What are the odds

Buffy stumbled down the street. Her eyes were watery with tears. Her life was falling apart. Again. And there was no way she could fix it.

She couldnt go back... there. That place was never home but it was at least a sanctuary. Of sorts.

And now?

Back on the streets with nothing. Just what extra clothes she had in her bag and the outfit she was wearing. Less then what she had packed when she had been **** the flee Sunnydale.

Unless she went back. Unless she...

Buffy stopped walking and had to stop herself from heaving. She had fallen far and compromised on a lot but she was not going to lower herself to whoring herself out for a sugardaddy.

Granted she could not claim any sense of moral superiority. Since coming to LA she'd done a rockstars worth of **** and booze and had had a rockstars worth of sex with various men and women while on said booze and ****.

And what did she have to show for it all? One massive unwanted boob job, that stupid Bimbo Buffy tattoo, several new piercings in taboo places, and a really bad tan.

Buffy sobbed and slumped against the wall next to her. What the hell was she going to do? She put her head in her hands and sat on the ground.

She couldnt go back to Sunnydale. On top of all the shit that she had run from, how could she show her face with her new... look. How would she explain it all to her Mom, Giles, and the gang? That would go over soooo well. Good God, Cordelia would eat her alive.

She didnt know how long she had spent spiraling as she sat on her ass. But she knew it had been a bit. And she had been so upset she was unaware of what was going on around her, so she was completely spooked and jumped as she heard a voice directed at her.

"Hey, uh, excuse me. Don't mean to bug you but can you look at this picture? I'm looking for my friend. Have you seen her? Elizabeth Summers. We call her Buffy so maybe you know that name, Buffy Summers?"

Buffy slowly raised her head and found herself looking into a computer thingy that had a bad picture of her on its screen, looking past the thingy she saw the friendly face of Xander Harris. She watched as his eyes widened as recognition set in. She barely had time to think before she found herself being hugged.

"Heya, Buff." She heard murmured.

"Hi Xander." Buffy managed to whisper back.

Xander eventually let her go and sat back. He spent a second fiddling with the computer thingy in his hand. Tapping on the screen with his fingers before he flipped a switch and put it in the thigh pocket of his cargo pants.

"What was that?" Buffy asked. She rolled her eyes. First time she sees her friend in months and she asks about the gadget? Anything other than talking about what they should obviously be talking about.

"Palm pilot I got rigged up to do more than just the usual. Runs more than the usual P.C. stuff." He smiled at that.

"Oh." Buffy nodded her head.

"Kinda been using it to find you." Xander said.

"Ah." Buffy nodded her head.

"Soooo...." Xander looked at her and blushed a bit, "How was your summer?"