Anything But Ordinary
by Nykademis
Chapter 4
[reviews]
Disclaimer: See Part 1
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After getting Taryn settled in, they decided to head over the Xander's.
"So where are we going?" Taryn sat in the back of Willow's car looking out the window as if she hadn't seen the scenery before.
"I'm going to Xander's. You and Willow are gonna hang out somewhere until I'm sure this isn't dangerous" Buffy turned around in her seat "You'll get a chance to meet Xander later. I just want to make sure Faith really isn't there and dangerous"
"Buffy" Willow said arguementively.
"No Willow. I want to make sure you guys are safe. That this isn't a crazy Faith thing" Buffy gave Willow a pleading look "I gotta make sure my favorite witch stays out of trouble"
"With a capital F" Willow muttered.
"You guys are like an old married couple" Taryn chuckled.
Buffy and Willow blushed.
Buffy took the car and left Taryn and Willow at their tiny Shopping Mall and headed over the Xander's hoping the call he made about Faith was bogus.
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"I can't believe you didn't make her subject her tail" Carol hissed at Arica.
Jamie had run off, if somewhat awkwardly, into the toy store of what Sunnydale passed off for a Mall.
"She said it hurt. She was really stubborn about it too" Arica pouted.
"She's 9 years old Arica, I'd think you'd have more control over her" Carol rolled her blue eyes "But it's turning out okay. I mean it just looks like she has a bit of a limp when she walks or runs"
"And that horrible gorgeous human visage you've cursed her with" Arica smiled hoping to get on Carol's good side again. She didn't like when the ex-Watcher was angry with her. She didn't buy her things when she was pissed off.
"It is gorgeous isn't it" Carol smiled proudly.
Jamie disappeared behind a cage of balls.
"Yeah. Besides she really needed this little outing today. It'll do her good. Get some toys, you just got her clothes. Maybe a movie or two for that raggedy ass T.V. in that rat hole of a hotel room"
"Well there's plenty of old mansions around here we can mooch off" Carol smirked "It's just a matter of days before we find one with" she cleared her throat "residents that are less than living"
"Ah, impersonator vamps. Kill you and steal your identity. Gotta love those New Aged villians" Arica quirked a brow "can I look around too?"
"Your such a big kid"Carol shook her head "Go ahead. Find Jamie when you can. I'll be over there" Carol pointed to a perfume counter strategically placed in front of the Toy Store.
"Gotcha" Arica waved and wandered off.
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Buffy sat in the parking lot of the Mall. She wasn't sure if she was ready to see Faith again if Xander was telling the truth.
Back and forth they'd tried to kill each other, Buffy ultimately coming out on top when she put the girl into a coma. Stabbed her with her own knife.
"What the hell do I do now?"
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Willow and Taryn walked aimlessly around the Mall.
"Worried about Buffy?" Taryn asked the distracted redhead.
Willow stumbled and stopped "Yeah. I mean she and Faith have a kinda, loaded, history"
"Loaded? Friends then enemies loaded or 'hey I slept with you' loaded" Taryn played with a lego display of Scooby Doo for a moment.
Willow's eyes widened at the thought of Faith and Buffy doing 'that'. "God I hope not" shaking herself out of that visual place her sighed "Friends then enemies would about do it"
"Oh. That's the hard one" Taryn pressed her pink lips together "Never know what to do when that happens. Do you fight? Make amends? Forgive and forget? I mean friends are the best thing to have on the HellMouth. Someone to watch your back"
"True. I just hope they can work it out" Willow bit her lip "I just don't know how I want them too"
"Ahh jealousy. The green eyed monster" Taryn dodged the playful swing Willow aimed at her arm.
"I'm not jealous. And I gonna buy Buffy a gift to prove it" Willow crossed her arms and faced the girl "We're gonna get Buffy a gift"
"From where?" Taryn walked circles around the redhead.
Willow began to walk forward. Taryn kept the circle tight around the redhead.
"From the toy store. We're gonna get her something to hug" Willow gave the other redhead a broad smile.
