Title: Masks

Fandom: Wizards of Waverly Place

Word Count: 2,968 (Chapter 13)

Rating/Content: Jalex. This is PG-13... but really more for insinuation than anything else.

Spoilers/episodes: None

A/N: Look, it's my annual Halloween update! Oh man, I've missed this story. And I've missed you guys, my fellow-fans and generous readers and reviewers, more than I can say. I can hardly believe how many Halloweens I've spent with the story, and with you.

I'm sorry for the brevity, after a year of waiting... truth is, I have another chapter almost ready to go, but I've got this Halloween Party cramping my style, so I'll upload it late tonight (read: tomorrow morning). Thanks so much for reading. Happy Halloween!

Beta: Unfortunately, all my mistakes are my own. Look, I know it isn't perfect. But I hope you'll get a little enjoyment out of it all the same.

R/R: Oh yes, please! I love reviews, and follows, and favorites. As a writer, my ego is bipolar, and responds to praise, interaction, and even constructive criticism. I'd love to hear what you think. And while it probably won't make the next chapter come TOO MUCH faster, given the Halloween Party side of the equation... you never know. I mean, it can't hurt.

"Juliet? Darling, you... you made it." And then he just stands there, one hand still holding his forgotten cup of watery punch, not knowing what to say, not knowing what to do. Juliet tilts her head to smile at him, bright and cruel. She's never looked more beautiful than she does in this moment.

"Jus-tin," she purrs, his name a familiar lilt in her mouth. "I'm so sorry we were... held up." We? Juliet touches the shamefaced werewolf trailing behind her, and Justin notices him for the first time. Juliet brushes his chest absently with one hand, as if he is a forgotten pet. Mason blushes, and Justin could almost feel sorry for him. Almost.

"Justin, awfully good to see you again," Mason stammers. "Is, is Alex here?" He scans the room hopefully, sniffing lightly at the air. Juliet scowls at her lapdog, and Justin checks the urge to simply take him by the shirtfront and eject him from the party like a stray.

"Alex," Justin growls, making his voice low, " is busy."

Juliet kisses the werewolf's cheek with a quick, condescending smile. "Why don't you run along and get some punch, sweetie. Justin and I need to talk." Mason seems to understand he's been given an order, and he leaves the conversation at once.

Elsewhere on the dance floor:

"Excuse me, you two lovebirds... mind if I cut in?"

Harper turns to tell whoever-it-is that she's not interested, she and Felix are doing just fine, thanks (really, he's very nice for a Wizard, and what Zeke doesn't know won't hurt him) ...and breaks into a smile. "Alex! Hey, great job on the uh... um."

Alex raises her eyebrows and Harper changes tactics. "Hey, your costumes looked greatup there."

Alex smirks. "Yeah they did, huh? Aren't you glad you came now?" Then before Harper can answer, "Where's Justin?"

Harper gestures with her chin. Alex turns to see him skulking off to one side - typical. Antisocial as usual... and very obviously *not* looking in their direction. She scoffs.

"Did you... do... what I asked you to?" she asks, fairly significantly.

Harper nods, with an exaggeratedly casual expression, and her 'I'm not lying! Really!' face throws Alex into a mild panic. "Harper! Who did he talk to!"

Harper relaxes, but only a little. "Oh, don't worry. He just talked to... I mean... well. Me."

She smiles her guiltiest smile. Alex's criminal genius rapidly puts the pieces together: Justin didn't ask around about HH, and he hasn't been making anyone suspicious. Instead, Harper - stupid Harper - lost her mind, probably in the presence of his alleged irresistibility and spilled the beans. There is literally nothing else that could have made her look like that.

"Harper Finkle, what did you say to him?"

"Alex, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

Alex's hand itches with the urge to smack her. Because, really? Her jaw tenses, and then her voice. "Felix, will you excuse us?"

Harper looks disappointed, but Felix nods with his usual good cheer. "Sure... I've gotta go look for my wand anyway. It was nice dancing with you, Harper!" Harper smiles, and Felix adds, "See you later, Justin's sister!" and leaves them alone.

For now, Alex lets the moniker slide. "Harper."

Harper's hands twist in her strawberry-patterned apron. "I just might kind of mentioned that you were trying to... find homes for... Wizard kids..." She smiles hopefully, but meets only Alex's death-stare. "With... we-ell..."

"Harper spit it out!"

"With mortal families!" Harper's face crumples, and she looks toward the exit. She looks like she's about to say something about gym class. Before she can make a run for it, Alex grabs her by an arm.

"What did he say, Harper? This is important!"

"Oh, well. He mentioned about something about..."He... seemed a little upset about you breaking the rules, or whatever." She lowers her voice, ducking her head a little. "Alex, this is really serious. He said you could go to prison."

Alex waves a hand as if shooing away a fly. Honestly, if she had a dollar for every time someone threatened her with incarceration, she'd be able to make bail. "Did he say he was going to tell anyone?"

