DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: This story cannot be sold or used for profit
in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only or
posted in fanfic archives for general distribution, but must include
all disclaimers and copyright notices.
SPOILER WARNING: Occurs before the last season of SWAM and between
the first and second seasons of BtVS.
RATING: PG13
CONTENT WARNING: This story depicts scenes of violence and/or their
aftermath. If depictions of this nature disturb you, you may wish to
read something other than this story.
SUMMARY: The new girl at Sunnydale has a weird secret all her own -
one that Willow will soon share.
DISCLAIMER: Buffy, Giles, the Slayerettes and all other characters
who have appeared in the series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" together
with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property
of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Inc., Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar
Television, 20th Century Fox Television and the Warner Brothers
Television Network. Alex Mack, her family, Danielle Atron and all
other characters who have appeared in the series "The Secret World
of Alex Mack" together with the names, titles and backstory are the
sole copyright property of Viacom International, MTV Networks,
Nickelodeon Television Network, Nickelodeon Productions, Hallmark
Entertainment, and Lynch Entertainment. No copyright infringement
was intended in the writing of this fan fiction. All other
characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole
property of the author. I'm too broke to be sued, anyway. (But if
anybody thinks my literary skill presents that much a risk, feel
free to *HIRE* me!)


* * * * *

The Secret World of Willow Rosenberg
(a BtVS/SWAM crossover)
by Dalton S. Spence <dalton.spence@...>

"I guess I'm not so ordinary anymore." - Alex Mack

*Part 2*

"Careful," Alex told a nervous Willow who was guiding a small rubber
ball through a makeshift obstacle course of suspended coat hangers.
They were on their lunch break, and while the library was still
officially closed for repairs, Mr. Giles had let them use it for
practice as long as they kept away from the construction
area. "Don't over control. It will go where you want it to as long
as you visualize clearly."

As the little red ball floated through the third hanger Xander
entered the library and stopped, both amazed and amused by his
friend's new ability. "Way to go, Willow!" he exclaimed, and was
promptly rewarded by the ball impacting on his forehead as Willow,
who had been visualizing it on the end of a rod of force, turned to
greet him.

Stifling the urge to giggle at Xander's stunned expression, Alex
told them, "Don't worry about it. When I was just starting out, Ray
used to keep a catcher's mitt handy whenever he walked in a room
where Annie was testing my powers." Concentrating for a second, she
floated the ball off the the floor, and into Willow's outstretched
hand. "Try again, and this time, instead of considering the power a
physical extension of yourself, think of programming the ball to go
to a certain destination along a certain path, like controlling a
model airplane."

"Or routing a file through the internet!" Willow exclaimed, as she
translated the concept into familiar terms. Shutting everything else
out of her mind, she concentrated on the desired flight path, and
was as surprised as anyone else when the ball darted out of her
hand, zipped through the obstacle course, and after a couple of
orbits around the heads of Alex and Xander sailed over to Giles'
office and landed with a satisfying *clink* in an empty teacup left
on his desk. After a moment of stunned silence, her two spectators
rewarded her performance with enthusiastic applause, causing Willow
to briefly *glow* with embarrassment.

"Very impressive," commented Alex, pleased with the progress her
student had shown so far. "It took a week for me to learn that much
control, and you mastered it in a day."

"That's my Willow," exclaimed Xander proudly, "always the genius."
This praise made Willow glow even brighter, causing Xander to cast a
worried glance at her instructor. "Alex, should she be glowing like
that?"

"Relax, it's just a blush response. Anything that made her blush
before (embarrassment, excitement or physical exertion) will make
her glow now."

"Anything?" asked Xander with a gleam in his eye.

"Anything, which means no more teasing her in public," said Alex
with mock severity. Casting a meaningful glance at the library door,
she added, "Or in private, for that matter, unless you can be
*absolutely* sure no one will walk in. It's a pain, I know. You
wouldn't believe the crimp it's put in my social life."

"At least that's one problem I won't have," sighed Willow. "The last
guy who was interested in me turned out to be a demon that had been
scanned into the internet."

"You're kidding, right?" Seeing from Willows morose expression that
she wasn't, Alex blurted out, "But I thought you and Xander ..."

"Whoa, back up there!" Xander said quickly. "Will and I have known
each other forever. We're best buds, sure, like brother and sister,
but that's all!" Since his back was to Willow at that moment, he
missed Willow's glowing response to his vehement denial, and the
brief look of anguish in her eyes.

Alex, however, didn't miss any of it. "Okay, if you say so," she
responded skeptically, thinking, //It must be a Hellmouth thing,
some curse that prevents guys from really seeing her.// Just then,
Buffy entered the library with Mr. Giles, and Alex watched as Xander
turned to Buffy like a puppet on a string. //Nah, I guess it's just
the combination of familiarity and hormones, I guess. Why do guys
have to be so dumb?//

"How's it going, guys?" asked Buffy, seeming disgustingly cheerful
considering the long night they had put in. How these people went
out slaying vampires every night and still managed to do school beat
her. Alex had barely been able to drag herself bed this morning
after the long discussion they had had before Mr. Giles had called a
halt at 3 AM. Fortunately the house that the Macks were renting
until they found more permanent place was just down the street from
the Rosenberg place, so it hadn't taken long for her to get home.

