Chances
Disclaimer: They are only mine when I'm having REM!
The Beginning Of A New Era
London, England - September 1st 2018
Alexandra Winters stared at the photo of the young girl she was to take into her care. As a dedicated member of the Watchers Council it was Alex's duty to assist in the training of those destined to be champions, the young girls who would eventually be forced to spend their short lives fighting the vampires and the forces of evil because it was their destiny. They were the chosen ones, they were the slayers.
And this slayer was Alex's first. First Slayer. First Chance.
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Sunnydale, California - A few days later
Elizabeth Anne Richards wandered along the corridor of her new school. It was certainly a change from her last school. Firstly her last school was in a city, this place was just a tiny town in California, miles away from anywhere. Secondly, her last school was in England, this was in America. *Well at least I know I'll pass English class* the 5'8", 16 year old, redhead thought to herself as she attempted to ignore the stares she was attracting. *Guess I'm the only new kid. * As she looked around she started to assess the people surrounding her *you're not exactly up on the fashion sense around here either* the words popped into her head completely unexpectedly as she considered her ensemble. It wasn't her personal choice of ensemble either but her friend Sara had forced her to watch Clueless about 50 times before Elizabeth had left and had bought her the 'ultimate' going away present - an exact copy of the first outfit Cher wears in the film.
Apparently fashion had changed a lot in the past 23 years. What a surprise.
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Alex entered the New Sunnydale High School Library and stared in shock. It was a spitting image of the old one. Not that she'd ever seen the old one. According to her C.V. Alex Winters had grown up in London, England and spent the past 10 years working in the British Museum upon completing her degree in World History with Mythological Studies. According to Alex, she had grown up in Sunnydale and left 17 years previously following the death of her family, only to be recruited by the Watcher's Council, who discovered her fighting demons and vampires all over England and had received two recommendations from former watchers. Her C.V. was completely false, as was her hair colour, her name and her current job - as a high school librarian.
Truth be told, everything about Alex was fake. There was only one thing that she knew was true. She was home.
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"So is it Elizabeth or do you have a shorter name?" "Most people call me Bu." She paused and stared at the teacher and thought quickly. *A new country, a new start! * "Beth. Lizbeth." "Well Lizbeth, welcome to Sunnydale and welcome to America. I hope you'll manage to give your very best and hold up your countries good name." "Yes Sir. I will." The tall, dark and handsome English Literature teacher, Mr. Paxton, smiled charmingly at Lizbeth and turned to the rest of the class to continue the lesson. An hour later the bell rang and Mr. Paxton dismissed the class and, as she passed him, he asked Lizbeth to wait a moment. "I just wanted to say hello again and that I received your files from your last school. I understand that you did incredibly well in this subject at home? You enjoyed it?" "Yes Sir." "Do they not talk much over in Britain?" "England Sir. And yeah we do talk. I'm just feelin' a bit out of it at the moment. New school an' everyfing. I love English Lit. really, I do. I can't wait to get started." "Well let me help you get started then. Reading list. You need to get a few books that weren't on the syllabus at your last school. Here they are." Lizbeth stared at the list and heaved a sigh. *First day and me 'omework is read 4 novels. Bloody typical! * "Thanks Sir. Guess I'd better get down the library then." "You do that. I'll see you in class tomorrow. Bye." "Bye." *Right. Thank god that's over. Guess I'd better find the library then. Oh joy! * Lizbeth thought sarcastically as she trudged off towards.somewhere that she didn't have a clue where it was. Lizbeth turned around to find someone to give her directions when she went flying into the ultimate American jock. Tall, well-built, floppy light Brown hair and a movie-star grin that showed a full mouth of perfect, pearly-white teeth. "Hey new girl. I'm Rob. Rob Emerson. What an introduction! I'm really sorry about that. How are you settling in then? Hope you're finding your way around okay. Have you discovered the canteen yet?" "Er, no not yet." Lizbeth smiled nervously at the boy in front of her, surprised at the ease with which he had burst into conversation. "Want me to show you?" "Alright. That'd be great. D'ya wanna help me find the library after?" "Sounds like a date!"
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Rob Emerson looked at the girl by his side. He was amazed. Lizbeth Richards. Beautiful, intelligent, outgoing, from a romantic, foreign country. All of the things he imagined in his perfect woman. And he was aware of them all before they'd finished lunch. He was currently walking her towards the library when he heard his best friends, William Osbourne and Angela Williams. "Hey, Rob!" "Hey Will! Ella. How are you guys? Come over. I want you all to meet someone. Guys, this beauty beside me is the one and only Lizbeth Richards. She transferred all the way from England to grace us with her presence. Lizbeth, this is the gang. Will, my main man and Ella, Angela Williams. Classiest broad in the whole of California. That includes LA" "Broad?! Where are we? The 1920's? Jeez Rob you do talk a lot of crap sometimes." Ella laughed as Rob dramatically introduced each of his friends. "Anyway, you appear to have forgotten the little matter of detention. Ms. Murray is going nuts." "Damn, I completely forgot. I can't keep such a lovely woman waiting now can I?" He joked as he thought of the 59 year old English teacher who was well known for her never-ending patience with each and every one of her student's. "Sorry Lizbeth but I'm afraid I'm unable to accompany you to the library. However, I will most definitely call you about Bronzing it tonight. Okay?" "That's fine. So the library is just around this corner yeah? Cool, I'll see you tonight." *Now that is one fine woman* Rob thought as he headed towards detention and considered what excuse he would amuse Ms. Murray with today.
