OC Fic : Strange Bedfellows (8/11)
Title : Strange Bedfellows
Author : Helen C.
Rating : PG-13
Summary : Julie makes a wish, and her wish is granted. An OC/Buffy The Vampire Slayer crossover.
Disclaimer : The characters and the universe of The OC were created and are owned by Josh Schwartz. The characters and the universe of Buffy the Vampire Slayer were created and are owned by Joss Whedon. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N : crack!fic if there ever was one. I wrote this because I just need to cross whatever fandom I'm involved in with the Buffyverse, and it was a fun way to explore, yet again, the roads not taken. Don't expect to see many of the Scoobies in this, though-I just used concepts and ideas, not characters.
The plot bears more than a passing resemblance to the BTVS episode The Wish. Please, don't sue, Joss-I'm not claiming ownership of the idea, but it was pure genius and I couldn't resist borrowing it to play a little.
A/N2 : Thanks to the awsome joey51 for betaing this.
Chapter Seven
Ryan leaned back in his seat, observing Julie and Father Callahan who were studying each other with interest.
Not exactly like two adversaries sizing each other up, he decided as the silence stretched. No, it was more like two species making first contact and not knowing quite how to react.
"Ryan tells me you know what happened?" Julie started eventually. She tried to sound bored and disinterested, but Ryan could read her like a book. She was hoping for good news, and scared that that hope would be crushed, and probably wondering if Callahan could truly help.
"Yes," Callahan replied. "Making a wish to someone you didn't know was careless, Mrs. Nichol."
Ryan tried not to smile. Damn if the man wasn't scolding Mrs. Nichol like she was a schoolgirl who had forgotten to do her homework.
"Cooper-Nichol," Julie corrected, grimacing-either at the rebuke or at the tone Callahan had used.
"If you say so," Callahan said, not reacting to her tone. "I called a friend of mine, as Ryan probably told you."
Julie nodded impatiently. "Yes, yes. What do we do to fix this?"
"We?" Ryan echoed, speaking for the first time since he had made the introductions.
Julie briefly looked taken aback, then shrugged. "I thought you had an interest in seeing me succeed, but if you'd rather take a chance that I fail, at the risk of staying stuck here, have it your way."
Callahan coughed, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Yes, well… According to Rupert Giles, it looks like you made a wish to a demon who had the power of granting it."
Julie muttered something, that might have been "I can't believe I'm having a discussion about demons," but it was too low to be sure.
"Still according to Rupert, the demon you encountered must have been wearing some kind of amulet-a ring, a necklace, or perhaps-"
"It was a necklace," Julie threw in. She had a triumphant smile. "She gave it to me, as a gift." She spat out the last word, her contempt obvious.
"Well, that settles that," Callahan said. "Now, we just have to break it."
Ryan didn't know what he had been expecting, but it wasn't this. Somehow, he had thought the solution would be more elaborate. "That's it? We break it, and… what?"
"And things go back to the way they were a few seconds before Mrs. Cooper-Nichol made her wish."
Julie Cooper seemed as skeptical as Ryan felt. "How does this friend of yours know that?"
Callahan smiled. "Apparently, he has known a few vengeance demons himself," he said matter-of-factly.
Ryan bit back a snort. It was ridiculous, but not more so than pretty much everything else that had ever happened to him, really.
Julie still seemed torn, though. "You mean," she said slowly, "that all I had to do, all along, was to break that thing?"
"Well, I should have been more precise," Callahan sighed. "It's actually not that simple."
"Thought so," Ryan whispered just as Julie snapped, "Well, then-"
Callahan raised a hand to keep them quiet. "Yes, the thing is… it seems that the demon must also be there for the, er-"
"Trashing of the necklace?" Ryan supplied.
Julie glared at him but Callahan just smiled. "If you will. And it's an amulet."
Ryan managed to resist the urge to stick out his tongue at him, but it was a close thing.
"Great," Julie said. "How the hell do we pull that off? I haven't seen her since I've arrived here. I've never even heard about her."
"That's the hard part," Callahan said. "We need to summon her. Well, it, really."
"Summon it?" Ryan asked, incredulous. "You want us to actually ask this thing to come?" He would have preferred a more simple solution after all. Simply trashing a necklace sounded good, right now.
"The demon Giles knows swears it's the only way."
