The Glitch 2.0

As far as Nataunia had been able to determine, it was the beginning of the school year, possibly only a week or so in, and she’d easily enough managed to figure out what day of the week it was. That of course, led her to knowing that, whatever else the residents of the Slayer household were doing, they wouldn’t be away from the schools for a while. Buffy and Dawn would be at the new highschool, and Willow would be… wherever it was that Willow went during the day. Considering that she’d gone off to England, and so much had happened in their lives, the redhead probably wasn’t still attending UC Sunnydale. Faith, of course, was probably sleeping or loitering about the house, unless she’d found herself a job.

She’d slept in, showered and eaten, taken her time moving around, and even driven by the high school once or twice, and it was still a little early for her to try going over to the house. She knew that she’d have to soon, otherwise they’d hear about her looking for them from Dawn’s classmate and come looking for her, but she had no intention of being there, waiting for them, like some kind of stalker, when they got home. It left her with little to do to distract herself from nerves, and too much to worry about. She wound up just wandering around town for a while, the bike purring gently beneath her, before finally stopping at the Espresso Pump. She’d always wanted to get something there, and hadn’t gone at all while preparing herself for fear of running into the Slayerettes too soon.

“… and so B’s like, bam and I’m like boom, and then he goes flying, full-on head-over-heels, into the tree. Then, the only thing he says with the dumbest expression I’ve ever seen on a vamp… and I’ve seen some stupid looks… is ‘Well that was unexpected’, and then poof, he’s dust buster chow.” The conversation slowly filtered into Nataunia’s awareness as she sipped on a random concoction of sugar, milk, and espresso that she’d let the barista pick for her. The voice was undeniable, and even at that, the subject matter would have been a give away. She heard two bodies slide into the booth behind her, and her eyes stayed wide for a moment, not fully believing that they were there. “… dust buster chow. I’ve been hangin’ around B way too much lately. Next thing ya know I’m gonna say things ‘r givin’ me the ‘wiggins’ or something like that.”

“Didn’t think you’d be complaining, Faith.” It was Willow’s voice, and Nataunia nearly choked on her drink. She couldn’t make herself move, or decide if she wanted to run, or if she wanted to try to approach them there, in public. “Besides, Faith, you already told this story to me, this morning.”

“But you only heard half of it, Red, and you didn’t see his face. It was wicked the way B slammed him that first one.” She heard Faith behind her wiggling around, probably telling the story animatedly. “It was all Kodak-moment-like.” Nataunia had almost decided to stand up and casually approach, using their obvious disregard for anyone overhearing the subject of their conversation as a way to introduce herself, but she heard the slight thud of quickly approaching feet, and Faith’s greeting. “Hey Squirt.”

“Hi Faith! Hey Willow.” Dawn’s cheery voice filtered in too, and Nataunia spared a glance over her shoulder at them, watching the teen slide into the booth next to Willow excitedly, her gaze obviously on Faith. “You guys talking cool slaying stuff?”

“No, just the same story as this morning.” Willow opined before Faith could get started again, and Dawn gave a slight giggle. Nataunia took that moment to start getting her things together, knowing that she was either going to be able to say something instead of passing, or have to get out while she still could. They’d notice her staring eventually. “How was school, Dawnie?”

“Eugh! Nasty.” The reaction was almost unexpected, and made both of the other women at her table laugh. “There was this gross, skeezy guy that sits behind me in English today. He keeps asking me out and, blegh, he totally freaked me out today. Buffy was, like, no help either.” Nataunia hurried her gathering of bag and jacket, trying to gulp down the rest of her drink before she could slip out of her booth. “He started babbling about this ‘hot girl’ that he met at some pizza place last night that was asking around about me… he gave her directions on how to get to the house and everything… and then he’s all gesturing nasty stuff and breathing on me. His breath is like sewage. Like, halitosis central.”

Nataunia was making her quick way past, trying not to look in their direction so that the girl couldn’t get a good look at her, and possibly make the connection. She didn’t notice Dawn’s voice drifting off just slightly, or that the girl watched her as she made a hasty exit. “Woo, Dawn! You just checked that girl out!”

