YOU'VE LOST HER.
BY PHOENIX FURY
DISCLAIMER: I SAY THIS ONLY ONCE SO LISTEN UP! I do not own any of the characters, they belong TPTB. I'm merely borrowing them.
SUMMERY: Buffy is gone and the Scoobies go to Angel to get his help in finding her. An unexpected person shows up and tells them they've lost her.
X-Over - BtVS/HIGHLANDER
METHOS/BUFFY
In the LA office of Wolfram & Hart former friends were gathered.
"Tell me what happened again." Angel said his hands clenched to control his worry about his beloved. Buffy had disappeared over six months ago and he was only now being told, and it was only because they needed his help to find her.
"We defeated the First, made camp in the desert. I last saw her sitting on the hill overlooking the crater. The next morning she was gone. I've tried using a location spell but it didn't work. What if she got captured? She could be hurt." Willow said.
If they had told him as soon as she had disappeared she might have been found already. They had no clue to go on and if Willow's magic couldn't work to find her, what was he supposed to do?
"She isn't."
Everyone turned to see a small man in a hat standing in the doorway.
"Whistler." Angel said softly surprised to see the demon.
"Angel." He nodded at him as he came in.
"You know what happened to Buffy?" Giles asked.
"She didn't disappear in the morning, you were just too busy to notice what happened to her." Whistler said and clicked his fingers. "Look down."
A circle appeared on the floor.
Then pictures appeared, it was like watching a movie. It was a sunny day; people were walking along a cannel.
The picture focused on two women talking and each carried shopping bags. Angel's eyes focused on the smallest woman. "Buffy."
Despite the golden brown dyed hair it was her. Dressed in a white printed halterneck summer dress and sunglasses in her hair she looked relaxed and happy.
"She doesn't look all that captured to me." Gunn said. A tall slender woman with short platinum hair walked beside her both happily chattering as they walked.
"Where is she?" Xander demanded looking at the demon.
"She left you of her own accord." The demon said instead of answering Xander's question.
"Why?"
He looked at them as if they were stupid. "Three days before the battle with the First you told her you didn't trust her and kicked her out of her own home. And you're asking me why she left?"
Angel looked at the Scoobies in shock. No one had mentioned that. "You did what?"
"She was making bad decisions, she nearly got us killed." Willow said defensively.
"You were at war, what did you think was gonna happen?" Whistler snapped. "You were angry of her relationship with Spike which you didn't understand, of Xander losing his eye, of her having the power to protect herself while you did not, so you turned on her. She wouldn't let Giles kill him because she sensed that Spike was needed in the battle not because she was in love with him, and she was right about that. What you never understood that while Spike was in love with her she didn't love him, they were friends. She trusted him to stand beside her in a fight. They got close because he alone supported her when she came back from heaven while you pretended everything was fine and blindly ignored the fact that she was breaking apart. Yes, he took advantage and she let him for a while because she was so desperate to feel, weather it was good or bad she didn't care."
He took a deep breath to calm himself and then looked at Angel to explain.
"They asked her to lead them so she did, they then decided they didn't agree with her decisions and revolted. She was busy risking her life trying to keep them all alive in the War against the First and they thanked her by putting Faith in charge and if Buffy hadn't come along to save them they'd all be dead. Buffy was also the one who got the Slayer weapon the First had been protecting from their hands. This is the weapon that allowed the Potentials to become full Slayers. She is the only reason any of you are still alive."
"Now I'll show you when she left." He waved his hand over the floor. And the image shifted and came with sound.
Buffy was dressed in the clothes that she had worn to fight the First. She was sitting on the hill looking at the crater. She looked over her shoulder at her friends laughing around the campsite. You could hear music from a radio, laughing and talking. She then stood up and wandered into the desert.
Whistler was waiting for her sitting on the roof of a car.
"Hello Whistler," Buffy said softly.
"Hello Slayer."
"Why are you here? Why did I feel drawn to come to you?"
"I have many things to tell you."
Buffy looked down, her shoulders slumped in exhaustion. "This is not going to be good is it?"
