Chapter 14

"Calm before the storm set it off,
And the sun burnt out tonight.
A reception less than warm set it off,
And the sun burnt out tonight…"

"They're coming at the front!"

Rona spun in her tiny living room just in time to see the barricade of broken furniture she and her Slayers had erected across the shaky front door quiver under the impact of a body hitting it at full speed from the other side. The vampires were at it again. She cursed softly at the luck that had landed her and her thirteen new recruits under siege in her own house facing over two dozen vampires. Of all the days for clouds to obscure the sun nearly a full hour before it would have gone down…

With no cell phone reception and the main line to the house cut, things were looking bleak as far as backup went. "What else can we use?" she asked no one in particular.

"Nothing," a redhead replied as she stood from bandaging another Slayer's leg. "We used everything else in the back." She carried herself with an air that Rona recognized; this girl was a born survivor.

Rona ran her hands through her hair for the thousandth time in only the two hours they'd been stuck here. Once again struck that this was what Buffy went through every day. "Okay," she said finally. "We have…" she checked the clock on the wall. Was it really only eight? "Ten hours until sunrise. They'll have to retreat then or get screwed by the sun. Second wave replace the ones at the barricades. I want everyone up and at their post by four so we'll be ready when these guys take their last shot."

The redhead nodded and started towards the door to the underground cellar turned dormitory. Rona realized she didn't even know the girl's name. "Hey," she called. "What's your name?"

The new Slayer managed a weak smile. "Jennifer. Jennifer Alpin."

"Thanks, Jennifer," Rona said with a smile. Jennifer grinned back and headed downstairs. Rona turned to check on the defenses at the back door when her mother entered from the kitchen. "They've nearly wore themselves out, I expect," the black woman commented. "They're takin' their own sweet time."

"They can afford it," her daughter replied. "They've got ten hours before the sun rises, and that's only if these clouds let some light through. They'll make at least one more big push before midnight."

Annabelle Hullen nodded sagely and turned to step back into the kitchen. "Best make up some more tea, then. Heaven knows these girls need the caffeine."

"Mom," Rona said suddenly. "I'm sorry. For all of this."

The older woman's face crinkled a little as she looked sadly at her daughter. "Never be sorry for being who you are, baby. I'm not about to hold it against you that I have no-good vampires tearing up my house just because you happened to get super powers." For a long moment they shared an understanding look before Mrs. Hullen returned to the kitchen. For the first time in her life, Rona felt like she and her mother had arrived on common ground.

The Slayer looked at the clock again. Nine hours and forty minutes till a sunrise that they could only pray held their salvation. With a deep breath she took out the cell phone Giles had bought her and every other Slayer who left. Not for the first time she wondered how the heck he could pay for all of the stuff he'd been paying for the last couple of weeks as the phone charged and the main screen flickered to life. She prayed with all her might that she would finally pick up on some reception. Rona nearly cried with relief when she saw three bars appear in the corner of the screen. She punched in the long-distance number by memory and waited breathlessly for the two rings it took for Willow to pick up. She didn't wait for the witch to speak. "Willow, it's Rona. I've got thirteen new Slayers and a whole crap-load of angry vamps putting my house under siege."

Willow's voice was worried, but instantly focused. "What do you need?"

"Backup," the black girl replied. "Someone who can get us out of this. And I don't know how you're supposed to do it, but I need them here before sunrise or this is gonna be the last time you hear from me."

"It'll have to be one of us then," Willow mused to herself. Then her voice was directed into the phone again, completely in control and confident despite the fact that she had no idea how to get at least one person from Nevada to Mississippi in less than ten hours. "Sit tight, Rona. Someone'll be there before midnight your time." I hope, she thought, unwilling to consider that she might not be able to fulfill that promise. Four hours isn't any harder than ten, right?

Relief flooded through the Slayer. "Who?"

"I, uh…don't know yet. I have to make a call. When I have details, you'll know."

"Thanks," Rona managed through a suddenly clogged throat.