“What? No I didn’t! I wouldn’t… I mean I don’t… I mean you…” Dawn babbled, turning bright red and sputtering in the face of Faith’s good-natured laughter.

“Oh, our little Squirt is growing up.” Faith teased, wiping away a mock tear and sighing. She laughed again as Dawn wadded up a paper napkin and threw it at her. “It’s okay, kid, I saw Red give her the once over too. Musta been wicked hot.”

“Anyway,” Willow interrupted, glaring as well and diverting the subject back to where it was supposed to be. “you were saying about that girl? He told her how to get to the house?”

“Yeah. I, like, tried to tell Buffy, but she just basically brushed me off, saying she’d keep an eye out. I mean, come on, that pizza place he keeps talking about is over in the grody end of town, and it was at night.” Dawn huffed, rolling her eyes. “So she’s all not caring when some girl in the bad end, at night, is asking around for me and gets directions to our house? I mean, I’d think that with both the Slayers there, and what we deal with every day, it’d be a bit more of a concern.”

“I’m sure she’ll get to the bottom of it, Dawn. She was probably just trying not to worry you.” Willow comforted, patting her gently on the shoulder. “Right Faith?”

“Yeah Squirt, no sweat. We’ll drop by Willy’s tonight and see if there’s anything or anyone new in town that’d be looking for you, or us through you.” Faith smiled and gave her a thumbs up, wiggling her eyebrows. Dawn laughed lightly.

~

She’d driven around for a bit, partially to give them time to get home… and partially do to nerves, trying to psych herself up to actually going. She was almost sure that if Dawn hadn’t shown up, she might have made an attempt there at the Espresso Pump. How successful the attempt would have been was up for debate, but Dawn had, of course, confirmed her worry that the guy from the pizza place had said something. When she finally made her way toward Revello Dr., complete with a few wrong turns and fretting about what she was supposed to say, she was sure that they had to have gotten home by then.

Nataunia had almost thought that the bike seemed quieter as she drove up to the house, the noise of the engine dampened slightly. As she parked at the curb, she rubbed over the cover in front of the seat, thanking it silently for if it really was quieter, instead of just her imagination. She left her helmet over the seat of the bike, trusting that whatever kept it safe in as screwed up of a neighborhood as the motel was in, would do the same now. The last thing she needed was to seem like some biker-demon come pounding on the door. She pulled her hair back into a tail as she walked to the front door, concerned about helmet hair, and fidgeted several times as she stood there, before fussing with the ponytail again.

Several minutes later she was still staring at the door to 1630 Revello Dr, debating yet again on if she was ready to knock. She’d been there for ten minutes, readjusted her hair three times, and started back toward the bike twice… and she still hadn’t made herself knock. I can do this. I can do this! I can make myself knock on a door! I’ve survived nearly 18 years in an entire reality my existence was at odds with. Static-y wings can sprout from my fucking back. I’ve even finally made it to the Buffyverse… er, not that I was trying… but I did! I can knock on a door!

When the door opened before her knuckles even made contact, though, the choice was taken out of her hands. Dawn stood on the other side, hand on the knob and turned to face the stairs. “I’m going over to Janice’s before Buffy gets back, Willow!”

Nataunia’s arm dropped and she stepped to the side, attempting to not look entirely awkward, and she just watched as the other teen turned and stumbled in a belated attempt to not walk into her. Dawn stared, in confused shock, as Willow’s voice drifted down the stairs in answer. “You’re the one what wanted to be involved, Dawn. That means training, which means you’re stuck with waterguns and crossbows for now. You can’t keep skipping training.”

“H- hi.” Dawn blushed lightly when Nataunia raised a curious eyebrow at the conversation, light glinting off of its piercing.

“Hey. Hm… now that’s a combo there. Facing the Wicked Witch of the West soon, Dorothy?” She smirked and inwardly cheered at the sudden appearance of autopilot. She hadn’t even known what was going to come out when she opened her mouth. Dawn’s blush deepened, but she smiled. “So you must be Dawn Summers. I’m looking for a cute hacker-witch, goes by the name Willow Rosenberg.”