"It will change you. Has already started to change you. You can feel that."
She didn't deny or confirm what he said just looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Good change or bad?"
He shrugged, "It's what you make it."
"Helpful." She took a deep breath and then sat beside him on the hood of the car. "Tell me."
"The spell that witch did has had far reaching consequences. She made the Potentials into Slayers but into not Chosen Ones."
"But what about Faith?" Buffy asked.
"Faith is a Chosen One but yet you are the alpha for a lack of a better word, which has created problems between you and Faith. Kendra was called because technically you died and since you died the next Slayer has to be called and she was destined to be the next one Called. Faith was destined to be Called as a slayer after Kendra died so she became a Slayer too."
"This is going to get complicated." Whistler said to himself and then asked her, "Do you know how the Slayer was created?"
Buffy blinked at the unexpected questions. "Umm, with the spirit of a demon."
"In part yes. The spirit of a demon, the blood of a vampire and some very powerful magic. The spirit of the demon and blood of the vampire give you the senses that track dark forces, and give you the speed and strength to match them. The powerful magic bonded the powers to the First Slayer's soul, Senaya, this created what we call the Slayer Essence. When Senaya died the Slayer Essence was passed to the next Slayer which gave the new slayer her power, access to her memories when she died it was passed on again. The Slayer Essence holds a bit of each Slayer; their memories, their skills, their power. Understand?"
Buffy nodded.
Whistler continued, "The Slayer is a predator, a hunter; demons and vampires are it's prey but is also human, it feels compassion, has fears and doubts. Yin and yang. Two side of the same coin. I'm sure you've felt conflicting things due to the Slayer Essence inside you and what your head's telling you. Now Faith while also a Chosen One since she was called, does not want to bow down and follow you lead because as a predator she wants to be in charge yet at the same time her Slayer recognizes you as Alpha, head of the pack. Your both fighting to lead while you don't really want to and Faith wants to let you, this creates confusion, jealously and resentment. That's what has created the mess between you. But Buffy, Faith is making peace with it, when they put her in charge she finally understood what a burden you've had to carry."
Buffy looked thoughtful for a moment before a slight smile touched her lips.
"Now as a Slayer ages the stronger they become, the Watcher realized this and feared it which was why the test when the Slayer turns eighteen was first created so you would never grow too powerful, though after a time the Watchers Council forgot the reason too caught up in their own importance and power. The Watcher's Council forgot why they were created; to serve the Slayer not the other way around, which was why the Higher Powers did not stop their destruction."
"Most Slayers are found by the Watchers Council and trained by them from a young age. They are the Watcher's Council puppets, seeing the world in black and white and forgetting the grey areas. Only a handful of Slayers aren't found before they are Called and rarely survive long because they are unprepared to fight." Whistler looked at Buffy with respect.
"But you did. You were Chosen Buffy. We didn't let the Watchers Council find you because we knew you were the one, the one meant to be what the Slayer was created to be. With every battle you've won you've proved it. Why do you think your soulmate was Angel? You loved him despite the fact he was vampire, despite the demons past. Because of your love he became a Champion of the Powers."
"Angel's really my soulmate?" Buffy asked.
Whistler nodded. "One of them."
"You mean I have another?" Buffy said with wide eyes.
"You'll find out Buffy, now let me finish explaining." Whistler smiled at her fondly. "You were always destined to be the Chosen One but the timing was never certain. When you died we thought it would happen in your next life but then things got complicated."
Buffy didn't say anything at first. "I was brought back different wasn't I? It wasn't just Willow's spell that made me the Chosen One was it?"
"No, it's as I said complicated. The Slayer line flowed through the First Slayer, Senaya, but Willow changed it when she did the spell to make all the Potentials into Slayers. The Scythe was made from the Slayer's power as a weapon for the Chosen One which is why every Slayer can feel it, like calls to like. So Willow used that as a focus to activate the Potentials."
"You were the first to feel it because you are the strongest Slayer because you are the oldest and as a slayer ages the stronger they become, Faith felt it next and then it activated the Potentials. Because you are the strongest Slayer and the Slayer Essence resides in you, you were also used, though unknowingly, as the focus. The Slayer line now flows through you, Buffy."
