Keeping Up With the Scoobies Chapter 8: Multiverse of Magic, a buffy: the vampire slayer fanfic

BtVS || Spuffy || BtVS || Spuffy || Keeping Up With the Scoobies || Spuffy || BtVS || Spuffy || BtVS

Title: Keeping Up With the Scoobies – The Long Way Home

Tags: m/f, f/f, hurt/comfort, survivor's guilt, fluff, found family

Main Pairing: Spike/Buffy

Side Pairings: Tara/Willow, Xander/Renee, Robin/Faith, Connor/Dawn, Dowling/Dylan, Angel/Cordelia, Wesley/Fred, Oz/Bay, Buffy/Satsu (briefly), Willow/Kennedy (briefly)

Buffy Characters: William 'Spike' Pratt, Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers, Rupert Giles, Willow Rosenberg, Alexander 'Xander' Harris, Andrew Wells, Tara Maclay, Renee, Faith Lehane, Robin Wood, Robert Dowling, Dylan Turner, Satsu, Kennedy, Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne, Bayarmaa 'Bay'

Angel Characters: Angel, Cordelia Chase, Connor Angel, Harmony Kendall, Winifred 'Fred' Burkle, Wesley Wyndam Pryce, Charles Gunn, Lorne

Summary: Buffy shared her powers with all potential Slayers. But that was only the beginning. Now, she has to deal with all the new Slayers, with the aftermath of LA going to hell – and coming back. The world knows about the supernatural, there's no going back.

Keeping Up With the Scoobies

The Long Way Home

8. Multiverse of Magic

Dawn's idea was pretty good, even if Buffy's first instinct had been to disagree because it sounded as though it would endanger her little sister. It was Willow who quickly went to reassure Buffy. Her hope was that there was still the spark of the key inside of Dawn, because her form was changed, but magic wasn't something that could so easily be erased. The idea was to reawaken this magic, the same way Willow had awakened the dormant Slayer magic.

"But what would that really entail?" asked Xander worried, arms crossed over his chest.

"Xan," Buffy leveled a look at him. "I would never allow something to happen to Dawn. Neither would Will. You know that. What Will's trying to do is... unlock that magic so she can access it."

"But what would that entail?" Xander motioned wildly. "Buff. If Dawn is the key with the power to open portals, that would mean she would have to come along to that, doesn't it?"

Buffy remained quiet and averted her eyes. "She's eighteen, Xander. Much as I hate it, she can make her own decisions. I've been a Slayer since I was fifteen. I had no choice. She does. And she chose to do this. Because there are innocent lives at stake. Because she's a Summers."

"I know that in theory, Dawnie is eighteen, but-" Xander frowned annoyed.

Buffy quirked her lips, shaking her head. "I know. I feel the same way. But... Dawn wants to help. We have always benched her as much as we could. And she is eighteen now. Not just in theory."

Xander continued grumbling for a moment. "Okay, fine. Who else is going with you?"

"Just Dawn, Willow and me," replied Buffy with a shake of her head. "We don't know what to expect. A whole big road-trip isn't going to cut it and I need someone to hold down the fort. Keep the newbies in line, especially with the new threat of these evolved vampires."

Xander looked ready to protest again, but they were all more grown up. He knew that there were responsibilities now, that their world was larger than the Scoobies themselves. Others needed to be considered, cared for. Xander heaved a sigh and glowered at her, conveying his dismay.

"Be careful," whispered Xander after a moment. "Even if you can't save Los Angeles. Bring the three of you back in one piece, okay? No more sacrifices."

Buffy stayed quiet, unable to lie to him. His gaze told her that he knew that too.

/break\

"And we're sure this is going to work?" Andrew sounded skeptical, taking a step back.

"Well, I assume Dawn will need to get the hang of it first," offered Willow. "But yes. I unlocked the magic within her with a modified version of the spell I used on the potentials."

"And you have everything you need? Food? Water? Clothes?" asked Xander concerned.

"Yes, we have all essentials," promised Buffy with a fond eye-roll. "We'll be fine. I promise."

