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Title: It Chapter: Sixteen Rating: R Spoilers: Up to and including the last season shown. Beta Reader: Scotty Welles Sammy 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. <><><><><><><> Winter Of 2001 <><><><><><><> She sat blankly next to Oz in the empty house, their eyes focused on the folded newspaper on the coffee table. The entire front page was a puzzle of fifteen pictures of babies and children, while the story around it documented the police's lack of suspects, and the fact that the only clue they had was an old picture of seven children. With shaking fingers, Oz flipped the paper over and whimpered like the wolf he was, as they saw the picture that Mike had taken of them that day they fought Henry at the coal pit. The seven of them, believing that they were untouchable after the rock fight. Bill had been so pumped up that he'd been ready to take on the world, his cheesy grin had been contagious and they'd fallen into an easy rhythm of jokes and laughter. Stan had stayed his solemn self, but had been laughing and cracking jokes with the best of them, aggravating the hell out of Oz with his cracks. Oz had been at his most hyper, swaggering around doing horrible impersonations and making jokes that had them groaning at the bad quality of them. She and Beverly had been giddy, keeping their heads together and whispering to each other. Glaring over at Oz as he would hop over to them, separating them in his unsubtle way. Mike had started in on a excited conversation with Eddie, who was meeting him word for word. That had been the day that they'd been seven friends, and children. It had been the day that they'd been able to be the eleven-year-olds that they were. He started to say something smart, but saw the haunted fear in her eyes, mirroring his own. She gulped in a large amount of air. "It's back." Oz went pale, clenching his jaw. "We have to call the others, warn them." "If we're going to stop It, then we have no choice." Oz nodded. "I'll call them, but what I don't understand is how It's alive?" "Dru's back in town," she answered. "She probably summoned It." "Damn. She's going to get us all killed." Oz looked frankly at her. "How the hell are we going to beat It with only four of us left?" <><><><><><><> She walked down the beach, breathing in the damp, salty air. Her mind was a wreck of confusion and emotions. Over the years things had changed so dramatically. Angel losing his soul and killing Miss Calendar, her girlfriend turning herself into a rat, Cordy and Wesley becoming part of the Scoobies, only for them to move to LA and help Angel. A second Slayer being called and turning evil. Anya joining their group after she and Xander became lovers. Spike getting neutered and getting stuck with them. Joyce dying, and leaving her and Buffy to take care of Dawn. Glory after the young girl because she was the key. The worst of it was Buffy. Her best and closest friend. The blonde seemed to act jealous whenever Oz or Amy were around. To make things worse, somewhere down the line she'd fallen in love with the Slayer. They spent so much time together, taking care of Dawnie, and helping each other keep up their college work that it was a natural thing. But Buffy wasn't like that. She was into men, with a passion. Now, she also had deal with her own past failure, and the one thing she was the most afraid of. It. "She'll never love you." The familiar inhuman voice cut into her thoughts. "She'll die first, and when she does, she'll float with all the others you failed. Stan, Bill, Eddie, Mike..." She snapped her head around and stared at the clown by the water's edge. "Mike?" "Oh, I'm sorry, didn't you know? The nigger had a little accident. Took his head right off." Pennywise laughed through extended razor teeth. "How 'bout a balloon? They float, just like you will. Soon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get some takeout for dinner." 'No, It's lying, Mike can't be dead. It's a lie, a terrible lie.' She watched the clown disappear under the water, orange pom-poms floating above where It had been. 