FIC: Episode 1 in T.C.P.S. "Home is Where the Stake is." (4/6)

[~~Kimber <kacoe@xxxxxxx>]

TITLE: Episode 1 in T.C.P.S. "Home is Where the Stake is." (4/6)
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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Buffy was dreaming. Normally, when a Slayer dreamed, she almost had a sworn duty to be
wigged and at the ready to do battle with the evil thing of the week. This wasn't one of
those dreams. Buffy was dreaming about home and how much she missed it. Her mother's
pancakes, the way her sheets smelled after just coming out of the laundry, Bronzing with
the gang, Xander's goofy grin, Willow's adorable babbling and even Giles' tweed of all
things! All of these images floated on the edge of her mind as she felt herself emerging
into consciousness.

She rolled over to look at the clock and vaguely noted that it looked just like the one in
her room. As a matter of fact, a lot of familiar smells and sights assaulted her senses
all at once. <Noon  Ugh. Way to oversleep, Buff.>

She opened her eyes just a little bit more. Nope, it wasn't a dream. There was her lamp
and her clock and Mr. Gordo was obediently perched a top her stereo. She was really home
and boy did it feel good.

"Do you plan on sleeping the whole day away?" her mother asked from the doorway.

"Mom, wow you're, um, there. . .and I'm here. . .in my bed," Buffy commented
distractedly.

Joyce gave her daughter a suspicious look. Buffy noticed how garbled she just sounded and
smiled. "I mean, good morning! I thought I was dreaming about being home but," she
looked around for a moment, "behold the reality of it."

Joyce smiled. "Well, when youre through with your reality check, would you mind running
to the basement for your mother and grabbing the company plates? I invited your friends
over for dinner tonight. I thought you could all use some re-bonding time, monster free,
of course."

"Mom, Will and the gang aren't company plate people. They're normal plate people. I'll
bet they won't even mind if you broke out the paper plates and plastic utensils." Buffy
smiled. "Besides, I have to patrol tonight and. . ."

"Mr. Giles already gave you the night off. He said that Xander, Willow, Oz and Cordelia
could 'sweep' the usual places before heading over here, whatever that means. As for the
plates, you're just trying to get out of cleaning them later and it's not gonna work."
Joyce walked over to the bed and pulled the covers off of her. "Why don't you give Willow
a call? I'm sure she'd love to spend some time with you."

Buffy made a face. "Willow's being. . .very un-Willowy right now."

Joyce nodded seeming to understand. "Try talking to her." And with that she walked back
out of the room.

-------------

Buffy back into her room after spending two hours with her mother in the basement. Maybe
it wasn't such a great idea to not brag about her Slayer powers.

She flopped down on the bed and decided to give Willow a call.

"Hello?"

"Will! My best hacker bud. You, me, mochas in an hour. You game?"

Willow hedged for a moment. "I don't know, Buffy. I. . .I have some. . .stuff to do
before I get there for dinner and. . ."

"Aww, come on Will. It won't take long. My treat?" Buffy added hopefully.

Willow sighed. "Well, alright. But not too long."

"Great! See you at the Espresso Pump in an hour."

Buffy hung up the phone a little dismayed and excited at the same time. On the one hand,
she would get the chance to spend some time alone with Willow, but on the other she had to
practically beg to get it.

In the time that she was away, Buffy's thoughts strayed to Willow on more than one
occasion. She could still picture her there in the hospital room, a bandage on her
forehead and looking much paler than usual. Even with a big bump on her head, Willow put
herself on the line for Buffy and brought Angel back.

Now all Buffy wanted to do was spill everything to Willow. Tell her about how it felt,
why she left, why she didn't call and how she thought about the gang every day.

Buffy pulled a leather bound book out of her backpack. Ever since she could remember, she
doodled. Soon, those doodles turned into sketches and those sketches turned into her
escape. While she was gone, Buffy found herself coming home from waitressing at the diner
and sketching the gang for hours from memory. As she flipped through the pages now she
smiled. There was one of Xander with his arms against the branch of a tree, one of Cordy
leaning up against a wall in school, Giles standing near the book cage, even Oz made it to
the page with one of his silly poses in the library. Last but not least was a picture of
Willow. This was Buffy's favorite picture of all, and not just because Will was in it.
It was the expression on her face. It was one of those expressions she kept in reserve
for extra scoops of rocky road ice cream with gummy bears on top. It was a look of pure
joy.

Buffy saw that look on her witchy friend's face only a few times  and most of those
times, Oz was somewhere in the vicinity.

Buffy tore the page out of the book without a second thought and decided that she was
going to give it to Willow when they met for coffee. Maybe she would be a bit more
forgiving if she saw how much Buffy missed her and the gang while she was gone. Maybe
she'd be able to put into words just what it was she went though, and how glad she was now
to be back.

-------

Willow was rushing around her room. She was going to be late, there was no way around it.

"Wills? Come on, shake your tail!" Xander called from the front porch.

"Two minutes Xander, I have to make a phone call," Willow called to him as she poked her
head out the balcony. She picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Summers, it's Willow."

