Disclaimer: All courtesy of Mr Whedon et al. Thank you kindly for the loan – are you sure I can't just keep 'em on the end of my bed? No? Oh alright then.

(and I have no idea how much drinks cost in the States so just take it as meaning that it's a damn pricey club).

"That'll be $12" the girl yelled over the thumping bass.

"$12! For one lousy drink!" the young man yelled back.

"I don't make the rules, I just pour the drinks" she replied still yelling and feeling decidedly pissed off at how sore her throat was getting from working in this place.

"Sheesh, I gotta start hanging out in scummier clubs or I'm gonna go bankrupt" he said as he handed the girl a $20 bill and strode off towards the dancefloor.

Looking down at the note in her hand she wondered why he had bothered to complain about the price of the drink and then leave her an $8 tip.

"Oh well, all the better for me" she thought as she shoved the tip into her jean pocket.

She was just turning back round to face the mass of people that were leaning over the bar in an attempt to get served, when she felt something wash over her so strongly that the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she had to grasp the edge of the bar in an effort to keep her knees from buckling. There were only two things that could invoke such a powerful physical reaction in her and she was acutely aware of how different the feelings were. She whipped her head round and scanned the packed club looking left and right till her eye fell on the exit door. What she saw disappearing out of the door made her breath catch in her throat.

"HEY ARE YOU DEAF OR JUST STUPID! I said, can I get a fucking drink around here or what!"

She was roughly pulled from her trance-like state by a sea of faces looking at her like she had grown an extra head. For a few seconds she just stared back at them until she realised that she had lost her train of thought. Darting her eyes frantically back to the now closed door she felt something stir inside of her.

"WELL!" the man yelled in her face again.

She gave him a slight smile and yelled back "Or what". She placed a hand on the glass bar top and leapt over it, accidentally landing on the already very disgruntled man's foot causing him to scream in pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Gotta run" she shouted out to the startled onlookers behind her as she ran to the door, pushing and shoving as she went.

Bursting out into the cool night air she turned and scanned up the alley, and for the second time that night her breath caught in her throat. The figure of a girl was walking slowly away, having almost reached the main street at the end of the alley. But as she looked on at the dwindling figure her insides felt like they were being torn in two, with one half of her desperate to call out and the other half wanting to drag her running in the other direction. But just as she had decided to turn and run, the decision was taken out of her hands as the girl in the distance stopped suddenly. Pausing for a moment she then turned round to face back down the alley and stare right into the other girl's eyes. They both stood like that for what felt like forever, just staring at each other with both their respective hearts thundering in their chests. And then in an instant the girl in the distance turned and was gone.

Her head felt like it was going to implode and everything inside of it was telling her not to follow, but something deeper inside of her wouldn't let her not. She took off down the alley, reaching the end quicker than any sprinter, and barrelled out into the street that was busy with late night revellers.

"Fuck, fucking fuck" she muttered to herself as she dodged between the crowds trying to see ahead to where she guessed the person she was pursuing was. And then she saw her.

As the crowds parted for a moment, there she was, running on the other side of the street further ahead and then disappearing again as she dropped down over the breaker wall onto the sand below.

She pushed out onto the road and was vaguely aware of the blaring of horns as she narrowly missed being hit by two cars, her only focus being on the girl she was chasing. Peering along the beach she saw the girl running hard by the shoreline and realised she was going to lose this chase. There was no way she could catch up with her now, she had gained too much distance, unless………She quickly tried to remember her relatively limited knowledge of the area, but no, she was almost certain that the only way off that beach was a set of stairs that led up to near where her apartment was, and if she was lucky with the crowds she could make it there before the other girl. Particularly as she knew running on sand was a definite hindrance to your speed as opposed to nice solid sidewalk.

She took off again, her mind becoming sharp and focused, dodging the oncoming club kids that were spilling out of the buildings lining the street, with a grace and agility that would have amazed anyone who watched, that is if anyone had been bothering to watch.

And as she ran she thought about why in the hell she was actually running at all. About why she was now rapidly running towards the thing that she had tried so hard to run away from for all this time.

These thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt as she turned a corner and smashed head on into something. A loud crack filled the humid night air as blonde hair tangled with brown, and the last thought that filled her head before she slipped into unconsciousness seemed to echo around her empty mind.

"Faith…….."