FF: Cheer Fever

["Sam" <shadowmage_draco@xxxxxxx>]

Cheer Fever 

By Sam


Email: shadowmage_draco@xxxxxxx 

Notes: Season one sequel to When First We Met. This ones for Shyfox.
<> Indicates though
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire slayer belong to the 
genius of Joss. This is only for fun no copyright infringement is 
intended.
Spoilers: The Witch
Archive: The usual suspects, all others just ask me, I'll say yes, 
really I will.
Pairing: B/W
Feedback: I crave it, I need it, it is the fuel that keeps the 
creative fires burning, get the picture.

Buffy stood in the library wearing a cheerleading outfit as she held 
onto Willows hand. Giles was clearly upset with her and trying to 
figure out what to say as he paced back and forth in front of the two 
girls.

"This is madness! What can you have been thinking? You are the 
Slayer! Lives depend upon you! I make allowances for your youth, 
but I expect a certain amount of responsibility, and instead of which 
you enslave yourself to this, this?Cult?"

"So you don't like the colors," Buffy replied, trying to lighten the 
mood.

"I like the colors," Willow blushed.

Giles picked up a few books and tossed them in his cart, "Do you 
ignore everything I say as a, as a rule?"

"No, I believe that's your trick."

Giles moved the cart around the counter but Buffy moved in front of 
him with Willow by her side, "I told you, I'm trying out for the 
cheerleading squad!"

"You have a sacred birthright, Buffy. You were chosen to destroy 
vampires, not to... wave pompoms at people. And as the Watcher I 
forbid it."

"And you'll be stopping me how?"

Giles sat down on the edge of the table and removed his glasses, " 
Well I?hmmmm, by appealing to your common sense, if such a creature 
exists."

" I will still have time to fight the forces of evil, okay? I just 
want to have a life, I wanna do something normal. Something safe."

With that Buffy and Willow turned away and headed out of the liberty 
to meet up with Xander.

On the other side of town a witch was moving around in the darkness 
of her attic. She removed a pendant from her pouch and waved it over 
top her cauldron; she then moved over to a rack and removed a doll 
that was hanging from a wire.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy walked into the gym next to Willow, with Xander right behind 
them.

The redhead looked over at Buffy, "Giles didn't rake that to well did 
he?"

"He totally lost his water. We haven't seen a vampire in over a 
week. I'd say he should get a girlfriend if he wasn't so old."

"Well I'm behind you Buffy."

"I know you are, "Buffy replied, smiling sweetly at the redhead.

"Hmmm, Hey guys if you haven't noticed where in the gym, maybe not 
the best place for this, not that I mind or anything."

Thud.

"Ouch. Buffy that hurt."

Willow put her arm around Buffy's and looked at Xander, "Well you had 
it coming."

"OK. I'll give you that. Sorry Buffy, but I would like to state I 
think it's great what you're doing."

"You do," Buffy questioned.

"Yeah, people scoff at things like school spirit, but look at these 
girls giving their all like this!

Xander caught one of the cheerleaders doing the splits between two 
chairs out of the corner of his eye, "Ooo, stretchy! Where was I?"

Willow shook her head at his antics, "You were pretending that seeing 
scantily clad girls in revealing postures was a spiritual experience."

"Who said I was pretending."

Willow glanced back at Xander then turned to Buffy, Oh I almost 
forgot, I got you something."

"You did"

Willow handed Buffy a bracelet, "It's for good luck during the 
tryouts."

Buffy looked at the bracelet and read the inscriptions, "Yours 
always," the slayer gave Willow a hug, "It's wonderful, thanks."

"Willow returned Buffy's hug and turned just the slightest shade of 
red, "Your welcome."

"Just look at that Amber. Who does she think she is, a Laker Girl," 
Cordelia Chase quipped as she walked up to Buffy and the others."

Before anyone could answer Cordelia the head cheerleader picked up a 
clipboard and called for everyone's attention, "OK, listen up! Let's 
begin with Amber Grove. If you're not auditioning, move off the 
floor."

Buffy and Willow went over to the edge of the auditorium and took a 
seat on the first row of seat with Xander and some others, including 
Cordelia right behind them. Willow looked over at the dark hared 
girl next to them who was nervously watching Amber go through her 
routine, "Hi Amy."

"Hi!"

" I didn't know you wanted to be a cheerleader! You lost a lot of 
weight."

" Had to," Amy replied.

"Oh?Amy have you met Buffy?"

"Hi, I'm Amy"

"I'm Buffy,"

Nice to meet you. See Amber there she trained with Benson. He's one 
of the best coaches 
money can buy."

" They have cheerleading coaches?"

" Oh, yeah! Don't you have? I train with my mom, three hours in the 
morning, three at night."

" Hmm, that much quality time with my mom would probably lead to some 
quality matricide."

"Oh, I know it's hokey. But she's really great."

They turned their attention back to the tryout floor where Amber was 
going through a series of back flips when her hands began to smoke.  
The girl lost her balance and fell to the floor with her hands sill 
smoldering.

"What's going on," Buffy shouted.

"She's on fire," Willow screamed.

Amber was on the floor screaming as flames surrounded her hands, 
Buffy jumped up from her seat, grabbed a banner and rushed out onto 
the floor. She quickly snuffed out the flames with the banner as 
everyone else stood there in shock

Later that day at the library?

" I've been slaying vampires for more than a year now, and I have 
seen some pretty cringe worthy things, but... nobody's hands ever got 
toasted before," Buffy exclaimed, pacing back and forth.

"I imagine not," Giles answered.

"So, this isn't a vampire problem."

" No."

"But it is funky, right? Not of the norm?"

"Quite. Spontaneous human combustion is, is rare, and, and 
scientifically unexplainable, but there have been cases for hundreds 
of years. Usually all that's left is a pile of ashes."