"He asked another demon?" Julie asked sarcastically. "And we actually trust that information? Because for all we know-"
"I'm well aware of how careless that sounds," Callahan cut off. "But Giles trusts that person, and I trust him, so unless you have a better idea, or you're decided to live in such conditions…"
She sighed, closing her eyes, and Ryan noticed for the first time how tired she looked. It was easy to overlook such things, given how bitchy she was.
He could sympathize with her. He hated lacking options, too, and Julie seemed at the end of her rope. Either she agreed to go with this crazy plan or she gave up.
Now the question was, did she have the strength to fight a little more?
"Well," she said at last, "I guess that's that then. Let's just do it."
"I'm not sure it'll be that easy," Ryan warned. "I mean, she'll probably fight to keep it, if it's important."
"She's a wealthy, old-ish woman," Julie retorted.
"She's a demon," Callahan countered.
"And I'm not exactly on top of my game," Ryan added, gesturing to his leg.
"Are you suggesting we wait until you're better?"
Ryan almost replied that it might help, before remembering the doctor's warnings that he'd never walk normally again.
Ryan closed his eyes. No matter how many times it dawned on him, he still couldn't get used to it, still ended up being surprised at the thought that he'd never truly be whole and healthy again.
That was probably the reason why he avoided thinking about it too much. Or at all.
"Ryan?" Callahan asked, his voice softer than it had ever been tonight.
Ryan sighed. "Wouldn't help," he told Julie. "Since I'll never be… well, never mind."
He met Callahan's gaze, and frowned at the man's concerned face. Don't, he thought. Just don't.
"But you will help?" Julie asked Ryan.
Her voice was neutral, but Ryan could hear something in it-fear, hope?
"Sure," he said. "My social life is non-existent anyway. It's not like I have anything else to do."
She rolled her eyes at his pitiful attempt at humour. He didn't blame her; even he could agree that it wasn't his best joke ever.
Then she glanced at her watch and exclaimed that she had to go, or else…
What a jobless, rich woman would do with her time was a mystery for Ryan, but he didn't question her.
He nodded at her as she rushed out of the room, then slumped on his chair, drained, as he usually was when he met her.
"Interesting woman," Callahan said.
"You could say that," Ryan replied.
While Julie Cooper was, indeed, someone interesting, it wasn't the first word that came to Ryan's mind when he thought about her.
***
"I got a call from Mrs. Cooper-Nichol," Father Callahan announced when Ryan poked his head into his office, three days later.
Ryan smiled at the slight emphasis Callahan put on "Cooper." Even if he didn't say it, the priest sure seemed annoyed at her too.
"What gives?"
"She said she'll come by tomorrow."
"Okay," Ryan said. "Will you be ready for the… er, summoning thing?"
Callahan smiled weakly. "Giles talked me through it four times, I made notes, I'm reasonably sure I can manage," he said. He studied Ryan for a while, his smile dropping. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.
Ryan looked down at the used floorboards. Someone needed to redo the woodwork soon, before things got any worse. Of course, knowing the state of the shelter's finances, a carpet would certainly come to cover the misery soon, and that would be it. "Why not?" he asked at last.
"Because she could be telling the truth about herself and be lying about you! We don't anything about her… reality, for lack of a better term."
How could things possibly be worse? Ryan wondered.
He wasn't going to be able to find a job in construction, or even as a waiter, ever again-not with a bad leg.
He didn't have any other skills to speak of.
Aside from Callahan and a few volunteers he knew from the shelter, he didn't have any friends (or, at least, not any friends who weren't in jail.)
And perhaps Dawn was still alive in Mrs. Cooper-Nichol's world.
Callahan must have guessed what he was thinking, as he got to his feet and crossed the room, his arm going on Ryan's shoulders. "Ryan, you can't be sure-"
"I know I can't," Ryan snapped. "But I'm damn sure of what I have here!" He took a breath, willed his eyes to stop burning. "What have I got to lose, Father?"
Callahan opened his mouth and closed it without saying what Ryan knew he was thinking.
Your life.
At this point, Ryan didn't care much about that.
"I don’t remember her reality anyway, so if this works, I probably won't remember any of this either." God willing, he almost added. "So, even if things are worse, or, you know, I don't exist anymore, it won't really matter, will it?"
Callahan didn't comment, even though Ryan knew the man didn't agree.
Ryan was grateful.
He didn't think he could have stood an argument without breaking down.