"All the memories of the Slayers before you, skills, power, knowledge, will become your own. You can already feel it can't you?" Whistler asked though he didn't wait for an answer. "You are the Queen of Slayers. The Guardian of the line, you can give the power to become a Slayer and you can take it away. When a Slayer dies their power, memories and skills will come to you."
He looked away sadly. "The powers had big plans for you but it wasn't supposed to happen like this. You were supposed to become the Queen of Slayers, create a new Watchers Council, retire and live peacefully with Angel though still keeping an eye on the Council and one day die peacefully in your sleep. And then carry on guarding the line like Senaya has from up there, like a Higher Power. It wasn't supposed to be like this." He repeated again.
Buffy looked at him in a mixture of confusion and fear. "What are you talking about Whistler?"
"Don't kill the messenger." Whistler said and then hesitated briefly before he continued, "You're Immortal."
Buffy blinked. "Pardon."
"Immortal. You will cease to age, your healing will be almost instant depending on the severity."
Buffy starred at him horrified.
"Your not alone Buffy. There are several people who have been around for hundreds of years." He tried to reassure her. "They were orphans and in later years children swapped in hospital so no one would suspect that children came from no where, that was how you came to be Buffy Summers. If they die right then they will revive as good as new. That's when they become an Immortal. They stop aging, heal quickly. They will sense other Immortals and have to carry a sword to fight the Game. You'll have to get yourself a sword."
"Game?" She repeated tipping her head slightly, a gesture of confusion.
"The Game is when Immortals take other Immortal's head to get their Quickening. Three rules. One on one. Never on holy ground. They fight for the Prize, though they don't know what that is. Now when one of them is really killed, their killer inherits all that they are or were, all power and knowledge in a blinding lightshow of fire. The power of life. The Quickening." He explained.
Willow interrupted. "I made her Immortal?"
Whistler snorted, "You're not that powerful." He was obviously not impressed by the witch and gestured to the floor. "Now watch."
"So I can only die, stay dead, if I'm beheaded?"
"For a normal Immortal yes, but you are a little more complicated then that because you're the Queen of Slayers. You weren't supposed to be both at the same time." He crossed his arms looking weary, almost sad. "You could have become an Immortal when you died at the Masters hands but Xander gave you CPR before you could become one. When you sacrificed yourself you didn't become an Immortal because the energy sent your soul to heaven and you can't become an Immortal without your soul. It wasn't till the witch brought your soul back to your body that you became Immortal." He paused looking unsure what to say or maybe how to say it. "You remember when the First Slayer said Death was your gift?" He asked not looking at her.
"Yeah." She said cautiously.
"The cationic state you went to, what we put you into, was supposed to get you understand but you didn't till you were on that tower."
Buffy looked away. "Death was my gift. My death would protect my friends and I was finally being allowed to rest."
He nodded. "The witch snapped you out of the state before you could understand that death was your gift for all the good you've done and the long years you've been fighting. The way you died was the only way you wouldn't wake up an Immortal."
"Because my soul was in heaven and without a soul you can't become Immortal." She said going over what he'd told her.
"Yeah." He shifted and looked away. "Look … I don't know how to say this."
"What?"
He sighed. "You won't see heaven again."
Buffy looked at him.
"When you're beheaded your soul, powers, memories become apart of the closest Immortal. The way you died was the only way you would have got peace. It's why we gave you the reward as an out card so you won't be stuck doing this for eternity."
Buffy closed her eyes fighting tears.
"I'm sorry kid."
"If it was my gift then why did you let Willow bring me back?" She asked softly tears clearly in her voice.
"The future is not set in stone. They are many scenarios. Many different paths to take to get to the future. It's like a chess game, you can use the other player's moves to your advantage to try and win the game." He said quietly. "The First Evil helped the witch get the power to bring you back and that upset the balance in the Slayer Line and let it back into the world to try and end the Slayer line."
