Countdown: Second Chances
By ElsaF
Summary: Still in the 24-verse, which split off from ME's
vision after Dead Things.
Summary: Previously in the 24-verse: Buffy and Spike didn't
break up at the end of As You Were, but Buffy's unwillingness
to acknowledge Spike publicly meant they broke up soon
afterward. Spike decided to change himself into someone she
would be willing to be seen with. Meanwhile, the Scoobies
raided the Nerds, and Warren escaped and came back to shoot
Buffy and Xander. Xander would have died, but Willow
intervened with Osiris to prevent him from crossing over. The
price for saving Xander's life was Willow's soul. Soulless
Willow killed Warren horribly. Spike, meanwhile, won his soul
by protecting strangers, inspiring someone else to courage and
overcoming his self-doubt. Willow went to visit Tara and it
went badly.
Disclaimer: Giles' chant is adapted from "Myths of Enki, The
Crafty God" by Samuel Noah Kramer.
The mood at the Magic Box was several shades darker than
glum. Dawn had left the group of adults and was reading an
Ann Rice novel off in the corner. Xander sat at the research
table, looking pale and weary. Buffy had tried to convince him
to stay home, but he'd insisted on being included. Giles looked
serious and worried, not to mention slightly disoriented, having
crossed eight time zones in a matter of seconds earlier that day.
Anya was being the counter, paying attention to the
conversation, but pretending to work on the day's accounts.
She'd left the table when Xander came in. Tara was the most
miserable of all, her eyes red from crying, though she was
making an effort to keep her emotions in check now.
Buffy surveyed her troops with a heavy heart. They were here
to discuss strategy -- strategy that nobody wanted to consider.
"All right, what are our options?" Buffy asked, turning to
Giles.
"Fairly limited," the former Watcher said carefully. "The coven
have given me a bit of power that I can use in a binding spell,
but after she's bound, we'll still have to take extra measures. A
binding spell won't last indefinitely, and when she frees herself,
she is likely to be more dangerous than before."
"And what would those extra measures be?" Buffy asked.
"We will need to separate her from her magic," Giles said,
looking at the table to avoid Buffy's eyes.
"According to Anya, she'll die without her magic now," Buffy
replied.
"I'm afraid that may be true."
"I won't accept that as the only answer," Buffy said stubbornly.
"There has to be something else we can do."
Tara looked up, struggling to speak through a new wave of
grief. "I want another way more than anyone, Buffy," she said.
"Really I do. But I don't know what it could be."
"We have to give her back her soul. Don't tell me it can't be
done," Buffy said with a frown. "I know it can. It might not be
easy, but ..."
"It's more than not easy," Giles said. "It's dangerous. It's very
likely what set Willow on the disastrous path she's been on
these four years. If we try to duplicate that spell, we could
possibly be sending someone else down that path."
"What? You're saying Willow lost her soul because she gave
Angel back his?" Buffy asked.
"No, not directly," Giles replied. "I blame myself, really. When
I saw the kinds of power she was capable of, I should have
found her a mentor. She should have had training, rather than
groping about teaching herself.
"She was only beginning to understand magic when she
attempted the restoration spell. That spell requires the
practitioner to channel massive amounts of mystical energy.
With her lack of training, I have no doubt now that it corrupted
her essence. Humans really shouldn't attempt restoration. In the
very few cases where it has been done legitimately, it was
handled by very, very powerful demons. Demons of an order
that is very seldom encountered on this plane of existence."
"What about the gypsy witch who originally did the curse on
Angel?" Xander asked.
"We don't know what happened to her," Giles said.
"Yeah, we do," Buffy said with a frown. "Drusilla killed her --
not long after she did the spell."
"Spike told you that?" Xander asked.
"No, Angel did." She crossed her arms and looked determined.
"So, clearly, we need to contact one of these special demons,"
she said confidently.
"It's not that simple," Giles said patiently. "Willow gave up her
soul in a valid contract. It won't be returned without a suitable
payment."
"Somebody has to die?" Xander asked.
"Not necessarily. I can't say what sort of price would be asked.
But I can say with absolute certainty that Willow's soul won't
be returned simply because we ask for it."
"What does Osiris want with souls anyway?" Buffy asked.
"Hard to say. The nature of existence on other planes is
difficult for us to understand, having experience only in our
own. But many beings from other planes seek human souls.