Chapter Eight
Author : Helen C.
Rating : PG-13
Summary : Julie makes a wish, and her wish is granted. An OC/Buffy The Vampire Slayer crossover.
Disclaimer : The characters and the universe of The OC were created and are owned by Josh Schwartz. The characters and the universe of Buffy the Vampire Slayer were created and are owned by Joss Whedon. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N : crack!fic if there ever was one. I wrote this because I just need to cross whatever fandom I'm involved in with the Buffyverse, and it was a fun way to explore, yet again, the roads not taken. Don't expect to see many of the Scoobies in this, though-I just used concepts and ideas, not characters.
The plot bears more than a passing resemblance to the BTVS episode The Wish. Please, don't sue, Joss-I'm not claiming ownership of the idea, but it was pure genius and I couldn't resist borrowing it to play a little.
A/N2 : Thanks to the awsome joey51 for betaing this.
Chapter Seven
Ryan leaned back in his seat, observing Julie and Father Callahan who were studying each other with interest.
Not exactly like two adversaries sizing each other up, he decided as the silence stretched. No, it was more like two species making first contact and not knowing quite how to react.
"Ryan tells me you know what happened?" Julie started eventually. She tried to sound bored and disinterested, but Ryan could read her like a book. She was hoping for good news, and scared that that hope would be crushed, and probably wondering if Callahan could truly help.
"Yes," Callahan replied. "Making a wish to someone you didn't know was careless, Mrs. Nichol."
Ryan tried not to smile. Damn if the man wasn't scolding Mrs. Nichol like she was a schoolgirl who had forgotten to do her homework.
"Cooper-Nichol," Julie corrected, grimacing-either at the rebuke or at the tone Callahan had used.
"If you say so," Callahan said, not reacting to her tone. "I called a friend of mine, as Ryan probably told you."
Julie nodded impatiently. "Yes, yes. What do we do to fix this?"
"We?" Ryan echoed, speaking for the first time since he had made the introductions.
Julie briefly looked taken aback, then shrugged. "I thought you had an interest in seeing me succeed, but if you'd rather take a chance that I fail, at the risk of staying stuck here, have it your way."
Callahan coughed, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Yes, well… According to Rupert Giles, it looks like you made a wish to a demon who had the power of granting it."
Julie muttered something, that might have been "I can't believe I'm having a discussion about demons," but it was too low to be sure.
"Still according to Rupert, the demon you encountered must have been wearing some kind of amulet-a ring, a necklace, or perhaps-"
"It was a necklace," Julie threw in. She had a triumphant smile. "She gave it to me, as a gift." She spat out the last word, her contempt obvious.
"Well, that settles that," Callahan said. "Now, we just have to break it."
Ryan didn't know what he had been expecting, but it wasn't this. Somehow, he had thought the solution would be more elaborate. "That's it? We break it, and… what?"
"And things go back to the way they were a few seconds before Mrs. Cooper-Nichol made her wish."
Julie Cooper seemed as skeptical as Ryan felt. "How does this friend of yours know that?"
Callahan smiled. "Apparently, he has known a few vengeance demons himself," he said matter-of-factly.
Ryan bit back a snort. It was ridiculous, but not more so than pretty much everything else that had ever happened to him, really.
Julie still seemed torn, though. "You mean," she said slowly, "that all I had to do, all along, was to break that thing?"
"Well, I should have been more precise," Callahan sighed. "It's actually not that simple."
"Thought so," Ryan whispered just as Julie snapped, "Well, then-"
Callahan raised a hand to keep them quiet. "Yes, the thing is… it seems that the demon must also be there for the, er-"
"Trashing of the necklace?" Ryan supplied.
Julie glared at him but Callahan just smiled. "If you will. And it's an amulet."
Ryan managed to resist the urge to stick out his tongue at him, but it was a close thing.
"Great," Julie said. "How the hell do we pull that off? I haven't seen her since I've arrived here. I've never even heard about her."
"That's the hard part," Callahan said. "We need to summon her. Well, it, really."
"Summon it?" Ryan asked, incredulous. "You want us to actually ask this thing to come?" He would have preferred a more simple solution after all. Simply trashing a necklace sounded good, right now.
"The demon Giles knows swears it's the only way."
