XXXXXXXXXXX
Willow gnawed on her lower lip while she sat in the tiny car. She thought about the best way to break the news about the data she had found to Miss Calendar when Willow had looked up some more of the witches in the area.
Ever since the new school year had started, the red head had felt different, as though power was rushing through her. She had kept any and all of that information from Oz and her family, and she certainly wasn’t telling Xander, Buffy or Giles until she knew what she was dealing with.
Miss Calendar would not have found out about Willow and the latent energy building up inside her except that the girl just happened to be the only student who had stayed late one afternoon, and the computer teacher saw one sample of Willow’s power.
It had only been an eraser which had moved across the room, and the dark haired older woman had only seen it fly for a fraction of an instant from the blackboard to the water pail for soaking, but that had been enough.
It had been unconsciously that Willow had done such a minor thing, and she had felt, well…weird doing it, and the redhead expected to be reprimanded. But no harsh judgment ever came. Jenny had actually been encouraging, explaining to Willow that ever since Angel’s conversion into Angelus and Buffy’s depression over what had happened, the gypsy woman had been trying to locate witches and other supernaturally powered people to try to secure the vampire’s soul inside of an Orb of Thessalah.
Jenny’s mandate had been that a happy Slayer was a better Slayer for the good of mankind. (It also couldn’t hurt to have Angel’s information on vampires so that she could kill them more efficiently.)
Miss Calendar had also told her brightest student that she’d felt that, knowing what she did about Buffy’s calling, it was best to have all those who could aid the Slayer on standby in case something major happened and the girl needed major league assistance. So it was, as often as school and other duties would permit, Jenny would train Willow in the use of basic magic tricks.
Like with computers, the titian haired Jewish girl was learning things rapidly. Sadly, though, Willow was nowhere near as skilled as to visit a love spell on Buffy, and both teacher and student knew it.
But Amy Madison was.
“Miss Calendar…Giles, I have to speak with you,” Willow said from her seat inside the car.
“Does it concern Buffy?” the Watcher asked. “I must know! We should be at her side, no matter what. She needs our help!”
“And what are you gonna do when you reach her?” Xander asked with a mocking tone. “Process talk her enemies to death?”
Giles was affronted. He huffed slightly and rearranged his glasses on his nose the way he tended to when he was upset.
“I happen to know magic spells which could aid my Slayer,” he began. Jenny grabbed his shoulder to silence him.
“I remember some of your past dealings with magic, but do even you have the skill that’s anywhere near as powerful enough to cast or remove a love spell?” she asked gently. Giles ground his teeth, but made no further comments.
Looking at the budding witch, Miss Calendar prompted Willow, “You said you had something to tell me and Giles?”
The female student knew that she would have to be reveal-y girl to everyone. There was just no way around it. She powered up her laptop, glad that she had charged up its battery earlier that day.
The redhead found the screen she was looking for and showed Jenny its information. “See, here…that’s Amy Madison,” Willow clarified, willing the screen to show a clearer, less grainy picture.
Giles exclaimed, “That’s the girl whose mystically enhanced mother tried to take over her daughter’s body and destroy Buffy last year!”
“So she’s powerful enough to remove a spell like this one?” Willow asked, curious.
“Maybe…” Jenny responded, looking at the screen again.
She hoped that they would be able to reach the girl to take back the incantation. Her dark orbs saw another girl—the recipient of the spell. If that second girl could be contacted somehow….The teacher quit her musings and looked closely for any clues. A moment later, she stopped short.
It was the beaker with Angel’s name on it and the image of the other girl that had the computer instructor staring and frowning with extreme anger a moment later.
“Buffy!” Jenny whispered in a low, furious voice. “BUFFY is the initiator who got Amy to make all of this happen.” All of the car’s occupants tried to process the information.
“Buffy would not do such a thing!” Giles exclaimed vehemently.
“Even if she did, she wouldn’t make a mistake…” Oz chimed in.