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Alex glanced up at the door as the girl she had been reading about for the past 3 months entered the library, looking around at the immense collection of books in awe. "Bloody hell" the redhead breathed as she moved slowly up the stairs towards the nearest shelf. The words hit Alex like a bullet. Her first slayer was not only living in the town Alex had grown up in. She was from the same place as Alex's mentor. As her last love. The way the girl ran her index finger along the spines of the books reminded Alex so much of herself at that age that she was almost forced into stillness. And then she heard the words that made her gasp. "This place is so cool. But.now what was that phrase? Oh yeah. it gives me."
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".the wiggins" Lizbeth said to herself before swirling around at the sound of a woman gasping and a pile of books hitting the floor. She ran down to help the woman and when the pile was reassembled back on the desk, Lizbeth smiled at the dark haired woman in front of her, shocked by her youthful appearance and casual attire. *I know they're pretty lax about uniform and stuff out here but are teachers supposed to wear jeans? * Lizbeth thought, certain that the woman in front of her must be a teacher. Her dark brown eyes held much knowledge and even some pain. Not to mention contact lenses. "There y'are. No problem. I was wondering if maybe you could help me find the librarian?" "Well I am the librarian actually" When the woman spoke she sounded incredibly English, only a tiny hint of American could be detected by Lizbeth and even then, considering the mix of Irish that was in there as well. "And you must be Elizabeth." "Actually it's Bu.Lizbeth. I prefer Lizbeth. You're English right? It's 'ard to tell, you got such a variation in your accent. It's nice to 'ear a familiar one. Accent that it is" "Well, Lizbeth, I traveled a lot in my last job. So how can I help you?" "I need books. Not really a huge surprise considering, well, ya know, library! Uhm, basically at the moment it's some stuff for English Lit. Could ya point out the section for us? This library is sooooo huge I swear you could get lost in the stacks and not find your way out alive!" Lizbeth's laughter at her joke died out as she noticed the flinch and the look of intense pain drift into the librarian's eyes, as the woman appeared to slip into a dream world.
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Sunnydale High School, California - May, 2002
Buffy Summers looked at the man before her. It seemed almost poetic when she thought about it. Because he wasn't a man, not really. He was more. He was her one true, forbidden love and as she looked at the wreckage of the old high school around her it finally hit her. She'd ruined everything. Her life hadn't even started until she'd come here. Until she'd met the people she considered her best friends. Now she'd ruined it all. Her so-called 'best friend' had been so hurt by Buffy's actions. So had the man in front of her. As he looked at her with fear, pain and love in his eyes she simply shook her head, murmured, "I love you. All of you" and then that was it. Buffy Summers was gone into the place that she'd spent 6 years attempting to close forever. The Hellmouth. As Willow arrived at the school she heard him shout the words that brought fear to her heart. "To late now slayer. The only way to end me is to end both of us. You've lost either way." As the young Wiccan ran into the room she saw the site she dreaded, Buffy and him falling into the opening in the middle of the old library as Giles words ran through her mind. *Only good can end evil. But to do so evil must end good. * As Buffy fell into the hole the Hellmouth suddenly closed and Willow stared across the room into a pair of the must soulful brown eyes she new. And it hit her. There would be no second or third chances for Elizabeth Anne Summers. She had died too many times. Even a cat eventually runs out of lives. And no matter what she did to Willow, Buffy wasn't a cat. With one last look at the people lying on the ground, in the rubble and the one who stood and stared into her heart. She left. She turned and walked away. *Finally* Angel thought, as the redheaded witch disappeared around the corner. *One of them got away. One of them got out. That's one more person I don't have to loose to this life. * And then he pushed her deep auburn hair and haunting green eyes to the back of his mind. The library still contained some survivors. Some had succeeded in living through another apocalypse. It was Angel's job to help them, always had been, always would be.
