CROSS ROADS
Author: MeB
Email: lenoxfiles@hotmail.com
Spoiler: Takes place in Buffy Season 2, sometime after Lie To Me
Author's Note - This was written for Xander/Willow fans. This is also a Crossover of Buffy the Vampire Slayer/X-Files.
Summary: A terrorist known as the Speaker kidnaps Willow, and Xander
begins to realize his true feelings for the only girl he has ever loved. In the meantime, Spike agrees to a truce with Angel for a common goal while Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully team up with Rupert Giles with a lead on Willow's location. Buffy teams up with friends of Willows parents who are agents with an agenda of their own. Terrorism is something Buffy has never faced before...but something else threatens Sunnydale. Something evil...an evil thought once destroyed. (NOTE-this was written without prior knowledge of Season 3 and beyond. This follows the trail of an alternate timeline.)
Disclaimer: The characters of Jeremiah, Michael & Stacy Lenox, Albert
Barrington, & Billy Fronk are mine. They belong to me. The characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully belong to Chris Carter. All characters from Buffy, and familiar phrases and scenes belong to Joss.
Rating - PG-13 - L/V
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CROSS ROADS
Prologue-An Interview
Willow Rosenberg opened her eyes...and she had to close them again abruptly for a bright light was shining directly into her eyes. She reflexively tried to bring her hands up to shade her eyes from the light but she soon discovered to her dismay that she was unable to. Her hands were bound to something, and she couldn't see what it was. An overpowering feeling of panic began to take her as she struggled in vain with her bounds. It was no use, however, and she forced herself to stop trying long enough to think things through.
She sat still and closed her eyes. "Calm down, Willow...calm down, calm down..." Although her heart was still racing, she managed to take several deep breaths and made herself calm. It was no easy task, unfortunately, for she could not yet convince herself that this wasn't some kind of bad dream.
Finally, she opened her eyes again.
The light was still bright, but her eyes were adjusting and she tried not to look directly into the light. Her eyes adjusted well enough to know that she was sitting in a chair that was bolted to the floor. Her wrists were tied to the arms of the chair just as her ankles were bound to the front legs of the chair. Willow stared as she tried to make sense of what her senses were telling her, but she couldn't imagine why she was tied to a chair, and yet the inescapable fact was evidently clear.
"I'm tied to a chair..." Willow whispered, amazed.
She had often wondered how she was going to die. After all, many young
teenagers the world over had the question of how they would die cross their minds a time or two. But living in Sunnydale and surviving the horrors that most adults knew nothing about, Willow had wondered about death more than just a time or two. It crossed her mind several times that one terrible night, a vampire would finally catch her and feed upon her. Or she would meet her horrible fate with a giant bug squashing her. It was possible she would meet a witch who would turn her into a toad...or something worst. Or perhaps bed bugs would really bite. Or...
There were many other ways of possible death scenarios that she had
envisioned...but what kind of monster would tie her up to a chair and shine a bright light in her face?
Certainly not vampires!
And who would want to kidnap me? she thought frantically. She remembered that her mothers high school friend had come to visit, and...
Suddenly she remembered! Willow remembered coming home from school...
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"Mom? Dad?" Willow called out as she closed the door behind her. "I'm home! Stacy?"
There was no answer.
*Maybe they didn't hear me,* she thought. *Adults can get so wrapped up in the adult world so much that they just forget we have a non-adult world, too. But we do have a world.*
She went into her room and placed her schoolbooks onto her bed. She
glanced over at her computer in the corner of her room and noticed that it was on. She frowned in thought. She was certain that she had turned it off before she went to school. Puzzling over why it was on, she turned her computer off...again.
"Mom?" she called. She turned her head to look out her doorway.
A shadow passed over the corridor floor.
Frowning, Willow took a step toward her doorway...and then another. But something was wrong. She could feel it and it made her wish that Buffy and Xander were with her. *Especially Xander...but, oh, wait!* She let out a sigh. *Xander wanted to be with Buffy, or Cordelia! He can't fool me! I've seen the way they act together! I--* She forced her thoughts to stop thinking about Xander, and stepped out into the hall.
"Stacy? Dad?" She frowned again. "Mom? Anybody home?"
She made her way to the kitchen and that's where she found her parents and her Mom's friend. They were lying on the kitchen floor. She ran to them and knelt beside her Mom. Willow was relieved to see that she was breathing, but why were her parents and Stacy lying on the floor? Willow got up and hurried to the kitchen counter where the phone was. She picked up the phone and she froze. Somehow, she could feel the eyes of a stranger watching her and she knew that someone was there. Someone who shouldn't be. Slowly, she turned her head and there she saw a man standing in the doorway of her kitchen.
"Uh...hello?" Willow said meekly.
The stranger rose his arm and that's when Willow saw the gun. The man fully intended to shoot her and there was nothing she could do about it. All she wanted to do was to know why...and kiss Xander. But mostly, she just wanted to know why.
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"I haven't done anything to anyone..." Willow replied softly as she sat in her chair. "I'm just a girl. Well, I call Principal Snyder Mr.
Nazi...but...well...he is mean."
"Do you always talk to yourself, Willow?"
Willow sat up straight and she would have bolted if she had been able to. She tried to look around, but the light made it impossible to see anything clearly. It was either too bright, or there were spots in her eyes.
"Uh..." Willow began hesitantly, "only when I'm scared, cuz...talking seems to help."
"Would it help then if we talked together?...You and I?"
Willow thought she saw a shadow somewhere beyond the light, but she wasn't too certain. "I-I don't know who you are." She swallowed nervously, realizing suddenly how dry her throat was. "I don't know where I am...Some...somebody shot me."
"You were tranquilized."
She frowned. "Oh." She paused. "My Mom and Dad?...Stacy? Where are--?"
"They are fine, Willow. They, too, were tranquilized." There was a pause. "We left them where they lay."
"Oh..."
There was another pause, one more ominous. "We wanted only you."
Willow's eyes widened fearfully. "M-me?"
"Yes, Willow. You." There was a longer pause.
Willow tried to strain her hearing but she couldn't tell if the man was
moving or not. She couldn't hear him breathing or anything else that might tell her where the man was beyond the light. All she could hear was her own beating heart and her own breathing.
"Aren't you grateful, Willow?" the voice suddenly asked.
Willow winced. "Wh-what?"