Why? All I can say is that they must have value."
"Then what we have to work on now is contacting the demons
who can do restoration," Buffy said.
Giles frowned. "We also have to prepare ourselves for the less
desirable solution."
"No," Buffy said flatly.
"I'm afraid I have to differ," Giles said firmly. "We have to
approach this from a practical point of view. Believe me, it
pains me to think of harming a young woman I have known
and cared about for six years. But I don't think you understand
just how dangerous her power is in the hands of someone with
no conscience."
"Conscience? You want to talk about conscience?" Buffy said,
anger creeping into her voice. "You said 'harm,' but it wasn't
what you meant. You meant 'kill.' If you're going to talk about
it, at least use the right word. Don't pretend it's some justified,
righteous cause. You're talking about killing my best friend.
And I'm not going to stand by and let it happen!"
"Buffy..." Giles said.
"No, don't even try to talk me into it," Buffy spat. "We've been
all through this before. I don't kill people. Especially the people
I care about. I don't stand by and let other people kill people.
And I'm not going to start now."
"Buffy," Tara said in a voice so soft that it commanded
attention. "Giles may be right."
"Tara! How can you of all people..."
"I know Willow," Tara said, her eyes shining with tears. "And I
know how much pain she must be in right now. How it eats
into her when she makes a mistake. I know how badly she
wants to be good. And I know that she'll never be able to do it
now. It's only going to get worse for her. I can't bear to think of
her in so much pain."
"People make mistakes," Buffy said, reining in her anger and
finding a softer tone of voice. "Everybody does. And we go on
afterward. That's what life is, recovering from your mistakes
and working out how to do better next time."
Tara nodded, but looked away.
"I don't like having to argue for this," Giles said. "Especially
since I blame myself for what's happened. But there is more at
stake than one young woman's life."
"Guys..."
Everyone looked up. Dawn had put aside her book and was
standing by the table.
"Dawn, you don't need to concern yourself about this," Buffy
said.
"Yeah, I do. Willow is my friend, too. And even if I wasn't
around to overhear it, it's not like I don't know that the last time
you were talking about killing someone to protect the world, it
was me."
"I wasn't willing to consider it then, either," Buffy said firmly.
Giles looked sick. "Dawn, I don't know how you heard about
this, but I want you to know..."
"Don't bother," the teenager said tensely. "I just wanted to say
something now."
"Dawn..." Buffy said.
"No, just listen to me. I just wanted to say that everybody's
been blaming themselves. Me, Xander, Tara, Buffy -- now
Giles."
"I don't think I'm to blame," Anya said.
"Well, you're the only one then," Dawn continued, with a slight
frown. "Buffy, you're worried that she did it because you
asked her to help Xander. Xander, you think she did it because
she loves you. Tara, you think you made her worse because
you had an argument. Giles, you think you're responsible
because you didn't get her a teacher.
"Everybody's worrying about what they did wrong. You're all
thinking like, what can I do to make up for what I did? But
that's not important.
"Why isn't anyone thinking about Willow?"
The five adults stared at her in surprise.
-------------------
They cleared a space on the floor and they sat cross-legged in a
circle around five candles and a saucer of herbs. Anya chose a
place as far from Xander as possible. Dawn sat between Tara
and Giles. Xander between Buffy and Giles.
"What we're doing here is searching for knowledge," Giles
explained. "We will place the question of how Willow can
regain her soul into the ether, and ask Enki, god of wisdom to
enlighten us."
"Sort of search in the cosmic stacks," Xander said.
"Yes, quite," Giles said, giving Xander a mildly disapproving
look.
"The most important thing to remember is that we must sincere
in our quest for wisdom. If you have any further wise cracks to
share, Xander, I suggest you get them out now. When we
begin, there will be no room for humor, or what passes for it."
"All done," Xander said, raising his hands in surrender.
"Then we will begin. Join hands."
They completed their circle.
"Enki, lord of the hegal the Anunna-gods possess. Nudimmud,
the mighty one of the Ekur, the strong one of An and Uras.
Nudimmud, the mighty one of the Ekur, strong one of the
Anunna, whose noble house set up in the Abzu is the mast of
heaven and earth," Giles began.
