Finding Her Way Home
by rebelrsr
Chapter 8
[reviews]
Disclaimer: All things Buffy belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and lots of people in expensive suits. I'm not making any money here, just trying to create a happier Buffyverse for my favorite characters.
Spoilers, etc.: "Dopplegangland," "Something Blue" and everything after "The Gift."
A/N: Character thoughts are enclosed by **. Flashbacks are enclosed by //. Thanks to Zenithar and Zigpal for the beta and encouragement! I couldn't do it without you.
Archiving: By permission only.
It was quiet in the barn while the older women absorbed Willow's last statement. Finally, Jennifer asked, "You think the original damage to your potential happened during the casting?"
"I think so. It's not like I can carbon date the magical debris. It just felt a little like the power signature the Urn gave off." Willow watched the older witch warily.
"OK," her mother nodded. "Let's start there. If, during the testing, something was able to sneak through the barriers, we're dealing with two likely possibilities."
"Possession and power drain," the young girl offered.
Kirstan sat up. "You mean something could have taken over your mind without anyone knowing?" She looked angry.
"Yes. During a casting of that magnitude, an entire army of evil could have entered Willow and not set off any alarms. But, if she used wards, then the list of suspects gets a lot smaller."
"Mom's right, Kirstan." She shot a quick look at the experienced witch. "The wards Tara helped me put up were strong. In fact, I didn't honestly think there was any danger of anything getting by them." Shrugging, the redhead said, "Obviously, I was wrong."
Jennifer looked intently at her daughter. "We need to act fast to discover if there is anything still entwined in your mind, Willow."
"Yeah, I kinda thought you might say that." Having this woman, a stranger despite their blood tie, poking around in her mind knotted her stomach. But Willow didn't have the luxury of refusal. The magic was far too strong and out of control to walk away. "If there isn't anything there, can you also check for a residual signature? Just because there's nothing there now, doesn't mean it wasn't there in the past."
The older witch stood up. "We're going to have to move this inside."
"Let me guess," Kirstan said, letting her wife drag her to her feet, "incense, candles, and mystical chanting?"
Jennifer chuckled; although, it sounded strained. "And a few more ritual activities, too. To be safe, I'm going to want to use the Altar Room since it's already heavily shielded."
Sick with dread, Willow barely hear the commentary. *I wonder if I could use all my new power to turn back the clock and start today over again?*
"Hey, kiddo, you gonna make me carry you out of here, too?" The ex-Slayer stood over her distracted daughter. "Willow? Is everything OK?" She noticed the young girl looked almost scared.
Pushing the dangerous thoughts out of her head before the untamed magic actually tried the maneuver, Willow replied, "No, I'm good."
Kirstan gave a sharp laugh.
"Well, OK, 'good' might be an overstatement." Willow climbed to her feet, the change in position causing the pounding in her head to worsen. "Let's get this over with before I change my mind and run screaming through the front gate."
The brunette grabbed the young witch in a gentle hug. "I'm sorry, sweetie." Her voice was husky with emotion. "So very sorry. If I'd just been there-"
"Kirstan — Mom, don't...This isn't your fault." The shorter girl said. She leaned into the strong arms, tilting her chin so she could meet the green eyes above her. "You didn't do anything wrong. And, let's put the blame where it really lies. I'm the one who thought Black Magic was fine as long at the results were well-intentioned. Tara and Giles tried to warn me, but I was too arrogant to listen."
A weapons-roughened hand touched her cheek. "Still, the kidnapping should never have happened."
This time, Willow provided the comfort by burying her face in Kirstan's shirt and wrapping her arms tightly around the older woman. After a few minutes, she pulled away. "We should probably head inside." Reluctance dripped from each word. "One run-in with impatient Hirsches is enough. Don't let go, though, OK? I wasn't completely kidding about the running thing."
"Not going to happen, daughter mine. You've been supporting a Slayer; you aren't a coward. And, if it all gets too much, Jenny and I have your back." They turned to walk toward the house. "Given enough time to get to know you, Morgan, Dorian, and Drew will help out, too."
Latching onto a less depressing subject, Willow asked, "Are all of my sisters witches, too?"
"Yes." Kirstan sighed and then clarified. "They have the potential, but none of them is a practicing witch."
"Are you disappointed?" The redhead thought about the Rosenbergs and their expectations.
"Oh, no." The ex-Slayer sounded surprised. "Morgan is far too interested in her music and can't commit to the demands of training with Jennifer. We gave her the basics when she was growing up, so she's not a wild talent. Dorian has only a little potential. She's content to work the ranch and help out wherever she can. And Drew is...well, she's just Drew."
