[center]3. "Academic Questions"[/center]
Green looked at his superior unhappily, and the man smiled back at him, "You have permission to speak freely."
"Thank you sir. It's just that we've faced some pretty serious bad asses over the years and you've never issued orders as, strict as these." Green was doing his best to be tactful.
His superior wasn't fooled, he remembered being as gung ho and convinced of his own invincibility, once upon a time, "That is because Green, what you may think to the contrary, you have never met a true bad ass, which is as it happens about to change. There is also another consideration."
Green looked unhappy but asked the obvious question anyway, "What's that sir?"
"That we need them a lot more than they need us and pissing tem off would be a very bad idea."
Willow glanced around the campus quad, there were already flyers posted up with a likeness of Jessica on them and a request for information. She felt a little bad about not being able to tell campus security to call off their search but since she couldn't explain that the girl had probably teleported in and out of the university she would just have to leave them to it, sorry fellas. Thinking about Jessica Lazar she turned her attention to Tara and a question she hadn't been able to ask back at the house, "What sort of read did you get from Sabrina when she talked with you," realizing how that sounded she amended it, "I don't mean about whether she was telling the truth, I mean about Jessica Lazar." That was why she hadn't raised it earlier, too much room for misunderstanding.
Tara appreciated that, Willow didn't want LJ and Sabrina getting the wrong idea, that she still had suspicions about the honesty and motivations of her daughter's girlfriend, "Well I hate doing analysis second hand but I'd strongly suspect she's manipulative and definitely arrogant."
"Definitely?" Willow asked.
"That isn't based on reading Sabrina,” Tara explained. “that's based on the way she approached you. She has to have known who you were, and what you could do, unless this was an unbelievable in a massive coincidence."
Willow turned that over and agreed with the premise but "So what exactly did she expect to achieve?" To Willow's small surprise Tara kissed her, "What was that for?"
"Because honey it didn't occur to you that someone might doubt you've been totally faithful to me all these years." Tara explained smiling.
"Oh, right, she thought I might go for her offer." Willow realized.
"Or if you didn't you probably wouldn't tell me about it, either way she was probably hoping for some leverage she could use later." Tara concluded.
Willow gestured towards one of the posters pinned to a lamppost, "I think we've corrected that dumb notion."
Tara nodded firmly, "Right, so let's see if she's left us any clues as to where she came from or where she went."
The reason for coming back to the campus in the first place had been to look for magical traces Jessica might have left behind. A little discrete checking around the lecture hall and a couple of other places the security cameras had placed Jessica at left Willow and Tara empty handed. Apparently Jessica had been discrete with her power, or just used her own two feet to come and go, "Guess she's not that stupid." Willow concluded reluctantly.
"Or she's just not that powerful." Tara countered optimistically.
Willow would have liked to believe that but her suspicious nature worked against it. Before she could think about it any further she spotted one of the history department's secretaries weaving her way through the crowd, waving at Willow as soon as they made eye contact, "Now what does she want?" The woman's name was Kathleen, around the same age as Willow but always dressed younger and in rather loud colours. She was also an inveterate gossip with a lurid imagination, at least Willow hoped it was just the secretary's imagination; she would hate to think she had really been working all these years with such a bunch of degenerates.
Since there was no point trying to duck the woman Willow stood her ground and smiled as best she could, "Kathleen, what can I do for you?"
"I think it's what I can do for you professor," Kathleen practically simpered, "somebody left this for you," she offered a package to Willow.
The package was wrapped in gold paper embossed with little red hearts. Willow just stared at the garish thing so Kathleen spoke up again, "I ran it through a scanner professor, it’s just a book."
As Willow reluctantly took it Tara saw Kathleen direct a furtive glance towards her, wanting to see how she reacted to Willow receiving such a gaudy gift. Tara did her best to disappoint the woman by remaining impassive.