"Enki, who lifting but a single eye, convulses the Kur, where
the bison is born, the stag is born, where the wild sheep is born,
the stag is born in the meadows, and the pits in the heart of the
hursag in the verdant places of heaven -- the place where no
one dares to enter, there you have fixed your eyes like a halhal-
reed.
"Hear our plea. We come in supplication. We ask your
wisdom. We seek to know the ways of the soul..."
There was a sound, a soft buzzing that came from the inner
circle formed by the candles. There was a crackling in the air
like static electricity, and a fragrance like the air after a rain
storm.
"Enki, lord of the hegal, lord of wisdom, beloved of An,
ornament of Eridu, who directs commands and decisions,
expert at fate-decreeing: You have made the month to enter its
house. You bring down the stars of heaven; you have computed
their number. Hear our plea. Grant us knowledge..."
A light sprung from the center of the inner circle and went up
to the ceiling were it grew into a misty, glowing cloud.
Then, with a sudden crack the cloud opened, and something the
size of a man fell from the ceiling, landing on the candles and
extinguishing them with a startled yelp.
"Bloody hell!"
Spike raised his head and looked around -- obviously confused.
"Giles! You made it rain vampires!" Xander said.
Buffy jumped up and put out the last candle, which had fallen
over and was starting to burn the pool of wax that had spilled
out. Then she turned to Spike and looked at him.
He was wearing no shirt and no shoes. His upper body and face
were covered with bruises and deep gashes that looked to have
been made by claws. He had a large, fiery red mark in the
center of his chest, as if something hot had been held against
him. And he was having trouble getting up, his arms refusing
to cooperate with the task of pushing him to a sitting position.
Buffy went to him and put an arm around his shoulders,
helping him to sit.
"Where the hell am I?" Spike asked, shaking his head.
"Giles, I think you ought to know I've been dating Spike,"
Buffy said.
Both Spike and Giles gave her a puzzled look.
"All right. But I don't see how that's relevant..." Giles said.
"Probably not. But you're the only one left to tell."
"And you were on me about smart-ass remarks," Xander said.
"Apparently this god Enki is a bit of a wiseacre himself. We as
about how to get a soul back, and he drops a soulless vampire
on our heads."
Anya and Tara were both looking at Spike with wide eyes.
"Actually, Spike may be have the answer to our question,"
Anya said, glaring at Xander. "Something I'm sure you don't
have."
Spike frowned. "Hello... confused, disoriented vampire here.
Where...Am... I?" he asked carefully enunciating each word.
"The Magic Box," Buffy answered. "I'm so glad you came
back!" She hugged him, getting a wince in return.
"Easy, pet," he said, carefully extracting himself from her grip.
"I don't seem to have had any choice in the matter."
Buffy gave him a worried look.
Giles looked from Tara to Anya. "Are you saying..."
Tara nodded.
Giles took his glasses off and started to clean them.
It was Xander's turn to be confused.
"What? What's everybody not saying? Could someone finish a
sentence please?"
"I think Anya is indicating that Spike has somehow obtained a
soul," Giles said slowly. "Is that so?"
"Spike? Really?" Buffy said.
"Later, pet. This is important. Call the ranger station at the
wilderness area up north. There are two women stranded out
there and one of them needs medical help. They need to get a
medevac chopper to them."
"Spike?" Buffy said again, now completely confused.
"Now! Make the call! I'm not telling anybody anything until
that's done!"
--------------------
Xander made the call, telling the ranger on the other end that
he'd gotten a freak cell-phone call -- something that had
bounced somehow and reached him even though he was much
too far to have received it. He described the location as relayed
by Spike.
Buffy fussed over Spike's injuries. He was tired to the bone,
and still somewhat confused. He kept wondering what day it
was, and kept asking if the call had been made yet.
"Spike, the soul. What happened?" Buffy asked finally.
Spike didn't answer.
"You did this for me?" she asked, her voice catching.
"Part of it, love. Not all of it." He sighed.
Buffy didn't think she had ever heard him sound so weary.
Giles came over and gave Spike a serious look.
"I'm afraid I seem to have lost the plot," he said.
"Yeah, you leave the country for six months and the next thing
you know everything's gone to hell," Spike said, giving the ex-
Watcher a sour look.
"You asked for a soul?"
"Yeah."
"Can you tell us how you went about it?"
