Disclaimer and copyright: Buffy belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy
Inc., and Warner Bros.
Logan/Wolverine belongs to Marvel.
Kai belongs to Kaylee, and you don't mess with her.
No one is making any money, so don't sue, please.

Ok, that's out of the way.  This is my first and was written for fun,
not accuracy, so please be kind.  This would not be possible without the
collaborative efforts of Kaylee and Shera.
Much credit goes to them.

If you happen to like it, let me know.  Please do not archive without my
permission, though.
If you don't happen to like it, have a nice day and read something
else.  :-)

_________________________________

X-Slayer
Chapter 4

The night had gone quietly, with the morning dawning in a peaceful
beauty that belied the savagery that had occurred here in the dark.  As
the birds began their morning chorus, the three tired fighters, each
awaking with their own personal baggage weighing them down, slowly
stretched and came out of their sleeping bags.  Kai and Logan had slept
under the stars, too tired to assemble a tent, while Buffy had
crawled    back into her new tent.

Without many words Buffy pulled out her new frying pan and began to dig
for the eggs she had brought.  Having bought a full dozen, she had
thought that was overkill at the time.  Now she wondered how much else
she would have guessed wrong at in preparing for her 'vacation'.
Finding eggs, she scrambled them and put them in the pan.  Too late she
noticed the fire was out.

"Never a microwave around when you need one," she muttered under her
breath.  Kai noticed Buffy's problem and volunteered to go get some
wood.  "I'll go with you," Buffy said as she stood up and started out of
the camp along with Kai.

As the two entered the woods, the soft wind caused the boughs to sway
above them.  Their whispers caressed the two as they moved silently over
the soft pine needles on the ground.  To make noise now seemed wrong, as
it would break the sanctity of the woods.  Obviously the intruders last
night had no problem with sacrilege.

As the two began to gather branches, Kai softly asked Buffy a question.
"Are you okay with what you saw last night?"

Buffy responded slowly, choosing her words.  "Yes, I am.  I’ve seen many
strange things.  It is not who you and Logan are that confuses me, it is
that I am not used to meeting many other 'good guys'.  Especially ones
with any special abilities.  Usually the ones who have any unusual
abilities are the ones trying to kill me."

Kai stopped and looked at Buffy.  "You might be surprised that there are
quite a few of us 'special' good guys.  You are not as alone as you may
feel.  And based upon your performance last night, you seem to have some
special abilities of your own."

"You are starting to sound like my watcher."  Buffy lowered her voice,
drew her eyebrows together, and said seriously, "You are the chosen of
your generation, the one with the speed and ability to kill vampires.
Blah, blah, blah."  She looked up at Kai.  "Being the chosen one can get
a little old."

Kai noticed the pain that flickered across Buffy's face and saw a look
of deep weariness quickly followed it.  Kai's face, Buffy noticed, also
had a weary look about it, and also deep sadness.  Buffy knew she needed
to break the mood or she might lose it, again.  Cheerily she said, "You
two handled yourselves very well last night. "

"Thank you.  So did you.  Don't let Logan fool you.  He may seem tough,
but he is still a bit of a teddy bear.  He came all the way up here last
night because he was worried about you."

"Teddy bear?  Grizzly seems more appropriate."

Kai laughed and started to move back towards camp.  "Logan can
definitely take care of himself, but don't let him know you know.  Gotta
keep him humble."

The two ladies were laughing as they strolled with their arms full of
wood back into camp.  Logan eyed them nervously, knowing he somehow had
a part in their laughter.  Knowing made more certain by the fact that
neither would look at him.   He watched as they got the fire going and
began to cook the eggs.  They kept glancing at him and snickering.

Standing up from the pack he had been adjusting, he mumbled under his
breath.  "I've had about enough of this."

Kai, noticing he was getting up, and hearing his mumbling, looked at him
and said, "Hush up and get over here."

Logan glared at her but came over for some food.  Buffy smiled and
handed it to him.  They then all sat and ate quietly, without any bursts
of laughter.   When they were done they all started to clean their
plates off and pack them away.

"Where to next?" said Buffy as she started to take her tent down.  "I
assume you will start looking for your vampire."

Watching her stumble her way through the process of trying to get that
entire tent into the little bag, Logan folded his arms and looked at her
face.  "We'll be going on alone.  I want you to get on back down the
mountain and vacation somewheres else."

"Ain't happening, big guy."  This said she continued to pack away her
stuff.

Logan continued to face her down.  "Vampires are one thing, but we don't
know what we will find.  Whatever it is, it doesn't involve you."

Turning around and walking right into Logan's face, Buffy looked at him
square in eyes and said, "I am The Slayer.  I didn't volunteer for this
job, but I got it.  Now, you might be one of this X-Men group, but that
in my book doesn't mean anything, just like my being the slayer doesn't
seem to impress you.  So, like it or not, we both appear to have a
reason to continue on.  Get over it."

Buffy turned around and started to pack again.  Logan stared hard at her
back.  "Not likin' it has nothing to do with it, kid.  I'm talkin' about
you getting dead, and that's a one-way trip."

Glancing around her shoulder, taking in Kai looking at the exchange with
a concerned look on her face, Buffy looked at last back at Logan.
"Today is as good as any other day to find out if I'm holding that
one-way ticket."

Logan turned around and finished packing their stuff into the
backpacks.  Her tacit acknowledgment of the fact she wasn't to be
dissuaded left a sour taste in his mouth, but he would deal with it.
Just another one to watch out for, he thought.  Women.

Together they finished up and headed out of camp wordlessly.  With Logan
in the lead and Kai finishing out the short line, they started back up
the mountain.  By now the morning sun was fully up, as was all the local
wildlife.  As the solemn group passed through each animal infested area,
the animals, whether in respect to the group’s dark mood or out of a
natural feeling for what was to happen to this group, gave them a moment
of silence.  Thus they marched and climbed silently upward, unsure of
just what was ahead of them.