Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 11

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Buffy takes Josephine to meet the others, and learns why she's in England.
Word Count: 1413
Rating: K
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS.  READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

 

            Buffy didn't know whether taking Josephine to meet the others was a good idea, especially with Giles and Willow acting so strangely.  On the other hand, if she was a new Slayer...well, she should at least have to endure one Giles Watcher speech before they unleashed her back into the real world again.  "I'm going to take you to meet some of my friends."

            "Awesome!  I'll never say no to meeting new people, especially if they can fight.  Are they as good as you?  What about style?  Do they have clothes I can borrow?"  That speed talking without breath was pretty familiar.

            Buffy laughed and tried to answer the questions as they walked, though she couldn't keep going without breath.  "Well, it depends.  I definitely know some of the other girls would fight you if you tried to get into their closets.  You're allowed to go through my clothes if you want to, since that's pretty flattering.  There's definitely a lot of people there who can fight, but I don't make a habit of fighting my friends, just slapping them or occasionally hitting them if they're being seriously stupid."

            They actually made it back to the mansion pretty quickly, but then, they both were pretty strong when they put their minds to it.  Josephine gasped loudly.  "Wowww, it's huge!  Are you rich or something?"

            "I'm...not, actually.  I could buy more clothes and go out to eat more often that way.  It just happens to be our headquarters."  How to go about explaining the Slayer Organization?  She hadn't really done any of the recruiting so far.

            "Headquarters?  Does England have a superhero group now?  Can I join?"  Josephine was grinning, eyes sparkling as she craned her neck up to look at the mansion.

            "Uh..."  Most of the new Slayers hadn't shown this much enthusiasm.  "I'm a Vampire Slayer, and there's a lot of others in there..."

            Josephine's eyes gleamed.  "Sign me up!  I might as well get money or at least a badge for something I just do normally anyway!"

            When they walked in, Giles was leaning against the wall and Willow was sitting in the chair in the corner.  "I thought it was time that we discussed the events of...who's this?"

            "Josephine Joestar, newly given the title Vampire Slayer!  Nice to meetcha!"  She bowed low.

            "Buffy, I don't believe that I requested that you go find us more Slayers.  We have enough as it is.  Now, there's business we must discuss, so if you could come back at a future date..."  Buffy bristled.  He didn't even know her, so why was he just dismissing her just like that?  She almost spoke up in her new friend's defense, but Josephine beat her to it.

            "Mr. Giles."  How'd she know that name...?  For once, Josephine has a serious look on her face, all traces of humor gone.  "I realize this will sound pretty bizarre, but then, you guys are used to this sort of thing, right?"  She flashes an apologetic smile.  "I'm not here by accident.  I was actually out here looking for you guys.  I happen to be looking for my son."

            She laughed, a little self-consciously, at the looks she received.  "I know, I know.  I'm pretty sure I'm unrecognizable like this.  I was, I suppose, um...trapped, in a life not my own and forced to live it for twenty years.  By an...erm...spell?"  She was struggling for words like a person speaking a foreign language, but then stopped and smiled.  "And I'm pretty sure you know my son well.  I mean, your faces are actually kind of familiar.  I introduced myself as Josephine Joestar, but you probably know me better as Jessica Harris."

            Giles pauses in the middle of polishing his glasses.  Willow gasps loudly, while Buffy just stares with her mouth open.  This can't be the same lady....can it?  The red hair matches, and even if this spell had somehow been undone and she'd reverse-aged...she acted completely differently.  From what Buffy had heard, Mrs. Harris was argumentative, drunk, and somewhat forgetful, depending on the precise level of alcohol she'd had that evening-nothing like the laidback, slightly crazy woman standing before them now.  Yes, people changed over time, but this was a woman who'd never let the world beat her, and Jessica Harris was a woman who'd given up long ago.  Of course, it was still possible, but...

            "M-Mrs. Harris?"  Willow stammered.

            Josephine smiled.  "Hello, dear.  I have to thank you for looking after my son so well, considering...well, I wasn't in a position to do so well myself."

            "My dear Miss..." Giles began.

            "Joestar," she supplied helpfully, grinning like a maniac.

            "Why would anyone curse you to such a life?  I'm afraid I don't see a motive."  He'd stopped cleaning his glasses.

            An annoyed look entered her black eyes.  "Isn't it obvious?  For someone you can't kill, ensuring that they're completely out of your way is a great plan."  Then she smirked.  "And we Joestars tend to tick off a lot of people, and we're pretty tough to kill."  Something in her eyes—she wasn't saying everything.  But then again, they'd only just met, if Jessica Harris was just a role Josephine had been forced to play for so many years.  Giles and Willow didn't seem any more forthcoming since when she'd left, either, and were exchanging glances that didn't bode well.

            Josephine narrowed her eyes.  "Look, I appreciate your caution, but I have to see my son.  I have to apologize for what he went through, and...well, given that he showed no sign of his Joestar heritage before now, I can only assume that his powers began to wake up along with my true identity.  He doesn't know how to use them, and I...I can't just..."  She bit her lip.  "Please.  My son needs me."

            She could be lying, or delusional.  Giles and Willow certainly believed one of the two.  The name Joestar was definitely...well...it sounded...odd.  But every instinct of Buffy's tells her to believe this story, and ignoring her Slayer instincts never seems to go well.

            "Xander's not here right now," she confesses, and is instantly met with a warning look from Giles and a gasp from Willow.

            "Buffy!"  how could you? her look finishes the sentence.

            "What?" Buffy asks, annoyed.  "It's not like I'm going to just say 'he's actually here, but no, you can't see him'.  That's just cruel."  She looked over at Josephine, who, at the least, cared about Xander, even if nothing else was actually true.  "We don't know where he went, either.  I wish we could help you more."  Or, really, that Giles and Willow were inclined to helping, at the moment, but...well, it's not like she could be choosy in this situation.  Hopefully, they'd get over being weird soon.

            Josephine frowned and opened her mouth, but apparently read something out of the situation and shut it again.  She looked away.  "Well, I'll try finding him, though I'm not sure I'll be any more help."

            "Aren't you his mother?" Willow asked, narrowing her eyes.

            One purple boot scuffed at the floor, but Josephine's gaze was back up again, holding Willow's steadily.  "Look, I hate to admit it, and I'd like to punch Jessica in the face a couple of times because I deserve the pain, but I really neglected the kid.  And suddenly I'm back to being myself and twenty years old again and have all these vague memories, but I didn't run.  It's weird thinking I suddenly have a son now when I should be in college hanging out with my best friend.  Sure, I didn't ask for a kid, but I'm sure as hell not going to wish I didn't have one or that he's dead, and I'm not going to run out on him or neglect him again, because he's family and you don't do that to family."  Willow tried to hold the steely gaze, but failed and glanced down somewhere through the speech.

            Josephine paused, then grinned.  "Oh, and would you happen to have some food you wouldn't mind me having?  Big fights like that always leave me hungry.  I'm also not too picky."

            Buffy laughed, hard.  "You're definitely related to Xander," she managed, and even Giles' eyes softened.

            "Our side kitchen is right this way..."

            "Side kitchen?!  Wow!  What're you feeding here, an army?  ...Hey, this sword looks really cool..."

            "Don't touch that!"

            "Relax; I know how to not break things if I try!"

            "Somehow, I don't find that reassuring..."