The girl’s smile fell briefly, before her eyes widened and she practically bounced in place, processing what Nataunia had just said. “Can I be there when you say that to her? I wanna see her face!”

Nataunia winked, and then tried not to look nervous as they heard footsteps descending the stairs. “Dawn?” The teenager’s eyes practically glittered with mischief as she winked back, and the stepped onto the porch to give Willow room in the doorway. “Hello…” The redhead, though she didn’t seem hostile, was certainly less friendly in her greeting.

“Hey, look what I found when I opened the door. She said,” Dawn paused to glance between the two with a smile, making Nataunia unsure of if she should run, again. “that she’s looking for the cute hacker-witch that goes by the name Willow Rosenberg.”

Nataunia remained quiet, watching as the redhead blushed, and waited for some kind of reaction. Willow recovered quickly, though the blush remained, and glanced down the walk to where the bike still stood. “Hm. I thought you’d be looking for Dawn. You’re… Taunie, right?”

Dawn’s expression spasmed as she made the belated connection, turning to look quickly at the bike, then back at the newcomer, and Nataunia suppressed a nervous giggle. “Sort of. There was this rumor that said that you lived at the Summers residency… and hey, lookie here, there you stand… and this is the Summers residence. Here I’ve found you, so the rumor was right. Score one for the rumor mill.” She pulled her babble to an abrupt halt, shaking her head. It seemed the autopilot was either malfunctioning, or it had gone on vacation. “Sorry. Yeah, this is be being nervous. I babble; people just normally don’t care enough to notice. Can we pretend that I’m not dorking out right now?” Right… what was that? Abrupt halt? More like a speed bump. Great fucking first impression. At least I didn’t faint.

The both of them looked at her in surprise for a moment before Willow turned patiently to Dawn. “Why don’t you go on to Janice’s? I’ll tell Buffy where you are when she gets home.” The teen looked between them, then huffed and stormed away, grumbling to herself about missing the interesting things, and it left the pair of them alone on the Summers’ porch. “Well… you certainly feel powerful.”

“I do? I mean of course I do. I mean I am! That’s not what I mean.” Nataunia groaned and reached up to rub the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes and missing the amused, almost sympathetic look on the redhead’s face. “Can we sit down? I’m not asking to come in, you don’t even know be, but maybe it’d be easier if we sat down… or into the back yard… back yard is good because then people can’t see my epic failure. I’m still dorking out, so please ignore the babble.” She took a deep breath, and shook her head, trying to calm herself down. Then, she forced out the most charming smile she had at her disposal, one that she had said almost made her not care that Nataunia’s presence made her nauseous. The thought almost made the smile waver, but she pushed that back and away too, with the nervousness. “I’m sorry, hi. I came for your help.” She breathed out again, grateful that she’d gotten those sentences out without babbling further. It had to be that she was actually talking to the Willow contributing to the fangirl mode. “I do have power… yeah… or I’m told. I’ve got at least one strange ability and someone… I guess you could call him my… spirit guide?… sent me here, to you. I don’t really know how to ask this other than… um… if you could please help me, and… train me? I know about the spooky things, the shit that goes bump in the night… and sometimes the daytime.” She sighed and offered the smile again, hoping that Willow’s silence was a good sign. The redhead was still blushing, though. “I mean, he… it… my guide… told me about the Slayers, and being here. I’m not afraid to fight. Well, I am, but I still will.”

Willow was simply looking at her, and Nataunia had the unnerving fear that maybe the same sensation that had put people off in the other reality was starting again. Maybe Willow didn’t trust her, simply because she was… or maybe the fact that getting directions from pizza boy had made her seem enough like a suspicious stalker that she was about to get turned into a rat. “Well you’re nervous as well as powerful. And yes, you can come in. It’s still daylight, so I doubt you’re a vampire.” Willow paused, moving inside and letting Nataunia enter behind her before closing the door. “But, I don’t know if you’re in the right place. I don’t know that I’m qualified to…”

“Listen… I um… I know that you know what it’s like to lose control.” She babbled again, sitting and looking imploringly at Willow. The redhead looked shocked. “But, doesn’t that mean that you’re doubly careful? Wouldn’t that mean that you know that strong power can’t just go unchecked? I could try to train myself, yeah, but that would be dangerous… I know it’ll be dangerous, what I can do. No one else can train me… I was sent to you, pointed in your direction for a reason. Please… just a chance maybe? I want to help. It’s a good fight; I want in.”