Harper shakes her head. "He seemed pretty set on the idea of no one ever finding out. and... something about murdering you, I think?"

Alex nods. That sounds about right.

She sighs. "Well... we can't stand in the corner all night, even if Justin's going to. I've got to get out and socialize with these people, see if I can't get a little more money out of them... you know, in the name of charity." She offers an almost-sincere grin, at that. "And I've got to keep an eye on you, clearly. Come on. Let's dance."

Once he's (more or less) out of earshot, Justin says softly and without humor, "Yes, run along... the grownups need to talk."

Juliet doesn't even try to defend her new lover, just quirks a brow in sardonic acknowledgement. "He's relatively harmless, which is more than I can say for some of us." When she smiles, Justin smiles back, but the air between them feels heavy. They watch Mason's retreating back, and Justin wonders if the canine is better in bed than he was. He wonders if he's a better conversationalist. He wonders, not for the first time, what it was that he did wrong.

"We could try again." The words come out abruptly, before Justin could know or plan what to say. He finds himself searching her eyes; reaches out to take her hand.

But Juliet's expression is cold, undead as she is; there's no warmth in her. She snatches her hand out of reach as if he might be dirty. Her mouth twists, and Justin catches a glimpse of glistening fang. "Hardly, Justin." Seeing his crestfallen expression, she grimaces. "Look, I was done with you a long time ago. I mean, we had fun while you were in high school, " a faint smiled, "but then... I don't know, Justin. I guess you're just not that interesting anymore." She gives him a superior look that he knows well, one that makes him look, and feel, like a bug under a microscope. Something that might be squished without hesitation or a look back.

"You know," Harper says thoughtfully, "as a kid, I always wondered about that." She's dancing next to her glamorous friend as the party finds its rhythm. Alex leaves periodically to chat with someone she knows or wants donations from, then comes back. All in all, it's been a good night, Harper thinks. Well, sortof. No deaths, no serious injuries, and no one actually knows Alex is breaking the law. Maybe everything is going to be okay.

Overhead, the lyrics for some pop song croon above the crowd-noise: Tell me tell me tell me something I don't know, something I don't know...

"About what?"

"The witch in the Hansel and Gretel story. Why'd she do such a thing, you know? I mean, she had this whole magical house and all these powers... surely she didn't *have* to eat children."

Alex considers it, shrugs, then drifts toward the snack table as the song ends. "I dunno. Not everything has a reason, Harper. Especially not in stories. Sometimes witches in stories do things just because they're evil, or just because they're witches." She crams a few cheese-laden delicacies into her mouth, eyes scanning the room. "Jus' because they can, " she concludes, with her mouth full.

Harper wrinkles her nose. "Alex, you're gross." She selects something from the mostly-decimated plate of cheese and crackers. "Yeah, but I mean... do you think people are *actually* evil? Or more like, just, evil in the moment? I mean, sometimes people can be really mean, but looking at them you'd never know that about them. And sometimes people seem really scary, like that guy from Justin's old class Felix, I mean he's so big he almost looks like an ogre, and then you get to know them and they're just really nice, and you start thinking, wait, I have a boyfriend back in the regular world, but then..."

"Uh, huh." Says Alex, looking at something across the room. Harper frowns

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I know, right?" Alex opines, enthusiastically. Harper waves her hands in front of her face.

"Alex? Hey Alex, what are you looking at? Yo, EARTH TO ALEX!"

Harper snaps her fingers in front of her friend's face, and Alex jumps. "Huh? Sorry, I wasn't listening. Don't talk."

Harper folds her arms, her voice getting loud the way it does when she's good and irritated. "What are you LOOKING-"

"Shhh!" Alex yanks on her arm, pulling her stumbling into a half crouch behind a punchbowl that wouldn't hide anyone. "I'm looking at THAT! Look!"

Across the room, and within easy spotting distance, Justin and Juliet are engaged in what looks like a Very Serious Conversation. And... who's that with Juliet has with her? *Mason*? Harper's head begins a warning throbbing. This isn't going to end well.

"God, she has a lot of nerve, bringing Mason," Alex whispers. At the sound of his name, the werewolf looks in their general direction, gaze casting about but not quite landing on them. Oops. If he had ears they'd be pricking up, she swears. Alex can't quite believe she ever dated a dog. She'll have to tell Justin that when... when... oh, yeah. Well, she'll have to tell, uh... someone else.

Spellbound, feeling more than a little like a voyeur, Alex watches. Justin stands there like a dope for the longest time (smooth). Then he finally says something, and Juliet says something back, but she's not close enough to hear. Nobody seems happy with what they're hearing, going by body language. What is she saying to him?

Despite the fact that she's never going to speak to him again (obviously), Alex feels a familiar protective instinct rising in her like heat. Justin might be a huge doofus, but he's her doofus, okay, and Alex is officially the only one who's allowed be to mean to him. Trash-talking, two-timing vampires and their canine companions are strictly out.

