An Unlikely Friendship by Cohava +23
Responses: 0
Categories: Season 6, Season 5
Characters: Ensemble
Summary:

Or title up to the author. This is a pretty weird idea, I guess, but has lots of potential for character developement and fun. So here it goes.

In season 5, Riley spiraled increasingly out of control. He felt his relationship with Buffy was in trouble, but was so thoroughly unable to deal with it in any mature way that he even put himself in serious danger and developed an addiction. He was becoming really unstable towards the end.

So, what if after his breakup with Buffy, he remained so obsessed that he would have done anything to get her back? 

In his desperation, he reached out to Ethan Rayne, who was still in an Initiative holding facility. He wanted to see if there was a magical way to separate Buffy from her Slayer part, like Toth's stick was supposed to do. For some reason, Ethan was unable to do that, but what he could do was give Riley a spell that would create a "copy" (like a clone of Buffy), completely human, without anything supernatural. He even managed to word the spell so the copy would not appear right next to Buffy, but in a secure location nearby (warehouse?). Riley's plan was to get to this Buffy 2.0, find some excuse to bring her back to Central America, and he thought they could get back together and all would be well, since a powerless Buffy would "naturally" defer to him.

So, he gets back to Sunnydale unseen and hits Buffy with the spell. Of course, he also hits Spike with it at the same time without realizing it. But that's not his only problem... 

Because the way the spell works, to make a "copy" of the person without supernatural influences, it actually "resets" te subject to before they were actually supernatural. So Riley gets to the location he'd planned only to find a very confused, very angry 15 years old Buffy, and a thorougly flabbergasted Victorian gentleman.

Now, Young Buffy doesn't recognize him and has not reason to trust him. She immediately pegs him as her kidnapper and has no intention to collaborate. Riley, meanwhile, is in big trouble... he can't let the pair go, because neither the Scoobies nor the army would be happy to discover what he's done. Desperate, he overpowers both of them, stuffs them in his van and starts heading back to Central America anyway.  

During the journey, Buffy and William slowly learn the truth about their situation (or as much of the truth as they can learn from Riley) and form a friendship. *IMPORTANT* As Buffy is still fifteen here, there shouldn't be any lusty or romantic love feelings at this point of the story. I mean, William could maybe react to Buffy's shameful state of "undress" (cut the guy a break, he's never seen a naked ankle before) and Buffy could notice that he's actually kind of cute, but their relationship for now has to be strictly friendship. Bonus points if William was "taken" before Cecily's rejection, so he's still in love with her and keeps mooning about her, while Buffy, who's more socially smart, immediately understands that she never would have given William the time of the day. Also, William can't be a father figure to Buffy. If anything, she's going to be the one who's protective of him, since he's less resourceful and obviously more confused in the beginning.

At some point, they manage to escape and make it back to Sunnydale. The enthire thing has taken months, so byu now Buffy has already died and resurrected. We're at the beginning of canon season 6 when Buffy 2.0 and William come to town! What will happen?

-Although their arrival shakes things up, they can't immediately be fixing everything about the season. William i a man out of time and Buffy is only 15 or 16, so they're still going to need help, and new identities. Buffy 2.0 could have a fake identity as a third Summers sister (though please, call her anything but Elizabeth or Anne, we've seen that plenty of times). William could live in Giles's old house, and find some kind of job. They will provide a fresh perspective on things, however, as they adjust. 

Buffy 2.0, for example, would probably bond with Dawn, since they're about the same age. Maybe she would get super involved in Anya and Xander's wedding. Oh, as a side note, maybe seeing how young she is will lead Buffy and the others to finally realize how creepy Angel was for "loving" her. And of course, they'd all love to make fun of Spike after getting to know his nerdy human counterpart. 

There's lots of fun to be had here. I'd like to see a lot of interactions between Buffy 2.0 and William vs their older, more jaded counterparts. I'd like to see what changes in the group dynamic with their arrival. And of course, if Riley dares to show his face again, he should definitely have to face the consequences of his actions!

Lastly, while I would like for William and Buffy 2.0 to eventually get together (as well as regular Buffy and Spike), they shouldn't even be thinking about it until Buffy is 18, or almost 18. Up to you if you want your story to cover three years or if you do a time skip. Or they could just stay friends, but in that case, no William/Other or Buffy/Other, please. 

I think that's it! Have fun!