Subject: [OTL]: (Buffy/X-folks) Breeze Arc: Summerswind Prologue (PG-13) Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 21:30:03 -0700 (PDT) From: Phil Hartman will1@earthling.net Breeze Arc: Summerswind Prologue by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Buffy and related characters belong to Joss Whedon. The X-folks belong to Marvel. Aaron Wisdom is mine. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. NOTE: Alternate Earth ... see below >) -------------------------------------------------------- The Story So Far: -------------------------------------------------------- On an alternate Earth, Buffy Summers - the legendary Slayer of vampires - has a fraternal twin sister: Rachel Summers, the eldest daughter of Scott and Jean Summers of the team of mutant crimefighters, the X-Men. Raised with her sister and their younger brother, Nathan, Buffy has only recently come into an awareness of her supernatural powers, by defeating an attempted invasion of Earth by the demonic N'Garai (SEE Breeze Book Minus One for details). Now, facing her Watcher - a trainer/mage named Rupert Giles, whom has traveled to America to tutor the young Slayer in her duties and skills - Buffy must begin to walk the road that will lead her to her destiny ... -------------------------------------------------------- 9/2/2002: Xavier Institute for Paragenetic Studies: 07:30 hrs EDT: Headmaster's Office: -------------------------------------------------------- The blonde girl slipped into the office, shut the door behind her, and sank into a chair. She was just past her "awkward" stage, the man observing her noted - adjusted to her growing body, with grace where there had been gangly limbs, and filling out where her growth spurt had left her a stringbean a year earlier. #In time,# Rupert Giles thought, adjusting his glasses, #she would become a lovely partner for some young man ... if she wasn't a Slayer.# Barbara Anne Summers, 14 years old, fixed piercing green eyes on her new mentor. Giles shifted uncomfortably in his seat across the room from Buffy - she HATED to be called Barbara - and wondered for the umpteenth time since arriving the night before if the girl possessed any mutant telepathy like her mother or siblings. "You can relax, Mr. Giles," Buffy said in a melodic, if somewhat exasperated, voice. "I can't read minds. This whole 'evil-radar' I got last night only kicks on when there's actual spooky-type evil around. But ..." She scowled at where her fingers had dug holes in the upholstery of the chair, and she added, "The super-strength is pretty cool, but I need to work on it." "That's one of many reasons why I'm here, Buffy," Giles began. He smiled, hoping he seemed comforting and paternal - #Why did the Council choose ME ?# he wondered - and continued, "Before we just throw you into training, I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better, share backgrounds." Buffy smirked and said, "You want my dirt ? OK. Imagine a typical middle child - prettier than her twin sister, but not as cute as baby brother. Not a shred of an x-factor in the genome - something that your 'uncle' THINKS might be an x-factor latency, but he's never sure about it. Then imagine growing up around powered people, and being the only human." Giles winced involuntarily, as Buffy looked thoughtful for a moment. "That's not being quite fair," she added, smiling weakly. "Ray and Nate never intentionally made me feel like I was an outsider, and Mom and Dad went to the mat for me a lot of times. But ... I was a CHEERLEADER in junior high. A cheerleader ! Talk about stereotyping." "Perhaps ... you felt as if you needed to excel at something outside the home," Giles suggested. Buffy gave him a half-smile and said, "It's possible. Hmm ... earliest memory ..." -------------------------------------------------------- 6/4/1991: X-Mansion: 08:00 hrs EDT: -------------------------------------------------------- He was red. And loud. And kind of squished. The new baby brother Buffy and Rachel were looking at wasn't quite what they'd expected. #He's kinda like a grape,# 3-year-old Buffy thought as they sat on either side of their mother in Jean and Scott's bed. Jean was rocking Nathan, who had settled down and was looking around with large blue eyes. ~Kinda,~ Rachel sent to Buffy. The sisters traded a giggle - Buffy did like Rachel's "mindvoice," even if she DID tend to pry a little - and Jean gave them a mischevious smile. "He's not a grape. You two looked like this when you were just born," Jean said, finishing her sentence by making an "O" at Nate with her mouth. The boy seemed to imitate her, tiny fingers tightening around the hand Rachel extended to her brother. ~?~ "He's a tel'path !" Rachel exclaimed, beaming. Buffy let the tiny mental "touch" brush her psyche, but wasn't able to send back. #I'll never be a tel'path,# Buffy realized then. She slid off the bed carefully, until her mother called to her. ~Honey, it's not bad to be human,~ Jean sent. Buffy smiled over her shoulder at her, then fell backwards as she bumped into a pair of tall legs. "Hey, Blondie," Scott said. He scooped up his daughter, smiling at her, and asked, "How about you and I go get some ice cream for your mom and Ray ?" "But can't I come too ?" Rachel asked, pouting. Jean caught Scott's mental question, then hugged the red-headed girl closer to her. "How about you help me work with Nate ? He'll need someone to show him how to be a good telepath," Jean asked. Rachel brightened, and waved as Scott and Buffy headed into the hall. "Thanks, Daddy," Buffy said as Scott set her on the ground and took her hand. "I ... I can't help Nate with his tel'pathy." "But you can be just as good a big sister to him as Rachel will be," Scott pointed out. "I'm not a telepath, and I'm still a member of the family." "Yeah," Buffy said, realization dawning in her voice. She began to skip, then, and smiled a little more. -------------------------------------------------------- "... a little simplistic, maybe, but that's the way they treat me: Like an equal," Buffy said. She stood, walking around her chair, and looked at Giles with a raised eyebrow. "And now I've got something they don't," Buffy continued. "Evil-detecting psychic radar, super-strength and durability, enhanced reflexes, a non-psi mindshield ... is this genetic, or what ?" "The Council really isn't sure. It's possible that it could be the result of a proto-Council imbuing certain mortal bloodlines with inheritable mystick abilities, or it could be a leftover evolutionary advance to deal with supernatural menaces. Since the supernatural is rarer these days, Slayer powers don't manifest as often as they used to," Giles said, shrugging. "Sort of the white-magic version of an appendix, then," Buffy said, deadpan. Giles raised an eyebrow at that, until Buffy dragged him to his feet. "Grab the gear, o Obi-Giles Watcher-Obi," she insisted. "I'll do the work, but I need someone to show me the ropes - and crossbow, and axe, and garlic, and stakes ..." -------------------------------------------------------- to be continued in Summerswind Book 1 --------------------------------------------------------