By ElsaF
Summary: Still in the 24-verse, which split off from ME's
vision after Dead Things.
Summary: Previously in the 24-verse: Buffy and Spike didn't
break up at the end of As You Were, but Buffy's unwillingness
to acknowledge Spike publicly meant they broke up soon
afterward. Spike decided to change himself into someone she
would be willing to be seen with. Meanwhile, the Scoobies
raided the Nerds, and Warren escaped and came back to shoot
Buffy and Xander. Xander would have died, but Willow
intervened with Osiris to prevent him from crossing over. The
price for saving Xander's life was Willow's soul. Soulless
Willow killed Warren horribly. Spike, meanwhile, won his soul
by protecting strangers, inspiring someone else to courage and
overcoming his self-doubt. Willow went to visit Tara and it
went badly.
Disclaimer: Giles' chant is adapted from "Myths of Enki, The
Crafty God" by Samuel Noah Kramer.
The mood at the Magic Box was several shades darker than
glum. Dawn had left the group of adults and was reading an
Ann Rice novel off in the corner. Xander sat at the research
table, looking pale and weary. Buffy had tried to convince him
to stay home, but he'd insisted on being included. Giles looked
serious and worried, not to mention slightly disoriented, having
crossed eight time zones in a matter of seconds earlier that day.
Anya was being the counter, paying attention to the
conversation, but pretending to work on the day's accounts.
She'd left the table when Xander came in. Tara was the most
miserable of all, her eyes red from crying, though she was
making an effort to keep her emotions in check now.
Buffy surveyed her troops with a heavy heart. They were here
to discuss strategy -- strategy that nobody wanted to consider.
"All right, what are our options?" Buffy asked, turning to
Giles.
"Fairly limited," the former Watcher said carefully. "The coven
have given me a bit of power that I can use in a binding spell,
but after she's bound, we'll still have to take extra measures. A
binding spell won't last indefinitely, and when she frees herself,
she is likely to be more dangerous than before."
"And what would those extra measures be?" Buffy asked.
"We will need to separate her from her magic," Giles said,
looking at the table to avoid Buffy's eyes.
"According to Anya, she'll die without her magic now," Buffy
replied.
"I'm afraid that may be true."
"I won't accept that as the only answer," Buffy said stubbornly.
"There has to be something else we can do."
Tara looked up, struggling to speak through a new wave of
grief. "I want another way more than anyone, Buffy," she said.
"Really I do. But I don't know what it could be."
"We have to give her back her soul. Don't tell me it can't be
done," Buffy said with a frown. "I know it can. It might not be
easy, but ..."
"It's more than not easy," Giles said. "It's dangerous. It's very
likely what set Willow on the disastrous path she's been on
these four years. If we try to duplicate that spell, we could
possibly be sending someone else down that path."
"What? You're saying Willow lost her soul because she gave
Angel back his?" Buffy asked.
"No, not directly," Giles replied. "I blame myself, really. When
I saw the kinds of power she was capable of, I should have
found her a mentor. She should have had training, rather than
groping about teaching herself.
"She was only beginning to understand magic when she
attempted the restoration spell. That spell requires the
practitioner to channel massive amounts of mystical energy.
With her lack of training, I have no doubt now that it corrupted
her essence. Humans really shouldn't attempt restoration. In the
very few cases where it has been done legitimately, it was
handled by very, very powerful demons. Demons of an order
that is very seldom encountered on this plane of existence."
"What about the gypsy witch who originally did the curse on
Angel?" Xander asked.
"We don't know what happened to her," Giles said.
"Yeah, we do," Buffy said with a frown. "Drusilla killed her --
not long after she did the spell."
"Spike told you that?" Xander asked.
"No, Angel did." She crossed her arms and looked determined.
"So, clearly, we need to contact one of these special demons,"
she said confidently.
"It's not that simple," Giles said patiently. "Willow gave up her
soul in a valid contract. It won't be returned without a suitable
payment."
"Somebody has to die?" Xander asked.
"Not necessarily. I can't say what sort of price would be asked.
But I can say with absolute certainty that Willow's soul won't
be returned simply because we ask for it."
"What does Osiris want with souls anyway?" Buffy asked.
"Hard to say. The nature of existence on other planes is
difficult for us to understand, having experience only in our
own. But many beings from other planes seek human souls.
