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madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Buffy does some thinking and confronts Willow.
Word Count: 1334
Rating: K
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Angel and Spike are off somewhere. She should probably be worried about that, Buffy knows, but she already has enough to worry about. She hasn’t missed this, not one bit. Okay, so if normal life involves just the food service industry she’d rather pass, but it has to have more to offer than that, doesn’t it?
And yet, she can’t walk away from this, not from her girls who have been vamped, maybe with their permission, maybe not. She can’t walk away from Xander or this fight, and maybe it sucks because sometimes it’d be nice if she didn’t have to be the one who had to fight, especially now that there are so many Slayers who supposedly can take her place, but.
“Hi, Buffy.” Willow’s quiet and for a few seconds reminds Buffy of ancient days when Willow was a shy hacker, not the confident (honestly maybe too confident) witch.
“I don’t think I ever realized. I whi—er, legitimately complained about my duties, but I never really stopped to think I wouldn’t walk away and leave people to get hurt, did I?” she states wonderingly.
Willow manages a watery smile. “We were teenagers. We couldn’t actually look around and see that the actions we took affected other people.”
Buffy laughs. “Okay, then, what’s your excuse this time?” At her friend’s wild-eyed look, she elaborates a little more seriously, “Wil, if you’re going to get forgiven this time, you’re going to have to put in more effort than plates and plates of cookies.”
She’s about to burst into tears again. It’s not like Willow’s not going to get a pardon this time, but she’s definitely going to have to go the extra distance. The redhead’s acting like the world is collapsing, and, well, yes, maybe without Xander, it might be. “Because of you and Giles, he’s out there in danger, on his own.”
Willow pulls out a silk handkerchief and blows her nose. That’s new, but then, HQ, when they’d been there anyway, was a big place. “That’s what Ken told me. Almost word for word.”
“Ouch.” Not the person the Slayer would willingly be compared to. “Well, Andrew brought up some important stuff.”
“Andrew?” Instantly Willow looks guiltier. “I mean…”
“I know, but yes, Andrew of the Daily Diaries from Slayer HQ.” The blonde allows a moment of amusement before relaying the information. “I think he tried to tell Giles. I also think that Giles is trying to run everything as Head Watcher and it’s too much.”
“Why didn’t you—”
“—tell him?” Buffy finishes. “I did. He’s kind of stuck in tunnel territory, Wils. As in ‘I can’t see anything to the sides of me, just this dark narrow field of vision which is dark and I hope the end of the tunnel comes soon’ mindset. I’d think you’d know that, given the amount of plotting the two of you were up to, the past couple of weeks.”
“I think you’re projecting your fear of being buried alive again, Buffy.” The tone’s absentminded, until Willow thinks about what she’s just said and blushes prettily. “Um, and he’s…No one wants to lose Xander, and I think we’re all still a little in shock from the First, so…”
“Obsessive much?” Buffy nods. “That’s kind of what I expected. Still disappointed, and I think everyone would appreciate Morale Cookies.”
The hug nearly knocks her over. Would have, if her muscles weren’t able to compensate easily for…well, most mortal’s weight, anyway. “W-wait, you mentioned something about Andrew saying something useful.”
“Yeah, but the next scheduled apocalypse is already here, so no need to search the skies for one,” the Slayer states matter-of-factly and begins counting off on her fingers. It’s not counting very high, but they’re important numbers anyway. “Given his totally evil knowledge of magic, he suggested that one, maybe the prophesy thing didn’t come from somewhere of the good. In which case, it was to manipulate us all into the charade of a trial thingie. And it wasn’t real, because Xander showed me that Perry Mason movie, and there wasn’t a defense counsel to yell back or anything.”
Willow’s silently making an ‘o’ face. It kind of looks like she’s trying to actually say ‘oh’ but no sound’s actually coming out, and she hasn’t realized that yet. Eventually she realizes she looks ridiculous, closes her mouth, and clears her throat before trying again. “I-it didn’t feel like that, but…”
“You what?” Buffy states faintly and checks Willow’s eyes for black engulfing darkness, just in case she has to fight one of her best friends again.
“I-it’s not!” Willow’s waving her hands frantically. The gestures don’t really make sense, but this kind of is real, original Willow goodness, here. “Althenea shared it with me. It didn’t feel evil, but I don’t know for sure; I can ask her, and the other members of the Coven. I don’t remember all of it, so I could be wrong?”
The Slayer pulls a face. “Sounds kinky, Wil.” At the even more scarlet look, she elaborates, “…the vision. Why would you forget stuff if it was from all-good sources?”
“Well, you’re forgetting the Powers that Be,” Willow points out, and it’s a good point. Way too good of a point.
“And now I can’t keep forgetting them,” she nearly growls, before going on to Point Two and Point Three. “Maybe it was, like, what’s the thing from Doctor Who that we were watching to make Xander all jealous in Africa, even though I didn’t understand everything anyway? A fixed point, or whatever. Or even more than that, a self-fulfilling prophecy? Because you knew about it, and tried to avoid it, it happened?”
The redhead looks really, really sheepish. “Uh, yeah, all very possible things that we didn’t take into account. I mean, Giles and I were going through research texts until our eyes nearly bled, but not actually bled because someone would’ve noticed and then there would’ve been questions and he probably would’ve yelled and, Buffy, I really don’t like Giles yelling. He’s like an actual authority figure and everything.”
“I hope I am an actual authority figure, Willow,” an English accent corrects dryly. The girls jump like they’re teens again, and it’s familiar. Still, Buffy can’t claim she hasn’t missed this humor or the wry smile her Watcher’s now wearing. “We were looking so hard for matching prophecies that we didn’t bother to consider the source.” He pauses, then continues, “Angel and Spike have gone to try to collect more information from the demonic population. And Jessica—I mean, Josephine—seems to be preparing for another search party mission. It might be wise to have someone accompany her.”
“Are you ordering me to go with her?” Buffy asks, at the same time as Willow states fiercely, “I’m going.”
Giles is looking at them with pride. “I’m still your Watcher, I hope, despite mistakes made and…well, despite mistakes made. However, I think we’ve both stopped pretending you listened to any orders I ever made. I’m not entirely certain that we should trust her, but perhaps lack of trust is our failing in the first place. And perhaps the last groups were a touch too large, so drew attention. As much as staying here to recover makes sense, I realize that inaction is difficult for you, and we can hardly leave Xander to his own devices, never mind the young man who came for him. And the influence of Wolfram and Hart. Still, I can at least ask you to be careful.”
“I thought we stopped pretending I ever was, too,” Buffy remarks, and it’s enough for the long-suffering sigh that she honestly misses. She giggles, and adds, “Well, but I’ve always returned, so it’s worked out.”
Willow’s making another sad face, but Buffy doesn’t want to talk about dying or any past resurrection mistakes that may have been made. The red-haired witch really needs to get her guilt-priorities on straight and actually work on the current one.
