The Crossover

By Deep Roller

Author's Note: Hey, hey, kids! Sorry it's so short, but life comes first.

Disclaimer: Animorphs and all its characters are the property of K.A. Applegate. Buffy and all her pals (and not-so-pals) are Joss Whedon's. No profit is being made from this. None of the characters involved in this story are mine minus the occasional truck driver or ice cream vendor.

It was the last thing I needed. We hadn't had any activity for quite some time, and I was beginning to think things were getting back to normal. As normal as anything can be for kids who turn into animals and save the planet, anyway. No Yeerk news is good news, as they say.

So when I got the call that morning I was less than pleased. "Jake?"

"Hmm… Marco? Marco, man, it's like seven in the morning."

"Jake, we have a situation here. And that situation is uh…well…I saw the game last night, and I need to talk to you about it. The end score had me all tied up." Marco talking in code could be funny, or it could just be sad. Today it just made me want to slam the phone down and burrow back down under the covers. But as a fearless leader, that was not an option. But it should have been, it really should have been.

She had already untied herself once in the night, Ax told me when I arrived at the old shed we had agreed to meet at. She was almost out the door when he caught her. She had managed to twist his arm and practically lift him off the ground before he resorted to using his tailblade."I did not wish to injure her, Prince Jake. However, she left me with little option. Op shunnn."

"It's okay, Ax. You did fine." The girl, who looked remarkably like Rachel, was glaring at me. She had a cut on her cheek, and was bound to a chair with yards and yards of duct tape. "Where did you get all that duct tape, anyway? I've never seen so much in my life."

It was in the garage. Mom is a firm believer in being prepared for anything, and with duct tape, she feels she is. Boy was she right on that one. Rachel, currently a very large grizzly bear, said. She was standing close to the bound up girl, not taking any chances on escape number two.

"You know, you demons might not have circulation issues, but my hands are turning purple here!" The girl, Buffy, was complaining again. Marco sighed and rolled his eyes at me.

"Marco, why on earth did you morph in front of her? Why? Why didn't you make sure it was Rachel before you went babbling?"

"It was dark, she was tall blonde, and had the kick butt look to her. I mean, how many other tall blonde kick butts are there out at that time of night? She had a STAKE, Jake!"

What a lovely poem, Marco.

"Shut it, Rachel. Before I…"

Rachel reared up on her hind legs and towered over Marco. Before you what? Huh? I've got claws longer than your-

"Alright! Before this turns into When Animals Attack nine thousand, can we please straighten this out?" I asked. I could feel the familiar headache throbbing as I tried to sort things through. Marco insisted she was a Yeerk. She, naturally, insisted she wasn't. Cassie, fortunately, had the presence of mind to be helpful.

"Ax, besides possessing a hatred for Andalites and needing the Kandrona rays, are there any other ways to be sure of infestation?"

"I am afraid not. Those are the only ways."

"So this Buffy girl could be…not a Yeerk?"

"YES! Hell-lo! I've been trying to say that!" Buffy yelled. All of us ignored her. Cassie frowned, thinking. I left it to her and my mind wandered as I looked from Marco to Rachel to Tobias.

"Well, we can still keep her for three days, and if she's not a Yeerk, then no harm there. But that doesn't change that she knows things. And if anything ever DID happen, well, she knows too much. Much too much."

"Wow, Cassie, sounding every day more like some kinda vigilante guy." Marco observed. She was right, naturally. No telling if she'd ever get tangled up with Yeerks down the line. And they had ways of making you talk. That whole having a slug take over your brain for starters. And they'd want a girl like this, she had proven she was strong. Ax's sore arm told that story. But what to do?

"Is there any memory altering thing you Andalites have? Something that can erase this from her mind?"

"Oooh like Men In Black!" Cassie chimed in, immediately blushing and falling silent.

"Yes, there is. The Morj Modifier.But it is very difficult to obtain. Aiiiin. And it will take about three days to ship, if I can send for it. I could attempt to replicate the modifier with the right appliances, but I will need help."

"Great. So alien Fed Ex doesn't work so well, eh?" Marco asked. We all ignored him.

"Okay, so we get the ingredients, keep guarding Buffy, and hope for the best. That seems like a fairly easy thing to do. We just have to keep this a secret, and I think we're all good at that."

"Is the meeting over? Because I had to tape Passions last night, and I don't want to miss Days of our Lives. It's the one where Bianca finds out what JR has been up to." Marco said. Sometimes I worry about him and those soap operas of his.

Hey Marco, guess what? It's your turn to guard your little catch. Now, get your butt in morph before I kick it there for you. Rachel grumbled as she demorphed. I kept watch as Marco went gorilla. After all, that's what a leader is for. The plan was simple enough. It really was. It could have worked. Sadly, in all our time as Animorphs, we have never learned our lesson. Nothing that seems simple, sensible, or easy, ever turns out that way.