Why? All I can say is that they must have value."
"Then what we have to work on now is contacting the demons
who can do restoration," Buffy said.
Giles frowned. "We also have to prepare ourselves for the less
desirable solution."
"No," Buffy said flatly.
"I'm afraid I have to differ," Giles said firmly. "We have to
approach this from a practical point of view. Believe me, it
pains me to think of harming a young woman I have known
and cared about for six years. But I don't think you understand
just how dangerous her power is in the hands of someone with
no conscience."
"Conscience? You want to talk about conscience?" Buffy said,
anger creeping into her voice. "You said 'harm,' but it wasn't
what you meant. You meant 'kill.' If you're going to talk about
it, at least use the right word. Don't pretend it's some justified,
righteous cause. You're talking about killing my best friend.
And I'm not going to stand by and let it happen!"
"Buffy..." Giles said.
"No, don't even try to talk me into it," Buffy spat. "We've been
all through this before. I don't kill people. Especially the people
I care about. I don't stand by and let other people kill people.
And I'm not going to start now."
"Buffy," Tara said in a voice so soft that it commanded
attention. "Giles may be right."
"Tara! How can you of all people..."
"I know Willow," Tara said, her eyes shining with tears. "And I
know how much pain she must be in right now. How it eats
into her when she makes a mistake. I know how badly she
wants to be good. And I know that she'll never be able to do it
now. It's only going to get worse for her. I can't bear to think of
her in so much pain."
"People make mistakes," Buffy said, reining in her anger and
finding a softer tone of voice. "Everybody does. And we go on
afterward. That's what life is, recovering from your mistakes
and working out how to do better next time."
Tara nodded, but looked away.
"I don't like having to argue for this," Giles said. "Especially
since I blame myself for what's happened. But there is more at
stake than one young woman's life."
"Guys..."
Everyone looked up. Dawn had put aside her book and was
standing by the table.
"Dawn, you don't need to concern yourself about this," Buffy
said.
"Yeah, I do. Willow is my friend, too. And even if I wasn't
around to overhear it, it's not like I don't know that the last time
you were talking about killing someone to protect the world, it
was me."
"I wasn't willing to consider it then, either," Buffy said firmly.
Giles looked sick. "Dawn, I don't know how you heard about
this, but I want you to know..."
"Don't bother," the teenager said tensely. "I just wanted to say
something now."
"Dawn..." Buffy said.
"No, just listen to me. I just wanted to say that everybody's
been blaming themselves. Me, Xander, Tara, Buffy -- now
Giles."
"I don't think I'm to blame," Anya said.
"Well, you're the only one then," Dawn continued, with a slight
frown. "Buffy, you're worried that she did it because you
asked her to help Xander. Xander, you think she did it because
she loves you. Tara, you think you made her worse because
you had an argument. Giles, you think you're responsible
because you didn't get her a teacher.
"Everybody's worrying about what they did wrong. You're all
thinking like, what can I do to make up for what I did? But
that's not important.
"Why isn't anyone thinking about Willow?"
The five adults stared at her in surprise.
-------------------
They cleared a space on the floor and they sat cross-legged in a
circle around five candles and a saucer of herbs. Anya chose a
place as far from Xander as possible. Dawn sat between Tara
and Giles. Xander between Buffy and Giles.
"What we're doing here is searching for knowledge," Giles
explained. "We will place the question of how Willow can
regain her soul into the ether, and ask Enki, god of wisdom to
enlighten us."
"Sort of search in the cosmic stacks," Xander said.
"Yes, quite," Giles said, giving Xander a mildly disapproving
look.
"The most important thing to remember is that we must sincere
in our quest for wisdom. If you have any further wise cracks to
share, Xander, I suggest you get them out now. When we
begin, there will be no room for humor, or what passes for it."
"All done," Xander said, raising his hands in surrender.
"Then we will begin. Join hands."
They completed their circle.
"Enki, lord of the hegal the Anunna-gods possess. Nudimmud,
the mighty one of the Ekur, the strong one of An and Uras.
Nudimmud, the mighty one of the Ekur, strong one of the
Anunna, whose noble house set up in the Abzu is the mast of
heaven and earth," Giles began.