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Back in Sunnydale, 2018
"Miss? Miss?! Are you okay?" Alex turned to the young girl and stared at her for a minute, trying to remember where she was. "Sorry Lizbeth. What were you saying?" "I said what do I call you?" Lizbeth said cautiously. This woman was giving her a major case of the Wiggins. She'd just stood completely still for 5 minutes not moving, talking or anything. It was as if she'd just frozen or something. "Oh of course. I'm Alexandra Winters but you can call me Alex. I don't go in for the whole Sir and Miss thing. Way too formal." "Okay well it was nice to meet you Alex. Guess I'd better get these books and get to class." Alex was worried about how she was going to tell this girl about whom she was, what she was meant to do. She was so young, older than Buffy had been when she was called but still, it didn't seem fair, it never seemed fair. As Alex showed her around the library, helping her find the books she needed, she wondered how she would even approach the subject without the teenager thinking that she was a complete nutcase. She decided to just take the bull by the horns and burst into a speech she had been preparing for the past two weeks. "So Lizbeth. Do you have an open mind?" "Yeah, I guess so, why?" the girl replied casually "Would you believe me if I told you that demons were real?"
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Rob had been waiting outside the Bronze for an hour now. He was certain that Lizbeth would show. He just couldn't work out why she would be so late. "Maybe her car broke down." Ella said as she appeared behind him, exiting the club. "Look it is getting dark, you should come in. I'm sure when she turns up she'll find us inside." "What if something's happened to her Ella? She hasn't even been here a week yet, what if she gets mugged or something. I'm gonna go look for her." "Rob, you know what your mom is like. If she finds out you've been outside at night on your own she'll kill you. Then she'll kill me for letting you. Then my dad will literally go mental at some random person just because I've annoyed him because I'd disobeyed him by following you and going out at night on my own. Which is a strict disregard for the one rule that he has ever made in his life!" The look on Ella's face took Rob by surprise. Usually her rants were accompanied with a grin. This one did not have a grin. Instead he saw pure fear in Ella's eyes. "Ella, what?" "I don't know I just have this feeling that something really important is happening tonight and I don't want you out there on your own." "Okay" He began, "Give me another 10 minutes and then I'll come inside." "You've got 5 minutes and then I'm gonna drag you in here kicking and screaming if I have to." With that the irate young woman stormed back into the club, grabbed the nearest vaguely acceptable guy and dragged him onto the dance floor to burn of some of the anger she felt boiling up inside of her. *You've gotta find me first* Rob thought as he ran off towards Lizbeth's street. 5 Minutes later. Rob was nearly there when he heard what sounded like a fight coming from the cemetery. He paused, considering whether or not he should ignore it and continue his journey. *Only to find out that someone's been killed in the papers tomorrow? Damn, Ella's gonna kill me* he thought as he changed direction and ran into the cemetery, only to turn a corner and be faced with the sight of a man exploding into dust, the new school librarian clapping, and a young girl in black leather pants and a leather jacket pulling a stick from the space where there had been a man standing only two seconds before. "Lizbeth?"
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He watched from behind a tree. The new slayer. She looked different from Buffy. Taller and a redhead. But she was still strong and surprisingly imaginative for what he assumed was her first time thanks to the look of shock on her face when the vamp had burst into dust. He couldn't see the watcher's face from here; the long black hair was obviously a disguise. But not because it was done badly. Because he'd know that scent anywhere. He'd inhaled it a million times as he'd held her in his arms. *But I ruined it* Spike thought as he remembered a time from so long ago. *I gave it all up. I lost my true love. I broke her heart to spend one night living a fantasy."
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The Summer's Residence- April, 2002
Willow ran into the front door. "Buffy! Spike! Oh goddess, please help me find him. Spike!" Spike ran down the stairs to see her crying her heart out. "What's wrong Pet? What's happened?" "Spike, it's Xander. Anya's in a state. He's gone. The apartment was trashed, we'd just finished shopping and when we got back." She burst into a fresh flood of tears as Spike thought about the woman lying in the bed upstairs. *Please don't let her come down* He thought as he folded the petite redhead into his arms. "It's alright Pet. Don't worry. We'll find him. I just came here to find Buffy myself. Maybe she's at Giles' place. Let's check out the magic Box on the way." "Spike I can't do this anymore. I just can't. It's too much!" Willow cried as he tightened his arms around her. "Just be strong for me witch." He said as he slowly moved closer to her, eyes fixed on her small, beautiful mouth. "We'll sort it out, I promise. Everything'll work out. Always does don't it? Eventually." With that he made his move. At first she resisted, murmuring something about Buffy and Xander and how everything had gone wrong. Finally she gave into the warmth that flowed through her body. "Spike" she sighed as he pulled her tighter in to his body. Willow went to remove his shirt only to realize that he wasn't wearing one. *That's odd* she thought. Wondering why he was wandering around half naked. Her thought was answered two seconds later when she heard the words that ripped her heart from her very body. "Spike? Come on hurry up. Now that she's gone don't waste time. Come back to bed!" Willow pushed him away from her, the past 6 months flying through her head at a rapid pace. Tara's death, Willow's suicide attempt, Spike's comfort, his caring, his love. Their first kiss, the feeling of joy that had overcome her when he was finally accepted by the rest of the Scoobies as her boyfriend, her lover, her soul mate. She stared at him, as he looked at her deep green eyes, horrified by the change of emotions he saw from love to confusion to shock to realization to hurt, hate and finally the worst of them all, Pain. "Willow." He didn't get a chance. As she ran to the door Buffy reached the bottom of the stairs, covered only by a sheet. She realized what had happened and managed to let a feeble "Wills." escape her lips before she collapsed on the stairs. The witch turned to them. Boyfriend and Best Friend. Then she spat out. "The ultimate cliché. I can't. I. Don't ever come to see me, speak to me or anything again. No apology will ever be enough. Don't waste your time. You could never hurt me as badly as you have. All you will achieve by trying to contact me now is gaining my hatred. Goodbye." With that she exited the Summer's house for the last ever time. Spike turned and stared at the blonde slayer sitting beside him. He couldn't think of what to say to her. So he left. Never to see any of them again. He thought.
