Trust
by Rob Sorenson
Chapter Fifteen
Dawn leaned through the kitchen door.
“Hey, guys. Riley wants all of us in the living room.”
Spike frowned. “Does he? Well, tell him he can march his ass in here if he has anyth-“
The door had swung shut before he could finish. His eyes widened.
“Like that, is it?”
Angel sighed heavily. “Whatever else we think of the guy, he flew 20-some hours for a reason. We probably need to hear what he has to say.”
Spike folded his arms, nodding toward Andrew. “Right then. Take the little one with you. Stayin’ right here, myself.”
Angel rolled his eyes and headed for the living room. “Fine. Sit here and pout.”
“Piss off,” Spike called after him. Andrew stood hesitantly.
“Should I re-heat the weiners?”
***********************************
Ethan’s eyes darted toward the front of the plane.
“You realize there’s no chance of getting past me, right?”
“I imagine not.”
“Then stop wasting time,” Willow said. “Why did you come after me?”
“It certainly wasn’t personal. I’ve always rather enjoyed my previous dealings with you lot…not counting the occasional blow to the face. Sunnydale makes me feel rather nostalgic, I suppose. Must be the dearly departed friends.”
“You have two minutes until this plane leaves the ground, Ethan. I can’t teleport home until we land…but I can find all kinds of other things to occupy my time while in-flight. Are you sure you want to waste any more time?”
He spread his hands. “My dear girl, it’s a matter of client privilege. I have a reputation to uphold.”
“As a scumbag? Think that’s pretty much set in stone by now.”
“Name-calling is really quite juvenile, Miss Rosenberg. Or may I call you Willow?”
The plane vibrated slightly as it slowly moved forward.
“You’ll be calling for your mother in a minute, Ethan.”
He tried to smile confidently, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m not a fan of pain, but I know it well. Certainly Ripper told you that much about me.”
“Who said anything about pain? You won’t feel a thing…at least until you arrive in Hell. I can’t control what happens after that.” Ethan’s smile wavered only slightly as Willow raised her hand.
“Quite all right, Willow. I’ve friends in many Hell dimensions.”
“Sort of counted on that. Like, say…Eyghon, for instance?”
Ethan blinked. Willow smiled sweetly.
“It can’t wait to see you again. I called ahead.”
All traces of the confident smile were gone. “You’re bluffing. No one is capable of sending someone to a specific location in the afterlife.”
She shook her head sadly. “Oh, Ethan. Surely someone told you that much about ME.” Almost as if she’d planned it, the plane halted at that moment. “Huh. I haven’t had to actually fly in a while. Remind me, is this what they do right before they call for takeoff clearance?”
The Britisher struggled to remain calm. “On the contrary Willow, my client has extensive files on you. Killing me would surely be a major step backward in your rehabil-“
“Vindicat se de. Abyssus.”
He disappeared in mid-sentence. Five seconds later he popped back into view, gasping in terror.
“BLOODY HELL!!”
Willow was leafing unconcernedly through the airline magazine. “Yes, as a matter of fact it was. Did you see him? Bet he was waiting at the door.”
His cool reserve a distant memory, he screamed in terror. “HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME, PLEASE!!!”
“Stop it. You’re giving me a headache. Plus, no one can hear us anyway.”
He looked around wildly; not a soul had reacted to the racket. His lower lip began to quiver.
“Please…this is insanity.”
Her eyes were cold. “You think so? That’s funny. I would’ve thought screwing with me was the insane part.”
“That…that was Amy’s idea! She wanted to hit where you’d be most vulnerable. I had no prior knowledge of your personal-“
He broke off as the plane resumed moving forward. Willow sighed.
“If that file you supposedly read is any good, you knew perfectly well who Tara was. Either way, I don’t care. You hired Amy. Who hired you?”
“Telling you would be akin to suicide.”
“Wanna go ask Eyghon what it thinks you should do? Let me just-“
“Wolfram and Hart! It’s Wolfram and Hart!!”
The plane slowly gained momentum.
