Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. The characters all belong to their respective studios and creators. I am just borrowing them for my story.
Author's Note: This story is set after the end of season 2 of Roswell (after Tess has already left) and in the beginning of season 6 of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer- after Buffy and Spike have gotten together, but before Willow was addicted to magic and before Willow and Tara broke up. Also, Giles hasn't left yet. Sorry for the confusing time lines, but this worked best for my story.
Chapter 8 – Strategy Sessions
Michael said heatedly, "How do we know we can trust them?"
Max considered for a moment and then replied, "It doesn't look like we have any choice. After all, their 'vampire' friend is occupying your body. We're going to have to work together to get you guys fixed back; if we can't, the possibilities could be terrible. I mean, what if-"
Isabel broke in quickly, "He has Michael's powers?"
"Crap! I hadn't even thought of that!" Michael exclaimed forcefully.
"He does." Everyone turned to look at Liz. "He does have Michael's powers. I saw him use them on that- I think 'demon' is what he called it? – to kill it. He does have them, although I don't think he realizes it, or at least he doesn't know what they really are or how to use them; it will only be a matter of time before he does figure it out, though."
"She's right," Max, stated calmly, all the while swearing to himself. How in God's name had this happened?
Maria clung to Michael's hand. "Oh God! What do we do now?"
Sheriff Valenti spoke up, "For right now, it seems like the best thing to do would be to stay here for a while and work with them and try to get them switched back to their normal selves, while keeping a close eye on this Spike. I think that librarian type was saying something about researching 'spells' as possible causes; we'll work with them on that, but in the meantime, we should also be looking into the more alien related causes ourselves."
Max nodded his assent. "That's a good plan. Then that's what we'll do, and the rest of it, I guess for right now we'll just play by ear."
Liz, looking on the bright side, gave a little smile of relief. "Well at least we'll have a little while to try and get this sorted out. Thank God that if this had to happen, it happened over summer vacation."
The rest of the group agreed.
"But what should we tell them? I mean, if they ask us stuff about, you know…" Kyle asked, bringing them back to the aliens' greatest fear.
"As little as possible. Don't talk about anything alien related," Max replied sternly. "Just tell them the truth, that we're on summer vacation. That we were just passing through town on our way to the beach, and that we don't know what happened to Michael and that Spike guy."
"But what if they find out," Maria put in.
Isabel shivered and Max put a comforting hand on her arm. "We'll deal with that if we come to it."
~*~ Meanwhile ~*~
"But what are we going to tell them, Giles, that we fight demons for a living? That'll go over real well," Buffy rolled her eyes melodramatically.
'That is not what I was suggesting, Buffy," Giles continued. "I was simply saying that we will need to discuss some of our paranormal background with them, merely in order to discover what happened to alter those two. After all, they already know that Spike is a vampire, and they seemed to handle that information fairly well. We can just tell them that we're-"
"A crime club?" Xander broke in helpfully. "You know, like we loved Scooby Doo so much that we decided to form our own version of it. You know, like Buffy can be Daphne. Willow can be Velma. I could be," he stopped at the looks from the other Scoobies. "What? It worked before," he said defensively. At the blank looks of Anya and Tara, he added, "We told a mummy that once, but we didn't mention Scooby Doo at all; I hadn't thought if it yet."
"Quite," Giles said, raising his eyebrows and giving his glasses a good swipe.
"It could work," Buffy replied, wrinkling her nose. "Except without all the Scooby Doo stuff."
"Hey! I like Scooby Doo!" Xander protested.
Anya patted his arm. "We know you do." She then pointed out, "Yes, well, you all should get to work now. The sooner that we get Spike back to normal, the sooner Xander and I can go and have sex, and I am really in the mood right now."
Xander turned a slight shade of pink and pulled Anya aside, yet again. The rest of the group just rolled their eyes.
"What? It's only natural," Anya stated, coming back to the group.
Buffy noticed that Spike was standing kind of off by himself, and that he was being unusually quiet. That usually meant that he was up to something; either that, or that he knew more than he was telling.
She moved over to stand next to him. "Spike?" She broke into his train of thought, startling him.
"What?" he responded automatically.
"What do you think of it?"
"Of what?"
"What happened," she said exasperatedly.
"Oh, uh, it's pretty strange," he replied, almost distractedly, still trying to puzzle out just how he had killed that demon.
"It's also pretty weird talking to you now," she put in. "I mean, to hear your expressions coming out of that mouth is just really bizarre. … Well, we'll have you fixed soon."
"There's no rush about it. Just do what you need to."
Now she knew he was up to something. "Okay, sure," she said turning back to the group conversation, vowing to have a chat with Giles about it later.
"I th-think they're okay," Tara was saying. "I can just feel it, that they're good, that they'll help us. I don't think the trouble is coming from them." Willow smiled at her girlfriend and squeezed her hand.
"Well, that's something." Xander stated.
Buffy opened her mouth to speak and abruptly changed what she was going to say. "Dawn!" she yelled at the teenager who was standing at the door of the crypt. That got everyone's attention and both groups turned to look at the door. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay home!"
Dawn just smiled impishly. "So, what did I miss?"
Sorry for the long delay in updating, my computer was broken for most of the holiday season. Thank you, all my patient readers, and I hope you enjoy it!