Title: A Simple Twist Of Fate
Author: Jane McCartney
Disclaimer: Despite numerous attempts to make it otherwise, none of them are mine. Joss and UPN and ME own 'em all.
Feedback: Don't make me beg for it. Oh hell, whatever: pleeeease? Pretty please? It'll just take a sec from ya!
Acknowledgments: Everyone who reviews and helps me. And my beta reader Starway Man. You rules, T!
Author's Note: AU. This chapter is practically a rewrite of "Welcome To the Hellmouth" with some changes and characters mixed around along the way. This story will deviate more in the following chapters.
Summary: For Buffy Summers, it took only a single glance to fall in love with the new student at Sunnydale High, Xander Harris. And with that look, she'd forever seal her fate as the Slayer.
***
The teacher wrote the three words on the board, and subsequently underlined them noisily with the chalk. The caption read, 'The Black Death'.
"It's estimated that about 25 million people died in that one four-year span. But the fun part of the Black Plague is that it originated in Europe, how?"
Willow was taking notes in her notebook, as was Xander who was seated by her side.
"As an early form of germ warfare. If you'll look at the map on page 63 you can trace the spread of the disease into Rome, and then north..."
Xander looked around, a little lost. And the slender red-haired girl, noticing he didn't have the book, promptly offered to share hers with him.
"Thanks," the dark-haired teen smiled gratefully.
"And this popular plague led to what social changes? Steve?" the teacher asked a kid at random.
"Ah..." the required student started doubtfully, and looked immediately relieved when the bell rang to announce the end of the class. He clasped hands with a friend, and got up to leave with the rest of students.
"I'm Xander," the dark-haired youth introduced himself to the red-haired girl in the middle of the noisy commotion, pulling his backpack onto his shoulder as they stood up.
Willow was about to respond, but then a pretty brunette girl walked over them "Willow! I was just thinking about you."
"You w-were?" Willow asked uneasily.
Cordelia Chase smiled shark-like, "Yeah, I just heard they were starting to cast for a new sequel to 'Revenge of the Nerds', and for some reason your name just popped into my head!"
Willow's look fell to the floor, as she started to jabber shyly, "I, uh..."
"I, uh..." Cordelia mocked with a bored expression, rolling her eyes. "What about actually saying something, like - you've somewhere else to be?"
The petite redhead looked around, and then back at Cordelia. "Oh!" she blurted out when the realization hit her, and hurriedly turned to walk away from Xander and Cordy.
"Hi! I'm Cordelia Chase," the girl turned back to Xander, who was watching the redhead leave for a moment, and pulled a lock of silky dark hair behind her ear. Hmm, hello creamy goodness... the cheerleader unconsciously licked her lips.
"Xander Harris," the dark-haired youth replied to her wide grin with a small, somehow reluctant one, staring right at the brunette girl at last.
"I didn't mean to be nosy and all, but I noticed you were bookless during the class. And if you're looking for a textbook of your very own, there's probably a few in the library," she elucidated helpfully, and smiled flirtatiously next. "Or you could just hang out with me instead," her voice, with a very slightly singsong tone, was sugary sweet and a more than a little insinuative.
"Oh," Xander blurted out, deciphering her not-so-subtle flirting. "I guess I-"
"Excellent! You know, you've made a very wise choice!" the brunette grinned wildly, linking her arms with the boy's and almost dragging him along with her.
"I did?" Xander frowned, a little confused, letting the tall girl lead him into the hallways.
As they moved down the hall, they looked like the stereotypical image of an American high school teenage couple - and more than a few people watched, figuring that Queen C was intending to get her hooks into the new kid in town.
"Come on, I'll show you around," Cordelia offered. "You're from Hemery, right? In L.A.?" Without receiving an answer, she added, "Oh, and by the way, you don't need to do the do-gooder act here in Sunnydale."
"Do-gooder act?" Xander repeated, obviously lost.
"Duh, ye-ah! Look, I know the whole politically correct thing is in fashion with the big city types nowadays, but we're different here in Sunnydale," Cordelia explained, and paused to search for her next words more carefully. "It's more like... being hypocrisy-free. I mean, we're cool and they aren't, and that's not like our fault. Which means you can pretty much skip the fuzzy and warm act, with all the nerds on campus."