“Who specifically?”
“Morgan! Lilah Morgan!”
“For what purpose?”
“I don’t know for certain! Something about a coming battle!”
“What kind of-“
The jet picked up speed.
“I…DON’T…KNOW!!”
“Calm yourself. Time’s getting very short here. When Amy was impersonating Tara, she said something about L.A. Is that where this battle is supposed to take place?”
Ethan could only nod. Willow mimicked the gesture.
“Ok. Home stretch now. Just one more magic trick and we’re done.”
Tears began to leak from his eyes. Willow smiled softly.
“Hey, don’t worry. This doesn’t hurt a bit. In fact, it’s Xander and Andrew’s favorite.”
Her voice deepened slightly. “Ethan, look at me.”
Against his will, he complied. His eyes immediately clouded over.
“Amy tried to fool me, but it didn’t work. I killed her, but you managed to slip away. Say it.”
Ethan spoke flatly. “Amy tried to fool the witch, but she figured out what was going on and killed her. I just managed to slip away.”
Willow spared a glance out the window; the plane was hurtling down the tarmac now.
“I never spotted you.”
“Miss Rosenberg didn’t see me.”
“You’ll never set foot near us again.”
“Never go near that bloody Slayers club any more.”
Willow considered a moment…then smiled slyly.
“Ok, one last thing.”
************************************************
As the combined forces assembled in the Summers living room, Riley had to restrain himself from shaking his head. Have I changed as much as these people have? It hasn’t been THAT long…has it? Physically, no one looked considerably different, aside from Dawn. She was a few inches taller, which was no surprise. She’d still been growing at 16…but it wasn’t just the height.
In the occasional email updates he’d exchanged with Buffy (incomplete as they’d apparently been, what with her revelations about Spike), she often made reference to little Dawnie’s constant struggle to be recognized as an adult. Nothing new among younger siblings, to be sure…but Riley had always empathized with Dawn’s feelings of inadequacy.
Those same feelings had torn him and Buffy apart.
He’d been a vital cog in the machine against evil. Ok, maybe a vital pawn, he corrected himself…but vital nonetheless. Once that had been taken away, he was just a guy who dated the strongest demon fighter in the world…a woman who literally put the lives of others before her own. Everything else was destined to be secondary.
More than once in the intervening years he’d considered how things would be different if he’d met Buffy two years later. Riley was no longer the young man desperate to regain the self-esteem that had been chemically generated by Dr. Walsh; Buffy had finally won the long battle with the Hellmouth. No question about it: Buffy and Riley were far better equipped for mature adult relationships now.
What’s done is done, he’d finally decided. Sam had entered his life, and in many ways she was similar to Buffy: strong, smart, dedicated to the mission. Lo and behold, Riley found himself still attracted to the type…but this time it was different. Instead of being bothered by Sam’s abilities, he learned from them. In a very real way, his relationship with the Slayer had prepared him for the happy marriage he enjoyed. All the agonizing emotional heartache had served him well…he could only hope it had done the same for Buffy.
Riley refocused on Dawn. Only with time - and great distance - had certain truths about himself become self-evident when it came to close relations with a Slayer.
Dawn Summers had no such luxury.
Bound by blood and the whims of monks, she’d been given no choice but to operate in Buffy’s long shadow for years…but clearly she’d carved out her own dedication to the mission. When the time came, Dawn had been there. He could see it in her eyes…the way she moved. There was an indefinable grace that emanated from her, not at all unlike the kind Buffy showed when she was in demon-fighting mode. Plus, when she’d hugged him earlier his ribs had felt a definite twinge. This was no little girl; somewhere along the line she’d done what he could not: find a niche in Buffy’s world.
He hoped it hadn’t hurt too badly.
“Riley Finn?”
He blinked, not realizing Dawn had brought over the man she’d been standing so close with.
“Yes?”
“We’ve not met. Wesley Wyndham-Pryce.”
Wes offered his hand, which Riley accepted with a polite nod.
“Good to meet you.”
