OC Fic : Strange Bedfellows (4/11)
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.
Spoilers : Everything up to TDB is fair game.
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 Three
Julie spent the next few days carefully gathering data.
Knowledge was survival, she had learned so early in her life, and she had never needed information more than she did right now.
So, she went to Newpsie gatherings, where her friends shot strange looks at her but otherwise acted the way they always had.
Julie didn't ask questions, but she listened, and eventually she learned what she wanted-Newpsies, after all, liked to talk, at length, about everything.
No one ever mentioned Marissa in front of her, but it didn't matter; after all, she had learned what had happened to her daughter as soon as she had landed here.
But, she thought, perhaps that if she could learn what had happened to other people, she would be able to figure out how she had ended here, and where "here" was.
Seth, it turned out, had run away in September 2003, never to be seen again.
That didn't fit with what she knew-he had run nine months later in her world, when Ryan had left Newport to care for the girl he had impregnated. Julie wondered what had made Seth leave in this world, but since it probably wouldn't help her solve her problems, she didn't push it.
She did learn that three months after Seth's disappearance, Sandy and Kirsten had left their house and moved to Berkeley.
"I think they blamed the town for what happened," Taryn confided to Julie, as if the mere idea was ridiculous.
Julie did what she was supposed to do; she nodded, made a commiserating gesture-Isn't it insane, really?-and shook her head sadly. "Such a loss."
Carson Ward had made his coming out in this world too, Julie heard, and at the same time as he had in her world. Luke had fallen apart soon after that-ostracized by the people he had called his friends, unable to find comfort in his parents, he had started drinking, and had bought a gun three months later, at a party in Palm Beach. One months after that, he had shot himself in a parking lot, just outside of Newport.
The bullet hadn't killed him, but he was in a coma and the doctors didn't think he would ever wake up.
"Carson is still beating himself up for it," Gladys said, with a knowing smile. "But then, I suppose he should."
Julie remembered the time when she had found these women funny and interesting, instead of mean and useless, and shivered at the thought that she had been like them-and that she was still acting like them, because no matter what, she wanted to be accepted by them too.
She thought fleetingly about Luke-she had always liked him, when he was dating Marissa, and when he and Julie had…
Well, it was all in the past now, in more ways than one, but she had to admit that she missed him sometimes. Sure, they didn't have a future together-how could they have? He had been seventeen, and she clearly hadn't.
But it had been nice to sleep with someone without worrying about the future, or anything at all.
Shaking off her thoughts, she focussed back on the Newpsies, who were now talking about Dr. Kim. "Did you know that she's been spotted at the Mermaid Inn last week?" Taryn asked, and several women giggled.
***
Two weeks flew by.
Julie had been accepted by these Newpsies, and Taryn had told her, privately, "I'm so happy you're getting over the funk you've been in, honey. I know it was hard for you to lose Marissa."
Julie had managed not to react as if she'd been hit, which was a progress, considering how fresh Marissa's death was for her.
She was dying to find a way to reverse what had been done, and she still didn't know where to begin.
When she had asked Caleb if he remembered the woman she had been speaking to at the party where it had all started, he had replied shortly that he didn't and to please stop bothering him with stuff like that.
She had never known the woman's name, so she couldn't try to Google it.
She couldn't go to the police without being asked questions she wouldn't know how to answer.
She couldn't trust a PI-she knew that Caleb had ears everywhere.
That left her with no idea what to do or who to turn to.
Kaitlin was almost never home, and when Julie had threatened to ground her, Kaitlin had retorted that she'd run away then. Julie hadn't insisted-she had already lost Marissa, she didn't even want to know what she'd do without Kaitlin too.
She had rarely felt so alone, so depressed and so useless.
Had all this really happened simply because someone or something had granted her wish that Ryan had never set a foot in Newport?
Was that kid really the reason why the Cohens were still living in "her" Newport?
Had that kid really made Julie's life better without her knowing it?
It seemed so unfair, so ridiculous, now.
She had threatened to send him back to jail, she had battled with her daughter almost every day because of that boy, and now, it seemed that she finally had what she wanted-Ryan was gone.
And so was Marissa.
So was the life she had always dreamed of.
So was everything she had ever known.
***
Since Fate seemed to enjoy making a mess of her life, it shouldn't have surprised Julie that she should meet Ryan again.
Still, it came as a shock when, three weeks after that fateful party, she spotted him at another party in L.A.
She almost thought she had dreamed at first-she just spotted a glimpse of him before he disappeared in the crowd.
She went in that direction, for reasons she couldn't even explain to herself, and found him-in a waiter costume, a plate in hand, smiling politely at a woman who was taking her time choosing from the food on the plate.
He raised his head and met her eyes, nodded slightly before turning his attention back to the woman who had finally made her choice-about damn time.
He came to Julie as soon as the other woman had gone.
"Do you want some?" he asked, offering her the plate.
His speech was slower than she remembered, and he was thinner than the last time she had seen him. He was avoiding eye-contact, but she could tell he was exhausted.