Juliet takes Mason by the arm and says something to him. As if he can hear her thinking about him, Mason pivots and comes straight toward the snack table. With a little cry of alarm, Alex practically leaps behind the stage set, peering out from between painted trees.

"Oww!" Harper whisper-shouts, snatching her arm back and rubbing it where Alex has been gripping her. "Do you have to pull so hard?"

"Yeah, shut up," Alex mutters. She's watching Justin from behind the foliage. They're talking again... now Justin is trying to hold her hand, but Juliet isn't having it. She says something, fangs flashing... and Justin looks positively crushed. In her mind, Alex imagines several things she'd like to do to Juliet, none of which are particularly friendly. Things only seem to get worse as Mason returns with the punch... and something happens to Alex. In a flash, she reaches for her wand... only to discover that it's not in her boot where it belongs. Like, at all.

"Shit! I left my wand in the dressing room. Harper, can you go get it?"

Harper does her best to give her friend a withering stare, but she's not very good at it. She gives up. "I guess. But Alex, if you think I'm going to fetch and carry for you all night..."

"I know, I know. I'll owe you like a dozen favors... I mean it this time! Look, the night's almost over, and... I have to do something really quick. And afterward, I'm sure I'm gonna want my wand."

"Do I want to see this something?"

Alex shakes her head, although she's not really looking at Harper, her eyes are too fixed on Justin for that. "No, you do not." She spares her friend a glance. "Harper, just... please? I'm sure I left it in the dressing room. First table on the left. Oh, and Harper?"

"Yeah?"

"If you can't find me, just... give it to Justin for me. He'll know where I am."

"Alex what are you planning on? I thought you and Justin were quits."

Alex bites her lip. "We are. Just, please?"

With a show of looking very put upon, Harper stands. "That room creeps me out, " she protests... but she goes.

As soon as she's safely out of sight, Alex makes sure she's well-hidden, closes her eyes, and whispers the words for one spell she's grateful not to need a wand for.

"Transfix, Transpose, make me look like, uh... somebody who's not here and who Justin thinks is really hot... including the clothes!"

There's a flash of light.

Sometimes witches do things just because they can, Alex knows. And sometimes, Big Brothers are the ones in need of a rescue. Even if they're blind and don't know what's good for them. Even if they know all the big words there are and use them around you a lot to make you feel dumb. Even if they don't deserve it.

Because sometimes you get to the hard part of the story without even realizing it, and by the time you look up the woods are closing in, and there's no trail leading back the way you came. And when that happens, you don't need a hero. You don't even need a girlfriend. All you need is someone who's so stupid over you that they're willing do whatever insane thing it takes to get you out of the woods, out of the cage, and away from the appetites of the witch.

Somebody who doesn't look like Alex crosses the room at a breakneck pace.

Justin hangs his head, looking like the child he undoubtedly still is in the eyes of the thousand-year-old temptress standing in front of him. "I can change..."

She folds her arms. "No."

"I can..."

"No."

Justin has never been good at picking up on subtleties. "I might be able to-"

"Justin, I don't love you!" When he doesn't say anything, she supersizes it with, "I'm not sure I ever did."

There's a polite cough at her elbow... Mason's back, obviously. Perfect timing, as always. Juliet takes the glass he holds out without thanking him. Justin, swallowing against the lump in his throat (allergies), manages, "Why did you even bother to come, then?"

She looks at him coolly. "I wanted to be sure you understood that this is over. You don't follow me. You don't get in touch with me. You don't tell people," she gives this special emphasis, apparently familiar with Justin's tendency to conflate things, "that we're actually still together. I'm done with you Justin, and I need you to know that. Do you understand?"

The insect-under-a-microscope that Justin has become actually shrinks, until he's so small her can hardly be seen. He wishes he could crawl through the floor and disappear, be done with all of this. "I- I... "

Juliet examines her nails, showing more than a hint of impatience. "I'll also need my things back. I've made up a list,and you can... Justin?"

But Justin isn't hearing her: Justin is drowning. Well, he's treading water. He's doing what he can to survive the huge, unprecedented influx of emotion that threatens to overwhelm him right here in public, because she's acting like this isn't a big deal but in fact it's a very big deal indeed, it's Justin's whole life and his entire heart, and if he doesn't get himself together he's afraid, horribly afraid, that he may fall apart right here in his beloved alma mater, in front of Juliet and her consort and the whole damn school because this is a very big deal, the biggest, and everything is wrong and...

There's a touch, on his arm. Light, tentative. Then a voice. "Justin? Justin, sweetheart... I've been looking all over for you! Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"

An attractive woman, one he's never seen before in his life, slides her hand through his arm and squeezes herself against his side in a strangely familiar way. She sticks her hand out, smiling brilliantly. "Hi! I'm Ruby. I'm Justin's... " she giggles, casts remarkably flirtatious eyes at him, "...date. It's nice to meet you."

Justin feels dizzy, and lost.