“She’s perfect! Why would she need a spell?” Xander asked, confused in his extreme adoration for all things Buffy.
Both Miss Calendar and Willow exchanged a look. Things were getting worse, and if they were getting worse where they were, what about any males that saw Buffy out there?
XXXXXXXXXXXX
“Now here’s a position I never thought I’d do again,” Angelus taunted, still holding Buffy down. “One where you’re looking up at me...”. He pushed at her so that she was on her back... “flat on your back and waiting.”
With all of her might, Buffy shoved him off. Drusilla went to help Angelus, but she was pulled outside. The vampiress looked at her attacker, and then her lips turned downward.
“Spike...” she said, not really surprised.
“Hey, baby,” the vampire jeered, his game face on. “Miss me?”
Drusilla had but there was no way she would tell him that. She knew it wouldn’t do her any good. The starts and planets had predicted William’s defection, even when he had physically been with her and her Daddy. The stars had told her of his betrayal, and the stars were never wrong, particularly when they joined the moon in one of her visions.
“Betrayer!” she cried coherently.
He sent a kick to her midsection. “That all you’ve got to say?” he asked. He punched her in her cheek.
Drusilla was irate. She attacked her childe without hesitation, bucking his flying fists and kicks.
Spike saw the gym doors flying open when Angelus kicked them accidentally after Buffy had ducked his punt. He saw the Slayer aiming an arm hold on Angelus’ neck after she’d kicked him several times.
Meanwhile, Drusilla lashed out with her nails, cutting Spike’s black shirt open.
“You only get in that one shot, Dru,” Spike said, his anger rising.
He jumped back from Drusilla’s swinging arms, never taking his eyes off of hers. Inside the gym, Buffy and Angelus were fighting for control of the hockey stick the Slayer had grabbed during the other fight to overpower her ex boyfriend.
In the hall, Spike leapt over Drusilla, grabbing her and pinning her with his arms. He placed his arm around her neck and crushed her windpipe just enough to knock her out.
“What c’n I say, pet?” he asked, dragging her to a nearby closet and barring the door. “Love hurts; so does betrayal.”
When Angelus rammed the stick into Buffy’s stomach. Spike saw his attack and was furious.
**She’s MINE, you poof!!** His demon screamed inside his mind. **You don’t touch what’s mine!** The blond vampire went inside to join the fray.
XXXXXXXXXXX
“Buffy must have had a good reason to cast the spell,” Willow found herself saying, even though she didn’t believe it.
Grunts of assent and agreement were heard from the three still spellbound men. Jenny whirled on the only other non-smitten person in the car.
“Oh, really?” she said in a harsh tone to Willow. “Well, let me tell you something about love spells: there are none! Those so called spells breed obsessions, not love. They rob the subjects of all reason and rational behavior. If this isn’t stopped, the dam will continue to burst, until...”. Jenny couldn’t bring herself to continue.
**What am I doing?** She thought. **Rupert should be doing this, not me!**
“I’m sorry...” Willow said, feeling like she was the biggest idiot for not seeing the dangers in casting a love spell. Jenny forced herself to calm down. She realized that for the moment, she was the only adult who could take care of everyone until Buffy made it out of the school.
“Okay,” she said softly, “okay...Willow, I’m sorry, really.” The girl smiled.
“We have to do is find Amy, no matter what,” the teacher said. “She has to take off this spell.”
The woman and the girl looked at the man and the two boys. They looked as if they couldn’t contain themselves from not being with Buffy much longer.
“But what if she still isn’t in town?” Willow asked, panicked. “What then?”
“We search for a way to remove it ourselves,” Jenny told her.
Willow was aghast; she didn’t think she would have the strength let alone the right books and talismans to take off the spell. Absentmindedly, she wondered if Angel had been affected by the magic as much as Oz, Xander, Giles, and others seemed to be.
“The Magic Shop on Lake Street would be our safest bet,” Giles told the woman, stealing a glance back at the school where Buffy was.