Willow sat down carefully, a little stunned at not only what the girl had said, but the last words. She just frowned a bit, staring at her, and Nataunia took a deep breath, kneeling in front of her almost in supplication. Before the redheaded witch could protest the action, the girl held up her hands in front of her own face, and concentrated, pushing as hard as she could, letting her mind grip that strange, other part of her mind, and forcing it to manifest what she knew could be there. The tingling, almost tight, sensation that had grown barely familiar over the week started, and when her eyes opened, she saw the crackling energy that comprised what she could manage of her claws, and knew that the same thing was starting with her wings, and tail, as she continued to prod and push at that special part of her mind. Willow’s eyes were huge.

“You can… um… touch it…” Nataunia huffed, feeling the effort of holding her concentration as well as communicating. As Willow leaned forward, tracing her fingers gently through the energy, Nataunia gulped, falling forward just slightly to lean on her hands and knees, holding tightly to her concentration as Willow felt through the manifested energy wings with wonder.

“Woah. Wicked. What’cha got there, Red?” Faith’s voice trailed into the livingroom, and Nataunia had to clench her fists into the carpet to keep the manifestation alive. She felt another hand brush through, much less gently and more playfully, as Faith approached. “Hey, it’s a kid! What the hell, Red? Hey kid, get up, come on… it’s okay. Shit, is she okay, Red?”

“I’m fine.” Nataunia gritted her teeth and finally let go of her concentration and hold on the energy, breathing out heavily and sitting back to see both of them looking at her in surprise and worry. Faith’s brows narrowed slightly in recognition, and she could tell the dark-haired Slayer was trying to place from where. “I… Please, Willow.”

“I don’t know if I… I can’t do that. I don’t know how to teach you about…” Willow stalled, eyes wide with almost panic as she realized that it really was a genuine pupil that had come seeking her help. “I don’t think that I can…”

“No one can… or I’m told I’m the only one. There is no teacher that won’t be shooting from the hip…” She took a deep breath, the tingling feeling gone, finally, and an itching at her shoulder-blades that she attributed to the fact that both of them had been feeling through the crackling energy. “I’m supposed to… eventually they’ll be real, and grow real. Full on flesh, not just energy. I… I was sent here.”

“Come on Red. B says you’re a bad ass wicca.” Faith elbowed Willow playfully, and winked at Nataunia. “And she says she was sent to ya… wait, who sent you?”

“Her ‘spirit guide’.” Willow offered, still a little stunned. “I still don’t know. You seem like a nice girl, but… well, this isn’t even my house. I don’t know what Buffy would say…”

“Say about what?” All three of them turned to see Buffy walking in, fluffing her hair a little and smiling cordially to the newcomer. “Who’s bike is out front?”

“Um, mine. I can always come back again, if you need to think about it.” Nataunia backed away, getting nervous again. She didn’t know if she should squeal like the fangirl she was and ask for their autographs, or run, but she was fairly sure that if she didn’t do either she was going to faint again.

“Buffy, this is Taunie. She was actually looking for me, not Dawn.” Willow introduced, stalling a little. Nataunia almost corrected her, having given the guy that shortened version of her name as a precaution, but she stopped herself. It felt like a nickname, something she hadn’t ever had before, and she liked the way it sounded coming from them. “She wants me to teach her magic.”

“Oh. Cool.” Buffy smiled brightly and waved. “Hi. I’m Buffy.”

“Yeah…” Nataunia blushed again and looked around at all three of them. “I should give you some time to… um… think…”

“It’s cool, Wills. You wanna have a little magic buddy, it’s fine.” Buffy stretched and started for the stairs. “I’m taking Dawn out for a jog before her training. It was nice to meet you, Taunie.”

