Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gilmore Girls are not my own creation. This story is inspired by other fanfictions I read so thank you to the other authors. Please enjoy.

Prolog:

Joyce stood next to her younger sister. They were watching the baby play in its play pen. Rory was trying to stick the giant ring of plastic keys into her mouth. Joyce looked around. "Lorelai, have you seen Buffy?"

The sixteen year old teen mom looked at her older sister. The two of them were not very close, in fact Lorelai liked to think that one of them was adopted. "I think she is with Mom."

"Ah," Joyce said and moved away to look for her one year old. Lorelai watched her go. Whenever they did this, Joyce came back and brought her new daughter. Her husband was a jerk and she knew Dad hated him but she could still feel her mom get that look like she was comparing them again. No matter how bad Joyce's marriage was she was still married…

Emily appeared guiding a one year old in a dress that made her look more like a doll toy instead of a person. "Lorelai, we're having dinner."

Lorelai Gilmore reached into the pen to touch her daughter's cheek, "Don't worry Rory, we're getting out of here soon."

16 years Later:

Buffy looked out her bed room window. It was a bright summer day. Buffy felt warm and safe. Her mom was down-stairs making waffles. She was waiting and then there he was…

Angel was sitting on her windowsill. His black coat draped over his broad shoulders like a cape. His flawless face, his clear pale skin. Buffy didn't wait for him to say anything. She was in his arms, his strong arms. She had to rise up on her toes to kiss him, he silently let her. His lips were warm.

It was at that moment reality set in. Angel's lips weren't warm. They were never warm…and he couldn't be in her room, not like this, not in the daylight. Buffy put her hands on his chest looking up, tears already coming down her cheeks.

Angelus' yellow eyes glared down at her. His mouth opened wide showing the razor sharp teeth, vampire fangs, in a manic smile. "Hey there lover,"

Buffy screamed and pushed away breaking his hold. She fell back into her bedroom. Angelus was laughing, "What are you going to do now? Kill me?" A storm bellowed and thunder clapped behind him in the open window.

Buffy stood up; Mr. Pointy was in her hand. "HA!" she screamed stabbing the stake forward, plunging it into Angelus' chest. His face was surprised and hurt.

"Buffy?" Angel spoke her name a single tear going down his cheek before he disappeared in a hailstorm of fire. She heard his dying scream.

Buffy spun around in her doorway was her mom. But her face wasn't horrified or confused. She just looked at Buffy then turned away dismissing her…

Buffy's eyes opened. She blinked, for the briefest moment not realizing where she was. The world was moving, she felt the hum of a car…no a bus. She was on a bus. Buffy blinked and turned looking at the girl next to her.

Rory was asleep her head resting against the glass of the window. Buffy looked at the sleeping girl. Her hair was long and soft. Her sleeping face so calm and peaceful, it seemed so alien. Why was that?

It had been several hours since they left New York. Rory had paid for Buffy's ticket in gratitude for being saved from a couple of tough-guy wana'bes. Buffy had been working as a janitor for a small theater. Normally she left the doors unlocked till she was done because some of the acting troop would come late to run lines. But this last time Rory had run in looking for safety. The kid had gotten lost from her friend Lane, a Korean girl sitting in the seat right in front of Buffy.

Rory had run in hoping to hide but three big men ran in after her. Buffy had just finished mopping the stage when Rory had burst in running down the aisles. She hadn't even had the sense to scream for help. Before Buffy had even thought of asking anything she saw the guys. Instinct took over at that point.

The end result had been several stage sets being irredeemably destroyed by dirty mop water, the sitting section trashed and a broken mop that Buffy had turned into a bow-staff by snapping the mop end.

The police took the punks away but Buffy's boss had been called and once seeing the set fired her ass on the spot. He threatened to sue but that was an empty threat since she had nothing to give and he knew it. Buffy accepted it, gave her statement to the police and went with them to the station along with the then unknown girl.

Buffy didn't actually get to meet Rory till she was walking out the station.

"Hey wait," Buffy heard behind her on the steps from the station. She looked up to see the girl. "Um, thank you, I mean for saving me…"

"Don't mention it," Buffy said. She was just turning away pulling up the collar of her way too thin coat.

The girl had called out again and came down the steps to be on level with Buffy. "Um, I, uh, heard what happened to you about your job…um…"

"Really," Buffy said. It was cold and she really, really wanted to get home where the rent was due in a week and the heat worked, sometimes. "It was nothing. Happy to help." That should have been the end of it but it wasn't.

"No, really, it was amazing and you saved my life, and…" The girl, Rory, Buffy had heard the name was trying to express herself.

"Hey, do you need to make a statement or something?" Buffy gestured back at the station.

"Oh, uh, no, I gave them everything, they said they will call me with further information when they're 'booked', but I can go home. My friend…"

Buffy interrupted again. "Hey, it's really cold out here. And it's not safe out at night here, even in front of a police station. There's a coffee place around the corner. You can get whatever off your chest there and your friends can come and meet up with you." Buffy suggested. Not really sure why she suggested it and didn't just leave but…maybe it was just nice talking with someone.

The two of them had gone to the coffee spot, and it turned out Rory had a coffee addiction, it seemed to calm her right down. And they talked. Rory had been able to call her friend who showed up about 20 minutes later.

Watching the reunion caused Buffy to turn away. It seemed...wrong to watch. "Lane, this is Anne," Rory introduced Buffy to the Asian kid. Immediately the girl with the glasses was asking questions about the attack and how worried she had been and was Buffy some kind of super hero, Buffy didn't answer anything. Rory was able to fill in all the gaps with surprising clarity. Buffy normally thought people glazed over the details or rationalized them to the point that the story really wasn't what actually happened.