"Hello? Newly-returned daughter here. What does that mean, exactly?" Willow asked as they entered the house.
Smacking the red head lightly in response to the sarcastic phrasing, the brunette said. "Drew is a double potential. She can't make up her mind which Calling to answer. For now, she's training in both, but eventually she'll have to make a choice: Witch or Slayer."
They had reached a semi-hidden doorway at the back of the house. Willow followed Kirstan through and began to descend the revealed staircase. "So Drew has double the normal potential? I don't understand. And, how can she choose to be a Slayer, isn't that sort of decided by the PTBs when the current Slayer dies?"
"I thought you said your best friend was a Slayer? Didn't her Watcher explain that there are thousands of potential Slayers all over the world?"
***
*Wonder if the DMP would hire me back part time? This month's phone bill is going to be a doozy*, the tired Slayer thought, waiting for someone to answer the call she'd made.
"Angel Investigations, we help the helpless," chirped a familiar voice.
"Hey, Cordy. It's Buffy. Can I talk to Angel?"
Silence.
"Cordy? I know you're still there, I can hear you breathing." Buffy fought to keep from snapping. "We've...There are some problems here I need to talk with Angel about. Is he there or not?"
"No, actually, he's not here." The Slayer cocked her head. The ex-Scooby sounded unbelievably exhausted.
"Everything OK? I mean, our Big Bad isn't here yet, just on the way. I could drive up if you needed some extra muscle," Buffy offered.
A warm chuckled rumbled over the line. "We've got the muscle covered. I'm not sure having you and Faith in the same location would help our situation."
The blonde nearly dropped the phone. "Oh, my, God! Faith's there? Is Angel going after her? I thought she was in prison."
"Buffy," the Seer's voice said quietly, "I'd love to gossip and catch up on the current event, but I need to get back to work. Here's the Reader's Digest version. There a really creepy evil demon here. We made a bad call and summoned Angelus to help kill it. The vase-thingy we were holding Angel's soul in was stolen. Now, we have Angelus and the other demon on the loose. Wes broke Faith out...Faith broke out of jail when Wes told her what was going on. She's helping with the problems here." The prom queen-turned-private investigator paused and Buffy could hear her talking to someone in the distance. "Hey, Wes wants to know if Willow can come out and do the Romanii Curse to restore Angel's soul."
Putting her back to the kitchen wall and sliding down to sit on the floor, the Slayer answered. "Sorry, Cordelia, Willow's out of town right now." *Damn, I really wanted Angel's help on this one, but they've got enough to deal with*. Then another thought occurred. "You know, Will always kept a 'get Angel's soul back' kit around here somewhere. I'll talk to Tara; maybe she could drive to L.A. and do the spell."
"Would you?" The Slayer thought the brunette was going to cry; her voice sounded choked with emotion.
"Sure. I'll head over to her place in just a few minutes. Hey, umm, is Faith with you right now?"
Cordelia again pulled away from the phone. "Sorry, Buffy. Wes says she's out crawling through the sewers looking for information. Do you want me to have her call you?" The Seer sounded hesitant.
*Hell, I feel hesitant. The last time we 'talked' was on the roof of Angel's office right before she turned herself in*. Still, the Slayer felt driven to help Willow and defeat whatever evil was on its way. "Yes, please, Cordy. Tell her...tell her I really need her help, and I'm willing to do whatever groveling is necessary to convince her to come to Sunnydale when your Big Bad is taken down."
"I'll see what I can do. I mean, it is Faith we're talking about," the other woman replied, before ending the call.
The eldest Summers stayed huddled on the floor long after the call was over. Cold seeped into every part of her body. He mind moved sluggishly. Finally acknowledging that sitting in the kitchen wasn't helping anything, she climbed to her feet. *Thank God I requested a personal day for today. I would so have ended up fired if I'd gone to work*. Forcing herself to action, Buffy walked up the stairs.
On leaden feet, she continued her trek into her mother's old room — Willow's room. Bare walls and a stripped bed greeted her entrance. She hadn't thought about cleaning up in here since her best friend had moved out. With mental fingers crossed, the Slayer opened the closet door, hoping to find the redhead's magic 'toy box.' Sure enough, the small wooden box sat abandoned on the shelf. Pulling it down and flipping the latch, Buffy glanced inside. Items had obviously been removed with haste as Willow packed, but the blonde recognized several pieces needed to incant the Curse. Closing the box with a sigh the Slayer made a mental list of things to do: talk Tara into going to help Angel; talk to Dawn about Willow; and do some information gathering on the coming evil.