“Dawn went over to Janice’s.” Willow provided, still without giving an answer, or nodding for the girl to be able to go. “She’ll probably be back earlier than usual, though, since Taunie got here just as she was leaving.”

“The Espresso Pump!” Faith exclaimed suddenly, shocking them all and stopping Nataunia from where she was starting to edge toward the door. “You were the girl that Red and the Squirt were checking out.”

“Excuse me?” Willow’s eyes widened, and Nataunia blushed brightly.

“Um… thanks? I mean… heh… you’re hot too?” She smiled at Willow jokingly, and tried to concentrate on that embarrassment, instead of the feeling that she was going to faint in their presence again. Willow was blushing now too, much to the amusement of the slayers. “Um… I guess I should thank you two Slayers, too. For saving my life and everything…” Buffy had been heading upstairs, and Faith laughing at Willow, but the statement distracted both of them. “I was looking around town, checking out the cemeteries so I could have a layout in my head if you lot let me help… and well I kinda tripped and hit my head. I woke up all woozy and it was nightfall. Next thing I knew, an arrow killed the vamp that was about to feed on me, and just as the two of you come in, I’m out again. When I came to I was in the hospital?”

“That was you?” Buffy’s eyes were wide, and Willow stared at her. “You kept mumbling something about some girl named Eliza Dushku.”

Nataunia only shrugged, suppressing her blush, and glanced at Willow. The wicca finally smiled indulgently and rolled her eyes. “I’ll give it a try, for a little while. I don’t know how much help I’ll be with what you need, but I can try. How old are you anyway?”

“Um, almost eighteen. Thanks.” She fidgeted a little, and then looked awkwardly at her new mentor. “Is this, like, a hugging situation or something? I don’t really know the tutor-acquisition protocol.”

“She’s funny, Red.” Faith laughed, winking and moved into the kitchen. “Nice meetin’ ya, Taunie-girl!”

“I think you staying for dinner so we can get to know each other is all that’s necessary.” Willow blushed and smiled. “I’ve never had an apprentice either. I’ve done spells with people before, and um… well spells… but we won’t be doing those spells… and this is new to me too. Change of subject! Are you in school still?” Willow was still red, significantly more so, as she sat down on the couch again, and gestured for Nataunia to take a seat.

“Nope… well, no, not really.” She looked up in thought, frowning. “Not exactly.” Willow looked at her reproachfully. “Some, um, things happened that I’m not really comfortable talking about. It turns out that it’s, inadvertently, because of what I am, or will be. I… well I never finished.”

Willow looked at her a bit more softly now, seeming to sympathize a little. “Well, I’m sorry for whatever it was. As you mentioned knowing before,” and here the redhead smirked a bit, “I’m somewhat of a computer-fiend. I’ll work a little techno-magic and get you enrolled in Sunnydale High. I don’t take high-school dropouts as apprentices.” Nataunia blushed, but rolled her eyes. “Do you have any habits I should know about? I don’t approve of addictions… and we’ve already got one smoker in the house.”

“No, never been one for anything like that. I’ve had a drink here or there, but it’s been about a half year since I even bothered with one.” Nataunia shook her head, laughing. “And smoking tastes nasty.”

“Fully agreed.” Willow rolled her eyes. “We’re still trying to break Faith of that.”

Nataunia blushed as she remembered some of the pictures she’d copied onto her computer at home of ‘Faith’ smoking. It tasted nasty, yeah, but the girl looked damn sexy taking a drag sometimes. “Um, if I’m invited for dinner, mind if I push my bike up into the driveway and bring in my helmet? I hadn’t known if I was going to be blocking anyone…”

“Sure thing.” Willow smiled and stood, following her to the door. “Oh, do you have somewhere to stay? I’m guessing that you’re not from Sunnydale…”

“Um, yeah, I’m good for now, thanks.” She smiled brightly and ducked out the door toward her bike, relief and giddiness rushing through her. She’d done it. She’s actually managed to convince Willow to train her. She honestly didn’t know if she was going to faint or start jumping up and down like an overjoyed child.

TBC