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Author's Chapter Notes:
Riley is in this story, but do not fear, there will be no Biley!
Sunnydale. It was amazing how much this name meant to him, when there had been a time - not really so long ago - when it had been a strange name, a distant place. A dot on a map in a state he had never visited. Now, there was so much he associated with this town. Her, of course. Always her.

She was the reason he was back now, walking down Main Street, wondering if this town ever changed. Wondering if the Hellmouth had thrown anything particularly nasty the Slayer’s way since his departure. It seemed like nothing had changed since that day, many months ago.

The shops were all the same, so were the buildings, and even the people it seemed. It was getting late and already he could see those who knew about the true horrors of their town hurrying home, those who were sadly ignorant dawdling. He wondered idly how many of them would last the night. The attrition rate in Sunnydale was something extraordinary – but somehow, it never managed to draw the attention of anyone in power.

Except the Army, it seemed, who had a lot of interest in this little town in the middle of California. There was a lot to be learnt from this town. Or so they said. He wasn’t so convinced: he had suffered too much here.



Coming back was like starting over, daring himself to make a difference this time. To choose the right way. It hadn’t been an easy choice, walking away from what he knew, daring to come back and chancing it all on a slim hope. He had learnt a lot during his time away though: about loyalty, about love, about need. He felt like he had aged years in those long long months where his closest friends were killed, one by one. Those long, hard days had taught him to look back and appreciate what he had had, what he had lost.

And – foolishly, perhaps - he had tried to forget, tried to move on. The extent of his success in this was evident in his present situation: he couldn’t stay away, from her or from her town. Being on a mission barely a hundred miles away had proved too much of a temptation for this soldier and within the hour, he was finding the nearest transport heading here. He was drawn to the Hellmouth just like all the others who flocked here. Except with one vital difference: he was drawn not to the power of that evil place, but to the power of its guardian. The woman he had loved. Buffy Summers.



Buffy was always something special and with every day away, he realised just what he had sacrificed. She was an amazing woman, a warrior, a sweet girl – so many things all in one. It would have taken one hell of a woman to gain his attentions after the Slayer. He thought Sam might have been that woman. Had hoped she would be. She had known though, right from the beginning: he was still in love with Buffy. He’d tried to deny it, tried to hide it, but everyone in his regiment had seen it so plainly.

Sam had given him a friendly rebuff – and a lot to think about. Was there a chance he could go back? A chance he could recapture what he had lost? It became an obsession of wondering, picturing, imagining. He had to try - he knew that now - because he had to know. He had to know if it was only this one woman he could feel this for. He had to know for sure if Buffy Summers was The One. And if so… well, he wasn’t exactly sure what would happen then.

He couldn’t even picture their reunion at this point in time. He had walked bravely into her town with his head held high, with no real comprehension of what he was heading for. What would she say? Would she be glad to see him? Would she still be the same woman he had begged for a reason to stay? The questions were racing through his mind, taking over everything but the basic instincts that were guiding his feet through the streets of Sunnydale.



She’d be in a cemetery, of course. It was where she belonged, where she was in her element. He just wasn’t sure which one. He had already passed through three without seeing any sign of the Slayer on her nightly hunt. There were still plenty more though – and the way things were going, he would have something to do in each. He had already taken out three vampires, a Fyarl demon and something he couldn’t put a name to. The demons of Sunnydale seemed to be out in force tonight.

He took out another vampire as he was putting the moves on a young woman and after sending her on her way, he headed on, the anticipation starting to build. And in the next instant, there she was: a vision of blonde hair and dark clothes as she spun into view, tackling a large demon. He remained at a safe distance, watching her fight, revelling in a sight he hadn’t seen in some time.

If he noted a few changes in her style, a slight jerkiness in some movements, he shrugged them off, enchanted as he always had been by the way she fought. In no time, the demon was lying dead on the ground and she was brushing herself down with a satisfied smile. She nodded once and took off in the opposite direction. This was his chance.




“Buffy!” he called out, hurrying forward as she came to a stop and turned to face him.

Green eyes looked him up and down and her head tilted to the side as she considered him for a moment. There was a long pause and he thought he saw the strangest lack of recognition in her eyes.

“It’s me. Riley.”

“Riley,” she repeated, as if testing the name. “Riley Finn,” she announced after a moment, a wide smile spreading across her face.

“Hi Buffy,” he said softly, amazed at the warmth of her reception – but also somewhat relieved.

“You are a soldier,” she continued, regarding him still.

“Well, yeah,” he answered, wondering if perhaps she had hit her head in that fight.

She looked like Buffy, sounded like Buffy – but something was off.

“And you’re a big ponce,” she announced with a nod and a smile.

He frowned in sudden confusion and regarded this somewhat-altered Buffy. Had she really taken his leaving that badly?

“Goodbye,” she remarked brightly and turned her back on him, striding away with a bounce in her step.


He watched her for a few long moments and then broke into a jog to catch up with her.

“Buffy, wait,” he called out, catching her arm and drawing her to an abrupt stop, “What’s going on? I thought maybe we could…”

She regarded him with an expectant expression, that bright smile still spread across her face.

“Nothing,” he finished, his shoulders sagging.

This was not the Buffy he had walked out on.

“Okay,” she chirped up, “Goodbye.”

She turned on her heel once more and made to move away.

“Buffy, wait, where are you going?”

“I’m going to see Spike,” she answered with a bright smile, flicking her hair over her shoulder and moving off.

His dazed look quickly changing into a suspicious one, Riley followed her, wondering just when Buffy had grown so close to Spike. And how he could break the spell the vampire had obviously put on her.





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