"The TK training is coming along fine," answered Willow, trying to
be humble but justly proud of her accomplishments.

"Excuse me," interrupted a puzzled voice from Mr. Giles'
office, "but why is there a rubber ball in my teacup?"

* * * * *

In the principal's office, Mr. Snyder was having a very bad day.
This morning he had attended a breakfast meeting with the head of
the Sunnydale school board, where had received confidential orders.
Because of his lack of success at stemming the tide of `incidents'
at the school, he was now forced to conduct a series of interviews
for the position of school security officer. Unfortunately, word had
gotten out that at least two staff members had died particularly
horrible deaths, and another had nearly been murdered, so the only
ones applying for the job were the stupid and the desperate.

So far, the only applicant that came close to acceptability was the
man seated in front of him. Personally, Snyder was rather impressed
with him; his military bearing and professional attitude struck a
sympathetic chord in the strict disciplinarian. Still, there were a
couple of items in the resume that concerned him.

"I see that after ten years of working for the same company and
rising to the post of security chief, you left the company a year
ago to become an `independent security consultant'. Why?"

Expecting some weak excuse, he was a bit surprised when the
applicant admitted, "I was dismissed for incompetence." He paused,
then asked, "May I be frank?"

"Please do," replied Snyder, thinking, //This is going to be good!//
He wasn't disappointed.

"The last year I was working for the company, I became involved in
the security for a highly classified project. There was a rather
severe security breech, and I was ordered to commit several criminal
acts in order to contain it. This I found myself unable to do, and
as a result was terminated. Because the company could not admit the
real reason they fired me, they ordered the company psychologist to
declare me mentally unstable. This not only ruined my professional
reputation (which to that point had been spotless), but made sure
that any accusations I made against them would be considered merely
spite or paranoid delusions. For the last year I've tried to uncover
the proof that would clear me, but so far my every effort has been
unsuccessful."

Snyder looked at him shrewdly. "This sudden desire to relocate to
Sunnydale wouldn't have anything to with your previous employer
opening up shop here, would it?"

Again, the man surprised him by his honesty. "That *WAS* a factor, I
admit. At the home office, nearly everyone in town worked for the
company, and those who don't make their living from those who do.
Here, at least, the company isn't *GOD*. But this wasn't the main
reason."

"Oh, and what was?"

"As I was checking Sunnydale out, and read the newspaper reports of
your -- troubles -- I realized that my quest for vindication had
made me forget that there were people out there who really needed my
skills and training. Not to improve the figures on a profit or loss
statement, but just to be safe to lead their normal lives. I want to
get my life back on track, and this seems like the best way."

In the normal course of events, Principal Snyder would have given
this amazing story all the attention it deserved (namely, NONE), but
as you know, NORMAL has very little to do with Sunnydale at the best
of times. In a sincere attempt to get some sort of handle on the
mayhem happening at his school, the beleaguered principal had taken
to watching *far* to much `X-Files', and was quite susceptible to a
story of sinister conspiracy and a lone hero trying to expose it. In
his mind, he was picturing himself as Skinner to the other's Mulder.
(The lack of a Scully didn't bother him at all.) As far as he was
concerned, he had found his man.

He touched a button on his intercom and told his secretary, "Cancel
the rest of the interviews." He stood up and offered his hand to the
man in front of him. "There are a few formalities to complete, and
the board has to approve it, but unless something unexpected comes
up, you can consider yourself hired. Welcome aboard, Mr Carter."

The former head of security for Paradise Valley Chemical also rose
to his feet and with a smile shook the hand of his latest
employer. "Believe me sir, you won't be sorry. And please, call me
Vince."

* * * * *

As Danielle Atron looked at the photographs on her desk, she felt
the beginning of what promised to be a monumental headache. The
security report on the incident at the new site had just arrived,
and the conclusions of the chief investigator gave her a distinct
feeling of deja vu. "Kids. All the time, it's *KIDS!*"

"Teenagers to be specific, according to the size of the footprints,
and the distinctive tread pattern. Almost brand new. At least three
separate pairs from the IR scans. From our reconstruction of events,
they entered through the sewer -- we have sealed that access by the
way -- and proceeded to engage in combat with another group, number
and nature unknown. During the fighting, at least one of the
teenagers was thoroughly contaminated. The other group apparently
escaped, and the teenagers followed them." The investigator had
rather different ideas about that, but wasn't about to share them
without more evidence than some piles of ash and a wooden
stake. "Don't worry ma'am, we'll find them. I'll stake my job on it!"

"You just did," she replied coldly. "Don't disappoint me."


--

Dalton "Feedback ain't just for amps anymore." Spence