A/N: Everything after season two never happened. Instead, everyone left Sunnydale and scattered.
One of them changed their identity to something other than Anne. Don't own WWE or BtVS. The song is Heather's Wall by Ty Herndon.
Well it feels like slow-motion
I hear the gun exploding
She watched from outside the bank, every nerve in her body screaming to help him. But she had no choice; there just weren't enough seconds to reach him. So she sat sobbing on the pavement, reflecting on the circumstances.
It was simply a trip to the bank. They were just passing through L.A. on their way to a show in San Francisco; nothing could happen. Or so she'd thought.
I see the flash it brings me to my knees
And I feel the warmth flowin' out of me
Inside the bank, her lover fell as the bullet connected with him. Immediately, blood began to seep out of him.
They said that your life flashes before your life in those seconds between leaving this life and entering the next.
For him, that was certainly true.
But in my mind I'm climbin' up the stairs
And walkin' down the hall
And Heather's standin' there
"Allison Autumn Harris, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" the minister droned.
She felt like her heart would fly straight out of her ribcage. She was so nervous; what if they found out? She wasn't a Harris; her name wasn't Allison. But instead of giving into the fear, the twenty-three year old looked right at the man. "I do."
Her lover stared at the beautiful redhead next to him as the minister repeated the sacred words. He felt so privileged to be able to say that he loved this wonderful, amazing goddess, and she loved him back. "I do."
"I now pronounce Allison Harris and Shane McMahon to be man and wife, by the power vested in me by God and the state of Connecticut."
At those words, the entire company of wrestlers stood and cheered.
October ninety-nine
October of 1999, she'd finally made it to the eastern seaboard. She'd hitched rides across the continent, not giving a flying fuck about whether or not someone would kill her. If they did, more power to them.
She had taken her time working across the country. Yellowstone in late spring, early summer was amazing and Ol' Faithful was a sight to behold. She'd hitched up to Canada from there, and gotten a new identity just before crossing. If anyone had ever checked, she was dead.
Only Allison Autumn Harris existed.
I see us in New England in the fall
After Canada, she'd ended up in Portland, Maine. It was just a job as a waitress, but the tips were good.
"Allison! The big crowd comin' in is headed for your section!" Ashley Kenner was twenty-one and had been working at the Last Chance Bar and Grill for three years. She knew that Allison couldn't possibly be nearly nineteen, as the other waitress had told their boss. But she kept her mouth shut and sent the larger parties over to her as much as possible. The girl was so thin, and it was obvious that she lived off of her tips. The bigger the party, the bigger the tip was. Therefore, the brunette was always trying to help the younger woman out.
"Thanks, Ash!" The not-yet eighteen year old knew what her friend did for her, and tried to return the favor as much as was possible. After pocketing the tips that had been at her last table, she made her way to the large group. And it was large.
"I'm Allison, and I'll be your waitress," she told them after managing to control the impulse to go, 'Damn! A party of over thirty people? Are you kidding me?!' "Do you have an idea of what you want to order?"
Shane McMahon stared at the young woman. Her nearly green eyes were older than they should have been, and she looked so birdlike. "We're all fairly hungry so we'll start with appetizers. Four of your sampler platters, please."
"Yes, sir," she nodded quickly before disappearing.
Our love will last forever like that 8 by 10
He kept coming back to the restaurant for the entire time the company was in Portland. She was an eyeful, even if he got the impression that she was a runaway.
It was another week before he got up the courage to ask her out. She stared at him for a long moment before smiling. "I'd love to go to the movies with you."
Hangin' on Heather's wall
Hangin' on Heather's wall
She tried so hard to avoid him after that first date, but he gradually broke down her defenses.
It didn't help that Ashley was a born matchmaker, and had decided that her coworker was her newest project. More specifically, getting her friend and Shane together was her newest project.
So no matter how many times she begged out of something, she was forced into a dozen additional outings with Shane. She had to admit that she liked him. But she made certain that he waited to propose until she was eighteen.
Being a runaway sucked most of the time, considering the fact that she still felt like she had to kill vampires.