"Hang in there," Willow said encouragingly. The line went dead and Rona hung up, looking at the clock with a new deadline in mind. Four hours until backup. They could last four hours.

"Listen up, everyone! New plan! Backup is coming in from command central by midnight! Let's just make it 'till then!"

"Here they come!" Jennifer hollered from the back.

Rona grabbed up the table leg she was using as a makeshift stake and sprinted towards the door, muttering under her breath. "Better move it soon, Willow. We might not make it 'till midnight."

Buffy pushed her sunglasses from her eyes to perch them on top of her head, taking in the terrain before her. Faith, Robin and Andrew stood to her left, the four of them casting a line of shadows in the latish-afternoon sun. For a moment they were silent. Then, from Buffy's immediate left, Andrew broke the quiet in a voice tinged with awe. "The enemy's secret base of operations, hidden deep in the Nevadan desert, inaccessible to all but the forces of darkness that would do her will."

"Unless you have directions," Robin noted.

Faith cast a critical eye over the one-level metal structure before them. The building itself was massive, probably covering the same amount of square meters as most American high schools. The old metal siding was rusted and bent in places, and more than one side door looked like it had been boarded or welded shut. "Kind of a dump for a bad momma's 'secret base of operations.'" She used her fingers to frame air quotes around the last four words.

They all looked at the building again. "Kind of an anticlimax," Andrew finally agreed. "Especially after the cool Jeep ride."

"I'm not exactly shaking in terror either," Buffy interrupted. "But I still want to check this place out. Robin, take Andrew and check out the backside. Faith and I will start on this end."

It was Faith who found the red stains in the sand, about a hundred yards from the west side of the building. "Hey, B, check this out."

Buffy stooped to see what Faith already knew. "Blood," she said softly. She had an instinctive feeling that she knew whose it was. Tentatively, she reached out and touched the caked sand. She spoke almost too quietly for Faith to hear. "Thanks, Ethan."

Before the other Slayer could comment, Buffy rose and they continued their scout.

It was nearly half an hour later that the foursome reconvened at the Jeep. "What do we have?" Buffy asked no one in particular.

Robin used the sleeve of his T-shirt to wipe the sweat from his bald head. "A whole lot of rusted siding. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but there are chalk lines on the other side to mark the space for training drills."

Faith cursed. "This is one organized chick."

"Not organized enough to post guards at the entrances," her boyfriend countered.

"Well if she only has vampire minions she wouldn't be able to even have a window open during the day." The other three stared at Andrew with varying degrees of amusement. "Because of the whole…you know, dust thing." He made a gesture that was either meant to symbolize a vampire being dusted or an ostrich with hiccups.

"We got that," Buffy confirmed. "I'm just still getting used to you being actually useful."

Andrew's indignant reply was cut off when Robin startled violently.

"What?" Faith asked, instantly alert.

"Cell phone vibrated," the man replied sheepishly, taking the offending piece of technology out of his pocket and flipping it open. Ignoring Faith's guffaw, he turned slightly away from the others. "Wood," he greeted the caller.

"Robin," came Willow's urgent voice. "you guys have to get back here as soon as you can."

Wood signaled the others to get in the car even as he said, "We're on our way. What happened?"

"Rona called from Mississippi. She has thirteen new Slayers and Brandi's vamps have them cornered."

The ex-principal groaned. "Who's going?"

"Just get back!" the witch replied before hanging up.

"What is it?" Buffy demanded as Robin hung up and put the Jeep in gear.

"Trouble," he responded darkly. "Buckle up. This is gonna be a bumpy ride."

Buffy burst into the hotel room in full command mode, the others piling in behind her. "Details," she said to the room's two occupants. Willow stood and Giles looked up from his notebook. The witch took the initiative and reported. "Rona has thirteen new Slayers under siege in her house. There are at least two dozen vamps. She needs at least one of us there by midnight her time." The redhead glanced at her watch. "Which gives us…just over three hours to get some of us to Mississippi."

