THE WAY WE WERE
by T. C. McGonigle
Buffy and the rest of the Scooby gang belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and the WB, I'm only borrowing them for my own twisted purposes. This story is an alternate time line and would take the place of this season's premiere. It has no storyline connection to my other fanfic "Make Me".
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Part One
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Buffy stood and looked up at the darkened windows of the house. She was home again. Three months had gone by and not much had changed, at least nothing from the outside of her house. She was sure that once she was inside her mother would have plenty of changes to make. Buffy sighed and picked up the duffel bag at her side. She had no desire to confront her mother tonight. It could wait until morning. Buffy deftly climbed up the tree and disappeared through her window.
Morning came much too quickly. Buffy laid in bed and listened to the sounds of her mother's morning rituals. She listened as her mother went downstairs and started banging around in the kitchen. She heard whistling. Male whistling. Buffy heard someone else get up and leave her mother's room.
Buffy sat up in bed. She hadn't expected her mother to go into mourning when she had run away, well actually she had, but a little guilt would have been nice. Buffy pulled on her robe and ran downstairs into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Buffy." Joyce Summers smiled at her daughter over her morning cup of coffee.
"Good morning, Buffy. Breakfast?" Giles turned from the stove.
"Giles?" Buffy stood in the doorway of the kitchen. Her mother and Giles. Not a concept her mind easily wrapped around at this time of the morning. Or any time. Ever.
"Is that the new rebellious fad these days?" Giles inquired, dishing out breakfast for Joyce. "Calling your father by his last name?"
"My....my..." Buffy couldn't finish the thought. Even if by some warped circumstance her mother and Giles had gotten married this summer, that wouldn't make Giles her father. She had a father. In Los Angeles. And why were they acting like she had never run away?
"Aren't you going to get ready for school, Honey? You'll be late."
"I can't go to school, Mom. I was expelled."
Joyce and Giles burst into laughter. "Buffy, you have such a sense of humor." Giles walked over and kissed her forehead. "Go get ready for school." Giles walked back to the kitchen table and joined her mother for breakfast.
"I'm going to school." Buffy backed away from the weirdness in her kitchen.
Buffy dressed quickly and bolted out the door. Then she froze on the front step. If what was going on in her own home was a major cause of wiggins, what would she find out here? Buffy walked cautiously toward the school and started to relax by degrees as she met normal Sunnydale residents doing normal Sunnydale things. As soon as she got to the school, it was Buffy's plan to find Willow and pull her aside for some quality fill-in talk.
"You're late!" Snyder's voice snapped from behind her. Some things never changed.
"Uh, sorry, Sir." Buffy turned around to face the evil principal and braced herself for the forthcoming lecture on the definition of expulsion.
"Don't let it happen again, Miss Giles." Snyder walked by the speechless Buffy to accost some other hapless students.
Buffy was still reeling from the "Miss Giles" moniker when she spied the back of Willow's head. She had gotten her hair cut to a shoulder length bob. It looked good. Willow turned around, laughing at a shared joke with her friend...Cordelia. True, Willow and Cordelia had sort of bonded over the trauma of the rec room vampire slaughter and a mutual like for Xander, but this behavior was chummy to the nth degree. It was Willow and Buffy behavior.
"Hey, Will." Buffy fell into step beside them, trying to swallow the hurt. "I like your hair."
"Wow, I've met the Buffy standards for good grooming." Willow rolled her eyes at Cordelia. "I'll have to put a star on my calender so I'll remember this day always."
"Willow?" Buffy's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Excuse us, Buffy." Cordelia elbowed past Buffy. "But aren't you afraid that hanging out in the halls with losers is going to ruin your reputation?"
"Buffy!" Harmony walked up to Buffy. She glared at Willow and Cordelia. "Shouldn't you two be in the library with the rest of the freak squad?" Harmony smirked at Buffy and waited for a response. With none forthcoming, she grabbed Buffy's arm and started to pull her away. "Come on, we'll be late for cheerleading practice."
