Title: Rags to Riches
Summary: Buffy is in an orphanage in Westbury, England. Takes place around the 1900's, but there's some hi tech stuff. She's 16 and has been there since she was 11. Her parents died in a boat accident and having no living relatives she was sent there. In London there is a family looking for a teenager to adopt, someone who could try to help their out of control son, Spike. Giles and Jenny meet Buffy and decide that she is perfect. They take her back to London where she meets Spike. At first there is nothing but hate between them, but then love starts to develop.
AN: This isn't a sequel to Merry, Scary Christmas; it will come out in January. But then I came up with this idea so decided to write it. Please review!!!!
Disclaimer: Joss owns all Buffy characters.
~*~*~*~The dreary rain splattered onto the bitter cold window ledge. Sidewalks were scarce of people; they had only captured a couple who had not been prepared for the rain. Most people would rather be inside on a day like this one, but not the children in Brandytooke's Orphanage.
16 year old Buffy Summers was perched on a window seat with moth eaten orange cushions that looked like they had been there since the American Revolution. Her green eyes had lost all brightness and now were filled with only sorrow. Dirty blonde hair clung to her oily face. Baths were extinct to them except when people were visiting the orphanage looking to adopt a child, then Mrs. Burrows the attendant would dress them up in their finest clothes and send them off to the bathing room. But no one had come to Brandytooke's for over three months and the children's flames of hope were growing dim, most of all Buffy's.
Most of her days she sat staring outside the window, wondering what the rest of the world was like, how they would treat her if she ever got out. She faintly remembered the times she spent with her parents. Sometimes her memory would recollect the smell of fish on market day, or her father's suits that the smell of tobacco clung to.
Buffy sighed she flicked her finger at a dead lady bug lying on its back in the window sill. Sadly that was the only form of excitement anywhere in the orphanage. Buffy found herself being sucked into the grey world when one of her dorm mates Willow snapped her out of it.
"Buffy aren't you excited?"
"Huh?" Buffy said looking around at the dirty white walls with the scarce hole in it, where you could see bits of wires and installation.
"I said aren't you excited," Willow repeated.
"About what?" Buffy asked furrowing her eyebrows. "Wow you really do get zoned out sometimes," Willow said smiling.
Buffy looked dumbfounded.
"Come on, we've been talking about it all morning," Willow said rolling her eyes and squeezing in beside Buffy.
"Talking about what." Buffy requested.
"The couple that's coming to the orphanage to adopt someone, they're coming in a week, they're from London, Faith was the one who heard it, she was eavesdropping on Mr. Hamilton and caught the conversation. Then Mrs. Burrows caught her, and she didn't catch the rest. She was sent to sit in the corner, but her story pretty much tells us everything we need to know," Willow said shrugging her shoulders.
"Wow, I wonder what they're like, not that I would be the one adopted, most people are looking for babies, not teenagers, probably think we're too much trouble," Buffy said with a sigh and turned her attention back to the drizzling rain. Willow tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She was an optimist and frowned when others found the glass half empty.
"Listen missy, we all have a chance, and as much as we hate this place, it's better than out there, even if you don't think so. We have adequate food, a place to sleep, friends and a pretty good education. Life could be better, but we have to stop our belly aching and get back on track, anyway I suspect Mrs. Burrows will be coming to inform us of the upcoming visit," Willow said putting on her best stern face. Buffy rolled her eyes and swooped her legs out of her cross legged position and walked over to her bed.
None of the children had very many belongings, well of the children that she had met. Her dorm had five teenagers, there was Willow who was her closest friend and the same age, Faith the rebel who looked like a punk street urchin and was the oldest coming in at the age of 18, then there was Amy she was relatively quiet and into her own things but nice and was 15, and finally there was Anya, she was 17 and spent most of her days fanaticizing about money and speaking her mind. She had come extremely close to getting kicked out when she told her Mrs. Burrows to shut her blubbery trap and get some fashion sense.
The boy's dorm was on the third floor. The girls hadn't met any of them except for Andrew, Warren, Jonathan and Riley. Sometimes they'd see them at breakfast in the dining hall, but to the girls they seemed like losers. The girls would occasionally pick fights with them for amusement or roam the rooms of the Orphanage. Most were offices, but there were class rooms, music rooms, kitchens and their favourite place to visit, the attic.