"Grateful to us that we chose you instead of your parents or your Mom's
friend? After all, you are so much younger than they are and perhaps
stronger in many ways. If we had taken them, they very well could be dead right now. So you see...you were the logical choice. The right choice. You saved them."
Willow's mouth felt so dry. She thought of her parents and Stacy, who was like an aunt to her. "They...they would have...died?" she asked hoarsely. Her eyes were forming tears.
"Yes. They would have. But you saved them, Willow."
"Who are you? What do you want?"
There was a long silence. When the voice returned, he did not answer the question. "Willow, let's participate in a social function, shall we? For example, let's just say that you came here looking for a job. You have filled out your application and I have reviewed it only to discover that I have considered you worthy of hiring. So you are now here today for a simple interview." A brief pause. "Do you understand, Willow?"
Willow hesitated. "I...I really don't like this s-social function."
The question was repeated, sternly. "Do you understand?"
She took a deep breath. "You're going to ask me questions...you want me to answer them."
"Very good, Willow."
She shook her head, tears freely falling down her cheeks. "Please...y-you have to believe me! I-I don't know anything! I don't even know who you are!" She cried. "Please...let me go home."
"Willow..." the voice sounded so concerned. "There is nothing to fear here. However, I do believe that I can give you something that will help you overcome your fear."
The impact of his words struck her like a heavy blow. Her eyes widened in fear. "No...no, please! You can't--"
"Willow, it will ease your fears. Otherwise...I will be forced to play out a different scenario. A different social function. One in which one of my colleagues has suggested to me." He paused. "He suggested to me that I break every one of your fingers one by one, but I hardly think that's necessary. Do you?"
Willow shook her head. "No! No...please...I like my fingers."
"Good. So do I."
Then there was silence.
Willow was thinking to herself that now would be a good time for Buffy to show up and break this guys fingers, but that didn't happen. Fearful for what could happen to her, she strained to hear where the speaker was. She still couldn't see him, but now she wondered if he was even alone. He had mentioned that there was a colleague...was there more than one colleague? Never in her life had Willow felt so scared and alone than she did at that moment.
Suddenly, Willow cried out as something sharp stuck into her right arm. She turned her head and saw someone at her side, and he was injecting something into her blood.
She couldn't even struggle.
Just as quickly as it had happened, it was suddenly over. The man
disappeared into the light. It had happened so face that Willow realized she hadn't even caught a glimpse of the man's face.
"Oh, m-my God..." Willow stared down at her arm. "What...what was that?" she asked fearfully.
"It is called...scopolamine," the Speaker answered. "Do you know what
scopolamine is, Willow?"
She tried to control her breathing, but something was wrong. She was
beginning to feel very strange. She shook her head. "No...except it's
bad...very bad..."
"It is a truth serum."
Willow's vision became blurry. "I don't like you...and that's the truth..."
"The truth serum relaxes your body and your mind. It helps you to be
truthful during the Interview. It helps to reveal all of your secrets.
Your every desire. Your darkest fears. And you will tell me
everything...won't you, Willow?"
There was a long silence. Finally, Willow pouted. "Do I have to?"
"Yes, Willow. You have to. Then...after the Interview, we will let you sleep. You must be tired."
Willow closed her eyes. She didn't seem to notice when a chair was placed in front of her and a man sat down into it. His name was Abhar Jhamel, the Speaker, and he was a terrorist. He gently used his thumb and finger to open Willow's right eye and he was pleased to see her pupils dilated.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Willow...Rosenberg..." she responded.
"Where do you live?"
She told him the address.
"Who is your best friend?"
"Buffy Summers...and...and Xander Harris..." She smiled. "Alexander
Harris...Xander Harris...Xander, Xander, Xander..."
Jhamel regarded her. "Do you like Xander, Willow?"
She nodded dreamily. "Yeah...a lot...only...it's not exactly 'like' 'cuz it's more like love..."
"You love Xander?"
"Yeah...a lot...but..." She frowned. "Xander likes Cordelia...That isn't fair because I like Xander a lot more than he thinks he likes Cordelia...And what has she got that I haven't got anyway?...I love Xander...I always have...always will..."
"Willow...if you had to live in this world without Xander, could you?"
Tears formed in her eyes. "Live?...without Xander?..." She shook her head. "No...I'd...I'd rather die than live without him...Please don't take my Xander..." She began to cry.
"This is very interesting, Willow. But tell me...who is Buffy Summers?"
Willow smiled. "Buffy Summers is my friend."
Jhamel waited. "Yes. What else is Buffy? What does Buffy Summers do?"
"Oh...oooh!" Willow tried to look at him. "I know this one!! Buffy
Summers is...Buffy, the Vampire Slayer!"
Jhamel regarded her thoughtfully. For a moment, he remained silent.
Finally, he said, "Willow...this next question is very very important. It is the main reason you are here. Do you understand?"
She frowned. "I think so..."
"Tell me, Willow...where is the Hellmouth?"
Willow paused in thought. "Ooh, I know this one, too!...In Sunnydale!"
Jhamel took a deep breath. "Where is Sunnydale, Willow? Where?"
"Oh, I...I don't know where...exactly..." She sounded like she was drifting off.
Jhamel closed his eyes, cursing himself for his failure. It was obvious that the girl didn't know. He was prepared to end her life just then.
But then Willow said, "I...I never went down there...but they did...They know where it is..."
Jhamel leaned forward. "Who knows, Willow?"
"Buffy, Xander...and Angel...They've been there when...when Buffy fought the Master..."
Jhamel smiled. "Thank you, Willow. I will let you sleep now."
He left her there and went back beyond the light. He went through a door and entered into another room where equipment was set up in front of a large two-way mirror. Even if Willow could have seen the mirror beyond the light, she would only see her reflection. But the terrorists in the room were able to see her...and they were able to videotape the Interview.
One of the terrorists approached Jhamel. His name was Rueben Julius and he was the Speaker's right-hand man. They called him the Knife because he enjoyed using it on helpless victims.
"The recording is completed," Julius told Jhamel. "Now what of the girl? Do we finish her and drop her somewhere?"
"She still might be useful, Rueben. Remember, she is the Slayers friend. We will need her as a hostage." He paused. "However...I think it best if we send a few men out to find this Xander. He was at the Hellmouth. He can lead us to it." Then he stood up tall and thrust his chest out with pride. "And when we find the Hellmouth, America will suffer greatly!"