Willow was keen to be rid of Kathleen; besides being a nuisance there was still some the possibility of a magical risk attached to the package, "Thanks very much, I'll let you know if there's anything else."
Kathleen's smile turned sour as she realized she was being dismissed, she just nodded and walked away.
Willow stared after her, "You know that by the end of the day she'll be telling everyone that I've got a secret girlfriend and you were sobbing you're heart out."
"That's terrible," Tara sounded appalled, "now if she said I was bitch slapping you to find out the sluts name that would be okay..."
Willow made a face and gingerly began to unwrap the package and what she found was more troubling than a copy of the Necromonicon; it was a modern hardcopy book, the kind still printed as a collector's edition or for those who didn't like the ephemeral nature of a tablet download. This particular volume was all too familiar to Willow and Tara; it was the first 'Demon Hunter' novel.
Willow and Tara's first instinct after receiving the unwanted present was to just teleport and get out of there. Jessica Lazar had dug up a deeply guarded secret and casually revealed it to them; they both felt the urgent need to regroup and make some sense of why. Unfortunately that would have meant abandoning the car so instead they hastened towards the car park, intending to tell the computer not to worry about speeding tickets.
They had just about reached their slot when a man in a dark suit and glasses stepped in front of them, "Professor Rosenberg, Doctor Maclay, could we have a moment of your time?"
Willow stared up at the man; she didn't have much choice since he was built like an ogre, albeit an ogre in a sharp suit, he's wearing a gun under that jacket, Willow observed to Tara.
So are his friends, Tara had spotted three more semi-identical men emerging from among the cars.
Friends of Jessica's do you think? Willow was getting ready to zap them just in case.
Tara was also calling up her magic but she wasn't sure if it would be needed or not, these guys are very cool, I'd say highly trained, ready for anything types.
Willow reflected on what she knew of the Athenai, cool and professional weren't traits she associated with them, that only left one way to figure out their identity, "Would you mind telling us who you are?"
The man flashed some sort of official looking ID at her, "Agent Green ma'am. My superior would like to speak to you if you don't mind."
Willow couldn't help asking, "What if I do mind?"
Green remained impassive, "I've been told in no uncertain terms that attempting to coerce you would be a serious mistake both professionally and for my personal well being."
That left the witches rather nonplussed, "I suppose we could spare a couple of minutes." Willow conceded, and gestured for Green to lead the way.
The car Green led them to was a good fit with the man; a long black limo with tinted windows that hid the occupants. Green opened the passenger door and the interior was hardly any lighter than the outside. Willow and Tara stared at the shadowy figure inside, guess if we want to find out what this is all about we have to play their game, Willow reminded herself unhappily as she climbed in and slid over to make space for Tara.
As she took the seat next to Willow Tara finally got a look at the man sat in the opposite corner. He was in his forties with a weather beaten face, someone who spent a lot of his life outdoors, and probably not lying on a beach, "We've met somewhere before."
"Good memory doctor Maclay." The man nodded approvingly.
Willow squinted at him, she didn't have Tara's facility with faces but there was something about the man, something in his posture that did seem familiar, "So who are you and why are we here?"
"You're here because I need to ask for your help, as to who I am," he stuck his hand out, "Colonel Riley Finn, at your service."
[center]4. "Checking In"[/center]
LJ handed the glass to Sabrina and sat down beside her, sliding up so they were sat hip to hip on the sofa. After talking with her mom Sabrina had decided to share the whole story with her girlfriend. Outwardly LJ had offered nothing but sympathy and compassion; inwardly she was seething. Not at Sabrina of course, her anger was wholly directed at the Athenai. There was no way she believed that they had accidentally paired off a couple of lesbians as roommates, and she also didn't believe it had been an innocent bit of matchmaking. The Athenai had been determined to weld Sabrina to them, and LJ had the appalling feeling that Jessica Lazar was just another tool to achieve that purpose and had known exactly what she was doing all along. It hadn’t work of course, never could have, my girl is a good guy to the tips of her toes.
