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.

***

[A Little Earlier That Day]

"Is this gonna air on national TV?"

The impatient reporter forced a smile and, just barely containing his ire, replied through clenched teeth, "No, sweetheart, for the eighth time - this is just for KTLA, okay?"

"Oh," Aura, one of the Cordettes, blurted out, and subsequently rolled her eyes. "Bummer."

The young reporter tried one more time, his voice desperate and his face like that of someone who was dangerously near to having a nervous breakdown. "Can we please begin the interview now?"

Aphrodesia raised her hand, and the worn-out 30-something man asked in exasperation, lowering his hand in a wild, more-haggard-than-impatient movement "What is it?"

"Hey, uh, Mr. Reporter Guy? I'm really sorry, but could you wait just a minute so I can get my lipstick? It's just that I left it in my locker, and- "

The man cut her off, his patience really running short now, "No, no lipstick! And no, it's not gonna air on national TV; and no, I can't wait for your mother's hairdresser to show up. No, I don't have any idea if the camera's gonna show you five pounds fatter than what you really are - and, quite honestly, I don't give a damn! If you wanna do the interview, then we do it now!"

Aura elbowed her friend, and glared. "Now look what you did - you made him all nervous, you dimwit!"

"What? Pfft, it's not like I can appear on TV without any lipstick... what would people think of me?" Aphrodesia mumbled defensively.

Regretfully, the first airhead apologized while the reporter eyed the scene with incredulity. "Yeah, you so have a point. Um, could ya get some for me, while you're at it?"

The young reporter's patience finally reached its limit, when a loud 'pop' was heard and his incredulous glance fell on the noise's originator: Cordelia Chase, chewing gum and looking around till she realized the guy's crazed look was directed at her.

"What?" she asked, clueless.

"That's it! I can't do this anymore, I quit! I quit! You three," he pointed, letting out a brief maniacal chuckle, "are seriously, severely insane!" the young man cried out loud.

"Jeez, you don't need to go all Norman Bates on us," Cordelia crossed her arms.

"That was like, totally impolite," Aphrodesia rejoined.

"Yeah, come on, we're gonna behave, be good girls or whatever," Aura rolled her eyes.

The cameraman interrupted, "Ah, boss? There's this really, really weird vein jumpin' out on your forehead; I, uh, maybe it's time for a break or something..."

"They are driving me crazy, Cooper, I swear these girls are driving me completely nuts," the reporter muttered to the cameraman, who guided and gently sat down the traumatized man on a bench near the network's van.

"There ya go, chief, there ya go. Want me to get you a glass of water or something?" the subordinate asked softly, and the slightly trembling reporter nodded thankfully.

"Hey, what about our interview? I skipped a manicure, to be here right now!" Aura complained in the background, full of righteous indignation.

At the same time, Cordelia felt herself being pulled away from her friends' sides by a firm grip on her arm. The girl felt annoyed that some peon was manhandling her like this, till Cordy turned around and saw the identity of her companion.

Her heart skipped a beat in lustful fascination when she saw the handsome features of Xander Harris again, but then the cheerleader remembered how pissed she was with him right now.

"You," the brunette girl shot out a glare, sweeping his arm away with her hand. "Who said you could be seen with me in public anymore?"

"Yeah, uh, maybe we can talk about how awful it is to see me again later," Xander rolled his eyes, and then amended more gravely, "Look, seriously, I need to talk to you."

The cheerleader stared incredulously, and then snorted in belligerence, giving up.

"Okay, fine. But I'm only letting people see us together, 'cause before I could get any time to tell everyone what a complete loser you are, I was interrupted by the *extreme* dead guy in the locker," the brunette girl explained, trying to be disdainful at her best.

"What are you talking about?" the male Slayer inquired, his features suddenly anxious.

"Ah, excuse me? What am I talking about? You know, even with that tainted record from your old school, you still had the chance for a fresh start here - but then you so totally blew it, mister! You left *me* standing in the hallway, to deliberately promote your downward mobility. And, FYI, that's a big no-no around here," the angry brunette hissed, finally getting the chance to vent a little.

