Phoenix Slayer: CH 1 - Once upon a Time

Joyce Summers strolled to the door, putting her earrings on. It was her and Hank's first night out together since their daughter, Buffy had been born. She opened the door and welcomed the baby-sitter in to the Summers' Los Angeles home.

"Hi, you must be Shana. Come on in."

'Foolish woman,' Shana thought. 'For all she knew, I could have been a vampire.' "Hi, Mrs. Summers. I'd like to thank you for this chance." 'A chance that most fanfic writers would kill for, some literally.'

"You said that you were studying psychology? Am I right?"

"Yes. At UCLA." 'Liar, liar pants on fire!' 'Not completely. I did study psychology...fifteen years ago.' Shana was glad that her glamour was working, giving her the illusion of being a twenty-something year old instead of her true age.

A small figure thumped down the stairs in her jammies, clutching a stuffed pig, her blonde hair in pigtails. She stopped on the bottom step and looked at the baby-sitter with suspicion.

Shana Michaels lowered herself down to the would-be Slayer's eye level. "Hi, I'm Shana. You must be Buffy."

"Uh-huh," the 5-year old agreed hesitantly with all the eloquence of some one her age.

"And who is this handsome fella?" Shana asked, pointing at the pig.

"His name’s Mr. Gordo?" Buffy answered proudly.

"How do you do, Mr. Gordo?" Shana said, shaking the stuffed pig's paw.

Buffy grinned, instantly liking the baby-sitter. She took Shana's hand and started pulling her up the stairs.

Joyce smiled, handing Shana the emergency numbers and called out to her husband that she was ready to go.

Buffy led Shana into her room. Shana sat on the little girl's bed and looked around. 'Well, she hasn't gone through her Hamill stage yet,' she thought. She pondered the future Chosen One's life ten year from now. 'Her Calling, her first Watcher, her first Big Bad, the divorce, the move, Sunnydale and all it would mean for the next 7 years.' She smiled sadly.

Buffy climbed up on her bed and sat next to the woman, looking at her with bright eyes. "How come you look sad?"

"I'm just thinking about the future," Shana said vaguely.

"Well, when I'm sad, I talk to Mr. Gordo," Buffy offered.

Shana had to smile. 'Such innocence, she has no idea of what's to come.' "Well, Mr. Gordo, what does the future hold for our young friend here," Shana said, speaking to the pig, pointing to Buffy.

Buffy held the pig's head to her as if it were whispering to her. "He says fun, and that I'll be a super-hero," Buffy stated matter-of-factly.

"Does he?" Shana responded, awed by how close to the truth the small girl was. "So do you like any boys?" Shana asked, changing the subject. 'We can get into that much later.'

"No!" the Slayer-to-be squealed, giving a 'yuck' face to emphasize her point. "Boys are evil!"

Shana laughed, thinking about the 'evil' boy that would one day capture the Slayer's heart. "Fine, we'll stay off that topic for a while. So what do you want to do?"

"Tell me a story."

"Ok." Shana had sensed the small girl's tired movements, and her reluctance admit her sleepiness. "Okay, then get under the covers." Buffy quickly crawled up the bed, taking Mr. Gordo with her. She raised the covers and plopped on the other side, wriggling and squirming as only a small child that was excited can.

Shana removed her sneakers and socks and laid next to the small child. "Do you want me to read you a story or make one up?"

"Make one up!"

"'Kay. Let's see, how shall we start it?"

"Once upon a time," Buffy offered.

"Alright."

Buffy scooted over so she could lay her head on Shana's shoulder. Shana put her arm around Buffy in a hug, wishing she could protect the future Slayer from the truth within the "story" she was about to tell her.

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl who lived a normal life. She-"

"Was she a princess? Most stories have princesses in them," Buffy interjected.

"No, she wasn't a princess. She was more important and more powerful than that, but she didn't know it yet. Anyways, she lived a normal life, but that was about to change."

"How?"

"I'm getting to that. Be patient."

"Well, hurry up."

"Fine. The girl was approached by a man one day. He told her of her calling to fight evil, that she had been chosen by fate to kick major bad guy patoot." Shana closed her eyes, and watched in her mind's eye, she saw the day Buffy was called. She watched Angel looking on from his shadowed vantage point and his instant love for the Slayer. "She protested that it was impossible for her to have a destiny, but she was proved wrong, when in a battle for her life, she destroyed her adversary."

"Please stop using big words that I don't know. They make my head hurt."

"Sorry. Anyway, from that point on, she trained, honing her body into weapon, with reflexes better than Catwoman, because she had been a cheerleader for so many years. But she wasn't ready, for when she fought her first major bad guy, she could only look on helplessly as he killed the man who trained her. In the final fight against the monster, cuz that's what he was, she killed him and his flunkies by burning down the school gym."

"She looked down at the little girl beside her and found her asleep. Shana sighed and smiled. She kissed the future Slayer on the top of her head and slid off the bed, making sure she didn't wake her up, tucking her in and shutting off the light, placing Mr. Gordo in reach in case Buffy had a nightmare. Shana snuck downstairs and waited for the 'rents to return.