“Or should I address you by your rank?”
“Riley’ll work fine. I’m not in uniform anyway.”
“Buffy said you’re a Major now,” Dawn said. “Youngest person to ever achieve that rank in Special Forces.”
Riley shuffled his feet a bit. “I guess. Don’t remember telling her anything about that.”
“I looked it up when she told me.”
“Oh. Well, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I guess.”
Wesley’s voice was quiet. “Battlefield promotions?”
Riley met his eyes. Sharp guy. “Yeah.”
In Riley’s line of work, advancement was far more rapid than he cared to dwell on. When an officer dies in the field, there simply isn’t time to consider length of service or who has the most demerits on his record; it’s simply a matter of patching the unit together and moving on. Far too often he’d been decorated with medals almost before he could wash away the considerably less rewarding decoration of blood from a close friend’s wounds. The stains never seemed to wash off completely, though…not where it mattered.
Again Wesley’s voice snapped him out of his reverie. “Your business here is government sanctioned, then?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. I’m on loan to the United Nations. You could say my business here is sanctioned by the closest thing to a world government there is. By the way, you’re probably not cleared for that, so…”
“Understood.”
Dawn was frowning. “You can totally trust Wesley. Just as much as me.”
Hmmm. Defensive. “Sorry. We soldiers are all conditioned, you know.”
“Dawn, he’s simply doing his job. It’s safer for everyone if certain things aren’t made public.”
She gave him a weary look.
“Honey…Slayer under the roof my whole life? I think I can grasp the drill.” She jabbed him gently with her elbow, then raised an eyebrow at Riley. “What are you smiling at?”
He shrugged. “Nothing.”
She folded her arms. “Come on, what’s funny?”
“I’m proud of you.”
Her scowl disappeared. “Huh?”
“You heard me.”
“Umm…ok. Thanks. What did I do, exactly?”
“You grew up. Maybe the rest of them haven’t noticed, but I haven’t seen you for two years.”
“Some of us have noticed,” Wes said with a smile. Riley returned the expression.
“Yeah. Picking up on that.”
Dawn looked at her shoes, unsure how to respond. Riley felt a rush of affection for her.
“So…clearly you’ve been working out.”
She shrugged. “Some.”
“Buffy teach you any moves?”
Another shrug. “Here and there.”
“I feel the need to get a little exercise. If we have time later, you want to work on some things?”
Dawn’s eyes lit up. “Cool!”
Xander had joined them. “We waiting on Willow?”
Riley nodded. “She needs to be here for this.”
“Ok. Well, everybody else is here except Spike. Want me to go get-“
“No, that’s ok. He’s fine where he is.” He turned back to Dawn. “So, we’re on, then?”
She nodded eagerly.
Xander raised an eyebrow. “What’s the bet?”
“No wagering. We’re going to spar later.”
“Oh.” He glanced at the soldier. “If you say so.”
Riley gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Relax, man. I train people for a living. She won’t get hurt.”
Xander slid his eyes toward Dawn, watching her expression change. “Right.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll be right over here.”
He turned quickly, taking a seat between the still-unconscious Amy and his wife. Faith gave him a questioning grin.
“What?”
“I’m sorry?”
She tilted her head sideways.
“What?”
He nodded toward Riley and Dawn. “They’re going to spar later.”
After waiting a moment, Faith leaned toward Xander with an expectant expression.
“Ok. And?”
“He said he’d take it easy on her.”
*********************************
Buffy pushed into the kitchen.
“Are you going to sit in here and pout all day?”
Spike slid his bottom off the top of the kitchen counter. “Good point. Sun’s down. Could use some air.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “Cut it out already. Riley came here for a reason. We need to hear what he has to say.”
“I don’t need to see the bloody floor show. You’ll tell me soon enough.”
“Why are you being like this?”
“Not bein’ like anything. You all can have your little summit meeting. I’ll be in the backyard. You know, since I can actually go out there now.”
