then kneed him in the forehead. When he'd collapsed to the ground, she reached over and staked him in the chest.

His body was still exploding into dust when she ran across the alley, crouching down beside the groaning Logan. Every ounce of aggravation she'd felt over the past six months was momentarily pushed back. "Are you okay?"

Logan grunted, winching around his swollen cheek. "Am I okay? Are you—" He stopped himself, his eyes falling back to the stake in her hand. "What the actual fuck?"

Veronica sighed.

The trek back to the LeBrun was awkward to say the least. And not just because she walking side by side with her self-proclaimed archnemesis. Mostly it was because she was divulging—as coherently has she could—a secret she'd shared with no one save her father for the past year.

Logan squinted his eye- the other one and his cheek was covered with an ice pack. "Wait…which one of us hit their head again?"

Veronica sighed.

"So, you're the 'slayer?'" he went on, "A tiny, petite, blond chosen from every generation to put sharp pencils into vampires' chests?"

Her jaw clenched, because he was back to being a jackass. But she was silent, because she couldn't exactly fault him for having trouble digesting this.

"Something like that."

"And so…" His head shook in exasperation. "You just prowl around, patrolling or whatever?"

"Well…" She couldn't help the small touch of pink on her cheeks. "The graveyard's kind of a hot spot."

Logan blinked.

"But, I don't—I don't just patrol, exactly. I just—my dad helps me check the headlines to see if there's anything suspicious-"

"Wait, Mr. Mars knows about this?"

Veronica sighed, paused for a moment, and bit her lip. This was going too fast, she was probably spewing too much information, but what choice did she have? She couldn't make him unsee what he'd seen.

"Yes, my dad's known for a while. He helps train me-"

" 'Train'? "

Logan snorted, but she ignored him, continuing. "….And figure everything out. There are usually code words in the papers. Like animal attack; neck bites; blood loss—"

"Lunacy?"

Veronica bristled. Then she reached up, pressed her hand to the ice pack, and pressed down, hard.

"Hell, Veronica; what are you doing?"

"Trying to remind you of what you saw out there, Logan."

His face was scrunched in pain, and she was more than a little annoyed that it bothered her to see him in pain period, when he grunted.

"Fine. Whatever. Look, Ronnie.—Veronica—" He corrected himself suddenly, as if he'd used the nickname almost by accident, and not with the usual sarcasm that he normally did, "I can't deny that I saw…whatever I saw. But you are….5 foot nothing. And just because you're taking, I don't know, Tae Kwon Do classes with your pops or whatever—"

"We're training."

"Whatever—just stop it. For real; I'm not kidding around."

And he wasn't ,that was clear. He was in her space, leaning over her, using that same, foreign voice he'd used earlier when—like an idiot—he thrown himself between her and the vampire.

For a moment, Veronica was speechless. Which was kind of amazing.

"I…" she sighed, drawing in breath, "I can't stop, Logan. Believe me, I wish I could."

He winched or scowled or both—she couldn't tell, because his ice pack was still pressed to his cheek. His hand rose with frustration between them before he muttered. "I will never understand you," and stormed off.

Somehow the next day at school was worse. Veronica was already used to the social isolation, the loneliness, the weight of bearing this stupid calling by herself—that was nothing new. What was new was the fact that not only was was her secret out, but that Logan Echolls of all people shared it.

Her enemy, her ex-best friend. The last person she'd ever tell, the first person she would have told outside of maybe Lilly before everything had gone to hell. It felt insanely wrong and not-wrong at the same. Mostly it just felt insane.

"Ver-on-ica."

Veronica stiffened, her thoughts stilling at the sound of perhaps the most annoying voice on the planet.

"What, Dick?"

"Oh, nothing, just wondering how you and Ricky Martin hit it off last night."

Cue crowd laughter, Veronica thought dryly.

Logan was standing beside him, wearing freaking sunglasses inside, and she rolled her eyes.

"I'll be sure to write you a strongly worded essay," she deadpanned.

She tried to move away from him, but his annoying shaggy head kept bobbing around in front of her.

"Dude, no need to take offense. I'm just concerned about you. I mean, what will all your boyfriends on the soccer team think?"

"What?" She asked, "Jealous? Because I'm sure they'd be more than willing to let you be their ball boy again if you asked really, really nicely."

The hallway exploded with laughter, and, hey, she had to admit that being the one to provoke it didn't suck.

Dick made a menacing move toward her, not like he'd hit her exactly—even Dick was that much of a dick- but a move nothing good could come from. He was halfway toward her, and she was halfway prepared to kick his ass in public, when Logan's solid arm reached in front of him.

