Chaos Takes A Hand
Title Chaos Takes a Hand
Rating PG-13
Willow caught her bottom lip between her teeth and tried not to sigh. The creepy shopkeeper guy was right; Buffy was going to look amazing in that dress. It was like it was meant for her or something. Anyone with her was just going to fade right into the background. Which wouldn't really be a bad thing, especially since Sheila Rosenberg would definitely frown on her only daughter participating in such a commercial and secular holiday. She turned away, intending to head back to pick up the pre-packaged ghost outfit when a hand on her arm stopped her.
"And what about you miss? What would be the perfect costume for a rare beauty such as yourself?"
She felt the blush starting and knew there was no point hiding it. One of these days she'd learn to not turn into a walking beetroot when someone said something nice - or even something cheesy - to her, but as she felt her cheeks grow ridiculously warm she knew that day would not be today.
"Um, no, I'm just going... I mean, I don't..." This time she did sigh a little. And on the day when she learned to not blush she would also learn to not babble incoherently when she was on the spot like this. "I'm just going over there now." She tried to walk away but he wouldn't move.
"Nonsense, I could not live with myself if I let you walk out of my premises without finding the perfect costume. Now, let me see... Ah!" He turned quickly and vanished behind the beaded curtains at the register. She tried to tug Buffy away while he was gone, but her friend was still gazing into the mirror entranced by what she saw there.
"Here we are!" Willow's heart sank and she promised herself she was going to have serious words with Buffy after they got out of here. She turned, ready to say she couldn't afford it or something, but when she saw what the guy was holding up for her approval, the words died on her tongue and her jaw dropped. It would be... perfect.
He leaned in close and whispered conspiratorially, "And the young man will love it." Willow felt her heart jump a little as she stole a quick glance over to where Xander was loitering behind Buffy. Yes, he would.
"I'll take it."
Buffy was putting on the last of her mascara and wondering idly if mascara was all that appropriate for the costume, was it entirely authentic? Probably not, but she was determined to go for the wow factor tonight and if it took a little fluttering of the eyelashes then she was damned sure those lashes were going to be stunning.
"So tell me again, who is this person?" she called out to Willow who was spending a suspiciously long time in the wardrobe.
"She... she's from a book Xa... I read a while back." Came the slightly tremulous answer, and Buffy smiled at the near slip of Willow's tongue, it was about time her friend made that boy sit up and see the hottie right in front of him.
"Oh, cool, book things. That's... nice." She wasn't exactly sure quite how that would impress Xander but Willow had practically bounced all the way from Ethan's to Revello Drive and Buffy couldn't help but feel all warm inside at the thought of her two bestest buds getting it together. She replaced the mascara brush in the tube and stood back to admire her reflection. Perfect. "Are you ready?"
"Sort of..." Willow said.
"You're not chickening out are you? Come on..."
"No, no it's not that, I'm just..." The door swung open and Willow ventured out into the room. Buffy fought the impulse to whistle and then did it anyway.
Her friend, who she was used to seeing in quirky little pinafore dresses and fuzzy sweaters, was dressed head to toe in a skin-tight dark green jumpsuit that might as well have been sprayed on, it fit so well. Low heeled brown boots came up to her mid-calf and a matching wide belt was slung around her hips - accentuating a figure Buffy hadn't even been aware Willow had. Flight goggles and a long cloak over the top completed the look and it took Buffy a moment to realise that the cloak was what was giving Willow trouble. The clasp looked like some kind of interlinked triangles that was either designed by Erno Rubix or by the same twisted sadist who came up with the Chinese Finger Trap.
"Here, lemme get it." She suited actions to words, hoping that Willow wouldn't need to take this thing off in too much of a hurry since she had to pretty much mash the pieces of metal together using Slayer strength to make them stay put. Buffy stood back and grinned as Willow pulled on a pair of leather gloves and checked her chunky looking plastic gun was strapped to her thigh. "Wow. Just wait till Xander sees you! He's going to go totally non-verbal!"
Xander did indeed go non-verbal. Seeing Buffy with all those... flounces and petticoats and whatever else went into an outfit like that was bad enough, but the sight at the top of the stairs was the end of his ability to speak for the rest of the night. He spent about ten minutes trying to vocalise something - anything - but eventually gave up when Buffy punched him in the arm and whispered "about time".
He was pretty sure the bruise would fade after a few days, and he was almost certain nothing was broken.
All the way to the school he kept stealing glances across at the person Buffy had repeatedly told him was definitely Willow and not some strange double from another dimension. Not that he thought that kind of thing could really happen but, well, you never could tell in Sunnydale.
By the time they were assigned to their groups of rugrats, Xander had just about regained the power of speech, "Uh, Willow?" She turned and grinned at him. "You... You look awesome!" She lit up at that, he would swear that the whole room around her just faded away when she smiled.
"You don't look so bad yourself, Private." Her smile turned into an easy grin as she turned away to collect the kids she'd be chaperoning through the town. Xander found himself just watching her walk away with a goofy grin on his own face until a tug on his sleeve dragged his attention back to his own charges.
The last costume sold, the last trinket bartered away, the majority of the townsfolk thinking they'd taken advantage of the eccentric shopkeep who just wanted to make people happy on Halloween. If only they knew.
Ethan turned the sign to 'Closed' and smirked at the thought of the Chaos he was about to visit on this sleepy little town. And right at the centre of it would be Ripper's Slayer and her little friend who had the distinctive taste of untapped power about her. Like unripened strawberries.
This was going to be fun.
He sat cross-legged in front of the statue and began the rite. The rush of power was better than any chemical high he'd yet found - not that it would stop him experimenting of course - and he felt it crackling through every fibre of his being.
"Janus, evoco vestram animam. Exaudi meam causam. Carpe noctem pro consilio vestro. Veni, appare et nobis monstra quod est infinita potestas. Persona se corpum et sanguium commutandum est. Vestra sancta praesentia concrescet viscera. Janus! Sume noctem!"
He opened his eyes as the power left him and grinned.
"Show time."
Something was wrong, Willow could taste something like copper in the air and it felt like her hair was standing on end. And the kids... god, the kids. They were glaring at each other with malevolent evil in their expressions - their no-longer-human expressions.
Something was very wrong.
Willow looked around frantically, Buffy couldn't be far away - this was definitely veering into Slayer-worthy territory. She raised her hands to her temples and backed away from the porch, as she was abruptly overwhelmed with the fear, panic and utter turmoil that was going on around her. It was like she was feeling everything they felt...
She sank to her knees, not able to scream, barely able to breathe.
"Help..." Willow whispered.
A moment later she stood again, her movements more fluid than before. The confidence came off her in waves as the Emperor's Hand surveyed her surroundings with a practiced eye before drawing the blaster at her side. There was danger in the air and she was ready for it.
Willow Rosenberg could not cope with the voices in her head, but Mara Jade knew how to keep them at bay.
all these moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