“What-“
He walked out before she could finish. Buffy’s eyes became slits. “Fine. Whatever.” Turning around, she stalked back toward the living room…almost running headlong into Angel.
“Whoa, look out.”
Buffy took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself. “Sorry. Is Willow back yet?”
“Not as far as I know. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Ok, I’ll be right back-“
“Why don’t you give him some space?”
Buffy raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
Angel held up his hands. “Far be it from me to give relationship advice, but this is pretty much Spike’s M.O. when he feels unsure of himself. Lashes out a little.”
“Well, it’s immature. He knows better than to think I’m even remotely interested in Riley any more.”
“Did you tell him that?”
She folded her arms. “I shouldn’t have to. This is ridiculous.”
“There are different sets of problems, Buffy. Always will be.”
Buffy’s face was blank. “Ok, was that a Dylan-type message or was I supposed to actually understand it?”
Angel’s impassive face displayed a hint of surprise.
“You listen to Dylan?”
“If I turn it up really loud his voice scares the bugs away. Could we get back to whatever point you were trying to make?”
He spoke so that only they could hear.
“Someone who can take you into the light.”
Buffy felt her stomach twinge slightly as Angel continued.
“The one thing Riley can give you any time he wants. That may not matter much to you…but the fact that it matters at all is enough.”
The Slayer searched his eyes. “It never meant anything to me.”
Her first love stared back. “To a vampire it would mean everything. Can you understand how hard that is? To be so in love you want to give a woman the world…but never quite manage to do it?” He trailed off, uncomfortably lost in the past.
Buffy’s eyes were soft. “There’s so much more to us than that. He has to know this by now.”
“Yes, but this is something that will never change. Spike thinks you deserve everything this life can offer…and he can’t give it to you.“
“That’s not true. He gives me everything…you don’t really want to hear all this, do you?”
He shrugged. “I brought it up. Look, I don’t mean to act like I have all the answers…but this particular issue is pretty much a vampire-exclusive problem.” He hesitated. “This I completely understand.”
Buffy exhaled in frustration. “But…there’s no reason for him to feel that way. I try so hard to tell him what he means to me. How much longer do I have to reassure him?”
“Try the rest of your lives.”
Buffy sighed heavily. “Great.”
“How did you react when Drusilla came calling?”
Her eyes went cold. “She’s old news.”
“Yes, but she can’t grow old. Or die. Tell me that never crosses your mind.”
Buffy scowled. “Ok, forever young, maybe…but she can die.”
“Ok, point taken…you see where I’m going here, right? Certain things are always going to be complex. We had a lot of these same issues. Maybe this time, with different partners, we can get it right.”
Buffy cracked a smile. “Wow. Never heard you quite so glass half full-ey before.”
“Cordy plays Tony Robbins tapes while I sleep.”
They stood together in silence for a long moment…until Buffy raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“Do I hear Faith laughing?”
The vampire shrugged slightly. “Maybe she punched Amy again.”
“She and Xander seem to be looking at Dawn, actually. Maybe we’d better check on it.”
“Right.”
They had just entered the living room when Willow flashed into view.
“Hi, guys.”
Riley jumped back slightly, cursing softly. Angel couldn’t hold back a grin.
“Everything ok over there?”
The soldier had opened his mouth to retort when Willow spoke in surprise.
“Wow, she really WAS tired.”
Faith grinned at Amy’s supine form. “Had a little help. She’s a frisky one. Everything go ok?”
“Pretty much.”
Riley cleared his throat meaningfully. “Ok, now that everyone is here-“
“Except Spike,” Dawn interrupted.
“Hey, yeah.” Faith interjected. “Where’s Blondie at?”
Riley sighed. “It’s really not necess-“
“I’ll find him,” Dawn said. “Obviously he wasn’t listening to me earlier.”
Buffy shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Dawn, why don’t we start without him? I’m sure-“
“Start what without me?” Spike said from the sliding door. He sauntered in, lazily putting an arm around Buffy. “There a party goin’ on? We doin’ shots? Might want to keep Faith out of it. Can’t hold her liquor.”
