Disclaimer: I don't own them, would that I did. The characters herein belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, Greenwalt, Fox, etc. I'm merely using them to tell my own little story.

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Part Two: Convergence

"I don't understand." Tara's voice was apologetic, but Giles couldn't help but sigh in frustration. He would have to try to explain again; all except for Willow were looking at him blankly. Since he had rushed back to Sunnydale, Dawn in tow, they had done little but gather in the Magic Box and discuss the prophecy. It was late, long past the shop's closing time, and Giles felt a sudden urge to send Buffy on patrol. A shiver of sadness ran through him.

He had to concede that the text presented problems. There were still some sections he was unsure about himself. Nothing was so annoying for the Watcher as admitting that he didn't comprehend something, even if it was just to himself. He picked up the text and read through the passage again.

"Dr. Seuss, eat your heart out," Xander quipped, his smile not reaching his eyes. Giles grimaced in response.

"I realize it's difficult. The text is more than a bit prosaic, but clearly it is referring to Buffy."

"I think we all got that much," Dawn said. "And some of it seems to make sense."

"But a lot of it is just weird lame poetic junk. The Four Champions?" Anya said testily. Giles sighed again.

"Four men who have loved Buffy very deeply. So much so that they would put her life above their own," Giles replied.

"Oh. Well, then one of them must be you, Giles," Willow offered. "And Xander! Xander loved Buffy!" Xander quickly put his arm around Anya reassuringly.

"Friend! Loved her as a friend. Friend-like loving for Buffy from me," he claimed, his expression softening as memories surfaced. "She was my best friend. Present company excepted, of course," he added, bobbing his head at Willow. She grinned at him, then slumped down a little in her seat, as a new thought occurred to her.

"But I'm left out. Cause of the not being male part. Darn chauvinist prophecies. But, what about..."

"Me." All turned to see Angel standing in the doorway. Giles and Willow both started guiltily. Neither had thought to call the vampire after discovering the text. "Cordy had a vision. Wes found the prophecy. What do you have so far?"

"Okay, Mr. Fed-On-My-Girlfriend counts as someone who would die for love of Buffy?" Xander asked sourly, earning an elbow from Anya and a growl from Angel.

"Yes, well, Angel was Buffy's first love," Giles offered hesitantly.

"Buffy means everything to me. I'm not even going to try to defend myself to you, Harris, but suggest I didn't love Buffy again and we'll be looking for two new champions instead of three."

Angel's threat hung in the air, making everyone uncomfortable until Willow jumped in.

"So who's the fourth? Champion, that is?"

"Riley?" Xander offered. "Riley loved Buffy."

"Riley left Buffy," Anya commented.

"And he did weird stuff with vampires," Tara said softly.

"Not apparently eliminating factors," Xander replied with a pointed look at Angel. Giles stepped in between the two of them before speaking.

"Riley's, ummm, behavior notwithstanding, I think we need to consider that he may indeed be-"

"No," Dawn interrupted firmly. "Not Riley."

"It has to be, Dawn. Who else? Your absentee dad? Scott Hope? That jerk Parker?" Xander glowered at the memory.

"Spike," Dawn replied. Willow, Tara and Anya nodded as the others in the room exploded.

"No way," Angel said flatly.

"You're damn right no way! Buffy couldn't stand Spike!" Xander added.

"If you're referring to that abomination of a crush, I really don't think that has any relevance here. Spike is incapable of love," Giles harshly stated. Dawn stood, visibly upset.

"You're wrong, Giles. And you didn't talk to him. I did," Dawn said stubbornly.

"Dawnie's right," Tara said. "Spike loved Buffy. Her death...he was totally devastated."

"I had to stop him from staking himself, right before he left...at least, I hope he left. He might have poofed," Willow added sadly.

"You stopped him again? Why do you keep doing that?" Xander snarled.

"Xander, stop it!" Dawn said. "Spike loved Buffy as much as anyone."