As the terrorists beamed at each other with their arrogant pride, a presence stood beside the bound girl in her chair. The presence laid a hand of comfort upon Willow's brow and said, "You are not alone, child. A Guardian Angel has been sent to watch over you, and I am that Angel." Jeremiah stayed beside Willow and he waited for the events of terror to unfold.
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Part 1
It was dark, and Special Agent Fox Mulder couldn't think of anything better to do then to lean against his rental car and toss sunflower seeds one by one into his mouth. His rental was parked in the parking lot of a Motel 6 and he was content to stay where he was with his thoughts and his seeds.
What he was really doing was waiting.
Waiting was something that he had learned to excel in. With his reputation as the FBI's most spookiest agent, waiting was in his nature. Yet being an agent for the FBI did have a lot of major setbacks. The higher officials of the government who used ordinary people like puppets to do their evil deeds caused most of those setbacks.
Mulder was on vacation anyway, so he didn't really give a rats dirty behind about what his superiors thought. He was going to spend his vacation the way he wanted to and he couldn't think of any place better to spend it than at the most mystical spot on earth...Sunnydale, California.
As he popped another seed into his mouth, he saw a car pulling into the
empty parking space next to his rental. He smiled. His vacation was just about to officially begin.
A woman with red hair turned off the car and climbed out of it only to
regard him from over the rooftop of the vehicle. "Mulder, this better be good. Unlike some people, I have work to do."
"C'mon, Scully. Take a break." Mulder smiled at her as he took in a breath of fresh air. "This is a beautiful night. The air is fresh here in Sunnydale, don't you think? It's like heaven." He rose his eyebrows. "Except it's a bit closer to hell than heaven."
Scully looked at him closely. "All right, Mulder. Now I know something's wrong. You used the words 'beautiful' and 'heaven' in a sentence. That is out of character for you." She walked around the car to approach him. "By the way, AD Skinner sends his greeting. He has high hopes that you will work out some of your issues while on vacation before you return to work."
Mulder frowned. "Issues? I don't have any issues, Scully."
Scully frowned at him.
"What? I haven't broken any rules or government taboos lately, have I?"
She let out a sigh. "Mulder, why did you drag me out here?"
"I didn't drag you out here, Scully. I just saw you get out of your car of your own free will." He chuckled. "Maybe you wanted to be here, Scully. Maybe you want to be dragged. You want me to get rough with you, little lady? Maybe deep down inside of you, there's a cowgirl who wants to get out into the world and experience life on the range."
Scully rose her eyebrows and looked at him as if he were an alien himself. "A 'cowgirl', Mulder?" She scowled. "Mulder!"
He chuckled again. "All right! All right. Maybe not a cowgirl." He
grinned and pointed up at the Motel 6 sign at the end of the parking lot. "Look, Scully. They left the light on for us." He looked beneath the sign and he noticed three individuals that seemed to be watching them from the shadows.
Scully didn't notice them. "Mulder, what exactly are you doing in Sunnydale on your vacation?" She regarded him. "Please tell me that this is not about aliens, or alien abductees, or circus freaks, because to be honest, I've had it up to here with little green men and sideshow mutants! They're either just too elusive or too hideous and we can't even catch a glimpse of the aliens anyway."
Mulder shook his head. "No, Scully. It's not about aliens or freaks."
"Then what?"
"Have you ever heard about the Hellmouth, Scully?"
Scully looked at him incredulous. "The what mouth?"
He grinned at her. "Hellmouth."
Scully shook her head in amazement. Finally, she gave in and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm going to regret this, Mulder, but I'll bite. What is the Hellmouth?"
"Look at that! You just made a pun!"
"Mulder!" she scolded impatiently.
"A few years ago, the Lone Gunmen wrote an article about a dimensional
doorway that literally leads straight into hell itself. Every form of demon imaginable-and unimaginable-lives on the other side of that doorway, just waiting for a chance to enter into our world to wreak unholy havoc upon the earth."
"'Unholy havoc,'" Scully repeated.
"That's right. And with a Hellmouth, there are those who want to do evil to their fellow man. Not just because they were cut off in traffic, or they purchased a bad cup of coffee at their local java shop, but because they are in fact evil in and of themselves. They thrive on the pain of others and so they seek the Hellmouth in the hopes of finding a way to open it, thereby releasing the demons from the other side."
"Mulder...I'm surprised at you."
Mulder looked at her curiously. "Why?"
"Because that sounds a little too much like a form of religious
indoctrination."
"Scully, you've read the Bible. You know that it has been said that
Revelations reveals the end of the world. Demons will walk on this earth in the last days. They will be riding horses, 'having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone...And the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions...And out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these were the third of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.'" He leaned toward her and smiled, looking her in the eye. "'Oh, he that has ears, let him hear.'"
She rolled her eyes. "Mulder, some of what is written in the Bible is meant as parables."
"That is true, Scully. But there are many who would say to you that a great percentage of what has been written has already come to pass."
Scully regarded him. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"
He nodded as he looked back toward the sign. The three individuals were still there.
"I've never heard you talk about the Bible like this before." She paused in thought. Then, she frowned. "Wait a minute! You think there's a Hellmouth in Sunnydale?!" She shook her head. "Mulder, I can't believe this! You dragged me out here because of a-a wild hunch that there's a doorway to hell in this town?"
"There you go again, fantasizing about being dragged," Mulder said with a chuckle. He reached into the open window of his rental and pulled out a large bag.
Scully looked at the bag. Then she looked at him suspiciously.
"Mulder...what is in the bag?"
"Sunflower seeds." He looked toward the Motel 6 sign.
Scully looked, too.
The three individuals were moving toward them.
"What's going on, Mulder?" Scully asked, suddenly concerned.
"Do you notice anything peculiar about those three dudes making their way toward us, Scully?" Mulder asked her.
Scully looked at them. She frowned. She couldn't be certain, but something looked very wrong with their faces. "What's wrong with them?"
"Nothing. Maybe they just want a snack." Mulder opened the bag of
sunflower seeds. "Maybe they think we're something awful tasty. If our names were Jim, I wonder if they would think of us as Slim Jim's."
Scully shot him a look. "What are you talking about?"
As the men drew closer, Scully became convinced that they had either walked away from a terrible accident, or...they were truly the walking dead. "Mulder...are those fangs?" She stared, reaching for her gun.
Mulder shook his head. "That isn't going to stop them, Scully."
"And sunflower seeds will?" she asked incredulous.
