About A Girl
Part 5: Changes
By
Anessa Ramsey
(Disclaimer in the first part)
It had been a grueling night. They spent the whole time researching the prophecy. It got to the point where most of them were falling asleep on the books so Giles sent everyone home. When they finally got to the Summers' house at three, Liz was so tired she could hardly walk up the stairs. Michael became very overprotective when Spike carried her up the stairs to Joyce's old room. The witches had moved back into the dorms so that they could be closer to their classes, leaving a spare bedroom in the house.
Michael agreed that he would be fine on the couch and reluctantly left Spike to tend to Liz. When he laid her on the bed, he gazed at her for several moments, unable to believe the immediate attraction he felt for this young girl. Usually he liked his women to be at least of legal age, but there was something about her that drew him to her like a moth to a flame. Maybe it was the innocence that surrounded her. Buffy didn't have that anymore and he knew that one day it would fade from Liz's eyes as well and when it did he would miss it.
Her eyes opened momentarily and she could see a blurry figure above her. All she could make out was the hair…bleach blond. Smiling softly she scooted across the bed and left room for him to lie next to her.
Spike didn't know what to think. She knew what he was. She was destined to kill his kind, yet here she was, wanting him to join her, to hold her while she slept. He knew that in the morning she would be embarrassed, so he decided to take advantage of the opportunity while he had it. He made sure the curtains were closed tight and slipped out of his boots, socks, and duster. Crawling onto the bed, he spooned himself against her back and draped his arm over her waist, pulling her close. She smelled of pears and he knew that he would always associate that smell with her. She murmured softly in her sleep and he ran his hand down her side, quieting her before falling into a deep slumber.
The clock on the nightstand said eleven twenty seven when Liz's eyes slowly peeked open. Buffy had checked on her at nine and had decided to let her sleep. Besides, seeing the new slayer curled up with Spike so trustingly had done things to her insides that she didn't want to think about.
Liz smiled, feeling the vampire against her back. He was cool to the touch, and as she turned to look at him, realized that he looked as innocent as a young boy while sleeping. She was about to run her hand over his cheek when his eyes popped open and he smiled at her.
"What're you doing, luv?"
"Just looking…"
"Tha's right, sometimes I forget how irresistible I am." He laughed when she shoved him away from her lightly.
"Not so irresistible as you might think." She paused for a moment, a serious look on her face. "I have a boyfriend you know…" He just raised his eyebrows. "Well, I did. We broke up. And I feel really weird talking to you about this, cause I don't even know you. What I did last night…that wasn't me."
"Wasn't exactly me either, ducks."
"This could never work anyway…after all, you're a vampire and I'm a slayer." She frowned. "God that sounds so awful. It's not supposed to be this way. I was planning on going to Harvard. Harvard! I wanted to be a doctor and help people. This was not supposed to happen."
"Sure it was luv. You can't escape destiny."
"Screw Destiny! My life has been one big mess since Destiny stepped in."
He was about to ask what she meant when the door swung open. Buffy was standing there, hands on her hips, taking in the scene in front of her with an angry scowl. They looked like lovers, even though both still had their clothes on. She didn't understand the feelings rolling through her. She knew she shouldn't be jealous, after all she told him she just wanted to be friends. She should be glad that he was moving on, even if it was to another slayer.
"You might want to get up. Everyone's here and Giles thinks he's made some headway on the prophecy." Liz blushed and Buffy couldn't help but smile. She'd looked like that once, whenever Angel walked into a room. The fact that Spike could inspire those lusty-tingly-I kinda like you-feelings was kind of freaking her out. She'd never felt that way about him. He felt like a brother to her. It was like she could tell him anything and not fear being judged about it. He was the only person she could talk to anymore. For him it had been more, she knew that but could never return his feelings. Now that Liz was here and they were kind of dancing around each other, she was kind of sad that his attention wasn't on her anymore, but pleased that he was moving on.
Spike rolled off the bed, raised his arms above his head, and stretched his entire body, working out the kinks. His t-shirt lifted slightly exposing his stomach, his muscular abs. Why couldn't Max have abs like that, Liz thought absently before rising to join him and Buffy as they went downstairs.
Everyone was in the living room when they got there. She took a seat next to Michael, concerned at what Giles might have uncovered. "After I sent you home last night, I remembered having seen something about a group of people called the Royal Four in a text that I've had for years. It took several hours but I soon found what I was searching for." He took off his glasses and began to wipe them. "It seems Xander was right. The Royal Four are not of this earth. What little information I found suggests that they crashed on this planet in 1947, the Roswell crash, and have been among us since. By all appearances they look and sound human. Unfortunately that is all the information I have been able to obtain. There was no mention of who they might be or what their abilities are."
"If they crashed in Roswell, they're probably part of some government experiment and have been for years. There's no way that they could have escaped the notice of all the military that swarmed over that place when the crash occurred." Everyone looked at Xander. "What? I like weird stuff, UFO's being one of them. Besides, I remember enough about their procedures from my brief military stint at Halloween and from the Initiative to know that if they have them, we have no chance of finding them. That is, of course, if they're even alive."
"Yes, well, putting aside the fact that we must locate them, I believe that we will be taking a road trip."
Buffy did a little dance where she was sitting. "I can't believe I get a vacation from the Hellmouth!"