The others stared at her in disbelief. Andrew opened his mouth and closed it a few times. Buffy was the first to get over her best friend's comment. "We'll deal with that later. But first-" her train of thought derailed suddenly. "Where's Xander?"

"Sleeping in the other room," Giles answered, finally joining the conversation. "I though it best to let him until we needed him."

"And Dawn is…"

"She conked out a little after Xander did," Willow confided with a grin. "Giles had to carry her to the other room. It was so cute!"

The Englishman cleared his throat. "Yes, well, don't you think it's about time we woke them?"

Buffy sighed. "I hate to ruin the siesta, but we need them."

"I'll get them!" Andrew volunteered. Before anyone could stop him he was out of the room.

"Xander may never forgive us for that," Giles remarked conversationally.

Faith couldn't help a grin as she wandered into the tiny attached kitchen area to grab a soda. The group made themselves comfortable on various surfaces throughout the smallish room: Giles on the wide windowsill, Willow at the foot of the double bed, Robin in an armchair in the corner and Faith on the floor at his feet. Buffy, restless energy coursing through her, paced across the four feet of open space between the bed and the balcony door.

Moments later the room's door opened to admit a sleepy Dawn and an equally tousled Xander. Andrew entered last and shut the door behind him, looking unreasonably perky. Xander sat heavily next to Willow on the bed and Dawn folded herself into a cross-legged position on the floor next to Faith. Andrew took the only remaining space: the corner by Giles' window.

Buffy gave everyone a moment to get settled before she started in. "Will, you wanna give us a recap?"

She did so in rapid time for Xander and Dawn's benefit. The dark-haired young man shook his head and adjusted his eye patch absently. "OK, not to go straight to the negative, but…" he glanced from Buffy to Willow. "How the heck are we gonna get from here to there in three hours?"

"We'll get to that," Buffy said with a sigh. "First, I want strategy. Willow, do we have a layout of Rona's place?"

Giles pushed himself off the sill and gathered up two pieces of paper from his legal pad that he'd taped together horizontally. "I called Rona and sketched this from her description." He used another piece of tape to attach the drawing to the back of the door and everyone else gathered around as Giles fell effortlessly into his established role as the one expected to do the exposition. "Rona's house is here, a half-mile from the road that runs east-west. Her yard is bordered by tress, but the yard around the back of the house is completely bare for nearly an acre." He used the index finger of his left hand to trace the images on the makeshift map as he spoke. "Now according to Rona, Brandi's forces have effectively surrounded the house, cutting off their access to the road or any escape through the back."

Xander used the arm not entirely crossed over his chest to gesture. "So why hasn't someone seen all this from the road? Kind of a 'Hey, that house looks like it's under siege! Let's call the cops!'"

Giles sighed again and reached for his glasses, only to find that he didn't have them on. Dawn looked around and moved to pick them up from the sill, handing them over Buffy's head. The ex-Watcher acknowledged the gesture with a wry nod of thanks, putting his eyewear on without polishing them before answering Xander's question. "Rona says the nearest neighbors are nearly a mile away, and the road is rarely used."

"So any attack is going to have to come from inside the house," Robin reasoned. "Unless two of us can take out twenty vampires from the outside."

"That would seem to be the best course of action," Giles agreed. "And whoever goes will need to bring weapons."

Faith raised her hand like she was in class. "Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for some serious tussle with a couple of vamps, but we still don't know how to get there before midnight."

Buffy looked to Willow. "Will? Any ideas?"

The witch looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe. I mean, I know the spell for teleporting yourself, but doing it to another person, let alone two other people…"

"Couldn't you go and just take another person with you?" Dawn asked thoughtfully.
Her older sister shook her head firmly. "No, Willow has to stay here."

Giles deferred the floor to Buffy. "Perhaps it's best that we work out assignments first, then."

The Slayer nodded in agreement. "I want Faith, Robin and Willow here. We're going back to Brandi's place tonight to scope out the sitch." The three nodded in agreement. Buffy turned to her remaining troops and considered before deciding, "Xander, I want you with Rona. You have the experience, and these new girls are going to need some reassurance."