"Be that as it may, Dawn, you must admit that as Buffy's former boyfriend, Riley is a more logical champion than an unsouled vampire. Unless there's some more compelling reason why Riley should be excluded."

"How about he's dead," a voice sounded, and all turned to see Spike standing in the doorway. His appearance was dreadfully gaunt and unkempt, and he appeared to have gone without sleep for days.

"Spike!" Dawn cried in delight and ran to hug the vampire, who swayed and almost fell over when she wrapped her arms around him. He closed his eyes, smiling as he held her.

"Nibblet. I guess you missed me?" Releasing him, Dawn gave him a playful punch on the arm and led him to the table, where he sat gratefully. The others were still motionless shocked by both his sudden appearance and his overly casual pronouncement.

"Spike, you're saying Riley's dead? How do you know that?" Willow asked.

"Went looking for him when I left here, pet. Figured he'd stake me good and proper."

"You mean you figured he was your best shot to getting dechipped," Anya corrected brightly. Spike glared at her for a moment, but there was no real heat in it. He rubbed his face wearily.

"Yeah, that too," Spike finally conceded. Giles cleared his throat.

"You were able to locate him? We tried after...we were only able to get assurances that he would be notified about what happened."

"I'd say they told him. Farmboy volunteered for some kind of crazy mission. Ended up buying the bleedin' farm."

"And you expect us to believe you had nothing to do with it, William," Angel said tersely, a faint lilt of his long-ago Irish accent tingeing his words. Spike shrugged tiredly, refusing to be baited.

"Happened before I ever left Sunnydale. Got the story from one of his mates."

"And then you came back here?" Xander asked incredulously.

"Yes, because I missed you all desperately," Spike retorted, for a moment his old sarcastic self. Then he sagged in his seat, drawn and weary. He directed his speech to Dawn. "Kept dreaming. Couldn't get them to stop. Always dreams about you lot, especially the poof and the Watcher and Junior over there," he waved vaguely at Xander, "and her. Big sis. Knew I had to come back here, just to find out what the hell is going on!"

"We think we have a way to bring Buffy back," Anya blurted.

"But you're gonna have to do it," Dawn continued excitedly. "Well, you and Giles and Xander and Angel. Together."

"That can't be right," Xander disagreed. "Giles, tell them that can't be right. We must be misreading this. It's way too twisted."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Xander's right," Angel added quietly. "I mean, two vampires helping bring the Slayer back to life? I can't see it."

"There's one way to find out," Giles said quietly. When he had all of their full attention, he continued. "The prophecy says 'well met on the mouth of hell'. I believe it is directing us to where we can get our answers."

"The Hellmouth," Willow said with a shudder.

"The library," Giles confirmed.

"Swell," Xander muttered. "Group outing?"

"Just the four of us," Angel said, locking eyes with Giles. "To see if we've got the right four."

"Yes," agreed Giles. Spike stood and eyed them all warily.

"Just to be clear, I don't like either one of you," he glared at Giles and Xander in turn, then turned to Angel, "and I hate you with every single fiber of my being. But there's nothing I wouldn't do for Buffy. Including throwing my lot in with you people. So let's get on with it." Without another word he walked out of the shop. Angel watched him go, then turned back and glowered at Giles and Xander.

"For Buffy," he whispered, then fell in behind the blonde vampire. There was a ripping sound, and everyone turned from watching the backs of the retreating vampires to see Giles tearing the page with the prophecy out of the volume. He stuffed it in his pocket as Willow came to his side.

"Giles, shouldn't we-" He cut her off with an unexpected hug. "Oh," she said softly. Dawn began to cry and Tara put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Giles released Willow, looking gravely at Xander.

"For Buffy," he echoed Angel, and hastened to follow the two vampires. Xander kissed Anya hard. It felt to her like they were trying to pour a lifetime worth of kisses into just the one moment. Reluctantly he pulled away, then touched his forehead to hers.

"I'll be back."

