Under a blood red sky

It was a typical evening, if you were the slayer.

Mel had a pretty good patrol routine mapped out, and she ran it through every night she could--which was most of them. One got away from her here and there, but it was rare. She walked a circuit around York, from the Phoenix to the cemeteries, out toward the Gates, and back. She usually started around 11:30.

She was halfway to the Gates when she heard it.

There was a half-hiss, and a lurk sort of poured out of a shadow and into the path in front o her. "Slayer," he said.

Mel shrugged the backpack off her shoulders. And she smiled.

She was back to almost entirely full strength after all that dream stuff. She'd really depleted herself during that and it had taken time to get herself back to normal. If nothing else she had a better understanding of what Harry felt like after one of his infamous fights. She just took it easy, slept when she felt like it and ate when she was hungry.

Murphy had gone out for a run so Molly curled up on the couch with a book she'd borrowed from Harry. She wanted to keep up her research and studies while she was recovering, but to be honest she wasn't getting too much studying done since her mind kept turning towards a certain tall young man with the most amazing dimples she'd ever seen.