FIC: Episode 2 in T.C.P.S. "I Once Was Lost, But Now I'm Found." (4/8)

[Heather & Kimber <kacoe@xxxxxxx>]

TITLE: Episode 2 in T.C.P.S. "I Once Was Lost, But Now I'm Found." (4/8)
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 2 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.
BETA READER: Kieran. woo hoo! a.k.a "Captain, our Captain!" You rock!
AUTHORS NOTES:
Thoughts enclosed in <. . .>
Flashbacks enclosed in ((. . .))
Emphasis is denoted with *. . .*

--------

As the bog-beast lumbered off into the night with his two companions, she stepped out from
behind the jungle gym. Shaking her head and smiling, she now knew why the Slayer held
such affection towards the redhead. She was endearing to say the least. Not to mention
stubborn, willful and smart. On top of all that, she was a witch and a computer hacker.
<Nothing should surprise me at this point. This is a unique little group and I'm
beginning to like them more and more.> She had now seen the Slayer and the Hacker. All
that was left was the musician, the socialite and the 'comic relief', as her notes
stated. <And the other Slayer of course.> She reminded herself. <That's the whole
reason you're here. For the other Slayer.>

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

The Bronze was packed tonight. Dingos Ate My Baby were on stage and in full swing of one
of their best sets in a long time. Oz grinned thinly to himself as he looked out on the
crowd. <I wish Willow was here> he mused. He knew she was up to something with Giles and
some sort of witchcraft. That much was obvious. What it was exactly, well, that was
another story all together. Ever since their misunderstanding almost a week ago, Willow
hadn't mentioned researching spells again. It worried him. She could get hurt, or even
worse, killed.

The band finished up their first set and it was time for a ten-minute break. Oz hopped
off the stage and made his way over to the payphone. After about ten rings he hung up.
There was no answer at Willows, which could only mean that she was off with Buffy.
Again. This disturbed him slightly, though he tried to understand. Willow had missed her
all summer and it was only natural that they'd be spending a lot of time together now. He
paused and sniffed. There was an almost familiar scent in the air, but he couldn't quite
put his finger on what it was.

"You guys were great." A husky voice remarked from behind him.

Oz turned around. "Thanks."

"You play here a lot?" She smiled.

He nodded. "Sometimes."

"I'm new in town." She cocked her head to the side. "Not much for conversation, are
you?"

Oz shrugged. "You could say that." He put his hand out to her. "Oz."

She took his hand. When they touched, she smiled and looked over at him with a glint in
her eye. "Veruca."

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

"What exactly do you expect Giles to do with Andre the Giant over there?" Buffy pointed
to Clarence.

Rather than go toe to toe with her again, Clarence decided to just glare.

"His name is Clarence." Willow gave the Slayer an exasperated look. "I don't know Buffy,
maybe Giles knows where heartbroken bog-beasts go after having a fight with their mate. I
couldn't just leave him there. He was so sad." She glanced over at Clarence who gave her
a smile of appreciation. "Besides, bog-beasts aren't really indigenous to this area.
They mostly stay around Louisiana. He's *way* out of his element. Im not sure he would
even know where to look, and we live here so we should be able to find her and&"

Clarence perked up at this information. "How did you know that? That's very impressive,
little witch."

Willow smiled at him again. "Giles has a whole bunch of books on demons, monsters and
mythological creatures. They're generally considered fiction but, this being Sunnydale,
I've learned that the line between fantasy and reality tends to get real blurry."

"I'd hate to interrupt your bonding time." Buffy stopped short and pulled a stake out of
her jacket. "Vamps at 2 o'clock." Buffy assessed their position quickly. "It's a whole
gaggle of 'em too." She took a bottle of holy water out of her jacket and handed it to
Willow. "Try and stay out of it. I don't want you hurt."

As the Slayer ran off into the middle of the vampires, Clarence looked down at Willow.
"Does she do *that* often also?"

"What?"

"Well, to the casual observer, one would think that she has an inferiority complex of some
sort." He rubbed his chin in thought. "She feels as though she must prove her worth in
front of you for fear of rejection."

Willow smiled. "No, she's the Slayer, Clarence. It's her job to poof vampires. She's
not proving anything to me."

"Well, where I come from it's a mating ritual." He remarked casually.

Willow's jaw dropped open at this. Before she had a chance to answer, or even recover
from it, another figure came bolting into the middle of the fight with the vampires. She
watched as both figures fought side by side, effectively dusting all of the remaining
un-dead in almost record time. Willow grabbed Clarence's hand. "Come on."

---------

"Thanks. But I was handling it." Buffy, a little winded, looked over to her dark haired
companion.

"Yeah? I suppose you wanted that hickey?" Faith pointed to Buffy's neck.

She reached up to her neck and brought her hand back, looking at the blood. "Damn."

"Buffy, you're hurt!" Willow ran up to her.

"Whoah. What's with the jolly green giant?" Faith asked.

Clarence rolled his eyes.

Giles came rushing out to the front yard with a crossbow in hand. "Faith, are you alri
He caught sight of Clarence. "Oh, dear."

"Will, I'm fine. Just a little off my game I guess." Buffy turned her gaze to Giles.
"Care to explain?" She gestured to Faith.

"Looks to me like your game left the country," Faith smirked. "You first Blondie.
What's with bigfoot over there?" Faith took on a defensive stance. "Don't tell me you
belong to the 'humane treatment of demons society.'"

