Buffy AU in which everyone gets a TiMER on their sixteenth birthday.

"Ready?" Willow asked her friends, looking up at the TiMER clinic.

"Course." Buffy smiled.

"Sure." Xander replied.

"Ready." Cordelia grinned.

"Yup." Oz beamed.

"Thanks for waiting for me, guys. I thought that you'd all go on your sixteenths, not wait for me to catch up." Willow said. When Xander, the oldest of the group, had turned sixteen, she'd expected him to go straight to the clinic to get his TiMER. But he wanted to wait. He said he wanted to wait for his friends, so they could all go and find out together, but Willow knew he was just scared. It's not every day you qualify for a countdown until you meet your Soulmate. Willow thought it would be weird. She took a deep breath. She had turned sixteen, so she qualified. She and her friends were going to walk into this building and when they left they would have little dohickeys on their wrists that would tell them when they met their Soulmate. "This is a big step." Willow said aloud. Her friends nodded in agreement.

"Let's go find our Soulmates." Buffy laughed, despite the fact the situation was dead serious.

"Or prove we've found them." Oz smiled at Willow, squeezing her hand reassuringly. Willow grimaced. His palm was sweaty. She knew what Oz expected. He was excited to get his TiMER because he had a plan. He would get his TiMER, and Willow would get hers, and they'd both say 00 years, 00 days, 00 hours, 00 minutes, and 00 seconds because Willow and Oz didn't have to wait until they met. Therefore, their TiMERs wouldn't have to count the time until they met their Soulmates.

"Let's go." Cordelia said, entering the clinic.

"Good afternoon. Welcome to the TiMER clinic." The cheery receptionist cheered. Cheerily.

"She's too cheery." Buffy muttered.

"It's ten in the morning." Xander added.

"She must have some really strong coffee." Willow giggled.

Cordelia rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "Hi. We're all here to get our TiMERs."

"Good for you! Can I have your names?" The receptionist asked, her smile so wide it looked like it might split her face apart. Her teeth were so white they were almost blinding. The group gave their names and she pointed them towards five vacant rooms.

They all stood in front of their respective doors. "Good luck, guys." They chorused, before stepping through the thresholds into their rooms.

"Hi. Willow. Rosenberg." Willow said to the kind looking woman who was waiting in her room.

"Hello Willow. I'm Kelly. How are you?" She asked.

"Hi, Kelly. I'm fine, thank you. Nervous, but fine." Willow smiled.

"Completely understandable." Kelly assured her. "It is a big step. Everyone is nervous when they get their TiMER. And if they say they're not… Well, I've had a few 'not nervous' people panic once they sat in the chair."

Willow glanced at the chair Kelly was nodding towards. It didn't look that scary.

"But you really have nothing to worry about." Kelly continued. "Nothing can go wrong. And the TiMERs are accurate 98% of the time."

"I like those odds." Willow giggled, scrabbling onto the chair.

"So do we. Ready?" Kelly asked.

"Yuh-huh." Willow nodded.

"Okay. Here we go." Kelly smiled, reaching out a hand and taking Willow's hand in hers. Then she withdrew what Willow could only describe as a cross between a stapler and a piercing gun and lowered it over Willow's wrist. "Little pinch." She said lowly. Willow felt the pinch and when Kelly took the gun away and placed it on the counter behind her she glanced at her wrist.

"Wow." She whispered, gazing at the blue clock face amazed. The TiMER said 00 years, 03 days, 04 hours, 37 minutes, and 42 seconds. That meant 00 years, 03 days, 04 hours, 37 minutes, and 42 seconds until Willow met her Soulmate. She stared in awe as the TiMER began the countdown.

"Three days. You're a very lucky girl." Kelly smiled, her eyes suddenly watery.

"How… how much time do you have?" Willow asked. "Sorry. That's rude, isn't it?"

"A little. But it's fine. I have a little over a year left." Kelly shrugged. "When I first got it, it had twelve years." She added.

"Well, they'll be worth the wait, I'm sure." Willow beamed.

"I know they will. They're my Soulmate." Kelly smiled. Willow hopped out of the chair and headed towards the door. "And, Willow?" Kelly continued.

"Yeah?" Willow asked, turning to face her.

"Good luck."