Finally Buffy thought it was all over when Rory called her mother. When Rory hung up the cell she told Lane that they had to get on the first bus back to a place called Stars Hollow. Buffy was a bit sorry to have it all end. It was, nice, to talk to a person. But it was also a reminder of who she used to be, the kind of person she used to be. Buffy was going to get up and pay for her coffee when Rory spoke up again. "Anne, why don't you come with us?"

From there it had been a bit of a fight but in the end Buffy had lost, or won, she really didn't know. There was nothing keeping her here, in the city, but there was nothing for her to go to either. Rory had convinced Lane to trade in their fair for a third ticket so that was why the bus wasn't a straight shot to this Stars Hollow. The bus stopped at every stop point between the two. And that was how Buffy ended up on a bus, next to a preppy girl from a small town, and a Korean girl who knew every rock-band that ever existed. They were characters.

Buffy had listened to Rory talk about the small town and her mom, Lorelai. The name seemed familiar somehow. Buffy shrugged it off. Most of the trip she was silent. It wasn't till she realized she was making Rory uncomfortable that she talked about her trip to New York.

Buffy told the two girls – when did that happen? Buffy realized she wasn't really that much older than them but there was just this gap, it was unsettling. "I got to bail hay and milk cows on this one farm. I think I had just gotten into Oklahoma but don't ask me to find it on a map." Buffy said. Lane was clearly not really interested but Rory seemed fascinated by the idea that Buffy – Anne, had crossed the country more or less hitch hiking or walking. To hear herself say it Buffy almost didn't believe it. She had been a waitress, janitor, stage hand for a circus, day laborer, and some other unskilled jobs that didn't actually have titles. Pretty much the only thing Buffy hadn't tried was drug mule but there was one point when she was really hungry that she did think about it. In the end she went hungry.

Rory confessed that she loved the idea of traveling. It was her ambition that she would be a journalist and get to see the world, exotic places like Fez. Buffy had no idea where 'Fez' was so she just wished the kid luck. And silently in the back of her mind Buffy also said "hope you don't get eaten by something".

About six hour later the bus pulled in to the station. Rory got up and Buffy moved to let her out. They were the only ones getting off it seemed. "We're here," Rory said stretching. She headed to the front to get off. Lane got up and followed Buffy. They disembarked the bus. Buffy went to the underside and got her old Vietnam Army Duffle bag from the driver. Both Rory and Lane had backpacks; they hadn't been planning to stay in New York for long.

Shouldering the bag Buffy was careful not to stab herself with the sword she had sheathed in Card-Board. She had grabbed it from a grey/red demon somewhere in Ohio. Since carving out new stakes was getting to be annoying she had kept the sword but she hadn't used it yet. Stakes were still easier to carry and she had to face facts, she knew out to stab better with a pointy stick than swing the sharp two foot piece of metal.

Buffy went over to the two girls as the bus pulled away. It was dark and chilly. Rory was looking around for someone, her mom probably. "So this is Stars Hollow?" Buffy asked looking around.

"Well actually the town is a bit of a ways away but my Mom is supposed to be here." Rory said.

"What about Lane?" Buffy asked. She looked at the Korean.

"Hu, if my mom found out about this she would never let me out of the house ever…I mean I would be lucky to see the sun."

Buffy had to smile, "you can live without it." She said. She looked around. "Who's that?" Buffy pointed to a figure a bit off walking up and down by a Jeep.

Rory turned and instantly shot off into a run, "Mom," Lane ran behind her. Buffy made her way at a more steady gate. No point in running. It wasn't her mother.

The scene followed was one that could have come out of a sitcom. The older woman, Buffy noticed, wasn't really what she pictured when she thought of mom. The woman, Lorelai, grabbed her girl into a fierce hug. It was visible Rory couldn't breathe for a few moments. Even when Lorelai let go she only let Rory go as far as arm's length, "My God, what happened, you scarred me half to death, you were gone for hours, the bus what happened you get a flat, are you hurt –"that was how it went on one question after another at about a mile a minute till she finished with, "Let's go to Luke's. I need some coffee."

"Mom," Rory said finally breaking away from her mom but not very far. "This is Anne; she is the one that saved me."

The older woman took notice of Buffy. The slayer identified several reactions cross the woman's face; one was shock, the other awe, and concern. Tentatively, Lorelai offered her hand to Buffy, "Thank you. You have no idea what she means to me…I can't thank you enough."

Buffy could understand the hesitation. She only could imagine how she looked. She shook Lorelei's hand. "That's okay, happy to help." They broke the shake. "Um, I'll pay back the ticket, as soon as I find a job. I promise."

Lorelei's eyes widened a bit and then she looked to Rory and then Lane and back to Buffy. "Oh, okay…" she nodded as if she understood what was going on. Buffy realized that what should have been obvious. Rory hadn't told her mom she was coming with company.

To her credit Lorelai didn't freak out, at least not that Buffy could see. She smiled; wow she is really pretty, "Um, can you give us a sec, Anne?"

Buffy nodded, "Sure."

Buffy watched as Lorelai guided her daughter a bit away. It was pretty clear what was being said and besides Buffy could still hear them. She turned to Lane. "Tell Rory thanks, but I need to find a place to crash." Buffy turned and started walking away.

"Oh," Lane looked confused, "hey wait, how will we find you?"

Buffy turned around, "Small town right, I'll just be sure to check out Luke's Dinner." She walked off.

By the time Lorelai came back with Rory Buffy was gone and Lane was standing all by herself.

Note: Hope you like this. It was a spur of the moment thing. Please read and enjoy.