Author's Notes:

Well, I'm assuming you've seen Buffy and you should know what's Joss Whedon's and what's mine, so I'm not even going to bother to differentiate, but keep in mind that mine is mine and Joss' is Joss'. Onwards! Enjoy.

Chosen Child

A rush of wind blew from the circle. K's hair was covering her face, and she couldn't push it away to see what was going on because her hands were still cuffed. An ear-piercing screech rang throughout the whole room, making Charlie's maniacal laughter barely audible.

Once the wind stopped and the room quieted, K could only hear the panting of the newly risen demon. Large, scaly, and a mucus-green with bright red horns curling out of the side of its head, it opened its mouth and roared a terrible sound that almost sounded like a dinosaur and a hyena were simultaneously giving birth.

"Oh, God," K said to herself. She was so drained of her energy that she fell over. "This is all my fault… if I had just…"

"Now, my pet," Charlie said in a demanding voice, "we've got fresh meat for you downstairs. If you'll just come along, we'll gladly feed you."

The demon growled again. It looked down, and picked up K with just a few fingers before throwing her aside on the wall next to Spike.

"K!" Spike exclaimed. "Bloody hell!" He shook and tried to break out of the chains, but to no avail.

The great beast shook the whole building with every step, although each step took it a long moment before it could get to the next one. Surely the Slayers knew what was on its way.

As soon as the demon had broken through the doorway, Charlie and Rex had gone out to follow it.

"K?" Spike called. "Are you all right?"

K groaned as she put her hand to her head and sat up. "Define 'all right.'" She looked at her hand. "Fuck. God, I'm bleeding, and I have no Slayer powers, and I can't do any bloody thing. Oh, except this." She picked up a small key from the floor. "He must've dropped this." She stuck it, with great difficulty, into her own handcuffs and released herself. She compared the key to Spike's lock. "It seems like this is the master key, it'll free you, too."

"Let me out, then!" Spike shouted.

K took a few steps away from him. "I-I'm not sure. I mean… you don't have a soul. And after what you did to me when we were being held captive… I don't think I should let you out until you're ensouled again."

"I've fought vampires without a soul," Spike said. "I've been good without a soul."

"I have to be safe, Spike," she said, putting the key in her pocket. "We'll kill the demon, get your soul back, and then I'll let you out. I promise."

"You can't just leave me here!"

"No one's coming back up here. Nothing can hurt you here… except for yourself. You can't regret right now, Spike, and you could do something rash. Once you get your soul back, you might feel horrible about it. I can't let that happen. Spike, I'm doing this for you. And I'm doing this for us."

Spike sighed. "You'd better get back here bloody soon."

K nodded. "Of course. We'll fix this."

"Be careful, love," Spike said softly. "I know how you're trying to protect me… but I can't lose you."

"Don't worry about me," she said, smiling. "I may not have Slayer powers, but… I can still help. Just hang out. I'll come back soon." She kissed him on the cheek quickly before running out the door, following the demon downstairs.

The demon was now facing the Slayer army with the remaining vampires lining up behind it. K had gotten down to the first floor just in time. None of the Slayers had died, thankfully, but some of them were about to as they began to try to puncture the demon.

The battle got bloody as the Slayers shot their crossbows, swung their axes, and stabbed with their stakes. K could barely maneuver herself. She was still bleeding and everything was getting fuzzy, and—"Oh, Willow!"

"K!" Willow exclaimed. They both tried to fight their way away from the battle. "Oh my God, what happened?"

"They took my blood," K said. "And they took my Slayer powers. And they got Spike's soul."

"Where's Spike?"

"He's chained up on the top floor… but Willow… you've got to help restore his soul. I know you've done it before with Angel, and… oh, we have to bring him back."

"Well, the soul is powering the demon right now," Willow told her. "If we could find some way to get the soul out of the demon, we could get it back into Spike. But… we don't even know how to kill this thing. Our weapons are useless."

"How did it get defeated before?"

"I don't know! It was the Powers that Be that got rid of it!"

"Is there anyway that we can figure out how they got to them?"

"Um… Angel! He's had contact with them before, he's talked to the Oracles! I'm sure he would know some way we could, like, ask them or something."

"Where's Angel?"

"Erm… I'll get him for you. You don't dare go into that battle, you'll get killed without your Slayer powers!"

"Willow, I can't just—"

"No! Stay here!"

Willow had gone back into the battle and she was soon gone from K's sight.

They were some of the longest moments of K's life before Willow finally came back to her with Angel.

"Angel, you need to try to find out how to kill this demon. We're just stalling it, keeping it slow, but it's not doing anything."

"So what? You expect me to go to the Oracles?"

"It's the only plan we've got right now, Angel," Willow said. "Please. I'll go back in to fight, but you've got to come back with some information, or else we're all dead."

Angel nodded.

"Take me with you," K said. "I can't go in that fight without dying for sure, and I can't just stand around here and wait. I'm coming with you."