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"Lizbeth! What on earth was that?" Lizbeth and Alex spun round to be faced with an out of breath and very confused Rob. Glancing at her watcher in desperation, Alex quickly attempted to cover. "Uhm, Lizbeth was just helping me out with a little light trick I've been working on." Rob stared at the woman as he processed this information. Supposedly a girl who had been in town all of a day was helping a practical stranger with special effects, in a cemetery, in the middle of the night. As If! But now wasn't the time. First he had to get these women inside. Everyone knew that Sunnydale was not a safe place to be at night. Sometimes he wondered why people still lived there. First they walked Ms. Winters home, before continuing on to the Bronze. When they arrived they found Ella and Will standing outside, Will was calmly leaning against the wall while Ella was running franticly towards them. As soon as she reached them she began beating the hell out of Rob. "You evil, selfish, thoughtless b#$%^&*! How could you do that to me? I've been going out of my mind! I thought you were mugged, murdered, I thought you were lying somewhere dead in a ditch and I would find your face on the front page of the Sunnydale news! I hate you!" Rob chuckled slightly, grabbing her wrists in an attempt to stop her assault upon him. "If you hate me then why would you care if I was lying in a ditch?" Ella glared at him, before spitting out, "shut up smart-arse." She then promptly turned around and, in a friendly tone miles away from her outburst, said "Hey Lizbeth, glad you could make it. Wanna go find some actual men and dance." With that she grabbed the confused girl's arm and, glaring once more at her best friend, she stormed off in search of some non-existent, 'real men'. Will grinned at Rob as he wandered over. "Don't say a word." Rob warned him. "Wasn't gonna." Will smirked as he followed his friend inside.
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Lizbeth collapsed on her new bed. What a night. Now that she was finally sat on her own in her quiet, box-filled room she ran through the days events in her head. First day at a new school was a weird day for any teenager, without adding the fact that she was in a strange country, dealing with some major grief and now she suddenly learned that she had a destiny to deal with as well. At first she hadn't believed Miss Winters, or Alex as she was instructed to call her. She wasn't rude or anything. She'd simply said, "I'm really sorry Miss but I fink you've definitely got the wrong girl." Of course, being the open-minded, fair girl that she was Lizbeth Richards had agreed to give the strange woman a chance to prove her case. Only one chance mind, but it seemed that one chance was all she needed. So now Lizbeth was the slayer. Slayer. The Slayer. Lizbeth the Slayer, no, Lizbeth the Vampire Slayer. For some reason it sounded strangely correct, just rolling off of her tongue. It felt right. And on top of all this, she was attempting to settle in at Sunnydale High. Trying to make friends. Rob, Will and Ella all seemed great. But now she had one final problem, Rob. She knew that he'd seen her dust that vamp. And the look on his face made it obvious that he didn't believe in her badly planned cover story. She got the feeling that by the morning Will and Ella would also know about her weird choice of places to spend her evenings, i.e. graveyards. How was she supposed to keep her identity a secret in such a small town like this, with Rob Emerson following her around? * Bugger it. Just get some sleep woman, worry about Rob tomorrow. * And with that thought, she drifted off into an extremely dream filled sleep. *
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On the other side of town a certain watcher was getting even less sleep than her slayer. Alex wandered slowly around the cemetery that she and her charge had visited a few hours earlier. Though she had not mentioned it to Lizbeth, Alex new that they had left one vampire unharmed earlier. As she reached the mausoleum she paused, feeling deep inside of her the gut instinct that told her this was it. However, it was also mixed with a feeling of fear, and anger, and deep sadness and regret. Pushing these feelings deep down inside, she grasped her stake and, counting to three, kicked open the door. And as she entered she saw him sat there, watching, waiting, for her. Just from looking at his face, everything came rushing back to her.