"Looks like you could use some yourself," she observed.
"I'm kind of working," he replied, sounding bored. Julie wondered how many flirty women he had already dealt with tonight, and if he was mistaking her with one of them.
"Are you even old enough to work?" she asked, making a show of looking him up and down.
She would have missed his reaction if she hadn't been watching him so attentively; a brief start, immediately covered by an assured smile. "I'm old enough to wait on rich people on the weekend, I'm old enough to pour concrete during the week, and now if you would please choose something, other people are waiting," he said, his tone barely polite.
She raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, instead picking up a hors-d'oeuvre-a tiny toast with cheese, if she wasn't mistaken.
"Thanks," she said.
"Yeah," he replied wearily, before heading to a nearby group of guests.
***
She didn't know what had possessed her to follow him.
All she knew was that somehow, Ryan missing from Newport had been enough to turn the world upside down, and now she wanted…
She didn't know what she wanted.
Or, well, yes, she did.
She wanted life to come back to normal.
How Ryan would be able to help her achieve that goal was beyond her, but everyone had always told her that Ryan's most redeeming quality was that he liked helping people, and now was as good a time as any to find out if all those people had been right.
He parked his car in front of an old apartment building and Julie parked farther up on the street, before following him from far away.
She saw him enter the lobby of the building and she waited a few seconds before following him in.
She didn't expect him to be waiting, arms crossed and a wary look on his face.
"Why are you following me?" he asked dryly, as Julie stopped dead in her tracks.
"I…"
Julie stopped short.
What the hell could she say?
I'm in the wrong world, there's been a mistake somewhere, and I know we've never met here, but I don't know who to ask for help, so for whatever reason, I thought I'd ask you.
It sounded stupid even to her, but she had come all this way-she had to give it a try.
He shot her a cold look before she could speak, though. "Look, I don't do whatever the hell it is you think I'm doing, so, go home okay?"
Julie felt herself blush. "I'm not… I just wanted…"
But she couldn't tell him anything yet-not like this, standing in a dark and deserted place, not without some preparation, not while he was looking at her with that much contempt; he'd think she was insane, and she understood now that she needed him to believe her.
She needed to tell her story to someone and she needed to be heard-it was a weakness to crave for that kind of human contact, but there it was.
He shook his head. "Go home, ma'am."
He walked to the stairs and started climbing, never looking back at her.
She watched him disappear from sight, feeling like she had failed and unable to come up with anything else to do.
Chapter Four
Author : Helen C.
Rating : PG-13
Summary : Julie makes a wish, and her wish is granted. An OC/Buffy The Vampire Slayer crossover.
Spoilers : Everything up to TDB is fair game.
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 Three
Julie spent the next few days carefully gathering data.
Knowledge was survival, she had learned so early in her life, and she had never needed information more than she did right now.
So, she went to Newpsie gatherings, where her friends shot strange looks at her but otherwise acted the way they always had.
Julie didn't ask questions, but she listened, and eventually she learned what she wanted-Newpsies, after all, liked to talk, at length, about everything.
No one ever mentioned Marissa in front of her, but it didn't matter; after all, she had learned what had happened to her daughter as soon as she had landed here.
But, she thought, perhaps that if she could learn what had happened to other people, she would be able to figure out how she had ended here, and where "here" was.
Seth, it turned out, had run away in September 2003, never to be seen again.
That didn't fit with what she knew-he had run nine months later in her world, when Ryan had left Newport to care for the girl he had impregnated. Julie wondered what had made Seth leave in this world, but since it probably wouldn't help her solve her problems, she didn't push it.
She did learn that three months after Seth's disappearance, Sandy and Kirsten had left their house and moved to Berkeley.
"I think they blamed the town for what happened," Taryn confided to Julie, as if the mere idea was ridiculous.
Julie did what she was supposed to do; she nodded, made a commiserating gesture-Isn't it insane, really?-and shook her head sadly. "Such a loss."
Carson Ward had made his coming out in this world too, Julie heard, and at the same time as he had in her world. Luke had fallen apart soon after that-ostracized by the people he had called his friends, unable to find comfort in his parents, he had started drinking, and had bought a gun three months later, at a party in Palm Beach. One months after that, he had shot himself in a parking lot, just outside of Newport.
The bullet hadn't killed him, but he was in a coma and the doctors didn't think he would ever wake up.
"Carson is still beating himself up for it," Gladys said, with a knowing smile. "But then, I suppose he should."
Julie remembered the time when she had found these women funny and interesting, instead of mean and useless, and shivered at the thought that she had been like them-and that she was still acting like them, because no matter what, she wanted to be accepted by them too.
She thought fleetingly about Luke-she had always liked him, when he was dating Marissa, and when he and Julie had…
Well, it was all in the past now, in more ways than one, but she had to admit that she missed him sometimes. Sure, they didn't have a future together-how could they have? He had been seventeen, and she clearly hadn't.
But it had been nice to sleep with someone without worrying about the future, or anything at all.