"Thank you, but hopefully I won't need it." Willow smiled, leaving the clinic so she could wait outside for her friends.

"Hey, Will. How'd it go?" Buffy asked as Willow approached.

"Let me guess. Zeroes all round? My, Oz will be pleased." Cordelia laughed.

"Not exactly." Willow sighed. Oz. She had forgotten about Oz.

"What do you mean?" Buffy frowned.

"Well, unless I'm going to meet Oz for the first time in a little over three days, then there's no way we're Soulmates." Willow replied.

"Poor guy. He'll be crushed." Buffy grimaced.

"What about you guys?" Willow asked.

"Six months." Cordelia frowned.

"Blank." Buffy muttered.

"Oh, Buffy, I'm so sorry." Willow sighed.

"It's no biggie." Buffy shrugged.

"Yeah, it is. Who the hell doesn't have a TiMER?" Cordelia scoffed.

"My Soulmate, apparently." Buffy sighed.

"Don't worry, Buffy. We'll find them… Whoever it is."

"And for all we know, they might not even be sixteen yet." Cordelia shrugged.

"Who might not be sixteen yet?" Xander asked, walking out of the clinic.

"Buffy's Soulmate." Cordelia replied.

"Blank TiMER?" Xander asked. Buffy nodded.

"Bummer. I have a little over a month." Xander supplied. "Will, does yours say something other than zero?" He asked the redhead. She nodded. "That explains it."

"Are you gonna tell us what it explains or are we meant to guess?" Buffy asked.

"Oh. I was in the room next to Oz. I heard this crash, and the TiMER doc yelled for him to calm down. Sounds like he ran out. I figured something was up." Xander told them. Willow's stomach twisted. She took a deep breath. Oz wasn't her Soulmate. Her Soulmate was an unknown person who, according to her TiMER, was 3 days, 4 hours, 33 minutes, and 17 seconds away.

3 days, 4 hours, 33 minutes, and 16 seconds

3 days, 4 hours, 33 minutes, and 15 seconds

3 days, 4 hours, 33 minutes, and 14 seconds

She stared at the bright blue display, mesmerised.

"Willow?" Buffy called. She looked up.

"You okay there?" Xander asked.

"Yeah. I just can't believe… I just can't believe that this tiny bit of plastic and metal can lead me to my Soulmate." Willow chuckled.

"I can't believe that mine won't." Buffy muttered.

"Oh, Buffy, I'm sorry. We're talking about how happy we are and you-"

"It's fine, Will. Really." Buffy smiled.

"Buffy, have you even glanced at your wrist recently?" Cordelia scoffed.

"No. Why?" Buffy frowned.

"Your TiMER is glowing."

"WHAT!?" Buffy exclaimed, looking down at her now red TiMER. The face read;

00 years, 00 days, 00 hours, 01 minutes, 27 seconds.

"Buff, you have 97 seconds until you meet your Soulmate." Xander said.

"Holy crap." Buffy whispered.

90 seconds.

"Quick, get back to talking. I need to look casual." Buffy said hurriedly.

"I wonder what your Soulmate will look like." Willow mused.

"Knowing Buff, tall, dark, and bloodthirsty." Xander chortled.

60 seconds.

"Or, in an epic twist of fate, short, nerdy, and a total scaredy cat." Cordelia laughed.

"Maybe it's one of the people who works here." Buffy suggested.

"That or someone who literally just got their TiMER." Willow added.

"Think, did anyone see someone walk in a few minutes ago?" Buffy asked.

30 seconds.

"What do you think? Is my hair okay?" Buffy asked.

"Nope." Cordelia said.

"Is my hair okay?" Buffy asked again, glaring at Cordelia.

"Oh, yeah, now it's fine." Cordelia shrugged.

Buffy unzipped her jacket and pulled her top down slightly. "How's this?" She asked.

"Yowza." Xander said. We all looked at him strangely. "What?"

5 seconds.

4

3

2

1

Buffy's TiMER beeped in sync with someone else behind us. We all turned.

"Hey. Did anyone else just time out?" Asked a tall, good-looking, pale, dark haired-

"Girl?" Buffy asked.

"Last I checked. And I'm guessing you were the one that timed out?" She asked Buffy, who nodded. "Hi. Name's Faith." She winked, stepping so close to Buffy they were chest to chest. "What do I call you?"