Xander took a minute to take the information in, as Cordelia smiled at him. "So how are you finding Sunnydale so far? Don't worry, it's not as bad as you think. As much as I'd kill to live in L.A. - I mean, that close to that many shoes? Gee, what a hard choice. But see, there's some advantages to living in small, oh-so-boring towns..."
"That's good, I guess," the boy replied, somehow awkwardly.
"That being said... Sunnydale's got me," Cordelia said, shifting her weight and biting her lips softly - and for the first time, a hint of insecurity, a trace signal most would probably overlook in her bitchy personality, was suddenly visible in the girl's character through Xander's eyes.
The male Slayer didn't know exactly how to react to this, so he only grinned back. He wasn't sure yet what to make of Cordelia Chase.
But as he looked at the brunette hanging off his arm, Xander couldn't help thinking this was exactly the type of girl he'd have pursued straightaway, in his jock days back in L.A. She seemed smart, sure of herself, and of course had a face and body to die for.
A million years ago, in a time before the darkness had come over his life, the teenager probably would have been planning how to get her into bed by now.
Nowadays of course, after what had happened one night from disregarding Merrick's orders and advice about a girl named Nicole, Xander knew better.
"Anyways," Cordelia quickly changed the subject, adopting her imperious presence once again as the two teens entered another of Sunnydale High's halls. "You wanna fit in here, the first rule is: know your losers. Once you can identify them all by sight," she said, glancing towards Willow, "they're a lot easier to avoid."
Xander let out a nervous laugh as Cordelia looked at the redhead again, who had gone through a door at the end of the hall, looking back at the two brunettes before continuing on.
"Willow Rosenberg, bookworm type. Nerd from head to toe," Cordy started to categorize, snapping her glance to another passing-by student. "Warren Mears. Well, basically, just another harmless loser. Passes his worthless time with some sci-fi things like robots and stuff - need I say more?" she snorted.
That was when a short, dark-haired boy crossed their path, and Cordelia frowned helplessly. "Jonathan Levinson. Well, just... look at him. Capisce?"
They kept walking through the halls, seeing more of the so-called nerds of Sunnydale High. Xander seemed utterly bored from Cordelia's endless chitchat, till the moment the mention of a familiar name made him snap his attention back to the pretty brunette.
"And by the way, you should totally avoid one Buffy Summers. She's red- colored in the area of social reputation danger. She's like, a complete negly - and pos! She's always starting trouble, and almost got kicked out last year for burning the mascot's head at the prom," Cordelia said.
At the same time she was finished, something caught Xander's attention in a nearby mural. "Isn't that her?"
In the midst of several pictures, which included school athletes receiving medals, principals with honor students, some Prom Kings and Queens of different years and other important moments in Sunnydale High's history, there was a photo with the high school's football team cheerleaders.
Standing at the apex position, Cordelia and Buffy were cheerleading side by side, both looking a couple of years younger than they were today.
"I said we were hypocrisy-free, but I never said we don't make mistakes," Cordelia clarified, looking a little embarrassed at his stare. "But thankfully, we detected her aptitude for nerdness in time. Buffy started to hang out with Willow and Jesse - can you say, losers? If that's not a social life death sentence, I don't know what is. She left the squad shortly after."
"You kicked her out just 'cause of that?" Xander asked, having a hard time masking his indignation at the thought.
Cordelia was a little taken aback by the snap. "Nuh-uh, she kicked herself out, actually. And a week before the opening game of the year, might I add! Anyway, what are you, some sort of savior for the Sunnydale nerd population?"
"Look, Cordelia, I really have to go. Uh, thanks for showing me around and all. It was certainly... enlightening," Xander opted to say, and turned to leave, leaving a dumbfounded Cordelia behind.
"Oh, God, I should've seen it sooner. My nerd radar is really getting rusty," the brunette girl frowned, amazed with her inability to see the obvious and cursing her initial hormone attack.
***
Xander entered the library and looked around, noticing the room looked deserted. "Hello?! Anybody here?" he called out.