"The Powers couldn't break the rules, since you had been dead and your soul was once again within your body you had to be made Immortal. The First Evil helped Willow go dark hoping that she would destroy the world but Xander reached her humanity within her and stopped her. But the power she generated, the powers she called on and awoke let the First Evil back into the world. The only way to stop the First Evil and save the Slayer line was to activate the Potentials and make you the Queen. There was no other way." He said sadly.
Buffy nodded and then asked, "Is Dawn Immortal since she's made out of me?"
"No. She will live a normal mortal life. The Higher Powers made a deal. The Key would get one chance to open the doorway. And to make sure of that Dawn was made a normal mortal. If she was made completely of you she would be a Slayer but she isn't. Anyway being the Slayer comes from the Essence of the Slayer being bound with your soul Dawn is made from you blood."
Buffy nodded and looked thoughtfully over the desert then after a while said, "You said that Immortals healed quickly I didn't heal any quicker then before I died. I know because I got seriously beaten up."
"The First knew what you had become, it couldn't do anything about you coming back from the dead because it needed you to upset the balance and none of its warriors were good enough to behead you but it could and did use magic to slow your healing hoping it would slow you down. That spell is gone now by the way."
She looked into the distance. "Ok let me get this straight. I'm the Chosen One, while the others are merely Slayers. I'm, what did you call me, Queen of the Slayers?"
He nodded.
"I'm also Immortal and unless beheaded am going to live for a very long time. If I find another Immortal they'll challenge me for my head. If my head is taken I'm dead, permanently, but they will get my soul."
Whistler looked uncomfortable.
"Whistler."
"That's the case for other Immortals but as I said you are a little different."
"How different?" Buffy asked.
"Because you're the Queen of the Slayers and the Slayer Line runs through you, you have to live because if you don't no more Slayers so the Powers made it so that you will."
"Will what?"
"Always live."
Buffy starred at him.
"If you are somehow beheaded you will be reborn. As Immortal and as Queen of the Slayers. You can't escape it. There's no out card."
"Oh."
There was silence for a few minutes as Buffy processed this.
"So what now?"
"You are the Queen of the Slayers. The Chosen One. You will be the one who is judge, jury and executioner when it comes to who is or isn't a Slayer. The memories will start coming in dreams and flashes. The memories and knowledge will change you, some of your likes and dislikes will change, personality traits. You will need time to adjust to the change, to accept it. But most importantly you need to be trained and get yourself a sword. My chariot awaits to take you to your teacher." He patted the hood of his car.
"Trained? Teacher?" Buffy repeated.
"You can handle a sword but an Immortal with centuries of knowledge could make you better and since the sword will be what keeps you alive that's helpful. Immortals take on new Immortals as students. They help the new ones adjust, teach you the tricks, you become like a family especially the one I'm sending you to." He explained.
"What about my friends? I thought you said I had to create a new Watchers Council and watch over the new Slayers."
"Your destiny changed. You can watch over the Slayers from a distance without anyone trying to influence you. Your friends are to make the New Watchers Council and look after the new Slayers." He looked at her seriously and then asked, "Are they still your friends after everything? Family isn't just blood. Real family, friends accept you as you are, the good, the bad and the ugly. Unconational love. They trust you, they support you." He paused before he said, "Do they?"
Buffy was silent.
"This is your chance kid for a fresh start. The new Slayers have to earn it on their own. Faith needs to come out from your shadow. And your friends need to learn to stand on their own feet instead of making you save the day. You need this. You need to learn to live for you."
Buffy looked at him and then in the direction of her friends. She looked at them for a long moment and then back at him looking like a huge weight had been lifted of her shoulders and gave him a small smile.
"Let's go."
He nodded and they climbed into the car and drove away.
The image faded.
"How could she leave us?" Willow asked.
"She has a responsibility as the Slayer." Giles said.
"We have the other Slayers, who needs her? She'll come crawling back." Xander muttered.
Whistler snorted. They obviously hadn't been listening. "After the way you treat her I'm surprised she stayed as long as she did. But she was stubborn she refused to give up on you. She was a true friend to you."