"Well, I think we'd be better off if I had something to use as a beacon," Willow sighed frustrated. "I mean, yes, we look for something from our world, in general, but things with... significance, something smaller... A personal memento of one person, to catch their 'scent', so to speak and focus on finding them, specifically. It's easier to focus in on one specific person than on the vague concept of all of Los Angeles. Not impossible. Just more... energy-consuming."

There was a beat of silence, before Buffy reluctantly fished something out of her bag. "...Will this be enough to... focus your search on Spike?"

Spike's storm-lighter. She might have pocketed it before the final battle, she genuinely didn't know, but she'd found it after and... she'd been carrying it around with her since then. Good luck charm. Thankfully, no one commented on it, or on her having it. Willow simply took it and smiled.

"That'll do. Okay, Dawnie. I need you to hold my hand and concentrate. You, focus on manifesting a door, I'll guide it and make sure it'll lead where we want to go, okay?"

"Okay. I think. I don't know," Dawn sounded and looked nervous, squinting her eyes closed.

It took some time as Dawn tried to feel for that magic. The sensation was overwhelming for her, like a fire burning deep inside of her. The fire spread, until it tingled in her finger-tips and toes. She clung tightly onto Willow's hand and tried to do as she had been told. Focus on creating a door.

"Okay. That is very literal. I appreciate that," commented Buffy stunned.

When Dawn opened her eyes, there indeed was a literal door right in front of them, in the middle of the living room. She looked at Willow, unsure what came next. Willow offered her an encouraging smile and then turned the doorknob, opening the door. Just like that. Buffy stepped up on Dawn's other side, taking her free hand. Okay. They could do this. Dawn's been looking forward to this for so many years now. To be an active part of the team. She always got sidelined because she was too young or too fragile or just needed to be protected because everyone still looked at her as the precious little baby-sister. But she was eighteen now. Nearly done with high school. Supposed to be an adult. Considering just how long Buffy, Willow and Xander had been risking their lives saving the world, it was time they allowed her to be as active a part in this as she wanted to be.

/break\

"Ew, ew, ew," Dawn groaned and shuddered.

"Seconded," agreed Buffy. "I thought Anya was making things up when she told us about a world made up entirely of shrimp. That was awful I don't want to ever think about this again."

"They tried to eat us," Dawn rubbed her arms, trying to rid herself of the shrimp-stank.

"Not. Think. About. This. Again," repeated Buffy pointedly. "Never speak of this world again."

The Slayer, nearly eaten by a giant shrimp. Shaking her head, Buffy looked around. So far, everything here looked normal. They needed rest after this last adventure. Put up camp for a few hours. Eat, sleep, recharge – it'd be a bit before Willow and Dawn could perform their magic again. It was very draining on Dawn to open portals. Which made this whole mission far longer than it would have to be. While time was hard to track because of how different each dimension and universe worked, Buffy estimated that they'd been traveling for four days now.

"O—Oh, water! Water-fall! A shower!" Dawn yelped excitedly.

Yes, this looked like a good camp-side. And water would be a blessing. They all smelt like shrimp.

"You, take a shower, Dawnie. Will, help me set up the camp-side?" requested Buffy.

For a while, they set up the tent in silence, but Buffy could feel Willow's gaze on her. They'd been through six alternate realities so far. Somehow, the ones like the shrimp-world were much easier. Actual different dimensions, hell-dimensions even. Because they were all different. But there had been alternate realities too, that were like their own world but slightly to the left. Where Xander still had both eyes. One world where Kendra was still alive and was Buffy's second-in-command, Faith had never been called in that world. It had been... painful, to talk to Kendra again. Buffy still carried a lot of guilt about her death. But to see her in another reality, strong, fierce and brave.

"It... hurts to know that she could have led that kind of life," admitted Buffy in a wobbly voice.

Their conversation was interrupted by rustling in the bushes. Someone was approaching them. Buffy reached for her scythe, motioning for Willow to go and cover for Dawn – she was naked and vulnerable right now, after all. Unaware of any potential attacker.