LJ wrapped an arm around Sabrina and kissed her, "At least my taste in women has improved." Sabrina murmured.
Although she wasn't going to share her theory with Sabrina she couldn't help pointing out one thing, "I don't think your taste had much to do with it sweetheart. It sounds to me like this Lazar person didn't bother asking what you wanted."
Sabrina chewed her lip, "I guess that's true, she always seemed to decide stuff, even..." she trailed off for a moment, "You know you said you didn't mind me being more, experienced?"
"And I meant it." LJ assured her emphatically.
Sabrina squeezed her hand, "I know but honestly I wish I wasn't."
LJ was trying to think of a proper reply when the house computer chimed in, "There is an incoming call."
"Who from?" LJ asked.
"The caller is Dawn Summers."
LJ was startled, "Put her through."
The wall screen lit up to show Dawn with what looked like a busy airport behind her, "Hi LJ," she glanced over at Sabrina and squinted, "I know you from somewhere don’t I?"
"Alleyway, couple of goons tried to shoot you with a dart gun and grab you." Sabrina prompted her succinctly.
That just left Dawn looking more puzzled and LJ could guess why, so how did you get from there to here? "You sort of introduced us, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Sabrina Harrington."
Dawn blinked, and then nodded, "Okay guessing there's a long story there, maybe you can tell me when you pick me up."
"You are at San Diego airport?" LJ wasn't that familiar with the place but it was a good guess, "The moms are out and they took the car."
Dawn smiled, "I was thinking more along the lines of the instantaneous express."
"Auntie Dawn you know the rules." LJ blushed realizing she sounded ten again.
Dawn wasn't fazed, "I know, and I know the exceptions to the rules."
As Dawn spoke LJ detected a trace of tension in her voice, "And you think this is an exception?"
"I think there are several exceptions hanging around here just waiting for me to set foot outside." All trace of humour had gone from Dawn's voice.
"Okay, we'll see you in a couple of minutes then." LJ agreed.
Dawn didn't hide her relief, "I'll be right here."
As the screen went dark Sabrina asked, "Are we going to let your parents know what we're doing?"
"I figure they're still busy at the campus, all we're doing is scooping up Dawn and her luggage and bringing her here, I think we can handle that by ourselves." More than that of course it would provide a distraction for Sabrina from brooding over Jessica Lazar.
Sabrina wasn't fooled but she was happy to go along with the plan, "I bet she's got lots of great stories about when you were a kid."
LJ frowned, "Maybe this isn't such a great plan after all."
The arrivals terminal wasn't all that busy; it was the wrong time of day and the wrong time of the week for it to be really busy. Normally Dawn would have seen that as a good thing; less time wasted getting through security and less spent waiting for luggage to appear on the carousel. Right now it just left Dawn feeling exposed, doubly so since she didn't have Slayer power to fall back on.
She had resented it at first when the Renaissance stole her powers and gave them to their clone of Buffy. She had turned to her sister, the original one, looking for sympathy and gotten a lecture about how it was way past time, that it was an opportunity not a disaster. None of it had convinced Dawn; she had loved the edge Slayer strength gave her but she wasn't about to give up her lifestyle, and it's not like I've got anything to give it up for.
It wasn't that Dawn hadn't had relationships, she'd had too many according to Buffy, it was simply that none of them really gotten under her skin. There wasn't one of them she could imagine spending the rest of her days with. Whatever intangible something she might be looking for though it certainly wasn't the pudgy middle aged businessman making his way towards her now, eyes watching her intently, "Hi, long time no see."
Dawn was taken aback by the soft female voice that came out of the man's mouth, "Sabrina?" she guessed.
The 'man' nodded and sat down next to her, "Doing a little recon, I count at least three people, two guys and one woman, watching you, and me now of course, so if you could look like this is a bad pick up attempt that would help."