"I hate to break it to you Buffy, but Roswell's not much of a vacation town. It's about the size of Sunnydale, without all the cemeteries."
"Oh…so no fun?"
"Not unless you count going to the UFO Center fun."
Buffy sighed, a little disappointed sigh. She never got to go anywhere and now she had the opportunity to get out of Sunnydale for a while and she was stuck going to some small town where there'd be nothing to do. Liz looked at Michael and knew that he was worried. How long could they keep their secret when there was a prophecy about them that everyone was searching for the answers to. They'd have some major explaining to do when it came out. An unspoken agreement passed between them when their eyes met and they knew that they'd have to do it on their own turf, once they talked to the others.
Liz looked over at Buffy who had a new, excited look in her eyes. "When do you want to leave?"
"Obviously as soon as possible. We'll need to bring along quite a few of the books and we'll have to find a place to stay that will be large enough to hold all of us when we have a meeting. I'm going to get in contact with a realtor I know and see if there are any large homes for rent there."
"Ask about the Griffith estate. It's pretty big and definitely large enough to make sure that all of you get your own rooms."
Giles nodded and Liz smiled. The Griffith estate was only the largest house in Roswell. It had an Olympic size pool in the backyard and a basketball court on the side of the house. "This means that we have to go shopping," Buffy gushed. Liz rolled her eyes until Buffy said, "We'll have you decked out in slayer-friendly clothes by the time we go."
Michael laughed and Liz could only groan softly, her head dropping into her hands.
Sunnydale, CA
August 29, 2000
It had been three long, grueling months. Between training, more training and keeping their secret, Liz was exhausted. There had been no headway made on the prophecy, though not for lack of trying on the part of the Scoobies. Angel kept in constant communication from LA, searching from his end, but with no luck. The AI team was going to be joining them in Roswell. Unfortunately, Liz and Michael had been unable to say anything without talking to the others. They felt bad about keeping secrets from their new friends, but there was no other choice. It wasn't their story to tell…not without the others' consent.
They were leaving in two days. Two days until she saw them again…until school started…until she had to deal with her parents. She smiled thinking about how they might not even recognize her. Shopping with Buffy had turned out to be an experience that she would never forget. Nothing came between Buffy and clothes. There wasn't any store that they didn't venture into. And she had been determined to make Liz over. Apparently a wardrobe that consisted of jeans, t-shirts, and skirts was not suitable for fighting the forces of evil on a nightly basis. After all what demon was going to be scared of someone who looked like an innocent little schoolgirl? Her smile turned to a frown as she thought about her parents. She had called them regularly to let them know she was okay, but they missed her and were worried. It would be good to see them, but she didn't want to get in trouble.
Forcing the troubling thoughts to the back of her mind, she backed up from the full-length mirror and gazed at her reflection. She was enjoying herself. When Buffy had picked up black leather pants, she'd been vehemently against the idea of wearing something so…binding. But once she had them on she felt powerful, like she was meant to wear them. And the transformation began. She now owned four pairs of leather pants, two black, one brown, and one blood red. They got several belly t-shirts to go with the pants, some track pants and hoodie sweatshirts, three white tank tops, and a couple of sweaters for colder nights. Several outfits that were just for fun, including a cute little pale blue tube dress that Spike loved and a skin tight, lace up, corset-like green leather vest. She also got a pair of combat boots that Liz had to have the second she saw them, along with a couple pairs of sneakers and some black heels. Buffy had been less than impressed by the boots but that was the only time their tastes had differed. They both followed the 'look sexy not slutty' rule. The finishing touch had been the leather duster that Liz insisted she needed. It was just like Spike's, only hers fit her form a little more.
Buffy had insisted on going the whole nine yards. They both got makeovers at this fabulous little salon that would have been better suited to LA than Sunnydale. Liz walked out of there, her hair cut short and tousled in a pixie style with the ends turned up slightly. Her skin glowed from the masque they used on her face and her beautiful dark eyes had been made to stand out with a little smoky eye shadow, some eyeliner and mascara. They left everything else very natural, including her lips which they only applied gloss to. They'd shown her how to do everything and practiced it with her several times making sure she got it right.
She and Spike had been spending an enormous amount of time together. They could talk about anything and had more in common that they realized. Liz knew that she cared for him, but though they had kissed quite a bit, she was unsure of where things stood between them. Buffy and everyone else were upset at first, only relenting in their disapproval after several long talks and some threats. It was new and it was nice. There was no drama or worry that someone was going to try and interfere. Destiny wasn't taking him away. So she could take things slow and get to know him. Besides, she was still underage and wasn't ready to be his.
She was a whole new person and knew that when she got back to Roswell things were definitely going to change. Michael knew too. When he first saw her after the beauty salon he damn near had a heart-attack before laying into her about what Max would think of her new look. In that second she realized something that she'd been trying to figure out for a long time. She didn't care. Not about Max's opinion, or Tess's, Isabel's, Kyle's, or even Maria's and Alex's opinion. It didn't matter to her. Things were different now. Her life was going to be too short to spend it worrying about becoming a doctor or what Max Evans thought of her. He may be the King on Antar, but on Earth he was just another person. And he didn't control her life. She had a purpose and all doubts fell in the face of what she was to do. She had finally embraced her destiny and for the first time ever she felt complete.