"What? What are you talk- look, never mind, whatever," a distracted Xander replied, almost making his female companion seethe with fury. "Cordelia. Please. What were you saying about the dead guy in the locker?"

"Oh, that. I don't know, some guy was stuffed in Aura's locker," the girl replied dismissively.

"Dead," Xander repeated slowly.

"Totally dead. Way dead," Cordelia confirmed the boy's fears.

"So it's not just a little dead, then?" the Slayer asked hopefully, having a tough time realizing he wasn't gonna be able to run from his past after all.

A confused Cordelia just stared at Xander.

"Um, how did he die?" the dark-haired boy then asked intensely, staring right into her hazel eyes.

The teenage Chase felt suddenly cold, and embraced herself at the freakiness of the question. "Gee, how should I know?"

"Well, were there any marks?" Xander, getting a little impatient, pushed the issue again.

"Morbid much! I didn't look!" Cordelia replied in astonishment, forgetting her previous anger at the new boy. After staring at her interlocutor, she thought, What is *with* this guy? Yummy-looking hunk or not, is he a stalker or something?

"What? You didn't... okay, Cor? I'm sorry - but I gotta go," Xander sighed, recomposing himself and walking away.

"He can't be serious - oh my God, he is! I can't believe he ditched *me*, for the second time in one day! And he called me Cor? Well, but the name's not too bad though, hmm - I guess I kinda like it. But seriously, what *is* his deal?" the brunette girl, now hopelessly mesmerized, whispered to herself and stared as the boy disappeared into Sunnydale High's hallways.

***

Xander sneaked up to an outside entrance, careful to not let himself be seen by anyone. When the Slayer tried to open it, he noticed it was locked, and sighed at this. The dark-haired boy then used his supernatural strength to force open and break through the door, going in and, once again, looking around to be certain nobody had seen him.

Entering the locker room, Xander eyed the body and approached, slowly pulling back the sheet to reveal the murdered guy. That was when he saw the vampire bite marks.

"Oh, just great," the boy almost snarled in sarcasm.

***

Xander barged into the library. "Okay, what's the sitch?"

"Sorry?" a confused Giles turned from the stacks.

"You heard about the dead guy, right? The dead guy in the girls' locker- room?" the dark-haired teen inquired.

"Yes," the Englishman answered with some gravity, stepping into the light.

Xander dropped his bag on the study table, and headed up the stairs. "'Cause, it's the weirdest thing. He's got two little, little holes in his neck, and all the blood's been drained from his body," the boy paused, meeting Giles' eyes at last. "Isn't that bizarre? Aren't you just going, 'oooh'?"

Giles sighed. "I was afraid of this."

"Well, that's fun, 'cause I know *I* wasn't! Merciful Zeus, it's my first day here! I was just tryin' to, ya know, fit in, scope out the new territory and trying not to stay behind in all my classes, maybe make some friends and actually not think first 'hey, this guy seems cool, I hope I won't have to stake him later'. I didn't think there'd be vampires on campus. And, oh yeah, one more thing: I don't care!"

The librarian advanced a few steps and interrogated pointedly, "Then why are you here?"

Xander chuckled nervously at the question. "Why am I here? Wha- well, I'll tell ya why I'm here; I'm here to tell you that... I don't care, which... I don't, and... have now told you, so... bye."

Eyeing the boy turning to walk away, Giles intervened, "Is he, w-will he... rise again?"

Xander turned back. "Who?"

"The boy they found," Giles replied.

"Nah. The dude's just dead," the dark-haired Slayer replied, shrugging.

"But can you be sure?" the middle-aged man questioned him.

Xander sighed. "To make you a vampire, they have to suck your blood. And then you have to suck their blood. It's like a whole big sucking thing - kinda like bad porn, y'know? But vamps, mostly they're just gonna kill you - we're like their late night comfort food, and why am I still talking to you, anyway?" he thought out loud, realizing it was happening indeed.