"Enki, who lifting but a single eye, convulses the Kur, where
the bison is born, the stag is born, where the wild sheep is born,
the stag is born in the meadows, and the pits in the heart of the
hursag in the verdant places of heaven -- the place where no
one dares to enter, there you have fixed your eyes like a halhal-
reed.
"Hear our plea. We come in supplication. We ask your
wisdom. We seek to know the ways of the soul..."
There was a sound, a soft buzzing that came from the inner
circle formed by the candles. There was a crackling in the air
like static electricity, and a fragrance like the air after a rain
storm.
"Enki, lord of the hegal, lord of wisdom, beloved of An,
ornament of Eridu, who directs commands and decisions,
expert at fate-decreeing: You have made the month to enter its
house. You bring down the stars of heaven; you have computed
their number. Hear our plea. Grant us knowledge..."
A light sprung from the center of the inner circle and went up
to the ceiling were it grew into a misty, glowing cloud.
Then, with a sudden crack the cloud opened, and something the
size of a man fell from the ceiling, landing on the candles and
extinguishing them with a startled yelp.
"Bloody hell!"
Spike raised his head and looked around -- obviously confused.
"Giles! You made it rain vampires!" Xander said.
Buffy jumped up and put out the last candle, which had fallen
over and was starting to burn the pool of wax that had spilled
out. Then she turned to Spike and looked at him.
He was wearing no shirt and no shoes. His upper body and face
were covered with bruises and deep gashes that looked to have
been made by claws. He had a large, fiery red mark in the
center of his chest, as if something hot had been held against
him. And he was having trouble getting up, his arms refusing
to cooperate with the task of pushing him to a sitting position.
Buffy went to him and put an arm around his shoulders,
helping him to sit.
"Where the hell am I?" Spike asked, shaking his head.
"Giles, I think you ought to know I've been dating Spike,"
Buffy said.
Both Spike and Giles gave her a puzzled look.
"All right. But I don't see how that's relevant..." Giles said.
"Probably not. But you're the only one left to tell."
"And you were on me about smart-ass remarks," Xander said.
"Apparently this god Enki is a bit of a wiseacre himself. We as
about how to get a soul back, and he drops a soulless vampire
on our heads."
Anya and Tara were both looking at Spike with wide eyes.
"Actually, Spike may be have the answer to our question,"
Anya said, glaring at Xander. "Something I'm sure you don't
have."
Spike frowned. "Hello... confused, disoriented vampire here.
Where...Am... I?" he asked carefully enunciating each word.
"The Magic Box," Buffy answered. "I'm so glad you came
back!" She hugged him, getting a wince in return.
"Easy, pet," he said, carefully extracting himself from her grip.
"I don't seem to have had any choice in the matter."
Buffy gave him a worried look.
Giles looked from Tara to Anya. "Are you saying..."
Tara nodded.
Giles took his glasses off and started to clean them.
It was Xander's turn to be confused.
"What? What's everybody not saying? Could someone finish a
sentence please?"
"I think Anya is indicating that Spike has somehow obtained a
soul," Giles said slowly. "Is that so?"
"Spike? Really?" Buffy said.
"Later, pet. This is important. Call the ranger station at the
wilderness area up north. There are two women stranded out
there and one of them needs medical help. They need to get a
medevac chopper to them."
"Spike?" Buffy said again, now completely confused.
"Now! Make the call! I'm not telling anybody anything until
that's done!"
--------------------
Xander made the call, telling the ranger on the other end that
he'd gotten a freak cell-phone call -- something that had
bounced somehow and reached him even though he was much
too far to have received it. He described the location as relayed
by Spike.
Buffy fussed over Spike's injuries. He was tired to the bone,
and still somewhat confused. He kept wondering what day it
was, and kept asking if the call had been made yet.
"Spike, the soul. What happened?" Buffy asked finally.
Spike didn't answer.
"You did this for me?" she asked, her voice catching.
"Part of it, love. Not all of it." He sighed.
Buffy didn't think she had ever heard him sound so weary.
Giles came over and gave Spike a serious look.
"I'm afraid I seem to have lost the plot," he said.
"Yeah, you leave the country for six months and the next thing
you know everything's gone to hell," Spike said, giving the ex-
Watcher a sour look.
"You asked for a soul?"
"Yeah."
"Can you tell us how you went about it?"