Turned
by Bob Head
Turned
[reviews]
Disclaimer: None of the characters below belong to me. All the BtVS/Angel people belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox. (Damn it!) I'm just trying to have fun.
Pairing: Buffy/Willow, of course.
Spoilers: A few general ones for Season Six and a few more specific ones for 'Once More With Feeling'.
Distribution: IKOLY and Wishful Thinking. Anybody else, just ask.
Rating: PG-13. for this part. Higher stuff will come in later parts.
Feedback: Yes please! frank_8281@yahoo.com
A/N: I know that many people don't like the musical episode of BtVS. I am NOT one of them. I liked it. The only part that I didn't like was that damn kiss at the end. So what if that kiss had ended... differently.
A/N 2: For the purposes of this little AU, the so-called Trio are not an issue so I'm just gonna ignore them.
Turned
Part One
'Three months she's been gone.' Thought Willow, 'What can she possibly be doing HERE?'
'Here', was a nightclub in a rundown looking alley in the back streets of Chicago. The road that led here had been long and frustrating. After the revelation that she had been in Heaven, not Hell; they had all been too stunned to realize that when Buffy left the Bronze that night she had never come home. At least not until twenty-four hours later.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
Willow had been in her and Tara's room when Giles had knocked. "Come in." she'd said listlessly.
The Watcher had opened the door and asked, "Willow have you seen Buffy today? I wanted to speak with her about... well, last night."
"No. She's not in her room?" replied the hacker, as an almost palpable sense of dread came over her.
Giles shook his head, "No, and her bed's not been slept in."
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
A quick check with the others had revealed that no one had seen the Slayer since she had left the Bronze the night before, during the last song of their little demon inspired musical. Xander even checked Spike's crypt, only to find that he had vanished as well. A loan shark (Literally, a demon shark that claimed Spike owed him something.) had told him that Spike had apparently skipped town. They had called Angel, thinking that maybe Buffy had asked Spike to drive her to L.A. to see him. The answer had been negative.
~~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
It was about a week later that Tara left Willow for good.
"I-I just can't DO this anymore Will." She had shouted in that last fight, "I can't watch you tear yourself up this w-way!" more quietly, "You have to face facts Willow, Buffy's gone. And she may not want to be f-found."
Willow replied with her 'resolve face' firmly cemented on her features. "No. I can't accept that. She wouldn't just leave... Dawn like that. Not if something bad hadn't happened to her."
"Will," Tara began.
"NO!" Willow cried stubbornly, fists clenched at her sides, trying to hold back tears. "Either help me do this new locater spell or get out."
Tara had looked at Willow helplessly with tears welling up in her eyes as she answered, "I-I can't."
"Then just get OUT Tara!" the redhead had said harshly. "And don't come back."
Dawn had watched with a stony expression as Tara fled sobbing. She went into what had once been her mother's bedroom and asked Willow "Is she coming back?"
Tears streaming down her own face the witch said quietly, "I don't think so Dawnie."
"Good." Willow looked up, surprised at this attitude from the younger Summers. "If she doesn't want to help Buffy then let me."
Uncertain, the redhead replied "I don't know Dawn, Buffy doesn't like you doing magic."
"Then she should have stayed to make sure I wouldn't." Dawn said bitterly.
Sighing, Willow set about teaching the Slayer's little sister how to assist in a locater spell.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
After a few more days of fruitless searching in Sunnydale, Giles had contacted Angel again and asked him to try to trace the missing Slayer by more mundane means. And so the intervening weeks had passed, Angel would check in every other day or so to report his progress (or the lack thereof). That had eventually decreased to once a week.
Willow would research to the point of exhaustion trying to figure out why her locater spells couldn't find Buffy. Then she would try a new modification or a new spell entirely, only to receive the same disappointing result.
Then two days ago, one of Angel's contacts in Chicago had seen a small blonde woman rescue a couple in a city park from three Vampires.
Willow and Xander had caught the first flight out. Anya wouldn't leave the Magic Box; besides, she was still pissed at Xander for postponing their wedding plans because of Buffy's disappearance. Giles had gone to England on business so Dawn had come with them, she was still so angry with Tara that she wouldn't stay with her.
For reasons that Willow still didn't understand, one of her locater spells had worked, finally. But when it had shown the Slayer to be in a dangerous neighborhood, Willow had made Dawn wait at the hotel while she and Xander went to check it out.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
"I don't know about this Will." He said. "Are you SURE Buffy's here?"
The red haired witch shrugged, "I don't understand it either. But according to the spell, she was here less than an hour ago."
"Maybe... you should check it again?" he said.
Willow gave him a dirty look.
"What?" he wisecracked as the red haired witch pulled him along. "I'm just sayin'!"
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
Inside the dimly lit interior, was a cacophony of hard driving, loud music played by the band on the stage. The two Scoobies searched fruitlessly through the crowd for any sign of Buffy. Xander found his attention drawn to the band, while Willow peered at the dance floor trying to catch some glimpse of the Slayer.
There were four people on the stage, a drummer, a lead guitarist, a bass player and a female singer. She was dancing all over the stage giving a pretty good rendition of Christina Aguillera's song, 'Dirty'.
'You know,' thought Xander, 'if that girl's hair was straight, and didn't have those... black... streaks? Holy God!'
Rendered speechless by his discovery Xander tugged at Willow's sleeve. She shrugged him off. He tugged again and she spun on him and snapped, "What IS it Xander I'm trying to find Buffy!"
"I-I think I found her Will." He said, pointing at the punked out goth girl on stage.
"What?" She looked where Xander was pointing. "No. That's not... Buffy?"
Willow stared in open-mouthed shock as the Chosen One, the Slayer, the one girl (not strictly true since Faith, but no one had ever changed the speech) in all the world with the strength and skill, yadda, yadda, yadda, put the microphone she had been using back in the stand and started singing Aimee Mann's 'Pavlov's Bell'.
'What the hell is she doing?' thought Willow.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
The Scoobies found a table and watched in amazement as their friend went through a series of pop songs, hard rock and heavy metal. Every now and then, Buffy would take a drink from a bottle of beer that was in front of a line of empties on one of the huge speakers.
Finally, the band shut down their equipment and began to pack it up. Buffy headed for the bar and Willow and Xander moved to intercept her. Willow touched her arm and was startled when the goth-look Slayer whirled, ready to strike. "Buffy!"
"Will? Willow!" She cried gathering her friends into a punishing Slayer-hug "What are you guys doing here?"
"Uh... Buffster? Ow." Groaned Xander.
"Oh! Sorry." Buffy said letting go. "Anybody else with you?"
"Just Dawn." Said Willow, "We made her stay at the hotel."
"Good." The Slayer said simply.
Willow felt herself go numb as she saw Buffy hit Xander in the gut with a left, then bring her knee up into his face as he doubled over, knocking him unconscious.
With a horrified look on her face, Willow dropped to her knees next to her oldest friend. Almost too shocked for words all she could get out was, "Buffy... What?" before looking up into the face of one of her nightmares.
Buffy, in the full 'game face' of a vampire, held out her hand to the red haired witch. "He wouldn't understand Will." She said, "Please don't fight me. Just come with? Give me a chance to explain?"
For a moment, Willow was almost speechless. "Buffy... I... I don't..."
"Please Will?" It was the pleading, almost begging, tone that convinced her.
She took the Slayer's hand and said, "Okay."
Buffy pulled Willow up by the hand and then straight armed their way through the crowd till they reached a fire exit. Scooping the redhead into her arms, she fled out the door and into the night.
TBC