Title: The Nancy Tribe
Author: his_luv_pet
Series: BtVS
Part: 4/?
Rating: PG-13 to R
Codes: R/J Amnesia!Verse, also W/T, A/R
Summary: Where do we go from here? Literally, how to stay in the Amnesia!Verse without totally blowing the plotline to hell. We already know we have to suspend disbelief, now don't we? After that, the Adventures of Randy & Joan & the rest of the Nancy Tribe.
Spoilers: Tabula Rasa -- *Really* AU after that!
Disclaimer: [Insert obligatory funny disclaimer, homage to Joss, and unworthiness statement here.]
Feedback: Tell me -- his_luv_pet@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.geocities.com/his_luv_pet
Posting: Let me know...then sure!
A/N: Talking heads time. Must give logical plotline. Must give exposition...OK, work with me, need to fill plotholes ;)
Nother note: Many have written to ask (thx btw) if Our Gang ever gets out of the amnesia!verse. Let me put it this way: no, not a chance, never, no way, not in a million years and nuh-uh. The spell hath spoken, wackiness ensues.
***
They sat at the large table in the back of the shop. Sitting there had a comfortably familiar feeling. They all compared notes while eating the sandwiches and sodas Alex and Dawn had brought back to the shop. Randy nibbled at a sandwich while sipping his 'special beverage' from a china mug. Willow reported that the Revello Drive house had clothing for Dawn, Joan, Willow, and Tara. There were a few more bills, but nothing to indicate further identity for Joan. Willow and Tara were confirmed to be registered at UC Sunnydale, but there was nothing to indicate where their families lived, or if they had families at all.
Unfortunately, most of the paperwork at the house had been stored in the basement, which had recently been completely flooded. The papers in the small filing cabinet by one wall were illegible. Also, a small cardboard box that had some photo albums in it looked to have been completely submerged, and none of the photos were salvageable. Rupert had found a document that identified Dawn, a report card from Sunnydale Middle School, on top of the refrigerator, where it had apparently been forgotten.
"Your last name is Summers," Rupert announced with triumph to Dawn, who was sitting between Randy and Joan.
"You mean the same as the dead lady who owned the house? How creepy is that?" Dawn made a moue of distaste.
"Little respect for the dead, pet," Randy chided her in a gentle undertone, understanding her nervousness about finding out who she was. Dawn looked chastised and Randy reached over and took her hand and squeezed it. She smiled slightly and continued to hold his hand.
"So," Alex said. "If Dawn's last name is Summers, then Joan's last name has to be Summers, too, right?"
"Well, not if they had different fathers or something like that," Anya offered. "Or, they just aren't sisters and live in the same house. They don't look like each other."
"Dawn is my sister," Joan stated flatly, giving Anya a glare.
"Perhaps they're cousins," Willow offered anxiously. "You know, like really, really close cousins. That would explain the family vibe." She smiled at everyone.
"Then this Buffy Summers would have been your sister, Dawn," Tara said gently.
"Another dead relative," Dawn closed her eyes, and Joan stroked her hair as she put her head on Randy's shoulder.
"Just who was Buffy Summers?" Willow asked. "I mean, she seems to be the last person alive in that house who we know actually belonged there. In the ownership way, that is."
"She was somebody pretty important me, I think," said Rupert said with a tight voice. "I feel very upset when I think of her, but I don't know why." They all looked at one another.
"She was important to me, too," Randy said at last. He looked over at the group. "I have a strong feeling about her being a part of my life."
"Me, too," Joan echoed Randy's somber tone. "But not directly, if that makes any sense."
"Nope," Alex replied bluntly. "But, then a lot of stuff doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. I don't think I'm the brains of the outfit here."
"You're fine, Alex," Randy assured him. "We all contribute to the effort in different ways." Alex nodded in appreciation to Randy, but still felt slightly inadequate.