“Excuse me?” Faith pointed to herself in mock outrage. “Hello, who picked your sorry ass off the floor last time we broke out the Cuervo?”
Buffy ignored the playful exchange, sliding her eyes toward the hand on her shoulder, then to Riley. He’d straightened up a bit more – she couldn’t believe he could get any more stiff, but there it was -yet managed to keep emotion from his face.
Other than annoyance, that is. Most of his meetings were generally a good deal more…well, like actual meetings. Civilians. “Ok, as I was saying, there have been some developments-“
“Umm…Riley?”
He closed his eyes, willing himself to remain patient. “Willow, you don’t have to raise your hand.”
“Sorry. It’s just…there’s one more thing I have to do before we start.”
He huffed in exasperation. “Can you people ever just stay in the same place at one time?”
“Hey,” Xander said gently, his instinct to defend Willow strong as ever. “Dial it back a little.”
Riley rubbed his face with his hands. “I’m sorry. I’m…pretty wiped out. Long flight and…stress, I suppose.” He looked to Willow apologetically. She smiled.
“I understand. I just thought maybe we should be careful what we say with the enemy in our midst.”
Riley’s eyes darted toward Spike. The blonde vampire raised an eyebrow.
“She meant the sleepin’ witch, you plonker.”
Buffy shrugged his arm away, speaking wearily. “Spike…”
“Actually she’s awake,” Willow said. Faith turned in surprise.
“Eyes are still shut.”
“Trust me.”
Faith nodded. “Ok. Want me to hit her again? Won’t be no trouble.”
Amy’s eyes flew open as she shrank back. Faith smiled sweetly.
“Aw, come on…don’t be like that. I barely touched you.”
Willow looked to Riley. “I’m going to need another minute, but I’ll be fast, ok?”
He simply nodded, slightly ashamed of himself for not realizing the hazards of Amy’s presence. Willow, sensing his discomfort, offered him a smile.
“I’ll be right back.”
Willow and Amy instantly disappeared.
*****************************************
They rematerialized in a sterile-looking hallway, dotted by beige lockers on each side. Before Amy could react, Willow quickly reinstalled the magical shackles. Amy scowled.
“Where the Hell are we?”
“You haven’t been here yet? This is the almost brand-new Sunnydale High School.”
Willow pointed. “That was Dawnie’s locker, I think. It’s a lot nicer than ours, huh?”
“Couldn’t tell you. Missed a lot of Senior year.”
They began to walk. Rather, Willow began to walk with a levitated Amy in tow.
“I realize what a hard time you had. If I didn’t have a little bit of guilt over all the time you spent in that cage, I wouldn’t have allowed you free reign for so long. As long as no one got permanently hurt, I tried to look the other way.”
Reaching her destination, Willow turned to Amy with narrowed eyes. “Clearly that was a mistake. Instead of getting yourself together, you decided to blame me because you had no friends.”
“How could I?” Amy spat. “No one else I know is even remotely like me…outside of you.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. I have friends. I have a life away from magic. It isn’t easy – sometimes I waver a little – but when that happens, my friends are there to let me know. You could’ve had that, but instead you decided to blame me for everything that ever went wrong in your life.”
“Magic is what we are.”
“No…it’s not. I’m Willow Rosenberg. You’re Amy Madison. We’re human beings first.”
Amy rolled her eyes. “Dear God, can we cut the after school special emoting, please? This holier than thou stuff is why I learned to hate you.”
“I’m sorry for that. I could live with you hating me…but I can’t forgive what you tried to do. That was over the line.”
“Oh, so now you really are going to kill me? After all this sanctimonious crap about how much better you are?”
Willow shook her head. “You just…you’re never going to get it, are you? Not that it matters…frankly, I don’t have the interest in trying any more. And no, I’m not going to kill you.”
Amy frowned. “So…”
“You remember my telling you about the old high school exploding?”
Amy said nothing. Willow indicated the glass wall they’d moved toward.