'I've got to find Oz...' <><><><><><><> Willow walked into the darkened living room and turned on the news, hoping to find some information on It's activities. She couldn't think of anything else tonight, not after having Oz confirm Mike's death. Their friend had been decapitated when his car had driven over the canal bridge. Two hours before, he'd called Bev about It. "You were out late," Buffy whispered as she sat next to Willow, dressed in pajamas. "I had things to do." Willow turned up the volume, paling at the news report. "...four more children have gone missing in the last twenty four hours, bringing the count up to fifty-three in the last two weeks," the mustached news anchor was saying. "Tonight, a teenager from the high school discovered the body of three-year-old Hope Walker. According to reports, the body had been partially devoured, possibly by a wild animal. Police have no leads, or clues, except for the mysterious picture found by the old pump station where thirteen-year-old Josh Cole was last seen. The mayor is now putting out a general warning to all parents..." "What's going on, Will?" She clicked the television off, slumping against her friend. "What makes you think anything's going on?" "Because I know you." Willow cuddled closer to her friend, tears in her eyes. "It's a long story." "Tell me," Buffy demanded quietly. "When it's time," she answered as she left her friend sitting on the couch. <><><><><><><> Oz lay back on his bed, and stared up at the ceiling, trying to come to terms with the turn of events in the last couple of weeks. It had been simple coincidence for them before. The disappearances, followed by chewed-up bodies being found close to sewer entrances and drains. Before this, they could fool themselves into believing that It wasn't involved this time, but now they had no choice but to believe. "Did you like the present I left ya, Dog Boy?" His body froze up as he swallowed back the urge to scream. The clown standing over his bed had him on the verge of urinating on himself. "Who's the werewolf now, boy?" Pennywise screeched with laughter. "In a few days you'll be flying with the rest of your friends." He leaned close to his ear and whispered happily, "But I would recommend watching the in-flight movie. Its ending is...a crashing success." Oz stayed frozen in place, long after It had left. <><><><><><><> 'Kids can see It. It goes after kids. It wants to hurt me. It wants to break me. It w...' Willow suddenly sat straight up in bed, throwing the blankets away. 'Kids. Oh, goddess...' She hurried down the hall towards Dawnie's room, her only concern to make sure she was okay. The piercing, terrified scream made up her mind as she charged into the darkened room. Pennywise looked up from the hold he had on Buffy's sister, his black eyes and elongated teeth gleaming in the dark. She charged, rage boiling her blood uncontrollably. Her fist shot out, slamming into It's jaw, causing just enough pain for It to let go of Dawn. She grabbed hold of the back of the young girl's shirt and threw her into Buffy as the Slayer skidded into the room at a dead run. Her own eyes were swirling black, as the electrical charge of magic over took her. "Leave. Them. A. Lone," she growled, stepping closer and closer to the surprised clown. "This is between us, and if you ever, EVER try to hurt my friends again, I will make sure that when I kill you this time that it will be slower and more painful than anything you could ever imagine." The clown growled back, standing nose to nose with her, chuckling down at her, his sewer breath wafting over them. "Willow, it's me Eddie, why did you let me die? Why didn't you save me?" She stepped back at the sound of Eddie's voice, tears fighting to fall. "It wasn't my fault..." It stepped closer, his voice changing again. "Why did you do it? Why did you just stand by and let me run to my death? You knew what would happen. You knew. How could you?" "NO!!!" Willow screamed and held her hands out to It's chest, chanting in Latin. "BE GONE!!" The clown howled as it vanished. She shivered violently, the sobs shaking her body, causing her knees to give out. Warm, strong arms surrounded her, rocking her, keeping her safe. "We're safe, Wills. It's okay now." "No...it's not!" She clawed at Buffy's arms, letting a lifetime of pain and anguish out in a violent storm. <><><><><><><> "From what I've read, what you saw last night was a Glamour," Giles informed the assembled group. "And according to the records, this Glamour was around during the age of dinosaurs. It was asexual and had a number of children that spread out around the world, creating all the different myths and legends. According the Watchers' diaries I've read, only the chosen seven can kill it, and even then they must perform an ancient ritual...it's, uh..." He began to flip through a book, muttering quietly. "How do we find these seven, and am I one of them?" Buffy asked. "Why did it seem to know Willow?" Willow sighed and looked up from her position at the window. "It's the ritual Chud and no you aren't one of the seven. In fact there's nothing you can do it this case." Everyone stared at her