Creative Works   

Principal's Pet Peeve
By Dreamer
lalaland(at)crosslink.net

Summary: An alternate beginning for season three.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the BtVS characters they belong to Joss Whedon, WB, the Arrgghh people, etc.  I'm not making any money, so please don't sue.
Author's Notes: Just a little suggestion on how to start off the third season and to quell my feelings of malice towards Snyder.  HUGE thanks to my beta-readers Jenn C and Rachelle.

. . .

Snyder's first day in the 1998/99 school year (still summer for us)

Snyder looked at the reports of odd occurrences on his desk.  He couldn't believe it, there were more reports of paranormal anomalies then he had ever seen before in such a short amount of time.  How was he going to come up with explanations for parents and faculty, not to mention the press, for all these occurrences?  As he looked through the reports he realized a common link, none of them even mentioned the Summers girl, but all of them were connected in some way to her friends or that quiet librarian.  He couldn't understand it.  That Summers girl had been the cause of all the trouble.  Why had the occurrences more than doubled now that she was gone?  As he was struggling to think of an explanation for the third occurrence on his desk, the phone rang.

"Hello," he said sharply.

"Snyder!  Have you seen these reports??  What's going on down there?!?" a voice on the other end shouted at him.

"Oh, Mr. Mayor.  I was just taking a look at the reports."

"Have you come up with excuses for them yet?"

"Not all of them.  I'm afraid I just got started, but I'll --"

"What's the cause of all this??  Why have the incidents more than doubled?" the Mayor asked, becoming concerned.

"I don't know, I got rid of the trouble maker and she hasn't been seen in Sunnydale for weeks.  But, all the reports involve her friends or that troublesome librarian."

"The librarian, Mr. Giles?"

"Yes, sir."

"Don't trouble him, do you hear me?  If he asks for time off or to be left alone, do it!! Now-"

"WHAT?!?  Why?"

"He's on our side, goddamit!!"

"Oh," replied an adomonished Snyder.

"Now, you said you got rid of a trouble maker?" the Mayor asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, the Summers girl."

"Buffy Summers?!?!" the Mayor asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"YOU IDIOT!!!  She's been linked to all the trouble, because she's been stopping all the trouble.  She's the Slayer!"

"The S-s-s-slayer?!?"

"Yes and since *you* got rid of her, you are reassigned to finding her and convincing her to come back."

"Me???  But we've never gotten along.  She'd never listen to me."

"Well then start getting along.  Beg, grovel, BRIBE her if you have to just GET HER BACK!"

"Yes sir."

"I'll have my office send you the latest information on her whereabouts.  You can also ask Mr. Giles for extra information.  This is your last chance Snyder.  Find her and don't come back without her."  A distinct click is heard on the other end of the line.

Snyder slowly put down the phone as he looked at the pile of reports in front of him blankly.  He thought about how he and the Summers girl never got along and how he had always yelled at her at every chance.  He wondered how many times he had come very close to becoming beaten and battered or dead.  "Lots.  That Mr. Giles is probably the only one who stopped her a couple of times.  I still say she's trouble.  Now I'll just have to be more careful around her to make sure she doesn't lose her temper.  Innocent people could be hurt if a crazed teenage girl with slayer strength got loose.  Not in my school.  I'll keep an extra close eye on her to make sure that doesn't happen.  But first I have to find her and bring her back to where I can keep an eye on her."  Now he was determined to find her and he wasn't going to go groveling to that librarian for help either.  After all,  all he had to do was look for paranormal occurrences and he knew he would find her.

. . .

A few weeks later in the middle of New York

It had taken weeks of checking out paranormal anomalies, but he had finally found her through a news paper article.  Buffy had let her slayer instincts to save people take over.  A child had been stuck inside a burning build and Buffy went in after the child.  She got out by jumping out of a two story window onto solid pavement with the child in her arms.  Her slayer strength had enabled her to survive the landing with only a fractured ankle.  Her picture had been in the paper, so she moved after that, but once he had her trail he was able to track here.  Snyder peeked in the window, and darted out of sight when she looked in his direction.  Buffy was watering in a cafe, looking worn and years older.  He careful approached the manager, trying to keep out of her sight.  "When's that girl's shift end?" he asked the manager gesturing at Buffy.  The manager looked him up and down, then looked at his shapely new waitress.

"What's it to you, pal?" the manager asked.

"I want to talk to her," Snyder replied gruffly.

