Aug 2, 2019 - Merrick’s Slayer (FR-13)
Aug 2, 2019 - Merrick’s Slayer (FR-13)
Author: mmooch
Chapter Summary: **Part of the 2019 LiveJournal’s Twisted Shorts FaD** challenge. The Watchers’ Council would not approve.
Crossover: Harry Potter
Rating: FR-13
Words: 1280
Timeline: Beginning of movie BtVS; post-series HP; shift timelines to match
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling and company. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Summers’ home
When they got outside, all three of the Summers’ family got into Merrick’s vehicle. The mom was directly behind him, the father in the front passenger seat and the Slayer behind him next to her mother. “You don’t need to drive your vehicle home?” he inquired.
“Even if we did, we wouldn’t split up until we know you better,” the Dad explained.
“Speaking of which,” Buffy interjected, “you obviously know me, but that’s my Dad, Hank Summers and this is my Mom, Joyce Summers. Do you have a name besides Merrick?”
“Merrick Jamison-Smythe,” he answered.
“Wow, really pushing the Brit thing, huh?” his charge replied with a grin. He wasn’t sure who she was teasing, but somehow got the impression it wasn’t just him.
“How did you know Buffy was the Slayer?” Joyce asked.
“The Devon Coven located her after she was Called. As the closest Watcher, it fell on me to track her down given the information they provided,” Merrick said.
“How many Watchers are there?” Hank demanded to know.
“Hundreds, possibly thousands,” Merrick told them, “I don’t think any single individual has a complete list for security reasons.”
Hank snorted in derision, “Yet they leave the fighting to the teenager. Where have I heard that before?”
Unsure of what was bothering the man, Merrick defended his organization, “We train her, research for her, but she is the one with the supernatural gifts, like strength, speed, healing, and fighting proficiency. There are other gifts, but without testing her, I don’t know if she has any of those.”
“Let’s give him a chance before we compare him to the ministry and the sheep,” Buffy requested. Merrick’s appearance explained the weird dreams, and the Slayer-thing also made her feel better about not getting a letter for Hogwarts - or the US equivalent. While they never treated her like she was worthless, Buffy always felt she let them down by not possessing a quarter of their power. She was sure that was part of the reason they weren’t very close to what remained of their old friends anymore.
The rest of the ride to the Summers’ home was made in silence. When they pulled into the drive, Hank seemed to have come to a decision. “Okay, if you’re supposed to train her, we want to see what that entails. What equipment do you need to do that?”
“I have what I need in my bag; the rest is space to move around…and it should be private, so we can’t do this in the yard,” he warned. They should have gone to the place he was staying, but given their unease, he doubted that they would agree to such a suggestion.
“Don’t worry, we have space,” Joyce said with an enigmatic smile. “Was the gym at the school large enough?”
There house wasn’t big enough to hold a gym, but Merrick nodded as he followed Hank into the building. They went upstairs and stopped at the last closed door on the left. Hank put his hand on a small figurine by the door and closed his eyes. Before Merrick could ask what he was doing, the door opened and he was stunned by what he saw.
“How…” he stammered. Other than the bleachers, he was in a replication of the school’s gym.
Hank offered his first smile when he answered, “Magic! It’s a poor duplication of a room back at our old school, and can’t do as much at that room could, but it can at least alter its appearance and size to what we need. The power to do more than that would require a couple ley lines or a lot more latent magic surrounding the house.”
“This is amazing!” Merrick exclaimed. “What the Watchers wouldn’t give for the ability to do something like this!”
“It requires a fair amount of magical power, so I doubt it would work for them,” Hank warned, not bothering to mention that most of that power came from the runes on the walls and figurine outside the room. Even Buffy’s limited power could ‘charge’ the runes, but he didn’t want to hand something like this over to a virtual stranger.
“Since you seem to already accept the idea of vampires, I can skip having to convince you that you are the Slayer,” Merrick said, accepting - for the moment at least - he couldn’t share this room with the Council. In fact, he would have to carefully consider what he should tell them about Miss Summers and her ‘American’ parents. Some of the bastards he worked with might consider them undesirable and do what was necessary in their eyes to move onto the next Slayer. “Can you put mirrors on the wall?” he asked Hank. “You should change into workout clothes, Miss Summers.”
“We’ll need to step out again.”