Buffy plopped onto her bed and picked up a book from her small oak stand. She loved to visit the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. They were like old friends, her parent's friends. They had often read the book to her when they were still alive, it was Buffy's favourite bedtime story, she's grab the green leather binding and place it on her Daddy's lap. The urge to cry was becoming hard to resist now and Buffy quickly set the book back down and walked over to Anya. Anya was upfront with people which would normally turn Buffy's sadness into anger and unknown to Anya, Buffy was grateful for it.
"What do you want?" Anya said rudely looking up from her knitting, it was her hobby, some called it her trademark.
"I was just thinking about my parents and-"
"Moping about like always," Anya cut in, "We're all orphans, but you're the whiniest, sure I miss my parents, but I find creative past times, like thinking about money and other things that adults won't tell us for fear of hurting our ears.
Buffy made a face and grabbed her knitting.
"Hey! I was using that," Anya made to grab it back, but Buffy pulled it away.
"Or like knitting deformed things that you try to sell on the street?" Buffy asked arching an eyebrow.
"I'll have you know I've gotten an entire pound for that deformed knitting," Anya retorted smugly, waving her bouncy curls in the air.
"And that's helped you out a lot hasn't it, you're bound to be leaving here any month now," Buffy replied sarcastically.
"Think what you want Buffy, but it helped me to get a brand new pair of shoes," Anya said sporting a pair of red sneakers.
Just then a knock came at the door. Amy walked over to open it up and there stood Mrs. Burrows.
"Greetings all, as you probably know there will be a coulpe coming to the Orphanage to adopt a child, preferably a teenager, they will be arriving next Tuesday on the afternoon train, if any of you have questions please ask me now, but I suspect that you know the drill, fancy clothes and get cleaned up," Mrs. Burrows said in a business like manner.
"Do they have any other kids?"
"What do they look like?"
"Will we have to do work?" They all shouted at once.
"They have a son who's 19, I have no clue what they look like, and no they won't make you fo hard manual labour. They are looking for a teenager who can relate to their son, he's had a couple.run in's with the law, and they need some help," She told them.
The girls whispered amongst themselves, and raised their eyes at the part where they learned that the son was as Faith called it 'a bad ass.'
"Right then, I'll give you a ring when the bath is ready," Mrs. Burrow said shutting the door, and descending down he stairs.
AN: Please review!
Summary: Buffy is in an orphanage in Westbury, England. Takes place around the 1900's, but there's some hi tech stuff. She's 16 and has been there since she was 11. Her parents died in a boat accident and having no living relatives she was sent there. In London there is a family looking for a teenager to adopt, someone who could try to help their out of control son, Spike. Giles and Jenny meet Buffy and decide that she is perfect. They take her back to London where she meets Spike. At first there is nothing but hate between them, but then love starts to develop.
AN: This isn't a sequel to Merry, Scary Christmas; it will come out in January. But then I came up with this idea so decided to write it. Please review!!!!
Disclaimer: Joss owns all Buffy characters.
~*~*~*~The dreary rain splattered onto the bitter cold window ledge. Sidewalks were scarce of people; they had only captured a couple who had not been prepared for the rain. Most people would rather be inside on a day like this one, but not the children in Brandytooke's Orphanage.
16 year old Buffy Summers was perched on a window seat with moth eaten orange cushions that looked like they had been there since the American Revolution. Her green eyes had lost all brightness and now were filled with only sorrow. Dirty blonde hair clung to her oily face. Baths were extinct to them except when people were visiting the orphanage looking to adopt a child, then Mrs. Burrows the attendant would dress them up in their finest clothes and send them off to the bathing room. But no one had come to Brandytooke's for over three months and the children's flames of hope were growing dim, most of all Buffy's.
Most of her days she sat staring outside the window, wondering what the rest of the world was like, how they would treat her if she ever got out. She faintly remembered the times she spent with her parents. Sometimes her memory would recollect the smell of fish on market day, or her father's suits that the smell of tobacco clung to.
Buffy sighed she flicked her finger at a dead lady bug lying on its back in the window sill. Sadly that was the only form of excitement anywhere in the orphanage. Buffy found herself being sucked into the grey world when one of her dorm mates Willow snapped her out of it.
"Buffy aren't you excited?"
"Huh?" Buffy said looking around at the dirty white walls with the scarce hole in it, where you could see bits of wires and installation.
"I said aren't you excited," Willow repeated.
"About what?" Buffy asked furrowing her eyebrows. "Wow you really do get zoned out sometimes," Willow said smiling.
