"Take a seat," Buffy said.
"I'd been on your world since the eighteen hundreds," Guinan said. "My species is very long lived and I was exploring the universe. "
Glancing at the others, Buffy could see that this was common knowledge.
"While I didn't arrive early enough to see the War between the States, I did get to meet some of those who had participated in freeing the escaped slaves, including Harriet Tubman. When the chance came to do the same for people trying to escape what was happening with Khan's people I joined eagerly."
Although the other woman didn't say so, it must have been difficult, surviving decades of discrimination because of the color of her skin. She struck Buffy as the kind of person who was given respect not because she demanded it, but because she deserved it.
"I was in charge of meeting points, secret escape routes and getting people to safe houses on their way off the continent. I saw hundreds of people coming and going; some of them didn't make it. In the end I was exposed and had to escape myself."
"If you had all these people you were helping, how could you possibly remember my sister?" Buffy said. "She wasn't anything special."
"I think you don't give her enough credit," Guinan said. "But in answer to your question, I remember her because of the company she was keeping."
"Spike," Buffy said.
"I'd met him at Woodstock, back in the sixties, and I didn't like him very much. He killed someone I knew and was intoxicated off her blood."
The group of ten people wasn't any different than the hundreds of other groups Guinan had shepherded across the city and into the hidden berths on the oil tankers. Despite the blockades of other goods, the oil still had to flow and this was a vital chokepoint for the railroad.
She loved the city of Positano almost as much as she loved Italy itself. The city was built on the edge of a cliff and made up of a labyrinth of alleyways. These snaked their way through steep slopes and ancient brick houses, with mosaic-tiled domes poking into the skies.
It was easier for people to move anonymously here; before the wars it had been a place for Italians and international travelers to seek romance on the beach. Now it was more.
Guinan stiffened as she saw a familiar face under a baseball cap. She never forgot anyone who had made an impression on her, and this one she knew to be a murderer.
She pursed her lips regretfully. Vampires didn't have souls and they couldn't be trusted. William the bloody was undoubtedly trying to find out the routes the Underground was using so that he could sell them to Khan's men in return for sanctuary.
The Augments didn't like vampires any better than anyone else did and had begun a pogrom against them.
Perhaps he was just trying to escape himself, but that would let him live to kill on the other side. She needed to separate him from the group and finish him before he had a chance to hurt anyone else.
"Through here," she said, leading the first of the group through the low hanging doorway. They moved into the darkness beyond without protesting; moving at night made it harder for the secret police to find them.
She waited, allowing the others to pass before she stopped him at the threshold.
"I'm not inviting you in," she said.
He smirked slightly. "Public threshold, pet…besides, the old rules don't apply anymore."
There was a girl behind him, tall and gawky, yet appearing more mature than her years. The war had forced many young women to grow up very quickly. This one had the look of someone grieving from a recent loss.
"You know her?" the girl asked the vampire.
"Met her back in the sixties, Woodstock," he said. He hesitated then turned to Guinan. "Sorry about that. I never should have…"
"Give me one good reason I should let you go ahead," Guinan said flatly. "I know what you are and I know what you do."
The others were already meeting with the next people along the line. Those people would lead them through secret tunnels down to the docks.
"Think you can stop us?" the vampire asked.
"Spike," the girl said. "Buffy wouldn't want us to…"
"Buffy's not here," the vampire said. "I am. I'm going to keep you safe, no matter what it takes."
The girl was human, yet she seemed to trust him utterly. Sometimes the human capacity for self-deception still managed to surprise Guinan.
Vampires couldn't love. They only had obsession.
"It doesn't matter," Guinan said. "The others are already past the next checkpoint. You've missed the boat."
It wasn't quite true; if they hurried they might be able to catch their ride. But lying about it would force them to argue with her, which in turn would mean they would lose their ride.
Guinan wouldn't allow the people on that boat to become prey for the vampire. She could only hope that this girl wasn't his supplemental food supply.
"How long until the next one?" the vampire asked.
"You aren't going to find the next one," Guinan said. "It doesn't leave from here, and if I don't get out alive, this route will be abandoned."
It might be abandoned even if Guinan did make it.
The sound of an explosion from further down the tunnel interrupted their conversation. Guinan noted that the vampire interposed his body in between the direction the sound came from and the young girl.
"We need to get out of here, pet. You too," he said, nodding in Guinan's direction.
The girl shook her head. "We've got to help them."
Guinan was already heading in the direction of the sound. The secret police wouldn't use explosives against the refugees; they wanted information about how to bring down the entire network; this had to be some kind of accident.
She heard the argument behind her in low tones and a moment later the others were behind her. The girl had long legs and was good at running. The vampire had the speed and strength of his kind.
It wasn't long before they found the site of the collapse. Rubble was strewn everywhere and there were limbs sticking out.
"This isn't our fight," the vampire was saying.
The girl was already trying to move the rubble around the closest body. "Try using your soul every now and again. If that doesn't work, ask yourself what Buffy would do."
The vampire cursed and began moving the rubble along with her.
"Most of this lot is dead," he said. "It won't be long before the boys in blue come looking."
"Do you smell gas?" the girl asked.
Guinan had warned the others about the rusty gas lines; in places the ancient masonry had fallen away to revealed corroded pipes left over from the days when people still used gaslight. Some of those were being used by people desperate for fuel to boil water and prepare food, even though the pipes were unsafe.