“Everything was pretty much obliterated…and what wasn’t got splashed with demon goo. Pretty gross, actually. Anyway, the stuff they did manage to recover was cleaned, restored and placed here. This is sort of a monument to SHS’s past.”
“Uh-huh. Fascinating. What the hell is your…point…” Amy’s voice faded as she looked at the display. Her voice fell to a strangled whisper. “No.”
“I think the best thing would be a little quality time with the family for a while.”
Amy’s scream was bloodcurdling.
“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”
The echo remained for a few moments, bouncing hollowly through the halls.
It was the only evidence she’d been there at all.
Willow took one last look at the cheerleading trophy, briefly trying to make out two pairs of eyes before turning away. A moment later, she herself flashed into nothingness.
*********Offices of Wolfram and Hart…Los Angeles, CA**********
“Miss Morgan?”
“Yes, Nicki?”
“Mr. Rayne is here to see you.”
Lilah nodded to herself. “Send him in.”
Ethan strode into the room, a bright smile on his face. “Miss Morgan, I didn’t expect you to be here. An American holiday, after all.”
“We don’t get paid for any human holidays…American or otherwise. Unless you count Halloween. Even we don’t work then. You have a progress report?”
The smirk dimmed somewhat. “Unfortunately, the word progress wouldn’t be appropriate. I engaged the services of Amy Madison, but our attempt to neutralize the target failed.”
Lilah’s face didn’t change expression. “What’s the current situation?”
“Miss Madison is no longer with us.”
“Really? I have to find a way to get this Rosenberg chick in for an interview. She’s got what it takes.“
Ethan’s eyes clouded briefly at the mention of Willow’s name. Frowning slightly, he rubbed his eyes.
“Am I boring you, Mr. Rayne?”
“Certainly not, bitch.”
Lilah’s head tilted sideways. “Say again? I didn’t catch that.”
Ethan’s eyes bugged out.
What the…
“Oh, my. Sorry, it’s been a frightfully long day. Please forgive my rudeness, bitch.”
This time Lilah knew she heard him correctly. “Are you trying to be funny?”
Ethan swallowed hard. “No. I don’t understand, bitch.”
Lilah stood, eyes narrowed.
“Ok, I’d think it’s bad enough for you to waltz in here with that shit-eating grin and report failure. Now apparently you have some sort of deathwish.”
“Wait! Wait a moment, bitch! Oh, Bloody Hell, bitch! Something is terribly wrong…I can’t seem to finish a sentence without saying…” He made a Herculean effort to stop it, but that just made the word come out louder. “…BITCH!”
Lilah slammed her hand into the intercom. “Nicki, call security!”
(Demon or human, Miss Morgan?)
“I don’t care! Whoever you can get here fastest!”
(Right away, ma’am.)
She stood abruptly. “I’m officially terminating your contract with Wolfram and Hart. By doing so, you can rest assured your freelancing days are over. Anything to say now, Lord Smirkalot?”
He spread his hands in supplication. “This isn’t under my control, bitch!”
Two hulking Abyssinian demons came rushing in. Lilah pointed.
“Get this piece of garbage out of my office.” She placed her hands flat on her desk. “Rayne, if I ever see one of those 70’s throwback silk shirts in this town again, you won’t be allowed to walk away. Understood?”
Ethan’s face was a mask of pain as the demons grabbed him roughly. He opened his mouth to speak, but was knocked unconscious before he could get a word out. Lilah watched him go, taking deep breaths in an effort to calm herself. After a long moment, she buzzed Nicki again.
“I’ll need to speak to the client as soon as possible.”
(Which client, ma’am?)
“The only one we have right now, you idiot!”
(Yes, ma’am. Sorry. I’ll get hold of them right away.)
Nicki frowned as she picked up the phone, mumbling to herself.
“Bitch.”
****************************************
Willow reappeared in the Summers living room.
“Sorry about the wait.”
Buffy stared at Willow for a long moment. “Where’s Amy?”
“She’s in a secure location.”