Buffy looked dumbfounded.
"Come on, we've been talking about it all morning," Willow said rolling her eyes and squeezing in beside Buffy.
"Talking about what." Buffy requested.
"The couple that's coming to the orphanage to adopt someone, they're coming in a week, they're from London, Faith was the one who heard it, she was eavesdropping on Mr. Hamilton and caught the conversation. Then Mrs. Burrows caught her, and she didn't catch the rest. She was sent to sit in the corner, but her story pretty much tells us everything we need to know," Willow said shrugging her shoulders.
"Wow, I wonder what they're like, not that I would be the one adopted, most people are looking for babies, not teenagers, probably think we're too much trouble," Buffy said with a sigh and turned her attention back to the drizzling rain. Willow tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She was an optimist and frowned when others found the glass half empty.
"Listen missy, we all have a chance, and as much as we hate this place, it's better than out there, even if you don't think so. We have adequate food, a place to sleep, friends and a pretty good education. Life could be better, but we have to stop our belly aching and get back on track, anyway I suspect Mrs. Burrows will be coming to inform us of the upcoming visit," Willow said putting on her best stern face. Buffy rolled her eyes and swooped her legs out of her cross legged position and walked over to her bed.
None of the children had very many belongings, well of the children that she had met. Her dorm had five teenagers, there was Willow who was her closest friend and the same age, Faith the rebel who looked like a punk street urchin and was the oldest coming in at the age of 18, then there was Amy she was relatively quiet and into her own things but nice and was 15, and finally there was Anya, she was 17 and spent most of her days fanaticizing about money and speaking her mind. She had come extremely close to getting kicked out when she told her Mrs. Burrows to shut her blubbery trap and get some fashion sense.
The boy's dorm was on the third floor. The girls hadn't met any of them except for Andrew, Warren, Jonathan and Riley. Sometimes they'd see them at breakfast in the dining hall, but to the girls they seemed like losers. The girls would occasionally pick fights with them for amusement or roam the rooms of the Orphanage. Most were offices, but there were class rooms, music rooms, kitchens and their favourite place to visit, the attic.
Buffy plopped onto her bed and picked up a book from her small oak stand. She loved to visit the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. They were like old friends, her parent's friends. They had often read the book to her when they were still alive, it was Buffy's favourite bedtime story, she's grab the green leather binding and place it on her Daddy's lap. The urge to cry was becoming hard to resist now and Buffy quickly set the book back down and walked over to Anya. Anya was upfront with people which would normally turn Buffy's sadness into anger and unknown to Anya, Buffy was grateful for it.
"What do you want?" Anya said rudely looking up from her knitting, it was her hobby, some called it her trademark.
"I was just thinking about my parents and-"
"Moping about like always," Anya cut in, "We're all orphans, but you're the whiniest, sure I miss my parents, but I find creative past times, like thinking about money and other things that adults won't tell us for fear of hurting our ears.
Buffy made a face and grabbed her knitting.
"Hey! I was using that," Anya made to grab it back, but Buffy pulled it away.
"Or like knitting deformed things that you try to sell on the street?" Buffy asked arching an eyebrow.
"I'll have you know I've gotten an entire pound for that deformed knitting," Anya retorted smugly, waving her bouncy curls in the air.
"And that's helped you out a lot hasn't it, you're bound to be leaving here any month now," Buffy replied sarcastically.
"Think what you want Buffy, but it helped me to get a brand new pair of shoes," Anya said sporting a pair of red sneakers.
Just then a knock came at the door. Amy walked over to open it up and there stood Mrs. Burrows.
"Greetings all, as you probably know there will be a coulpe coming to the Orphanage to adopt a child, preferably a teenager, they will be arriving next Tuesday on the afternoon train, if any of you have questions please ask me now, but I suspect that you know the drill, fancy clothes and get cleaned up," Mrs. Burrows said in a business like manner.
"Do they have any other kids?"
"What do they look like?"
"Will we have to do work?" They all shouted at once.
"They have a son who's 19, I have no clue what they look like, and no they won't make you fo hard manual labour. They are looking for a teenager who can relate to their son, he's had a couple.run in's with the law, and they need some help," She told them.
The girls whispered amongst themselves, and raised their eyes at the part where they learned that the son was as Faith called it 'a bad ass.'
"Right then, I'll give you a ring when the bath is ready," Mrs. Burrow said shutting the door, and descending down he stairs.
AN: Please review!