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Disclaimer: They are only mine when I'm having REM!
The Beginning Of A New Era
London, England - September 1st 2018
Alexandra Winters stared at the photo of the young girl she was to take into her care. As a dedicated member of the Watchers Council it was Alex's duty to assist in the training of those destined to be champions, the young girls who would eventually be forced to spend their short lives fighting the vampires and the forces of evil because it was their destiny. They were the chosen ones, they were the slayers.
And this slayer was Alex's first. First Slayer. First Chance.
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Sunnydale, California - A few days later
Elizabeth Anne Richards wandered along the corridor of her new school. It was certainly a change from her last school. Firstly her last school was in a city, this place was just a tiny town in California, miles away from anywhere. Secondly, her last school was in England, this was in America. *Well at least I know I'll pass English class* the 5'8", 16 year old, redhead thought to herself as she attempted to ignore the stares she was attracting. *Guess I'm the only new kid. * As she looked around she started to assess the people surrounding her *you're not exactly up on the fashion sense around here either* the words popped into her head completely unexpectedly as she considered her ensemble. It wasn't her personal choice of ensemble either but her friend Sara had forced her to watch Clueless about 50 times before Elizabeth had left and had bought her the 'ultimate' going away present - an exact copy of the first outfit Cher wears in the film.
Apparently fashion had changed a lot in the past 23 years. What a surprise.
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Alex entered the New Sunnydale High School Library and stared in shock. It was a spitting image of the old one. Not that she'd ever seen the old one. According to her C.V. Alex Winters had grown up in London, England and spent the past 10 years working in the British Museum upon completing her degree in World History with Mythological Studies. According to Alex, she had grown up in Sunnydale and left 17 years previously following the death of her family, only to be recruited by the Watcher's Council, who discovered her fighting demons and vampires all over England and had received two recommendations from former watchers. Her C.V. was completely false, as was her hair colour, her name and her current job - as a high school librarian.
Truth be told, everything about Alex was fake. There was only one thing that she knew was true. She was home.
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"So is it Elizabeth or do you have a shorter name?" "Most people call me Bu." She paused and stared at the teacher and thought quickly. *A new country, a new start! * "Beth. Lizbeth." "Well Lizbeth, welcome to Sunnydale and welcome to America. I hope you'll manage to give your very best and hold up your countries good name." "Yes Sir. I will." The tall, dark and handsome English Literature teacher, Mr. Paxton, smiled charmingly at Lizbeth and turned to the rest of the class to continue the lesson. An hour later the bell rang and Mr. Paxton dismissed the class and, as she passed him, he asked Lizbeth to wait a moment. "I just wanted to say hello again and that I received your files from your last school. I understand that you did incredibly well in this subject at home? You enjoyed it?" "Yes Sir." "Do they not talk much over in Britain?" "England Sir. And yeah we do talk. I'm just feelin' a bit out of it at the moment. New school an' everyfing. I love English Lit. really, I do. I can't wait to get started." "Well let me help you get started then. Reading list. You need to get a few books that weren't on the syllabus at your last school. Here they are." Lizbeth stared at the list and heaved a sigh. *First day and me 'omework is read 4 novels. Bloody typical! * "Thanks Sir. Guess I'd better get down the library then." "You do that. I'll see you in class tomorrow. Bye." "Bye." *Right. Thank god that's over. Guess I'd better find the library then. Oh joy! * Lizbeth thought sarcastically as she trudged off towards.somewhere that she didn't have a clue where it was. Lizbeth turned around to find someone to give her directions when she went flying into the ultimate American jock. Tall, well-built, floppy light Brown hair and a movie-star grin that showed a full mouth of perfect, pearly-white teeth. "Hey new girl. I'm Rob. Rob Emerson. What an introduction! I'm really sorry about that. How are you settling in then? Hope you're finding your way around okay. Have you discovered the canteen yet?" "Er, no not yet." Lizbeth smiled nervously at the boy in front of her, surprised at the ease with which he had burst into conversation. "Want me to show you?" "Alright. That'd be great. D'ya wanna help me find the library after?" "Sounds like a date!"
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Rob Emerson looked at the girl by his side. He was amazed. Lizbeth Richards. Beautiful, intelligent, outgoing, from a romantic, foreign country. All of the things he imagined in his perfect woman. And he was aware of them all before they'd finished lunch. He was currently walking her towards the library when he heard his best friends, William Osbourne and Angela Williams. "Hey, Rob!" "Hey Will! Ella. How are you guys? Come over. I want you all to meet someone. Guys, this beauty beside me is the one and only Lizbeth Richards. She transferred all the way from England to grace us with her presence. Lizbeth, this is the gang. Will, my main man and Ella, Angela Williams. Classiest broad in the whole of California. That includes LA" "Broad?! Where are we? The 1920's? Jeez Rob you do talk a lot of crap sometimes." Ella laughed as Rob dramatically introduced each of his friends. "Anyway, you appear to have forgotten the little matter of detention. Ms. Murray is going nuts." "Damn, I completely forgot. I can't keep such a lovely woman waiting now can I?" He joked as he thought of the 59 year old English teacher who was well known for her never-ending patience with each and every one of her student's. "Sorry Lizbeth but I'm afraid I'm unable to accompany you to the library. However, I will most definitely call you about Bronzing it tonight. Okay?" "That's fine. So the library is just around this corner yeah? Cool, I'll see you tonight." *Now that is one fine woman* Rob thought as he headed towards detention and considered what excuse he would amuse Ms. Murray with today.
