Disclaimers: Alas, I own nothing. Oh, woe is me.
Author: Karmawiccan, also known as Karma
Summary: What if Willow was the slayer?
Notes: AU Season One. Other than that, there's nothing else to say.
Distribution: If you want it, take it. Just tell me first...
Pairing(s): Not saying a word. Not a word.
Willow Rosenberg wasn't like other girls. Actually she was quite different from other girls. While other girls worried about their hair and what they were going to do on Saturday night, she worried about battle strategies and whether or not she had enough stakes. But unlike other girls, she really didn't have a choice over what she thought about. She was the chosen one. The one girl in all the world chosen to battle the vampires, demons, and other sources of darkness. She was the slayer.
At the moment, she was a very annoyed slayer. Willow, surveyed the unfamiliar room with a sigh. 'It's not supposed to be like this. I'm supposed to be living with my parents in LA. I wasn't supposed to be shipped off to Sunnydale to live with my grandmother. It was an accident. It's not like I woke up one day and decided that it would be fun to burn down the gym. It's not like I had any choice in the matter. It was filled with vampires. But no, mom and dad wouldn't believe that one. Said I was acting out. So, here I am in my least favorite place in the world- Sunnydale.' Willow hated Sunnydale, she had lived here until she was 12, and still hated remembering her childhood here.
"Willow, dear?" Her grandmother Alice called as she knocked on the door.
"Yeah, Grandma?" She answered as she lazily twirled a stake between her fingers.
"You have-" Alice paused as she searched for the right word. "Visitors."
Curious, Willow stuffed the stake under her pillow, swung her door open and walked past her grandmother.
"They're in the living room!" Alice called out after her.
"Willow!" Xander, a brunette goofball and her best friend since she was 3, cried out as soon as she walked into the room. Before even Willow knew what was happening, he had wrapped his arms around her neck.
"Um, hi." Willow said somewhat uncomfortably. Years ago, she would have craved any type of attention from Xander Harris. But now that she was 16, her tastes had changed and she realized that he was more of a brother to her than anything else.
"Xander, dude, chill." Her other childhood friend, Jesse, informed Xander.
"Hey, Jesse." Willow said smiling.
"Hey, Wills. I think that's his way of saying he missed you a lot."
Xander pulled away from Willow and shrugged sheepishly. "Well, you are my best friend, Wills." Xander looked over at Jesse as he heard a cough. "You are too, man."
"Good, I was beginning to worry, dude." Jesse said with a smile.
Willow laughed and looked at her two best friends. "So, what have I missed in the past four years?"
Willow stalked the halls of Sunnydale High. 'I'm not the same Willow who lived here 4 years ago. I'm different now. I'm the chosen one. That's gotta make you special, right?' She looked down at her schedule and then headed down the hall towards the library.
"Willow. Hmm. You look well nearly human now." Cordelia Chase told her as she walked by.
The redhead simply held her head high and ignored any comments made by Cordelia and her Cordettes. She had decided long ago that Cordelia was bad news and she didn't want to get involved with her or her groupies.
"That freak ignored me!" Cordelia nearly shouted. "How dare she! I mean I'm Cordelia Chase!"
"Don't sweat it Queen C, she's just a loser any way." Harmony Kendall informed the brunette.
"You know what, Harm, you're right." Cordelia said with an evil smile. "You're right."
Willow, oblivious to Cordelia and Harmony's conversation, continued her march to the library. "Hello?" She called out as she stuck her head into the dark, dank library.
"Yes, hello." A British voice called out from inside. "Come in."
The redhead slowly walked into the library.
"You must be Miss Rosenberg then." A middle aged man in tweed asked her.
"How did you-" Willow was cut off as the man raised his hand up.
"I'm Rupert Giles, your new watcher." He informed her.
"No, no, I'm done with watchers." Willow said as she took a step back.
"Miss Rosenberg, I heard about what happened to Merrick and I am terribly sorry. He was a most excellent watcher." Giles consoled her.
"He was." Willow agreed quietly.
"And I'm not here to replace him. I'm just here to help you with your slaying. Will that work, Miss Rosenberg?" He asked her.
"Willow." She said softly.
"Excuse me?" Giles asked confused.
"If we're going to be working together, I'd like it better if you call me Willow."
Giles nodded. "Yes, and you can call me-"
"Wait," Willow said cutting him off. "There's no way I'm calling you Rupert. Can I just call you Giles?"
He smiled. "Yes, that will work quite nicely."
An hour later, Willow walked out of the library and right into Jesse and Xander. "Hi, guys." She said cheerfully.
"Wills, where were you 5th period?" Xander asked confused.
"I had it free." Willow lied.
"I thought you said you had English with us." Jesse added.
"I did, but they changed my schedule."
"Oh, okay." The boys said in unison.
"So, are we Bronzing it tonight?" Xander asked.
"Bronzing it?" Willow asked now the confused.
"Willow, Willow, Willow. You have missed out on a lot since you moved to LA." Xander said as he threw an arm around Willow's shoulder.
"But we're going to change that." Jesse informed her.
Willow stared at her reflection in the mirror. A redhead in black leather pants and a red tank top stared back at her. "This is you now." Willow told herself. "You are no longer the nerd you used to be." She grabbed her coat and a stake before climbing out her window into the night air.
As Willow walked towards the Bronze, she became aware of footsteps following her. She stopped. They stopped. She shook her head and began walking again, only to hear the echoing footsteps. Shaking her head, she ducked into an alley. Spying a pole between two fire escapes, she swung her body up and crouched on top of it as she waited for the person following her to show up.
Sure enough, a platinum blonde in a black duster stalked into the alley. As soon as he was close enough, she jumped down, tackling him and pinning him to the ground. Quickly she pulled out her stake and pointed it towards his heart. "So, would you like to explain why you were following me?"
"I wasn't exactly following you." The man said in a British accent.
"So what were you doing then?" She cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Making sure no one else was following you." He said with a smirk. Noticing, her slight smile, he continued. "Would, you mind putting that thing away, luv?" He nodded to the stake. "I won't bite."
Willow smiled and put the stake away. "Fine. I'm trusting you. Don't make me regret it." She said as she got up and helped the stranger up. "So are you going to tell me why you were making sure no one was following me?"
"With the Harvest coming, you can't be too careful." He informed her.
"Harvest? What's that?" Willow asked confused.
He sighed. "That I can't tell you. But I can give you this." He said pulling out a black box. He opened it and placed it in her hands.
"But I'm Jewish." Willow said as she looked at a silver cross necklace.
"Slayer, I think that would be the least of your concerns." He said with a smirk. "'Sides, would you rather try your luck with a bleeding Star of David, or try something that has been found to be effective?"
Willow frowned as his words sunk in. "Wait, how did you know I was a slayer?" Willow asked as she struggled to put the cross necklace on.
"Here, love, lemme help you." The blonde said before sliding the clasp into place. "Beautiful." He murmured softly.
"You're not going to tell me how you knew I was a slayer are you?" She asked.
He shook his head.
"Well, can you at least give me a name?" She asked him.
"Spike." He said as he disappeared into the darkness. "Call me Spike."
Willow shook her head and after stuffing the empty box into her pocket, walked to the Bronze.
TBC. So, what did you think? Send me a review and let me know. Come on, you know you wanna.