As the three men approached, Mulder tossed the seeds up into the air. The men stopped as the seeds rained down upon them. For a moment, they looked confused and troubled. It was clear to Mulder however that his hunch had been right. They were vampires.
Would Scully see that, he wondered, or rationalize it away?
Scully stared at him. "That's going to stop them, Mulder?! Are you
crazy?!"
Mulder nodded and grinned, but he kept his eyes on the three vampires. They were looking down at the ground at the spilled sunflower seeds. One of them bent down and picked up a seed. He stood up, looked at it, and then he showed it to the others. Then they all turned to look at Mulder and they growled. His grin faded.
Mulder and Scully took a step back.
"What were you thinking?" Scully asked him, her gun leveled at the three vampires. The vampires were moving toward them again.
Mulder shook his head. "I don't get it! It worked on the pizza delivery vamp!"
"Vamp?!" Scully shook her head in dismay. "Not vampires again, Mulder! I mean, c'mon! The truth is out there...but it doesn't have anything to do with vampires!"
Suddenly, the three vampires abruptly stopped their advancing toward the special agents.
Mulder and Scully stopped backing up. Mulder saw someone standing beneath the Motel 6 sign. Whoever the newcomer was, he was watching them all intently. The vampires even seemed to resent his presence as they glared angrily at the newcomer. The man began to walk toward them and as he did, the vampires backed off until finally, they disappeared into the night.
Scully leveled her gun at the newcomer and demanded, "Stop right there!
Federal agents!"
The man stopped. He looked down and noticed that he was standing in a pile of sunflower seeds. He looked at Mulder with a puzzled look on his face. "What's with the sunflower seeds?"
Mulder moved around Scully and placed a hand on her arm, causing her to
lower her weapon. "It's a known fact that vampires are obsessive
compulsive. They can't stand disorder, so when you throw something like seeds at them, they have to stop and pick them all up."
The stranger regarded him as if he had lost his mind. "I think you'd better research your vampire lore some more. You seemed to miss out on the translation somewhere."
"Who are you?"
"A friend."
"A friend?" Scully asked. "Why do you think we need a friend? And who were those men? What was wrong with them?"
The friend glanced at Mulder. Then he looked at Scully. "Your partner
seems to know who they were."
"Listen to me. I'm a doctor. They looked ill. I might be able to help them." She paused. "Someone has to get them to the hospital!"
"You can't help them. No one can."
"Why not?"
Mulder looked at her. "Scully, those men were already dead."
She let out a sigh of frustration. "Mulder, they looked alive and well to me." She frowned. "Well...all right, maybe not well, but..." She trailed off.
Mulder turned to the stranger. "You know what really goes on here in
Sunnydale, don't you?"
"What do you think is going on here?" the man asked.
"Why did they run from you? Are you one of them?"
The man regarded him for a moment. "Who are you?"
Mulder glanced at Scully. Then he pulled out his FBI badge. "I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder and this is Special Agent Dana Scully." He put his badge away. "Now...who are you? Are you one of them?"
"My name is Angel." He paused as he looked at Mulder and Scully. "What is it exactly that makes you special?"
Scully was about to respond when Mulder repeated his question. "Are you one of them, Angel? Is there something special about you?"
Angel regarded him. "I don't know what brought you to Sunnydale...Just be careful." With that, he turned and began to walk away. He started across the street.
Mulder called out to him. "Hey! Wait!"
He was about to try to cross the street, but a car drove by at that moment, and he was forced to step back onto the curb. Scully was by his side. When the car had drove past them, they looked across the street.
Scully frowned. "Mulder...where is he?"
They looked around, but Angel was nowhere in sight.
Mulder turned his head and discovered that Scully was looking at him. He smiled at her. "Welcome to Sunnydale, Scully."
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Angel was deeply troubled.
Something was about to happen, but he couldn't place what it was. He had heard rumors about strange men moving into town, but there was nothing to tell him who they were and what they wanted. All he could hope for was to find a lead that would take him directly to them. He also had a strong suspicion that Spike and Dru were up to something themselves, and yet some wild hunch convinced him that they were not the greatest threat to Sunnydale.
At least not yet.
No...There was something else. Some sinister danger was lurking nearby, and it was stalking the innocent. This time, however, the stalker of the innocent was not the undead.
The presence of the FBI agents only seemed to confirm this for him.
He had to find Buffy and tell her to be on the lookout for a new threat, before someone got hurt. However, as he searched for Buffy, he didn't find her anywhere at all of her usual hangouts. She wasn't at the Bronze, she wasn't at home, nor was she patrolling out in the cemetery. Of course, he realized that he could have simply missed her. He checked the school library and once again, came up empty. She was not at the library training with her Watcher.
Just before sunrise, he decided to try searching for Buffy at one more
place.
He stopped by Willow's house. As he stood on the patio at the door that led to Willow's room, he knew that something was wrong. He sensed it. Looking up, he noticed that the sun was on the horizon. Not wasting any more time, he tried the door and discovered to his surprise that it was unlocked.
Having been invited once into her home by Willow, Angel decided to press on and he slowly opened the door the rest of the way.
"Willow?" he inquired softly.
There was no answer.
His eyes immediately took in Willow's room. The bed was empty. It hadn't of even been slept in.
Beyond Willow's room, Angel heard voices. He stepped into the room and
stood listening in the doorway of Willow's room.
"We'll find her, Stacy," a man said with confidence. "The important thing is that at least Ira and Sheila are safe. Your friend is going to be fine." There was a pause. "And we will find Willow."
There was a pause. Then a woman's voice responded, "Michael...why would terrorists want to take Willow? She's just a...a young child!"
"She's a hostage now. But you're right. We need to get her back...but we also need to know what they want." There was a sigh of frustration. "Al has an idea about that, and considering what we know about Sunnydale...it's not good. There may not be any time."
Angel had heard enough for the moment. If he didn't leave soon, he would not be able to leave at all. The sun had already begun to rise.
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The two terrorists rode in a stolen car along the streets of Sunnydale. It was very early, and soon the sun would be rising. The car drove slowly through the neighborhood streets until it came to a house that was of interest to them. The vehicle stopped, and one of the terrorists climbed out with a purpose. He walked up to the front porch, placed something on the doormat, and then he returned to the car. The terrorists then used the Summers driveway to turn themselves around, and they drove away, having completed their mission.
