These characters belong to Mutant Enemy. Not me. I own nuthin'.
Changes
Janet Townsend left the bedroom and flicked on the hallway light. She frowned, as always, at the proliferation of antique furniture in the hallway. She loved her father, but she could've done without his aversion to buying anything *new*. The Professor of History at Sunnydale U couldn't be seen embracing the modern day. No, it all had to be second-hand, pre-loved, pre-used, blah blah blah.
Including, unfortunately, the appliances.
She heard a muffled BANG!- from the kitchen, and a not-quite-so-muffled swearword. She sighed, tied back her long blonde hair in preparation, then walked into the kitchen.
Her father Robert, face creased in concentration, looked up from the bench. He had a fork stuck in the toaster. "Hello, honey," he smiled. "Back from school so quickly? Can you hand me the big knife, please?"
Janet grabbed the big knife from the pile of dirty dishes somehow, they always seemed to have a pile of dirty dishes and gave it to him. "Dad," she said patiently, "It's Saturday. I cleaned the guest room, like I told you. Nick's upstairs sleeping, because he's still a little sick, but he'll be awake for dinner. So if you want to give him our specialty of toast with peanut butter, we'd better get the toaster fixed." She switched off the power. "And toast would be better than toasted professor, too."
"You're right. Can you push this down?" He indicated the fork. She obediently held it down. He took off his glasses and wiped his brow with a handkerchief, leaving a big greasy smear. He kissed her on the forehead.
"Dad, that girl was outside again."
Robert raised his eyebrows. "Which girl?"
"The girl in the dress."
"Don't most girls wear dresses?"
"Not like this one, Dad. It's sort of old, but she isn't. Long dark hair, very pretty, very thin. I don't think she's got anywhere to sleep. I only see her at night."
"Maybe she's a hooker."
"Dad!" They set to work.
****
Janet flung her arms around the tall boy with dark hair. "Nick," she smiled into his chest, then pulled back, staring into his deep blue eyes. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," he confided, then gave her a long, sweet kiss. Of course, Janet's father chose that moment to walk past, drying his hands on a teatowel.
"Parent in the room!" Robert called, pretending to be horrified. "Dinner will be ready soon, Nick. You two go sit down, and I'll take care of you."
They laughed, and moved into the dining room. Nick rubbed his eyes, glanced at Janet sharply, then looked away. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's nothing," he said. "Just oh, I don't know."
Robert came in with a steaming platter of toast, and the conversation was forgotten.
****
"I'll only be a moment," Nick protested, laughing. He freed himself from Janet's grip and walked upstairs to the bathroom.
The smile left his face as soon as he saw the mirror. He stared at his reflection, then lifted a hand to his eye.
Using a fingernail, Nick prised the small disk from the surface of his eyeball. He shook his head slowly, looking at the iris of his eye, which was now a dark brown. "I don't wear contacts," he whispered.
****
Dessert was promised for 8.30, and served promptly at 9.18pm. Icecream partially melted, after the freezer had gone on the fritz again and hot fudge sauce.
"Mmm," Janet groaned, savouring the taste. "That's good stuff, Dad."
"Only the best for my little girl," Robert said.
They leaned back against the chairs and smiled at each other, eyes half-closed.
Someone hammered frantically on the front door, crying, "Let me in! Please, you have to let me in!" Janet frowned, and went to open the door.
A slender girl with red hair fell inside, sobbing her relief. She threw her arms around Janet, and Janet's world flipped over sideways.
"Buffy," the girl breathed, "you have to help me."
****
Robert paced back and forth in front of the girl in front of 'Willow'. "Why should we believe you?"
"Because I'm telling the truth. Look out your window. See that group of vampires? They were chasing me!" Willow drew in a long, shuddering breath. "We lost the three of you days ago. We thought you were *dead*, Giles. Then Spike let something slip and we worked out they must've put you somewhere in this district, in the abandoned houses. Miss Calendar, Oz, Cordy, and I have been searching for you. We got split up when the vamps came after us."
Nick let the curtain fall back across the window. "Just a bunch of hoods. Why would they be vampires?"
"Trust me, Xander, they're vampires."
Nick flinched, still not used to the unfamiliar name.
Janet frowned. "So, you're telling me I'm some kind of Vampire Hurter."
"Slayer," Willow interrupted.
"Dad's real name is Rupert."
"We call him Giles."
"And Nick is actually Alexander, or Xander." Janet shook her head. "This is insane."
"That's exactly what I'm telling you. Insane as it is, Drusilla got hold of you and set you up in this place. It's one of their hideouts. You've only been here a day or two, tops."
Robert waved a hand. "What about all the furniture? The beds, the chairs, the toaster?" He exchanged a glance with Janet.
"All stuff they had here already, I guess. Look at it, Giles, it's all crap. Look at the dust, smell the dirt." Willow's voice wobbled. "It's all old, rotting, crappy furniture, from the Craptacular Vampire Warehouse."