Xander turned one more time and went down the stairs, a part of him in a rut with himself for coming here in the first place.

Giles rapidly moved over to the railing. "You really have no idea what's going on, do you? You think it's coincidence, your being here? That boy was just the beginning."

"Yeah, whatever. C'mon, why can't you people just leave me alone? What, am I some kind of demon magnet, or is all this just because of some past-life bad karma deal?" the teen retorted grouchily.

"It's because you are the Slayer," Giles solemnly answered, and came down the stairs to continue. "Into each generation a Slayer is born, one young man in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires..."

The dark-haired boy promptly interrupted and joined in, "...with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil blah, blah, blah... I've heard it, okay? And you wanna know what I think? It was all just a case of me being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Find yourself a new nitwit, 'cause I quit this gig a while ago, alright?"

"You what? But that's not - you know, I-I really don't understand this attitude. You, you've accepted your duty, you, you've slain vampires before..." the confused Watcher, somewhat in awe, stated.

"Yeah, and I've both been there and done that and to be honest, it really sucked. So... I'm moving on," the teen announced.

"What do you know about this town?" Giles suddenly asked gravely, going into his office.

"Ah, I don't know, it's two hours on the freeway from Neiman-Marcus? Doesn't appear on half the maps out there in the real world? Holds the record for the biggest bubblegum bubble blown, ever? Didn't have a single Starbucks till a couple of years ago? Has most of its population dying, from complete and utter boredom?" Xander started to list endlessly, his voice accented with increasing hints of sarcasm and an acrid smirk of on his lips.

From the other room, Giles' voice echoed, "Dig a bit in the history of this place, you'll find a, a steady stream of fairly odd occurrences. Now, I believe this whole area is a center of mystical energy," the Watcher came back, carrying four books with him. "That things gravitate towards it that, that, that you might not find elsewhere."

Eyeing the Englishman set the books on the table, Xander replied carefully, "And this is the part where our vamp buddies jump into the scene."

"Quite, quite, and also zombies, werewolves, incubi, succubi, everything you've ever dreaded was under your bed, but told yourself couldn't be by the light of day. They're all real!" the Watcher exclaimed, listing off the various possibilities. Giles then put the heavy volumes, one by one, into the boy's arms.

Xander stared curiously, "What? You, like, sent away for the Time-Life series?"

"Ah, w-w-w-yes," Giles replied with uncertainty.

"Did you get the free phone?" the boy asked.

"Um, the calendar," the librarian replied, a little ashamed.

"Cool! But, 'kay," Xander started, starting to remove the set of books, "first of all, I'm a vampire Slayer. And secondly, if you haven't cottoned onto the idea yet, I'm retired. But hey, here's a thought! Why don't you kill 'em? Ya sure know all about the mojo and how to do stuff, you certainly look eager in a very creepy way to talk about the subject, and, honestly, the tweed? You don't seem very eager to get yourself a life, which I really want to do by the way..."

At the last sentence, Giles glared, but then retorted uneasily, "I-I'm a Watcher, I-I haven't the skill..."

But Xander didn't let the topic drop so easily, "Oh, come on, stake through the heart, a little sunlight... I'm sure you know the basics already. Trust me, it's like falling off a log."

"A, a Slayer slays, a Watcher..." the middle-aged Watcher shrugged.

"...watches?" the dark-haired boy completed.

"Yes. No!" a confused Giles replied, gathering the books. "He, or she trains him, he, he, he prepares him..."

Xander promptly interrupted, "Prepares me for what? For getting kicked out of school? For losing all of my friends? For having to spend all of my time fighting for my life, and never getting to tell anyone because I might endanger them? So do it, go ahead! Prepare me."

They just looked at each other for a moment, till Xander exhaled, turned and left the library in disgust.

Giles hesitated for an instant. "Damn..."

***

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