FIC: Episode 1 in T.C.P.S. "Home is Where the Stake is." (1/6)

[~~Kimber <kacoe@xxxxxxx>]

TITLE: Episode 1 in T.C.P.S. "Home is Where the Stake is." (1/6)
AUTHORS: Heather (nerdgurrl@xxxxxxxxx) & ~~Kimber (kacoe@xxxxxxx)
DISCLAIMER: All recognizable characters from the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer
belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Any additional characters mentioned are the
property of the authors and may not be used without permission. This arrangement of words
in cyberspace is also owned by the authors and may not be displayed, copied, quoted from
or used without permission. This is a work of fiction done for enjoyment and the authors
who are in no way receiving monetary compensation for their efforts.
SUMMARY: Episode 1 in Heather and Kimber's "Convergent Paths Series". The alternate
universe version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
SPOILERS: Season one thru four including all season five speculations.
DISTRIBUTION: None. Lists only.
AUTHORS NOTES:
Thoughts enclosed in <. . .>
Flashbacks enclosed in ((. . .))
Emphasis is denoted with *. . .*

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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. . .

"What's going on? Where are we?" Angel reached out and touched Buffy's arm. "You're
hurt. Buffy. Oh God, I feel like I haven't seen you in months." Angel reached for her
again. "Everything is so muddled, I. . ." He pulled her into an embrace and kisses her
shoulder.

Buffy hugs him back, now aware that the soul-cursing spell worked and he is no longer
Angelus. A sob escapes from her throat when she hears the low rumble of Acathla and
watches as a vortex to hell opens from the stone demon's mouth.

Angel lets go of her and looks confused. "What's happening?"

Buffy tried to reassure him. "Don't worry about it." She whispered. She brushed her
fingers over his lips and across his cheek. She laid her hand on his cheek and kissed him
softly. He returned the kiss, and it became more passionate. Behind them, the vortex had
grown to five feet across and continued to get larger. Buffy broke off the kiss and
looked deeply into Angel's eyes and whispers. "I love you."

Angel whispers back. "I love you."

She touched his lips gently. "Close your eyes."

She nodded reassuringly, and he closes his eyes. She tries hard not to start crying, and
kisses him again gently. She steps back, draws back her sword, and thrusts it into his
chest. His eyes whip open in surprise and pain, and a bright light emanates from the
sword. She steps away from him. He reaches out to her and looks down at the sword thrust
completely through him.

Behind him, the power of the sword begins to swirl into the vortex. Buffy steps further
back, still looking only at the sword in his chest and not into his face. The vortex has
enlarged to about twelve feet across, and the two energies begin to interact. Angel still
holds out his hand to Buffy. When the vortex finally meets him, it suddenly closes into
Acathla's mouth without so much as a spark, taking him with it. Buffy stared at the stone
demon for a long moment, and began to realize what she had just done and sobs.

The next day, Buffy's friends are gathered together talking before class. Willow looks
around for her and comments none too convincingly. "She'll be here in a while. I'm sure
of it." They all turn and head into the school.

Buffy is watching them from behind a tree. She gazed at the school sadly as a light
breeze sweeps her back. She turns around and walks away down the street without looking
back. She walks to the bus station, purchases a one-way ticket, and boards the bus.

As the bus makes its way down the road and past her house on Rovello Drive, she looks
calmly out the window seemingly in peace. A faint smile plays across her face for a split
second as they approach a two lane highway and pass a sign that reads: NOW LEAVING
SUNNYDALE. Come back soon!

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Tired, worn out and disheveled, A tiny girl with shoulder length blonde hair and deep
hazel eyes that belied her youth, stepped off the bus and back into the world she ran from
what seemed like so long ago. While it felt like years, Buffy Summers had actually been
gone only three months. She was and is the Slayer. The one girl in the entire world
pre-destined to fight the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness. Vampire dustings,
demon killings, and prophecy fulfillment were part of her everyday life. Well, that is
until her vampire boyfriend had a moment of happiness and went on a killing spree
hell-bent on ending the world. Thats where things got complicated.