"I'd only spotted the guys." Dawn admitted and it suddenly occurred to her that it hadn't been a coincidence that the girl had been there to save her from the Renaissance, "I guess you've got a lot experience with this kind of thing."
"Quite a lot." Sabrina admitted cheerily.
Dawn decided not to press that at the moment, "So do we just walk out?"
"No, I call in the cavalry." Sweetheart I count three of them, Sabrina accompanied the thought by picturing the trio, I can't swear to it but I think the woman spotted me when I walked in. So they sent a witch, interesting, the texture of LJ's thought sent a shiver down Sabrina's spine, in a good way, okay just sit tight and I'll be there before you know it.
The woman was standing on a crosswalk, looking down and watching Dawn speaking with the man, apparently unreceptive to whatever line he was using. There was a distinct aura of magic about him that she couldn't pin down but definitely rang alarm bells. She wanted to advise her two colleagues but they were still scanning the crowd and she could only connect mentally with them when they made eye contact, "Hi there."
The chipper voice startled her and she turned to find LJ Maclay stood next to her, "Whatever it is I don't have time."
"Oh yes you do." LJ assured her in a harsh tone, and began to summon the power for an all out magical strike.
The woman's magical sense lit up like she was staring into a nuclear explosion. She had never in her life been in the presence of that much power, never imagined such power could exist in a single individual, "Who What…?"
"Definitely a who," LJ interrupted, "and you don't need to know anymore than that, you just need to get out of here while I’m willing to let you go, and do it now."
The woman didn't say another word; she just turned on her heel and walked towards the exit.
Sabrina watched the woman turn pale and walk away from LJ before her girlfriend followed down the staircase, turning towards Sabrina and Dawn as the woman vanished through the automatic doors, "Ok time to go, LJ will get you out of here, I'll run interference."
Dawn nodded, a little taken aback at the smooth way the pair worked together, has it really been that long since I've been here? Or are they just that well matched? She didn't get long to wonder as LJ scooped up her bags and took Dawn's arm, "Hey Dawn, let's find some place private and get out of here."
Dawn noticed LJ wasn't speaking like the enthusiastic little girl who was practically family, she sounded cool and professional, totally focused, "Since you seem to have gotten rid of the female help I'd suggest the Ladies."
"Works for me." LJ agreed.
Seeing their target moving the remaining watchers decided it was time to move in, they had no idea why their alleged support had run off and only the vaguest notion of what sort of support she was supposed to provide but it could only mean things were going wrong and it was time to fall back on good old fashioned methods; grab the target and go. It was a simple plan; ruined when they ran into an invisible wall ten feet from their objective and landed in a heap on the floor, "How clumsy." Sabrina commented gruffly as she wandered past in her disguise.
As they marched into the ladies Dawn was a little surprised to find LJ's hand slide on to her hip. She was even more surprised by the sultry look on LJ's face, especially when it was turned on the only other woman in the place. The woman did nothing to hide her look of distaste and discomfort as she hurried out, "What were you going to do if she offered to, join in?"
"Panic." LJ explained succinctly, and then they were elsewhere.
At the house LJ offered to make Dawn a coffee to give her a few minutes of recovery time. Dawn would have preferred something stronger but settled for the coffee. Besides gathering her thoughts Dawn took the chance to see how LJ and Sabrina were around one another, and was not wholly surprised to see they reminded her of another couple, guess it just runs in the family.
LJ handed her a cup and asked the question she had been dying to ask since Dawn called them, "Why were those guys after you?"
Dawn frowned, and this is where things get messy, "I think I'd better talk to your moms about that."
LJ snorted, "I'm not a child Dawnie, and lets not forget who just rescued you. There aren't any secrets around here,." An expression crossed Dawn's face, just for a moment but enough for LJ to read it, don't bet on that. Since Dawn clearly wasn't going to explain LJ shrugged her shoulders, "Fine I'll call them," she reached out telepathically, which was when she really started to worry, there was a wall of 'static' cutting off communications, it's just one of those days.