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TO BE CONTINUED
Author: MeB
Email: lenoxfiles@hotmail.com
Spoiler: Takes place in Buffy Season 2, sometime after Lie To Me
Author's Note - This was written for Xander/Willow fans. This is also a Crossover of Buffy the Vampire Slayer/X-Files.
Summary: A terrorist known as the Speaker kidnaps Willow, and Xander
begins to realize his true feelings for the only girl he has ever loved. In the meantime, Spike agrees to a truce with Angel for a common goal while Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully team up with Rupert Giles with a lead on Willow's location. Buffy teams up with friends of Willows parents who are agents with an agenda of their own. Terrorism is something Buffy has never faced before...but something else threatens Sunnydale. Something evil...an evil thought once destroyed. (NOTE-this was written without prior knowledge of Season 3 and beyond. This follows the trail of an alternate timeline.)
Disclaimer: The characters of Jeremiah, Michael & Stacy Lenox, Albert
Barrington, & Billy Fronk are mine. They belong to me. The characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully belong to Chris Carter. All characters from Buffy, and familiar phrases and scenes belong to Joss.
Rating - PG-13 - L/V
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CROSS ROADS
Prologue-An Interview
Willow Rosenberg opened her eyes...and she had to close them again abruptly for a bright light was shining directly into her eyes. She reflexively tried to bring her hands up to shade her eyes from the light but she soon discovered to her dismay that she was unable to. Her hands were bound to something, and she couldn't see what it was. An overpowering feeling of panic began to take her as she struggled in vain with her bounds. It was no use, however, and she forced herself to stop trying long enough to think things through.
She sat still and closed her eyes. "Calm down, Willow...calm down, calm down..." Although her heart was still racing, she managed to take several deep breaths and made herself calm. It was no easy task, unfortunately, for she could not yet convince herself that this wasn't some kind of bad dream.
Finally, she opened her eyes again.
The light was still bright, but her eyes were adjusting and she tried not to look directly into the light. Her eyes adjusted well enough to know that she was sitting in a chair that was bolted to the floor. Her wrists were tied to the arms of the chair just as her ankles were bound to the front legs of the chair. Willow stared as she tried to make sense of what her senses were telling her, but she couldn't imagine why she was tied to a chair, and yet the inescapable fact was evidently clear.
"I'm tied to a chair..." Willow whispered, amazed.
She had often wondered how she was going to die. After all, many young
teenagers the world over had the question of how they would die cross their minds a time or two. But living in Sunnydale and surviving the horrors that most adults knew nothing about, Willow had wondered about death more than just a time or two. It crossed her mind several times that one terrible night, a vampire would finally catch her and feed upon her. Or she would meet her horrible fate with a giant bug squashing her. It was possible she would meet a witch who would turn her into a toad...or something worst. Or perhaps bed bugs would really bite. Or...
There were many other ways of possible death scenarios that she had
envisioned...but what kind of monster would tie her up to a chair and shine a bright light in her face?
Certainly not vampires!
And who would want to kidnap me? she thought frantically. She remembered that her mothers high school friend had come to visit, and...
Suddenly she remembered! Willow remembered coming home from school...
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"Mom? Dad?" Willow called out as she closed the door behind her. "I'm home! Stacy?"
There was no answer.
*Maybe they didn't hear me,* she thought. *Adults can get so wrapped up in the adult world so much that they just forget we have a non-adult world, too. But we do have a world.*
She went into her room and placed her schoolbooks onto her bed. She
glanced over at her computer in the corner of her room and noticed that it was on. She frowned in thought. She was certain that she had turned it off before she went to school. Puzzling over why it was on, she turned her computer off...again.
"Mom?" she called. She turned her head to look out her doorway.
A shadow passed over the corridor floor.
Frowning, Willow took a step toward her doorway...and then another. But something was wrong. She could feel it and it made her wish that Buffy and Xander were with her. *Especially Xander...but, oh, wait!* She let out a sigh. *Xander wanted to be with Buffy, or Cordelia! He can't fool me! I've seen the way they act together! I--* She forced her thoughts to stop thinking about Xander, and stepped out into the hall.
"Stacy? Dad?" She frowned again. "Mom? Anybody home?"
She made her way to the kitchen and that's where she found her parents and her Mom's friend. They were lying on the kitchen floor. She ran to them and knelt beside her Mom. Willow was relieved to see that she was breathing, but why were her parents and Stacy lying on the floor? Willow got up and hurried to the kitchen counter where the phone was. She picked up the phone and she froze. Somehow, she could feel the eyes of a stranger watching her and she knew that someone was there. Someone who shouldn't be. Slowly, she turned her head and there she saw a man standing in the doorway of her kitchen.
"Uh...hello?" Willow said meekly.
The stranger rose his arm and that's when Willow saw the gun. The man fully intended to shoot her and there was nothing she could do about it. All she wanted to do was to know why...and kiss Xander. But mostly, she just wanted to know why.
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"I haven't done anything to anyone..." Willow replied softly as she sat in her chair. "I'm just a girl. Well, I call Principal Snyder Mr.
Nazi...but...well...he is mean."
"Do you always talk to yourself, Willow?"
Willow sat up straight and she would have bolted if she had been able to. She tried to look around, but the light made it impossible to see anything clearly. It was either too bright, or there were spots in her eyes.
"Uh..." Willow began hesitantly, "only when I'm scared, cuz...talking seems to help."
"Would it help then if we talked together?...You and I?"
Willow thought she saw a shadow somewhere beyond the light, but she wasn't too certain. "I-I don't know who you are." She swallowed nervously, realizing suddenly how dry her throat was. "I don't know where I am...Some...somebody shot me."
"You were tranquilized."
She frowned. "Oh." She paused. "My Mom and Dad?...Stacy? Where are--?"
"They are fine, Willow. They, too, were tranquilized." There was a pause. "We left them where they lay."
"Oh..."
There was another pause, one more ominous. "We wanted only you."
Willow's eyes widened fearfully. "M-me?"
"Yes, Willow. You." There was a longer pause.
Willow tried to strain her hearing but she couldn't tell if the man was
moving or not. She couldn't hear him breathing or anything else that might tell her where the man was beyond the light. All she could hear was her own beating heart and her own breathing.
"Aren't you grateful, Willow?" the voice suddenly asked.
Willow winced. "Wh-what?"