Angel was no more, and where the kind soul of a man once dwelled, Angelus the Scourge of
Europe moved in. Angelus forced her to fight him, forced her to trade barbs and insults
and punches with the man she once called lover and friend. His devious plan unfolded over
the course of her junior year of high school and culminated into one of the biggest and
most important fights of her life. It was a fight to save the world, something she had
done in the daily routines of vampire slayage, and while the winner would walk away and
live to fight another day, the loser would die.

As the gate of hell opened, Angelus once again became Angel thanks to Buffy's witchy
friend Willow. She re-cursed him with his human soul, for Buffy and for the world, even
though he was the reason she was sitting in a hospital bed feeling as if her head was two
sizes too big.

Buffy sighed as she made her way down the familiar street through the center of town.
Every detail, every smell, and every bruise from the fight still etched firmly in her
mind. She would never forget the look on Angel's face as he came back into himself nor
the almost physical pain she felt when she realized he was truly gone.

She couldn't handle it. Couldn't handle the looks on her friends' faces, the sympathy
they would feel knowing she had sent her lover to hell. So, she did the one thing that
she could think of. She ran. She bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles and left the
vampires, demons and forces of evil behind, as well as her friends. All of that and all
of them ceased to exist in her everyday life and she was simply 'Anne'. She had taken on
her middle name while in L.A. to escape it all. Escape the destiny, the duty, and the
pain of everything she had gone through last year. It felt good to not be someone for a
change, to not be Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While the anonymous lifestyle was appealing,
she knew it wouldn't last. That's why she saved up enough money to purchase another
one-way ticket, this time back home. Back to Sunnydale California where her friends and
duty awaited her.

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"Hey Will. Catch!" Xander tossed a small bottle of holy water in the general direction
of his best friend and fellow Slayerette, Willow Rosenberg.

The bottle landed about two feet short of its mark. "Thanks Xand." She smirked and
picked the bottle up off the floor.

He gave her a sheepish grin and went back to rummaging through the large oak chest for
more supplies. "Hey! I've been looking for this." He retrieved a compact crossbow and a
few wooden arrows. "Haven't seen it in months. Sweet." He nodded his head in
appreciation and looked down the barrel. "Take that you vampires! Shhhhhh, poof!" He
aimed at the wall and pretended to pull the trigger. Smiling in satisfaction of his mock
dusting, he blew on the tip of the crossbow, pleased with himself.

Willow looked up with a bemused expression. "Xander, last time you used that thing you
almost shot yourself in the foot." She walked up to him and took the weapon. "Besides,
it's Buffy's favorite and I'm sure she'd be real cranky if you busted it. Again." She
gave him a reprimanding look then put the crossbow back in the chest.

"Well, you know what they say. A cranky Slayer is a dangerous slayer." He rubbed his
chin for a moment in contemplation. "You know, I didn't really think about it before.
With us doing the majority of the slayage, we kind of took Buffy's crankiness for
granted. The more cranky she got the more vamps she dusted. Maybe there's a lesson in
there somewhere."

Willow frowned at him. "Xander. You broke the past tense rule again."

"I just meant that in the past we took it for granted and, uh, when she gets back we
won't."

"Hey." Oz walked into the room with a duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

"Oz." Willow smiled and went to greet him. "How was practice?"

"Ah, pretty much the same. Devon's having issue's again. Can't seem to get the e-minor
diminished seventh chord down." Willow nodded her head but had a look of confusion on her
face. "It's a man's chord. What we all strive for."

"So Oz, ready for the usual slayage tonight?" Xander took the bag from him and began to
stuff it with supplies.

"Absolutely."

Willow perked up at this. "Yeah, cause, you know, we're getting better. Soon we'll be
unstoppable."

Xander smirked and zipped up the bag. "Yeah, we only lost three of them last night."

"Four," Oz interjected.

Willow shrugged. "Who's keeping count? Not me. So, we ready to hit the dusty road?"
She smiled at them.

Oz took her hand in his. "My van's outside. Let go."

"Hey!" Xander ran to catch up with them. "Don't forget we have to-"

"Pick up Cordelia." Willow rolled her eyes. "How could we forget Xand? You've only
mentioned it ten times."

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