"Yeah, I can loosen them up. Do a few, 'This is what happens when you run with stakes' opening lines to break the ice."

Buffy rolled her eyes a little and looked to Giles, Andrew and Dawn. "I want the three of you here. In case something goes wrong, or one of us needs something researched on the fly."

Giles' head came up, his eyes flashing at being rather blatantly labeled a bystander. Dawn and Andrew's complaints were quickly drowned out by Buffy's firm refusals, but Giles shook his head resolutely. "Buffy, can I speak with you a moment?"

"Giles, this isn't really-" he ignored her and all but dragged her from the room. Buffy looked back at the others as her Watcher pulled her through the door. "Start loading up. Will, work on that spell." Once they were in the room next door where Xander and Dawn had been sleeping earlier, Giles turned to the Slayer in frustration.

Buffy cut him off with a raised hand. "I don't want to hear it, Giles."

"Well you're going to!" he cried in indignation. "I will not be treated like an invalid."

"You're not!" she protested. "I need you here in case something goes wrong!"

"That's poppycock and you know it, Buffy."

She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "I'm the one in charge, Giles."

"Do you really expect Xander to come out of there alive if you send him in alone?" her mentor replied in a quiet voice.

Buffy took a calming breath. "He can handle himself."

"So can I."

"Are we really going to do this again? I haven't proved myself enough already?"

"This has nothing to do with proving yourself, Buffy!" he spat. "Don't you see that? I'm being wasted sitting on the sidelines when Xander could use my help."

"And what happens when that house gets overrun and I lose both of you?" Buffy shouted back.

They stared at each other for a moment, Giles' green eyes wide with horror. His voice, when he finally managed to speak, was hoarse. "Then at least we'll have made the effort. I was under the impression that this was not meant to be a suicide run."

Buffy's shoulders crumpled. "Fine." Her voice was bitter. "I obviously can't stop you. Do what you want, Giles. But if you get killed out there, I won't be held responsible."

"Yes, heaven forbid that anything I do for you should affect your complete indifference to my welfare," he shot back. He strode past her and opened the door, hating the whole situation with every fiber of his being. But some things he would not tolerate, and being treated like a child was one of them.

Buffy stopped him just before he stepped into the hallway. "Giles?" He stopped to show he was listening but refused to turn around, knowing it was childish even as he did so. As a result, Buffy's last comment was clipped and sarcastic. "Don't die."

"Very inspiring," he muttered harshly. He yanked open the door of the other room and strode in without waiting for her.

Willow looked up from a book she'd pulled out of her bag: one of the few they'd saved from Sunnydale. "I think I have it."

"Weapons?"

"Right here," Xander called from kneeling on the other side of the bed. He rose with two duffel bags of weapons. Giles nodded in approval. They had brought five bags all together. That would leave three for the group assaulting Brandi. He took one of the bags and slung it easily over his shoulder. The others correctly interpreted this as a sign that he'd be going along and Xander gave him a thankful nod as he handed the weapons over. Willow lingered over the text of the spell a moment longer before turning to the two men. "OK, now this is supposed to make a person travel short distances. But if I use sage and change the wording, I should be able to get you guys all the way there. The only problem is, I don't have a crystal, so I don't actually know what time you're going to get there. It may be like ten minutes, or it might not be till the last minute." She bent to draw a circle of white chalk on the carpet big enough for Xander and Giles to stand in.

"We'll still get there by midnight, right?" Xander asked.

Willow smiled that nervous smile she sometimes got right before she tried a new spell. "As long as I aim you right and think about twelve o'clock really hard, it should be no big deal."

Buffy edged into the room just as Willow finished. The witch turned to the travelers. "Go ahead and step inside." They obeyed, forced to stand close together to fit inside the circle. Willow cleared her throat nervously. "I think you have to be touching for this to work." The two men looked at each other uncomfortably for a moment before Giles got over it and placed his hand on the back of Xander's neck. The witch picked up the book, gave them one last smile, and started reciting the Latin text, sprinkling sage in the air. Moments later gold mist surrounded them.

