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Title: IT Chapter: Two/Seventeen Rating: R Spoilers: Up to and including the last season shown. Beta Reader: Scotty Welles Shadow Mage Summary: Alt-Buffy/IT verse and crossover. What if Willow was the seventh member of the choosen group instead of Ben. Disclaimer: Nope, don't belong to me. Stephan King is the owner of the novel and movie, IT. I am not making any money on this. <><><><><><><> Summer Of 1989 <><><><><><><> The Barrens were used as a sanctuary from the town. The people who lived there were good at ignoring what was happening around them. They were even better at pretending nothing was wrong. Whenever Henry and his groupies would start their terrorizing the adults would turn their heads to it, or simply tell both Henry and his victim to take it outside. Parents were great at living in an imaginary world where tragedy was ignored, and their children were raised the same way. The town acted as though no crime ever took place, and when it did they brushed it off. They just looked through what was happening. The truth was hard to handle. Tragedy was an everyday occurrence, every thirty years something would happen that would devastate the town. Crime was worse there than in most large cities. Bigotry was as bad as it was in the forties and fifties. But in the Barrens, they were able to escape the nightmare of day-to-day life. Here they could be the children they wanted to be without worry of criticism or fear of being bullied. Here they could explore the depths of the Congo, cross the most dangerous rivers, and go to war with whatever country that was declaring war. Now, Willow found herself a part of the group. The Losers' Club, as they lovingly referred to it. On some level she knew she should be wary of Bev and the friends that she kept talking about, but it felt right, like she was meant to meet Bev, meant to be a part of the group. It felt serious, as though she was needed for some major problem, and it scared her. But the loyal instincts were proud of the idea, and if they needed her for some reason than she was in it to the end. She leaned into a giggling Bev. "...so Richie mashed his tray into Henry's chest. You should've seen the look on his face." Willow snickered at the image her new friend had painted. "He sounds just like my best friend Xander." "Ugh, I'm sorry. No one deserves that." Both girls burst into fresh giggles. They both cared for their friends no matter what they were like. "Maybe this summer won't be so bad after all." "B-B-B-Bev-v-v-vy. W-w-w-who's y-y-you're fr-fr-fr-friend?" "Willow. You could say we ran into each other." Willow elbowed the giddy girl, and waved to the tall, lean boy and his friend. The shorter, pale boy gripped an inhaler in his hand, and studied her for a second before giving a wry smile. "I-I'm B-B-Bill and this is E-E-E-E-..." "Eddie. Jeez, Bill you know I hate it when you stutter my name. You sound like Porky Pig." "W-w-what were y-y-you r-r-uning fr-from?" Willow clenched her jaw slightly, trying to stop the babble she knew was coming. "Henry and his stooges." "Why were they chasing you?" Bill shook his head sadly. "Th-those guys a-a-are a-always chasing someone." "Henry came onto me and I refused." Beverly cocked an eyebrow at her. "That's all?" "HealsograbbedmybreastandImight'vedumpedmyfoodonhim." Bill whistled softly. "M-m-man, y-you m-m-must h-have a death w-wish." Eddie snorted and chuckled at her. "Yeah, you want to die young or something?" "No, but I also don't want to get felt up by some greasy haired, smelly, Kizz wannabe." Eddie clapped her on the back. "You know what? You're not so bad." "Gee, thanks," she said dryly. "I'm honored." She turned to the grey and brown creek running beside her. Thin, trashy boards, poorly put together, were placed across the creek in a makeshift dam. Even a hacker like her could tell that it wouldn't hold up long. "W-w-we're building a d-dam." "It won't hold like that," she muttered, just loud enough for them to hear her. "There's no support to keep the boards from washing away." "How do you know this?" She bowed her head with shame, doubting they would still like her if she told them the truth, but knowing that she was incapable of lying. "I spend a lot of time on my computer and in the library." Bill's hand came to rest on her left shoulder, while Bev rehooked her arm into her right. Eddie