The boy advanced a few steps in and shouted again, "Any living soul around?" At that, he frowned and thought about his choice of words. "And if you're an undead American, I'd probably like to know it too," he whispered to himself.
Xander looked at the counter, and his sideways glance saw a newspaper clipping with a picture that had been circled in red. The caption above the picture read 'Local Boy Still Missing'.
And that was the moment that Giles chose to come up behind him, tapping Xander on the shoulder and making him spin around.
"Yah!" Xander cried out, startled by the sudden touch. "Guess anybody's here after all," he then grinned lamely, more recomposed.
"Can I help you?" Giles asked softly.
"Uh, yeah, I was looking, well, for some books. Then it seemed kinda obvious to head here, so here I am. I'm new," the dark-haired boy clarified his status.
"Mr. Harris?" the middle-aged British man then asked, his voice suddenly altered from polite to containing a certain streak of alertness.
"Good call! Guess I'm the only new kid here today, huh?" Xander retorted.
Giles headed behind the counter. "I'm Mr. Giles. The librarian. I was told you were coming," he informed the boy.
Xander took a list out of his backpack, analyzing it item for item. "Great, then! So, um, I'm gonna need 'Perspectives on 20th Century-"
Xander was sharply interrupted by Giles. "I know what you're after!"
"Really? Well, great, 'cause I didn't even check the whole list yet... wow, ya know, they weren't that caring with the students in my old school and..."
The youth trailed off when Giles, wearing a big grin, pulled out a heavy, dusty-covered book with the word 'VAMPYR' written in gold leaf in the front cover. Xander looked up at him, with an uncertain gaze.
"That's not what I'm looking for," the young man said, the temperature of the room suddenly chilly.
"Are you sure?" Giles inquired.
"Oh yeah, I'm way sure," the boy reassured him at once.
"My mistake," a confused Giles apologized, seeing Xander spin around and hurriedly leaving through the library door.
***
Two of the cheerleader girls were discussing the aforementioned Xander Harris, when Cordelia burst into the locker room.
"The new kid? He's majorly cute, but he seems kinda weird to me. What kind of name is Xander, anyway?" Aphrodisia asked, resting the palm of her hand on her chest.
"Oh, hey Cordy!" the girl then called, acknowledging the brunette's entrance immediately.
"Cordy, hi!" Aura, the other girl, saluted her too.
"Aura, Aphrodisia, hey!" Cordelia greeted back. "Were you talking about the new guy? Well, newsflash - he's a loo-ser!" she said in a singsong whisper, conspiratorially. "I mean I talked to him, and he totally blew me off. I swear, *he* blew *me* off!"
"He didn't," a shocked Aura replied.
"And," Cordelia said with a brief pause before continuing, "He kinda almost started to go all Protector Guy with that Buffy loser and her groupies! I mean, it doesn't matter if he was the quarterback in his old school, there *are* limits!"
"Yeah, totally," Aphrodisia agreed, working on the combination of her gym locker. "And besides, haven't you heard the rumors already? The gossip in study hall is that his folks are pretty much close to Jack Daniels, if you know what I mean, and that he got kicked out from his school and had to move to Sunnydale with his younger brother to live with his uncle."
"And there's more," the other airhead continued. "I heard that he'd started to become a serious trouble-maker. He left the football team during the middle of the season and, do you even know *why* he was expelled from his old school? He *burned down* the gym!"
"Humph," Cordelia snorted. "That surely explains a lot about his weirding out on me, when I alerted him about Buffy Summers. Background similarities - a neg protecting his own kind, much?"
"Total negly," Aura agreed, working on the padlock of her locker. "Well I heard from Blue, and she said that-"
The girl's voice got caught in her throat when a dead body fell out of the locker, onto her arm. Timorously, Aura exchanged a look with Cordelia and Aphrodisia; and the three girls started to scream loudly, as Aura stepped back and let the body fall to the floor.
*** Hey there, all of you guys! So, I said this would be short, but I'm kinda letting myself get too excited... So, tell me what you think! And yes, the summary will make sense. I know I indicated Buffy as the Slayer, so there lays a mistery... Two slayers? Something different? Review, wait and see!