"Hi, Willow. You just missed Buffy."

"I was hoping to catch her. I. . .I can't make it. Something came up. Let her know I'm
sorry and I'll see her at dinner. Please?"

"Sure. Is everything okay? I mean, she was really looking forward to seeing you."

"Everything's fine. . I, I just can't make it."

"Alright, I'll give her the message. Take care and see you tonight."

Willow no sooner hung up the phone and she was in motion. Grabbing her gym bag on the way
out the door, she whirled around only to knock into Xander who was pacing on the front
porch.

"Geez, Will. You know how he gets when we're late. What took you so long?"

"I know, Xander. I had to make a phone call. Come on or well be even later " She
grabbed his arm and they ran down the street.

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Buffy chose the best seat in the house so she could spot Willow the minute she walked in.
She purchased two mochas just the way they liked them. And she waited. She bought two
more mochas after she drank the first two. Then waited some more. Finally, four mochas
and an hour and a half later she began to realize Willow wasn't gonna show. <Man, you are
slow sometimes. You know that? Cordelia slow. You've been downing mochas like water for
the past hour and a half, willing the door to open and hoping to make a certain redhead
appear behind it. Think. Willow's never late unless she means to be. Do you really think
she's gonna show?>

Buffy got up and walked out the door. She stood there for ten more minutes, looking down
both sides of the street every now and then. <This is. . .so un-Willowy.> She sighed and
ran her hands though her hair. Finally ready to give up, she made her way down the street
back home. She crumbled up the drawing and tossed it in the first trashcan she came
across. <It was a stupid idea anyway. She doesn't even know I can draw.>

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A woman watched the play of emotions on the Slayer's face from across the street. She
found it interesting. It never surprised her at how wrapped up humans could get in their
emotions. She strolled casually towards the corner and lifted the crumpled sketching out
of the can. She smoothed it out and examined it with a chuckle. Some things never
changed, especially with Slayers. This one was an artist, there was no doubt in her mind
of the affection she held for the subject. At least she wasn't an opera fan like the last
one he was assigned to. She was sure she'd go mad if she heard Handel's "Messiah" one
more time, which was ironic given her calling. She shuddered to think about the Slayer
before that too. Just how many latch hook rugs did one person need anyway? It was of no
consequence now. She had studied the files enough to get the distinct feeling that she
was going to enjoy this assignment.

---------

It was after dinner. According to Scooby rules, that usually consisted of a chocolatey
chocolate something and conversation that lasted well into the night. The chocolate was
taken care of thanks to the culinary brilliance of Joyce and Betty Crocker. The
conversation was, to say the least, lacking somewhat.

"So," Xander began.

"Yeah, um so," Cordy agreed.

"I'm excited about school. It starts in a week you know. Everyone got their pencils
sharpened?" Willow tried the 'safe subject' approach.

"Not me. Mom has to make an appointment with His Gruesomeness to see if I can get back
in. Until then, I'm at home Buffy. Well, unless he dies or something."

"Buffy!" Joyce stopped in her tracks with a tray of hot cocoa balanced precariously in
her hands.

"Joking mom. Just joking." She put her hands up in defense.

"I sure hope so. Mr. Giles, would you give me a hand with bringing the cake in?" She
made motion towards the kitchen.

Giles got up and followed her. "Um, certainly. The, um, cake."

"And then there were four," Cordy remarked. The minutes ticked away and it finally got to
her. She stood up. "Alright, that's it. If no one else is gonna ask, then I will. Why
did you leave?" She looked at Buffy. "I mean, one minute you're all super-Slayer out to
save the world, then the next your Jack Keruac."

They all gave her a confused look.

"'On the Road?' Am I the only one who did some reading this summer, people?"

"Cordy," Xander interrupted.

"No, Xander. She left! And left us with the Slaying, which is murder on my manicure,
mind you. And now we're all supposed to act like nothing happened? Super-Buffy's back
and we're supposed to bow?"

"No, you're not, Cordy. But I did expect you to, maybe, understand and cut me a little
slack here." Buffy was on her feet now.

"We came, we slayed. Don't you think you owe us a little bit of an explanation, Buff?"
Xander joined in. "Do you have any idea what your mom went through for three months?
What we all went through? Every time Giles got a lead and thought it would end with
finding out you he hopped on a plane. Did you know that?"

"You had three months of slack, Buffy," Willow commented a little hurt. "I mean, you
left. . .you didnt even say goodbye or anything. Just. . .poof!"

"Oh, not you too, Will. I can't take this from you too." Buffy walked towards the stairs
and spotted Oz on the couch watching with detached interest. "How about you? Care to
weigh in on this??"

He thought for a second. "No, I'm good."

Buffy shook her head. At least Oz was still unflappable. She continued towards the
stairs. "I can't take this from you guys now. Maybe I should have never come back."

-----------

"I have to go in there."

"No, you don't. Let them argue. It's been coming for quite sometime." Giles stood in
front of the kitchen door. "They'll work it out; they always do."

Joyce looked at him desperately. She'd try anything at this point.

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