"This is getting us nowhere. Uninformed speculation is not going to be productive. What we need are more facts, like this grade report for Dawn," Rupert sounded decisive.
"Uh, Rupert? What, exactly does that mean? 'Cause I'm getting the really strange vibe that you're going to want me to study or something. And, I can tell you, I don't think I'm good at it. Way so not good at it," Joan shuddered as she looked at the large, leather bound tombs in the middle of the table.
"We shall have to investigate what information we have," Rupert replied. "So, yes, that means we'll have to go through all the source material available. We have as yet to find where Alex, Anya, or I live. Or, for that matter, where Randy lives."
Randy looked thoughtful, then said, "Well, I don't think I live with you, Dad."
"Hmm, well, I can't say one way or the other, but, I would assume at your age, you would be out on your own," Rupert nodded. It was all so puzzling.
Anya cleared her throat, and they all looked at her. "I found something going through the files at the shop," she said quietly. She was having trouble looking at Alex and Rupert. "It seems that, well, AlexandIlivetogether," she rushed out.
Alex's jaw dropped. "You're kidding," he sputtered. Then in a flat voice, "You're not kidding." Rupert couldn't speak; his face was a complete blank.
Anya made face at Alex, but avoided looking at Rupert. She said, "I found an address on a bill in my bag. It's a utility bill, a very large utility bill by the way, and both of our name's are on it."
"You mean in a roommate, buddy/pal sense of living together then, right?" Alex's voice was pathetically eager.
"I should think so," said Rupert sternly, looking very fiercely at Alex.
"Hey, don't look at me, English Guy," Alex shot back. "I don't have any designs on your fiancee, thank you very much."
"I think," Anya rushed out, "that we were roommates for economical reasons. I mean," she held up the bill in question, "look at how much this bill is. I've seen my wage from the shop. No way I can afford rent, utilities, and groceries on my own." She glared at Rupert. "You, on the other hand, pull a wage from the shop and get some sort of income from something called The Watcher's Council."
"Well, I'm sure it was just until we got married, dear," Rupert assured her, then stopped and looked as if a revelation had just hit. He got up and wandered over to a pile of books and fished out a small leather-bound one. He came back to the table and sat down, holding up the volume. "I think this is one part of the puzzle. When Anya and I were, uh, researching spells last night, I found this book. It's a journal, it mentions this Council and it details the exploits of Buffy Summers..."
Joan looked up suddenly at this. "The Vampire Slayer," she firmly overrode his speech. All eyes were on her.
Rupert raised his eyebrows and continued, "Uh, yes. I only read just a little of it to understand what the book was about, then had to move on to find a volume to, uh, help with our problems." He looked at the small book then back up at the group. "I found a box with dozens of these volumes in it. We shall have to read these books."
"Uh, why?" Alex asked. When everyone looked at him, he whined, "Whaaat?"
"Joan is a Vampire Slayer," Randy offered quietly.
"How do you know that?" Tara asked Randy.
"Just do," he replied with a small smile. "I can *feel* it. Like I can sense everyone's heartbeat in the room, I can smell all sorts of things, and I can tell that Joan's the Slayer," he finished shrugging his shoulders.
"But, if Joan's a Slayer," Dawn said puzzled. "And this Buffy chick was a Slayer, what's the deal? Am I a Slayer, too?"
"Hey, maybe it runs in your family," Willow brightened up.
"I think that's what were going to have to try to find out," Rupert sighed. "What with the advent of so many odd things, vampires, magic, and the like, it behooves us to obtain as much information as we can to defend ourselves."
"Behooves?" Alex mouthed at Randy, who just shook his head and grinned back at Alex.
"I just want more stakes," Joan said.
"It's a bit more complicated than that, Joan," Rupert insisted.
"Not to me. I'm the Slayer, I stake vamps, end of story, go home and have munchies," she said brightly.
Rupert took off his glasses and began to clean them in lieu of a response.