"That's all that would have been left if it hadn't been for Buffy," 
Willow proudly replied.


" So, we have no idea what caused this. That's a comfort," Xander 
stated with a hint of sarcasm.

Giles gave him a quick glare then turned back towards Buffy who had 
taken a seat next to Willow, "But that's the thrill of living on the 
Hellmouth! There's a veritable cornucopia of, of fiends and devils 
and, and ghouls to engage. Pardon me for finding the glass half 
full."

"Buffy: Any common denominators in cases of spontaneous combustion?"

Well Buffy, in most cases the person who combusted was, was terribly 
angry or, upset."

Buffy though for a moment before saying anything, "I need to get the 
skinny on Amber. Find out if she's had any colorful episodes before."

" That means hacking illegally into the school's computer system. At 
last, something I can do," Willow added, glad she was going to be 
able to help Buffy.

Xander got up and headed for the door, "I'll ask around about her."

"You guys don't have to get involved in this," Buffy replied

" What d'ya mean? We're a team! Aren't we a team?"

"Yeah, you're the Slayer and we're like...the Slayerettes" Willow 
exclaimed.

"I just don't like putting you guys in danger."

"Oh, huh, I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes 
away," Xander quipped.

"Okay, just walk softly, at least until we know a little more. I 
mean, what if Amber isn't causing these problems herself?"

Buffy took Willow by the hand and held her back until Xander left the 
library, "Promise me you'll be carefully, I don't want anything to 
happen to you."

Willow smiled placed her other hand on Buffy's shoulder, "OK, but you 
have to promise me the same thing, I don't want to see anything 
happen to you either."

"OK, it's a deal then we'll both be careful."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow barely noticed Xander trying to talk to her as she sat in the 
bleachers watching Buffy getting ready for the second day of 
cheerleader try outs. All her attention was focused on Buffy, not 
even the fact that her biggest tormentor, Cordelia Chase, was there 
bothered her.

"Uh...Willow, you OK?"

"Yeah Xander, that's nice."

"The computer lab just caught fire."

"That's nice," sighed Willow as she continued to watch Buffy stretch 
out.

Out on the floor Buffy and Amy where stretching out for today's 
tryouts. "Why do my hands have to sweat when I get nervous," Amy 
asked.

"Don't worry. You'll do great."

All the cheerleaders got in a formation and started going through a 
basic routine as the head cheerleader called a cheer, "Five, six, 
seven, eight!"

All the cheerleaders responded by shouting "Sunnydale! Sunnydale!  
We never fail! We never fail! Jump and Shoot! Swish and score! The 
other team is such a bore! Yeah!"

Amy did a cartwheel but misjudged where she was and crashed into 
Cordelia knocking the blonde down. Cordelia quickly got up a glared 
at Amy before shouting, "You saw that, right? That wasn't me! You 
saw that, right?"

After the tryouts Buffy and Willow followed Amy to make sure she was 
OK after the cartwheel incident. They found her admiring the 
trophies in one of the cases in the hallway.  

Amy turned, looked at Buffy and Willow, and smiled, "That's my Mom."

Buffy read the inscription that said Catharine Madison, "No way! Get 
down with your bad self."

"Her nickname was 'Catherine the Great'. She took that team and 
made them tri-county champions. Y'know, no one's ever done that 
before, or since. She and my dad were Homecoming King and Queen. 
They got married right after graduation."

"That's kinda romantic," Buffy replied feeling the sudden urge to hug 
Willow.

"Well, he was a big loser. Never made any money. Ran off with Miss 
Trailer Trash when I was twelve."

"Okay, that part's less romantic. My folks split up, too."

Willow leaned over up against Buffy and put her arm around the 
blondes waste and for some reason with Willow next to her Buffy 
didn't find it difficult to talk with Amy about her parents splitting 
up.

Buffy held on to Willow and waited to see if Amy was going to say 
anything, finally the other cheerleader started to talk, "Drag, huh?  
Uh, he left my mom with nothing. She put herself through cosmetology 
school. Bought me everything I ever wanted. And never once gained a 
single pound."

"Uh, she sounds really great, Amy, but, um... it doesn't mean that 
you need to lock step as far as this 
cheerleading thing."

"She was the best! And I can't get my body to *move* like hers! I 
choked in there so bad!"

"No, Amy, you did fine"

Amy looked at Buffy and Willow for a moment and the replied with a 
note of dejection in her voice, "I'm gonna get changed."

Buffy waited for her to leave and turned to Willow, "She's really 
wiggin' about her mom, the big cheer queen."

"Yeah, her mom's kinda..."

"Nazi like?"

"Yeah if she gains an ounce she padlocks the fridge and won't eat 
anything but broth."

" So, mommy dearest is really... Mommy Dearest?"

"There's a bitter streak. But Amy's nice. We used to hang in Junior 
High. When her mom would go on a broth kick, Amy'd come over to my 
house and we'd stuff ourselves with brownies!"

Buffy took Willow by the hand and the two of them started down the 
hall, "Any word on Amber?"

"Nothing thrilling. Average student. Got detention once, for 
smoking. Regular smoking... with a cigarette, not, like, being smoky."

"Hmmm that sounds."

"Pretty normal."

"So we just have to wait and we'll see what happens. Maybe nothing 
will."

Amy was closing up her locker when she thought she heard a noise 
coming from the shower room, she went to check on it but didn't find 
anything. She then turned around to head back to her locker but was 
surprised by Cordelia.

"I have a dream. It's me on the cheerleading squad, adored by every 
varsity male as far as the eye can see! We have to achieve our 
dreams, Amy. Otherwise we... wither and die!"

"Look, I'm sorry about..."

"Shhh! If your supreme klutziness out there today takes me out of the 
running, you're gonna be so *very* beyond sorry!" Cordelia 
snapped ,cutting Amy off, "Have a nice day."