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Alex glanced up at the door as the girl she had been reading about for the past 3 months entered the library, looking around at the immense collection of books in awe. "Bloody hell" the redhead breathed as she moved slowly up the stairs towards the nearest shelf. The words hit Alex like a bullet. Her first slayer was not only living in the town Alex had grown up in. She was from the same place as Alex's mentor. As her last love. The way the girl ran her index finger along the spines of the books reminded Alex so much of herself at that age that she was almost forced into stillness. And then she heard the words that made her gasp. "This place is so cool. But.now what was that phrase? Oh yeah. it gives me."
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".the wiggins" Lizbeth said to herself before swirling around at the sound of a woman gasping and a pile of books hitting the floor. She ran down to help the woman and when the pile was reassembled back on the desk, Lizbeth smiled at the dark haired woman in front of her, shocked by her youthful appearance and casual attire. *I know they're pretty lax about uniform and stuff out here but are teachers supposed to wear jeans? * Lizbeth thought, certain that the woman in front of her must be a teacher. Her dark brown eyes held much knowledge and even some pain. Not to mention contact lenses. "There y'are. No problem. I was wondering if maybe you could help me find the librarian?" "Well I am the librarian actually" When the woman spoke she sounded incredibly English, only a tiny hint of American could be detected by Lizbeth and even then, considering the mix of Irish that was in there as well. "And you must be Elizabeth." "Actually it's Bu.Lizbeth. I prefer Lizbeth. You're English right? It's 'ard to tell, you got such a variation in your accent. It's nice to 'ear a familiar one. Accent that it is" "Well, Lizbeth, I traveled a lot in my last job. So how can I help you?" "I need books. Not really a huge surprise considering, well, ya know, library! Uhm, basically at the moment it's some stuff for English Lit. Could ya point out the section for us? This library is sooooo huge I swear you could get lost in the stacks and not find your way out alive!" Lizbeth's laughter at her joke died out as she noticed the flinch and the look of intense pain drift into the librarian's eyes, as the woman appeared to slip into a dream world.
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Sunnydale High School, California - May, 2002
Buffy Summers looked at the man before her. It seemed almost poetic when she thought about it. Because he wasn't a man, not really. He was more. He was her one true, forbidden love and as she looked at the wreckage of the old high school around her it finally hit her. She'd ruined everything. Her life hadn't even started until she'd come here. Until she'd met the people she considered her best friends. Now she'd ruined it all. Her so-called 'best friend' had been so hurt by Buffy's actions. So had the man in front of her. As he looked at her with fear, pain and love in his eyes she simply shook her head, murmured, "I love you. All of you" and then that was it. Buffy Summers was gone into the place that she'd spent 6 years attempting to close forever. The Hellmouth. As Willow arrived at the school she heard him shout the words that brought fear to her heart. "To late now slayer. The only way to end me is to end both of us. You've lost either way." As the young Wiccan ran into the room she saw the site she dreaded, Buffy and him falling into the opening in the middle of the old library as Giles words ran through her mind. *Only good can end evil. But to do so evil must end good. * As Buffy fell into the hole the Hellmouth suddenly closed and Willow stared across the room into a pair of the must soulful brown eyes she new. And it hit her. There would be no second or third chances for Elizabeth Anne Summers. She had died too many times. Even a cat eventually runs out of lives. And no matter what she did to Willow, Buffy wasn't a cat. With one last look at the people lying on the ground, in the rubble and the one who stood and stared into her heart. She left. She turned and walked away. *Finally* Angel thought, as the redheaded witch disappeared around the corner. *One of them got away. One of them got out. That's one more person I don't have to loose to this life. * And then he pushed her deep auburn hair and haunting green eyes to the back of his mind. The library still contained some survivors. Some had succeeded in living through another apocalypse. It was Angel's job to help them, always had been, always would be.