"Buffy." Buffy whispered.

"Buffy? I like it. You wanna… go do something, seeing as we're Soulmates an' all?" Faith asked, somehow intimidatingly confident and endearingly awkward at the same time.

Instead of answering, Buffy reached up and locked her hands around the taller girl's neck and pulled her down and into a kiss.

"I repeat, yowza." Xander said, eyes locked on the two women as Faith's hands moved to Buffy's waist.

One of Buffy's hands moved to Faith's shoulder and down her side to toy with the hem of her shirt. This prompted Faith's hands to glide up to cup Buffy's boobs and detach her lips from the blonde's to begin kissing her neck.

"Do I really need to say yowza again?" Xander asked. Willow and Cordelia shook their heads before backing away from the couple, pulling Xander with them. They left quickly, but not fast enough to avoid hearing Buffy moan the dark haired girl's name.

"Okay, wow." Cordelia said the second they were out of range.

"Yeah. Wow." Xander agreed.

"I think Buffy's kinda gay." Willow said.

"Ya think?" Cordelia exclaimed.

"But she's still Buffy. She was Buffy dating Angel, and we still loved her. Then she was Buffy dating Riley, and we still loved her. We didn't really like him, but we loved her. Now she's Buffy who's found her Soulmate, Faith. We still love her." Xander said.

"Why wouldn't we?" Willow asked.

"No reason. That's my point." Xander said.

"But, boy, that was a shock. I'd have thought that if any of us would go gay, it'd be you, Willow." Cordelia stated.

"Why?" Willow frowned.

"I don't know. It's just a slight… Sapphic vibe." Cordelia shrugged.

"Oh."

"Not that there's anything wrong with that…" Cordelia continued.

"No. It's fine." Willow muttered, her brain racing at a million miles an hour. They walked back to Willow's dorm in silence until Willow spoke. "Guys… Do you think my Soulmate might be a girl?" Willow asked.

"Maybe." Xander thought.

"I guess you'll find out." Cordelia shrugged as Willow took out her room key and opened her door.

"And if he or she is… a she, we'll support you. You'll still be Willow." Xander smiled.

"Thanks. I love you guys." Willow said.

"We love you too, Will." Xander beamed, hugging her.

"See you tomorrow." Cordelia said as Willow's door shut.

The next two days passed by in a blur. Sleep, eat, go to class, repeat. Willow didn't even think to check up on Oz. She was so focused on meeting her Soulmate.

What would they be like? Would they be tall or short? Nice or rude? Pretty or ugly? Shy or confident? Cute or hot? What would they look like? There were so many possibilities. What colour would their eyes be? What colour would their hair be? What body type would they have? And personality? What if they were a total jerk? What if Willow didn't like them? What if they didn't like her? What would their first date be like? Would they go on a date straight away or just end up making out like Buffy and Faith? Would they expect sex right away or would they want to wait? Would they get upset if Willow didn't want to have sex with them right away? Would Willow want to have sex right away? What should she wear? What should she say? What should she do? What if she did the wrong thing? What if they hated her? What if they were one of the 2% that were inaccurate?

"What if I overthink it and get really panicky when I meet them?" She muttered to herself. She took a deep breath and released it. Tomorrow was the day she would meet her Soulmate. "Big day tomorrow. Gotta get some sleep." She muttered, climbing into bed and turning off her lamp light.

"Oh, god, it's morning." Willow winced as the sunlight streamed down in her face and into her eyes. She glanced at her clock. "Crap!" It read 11:47. Then she glanced at her TiMER. "I have 17 minutes until I meet my Soulmate." Willow said. "Oh, god, I have 17 minutes until I meet my Soulmate." She repeated. She ran to her wardrobe and grabbed the first top and jeans she laid her hands on, completely forgetting her painstakingly thought out outfit. She scrambled into her underwear, jeans, and a long sleeved shirt and ran a brush trough her hair. She dabbed a finger in her lip balm and then ran the digit over her lips.

11 minutes.

"What else happens in eleven minutes?" Willow wondered. "Oh! My psych class! Oh, don't tell me my Soulmate is my teacher!" She moaned, racing to the lesson, prating that Mrs Walsh wouldn't be the one that made her TiMER hit zero.