Clarence stalked up to Faith who remained in position. "Is rudeness a requirement among
Slayers? You're lucky I'm a gentleman and don't slime you for that comment."

"Just try it, fungus-boy." Faith narrowed her eyes at him.

"His name is Clarence." Willow glared at the dark haired girl. "He's a bog-beast, *not*
a demon." She looked over at Buffy also.

"Yes, well, if we could all go to the courtyard, I'm sure everything will be explained."
Giles finally decided. He knew that having a seven-foot bog-beast in his living room
wasn't going to fair well on his hardwood floors. "Willow, you can bring your, um,
friend, as well."

---------

"Buffy. This is Faith," Giles said once they all found a seat in the courtyard.
Clarence opted to squat next to the fountain that never seemed to be working. Willow
promptly went inside to get the first aid kit.

She nodded to Faith and turned her gaze to her Watcher. "So, what apocalyptic fun do you
have in store for me this week? Cause another Slayer showing up? Gotta be nothing but
badness there." Buffy smiled weakly at Faith. No offense or anything. Thanks for the
help with the slayage back there, by the way.

Faith just studied Buffy. No expressions, or emotion, just cool detached professionalism.
No worries. Faith said evenly, as she turned her attention back to the British watcher.

"As a matter of fact, there isn't anything resembling an apocalypse coming up at all."
Giles removed his glasses. "I suppose one would say that you're in for a bit of a dry
spell." He sat down at the table and opened a book. "Which is fortunate in both of your
cases. You'll be able to get used to working with each other and patrolling. At least
until Faith is assigned a new Watcher from the Council."

The last statement struck Buffy in a way that she couldn't describe. She knew that being
assigned a new Watcher could only mean one thing, and from the look on the other Slayer's
face and the various bandages she wore, it had happened recently and right in front of
her.

Buffys face softened slightly. <We have something in common then. > She thought to
herself, as she remembered her first watcher.

Willow chose this moment to come out of Giles' place with a first aid kit in tow. She
walked over to Buffy and gestured to the chair next to Giles. "Sit."

"Will, I Buffy began. She realized quickly it was futile when Willow shifted into
'resolve face'. "Okay, okay fine." She sat down. "You've used that face on me twice
tonight, you know. I'll be lucky if I don't get nightmares."

"Shush." Willow attempted a glare, but it came out as an amused smirk.

"Willow, about your, um, friend." Giles looked over at her.

"Clarence." The dark green bog-beast stated.

"Yes, ah, Clarence. What seems to be your situation? As far as my understanding goes,
bog-beasts aren't"

"Indignant to the area. Will already covered it, Giles." Buffy hissed a little as the
peroxide came in contact with the two small puncture wounds. "What are we supposed to do
with him?"

Willow smiled to herself at Buffy's mispronouncing of the word but let it slide. "His
mate is missing. I just thought that you'd know where she might have gone, Giles. I
mean, you knew about Willie's and"

"While I appreciate your trust in my resources, Willow, off the top of my head I can't
think of a place to start." Giles gave her an apologetic look. "I'd suggest that Buffy
and Faith patrol tomorrow night, go over to Willie's and try to get some information."

"Who's Willie?" Faith asked, finally deciding to join the conversation.

"He runs a slimy little bar on the outside of town. Kind of a pub for demons. Willie's
pulled through a few times with valuable information& well, after I pummeled him and
trashed the place." Buffy smiled.

"So we hit Willie's after patrol tomorrow. Cool. I'm game." Faith hopped off the
table. "I'm tired G-man. Think I'll be hittin the sack but not before I grab something
else to eat. Isn't it crazy how slayin makes you hungry and horny?" She directed her
comment to Buffy then disappeared into Giles' place and closes the door.

Giles and Willow looked at her. "What?" Buffy asked. "I crave a. . .yogurt after patrol
sometimes. No big."

"About Clarence." Giles decided a change of subject wouldnt be a bad idea. "Do you have
someplace to stay this evening?"

"I prefer the woods. Thank you for asking but Ill be fine." Clarence smiled and rose to
his feet. "Thank you for your offer of assistance. Anything you find out will be
appreciated. I shall retire for the evening now." He turned to Willow and took her tiny
hand into his enormous one. "Good night little witch." He lumbered up the stairs and was
gone.

"He's quite well spoken." Giles commented.

"I think we're gonna call it a night too, Giles." Buffy rose to her feet. "I'll walk
Will home then head off myself. Library at sunset?"

"Yes, that would be fine." Giles got up himself and gave his Slayer a look of concern.

"What is it Giles? You have worry-face."

"I don't need to remind you, Buffy, that while Faith is here, it must be a partnership.
She's been through quite a difficult time and could probably use the support of someone
who has been through the same."

"I caught that Giles. Don't worry, I'll look out for her." Buffy smiled softly and gently
squeezed his arm. Then she turned and walked out of the courtyard, gently teasing Willow
about bog beasts and crushes as they left.

Giles watched them leave, once again feeling a rush of pride towards his Slayer. His face
darkened once more as her remembered his houseguest. She was going to be a tough one. <I
hope her watcher is a little bit more sensitive than the usual lot, or we are in for a
hell of a ride.> Giles thought to himself, with no small amount of dread. Sighing softly
he took a deep breath of the night air, and turned and went inside to settle in his new
charge, and call the Watchers Council.

Its going to be a long night, he muttered as he closed the door behind him.