"I know," she replied. He nodded, turning to a shaking Willow. Xander reached out with his right hand as Willow reached with her left, their fingers clasping together.

"For Buffy," he said solemnly. Willow nodded, letting go reluctantly and going to put her arm around Anya. Her eyes were shining but she smiled at him serenely.

"Go," she said. Without further hesitation he ran after Giles. The four women moved closer, instinctively moving into a group hug around Dawn. They stared at the door for a long time, as if it held the answers. Finally Dawn spoke the words that they all had secretly been praying.

"They'll be back. And they'll bring Buffy with them."

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Meanwhile, on another plain altogether, Buffy Summers was troubled. Her reunion with her mother had been nothing less than joyful, and she had been endeavoring to transition fully into the peace of the afterlife. Somehow it had been more difficult than she had expected, however, and she had been abruptly requested to appear before a spiritual counselor. She had been led into a cavernous room filled with books of all shapes and sizes, on shelves and sitting in stacks on the floor. The counselor had been writing furiously in one of the books with a quill pen since she had entered, and had yet to acknowledge her presence. He was a strange man, resembling a thin Santa Claus in both appearance and demeanor, but dressed in a pair of burgundy lounging pajamas. Buffy had never been known for her infinite patience; unsettled, she was even more edgy. She had cleared her throat repeatedly to no effect. Finally she strode to the desk and grabbed his writing hand, effectively getting his attention. She quickly gave him a sheepish grin of apology.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I just...I'm Buffy." His blue eyes crinkled in amusement.

"Indeed you are, my dear. And what a Buffy you are, too." He grinned at her bewilderment.

"I was told to come see you," she tried again.

"Indeed. We do have a matter to discuss. Tell me, Buffy, are you happy here?"

"Yes! Of course, it's very...nice...and my mom's here, which is really great, and I hear that the alternative really sucks, so this is definitely the place for Buffy," she babbled with panicky enthusiasm.

"It's okay, Buffy. I promise nothing bad will happen to you if you tell me the truth." She searched his eyes for a moment, then sighed heavily.

"It's not that I don't like it. I do, especially being with my Mom again. I missed her so much," she said, starting to pace a bit. "I just...can't seem to get into the flow of this place. Everything is so pleasant, and peaceful, and..."

"Boring."

"God, yes," Buffy agreed fervently, then put a hand over her mouth. "Oops. Sorry."

"It's perfectly all right. In fact, you've just demonstrated the point I was going to discuss with you. Buffy, when a young, heroic woman such as you dies, it is often a difficult transition. We frequently encounter it with Slayers. But most Slayers have few ties to the world, so they do manage to adjust rather quickly. You are a special case."

"Great. No wonder I'm getting that special feeling," Buffy moaned.

"Your passing to this plain has caused extraordinary suffering among those you hold dear," the counselor said gently.

"Okay, that? Not the most comforting thing you could have said. How am I supposed to let go of my previous life when I know that the people I love are suffering?"

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," the man began, and continued speaking to her about his plans for what seemed like an eternity. An incalculable number of emotions ran through Buffy as he told her of the tests that had been prepared. In the end she shook her head, confused and angry.

"And I'm just supposed to sit here? To wait?"

"Of course," he answered, mildly surprised.

"I'm a Slayer. I'm not some damsel in distress sitting around waiting to be rescued. This whole thing is way out-of-date, not to mention sexist."

"Perhaps. But these are tests of love, Buffy, for both you and them. These men have professed their love of you. They have each, on more than one occasion, placed their lives in your hands. Do you love them enough to do the same?" Buffy struggled with the answer for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay, fine. This is your party. If I have to be Prize Girl, fine. But I'll go nuts just sitting around here waiting." The white haired man smiled in response.

"I didn't think you would." He suddenly sketched a bow and offered the crook of his arm in a strange gallant gesture. "The quest has already begun, my dear. Your champions are gathering. Shall we away?" he said. Buffy just shook her head.

"I guess...away we go."

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TBC - and questing for feedback, as always!