Merrick considered asking for training mats, but it was best to stick with hard surfaces and teach Buffy to fall correctly. When she returned, he had her stand facing the mirror so she could watch her motions as well as his while he walked her through some katas. He talked while showing her the steps. “Follow my lead. For right now, I’ll just show you a couple quick pointers before we go to the cemetery. Vampires are stronger than normal humans, so you don’t want to let them hit you, if at all possible. Stake through the heart, fire, decapitation, sunlight, holy water…if you have enough of it. We’ll practice swords later, but for now you should get used to handling a stake. Watch that left shoulder. Keep practicing while I get the dummy torso set up.”
She was rather sloppy, but that was to be expected for somebody who hadn’t faced combat yet. She’d learn to be sharper in her actions or risk getting hurt or killed.
“As a cheerleader, you know gymnastics, correct?” he asked Buffy. When she nodded, he added, “Good, make your way over here while avoiding the balls that I’ll throw at you. As soon as you’re close enough, stake the vampire in the heart.”
Merrick was impressed at the way she dodged all the projectiles he sent her way. He’d love to see how she did with deadly ones but assumed her parents wouldn’t like that during their first session. He winced when she missed the heart by about an inch. “You missed,” he told her, “twist it to the right an inch and you’ll puncture the heart. Let’s repeat a couple times.”
He managed to graze her a couple times, but nothing that would slow her down enough in battle, especially with the adrenaline rushing through her veins when it was real. Her accuracy in staking improved, much to his pleasure.
“We’re ready as we can be,” he announced. Turning to the parents, he said, “We should be back before dawn.”
Joyce started laughing, and even Hank looked somewhat amused.
“We need to stay out so we can hunt the vampires,” Merrick tried to explain.
“That’s not what Joyce was laughing at,” Hank interrupted. “She’s laughing because you think you’re going out with our daughter alone. There’s no way you are leaving here without one or both of us…and most likely it will be both of us, even if we aren’t together-together.”
“That’s not how this works!” Merrick protested.
Joyce went from amused to deadly serious instantaneously, causing him to shiver again. “Too bad, because she isn’t doing this without us. We had to fight for our lives because adults were either too afraid or incompetent to handle the bad guys on their own. We aren’t repeating the ‘useless adult’ trope with Buffy.”
Yes, the Council would definitely find them undesirable.
A/N: A couple people guessed, and when I can find the right moment to work it into the story, I’ll tell who the parents were in the Wizarding World.
Author: mmooch
Chapter Summary: **Part of the 2019 LiveJournal’s Twisted Shorts FaD** challenge. The Watchers’ Council would not approve.
Crossover: Harry Potter
Rating: FR-13
Words: 1280
Timeline: Beginning of movie BtVS; post-series HP; shift timelines to match
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling and company. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Summers’ home
When they got outside, all three of the Summers’ family got into Merrick’s vehicle. The mom was directly behind him, the father in the front passenger seat and the Slayer behind him next to her mother. “You don’t need to drive your vehicle home?” he inquired.
“Even if we did, we wouldn’t split up until we know you better,” the Dad explained.
“Speaking of which,” Buffy interjected, “you obviously know me, but that’s my Dad, Hank Summers and this is my Mom, Joyce Summers. Do you have a name besides Merrick?”
“Merrick Jamison-Smythe,” he answered.
“Wow, really pushing the Brit thing, huh?” his charge replied with a grin. He wasn’t sure who she was teasing, but somehow got the impression it wasn’t just him.
“How did you know Buffy was the Slayer?” Joyce asked.
“The Devon Coven located her after she was Called. As the closest Watcher, it fell on me to track her down given the information they provided,” Merrick said.
“How many Watchers are there?” Hank demanded to know.
“Hundreds, possibly thousands,” Merrick told them, “I don’t think any single individual has a complete list for security reasons.”
Hank snorted in derision, “Yet they leave the fighting to the teenager. Where have I heard that before?”
Unsure of what was bothering the man, Merrick defended his organization, “We train her, research for her, but she is the one with the supernatural gifts, like strength, speed, healing, and fighting proficiency. There are other gifts, but without testing her, I don’t know if she has any of those.”
“Let’s give him a chance before we compare him to the ministry and the sheep,” Buffy requested. Merrick’s appearance explained the weird dreams, and the Slayer-thing also made her feel better about not getting a letter for Hogwarts - or the US equivalent. While they never treated her like she was worthless, Buffy always felt she let them down by not possessing a quarter of their power. She was sure that was part of the reason they weren’t very close to what remained of their old friends anymore.
