Time Twist: you'd think that wouldn't you? But it took me ages to find 'crossovers' -blushes and hides-
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Chapter Two
Buffy meandered through the graveyard, content with listening to her two best friends banter.
"Men are not animals!" exclaimed Xander indignantly.
"I seem to remember a time when someone who shall not be named turned into a hyena," Willow replied calmly.
"And that's even excluding the same unmentionable person's bizarre attractive qualities to other-worldly beings such as… praying mantis' for example?" Buffy joined in, feeling a smirk spread across her face.
"Oh, gang up on me why don't you!" Xander put on his best 'puppy dog eyes' look. "And those are such past events, I can't believe you'd even dig them up!"
"Who's digging who up?" asked a familiar voice from behind them.
The three friends rolled their eyes simultaneously.
"What do you want Spike?" Buffy asked turning to face him wearily a mild amount of worry starting in her stomach that she hadn't sensed him coming. "Run out of fags?"
He looked at her curiously. "No, smoking kills you."
"Ha ha," agreed Xander.
"No actually I was out taking a wander and thought I'd see what's new with the Scoobies."
"Who are you and what have you done with Spike?" Willow piped up. Xander and Buffy nodded in agreement.
Spike huffed. "Fine, I won't even bother."
"Spike behind you!" Buffy exclaimed, surprising even herself.
The platinum haired Briton ducked just in time, the blow sweeping across where his head had been just seconds before.
Then Buffy was there all flying fists, feet and power. Spike remembered how that had impressed him the first time he'd laid eyes on her. Even at rest she possessed the dangerous undercurrent that made a person – vampire or otherwise – look at her twice. But then there was little time for much thought as a well-aimed kick sent him skittering away.
Angel took a deep breath and counted to ten. Very slowly.
"Cordy, I'm not saying he's back… I'm just saying he's not totally gone."
Cordelia Chase sat straight-backed and cross-legged facing him. "Well good! Because, y'know, I was just starting to move my life along. I don't want those damn Powers that Be messing it up again."
"Me neither." Angel replied gently, spotting the defence mechanism a mile away.
They both trailed off into silence.
"So what's the plan of action Angel? What are we going to do with the new humanity?"
"I guess we just research, find out if anything like this has happened before." At Cordelia's look he quickly added "Other than to me of course."
"What I don't understand," started Wesley, entering through the doors behind them carrying a huge book in his hands, "is why, if there's a big evil coming, they've taken away the only thing that allowed you to fight it."
"Who's 'they?" Cordelia inquired.
"Well, I mean it's not entirely certain," Wesley bustled. "But I think our best bet is that's it's the Powers that Be of course."
Angle thought about this for a second. "But like you just said, why would they idly knock off their best warrior?" he wondered slowly. "Maybe it's something beyond their control."
Cordelia and Wesley pondered this. "That's not a nice thought," the Englishman answered, his expression bleak.
The Alphas looked grim. Teresa was explaining what had happened during the full moon, how their training had not shown any answers, and yet he was not changing.
But then, Oz thought, they always looked grim.
"Do you feel the Wolf still inside you Nathaniel?" asked Roslyn, addressing Oz directly. Roslyn was a senior Alpha with shockingly white hair down to her waist and brightest green eyes Oz had ever seen.
"Yes," Oz replied truthfully, "but it feels as though it is sleeping, or hibernating, or something."
The Alphas muttered among themselves for a while until eventually the appeared to come to a conclusion.
Theodore stood up, commanding silence of the whole room. "Based on what we have been told by Nathaniel and his trainers, we have concluded that this is something that is outside of our influence. We cannot help you to understand this phenomenon as we do not have the means to, but we will send you to Gabrielle, the Medium and soothsayer, and she will tell you what you will have to do. Her word is final and must be obeyed."
Following ritual, the twelve Alpha members then stood up simultaneously, and filed out of the conference hall.
Oz followed them with his eyes, feeling a dead weight in his stomach.
He was going to be cast out, he knew it. Cast out from the second place that he ever felt he belonged in.
"So there's no one else? I knew it!" Maria gloated slightly. "He's too weird for anyone but me to handle. It's just a fact of nature."
Liz and Maria were sprawled across Liz' room, Liz reading a book about the inspiration behind George Orwell's novels – a British writer – and Maria painting her toenails a vivid orange.
"I don't think nature even comes into it," Liz remarked, not looking up from her page.
"That's true," agreed Maria, admiring the lurid colour her feet had become. "Do you think rules of nature even apply aliens? I mean they're not exactly organic are they."
Liz nodded absently in agreement, she felt the familiar gurgling pains begin in her stomach. This wasn't good, she had to get Maria out of there before she guessed something was up.
As she started wracking her brains though, the situation developed into being even more difficult. Max and Michael appeared at the top of the wall, climbing somewhat awkwardly over the top. Liz took one look from Maria to Michael to Max and bolted.
"I have to go to the loo," she muttered, disappearing.
Max stuck his head through the window. "Something I did?" he asked Maria, who just shrugged. She studied the door that Liz had just left by curiously.
Sorry about the awful wait. And I know it really was an insanely long time for this one! But I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope more will be on it's way soon.
Happy New Year to all!
Xx Susannah xx