"So," Willow began. "Did you find out where you live, Mr. Giles, uh, I mean Rupert?"
"I, uh, apparently have a residence, but I relinquished the lease last month," he held up another piece of paper. "I believe that Anya and I were going to get a residence together. At least, that seems to be the logical conclusion. At any rate, I have to remove my things by the end of this week."
"Maybe you were going to move into the apartment with Anya and Alex?" Tara suggested.
"A world of no," came out of Alex, accompanied by a "Bloody hell, no!" from Rupert and Anya looked like she wanted to be ill.
Randy was chuckling as he took it all in. "Seems to me it's pretty simple, Dad," his voice innocent. "You take over Alex's part of the lease on the flat and move in with Anya. Alex gets a new place, or," his voice grew just a shade snarky, "you could all just live together like Tara suggested." Tara ducked her head to hide a smile. Rupert glared.
"I'll move out," Alex said instantly. He thought for a minute, "But the only problem it, where am *I* gonna live?" He suddenly yawned, "And I really need to find a place to crash. Soon like, or I'm gonna be so unconscious."
"We all are tired," Rupert said, feeling his years all of a sudden. "Shall we sort this out in the morning?"
"You can come home with us, Alex," Willow nodded to Tara and Dawn. "We've got couch space and everything."
"Thanks Willow," Alex smiled at her, feeling a great deal of affection for the redhead.
"So, we're good now, right?" Joan got up and crossed over to where some stakes were piled in an open chest. "Randy and I will go patrol around to see if we can find any more vamps, you guys are going home, and we'll all be here tomorrow to do the research thing." She pulled out a crossbow, and tossed it at Randy, who had got up to follow her. He caught it without comment, and went to the chest to get stakes and arrows.
"I suppose so," Rupert looked at Anya, who hadn't been saying much. He touched her shoulder, and she looked up at him, and he smiled gently. She smiled back. "I'll..uh, be able to give a few people rides," he offered.
"I think we'll walk," Willow said, looking at Tara and Dawn.
"It could be dangerous," began Rupert.
"We'll walk them to this house," Joan said. "Then we'll patrol."
"We're good to go, then," Alex added.
Dawn went over to Joan. She wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how to begin.
Joan looked at Dawn and smiled, "I *am* your sister, even if I'm your cousin, OK?" She paused for moment, "That so did not make a lot of sense."
"I know what you mean, anyway," Dawn smiled back at her, then gave her a quick, fierce hug. "Be careful, OK?" Joan nodded to her.
Dawn turned to Randy, who was fiddling with his tie, which had come undone during his nap. "Uh, Randy," she began.
"Hmm?," he looked up from his futile attempts to fix his tie. "What is it, Nibblet?" he asked.
"Let me," Dawn said, and reached over to help him with the tie. "Although, you may want to rethink the wardrobe choice here, Randy. Tweed doesn't do it for you," she finished tying the bow.
"I'm bloody well not fond of the tie, either," Randy replied. He patted down the bow, "Nice job there, thanks."
"You'll keep her safe, won't you?" she whispered to him, her head down.
"Always, pet," Randy moved to put his hands on her shoulders. "I've got her back, don't worry. I promise you, she'll be safe."
Dawn looked at up Randy and nodded, her young face solemn. "I know you will. I already knew that, but I just wanted to say it, you know?"
"Sure, pet," Randy smiled at her.
Dawn was overcome by emotion and suddenly hugged Randy and buried her face in his shoulder. Randy was startled, but very pleased by what happened and hugged her back, hard.
Joan tapped his shoulder, "Time to get going," she said, her voice brisk, but her eyes approving.
They all moved out of the shop, and Rupert locked up for the night. The stars were shining and the air was clear, if a little chilly. Randy felt energized, and so did Joan. The night was for them. They looked at each other, eager to be off, but first, there were people to be taken home. Waving to Anya and Giles as they got into his car, they began the trip to the Revello Drive house.
