CHAPTER TWO
Fire Burns

Sunnydale, California
March 19, 2004 — 1422 PST

"Owww! Damn it!"

"Take it easy, Willow. You'll get the hang of it," Kennedy said with a small teasing laugh.

Another female, her voice seeming to come from all around, added her opinion, "Agreed, you've made remarkable progress in this short time period," Adriana said.

"You think I could get it right by now," Willow said, the frustration obvious in her voice as she sucked on the knuckle of her thumb. The pain a result of burning herself from the candle she was using for her magic spell that suddenly flared outward, catching everyone by surprise.

Kennedy leaned in, gently touching the other woman's face. The touch expressed one of love and reassurance, "Listen, you're doing great my sweet Wiccan vixen," she whispered.

Willow smiled at Kennedy's soft touch and reassurance. Her budding relationship with the Potential still surprised her. After Tara's death, she thought she would never find someone to love and open her heart up to again, but then she found Kennedy.

It only took another almost-apocalypse to find love and happiness, she thought, gazing into the other woman's eyes.

"Why don't you try again," Kennedy encouraged.

Willow rolled her eyes, but nodded in agreement as she turned her attention once again on the unlit candle on the floor in front of her. She cleared her mind, focusing on the candle and the incantations written on the floor forming a circle around her. A small frustrated sigh escaped her as she realized that trying to open a portal to another dimension/universe looked so much easier on paper compared to actually doing it.

I guess if it was that easy then everyone would do it…

The Wiccan was glad they were doing these attempts in the exercise area of the warehouse away from prying eyes. Besides giving her the space and quietness she needed, no one—except for Kennedy and Adrianna—could witness her failed attempts with the magic.

Since the discovery that Michael survived the nuke blast in the Hellmouth, everyone was working tirelessly on a way to bring him home. The only information they had was that he somehow found a way out of the Hellmouth through a portal that appeared to have led to another dimension. They were dealing with a lot of unknowns and had lots of questions, but that hadn't slowed them down in their quest to help him.

For Willow, she was dedicating her time to researching anything and everything related to other dimensions, dimensional travel and portals. She wasn't alone in her work and research as Giles assisted her along with Adriana.

She appreciated Giles's help, but having the highly advanced AI—Adriana—assisting with searching through electronic libraries and databases around the world was a priceless asset. Adriana could access every byte of human knowledge stored electronically, speeding up their search efforts. Plus, that she was from an alternate universe five hundred years ahead of theirs gave them insights and access to knowledge they hadn't believed possible. Buffy was also helping Willow—indirectly—by keeping Faith out of her hair, sparing her from constant prodding and badgering for updates and progress.

Despite the resources available and the information they'd gathered, it was slow, frustrating work for Willow. From what they'd discovered so far, they would need powerful magics—some bordering on dark—to perform the spells they'd discovered. She'd kept her concerns about her working with dark magics again to herself. This was too important for her to give into old fears. Besides, she had Kennedy to keep her steady and grounded.

Even with her "dabbling" with quasi-dark magics, she'd only encountered failures and setbacks so far. She knew it would take a miracle to find the right combination of spells to master if she was going to open portals between dimensions.

Kennedy read the growing frustration on her girlfriend's face. That was one reason she was down here with her. She tried to get her to calm down, "Just relax… focus, and try again," she urged in a gentle voice.

Willow let her frustration erupt, "It's not like I can just say something like, Sit ignis and fire will suddenly appear—," she said, waving her hand around.

"Uh… Will," Kennedy said, pointing at the small fire that suddenly appeared behind Willow. Kennedy stood up, rushing over to stomp out the small fire before alarms and sprinklers went off.

While Willow watched her girlfriend put out the fire, another frustrated sigh escaped, "At least the men got the easy job to work on," she muttered.

oOoOo

"So, do you guys know what you're doing?" Anya said, studying the scene. She got the distinct impression that neither man realized what they were doing with the pile of parts they had to assemble into a homing beacon. Xander had his construction experience along and knowing how to repair things, while Giles had his Watcher background and experience, but this seemed beyond them.

From the start, everyone realized trying to search what could be countless dimensions was beyond the resources of their little group. There were some that believed they were trying to do the impossible, but Adriana reminded everyone that for Spartans the impossible was a minor hurdle. It was Adriana who came up with deploying homing beacons in the dimensions they could access once Willow figured out the magic. When deployed, the beacon would broadcast an IFF signal on a frequency that Michael's communication system could pick up. There were still a lot of details to work out, but it was a start. It also gave the group something to focus on rather than dwell on the hurdles they faced.