Amy slouched back against the wall as Cordelia strutted off, "This 
just isn't my day."

Buffy and Willow met up with Xander in the hallway and found that he 
hadn't found ay thing about Amber except for her being a fairly 
normal student. The three of them stopped when they noticed a large 
crowd by the liberty.

"Wonder what's going on up there," Xander Questioned.

"Oh, hey, they're posting the list," Willow exclaimed

Xander worked his way up to the front as Buffy and Willow stayed in 
the back and watched the commotion. One girl looked at the list and 
rushed of Crying.  

Amy walked up next to them and looked at the crowd that was 
surrounding the cheerleading results, "I don't think I can take this."

Buffy was just getting ready to try and say something comforting to 
Amy when Cornelia walked up.

"You're lucky," Cornelia stated.

"I made it," Amy exclaimed.

"I made it."

Xander made his way back over to were Buffy and willow where, "One of 
those girls hit me really hard! You should test for steroids.   
Okay, not only did you make the team, but you, Miss Summers, 
are the first alternate, and Amy's number three."

Amy looked at Xander for a moment and then walked off looking 
disappointed.

"We should celebrate, maybe go to the bronze or something." 

Willow Put her arm around Buffy's waist, "Xander, alternates are the 
ones who didn't make the team, they 
only fill in if something happens to the ones who did."

Buffy gave smiled at Willow then looked in the direction Amy had 
headed, "Maybe we should go talk to her."

"Good idea."

Buffy and Willow caught up with Amy at the far end of the hallway.  

"At least it's over. And you know what I think we should do about it? 
Brownie pig-out, my house, after school," Buffy asked hoping this 
would help improve Amy's mood.

Amy shook her head, and then looked up at Buffy and Willow, "It's 
just how many more hours a day can I practice? Y'know, how much more 
can I do? T his would never happen to my mother. Never."

Amy turned away from Buffy and Willow then stormed out of the school, 
leaving them standing there wondering what just had happened.

Amy rushed into her house and immediately headed towards the attic. 
She moved pass a bunch of personnel items she had taken from 
different people and started stirring the cauldron, "Give me the 
power. Give me the dark."

Amy went over to the rack and grabbed a doll from it, "I call on you, 
the laughing gods."

She took the doll and wrapped Cordelia's scrunchie around it's 
head, "Let your blackness crawl beneath my skin. Accept thy 
sacrifice... of Cordelia. Feed on her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy was preparing to eat a bagel when her mother came in. Joyce 
was carrying an old high school yearbook and walked over to where 
Buffy was standing, "Look what I found. It's my yearbook from junior 
year. Look! There I am."

Buffy picked up a cup of coffee and went over and looked at the 
picture, "Mom, I've accepted that you've had sex. I am not ready to 
know that you had Farrah hair."

"This is Gidget hair. Don't they teach you anything in history?"

"Well, it's really cool, but I gotta book."

"Well, I was thinking. I know the cheerleading thing didn't work 
out... Maybe you should think about joining the yearbook staff. I 
did, it was a lot of fun."
.
"Not really my tip, mom," Buffy replied, opening up the refrigerator.

"I was, uh, photo editor. I got to be on every page, made me look 
much more popular than I was."

"And have you seen the kids that do yearbook? Nerds pick on them."

"Some of the best times I had in school were working on the 
yearbook!" Joyce exclaimed.

Buffy turned around and faced her mom regretting what she had 
said, "Oh, this just in: I'm not you! I'm into my own thing."

"Your own thing, whatever it is, got you kicked out of school, and we 
had to move here to find a decent school that would take you!"

As soon as Joyce spoke she wished she could have taken back her 
words, she saw the hurt in her daughters Eyes as the blonde grabbed 
her backpack and headed out the door, "Uhhh! Great parenting form!  
Little shaky on the dismount."

Xander and Willow where standing in the hall when Cordelia walked 
past them in a daze not saying a word. Xander turned to his 
childhood friend with a puzzled look on his face, "Cordelia, Hasn't 
been mean to me all day. Something's up, see how she has no clue 
that I'm even a mammal, much less a human being?"

"I see that."

" This is the invisible man syndrome. A blessing in Cordelia's 
case."  

Buffy walked out of a classroom an spotted Willow standing in the 
hall talking to Xander, she gave them a waved and made her way over 
to Willow, "So watch ya doin'"

"Uh, not much just waiting for you to get out of class and talking 
about Cordelia."

Buffy looked of to her left and saw Cordelia struggling with the 
combination to a locker "Is that even Cordelia's locker?"

"I don't think it is," Xander answered.

Buffy watched Cordelia give up on the locker and walk off, "I have to 
go, catch you at lunch?"

"Wouldn't miss it for anything," Willow Answered

Buffy caught up with Cordelia just as she reached Mr. Pole the 
Drivers Ed. Teacher. He looked down at his watch and gave it a 
couple of taps, "Nice of you to join us, Cordelia. We didn't keep 
you waiting or anything, did we? It's your turn to drive."

Cordelia moved around to the front door of the car, "I don't wanna 
drive today, Mr. Pole."

"You've flunked Driver's Ed. twice already. Show me some moves, or 
you'll be taking the bus to college."

Cordelia got into the car and fastened her seat belt.

"Okay. Check the brake. Check the mirror. Start the engine."

Cordelia turned the key to the car and started the engine like a 
robot following instructions.

Mr. Pole looked over at her as she stated blankly at the 
windshield, "Hello? Put the car in drive."

Cordelia reached down and started struggling with the gears, as Mr. 
Pole shook his head, "Let's move forward through the cones with a 
gentle even turn to the..."

The car lurched backwards and slammed into a no parking sign and a 
couple of Cones. Cordelia managed to get the car into drive peeled 
out, sending the smell of burning rubber across the parking lot.  