Author: Jane McCartney
Disclaimer: Despite numerous attempts to make it otherwise, none of them are mine. Joss and UPN and ME own 'em all.
Feedback: Don't make me beg for it. Oh hell, whatever: pleeeease? Pretty please? It'll just take a sec from ya!
Acknowledgments: Everyone who reviews and helps me. And my beta reader Starway Man. You rules, T!
Author's Note: AU. This chapter is practically a rewrite of "Welcome To the Hellmouth" with some changes and characters mixed around along the way. This story will deviate more in the following chapters.
Summary: For Buffy Summers, it took only a single glance to fall in love with the new student at Sunnydale High, Xander Harris. And with that look, she'd forever seal her fate as the Slayer.
***
The teacher wrote the three words on the board, and subsequently underlined them noisily with the chalk. The caption read, 'The Black Death'.
"It's estimated that about 25 million people died in that one four-year span. But the fun part of the Black Plague is that it originated in Europe, how?"
Willow was taking notes in her notebook, as was Xander who was seated by her side.
"As an early form of germ warfare. If you'll look at the map on page 63 you can trace the spread of the disease into Rome, and then north..."
Xander looked around, a little lost. And the slender red-haired girl, noticing he didn't have the book, promptly offered to share hers with him.
"Thanks," the dark-haired teen smiled gratefully.
"And this popular plague led to what social changes? Steve?" the teacher asked a kid at random.
"Ah..." the required student started doubtfully, and looked immediately relieved when the bell rang to announce the end of the class. He clasped hands with a friend, and got up to leave with the rest of students.
"I'm Xander," the dark-haired youth introduced himself to the red-haired girl in the middle of the noisy commotion, pulling his backpack onto his shoulder as they stood up.
Willow was about to respond, but then a pretty brunette girl walked over them "Willow! I was just thinking about you."
"You w-were?" Willow asked uneasily.
Cordelia Chase smiled shark-like, "Yeah, I just heard they were starting to cast for a new sequel to 'Revenge of the Nerds', and for some reason your name just popped into my head!"
Willow's look fell to the floor, as she started to jabber shyly, "I, uh..."
"I, uh..." Cordelia mocked with a bored expression, rolling her eyes. "What about actually saying something, like - you've somewhere else to be?"
The petite redhead looked around, and then back at Cordelia. "Oh!" she blurted out when the realization hit her, and hurriedly turned to walk away from Xander and Cordy.
"Hi! I'm Cordelia Chase," the girl turned back to Xander, who was watching the redhead leave for a moment, and pulled a lock of silky dark hair behind her ear. Hmm, hello creamy goodness... the cheerleader unconsciously licked her lips.
"Xander Harris," the dark-haired youth replied to her wide grin with a small, somehow reluctant one, staring right at the brunette girl at last.
"I didn't mean to be nosy and all, but I noticed you were bookless during the class. And if you're looking for a textbook of your very own, there's probably a few in the library," she elucidated helpfully, and smiled flirtatiously next. "Or you could just hang out with me instead," her voice, with a very slightly singsong tone, was sugary sweet and a more than a little insinuative.
"Oh," Xander blurted out, deciphering her not-so-subtle flirting. "I guess I-"
"Excellent! You know, you've made a very wise choice!" the brunette grinned wildly, linking her arms with the boy's and almost dragging him along with her.
"I did?" Xander frowned, a little confused, letting the tall girl lead him into the hallways.
As they moved down the hall, they looked like the stereotypical image of an American high school teenage couple - and more than a few people watched, figuring that Queen C was intending to get her hooks into the new kid in town.
"Come on, I'll show you around," Cordelia offered. "You're from Hemery, right? In L.A.?" Without receiving an answer, she added, "Oh, and by the way, you don't need to do the do-gooder act here in Sunnydale."
"Do-gooder act?" Xander repeated, obviously lost.
"Duh, ye-ah! Look, I know the whole politically correct thing is in fashion with the big city types nowadays, but we're different here in Sunnydale," Cordelia explained, and paused to search for her next words more carefully. "It's more like... being hypocrisy-free. I mean, we're cool and they aren't, and that's not like our fault. Which means you can pretty much skip the fuzzy and warm act, with all the nerds on campus."