"Don't you think this is more of a Willow-type job?" she said.

"Shhh, honey… men working," Xander replied, trying to hide his growing frustration. He whole-heartedly agreed that this was a Willow job, staring at the pile of parts lying on the floor. He was handy with tools and could build and repair—doors, windows, furniture—pretty much anything that Buffy destroyed. In this situation, he was out of his element as he looked between the instructions provided by Adriana and the pile of parts awaiting assembly.

Xander wished Willow was here to help, but she was busy trying to figure out the magic to access the dimensions to deploy these beacons. He tried reading again the AI's instructions in another vain attempt to decipher them. While his male ego refused to admit failure on his inability to read "simple" instructions, he was resigning himself to having to ask Adriana to "dumb them down" for him.

Despite his failure, he refused to admit it openly to Anya. It didn't seem right to destroy her image of him and his building skills. He looked to Giles for a lifeline, but saw only a confused, glazed expression on the ex-Watcher's face and realized there was no help there.

"Uh… Giles? Are you okay?" he whispered.

Giles didn't say a word, but a small sigh escaped him as he continued staring at all the parts on the floor.

oOoOo

In the warehouse conference room, Buffy and Faith met to discuss the plans and current status of the group and the search for Michael. Sitting across from each other, Buffy studied her fellow Slayer. Since the news of Michael surviving the nuclear explosion and escaping the Hellmouth, Faith was on a slow burn. With each passing day, she was becoming more impatient… like a caged tiger wanting to strike out. Buffy understood and sympathized with Faith's frustrations over the delays to get the search started, but it was getting on people's nerves.

Despite the wear on people's nerves and having to run interference for Willow, Buffy's main concern was on Faith's state of mind. She recalled the condition she'd found Faith in Los Angeles and what Angel told her. Even now, Faith didn't talk about or even mention her time there… it was like it never happened. Buffy didn't want to pry or force the issue, but decided it was her job to keep an eye on her fellow Slayer. She didn't look forward to it as she suppressed a sigh at having to be the buffer between Faith and everybody else.

"Willow is still having problems opening portals. She says the magic is hard, but I know her… she'll come through," Buffy said. She noted that Faith appeared distracted, only half paying attention to what she was saying as she continued.

"Xander and Giles are assembling the beacons using Adriana's instructions. I'll check on them later and see how things are going…"

"So, let's get this show on the road," Faith said. Her impatience obvious as she gazed off in another direction of the conference room not focusing on Buffy.

Buffy shook her head, taking a deep breath. Despite her sympathy and understanding, Faith's attitude wasn't helping the situation. Her instincts usually led her to act without thinking or considering the ramifications as a sudden wave of concern filled Buffy as she studied Faith.

"Faith, you got to have patience," Buffy sighed, "This isn't like walking to the corner store. We're talking about going to other dimensions! I know you've never been a big fan of it, but we need to plan and be careful," she added.

Buffy tried to get Faith's attention as she rocked back-and-forth in her chair, staring at the far wall, looking lost in her thoughts. Another exasperated sigh escaped Buffy, "Once Willow can get the portals open, we need to decide who's going through to set up the beacons."

Faith ended her chair rocking and wall staring, turning her focus on Buffy, "No plan or decision required… I am. End of story."

"Um… Okay," Buffy replied. Faith's response didn't particularly surprise her, but she didn't hide the hesitation and doubt from her voice.

Faith picked up on Buffy's tone. A momentary flash of anger filled her, but she calmed down as she saw the concerned look on Buffy's face. She took a deep breath, noting that if their positions were reversed, she'd probably be showing the same doubts and concerns, "Relax, I've picked out a team. It'll be me and four Potentials from my fireteam. We go through, setup the beacon, do a quick look around, find Michael, come home, and everyone lives happily ever after… no sweat."

Buffy was a little taken aback by Faith's attitude towards what they were trying to accomplish. She understood Faith's hopes and desires, but she needed to stay grounded. What they were attempting to do was like looking for a single needle in a countless number of haystacks.

Buffy had discussed this with Giles, and they both realized the odds were against them finding Michael. Despite the odds stacked against them that didn't deter her as she and the others owed Michael enough to make this effort to bring him home.

What worried her was she wasn't sure if Faith understood or would admit to herself how daunting a task they were undertaking as memories of Los Angeles returned.

"Faith, you know it could take a while to find him… It's not as easy as—"

Adriana's voice interrupted Buffy, "I'm sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I've discovered something important."

Buffy took a deep breath, filing away her conversation with Faith for follow-up later, "What's up Adriana?" she said.

"We have a problem in Sunnydale," the AI replied.