End part 4
Author: his_luv_pet
Series: BtVS
Part: 4/?
Rating: PG-13 to R
Codes: R/J Amnesia!Verse, also W/T, A/R
Summary: Where do we go from here? Literally, how to stay in the Amnesia!Verse without totally blowing the plotline to hell. We already know we have to suspend disbelief, now don't we? After that, the Adventures of Randy & Joan & the rest of the Nancy Tribe.
Spoilers: Tabula Rasa -- *Really* AU after that!
Disclaimer: [Insert obligatory funny disclaimer, homage to Joss, and unworthiness statement here.]
Feedback: Tell me -- his_luv_pet@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.geocities.com/his_luv_pet
Posting: Let me know...then sure!
A/N: Talking heads time. Must give logical plotline. Must give exposition...OK, work with me, need to fill plotholes ;)
Nother note: Many have written to ask (thx btw) if Our Gang ever gets out of the amnesia!verse. Let me put it this way: no, not a chance, never, no way, not in a million years and nuh-uh. The spell hath spoken, wackiness ensues.
***
They sat at the large table in the back of the shop. Sitting there had a comfortably familiar feeling. They all compared notes while eating the sandwiches and sodas Alex and Dawn had brought back to the shop. Randy nibbled at a sandwich while sipping his 'special beverage' from a china mug. Willow reported that the Revello Drive house had clothing for Dawn, Joan, Willow, and Tara. There were a few more bills, but nothing to indicate further identity for Joan. Willow and Tara were confirmed to be registered at UC Sunnydale, but there was nothing to indicate where their families lived, or if they had families at all.
Unfortunately, most of the paperwork at the house had been stored in the basement, which had recently been completely flooded. The papers in the small filing cabinet by one wall were illegible. Also, a small cardboard box that had some photo albums in it looked to have been completely submerged, and none of the photos were salvageable. Rupert had found a document that identified Dawn, a report card from Sunnydale Middle School, on top of the refrigerator, where it had apparently been forgotten.
"Your last name is Summers," Rupert announced with triumph to Dawn, who was sitting between Randy and Joan.
"You mean the same as the dead lady who owned the house? How creepy is that?" Dawn made a moue of distaste.
"Little respect for the dead, pet," Randy chided her in a gentle undertone, understanding her nervousness about finding out who she was. Dawn looked chastised and Randy reached over and took her hand and squeezed it. She smiled slightly and continued to hold his hand.
"So," Alex said. "If Dawn's last name is Summers, then Joan's last name has to be Summers, too, right?"
"Well, not if they had different fathers or something like that," Anya offered. "Or, they just aren't sisters and live in the same house. They don't look like each other."
"Dawn is my sister," Joan stated flatly, giving Anya a glare.
"Perhaps they're cousins," Willow offered anxiously. "You know, like really, really close cousins. That would explain the family vibe." She smiled at everyone.
"Then this Buffy Summers would have been your sister, Dawn," Tara said gently.
"Another dead relative," Dawn closed her eyes, and Joan stroked her hair as she put her head on Randy's shoulder.
"Just who was Buffy Summers?" Willow asked. "I mean, she seems to be the last person alive in that house who we know actually belonged there. In the ownership way, that is."
"She was somebody pretty important me, I think," said Rupert said with a tight voice. "I feel very upset when I think of her, but I don't know why." They all looked at one another.
"She was important to me, too," Randy said at last. He looked over at the group. "I have a strong feeling about her being a part of my life."
"Me, too," Joan echoed Randy's somber tone. "But not directly, if that makes any sense."
"Nope," Alex replied bluntly. "But, then a lot of stuff doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. I don't think I'm the brains of the outfit here."
"You're fine, Alex," Randy assured him. "We all contribute to the effort in different ways." Alex nodded in appreciation to Randy, but still felt slightly inadequate.