"Look, no handling the waitresses on or off duty unless they say so.  We ain't that kinda place, capese`?" the manager said gruffly, his voice raising slightly.

"No, no.  Quiet down, you imbecile.  I'm here on an official investigation.  It's believed she's involved," Snyder said, flashing a badge of some sort.

"Investigation uh??  Her shift ends at 6.  Now get out here, before you start scaring away the customers."  Snyder walked out and looked at his watch.  It was 5 o'clock.  He took a walk around the block and loitered outside until 6, when Buffy wearily came walking out.  She started walking down the street and he followed her until they came to a quiet area.  "Summers," he said.  Buffy spun around, faster than he would have thought her able.

"Principal Snyder?  What are you doing here?" Buffy asked.

"I came to tell you to come back to Sunnydale.  I expelled you from school, not from town."

"I'm not going back," she said turning around and walking away.

"You have to," he commanded to her retreating back.

"I'm not in school anymore.  You can't give me orders," she said spinning around and facing him.  Snyder was about to make a retort, but saw her clenched fists and calmed himself by taking a deep breath, instead.

"Please, come back," he said between gritted teeth.

"Why should I?  So you can expel me again?"

"No.  Because you're needed."

"What do you mean?" she said suspiciously.

"You know what I mean!" he practically shouted at her.  His temper getting the better of him.

"Tell me anyway," she said.

Snyder looked around suspiciously, for any eavesdroppers.  "Sunnydale's sitting on a Hellmouth.  Peopl--"

"YOU KNEW!?!?" she shouted pinning him to a wall.  "You knew, we were sitting on the Hellmouth and yet you tried to stop me from saving people??"

"I didn't know you were trying to save people, I thought you were just another bad kid created as a side effect of the Hellmouth."

"Then what made you change your mind?" Buffy asked.

"I had some new information given to me."

"Who gave you this new information and how much do you know?"

"The Mayor told me you were the slayer and that Mr. Giles is on our side.  Nothing more."

"The Mayor know's?!?  God, why don't you people just give me a name tag saying 'I'm the Slayer.  A good guy!'  Then maybe I wouldn't be fighting people on my own side.  God!  How many people know?"

"The Mayor, the police chief, a few City council members.  Probably about that many in every city with paranormal occurrences."  Buffy stared at him dumb founded.

"Well, you can tell them all that this slayer has taken up residence in New York.  Good bye," Buffy says turning her back.

"No wait!!  We need you!" Snyder said starting to panick.

"Need me, huh?" Buffy says with a wicked smile.

"Yes."

"How would *you* know if I was needed in Sunnydale?" Buffy said disdainfully.

"The paranormal occurrences have more than doubled."

"Doubled, huh?  But, I thought you wanted to get rid of me."

"No!"

"But you were always trying to get rid of me."

"Yes, well.  I'm sorry about that.  I told you I didn't know!"

"So you made a mistake?  Maybe didn't tell your superiors who your were getting rid of, hmm?"

"Yes.  They didn't know," Snyder said akwardly.

"What about the police?  I'm still a suspect for Kendra's murder."

"That was settled weeks ago, when Harris gave testimony that he saw someone else kill her."

"But the police are still looking for me!  I've almost been caught 3 times, since I left Sunnydale."

"That was the Mayor's office trying to track you down."

"Well why would I want to come back, if you were always trying to expel me?"

"I won't try to expel you anymore, but I will be keeping my eye on you.  If anyone dies, I'll know who didn't prevent it."  Buffy sighed, realizing she wasn't going to get anymore groveling out of him.

"Fine.  I'll come back, but I want first class plane tickets back to Sunnydale and I want Giles to get a raise."

"I can't give him a raise!!"

"Oh well, guess I'm back to waiting tables," Buffy said turning around again.

"FINE!!  I'll talk to the Mayor."

"And the tickets?"

"I'll get them," Snyder growled.

"Good.  Give me the address to your hotel and I'll stop by as soon as the sun rises in the morning to catch my flight.  Oh, and I don't want to sit next to you on the flight," Buffy said.  Snyder quickly jotted down the address to his hotel and gave it to her.  She smiled and started walking away.  "Be sure to get back before dark," she called over her shoulder, "I wouldn't want my free plane ticket to be drained of his blood."

Snyder scowled as he walked back to his hotel.  Well, at least everything would be back to normal very soon.  And Summers would be back where he could keep an eye on her.

. . .

The End

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