"Get a hobby, man," Logan said, "Come on; there's cheer leading tryouts."

Oh, my hero, she thought sarcastically when they walked away.

Then her cellphone pinged.

It was Logan.

Meet me by the bleachers at lunch. Need to talk.

Why the hell did he still have her number? But, then gain, why the hell did she still have his?

She saw him before he saw her. Because, well, she was the Slayer and as rule she didn't like people getting the drop on her. He was pacing, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. His sunglasses were gone.

She just knew, this was it. She recognized all the signs of someone's mind wrecking around the fact that vampires and monsters in the closet really exist.

She braced herself as she approached him.

"Logan-"

"So this is why you've been so crazy this past year?"

Her head jerked back, almost as if from whiplash, because that was not what she'd been expecting him to say. "What?"

"You totally just…ditched everyone, even…even before—" He swallowed and he didn't need to say her name, because, obviously. "And, you, then you're always doing this crazy shit, getting half arrested—"

"Logan-"

The words and emotions were bursting from him and it made her uneasy.

"What the hell, Veronica?"

He was staring at her, eyes demanding, but she didn't know what he asking her or even if she'd be able to answer him anyway .

"It's okay," she said, "It's okay, Logan."

She broke the space between them and then broke one of their 'rules" and rested her palms on each of his biceps, trying to calm him down. Because underneath whatever raging emotions he was expressing, was panic. It was an emotion she knew too well. An emotion she'd stared darkly back into the mirror at for weeks after she'd found out.

He looked lost, vulnerable, but he still shrugged her off.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked and she flinched.

His voice was raw. Almost…angry.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he asked when she didn't say anything back.

"I." She took a step toward him. "Don't." Another. "Have a choice, Logan."

His arms reached up across his chest, almost like he was guarding himself as she got into his space. "If I don't kill them, they will kill someone else."

"What do you mean?" He said. His mouth was shifting with unease. "What do mean, 'someone else'?"

Her stomach dropped. Flashes of Lilly, her throat ripped open, blood staining her cheer-leading uniform assaulted her, and it was all she could to do keep from crying as she looked back at him. His own eyes were red, confused.

"Lilly-"

"Don't."

She blinked. "Don't what?"

"Don't you say her name!"

Veronica bristled. Her face burst with red as she stepped closer to him, any vulnerability of the moment shattered. "Excuse me?"

He didn't back down. He was leaning over again, like last night, but not protective at all. "You don't get to say her name. Not after what you did. After you botched her investigation, went after her family, her own father, Veronica.-

"That wasn't me," she cried, almost screaming, "That was my dad."

"Right, and you didn't stop him."

"I didn't have a choice."

"Heh." His chuckle was cold. "There's always a choice."

"And, he backed down from it."

"But, he still wouldn't arrest the murderer."

"Abel Koontz didn't do it, Logan."

"God, I just…" He swung his fist in the air, not at her, but in utter frustration. "I can't even stand to look at you sometimes."

"Ha!" She laughed and it felt like the most bitter thing in her throat. "Well, I hate looking at you…"

He flinched.

"…I hate everything it represents!"

"Well, I hate you, too!"

"Good!"

They were literally screaming at each other now. But, she didn't care.

"Lilly was killed, Logan."

"Don't you think I fucking know that? Don't you think that's with me every night-"

"By a vampire."

Logan froze, his hand, which had been gesticulating wildly between them, faltering in mid-air. He stepped back and his face was ashen white. He swallowed. "N-no."

"Yes," she said stepping back toward him.

"No, no."

He was panting.

"Logan, look at me."

He wouldn't and she took his arms into her grasp again. "Her throat was ripped open, you saw it….Her blood was drained from her body."

He kept shaking his head, his face scrunched up in a way that was agonizing for her, but she didn't stop.

"You really think Abel Koontz would do that her…just because of her dad?"

His voice was frail as the words fell out. "He-he was insane."

"He was paid off," she said, her voice firm. "And, no human did that to her…a vampire did. That's why even if I hate this calling, I could never give it up. Not until I find the bastard that did this to her. Not until I kill every single one of them."

Her eyes were hot with rage, skin flushed with anger, she was panting now, too, and she had never, ever revealed this to anyone. This part of her that actually scared her, terrified her, when she thought about it. Not even her father.

Logan's gaze locked with hers and his eyes weren't shining any more, they weren't wild with panic. They were calm.

"Then teach me how to kill them, too."

end prologue.