8 minutes. Willow thought to herself as she came to a stop just inside the doorway of the lecture hall. She looked around. She didn't see anyone she hadn't met already. She slumped down in a front row seat.

6 minutes. Professor Walsh entered, and Willow made eye contact with her, just to make sure her time wasn't off just a little. She breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't zero out.

4 minutes. Willow glanced around at everyone else, trying to make eye contact with everyone else in the room. Nothing. No Soulmate.

1 minute. Professor Walsh started speaking and Willow put her head down and began to make notes.

"H-he-hello. S-so-sorry I'm late." Someone stuttered. The voice made Willow's stomach do backflips. "It's my f-f-first day. T-t-took me a while to f-find you."

"Understandable. Why don't you take a seat, Miss Maclay?" Professor Walsh asked/instructed. "There seems to be one next to Miss Rosenberg." The professor suggested. Willow felt, rather than heard the new girl heading her way. She looked up and immediately locked eyes with the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.

Their TiMERs beeped.

"Hi." Willow breathed.

"Hi." The new girl whispered.

"Willow." Willow said, pointing to herself.

"Tara." The blue eyed woman replied.

"Hi." Willow laughed.

"Hi." Tara giggled.

"TiMERs. Great. Class dismissed." Professor Walsh declared. Everyone made to move towards the exit until she stopped them. "Not you. Just these two." It vaguely registered that she was talking about Tara and Willow.

"Thank you, Professor Walsh." Willow said, her eyes not leaving Tara's.

"Now get out. There are some people here who intend to learn, not stare at each other adoringly all through my lecture." Professor Walsh said. Willow nodded, and she grabbed her bag and books and headed towards Tara. She reached for the other woman's hand and entwined their fingers, and the two of them left the lecture hall.

The two of them walked towards the on campus coffee shop, not taking their eyes off each other once. Until Willow walked into a lamppost. Tara giggled. "Sorry."

"My bad." Willow shrugged.

"I w-was d-distracting you." Tara said.

"I liked the distraction." Willow replied. Tara blushed. "Oh, god, I really just said that, didn't I? Sorry. I'm just… Well… I liked the distraction, of course, cos I like you. A lot. But… Oh, god, I'm such a spaz." Willow blushed, looking down. Tara chuckled and put a hand under Willow's chin, making their eyes meet again.

"D-don't worry. I th-think i-it's cute." Tara smiled when Willow's blush increased. She leant in and kissed her on the cheek.

She pulled back in time to see Willow's eyes darken. The next thing she knew, the small redhead had pinned her against the wall behind her and was kissing her roughly and with so much urgency that before Tara even had the chance to kiss back, Willow had pulled away. "Oh, god, sorry. I just… I just had to do that. But I'm sorry. I should have waited until you were ready."

"No, Willow, it's fine. Really." Tara smiled. "Someone had to do it first." She laughed.

"True, but, still-"

"No. It really is fine." Tara grinned. "In all honesty, I was just thinking about how much I wanted to kiss you."

"Oh. So it really is good that I did that." Willow beamed.

"Do you want to… do it again?" Tara asked.

"Here?" Willow squeaked. Tara realised that they were still in the middle of an incredibly exposed hallway.

"We could always go to your dorm. Or mine." Tara said.

"Sure. I'd like that. Mine is probably closest." Willow said.

"I don't have a roommate." Tara said.

"Let's go to your room." Willow decided. Tara kissed Willow quickly and began to pull her towards her dorm. "Wait." Willow began. Tara stopped immediately.

"What is it? If you're not ready, I can wait." Tara assured her holding Willow's right hand in her left.

"No, it's not that…" Willow trailed off.

"Then what? I want you to feel like you can tell me anything." Tara reassured, her right hand coming up to cup Willow's cheek to maintain their eye contact.

Willow grinned sheepishly. "Afterwards… Can we snuggle?"

"Sure." Tara laughed.

"Are you laughing at me?" Willow asked.

"Nope." Tara smiled.

"Just checking. Let's go." Willow grinned.

"And, hey, don't worry. We have the rest of our lives to snuggle." Tara smirked.

Willow's grin got impossibly wider and she pressed a kiss to Tara's cheek. "I hope so."