I see the money on the floor
And his gun there by the door
He was tryin' to rob the bank when I walked in
Oh but this is not the way it's supposed to end
Oh somewhere someone says we've lost him now
But I look up and I see Heather's smile
Shane tried to look up, only to realize that he was growing more tired by the minute.
He knew that he was supposed to go into the light, but then he thought of Ally and Heather.
Before he even got farther than thinking of them, his mind flashed back to when he found out that there was more to his wife than met the eye.
So how can I be dyin' when I'm climbin' up the stairs
And walkin' down the hall
And I see a bright light there
October ninety-nine
She stared at him. "Shane, I do love you."
"Then why do you want to go to some hick town in California?" He was so puzzled. His wife had never once mentioned a town called Sunnydale in the entire time he'd known her.
She stared into his eyes for several minutes. "I need to bury the past once and for all. I left home at seventeen, Shane. I got my GED after I ended up in Portland. I need to make certain that that girl doesn't exist anymore. If she does, I need to bury her."
Her husband could only stare after her in open mouthed disbelief and consternation.
And that picture of New England in the fall
Our love will last forever like that 8 by 10
He hadn't been happy about it, but the stubborn redhead pretty much always got her way. She roared into town, knocking over the Welcome to Sunnydale sign. Reaching her old home, Allison got out and stared.
The house on Revello Drive was older than it had seemed when she'd left. A decade ago, she thought to herself. Ten long years.
An older woman stepped out of the house. "May I help you, dear?"
Suddenly realizing who she was, Allison choked back her tears. "I used to live here, a long time ago. I was just wondering about who I might have been if I'd finished high school here."
Joyce Summers smiled sadly. "I had an adopted daughter about your age. She left home ten years ago and never came back."
"Maybe," Allison said boldly, "she had ceased to be the person she had been. Maybe she didn't think you'd approve of who she'd become."
Joyce stared at the redhead. Her eyes were darker than Buffy's although many of her family ended up with darker eyes after their teenage years. Of course, there was the matter of the red hair as well. But dye wasn't that hard to come by.
"Buffy?" she choked out.
Allison stared at Joyce for another minute before softening. "It's Allison now, Mom."
"Come in, Allison," Joyce tried it on for size. "It'll take a bit of getting used to, I daresay."
As soon as they were seated in the living room, her daughter smiled. "I'm married now. Shane's wonderful, and I haven't told him yet, but I'm pregnant."
"A grandchild?" Joyce gasped. "Oh, baby, that's wonderful news. He'll be happy."
She giggled. "He won't be the only one. His dad died a few years back, just after Shane and I got married. So he inherited the family business. Our child will be spoiled rotten by all of the wrestlers."
"Wrestlers?" Just when Joyce thought that her daughter's life couldn't surprise her more, it did.
"Shane and I own and operate the WWE. His sister, Stephanie, is the general manager of RAW and Smackdown and has been ever since he resolved the roster split." Allison's tone was so matter of fact.
"Could I come and meet this mystery husband of yours and see for myself that you're doing as well as you say you are?" Joyce asked gently.
"Of course," she said eyes hopeful. "But can we just let them assume what they will about why my maiden name is different than my mother's last name? Because I've never even told Shane what my real name is."
"As you wish, darling." In her head, Joyce was thinking, Honey, they need to know.
Hangin' on Heather's wall (our love will last forever)
The wrestlers were gathered in Shane and Allison's sprawling backyard for the annual summer barbeque. The male portion of the roster was bonding with the husbands of the female portion while their wives were bonding with the females. And the kids were having a ball racing all over the yard.
Jeff, who'd been good friends with both Shane and Allison for several years, looked over at his boss. "Alright, where's your wife?"
"I have no idea," Shane sighed. "The last time we spoke, she was leaving for California."
"What?"
"She left for her hometown; said she needed to bury the past." He stared at his best friend, his eyes forlorn. "Why is it that I'm so damn confused about this entire thing?"
"You?" The multi-hair-colored wrestler groaned. "Buddy, I'm just as confused."