stood next to Bill, all of them watching the spiraling water pound against the boards, bending and pushing them past their abilities. "Then what do we do to make it work?" Willow smiled evilly at Bev and cocked her head. "I'll show you." <><><><><><><> "Now what?" "Now we work." Willow grabbed the jumbo rectangular board and dragged it towards the creek. "Take off your shoes, because you're going to get wet." She picked up the sledgehammer that she'd borrowed from her uncle and waited for Bill and Eddie to place the board. Bev moved in between the two boys to help hold it, and nodded to Willow that they were ready. She carefully lifted the sledgehammer to her shoulder and brought in down on the edge of the thick board, driving it into the wet mud. Time after time, she grunted as she brought the heavy tool down onto the board. The water pooled over the embankment, over her bare feet and rushing over the grass. She brought the hammer down one last time, satisfied that the board was secure. "Bill, you hold the board into place. Bev, you and Eddie get the other board." Willow jumped down beside Bill and placed the two shorter boards against it, wedging them into the dirt. She smiled at Bev as they placed the board on the other side, leaving a foot of space. "Come on, Bev, let's start digging." The auburn haired girl grinned at her as she picked up the second shovel. She found herself smiling back at her. She just couldn't understand the feelings this girl was bringing out in her. It was a struggle not to blush in her presence. "So where are you from?" "Sunnydale, California." Willow threw a large shovelful of mud into the space, aiming for Bev's feet. The dark wet mud splashed on Bev's bare legs. "Um, oops?" "Oooh, you're in for it now." Bev threw her own shovelful towards her, with the same result. "Do you have a lot of friends?" "Only Jesse and Xander." Bev smiled with understanding, reassuring her that not being the Drama Queen wasn't so bad. "The important thing is you have two close friends, that you can depend on." Willow dumped another shovel full of dirt in, adding rocks and gravel this time. "No, the important thing is I have five close friends that I can depend on." Bev flushed with a beaming smile, her eyes glimmering with something...unfamiliar to her. The urge to say something else, to get her to continue looking at her like that was unbearable. "I wonder were Richie and Stan are." "Who?" Bill grinned up at her. "R-r-r-r-r-ichie To-o-zier. H-h-h-he's..." "Here." Bev sighed, pointing to the skinny boy walking up. His black glasses were taped together in several places, and his arm was slung over the shoulders of another boy, wearing a Boy Scout uniform. The boy kept shooting scowls at Richie and trying to pull away, but the Richie would simply laugh and reach up to give him a noogie. Finally, the other boy managed to duck away, trying to straighten his hair. "Ohhhh, who's the babe?" Richie sauntered up, letting out a wolf whistle. "Oh baby, light my fire. So tell me, Red, what's a fine looking hunk of skin doing in a place like this?" Willow nearly winced at the horrible accent coming from the red haired boy. "Uh, well..." "Hallelujah, I finally left a woman speechless." The freckled joker leaned in closer, waggling his eyebrows. "Whattya say we go someplace dark and private so we can get to know each other better? If ya know what I mean." She rolled her eyes at his antics. Sidling up closer, she whispered, "Why don't you go on ahead without me, after all you're probably an expert at it by now. Babe." "Beep beep, Richie," Bev called through her laughter. Richie grinned at her with adoring eyes. "I think I'm in luvvvv..." "Great, I leave one jackass to end up with another." Richie bowed deeply. "I may be a jackass but you may call me by my middle name. Oz." "Tell you what, 'Wiz', why don't you make yourself useful and grab a shovel." "Yeahhss, ma'am." Willow snorted at him. She hated to admit it, but she liked Oz. Stan sat on the bank, talking with the others. She wondered briefly why he wasn't willing to help, but shoved the thought away. <><><><><><><> " I signed the release waiver, so feel free to put things in my slot anytime." - Charles Angels. Odo: Madam Ambassodor, I'm not like you. Every sixteen hours I revert to a liqiud. Lwaxana Troi: I can swim. - DS9: The Forsaken. 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