"This is getting us nowhere. Uninformed speculation is not going to be productive. What we need are more facts, like this grade report for Dawn," Rupert sounded decisive.
"Uh, Rupert? What, exactly does that mean? 'Cause I'm getting the really strange vibe that you're going to want me to study or something. And, I can tell you, I don't think I'm good at it. Way so not good at it," Joan shuddered as she looked at the large, leather bound tombs in the middle of the table.
"We shall have to investigate what information we have," Rupert replied. "So, yes, that means we'll have to go through all the source material available. We have as yet to find where Alex, Anya, or I live. Or, for that matter, where Randy lives."
Randy looked thoughtful, then said, "Well, I don't think I live with you, Dad."
"Hmm, well, I can't say one way or the other, but, I would assume at your age, you would be out on your own," Rupert nodded. It was all so puzzling.
Anya cleared her throat, and they all looked at her. "I found something going through the files at the shop," she said quietly. She was having trouble looking at Alex and Rupert. "It seems that, well, AlexandIlivetogether," she rushed out.
Alex's jaw dropped. "You're kidding," he sputtered. Then in a flat voice, "You're not kidding." Rupert couldn't speak; his face was a complete blank.
Anya made face at Alex, but avoided looking at Rupert. She said, "I found an address on a bill in my bag. It's a utility bill, a very large utility bill by the way, and both of our name's are on it."
"You mean in a roommate, buddy/pal sense of living together then, right?" Alex's voice was pathetically eager.
"I should think so," said Rupert sternly, looking very fiercely at Alex.
"Hey, don't look at me, English Guy," Alex shot back. "I don't have any designs on your fiancee, thank you very much."
"I think," Anya rushed out, "that we were roommates for economical reasons. I mean," she held up the bill in question, "look at how much this bill is. I've seen my wage from the shop. No way I can afford rent, utilities, and groceries on my own." She glared at Rupert. "You, on the other hand, pull a wage from the shop and get some sort of income from something called The Watcher's Council."
"Well, I'm sure it was just until we got married, dear," Rupert assured her, then stopped and looked as if a revelation had just hit. He got up and wandered over to a pile of books and fished out a small leather-bound one. He came back to the table and sat down, holding up the volume. "I think this is one part of the puzzle. When Anya and I were, uh, researching spells last night, I found this book. It's a journal, it mentions this Council and it details the exploits of Buffy Summers..."
Joan looked up suddenly at this. "The Vampire Slayer," she firmly overrode his speech. All eyes were on her.
Rupert raised his eyebrows and continued, "Uh, yes. I only read just a little of it to understand what the book was about, then had to move on to find a volume to, uh, help with our problems." He looked at the small book then back up at the group. "I found a box with dozens of these volumes in it. We shall have to read these books."
"Uh, why?" Alex asked. When everyone looked at him, he whined, "Whaaat?"
"Joan is a Vampire Slayer," Randy offered quietly.
"How do you know that?" Tara asked Randy.
"Just do," he replied with a small smile. "I can *feel* it. Like I can sense everyone's heartbeat in the room, I can smell all sorts of things, and I can tell that Joan's the Slayer," he finished shrugging his shoulders.
"But, if Joan's a Slayer," Dawn said puzzled. "And this Buffy chick was a Slayer, what's the deal? Am I a Slayer, too?"
"Hey, maybe it runs in your family," Willow brightened up.
"I think that's what were going to have to try to find out," Rupert sighed. "What with the advent of so many odd things, vampires, magic, and the like, it behooves us to obtain as much information as we can to defend ourselves."
"Behooves?" Alex mouthed at Randy, who just shook his head and grinned back at Alex.
"I just want more stakes," Joan said.
"It's a bit more complicated than that, Joan," Rupert insisted.
"Not to me. I'm the Slayer, I stake vamps, end of story, go home and have munchies," she said brightly.
Rupert took off his glasses and began to clean them in lieu of a response.