No one said anything for a moment. Willow broke the silence. “So…we have some stuff to talk about, I think.”
Riley took his cue. “Yes we do. I already told a few of you about my current assignment, but this will make more sense if everyone is up to speed.”
He paused, taking an uncomfortable breath. “Let me start by making you aware of something. By revealing this I’m violating protocol; my mission is officially designated as Top Secret by every participating nation. Therefore, this probably goes without saying, but I’m going to do it anyway: what I say here cannot leave this room.”
He paused again, this time apparently for effect. Spike and Angel rolled their eyes.
“The short version is this: I’m part of a small strike force that operates under the auspices of the United Nations. Our mission is simple enough: we handle certain issues that can’t be addressed publicly. As I said to Buffy earlier, certain terrorists threats fall under that definition. Primarily, though, our focus is the demon world. That’s the main reason I was asked to take the assignment. My time with the Initiative gives me a certain amount of insight.
Generally speaking, it’s not difficult work any more. It can be really dangerous, obviously…but these days it’s rarely complicated. Once the Hellmouth was closed – thanks to all of you – organization pretty much fell apart. Now it’s just a matter of localizing cells of hostile activity and eliminating them.”
He smiled slightly.
“More often than not these days, we spend our time training and waiting to hear from the intelligence community. That’s by far our largest asset. We’ve established sources from all parts of the world: government officials, clergy, Fortune 500 CEO’s…basically anyone influential with an ear to the ground. You’d be amazed at some of the names who give us tips on occasion, actually. Also, we do a great deal of monitoring communications from people known to associate with the demon world. Which brings me to why I’m here. When it comes to demonic business dealings, one particular entity stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of importance.”
“Wolfram and Hart,” Angel said quietly. Riley gave him a nod.
“Your work has gone a long way toward undermining their efficiency in America…but as you probably know, they operate worldwide. LA is simply their home office.”
“Forgive me,” Wesley interrupted. “I must ask…are you saying the United Nations has the ability to monitor the internal communications of Wolfram and Hart? If so, that is remarkable. In my experience, they use an interdimensional code that is quite indecipherable.”
Again Riley nodded. “Same problems with us. However, when they communicate between Earthly offices, they’re a bit more lax. We can pick up bits and pieces that way. Pretty arrogant, actually. If security were a priority, they’d have demanded the code be used for all communication.”
“They’re pretty confident people,” Angel said drily.
“Overconfident, in this case. We’ve saved a lot of lives with a little help from them…so we hoped they’d keep making the same mistakes. Recently, though, all communications between offices have stopped cold.” Riley paused again. “Everything.”
Wes nodded thoughtfully. “I often attempt ground surveillance…on occasion I can discern a few details of their local plans. I’ve had the same experience as you lately, however. The office appears to be in a sort of lockdown. Rather unprecedented.”
“Same for every branch office in every continent. There was one last transmission a week ago from their Australian reps in Melbourne. Since then, dead silence.”
Buffy frowned. “And that’s ominous? Maybe you’ve done such a bang-up job, their work load went down.”
Angel sighed. “Nice thought, but…I wouldn’t think they’d lose all their clients simultaneously.”
Riley and Wesley nodded in agreement.
“So…that still doesn’t explain why you’re here,” Willow piped up. She’d decided to wait until Riley finished before adding her own info to the mix.
“I’m coming to that. If Wolfram and Hart have gone completely dark, we have to assume this is something bigger than we’ve ever experienced. We need to find out exactly what they’re up to.”
Faith spoke for the first time. “So you guys can’t go undercover or something to find out? That’s what you do, right?”
Riley raised an eyebrow. Xander smiled.
“She’s been watching my James Bond DVD collection again.”
Faith gave Xander an annoyed glance while Riley resumed his explanation.
“Truth is, our LA sources aren’t that good. Plus, as I said, this is big. Bigger than our little strike force. The Security Council decided it was time to call out the big guns. That is one reason for my being here.”
“You have more than one reason?” Dawn asked.