"Good luck," Dawn called nervously. Xander offered her an encouraging smile, but Giles locked his gaze to Buffy's. The last thing he saw before the world started to spin was the hurt look in his Slayer's eyes.

It felt like the world had turned inside out. Colors rushed past so fast that Xander had to screw his eye shut. Wind roared by and nearly deafened him, but he felt no sensation of moving forward or back. Just spinning. He felt Giles' hand gripping the back of his neck and the reassuring pressure nearly counteracted the nausea starting to build in his stomach from the constant circular motion. Almost. Just as Xander feared he was going to lose his lunch, the magick-induced ride stopped abruptly and his feet slammed into solid ground.

Xander stumbled to regain his footing and he lost contact with Giles. When he opened his eye, Xander found himself in a tiny living room packed to the bursting with teenage girls. The air was hot and humid, made all the worse by the way-too-close quarters. He looked beside him to find Giles bent double at the waist, hands on his knees. "You alright?"

"Wonderful," the older man replied sarcastically. Before either of them could say another word, Rona lunged out of the crowd and wrapped them both in bear hugs before stepping back. The clock on the wall struck midnight.
Xander managed a grin at the girl he'd grown to know and respect over the past few months. "How's that for an entrance? Drama and timing!"

Rona gave him a heartfelt smile. "Good to see ya, Xander. Giles." She turned to the assembled girls, all of which were staring at the new comers like they'd just appeared out of thin air. It took Xander a moment to remember that they had. "This is Xander and Giles. They're two of the top team, so listen to what they say and don't argue." She glanced to her guests. "Guys, this is…well, everyone else. You-"

"And just what are these two doing in my house?" Giles turned in surprise to see an elderly black woman eyeing him suspiciously.

"These are the friends I was telling you about, Mom," Rona explained patiently. "They're here to help."

Annabelle was not appeased. "What's in them bags?"

Giles opened one and removed a crossbow. "Things that kill the mob that's tearing down your lovely home."

The older woman nodded approvingly. "Then you're welcome any time, Mr..." she left it for him to fill in.

"Giles," he introduced himself cordially. "Rupert Giles. The is Alexander Harris."

With one more appraising look she turned to Giles again. "You're British, is that right?

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright then," Annabelle decided as if he'd just answered a question correctly. "You best be getting these creatures off my lawn, Mr. Giles. My petunias are getting mighty trampled."

Rona waved them towards the back. "Let me show you what defenses we already have-"

"The front!" Jennifer screamed. "They're breaking through!"

"What happened to vampires not getting in unless they're invited?" Xander shouted to Giles over the sound of breaking boards.

"They can't!" the Brit shouted back.

"They are!" Rona said. The two men stared at her in shock and she shook her head in despair. The black girl sighed. "We have a little plaque next to our door that says 'Enter and be blessed.' Turns out that counts as an invitation."

"Oh great," Xander bemoaned, adjusting his eye patch again.

"What do we do?" a petite black Slayer behind Xander cried.

The thumps against the door were growing louder. The old piece of wood had broken off its hinges and before Giles could shout a single order, the door finally gave way.

Xander appraised the situation in under a second and reached an accurate conclusion.

"Ah, crap."

Author's Note: Well there you have it! Sorry for the total cliff-hanger. Technically I'm half an hour past my deadline, but considering that means I'm posting this at 12:30 in the morning I think my obvious dedication balances out my minor tardiness. ;) I don't like the tension between our Scoobies any more than you do, but it's neccesary. And I promise they'll make up at the end.

I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! The lyrics are from the song "Calm Before the Storm" by the Fallout Boys. I will officially be going past the original fifteen or sixteen chapters I had planned, because I decided to split the material that was originally all going to be in this one up into at least two, possibly three. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I hope you're having as much fun following this storyline as I am writing it. As always, reviews are cherished and appreciated nearly as much as those who write them. And once again, I'm holding myself to a week deadline. Fifteen will be up by June 2nd. Cheers!