"But it all seems so real," Janet said. "I know I went to school yesterday. I know Dad and I have lived here for two years. I know Dad was born in England, but I was born in Cleveland. I know Nick moved in here when his parents had to leave town. I know Nick's been my man for nearly six months."
"You were meant to be my woman, woman," Nick said softly, grinning. He blew her a kiss across the room. Then his face fell.
Willow stared at him, a weary, hopeful smile working its way onto her face. "What is it? You're remembering something, aren't you?"
He said shortly, "Contact lenses. I wear contact lenses. My eyes are brown."
Janet put a hand to her heart. "Your eyes are brown?!" She walked over to him and put her hands on either side of his face, pulling him down to her level. Her eyes were wide as she gazed into his. "Oh, God. I can see them. You wear contacts." She spun to Willow. "That Drusilla, is she pretty, with dark hair and old-fashioned clothes?"
Willow nodded.
Robert pointed at Willow, voice shaking. "Okay. Something is obviously strange here, but there has to be a rational explanation. You're doing something. I don't know who you are, but I want you to leave."
Willow stood quickly. "No, I'm not doing anything. This is an elaborate scheme of Spike and Dru's. I don't know where the hell they got the contact lenses, but it's all part of this, all part of making you believe you're not who you are. Please. You have to listen to me." Her voice was low, controlled, but her eyes were bright. "The others will be here soon. They'll see the vamps outside. They'll help me. We have to get you out of here."
The house shook. "What the hell?" Robert ran to the window. "Those bloody kids are doing something!"
"Oh, no," Willow breathed. "It must be because of me. They didn't want to kill you, Buff, because another Slayer would've been created, but now I'm here, they know it's over. They know they have to get rid of us."
Robert called, "Hey, are they your friends?"
Willow sprang to her feet and rushed to the window. A petite woman with dark hair, a small man with brown hair, and a tall, glamorous young woman were fighting the gang. The petite woman muttered something under her breath and her opponent exploded. The small man stuck a long, pointed stick into his opponent, who disappeared in a puff of dust. Willow turned to the others. "Now do you believe me?"
"Maybe," Nick said. He took Janet's hand. "Are we are we together?" His voice was rough.
Willow sighed. "No. No, you're not. Buffy's had some boyfriend troubles lately, and you're with Cordelia. Though I suspect some kind of blackmail there."
The house shook again. Dust fell from the ceiling.
"Explosives?" Robert muttered. "How very passe."
Willow looked at each in turn. "We have to go out there and help."
Janet recoiled. "Well, sure, but what can *we* do?"
"A lot, Buffy. You can fight. So can we. And if I get you out of here, maybe you can *remember*. If Dru's been nearby, then she must need to keep reinforcing whatever she did to you. Maybe it only affects you if you're still in the house. Have you been outside today?"
"No," Janet said uneasily.
-BANG!- A window shattered. A brick thumped onto the carpet next to Willow's feet. She said, "We all have to get out of here."
Willow walked over to the front door and opened it. "Come on." They gathered around her, peering outside. Janet blinked in the brightness from the streetlight. A young black man stood on the sidewalk, snickering at them. He held a bottle in his right hand. He lit the cloth on the end, and threw the bottle.
"Down!" Robert yanked them all to the floor. They stood again when the explosion had passed. Robert sniffed. "Is that gasoline?"
"Oh, jeez," Nick said. He sucked his lower lip between his teeth. "Okay, I think I believe you, Willow. They're trying to burn the place."
Another vamp joined the first. He threw a similar bottle.
The stairs below the front door, leading to street level, burst into flame.
"Jump!" Willow ordered. She shoved Nick hard, when he wasn't looking. He fell off the stairs and rolled on the grass, mouth gaping wide in surprise.
He shook his head slowly, staring at her. "Willow," he said, certainty in his voice.
"Yes," she said, grinning. She grabbed Robert.
Robert batted her hands away. "I'm going, I'm going." He jumped off, rubbed his head, then yelled, "Jenny!" and joined the fighting.
"You're next," Willow told Janet.
Janet backed away. A tear rolled down her face. "I don't think I don't want to be part of that," she said helplessly. "I'm a coward, but I like this. I don't want to. Please don't make me."
"Buffy," Willow said gently, "you have to. I'm sorry. The house will be destroyed. We have to jump."
Xander called from the grass, "Please, Buffy. Janet. For me."
Janet took a step towards the door, then another. She gazed at Nick at Xander's face, full of love and trust. "You can do it," he told her.
Janet jumped.
Buffy landed on the grass, Willow beside her. Xander caught them up in a three-way hug. "Let's go," he said. "We can talk later."
Buffy threw herself at the vampires. She punched, kicked, leapt, somersaulted, killed. She didn't think.
****
"I'm glad you had fun at Willow's," Joyce smiled. "Good night."
"Good night, Mom."
Joyce closed the door. Buffy sat by the window, gazing out into the night. She thought about Xander. "Maybe. . .?"
She shook her head, and went to bed.
****
Xander paused under Buffy's window, and looked up. "Maybe. . .?" he said to himself. He shook his head, and went home.