"Grateful to us that we chose you instead of your parents or your Mom's
friend? After all, you are so much younger than they are and perhaps
stronger in many ways. If we had taken them, they very well could be dead right now. So you see...you were the logical choice. The right choice. You saved them."
Willow's mouth felt so dry. She thought of her parents and Stacy, who was like an aunt to her. "They...they would have...died?" she asked hoarsely. Her eyes were forming tears.
"Yes. They would have. But you saved them, Willow."
"Who are you? What do you want?"
There was a long silence. When the voice returned, he did not answer the question. "Willow, let's participate in a social function, shall we? For example, let's just say that you came here looking for a job. You have filled out your application and I have reviewed it only to discover that I have considered you worthy of hiring. So you are now here today for a simple interview." A brief pause. "Do you understand, Willow?"
Willow hesitated. "I...I really don't like this s-social function."
The question was repeated, sternly. "Do you understand?"
She took a deep breath. "You're going to ask me questions...you want me to answer them."
"Very good, Willow."
She shook her head, tears freely falling down her cheeks. "Please...y-you have to believe me! I-I don't know anything! I don't even know who you are!" She cried. "Please...let me go home."
"Willow..." the voice sounded so concerned. "There is nothing to fear here. However, I do believe that I can give you something that will help you overcome your fear."
The impact of his words struck her like a heavy blow. Her eyes widened in fear. "No...no, please! You can't--"
"Willow, it will ease your fears. Otherwise...I will be forced to play out a different scenario. A different social function. One in which one of my colleagues has suggested to me." He paused. "He suggested to me that I break every one of your fingers one by one, but I hardly think that's necessary. Do you?"
Willow shook her head. "No! No...please...I like my fingers."
"Good. So do I."
Then there was silence.
Willow was thinking to herself that now would be a good time for Buffy to show up and break this guys fingers, but that didn't happen. Fearful for what could happen to her, she strained to hear where the speaker was. She still couldn't see him, but now she wondered if he was even alone. He had mentioned that there was a colleague...was there more than one colleague? Never in her life had Willow felt so scared and alone than she did at that moment.
Suddenly, Willow cried out as something sharp stuck into her right arm. She turned her head and saw someone at her side, and he was injecting something into her blood.
She couldn't even struggle.
Just as quickly as it had happened, it was suddenly over. The man
disappeared into the light. It had happened so face that Willow realized she hadn't even caught a glimpse of the man's face.
"Oh, m-my God..." Willow stared down at her arm. "What...what was that?" she asked fearfully.
"It is called...scopolamine," the Speaker answered. "Do you know what
scopolamine is, Willow?"
She tried to control her breathing, but something was wrong. She was
beginning to feel very strange. She shook her head. "No...except it's
bad...very bad..."
"It is a truth serum."
Willow's vision became blurry. "I don't like you...and that's the truth..."
"The truth serum relaxes your body and your mind. It helps you to be
truthful during the Interview. It helps to reveal all of your secrets.
Your every desire. Your darkest fears. And you will tell me
everything...won't you, Willow?"
There was a long silence. Finally, Willow pouted. "Do I have to?"
"Yes, Willow. You have to. Then...after the Interview, we will let you sleep. You must be tired."
Willow closed her eyes. She didn't seem to notice when a chair was placed in front of her and a man sat down into it. His name was Abhar Jhamel, the Speaker, and he was a terrorist. He gently used his thumb and finger to open Willow's right eye and he was pleased to see her pupils dilated.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Willow...Rosenberg..." she responded.
"Where do you live?"
She told him the address.
"Who is your best friend?"
"Buffy Summers...and...and Xander Harris..." She smiled. "Alexander
Harris...Xander Harris...Xander, Xander, Xander..."
Jhamel regarded her. "Do you like Xander, Willow?"
She nodded dreamily. "Yeah...a lot...only...it's not exactly 'like' 'cuz it's more like love..."
"You love Xander?"
"Yeah...a lot...but..." She frowned. "Xander likes Cordelia...That isn't fair because I like Xander a lot more than he thinks he likes Cordelia...And what has she got that I haven't got anyway?...I love Xander...I always have...always will..."
"Willow...if you had to live in this world without Xander, could you?"
Tears formed in her eyes. "Live?...without Xander?..." She shook her head. "No...I'd...I'd rather die than live without him...Please don't take my Xander..." She began to cry.
"This is very interesting, Willow. But tell me...who is Buffy Summers?"
Willow smiled. "Buffy Summers is my friend."
Jhamel waited. "Yes. What else is Buffy? What does Buffy Summers do?"
"Oh...oooh!" Willow tried to look at him. "I know this one!! Buffy
Summers is...Buffy, the Vampire Slayer!"
Jhamel regarded her thoughtfully. For a moment, he remained silent.
Finally, he said, "Willow...this next question is very very important. It is the main reason you are here. Do you understand?"
She frowned. "I think so..."
"Tell me, Willow...where is the Hellmouth?"
Willow paused in thought. "Ooh, I know this one, too!...In Sunnydale!"
Jhamel took a deep breath. "Where is Sunnydale, Willow? Where?"
"Oh, I...I don't know where...exactly..." She sounded like she was drifting off.
Jhamel closed his eyes, cursing himself for his failure. It was obvious that the girl didn't know. He was prepared to end her life just then.
But then Willow said, "I...I never went down there...but they did...They know where it is..."
Jhamel leaned forward. "Who knows, Willow?"
"Buffy, Xander...and Angel...They've been there when...when Buffy fought the Master..."
Jhamel smiled. "Thank you, Willow. I will let you sleep now."
He left her there and went back beyond the light. He went through a door and entered into another room where equipment was set up in front of a large two-way mirror. Even if Willow could have seen the mirror beyond the light, she would only see her reflection. But the terrorists in the room were able to see her...and they were able to videotape the Interview.
One of the terrorists approached Jhamel. His name was Rueben Julius and he was the Speaker's right-hand man. They called him the Knife because he enjoyed using it on helpless victims.
"The recording is completed," Julius told Jhamel. "Now what of the girl? Do we finish her and drop her somewhere?"
"She still might be useful, Rueben. Remember, she is the Slayers friend. We will need her as a hostage." He paused. "However...I think it best if we send a few men out to find this Xander. He was at the Hellmouth. He can lead us to it." Then he stood up tall and thrust his chest out with pride. "And when we find the Hellmouth, America will suffer greatly!"