"Slow down! Slow, slow, turn right! Turn right," Mr. Pole 
frantically shouted.

Buffy watched in horror as Cordelia lost control of the car and 
veered of course knocking down several cones and signs over.  

Inside the care the other students where clenching tightly to the 
back seat, Mr. Pole had a death grip on the side of his seat, as he 
screamed in terror, "Brakes! Use the Brakes!!!"

The car hopped the curb and crashed through a fence, as it careened 
out onto the street, barely missing another car as it came to a halt.

"Everybody out," Mr. Pole yelled Mr. Pole as he tried to pry his hand 
from the side of his seat.

Buffy darted through the large gap in he fence and saw Cordelia 
getting out of the car. In a daze she walked out into the middle of 
the street into the path of an on coming delivery van. Buffy 
screamed out as she took off towards Cordelia, the cheerleader turned 
and saw the van coming at her and froze.

Buffy Leaped over the Drivers Ed. Car, grabbed Cordelia by the arms, 
and yanked her out of the way as the delivery van took out the open 
door of the Drivers Ed. Car.

Cordelia grabbed hold of Buffy's shoulders, "Oh, my God, I, I can't 
see anything!"

"It's, it's okay, it's... Oh My God!"

"Cordelia: What's happening? What is it! I can't see anything!"

Buffy looked at Cordelia eyes, they where completely white, the 
Irises totally gone. She took Cordelia's hand off her shoulder and 
lead the brunette of the street, <I have got to talk to Giles, and 
soon. >

Giles paced back and forth the library floor, "Witchcraft. Blinding 
your enemy to disorient and disable them is, it's classic!"

"First vampires, now witches. No wonder you can still afford a house 
in Sunnydale," Xander replied.

Giles ignored Xander's comment and continued to speak, "Why should 
someone want to harm Cordelia?"

"Maybe because they met her? Did I say that," Willow asked.

"And setting Amber ablaze," Giles inquired as he continued to sort 
out what was happening.

"Yeah, those guys don't hang," Xander added.

Buffy stood up from her chair and placed her hands on Willow's 
shoulders, "They're both cheerleaders."

Giles took his glasses of and looked at Buffy, "Someone doesn't like 
cheerleading."

"Or likes it too much."

Willow looked up at Buffy, "Amy?"

"Amy."

Xander turned towards the two girls, "So I take it you're leaning 
towards Amy."

Yeah," Buffy answered, "She's desperate to get on that team, and I've 
got this feeling 
she'd do just about anything to make her mom's dream come true."

Giles leaned up against the counter and ponder what the slayer had 
just said, "Uh, let me make sure I have this right. This witch is 
casting horrible and disfiguring spells so that she can become a 
cheerleader?"

"I think you're underestimating the amount of pressure a parent can 
lay on you. If you're not a picture perfect carbon copy they tend to 
wig."

Willow made a mental know to ask Buffy about her last comment when 
they where alone before addressing Giles, "Cheerleading was kind of 
her mom's last hurrah."

Xander put his hands on the table, OK, then it's settled, we should 
grab her and..."

Giles quickly interrupted Xander before he could continue any 
further; "I think we should be sure she's the witch before we arouse 
her suspicions. She's, she's capable of some fairly unpleasant 
things."

"Okay, so, you're in high school, you are desperate to make the team 
and please your mom, so you turn to 
witchcraft. What's the first thing you're gonna do," Buffy asked

Willow shot up out of her seat and turned to Buffy, "Check out the 
books on witchcraft!"

She grabbed Buffy's hand and practically pulled the slayer over to 
the computer. Willow sat down and accessed the on-line computer 
catalog, with Buffy smiling over her shoulder.

"Uh, no! No, that would be the *last* thing you would do! You don't 
wanna leave a paper trail. Forget that," Xander sheepishly stated.

"It'll just take a minute, I'm almost there."

"We don't have a minute! Cheerleaders are in danger. Buffy's in 
danger, she's the first alternate, you are on the team now that 
Cordelia's out..."

"Xander..."

"What?"

Willow looked over at Xander and then turned back to the 
monitor, "'Witches: Historic Roots to 
Modern Practice.' Checked out by Alexander Harris."

Buffy leaned over Willow's should and looked at the screen, "'The 
Pagan Rites', checked out by Alexander..."

" Alright, alright, it's not what you think," Xander exclaimed.

Willow looked at her childhood friend whom she knew all to well, "You 
like to look at the semi-nude engravings, don't you?"

" Oh, well, uh, I-I guess it is what you think."

"Have you all quite finished? We have to find a conclusive test.   
There may be something in here," Giles replied, flipping through a 
large book he was holding, "Yes, this should do it. You'll need 
some of her hair, a little quicksilver and some aqua fortis."

"Well, that's just mercury and nitric acid. You can get that in the 
science lab," Willow replied.

Giles continued to read from the book, "'Heat ingredients and apply 
to witch, and if a spell has 
been cast in the previous 48 hours, witch's skin turns blue.' Hmm. "

He shut the book and looked over at Willow and Buffy, "Oh, and you'll 
need some Eye of Newt."

Later that day?

The science teacher Dr. Gregory was holding a frog, which was 
reflected in a mirror above him so the class could see what he was 
doing, "Those of you in track one may begin your dissections... now."

He points with a pointer to where the students where to cut then 
continued, "Those of you in track two take your hydrochloric acid and 
your ammonium hydroxide and carefully pour them into your beakers."

Willow took her tweezers and popped the eye out of Xander's frog, and 
dropped it into a beaker.

"Willow, what did you do that for?"

"Eye of Newt."

"Oh, cool, how's Buffy doing with the hair?"

Willow turned to where Buffy was sitting, and could she that one of 
the other cheerleaders was talking to her.