"That's the source of the magic, Buff," said Willow's voice from behind the bushes.

"But it's strange. It feels like Willow," argued... no, no, not her.

Buffy's eyes widened as she watched herself emerge from behind the bushes, followed by Willow and Tara. Tara's hair was short, in a stylish bob, brighter than Buffy remembered – dyed, maybe.

"You. Explain yourself. Evil doppelgänger?" asked the other Buffy pointedly.

Buffy smiled as non-threatening as she could and lowered the scythe. "Nope. Not evil. We are just... passing through your dimension. We don't mean you any harm. Just... your regular old doppelgängers, not evil. Something from our reality was stolen and we are searching for it back."

Dawn was quickly getting dressed behind them again, yelping in embarrassment. When Willow approached them, Buffy could see the hurt on her face, before Buffy had to turn back to the others too. Tara, alive. That was a lot for Buffy already, but Willow? And seeing Tara hold hands with another Willow. What really caught Buffy's eye were the matching wedding bands on their hands. Of course would they have gotten married if Tara had lived. Or, well, domestic partnershiped.

"We... We will... leave, as soon as we've rested enough," whispered Willow.

She wasn't even blinking, her eyes not leaving Tara. Buffy could see the wetness building up in her eyes. Some pain never went away. The loss of Tara had been so sudden, so unexpected and just as Willow and Tara had rekindled their relationship again. This was what they could have had. More than Buffy's guilt over the life Kendra could have had, the thought of what Willow and Tara had lost together, she couldn't imagine how much that must hurt Willow.

"It's okay, Buffy," Tara's voice was gentle as she rested a hand on the other Buffy's shoulder. "I... can feel they're not evil. I can't quite explain it, but I... can feel it."

To Buffy's surprise, her doppelgänger lowered her own scythe and sighed. "Fine, I trust you, Tara. But you lot... Doppelgängers never lead to good things, so be sure to be gone soon."

/break\

"Was it hard?" whispered Buffy when they rested in the next world. "Seeing Tara again?"

It had been on her mind this entire time, ever since the encounter. Even when they had left the other world behind and built their camp here, ate together. Now that Dawn was asleep while Buffy and Willow took the first shift – they always had two of them keep guard, shifts overlapping by half; in two hours, Buffy would wake Dawn, and two hours later, Willow would wake Buffy.

"It was... bittersweet?" offered Willow after a thoughtful moment. "It hurt, but... in a good way? To see her happy, loved and loving. There is a Willow in that world who loves Tara and who is lucky enough to be loved by Tara. That's... all I can ask for. And I knew... when we left, I knew that chances were we'd run into worlds where Tara survived. But yes... it hurt to see her. I... miss her."

"I know, Will," Buffy reached out to wrap an arm around Willow's shoulder.

The witch leaned against her and started shaking with tears. This was supposed to be a mission to save Los Angeles, not some big emotional challenge. Buffy turned toward her best friend and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Willow's head. Hopefully, the dimensions to come would be calm and uneventful, like this nice little hellscape. A hell-dimension of jagged rocks and nothingness. It was hot and empty, as though there was no life at all. Which was at least peaceful.

"Do you think we'll find them soon?" asked Buffy, gently running her fingers through Willow's hair.

"I think we're getting closer. The... signal feels stronger," whispered Willow, sounding tired.

She closed her eyes and leaned heavier onto Buffy. Stronger was good.

/break\

The next world was the right place to blow off some steam. Which was one of Buffy's favorite ways of dealing with strong emotions. In this world, the Slayer was regarded a demigoddess, queen of the world. One Slayer had taken over many centuries ago and with the truth out there, people bowed before their savior and queen. Needless to say, the current Queen Slayer wasn't a fan of some new Slayer invading her Earth. Buffy got to fight while Dawn and Willow rested before they moved on.

"Please be a nice, calm world," pleaded Dawn when she collapsed backward onto the grass.