"Can't argue with that," Angel said. "But there's no way that I know of to get to any Conduit to the Powers that Be from New York."

"I'm sure there's a way," K said. "Let's go find out."

"We're counting on you two," Willow said. "You have to act as fast as possible. I'm going back in. Good luck."

"Good luck," Angel and K said back as Willow disappeared into the rumble.

Angel and K carefully snuck out of the building together. Now that the sun was down, they would be able to move freely anywhere.

"I say we get back to the hotel and look at one of Willow's books," K said. "Maybe check out the internet, too."

Angel nodded. "It's the only plan we've got."

They drove as fast as they could back to the hotel where they went through every book Willow had brought.

"Here!" K exclaimed. "Servants to Higher Powers… Servants to the Powers that Be! There are those Oracles you talked to before… but we can only get them from LA… plus, they're dead. Oh! There's a minor Goddess we can reach from New York!"

"Where?"

"Umm… on a small island near the Statue of Liberty."

"Well, that's not exactly close by."

"I doubt we'll find a closer one. How long will it take to get there?"

Angel typed into Willow's laptop. "About twenty minutes if we don't obey traffic laws."

"Then we'd better leave now."

They ran down back to the van, and Angel's insane driving nearly got them killed, but got them to the docks by the Statue of Liberty. It was a miracle that no one questioned their beat-up state. Angel stole a small motorboat, and the two of them made it to the Statue of Liberty.

"I've always wanted to be a tourist at this place," K said looking at the giant copper statue. "I mean, I came here once when I was a little girl, but I never appreciated it."

"I wish we had time to now," Angel said. "But which way is the island?"

"It said South East… ah! I think it's that one!" K said, squinting her eyes to see a little island in the distance.

Angel revved up the motor, and they were on their way.

When they reached the island, it was almost completely empty except for a cave and a few surrounding trees.

"Well," K started, "my bet is that she's down in the cave."

The two of them climbed down the rocky cave, which seemed to go infinitely lower. K was certain that they were way under sea level. The cave seemed to go on forever into the dark until there was a dim light at the end of the tunnel. They were both attracted to the light like flies, and went down there as soon as possible.

The Goddess was beautiful. Pale, pure, and the essence of everything good. Her hair sprawled down in curls until it fell to her waist, and her pale eyes matched her pale skin.

"Hello," her voice rang and echoed on the walls of the cave. "Can I help you?"

"I… um…" Angel was stunned by her beauty.

"We need some information," K said. "D-do we need to give you an offering?"

"Hmmmm," the Goddess sang. "I can feel warmth… love… in both of you. You're bloody… fighting for those you love… that's more than enough."

"Um, okay. Well, you are a servant to the Powers that Be, correct?"

"Correct," she sang.

"We need to know how they came to rule the Earth. There were the Old Ones… and for a brief period of time there were these demons that were alive for such a short period of time that they weren't even documented. The Powers that Be destroyed them almost right after they came to life. We need to know how."

"Why?"

"One of those demons is back. Risen by a group of vampires. It's killing the ones we love. We need to know how to stop it."

The Goddess giggled. "Please stay for a while," she sang. "It gets awfully lonely down here."

"Please," K begged. "We need to know."

"There's a song," she said. "A beautiful song… I sang it myself… it destroyed the demon."

"A song," K said. "What is it?"

"It should not be sung by just any human."

"Well, luckily, we haven't got any of those. We have a powerful witch, a couple of vampires, and a whole army of Slayers, and—"

"You, my dear, are the one to sing it."

"I don't have to sing it," K said. "Angel can sing it. Or Buffy or Willow… there's nothing special about me."

The Goddes laughed. Her laughter rang through K's body, causing her to shake. "Only you, my child, like how it was only me."

"But why? Why does it have to be me?"

"You are Chosen."

"What?"

"You are Chosen, my child, and now you will sing."

"But why me?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No!"

She laughed again. "You are strange. Strange and beautiful and you hail above the others in your innocence and happiness. You think for yourself and are set apart from those around you. You are—"

"Weird," K interrupted. "You're saying I'm weird."

"You are Chosen."

"But I can't—"

"Are you afraid?"

"N-no. Not at all."

"Do this for love."

K froze. Spike. He was still there, soulless. The Slayers endlessly fighting. She slowly nodded.

"Sing, my chosen child, and there is nothing you can't bring to those you love. Use your true power."

"My true power?"

"Your strongest power."

K sighed. "All right. What's the song?"

The Goddess extended her hand. K took it.

Music. She heard music fill the whole room. It was a beautiful melody, with the notes sharp enough to give her a mild headache.

"Angel…" K said softly. "C-can you hear that?"

He shook his head. "Hear what?"

The song played on until it slowed and came to a steady stop. K's hand was freed by the Goddess.

"Now go," she said. "And sing. Save the ones you love, my Chosen Child."