"Isn't this exciting," Exclaimed the cheerleader.

" Oh, yeah," Buffy turned to Amy, "Amy, help me. Um, which is the 
hydrochloric acid and which is the, uh, ammonium hydroxide?"

"Well, the bottle that says 'hydrochloric acid' is usually the 
hydrochloric acid."

"Read the bottles. Good concept, Buffy answered, dropping her pencil 
on the floor, "Oops."

Buffy crouched down to pick up the pencil; she reached into Amy's bag 
and took some hair of the girls brush. She then grabbed the pencil 
and got back up. The slayer looked at Amy to see if she suspected 
anything. Amy smiled at her and pretended that she didn't see what 
just happened then gave Buffy a wave. The slayer waved back 
nervously then moved over to Willow bench.

"Wills, I got it," Buffy replied.

Willow took the hair, tossed it into, and mixes it with the other 
ingredients. Amy looked back at their table to see what was going on.

"Wave 'Hi' to the nice little witch," Xander nervously said in a low 
voice.

Amy overheard Xander and gave them another quick look as Willow was 
pouring some of the mixture into a test tube. She quickly turned 
away from them with a rather nasty look on her face.

All set, Do you have a plan," Willow asked, handing the test tube to 
Buffy.

"Spill it on her. Try 'n' make it look natural."

Buffy moved carefully over to Amy while Dr. Gregory was trying to get 
the cheerleader she was talking to earlier attention. Buffy poured 
some of the mixture on Amy's arm and feigned an accident. She took a 
deep breath when she saw the liquid turn blue on contact, but Amy 
didn't notice the spell because she was intensity staring at the 
other cheerleader.

"Listaanne are you listening to me, "Dr. Gregory demand.

Dr. Gregory turned to the cheerleader when she didn't 
respond, "Listanne I asked if?Oh My God!"

The class all turned towards Listanne, she was violently shaking her 
head, tears streamed down her cheeks, as she clenched her hand over 
where her mouth used to be.

Buffy stared at the cheerleader, then looked over at Amy who seemed 
to be just as stunned as the rest of the class.

After Dr. Gregory had dismissed the class early Buffy and the others 
headed to talk to Giles.

"Did you see? Amy was as freaked out as the rest of us," A very 
confused Xander stated.

"So it's not her," Willow asked, turning to Buffy.

"The test was positive! She's our Sabrina. I just don't think she 
realizes what she's doing."

"Well, should we talk to her?"

"Maybe we should talk to her mother. I wonder if *she* knows what 
she's created."

Amy walked into her house and quickly looked around for her 
mother, "Where are you?"

Catherine Madison quickly turned the TV off and got up.

"Another productive day in front of the TV," Amy snapped, "I got a 
history report due tomorrow. Write it!"

Catherine let out a low sigh, picked up Amy's book bag but didn't say 
a word.

"I should be on that team by now. But instead Miss Buffy and friends 
are sneaking around stealing bits of my hair."

Catherine just shook her head while Amy pulled Buffy's Bracelet out 
of her pocket, "I'll be upstairs"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy's alarm clock went off, jarring the Slayer out of her sleep.  
She slapped it with all her strength reducing the once working clock 
to a small pile of ruble. She apologetically looked at the clock, 
got up, and started to get dressed for another day of school.

A half hour later Buffy danced into the kitchen wearing her 
cheerleader out fit and singing, "Macho, macho, man! I want to be a 
macho man. Macho... Oh, hey, juice!"

Buffy grabbed a glad of freshly squeezed orange juice and smiled at 
her Mom, "Mm... Quality juice. Not from concentrate."

"You're in a good mood."

"I am! I'm on the squad, which is great, 'cause I feel like cheering 
and leading others to cheer. Ooo, hey, juice," Buffy enthusiastically 
exclaimed.


"Listen, honey, about yesterday, I really..."

"Mm! That is totally yester. Besides, it's not like you were wrong, 
y'know. I did get kicked outta school. I'm just wacky that way!"

" Still, I just want you to know that, despite the problems you've 
had, I really..."

"Mom, you just don't get it. And, believe me, you don't want it. 
Y'know, there are just some things about being a Vampire Slayer that 
the older generation..."

"A what!"

" It's a... long story."

" Buffy, are you feeling well," Joyce asked, her voice laced with 
concern.

"What? Oh, I'm, I'm fine, y'know? What, like, I can't be in a good 
mood? Is it, like, a new house rule? Fine, y'know? It's just fine, 
fine, fine, 'cause..."

Buffy then started singing again, hoping that her mom would forget 
about her mentioning being a slayer, "I'm a macho, macho man! I want 
to be a macho man! (bobs her head) Macho, macho man! (leaves the 
kitchen) I want to be a macho man."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joy the head cheerleader called out, "Five, six, seven, eight!"  
Signaling for the squad to start their first routine.

Everything was going fine with the routine until Buffy accidentally 
stomped on Joy's foot.

"Ow! Get it together Buffy! We have a game in less than four hours."

Sorry," Buffy replied.

Buffy spotted Willow and Xander sneak I the side door and sit down in 
the bleachers. She jumped up and down gleefully, "Willow! Xander!  
My Wills is here! I love my Wills."

Buffy then noticed all the other cheerleaders standing their looking 
at her like she just lost her mind, Oh, sorry."

She stepped back into the line and the squad once again started the 
routine.

Xander looked over at Willow who was blushing rather nicely, "Is it 
me, or is Buffy a bit looped?"

Willow looked out at Buffy as the cheerleaders where doing a series 
of assisted cartwheels, "Maybe we should get outta here, you know 
before?"

Before Willow could finish speaking Buffy overthrew Joy's ariel, 
sending the head cheerleader crashing into the gym wall."

"She hurts somebody," Xander added, still astonished at how far Buffy 
had thrown the other cheerleader.