They were lucky she'd insisted on splitting the ammunition and weapon caches into smaller groups all around the city. Her motivation was to prevent the secret police from getting it all in one raid.
Out of the eight people who had been passing through, only two survived. Both were injured and couldn't walk.
Guinan stripped the bodies of their wallets.
At the girl's look, the vampire leaned over and said, "She's making it harder to identify the bodies. That way they won't be able to go after these people's friends, at least not before they are ready."
The money would be put to good use as well. Some of these people carried their entire life savings on their person. The money from the six who died would go toward feeding and transporting at least ten times as many.
The vampire picked up the more injured man, and Guinan and the girl put their shoulders under the surviving woman's arms.
The rubble was cleared enough that they could pass.
"We don't have much time," Guinan said. "But we'll make the boat if we hurry."
"I traveled with them for a week," Guinan said. "I hated leaving, but once the body of my associate was identified, it was going to be only a matter of time before the rest of us were ferreted out. We changed operations to a different venue."
"Was she all right?" Buffy asked.
"She impressed me," Guinan said. "There were twenty three other passengers trapped in dark quarters, sometimes having to be so silent they could barely breathe as ships inspectors passed by within inches."
Sipping her drink, she said, "She kept their spirits up, often by telling them stories about you. She did everything to convince them that you were going to end the war, that they only had to keep faith."
Dawn had heard Professor Archer talking about his plan to create an image in people's mind that she could relate to.
"And Spike?"
"He…wasn't the man I knew," Guinan said. "He was obsessive about her safety, but he showed moments of kindness towards the other refugees, even when I didn't know I was watching. If I hadn't known better, I wouldn't have believed he was a vampire at all."
"He got his soul for me," Buffy said quietly.
"The one sentence that your sister used to get him to do what she wanted was "What would Buffy do?" Guinan said.
"Did you…ever find out what happened to her, or him?" Buffy asked.
Guinan shook her head. "They made it back to the States, and I heard rumors about them sometimes, drumming up support for your organization. I lost track of them after you left and I left the planet a few years later."
Buffy sighed. "It's been too long and Spike was too good at hiding. He probably changed her identity, or at least I hope he did. I'll probably never know what happened to them."
At least this way she could pretend that Dawn had lived out her life happy. She knew exactly what fate most of the others had met, and those were images that if she could have erased she would have.
Anya, split in two. Giles- dead. Xander- assassinated with a bullet meant for her sister. Willow….Buffy didn't even want to think about that.
"It sounds like the two of you will have a great deal to talk about," the Captain said.
"Perhaps later," Guinan said. She smiled at Buffy. "I just wanted to meet the person that all the fuss was about….see if she lived up to her sister's stories."
Buffy didn't bother to ask whether she measured up or not. The problem with legends was that it was impossible for the person to live up to the myth.
"I'll look forward to it," Buffy said. Her first impression had been to like the other woman even before her story about Dawn.
Guinan rose gracefully and returned to her position behind the bar.
"You have a woman like that working as your bartender?" Buffy asked the Captain.
"She's an old friend," Captain Picard said. "And this is what she wanted to do. We don't force people into doing things they don't want….even if they are capable of more."
"I don't particularly want to go to this trial," Buffy said.
"You should," Commander Riker said. "It will give you a chance to tell the world your side of the story, to clear your name for once and for all."
Buffy took a bite of her Strawberry Sunday. She'd had better, but the creamy taste was a pleasant distraction from the bitterness of her memories.
There had been a time when she would have literally killed for a scoop of ice cream; the last winter before the end they'd all been starving.
These people had no idea how easy they had it.
"You've got a lot of confidence in your legal system," Buffy said.
"We're more interested in finding the truth than in winning," Commander Riker said.
Buffy snorted, coughing on her ice cream. "That didn't seem to keep that Centari guy from writing his book."
"There are different interpretations of the truth," Captain Picard said. He sipped his drink. "Even in our time there are those who prefer to criticize instead of accomplishing anything themselves."
"Haven't found a pill for that?"
"Not for a lack of trying," Deanna said. "We still have bores and blowhards."
"Buffy," Captain Picard said. "There will be a concert here tomorrow. I would like to invite you to be my guest."
Nerd music, Buffy was sure, but it wouldn't hurt to make friends among the crew.
She nodded.
"We will be making a brief stop above a planet to pick up a visitor, a distinguished Vulcan ambassador. He will likely be interested in meeting someone of your importance in Federation history."
She glanced at Deanna, who interpreted her look and said, "I'd be happy to help you find a dress."
Unspoken was the idea that she would cue her in to any changes in etiquette over the past three hundred and fifty years.
It occurred to her that they could have tried warning her against escaping. They could have doubled the guard or locked her in the brig while they were over the planet.
Instead was the unspoken assumption that her own honor would keep her from trying to escape.
Despite herself, Buffy couldn't help but like these people, even if Riker's eyes tended to dip toward her chest more often than she was comfortable with. They approached life with the assumption that everyone would like them, and if it made them seem arrogant, it also made them hard to dislike as individuals.
"I'd be happy to go," Buffy said.
"I'm sure Ambassador Sarek would be delighted to meet you," Commander Riker said, "If Vulcans allowed themselves to feel delighted."
Disclaimer: Somehow I still don't own any of this. Star Trek and Buffy belong to other people. The idea that Guinan might have still been on Earth, at least as far as the late 1980's comes from the novel "The Eugenics Wars" by Greg Cox. (My version of the wars differs greatly from his, except in this respect.)