"You are so strange" Taryn made another circuit around the witch. Bumping into a woman at the Perfume Counter in front of the store Taryn blushed slightly "Sorry Ma'am"
"Oh that's okay" the blonde smiled politely "Just watch your circles there"
Willow chuckled. Taryn turned orange.
"Come on numb nuts" Willow walked into the store shaking her head.
"I don't 'have' nuts" Taryn said lamely.
Carol chuckled at the two girls. She only hoped one day that Arica could have friends like that.
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Jamie skipped around the store avoiding Arica and checking out toys. Coming to an isle of stuffed toys she stopped. Before her was a giant patchwork bear. She stood before it in awe. It was by far the ugliest thing she'd ever seen.
She absolutely loved it.
"That things so ugly it's cute"
Jamie turned to find a redheaded girl standing behind her.
"Yep"
Another girl came from the end of the isle.
"I'd have to agree" Jamie pulled the monstosity off the rack and hugged it.
The taller paler redhead reached out and ran her fingers over it "It's made out of fleece!"
"Ok it's a fleece patchwork teddy bear?" the caramel skinned one chuckled "Now that's just weird"
"This 'is' Sunnydale" Jamie laughed at the odd looks both girls gave her. She looked a bit longer at the caramel skinned redhead then she needed too. There was just something about her.
"She's right. This 'is' Sunnydale" Taryn gave the girl an odd look. She was uncannily familiar.
"Hmm" Willow looked further down the isle "I'm looking for a girly stuffed pig. Mr. Gordo needs a Misses"
"Mr Gordo?" Taryn and Jamie chorused.
"Buffy's stuffed pig" Willow shrugged "Like you didin't give your stuffed animals weird names"
"I didn't have any" Taryn frowned "Now I feel like I've missed out on something"
"All mine burned when they set...when my house caught on fire" Jamie frowned "That really sucked"
"What are you gonna name that...thing" Willow pointed to the bear that Jamie was clutching.
Jamie turned the bear to face her. She stared into it's button eyes (the buttons were different colors as well) and tilted her blonde head "Scrappy"
"Like Scrappy Doo?" Taryn chuckled.
Willow laughed a bit as well.
"More like Scrappy Don't" Arica came up to them eying the bear "That things unbelievably ugly"
"That's why I want her" Jamie hugged the bear again.
"We'll see what your Mom says" Arica pointed across to the isle adjacent to them "I'm gonna be over there. Don't leave the store without me"
"Ok" Jamie turned to the redheads "Want me to help you find the pig?"
"Sure" Taryn held out a hand "Now I"m thinking something that kinda looks like Scrappy there"
"How about something that doesn't" Willow opposed "I mean atleast something that has a face Mr. Gordo could love"
"It's a stuffed pig Willow" Taryn rolled her eyes "He doesn't have a preference"
"This is a very special stuffed pig. And he has very select tastes" Willow insisted.
"Yeah. Besides, Scrappy here is one of a kind" Jamie smirked.
"God I hope so" Arica muttered as she left the little girl in the hands of the two young women. She had a good feeling about the two of them.
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"God she's still not here!" Faith stomped her foot and crossed her arms.
Xander started laughing hysterically.
"What's so damn funny now Xander!" Faith shrieked.
"You looked like a little kid when you did that" Xander said trying to catch his breath.
"Well fuck you" Faith tossed him the bird.
"You've done that" Xander said sobering "It was interesting"
"And quick" Faith smirked at him "You'd of thought I took your damn virginity or something"
"You did" Xander whispered.
"Oh" Faith blushed "No wonder it was so quick"
"Hey!"
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Arica dropped the the Magic 8-Ball she was studying when the hard voice rang out.
"EVERYBODY GET THE FUCK DOWN!"
Everything in the normally noisy store when quiet and and still.
Children froze and stared. Parents panicked.
A dirty man dressed in flannel and paint stained jeans stood in the middle of the Toy Store pointing his gun at groups of children and people "There's Vampires and Demons among us!"
Arica moved towards the end of the isle getting behind him and out of his range of sight.
"Your crazy old man. Get the hell out of the store" a random idiot yelled from the crowd of parents.
Pointing the gun straight up the man fired on shot, putting a hole in the roof of the store and causing mass panic.