Buffy helplessly watched as Willow and Cordelia walked away and disappeared into the library. Harmony prattled on about some new wonder diet, blithely assuming that Buffy would care. Buffy pulled herself away from the annoying girl and stalked down the hall toward the library. It was time to get some answers.
"Buffy! Cheerleading practice!" Harmony wailed.
"I'm going to be late!" Buffy called back. She pushed open the library doors and broke in on the group gathered inside. "Okay, what's going on here? How come all of you are acting weird?"
"Buffy." Angel looked up from the book he was reading. "If you don't mind, we're a bit busy here."
"Yeah, fortunately the Hellmouth doesn't revolve around you." Willow bit into a plum.
"Are you okay, Buffy?" Xander asked from his seat behind the computer. "Did you need some help with your homework again?"
"No. No." Buffy stared at Angel. It was light outside and he was standing there. Not a vampire.
"Back to the matter at hand, then." Angel set down his book. "Someone has been performing rituals in the cemetery. Have you noticed anyone strange on your patrols, Cordelia?"
"Angel, I'm tromping around parks and cemeteries in the middle of the night. Everyone I meet are either vampires or strange." Cordelia grinned. "But I'll keep an eye out for anyone with ritual paraphernalia."
"Good." Angel nodded.
"I....I'm going to be late for cheerleading practice." Buffy backed out of the library. She had to get out of there. It was just too strange. She wandered down the empty halls with no destination in mind. "Giles is my Dad. Angel is Giles. Willow is Xander and Xander is Willow. Cordelia is the Slayer," Buffy mumbled to herself. "Oh, my God, I'm Cordelia!" The school bell rang and students streamed out into the halls. Buffy paid no attention to them, she was much too preoccupied with being horrified at her new role in life. She wasn't the Slayer. She had no obligation to keep the good residents of Sunnydale safe from the Hellmouth. Suddenly, Buffy was pulled from her reverie and enfolded into a strong hug.
"Buffy, Thank God you're back." Oz released her from his embrace. He grinned in relief at her.
"Back." Buffy stared at Oz, still in a daze. "Back. Meaning I was gone. Oz, who am I?" Buffy gripped Oz's arms.
"Buffy."
"Right. But Buffy what?" Buffy shook Oz lightly. He had to know who she was. He had said she was back, meaning she had been gone and was now back. Which was basically how she remembered things.
"The Vampire Slayer. Please tell me you know that."
"I do. And you do." Buffy let Oz go. "This is good. I'm not crazy. How come you're you?"
"As opposed to being one of them?" Oz nodded in the direction of the library. The doors opened and the Bizarro Scooby gang left to actually attend a class. "Let's go find a place to talk about this."
"Yeah, I'm creeped," Buffy quickly agreed.
Oz and Buffy ducked out of the school and found themselves a nice, deserted coffee shop. They ordered their coffees and sat down.
"What the hell is going on here, Oz?"
"I'm not sure. I was out of town last weekend babysitting my cousin Geordie and when I got back on Monday, it was like this."
"So, it's been this way for four days." Buffy bit her lip. She watched the waitress as she cleaned tables across the room. "I remember her. She worked here before I left. Do you know who has been affected by....whatever this weird game of musical personalities is?"
"Just Cordelia, Xander, Angel, and I'm assuming Giles...."
"Yes, Giles was affected." Buffy shook her head at Oz. "And my mother, so don't go there."
Oz shrugged. He stared down into the depths of his coffee mug. "And Willow," he concluded softly.
"Oh." Buffy raised a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry. I guess with this whole switcheroo thing Willow doesn't remember she's your girlfriend?"
"Yeah, but it's okay. I don't want to date Xander. I mean, I don't want to date Willow with a Xander identity." Oz looked up at Buffy. "I want my Willow. We have to get them back, Buffy."
"We will." Buffy reached over and squeezed Oz's hand. "We will."
Next Part
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