Buffy chuckled as she looked at her sister. They were in Sunnydale, which in itself was surprising. They generally seemed to land somewhere in California, which made sense, more or less.

"We're close to the house," whispered Buffy longingly. "I... think I want to take a look."

"Can't hurt more than anything else we've done so far," Willow shrugged, looking at Dawn.

Exploring was exciting and there was the nostalgia of taking one last look at their house. Their old home. They reached it in under ten minutes, all three of them sneaking into the backyard. It looked just like Buffy remembered it, but with more flowers.

"Who's there? You shouldn't break into a witch's home, you know."

The three of them froze as Tara exited the house, looking ready to defend herself. Her eyes widened when she stared at them with the same level of shock. She gasped, covering her mouth with both her hands, tears gathering in her eyes. Buffy instinctively reached for Willow's hand.

"H... How... are you here? You're dead," Tara's voice broke, tears streaming down her face.

"I don't... Who's dead?" Dawn looked around, from Buffy to Willow.

"All... three of you," Tara approached them on shaky legs.

When she reached them, she gently cupped Dawn's face before pulling her into a hug, her eyes wandering over to Willow, staring at her with the same heartbroken look as Willow had looked at the other Tara they'd met before. This... was a possibility Buffy hadn't played out in her head.

"H... How?" asked Willow, reaching out for Tara with unsure hands.

Tara met her halfway, reaching out with one arm to pull Willow into a hug and before Buffy had time to process, she was pulled in from Tara's other side. Oh. Oh, Buffy had forgotten how good Tara hugs felt. Like warm blankets that made everything better. She squeezed her eyes shut. For a few minutes, they simply hugged, all four of them crying and clinging onto each other.

"How are you here? Who are you?" asked Tara once she regained her bearings.

"We're... from an alternate reality. We're only... passing through," offered Buffy.

"Ah," Tara smiled sadly. "Well. Would you like to come inside? Have some... tea? Sandwiches?"

Buffy's stomach growled at that and she flushed. The fight on the last world had taken some energy from her. After exchanging a look with Willow and Dawn, all three of them nodded in confirmation and followed Tara inside. The house hadn't changed much on the inside either, Buffy noted.

"How... did we die? You said we're dead in your world," asked Buffy curiously.

"Warren Mears," replied Tara, voice unusually hard. "He came here... into this garden... and shot Buffy, but one of his bullets strayed... it hit our bedroom, it... it hit Willow... and she... died in my arms... Buffy... died on the operating table. The doctors did all they could."

"That's... You died that day. In our world, the stray bullet hit you, not me," said Willow softly.

And then Willow had gone dark and had proceeded to save Buffy's life. She'd never considered whether she'd have lived or died had Willow not gone dark. Now, she had her answer.

"What about me?" Dawn perked up in confusion. "I mean. Am I dead too?"

Tara averted her eyes at that, like looking at Dawn hurt her. She busied herself making tea, while Willow went to the fridge to start making sandwiches. It was so easy to slip back into old patterns, this had been their shared home for such a long time, after all.

"Some months ago... the First Evil started opening the Hellmouth, after... killing all potential Slayers," Tara didn't look at either of them as she spoke. "Faith fought hard. But as the only Slayer, she... This was too much for her. Dawnie, she was... a key. Made to open a portal. She figured that a key couldn't just open them, a key could close them too. The way... Buffy closed the portal when she sacrificed herself. So Dawn... went into the Hellmouth, closed it for good and..."

"Sacrificed herself to save the world," Buffy felt sick to her stomach at the thought.

"How... are you still alive?" asked Tara, frowning at the three.

"When I... After you died, I went... dark. And used my magic to save Buffy's life. Embracing the darkness gave my magic a boost," replied Willow, looking ashamed.

"And Dawn never had to sacrifice herself. Willow used her magic to unlock the potential in the other Slayers. And... Spike, he sacrificed himself at the end," explained Buffy tensely.

"Spike," Tara blinked a few times. "I haven't seen him since Dawn died. He left Sunnydale."