“We should go there to collect supplies, and some more advanced tomes on how to reverse the spell,” the Watcher said, though he really didn’t believe he was under any spell. Their minds made up, the group waited as Willow searched for Amy’s number on the Internet.
XXXXXXXXXX
Amy’s father, Michael A. Madison, was lounging on his sofa, his eyes tired but his whole demeanor cheerful. It didn’t take much these days to make him happy; just a hit of The Juice was enough. He was glad that he had hooked up with his new friend, Rack.
So what if his friend was of the demonic persuasion? So what if Rack also demanded a year of a person’s life for a hit? If the demon wanted to fix things so that Michael lost a couple of years off of his pathetic human existence, well, people always made sacrifices. Besides, Michael reasoned, what did it matter when he died so long as he died happy?
It wasn’t as though Michael was going places by himself, anyway.
Michael, or Mic as people referred to him, was a handsome man. He had striking grey eyes set in a round face, and blond hair. Despite his looks however, the father of one had never been good at the things that really mattered in life. He had been in and out of more jobs and just as many relationships. His magic abilities had always been second rate. It was too bad, he thought, that his daughter Amy took after him more than her powerful much more magically accurate mother.
His mind, or what little was left of it after his latest fix, conjured up an image of his estranged wife, Catherine. A lone tear ran down his expressive face as he thought about better times between them, like the day they had first met at a magic festival deep in the California mountains. From then, it had been love at first sight, or at least it had been that way for him.
The auburn haired, pretty-but-not-gorgeous older woman by eleven years had impressed Michael with her looks, her charms, her spells. She had wormed her way into his heart without even knowing what she’d done. When they exchanged vows three months later, Michael had thought he’d died and gone to Heaven. Whenever they had exchanged thoughts and mentally bonded courtesy of his wife’s mojo, the soft spoken Texan’s heart soared. With her, he could do anything, be anything.
The next year, Catherine told him excitedly that she was expecting a little girl. The proud parents had decided automatically that they would name their daughter Amy, after the baby’s maternal grandmother. After the little blonde haired, grey eyed child had been born, Michael got a job at a factory which actually paid fairly well while Catherine kept house. For the first two years, all was happy.
But Michael had learned at the hands of his divorced parents that true happiness was an illusion, that it was just a prelude to the sadness which lay just a fraction beyond. He didn’t see it coming at first, but as Amy started walking—and she started showing some magic ability—her mother seemed distant toward her.
The lovely girl grew in looks as well as potential, but her mother just grew older, her daughter’s youth and exuberance serving as a constant reminder that despite all of Catherine’s magic prowess, she could not turn back the hands of time.
Although her mother had never struck her daughter or denied Michael his husbandly rights in bed, the magically inept warlock knew that his wife had already left him.
But no matter how distant his wife had become, Michael didn’t blame Amy. He looked at Amy with the same awe in which he had held his wife, happy to be doubly blessed with two great angels. When he saw Catherine for what would be the last time on Amy’s seventeenth birthday, Michael promised himself then and there that he would do anything to make himself and his little girl happy.
“Dad?” Amy’s sleepy voice cut through his thoughts as the thin, shy girl made her way into the living room.
Michael fought back the headache he always got whenever the drug Rack had provided, called D’Amnbrosia by proper name, and “The Juice” by street witches and warlocks started to wear off.
“Yeah, baby?” he croaked to his daughter. Amy sidled down next to him on the couch.
“You okay?” she asked, her face looking at the man who was not much older than she was.
Michael’s grey eyes opened and he looked at his little girl. He had managed a camouflaging spell to disguise their red rimmed appearance so that his eyes and face looked normal.
“Yeah, baby...” he said in a weary voice. “Daddy’s just tired.”
Amy hesitated for a moment. She knew that her father would never hurt her, either physically or emotionally, but she wasn’t sure if she should tell him about her casting a love spell. The witch knew that those spells tended to be dangerous if the intent of the person requesting said spell was anything but pure.