Shaking off her thoughts, she focussed back on the Newpsies, who were now talking about Dr. Kim. "Did you know that she's been spotted at the Mermaid Inn last week?" Taryn asked, and several women giggled.
***
Two weeks flew by.
Julie had been accepted by these Newpsies, and Taryn had told her, privately, "I'm so happy you're getting over the funk you've been in, honey. I know it was hard for you to lose Marissa."
Julie had managed not to react as if she'd been hit, which was a progress, considering how fresh Marissa's death was for her.
She was dying to find a way to reverse what had been done, and she still didn't know where to begin.
When she had asked Caleb if he remembered the woman she had been speaking to at the party where it had all started, he had replied shortly that he didn't and to please stop bothering him with stuff like that.
She had never known the woman's name, so she couldn't try to Google it.
She couldn't go to the police without being asked questions she wouldn't know how to answer.
She couldn't trust a PI-she knew that Caleb had ears everywhere.
That left her with no idea what to do or who to turn to.
Kaitlin was almost never home, and when Julie had threatened to ground her, Kaitlin had retorted that she'd run away then. Julie hadn't insisted-she had already lost Marissa, she didn't even want to know what she'd do without Kaitlin too.
She had rarely felt so alone, so depressed and so useless.
Had all this really happened simply because someone or something had granted her wish that Ryan had never set a foot in Newport?
Was that kid really the reason why the Cohens were still living in "her" Newport?
Had that kid really made Julie's life better without her knowing it?
It seemed so unfair, so ridiculous, now.
She had threatened to send him back to jail, she had battled with her daughter almost every day because of that boy, and now, it seemed that she finally had what she wanted-Ryan was gone.
And so was Marissa.
So was the life she had always dreamed of.
So was everything she had ever known.
***
Since Fate seemed to enjoy making a mess of her life, it shouldn't have surprised Julie that she should meet Ryan again.
Still, it came as a shock when, three weeks after that fateful party, she spotted him at another party in L.A.
She almost thought she had dreamed at first-she just spotted a glimpse of him before he disappeared in the crowd.
She went in that direction, for reasons she couldn't even explain to herself, and found him-in a waiter costume, a plate in hand, smiling politely at a woman who was taking her time choosing from the food on the plate.
He raised his head and met her eyes, nodded slightly before turning his attention back to the woman who had finally made her choice-about damn time.
He came to Julie as soon as the other woman had gone.
"Do you want some?" he asked, offering her the plate.
His speech was slower than she remembered, and he was thinner than the last time she had seen him. He was avoiding eye-contact, but she could tell he was exhausted.
"Looks like you could use some yourself," she observed.
"I'm kind of working," he replied, sounding bored. Julie wondered how many flirty women he had already dealt with tonight, and if he was mistaking her with one of them.
"Are you even old enough to work?" she asked, making a show of looking him up and down.
She would have missed his reaction if she hadn't been watching him so attentively; a brief start, immediately covered by an assured smile. "I'm old enough to wait on rich people on the weekend, I'm old enough to pour concrete during the week, and now if you would please choose something, other people are waiting," he said, his tone barely polite.
She raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, instead picking up a hors-d'oeuvre-a tiny toast with cheese, if she wasn't mistaken.
"Thanks," she said.
"Yeah," he replied wearily, before heading to a nearby group of guests.
***
She didn't know what had possessed her to follow him.
All she knew was that somehow, Ryan missing from Newport had been enough to turn the world upside down, and now she wanted…
She didn't know what she wanted.
Or, well, yes, she did.
She wanted life to come back to normal.
How Ryan would be able to help her achieve that goal was beyond her, but everyone had always told her that Ryan's most redeeming quality was that he liked helping people, and now was as good a time as any to find out if all those people had been right.
He parked his car in front of an old apartment building and Julie parked farther up on the street, before following him from far away.
She saw him enter the lobby of the building and she waited a few seconds before following him in.
She didn't expect him to be waiting, arms crossed and a wary look on his face.
"Why are you following me?" he asked dryly, as Julie stopped dead in her tracks.
"I…"
Julie stopped short.
What the hell could she say?
I'm in the wrong world, there's been a mistake somewhere, and I know we've never met here, but I don't know who to ask for help, so for whatever reason, I thought I'd ask you.
It sounded stupid even to her, but she had come all this way-she had to give it a try.
He shot her a cold look before she could speak, though. "Look, I don't do whatever the hell it is you think I'm doing, so, go home okay?"
Julie felt herself blush. "I'm not… I just wanted…"
But she couldn't tell him anything yet-not like this, standing in a dark and deserted place, not without some preparation, not while he was looking at her with that much contempt; he'd think she was insane, and she understood now that she needed him to believe her.
She needed to tell her story to someone and she needed to be heard-it was a weakness to crave for that kind of human contact, but there it was.
He shook his head. "Go home, ma'am."
He walked to the stairs and started climbing, never looking back at her.
She watched him disappear from sight, feeling like she had failed and unable to come up with anything else to do.
Chapter Four