"He asked another demon?" Julie asked sarcastically. "And we actually trust that information? Because for all we know-"
"I'm well aware of how careless that sounds," Callahan cut off. "But Giles trusts that person, and I trust him, so unless you have a better idea, or you're decided to live in such conditions…"
She sighed, closing her eyes, and Ryan noticed for the first time how tired she looked. It was easy to overlook such things, given how bitchy she was.
He could sympathize with her. He hated lacking options, too, and Julie seemed at the end of her rope. Either she agreed to go with this crazy plan or she gave up.
Now the question was, did she have the strength to fight a little more?
"Well," she said at last, "I guess that's that then. Let's just do it."
"I'm not sure it'll be that easy," Ryan warned. "I mean, she'll probably fight to keep it, if it's important."
"She's a wealthy, old-ish woman," Julie retorted.
"She's a demon," Callahan countered.
"And I'm not exactly on top of my game," Ryan added, gesturing to his leg.
"Are you suggesting we wait until you're better?"
Ryan almost replied that it might help, before remembering the doctor's warnings that he'd never walk normally again.
Ryan closed his eyes. No matter how many times it dawned on him, he still couldn't get used to it, still ended up being surprised at the thought that he'd never truly be whole and healthy again.
That was probably the reason why he avoided thinking about it too much. Or at all.
"Ryan?" Callahan asked, his voice softer than it had ever been tonight.
Ryan sighed. "Wouldn't help," he told Julie. "Since I'll never be… well, never mind."
He met Callahan's gaze, and frowned at the man's concerned face. Don't, he thought. Just don't.
"But you will help?" Julie asked Ryan.
Her voice was neutral, but Ryan could hear something in it-fear, hope?
"Sure," he said. "My social life is non-existent anyway. It's not like I have anything else to do."
She rolled her eyes at his pitiful attempt at humour. He didn't blame her; even he could agree that it wasn't his best joke ever.
Then she glanced at her watch and exclaimed that she had to go, or else…
What a jobless, rich woman would do with her time was a mystery for Ryan, but he didn't question her.
He nodded at her as she rushed out of the room, then slumped on his chair, drained, as he usually was when he met her.
"Interesting woman," Callahan said.
"You could say that," Ryan replied.
While Julie Cooper was, indeed, someone interesting, it wasn't the first word that came to Ryan's mind when he thought about her.
***
"I got a call from Mrs. Cooper-Nichol," Father Callahan announced when Ryan poked his head into his office, three days later.
Ryan smiled at the slight emphasis Callahan put on "Cooper." Even if he didn't say it, the priest sure seemed annoyed at her too.
"What gives?"
"She said she'll come by tomorrow."
"Okay," Ryan said. "Will you be ready for the… er, summoning thing?"
Callahan smiled weakly. "Giles talked me through it four times, I made notes, I'm reasonably sure I can manage," he said. He studied Ryan for a while, his smile dropping. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.
Ryan looked down at the used floorboards. Someone needed to redo the woodwork soon, before things got any worse. Of course, knowing the state of the shelter's finances, a carpet would certainly come to cover the misery soon, and that would be it. "Why not?" he asked at last.
"Because she could be telling the truth about herself and be lying about you! We don't anything about her… reality, for lack of a better term."
How could things possibly be worse? Ryan wondered.
He wasn't going to be able to find a job in construction, or even as a waiter, ever again-not with a bad leg.
He didn't have any other skills to speak of.
Aside from Callahan and a few volunteers he knew from the shelter, he didn't have any friends (or, at least, not any friends who weren't in jail.)
And perhaps Dawn was still alive in Mrs. Cooper-Nichol's world.
Callahan must have guessed what he was thinking, as he got to his feet and crossed the room, his arm going on Ryan's shoulders. "Ryan, you can't be sure-"
"I know I can't," Ryan snapped. "But I'm damn sure of what I have here!" He took a breath, willed his eyes to stop burning. "What have I got to lose, Father?"
Callahan opened his mouth and closed it without saying what Ryan knew he was thinking.
Your life.
At this point, Ryan didn't care much about that.
"I don’t remember her reality anyway, so if this works, I probably won't remember any of this either." God willing, he almost added. "So, even if things are worse, or, you know, I don't exist anymore, it won't really matter, will it?"
Callahan didn't comment, even though Ryan knew the man didn't agree.
Ryan was grateful.
He didn't think he could have stood an argument without breaking down.
Chapter Eight