Joy hopped up off the floor and ran over to Buffy, her eyes full of 
fury.

"Did I do that," Buffy asked.

Joy gave Buffy a push, "You are *so* out of here!"

Willow was immediately up and headed towards Buffy with Xander right 
behind her.

"It's not her fault," Willow shouted.

"She's on medication," Xander added.

Buffy gave Xander a puzzled look, "What?"

Joy glared at Buffy, "Well, obviously not enough. Who's our next 
alternate?"

She scanned the gym then spotted Amy, "Madison you just made 
cheerleader."

"No, no, no. You don't want her, she's a wi..."

Willow cut Buffy of before she could finish, "A wise choice indeed."

She then took Buffy by the hand and led the confused blonde out of 
the gym
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy was leaning up against Willow as they made their way down the 
hall, "She's a witchy!"

"Buffy"

"I just got kicked off the team, didn't I?"

"I don't think it was your fault."

"Hmm, I know you don't, that's 'cause you're my Willow. Do you have 
any idea why I love you so, Wills?"

"Yeah I do"

"Uh, Willow, I hate to break up this moment but we need to get her?"

"Wills I don't feel so good," replied Buffy before she collapsed into 
the redheads arms

"Buffy," Willow screamed in near panic, "Well just don't stand there 
help me get her to the library."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy lay back in a chair with a wet cloth on her forehead. Willow 
was supporting the back of her head with one hand and holding the rag 
in place with the other, "We've gotta get her to a hospital!"


"They can't help her," Giles replied.

"Why not, they're a hospital, she's hurt, hospitals help people who 
are hurt, so we need to get her to a hospital!!"

"Willow you need to calm down, shouting isn't going to help."

"Then we need to get her to a hospital."

"Willow, She's under a bloodstone vengeance spell," Giles paused for 
a moment, "It hits the body hard like a, a quart of alcohol, and then 
it e-eradicates the, uh, immune system."

" A vengeance spell, like she's trying to get even with Buffy," 
Xander asked.

"'Cause she knows I know she's a witch," Buffy answered.

Giles moved over to where Willow and Buffy were, "The others she just 
wanted out of the running. You she intends to, um..."

"Kill?"

"Kill!! You can't let her kill Buffy, how much time do we have," 
Willow demanded.

"I'm not really sure," Giles replied, "Couple of hours... Three at 
most."

Willow leaned into Buffy and pulled the blonde up against her, "How 
do we save her?"

"We're going to have to reverse the spell."

"How do we do that?"

Giles walked over to the table and picked up the book he had been 
reading, "we have to lay our hands on, on Amy's spell book."


"And if we can't get a hold of it!"

"The only other way would be to cut her head off."

"It's not Amy's fault. She only became a witch to survive her 
mother, we can't do that," Buffy replied, her voice barely over a 
whisper, "Giles, where would she be casting these spells?"

"Oh, she needs a, a sacred space. A-a-a pentagram, um, large pot."

"Her home. Okay. Wills, Help me up."

Willow Stood up and helped Buffy out of the chair," "Buffy what are 
you thinking about doing?"

"I'm just go to her house and get her book."

"Okay, we'll go with you"

"No I need you here to keep a eye on Amy."

"OK, I'll be waiting for you," Willow replied as she handed Buffy 
over to Giles. The watcher looked at Willow then at Xander, "You're 
going to have to keep her away from the science lab. We'll need it 
to cast our counter-spells."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giles was helping hold Buffy up with one arm as he repeatedly knocked 
on Amy's door, after a couple of minutes they heard a voice on the 
other side of the door, "Who are you? Wha, um, uh, is there something 
wrong?"

Mrs. Madison, I am Rupert Giles, we need to talk to you about your 
daughter."

"I'm not allow, You'll have to come back later."

Catherine tried to close the door but Giles quickly stuck his foot in 
it and knocked it the rest of the way open, "Excuse me."

"What," Catherine asked, sounding very frustrated and confused.

Giles lead Buffy over to the couch and sat her down, "Your daughter 
is meddling with something very dangerous, are you aware of that? "

"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about."

Giles glared at Catherine, "Oh, I think you know only too well."

Catherine started fidgeting in her seat, "You've got to go. She's 
gonna be home soon, and you..."

Giles cut her off in mid sentence, his voice filled with anger, "This 
girl is very sick! You will shut up and you will listen to me!  
Your daughter has access to some very powerful magicks, and somehow 
your obsession with cheerleading has made..."

"I don't care about cheerleading! It's not my fault she's doing 
stuff," Catherine screamed.

"As her mother you should assume some responsibility for her actions."

"Well, you know, these kids today! She's out of her mind. Ever 
since dad, her dad... left I can't control her."

Buffy forced her self off of the couch and looked at Catherine, "Amy?"

Giles gave a puzzled look at Buffy then turned back towards Catherine.

The slayer moved over next to the older woman, using the coffee table 
to hold herself up, "Are you Amy?"

"Buffy, what's going on here?"

"Giles, She's switched," Buffy turned to Catherine, "She switched 
your bodies, didn't she?"

Giles almost fell out of his seat when the truth dawned on him, "Good 
Lord!"

Buffy looked at Amy who was trapped in her Moms body, "She wanted to 
relive her glory days.

"She said I was wasting my youth. So she took it," sobbed the girl.

Giles helped Buffy back over to the couch and took a seat next to the 
weakened slayer. The two of them just sat there waiting from the 
real Amy to speak.  

Finally after a few minutes she did, her voice was filled with 
distress and they had to strain to hear her, "I didn't know anything 
about her powers. I mean, when dad was here they would fight and yell 
and he would... call her a witch and... I mean, I would, just thought 
he meant... Oh, God, when he left I wanted to go with him. But she 
wouldn't even let me call. She went crazy, I mean, she'd lock herself 
upstairs for days, and she was always coming down on me, telling me I 
didn't deserve to have it so easy, and that I didn't know... how hard 
it was to be her, and... I guess she showed me, huh?"