Xander took a minute to take the information in, as Cordelia smiled at him. "So how are you finding Sunnydale so far? Don't worry, it's not as bad as you think. As much as I'd kill to live in L.A. - I mean, that close to that many shoes? Gee, what a hard choice. But see, there's some advantages to living in small, oh-so-boring towns..."
"That's good, I guess," the boy replied, somehow awkwardly.
"That being said... Sunnydale's got me," Cordelia said, shifting her weight and biting her lips softly - and for the first time, a hint of insecurity, a trace signal most would probably overlook in her bitchy personality, was suddenly visible in the girl's character through Xander's eyes.
The male Slayer didn't know exactly how to react to this, so he only grinned back. He wasn't sure yet what to make of Cordelia Chase.
But as he looked at the brunette hanging off his arm, Xander couldn't help thinking this was exactly the type of girl he'd have pursued straightaway, in his jock days back in L.A. She seemed smart, sure of herself, and of course had a face and body to die for.
A million years ago, in a time before the darkness had come over his life, the teenager probably would have been planning how to get her into bed by now.
Nowadays of course, after what had happened one night from disregarding Merrick's orders and advice about a girl named Nicole, Xander knew better.
"Anyways," Cordelia quickly changed the subject, adopting her imperious presence once again as the two teens entered another of Sunnydale High's halls. "You wanna fit in here, the first rule is: know your losers. Once you can identify them all by sight," she said, glancing towards Willow, "they're a lot easier to avoid."
Xander let out a nervous laugh as Cordelia looked at the redhead again, who had gone through a door at the end of the hall, looking back at the two brunettes before continuing on.
"Willow Rosenberg, bookworm type. Nerd from head to toe," Cordy started to categorize, snapping her glance to another passing-by student. "Warren Mears. Well, basically, just another harmless loser. Passes his worthless time with some sci-fi things like robots and stuff - need I say more?" she snorted.
That was when a short, dark-haired boy crossed their path, and Cordelia frowned helplessly. "Jonathan Levinson. Well, just... look at him. Capisce?"
They kept walking through the halls, seeing more of the so-called nerds of Sunnydale High. Xander seemed utterly bored from Cordelia's endless chitchat, till the moment the mention of a familiar name made him snap his attention back to the pretty brunette.
"And by the way, you should totally avoid one Buffy Summers. She's red- colored in the area of social reputation danger. She's like, a complete negly - and pos! She's always starting trouble, and almost got kicked out last year for burning the mascot's head at the prom," Cordelia said.
At the same time she was finished, something caught Xander's attention in a nearby mural. "Isn't that her?"
In the midst of several pictures, which included school athletes receiving medals, principals with honor students, some Prom Kings and Queens of different years and other important moments in Sunnydale High's history, there was a photo with the high school's football team cheerleaders.
Standing at the apex position, Cordelia and Buffy were cheerleading side by side, both looking a couple of years younger than they were today.
"I said we were hypocrisy-free, but I never said we don't make mistakes," Cordelia clarified, looking a little embarrassed at his stare. "But thankfully, we detected her aptitude for nerdness in time. Buffy started to hang out with Willow and Jesse - can you say, losers? If that's not a social life death sentence, I don't know what is. She left the squad shortly after."
"You kicked her out just 'cause of that?" Xander asked, having a hard time masking his indignation at the thought.
Cordelia was a little taken aback by the snap. "Nuh-uh, she kicked herself out, actually. And a week before the opening game of the year, might I add! Anyway, what are you, some sort of savior for the Sunnydale nerd population?"
"Look, Cordelia, I really have to go. Uh, thanks for showing me around and all. It was certainly... enlightening," Xander opted to say, and turned to leave, leaving a dumbfounded Cordelia behind.
"Oh, God, I should've seen it sooner. My nerd radar is really getting rusty," the brunette girl frowned, amazed with her inability to see the obvious and cursing her initial hormone attack.
***
Xander entered the library and looked around, noticing the room looked deserted. "Hello?! Anybody here?" he called out.