"What... What about the others? Any others?" asked Willow, sounding nearly desperate.

"Xander didn't make it," Tara sounded so tired. "The fight against the First. Father Caleb killed him. Faith... With the Sunnydale Hellmouth closed for good, she moved on to Cleveland, to guard the Hellmouth there. Too many bad memories here. And... Giles... he never recovered from losing Buffy, he came to Sunnydale for the funeral but returned to England... I'm... the last Scooby..."

This was different. Seeing the last Tara had been bittersweet, because Willow got to see her happy, she also got to see another version of herself, happy with Tara. But this? It just hurt. Looking around, everything in this house felt like a memorial to those Tara had lost. Pictures on the wall of the Scoobies, of Willow and Tara in love. This Tara, she had lived, but... she had lost everything.

/break\

"Can... Can I tell you something that I never got to say to my Buffy?" asked Tara shyly.

Dawn was asleep and Willow was taking a shower, leaving Tara and Buffy alone in the living room.

"I love you," Tara smiled warmly at Buffy, resting a hand on Buffy's.

"Wha-" Buffy's eyes widened and her cheeks flushed brightly. "Willow-"

"No," Tara laughed, the first genuine laugh since they had arrived. "Not like that. Buffy... When my father came to bring me home, she stepped in and stopped them and... stood up for me. She always did. She made me feel at home here, with the Scoobies. When I met Willow, she became my place to belong and for a while, I felt as though I was only a Scooby because I was Willow's girlfriend. But that day, something shifted. I started to feel like I was a part of the family, as my own person. Loved for who I am. And I never... I never had the chance to tell the Buffy from my world that I love her, that she made me feel at home, that... That she gave me a family."

Buffy swallowed around the lump in her throat, her eyes watering again. "Yeah? I... I love you too. The thing with your dad, that happened in our world too. And... in our world, Tara... was the only one I told about... Spike. And not once did she make me feel... wrong for it, even when I felt wrong for it. Our Tara was... always kind and always warm and was... strong for me, when my mom died. And I miss her... very much. I... I talk to her, at her grave..."

The two leaned in to hug tightly. After that, they talked for hours, comparing their worlds – with Willow and Dawn joining them later on. They realized that, up to the day of the shooting, they had been identical. All the major things of their worlds that they could think of and asked each other, it had happened all the same. Until Warren Mears. That one day, one little thing had gone another way and two very different worlds had been born.

"We... We should... leave soon. We're well-rested," noted Buffy tensely at one point.

"I can't..." Willow frowned, staring through the door into the kitchen where Dawn and Tara were laughing with each other while making pancakes. "She's... We're... This is different. She's..."

Yes, it was. Seeing someone they had lost lead their own life, the way it would have unfolded, with the alternate versions of themselves in said life, happy, was one thing. But Tara, she was the polar opposite of them. She had lost them, the same as they had lost her. She was lonely. She looked at them the same way they looked at her, with longing. A longing for someone they had lost.

"We can ask her, but it's her choice, Will," whispered Buffy softly.

Because she understood. Just one conversation with her and she felt it. It felt like it had to talk to Tara, their Tara. For all intends and purposes, this was their Tara. She shared all the same memories as they did, they had shared all the same adventures, laughs and tears, but then she had lost the woman she loved and one by one, the family she had found for herself.

Author's note: See, my main problem with "we replace dead character with version from alternate universe" is that usually that character has lived a VERY different life than the dead character and them getting together always feels truly like "same face is enough", so I specifically wanted to give this Tara ALL of the same memories, right down to her death - and it works well. Just one little, different positioning and Willow would have died that day instead of Tara! Which, considering Willow was who saved Buffy that day, sets that world up for a much darker timeline that this Tara might just WANT to escape from too! ;D

NEXT CHAPTER SPUFFY. PROMISE. Just had to interlude the Tillow first! But yeees, we have finally reached the Spuffy reunion in this Spuffy fic. Guess I had a whole lotta say about AtS and comic season 8 writing choices first, oops xD