The rest of the ride to the Summers’ home was made in silence. When they pulled into the drive, Hank seemed to have come to a decision. “Okay, if you’re supposed to train her, we want to see what that entails. What equipment do you need to do that?”
“I have what I need in my bag; the rest is space to move around…and it should be private, so we can’t do this in the yard,” he warned. They should have gone to the place he was staying, but given their unease, he doubted that they would agree to such a suggestion.
“Don’t worry, we have space,” Joyce said with an enigmatic smile. “Was the gym at the school large enough?”
There house wasn’t big enough to hold a gym, but Merrick nodded as he followed Hank into the building. They went upstairs and stopped at the last closed door on the left. Hank put his hand on a small figurine by the door and closed his eyes. Before Merrick could ask what he was doing, the door opened and he was stunned by what he saw.
“How…” he stammered. Other than the bleachers, he was in a replication of the school’s gym.
Hank offered his first smile when he answered, “Magic! It’s a poor duplication of a room back at our old school, and can’t do as much at that room could, but it can at least alter its appearance and size to what we need. The power to do more than that would require a couple ley lines or a lot more latent magic surrounding the house.”
“This is amazing!” Merrick exclaimed. “What the Watchers wouldn’t give for the ability to do something like this!”
“It requires a fair amount of magical power, so I doubt it would work for them,” Hank warned, not bothering to mention that most of that power came from the runes on the walls and figurine outside the room. Even Buffy’s limited power could ‘charge’ the runes, but he didn’t want to hand something like this over to a virtual stranger.
“Since you seem to already accept the idea of vampires, I can skip having to convince you that you are the Slayer,” Merrick said, accepting - for the moment at least - he couldn’t share this room with the Council. In fact, he would have to carefully consider what he should tell them about Miss Summers and her ‘American’ parents. Some of the bastards he worked with might consider them undesirable and do what was necessary in their eyes to move onto the next Slayer. “Can you put mirrors on the wall?” he asked Hank. “You should change into workout clothes, Miss Summers.”
“We’ll need to step out again.”
Merrick considered asking for training mats, but it was best to stick with hard surfaces and teach Buffy to fall correctly. When she returned, he had her stand facing the mirror so she could watch her motions as well as his while he walked her through some katas. He talked while showing her the steps. “Follow my lead. For right now, I’ll just show you a couple quick pointers before we go to the cemetery. Vampires are stronger than normal humans, so you don’t want to let them hit you, if at all possible. Stake through the heart, fire, decapitation, sunlight, holy water…if you have enough of it. We’ll practice swords later, but for now you should get used to handling a stake. Watch that left shoulder. Keep practicing while I get the dummy torso set up.”
She was rather sloppy, but that was to be expected for somebody who hadn’t faced combat yet. She’d learn to be sharper in her actions or risk getting hurt or killed.
“As a cheerleader, you know gymnastics, correct?” he asked Buffy. When she nodded, he added, “Good, make your way over here while avoiding the balls that I’ll throw at you. As soon as you’re close enough, stake the vampire in the heart.”
Merrick was impressed at the way she dodged all the projectiles he sent her way. He’d love to see how she did with deadly ones but assumed her parents wouldn’t like that during their first session. He winced when she missed the heart by about an inch. “You missed,” he told her, “twist it to the right an inch and you’ll puncture the heart. Let’s repeat a couple times.”
He managed to graze her a couple times, but nothing that would slow her down enough in battle, especially with the adrenaline rushing through her veins when it was real. Her accuracy in staking improved, much to his pleasure.
“We’re ready as we can be,” he announced. Turning to the parents, he said, “We should be back before dawn.”
Joyce started laughing, and even Hank looked somewhat amused.
“We need to stay out so we can hunt the vampires,” Merrick tried to explain.
“That’s not what Joyce was laughing at,” Hank interrupted. “She’s laughing because you think you’re going out with our daughter alone. There’s no way you are leaving here without one or both of us…and most likely it will be both of us, even if we aren’t together-together.”
“That’s not how this works!” Merrick protested.
Joyce went from amused to deadly serious instantaneously, causing him to shiver again. “Too bad, because she isn’t doing this without us. We had to fight for our lives because adults were either too afraid or incompetent to handle the bad guys on their own. We aren’t repeating the ‘useless adult’ trope with Buffy.”
Yes, the Council would definitely find them undesirable.
A/N: A couple people guessed, and when I can find the right moment to work it into the story, I’ll tell who the parents were in the Wizarding World.