Buffy reached over and took her hand, "Amy, it's gonna be okay."

"A few months ago, I woke up in h... her bed! I didn't know where I 
was, and... then I looked in the mirror..."

Giles took of his glasses and thought over everything that Amy had 
just said, "She locked herself upstairs?"

"Yes."

"Where?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giles broke down the door to the attic with Amy right behind him He 
walked past the cauldron over to the doll rack. He spotted two dolls 
bound together for the body-switching spell and took them.  

"I believe we can reverse your mothers spell, all of them to be 
precise"

"You can? You can really reverse them?"

"We need to find her books. There'd be specific volumes she'd need 
for this kind of casting."

Giles searched the attic some more and stumbled across the large 
footlocker, he opened it up and looked in side. The watcher turned 
to Amy with a smile on his face, "Collect those dolls, and, uh, any 
other personal effects'

Buffy was lying on the couch when Giles and Amy returned from the 
attic, she looked up at her watcher and asked, "Did we find?"

"We found, come on," replied Giles as he helped Buffy off of the 
couch.

Amy looked at the two of them, "Where are you going?"

"To the school, and you're coming with us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xander set nervously next to Willow as they watched Amy from the 
bleachers. He had never seen Willow this mad before, her eyes where 
locked on Amy with a vengeance and she was clenching her fist. If 
looks could kill Amy would had died a thousand deaths in the last few 
minutes.

Willow sat their watching Amy from the stands; her body was filled 
with contempt for the other girl. She had to use every last ounce of 
resolve she had to keep from rushing from the bleachers and clocking 
Amy, <How dare you hurt Buffy. >

Down the Hallway Giles carried Buffy into the science classroom with 
the real Amy right behind him. He put Buffy down on top a table, 
knocking everything off of it in the process. Giles then removed his 
coat and folded it up to make a pillow for Buffy, "I'm gonna stop 
this. I promise, you hang in there."

Buffy let out a low sickly moan as Giles and Amy set up her Moms 
things on the science teachers' desk.

Amy looked over her shoulder at Buffy, "How is she?"

"We only have a few minutes left."

Amy began Cutting an eye from a frog as Giles was desperately going 
threw her Moms spell books.

"Got it," shouted Giles, moving over to the test tubes and mixing a 
potion.

He placed the book in front of the mixture he had just made and began 
to chant, "The center is dark. Centrum est obscurus. The darkness 
breathes. Tenebrae respiratis. The listener hears. Hear me!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cheerleaders where in the middle of a counting chant when the 
fake Amy suddenly stopped, she saw a vision flash into her mind. She 
saw her daughter with the librarian, they had her spell book and 
there was some kind of potion that they were brewing. She Picked up 
the counting chant again and resumed the routine but with a very 
worried look on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's working," Amy exclaimed.

Giles picked up the book and continued to read the chant, "Unlock the 
gate. Let the darkness shine. Cover us with holy fear."

The real Amy staggered backwards and covered her face.

"Show Me?"

The lights began to flicker off and on in the classroom as the spell 
started to work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cheerleaders lifted the fake Amy, and she thrust her fist up into 
the air and smiled at the crowd. Suddenly another vision hit her, 
she saw Buffy in the science lab, and the light flickering. She lost 
her balance and the cheerleaders supporting her struggled for 
control, but collapsed.

Joy rushed over to them, "Amy, what's your problem?"

The fake Amy shot Joy a rather dirty look and ran out of the Gym
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mr. Giles, you have to hurry, she's coming," shouted Amy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amy's mom rushed into the hallway and threw open a door only to come 
face to face with Willow.

Willow glared ate her with fire in her eyes, "Amy!"

"Get out of my way!"

"No, you have to wait, we need to talk."

"About what," the fake Amy bitterly replied.

Willow wasn't sure what to say but she knew she had to come up with 
something fast for Buffy's sake, "Uh, well, y'know, all your 
witchcraft! I, I know this really good cauldron."

Willow could see Xander carefully creeping up behind Amy, "SO do you 
like ride a broomstick?"

The fake Amy turned away from Willow and held out her hand Like she 
was grabbing Xander's neck. His hand shot up over his own throat and 
the fake Amy made a fist and twisted it causing Xander to collapse to 
the floor.

Willow stood there for a moment in horror of what she just 
saw, "Xander?"

The witch then spun back around and punched Willow in the face, 
knocking her down. She then looked at the two of them for a quick 
second before sprinting of towards the lab.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Corsheth and Gilail! The gate is closed! Receive the dark! Release 
the unworthy! Take of mine energy and be sated," chanted Giles as he 
plunged his hands into the mixture he's concocted.

Amy looked at the door to the lab and saw that it was being yanked 
on, "She's here, you have to hurry."


Giles looked down at the book and continued to read, "Be sated! 
Release the unworthy!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fake Amy stopped Yanking on the door, and quickly moved over to 
the fire ax in the hallway. She broke the glass, grabbed the ax and 
sprinted back towards the door.

She could hear Giles shouting release as she furiously chopped at the 
door.  

Finally Amy's Mom made a hole in the door, she reached in and opened 
the door. She then spotted Buffy lying prone on the table and made 
her way towards the blonde.

"RELEEEEASE," shouted Giles.

Amy was about to bring the ax down on Buffy when a bright flash of 
light hit her. She steeped back away from the table and lowered the 
ax.

Buffy picked herself off the table and looked at Amy as she stared at 
her hands in disbelief, "Amy?"

"Buffy?"

Before either one of them could say anything Catherine lunged at 
Buffy from the side, knocking her out.  

Giles turned around and pointed at Catherine, "You... you..."