Buffy’s had been about vengeance, and the Cards told Amy that there were strange things surrounding the other girl; strange, out-of-control things. The young witch’s eyes dropped to the ground.
Michael continued staring at Amy, trying to process what was going on. “Is something wrong?” he asked, his voice still hoarse.
Amy still hesitated, not sure where to begin. “Have you ever cast a love spell?” she asked finally.
Her father thought about that. He had never done a spell of that caliber, but Michael supposed he could if he had the right books. His eyes never blinked as he studied his daughter.
“No,” he said. “Why? Have you done one?” It was then that Amy started to cry. Michael pulled her into a hug.
“What is it, baby?” he asked. “What’s bothering you?” Amy stopped crying when her father released her.
“I...I did one,” she said, adding rapidly, “it was just for a fellow student so that she could get her boyfriend back! I didn’t consult the Cards before doing it! I had no idea that it wouldn’t be okay!”
Michael asked dubiously, “Aren’t those always powerful?” He felt the stirrings of a headache as he forced his mind to work.
“They are, Dad!” Amy shouted, extremely upset. “That’s why I’m so worried! I looked at the Cards afterwards, and they point to a series of events that could be affected by what I’ve done! I don’t know how to undo the spell so that everything’s okay again!” Her tears were flowing more freely as she said, “Mom told me never to do a love spell unless I absolutely knew what I was doing and how to reverse it if I had to!”
Michael hugged his daughter again, stroking her hair. “It’s okay, baby,” he soothed.
They pulled apart again and Amy reached for some tissues. He poured some orange colored liquid into a pitcher and dropped an amber stone into it.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Daddy’s gonna fix it,” he said, drinking a small glass of the liquid. “Daddy’ll figure a way out of this, just wait and see.” Michael’s eyes started widening. They grew black as he downed more of the potent liquid. He fisted one hand and touched Amy’s temple. He gave Amy some of the wondrous liquid, which she drank eagerly.
The young witch felt her father rubbing the side of her head in a relaxing motion. As her mind started clouding, she wondered, **what was I thinking about again?**
The phone started ringing, but both father and daughter were too far gone despite their presence on the couch to hear it. Michael grabbed Amy’s hand, and together they flew amongst the stars. Amy felt her eyes turn black as she O. D.’d on the pleasure the magic high was giving her.
“See, baby?” Michael said with a thick, slurred voice. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll always take care of you, and you’ll always be happy.”
“Yeah, Dad...” Amy said in a voice just as slow. “Can we stay here for awhile?”
“As long as you want, baby,” Michael told his daughter. “I’ll hook us up with more of the Juice once I see Rack again, okay?”
Amy nodded, giggling. She succumbed to the powerful sensations she was feeling and willed the phone to stop ringing. When it stopped, the girl settled down and breathed deeply but otherwise didn’t move. Michael joined her, both father and daughter bonding, not concerned with any of the goings on in the Hellmouth that they lived on.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
When attempts to reach Amy proved unsuccessful, Giles drove everyone to the Magic Shop. It was closed for the evening, but Jenny, Giles, Oz and Willow would not be put off. Xander agreed to serve as lookout in case there were any late night visitors to the shop.
Thankful that there was no alarm wired into the glass door to the front entrance, Giles took his jacket and, covering his hand with it, hit the door with all of his might. When the glass broke, he reached in with his hand and turned the door handle from the inside.
The co conspirators walked inside, hoping that they would be able to find a cure for the spell themselves. They grabbed whatever books they could find, and reversal spell materials, and love spell books. A moment later, they returned to the car.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I’m introducing a new character in this chapter who hopefully will clear up the disappearance of another character.
This chapter deals with substance abuse issues, and I got the idea from a Season Six episode, and something I had read about a famous person whose parent allegedly gave illegal substances to.
This chapter deals with substance abuse issues, and I got the idea from a Season Six episode, and something I had read about a famous person whose parent allegedly gave illegal substances to.