as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. Giles cleared his throat. "And how, may I ask, do you know all this?" "Because me and Oz are two of the chosen, and we've battled this thing before; I thought we'd killed it. That's how we knew each other before he moved here." Giles removed his glasses, wiping them absently. "I believe you'd better start at the beginning." Willow looked at Oz, waiting for his approval. "Like I told Buffy, It's a long story, too long to tell you, but the edited version is this: The glamour had been living in Derry before It was even built. It had taken on the shape of a clown named Pennywise. It would hibernate for thirty years, then spend a year using the children for food, making the adults insane, and It would mark the end of It's year with a tragedy. The year I went to Derry was the year It was awake. I meet up with the other six, and It began to try to scare us off, knowing we were the ones that could kill It. "The entire summer went by, with us having small battles with It and the people it was using to try and hurt us. Then, after one nasty battle at the house that it used to get out, we ended up going into the sewers after it. It was...bad, It managed to kill three of us." She rubbed her neck wearily as Giles softly spoke. "It would help if I had specifics." "What, exactly?" she asked. "For example, why wait two months before acting to destroy the Glamour?" Oz spoke up. "It wasn't time." Buffy stopped pacing angrily. "You guys keep saying that, but what does it mean?" "There's another force, as powerful as It, but good. It guides us, or tries to. The problem is that the day we killed It, it wasn't time for us to, but It forced it to happen sooner because It knew It could kill some of us." Willow flinched, remembering the nightmarish summer. "And now we have to do it again." "No." Buffy crossed her arms at them. "I'm not letting Willow out of my sight until this is over." Giles cleared his throat. "As much as I agree with you, Buffy, I must admit that Willow has experience in this area, and we do not. I don't believe we have much of a choice but to defer to her judgment." "The hell we don't!" shouted Xander, ready to pummel anyone who questioned him Anya spoke up for the first time that night. "Giles is right. The Glamour is very powerful, and will destroy this town if we don't let them stop it, and only they can stop it." "No, Giles said only the seven can stop it. There are now only two, and if you think I'm about to stand back and watch the woman I lo..." Buffy cut herself off, almost choking on her anger. "Watch my best friend get killed saving this damned town, then you're wrong," she growled in a steadier voice. "It won't matter," Oz spoke up. "It's already killed Mike, and early this morning...Bev's plane crashed. It's killing us off one by one, and if we don't do this, then it will succeed." Willow had been in denial all morning, unable to face the loss of her first real love. But hearing it again, she felt a sliver of grief pierce her layers of numb shock. "I can protect you..." Buffy protested desperately. "Not against this," Willow interrupted, her haunted, dulled eyes hitting Buffy harder than words ever could. "It is everything and nothing. It's very presence brings the darker side of all being to the surface, and eats off the energy the evil creates. It is everything you fear, everything you hate, everything that you despise, and everything you never knew could petrify you. It is your deepest, darkest, most hidden being." Everyone was dead silent as she spoke steadily. There was no Willow-babble in her voice, no youthful innocence or immaturity. "We have to do this before it can do anymore damage," she finished. Buffy glared from Willow to the Oz, then shrugged. "Fine, then I'm going with you." "NO!" Willow spun her friend around with a fury that scared the Slayer. "Swear to me that you'll stay here. Swear it!" "B..." "No, I've already lost five of my friends to this...thing," she spat out. "I won't lose you too. I couldn't survive it. You're my best friend, my family, and I love you. I can't! Lose! You! Do you hear me? I can't." She shook the Slayer hard. "I...swear," Buffy finally whispered with tearful eyes. "I...I'm just scared that I'll lose you, Will." They hugged tightly, neither of them wanting to let go. The rest of the group could have been miles away for all they noticed. Willow broke free with gentle reluctance. "I need to rest if we're going to face It tommorrow." Buffy nodded silently, not trusting herself to speak. <><><><><><><> " 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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