Whistler looked to Giles. "You are her Watcher, we thought when you had told her about the trail on her eighteen birthday that you had finally become who Watchers were meant to be. We were wrong. She looked at you as a father. And you left her when she needed you most. You betrayed her, didn't trust her."
He went to Willow. "You the great powerful witch, the best friend, you have cost her the most. You cost her chance at peace, the only chance she would have. We gave you the power to return Angel to her but he lied to her and that messed up that night," He gestured to Xander. "We trusted you with power thinking of the good you could do. And you abused it more then once, using it for personal gain and even for evil. The only thing you did right was the spell to bring forth the Slayers for that made her the Chosen One."
He went to Xander. "If you had told her the truth that night so many things would have been different. But you are still jealous that she would choose a Vampire over you. That she would die for him so he would live. That you were merely her friend and never anything more. And when you finally got over that crush you still thought you had the right to dictate who she loved, how she lived. You all did."
He looked at all the Scoobies. "But who are you to judge who she loved? Who do you think you are to tell her how she live? She lived for you, she saved you, she fought for you. She died for you."
"She never once told you who to date or didn't trust you. She was there when you broke your hearts, were you there for hers? You can walk away she can't. It's always been her fight; she's the one who carried the weight of the world on her shoulders for years. She alone carries the burden and instead of making it easier to bear you damn near made it unbearable."
Whistler turned to Angel.
"You were sent to Buffy for a reason Angel. To be her champion. Her friend. Her lover. She's your soulmate Angel. Why do you think you share dreams, that you can feel each other? Why do you think Angelus was so obsessed with her? No other woman will ever compare, all others will pale in comparison. She alone could give you true happiness. She alone could help you find your redemption and give you peace." He said.
"You had three chances to realize she was your soulmate, to claim her. When she gave her life for yours when you got poisoned, even the beast inside you recognized her as yours which why when all other bites faded yours did not. Then the day that was reversed. And then after you two met up after she'd been dead. And each time you let her slip through your fingers. Now you've lost her." He said almost sadly.
"Buffy unlike you has more then one soul mate. You've had your chance and you blew it." He shook his head and waved his hand over the floor. The image came back to her walking beside the tall blonde.
They watched in silence as the two women went into a restaurant, heading to a table overlooking the canal where four men waited.
Buffy kissed an old man on the cheek, ruffled the young man's hair and squeezed the shoulder of a muscled dark haired man before she sat down next to man with short dark hair. He wrapped his hand around her neck and brought her close where he took her mouth. When he pulled away he nuzzled her nose making her giggle. The blonde sat next to her with the other dark haired man beside her.
They ordered their food and though they couldn't hear what was being said they saw Buffy's smile. They couldn't remember seeing her smile like that in years. The man beside Buffy was constantly touching her, he held her hand fiddling with her fingers or rested a hand on her shoulder and stroked her skin.
The food came, and they talked as they ate. They looked like a family out for dinner, who enjoyed spending time together.
"She's happy. She has a new family, real friends. They accept her as she is. The good, the bad, the ugly. Trust her with their lives. They will not walk away from her. Apart from the old man they are all Immortals. She will never be alone again."
"She is the Queen of Slayers, the Chosen One and an Immortal. She's accepted who she is. Her version of happy ever after was someone to love, who loved her and wouldn't leave. And she will get that." He pointed to the image, "That man beside her will make sure of that, he won't let her slip through his fingers. He loves her, all of her. In six months he will ask her to marry him and she will say yes. The older man will walk down the aisle. And she will finally get the happy ever after."
He clicked his fingers and the images disappeared.
He looked at them seriously, almost pityingly. "You could have had her in your life. You could have given her this. But now you've lost her." Whistler said and then he walked out the door.
THE END.
I'm a big fan of the BtVS/Highlander X-Overs, Methos/Buffy all the way! Buffy and Angel are cool too. I don't know what they were thinking when they got Buffy and Spike together. (EWWW!)
HOPE YOU LIKE. PLEASE REVIEW.
PHOENIX FURY.