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Back in Sunnydale, 2018
"Miss? Miss?! Are you okay?" Alex turned to the young girl and stared at her for a minute, trying to remember where she was. "Sorry Lizbeth. What were you saying?" "I said what do I call you?" Lizbeth said cautiously. This woman was giving her a major case of the Wiggins. She'd just stood completely still for 5 minutes not moving, talking or anything. It was as if she'd just frozen or something. "Oh of course. I'm Alexandra Winters but you can call me Alex. I don't go in for the whole Sir and Miss thing. Way too formal." "Okay well it was nice to meet you Alex. Guess I'd better get these books and get to class." Alex was worried about how she was going to tell this girl about whom she was, what she was meant to do. She was so young, older than Buffy had been when she was called but still, it didn't seem fair, it never seemed fair. As Alex showed her around the library, helping her find the books she needed, she wondered how she would even approach the subject without the teenager thinking that she was a complete nutcase. She decided to just take the bull by the horns and burst into a speech she had been preparing for the past two weeks. "So Lizbeth. Do you have an open mind?" "Yeah, I guess so, why?" the girl replied casually "Would you believe me if I told you that demons were real?"
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Rob had been waiting outside the Bronze for an hour now. He was certain that Lizbeth would show. He just couldn't work out why she would be so late. "Maybe her car broke down." Ella said as she appeared behind him, exiting the club. "Look it is getting dark, you should come in. I'm sure when she turns up she'll find us inside." "What if something's happened to her Ella? She hasn't even been here a week yet, what if she gets mugged or something. I'm gonna go look for her." "Rob, you know what your mom is like. If she finds out you've been outside at night on your own she'll kill you. Then she'll kill me for letting you. Then my dad will literally go mental at some random person just because I've annoyed him because I'd disobeyed him by following you and going out at night on my own. Which is a strict disregard for the one rule that he has ever made in his life!" The look on Ella's face took Rob by surprise. Usually her rants were accompanied with a grin. This one did not have a grin. Instead he saw pure fear in Ella's eyes. "Ella, what?" "I don't know I just have this feeling that something really important is happening tonight and I don't want you out there on your own." "Okay" He began, "Give me another 10 minutes and then I'll come inside." "You've got 5 minutes and then I'm gonna drag you in here kicking and screaming if I have to." With that the irate young woman stormed back into the club, grabbed the nearest vaguely acceptable guy and dragged him onto the dance floor to burn of some of the anger she felt boiling up inside of her. *You've gotta find me first* Rob thought as he ran off towards Lizbeth's street. 5 Minutes later. Rob was nearly there when he heard what sounded like a fight coming from the cemetery. He paused, considering whether or not he should ignore it and continue his journey. *Only to find out that someone's been killed in the papers tomorrow? Damn, Ella's gonna kill me* he thought as he changed direction and ran into the cemetery, only to turn a corner and be faced with the sight of a man exploding into dust, the new school librarian clapping, and a young girl in black leather pants and a leather jacket pulling a stick from the space where there had been a man standing only two seconds before. "Lizbeth?"
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He watched from behind a tree. The new slayer. She looked different from Buffy. Taller and a redhead. But she was still strong and surprisingly imaginative for what he assumed was her first time thanks to the look of shock on her face when the vamp had burst into dust. He couldn't see the watcher's face from here; the long black hair was obviously a disguise. But not because it was done badly. Because he'd know that scent anywhere. He'd inhaled it a million times as he'd held her in his arms. *But I ruined it* Spike thought as he remembered a time from so long ago. *I gave it all up. I lost my true love. I broke her heart to spend one night living a fantasy."
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The Summer's Residence- April, 2002
Willow ran into the front door. "Buffy! Spike! Oh goddess, please help me find him. Spike!" Spike ran down the stairs to see her crying her heart out. "What's wrong Pet? What's happened?" "Spike, it's Xander. Anya's in a state. He's gone. The apartment was trashed, we'd just finished shopping and when we got back." She burst into a fresh flood of tears as Spike thought about the woman lying in the bed upstairs. *Please don't let her come down* He thought as he folded the petite redhead into his arms. "It's alright Pet. Don't worry. We'll find him. I just came here to find Buffy myself. Maybe she's at Giles' place. Let's check out the magic Box on the way." "Spike I can't do this anymore. I just can't. It's too much!" Willow cried as he tightened his arms around her. "Just be strong for me witch." He said as he slowly moved closer to her, eyes fixed on her small, beautiful mouth. "We'll sort it out, I promise. Everything'll work out. Always does don't it? Eventually." With that he made his move. At first she resisted, murmuring something about Buffy and Xander and how everything had gone wrong. Finally she gave into the warmth that flowed through her body. "Spike" she sighed as he pulled her tighter in to his body. Willow went to remove his shirt only to realize that he wasn't wearing one. *That's odd* she thought. Wondering why he was wandering around half naked. Her thought was answered two seconds later when she heard the words that ripped her heart from her very body. "Spike? Come on hurry up. Now that she's gone don't waste time. Come back to bed!" Willow pushed him away from her, the past 6 months flying through her head at a rapid pace. Tara's death, Willow's suicide attempt, Spike's comfort, his caring, his love. Their first kiss, the feeling of joy that had overcome her when he was finally accepted by the rest of the Scoobies as her boyfriend, her lover, her soul mate. She stared at him, as he looked at her deep green eyes, horrified by the change of emotions he saw from love to confusion to shock to realization to hurt, hate and finally the worst of them all, Pain. "Willow." He didn't get a chance. As she ran to the door Buffy reached the bottom of the stairs, covered only by a sheet. She realized what had happened and managed to let a feeble "Wills." escape her lips before she collapsed on the stairs. The witch turned to them. Boyfriend and Best Friend. Then she spat out. "The ultimate cliché. I can't. I. Don't ever come to see me, speak to me or anything again. No apology will ever be enough. Don't waste your time. You could never hurt me as badly as you have. All you will achieve by trying to contact me now is gaining my hatred. Goodbye." With that she exited the Summer's house for the last ever time. Spike turned and stared at the blonde slayer sitting beside him. He couldn't think of what to say to her. So he left. Never to see any of them again. He thought.