As the terrorists beamed at each other with their arrogant pride, a presence stood beside the bound girl in her chair. The presence laid a hand of comfort upon Willow's brow and said, "You are not alone, child. A Guardian Angel has been sent to watch over you, and I am that Angel." Jeremiah stayed beside Willow and he waited for the events of terror to unfold.
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Part 1
It was dark, and Special Agent Fox Mulder couldn't think of anything better to do then to lean against his rental car and toss sunflower seeds one by one into his mouth. His rental was parked in the parking lot of a Motel 6 and he was content to stay where he was with his thoughts and his seeds.
What he was really doing was waiting.
Waiting was something that he had learned to excel in. With his reputation as the FBI's most spookiest agent, waiting was in his nature. Yet being an agent for the FBI did have a lot of major setbacks. The higher officials of the government who used ordinary people like puppets to do their evil deeds caused most of those setbacks.
Mulder was on vacation anyway, so he didn't really give a rats dirty behind about what his superiors thought. He was going to spend his vacation the way he wanted to and he couldn't think of any place better to spend it than at the most mystical spot on earth...Sunnydale, California.
As he popped another seed into his mouth, he saw a car pulling into the
empty parking space next to his rental. He smiled. His vacation was just about to officially begin.
A woman with red hair turned off the car and climbed out of it only to
regard him from over the rooftop of the vehicle. "Mulder, this better be good. Unlike some people, I have work to do."
"C'mon, Scully. Take a break." Mulder smiled at her as he took in a breath of fresh air. "This is a beautiful night. The air is fresh here in Sunnydale, don't you think? It's like heaven." He rose his eyebrows. "Except it's a bit closer to hell than heaven."
Scully looked at him closely. "All right, Mulder. Now I know something's wrong. You used the words 'beautiful' and 'heaven' in a sentence. That is out of character for you." She walked around the car to approach him. "By the way, AD Skinner sends his greeting. He has high hopes that you will work out some of your issues while on vacation before you return to work."
Mulder frowned. "Issues? I don't have any issues, Scully."
Scully frowned at him.
"What? I haven't broken any rules or government taboos lately, have I?"
She let out a sigh. "Mulder, why did you drag me out here?"
"I didn't drag you out here, Scully. I just saw you get out of your car of your own free will." He chuckled. "Maybe you wanted to be here, Scully. Maybe you want to be dragged. You want me to get rough with you, little lady? Maybe deep down inside of you, there's a cowgirl who wants to get out into the world and experience life on the range."
Scully rose her eyebrows and looked at him as if he were an alien himself. "A 'cowgirl', Mulder?" She scowled. "Mulder!"
He chuckled again. "All right! All right. Maybe not a cowgirl." He
grinned and pointed up at the Motel 6 sign at the end of the parking lot. "Look, Scully. They left the light on for us." He looked beneath the sign and he noticed three individuals that seemed to be watching them from the shadows.
Scully didn't notice them. "Mulder, what exactly are you doing in Sunnydale on your vacation?" She regarded him. "Please tell me that this is not about aliens, or alien abductees, or circus freaks, because to be honest, I've had it up to here with little green men and sideshow mutants! They're either just too elusive or too hideous and we can't even catch a glimpse of the aliens anyway."
Mulder shook his head. "No, Scully. It's not about aliens or freaks."
"Then what?"
"Have you ever heard about the Hellmouth, Scully?"
Scully looked at him incredulous. "The what mouth?"
He grinned at her. "Hellmouth."
Scully shook her head in amazement. Finally, she gave in and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm going to regret this, Mulder, but I'll bite. What is the Hellmouth?"
"Look at that! You just made a pun!"
"Mulder!" she scolded impatiently.
"A few years ago, the Lone Gunmen wrote an article about a dimensional
doorway that literally leads straight into hell itself. Every form of demon imaginable-and unimaginable-lives on the other side of that doorway, just waiting for a chance to enter into our world to wreak unholy havoc upon the earth."
"'Unholy havoc,'" Scully repeated.
"That's right. And with a Hellmouth, there are those who want to do evil to their fellow man. Not just because they were cut off in traffic, or they purchased a bad cup of coffee at their local java shop, but because they are in fact evil in and of themselves. They thrive on the pain of others and so they seek the Hellmouth in the hopes of finding a way to open it, thereby releasing the demons from the other side."
"Mulder...I'm surprised at you."
Mulder looked at her curiously. "Why?"
"Because that sounds a little too much like a form of religious
indoctrination."
"Scully, you've read the Bible. You know that it has been said that
Revelations reveals the end of the world. Demons will walk on this earth in the last days. They will be riding horses, 'having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone...And the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions...And out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these were the third of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.'" He leaned toward her and smiled, looking her in the eye. "'Oh, he that has ears, let him hear.'"
She rolled her eyes. "Mulder, some of what is written in the Bible is meant as parables."
"That is true, Scully. But there are many who would say to you that a great percentage of what has been written has already come to pass."
Scully regarded him. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"
He nodded as he looked back toward the sign. The three individuals were still there.
"I've never heard you talk about the Bible like this before." She paused in thought. Then, she frowned. "Wait a minute! You think there's a Hellmouth in Sunnydale?!" She shook her head. "Mulder, I can't believe this! You dragged me out here because of a-a wild hunch that there's a doorway to hell in this town?"
"There you go again, fantasizing about being dragged," Mulder said with a chuckle. He reached into the open window of his rental and pulled out a large bag.
Scully looked at the bag. Then she looked at him suspiciously.
"Mulder...what is in the bag?"
"Sunflower seeds." He looked toward the Motel 6 sign.
Scully looked, too.
The three individuals were moving toward them.
"What's going on, Mulder?" Scully asked, suddenly concerned.
"Do you notice anything peculiar about those three dudes making their way toward us, Scully?" Mulder asked her.
Scully looked at them. She frowned. She couldn't be certain, but something looked very wrong with their faces. "What's wrong with them?"
"Nothing. Maybe they just want a snack." Mulder opened the bag of
sunflower seeds. "Maybe they think we're something awful tasty. If our names were Jim, I wonder if they would think of us as Slim Jim's."
Scully shot him a look. "What are you talking about?"
As the men drew closer, Scully became convinced that they had either walked away from a terrible accident, or...they were truly the walking dead. "Mulder...are those fangs?" She stared, reaching for her gun.
Mulder shook his head. "That isn't going to stop them, Scully."
"And sunflower seeds will?" she asked incredulous.