Catherine growled at Giles, waved her hand at him, and magically 
threw him backwards into the wall, knocking him out. She then turned 
around and coldly stared at Amy, "You little brat!"

Amy took a defensive posture with the ax, "Mom. Please."

Catherine held out her hand and the ax flew across the room into her 
grasp, "How dare you raise your hand to your mother! I gave you 
birth. I gave up my life so you could drag that worthless carcass 
around and call it living? You've never been anything but trouble.  
I'm going to put you where you can't make trouble again!"

"Guess what," Buffy shouted as she picked herself off the floor.

Catherine spun around and looked menacingly at the slayer.

Buffy returned her glare, "I feel better."

Buffy punched Catherine, sending her sailing through the air. She 
landed on one of the lab tables and rolled off hitting a shelf full 
of bottles on the Way.

Catherine jumped to her feet, "That body was mine! Mine!"

"Grow up," Buffy quipped.

Catherine growled at Buffy, and through her arm out sending Buffy 
flying backwards into the wall. Buffy got up of the floor and turned 
to Catherine who had begun to cast a spell.

"I shall look upon my enemy," Catherine shouted, her eyes turning 
pitch black as she glared at Buffy.

"I shall look upon her and the dark place will have her soul!"

Buffy quickly started looking for something to stop the spell, she 
spotted a pole holding up a mirror off to her left.  

"Corsheth, take her," Catherine screamed.

Buffy did a standing hook kick, knocking the pull out from under the 
mirror letting it flop down between her and Catherine.

The spell leapt from the witch's hands and was reflected back at her 
by the mirror. Catherine screamed in agony as the power of the spell 
wrapped around her. Streams of light surrounded the witch and then 
disappeared with a loud roar taking her with them.

Buffy walked over to Giles and helped him up of the ground. He 
looked around the lab then turned to Buffy, "Well, that was, um, 
interesting.

"You guys okay?"

"I'm fine," A rather shaken up Amy replied.

Giles dusted of his jacket and adjusted his glasses, "I assume the, 
uh, all the spells are reversed. It was my first casting, so I may 
have got it wrong."

Buffy smiled at her watcher, "You saved my life! You were a god!"

"Well, I didn't think you'd pull it off," Amy added.

Suddenly Xander burst into the room, he rushed over and grabbed 
Amy, ":I got her! I got her! Cut her head off!"

"Xander, what are you doing," Buffy demanded.

"Saving you"

"Get your hands off her."

"But she's evil."

"Xander it exactly wasn't her," Giles replied.

"It was my Mom," Amy added.

Xander looked over at Giles then Buffy, "Oh," He replied, releasing 
Amy.

Just then Willow ran into the lab wielding a bat, "Where is she?!"

"Wills it's OK," Buffy replied.

"It is," Willow answered, dropping the bat.

Buffy walked over to Willow and pulled her into a tight hug, "Yeah 
it's OK."

"Then you're"

"Going to be fine," Buffy answered before placing a soft kiss on 
Willows forehead.

Willow returned Buffy's hug, "I was afraid I might lose you, I don't 
want that to happen."

Willow tilted her head of to the side and tenderly kissed Buffy in 
the lips, "I don't ever want to lose you."

"You won't."

"Promise."

"Yeah I promise."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy was scooping the remains of her alarm clock into the 
wastebasket when Joyce walked into the room, "I don't get it."

"What?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking about... where you're coming from, 
how to relate to you... and I've come to a very simple conclusion: I 
don't get it."

"I'm inscrutable, huh?"

"You're sixteen. I think there's a, a biological imperative whereby I 
can't understand you because I'm not sixteen."

"Do you ever wish you could be sixteen again?"

"Oh, that's a frightful notion. Go through all that again? Not even 
if it helped me understand you."

"I love you, mom," Buffy stated. She then jumped up and kissed her 
Mom on the cheek before running of to meet Willow.

Joyce looked at the doorway her daughter had just shot through, "I 
still don't get it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy and Willow where holding hands as they walked through the 
school hallway with Amy.

" My dad is *so* impossible! He doesn't ever want me going 
anywhere! He wants to spend total quantity time together. And I'm, 
like, 'Dad, I can go out, it's perfectly safe!' But he's got all 
this guilt about 
leaving me with my mom. And he's being a total pain."

"You're loving it," Buffy replied.

"Every single moment."

"Good, you should be," Willow Added.

Amy smiled at the two of them, "Yeah it's great. This Saturday night 
he wants to stay in and make brownies. Well, the brownies were my 
idea."

Cordelia walked up behind the three of them and interrupted, "Hey, 
I'm really sorry you guys got bumped back to alternate...Hold it, 
wait... No I'm not!"

"Well, I know that I'll miss the intellectual thrill of spelling out 
words with my arms<" Amy joked.

"Ooo, these grapes are sour," Cordelia replied before taking off.

The three of them stopped and looked at the school trophy case. Amy 
turned to Buffy, "I'm sorry. I forgot that you wanted to be on the 
squad."

"Oh, hey, that's okay. Cheerleading's just a little too hairy for me 
these days," Buffy Answered, as she wrapped her arm around Willow's 
waste, "besides I think I can find a better use for my spare time."

Willow Blushed and placed her head on Buffy shoulder. Amy looked at 
the two of them, "yeah that's for sure, uh cheerleading I mean."

Buffy smiled at Amy and nodded her head letting the dark hared girl 
know that she knew what she met.

Any traced her finger along the front of the case, "Catherine the 
great."

"And there's been no sign of her," Buffy inquired.

"That last spell... she said I'd never make trouble again. Wherever 
she is I don't think we'll have to worry."

The three of them turned away from the case and headed off, none of 
them noticing the cheerleading trophy, with Catherine's eyes looking 
out as she made muffled please for help.

The End.