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"Lizbeth! What on earth was that?" Lizbeth and Alex spun round to be faced with an out of breath and very confused Rob. Glancing at her watcher in desperation, Alex quickly attempted to cover. "Uhm, Lizbeth was just helping me out with a little light trick I've been working on." Rob stared at the woman as he processed this information. Supposedly a girl who had been in town all of a day was helping a practical stranger with special effects, in a cemetery, in the middle of the night. As If! But now wasn't the time. First he had to get these women inside. Everyone knew that Sunnydale was not a safe place to be at night. Sometimes he wondered why people still lived there. First they walked Ms. Winters home, before continuing on to the Bronze. When they arrived they found Ella and Will standing outside, Will was calmly leaning against the wall while Ella was running franticly towards them. As soon as she reached them she began beating the hell out of Rob. "You evil, selfish, thoughtless b#$%^&*! How could you do that to me? I've been going out of my mind! I thought you were mugged, murdered, I thought you were lying somewhere dead in a ditch and I would find your face on the front page of the Sunnydale news! I hate you!" Rob chuckled slightly, grabbing her wrists in an attempt to stop her assault upon him. "If you hate me then why would you care if I was lying in a ditch?" Ella glared at him, before spitting out, "shut up smart-arse." She then promptly turned around and, in a friendly tone miles away from her outburst, said "Hey Lizbeth, glad you could make it. Wanna go find some actual men and dance." With that she grabbed the confused girl's arm and, glaring once more at her best friend, she stormed off in search of some non-existent, 'real men'. Will grinned at Rob as he wandered over. "Don't say a word." Rob warned him. "Wasn't gonna." Will smirked as he followed his friend inside.
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Lizbeth collapsed on her new bed. What a night. Now that she was finally sat on her own in her quiet, box-filled room she ran through the days events in her head. First day at a new school was a weird day for any teenager, without adding the fact that she was in a strange country, dealing with some major grief and now she suddenly learned that she had a destiny to deal with as well. At first she hadn't believed Miss Winters, or Alex as she was instructed to call her. She wasn't rude or anything. She'd simply said, "I'm really sorry Miss but I fink you've definitely got the wrong girl." Of course, being the open-minded, fair girl that she was Lizbeth Richards had agreed to give the strange woman a chance to prove her case. Only one chance mind, but it seemed that one chance was all she needed. So now Lizbeth was the slayer. Slayer. The Slayer. Lizbeth the Slayer, no, Lizbeth the Vampire Slayer. For some reason it sounded strangely correct, just rolling off of her tongue. It felt right. And on top of all this, she was attempting to settle in at Sunnydale High. Trying to make friends. Rob, Will and Ella all seemed great. But now she had one final problem, Rob. She knew that he'd seen her dust that vamp. And the look on his face made it obvious that he didn't believe in her badly planned cover story. She got the feeling that by the morning Will and Ella would also know about her weird choice of places to spend her evenings, i.e. graveyards. How was she supposed to keep her identity a secret in such a small town like this, with Rob Emerson following her around? * Bugger it. Just get some sleep woman, worry about Rob tomorrow. * And with that thought, she drifted off into an extremely dream filled sleep. *
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On the other side of town a certain watcher was getting even less sleep than her slayer. Alex wandered slowly around the cemetery that she and her charge had visited a few hours earlier. Though she had not mentioned it to Lizbeth, Alex new that they had left one vampire unharmed earlier. As she reached the mausoleum she paused, feeling deep inside of her the gut instinct that told her this was it. However, it was also mixed with a feeling of fear, and anger, and deep sadness and regret. Pushing these feelings deep down inside, she grasped her stake and, counting to three, kicked open the door. And as she entered she saw him sat there, watching, waiting, for her. Just from looking at his face, everything came rushing back to her.
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