As the three men approached, Mulder tossed the seeds up into the air. The men stopped as the seeds rained down upon them. For a moment, they looked confused and troubled. It was clear to Mulder however that his hunch had been right. They were vampires.
Would Scully see that, he wondered, or rationalize it away?
Scully stared at him. "That's going to stop them, Mulder?! Are you
crazy?!"
Mulder nodded and grinned, but he kept his eyes on the three vampires. They were looking down at the ground at the spilled sunflower seeds. One of them bent down and picked up a seed. He stood up, looked at it, and then he showed it to the others. Then they all turned to look at Mulder and they growled. His grin faded.
Mulder and Scully took a step back.
"What were you thinking?" Scully asked him, her gun leveled at the three vampires. The vampires were moving toward them again.
Mulder shook his head. "I don't get it! It worked on the pizza delivery vamp!"
"Vamp?!" Scully shook her head in dismay. "Not vampires again, Mulder! I mean, c'mon! The truth is out there...but it doesn't have anything to do with vampires!"
Suddenly, the three vampires abruptly stopped their advancing toward the special agents.
Mulder and Scully stopped backing up. Mulder saw someone standing beneath the Motel 6 sign. Whoever the newcomer was, he was watching them all intently. The vampires even seemed to resent his presence as they glared angrily at the newcomer. The man began to walk toward them and as he did, the vampires backed off until finally, they disappeared into the night.
Scully leveled her gun at the newcomer and demanded, "Stop right there!
Federal agents!"
The man stopped. He looked down and noticed that he was standing in a pile of sunflower seeds. He looked at Mulder with a puzzled look on his face. "What's with the sunflower seeds?"
Mulder moved around Scully and placed a hand on her arm, causing her to
lower her weapon. "It's a known fact that vampires are obsessive
compulsive. They can't stand disorder, so when you throw something like seeds at them, they have to stop and pick them all up."
The stranger regarded him as if he had lost his mind. "I think you'd better research your vampire lore some more. You seemed to miss out on the translation somewhere."
"Who are you?"
"A friend."
"A friend?" Scully asked. "Why do you think we need a friend? And who were those men? What was wrong with them?"
The friend glanced at Mulder. Then he looked at Scully. "Your partner
seems to know who they were."
"Listen to me. I'm a doctor. They looked ill. I might be able to help them." She paused. "Someone has to get them to the hospital!"
"You can't help them. No one can."
"Why not?"
Mulder looked at her. "Scully, those men were already dead."
She let out a sigh of frustration. "Mulder, they looked alive and well to me." She frowned. "Well...all right, maybe not well, but..." She trailed off.
Mulder turned to the stranger. "You know what really goes on here in
Sunnydale, don't you?"
"What do you think is going on here?" the man asked.
"Why did they run from you? Are you one of them?"
The man regarded him for a moment. "Who are you?"
Mulder glanced at Scully. Then he pulled out his FBI badge. "I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder and this is Special Agent Dana Scully." He put his badge away. "Now...who are you? Are you one of them?"
"My name is Angel." He paused as he looked at Mulder and Scully. "What is it exactly that makes you special?"
Scully was about to respond when Mulder repeated his question. "Are you one of them, Angel? Is there something special about you?"
Angel regarded him. "I don't know what brought you to Sunnydale...Just be careful." With that, he turned and began to walk away. He started across the street.
Mulder called out to him. "Hey! Wait!"
He was about to try to cross the street, but a car drove by at that moment, and he was forced to step back onto the curb. Scully was by his side. When the car had drove past them, they looked across the street.
Scully frowned. "Mulder...where is he?"
They looked around, but Angel was nowhere in sight.
Mulder turned his head and discovered that Scully was looking at him. He smiled at her. "Welcome to Sunnydale, Scully."
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Angel was deeply troubled.
Something was about to happen, but he couldn't place what it was. He had heard rumors about strange men moving into town, but there was nothing to tell him who they were and what they wanted. All he could hope for was to find a lead that would take him directly to them. He also had a strong suspicion that Spike and Dru were up to something themselves, and yet some wild hunch convinced him that they were not the greatest threat to Sunnydale.
At least not yet.
No...There was something else. Some sinister danger was lurking nearby, and it was stalking the innocent. This time, however, the stalker of the innocent was not the undead.
The presence of the FBI agents only seemed to confirm this for him.
He had to find Buffy and tell her to be on the lookout for a new threat, before someone got hurt. However, as he searched for Buffy, he didn't find her anywhere at all of her usual hangouts. She wasn't at the Bronze, she wasn't at home, nor was she patrolling out in the cemetery. Of course, he realized that he could have simply missed her. He checked the school library and once again, came up empty. She was not at the library training with her Watcher.
Just before sunrise, he decided to try searching for Buffy at one more
place.
He stopped by Willow's house. As he stood on the patio at the door that led to Willow's room, he knew that something was wrong. He sensed it. Looking up, he noticed that the sun was on the horizon. Not wasting any more time, he tried the door and discovered to his surprise that it was unlocked.
Having been invited once into her home by Willow, Angel decided to press on and he slowly opened the door the rest of the way.
"Willow?" he inquired softly.
There was no answer.
His eyes immediately took in Willow's room. The bed was empty. It hadn't of even been slept in.
Beyond Willow's room, Angel heard voices. He stepped into the room and
stood listening in the doorway of Willow's room.
"We'll find her, Stacy," a man said with confidence. "The important thing is that at least Ira and Sheila are safe. Your friend is going to be fine." There was a pause. "And we will find Willow."
There was a pause. Then a woman's voice responded, "Michael...why would terrorists want to take Willow? She's just a...a young child!"
"She's a hostage now. But you're right. We need to get her back...but we also need to know what they want." There was a sigh of frustration. "Al has an idea about that, and considering what we know about Sunnydale...it's not good. There may not be any time."
Angel had heard enough for the moment. If he didn't leave soon, he would not be able to leave at all. The sun had already begun to rise.
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The two terrorists rode in a stolen car along the streets of Sunnydale. It was very early, and soon the sun would be rising. The car drove slowly through the neighborhood streets until it came to a house that was of interest to them. The vehicle stopped, and one of the terrorists climbed out with a purpose. He walked up to the front porch, placed something on the doormat, and then he returned to the car. The terrorists then used the Summers driveway to turn themselves around, and they drove away, having completed their mission.
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TO BE CONTINUED