"So," Willow began. "Did you find out where you live, Mr. Giles, uh, I mean Rupert?"
"I, uh, apparently have a residence, but I relinquished the lease last month," he held up another piece of paper. "I believe that Anya and I were going to get a residence together. At least, that seems to be the logical conclusion. At any rate, I have to remove my things by the end of this week."
"Maybe you were going to move into the apartment with Anya and Alex?" Tara suggested.
"A world of no," came out of Alex, accompanied by a "Bloody hell, no!" from Rupert and Anya looked like she wanted to be ill.
Randy was chuckling as he took it all in. "Seems to me it's pretty simple, Dad," his voice innocent. "You take over Alex's part of the lease on the flat and move in with Anya. Alex gets a new place, or," his voice grew just a shade snarky, "you could all just live together like Tara suggested." Tara ducked her head to hide a smile. Rupert glared.
"I'll move out," Alex said instantly. He thought for a minute, "But the only problem it, where am *I* gonna live?" He suddenly yawned, "And I really need to find a place to crash. Soon like, or I'm gonna be so unconscious."
"We all are tired," Rupert said, feeling his years all of a sudden. "Shall we sort this out in the morning?"
"You can come home with us, Alex," Willow nodded to Tara and Dawn. "We've got couch space and everything."
"Thanks Willow," Alex smiled at her, feeling a great deal of affection for the redhead.
"So, we're good now, right?" Joan got up and crossed over to where some stakes were piled in an open chest. "Randy and I will go patrol around to see if we can find any more vamps, you guys are going home, and we'll all be here tomorrow to do the research thing." She pulled out a crossbow, and tossed it at Randy, who had got up to follow her. He caught it without comment, and went to the chest to get stakes and arrows.
"I suppose so," Rupert looked at Anya, who hadn't been saying much. He touched her shoulder, and she looked up at him, and he smiled gently. She smiled back. "I'll..uh, be able to give a few people rides," he offered.
"I think we'll walk," Willow said, looking at Tara and Dawn.
"It could be dangerous," began Rupert.
"We'll walk them to this house," Joan said. "Then we'll patrol."
"We're good to go, then," Alex added.
Dawn went over to Joan. She wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how to begin.
Joan looked at Dawn and smiled, "I *am* your sister, even if I'm your cousin, OK?" She paused for moment, "That so did not make a lot of sense."
"I know what you mean, anyway," Dawn smiled back at her, then gave her a quick, fierce hug. "Be careful, OK?" Joan nodded to her.
Dawn turned to Randy, who was fiddling with his tie, which had come undone during his nap. "Uh, Randy," she began.
"Hmm?," he looked up from his futile attempts to fix his tie. "What is it, Nibblet?" he asked.
"Let me," Dawn said, and reached over to help him with the tie. "Although, you may want to rethink the wardrobe choice here, Randy. Tweed doesn't do it for you," she finished tying the bow.
"I'm bloody well not fond of the tie, either," Randy replied. He patted down the bow, "Nice job there, thanks."
"You'll keep her safe, won't you?" she whispered to him, her head down.
"Always, pet," Randy moved to put his hands on her shoulders. "I've got her back, don't worry. I promise you, she'll be safe."
Dawn looked at up Randy and nodded, her young face solemn. "I know you will. I already knew that, but I just wanted to say it, you know?"
"Sure, pet," Randy smiled at her.
Dawn was overcome by emotion and suddenly hugged Randy and buried her face in his shoulder. Randy was startled, but very pleased by what happened and hugged her back, hard.
Joan tapped his shoulder, "Time to get going," she said, her voice brisk, but her eyes approving.
They all moved out of the shop, and Rupert locked up for the night. The stars were shining and the air was clear, if a little chilly. Randy felt energized, and so did Joan. The night was for them. They looked at each other, eager to be off, but first, there were people to be taken home. Waving to Anya and Giles as they got into his car, they began the trip to the Revello Drive house.
End part 4