The boy advanced a few steps in and shouted again, "Any living soul around?" At that, he frowned and thought about his choice of words. "And if you're an undead American, I'd probably like to know it too," he whispered to himself.
Xander looked at the counter, and his sideways glance saw a newspaper clipping with a picture that had been circled in red. The caption above the picture read 'Local Boy Still Missing'.
And that was the moment that Giles chose to come up behind him, tapping Xander on the shoulder and making him spin around.
"Yah!" Xander cried out, startled by the sudden touch. "Guess anybody's here after all," he then grinned lamely, more recomposed.
"Can I help you?" Giles asked softly.
"Uh, yeah, I was looking, well, for some books. Then it seemed kinda obvious to head here, so here I am. I'm new," the dark-haired boy clarified his status.
"Mr. Harris?" the middle-aged British man then asked, his voice suddenly altered from polite to containing a certain streak of alertness.
"Good call! Guess I'm the only new kid here today, huh?" Xander retorted.
Giles headed behind the counter. "I'm Mr. Giles. The librarian. I was told you were coming," he informed the boy.
Xander took a list out of his backpack, analyzing it item for item. "Great, then! So, um, I'm gonna need 'Perspectives on 20th Century-"
Xander was sharply interrupted by Giles. "I know what you're after!"
"Really? Well, great, 'cause I didn't even check the whole list yet... wow, ya know, they weren't that caring with the students in my old school and..."
The youth trailed off when Giles, wearing a big grin, pulled out a heavy, dusty-covered book with the word 'VAMPYR' written in gold leaf in the front cover. Xander looked up at him, with an uncertain gaze.
"That's not what I'm looking for," the young man said, the temperature of the room suddenly chilly.
"Are you sure?" Giles inquired.
"Oh yeah, I'm way sure," the boy reassured him at once.
"My mistake," a confused Giles apologized, seeing Xander spin around and hurriedly leaving through the library door.
***
Two of the cheerleader girls were discussing the aforementioned Xander Harris, when Cordelia burst into the locker room.
"The new kid? He's majorly cute, but he seems kinda weird to me. What kind of name is Xander, anyway?" Aphrodisia asked, resting the palm of her hand on her chest.
"Oh, hey Cordy!" the girl then called, acknowledging the brunette's entrance immediately.
"Cordy, hi!" Aura, the other girl, saluted her too.
"Aura, Aphrodisia, hey!" Cordelia greeted back. "Were you talking about the new guy? Well, newsflash - he's a loo-ser!" she said in a singsong whisper, conspiratorially. "I mean I talked to him, and he totally blew me off. I swear, *he* blew *me* off!"
"He didn't," a shocked Aura replied.
"And," Cordelia said with a brief pause before continuing, "He kinda almost started to go all Protector Guy with that Buffy loser and her groupies! I mean, it doesn't matter if he was the quarterback in his old school, there *are* limits!"
"Yeah, totally," Aphrodisia agreed, working on the combination of her gym locker. "And besides, haven't you heard the rumors already? The gossip in study hall is that his folks are pretty much close to Jack Daniels, if you know what I mean, and that he got kicked out from his school and had to move to Sunnydale with his younger brother to live with his uncle."
"And there's more," the other airhead continued. "I heard that he'd started to become a serious trouble-maker. He left the football team during the middle of the season and, do you even know *why* he was expelled from his old school? He *burned down* the gym!"
"Humph," Cordelia snorted. "That surely explains a lot about his weirding out on me, when I alerted him about Buffy Summers. Background similarities - a neg protecting his own kind, much?"
"Total negly," Aura agreed, working on the padlock of her locker. "Well I heard from Blue, and she said that-"
The girl's voice got caught in her throat when a dead body fell out of the locker, onto her arm. Timorously, Aura exchanged a look with Cordelia and Aphrodisia; and the three girls started to scream loudly, as Aura stepped back and let the body fall to the floor.
*** Hey there, all of you guys! So, I said this would be short, but I'm kinda letting myself get too excited... So, tell me what you think! And yes, the summary will make sense. I know I indicated Buffy as the Slayer, so there lays a mistery... Two slayers? Something different? Review, wait and see!