[center]5. "Spooks"[/center]
Willow did her best to dredge up a clear image of where they had met Colonel Finn but her memory would only stretch so far. Finn could see both witches were having trouble placing him, "I was Professor Walsh's teaching assistant, and Elias Carter's immediate predecessor."
The explanation did nothing to put Willow and Tara at ease, "You're with the Initiative." Willow made it sound like an insult.
"Was with," Finn corrected her, "and that organization is long gone. After something shredded Professor Walsh I was reassigned to other duties, demon hunting in whatever god forsaken part of the world my superiors could think up."
Tara did her best to look sympathetic, "Not a choice assignment."
"Definitely not, and one that got a lot harder when some bioresearch project the higher up were hot for burnt down in strange circumstances; lot of budget cuts after that debacle." Finn seemed to be recalling unpleasant events.
Willow could see Tara fighting down the urge to apologize about the demise of doctor Tomarov's project. They didn't have anything to apologize for; still it was hard not to feel some irrational guilt. The best way to ignore that was to focus on the now, "Unless you're organizing a college reunion I'm still not clear why we're here."
"I kept in touch with some old buddies who stayed in Sunnydale, buddies who told me about what really happened when the Initiative was invaded," he gave both Willow and Tara a significant look, "I kept up an eye on reports from Sunnydale after that and there were a lot of them, the one about how the entire town was cut off by an invisible barrier was especially memorable, and all of those reports had two names right at the top. It all went quiet for quite a few years, until a couple of years back I start seeing one Lydia Joyce Maclay and her parents turning up in the files."
Willow interrupted him, "Finding out your stalking us isn't winning you any brownie points."
Finn sighed, "I simply wanted you to understand that I know about your ability, your expertise, so you'll understand that I wouldn't approach you lightly. I need you to believe me when I tell you that I'm facing a crisis and I think you're the only people who can help me."
Willow remained skeptical, "If it's that big a deal why don't you just go to your bosses?"
Tara got in ahead of Finn, "He thinks they’re mixed up in this."
"I see the reports don't exaggerate your skills as a mind reader, I don't think their mixed up in this I know some of them are, just not which ones." Finn admitted unhappily.
Tara didn't correct his misunderstanding of her abilities, "That's not a new problem, no big surprise that some of them are unreliable."
"No it isn't but I can usually count on them being concerned enough about covering their butts to do anything too outrageous, this time though," he hesitated before deciding it was a little late for that, "they've got together with their friends on the outside, politicians and corporate types to grab the big prize."
In spite of herself Willow was intrigued, "What is this prize?"
"That's my other problem, I have no idea, I just have the name of a contact who does, which is another reason why I'm here; it's another name from the old days; Dawn Summers."
The witches were left stunned for a moment, "There is no way Dawn is working for your..." Tara stumbled looking for a description.
"Just call them the Cartel, I'm sure they've got some fancy name for themselves but that's good enough."
Tara shrugged, "Okay but there is no way Dawn is working for this Cartel."
"I didn't say she was but the Cartel are certainly interested in her and what she knows." Finn explained placatingly.
"So why haven't you just gone to her directly instead of shanghaiing us?" Willow demanded.
Finn was ready for that particular question, "There's no way I could keep that from the Cartel, and frankly the records suggest Dawn Summers doesn't deal well with authority figures."
"She's not that bad." Willow's defence of Dawn sounded a little hollow.
"I think the governments of the three countries where she's persona non grata would disagree, not to mention a string of unhappy police officers and ex-boyfriends, groups which have a surprising degree of overlap." Finn commented dryly.
Tara couldn't help squirming in her seat. She wanted to refute Finn's characterization of Dawn but... LJ and Dawn had both thrown themselves into slaying with huge enthusiasm; LJ however had rapidly tempered that with common sense and caution after some hard lessons. Dawn never seemed to learn that restraint, and as for her personal life; if Dawn had been a patient Tara could have made a career out of her.