Men and woman dropped to their knee's covering their heads and children began to cry.
"Get out here. All you kids get out here I've got something to show you" he began to walk around isle by isle pointing the loaded gun at the kids and forcing them all out into the open store "Them fairytales your parents read to you at night. Them stories about boogey men. They be real"
Gathering every person who'd been near him into one large group he stood with his back to the empty part of the store.
Among the grouped people were Willow, Taryn and Jamie.
Jamie had panicked at the frist gunshot. Her entire body had stiffened. She hadn't noticed her tail unwrap from her leg and start pushing a hole through her pants.
"Get over there!"
The man began backing them all towards a stack of board games.
As one the group scooted back. Jamie was near the middle and Willow and Taryn where closer to the back.
Scooting as she was the sharp end of her tail slid through the cotton of her sweatpants.
Taryn noticed seconds after Arica, who was hiding in an isle with a clear view of them all, and pulled the little girl into her lap.
Jamie realized she was 'exposed' and panicked when she was pulled into the girls lap.
"Shh. It's okay" Taryn whispered the Jamie turned her frightened blue eyes to her "This 'is' Sunnydale"
"Yeah. But the problem is 'he' knows it" Jamie whispered back.
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Buffy jumped when someone knocked on the window of the car.
"Do you have a cell phone there's a man with a gun in the Toy Store" a harried woman pushed her messy brown hair out of her face.
"A what?" Buffy got out the of the car digging through her pockets for her mother's cell phone.
"There's some maniac with a gun in the Toy Store!" the woman pointed excitedly "Call the police"
Buffy finally located the phone and dialed 911 "There's a nut with a gun in the Toy Store" she said quickly into the microphone and handed it off to the woman "You tell them" running into the mall Buffy had a bad feeling that Willow and Taryn were in the midst of it all.
Inside the Mall no one was moving, announcements came over the intercomm instructing customers to exit calmly and quietly.
Buffy ran through the statue like people, making her way to the Toy Store.
Rushing inside she was stopped abruptly by a blonde woman.
"No. He's finicky. Don't scare him"
Buffy noticed the thickly British accent and recognized the command in her voice.
"You wanna do something, go around the other side, near the video games. He's not checking over there for some reason"
Buffy nodded silently. She touched the womans hand and made her way over to where she'd been told.
She too found a clear view of the man and his terrified group of youngsters. Her stomach dropped when she saw Willow and Taryn in the group. Looking directly across from her she noticed another girl.
Arica brandished the bat she'd grabbed and pointed behind Buffy.
Along the wall Nerf guns, crossbows and football sets.
The slayer eyed them critically for a moment before smiling and grabbing a crossbow set. Tearing it open she loaded it and walked out into plain view.
Arica moved several isle's down. She wasn't sure what the girl was gonna do, but she had the feeling she needed to be closer to the man for it to work.
The man was looking down when Buffy stepped stepped out.
A collective gasp went through the people standing at the entrace of the store.
Taking careful aim Buffy fired the crossbow.. The little foam arrow impacted the man in his forehead making him look up.
"You know" Buiffy continued to advance on him "I never understood the meaning of these things. Foam weapons? What is this therapy?" shrugged she stopped non-chalantly when he pointed the gun at her.
"Sit down little girl. I'm telling these here kids about the real world" the man's breathing quickened.
"Now that gun. That's a weapon"Buffy continued as if she hadn't heard him " They come you shoot...They lose" Buffy came within feet of him "It's that simple. Simple is good"
Cocking the gun the man pressed it into Buffy's belly "I said sit down"
"What? Your not afraid of lil ole me are you?" Buffy placed a dainty hand over her heart "Well I declare" she drawled.
Willow bit her lip to keep from laughing, Arica moved around into the crowed of parents handing Carol the bat.
Taryn carefully began to tuck the spiked tail back into Jamie's pants.
"You just sit down little girl. I don't want to hurt you" the man pressed the gun harder into the slayers belly shoving her back.
"Well I don't want you to hurt me either. But you see there's these things called rules" Buffy backed up smiling "Even the jungle has them .They're simple and easy to follow"
"What are you talking about?" the man lowered the gun slightly, unknowingly pointing it at a child in the front row.