"Hey," an unfamiliar woman said from behind them, "I'm confused too. I'm confused by why Allison didn't explain all of this to me."
"Aunt Joyce!" the redhead's shout attracted everyone's attention. It wasn't a secret that Allison didn't have a family.
"Ally, what aren't you telling us?" Jeff looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"A lot, actually," she grimaced. "My aunt can tell you some of it while I go pray to the porcelain goddess."
"Allison," Joyce said reproachfully.
"Sorry." Allison shrugged and then corrected, "While I go vomit my brains out, Mother."
"You're a smart aleck," Joyce laughed.
"Ending up hiking cross country at seventeen will do that to a person," Allison tossed over her shoulder as she hurried down the hall.
The wrestlers watched Allison's so called aunt mutter, "Ten years she's been gone. And damn it, she's not the same girl! I know this, but how am I suppose to explain to people I don't know?"
Jeff stared at her apprehensively. "How about you start back at the beginning?"
Joyce looked at him. "You want the truth? I raised her. I raised her from the time she was born, and I was more a mother to her than my sister, Sheila, was. Sheila had her other daughter, Allison's twin, to take care of. She called me mom; she trusted me. When she was fifteen, she met her twin sister for the first time. Willow and Buffy became best friends, and Willow never learned that they were sisters. When they were seventeen, I told my daughter to make a choice. She could walk out the door and never come back, or she could stay. She chose to put the fate of the world before her need to stay and walked out that door. When Willow looked for her a month later, she found death records for Buffy Summers."
"She lied to us?" Shane thundered, a look of pure rage clear on his features.
"She isn't that girl anymore," Joyce defended the girl she considered to be her daughter. "She is no more the girl I raised than Willow is what my sister tried to mold her to become."
Lita, who had been listening quietly to both sides, spoke up. "What was she running from?"
"Her life," was all Joyce ever told them.
Hangin' on Heather's wall (our love will last forever)
Allison looked at her sister-in-law before biting her lip. "Stephanie, take care of my daughter."
"Don't do anything rash." Stephanie knew that for all her begging, it wouldn't happen, but she had to try. "Think about her."
"I am," the redhead said with a final look at her two month old daughter. "That's why I want you to raise her."
Head held up high, the young woman sprinted into the bank before anyone could stop her.
One policeman watched, marveling at her superhuman speed. For a minute, he wondered if she was a demon, until he wiped the thought out of his mind. A demon, Alexander Harris knew, did not willingly help save a human.
The reports would later tell the sad story of how Allison McMahon had ran into the bank, killing the first robber by flinging him across the room. As she did the same to the other robber, the man discharged his gun.
Her body fell on top of her soul mate's, life leaving before contact was made.
Hangin' on Heather's wall
"Aunt Steph!" Heather McMahon called up the stairs, "Mica's here! I'm going to go to the graveyard with her!"
Stephanie stood on the landing, a smile tugging at her lips. "Don't get hurt, young lady."
"It's the middle of the afternoon; I'll be fine. I just want to put flowers on the headstones since yesterday was the anniversary and I didn't get there."
"Go, baby. Just remember that we're leaving at five a.m. for Detroit."
The fourteen year old groaned. "Great, off to a state that actually gets a winter, and a cold one at that."
"I spoiled you by letting you grow up here in the winter," Steph grinned.
"Probably," was the last the brunette said as she left.
Her aunt returned upstairs, pausing at the picture outside of Heather's room. Shane and Ally were grinning at the camera, enjoying the first date they'd ever gone on. There were other pictures throughout the house, but this one captured the budding love that they were starting to feel and showed the love that they would one day share.
She ducked her head, wiping the tears away. "Fourteen years ya'll have missed. She's nearly grown and misses the parents she's never really known. I hope you are watching, Bro, Als."
With that, the CEO and owner of World Wrestling Entertainment smiled bittersweetly and passed the photo, headed to pack for being on the road.
A/N: Please review. No one really has on I wouldn't go that far, and let's face it, if I don't know that people are reading and enjoying my work, I stop writing. Completely.
Anyways, review and tell me what you think.