FIC: Episode 2 in T.C.P.S. "I Once Was Lost, But Now I'm Found." (6/8)

[Heather & Kimber <kacoe@xxxxxxx>]

TITLE: Episode 2 in T.C.P.S. "I Once Was Lost, But Now I'm Found." (6/8)
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 *. . .*

---------

The chosen two walked along the moon lit street in an uncomfortable silence.

Faith. Buffy said cautiously Is it just my imagination, or do my friends make you kinda
twichy?

Faith looked at Buffy sideways, her face as impassive as always. Naw, your friends are
five-by-five. Im just not a plays well with others kinda girl.

Buffy looked pointedly at the stake that she was fidgeting with. I thought you told Giles
that you didnt mind working with me, Buffy said softly.

Faith shook her head, and continued to walk down the street, her eyes never stopped
moving, never stopped scanning for trouble. Its cool that were partners in the slaying
gig, I dont mind having another Slayer watch my back, but everything else& the whole
friend thing& its not my bag.

Buffy hesitantly put a hand on Faiths arm. "Come on Faith. Everyone needs friends, even a
bad-ass leather Slayer." Buffy gave her a soft smile as she jokingly tugged on faith's
leather jacket. Maybe especially bad-ass leather Slayers," Buffy finished quietly.

Faith slowly stepped back from Buffy, relinquishing contact. "That may be true..." Faith
said softly, then her face hardened once more, walls firmly in place. "But this is the way
it has to be now. You dig?" she said firmly. Then she stuck her tongue in her cheek.
"So, are we done bonding, B? There are vamps out there with my name on em, you game?"

Buffy smiled slightly, knowing that now was the time for a strategic retreat. "I'm game."

The duo began to walk toward the street in silence.

"Hey Faith?" Buffy called softly.

"Yeah B?"

Buffy continued walking, focusing on the street ahead. "When your ready... you know, for
friends and stuff, I'm here...we all are."

Faith smiled softly for a second, and then it was gone. "I know." She replied, and kept
walking to their destination.

-----------

Willow let out the breath that she didnt realize she was holding, as silence permeated
the library. She could feel the tension that surrounded the dark haired Slayer, but she
saw the look of determination in Buffys eyes as the duo walked away, and knew that Buffy
would try to talk to Faith. <If anyone can tear down the walls of short, dark and moody,
Buffy can.> Willow thought to herself. She sighed softly, and then turned to Clarence.
I have to talk to Giles for a moment, then we can go look for Belle, Ok? Clarence
nodded. Willow then turned to Amy. Will you two be ok for a second? I want to give Giles
a copy of that spell that we found, because if I know him, he will want to research it for
another hundred years before he will let me cast it.

Amy grinned at Clarence; all fear of the bog beast had evaporated over the last hour, as
she watched how he interacted with Willow and the rest of the gang. True, she was still
very new to the Scooby gang, but they had given her life back, and that went a long way.
Besides, it was hard to be uncomfortable with Willow around.

Amy grinned at her new friend. Well be fine, wont we Clarence. Besides I wanted to
talk to him any way. *If* we cant find her using the old fashioned way, maybe we can try
a tracking spell or something.

Willow grinned enthusiastically. That would be great Amy.

Clarence gave Willow another one of his creepy smiles. Ill be fine with the other witch,
little one.

Amy turned to Clarence and smiled. In order to do the tracking spell, I will need
something that belongs to her. Then what we will do is&

Chuckling softly, Willow walked over to Giles, book in hand and tapped him on the
shoulder.

Giles, were going to be leaving soon, but I wanted to give you a copy of the spell that
I told you about. I know that youre gonna want to do the research thing.

Giles took the book from Willow, and then gently led her to the back of the library so
they could talk privately. Looking at the young Witch, he could see the excitement
dancing in her eyes.

Now Willow, Giles started, in a strong parent tone I know that you are exited about
the spell, but it may not be the right one, we should&

Giles I understand that your cautious and all, but this *is* the spell. I am sure of
it. Not only have I searched every resurrection, bring back from hell spell that I could
find, I also had a network of about thirty techno-pagans researching for me as well.
Willow bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet, cheeks flushed and eyes flashed.

There was nothing Willow loved more than a challenge, and challenge that also included
magic was almost too much for the witch.

Out of all of those spells, Willow continued eagerly, Amy and I narrowed it down to
about five, and out of the five we came up with this one that had the highest chance of
success. First, She said pointing to the spell in question. The ingredients are pretty
basic, with a couple of exceptions, but I already have them on special order at the magic
shop. The second is that the spell only requires one caster, the other take at least four
if not thirteen. But the most important thing is that this is the only spell that doesn't
require a blood sacrifice. All of the other spells need blood, even if it is the blood of
the caster. Im sorry but the Hellmouth is too wacky and unpredictable for me to want to
use my blood as a key that opens up a portal to hell.

Giles nodded appreciatively, but still looked skeptical. "I agree the spell does sound
promising, but one might say that it is too good to be true. If the spell is that easy to
perform, then why isn't used all of the time."

Willow nodded in understanding, then pulled out a thick notebook and opened it to the
middle. Giles recognized Willow's neat handwriting, and color-coded note taking.

"The thing is Giles, while the spell components and such are easy, the conditions that
must be met for the spell to work are very specific. That's why it was so hard to find
this spell in the first place, it is very rarely used."

Giles took the notebook and walked over to the copier in the back so he could make a copy
and use her already considerable research, when he researched the spell himself.

"What conditions? Are they dangerous?"

"They aren't dangerous at all, in fact one condition will even work for us, as a sort of
safety net." Willow sat down at a nearby table and motioned to Giles to sit next to her.
Opening the book to the section of the spell, she began to point to various sections of
the text.

"There are three conditions that must be met in order for the spell to work." Her voice
became firm and steady, Giles recognized it as the same tone she used when she was
teaching. "The first two conditions are innocence of spirit and body. Innocence of body
is ummm....well....you know.." Willow stammered, and did an impression of a tomato. "But
that is kind of normal in spell casting. Innocence of spirit is interesting, it means
that you can only cast the spell if your intentions are pure. That means that I can't open
a portal to hell because I want to bring out an army of demons or something. Going to hell
to bring back a soul that was wrongfully sent to hell is on the side of light and
therefore should work. The third condition, is the beauty part." Willow grinned at her
mentor, cheeks once again flush with excitement. "In order to enter the portal, the caster
must be magically connected to the soul that they are searching for."

Giles looked at Willow confused. "Then how can either you or Amy use this spell? Neither
one of you are connected to Angel." Pain flashed over his face for a second, at the mere
mention of the ensouled vampire.

"I am connected to Angel magically." Willow replied softly. "I restored his soul right
before he got sucked into the vortex, remember? This part of the spell is also a
fail-safe. If Buffy was wrong, and Angel never got his soul restored, or if he somehow
lost his soul again once he was sent to hell, the spell wont work. Actually it will self
destruct. Angel's soul is the lifeline, if the soul doesn't exist the spell goes
caplooey."

Giles nodded in understanding. "And if that happens, then we know that any further
attempts to get him back would be pointless."

"But at least we would know."

Willow closed the book, and stood up. "I just thought you'd want to know what we found and
what I need to get. After all we have a mate less bog beast standing in the library. .
.not a pretty sight."

Giles stood up and picked up the book. "Yes...well...be careful. And Willow I understand
that you want to help Angel and Buffy, and I know all too well the seductive lure of
magic, but I want you to promise me that you won't cast this spell until I've had a chance
to research it a little on my own, and I do not want you to try this alone."

"I promise Giles." Willow said, as she casually crossed her fingers behind her back.