"You know. Only the strong survive. Kill or be killed. Then there's the first law. It's simple, but people tend to break it alot" Buffy stepped in front of the child the gun was pointed at. Kicking him lightly she prompted him to move.
"And what rule is that?" the man decided to indulge this girl he thought loonier than he himself.
"The one your about to get your ass kicked for" Buffy chuckled.
"Huh?"
Carol stepped silently up behind him, swinging the bat back she struck him hard in his lower back sending the gun one way where it was useless, and the crazy gunmen the other.
All hell broke loose when every childs mother rushed in on the man. Many hit him with the nearest thing to them, while other's kicked and spit at him.
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Xander and Faith were bored.
Turning on his T.V they both immediately knew why Buffy hadn't come yet.
The tiny blonde stood with the newscaster, telling the story of the mob of parents who'd collectively kicked the ass of the man who'd held their children at gunpoint.
"It was absolutely amazing. They took him down. Disarmed him. I'm in awe" she was saying as Xander turned up the volume.
'Did you hear anything the gunmen was saying to the children?'
"I think he was trying to convince them that Fairy Tales are real" the slayer pasted a confused smile on her face "While it's all good and fine to believe, I think that's going a little overboard"
Xander and Faith, for the lack of something better to do, burst into hysterical laughter.
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Willow stood in the parking lot looking around for the little girl Taryn had held in her lap.
"You're sure about this Willow?" Taryn questioned again.
"Yes. We've got to find her" Willow bounced on her heals "Reveal" she whispered.
Suddenly she could see through the crowd, people moved out of her way and she and Taryn followed the path the magick made between the people. They began to run when they saw how far ahead the girl and her family were.
"What was her name?" Willow asked Taryn as they broke into a run.
"Jamie I think" Taryn said breathlessly.
"Jamie!" Willow yelled at the top of her lungs "Hey Jamie wait up"
"Jamie!" Taryn joined her when she saw the blonde woman who'd started the cumulative ass kicking, speed up dragging the protesting child behind her.
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"But Mommy they were nice to me!" Jamie cried pulling back as Carol pulled forward.
"Sweety your not exactly 'human' looking right now" Carol begged pulling her daughter faster when she heard the childs name called.
"No Mommy she hid my tail" Jamie pulled back and out of her Mother's grip.
Arica ran after her seconds after the child had zipped past her. She caught up just as the two girls who'd been discussing the stuffed toys reached Jamie.
"Look you don't.." Arica trailed off when the paler redhead dropped to her knee's and hugged the little blonde.
"Are you okay? You weren't too scared?" Willow said releasing Jamie after a moment.
"Yes" Jamie nodded quickly "I was scared but I felt better when you didn't panic like everyone else. And the pretty girl saved us"
"Yeah she's good at that" Willow said softly "You didn't get your bear"
Jamie's face fell when she realized that it was true. She'd forgotten about Scrappy in all the excitement.
"So I got it for you" Willow snapped her fingers and with a simple incantation, brought the bear to her arms.
"Your a witch!" Jamie squealed as Arica's jaw simply dropped.
"Yeah. There's alot of magick in Sunnydale. Not all of it good but..." Willow looked to Taryn "If you ever need anything. Anything at all. Hug the bear and whisper in her ear. I'll hear you" Willow touched the little girls hand. Leaning forward she whispered "And stay away from those graveyards"
Jamie's eyes widened but she just nodded in surprise. Grabbing Arica's hand she rushed back to her Mom dragging the hapless teenager behind her.
"What just happened?" Arica questioned when they reached Carol.
"I was hoping you could tell me" Carol lifted her feet and checked the bottom of them "For a moment there I was glued to the sidewalk.
"Mommy" Jamie said excitedly tugging on the woman's hand "You just met the slayer!"
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Meeting back at the car Buffy was amazed to find the cell phone she'd left with the woman sitting on the hood.
"Wow there's honest folk in Sunnydale" she muttered.
Willow got into the drivers side as Taryn climbed into the back.
Buffy hopped in last.
Turning to face the two redheads she sighed heavily.
"God I can't leave you anywhere without you getting into trouble"
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