He hesitated slightly. “Yes. In that last communication I mentioned before, we were only able to translate three names being mentioned. Everything else was gibberish.”
Riley looked around the room. “The names were Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg…and Alexander Harris.”
No one said anything for a moment. Xander slowly raised a shaking hand.
“Could you possibly run that third name by me again?”
At that moment, Willow collapsed to the floor.
******Sunnydale Memorial Hospital, 11:55PM******
Buffy had carried Willow to the car before she regained consciousness. Despite protests that she was fine, the rest of the group insisted she be looked at. It had been the second time this weekend she’d passed out, and there was no convincing Buffy and Xander otherwise. Once Willow came to the realization that they weren’t going to be dissuaded, she slumped against the seat of the Summers family Escalade, giving in to the crappy feelings.
Ten minutes earlier she’d been ushered into an examination room. Now everyone sat silently in the waiting area except for Spike, who had stepped out for a smoke. Buffy followed him out to the parking lot. They stood together in silence for a minute, leaning against the car.
“I should have made her go to the doctor the first time.”
“Couldn’t have known, pet. Sometimes a person faints. Doesn’t mean anything special all the time.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“She’s had a hard go of it. Might simply be exhaustion.”
Buffy snorted. “Uh-huh. ‘Cause with us, it’s always something simple, right?”
They fell back into silence. “Riley didn’t know about us, did he?”
Buffy hesitated a moment. “No. But that doesn’t mean…look, no one wants to share too much about personal stuff with their ex. It’s awkward.”
“So you just let him think I was…what?”
“I didn’t…” Buffy trailed off, considering her words. “He never mentioned you.”
“Don’t ask, don’t tell, is it? Guess that’s the military way.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“Nothin’. Don’t bloody care what Sergeant Do-Right has to say anyhow.”
“Would it be too much to ask you to be civil? Riley is here to help us.”
He took a long drag, not meeting her eyes. “Barely said a word to the bloke. What more do you want?”
“Well, for one thing, you were practically peeing on me in front of him. I’m not a fire hydrant.”
Spike blew a cloud into the air. “Bit taller, I’d wager.”
Buffy put her hand against her forehead. “I don’t have time to deal with this right now. Something bad is happening, and I’m worried about Willow…”
“So don’t. Didn’t ask for your assistance, did I?”
She shook her head and walked back inside. Spike watched her go…then lit a fresh cigarette with the last remnants of the old one.
************************************
Willow shifted uncomfortably on the table in the examination room, causing the white paper to crackle underneath her weight. She hated being poked and prodded. It’s nothing. I exerted myself a little too much, that’s all. She spied the cotton ball in the garbage can across the room. The little speck of dried blood caught her eye, and she had to look away. She’d seen many awful things, yet somehow the sight of her own blood always bugged her.
Just sitting still when they sucked it out of her was an
effort. Willow Rosenberg had endured
one too many nightmares about blood loss to ever be comfortable with that
procedure…useful or otherwise.
After nearly an hour of waiting, she’d finally decided it just wasn’t worth it. You would think a place called an Emergency Room would work a little faster, she thought. This is ridiculous…
The door opened. “Hello…I’m Dr. Renville.”
Willow took the offered hand with a polite smile. The doctor sat in a slightly dilapidated chair, complete with creaky wheels at the bottom.
“Well, your blood work took a little bit. Sorry about that, but we didn’t know exactly what we were looking for. Tell me, Willow, how have you been feeling lately?”
She shrugged. “Pretty good, I guess.”
“Eating well?”
Willow repeated the gesture.
“Any problems of any kind?”
“Not really. I never have much of an appetite. I usually have a Hot Pocket or something.”
The doctor frowned. “Well, right away that tells me you’re not eating what you should…especially now.”
“Now?”
“The hCG levels in your blood are high, Willow.”
Willow looked at him blankly for a moment. hCG…wait a minute. She stiffened.
“Could you repeat that?”
The doctor smiled. “In layman’s terms? You’re pregnant.”
- End Chapter Fifteen -