It wasn't hard for Tara to figure out why Dawn had gotten stuck in a teenage rebellion phase. The death of Joyce Summers had hit Dawn hardest of all and although Buffy had tried to fill the parental role you couldn't switch off sibling rivalry that easily and Dawn's accession to Buffy's Slayer powers had just made matters more complicated between the sisters. For a while the younger Summers sister had looked to Willow and Tara in a parental way but when they became actual parents and had to juggle taking care of LJ with getting through college they hadn't been able to offer the kind of support a confused teenager needed but at the end of the day you can't do everything for everybody, you can only stretch so far before you snap.
Tara pushed those thoughts aside, there was a more important issue right now, "You want us to act on your behalf? Spy on our friend?"
Finn looked unhappy, "I want you to find out what's going on, then it will be down to you to decide what to do with that knowledge."
Willow was surprised, "You're prepared to trust us that far?"
"More that of a limited selection of options it's the least worst choice." Finn admitted disarmingly, and then threw in his final persuader, "I doubt the Cartel are going to be anything like as reasonable if they catch up with Miss Summers."
Assuming you're telling the truth, Willow's thought was blunt and as it entered Tara's brain she knew it was as much a question as a statement.
He's being truthful, of course if other people have lied to him that might not mean much, Tara pointed out.
Willow considered that; if Finn thought Tara could read minds others might too, and the obvious way to beat that was to send someone who believed the lies they were telling. Still Willow's instincts didn't buy it, we can't take the chance, and we will make sure we have the final say[i]. Tara agreed with that sentiment, "I guess we can look into this Colonel Finn but strictly from the point of view of helping our friend." Some of the tension seemed to drain out of Finn, "That's as much as I could hope for, thank you ladies." Willow gave him a frosty smile; "I'd save the thanks until you see how things turn out." As they stepped out of the limo Willow didn't look back at Riley Finn, she didn't feel like swapping any phony pleasantries with the man, she just closed the door and impassively watched the spook mobile drive away. Her air of cool was almost ruined by a telepathic shout exploding into her brain, [i]MOMS!
There's no need to yell dear, Tara admonished LJ.
There is when I can't reach you for fifteen minutes, LJ countered.
Willow winced, naturally Finn had his car protected against snooping, physical and magical, sorry dear, we'll explain when we get home. Well we've got a visitor waiting for you; LJ had decided that she could be just as mysterious as her parents.
Unfortunately for her Willow had a strong suspicion who the visitor was, and she wasn't inclined to play at the moment, who exactly is this visitor?
LJ's thoughts turned sour, it's Dawn, and she won't tell me why she's here. I think we have an idea dear but don't let her know that just yet, let us surprise her, Willow suggested.
Fine but somebody better explain things to me soon.
Tara was going to promise but a nagging feeling at the back of her mind held her back; we'll be there as soon as we can.
Tara could see that Willow was looking unhappy and she could guess why, "I suppose it simplifies things, we don't have to go looking for Dawn," as she expected Willow still looked gloomy, "but you wanted some time to figure out how to handle this, how to handle her."
Willow sighed, "I love Dawnie but she can be..."
"Reckless? Irresponsible?" Tara filled in the gap.
"Either or both." Willow admitted reluctantly.
"Well I think we have to tell her about Finn, make her see just how serious this situation is." Tara suggested.
"And find out what the heck is going on here." Willow turned to open the car door, and stopped when she spotted a poster fixed to a lamppost. Thoughts of Jessica Lazar had been banished by their encounter with Riley Finn, "We have an ex-Athenai assassin turning up and according to Finn some very bad people are after Dawn."
Tara considered the chances of a connection, and decided it was about one hundred percent, "Well maybe that will make Dawn sit up and take notice."
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